Not ready for prime time

I'm not sure really how much we need to worry about the QMI news agency and Fox News North problem -- judging by the content of CNEWS lately, their stories will be about one step up from the National Enquirer.
Today's 12 front page stories include these seven gems:

Russian spy goes public with sexy shoot
Sea monster or big fish in BC lake?
Sex offender busted babysitting
Home invasion horror for Toronto family
Australian lizards on verge of evolutionary leap
Road rage gets British man 9 years
Victim says couple 'like the Bernardos'

Check them out if you want, but I cannot be bothered to post a CNEWS link on my blogroll anymore.

Coward

I feel about former Republican National Committee chair Ken Melman finally coming out as gay the same way I felt when Robert McNamara finally apologized for the Vietnam War.

Too late, you scumbag. Too late.

Shorter

Shorter PMO spokesperson Dimitri Soudas:

Small fish in a big pond

Oh, who cares about where the PCS head office is located, or how nicey-nice BHP Billiton is talking about how wonderful we are.
Here's what worries me about BHP taking over Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan.
Instead of our potash being owned by a company which needs to continue to mine it to make money, our potash would be owned by a company which could well afford to shut it down if they want -- maybe to sell it cheap to China, or maybe to play hardball with the province to cut royalties, or maybe for a thousand other reasons which make sense to BHP shareholders but hurt Saskatchewan.
As Jeffrey Simpson says "The company spans the globe. Potash will be but one part of a mining empire, and Potash Corp. will be but one part of that empire."
Saskatchewan's future will be a small fish in someone else's big pond.

Thought crimes

Now that the charges against the G20 protesters are finally being heard in court, the darkness at the heart of this story is being revealed. 1,100 arrested, 800 of those jailed but never charged, 67 charges now dropped, withdrawn or stayed -- including the guy who wrote "Shame on you" in charcoal outside the Toronto police station.
So there are 227 charges remaining, some of them actual crimes like vandalism , but others which sound just about as stupid as the ones which prosecutors dropped.
Toronto Star columnist Thomas Walkom provides the analysis of what was happening in Toronto that weekend in June :

...what occurred at the G20 was a massive and quite possibly illegal array of pre-emptive arrests. People were picked up and charged not because they were doing anything wrong – not even because they were about to do anything wrong.
Rather they were arrested and charged because those in charge of the police found civil liberties inconvenient. Their thinking: If everyone who might conceivably cause trouble is put in jail, there can be no trouble.
It is the totalitarian’s recipe for public order.

My friends at the G20 protests were outside a subway station 20 blocks away from any protest when they had their own run-in with this police attitude. First they were targeted by police because they saw police arresting someone else and didn't move along fast enough. Then they were almost arrested themselves because they had a legal aid phone number written on their arm, which apparently was interpreted as proof that they were thinking of breaking the law.

It's the most wonderful time of the year

Dr. Grumpy shares his advice on shopping for school supplies:

Today's issue will focus on what I discovered to be a horribly traumatic life-altering experience: Back-to-School week at OfficeStaplesMaxDepot. There's one right across the street from my office, so I go there regularly for supplies. It's quiet, the employees are generally helpful, and I know my way around it pretty well.
I naively thought this would be easy.
So on to the lesson:
1. Do NOT volunteer for this job (flip a coin, or arm wrestle, or have a duel to decide instead). Silly me. When Mrs. Grumpy was wondering when she'd have time to get the school supplies, I volunteered. I figured "How hard can it be? Hell, it's just some pencils and a bottle of glue". DUMBASS!!! The list is HUGE, and features items from the mundane (No. 2 pencils), to the specific (Expo dry erase markers, wide tip, in blue, green, yellow, and black) to the odd (1 Pringles can with lid, original flavor, empty). It took me 2 freakin' hours!
2. Be prepared. Normally there are 5-10 other quiet business-type people in there. NOT THIS WEEK! Holy Crap! An African street bazaar is an orderly affair compared to this! Deranged parents running on caffeine! Kids running amuck! Store clerks running for their lives! And all the crazed parents are trying to read off a list, push a cart, yell at kids, text, and scream into a cell phone at the same time. Bring a water bottle, food, a map, a cattle prod, and a flashlight. A card with your blood type, hospital preference, and next of kin is also a good idea.
3. Do not leave your cart unattended. People will steal your shit out of it. I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP! I had my cart 2/3 full with the crap on my list, when I left it at the end of an aisle to go find notebooks (spiral, wide-ruled, 100 pages each, single subject, 1 red, 1 blue, 1 green). When I returned 3 minutes later about half the stuff I'd already put in it was GONE! I watched a few minutes later as it happened to others. Apparently, when you walk away from your cart, people think it means they can raid it for supplies they haven't had a chance to pick up yet. "Hey, this guy has those index cards (2 sizes, lined and unlined, 100 each) that my kid needs. Cool. I'll scratch that off my list".
...Best part was when I went to ask an employee for help finding something (Flair Correction Pens, in 4 colors). When I got back to my cart the box of 12 ultra-fine tip Sharpies I left in it had been opened, and someone had taken one of them. They'd even doodled on the shopping list I left in my cart to make sure they were taking a pen that worked.
Oddly, you can leave valuables in your cart. Your wallet, purse, and gold jewelry will be perfectly safe if left unattended, but the $2.69 box of high-lighters (12 markers, large tip, in 3 colors) will vanish.
My recommendation: bring a child to guard your cart, preferably one with an iron bladder and who's old enough to use a Taser or firearm if needed. If your kids don't meet this requirement, stop by Home Depot and hire one of the day laborers who hangs out in front looking for work.
4. Do not look for certain numbers of things. The people who make these lists have no idea how things are sold, so it lists things as "1 Expo dry erase marker, chisel-tip, red). Great. They don't sell red ones individually, just in boxes of 4. Or the Flair Correction Pens don't come in only 4 colors, but they do come in 8. Just buy it. If you aren't certain what item the teacher wants, just buy everything in sight and return the rejects later.
Alternatively, if the teacher only wants 1 of an item, such as, say, an ultra-fine tip Sharpie (which only come in boxes of 12), you can always look for an unattended cart with a box of them in it, and take one. If paper is handy, try doodling on it to make sure you are stealing one that works.
5. Hold your place in the check-out line AT ALL COSTS. Reserve it as soon as you walk in the store BEFORE shopping. Use a child (preferably your own) if possible. Other options include day laborers from Home Depot, mannequins, dogs, and aggressive Venus Fly Traps.
6. When in doubt, ask the bleary-eyed, terrified employees for help. If nothing else, it's fun to watch them try to convince you that they don't speak English as they run outside for a cigarette.

For Barb

Observations

Two peripheral observations which came to mind when I was writing my last post:
First, if Harper hates civil servants who object to his policies, how much more he must hate the Access to Information laws which allow journalists to find out about the battles. I would think ATIA itself now has a even more prominent place on Harper's enemies list.
Second, if the Liberals or anyone else thought that the end of the Zaccardelli era in 2006 also marked the end of the RCMP's covert support for the Harper Conservatives, they were wrong.

The ideological hammer

When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.
When all you have is a conservative ideology, as the Harper Conservatives do, then all solutions are ideological.
Here's another example:
In Macleans, John Geddes writes about the secret history of the RCMP and Insite, noting how some RCMP leadership changed their views about harm reduction as they actually reviewed and discussed the research findings about the Insite project. Geddes concludes his article with this question:

The question now is whether these revelations about the undisclosed evolution in the RCMP’s perspective on the Insite experiment will have any impact on the government’s determination to end it.

No, they won't.
This has been another edition of Simple Answers to Simple Questions.
I've been writing articles for several years about the Cons war against Insight -- and RossK at The Gazetteer made key connections to the Bush Justice Department and the Haters' Club.
I think we can conclude, without fear of contradiction, that on the part of the Harper Conservatives there has never been the least indication they understand anything about drug use and how to deal with it realistically. They're against drugs because it is Conservative ideology to be against them and don't bother them with the facts!
(H/T The Jurist)
UPDATE: Mr. Sinister describes the refusal to participate in the reality-based community as the unbearable lightness of being a Conservative.

More members for the League

The League of Extraordinary Canadians is increasing by the day -- 900ftJesus and, in comments, Beijing York provide more nominees:

Luc Pomerleau, biologist, Food Inspection Agency for whistleblowing.
Douglas Tipple, consultant, PWGSC, set up then fired for his advice on real estate.
David Rotor, consultant, PWGSC, set up then fired for his advice on real estate.
Arthur Carty, National Science Advisor, phased out.
Alan Leadbeater, Canadian Information Commission, dismissed
Johanne Gelinas, Environment Commissioner, dismissed for a scathing report
Jean-Guy Fleury, chair, Immigration & Refugee Board, resigned out of frustration
Jean-Pierre Kingsley, Elections Canada, stonewalled, resigned while investigating the CONs
Louise Arbour, UN High Com. for Human Rights, was refused support on 2^nd term, publicly rebuffed
Steve Sullivan, victims of crime ombudsman, term was not renewed, publicly took issue with the Harper government's tough-on-crime agenda.
Sheridan Scott, Competition Bureau head, ran afoul environment minister, quit after being told her appointment would not be renewed.
Deanna Allen VP Canadian Wheat Board, fired by Harper appointee Arason following Measner's firing.

The Liberals are compiling a Harper Enemies List too.
Canada is being governed by Dick Cheney North.
UPDATE: Chantal Herbert makes the story mainstream and calls out the MPs and Senators who are letting this happen.

Saturday Morning Cartoon

Whitewash coming

This Toronto Star story likely foreshadows the emerging whitewash of the G20 "reviews" now underway.
So, what happened in Toronto during the G20 protests was this:
Toronto police were trying their very best and events unfortunately spiraled out of their control sometimes and they were spread so thin that they couldn't arrest any black bloc when they were actually vandalizing police cars and breaking windows because they were busy trying to get some blood to a hospital and really all of the trouble was the protesters' own fault because they had allowed themselves to be infiltrated by the black bloc and the protest leaders hadn't denounced the bloc tactics so all of the protesters were guilty until proven innocent and the Toronto police are just trying to protect the safety of the people of Toronto.
Oh, and nobody knows who ordered any of the police to do anything they did all weekend, like blocking protest routes after telling protest organizers to use those routes, and arresting people for no reason, and not feeding prisoners or giving them water, nope, they just can't figure out who was giving orders for anything so no-one can be blamed for any of that, it certainly wasn't the fault of the Toronto police who are just trying to protect the safety of the people of Toronto.
Oh, and we should all be grateful, GRATEFUL, to Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair who went to the police command centre for five minutes on Sunday and took charge in a masterful yet firm way to order the ketteling to be stopped because he was just trying to protect the safety of the people of Toronto.
Oh, and we really shouldn't bicker and argue anymore because if there's one thing we can all agree on, it is that we all learned some very worthwhile lessons from the whole experience that will really help in the future to protect the safety of the people of Toronto.
So there you have it.

Shorter

Shorter Prime Minister Harper:

L'Etat, c'est moi

Don't let the door hit you on the way out

After seven years, the last U.S. combat brigade left Iraq today.
Yes, there are still 50,000 US troops there, as "advisors" -- its not the end just yet, but it is the beginning of the end.
And the unprovoked US attack on a country which hadn't attacked either them or their allies will go down in history not only as a cruel and brutal war crime, but a pointless one at that.

I was a stranger, and you took me in

Stephen Harper explains why Canada apparently shouldn't take in Tamil refugees even though we signed the UN refugee convention half a century ago:

"We are responsible for the security of our borders and the ability to welcome people or not welcome people when they come"....when hundreds of people come to the country outside the proper channels, it leads to “significant security concerns,” he said.

I'm not quite sure what the "proper channels" are for refugees from the other side of the Pacific Ocean, but arriving in a boat doesn't seem particularly outlandish to me.
I sincerely hope we will see a less hysterical reaction, from our politicians and from the public, as we learn a little more about these people -- like the woman who apologized that she couldn't be handcuffed because she has only one hand.
And by the way, getting the Navy to turn away future refugee ships without giving people the opportunity for a hearing would be unconstitutional.