Religious round up
Salon has an amusing juxtaposition of articles this week: A story on Steven Baldwin, who has morphed from C-list actor into A-list evangelist; and a lengthy interview with uber-atheist and top evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. Now if we could just get the two to take part in a cage match...

On the right we have the faithful:

"Baldwin preaches that free will is a lie of Satan -- we must shut off our brains, he says, and be led by what God tells our hearts. Furthermore, he writes, efforts to end global poverty and violence are just the sort of "stupid arrogance" that incur God's wrath, which we'll be feeling any day now in the coming apocalypse. I suppose when the star of "Bio-Dome" is advising the president and converting kids by the thousands to his gnarly brand of faith, the end is, indeed, nigh. "

While on the left we have the rational:

"What is so bad about religion?
Well, it encourages you to believe falsehoods, to be satisfied with inadequate explanations which really aren't explanations at all. And this is particularly bad because the real explanations, the scientific explanations, are so beautiful and so elegant. Plenty of people never get exposed to the beauties of the scientific explanation for the world and for life. And that's very sad. But it's even sadder if they are actively discouraged from understanding by a systematic attempt in the opposite direction, which is what many religions actually are. But that's only the first
of my many reasons for being hostile to religion. "

In Baldwin's defense, he does consider Bono a tool of Satan - and Dawkins can be a bit of a pushy prick, but still and all, what this boils down to is a dumbass encouraging other people to be dumbasses and a smart, educated guy encouraging people to be smart and educated. Which do you think is likely to make the world a better place?

Sweet Jesus
And they wonder why there is a problem with obesity in North America? As a bit of a lardass, I suppose I'm not in a great position to criticize, but "deep fried Coke"? Why not just take a bag of white sugar, roll it in bacon fat and graham cracker crumbs, deep fry it and inject it straight into your heart?

Rae makes splash in leadership race



Many Ontario voters would like to tell Bob Rae to "go jump in the lake" - Rick Mercer seems to have convinced him to do it.

Despite the picture scramble, I think this shows Rae has the balls to be Prime Minister - or at least that he is the candidate with nothing to hide. It also shows an admirable amount of humility and a sense of humor, things I want my PM to have.

And for Blogging Tories having this read to them: No, there is no double standard involved in the press virtually ignoring this while jumping on "Doris" Day for his arrival at his first press conference on a jet ski. Doris was trying to look cool in his wet suit at an official press conference and this was a joke for a comedy program. It's not even apples and oranges, it's more like rhinos and the national debt, or anthracite coal and sea water, or blogging tories and sane people -- you know, things that are completely different.

I think this and other similar stunts on the Mercer Report -- Rick skydiving with Gen. Hillier, going to Canadian Tire with Prime Minister Paul Martin etc etc -- show a key difference between Canada and most other nations. We refuse to let our leaders take themselves too seriously. Try to imagine George Bush going to the hardware store with Jon Stewart, or Dick Cheney hosting Saturday Night Live.

Readin' Ritin' and Rithmatic
Linwood Barclay in the Toronto Star on the Tories brave new literacy plan. Next from the Conservative brain trust: A new math curriculum that uses only prime numbers, thus saving taxpayers millions of dollars.

Awww, isn't it cute...
We've had our first troll! 15,000 hits - about 5,000 in the last week or so thanks to the Asylum Street Spankers video - and we've finally gotten trolled.

BlameCanada (on blogger since last week) wrote in the comments:
"This is the biggest bunch of crap ever. Tell that out of shape joke of a lead singer to hit the gym and get a haircut. As for him and the rest of the freak show, stop abusing free speech to attack the people that are defending and providing you with that right! You just prove to the rest of the world that Texans ARE retarded, Bush included. You can return to Canada or France whenever. Preferrably sooner rather than later."

I suspect this may be someone I know yanking my chain and hoping to get me to go off on a rant. If so, they have crafted a great and subtle parody of a troll.

Strawman argument? Check.
Misunderstanding of the original material? Check.
Ad Hominem attack and personal insults? Check.
Bad mouthing of French? Check.
General dumbassery? Check.

Now if this dingbat is sincere, let me just ask how it thinks one can "abuse free speech" when it is supposed to be a near absolute. I'd also like to know how the chowderheads whose support of the troops involved in the USA's illegal war in Iraq is limited to slapping magnets on their gas-guzzler are "defending and providing" that right to free speech. And even if the band were referring to the troops - which they pointedly are not - how exactly were the Iraqis threating free speech in the United States?

The puzzling thing is that "BlameCanada" claim to think Bush is an idiot, which leads me to wonder whether it is a real troll or a parody troll. He also dwells on the lead singer being out of shape and having long hair, when in fact the lead singer-Wammo by name and nature-looks fairly dapper in the video and not especially fat (thanks to the lighting and the slimming nature of the black tux). I therefore suspect it is Wammo or someone else from the band - though I would have expected less subtle parody from the rest of the band and more mocking of Wammo.

Putting the Dick in Dictator
From the New York Times (via Bilmon):
Talk to the Vice President, go to jail.
"Mr. Howards, 54, said at a news conference here that he was taking his 8-year-old son to a piano lesson on June 16 at the Beaver Creek Resort about two hours west of Denver when he saw Mr. Cheney at an outdoor mall. Mr. Howards said he approached within two feet of Mr. Cheney and said in a calm voice, “I think your policies in Iraq are reprehensible,” or as the lawsuit itself describes the encounter, “words to that effect.”
Mr. Howards said he then went on his way. About 10 minutes later, he said, he was walking back through the area when Agent Reichle handcuffed him and said he would be charged with assaulting the vice president. Local police officers, acting on information from the Secret Service, according to the suit, ultimately filed misdemeanor harassment charges that could have resulted in up to a year in jail."

to quote Billmon, this guy obviously made the mistake of thinking he lived in a free country, instead of one where the President and his underlings now have the legal authority to have you "disappearred" or tortured.

Spookily compatible
Bill Keane meets Friedrich Nietzsche. Yes, it is as weird as it sounds, but in a good way.
A hat to to Lawyers, Guns and Money for the discovery.

"I'm sorry baby, please open the door"
Conrad Black wants his Canadian citizenship back. Words fail me, but not Rick Mercer. However I disagree with Rick that we should let him back in. I don't think we, as a nation, should go back into the abusive relationship we had with Lord Black. After all, he did start the National Post, and that is not something to be forgiven lightly. Mind you, when it comes to Conrad Black, I sympathize with the Alberto Gonzalez view of the Geneva Conventions as "quaint." Black has always been one of the worst people in the world and if it were up to me, he would be hunted with dogs for sport every autumn.

It's the election, stupid
Richard Gwyn has an interesting piece in the Toronto Star today on the Liberal leadership race. Discussing who will get all the votes in a second ballot, he suggests that delegates must consider who they want to lead the party into the next election and how they view the next election.

He contends that there are two basic approaches: One that considers the next election a dead loss and the leadership race a vote on who will be the best opposition leader and best choice to lead the party into the next election after that some four or five years down the road, and one that considers the next election the most crucial. The former approach, Gwyn argues favors a second ballot swing to the youngest of the four main contenders, Gerald Kennedy, as it would give him four years to work on his French, gain a national profile and make the change from Queen's Park politics to the federal scene. The latter approach favours Bob Rae as a candidate who could go to the polls tomorrow with a national profile and the ability to go toe-to-toe with Steve Harper.

Nice theory, but there are a few problems with it, just as there are with everything involved in the Liberal leadership race. Gwyn's right in this respect-- it is all about the next election. Kennedy would make a good leader of the opposition, as would Rae and possibly Dion. Both Rae and Kennedy have good parliamentary instincts and can counter-punch and run rhetorical rings around Harper. Rae in Parliament would likely eat Harper's lunch before breakfast on a daily basis, and a few years as leader of the opposition might convince Ontario voters to forget their (IMO undeserved) grudge against him for his tenure as premier. Ignatief doesn't strike me as someone who has any interest in being leader of the opposition for any length of time. If he doesn't get to be Prime Minister or a least a senior cabinet minister, he'll go back to Harvard. If we must concede an election to the Conservatives - and I don't think we do - then Rae and Kennedy would be good choices as long term leaders of the opposition who could lead the party into power four years down the road.

Unfortunately, my dog in this race - Ken Dryden- may not be the best choice for a leader of the opposition either as he is not quick with the sharp sound bite. He is not especially gifted at the the slash and parry repartee of the House, but is better at coming up with policy and making big, meaty speeches - he'd give a hell of a prime ministerial address, but as far as day to day brawling in the House, its just not his thing.

If the Liberals dig in their heels as they should and refuse to concede the next election - and there is no reason they should concede given the precarious state of the Conservatives popularity - then this leadership race is all about picking a leader whose vision and policies are acceptable and who can beat Stephen Harper on the husting next spring or summer. Kennedy can't do it - no one in Quebec or the west knows or cares who he is. Rae can't do it - the Liberals won't win without winning big in Ontario and Rae will have a real problem there. He presents a good contrast to Harper and would pull a lot of NDP votes, but he is the just the guy Stephen Harper would like to run against as he would energize the Conservative base and push the Ontario business community firmly into the Tory camp.

What about the front runner? Ignatief versus Harper in a quick election would be a disaster for the Liberals. Ignatief will get the Al Gore treatment from the former Reform party --"he's an ivory tower intellectual from Harvard, our guy likes beer and hockey." His support for Bush's methods in the War on Terror will push small L liberals to back the NDP and result in a Conservative majority. He's not likely to stay on as Leader of the Opposition in such a situation, even if offered that opportunity by the party (which he wouldn't be). His people are touting him as the second coming of Trudeau, but I don't think we really need Margret back in 24 Sussex.

Nope, if the Liberals need someone who can beat Stephen Harper and the Conservative next Spring, the best choice is Dryden. He has the lowest negative reaction among the general voting population according to the Gandalf poll and would steal a lot of swing voters from Harper across the country. He is a well known and proven element. He may not be flashy, but he is as solid as a rock on policy and has a liberal vision of Canada that matches the values of most Canadians. And most importantly, he would kick Stephen Harper's reactionary ass from St. John to Vancouver Island, from Windsor to Yellowknife.

It's all about context
the Editors over at The Poor Man Institute blow the whistle on the mainstream media's attempt to blackguard Tom Foley by taking his completely innocent emails and instant messages out of context. I smell a Koufax award in the offing.

Because its a long way to the Beer Store from Kandahar
Moosehead donating suds after troops in Afghanistan make request. Because chasing Taliban through the mountains all day is thirsty work.

In Your Ear

Kevin Wood / Daily Yomiuri Staff Writer

BOB DYLAN

Modern Times

Sony Music, 2,520 yen

The poet laureate of the baby boomer generation is back to show that he continues to age like a fine Bordeaux.

Like a good wine, as he has gotten older, Bob Dylan's bold, acidic edginess has matured to become more subtle, richer, mellower and more complex, with a more velvety feel on the palate.

It would be inaccurate to say Dylan is improving with age--you can't really improve on the delicious freshness of '60s Dylan nouveau such as The Freewheeling Bob Dylan, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde--but his most recent work is certainly of equal quality, if different in flavor. He may not be as prolific as he was in the mid '60s and '70s, but the level of artistry on Modern Times is as high as anything Dylan has ever done.

Modern Times is the third in a trio of new classics by the old master that began with 1997's Time Out of Mind (winner of the Grammy for album of the year) a dark, austere meditation on death and aging.

Dylan's next album, the excellent "Love and Theft" was a lighter, more amusing, selection that mixed old delta blues, politics and gentle humor into a pleasing concoction that was doomed by its Sept. 11, 2001, release date to nearly vanish off the cultural radar, although it still managed to win a Grammy for best contemporary folk album.

Modern Times shows a clear and steady progression from both of these earlier efforts, with echoes of each.

Opening with the up-tempo 12-bar roots rocker "Thunder on the Mountain," Dylan serves notice that he can still keep up, even if the top-of-the-lungs delivery of "Like a Rolling Stone" has matured into a deeper, almost menacing throaty growl.

Back at the peak of his early fame a journalist asked Dylan whether he considered himself a poet or a songwriter, and he famously replied that he considered himself a "song-and-dance man." On "Spirit on the Water" one can almost hear the scrape of leather as he does a lazy softshoe to this lighthearted and jazzy seduction blues.

Dylan retools three blues classics, writing his own lyrics for the "Someday Baby," "Rollin' and Tumblin'" and "The Levee's Gonna Break," and despite ill-informed accusations by some to the contrary, this is emphatically not plagiarism--at worst it is postmodernism, and more accurately, it is the folk process in action. Others have criticized Dylan for lifting a couple of phrases from obscure U.S. Civil War poet Henry Timrod, but he'd hardly be the first to quote without crediting the source. As Pete Seeger once said, such so-called plagiarism "is basic to all culture."

"Workingman's Blues #2" is not technically blues, but a piano-driven tune with an anthemic feel and typically ambiguous lyrics that could be read as a letter to a politician or a former lover. It is also the best vocal performance on the album--rich, warm and emotive without being over the top or sentimental.

"Nettie Moore" is a story song with minimalist backing--a bass drum heartbeat with guitar and violin accents showcasing Dylan's nuanced singing. The piece is reminiscent of Tom Waits, but smoother.

Modern Times ends with "Ain't Talkin'"--a great sinister, slithering, slow minor-key groove that harkens back to Time out of Mind. In terms of lyrics, the apocalyptic visions Dylan relates in an intimate growling whisper sound like lost verses from "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" or "Gates of Eden."

Modern Times has already reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard album chart, the so-called song-and-dance man's best commercial showing in over 20 years, making 2006 a very good year for Dylan.

(Sep. 30, 2006)


blog extra: The Wonderdog Institute of Dylanology delivers a slap upside the head of those who don't understand the difference between classical allusion, postmodernism and downloading term papers off the internet.

And then suddenly,

As Keith Olbermann and I were walking along talking about how you never hear Mike Wallace talk about his son, Obie rhetorically kicked Dubya in the balls again and again and again and again and again. It was amazing.

Stick a yellow ribbon on your SUV



The Asylum Street Spankers are to a certain extent an attempt by Austin, Texas to compensate the rest of the world for George W. Bush.
I just spent a week or so hanging out with these guys at the end of their Japan tour. See them, buy their album. Trust me, its fun for the whole family.

Update: The first time I trotted this out a week ago, it got a few hundred hits. This week I mentioned it on a few blogs and it got posted on Democratic Underground among other places and word on the video seem to have gotten out. I've had 1,200 hits in the last 24 hours - which is a lot compared to my usual 20 hits a day and the YouTube version is up over 100,000 viewings after only a few days. The band asks that you check out the video on YouTube so as to get the numbers up. While you're at it, go visit the Spankers site (see other links to your right) and BUY STUFF! Lots of stuff! Get their new album -"Mommy Says No!"- the review is further down the blog. You'll thank me later.

Update to the Update: Thanks to everyone who emailed this link around, I've had about 12,000 hits in the last few weeks. So as an added bonus here is more of God's Favorite Band: The Asylum Street Spankers

No. 29 on the ice, No. 1 in the polls
Despite the fact that Liberal caucus members and party movers and shakers don't see him as a top tier candidate, a Liberal Party Poll of the people who really matter - Canadian Voters - seems to suggest that Ken Dryden is the Liberals best hope for attracting votes. He has the best name recognition, the least negative reaction (As I feared, Bob Rae has the most negative reaction) and the best chance of pulling crossover votes from the NDP and Conservatives. And he is the only one of the leadership candidates to call for an immediate and meaningful reexamination of Canada's role in the Afghanistan War.

And the next person who tells me he is too smart for the job or shouldn't be elected party leader because he can't speak in 8-second sound bites had best be prepared to be cleared from the crease with extreme predjudice.

I want the smartest guy for Prime Minister. I want the guy who thinks things through before he speaks instead of shooting from the lip with glib, meaningless sound bites. I want a party leader who will bring more voters into the party, not divide the electorate. I want a party leader, leader of the opposition and eventual Prime Minister who is committed to the idea of Canada, who understands the soul of the country and where our national priorities must be. I also want someone who can win the next election before the current crop of neocon ideologues do anymore damage.
I've read the stump speeches, the interviews, the platform and now this poll -- I'm convinced.
Ken Dryden is the right man for the job.

Not again
How many times do we need to see this headline before people realize that alcohol and endangered species just don't mix. Please, don't drink and try to hug pandas.
Panda bites drunk Chinese man, man bites panda back at Beijing zoo

Coming soon to an Antiwar Demonstration near you...
Apparently the USAF want to try microwaving opponents like so many convience store burritos, but they want to try it out on civilian crowd in the U.S. first. I'd suggest Fred Phelps and his slap-happy band of dingbats would be a target both left and right could agree on.

Spiritual leader of the moment
An excellent interview with folk music god, social activist and all-round good guy Pete Seeger can be found here. Thanks to the Gazetteer for pointing the way.

It's official - I'm for Dryden

Having seen this in the Mop & Pail today, I guess I should come out and officially endorse Ken Dryden for the Liberal leadership. He's smart, articulate and has the right priorities both domestically and on foriegn policy. I like his writing, I like the way he thinks and I like his style. I don't think he's the long shot the media are painting him as being.
I'm troubled by Ignatieff's opportunism, lack of commitment to the party and endorsement of torture. Stephen Dion's an acceptable candidate, but one that might be too tied to the past Liberal government. I like Bob Rae and think he would be a good Prime Minister, I just don't think he can get the votes the Liberals need in Ontario because of the bad rap he got as premier. Gerald Kennedy is also an okay choice, but I don't think he will have a lot of appeal to swing voters and will be too easy for the Conseratives and media to paint as a screaming small L liberal.
Besides, none of them won six Stanley Cups and the '72 series against the Russians. That's got to count for something.

We have met the enemy and it is U.S.
They've done it to us again.
What the hell are A-10 pilots taught to fire at? Specific targets or just anything that moves within a 100 miles of the assigned target? Why would they strafe a group of uniformed men in a rear area camped around an armoured vehicle, when the Taliban generally have neither uniforms nor armoured vehicles?
If I were a Canadian infantry commander in Afghanistan, I'd have second thoughts about calling in air support. Of the 32 Canadians killed in Afghanistan, Pte. Mark Anthony Graham is the fifth killed by U.S. aircraft. Once is an accident, twice is coincidence -- the third time it's enemy action.


UPDATE: Our troops are clearly a bit demoralized and pissed off by this latest incident

"We should spray-paint a big circle around us, with an arrow that says 'Not here, asshole,' " one soldier said, packing up his sleeping gear.