Red Ensign Standard XXIX
Welcome back to my little corner of the blogosphere for this day-after-Thanksgiving edition of the Red Ensign Standard. I hosted Standard XXVI
back in July, and liked the experience so much I decided to do it again. Let's get right to it; here are the top Brigade posts since September 26, 2005:
This first one gets its own category, as I don't think we do this enough: Temujin of West Coast Chaos
thanks a veteran. C'mon people, it isn't just something to do on November 11th and then forget about for the rest of the year. Go down to your local Legion and do it today.
David Dingwall and Liberal corruptionThe former president of the Canadian Mint (and prior to that, MP and cabinet minister) was in a lot of hot water from the blogosphere these last few weeks, resigning over allegations of padding his expense account - followed by the government's outrageous offer of severance pay totalling a half million dollars.
The Phantom Observer says that John McCallum is stuck on stupid when it comes to
David Dingwall and that the Canadian government's scandal problems are only going to
get bigger. The London Fog
puts a pig's snout on David Dingwall and
calls Paul Martin a liar. Stephen Taylor
has lots to say about David Dingwall and the absurdity of paying severance to
someone who has quit particularly under a
cloud of corruption. Rootleweb
came back to
the topic of
David Dingwall again and
again. M.K. Braaten thinks David Dingwall
might know too much. Keith at Minority of One is
furious at David Dingwall. Just Between Us Girls has a theory on David Dingwall and
hush money. Grandinite connects David Dingwall with the
raping of watermelons. Andrew at Bound by Gravity says that David Dingwall is
not entitled to severance pay. Angry in the Great White North
piled on David Dingwall as well. A Chick Named Marzi takes the opportunity to laugh at
Paul Coffin and the Liberal Party.
On related topics, Toronto Tory finds some
shenanigans in the funding of Paul Martin's leadership bid. And finally, Chris at Striving Against Opposition thinks that the Martin government is nihilistic, a Seinfeldian/Neitzschean
government about nothing. Shane at The High Places
wonders at the minority government's ability to cling to power. M.K. Braaten thinks this sitting of Parliament
should be an interesting one and theorizes that Stephen Harper has
something up his sleeve. Meanwhile, the Raging Ranter says that Parliament has been
neutered. Andrew at Bound By Gravity says that the Conservatives and the NDP
ought to work together to defeat the Liberals. The Phantom Observer says that Ralph Goodale can
take lessons in class from Stephen Harper. Enter stage Right has a
message for Canadian conservatives.
Brian Pallister and Svend RobinsonNo, they aren't getting married, silly. These two are characters in their own right though; Pallister for singing in the House of Commons and Robinson for wanting to return to the HoC after leaving in disgrace, having been caught on tape stealing a $25000 diamond ring for
his boyfriend.
The Phantom Observer
has a musical critique of Brian Pallister singing in the House of Commons as does
Andrew at Bound By Gravity. Ray at Raging Kraut
isn't surprised that Svend Robinson is musing a comeback and the Raging Ranter
isn't surprised at the return of Svend Robinson either.
SerenityFew non-political, non-tragic topics have captured the blogosphere this year as the
movie Serenity, a film based upon the all-too-short-lived TV series Firefly.
Ith at Absinthe and Cookies saw Serenity -
twice. Nicholas at Quotulatiousness
loved the movie. Kate at The Last Amazon went out into the Black and
took the tribe to see Serenity. I got into the act too and review the movie
here.
In contrast, Chris of Taylor and Company thinks the movie
Flightplan is junk.
Piglet, Saint George, and IslamAt first glance, one would think that the lovable character from Winnie the Pooh and the dragon-slayer had nothing in common. Well, over the last few weeks, they do.
John of Argghhh! joins the crusade to
free Piglet. Kate at The Last Amazon's
inner pig is roasting. John the Mad defends both
Piglet and
St. George. Alan at GenX at 40 asks
how Al Qaeda could establish an empire. Canadian Comment
has some advice for Muslims. Angry in the Great White North says that Norway
has surrendered to Al Qaeda.
Keith at Minority of One is upset with
Canadian ambassador to the USA Frank McKenna and
Islamic terrorists.
Michaelle JeanKeith at Minority of One fumes at the
new Governor-General. Just Between Us Girls says that the new Governor General
isn't showing too much in the way of smarts. John the Mad
isn't impressed either.
The London Fog has some harsh words for former
Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson.
hockey, football, and baseballThis is the time of year when Canadian wives lose their husbands to the TV and sports bar. With all three sports going on at once, it's a wonder they ever see their husbands in late September and early October.
Ace at Raging Kraut Ace
welcomes the return of the NHL. Ryan at Blue Perspective
gets off to a bad start in his hockey pool. ChrisCam finds
solace in baseball so his
world was crushed by the Chicago White Sox. Alan at GenX at 40 says Don Cherry
has lost it. John the Mad plays
Dodge the Scooter. Chris at Striving Against Opposition
likes the new NHL rules and shares his
hockey pool picks. The Meatriarchy
also does some hockeyblogging. Enter Stage Right does some
Monday night quarterbacking as A Chick Named Marzi
laughs at some football players.
And while it isn't quite a sport, it is similar to hockey: Darcey at Dust My Broom talks about
getting beat up and giving a beating in return.
Church and moralityShane at The High Places has a
dissection of "Emerging Church" complaints and points out why
Christianity is unique. North Western Winds looks at an
ad campaign by Australian churches and says that there are
no pro-family political parties in either the US or in Canada. Keith at Minority of One is troubled by the
ravages of social relativism. Rebecca at Doxology
admires Mother Theresa and has some
good advice from an old farmer. Angry in the Great White North has comments on both the
Anglican Church and the
Catholic Church. Finally, Ith at Absinthe and Cookies alerts us to the
return of the Temperance movement.
MPs' gas allowancesRootleweb had
lots to
say about the MPs' gas rebates. Hammer Into Anvil is
miffed at the MPs' gas allowances.
Shane at The High Places asks for government to
cut taxes rather than paying us with our own money and complains that government is
pissing away our money studying a problem they have no interest in fixing (gas prices).
Cindy SheehanAngry in the Great White North must
have a crush on
Cindy Sheehan.
Sometimes it seems like
his blog is
All Cindy All the Time. He posted
so much about her in the last two weeks that
his posts deserve a
category of their own.
MiscellanyThese last few weeks the Red Ensign Brigade has been all over the map as far as post topics go. Although I have attempted to categorize them all, it just isn't possible. So, here are the rest of the top posts of the last two weeks, all mashed together in one big pile of Thanksgiving stuffing:
Turning 30 and a Half is
disappointed with her photography teacher, is
afraid of spiders, likes the idea of
merit badges for grownups, remembers
her surgery as her niece goes through the
same operation and thinks some
happy thoughts.
Toronto Tory smirks at Carol Jamieson and her
supposed "conservative" supporters and shows
Liberal bias in the media (as if you needed more examples).
Tipper has found something nice (comparatively speaking anyway) to say about
Ontario motor vehicle bureaucracy and
Canadian healthcare.
The Phantom Observer says that underfunding of the Canadian Forces has
taken a toll on its peacekeeping operations, that the guidelines for use of the government Challenger jets is in
need of revision, that the blogosphere has a role to play in
catching lies told to the Gomery inquiry, shows the differences in the
selection of Supreme Court justices in Canada and the USA, and questions
whether Canada's military could handle a Katrina-level disaster.
The
Monarchist remembers the Battle of
Trafalgar in a
great many posts, and is spitting mad at the
Prime Minister of New Zealand.
The Meatriarchy says that
his readers are funny.
The London Fog thinks that the city of London, Ontario's garbage pickup plan is, well,
garbage, doesn't like the idea of
being forced to vote, promotes the
Freedom Party of Ontario, is disinclined to believe that
governments can solve anything, urges Bono to
crawl back under a rock, says that
France and Chicken just go together, that the
CBC never sounded better than when they were on strike, that while criminals might grow marijuana,
marijuana is not the cause of criminality, and how on some days, the London Fog
hates Canada.
Kate at the Last Amazon alliterates:
Keystone Cops brought to you by Kaddoumi, says
happy birthday to Margaret Thatcher and questions whether Canada is more peaceful and law abiding than 30 years ago, or whether
trauma medicine is just better.
Shane at The High Places asks if a
Goliath is signing up to take on David in Surrey North.
The Freeway to Serfdom dreams of a
free-market freeway and says that if a loved one goes missing in Vancouver, forget calling the police.
Hire a private investigator instead.
The Conservative Hipster
welcomes Janeane Garofalo to The West Wing and calls
Toronto the capital of lost opportunity.
Chris of Taylor and Company says that the average Canadian citizen is
grossly ignorant about the army, that the crash of Air France flight 358 could have been avoided, but
disses the Toronto Star's suggestions as to how, and
takes to the streets in search of a good book.
Stephen Taylor
expressed hopes that Peter McKay would stay with the federal Conservative party, hopes which were
answered in the affirmative, and rails against
hooligans at the Queen's University homecoming.
Rootleweb calls for
fixed election dates and says that Canadians have forgotten
what the concept of justice means.
I play with
Katherine Harris's photograph, have a picture of the
10th planet and its newly-discovered moon, point out the new
breathing tax, and have some stills from a totally cool (and probably fake) video of a
meteor striking mere meters from the camera.
Paul at Ravishing Light
still isn't dead and says that in the US, a life sentence
once again means a life sentence.
The Raging Ranter says that Canada has the best health-care system in the world,
as long as you're not a human.
At Raging Kraut, Ray has some thoughts on the
15th anniversary of the reunification of Germany.
Nicholas at Quotulatiousness talks about the
right to die, questions the
end of oil, laughs at the idea that
news organizations are objective and has a
synchronicity moment at lunch.
North Western Winds
questions a British reporter's journalistic integrity, looks at the
politics of paranoia and the
philosophy of biology and
critiques Ayn Rand.
Jason at Musing asks
why people still look to the government for disaster relief, takes the ALF to the woodshed for
threatening preschoolers, and shows that for the amount being requested by Louisiana senators, the US could buy
10 to 15 Nimitz class aircraft carriers, complete with 51 aircraft each.
Just Between Us Girls looks at an
impending Rural Revolution.
Italics Mine sees something sinister about the
UN's attempts to take over the internet root servers from the USA,
mocks Donald Sutherland, and laughs at the
supposedly "brutal" winters in Afghanistan.
Hammer into Anvil reviews
Eric Idle's latest book. He also calls for the
privatization of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario.
Grandinite sees
FedEx as a global economic indicator, asks why the
taxpayer-funded CBC has commercials, posts some
truck porn, has a theory on why Canadian blogs haven't yet had their
Dan Rather moment, says that a
surplus of lawyers in politics creates a surplus of laws, talks about
Albertan plans to build a nuclear power plant for the heat to extract oil from the tar sands, and
eats a llama.
Alan at GenX at 40
agrees with David Frum and
takes a swipe at futurists.
Enter Stage Right says
"duh" to Sunni Iraqis, explains
why England lost its empire and
takes the road to hell.
Dust My Broom had a
murderer living next door, finds that Canadians and Americans are
more alike than we think, says that
PETA kills animals, has
pizza with Joe Volpe , shows that
money won't buy happiness, has
thoughts on urban reserves, has a
list of reasons to like Canada, warns of yet
another change to Canada's flag looks at the federal government's
attempts to buy native votes, and asks
why work if you can make a better living on welfare?Huck at BumfOnline had a great time at the
Arcade Fire show at the university of Calgary.
Andrew at Bound By Gravity
gets rid of Microsoft Office, looks at the
cynicism of Canadians regarding the federal surplus, and points out that if global warming is caused by people, then Kyoto is the
exact wrong approach.
Ryan at Blue Perspective
wishes Margaret Thatcher a happy birthday and has a good swift kick in the ass for
ruffians at Queen's University.
Babbling Brooks has
given up blogging.
Asiapundit says that South Korea is likely to
nominate one of their own to be the next UN Secretary-General, visits a Korean
sex museum and admires one woman who is
standing up to North Korea.
CW4BillT of Argghhh! remembers the
good old days of Hollywood Squares and
rules of engagement. John of Argghhh! talks about
milbloggers' rules and is troubled by a
lack of clarity on the treatment of detainees.
Anthroblogology does some
underwater photography.
Angry in the Great White North highlights
moonbattery in American schools and
animals in the
same schools. He also has fun with
bigamy and
Ward Churchill.
Rue at Abraca-pocus reveals some
wisdom from her children,
smells like a cupcake, and
shows her boobies to the world.
A Chick Named Marzi
takes a swipe at Al Gore and at
Donald Sutherland.
Rebecca at Doxology buys a
workout DVD.
That's it for this edition of the Standard. Nicholas at
Quotulatiousness will be hosting the Red Ensign Standard XXX (that's the Roman numeral for 30, you perverts) in two weeks' time.
Oh yeah, one last thing. Be sure to go over to Small Dead Animals for the
Small Dead Blog Awards, and vote for me under the category of Weirdest Canadian Blog. With your help, I just know I can beat
Buckets of Grewal.
Update: Now listed on the TTLB
übercarnival.
Technorati Tags: Red Ensign
Maureen Dowd wrote a long, sad essay in the New York Times the other day, entitled "What's a Modern Girl to do?" - basically bemoaning the fact that she is 53, unmarried, and childless. The essay has received lots of attention from various bloggers, like Ann Althouse, Roger L. Simon, The Anchoress, Steve Sailer, Matt Drudge, and I'm sure plenty of others. MoDo's basic thesis of the essay was that men don't want her because she's just too successful:
Now, from the look of her picture (top), she's actually a fairly attractive-looking woman; comparable to Buffy The Vampire Slayer beauty Alysson Hannigan (below), which is quite something considering that she's 53. So, the reason for her single status is not her looks. And really, it isn't that she is intimidating either. A columnist for the New York Times? Big Deal. It isn't like she's a brain surgeon or an astronaut.
