Raven's View

Seems to be no shortage of individual opinions in the party. MP Randy White dismissed the power of Canadian courts in an interview, saying

"The heck with the courts, eh? You know, one of these days we in this country are going to stand up and say, 'The politicians make the laws and the courts do not.' The courts interpret that law. And if we don't like that interpretation, there's the notwithstanding clause in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which the Liberal government has never invoked and said they will not use. I believe we'll see that with us in the House of Commons because enough is enough of this stuff…

Harper was quick to pull out his standard response on all these fringe statements - that these were the candidate's personal views only. Once or twice I would believe these are fringe views, but at the rate these guys are ranting and raving it points to the underlying Alliance roots. Harper had them all sign a gag order to not publicly criticize other candidates, or him, or the party - too bad it didn't also say not to make up your own policy.
They didn't take the time to have a policy convention, they've never gone through that process of debating and discussing and formulating what their policy really is. I think they'd rather we saw that happen after they get elected. In the meantime, as one writer suggested, we're asked to buy a pig in a poke.
So, here we are, left with the above glimpses into the abyss, and a reluctance of them to define policy even when asked.
That's why Joe Clark, when asked to pick a side, advised the lesser of two evils, saying it's better to go with the devil we know.

Been busy lately working on a local NDP campaign, as part of a small but dedicated crew of volunteers. Too busy for my day job, let alone my blog. Done now.
So now I'm free to join the rest of Canada, wait for the next faux pas, and watch the polls weave their magic. CPAC-SES has the Liberals and Conservatives dancing around 30-34% for voter preference, NDP around 20. I think a lot are angry with the Liberals, but scared if they vote Conservative they'll elect the bogeyman. And to help them along, the Canadian Centre fo Policy Alternatives just released some scary numbers on how much Harper's economics favour the rich.
I guess some will grumpily go Liberal again, or some take a leap into the unknowns of NDP land. Or maybe even the Greens.
Are you not sure which way to vote? There's a quiz on the Politics Watch website that is frighteningly accurate for all of us so far. OK, just my sister and I so far, but check it out.
Advanced polls have been heavy this year, more than 1.2 million of us, 60% more than in the last election in 2000. And Ontario was the heaviest province. Why? Maybe people want to get involved and decide a close race. Maybe they want to take the kids to the cottage next week.

Yes, it was a great show, but I'm really referring to the little temporary fern garden I've planted. I say temporary because I had carefully planned it to be in a corner shaded by an old 30' high Russian Olive. Then I decided that since the tree had huge bare spots, and dead bark peeling off all over, right to the bare wood, that it should go. Now of course the corner is only shady before 10:30 or after 2:30 Gets prime heat of the day, so all the ferns will shrivel, unless I put a big beach umbrella out there. They will be especially dry with my rather casual watering schedule.
Rather than just get free ferns from the woods, I went to the local garden centre and bought 6 different kinds - luckily that was all they had. This site lists over 30 varieties. I have a Royal fern, Tassel fern, Deer fern, Autumn fern, Soft Needle fern, and Japanese painted fern. All suffering in the sun.
But I do have another shaded, and even damper corner, where they can flourish. Along with the old stump and logs I'll move there - to rot and grow fungus. I'm not keen enough to actually go out and buy enough fungi to do a whole woodlot, but I figure I can find some in the woods and transplant them. Did I mention this other shaded corner is already full of day-lilies?? First job will be to move those somewhere. Want some? Send me a SASE.
And for those still looking for sit-com info, browse away.
Update: I've noticed a lot of the "hits" on my blog are coming here looking for the TV show - so I'll add a picture.

April 3/05 - I still get a number of hits that are really searching for the TV show, sorry, but that's what happens with search engines. Just a few innocent words and it's amazing who wanders here. I suppose that's a sneaky way to increase traffic. I could mention that I saw a naked bunny in a Mcintosh in amongst the ferns, but I might just get people really searching for here.

Saw some interesting info on the CBC news site. One is on getting the youth involved through such things as rock groups, and there was also a live "job interview" for Martin (Lib) and Layton (NDP) on CBC Newsworld. Check it out, text there as well as video clips. They asked a number of questions on political issues, as well as some more personal questions - like if they'd like to try some Screech. This was coordinated by Student Vote 2004. All federal leaders were invited, not all showed up!
Lots of groups looking at the student vote - such as Apathy is Boring. They have messages from each candidate. Martin's reads like a speech at a Rotary luncheon, you can hear the snores. Harper is a bit better. Check them all out, there are 9 parties there.
Because I have an NDP bias I'll include Jack Layton's below - his style is different than the others, as he starts off by saying you should NOT vote.