What's Happening With The Losers

Pardon me I don't mean the Liberal Party as a whole but rather those who lost to Dion.....

Kennedy appointment raises questions about Dion's plans
Dr. Ken Jones today announced the appointment of Gerard Kennedy, as a Distinguished Visiting Professor for a one year term effective September 4, 2007.

Lemon: Bob Rae Sighting in Regent Park

Bob Rae just posted an article (he might have written) that describes a recent walk through Regent Park.
Of course he ties the neighbourhood to gun violence. Although Regent Park is mostly rubble during its reconstruction and the gun violence he reports on is in other parts of Toronto.
He gets to refer to himself in the third person and criticize all around him (including the Federal Government and the current McGuinty Grits) and position himself as the champion of a "New Federalism". Take that Stephane.
I guess he forgets that he did nothing for housing when Premier except bring in rent controls.
Reportedly he's bought a home in Toronto Centre, though it's also reported that it sits unoccupied.
I wonder if his new digs are in Regent Park. Bet not. Bet it's gated.
Posted by Lemon

Excrement-hiding bird championed as Liberal symbol

Updated Thu. Aug. 30 2007 1:18 PM ET

Canadian Press

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. -- The beaver is one of Canada's national symbols and now a senior Liberal wants to make the puffin the symbol of the country's self-proclaimed natural governing party.

Liberal deputy leader Michael Ignatieff says the industrious little seabird -- with its black and white plumage, distinctive striped beak and orange feet -- is a "noble'' creature that exemplifies Liberal values.

I Don't Have Any Problem With This

I know that Dion and his defense critic will come to the floor with a timeline on how long it will take to remove the troops, what they will bring home and what they will leave, how they will be brought home, who will look after the interests of the Afghan people, how much it will cost and basically all the logistical nightmare. Dion vows snap vote on Afghan deployment

The Liberals will force an early vote on the Canadian mission in Afghanistan this fall in a bid to set Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the defensive over the issue. More

This Will Save Left Wing Bloggers Some Time

Lemon: Just Another Day in Our Unbiased Media

The Usual:
$1.2M went to Quebec Tories for ads
Conservatives cut back applicants in lawsuit
Tories backtrack from candidate as 'representative'
Stockbroker's rage at Flaherty fuelled by losses and a margarita
Alta. newcomers told to accept conservatism or leave

And, of course, another unattributed Liberal financial error
Millions wasted on Airbus upkeep, audit finds

And the normal puff pieces for the Grits from their PR department
Liberals eye economy as election issue
Liberals to come out swinging

Taken from National Newswatch

Dion Can Put His Holier Than Thou Persona On The Shelf

Is this worthy of a person who wants to lead our country? Leave this type of satire to editorial cartoonists and bloggers.......dion can't weasel out of this when he didn't try to stop the sale of these aprons, with the cash going into his bankruptcy fund.

Stephane Dion's image used in a mean-spirited negative personal attack

Thursday, August 30, 2007 at 09:22 AM Comments: 23

Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion has repeatedly promised to avoid personal attacks. The high road would be his, he insists. Indeed, at one point, he said the Liberal Party as a whole would present a positive message to Canadians.

Criticism is not the same as negativity. Stephane Dion can (and does) criticize Prime Minister Stephen Harper's policies.

But when Stephane Dion implicitly allows his image to be used in a partisan political cartoon in which Dion is roasting Stephen Harper alive on a spit, Stephane Dion's promise is seriously undermined.

Leading By Example

This is something Mayor Miller and his cronies on city council can't seem to grasp. You want to take more out of the pockets of property and automobile owners then you should be willing to give up something.....rollback your last salary increase, reduce office budgets, eliminate perks, reduce the number of non-unionized bureaucrats, etc.
Lead by example........I am willing to do with less how about you!

Miller needs to find middle ground on taxes TheStar.com - News - Miller needs to find middle ground on taxes

August 31, 2007

Royson James

While city councillor Adam Vaughan feels the mayor hasn't moved quickly and effectively enough to develop a strategy to deliver new city revenues, some councillors say David Miller is too far out in front of the public.

If that wasn't tough enough, Miller needs both sides.

Anthony Perruzza is normally a safe Miller vote. The New Democrat is new to council but has served the Ward 8 York West area on North York council and as an MPP under the Bob Rae government. He knows what sells. And his instincts told him his constituents did not buy Miller's plan to double the land transfer tax and add $60 in vehicle registration fees – with revenues going to the city.

He and a slim majority deferred the decision to Oct. 22. And he says everything he's heard since the vote has "reinforced that I did the right thing by saying, `Let's go slow with this.' It's a reprieve. We've been given a chance to raise a certain level of awareness about new tax revenues and I'm hoping that it continues to build momentum."

And now that there's been much debate, is he ready to vote with Miller for the new taxes?

"I'm not there yet."

Perruzza is not impressed with attempts to paint the dissenters as idiot councillors and cowards.

"You can't be way out in front of the public. You can't have the attitude of, `We are right. We know what we're doing.' You need to bring them along and the only way is to get out there and talk to them."

The finger-pointing and name-calling from Miller's backers "is somewhat childish and diminishes the level of seriousness. This is a serious time. And at end of day, politically we all wear it.

Simple Solution....Remove The Source Of The Stench

On the biological side we do it on a regular basis by trying to remove the stench from city hall....it is called elections where everyone has the option of removing the source of the stench. Couldn't city workers find the time to remove the dead racoon? I believe they are protected wildlife and it would seem this makes them a ward of the city.

Public raging over razing TheStar.com - News - Public raging over razing

Outcry over flattened garden surprises city staffer; homeowner heartened by support

August 31, 2007

Francine Kopun
Feature Writer

He's been called a grass Nazi and a pompous bureaucrat who overstepped his authority and he's even been called a jerk, but Bill Blakes stands by the city's decision to raze a woman's front lawn garden in east Toronto.

"Honest to God, I have never – and I have dealt with some pretty controversial issues – never in my life have I had a reaction like this," Blakes, the Scarborough District manager for Municipal Licensing and Standards said yesterday. "Never. That's dealing with body rub parlous, strip clubs, lap dancing, smoking. Never."

Blakes said he's received about 80 emails and phone calls from as far away as Parry Sound since it was reported Tuesday that the city razed a natural garden belonging to Deborah Dale, a biologist and past-president of the North American Native Plant Society.

Dale is seeking $10,000 in compensation from the city for the plants, which she says included two eight-year-old fragrant sumacs, giant purple hyssops and four varieties of milkweed in front of her home on Crittenden Sq., near Finch Ave. and Markham Road.

"Some people have just yelled and screamed. Some people have been courteous enough to leave their name," said Blakes, 51, a city employee for 19 years. "Those who have I've returned their calls."

Blakes says callers believe the city is waging war against natural gardens, and nothing could be further from the truth: a properly tended natural garden would never be razed, he said, pointing out that the city itself is working to naturalize city parks.

"This natural garden – I'm sure there was some wild grass and stuff like that in it – but there was also a dead raccoon. The people next door were complaining of the stench."

Political Hypocricy 101

Crumbling infra-structure, not enough affordable housing, crime is rampant on our streets and in our schools, kids who are functionally illiterate are entering high school,people are working 2-3 jobs to survive, inept councilors are screwing property owners, we are getting more broken promises, voter apathy and the list of things that need to be dealt with goes on and on and on and what are dealing with....faith based education funding. This should not be a defining issue but it is becoming one and everyone is drooling from both sides of their mouths.....if you have a couple of minutes take the time to read Christina's column. There is nothing earth shattering in the column but rather a litany of silly things we ignore. But when all is said and done we will still have..........

Ah, sweet hypocrisy

By CHRISTINA BLIZZARD

Don't Forget To Flush Dalton........

Hopefully one of our political history buffs will bring us up to date on what happens when the liberals and ndp form an alliance....there are usually some short term gains for the taxpayers but a slight downturn in the market we find we have overextended ourselves.

Interesting Conclusions In School Safety Report

No extra cash for school safety

Province says earlier funds all it will give despite audit The province won't be stepping in to help implement any of the recommendations made by the School Community Safety Advisory Panel, the education minister says.

Students React To School Safety Report

First of all let's put things in perspective; the majority of the problems are being caused by a very small percentage of the students but valuable resources are directed at the problem basically robbing those students/parents/teachers who are doing their best to survive. Personally I think the minute we gave children "rights" the school system, and to some extent society in general, began deteriorating.

Human rights lawyer Julian Falconer was tapped to head up the safety panel and among the findings:

• Problems with teacher relationships
• A "gang mentality" that's present in the school
• Students being transferred from one school to another to break up gang affiliations. But the solution only spreads the problem elsewhere without solving it.
• Bullying
• A dysfunctional relationship between the trustee and the superintendent, who have agreed to mediation.
• New laws that force kids to stay in school until they're 18
• Changes to human rights legislation that have cut down on suspensions, letting kids get away with more disruptive behaviour.
• Board budget squeezes that may only allow the problems to escalate.

What I find interesting is that only one of the "problems" seems to be related to $$$ and most of the problems are related to parental control and character building. I feel it is worthwhile to again post some comments by a retired teacher......

When I began to teach in 1968, the standards expected of students were much more rigid and higher than when I retired in 1999. I had a real struggle in the 1980s and 1990s “watering down” my expectations to meet the pass/fail requirements of the time. The entire process was very disconcerting. Students were entering Grade 9 without ever having passed a test in the last years of elementary school. And research assignments turned out to be the typical cut-and-paste of Grade 5 or 6.
As this article points out, colleges, universities and businesses are facing the aftermath of this whirlwind of social passing. It has given children the mistaken impression that there are no consequences for their lack of effort. When they fail at university or are fired for lack of effort in a job, they blame society.
The attitude of no student left behind is still there and will take years, or decades, to eradicate. Unfortunately, the teachers in schools now are products of that education system, so the will to change does not seem to be there.
J. Beverly Ewen, Ajax, Ont.

School fix must come from the top

Social re-engineering screwed up the system......teachers became buddies, moving the kid through the system was more important than he/she becoming literate, injecting subjects into the curriculum that had nothing to do with the 3'Rs, schools becoming surrogate parents but without any controls, etc.

Who Is Too Blame

The company's side:

GM confirms 1,200 jobs to be cut at Ontario plant

Updated Thu. Aug. 30 2007 1:51 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

General Motors of Canada Ltd. has confirmed that it is cutting 1,200 jobs this January at a truck plant in Oshawa due to slumping pickup sales.

The company will axe one shift of production of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks.

GM Canada spokesman Stew Low said the layoffs were part of the company's plan to keep its inventory in line with production.

"The Oshawa plant is the only one that's currently running on three shifts, and given that we want to tightly control inventories to market demand and we want to ensure that all plants are running at or near 100 per cent capacity, that's the rationale behind removing the third shift at Oshawa,'' Low told The Canadian Press Thursday.

According to the CAW, about 10,000 jobs in the auto assembly industry have been lost in the auto manufacturing sector since the industry's peak in the late 1990s, with 13,000 more job cuts in the auto parts industry since 2001. The union estimates $100-million of annual family income in the region will be lost as a result of the layoffs, which could have a punishing effect on the local economy.

The Unions side:

According to the CAW, about 10,000 jobs in the auto assembly industry have been lost in the auto manufacturing sector since the industry's peak in the late 1990s, with 13,000 more job cuts in the auto parts industry since 2001. The union estimates $100-million of annual family income in the region will be lost as a result of the layoffs, which could have a punishing effect on the local economy.

The Consumer's Side:

Terry Quinn from Canada writes: Two things... Flatulent Flaherty has spoken. That means another lie is in play.

Buzzie the union thug has spoken, once again, about the nonsense of governments doing him and his overpaid workers more favors.

Hey, Buzzie how about reducing the $1500 per car it takes to keep the pension plans and health packages going. And how about simply letting the market place determine the wages your members should get instead of using the strong arm tactics you are so familiar with.

alex just a canadian from montreal, Canada writes: when an auto working on the assembly line screwing in a bolt and is getting twice as much as teachers and nurses who just happened to be overworked. Sorry i don't feel any simpathy for the lost jobs. Its time we as a nation grow up and put our tax dollars where they are most needed, and the assembly line is not it. Sorry buzz but you blew it with your greed.

Garrett Deyne from mississauga, Canada writes: Shut up Buzz. The industry is fine it's your union thats in trouble. Toyota is opening a plant next year that will employ 2000 people but of course you don't care because there not part of your union. Real surprise that union shops are closing as non-union shops expand. Keep trying to blame someone else everyone else can see whats going on.

dean spence from bright old city, ontario, Canada writes: Just heard plenty of analysts state the "auto industry" is doing just fine in Canada with toyota and honda expanding; it's brain dead buzz's pals that are having trouble. Flaherty doesn't have to defend anything; there's nothing he should be doing.
BTW, why the heck does hargrove think the Asian markets want to buy GM if north america doesn't? Or is he even stupider than i think he is? And is he liberal or ndp this week?

....more

Deputy Liberal Leader Says His Party Is For The Birds

With the present leader on the barbeque circuit it should be a lame duck.....

Excrement-hiding bird championed as Liberal symbol

Updated Thu. Aug. 30 2007 1:18 PM ET

Canadian Press

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. -- The beaver is one of Canada's national symbols and now a senior Liberal wants to make the puffin the symbol of the country's self-proclaimed natural governing party.

Liberal deputy leader Michael Ignatieff says the industrious little seabird -- with its black and white plumage, distinctive striped beak and orange feet -- is a "noble'' creature that exemplifies Liberal values.

"It's a noble bird because it has good family values.(People might question whether abortion, same sex marriages, etc. are examples of good family values.) They stay together for 30 years,'' (Possibly because no one else will have them.)Ignatieff said Thursday outside a Liberal caucus retreat in the Newfoundland capital.

"They lay one egg (each year). (One year it the Sponsorship Scandal. Another year it the HRDC scandal, Another year it the Chretien golf course. I am sure others can give us other examples for the other 14 years.) They put their excrement in one place. They hide their excrement. (Yea in Ottawa or Quebec and they try to hide it but the Auditor General usually finds it) ... They flap their wings very hard and they work like hell. (But they never seem to able to get off the ground and fly.)

"This seems to me a symbol for what our party should be.''

Ignatieff was charmed by the birds during what was supposed to be a whale-watching tour for Liberal caucus members Tuesday. The MPs and senators saw no whales but did get a close up view of a colony of puffins nesting on a rocky offshore island.

Thumbs Up To Robert & David

And I am sure the residents that opposed Councilor Mihevic's con job on the Wychwood Barns (you have to visit this site) project feel the same way......

Upside down triangle

RE Selling out Queen West (NOW, August 23-29). It's easy to blame the land use planning system when a neighbourhood evolves contrary to some people's liking.

But let's be clear: the core issue with the Queen West triangle development is the preservation of a particular lifestyle of a small group of people.

If the city's arts scene were to fall to pieces with the displacement of a handful of artists in 48 Abell, it'd be a symptom of a much larger issue and shouldn't be linked to a condo development.

Not all residents at 48 Abell are artists. Further, the structure itself has only marginal significance as a heritage property.

Finally, the portrayal of local artists as downtrodden martyrs does nothing but take the focus away from the heftier issues on Queen West: addiction, crime and poverty, to name a few.

Robert Patrick

Toronto

Displaced artists? Puhleeze

RE Selling out Queen West. Just what Toronto needs: another selfish cause.

Displaced artists? C'mon. People lose homes to sadder, less predictable circumstances.

Do developers stand to make money? Yes, of course. Money is not evil.

Refurbishing the core to appeal to folks who might choose midtown or Pickering instead is good for Toronto.

Increased density means better delivery of more affordable services. Development creates jobs and small business opportunities that spill into neighbouring communities, and so on. The benefits outweigh the inconveniences.

Roll with the punches.

Gonna miss that rundown vibe? Pack your shit and head east to Bathurst. Locals don't stray far from home at night.

David Joseph Dunn

Toronto

Is It Possible The Students Aren't The Problem.....

.......but rather the teachers and the school boards and the education system. A teacher speaks out about the system.........

As a story in today's paper notes, many schools now pass students on to the next grade, regardless of whether they have met the requirements of the curriculum. While this policy is intended to ensure that no student is left behind, some readers feel it instead just rewards lazy behaviour. Or so says this former teacher.

-- Paul Russell, NP letters editor

When I began to teach in 1968, the standards expected of students were much more rigid and higher than when I retired in 1999. I had a real struggle in the 1980s and 1990s “watering down” my expectations to meet the pass/fail requirements of the time. The entire process was very disconcerting. Students were entering Grade 9 without ever having passed a test in the last years of elementary school. And research assignments turned out to be the typical cut-and-paste of Grade 5 or 6.
As this article points out, colleges, universities and businesses are facing the aftermath of this whirlwind of social passing. It has given children the mistaken impression that there are no consequences for their lack of effort. When they fail at university or are fired for lack of effort in a job, they blame society.
The attitude of no student left behind is still there and will take years, or decades, to eradicate. Unfortunately, the teachers in schools now are products of that education system, so the will to change does not seem to be there.
J. Beverly Ewen, Ajax, Ont.

Student transfer policy spreads gang ills: Panel

Kristin Rushowy
Iain Marlow Aug. 30, 2007

Transferring troubled – even criminal – students between schools in the city's northwest end is one of the biggest safety issues facing C.W. Jefferys, says a report examining conditions at the school where ...

School officials to heal rift

We Can Only Wish Voters Were That Perceptive....

......but we are hearing little if anything detailing the broken promises and ineptness of the McGinty cabinet. He seems to be the poster boy for teflon........

Leave Your Label Maker In The Desk Drawer

Kate has posted an interesting question put forward by Mark Collins about the ethnic diversity of our armed forces and I don't think bringing up the matter warrants some discussion without being labelled a bigot, etc. I found some of the comments put forward by representatives of different ethnic groups interesting.......

At a Vancouver Sikh temple, a group of devotees were in unison – “we did not come to Canada to fight”.

“No way.. I brought my sons here so they did not have to join the national draft,” said a South Korean businessman.

......and it begs the question who will defend the country in the future.

"Why are all the Canadian soldiers being killed in Afghanistan white?"

Where are our new Canadians from China, India, Japan, Korea, the Philippines and the rest of Asia?

Sixty four of the 66 Canadian military personnel killed in Afghanistan since the start of the mission in 2002 are white Canadians. The other two are black Canadians.

There is something not right with this picture.

Walk in downtown Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal and you will be greeted with a glorious mosaic of cultures, mingling and mixing, sharing and caring, fighting for and defending all things Canadian.

Look at the queue of soldiers heading into a Hercules transport bound for Afghanistan - it is overwhelmingly white and male.

This stark contrast clearly illustrates that visible minorities are vastly under-represented in the Canadian Armed Forces.

Indeed. Read the rest.

Via Mark Collins

Queen Street West Through The Eyes Of Blue Lemon

But similar visions can be seen in a drive through many neighborhoods in most cities but the bottom line is this is a neighborhood in our city and our elected officials, represented by Joe Pantalone, seem to be wearing blinders. The residents that dare to speak out are vilified by speaking out.

Lemon: My Daily Drive Through Parkdale Paradise

Every morning I drive the stretch of Parkdale from Dufferin to the Queensway.
When I'm not avoiding streetcars and dodging cyclists who are dodging potholes, I notce the city in which I live.
I take note of the dollar stores, leftist Councillor Gord Perk's constitutency office (located in a community centre of all places), and the people.
On every street corner there are generally a few panhandlers, about the same number of people living in socio-economic fall out and one prostitute.
It disturbs me greatly to see the human devastation that exists not far from my home; it is horrid that with the quarter billion dollars our city spends on housing, homeless and poverty that somehow so many of our residents don't fall through the cracks, but into crack.
The addicted women, reducing their human existence to the lowest possible level, offering their intimacy and dignity for a few dollars, make me wonder about our society.
Their physical and emotional condition cannot be attractive to anyone. I wondered this morning, what type of man would have sexual relations with these women?
I suspect only those that are not looking for a sensation or satisfaction but are looking to dominate and degrade another human being. Criminals acting out sociopathically.
Stress?? We know nothing about stress.

“A LITTLE GIRL WAS NEVER GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY TO LIVE,”

This fact seems to have been lost in the media frenzy.........

Lynne Harper's family speaks out on Truscott acquittal

EXCLUSIVE: Five decades after his 12-year-old daughter was brutally raped and murdered, and a day after Steven Truscott was acquitted of the heinous crime, Leslie Harper finally breaks his silence 3:00 AM

• Related: Acquittal a relief to author inspired by case

A Real Quandry

Two platform planks that are worth looking at seriously........

John Tory Pledges To Suspend Misbehaving MPPs Without Pay

More details John. Define "misbehaving." As a constituent who looks after my interests while my MPP is suspended? Will you extend this to include "recall?"

Hampton Vows To Freeze Your Property Taxes Until You Sell Your Home

I'm sorry Howard while it seems like a godsend the reality is that unless you are going to fund cities in another manner and take over other city responsibilities then we depend on property taxes to provide services. I know I don't have to remind you there is only one taxpayer. That aside it is obvious that Comrade Miller shouldn't have given up his NDP membership.

What's Happening In NL

Dion meets Williams seeking suggestions on dethroning Harper Federal Liberal Leader Stephane Dion kicked off a three-day caucus strategy session Tuesday by meeting with Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams New charges laid in N.L. spending scandal The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary laid criminal charges Tuesday against three of the key players in a legislative spending scandal that has rocked political circles for more than a year.

A Subtle Reminder To Dion, Layton, Doucette

Lemon: Why We Are in Afghanistan - Chapter Two

The UN directed us to go there.

Seniors Being Bribed With Their Own Money

And we can add it to the new list of promises made by no new taxes McGinty.

Liberals announce $700 million to improve home care for seniors

By CHINTA PUXLEY

TORONTO (CP) - The province's home-care system is getting a $700-million boost from the governing Liberals to give seniors more help with meals, shopping, shovelling snow and housekeeping so they can remain in their homes longer, Health Minister George Smitherman announced Tuesday.

The three-year Aging at Home strategy will go beyond traditional home care and give seniors an "enhanced basket of services" that will help them remain in the comfort of their own homes, Smitherman said.

"Some of those things are not medical but, if you don't have them, (it can) force you into a long-term care home," he said. "It could be grocery shopping, could be snow shovelling or it could be changing light bulbs."

Although critics say the announcement is designed to get the Liberals re-elected rather than truly help the elderly, Smitherman said the government has long been committed to home care, especially with Ontario's senior population expected to double in the next 16 years.

Everyone Agrees To Increase Funding For Education

But it is not a matter of how much we put into the system but how the $$$$ are spent. I would like to see more of the funding going to the classroom and less to teachers and school board salaries and administration.

Urgent need to fix funding formula TheStar.com - comment - Urgent need to fix funding formula

August 27, 2007

As Ontario children prepare to head back to school next week, public education will be top of mind for parents, as well as for politicians seeking support in the Oct. 10 election. Voters who have watched many school boards struggle year after year to offer a decent education and balance their budgets rightly expect to hear concrete solutions to funding problems that continue to undermine the system.

The good news is that Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty, Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory and NDP Leader Howard Hampton all agree the current formula on how schools are funded is flawed. But each must still set out a firm plan for how and when they would fix it.

McGuinty's plan starts with a $309 million top-up over the next two years to temporarily plug holes in the provincial funding formula, which has been criticized for not reflecting the real cost of education.

The new money all but ensures no messy school board budget battles will erupt during the provincial election campaign this fall. McGuinty, who ran last time around on fixing funding problems in the education system, clearly did not want that kind of publicity in a tight race.

As welcome as the new school funding is, McGuinty's plan still falls short in a crucial way. In it, he promises a long-overdue review of the province's education funding formula, which has left school boards contorting themselves to keep their books in the black.

But inexplicably, that review will happen only "by 2010," assuming voters return McGuinty to office. Why are the Liberals prepared to wait three more years before they take a comprehensive look at the funding formula and take steps to close that gap permanently?

McGuinty's opponents fare little better.

Tory has promised to increase funding for public education for the coming school year by $800 million. That would rise to an increase of $2.4 billion by 2011-12, including $400 million to implement his plan to extend funding to faith-based schools.

The extra money is badly needed. But Tory has not put a timetable on his promise to review the funding formula and give school boards more flexibility to meet local needs.

Hampton, too, says he would fix the education funding formula. But voters still do not know how or when he would do it.

Fuzzy promises on delayed or non-existent schedules simply are not good enough where the education of Ontario children is concerned.

True, McGuinty deserves credit for pulling the public education system out of a spiral since taking office in 2003. Former Conservative premier Mike Harris's confrontational style and controversial reforms in the late 1990s had sparked turmoil throughout the system. Over the past four years, the Liberals have pumped $3.7 billion into the sector, reduced primary class sizes and helped restore peace between school boards, unions and government.

Yet many school boards are still straining to pay the bills. Some have stayed afloat only by dipping heavily into reserve funds. And the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board remains under provincial supervision after failing to balance last year's budget.

School boards need to take a hard look at their spending. But the province's education funding formula obviously still needs work.

McGuinty, Tory and Hampton all appear to recognize that fact. Now, they should commit to conducting a full review of education funding as soon as possible after the election.

Torontonians Will Pay The New Taxes In The Same Way We Pay A Bully

Miller would be wise to heed councillors' advice TheStar.com - News - Miller would be wise to heed councillors' advice

August 29, 2007

Royson James

The war over Toronto's fiscal health has Mayor David Miller engaged in skirmishes with Ottawa, Queen's Park and on the streets of Toronto.

The province must pay its bills for social programs Toronto is forced to deliver.

Ottawa must help with a national transit plan and share its wealth of tax revenues with cities. Just one cent from the 6 cents per dollar collected in GST would give Toronto $450 million a year.

And Torontonians will have to pay a little more.

But of all the battles that need to be fought at some point, Miller's top priority might be convincing his own council to line up behind him – especially in light of July's council vote that had a slim majority of council reject his tax plan and threw the city's finances into chaos.

Councillors Anthony Perruzza, Adam Vaughan and Peter Milczyn give insight into the varied interests Miller must balance.

Vaughan voted with the mayor but wants Miller to be more active in pushing a strong, made-in-Toronto recovery plan.

Perruzza, a New Democrat, voted against Miller because he thinks the public wasn't with the mayor's plan.

And Milczyn says before new taxes are implemented, the city and councillors need to clean up a lot of the issues that anger residents.

I Would Think Stating Facts Is A Positve Step

And I would like someone to deny the statements made by John Tory. At the same time I don't see either party doing anything that is going to get me excited and I will vote because it is my duty not because I see the conservatives drastically changing my life other than I don't have to look at the image of McGinty speaking out of both sides of his mouth.

Tory goes negative right away TheStar.com - comment - Tory goes negative right away

August 29, 2007

Ian Urquhart

With the election campaign still not formally under way, Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory is already going negative.

In a series of radio ads and a theatrical press conference this week, Tory directly attacked his Liberal counterpart, Premier Dalton McGuinty, by name. Tory accused McGuinty of:

Engaging in "deception" by making and then breaking a promise not to raise taxes.

Pursuing policies that "let criminals thumb their noses at the rest of us."

Playing "political games" with the electricity file and, in the process, endangering "the way we live, the way we work, and the quality of air we breathe."

Distributing taxpayers' money to "his friends" while short-changing autistic children, farmers and the health-care system.

Engaging in an "obscene" pre-election spending spree, totalling $26 billion.

As the Liberals pointed out in their response to this onslaught, Tory's rhetoric is at odds with his own previous statements that he would not be going negative.

"I will not be engaging in personal attacks," said Tory early in his mandate as PC leader. "I'm going to try to raise the bar in terms of the behaviour in politics."

Indeed, previous Conservative advertising in the run-up to the Oct. 10 election has emphasized the positive and Tory's own ideas.

Why the change in approach now? There are essentially two answers to this question:

First of all, the Conservatives are still running second in the polls, and while negative advertising is routinely deplored by the commentariat, the dirty little secret of politics is that it usually works.

Secondly, Tory and his party don't have much option because their own platform is too mushy to sustain a six-week campaign.

Is There A Right Reason To Go To War

Going to war is not like a boxing match or a football game where two groups get together and decide they are going "to fight" each other and there are referees who will see that the rule books are followed. War is more like a neighborhood spat where two people have a disagreement and they can't find a win/win situation so they start doing stupid little things that fester and get other people involved until the resolve of one of the antagonists reachs the limit and things get physical. In the matter of Afghanistan the UN, who are supposed to be the referees, decided on a course of action, our leaders signed on and we have sons, daughters, brothers, sisters and friends put in harms way. Eventually it comes down to in for a nickel in for a dime. What a stupid way to run a world but it is the price we pay for what we consider to be the best system of government.

At war for the wrong reasons? TheStar.com - comment - At war for the wrong reasons?

August 28, 2007

Mark Abley

"The last temptation is the greatest treason," St. Thomas Becket says in T.S. Eliot's great play Murder in the Cathedral: "To do the right deed for the wrong reason."

I've been thinking a lot about that couplet in the past few days, as the rhetoric swirls back and forth about Canada's military adventure in Afghanistan. Let's avoid the word "mission," which comes with unhelpful religious baggage.

Whether or not you support our involvement in the Afghan conflict, it's important to do so for the right reasons. Clarity of purpose matters, especially when lives are at stake. And to my mind, some of the arguments on both sides are downright murky.

Are We Getting Value For The $$$ That We Do Spend

Without answering that question how can you figure out how much you need with the operative word being "need" which is much different from what you want.

Money can't always buy quality

By ANGELO PERSICHILLI

The art of criticism is an easy one to master.

This is especially true when criticizing important public sectors such as health care and education. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to identify problems here: Line-ups in emergency rooms are too long, tuition fees are too high, and teachers don't have enough time, just to mention a few. True. But what about solutions? The easy answer is "we need more money."

That answer is the real problem. Not the lack of money, but the demagoguery of some and the lack of courage from others to look for other possible causes.

Before we ask for more money, we should try to get answers to two other important questions.

How much enough is enough? And are we properly spending what we have already invested?

Transit Rider Has A Suggestion For TTC

This voter doesn't understand the political and leftist mindset in Toronto.....saving nickels and dimes is not considered a viable part of solving the fiscal mess we are in.

Finding efficiency

Seven. That's how many times Joe Mihevc uses the words efficiency/efficient in his 600-word piece decrying the underfunding of the TTC ("TTC would be better way with proper funding," Aug. 27). You'd think that a guy going on about "efficiency" would be a bit more efficient about it. But, OK, I get his point: The TTC is really, really, really, really -- well, you know, efficient! So give it more money, you dumbass taxpayers! I have just one question for Mihevc, Wouldn't the TTC be even more efficient if it dumped the $55,000 a year lardbutts who read books or post "Be Back Soon" signs in the collector booths at subway stations? I mean, c'mon. York region's VIVA system automated that stuff ages ago. In the name of efficiency.

Larry Hamelin

(The TTC seems to border on technology-phobic in many parts of its operation

No One Should Be Surprised..........

Thank gawd as a nation we have outfits like the Royal 22e Régiment to show the committment to keeping the country safe.

I Have Asked The Same Question

So it's been a year...

How much did we (taxpayers) get back?

Commission to go after TTC union for walkout costs
The Toronto Transit Commission will likely pursue damages from the union after a wildcat strike on Monday shut down the system for much of the day, Mayor David Miller said Tuesday.

The walkout by members of Amalgamated Transit Union local 113, ostensibly over the switching of 22 cleaners from day shifts to night shifts, stranded more than 700,000 transit riders with no warning. Two cease-and-desist orders from the Ontario Labour Board eventually sent the union members back to work by mid-afternoon.

After listening to Kim Jong Miller bleating about how little money we have, why not recoup some of the money that's owed to us? Or would that further alienate his union buddies?. Maybe the city was paid back by the union already, and it was all just kept quiet.. but I'll bet $20 it hasn't happend.

[ #319, posted: 1 days ago by Ig ]

Conservative Bloggers Have Made Their Position Very Clear

Stephane Dion must topple Stephen Harper's government

Monday, August 27, 2007 at 09:58 AM Comments: 15

Liberal leader Stephane Dion has no choice. The threats must end. If Stephane Dion can make Kyoto work with his plan then he must force an election and just do it, instead of threatening to possibly call an election if Prime Minister Stephen Harper doesn't implement Stephane Dion's plan on Dion's behalf.

Read the comments.......

Lemon: Dion Still Unintelligible After All These Years

While The Star gushes with joy over Stephane Dion's improved English, and somehow sees a summer of discontent in the LPOC and politicing by its leader contenders as Dion "playing up a low profile", Dion proves again that he has (a) limited English skills, (b) ludicrous ideas and (c) blurts them out, I guess, just to get attention.

"Never, as leader of this party, will I recommend to my caucus to support a bad Throne Speech or a bad budget bill," Mr. Dion said. "So even though we are tied or somewhere like this in the polls with the Conservatives, we are not obligated to vote for something wrong. There is no way."

Mr. Dion also called on the Prime Minister to substantiate his use of the term "corruption" when referring to the Liberals in a weekend speech in Victoriaville, Que. Mr. Dion said he had not seen the full quote, but with that caveat, warned that he had sued Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe for a similar attack.

So he's ready to call an election, that he cannot win (or afford) between his terrible environmental record against a CPC policy that will push the economic cost message of Dion's new environmental plan that Dion couldn't bring forward when he was environment mininister.

And he wants to bring a defamation suit against the PM for stating that the Liberal Party is corrupt when there are Grit bagmen sitting in jail for corruption? Dion needs a reality check.

Personally I Voted NO!

As I have said before Harper is moving too far to the center rather than kissing ass he should be kicking ass. I understand why but I don't approve.

Polls show a majority government is not within the reach of any major party. Are you pleased with how minority governments have worked the past few years?
Yes	60%
No	40%

Congratulations Marva Burnett

Send a message to the politicians.....you have problems and if they want your vote the problems need to be addressed but your enthusiasm cannot end on election day ...the candidates need to know you will be sitting on the doorstep of their constituency office on a daily basis.

Solidarity among the overlooked TheStar.com - comment - Solidarity among the overlooked

August 27, 2007

Carol Goar

There are roughly 1 million low-income voters in Ontario.

They'd be a formidable political force if they stuck together, spoke out and showed up at the ballot box. But most don't.

This means issues that affect the poor – affordable housing, social assistance rates, the minimum wage, tenants' rights – get short shrift in election campaigns. Politicians don't canvass buildings where people don't vote.

It's going to be different this time, Marva Burnett vows. She and her neighbours won't sit home on Oct. 10. They won't be ignored, stereotyped or patronized.

"On election day, I'm going to knock on every door in these buildings," she said.

That's a lot of doors. The Scarborough apartment complex where she lives – the grandly-named Danforth Estates – consists of three 16-storey buildings with 573 units. There is graffiti on the walls. The elevators are creaky. There have been periodic cockroach infestations.

Are You Ready To Vote On Electoral Reform

Putting aside the bias of the columnist have you heard any of the party leaders pitch electoral reform, except for the odd columnist have you read or heard much from the media? Personally I find the whole explanation convoluted and I don't understand how I, as a voter and taxpayer, will benefit from the exercise. I am from the winner/loser camp and don't want to support the also-rans.

P.E.I. can teach Ontario about electoral reform TheStar.com - comment - P.E.I. can teach Ontario about electoral reform

August 27, 2007

Peter McKenna

The people of Ontario will go to the polls in just over six weeks. But their most important decision on Oct. 10 will not be the person they elect as premier. Rather, it will be whether the system used to elect him should be fundamentally altered or not.

Though this rarely happens in Canada, the tiny province of Prince Edward Island might be able to help Ontarians in their pre-referendum deliberations.

Like P.E.I., Ontarians will be asked to consider moving from a first-past-the-post (FPTP) model to a mixed-member proportional (MMP) system, which would combine the FPTP model with a proportional representation system similar to that used in New Zealand.

Similarly, the referendum will require a 60 per cent "super majority" or threshold to pass – along with a majority of votes in at least 64 of the province's 111 districts.

The people and politicians of Ontario, however, may wish to pay attention to and even draw some key lessons from the P.E.I. experience. Indeed, Canada's smallest province actually opted against making Canadian political history in November 2005 by clearly rejecting meaningful electoral reform.

About the proposed changes to the election system in Ontario.

Greening Toronto

Putting metal to the petal TheStar.com - GTA - Putting metal to the petal

City hacks down `natural' garden after neighbours complain it's nothing but weeds, and a dead raccoon

August 28, 2007

Iain Marlow
Staff Reporter

Six days after Deborah Dale gave a city-sponsored seminar on growing natural gardens filled with native species, the garden that is her front lawn in Scarborough was razed – clipped to the stem by the city after neighbours complained the plants were weeds.

Dale, a biologist and past-president of the North American Native Plant Society, spent 12 years nurturing the garden. It contained about 200 species of plants.

"When my mom was dying, this was where I came to take my mind off things," she said yesterday. "Just because a plant isn't familiar to you doesn't mean it's a weed. Most people don't know what a native species looks like."

Her Crittenden Sq. garden featured, among other things, two eight-year-old fragrant sumacs, some giant purple hyssops, and four varieties of milkweed plants, in which monarch butterflies had already laid eggs.

All told, her lawyer's letter to the city said, they clipped a total of about $10,000 in plants, for which she wants compensation.

Of course, to some of her neighbours, the garden was an overgrown mess of weeds – with the crown jewel of a dead raccoon.

"It's like a forest," said one who, like all others who found problems with the garden, refused to identify himself. "There's so many raccoons because of this house."

Another woman, amazed, asked: "That's a garden?"

One neighbour said she smelled dead raccoon whenever she opened her kitchen window. Outside, next to her house and on Dale's property, two men pointed to a small tuft of fur edged with yellow leaves.

"It smells. Oh my God," said a young girl.

Dale, though, said she has a problem with her hip and the raccoon was inaccessible. She said it was planted there by neighbours.

The garden's destruction likely occurred as a result of communication breakdowns between Dale and the city. Bill Blakes, a manager in the city's licensing department, said the proper warnings were filed.

Dale insisted the city ignored attempts to prove her garden was not weeds.

Blakes said his office has records only of complaints against Dale's property – overhanging branches, waste, long grass and weeds.

Regardless, the disagreement certainly occurred over a misunderstanding on the concept of a garden.

Other lawns in the neighbourhood, like Wajid Alli's, are normal. He moved there in 1990 and said he gets along with Dale just fine.

"I am in this yard all the time. I play with my grandchildren here, right here in the yard. And I play cricket here," he said, adding that chasing balls into her yard doesn't bother him, since he was used to chasing them in the bushes of Guyana.

No one is more sympathetic to Dale's loss, however, than Douglas Counter, who took his right to unconventional gardens all the way to Ontario's Superior Court, and won.

His was a pesticide-free, storm water filtering garden of hummingbird-sized moths. Adjoining the Etobicoke house he has lived in all his life, it attracted more than just moths, he added.

"My father, who was 75 at the time, had never seen fireflies in the city."

One Step Forward Three Steps Back

Anyone got an answer? I know the ones in involved in the violence are a very small group of youth and that the 200 involved in the "at risk" program are really more representative of youth today......what is the root cause of success?

Youth take the lead

200 graduate from T.O. program

There may not have been graduation caps and gowns yesterday but special diplomas were handed out to 200 students from at-risk neighbourhoods across the city.

Argument at Jane-Steeles ends in shooting

By BRIAN GRAY, SUN MEDIA

A man was fighting for his life in hospital last night after being shot outside a townhouse complex in the northwest part of the city.

"It was young people trying to settle an argument," said Mary, a 46-year-old resident of the complex on Shoreham Court, near Jane St. and Steeles Ave. W.

"They have to learn that the answer isn't to shoot people in broad daylight near where all the kids are playing."

Young Man Hit In Daylight Shooting As Children Play Nearby

StreetBeat - Aug. 27 - Suspects Sought After Attack On TTC Driver

Labour Day Weekend Coming Up........

WHY???????

StreetBeat - Aug. 27 - Suspects Sought After Attack On TTC Driver

Monday August 27, 2007

CityNews.ca Staff

Police are looking for three or four suspects after a TTC bus driver was attacked by individuals wielding pepper spray. Paramedics helped the transit employee after the painful spray got in his eyes in the attack, which occurred just before 1am Monday on Dufferin St. north of Eglinton Ave.

A 16-year-old boy and 17-year-old girl were arrested, then released until their court date. Police believe there are three or four more individuals involved but there's no word on a description of the suspects.

Sidewalk Ettiquette????

Move on the right, pass on the left. If we don't govern ourselves you know what the ultimate result will....the city will start and fund a sidewalk bureaucracy. Let's not forget Adam Vaughans sidewalk line up tax proposal.......

Sidewalk etiquette needed in busy cities

BERT ARCHER

From Saturday's Globe and Mail

August 27, 2007 at 9:57 PM EDT

TORONTO — My introduction to sidewalk rage came a couple of years ago. I was walking along a sidewalk near Dupont and St. George in Toronto when I saw a jogger coming in the opposite direction, with a weighted backpack, furrowed brow and set jaw. He chose a route that headed straight for me. As he got closer, with no intention of slowing down, he barked, “Move.” When I halted in the middle of the sidewalk, he cursed and jostled me with his bellicose elbows.

Until recently, sidewalk etiquette wasn't an issue in Toronto. Urban sprawl made sure that our congestion was limited to the Gardiner and the Don Valley Parkway and that our mostly narrow sidewalks were sufficient for the number of people who used them.

But ever since the current condo boom began a decade ago, our downtown has been straining under the foot traffic – and so has our civility. As the city core gets more crowded, and adds more and more amenities to draw us out onto the streets, we need to adapt.

A Major Failing Among Conservatives

We tend to fight hard to keep the ship afloat as long as we can and we continue to throw out the lifelines where leftists always seem to be looking for the lifeboats......

Tories could capitalize on soft Liberal vote: poll

Updated Mon. Aug. 27 2007 11:07 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Support for the Conservatives and Liberals remained stalled over the summer with the parties neck-and-neck heading into the fall Parliamentary session, according to a new poll by the Strategic Counsel.

But the survey also found Liberal voters are less committed to their party than Conservative supporters -- an opportunity that the Tories could exploit in an election scenario.

Among Tories -- by a 2:1 margin -- voters are less likely to be thinking about switching their support, the poll found. The Strategic Counsel conducted polling between August 9-12 for CTV and The Globe and Mail.

"Soft Tory voters susceptible to leaving and voting Liberal are firmly entrenched and highly committed at this point ... they like what the government has done," Tim Woolstencroft, managing partner with The Strategic Counsel, told CTV.ca.

In contrast, Liberal voters are evenly split about whether they intend to switch their vote.

The poll also suggests that Conservative support is less fluid than that of the Liberals. Fifty-five per cent of those who declared themselves Liberal said they would consider switching parties – far more than the 35 per cent of Conservatives who say they could be persuaded to do so.

And most of those Liberals who say they might vote for another party list the Conservatives, not the NDP, as their second choice. That's a reversal from the period before the 2006 election.

The Harper paradox

GLORIA GALLOWAY

From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

August 27, 2007 at 11:00 PM EDT

OTTAWA — Canadians have mixed feelings about their reserved and occasionally aloof Prime Minister even as they grow more comfortable with the direction he is taking the country and as support for his party solidifies.

A poll conducted for The Globe and Mail and CTV by the Strategic Counsel shows the Conservatives and the Liberals deadlocked, with each being named as the first choice of 33 per cent of respondents.

But the close race, and Stephen Harper's apparent inability to break through to majority territory, does not mean most Canadians are dissatisfied with the way Canada is being run.

When asked if the country is on the right track, 57 per cent said yes. That's down four percentage points from last year at this time, but up more than 10 points since the final days of the Liberals in early 2006.

The poll also suggests that Conservative support is less fluid than that of the Liberals. Fifty-five per cent of those who declared themselves Liberal said they would consider switching parties – far more than the 35 per cent of Conservatives who say they could be persuaded to do so.

And most of those Liberals who say they might vote for another party list the Conservatives, not the NDP, as their second choice. That's a reversal from the period before the 2006 election.

Canadians In Afganhistan - The Other Side

I will bet that every major media outlet could have a daily feature that would recognize the humanitarian actions of our contingent in Afghanistan....does anyone have an answer why they don't?

Kandahar hospital staff treating Afghan civilians

Updated Mon. Aug. 27 2007 11:29 AM ET

Denelle Balfour, CTV News

KANDAHAR AIR BASE -- Hadiro Akbar wears an oversize grey T-shirt and navy blue athletic shorts, clothes for comfort, but they make her look tiny as she sits in a recovery ward of the Kandahar Airfield hospital.

She is the first Afghan woman I have met at the trauma hospital. In the 10 days CTV has been granted access to the multinational facility, most of the patients have been Afghan soldiers and police, some coalition forces, and children.

She is not in traditional dress and this surprises me a little, yet Hadiro hardly seems concerned. She has bigger worries, though she is stoic and her eyes are bright and confident.

It Took A Greedy Self Serving Capitalist Entrepreneur

Not a union, not a group of social in-activists, not a group of masked anarchists, not the government, not bleeding heart left wingers but a Canadian immigrant who wanted to give back to the community some of the rewards his hard work generated.
Congratulations Frank!

SHELTER AFTER THE STORM

Residents Of The Village Frank Stronach Built For Katrina Victims Are Forging A Future As Farmers

Sheldon Alberts

CanWest News Service

Monday, August 27, 2007

It has been described as a peculiar social experiment, dismissed as a tax write-off for a wealthy Canadian businessman and even been likened -- albeit jokingly -- to a modern-day plantation.

But for Joe Bramlett, a former New Orleans shipyard worker who was evacuated by helicopter out of the Lower Ninth Ward following Hurricane Katrina, the modular home park known as Canadaville has been nothing short of a blessing.

"I don't have to worry about hearing gunshots in the night. I don't have to worry about nobody coming in my trailer. I can leave my door open and unlocked -- don't have to worry," says Mr. Bramlett. "That's what I like."

If Canadaville was a typical real estate venture, Mr. Bramlett's endorsement might appear on promotional brochures handed out to young families looking to escape the stress of inner-city life.

But this compact 49-home community -- shaded by mature pecan trees on the edge of a vast sugar cane field -- is the product of a bolder imagination.

Canadian entrepreneur Frank Stronach, chairman of auto parts giant Magna International, built the village after being moved by the plight of New Orleanians who fled their homes when Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005.

Mr. Stronach's plan was to create a community where Katrina's victims could be given a chance to rebuild their lives away from the trifecta of dangers that makes starting over so difficult in New Orleans -- poverty, crime and Mother Nature.

He purchased 365 hectares outside the corporate limits of Simmesport, a town of 2,300 that hugs the banks of the Atchafalaya River, about 240 kilometres north of New Orleans. The community opened in early December, 2005, just 10 weeks after the hurricane.

IMHO There Is No Difference Between These Two Iniatives

Probe required into police tactics Aug. 25, 2007 When Prime Minister Stephen Harper was asked Monday whether he was concerned...

Young 'shoppers' smoke out sellers
Jen Gerson Aug. 26, 2007 It's all caught on tape: a girl with long black hair, thick glasses, wearing a...

Are Anarchists That Out Of Touch With Reality

That they got taken in...........

What A Dickhead

Harper needs to commit to troop pullout date: Dion

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion is continuing his push to have Prime Minister Stephen Harper commit to a timeline for when Canadian troops will be pulled out of a combat role in Afghanistan.

People really need to read the growing number of comments (39 at this moment), made by the public, at the end of this article. A couple which support my opinion about Dion.....

YEB
A very strange and bizzare interview by mr. Dion.

Let's not forget, that Mr. Dion sat at the cabinet table when then Prime Minister Chrétien in 2002 agreed to send Canadians troops to Afghanistan, then again he sat at the cabinet table when then Prime Minister Martin in 2005 agree to move our troops South and finally Mr. Dion as leader to of the official opposition voted in 2006 to extend the current mission in the South. Today, to make a virage is quit remarkable. All three Federal Leaders must work together on this one and certainly not against one another.

Al Wood
Mr. Dion should listen. The PM has clearly and on numerous occasions stated Canadian troops will be done with combat in Afghanistan Feb 2009 unless Parliament extends that date. When that subject is brought to Parliament for debate Mr. Dion, as a member of Parliament, will have his say at that time.

Go South Young Man Go South

And fulfill your commitment when you voluntarily joined your country's military. If you oppose government policy fight it on the streets of Washington.....

The Frightening Think Is Both Sides Are Guilty Of The Same Tactics

Naming Adolf as the poster boy of the left is one of those gross examples.......

The modern Left learns from the master

From The Brussels Journal:

Adolf Hitler described how to use “spiritual terror” to intimidate and silence opponents, a technique he learned from watching the Socialists and the Social Democrats. He understood “the infamous spiritual terror which this movement exerts, particularly on the bourgeoisie, which is neither morally nor mentally equal to such attacks; at a given sign it unleashes a veritable barrage of lies and slanders against whatever adversary seems most dangerous, until the nerves of the attacked persons break down and, just to have peace again, they sacrifice the hated individual… Conversely, they praise every weakling on the opposing side, sometimes cautiously, sometimes loudly, depending on the real or supposed quality of his intelligence.”

It still goes on today. Racist, sexist, homophobe - all are words designed to halt debate and stop critical thought.

Biased? Possibly. Irrelevant? Libs Would Have You Believe So

I see it as a "gross" generalization but there is a grain of truth in each........

Libs Say the Darndest Things

By James Lewis- The American Thinker

Here’s a fun exercise for conservatives: Spend some time just listening to your liberal friends. Don’t bother to say anything at all. You’ll be amazed. I’ve certainly been wowed every time I’ve tried it.

Libs believe the darndest things. They’re not as cute as the things kids come out with, but having millions of adults who are stuck in false beliefs puts our society at a lot greater risk.

Among the pearls of political wisdom I picked up from ordinary, friendly, prosperous and apparently intelligent lib friends were the following: