kimmy

CBC article Oops. Needless to say, he's been misunderstood. The comments were made on "The Michael Coren Show". -kimmy

Even if the allegations against Mulroney were true... he was alleged to have received $5 million in kickbacks, which is less than the sums that the Liberals have received in kickbacks from Quebec ad-firms. So the claim that "the Liberal scandals just don't measure up" is obviously quite false. The sponsorship scandal more than holds its own. -kimmy

Politics Watch, Oct 22 Politics Watch, Oct 20 Politics Watch, Oct 22 Do members of the Ottawa press gallery see their careers in reporting as their in-road to a 6-figure salary working for Cabinet Ministers? And if they do, how likely are they to be unbiased? -kimmy

If the intent of the quote is to illustrate a promise that Bush has failed to deliver on, this one isn't even in the top 10. If the intent is to illustrate Bush's inept turn with a phrase, it's not even in the top 100. -kimmy

I thought it was a fair question... does the lack of response indicate a lack of answers, or just a lack of interest? -kimmy

One of the most basic human instincts is fear and mistrust of the unknown. Why is it easy to convince Canadians that Harper and friends are scary? Because by and large Canadians don't know Harper well enough to say otherwise. Why aren't the same tactics as effective for the Liberals' opponents? Because Canadians know them too well. Canadians know that the Liberals will lie, cheat, and steal, but also know that they're at least not going to corkscrew the country into the ground or make scary changes. Given the choice between the comfort of familiarity or the fear of the unknown, people have decided that a little grift isn't such a steep price to pay for comfort. Overall things in Canada aren't that bad. They might have to get a lot worse before people decide to risk change. -kimmy

Here's the latest on Canada's best-known travel enthusiast. CBC article

I find the coverage this has received to be depressing. is a lot more sensationalist than Dimwits will read the headline and go... " Martin tried to ruin healthcare in Canada?! :o " There's a big leap from revising the Canada Health Act to implementing "US-style healthcare". In what way did Martin wish to make the Canada Health Act more flexible? What did he feel was in need of revision? I guess we'll have to buy Sheila's book to find out. Which is, of course, the whole point of this, isn't it? -kimmy

How about Ralph Nader? -kimmy

Not exactly on topic, but from that same article, ... what kind of sports-shooting requires assault weapons? -kimmy

"Rather than devolving more authority to provinces in areas like cultural affairs and international relations, perhaps the federal government, working with the provinces and particularly with Quebec, could establish Francophone and Anglophone Community institutions for jurisdictions in areas like the CRTC and the CBC, or the Francophonie, the Commonwealth and UNESCO." If Harper musing about giving linguistic communities control over the CBC and CRTC is actually an attempt to curry favor in Quebec at the expense of federalism, then what is Martin's "asymmetric" health deal with Quebec? Sounds like currying to me... and Roy Romanow seems to think it's a thread to national unity: ( CTV article ) And if the other part of Harper's comments, about giving Canada's Francophone community more say on the international stage, are so worrying to people... then shouldn't we be talking a lot more about the Liberals (you know, the party in power right now?) doing exactly the same thing, with Liz Frulla promoting the idea that her Quebec counterpart can represent Canada at international meetings. Of course, the idea was denied (kind of) by her cabinet colleague: (emphasis mine) ( CTV article ) They are not negotiating, they're just talking about it. If the idea is unacceptable to the government, then we certainly won't be seeing stuff like, say, Jean Charest bumping around with Vincente Fox at trade conferences. Again, I simply ask: if you guys are so worried about a couple of sentences made during a speech about a policy position that is still in the formative stage... shouldn't we be talking a lot more about the special considerations given to Quebec by the governing party over the past 2 months? You guys are raking Harper over the coals for *proposing* a policy idea that could give special considerations to Quebec... yet people have given the Liberals essentially a free pass over *implementing* policy that gives special considerations to Quebec. I have to ask how much of this scrutiny is because of the message, and how much is because of the messenger. -kimmy

Still no news on Khalil. Still no confirmation that the dead man is in fact Khalil. There is confirmation that Khalil obtained a visa to travel into Russia to visit his friend in Azerbaijan. Khalil, his travelling companion, and the friend in Azerbaijan have all apparently disappeared. -kimmy

Indeed. Why is Harper's idea so threatening? If you guys are worried about the ideas in Harper's speech, shouldn't you be frickin' terrified of what Martin and Co have done over the past couple of months vis-a-vis special status for Quebec? -kimmy

In all seriousness, what are people concerned that the CIA will use this information for? I assume sore throats and broken arms are of little interest to American intelligence. What sort of stuff *would* they be looking for in medical records? -kimmy

Well, I do sometimes buy computer crap online from the US, so I guess in theory a higher exchange rate is a good thing for me. Except the bank seems to rip you off on the exchange rate for credit-card purchases, so it might not make much difference anyway. Aside from that, the high dollar doesn't affect me. But if I worked in the manufacturing field, I wouldn't be planning any major purchases... -kimmy

Where would the USA be if they weren't 'allowed' their Civil War? Should England, France and Spain have invaded the USA and imposed a gov't by force (which would not be the 'will of the people') in order to avert 'too much' bloodshed? Say, aren't you the same guy who earlier criticized the Americans for not involving themselves in the Rwandan civil war because it didn't meet their 80,000:1 cost-benefit ratio? 4x=y? Does x represent Sunni casualties and y represent Shiite casualties? They must make their own way, and true freedom is never granted, but won if the will is there. I doubt that they'll be making their own way whether the US forces are there or not. If I was an average Iraqi citizen, particularly one of the Shiite majority, I would be very worried about what the future would hold if the occupying forces pull out before the provisional authority has any capability of maintaining order. I think they would be in for sectarian violence, and I would be worried about what the other side would be bringing to the fight. Certainly the people with the weapons and training and the willingness to fight to the death aren't moderates... and I believe you'll find that they're not Shiite, either, and many of them probably won't even be Iraqi. -kimmy

( Globe & Mail ) ( CTV ) ( CBC ) We don't yet know for sure that the body the documents were found on was actually Rudwan Khalil. There are other possible explanations. Perhaps the documents were stolen or taken from him by somebody who wanted to travel anonymously. We'll have to wait to find out for sure. Let's keep an eye on this. -kimmy

I once read an analysis of Bowling For Columbine which really highlighted how far Moore is willing to go to bend the truth to convey his message; as a result I've had little interest in seeing Moore's films since then. -kimmy

Yay! Light refreshments and free parking!! Good for them. Hasn't the disinterest of youth in politics been a topic of much lament, and the conservatives' inability to reach youth a particular worry for them? And yet her appeal to this demographic makes Stronach a target deserving of dumb sexist attacks? I've never witnessed Thatcher, Copps, Flora, Campbell in action. I did see Anne McLellan's election campaign, however. Although different in tone, the theme was somewhat similar. Large emphasis on the candidate's physical appearance, itty bitty mention that she was running as a Liberal. In McLellan's case, the photography was designed to make her look scholarly yet friendly, studious but fun, and assertive but not in pushy-assertive. I read an article about this in a local paper-- great care was taken in choosing the eyeglasses and hairstyle to convey the attitude they wanted. They weren't packaging beauty as Team Belinda arguably was, but they definitely put a lot of attention into creating an image, and the prevalence of McLellan's face on advertising during the election tells me that it was a big consideration in their strategy. I can't imagine why Campbell wouldn't have gone with lawn-signs proclaiming "Kimmy!" ...it sounds like a can't-miss strategy to me! uh, no Did he have a similar strategy when he entered poligics? Oh, I agree. The "old boys" didn't beat Belinda... they backed her, in fact, viewing her as more appealing to Ontario voters and moderate voters. It doesn't change my feeling about the kind of attention she received. I also bristle when I hear Harper attacked as Albertan, or Svend attacked as a homosexual. Generally speaking, politicians in Canada is a little smarter than that (or at least, they have been since the ad mocking Chretien's mangled grill blew up so badly on the PC party...) but not everybody seems to get the picture. -kimmy

In case y'all haven't noticed, the bloodbath has been going on for over a year now and is showing no sign of letting up. Do you think the humanitarian cost of the current fighting in Iraq would compare to the humanitarian cost of an all-out civil war? -kimmy

...but if anybody runs into Rudwan Khalil while they're bumping around Vancouver, let him know that he can pick up his driver's licence at the Russian security forces' Lost & Found desk. Thanks; -kimmy

I have read that Hal Anderson being #34 was, indeed, a stunt-- he and his co-host campaigned for their listeners to vote for him as the "Greatest Canadian". Which, I guess, points out the shortcomings of the whole concept. As for Don Cherry... he's an obnoxious loudmouth who talks like he's had a stroke. But I don't think his strong showing is a result of a scam or an attempt to discredit the CBC. I think his popularity is legitimate... I think a lot of people appreciate that he's a proud, unapologetic cheerleader for this country. And he might be the only person in mainstream media who's completely unafraid of speaking his mind. I think his popularity is evidence of qualities that people admire. How popular IS Cherry? I think it's well-known that Hockey Night in Canada has been by far CBC's most watched program for many years, and I have heard that Cherry's segment often draws more viewers than the game itself. I think that Cherry has established himself as something of a national institution. I don't think he belongs on a list of Greatest Canadians, but he's a Greater Canadian than Rick Mercer... -kimmy

Meet Hal! http://www.power97.com/jocks.php?p=hal ( http://www.power97.com/clubs.php ) One would hope that he has more to recommend him than hosting wet T-shirt contests and bikini Jello-wrestling events (although, that alone probably puts him among Winnipeg's cultural elite. ) -kimmy

"End the illegal occupation!" ...and let the bloodbath begin. -kimmy

I can't believe Rick Mercer made the list. Who would #51 have been; Ralph Benmergui? -kimmy