A new version of Risk

You have to control the media, the streets, the cities and the outside influence of other countries.

And if you roll 6,6,6 you get to remain dictator for another turn

An interesting idea, despite the proponents

I am confident that this will go exactly NO WHERE, but it is an interesting idea nevertheless

As proposed by Scott Reid (C- Manfredi) and Randy Hillier (R-Wyoming)

Of course, the underpinning argument made by Hillier is absolute lunacy. People have their land expropriated in the United States all the time. Sometimes to build football stadiums.

Things I don't care about

1) I don't care that a Minister over-ruled her department. That is her job.

2) I don't care if she tried to pawn her decision off on her department - sucking it up is their job. And blaming the Ministers' office for a document change is kinda bizarre for a senior public servant - expect her to be shuffled soon.

3) I don't even care if a document was falsified internally. In my world, I call them drafts.

I care when they lie to Parliament. You know, that whole lying under oath thingy.

Freedom at the Barrel of a Gun

The mob has spoken. What did they say?

Did they say "no more dictator." Or did they say "No more of THIS dictator."

Either way, I wouldn't assume it is going to sunshine and lollipops for anyone in the Middle East for some time.

I hate Parliamentarians- take two

I have just watched poorly researched opposition MPs make all kinds of wild assumptions about what the law pertaining to lobbying is.

I was personally disappointed in both the poor quality of research that went into their questions, and more importantly, that no one has the forsight to see that this is going to come back and bite them on the ass when they form a government. What is good for the goose...

Just ONCE I wish the people asking the questions understood what lobbying is and how it applies to the case at bar.

101 on 101

When it was originally conceived, Bill 101 was to protect the French language in Quebec. The language charter was designed to protect an island of French in a sea of North American English.

The debate has waxed and waned over its usefulness - and the carve outs - and ultimately whether or not the provisions of the charter violated another one. The Supreme Court of Canada has twice said "yes. Change it."

Last week, Mad Max Bernier (Beauce - Tea Party) made an off the cuff remark about the continued need for the language charter. Speaking to an English audience, he remarked that the language could survive despite it.

He was immediately castigated by the Quebec intelligentsia. "He can't mean we don't need 101," they cried. "Education! Signage! Tradition!"

Ironically - this week anyway - bill 101 does more to regulate the internet than the CRTC does.

As a unilingual who can speak French from time to time, it isn't my position to tell what is needed to preserve the French language. Personally, I think it is the giant "WALMART" signs that are a greater threat than "Schwartz's Bifteck," but what do I know.

What I do know is that it is kind of silly for the Quebec intelligentsia to say we need to rely on this regulatory approach to preserve the language when a charismatic French speaker stands up and says we don't. Their own arguments point to the fact that the traditions will carry forward because of the culture of the province. Sadly, they are also indicative of what is evolving into the culture of the province.

I hate Parliamentarians

A friend of mine is getting grilled for no good reason at a committee hearing because she got an email from a guy she should not have gotten.

I don't give a fig about whether or not someone did anything wrong - I think that this is a ridiculous witch-hunt and a waste of Parliamentary committee time. They should be ashamed of themselves.

Aren't there real problems to solve?

See, AAAAR Tea Sea

I don't download very much.

I believe in polluter pays. I believe in pay as you go. I believe in toll roads.

I don't care if people want to charge more for the internet. I can assure you, I won't pay more.

I do think that our current laws for "regulating" the internet are based on 1968 technology. This is dumb.

I also think that more competition is good.

USA Bulk Water Exports

Well, it is nice to know that they do have some resources worth exporting.

There are a few things I don't understand about this (ie, why don't they ship it to Nevada, California, New Mexico and Arizona) and more importantly, why they wouldn't build a pipeline across the Bering Straight - but those minor annoyances aside I have one word to say.

Bravo.

The biggest threat to the mushrooming human civilization is the lack of water in the third world. While they are selling it (I would give it away, and use the CIDA money to pay for it) it is a remarkably important step to understanding the real problems in the third world.

I have always believed that access to clean drinking water is more than a human right - it is a planetary right. We should be doing this too. And Maude Barlow can kiss my can.