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     Another oil rig goes up in smoke. The rig was in shallow water which is good news. Also, no one was killed in the blasts.">                              

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     August 24, 2010
Vancouver Sun

... while at the same time he criticises Harper for similar Tory grandiose promises ...

BADDECK, N.S. – "Stephen Harper’s reputation as a competent fiscal manager has been sullied by his billion-dollar spending spree on prisons ...">                              

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     national media is dumbstruck at the Graham/Alward bidding war for votes in a province whose fiscal mismanagement already looks to raise some serious long-term issues. But rather than following suit with its own package of baubles, the NDP is not only promising to hold the line on taxes but even ...">                              

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     current mess that is Iraq, it is the accumulative cost in terms of lives, dollars and strategy that will be the lasting legacy of this terrible war.

Human costs...">                              

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     tough on Donolo's slow start as chief of staff to Ignatieff. But, the magic is beginning to show. Ignatieff and the Liberals seem to be stepping out from the shadow that has enveloped them the last few years. It's as if Ignatieff has found his political voice. His much-maligned bus tour is reaping benefits, if not for Ignatieff himself, for the party. The words feel just right, the delivery smooth, friendly and connecting with regular folk. The Liberal leader's statements now seem to be precise and aimed at the heart of the Conservatives without malice or hysterics.

Is it enough to counter the permanent lead the Cons hold over the Libs? That remains to be seen but if Donolo has more gas in the tank when it comes time for an election, we may see real fireworks this time around. Then again, maybe not. I've lost my ...">                              

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     Betwixt The Music: Jewel & Sarah Palin from Jewel

H/T: Huffington Post">                              

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     answer: just in time to get the public nice and riled up for a recall campaign.">                              

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      insulting McCain for her weight.

One thing McCain has been tight-lipped about is Palin. She promised to open up and reveal her feeling towards the ex-Alaskan governor with her book. The book, "Dirty Sexy Politics", is out now and judging by her interview with ABC, she remains clammed up about Palin. Sure she talks about her but does not dish any goods. It's all very safe and timid. I'm wondering if it's her strategy to not piss off the Palinites to sell more books. Or, have some in the GOP been quietly advising her to keep her words about Palin vague. I think both....">                              

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Liberal Party members seem pretty full of themselves lately. Many are convinced that their leader, Michael Ignatieff has finally started to drop the 'loser' image that has plagued him since he took the party helm.

The summer bus tour photos are quite nice. Iggy flipping hotcakes .. Iggy engaged in various ethnic dances ... Iggy waving ... Iggy smiling. The problem is that most of these activities were conducted with and for carefully crafted 'Liberal only' crowds. Very, very few events involved the gen...">                              

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     suggesting that he's aiming for a Lib majority government in the next election as his primary goal. Indeed, one of the easiest mistakes to make in discussing politics is to ascribe too much permanence to a status quo that can change significantly without warning - and the minority-government games of the past few years have likely made that tendency even worse.

That said, though, it's worth pointing out the implications of Ignatieff's statement and its underlying assumptions as applied to other parties as well.

Afte...">                              

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Speaking on Tuesday in a panel interview on Power & Politics with Evan Solomon, NDP Justice critic Joe Comartin said he was "hopeful" that enough of his colleagues from rural and northern ridings would vote against Hoeppner's bill if the NDP's proposed legislation failed to pass in time.

"At this point … we're very close to having enough ...">                              

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     anti-bullying ads of promoting teh gay.
In an email to TPM, Cushman expanded her argument. "Listing certain categories creates a system ripe for reverse discrimination, sending the message that certain characteristics are more worthy of protection than others," she said.Cushman's argument has two levels: first, she says anti-bullying efforts wrongly put the focus on the "characteristics of the victim" instead of the "wrong actions of the bullies." Second, she thinks that gay rights activists are using the whole issue to sneak their agenda into the nation's schools. She denounced the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN).">                              

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     Bill Millin marched up and down, back and forth on the beach, dodging bullets and trying to inspire his comrades all the while playing his bagpipe. His bravery was featured in a segment of the movie 'The Longest Day'. He was a living legend. He died on August 17, 2010 with almost no media attention.

RIP Bill!

-Bill Millin Pipes Off - The Scottish Sun">                              

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     latest on the Harper Cons' attempt to run against the idea of cooperative politics includes one good point about what they hope to accomplish. But it's worth clarifying exactly why the Cons want to see the Libs denying the possibility - and what can be done instead:
Bricker said the Tories will be happy merely if Ignatieff is forced to talk about the (coalition) issue.

"They want him denying. They want him to engage in that debate, because it's better than talking about the census, or the gun registry or whatever story of the day is. It's smart strategy. These guys, if anything, are smart and ruthless about how they campaign."Now, Bricker's thesis is probably true enough on its face: the more time the Libs spend either rejecting the possibility of a coalition (as they did in '08) or obfuscating on the issue (as they're doing now), the easier it'll be for the Co...">                              

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     dream party but he's stuck with the Cons. It's so like them - become enraged when caught unethically bending the rules. Harper would be so proud.">                              

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To wit: “As Canadians now know, Prime Minister Harper made the decision to hold the G20 in downtown Toronto – a decision that led to exorbitant costs and a nearly impossible security situation for police.”

The largest mass arrest of Canadians in history and the Grits primary concern is that the cops were overwhelmed. It would be as if Martin Luther King in his letters from the Birmingham jail wrote to Police Chief “Bull” Connor complaining about the stress he was putting on his department’s German shepherds.

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     offers a reminder that it isn't only south of the border that the private sector is pocketing stimulus money rather than making any investments that would actually encourage recovery:
Despite a few signs of life (mostly in the oil and gas industry), overall business investment spending has not bounced back at all. Business capital investment is just 6 per cent higher than it was in the trough of the recession a year ago. Yes, profits shrank during the downturn, but they’re recovering. And businesses aren’t even reinvesting what they get, let alone taking on new debt. Cash flow (profits plus depreciation) continues to outstrip new capital investment by almost 2-to-1.

The odd result of this private-sector passivity is that non-financial firms ...">                              

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     conceded so quickly had she been running in a general election against a Democrat.">                              

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