Here We Go Again...The Story Of Haleigh Poutre

Big-Up to... Michelle Malkin. BOH!

Last year, it was all about Terri Schiavo.

This year, Michelle Malkin stumbled on a sadder story about an 11-year-old allegedly beaten and burned by her stepdad.

Like Terri, she's on life support in a persistent vegetative state.

Like Terri, she is at the centre of controversy whether she should be allowed to live.

Like Terri, there is a tug-of-war brewing between 2 opposing parties: her stepdad wants her to live; the doctors at the Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, MA, aren't quite sure.

This debate between optimists and pessimists will surely go on as long as Haleigh has a pulse. But Michelle has this nice little blurb to say...

When the state condemns a convicted murderer to die, Hollywood celebrities trip all over themselves to protest.

Where are the Tinseltown activists who will rally to protect a truly innocent life?

Haleigh may not have been a founding member of a street gang, convicted of capital murder or an author of children's books (with a help of a ghost-writer), but she still deserves a chance.

Expect the blogosphere to heat up over this case.

Erection 2006: Y-2-Dray Visits...THE COMMIES(you mean they're still around?)

Who: The Communist Party of Canada

What: they're Communists.

Why: "Canada's future is socialism!"
(Psst... the NDP just called: they want their slogan back!)

Wet dreams:

In a socialist Canada, the principal means of producing and distributing wealth will be the common property of society as a whole. The exploitation of labour will be abolished. Ecological degradation will be stopped, and a planned approach to the relationship of human life with the natural environment will be implemented. Want, poverty, insecurity and discrimination, rooted in capitalist exploitation, will be ended. Socialism will finally realize a new society based on solidarity, equality and emancipation.

As it develops, socialism will provide the real basis for communism, a classless society, in which for the first time in history, the free all-round development of each individual can be the condition for the development of all.

The aim of the Communist Party of Canada is to establish a socialist and, ultimately, a communist society in Canada. The party stands for the victory of socialism throughout the world.

I did say that it was a wet dream, right?

Eye-opening revelation:

Canada is an imperialist country – a highly developed monopoly capitalist state. Canada has the highest level of foreign ownership amongst the imperialist countries, but it is neither a colony nor a semi-colony. Canadian-based transnationals participate in the exploitation of working people in other countries, and Canada is subject to the intrinsic contradictions of global capitalism.

I'd sure love to see our imperial holdings. Weren't we supposed to own the Turks and Caicos waaay baaack in the daaay? Hmmm...

Anyways, read on and laugh.

Erection 2006:The Zen Sight OfOne Hand Clapping

Here I am, looking for a job, enduring pogey, recovering from a nice long talk with Sis, and the wheels of campaign agitprop keep grinding and grinding, blah blah blah blah blah.

It's enough to make a mild-mannered proletarian go postal at the sight of Liberal Zen Disinformation Spots that permeate Canuck airwaves.

The words come out like fractured grade-school haiku, underlying the evil that is Stephen Harper. Since the Fibbing Libs couldn't find anything bad to say about Steve-O's policies, they decided to go after his personality - or at least a reasonable facsimile thereof, since he's too darn nice to be viewed as a quasi-clerico-fascist demagogue.

But to appreciate the essence of Canadian electoral agitprop, one should be able to witness it. Aside from the Grit-ty attack haikus (those ending with the "Choose your Canada" mantra), the Tories take a good swift kick at the shortcomings made by Paulyanna's party, while the NDP use a bit of humour to make their point. The Blokes That Want To Break Up The Country have their own ads that hide the fact that their raison d'être is to break up the country. Heureusement, the ROC is spared the saccharine treatment. Malheureusement, the Québecois are led to think that the Blokes are an offshoot of Jack-O's Not-so-new Democratic Party, who somewhat share these very same values without the potetential for high treason.

Interestingly, of the 4 established "Federal" parties (yes, the Blokes are a "Federal" entity: that's the price of having a pluralistic democracy, eh?), only 2 - the Grits and the NDP - offer ads in languages other than English and French. Yet the message is the same: vote for us and your lives will be better. The recent Grit ad showed Paulyanna stating that even though they had been found liable for AdScam and other scandals, the Liberals are still Canada's Party. Sadly, because of all the shortcomings, mudslinging and botched opportunities, Paulyanna has wound up dealing with more more work and damage control than what he had before the campaign! Which is why the oucome may have more of a Blue-Orange tint rather than a Reddish hue. Until then, the slaggings, innuendoes and finger-pointings will continue on Canada's airwaves.

Back In The Bowels Of Hali...

After almost a month in the Old Country (a.k.a. Thornhill, ON), I'm back in Halifax getting ready to move out of St. Laurent Block, Windsor Park.

Since I'm in-between careers, I have to spend a little extra time looking for work. Add to the fact that I have to find decent furnishings for my crib and food for the fridge, and you have one busy camper.

I've noticed that in my absence there were those who have posted comments on quite a few of my postings. If they didn't show up soon enough, it's because they were pending moderation through Haloscan and I couldn't remember the password to its site - I was on vacation after all, and my brain acted accordingly. I will be picking through them, so don't be too surprised if one of the posted comments becomes another post (heh heh heh)!

Aside from the Boxing Day shooting, silly Grit attack ads, excessive overindulgence at the China Buffet King, and ringing ears from Empire's 1Sound party at the late, lamented System Soundbar (big ups, Ryan), my holiday was good. I haven't relapsed, thank G-d (FTWK), and those 12 Steps have kept my head together, especially when I'm dealing with relatives, friends and old haunts.

Anyways, just to let you know, I've cast my vote in advance - Elections Canada still has me pegged as a Thornhill resident, so I figured that change is due. Despite all the good intentions displayed by the incumbent (and those pansy-assed Paulyanna attack ads), I voted... accordingly.

To all my fellow Canadians, do the right thing Jan. 23. I'll be waiting.

Erection 2006: The Okay Debate,Last Night In Thornhill, AndPaul-luting The Campaign

So many things to say - so little time.

So let's get started with Monday's English-language debate between the 4 contenders. In a nutshell...

• Paulyanna lost his cool when confronted with allegations that he registered his Canada Steamship fleet with other nations so he could pay less taxes and insurance, thus making him look less patriotic than what he claimed to be in campaign ads;


• Jack-O Layton appeared pretty calm at the start, occasionally pointing out defects in his opponents' arguments without resorting to crypto-Marxist blathering. But towards the end, he started to conclude his answers by begging the audience to elect his party. A good performance spoiled by excessive begging;


• Gigli the Separatiste tried to put on the face of a federal candidate to virtually no avail, therefore looking a little lost in the scuffle. He did, however, score some hits on Paulyanna by attacking the definition of a "nation". Everything else sounded like a carbon-copy of the NDP platform. Useless in a Federal debate


• Steve-O was cool. Maybe just too cool. Even when his patriotism was questioned by Paulyanna, he remain calm. When he was accused of trying to kill all the social programs, bankrupt the country with useless promises and promote felixophagy amongst preschoolers (I made that one up - that's the eating of cats), the man did not snap, not even once. Methinks that the enemy would have to sink a bit low to defeat him, but that's another story, eh?

On Wednesday, I went to an all-candidates meeting at the Thornhill Community Centre Library to see representatives from 5 political parties in the federal riding (electoral district) of Thornhill explain their presences and parrot whatever their masters have cooked-up. It was a meet-and-greet affair punctuated by a spirited Q & A session. Most of the pointed questions seemed to be tossed in the general direction of the local challenger, former Town of Vaughan councillor and Conservative Party candidate Anthony Reale, especially those regarding women's and reproductive rights. Liberal Party incumbent Susan Kadis was not immune to barbs tossed her way with regards to her boss's scandals and ineptitude. The most articulate of the bunch was the NDP's contender, Simon Strelchik, whose soul-patch would make a great complement to Jack-O's 'stache if he gets elected, which would be almost never since the riding usually swung between Grit and Tory. Standout of the evening: Green Party's Lloyd Helferty's fashion sense in wearing a green sportscoat - very representative.

Anyways, after all the fuss, the Fiberals came out fighting with their own, catty attack ads against Steve-O, accusing him of being a right-wing demagogue and a warmonger willing to impose martial law on his own Fellow Canadians (even though their ideological guiding spirit, Pierre Elliot Trudeau pulled that very stunt during the October Crisis of 1970). No debate about issues, but a lot more accusations of felixophagy got tossed around. Compare the whining and caterwauling with the ads that the Tories made about poor little Paulyanna. Expect worse things to come from the 2 real contenders as the campaign reaches the proverbial home-strech.