Biblio Bibuli

Not if Joseph Ratzinger can help it. Barbara Amiel said recently: "Pope Benedict XVI dropped one of his Prada shoes recently. We wait for another Prada shoe to drop." I can't wait!

With Yaffe's bold prediction weighing on my mind I couldn't sleep a wink last night. Complaining about it to Andrew Coyne this morning he was very non-committal at first, saying: "A great many bold, definitive statements have been made in the wake of last weekend's Liberal leadership vote, so let me add a bold, definitive statement of my own: Nobody knows. Nobody knows how this thing will play out. Are you kidding? This is game theory with eight players." Feeling a little edgy from a sleepless night, I just told him to cut the crap and spill out who he's betting on. Sensing that I meant it, I suppose, he opened up, saying: "Suppose Scott Brison throws his support to Mr. Ignatieff. It looks good for Mr. Ignatieff, he's got the momentum - until Ken Dryden crosses over to to Stephane Dion's camp. That puts Mr. Dion out in front of Mr. Kennedy, who follows Mr. Dryden's suit, vaulting Mr. Dion ahead of Mr. Rae, who makes the final, fateful decision ..." When I asked him if that is the worst case scenario for Mr. Ignatieff, he just winked at me, and hung up. Iggy's got it in the bag ... Iggy's got it in the bag ... tra la la la la la la ... Iggy's got it in the bag ... ZZZZ.

Yaffe is a very respected columnist around here, and I can well imagine that the letters to the editor section in tomorow's Vancouver Sun will be full of replies to her daring "sure thing" prediction. The odds on Dion are dropping in Vancouver bookie joints as we speak!

Put your money where your mouth is! After reading Barbara Yaffe's article today where she makes her pick ... all I can say is ... YOU TOO BABS, PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS! Here are some excerpts: "Results from the "super weekend" of voting for Liberal delegates to next month's leadership convention point to a likely win for veteran Stephane Dion. Ignatieff is the darling of the party establishment, much as one-time leadership aspirant Kim Campbell was of Tory backroomers in her day; and we all know how that story ended. Any way you look at it, Ignatieff lacks the majority result he'd need to snare the prize after the initial round of voting. The political newcomer is destined to be overtaken in white-knuckle balloting. Ignatieff has run a mediocre campaign. Most damaging has been his quasi support for the Iraq war and the Afghan offensive. Dion can claim credible support in his home province. He's unburdened by any ideological tag. Dion possesses a longer, assuring record, as a federal Liberal in good standing, than any of his three main competitors. It's unclear at this point how many ballots it will take the new leader to taste victory. What is clear is that the new leader will be Stephane Dion." http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/columni...82-4ca9d8d5456b

Put your money where your mouth is! I was never so sure of ANYTHING as I am of the fact that Michael Ignatieff will be the next leader of the Liberals. So go ahead .... name your odds!

Iggy's support is increasing throughout the day according to the ticker. He's at 30.8% now and Rae has replaced Dion in 2nd place with 18.1% to Dion's 18%. Kennedy is doing better than I expected at 13.2% Just a couple of percentage points more and we're in the money. I thought our bet that Iggy would secure over 33% of delegates was lost. But chatting with John Ivison this morning he told me that when ex-officio members (current and former MPs and senators) and Aboriginal delegates are added, it is likely that Iggy's numbers will rise to above 35%. We're in the money... we're in the money ... tra la la la la ... we're in the money!

AHA!!!

We Europeans thought you were the cat's pajamas after WW2 & even old Lester got the Peace Prize. You fell off the map by deciding to become a nanny state that spends it's time navel gazing & are spending all of your waking hours congratulating yourselves constantly for not lynching people with brown skin in Canada. For some reason you think this is a Canadian accomplishment ... as if the rest of Western society is still telling folks to sit at the back of the bus. You need to get over your multi-cult obsession & start looking around at the world & what you can do to make it a better place ... as you used to. Well, it's always nice to have an eloquent leader. Just watch after Tony Blair is gone & Gordon Brown takes the helm. You won't be hearing much about Britain anymore.

It is not a matter of "if"...... because Michael Ignatieff is a shoe-in to win the Liberal leadership. However ... once in, he may have a bit of a problem with Harper because they both have "a beautiful-mind" on important issues, and Harper started it. And their IQs seem similar. HOWEVER, Michael's social IQ is at least 10 times that of Stephen's .... and that's very important, because that's what can put Canada back on the map! GO IGGY GO!

Iggy's support is increasing throughout the day according to the ticker. He's at 30.8% now and Rae has replaced Dion in 2nd place with 18.1% to Dion's 18%. Kennedy is doing better than I expected at 13.2% Just a couple of percentage points more and we're in the money.

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/is...47-fc1c771fd7a8 In his above article Bob complains that the Conservatives "eliminated a program supporting tobacco cessation for Aboriginal citizens". What a bumbling NDP loser. I like him still because I know who he will side with in the end. Now I like Harper ... but the man is NOT a good debater, unless you're partial to stiff robotic types. Iggy would wipe the floor with him in a debate. As to what Canadians are "in the mood for"... the sad part is that they will be "in the mood for" whatever the press tells them to be in the mood for. GO IGGY GO!

If Iggy doesn't win (over 33% of the vote is my prediction), I'll eat a wide-brimmed Mountie Stetson for breakfast.

Much brighter than the rest of we dimwits at MLW, that's for sure!

I got much praise from KrustyKidd to my posts. Like for instance: "Great rant!" "Always a pleasure to read a good one that has some justification in it." How many did YOU get?

Of course, this regard for human life, be it friend or foe, is seen by Steyn and his ilk as a handicap, a negative. (Also, Steyn is a solopist: his frame of reference only extends back 30 years). In the great War on Terror (in Steyn’s lizard brain, anyway) the west is not the west of 60 years ago: combatants of choice and principle. In today’s struggle, we are the Soviet Union: fighting for our very survival against an implacable enemy bent on conquest. Never mind that, then, the foe was real, a rich, powerful western nation bent on conquest versus today’s scattered, hardscrabble fanatics. It’s a neat summary of pretty much the entire neocon ethos in this post 9-11 age, which really just amounts to “kill ‘em all and let God sort ‘em out.” Or, perhaps more accurately "to defeat the terrorists, we must become the terrorists." When it comes to hating western values, its a dead heat between western neocon elites and eastern fanatics. Actually Mark is more on the money than Max. 60 years ago the west nuked poor Japan and razed Dresden. No one would have done that in the solopist Mark's 30 year reference. In these past 30 years we lose our minds if we hit a taxi driver in error. Jesus, a few future Hezbollah kids died yesterday & Israel is being vilified as if they were the Hutus ( or was it the Tutus ... I always forget who was doing the amputations). We've become very very very nice. And it means our extinction. Which if you're an old fart pushing 60 like me ... who the hell cares? But Mark's right. Very right.

Seeing how Stephen Harper is enjoying just as much popularity with his pro-Bush stances as Chretien and Martin did with their anti-Bush ones, I must say I'm a tad worried. How can Canadians turn on a dime like that? Don't they have minds of their own? What if some Hitler or Jim Jones type comes along? Will we follow them too? Oh Canada ... tsk tsk tsk!

Yeah, thanks to Vladimir Putin we managed to defeat them. Big time!

They missed the best part. Tony Blair said: "Oh yes, absolutely - in fact I knitted it." Which reminds me ... I just finished knitting one for Teddy Ballgame (size XXXL). But Greg, unwisely & unjustly, banned him, just as I was ready to send it. Anyone know the address of Teddy's new hangout?

Your wish is my command. Goodbye Teddy, you are now banned from these forums. Dear sir! Teddy didn't "wish" to be banned. And what he said about me doesn't bother me a bit. As Oscar Wilde always says: ... "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." SO THANKS TEDDY BALLGAME, WHEREVER YOU ARE! And ANY good rightwinger will agree with Teddy's assessment of Geriatric. I truly wish you'd reconsider. Thanks in advance!

Bush is from a German background so he comes by his fascination with pigs honestly. He was just honoring his guests by showing the same love of eating "schwine" as his hosts. I was just in Germany this month & went to an Indian Restaurant. They had Curried Schwine, Butter Schwine, Tikka Schwine etc on the menu. This is called adapting to the native culture ... as Indians don't eat pigs ... but they knew the locals did. Smart & sensitive owners. It's an infinitely more polite thing to do than the local Muslim community in Regensburg who came out in full shroud regalia with crescent moon flags flying in the main square on a Sunday ... with three Cathedral bells ringing & people streaming into church. I have to say that by the reaction of the locals ... it will be much easier to be a Muslim in the Great Satan America than in Europe when push comes to shove. The stony faces & silence that greeted that parade bode far worse for their Islamic aspirations than in America where the puppy dogs just try & make friends & put up with anything in the name of "multiculturism". Anyway ... I hope Bush enjoyed his schwine ... I certainly enjoyed every pig part I ate there.

If it was up to me I'd head-butt you out of here in a Mississauga minute. Greg The Legend of Lethbridge may take a little longer, but when he does, here's something to pass the time with. http://www.addictinggames.com/zidaneheadbuttgame.html Speaking of Zidane .... I thought of you when Pete McMartin put out his "top ten" of what Materazzi might have said to Zidane in the Vancouver Sun. "Teddy Ballpark would have done a MUCH funnier top ten", I thought. Honest.

I thought Adam Radwanski must have read my mind when he wrote this: http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/columni...7c0a571a43d&p=2 And were it not for this statement .... "Zidane shouldn't have snapped" ... I would still think that he did & accuse him of plagerism. Zidane didn't snap, he knew PRECISELY what he was doing & why he was doing it.

You say he's a stooge, I say it was a heroic act. Let's let the public decide. We should have a pretty good idea in a few days or weeks. Want to make a friendly wager? I don't think either of us would collect on that bet because not many people will specifically call it a "heroic act" and no one, and I mean NO ONE, will call him a "stooge" for it. The better bet would be on whether that gentle head-butt will make him a "BIGGER" or a "LESSER" hero in the eyes of the public. I say BIGGER!

You say he's a stooge, I say it was a heroic act. Let's let the public decide. We should have a pretty good idea in a few days or weeks. Want to make a friendly wager?

I nodded off a bit waiting for replies to my posts here .... ZZZZZZZ.