Bravo, from POGGE. Remember, folks: being anti-Bush isn't the same thing as being anti-American.
Most of us criticising the American administration are doing so because we love America and we think that Americans deserve better than what they are getting. We love what America has achieved and we love what America stands for, and we believe that its history and its ideals require that the country be held to a higher standard than most of the rest of the world. And I think that most Americans, being honest with themselves, appreciate being held to that higher standard.
Similarly, what he said.
Carnival of the Canucks - VIII
The eighth installment of the Carnival of the Canucks is up over at Darren Barefoot. He tackles his segment with the usual aplomb.
Speech from the throne gets poor marks from opposition
Well, of course it does.
If ever the government put forward a throne speech that made whole opposition go ga-ga with praise, we might as well shut the doors to Ottawa and declare democracy finished, because now everybody thinks the same. To paraphrase Robert Stanfield, if Paul Martin walked on water, the opposition would claim that Martin couldn't swim.
I guess my point is, either the media, or possibly the Opposition, could be a little more specific about why they hated the speech, and not make it sound like it's just another Tuesday at the office?
And, not a bad picture of Grant Hill, interim opposition leader, here, but I'm still trying to figure out if he looks like a politician, or possibly a school principle about to chide a student for talking out of turn. Perhaps a little bit of both.
When the Pentagon Worries...
If the Pentagon starts to consider the national security implications of climate change and the matter gets reported in Fortune Magazine, could we perhaps drop any lingering assumptions we have that climate change is not a fact of life in this day and age, and instead take it seriously?
Back in 1994, Erin was almost posted to Greenland to do climate change research. Her theory (based upon the behaviour of particle physics): that climate change was sudden and rapid, easing slowly to various tipping points, and then lunging forward once that point was passed. It was not a commonly held theory at the time, but the idea seems to be taking hold. Interesting.
It Looks Good on Paper
...but when you read it aloud, you scramble for the revision pen. Consider this paragraph, then read it out loud.
Rosemary and Peter glanced at each other again and shrugged again. They trudged to the grove, arriving just as Puck plucked one of the white fruits free.
How to Write Good
Of course this article could only come from National Lampoon. It's amusing, and it actually has some good pointers. Thanks to Ravenlike for the link (and welcome back!).