Heh.

Oh, that's just mean*:

he he, went over to the young greens and left them a comment.

guys,

CRU ****ED UP YOUR CRISIS!

ask Liz to explain.

useless of course, but gave me a giggle for today.

*

The HST...

...not dead yet, as it looks quite likely that the Bloq will support the move on a federal level. This, of course, takes some of the heat off the Liberals, although I think it teaches them a bad lesson: namely, that if you waffle and run around like a chicken with its head cut off for long enough, then an adult will step into the situation and handle it for you.

And I realize that I just equated the Bloq Quebecois with adult sensibilities. I'll stop talking now.

Meanwhile, on a related note from The Tyee: Weird and Wacky HST Debate in BC's Legislature.

Ezra Levant in Vancouver

Speaking of videos, here's some of Ezra Levant's recent speaking engagement in Vancouver. Not the full thing, but still...



Part two here.

By the way, Truepeers over at Covenant Zone has a nice run-down of the event here.

Marc Emery out on bail - interview

H/t to Kalim Kassam on Twitter:

Marc Emery out on bail Interview Part 1 of 3.mpg:



Potheads are fun, man. Part 2 here; I'm not sure where part 3 is.

The NDP - just a little too late

It seems that the federal NDP are urging the Liberals to, like them, be prepared to force an election over the HST.

Well, first off, they're just a little too late. Ever since Donolo got into town, the Liberals have seriously down-played their election bravado, which was a smart move, since they weren't ready to have an election anyway.

But second, one has to wonder if this delayed reaction is a deliberate move. The NDP helped keep the Tories afloat, using EI reform as an excuse, back when it actually looked like the Liberals were serious about their election threats. Now, when the Liberals have backed off, the NDP are all ready to go, election-wise, this time under the pretence of opposition to the Harmonised Sales Tax.

The Dippers can afford to be brave now. They don't have to worry about following through on their threats. And right now, they're poised to both score points against the Tories because of the HST, and to score points against the Liberals because:

"Ignatieff seems to be flip-flopping all over the place," Horwath said yesterday. "He needs to be clear and concise about where his party is going."

Smart move, Jackie boy.

[ UPDATE: by the way, the Liberals are a little busy with their own version of safe criticism for right now. ]

Canadian Amanda Lindhout freed in Somalia

Via CBC News:

Canadian reporter Amanda Lindhout has been freed, 15 months after she was snatched by gunmen in Somalia and held for ransom under "extremely oppressive" conditions that included torture and beatings.

CBC News confirmed Wednesday that the 28-year-old Alberta journalist and Australian photographer Nigel Brennan had been released and were safe in the Somalian capital of Mogadishu. A ransom was reportedly paid to secure their release.
Speaking from a hotel room hours after being freed, she told CTV she had "pretty dark moments" in the custody of her kidnappers, who she said were criminals posing as freedom fighters. After she was seized in August 2008, she said she was kept alone in rooms with no light and little food in houses throughout Somalia.

"My day was sitting on a corner on the floor in a room 24 hours a day for the last 15 months," she said.

"There were times that I was beaten, that I was tortured. It was an extremely, extremely difficult situation."

Her colleague told Reuters he was pistol-whipped and locked in chains during the ordeal. Brennan said the treatment worsened after he and Lindhout tried to escape 10 months ago.

"I'm just happy that I'm alive, happy I'm alive and looking forward to seeing my family and trying to pick up the threads of my life," he said.

Read the rest here.

Nice idea, bad application

Via the Toronto Sun, one learns of this:

OTTAWA - The federal government is cracking down on online child pornography with new legislation that imposes stiff fines or jail time for internet service providers that fail to report illicit material involving minors.
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson unveiled details of a bill today that legally requires ISPs to report tips about websites involving child porn and to safeguard evidence if they believe an offence has been committed.
"The creation and distribution of child pornography are appalling crimes in which children are brutally victimized over and over again," Nicholson said.
Proposed fines would range from $1,000 for a first offence to $10,000 and six months in jail for repeat offences for an individual. Corporations could be slapped with fines from $10,000 to $100,000.

H/t to Free Dominion. The unfortunate thing about this bill is actually two things. Not only does it, basically, ask ISPs to spy on their customers, but the bill is such that opposition to it opens one up to claims of supporting child pornography. Double whammy.

While critics have raised concerns about the intrusion of privacy, Nicholson said the major ISPs are "on board" with the legislation. OPP Comissioner Julian Fantino said there has been an "explosion" of sexual exploitation of children on the web. He said this bill would give police another tool to track those who commit the "vile" acts.

Of course the ISP's are on board. What, do they want to appear to support child pornography? And after all, this must be a very good opportunity for them: they get to look good, and have a chance to look in on their customers. Just imagine the advertising potential.

One last point: convenience for the authorities and the best course of action are not necessarily one and the same thing. This isn't the last time that I've seen Robbie Nicholson use the 'makes it easier' argument - which makes sense, since he's the Justice Minister. Still though, it would be nice if he could put together rather more convincing arguments.

[ UPDATE: this reminds me a little of Andy Burnham's efforts at ISP recruitment by the government in the UK. ( My rebuttal, at least in part, of his efforts here. ) ]