Heartless Need

Just to let everyone know, I am currently writing a trashy novel called Heartless Need.

It’s all about a government secret agent named Dirk Warren who with the help of beautiful scientist Arlene Julia, seeks to stop Geneshare, an evil high-tech company which is selling the toxic drug Zitrel to terrorists.

Ok none of the above is true.

I just found a cool website called Name-O-Rama which generates names for companies, novels, bands, drugs and boys and girls, and I was just fooling around with it.

But you know, now that I think about it maybe Heartless Need would make a good novel.

Devil's Dictionary

Came across this online version of the Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary. Even though it was written 100 years ago, it's definitions still ring true today.

Here are some examples:

* APOLOGIZE, v. To lay the foundation for a future offense.

* CONGRATULATION, n. The civility of envy.

* CYNIC, n, A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.

* CHRISTIAN, n. One who believes that the New Testament is a divinely inspired book admirably suited to the spiritual needs of his neighbor. One who follows the teachings of Christ in so far as they are not inconsistent with a life of sin.

* BORE, n. A person who talks when you wish him to listen.

* COMFORT, n. A state of mind produced by contemplation of a neighbor's uneasiness.

* PATIENCE, n. A minor form of despair, disguised as a virtue.

* PEACE, n. In international affairs, a period of cheating between two periods of fighting.

* POLITICS, n. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles.

* SELF-ESTEEM, n. An erroneous appraisement.

* ULTIMATUM, n. In diplomacy, a last demand before resorting to concessions.

* VOTE, n. A freeman's power to make a fool of himself and a wreck of his country.

Going Green?

These are heady days for the Green Party of Canada.

The media is fawning all over Elizabeth May, the party’s new leader, rumours abound that suspended Tory Garth Turner will become its first MP, and a new poll shows that 28 percent of Canadians agreed with the statement: “I would vote for the Green party even if they can’t win.”

Yet the one sticking point for the Greens is that no one really knows what they stand for other than they are “pro-environment.”

And when you look at their platform, it quickly becomes apparent that the Greens are actually pretty red.

One example, is their cultural program. It’s just old-fashioned cultural protectionism mixed in with statist elitism.

Here’s what they call for:

* Increase support for community arts programs and facilities across Canada by establishing stable base-funding at a set percentage of the federal budget.

* Establish stable base-funding for young artists.

* Protect Canada's cultural identity during trade negotiations.

* Expand support for regional arts festivals that bring new Canadian art to a wider audience.

* Provide stable base-funding for the CBC to provide quality television and radio programming in both official languages.

* Direct the CRTC to reserve more bandwidth for independent and non-profit stations.

* Introduce a law mandating cinemas and video chains to have 20 per cent Canadian content.

In other words, it looks like the Greens don’t care about polluting our environment with “art” no one wants to see.

1968 Redux

I was glad to see the St. Louis Cardinals win the National League pennant, because it sets up a rematch of the 1968 World Series, which in my humble opinion was one of the best on record.

But that's just my bias, because the '68 World Series is one of my earliest memories of baseball.

And it was a classic that featured the Tigers coming back from a 3-1 deficit to take the Crown.

Game 7 pitted fireballer Bob Gibson of the Cardinals against Mickey Lolich a portly southpaw in a dramatic showdown.

In those days, World Series games were played during the day and I was lucky my school principle permitted a TV to be set up in the gym.

Oh the Tigers and Cardinals also met in the 1934 World Series which also went 7 games, but even I am not old enough to remember that one.

Curing American Health Care

One book on my "Must Read" list, is The Cure: How Captialism Can Save American Health Care.

The title alone makes it worth reading, but the real appeal is the author: Dr. David Gratzer.

Dr. Grazter is one of Canada's most articulate and intelligent critics of the socialist health care model and a man whom I greatly respect.

It will be interesting to see his comments on the American health care system.

Bryan Media Update

For some media coverage on the Paul Bryan constitutional challenge see here.

I will also be appearing on the Dave Rutherford Show on Wednesday at about 12:30 PM EST to discuss this case.

Debate Kit

The hotel I am staying at in Ottawa provides complimentary ear plugs to help you sleep.

It occurs to me, they would also help you endure the Liberal leadership debates!

Bryan in Court

Just got back from the Supreme Court of Canada, wich today heard Paul Bryan's challenge to the election blackout law.

Paul's lawyer did a great job in making his case as did the lawyers who argued on behalf of the media and Canadian Civil Liberties Association who were interveners.

At least, their arguments made sense to me: the censorship law violates free speech and is unenforcable in this day and age of the Internet.

Now we wait.

It could take the Supreme Court of Canada up to six months to make a ruling, but they might come down with a snap ruling should an election be called.

Until that ruling comes, I will only say nice things about the Supreme Court.

Except for this -- In the lobby of the Court building they have little known facts about the Supreme Court's history.

Did you know that in 1879 some MPs wanted to abolish the Court to save money?

Now those were cost conscious politicians!!

Year One Complete

This marks the first Blogiversary of Making Sense with Nicholls.

Yup, it has been 365 days since I started posting my thoughts, opinions and other oddities on this cyberspace journal.

And I think I am getting better at it, thanks to my keen political sense, my brilliant writing ability, but thanks most of all to my shameless willingness to rip off other people's ideas.

Is this blog making a difference in the world?

Not a bit.

But it's like the old saying goes, against stupidity the blogs themselves contend in vain.

David Suzuki Must Love North Korea

This satellite image of the two Koreas at night is getting lots of media play.

The bad news is the North Koreans don't have much electricity.

The good news is they have more than met the Kyoto One Tonne Challenge.

Blackout Law

I have an op-ed in today's Globe and Mail web edition, on Paul Bryan's historic battle against the election blackout law.

That's the law which makes it a crime to transmit voting results from regions where the polls are closed to regions where the polls are still open.

Paul, who believes this law is an infringement on free speech, has been battling this law for six years.

And the National Citizens Coalition has been there all along the way to help.

As I say in my Globe article, this blackout law is not only undemocratic, it's also archaic.

Update:

I will be talking about this case with Stirling Faux on The CHQR Morning News at about 10:45 EST.

A Principled Foreign Policy

The Canadian Coalition for Democracies placed a full page ad in the Globe and Mail and other papers today outlining a "principled foreign policy" for Canada.

And by principled foreign policy, the CCD means doing something other than bashing the Americans at every opportunity.

It's good stuff.

If you missed the ad you can read it here.

Wheat Board and Politics

The federal government recently moved to stop the Canadian Wheat Board from running ads pomoting its monopoly.

It's a good move.

Here's a news release I sent out today on the subject:

NCC Applauds Government Move to Stop CWB Political Advertising

(October 12, 2006)The National Citizens Coalition says the federal government was right to stop the Canadian Wheat Board from engaging in political advocacy.

“The Canadian Wheat Board has no business using its resources to promote its own political agenda,” says NCC vice president Gerry Nicholls. “It is supposed to market grain not peddle propaganda.”

The Conservative government ordered the CWB not to directly or indirectly spend money on advertising that would also promote its monopoly.

“Many of the CWB’s ads promoting the monopoly were also thinly disguised endorsements for the Liberal Party,” says Nicholls. “A government agency should not take partisan stands.”

Nicholls also rejected arguments that the government move was “anti-democratic”.

“What was anti-democratic was the Wheat Board’s political advertising,” says the NCC vice president. “It’s anti-democratic to force western farmers to finance a political agenda they may not support. And many farmers do not support the monopoly.”

Battle of Thermopylae

One of my favorite battle movies when I was a kid was The 300 Spartans.

It's based on the true story of the battle of Thermopylae where a small ancient Greek force heroically took on a much larger army of invading Persians.

And while I enjoyed the movie, it did suffer from a limited budget.

So I am delighted to see that an updated version is coming out next spring called 300.

Of course, I am always wary that Hollywood will screw up the story, but Victor Davis Hanson gives it good review.

I can't wait.

All Politics is Local

It’s municipal election season in Ontario meaning I must give some serious thought to the various local candidates.

And after much pondering, I’ve decided two of my town’s mayoralty candidates have the snappiest slogans.

Janice Wright, for instance, has “Wright4Mayor” plastered on her signs.

Pretty clever eh?

The other one I like comes from the Chris Stoate campaign --- “Vote for Stoate”.

Sure it’s not fancy, but it’s short, to the point and easy to remember.

Plus I like Stoate because he’s against a stupid tree by-law I also opposed.

Of course, if I ever run for Mayor I have a slogan all ready to go: Save Dollars with Nicholls.

Now that will get me elected.

Harper, the NCC and Democracy Watch

It’s time to set the record straight when it comes to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the Court Challenges Program and Democracy Watch.

Left-wing critics have been trying to make the case that the Prime Minister scrapped the Court Challenges Program out of some sort vindictive desire to settle an old score.

Linda McQuaig, for instance, tried to weave such a conspiracy theory in a recent column.

Writes McQuaig:

One of the perks of being prime minister is getting to use your power to settle old scores and crush opponents.

This sort of vindictive motivation appears to lie behind the announcement by Stephen Harper's government last week that it's cutting the $5 million funding of the Court Challenges Program.

The program played a crucial role in defeating a legal case launched by Harper himself in 2000.
Harper was then head of the National Citizens Coalition (NCC), an ultra-right, business-funded group. The NCC wanted to strike down a federal law limiting spending by groups like itself during election campaigns.

Democracy Watch, a citizens' advocacy group, wanted to preserve the law, seeing spending limits as crucial in preventing well-heeled groups like the NCC from unduly influencing elections. But Democracy Watch lacked the resources to fight Harper's rich business group.

Enter the Court Challenges Program, which was set up to counterbalance the advantage the wealthy enjoy in being able to finance costly legal battles.

The program provided funding to Democracy Watch and the National Anti-Poverty Organization, thereby empowering these groups representing ordinary citizens to challenge Harper's rich business coalition in court.

The case, which went all the way to the Supreme Court, became known as “Harper vs. Canada“ — a prophetic name if ever there was one. In the end, the citizens groups, with funding from the Court Challenges Program, scored a stunning victory over Harper's business crowd.

Last week was apparently payback time.

I’ll ignore the ridiculous smear attack on the NCC and focus instead on the real problem with McQuaig’s argument.

She makes it seem as if the gag law legal fight consisted of only two sides, the big, bad, NCC against Democracy Watch a small “citizens’ advocacy group” that relied on government funds.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

In fact, if anybody was the underdog it was the NCC!

Yes we faced off against Democracy Watch in the gag law court battle, but that group was not our real opponent.

Our real opponent was really the political establishment. Arrayed against us in the Supreme Court of Canada was not only the federal government but also the provincial governments of Manitoba, Quebec and Ontario.

For every dollar we spent in this case our government opponents could spend many thousands.

In other words, Democracy Watch did not score a “stunning victory”. If anything it was a minor player in the legal drama. The NCC lost to the state.

So it’s absurd to think Harper would hold any sort of grudge against the CCP because of the gag law fight. Never at any time, did we think Democracy Watch was the real enemy, a nuisance yes, but not a threat.

Indeed, until a few weeks ago, we didn’t even know the CCP had funded Democracy Watch in this case.

My advice to McQuaig and her other left-wing cohorts, is to go back to the drawing board.

I hope the next time they need to come up with an anti-Harper theory, that at least come up with something that's slightly rooted in reality.

How to Stop Worrying About the Korean Bomb

Seismologists recorded an earthquake in North Korea yesterday that measured 4.2 on the Richter Scale.

Analysts say this quake can only mean one of two things: either Michael Moore is visiting Pyongyang or socialist lunatic Kim Jong-il has tested a nuclear bomb.

If it’s the latter, then this is a serious matter with immense geo-political implications.

We can expect, therefore, the following actions:

* The United Nations will study the matter and quickly pass a strongly worded resolution denouncing the lack of parking spaces in New York City.

* CUPE union boss Sid Ryan will blame it all on Zionism and endorse yet another boycott of Israel.

* NDP leader Jack Layton will call upon his buddies in the Taliban to negotiate with the North Korean leadership to ensure the bomb is used only for peaceful purposes.

* The CBC will air frightening documentaries on how North Korean bomb pales into significance when compared to the real threat to our civilization: Wal Mart stores.

* Toronto Mayor David Miller will send an emissary to North Korea for pointers on how to run a Stalinist economy.

There now don’t you feel safer?

My Tigers Win

Well my future as a baseball prognosticator, is finished but I mean who would have predicted the Detroit Tigers would beat the Best Team in the History of Baseball™?

Anyway, now it's official, I have seen the error of my ways, after 19 years, I am jumping back on on the Tiger Bandwagon.

And I will stay on that wagon forever ... or at least until the Jays start winning.

Beware the Candy Tax

Yet another letter about me in the Globe and Mail today concerning my health.

Randal Heide writes:

Gerry Nicholls understandably doesn't want his tax dollars used for a ParticipAction ad campaign (Couch Potatoes Defended -- letter, Oct. 5), and Dr. John A. Carmichael (Selfish Couch Potatoes -- letter, Oct. 4) says Mr. Nicholls should either get off his couch or be prepared to pay for his own angioplasty.

There's an obvious way out of this dilemma -- it's time to take another look at a health tax on unhealthy food.

Surely we can find a way to apply an additional tax on candy, soft drinks, chips, or anything containing trans fats, regardless of where they're sold. After all, we've found a way to exempt "grocery" items from sales taxes.

While we're at it, we could look at taxes on other non-essential products that contribute to a sedentary lifestyle or drive up health-care costs in some way: lawn chemicals, video games, barbecue grills, Teflon-coated pans, etc.

I really hope Mr. Heide is being sarcastic. I mean a "tax on candy" come on!

Government Turkeys

Now that Thanksgiving is almost upon us, it’s natural to start thinking about turkeys.

Well we at the National Citizens Coalition are thinking about turkeys too – but not the gobbling, feathered kind.

We are talking about what might be called “Government Turkeys” that is government policies or programs that just don’t make sense.

And, in fact, we have come up with the Top Ten Government Turkeys.

Here they are in no particular order:

* The unelected Senate is definitely a turkey. This is the 21st century. Democracy is no longer considered a radical experiment. It’s now considered a good thing. So why not democratize the Senate?

* Turkeys, of course, are found on the farm which is exactly where you will find the negative effects of the Wheat Board monopoly, which denies farmers an economic choice. Allow dual-choice when it comes to marketing. End this turkey of a monopoly.

* Turkeys are fowl, but the government’s monopoly on health care is just plain foul. Waiting lists are too long; costs are too high; equipment is too scarce. It’s time to reform our health care system so that Canadians have more choice.

* Turkeys can’t fly and neither can a broadcast regulation agency like the CRTC. In this day and age of the Internet, satellite TV and wireless communication, the CRTC is archaic. Let Canadians can watch what they want to watch.

* Turkeys can’t speak of course. But if they did speak they should have the right to speak English or French. Yet in Quebec, ridiculous and discriminatory language laws infringe on the rights of English-speakers.

* Any law that denies Canadians the right to election speech must be a turkey. And that’s the case with the “Election Gag Law” which makes it a crime for citizens to effectively express political opinions during elections. Axe this turkey.

* Turkeys like to gobble and politicians like to gobbledygook. They certainly use a lot of gobbledygook to justify the “Welfare for Politicians” plan. That’s the plan where taxpayers are forced to subsidize political parties to the tune of millions of dollars every year.

* You will also find turkeys in our labour laws. For instance, it’s legal in Canada for union bosses to force unionized employees to finance political causes against their will. That’s wrong.

* Of course, you can’t talk turkey without mentioning the CBC. Why is it we need a state-run network? Let’s privatize the CBC, a network fewer and fewer Canadians even watch.

* Finally it would be nice if the government cut our taxes cold turkey. Canadians are overtaxed and could use the extra money to buy a bigger turkey at Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everybody.

Media Update:

I am scheduled to discuss my "Government Turkey" list on Adler Online at 4:15 PM this afternoon, on Nightline BC at 10:00 PM this evening, on London in the Morning CJBK at 7:47 AM Monday and on John Moore Show CFRB on Monday at 3:10 PM.

Note all times are Eastern because I can't figure out how to make the conversions.

Whose Life is it anyway?

OK I know I said I wasn't going to talk about my Participaction debates anymore, but that was a fib.

In today's Globe and Mail, Perry Kendall, provincial health officer for the British Columbia Ministry of Health, takes me to task for suggesting government PR campaigns designed to get people to alter their lifestyles never work.

Kendall says I am wrong about governments being able to alter lifestyles.

He writes I am, "100 percent wrong in concluding from this that people's behaviours cannot be changed. For evidence of behavioural change as result of co-ordinated campaigns that include education, social marketing, environmental and regulatory restraints along with fiscal inducements or barriers."

Yes, I guess Perry is right if you used the full power of the state you can alter lifestyles.

The question is, do we want to live in a country where government bureaucrats tell us how to live?

CBC Woes

Toronto Sun entertainment columnist Bill Brioux has a great column today on the CBC.

He notes that CBC may soon lose its most popular progam -- Hockey Night in Canada -- to its archrival CTV.

Why?

Because says Brioux Canadians simply aren't watching the CBC.

"It's that so many Canadians have stopped watching CBC that the NHL almost has no alternative. After all, you wouldn't play hockey in a dark rink."

Brioux also notes that many of the CBC's other heavily hyped programs -- Hockey: A People's History, the Rene Levesque mini-series, The One -- have all been disastrous duds.

So how is the CBC reacting to all this bad news?

Like they always do: they want the government to give them more money.

I say it's time to put the CBC out of its misery: sell it.

Couch Potatoes of the World Unite Part 2

Okay, final word on the whole Participaction controversy that I have become embroiled in.

Yesterday a Dr. Carmichael had a letter in the Globe and Mail criticizing my stand on this government program.

Here's my retort, which was published in today's paper.

In his letter (“Selfish Couch Potatoes”, October 4), Dr. John Carmichael disparages my sedentary lifestyle, says I am close to having a heart attack, and implies I should pay for my own angioplasty.

Why?

Because I believe it would be a mistake for the government to spend millions of tax dollars on a PR campaign urging Canadians to get fit.

Dr. Carmichael argues such a program will get me off “my butt” and into the gym, thus ensuring his tax dollars won’t pay for my imminent heart operation.

But he’s wrong.

These kinds of programs are never successful in getting people to alter their lifestyles – anybody remember the One Tonne Challenge?

And although Dr. Carmichael might not like it, as long as we have a publicly-funded health care system, taxpayers will have to pay for other people’s unhealthy lifestyle choices.

In the meantime, the government should worry more about cutting its fat, not mine.

Couch Potatoes of the World Unite

You wouldn't ever expect that a gynaecologist would care about my health.

But apparently at least one does, sort of.

Professor John A. Carmichael, professor emeritus, Oncology, Obstretics and Gynaecology, at Queen's University wrote a letter to the Globe and Mail yesterday to take issue with my disparaging comments concerning Participaction.

Here's what he wrote:

Gerry Nicholls, vice-president of the National Citizens Coalition states: I don't think the state has a role in telling Canadians how to run their lives. If I want to be a couch potato and watch television all day long, that's my business. I don't think my tax dollars should be used to hector me, to nag me, into exercising."

Mr. Nicholls is dead wrong.

By choosing to be a "couch potato", he is, without question, dramatically increasing his chances of developing early-onset coronary-artery disease and other significant and expensive problems, the cost of which will be borne by the taxpayer.

I, and I am sure many others, would be quite prepared to support with our taxes a program that would encourage Mr. Nicholls to get off his butt to try and avoid these significant medical costs unless of course he is prepared to pay for his own agnioplasty or coronary bypass, and that aint cheap.

Of course I am touch by Dr. Carmichael's concern about my heart. But he misses my point. Government-run PR programs will never get me or my fellow Couch Potato collegues to get off our "butts".

They are a waste of money.

Secondly, yes maybe I would exercise if I had to pay for my own agnioplasty, but the fact is I won't.

We have a public health care system in this country and that means, like it or not, we have to subsidize the unhealthy lifestyles of our fellow countrymen -- including me.

Maybe, instead of worrying about my habits, Dr. Carmichael should worry more about the health care system.

To Boldly Sing

This is most definitely not logical.

Baseball Predictions

I was going to wait for Paul Tuns to make his baseball playoff predictions and then copy those, but since he has not got around to making any predictions, I guess I'm on my own.

Here goes:

American League:

divisional Playoffs
Oakland beats Minnesota 3-2, New York sweeps Detroit 3-0.

League Championship
New York over Oakland 4-1.


National League:
Does it really matter?

Update:

Paul Tuns now has his baseball predictions online. I think you will find them slightly more detailed and insightful than mine.

Oh and Tuns comments on my predictions, writing "it must kill Gerry to predict the Yankees over the Tigers considering he grew up cheering for the likes of Al Kaline and Denny McLain and he fondly remembers the '68 Tigers. Heck, he can even name the entire lineup of the Tigers from when they last won in 1984 and made the post-season in '87."

Here's a secret Paul -- I'm so old I can even name the lineup for the 1968 Tigers.

Getting Fit

I am quoted in today’s Globe and Mail, in a story regarding the possible return of Participaction, a government run “fitness awareness” program.

I don’t think it’s a good idea.

Here’s the quote:

“On the other hand, there are those who say the government should not be spending tax revenues to preach to taxpayers.

Gerry Nicholls, vice-president of the National Citizens Coalition, a free-market lobby group that was once headed by Stephen Harper, said he was "surprised and disappointed" to learn that the Conservative government was even considering revising Participaction.

"I don't think the state has a role in telling Canadians how to run their lives. If I want to be a couch potato and watch television all day long, that's my business. I don't think my tax dollars should be used to hector me, to nag me, into exercising."

Not everyone agrees. In fact, I've been getting some emails asking me to reconsider my position.

Here's one from my friend John Thompson of the Mackenzie Institute:

However, we do need much more physical education for the kids, and spending money on bike trails and walking paths, more public gymnasiums and pools, more on classes for them as what wants 'em isn't a bad idea.

Yeah, you may be subsidizing somebody else's lifestyle and the only way to get your share of the money back is to use the same facilities.

Thinking on a strategic level, we need our citizens to be healthier longer into their lives (to be productive for longer and to be more likely to stay out of those intensive care facilities), and we will need a lot of fit soldiers and police soon.

So let's get the kids off the Nintendos and outside playing hide and seek and running, as the days of route marching and fieldcraft for real are coming.

I get John's point about needing fit soldiers.

But when the day ever comes that I am forced off the couch and into a gym, well that's the day the terrorists win!

By the way, I will be discussing Participaction today at 3:00 PM EST on CJAD's Kevin and Trudie Show and at 4:15 PM EST on Adler Online.

Online Commentary

What's better than reading an excellent online political journal?

Reading an excellent online political journal for free!

So I was quite excited to learn that Commentary magazine is making much of its online material accessible this month for non-suscribers.

Check it out. It's not called "America's premier monthly magazine of opinion" for nothing.

H/T Powerline

Self-promotion Time

Here's my latest column in Report Magazine.

It's all about power, politics and American Idol.

A Uniform History

As readers of this blog may know, my favorite sport is baseball.

Part of the reason for this, I think, is I enjoy the game's rich history.

So I was delighted to discover an online exhibit from the Baseball Hall of Fame, on baseball uniforms.

Yes it is exciting!

Through this exhibit, you can learn about the "parts of the uniform" or the history of baseball uniforms or best of all you can find out what uniforms players were wearing during any year for the past 100 years.

For instance, here's what American League players were wearing in 1901.

Cool eh?

And I am no fashion expert, but perusing all this info, it seems to me the worst uniform look of all time was the Houston Astros of 1975 a close second was the Chicago White Sox of 1977. Mind you just about all the uniforms were bad in the 1970s.

Some say the 1939 Washington Senators had the most boring uniforms of all time.

As for me, I love the classic look: white uniforms at home, grey on the road.

Just check out the New York Yankees, for instance, haven't changed since 1936.

Now that's tradition and tradition is what baseball is all about.

Cut the Government's Fat Not Mine

According to the Globe and Mail, the federal Conservative government is thinking about bringing back Participaction, a "fitness awareness" program the Liberals first dreamed up back in 1971.

What "fitness awareness" really means, of course, is the government spends millions of dollars on advertising aimed at getting us fat Canadians into some sort of physical activity.

Here's how Michael Chong, the Minister for Amateur Sport puts it:

"We have a serious, significant, long-term challenge facing the country in rising obesity and lack of physical activity. Our view is that we, as a government, have to tackle this challenge. We're looking at ways to make Canadians aware, through a public-awareness campaign, of the need for greater physical fitness, the need to live active, healthy lifestyles. So one of the ways that we're looking at delivering this message to Canadians is through the revitalization of Participaction.”

Hmm, I thought the Tories were about getting government out of people's lives.

If I want to be a slob, that's my God-given right. It seems to me the government should be more concerned about cutting its fat, not mine.

Besides government PR campaigns designed to change our lifestyles never work.

Anybody remember the One Tonne Challenge?

Istanbul?

With what's going on in the world today, I wonder how long it will be before they ban this song?

Sexed by the Bell?

Say it aint so Screech!

Labour Pains

Once upon a time labour unions were a powerful (and often negative) force in British society.

But then in the 1980s and 1990s, the British Conservative government introduced a series of reforms which both democratized the workforce and defanged the union bosses.

Consequently trade union membership in Britain has declined and not so coincidently, Britain has become one of the top economies in Europe.

So says, Professor Len Shackleton, one of Britain’s foremost experts on the relationship between labour law and the economy, who was speaking yesterday at an event jointly sponsored by the Fraser Institute, LabourWatch and the National Citizens Coalition.

Shackleton also says Canada lags behind the rest of the Western world when it comes to protecting the individual freedoms of unionized employees.

For instance, he says in Canada, unlike in Britain, employees are forced to pay dues even if they don’t belong to the union; also in Canada, unlike in Britain, employees can be punished for crossing a picket line.

Isn’t it about time we caught up?

Professor Shackleton’s Canadian tour continues – he will be in Calgary tonight and in Vancouver tomorrow.

White and Nerdy

Check out this Weird Al video.

It's all about being white and nerdy.

Not that this has anything to do with me, of course.

Political Soap Opera

Here's a "Desperate Politicians" billboard the National Citizens Coalition put up last year to protest the Adscam Scandal.

What with the alleged Belinda Stronach-Tie Domi affair, it looks like it was more of a soap opera than we thought!

CCP RIP

Yesterday I praised the federal government for scrapping the Court Challenges Program.

But not everybody was as happy as I.

Some people claim we need this $5 million program to help the “poor” launch court challenges.

But in fact, the CCP was not really about helping the poor, it was about helping left-wing special interest groups promote their own pet causes.

Adam Daifallah and Tasha Kheiriddin ably documented this in their book Rescuing Canada’s Right.

The authors point out that, “In some cases, CCP grants appear to have had little to do with financial need and much to do with connections and ideology. Feminist lawyer Beth Symes, received a CCP grant to challenge the fact that she couldn’t deduct the expenses for her nanny. At the time, Symes was earning a six-figure salary and was one of the founders of LEAF.”

Or as columnist Lorne Gunter recently pointed out, “The CCP and its fundees have become a very cozy, close-knit little clan. The program almost never funds cases brought by individuals, only those supported by powerful rights-seeking lobbies, and almost the same dozen or so lobbies.”

Meanwhile, conservatives were routinely shut out of the process.

The CCP was not only overtly ideological, it was also unfair.

Good riddance.

NCC Applauds the Scrapping of CCP

Just sent out this news release:

(September 25, 2006)The National Citizens Coalition today praised the federal government for scrapping the Court Challenges Program.

“This is a good move for taxpayers and for democracy,” says NCC vice president Gerry Nicholls. “The CCP was nothing but a subsidy program for left-wing special interest groups.”

Nicholls says if anyone wants to launch a constitutional court challenge they should do so with funds raised voluntarily not with tax dollars.

“Taxpayers should not be forced to finance a court challenge they may not support,” says Nicholls.

The NCC vice president points out that his group has launched several court challenges over the years and has never received one cent in public subsidies to help pay for them.

“If you are launching a court challenge that has public support you can raise money,” says Nicholls. “Taxpayers shouldn’t have to help pay the bill.”

Two and a half Cheers for the Government

Glad to see the federal government using the $13 billion surplus to reduce the national debt.

Also glad to see its cutting back on some spending.

But I am disappointed to see that no tax cuts seem to be on the horizon.

Overburdened taxpayers deserve a break.

My Hair Peace

A friend of mine sent me this interesting commentary on American presidential hairstyles.

My favorite bit is this paragraph:

"Better than the mediocre hair, to the mind of the Manolo, are the example of those politicians, like the Ike and the Gerry Ford, who gracefully went bald without resorting to the dreadful combovers, or the hair plugs, or the ridiculous and expensive custom “hair systems”. This willingness to stoically face the follicular misfortune is the testament to their personal rectitude and the strength of their characters."

This gives me the courage to stoically face my own follicular misfortune.

Clinton vs. the Right Wing Conspiracy

Former U.S. president Bill Clinton lost it recently on FOX news when interviewer Chris Wallace asked him some pointed questions about terrorism.

An enraged Clinton not only went ballistic but he tried to cow Wallace.

I wonder how everybody would be reacting if President George Bush had reacted in such a manner.

And I am not the only one. Over at Redstate.com, Academic Elephant (where do they get these names) was asking the same thing:

"I have to ask, if President Bush, Vice-President Cheney, Secretary Rumsfeld or even Secretary Rice jabbed a reporter with an angry finger during an interview, how long would it take for the cries of assault to start? Of course, none of them would ever indulge in such crass behavior, so the point is to some extent moot, but it seems to me that far from being so angry at Mr. Wallace for having the nerve to ask him some tough questions, Mr. Clinton might owe him an apology, not to mention some thanks for not pressing charges."

I guess there are different rules for Republicans and Democrats.

How to Win a Debate

In a few days I will be participating in a TV debate with a couple of socialists, so I will need to prepare myself for verbal combat.

Luckily, I found this on the internet:

HOW TO ARGUE EFFECTIVELY
Author Unknown

I argue very well. Ask any of my remaining friends. I can win an argument on any topic, against any opponent. People know this and steer clear of me at parties. Often, as a sign of their great respect, they don't even invite me. You too can win arguments. Simply follow these rules:

1. Drink liquor.

Suppose you are at a party and some hotshot intellectual is expounding on the economy of Peru, a subject you know nothing about. If you're drinking some health-fanatic drink like grapefruit juice, you'll hang back, afraid to display your ignorance, while the hotshot enthralls your date. But if you drink several large martinis, you'll discover you have STRONG VIEWS about the Peruvian economy. You'll be a WEALTH of information. You'll argue forcefully, offering searing insights and possibly upsetting furniture. People will be impressed. Some may leave the room.

2. Make things up.

Suppose, in the Peruvian economy argument, you are trying to prove that Peruvians are underpaid, a position you base solely on the fact that YOU are underpaid, and you'll be damned if you're going to let a bunch of Peruvians be better off. DON'T say: "I think Peruvians are underpaid." Say instead: "The average Peruvian's salary in 1981 dollars adjusted for the revised tax base is $1,452.81 per annum, which is $836.07 before the mean gross poverty level."

Note: Always make up exact figures.

If an opponent asks you where you got your information, make THAT up too. Say: "This information comes from Dr. Hovel T. Moon's study for the Buford Commission published on May 9, 1982. Didn't you read it?" Say this in the same tone of voice you would use to say, "You left your soiled underwear in my bathroom."

3. Use meaningless but weighty-sounding words and phrases.

Memorize this list:

Let me put it this way
In terms of
Vis-a-vis
Per se
As it were
Qua
So to speak

You should also memorize some Latin abbreviations such as "Q.E.D.", "e.g.", and "i.e." These are all short for "I speak Latin, and you don't."

Here's how to use these words and phrases. Suppose you want to say, "Peruvians would like to order appetizers more often, but they don't have enough money." You never win arguments talking like that. But you WILL win if you say, "Let me put it this way. In terms of appetizers vis-a-vis Peruvians qua Peruvians, they would like to order them more often, so to speak, but they do not have enough money per se, as it were. Q.E.D."

Only a fool would challenge that statement.

4. Use snappy and irrelevant comebacks.

You need an arsenal of all-purpose irrelevant phrases to fire back at your opponents when they make valid points. The best are:

You're begging the question.
You're being defensive.
Don't compare apples to oranges.
What are your parameters?

This last one is especially valuable. Nobody (other than engineers and policy wonks) has the vaguest idea what "parameters" means.

Don't forget the classic: YOU'RE SO LINEAR.

Here's how to use your comebacks:

You say: As Abraham Lincoln said in 1873...Your opponent says: Lincoln died in 1865.You say: You're begging the question.

- or -

You say: Liberians, like most Asians...Your opponent says: Liberia is in Africa.You say: You're being defensive.

5. Compare your opponent to Adolf Hitler.

This is your heavy artillery, for when your opponent is obviously right and you are spectacularly wrong. Bring Hitler up subtly. Say, "That sounds suspiciously like something Adolf Hitler might say," or "You certainly do remind me of Adolf Hitler."

So that's it. You now know how to out-argue anybody. Do not try to pull any of this on people who generally carry weapons.

Pun Times

Here's something for all you manatee lovers out there.

It's a mad, mad world

Historian Niall Ferguson offers some excellent insights into what was a crazy week in international politics.

In fact, Ferguson makes the case that we are living in a "mad world".

H/T Wonkitties

Good Battle Movies

One movie sub-genre I really love are films featuring "small beleaguered garrisons holding off hordes of enemies."

Here are my top ten of that variety:

Beau Geste (1939)

March or Die

The War Lord

Beau Geste (1966)

The Alamo

Aliens

Khartoum

Return of the King
Two Towers
Zulu

I was right on the left . . .

Yesterday I predicted the Democratic left would not be happy with Nancy Pelosi's attack on Hugo Chavez.

Well, I was right.

Update:

Here's an articulate insight on Chavez and the North American left wing.

Today's Duce

More and more it looks like Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is taking on the role of Mussolini to Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Hitler.

Where as Ahmadinejad is the brooding, fanatic; Chavez is the preening, bombastic, clown.

Yet, clown or not, Chavez's alliance with Islamist extremists represents a serious threat to the United States.

Venezuela, after all, is a lot closer to Florida than Iran is.

See here for more on this threat.

Chavez Helps the GOP

It's interesting to see liberal Democrats taking President George Bush's side after Hugo Chavez's "Bush is the devil" speech at the United Nations.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi even called Chavez a "thug".

What this says to me is the Democrats are worried Chavez's attack speech will likely galvanize Americans around Bush and so help the Republicans.

So it makes sense for Democrats to distance themselves from the Venezuelan leader.

But I wonder if the pro-Bush talk will anger the left-wing Democrats who likely support Chavez's take?

Actually, I'm not wondering about it at all. I know it will anger the left.

Rae's Ravings

Bob Rae doesn't think his disastrous record as Ontario premier would be an issue should he lead the Liberal Party into the next election.

Indeed, when asked by reporters if the Conservatives would attack that record, here's how he responded:

"I think it absolutely wouldn't work and it would be about as relevant as my spending an entire campaign talking about Stephen Harper's career as president of the National Citizen's Coalition. I don't think that's what the next election is going to be about."

Personally I would hope Rae would talk about Harper's career as president of the National Citizens Coalition -- it would be good advertising for us.

But I doubt he will, because when Harper was our president, he didn't drive our organization into the red and leave it a fiscal disaster area.

And unfortunately, that's how Rae left Ontario.

H/T Political Staples

An Idea for UN Reform

I wonder why the Americans put up with having the United Nations in their country?

After all, for the past few years it has become nothing more than an America-bashing chamber.

Which, I think, makes it pretty hypocritical for all those diplomats, ambassadors and other assorted hangers-on at the UN to work and live in a country they apparently hate.

Maybe they should take their act away from the "Great Satan" and set up shop in a place more suited to their anti-American mind-set -- say Tehran, or Caracas or Jack Layton's backyard.

Lively Update

Speaking of the Lively Seven, here's a column I wrote which appeared in the Sudbury Star a few days ago.

Unions and Democracy

Susan Martinuk has a great piece in the Financial Post today on union boss hypocrisy.

She was reacting to National Union of Public and General Employees president James Clancy who was whining about what he called "anti-democratic" labour laws, including interestingly enough, laws which call for secret ballot votes on unionization!

Since when is a secret ballot anti-democratic?

Writes Martinuk:

A secret ballot vote is a given part of the democratic process. Yet unions still deny this and seek to utilize the blatantly anti-democratic practice of card signing to determine union certification. This allows union reps to pressure and harass workers individually and at home. It leaves the door open for misinformation and coercion and ensures that workers who would oppose a union are kept out of the loop about the union drive. Some employees don't even know a union certification drive is happening until they are unionized -- there are no requirements for the union to inform all workers of a union drive or to hold an open, public debate when using card certification.

This is exactly what happened to The Lively Seven, a group of women who found themselves unionized against their will, thanks to the lack of a true democratic process.

The National Citizens Coalition is helping these women fight for their rights in the courts, but that is not a true solution.

What Canada needs are laws that respect the individual freedoms of unionized employees. We also need union bosses who truly respect those freedoms.

As Martinuk writes: "If unions truly want to preserve democracy, they first have to practice it."

Son of Chaoulli

Bill Murray is out to challenge Canada's outdated government health care monopoly.

No not the Bill Murray from Saturday Night Live fame.

This Bill Murray is an Albertan accountant who, with the assistance of the Canadian Constitution Foundation, is launching a legal challenge to Alberta's health care laws, which he says deny him the right to timely service.

Murray, of course, is trying to copy Dr. Jacques Chaoulli, a Montreal doctor who successfully challenged Quebec's health care laws on the same premise.

In the Chaoulli case the Supreme Court of Canada essentially ruled that access to a waiting list is not access to care.

In Murray's case the government refused him a hip operation because at age 57, he was deemed too old to enjoy the benefits of the procedure.

So much for our compassinate health care system.

You can learn more about this historic challenge here.

Conservatism Swedish Style

Journalist and author Paul Tuns says conservatives shouldn't get too excited about the election in Sweden of a centre-right government.

Writes Tuns: "Fredrik Reinfeldt, leader of the centre-right New Moderate Party and leader of the four-party opposition alliance, is one of those David Cameronesque leaders who has promised not to do anything terribly different than the government in power; he has vowed not to cut taxes, not to dismantle the welfare state and has no plans to introduce flexibility into Sweden's woefully rigid labour markets."

Sounds like Joe Clark in a viking helmet.

Laughing at Terrorism

My friend John Thompson from the Mackenzie Institute sent me an email recently lamenting the shortage of jokes about Islamic Terrorism.

In fact, he wants to remedy this situation.

So he made up the following jokes and asked me if they are any good:

Q. How many Taliban does it take to change a light bulb?
A. What's a light bulb?

Q. How many members of Hamas does it take to change a light bulb?
A. The light bulb is out!? It's another Zionist plot!

I haven't got the heart to tell him what I think.

Political Parties at Work

The House of Commons resumes today, meaning all the political parties will have to get back to work after a long, long summer break.

What kind of work?

Well, the Conservative Party will have to let Canadians know what it stands for.

The Liberal Party will have to actually come up with something to stand for.

The Bloc Quebecois will have to hope Quebeckers remember what it stands for.

And the NDP will have to make sure Canadians forget what it stands for.

Caging Government

I visited Montreal recently and had the pleasure to meet Dan Romano, an interesting guy who has also set up an interesting organization called Citizens Against Government Encroachment, or C.A.G.E.

And what's really cool is this acronym also works in French -- Citoyens Anti-gouvernement Envahissant.

Anyway, C.A.G.E. "promotes the idea that happiness and good health, in that order, are best pursued by responsible, educated and well-informed adults in control of their own choices. It opposes state-directed harassment of those who do not choose to follow all aspects of the 'officially approved healthy lifestyle,' or the imposition of coercive legislation to force behavioural compliance."

This is my kind of group, not only for its promotion of individual freedom but also because I personally do not choose to follow an "approved" lifestyle.

Now if you will excuse me, I am off to sit on the couch watch TV and have some salty potato chips.

Kill the Wabbit!

This evening we are listening to Wagner's Ring from the new Opera House in Toronto(it's simulcast on CBC). Actually "listening" is an understatement, as it's blaring from what seems like every radio in the house.

While my wife is in esctasy, I tend to agree with Woody Allen who said, "I can't listen to that much Wagner. I start getting an urge to invade Poland."

Who Needs the CRTC?

Had the pleasure to attend a Fraser@Spoke: Behind the Spin event last night, it’s part of a series of talks/debates hosted by the Fraser Institute.

Here's a photo from the evening. From left to right, Greg Staples, Rondi Adamson, me, Claudia Hepburn from Fraser and Jacoline Loewen. And that appears to be a UFO hovering over my head.

Last night’s topic was the CRTC and the speaker was National Post columnist Andrew Coyne.

Now I took copious notes of Coyne’s talk, but unfortunately I can’t read any of my scribblings this morning.

So much of this is based on memory.

Anyway Coyne took us through a history of the CRTC and explained how it performed many important functions to ensure the purity of our culture such as banning the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Howard Stern and a Quebec City radio station.

There was also a discussion of the CRTC’s arcane “hit factor analysis procedures” used to determine the kinds of songs radio stations were permitted to air.

But anyway, Coyne pointed out that in this day and age of satellite TV and radio, the Internet and wireless communications, the CRTC just isn’t needed anymore to “get between the Canadian people and the shows they want to watch.”

Eventually he says it will vanish into oblivion.

But just for the sake of principle we should dismantle it right now.

All those conspiracies

In the wake of the 9/11 anniversary, there's been much conspiracy-related talk about the WTC terrorist attack.

Some say the attack was really the result of some mad scheme carried out by . . . well take your pick, the Mossad, a neo-con cabal, the Pentagon, George Bush or maybe space aliens.

All those who subscribe to such theories should check out this Penn & Teller production.

It's aptly entitled, "That's Just Stupid."

Health Care Elephant

Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman is in full-scale panic mode because Dr. Brian Day will soon lead the Canadian Medical Association.

Smitherman is terrified because Day favours allowing the private sector to have a great role when it comes to providing health care treatment.

“We have an elephant in the room in health care . . . and it's posing a grave threat to our values and to our economic competitiveness," he said. "That elephant is represented by one Dr. Brian Day," exclaimed Smitherman.

Now I am not sure what Smitherman is getting at.

As head of the CMA, Day holds absolutely zero legislative or judicial powers. He can’t overturn our government monopoly health care system, only politicians can do that.

But maybe what Day can do is make a persuasive moral case for reforming our health care system. And maybe what really scares Smitherman is that he can’t come up with a good enough argument to counter Day.

The elephant in the room, in other words, isn’t Day, it's our failing socialist health care system.

Five Years Later

I'm just bitter

Some things in life just aren't fair.

Democracy and the Senate

Yesterday, Ned Franks, a political science professor from Queen's University, had an op-ed piece in the Globe and Mail extolling the virtues of the appointed Senate.

Here's a letter I wrote in response which appears in today's paper:

Red Chamber, indeed

Ned Franks seems to think the appointed Senate is more representative of the Canadian people than the elected House of Commons.

Why?

Because the Senate has a greater proportion of aboriginals, women and other minorities than does the House.

In other words, the Canadian people, according to Mr. Franks, keep voting the wrong way. Perhaps, then, instead of concentrating on making the Senate elected, we should focus on making the House appointed.

So, who would make the appointments to ensure the proper racial and gender mix? Maybe Mr. Franks could do it.

Hey wait a minute, you guys are socialists . . .

Former star NDP candidate and economist Paul Summerville says he's quitting the party because of its "anti-market" rhetoric.

What's he expect, it's a socialist party for Pete's sake.

He's only discovering now that socialism and free markets don't mix.

It reminds me of Captain Renault's famous line from Casablanca, "I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here! "

Summerville says he's moving to the Liberal Party to join another shocked socialist, Bob Rae.

Can't Conservatives Have Just One Movie?

A while back I posted about an upcoming miniseries, The Path to 9/11, which reportedly put the Clinton Administration in a bad light when it came to the War on Terrorism.

Well now Democrats are on the warpath, demanding ABC cancel the series.

I guess Republicans could counter by demanding the cancellation of every Hollywood production that put the Bush Administration in a bad light, but then that would mean we'd have no movies at all.

NCC Sending Support Our Troops Ribbon to NDP

Here's a news release I just sent out:

The National Citizens Coalition is sending a complimentary “Support our Troops” car magnet to NDP MP Jean Crowder, who’s riding association proposed a resolution accusing Canadians soldiers of “acting like terrorists.”

“We are pleased that distasteful resolution was withdrawn,” says NCC vice president Gerry Nicholls, “and we hope Crowder will proudly display our car magnet to show that she and her association do truly appreciate the sacrifices our soldiers are making to defend our freedoms.”

Ordinarily the “Support our Troops” magnets are sent to people who donate to a special fund the NCC has set up to financially help the families of soldiers killed in combat.

“We set up this fund as a way of giving thanks to the men and women in our military who are risking their lives,” says Nicholls. “It’s non-political. We are not taking a stand on the war, but we think it’s important our troops know Canadians support them.”

That’s why Nicholls says the NDP proposed resolution comparing our troops to terrorists was so repugnant.

“The NDP resolution comparing our troops to terrorists was contemptible,” says Nicholls. “And the NDP should be ashamed for even considering it.”

Media Update:

I just did interviews on this issue with Charles Adler of Adler Online and with Gary Doyle of the Gary Doyle Show.

Jack's Hidden Agenda

Thanks to Stephen Taylor, all of Canada got a sneak peek at NDP policy resolutions that were to be debated at the party’s convention this weekend.

It was not a pretty sight.

In fact, these resolutions revealed just how wacky it is these days in Left-Wing Land.

One resolution compared Canadian troops to terrorists (since rescinded) others called for the nationalization of just about every company and industry, and one actually called for an official “Transgender Day”.

Check here for an interesting summary.

But I wonder how the media will react to all this.

Will they portray the NDP as an extremist party or its leader Jack Layton as “scary”?

Will they begin to wonder if the NDP has a “hidden agenda?”

No, probably not.

That kind of treatment is apparently reserved for Conservative parties.

Sleeping with the Fish

And you thought same-sex marriage was controversial.

Wait til you see this.

What do the Greens Really Want?

Political environmentalism is all the rage these days.

Each Liberal leadership candidate, for instance, is eager to prove his or her green credentials. The Green Party is supposedly on the surge, threatening to displace the NDP as Canada's eco-party. It's even got to the point where enviro-friendly rhetoric has made a star out of Al Gore!

But what is their real motivation?

Is it to protect our environment or is it simply a desire for power over others?

Writer and broadcaster John Robson ponders this question in an excellent column, The real Meaning of Green.

Says Robson: "Too often concern for the environment is simply a cover for wanting control, an orc-like impulse to seize, regiment and crush. Too many Greens are green because they hate people, not because they love nature."

As Robson points out, it's the societies that are most regimented and controlled that are also the most polluted.

In other words, the greens are just too red.

H/T Brigitte Pellerin

Celebrity Love

Is this really news?

Sic Gloria Transit

I was supposed to get caught up on my serious reading this weekend.

But it didn't happen.

Instead I got addicted to one of my son's PC games: Medieval Total War.

It's a game where you assume the role of some faction and fight and bribe and trade your way to the top of the cut throat world of the Middle Ages.

I was the Italian City states -- Venice, Genoa -- and I was doing pretty well at first, building a rich commercial empire that had my coffers stuffed with florins.

But then, instead of granting my subjects a tax break, I desired the glory of military conquest and embarked on an invasion of Hungary.

That was, as it turns out, a bad idea.

I will spare you the details, but in the end I was bankrupt and ended up under the rule of the Papal States.

The lesson is clear: either don't be so quick to go to war or stick to less bloody PC games.

Buzz Take Note

Check this this blog from a unionized employee.

He makes no bones as to what he thinks about the CAW's radical political agenda.

What Labour Day Should Really Be About

In an excellent column which appeared in the Vancouver Sun a few days ago, Jason Clemens of the Fraser Institute and Patrick Basham of the Democracy Institute put forward their views on Labour Day.

Instead of celebrating the “foibles of unionism” they argue, this day should be about celebrating the “wonders of human labour.”

“Human Labour coupled with imagination and the right institutions,” they write, “has provided societies with a previously unimaginable prosperity and standard of living.”

Yet, they go on, “Our Labour Day celebrations are more about unionism than the underlying labour. This misunderstanding between the relative value of labour and unionism is at the heart of a series of Canadian laws designed to benefit unionism, which unfortunately comes at the expense of average workers.”

Laws, for instance, which force employees to be unionized against their will or which force them through their dues, to finance the pet political causes of union bosses.

Of course, the best way to celebrate the wonders of human labours would be to change our laws to protect the individual rights of employees.

An Anti-Terrorist Movie!?

Believe it or not, Hollywood has apparently come out with a feature that is pro-American and anti-terrorist.

A $40 million, 5 hour ABC miniseries starring Harvey Keitel and Donnie Wahlberg, it's called The Path to 9/11.

Now I have not seen this movie, but Govindini Murty of the Liberty Film Festival gives it a rave review.

In Human Events Online, she writes: "Let me start by saying that The Path to 9/11 is one of the best, most intelligent, most pro-American miniseries I've ever seen on TV, and conservatives should support it and promote it as vigorously as possible."

You can also read a good review at Libertas.

One interesting aspect of this movie is it highlights how the Clinton Administration blew opportunity after opportunity to nab Osama Bin Laden.

Oh well I guess Bill had other things on his mind.

Book Tag

There’s a game of blogger book tag going on and nobody has tagged me. So I decided to tag myself.

Here goes:

A Book That Changed My Life: My grade 9 math textbook. It showed me I had no future with any activity associated with numbers.

A Book I’ve read more than Once: Where’s Waldo. It’s a lot easier the second time.

A book I would take with me if I were stuck on a desert island: How to Escape a desert Island for Dummies.

A Book That Made Me Laugh: Das Kapital

A Book That Made Me Cry: Das Kapital

A Book I wish had been written: How to write funny blog postings.

A Book I wish had never been Written: The Ikea catalogue

A Book I am Currently Reading: Is TV Guide considered a book?

A Book I am Meaning to Read: The Dictionary

What turned me on to fiction: Television

Who Do I Tag: Too busy reading to tag anybody.

To Boldly Glow

At last a global warming theory that makes sense.

Jack Layton Vs. The Mutant Carrot!

I received this perceptive email this morning:

Dear Gerry,

Layton's latest suggestion that the gov't should negotiate with the Taliban got me thinking about what it would be like if Layton led the negotiations personally.

I thought as one of our top 5 political minds (and probably the best sense of humour among them) you might be able to have a little fun deciding how this hypothetical negotiation would go.

All the best,

M.B. Windsor, Ontario


Dear M.B.:

As you probably already know from a previous posting, I am not a big fan of negotiating with terrorists.

And I think those who do, such as Jack Layton, suffer from an acute case of Silly Scientist Syndrome.

Silly Scientist Syndrome -- a term I made up about two seconds ago --- refers to a staple character of 1950s science fiction movies: the scientist who always wanted to negotiate or reason with the mutant, alien, blood-drinking carrot.

Even though the mutant carrot ate half the population of Newark, New Jersey and boasted it would conquer our world, the silly scientist always thought the creature was simply misunderstood.

Anyway, the carrot always ended up devouring the silly scientist.

So you see Layton is not really that bad a guy; he has just decided to turn himself into a sci-fi plot device.

I say, let Layton negotiate with the carrots and see let's see what happens.

And remember keep watching the skies.

Blackout Law Goes to Court

Mark October 16th on your calendar.

That's the day Paul Bryan will be in the Supreme Court of Canada to make his case against this country's archaic election blackout law, the law making the "premature transmission" of voting results a crime.

Certainly, this legal battle will be of interest to all bloggers as this law effectively censors the Internet.

You can learn more about this case here.

The National Citizens Coalition is helping to finance this challenge.

Political blogs

Courtesy of the folks at Campagins & Elections magazine here's a list of some libertarian blogs.

And just to show that I am willing to cover the entire political spectrum, without bias, here's a list of some Republican blogs.

Lunch with Ruby

Liberal leadership front-runner Michael Ignatieff has come up with an interesting way to raise funds.

He's auctioning off a lunch with the attractive Liberal MP, Ruby Dhalla!!

According to the sales pitch Ruby is a "health care provider, businesswoman and currently sits as an MP for Brampton-Springdale. Meet her for lunch and discuss anything from politics to parliamentary procedure. Location to be determined, but know this – anywhere you are, Ruby’s probably been there twice this year already!"

No word, however, on Ruby's "turn ons" and "turn offs".

Now I don't have a problem with this idea, but it seems to me the supposedly "progressive" Liberal Party would not want to be seen auctioning off its female MPs the highest bidder.

And I wonder what the women's movement thinks about this?

Needless to say, I will be watching this experiment closely. If it works maybe I will employ it to raise funds for the National Citizens Coalition.

OK any ladies out there interested in having lunch with me?

We will start the bidding at 50 cents.

Politically Correct Immigrants

Whenever a political controversy arises you can always count on some sort of Political Correctness angle to emerge.

Take the current debate raging right now over the issue of "illegal" immigration.

The National Association of Hispanic Journalists is urging reporters to drop the term "illegal" and use "undocumented" instead.

I wonder if "undocumented" immigrants would work as cheaply as "illegal" ones.

H/T Hit and Run

Air Fright

I am going to remember this the next time an airline loses my luggage. Things could always be worse.

NDP's Daft Draft

In an op-ed I wrote recently, I noted that CAW boss Buzz Hargrove believed the NDP was too right wing.

Well, it looks like the NDP has taken that as a challenge.

Stephen Taylor got a hold of some NDP draft policy proposals, and some of them are pretty far out in left field.

What gets me about these proposals, however, is that the NDP doesn't seem to be for anything, just against.

They are against freer trade, against America, against Israel, against free markets.

Maybe that's what you get from a political philosophy that can only look backwards instead of forwards.

Adolf Redux

Check out this letter from Iran's President Nutjob to German chancellor Angela Merkel.

In it, the Iranian leader suggests Germany and Iran need to form some sort of alliance as both countries are the victims of "special groups".

These special groups he says constantly portray Germany as a defeated and indebted country of World War II in order to continue their extortions.

He goes on:

"I am sorry to remind you that today the perpetual claimants against the great people of Germany are the bullying powers and the Zionists that founded the Al-Qods Occupying Regime with the force of bayonets in the Middle East."

In other words, both Germany and Iran have a common enemy: the Jews.

A certain former German leader likely would have agreed with this analysis.

H/T Powerline

Me on the Radio

I am going to be on The World Tonight, with Rob Breakenridge to talk about the One Tonne Challenge flop.

Scheduled be on the air at approximately 8:40 PM.

Plan your evening accordingly.

Buzz, the Liberals and Brookstreet

Here is my latest contribution to the Brookstreet Group blog.

Penguin Controversy

In light of the recent controversy involving Reuters and doctored photographs, I thought it important to bring to light another possible deception.

Check this picture out.

Clearly it has been tampered with.

Everybody knows Penguins and Polar Bears live on separate continents.

Law School Jihad

If I was a student at Osgoode Hall Law School, I think I would fail.

At least I would fail if my law professor were Michael Mandel.

His examinations seem to be a bit one-sided and I don’t think I would give him the answers he is looking for.

I know all this because a law student sent me one of Mandel’s exams from 2002.

One sample question asks the student to imagine, there is a Canadian civil servant who has been fired by the Prime Minister from her position as his communications officer for calling the American President a “moron” in private conversation.

The student is then asked to imagine, the United States has requested her extradition, not for the “moron” remark but on the charge of murdering ex-president George H. Bush, the father of current president George W. Bush.

Then the student must imagine, “President George W. Bush, at a press conference held before the hearing says if Canada doesn’t extradite the woman who called him a moron and killed my dad, America will impose economic sanctions on Canada that’ll make the suckers holler uncle.”

Yeah that sounds like a realistic scenario.

Another question asks the student to evaluate the American justifications for invading Iraq and what international crimes could the U.S. and its leaders be guilty of committing.

No mention, of course, of possible legal charges against Saddam Hussein.

And the final question on the exam consists of a two and half page denunciation of Israeli policies towards the Palestinians followed by a request to analyze the case for bringing up former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on war crimes.

Sounds a bit biased doesn’t it?

Not that Professor Mandel doesn’t practice what he preaches.

In fact, he once did try and get President Bush charged with international crimes in real life.

Maybe they should change the name of the school to Osama Hall Law School.

National Newswatch

For those of you suffering Neale News withdrawal, here's some good news.

Another news aggregator has been launched called National Newswatch.

Check it out.

And I am not plugging this new site because it features my letter to the editor in today's National Post called the "One Tonne Flop"

It's just a coincidence.

One Tonne Letter

Here's the "Letter of the Day" in today's National Post.

I wrote it after reading this article.

Re: One-Tonne Challenge Could Not Have Met Goals, Aug. 25.

So, the One-Tonne Challenge was really a One-Tonne Floppe. It flopped despite a $26-million media campaign and it flopped despite having Rick Mercer as its spokesman.

Now a government report says it failed because the Challenge didn't "motivate" Canadians to reduce greenhouse gases with complementary "economic instruments."

"Motivate," of course, means coerce and "economic instruments" means higher taxes. Backers of Kyoto should remember this.

If the government ever gets serious about implementing Kyoto, it won't be funny guy Mercer who's in charge. It will be the taxman.

Gerry Nicholls, vice-president, National Citizens Coalition, Toronto.

Ok, OK, so this is just a re-working of a post I had a few days ago on this blog.

Cut me some slack it's a Monday in August!

Dealing with Hezbollah

Rondi Adamson has a great piece in today's Toronto Star on why negotiating with terrorist groups like Hezbollah is a bad idea.

Writes Adamson:

"Its (Hezbollah's) stated desire is the eradication of the state of Israel, with a promise that Jewish and Western targets be attacked the world over.
So would we, say, negotiate a reasonable number of attacks per year?
Or, would we talk about allowing Hezbollah to eradicate a certain percentage of Israelis? They are also fans of Islamic law. Would we negotiate an acceptable number of rights women could give up? "

Exactly.

This is something certain members of the Liberal and NDP caucus should consider.

Conscience of a liberal

One book that had a major influence on my political development was Barry Goldwater's Conscience of a Conservative.

In fact, Goldwater was probably the most principled American politician of the last century and the man most responsible for giving life to conservative politics.

So it's interesting to note that a documentary is coming out which apparently claims Goldwater was actually a "kind of liberal"!!

The documentary's producer, who also happens to be Goldwater's grandaughter, notes that he favored abortion rights and allowing gays in the military, and refused to attend President Nixon's funeral because he "cheated" the country.

Well yes that does make Goldwater a "kind of liberal" but they are usually called libertarians.

Israel's Strength

Israel's real strength isn't its army or its air force or its intelligence service.

Its real strength is it's a free society.

In a free society citizens can openly criticize their leaders and debate tactics and national strategy.

And that's exactly what is going on in Israel right now in wake of the recent fighting in Lebanon.

Israelis are holding their political and military leaders to account.

It's hard to imagine such a thing happening within the ranks of Hezbollah or in places like Syria or Egypt.

Yet because Israelis are free, because they can challenge their leaders without fear, because they live in a society with where new ideas can come to the fore, they can more easily adapt to new circumstances and bounce back from failure.

This is a lesson their terrorist enemies may learn the hard way.

The One-Tonne Floppe

The federal government paid comedian $85,000 to pitch its pro-Kyoto “One-Tonne Challenge” campaign.

It then backed him up with a $26 million marketing blitz.

Somehow, somewhere, some one in the federal bureaucracy thought this would be enough to convince Canadians to dramatically alter their life style choices and reduce greenhouse gas emission.

It didn’t work.

According to media reports a government study concludes:

"There is overall recognition that the One-Tonne Challenge should have been complemented by additional measures [such as economic instruments and regulations] in order to motivate timely action and in order for the program to be successful.”

In other words, the only true way to “motivate” Canadians into cutting back on emissions is to coerce them into it with “economic instruments” which likely means massive taxes.

Backers of Kyoto should remember this.

If the government ever gets serious about implementing Kyoto it won’t be funny guy Mercer who’s in charge: it will be the taxman.

Ari Takes on Jimmy

A couple of postings ago, I featured a link to an interview where former U.S. president Jimmy Carter lambasted Israel for what he called an "unjustified" attack on Lebanon.

Well, former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer took exception to Carter's opinion and sent him the following letter:


The Honorable Jimmy Carter
The Carter Center
453 Freedom Parkway
Atlanta, Georgia 30307

Dear Mr. President:

I just read the transcript of your interview with the German magazine, Der Spiegel, in which you accuse Israel of launching an “unjustified attack on Lebanon.”

Even after the interviewer reminded you that Israel was the first to get attacked, you charged Israel with lacking “any legal or moral justification for their massive bombing of the entire nation of Lebanon.”

As someone who served in the White House as a spokesman for a President, I am reluctant to criticize another President, but in this instance my conscience compels me to do so.

Mr. President, your words are music to Hezbollah’s ears and your message is a blow to long-term peace.

Just as you underestimated the threat of the Soviet Union in the 1970s, you underestimate the threat of radical Islam today. Your condemnation of Israel, the victim, only encourages Hezbollah, the attacker, to bide its time and attack again.

Ahmed Barakat, a member of Hezbollah’s central council, last week told the Qatari newspaper as-Watan that “Today Arab and Muslim society is reasonably certain that the defeat of Israel is possible and that the countdown to the disappearance of the Zionist entity in the region has begun. The triumph of the resistance is the beginning of the death of the Israeli enemy.”

I was raised a Democrat but I changed parties in 1982 because I believed your policies and the nuclear freeze movement invited increased Soviet militarism and adventurism. President Reagan’s military build-up and credible threat of the use of force helped bring about the demise of Communism and brought freedom and a better life to hundreds of millions in Central and Eastern Europe. It also secured a lasting peace.

I’m sorry to see you articulate about Hezbollah and its aggression the same weak world-view that encouraged Soviet aggression. As Ronald Reagan showed us, peace through strength is the only formulation understood by those bent on destruction.

I understand your longing for peace and your fond hope that Hezbollah can be reasoned with. However, when you call Israel’s defense “an attack”, when you call what is justified “unjustified”, and when you call morality immoral, I conclude that the pro-defense, strong foreign policy lessons of the 70s and 80s remain unacceptable to you. Also, when you criticize Israel for targeting so-called “civilian” areas in Beirut and other areas where Hezbollah hides its operations, the result would be – if Israel listened to you – the creation of safe havens from which more violence and rocket attacks would be planned and launched.

Sadly, Hezbollah today is planning its next war. For the sake of peace, Israel deserves your praise, not your condemnation.

Sincerely,



L. Ari Fleischer

H/T Adam Daifallah