This video shows how some New Yorkers reacted to Air Force One buzzing their city.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Funding Canada Day in Quebec
Did a radio interview on Ottawa station CFRA this morning at 7:30 AM!
Topic: Squandering tax dollars in Quebec.
Topic: Squandering tax dollars in Quebec.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Is Canada left wing?
Check out my latest posting over at the Women's Post.
I wonder about the conventional wisdom about Canada being a "left wing country."
I wonder about the conventional wisdom about Canada being a "left wing country."
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Capitalism rocks
Professor Don Boudreaux, one of America's most articulate defenders of free markets, has written an essay on what Earth Day means to him.
I've reproduced it below:
"Earth Day, to me, means an opportunity to express thanks for all the ways that capitalism makes our lives and environment cleaner and healthier.
I'm thankful for the automobile, which has cleaned our streets and highways of animal feces, which is both foul and filthy itself, and that attracts flies that spread it into our homes and workplaces.
I'm thankful for the automobile also because it allows us to travel in a cleaner environment than we had when we traveled on horseback or in buggies. Modern automobiles cool or heat the air immediately surrounding their passengers, making these passengers comfortable and, in summer, less sweaty and stinky.
I'm thankful for air-conditioning that keeps our interior environments not only comfortable but more healthy, as it allows us to better keep insects out of our homes, shops, factories, and offices -- and also, in humid places, to dramatically reduce the growth of mold and mildew in our homes.
I'm thankful for indoor plumbing. (The anti-polluting properties here are too obvious to spell out. Ditto for disposable diapers -- yet another product for which I'm most grateful.)
I'm thankful for the inexpensive soaps, shampoos, toothpastes, dental floss, toilet tissue, and plastic bandages and other first-aid items that make it possible for us to de-pollute our persons regularly.
I'm thankful for electronic appliances, such as those that (along with modern detergents - for which I'm also thankful) allow us to clean our used clothing and dirty dishes -- clean these more deeply and more thoroughly than was possible in the past without spending multiples of the time on such tasks that we spend on these tasks today.
These appliances enable us to recycle our clothing and our dishes for many reuses.
I'm thankful for electricity for making these appliances possible - and for enabling us to light our home without dirty candles, and for enabling us to heat our homes without coal, wood, peat, or other filthy substances.
I'm thankful for plastics, which very effectively and at very low costs allow us to keep bacteria confined. A plastic storage bag, for example, keeps food bacteria confined to the interior of the bag.
I'm thankful for refrigeration for retarding the growth of bacteria and, hence, keeping our foods cleaner and healthier.
I'm thankful for chemical fertilizers that increase the productivity of the earth's soil, and thereby helps to prevent malnutrition -- which, in turn, better enables each of our bodies to succeed at fighting off diseases that are more likely to sicken, or even kill, malnourished persons.
I'm thankful for factories (and the fuels that power them) that make possible things such as modern textiles -- modern textiles that enable even poor people in market societies to own many changes of clean clothing.
I'm thankful for modern insecticides and cleansers that help to protect us from bugs and bacteria that would otherwise pollute our environments.
I am, in short, thankful for private-property markets that are the main driving force behind these (and many other) anti-pollutants -- a force so powerful that we today enjoy the incredible luxury of being able to worry, should we so choose, about very distant and very speculative forms of environmental problems such as species loss and global warming."
I've reproduced it below:
"Earth Day, to me, means an opportunity to express thanks for all the ways that capitalism makes our lives and environment cleaner and healthier.
I'm thankful for the automobile, which has cleaned our streets and highways of animal feces, which is both foul and filthy itself, and that attracts flies that spread it into our homes and workplaces.
I'm thankful for the automobile also because it allows us to travel in a cleaner environment than we had when we traveled on horseback or in buggies. Modern automobiles cool or heat the air immediately surrounding their passengers, making these passengers comfortable and, in summer, less sweaty and stinky.
I'm thankful for air-conditioning that keeps our interior environments not only comfortable but more healthy, as it allows us to better keep insects out of our homes, shops, factories, and offices -- and also, in humid places, to dramatically reduce the growth of mold and mildew in our homes.
I'm thankful for indoor plumbing. (The anti-polluting properties here are too obvious to spell out. Ditto for disposable diapers -- yet another product for which I'm most grateful.)
I'm thankful for the inexpensive soaps, shampoos, toothpastes, dental floss, toilet tissue, and plastic bandages and other first-aid items that make it possible for us to de-pollute our persons regularly.
I'm thankful for electronic appliances, such as those that (along with modern detergents - for which I'm also thankful) allow us to clean our used clothing and dirty dishes -- clean these more deeply and more thoroughly than was possible in the past without spending multiples of the time on such tasks that we spend on these tasks today.
These appliances enable us to recycle our clothing and our dishes for many reuses.
I'm thankful for electricity for making these appliances possible - and for enabling us to light our home without dirty candles, and for enabling us to heat our homes without coal, wood, peat, or other filthy substances.
I'm thankful for plastics, which very effectively and at very low costs allow us to keep bacteria confined. A plastic storage bag, for example, keeps food bacteria confined to the interior of the bag.
I'm thankful for refrigeration for retarding the growth of bacteria and, hence, keeping our foods cleaner and healthier.
I'm thankful for chemical fertilizers that increase the productivity of the earth's soil, and thereby helps to prevent malnutrition -- which, in turn, better enables each of our bodies to succeed at fighting off diseases that are more likely to sicken, or even kill, malnourished persons.
I'm thankful for factories (and the fuels that power them) that make possible things such as modern textiles -- modern textiles that enable even poor people in market societies to own many changes of clean clothing.
I'm thankful for modern insecticides and cleansers that help to protect us from bugs and bacteria that would otherwise pollute our environments.
I am, in short, thankful for private-property markets that are the main driving force behind these (and many other) anti-pollutants -- a force so powerful that we today enjoy the incredible luxury of being able to worry, should we so choose, about very distant and very speculative forms of environmental problems such as species loss and global warming."
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Media Alert
I am scheduled to be a guest on the World Tonight with Rob Breakenridge this evening at 9:35 EST.
Topic: The Conservatives and Mulroney.
Topic: The Conservatives and Mulroney.
Mulroney vs Harper
Paul Wells of Maclean's outlines the saga of how Prime Minister Stephen Harper sought to distance himself from former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.
It's an odd affair.
I can fully understand why Harper might want to separate himself from the sleaziness of Mulroney, but why do it in such a clumsy manner?
Writes Wells: "By March 31, a day after the senior staff meeting, three Ottawa news bureaus had been approached by PMO political staffers with the stale but suddenly handy 'news' that Mulroney had asked to be stricken from Conservative party lists. And also that he had let his membership in the party lapse in 2006."
Did not the PMO foresee that such a strategy would give a resentful Mulroney an opportunity to blow them out of the water -- which he did.
That in turn created days of negative stories for the Tories.
It just doesn't make sense.
It's an odd affair.
I can fully understand why Harper might want to separate himself from the sleaziness of Mulroney, but why do it in such a clumsy manner?
Writes Wells: "By March 31, a day after the senior staff meeting, three Ottawa news bureaus had been approached by PMO political staffers with the stale but suddenly handy 'news' that Mulroney had asked to be stricken from Conservative party lists. And also that he had let his membership in the party lapse in 2006."
Did not the PMO foresee that such a strategy would give a resentful Mulroney an opportunity to blow them out of the water -- which he did.
That in turn created days of negative stories for the Tories.
It just doesn't make sense.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Putting screws on the economy
An interesting interview where Home Depot founder Bernie Marcus warns of the dangers big government poses to the free market system.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Ancient debate
"Human nature is universally imbued with a desire for liberty, and a hatred for servitude." Julius Caesar, Gallic Wars
"Only a few prefer liberty -- the majority seek nothing more than fair masters."
Sallust, Histories
"Only a few prefer liberty -- the majority seek nothing more than fair masters."
Sallust, Histories
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Pragmatic Politics
Paul Tuns has written an excellent column on the politics of pragmatism.
Here's a sample: "Political pragmatists will not only 'adapt' to cater policy to changing circumstances. Too often, they will abandon core principles in exchange for power."
No points for which political party he is talking about.
Here's a sample: "Political pragmatists will not only 'adapt' to cater policy to changing circumstances. Too often, they will abandon core principles in exchange for power."
No points for which political party he is talking about.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Bleak outlook
Here's another conservative who senses trouble for the Tories.
His point: "So, having underbussed the socons, speechers, libertarians, Reformers and, well, conservatives, from the CPC Steve has no one to stand with him as he attempts to storm the Toronto Party enclaves. And he has no one to blame but himself."
His point: "So, having underbussed the socons, speechers, libertarians, Reformers and, well, conservatives, from the CPC Steve has no one to stand with him as he attempts to storm the Toronto Party enclaves. And he has no one to blame but himself."
Not a Harper fan
Anybody who thinks I am too critical of Prime Minister Stephen Harper should check out this guy's comments.
Tory Political Correctness
It seems the people who run the Facebook pages for the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party and the Conservative Party of Canada want to ban my friend Chris Reid.
Why?
It's because his profile picture is a gun.
Here's the message they sent Chris: "ok chris i'm going to be as polite as possible but your profile picture has to go if you want to continue participating in the conservative facebook groups and think common sence (sic) should indicate my reasons . its simply not approiate (sic) and some users may find it threatening or offensive . i'm giving you 1 warning and 1 day to replace it with something else ."
Talk about gun control!
Anyway, Chris is asking people on Facebook who wish to protest this ban replace their profile picture for a day with a gun, and posting on the Ontario PC Party group page.
As Chris says it's "ridiculous" to censor people's profile pictures, especially when owning a gun is a constitutional right and a completely lawful object.
Why?
It's because his profile picture is a gun.
Here's the message they sent Chris: "ok chris i'm going to be as polite as possible but your profile picture has to go if you want to continue participating in the conservative facebook groups and think common sence (sic) should indicate my reasons . its simply not approiate (sic) and some users may find it threatening or offensive . i'm giving you 1 warning and 1 day to replace it with something else ."
Talk about gun control!
Anyway, Chris is asking people on Facebook who wish to protest this ban replace their profile picture for a day with a gun, and posting on the Ontario PC Party group page.
As Chris says it's "ridiculous" to censor people's profile pictures, especially when owning a gun is a constitutional right and a completely lawful object.
Will the PM quit?
Check out my latest posting over at the Women's Post.
It's my take on some of the musing emanating from Parliament Hill that Prime Minister Harper is getting ready to pack it in.
Hint: I say he will fight the next election -- and win.
It's my take on some of the musing emanating from Parliament Hill that Prime Minister Harper is getting ready to pack it in.
Hint: I say he will fight the next election -- and win.
Ignatieff's Manifesto
Check this excerpt from Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff's book True Patriot Love:
America and Canada are both free nations. But our freedom is different: There is no right to bear arms north of the 49th parallel, and no capital punishment, either; we believe in collective rights to language and land, and, in our rights culture, these can trump individual rights. Not so south of the border. Rights that are still being fought for south of the border — public health care, for example — have been ours for a generation.
What Ignatieff is essentially saying is that our freedom is that we have no freedom.
It's sad that this is what passes for "Liberal" these days.
America and Canada are both free nations. But our freedom is different: There is no right to bear arms north of the 49th parallel, and no capital punishment, either; we believe in collective rights to language and land, and, in our rights culture, these can trump individual rights. Not so south of the border. Rights that are still being fought for south of the border — public health care, for example — have been ours for a generation.
What Ignatieff is essentially saying is that our freedom is that we have no freedom.
It's sad that this is what passes for "Liberal" these days.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Poll Dancing
The latest Ekos poll should have the Tory Party brass a little concerned.
It's not that the numbers are all that bad -- Liberals lead the Tories nationally 36.7 to 30.2 -- it's the overall trend that should be worrisome.
The Tories are in a nosedive while the Liberals are steadily gaining support.
If this keeps up we just might have a Fall election.
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