What Stephen needs to Do

As I do love to give free advice to people, I want to give some suggestions to our Prime Minister designate, Stephen Harper. You can thank me later Stephen. Here we go.

1) Pass the Federal Accountability Act. This should be done immediately. Do it before the corruption that is Ottawa begins to infect you and the Party. If you get it passed and make it as ironclad as you say, you will change the face of Canadian politics. Imagine a day when the PM and the PMO don't call all the shots and appoint everybody. Clean up Ottawa, immediately.

2) Appoint Jim Flaherty as your finance minister. The guy is smart, he understands the role and responsibility of being a finance minister. He will straighten things up.

3) Cut the GST. You promised this and do it. Fail and you'll be the next Jean Chretien.

4) Ignore Toronto.

and last, but not least

5) appoint me to the Senate. I promise I will attend meetings. Honest.

A Eulogy

Brothers and Sisters will you stand for a moment of silence
(pause)
Thank you, you may be seated. I would like to call upon Brother Paul to say a few words on behalf of the deceased.

Thank you Pastor Paul

Brothers and Sisters, we are gathered here to pay our respects to the political memory of Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, a man who desired and dedicated his life to one goal and that was to be what his father, the late and loved Paul Martin Sr couldn't.

Brother Martin was born and raised in the little city of Windsor Ontario, a place he called home, unless he was in Quebec, where he would never admit to being raised in Ontario. But I digress, Mr. Martin revealed a great acumen for business, and following graduation from the University of Toronto, he entered the legal and business profession. One of his prides was that of the Liberian, no sorry, Bahamian, again, my apology the Canada Steamship Lines. But all his success in business did not take away from his desire to remove the shame of his family. His secret desire was to have a Martin become both the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Prime Minister, a post his father attempted to attain thrice but never succeeded. To a family such as the Martin's this was a blot that had to be erased.

When the time came, Paul was able to win a seat in Montreal, which was the headquarters of the CSL. There he prepared for the day, the day he would be Prime Minister. Opportunity came in 1990 when a leadership convention was called to replace John Turner, a good man who proved to be totally inept as a leader. He challenged Jean Chretien for the position. The two men struggled against each other and used questionable tactics against each other. The result was a victory for Jean Chretien but the legacy was animosity bordering on hatred by both men for each other.

Still they worked together and in 1993, the Liberals, on the non-promise of scrapping the GST won the election and formed the government. However it was Jean Chretien who was the Prime Minister and Paul Martin felt the same sting of bitterness that had plagued his father.

For all the animosity, M. Chretien did recognize Mr. Martin's ability as a businessman, something he was not. He appointed Paul as Minister of Finance and allowed him the authority to tackle the economic problems of Canada. The task was daunting but Brother Paul took them on. He slashed the deficit and culled back the debt. He did by raising taxes and slashing federal transfer payments and gutting the Canadian Healthcare system. In other words, he attacked the deficit by cutting back on services that people depended on. He directed an army of the poor, the sick and the economically dependent

Brother Paul could you speed it up a bit.

Sorry Pastor Paul; needless to say his work won the plaudits and applause of business. He was considered one of the best Finance Ministers ever in Canada. he was so beloved that when a joke article appeared stating Mr. Martin had resigned, the markets sank. It was an April Fool's Day joke and the effect was a loss of value in the stock market.

Beneath all the applause was two things, hatred for Chretien and a lusting after the job of Prime Minister. Things came to a head in 2002 when M. Chretien fired Mr. Martin. The gloves were off and Mr. Martin became blatant in his desire for the job. Free of his cabinet responsibility, Mr. Martin toured the country drumming up support for his run at the top job and also gathering forces for a direct attack against M. Chretien. Chretien, perhaps seeing the handwriting on the wall, decided to retire as leader of the Liberal Party. A leadership convention was called, and as expected, Paul Martin won the job as leader of the Liberal Party.

It was then that tragedy struck the life of Paul Martin. His tragedy was not a death of a close loved one, or a debilitating disease, his was the greatest of all tragedies, he achieved his desire. All his life he wanted to be Prime Minister and finally it was his. He at last could remove the shame of his family and yet in that very fact, he added to the shame.

To say Martin was a bust as Prime Minister is to say the sun will rise in the east and that the atomic weight of cobalt is 58.9332 Amu. Within the space of 12 months, he went from the greatest finance minister to being referred to, by Clyde Sanger, the Ottawa correspondant of the Economist Magazine as Mr. Dither. His first challenge was to face the electorate. Af first it looked like a cake walk, but then people quickly cooled to the vision of Mr. Martin and quickly a sure win was turning into a sure loss. It was only after Mr. Martin reminded the people of Ontario that his opponent Stephen Harper was an Albertan and therefore evil did he manage to pull off a minority win. For the next 18 months, Prime Minister Martin danced and ducked and tried to stave off the inevitable. Also at the same time, the Gomery Report was released pointing out the corruption of the Liberal Party of Canada. The Liberal government, the report found had diverted hundreds of millions of dollars from federal coffers into the hands of Liberal friendly advertising firms, who would turn around and donate the money to the Liberal Party of Canada. The news shocked and angered Canadians, and Paul Martin, was left to explain it all. His defense was that as Finance Minister, the man whose job was to protect the public purse didn't have a clue what was going on. Needless to say this defence impressed no one. It did however energize the opposition and eventually the three parties gathered together and brought down the government.

It must be said here the election campaign of Paul Martin will be studied and discussed for years. People will write and declare the Liberal campaign of 2005-06 to be the most incompetent campaign of all time. It will go down in history as the Keystone Kops of campaigns. In fact the Martin campaign will probably be the new buzz phrase for unadulterated incompetence. To pull a Martin may be a phrase that will describe such complete ineptitude in future days. From making policy almost on the run without thinking, to RCMP investigations to managing to insult practically everyone in Canada, Martin's re-election seemed doomed. It was, on January 23rd the electorate spoke, and the Liberals were defeated. The fact that it is a minority Conservative government speaks more for the stupidity of the people of Toronto than anything Mr. Martin could have done.

The story ends that night, in front of the television cameras, Prime Minister Martin did the only honourable thing, he resigned as leader of the Liberal Party. This act saved the party from putting on an almost daily public performance of the assassination scene from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, with Paul Martin playing the title role.

With that we say farewell to the late, the lamented and the loutish Paul Martin.

Amen.

For this Saturday

I'm wearing my "We will Rise Again" t-shirt, so what better way to start the day then with singing...



The Ballad of Joss

Joss, the man they call Joss . . .

He wrote about spaceships and shepherds and whores,
Stood up to the networks and gave ‘em what for.
Fox cancelled his program, but that was their loss--
The creator of Firefly, the man they call Joss!

Our Joss saw the viewers’ hearts breakin’,
He heard the Browncoats’ lament,
He saw the Fox network takin’,
His show in a way that made no sense.
(He said) “You can’t do that to my program,
Can’t grind it under your heel.”
So he took all the cast,
And now at last,
They’ve landed a Big Damn Movie deal!

He wrote about spaceships and shepherds and whores,
Stood up to the networks and gave ‘em what for.
Fox cancelled his program, but that was their loss--
The creator of Firefly, the man they call Joss!

Now here is what separates Whedon,
From writers who slave in the core,
The man they call Joss,
Well, he said to Fox,
“I’m going where no show has gone before.”
He told us about reavers,
He told us about sin,
He took us to the black,
And we ain’t comin’ back,
‘till all those crazy Browncoats rise again!

He wrote about spaceships and shepherds and whores,
Stood up to the networks and gave ‘em what for.
Fox cancelled his program, but that was their loss--
The creator of Firefly, the man they call Joss!

Now, here is what separates Firefly
From other shows you’re likely to see—
It’s meaningful and witty,
And the setting’s really gritty,
And the theme song is about Serenity.
It’s a little like a western,
And a little like X-Files,
It’s better than Trek,
And funnier than Shrek,
And it beats out Andromeda by miles!

He wrote about spaceships and shepherds and whores,
Stood up to the networks and gave ‘em what for.
Fox cancelled his program, but that was their loss--
The creator of Firefly, the man they call Joss!

--James Hazlerig
fithelere@aol.com
www.BedlamBards.com

Straight Goods - Minority preferred - Conservatives' rise in popularity has been driven by Canada's elite, not majority.

I've got a whole lot to say about the election, but that's for an upcoming blog. What you think I wouldn't have any comments about the election???? Come on, I'm a political science major, elections are like my Super Bowl.

Let me say, I enjoy reading Linda McQuaig, I've got a few of her books and usually I find her comments insightful. However, this one I believe is totally out of whack. I am afraid her progressive left leaning conspiracy theories are coming to the fore on this one. Notice her comment it's not the people that voted the Conservatives in, it's the elite that did the dirty job on the Liberals. Notice as well, what sort of people support the Conservatives; " Graves says Harper's sudden rise in the polls reflects his increased support among only a few groups — primarily among affluent, older, predominantly male Canadians". Yes, it's those darn white males that are bringing them Conservatives into power.

What I find so interesting is there is no comment at all about the general disgust people had for the extremes of the Chretien-Martin era; the out of control gun registry, the HRDC boondoogle, the AdScam. None of those events even cast a shadow on those wonderful progressive Liberals, none of those are worthy of bringing down the government and causing the Conservatives to win, its those honkeys that are responsible. In fact have you noticed individuals such as Linda are quite silent over the issue of the scandals of the Liberal party; she was quick to write a book about the alledged scandals of the Mulroney Conservatives, which ultimately proved false, but the Liberal scandals no one seems to want to bring them up.

If someone is suffering from a blind spot, it's unfortunately people like Linda McQuaig. She can't see past her ideology and when people are reticient to follow it, well, it must be those darn rich right guys.

Yes I understand the inability for the Conservatives to win in the major cities. That is cities such as Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal; the only ones that count. I examined the top ten cities of Canada and these are cities that have populations over 400,000; Conservatives have representatives in five of them. Those cities are Ottawa, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg and Quebec City. I would say that each of those cities are relatively important, most being provincial capitals and one the nation's capital. Then again, I am afraid the popular elite seems to see itself only in the Toronto axis and only when the rest agree with it, are they included in the axis of evil.

In a way, it is sort of sad. I hope Linda enjoys the next two years andn more fulminating about how the country is being ruled by rich white older guys and urban Canadians, and minorities and rural people and francophones....

Peace and out.

Here is my
Election Day Rock n' Roll Fantasy

1) Conservatives garner about 165-170 seats. This is a majority government and a workable majority, none of these 180-210 range majorities that prove to be a disaster. Also it's enough but not large, to keep the party aware that they can't be arrogant about it.

2) NDP as Official Opposition. The role of the Official Opposition is two-fold, the first is to criticize the government and show what problems may exist in any piece of legislature and the second is to act as an alternative to the government, a government in waiting if you please. Both the Conservatives and NDP are parties of ideology and policy, there might be some very interesting debate over various issues. As well, there will be a clear difference, rather then one of character. Plus chances are the NDP will be acting as the Official Opposition anyway, see the next two points.

3) the Liberals are going to be busy putting on performances of the assassination scene from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar for the next little while, with P. Martin starring in the title role. They will be tremendously busy sharpening knives. While it will be wildly entertaining, won't provide much policy. Make 'em the third party, that way there won't be that much blood to mop up.

4) the Bloc, reduce them to the Rump. As I mentioned in the point of the NDP, the role of the Opposition is to provide alternatives to the government, hard to do that when you really don't care about the other 9 provinces and 3 territories. Gilles, you a cool guy, but life is passing you by, 4th place for you.

5) Get some Greens in the House. Will make it fun.


Just a couple of thoughts.


Remember to Vote

Study suggests ridding law banning polygamy

It's

Conspiracy Theory Time

Last Monday as you know, PM Paul Martin decided to announce his parties desire to remove the "Notwithstanding" Clause out of the Constitution. Now, enough have been written as to why that's a bad idea so I'm not going to discuss this. What is interesting is a policy paper that was released only a couple days later suggesting that Canada should removed the legal restrictions to polygamy. In other words, make it legal to have more then one spouse.

Let's consider a few things shall we; if politicians thought same-sex marriage was a hot issue imagine if Canada became the first jurisdiction in the Western World to allow for bigamy and polygamy? If there was a court challenge, and while this writer thinks no court would declare that section of the Criminal Code unconstitutional, let's just say that I wouldn't put it past the idiots who make up the Supreme Court of Canada to just that sort of thing.

So, in a case like this, the notwithstanding clause would ensure that marriage be limited to only two people at any one time.

So where does the conspiracy come to play? Consider this, in 1982, the year the constitution was repatriated, the Minister of Justice who also had responsibility for constitutional negotiation was none other then Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien. As the Minister of Justice and the fellow who signed it, he obviously had no problem with the 'Notwithstanding' clause. Even Pierre Trudeau thought the clause was important. So who would be the angriest about this who nonsense, but the man who brought it into being.

He no doubt has a large number of friends who work in the ministry and perhaps a few IOU's were called in.

No doubt they had discussed this, but the timing is suspect. Just one more way to discredit Paul Martin.

I would if he will qualify for EI?


Remember to vote on January 23rd.

Now this is Interesting

I came across this news item:

Martin would use notwithstanding clause to protect churches from gay marriage
18 December 2003
OTTAWA (CP) _ Prime Minister Paul Martin says he would use the notwithstanding clause in the unlikely event that the Supreme Court ruled churches must perform gay weddings.

Under the hypothetical scenario, Martin would be the first prime minister to use the Constitution's controversial veto clause.

``Oh, yes I would,'' Martin replied Thursday when asked during a yearend interview with CBC Radio whether he would ever use the clause.

But he emphasized that he would use it only under an extremely limited set of circumstances.

``I would look at it if it was a question of affirming a (religious) right,'' he said.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule next year on the federal government's controversial same-sex marriage legislation. The bill would allow gays to marry in civil ceremonies and in religious institutions that permit it, but would not force churches to carry out such ceremonies.

A devout Roman Catholic, Martin has repeatedly said he supports the legislation but doesn't want all religious institutions to be bound to it.

Martin has said before that he wouldn't use the notwithstanding clause to block gay marriage, as some critics have urged.



So at one time Paul had no problem invoking the Notwithstanding clause. Now he wants to get rid of it.

By the way the Liberals have this article on their website. Please notice the date, 2003, the same year that Paul also stated he would use the notwithstanding clause. Why do I think that little piece of information won't make it onto the Liberal website.

Martin targets Harper in election debate

Paul's big new promise last night was to amend the Constitution to remove the "Notwithstanding" clause.

Now if you heard that you may be asking yourself, 'self' what does it take to amend the Canadian constitution?

Here is what the Wikipedia writes about amending the Canadian Constitution: "With the Constitution Act, 1982, amendments to the constitution must be done in accordance with Part V of the Constitution Act, 1982 which provides for five different amending formulas. Amendments can be brought forward under section 46(1) by any province or either level of the federal government. The general formula is set out in section 38(1), known as the "7/50 formula", requires: (a) assent from both the House of Commons and the Senate; (b) the approval of two-thirds of the provincial legislatures (at least seven provinces), representing at least 50% of the population (effectively, this would include at least Quebec or Ontario, as they are the most populous provinces). This formula specifically applies to amendments related to the proportionate representation in Parliament, powers, selection, and composition of the Senate, the Supreme Court, the addition of provinces or territories. The other amendment formulas are for exceptional cases as provided by in the Act:

* In the case of an amendment related to the Office of the Queen, the number of senators, the use of either official language (subject to section 43), or the composition of the Supreme Court, the amendment must be adopted by unanimous consent of all the provinces in accordance with section 41.
* However, in the case of an amendment related to provincial boundaries or the use of an official language within a province alone, the amendment must be passed by the legislatures affected by the amendment (section 43).
* In the case of an amendment that affects the federal government alone, the amendment does not need approval of the provinces (section 44). The same applies to amendments affecting the provincial government alone (section 45).
". In other words, it isn't happening, especially if no one is interesting in doing this. That quote is taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_constitution#Amending_formula.

Why would Paul do this? Because he is desperate that's why. Nothing else has worked for him, so he chooses this issue that no one is interested in, in the hope no one will try to learn what it will take to amend a constitution. The 'notwithstanding' clause is there for a few reason, one is to correct an inbalance caused by a court decision. While it has not been used federally, it stands there poised to protect Canadians from a brain dead Supreme Court.

Nice try Paul. I hope you enjoy your retirement.

TheStar.com - Thugs know they won't be severely punished, says Rondi Adamson

It's the main point of all discussion, if criminals believe they can get away with it, they will. The justice system in Canada is a joke and everybody knows it. We live in a nation where child pornography means staying in your home for about a year watching television.

We live in a nation where embezzlement of government funds means a suspended sentence and being forced to give lectures in universities on the subject of "why you should not steal".

Rondi Anderson gives the right answer for dealing with gun crime: Rather than banning handguns, assuming that were possible, or wasting money on a gun registry (how many of the Boxing Day offenders do you suppose would co-operate with that?), how about a mandatory minimum prison term for gun crimes?.

Let's say that if you commit a crime with a gun you have a n automatic sentence of five years, and this is before the sentence on the particular crime. Let's also say that age is not a problem, if you commit a weapons related offence as a young offender you get five years, with absolutely no parole. Would this help, well, it certainly can't hurt.

The Globe and Mail: Liberal resigns over vulgar blog

Count this as another example of what

The Liberal Party Thinks of You

Okay the last time it was the fact that the Liberal intelligensia think you're incapable of being a good parent. Now we find find another high ranking Liberal decides its okay to use ethnic slurs against candidates of other parties. Yes by now we've all heard how Mike Klander has described Olivia Chow to a chow-chow. Or how Rahim Jaffer is an ethnic. Oh but Liberals will say, Mike is a great guy, he worked on Paul Martin's campaign team. He's a respected leader. I mean he supports diversity. In fact this is what one person said: Mike has been a long-time Liberal and holds the Liberal values of diversity and tolerance and inclusiveness so [making racial remarks] certainly wasn't his intention. His intention was to have a humorous site with some biting humour that he and some fellow Liberals could [read]. He recognized there's a couple of things that crossed the line.

No, let me tell you about the real Mike, he is a racist. He has to be, one doesn't wake up one morning and make racist remarks. Deep down inside him it's obvious he has problems with people of other races and groups running for office.

Another thing, he called people who wear cowboy hats, 'gay'. Oh wow, what a slam. Like you hear that word used as an insult in a lot of SCHOOLYARDS. In other words, besides being racist and homophobic, he's also immature.

Yes a fine outstanding Liberal.

The Globe and Mail: Martin aide apologizes for child-care comment

What the Liberals think about you

Every so often the Liberals will tell you what they think about you, the average Canadian. You'll not read about it in their campaign literature, or their rather dumb television ads, because that's too controlled, but every so often, someone like Scott Reid comes along and shares with you what they, the Liberals, think about us.

The incident in question was a debate on televison, Mr. Reid was criticizing the Conservative plan of giving families $1200 per year for each child under six, rather then developing a national day care program. The Conservatives want flexibility and want to give people the choice. But I digress, what is so fascinating is his comment about the Conservative plan. He said Working families need care," he said. "They need care that is regulated, safe and secure and that's what we're building here. Don't give people $25 a week to blow on beer and popcorn. Give them child-care spaces that work.

In other words, the average Canadian is an idiot and if given a few extra dollars would blow it on a case of 2-4 or microwave popcorn. Notice he didn't say, give families extra money ahd they'll blow it on food, clothing and shoes for their children. Nor did he say, if the children are infants, they'll blow it on formula, diapers or food. No, because in his mindset, the average Canadian can't be trusted to do the right thing. That's why the Liberal party is here, to control us. You see, they leave us just enough money to buy the basics and trust me, if they could get away with it, they'd tax us at 100& and give us all food stamps and coupons to purchase the goods we need.

Now someone might think this is just an isolated statement from somebody speaking before their brain started working, then you get Mr. John Duffy, another high ranking Liberal, who said that he agreed with the statement wholeheartedly. Again, this is the thinking of the Liberals, you are a simpleton. You can't be trusted, it is up to the Liberals to make sure we don't do anything dumb.

There's another thing about this, it's our money. You see governments do not make money, they take money. The return some of it back, but most of the time it stays with them.

Remember this is the same party that had no trouble giving millions to Liberal friendly ad agencies in Quebec. Money that was later siphoned off to the Liberal Party in Quebec by the way. They had no problem with that idea, but giving hard working Canadian parents $1200 a year is a problem.

Let me make a suggestion, let's set aside a special day to bring to the local Liberal campaign office, a bag of microwave popcorn.

Peace

The Issue that dare not Speak its Name

I'm talking about AdScam. The Gomery Inquiry revealed widespread corruption within the Liberal Party of Canada, yet the National Media, or MSM seems silent. Yes you have a few articles here and there, but no one seems to be pressing the issue at all.

I remember writing quite a while ago that if that happened in the States, the Press would have been all over it, in fact journalists would be fighting to break the news. This is because they would know whoever takes credit better rent a tuxedo because the Pulitzer is all but theirs.

As an aside, visit the Gomery Inquiry webpage and go to the section labelled Who is Responsible? Summary it makes for some incredible reading. In fact, make sure your local Liberal candidate sees it too. Why not drop a copy off at their campaign office. Plaster the sign posts nearby with it. If your liberal candidate is an incumbent, when they knock on your door ask them only two questions:

What Did you Know about AdScan?
and
When did you know it?

Peace

Christmas Elf Name

This is a bit of fun

Christmas Elf Name My Christmas Elf Name is Get your Christmas Elf Name at JokesUnlimited.com

CBC News: Martin takes aim at handguns

Why do I think this will not work. Sadly this is the typical knee-jerk reaction to a problem that is vaster then rap music. Paul wants to ban handguns in Canada. Yes an outright ban on them.

Now wait a minute, I thought the billion dollar boondoggle called the Gun Registry was supposed to deal with the problem of guns and crime.n Well it did in a way, it threatened to make law abiding citizens criminals if they didn't registered their guns by a certain date. I guess this means the program failed. In fact I think the problem with guns in Canada is most of the guns being used in crime aren't registered.

So why won't the ban not work, simple, criminals don't really care about the law. That's why they are criminals, they tend to break the law. Why Paul thinks the gun play will end because he has said so is beyond me.

Of course this is one of those motherhood issues, if you stand up and say this is idiotic, then you come across as being soft on crime, yadda yadda yadda.

What is needed is one of two things, perhaps even three. One, mandatory jail time for anyone who uses a weapon to commit a crime. Use a handgun, tack on a minimum ten years, no parole, no time out for good behavior. Straight ten years. Second, get a greater police presence in areas of high crime. Of course the problem with this is when you have a soft headed mayor like they have in Toronto who doesn't like the police. The third thing is give people more opportunity to better themselves through education and job training. Let's be honest a person holding down a good job is not likely to commit a crime. I realize this doesn't apply all the time but still.

Notice, nowhere did I say anything about banning guns, rap or Fifty Cents.

By the way, one more thing about Buzz's strategy, it will backfire. People will vote Liberal instead of NDP and that might mean a strong Liberal presence with an almost non-existent NDP. Hope you like that cushy federal appointment Buzz. Oh by the way, ever read Dante's Inferno, there's a special place called Coctyus, it's the place reserved for traitors.

Election 2006

I have to admit this was a shocker at first, after all the President of the CAW endorsing the Liberals. What would be the possible motivation for such a thing. Of course Buzz Hargrove's answer would be along the lines of a Liberal minority government backed by the NDP will ensure a socially sensitive government. It will be the case of the tail wagging the dog, in other words the NDP will be to extort all sorts of policy that would not normally wouldld be there.

Then I realized the awful truth, Buzz Hargrove is interested in only one thing and that is Buzz Hargrove. Why would Buzz support a party that has no interest in any socially enlightened policy, three words Cushy Government Appointment. I'm sure there's some federal agency that Buzz could become the president of. Perhaps some agency that has to do with workers' rights or something. Buzz is getting old and looking for some well paying job with a great pension.

Would Buzz sell out his party for selfish interests?

In a New York Minute.

Peace

Sympatico / MSN Entertainment : Celebs : Gossip : Paris goes pop

Consider with me the failed strategies of the RIAA.

1) Get court injunctions against P2P companies-all this did was foster the development of other less centralized P2P software.

2) Sue everybody who has a computer- slowed down file sharing for a bit, but it's back.

3) install rootkits on CD's- ended up getting everyone mad at Sony. By the way, Sony is now on the receiving end of lawsuits.

All those have failed but now the Recording Industry has produced a plan which will guarantee the end of file sharing- allow no talent gorms to launch music careers. Paris Hilton wants to be a pop star, what wasn't Ashley Simpson painful enough?

Now some may say that I'm being a bit unfair, how do I know Paris Hilton is talentless? Ask yourself this question, has she exhibited any talent with the exception of getting her name into the press?

Oh and a message for Pete Waterman, you're considered a genius, the mark of real genius is to know when to turn down a project that will forever scar your reputation.

Peace

Free Office Suite

Thought I would take a few minutes to talk about my new favourite office suite. As you can see by the title, I've included the word "free".

No, I'm not talking about downloading some illegal copy of Microsoft Office, rather I'm talking about Open Office 2.0. It's available at this website. It features all you want in a suite, a word processor, spreadsheet, database and a presentation program. I've been using it and truly enjoying it. There was a bit of a learning curve just finding the features I require that I was familiar with, once that happened I'm off and running.

I highly recommend this latest manifeatation. Also, because it's open source we can all play a part in its enhancement and improvement.

Support Open Source Software.

Peace

I got this book out of the library and spent the last week reading it. I wasn't sure about it, considering it was written at the end of the 20th century. The premise of the book is that the children of the Baby Boom are the ones ready to take over the Internet. They are so used to it and so comfortable with it that they put their elders to shame. It is a very positive book which is in contrast with much of what the mainstream media still produces about the Internet. The MSM reports that, you can find the formula for Crystal Meth, or there are nothing but predators using the 'Net and all that stuff. The author, Don Tapscott based his book on observation and conversation with members of Generation-N. He has a webpage based upon his book, it's called Growing Up Digital. One point he makes is that this generation is growing up away from Television, in fact he has one part of the book that refers to the Net as being the antithesis of television. Television is states is passive, you sit there and watch absorbing what ever message that is comihng across.

Now we have the Net and what impressed me was his comment on the interactivity of the Internet, which is active. Certainly many thought the Net would be just television on computer, again one way with very little interaction. He says it's the opposite and all this was written before Blogs and before IM really took off.

He mentions the difference in politics between the two, my generation produced the 20 second sound bites and commercials that do not discuss or articulate opinions but rather simple demonize the other side. Certainly with an election coming in Canada, we will see this, Paul Martin will declare Stephen Harper and the Conservatives have a hidden agenda or they are Anti-Canadian, you know the usual stuff. Generation Net on the other hand believes in interaction, they want answers and not fluff.

If this is true, then this may be a very interesting election. I wrote last time an open letter to Bono telling him how things operate in Canada, visualize an election where Paul faces thousands of very angry U2 fans, who believe the same things Bono does, who believes we need to do more for Africa for example.

I wonder, speaking of the election, if this will be the election in Canada where blogs come to their own, like the 2004 election in the States?

My one 17 year old daughter is very disappointed about the election, she turns 18 two days after the election, she so wanted to vote. She is going to vote Green.

By the way, I'm listening to the the Mighty Q, Bill Waters states if the Liberals are returned to power, he will never vote again. I have to agree. Listen if you think that all politicians are crooks so why bother, then you are letting those who are corrupt win.

More about the election later.

Peace

ottawasun.com - Ottawa and Region - He still hasn't found what he's looking for

Dear Bono

Welcome to the cold harsh reality of Canadian politics. I hate to say this my friend, but you were used by Paul Martin.

You see Bono, Mr. Martin cares not a whit for Africa or the needs of that continent. Yes he will say he is concerned, especially if there's an election coming and he needs a famous celebrity for a photo op ( which is a photo opportunity-just in case you didn't know), but otherwise, Africa means nothing to him and his government.

While the name is Liberal, the policy of the government is more monetarist and isolationists. This is a government that would rather squander millions on their friends use government funds on concrete social policy.

I must point out to you that the current and past Liberal governments have a litany of broken promises and while you are 'mystified' by the failure of Paul Martin to come across with more aid, here in Canada, it's just one more broken Liberal promise. Something we have sadly become very accustomed too.

One word of advice, the next time Paul Martin calls you, tell him your very busy.

By the way, the concert you and the band put on in Detroit was incredible.

Your fan

Paul

Aerial by Kate Bush

As you may have heard, Kate Bush has ended her 12 year hiatus with the release of the new CD, Aerial. It is an amazing CD, it has all the uniqueness and warmth one remembers from Kate Bush. It at times, seems a combination of Kate and one of those "Nature Solitude" CD's, equal parts relaxation and nature sounds. However it is better, since it has some incredible lyrics and her voice will simply mesmerize you.

Go ahead, get it. I've already put it on my iPod.