Thursday, December 10, 2009

Despite our esteemed MPP's protest to the contrary, Ontario's new Green Energy Act makes sure that no environmentally sensitive area of the province is off limits to industrial wind turbine development. Which must come as a surprise to those of us who have lived through all the previous environmental restrictions of the Oak Ridge Moraine Act. This is the "New" Green.




Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Even Fairies Cannot Hide

I appears that the Fairywriter has disappeared. But even fairies cannot hide from Google

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Fairy Tales



...the newspaper reporter never asked me about an election or about anything else related to the Prime Minister. She had no, repeat, no questions, so, at least not of the national scene. She asked something about a local community college. But that was it. And then I wake up this morning and here they've got me singing the praises, great rhetoric. Well, let me tell you, as much as I like to think that every speech is a good one, they've obviously never heard me when I've gotten going as we have. And so, they put it, all this great rhetoric. I was reading a grocery list of, of projects for the island. So anyway, this whole thing is manufactured. And I was thinking so much about you today as I read the paper and the brilliant column you wrote in last week's Sun about wafergate in New Brunswick, where the editors made it up. It had nothing to do with what the reporter said. And so, I'm saying to myself, my God, this is like the virus or something. It's creeping across provincial borders. Now all of a sudden the Charlottetown paper can't just report the news. They've got to make it up.

Hey Guardian, when your reporter calls herself Fairywriter, it is possible that she might be making stuff up!


H/T SDA




Wednesday, April 15, 2009

The Drinking 10 Percenters

According to the University of Victoria's Centre for Addiction Research, More than half of all the alcohol consumed in Canada is being downed by just a 10th of the population.

According to the CBC,Canadians consumed $18 billion in sales at beer and liquor stores in 2007. Not included here is the amount of liquor purchase at licensed establishments. 

That works out, for that 10 percent, to about $300 per person.($18bil/2)/3mil   

Yet according to that same CBC article, the average per person spent on alcohol in 2007 was $667. The CBC report does not define whether the 'per person' is spread across the entire population or just those persons legally permitted to purchase alcohol.

Obviously, alcohol sales in Canada is tightly regulated by the provincial governments to prevent underage Canadians from purchasing alcohol.

Statistics Canada likes to confuse the issue more and splits the census numbers at age 15. In my initial look at the 2006 census data, I was unable to determine the actual over 18, 19, population in
Canada. But assuming there are 21 million Canadians over the age of 15, if we deduct the 10% of Canadian that consume half the liquor, we end up with a per capita  purchase of of $500.
($18bil/2)/(21mil-3mil)

So, to conclude, most of us are buying a lot of drinks for the few.

Or the CBC is out to lunch. Drinks all around!

Or the CARBC have been drinking the MADD kool-aid.

Cheers!




 
 
 

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Your Morning CAFE



When CAFE gets to 35mpg, Government Motors will need something else to peddle to keep the Silverado cash cows rolling out the door.

Even if you give PUMAs away, a 20mpg truck suddenly becomes a 40mpg miser. On paper, anyway, which is all that counts….Corporate Average Fuel Economy.

Next up…bicycle racks classified as fuel economy devices.



Friday, January 23, 2009

On the Job Training

After all, Bush was the Doofus....   










BEGIN TRANSCRIPT














RUSH:
Now, here's audio sound bites.  This is Obama.  He has to ask Greg
Craig, the White House counsel, for help here, signing the closing of
Gitmo executive order.

OBAMA:
(chiseling in marble sound effect) In order to effect the appropriate
disposition of individuals currently detained by the Department of
Defense at Guantanamo, uh, and promptly to close the detention facility
at Guantanamo consistent with the national security and foreign policy
interests of the United States and interests of justice, I hereby
order.  And we then we will then, uh, provide the process whereby
Guantanamo will be closed no later than, uh, one year from now.  We
will be... Uhhh.... Ummm.... Is there a separate executive order, Greg,
with respect to how we're going to dispose of the detainees? Is that
it, eh, uh, what we're doing?

CRAIG:  We'll set up a process!

OBAMA:  We will be, uh, setting up a process whereby this is going to be taking place.

RUSH: 
By the way, we are etching his words. We're chiseling his words in
marble, since that's how CNN has portrayed the articulate
pronouncements of President Obama.  "By the way, Greg, what are we
doing here?  Separate executive order with respect to how we're going
to dispose of the detainees. Is that what we're doing?" "We will set up
a process! We'll set up a process.  I'm sorry.  I've also been asked
not to be so critical 'til Obama really messes up.  I know he just
messed up, but I don't think some of the dingleberries in this country
quite understand how he screwed up yet, and if I didn't tell 'em, they
won't know.  We're going to set up a process?  Can I translate that?
How would you translate that, "We're going to set up a process for
dealing with the people that are there now"? (interruption) That's
exactly right: We don't have a clue what we're doing. This is the "we
don't have a clue" executive order.  We don't have a plan.  We don't
have a plan.  We're going to take care of the plan during the next
year.  Political.














BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH:
Here's one more audio sound bite from Obama.  Now, this is just this
morning at the White House in the Oval Orifice, and Obama here is on
the task force that they're gonna use process to create to deal with
the detainees that are going to end up being released from Guantanamo
Bay.  And once again, Greg Craig, the White House counsel, has to
explain it to Obama in the midst of Obama's announcement here.  Greg
Craig, as you know, sometimes we don't know who he works for. 
Sometimes it's the American government; sometimes it's the Cuban
government.  I mean, he did represent the father (this means Castro) of
the young Elian Gonzalez, who Janet Reno eventually saw to it was
dispatched back to the slums and the authoritarian tyranny of Cuba. 
Here is Obama announcing what they're going to do with the detainees.

OBAMA:
(chiseling in marble sound effect) What we're doing here is to set up a
special interagency task force on detainee disposition.  They are going
to provide me with information in terms of how we are able to deal in
the disposition of some of the detainees that may be currently in
Guantanamo that we cannot transfer to other countries, who could pose a
serious danger to the United States, uh, but, uh, we cannot try because
of various problems related to evidence, uh, in a Article 3 court.  So
this task force is going to provide us with, uh, a series of
recommendations on, uh, that.  Is that correct, Greg?

CRAIG:  That's right.  And detainee policy going forward.

OBAMA:  And detainee policy going forward so that we don't find ourselves in these kinds of situations, uh, in the future.

CRAIG:  And there is clear guidance for the military as well.  

OBAMA:  And that we are providing clear guidance to our military in terms of having to do with it.

RUSH: 
Unbelievable here! What am I supposed to do?  Am I supposed to marvel
at this?  Am I supposed to sit here and marvel at how this new teamwork
is taking place, about how the president is incorporating all these
people? It sounds to me like... You know, folks, this is not much
evidence to go on, but I'm sure we could find the audio sound bites of
me in the past saying, "You know, there's a part of me when I said I
was conflicted about Obama, I'm not sure what's going on.  Does he just
want to be president with everybody else doing all the work and he gets
to just be the figurehead and play the big games?"  I don't recall.
Honestly, I don't recall.  I'm not saying it hasn't happened.  But
somebody help me out here.  Have we ever seen a president announce an
executive order and have to turn to his counsel to explain what the
hell the executive order is?  

'Cause it's his order! He's the
president. It's his executive order, but then is it his executive
order?  "Is that correct, Greg? This task force is going to provide us
with a series of recommendations? Is that correct, Greg?"  "And
detainee policy going forward," and then Obama repeats it, "and
detainee policy going forward so that we don't find ourselves in these
kinds of situations in the future."  Then Craig interrupts without even
being asked, "and there is clear guidance for the military as well." 
And Obama says, "and we're providing clear guidance for our military in
terms of how to deal with this." What am I supposed to do?  They
shoulda just put it on the prompter.  They absolutely shoulda just put
it on the teleprompter, but then the press would report there was a
teleprompter.  It's his executive order.  And with Greg Craig in
there... Remember, Greg Craig also as he needed as Bill Clinton's lead
attorney during the impeachment proceedings.  

That was after he
represented Castro and the father of Elian Gonzalez.  Oh, this is...
You know, I so want my president to do the right thing and for our
country to succeed.  This is not inspiring confidence.  Is it? 
(interruption) What do you mean, "he hasn't found his voice yet"?  He
hasn't found his voice? This is the most articulate president we have
ever elected?  I know that's what they said about Clinton when he
screwed up in the first two years, "He's still looking for his voice,
still searching."  All right.  I don't want to make too big a deal out
of it.  I just don't recall a lawyer being in there, interrupting and
being asked for guidance on what the president's executive order. All I
can tell you, folks, is none of this that you heard has the slightest
thing to do with United States security.














BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: 
You know how I know it never happened that Bush had to turn to Cheney
or somebody and have the executive order he was signing explained to
him?  You know how I know that?  Because if it had happened we would
still be watching video of it today, because the whole template on Bush
was that he's stupid, that he's a blockhead, that he's an idiot, and we
would have seen that replayed over and over again.  We would have had
stories, "Does Bush even run the administration?"  'Cause they thought
Cheney was running it all along anyway.  So now here's Obama,
apparently not fully up to speed on what's happening with his own
executive orders.  He has to turn to Greg Craig, who once was a lawyer
for Fidel Castro and Elian Gonzalez's dad in Cuba.  

Have you
people seen the movie Blazing Saddles?  Some of you youngsters out
there may not have seen Blazing Saddles, it's one of the funniest
movies ever, it's by Mel Brooks.  You should go out there -- I know
some of you tightwads don't buy movies -- go out there and rent it. 
Mel Brooks plays a bunch of characters, and one of the characters he
plays is Governor Le Petomane, and he's an absolute idiot.  He's a
figurehead.  All he cares about is the showgirl in the back room and
having some time with her after he finishes the so-called official
duties.  Harvey Korman plays Hedley Lamarr, the chief of staff who's
constantly throwing official papers in front of Governor Le Petomane to
sign. He signs it, heads back to the showgirl.  And, in fact, the movie
-- well, never mind.  I'm not going to say more about it, but that's
what I thought I was watching.  It's his executive order.  I still
can't get over this. 

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: I want to
go back and replay an audio sound bite.  This is this morning in
Washington, the Oval Office, President Obama signing an executive order
calling for the closure of Club Gitmo within one year.  Now, we will
not have the chisel sounds.  We've already chiseled this bite in
marble, so you will not hear them here.

OBAMA: In order to
effect the appropriate disposition of individuals currently detained by
the Department of Defense at Guantanamo, uh, and promptly to close the
detention facility at Guantanamo consistent with the national security
and foreign policy interests of the United States and interests of
justice, I hereby order.  And we then we will then, uh, the process
whereby Guantanamo will be closed no later than one year from now.  We
will be... Uhhh.... Umm.... Is there a separate executive order, Greg,
with respect to how we're going to dispose of the detainees? Is that
it, eh, uh, what we're doing?

CRAIG:  We'll set up a process!

OBAMA:  We will be setting up a process, uh, whereby this is going to be taking place.

RUSH: 
Greg, is there going to be another executive order?  What are you guys
doing back there, did you write another executive order, or is this
it?  That's Greg Craig, the White House counsel who represented the
father of Elian Gonzalez and Fidel Castro of Cuba.  Also represented
Bill Clinton in the impeachment hearings.  I didn't play this to once
again highlight Obama not knowing what's going on with his own
executive order.  What I did was to illustrate it's not very FDR-like,
and I wanted to make mention of this for those in the Obama
administration monitoring this program.  What you did today, purely
political, not oriented toward the security of this country.  Do you
people in New York feel safer now?  I mean you may like your country a
little more, but do you feel safer here?  We're going to close a prison
for terrorists in the interests of national security and justice?
(laughing)  And the foreign policy interests of the United States. 
Anyway, FDR would not do this.  Remember, FDR put Japanese citizens in
the internment camps!  He did what he had to do in time of war to
protect this country.  This is not FDR-like.  And I had to make that
observation. 














BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: 
Apparently, ladies and gentlemen, I was not the only one to notice that
Obama's executive orders that he signed today seemed to be executive
orders he hadn't seen yet.  He's asking Greg Craig, (paraphrasing)
"What are we doing here, Greg?" Greg Craig says, "Here's what we're
doing," and Obama repeats it as though it's his own words.  This
afternoon on Fox News Channel Jon Scott talked to Democrat strategist
Bob Beckel about Obama's signing of the executive orders today and the
confusion with the media.  Now, I don't know what confusion with the
media there was, because I wasn't there, but here's the question that
Jon Scott asked: "If you were running the media show at the White
House, would you call somebody on the carpet?  I mean you want the
president to look presidential, right?"

BECKEL:  Yeah, I suspect
that this is gonna lead to a discussion here with a few people. Look,
for people who pulled off -- just think about what they pulled off at
the Democratic National Convention, I mean these are pros, and they're
gonna -- they can't make little mistakes, 'cause we're going to talk
about it.  So I suspect that there's going to be a few heads that are
going to roll and I also suspect you're not going to see many missteps
after this.

RUSH:  I'm not sure what he's talking about here.  I
don't know what the misstep with the media was, unless it is Obama not
knowing what his executive orders said.  But maybe media there was a
media screw-up in there, maybe people didn't get in there, I have no
clue what this is about.  I hope to find out.  It was a media issue
yesterday.  This says it's about the executive order. (interruption)
Well, I know about that, the controversy yesterday was the White House
released photos of the finger and Rahm Emanuel in the Oval Office, and
the Drive-Bys are upset, they didn't run the picture because they want
their own photographers in there and they weren't allowed in their to
take their own. They had to run the White House picture.  Of course the
Drive-Bys, occasionally they'll stand up for themselves, even when it's
Obama, "We're not going to run your propaganda.  We didn't take the
picture. It's a White House picture. We want our own picture. We run
the propaganda around here. We want our cameras in there to record the
propaganda."  Well, he cut his finger off, didn't he, or do something? 
He cut his little finger off to show toughness or something.  He cut it
and didn't get it looked at and it was getting ugly looking out there,
had to go chop it off, in a show of great toughness.  Yeah, like the
Yakuza guys, like the Japanese Mafia.  Exactly, Snerdley, exactly.  

So
I don't think Beckel here is talking about -- I think we still are the
only ones talking about the fact that Obama had no idea what executive
orders he was signing and what they said.  














BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH:
Now, the White House press briefing is still going on.  Robert Gibbs,
this is the first official press briefing, and this guy, by the way,
the media sang this guy's praises during the campaign.  "This Robert
Gibbs, whoa, he's going to be the best secretary of the press that
we've ever had up there, this guy knows his stuff, he knows what he's
doing."  Here's just a sample of what's happened up there.  Boiled down
Q&A, Major Garrett of Fox News to Robert Gibbs.  Question:  "So if
we capture Osama Bin Laden, we have to use only the Army Field Manual
guidelines for interrogations?  Because when he announced the closing
of Gitmo today, the Army Field Manual will be the only source used for
interrogations."  Robert Gibbs, who is said to run rings around every
other press secretary, said, well, let me check with Greg Craig for
guidance on that for you.  That's a little bit of my pay grade.  He
didn't say that, but here's the thing about that.  That is a great
question.  If, when we capture Osama Bin Laden, which Obama's vowed to
do, then where will we put him?    

So many people wish they
were me.  So many people talking in my ear in the midst of brilliant
analysis, forcing me to stop and make a point that was about to roll
off my tongue anyway.  Obama has said in the past that capturing Bin
Laden was the only definition of success.  However, after he won the
election and during the transition, he said, (paraphrasing) "Well, he's
sorta disfigured out there, he's not really that big a factor. 
Capturing him is no longer our definition of success."  I mentioned
that back when it happened, I did the sigh and the ho-hum and will any
of the human beings disguised as amoebas understand it?  Point is, if
we have a chance to capture him, Snerdley, we're going to.  If some
Meals on Wheels program in Afghanistan happened to run in to Osama,
we're going to capture him.  Maybe the Meals on Wheels program won't
capture him, maybe the homeless outreach program -- I don't know. 
Whoever captures him, if we capture him, where are we going to try
him?  And where we going to put him?  'Cause all this stuff is being
shut down. 

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: No, Snerdley, Robert
Gibbs was not part of the Bee Gees.  It was Gibb.  It was Robin.  It
was Maurice and Barry Gibb.  No S on there.  They lived in Miami for a
while, and they had a brother Andy who had a couple of hits.  He
unfortunately died.  Gibb.  This guy does not look like a Bee Gee. 
This is the best press secretary, this is the sharpest press secretary,
this guy is going to run rings around McClellan, he's going to run
rings around Tony Snow, this guy is going to run rings around Dana
Perino, this guy was sharp during the campaign.  What about capturing
Obama?  "Oh, gotta consult with Greg on that." 

Here, folks,
if you haven't it heard I'm sorry to belabor this, grab sound bite 31. 
This sound bite is what has prevented me from getting to any other
sound bites today.  I think I'm the only one here who has caught this. 
I'm sure there will be others as the day goes on.  This is Barack
Obama, this is the president of the United States announcing his --
capital H, capital I, capital S -- his executive order this morning. 

OBAMA:
In order to effect the appropriate disposition of individuals currently
detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo, uh, and promptly
to close the detention facility at Guantanamo consistent with the
national security and foreign policy interests of the United States and
interests of justice, I hereby order.  And we then we will then
provide, uh, the process whereby Guantanamo will be closed no later
than, uh, one year from now.  We will be... Uhhh.... Ummm.... Is there
a separate executive order, Greg, with respect to how we're going to
dispose of the detainees? Is that it, eh, uh, what we're doing?

CRAIG:  We'll set up a process!














OBAMA:  We will be setting up a process, uh, whereby this is going to be taking place.
 
RUSH: 
What am I supposed to do here?  Am I supposed to pretend this isn't
happening, "Gee, I hope he figures this out and succeeds"?  He's
reading his own executive order, and in the middle of it he stops to
ask his lawyer, Greg Craig, who represented Castro and the father of
Elian Gonzalez in Cuba, (doing Obama impression) "Greg, uh, how we
gonna handle the detainees here, what are we going to do?"  "Oh, a
process is going to be worked out," and then Obama repeats it as though
nobody heard what Craig said.  "We'll have a process, process going to
be worked out."  The second executive order was basically the process,
which was a "we don't have a clue" executive order.  Well, you know, I
think they probably think Greg Craig is so smart he could probably be
Treasury secretary, and he's paid his taxes.  Look, play 32.  It
happened again.  It happened again in the next sound bite with the next
executive order.  What am I supposed to do here? 

OBAMA:  What
we're doing here is to set up a special interagency task force on
detainee disposition.  They are going to provide me with information in
terms of how we are able to deal in the disposition of some of the
detainees that may be currently in Guantanamo that we cannot transfer
to other countries, who could pose a serious danger to the United
States, uh, but we cannot try because of various problems related to
evidence, uh, in a Article 3 court.  So this task force is going to
provide us with, uh, a series of recommendations on that.  Is that
correct, Greg?

CRAIG:  That's right.  And detainee policy going forward.

OBAMA:  And detainee policy going forward so that we don't find ourselves in these kinds of situations, uh, in the future.

CRAIG:  And there is clear guidance for the military as well. 

OBAMA:  And that we are providing clear guidance to our military in terms of how to deal with it.

RUSH: 
I'm speechless.  I'm just dumbfounded.  Two executive orders in a row,
he doesn't know what's in them, gotta turn to Craig Greg.  Craig tells
him and Obama repeats it as though nobody can hear it.  See, I thought
Obama was the editor of the Harvard Law Review.  He's supposed to be
smarter than Greg Craig.  He taught constitutional law up there at the
University of Chicago, right next door to Bill Ayers.  Yeah, you would
think he'd be pretty good at this legal stuff.  He's an author.  He
wrote his own books.  Ahem.  He didn't know what was in at least two of
his executive orders today.  What am I supposed to do?  Am I not
supposed to mention this?  "Give him a chance, Rush.  Wait 'til he
really screws up.  Give him a chance.  We all want the country to
succeed."  Well, Obama's policies succeeding do not mean success for
the country, and that's the bottom line.  I want Obama's policies to
fail.  That will equal success for the country.  So, see, the process
here, the process was always the issue, so they say they're going to
shut Guantanamo in a year, and they don't tell us the process, cause
they don't have a plan! 

I'll believe they close it in a year
when they do anyway.  But doesn't matter folks because I have adapted
as the epitome of capitalism, the government has thrown me a curveball
and I have adapted.  I haven't asked for a bailout, I haven't gone to a
lawyer, I haven't filed suit.  I have simply ordered my marketing
managers of the EIB merchandise store to come up with a new line of
Club Gitmo merchandise, a new logo, a swimming pool with a diving board
-- water and a board -- and a new tag line on each piece of
merchandise: "When America Was Safe."  We're working on that new
merchandise line even now, a teachable moment.














BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: 
Here it is, ladies and gentlemen, the question and answer. It was Major
Garrett, Fox News, talking with the new press secretary better than
anybody's ever done the job, Robert Gibbs.

GARRETT:  Just so the
American people have an understanding: if, for example, US Forces were
to capture Osama Bin Laden or someone less well known but of
operational significance, are they to understand, the American people,
that the field manual only will be the interrogation method used to
interrogate a target as valuable potentially as Osama Bin Laden, or
someone of that operational significance?

GIBBS:  Let me get some guidance from, uhhhhh, from Greg and members of the NSC.

RUSH: 
Translation:  "I don't know.  They haven't told me.  Obama doesn't know
either.  I gotta go ask Greg Craig.  We'll have Greg Craig get back to
you on this." I mean, Obama didn't even know. He had to ask Greg Craig
during the ceremony. "What you are asking me for?  How do you expect me
to know if Obama didn't know?"







END TRANSCRIPT

A year to define The Process planning team.
A year to define The Process.
A year to get Congress to approve The Process.
A year to enact The Process.

Then Gitmo can be closed.

Obama will still be explaining in 2011 why Guantanamo is still open



 

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Welcome to da 'hood!

Where was Hillary Rodham born and raised?