In the wake of the September 11th attacks, Canadian airports accepted 255 trans-Atlantic flights diverted from American airspace.  Canadians opened up their homes, community centres, arenas, wallets, and hearts to take in over 40,000 stranded passengers.  

In his address to Congress following the attacks, Bush thanked countries as diverse as Great Britain, South Korea, Australia, France, Germany, Israel, India, Pakistan, Japan, Egypt, Mexico, and El Salvador for their support in the wake of the attacks.

You'd think that as he was thanking countries for their assistance in Afghanistan, he might want to remember Canada.  

Where does politics fit in all of this?  Well, in part as a motivating factor:

many Europeans and other international players are put off by the overwhelming number of American PGA Tour players who identify themselves as George Bush-loving Republicans who support the US occupation of Iraq.

Michael Ignatieff has a slender lead among Liberals in the race to become national party leader and could well lose to Bob Rae or Stéphane Dion, both of whom possess greater potential for growth at the leadership convention

The number of candidates vying for leadership of Canada's Liberal Party (and presumptive Prime Ministership, in the not too distant future) dropped to nine today, with Toronto MP Carolyn Bennett dropping from the race and throwing her support behind former Ontario (NDP-) Premier Bob Rae.

More on the flipside.

Many of my heroes have been the men who play these sports.  And I always feel a disproportionate amount of sadness when one of these heroes is cut down too early in life.  I remember hearing of the deaths of Thurman Munson, Len Bias, Pelle Lindbergh, and even those I've never watched like Chucky Mullins and feeling a level of sadness that doesn't always make sense.  

Why do these people believe that war is the way to peace?  Why do these people believe that with they can actually win war against an idea?  Why do these people, in the face of mountains of eveidence, view global warming as either a "theory" or a "hoax"?  Or do they believe any of these things?  

What can the possible motivations be?  

This morning, I was pointed in the direction of Jonah's June 9th column by the Toronto Star's excellent Antonia Zerbisias in which he blames Canada for encouraging the growth of homegrown terror cells by not being tougher on terrorism.  

Since watching that video, I've paid more and more attention to Al and am very excited about "An Inconvenient Truth", opening here on Friday. Today's Globe and Mail (a slightly right of the Canadian centre paper) in Canada has a fascinating article about Al and this movie.  

Country roads, take me home, to the place, I belong
West Virginia , mountain momma
Take me home, country roads

Stephen Harper apparently feels that Canadians shouldn't be allowed to get used to Canadian troops losing their lives.  No, he's not pulling the troops out of harm's way.  Instead, he's taking a page from the Bush playbook and having the troops' bodies return in secrecy.

But first, my "take it to the bank", "lock of the year" prediction:  my team, the Toronto Maple Leafs (putting the fun in dysfunction since 1968) will fail to win the Stanley Cup, yet again.

American wingnuts, however, can't keep their traps shut about their designs on Canada.  This kind of "support" can only hurt Harper.  

Please keep it up, wingnuts.  

Well, something may already have been done.  And who do we have to thank?  None other than Steven Harper, leader of the Conservative Party.

HALIFAX--Conservative Leader Stephen Harper says he's ready to reopen the debate over Canadian participation in the American missile defence system.

The missile defence initiative, combined yesterday with a Harper pledge to turn his back on the Kyoto accord and his refusal to endorse a $5 billion deal for aboriginal aid, could signal the type of major policy realignment Canadians can expect under a Harper government.

And it got me to thinking about the number of expatriates on DailyKos.  Anecdotally, I would guess that the percentage of Kossacks who either are (or have been) expatriates, is higher than the general population.  I have no statistics to back it up, but it just seems that way.

My own experiences would lead me to believe that being an expatriate adds a level of cultural sensitivity that would lead one to a more open-minded (and likely progressive) viewpoint.  I'm curious to know if that has been the experiences of others on here.  

But Pat knows exactly what he is saying.  When Pat says "God considers this land to be his. You read the Bible and he says `This is my land,' and for any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away, God says, `No, this is mine.'", he knows exactly what he is saying.  

So why does Pat see Sharon's (whom he had previously described as "a very tender-hearted man and a good friend") stroke as the wrath of God?  Because Pat (and, by extension, God) needs turmoil in Israel.  Pat needs Israel and the entire Middle East in all-out war to enable the Rapture to occur.

Apparently Paul Martin's calling out of the US on the environment as well as his assertions of Canada's rights under NAFTA are a little too much for the malAdministration to take.  And so the attack dogs have been released.  

What is Canadaville, you ask?

Canadaville did not exixt four months ago.  It was only begun after Hurricane Katrina hit, to provide housing for those displaced by the disaster.

Statistics can seem cold.  They are just numbers.  But sometimes the numbers themselves are so striking, the numbers carry an emotional impact all on their own.  

Tim Harper of the Toronto Star has an article detailing the current state of affairs in New Orleans.  And it's not a pretty picture.  While the story contains anecdotes about the conditions in New Orleans, what struck me most were the statistics.  Here are some of the key numbers: