Saw Stiff Little Fingers last night, again, at Lee’s. Jake Burns and Co. are a lot older than they used to be, but I guess the Hot Nasties would look a bit older, today, too.

Back in 1979, Jake and his ‘Inflammable Material’ shook our demi-monde in the way that the first Clash LP did (the UK version).  It was the most political record we’d ever heard.  The Nasties started playing ‘Suspect Device’ after that, and it always blew my voice out (in the way that Jake’s does on ‘Ulster,’ in the video below).

Anyway, it was great, great to see them last night. And the opening chords still send chills up my spine, thirty years after.  God, what a song.

Oh, and I feel old.

Nothin’ for us in Belfast
The Pound so old it’s a pity
OK, there’s the Trident in Bangor
Then walk back to the city
We ain’t got nothin’ but they don’t really care
They don’t even know you know
They just want money
They can take it or leave it
What we need is

(Chorus)
An Alternative Ulster
Grab it change it’s yours
Get an Alternative Ulster
Ignore the bores, their laws
Get an Alternative Ulster
Be an anti-security force
Alter your native Ulster
Alter your native land

Take a look where you’re livin’
You got the Army on the street
And the RUC dog of repression
Is barking at your feet
Is this the kind of place you wanna live?
Is this were you wanna be?
Is this the only life we’re gonna have?
What we need is

(Chorus)

They say they’re a part of you
But that’s not true you know
They say they’ve got control of you
And that’s a lie you know
They say you will never be

Free free free

Alternative Ulster
Alternative Ulster
Alternative Ulster

Pull it together now.

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Rob Ford just finished a meeting with Dalton McGuinty.  Here’s what one veteran reporter had to say about what happened:

Comments (4)

First they disrupt a speech by a statesman like Bill Davis – and then they call families “ridiculous.”

Quote:

“TORONTO – The Dalton McGuinty government is promising a Family Caregiver Leave that would allow Ontarians to take up to eight weeks off work to care for a sick or injured family member…

Tory MPP Jim Wilson said the premier provided scant details about his election-style promise…Wilson said: “It’s a ridiculous announcement if you ask me.”

“Ridiculous.”

Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think that families, and families caring for family members, is “ridiculous.”

Does Tim Hudak also consider families “ridiculous”?  And, while we’re at it, will he apologize to Bill Davis for sending our three of his candidates with HQ-prepared signage to disrupt a non-partisan event?

Comments (8)

Check this out. I would not have believed it had I not seen the photograph with my own eyes.

It is a picture of three Hudak minions, to the left – all of them sad-sack Hudak candidates, Pam Hundal (Brampton-Springdale), Sanjeev Maingi (Bramalea-Gore-Malton), Amarjeet Gill (Mississauga-Brampton South) – actually disrupting a speech by former Ontario Premier Bill Davis, to the right and onstage.  They’re holding a sign that says “don’t let them fool you,” and it includes Tim Hudak and Ontario PC hash tags.

In Brampton, no less.

Davis was there to talk about health care and leadership at the local level. I don’t know (yet) how he reacted to this stunt.  But I can say that protesting us is fine. But disrupting a speech by their former leader? Seriously?

What a disgrace Tim Hudak is.  What a total buffoon. First he plunges a drawerful of silverware in John Tory’s back, and now he’s sending out candidates to disrespect one of his party’s true remaining statesmen.

Unbelievable.

Comments (49)

Because he wants to defund abortion? Because he fired thousands of nurses? Because he wants to put prisoners in parks? Because he’s Fratboy Tim?

Whatever the reason, not a few of them hate him.

Comments are open.

Comments (21)

The political truism is that “change” is good. Except when change isn’t the kind of change voters want, in which case change is bad. Got that?

It’s not an idle question. There are, or have been, a bunch of federal, provincial and territorial election campaigns taking place this year. In each one, the concept of “change” has or will be a factor.

The reason why you hear about change so much during election years is simple: It’s a simple, inoffensive way of saying “throw the bums out” — we want a new direction, new faces, new energy. It’s a powerful message, too.

Brian Mulroney rode “change” to a massive victory over the tired old Grits in 1984. Jean Chretien rode “change” to a massive victory over tired old Tories in 1993. Stephen Harper’s win in 2006 wasn’t massive, but it had everything to do with change. Barack Obama was arguably the most successful “change” campaign ever — he crushed Republicans across the U.S. People wanted change, people voted for it.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty also greatly benefited from change in 2003, when his campaign slogan was “Choose Change.”

Comments (9)

Check this out:

…the only thing I’ve ever seen on Tristan Emmanuel’s name is his comment to The Globe and Mail in 2005 when he was asked:

Asked if Emmanuel — it means “God with us” — is his birth name, he replies: “That’s an area I don’t want to get into.”

How very interesting. Comments/tips gratefully accepted on Hudak’s man, please and thank you.

Comments (11)

GritChik this morning, who I want to quote word-for-word:

“I’ve been posting all summer about Hudak’s record on abortion. (He’s pro-life and has pledged to defund abortions on a petition he first denied signing, then finally ‘fessed up to it). All summer this issue has dogged him but he stupidly refused to answer any questions from the media and now sees his party sliding in the polls, in part, because of it.

On Saturday I posted about a new pro-Conservative group that boasts Tristan Emmanuel as one of its creators. Emmanuel is a far-right evangelical preacher who is vehemently opposed to same-sex marriage and homosexuality.

To wit:

In a 2005 interview with the Hamilton Spectator, Emmanuel described homosexuality as “a choice,” said that he regarded it as “the wrong choice, a bad choice,” and further argued that “the state shouldn’t sanction wrong choices.”

And:

[Emmanuel] has described homosexuals as sexual deviants.

Where am I going with this? Well, Tim Hudak’s abortion quotes, helpfully captured by the Canadian Life Coalition, also highlighted this:

Tim Hudak believes that it’s “government’s role” to ensure the success of the “traditional family.” Tristan Emmanuel, the anti-gay activist, is one of the leaders of a group whose sole purpose is to elect Tim Hudak premier of Ontario.

Hudak should be judged by the company he keeps. Elect Hudak and you’ve also given people like Emmanuel a seat at the table.”

Comments (22)

Can a Conservative win?

Particularly a Conservative who, as junior health minister, oversaw the firing of 6,000 nurses, the closing of 7,000 hospital beds – and even the closure of 28 hospitals?

If that’s the question – and voters say it is – then the Conservative in question is in big trouble.

Comments (5)

Recent attack ads against Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak seem to have found their target, with Dalton McGuinty’s governing Liberals closing the gap between the two provincial parties, a new Nanos Research poll shows…

The negative ads launched by both the Conservatives and the Liberals have narrowed the race but it is too early to predict longer-term trends, pollster Nik Nanos cautioned.

The Liberal surge is explained by the proximity of their attack-ad campaign, Mr. Nanos said.

Mr. McGuinty…fought back last month by launching his own negative campaigning initiative, unveiling ads that said Mr. Hudak treated voters like “dolts” and “chumps.”

Support for the Liberals rose from 34 per cent in May to 37.6 per cent in the latest Nanos poll, conducted last week for the Globe and Mail and CTV.

Comments (43)