Reform Party of Alberta

So what will it take to get Presto Manning to run for Premier of Alberta? Already the old Presto Reform Party backroom boys, Ezra Levant and Farron Ellis are spinning their wheels. They are claiming it will take a new party to replace the Tired Old Tories. Word for word they sound like they met and wrote the same speech for the press.

But an opposition sweep of the polls after Klein isn't likely, said Lethbridge College political scientist Faron Ellis."Every time the Alberta government has changed hands, it's been a new party, not the established opposition, that's done it," Ellis said.

Manning could pursue the Tory leadership. But there is another scenario that is even more intriguing: Manning starting a new party, from scratch, and running not to replace Klein alone, but the entire rotting Tory carcass, 35 years in power. Think about it: Why should Manning seek the Tory leadership? To preside over a tired, ideologically leftist caucus that would resent him as an interloper? To have to defend an arrogant party whose entitlement mentality surpasses even that of the federal Liberals? Why not do what Albertans love to do -- and what Manning himself talked about in 2004 -- start a new party? Manning's already done that twice, and Albertans supported him both times.
King Ralph is dead Ezra Levant Special to the National Post

Eternal optimists they are ignoring the political reality that the only reason the PC's remain in power is that they are fiscal liberals whose power basis fiscally and politically is Calgary and Edmontons ruling classes and who appeal to the rural rump ,the old Socreds,with right wing rhetoric, rhetoric only. When push comes to shove they are push overs as King Ralph has shown time and again.

Dismissing the strong left wing opposition in Alberta as if it doesn't exist, as if the NDP and Liberals are has beens, who just so happened to have won more seats in the 2004 provincial election than predicted.

Dismissing this provinces left wing populist history these Revisionists are now claiming that it will take a NEW right wing party to replace the declining Tories.

Well gee guys there is the Alberta Alliance that is to the right of the PC's and has a sitting member. Even Mr. Right Wing Link Byfield supports them.

Except as usual with Presto's ego a whole new party made out of whole clothe will have to be created.

Please do. It will split the right wing vote and allow the opposition you dismiss to come up the middle.

Don't believe me, read the comments on the idea of Presto as Premier here and here

Also see my previous post: Return of the Socreds

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Conservative Broadcasting Corporation

Why is Ezra Levant being used as a commentator on Alberta politics on Don Newmans Politics show on CBC Newsworld. The man is an idiot and does not have the inside dope on the Ralph regime. Why not use the Edmonton Journals Legislative reporter Graham Thompson.

Also in the past two weeks as the Ralph circus was shown on Newmans show, as well as covered by the Duff on CTV, why were Rod Love, Peter Elzinga and other party hacks allowed on both programs as well as Question Period.

They had nothing criticial to say. Zip nada, all was right with the world and Ralph was the greatest. Sheesh talk about ass kissing. That is not political commentary, insight or even news. At least CTV used their own Klein Biographer Don Martin.

So when reporting on news from Alberta for political comments the CBC is sucking up to the right wing rump of the right wing with Levant. Who is NOT a journalist, but a PR flack for the right in the tradition of the Gobbels school.

Welcome to the new remade Conservative Broadcasting Corporation.




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JK Galbraith Speaks Truth To Power

Taming Predatory Capitalism

JAMES K. GALBRAITH

The truths are that egalitarian growth is efficient, that speculation must be regulated, that crime starts at the top and that peace is the primary public good. These truths are poison to predators and are the reason predators have fostered and subsidized an entire cynical intellectual movement devoted to "free" markets made up of a class of professor-courtiers now everywhere in view.



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Ennio Morricone A Fistful of Composer

Who else but famed Movie score/soundtrack composer Ennio Morricone would have a gorgeous Flash home page with great sound. Check it out. Yes it is in Italian. But the sound compostion that is playing in the background will more than make up for the time you spend navigating. It is by far the most stupendous sound I have heard come out of the tiny crappy speakers that are installed in my 19 inch Monitor. Amazing. Do check it out.

Oh and did I mention I am a Morricone fan. The man is a Genius. He is not only a composer of a mammoth collection of movie soundtracks but of Symphonic compositions as well.Morricone in London!:

And I am not the only one who thinks so.


Ennio not only outlasts the lumiére of such scored-film fare but still overshadows both his contemporaries and his bambinos.

His work is beyond just scoring films, without his sound the films are nothing. Whether the haunting echo of the harmoncia in Once Upon A Time In The West, or the strange melodies of terror he evokes for the films of Dario Agenta.

Unlike Gyuri, who becomes increasingly pallid, the film becomes more gray and dark, washing away all color. Its stark scenes of massed prisoners and looming guard towers acquire a bizarre, twisted beauty, which is accented by the haunting music of veteran composer Ennio Morricone.A haunting look at inhumanity and survival

Along with this new movie sound track he has a new collaboration with Ex-Smiths lead singer and now Bryan Ferry knock off Morrissey;

Morrissey Moves on From Miserable, Discovers Libido in New CD

With Tony Visconti producing, Morrissey has essentially made a thoughtful and probing album for adult-contemporary radio.
Musically, Morrissey falters

Considering the spottiness of Morrissey's last few releases, you wouldn't be out of line nursing low expectations for the singer's eighth solo release. Produced by former Bowie/T. Rex collaborator Tony Visconti, recorded in Rome and featuring string arrangements from spaghetti western composer Ennio Morricone, the disc sees the former Smiths frontman not only reinvigorating his sound but coming back to life Ringleader of the Tormentors

It’s on the Ennio Morricone-arranged gospel concerto ‘Dear God, Please Help Me’ though where the intimacy really kicks in, as His Master declares his intent from the off (“There are explosive kegs between my legs”) like some sexually deprived artisan – which many have been led to believe he was for at least two decades – before erupting in magnanimous joy at his success in coveting a relationship at last (“…Now I’m spreading your legs with mine between!”).Morrissey: Ringleader Of The Tormentors

And the Ennio Morricone influence in modern pop rock continues with the release of Muse's new album

Muse To Shock Fans On New Album

Howard has described the album as a "very drastic" mix of musical styles, ranging from "mellow jazz" to "Prince-influenced, groove-based rock weirdness". New song "The Knights Of Cydonia" took inspiration from Italian film composer of such classics "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly" and "The Untouchables", Ennio Morricone,

Muse Hope Fans Aren't Too Shocked By 'Genre-Morphing' New LP

And his influence is felt in the works of the musically adventureous Brit Punjabi Nitin Sawhney

His first album, Spirit Dance (1994), grew from listening to the Bristol trip-hop collective Massive Attack, and realising that "you can incorporate diverse music on one album and make it work". He retains his enthusiasm for Indian classical musicians, including Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ravi Shankar, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Zakir Hussain. Through the films of Satyajit Ray he discovered and was influenced by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, famed for Bengali songs as well as poetry. He also admired Italian composer Ennio Morricone, who revolutionised the spaghetti western with his scores for Sergio Leone's films.

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