Watchmen vs Fox

Fox has come in at the last minute and are threatening to delay the release of The Watchmen, the best movie of 2009. I don't care if Fred Astaire comes back from the dead and stars in Brokeback Mountain II with Humphrey Bogart, this will blow the doors off that.

So, Fox waits until the movie is finished, set for release, and then decides to sue for their part. They deserve a visit from Rorshack.

So, as we all wait, enjoy the newest trailer from this classic in the waiting:

Watchmen Exclusive

Actual Raptor Conversations in Our House

"Babe, I'm bringing up the kids to hate Vince Carter... is that OK?"

and

My lovely partner. "If they loose against Oklahoma, I'm not watching any more games."

Me, "Do you know how many times I've said that?"

Bosh is an All-Star

My love for the Toronto Raptors is deep and abiding, which is why I haven't been writing about them. Not much to write home about this year. 10-15 with a fired head coach and many blown leads.

Thing is, Chris Bosh deserves to be an All-Star, and China is the number one reason why he might not be.

See, there is this guy named Yi Jianlian and he is allegedly the fourth biggest celebrity in China. They allow voting for the All-Star team in China, and 1 billion Chinese are stuffing the ballot box to make sure their boy gets in.

Thing is, he plays the same position as CB4....

Whether you love the Raptors, don't want to loose to the Chinese, have a respect for fairness, have some sort of knee jerk nationalist response, or because you just want to be nice to me, vote for CB4.

VOTE HERE

Now for the Raptors. I am trying to watch all 82 games and it has been tough to sit through some of them. Here is what i would get each of them for X-mass:

New Head Coach Jay Triano: Advil, he's going to need it.

Chris Bosh: a place on the All-Star team would be my first choice, but it isn't a gift if you already deserve it. I would give him more games on ESPN, so he can stop whining about it in his blog.

Jose Calderon: Some respect, the man is third in the league in assists, hasn't missed a free throw all season long, and I still have to hear past their prime former All-Stars crack on him on NBA TV.

Jamario Moon: An electro shock collar that kicks in every time he thinks he should be shooting a three.

Jermaine O'Neal: A nice bottle of scotch to soothe his self depricating abuse. Look at him after a loss, no one is tougher on Jermaine than Jermaine. Plus, a titanium knee.

Anthony Parker: A clone, to help him get some rest when he has to defend Kobe Bryant, or whatever other All-Star quality 2 he has to defend on any given night.

Jason Kapono: A finish to the Kapono hook, which he has been displaying but not really effectively. He is going to get shots in the lane, might as well finish them.

Joey Graham: A t-shirt that says "Bad Joey Don't Live Here No More". Bad Joey is gone. One of the lone bright spots in this dismal season.

Andrea Bargnani: A consistant spot in the rotation, and some ear plugs so that he doesn't have to suffer anymore abuse at the hands of the Tornoto faithful.

Nathan Jawai: Continued good health. Glad to see the big guy not having to worry about his heart exploding.

Roko Ukic: A stylist. The NBA is the most fashionable league out there, you can't look like you just survived a shipwreck and get any respect out there.

For me, I just want a plus .500 record on this road trip. Starts tonight ahaingt the lowly two win Oklahoma City Thunder.

VOTE FOR CB4.

VOTE NOW.

Please.....

For the kids

Long time, no blog. Hey, I have a job and a life here ;)

Quick note. I just got back from picking up some lunch, and was behind a school bus full of middle school kids and some of their teachers (I assume teachers, they were grown-ups).

The kids file out of the bus, walk to the back of the bus, and THEN cross the street.

I was always taught (read: told to) cross in front of the bus. It is supposed to be safer, as you only have the chance of being hit by traffic from one direction. The bus sets a pick.

Crossing in back.... not good.

Round-up

Odds and ends on many topics we have covered here before:

FIRST ITEM: RAPTORS

The Raptors are .500. Cup half full, Jermaine O'Neal is coming into form nicely and if Bargnani keeps it up he could end up playing in a Three Big Line-up with Bosh and O'Neal, as the only 7ft small forward in the league.

Cup half empty, the three spot is either a guy who won't play his role (Moon), or a slow guy who can't defend (Kapono). The difference is, Moon doesn't know he can't shoot, Kapono knows he can't defend. Trade Moon and some of the bench to get a legit three. Plus, Calderon got hurt last night. Here's hoping four days is enough to help him recover.

I've seen parts of all of the first eight games. My goal is to watch all 82 this year, but life gets in the way of that sometimes. Thanks God for "Raptors Game in an Hour" on Raptors TV. They cut out the timeouts and some of the free throws and squeeze the game into a one hour block.

I've also managed to turn my partner into a basketball fan. The best way to do this is to watch the same team over and over again, until the person you are trying to hook gets to know what to expect from the players.

She also thinks Sam is cute when he makes his "I can't believe Moon took another three" face. To each their own.

NEXT ITEM: POLITICS

Go read these articles from Newsweek. They had reporters behind the scenes on both US Presidential campaigns. The deal was, no reporting until after the election. Fascinating stuff. I learned that Obama slid in a Jay-Z reference that the crowd got and the national press missed, and that he curses in private. Makes me like him more.

FINAL ITEM: THE FUNNY

The Boy made a video for YouTube. He usually just watches mash-ups of Kriby and Mario, but he wanted to put up something himself. So enjoy "The Ian Funny I", with many more to follow, as he has a limitless supply of those moves:

Letters, oh, they get letters

Sometimse I get nostalgic for working on PEI, and meeting interesting characters that are unique to the Island. To fix that, I usually read Letters to the Editor.

Much credit to the Graphic newspapers. They gave me my first job, and will publish the most batshit crazy Letters to the Editor.

Check out this gem, from this weeks Graphics (support indy media, go buy a Graphic, except in West Prince, where you should take one home from your mailbox and shop at the stores who advertise there).

I had just finished trapping my fifth raccoon and was preparing to trap a sixth one when I read in the newspaper that a permit is needed before one is permitted to trap raccoons. Understanding, now, that this regulation comes from a country that bestous its highest honour on a man who aborts babies for a living. A country that allows monsterous and ugly windmills to be erected within “spittin” distance of ones front door and one that allows taxpayer’s money to be used to prop up the liberal, left wing CBC. Something seems to be wrong with this picture. (May I suggest that Fox News Channel is an interesting alternative to the CBC). By the way, I think that I should offer an apology to those cuddly creatures who were destroying my garden. I hope that they can find it in their raccoon hearts to forgive me for trapping them without a permit- no Order of Canada for me. Sincerely Donnie Doyle Campbellton

Abortion, raccoons, Order of Canada, CBC vs Fox News.... this letter has it all.

On the subject of Fox News, I was watching their election coverage last night during commercials on CNN. They say "givin'" instead of giving, and the anchor had too much makeup.

They also called Georgia for McCain a half an hour before CNN, which is based in Atlanta.... funny, they called at the same time they gave Pennsylvania to Obama... softening the blow I suppose.

Ego management

So, of course I did a vanity Google today. I'm good for one a month, usually I search my name minus the term "crappie". because my internet doppleganger is a professional Crappie Fisherman.

I found this:

A link to just my CTV story, not the entire cast.

They have it up with their Canadian Press story about cabinet rookies.

Enjoy, I sure as hell did.

A final note

... on the power of the internet.

If you search the words "jesus vs nazis" on google, I am the number one response.

What a great comic. It is usually the high point of my Friday.

Blood of The Lamb, Mother fuckers.

Hooray for Google.

Like Dr. Dre

Lloyd Robertson just said my name... I kinda feel like Dr. Dre.

Don't believe me: Look Here

If you really like to analyse the difference in media, have a look at the twice as long version we ran.

WATCH IT HERE

Someone smart once told me, "You didn't have the time to tell the shorter story."

I like the CTV version better, although the 3:50 plus version on APTN (plus an additional 4 minutes of me talking with Todd through a camera) is full of much more Nunavut Political Inside Baseball.

Want to hear a newspaper editor talk about dead bodies? Is one quote of The Premier not enough for you, do you need three? Nunavummiut, click link two

If you just want to see what people in the south saw, click link ONE.

Following rising stars

Well, Leona Aglukkaq's meteoric rise to the top of Canada's political food chain is pulling a few people along in it's wake.

Namely, me.

If everything goes as planned, tune in tonight to CTV National News to see a shorter version of my "Local Reaction" story about Ms Aglukkaq.

See all our Nunavut regulars (Jim Bell, Premier Okalik, Hunter Tootoo) on the big news.

If it doesn't work out tonight, it will air sometime on the weekend.

Also, a scoop for you. Aglukkaq's first major interview, Question Period this Sunday. I hope she comes ready, Craig Oliver sharpens his teeth on federal rookies.

It will be very nice to hear "For CTV News, I'm Kent Driscoll of APTN National News, in Iqaluit".

Mike Duffy isn't their only former Islander now.

Of 10 point plans and politics

Everybody knows that Tagak Curley wants to be the Premier, and under Nunavut's consensus system of government, he has a chance to be. The MLA's meet in a few weeks, to elect a Premier, a Speaker and a cabinet.

The Premiership (soccer reference ;) ) battle is going to be interesting, especially since it looks like Mr Curley from Rankin Inlet is running publically. He released a 10 point plan which outlines what his administration would do.

I like 10 point plans, they are long enough to contain policy but short enough to be digestable. Here is his, with my comments in ITALICS AND CAPS


In the next Legislative Assembly, Tagak confirmed his priorities, among others, will include to:

1. examine the feasibility of establishing a breakfast program for all schools in Nunavut;

NUMBER ONE FOR A REASON. SOME SCHOOLS HAVE TRIED THIS ALREADY, WITH GREAT RESULTS

2. improve health care including better and more reliable air travel for the ill and their families;

NO SURPRISE, IF I HAD A NICKEL FOR EVERYTIME I HAVE HEARD MR CURLEY OR ONE OF THE REGULAR MEMBERS BRING UP MEDICAL TRAVEL, I WOULD HAVE A SHIT LOAD OF NICKELS

3. double the number of new housing units to be built;

EASIER SAID THAN DONE

4. encourage more local Inuit training and employment opportunities;

WHY FLY PEOPLE OUT TO TRAIN, WHEN YOU CAN FLY PEOPLE IN TO TRAIN THEM

5. improve government contracting practices allowing more local business to benefit from government business;

KEEPING BUSINESS LOCAL IS A GOOD IDEA, BUT THERE ARE ALREADY BONUSES AND QUOTAS IN PLACE, EITHER THEY AREN'T WORKING AND NEED TO BE RE-EXAMINED, OR ARE WORKING AND THIS STATEMENT IS JUST POLITICS... GOOD POLITICS BUT POLITICS

6. more roads, and a harbour or a wharf for all communities;

A+ FOR THE IDEA, PROBLEM IS THAT WHARVES ARE A FEDERAL RESPONSABILITY. EITHER THAT TAKES A LOT OF TERRITORIAL MONEY BEING SPENT OF A FEDERAL RESPONSABILITY, OR IT TAKES CRACKING SKULLS WITH THE FEDS TO MAKE IT HAPPEN.

7. improve cargo handling at community airports and improved food mail for more affordable healthy food choices;

MORE FEDERAL AREAS, ALTHOUGH EVERYONE CAN AGREE THAT THEY NEED TO BE REVISITED

8. increase capacity for the local administration of justice, including more local court houses;

LOCAL OFFICIALS, SURE. LOCAL COURTHOUSES, I DON'T KNOW, DO WE NEED A BUILDING JUST FOR THAT? WHY NOT BUILD MULTIPURPOSE COMMUNITY HALLS, THAT COULD BE OF USE MORE THAN JUST ON COURT DAYS. WHY BUILD TWO BUILDINGS, WHEN ONE COULD DO TWO THINGS?

9. increase in number of local police; and

NO ONE IS GOING TO DISAGREE WITH THAT ONE

10. more reliance on elders and traditional knowledge for regulating local hunting.

AGAIN, IF YOU LISTEN TO MR CURLEY IN THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY, USING MORE ELDERS IN WILDLIFE STUDIES IS A PET ISSUE OF HIS. SMART SCIENTISTS WILL TELL YOU, EYEWITNESSES TO LONG TERM CHANGE ARE INVALUABLE.

So, this sounds like the stuff he has been talking about all along. Gives it a ring of truth, don't you think, that consistant message.

I think Mr Curley's biggest challenge is going to be outrunning his reputation, as he has been known to speak his mind to his own detriment. That is a trait I know all too well, being one of those "talk first, think later" types myself.

I don't think that is always such a bad thing, but people here seem to prefer the strong silent type over leading with your chin. If people see this as a time where there needs to be a louder voice in Iqaluit, that could help as much as hurt.... we'll have to wait and see like everyone else.

His region kicked out all their cabinet ministers, the thirst for change is being fueled by the Kivalliq. Could be an interesting forum on leadership, and Mr Curley can't be discounted.

No matter who wins, please steal the breakfast plan idea from him, if it is not him who wins.

Me, I'm still wondering who will be the Speaker... I'll worry about Premier after a few days of post election non-political thinking.

For example, Friday's story.... SEAL SKINS!!! NO politics of any type, I feel like it is Christmas.

"Oh, I thought she said she was loose"

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

FONZIE, RICHIE AND OPIE.

JUST WATCH IT!!

So, you think you can fight?

I love getting messages from our programming department, and here is one I think some readers may be interested in.

Think you can fight? Give Warriors TKO a shot. Why do I think they would get a kick out of having an Inuk on the show this time out. Check out the poster:



It sure would give me an excuse to do a story about any Inuk who qualified for the show... and a better reason for Inuit to tune in.

I hope they sit together

From today's National Post:

That breakthrough alone clinches Ms. Shea a cabinet gig as the province's government insider. But her apparently scandal-free performance as a P.E.I. cabinet minister makes Ms. Shea the surest bet as a rookie MP becoming a minister.

Runner-up for that claim is Leona Aglukkaq, the first Conservative MP elected for Nunavut. She might not be ready for a stand-alone portfolio --a one-term cabinet-equivalent gig in the territorial government is simply not in the same league as leading a large federal department -- but she has roots in a variety of public service roles that appear solid enough to rate being tested in a junior job.

It sounds about right. After Ms Aglukkaq came to our office for her "over the satellite" interview with one of our anchors, I used the chance to get in a personal message.

When you get to Ottawa look up Gail Shea.

Both of you are women coming from areas without strong Tory history, and are the only person in the party to represent a large group, Northerners for Leona and PEImiut for Gail, and both have served in a cabinet.

The other reason I suggested it, is because I know both of them professionally. I worked in Western PEI before coming here, and reported extensively on Ms Shea. The two have many personaility traits in common (both positive and negative, but they do match up nicely).

Turns out, the two know each other already, from Status of Women meetings. Ms Aglukkaq was quite pleased when she heard that Gail had won. Gail was also the only person I knew who had been to Nunavut before I moved here, and was effusive in her praise of -- as the Premier is wont to say -- "the good people of Nunavut".

The description of Gail as "scandal free" has at least one newspaper editor I know jumping up and down in rage... see, there was this thing called Polar Foods, where a bunch of fish plant owners collapsed the lobster processing industry on PEI, and ripped off the government for more than $20 million.

It hurt Gail's riding pretty badly. Some would call it a scandal. I would have at the time. Upon reflection, I feel more like all Islanders got mugged by some fish plant owners, due to a pretty lax loan guarantee system on PEI. She has to wear at least some of it, her government guaranteed the loans.

Watch me drop a name here. When I was travelling to Alert with Def. Min. Peter McKay, I interviewed him in front of the weather station up there. We are doing the bit where you take a long shot of the two people talking, for cutaways -- a two shot for TV geeks. McKay was the Minister responsible for PEI, since they didn't elect any Torys.

I usually make small talk, or crack a joke. For McKay, I simply said, "Do you think Gail has a shot in Egmont?" I figured a PEI Inside Baseball question would be a good way to break the ice.

He did laugh, and told a great story about driving through snowstorm from Pictou to Tignish for a fundraiser, going to the Legion in Tignish, and ending up on stage with Ms Shea in some sort of skit, where she was in costume and cracking jokes.

I thoguht to myself, "Wow, you really have been to Tignish."

I hope they both get into cabinet, mostly because I don't perceive either of them as being Reform Party based right wing lunatics. They may just be sneaking two Progressive Conservatives into cabinet... couldn't hurt.

Coming in two parts

Wow.... three hours of tape is a whole lot of tape.

So, here is what I did. I broke it into two parts:

Tonight in Part 1 -- lots of Sheutiapik and Okalik, with a dash of Glenn Williams and Madeleine Redfern. Good clips always force their way in.

Tomorrow in Part 2 -- everybody else

Basically, I couldn't get all the candidates into Part 1, and wanted to make sure everyone is in the story.

If you only listened on radio, you missed half of the show. Body language, demeanor and attentiveness go a long way to showing someone's views.

Tonight at 7 EST for our Northern viewers, 6 EST for those in the South. For Express-Vu customers, 7 EST on Channel 270, 6 EST on Channel 269.

I just looked at the line-up for the rest of the show, and it looks like we have a good one tonight (we have a good one every night, some good is just better than other good).

Buffy St. Marie, Chief Phil Fontaine, Part III of our Yellowknife Bureau's fantastic look at NWT Foster Care, an all-aboriginal Junior B hockey team, and why the heck did the Justice in change of the Truth and Reconcilliation Commission quit yesterday?

Tune in, turn on, and save your criticisms until after you have seen both parts ;)

What I asked

I love the AFN for giving me a chance to ask some good questions, and for being all around generally good people.

Also, I am going into the business of concrete steps, as almost question asked for them. Driscoll's Concrete Steps, coming soon to a location near you.

Almost four fours in the building, three for the debate, I have a lot of tape to look at, so with no further delay, here are the qusetions I asked, and of whom:

Iqaluit West: Sheutiapik and Okalik

1 – One of Premier Okalik’s platform planks is taking credit for Nunavut’s “successful” economy. According to Statistics Canada, the average income for a family in Nunavut is 49,270, the Canadian average is 63,866. StatsCan also said that in 2005, two-thirds of Nunavummiut reported not having enough food during the previous year due to lack of money, nearly four times the national average. My question, do you think Nunavut’s economy is doing well, and what can be done to help those who do not benefit from it?

Iqaluit Center: Sageatook, Redfern and Tootoo

2 – The Auditor General of Canada said this of Nunavut government, “"We found numerous cases of non-compliance with Nunavut's financial laws, including seeking the legislative assembly's approval to spend money after it had already been spent.” She also said , “"Current financial management is weak and fragile. Six years after Nunavut's creation, I am surprised how slowly financial management has improved." The report even included a section about the GN titled “A History of Breaking the Rules.” What would you do to make the Government of Nunavut meet it’s basic, legislated, fiscal responsibility to Nunavummiut?

Iqaluit East: Peter, Williams and Ariak

3 – Iqaluit is growing rapidly. Overcrowding is a huge issue here in the capital. So is crime, between the now frequent notices from RCMP of untreated violent criminals choosing to live in Iqaluit, to the Nunavut wide fact that a person is 12 times more likely to be a victim of sexual assault here, compared to the rest of the Canada. The RCMP are paid to police this community, yet haven’t delivered a report to City Council in eight months. Since you are all running to represent Iqaluit, what concrete steps would you take to make Iqaluit safer, healthier and all in all a better place to live?

Political Free For All

For Iqaluit based voters, we have an interesting proposition for you. At 7:30 Monday night at the always accomadating Francophone Center, there will be an All Iqaluit Canadidates Forum.

The questions will be provided by local journalists, three of whom you can see right here:


Photo (as well as my bad ass new header photo) Courtesy of Kate Nova

Would you want to face off against a panel like that? I guess that the candidates do.

My question for you, dear readers, is: What do you want me to ask them about?

I'm never at a shortage for questions, but I am interested in what you would ask them. When you spend too much looking at the small strokes, sometimes the bigger picture can get blurry.

I get three questions, and the other two clowns in that picture each get two. I have a pretty good idea what my first one will be, but I have all weekend to come up with bulletproof questions that can not be ignored, talked around or otherwise politicked. Help a brother out.

Come on down. Monday, Francophone Center. 7:30 PM. Punch and Pie

EDITOR'S NOTE: There likely will not be punch and pie.

Why the election blackout is stupid

Fact: Polls close at 9:30 Eastern in Iqaluit

Fact: I'm sitting in my office in Iqaluit, watching many channels

Fact: On Iqaluit cable, you get NTV from Newfoundland

Fact: If I was home, I would have local channels from all over the country on satellite

Fact: Even though the polls are open here, I'm getting the results from Atlantic Canada, on regular old cable

Fact: If I posted said results here, I'd be breaking a law

Opinion: That is a pretty stupid system

My electronic TOWER OF BABEL

Since polls don't close until 9:30 EST, I had some time on my hands at the office today.

I hooked up three TV's, an internet terminal, a white board and the radio to my ELECTRONIC TOWER OF BABEL.

Then I get a phone call from the show.

"Hey Kent, want to do a 2 minute de-brief about the time zone thing with the Nunavut election?"

"Sure I do, and boy oh boy, do I have a background."

When Master Control shouted out "Holy S*%^", I knew I had it made :)

Tonight, 6 Eastern, see what i made :)

Watch our show tonight

If you want to see what a record number of Take Back the Night marchers look like...

Plus, see the poor guy with the cute little girl, who was roped into commenting for my camera, because of the lovely pack of women he was travelling with.

"We need a man to comment."

"Oh, he'll do it."

:)

It was a good night.

In the first eight minutes of the show, guaranteed.

Tonight 6 pm

Iqaluit Take Back The Night March. Starts up by the High School and ends by the Parish Hall. I'll be the guy with the microphone asking questions. Say hi when you see me.

Say it ain't so Sam

I have been a Toronto Raptors through all of the bad, and the semi-sweet. Come up to me and say, "Vince Carter Rules" and you are likely to catch a swat from me. Being a Raptors fan is like being a Cubs fan, without the tragic shame of history crumbling around you.... mostly.

Being a Raps fan requires a colourful vocabulary. You might as well swear, because they aren't going to get any better overnight. If Andrea Bargnani could hear what I have to say he might, I don't know, leave town or pick his 7 foot ass up off the court and hustle for his $$$.

SAm Mitchell has been my favourite coach to handle the squad. He is no nonsense, and when his car commercial is on TV, The Boy says, "Look, he is smiling now."... because he doesn't in games.

Plus, really sharp dresser, which actually counts in the NBA.

Which is why I was so disappointed to read THIS.

Sam gave up cursing.... cold turkey.... what the fuck?

How can you coach the Toronto Raptors and not curse.. even a little bit?

"It's something to let (the players and public) know that, one, I'm growing and maturing every day," he said. "Two, I'm trying to get better not only as a coach but as a person; and, three, who wants to be screamed and yelled at and cursed at every day?"

I DON'T CARE IF THEY WANT IT, THOSE GUYS NEED TO BE CURSED AT EVERY DAY... ESPECIALLY THAT LANKY EUROPEAN FUCKSTICK WITH THE DULL GLARE OF AN UNDERACHEIVER IN HIS OVERPAID EYES. RED AUERBACH WOULD HAVE BURNED HIM WITH A CIGAR BY NOW!

Fuck that Sam, fucking let them fucking have it, right between the fucking eyes. Get their fucking attention, and never fucking let go. You are in a division with Dwight Howard and Kevin Garnett. That would have me waking up at night in a cold sweat, cursing loudly.

I'll be watching the pre-season game tonight, and Sam, I don't expect to see you cursing. It is still the pre-season, you have time to work into it. BUT DON'T LET UP ON THESE FUCKERS.

You fucking know it. I fucking know it. They fucking need you to fucking stick it to them.

Except for Chris Bosh. I want him swearing at his teammates too.

During my fake Presidency

PAris Hilton is running for President, or at least putting videos up on Funny or Die.

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

In her first video, she gave her plan to get America off of foreign fuels, and it sounded as reasonable as the actual candidates... even though she was poolside.

This one, she has history's most esteemed Fake President, Josiah Bartlett, there to help her campaign.

"During my Fake Presidency, the kitchen is often where we went to debate the fake issues of our time."

Forget Paris Hilton, Bartlett for President... he was a Fake Economist, and the economy is all fake anyway. It should be as effective as the Obama/McCain idea of a celebrity Treasury Secretary (and no, I'm not kidding, I think even suggesting appointing Warren Buffet as Treasury Secretary is low level pandering to a culture with limited attention span).

JIMMY SMITS STABBED A GUY

I am a fan of much maligned dramatic actor Jimmy Smits. He was great on LA LAw, The West Wing, the abymissal Cane and even carried it off in Star Wars.

I was really enjoying him on Dexter, until I found out, HE TRIED TO KILL A GUY.

Courtesy Contact Music.com

A TV stuntman is lucky to be alive after actor JIMMY SMITS stabbed him for real during a fight scene for TV show DEXTER.
Smits grabbed a real knife instead of a prop knife during shooting and plunged it into action man Jeff Chase.
Chase was only saved by a piece of plastic placed over his heart - which Smits miraculously hit.
He says, "For the scene, I was bound in Saran Wrap, duct tape over my mouth. I couldn't say a thing as I saw Jimmy grab at the knife. He picked up the real one by pure mistake. It was a mean looking knife.
"I heard fellow actor Michael C. Hall yelling at Jimmy to stop - but it was too late. I felt the thud in my chest. I didn't have on a metal breast plate like a lot of actors do in a scene like that.
"Instead I had a piece of acrylic clear plastic about the size of a Post-it note over my heart. It was a quarter of an inch thick and not attacked. In eight out of 10 takes with the prop knife, Jimmy had missed the plastic. But by a miracle, an act of God, the knife landed at the very edge of the plastic.
"I really thought I'd been stabbed in the heart, but I didn't have a scratch. Jimmy was devastated and couldn't stop apologising. I told him, I felt more sorry for him than me."

Buck 65

Unless you live under a rock, you have likely heard that Buck 65 himself is hosting a show on CBC Radio 2.

88.3 in Iqaluit, from 3 pm to 6. Great way to finish out the day... highlight of their schedule... feel like I'm in Halifax, listening to the campus radio, except with higher production value.

Come 3 pm, my radio is turned on. Come by the office, and enjoy.

**** Jesusie Rich, I go to recommend you to people, and you have to play fucking Spearhead.... man.

EDITED TO ADD: Kathleen Edwards singing the words "I know where the cops hang out" make up for it. You are forgiven.

Good eats

Tuesday night is the new Friday in Iqaluit. Italian buffet at The Water's Edge, all you can eat for $35. There is even a chef on the buffet line to do up custom pasta for you, along with all the lazagna, Italian sausage, and tasty tasty chocolate cake you can eat.

As for the real Friday, Jack Layton -- and presumbably his moustache -- are coming to Iqaluit to tell us all about The New Strong. All I know for sure, I know who I'm talking to on Friday.

That's two leaders so far. Mr. Dion has been here twice previously, but I wonder if he'll make a third trip.

If Elizabeth May makes it up here, I would like to know why the Green Party logo looks so much like the British Petroleum logo. Think I'm crazy, look here:





Spooky, huh?

Jesus VS Nazis

Check out this awesome webcomic over here.

Opening line. Jesus sees meteors destroying a city and says to himself, "My father needs to learn how to communicate."

Worth the 10 minutes, trust me.

Racism II

Inspired by the comments over Racism I, here is Part II.

Lots of people say that they see it everywhere in the territory. When you see it, now you know what to do. Write it up as a completely blind item, and post it on your blog. Let's see how far this goes.

There is a particular restaurant, in an unnamed location in this territory of 85 per cent Inuit people, where one of the staff members only waits on white people.

It is unbelievable, this person is in the position where they get to pick their own tables, and without fail, only white folks are at their table.

I don't know if it is a perception over tips, attitudes or just plain old bigotry, but that is what happens.

A person who decides who they will wait on, based only on their ethnic make-up, that is racist. And yes, I've seen it with my own eyes, too many times.

Here's to the new boss

just like the old boss:



The old Kamotiq was ugly.... this one looks like new ugly.

Check out Nunatsiaq News today here for the full story.

Maybe I'm being too harsh, and should wait to see it before making judgement.... but it looks damn ugly to me.

Free Sarah Palin

Campbell Brown is one of the bright spots over at CNN, and she came off maternity leave just in time for the end of primary season.

SHe is so damn natural on camera, and asks shark like questions with a big smile on her face... the real killers do it grinning.

She had this to say last night, about the subject of Sarah Palin ducking reporters.

For the record, before she was named as VP nominee, I twice tried to get Gov. Palin to talk with us over here at that TV network, over her government suing the US Fish and Wildlife Dept over the polar bear listing.

She didn't answer my calls then, now, she answers no ones.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Frankly I have had it, and I know a lot of other women out there who are with me on this. I have had enough of the sexist treatment of Sarah Palin. It has to end.

She was in New York on Tuesday meeting with world leaders at the U.N. And what did the McCain campaign do?

They tried to ban reporters from covering those meetings. And they did ban reporters from asking Gov. Palin any questions.

I call upon the McCain campaign to stop treating Sarah Palin like she is a delicate flower who will wilt at any moment.

This woman is from Alaska for crying out loud. She is strong, she is tough, she is confident. And you claim she is ready to be one heartbeat away from the presidency. If that is the case, then end this chauvinistic treatment of her now. Allow her to show her stuff. Watch Brown call on the McCain campaign to 'Free Sarah Palin' »

Allow her to face down those pesky reporters just like Barack Obama did today, just like John McCain did today. Just like Joe Biden has done on numerous occasions. Let her have a real news conference with real questions.

By treating Sarah Palin differently from other candidates in this race, you are not showing her the respect she deserves.

Free Sarah Palin.

Free her from the chauvinistic chains you are binding her with.

Sexism in this campaign must come to an end. Sarah Palin has as much a right to be a real candidate in this race as the men do.

Racism I

From now on, when I see an instance of racism, I plan to tell you about it. Sadly, for Iqaluit, I don't think that Racism I will be the only one, just one in a series of ugly vignettes, and they are all true.

Here is the first one:

An Inuit woman gets into a cab, that already has another passenger. That is the way the cabs work here BTW, anyone can get into anyone elses cab. Think small buses, that go where you want them to.

She forgets her bank card, and tells the driver, "Can we go back to get it, you can charge me for the extra stop."

The driver obliges, because, you know, people forget their bank cards and he wants to get paid. The white woman who was already in the cab was not as kind.

They get to the bank, and she starts by saying, "You know, she is going to run off. She'll never pay you." When she comes back, money in hand, she is still going on, "Wow, what a surprise, you are going to get paid."

Making a determination that someone is not going to pay your cabbie, based on nothing but the ethnicity of the person who is supposed to pay, that is racism.

I don't know if that makes her a racist, but that is a racist statement.

Tonight, on our show

Tune in at 6 pm Eastern to see the Prime Minister's Visit to Iqaluit, and why he wouldn't answer my question. I'm more dangerous than I thought.

Plus, you know, all the actual news surrounding the visit. Tune in early, I am the lead item.

Random Vacation Highlights III

My son is The Cat Whisperer.

After picking up my partner and the baby in Ottawa, we make our way to my parent's place, where the baby discovers the kitty.

I sent Elwood to live with my family before the baby was born, for his safety and the baby's. The baby had never met the cat.

He sees Elwood, looks at us, and cracks up laughing. The cat, obviously indignant, meows at the baby. The baby thinks is the funniest thing ever and meows back at the cat.

The baby never tires of this routine, and spent two weeks pursuing the poor kitty wherever he went. The cat -- to his credit and my surprise -- never once tried to take a piece out of the little guy. My friends have labelled Elwood as "untrustworthy", but he did a lot to shed that reputation with Irniq.

When we went to the Wildlife Park, the baby started making his cat noises at the cougar, and the ducks, and anything else with fur or feathers. As far as he knows, all animals speak cat.

Random Vacation Highlights II

After the wedding I flew to Ottawa to pick up my partner and the baby, then on to Halifax to get home before my parents did. My flight out of Vancouver was at 7 am.

I was at the wedding reception until past 12 and at the after party until about 3:30 am. My wake-up call was at 5 am.

My cell phone started ringing at 5 am (thanks to my partner not having faith in my ability to wake up after a long night of boozing). Then my wake-up call comes in at 5:05 am. Then at ten after, my Dad shows up at the door, you know, just to make sure.

I was on that plane, and I recommend flying very drunk to anyone who:

A - Doesn't get mad when they drink
B - Has such a "great" support system of people who doubt you, so that you actually get on the plane
C - Isn't the one flying the plane.

I remember security in Vancouver, and going outside for a smoke in Calgary. Aside from that, it is just blurs and sleep. I have never slept so well on a plane.

Fly drunk, you'll thank me.

Random Vacation Highlights I

My brother got married in the botanical gardens in Vancouver, and I was the best man. It was a small wedding under a tent in the gaudy showiness of nature.

In the middle of the ceremony, a group of 7 Canada Geese landed in the pond next to the tent, with very loud honking. Everyone goes silent for a second.

My brother deadpans in a loud clear voice "Damn it, they wern't supposed to come until AFTER the vows."

Big laugh all around.

Maybe it is the snow outside my window

but this cartoon made me laugh my ass off:

I'm just sayin'

Pot Edward Island II

I'm back from vacation, with lots of stories to tell about how I covered more of this country by air in the last two weeks than anyone should.

Sadly (or happily, depending on your point of view) I have a ton of work to catch up on, but I did want to show you this from the National Post, where the guy who wrote the Pot Edward Island article tries to defend himself.... funny stuff:

The author of an article in a Boston newspaper that claimed Prince Edward Island was a marijuana paradise has fired back at Canadians who derided his story as wildly inaccurate.

Alan Earls, a reporter for the Boston Phoenix weekly, had described P. E. I. as "Pot Edward Island," and claimed among other things that it has become a haven for dope growers fuelled by cheap Quebec electricity.

In reality, P. E. I. gets most of its power from New Brunswick, and Denis Morin, and RCMP spokesman quoted in the article about the seizure of increasing amounts of marijuana in the province later said that the figures were "quite minor in the scale of things for P. E. I. and Canada."

In a response to his critics in Monday's edition of the newspaper, Mr. Earls said they were motivated by "anger that a dumb American would have the audacity to find fault with anything Canadian (it is tough, I'll admit), let alone anything having to do with Canada's garden spot, P. E. I."

Fuck you too.

EDITED TO ADD:

I found his full response on the website of the self-agrandizing rag he writes for. I feel compelled, in the interest of fairness, to share it all.... which is more accurate or fair than this hack was:

ALAN R. EARLES RESPONDS
Prince Edward Island is probably the nicest place I’ve ever visited. There, I’ve said it. Unfortunately, when I’ve traveled there (twice, in 2006 and 2008), I have also discovered that, despite the fact that it looks like paradise, it has problems just like other places. In particular, the provincial newspapers have had quite a few stories about local pot growers. So, I got interested and wrote an article for the Phoenix about this aspect of PEI that is not well known to outsiders and which, in fact, probably should worry islanders.

Folks up north nailed me on a couple of reporting errors — like my statement that PEI imports “cheap” electricity from Quebec (it actually comes from New Brunswick). I was also told repeatedly by Canadian critics that I had named the wrong person as director of the PEI Federation of Agriculture. After re-checking my facts, however, I found that I was indeed right and my friends in Canada were wrong: the holder of the title is in fact Mike Nabuurs (though I did miss the last two consonants on his name in my piece — sorry Mike!).

The article was not meant to suggest that PEI has become a giant exporter of pot or a major narcotics haven north of the border. Rather, the point was to contrast an ongoing and seemingly worsening situation with PEI’s image as a clean, peaceful, and serene destination. That this situation could worsen or could impact the larger picture of drug trafficking in New England and in the Maritimes seems implicit. The minor factual errors in the story do not undercut the accuracy of this message.

The errors weren't "minor", they were throughout the entire story, and most of the premise. He tries to sound like the "cheap" electricity comes from New Brunswick, when in fact, it just isn't cheap.

See that Colbertesque truthiness at work. Say you got the name wrong, not the entire idea of the cheap electricity.

From the tortured prose in the original, and the slick ass covering in the response, this clown is the sort of guy I warn people about... the reporter with the story already written in their head before they even talk to anyone.

Now, on to my vacation stories.

Pot Edward Island?

An article from the Boston Phoenix has some of my fellow Islanders very upset, branding Prince Edward Island as a pot grower's paradise.

A link to the story here

A local CBC story about the Tourism Minister expressing rage here.

The article is based on one shooting of an elderly gent who was operating a grow op in rural PEI. Thing is, that was in 2004 and this is not.... not that I blame a farmer for trying out new crops, potatoes don't fetch what they used to.

Plus, the writer is a little overwrought, if you get my drift. Here is the lead paragraph:

When you think of PEI, you probably come up with crisp, clean-cut tourist-brochure images: lush and rolling hills, tranquil ocean beaches, villages of whitewashed cottages and, inevitably, the smiling face of the island’s indefatigably cheery heroine, Anne of Green Gables. But while Lucy Maud Montgomery’s fictional Edwardian character maintained her Pollyanna disposition on the strength of nothing but her spunk and a cheerily romantic vision of how life should be, it seems modern-day islanders have discovered another way to smile through the summer and avoid the blues during the bleak local winters.

Try to read it starting at the second line, and see if you can make it through without a breath. Then he gets into describing a "lurid" story in The Guardian... really, "Hey everybody, watch out for grow ops" isn't that damn lurid.

Want to see something lurid, how about this description of PEI, describing four city police forces (there are really only two) and "dry" communities in PEI. I live in a territory with actual dry communities, and there is not a dry community on PEI, unless they mean without a liquor store in the community... just drive for 15 minutes, you'll hit a LC on the Island.

Getting an authoritative picture of the province’s pot industry is difficult.

No kidding, especially when you are writing from Boston and can't get simple facts right, like the amount of cops and the legality of alcohol.

The writer also says that PEI pot is fueled by cheap electricity from Quebec... untrue, so untrue.

something that may be deep-rooted in the largely libertarian attitudes of PEI and the Maritimes in general.

So, are Islanders "largely libertarian" or are they scared of the big bad dope growers? Anyone who has lived in the Maritimes can attest that the residents are far from libetarians.

Then the writer quotes The Guardian's comments section... because anonymous message board posts are clearly the best look into a community's psyche.

Officialdom is not immune to such sentiments either. In July 2003, when Marc Emery, a Vancouver activist on a crusade to make pot legal in Canada, performed his trademark stunt of getting high in public, Charlottetown police looked the other way and refused his invitation to arrest and prosecute.

That part is true, but they are adding motive where none exists. Emery wanted to get arrested, and the City Cops couldn't be bothered to arrest him.

The City Cops really don't much care about weed. I remember being outside the backdoor of a wellknown Charlottetown nightclub with a group of people who were, as Black Thought would say, "huffing on the tenth letter".

A woman officer for the Charlottetown PD started making her way carefully down the alley, acknowledged us, and kept on creeping.

We found out the next day that there had been a stabbing a few blocks away and she was chasing the stabber. Good work City Cops, keeping your eye on the ball.

Why give Emery any more free publicity?

Many of the mainstream farmers Nabuu represents — for the most part a prosperous bunch in this “Garden of the Gulf” — aren’t paying much attention to the burgeoning industry.

This one gets a big FUCK YOU from me. PEI's farmers are not prosperous. A few factory farmers are for sure, but I've visited with potato farmers getting less than one cent a pound.

If you are going to make sweeping statements about a province, at least show up, douche.

The article finishes with:

Alan R. Earls is a Boston-area writer. He can be reached atearls_alan@yahoo.com.

He can also go fuck himself... not for promoting PEI Red-Hair, the jewel of the Million Acre Farm, but for taring the province with a brush -- weilded without art, grace, style or substance -- and he couldn't even be bothered to visit.

Bigger than life, and twice as tough

Joseph gets bigger every day, and here are two cool pics to share of my 10 month old baby boy. Inflatable Elvis got a full taste of his baby of rage routine last night, when Joseph kicked his ass but good.


UCLA like thuggin' style at work.

We don't feed the baby chocolate, but he found some. I got home for lunch, and saw some clothes stained brown.. I assumed the worst, a poop explosion of sorts.



Nope, just a silly baby who found some chocolate.

Sovereignty Squad

Operation Nanook is coming up, which is like Christmas in August for reporters here in Nunavut. The Armed forces come in and put on a show for everyone and get in some very unique training. Reporters get to tag along and send the story everywhere else.

That is key, what is a sovereignty exercise if there is no one there to take pictures? It is a tree falling in the forest, and does nothing to reinforce Canadian claims to the Arctic.

Luckily the good folks at Joint Task Force North know that, and few things I have done with them have been fantastic. They are JTFN, and we, the media are the Sovereignty Squad, bolstering their claims with independant 3rd party journalism.

Plus, it is fun. I've been to the Eureka Weather Station, and I never would have been there if it wasn't for the Forces. This time out, I am on board ships for three days and then I'm spending two days on the land with the Rangers.

All that said, I always laugh when I get the waiver to sign for the Forces. It is the most uniquely northern document I have ever been asked to sign (except for the Legion membership application, where you have to state you aren't a communist).

Here is the funny part:

"I understand that military activities in northern regions of Canada involve unique additional inherent risks including but not limited to:

-- geographic and temporal disorientation (how very Star Trek, temporal disorientation)
-- falling onto and through ice and packed snow
-- wind-chill freezing of exposed flesh (Welcome to Iqaluit)
-- hypothermia
-- frostbite
-- trench foot (Stay out of trenches)
-- immersion foot
-- dehydration
-- hypothermia
-- cold diuresis (I don't even know what this one means)
-- sun burn
-- snow blindness
-- constipation
-- and wild animal attacks"

Now that is a waiver... and you have to release the Queen from any responsability. Your Majesty, whatever happens will likely be my own fault, so I do release you.

I am America, and so can you

Stephen Colbert is America's last best hope.

Who else could say this with a straight face:

"Throughout the 1970s, white men were caricatured in “whitesploitation” films like Death Wish and Annie Hall."

Enjoy the weekend.

Blogging bits

Since it is summer, blogging has slowed to a crawl. A stop even. So, to tide you over until the snow starts flying again, some bits of blog, short ones:

-- I caught my first char on Sunday, after three years trying. He was small, but had hooked himself so bad, catch and release wasn't an option. I got blood all over my sunglasses trying to put him out of his misery.



-- Our son is so tall that when he went to the doctor yesterday, he was too tall for the baby measure they have. Joseph Too Tall fears nothing. He is standing and dancing, just not walking yet, but he started giving everyone high fives yesterday.

-- Tonight on APTN National News, I find a way to carry a slushie on camera for most of a story. Worst tasting slushie ever, I think they forgot the sugar. In related news, it went up to 23 degrees on Monday.

-- The Swedish military landed in force on the weekend. The poor guy I was talking to, the only words I said that he understood were "Mats Sundin". NHL, cutting through cultural barriers.

-- In the last two weeks I've seen a handful of CF-18's and the Swedish jets taking off from the airport. Wow... so loud, as I live next door to the airport.

-- I have a new talent, now I am going to be doing a little camera work to go with my on air stuff. The more skills I can add up, the better. News is all moving toward one medium. If you want to have a career in it, you better learn how to use all the tools. On that subject though, if you own a chisel, you aren't always a carver, so we'll see.

-- Saturday is Parks Day, my first solo shooting assignment. No bears please.

See you in September :)

Riccochets

It is here by popular demand, and by popular, I got one e-mail asking to see this video online.

There is a video out there on the internet that is very famous as being the sickest goddamn thing you can ever see. I'm going to spell it out, because I don't really want the traffic that would bring.... let's call it

T-W-O G-I-R-L-S O-N-E C-U-P

Yes, that video. I've seen it. It is gross. Very gross. So gross that it inspired a response, followed by many.

That is the riccochet. This video was originally posted to promote a pornographic movie. After going through the mass filter of the interweb, a popular trend emerged.

Show the sick video to friends and loved ones, and tape their response. It is safe to watch at work, and doesn't show any sick stuff. Just people being grossed out, which is good clean fun for all.

You have to love a medium that can reform a concept like that into something like this.

My favourite hip-hop group, the one and one and one and only hip-hop band The Roots gathered around the computer to watch the video. Kermit the Frog has a famous response up there as well, but Kermit, well, Kermit has strange tastes.

So, me being a bit of a sadist, showed that infamous video to my lovely partner, taped her response, and put it up here for us all to enjoy. She does say a few bad words though, but you would too:

Give a hoot, or get hurt

More PEI goodness.

This from www.cbc.ca/pei

A 21-year-old Summerside man landed in the hospital early Wednesday morning after he fell out of a moving vehicle.

RCMP said the man was a passenger in a van coming home from a beach party in Chelton, between Summerside and Borden. Police said he opened the van door to throw away a beer bottle and fell onto the road.

He suffered major injuries to his feet and head and remains in hospital. RCMP said he wasn't wearing a seatbelt.

The incident is under investigation and charges may be laid.

Send in the public relations department

Thank goodness for the good PR people at my employer. They put out a press release detailing something I think is a big deal.

If you live in Manitoba or west of there, and use Shaw Cable to get your TV, your listings for APTN are three hours off. We give them a western feed, they refuse to use it.

This is where I would start a nasty rant, but seeing as I am employed by said broadcaster, and work in news, it isn't very professional for me to go off like nuts.

Our PR department put out a press release, and as they are the one paid to speak for the network, here is what they had to say:

APTN ADVISORY:
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING THE APTN BROADCAST
SIGNAL AND SCHEDULING IN THE WESTERN PROVINCES

Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) would like to alert its viewers in the
western provinces to recent changes in service delivery which may be causing
discrepancies with posted scheduling information.

On October 2, 2006, APTN launched a third dedicated broadcast feed to better
accommodate its viewers in the western provinces. The new time-delayed west feed
(based on Pacific Time rather than Eastern Time) was implemented by APTN to ensure
that its programming is seen at appropriate times across the country. This enhancement also facilitated the planned addition of unique programming, more relevant to viewers in the western region.

APTN has made every reasonable effort to inform cable and satellite providers serving
the western provinces of these enhancements and has made numerous requests that
they discontinue use of the APTN East signal and instead provide the more appropriate
APTN West signal to viewers situated west of the Manitoba/Saskatchewan border.

Although some cable providers have accommodated this request, unfortunately, Shaw
Communications, the company that is accountable to APTN’s principal western viewers
stated that as of April, 2008 it would switch all of its systems to the APTN East Feed,effectively discontinuing the West Feed service that it had started to carry in some of its markets.

Because the APTN West feed is the appropriate feed for the western provinces,
scheduling information is distributed to service providers, on-line and print publications BASED ON THE WEST FEED. This has resulted in a three-hour discrepancy in
scheduling information for viewers in the west who are currently receiving the incorrect East broadcast signal.

APTN regrets any inconvenience to affected viewers and encourages them to contact
their cable/satellite provider directly if they are currently experiencing these scheduling issues. Viewers are also encouraged to obtain updated scheduling information directly from the APTN website.

A political endorsement

Although no one will care, and it will not make a difference as I am

1 - Canadian
2 - As far away from America as you can get and still be in Canada
3 - Not a voter



I am officially endorsing Barack Obama in his bid to become President of our neighbours to the far south. What did Senator Obama have to do to become the officially endorsed candidate of yours truly....

Wasn't much really, he just had to not be the other guy...



Do not let his kindly old man schtick fool you. This man is the Devil. Not like in the Satan kind of way, but in the way that The Waterboy's Mom called everyone the Devil.... Dick Clark for example.



I was frightened enough by his belief that the war in Iraq could go on 100 years, but this is what really made me think. Move On.org (hardly unbiased, but they do have John Cusack) put out this list. Click here for footnotes.

Here are 10 things you likely didn't know about John McCain (with footnotes):



1 - John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has "evolved," yet he's continued to oppose key civil rights laws.1

Why do we never see photos of Dr. King smiling by the way.... I bet he did a lot.



2 -According to Bloomberg News, McCain is more hawkish than Bush on Iraq, Russia and China. Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan says McCain "will make Cheney look like Gandhi."2

Buchanan worked for Nixon.... he would know.



His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but McCain voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then applauded President Bush for vetoing that ban.3

You'd think that getting beaten half to death and suffering in Vietnam would give a guy some empathy...



McCain opposes a woman's right to choose. He said, "I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned."4

Here is a hint... NEVER search Roe Vs Wade on Google Images.



The Children's Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst senator in Congress for children. He voted against the children's health care bill last year, then defended Bush's veto of the bill.5

Kids with guns, another Google Image no no no.



He's one of the richest people in a Senate filled with millionaires. The Associated Press reports he and his wife own at least eight homes! Yet McCain says the solution to the housing crisis is for people facing foreclosure to get a "second job" and skip their vacations.6



Many of McCain's fellow Republican senators say he's too reckless to be commander in chief. One Republican senator said: "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He's erratic. He's hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me."7

These people who sit with Ted Kennedy, day after day, getting a chill over someone's temper.



McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but his campaign manager and top advisers are actually lobbyists. The government watchdog group Public Citizen says McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential candidates.8



McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious right in recent years. The pastor McCain calls his "spiritual guide," Rod Parsley, believes America's founding mission is to destroy Islam, which he calls a "false religion." McCain sought the political support of right-wing preacher John Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for gay rights and called the Catholic Church "the Antichrist" and a "false cult."9



He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters last year.10

There you go. Vote for Barack Obama my American friends, he isn't the other guy.

I also endorse Arrowroot Cookies, Battlestar Galactica and Grover of the Muppets.

New Music

Andrew Scott may be the most underrated drummer in Canada, but don't you just want to wipe the smirk off of Murphy's face... the hard way.

Two quick ones for yas. Weezer and Sloan both have new albums, check out some quick clips I ripped off from the Globe and Mail:

OK, I can't link to the clips, due to their Adobe player and my utter futility at doing anything on the internet that I hadn't perfect before 2003.



But go here and see for yourself.

I'm liking the Sloan one, seems they have scaled back their sound a little.

"I don't want no po-lice
I don't want no po-lice"

In music related news, Alianait has Dave Bidini... cool.

To celebrate my 101st post

I thought I would combine two of the geekiest things I can think of, LOLCats and Battlestar Galactica... courtesy of the obsessed at www.scifi.com/battlestar

When bad things happen to bad people

Bridgette Bardot was the first wrongheaded celebrity to oppose the seal hunt....

What goes around comes around... from the Associated Press:

PARIS, France (AP) -- A Paris court on Tuesday convicted Brigitte Bardot of provoking discrimination and racial hatred for writing that Muslims are destroying France.

The court also handed down a $23,325 fine against the former screen siren and animal rights campaigner.

A leading French anti-racism group known as MRAP filed a lawsuit last year over a letter she sent to then-Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy. The remarks were published in her foundation's quarterly journal.

In the December 2006 letter to Sarkozy, now the president, Bardot said France is "tired of being led by the nose by this population that is destroying us, destroying our country by imposing its acts."

She was referring to the Muslim feast of Aid el-Kebir, celebrated by slaughtering sheep.

French anti-racism laws prevent inciting hatred and discrimination on racial or religious or racial grounds. Bardot had been convicted four times previously for inciting racial hatred.

Keep your head down

For the other Northern reporters on the blogs, here is a face you may recognize (if it wasn't for the pixelation which makes her look like she is in witness protection):



Katherine O'Neill (nee Harding... always wanted to use a nee) handles much of the northern coverage for the Globe and Mail, and she is blogging now...

from Afghanistan.

You can read her gifted prose over here:

Stay safe Katherine, I haven't lost a Facebook friend to war yet and I don't plan on starting with you... besides, without you I would again be the most hated reporter in a small hamlet that shall remain nameless.

Mea Culpa

This is a great case of reporter correcting a mistake in as big a font they made it in, regardless if the error is their fault or the fault of bad information.

The Charlottetown Guardian reported on the axe weilding incident I posted about earlier. Following the publication of that story, their comments section was filled, including one well written post from a young woman who was on the bus. She told a different version than the one provided by the police.

Now the police are changing their story, and the reporter has to wear it... and she does, while pointing out that the mistake wasn't just hers. The mighty fire axe scandal continues to fill up a news vacuum on PEI.

And watch the police blame the school board... behind political patronage and 100 per cent hindsight, finger pointing may be the third strongest PEIism.

Here is the story:

Police start from scratch in axe probe
TERESA WRIGHT
The Guardian

City police are “starting from scratch’’ in their investigation of last week’s incident on a P.E.I. school bus in which one student tried to strike another with the emergency fire axe, after some information initially reported publicly has been challenged.

Deputy Chief Richard Collins told The Guardian Monday some of the details originally released by the Eastern School District last week have since been contradicted by parents of children on board the bus at the time — as well as some of the students themselves.

This led to Collins giving the media reports last week on the incident that may not have been exactly as they occurred, he said Monday.

“The information that we were given on Friday was information that was afforded us by a representative of the Eastern School District,’’ Collins said.

“That information was very cryptic, very sparse. But it was information we felt was part of their investigation of this whole incident and what they were doing internally as a school district involving these kids.’’

Since then, parents of one of the students have contacted police with another take on the events that occurred on the Eastern School District bus last Wednesday.
It all started when a 17-year-old male student was hit by styrofoam Nerf darts thrown by some other students.

On Friday, Collins told The Guardian he believed this student felt he was being bullied by two students throwing the darts.

Then one of them stood up to collect their darts.

“He apparently went back and threw that student to the floor of the bus. Another student intervened and allegedly punched him,’’ Collins said in an interview last Friday.

That’s when he went to the front of the bus, grabbed the axe and started toward the back of the bus.

But parents of one of the two implicated as the dart throwers have since come forward, telling police their son was an innocent bystander who got caught in the crossfire.

“What the parents are saying is — ‘No, what happened is the dart was shot, my son had picked up the dart and was bringing it back to the rear of the bus when for some reason the guy with the axe saw him . . . grabbed him and threw him to the floor,’’ Collins told The Guardian Monday.

“There is an assumption that their son was a bully or one of the bullies that started this whole thing unfolding.’’

It was also initially reported by the Eastern School District that the student with the axe walked toward the back of the bus and lifted the weapon in preparation to hit the boy with the axe’s wooden handle.

Now, a number of eyewitnesses are saying he was actually holding the axe as someone would when going to chop wood.

Collins said police are now going back and revisiting all details before making any decisions on charges.

“I’m not totally happy with the way this unfolded from our perspective. We were afforded very sketchy information on Friday.’’

Police were not formally involved until Friday morning, and were given very little information to go on, Collins said. They were given only the name of one person involved — the student who had the axe.

“We never even had the names of the other students involved in this altercation on the bus. We didn't know about it until well after it happened. I’m not trying to be critical here, but I really think any information that was given by them should have been exact, should have been detailed and should have been substantiated. Because today we find ourselves starting from scratch because we had nothing.’’

When contacted for comment on the issue, Eastern School District superintendent Sandy MacDonald said he is not handling this file.

It’s in the hands of Eastern School District’s director of student services Adrian Smith, who was out of his office Monday. MacDonald was surprised police would be upset by the process followed in this incident.

Listed'ed

Nailed.... my ability to rant about PEI politics without the glare of fellow Islanders is over.

I've been listed at www.peiblogs.com

Shit, I even went and voted, giving myself 10 stars.... after reading that Clinton article, I thought I was entitled to a little hubris.

Now that I am recognized, I want a column in The Guardian... if Todd MacLean can have one... (I kid, Todd is the man).

The part that is driving me nuts is that you can read every word of my blog on their site.. it captures this here and puts it up there.

HEY LAZY PEIBLOG.COM READING JERKS, CLICK ON OVER HERE AND LOOK AT MY BEAUTIFUL FORMAT AND COOL ASS HEADER PHOTO.

The Comeback Id

“I don’t think I should take any shit from anybody on that, do you?”
-- Former President William Jefferson Clinton

Great article in Vanity Fair (click above for the link)on Bill Clinton's post-presidential career, and how do you control a force of nature prone to hubris and lapses of judgement.

They get into how his temper fuels Hillary, his association with Belinda Stronach, and Canadian mining firms.

For Democratic self abuse, take this quote:

“The ills of the Democratic Party can be seen perfectly in the willingness of fellow Democrats to say bad things about President Clinton. If you ask any Republican about Reagan they will say he still makes the sun rise in the morning, but if you ask Democrats about their only two-term president in 80 years, a man who took the party from the wilderness of loserdom to the White House and created the strongest economy in American history, they’d rather be quoted saying what a reporter wants to hear than protect a strong brand for the party. Republicans look at this behavior and laugh at us.”

Lots of allegations of womanizing as well.. a good read from beginning to end.

Beating up the bullies

From today's Charlottetown Guardian, covering the Island like the Dew....

KID GRABS AXE TO SCARE OFF BULLIES

To make a long story short, a kid was a frequent victim of bullies on his school bus on PEI. School buses are a tough one, one adult trying to keep everyone alive while the kids run wild. My bus ride was an hour each way when I went to school on PEI.

So, the kid gets hit with some Nerf darts, flips, and grabs an axe from the front of the bus and heads towards his attackers. Some other kids stop him -- either through talking or grabbing, probably both.

Now here is where my observations of my fellow Islanders comes into play. No one likes a bully, and the best response to bullying is always to fight back. I have had a number of bloody noses for that line of thinking.

I was one of the smaller bookish kids they are talking about getting bullied, but I also have a temper and learned early on that getting punched only hurts so much... a lesson I suppose I'll have to someday teach my infant son. Thanks tackle football, I learned pain management well.

"Listen son, I'm not saying to hit these guys, but if you do, hit hard and don't stop until someone makes you stop." He's a big kid, I feel bad for the bullies.

Getting away from bullies is like getting away from a bear, you only have to be faster than the other guys, not the bear. You have to make yourself an undesirable target. I will raise my boy to not be a victim.

As my Dad always said, "Well, if he hits you first..."

So, I've been pushed around on the bus, but my ego seems to have escaped unscathed, I was faster than the other "bookish" kids.

I've seen horrific things on school buses in PEI. Bus bullying has a long history on "The Gentle Island", and I understand the response... in favor of the kid with the axe.

The comments section following the article is very much in favor of the kid with the axe.... no kidding. Here is a selection:

-- The bullies on the bus are to blame. It should be their names that are printed and they need to be held accountable for their actions.

-- What those bullies need is a good sh!t kicking. Its too bad the only weapon the poor kid had was an axe, that wa a bit much. A baseball bat would have made the proper point, quit bullying my or the next time it won't be a bat.

-- Apparently, yesterday, he finally had enough of their crap. Hope the discipline dished out to the bullies is at least as harsh as the kid who picked up the axe. Actually, I hope the kid who was bullied gets no discipline, whatsoever.

-- I hate to say this, but if the bullies had gotten a taste of the axe, I wouldn't have much sympathy for them. They brought it on themselves.

-- If that kid got the chance to whack one of those Bullies with the axe....... there'd no more bullying on that bus! I feel bad for that axe-wielding kid.

-- It's interesting how everyone seems to be in agreement that the bullies need a harsher punishment than the kid who picked up the axe...Let's hope the school board feels the same way as well.

-- Stop making this kid sound like an axe swinging murderer. He was goin to hit him with the wooden end! It would have hurt but not likely killed.

-- If I was the kid who was being bullied, I would have done the same thing, and there had been times where i had felt that way. I feel there is no solution to stop bullying.

-- Yes, we must NOT blame the kid with the axe - as one can only handle so much.......maybe a good whack would have stopped the bullies from ever bullying again! they need a good pounding put on them!!

-- Its really to bad, he didnt kick some As*

-- i applaud this young fella for standing up for himself this happens too much and it took a lot of balls to stand up for himself and i bet you he feels like a new man now

The people of PEI have spoken... it is OK to weild an axe at a bully, as long as you don't use the sharp end.

Me, I would have just recommended a crazy flurry of punches, until they made you stop.... or they beg for mercy.

Credit where credit is due

To Inflatable Elvis for this bad-ass new photo for my header....

Yeah, I look like a foreign correspondent, like I was in The West Bank or something.

Watch our show tomorrow to see for yourself exactly what I am up to.

Cylons for McCain

Maybe John McCain is the final Cylon... we would never see that coming.

Star Wars Trumpet Solo

2.3 million views can't be wrong, just watch it:

Ticking Time Bomb

EDITOR'S NOTE: This post is all PEI inside chatter. If you have a passing interest in eccentric millionaries, Liberal Party politics and small town pushing matches, read on. Or, if you follow PEI politics, you'll dig it. Otherwise, tomorrow I'll rant about the Lost finale.

Tim Banks has a blog.

If you aren't from PEI, this will mean very little to you. To me, it is an unrivaled source of potential chaos.

Mr. Banks is one of those PEI business figures who looms over the province like the mist from potato chemicals. He owns APM, which is responsible for most of the new construction on PEI and much of the Maritimes. He also owns a home which may or may not be illegally placed on PEI's sand dunes.

He is further more a well connected Liberal, and former party President on PEI. Paul Martin comes to PEI, he stays at Tim Banks', I don't know if he is tight with Dion or not.

Banks is a self-made millionaire, and a bit of an ecentric one. He loves to be in the press, and whenever one of his developments has faced a zoning problem, he is front and center. He also appears on political panels and the like.

With this blog, an unfiltered venue for him to speak his mind, he will shoot himself in the balls.

He is already attacking the bloated provincial government golf industry, and good on him for it... of course, it is because him and his buddies lost their tee times, but still, the enemy of your enemy...

Of course, his friends now run that clusterfuck of a good old boys network... but he can't resist commenting... the potential for hilarity is massive.

Moreover, he has enough money to go and buy himself new balls once he shoots his current set off.

This blog will be entertaining to me for a while, me thinks.

I'ev only had one dealing with Mr Banks, when I was a student working as a waiter over the summer. He tipped 15 per cent, and I got a kick out of watching his son run around with a lobster bib on like a Superman cape. He was a good customer.

That, and he once passed me in his very nice looking sports car. I would have passed me too.

True facts

Arrowroots Rule

Arrowroot cookies are Mr Christie's gift to parenting. That is all.

Inside Job

Ever think that reporters are all in it together, some sort of liberal media conspiracy.... here is some evidence. From today's Nunatsiaq News, on the closure of the infamous Kamotiq Restaurant in Iqaluit:



THAT'S MY HAMBURGER. There were five reporters at that table. Check out what one of them had to say about the Kamotiq's last day:

The Kamotiq has been closed before - by the liquor inspector, the fire inspector, the health inspector, and by its own staff, when they decided to not show up to work. But this time, it seems, the closure is permanent.

Or better yet, read the story yourself here

I hadn't been there in months, mostly because the smoke pouring from the kitchen was deemed unsafe for our baby... no one likes a kid that sweats grease.



EDITOR'S NOTE: All photos brazenly stolen from Nunatsiaq News.

That's some sick shit

like two dogs fucking a cat.

Read on true believer:

Seal tries sex with penguin
First known example of sex attempt between mammal, other vertebrate

A seal has been caught on camera trying to have sex with a penguin.

This seems to be the first known example of a sexual escapade between a mammal and another kind of vertebrate such as a bird, reptile or fish, "although some mammals are known to have attempted sexual relief with inanimate — including dead things — objects," said researcher Nico de Bruyn, a mammal ecologist at the University of Pretoria in South Africa.

One summer morning, scientists observing elephant seals on a beach on Marion Island near the Antarctic spotted a young male Antarctic fur seal subduing a king penguin.

"At first we thought it was hunting the penguin, but then it became clear that his intentions were rather more amorous," de Bruyn recalled today via email.

The roughly 240-pound seal subdued the 30-pound adult penguin by lying on it. The hapless bird of unknown sex struggled, rapidly flapping its flippers and attempting to stand and flee, without luck.

The seal then alternated between resting on the penguin and thrusting its pelvis at the bird in vain attempts to insert its penis for 45 minutes. Natural, unsuccessful sexual escapades by this variety of seal with members of its own species may last as long as this penguin assault did, "but yes, it is quite a long time and thus unusual," de Bruyn told LiveScience.

The seal then abruptly gave up, moving to sea and completely ignoring the target of its affections. The penguin apparently did not suffer any injury. The scientists detailed their findings in the May issue of the Journal of Ethology.

Sexual harassment is common in the animal kingdom — "Homo sapiens are often testimony to that," de Bruyn said.

Many species perform some form of sexual harassment on members of their own species, "for a variety of reasons many of which are hotly debated," he added.

Many species of seal are polygynous, where one male mates with many females. The males often fight each other to control females.

"This system thus promotes extreme aggression in males towards each other, and if a male cannot control a beach, this aggression may spill over to sexual aggression directed at outlying females, pups or even in rare cases other seal species," de Bruyn said.

And this sexual aggression apparently might leap well beyond the species gap.

The Antarctic fur seals of Marion Island are the only ones known that eat king penguins. The thrill of the hunt felt by the seal the researchers saw may have channeled into its sex drive, as the mating season had just come to an end.

"It may have wanted to eat it and half-way through the chase changed its mind," de Bruyn speculated. "I personally believe the link between aggressive and sexual behavior is evolutionarily far closer linked than we currently believe. This has obvious implications for humans."