Via Atrios , we've learned of a stunningly ill conceived compassion photo gallery featured on President Bush's election website. Go take a look. No really, look -- I'll wait. What do all but one of these pictures have in common? Minorities. Bush and minorities. This is just creepy. Pictures of candidate X with the Benetton kids are fine, but -- I mean -- this isn't even supposed to be the 'Bush with minorities' gallery. It's supposed to be the 'compassion' gallery, but it's ...
This from Wonkette : "We have it on semi-reliable authority that the Bush administration's next attempt to discount Richard Clarke's credibility will consist of alleging that he's a big gay." Apparently the Bush administration doesn't have great intelligence, but it does have a time machine that can transport us back to 1972 when a sane person might still have considered this a "credibility" issue. Now, some wacko southerners (or northerners or westerners or mid-wester...
I agree with this : "As he tries to woo lapsed Tory voters, Martin may be driving left-leaning Liberal sympathizers to the NDP..." "But the federal NDP may play its cards differently this time around. Rather than demonize its right-wing opponent, Layton is set to equate the Martin Liberals with the Harper Conservatives." But I'm a little sceptical about this: "The quality of his French and the tenor of his post-leadership message to Quebecers have both generated...
Well, I beat Jim on this by a few days: "At best, then, the government's debt-reduction timetable is an economically meaningless gimmick, a promise easily broken whenever it becomes difficult to achieve. At worst, it would consign Ottawa to amplifying future economic downturns, instead of helping to alleviate them. Either way, the government shouldn't have done it."
Indeed : "Mr. Martin should consider this: Jean Chrétien is sufficiently angry that he has started taking veiled pot shots at the Prime Minister in public. Thus far the language is indirect and muted. But imagine what would happen were Mr. Chrétien to speak more plainly and closer to home." "The problem with Paul Martin's decision to effectively run in opposition to the Liberal Party is that the Liberal Party could decide to run in opposition to him."
Having seen some new Deparment of Finance estimates I'd like to amend my post below: Balancing the budget alone can't reduce the debt to 25% of GDP in eleven and a half years. It can do it in ten years and ten months . If that weren't silly enough, the Liberals' fall back argument, that paying down debt saves on interest costs, doesn't hold up either. If the Liberals pay down $30 billion in debt we save $10.5 billion in interest over ten years. If they pay down $40 billion in debt we s...
For comprehensive budget coverage, the place to go seems to be either The Globe and Mail or The CBC . But let's look at how we could be spending our money. To do that we have to start with the surplus. The Liberals say that we should spend the surplus on debt retirement. We need bring the debt to GDP ratio down from 42% to 25% over the next ten years, they say. But even with conservative economic growth (1% infl., 1% pop. and 2.5% real growth) the debt will shrink to 25% ...
Monday, just after morning prayers, Israel launched an air strike assassination attempt against Hamas founder and spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. It was successful : "Thousands of Palestinians marched and chanted in the streets of Gaza City soon after the attack." "Black smoke rose over sections of Gaza City as Palestinians burned tires, and explosions could be heard. Hamas gunmen fired weapons into the air, promising revenge against Israel." I wholeheartedly share...
With no weapons found in Iraq, 74 percent of Canadians now support former Prime Miniter Jean Chrétien's decision to oppose the U.S. lead war in Iraq. Even at the time 69 percent of Canadians supported the decision. So, it's not knock-you-on-your-ass surprising that Canada's new Prime Minister, Paul Martin, hasn't rushed in to join George W. Bush's war. But comments by Colin Powell -- before the war began -- inform us that the U.S. considers several countries secret members of t...
Wow : "A Georgia couple who had a dispute over a theological point after watching The Passion of the Christ were arrested when the argument turned violent." They called the cops on each other . Nuts.
The faction of Al Qaida reponsible for the Madrid bombings has endorsed George W. Bush: "The statement said it supported President Bush in his reelection campaign, and would prefer him to win in November rather than the Democratic candidate John Kerry, as it was not possible to find a leader 'more foolish than you (Bush), who deals with matters by force rather than with wisdom.'" "In comments addressed to Bush, the group said:" "'Kerry will kill our nation while it sleeps...
The gang that couldn't shoot straight has come forward with two new ads -- that could rival the failure of the three they launched last week. Sure to attract fire will be the racially charged imagery of the first ad, entitled "100 Days". The picture of a swarthy, bushy eyebrowed foreigner -- above the words "Weaken Fight Against Terrorists" -- has immediately provoked comparisons to Bush senior's infamous Willie Horton ad. James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, has alread...
From Jeffrey Simpson : "The idea is simply stated: Canada should make the promotion of democratic development and civic society central to its foreign policy." "You will say: Do we not do this now as a country? To which the correct answer is: Yes, we do, and sometimes very well. But the effort is scattered through a variety of departments and agencies, and so lacks focus, has little domestic profile and does not fit properly into a coherent foreign policy."
After her year long fight for the return of her husband, Maher Arar, who was wrongfully accused of terrorist activities and deported to Syria by U.S. officials, Monia Mazigh seeks public office: "'I didn't choose to be a public figure, but when (the imprisonment) happened and when I came to be known, I think it is one of my personal duties, as a Canadian, to do something to help people around me,' Mazigh said as NDP Leader Jack Layton looked on."