Comments on politics, the culture, economics, and sports by Paul Tuns. I am editor-in-chief of "The Interim," Canada's life and family newspaper, and author of "Jean Chretien: A Legacy of Scandal" (2004) and "The Dauphin: The Truth about Justin Trudeau" (2015). I am some combination of conservative/libertarian, standing athwart history yelling "bullshit!" You can follow me on Twitter (@ptuns).

 
Scott Reid on property rights

Conservative MP Scott Reid is strategic in forwarding the goal of enacting constitutional protections for private property ownership rights and he explains that strategy in C2C Journal. Reid describes why he and his provincial counterpart Randy Hillier must succeed: "The days are long past when our rulers simply seized what they wanted." Actually, Scott Reid is wrong. These are precisely the days when rulers can simply seize what they want; we have to change that.
posted by Paul Tuns at 11:59 AM

 
What happened to all the pro-life Liberals?

I have a long piece in the July Interim on the death of the pro-life Liberal. In short:

1) The Liberal Party, when it was a big tent party of the middle, tolerated if not welcomed diverse views on moral issues. In the 1980s and early 1990s, Liberal MPs were allowed to vote their conscience on moral issues. According to two former Liberal MPs I interviewed, 40% of the caucus was pro-life in the 1980s, one-third was in Chretien's first term, and, according to Campaign Life Coalition, 20% of the caucus was publicly pro-life as recently as the late 1990s.

2) The two MPs blame the radicalism of the youth wing of the party and the intolerance of the Women's Caucus for making life difficult for pro-life MPs and eventually driving the party's lurch to the left. Pro-life MPs and then socially conservative voters left the party (or the other way around or a bit of both).

3) The decline of the Liberal Party is a result, at least in part, of its solidly left-wing stance on moral issues. This drove away, or at least gave permission, for ethnic voters (from Asia as well as Italian and Portuguese Catholics) to look elsewhere.

4) If the Liberal Party wants to become politically relevant again, it can move to the center by being tolerant of diverse social views and permitting MPs to vote their conscience and not impose a NDP-style radicalism on its caucus.
posted by Paul Tuns at 8:52 AM

 
Me on radio

I'll be on CFAX in Victoria at 12:10 ET (9:10 PT) to talk about my Ottawa Citizen column on political realignment.
posted by Paul Tuns at 9:21 AM

 
Newsweek journos play make believe

Newsweek just makes shit up about Princess Diana from the digitally created cover photo to the imagined biography. Fiction is not journalism; this is why people stop reading news magazines.
posted by Paul Tuns at 8:41 AM

 
'Darfur in the Shadows'

Earlier this month, Human Rights Watch issued a report that says that the conflict in Darfur, with all the human rights abuses that come with it, has gotten worse over the past six months. Sadly, the world does not notice. Typically, the United Nations and other international bodies are useless:

Because of Sudan’s unwillingness to prosecute serious crimes in Darfur, the UN Security Council in 2005 referred the situation in Darfur to the ICC, which has since issued arrest warrants for three individuals, including President al-Bashir, for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Six years on, Sudan still refuses to cooperate with the ICC and has made little progress on the domestic prosecutions.

posted by Paul Tuns at 8:56 AM

 
Four and down

4. Cold Hard Football Facts shows that passer rating differential is the stat to determine great teams. CHFF found that since 1940, 40 of 71 NFL champion/Super Bowl champions have finished either first or second in passer rating differential, observing that "winning passer rating differential is the fast track to winning a championship in pro football." Makes sense because it indicates both a strong aerial offense and stout defense against the pass.

3. As someone who watches every minute of available live football (three games Sunday and all Monday night and Thursday night games), my wife finds the eight weeks without Thursday night contests a respite from football widowhood. So I'm not excited about this idea, and my wife is actively opposed: CBS Sports reports that the NFL will sell the rights to a new set of eight Thursday night games.

2. Let the arguments begin. At the New York Times Fifth Down blog Andy Benoit rates the top 10 cornerbacks. I didn't watch all the game tape Benoit would have, but I did watch at least five full games a week and usually seven or eight and never saw Tramon Williams or Charles Woodson of the Green Bay Packers have even an average game, but I did see the top two, Nnamdi Asomugha of the Oakland Raiders and Darrelle Revis of the New York Jets, have merely okay games. Revis is living off his stellar 2009 season and while he is top five, I would not have placed him in the top three last season, let alone number one. So I'd put the pair of Packers in the top two spots. Number three is either Devin McCourty of the New England Patriots or Champ Baily of the Denver Broncos, both of whom were more disruptive than Revis; the rookie McCourty is super-smart and Baily is a talented veteran. Then there is Revis at five, and Pittsburgh Steeler Ike Taylor at number six. For me Taylor just ekes out Asomugha, Benoit's two pick. Asante Samuel of the Philadelphia Eagles is over-rated at this stage of his career and shouldn't be on the list. I like what Antonio Cromartie does with the Jets; because opponents try to avoid Revis so much, Cromartie gets challenged a lot, but Benoit ignored him completely. Likewise Benoit makes no mention of Antoine Winfield of the Minnesota Vikings, perhaps the best tackling CB in the NFL, led the league with 28 stops in 2010 and had the fifth best stop rate. Benoit says he didn't take stats into account; perhaps he should have. Glad to see Benoit drop three players from last year's list: Tennessee Titan Cortland Finnegan (becoming more goonish and less effective), Atlanta Falcons Dunta Robinson (big step back in 2010), and New Orleans Saints Jabari Greer (who shouldn't have been listed on the NFL's top 100 players of 2010).

1. The only thing worse than Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback column is when he goes on holidays and lets players write MMQB. Baltimore Raven CB Domonique Foxworth pens the weekly banality on King's first week of Summer holidays. A column with shout-outs to players for going back to college or lost weight over the off-season is mostly pointless. Ditto for comments saying the Steelers-Ravens is one heckuva rivalry, the Atlanta Falcons are a dangerous team, and "Today's technology is amazing." Why not just put the column on hiatus? Then again, King's weekly columns are mostly pointless. At least Foxworth didn't have a coffeenerdiness observation or stupid travel complaint.
posted by Paul Tuns at 12:04 AM

 
Me in Ottawa Citizen: Tories new Natural Governing Party until they're not

Writing in today's Ottawa Citizen I take aim at the argument that the successful Harper Conservative strategy of uniting western populist conservatives and Central and Atlantic Canadian Tories along with ethnic voters mostly in the GTA forms a new coalition that will make the Conservatives the new Natural Governing Party. The election seems like a seismic shift, and indeed it might be. But here's the thing about seismic shifts:

The metaphor of a seismic shift is borrowed from geology. Tectonic plates move constantly, about one to 10 centimetres annually. Most of the time these plates drift without being noticed, at least until they cause an earthquake or tsunami.

Political realignment is like tectonic realignment. There may be some ostensible stability, but it is only temporary. Eventually the political landscape will change.

For those listening to the political experts suggesting the demise of the Liberal Party and the permanence of the Tory majority (at least until the Left unites), recall that the same experts were predicting record-breaking majorities for Paul Martin and that Stephen Harper was unelectable. Remember stuff happens.
posted by Paul Tuns at 8:11 AM

 
Weekend stuff

1. Science Daily has the history -- and migration -- of coconuts.

2. The Boston Globe gets "the scoop on rising food costs" by examining why the price of an ice cream cone has increased 10% in four months.

3. Slate on why it is "impossible" to make better car batteries.

4. Wall Street Journal on the Spartan Race, a 24-hour obstacle course nicknamed the Death Course which less than a quarter of participants finish.

5. Listverse has the "10 Craziest Modern Dictators." No prize for guessing #1 but I thought Nicolae Ceausescu and Idi Amin would be higher.

6. Business Insider has photos from "Inside An Abandoned Luxury Resort In The Catskills."

7. Wired Science reports on a video games that allows users to golf on Saturn's moons.

8. I want to see more of this on America's Got Talent: last week, Elew (Eric Lewis) played "Sweet Home Alabama" -- imagine Jimi Hendrix doing Lynyrd Skynyrd on a piano. There is plenty of Elew on on YouTube.


posted by Paul Tuns at 9:48 PM

 
Mrs. Brady f***ed Mayor Lindsay

The Daily Mail reports that actress Florence Henderson, who played the mom on Brady Bunch, caught crabs after a one-night stand with then-New York City mayor John Lindsay, who was married. That was revealed in Henderson's soon-to-be-released memoir in which she denies bedding Barry Williams, the actor who played her stepson Greg on the show and had a crush on her. Nice to know that Henderson showed some restraint.
posted by Paul Tuns at 11:30 AM

 
Will America elect another Texas governor president?

I like Texas Governor Rick Perry, but I do not understand why he would run. There is no compelling issue he would address that is not being addressed by another candidate. Almost all politicians are walking egos, so the most compelling reason for Rick Perry to run is that Rick Perry should run. If he does toss his hat* into the ring and I were a Republican primary voter I would have a difficult decision picking amongst Perry, Tim Pawlenty, and Ron Paul, but I would prefer that Perry not enter the race. (Voting for Paul is symbolic, but voting is an act of signalling.)

George F. Will writes about Perry in today's WaPo. He correctly observes that Mitt Romney would have an easier time getting electing president than he would becoming the Republican presidential nominee, and that Perry has the opposite problem. Perry has conservative street cred, being a 10th Amendment Conservative before there was a Tea Party movement. He wears cowboy boots (and cuff-links), which might go over with conservative GOP primary voters who equate the South with conservative values, but who might turn-off independent general election voters who equate the South with extreme conservatism -- and George W. Bush.

The greatest impediment to a Rick Perry presidency is the Bush presidency. Bush's eight years in Washington will trump Perry's 11 years in Austin.

Will says the GOP primary will likely "become a binary choice — Romney and the Not Romney candidate" and that Perry's combination of social conservatism and Texas' economic record -- "Between 2001 and last June, Texas — a right-to-work state that taxes neither personal income nor capital gains — added more jobs than the other 49 states combined" -- could well position the Texas governor as the non-Perry. Which raises questions about electability. Will says:

Obama will not win another term stressing his accomplishments, which consist of an unpopular health-care law, a failed stimulus and an anemic recovery. So Obama’s campaign must be relentlessly negative, decrying the Republican nominee’s “extremism.” Democrats have worked that pedal on the political organ frequently — successfully against Barry Goldwater, futilely against Ronald Reagan.

Charges of Perry's alleged extremism, Will points out, can mostly be explained away. And it is worth noting that against Barack Obama, the mainstream media will portray any Republican as extreme.

* If Perry throws his hat into the presidential ring, it won't be a cowboy hat. I found more pictures of Barack Obama wearing a cowboy hat than I did Rick Perry donning one. Even when he spoke at the Cowboy Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in 2009, he had pictures taken with men wearing cowboy hats in which he had nothing atop his own head.
posted by Paul Tuns at 10:40 AM

 
'80s Flashback Friday

Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" is a gay anthem, but the video definitely has a pedo feeling to it.


posted by Paul Tuns at 4:47 PM

 
New Canadian pro-freedom website

Check out Freedom Forum. Here is what they are about:

A strictly non-partisan site, Freedomforum.ca is dedicated to promoting, defending and celebrating our economic, political and individual freedoms. Its aim is to offset the anti-market bias so prevalent among the mainstream media, political parties and special interest groups and to raise awareness about the moral underpinnings and principles of democratic capitalism and individual liberty. In short, this site is for Canadians who believe our country needs less government and more freedom.

Donate to the cause here.
posted by Paul Tuns at 1:28 AM

 
Wrong to order Canada Post back to work

Lorne Gunter describes some very valid reasons for not ordering Canada Post back to work, both tactical (a strike or lockout would increase support for eventual privatization) and practical (the Tories need not get involved in the dispute when they have a full agenda already). I would add another: it is simply wrong for the government to (further) intervene in the economy. Ordering employees back to work or ordering an employer to open back up for business is a massive intrusion into the economy and precisely the type of interference conservatives and libertarians should eschew. Too many on the Right are so reflexively anti-union that they applaud any intrusion that forces unionized workers back to their jobs.

The pro-free market solution that the government should have undertaken was to open up the postal market by eliminating the restrictions on first-class mail which requires that any company competing to deliver mail to price their service at least three times the price of a first-class stamp. This rule effectively shields Canada Post from competition and should be lifted -- it's time to bring back Bill C-14: An Act to amend the Canada Post Corporation Act (2007). More than privatization and more than back-to-work legislation, lifting Canada Post's first-class mail monopoly will benefit consumers in the long-term.
posted by Paul Tuns at 10:41 PM

 
Three and out

3. The It's About the Money baseball blog has an excellent but lengthy post on the financial troubles of the Los Angeles Dodgers which, it points out, has nothing to do with the baseball business and everything to do with how the McCourts treated the organization as a credit card for their personal use. (It is often said Frank McCourt bought the Dodgers with a credit card but it is more accurate to describe the Dodgers as his personal credit card.) MLB should strip Frank McCourt of ownership to protect the integrity of the club and the sport. Grab a cup of coffee and take the time to read the endlessly interesting (and frustrating) article. Sometimes businessmen are crooks.

2. SI.com's Joe Sheehan says that the walk-year effect is more myth than fact and notes that for every Gary Matthews Jr. (2006), Alfonso Soriano (2006) or Adrian Beltre (2010) there is an Albert Pujols (2011), Derek Jeter (2010), or Adrian Beltre (2009). Some players have great seasons the year before hitting the free agent market and regress in the years afterward while others have poor seasons that might not be typical of what the player is capable of, but we tend to only notice the former. And then there are the likes of Alex Rodriguez and CC Sabathia who have great walk-years and great careers. Sheehan says the problem with the supposed walk-year effect is not that players under-perform after signing a huge contract following an unusually good season, but that owners do not know how to judge player abilities and whether their most recent season reflects their real skill level.

1. According to Jack Moore at Fangraphs, New York Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner is an elite player. Really. By one measure he is the 12th best position player in baseball and closer to fifth (Josh Hamilton and Miguel Cabrera) than 13th (Robinson Cano). Yet, until Derek Jeter got hurt, the Yankees often played Gardner at the bottom of the order and rested him frequently.
posted by Paul Tuns at 9:20 PM

 
Media darling enters GOP fray

Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman is officially in the race and the political press has a collective boner. David Weigel reported there were more reporters than supporters at Huntsman's official announcement that he will seek the Republican presidential nomination. Huntsman is their kind of Republican: not very conservative, worked for a Democratic president, unfailingly polite, and as non-partisan as possible. The problem for Huntsman is that his admirers in the media will turn on him the moment he gets the nomination. How often did the media darling in a Republican primary 1) win the nomination and 2) go on to win the presidential election. Being the favourite Republican of the political press is the kiss of death. But it may even be worse than that; it is possible, even likely, that Huntsman is mere the creation of the media and that he has no base beyond applauding reporters. As Christine Pelosi noted, "Huntsman's base is the media." The free ride he'll get in the early primaries won't make up for the fact that there just aren't enough political reporters that vote in Republican primaries to propel him to top tier status.
posted by Paul Tuns at 10:59 PM

 
Canadian politics: down is up and 2+2 = anything but 4

Kathy Shaidle notes how crazy Canadian politics can be: Jack Layton says that legislating Canada Post back to work equals shutting down postal services. Layton leads the party that holds one-third of the seats in the House of Commons.
posted by Paul Tuns at 11:09 PM

 
Frank Graves got it wrong -- and democracy is in trouble

If you read the Globe and Mail article and Liberal Frank Graves's essay "Accurate Polling, Flawed Forecast," you will find that not only was Frank Graves the most inaccurate pollster when it came to the federal election, but that when his firm Ekos is so off the mark like it was May 2, Canada's very democracy is at risk. The argument goes something like this: Ekos polling numbers (or what Graves pretentiously refers to as "modern survey research") were accurate for the country but not the electorate and therefore there is something wrong with Canadian democracy because those two things should be the same thing. In other words, to save face, Graves must blame the country. Good pollsters should understand who they are polling and if that is not an accurate reflection of the electorate, then the pollster screwed up.
posted by Paul Tuns at 11:46 PM

 
'80s Friday flashback

I have no idea why I'm even thinking about Magnum P.I. this week, but the show had a great intro. Does any TV program today do a one-minute introduction?


posted by Paul Tuns at 10:44 PM

 
Quote of the day

"Orthopedically, the horse is a disaster waiting to happen."
-- Veterinarian Bob Harman in a story about stem-cell treatment for race horses.
posted by Paul Tuns at 11:42 PM

 
David Warren's really good column

Just read his Ottawa Citizen column today which defies exercises in precis or excerption.
posted by Paul Tuns at 11:18 AM

 
Canada desperately needs constitutionally protected property rights

The Globe and Mail reports:

Landlords and those in the market for a roommate beware – the Ontario Human Rights Commission is reading your ads and it thinks you are being too picky about who you want to live in your apartment.

Two key problems: the OHRC shouldn't go fishing for problems and a property owner should be able to do whatever he or she wants with his property. In Canada, however, fake human rights trump non-existent property rights. The solution is clear: get rid of the HRCs and establish constitutionally protected private property rights.
posted by Paul Tuns at 9:37 AM

 
Tasty murder

SunNews host Ezra Levant interviews a PETA member while eating a delicious chicken wing.
posted by Paul Tuns at 10:47 PM

 
Steyn on the GOP debate

Mark Steyn in The Corner captures the essential points about the Republican debate:

What I learned is that John King makes Tim Pawlenty look like Lady Gaga. Other than that, I also got the distimct impression that this season’s debates seem unlikely to be effective forums even for acknowledging the profound and existential crises facing the nation, never mind addressing them.

Me: Politicians got us into the mess, it is folly to think that they will get us out of it.
posted by Paul Tuns at 9:37 AM

 
Kinsella on the Liberal losers

Walrus magazine has erstwhile Liberal strategist and current Toronto Sun columnist pen a feature story on what happened to the Liberals. I have yet to read it, although I will, but I am skeptical of reading anything by Kinsella. Aside from his war on conservative bloggers and being a jerk, he is hardly ever insightful. For one thing, I'm not sure how much of an insider he still is. He has burned a lot of bridges and seems peripheral to the party, so his insider knowledge is suspect. More importantly, he seems to use his journalism -- columns, blogs, guest pieces such as the Walrus essay -- to deflect blame and settle scores. In other words, you have to take everything he writes with a grain of salt.
posted by Paul Tuns at 8:47 AM

 
Mega trials legislation

The Conservative government has won the cooperation of the NDP in getting a bill dealing with so-called mega trials fast-tracked during the current session of Parliament so it can pass before the Summer recess without hearings. I have two concerns:

1) I have not seen any discussion about whether such a law would be constitutional and how it might affect the administration of justice -- sure the legislation would seem to make the administration of justice more efficient, but that does not mean better. Would the creation of shortcuts lead to appeals down the road? The fact is there has been little exploration of actual justice issues surrounding this bill.

2) While some applaud the cooperation between NDP and Tories, another name for bipartisanship is collusion. I just don't trust anything Parliament does on a bipartisan basis. (I don't trust much done on a partisan basis either, but bipartisan and nonpartisan efforts are sure sign that the political class is conspiring against the public good.)

Anyway, Green Party leader and lone MP Liz May says she will try to slow the process down so there are actual hearings and prevent it from being fast-tracked. Hearings would be a good thing because there needs to be a serious examination of the possible effects of this legislation, rather than a rush to do something that is probably popular. This is May's stopped clock moment.
posted by Paul Tuns at 11:07 PM

 
Political truism #1

Kathy Shaidle: "Leftists lie compulsively. Even when they don’t have to."
posted by Paul Tuns at 10:50 AM

 
Robson on the EU

On Saturday Ottawa Sun columnist John Robson explained why there is no such thing as the European Union: it is not a political reality and even its economic union is in shambles. Last year, not one EU country met the four conditions for using the euro and the (relatively) well-off countries (Germany and United Kingdom) are getting tired of paying the way of the loafing PIIGS.

I bet Mark Steyn wins his bet with Bryan Caplan: see here and here.
posted by Paul Tuns at 11:43 PM

 
WSJ on Michelle Bachmann

Rep. Michelle Bachmann: "When I go on vacation and I lay on the beach, I bring von Mises." That is from the Wall Street Journal weekend interview in which the Minnesota Congresslady says she enjoys reading Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, and Milton Friedman and considers Arthur Laffer a friend. I believe all that. I just do not believe she has ever read Ludwig von Mises on a beach. Ever.

This is impressive:

She's a mother of five, and she and her husband helped raise 23 teenage foster children in their home, as many as four at a time. They succeeded in getting all 23 through high school and later founded a charter school.

Impressive, if true.

I also found this interesting: most news articles refer to Bachmann and Sarah Palin as friends but the WSJ's Stephen Moore says "journalists are convinced" the two have "frosty relations." Why the discrepancy?

Bachmann is not a foe to be under-estimated, even if she has hired Ed Rollins has an advisor.
posted by Paul Tuns at 11:28 PM

 
Weekend stuff

1. Forbes.com has "Monster Billionaire Mansions." Read the article, but the photos are most interesting. Ira Rennert's mansion has its own power plant.

2. The Daily Telegraph reports "Scientists create cow that produces 'human' milk." Is there a difference between human milk and human-like milk?

3. Mental Floss has a history of the QWERTY keyboard. The article mentions that Dvorak is an efficient alternative to QWERTY, but ignores Colemak. Mathematical Multicore describes the "The Keyboard Layout Project", an effort to find a more efficient keyboard layout.

4. The Chicago Tribune reports on the no-pat-down, non-strip airport security checkpoint of the future. Let us hope it becomes reality sooner rather than later (or never, as is more likely the case).

5. New Scientist on "Origami done right and wrong".

6. Wired's Danger Room blog reports that Moscow is considering terrorist-proof toilets.

7. Last week I had video of the oddly compelling "What are you listening to?" Here is the London version.

8. Hula Hooping from Hula Hoop's point of view:


posted by Paul Tuns at 11:32 AM

 
Four and down

4. Over at SI.com, Kerry J. Byrne of Cold Hard Football Facts makes the case for the inclusion of Cincinnati Bengals QB Ken Anderson (1971-1986) in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I might concede that Anderson is probably the best QB not in Canton who qualifies, but I am not convinced he belongs. That said, I wouldn't consider an injustice if the Senior Committee selects him for a yellow jacket.

3. Aaron Schatz of Football Outsiders calls bullshit on Roger Goodell's claim that the labour dispute is over NFL attempts to lower ticket prices for fans who go to NFL games.

2. ESPN's Dan Graziano has the list of current QBs who sported winning records after their first six seasons and it is a surprisingly list. Eli Manning and Carson Palmer are on the list; that the Bungles were a 500 club during any part of Palmer's tenure surprises me. Of course, a lot more than the quarterback's arm accounts for the long-term success of a team, so this particular stat probably doesn't mean a lot.

1. In the aforementioned Graziano comments, the ESPN writer notes: "So I'd say that the achievement [over 500 record through six seasons] means that Eli is good, but it doesn't make him a slam-dunk for the Hall of Fame. But I continue to wonder, as you do, why more people don't think he's good." I'll tell you why: we've seen him with our own eyes. Eli Manning makes a lot of mental mistakes, often looks tentative on the field, and is only at his best when the running game is working and his receivers are getting open. He can't really carry the team on his own when his team-mates aren't carrying their weight, in the same way that a Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, Tom Brady, or Drew Brees can. I've seen too many bad passes and mediocre games from Eli Manning to consider him a good QB.
posted by Paul Tuns at 5:28 PM

 
Quote of the day

"Whenever the right thing to do seems obvious we can be confident that it won’t be done."
-- Elon James White, Average Black Person
posted by Paul Tuns at 7:54 PM

 
80's flashback Friday

The 1997 re-release of Kate Bush's "Hounds of Love" is one of my three favourite albums of all-time. Although I prefer "Under the Ivy," the B-side for "Running up that Hill" which appears on the re-release, here is "Jig of Life" from the original 1985 album.


posted by Paul Tuns at 5:38 PM

 
GCH on Conservative voters

Gods of the Copybook Headings notes that the Stephen Harper-led Conservatives are not very conservative. They do little things here and there, but the government is not going to tackle the Big Issues:

Few people outside of the Prairie provinces know or care what the CWB does. The long gun registry is a hobby horse of urban Central Canadians who are afraid of loud noises that are not under government control. Does Stephen Harper have the guts to take on a real political issue? Like say reforming CPP or modernizing Medicare? No, because these things would frighten moderate voters who have been dutifully taught that the welfare state is part of being Canadian. Once the low hanging fruit is gone, let's see who in the Conservative Coalition is left standing by the Prime Minister.

I would add moral issues like re-criminalizing abortion (or at least not requiring the provinces to pay for it) and rethinking same-sex marriage to the real issues the government should tackle. But ultimately the Conservative Party exists not to advance conservatism but to elect a government. Until the time comes that the two goals are not mutually exclusive, the likes of Publius, Gerry Nicholls, Michael Taube, and the folks at the Fraser Institute will condemn Harper for not living up to conservative principles. I'm not happy about the government's silence/acquiesence on so many issues, but for now I'll take the small and symbolic conservative gestures from the government and grumble that they are not doing more, but my real complaint is with a voting public that loves the state and wants it there to take care of them from cradle to grave.
posted by Paul Tuns at 8:52 AM

 
Newman won't inflict Harper tome on Canada

QMI reports that Canadian historian Peter C. Newman won't pen a book on Prime Minister Stephen Harper because "He’s not interesting enough." If Newman says that Harper is too boring a topic to write about, I accept him at his word; if anyone is an expert in "not interesting enough" it is Peter C. Newman.

Snark aside, I'd bet that Harper is glad Newman is not writing a book about him -- perhaps the scribe could go one step further and stop writing columns about the prime minister. (Oh, so much for putting aside snark.)

But seriously, Harper doesn't need the approval of Canada's literary and journalistic elite, which is something the literary and journalistic elite do not understand about Harper. A more interesting approach -- more a column than a book -- would be to explore how Harper being not very interesting is a political asset. I just don't want to be bored by a Newman column on the subject.
posted by Paul Tuns at 6:58 AM

 
When silence becomes a story

Washington-based Postmedia reporter Sheldon Alberts has an absolutely terrible article on how David Vitter, a family values Republican senator from Louisiana, has not joined the chorus of politicians condemning Rep. Anthony Weiner, a New York Democrat who ... well, you know. You see, a few years back Vitter was accused of soliciting the services of prostitutes at a brothel and while he never specified what he did, he admitted to "very serious sin." For whatever reason Alberts thought that Vitter doing normal constituent work such as visiting visitors from his state, promoting a new hospital in New Orleans, and not speaking out against Weiner was newsworthy. It isn't newsworthy, but you got to fill column inches when you are a reporter and the mainstream media has about reached the end of the Weiner story.

And then the story gets weird. Alberts states:

Now, even as he tries to steer clear of the Weiner controversy, Vitter is being cited as an example of how the seven-term New York congressman might survive the scandal over sending lewd photographs to young women via social media.

"If Vitter can cavort with prostitutes . . . and STILL get re-elected?, Rep. Weiner can withstand a couple of crotch shots," wrote one commenter on huffingtonpost.com.

"If Vitter can be re-elected after the hooker thing came out, surely Weiner can survive this," another writer said on a yahoo.com chat room.

I find it strange that a reporter us quoting commenters on a blog post and a chat room as sources for political analysis.
posted by Paul Tuns at 6:53 AM

 
Three and out

3. Joe Posnanski is moving from Kansas City for North Carolina and offers some parting thoughts on baseball in KC. I had forgotten how much Royals Stadium was a park made for speed before the mid-90s renovations. As always Pos is worth reading.

2. Shit.

1. The 27-36 Oakland A's fired manager Bob Geren and have replaced him with former Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks skipper Bob Melvin. Unless Melvin can magically heal starter Dallas Braden and provide better than league average hitting while playing 1B, 2B and RF, I don't see the point of the managerial switcheroo. Oakland's problems are not in day-to-day strategy but some bad luck (injuries) and poor roster construction. But general managers don't fire themselves, do they?
posted by Paul Tuns at 1:21 AM

 
It is not possible to get tired of this song

Perry Como's "Magic Moments."


posted by Paul Tuns at 11:10 PM

 
Green Party leader to focus on parliamentary democracy, not environment

Elizabeth May is the Green Party's only MP and she is going to focus on fixing democracy rather than addressing environmental concerns -- you know, the raison d'etre for the Green Party. Green voters probably thought her presence in the House would have provided a voice for environmental issues in Parliament, but actually during the campaign May said addressing the "democracy deficit" was her top priority. If I were a Green Party supporter or environmentalist, I'd be ticked off.

Also, it's Elizabeth May's birthday. Isn't it about time she acted her age (57) and not like a petty high school student council twit.
posted by Paul Tuns at 7:03 AM

 
Should Anthony Weiner's 'scandal' matter

Megan McArdle explains why Rep. Tony Weiner's behaviour is wrong: she says emailing pictures of your privates is not a responsible or normal way for a 40-something married Congressman to act. This is particularly wise: "It was obviously pretty reckless, even if the only standard you use is that obviously, if these pictures became public, he would have to spend a lot of time explaining himself." That indiscretion shows Weiner is unfit for public office.

The headline on Cato's Gene Healy column ("Weinergate Reminds Us Not to Give These Clowns More Power")is better than the actual column because it suggests an important question: why do we trust politicians, such as Weiner and a variety of cheating Congressmen, who are obviously not trustworthy, to reform health care or make criminal law? (Healy's column is worth reading because he defends enjoying a good political sex scandal.) Weiner has shown an incredible lack of judgement; at the very least, as Mark Steyn says, "Why would any sentient being believe a word the right honorable Weiner says about anything ever again?"

The media is not dealing with the serious issues here because the Congressman's unfortunate surname leads to snickering and juvenile jokes. I admit, I enjoy the joke too, but I don't have the pulpit of a prime time news show and the responsibility that goes along with that (or at least used to). But if the pundits are only interested in scoring political points and not examining whether someone so reckless should keep his job as a legislator, they might as well go back to scoring political points over debt ceilings and foreign wars.
posted by Paul Tuns at 10:44 PM

 
I might have been wrong about Bob Rae

For the past few years I thought he would make a formidable opponent against Stephen Harper. Maybe not. Today he tweeted:

Why in Harperland do families who don't make enough $ to pay taxes cant get tax credit to send kids to hockey or music lessons #cdnpoli #lpc

I won't deduct points for syntax in a tweet, as painful as reading that sentence was. But the reason why people who do not pay taxes do not get a credit is simple: what would you credit? No taxes, no credit. Or doesn't the Liberal leader know how our tax system works?
posted by Paul Tuns at 12:41 PM

 
Sesame Street has conservative moments

So says Michael Taube in the Washington Times. The "evidence" he marshals includes:

1) There are moments of patriotism.

2) Some characters celebrate religious holidays.

3) Some characters value family.

4) Some characters exhibit individualism.

5) A stereotypically black character was the victim of a politically correct lynch mob and kicked off the show.

6) George W. and Laura Bush have appeared on the show.

But liberals also are patriotic, celebrate religious holidays, value family, and exhibit individualism, and liberals turning on themselves are not moments of conservatism/libertarianism/classical liberalism. I'm not sure these things Taube points to makes the show right-wing or even slightly less left-wing. As for the Bushes, I haven't seen a clip but my guess is that it was apolitical.

I'm sure this column was tongue-in-cheek, but it is also pointless.

When will pundits on the Right stop looking for tenuous conservative or libertarian messaging in pop culture? Sometimes it's there (often inadvertently), but mostly it is a matter of the person projecting his political views on art. It's all so ... what is the word? ... Soviet.
posted by Paul Tuns at 11:40 PM

 
Shaidle on hypocrisy

Over-used word, hypocrisy is, and worse, most people don't understand what it is. Kathy Shaidle does. Read her post about why those of us who oppose socialized health care are not hypocrites for using the system and neither is Rush Limbaugh for railing against unions while being a union member. As Shaidle notes: "hypocrisy presupposes choice."
posted by Paul Tuns at 6:47 PM

 
Down with protectionism

At VoxEU, Shimelse Ali, Uri Dadush, and Rachel Esplin Odell show that globally there is decreased resistance to freer trade -- and that more has to be done to facilitate trade.
posted by Paul Tuns at 8:54 AM

 
Limousine liberals

This HuffPo article from last week escaped my notice but deserves greater attention:

[T]he number of limos owned by Uncle Sam increased by 73 percent during the first two years of the Obama administration, according to an analysis of records by iWatch News.

Most of the increase was recorded in Hillary Clinton's State Department...

According to General Services Administration data, the number of limousines in the federal fleet increased from 238 in fiscal 2008, the last year of the George W. Bush administration, to 412 in 2010.

The official excuse is that they are needed for safety reasons.
posted by Paul Tuns at 11:29 PM

 
Three and out

3. Dave Allen has an analysis of Jose Baustista's power and patience at Baseball Analysts. Incredible stat: Only three of his 74 HRs in 2010 and so far in 2011 have been opposite field (right field) HRs. As for his walks -- Bautista also leads the Majors in walks and walks per plate appearance since the start of the 2010 season -- the explanation is simple: pitchers are changing where they are throwing to avoid giving up the long ball and Bautista is not swinging at low and away.

2. Al Yellon of SB Nation illustrates how much more than any other sport, the MLB Draft is a huge crapshoot. Amazing fact: no #1 overall pick (45 drafts) has made it to Cooperstown, although that will change in the next few years as Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez become eligible.

1. Ken Rosenthal of Foxsports says that the parity in the league will mean that there is a different kind of trade market leading up to the July 31 trading deadline. Rosenthal quotes an un-named general manager: "It might be more of a reallocation of pieces than classic buying or selling." Or perhaps teams that are on the cusp will trade for a player signed through 2012 or 2013 to compete next year. Whatever. Only five teams are more than seven games out of their division's lead, but within a month, that number could be doubled. Also, are the Toronto Blue Jays or Florida Marlins going to add payroll to keep up with the Boston Red Sox/New York Yankees or Philadelphia Phillies? There is a different kind of trade market, but not because of parity, but rather because most teams have learned to value their young prospects and sign young talent to long-term deals buying out their arbitration years and first seasons of free agency; the result is that most organizations don't need to dump salaries and most competitive teams don't want to mortgage their future.
posted by Paul Tuns at 9:26 PM

 
Policy Options has extensive analysis of federal election

If you like political analysis by scholars and partisans, you'll love the June-July issue of Policy Options. I don't mean that as snark. Former NDP operative Robin Sears is one of the best political commentators around and he has a 20-page essay that generally follows the first draft of the 2011 election (the long Maclean's article by Paul Wells) and adds Andrew Coyne's insight (first ever majority government based almost entirely west of Quebec). Despite the seeming seismic shift in Canadian electoral politics, Sears cautions against predicting the future so soon. Hear that Tom Flanagan's who wrote a piece on the "Emerging Conservative coalition." Maybe, maybe not. Ditto for Nik Nanos and his "From a nothing election to a seismic shift." Perhaps, perhaps not. Or not yet.
posted by Paul Tuns at 8:56 PM

 
Genocide in Darfur continues

Just because the tragedy is not being covered in the news does not mean the injustice has ended. It has only become invisible. Eric Reeves gives Darfur the attention it deserves over at TNR Online.
posted by Paul Tuns at 6:52 PM

 
Why John Robson is the best columnist in Canada

From John Robson's Ottawa Sun column today on this week's federal $278 billion budget:

If we can’t find something to cut somewhere in this mega-spending blast, it’s time to admit the problem isn’t the people asking for free money. It’s the rest of us who find the argument convincing.

Robson then enumerates $35 billion in spending cuts. I doubt the Finance Minister is going to pay attention; many of the cuts are designed to get Ottawa out of policy that is properly provincial jurisdiction, but both Liberal and Conservative governments have shown little regard for such distinctions.
posted by Paul Tuns at 11:27 PM

 
Weekend stuff

1. Summer fun: the Wall Street Journal on Nerf guns and Super Soakers. Check out the video.

2. The Ottawa Citizen has an informative and fascinating article about the Gander Automated Air Traffic System Plus (GAATS+) that cuts in the half the amount of space that planes need to keep between themselves while in the air. Once all aircraft are equipped with the appropriate GPS and text communication hardware, the number of daily flights across the North Atlantic can be increased and the amount of fuel being wasted by airline companies can be reduced.

3. CrackTwo has Tito-era, now-abandoned Yugoslavian monuments to WWII battles and concentration camp sites.

4. Science Daily reports, "Scientists Discover the Largest Assembly of Whale Sharks Ever Recorded."

5. The Daily Telegraph has a pretty awesome video of the world's first BMX triple backflip.

6. Mental Floss has "10 Interesting Numbers in American Culture (Plus or Minus a Few)," from pi to 55 to prices that end in 9.

7. Listverse has the "Top Ten Activities Seldom Seen Outside Gym Class." Badminton (camping and Summer camp) and jump rope (every girl in elementary school) do not belong on an otherwise fine list.

8. Oddly compelling compilation of Tyler Cullen asking people on New York streets what they are listening to.


posted by Paul Tuns at 10:16 PM

 
The War on Drugs has failed

The report from the Global Commission on Drug Policy has concluded what anyone with a brain already knows: the war on drugs has failed. Links to news coverage here. The commissioners are an impressive bunch including former Colombia president César Gaviria, former Mexico president Ernesto Zedillo, former Brasil President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former Greece prime minister George Papandreou, former U.S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz, former European Union High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, former secretary-general of the International Chamber of Commerce Maria Cattaui, Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa, Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria executive director Michel Kazatchkine, and former Chairman of the United States Federal Reserve Paul Volcker, and Virgin Group founder Richard Branson. (Note I did not include among the impressive commissioners former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.) These are not a bunch of crazy libertarians. And speaking of crazy libertarians, saying the war on drugs has failed is not an endorsement of drug use. Indeed, the report calls for countries to:

Invest in activities that can both prevent young people from taking drugs in the first place and also prevent those who do use drugs from developing more serious problems.

One of the things that seems to be lost in the discussion about decriminalizing drugs -- or at least ending the irresponsible war on drugs -- is that saying aggressively pursuing drug lords and endlessly jailing addicts is foolish is not akin to turning a blind eye to illegal drugs completely. In other words, this is not a debate between "drugs are bad" and "drugs are benign" but rather "drugs are bad" and we should primarily use the blunt instruments of the criminal justice system and "drugs are bad" and we should employ other, more effective ways of combating the scourge of illegal drugs.

Ideally we should have a debate about how to best help addicts and a debate about the permissibility of drug use (these are not mutually exclusive topics), but the public policy debate that North America is ready for right now is merely how to combat drug use.

The report is worth reading. Anyone familiar with the debate will be rehearsing the arguments that have already been made, but perhaps policy-makers will pay attention to the need for a more humane and effective response to addiction; criminalizing addicts will not help individuals or society. As the report notes:

Finally, many countries still react to people dependent on drugs with punishment and stigmatization. In reality, drug dependence is a complex health condition that has a mixture of causes – social, psychological and physical (including, for example, harsh living conditions, or a history of personal trauma or emotional problems). Trying to manage this complex condition through punishment is ineffective – much greater success can be achieved by providing a range of evidence-based drug treatment services. Countries that have treated citizens dependent on drugs as patients in need of treatment, instead of criminals deserving of punishment, have demonstrated extremely positive results in crime reduction, health improvement, and overcoming dependence.

My one concern is about the claim that decriminalization does not lead to a significant increase in drug use; reducing the costs, including social costs, of something should increase demand for the thing. Perhaps decriminalizing leads to much more effective treatment that it offsets the increase in individuals who take up drugs, but the research cannot show that.

I hope policy-makers, especially those in the Stephen Harper's Prime Minister's Office with their get-tough-on-crime policies, give this report serious consideration.
posted by Paul Tuns at 10:41 AM

 
There should be no conflict between the NFL and its players

George Will has a good WaPo column that explains the folly of the NFL lockout in which both sides (but mostly the owners) are risking so much for so little. The key point:

The owners, by decrying the current system, desperately want the union resurrected so they can bargain with it to preserve most of the system. Currently, the owners propose a salary cap of $141 million per team, meaning $4.51 billion in league-wide compensation. The players want $151 million, meaning $4.83 billion. It is ludicrous to risk even part of a season over so little, and both sides probably would, if they could, erase the past three months of staking out improvident positions and agree to extend the current system.

There are other issues, too, that deserve to be fixed. I find the notion of a draft to divvy up players among owners to be an obnoxious restriction on labour rights. Imagine if future employers could draft graduates of med school or teachers college and force doctors and teachers to go to a city and employer not of their choosing if they want to work in their chosen field? It is bizarre way to treat talent, but we tolerate this infringement of individual's rights in pro sports.

But ultimately this conflict is not about the draft, free agency rules, an 18-game schedule, or anything but money. Settle the money issue and the conflict is settled.

Will makes another point worth considering in not just this dispute but most labour conflicts: both sides have taken positions that are hard to back down from and that perhaps, in hindsight, they wish they hadn't made. The process leads to a hunkering down that in the end can prolong labour disputes because neither side wants to lose face. The owners are counting on the players buckling after they begin missing the paychecks, but Will says NFL players are people who don't like to lose, on or off the field. In other words, the players will have the resolve to continue this conflict.

Yet the ball is in the owners court. It is owners, who have a greater investment in the long-term health of the sport, that are risking turning away fans over a few hundred million in a sport that generates more than $9 billion in revenue, in a league in which no team loses money; it is said that owning a NFL team is like getting a license to print money. Greed can often be a good thing if it leads entrepreneurs to take risks that result in new and flourishing enterprises, but too much greed can lead these same people to risk everything they have created.
posted by Paul Tuns at 10:13 AM

 
'80s Flashback Friday

My favourite song by The Cult is "Rain"; both the band and the song are under-appreciated.


posted by Paul Tuns at 6:39 AM

 
Obligatory NBA post

My sports habit is confined to NFL football, Major League Baseball, World Cup and Euro Cup soccer, some Italian and English soccer, March Madness college hoops, and the late rounds of Grand Slam tennis events depending who's playing. I'm seriously committed to baseball (15-20 hours a week watching and reading) and football (about 20-25 hours a week during the season, 2-4 hours weekly during the off-season). As a married father of five I don't have time to follow other sports. I haven't watched the Olympics since 1996, I can't tell you who won the Stanley Cup recently, and I haven't watched a minute of NBA basketball in more than a decade (although I read ESPN's Bill Simmons). I probably can't name three players who don't play on the Miami Heat or even who the Heat are playing in the NBA finals this year.

All that said, I quite enjoyed Business Insider's "15 Greatest Moments in NBA Finals History." Growing up I loved the 1980s LA Lakers and 1990s Chicago Bulls, so this brought back a lot of memories. It is worth clicking on most of the videos.

Kevin Glass at Right Field suggests that LeBron James might be a better playoff performer than Michael Jordan. I just don't know -- I've never seen James play, but it is hard to imagine a better all-around player than Jordan. I basically stopped watching basketball when Jordan retired in '98. That's also when my Jordan jersey, bought in high school, stopped fitting.

Richard Florida's "Is the Geography of NBA Dominance Shifting?" is, as usual for Florida, a combination of the obvious and complete bullshit, but it still makes for a fascinating read. Interesting stat: "Between them, the Lakers and the Celtics have featured in two-thirds (40 out of 63) of the NBA finals completed to this point. The two have met each other head-to-head for the championship 11 times."
posted by Paul Tuns at 10:14 PM

 
Falling crime rates

A few days ago, writing in the Wall Street Journal, James Q. Wilson surveyed various studies that explain why crime rates have fallen, even during the recent recession (typically when unemployment goes up, crime goes up, but it hasn't). Wilson finds most explanations insufficient on their own and favours a "cultural" explanation that focuses on changing morals and values. My guess is that the literature must be taken as a whole to describe (as opposed to explain) the factors that influence crime rates. Indeed, that is what Wilson does:

At the deepest level, many of these shifts, taken together, suggest that crime in the United States is falling—even through the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression—because of a big improvement in the culture. The cultural argument may strike some as vague, but writers have relied on it in the past to explain both the Great Depression's fall in crime and the explosion of crime during the sixties. In the first period, on this view, people took self-control seriously; in the second, self-expression—at society's cost—became more prevalent. It is a plausible case.

Culture creates a problem for social scientists like me, however. We do not know how to study it in a way that produces hard numbers and testable theories.

The changed policies and shifting cultural values are themselves inextricably connected.

Wilson highlights what is likely the second most important reason crime rates have fallen: those most likely to commit crimes are already behind bars. This is an important factor seldom considered by those who take part in incarceration rate debates. Yes America imprisons relatively more people, but by doing so it has made our streets and homes safer.

But Wilson ignores another, more important factor: there are fewer young adults, the segment of the population most likely to commit crimes. I don't buy into John Donohue and Steven Levitt's argument that abortion has reduced crime because it has reduced the number of (mostly black) likely criminals, but abortion and birth control have led to fewer people being born and therefore smaller crime-committing cohorts. Demographics is destiny and all that.

Anyway, Wilson's point (and mine) is that there are no easy explanations. Humility on the parts of pundits, politicians and think tankers would be appreciated. In all likelihood crime policies are largely irrelevant to the amount of crime being committed.
posted by Paul Tuns at 8:59 AM

 
Ross on the different worlds of the public and private sectors

At The American Spectator Online, Ron Ross writes about the public and private sectors and how they are different: "Many of the government sector's outputs are more like anti-products than products. Regulations stifle innovation, decrease productivity, increase costs, and generally drive people crazy. Rather than wealth creation, regulations result in wealth prevention."
posted by Paul Tuns at 8:53 AM