Saturday digest

- A bunch of dissaffected Conservative activists are meeting in Kingston this weekend to discuss their disappointment at this government's betrayal of first principles like smaller government and interprovincial fairness. Meanwhile, support for the Tories has dropped by 19 percent in British Columbia and 13 percent in Alberta - the heartland of the old Reform party.

I don't think that's a coincidence.

- How come Western feminists are so quiet on the issue of the treatment of women in Islamic countries?

- Actually, how come I haven't heard a thing from them on this, either? I imagine that it's as acceptable for a radio show to discuss the sexual assault of a Republican woman as it is for a Democratic President to avail himself of the services of a wide-eyed college-aged intern - quibbles about the male power structure aside, of course.

- A quick look around the world shows that countries which are politically unfree enjoy, on balance, higher rates of growth than those which are free. I think this is a combination of two factors; one, that often people don't vote based on sound economic analysis, but second, and more importantly, the countries which are unfree have had more room to improve because they are generally less developed.

- Do any of the civil servants reading this blog seriously think that their superannuated pension plans as currently constructed are going to be there for them when they retire? I don't.