How many died in Darfur? Lots- what's been done about it ?- nothing

"Is the death toll between 60,000 and 160,000, as Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick said during a recent trip to the region? Or is it closer to the roughly 400,000 dead reported last week by the Coalition for International Justice, a Washington-based nongovernmental organization that was hired by the United States Agency for International Development to try to determine whether the killing amounts to genocide?"

Kate's got a good post on the confidence vote

Nice to see Jack back from a brief hiatus

He's always got some good comments and interesting websites. For those thinking about setting up a blog ,they should check out one of his posts.

Let's hope the media are more forthcoming with the methodology

...........and upfront about any possible conflict of interest or past government polling contracts and not simply give just the headlines . The public is entitled to know as much as possible about the polls.Are there more conservatives or Liberals that are willing to answer pollsters for instance?Are samples of 2000 more accurate than 1000?

Must have been a frosty trip back on the plane from the 60th VE Day celebrations

Liberals dismiss Commons vote recommending they resign as only procedural

Harper said the government does not have the moral authority to govern and says the government is corrupt. Says Martin has gone from dithering to desperate to dangerous.

Duceppe said the government is no longer working, the government is crippled

UPDATE:

The government will probably have to be defeated on a money bill( budget)

There are 308 MP's ( one may have died and there is supposed to be a by election to replace them. That leaves 307

Libs/NDP including 2 independents had 150 today- 2 were away for personal reasons(to attend a funeral and medical reasons)

Conservatives/Bloc had 153

There is still one independent away taking medical treatment

so the next vote might look like this

Lib/NDP152
Conservative/Bloc 153
1 independent
Speaker of house Votes with the government if a tie.If the independent goes with the Libs, it will be a tie and the Speaker will definitely vote with the Liberals and the government will survive. Can't predict how this other Independent will vote or if he will be healthy enough to vote , so it will be tight.

However it looks highly likely there will be an election called by May 18th

Germany dedicates national Holocaust memorial

"Today we open a memorial that recalls Nazi Germany's worst, most terrible crime -- the attempt to exterminate an entire people,'' Thierse said

Would that be similar to running two sets of books?

"The federal Liberals ran their 2000 election campaign in Quebec with two parallel staff, only one of which was on the payroll at their Montreal headquarters, the sponsorship inquiry was told Tuesday.

Former Quebec wing boss Benoit Corbeil said then-public works minister Alfonso Gagliano ran a team of 30 "fake volunteers'' who included ministerial aides as well as lawyers and engineers"

Head of Journalist group slams UN

"It is disheartening and reprehensible when an international organization that claims to hold human rights as a core principle disregards the fundamental rights of a civil society," he said."

Testimony at the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security

"Second, successful indictments and prosecutions often lead to further successes in combating terror. We are able to leverage the intelligence collected from cooperators in our criminal cases to discover and track down new leads and evidence. The Al-Moayad investigation uncovered his contacts in Brooklyn, including a Brooklyn associate who had transferred over $20 million overseas through the bank account of his tiny ice cream store. Those Brooklyn associates have been charged with various federal crimes ranging from unlicensed money remitting to making false statements as part of the Department’s disruption approach. In the Al-Moayad trial, prosecutors presented the testimony of Yaya Goba, one of the convicted defendants in the Lackawanna case. Successful prosecutions beget more prosecutions."

WMD Mystery- Christopher Brown

"Whether or not al Qaeda is already in possession of a crude WMD capability, after all we have been warned that it is only a matter of time before a terrorist acquires and attempts to use such weapons, it is more important that we be willing to honestly examine connections such as those mentioned above and then act on that knowledge in order to prevent any such attack."

Corruption- take your pick

Without these in place, Canadians don't have a fighting chance against corruption

The government has had 12 years to put in an effective whistleblower system, instead they have watered down legislation being discussed that wouldn't protect any civil servant. Would we have known about Adscam a lot sooner if dedicated civil servants had job protection? You know the answer.

Why don't we have the effective legislation in place already?- you know the answer to that also.

Whistleblowing in the USA

Every Canadian should be reading this before they vote

These honest, dedicated civil servants were turfed for doing their job of protecting Canadians-either keeping crooks out of the country or trying to make sure their money wasn't being wasted.There was no whistleblower law to protect them.They tried to do right but lost their careers for trying to protect Canadians.

Wente- Alberta Envy

"Until now, I've believed that the other nation in Canada is Quebec. But now I think it's Alberta. If we here in Ontario are stupid enough to re-elect the Liberals, they won't really care. They'll just go their own way. They don't need us, and they certainly don't need our money. So what if Calgary is still an unsophisticated town that's full of cowboy art? The sun is shining. The mountains are just an hour away. And the highway to Canmore doesn't have a single pothole. mwente@globeandmail.ca"

Smoke and Mirrors

Holding their feet to the fire to correct a wrong

When you have people who put their lives on the line for their country, you don't treat their families this way.

Adscam- is today the Day of Reckoning or just the preparation for the Day of Reckoning?

Adscam-excellent insight from Blatchford

"Mr. Corbeil is the latest canary at the hearing.

He said yesterday he never saw Mr. Béliveau's whopper of an envelope in 1997 but he admitted to getting two other, smaller ones that year. These envelopes totalled about $9,000, in packages of $5,000 and $4,000, and he handed them off to two guys who were working in two hotly contested ridings that were ultimately won by Liberal MPs Denis Coderre and Yvon Charbonneau.

But Mr. Corbeil says he did get one of the $50,000 envelopes -- actually, two, one with $35,000 and another with $15,000 -- for a whole other election, this in 2000, and from a whole different fellow, poor old Mr. Brault, who was paying through the nose every which way in those days. Was this the same $50,000 or $60,000 Mr. Brault testified he handed over, and are the lads just a little off in their dates? Or could it be that Mr. Brault was paying so often he forgot about this one?"

UNSCAM- from PJ Media - more on the oil-for-food scam

A letter from Adrian Gonzalez-Maltes to Paul Volcker, chairman of the Independent Inquiry Committee on the Oil-For-Food program.

Captain Ed

He'll be appearing at the Gomery Commission and has some strong views

This came from a commenter at Captainsquartersblog.com where Captain Ed will be posting an interview he had with him before he testifies.

Exercise slows prostate cancer

Regular vigorous physical activity could slow the progression of prostate cancer in older men, a study has found.

The findings suggest working up a real sweat may help prevent men over 65 dying from the disease.

But the team from Harvard School of Public Health found men had to work out vigorously for at least three hours a week for it to have a positive effect