Rhymes with Flush

This can only mean one thing. They've done their polling. They've identified the ridings they need, and can now they can start arbitrarily doling out the cash where the "need" is greatest.

Speaking of dictators

"It's really unfortunate when one of our own comes out and betrays us like that," (Danny Williams, last week)

Danny Williams' latest tirade against a Grand Falls resident who had the audacity to dare ask a question of his government in a local newspaper is really nothing new.

In a column from last fall, blogger Geoff Meeker rightfully criticized several members of the Premier's cheerleading brigade for accusing other politicians of being "traitors", a noun the Premier and his minions are happy to throw around in reference to just about anyone who happens to disagree with the man.

The whole of Geoff's column is worth a re-read in light of the Premier's latest juvenile utterance, but there are two quotes in particular that caught my eye as I read it again.

The first appears in the comments section, where Peter Jackson (presumably the same Peter Jackson who is an editor at the Telegram) writes:

"I couldn't agree more, Geoff. And while we're at it, can we stop calling the premier a dictator ?"

It may have been a straw man, or a valid argument. But what makes Peter's quote most intriguing in retrospect is that just this weekend the very same paper ran a front page story asking whether Joey Smallwood was a "saint or a dictator"

In other words, referring to the Premier of the Province as a dictator is just fine, as long as it's not Premier Williams.

But I digress.

The real money quote in Meeker's four-month old article is one from the Premier himself:

"I can’t control traitors. People who betray their province, I have no control over that."

Traitors, by his own definition, are people the Premier says he cannot control.

So if there are two types of people in this province - i.e. traitors, and those whom the premier can control, which type are you?

save a park - sign a petition

I'm at home. And let me tell you, this "let's turn Gros Morne into a hydroelectric corridor" thingy is not going over well with the locals.

"The government's proposal to string high voltage power lines and mammoth towers down through Labrador, across the Strait of Belle Isle, down the highway through the Great Northern Peninsula, and cut through Gros Morne National Park on its way to the Avalon Peninsula is complete evil."

- Letter to the Editor, The Northern Pen
(Emphasis added)

Someone should tell the Minister responsible, Jim Prentice.

Which is where you come in. Please sign the petition, and remind Stephen Harper's government of their obligation to keep our National Parks safe from ludicrous ideas like this one.

Things that make you go hmmm...

In his latest post, Wally raises a good point.

Danny Williams just tabled a proposal to run an 800MW powerline somewhere along the coast of the most picturesque tourist attraction in the province - a National Park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, at that.

And not a single journalist in Dannystan has even asked a question...?