Liberals Vulnerable To Dippers: Siobhan Coady

To kick off my new blogging mini-series of Liberals who are vulnerable to Tories and Dippers is none other than St. John's South-Mount Pearl MP Siobhan Coady, who in 2008 barely defeated her NDP counterpart Ryan Cleary by less than 3%. Before that, the riding had been held by the Conservatives for both the 2004 and 2006 elections. The riding is 53% Catholic. Ms. Coady defeated her local NDP candidate by the smallest margin of all her caucus colleagues against the Dippers. She likely owes her victory to Danny Williams ABC campaign, but now Danny boy has made his peace with Prime Minister Harper and is riding off into the sunset.

One has to wonder if Siobhan can win without a popular Premier campaigning against the Tories amid rising Tory support in Atlantic Canada. To make matters worse, the likely Tory candidate in the riding will be Loyola Sullivan, a former Williams Finance Minister and House Leader. I doubt that Danny will be campaigning against one of his own important former cabinet appointees. Moreover, in the aftermath of "wafer-gate" and "foreign abortion-gate", I doubt Coady will be able to carry the Catholic vote in the next election.

Shiboan will be very vulnerable in the next election, be it next week or next year. It would appear as though the Tories have lined up an excellent slate of candidates to run on the rock, many of which have ties to the Danny Williams government. Coady is vulnerable on the right and left; that's never a good combination. I'm sure she would love a non-compete with the NDP in her riding.

Spring Election Back On?

If all the political parties are running around the country trying to get all their candidates declared and selected before a budget vote, what does that tell you about the probability of an election? The Pundit's Guide blogger has been feverishly writing about new candidates being declared all over the country, one of the busiest being the NDP. Tommy Muclair just announced 5 new candidates in Montreal. Brian Topp, the co-architect of Jack Layton's coalition coup attempt in 2008, is now predicting that there will be a spring election.

I thought that the NDP had gotten cold feet before I downgraded my "Imminent Election Probability Meter" from red to dark yellow, but if the Dippers are rushing to name candidates and one of their insiders is declaring an election imminent, does that mean an election is coming soon? Should I change my election meter to orange? Has Iggy finished appointing all his candidates? Will he let the riding associations vote, or just appoint whichever he personally favours?

5 Enviro Ministers In 5 Years

In the last 5 years of Tory government, we have had 5 different ministers of the environment. Do you think this is a problem? Many voices on the left hand side seem to think it is a problem. Even Rick Mercer was cracking jokes about it on Twitter. Meanwhile just saying 5 in 5 glosses over the fact that #3 recently retired from politics, #4 was a temporary fill in (and the guy who had the job previous to Prentice), and #5 replaced the guy who retired. To say 5 in 5 counts Baird twice and exaggerates the job turnover rate. But that doesn't stop Mercer from Tweeting "5 enviro ministers in 5 years. Alaskan crab fisherman is a safer job. Should be a reality show. Deadliest catch? Deadliest portfolio."

I don't know, but if I had any friends or family that died as a crab fisherman, I might not appreciate Rick's joke.

Birds Scared To Death?

On New Year's Eve in Arkansas they had a very loud fireworks show. When the sun came up the next morning, the whole area was littered with the bodies of dead birds. These birds did not die because of disease, but because they were apparently spooked into flying at night and started colliding with all sorts of things. At least that was the theory yesterday, as now another cluster of dead birds has shown up in Louisiana, which might have been killed by power lines. This is now creating bird death conspiracy theories online. The autopsies on the Arkansas shows that many of the birds died from blunt force trauma similar to when a bird flies into a window. They don't usually fly at night because they can't see very well, ergo it was a plausible explanation that the fireworks spooked the birds into a flying frenzy.

While the number of birds who died in this freak incident is likely a tiny fraction of those killed in wind turbines each year, we should seek to minimize the death of wildlife as a result of human activity. I don't know why this fireworks show would lead to this incident where thousands of similar shows have not led to avian carnage. Was this too loud? Is there an alternative explanation? I'm sure there are people who are trying to blame this on oil companies. They have not yet found a consice explanation for the second cluster of dead birds or whether or not the two clusters are related. It is an interesting story.

Happy Lunar Eclipse

Don't forget people to look outside tonight if the sky is clear, as there will be a lunar eclipse on the shortest day of the year. This is a rare event, especially on the solstice. I am flying in a jet plane today, but I will have landed before the eclipse will have started. Hopefully there will be no cloud cover in Salt Lake City on Tuesday night.

Justin Trudeau Coyote Ugly

It pains me to write this, but I applaud Justin Trudeau for sending out his family Christmas card wearing coyote fur. PETA is pissed off, but I hate to say that I appreciate what the Dauphin did in this instance. I don't know that I have ever liked anything that JT has said or done, but I like this. I would never vote for him to become Prime Minister, but I support him wearing the fur of the voracious coyote. Lest we forget, coyotes kill people, birds, and innocent rodents. If JT wants the best quality fur for Canadian Christmas, I would recommend mink.

I liked the Christmas card. That's all I have to say about that...

Banning Oil Tankers

Today's poll question; should we allow oil tankers in Canadian waters? Yesterday the opposition passed a motion to ban oil tankers from filling up on Albertan oil in northern British Columbia. This is in response to the plan to build an oil pipeline to the port at Kitimat BC. The current pipeline runs through metro Vancouver; ergo the opposition is trying to force the continued delivery of oil through the province's largest metropolis rather than divert it north. This legislation is clearly aimed at BC voters, but demanding that the greatest plurality of BC voters continue with oil pipelines flowing underneath their streets instead of sending it to a less populated area hardly seems like a winning strategy.

We are an oil exporting nation and rely on this export for much of our national economic wealth. Oil is exported from BC ports, and this brings much economic prosperity and activity to our province. Shutting it out will have grave consequences. Moreover, if you think tankers are so dangerous, why insist that we direct that traffic to Vancouver? The damage would be far greater if there were a major tanker accident in the waters off Vancouver than if it happened in the north.

Pigeon King International

Generally I feel bad for investors who get taken advantage of in a scam, but in the case of Pigeon King International, anyone who believed that pigeon breeding was going to become a commercial livelihood deserved to get fleeced. Pigeons, they said, would eventually replace chickens as the top poultry product on the market. All you had to do was buy a ridiculously overpriced breeding pair from Pigeon King, and they would buy back the offspring. What could possibly go wrong? Pigeon King first filed for bankruptcy, and now is shut down leaving several pigeon investors covered in pigeon shit. If those people are looking for something to supplement their pigeon meat income, send me $500 and I will send you a breeding pair of guinea pigs. People will want to eat their offspring. The question isn't how much money you will make, it will be what to do with all your profits!

PS: I am not selling guinea pigs. That pitch was sarcasm...

Endangered Species

Today's poll question; if you could save one endangered species, which would you save? I did 30 minutes of internet search for my list, but I'm sure I left some off. The Giant Panda is probably the most famous endangered species, but now China is doing a great job of breeding the bears. The Panda's biggest problem is it is an inefficient species that only eats one thing which is very low in nutritional value. I'd probably vote to save the Tiger.

Duck, Duck, Noose

I would generally defer the fight against birds landing in the oil sands tailing ponds to the good people at Ducks Unlimited (where my father volunteers), but if ducks insist on landing in toxic pools then the best course of action would be to cover tailings ponds with nets. It is easier to save a duck from a net than from an oil bath. If sound canons can't do the job, cover the ponds in a nylon mesh. I realize that these ponds are quite large and covering them with a net would not be cheap, but I'm assuming it would cost less than the many pounds of flesh they have to pay in damages. Until natural selection evolves these birds to recognize the difference between water and oil, we are going to need to think outside the tailings pond...

We Must Colonize Outer Space

The smartest man in the world has spoken and he has said that it is time to colonize outer space, or else mankind faces extinction. Where do I sign up? Let's start with building a tourist resort on the moon as a means of generating revenue for space projects. If it were possible for civilians to visit the moon, there would be a long waiting list. If you build it, they will come. It is Stephen Hawking, the man in the chair, who says this and I support him. Visiting outer space (preferably the moon) is on my bucket list and statistically I only have 20-50 years left alive. Others might not share my enthusiasm for this initiative, but as a fan of both Star Trek and Star Wars, my opinion is biased.

“It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster in the next hundred years, let alone the next thousand or million. Our only chance of long-term survival is not to remain inward looking on planet Earth but to spread out into space.”

-Stephen Hawking

Animal Soccer Psychics

My first exposure to an animal that allegedly had the ability to pick winners in sporting events was Maggie the monkey on TSN. Granted the monkey just spun a wheel that landed on a picture, so Maggie never directly chose a winner and had a very poor success rate, unlike the psychic octopus who accurately picks soccer winners. Paul, a British born octopus who currently resides in Germany actually selects a box with a country's flag on it and has been eerily accurate thus far in the World Cup Tournament. After predicting Spain would knock Germany out of the tournament, many angry Germans began demanding his execution for high treason. Angry Germans demanding an execution is not a happy place to be. Not to be outdone, PETA is demanding Paul's release.

The psychic octopus has selected Spain, but before you pick up that phone to call your bookie; be warned that Singapore's psychic parakeet Mani and Estonia's psychic ape both chose the Netherlands. Can any of these animals see into the future? I doubt it. Somebody call the mythbusters to bust the psychic animal myth; though if it is deemed plausible you may want to administer Extra Sensory Perception tests to your pets at home. If it turns out that your gold fish can see into the future, you could become very wealthy! If you suspect that your pet might be able to glance at the future, there is a book for you.

Baby Beluga Dies

Yesterday I was saddened to hear of the death of the baby beluga whale at the Vancouver aquarium. I have visited the aquarium a few times and I find it to be a wonderful place to visit. I hadn't yet been to see the baby beluga, and now that it has passed I'm sad that I didn't. While they were doing the necropsy on the carcass they found obstructions in the blow hole, which included a penny. There is a high probability that the penny was thrown into the tank by a human being. My only criticism of the tank that they are in is that it should be larger for such a large mammal, but I do support captive breeding programs for threatened or endangered animals.

Obama, Unleash The Fury!

Barack Obama has bungled this oil spill as bad or worse as the Bush administration screwed up after Hurricane Katrina. But that's okay, because Obama is furious! Obama and the oil spill remind me of Tom Green feeding the snake in the movie Road Trip. Tom Green symbolizes Obama, the snake is BP, and the mouse is the oil spill. Obama has been taking a lot of criticism for his lack of effort in containing the spill, and he is trying to convince everyone that he is really pissed off, and that makes everything okay. All the world's problems can be solved with hypnotic speeches, provided that he has his teleprompters. I still remember the time I saw him address school children with the aid of his teleprompters.

The difference between Katrina and this oil spill is that the oil has contaminated thousands, if not millions of square miles of ocean habitat, and will affect millions of Americans for a generation. I think it is time that we choose a nickname for this catastrophe and Barak's response. All people have to do is say "Katrina" and it immediately elicits a poor memory of George Bush. Obama's chances at a second term are as contaminated as Louisiana marsh land.

Iggy vs Rae: Clash of the Cretans

As John Ivison pointed out this evening, the Liberal Party of Canada is divided on how far to take a coalition partnership with the NDP. Current polling numbers suggest that the probability of the Liberals and Dippers having enough seats to control the Commons without the Bloc (who Canadians will not welcome into any coalition government, even if Stephen Harper tried to do it in 2004; two wrongs don't make a right). If the Liberals and Dippers were to pull candidates in ridings with one finished ahead of the other that would maximize their projected seat count and increase the probability that they have enough seats to form a stable coalition.

If the Liberals start pulling candidates they lose the right to call themselves a truly national party, and they will also get fewer total votes at a time when vote subsidies still exist and the Libs are desperate for money. The question that nobody really knows the answer to is how many Liberal voters in the center of the spectrum defect to the Tories when the Grits shift to the left hand side?

How far are the Liberals willing to take a potential coalition? Right now that is the biggest point of debate within Liberal party ranks.

Seals eat fish, lots of fish

When I watch all these hypocritical celebrity activists protesting the Canadian seal hunt, I am abhorred by their lack of compassion for those most loveable of God's creatures, fish. Millions of innocent salmon and cod are murdered every year by seals, one of the ocean's most voracious predators. This callous malice by celebrity activists each year have helped drive down the demand for Canadian seal products. As demand has fallen, the fisheries stop harvesting seals. What happens? Seal populations suddenly explode, and fish stocks suddenly collapse. Well done celebrities, your lack of understanding for the balance of nature has thrown nature out of balance.

I remember when they scrapped the bear hunt in Ontario. Bear populations exploded and started spilling deeper into civilian centers. Instead of earning revenue selling licenses and allowing this economy to serve a place in nature, the government now has to spend more money to control these out of control populations. So we are going to give lady seals birth control? Why don't we staple their stomachs while we are at it so they stop killing so many innocent cod?

Obama, You've Got A Problem

When this oil spill crisis first became recognized as a crisis, President Obama quickly deferred clean-up and containment responsibility to the oil company that operated the rig. Instead of sealing off the broken pipe, they spent a month trying to salvage a way to harvest the oil. That failed, as thousands of barrels were pumped into the gulf coast on a daily basis for a month. Now that a month has passed, the oil company is finally shifted its strategy to sealing the leak instead of harvesting the oil. Sometimes what's best for the oil company isn't what's best for the millions of people who live along the gulf coast, where "tar bubbles" are now expected to float ashore with relative frequency for a generation.

Well done Mister President. As more and more people are calling this Obama's Katrina, finally today a month later he announced new measures and initiatives that are a month too late. The oil has already reached the shore, but a month later Obama is going to send hundreds of thousands of miles of boom nets to contain it? What does that do for the thousands of acres of fragile marsh lands and costal habitats that have already been contaminated? Maybe the people who made the mess should not have been the people who he abdicated responsibilities to at the beginning of the crisis.

Sasquatch

With this recent incident of a dead otter/mink/chupacabra floating ashore in the far north of Ontario, I am interested in collecting some opinion on arguably the greatest rural legend the Sasquatch. Does anyone know anyone who claims to have seen one of these things? My own belief is that it is possible that this species once existed, but it is most likely extinct.

For the species to currently be alive, a number of things would have to be true like very long life spans, family groups burying the dead in remote locations, heightened senses and a fear of man, and a high degree of intelligence. There was a time about a million years ago where several different species of upward walking ape were roaming the world. When humans evolved into our current form, we drove all the other ape men into extinction.

So where do you stand on the Sasquatch?

Canada's Own Mystery "Monster"

Evidently a massive internet debate has broken out over the identity of an alleged "monster" that floated up on the shore of a Canadian lake in the far North of Ontario. Only photos exist, because when the photographers left the body washed up on shore and returned 2 days later, the "Chuppacabra" was gone. I am a wildlife enthusiast, and when I first saw the pictures I thought that it was quite clearly an otter. Short legs and a long slender body suggest an otter, where any muskrat I've ever seen was short and fat. Some suggest it is a wolverine, but I'm pretty sure that a wolverine has a longer snout.

I should put this to a poll question.  Tell me what species you think this mysterious creature actually is. I do not believe that it is a rare or undiscovered species.  I believe that it is just an otter with no fur on its face.

The Creature

An Otter

A Muskrat

A Bear Cub

A Wolverine

A Chupacabra

UPDATE: I just read an expert who says that it is a mink, which is very possible given that there is no reference for actual size in the photograph (one article says it was 20cm long, which suggests mink or young otter). Sadly I did not include the mink as an option in my poll, and to go back and change it would erase the votes of the people who have already voted. If you look at the feet of the creature in the picture, they most closely resemble the mink than the otter.

Barack Obama Hates Black People

It is incumbent on the President of the United States to protect American people and soil from harm. When I watch this oil slick slamming into the Louisiana coast with their large African American population, I cannot escape the conclusion that Barack Obama must hate black people. Why else would he let this happen? He just sat on his hands in the oval office and watched this tragedy unfold on CNN instead of getting out there and doing something about it. I find this appalling. We should just make Anderson Cooper President, because there is someone not afraid to jump into the hornet's nest.

I would like to start a drive to impeach Obama for not doing something about this disaster sooner; instead he waited while it was coming to America. Shame on you Mr. President. I don't know how you look into that mirror at night!