does the hill times have any other contacts besides those in the liberal party? one. two. this comprises HALF of the lead stories. um - there's a lot more to politics than what the so-called natural governing party is floundering towards. interesting. and, hilarious.

there is so much going on, particularly in my own head. which is the way it always is, i suppose. anyway, here are some of the things i stumbled onto online today: one. sheesh. two. i love constitutions three. yes, good plan. they are renowned at stability! four. intense! perhaps they are punishing the Senators that challenged their help-the-poor program! five. interesting article on venzuelan socialism. six. these folks are crazy psychopaths. and are key RNC supporters. seven. wild and crazy! i listened to this stuff this morning on the radio.

this is just funny. need a better headline?

an interesting conversation about canada and the religious left. there are few opportunities for religious political expression in canada, where the wall between church and state may not exists fiscally, but rhetorically it's like an iron curtain. few political speeches rely on morality or faith to promote any cause; but there has been renewed energy into canada's religious left. democratic space had the first posting i saw on this long ago. The idea of an NDP faith caucus obviously spurred others opposed to the mix. Some fear the NDP will be hijacked as they allege the Respect Coalition has been. a couple of main-stream articles for good measure. one. two. very interesting topic. i'm turning on comments just for this conversation.

i have been doing a lot of reading in the spare time i've squeezed into my sister's fantabulous visit to the district. but none have left me so... mystified? whatever as this one. I have quoted much of it below with my comments interspersed. but before that, a few other articles that i thought were rich one. the national post certainly loves their headlines. two. they also apparently have no qualms pretending they know what it's like to be someone else. three. this man should lead the liberal party for this very reason. read it. much better than my nonsense below. four. "the true north strong and free" - who the hell are we? is this harper's people? WTF? In this article from The Hill Times, Mr. Perischilli writes: "Furthermore, it's a blatant waste of time to engage in a debate here in Canada over the interpretation of the word "measured," used by Prime Minister Stephen Harper while the real issue is the war going on between Palestinian and Israeli forces in a tormented war-torn land." If Mr.Perischilli was paying any attention, the complexity of the conflict could be eased by exploring the appropriate conflict - this being one between Hizb'Allah and Israel - differing greatly from that between Israel and the Palestinians. I believe that the Canadian debate is more of an opportunity to score points in the next election than to shape Canadian foreign policy. Ask yourself a couple of questions. Do you recognize the right of both Israel and Palestine to exist? Second, if the answer is, yes, how then do you handle those who are against those very principles? Because the core of the problem is exactly that. On both camps, Israel and Palestine, there are people, and they make up the majority, who would sincerely like to have peace. In fact their leaders, from time to time, sit down and shake hands. Just think of the very symbolic picture of Yasser Arafat shaking hands in Washington, D.C., with Yitzak Rabin or with Menachem Begin. Witness also the metamorphosis of hawks into doves on both sides. The "terrorist" Arafat receiving years later the Nobel Peace Price; as well as the hawk Ariel Sharon, becoming the person who put his political, and maybe his life, towards a peace project with the Palestinians. Unfortunately, in both camps there are radicals and extremists who are looking for a show-down and who try to skuttle every peace initiative. Rabin was killed by one of them in Tel Aviv. Interestingly, Mr. Perischilli is able to point to NO events since the latest intifada, not even underscoring that it was Mr. Sharon who sparked this intifada, or that he spent his political capital not on a peace project, but on a disengagement project. The reality is that Israel is capable of controlling those radicals, while the Palestinians, unfortunately, are not. So there is a never-ending cliché: the leaders of both countries (yes, Israel and Palestine are countries!) working towards peace but, systematically, there are groups, like the Hezbollahs, who are very well armed and financed (and we can easily guess from who), attacking Israel and provoking a reaction. At this point the cliché is: the radicals hide themselves in highly-populated areas dragging civilians and moderates into the conflict, melting together civilians and moderate together into one entity. On the other side, there is Israel. Here the government still controls the radicals but, it is the government that sheds the feathers of the dove and becomes the hawk using measured or non-measured acts of retaliation. So, let's take for granted the criticism Liberal Party Leader Bill Graham launched against Stephen Harper last week, and let's say that the reaction of Israel was "not measured." But the question is: can Mr. Graham define the meaning of a "measured reaction?" Is there an accepted number of people you can kill or buildings and infrastructure you can destroy? One person killed is already one victim more than we need. Criticizing the Prime Minister's reaction without denouncing the cause is a futile political exercise typical of a political organization that has no ideas, neither in foreign, or domestic politics. Is this an article about how the Middle East Conflict affects Canadian politics or about how Mr. Perischilli dislikes the Liberals and has unthinking and uncritical support for Israel? In fact, this is the second time that Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who is supposed to be a foreign political novice has caught the Liberals off guard on an international matter. The first one was during the vote on the Afghanistan mission. The Liberals, obsessed by their criticism against the government, were pushing for a Parliamentary debate on the extension of the mission, and tried to embarrass Harper by portraying his decision as undemocratic. Catching them by surprise, the Prime Minister asked for a debate and a vote, calling the Liberals' bluff: the Liberals had no position, were divided and even the leader was forced to vote with the government. This time the initiative has been taken by Harper: he has sided with Israel forcing the Liberals to take a position. Let's face it, Harper's or Graham's positions can affect the international debate on this issue with the same success a weatherman can stop the rain. On the other hand, the domestic internal repercussions are huge. It is always dangerous to generalize political support within certain communities. However, the Jewish, as well as the Arab communities, have never been known for their support of the Conservative Party. The Liberal Party has been the house for the vote from many ethno-cultural communities like Portuguese, Italian, Greek and others for generations. But this support is not monolithic like it used to be, however, it is still quite consistent. The position taken by Bill Graham, even if it is not necessarily the position of all Liberals, might help to reconnect his party with the Arab organizations in Quebec. During the last election they were upset with then-prime minister Paul Martin's government and were closer to the Bloc. In the rest of the country there is no gain for them. However, they might lose, for the first time, a substantial support, in terms of votes and money, from the Jewish community throughout Canada. "This is a very sensitive issue and everything can happen," one prominent Jewish Liberal told The Hill Times last week. Harper, on the other hand, has nothing to lose and everything to gain. For the Liberals the future is very bleak. With no present identity and no clear front-runner in the leadership race, the divisions inside the party can only increase. And, of course, Stephen Harper is there highlighting, every now and then, all those contradictions inside the Liberal brand. Angelo Persichilli is political editor of Corriere Canadese, Toronto's Italian-language daily newspaper. There is nothing off guard about criticizing knee-jerk support for the Israeli military reaction. There are many in Israel and abroad who would use a different approach in the conflict; including a large portion of the European community. That cannot be equated with commending Hizb'Allah's actions or a lack of support for a two-state solution. While Mr. Perischilli might like to consider the Canadian Jewish community monolithic reactionaries like the government in Jerusalem, there are many more nuances, and Canadian Jews can support Israel without signing up for the IDF. And they can vote for Canadian political parties who support efforts aimed at peace, not howitzers aimed at Tyre.

back in 'merica. the weather is great, and there's plenty going on this week. meanwhile, i've discovered the following: one. this is a great article on wikipedia. reason #246 that i hate the suburbs. two. sad. three. i hate the new government. see? four. this is real democratic deficit slashing. five. interesting enough, but the riding is lost. gentrification has forced its hand. enjoy your days.

the IRS has been duped; and the company (computer sciences corporation) that did it is a supporter of the RNC. From their history of donations in a very brief search, they appear to support whoever is in power. this is who their PAC has supported. sick. it's outrageous that this story is buried.

how do they know?

i busted my ass looking for news of this. i'm on the internet for god's sake! the only US news sources that have a full story on this (so far) are washpost and washtimes. clearly can-am relations are inside baseball. bloomberg also covers it, but then again, they seem to be trying to chip away (slowly) at AP's market share.

so exciting! so important - do you drive diesel? who cares this includes news about the conservatives' fundraising. terrible. how on earth did this happen... some journalists need to explore the obvious questions: why?

Happy Canada Day!! And I've finished the burlesque show i was promising you. it's a dirty version of my life, all in photos. it will update periodically, so keep your eye on it.