• Adscam Scandel,  Canada

    Canadian Liberal Party Wooing Conservatives To Cross the Aisle

    The Globe and Mail has this story about Inky Mark, a Conservative MP, who says that the Liberal Party is trying to woo him into their party:

    Conservative MP Inky Mark says the Liberal party is trying to woo him to their party by offering him an ambassadorship or Senate position.

    He’s one of four MPs that deputy Tory leader Peter MacKay says have been approached by the Liberals in the past few days.

    Mr. Mark told globeandmail.com in an interview Tuesday that he was approached by an unnamed cabinet minister who offered him a position in a phone call last Friday.
    He said the caller asked him what he was looking for in politics.

    “I wasn’t sure what he was talking about,” Mr. Mark said in an interview from Ottawa.

    Then the caller, who he wouldn’t name because he said it was a private discussion, “suggested maybe I should consider being an ambassador.”

    The caller told Mr. Mark he should think seriously about it and call back, despite the fact that Mr. Mark repeatedly declined the offer, saying he was not interested. The 57-year-old Manitoban, who said he never imagined he’d be in politics this long–he has been an MP since 1997–said he told the caller his next move was likely to “go home and retire.”

    The Liberals also implied that a Senate position could come his way, Mr. Mark said.

    If the Liberals were to bring a few Conservatives to their side, or taking a few of their MPs by appointing them to ambassadorships, it would help their cause. They will need at least the support of the NDP, all their party members and the three independent MPs to tie a vote on a no-confidence motion in the House of Commons. That would give them 153 votes. They would need at least 154 to overturn the motion, which could be cast by the Speaker of the House. The Bloc Québécois and the Conservatives together have 153 votes.

    But a spokeswoman for the Prime Minister, Melanie Gruer, said that the Prime Minister is not in favour of using appointments in order to gain enough MPs to win votes.

    The Liberals vigorously denied offering appointments to anyone.
    Treasury Board Reg Alcock told CBC Newsworld Tuesday that Mr. Mark’s claims are “outrageous” and no such offer was made.

    He said the only two Liberals authorized to make such an offer would be Prime Minister Paul Martin or himself, and neither of them did so.

    “There is absolutely no way that this Prime Minister will authorize any undertaking of that sort, period. Will not happen. Has not happened. Is not going to happen. Period!” he said outside the Commons.
    Ms. Gruer told globeandmail.com that while the Liberals have the “greatest deal of respect” for Mr. Mark, they’re also aware that the Tory MP has been “fishing” for a Senate or ambassador position for some time.

    Mr. Mark, however, insisted he was telling the truth–that the Liberals came to him. “Why would I fish for this? I’ve got a solid base at home, I’ve been elected three times in a row. I’m of the age to go home and pack it up.”

    He suggested that one reason the Liberals would want him for an ambassador post is because of his years of experience on Parliament Hill.

    Meanwhile, Mr. MacKay maintained throughout the day that three other offers have been made to the Tories by the Liberals.
    “Four people have confided in me that approaches were made, including Mr. Mark,” he said.

    Mr. Alcock challenged Mr. MacKay to name names.

    “If he has information of that sort, put it on the table. Identify people.”
    Opposition Leader Stephen Harper said the Liberals are desperate to cling on to power and are making the overtures to try to help their cause.

    On Monday night, the Conservatives held an emergency caucus meeting. They came out of it saying they were united on a decision to bring down the government as soon as possible, either by voting against the budget or by bringing forward another no-confidence motion in the government as soon as possible.

    Some Conservative MPs, including Belinda Stronach and Mr. MacKay, however, have expressed concern about going to the polls this spring.

    Ms. Gruer called Mr. Harper’s decision to kill the budget and force an election “disappointing.”

    She said the Tories should respect the Prime Minister’s good faith gesture of offering to hold an election once Mr. Justice John Gomery delivers his report on the sponsorship probe, expected by December.

    “Canadians are entitled to the truth.”

    Ms. Gruer didn’t have information on when a vote on the budget might come but noted that the opposition parties will still have all their allotted opposition days before the session ends in June.

    Sounds to me the Liberals are playing the old fashioned game of quid pro quo.

  • Dentistry

    Digital Dental Camera Information

    Flap is often asked about digital dental cameras.

    I ran across these links from a dental technology blogger Larry Emmott and a hat tip to him:

    Image Management

    Digital Still Cameras

    Intra Oral Video Cameras

  • Adscam Scandel,  Canada

    Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin has more Troubles

    And you would have thought an impending no confidence vote would have been all that is troubling Paul Martin, eh?

    Prime Minister says he and Bono are still good friends despite being booed

    Paul Martin says he and rock-star Bono are still tight despite the fact that U2 fans booed the prime minister at a concert earlier this week.

    It’s no rift,” Martin insisted Friday after reporters asked him questions about the sour reaction.

    “We are very, very good friends.”

    U2 opened its Vertigo tour Thursday night to a sold-out audience in Vancouver. During the show lead-singer Bono, who has been pushing Martin for more Third World aid, encouraged fans to call Martin and tell him that he is not doing enough.

    Fans booed Martin, whipped out their cell phones and started dialling.

    Bono has repeatedly challenged Martin to deliver on a commitment to raise Canada’s spending on foreign aid to 0.7 per cent of the gross domestic product by 2015.

    Canada now commits less than 0.3 per cent of its annual gross domestic product – about $3.3 billion.

    Martin said Friday he supports the increased spending but he was not prepared to give a time line for when that will happen until he is sure that Canada can afford it.

    He pointed out that Canada is already a leader in Third World debt relief and support for countries struggling with
    AIDS.

    “I said to him, ‘Look, you have had three objectives. I’ve delivered on two and it will take me a little longer on the third’,” Martin said.

    He said he planned to go to the U2 concert when the band comes through Ottawa.

    “Am I going? Absolutely,” Martin said. “I’ve actually said that I may get up there and actually sing. Ticket sales have dropped way off.”

    Bono did have some good things to say about Martin, calling him a “great leader for Canada” and that he would listen to the people if they spoke loud enough.

    Bono and Martin have had a cosy relationship since Martin was finance minister and the U2 frontman lobbied the G-8 countries to increase their foreign aid. Bono showed up at the Liberal convention where Martin was named party leader in 2003.


    Wonder if Bono will campaign for him in this summer’s no confidence election?

  • Illegal Immigration,  Politics

    Is the Terminator Wrong on Illegal Immigration?

    California Governor Arnold Swarzenegger has stepped up to the plate on illegal immigration.

    Although reticent at first, the Governator has decided to confront the issue.

    Now, comes the criticism and the amen chorus of Latino pro-illegal aliens:

    First, there is Michael Kinsley’s Los Angeles Times (free registration required):

    Easy Target, Cheap Politics

    His approval rating sinking and his agenda stalled, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger apparently has decided it’s time to regroup. Unfortunately, instead of reverting to the bipartisan governor who just last year crafted compromises over cigars, he’s keeping the tough-guy act. He has found a new group to rail against that he knows will prove less popular than teachers and nurses. Enemy numero uno is now illegal immigrants.

    The governor of California has every right to be frustrated with this nation’s dysfunctional approach to immigration. The United States relies heavily on undocumented workers while paying lip service to the idea that they are not welcome, a surreal contradiction that imposes any number of burdens on local and state governments. Schwarzenegger, in our view, has taken the wrong position on one of the classic dilemmas facing state governments — whether to issue driver’s licenses to undocumented workers.

    But the governor’s recent utterances on immigration cannot be described as honest policy expressions — they seem more like a desperate ploy to capitalize on the prejudices and fears of others. Schwarzenegger’s talk-radio embrace last week of the “Minutemen” in Arizona was truly bizarre. Saying that the armed volunteers who have been patrolling the border with Mexico for the last month have done a “terrific job,” he all but invited them to come to California. What’s next: Will the governor encourage vigilantes to combat street crime?

    Schwarzenegger also asked a TV station to remove a billboard reading “Los Angeles, Mexico” on the grounds it encourages illegal immigration. We know that he has a better sense of humor than that, and he knows better than to start censoring advertising. And as someone born and raised in the shadow of the Third Reich, he should also know better than to be fanning this anti-foreigner frenzy.

    Schwarzenegger, who earlier in the month carelessly said that the nation should “close the borders,” is the governor of a state in which one out of every four residents is foreign born. Yes, there is a distinction between legal and illegal immigrants, but stimulate enough backlash and that distinction disappears.

    Schwarzenegger, the supposed moderate Republican, is staking a position to the right of President Bush, who at least says the right things about overhauling immigration policy — regain control of the borders, devise a guest worker program — even if he never acts. Forget cigars. Schwarzenegger, incredibly, even criticized humanitarian groups who put water in desert crossing areas, saying it “invites people to come in here illegally.” No, governor. They will come anyway. But perhaps one less person will die.

    The federal government needs to implement some rational immigration policies, and the governor of California should be prodding it to do so. The kindest explanation for the Minuteman movement is that its frustrated members can’t find any other way to get Washington’s attention. But California’s governor is a Republican star. He can. Yet Schwarzenegger said he’s never raised the issue with Bush. Maybe that’s because the governor, until his recent fall in the opinion polls, didn’t think it was that much of a crisis.

    Then there is the Sacramento Bee (free registration required):

    Editorial: In search of a script
    Kicking around immigrants is a losing role for Schwarzenegger

    Back when he was an actor and not yet a famous politician, Ronald Reagan once commented that “a star doesn’t slip. He’s ruined by bad stories and worse casting.”

    Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is watching his star slip, and he has only himself to blame. His scripts are bad, and he is surrounding himself with a B-list cast. This includes the xenophobes who tune into the “John and Ken Show” on KFI Radio in Los Angeles.

    While being interviewed on that talk show Thursday, Schwarzenegger went out of his way to endorse the Minutemen brigades that are now patrolling the Mexican border. “I think they’ve done a terrific job,” the governor said. “They’ve cut down the crossing of illegal immigrants a huge percentage.”

    On that same show, the governor endorsed a campaign to take down billboards in Los Angeles that promote a Spanish-language radio station. The billboards show a pair of newscasters with the words, “Los Angeles, CA” behind them. On the billboard, the CA is crossed out and replaced with “Mexico.”

    Regardless of how one feels about illegal immigration, it is fantasy to think that tougher federal patrols (and fewer billboards in Los Angeles) will have much impact on this issue. If Schwarzenegger were serious about enforcing immigration laws, he’d help the feds identify and prosecute California businesses that knowingly hire undocumented workers for cheap wages.

    Of course, if he did that, he’d have to go after the home-building industry, corporate farms and other businesses that have contributed heavily to his campaigns. He’d have to confront his Brentwood neighbors and the housekeepers, gardeners and pedicurists they hire.

    No, Schwarzenegger isn’t serious about illegal immigration. He’s just following in the small-boned footsteps of his mentor, former Gov. Pete Wilson, who played to anti-immigrant sentiments when he was in political trouble.

    Although Wilson got some mileage from Proposition 187, the 1994 ballot measure that denied benefits to illegal immigrants, the Republican Party in California has paid a heavy price. So will Schwarzenegger if he keeps pandering to xenophobes, while tripping over his tongue.

    Like most Californians, we want Schwarzenegger to be an effective governor. Like most Californians, we applaud him when he earnestly tries to fix problems such as runaway pension benefits, multibillion-dollar budget deficits and gerrymandered legislative districts.

    Sadly, he seems to be shying away from, and possibly abandoning, that agenda. In its place, he is sticking to a bad script in hopes of shoring up his base among people who want to blame all of California’s problems on Mexicans sneaking across the border.

    Illegal immigrants are easy targets for politicians devoid of courage. If Schwarzenegger continues casting himself in such a role rather than fighting for the changes California needs, his star is sure to slip farther.

    And lastly (at least for this post) is Dan Weintraub’s blog and column:

    Pro Latino, against illegal immigration

    This study from Pew Charitable Trust shows why Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is right to focus on illegal immigration. But it also shows why he’s putting his emphasis in the wrong place. Illegal immigration does the most harm to those at the bottom of the economic ladder, especially other recent immigrants. The Pew study shows that Hispanics, despite robust employment growth, were the only ethnic group to see a real decline in wages each of the past two years. Pew attributes that decline to competition for entry-level jobs among new immigrants, who bid down the wages. If not for illegal immigration, in other words, Latinos working as bus boys, waiters, maids, landscapers and construction laborers would be earning higher wages. It’s possible, in fact consistent, to be pro-Latino and against illegal immigration. But you don’t send that message by throwing in with the Minutemen.

    Here is my column on the governor’s recent rant.

    And here is an LA Times story about the emerging immigration deal in Congress.

    Xrlq may have said it best here:

    …If you can judge a man by his enemies…..

    True to form, Professor Bainbridge accuses the Governator of “pulling a Pete” by opposing illegal activity. Perhaps he forgot that Pete himself got handily re-elected that way. Banbridge also links approvingly to President Bush’s slander of the Minutemen as “vigilantes,” and calls everyone who supports secure borders a nativist (!), a racist and a nut. Yawn. But a courtesey heh for the unintentional irony in using a term like “nativist” to describe an individual who isn’t even a native.

    If the Terminator sticks to this issue he will ride the wave of popularity for an easy re-election victory in 2006.

    California folks are fed up! They tire of the impacts of illegal immigration, particularly from Mexico.

    Remember in 1978 with Prop 13 – everyone was against it. A populist uprising like Prop 13 (as evident with the Minutemen on the Border) is starting to smolder.

    The sparks will begin to fly just iin time for the 2006 election.

  • Blogosphere,  Media

    Pajamas Media

    A week ago Tuesday Flap attended a media conference event at the L.A Athletic Club featuring Hugh Hewitt et al.

    It has been reported here.

    Pajamas Media was launched.

    Now, Michelle Malkin has this piece on Pajamas Media Mania:

    The New York Sun has an article about the effort by Roger Simon and others to launch a blogger news network:

    In a dramatic sign that Web logs are going mainstream, three of the largest political blogs are banding together to form what is believed to be a first-of-its kind ad-supported network.

    To broaden their appeal beyond national security issues, the three – ArmedLiberal.com, RogerLSimon.com, and LittleGreenFootballs.com – will receive editorial advice from the owner of one of the most heavily trafficked blogs, Instapundit.com’s Glenn Reynolds, among others.

    The venture will be called Pajamas Media, a not-so-subtle reference to the September remarks of a CNN executive, Jonathan Klein, who said a typical blogger has “no checks and balances” and is just “a guy sitting in his living room in his pajamas.”

    Impeccable timing: The news of this groundbreaking venture comes as newspaper circulation figures plummet. Here’s how to get in on the action if you haven’t already signed up.

    Flap will be joining this venture and urges everyone in the blogosphere to at least check it out….here.