Good on Jim

Have not hung that much with Jim Flaherty, but so far I like the guy. He’s friendly, straight-forward, unflashy, consistent. I remember when he ran to be leader of the Ontario Tories, and gave the only believable speech of the leadership convention, eschewing the podium and actually looking like a real person instead of a suit. Nice.
(cont'd @ The Turner Report)

'Unsure Liberal' discovered

After much Googling, a few brown envelopes and a job offer for a down-on-their-luck Liberal staffer, I've discovered the just launched website for the frontrunner in the Liberal Leadership race.(cont'd @ Blue Blogging Soapbox)

When the Pen is Mightier Than the Jihad...

"While here at home, we continue to debate the petty issue of whether a Prime Minister can revolutionize the way he picks his team, they actually have real problems out in the real world..."(cont'd @ The Hunter's Blog)

A Bio of Mohammad (May Peace Be With Him)

"Mark Reibling has saved us the trouble of learning Arabic and agonizing through the Koran.
(Warning: If you decide not to take the short cut, remember, if you don't receive the Holy Koran while kneeling, and wearing gloves, and chant it aloud in Arabic, then you are a blaspheme and subject to beheading.)"(cont'd @ Canadian Blue Lemons)

Islamic Congress looking for friends in government?

"Interesting approach for a group that supposedly want to open a "healthy dialogue" with the government. Here's a hint, you might want to tone down the rhetoric a tad and drop the "feared five" tag."(cont'd @ Blue Blogging Soapbox)

Sacrifice of the Pawn

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been refered to as a master chess player (most recently on this blog yesterday) and so that is why I'm not suddenly hitting the roof after Michael Fortier and David Emerson both found their way to Rideau Hall today. Peronally, I find this a mixed bag on both counts:(cont'd @ The Hunter's Blog)

And, on a Less Serious Note

Count on Bill Graham for a little unintentional irony to lighten the mood [CBC, Reaction to Harper's cabinet appointments]:(cont'd @ The Progressive Right)

Oopsy Doodle

One thing I'm not going to miss about the election campaign is this constant reference:

If the Conservative Party were the old Progressive Conservative Party, they'd have a real shot at power.

Scott Brison says it every 5 minutes. He must be the life of a party.(cont'd @ The Progressive Right)

Through the hoop and onto some tacks...

You may recall that I made an entry a while ago about how ridiculous the ethics process is here at my university.

It took me a couple of days, but I finally went through all the paper work and jumped through all the hoops to get my ethics application in.(cont'd @ Moxy Thoughts)

The Palestinians are the problem

First and foremost, it proves what people who perceive reality have been saying for decades: The great majority of Palestinians -- like the majority of Arabs elsewhere and like vast numbers of non-Arab Muslims -- want Israel destroyed. Even granting legitimacy to the argument that the complete moral, financial and political corruption of Fatah was partly responsible for the Hamas victory, those who voted for Hamas did not find that organization's terror, religious celebration of murder or charter calling for Israel's destruction an impediment to their vote.(Cont'd @ The Reclusive Antiquarian)

A Tale of Choices

"It's funny how liberals are in favour of life...except when it comes to abortion!

It's funny how liberals are in favour of choice...except when it comes to mothers who chose to stay at home!"(cont'd @ The Hunter's Blog)

"The biggest problem with society today, is that people blame inanimate objects for problems. Fast Food causes obesity... Cigarettes cause cancer... Carbs make people fat... Fat makes people fat... Pepsi causes cavities... And Guns cause violence."(cont'd @Back Off Government!)

More on guns...

"In my rushed post here after first hearing about the proposed Liberal ban on guns, I forgot to mention possibly the most obvious argument against this. How much will this cost? Canada has about 1 million hand guns (from Coalition for Gun Control). I don't know what the average handgun's market value is, but from a search around Google it seems that if you are paying $300 you are getting a good deal. So there must be guns that are way more expensive than this too. If the government wants to pay the fair market value for handguns, a very conservative estimate would be $500/gun on average. So let's make my almost completed math degree come to use here with this equation:"(cont'd @ Canadian Honky Tonk Bar Association)

Is It Any Wonder?

"Another scandal has just had its lid blown sky high but the Canadian public will not notice. After seeing how little something like the sponsorship scandal did in this country, given that any other democracy would have made sure no Liberal government got re-elected again ever (see Saskatchewan for example) I can't be bothered to even point this one out to friends. Sure there will be some retired/near-retired individuals who lost their life savings in the whole process that will vote against the Liberals but I don't expect much in the way of earthshaking poll changes."(cont'd @ The Hunter's Blog)