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]]>Michelle Obama might have been trying to appeal to a certain English eccentricity when she paired an asymmetrical Junya Watanabe cardigan with a full-skirted dress by Jason Wu and added debutante-style pearls for a photocall earlier this week with Sarah Brown.Ummm... ok?]]>
It was a relaxed look, fun and informal, yet stylish. But if she was aiming for the quirky English look, it was not an unqualified success. When canvassed, Vivienne Westwood, doyenne of daring British fashion, said: "I don't think either of them dresses very well. I'm completely and utterly focused on the danger we face from global warming."
[A]n official of the High Commission of Canada [in London], Immigration Section, by letter dated March 20, 2009, has advised [Galloway], apparently as a matter of 'courtesy,' that according to the 'preliminary assessment' of the [Border Security Agency], he is inadmissible to Canada on security grounds.In other words, media reports to the contrary, Galloway has not been refused entry to Canada; instead, he's been told--by an official of the Department of Foreign Affairs, it seems--that he would be denied entry if he applied. This puts Galloway in an odd position: having not yet been denied entry, he doesn't have a right either to appeal the decision in the courts, or to seek a ministerial exception. So he (and his supporters) have done the next best thing: they've sued the government, seeking a preliminary injunction compelling the border officers to allow Galloway into the country when he does apply.
If I were to grant the mandatory interim relief sought today by the applicants, this would, by necessity, imply that the applicants are likely to succeed on the merits. I acknowledge that serious arguments are advanced against the impugned decision. However, a proper factual record and the benefit of full legal argument, (notably on the complex issue of whether or not the grounds of inadmissibility stated in the impugned decision are founded), are lacking at the present time. Therefore, I am not ready today to exempt Mr. Galloway from the application of the provisions in the Act and Regulations respecting entry and examination, or to order the respondents’ officials to allow the applicant Galloway to come to Canada between March 30 and April 2, 2009, without any final decision made on his admissibility.In other words, the judge found that Galloway couldn't establish a substantial likelihood that he'd win on the merits, because there hadn't yet been any merits adjudication--only a letter from the High Commission suggesting that he wouldn't be allowed in. In essence, the judge said that the letter was without force unless and until Galloway was actually refused entry to Canada.
[w]hile [the] letter of March 20, 2009, is characterized as merely 'informational' by the [government], its content seems to suggest otherwise, as it announces to Mr. Galloway that some sort of 'preliminary assessment' has already taken place.And because the letter appeared to announce some sort of 'preliminary assessment,' the judge decided that there was a real issue--what the American courts would call a "case or controversy"--that could be decided. In other words, the letter raised enough of an issue that the Federal Court could exercise its jurisdiction over Galloway's lawsuit seeking (in essence) to overturn the letter's impact.
This, of course, was the day after CBC announced about 800 layoffs because of a budget shortfall it hoped Canada's government, on behalf of all taxpayers, might cover. For better or worse, CBC is not "Western Canada's Conservative Voice."For the record, I oppose all bailouts as a matter of principle; to paraphrase that Swedish minister, the Canadian government should not be prepared to own car factories--or news rooms.
THE NOTIONAL PEST, JUNK BOND MAKER: [I] will continue to remain amused that a newspaper that loses nearly a million bucks a month continues to give the rest of us lectures about fiscal restraint and probity and conservative principles.Warren Kinsella, Feb. 20, 2009:
CANWEST TURMOIL CONTINUES: Advice to former journalist colleagues there: get the Hell out. The end is nigh.Warren Kinsella, Feb. 21, 2009:
THE NOTIONAL PEST'S DEEP THINKERS RESPOND: Warren is wondering why the National Post just doesn't die, already.Warren Kinsella, Feb. 25, 2009:
YOUR MORNING BITS AND PIECES: I’ve been told by a couple people that a full-page display ad can be purchased in the Post for $7,000. If that is true, for advertisers, it’s a bargain; for a daily newspaper – with all the costs associated with being a daily newspaper – that’s a death sentence.Warren Kinsella, March 2, 2009:
CANWEST HITS 29 CENTS: I very much hope the families of those journalists and editors aren't forgotten in the rush to the exits.Warren Kinsella, March 7, 2009:
CANWEST HIT 27 CENTS: ...before the market mercifully closed, yesterday.Warren Kinsella, March 19, 2009:
AN OPEN MEMO TO DAVID: [I] have periodically chronicled the fact that CanWest has been reduced to junk-bond status by mismanagement, thereby putting the livelihoods of hundreds of talented Canadian journalists at risk[.] . . . [T]he CBC (which wins news awards all the time) is getting run into the boards by the Harper Conservatives – while the company that owns the National Post (which never wins news awards) is likely to get a bailout. . . . The NNA nominations came out today. Not one for the National Post. NOT ONE. So, by all means, let's rewrite tax laws for them, and give them big, fat AIG-style handouts!Warren Kinsella, March 27, 2009:
MEDIA CUTS AND CUTS AND CUTS...: You know, in the future, some bloggers will think it's swell that people are getting political commentary from them, but this is one web log writer who won't.Rather, he's apparently one web log writer who only celebrates the failure of Canadian businesses whose politics are contrary to his own. Charming.]]>
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia is planning to create a dedicated military force to help protect its interests in the disputed Arctic region.]]>The presidential Security Council has released a document outlining goverment policy for the Arctic that includes creating a special group of military forces. The report was released this week and reported by Russian media on Friday.
Gary Goodyear can believe what he wants, as long as there are systems in place that ensure an Andrew Hendry can get a Steacie Fellowship. And apparently there are. If the junior minister for science (whose influence on science policy in a Harper government, incidentally, should be reckoned as comparable to the intergovernmental affairs minister’s influence on federalism, or the health minister’s influence on anything measurable) wants to pray to the Tooth Fairy or Salma Hayek every night, then godspeed.And Radwanski:And as long as science can rise in this country, then I would really rather stay out of the business of interrogating ministers to see whether they’re planning to stay in line with somebody’s idea of acceptable thought.
[W]e've got half the Liberal blogs in the country making Flinstones jokes about a guy who tried - extremely clumsily, but still - to explain his efforts to balance his scientific views with his faith. . . . [I]f the leader of your opposition party is already vulnerable to accusations of elitism, you'll want to be careful about inadvertently offending voters who may themselves struggle with the conflict between science and religion."I spend a lot of time on this blog knocking the commentariat, so it's only right that I give praise where praise is due. Indeed, Wells and Radwanski are fairer to Goodyear than I was initially inclined to be.