Category: Contributors

“Dennis,” people have been asking me a lot lately, “what the hell’s up with you, man? There’s been an election campaign going on all summer in Ontario and, aside from a couple of posts about how lousy an idea MMP is, we haven’t heard a damn thing from you. You’re not packing it in, are ya?”

No, I’m not packing it in. It’s just that getting laid off back at the beginning of summer, job-hunting and then getting settled in to the new job have taken up one hell of a lot of my time lately. Anybody out there that’s ever had to switch jobs knows exactly what I’m talking about. And as far as the provincial election goes, well, I think I can sum it up pretty well…

Faith based schools. Faith based schools. Faith based schools faith based schools faith based schools faith based schools faith based schools faith based schools faith based schools faith based schools faith based schools faith based schools faith based schools faith based schools faith based schools faith based schools faith based schools faith based schools faith based schools faith based schools faith based schools faith based schools faith based schools faith based schools faith based schools faith based schools faith based schools faith based schools faith based schools.

Just about sums it up, doesn’t it? Way back at the beginning of the race, John “Guess What Party I’m With” Tory said that if he got elected, faith-based schools in Ontario would be able to get some funding, therby bringing them into the public fold and holding them to the same academic standards as the rest of the schools in the province. He made the announcement and then moved on to other things. Dolt McGuilty, however, seized on it like a tarrier with a rat and has maniacally banged away on that same drum over and over, drowning out all other discourse in the campaign. The stupidity of the whole transparent ruse, along with the baffling herd-of-sheep response of Ontariens to it, got to such an extreme that even Howard Hampton J. Pig blew a gasket at the media for having gone so gleefully along with the whole sham. And that’s probably what pissed me off the most…

An irate Howard Hampton swept through Southwestern Ontario yesterday, dragging a campaign’s worth of baggage.

That burden — his party falling in the polls, the faith-based school funding issue dominating debate — blew open in Hamilton, as the NDP leader strafed his Tory rival and the media, accusing journalists of hijacking the campaign and ignoring real issues.

[…]Hampton’s frustration boiled over into a blistering attack on Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory, whom he called a “disaster” whose mistakes have given the ruling Liberals a free ride. “Mr. Tory’s campaign has been chaos,” Hampton said, noting the faith-based school funding vow has hijacked the campaign debate.

… because, as all of you know, there’s just about nothing in the world that I hate more than being forced to agree with a socialist. And, as Lorrie Goldstein saw when he talked to Hampton, Hampton might be getting the same nauseaous feeling, even going so far as to say something sounding vaguely … conservative…

Asked what he’d say to voters poised to give Premier Dalton McGuinty a second majority government, while ignoring his record of fibs and broken promises in favour of the minor issue of stopping public funding for non-Catholic religious schools, Hampton deadpanned: “What do I say? I say, well, then people get the government they deserve (laughter) that’s what I say.”

Hampton, meeting with the Sun’s editorial board, knows, as we do, that if McGuinty wins big Oct. 10, it won’t be long before voters who abandoned the Tories and NDP to back the Liberals will be asking themselves what they’ve done.

No shit, Sherlock. For the record: I’m against public funding for faith-based schools, but not for any of the reasons that McSquinty and the Liebrals barf up. He who pays the piper calls the tune and I don’t think it’s a good idea to let a rabidly secular government ministry be in the position of holding a financial gun to the head of a school that might be teaching something that goes against whatever the trendy Leftbotâ„¢ dogma du jour might be. Keep government the hell out of it; it’s better for the schools. That’s my take.

But, to listen to McGuilty, you’d think that white kids would be going to all the good schools and black kids would be lucky to end up in a one-room schoolhouse if Tory’s plan went ahead. You don’t think he’s hammering away on the word “segregation” by accident, do you? And the media, from top to bottom, have been all too happy to help him out.

But it’s the smart thing for McGuilty to do, isn’t it? The sad fact is that Ontario is likely the most intolerant province in Canada (yes, even worse than Quebeckers or those nasty Albertans), especially when it comes to religion. This is because Ontario has become infested with the disease of the Leftbotâ„¢ mindset and religion is the ultimate enemy of the modern neoliberal ideology…

The neolib socialist philosophy (there really isn’t much “neo” about it) requires, above all else, that the masses give their first and foremost loyalty over to the authority of the secular state (of course, you and I know how well that has worked out in the past, but they don’t, for some reason…). Religion gives people a higher authority than the state, therfore it has to go. They won’t come out and say this out loud, but that’s still the meat of it. This is the mindset that has infected Ontario; especially urban Ontario.

John Tory should have known this. He made a rank-amateur mistake and now he’s given McGuilty four more years in Queens Park and the people of Ontario four more years of weak leadership.

This week, I’ll still be voting Conservative, but I’m afraid J.T. already sold the farm.

Okay, there’s been a lot of chatter all of a sudden in the comments about just what I do and don’t delete on this site. It seems that just because I’ve admitted that I had to dump a few comments, some folks have taken it into their melons that this is a place where censorship lives.

It ain’t.

If you have something that you think is worth saying, by all means post it. Just don’t expect me (or anyone else here, for that matter) to agree with it. And do expect to be taken to task if somebody else gets pissed enough about what you have on your mind. It’s that simple. Some folks seem a little worried, though. Folks like Paul…

I will be disappointed if my comment is deleted as I’ve tried to stay positive about this whole thing, but even you all have to admit something more than the freaking OPP is needed in all of this.

And Lee Rock…

I am kinda sad that those other comments were deleted. […] and if my comment is deleted….well then that is just sad…this is a free country, with freedom of speech remember??? I liked hearing what other’s had to say, even tho they were a bit angry and upset…they were voicing their opinions and that is what Canada is all about….FREEDOM!!

First off, Lee is right. Voicing opinions is a big damned part of what Canada is all about. Uunless, of course, you voice a politically incorrect one, in which case you might find yourself battered from pillar to post through our “human rights” system, like Scott Brockie was. No need to worry about that here, though; I actually believe in giving air to those who agree with me AND those who don’t. It’s part of my belief in that whole messy democracy thing. Yeah, it’s a pain in the ass sometimes, but I live with it. So no, I’m not in the habit of killing comments just because they happen to piss me off.

There are, however, two things that need to be kept in mind:

1. This is a public site and I actually do try to keep it at least half-assed family-friendly. Yes, I have a bit of a trashmouth but even I try to draw a line. Kids come to this site too and there’s some stuff that kids just plain don’t need to hear or read. So, to that end: Ray, if you don’t learn to put a filter on the sewer under your nose, I WILL ban your sorry ass. You’ve been stopping by here for a while but you’re getting to be like a dog that just won’t take to housebreaking and I’m getting sick and tired of cleaning up your crap. Other people get hot under the collar too, but they don’t put out the kind of shit that you have.
2. This is a public forum for ideas, NOT a recruiting post for a God damned lynch mob. Anybody else tries a stunt like that, your IP goes straight to the cops. Period. Shooting some murderous prick in self-defense is one thing but hunting the bastard down and stringing him up without a trial is NOT something that I’m going to put up with. No more warnings.

Alright, folks, now that that bit of unpleasantness has been dealt with, I thought it would be a nice thing to put in a little something to boost the spirits of the folks back in my old Huron stompin’ grounds. If it won’t play in your browser for some reason, just click here and download it. A li’l Hank Jr never hurt nobody, right?

Enjoy, and remember: country folks can survive. (more…)

Holy crap, Batman! It seems that there actually is a Lefty someplace in this country that isn’t waiting on a brain donor. Mr. Cameron Campbell, apparently from somewhere in La Belle Province, is a regular commentor over at The Torch and a guy with a serious social pedigree, has gone and gotten utterly sick and tired of Jumpin’ Jack! Jerkweed. In a recent Torch post, he shares a letter that he recently sent the little smirkin’ gherkin and I gotta tell ya, this is one damn smart Lefty…

Mr. Jack Layton,

On your biography page it says that you believe in practical solutions for problems. And yet you keep saying things like “The strategy being followed by NATO right now is producing the precise opposite effect to the one that the promoters of this mission are suggesting should be the goal,” Layton said. “In other words, growth of support for the Taliban because of these air strikes.”

Only a comprehensive peace process — not armed conflict — can resolve the crisis in Afghanistan, he argued, noting that “students of history will know that all major conflicts are resolved ultimately through peace-oriented discussions.””

Actually history shows us that peace happens when several conditions exist, not the least of which being that one side feels like they’ve lost, so your argument, respectfully, is utter crap.

I’m being quite serious, “peace-oriented discussions” (also known as peace negotiations or talks – who writes for you? They should be fired.) require that 1) everyone wants peace 2) there is a central authority to negotiate with 3) that the end of conflict will not immediately be replaced with some new, different kind of conflict (like, say, a series of genocidal massacres based on, say, supporting democracy and western style ideals of same).

So your thesis fails on point one horribly, on point two it’s laughable, and on point three you’re displaying a callousness towards human life that makes me want to vomit.

The reality is that there is no peace to keep, no peace to negotiate for, no one to negotiate with and no secure area to negotiate within. Pretending that these conditions exist is a fantasy.

Once the left was populated by people like my Uncles who fought in WW2, by people like Orwell and Trumbo, who could tell wrong from right and could figure out that something had to be done about it.

Now it’s populated by people like you who believe in a pacifist unilateralism that appears to me to be suicidal. Certainly we don’t get to negotiate peace with allies, but suggesting that the way forward in Afghanistan is via a policy of unidimensional ” peace-oriented discussions” (still thinking that someone should loose their job over that..) ignores the reality and the complexity of the situation. This knee jerk reaction towards anything involving the US (and increasingly, NATO) is, frankly, childish and simplistic.

I think the current regime in the US are a pack of corrupt, right wing demagogues, most of whom need a good sending to bed without dinner (and/or jail time) but in my read, that has bugger all to do with the fact that the Canadian Forces presence in the reconstruction and (horrors) combat operations in Afghanistan is accomplishing good.

Additionally sir, the tying of Canadian troops, even tangentially, to what you seem to believe is a NATO policy of bombing civilians for sport is disgusting. It does your position utterly no good at all. It’s wrong.

I know that journalists seek you out every time a Canadian is killed in Afghanistan and why not? You give good clip. But the constant sight of you scoring cheap political points with the deaths of our military personal? It wears sir. A suggestion, one that would ratchet up many peoples respect for you by something like 100%, would be to tell the journalists a variation on “There will be time to discuss the mission later, today our thoughts are with our brave soldiers and their families.” Trite? Maybe. Lacking in the fun oomph of scoring cheap shots? Oh yes. Respectful and classy? Indeed.

I come from a family who’s political views range from red Tory all the way to charter members of the CCF (my Great Aunt and Uncle were XXXX and XXXX), with stops along the way in trade unionism, full on communists and just about every other colour of the socially progressive rainbow. I’ve voted for your party in the past (and in the absence of your party running a viable candidate in my riding, for M. Duceppe), so it pains me to say this: I will never vote for the NDP while you are at it’s helm.

Never.

I’ll vote for a fringe party, the Monarchists, the Communist party, whatever local looney has managed to get together the deposit by borrowing the money from his friend, but never ever again the NDP.

I expect no response to this letter, I expect that you won’t even see it or have it read to you (Hello, by the way, to the intern reading this. I hope you’re having a great summer, my jobs always sucked and involved lifting boxes or digging holes, good on you for scoring a good one. Enjoy it, and good luck next semester. Stay in school.), I know that democracy no longer works that way but it felt like the least I could do.

With great regret,

Cameron Campbell

Now just how the hell am I supposed to convincingly explain to people what idiots socialists are, when one of them goes around saying stuff like that?? 😕

And a big ol’ top o’ the chapeau to Babbling Brooks, who is the one that I got word of this from. His own commentary was pretty damned good, too, so check it out.

Okay, I’ve been getting quite a few grumpy emails lately from people that have been trying to post comments here, only to have them fall into the black hole of my Spammer Whammer®.  As a result, everybody and their dog seems to want to know when I’ll be getting rid of the spam filter on the site.

The short answer is that I’m not going to be getting rid of the filter any time in the foreseeable future.  Each and every day, I get about 600-800 entries in the comments that all promise me that I’ll be razor thin, with washboard abs, a $12 million Nigerian bank account, the world’s biggest trouser trout, and enough viagra to make sure everybody knows about it.

So, until HMPM Harper manages to get a majority in the House, dump all the Grit cronies in the Senate and pass a bill making it legal to shoot spammers, the filter is staying right where it is.

Sorry for the inconvenience folks, but that’s just the way it’s gotta be…

A tip o’ the toque to Darkside Rants for giving me this idea. A few people, from time to time, have asked me just where all I’ve been in my life. Well, to tell the truth, I do tend to get around … a bit.

So what we have here is a graphical representation of every place that I’ve been. Ever. Some I stayed in for a while, some I was just passing through (I still tell people that I’ve never been to Africa, even though I did catch a connecting flight in Cairo once).

Damn, but I’ve got a lot to cover yet… 😯

create your own visited countries map

create your own visited states map

I’ve been getting a few notes from some folks in other parts of the world lately asking me things like, “is the Canadian winter really like that?” and some of the other questions that we’ve all gotten so used to. Why the hell is it that it seems like every damned question is about nothing but winter?? 🙄 We actually do have four separate seasons up here, you know. And don’t give me any of that “almost winter, winter, still winter and construction” bullshit, either. It’s FOUR; as in spring, summer, fall and then winter.

Aw, screw it. To answer JB’s question (that he asked all the way from the land of Oz): Yes, it can get a little hairy sometimes. But you get used to it. Really.

And as for Nicole from the other London and her question, the answer is “pretty damned quick.” As luck would have it, the front page of today’s Freeps had a perfect example of what I’m talking about. This is what can happen in 12 seconds:

Pretty funky, eh? So, can we try to get some non-winter-related curiosity stirred in our melons now? Sheesh…