Oh the irony of it all!

So I'm on my new Windows 7 Beta machine at work, talking with a buddy of mine about my recent Ubuntu Linux install on my laptop and desktop at home. Talking about the availability of applications like my VPN client, when all of a sudden, what happens?

KABOOM... BSOD!!! The good old patented Microsoft "Blue Screen Of Death"(TM), just like the one in the YouTube video I posted the other day!



Oh the irony... talking about making the switch to Linux, and my Windows crashes. Yet another reason to finally make the switch!

I'm thinking of converting

No, it's not an April Fools post, I'm seriously thinking of converting... to Linux, thanks to the latest version of Ubuntu!

It all starting through some good natured ribbing from a fellow Tory thanks to the Confiker worm, (for which, for some reason, I'm still ranked really high on Google) after I sent out some instructions on patching Windows computers to all my fellow Tory contacts. Anyway, he sends back some smart-alec comment about how it's time to finally time to come to the "dark side" and make the switch. So, since I figured I've been meaning to give it a whirl on my HP Pavilion dv9000 laptop (remember, the one I bought with Vista?), so I looked up the latest version of Ubuntu, which is the Beta version 9.04. Downloaded it, burned it, and rebooted.

Seriously, even with repartitioning my drive so both Ubuntu and Vista can live side by side, it took all of about 20 minutes to get it all loaded. (on my second attempt mind you, tried installing first on my second hard drive but my dv9000 didn't like that, wouldn't give me the option to boot from my second drive, so I had to install again)

Booted up, man is it ever fast. It's easy to navigate, nice and cleanly designed. First time around, my wireless didn't work, so I plugged in to my router, and ran a hardware update. Found a suitable driver, loaded it, and that was it. Ran some tests, and from a cold boot, it takes one minute and twenty eight seconds till I'm fully online. And that's including the time required to enter my username and password, and automatically attach to my home wireless network.

I've always been hesitant to make the switch, because I've never been much of a programmer, and because basically, Windows has always just worked for me. (especially Windows XP Pro SP2, by far their best OS ever) Linux has always had the problem of getting applications installed, which is a snap with Windows. In Linux, you need the right RPM's, tarball files, the right kernel, etc. Could never be bothered to work through all of that.

But there's been a dramatic shift in the last couple of years. With the advent of high-speed internet connections, everything is moving to an online application model. You've got your Hotmail and GMail for e-mail, you've got OpenOffice and Google Docs for word processing, you've got Facebook, etc., etc., etc. Essentially, the average user doesn't need to install much software anymore.

As such, once you're online, you're pretty well done. You can do everything you need online. Therefore, since I pretty much use my laptop for online communication, I figured what the heck, let's give it a go.

Again, I'm hugely impressed. So much so, that I'm posting this post from the SECOND computer that I've converted, the old P4 tower in my home office. Only a P4 1.6Ghz with 768MB of RAM and a 20GB HDD, and the thing still screams. Of course, XP would also work nice on those specs, but why would I want to spend money and buy an OS to put on that old thing? Exactly... free is good.

Of course, should the need arise, I can always turn to VMWare... I've got the VMWare Player installed on the box, so I can call up an MS Virtual PC image from work should I need it. All in all, it's pretty sweet.

Anyway, I'm sure I'll have more to say in the weeks to come. Also got the ISO file configured on a USB stick, from which I can run a LiveCD boot on most computers, so I'll be playing with it on various hardware, like my eeePC. I'll let you know how it goes.

Confiker worm brings back memories...

UPDATE: For those of you looking for the Microsoft patches, they're right here.

With all the talk over the Confiker worm, and all the standard fare mocking that comes from my Linux and Mac friends, I couldn't help but turn my thoughts back to Bill Gates, and the original lauch of the then much lauded Windows 98...


Now for the political connection... a Linux guy I know sent me a link, looks like the Parliament in the UK may be riddled with the bug!

Enjoy... now excuse me, I have some server patching and rebooting to do... hey, I already told you to quit laughing you Mac and Linux guys...

If you need the patches, you can find them via my blog here.

Wow, Confiker Worm Traffic Spike!

LOL... so in being a good Samaritan and posting the Microsoft patch info on the Confiker worm, set to morph on April 1st, April Fools day, my traffic really spiked! Looks like I'm one of the top hits on Google for "Confiker worm"! Number six on the initial search page, higher than most of the major anti-virus vendors no less! Go figure.

Today's CanCom content - Kate Beneteau

Okay, here's your "CanCom" content for today, courtesy of the CBC of all places! Kate Beneteau had one of her songs played on the CBC the other week, and her work is pretty amazing! (full story below)




So the other week, Sunday morning, the alarm goes off, and we usually doze for a bit before getting up and ready for church. Anyway, we had CBC Radio One on, as usual, and I heard this really amazing soundscape playing. I heard the name, and figured I should look up the artist sometime.

Anyway, finally got around to it, looked up the CBC show to see who it was that they had played that morning. Turns out her name is Kate Beneteau, and she's just a student! She's already put out an album of her soundscapes, which are amazing and just grow on you the more you listen to them. They'd played her best known one called "Crash" on the CBC that Sunday morning, which I love, which was used in a TV documentary in 2007. I've found I also really like her one entitled "Catch & Release", once it gets going that is, around the 1:00 mark. ("TCH", if I know you, I think you'll like that one too, along with "Peace of Mind" and "Future Tense")

Anyway, the reason I'm blogging on it is because as I had it playing at work, a co-worker of mine (a real lefty, we hardly agree on anything!) came into my office, and really wanted to know who/what it was I had playing. So I sent her the link, and figured hey, why not post it and let everyone else give her a listen? So here's my bit to promote an up and coming Canadian artist, Kate Beneteau!

CFRB's Bill Carroll points out Liberal hypocrisy

Had to smile when Bill Carroll from Toronto's CFRB 1010 pointed out how hypocritical the Ontario Liberals are this morning. It all comes down to the Ontario Budget, and the "economic projections" upon which they base their numbers.

For weeks now, the Federal Liberals, which is made up predominantly of Ontario Liberals here in Ontario*, have been taking the Harper Government to task for the "economic projections" upon which the most recent Budget was based. And the Liberals have been saying the projections are "too rosy", as Finance Critic John MacCallum indicated on Bill Carroll's show just yesterday.

Now look at the Ontario Budget. What were their numbers based on? Yup, you guessed it... the exact same projections as the Harper Government's Budget.

Once again, on three, say it with me... HYPOGRITS!!! Looks like numbers that are good enough for a Liberal to use AREN'T good enough for a Conservative, in their eyes. On the one hand, the Federal Liberals, and all their hacks over at the Liblogs, critize the Harper Government's projections. Meanwhile, they approve of and defend using the very same figures here in Ontario.

Let's see if any of them have the decency to stand up and level the same critism at the McGuinty government as they have been at the Harper Government... but I'm not holding my breath, of course.

Let me put it to you another way... and Libloggers who are honest about this issue gets a link from this post, and will get props from me for their ethical stance.


* NOTE: Actually I think the Ontario Liberal Party makes up what, like 50% of their entire Federal membership? We don't call it the Liberal Party of Toronto for nothing...

April Fools? Confiker worm patch info

Hey folks, I've got all the links and info you'll need to patch your Windows box for the "Confiker" worm right here.

Since all the media have reported on the "Confiker" worm that's supposedly set to go off on April 1st, I've been asked by folks, "What should I do on my home computer?"

Well, first of all, it doesn't look like April 1st will unleash IP Armageddon, but it's always better to be safe than sorry. If you have your Windows Automatic Updates set to install updates automatically, you're probably already okay. If you don't, you'll need to get the appropriate patch from Microsoft for your Operating System. Download the patch, install it, then reboot if required. Here's the info you'll need to make sure your computer is properly patched:

For Windows XP users, click here.

For Windows Vista users, click here.

For Windows 2000 (SP4 ONLY) users, click here.

For Windows 98 users... come on folks, UPGRADE ALREADY!!! (no, seriously, there's no patch for you, because Windows 98 is WELL beyond it's "End of Life" date... it's time to upgrade!)

If you're one of those folks with a more advanced Microsoft OS, as in a 64-bit or Server edition, go here to get the appropriate patch.

For Mac users, okay fine, you dodged the bullet this time, but you still suck anyway... especially "DY-Wheelz", "L.Coffee" & TCH.

And finally, for Linux users... okay, fess up, which one of you punks was it that programmed this nasty little thing? Okay, seriously, stop laughing at the rest of us.. no, seriously, this is why regular folks don't like you, because you're all high and mighty at times like this... especially you Mr. cdlu. ;-)

Okay, once you've got the patches, make sure you've got an up to date anti-virus. If you don't have one, I recommend AVG's FREE product, found here. Download it, install it, and then let it update itself.

Do both of those things, (the appropriate MS patch and the anti-virus) and you should be good to go for April 1st.

And if you happen to be a Liberal... don't say I never did nothin nice for ya. ;-)

ON PC Vote on June 27? Way to go idiots

Already, things aren't looking to good for the upcoming Ontario PC Leadership vote. The Executive, in their "wisdom", have selected June 27 for the Convention. Ammm, hey guys... are you TRYING to limit the number of people who show up?

What am I talking about? What's the big day that's occurring just four days later? That's right, Canada Day, July 1. And since Canada Day is smack dab in the middle of the week this year, instead of closer to one weekend or the other, loads of people, like me for example, are going to be away on vacation that weekend. Lots of folks are going to be taking off from work between June 27-July 1, turning it into a long weekend, AND WILL BE HEADING OUT OF TOWN. (or doing the same thing on the other side of the week and making July 1-5 a long weekend)

What does that mean? A whole lot of folks who might have wanted to attend the Convention already have plans, and won't be able to make it.

So much for being able to put on a good show. Perhaps instead of picking a new Leader, we should have put our efforts into picking a new Executive... cause this same crew is continuing to screw things up with every decision they make.

Simple solution? HOLD THE CONVENTION AT A LATER DATE.


UPDATE: Thanks to the kind ON PC employee who mentioned it in the comments, but I'm well aware that the voting will take place prior to the 27th... my problem is with being able to attend the Convention, which many folks automatically won't be able to do because of the date the Executive have selected. It's just plain DUMB to throw a roadblock into the way of folks who would have otherwise wanted to attend, especially when you're trying to rebuild and reinvigorate the Party.

On an unrelated matter, I must say it's a surprise to see so much traffic coming in from Queen's Park and the Hill... if your looking for info on the Leadership race, you've come to the right place! Stay tuned, there will be lots more over the coming months, as I am firmly in the "UNDECIDED" camp right now.

OPIRG-UofT loves George Galloway

Wow, the more I find out about these OPIRG guys, the more I want to shine a few million candles worth of daylight on their antics.

First it was the UofG's rigging of the OPIRG-Guelph nominations... then the attempt at Queen's to remove a Tory from their ASM. Now, it's the UofT's turn.

The OPIRG over at the U of T are mounting an effort (including the standard "disinformation", to be polite) to protest the denial of entry to Canada of British MP George "Hamas" Galloway.

Sorry guys, but first of all, it wasn't Kenney who made the call, it was the buracrats. Kenney DOES have to power to overturn that call, but he isn't, and for that I'm glad... because Canada does not support those who support terrorists.

Hamas is a banned organization in Canada, and Galloway is a known supporter and fundraiser for them. Hamas supports the continued use of terror, therefore, if you support Hamas, and are intending to attend fundraisers while here in Canada, why on earth would you think we'd let him in?

I wonder how the student body of U of T feels about their monies being used to support a terrorist supporter... doesn't matter how you feel about Israel, the fact that Hamas is a terrorist organization, and is directly responsible for killing people, is beyond dispute.

Humm, U of T student fees being used to support those who support murderers... wonder how they feel about that. Brought to you by the OPIRG-Toronto.

And when it comes to the OPIRG, I'm just getting warmed up... the e-mails are starting to come in.

More OPIRG scandals coming to light

It looks like my previous post has lit a match... other stories, this time at Queen's, of underhanded tactics used by left-leaning students are coming to light (and make no mistake, the folks involved are predominantly left-leaning, go ahead and do some research on your own) to protect their own vested intrests in organizations like the OPIRG throughout the province.

A reader passed this one from Queen's on to me early this morning, reporting on yet another instance of students using unethical tactics in an attempt to remove a known Conservative-leaning student from his position on their AMS (Alma Mater Society). (in this case, innappropriately using a listserv to spread rumours about a candidate).

According to last week's issue of "The Journal", the Queen's University paper, an attempt was made to remove First Year ASUS Representative to the AMS Kevin Wiener due to his known ties to the Conservative Party. According to student Nick Day, who moved the motion to remove Wiener, "Day said he asked for Wiener’s removal due to his participation in the Conservative Party." (Long time readers of this blog might recall Kevin's name... he was a candidate for National Council back at the Winnipeg convention)

It seems that Day and Wiener have a bit of a thing going on, as Day attacked the AMS, of which Wiener is a member, for seeking observer status with the less "socially active" (read left-leaning) Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, instead of joining the left-leaning Canadian Federation of Students. You can read Nick Day's letter on that issue, and Kevin Wiener's response (second letter from the top) for yourself.

You see, Wiener raised the ire of many left-leaning students by introducing a motion that would have limited the funding of some of their ideological front organizations, like the OPIRG. From the article: "Wiener proposed a motion at the AMS AGM stipulating that no for-profit organization should be eligible to receive student activity fees. Also, when a written statement about the fee is submitted to the AMS, it must explain how much is spent on salaries, honoraria, and management and consultant fees annually."

Makes perfect sense to me... if you're a "for profit" organization, and you get student funding, you should be required to give an account of how it's being used. Basicly, it's an attempt to ensure that ANY student organization, left right or unaligned, can't run an unaccountable slush-fund to further their own ideological agendas. Unfortunatly, for his efforts to increase accountability with student fees, Kevin almost got voted out of his position with the ASM, by a 90 to 81 vote margin, with 23 abstentions.

From the article:

Wiener said he thinks groups with political purposes should not receive student fees.

“My opinion—and I stand by this—is the primary purpose of student fees is to provide for clubs and collect for charities that provide a great deal of good to the community. OPIRG is neither a club nor a charity. Their sole purpose is to engage in left-wing activism.”

Wiener said his motion was not inspired by his conversation or presence at the conference, but added that he is concerned about OPIRG’s tactics.

“I had no idea I was going to be put on trial for being a Conservative,” he said. “One person forwarded the e-mail to the [engineer] mail list of the University. This is a violation of the IT Services Code of Conduct. An e-mail went out to every engineer at Queen’s saying untrue things about me. It was interesting [the motion] was put forward while there was largely people who had been mobilized by OPIRG.”

Sound familiar? A Conservative tries to bring forward a motion regarding the funding of a known left-wing activist group, making the case that NO political activist groups ought to be getting student funding... charitable organizations SHOULD, but political organizations SHOULDN'T. Makes sense to me, how about you?

So the response from supporters of the OPIRG? Illegitimate use of influence and or resources to spread rumours, as in this case, character assasination. Does this sound at all familiar to you?

I'm sure this is just the tip of the iceburg folks, but I think it's time to shed some light into the dark recesses of leftist activism on our school campuses. Keep the stories coming, I'm sure there's plenty more where this came from.

University of Guelph's CSA successful in rigging OPIRG Guelph Board elections

Congratulations to the leftists at the University of Guelph's CSA for their successful rigging of the Guelph OPIRG Board elections!

According to their website, the nomination deadline for candidates for the OPIRG Guelph's Board is now TOMORROW... after they were successful in getting the deadline for nominations extended in an effort to ensure that several conservative leaning students are blocked from joining the Board.

Problem is... someone within their own ranks didn't agree with the CSA's dictatorial tactics, and published their panicked e-mail plotting for the whole world to see.

As promised... the evidence of electoral tampering by members of Guelph's CSA!
(NOTE: as I understand, each of the original recipients of this e-mail were contacted, and several indicated they had no part in this scandal... as such, their names have been removed from the offending e-mail to protect their innocence)

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "Claire Whitehead" (clairemw6@gmail.com)
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Sent: Friday, March 20, 2009 3:50:48 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: Fwd: URGENT! Conservative Take Over of OPIRG-Guelph

Hello,

Please read below this really messed up news regarding OPIRG-Guelph, an organization that does amazing work on campus and in the community.

I'm leaving Guelph in May, or else you better believe I'd be trying to get on the board. If it's at all feasible for you, please consider running for the OPIRG board (when word comes that the deadline has been extended, I can pass it along); it's a lot less intimidating than it might sound. Whether or not you'll consider running, please PLEASE pass this message along to folks you think should know.

RL [Robyn Letson]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Cailey Campbell (csaexternal@gmail.com)
Date: Thu, Mar 19, 2009 at 6:44 PM
Subject: Fwd: URGENT! Conservative Take Over of OPIRG-Guelph
To: Robyn Letson (robynletson@gmail.com), (NAME REMOVED) , Eduardo Huesca (ehuesca@uoguelph.ca), Sarah Ayton (sayton@uoguelph.ca), Zoe Barrett-Wood (zoebarrettwood@gmail.com), Arthur Churchyard (Arthur.Churchyard[at]gmail.com), Scott Gilbert (E-MAIL REMOVED AS PER SCOTT'S REQUEST), dmartins@uoguelph.ca, (NAME REMOVED)

Hey!

So, I'm not sure if many of you have seen this article http://ryersonfreepress.ca/site/?p=745&preview=true but what happened in Waterloo is now happening if Guelph. Today 4 members of the Guelph Campus Conservatives submitted nomination forms for the OPIRG Board elections. This is a move to compromise OPIRG and defund the organization. If you know of ANY student who could run in the OPIRG Board election or ANY community member who could fill the two community seats please, please, please send them this email or get them to contact Marnie at opirgorc@gmail.com. The nominations forms were due today, hence the 4 conservatives submitted them today, but the deadline for nomination will hopefully be extended again. I will let you know when the deadline is extended. The nomination forms can be found here.

http://www.opirgguelph.org/index.php?mode=2&linkID=1&l=0&page=0

If you can help at all please, please do! OPIRG is so important to this campus!

Arden

--
Arden Hagedorn
Local Affairs Commissioner
Central Student Association
UC 274 | University of Guelph
--
csalocal@uoguelph.ca
519.824.4120 x 54407
--
csaonline.ca || thecannon.ca


--
Arden Hagedorn
Local Affairs Commissioner
Central Student Association
UC 274 | University of Guelph
--
csalocal@uoguelph.ca
519.824.4120 x 54407
--
csaonline.ca || thecannon.ca


--
Cailey Campbell
External Commissioner
Central Student Association
UC 274 | University of Guelph
--
csaext@uoguelph.ca
519.824.4120 x 58328
--
csaonline.ca || thecannon.ca


--
Robyn L.
robynletson@gmail.com
www.praxismetaxisadidassneakers.blogspot.com

What's this? Members of the U of Guelph's CSA attempting to interfere in the elections of the OPIRG Board? And using official CSA titles, positions and resources to boot? Surely there's a rule or two against that sort of unethical behaviour, right?

Interestingly enough, it's not the first time one of the aforementioned parties has been linked to underhanded electoral tactics...

Whether or not it's against the rules, it looks like they were successful in rigging the vote by getting the nomination date moved, after it had already passed, in order to allow them to find more left-leaning, or rather, more suitable candidates for their Board... I came into possession of this follow-up e-mail, sent today by someone within the OPIRG...

----- Forwarded Message -----From: "Marnie - OPIRG-Guelph ORC" (opirgorc@gmail.com)
To: (CANDIDATES NAMES REMOVED)
Sent: Monday, 23 March, 2009 12:48:56 GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: Notice: Change of Date for elections & Nomination period extended

Hello candidates,

This email is to inform you that the OPIRG Board has made a decision to extend the Board Nomination period to Tuesday March 24th at 5pm and that the elections will now be taking place on Tuesday March 31st. I am in the process of updating our web site and other notices to reflect this.

Marnie

Marnie Eves
Organization & Research Coordinator
OPIRG Guelph
www.opirgguelph.org
1 Trent Lane,
University of Guelph
Guelph ON
N1G 2W1
519-824-2091

Interesting, don't you think? Several conservative leaning candidates apply for the positions within the previously approved time frame, the CSA panics, and then uses their influence to get the dates moved to allow them to find other "hand picked" candidates... or at least, according to the above panicked e-mails, a couple warm bodies who can fill the chairs, who are more likely to vote in accordance with the CSA's wishes.

Welcome to campus politics folks... leftist style!

Thing is, as I said before, it's not the first time one of these names has been linked to electoral fraud... a sharp eyed source sent me this link from a couple years back, from the U of Guelph's CSA run "The Canon" website no less... "Elections Make Us Crazy"

The highlights...

That was to be the only spell of tranquility in the seven-hour meeting, as tempers immediately flared up when the matter of elections began to be discussed. At the heart of the matter was an e-mail circulated about External Commissioner candidate Romesh Hettiarachchi. While the e-mail did not explicitly call for voting against Hettiarachchi or in favour of Cailey Campbell, his only rival in the race, Hettiarachchi felt that the email was nothing short of character assassination and was severely detrimental to his chances in the election and to his career beyond this university. Campbell was ultimately elected with a 221-vote margin over Hettiarachchi.

Of course, Campbell was never directly implicated in that 2007 scandal, but it certainly doesn't help her image when she's been caught red-handed trying to interfere in this one.

There's likely a whole lot more to come, so stay tuned... I'll post more as my sources gather more information on this growing scandal.

U of Guelph's CSA strikes again

Well, what do you know... the U of Guelph's CSA and have been once again caught red handed, this time attempting to subvert the democratic process simply because they don't like the result.

This time, they've been caught attempting to interfere with the Board elections for Guelph's chapter of the Ontario Public Interest Research Group, trying to get the deadline for nominations, which had already passed, extended in an effort to block the potential nomination of several conservative leaning students.

And just for the record folks... I have the e-mails as proof, graciously provided via "Deep Guelph", who appears to be someone connected with the U of G's CSA who appears to be equally disgusted by the CSA's ongoing antics.

Several of the names of those involved are the same ones who conived to ban Guelph's pro-life group from campus, and who protested retired General Rick Hillier when he visited campus. Looks like another swing and a miss for strike three folks.

Stay tuned for more details, this has all just transpired this morning, so things are still developing...

Who says bloggers don't have influence?

Just got my first call regarding the upcoming leadership race... and I must say, I think I'm going to have to take a hard look at each and every one of the candidates, and rethink some of my pre-conceived ideas.

This race just got a whole lot more interesting for me.

Warren and Liberal bloggers attack Muslim Canadians

Take their argument to it's logical conclusion... anyone who believes in "the Creation myth", as the majority of the Muslim world does, is ineligable to hold a Cabinet portfolio in Canada, at least according to Warren Kinsella along with many other Liberal bloggers.

They haven't said that in so many words, mind you, but in their attempts to once again attack a Conservative Cabinet Minister, who happens to be a Christian, that's exactly what they've done. If a belief in "Creation" is a litmus test for Cabinet-ineligability here in Canada, then you can pretty much rule out a large chunk of Canada's Muslim population.

From Wikipedia:

Creation Myth - Islam
The creation narrative of Islam is split among many verses in the Qur'an. This narrative is similar to the Judeo-Christian accounts of creation. According to the Qur'an, the skies and the earth were joined together as one "unit of creation", after which they were "cloved asunder".[18]

The Qur'an states that the process of creation took 6 days or epochs (depending on the interpretation).

What's even more sad is that they don't even realize that they're also saying that a good percentage of the Jewish population is also automaticly ineligable to hold public office in this great country of ours.

Hello? What is this, 1930's Germany? And the Liberals claim their "friends" of the Jews? I think not, when they so openly riducule the Jewish Holy Book, the Torah.

Why is it that Liberals seem to so vehemently hate Christians? Or anyone of faith for that matter?

Yes, it's a vast right-wing conspiracy...

And now for the rest of the story... you listening James Bowie?

Turns out that a (for now) unnamed student union has once again used their authoritarian and supreme left-wing cabal to defund and delist their university's Conservative campus club. The reason? Their paperwork wasn't filed in time to get club status on campus.

Why wasn't it filed with the student union on time? Because the student union didn't advise them of the deadline until 24 hours before the paperwork was due. But you see, they can do that whenever they so desire, with any group they so desire, because they're the equivalent of a student-run junta, and have supreme authority over these matters... and more importantly, over the coffers of student fees, which they then get to use to support their own pet clubs and causes.

And some morons wonder why right-leaning student groups might want to organize and take over their local left-wing student unions. (but what's really sad is that we actually have to walk them through the reasoning step by step by step...)

The Press Gallery can just shove it

The Parliamentary Press Gallery is complaining, no, whining, that for the Obama visit press conference last month, they were informed that only 40 passes would be issued to the PPG. In the end, they got 43 issued to them.

But now they're raising a total stink because they discovered, horror of horrors, that the PMO issued 28 press passes to journalists of their own choosing.

A couple of questions that the PPG didn't address in their letter to the Hill Times...

1) How many passes were issued by the PMO to journalists the PPG would have given them to anyway?

2) Did the PPG ever have any intention of issuing them to bloggers? (Since I already know what your answer to that one would be, you can skip answering that one)

3) Do you think, just maybe, because of the way the PPG has consistantly soured relations with the PMO, that they decided to hang on to a few passes to ensure that more supportive journalists weren't automaticly denied access by the PPG's little cabal?

4) From the PPG's letter: "it is not in any way up to the Prime Minister's Office to select the journalists who will attend a press conference" SAYS WHO??? If the PPG is not helping, or rather, if they're deliberately blocking the Government's efforts to get their message out, the PPG has obviously left them with no alternative. Therefore, as a direct result of previous actions, the PPG is not going to be given full control of access to press conferences. Full stop, end of story, -30-.

You've got to love their little demand and the end of the letter: "We request that, from now on, when access to a popular media event is limited for legitimate reasons, all press passes be given to the Parliamentary Press Gallery. It will determine who will receive a pass, based on criteria accepted by its members."

How's this for criteria? Report what the Government is actually saying for once, and quit spinning all your stories so one-sidedly.

Otherwise, this sort of thing will keep on happening. Deal with it.

Free upgrade from Vista to Windows7?

As an IT professional who took the plunge and got Vista relatively early, let me say this right now... there BETTER be a FREE, or at least a REALLY CHEAP, upgrade path offered by Microsoft to Vista sufferers.

Cause if not, I'm thinking there's gonna be a bit of an outcry... maybe even an upswing in Mac and Linux installs. (I know I'd be more inclined to give Linux a whirl on my laptop...)

The cool and unemotional Leader

Amm, no, I'm not talking about Mr. Harper... I'm actually talking about Mr. McGuinty.

Is it just me, or does Dalton McGuinty himself not look wooden, unemotional, and not much like a people person? For example, what's with this "five feet rule" during press conferences? I think the Jeri Hall incident the other day helped expose that, he's totally uncomfortable with people getting too close. And just take a look at ANY footage of the guy talking... I can't recall EVER seeing any emotion on the guy's face whatsoever! (except for that one election ad where he attacks Faith Based Schools, where he almost seemed gleeful... but of course, who wouldn't have been in his position on that issue) And Liberals say Mr. Harper is emotionless?

I'm sorry, but the folks who say that Mr. Harper is cool, unemotional, and not really a people person are just plain wrong. Having met him a bunch of times, I have to say I disagree. He can work the crowd with the best of them when attending an event, and one on one, he's a really nice guy, who shows a real interest in you when he's talking to you. (we talked about blogging for crying out loud... he told me his wife reads them all the time, or at least she did back then)

Anyway, this little rant is just pointing out the fact that when you put them side by side, Mr. McGuinty is WAY more wooden and unemotional than Mr. Harper. Go ahead, I dare you, look up various press conferences or Question Period footage and compare. You've got to admit, there's something to what I've said.

Here's an example of what I mean... went to YouTube, and used the following searches... "mcguinty press conference" and "harper press conference", and used the first relevant link for both men. Then searched for "mcguinty question period" and "harper question period", and again used the first relevant videos for both men. I used the first videos available for each search in order to be fair, sort of like a random sampling. Seriously, compare the two men for yourself...

Press Conferences




Question Period

(skip to the 0:26, 2:13 and 4:03 marks for McGuinty's replies... does he even look the Speaker in the eye? For the record, I'll admit that he's slightly more emotional as of the 4:03 mark)


(skip to the 2:20 and 3:58 marks for Harper's English replies... and at least he's consistantly looking the person he's speaking to in the eye, not looking down at the floor)

Can you seriously say that Mr. Harper is the cooler or less emotional one of the two?

Early thoughts on the PCPO Leadership race

First off, I'd like to make it clear that I'm non-aligned thus far... I haven't done too much research on the potential candidates, so I'll wait and see how things go before I start saying too much.

I'm also hoping that the PCPO will open up the Leadership Convention to select bloggers, both Tories and Liberals for that matter, like the Federal party did in Winnipeg, and like the PCPO graciously did for me at the Policy Convention the other week. (my thanks again to the powers-that-be who made things happen on that front)

Thirdly, let me say this clearly, and right up front... Randy Hillier, take a pass on the race. Do not, DO NOT, throw your hat into the ring. The biggest problem with John Tory was that he was too far to one side of the Party to rally all the troops effectively. If Randy Hillier somehow gets the nod, we will have the exact same problem, just with the pendulum swinging too far the other direction.

Let me be even more clear... if Randy takes a run at the job, I will be doing everything in my power to ensure that he DOESN'T win. End of story, full stop. I will oppose Randy Hillier just as strongly, in fact even stronger, than I ever opposed John Tory's leadership.

Hey, why not even throw out a threat, just so there's no misunderstanding... if Randy gets the nod, I'm buying an Ontario Green Party membership, and working on their campaign in 2011.

(yes, I know 'Snoopy', "Never leave your Party"... well if Hillier wins, we're screwed for the next vote anyway... think of it more like a constructive and temporary seperation)


UPDATE: Folks, I took a look at the "Draft Randy" Facebook page, and I rest my case... you know who would just LOVE to see Randy win...

How to delete the Vundo virus/spyware trojan

There's an older but nasty little piece of spyware/adware out there that's making a resurgence, called "Vundo", and it's a tough one to kill. My anti-virus picked it up on one machine in the office, but it's taken two days to kill the stupid thing.

My Trend Micro AV told me it was the "aahsfu.dll" file that was infected, but I couldn't get rid of it, no matter what I tried. It's self healing, self replicating, hooks deep into the registry, it's one nasty piece of work. Spybot S&D didn't get it, AdAware failed, and my AV couldn't delete it. So I downloaded Symantec's Vundo Removal Tool, ran it in Safe Mode as per the instructions, but even that didn't fully get rid of it. A couple of reboots, and the thing was back with a vengence. Searched and searched online, but there's virtually no useful help out there for it. Then I had a bit of a brainwave... why not employ some old school skills to kill this high-tech little bug?

That wonderful little file that's so seldom used anymore... AUTOEXEC.BAT. Just put one simple little command in the AUTOEXEC.BAT to run on the next boot up, and the bug was finally dead...

del C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\aahsfu.dll

That's it. The best part is, that command will work for anyone else who's having the same problem, all they have to do is substitute the file name in italics above. (and the path, if your AV tells you the file is located in a different location) Since there's so little useful help out there, I figured I'd post the solution, and hopefully some other poor soul who's got it will stumble across this little solution.

Ahh DOS, how I miss you sometimes...

Light blogging this week

My HP laptop died over the weekend, and it's well out of warranty... turns out there's a secret extended warranty on certain models due to a known defect. They're gonna replace the motherboard at no cost, which I can't complain about too loudly since I've got a dead laptop. Just waiting to get it shipped back to them.

Which means I don't have as ready access to blog this week, so things will be quiet round here. (and a cheer goes up from the left...)

ON PC Executive trying to rush the Leadership vote?

I'm hearing disgusting rumours that the Executive of the Ontario PC's are actually considering rushing the just announced Leadership vote, attempting to set things into motion for a June Leadership convention.

Hello? Have you guys in the Toronto ivory towers learned NOTHING? What is this, the Liberal Party of Canada, where the powers-that-be get to choose the Leader without the input of the grassroots?

Mark my words, if this goes through, it's only gonna make things worse. All McGuinty & Co. are gonna have to do is sit back and watch as we win the next election for them.

Ontario PC HQ abandoned today

Hello? Hellllllooooooo? Is anybody home? You folks there in Toronto, HELLLLOOOOO???

That must be what it sounds like right now at Ontario PC HQ in Toronto... BECAUSE NO ONE IS THERE TO PICK UP THE PHONE. Go ahead, give it a try... 1-800-903-6453. Try ANY option... all of them ring, and then it's off to voicemail.

Seriously... every department, every receptionist, every extension, they're all gone. No one at all is answering the phone, not even in the donations department. Maybe having a group therapy session? Or a group hug?

Too bad... cause I had my credit card out, all ready and raring to go. I wanted to be able to say I purchased my membership the day John Tory stepped down.

One thing though guys... make sure your voicemail options are set correctly, cause I got auto-transfered over to Caucus Services at Queen's Park several times... but isn't that a misuse of the public's resources? Funny, I think it is... having staff at Queen's Park answer phones for the Party? (well, for the record, it looks like it's just one guy who's set his voicemail's "zero out" option to transfer to Caucus Services... which is a no-no my friend)

ON PC Leadership Convention 09 Wiki up

Wow, that was kinda fast... I mean come on guys, the body's not even cold yet!

There's a new Wikipedia page up already... Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election, 2009.

But in all honesty... I think it's time to buy a new membership.

Did Mugabe try to assasinate Tsvangirai?

Certainly makes you wonder... Zimbabwe's Prime Minister, Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, was in a tragic car accident today while on his way to a rally, in which his wife was killed.

They slammed into a truck... a little too convinient, if you ask me.

I say that if there's even a remote chance that he or his people were involved, it's time to remove Robert Mugabe from power, once and for all.

And you know what? I think a certian US President, who's roots are from there, would be able to pull it off.

UPDATE: Dr. Roy has another link, with more details. This just makes everything all the more suspicious...

"Mr Cross said that, when the MDC (Tsvangirai's Party) investigation team arrived at the site on the main highway to the south about 100km south of Harare, the police had not yet arrived. “When police turned up, they arrested them (the MDC team) and confiscated the videos and pictures they had taken," he said."

UPDATE II: It's the lead story on CNN and BBC... but oddly enough, it's way down on the list on both CBC and CTV. Anyone have any thoughts as to why?

There's really no other way to say it

A picture really is worth a thousand words...

Looks like the 33.1% were right

Oops... sorry guys, but we tried our best to warn you last year that he wasn't the guy. Now we've wasted over a year, and the Liberals are coasting towards another victory in 2011.

So who's next? Looks like it's time to renew my PC membership.

My BSG Prediction

Well, since James Bow and CalgaryGrit admitted it, why can't I? Yes, I'm a BSG fan... though I'm sure the admission will shock a bunch of my readership.

Watched last week's episode the other night with my wife, who's also an avid fan, and I just wanted to put my prediction in writing now... I'm betting Kara's father was a Daniel. I mean, come on... finding herself dead on Earth, the fact that Daniel was an "artist", and the "song" from last week's episode... Thrace will turn out to have been the first Human/Cylon hybrid, not Hera. Any takers?

Good news on the stem cell front

See? All they needed was a little push to stop using tissue from murdered babies... which would have never happened had ethical folks like us had not attempted to block the use of embrionic stem cells.