Abandoned Stuff by Saskboy

OK, who leaves behind a digital recorder that was left on by accident? The same person who leaves behind Secret documents, that’s who. Yeeeesh.

And bankers can take it up the… yeah.

“Neither Ms. MacDonnell nor the minister knew the conversations was being recorded. … It (tape recorder) was turned on inadvertently in the bag she was travelling with.”

But Moir ruled the five-hour and 16 minute recording should be public.

“It is wrong to deprive the press, and the public it serves, of remarks made privately but not confidentially in the sense of trade secrets,” he said.

The judge said the minister’s statement on the medical isotopes is important for the public to know and outweighs any potential harm to the reputation of MacDonnell.

“The issue of the political oversight of Canada’s medical isotope system is literally a matter of life and death for cancer patients. It is a matter of intense public interest,” he said.

“The handling of this issue by the government and the cabinet ministers is a matter of immediate public and political interest.”

In court documents, Chronicle Herald reporter Stephen Maher says he let MacDonnell know he had the device – which was found in a press gallery washroom – but she never picked it up from his offices on Parliament Hill.

It wasn’t until June 4 that the newspaper decided to listen to the tape, a day after MacDonnell resigned over a gaffe involving sensitive documents.

The judge said he “doubted” criminal laws preventing interception of private conversations would apply to the case because the recording was left in a public place.

CBC has more.

Ignatieff is so far doing a better job of countering the ridiculous, and cartoony Conservative attack ads, than Dion ever managed.

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And here’s a journal of the new Saskatchewan Liberal leader Ryan Bater.

Bater inherits a party with no seats in the legislature, but the party is trying a new platform based on traditional liberalism; one of fiscal responsibility, and a government that fosters personal initiative. They are also their own party now, separate from the federal Liberal party which weighed candidates down like stones around the neck. Any party for the long gun registry, whether it works or not (it doesn’t), is as good as dead in the West. Privatization isn’t a dirty word in the new Sask Liberal party. As Bater says, if it was political suicide to talk about privatization, how did the Sask Party get elected?

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And going back in time, here’s a famous Liberal premier of Saskatchewan, James G. Gardiner.

- recording of Gardiner

BONUS: Trudeau and Nixon

Harper in late 2008:
“We have a budget that’s in surplus, not a budget that’s in deficit.” (7:30 video 1of13)
“We’re paying off debt in Canada, not adding to our debt. We are creating jobs in this country, even in this slow year we are still creating jobs.” – Stephen Harper, 2008

“We’re keeping the economy on course, we’re not going into a recession, we have a slowdown. We are concerned about the ongoing job losses [...]” (8:30 video 3of13)

From A BCer in TO

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CTV is also on track to be the most biased TV station nation wide. And CanWest Global is still broadcasting for now, so they have stiff competition! There will be plenty of media station do-overs in the coming year.

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Look out Stephen, another plagiarist is on the march.

Is election fever gripping the nation, or is it a mild case of the swine flu? And no, I’m not worried if there’s an election (just work for elections Canada to recoup your taxes lost, and more), nor do I think swine flu in Saskatchewan is going to be a major problem.

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Hat tip Mark T.

I would HOPE Canada fares better in a similar survey of what people think of torturers. I only have a hope though, I don’t know if it’s true.

Silly RCMP, phasers set to kill are for Star Trek.

Farley Mowat wants STV for his 88th birthday on May 12, 2009.

Let’s hope British Columbia leads Canada into a proud, new, more democratic future one week from tonight.

Moawt is one of my favourite authors. I read at least two of his books as a young boy (and his books were of him growing up in Saskatchewan with an owl and a special dog [this link contains a spoiler for The Dog Who Wouldn't Be]). I later learned that my Dad had grown up with a pet owl at one time too.

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Hat tip to Devon R.

This time next year there will be a new Saskatchewan NDP leader, and it could be a young person from Regina, or even an old dude from Alberta.

The central issue appears to be nuclear power, and what to do about it. Of course being able to beat Brad Wall is on their to do list as well.

There’s an attempt to smear Dwain “Link” with this video, but it’s a ROAST, and is really funny.

It’s hilarious, just how a roast is supposed to be. If I were Dwain’s camp, I’d release it that way myself; it shows he can tell jokes. The Windows Movie Maker title screens just add to the satire of it all. It’s practically like The Onion.

And what’s this “Ryan Mieli WTO controversy” that Verbal Kint mentions? Turns out Ryan Meili was once arrested at a WTO protest. Woah, that’s completely unusual at a large protest. I’m more inclined to think that a North American arrest at a protest was unjust than I am to think that water is wet. I could not learn from the CBC story if he was convicted of any crime related to the arresting incident. Perhaps someone can shed light as to the result, and cause of the arrest?

As far as Deb Higgins goes, I haven’t met her. I’ve heard her speak at a convention, and I’ve known people who have spoken with her when she was a Minister of libraries, schools, and liquor. They were frustrated by her lack of support for library funding, as was I.

And if the NDP do go with a younger leader, it may take away some of the advantage that the Sask Liberals have with their young leader, Ryan Bater.

Some peoples expectations of privacy are changing. And some people have no sense of what is “too much” for the Internet. I could be accused of having no sense (as could 90% of bloggers), but at least I’m aware of the dangers of sharing my thoughts and photos on the Internet. It could lead me to be barred from visiting certain countries. If my country turns fascist, I’ll probably be among the first to be imprisoned or die. And if I ever lost my mind and ran for the NDP, I would probably not have my nomination paper signed by the leader.

However, I would never post a picture of (what appears to be) a woman holding my penis, or me holding a woman’s breast. For one thing, my girlfriend would kill me (whether the woman in the photo was her or not). However, not everyone has that kind of social structure in their life. And not even the NDP are open minded enough to permit such a person to run for government under their party’s name. After all, what would the prudes in Canada think? “My MLA might drop his pants in front of me on the Internet if I vote NDP?”

Ray Lam got hosed by the NDP, not by his carefree use of Facebook. People don’t respect most politicians because they deny they have many faces. Well, we saw a glimpse of Lam’s second (real) face, and the NDP kicked him quickly aside like trash for it. Yet what young person can’t sympathize with someone who has an unflattering photo posted of them on Facebook? Sure, most don’t put unflattering pictures of themselves on the Internet, but some people do. I do, because sometimes there’s a good reason (humour, social commentary, art, impress a friend, etc.).

And I fully expect that some in the Green Party would be unhappy with Chris’s photos online too. And to those prudes I can only say, “Get a life or I might pee on you!”

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It’s important for anonymous bloggers to remember that not everything they write will stay unattributed to them. An anonymous troll has outed Leftdog (as linked to here by Verbal Kint http://west102.blogspot.com/2009/04/jim-fodey-aka-leftdog-revealed.html). I think it’s more than a little scuzzy/prudish to hunt down a blogger’s true identity, and then anonymously post the revelation with libelous claims thrown in as kicks to the virtual groin.

I’ve known Leftdog’s name for maybe a couple years now, but haven’t bothered to release it because only a jerk would do such a thing to a fellow blogger. Everyone loves a solution to a mystery, but tabloid smears are for other people to have fun with. (http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/011237.html) I would rather other bloggers trust me to be honest and respect their wishes for privacy (even if I realize that their expectations will not be respected by others with a different moral code).

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I’m tempted to try the BC STV election here. I think there should be mock elections set up all over the Internet with realistic looking ballots, and real time examples to demonstrate different scenarios and results. The best way to learn something is by doing it, finding out what doesn’t work, and why it works better another way (unless you’re talking about something addictive and instantly harmful of course).

May’s latest book has been shared by the Globe And Mail, in part.

It’s also highly suitable that the “print edition” cover photo on this book review is “Party Animal” Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff. The book lambastes the party system of Parliament.

- Quite a lot of engaged citizens, who May implored to be even more engaged in politics by increasing their “footprint” of participation. It’s not a “spectator” sport. A person who knows a lot, but spends their time in the fetal position is not a useful political citizen.

- President Timmons and Dr. Wells on stage to introduce May. Timmons’ parents live nearly next door to May in Nova Scotia.

After her latest visit to Regina, I have some photos and video to share of the Green Party’s engaging leader.

- independent film makers interviewing May. Brett Dolter among the makers. Green Party youth in foreground, and a previous CS student in background.

I think this next is an even more interesting photo. Thanks to Jesse for careful aim.

- Left to right: Tim Ross among 2 film makers, Saskboy, unknown woman, May, Timmons, Jones, and a blog commenter who recognized having a conversation with me years ago, possibly on Screw Bronze.

This is naturally one of my favourite photos of the night:

- holding my XO laptop prominently for the photo. Photographer was Perry Bellgarde.
As I picked up my jacket on the table, I neglected to get my signed card back from Ms. May, so it was possibly she who got a collectible from me.

- May has left the building

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Not related, but funny, is this search conducted by someone who found my blog Saturday through Google, “how to stop your kid from having sex“. I’m apparently the leading Google-xpert on the subject.