Gotcha

Never a bad moment when the evil are detained. From The Globe:

London’s Metropolitan Police identified the man as Adel Yahya, 23. He was arrested Tuesday at Gatwick Airport as he got off a flight from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He was charged with conspiring with four other men, all of whom are awaiting trial over the plot to attack three subway trains and a double-decker bus, “to cause by an explosive substance, explosions of a nature likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to property.”

How Much For The Ferry?

Bad news for whoever has a soft spot for the Rochester to Toronto ferry bought by that US city’s Council just this spring:

The city had set aside an $8-million cushion but had to borrow an extra $2-million from ferry operator Bay Ferries Ltd. to keep afloat. On Tuesday night, the City Council voted 7-2 to borrow $11.5-million more to keep the ferry in business next year. Bought for $32-million at auction, the five-story-tall ferry was re-launched June 30 after running for just 11 weeks in 2004…Fewer than 100 passengers had boarded the 774-seat ferry on sailings last month.

I really hope that that was a 100 person per sailing average but, still, there are big problems with spending or borrowing 21 million within the first year on a 32 million investment. To put that in context, 53 million USD is the equivalent of 13.7% of the entire budget [Ed.: watch it – there’s a .pdf under that there link] for the city for the year 2004-05.

Day Twenty-One: The Great Ennui Sets In

Are other peoples’ elections this dull? The more I think about the two debates the more I am stunned by how ineffective they were. The Globe and Mail reports this morning:

Twenty-one per cent of those who saw the debates or heard about them afterward said Mr. Martin won, compared to 15 per cent who said Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe came out on top, 11 per cent who thought Conservative Leader Stephen Harper was victorious and 6 per cent who favoured NDP Leader Jack Layton. Still, 47 per cent of those surveyed couldn’t decide who was the victor and only 4 per cent said they heard anything that would cause them to change their votes. The debate had no impact,” said Tim Woolstencroft, managing partner of [polling firm] The Strategic Counsel. “It was a big yawn.”

I like the “or heard about them” because what other country holds the main election debate on Friday night the weekend before Christmas? What is not mentioned in the article is how many actually watched the debate. I think it was the 327 in the country people for shopping, invited to parties, having people over or napping.

It is sad because good people whose party is not catching the public imagination have had to resort to blaming the crooked media and dumb Ontario and bovine Canadian acceptance of corruption and everything else that can be dreamed up to avoid the reality that their leader is dull. Dudly deadly dull. And, in any event, what is really happening is every Canadian is remembering how they voted last time because they know if they do it again there will be a useful minority government once more and these guys will have to work together.

Update: interesting to see the old law school pal and one-time roomie Cy is “running the Liberal war-room” according to Paul Wells. I remember thinking back then that if folks like him were to be involved in politics it would be in good hands even though, when I think about it, the party membership he got me to sign up for to help Martin’s run for the leadership around 1990 didn’t get Martin my vote then or since.

Note: to date, 82 referrals to GX40 from the CBC roundtable and 28 to the beer blog. One link from the Instapundit in November was worth 222. With 270064 visits on my server stats for November, I am starting to see the importance of spam for my image of self-worth.

Yuletide

I am convinced there is a third or maybe fourth thread running through this time of year. The first is the birth of Christ which, for better or worse, has receded in terms of importance for most people. The second is the bacchanal of spending – the fear that you have spent too much or not enough or that the toys or pants will not suit the child or will be mocked in the playground. To my mine there is a cure for the first: get some religion of not. Either you will take to the story or you will not but make the call. For the second, all I can say is get some spine. We buy less for the kids than others but it has always been so. There is a small theme of austerity in all the largess in a Scots family Christmas, the time of excess coming later at Hogmanay just after New Years Eve has passed. The third may be the sadness and badness that happens at times like this of social pressure – if the wheels are going to come off, you can bet this is when it will come to pass. What can be done for that?

After all these, however, there is Yule. The winterfest. The longest night. Yesterday marching the seven year old through downtown shops with a list, past the new outdoor skating rinks, a Victorian choir singing carols and even a trumpeter on Princess Street, me handing her loonies to put in those outstretched hands and also treats for her own, it was about the merry – the merriness of a shared holiday. Summer holidays are the slackest time, when laying down in public space is an activity to be planned. But Yule is collective as, even if you are not gifting or not remembering, you are at half speed except in retail. My family was in retail and fifteen years ago this day I would be pushing the poinsettias, flogging packets of holly but even at that all minds on the back side of the counter were aiming towards the days of nothing when naps and sherry sips and, yes, one more small sideplate of that would be nice. All a big reward for something or other never needing being quite defined.