kimmy

The introductions from the Republican debate were great! Poor Dr Carson. I wonder if Trump waited with him so that he wouldn't feel as embarrassed by the whole thing, or because he was thinking "Carson wants to come out last to get the biggest applause. Well I'm not letting him do that." Also, gotta love the moderators completely forgetting to introduce Gov. Kasich until Gov. Christie offers to introduce him. -k

In an occupation where your ongoing success depends on the goodwill of the audience-- actor, broadcaster, entertainer, athlete --people get canned for all kinds of reasons. Too old, too fat, too annoying, falling popularity, expressed unpopular views, told distasteful jokes, failed to uphold employer's public image... I think it's reasonable to suspect that details about Ghomeshi's private life would have had negative effect on his ratings even if criminal charges hadn't been filed. I'm also curious to know how a wrongful dismissal suit would sound. "Your honor, our claim is that the CBC was wrong to dismiss my client when it did, when CBC's internal report shows he should have actually been dismissed way earlier." Does that sound like a winner? -k

Free college tuition probably helped a lot, but his support includes people well past college age too. I think his larger appeal is to people who are dissatisfied with vast and quickly broadening inequality, "too big to fail", "too big to jail", and in general people who saw what a gigantic flop "Hope and Change" was on bringing either "hope" or "change". -k

I'm biased towards Fury Road, as I completely loved it, as well as because it's the only one of these that I've actually seen. However, it's a certainty that it won't win, if for no other reason than it's the wrong genre. I do intend to see The Martian and The Big Short and maybe The Revenant sooner or later. -k

This seems like an odd time to bring up western alienation... as a political factor, I don't think western alienation been at a lower ebb in my lifetime. Do you really believe that a group of politicians just sit down at a table and declare "this shall be a Resource Economy!" or "this shall be a Manufacturing Economy!" and it becomes so? Unless you're in China, politicians don't sit down and draw up a Five Year Plan as to what goods and services their constituents will produce, or, more to the point, what customers around the world will buy from their constituents. We're always grateful to have products and services that customers around the world need, whatever industry they may be in. And while you feel that the high dollar is to blame for the collapse of manufacturing in Ontario and Quebec, I'm not convinced that the dollar is the biggest factor in that. We could also look to globalization and extremely cheap labor and shoddy environmental practices in other countries where costs of production would be lower whatever the Canadian dollar exchange rate were. The rest of Canada has done very well for a very long time by money generated by the western Canada energy industry. And it will do so again. -k

Oil would have had to become cheaper than seawater before Alberta stood to benefit from the "cushioning" part of the NEP formula. -k

He might get acquitted of the criminal charges against him, but CBC was absolutely within their rights to terminate him for the stuff he did as an employee. He treated the women in the office like crap, and while that's not a criminal offense, it's certainly reasonable grounds for termination. -k

Not sure why, but... -k

The most shocking statistic to come from Iowa: How badly Sanders beat Clinton among young voters. How bad? Almost as bad as Obama beat Romney among black voters. Among voters under 30, Sanders beat Clinton 84-14. He also won by 21 points among voters 30-44. Conversely, among voters 45-64, Clinton won by 23 points. Among voters 65 and older, Clinton won by 43 points. Hilary should spend some time thinking about why she's been so thoroughly trounced among young voters. -k

Hillary has raised the bar for women in lots of areas, and I certainly respect her for that... but I still don't believe she's anything except another spokesman for the status quo. As with Condoleeza Rice, I can respect her achievements while not necessarily supporting her politics. -k

Arguing about the actual contents of the Quran is really unproductive (and getting really tedious, as well.) PorchDog, I'd suggest that if you're really interested in the subject, perhaps starting a new thread in the Religion section would be the way to go. The contents of the book isn't what matters. It's the contents of the followers' heads that matters. And it's ludicrous to suggest that all Muslims are the same in terms of their outlook or the extent to which they incorporate their faith into their day to day life. . -k

Chris Christie on tonight's results: "I haven't seen the results." And he didn't see those George Washington Bridge emails either! HIYOOOO! -k

I've always hoped we might see a female President, a female Prime Minister of Canada (I'm aware that "other" Kimmy was PM for a few months, but I'm not sure it counts...) ...and I desperately wanted to like Hilary too. I was pro-Hilary in 2008 and I don't know if my views have changed much or if I've just become disenchanted with her in particular. I'd still like to see a female President some day... just a little disappointed that it couldn't be somebody better. -k

John Scott apparently has an engineering degree from Michigan Tech... so he's probably a pretty smart guy, and could go get a real job when he's done hockey. I don't even care. This has been the best underdog story in sports in a long time, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. -k

Who are you hoping for, Shady? It seems to me you've backed more "mainstream" candidates in the past... are you hoping for Rubio this time? -k

"Truthfully it's a below average state and I wouldn't build a hotel here or a golf course here until they improve this state. Iowa just isn't up to my standards. I love Iowans but this state has some serious problems and I'm done here until they get it fixed." -not actually Trump's statement. -k

...and he ultimately finished 2nd behind Romney. I get your point, that Iowa success doesn't mean a successful campaign... but is there a counter-example? Somebody who got completely crushed in Iowa... say 2.8% like Jeb Bush... and went on to win? -k

Mike Huckabee officially threw in the towel a few minutes ago. Jeb Bush, Kasich, Christie, Fiorina, Santorum, and Gilmore all finish with under 3%. I had no idea Santorum was still in it, and I still have no idea who the heck Gilmore is. There doesn't seem like any light at the end of the tunnel for this group. Perhaps Jeb could stay in the running based on the premise that he still has lots of cash and maybe could gain support if somebody else packs it in. The rest have no reason for hope. On the Democrat side it's now 49.9% to 49.4% for Clinton over Sanders. -k

As I check, it's showing Clinton at 50.1% and Sanders at 49.2%, but it shows both with 19 delegates. I gather that on the Democrat side Iowa isn't a "winner take all" state? -k

That's outstanding news, eyeball! Both in regards to your heart, and the aliens. -k

I think it's fairly silly to criticize the CBC for jumping at the opportunity to produce what was probably a widely-watched program (by their standards at the very least) at minimal production cost. It seems like a rational business decision. Likewise I can't blame the Prime Minister for taking advantage of a PR opportunity like this. I still haven't had a chance to watch the actual programme, however. -k

Most people do, but not Hilary. She wouldn't need to earn another penny even if she lives to be 200. I just find her incredibly disingenuous. She sees Sanders' pitch for Wall Street reform resonates with voters, and she starts running around shouting "heeey! I'm tough on Wall Street too! I'm super-tough on Wall Street!" People point out that bankers and hedge fund managers are shoveling money into her campaign like coal into a steam engine boiler, and she starts yelling about how it's because of 9/11 that they support her. People want to know what goes on at her press-only audiences with Goldman-Sachs, and she starts hollering about "young people" and how "progressive" she is. It just makes me feel cynical about her. -k

I didn't watch this. Is it available online or something? I assume this whole exercise probably falls under the heading of Public Relations, as a slick marketing exercise. Like "Canada's Economic Action Plan", but less expensive. -k

Agreed. I really liked the mini-tournament format. There still wasn't much physical play, but the teams were clearly serious about winning, and I think the last thing anybody expected was to see a defensive struggle break out at the all-star game. I think this was by far the most entertaining all-star game I've ever seen. And the John Scott story was ... heartwarming. That second goal was a true sniper shot. If that's the last we see of him on NHL ice, what a way for him to go out. Aside from 2 goals, he also threw the biggest hit of the game, and had a "fight" with Patrick Kane as well. It was all just tremendously crowd pleasing... it couldn't have turned out better if they planned it. The players obviously rallied around him, and it probably gave Team Pacific extra motivation. And considering he's now earning an AHL salary and has twins on the way, I'm sure the prize money will really come in handy too. -k

Guys! The causes of the Crusades and WWII really has nothing at all to do with the topic at hand. -k