It's such a small gesture

Babble on.

Yes, you do have time to do this. He's a seven year-old child with leukemia sitting in isolation at a hospital right now. You'll make the time.

Right?

Babble off.

Turnabout and all that

Babble on.

I just listened to Stephane Dion in a Newsnet clip saying that Stephen Harper is simply copying Liberal environmental policies and that the Canadian public won't be fooled by such a tactic.

I have two words for Mr. Dion: Clarity Act.

Babble off.

All the tactical finesse of the Maginot Line

Babble on.

What are you, new , Gordo?

Babble off.

Bring on the attack ads

Babble on.

Soldiers.

With guns.

In their cities.

We're not making this up.

Babble off.

Standing, cheering

Babble on.

"Listen to me very carefully, my community is the Canadian community; I am not the ambassador of some country to Canada; I am an MP representing Canadians and my primary interest is Canada's welfare. I am not in politics to represent some overseas group or government. Yes, I am a Muslim, but I cannot be held hostage by self-appointed community leaders who have their own hidden agendas."

- Wajid Khan, Member of Parliament for Mississauga-Streetsville

Well said, sir. Damned well said.

Babble off.

"A more robust Canada"

Babble on.

I gave up my place in the Red Ensign Brigade awhile back for reasons that will remain my own. I still fly the flag itself on this site because a good many brave and true men fought and died under it for Canada, and I don't think we should forget that. Or forget them, for that matter.

But John Donovan put a smile on my face when I checked his blog this morning, and found a Canadian Red Ensign flying. Not virtually, mind you, but a real cloth flag snapping and crackling in a snowy wind above his personal abode.

Above a retired U.S. Army officer's house.

In Kansas.

BZ John! Huzzah!

Babble off.

Recognizing recce

Babble on.

Say these two words out loud, one right after the other: "reconnaissance" and "recognizance." Pretty similar, especially if you say them quickly, aren't they? The real distinction, given their similarity to the ear, should be the context.

Poor Melissa Leong at CanWest missed that entirely:

"They were going to come up here for refuge and what we were going to do was provide a safe house for them and we even scoped the area out, did a little recognizance," Mr. Shaikh said. [Babbler's bold]

Maybe he should have just said "recce" and waited for the journalists to ask him to spell it so they could look it up.

Babble off.

Agent Zigzag

Babble on.

A story about suicide bombing, British style. (ht:BT)

Babble off.

A closer look

Babble on.

David Akin at CTV takes a look at the Cabinet shuffle from a different perspective: committee appointments. I'll spoil the ending for you, but it's certainly worth the read to follow how he arrives at his conclusion and to find out who else he fingers as influential.

So, if you wanted to read the entrails here: Who in cabinet has the most juice? That would be Jim Prentice. Prentice is the only one who chairs two commiteess [sic]— Ops and EESy – and sits on Social Affairs and is an alternate to Treasury Board.

How novel: a PPG journalist finding his own way instead of mooing along with the crowd. Refreshing, Mr. Akin.

Babble off.