If you head out for a weekend getaway, and the traffic looks something like this
You might be in Saskatchewan.
….
If longing to see something green means driving two hours north
You might be in Saskatchewan.
…
If you pull up to your motel room, and half the vehicles in the parking spaces have tracks
You might be in Saskatchewan.
Howard Stern, Whine Jock.
Is it just me, or is Howard Stern turning into a whiny tit?
Howard came back after the break and said he has some bad news. He said that the future of radio is coming to what he thought it would. He said he’s wanted to be on radio since he was 5 and knew that he would change the way people talk on radio. He said it was his stupid destiny. He said he finally got on the radio and got on in Philadelphia and Los Angeles and he’s even changed the way people talk on TV. He said that his tim has passed though and he’s become too much of a symbol in this country that is out of control to the religious right. He said they’ve been organizing for the past 15 years or so trying to get him off the air. He said that they’ve been targeting his advertisers and trying to censor him. He said he has made the big mistake of getting political.
He’s made a career for himself as a risk taker, and now he wants a risk free environment.
I actually like Stern well enough to listen to him when travelling in the US. But give it a rest, Howard. When you push the envelope, sometimes, the envelope pushes back.
If you were broadcasting in a country in which there were no rules or regulations, in which there were no possibility of enforcing decency norms, you’d be busting your ass in a real job. Without the envelope, there can be no “Howard Stern”.
Stern could always move here to Canada , where both he and the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers are banned by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council and where watching Fox News is a criminal code offense.
update – Added to the Beltway Traffic Jam.
more – at Instapundit
Light Blogging Ahead
Dog show weekend, so activity here will be light. Go check out some of the folks on my blogroll.
Is Nader The Spoiler?
Via Drudge Report, the first post-nomination poll is out showing Kerry and Bush in a virtual dead heat.
The speculation is that Nader is the spoiler, bleeding off Democrat supporters.
Bush and the four-term Massachusetts senator, who emerged as the nominee Tuesday after a string of primary race wins over several rivals, have been running close or Kerry has been ahead in most recent polls that did not include Nader.
Since Nader entered the race Feb. 22, campaign strategists and political analysts have been trying to assess the impact of another presidential bid by the consumer activist whom Democrats blame for Al Gore’s loss in 2000.
Well, maybe. But if this proves to be a genuine signal that the enthusiasm for Kerry is already waning, it suspect it’s due to Edwards supporters moving to Bush. No doubt Nader may have skimmed off a few from Kerry’s left, but more likely he’d motivate the type who would refuse to commit to either Bush or a Kerry, the previously “undecided” who needs a third option to even want to vote.
Admittedly, I haven’t seen much of either on TV, and none of the debates. But it’s been my impression that hawkish Democrats were more comfortable with Edwards than with Kerry, and with Edwards out of the race, they can’t bring themselves to wobble over in his direction.
disclaimer: I reserve the right to be full of shit.
We Were Decieved!
The country is in shock, I tell you. Our own Poster Family for Multiculturalism has admitted
“we are an al-Qaeda family”.
Ahmed Said Khadr and his family first came to national attention in 1996, when then Prime Minister Jean Chretien intervened on his behalf to gain his release from Pakistan, where he was being held on suspicion of financing the bombing of the Egyptian Embassy in Islamabad.
He and a son were killed, and a second paralyzed, in a raid on an Al Queda camp on the Afghan-Pakistan border last year. Another son is in US custody at Gitmo. The admission came by way of a fifth, Abdullah Khadr, who was recently released and made his way back to Canada. Of course.
CBC news interviewed the remaining family members for a documentary.
Now, could someone please shoot the mother, before she gets another chance to reproduce?
Tommy Douglas Is Still Dead
Today, the Saskatoon Health Region announced that they will be closing up shop the last few days of March. March is the end of their fiscal year, and they’re $7 million in debt. Cancelling the surgeries is expected to save an estimated $200,000. Well, not save, of course… defer.
Saskatoon Star Phoenix:
After waiting for four years for knee surgery, a Saskatoon woman has been told she’ll have to wait even longer because the Saskatoon Health Region (SHR) can’t afford to do the procedure this month.
“I’ve waited for four years without too much complaining. I’ve been really patient because I realize there were people who needed it worse than me. But it’s got to the point where I need it as bad as anybody right now,” said Joyce Ratke, who learned this week she won’t have both knees replaced as scheduled on March 30.
One of 60 people being affected by the cancellations, her case is considered “elective”.
The annual budget of SHR is over a half billion dollars. $200,000 is a drop in their annual budget. The surgery moratorium has nothing to do about cost overruns, and everything to do with putting pressure on the politicians, and making a splash in the media. This time, though, the local media seems to be “on to them” and the decision is backfiring on the SHR.
I have a friend who works in the higher echelons of Sask Health, and she sometimes phones to vent her frustrations at the bloated unionized wages and threats to pull services whenever they need leverage for contract demands.
I told her the provincial government’s solution to reset the mindset of these “essential employees” could be summed up in 4 words.
Reagan. Air Traffic Controllers.
I had to explain what that meant.
The Dead Zone
Elena is a 25 year old who lives in Ukraine. She offers this motorcycle travelogue of the Chernobyl “Dead Zone” today.
The word CHERNOBYL scares holly bijesus out of people here. If I tell someone that I am heading in “dead zone”… you know, what I hear.. In best case- “are you nuts?” My dad used to say that people afraid of a things which they don’t know. Dad is nuclear physicist and he also says that of all dangerous things he can only think about one, which is riding on fifth or sixth gear on my bike.
Her site is on Angelfire – I suspect it’s going to get too much attention for her bandwidth allowance, but bookmark it for later, if you can’t get through.
hat tip = Politburo Diktat
Fun, Prizes, Trips
Wizbang has a new photoshop contest. It promises to be fun.
update: My entry
John Kerry: The first haughty French-looking heiress President
Question:
What was John Kerry’s name before he married Teresa Heinz Kerry?
update and reflection
I am not unaware of the fact that, as a Canadian, my commentary on American politicians is uninvited, and in some cases, unappreciated. Even uninformed.
But there’s something about gold-digging botoxed opportunists like Kerry, who marry into money, that evokes strong feelings in me.
Sure , one of them is jealousy. But, living next door to the US is like having Liz Taylor for a mother. Every few years she marries some new husband, and you’re the wretched stepchild who has to live with the choice. I didn’t like Clinton either, for somewhat similar “gut reaction” reasons – he reminded me of every married car salesman who ever hit on me.
Code Talkers
James Joyner remarks on another good reason to use linux the creativity of the recent email virus making the rounds. Hard to believe they’re written by these little pottie mouths
Inside Bagle.j, the eighth variant to debut since Friday, and which first showed Tuesday, is text taunting Netsky that reads “Hey,NetSky, f*** off you b****, don’t ruine our bussiness, wanna start a war?” (Not exactly Shakespeare, and the hacker’s spell-checker must not be working.)
Or maybe this is payback for the “whole-word learning” movement.
Within Bagle.k, a new variant that appeared Wednesday, is similar text, said Sophos: “Hey, NetSky, f*** off you b****!”
Netsky.f, another worm discovered Wednesday, sports a retort, according to analysis by F-Secure. Tucked inside its code is the line “Skynet AntiVirus –Bagle — you are a looser!!!”
Takes me back to the good old days in alt.hackers.malicious
Filling A Void
Well, now I know what to get the men on my Christmas list.
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Mr Benestad, a doctor and a well known transvestite, says the book will feature 80 to 100 photographs of penises. He hopes that most men will be able to find a penis similar to their own in the book. “Heterosexual men have no one to compare their penises with,” he said. |
Odd. Most of the heterosexual men I know seem more interested in comparing boobies.
Home DNA Extraction
No, not that kind of dna extraction – DNA extraction from wheat germ
Neat little science project for the kids. It’s probably not as dramatic as throwing oxyacetylene-filled balloons into a bonfire, though.
Mary Walsh, Still Not Funny
Jaeger skewers Mary Walsh, and it looks good on her.
Speaking of taxpayer-funded nonsense, what’s one to make of this interview with Mary Walsh? Mary Walsh is the warrior princess of the CBC’s This Hour Has 22 Minutes, who regularly subjects conservative politicians to haranguing monologues. Here she is taking a run at Alberta Premier Ralph Klein’s health care reforms:
Well, I already talked to Jean Chretien about it, but what is Ralph Klein up to? What does he want? I think he’s just drinking too much. I think he should just get off the liquor. Personally, Ralph Klein, cuz he really has that kind of, now, this is the fourth time he’s trying to drive through this private health care legislation; nobody wants it, not even the people of Alberta and he’s still doing it. He’s just like one of those drunks. He’s got a bad hangover. I don’t even know if he drinks, but just to me, it appears to me that I’m not making any kind of libelous statements about Mr. Klein and his relationship with a scotch bottle.
Now that’s the kind of classy, cerebral policy analysis we fund the CBC to do. Perhaps you’re not aware that Mary Walsh has a personal interest in health care. She is suffering from macular degeneration, which would have left her blind had she gotten the usual Canadian treatment of being stuck on a waiting list for several months. But instead she’s been rushed off for two urgent eye surgeries – in St. Louis.
She continues to read her leftist harangues off of a teleprompter albeit with large type. That she can see at all is thanks to surgery performed in private American clinics, yet she continues to rant against private health care. All the time funded by Canadian taxpayers, of course.
Another good Canadian blogger. Don’t let the “Trudeau” in “Trudeaupia” scare you off.
Pubic Hair and Ladybugs
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has announced the winners of the 6th Annual Teddy Awards.
Ottawa: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) held its sixth annual Teddies Waste Awards Ceremony to honour the best of the worst in government spending at a black tie news conference today on Parliament Hill. CTF Federal Director, John Williamson, acted as master of ceremonies.
The expected spending scandals are listed, of course. But there are some lesser known gems.
Worst Use of Props — Pizza 9-1-1: The Ontario city of Kawartha Lakes’ fire department has offered to deliver pizzas to residents as part of a fire safety promotion campaign. If Kawartha residents own a working smoke alarm the pizza will be free.
It reportedly didn’t take long before residents realized that there was no limit set on the number of “smoke detector inspections” you could order to your door.
Manitoba Arts Council put up $5,000 to fund Aliza Amihude’s jewelry made with her toenails, pubic hair, mouse droppings and dead ladybugs. We are told one necklace sold for $360. No word yet if the “art” proceeds will be repaid to the Arts Council or dedicated to psychologist bills.
The complete list of award winners can be found at the organization’s website.
Western Alienation, Pt III
A poll result obtained under access to information reveals that the feds really don’t like to have these types of polls made public;
Globe and Mail
Ottawa – The federal government was told Western alienation had reached disturbing levels just after Canada ratified the Kyoto protocol, with almost a quarter of one Prairie province saying it wouldn’t care if they joined the United States
…
Twenty-three per cent of Saskatchewan residents said they would not be too concerned if their province joined the United States, more than in either Alberta or Quebec, where 19 per cent expressed that view.
The poll may help explain why Prime Minister Paul Martin has made Western concerns a key priority while moving cautiously on the Kyoto file. Although he criticized his predecessor for lacking an implementation plan, Mr. Martin himself has not introduced one.
No suprise there. That’s the price of political expediency. Kyoto sells in the greater metropolitan Toronto area. When east-west interests are in conflict, the west is politically expendible. But things get trickier when energy and resources are on the table.
Unlike Quebec, if the western provinces did choose sovereignty, we exit with the bulk of Canada’s energy resources. Screw with our energy based economy at your peril – Peter Lougheed demonstrated that during the National Energy Program crisis of the early 1980’s.
The sense of belonging to Canada among Westerners has dropped sharply in the past decade, the Ekos study notes.
No shit, Sherlock. And in typical fed fashion, the Liberal government commissioned a poll. As if the the Reform-Alliance near sweep of the west in the past two federal elections weren’t a clue.
Nectar Of The Gods
Another best-kept-secret of Saskatchewan spilled in the media.
A series of Molson USA print and radio ads points out that the zinc in Saskatchewan barley is also common to oysters and truffles, known for their amorous properties.
“Here at Molson, we’re constantly asked if our Saskatchewan barley is an aphrodisiac,” one print ad states. “Those rumors are unfounded,” the ad concludes.
Well, all I can tell you is that I got friends – not naming names, mind you – but I got friends, who went out for a few brewski’s – and you know, woke up naked.
Not saying there’s a connection, mind you, but, I’m just saying is all.
G. Gordon Liddy
The same, from Watergate fame. Interviewed by the incomparable Frank J. of IMAO.
Frank: As everyone knows, men love firearms and attractive women; what gave you the idea to combine the two?
Liddy: When I was a boy, of course, you had girly calendars in every garage, factory, and everything else that you could think of. And, when I was a boy, you could walk right down the Main Street of town – you know, if you were 13-years-old or so – with your firearm on the way out to the woods to shoot squirrels and so forth. Then that became politically incorrect – both of those things became politically incorrect, and I wanted to make a statement against political correctness, so I combined the girly calendar and firearms.
Frank: That’s a nice way to make a statement, but has your calendar ever drawn controversy from people who dislike women or are against the objectification of firearms?
Bullseye
Miriam B�dard is a national Canadian hero in an unlikely sport – she won two Olympic gold medals in the biathlon at the ’94 games. The sport combines cross country skiing with target shooting.
She’s a national hero again today. Her attempts to draw attention to bloated invoices during her employment in the marketing department at Via Rail, resulted in being pushed out of her job. With the Adscam scandal being dragged into the full (partial?) light of day, she put her former boss, Jean Pelletier, in her crosshairs. She wrote to Prime Minister Paul Martin relating what had happened.
Pelletier, a Chretien appointee, had some choice words for her.
“I don’t want to be mean to her, but she is a weak and pitiful girl, a girl who does not have a spouse, as far as I know. She has the pressures of being a single mother who has financial responsibilities. Honestly, I find her pitiful.”
(B�dard is married, and drives a BMW. )
Today, Paul Martin had some choice words for Jean Pelletier. – “Clean out your desk”.
Mary Shelley Vs God
There’s a fair bit of indignation in the media and ’round the blogosphere this week about Bush’s replacement of two members of a bioethics council formed to advise him on thorny issues of reproduction and scientific research. Glenn Reynolds weighs in with a Tech Central Station column:
Why, indeed? A ban on this sort of research might condemn millions to unnecessary early death. It’s certainly the sort of thing that ought to be debated in an election year. And that is sure to be. Does Bush want to be portrayed as the minion of religious extremists who’d stifle science even at the cost of lifesaving medical technologies? If he doesn’t, then he’s going about things all wrong.
Only in the western world is succumbing in late middle age to a disease like Parkinsons considered an “early death”. Those lifesaving technologies being developed to treat disease of middle age are extraordinarily expensive. Our health systems are under huge funding pressures for a very simple reason – treatment technologies cost more to develop and deliver than the average health care consumer is actually worth as a taxpayer.
Research that crosses into the realm of human reproductiion and genetics requires careful monitoring and public debate. Bush is being accused of stacking the deck to place people on the panel who are more likely to give him advice he wants to hear. That’s a fair enough criticism, and one I agree with, if true.
But I have noticed something odd about this particular poli-scientific debate. The media spin on this is, as usual, from the secular, liberal “default” position – “Bush is allowing his personal religious beliefs to obstruct important research, undermining American leadership in scientific advancement.”
For the past decade, stunning advances in the field of genetic engineering of food crops have been realized – golden rice, engineered to produce pro-Vitamin A; Roundup Ready canola has allowed farmers to dramatically reduce the number of herbicides required. GMO wheat awaits approval. This excellent article in Atlantic Monthly summarizes the progress and the promise.
Yet, this promise is seriously threatened by fearmongering. Europe and Japan are invoking policies on GMO crops that suggest they are the minions of the environmental churches of Greenpeace and the Sierra Club.
Advances in agscience that can truly save millions from an early death and malnutrition, aid the preservation of environment and do so for pennies a person are being thwarted by European governments, mindful of Green party, environmental and consumer group influence. Proposed GMO labelling requirements and threats to close borders to transgenic crops effectively keeps many from becoming commercial.
Many of the same types who would criticize Bush for including religious opinion on a scientific panel debating the use of fetal cells – are those who refer to transgenic crops as “Frankenfood” .
Biblical scholars have no place in scientific discourse, but Mary Shelley does?
Update: David Bernstein explains my ambivilence about the appointments, and a lot better than I could
Blogging The Oscars
I’ve never blogged a live event before – we’ll see how it goes. I’ll just update this single entry and see what happens. If it begins to suck too much, deleting one entry is easier.
First impressions… red carpet interviews … the countdown clock and photo feature-the-actor inserts remind me of pre-race Kentucky Derby coverage with tighter dresses and dumber athletes.
4:00 to go. . these people get scripts for a reason.
3:20 … it’s a thoroughbred theme night, no question…. Seabiscuit, Depp’s “horse of a different color” comment and that Copolla chick’s teeth.
The orchestra begins… what? no big opening number? Sean Connery had dental work earlier today, by the sounds of things. The Billy Crystal naked thing worked. Not much else. ARGHHHHH!!!! Michael Moore.
Some of these people actually paid a professional to give them my bed hair.
Crystal’s sing-the-movies schtick is getting old.
Supporting actor: Zeta Jones looks great. Tim Robbins wins. More bad hair. Oprah moment about child abuse.
(I bet the Americans are getting cooler ads, just like the Superbowl)
(in the interest of full disclosure: the only movie I’ve seen of all those nominated is LOTR. I’m hoping it wins for the solitary reason that the blonde elf guy is about the sweetest male thing alive on the planet today.)
One down: LOTR Art Direction. I agree with this choice, as a former Art Director.
Heh. Robin Williams still has it. Finding Nemo beats two things I never heard of. (I forgot – I saw Finding Nemo) for Best Fish Story.
Two. LOTR: Costumes. Speaking of which, Renee Zellweger is wearing a big Kleenex.
Supporting actress: Kleenex lady. Now I know why – to have somewhere to blow her nose, poor tearful thing. Did I just hear her thank the Canadian Automobile Association?
Bob Hope Is Finally Dead Retrospective… camera pans to Mickey Rooney. I’m sure he appreciated that.
Some guy is reading off the phone book. I don’t know what he won. Bathroom break time.
eeeeeeyyikes.. what the hell was Liv Tyler thinking? The Addams Family Librarian?
Where was I? (dozed off during the best songs)
Three: LOTR for something else.
Too bad everyone was half asleep for the Blake Edwards wheelchair gag. My God, this is slow.
Four: LOTR for Makeup. Five: LOTR for Sound Mixing. Sandra Bullock for Best Lampshade Dress.
Documentary for Fog Of War. Here comes the speech… millions died in a rabbit hole in Vietnam. Thanks to McNamara. Apparently, this movie kept McNamara out of Iraq, and that’s done some “damn good”.
Everyone, check your Dead Pool entries.
Where were we? Six: LOTR – some music thing? and Seven: LOTR, film ediiting. This can end any time now. *yawn* Eight; LOTR, Best Original Song. (There were songs in LORT?)
Barbarian Invasions gets Foreign Film. Americans look bewildered. Canada is a foreign country? Master and Commander gets a second award, for cinematography. I’m losing track of stupid dress awards. Has an American film won anything yet?
How long have we been here? I’m thinking of chewing my paw off…..
Nine, LOTR, for screenplay. Get that poor bag lady off stage. Susan Sarandan is threatening a Janet moment, if only gravity will assist a little. Sophia Coppola wins for original screenplay.
Ten, Peter Jackson….. LOTR.
Actress. Charlize Theron. (We are reminded that this is an occupation in which 13 year olds can be considered for the industry’s highest achievment awards. Which means that it’s almost as hard as passing a driver’s test.) Two wins in a row for an African-American woman.
OscarTrivia Question: Which of this year’s nominated movies had no actors?
Sean Penn gets best actor. And a standing ovation? Johnny Depp is sniffling behind his bangs.
Lord Of The Rings makes it a “clean sweep”. Now, somebody get Jackson a comb.
Deconstructing Nanny
I’ve belonged to a fair number of email groups over my years on the net. My current list is a fairly typical snapshot of what lands in my email inbox, and are devoted to the following interests:
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Topic Gnu Image Manipulation Program Canine Genetics Mark Helprin (novelist) l Honda CBR motorcycle owners Yamaha RD (vintage) motorcycles All-breed Canadian Dog Shows Local All-breed Kennel Club Bernese Mountain Dogs Miniature Schnauzer club list Miniature Schnauzer private list Mensa Political forum |
posting frequency almost never frequently almost never on occassion almost never on occassion never never on occassion frequently seldom |
The atmosphere on these lists ranges from the dry and highly technical, to the completely unmoderated where the highlights include inspired forays of insult exchange, featuring four-letter-word derivatives that would embarrass a longshoreman.
Why mention this? Because on a great many of these lists, there exists a small subset of self-appointed netiquette nannies. And because there are others who do not subscribe to their personal code of conduct for online discusson, they conclude that we must be unaware of what we are doing. The solution? Enlightenment.
Here, is a sample of one such pronouncement that recently graced my inbox, recieved second hand. In my own little world, these essayists are nearly exclusively the domain of dog club lists. Dog clubs are a bit unlike other lists, in that a great number of members are likely to be “real life” friends, enemies, competitors – or a schizophrenic combination of all three. Thus, debate has more than a passing electronic existance.