Posts from — December 2008

Neil Macdonald, the CBC Washington corespondent has a nice explanation of what has been going on in Canada for a US audience: Dear neighbour, about what’s going on in Canada

The effect of the Hedgemony [or possibly hockey] is being felt in Canadian politics. Via Elayne an interesting set of subtitles have been added to a film clip at YouTube: The Harper Dictatorship.

Ship of Fools has announced its annual Twelve Days of Kitschmas collection.

Act now and you can get your “Rosary Credit Card” to help you pay for all this stuff.

Yes, it is the day that kindly old Saint Nicholas fills the footware of good little girls and boys with treats [or his assistants beat the evil out of bad children, depending on the local customs – they didn’t just leave the sticks, in some places they use them.] Don’t forget the carrot if he rides a horse in your area.

He is the patron saint of Russian merchants.

The BBC reports that “The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Alexiy II, has died at the age of 79.”

I’m not a fan of the KGB or its agents.

Peter the Great was right to eliminate the office, and the Soviets resurrected it to control the Church in Russia.

You are not going to win the War On Terror™ or any other conflict with people like this guy in the Australian Broadcasting article: Mumbai gunmen probably still on the loose: US experts

David Kilcullen, who has served as a senior counterterrorism adviser to US General David Petraeus and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said he agreed that were probably more attackers.
…

The fighters had high-level professional training, Mr Kilcullen said.

They entered the city by sea, launched diversionary strikes, and seized two hotels and a Jewish centre, where they held off authorities and rampaged for three days.

“A SEAL team would have had trouble mounting this operation,” Kilcullen said, referring to US Navy commandos regarded as among the most skilled special forces.

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Turn Up The Heat

How about a fire?

[Editor: Property joins the ‘Old Folks’ to share some body heat. She was making her get away when the camera finally took the picture.

Friday Ark

While listening to The World on the radio they ran a piece on The Churches Advertising Network in the UK that had a competition to explain the Nativity in a 30-second ad. The winner is on YouTube, but hit the “competition” link to hear the runners up. Pretty funny stuff.

If you have never seen it, you should also see Eddie Izzard’s “Cake or Death” routine on YouTube.

Happy NODWISH Greetings

As a service to my readers I have compiled a list of useful terms for our modern global village.

It is time to wish family and friends: [select one]

Happy NODWISH
Merry Solstice
Happy Hanukkah
Happy Kwanzaa
С Рождеством Христовым
Sung Tan Chuk Ha
Vrolijk Kerstfeest
Nadolig Llawen
Fröhliche Weihnachten
Joyeux Noël
Buon Natale
Feliz Navidad
God Jul
Happy Hogwatch
Happy Christmas

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Harper stalls and the Governor General punts:

Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean has granted a request from Stephen Harper to suspend Parliament until late next month, the prime minister announced on Thursday, a move that avoids a confidence vote set for Monday that could have toppled his minority government.

“Following my advice, the Governor General has agreed to prorogue Parliament,” Harper said outside Rideau Hall after a two-hour meeting with Jean.

“When Parliament resumes Jan. 26, the first order of business will be the presentation of a federal budget.”

So, they’ll have to wait until the end of January to say they don’t like him, and nothing will happen between now and then, except that economic conditions will deteriorate.

Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, who is not running for President because it is too soon, is attending fundraisers in Texas, because a politician needs a lot of money not to run for President.

… and how can Santa Claus visit every house, go down chimneys, leave toys, all over the world in one night?

One of the answers is found on European Christmas trees.

Read about Finland’s version of the Julbock, Joulupukki.

Note: Don’t try this at home unless you have the kidneys of a reindeer. It also explains why gnomes are so cheerful.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper addressed the nation explaining how sneaky and underhanded the other side was for having a majority of the seats in Parliament and believing that they should run things.

He didn’t address how what Dion and the Liberals are doing today is significantly different than what he did in 2004 with the same two parties to overturn a Liberal government.

The basic is problem is that it is apparently impossible for any single party to win a majority of seats in Parliament, so, for the foreseeable future Canada will be ruled by minority governments or coalitions. That was the decision of the voters in October, and I sincerely doubt that a lot of people have changed their minds in the intervening two months.

So now the decision is left to the unelected Governor General who would probably have preferred to stay in Europe on a series of state visits [and possibly Christmas shopping].

My outside opinion is that Dion isn’t the only Canadian party leader who will be replaced in the near future.

Once again, Why Now? is pleased to present the link to the webcam of Gävlebocken, The biggest Christmas Goat in the world [now with a blog].

From Steve Bates of Yellow Doggerel Democrat in the comments from 2006:

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