Sobering Thoughts

Comments on politics, the culture, economics, and sports by Paul Tuns. I am editor-in-chief of "The Interim," Canada's life and family newspaper, and author of "Jean Chretien: A Legacy of Scandal" (2004) and "The Dauphin: The Truth about Justin Trudeau" (2015). I am some combination of conservative/libertarian, standing athwart history yelling "bullshit!" You can follow me on Twitter (@ptuns).

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Wednesday, May 31, 2006
 
Quotidian

"Despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot."
-- Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America


 
Media idiots

James Taranto notes this exchange between Helen Thomas, the grand ole hag of the Washington press corps, and new White House spokesman Tony Snow during yesterday's press briefing:

HELEN THOMAS: "Why did the President pick a man who is so contemptible of the public servants in Washington to be his Domestic Advisor -- saying, "People in Washington are morally repugnant, cheating, shifty human beings"? Why would he pick such a man to be a Domestic Advisor?

MR. SNOW: You meant contemptuous, as opposed to contemptible, I think."


 
West opposes best measure to help developing world -- free trade

National Nine News from Papua New Guinea reports (via the Poverty News blog):

"Western nations are not serious about opening their economies to allow the fair trade of goods and services with developing countries, says Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Michael Somare.

Market access to developed countries was still restricted by non-tariff barriers such as prohibitive quarantine and legal requirements, he said in his opening address to the African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) and European Union (EU) Council of Ministers' Meeting being held in Port Moresby this week."


It is much easier to offer foreign aid crums that provide great PR for Western governments than it is to sell the (mutual) benefits of freer trade to their electorates and thus less effective assistance is provided to the world's poor.


 
K-Lo on feminism

Kathryn Jean Lopez takes on Nora Ephron's notion that you can't be a feminist if you aren't "pro-choice" with examples of women who don't want to deny the nurturing instinct of the fairer sex -- those "willing to rise to the challenge that feminists who follow the maternal instinct to protect all innocent life pose." I think that Lopez confuses feminist with feminine. Being a feminist means supporting policies that ensure a woman never has to worry about the kind of father her potential bed-mates would make.


 
Give this free market writer a handout

Don Boudreaux at Cafe Hayek writes:

"I will soon begin writing a book on globalization.

As a consequence, I wonder if Uncle Sam will consider me to be a worthy candidate for 'trade-adjustment assistance' -- that is, to pay me if I can demonstrate that I suffer from foreign competition. After all, the world is full of superb, non-American writers on globalization, such as Johan Norberg and Martin Wolf. The books these gentlemen have written, and will surely write in the future, might well reduce market demand for my book, causing me to earn less income than I would earn were I protected from the competition of these and other foreign writers."


 
And remember that Huckabee is a Republican

The New York Times has a story on the food wars (read: attack on the freedom to snack or otherwise enjoy what you want to eat) going on at schools. Here's a worrying tidbit: "In Arkansas, for instance, children's report cards now include their B.M.I., or body mass index, along with their grades. The governor, Mike Huckabee recently lost more than 100 pounds and is passionate about stopping the 'obesity epidemic'." And other states are considering following suit. Where is the Left decrying the imposition of one's values on others? Just wondering.

(HT: Club for Growth blog)


 
Who will give me back my 3 minutes and 43 seconds

Over in The Corner, Jonah Goldberg links to the worst video (and possibly worst song) of all time.


 
Quotidian

"When Britain wins, I feel that I have won.
Whatever Britain does, I feel I have done.
I know my life comes somehow from the sun."
-- Ted Hughes, "A Masque for Three Voices"


Tuesday, May 30, 2006
 
Sometimes conservatives seem desperate to seem cool

At NRO, John J. Miller has a list of the top 101 "greatest conservative rock songs" (first 50, second 51). This seem like trying too hard to be the cool kid when you definitely are not -- like Tony Clement telling every reporter who would listen during one of his leadership bids that he really, really liked U2. (I said the same thing about Stephen Harper claiming to like AC/DC and was proven wrong.) I also think it is folly to take a couple lyrics out of song and say it is "pro-life" or "anti-establishment" or "pro-law enforcement" (why are both of those values considered conservative) or "pro-marriage" or whatever. For crying out loud, how the vulgar "Bodies" by the Sex Pistols can be #8 is beyond me.


 
Manhattan liberals abandon HRC

United Press International reports that "several Democratic clubs in Manhattan" have endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton's primary challenger, writer and labour organizer Jonathan Tasini, because of their impatience with the junior New York senators lurch to the centre, having endorsed the war in Iraq, seeking a middle ground on abortion and getting endorsed by Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch.


 
RINOs join the endangered list

The AP reports that Congressional 'moderate' Republicans -- Democrats in GOP clothing -- are facing uphill battles to keep their jobs in Connecticut, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and (especially) New York -- "struggling to save their jobs and a dying political breed." Part of this is a scare tactic to paint the GOP as increasingly "extremist" but it is also a reflection that if voters want Democrats in Washington, they'll elect Democrats in name and deed.


 
The not-for-profit scam

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

"Chicago area not-for-profit hospitals get three times as much money in tax breaks compared with what they dole out in free health care to poor and uninsured people, an analysis to be unveiled today shows.

As a nationwide debate rages over whether nonprofit hospitals do enough to justify their tax-exempt status, the study by the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability quantifies for the first time what most Cook County hospitals would pay if they were on the tax rolls.

Their finding -- an estimated $326 million in tax breaks -- is too out of whack with the $105 million in free or deeply discounted 'charity care' provided by the 21 hospital networks studied, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said."


 
The Harvard daycare

The Boston Globe reports that Harry R. Lewis, a former dean of Harvard College, says in a new book, Excellence Without a Soul: How a Great University Forgot Education, that the school is run like "a day care center for college students," as undergrads are coddled within a college "bubble" and dazzled with concerts and pub life. It sounds like a reasonable indictment of not just Harvard but other Ivy League schools and not merely sour grapes over being pushed out of his job by former Harvard president Lawrence Summers, who was later himself forced out.


 
Politically correct Memorial Day news coverage

The Boston Globe reports on the Indian war dead and the 50 tribe members who showed up to take note of the 'Praying Indians' who fought and died in the Revolutionary War.


 
Anti-Zionism = anti-Semitism

Dennis Prager explains:

"Judaism has always consisted of three components: God, Torah and Israel, roughly translated as faith, practice and peoplehood. And this Jewish people was conceived of as living in the Jewish country called Israel. One can argue that the modern state of Israel was founded at the expense of Arabs living in the geographic area known as Palestine (there was never a country or a nation called Palestine); but that in no way negates the indisputable fact that Zionism is an integral part of Judaism. Nor does the fact that some Jews who have abandoned Judaism are opposed to Zionism, nor that a tiny sect of ultra-Orthodox Jews (Neturei Karta) believe that only the Messiah can found a Jewish state in Israel.

When anti-Israel Muslim students demonstrate on campus chanting, 'Yes to Judaism, No to Zionism,' they are inventing a new Judaism out of their hatred for Israel. It would be as if anti-Muslims marched around chanting, 'Yes to Allah, No to the Quran.' Just as Allah, Muhammad and the Quran are inextricable components of Islam, so God, Torah and Israel are of Judaism.

But, one might argue, even if Zionism is as much a part of Judaism as any other part of the Hebrew Bible, the modern Jewish state of Israel has no right to exist because it displaced many indigenous Arabs, known later as Palestinians.

Before responding to this, it is crucial to understand that this argument -- that Israel's founding was illegitimate -- is completely unrelated to anti-Zionism. An intellectually honest person who believes Israel's founding is illegitimate would still have to acknowledge that Zionism is an inseparable part of Judaism ...

The answer is obvious. When people isolate the one Jewish state in the world for sanctions, opprobrium and delegitimizing, they are doing so because it is the Jewish state. And that, quite simply, is why anti-Zionism is simply another form of Jew-hatred.

You can criticize Israel all you want. That does not make you an antisemite. But if you are an anti-Zionist or advocate the destruction of the Jewish state, then let's be clear: You are an enemy of the Jews and of Judaism, and the word for such a person is antisemite."


 
Out of the ashes of evil, goodness

Pope Benedict XVI at Auschwitz-Birkenau this past weekend:

"Yes, behind these inscriptions is hidden the fate of countless human beings. They jar our memory, they touch our hearts. They have no desire to instill hatred in us: Instead, they show us the terrifying effect of hatred. Their desire is to help our reason to see evil as evil and to reject it; their desire is to enkindle in us the courage to do good and to resist evil. They want to make us feel the sentiments expressed in the words that Sophocles placed on the lips of Antigone, as she contemplated the horror all around her: My nature is not to join in hate but to join in love."

As First Things editor Joseph Bottom writes in his short introduction to the speech on his magazine's website:

"Auschwitz is always a harsh lesson—a slap, a rebuke, an indictment. This is a proof of what humans can do. This is a monument to what humans can be. There is no one who is not guilty, there is no one who is not shamed, there is no one who is not shown a mirror by that vile camp the Nazis built in conquered Poland to dispose of many of the lives they said were unworthy to live: Jews, mostly, and Gypsies, and troublesome Poles like Maximilian Kolbe, and the weak, and the infirm, and the different."

Pope Benedict's full speech is worth reading.


 
He should be Amazing

For whatever reason -- and it is hard to discern a good one -- the New York Mets thought that Xavier Nady was the fix for their outfield problems or that he could add bench strength, so General Manager Omar Minaya acquired the San Diego Padre centerfielder/first baseman and erstwhile rightfielder for Mike Cameron, a similar bat (better OBP, less power) and much better defensive outfielder. Nady is atrocious, putting up slightly better than Bernie Williams-like numbers in 2005: 261/321/439, a Value Over Replacement Player of 8.7. This year he is slightly better: 267/331/484 with decent power (9 HRs in 45 games). So Nady's appendicitis is a blessing. The danger is that Nady will play just well enough that manager Willie Randolph will decide to displace slow-starting but superior hitter/defender Cliff Floyd. That would be a tragedy for the Mets.

As I said, Nady's appendectomy comes at precisely the right time because it allows the Mets to call up outstanding prospect Lastings Milledge from Norfolk (which they did) and pencil him into the lineup (which they also did). Since 2004, Milledge has batted no worse than 291 at three levels of minor league ball, hitting 337/392/487 in Double A ball last year. This year he is hitting 291/425/467 at Triple A Norfolk and he hit 327 in 27 spring training games with the Mets (numbers are padded because the great pitchers in the baseball version of the World Cup). I like that high OBP, which indicates that he is a smart hitter who walks and goes deep into pitch counts. Patience is a difficult thing to teach to young hitters and he already has it. As Baseball Prospectus 2006 notes, with David Wright and Milledge, a "team might build the next decade" around those two, but the Mets, unfortunately, often trade away young talent (such as Scott Kazmir, their gift to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays) to solve their immediate problems. Milledge is too good to give away and apparently Minaya has rebuffed a lot of trade offers for him including Manny Ramirez. While Milledge went 1 for 4 against the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight in a Mets loss, he is destined for great things and with him, the Mets might be destined for greatness. He should be given every opportunity to make the team and, if he does, Nady can be used as trade bait to shore up their weak starting rotation -- a pitching staff that is only marginally improved despite the flurry of trades the team made last week (three! -- starters Orlando Hernandez and Dave Williams and reliever Mike Adams).

But watch Milledge; he'll be something special.


 
German appeaser

Writing in the Washington Post yesterday, Joshcka Fischer, a former German foreign minister, makes the case for bargaining without a real bargaining chip -- that is, the case for doing nothing -- by taking military intervention off the table in dealing with nearly nuclear Iran. So what should be done? Fischer effectively is arguing that Iran should be rewarded to pursuing nuclear weapons:

"So what should be done? There remains a serious chance for a diplomatic solution if the United States, in cooperation with the Europeans and with the support of the U.N. Security Council and the non-aligned states of the Group of 77, offers Iran a 'grand bargain.' In exchange for long-term suspension of uranium enrichment, Iran and other states would gain access to research and technology within an internationally defined framework and under comprehensive supervision by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Full normalization of political and economic relations would follow, including binding security guarantees upon agreement of a regional security design."

So if a pariah state tries to acquire what it shouldn't and then backs off the reward will be a "full normalization of political and economic relations"? Maybe such stupidity comes from bordering France for so long.


 
HRC defined

Dan Balz, a "reporter" with the Washington Post, on two different ways to view Hillary Rodham Clinton, who "defies easy characterization":

"On balance, most of those around Clinton say her hard-to-pigeonhole profile is a political asset -- the product, they say, of a curious intellect, the absence of rigid ideology, an instinct for problem solving and a willingness to seek consensus even across party lines. Her detractors see her career as the work of an opportunistic politician who has sanded the sharp edges off her views, so much so that there is little sense of authenticity when she speaks."

My vote: a brilliant but perhaps too clever opportunist who didn't leave her husband because it would mean both abandoning the perks of power and her presidential ambitions.


 
New NYT motto: All the speculation that isn't true

Earlier today, President George W. Bush announced that Treasury Secretary John Snow would be replaced by Henry M. Paulson Jr., the chairman of Goldman Sachs. On the weekend, the New York Times reported that long-time Bush friend and former Commerce Secretary Donald J. Evans was going to be named to the job. Admittedly, the paper did tap Paulson as a contender, too, but led the story and was in-depth with Evans.

(HT: Donald Luskin)


 
Wildcat strike

Talk Talk Talk has by far the best post on the illegal strike by the Toronto Transit Union: "TTC's Favourite Pastime -- Strike!" The Left always likes to talk about root problems, so here it is:

"Has driver abuse risen? It wouldn't surprise me if it has. People who don't earn nearly as much as TTC drivers, are having a harder and harder time paying for tickets and tokens, while watching politicians cave to their strike threats and increase incomes and benefits resulting in steeply rising fares to pay for them year after year."



 
Brits love their porn

The Daily Mail reports that 9 million British men and 1.4 million women have downloaded internet porn. That's a lot of porn users. As a friend of mine who sent the link to me noted, "Don't shake hands with an Englishman."

Anyway there is a high cost to this so-called victimless crime -- or perhaps victimless vice is more appropriate -- as it may be responsible for the problems of 40% of couples experiencing relationship difficulties.


Monday, May 29, 2006
 
The Conservative 'clan'

Small Dead Animals and Stephen Taylor both comment on CBC Radio Anna Marie Tremonti's reference to the Conservative "Clan," noting that on the radio you can't tell that it's not "Klan" and that such a loaded word should be eschewed in reference to a political party that has had the "Klan" monicker tossed at it by a former Liberal cabinet minister. Taylor seems more willing to give AMT the benefit of the doubt that she wasn't up to anything sinister. I'm not sure she is deserving of such charity.


 
Comments

Send them to paul_tuns[AT]yahoo.com


 
Cheering for the Tigers

Gerry Nicholls, vice president of the National Citizen's Coalition, grew up in Windsor and thus grew up a Detroit Tigers fan. In the 1960s and again in the mid-1980s, the team was worth cheering for, but after moving to Toronto and seeing the success of the Blue Jays, combined with the comprehensive awfulness of the Tigers in most seasons, he changed allegiences. But now the Tigers are doing well and Gerry has a dilemma: the Jays or the Tigers. I think you can cheer for both, but the question is to whom does your sporting heart belong? I think the Tigers. They are Gerry's sentimental favourite and they are the superior team. (According to a Baseball Prospectus's PECOTA analysis, the Tigers are not performing that much out of whack with expectations when runs scored, runs allowed and opponents are taken into account.)

Today, the Tigers lost to the New York Yankees 4-0 as Randy Johnson -- the last pitcher to no-hit the boys from Motown -- pitched like his old self, allowing just two hits in six shutout innings. Well, not quite like his old self: he threw just four Ks. Not shabby, though, against the best team in baseball. Also on the plus side, for the second day in a row, Bernie Williams watched the game from the dugout.

Back to Gerry's dilemma: after tonight, he might be cheering more for the Jays, who beat the Boston Red Sox 7-6. Maybe Gerry should try what an acquaintance of a friend of mine does and cheer for the team that generates the most wins per dollar of salary based on the record and payroll from the previous season. The thinking goes like this: it takes smarts to make dollars go further and such teams should be rewarded with the fans' loyalty for at least one season. Based on that criteria, the Tigers are the superior team, at least when compared to the Blue Jays.


 
Quotidian

"'Rotten?' said Uncle Andrew with a puzzled look. 'Oh, I see. You mean that little boys ought to keep their promises. Very true: most right and proper, I'm sure, and I'm very glad you have been taught to do it. But of course you must understand that rules of that sort, however excellent they may be for little boys -- and servants -- and women -- and even people in general, can't possibly be expected to apply to profound students and great thinkers and sages. No, Digory. Men like me, who possess hidden wisdom, are freed from common rules just as we are cut off from common pleasures."
-- C.S. Lewis, The Magicians Nephew


 
The French -- unpopular even at home

Les Bleus -- the French national soccer team -- were booed during their final preparation game at home before the World Cup in Germany. And they were winning.


 
Republicans are in trouble but the Dems are worried

Just as I am about to reverse course and concede that the GOP is in serious trouble this November, AP political writer Ron Fournier offers this analysis of the midterm elections:

"Republicans are three steps from a November shellacking — each a grim possibility if habitually divided Democrats get their acts together.

First step: Voters must focus on the national landscape on Nov. 7 rather than local issues and personalities that usually dominate midterm elections.

That would sting Republicans, who trail badly in national polls.

Second step: Voters must be so angry at Washington and politics in general that an anti-incumbent, throw-the-bums-out mentality sweeps the nation.

That would wound Republicans, the majority party.

Third step: Americans must view the elections as a referendum on President Bush and the GOP-led Congress, siding with Democrats in a symbolic vote against the Iraq war, rising gas prices, economic insecurity and the nagging sense that the nation is on the wrong track.

That would destroy Republicans, sweeping them from power in one or both chambers and making Bush a lame duck.

Less than six months out, most Democratic and Republican strategists say the first two elements are in place for now — a national, anti-incumbent mind-set — and all signs point to the third.

Still, many Democrats worry that their party has not closed the deal."


The Democrats are kind of like the sub-500 baseball team that has a 7-1 lead against the New York Yankees in the seventh inning; they should win but you can never count out the Evil Empire whether it is George Steinbrenner's boys or Karl Rove's. Of course, it doesn't help when almost the entire Democratic lineup is composed of Russ Adamses. Fournier also reports that Democratic internal polls show that voters hold both parties in low esteem. To keep the baseball analogy going, it might not be the Yankees against the Oakland A's, but rather two middling teams -- the Baltimore Orioles and Minnesota Twins -- with the visitors ahead by one in the top of the fifth; anyone can win this one. Fournier ends his article with a football analogy: "And Democrats could fumble the opportunity." The Democrats are not anything if not adept at fumbling.

So why was I going to change my mind about GOP prospects in the midterms? A friend sent this speech by Tucker Carlson, the bow-tied boy-pundit, given to the Cato Institute last winter. Carlson said the Republicans are going to lose not because they have abandoned their base by pandering to the middle class(es) by supporting big government programs ("People like government programs"), but because they are viewed as corrupt. That is, although the Republicans deserve to lose (embracing big government to help get re-elected), they will lose for another reason (embracing the perks of power). Carlson says that if you look at the Contract with America, most of the splashy provisions they promised to implement immediately had nothing to do with scaling back the state but rather eight "procedural changes designed to respond to the perception that the Democrats were a bloated, corrupt party." Carlson argues that Newt Gingrich's Republicans were swept into power in 1994 not because voters were mad at the Democrats for being liberal but for appearing to wallow in the privileges of power. Not it is the Republicans who suffer from that perception. Carlson says that "people hate corruption most of all, even minor corruption." In a year in which Jack Abramoff and Tom DeLay are automatically connected in voters' minds, 2006 midterms are going to be an extraordinary challenge for the GOP.

The one thing that the Republicans can count on, however, is that the Democrats are Democrats. They never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.


 
Amnesty International accepts radical agenda holis bolis

LifeSiteNews.com reports:

"LifeSiteNews.com has obtained copies of a form letter Amnesty sent to supporters who contacted them objecting that abortion violates the rights of the unborn. Amnesty wrote, that their proposal to support 'sexual and reproductive rights,' (SRR) stems from their 'global campaign to Stop Violence against Women, as well as its work on HIV/AIDS; on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights, economic, social and cultural rights and on related issues'."

In other words, AI will enter the world of abortion advocacy because it has already bought into the gay agenda.


Sunday, May 28, 2006
 
Quotidian

"Vanity working on a weak head, produces every sort of mischief."
-- Jane Austen, Emma


 
Religion of peace, blah, blah, blah

Dhimmi Watch notes that the BBC reports:

"The coach of Iraq's tennis team and two players were shot dead in Baghdad on Thursday, said Iraqi Olympic officials.

Coach Hussein Ahmed Rashid and players Nasser Ali Hatem and Wissam Adel Auda were killed in the al-Saidiya district of the capital.

Witnesses said the three were dressed in shorts and were killed days after militants issued a warning forbidding the wearing of shorts."


Ah, yes, that's entirely reasonable.

(HT: Relapsed Catholic)


 
Quotes of the day

The runner-up is from Mark Steyn's Chicago Sun-Times column:

"Last week, something very unusual happened: There was a story out of Washington that didn't reflect badly on the Republican Party's competence or self-discipline."

The winner is also from Steyn's column:

"By the way, even if one were in favor of the "comprehensive immigration reform" bill, it's a complete fantasy. Anyone who's had any experience of U.S. immigration knows that there is no way you can toss another 15 million people into the waiting room of a system that can barely process routine non-discretionary applications in under a decade."


 
This is worth supporting

Canadian Angels. Here's what it is and why it was created:

"...there was a need for our Armed Forces to know that the people back home in Canada supported them. For years programs like this have existed in the United States, but for our brave Canadian men and women fighting in Afghanistan and stationed around the world, there has been very little.

Our peacekeepers deserve to know that we appreciate them defending the freedoms we enjoy here in Canada. They put themselves in the line of fire every day for you and I, to protect us, and to bring our free and democratic way of life to places all over the globe.

I don't think it's too much to ask that we send over a letter, or a birthday card, or a packet of snacks to the ones who keep us safe. Show a Forces Member how much you appreciate them, and how proud you are of the work they do - become an Angel!"


Congrats to Wendy Sullivan (Girl on the Right) for getting it off the ground.


 
Backlash

The Sunday Telegraph reports that in excess of 70% of respondents to a recent poll say they support experiments performed on animals. The paper says that about three-quarters also favour use of the term terrorist to describe extremists who use violence and threats to highlight the cause of ending animal testing. The paper puts 2+2 together to conclude that the high support for animal testing is a reaction to the excesses of animal rights extremists.


 
Campaign finance follies

Washington Post columnist George F. Will skewers public financing of elections and notes that the primary reason for its continuation is John McCain, campaign finance reformer and a likely contender for the GOP presidential nomination. But, Will says, McCain is unlikely to accept public financing because he is unwilling to accept the restrictions that come with it, restrictions that would impede the kind of campaign McCain would need to conduct to win the presidency. Will highlights the problem:

"Candidates accepting government subsidies in the primaries can spend only stipulated sums in particular states: Our amazing government knows precisely the right amount for each state and knows that the same sum will be suitable for all candidates' campaign needs."

The stipulated amounts are proportional, but for McCain and Hillary Clinton (or whoever the candidates are), this doesn't make sense. Spending the same per capita for Utah, Rhode Island Ohio is wasteful: the GOP have Utah, the Dems Rhode Island and they'll both contend for Ohio. Both the Republican and Democratic candidates will probably run the same kind of campaign in 2008 as the parties did in 2004. That means that most of the campaigning (and thus the costs) will be in Florida, Ohio, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, West Virginia and perhaps Michigan and Tennessee. Whether or not that is a smart strategy, it is the strategy that the candidates, not the Federal Election Commission should decide (force).


 
Campaign financing

No doubt there are many journalists, blogger and political opponents who think that Joe Volpe's leadership race is done barely before it started with the revelation that the 2004 rules on donating to leadership campaigns were side-stepped.

Liberal leadership hopeful Joe Volpe has received $54,000 in donations from two drug company executives and their wives and kids. Post-2004, corporate donations have been banned although corporate executives, employees and their families are allowed to give a maximum of $5,400 each. So Barry Sherman, CEO of drug manufacturer Apotex Inc., donated $5,400 to Volpe's leadership bid -- as did his wife and four children. That's $32,400 in total. Also, Apotex president Jack Kay, his wife and two children each gave $5,400. That's another $21,600. Of course it is generally a good rule for politicians to obey the law but what if the law is wrong. Or worst, stupid. I hope that Volpe fights the accusation that he did something wrong (which he technically did although no law is broken) with the charge that the law is wrong. A free country would allow unlimited donations by anyone, including corporations and unions. I know conservatives generally oppose unions giving their members' dues over to the NDP and Liberals, but that is an issue for unions and their members not the law.

George F. Will once proposed an exceedingly simple seven-word campaign finance reform law: "No foreign donations. Full disclosure. No cash." Let me explain the virtues of these reforms. Admittedly in an age of globalization, foreign companies and individuals may have an interest in how Canada is governed but they should be forced to play by our rules and not allowed to influence the outcomes of elections. (They should be allowed to lobby the government, but not influence who will form it.) Full disclosure because the public has a right to know who is giving what to which candidate(s) and party. This information might be incorporated into the decision-making regarding who support or oppose. If you don't like a lot of money in politics, you might not vote for Joe Volpe (or whoever), or if you think the pharmaceutical industry is evil you might eschew Volpe. Or perhaps you think that generic drugs deserve a break and therefore the donations signal that Volpe is your guy. In short, we are allowed to judge candidates based on who their friends are. Lastly, no cash makes the full disclosure provision enforceable.

The law limiting political donations is wrong on so many levels. On a practical level there are several criticisms: it gives greater power to politicians and the media to set the agenda; it forces politicians to do more fundraising because they have to raise the large amounts needed to campaigns with smaller donations; if Will's sensible reform were adopted, it would increase the amount of information we have about candidates. But more importantly it is morally reprehensible. A free people should be allowed to give whatever they want to whoever they want, especially in politics. It really is a matter of free speech rights (even if in Canada the courts have not accepted the logic recognized and dismissed by the US Supreme Court in Buckley that money equals speech.) What is important is that all candidates play on a level playing field of fundraising opportunity, not results. For whatever reason, Conservatives have become shy about making the case for freedom in political giving. It is both cowardly and wrong. Volpe should make such an argument now; although it will appear defensive, the argument must be made.


Saturday, May 27, 2006
 
Bush's speech

President George W. Bush gave a speech at West Point today comparing the War on Terror to the Cold War: the West has enemies that want to destroy us and the war will be long. Bush said: "Today, at the start of a new century, we are again engaged in a war unlike any our nation has fought before -- and like Americans in Truman's day, we are laying the foundations for victory." He provided a history lesson and then inspiring words for tomorrow's soldiers. He explained how the threat of Soviet imperialism is different from Islamic terrorism (mutual assured destruction works against an enemy that thinks all there is to life is the here and now; the terrorists have no borders or capital to protect). He makes a strong case on how Iraq fits into the War on Terror. All of it was great and it was a speech that he should have delivered on television to the nation, not just the soldiers who will be in the battlefields of tomorrow because the public needs to know why their sons and daughters will go to fight in foreign lands and, too often, to die there. As Austin Bay said while live-blogging the speech, "I am listening to President Bush's speech at West Point and thinking 'Why didn't he give this speech three years ago'?" Bush's speeches from the year after September 11 rank as among the best ever delivered by any president, a function of the most capable speech writing staff any president has had the privilege to have, but in recent years he has not really tried to sell the War on Terror to the American public, and indeed the world. It may be too late to do so, but one can't help wonder what public support for the war would be if he had delivered this speech on national TV last summer (for example).

Jeffrey Goldberg noted in an interview with the New Yorker this week, the American people want to win the war in Iraq:

"[In the south, west and southwest] the arguments about the war in Iraq do not center on the legality of the war, on multilateralism, or on the President telling the truth about weapons of mass destruction. For people in these kinds of places, which are generally more conservative, the problem is that the President seems to be losing the war. ThatÂ?s what gets people very upset."

The speech doesn't change the fact that things are not going very well for the US military and its allies in Iraq, but the West Point speech would explain why the cost of the war in both blood and treasure is worth and that might be helpful. If America's sons (and daughters) are going to be coming home in body bags, the president sure as hell owes the country a good explanation why. This speech is precisely that explanation.

One last thing, un-related thing: Bush noted this, which is interesting and important: "This is the first class to arrive at West Point after the attacks of September the 11th, 2001. Each of you came here in a time of war, knowing all the risks and dangers that come with wearing our nation's uniform." God bless the Class of 2006.


 
Quotidian

"You cannot make a man by standing a sheep on its hind-legs. But by standing a flock of sheep in that position you can make a crowd of men."
-- Max Beerbohm, Zuleika Dobson


 
Townshend changes his tune

In the previous post I noted that being liberal means never having to admit you are wrong. But in a post responding to a list that had The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again ranked as the top conservative rock song, Pete Townshend includes this little bit on his politics:

"From 1971 - when I wrote Won't Get Fooled Again - to 1985, there was a transition in me from refusal to be co-opted by activists, to a refusal to be judged by people I found jaded and compliant in Thatcher's Britain. Peter Gabriel and I spoke often on the phone about work we were doing with David Astor, Neville Vincent, Donald Woods and Lord Goodman to raise money to help spring Nelson Mandela from gaol in South Africa. We realized quickly that what we were doing was buying guns for the ANC, an organisation that some on the far right believed were no better than the IRA. Nelson was sprung, so everything turned out well. But when in the mid-nineties, one of the very last IRA bombs went off in a theatre in London close to where my musical of Tommy was about to open, I decided my karma had come around full circle."

In other words, although Townshend doesn't use these precise words, he realized that the African National Congress was 1) a terrorist organization, 2) using Mandela's imprisonment to raise funds for other activities or 3) using Mandela's imprisonment to raise funds for their terrorist activities. Now Townshend says he doesn't like being called a conservative and he isn't one, but he doesn't sound like that much of a liberal anymore, either. Recall that he refused to let Michael Moore use one of his songs in Fahrenheit 9/11.


 
In defense of competition

In his London Times column, Irwin Stelzer writes the best one-paragraph defense of the free market that I recall reading:

"Competition forces firms to provide consumers with reasonable prices and acceptable quality: the invisible hand makes the long arm of the regulatory authorities unnecessary. Eliminate competition, and the regulators take over, setting up expensive procedures to help them guess what the market would have produced if competition existed."

Of course, he provides examples so the rest of the column is worth reading especially the next line: "The history of regulation in the telephone, electric, gas and airline industries should have believers in free markets, and opponents of government meddling, lined up to save other industries from a similar fate." But then, again, being a liberal (politically, not economically speaking) means never having to admit you are wrong.


 
This will be worth watching

New York Times headline says it all: "Iran Chief Eclipses Clerics as He Consolidates Power." The first 'graph explains:

"President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is trying to consolidate power in the office of the presidency in a way never before seen in the 27-year history of the Islamic Republic, apparently with the tacit approval of Iran's supreme leader, according to government officials and political analysts here."

So what is better: having the mad, Holocaust-denying president in control or the fundamentalist, Jew-hating mullahs?


 
America's oldest governor to seek re-election

73-year-old Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski and nepotist announced he will seek a second term. According to this AP story, he is unpopular and may be vulnerable in the GOP primary.


 
Stupid baseball people

Joe Torre sat 2B Robinson Cano today because the New York Yankee skipper wanted to give Miguel Cairo some at bats. It worked out -- Cairo went went 4 for 5, raising his average to 267, with 3 RBIs -- but why would any manager want to give someone with a 200/273/275 line more at bats than is absolutely necessary is beyond me. Cano's line is not great but it is a whole lot better than Cairo's: 298/328/392. Some will argue that because the Yankees won 15-4 against (the hapless) Kansas City Royals, my criticism is another example of my Torre bashing, but today's result doesn't change the fact that the lineup switch was a dumb one. Torre will read today's result as vindication of his stupidity. That Cano, a left-handed hitter, would have faced a left-handed pitcher is irrelevant. He is hitting 261 against southpaws compared to Cairo who is hitting 333 off of them this season. But Cairo's sample size (15 at bats) is statistically insignificant -- all players have good and bad results in 15 random at bats. Indeed, Royals pitcher Jeremy Affeldt is the ideal southpaw for Cano to face; he has an ERA above 6.50 and a WHIP of nearly 2.

The second stupid baseball thing today is Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry saying Dusty Baker's job as manager is safe. That's too bad. Baker is being a given free pass on the Cubbies woeful year (18-30) because of injuries to pitchers Mark Pryor and Kerry Woods and 1B Derrek Lee, the excuse being that the manager cannot be held responsible for injuries that his players suffer. But on the first two he can and on the third it shouldn't matter. Last year, Lee had slash stats of 335/418/662 along with 46 HRs and 107 RBIs. He was given serious consideration for the National League MVP award yet Baker publicly announced that Aramis Ramirez was the team's MVP. Ramirez had a very good season (302/358/568, 31 HRs, 92 RBIs), but nothing like Lee's. And in the 14 games Lee played this year, he kept up his torrid pace whereas Ramirez has returned to earth (247/322/487). MVPs are irreplaceable, but according to Baker they haven't lost one. Anyway, at one point this season, the Baker-led Cubs scored just 11 runs over 11 games. The loss of Lee does not explain such futility. What does explain it is Baker's disdain for patient hitters -- that is, players who take walks and force hurlers to throw more pitches, thereby allowing the team to get to the typically weaker middle relievers. Baker says hitters that take walks are just "clogging" the bases. No, players who take walks get on the bases which is what teams need (along with power) to score runs. But without guys on base, the homer only gets you one run at a time, a hugely difficult way to win games. Baker won't use players with patience so Hendry doesn't acquire them and consequently the Cubs lose games. Regarding the pitchers, Baker does share some of the blame. In past seasons he has over-used them, almost to point of abuse. While many managers are learning that pitch counts matter not only to a pitcher's performance in a particular game but how he does in subsequent outings and his susceptibility to injuries, Baker blithely ignores them. Woods is probably prone to injuries (like Pedro Martinez) which doesn't excuse Baker but makes it even more important to manage his outings carefully (like the Red Sox did in 2003 and 2004 and the Mets have since 2005). The Cubs have one of the highest payrolls in baseball, exceeding $100 million. They shouldn't be losing nearly twice as often as they win; they should be challenging for, at least, the Wild Card spot. Dusty Baker is a big part of the reason they aren't. The team has enough talent to compete in 2007 if they are guided properly and provided the right mix of players so the rebuilding process should begin today with the firing of Dusty Baker. And Jim Hendry, too.


Friday, May 26, 2006
 
Quotidian

"The past and the present are within the field of my inquiry, but what a man may do in the future is a hard question to answer."
-- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles


 
Krauthammer on opposing Iran

Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer on what the American reaction should be to the EU's pressure for endless, er, more, talks with Tehran regarding the mullah's nuclear program: "You want us to talk? Fine. We will go there, but only if you arm us with the largest stick of all: your public support for military action if the talks fail."


 
Today is the UN's Africa Day

Kofi Annan, an African and the Secretary General of the UN, marked the occasion by noting that "huge challenges remain." It should be noted that the UN will do absolutely nothing to address these challenges.


 
UN morons at work

Sudanese rebels infiltrate Chad and attack refugee camps and the UN reaction is to turn tail. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has announced that if the rebels don't cease their attacks, the objects of their attacks (more than 200,000 refugees from the violence in Darfur) will not recieve their humanitarian aid.


 
THE QUESTION HAS FINALLY BEEN ANSWERED!

Sorry for the all cap header but The Guardian reports that a 2000-year-old conundrum has finally been answered. Yes, the age-old question of what came first, the chicken or the egg, may finally have been answered. Apparently the "expert panel" composed of a philosopher, geneticist and chicken farmer has determined it's the egg. Up next: Who or what created the universe?


 
Just wondering

Elton John has blamed the Catholic Church for the deaths of 60 of his gay friends from AIDS/HIV. Marc at Proud to Be Canadian notes: "Elton failed to mention how exactly the Catholic Church prevented these gay folks from using condoms?" Which raises a good question. Where do Elton's friends live because I don't think that there is any shortage of condoms in the western world. So if Elton John is talking not about availability of condoms but the moral arguments against and perhaps stigma attached to the use of condoms, I wonder why the Catholic teaching against homosexuality is not as effective? That is, if the Church's teaching on condoms is effective, why isn't its teaching on homosexual behaviour?


 
Better than aid

Emmigrants sending money back home. The Inter-American Development Bank reports that Brazilians in Portugal send approximately US$505 million back to their homeland each year. How about a slogan: Remittances not aid. Just joking (to a point) but when considering the contributions of the developed world to the developing world, it is wrong to ignore the impact that remittances make. Notably, a number of Brazilians in Portugal say they are interested in creating small businesses in the land of their birth.


 
Comments

Send them to paul_tuns[AT]yahoo.com


 
Amnesty's abortion advocacy

Simon Caldwell has an excellent article in The Spectator on Amnesty International's flirtation with declaring abortion a fundamental human right and entering the world of abortion advocacy. (Human Rights Watch has long advocated "reproductive rights" which is a genteel and dishonest monicker for abortion rights.) After outlining the practical argument against it -- that millions of AI's Christian supporters would abandon the organization -- Caldwell addresses the philosophical problems, namely that abortion is not a right because it contradicts the Universal Declaration of Human Right's recognition of the right to life and the logical assumption that other rights cannot be enjoyed until one's right to life is guaranteed. To repeat: with the right to life, the other rights are meaningless. As Caldwell concludes:

"It is a profound irony that in the name of Â?rightsÂ? Amnesty should align itself with the destruction of the international consensus on how those rights are understood. The Universal Declaration is now, in effect, dead, its currency devalued by the very organisations that are supposed to uphold its principles. As a result, people are no longer taking human rights seriously. For that, Amnesty International will, in time, share much of the blame."


 
Can a left-wing celebrity activist learn a new trick?

Over at the CIPE (Center for International Private Enterprise) blog, Aleksandr Shkolnikov finds that Bono, while still addicted to promoting foreign aid, might be open to a market-based growth strategy:

"Although Bono continues to call for more aid, in his blog I saw flashes of recognition that enterprise development, trade, governance, and corruption issues must also be addressed. Will Bono become a part-time advocate for free markets in Africa? Or am I being too optimistic?"

I think he is. This is what Bono told Reuters reporter Lesley Wroughton during his recent trip to Africa:

"There were people campaigning alongside without any conditionality. I don’t agree with them. I don’t agree with the burdensome conditionality that forces liberalization but I do agree with conditionality of tackling of corruption."

What an odd thing for someone to say who just before congratulaing himself (and others) for escaping his earlier "adolescence of optimism" of blindly supporting aid and marching for change. He implicitly admits that it didn't work, but wants to tinker with the aid regime rather than use it to supplement a market-oriented economic growth strategy that would, as John Kennedy said, create the high tide that raises all boats. Shkolnikov's optimism is misplaced.


 
Animal rights extremists

In the Daily Standard Wesley Smith writes about pro-animal rights terrorism and the weak response to it from the pro-animal activists. Smith concludes: "If animal-rights terror continues to be ratcheted up, someone is going to be killed. If that happens, those who winked at violence in the name of saving the animals will wish they had instead insisted to the terrorists among them: 'Not in our name'." I doubt it. I think that most of the animal rights activists see humans as equal to animals and that there would be little regret among the animal rights extremists if mere humans were killed.


 
What did we do to Belarus?

MosNews.com reports:

"Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko is to bar flights over the territory of his country by U.S. and Canadian aircraft, the Foreign Ministry said."

So what did Canada and the U.S. do? They refused landing rights for Belarus's vile dictator Alexander Lukashenko's airplanes earlier this week when he visited Fidel Castro. Tit-for-tat diplomacy, I guess. And further proof that not letting Lukashenko land in Canada was the right policy.


 
UK Tories ahead

According to the Daily Telegraph, a British YouGov poll found that David Cameron's Conservatives are six points ahead of Tony Blair's Labour Party in the most recent poll (38%-32%). This might be because of Cameron's moderate approach of follow the leader (the leader being, of course, Blair himself) or it might be due to the dreadful unpopularity of the Labour leader -- only 26% of respondents were satisfied with the job Blair is doing. Labour also seems like a loser having lost seats in local elections in recent weeks and in such circumstances parties typically lose popularity after receiving a beating from the voters. Or, most likely, the poll is a reflection of all these factors -- Cameron's disciplined and moderate leadership, Blair's unpopularity, the perception that Labour is a losing party, and much, much more. Obviously it is better to be ahead in the polls by a half-dozen points than behind, but this is hardly a vindication of Cameron's repudiation of Thatcherism. At least not yet.


 
Taylor vs. PPG

Stephen Taylor continues his bloggy jihad against the Parliamentary Press Gallery and the mainstream media, which in his mind is well past its best before date, outlasting its usefulness. Basically the argument goes like this: in the age of the 24 hour news cycle and blogs, old media is much less important. True but only up to a point. And that point is very important because less important does not mean unimportant. Yes, blogs are important; they allow regular people to have a voice (although the most read blogs are generally those written by journalists or professors, people who already have a platform to get our their ideas). And yes some bloggers do break stories and/or help push certain stories to the foreground. But without any specific numbers at my fingertips, my guess is that the vast majority of Canadians get their impression about Ottawa politics from old media -- television and radio news and newspapers. There are ways for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to bypass these elements, but the fact remains that a handful of journalists from the major media outlets set the tone for political coverage. Harper might want to speak directly to people through more local media, but those journalists take their cues from the PPG when it comes to politics. This might change over time and Harper might help expedite this change but we are from radically altering the way politics is covered.

This is not to say that Harper might not win the battle with the PPG. There might be political gain in implicitly or explicitly running against the media elite, but none of that changes the fact that Harper is taking an enormous chance in his battle with the press. Or that certain bloggers don't suffer a little hubris when considering the influence of the blogosphere when compared to the MSM.


 
You mean a piece of paper doesn't bring peace

The UN News Service reports that the UN and AU will now assess the needs of peacekeepers in the Darfur region of Sudan. Try this: troops, equipment and the authority to use deadly force to defend the refugee camps. I haven't been to Darfur but I know this is was is desperately needed. Anyway the report concludes:

"Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland told the Security Council in New York last Friday, after his week-long visit to Sudan and to refugee camps in eastern Chad, that violent attacks on civilians and humanitarian workers were continuing despite the Darfur peace agreement."

When will end our faith in little pieces of paper to stop conflicts, especially genocidal ones?


 
Quotidian

"Before the old Peshawur Gate, where Kurd and Kaffir meet,
The Governor of Kabul dealt the Justice of the Street,
And that was strait as running noose and swift as plunging knife,
Tho' he who held the longer purse might hold the longer life."
-- Rudyard Kipling, "The Ballad of the King's Mercy"


Thursday, May 25, 2006
 
A sad day in the neighbourhood

Bob Tarantino closes shop at Let It Bleed. And contrary to what he thinks, we were interested in what he has to say. That said, I understand not wanting to continue blogging. This past week's respite from the daily obligation to blog was wonderful. Anyway, Bob's thoughts, quips and reviews will be missed.


 
Baseball in New York

The New York Yankees have won two in a row against the Boston Red Sox beating them 8-6 in part because of some daring lineup choices by manager Joe Torre. With Johnny Damon injured, Torre decided to put Melky Cabrera and his 390 on-base percentage at the top of the lineup. Smart choice and not merely because he responded by going 2 for 4 with four ribbies and a walk. Guys who reach base almost four out of ten times (which Cabrera exceeded after tonight's game) make great leadoff hitters. And while most of my fellow Yankee fans are disgusted to see Terrence Long in pinstripes, desperate times call for desperate measures. And although they are still playing no-hit, no-glove Bernie Williams in the outfield -- thereby giving up outs in both the field and at the plate -- the presence of Long means that perhaps, just perhaps, Williams will sit on the bench a bit more often. (Yes, I am aware of their identical OBP of 321 last year and Williams' slight advantage in slugging.) If only they could find a decent backup to Jorge Posada, the team might be on their way to creating a passable bench. Kelly Stinnett, who has obviously been of no advantage for the washed up Randy Johnson, is brutal at the plate: 189 BA 250 OBP / 243 SLG. As for their pitching, Johnson was just ugly. He has nothing left and he is hurting the team. The best thing for the Yankees would be to bench him. Few teams could afford to sit a $20 million pitcher, but the Yankees can. Or perhaps some sucker team might agree to take him if the Yanks pay half his salary. Heck, the Bronx Bombers could even throw in Johnson's personal catcher and new everyday backstop Kelly Stinnett. It won't happen -- neither the benching nor the trade -- but if the Yankees were smart (which they are not), they'd make their top paid pitcher a spectator.

The other team from New York, the Amazing Mets, have serious pitching problems of their own and acquired Orlando Hernandez from the Arizona Diamondbacks to fix them. They traded Jorge Julio to acquire Hernandez's 2-4 record, 6.11 ERA and 1.58 WHIP. Admittedly, Julio is worse but as a reliever he also pitches less thereby minimizing the damage he can do. I'm not sure what the Diamondbacks are thinking? They might use Kevin Jarvis in Hernandez's spot in the rotation. The Diamondbacks might become the sixth team that Jarvis finishes a year with an ERA over 10 with in his career.


Sunday, May 21, 2006
 
Quotidian

"One's life should always be read twice, once for the experience, then again for the astonishment."
-- Wayson Choy, Paper Shadows


 
It always hurts to strand 18 baserunners

The New York Yankees had 21 baserunners against the New York Mets tonight but they lost because only one-seventh of them crossed home plate. The Mets win a great game to watch, 4-3, in part because they turned three double plays in the last four innings. It was visible both on the field and the boxscore that the Yanks are missing Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui (DL) and Jorge Posada (day to day with a sore back).


Saturday, May 20, 2006
 
Quotidian

"It was the period when people were still arriving, when they were filling themselves with drink and still waiting in the wings for the roles their intoxicated selves were to play."
-- Cyril Connolly, The Rock Pool


 
Never say die

Down 4-0 in the ninth, the Yankees tie the game and beat cross-town rival Mets 5-4 in the 11th. But it easily might not have been as Kelly Stinnett was up to bat with the bases loaded in the ninth with one out. He walked -- one of three walks (and two hits) that closer Billy Wagner gave up in a third of an inning pitched -- and Alex Rodriguez scored. Sure Wagner was wild but that classic Yankee patience at the plate helped them a lot, too. With every reason to swing for the fences, Yankee batters took five walks in the final three innings.


Friday, May 19, 2006
 
Quotidian

"The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!"
-- William Wordsworth, "The World Is To Much With Us; Late And Soon"


 
Subway series

The New York Mets scored in the ninth off of closer Mariano Rivera to beat the New York Yankees 7-6 in the opening game of their annual interleague series. Randy Johnson, who has his velocity and control (he has 3 Ks per 9 innings fewer than last year and about 1.5 BBs per 9 IP compared to last year), indicating that he may have simply hit the wall and ceased being effect. This May he had a 6.06 ERA before giving up six runs in five innings tonight. The possibility of 43-year-old Roger Clemens is beginning to look good. The Yankees may have to consider benching their $20 million ace starter because he is worst than ineffective; he can't even keep the Yanks in any game he starts and his inability to break get to the seventh inning (and sometimes the sixth) means the team is going to its over-worked bullpen too often, too early.


Thursday, May 18, 2006
 
Quotidian

"The state structure is of secondary significance. That this is so Christ himself teaches us. 'Render unto Ceasar what is Ceasar's' -- not because every Ceasar deserves it, but because Ceasar's concern is not with the most important thing in our lives."
-- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, from his essay "As Breathing and Consciousness" in From Under the Rubble


 
Another update on blogging

Blogging is an addiction. I should stop for the week but probably can't. I'll limit myself although I'm not sure the terms of those limits yet but I think this might be a good week to bring back the quotidian. And I might take note of items from the world of baseball, but otherwise stay away from blogging until next Wednesday. After all, it isn't really blogging that sucks up one's free time as much as it is reading other blogs and news items to blog about. So it will be a half-hiatus from the blog for next seven days. If you like quotes and baseball comments, drop by.


 
What a European League Championships match

While some are complaining that the Barcelona-Arsenal matchup yesterday was not the classic many predicted, I thought it was a fantastically exciting game. Disappointing result for Arsenal fans as Barca wins their second Eurochampionship 2-1, but not a moment of boredom for the two hours. But that is what you would expect from two clubs that started 22 players, each of which are on World Cup squads. Each and every one of the starters and a couple of substitutes. That is amazing.

For Arsenal there are no excuses. Yes, the referee (sorry, "Norwegian referee") screwed up and even he admits it. But Arsenal played a great game one man down and did get the lead. Yes, it was lucky, in a way. The ref called a free kick when it appeared (from behind) that Emmanuel Eboue had been run into by a Barca player although replays from the other side clearly show that there were at least eight inches between the players when Eboue went down. Thierry Henry's free kick was masterfully headed into the Barca goal by Sol Campbell.

Despite having on ten men on the field, Arsenal had the upper hand. They went into a defensive shell with a potent Henry-led counter attack. Backup goalie Manuel Almunia was spectacular making three or four outstanding saves including tipping away a shot off the post. Everything was great until the 76th minute when Arsenal, which hadn't given up a goal in 995 minutes and surrendered only two all tournament, began to appear extremely tired. The rain came down and the watered-down pitch made it tougher for the short-handed team to keep up to Barca. In four minutes, the Spanish squad scored a pair of fine goals. For the final six or seven minutes, Arsenal regained control but was unable to tie up the game. As Almunia said, "We had the victory in our hands and we spoiled it in ten minutes."

Considering they went a man down about a quarter into the game, Arsenal did well. They played strong defense for 50 minutes after goalie Jens Lehmann was sent off and offensive-minded French midfielder Robert Pires was substituted for Almunia. And they did get a lucky break in the called free kick after Eboue went down. They also benefited from a slightly lacklustre game from Ronaldinho who initiated a handful of plays but was not his usual self; with slightly more open space he should have demonstrated why he is the most exciting player in the world and soccer is called the beautiful game. But he didn't. Henry and Alexander Hleb both wasted good opportunities, with Henry rushing two kicks in the final minutes that he needn't have done so quickly.

Frank Rijkaard should be congratulated for his brilliant management. (He becomes only the fifth person to win the competition as both coach and player.) He pulled defensive players off for offensive-minded ones including Swedish striker Henrik Larsson who was put into a midfield position and set up both Barca goals.

Watching the last few minutes of the game, Henry was seen arguing several times with Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger over player selection and tactics. He wanted more help in the counter-attack. I thought that was a sure sign that the French star was leaving Arsenal next year and that rumours of his transfer to Barcelona were true. The London Times reports today that Henry publicly declared he is staying with the London team. Unfortunately the team will lose a midfielder to a Spanish club as Pires will likely sign with Villarreal next week. This might pose problems for Arsenal; last year they lost Patrick Viera to Juventas, a play-making midfielder, and it took about two months for the team to learn how to setup plays from the midfield drive. I hope that problem doesn't replicate itself.

In other soccer news, the Daily Telegraph reports that Pele says that England is likely to make the finals even if Wayne Rooney isn't healthy. But if he is, says Pele, watch out -- with few players/teams having experience against him (he's only 20, he has played few international games), he will be able to excel.


 
Blogging update

I hope to blog on soccer later. But after tonight, I'll probably take a week's worth of break from blogging to finish a chapter on my book.


 
Finally

Gerard Kennedy has resigned his provincial seat in order to run for the Liberal leadership, but only after much complaining from the other parties and (less publicly) leadership opponents and his caucus-mates at Queen's Park. I don't think it is wrong to keep you seat while actively pursuing another job but it is unseemly and the public doesn't seem to like it. A minor controversy but it demonstrates poor political judgment on Kennedy's part. A smarter politician would understand that while keeping your day job at Queen's Park really doesn't matter in the larger scheme of things, it is deeply unpopular and appears bad.


 
Must read on immigration debate

Robert Rector at the Heritage Foundation has a 13-page "memo" on the Senate immigration bill. Rector states:

"If enacted, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act (CIRA, S.2611) would be the most dramatic change in immigration law in 80 years, allowing an estimated 103 million persons to legally immigrate to the U.S. over the next 20 years—fully one-third of the current population of the United States."

The 103 million is a "reasonable estimate," with high end estimate of 200 million legal immigrants over 20 years -- 180 million more than the current law would permit. Rector explains why, and what it means to America, if this would occur. In essence, the United States would radically change.

Rector has an additional "memo" on the economics of immigration. He states:

"Overall, immigration is a net fiscal positive to the government’s budget in the long run: the taxes immi­grants pay exceed the costs of the services they receive. However, the fiscal impact of immigrants varies strongly according to immigrants’ education level. College-educated immigrants are likely to be strong contributors to the government’s finances, with their taxes exceeding the government’s costs. By contrast, immigrants with low education levels are likely to be a fiscal drain on other taxpayers. This is important because half of all adult illegal immigrants in the U.S. have less than a high school education. In addition, recent immigrants have high levels of out-of-wedlock childbearing, which increases welfare costs and poverty."


Wednesday, May 17, 2006
 
State-by-state polling

SurveyUSA has state-by-state approval/disapproval numbers for President George W. Bush and it ain't pretty. In only three states are his approvals higher than his disapprovals: Utah, Wyoming and Idaho. (They combine for 12 electoral votes.) Bush's disapproval number is above 50% in every other state. In 2004, the president won 26 of the 27 states where Bush's approval rating is currently over 35%. Of the 17 states with the lowest approval ratings for the president, only one did not go for John Kerry in 2004 -- Missouri. Unfortunately, Senator Jim Talent is in a tight race there and may be dragged down by Bush's unpopularity: 29% approval, 68% disapproval. Other states with tight Senate races that the Dems hope to pickup: Ohio (32%-65%), Rhode Island (23%-75%), Kentucky (34%-64%) and Pennsylvania (28%-70%). My previously optimistic view that the GOP should be able to hold onto the Senate is being pulverized almost daily.


 
Great teams score in spurts

I think I've noted this several times in the past. The New York Yankees, despite having Jorge Posada hitting cleanup and not having Jason Giambi in the lineup, overcomes a nine-run deficit in part by scoring six runs in the sixth inning to beat the Texas Rangers 14-13. It ain't pretty but it does the trick.

More positive news for Yanks's fans: Hideki Matsui's replacement Melky Cabrera is hitting 316 in seven games since being called up. It might be the real deal; Cabrera was hitting over 360 in Triple A and in the majors this year, he is patient at the plate seeing an average of over five pitches per plate appearance compared to just two in the handful of games he played for the Yankees last season.


 
Champion's League prediction

Arsenal plays Barcelona in the Champion's League final in Paris today. Nearly everyone has Barca winning but Arsenal's defense is every bit as good as Barcelona's offense. Actually, it is probably better. The game could very well come down to a lucky play. I think that Arsenal will win by keeping Barca to one goal (max) and having Thierry Henry scoring a pair. Arsenal has had its problems this year, most notably struggling to qualify for next year's Champion's League, partly a result of a inadequate midfield after Patrick Viera left for Juventas following the previous season, but 1) they are in the European final, 2) they finished fourth in the Premier's League, 3) they have an incredible defense and 4) they can score in bursts. Henry is the most exciting player in the world and is capable of lifting a team upon his shoulders as he did when he scored a hat trick in the final game of the year in a game that Arsenal had to win after they had fallen behind 2-1. I'm predicting Arsenal winning by a score of either 2-1 or 2-0.


 
Cologne's cathedral

Jay Nordlinger's Impromptus column is about the NR cruise on the Rhine. Here's a great little tidbit:

"A bit more of Paul Johnson. We're in Cologne, approaching the ancient and great cathedral. Around it are modern buildings designed for maximum ugliness and displeasure. Johnson mutters, 'Savages.' It is one of the finest pieces of art criticism I can remember hearing."

That is the most perfect editorial commentartisticcjudgmentt I have ever seen and with such economy of words.

I was in Cologne -- Koln to the locals -- in 1985 when I was 12 and vividly recall the cathedral even though at the time I had little interest in churches or architecture. The cathedral was stunningly beautiful and memorable. I have no recollection if the ugly buildings were around it at that time.


 
The president and illegal immigration

NRO has a symposium on the topic. Here are a couple of highlights.

Economist George Borjas: "President Bush has a huge disadvantage when talking about immigration reform: He is not credible. He spent more than half his time discussing border enforcement, a subject that has not interested him before. Perhaps at the next press conference someone will ask why he did not take the meager steps outlined last night soon after 9/11."

The Hudson Institute's James R. Edwards Jr.: "The president confirmed why his job-approval rating on immigration, 29 percent, is lower than his overall approval rating, 31 percent. Mr. Bush’s primetime televised speech Monday night amounted to more empty words. The speech betrayed that comprehensive immigration reform is really code for amnesty and virtually open borders. Like the Senate, he’s learned nothing from our amnesty experience. Call it what he might, Mr. Bush continued to dangle amnesty before the world. Little wonder why the borders aren’t secured! If the president were serious about controlling immigration, he could reinstate enforcement measures he stopped: Social Security no-match letters to employers, border-patrol interior stings, NSEERS alien registration, for example."

Professor of government at U of Maryland, James G. Gimpel: "The speech revealed persistent misunderstandings about immigration and the U.S. economy, but views widely held by highly paid business lobbyists."

Victor Davis Hanson: "The president's comprehensive proposals include something for everyone: For the conservative base: tamper-resistant identity cards; the National Guard on the border; employer sanctions; and emphasis on assimilation. Liberals applaud a sort of earned citizenship without forced deportations; and appreciate Kumbaya rhetoric. Libertarians and employers get their guest-worker program. Of course, for those very same reasons no group will be happy. Yet the president mapped out the middle ground that will probably form the parameters of all future debate. But my own chief worry is that guest-workers will only perpetuate the problem by supplying a continual unassimilated, low-paid, and ultimately volatile underclass."

City Journal's Heather Mac Donald: "Dangling strings of shiny trinkets, President Bush tried last night to make contact with the restive natives. Six thousand National Guard troops on the border! Infrared cameras! Biometric work cards! Those baubles will dazzle ‘em, the Bush speechwriters must have concluded, and they’ll never notice that we’ve changed nothing in the border-breaking status quo."

Mac Donald, again: "As Mickey Kaus has explained, Bush’s “illegals-must-wait-at-the-end-of-the-line” line is a con: by remaining in the country and jumping into the citizenship line, rather than the visa line, illegals have catapulted way ahead of law-abiding intending immigrants waiting in their home countries for a visa. But even if the procedural requirements for amnesty were grueling, the final result is the same: people who are in violation of the law are granted lawful status."

And finally, read the first few paragraphs of John O'Sullivan's contribution -- you won't be disappointed. Well, you will, but not with O'Sullivan but the president.


 
Firearm registry fiasco

Here is the Auditor General's findings on the firearms registry (or at least four of five of them):

"*The Canada Firearms Centre has made satisfactory progress in implementing our 2002 recommendation on financial reporting, except in recording the costs of developing a new information system (CFIS II). Although the Centre correctly reported the total cumulative costs of CFIS II at 31 March 2005, in two cases significant costs were not recorded in the correct fiscal year. With the concurrence of the Treasury Board Secretariat, but contrary to the government's accounting policy and good accounting practices, the Centre understated the costs of CFIS II by $21.8 million as at 31 March 2004.

* While the new management team has made progress in addressing many of the organizational issues facing the Centre, problems remain. The Centre's performance reports contained errors in meeting service standards, which gave Parliament an incomplete picture of how well the licensing and registration activities have performed. The Centre has no formal process for following up with law enforcement on its revocations, and therefore it cannot report on their impact.

* The Centre has not assessed the quality of the data in the registration database and does not know how many of its records are incomplete. Its plans for resolving concerns about data quality hinge on a network of volunteer verifiers. We have several concerns about the operations of this network.

* Before the new management team arrived in 2003, the contracts for the Canadian Firearms Information System (CFIS) were poorly managed. As a result, the system being developed to replace it, CFIS II, is significantly over budget. Some of the increased costs are due to the fact that development began before legislation and regulations were in place. Project delays have contributed to about one third of the total cost, now expected to be at least $90 million."


That's part of the reason that Conservative MP Garry Breitkreuz has called the gun registry a scandal bigger than Adscam.

Here is the reaction of the Canadian Taxpayer's Federation:

"Canadians have no problem with government spending a billion dollars on a program if it delivers results, but the firearms registry fails to do this. The costs have exploded, statistics show the registry has had no measurable impact on reducing gun-crime, and now Ms. Fraser reports Parliament was again kept in the dark. Ottawa’s handling of the gun registry is a textbook example of public administration at its absolute worst. It is a fiscal crime committed against taxpayers. Forcing duck hunters and farmers to register their long-guns will not reduce crime. It is past time to shoot this registry down."


 
Canadian foriegn policy

London Free Press columnist Rory Leishman lauds the direction of Canada's foreign policy as set in motion by the new Conservative government. (He also praises the work of the Canadian Coalition for Democracies and extensively quotes from its president Alastair Gordon.) Leishman and Gordon note three important areas in which foreign policy is saner: now voting with Israel, defunding the Hamas government and declaring the Tamil Tigers a terrorist organization. Both, of course, hope for more but these are encouraging signs. As I was saying to a friend of mine today, probably in no area have the Tories made such dramatic changes as in foreign policy in general and in support of democratic states in particular. Gordon suggests Canada go further and actively support Taiwan's admission to the United Nations and a permanent seat on the Security Council for India, the world's largest democracy. Great ideas.


 
Minnesota's comeback kid?

Rod Grams is a conservative Republican who was elected to Congress in 1992 and then Minnesota's senator in the 1994 throw-the-bums-out midterm elections. In 2000, he lost to millionaire Democrat Mark Dayton. He is now attempting a comeback to Congress, running against 16-term Rep. Jim Oberstar in the 8th Congressional District. Grams compares himself to the sixth president of the United States noting that John Quincy Adams served 17 years in the House of Representatives after he was president. Mr. Grams, you are not John Quincy Adams.

Interestingly, according to his Wikipedia entry, John Quincy Adams was the only president to name one of his children after the first president of the United States, George Washington. Although, to be fair, George H.W. Bush named one of his sons George, albeit not after the founding father.


 
The glass is half full

The annual March for Life was held last week in Ottawa and organizers claim 5700 participants. The media mostly ignored it and ran piddling items -- the Toronto Sun and Ottawa Citizen each run a picture and cutline, most papers cut the CP story to about 30 words, the Globe and Mail used it to criticize the "hidden agenda" of the Conservatives and the Toronto Star and National Post ignored it completely. Yet, LifeSiteNews.com noted in a breathless headline, "Most Extensive Ever Mass Media Coverage of March for Life Canada." Considering the media conspiracy to either belittle or ignore the pro-life demonstration -- as big as any of the anti-Iraq war demonstrations that got massive coverage a few years back -- I guess pro-lifers will take what they can get.


 
The pernicious US influence in Canadian politics

I doubt that anyone will put that particular spin on what's happening with the National Abortion Federation and its announcement that the US-based group will launch a Canadian public policy and outreach program. It has the support of three Canadian MPs: Liberal leadership hopeful Carolyn Bennett and NDPers Irene Mathyssen and Penny Priddy. LifeSiteNews.com reports, "The program, says a release by the pro-abortion organization, seeks 'to improve abortion access for women in Canada'." You remember when Focus on the Family was criticized by some in the media (if I remember correctly, the Globe and Mail most prominently) for interjecting itself into Canada's same-sex marriage debate. Anyone believe that particular spin will be put on this story?


Tuesday, May 16, 2006
 
Condi picks ten best musical works

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice provides her ten best musical works in The Independent:

1. Mozart - Piano Concerto in D minor
2. Cream - 'Sunshine of Your Love'
3. Aretha Franklin - 'Respect'
4. Kool and the Gang - 'Celebration'
5. Brahms - Piano Concerto No 2
6. Brahms - Piano Quintet in F minor
7. U2 - Anything
8. Elton John - 'Rocket Man'
9. Beethoven - Symphony No 7
10. Mussorgsky - Boris Godunov

Eclectic, isn't it? Rocket Man in, Bach out; very questionable. Surprised by the choice of Cream at number 2.


Monday, May 15, 2006
 
Interesting television program Tuesday

Rory Leishman, a London Free Press columnist and author of Against Judicial Activism (wonderful book, by the way, to be reviewed and commented upon in the July issue of The Interim), and William Gairdner, blogger and author of (among others) The Trouble with Canada, will be on the Michael Coren Show on CTS from 6-7 pm on Tuesday to discuss judicial activism. That's a lot of conservative intellectual fire power; it should be a great show.


 
The perils of recycling

As the Telegraph reports, the garbage rules regime in England is leading to violence. The paper says that binmen (garbage collectors) are being threatened:

"Binmen say recycling schemes have led to a surge in attacks by householders who find their rubbish uncollected when they fail to follow strict rules. Unions for refuse collectors are threatening to strike over what they say is a rising tide of violence that has seen one in five of Britain's 40,000 binmen injured in physical attacks at work and more than two thirds verbally abused. They blame the violence on growing frustration with complex regulations requiring people to minimize waste and separate recyclable materials. If households fail to sort their waste or put out too much, binmen are ordered not to take it."

As Tim Worstall (at the Adam Smith Institute) concludes after a few calculations, recycling is "a waste of time and effort." Not to mention, apparently, dangerous.


 
Not sure if I like this

The "Founding Fathers" have a blog, written by Richard Brookhiser. A tad too cutesy for me.


 
The Court Party

Ezra Levant has a column in the Calgary Sun noting that the Court Party that rules Canada was properly called out by Maurice Vellacott. Levant says:

"Of course the Court Party isn't an official party registered with Elections Canada. And the Court Party doesn't actually run any candidates in elections. That is one of the sources of their power: They can never be thrown out of office, since they have never been elected in the first place.

The Court Party consists of judges, lawyers, law school professors and a sympathetic media establishment, all united by the philosophy that unelected judges are the true keepers of the country, not the elected MPs who actually have to win grubby elections every four years."


Vellacott said that Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin admitted they were "God-like" which, unfortunately because of a uproar that has arisen since, were not the exact words she used. There was a fuss among judges, the media and the opposition and McLachlin commanded "Thou shall not criticize judges." Vellacott was forced to step down as chair of the aboriginal affairs committee and was chastened for criticing the gods. As Levant says the Court Party won in this latest sorry episode because they are yet another stop removed from criticism. The Court Party or the God Party?


 
Common sense masquerading as insight

With all due respect to Greg Staples, Chantal Hebert does not offer any particular new or insightful comment on the Conservatives here, but rather a statement so clearly obvious to anyone but the most partisan flack that it can barely qualify as commentary: "... in spite of the auspicious beginnings of his [Stephen Harper's] government, transforming a minority into a majority could turn out to be harder than moving from opposition to power." What is notable is her observation that even with the Conservatives in power, Canadians prefer their government Liberal:

"Up to now, the Prime Minister has tended to score his most effective goals by pursuing policies that the Liberals could (or used to) call their own and to generate the most controversy by dropping Liberal balls.

As a result, some of the trouble spots that may be lurking around the corner of his first year in office can already be spotted on the fronts of the environment, social policy, aboriginal rights, his relationship with Ontario and, potentially, the Afghan mission."


Sunday, May 14, 2006
 
New NRO blog

It's all about John Podhoretz's new book, Can She Be Stopped?. I have glanced through the book and will read it more in depth in a week or so, but one noticeable thing is that he doesn't think that "Clinton fatigue" will be an issue if she become the Democratic presidential candidate in 2008. Another way to put it is that he doesn't think America is concerned about dynastic political families. But he would have to think that, wouldn't he?


 
Punish Juve

Italian soccer giants Juventas might have gotten assist from the refs and the consequences could be serious. As this news report says:

"Champions Juve are facing a series of investigations into allegations of match-fixing and, if found guilty, could be stripped of their last two titles and demoted to Serie B."


 
When it rains, it pours

Add to the injury woes of the New York Yankees an injury to mediocre middle reliever Tanyon Sturtze. Not that they will miss him that much: 7.59 ERA, 2.16 WHIP in 18 appearances. However, they felt the need to replace him with 38-year-old has been Scott Erickson, who hasn't had an ERA under 5.50 for any team that he has played for since 2002. And he didn't play in 2003. In 55.1 IP last year for the L.A. Dodgers, he had a 6.02 ERA -- his best since 2002. Wasn't there someone in the stands with a half-decent arm they could have given a try?


 
Putin's Russia

From the (London) Times:

"A SCHOOL for orphans founded by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the jailed Russian billionaire, is being threatened with closure as part of a Kremlin vendetta against the former oil tycoon.

Last week staff and pupils at the Podmoskovny Lyceum, a private boarding school, were notified that Moscow prosecutors had frozen its assets.

The fate of its 160 pupils, including a group of children who survived the Beslan school massacre and who are given free board and tuition, is now uncertain.

Few doubt that the move is the latest salvo in Moscow’s relentless campaign against Khodorkovsky, once Russia’s richest man, who was sentenced last year to nine years in jail on fraud and tax evasion charges after falling out with President Vladimir Putin.

...Founded by Khodorkovsky in 1994, Podmoskovny, which was inspired by British public schools, is unique in Russia. More than 60 staff teach the pupils in a high-tech building with facilities including a gym, swimming pool, concert hall and living quarters infinitely better than most Russian flats.

Funding for the school still comes mainly from the tycoon’s fortune..."


MosNews.com reports that Khordorkovsky's lawyer is calling upon the West to be more vigilant in defending the rights of Russians by attempting to hold Putin accountable:

"A prominent Russian human rights lawyer urged the West on Friday to speak out much more forcefully against the abuse of human rights in his country and said that President Vladimir Putin was strengthening his grip over political and economic life, International Herald Tribune reported.

Yuri Schmidt, 69, a human rights lawyer for over five decades, has been a defense lawyer for the imprisoned former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky since 2004. In an interview during a visit to Berlin to receive a German human rights award, Schmidt said Putin’s Russia was a danger 'not only for Russia but for the world as well.' It was, he added, going back to Soviet times, when there was little or no respect for human rights."


Of course one way in which Putin could have been held accountable is by having Russia be denied as spot on the UN's unreformed human rights outfit. But they weren't:

"Britain won a seat on the newly created Human Rights Council of the UN yesterday, but five countries identified as being among the world’s worst abusers also achieved membership, the Independent reported Wednesday.

There were 63 countries vying for 47 seats on the new council yesterday. The results of the first round of secret balloting among the UN membership in New York last night revealed that the hopes of human rights organizations, and many Western governments, including Britain, that recent reforms would assure a more effective watchdog for abuse had only been partly realized.

Among other countries chosen to take their places on the new panel were Russia, China, Cuba, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, all nations labeled by the New York-based Human Rights Watch as unworthy of membership because of their own records of abuse and repression."