Merry Christmas

To one and all, a very happy, peaceful and blessed Christmas. May God bless you and the New Year bring you health and prosperity.

Doggerel Party HQ is alive with children scattering torn paper to the winds and corgis wondering what's hit them, particularly our latest recruit Amie, a 12 week old fluffy Cardigan Welsh corgi.




Blogging will resume in due course.

Flying Cats: A Rumour and a Bad Precedent

Rumour is swirling around Doggerel Party HQ that a new genetically engineered super race of flying cats is shortly to take to the skies. Now, this may be only a rumour, but that hasn't stopped Director of Cat Sequestration, Sam the Cardigan corgi, from issuing his opinion.

"In my view, this would be a bad precedent," he said. "Flight should be the prerogative of birds, and even then, should only be used by those that are too small to eat. Cats who take to the skies would be evading responsibility for their felinity. Not to mention the even greater damage to the song bird population that would result."

Editorials, op-eds and letter writers across the country have backed Sam's campaign against flying cats. In particular, the Globe and Mail has mounted a vocal response. Globe staff did not respond to a TDPC request to be interviewed for this post.

Canadian Shame in Copenhagen

As the Copenhagen talks reach their dramatic climax, there is much talk of Canadian embarrassment and shame. Here, then, is the corgis' handy cut-out-and-keep guide to spotting Canadian embarrassment in Copenhagen.

The Great Al Gore Poetry Contest

Cross posted at Kate's place, this is the Corgis' entry in the Great Al Gore Poetry Contest.

Here's a quick effort, bearing in mind, we are the Doggerel Party of Canada:

Now hear ye the great Al Goracle,
For now's a time that's quite historical.
For every man, woman and youth,
To heed an Inconvenient Truth.

We've been burning fossil fuels,
On which there are no free renewals.
We filled the air with CO2,
which you can't see, but still it's true.

Listen to your new world's master.
You're heading for climate disaster.
There will be famine, drought and flood,
Wind and rain and streams of blood.

The seas will rise o'er seaside piers,
And coastal towns will disappear.
And all the streets y'all once walked on,
Will be inhabited by plankton.

There will be hotter, hotter days,
This is what the fruit fly says.
There will be killer bee attacks,
Unless you pay your carbon tax

Now this we know and you'll see later,
It's written in Phil Jones's data.
He reads the tree rings Briffa sees,
And extrapolates his prophecies.

But hidden from your eyes and mine,
There's tricks afoot to hide decline.
And we find in shock and awe,
A plot to circumvent the law.

So wait! can it be really true?
The planets baking me and you?
Or is it just a cunning scheme,
To realize socialisms dream?

And so we found out just in time,
The climate warmists dreadful crime.
So please don't sign that Danish treaty
But turn the heat up, there's a sweety.

Oh My God, Albertans Can Legally Think For Themselves Again

I missed this on Saturday as I was minding 21 dogs at a friend's boarding kennel and was thus in paradise.

Nothing I could add to the coverage at Kathy Shaidle's and BCF.

But it is nice to see Dr. Lund suitable chastened, especially given that his own propensity to bigotry is just as large as those he professes to despise.

Doggerel Party Exclusive: Commander In Chief's Orders to New Afghan Troops

You will bring about the destruction of the Taliban war machine, the elimination of the mullah's tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Afganistan, and security for ourselves in a free world. Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped, and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely. But this is the year 1944. I mean, 2009. Much has happened since the Al Quaeda triumphs of 2001. The United Nations has inflicted upon the Taliban great defeat in open battle man to man. (Open dialogue, person to person, surely? - Ed)

Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our home fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned. The free men of the world are marching together to victory. I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory. Good luck, and let us all beseech the blessings of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.

And we'll be leaving again in 2011, so if it doesn't work out, it's no big deal.

- General Barry D. Eisenbama

*

Climategate Made Simplest

Everybody lies.
- Greg House, MD.

Climategate Made Simple

An excellent summary of the Climategate scandal, suitable for those whose media diet consists of the CBC or other AGW cheerleaders. Found in the comments to this Daily Telegraph column by Christopher Booker, also worth a read.

I hope that the following makes the ClimateGate controversy easier to understand and how only 20 – 30 paleoclimatologists and super computer programming specialists can create the entire “consensus” that man is causing global warming.

ClimateGate emails and computer programs were taken from a main server at the Climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia. It is not known if this was a theft or the actions of a whistleblower, disgusted with what the lead scientists at CRU were doing.

ClimateGate exposed the cabal of 20 – 30 scientists (not just at CRU) that peer reviewed each others papers, strong-armed scientific journals to only print their views, and then sat on the IPCC panels as authors judging which published studies go into the IPCC final reports. This is why they always keep shouting “peer reviewed studies, peer reviewed studies, peer reviewed studies”. They owned the peer review process.

ClimateGate exposed that this small group has been adding positive corrections to the raw global temperature data, inflating the amount of published temperature rise over the last 50 years. Both CRU in the UK and NASA-GISS in the US add these biases. At CRU, the programmers did not even know what and why some corrections were added every month. Only since satellite monitoring for comparison have the amounts of biasing leveled off.

ClimateGate exposed the leaders of this cabal instructing each other to delete emails, data files, and data analysis programs ahead of already filed Freedom Of Information Act requests for raw data and computer codes, clearly a crime.

ClimateGate exposed the “trick” about the Hockey stick figure and other studies that performed proxy construction of past temperatures. After all, reconstruction of the last 1,000 years of climate is the first step in predicting the future with super computer programs as explained below:

Everything about all 21 super computer programs used by the IPCC to determine future global warming rely on best-determined past sensitivities to solar and volcanic effects (climate forcings) from the proxy temperature record.

1. The elimination of the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age (the handle of the hockey stick) was necessary so that past solar effects could be minimized, thereby allowing almost all of the warming in the last 75 years to be blamed on Greenhouse Gasses. Raw data (like tree-ring thickness, radioisotope of mud layers in a lake bottom, ice core analyses, etc.) are used as a proxy for reconstruction of the temperature record for 1000 AD to 1960 AD. To ensure desired results, statistical manipulation of the raw data and selecting only supporting data, cherry-picking, was suspected and later proved to make the hockey stick graph. Look closely at the plot here where the hockey stick is one of the plots:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/16/cern_cloud_experiment/

2. The slope of long-term 10-year running average global temperature using thermometers from 1900 to present (the blade of the hockey stick) was maximized with the sloppy gridding code, Urban Heat Island effects, hiding the declines, and even fabricating data (documented in the leaked source code comments revealed with ClimateGate). This ensured that the Greenhouse Gas sensitivity coefficients in all 21 of the super computers was maximized, and that maximizes the temperature result at year 2100 based on Greenhouse Gas increases. This thermometer data was used to replace the tree ring-divergence after 1960 and plot this over the climate history data of (1) above giving the false impression that the reconstructed 1000 AD to 1960 AD results are more accurate than they are.

3. Because tuning of the super computer programs uses back casting, the computer outputs could always replicate the 20th Century (by design); therefore it was assumed that the models had almost everything in them. Because of (1) and (2) above, nearly all climate change predicted by the models was due to CO2 and positive feedbacks and hardly any of the climate change was for other reasons like solar, understood or not.

4. Over the years, when better numbers for volcanic effects, black carbon, aerosols, land use, ocean and atmospheric multi-decadal cycles, etc. became available, it appears that CRU made revisions to refit the back cast, but could hardly understand what the code was doing due to previous correction factor fudging and outright fabricating, as documented in the released code as part of ClimateGate.

5. After the IPCC averages the 21 super computer outputs of future projected warming (anywhere from 2-degrees to 7-degrees, not very precise), that output is used to predict all manner of secondary effects / catastrophes. (Fires, floods, droughts, blizzards, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, insects, extinctions, diseases, civil wars, cats & dogs sleeping together, etc.)
This results in massive amounts of government funding for the study of secondary effects, employing tens of thousands of scientists and engineers worldwide, thus the consensus.

CBC's The Current Whitewashes Climategate

If you thought Bob McDonald's fence painting was good, he's merely Tom Sawyer, sitting and watching, compared to The Current on CBC radio this morning. (The podcast will show up here this afternoon.)

Here's the feedback I was moved to send them... Not that it will do any good of course.

I just listened to your interview with the 'expert' climate change historian regarding the CRU leaked emails and data. It was such an inaccurate, one-sided bundle of lies and half-truths, I hardly know where to start.

Firstly, the 'smoking gun' of the Climategate leak isn't in the emails, entertaining as they are. It's in the data and the source code of the programs used to build the climate models. Those aren't subject to interpretation in terms of frustration, or politicization. The comments in that source code and the programs themselves clearly show data tampering and manipulation.

Secondly, what the emails do show is evidence of a conspiracy to circumvent Freedom of Information laws. The UK's Information Commissioner is investigating what could become a criminal situation.

So much for the integrity of the scientists involved. Already all the raw data of the global temperature record has been deleted, leaving the world unable to duplicate or verify the CRUs 'quality controlled' temperature record.

Thirdly, the canard that there are other independent models and other independent scientists showing the same thing as the CRU. Do some reasearch. See how small the group of scientists working the *underlying* data really is, and how cosy they are with one another. See how they conspired to keep peer review to 'friendlies' and to even try to remove journal editors who didn't share their view. The scientific process was severely compromised and the scandal will in due course spread beyond East Anglia. Already Penn State is investigating Michael Mann, another leading light of the AGW movement.

If you were really journalists, you'd know this and you'd ask your guest about it - it's all been on the web for the last 10 days, after all. But instead you chose to serve the CBC's own pro-AGW agenda and to hell with the facts.

You should read this: http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/012796.html. Forget that it's a partisan conservative blog for just one second and think about what you're doing, as dino-media people. You're going to have to start being truthful soon, or your industry will die.

John Donne Might Have Thought Differently

John Donne famously expressed the sentiment that "any man's death diminishes me," (and for the benefit of any left-leaning readers, let it be understood that in those dark days 'man' meant 'woman' as well.)

But he'd never read Heather Mallick. If he had, I suspect he might have felt differently.

An Apology

The corgis would like to apologize for the spontaneous and uncontrolled appearance of a weimareiner puppy in the Daily Puppy Widget on this blog's sidebar. But readers are also advised to be thankful it wasn't another bloody chihuahua.

If You Thought Chihuahua Complaints Were Silly

Check this out: Yukon's HRC is crazier than crazy.

Corgis In A Kangaroo Court, Part 3

Having had some time to think over the events of the day, I do feel that the service chihuahua complaint may well be destined for the wrong side of history. However, it's hard to paint this as a good outcome for the Roubles, for natural justice or for common sense. Here's why:

First off, as Ezra Levant, Mark Steyn and others have repeatedly pointed out, the process is the punishment. Particularly in Ontario under the new Code, where complaints go straight to the tribunal and there is no filter to weed out the obviously bogus, defendants find themselves forced into hours of preparation, endless form filling, legal expenses, state sanctioned harassment and tremendous personal stress. (In a Kafka-esque moment in the hearing it became clear that despite submitting all documents to the Tribunal prior to the hearing, any document to be relied on at the hearing has to be submitted in hard copy again at the hearing itself. Of course, neither party had been made aware of this prior to the hearing).

Secondly, in this particular case, the issue has come down to Mr. Allarie's violent and aggressive behaviour and has nothing to do with the dog. On the plus side, this should make the 'least worst' outcome of a finding in the Roubles' favour more likely. On the downside, though, it does nothing to clarify the mish-mash of municipal and provincial regulations concerning what is or isn't a service animal. Ferrets on Ottawa buses, and chihuahuas hovering over the buffet in Carleton Place restaurants will continue, until some mechanism to sort out the mess is found. I love my corgis, but I wouldn't want to eat food they'd walked on. I know where they've been.

Thirdly, whatever the outcome of this hearing, that very failure to rule on the issue of the dog leaves every other business vulnerable to Mr. Allarie's whim. He can repeat exactly the same process with any new target he chooses, because there has been and will be no finding with respect to the pesky D-O-Gee. Mr. Allarie walks away knowing that the process is the punishment, that it doesn't cost him a dime to file and pursue a complaint, and that there is no consequence to filing unfounded complaints.

The tyranny of the Canadian Human Rights system gives Mr. Allarie and others like him a weapon they can turn at will on the unsuspecting, the innocent, the hard-working backbone of this country. You're paying for this, it's being done in your name and it has to stop.

Fire. Them. All.

Corgis In A Kangaroo Court, Part 2

Allarie vs. Rouble / The Granary before the OHRT : The Hearing

Having written a lot, and read a lot more - and better - writing over the last few years about Canada's Human Rights Industry, today was my time to experience it first hand - as close as I ever hope to get to a Human Rights complaint. In this post I'll try to briefly cover the hearing itself, with a few observations thrown in for good measure.

The hearing was held at a Best Western hotel in suburban Ottawa. The Roubles, along with their witnesses had arrived first and were there when I arrived, being interviewed for CBC TV in Ottawa. Both CBC TV and radio reporters were there to cover the hearing - which is I think good news overall. Ottawa Citizen columnist Kelly Egan was there. A local newspaper reporter was also present, from the Carleton Place Canadian Gazette. About ten members of the public, myself included, were there to observe proceedings - clearly unexpected since there were no chairs provided and the hotel had to be called upon to bring them in.

Ontario Human Rights Tribunal vice chair Leslie Reaume was next to arrive. She's a not unattractive woman, and arrived smiling and oozing charm - certainly the Tyranny of Nice put a very nice tyrant in front of us today. Ms. Reaume's resume is a perfect Human Rights Industry 10 - she studied at the University of Western Ontario under feminist law professors, and for the six years prior to landing the Tribunal gig, she was counsel for the Canadian Human Rights Commission. Indeed, Ms. Reaume already has her place in legal history - she was the lawyer for the CHRC in their intervention in the Supreme Court hearing on same-sex marriage. She is also mentioned in passing in another landmark case, but this is a family blog and so if you want details on that one, you'll have to email me.

Mr. Allarie was last to arrive and made an impressive entrance, a large bag over his shoulder and D-O-Gee, the famous chihuahua, cuddled tightly to his chest. No doubt used to being the centre of attention, D-O-Gee took exception to the guide dog already present in the room and had a little snarl and snap. Although I don't speak chihuahua, I have replayed the recording I took on my iPhone, and the corgis tell me that the translation was something along the lines of 'I want some fucking recognition.'

Ms. Reaume also explained that the hearing should take place in a fairly informal and free fashion - it not being a courtroom. This was immediately belied, when Mr. Allarie asked that the Roubles' witnesses be excluded from the room until called on to testify. Ms. Reaume concurred and in a slightly heated exchange with the Roubles suddenly came over all judicial. "I make the rules," she admonished before banishing the witnesses to the hotel corridors.

Hostile witnesses safely out of the way, Mr. Allarie presented his case. He explained that he had explored the idea of a service dog over some months in discussion with his doctor and had purchased D-O-Gee on 27th July, 2005. He stated that he is fearful of larger dogs and hence needed a small dog. He also explained that when D-O-Gee is working, the dog has to be on his lap to give him a focal point. He produced his doctor's letter stating that he 'has' a service dog - and even pointed out, helpfully, that the letter does not say 'needs' or 'requires'. A series of other letters followed - permission to take the dog into the Perth Courthouse - we never got to find out why Mr. Allarie needed to be there of all places, and a letter from the OPP confirming local officers would be made aware of his 'having' a service dog.

Mr. Allarie also testified that in 2005, psychiatric service dogs were not recognized, and even today it is not possible to get a small dog trained as a service dog - the best he could do was basic obedience training. D-O-Gee helps provide routine for him and helps with his claustrophobia and agoraphobia. (Editor's note: Isn't someone who has claustrophobia and agoraphobia kind of screwed? Is that even possible?)

He then moved on to present his complaint. In 2006, he had been to the Granary with D-O-Gee and was asked by Keith Rouble to leave the dog outside next time he visited. Subsequently he had returned to the store while someone else was working and had been served. On yet another occasion he came back to the store while Keith was again working and was asked to leave the dog outside. This caused him to have a panic attack and he left. He then filed a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

In their response to this complaint, the Roubles agreed that if he would provide evidence of the dog being a service animal and agree to keep the dog in his arms, rather then letting it run around the store, they would allow him to shop. Mr. Allarie then withdrew the complaint. Mr. Allarie was vague about the dates of all of these events.

When it came to the events triggering this new complaint, Mr. Allarie's story was that he went to the store, opened the door, asked if could be served and was 'waved off'. He testified that Keith Rouble told him to leave. This apparently caused Mr. Allarie to want to call the police, whereupon Keith handed him the telephone - yes, handed him the store telephone - and Mr. Allarie called the OPP - but left the store before they arrived.

The Roubles' recollection was, not surprisingly, rather different. Mr. Rouble and his witness both testified that Mr. Allarie entered the store that day and shouted "I want some fucking service," before approaching Mrs. Rouble at the cash, taking the salt and pepper he wanted and throwing a bunch of coins in her face. Mrs. Rouble testified that she was terrified, traumatized and shaking. Mr. Rouble called the police in light of this violent and abusive behaviour, and indeed, it was Mr. Allarie's aggressive and abusive behaviour that was the reason for his being barred from the store. It actually has nothing to do with the dog - indeed Mr. Allarie had never been denied service at any time, not even on the day in question. Where Mr. Allarie had no recollection of dates, the Roubles' had dates and times. Their testimony was as detailed as his was vague.

Another witness, visually impaired herself, testified that she has always been warmly welcomed with her guide dog at the Granary and that the Roubles had always gone the extra mile to accomodate her.

Ms. Reaume gave no indication of which version of events she was inclined to believe. She did observe that the burden of proof in a HRT case lies with the complainant. The key issue of who called the police was the only area she really questioned - and interestingly both parties were able to produce police reports. I'm sure it's too cynical of me to believe that Mr. Allarie had the presence of mind to make a 'cover my ass' phone call to the OPP immediately after his alleged assault on Leslie Rouble. Or is it?

And so the question for Ms. Reaume really hinges on who she believes. The decision is reserved and we won't know the disposition of the complaint for some months. In a little gem while she was summing things up, she did say that she was 'essentially a judge.' Sure. If judges didn't have those inconvenient rules of evidence and all that stuff.

Carleton Place locals, of course, know a lot more about this man, this dog, and this situation than could be presented at the hearing. I believe you'll see media coverage that also tends to substantiate the Roubles' case. But in the capricious world of the Human Rights Tribunals, we can't count on truth, or even on common sense to drive the process to the right conclusion.

That's the hearing in a (very small) nutshell. I'll have some reflections on what it all means in the final part of this mini series.

Corgis In A Kangaroo Court, Part 1

Today I attended my first quasi-judicial hearing before the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, in the case of the infamous service chihuahua.

It was an interesting and revealing experience and I have lots of notes, from which a full account of the hearing will follow later.

By way of background, however, here's a pictorial summary of the story so far - as seen from the corgis' point of view.

Disclaimer: This post is not intended to expose chihuahuas or those that, unaccountably, love them to ridicule or hatred. We save that for the cats of the world.

A Human Rights Tribunal Date For Your Diaries

The Ontario HRT hearing into the case of the "service" teacup chihuahua will be held in Ottawa this coming Tuesday, December 1st at the Best Western Macy's hotel, starting at 10am.

As this is yet another example of the uncontrolled silliness and excesses of Barbara Hall's Ontario "Human Rights" fiefdom, I would encourage any and all who can to attend the hearing to show support for the Rouble family - they are the real victims - and to quietly show that this state abuse of freedom is not being done in our name.

I will be covering the hearing here at TDPC for those who can't make it.

Is This The Reform You'd Have Given Us, Beth Greenhorn?

Now that the full extent of the horror that is the Toronto Humane Society is on full view, it might be a good time to remind certain people that a Humane Society or other animal shelter should not be judged by how low it can get its euthanasia numbers.

For a long time a couple of years ago, Beth Greenhorn, an Ottawa rabble-rouser and activist, along with several other vocal critics, maintained a campaign against the Ottawa Humane Society which was in large part based on the premise that the OHS euthanized too many animals.

After a campaign of media exposure, innuendo and misinformation, the group attempted a coup at the OHS's AGM and tried to take over the board of directors. Thankfully they were unsuccessful. Who knows, if they'd succeeded, would we be looking at the same kind of 'reform' in Ottawa that they now have in Toronto?

Taking care of animals requires love, dedication, hard work and occasionally hard decisions. As animal lovers, we at TDPC hope that all those involved at the THS get what they deserve.

CBC: Critics Skewed Watergate Tapes

President Nixon is on the defensive today after it was revealed that Republican Party operatives had been caught breaking into the Watergate apartment complex in Washington, D.C. and a series of tapes were made public that some say might appear damaging to his presidency.

Critics have seized on the tapes as evidence of a conspiracy. However, most smart people have dismissed the claims.

"Bernstein and Woodward were very selective in choosing tapes they thought would make the president look bad." said a source completely unconnected with the Nixon campaign.

The president's team also dismissed as 'ludicrous' any suggestion that tapes were erased in an attempt to hide anything. "Tapes were deleted routinely, and the remaining tapes don't mean what they say. They contain colloquialisms used by political campaigns all the time," said an aide.

In short, the CBC would like to assure viewers that there is nothing to this story and the world can have every confidence in President Nixon as he completes his term in office and wins re-election as he surely will.

*

Sniffing Out The Bogus Service Dog

Regular readers of this and other blogs will be familiar with the case of Alex Allarie who is dragging store owners in Carleton Place, Ontario to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal. Allarie claims his teacup chihuahua is a "service dog" and that he was denied access to the Granary health food store unfairly.

The corgis wanted to point you in the direction of this blog, maintained by the Roubles' daughter.

The hearing is December 1st in Ottawa. Local readers wanting to come along and show support, comment or email and we will put together a group.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

How To Kick Ass In Canadian Politics

Fight elections against a destroyed, demoralized and divided opposition. And keep a winning record by leaving when you realize your guy is a complete loser.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Byelection Results: The Best Analysis

Warren Kinsella's posting tired washed up punk rock lyrics. That tells you all you need to know about the state of the Liberal party in the wake of last night's results. Whenever he knows he's on the losing side he wheels out the punk.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Liberals Blast Latest Tory Favoritism

Liberals expressed outrage today over what they say is just another example of the Conservative Party rewarding its own.

Shocking statistics uncovered in a boys' toilet in the Toronto area reveal that the Conservative Party has more MPs in the House of Commons than the Liberal Party.

A leading Liberal strategist and expert on everything, said, "It is typical of the the Reform-Conservative-Bushitler Party of Stephen Harper that they would think just because they got more votes than us they should have more seats."

TDPC also approached outspoken Liberal MP Hedy Fry for her take on this situation, but she ran away, screaming, from our reporter's outstretched hand.

Today In Sports

We see Warren Kinsella metaphorically kicking the bodies of dead children around his political playground.

How low can he go? I'm guessing we haven't seen bottom yet.

Don't Kill My Kids With Your Junk Science

We are entering a major H1N1 event here in Eastern Ontario, if you look at the stats being put out by the local health units. And we have now two fatalities of 11 year old children.

Get the shot, people. Your moonbat junk science and reptilian shape-shifter conspiracy theories don't give you the right to put the rest of us at risk.

QOTD

"There is no greater incitement to prayer, than a protracted encounter with the National Health Service."

- Fr. Geoffrey Kirk, speaking at the National Assembly of the traditional Anglo-Catholic group Forward in Faith, in Westminster today.

Home To Rome For Traditional Anglicans

In a surprising move, the Vatican has announced a new provision designed to allow traditional Anglican groups to come into full communion with the Catholic church while retaining much of their Anglican identity and liturgy - where it is compatible with Catholic teaching.

As someone who made the journey from Anglicanism to Catholicism some years ago, because the Anglican Church of Canada offers no provision for those with conscientious difficulties around women's ordination, I am thrilled by this move. All of my English friends stuck in the beleagured traditional wing of the Church of England will now have a safe harbour and an easier path to church unity. Traditional groups who left the Anglican church in other parts of the world will now be able to join me on the right side of the Tiber.

The move is a generous response to pleading from both the Traditional Anglican Communion, the largest 'breakaway' group and the special 'flying bishops' appointed in the Church of England to minister to those opposed to women's ordination. When women are consecrated as bishops in the Church of England, such special arrangements are likely to be removed, forcing traditionalists to either fully accept women's ordination or leave the church - and now they have somewhere to go.

For the Catholic church, the addition of the heritage of Anglican liturgy and music can only enrich us all. At its best, Anglo-Catholic worship offers the best of pre-Vatican II style 'bells and smells' combined with the welcome and warmth of today's church.

We Need Kibble

I have hesitated and thought long and hard before posting this, and in any normal times I would not do so, but these are not normal times. Regular followers will know that we've always been a traditional family here at TDPC, with Doggerelle taking care of the kids and dogs, and yours truly earning a living in the hitech world. However, at the beginning of 2009 we were hit by the Nortel bankruptcy filing and subsequent layoff, with no severance or notice. From one income to zero. Six months later I am finally in a new job but we have some mountains to climb here.

I know that the community often rallys around bloggers who find themselves in trouble with nuisance suits, and so forth - in better times I have done so myself. This isn't quite that situation, but there are things you can do to help.

Please get informed at www.nortelpensioners.ca about how the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act enables companies to ignore their obligations to employees and pensioners and trumps provinicial employment standards laws. Then write to your MP and ask him or her to support changes to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act that would place employment related claims ahead of junk bond holders when companies liquidate.

If you're in Ottawa, please try and come to Parliament Hill, at noon on October 21st to protest Nortel's treatment of their severed employees and push for these legislative changes.

And finally, if you can hit the tip jar, please do. We're not SDA, or Angry in the GWN, or FFoF, just a small voice in the blogosphere, but hopefully somewhere along the line you have enjoyed a post or two here.

Tourists Flocking To See Rare Creature

Vancouver is experiencing a massive influx of tourists after a reported sighting of a Liberal Party of Canada policy yesterday. A TDPC correspondent caught up with a few of the crowd, to see what all the excitement was about.

"I haven't seen a Liberal Party policy in several years," said one man as he eagerly clutched a dog-eared copy of The Green Shift. "This is really exciting."

A political scientist told us that the policy seen yesterday appears at first glance to be the same one spotted a few years ago, but to have changed its plumage - possibly due to political climate change. "It didn't have eyebrows, last time we saw it, and it was coloured a much brighter shade of green," she said, "but even without DNA tests, I'm pretty confident it's the same policy. That's a little disappointing, because we were really hoping to find some that we hadn't seen before. Although it's nice to see this one is still around, it's not good news to find that they're no longer breeding. We noticed also it's grown much longer tail feathers, which are hiding its tax hikes."

Another observer in the crowd, who gave her name as 'Elizabeth' gushed, "It's wonderful to see this policy again. I really thought it had died, and now it's back! I love these policies, and I've actually been running a little sanctuary for cast-off Liberal environmental policy for the last few years. Now that I've seen this one again, I'll be keeping a close eye on it in case it needs rescuing."

Experts advise those who want to see the policy should do so as soon as possible as it's not known how long it may have to live.

Doggerelle's Scary Thought of the Week

Imagine if Garth Turner and Hedy Fry had kids. Together.

-- Post From My iPhone

The Warren Kinsella Law

The number of charity photo ops performed by a Liberal leader is inversely proportional to his polling numbers.


-- Post From My iPhone

Michael Ignatieff On As It Happens

Mary-Lou Finlay: Mr. Ignatieff, are you thinking about taking piano lessons?

Iggy: Aha, aha, aha, aha (forced laugh that lasts just one aha too long to be believable). Yes well it was nice to see the Prime Minister having fun, although of course I could have had more fun being Prime Minister if not for that dumb Frenchman. Me. I... also, can I just say me, I, I, me. Me. I. Not that I, me, I, Canadians. Attack ads. Nasty, mean. I, me... me, I, me. I I I I I I I I.

Mary-Lou Finlay: Can you give us some policies, or ideas?

Iggy: I gave a speech. I will give another speech next week.

Mary-Lou Finlay: (unusually persistent for the CBC) Yes, but what about the policies?

Iggy: Education. Very good thing. I have one. Me, I I I I me. Me. International. I am. I me. I I me me. Me I me.

Yep. Just keep doing what you're doing, my Liberal friends.

The Nobel Puh-Leeze Prize

Next year: Michael Ignatieff wins, for services to the unity of the Liberal Party of Canada.

Runner Up: Warren Kinsella, for services to bathroom photography.

The Liberal War Room: Getting The Message Out

Despite all their woes, it's good to know that Team Ignatieff is at least doing one thing right: They're getting a clean, consistent and easily understood message out through the media. Making sure people really know what they stand for.

Question for Warren Kinsella

If a leader with a Leadership Index of 99 is 'reviled' what does that make a leader whose index is 54?

Now, Iggy really could perform the shit hit Barney Rubble is my Double with an element of truth. The corgis are looking forward to it.

-- Post From My iPhoneo

Hanzzard, October 2nd, 2009

Oral Questions:

The Hon. Heady Fried, Smoking, B.C:

Mr. Speaker, is the Prime Minister aware that as we speak, Roots athletic wear is being burned on lawns in Prince George, B.C.? The Prime Minister's design for Team Canada's Olympic logo is clearly behind this surge of clothes-ism across the nation and -

(The Hon. Member was removed from the Chamber by men in white coats.)

Mr. Jack Laydown, Toronto-Playdead:

Mr. Speaker, can the Prime Minister assure all Canadians that he will ensure that the unemployed, immigrant, downtrodden and homeless will all be able to afford the essentials of life this winter despite the economic downturn? Will the Prime Minister pledge an Olympic hockey jersey for all Canadians?

(The Hon. Member was taken ill along with his entire caucus and was unable to complete the question.)

The Rt. Hon. Michael Ignatieff, Toronto-Centric:

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has thought to pull the wool over the eyes of the Canadian people, to deceive, mislead, bamboozle, hoodwink, dupe, con, burn, cheat, hoax, fool, gouge, take in, swindle, scam, skin, take advantage of, fleece and gull them into believing he did not personally design the Team Canada apparel, that bears a striking resemblance, likeness, similarity, affinity, alikeness, conformity, and semblance to the logo of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister may not be aware of the paper I published while at Harvard, entitled: "Sports Logos: A sociological and emblematical perspective with implications for global geopolitical systems and philosophical engagements." I should now like to read the relevant pages in which I demonstrate, prove, show, support, attest, authenticate, back up, settle, substantiate, verify, warrant, witness, manifest and make evident..."

(Hon. Members: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ)

Continued page 94.

Another TDPC Exclusive: Kinsella Joining Team Ignatieff

The corgis have outdone themselves this time and sniffed out footage of that well known Albertan Warren Kinsella, applying to rejoin the Liberal team. Here he is in discussions with a member of the Ignatieff Intelligentsia.

Exclusive: Unseen Iggy Forest Footage

TDPC operatives have been sniffing around the cutting room floor in Warren Kinsella's basement (incidentally, where is Warren these days? He's awfully quiet, suddenly - but we digress) and found what appears to be the next Liberal television spot.

In this one, Michael Ignatieff introduces a couple of his ministers-in-waiting. Decent, decent people.

The Liberals, the CHRC and Warren Kinsella foretold

"The principle that the end justifies the means is in individualist ethics regarded as the denial of all morals. In collectivist ethics it becomes necessarily the supreme rule."

Friedrich Hayek

-- Post From My iPhone

Liberals Irate Over Government Advertising

The Liberal Party is furious over what they say is partisan advertising being paid for by taxpayer dollars.

It is completely outrageous that none of this taxpayer money is finding its way via brown envelopes into Liberal party coffers. What else is the point of government advertising?

It is not known if Liberal Party strategists are again demanding that Chuck Guite be placed in charge of advertising programs.

Warren Kinsella is 49.

-- Post From My iPhone

Curiouser and Curiouser

Rick Salutin of the Globe and Mail on Michael Ignatieff:

It's not the same as egomania, which can work in politics. Egomania requires you to be aware of others in order to dominate or manipulate them. With narcissism, you barely notice them, you bask in your own presence and assume everyone does.

Robert Fulford of the National Post on Jean Chrétien in 2002:

But there was one odd thing about his conversation. In 90 minutes or so, no one, no matter how hard they tried, could get him off the subject of Jean Chrétien. It was the only topic that interested him and he seemed to believe sincerely that it obsessed everyone else as much as it did him. At that moment, since he was so far removed from power, his enormous ego was no more than a psychological curiosity.

When he left the room, the people at our table chuckled over his narcissism. Someone said that lunch was one thing, but being with him for much longer would be unendurable.

And therefore can we be surprised to find Warren Kinsella on his three favorite subjects - himself, Jean Chrétien, and Michael Ignatieff:

But I'm going to defend Iggy as vigorously as I defended JC. And, moreover, I'm pretty good at finding people, when I'm focussed.

Thursday Morning

Sweet. Sweeter. Sweetest.

Oh, to be a fly on the wall in the Kinsella household this morning. Tories knocking on the door in T.O., Warren's hated Big Tobacco exposed in the midst of the Liberal party, and dearest friend Richard in a spot of Human Rights Bother himself.

It's a beautiful, beautiful day.

BONUS TRACK: How's that purple dinosaur working for you now?

Aftersnark

Duh. Just occured to me why Iggy doesn't think today's economic news matters to Canadians. Nobody's explained to him what Tim Hortons is.

They didn't have them in his country.


-- Post From My iPhone

Question for Michael Ignatieff

Does Bloc-NDP-Liberal coalition leader Michael Ignatieff agree with his chef de guerre that the idea that the Canadian economy is important makes him want to "yak"?

-- Post From My iPhone

Let ME Get THIS Straight

A webmaster hosts anti-semitic material. A serial complainer runs to his HRC cash machine. The webmaster removes the material and seeks mediation, but the complainer and his friends and former co-workers pursue a punitive witch-hunt in any case. The punitive nature of this is found to be unconstitutional, and a Liberal party hack is bitterly disappointed.

The same Liberal party hack is proud to call the man who wrote this: "Did you know we had an election and the new cabinet hasn't been named yet? We still have [Jewish] scum in government but we have to wait and see which scum goes where." his friend.

And yet again, the same Liberal party hack defended and advised the sock-puppets of the virulently anti-Semitic Mohammed Al-Masry in their own little witch-hunt of Maclean's magazine and Mark Steyn.

If you're confused, you should be.

Is Doggerelle Junior a Closet Liberal?

5 year old, this morning:

"Daddy, I like your chequebook."


-- Post From My iPhone

Elephant "Lucy" Will Not Be Moved

The world of human rights has been rocked to its foundations in recent days by the controversy over an aging white elephant known as "Lucy". The animal, a member of the endangered species freeloadus warmani, has for many years been a key attraction at the zoo that is the Canadian Human Rights Commission. Recently, however, Lucy's age, coupled with changing trends in the legal world of section 13 complaints has had some questioning whether Lucy should be moved to a cosy retirement far from the public eye.

Experts consulted by TDPC reporters working on this story were divided on the question of retiring Lucy. One man, who gave his name only as 'Warren' told TDPC:

It really wouldn't be fair to Lucy to retire her at this time. She's so used to feeding at the trough of hate speech complaints that weaning her off them is going to be seriously detrimental to her health. And I really don't buy these trendy ideas about freedom of expression that the other side is coming up with. We have been building a long tradition in this country of state control over thought and opinion and I think that's done Lucy a lot of good. We'll see that this free speech thing is just a fad and it will be back to business as usual very soon. My friend Michael's against free speech and he's never wrong about anything.

On the other side, many point to Lucy's declining years and diminished mental capacity, and argue that she probably hasn't long to live in any case. People are no longer flocking to bogus human rights circuses to watch show animals like Lucy, and the tide of public opinion does seem to be turning against them. For the time being, however, it looks as though Lucy is planning to stay put against all the odds.

Just Fancy That

Globe and Mail, September 17th, 2009:

The Liberals say they will continue to do everything within their power to bring the Harper government down. A new pre-election television ad, in both French and English, will be released this weekend. It will be the Liberal's third television ad in as many weeks.

Globe and Mail, September 17th, 2009:

The four parties in the House of Commons are nearing a deal to fast track the government's new employment-insurance legislation and put it to its first vote as early as Friday.

Government House Leader Jay Hill invited his Liberal, NDP and Bloc Québécois counterparts to a closed door meeting just after noon to discuss the government bill, which was officially introduced in the House of Commons Wednesday afternoon.

The Liberals announced Thursday morning that they are offering to pass the bill quickly..

MEMO

TO: Warren Kinsella, Chief Ass Kicker
FROM: Michael Ignatieff, Visiting Professor
SUBJECT: Fall Election

Dear Warren,

I'm sorry, I was only kidding.

Love,
M

Belatedly: Private Eye on Ted Kennedy

Just noticed this little gem from Private Eye in the UK.

We Can Do Better

So says coalition leader Iggy's first ad of the campaign.

At his press conference last week Iggy revealed how - he can compromise.

Isn't compromise by definition second best?

Oh, and Warren Kinsella is a bare faced liar.

Close To Home: An All Too Familiar Story

The long reach of the pernicious Human Rights Commissions has extended to the corgis' doorstep. Today's Ottawa Citizen carries the story of a Carleton Place man who is taking a local food store to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal because, he claims, they asked him not to bring his teacup chihuahua into the store. According to Alex Allarie, the complainant, this animal is a service dog for his anxiety and depression.

The former owners of the Granary in Carleton Place, Keith and Leslie Rouble, who have since sold the business in part because of the stress of dealing with the Human Rights Industry machine and Mr. Allarie, recall that the complainant was aggressive, abusive and threatening, to the point that police were called at one point. But that doesn't weigh much against his 'Human Right' to let the chihuahua prowl around a bulk food store.

This case is patently ludicrous. The dog isn't a service animal by any rational or legal test that I can think of. The corgis have even made the point, quite fairly perhaps, that it really shouldn't even be described as a dog, let alone a service dog. The sight of an aggressive, abusive, hulking great guy carrying such a beast is cause for ridicule, not much else.

Mr. Allarie's aggressive behaviour and tenacity in following this up for the last four years are also not the acts of anyone suffering from severe depression and anxiety. If he's capable of pursuing this vendetta he's clearly capable of everyday life, with or without the pathetic prop in question. He may indeed be mentally ill, rather than what my mother would have called a nasty piece of work, but I rather doubt the depression is the issue here.

Once again, the petty bureaucrats of the HRCs pursue the ordinary, hard working small business owner over a trumped up, bogus cause. This is such a gross abuse of real human rights and such an immoral use of government money it's hard to find words. Except these: Fire. Them. All.

Footnote: The tribunal hearing is December 1. If you can find it in your heart or wallet to contribute to the Rouble's legal costs, please click the donate button up top, and mark the donation 'Granary' and I will see the help gets to them.

Exclusive: PM is a Conservative

TDPC operatives recently infiltrated and recorded a top-secret meeting of Conservatives in some place nobody has ever heard of, where Stephen Harper spoke in code to a carefully chosen audience of undercover agents and sleeper cells.

The shocking details are now leaking, rather like bilge-water, all over the internet.

Listen as Harper MENTIONS the hitherto unknown plan to abolish the long-gun registry.
Be astonished as Harper SAYS that Liberals might appoint left-leaning judges.
Be amazed as Harper ADMITS having eliminated the Court Challenges Program.
Gape as Harper APPEALS for a majority government.

Top Liberal strategist Warren Kinsella appears to have been caught off-guard by the remarks. In a post to his widely read blog web site he is both shockingly outraged and outrageously shocked by the revelation that the Prime Minister is a Conservative.

In related news, a sharp eyed corgi has noticed a sudden rise in demand for purple stuffed dinosaurs, perhaps giving a clue to Liberal campaign strategy for election 2009. If this is indeed indicative of the Liberal plan, it will represent a radical shift for the Liberals, who have never yet attempted to smear the Conservatives with accusations of a hidden agenda, harboring Nazis, BushHarper, scary farmers with rabbit shooting guns, etc. There can be little doubt that the genius of Kinsella lies behind this innovative new campaigning style.

One Viral Clip The Corgis Like

Meanwhile

At TDPC HQ, the corgis are driven to a frenzy by Kinsella's saber-rattling over a fall election:

Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before

An American, two Frenchmen and a Canadian walk into a bar....

... and decide to replace the democratically elected government of Canada.

Then a chameleon says it didn't happen.

Ka........

.... no ching for Warman this time. Casino-Warman has run dry. He'll have to make do on the miserly stipend he gets from his other job at DND.

Liberal Math Lesson 32 : Symbolic Logic

Up until now, boolean variables have had two values, TRUE or FALSE.

Now, Michael Ignatieff has given us a third logic state. MAYBE.

This new logic state is believed only to exist in rarefied atmospheres and at high Liberal concentrations. In these conditions, it is both possible to not support the minority government, but also to enable that government not to fall. Similarities between this and the so-called Dion Paradox are striking.

This towering achievement brought to you by the Emeritus Professor of American Studies at the Kinsella School of Disgrace.

Wot No Apology?

So today we remember a group of young children, forcibly removed from their homes by the government, sent to live miles away in the care of complete strangers. Taken away from their families, their own culture, their own spirituality, their own environment. Some were put to work by their new guardians. There was abuse, loneliness, despair and misery and none of these children knew where it would end.

So how come they're not asking for millions in compensation and an apology? How come they're not completely defined by this event and reduced to snivelling, whining shadows of their former selves? Strange eh?

You Have Twelve Hours Left

So, Karlheinz Schreiber has lost his extradition fight, mere days after confidently predicting he would die an old man in Canada.

Not much time left for that...


-- Post From My iPhone

Some People Might Think

There is something incongruous about a Catholic suing a pro-life organization. But only if the Catholic in question is genuine and not simply flying under a religious identity of convenience while standing for everything the Church doesn't.


-- Post From My iPhone

New From Doggerel Publishing

Coming soon to a newstand near you.

Swine Flu Weekly
Top Wheelchair
Disease Reports

... after all, this can't go without competition.

Memorandum

From: The Corgis

To: All Canadian Politicians, Media and Chattering Classes

Subject: Please Shut The F--k Up About The Nortel-Ericsson Deal

Dear Frothing At The Mouth Protectionists,

Please note the following reasons you should shut up now about the Nortel - Ericsson sale and let Ericsson get on with saving what's left of Nortel's Carrier Networks business.

1. If Nortel was a viable business under Canadian control, we wouldn't be here.
2. If Nortel was a viable standalone business under anybody's control, see (1).
3. The wireless equipment industry is now a mature industry. Consolidation is inevitable and companies that don't have sufficient market share or long term viability must either merge or die.
4. If you kill the Ericsson deal, well, see point 3.
5. Nortel's biggest customer is Verizon. Verizon/Vodaphone is the market leader in planning and deploying LTE. They chose Ericsson as one of their leading LTE vendors. Ericsson-Nortel makes a hell of a lot more sense than any other possible Nortel marriage. Any other merger will only lose Verizon as a customer in the medium term and... see point (3).
6. RIM only wants the patents and isn't about to get into the network gear business, see (3).
7. Ericsson is the best hope for salvaging any Canadian jobs out of the whole mess.

Now, here's what you should be talking about, calling your MP about and protesting about.

1. There are Canadians who are truly suffering as a result of this whole thing. They are the severed employees and pensioners of the bankrupt Nortel. You want to be patriotic? Do something for them.
2. Nortel management took the company into bankruptcy protection with nearly $2bn in the bank, yet still chose not to pay severance to laid-off workers. In doing so, they not only screwed those individuals, they screwed all of you as taxpayers, because you've been paying EI to those folks to partially cover what Nortel owes.
3. Nortel is in breach of labour legislation in every province in the country, because the CCRA trumps provincial labour laws.
4. Current bankruptcy law places severed employees on the same level as the holders of Nortel junk bonds. The bond holders are sophisticated organizations who know the game - and who likely only paid 10c on the $ for what they now hold in the first place. The original debt holders have taken their haircut and are long gone. Employees can't hope to have a voice in the process or have their concerns met when competing with these bond holders. So the deal that comes out of the bankruptcy will inevitably be structured for the benefit of the bond holders and probably will further screw the employees.
5. Companies losing money as a result of the bankruptcy get to write that off against future taxes. Oh, did we mention the taxpayer is getting screwed here as well? Employees don't get to do that.
6. Nortel is moving cash out of the Canadian operation into other jurisdictions - and currently this means Canadian creditors will likely get about half what the US creditors will. Shouldn't our government be more concerned with stopping the shafting of Canadian creditors?
7. There is something you can do: The government has the power to modify the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act before Nortel enters liquidation, to ensure employees get treated fairly.

Become educated about this issue, and please visit http://tinyurl.com/ChangeCCAAPetition. You'd be doing yourself and all Canadians much more of a favour. Unless you'd rather spend your time putting a bunch more Nortel workers out of a job and getting shafted with the bill again.

Please do what you can to right the real wrongs of this situation. Corgis don't have opposable thumbs, so we're counting on you.

Can Self-Assembly LTE Equipment Be Far Behind?

Sweden's Ericsson makes one good deal:

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) has today entered into an asset purchase agreement to acquire the parts of the Carrier Networks division of Nortel relating to CDMA and LTE technology in North America.

and one lousy one:

and Richard Lowe, Nortel, is appointed Chief Operating Officer.

Porky Pies

USDA officials should be a little red-faced today, after it was disclosed that they paid almost twice the going rate for packaged ham that is supposedly a part of the administration's economic stimulus package.

Rumours that the supplier, Clougherty Packaging, was recommended as the Obama Administration's principal pork supplier by a Mr. Warren Kinsella are wholly unfounded.

Belatedly: Cymry's Little Minister (Deacon) - December 1999 - April 28, 2009

[This post somehow didn't make it to TDPC at the time; we were a little fogged by losing two dogs just a month apart, as well as the Nortel layoff without notice or severance. Here's what should have been published back in April.]

Just a month ago we sent Angie to the Rainbow Bridge. We still miss her daily and so it seems doubly hard that today I have the sad news that another of our corgis has gone to join her. Cymry’s Little Minister (Deacon) was put to sleep yesterday. Two days ago he seemed to be his normal self, and then he suddenly stopped eating or showing interest in life. The vet found an enormous tumor in his abdomen and with no prospect of recovery we had to make the hardest decision of a dog’s life, again.

Deacon was nine years old, our only Pembroke corgi, and had been with us for about four years. We’d dropped Angie at a boarding kennel and clearly appeared to be such a corgi-crazed couple that the breeder there suggested we might like to help her re-home Deacon, now retired from the show ring. We said we would talk it over during our vacation – but Erika decided we should call from the road about an hour later to say yes, we’d take him.

In the show ring Deacon excelled – he won multiple Best In Show titles, and he loved to show – or even just be in among the tents and trailers and ex-pens at a show. But although he loved that life, he adjusted to life in a family home (with a young child) very quickly and became a wonderful family dog.

Deacon had luxuriant golden hair, with a mass of colours – more golds, yellows and browns than you knew existed. In sunshine he was radiant. In the rain... well, he wouldn’t go out in the rain. His was a coat you could bury your hands and face in – he loved hugs and especially loved it when the children would put their arms around his neck and snuggle into him. He did have a distinctive aroma of old couch, which could be very comforting when we were feeling down.

Always friendly, he would occasionally growl at younger dogs to let them know who was boss – but he never went to the trouble of actually getting up to do anything about it. While younger Cardis ran around him imitating whirlwinds, Deacon preferred to imitate a hearthrug and did so with dedication, skill and great dignity.

At one time we had a younger male Pembroke, Madoc, staying with us. Deacon tolerated him for a while, but then suddenly became incredibly protective of Erika and wouldn’t let Madoc near her. This culminated in a great fight one night and we had to send Madoc back home. Two weeks later, ClearBlue confirmed what Deacon had obviously detected that night – that Erika was pregnant and our son was on his way.

Deacon was terrified of chickens, so we hope that there is a separate area reserved for fowl at the Bridge. He loved to roll in fresh grass clippings, and always looked forward to the first mowing of springtime. It will be hard to roll out the tractor without him there.

Faithful friend, old soul, glorious show victor, comforter, food vacuum and perennial fake-grumpy old man: we all love you always, and you leave a hole here that can never be filled. Be happy, stay dry and find a nice warm fire up there – and take care of Angie when she comes in from her stick fetching.

This WTF Moment Brought To You By

the global warming alarmist collective:

Jerome Glenn, director of the Millennium Project and one of the report's authors, said: "There are answers to our global challenges, but decisions are still not being made on the scale necessary to address them. Three great transitions would help both the world economy and its natural environment – to shift as much as possible from freshwater agriculture to saltwater agriculture; produce healthier meat without the need to grow animals; and replace gasoline cars with electric cars." (Emphasis mine).

And we're going to be setting global economic policy based on words from moonbats like this?

The corgis are anxiously awaiting their first non-animal meat sausages.

A Guide To Catholic Etiquette

The recent non-scandal involving PM Stephen Harper and a communion wafer has triggered a veritable firestorm of discussion surrounding appropriate behaviour for non-Catholics attending Mass.

Here then, as a public service, is a short instructional video:

King'f Adviforf: Tide Will Not Rife

Winchefter, July 9th, 1026. A Dark Agef Timef Exclufive: Meeting in a two day feffion, His Majefty King Cnut The Great'f Knightf Of The Figure Eight have today iffued a ftatement on the movement of the tidef. Ye Knightf have determined that from henceforth the tidef fhall no longer be permitted to rife by more than two inchef daily. Hif Majefty haf been advifed to command thif and therefore it fhall be, by hif royal decree.

Hif Majefty if expected to begin hif tide reduction program immediately, by the placement of hif throne by the fhore, when hif fupreme and regal greatneff will caufe the tide to be ftayed.

The Catholic Church: An Apology

In recent years we may have given readers the impression that the Catholic Church is nothing but a massively wealthy, quasi-criminal organization that is responsible for AIDS, earthquakes, famine, the oppression of women and global warming. We may further have described the Church as a haven for pedophiles and an object worthy of ridicule by all right thinking people.

We now realise that the Catholic Church is in fact a noble institution, whose sacred symbols are worthy of the utmost respect, and we call for the miserable Prime Minister of Canada to be brought before the Church's Inquisitors without delay.

We apologise for any confusion. (C) All Canadian Media Outlets, 2009.

Today's CBC Lexicon

When the US fires a drone at militants in Pakistan, the CBC reports that a "US Missile Strike Kills 28". When 156 people are murdered by a mob of Uighur muslims in China, that's a "clash between Han Chinese and Uighurs".

Must be hard to live with that anti-muslim bias in the media, eh?

Pope Benedict Must Have Missed The Memo

... Gene Robinson, the openly gay Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire, says that a church that does not ordain women or openly gay people can have no future.

Way to go, Gene. Will you tell Benedict XVI or shall I?

I'm not a betting man, but if I had to lay odds between the future of the Catholic church and that of ECUSA, I wouldn't be favoring the latter.

Election Fever Pandemic

The Canadian Press today declared the recent outbreak of Election Fever a pandemic. A spokesman said that the outbreak, which initially began with a handful of election threats from particularly virulent Liberal bloggers, has now become widespread and begun to infect even mainstream media.

The spread has begun to grow exponentially, as Liberals issue threats of more threats of more threats. Today, in a much awaited announcement, Liberal/NDP/BQ Coalition leader Michael Ignatieff threatened that if the government did not cave into previously threatened threats, he would threaten them again - not definitely, but he was certainly threatening to.

However, some experts believe that Election Fever is not particularly dangerous and is unlikely, despite its name, to result in any actual Elections. A leading expert told TDPC, "No Liberal threat has actually triggered an election for years. Canadians should simply observe sensible precautions, avoid Warren Kinsella - or wash thoroughly if contact is unavoidable - and go back to their barbecues until hockey starts again.

The Worst Job In Canada?

I know times are hard (indeed, I'm one of the record number of new EI claimants from March of this year) but is it really so bad that this job will get filled at this time?

Do Dogs Go To Heaven?

Liberal Migrant Worker Scandal Widens

With all the recent news coverage of the so-called "Nannygate" scandal, others are now coming forward to report their experiences with Liberal employers in Canada. TDPC spoke to another recent immigrant to Canada - we'll call him Michael.

Michael's story begins with a chance meeting with a prominent Liberal MP. He alleges the MP promised him a better life in Canada, saying that if he was prepared to immigrate and work for them he would immediately become Prime Minister.

Instead of the comfortable life he was promised at 24 Sussex Drive, Michael told TDPC that he was forced to endure harsh and inhumane conditions. First, he was told that he would actually have to campaign to be elected to Parliament - hours and hours of hard work, not at all the kind of thing he had been promised and certainly not the comfortable life he had left behind in his home country. There followed a period of some years during which he was shut in with around a hundred squawking, defecating puffins.

The low point for Michael came just this week, when his coronation ceremony was interrupted by reporters asking questions about one of his associates. Michael told us that the 'snakehead', or handler who had promised to protect him from this kind of thing had suddenly disappeared for mysterious 'surgery'. Left alone to face a hostile press for the first time, Michael did the only thing he could - he ran away.

Warren Is Proud

to call the confessed member of neo-nazi online groups who posted this:

"Did you know we had an election and the new cabinet hasn't been named yet? We still have scum in government but we have to wait and see which scum goes where." (the 'scum' in question refers to Jews).

his friend.

Way to go Warren. Is that the advice you'll be giving the Liberal party, when you're asked? (Which you are, all the time). That they should be proud to have friends who post racist slurs on neo-nazi websites?

Does the end you're trying to reach - of censorship and thought control online - really justify means such as Warman used? Because it seems from your recent posts that it really does in your mind. A senior adviser to the leader of the opposition is proud to call a confessed member of neo-nazi groups his friend. Yeah, that would make people's heads explode.

For My Former Co-Workers at Nortel

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Teach-Yourself-Finnish-Complete-Course/Terttu-Leney/e/9780071451086

This GritGirl / CdnTruth / Kinsella Stuff Looks Like Fun

So I thought I'd have a go. Let's see what happens if we turn the Cdntruth style mirror on Kinsella himself:

Warren Kinsella: Standing up for what he believes?

Warren Kinsella wrote that he has 'sympathy' for the Carleton University Student Association who cancelled support for a Cystic Fibrosis fundraiser because the disease is "not inclusive enough." He really wrote that. Sympathy.

One of Kinsella's friends wrote this on an extreme right wing message board: "Did you know we had an election and the new cabinet hasn't been named yet? We still have scum in government but we have to wait and see which scum goes where." (the 'scum' in question refers to Jews). Kinsella says the man who wrote this is "one of the bravest men in Canada."

Man, it's too easy. And it means nothing. A smear is a smear is a smear, whichever direction it goes - and borrowing again from Kinsella, he's too smart not to know that his particular brand of smear isn't just as much crap as this one.

He just doesn't have the basic human decency or integrity to admit it.

Aberwyvern Angela Hewitt: 17 April 2003 to 25 March 2009

It is with great sadness that I return to blogging after a lapse of several months, only to bring bad news to fans of TDPC. The corgi that started it all, the first of our dogs, the inspiration behind so much of what happens here at TDPC HQ, has died.

Angie was a blue merle Cardigan Welsh Corgi with personality plus. She was larger than life, certainly larger than her corgi legs might have appeared, always the centre of attention, friend, companion, joker, nanny and pest in roughly equal measures.

Angie was our first dog and we spent hours researching, planning, preparing and learning - then when she arrived, she pretty much threw the books out of the window herself. She always did everything her own way; at puppy school she earned top place, but at the same time while other dogs in the class would barrel toward their people when called, Angie would always perfectly obey the 'come' but at a nice sedate walk. She would chase and fetch a stick for hours on end - but it had to be one that was at least as long as she was. She wouldn't move for anything less than a small tree. Running across the yard she looked like an airplane, with a good two feet of stick on either side of the huge corgi grin.

Angie was a child substitute puppy for a couple married 12 years - whether it was her doing or not, our daughter was born when Angie was just over a year old. Worried how an only dog might take to the usurper, again we prepared and researched. Angie had her own plans as always and from the moment the baby arrived until the day she left us, Angie was nanny, policewoman and protector first of my daughter and then my son as well. She was the leader of the household as grew to four corgis and the two children - always in charge and always smiling.

Angie had a wonderful sense of timing, never better than on the night soon after my son was born. About a week earlier she'd had her first run-in with a skunk. We'd delicately washed her with peroxide and Dawn, and finally got things a little under control. But on the fateful night, I'd been in to the hospital to pick up my wife and new son - only to discover that the staff wanted to keep them another 24 hours. So I'd arrived back home at around 11pm on a cold November night, with a distraught two year old whose mommy wasn't coming home after all. I'd opened the door to let the dogs out, taken my coat off, and gone to call them back in. Angie trotted up, all smiles, but surrounded by a wall of the unmistakeable aroma... again. The peroxide bath she had in the small hours of that morning was not so gentle as the previous one. She never messed with skunks again.

She had strong opinions on many topics, and in particular home decor. She was so unhappy with the Ikea furnishings when she moved in that in due course she managed to eat enough of the couch as to render it unuseable. No mean feat for a 35lb dog.

She loved walking by the Rideau but preferred not to come into contact with it. When the canal achieved designation as a World Heritage Site, I think she felt that she had finally been accorded some of the recognition that was due to her.

It seems odd that a house with two young children and three corgis could feel empty, but our home is very empty tonight. God speed, faithful friend, teacher, comic and heart dog.

Well You'd Know...

vindictive and nasty. Wouldn't you, Danny?

Waiting For The Liberal Leader

That 11am press conference? Seems to have encountered the same difficulties as That TV Address.

Like Dion, like Iggy.

What was it WK said? Someone should be fired. Period. But that was before he was hired.

The Coalition: Some Updates

Angie the Cardigan Corgi today issued the following statement concerning the recently formed Doggerel-Catteral-Rabbit-Fox-Henhouse Coalition.

Regrettably, over the Christmas holiday, the Fox party is believed to have eaten both the Rabbit and Henhouse parties. There was then a fight between the Fox party and the Catteral party over the entrails of the Rabbit party. In the interests of canine dignity, the Doggerel Party has decided to withdraw from the Coalition and will support the upcoming budget, provided it contains sufficient kibble.