At Home in Hespeler

via Facebook:

Toronto is in three camps today: the usual suspects (union thugs, liberal/NDP partisans, leftist rabble), who are allowing their inner hate to run wild; the politically-aware right-of-centre, who are rightfully disturbed and a little depressed; and the vast middle, who are reacting in myriad ways. This post is for that vast middle. What has happened today is a (hopefully, after successful appeal, temporary) victory of arbitrary administrative tyranny over civil society. It does not matter what the administrative law says; a judge is free to throw it out, and force the complainant and/or the Province to appeal. So here’s what you need to know, Toronto: your Mayor has been ordered by a judge to vacate the office he was duly elected to in a free and fair election, for a petty reason that could apply to any and every politician in the history of our country, past present and future. We hope that does not sit well with you.

Jacobian Piece of Impertinence Rob Ford

In case you miss it, the headline above is irony:

Mayor Rob Ford has been punted from office, just days short of celebrating his second anniversary of being sworn in.

Judge Charles Hackland’s eagerly awaited decision in a conflict of interest case was handed down at 10 a.m. Monday at a downtown courthouse.

Did you vote for Rob Ford for mayor. Silly citizen, this is democracy in name only. Vote in the approved patterns, and all is OK. But go outside the guidelines allowed by your betters, and we have judges.

Frankly, it’s getting close to the time to let chaos reign.

Judicial Activism run amok, Toronto: Not in a Death Spiral Judge Charles Hackland, Judicial Activism run amok, Rob Ford

… the mother-country edition:

The head of children’s services in Rotherham(England) has defended the decision to remove three ethnic minority children from foster parents, saying that their affiliation to the UK Independence Party (Ukip) meant they opposed ‘multiculturalism.’…

She said there was no ‘quality of care’ issue with the couple – the husband is a former Navy reservist who works with disabled people and the wife is a qualified nursery nurse – only that they were Ukip members.

Quality of care, providing love, a good home &tc.? Irrelevant. Approved thought patterns are the only criteria that counts.

As we say here in the colonies: Fire Them All!

Jacobian Piece of Impertinence, pimply minions of bureaucracy

Sad to hear the news this morning that Jack bloody Duckworth, aka actor Bill Tarmey, has died in Tenerife.

Duckworth was a staple of Coronation Street for years, from the 1977 until they gave him a peaceful death in 2010, asleep in his armchair after celebrating his 74th birthday.

Tarmey, the actor himself, had health problems recently and passed away this morning. He was 71.

Cheers Mate

Saw Skyfall Wednesday night. Only thing I can tell anyone is, go see it. The girls will love shirtless Daniel Craig, and he is often shirtless, new Bond fans will love the action and for us classic Bond lovers, Craig pulls the old Goldfinger Aston Martin DB5 (and threatens to eject M) and by movies end returns the franchise right back to Dr. No.

In other words, go see it. Now. Stop reading and go.

Fluffernutter Bill Tarmey, Coronation Street, Jack Duckworth, James Bond, Skyfall

No, this is not going to be an Obama won, draw the curtain on liberty kind of post. While it is shocking how many people think free contraception equals some kind of freedom, I happen to think the United States is more resilient than that.

No, today’s example of the decline in Western Liberal tradition comes from a more usual suspect, Britain:

Under-used holiday homes should be compulsorily purchased by councils in areas with an acute shortage of properties, a leading union suggested today.

As others are want to suggest, the real story is in the comments. It’s not that some union leader has no faith in people to own their own homes and do with them as they want, it’s the number of people who agree. Not all, not even most, but that any number of people are quite happy to sign on, to justify this obvious abridgement of property rights .

As Mark Steyn says, “ the lamps are going out on liberty all over the western world in a… subtle and elusive and profound way.” And, it’s worth adding, in more ways than one.

freedom for the individual is the only truly progressive policy

Via a Facebook friend:

Be careful voting out there today…..My mother inlaw volunteered to be a poll watcher and was stopped 5 feet into the door by other poll watchers saying that she didn’t belong there and had to be escorted out because of intimidation and for her protection.

This incident happened in North Philadelphia. What party she was a poll watcher for there is no suggestion, but she “walked in and immediately was verbally abused” and after contacting the party was told “not to call news or police cause then we’d have to fear for her life.”

Like I say, no suggestion who told her to leave, but there’s evidence to suggest she’s not the only one.

US Politics

One likes to believe in the freedom of music.

Rush – Spirit of Radio.

A random thought passes as I listen to Black Country Communion’s new album Afterglow: with the recent bad blood between bassist Glenn Hughes and guitarist Joe Bonamassa, if Bonamassa was on fire, would Hughes put him out?
Answer, not on Afterglow he doesn’t.
Throughout the band’s third studio album in as many years, Bonamassa’s playing is smoking: Big Train’s wah-wah infused rave up; the white hot solos on Midnight Sun and The Giver; the guitar intro to Midnight Sun; or the slow burning slide on Cry Freedom. Bonamassa lights the album up with his best playing to date with this band. Hughes response is to fuel the flames with a collection of songs of great licks and words that twist and turn, offer loud and soft (light and shade?) moments throughout.

If, as has been allowed as possible through various media outlets, this is the end of the line for Black Country Communion, it will prove to be a great pity. On reviewing their first album, I offered a number of times their influences came to the top, on their second album, I noted less of this. On this album, they sound from start to finish uniquely like themselves. Hey are a band that has found an identity. Moments like the dual Hughes/Bonamassa vocals on Cry Freedom or the tight, super-funky groove Hughes and drummer Jason Bonaham get on the Bonham penned piece Common Man sound like Black Country Communion and no one else.

You can’t talk about Afterglow without also mentioning Derek Sherinian, who takes a greater role than the first two albums, playing a couple of organ solos that are exceptional. His playing throughout is top notch.
Black Country Communion’s Afterglow, which was released Tuesday, is a great rock and roll album that will improve with time and listenings. It is what these guys do best, flat out rock.

The Freedom of Music, This Week on my I-Pod Afterglow, Black Country Communion, Glenn Hughes, Joe Bonamassa

All the fluffy news about those nutty celebrities

This is, sans doubt, my favourite Fluffernutter story ever. EVER!

Last weekend in New Orleans Madonna was giving a concert when she decided to tell her paying audience what they needed to do:

I don’t care who you vote for, as long as it’s Obama

The crowds response was to boo, with some people walking out. Flustered, the “singer” immediately backtracked and asked if people were booing. She then went into some silliness about how fucked up America is, but how lucky they are because they have a democratic government &tc.

We need more of this. When singers, musicians et. al. start pontificating to their paying public, that public needs to let them know, we came to hear you sing.

Now here’s a question: how much trouble is the Obama campaign in when an endorsement gets booed in reliably Democrat New Orleans?

Because we like you, that is why…

Disney announced this week it is in negotiations to buy Lucasfilm inc., the production company of Star Wars filmmaker George Lucas. What this means in practical terms is a new Star Wars movie every 2-years, according to the people at Disney and Leah is now a Disney Princess and Darth Vader a Villian.

In short, the Disney Sore just became a much cooler place.

Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood is engaged once again. The twice married man that proves money trumps looks is engaged to theatre producer Sally Humphreys. Wood, who is 65 and looks twice that, has been dating 34-year old Humphreys for six months.

Proir to his relationship with the older woman, Woods left his long time wife for an 18-year old Russian model.

Fluffernutter Madonna, Ron Wood