Harper promises another 270 million dollar temper tantrum?

SASKATOON — Stephen Harper’s Conservatives pledged today to put forward a new version of the party’s bill to remove the option of judges handing out house arrest for a list of 30 crimes – and to make the matter a confidence motion that would trigger an election.

It was the second straight day where Mr. Harper announced a crime measure that carried an all-or-nothing threat that the opposition would have to pass it or face an election, again.

Source

The opposition parties refused to take the bait and force an election everytime he made something a confidence motion (partially because the Liberals didn’t think it work out in their favour) so he instead packed up his parliment while ignoring a law he passed from his 2006 campaign platform. DURING this campaign he has threatens to make his “tough on crime” bill a confidence motion if he gets a minority government? What the flying fuck is this man thinking?  “I wasn’t getting my way so I ignored my own promise to the Canadian public to not call an election when it was politcally advantagous to do so and called an election, and if I get a minority government and they don’t let me do what I want I’ll just make Canadians go to the polls again?”

The 2006 election cost around $270 million, the 2004 election around $277 million. It stands to reason that the 2008 election will be in the same neck of the woods, and he’s promising to do it again?

This is not fiscally conservative, this is not following the spirit of Canadian governance, and frankly it’s not even passable as a mature reaction.  IF the Canadian public gives Harper a minority government again he had better learn to fucking deal with it. I am in no mood to pay $500 million out in temper-tantrum expenses.

A fun discovery

I was doing some reading on Dream Theater last friday on wikipedia and found out an interesting little tidbit about the Live Scenes from New York album:

Coincidentally, it was originally released on September 11, 2001, but when it was noticed that the cover artwork depicted the twin towers of the World Trade Center in flames, it was recalled and re-released a short time later. Some copies with the original artwork still exist, and are now a rare collectors item.

As I was looking at the two artwork examples on the wiki page I realised that my copy of that album looked like NEITHER of the images there.  Later that evening I pulled out my copy of the album and I got very, very excited.  I bought that album used and had always thought it curious that there was a big sticker over the center of the album but had never thought to peek underneath.  It took about 5 minutes to peel it off without doing any damage to the original artwork underneath.  What did I discover underneath? Why nothing short of the original artwork that was released on Sept 11, 2001.

A very happy Dave indeed.