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ScribbleLive in the Financial Post

Jonathan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:16:31 +0000

ScribbleLive in the Financial Post today – “Tech Pitch With A Payout”

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Automatically Ingest Images

Jonathan — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:35:04 +0000

Live blogging is a lot more fun with images to match. That’s why we have made the ingestion of images into your event as easy as it comes. No asset manager to complicate things; just some great logic.

To begin with, if you paste a URL to an image into the writer post box, it will automatically grab that image and post it into your live blog. This works with many standard file formats.

Next, if you are using our Twitter integration to follow users or to scan for keywords, once you post or approve a tweet that contains an image URL like twitpic.com, yfrog.com, or flic.kr, we post the image (not just a link to it). This is a useful way to show the complete story around an exciting event. Imagine, at the end of the day you will have an archive of all the content, comments, tweets and images all in one place.

If you were an enterprise client, all this would be wrapped inside a fully branded site where all the content could be found by search engines and you could monetize the page views. Trying doing that on Twitter or with other live blogging competitive tools!

If that’s still not enough, why not link a Flickr account to your live event? It’s simple to do! Under the “Post to this Event” you will find the Flickr setup. Just choose the account you want to monitor (make sure you have permission though cuz it’s not cool to steal someone’s photo stream) and presto, your Flickr photos will start streaming into your live blog. Happy Live Blogging!

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VIDEO: New Image Uploading Features

Jonathan — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:09:09 +0000

Here’s a great new video Matt put together that shows off our new image uploading features. Basically, it’s easy. Really easy. SUPER easy.

As well as uploading multiple images from your harddrive at the same time, you can now post URLs of images (ending in .JPG, .GIF, or .PNG) and we’ll suck them right in for you. You can also put in Flickr, Twitpic or YFrog page URLs, and we’ll pull in the images too.

Let us know what you think! Happy liveblogging!

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Flickr Integration: Pull images into liveblogs automatically and login

Jonathan — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 00:33:23 +0000

There’s nothing like photos to make a liveblog really come together. We’ve always had an upload box right under the input box to upload photos. Later we added email addresses for each event so you can email-in photos from your Smartphone. Today we’re happy to announce an even easier way to pull in images, using the biggest image site there is: Flickr.

Now when you are a writer, you will find Flickr Setup under “Post to this Event” in the sidebar. Just tell us your account name (or someone elses’ if you have the rights to pull in their images) and click “Connect”. If everything looks good, click the button to confirm we are allowed to pull in those images, and you’re done! All new images that are posted to that Flickr account will be pulled into your liveblog while it’s live.

There are a tonne of great tools for Smartphones to upload direct to Flickr. I personally love AirMe for the iPhone. Just set it to send your photos into the Flickr account you told us about, and we’ll take care of the rest. Within 30 seconds your photos will be pulled into your liveblog automagically. It’s that easy!

While we had the Flickr API open, we had to throw in a new Flickr login option as well on ScribbleLive. That brings our list of logins to Facebook, MSN, Twitter, OpenID and Flickr. I hope that covers about 98% of the planet by now

We’ll be using Flickr a lot this week to cover the mesh conference on our official mesh liveblogging site. Give it a shot yourself and please send us any suggestions!

Happy liveblogging!

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ScribbleLive + mesh09 = liveblogging BFFs

Jonathan — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 00:37:37 +0000

I’ve been working on an Enterprise liveblogging site for mesh this week and tonight we’re officially opening it up to the public. I’m really digging the green headers Check out the new site at mesh.scribblelive.com and the announcement on our new company blog!

This will be my third year going to the mesh conference, and I’m not a super fan of most conferences. I’ve been liveblogging mesh since mesh07 when I started a minor flamewar with a music exec In a lot of ways, the old-school way I did the liveblogging was one of the catalysts for ScribbleLive. The ScribbleLive Beta was literally launched the night before mesh08 and about 36 hours before the TechCrunch article. I’ll always look back fondly at past mesh conferences and I’m really excited to be an official part of this one.

I’m going to checkout meshU for the first time too, because who am I kidding, I’m a super nerd.

If you’re going (there’s still time to buy tickets), come say hi if you see me around! I’ll be the guy liveblogging the hell out of every session I can with Michael

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SXSW09 Live Blogs (all 28 of them)!

Jonathan — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 03:25:51 +0000

With SXSW interactive coming to a close today, we would like to thank everyone who liveblogged the hell out of the sessions for the education/enjoyment of the rest of us suckers who weren’t down there. We’ve been following along all week and you guys did an awesome job!

Hope to meet you all at mesh in a couple weeks where we can thank you in person (and get a beer)

Friday, March 13, 2009

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Monday, March 16, 2009

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

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ScribbleLive Launches New Look, New Features

ShiftEdit — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 16:10:40 +0000

There’s nothing like a MacWorld in the world of liveblogging. I often tell people that it’s the quintessential example of liveblogging. This January, we wanted to have something special for the users of ScribbleLive. We’ve been working on a major redesign for weeks, and this week we officially go live. This launch brings, not only a new look, but a new set of features and service enhancements.

The first thing you’ll notice is the look-and-feel. Since liveblogs are all about reading, we’ve made everything on our site as easy to read as possible; big, clean fonts everywhere on soft backgrounds. There’s nothing like 80px fonts to enhance readability There’s also much more sliding using the script.aculo.us library.

We’ve been trying to get a Twitter integration that makes sense for months, and I think we have it now. Not only do we make it really easy to “follow” a Twitter account and pull all their tweets into your liveblog, but we have a new Twitter live-search that will constantly check Twitter for anyone talking about your topic. The tweets will appear right in the sidebar where you can easily pull them in as comments. This provides a never-ending stream of comments for your events. Here’s a video walkthrough of using Twitter in your liveblogs. And of course, you can login to ScribbleLive with your Twitter account.

Another great feature we now have are “sticky” posts. During your liveblog you can click the “stick” button next to any post to pin it at the top of your liveblog. It’s a great way to keep a score or video stream where everyone can see it, or just use it as promotion for your site. We can’t wait to see how people use it and look forward to your feedback. This video walkthrough also shows you how to use sticky posts.

We now support any Flash embed. Just copy-paste the HTML for your embed directly into the input box and we’ll take care of posting it. We always supported YouTube but now you can embed videos from Ustream, Qik, or any other Flash widget. You can even write your own and embed them!

As well as the features you can see, there’s several big changes under-the-hood. We completely changed how live-updates work to use the power of the Amazon cloud products to handle more watchers than ever before. On Tuesday we successfully served up over 11M hits without any performance impact. We don’t just want to be the flashiest live publishing platform out there, we also want to have the most horsepower.

There are many more changes with this launch and the best way to see them all is to try us out! Thanks to everyone who sent us suggestions and please keep them coming. We love to hear what you think.

Happy liveblogging!

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ShiftEdit — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 18:34:26 +0000

Today is the inauguration of The Score’s new liveblogging site liveblogs.thescore.com powered by ScribbleLive. We’re very happy to be working with The Score on the first white-label version of ScribbleLive’s liveblogging platform. Even if you’re not at a computer, you can follow along on your iPhone with ScoreMobile. There’s lots more to come from The Score in the coming weeks, so keep checking back!

Today from 1pm EST Scott from Raptorblog.com will be liveblogging the Raptor’s game on the web or on ScoreMobile. Come join in!

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The Governor General’s Decision: will the coalition be allowed to govern?

Jonathan — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:43:50 +0000

11:42 AM Jonathan Keebler - The entire country’s eyes are glued to the door
11:42 AM Jonathan Keebler - They should really shut that door to conserve some energy.
11:43 AM Jonathan Keebler - Harper has been in there for a long time. The CBC commentators seem to think that’s a bad thing for Harper.
11:44 AM Jonathan Keebler -
11:44 AM Jonathan Keebler - That’s a photo of Harper going in
11:46 AM Jonathan Keebler - Nice Christmas decorations around the door
11:46 AM Jonathan Keebler - The blonde woman at the door is wearing a nice pant-suit
11:47 AM Jonathan Keebler - If the GG won’t shut-down parliament for Harper, what do you bet he leaves through the side door
11:48 AM Jonathan Keebler - Dion should take his request right to the Queen next time
11:49 AM PollyPrissyPants - They really are letting the heat out of her house…she’ll be getting a giant bill for this time.
11:51 AM PollyPrissyPants - No! There’s no camera on the door…what if he sneaks away and we miss him?
11:52 AM Jonathan Keebler - He’s gotta come out some time
11:52 AM Jonathan Keebler - Here’s what we’re watching:
11:52 AM Jonathan Keebler -
11:54 AM Jonathan Keebler - Wow, CBC is really vamping around their lack of new information
11:54 AM PollyPrissyPants - How funny would it be to catch him leaving by a window?
11:55 AM Jonathan Keebler - I wouldn’t put it past him, followed by an OJ-style chase through the streets of Ottawa
11:56 AM Jonathan Keebler - Maybe Harper ate some bad cookies and has the trots in the GG’s bathrooom
11:57 AM Jonathan Keebler - See that guy with the boom-mic waving it around the window? I sense a broken-window in his future
11:57 AM MDM - What happens when he comes out? Does Canada implode?
11:57 AM Jonathan Keebler - Only if the GG doesn’t grant his request…according to him
11:57 AM PollyPrissyPants - I want to see the CSIS guys take that boom mike guy out…
11:58 AM Jonathan Keebler - GREAT, CBC just said that there’s no guarantee that the GG will make a decision today.
11:58 AM PollyPrissyPants - So why are we watching this again? Thanks, CBC
11:58 AM Jonathan Keebler - CBC learned some tricks from CNN
11:59 AM Jonathan Keebler - It’s been about 1 1/2 an hour since Harper went in
11:59 AM Jonathan Keebler - MOVEMENT
11:59 AM MDM - We need a briefcase cam or an inside spy.
11:59 AM PollyPrissyPants - Watching Don Newman without sound is quite entertianing…
11:59 AM Jonathan Keebler - Damnit, it was just the changing of one of the CSIS officers. They need some more ceremony for that
11:59 AM MDM - Polly, are you at work?
12:00 PM PollyPrissyPants - @MDM – I am indeed
12:00 PM MDM - @ Polly Nice!
12:00 PM Jonathan Keebler - Inside Government House: Harper: “Pleeeeeeeeeease! Common! I already unpacked all my junk in 24 Sussex! Do you know how expensive movers are?! Pleeeeeeeeease”
12:00 PM MDM - LOL!!!
12:01 PM Jonathan Keebler - Some guy just came out and yelled at the reporters
12:01 PM Jonathan Keebler - And the doors just closed
12:01 PM MDM - Pretty Please. Common. Please…
12:01 PM PollyPrissyPants - Oh that was awesome…”get off my lawn!”
12:02 PM Jonathan Keebler - lol The guards were cold inside so they closed the doors
12:02 PM Jonathan Keebler - hahaha CBC has found a side-entrance and they are tracking it. Good work
12:02 PM Jonathan Keebler - The door are open again
12:02 PM Jonathan Keebler - Now they are closed again. DAMNIT
12:03 PM Jonathan Keebler - Wow, check out the throngs of reporters in the reflection of the doors.
12:03 PM PollyPrissyPants - I think the guards are just messing with the reporters…like cats and mice.
12:03 PM MDM - Someone really needs to take control of that door
12:05 PM PollyPrissyPants - Are they debating why the doors are opening and closing?
12:05 PM Jonathan Keebler - I think it’s morse-code.
12:06 PM PollyPrissyPants - So if we see black smoke…that means prorogue? Or possibly if Harper sees his shadow?
12:06 PM MDM - What channel are you watching?
12:06 PM Jonathan Keebler - CBC
12:06 PM PollyPrissyPants - CBC Newsworld
12:07 PM Jonathan Keebler - Wow, some interviewee (Derek Lee) just drew a comparison to the burning of the German Bundestag. Too soon?
12:08 PM Jonathan Keebler - Aren’t there other people who need to use this front-door? Like, doesn’t the mailman come today? Rogers cable guy?
12:08 PM MDM -
12:09 PM Jonathan Keebler - Wow, Don Newman (CBC) is coming up with all these crazy scenarios of what Harper could do e.g. find someone else in his party to rule
12:10 PM Jonathan Keebler - I know what we need: Obama to come up and save us
12:11 PM MDM -
12:11 PM Jonathan Keebler - Nice shot of the door
12:12 PM PollyPrissyPants - It’s classy door.
12:12 PM PollyPrissyPants - Can news really be breaking if they’ve been sitting at Rideau Hall for over an hour?
12:12 PM Jonathan Keebler - Don Newman thinks that our parliamentary tradition is threatened by these coalition actions. Normally, the Conservatives would have just given them a couple pages in the throne speech to shut them up
12:14 PM Jonathan Keebler - Good point from NP:
Shane Dingman: Jane Taber on CTV is adding some common sense to the whole situation, mentioning Ms. Jean “is making the most difficult decision” … it’s true… if you sign up for parties and trips abroad, and you end up being front and centre on an issue of constitutional precedent that could affect the Canadian political system for generations, you might take a while to figure it out.
12:14 PM MDM - Take a look at this guy.
12:14 PM MDM -
12:15 PM Jonathan Keebler - Did the cameraman kick his ass to get him out of the shot?
12:16 PM MDM - I think it is the camera man. Ooops!
12:16 PM Jonathan Keebler - Did a giant yellow chicken just walk in front of the camera?
12:16 PM MDM - LOL!
12:16 PM MDM - Thats a fair bit of shine coming off that forehead.
12:18 PM Jonathan Keebler - See the reporters hoping up and down to keep warm? They must be freezing out there
12:18 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper has cancelled his trip to Woodstock for this afternoon. Take from that what you will
12:19 PM MDM -
12:19 PM MDM - Lots of traffic at the hill.
12:20 PM Jonathan Keebler - Julie Bonner: Calgary thinks that they have more at stake in this decision today. Ya, like the rest of us don’t?! “Western alienation” is being tossed around a lot
12:22 PM Jonathan Keebler - Doors are open!
12:22 PM Jonathan Keebler - They look like they are open for real this time
12:22 PM Jonathan Keebler - I see people coming down the stairs
12:23 PM Jonathan Keebler - Door Watch 2008
12:23 PM MDM -
12:23 PM Jonathan Keebler - LOL The doors open and they throw to their reporter in Ottawa to get a sense of what it means. Like she knows anything from 2 doors opening
12:24 PM PollyPrissyPants - It means the guards inside managed to stave off frostbite and are willing to risk the elements again.
12:24 PM Jonathan Keebler - Did you guys see the BBC reporting on this story yesterday?
12:25 PM MDM - Nope, anything funny happen or said?
12:25 PM Jonathan Keebler - The blonde woman is back outside. They are from the PM’s security detail
12:25 PM MDM -
12:26 PM Jonathan Keebler - @MDM Nope, just noticed that it was their #2 top story. It’s getting some international attention
12:26 PM PollyPrissyPants - That guy on the left is smiling…there’s no smiling in poltical maneouvering!
12:26 PM PollyPrissyPants - It was the #2 headline on CNN.com last night too.
12:26 PM MDM -
12:26 PM Jonathan Keebler - No way! Nice
12:27 PM Jonathan Keebler - The GG should tell Harper “See You Next Tuesday”
12:27 PM MDM -
12:28 PM Jonathan Keebler - Is that CNN?
12:28 PM MDM - Yes. Number two on the world watch.
12:28 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper’s car is at the side-door. We might be watching these doors for nothing
12:29 PM PollyPrissyPants - I’m still crossing my fingers for a bathroom window escape plan.
12:29 PM MDM -
12:29 PM PollyPrissyPants - PODIUM!
12:29 PM Jonathan Keebler - They are putting a podium infront of the door
12:30 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper is going to come out and speak!
12:30 PM PollyPrissyPants - We have movement…it’s either GG or Harper are going to talk or one of the CSIS guards has something he really wants to get off his chest.
12:30 PM MDM -
12:30 PM Jonathan Keebler - In Ottawa, do they just have their portable podiums all over the place?
12:31 PM PollyPrissyPants - They grabbed that out of their tickle trunk in the front yard.
12:31 PM MDM -
12:31 PM Jonathan Keebler - lol The technician is at the podium. Maybe he’s our new PM
12:31 PM PollyPrissyPants - No sign of a teleprompter…could this mean Harper will actually speak without a plan?
12:32 PM MDM - Sooo exciting…
12:32 PM MDM -
12:32 PM Jonathan Keebler - Watch Harper come out and say “No comment”
12:32 PM MDM - Ladies and gentlemen our new prime minister. Yellow Jacket!
12:33 PM Jonathan Keebler - Lots of shadowy figures in the Government House front hallway. I think I just saw Cheney
12:33 PM PollyPrissyPants - Or “ladies and gentlemen, I’m going to DisneyWorld!”
12:33 PM Jonathan Keebler - Here comes someone kinda official looking at the podium. Bah, he left.
12:34 PM Jonathan Keebler - Great, the GG will probably never speak about her thought-process on this…unless she writes a book
12:34 PM PollyPrissyPants - Appaarently he was the official podium authenticity checker. “Yup, it’s a podium…it’s go time”
12:35 PM MDM - @ Jon That guy looked like he was counting the steps to the podium.
12:35 PM Jonathan Keebler - omg, I’m so on-edge. WTF is going on in there!
12:36 PM MDM -
12:36 PM Jonathan Keebler - There is no legal remedy to the GG’s decision today. That’s a fun-fact. I wish I was a Queen-proxy…that came out wrong
12:36 PM MDM - LOL. I love all these podium testers.
12:37 PM MDM -
12:38 PM Jonathan Keebler - DAMNIT! The Conservatives are saying through back-channels that prorogation will go aheadc
12:38 PM PollyPrissyPants - Who said that?
12:38 PM PollyPrissyPants - What…is Harper, like, texting them?
12:39 PM Jonathan Keebler - Don Newman from PMO’s office
12:39 PM PollyPrissyPants - Ah…well, he is the man.
12:40 PM Jonathan Keebler - The PMO has officially announced that prorogation has been granted
12:40 PM PollyPrissyPants - So there are restrictions on what a government can do/accomplish during a prorogue period…so it has yet to be seen what this breathing room will actually allow teh Conservatives to do.
12:40 PM MDM - A prorogation is the period between two sessions of a legislative body. When a legislature or parliament is prorogued, it is still constituted (that is, all members remain as members and a general election is not necessary), but all orders of the body (bills, motions, etc.) are expunged. (In the British parliament, this has now changed somewhat in that Public Bills can be carried over from one session to another.)
In the British and Canadian parliamentary systems, this is usually due to the completion of the agenda set forth in the Speech from the Throne (in the UK, called the legislative programme, and also “the Queen’s Speech”). Legislatures and parliaments, once prorogued, remain in recess until summoned again by the Queen, Governor General, or Lieutenant Governor, and a new session is begun with the State Opening of Parliament and the Speech from the Throne.
12:41 PM Jonathan Keebler - The government can’t do anything during prorogation. It’s a complete time-out
12:41 PM MDM - What a great time to do nothing in Canada.
12:41 PM Jonathan Keebler - OMG, now we have to deal with 1.5 months of campaign-style arguments from politicians. Damnit!
12:42 PM Jonathan Keebler - What a dick! We need our government now more than ever! And he has it suspended for political reasons?!
12:43 PM MDM -
12:43 PM Jonathan Keebler - The press isn’t going to be allowed to ask questions. Typical Harper-style
12:43 PM PollyPrissyPants - Great – an election without an actual election. Just what we all wanted.
12:44 PM MDM - Lets hope the people will be able to see through the coming conservative PR campaign.
12:44 PM PollyPrissyPants - Doesn’t this just essentially put off the inevitable? Which is a vote of no confidence?
12:44 PM Jonathan Keebler - I hope the parties have some dollars left in their advertising budgets
12:45 PM PollyPrissyPants - It’s official…we have become the States. Mark it…Canada, time of death…11:45 am.
12:45 PM MDM - @Polly Yes but they can use the next 1.5 months to get the public behind them for the next election.
12:46 PM Jonathan Keebler - Parliament is in Question Period right now. When this announcement hits, it will just stop and the ministers will stream out
12:46 PM MDM - WHO’S paying for all of this. Hmmmmm I wonder.
12:46 PM PollyPrissyPants - True…but wasn’t that going to happen anyway? If the coalition takes over, all parties involved will get a backlash in the next election, whether they do well or not. Because the Canadian people won’t educate themselves on the issues.
12:47 PM Jonathan Keebler - There will be no spending limits on the PR campaign to follow! Ka-ching!
12:47 PM MDM - You can bet on that.
12:47 PM Jonathan Keebler - If the coalition ultimately gets power, Dion will only be PM for 4 1/2 months.
12:47 PM MDM -
12:48 PM MDM - Please. Please. I beg you…no more elections!
12:49 PM Jonathan Keebler - Great, after the time out, then Harper can go back to the GG and ask for an election! omg, this could go on for a LONG time
12:49 PM PollyPrissyPants - I love this – having an election with having a real election. Fantastic. Then he’ll want to call an actual election. My head hurts…
12:49 PM Jonathan Keebler - What is Harper doing in there? Finishing his plate of cookies?
12:50 PM PollyPrissyPants - CBC livestream
12:50 PM MDM - Lets hope they call an election and no one shows up to vote.
12:51 PM PollyPrissyPants - Harper’s having a little pie…with Cool Whip. Then he’s coming out to talk.
12:51 PM Jonathan Keebler - Cool wHip? You can’t have a pie without Cool wHip
12:51 PM MDM - @Jon Should we wait until he comes out before lunch
12:51 PM Jonathan Keebler - @MDM yah
12:52 PM PollyPrissyPants - This could go on for awHile.
12:52 PM MDM - oh Hreally.
12:53 PM Jonathan Keebler - It’s started to rain in Ottawa
12:53 PM MDM - 60 sec.
12:53 PM Jonathan Keebler - A prepared text was just put on the podium. I guess he was inside writing it. God-forbid he speak off-the-cuff
12:54 PM PollyPrissyPants - That’s because proroguing makes Mother Nature sad.
12:54 PM Jonathan Keebler - They are going to allow 4 questions from the press: 2 English, 2 French
12:54 PM PollyPrissyPants - Here he is.
12:55 PM Jonathan Keebler - I see Harper!
12:55 PM Jonathan Keebler - He’s at the podium
12:55 PM MDM -
12:55 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper: The GG has agreed to prorogue parliament
12:55 PM Jonathan Keebler - Says the men & women of Canada want him to keep working on his plan
12:56 PM Jonathan Keebler - When they come back, the first item on the agenda will be another budget
12:56 PM Jonathan Keebler - (it’s now hailing on him)
12:56 PM PollyPrissyPants - Question 1: Why were you in there so long? What took so long to convince? And how will the prorogue help?
12:56 PM MDM - It seems appropriate that a storm is brewing.
12:57 PM Jonathan Keebler - Answer 1: “I can’t discuss the content of my discussions with the GG”
12:57 PM MDM -
12:57 PM PollyPrissyPants - Harper: Proroguing will give us a chance for us all to work together to take on the economic issues.
12:58 PM Jonathan Keebler - He finally admits all the parties are elected
12:58 PM PollyPrissyPants - Wow…all of a sudden he’s in favour of working together! Sounds like the GG made him write it 100 times until it sunk in.
12:58 PM Jonathan Keebler - But then implies that the Bloc isn’t one of the parties working together for the greater good of Canada
12:59 PM PollyPrissyPants - One step forward, one grand jete backward.
12:59 PM Jonathan Keebler - I hope a piece of hail smacks him in the face
12:59 PM MDM -
12:59 PM Jonathan Keebler - In House of Commons, they start shutting it down
12:59 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper: The economy is the priority now, not parliament
12:59 PM PollyPrissyPants - I wish there were snow so a reporter could launch a snowball right at his head.
1:00 PM PollyPrissyPants - Question 2: Did you make a mistake in your economic plan last week?
1:00 PM Jonathan Keebler - Question 2: Did you make a mistake last week when you pulled the financing of the other parties?
1:00 PM MDM - The regular CBC channel just went to commercial.
1:00 PM PollyPrissyPants - Answer: We believe that everyone needs to tighten their belts…including political parties.
1:01 PM Jonathan Keebler - Answer 1: We believe that political parties should lead by example
1:01 PM MDM -
1:02 PM MDM - Its really coming down now. The snow and the bull.
1:02 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper: “We need to do some bridge-building, on both sides”
1:02 PM PollyPrissyPants - Answer: The other parties say the allowance isn’t the issue – it’s the financial stimulus package. But any government only sitting for 2 weeks can’t provide one without consulting with people.
1:02 PM Jonathan Keebler - Wow, Harper is getting pummelled with hail
1:02 PM MDM -
1:02 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper: The opposition parties don’t have the skills to produce a better budget quicker than this. January 26th.
1:03 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper: “I would encourage them to engage with the government”
1:04 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper: the 3 parties working in the interest of the country need to work together (implying again that the Bloc shouldn’t be a part of it)
1:04 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper: “consensus”
1:04 PM PollyPrissyPants - I don’t think Harper understands what a coalition is…
1:05 PM Jonathan Keebler - Today the Harper-who-wants-to-work-together showed up. So insincere after the rest of what he has been saying this week
1:06 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper: “It’s my sole responsibility now…to fulfill my mandate”
1:06 PM PollyPrissyPants - It really seems like the GG impressed upon him the importance of him reaching across the aisle. Otherwise, he’d lose her support.
1:06 PM Jonathan Keebler - Question: Are you just delaying the inevitable now? Are you just wasting government resources on an election-style campaign?
1:06 PM PollyPrissyPants - WHAT? His responsibility to fulfill HIS mandate. Wow…arrogant much?
1:06 PM PollyPrissyPants - Nice question from the CP.
1:07 PM PollyPrissyPants - Harper will not be using public money for the campaign.
1:07 PM Jonathan Keebler - Answer: My focus will be working on the federal budget. Won’t have time to do much else (Ya right!)
1:07 PM MDM -
1:08 PM PollyPrissyPants - From Mike M. (an observer at work): He got a 38% mandate.
If he were in school, they’t take away his pencils so he doesn’t hurt himself.
1:08 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper basically saying it will be work-as-usual for him for the next month, working on the budget
1:08 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper: The coalition got in a “side deal with the Bloc”
1:09 PM MDM -
1:09 PM Jonathan Keebler - Wow, he is really ragging on the Bloc! I guess he’s writing off Quebec now. That’s going to hurt him the next election I think
1:10 PM PollyPrissyPants - That is going to REALLY hurt him in the next election. This is why he doesn’t speak off the cuff mostly…
1:10 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper: “I’ve never put myself in a position where I would be beholden to the Bloc”
1:10 PM PollyPrissyPants - He just LIED.
1:10 PM MDM - I have to say that I am not fond of the “Federal” Bloc either. Lesser of two evils perhaps.
1:11 PM PollyPrissyPants - He had to get their support to pass his previous budgets! Wow.
1:11 PM Jonathan Keebler - I am not either, but he’s trying to imply they are part of the coalition which is not true
1:11 PM Jonathan Keebler - Duceppe speaking now: “He’s done this just to save his own skin”
1:11 PM PollyPrissyPants - Yup – I’m not a fan either, but as I’ve said…as of now they’re a federal party and should be treated as such. He can’t discount them when they don’t help him out.
1:12 PM PollyPrissyPants - Duceppe: “Worst attack on Quebecers since Meech Lake.”
1:12 PM MDM - He may have just signed his death in Quebec. There goes his 10 seats.
1:12 PM Jonathan Keebler - Duceppe: the election cost $300M this past September
1:13 PM Jonathan Keebler - Duceppe: On Oct 14th, the voters gave us a clear mandate: prevent Conservatives from carrying-out their ideology
1:13 PM PollyPrissyPants - Duceppe (paraphrasing): The Conservative leader held an election at a major cost to the country…for the “sake of the economy”…but he keeps putting off dealing with it.
1:13 PM Jonathan Keebler - IT’S ON!
1:14 PM PollyPrissyPants - Wow…this is fantastic! Call him on it, Duceppe.
1:15 PM PollyPrissyPants - Question: Can the coalition survive?
1:15 PM PollyPrissyPants - Answer: Ask those in the coalition!
1:15 PM Jonathan Keebler - Duceppe: “We are still prepared to support the coalition”
1:15 PM PollyPrissyPants - Duceppe: Harper is just trying to play for time.
1:15 PM Jonathan Keebler - Oh it’s on!
1:16 PM MDM -
1:16 PM Jonathan Keebler - Duceppe: Harper asks me what I want to see the in throne speech. I was just as much a sovereignist then as I am now.
1:17 PM PollyPrissyPants - Question: In terms of Quebec’s interest…if the budget gives Quebec what it wants, will you support it?
1:17 PM Jonathan Keebler - Duceppe: “(Harper) is trying to make fools of all of us”
1:17 PM PollyPrissyPants - Answer: I very much doubt Harper will meet the demands. It would include agreeing with Kyoto despite the fact that Harper calls it a “socialist plot”.
1:18 PM Jonathan Keebler - What was that tractor comment?
1:19 PM PollyPrissyPants - Gotta love French proverbs: “If my grandma had a wheel, she’d be a tractor.”
1:20 PM PollyPrissyPants - Duceppe: “I don’t make predictions, but he did say elected Quebec politicians have less importance so…”
1:21 PM Jonathan Keebler - Layton is up now
1:21 PM PollyPrissyPants - Have I mentioned how much I love Gilles Duceppe? I don’t always agree with his politics but since he has nothing to lost nationally, he always calls everyone on their bullshit.
1:22 PM MDM -
1:22 PM Jonathan Keebler - Layton: “He has put a lock on the door of the House of Commons”
1:22 PM PollyPrissyPants - Layton: Harper is unwilling to face the representatives of the people of Canada.”
1:22 PM Jonathan Keebler - Layton: “He has used a monoeuver to escape responsibility”
1:22 PM PollyPrissyPants - Layton: A sad day for parliamentary democracy.
1:23 PM Jonathan Keebler - Layton: We were trying to implement a plan to take bold action like other countries. The PM decided to play politics instead
1:23 PM PollyPrissyPants - Layton: political manoeuvering taking precendence today over dealing with our desperate economic issues.
1:24 PM PollyPrissyPants - Layton: Harper decided to save his own job and not the jobs of Canadians.
1:25 PM PollyPrissyPants - Layton: Harper cannot be trusted. We have already given him our opinions on the stimulus package..he rejected them. His concilliatory manner now cannot be trusted…he’s just trying to protect his job.
1:25 PM Jonathan Keebler - Layton: I don’t think Canadians really trust him to listen to everyone’s concerns. If he comes up with interesting ideas over the next weeks, we’ll listen and make them part of our coalition government
1:26 PM PollyPrissyPants - Layton: The coalition will not give up in terms of their goals – to bring the Canadian people what they need.
1:26 PM Jonathan Keebler - Layton: It’s very clear the MPs have lost confidence in Harper
1:27 PM Jonathan Keebler - Layton: Harper promised us we would have a vote on Monday
1:27 PM Jonathan Keebler - The coalition should have gone underground until Sunday before the vote
1:28 PM PollyPrissyPants - Question: Has Harper just delayed the inevitable?
1:28 PM PollyPrissyPants - Layton…in so many words…”yes.”
1:29 PM Jonathan Keebler - Question: Would you deny The People the ability to hear the (new) budget in January by voting it down instantly?
1:29 PM Jonathan Keebler - Layton: Confidence isn’t going to be restored by “7 weeks of propaganda”
1:29 PM PollyPrissyPants - Answer: We’ve already given him that oppotunity…the confidence has been lost. Our confidence won’t be restored by the end of January.
1:30 PM PollyPrissyPants - Layton is stepping around the Quebec issue.
1:31 PM Jonathan Keebler - Layton: Harper took away my right to vote as an MP, took away a fundamental right in a democracy
1:31 PM Jonathan Keebler - Question: How will you counter the “6 weeks of propaganda”?
1:32 PM Jonathan Keebler - Layton: Ideas are always worth more than money
1:32 PM PollyPrissyPants - I like Layton…but his talking points drive me nuts. Stop saying locks on the doors.
1:32 PM Jonathan Keebler - And with that, Layton walked away. He seems pissed
1:32 PM PollyPrissyPants - Well, that line kind of sums up the NDP platform!
1:32 PM Jonathan Keebler - Dion is expected to respond later
1:34 PM Jonathan Keebler - I’m going to go get some lunch
1:34 PM PollyPrissyPants - Dion is currently speaking to a rally in Ottawa in support of the coalition.
1:34 PM PollyPrissyPants - Lunch break.
1:37 PM PollyPrissyPants - Don Newman has Bob Rae with him.
1:38 PM PollyPrissyPants - Rae: “You can run but you can’t hide.” There will be a vote of confidence for the budget in January. He’s lost not only the confidence but also the trust of the house.
1:40 PM PollyPrissyPants - Question: How can you vote against a budget you haven’t seen? Rae: Because it’s not about the budget…it’s about trust and confidence. His actions are unprecedented and he is misleading Canadians while alienating those Canadians who hold a different viewpoint.
1:40 PM PollyPrissyPants - Rae: This is a time that tests all of us. Do we want to have a government and a leader who won’t face the House of Commons?
1:41 PM PollyPrissyPants - Question: Is Dion the general to lead the coalition?
1:42 PM PollyPrissyPants - Rae: This issue is a lot bigger then the liberal leadership…it’s about the Harper regime.
1:43 PM PollyPrissyPants - Rae: The PM basically called those that oppose him (on national tv) traitors to his country. It’s unacceptable…we have to take this to the people.

Liberal-NDP Coalition: Facts 1:19 AM Jonathan - I’m going to try to...
Taking Sides on the Coalition: Harper and Dion Address the Nation 6:49 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper takes to the...

Taking Sides on the Coalition: Harper and Dion Address the Nation

Jonathan — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:05:43 +0000

6:49 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper takes to the stage in about 10 mins…by-which-I mean, they press play on his recorded message
6:50 PM Jonathan Keebler - Dion is set to speak after at 7:30pm EST
6:50 PM Jonathan Keebler - This is almost as excited as US politics I figure, I watched the US debates; at least I can watch this Can(adian)Con(tent)
6:50 PM PollyPrissyPants - Do you think he’ll be be-sweatered?
6:51 PM Jonathan Keebler - I doubt he’ll make that mistake again. He’d better have a Canadian flag in the background after his comments in parliament yesterday
6:51 PM Jonathan Keebler - The Governor General should make an address after these two
6:51 PM PollyPrissyPants - The way things are going, I would assume he’d have a giant Palin-esque flag pin on his lapel.
6:52 PM Jonathan Keebler - …and slaughtering turkeys in the background
6:55 PM Jonathan Keebler - The dark clouds on the CBC broadcast behind Peter Mansbridge are freaking me out. Susan Bonner gets a Christmas-tree; no fair!
6:57 PM Jonathan Keebler - NDP and Bloc are going to issue video statements later tonight too
6:58 PM Jonathan Keebler - Peter Mansbridge made a “blue sweater” joke. YES!
6:59 PM PollyPrissyPants - It’s a hard one to resist – even for a professional newshound.
7:00 PM Jonathan Keebler - Seriously, what’s with those clouds? Is Peter in Mordoor?!
7:00 PM PollyPrissyPants - Love when they “pause to bring in the rest of Canada” on CBC. Where were they before?
7:00 PM Jonathan Keebler - Watching ‘Friends’ reruns
7:00 PM PollyPrissyPants - It does look like the Eye of Sauron is going to appear at the top of the Peace Tower.
7:01 PM Jonathan Keebler - Here we go. Throw it over to Stevie
7:01 PM PollyPrissyPants - Here we go…
7:01 PM PollyPrissyPants - Someone had his makeup done.
7:01 PM Jonathan Keebler - Creepy smile right off the back. He looks thin
7:01 PM PollyPrissyPants - No sweater
7:02 PM PollyPrissyPants - He’s talking about the fact that a core of Canada’s identity is that our government is always chosen by the people.
7:02 PM Jonathan Keebler - His argument: governments have always been chosen by the people
7:02 PM PollyPrissyPants - He is honoured we returned him to office on October 14 with a strengthened mandate. I hate he keeps repeating that.|
7:02 PM Jonathan Keebler - Says that the Conservatives came back to parliament with a “strengthened mandate”
7:02 PM Jonathan Keebler - Blah blah blah helping sooooo many people blah blah blah
7:03 PM PollyPrissyPants - It doesn’t even look like Stephan Harper – looks like his stunt double.
7:03 PM Jonathan Keebler - He looks mellow or something…and concentrating too much on those cue cards
7:03 PM PollyPrissyPants - He’s telling us to wait to see what their big Budget plans will be at the end of January.
7:03 PM Jonathan Keebler - “We are consulting with” x 10
7:04 PM Jonathan Keebler - “We have already changed some of our *own* proposals”
7:04 PM Jonathan Keebler - Harper: The opposition wants to “overturn” the election results
7:05 PM PollyPrissyPants - Wow…he is pulling out the separatist card. He says a coalition with the BQ cannot help Canada.
7:05 PM Jonathan Keebler - Says the government can’t be run by a coalition with the separatists. [NOTE: the Bloc isn't in the coalition]
7:05 PM PollyPrissyPants - He didn’t mind them when they helped him pass his past budgets.
7:05 PM Jonathan Keebler - “Not a time for backroom deals with the separatists”
7:06 PM Jonathan Keebler - He didn’t mind their help taking out Paul Martin
7:06 PM PollyPrissyPants - The BQ has only agreed to help the coalition until 2010. Way to sell falsities, Harper.
7:06 PM Jonathan Keebler - That’s it! Wow, that was short with no surprises
7:06 PM PollyPrissyPants - Wow…not even 5 minutes long.
7:06 PM PollyPrissyPants - Was that even necessary?
7:06 PM Jonathan Keebler - There was NOTHING new in that
7:07 PM PollyPrissyPants - Also – way to alienate the entire province of Quebec. I have a feeling this could really pull the seperatist question back to the front burner…which IS bad for Canada but only because he’s forcing their hand.
7:07 PM Jonathan Keebler - lol In the French version, they said “sovereignists” instead of “separatists”. Other than that, the French version was a direct translation.
7:07 PM PollyPrissyPants - CBC just called Harper on his inaccurate statement that the Bloc was a part of the coalition.
7:08 PM PollyPrissyPants - Wow…he does know most people in Quebec can speak English too right? And know he’s doing that?
7:08 PM Jonathan Keebler - The CBC reporters seem pissed that there was nothing new
7:08 PM PollyPrissyPants - Yeah – he does! He seems all “I came all the way in and got dressed up for nothing?” Sonofa…
7:08 PM PollyPrissyPants - Oh Keith Boag…how you amuse me.
7:09 PM Jonathan Keebler - He’s going to burn down that Christmas tree behind him
7:09 PM Jonathan Keebler - CBC is waiting for the Dion tape to arrive at the station. Somewhere, someone is yelling “EDIT FASTER, DAMNIT!”
7:10 PM PollyPrissyPants - More blue sweater comments!
7:10 PM Jonathan Keebler - Don Newman said it was a “low key” statement
7:11 PM Jonathan Keebler - I can’t believe I got out of the shower for this. I hope Dion’s speech has something in it
7:11 PM PollyPrissyPants - Don Newman is calling Harper on his inaccuracies. Pointing out that Harper talked about the coalition “overturning the election results”…when in fact the coalition is using the results to get to where they are.
7:11 PM Jonathan Keebler - Peter seems pissed that they aired that for free. Maybe they take that airtime out of his salary
7:12 PM PollyPrissyPants - But Don Newman also pointed out Harper’s accurate statement that the parties did say before the election that a coalition was out of the question.
7:13 PM Jonathan Keebler - Yah, totally. Of course, if they said that during the election, their party supporters would have been upset
7:13 PM PollyPrissyPants - Oh…apparently Harper doesn’t know his Canadian history. Wow…you think they’d look that stuff up before hand.
7:13 PM PollyPrissyPants - Exactly…you wouldn’t RUN for election as a coalition here…and least not officially, it wouldn’t work.
7:14 PM Jonathan Keebler - So Harper’s strategy:
1) Make your point
2) Buy time
3) SUCCESS!
7:15 PM PollyPrissyPants - The sad part? People won’t look into what he’s saying…and check up on his inaccuracies. He’s actually looking into the camera and not telling the truth! How is no one in the public pissed about this?
7:15 PM Jonathan Keebler - Dion’s tape has arrived at the “central pool point for the networks”
7:15 PM PollyPrissyPants - Peter does not seemed impressed with any of this…
7:16 PM Jonathan Keebler - All the networks need to see it at the same time. Probably about 4-5 minutes
7:17 PM Jonathan Keebler - Here’s Harper whole speech:
STATEMENT by Prime Minister Stephen Harper

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued the following statement:

“Good evening,

Canadians take pride in our history as one of the world’s oldest continuous democracies. During the past 141 years, political parties have emerged and disappeared, leaders have come and gone, and governments have changed.

Constant in every case, however, is the principle that Canada’s Government has always been chosen by the people. And following the light of this democratic tradition, Canadians have built one of the most peaceful and prosperous countries the world has ever known – a land of hope and opportunity that inspires others around the globe, and has drawn millions as new immigrants to our country.

On October 14, for the 40th time since Confederation, Canadians voted in a national general election. We are honoured that you returned our Government to office with a strengthened mandate to lead this great country through the most difficult global economic crisis in many decades. Canada’s Government is acting to deal with the crisis, right now.

* Further personal and business tax reductions are coming into effect;
* We are doubling spending on infrastructure;
* We are ensuring credit for businesses and consumers by injecting liquidity into financial markets;
* We are helping seniors who rely on RRIR income;
* And securing pension plans

We are implementing the Automotive Innovation Fund and, working with the Government of Ontario, we are undertaking due diligence on any further requests for assistance from the auto industry. We are increasing support and incentives for manufacturers, the forestry sector, and others to pursue business opportunities. We are implementing agreements with the provinces to enhance labour mobility. And, next month on January 27, we will bring in a budget which will contain additional measures to boost Canada’s economy, while making sure we avoid a long term structural deficit in Canada’s finances.

In preparation for that budget we are consulting widely with Canadians, meeting with premiers of our provinces and territories, and working in collaboration with our international partners in G20. The Minister of Finance will be consulting with the business community and interest groups.

We are consulting with, and expect to hear more from, the opposition parties in Parliament. We hope they bring forward specific proposals – we have invited them to do so. In fact, we have already changed some of our proposals to meet their concerns. Unfortunately, even before the Government has brought forward its budget, and only seven weeks after a general election, the opposition wants to overturn the results of that election.

Instead of an immediate budget, they propose a new coalition which includes the party in Parliament whose avowed goal is to break up the country. Let me be very clear: Canada’s Government cannot enter into a power-sharing coalition with a separatist party.

At a time of global economic instability, Canada’s Government must stand unequivocally for keeping the country together. At a time like this, a coalition with the separatists cannot help Canada. And the Opposition does not have the democratic right to impose a coalition with the separatists they promised voters would never happen.

The Opposition is attempting to impose this deal without your say, without your consent, and without your vote. This is no time for backroom deals with the separatists; it is the time for Canada’s government to focus on the economy and specifically on measures for the upcoming budget. This is a pivotal moment in our history.
We Canadians are the inheritors of a great legacy, and it is our duty to strengthen and protect it for the generations still to come. Tonight, I pledge to you that Canada’s Government will use every legal means at our disposal to protect our democracy, to protect our economy, and to protect Canada.

Thank you, and goodnight.”
7:17 PM PollyPrissyPants - I really think Harper missed out on an opportunity to really make something of his time. I wonder if Dion will use his time wisely…
7:18 PM PollyPrissyPants - Is it just me or does Harper really seem completely blindsided by everything? How can anyone as a minority leader ever be resting on their laurels enough to be caught off guard?
7:19 PM Jonathan Keebler - Keith Boag thinks the Conservatives are burning bridges in Quebec to try “to save the furniture”
7:19 PM PollyPrissyPants - What does that even mean? lol
7:20 PM PollyPrissyPants - This killing time as they wait for the tape reminds me of Dan Rather trying to take up air time while waiting for them to call Florida for the second time in 2000.
7:21 PM Jonathan Keebler - That he’s happy to throw them under the bus to keep control of government. Quebec won’t get them any votes anyhow
7:21 PM PollyPrissyPants - Ah…thank you for the translation.
7:22 PM PollyPrissyPants - 2 minutes…
7:22 PM Jonathan Keebler - Peter is pointing out more historical inaccuracies with the Conservative statements. Seems to be a fun game for him
7:23 PM PollyPrissyPants - It is a fun game…sad that there are enough that it’s mentioned more then once!
7:23 PM Jonathan Keebler - Peter thinks our children’s children are going to be talking about this week. Only if it works
7:23 PM PollyPrissyPants - Otherwise…the children will just be talking about the ridiculous storm graphics.
7:25 PM Jonathan Keebler - They should have made Harper and Dion give the speeches live, no teleprompter
7:25 PM PollyPrissyPants - Yes! Sadly…this is another core of Canada…shitty planning.
7:26 PM Jonathan Keebler - Keith Boag seems concerned that it’s almost 7:30pm. I wonder if CBC will switch to Jeopardy!
7:26 PM Jonathan Keebler - At 7:28, the tape will start rolling
7:27 PM Jonathan Keebler - Swiss Chalet just buzzed up. Blast!
7:27 PM PollyPrissyPants - I’m willing to bet it’s not CBCs fault this is running late I can guess whose it is…
7:28 PM PollyPrissyPants - Dion is up…
7:28 PM Jonathan Keebler - Black screen on CBC
7:28 PM PollyPrissyPants - And we’ve got black screen…great
7:28 PM Jonathan Keebler - Federal government has a duty to act
7:29 PM Jonathan Keebler - The video quality is SO shitty
7:29 PM PollyPrissyPants - Harper’s priority is partisanship and has lost the trust of the majority of those in the House of Commons
7:29 PM Jonathan Keebler - Dion: Canadians don’t want another election
7:29 PM PollyPrissyPants - The parties WANT to work together so they are working with those that are willing.
7:29 PM Jonathan Keebler - Dion: Green Party has also agreed to support the coalition
7:30 PM Jonathan Keebler - Coalitions work in many parts of the world
7:30 PM Jonathan Keebler - Consensus is a great thing
7:30 PM PollyPrissyPants - I think he read my blog about this before crafting his statement
7:30 PM Jonathan Keebler - We can achieve more for Canadians through collaboration instead of conflict
7:30 PM PollyPrissyPants - We can solve this problem with team work…not with partisanship
7:31 PM Jonathan Keebler - His speech is so much better.
7:31 PM Jonathan Keebler - YES WE CAN!
7:31 PM PollyPrissyPants - It really is…he’s doing a great job. He’s really bringing forward the urgency of why now
7:31 PM Jonathan Keebler - Shares our distaste that the political crisis has taken priority over the economic crisis
7:32 PM Jonathan Keebler - Dion: Harper’s solution is to extend that (political) crisis
7:32 PM Jonathan Keebler - Dion: Let the vote next Monday proceed. Accept the result “with grace”
7:32 PM PollyPrissyPants - Politicians are working together elsewhere in the world to deal with this economic crisis…why can’t Canada? We want to…Harper doesn’t.
7:33 PM Jonathan Keebler - Bumbled on “significantly” 3 times, but it’s a hard word
7:33 PM PollyPrissyPants - He reaching out to all part of the country…trying not to alienate anyone.
7:33 PM Jonathan Keebler - He has a book called “Hot Air” on the bookshelf behind him, and *2* Canadian flags
7:33 PM PollyPrissyPants - I can barely say that most of the time.
7:33 PM Jonathan Keebler - Dion: We are going to invest in lots of different industries
7:34 PM PollyPrissyPants - HA! Hot air…that’s a brilliant subliminal message.
7:34 PM Jonathan Keebler - Dion: Our compassion as a country is tested in situations like this
7:34 PM Jonathan Keebler - Dion: I wrote the GG and asked her to refuse any request by the PM to suspend parliament
7:35 PM PollyPrissyPants - If Harper wants to suspend parliament, he must first call a vote of confidence.
7:35 PM Jonathan Keebler - Damn, he’s a good speaker! Better than during the campaign
7:35 PM PollyPrissyPants - Yeah – where was this during the election campaign?
7:35 PM Jonathan Keebler - Dion: I will work day and nights to fight the economic crisis
7:35 PM Jonathan Keebler - I’m actually getting goosebumps listening to a CANADIAN politician
7:35 PM PollyPrissyPants - Nice reminder that his position will be a temporary one – in power, that is. He is stepping down as leader of the Liberals in May.
7:35 PM Jonathan Keebler - That’s the end of it
7:36 PM PollyPrissyPants - CBC now reacts…
7:36 PM Jonathan Keebler - Keith Boag: The weight of the speech was selling the coalition and what it can do. Reassurance
7:37 PM Jonathan Keebler - Manalive, I’ve SO impressed by Dion’s speech. Good on him!
7:37 PM PollyPrissyPants - All 3 contenders for the Liberal leadership are in support of the coalition, fyi.
7:37 PM PollyPrissyPants - I want a transcript of this…that was very good.
7:38 PM PollyPrissyPants - I really hope people actually took the time to watch this and listen to what they had to stay. Style v. substance.
7:38 PM Jonathan Keebler - I want to feel hopeful, like we can overcome this economic slump
7:38 PM PollyPrissyPants - He really did a good job of outlining what the coalition intends to do, why they are making this move and the fact that they know this isn’t the ideal situation for anyone.
7:39 PM Jonathan Keebler - If I have to choose between someone telling me that our country will collapse if the majority of the House gets control, and someone asking me to work together, I’m going to take the latter
9:20 PM Jonathan Keebler - Here’s Dion’s full speech:

“Canada is facing the impacts of the global economic crisis. Our economy is on the verge of a recession. Canadians are worried about losing their jobs, their homes, their savings. Every economist in the country is predicting increased job losses and deficits for the next few years.

The federal government has a duty to act and help Canadians weather this storm.

Stephen Harper still refuses to propose measures to stimulate the Canadian economy. His mini-budget last week demonstrated that his priority is partisanship and settling ideological scores.

The Harper Conservatives have lost the confidence of the majority of Members of the House of Commons. In our democracy, in our parliamentary system, in our Constitution, this means that they have lost the right to govern.

Canadians don’t want another election, they want Parliamentarians to work together. That’s our job. Canadians want their MPs to put aside partisanship and focus on the economy.

The Liberal Party and the New Democratic Party are ready to do this. Jack Layton and I have agreed to form a coalition government to address the impact of the global economic crisis. The Bloc has agreed to support this government on matters of confidence. The Green Party has also agreed to support it.

Our system of government was not born with Canada. It is ancient. There are rules that govern it and conventions that guide it.

Coalitions are normal and current practice in many parts of the world and are able to work very successfully. They work with simple ingredients: consensus, goodwill and cooperation. Consensus is a great Canadian value. In this spirit, we Liberals have joined in a coalition with the NDP. We have done so because we believe we can achieve more for Canadians through cooperation than through conflict. We believe we can better solve the challenges facing Canada through teamwork and collaboration, rather than blind partisan feuding and hostility.

Our coalition is a consensus to govern with a well-defined program to address the most important issue facing the country: the economy. It is a program to preserve and create jobs and to stimulate the economy in all regions of the country. The elements of the program need to be spelled out and this is what we will do if we are allowed to present it to the House of Commons.

We share the frustration Canadians have about a political crisis that has been allowed to take prominence over the more important economic challenges we face. Elsewhere in the world, leaders are working to cope with the recession, to bring forward the kinds of investments that will help their people and their economies. Politicians are working together. Rivals are working together.

Mr. Harper’s solution is to extend that crisis by avoiding a simple vote. By suspending Parliament and continuing the confusion. We offer a better way. We say settle it now and let’s get to work on the people’s business. A vote is scheduled for next Monday. Let it proceed. And let us all show maturity in accepting the result with grace and the larger task of serving Canadians in mind.

Within one week, a new direction will be established, a tone and focus will be set. We will gather with leaders of industry and labour to work, unlike the Conservatives, in a collaborative, but urgent manner to protect jobs.

To stimulate the economy and create good well-paid jobs we will not only accelerate already planned investments, but invest significantly more in our country’s infrastructure. Helping our cities like Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal or Halifax build modern, efficient public transit systems.
Investing in our rural communities so that cherished ways of life are protected for future generations. We can stimulate our economy through investments in clean energy, water and our gateways.

We will invest in our manufacturing, forestry and automotive sectors to protect and create jobs. We believe that in these tough economic times the government has a role to play to ensure that those who are doing their share for the prosperity of our country can continue to provide for the wellbeing of their families.

In times like this our compassion as a country is tested. We believe it is imperative that the government offers Canadians who have already lost their job, whether in the factories of South Western Ontario or the forests of Eastern Quebec and British Columbia, the support they need to live in dignity and develop new skills.

That is precisely what we intend to provide.

Earlier today I wrote Her Excellency the Governor General. I respectfully asked her to refuse any request by the Prime Minister to suspend Parliament until he has demonstrated to her that he still commands the confidence of the House.

If Mr. Harper wants to suspend Parliament he must first face a vote of confidence.

In our Canada, the government is accountable for its decisions and actions in Parliament.

In our Canada, the government derives its legitimacy from an elected Parliament.

Allow me to end tonight on a personal note. If I am entrusted with the role of Prime Minister for the next months that I have left to serve, I will work day and nights to combat this economic crisis, to do what it takes to minimize its effects on Canadians, to protect jobs and to create jobs.

I will serve my country until my time to serve is at an end.”

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Liberal-NDP Coalition: Facts

Jonathan — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:24:24 +0000

1:19 AM Jonathan - I’m going to try to keep track of all the interesting points I hear in the media about the Liberal-NDP coalition that may form the Canadian government
1:20 AM Jonathan - Dion will be resigning as the Liberal party leader in May. That is unchanged, so the perspective Liberal party candidates may have a shot at becoming Prime Minister
1:21 AM Jonathan - Dion would be the Prime Minister of Canada
1:21 AM Jonathan - Harper may try to convince the Governor General that a coalition government could not govern, and that she should call another election
1:23 AM Jonathan - Harper could ask the Governor General for prorogue, that would close parliament for 1 1/2 months. He could do so to stop the momentum of the coalition
1:30 AM Jonathan Keebler -
1:31 AM Jonathan Keebler - The Bloc has agreed not to challenge the coalition for a minimum of 18 months
1:32 AM Jonathan Keebler - The NDP will get 5 members in the caucus including Jack Layton
1:32 AM Jonathan Keebler - The Bloc has agreed not to table separatism while the coalition is intact
1:36 AM Jonathan Keebler - The coalition will be in a position to take over power by next week if Harper doesn’t do something drastic to stop it
2:40 AM Jonathan Keebler - The Bloc is not part of the coalition. They have merely agreed to 18 months of “stability” in parliament by not challenging the confidence of the coalition government
2:41 AM Jonathan Keebler - There was a Canadian flag at the press conference (photo above) despite Harper’s claim to the contrary
2:41 AM Jonathan Keebler - Harper has said that he will ask the Governor General for prorogue. It is yet to be seen if will grant it.

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Why CTV is in financial trouble

Jonathan — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:53:14 +0000

The news yesterday that CTV is in for some layoffs and budget cuts was hardly surprising given what’s been going on at the other networks in Canada. I feel bad for my friends who still work there, but CTV really brought it on themselves. Here’s a list of some of the places they’ve spent their money in the past year:

Remodeling the entire 5th floor of 299 Queen St. W for a few million (estimate)
Purchase of the Hockey Night in Canada theme song for approx. $2.5M
Buying up all the real-estate between Queen-Richmond & John-Duncan for approx. $2M
2010/2012 Olympic games broadcast rights for approx. US$90M (CBC had paid $73M for 2006/2008 Games)
Purchase of CHUM Limited for $1.7B

I’m no fancy economist, but the millions they spent on the HNIC theme song and the remodeling alone would probably float their payroll for a while.

CTVgm is a privately-owned company so there’s no way to know how bad they are in a red. But if they are in need of cash, I predict a sell-off of a couple of their satellite properties in the coming months. In particular, The Globe and Mail or TSN. Since Rogers is the only “media” company that’s doing well at the moment, I’d bet I can guess who is going to buy them up

(photo credit)

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Obama: To the rest of the world: “Our stories are singular but our destinies are shared”

Jonathan — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 05:47:24 +0000

Tonight, we witnessed a historic moment in world history. We liveblogged every second of it on ScribbleLive and it truly was the amazing turn in American politics that so many people hoped it would be. Congratulations to America for having the courage to set forth on a new path into the 21st century!

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See how many people are watching your liveblog!

ShiftEdit — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 06:04:17 +0000

With the US election tomorrow night, we couldn’t resist rolling out a new much-requested feature on ScribbleLive: a real-time visitor counter!

Everyone is curious how many people are watching their liveblog, and now it’s easy to find out. Whether you have your liveblog embedded, crossposted, or are linking right to scribblelive.com, we’ll keep track of the number of unique visitors watching your event in real-time. You’ll find the count right in the header and it’s accurate to about 20 seconds. The entire system is built on memcached so it can keep pace with all the traffic you hit us with.

There’s even more to come in the way of metrics including traffic graphs and other statistics. If you have any suggestions for what you would like to see, drop me a comment.

Hope everyone has fun liveblogging tomorrow night! Happy liveblogging!

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Windows Server finally available on Amazon EC2

Jonathan — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 03:35:41 +0000

I’ve been waiting for this for so long! You can now run Windows servers on Amazon EC2. I’ve been playing with a few ways of getting Windows Server 2003 to run on EC2, but it’s always been a massive hack. I never found a distribution running Windows virtually that got anywhere near the performance I would get out of a beige box.

But with native support for Windows Server 2003 boxes from Amazon, now we’re talking. The cost per hour is a few cents more than the Linux distributions (to cover licensing fees I guess) but definitely doable. And with the new ElasticFox firefox extension, there’s no more mucking around on the command line to create and deploy instances.

Let this screenshot be a hint of the things to come

UPDATE: I just got the official mailing from Amazon talking about the launch of Windows servers. It also had a cool little look at their 2009 feature roll-out:

Load balancing – Enables AWS customers to balance incoming requests and distribute traffic across multiple Amazon EC2 instances.

Auto-scaling – Automatically grows and shrinks usage of Amazon EC2 compute capacity based on application requirements.

Cloud monitoring – Enables AWS customers to monitor operational metrics of Amazon EC2, providing visibility into usage of the AWS cloud.

Management Console – Provides a simple, point-and-click web interface that lets customers manage and access their AWS cloud resources.

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See all the events your Facebook friends are going to

Jonathan — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:33:29 +0000

It’s always bugged me that there’s no way in Facebook to see all the (Facebook) events your friends are going to. You can see all the events that you are going to, and your home page shows you a bit of what they are up to today, but there’s no easy way to look beyond that. For example, I’m thinking of having a party on Friday. How busy are my friends? Is anyone going to any good concerts? etc.

Where are my f(acebook)ing friends? (pronounced: “where are my f-ing friends”) is a quick little site I whipped up to do just that. You just login with your Facebook account and it will run through all your friends, compiling a list of all the events they are going to for the next week. It even maps out the events on a Google Map to see what’s happening in your neck of the woods.

Anyhow, it’s definitely still Beta but please give it a try and drop me some comments if you love it, hate it, or anywhere in-between. Now go have fun stalking your friends!

(Screenshot)

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HOWTO: Liveblogging in Wordpress using ScribbleLive

ShiftEdit — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:00:08 +0000

With lots of websites starting to use the crossposting feature on ScribbleLive that we unveiled back in August, I thought it would be a good idea to put together a quick demo video. In this screencast, I go over all the steps to get your liveblog crossposting to your Wordpress site without using an iframe or other embed code.

Please feel free to drop in other questions in the comments, and I’d be happy to write you back. Happy liveblogging!

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Android G1 phone shows you where you are

Jonathan — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 23:37:19 +0000

The new Google Phone was unveiled today (TechCrunch liveblogged the launch using ScribbleLive crossposting). I definitely want one to play with, but I won’t be dropping my iPhone cold just yet

One thing I found kinda ~~funny~~ cool was that it comes with a built-in compass. It gives the phone its precise orientation when it comes to GPS positioning. Their big demo app was Google Street View that rotates on the screen as you rotate the device. So let-me-get-this-straight, if you are standing somewhere you can pull up a photo of the exact place you are. Oh, and if you turn around while you’re standing there, you can see the photos of what’s in-front of you over there. Yes, that definitely is a selling point I no longer have to refocus my eyes by being forced to look at a screen, then the real world. It’s a miracle!

Of course, I’m just trying to balance-out all the glowing reviews of the launch with a slightly negative one, for no particular reason. Don’t listen to me. Go enjoy your Google Phone and smite me down with your no-refocussing ways.

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Primetime Emmy Award Liveblog!

Jonathan — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:52:58 +0000

We’re liveblogging the hell out of the 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. Come join the liveblogging madness over here.

What the heck, America, we’ll take a vote in Canada too

Jonathan — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 02:24:50 +0000

It was made official today, we’re going to have a general election up here in Canada on October 14th. It’ll be fun to watch the media up here juggle coverage of the American election with our humble little voting exercise. It’s just an exercise because P.M. Stephen Harper has been a wolf in sheep’s clothing for his time in office so far. A few empty promises to do something about the environment mixed with some conservative (lower-case) “family values.” You can’t really fault the guy; he’s been really careful to keep his true feelings about most issues to himself. And that’s what we largely vote for in Canada it seems: a middle-of-the-road party that doesn’t upset-the-apple-cart and gives lip-service to our revered social programs.

But do we want to continue down this path? The election is already shaping up to be the Liberals complaining that the Conservatives broke their promise to have set election dates. And the Conservatives will argue that the Liberals have been blocking all their awesome bills in Parliament. Yawn. Why are the NDP, Bloc, and Green parties the only ones that will tackle the reality that we have some serious housekeeping to do in this country?

The healthcare we so prize isn’t practical in the 21st century. Free healthcare is an awesome idea and was fairly cheap when we were talking about old-fashion, country doctors that cost no more than their education and penicillin. But today medicine is a multi-billion dollar industry. Medical imaging machines alone cost millions of dollars and we can’t afford it. Don’t get me wrong, I am passionately in-favor of free healthcare in this country and can’t imagine a Canada without it, but we have to be realistic about it. The SARS outbreak in Toronto showed us how close our hospitals are to collapse. We are surviving because of the super-human effort that our doctors and nurses put into hospitals to keep them going. I’ve never met a nurse that didn’t pull longer shifts than I could imagine. This is a real problem and we need a real discussion about what we need to do, not more lip-service.

So the question is: who to vote for in this election? I guess I’m some sort of social-liberal-i-dunno-what. I don’t share the Conservative values, though to be sure, they aren’t as Right-winged as their Republican counter-parts to the South. So realistically that leaves me with the Liberals or the NDP for my vote.

I live in Olivia Chow’s Trinity-Spadian riding. I frankly like Olivia Chow, but with the party voting blocks in Parliament, I’m skeptical that the voice of a MP can be heard if it isn’t backed by the in-power or opposition party. So I guess I have to vote Liberal, whoever the heck is running in my riding, if only to help prevent the Conservative party from gaining a majority. My hope is that all the people that voted to punish the Paul Martin Liberals in the last election have their pound-of-flesh and are willing to support the Stephan Dion Liberals against the Conservatives.

The Conservatives have a compelling narrative this election: “Ok, so you don’t like the ‘Conservative’ party. But common, the last couple of years haven’t been that bad. By now you can’t remember any big scandals coming out of Ottawa, so we must be doing alright, right? Common, Minority governments suck. Give us a few more seats and we’ll get shit done.” And you know what, a lot of people are probably going to buy that.

Today marks the death of our 97th brave soldier in Afghanistan. I can’t begin to imagine the pain his family must feel at the death of their loved one. Whether you understand the reasons for Canada being Afghanistan or not, whether you believe in it or not, we are sending our young people into harm’s way every-single day over there. They deserve for us to make this election count despite the cynicism that so many people including myself feel about the politics in this country.

So on October 14th, let’s all get out there and vote, Canada!

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