Elections Canada OKs wearing of niqab while voting

This is a bad idea. As the article points out there is an issue of validation of a person's identity if they are allowed to cover their face. Bringing another piece of ID or having someone vouch for you is not has fail-safe as physically showing your face to be checked against some piece of ID.

Yes, IDs can be faked, but that is much harder than taking someone woman's ID who has the same eye colour as you. Want to vote twice? Find a friend not voting, borrow their ID, and go vote again, but this time with your face covered. This is full of problems.

Various comments on stuff going on in the news

Salman Rushdie has been knighted. Unfortunately this has caused quite the raucous in Islamic countries thanks to the general dislike in the Muslim world of 'The Satanic Verses'. This dislike has gone so far as to cause Pakistan to invoke a UN resolution about countries broadening understanding.

Now, if the article's summary of the resolution is fair, then Pakistan is really grasping at straws. It seems hypocritical for any country that does not actively squash ant-religious rhetoric about ANY religion to throw a fit about a specific one. You know they would not be doing this if Rushdie wrote a book that people viewed as anti-Christian.

And Rushdie has written other books that were not viewed as anti-Muslim and have garnered awards. His body of work, I don't think, personifies an anti-Muslim view. And yet these people who seem upset act as if this knighthood was for this one book.

Moving on, Dick Cheney is a dick. =) His office is refusing to report what documents they have classified as secretive or declassified. They have also blocked inspection to make sure they are are following protocol to properly protect national secrets.

How could anyone think that the vice president's office is not part of the executive branch? He is the bloody vice president. Notice the "president" in the title? That means the executive branch! And I don't care if he sits in on the Senate. Claiming that exempts him is like saying I am not American because I am also a Canadian. Just because you are dual classified does not negate either classification! That is such a logical fallacy its ridiculous.

If he really doesn't think he is part of the executive branch I say take away his privileges that he gets from the executive branch. Let's see if that makes him happy.

God I hope they investigate this group when they are out of office. I can only imagine the amount of dirt that is going to turn up.

And the Doha round of talks are falling apart. Why? Because people love their farmers. Reuters says that the developing world is not willing to open up new export markets to the developed nations. But The Age claims that the US and EU are not willing to cut back on their agricultural subsidies to a reasonable level. I bet both sides are being stubborn.

I just don't get why people feel the need to subsidize farmers so much. I understand if it is to keep them afloat because other countries tax your exported crop so much. But if the tax goes away, then they have a much larger market. Are they worried that all farmers will go away within the country? I don't see that happening as some things just grow well in the US and can still be made cheaply thanks to not having to ship it as far. And if it is a worry that the US would not be able to support itself agriculturally, then I think some perspective is needed in terms of other dependencies we have that are much more concentrated and tougher to deal with (oil).

Palestine is falling apart

Reuters is making it sound like Hamas has taken over the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians have gone through a lot and don't exactly live under the best conditions. Makes seeing them tear themselves apart like in Iraq that much more sad.

I am just waiting to see the West Bank becoming led by Fatah and the Gaza Strip run by Hamas, essentially making them separate entities.

Political signs in Canada

Around town I have seen a political sign for the environment that says to vote for the environment next time there is an election. The sign has the line (roughly), "Please lower emissions NOW".

I don't know about you, but I would never imagine a political sign in the States wasting space on the word "please". This is especially true if you are going to put "NOW" in all caps like you are yelling it at someone for emphasis.

At least some politicians are trying to clean things up

Why can't we have more people like Eliot Spitzer in high-level government positions?