$15.3 million? Oh, never mind

Mint officials double-counted some gold bullion they sold, and also underestimated the shrinkage of the gold during processing.

Well, OK then. And you know those taxes I'm supposed to be paying you next April? Well, there's gonna be a little shrinkage, just a few bookkeeping errors really, but don't you worry boys, you'll get most of it, I'm sure...

That clunking sound

That clunking sound you hear is the other shoe dropping on the Afghan prisoner torture story.

Watching the game

You could shoot a cannon down Saskatoon streets right now -- everybody's watching the game.
Go team, go!!!
UPDATE:

Psalm 109 verse 8

You know, if it was Muslims who claimed they were "joking" about killing Obama, the American media would be outraged. But its people who call themselves Christians, so never mind...

Great line of the day

About the Con attempt to smear diplomat Richard Colvin, POGGE writes

But it doesn't matter how faithfully you serve this government. If it becomes convenient for them to throw you under a bus, then under the bus you go.

This is just the latest example in a long line which demonstrates that the Harper government values loyalty above all else, not competence or principle or accomplishment. God help us all if these guys ever get a majority.

Word salad

More word salad from Sarah Palin

O'Reilly: Let me be bold and fresh again. Do you believe you are smart enough, and incisive enough, intellectual enough, to handle the most powerful job in the world?
Palin: I believe that I am because I have common sense, and I have, I believe, the values that are reflective of so many American values. And I believe that what Americans are seeking is not the elitism, the, um, the, ah -- kind of spineless -- a spinelessness that perhaps is made up for that with elite Ivy League education and -- fact resume that's based on anything but hard work and private-sector, free-enterprise principles. Americans could be seeking something like that in positive change in their leadership. I'm not saying that that has to be me.

And considering that Palin cobbled together courses from four colleges to get a degree, and since has spent almost her entire working life being paid a public-sector salary, she really means it too, you betcha!

Lipstick on a pig?

Hillier says Obama can rally Canadians to support continued Canadian participation in the war in Afghanistan

Whether Canadian troops stay or leave Afghanistan could largely depend on the eloquence of U.S. President Barack Obama and his ability to rally western nations, says former chief of defence staff Rick Hillier.

Uh, no, you can't blame it on Obama -- even Obama can't put lipstick on this pig.

Jiggery--pokery

The bloom is off the rose when it comes to the Saskatchewan Party and the provincial budget-- and they are being called on it. The Star Phoenix editorial says:

...Although the minister argued he has been able to keep Saskatchewan's books in the black, it was only due to such jiggery-pokery as tapping into the questionable Growth and Financial Security Fund and using one-time revenue of $275 million from the sale of the Crown's share of Saskferco.
. . . . relying on [resource] revenues to fund operating expenses isn't a sustainable long-term strategy.
Worse still is for the government to be spending projected revenues from volatile resource sales before it actually has the money in the bank.

Murray Mandrky blasts them:

What was most disturbing about Thursday's mid-year Saskatchewan budget update wasn't the bungled $1.8-billion miscalculation of potash revenue, nor was it necessarily the throw-caution-to-the-wind decision to wager the equivalent of 20 per cent of our annual spending on a volatile resource at its apex and likely to face some level of decline
It wasn't the startlingly unwise decision to spend the one-time sale of Saskferco assets to cover off the day-to-day operations of a government, nor was it the lack of anything vaguely resembling an austerity plan to deal with what might be another year of decline.
. . . What was truly most disturbing was the complete and total lack of humility we saw from this Saskatchewan Party government, which should damn well be embarrassed by its own incompetence right now . . . What is it about running government that you don't understand?

People are angry and it's going to get nothing but worse for Brad and the boys. And I'll bet at least a few of them are thinking about that dropped lawsuit right about now.

I'm sure its all Obama's fault

I noticed this story -- KKK Planning Protest Of Ole Miss Football Game -- because the coach who brought the Riders to their last Grey Cup, Kent Austin, is now an assistant coach at Ole Miss.
Here's the disputed song, with the offensive "The South Will Rise Again" chant:

The Klu Klux Klan says it's all the "librulls" fault:

"We aren't coming there to cause problems or cause trouble," Tate said. "Trouble has already been caused by a handful at Ole Miss, including the black student body president, who wants to shape Ole Miss into yet another liberal sodomite college."

I'm not exactly sure how gay rights got into the mix, but hey, the more the merrier.
And if there is a riot -- and considering this is the last home game of the season between two bitter rivals, who would be surprised -- I'm sure the GOP and Fox News will figure out a way to blame it all on Obama.
UPDATE: How deeply ingrained is the belief that "The South will rise again" ? Read this.

Deny, deny -- and wait it out

Here's the news coverage chart from Google News , which lists 350 recent stories about Canadian complicity in torture of Afghan prisoners now posted in Canadian news outlets and in newspapers around the world:

Here are the marker stories:

A - Mackay and I, on Afghanistan
‎Nov 17, 2009‎ - CBC.ca
B - Canada complicit in torture of innocent Afghans, diplomat says
‎Nov 18, 2009‎ - Globe and Mail
C - Tories attack credibility of diplomat who blew whistle on torture
‎8 hours ago‎ - Globe and Mail
D - Tories refuse demands for inquiry into torture allegations
‎1 hour ago‎ - Toronto Star

You can see the outline of the government strategy here -- refuse to answer questions, shoot the messenger, blame the enemy, deny everything, and wait for a shiny new ball to bounce past and distract the media.

Homework

Excellent article -- How one family won the battle to ban homework. I know exactly what those parents were going through night after night with the homework overload -- the vast majority of homework is just about worthless educationally, and don't get me started on the "projects".
My kids had several excellent teachers and some positive experiences. But I have often said that the day my youngest graduated from Grade 12 and we were finished with the public school system was one of the happiest days of my life!

WATB* of the day

CTV is threatening to take its ball and go home.

Canada’s largest private broadcaster, CTV, said it would pull its signal or block out popular programs unless it can agree on a new financial deal with cable and satellite companies.

I hate this kind of bullying pseudo-blackmail stuff from a company like CTV, which has had 40 years of national TV advertising revenues.
My reaction is, OK, fine -- stop broadcasting and close up shop, if that's what you want. We'll just watch what we want online until Global and CBC can pick up your slack.
*In case you've forgotten, WATB stands for Whiny-Ass-Titty-Baby.

Numb whackiness

Bad Astronomy has a post about clearing snow off your car, and has lots of comments from people who live in areas where it doesn't snow very often. Here's the funniest:

I live in an area that sees serious snow perhaps every two or three years. This reduces people to a state of numb wackiness. Who knows what they’ll do. I’ve talked with people who won’t scrape all of the snow off their car because they don’t want to leave it in their driveway.

Shorter

Shorter Globe and Mail editorial on chosing the next Governor-General:

Here's how we can stop Harper from picking a yes-man for the next Governor-General!

The wrong decision

Ski jumping is the only Winter Olympic sport restricted to men.
And that's just fine with the Vancouver Olympic Committee and the British Columbia courts.
The BC Court of Appeal made the wrong decision when it denied the women ski jumpers:

...an earlier court decision had found that, while the women were discriminated against, in breach of the Charter, Olympic events are determined by the IOC, which is beyond the Charter's reach.
'The Canadian court system is a little bit weak if it can't stand up to the IOC and apply Canadian law,' Ms. Vonn said. 'It seems the IOC can come in here and do whatever it wants.
'I mean, it's 2009 and the Canadian courts can't even uphold their own laws about discrimination and equality. From my point of view, it's pathetic and a little bit sad.'

More than just a little bit.