Since I'm skipping town tonight and won't be back until Sunday... HAPPY CANADA DAY!
I'll leave you with this...
Statement by the Prime Minister for Canada Day
June 30, 2005
Ottawa, Ontario
Prime Minister Paul Martin today made the following statement for Canada Day:
“Today we celebrate Canada’s 138th birthday. This is a time to reflect on the values we hold dear as a nation.
Already in 2005, we have witnessed events and anniversaries that remind us of these values and how they define us as Canadians.
We have honoured Canadian veterans during the 60th anniversary commemoration of VE Day for their tremendous sacrifice in preserving freedom and democracy. We’ve celebrated the 20th anniversary of equality rights in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. And we have joined Albertans and Saskatchewanians in the festivities surrounding the centenary of these two provinces.
Canada is a success story – and we take immense pride in that. A country bound together by values of family, community, respect for one another, and a commitment to equality of opportunity. Our future is bright.
Canada Day is a time to celebrate that success. One gigantic birthday party across the nation, as the summer begins and we relax in the company of family and friends – at the lake, traveling, camping, enjoying the warm summer days and evenings.
Let the celebration begin! To all Canadians – I wish you a very Happy Canada Day!”
Thursday, June 30, 2005
happy canada day!
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Tory Regional Health Boards
Apparently there's a market for this sort of information... (i'm looking at you Robert)
Examples of Alberta Tory appointees to Regional Health Authority Boards (as of a couple of months ago)...
Jack Ady - PC MLA Cardston-Chief Mountain (1986-1997) & Provincially appointed Chair of the Chinook Regional Health Region
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
blog of the week - grandinite
Yes, it's that time again!
This week's 'blog of the week' is none other than Grandinite.
Aaron, the author of Grandinite was the driving force behind the creation of Alberta Blogs and runs a pretty spiffy blog himself. Aaron is working on his Masters in Economics at the lovely University of Alberta and is a former writer for The Gateway, but we'll forgive him for that... :P
Oh, and by the way...
PS. Zorph has a blog! (well, kind of...)
C-38 passed
I thought the beginning was pretty funny - the first time the Speaker asked for yeas and nays, the yeas most definately out yelled the neas. The second time, the nays sounded like they had added 50 or so vocal cords...
The vote results:
Yeas: 158
Nays: 133
Nothing out of the ordinary. The Liberal God Squad voted nay. Dipper Bev Desjarlais voted nay, as did Kilgour and O'Brien. Tories James Moore and Jim Prentice voted yea.
I hope someone asks Stephen Harper if this means Quebec is going to separate :P
What a goofball.
And so ends the story of how Canada legalized same-sex marriage.
PS. The sky never fell! :P
t-minus 17 seconds
until the 3rd reading of Bill C-38 the Civil Marriage Act... more commentary to come...
Monday, June 27, 2005
WILD ROSE ROUND UP #4: a day late and a record surplus short...
Phil at 8—Track Mind has posted about his love of Su Doku and gives readers some valuable Su Doku advice:
“Assuming your Su Doku pusher is a reputable one, each puzzle only has one answer and can be solved by logic -- no guessing required.”
Phil also blogged about his recent honeymoon to the
Alberta Propagandist listed of reason #2, 345 why the Martin government is the worst thing to happen to Canadian Politics. Bow Valley Blog posted a link to
Speaking of musicians... BumfOnline caught one of those nasty versions of blog music tag. Now the entire blog-o-sphere knows that BumfOnline owns 6069 songs, which translates into 17 days or 23.25 GB. Wow.
Russ at Burkean Canuck blogged about the finances of the nation and the suprise C-48 vote last week. Calgary Grit wrote about Anne McLellan and the floods and Justice Minister Irwin Cotler's secret ping-pong talent...
Calgary Observer used translation talents to decrypt some recent political speak from Ottawa... and of course, what would a Liberal blog like CO be without a post about everybody's favorite right-wing blogger, Peter Rempel. CO is no exception.
The Canadian Perasma (also from Calgary...) blogged some political observations about Quebec politics and Mario Dumont's ADQ, as well as an interesting post about transgenderism in Canada.
The Canuckistan Chronicles (also from
CIVTATENSIS blogged on a wide-variety of topics from Live 8 to Kyoto to southern Alberta flooding... Colby Cosh (who from what I can tell is some kind of blogging guru) posted some interesting info on cancer incidents in Canada...
Harlem Spanish over at Cosby Sweater wrote an interesting post on communism and wristbands (I asked the same questions...) Crittermusings blogged about the 5% of Canadians who are under 25... daveberta went to Clay Aiken...er...Lyle Oberg's leadership announcement and wishes he were in Grenada....
Doucheblog doucheblogged about the Emperor Palpatine...er... Karl Rove and US Senator John McCain. Dust my Broom posted a fun cat pic and a post about Paul Martin's trip to what could soon be known as the South Alberta Ocean...
I %100 agree with Elephants with Wings (also from
"...why sleep is more important than breakfast. Focusing on kids, but I imagine it carries through to adults as well. God knows I'd give up breakfast if it meant getting an extra hour of sleep."
Good call.
Last week, Essential Idealites Nicholas and Michael posted about Bob Geldoff and the recently released Pew Global Attitudes Survey. Lex Luthor of Going Green in Alberta (also from Calgary...) continued the Bob Geldorf theme of blogging (I hadn't even heard of this guy until last week...)
The Godfather of Alberta blogs, Aaron from Grandinite filled out the MIT Web Survey and discovered that his blog is the number 1 google search for 'Ivor Tossell.' Over at Hanger 19, Bert posted an interesting quote from a recent Gwynn Dyer article and a funny billboard. I think Bert and I would get along just fine : )
Another Calgary blog... Herbinator! This blog is the proud owner of a new banner! The Herbinator also blogged about some recent campaigning he did with Green Party leader Jim Harris as a Green Party candidate for the next federal election. (Good luck, Herb!)
Ian had a funny letter on his messy desk! Idealistic Pragmatist had an insightful commentary on blogs that don't allow comments. Ricia (also from Calgary...) at the Impetus Java House links to websites she wishes she had time to rant about... Matt (aka Jerry Aldini) commented on the most recent Licia Corbella 'plagiarism scandal at the Calgary Sun...
Kevin Powell has written a great post putting a little perspective into the same-sex marriage debate... Eugene at Le Revue Gauche blogged about the Alberta Government's decision to allow kids as young as 12 years-old to join the workforce... Lectio just finished (sewing or knitting) a Trellis sweater and is thinking of finishing up an Angora Tweed vest (named Tweedy!). Check out the pictures!
Firefox wouldn't let me open Little Man in a Touque... I hope we didn't lose you!
M.K. Braaten spent some time blogging about the recent health-care related Supreme Court ruling and the sneaky budget vote in Ottawa... Maple Leaf Blog has a fun pic from
Phendrana Drifts... ah, comrade Duncan's blog. Duncan, who's a raging Star-Wars-a-holic may have to buy a new computer! arg. He's also thinking about buying the new game, Star Wars: Empire at War.
Over at Points of Information the hacks are back posting on a regular basis... the lord of hackdom, Steve Smith (who seemed to be hogging the POI blog benches last week :P ) blog-ponders why the Tories don't take down the government and posts...
"Everything you need to know about American politics:
Political Cycles wrote a very interesting post on Christian Activism in Canada along with 10 more ways to prove that CANADA IS COOL! :) I agree.
Tamara over at Rantastic (the host of last week's awesome Wild Rose Round Up!) is gearing up for her M.Sc. defence in September! Let's all send tones of good karma her way!
Red Between the Lines is written by the same author of Le Revue Gauche. In RBL,
And now... Rempelia Prime.... One of my favorite right-o-wing blogs... Peter has been in a full fledged epic blog war with many of the Progressive Bloggers this past week... see the action here and here....
Simian Farmer has a great post about his new dog, Farley! Check out the post and the great picture! Laurie Hawn over at Strong and Free is also the Tory candidate in Edmonton Centre. In a lot of cases, being a Tory Candidate can generate enough controversy on its own, but some of Laurie's recent comments seems to be generating a storm of their own... check it out and feel free to join in on the debate...
stupidangrycanajun explains what "Pog mo thoin" means... thanks... :) The Black Kettle posted an interesting post about the number of children in the UK who are starting to be home schooled... the Murgatroyd Blog continues with some great contributions to the Live 8/foreign aid/Africa debate.... Robbie from Voices of a Distant Star blogs about the sweetest thing I have ever heard of: a freaking ROBOTIC VACUUM!!!! That is too cool...
Candace from Waking up on Planet X continues the Bob Geldoff debate. She also doesn't think Rick Mercer is very funny anymore... (Sorry Candace, I still think he's funny :P )
Allie over at Walks like Summer Rain (with the cool template) has a neat post about last week's constellations:
"Look to the west tonight as the sun sets and you will see three planets, Mercury, Venus and Saturn, in very close conjunction with each other. It should make for an interesting looksee - and it has been reported that this will be the best conjunction we will see until 2030. Conjunctions of 2 or 3 planets happen often, grouping them together so it appears as one large star in the sky. In ancient times people thought them to be omens, and it is likely that the "star in the east that the wisemen were said to have followed was actually a three planet conjunction."
Last, but not least... Vitor from What it Takes to Win wrote about
So... there we have it... WILD ROSE ROUND UP #4... it took longer than I had expected, but here are some trend observations....
- Since I agreed to do this, Alberta Blogs has grown by what seems like 5000%.
- Rick Mercer is getting a lot of blog coverage in
- Bob Geldoff is getting about the same amount.
- There's a lot of bloggers in
- Alberta Blogs hosts a pretty diverse bunch of bloggers... keep it up!
UPDATE: Any thoughts? Comment like heck! Jason Cherniak got over 60 comments in ONE POST last week, I'm sure we can beat him! :P
Sunday, June 26, 2005
kick 'em jenny
I'd just like to send a BIG HELLO out to jentario, who's now residing on the Caribbean Island of Grenada! Hey Jen!
The island in the picture is a volcano known as 'kick em' jenny.' It's located north of Grenada.
UPDATE: Heaps and heaps of props to yingyang who pointed out to me that the picture above is not in fact 'kick 'em jenny,' but Diamond Rock (still near Grenada). KEJ is an underwater volcano. Very cool. Thanks yingyang!
hello
For those of you wondering, WILD ROSE ROUNDUP #4 will be coming soon (probably tomorrow). It was a late night last night and it's been a pretty busy day.
Also, Kevin Powell has written a great post here.
Cheers.
D :)
it was bound to happen...
In a previous post, I blogged about the retirement of Rich Vivone, the editor of Insight into Government, a weekly Alberta Legislature news report. In the post, I wrote that Cambridge Strategies had purchased Mr. Vivone’s publication and that Marc Lisac would be succeeding Mr. Vivone as editor.
In reality, Mr. Lisac has purchased the publication, and Cambridge Strategies simply sponsored a transition party for the changeover.
I apologize to Mr. Vivone, Mr. Lisac, and Cambridge Strategies for posting this incorrect information, as it was not my intention to spread false information. Thank You, Mr. Vivone for pointing out my error.
I would also like to wish Mr. Vivone a happy retirement. Thank You for years of informative and interesting legislative reporting! Also, I would like to wish Marc Lisac good luck in his new venture!
Saturday, June 25, 2005
septuagenarian kills leopard with his bare hands
This is too messed up not to post about.
(Props to chris-face for the link to this epic story. wow.)
welcome to the 1850's?
(okay, maybe the picture is a little exagerated for Alberta...)
From the Globe and Mail...
Alberta eases child-hiring rules
"Restaurant owners in Alberta are now able to hire children as young as 12 without first getting provincial approval as a result of what government officials call a "procedural change" in employment practices.
But labour groups have charged that the switch leaves vulnerable children at the mercy of an industry already difficult to police and say it amounts to a little more than concession a sector desperate for cheap labour.
"We're horribly opposed to this," Jason Foster, director of policy for the Alberta Labour Federation, said.
"We think this is bad public policy, bad for children, bad for customers and bad for Alberta's reputation.""
Friday, June 24, 2005
the fire truck (still) stalks its prey
Google hits to this site from yesterday:
- "fort mcmurray" "sweetheart"
- the firetruck stalks its prey (4 times!)
- a solitary killer the fire truck
- "a solitary killer the firetruck"
And yes, Daveberta is the 1# google hit for the fire truck stalks its prey.
so... the budget passed, eh?
Seeing how every blogger in blogdom is going to be either salivating or foaming at the mouth over this one, I'm not going to write a huge post.
I'll refer you to Scott Tribe for a good post on the suprise final budget vote.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Little Bunny Rumsfeld
"Little Bunny Foo Foo,
Hopping through the forest
Scooping up the field mice
And boppin' 'em on the head"
(Photo care of the CBC)
that's oil, baby!
Yesterday, I linked to this article from the Globe and Mail, which reported on a prediction by Cambridge Energy Research Associates which suggested that the world is on the verge of an 'oil glut.'
This post generated some interesting dicussion.
Mark from Section 15 pointed me to two interesting websites which discuss oil issues. Check them out here and here.
Tim from Ahab's Whale has also joined in with some interesting comments on where the price of oil may be heading.
Aaron from Grandinite linked to an interesting article in the comment section.
Aaron also posted an interesting quote from the article:
"There has been a growing realization on the part of major oil producers such as Iran and Saudi Arabia that oil is not priced in dollars but rather dollars are priced in oil. The reality underpinning this epiphany is the fact that oil has "value", or "money's worth" - in exchange for commodities, goods and services - whereas the financial object we are accustomed to think of as the "dollar" is merely a "claim over value", or IOU issued by the US Federal Reserve Bank.
If we look at the current structure of the global energy market, we are conditioned to think that the "big bad wolf" is a "cartel" of OPEC members. However, the fact of the matter is that while there has indeed been a cartel extracting extraordinary profits from energy markets in recent years, this has consisted of intermediary investment banks and energy traders, who control the global market platform on which oil is traded and benchmark prices are set. In other words, the derivative tail has been wagging the oil market dog."
money smells
"One of the men I know who's a good philanthropist says money is like fertilizer. If you pile it up, it starts to smell. But if you spread it around, you can grow some beautiful things."
- Seymour Schulich
Yesterday, Mr. Schulich donated $25 Million to the University of Calgary's Faculty of Engineering. The Faculty has been renamed the 'Schulich School of Engineering.'
I liked the quote.
More at the CBC
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
more tory patronage
This afternoon, Advanced Education Minister Dave Hancock appointed defeated Tory MLA Mary O'Neill to the Board of Govenors of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT).
In 1997, O’Neill was first elected in the
O'Neill will join former Dunvegan Tory MLA Glen Clegg (MLA 1986-2001) as a political appointee on NAIT's BOG.
I love how Tories foam at the mouth when this stuff happens in
"undulating plateau" of oil
First of all, the first time I read this article, I thought it said "ungulating plateau," rather than "undulating plateau." Imagine my confusion...two very different meanings. Anyway...
In the article from today's Globe and Mail, Cambridge Energy Research Associates in Boston is predicting that the world is on the verge of an oil glut. Yes, that's right. We have more oil than we know what to do with.
They also suggest "oil will remain higher than $55 for the rest of the decade."
"The report also took aim at peak-oil theorists, who espouse the view that the world's oil production will hit a high, possibly as early as this year, and then decline rapidly. While no one argues that oil is anything but a finite resource, Cambridge Energy Research doesn't see a peak at all.
Instead, it projected an "undulating plateau," extending for several decades."
You can read the article here.
Any thoughts?
Posts
