10 reasons why coalition talks are hot air

Talks of coalition governments formed between arch-enemies for the sake of ousting Stephen Harper are far fetched, and in my opinion this is an enormous load of hot air. This is why.

1. Coalitions built on an anti-something platform are short-lived
2. The Bloc is mercurial and the Liberals have nothing to gain in QC by pandering to the separatists.
3. If the Cencelli handbook is anything to go by, the NDP would have to field complete newcomers in at least 1/4 of senior portfolios and just below 1/2 of junior ones. The Government would be very shaky, particularly in these times.
4. Distributing the portfolios and patronage among the at least 5 factions in the Liberal Party will be a nightmare.
5. When the Liberal leadership convention takes place, either leader will be faced with a government where more than 3/4 of members are hostile.
6. When you're in government, the buck stops with you. Many senior Liberals wouldn't touch government with a bargepole - any deterioration of the economy will kill the Party.
7. Liberal stimuli will not earn them votes. They're hemorrhaging support in manufacturing areas and forestry areas are going to all other parties. Their message is not resonating, and neither will their money.
8. The economy is not a basket case. It's on a rocky road, and it isn't a good idea to change drivers on a rocky road while the car is moving.
9. When the Bloc votes the coalition down for not pandering to Quebec, either government will return to the Tories, causing humiliation on the other side of the floor, or new elections will be called. Either way the Liberal party is screwed.
10. As many have remarked, many Liberals wouldn't want a coalition with the NDP. Some in marginal seats may well cross the floor.

As much as there's backroom dealing and grandstanding, I'm sure the real leaders of the parties concerned are negotiating with the Tories to come out of this mess. My money is on an out-of-House settlement for some stimulus in exchange for a cut in the subsidy.

Shame on Britain

Damian Green MP, UK Conservative spokesman on Immigration, has been arrested by anti-terrorism agents yesterday night and had his home in Kent, London properties and offices raided by the police. The accusation: being a link in the chain of embarrassing leaks from Government offices. The Times has an excellent commentary today.
More information in my previous post.

Labour has overstepped the line this time. UK voters will not forgive these Zimbabwe-like tactics when they go to what may potentially be the last fair polls in the country's history if Labour isn't ousted.

UK MP arrested for doing his job

Damian Green MP, Conservative immigration spokesman, has been arrested in a dawn raid at his home in Kent in connection with embarrassing Home Office documents leaked to the press. He was released on bail pending a hearing. Special Branch stormed the MP's residence and searched it, the charge being an obscure and never used provision of British common law. The Speaker of the House of Commons is rumored to have sanctioned the raid.

It is essential that this story receives the worldwide attention it deserves. Guido Fawkes has a worrying comparison to Robert Mugabe which stands fairly true.

This is beyond contemptible.

Hear the thud

Britain's Labour plans for "zero-carbon" homes flopped with a thud when it was revealed they cost a million pounds each to achieve.

A £15 million project to build hundreds of new zero-carbon homes has fallen flat after only 15 qualified in the first year, The Times has learnt. Gordon Brown’s scheme [...] failed because the Government’s specification for a zero-carbon home is not practical, the building industry says.[...] A better, cheaper alternative would be subsidies to improve the air-tightness of existing buildings.

Yet another example of how grabbing headlines with expensive programs to combat a non-existing threat will land you in a pot of boiling water. With the economy going to the dogs and the embarrassment of the pre-budget report, Britons will not like hearing that 15 million of their money were so badly spent. Coupled with today's news of free flip-flops for drunk women (to prevent falling over when wearing high heels), Gordon Brown's Labour will definitely face the toughest question from its voters: "WTF?"

Sask HRT raps Christian commissioner

A Saskatchewan marriage commissioner is being rapped by the Human Rights tribunal for refusing to be there for a same-sex marriage ceremony on the grounds of religious belief. Despite being one of the many commissioners in Regina, I don't think I can side with his cause.

Were his actions related to a wholly private practice the couple in question wouldn't stand a chance: business is business. However when applying to be a marriage commissioner one signs up to performing marriages in accordance with existing law. It becomes a public service, and religious belief can't come into play here.

Delivering a public service doesn't just mean you get paid by the government. My definition of it includes any situation where someone accepts to perform a duty on behalf of the government, paid or not. Therefore refusing to put a stamp on a lawful union is something he could not do. There are many professions and duties one can perform keeping his or her faith in mind. Government-sanctioned positions do not belong in that list.

Deficit coming - Duh!

Deficit predictions keep appearing like mushrooms in virgin woodland after a big storm, but most people endowed with the gift of common sense will just shrug and say "Duh!". The world economy is chin-deep in stinky goo, and solid economic foundations don't help you avoid trouble when your major customer is going down the tube and your major natural resource sheds 60% of its value almost overnight.

Who are we kidding? The progressives at the Centre for Policy Alternatives may well predict a 50 billion deficit, but anyone worth their salt will figure these guys are on crack. Being good at predicting surpluses is easy, as any government budgets conservatively. Predicting deficits involves coming off the high and sparing a thought for the government's future actions. If auto bailouts and massive "social justice" programs are included in these warped figures then we could well run a 50 billion dollar deficit. However this is no New Deal and there's no big spending party in government. Thank God!

Now we hear that trade unions will have to stop playing omnipotent and accept conditions before a bailout gets in the works. Tony Clement has the guts to say it and he's damn right. The trade unions and their perpetual strife for laziness are part of the equation that brought the demise of the auto sector. If the government has to tighten its belt, so do union bosses. Right on!

There's rumors of an additional 300-billion rescue package in the works south of the border. That adds up to the 700 billion already sent down the drain, making the total exceed $1 trillion. That's more than is required to pay off an entire year's worth of negative US balance of payments. Canada isn't going down that route, we're demanding change for cash and we'll get it.

Wishful thinking aside, running a deficit now is almost inevitable (chapeau to the Tories if they manage to break even). How big the deficit is will depend on how bold the government thinks it can be. When things get tough it's easier to push for structural change, because many inefficient organizations have close to nothing to lose (they've been wiped out) or, conversely, too much at stake (they could go bankrupt with a thud). Do we break the hair knot that hit the comb or do we just grease it up?

We'll run a contained deficit, and if we accompany it with a sound economic restructuring plan and a detailed cash flow forecast we can still show responsible management instead of the Grits' mercurial just-plug-holes approach. Even big companies are sometimes short on cash, it's normal if you know how to manage it. What's the fuss?

Dritan Kallamata: Canada's Next Great PM

I am delighted to publicize my close friend Tani Kallamata in his quest to be Canada's Next Great Prime Minister. He is a great guy through and through, and certainly committed to promoting the best (and best-researched) policies for Canada.

I embed his contest video and tax policy video for your convenience. I highly encourage all to rate his video very positively (5-star) on the CBC website. It is refreshing to see people my age promote the noble values of hard work, equality, investment in people, skill building and reward of a job well done.





Tani also has a campaign blog and Facebook group which you are welcome to read and join.

Dr Roy posted about another close friend of mine, Tim Mak, who is too promoting policies we can share.

Does anyone like election spoofs?

Campaign signs and slogans are so bland there's barely anything to spoof. But this one was begging for it!

Populist ADQ

Despite being the only party to advocate some decent free market policies (although selling 7% of Hydro Quebec hardly counts), if I were a Quebecker I'd think twice before ticking the ADQ box on the ballot.

First and foremost the ADQ seems to jump most bandwagons they can get a grip on. Today they jump on the "identity" one, while the PQ endorses the school course that teaches children about different religions. I have qualms with the way it being fed to children with no option for parents to opt out. However it is a valuable addition to the curriculum, and may avoid embarrassments when the ignorance of certain members of the general populace is exposed for all to see and hear (Bouchard-Taylor commission, anyone?). If one's a true libertarian or Tory one advocates choice (i.e. opt-outs). Dumont waving the history and identity flags is just the caricature of a party desperate for support, appealing to all fringes ending up appealing to no-one.

Besides, this isn't the first instance of Dumont's erratic judgment. A few months ago he sought to bring down the Quebec government over the low turnout in school board elections, presumably because people cared. Had they really, turnout would've been higher.

The ADQ election posters decorating (note: sarcasm) Montreal's streets in their befuddling triviality deliver one message: the campaign team should think twice on their slogans. "Donnez-vous le pouvoir" is as redundant as some of Dumont's rhetoric. Quebeckers already have the power, and I fear they're going to use it against him in a few weeks' time.

And not a moment too soon, if you ask me. With the current economic situation a Quebec version of Berlusconi would be a disaster. His populist tendencies, combined with an evident one-man show party and a mercurial character make him unfit as Premier. Right now, at least.

Entitled to fail

The pervasive culture of entitlement that teaches us mantras about the world owing us something has gained momentum in Canada's universities. (Jarret (KerPlonka) also comments on this story) A study of 400 undergraduate students revealed that about a third of students believe they deserve a grade B if they attended most classes and/or completed most of the reading, or feel short-changed on the grades they get on assignments. Between a sixth and a quarter have been led to believe professors have to fir their own commitments and business around students' schedules and plans. Seriously, what the fuzz is this?

Education is not about sitting on one's backside listening to the prof. Being educated means accumulating knowledge, understanding it and knowing how to use it. Just being present and having read the stuff doesn't mean you should get a passing grade, let alone a B. These attitudes drag down the standards of any educational institution's graduates, plunging the entire degree course and degree category into irrelevance.

When grades are too easy an A stops meaning "outstanding". When no-one can fail everyone gets a Bachelor's, thus the value of a B.Sc. or a B.A. asymptotically approaches zero. Entitlement leads to mediocrity, particularly in areas where human beings are naturally prone to competing and excelling.

A message to all entitled student princesses out there. I've had my fair share of outstanding profs and mediocre ones. I saw profs who were geniuses with decades-long experiences be completely out-of-touch with a class, while newly-hired fresh-out-of-PhD lecturers energized the audience and taught almost perfectly. I know of profs in Italy who are proud of being unreachable except by paper mail and profs who check e-mails ten times a day.

But I never for one moment believed to be entitled to a pass just for being there. If I ever asked for extenuating circumstances I made sure my motives were bomb-proof, and yet I still felt a slight guilt for inconveniencing the prof. I studied hard for my exams and cried over some assignments. I showed effort by submitting the best possible work and attempting many solutions for a question I didn't understand. And I ultimately loved my uni experience and what I learned.

My father had to fight leftard slackers during his time, who advocated "common grades" for the entire class (everyone is awarded the average grade) and the "political 18" which meant everyone passed, no matter what. Today's entitlement princesses are no different.

It saddens me that more and more people of my age would rather weasel their way into merit rather than earn it by getting off their backsides and looking up the true meaning of the word "effort" in the dictionary.

Maldives save up for the future

The newly-elected President of the Maldives has announced that part of the country's tourism revenues will be saved up for buying up land somewhere else in case the ocean floods the sandy cays that make up the archipelago. Properly administered, this savings account might turn out to be a great investment, but not for the reasons its founders envision.

Since global warming and oceans rising have something in common with the Armageddon, Nessie, the Yeti and Elvis being alive Maldivians will find themselves in a few years time with either a massive gold pot or some potentially profitable developed land.

The Maldives will NOT be flooded. It would be a giant pity for the whole world (the islands are GORGEOUS). The new President is pragmatic enough to realize that Maldivians abandoning inter-island air transport for fighting climate change will do next to nothing for their islands, except probably annoy tourists facing long rocky transfers. Nevertheless, it is always good to save up for a rainy day. With the current economic downturn comparisons to the islands' monsoon season are more than appropriate.

An anniversary of freedom

We may be approaching Remembrance Day, but today marks the 19th year since the world took a deep breath of newly-found freedom, and began unshackling itself from the bounds of socialist oppression. The quintessential symbol of Socialism - grey, unwelcoming, secretive, oppressive and downright deadly - the Berlin Wall, fell on this day in 1989. I was barely four at the time. I wish, however, to express my gratitude to all those who helped bring the horror to an end in Europe.

As we remember our parents and grandparents who fought in the trenches, let us also spare a thought for all those who suffered at the hand of a murderous and deceiving ideology, and the brave ones who dared challenge it, often paying the price of life for their courage. Let us also give thanks for the free-er world we live in today, a world where some could actually call Obama a socialist without being laughed at. With a bit of luck the innate human drive for freedom will help eradicate Marxism from planet Earth.

Before we continue on the path, let's not forget how far we've come and how many we have to thank for it.

CJ's truth about President Obama

A beautiful post by Paul at Celestial Junk on Obama's presidency and how it will not be the revolution only the ignorant could really hope for. One sole comment: my thoughts exactly! Excellent analysis. Keep it up!

No safe haven for the scum of the earth

Pervert Troy Greenbank first arranges a threesome with a woman and her 10-year old daughter, goes as far as buying sexual props for the girl and, when busted, flees to Canada begging for asylum because he'd be killed in jail back at home.

We've got news for this sicko: Canada has no use for his ilk, and I hope he gets his perverted backside hauled back to Missouri. Where he will face an all-too-lenient punishment for his sickening intentions.

One thought stands out, though. How are the American authorities dealing with the mother?

Liberals have no place to hold convention

If they want to anger no-one and rake in a few votes from boosting local businesses that is. Their earlier plan to hold the convention in Vancouver is apparently under re-consideration as Ottawa and Quebec City are rumored to be throwing their hats in. If the rule of bad news coming in packs needed proving, the Liberals leave no room for doubts.

Their decision, whatever it may be, will result in losses or at least in no improvement for the party's standing. Sticking with Vancouver will upset Quebeckers and at most result in some lifting of Liberal fortunes, gains which time and pre-election campaigning will weather away. The root of Liberal problems is not in Quebec, thus holding the conference in Quebec City would do the party no good either east or west of the Outaouais. Ottawa is, for obvious reasons, saturated with politics and politicians' business. Furthermore the town's political connotation may lend a Liberal convention the perceived aloofness and absence of touch with the rest of the country that is confining the "natural party of power" to the opposition benches for the foreseeable future.

By all means the convention should be held in Vancouver: a change of plans is exactly what the Tories are waiting for to demonstrate that Liberals don't care. The LPC needs, however, to address the deeply rooted malaise that is rotting the party from the inside. Where to undego this surgery should be the Liberals' least concern.

Prestigious think-tank says - Blame It On TV

RAND corporation identifies a correlation between teen exposure to televised sexual content and teenage pregnancy. My Baloney-O-Meter immediately rings an alarm bell. While disapproving of excessive sexualization of any media production aimed at adolescents I believe the root of the problem at hand is not in TV or any other factor external to the family.

If parents aren't present and prepared to tackle the important issues with their children before they arise trouble is around the corner. I don't know whether RAND included parental education about human sexuality in their calculations, but I'd bet my money this factor would potentially outweigh TV content as an influence on teenage pregnancy rates.

So why does RAND seem to want to spread the blame so widely that no-one's guilty in the end? Here's a probable explanation:

While RAND strives to be middle-of-the-road ideologically, the more conservative scholars at RAND tend to work on military studies, while the more liberal scholars tend to work on domestic studies. Because the military studies are sometimes classified and often more mundane than the domestic studies, the media and members of Congress tend to cite the domestic studies disproportionately. As a consequence, RAND appears liberal when judged by these citations. [...] think of RAND as two think tanks: RAND I, the left-leaning think tank which produces the research that the media and members of Congress like to cite, and RAND II, the conservative think tank which produces the research that they do not like to cite.

The take-home message, therefore, is take all research with a pinch of salt and before blaming TV and the entire world one should look at one's own reflection