Saskatchewan Cabinet Shuffle

Saskatchewan just got a new cabinet today - here is the breakdown:

Warren McCall is now the Minister of Advanced Education - maybe this means we will finally see a report about student tuition affordability.

Pat Atkinson is the new Minister of Finance - not the first women finance minister we have had but still a good show on that front.

Speaking of women in Cabinet, Sandra Morin and Judy Junior both went in, Morin as Culture, Youth and Rec (good fit) and Junor as CIC and Status of the Women minister

Maynard Sonntag is moving to Industry and Resources, and gets the Forestry Secretariat and keeps First Nations. That's a BIG portfolio but I guess he is a seasoned cabinet minister.

Ron Harper is the new guy in Corrections and Public Safety.

Lon Borgerson is in as Rural Revitalization (this should make Saskboy happy) this will be interesting going from a portfolio that didn't do much to an activist portfolio. This will be the one to watch, I think.

Kevin Yates is going back in (I guess he and the Premier made up) and he will be going to Community Resources (Social Services) and that's a tough portfolio.

Buckley Belanger is moving over to Highways (go northern roads!)

Clay Serby is staying on as Deputy Premier but isn't really a cabinet minister (I don't count SPM)

Andrew Thompson, Eric Cline, and Eldon Lautermilch are all being dropped.

Other than that, there are no changes.

This is an interesting "election ready" cabinet that is significantly younger and more female than the previous cabinet.

Good sign that an election is coming!

David MacLean's Greatest Hits

Read part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4

Now that we know (some) of David MacLean's internet "alter-egos" I have started a compliation of his statements made under these false identities.

As we find more we will add them (feel free to post in the comments if you find one that I missed)

And as noted yesterday, I have had to turn comment moderation on because David was attempting to flood the site with stupid posts. If he wants to post under his own name here, I will allow him to say anything that he wants, but this is now an officially sock puppet-free zone.

Anyway, on with the show, I bring you...........David MacLean in his own words:

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"There are times when violence is perfectly appropriate and this is certainly one of them."

September 17, 2006 on http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/004624.html
posting as moneybags4me

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"Why did Isreal claim Gaza? Spoils of war -- after being invaded by Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Syria."

"Israel has a right to destroy hezbollah. They have no choice."

July 31, 2006 on http://buckdogpolitics.blogspot.com/2006/07/harpers-disastrous-foreign-policy.html
posting as "The Artist formerly known as..."

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"Those same poor hep-c victims probably got hep-c while shooting heroin in front of their 35 inch TV."

July 25, 2006 on http://citizensfederation.blogspot.com/2006/11/inequality-matters.html
posting as "Tommy Douglas"

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"I’m ecstatic that Jim Flaherty is starting to put money where it belongs. Into the pockets of Canadians. Instead of into the veins of drug addicts"

October 10, 2006 on http://www.officiallyscrewed.com/blog/?p=514
posting as moneybags4me

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"the fact that having a microphone somehow makes you "significant" says a lot about the problems with the media in general.

Taking clips and writing 15 second stories does not "significance" make.

I for one think reporters should have to pass some sort of general knowledge test before they get their microphone."

January 23, 2007 on http://youareablog.blogspot.com/2007/01/odds-that-i-get-in-physical-altercation.html
posting as "The Artist formerly known as..."

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"I just think too many members of the media are so incurious as to think they actually have knowledge on complicated issues, and therefore can ajudicate whether the interviewee's comments are valid or not."

January 23, 2007 on http://youareablog.blogspot.com/2007/01/odds-that-i-get-in-physical-altercation.html
posting as "The Artist formerly known as..."

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"change the clocks for more light at night, lots of strip clubs, and a reduced drinking age...one small step for sask."

July 25, 2006 on http://citizensfederation.blogspot.com/2006/07/what-does-alberta-have-that.html
posting as "Tommy Douglas"

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"Um, technically, in every sense of the word, nelson mandela was a terrorist."

December 27, 2005 on http://myblahg.com/?p=504
posting as "Tommy Douglas"

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"I’ve got an idea. Stop tax money from paying for abortions and let them have at’er."

June 22, 2006 on http://myblahg.com/?p=964
posting as "Tommy Douglas"

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"when you are on minimum wage, you either don’t know anything, or you are otherwise useless."

December 23, 2005 on http://myblahg.com/?p=494
posting as "Tommy Douglas"

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"I don't want my damn tax dollars paying for someone to live a few extra months."

March 11, 2006 on http://taxpayersfederation.blogspot.com/2006/03/government-says-no-to-life-extending.html
Posting (on David MacLean's own blog) as "Tommy Douglas"

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"I suspect that christians look at conversion the same way unions look at recruitment."

"I will admit to listening to gormley while I'm working. You are going to judge me based on what I choose as entertainment?"

October 12, 2005 on http://saskprogressive.blogspot.com/2005/10/man-i-hate-cost-increases.html
posting as "Tommy Douglas"

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"That's why I use it [Tommy Douglas] as my handle. Because it bothers you guys. "

March 7, 2006 on http://saskprogressive.blogspot.com/2006/03/sasktel-and-bwi.html
posting as "Tommy Douglas"

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"I would take downtown calgary over downtown slumville winnipeg any day of the week."

October 7, 2005 on http://taxpayersfederation.blogspot.com/2005/10/spending-binge-continues.html
posting (on David MacLean's own blog) as "Tommy Douglas"

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"the soothing tones of Al Gores brain farts as a pretense to knowledge."

September 30, 2006 on http://no-libs.com/?p=1120
posting as moneybags4me

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"And tax’s are theft as well."

September 29, 2006 on http://myblahg.com/?p=1336
posting as moneybags4me

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Tommy the commie has done irreversable damage to the province of Saskatchewan. They will never recover from their socialist stupor.

October 20, 2005 on http://myblahg.com/?p=219
posting as "Tommy Douglas"

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"92% of Socalists agree, which is a tiny lunatic fringe of the whole. Dangerous yes, but tiny, just like their penis's."

September 10, 2006 on http://www.haloscan.com/comments/safework/115790553087385346/
posting as moneybags4me

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"But this means he [Buckdog] can no longer troll his own blog under fake handles."

August 3, 2006 on http://buckdogpolitics.blogspot.com/2006/08/canadas-insane-policy-on-lebanese.html
posting as "The Artist formerly known as..."

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"What the hell gives you the idea that [David] maclean is a klein crony?"

Novmber 9, 2005 on http://taxpayersfederation.blogspot.com/2005/11/sk-lower-school-taxes.html
Posting (on David MacLean's own blog) as "Tommy Douglas"

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AND FINALLY:


"Words are weapons."

November 27, 2006 on http://citizensfederation.blogspot.com/2006/11/new-media-and-politics.html
posting as "Tommy Douglas"

I couldn't agree more David, couldn't agree more, words ARE weapons.

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David Maclean is now Trolling on Giant Political Mouse

David is now trolling on my site (I wondered how long it would be until he showed up)

You will see, in the comments here, posts by a blogger called moneybags4me. You will note that this is one of the same posters that was featured in my post yesterday about David trolling all over the place. The links are here and here

Note that this "moneybags4me" seems to be obsessed with defending David MacLean.

You will take particular note that in the May 8th post - he gets called out as being a David MacLean sock puppet - and this is over a year ago.

Yet here he is today acting the same way, oh, and he is blocking his IP address.

How convenient.

Woops! But somehow Zorpheous finds out his IP.

I confirm that is in fact David MacLean's IP.

We have proof. (read all about it in the comments - watch the sock puppet revealed in real time)

Update: Now that we know even more of David MacLean's sock puppet names watch him have an entire conversations with himself here don't worry, David, we saved the page in case you delete it. David MacLean, Farmer Joe, and Moneybags 4 me are ALL David MacLean. This is hilarious. (I like the part where people call David on using sock puppets - and his sock puppets claim that it isn't true)

Uperdate: And here is another David....Unplugged, moment.

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Put me in with Mark Steyn. I'm a climate holocaust denier.

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Uperdate: David starts to post under his real name in my comments section. I wonder if he will answer the following questions (read the comments to this post)

Is "the artist formerly known as..." also David MacLean, because the profile link says yes.

If moneybags4me and "the artist formerly known as..." have the same IP then aren't they the same person? (I.e. David MacLean)

If "the artist formerly known as..." said that he was Tommy Douglas and they have the same IP (as each other and moneybags4me) then isn't that David MacLean as well?

David has a lot of explaining to do...hopefully he will try using his own name for the explanation.

Round-Up of the David MacLean Trolling Controversy

So first of all, WOW! I am humbled that as many great people and bloggers linked to my post yesterday about David Maclean's trolling as did. I knew that this post was big, but I didn't know how bit it actually was.

A good technical explanation of the whole thing is here

But first of all, some trenchant analysis from James Bow (great blogger)

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Of those 5000 comments (5003 as I write this), a quick search in Movable Type’s back end shows that I contributed 560 of them. And all under my own name. What I have not done, unlike certain members of the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation is commented to my own posts under a pseudonym in order to make it appear that there was a vigorous community discussion going on. (Good lord, what a hoot!)

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Yes, this is one of the first problems with David's "multiple personalities". I am prepared to accept that he has a right to his own blog and he can say whatever he wants there. But to post using a bunch of aliases to booster support for his own arguments is at best, silly, and at worst - unethical. Anyway, I wonder what his employers think about all of this (since, as I pointed out, most of his posts are made during work hours) I am guessing that they would rather he make posts that were wroth commenting on rather than trying to fake commentary to create the illusion that people actually care.

But if his employers are OK with this then I guess that's fine. That doesn't mean that the rest of us now have to take anything that is said by any commentator on the CTF blog seriously anymore - "Oh that's just David posting under a fake name" is the rule of the day.

If I was the head of the CTF I would be pissed that he has flushed away a valuable tool like their blog for getting their message out. Now it is just a laughing stock.

Next up is Robert McClelland

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For the record I should add that I don’t particularly care if people use sock puppets. I just wanted to spread the information that the CTFers are cowards who hide their identities.

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This is also a good point. Some of us have reasons for keeping our identities secret (more on this later) but why should David MacLean? Given that his job is making right-wing arguments in the media one would suspect that he is capable of standing behind his opinion. It is almost part of his job description.

One would suspect that even he knows that many of his posts cross the line and so feels compelled to hide behind a false name (or names). Again, one wonders why? Is it because he knows these posts might get him in trouble with his employer? I would assume that to be the case. So instead of not making posts that are over the line he just creates a false name and then says what he actually (presumably) thinks. Again, if his Director and "members" are OK with this type of behavior then fine, but I would think that the Taxpayers Federation would set a higher standard than this for their employees.

Maybe I am wrong.

This brings us to the Wingnutter

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Now it is reported that David was using Sock Puppet BloggerID's to troll Progressive, Liberal and Left-Wing Blogs. When people caught him at he denied it, but now with his multiple personalities into one tight account the jig is up

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David has been called on this tactic many times by many blog operators and has constantly denied this (see many of my links from yesterday to confirm this) . Now we know that he was lying - each and every time. Again, I guess if the Taxpayers Federation wants a known liar working for them that is fine - but one wonders what else he is lying about?

The policies of the Taxpayer's Federation?

The numerical analysis of government policy?

Anything else?

In my opinion, David has proven himself incapable of being taken at face value for anything that he says. Why should we believe anything that he says if his "true" comments only come out when he is blogging under a different name.

Again, if his boss and organization are fine with someone in their employee who is a known liar, who can't stand behind his own arguments and has made one of their communication tools the laughing-stock of the internet that is fine - that is there prerogative.

If it were me, David would be looking for another job - but whatever.

To agree with the Jurist - yes, David is having a bad day.

That brings us to the best point of all about this. Scott Tribe asks the following:

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I’d like to hear a confirmation or a denial from him on what seems to be good evidence that GPM has produced, and if it is him, I’d like to hear him justify some of the stuff he was saying and posting anonymously about.

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Indeed, as I pointed out yesterday David does have much to answer for and the perfect venue is coming up:

Tuesday, May 29th at 12:30 on CJME Mr. David MacLean will be on the air and people can phone in and ask questions. That will either be the John Gormley show or the Murry Woods show.

The number (at least for Gormley) is 1-877-332-8255.

I posted the list of questions that I wanted asked last night and I suggest people take a look at them before calling into the show (if that is your plan) .

I have one last point left to address. The only person that (sort of) came to David's defense (that I know of) was Peter Rempel:

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Now. I understand that some people, people who use apostrophes as GPM does, really are stupid enough to believe that Maclean's comment could be interpreted as a defense of the Nazis.

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To be fair, as I pointed out in my post, it was the National Post and Warren Kinsella that interpreted one of these points as "defending the nazis" I happen to agree and if that makes me stupid, I guess I am in good company at least.

He makes a second (better point) as well:

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So far, we have the bloggers known as "Giant Political Mouse" and "Canadian Cynic" earnestly criticizing Maclean for blogging under an assumed identity

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That's true I guess. However, I have one pseudonym "Giant Political Mouse" and I use that for all of my posts. Whenever I post on blogging tory sites or not. I disagree with blogging tories and I tell them so, but I defy you to find one BT who has ever accused me of "trolling" or behaving poorly on their sites.

In fact, in yesterday's post on this topic one of my readers made the following suggestion:

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May I suggest swamping the CTF blog on David's latest post with questions about his trolling under sock puppets. He has been deleting mine and others comments but if we keep inundating the blog with comments, he won't be able to keep up and may after answer for his foolishness.

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to which I responded:

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I appreciate where you are coming from, but trolling his site just makes us as bad as we are claiming he is.

I think the public unmasking and subsequent shame should be enough punishment.

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I will stand by my reputation as a gentleman when it comes to other people's blogs. On my own blog I might call you names six ways from Sunday, but I will be polite when I post on other people's blogs.

And that is the major difference. If you don't like what I have to say, or you think that what I have to say is of no value because I am anonymous then fine, don't read my blog. And I will leave you alone on yours.

It is not the anonymity of David that we have a problem with, it is his unacceptable attacks on our blogs. If he wants to pick a false name and start a false blog, fine, go ahead.

Besides, some of us might have a reason to be anonymous. For example, what if I work for the federal government? I have been fairly critical of Harper and the Conservatives and so if they knew who I was they might fire me. Should I lose my job over legitimate policy disagreements?

Perhaps. A case could be made I suppose.

But to compare that to what David is doing?

I don't think so.

Note: Check back here to see the result of today's radio show

Update: I bet that David does not show up on the radio: Here is a screen shot taken from his blog this morning:


And if you go there now you find that last comment has been deleted - He doesn't want anyone to know that he was going on the radio and would have to answer questions. (Obviously there were other comments that were deleted)

My guess? He is backing out of the radio spot.

SUPER-UPDATE: David is now trolling on my site (I wondered how long it would be until he showed up)

You will see, in the comments below, posts by a blogger called moneybags4me. You will note that this is one of the same posters that was featured in my post yesterday about David trolling all over the place. The links are here and here

Note that this "moneybags4me" seems to be obsessed with defending David MacLean.

You will take particular note that in the May 8th post - he gets called out as being a David MacLean sock puppet - and this is over a year ago.

Yet here he is today acting the same way, oh, and he is blocking his IP address.

How convenient.

Given the track record of David and his Legions of Sock Puppets I am 99% sure that "moneybags4me" IS David MacLean.

God, get a life, you loser.

Questions for David Maclean on the Radio

For those of you who missed it yesterday:

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What has happened is that the changeover from blogger to the new blogger has merged together accounts from the old and the new. I know that I had a "giant political mouse" user name and password for both the old and new bloggers and they got merged together into one when the change was complete.

Same thing with David MacLean and some of his "other" accounts.

The ones he uses to harass people.

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And:

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So tomorrow (Tuesday, May 29th) at 12:30 on CJME Mr. David MacLean will be on the air and people can phone in and ask questions. That will either be the John Gormley show or the Murry Woods show.

The number (at least for Gormley) is 1-877-332-8255.

I can think of some questions you might want to ask

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As promised, here is the list of questions:


1) Why do you post under multiple names on your own website? Do so few people go there that you have to fake people posting there so it looks like anybody is paying attention to you?

2) Do your bosses know that you are faking feedback on your own blog?

3) You said, quote "The fact that having a microphone makes you 'significant' says a lot about the problems with the media in general." What are the problems with the media in general as you see them?

4) You said, quote "I for one, think that reporters should have to pass some general knowledge test before they get their microphone." Who would administer this test?

5) You said, quote "Too many members of the media are so incurious as to think they actually have knowledge on complicated issues." Which members of the media lack this knowledge?

6) You called for more strip clubs and a lower drinking age and said that this would be, quote "one small step for Sask." Does this represent the official position of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and their social conservative backers?

7) You said, quote "these same poor hep-c victims probably got hep-c while shooting heroin in front of thier 35-inch television." Were you unaware that many hep-c victims contracted this disease via the tainted blood scandal in the 80's and 90's?

8) What statistics do you have that show most hep-c victims use heroin?

9) You said, quote "Stop tax money from paying for abortions and let them have at’er." Did you mean that everyone can have an abortion as long as it is not paid for by the state? Does this represent the official position of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and their social conservative backers?

10) You said, quote "when you are on minimum wage, you either don’t know anything, or you are otherwise useless." Why are people who get paid minimum wage useless?

11) This is the big one. Why are all your offensive comments made using "secret identities"? Are you afraid that if people find out what you really believe that you will have no supporters, anywhere, ever?

That's a good start I guess.

My guess is that he chickens out and doesn't show up.

Taxpayers Federation Employee makes hateful comments

Anyone who runs a blog in Saskatchewan knows (or quickly finds out) that they will have to deal with the head of the Saskatchewan Taxpayers Federation, David MacLean

The man has nothing better to do then spend his days trolling under a variety of user names (such as r.s. porter, farmer joe and others). In fact, he has a whole slew of pseudonyms that he uses to cause havoc on left-wing blogs.

But the change from blogger to the new blogger has caught him out.

Check out this link to Larry Hubich's blog you will see the following:

You will see the typical comment that David will leave - this time he is posting as "the artist formerly known as..."

"But wait" - you say, "How do you know it is him?"

Follow this link to the post above and click on the user name: This is what you get.



Go ahead, follow the link yourself and see.

What has happened is that the changeover from blogger to the new blogger has merged together accounts from the old and the new. I know that I had a "giant political mouse" user name and password for both the old and new bloggers and they got merged together into one when the change was complete.

Same thing with David MacLean and some of his "other" accounts.

The ones he uses to harass people.

Let's just see what Mr. MacLean has to say when he thinks no one knows who he is, shall we.

First of all, what is interesting to note is that he posts on his own blog.


If you link here you will see the fascinating spectacle of David MacLean making as post as himself and then posting two comments to that post as different people (r.s. porter is one of his other names as well - The link doesn't lead to David but you can track IP numbers from his posts) .

Gee David, do so few people pay attention to you that you have to fake it this much?

But wait, let's see what else he writes over here:


and:




This might be of interest to any media types that interview Mr. MacLean, perhaps they will ask him about it. Since he seems to think that they "are so incurious as to think they actually have knowledge on complicated issues" and that "the fact that having a microphone makes you 'significant' says a lot about the problems with the media in general"

For someone who's job basically depends on getting interviewed by the Media, this seems a bit silly for him to say - I guess he was really relying on that anonymity, eh?

Of course, this is just one of the many, many names that David MaceLan posts under, let's check out another one, shall we?

We will start with "The Artist Formerly Know as..." complaining about one of his other names being blocked over on the Saskatchewan Citizen's Federation website.

you can clearly see the moderator (Mike Stafaniuk) complaining about all the names that this certain blogger uses (and again, if you click on the link, it leads right to David Maclean's blogger profile)

But it seems that David had another name that he was using to harass the bloggers on the SCF site. "Tommy Douglas" (What better name to harass lefties with, eh?)

But what posts did David make as "Tommy Douglas"?

Well this one is interesting:

I guess it is part of his job to do these kinds of posts (you will note that all the time stamps are during the day - when David MacLean should be at work) but I wonder what his bosses think about him using company time to promote strip clubs and lowering the drinking age. I'm not sure how that fits into the mandate of the Taxpayer's federation.

But so far we just have harassment, right? I mean, it's not like he has said anything offensive, right?

Woops!



Here we have David MacLean, using one of his "other names" claiming that the hepatitis-c victims got hep-c due to drug use and that they are all rich to being with (thus should not receive any money from the government) (Note: Kate of Small Dead Animals says this isn't offensive)

I am fairly sure the media might want to ask about that as well.

Update: Robert McClelland finds 80 posts by "Tommy Douglas" and links the IP number to David Maclean, read more here

Some jems from David MacLean on My Bhlag one and two

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Stop tax money from paying for abortions and let them have at’er.

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when you are on minimum wage, you either don’t know anything, or you are otherwise useless.

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Whew! Organized labour and pro life AND pro choice people might have something to say about all of that!


Uperdate: buckdog links to this great post by Mr. Maclean

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Why did Isreal claim Gaza? Spoils of war -- after being invaded by Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Syria.

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Mini-update inside this update: This is too funny, here is David on Buckdog complaining about other people using fake names:

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But this means he [Buckdog] can no longer troll his own blog under fake handles. What a shame

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That's irony, people!


Uper-Uperdate: Look who is going on the Radio tomorrow!


So tomorrow (Tuesday, May 29th) at 12:30 on CJME Mr. David MacLean will be on the air and people can phone in and ask questions. That will either be the John Gormley show or the Murry Woods show.

The number (at least for Gormley) is 1-877-332-8255.

I can think of some questions you might want to ask - and I made a list for you

Yet another update: How could I forget that David MacLean was involved in a controversy over posting under his own name last year. Calgary Grit made this post that led to the following National Post article by Warren Kinsella: (including this great opening line)

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It goes on and on. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation's Saskatchewan director referring to, and minimizing, the deaths of Kristallnacht to make an obscure point.

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No wonder David has to resort to posting under other people's names - when he posts under his own name it is so offensive that it makes national news.

For the record, here is what David said (from the Calgary Grit post) that got the National Post all worked up:

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The famous Kristallnacht that horrified civilized opinion worldwide caused a grand total of 71 deaths. This in a nation of 70 million.

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Wow! Defending the Nazis as well. David, David, David.

Last Update: My follow-up post to this is here and for more "words of wisdom" from David Maclean, including such jems as "Nelson Mandela is a terrorist" read here

TILMA Round-Up

With the TILMA hearings starting in Saskatchewan - here is a roundup of some of the bloggers and their thoughts on TILMA

First of all, mine

The Jurists

The Saskatchewan Citizen's Federation

Larry Hubich

Swift Current NDP

Politics and Poetry

Relentlessly Progressive Economics

Word Press

Owls and Roosters

Water as a Fuel Source - this could be BIG

If this works out, then it could be a fantastic source of clean energy.

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"You could take plain salt water out of the sea, put it in containers and produce a violent flame that could heat generators that make electricity, or provide other forms of energy," Kanzius said.He said engineers are currently experimenting with him in Erie, Pa. in an attempt to harness the energy. They've built an engine that, when placed on top of the flame, chugged along for two minutes, Kanzius told WPBF.

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Not gonna bomb Iran, eh?

This just gets worse and worse:

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"The carriers and amphibious strike groups and their associated forces will conduct missions in direct support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and will also perform Expeditionary Strike Force training," the Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet said.

In January, Washington said it planned to keep two carrier battle groups in the Gulf for months -- the first such deployment since 2003.

Tension is high over Iran's controversial atomic energy programme. Washington suspects Iran is secretly trying to develop a Nuclear weapon, a charge Tehran strongly denies.

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The Saskatchewan Government and TILMA

This is a good article:

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At the end of March, the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) announced that it had several concerns about the interprovincial trade agreement, and wanted either its concerns addressed before the Saskatchewan government signed on, or opting-out provisions for municipal governments.

To that, most of TILMA’s supporters in Saskatchewan’s business and political communities respond with two words: “Trust Us.”

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Yeah, Like I am going to "trust" the business community and Brad Wall.

There is some good background information on TILMA here

Gone for Long Weekend

No posts until Tuesday

Worst. Movie Clips. Ever.

Good times.

Apperently the National Post knows something we don't

In this article on TILMA there is a very interesting paragraph:

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In reality, TILMA exempts non-profit corporations (such as the Riders), regulations governing water, taxation, standards for health and social services, agriculture and Crown Corporations. What it will do, says Mr. Gartner, is turn the West into Canada's second-largest economy, next to Ontario (where politicians have also mused about possibly signing on to TILMA). For Saskatchewan's NDP, boosting business against the wishes of the party's big union backers is risky -- especially with an election in October

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Never mind that they are wrong about TILMA - the only mention of Crown Corporations is in the transitional period section (section 6) and not in the exemption section (section 5) - they are not otherwise protected.

But how is it that the National Post knows the date of the next election?

The impact of the Greens in the next Sask. election?

I was reading this post about the impact of the Green party on the Manitoba election and it got me thinking.

The green support is not much stronger in Sask than in Manitoba and although the left might be a bit more annoyed with the NDP her than there - I just don't see it being a big factor.

The greens didn't get more than 1000 votes in any seat in Saskatchewan and certainly didn't get even 10% of the vote last time around.

In my opinion the green vote is part "protest" vote, part "new party" vote, part "environmental" vote and part "left-wing" vote.

My prediction is that the greens will have as much of an impact in Saskatchewan as they are in Manitoba - which is to say, almost none.

I disagree - Blog comment warfare is good for the soul

Sask Liberals are at 10% in the polls

David Karwacki has a strange definition of "great"

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In a recent Leader-Post-commissioned opinion poll, the Saskatchewan Party held 55 per cent support, while the NDP held 29 per cent. The Liberals, at 10 per cent, were supported more than the Greens, at six per cent.

Despite relatively low support levels, Karwacki was optimistic.

"We're doing great in the polls. Everyone hates us the least," he said.

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Dion is taking it from all sides

When they are laughing at you you know you are in trouble

Man, those are some bad pictures.

McCain jokes about bombing Iran

How the hell did I miss this?

This is a merger of many things I find amusing

Southpark and Mac/PC commercials, all in one bundle. Awesome!

Sorry - but don't we have better things to discuss

This is why people get fed up with politicians sometimes. Don't we have anything better to talk about in the House of freeken Commons?

And yes, Layton is one of the people I am unimpressed with

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MYTISCHI, Russia (CP) - Canadian hockey captain Shane Doan fired back Tuesday at the politicians attacking him back home.

On Monday, opposition leaders suggested in the House of Commons that Doan wasn't fit to lead the team because of alleged derogatory comments about French-Canadians.

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the ridiculousnesses starts here:

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The issue was brought back to life on Parliament Hill. NDP Leader Jack Layton suggested Monday that Doan's captaincy would "cast a shadow" on the Canadian team while Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe and Liberal Leader Stephane Dion called on the Conservative Government to comment.

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Bah! A pox on all your houses