The 16th Edition of the Red Ensign Standard ... Welcome!

I was born in B.C., educated in Quebec, and living in Ottawa. Thus, I can claim to be a well-rounded Canadian.

I was raised as a social conservative, but working in Central Canada made me aware of other viewpoints, other opinions, other lives. I may not agree with diversity, but I accept it.

I know our history as a nation, as well as the geopolitical pressures we are under. I am well aware of the Canadian Dilemma: we know what we are not, but we know not what we are.

Nowhere is this dilemma more personified than in our current national government, under our current leadership. He, like his predecessor, is a manager rather than a leader, spouting empty platitudes about vision and believing it a substitute for the real thing.

There is such a thing as a Canadian vision. We had it, years ago in the era of St. Laurent and Diefenbaker and Pearson ...

... when our flag was not a Maple Leaf, but a Union Jack with a Coat of Arms.

When we looked on America as a senior partner and not a rabid elephant. When we could persuade the world that we could keep the peace, and they believed us.

In the past thirty years, we lost that vision, mired in little arguments about provincial power, spending money, and social rights. Politicians left and right caused the people to lose faith in them ... and thus the vision faded.

But it hasn't completed disappeared. I still have it. And so do others.

We believe that Canada can still play its role alongside the Americans in the affairs of the world, that we can again wield the middle power status which we are so famous for.

And thus, though under a Maple Leaf ... in our hearts we fly the Red Ensign.

… because a beaver’s tooth is just as necessary as an eagle’s talon.

UPDATE (01 Mar 2005): Welcome, Instapundit readers (and boy, are there a lot of you)! Be sure to check out the postings of all our Brigadiers!

This edition of the Standard covers the period from 15-28 February 2005. Brigadiers who have nothing posted during this period are listed in the last section, along with the date of their last post.

New Members:

Blog Title	Brigadier in Charge	In This Edition …
Angry in the Great White North(joined 18 Feb 05)	Angry_in_T_O	This week , our newest irate member dedicates his blog to the original angry Canadian, Gordon Sinclair, and posts that ageless spoken word piece by Sinc, "The Americans", first broadcast in 1973 but still relevant today. He also looks at the Federal budget, pointing out that the numbers for sharing the gasoline excise tax work only if there is absolutely no change in fossil fuel consumption for private vehicles over the next five years. So much for the One-Tonne Challenge, eh? He'd like someone to remind him what the $5 billion for Kyoto was supposed to accomplish.

Active Members:

Blog Title	Brigadier(s) in Charge	In This Edition …
Abraca-Pocus!	Rue	Rue and her kids spent last week recovering from head colds. Although it’s February, she’s decided to start her Spring Cleaning. While doing that, she stands up to an internet bully for the second time, admits that Ebay’s marketing is aimed at her, and celebrates a company’s campaign aimed at changing the current, narrow definition of beauty.
Absinthe & Cookies	Ith	Ith is getting new windows installed at her place; however, it’s taking a while. A co-worker irritates her, along with other aspects of her job. In the meantime, she’s found some suitable targets for feminist outrage.
All AgitProp, all the Time...	PaulCJ	Paul gets somewhat cynical about Canada’s Flag celebrations. He also applauds The Economist for comparing the PM to Dagwood Bumstead’s boss.
Anthroblogogy	Dirtcrashr	Dirtcrashr predicts the demise of the Euroweenies and barely manages to keep himself from going postal over the usual scandals at the UN.
Argghhh!	John, Dusty, CW4BillT	One of our busiest milblogs, John examines fourth-generation warfare, re-enactors, Mulligan Day (the Real Man’s day after Valentine’s), dealing with a loaded bayonet, landing an X-wing on an aircraft carrier, and new hand signals for Special Forces operations. (John also hosts a lot of photo-captioning contests, which are a lot of fun.) Meanwhile, Dusty has some things to say on Easongate, the Summers debate, and the third gender in paperwork. And it’s CW4BillT’s first post at the Castle. It’s unfortunate he had to do it in the middle of a blackout.
Babbling Brooks	Damian Brooks	Damian takes time off from renovating his basement to tease Canadian blogger (and NCR Blog Mafia diva) Shannon Davis over her obsession with hamsters. He shows the five words that he despises about the federal Grits, finds an argument for fiscal conservatism from the Left, and points out the obvious misdirections of the 2005 federal budget.
bluetory.ca	Chris	Chris thought he had some blog vacation time coming this period, but that was before Prime Minister Dithers started wailing about missile defences.
Bound by Gravity	Andrew	Andrew’s Quick Hits are always good to check out. He also apologizes to Dana of Canadian Comment (see below) for helping to elect Dalton McGuinty, lashes out at Queen’s University’s bureaucracy and the way it handles body donations for science, and takes the leftist blogger The Gracchi to task for his views on opponents of same-sex marriage. He also finds a potential weakness in Stephen Harper’s office by noting its response to his letter on trans-fats.
BumfOnline	Huck	Huck mourns the cancellation of the NHL 2004-05 season, explains why he prefers history to political science as a subject of study, and shows how women’s curling is a good sport to blog on if you have a hangover.
canadian comment	Bob & Dana	Dana has reorganized this blog, making it easier to read. Dana also celebrates the demise of modern liberalism and fisks a Europe-US comparison by pro-European Justin Webb. Bob suggests sending Jean Chrétien to the Middle East to help foster peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and notes that our current PM apparently has a new advisor.
ChrisCam	Chris	Chris entertains with a fictional story on corporate waste … or is it fictional?
Doxology	Rebecca	Rebecca celebrates her mother’s 70th birthday, complete with photos. She also has a beautiful photo essay on her day trip to Westminster Abbey (no, not that one; there’s one in Mission, British Columbia that must be seen to be believed).
dustmybroom	Darcey	Darcey predicts another financial scandal from the Auditor-General’s February report on foundations. He celebrates the music of R.L. Burnside, is critical of the attempt to make Inuktitut the official language of Nunavut Territory, and wonders about the quality of First Nations leadership in Canada, while continuing to keep an eye on the misadventures of Judy Sgro.
ESR Musings...	Steve & Antle	Steve becomes wistful about his career choices when he hears of a new Roman palace being found. He also looks at new tapes of George W. Bush and wonders what all the fuss is about. Antle has fun looking at how immigration reform affected the state elections in Arizona, and wonders if new DNC chairman Howard Dean can really bring in the dough for the Dems.
The Freeway To Serfdom	Jay Jardine	Jay promises the NHL he’ll be back for them, once they get their act together. In the meantime, he’ll just laugh at the B.C. Teachers’ Federation for complaining about teacher excellence awards, and marvel at the B.C. government for busting old ladies who play bingo without a license. (Or maybe he’ll just take up golf.)
Gen X at 40	Alan McLeod	Alan questions whether the upcoming Tory free vote on same-sex marriage will be truly free. As an avid hockey follower, he has several posts on the NHL strike, but noteworthy is his recommendation of Steve Somers as the go-to guy for following the machinations of the League and the NHLPA. He’s also hoping for more money for a CBC Radio station in Kingston, and sees the virtues of having a day off in February.
Hammer into Anvil	James	James chides the Martin government for complaining about losing the vote to split the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. He also has trouble understanding scientists, especially when they give him a hard time.
John The Mad	John the Mad	John passes along a joke from his 6-year-old son Brendan. (It’s a cute joke.) He also looks at Liberal mismanagement of the residential schools issue, puts on a Boy Scout leader uniform, and worries about creeping anti-Catholicism in the news media.
Just Between Us Girls	Glenda Eden	Glenda blasts blogger Pierre Bourque for calling Conservative MP Rona Ambrose an “uppity hottie,” and defends Ambrose for criticizing Liberal childcare policy as being designed by “old white guys.”
The Last Amazon	Kateland_62	Kate marvels at the ability of her son to make money, attributing it to his height. She’s also disgusted with a poll that suggests that Canadians don’t want the Americans to promote democracy. Kate’s beat as a Brigadier covers the Middle East. For example, she notes the machinations of the Palestinian Authority, the juggling of the Canadian Islamic Congress, and the near-extinction of Arab Christians in Egypt.
The London Fog	Lisa, Mapmaster, Mike	Lisa complains about London, Ontario’s parking problem. She also begins a take-down of the so-called “Greatest Canadians,” beginning with a vicious quote from Tommy Douglas and continuing with the proto-racist views of Famous Five member Emily Murphy. Mapmaster asks, “Whither Raskolnikov?” He’s also smacking his head about the doublespeak in corporate accounting by the City of London, and why he’s forced to tolerate it. Mike is appalled by this portrait of a “Canadian.” He’s also not happy about this Mark Steyn piece on Paul Desmarais.
The Meatriarchy	The Meatriarch	The Meatriarch has an eye on Chris Rock’s Oscar gig, as well as the Divas of the House of Commons (photos included). He cheers on Rick Mercer for supporting more defence spending, grooves on the Fox series Millenium, and takes in a Raptors game.
Minority of One	Keith	Keith is off to India, but not before he lambastes the Ontario government for refusing to pay for drugs to treat Fabry’s disease, and flips the bird to Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson (but he’s calmed down since then).
The Monger	The Monger	After sticking his tongue in a blender (thanks to David Suzuki), the Monger manages to say plenty about the NHL strike and cancellation of the 2004-05 season (although now, instead of watching hockey, he can now help his wife with the housework).
Musing	Jason Hayes	Jason gets a comment from the infamous pseudo-blogger Libertarian Girl, notes the dangers of bringing politics into science, advises the liberal media to surrender now, and has fun with the Karl Rove conspiracy theory.
Musings of a Canadian Slacker	Dr_Funk	The good doctor has a bit to say about the expansion of the Royal Ontario Museum, a truism about Academia and Members of Parliament in the military.
myrick	Chris Myrick	Having moved to a new URL (http://www.myrick.ca/), Chris celebrates the best beer bars in Singapore with the first of 3 posts, in which he describes the Belgian-style brasseries available in town. He also reviews a comic-book history of Singapore.
Nathan's Updates from Seoul	Nathan Bauman	Nathan waxes poetic on the movie Chariots of Fire, a DVD of which was recently given to him. He also posts an open letter and petition concerning bad media coverage of foreign teacher misbehaviour in South Korea, and photoblogs a couple of recent parties with his students. And he's written a letter to the Wall Street Journal in response to a column of theirs celebrating hockey brawls in the AHL.
North Western Winds	Curt	Curt examines the thought of philosopher Thomas Merton on freedom, extols the virtues of the blogger known as Blimpish, and explores the genetic aspects of homosexuality via an interview with biologist Greg Cochran. And while at NWW, you may want to look at the link entries Curt has collected under the “Links!” web posts.
Occam's Carbuncle	Alan	Alan scores a point to Stephen Harper in the same-sex marriage debate, and tries to figure out why he’s not more popular than the PM in the opinion polls. He also fisks the anticipated 2005 federal budget.
The Phantom Observer	VW	Oh, wait – that’s me! I examine the art of Conservative poetry, fisk the Prime Minister’s attempt to make a Kerryism, pay tribute to Doctor Gonzo, and review Hugh Hewitt’s Blog.
Quotulatiousness	Nicholas Russon	Nick salutes a new website that lists restaurants in Ontario that allow patrons to bring their own wine. He also looks at the wines of Prince Edward County, as well as the Vikings trade of Randy Moss. And he has photos of the 2nd annual Blogger Bash in Toronto. (Also check out Nick’s collection of quotations at his new website: http://www.quotulatiousness.ca/.)
Raging Kraut	Ray	Ray commemorates Flag Day with newsreel footage of the Red Ensign being hauled down and replaced by the Maple Leaf. He’s also in a discussion with Bound by Gravity’s Andrew about the federal budget.
Ravishing Light	Paul Denton	Paul is horrified – or make that mildly concerned -- by Loonatics, Warner Bros.’ new take on Bugs Bunny & Co. (as if Baby Looney Tunes wasn’t bad enough). Meanwhile he looks at the B-movie Shock Treatment, gets a cell phone, and has nice words for U.S. Ambassador Paul Celluci.
Rempelia Prime	Peter Rempel	Peter cheers on Stephen Harper’s opening salvo in the debate on federal same-sex marriage legislation. He pontificates on the empty meaning of the Maple Leaf, and chastises Alberta premier Ralph Klein for signing an agreement with the feds that bound the province to national standards on spending.
Stephen Taylor	Stephen Taylor	Stephen gets to attend a National Flag commemoration with Prime Minister Paul Martin. (The post features a very nice photo!) He also predicts a major political alignment based the decline of trade union donations to the NDP.
Striving Against Opposition	Chris	Since hosting the last edition of the Standard, Chris has found a perfectly apt photo on the sponsorship scandal, celebrated Conservative leader Stephen Harper’s comments on same-sex marriage, and comes down hard on the idea of “mommy madness."
Taylor & Company	Chris Taylor	Chris fixes the throughput on his wireless LAN just in time for a cardiac scare. While recuperating, he muses on the do’s and don’t’s for admittance to the hospital emergency room. (He also has photos of the Toronto Blogger Bash, complete with captions.)
The Tiger in Winter	Ben S.	Before leaving Nepal, Ben spends a final night with his extended family. He spends the next few days in the city of Doha, in Qatar, where he writes some reflections on his trip so far.
Tipperography	Brenda Tipper	Tipper’s been trying to get some iPod mini battery service and, although impressed with the efficiency of the Apple service operation, has found its effectiveness decidedly lacking. The iPod problems have even been a welcome distraction for an ex-pat Canadian who prefers to ignore what's been going on back home. She also has a personal perspective on how to indulge in French pastry and red wine and still lose weight. She ruminates on the difference between libertarians and conservatives, blasts Jimmy Carter, reviews the movie House of Flying Daggers and complains about Monday.
Trudeaupia	Kevin Jaeger	Kevin finds the official flag for his blog, welcomes MSM columnist John Robson to the blogosphere, and explains to the Quebec government why they have trouble recruiting physicians.
West Coast Chaos	Temujin	Temujin celebrates his rise in the blogranks, offers a left-handed welcome to the newest Brigadier (see above), and officially creates his own public testimonials page.He wonders about the trends in Christian evangelism worldwide, and congratulates former KORN guitarist Brian Welch.

Inactive for This Edition:

Blog Title	Brigadier in Charge	Date of Last Post
Candepundit	Candepundit	24 Sep 2004
The Green Baron	Thomas Forsyth	2 Feb 2005
Hypothesis.ca		Server inactive (checked 21 Feb 2005)
Rightjab	Right Jab	24 Jan 2005
Shiny Happy Gulag	Jay Random	11 Feb 2005
Skeet Skeet Skeet	Ben Bach	6 Feb 2005