Ottawa

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) will be delivering 2,000 more petitions to Premier Ed Stelmach tomorrow calling on the Alberta government to eliminate health care premiums. This brings their petition count to 11,000 names.

According to the CTF, Alberta’s health care premiums cost the average family $1,056 per year and bring in $979-million in tax revenues. The 64,000 member strong, tax-fighting advocacy group thinks the Alberta government doesn’t need any more money and that eliminating health care premiums will help average families in need of tax relief.

It’s a nice thought, but I’m not sure scrapping health care premiums is a good idea.

(Read the full post about ‘Are health care premiums a “good” tax?’…)

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, has called for the outlawing, essentially, of heated debate:

"The legal provision should keep before our eyes the general risks of debasing public controversy by thoughtless and, even if unintentionally, cruel styles of speaking and acting," he said to the Times.

I guess this would mean that rabble-rousing iconoclasts, preaching revolutionary theological concepts that scandalize the establishment, would be breaking the law.  Or does the archbishop have a loophole in mind that would allow a modern-day Jesus to escape the net of his censorious law?

(h/t Mark Steyn)

An exclusive Western Standard article by Seyitbek Usmanov:

"Forget the free lunch–employees can’t even have free coffee without noting it on their income taxes."

An exclusive Western Standard article by Terrence Watson:

"As the Conservative Party is learning, buying votes by lavishly doling out grants is not as easy as it used to be."

I’m guessing that nearly every American source of news trusted by the Canadian readership (NR, Fox News, talk radio, most bloggers, etc.), will insist that McCain sandbagged Romney by claiming he (Romney) once supported a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.

FWIW (and that may not be much to you folks up there), the usually exceptional right-wing media missed this one:

When asked by ABC News’ Robin Roberts on “Good Morning America” if he believes there should be a timetable for withdrawing U.S.

(Read the full post about ‘For once, the alternative media gets it wrong’…)

Those who have been keeping up us on this blog will notice the recent great reviews of Mahtab Narsimhan’s junior and teen fiction novel, The Third Eye. Well, if you haven’t had the opportunity to grab it from to your local bookstore or buy it online from Amazon or Chapters-Indigo, you may have the opportunity to get FREE copy from us! The Third Eye now has a page for fans on Facebook that you can join (you may need to sign up with Facebook if you don’t have an account already). You’ll get to check out the latest news about the book, meet your fellow fans of The Third Eye, and have a chance to talk with Mahtab over Facebook! So how do I get a free copy of the book? (Read the full post about ‘Fans of The Third Eye - Author Chat on Facebook’…)

The online magazine New Mystery Reader recently posted a review of The Dells by Michael Blair. Here’s some of the review. For the full review click here. “Talented author Michael Blair uses his sure knowledge of people’s natures and lets his characters do what they will do. The result is a tension filled, exciting read you will not want to put down and you will be looking for other books by this fine writer. I’m pleased to highly recommend this tale as one you will want to read more than once.”                                                   - Anne K. (Read the full post about ‘New Mystery Reader Magazine Recommends The Dells’…)

Medication Risks to be Focus of Pioneering Ottawa Summit
On Feb. 21-22 experts from around the world will seek technical solutions to patient safety risks, which include illness and deaths from adverse drug reactions. The workshop will for the first time bring together a multi-disciplinary team from diverse fields including medicine, physics, engineering, informatics, and measurement science – along with corporate leaders and government policymakers – to grapple with this problem.

(Read the full post about ‘Important Upcoming’…)

is appointed as an independent board member at optical edge networking solutions provider BTI Systems. With more than 35 years of experience in financial strategy, planning and control, Mr. Kline will support BTI’s financial and corporate development strategies, and further develop the company’s global structure. He has held six CFO positions at public and private companies in the telecom, wireless and networking industries, including his most recent position at Skyworks Solutions Inc. Prior to this he was CFO for Acterna Corporation. Mr. Kline has served on the board of Acterna and CrossComm, where he was chair of the audit committee.

(Read the full post about ‘Allan Kline’…)

Mitel is called upon by LXR Luxury Resorts & Hotels to replace the outdated telephone system at its New York property, London NYC, the tallest hotel in midtown Manhattan. The high-end hotel is using Mitel’s all-IP solution to provide guests with improved communications at lower costs. “Our goal in purchasing the Mitel solution was to make certain we could provide our guests with the very latest, most sophisticated technology available,” says Shannon Knox, SVP of information technology at LXR. “The flexibility of [Mitel’s] 5300-series IP Phones allows us to customize speed dials and features on each set. We are also able to offer increased guest services on the phone. (Read the full post about ‘Mitel takes Manhattan hotel’…)