Incestuous Little Bastards, Aren't They!

From an article in The Guardian:

Brodie did his PhD in political science at the University of Calgary under Ted Morton, an American-born former academic and activist and known as the dean of the "Calgary school", an intellectual movement that has remade Canadian conservatism along American-lines.

Yeah, that's this Ted Morton. Hat-Tip to The Galloping Beaver.

Submitted with Sadness

Dungeons and Dragons creator dies

Gary Gygax, co-creator of the first role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons, has died at the age of 69.

If you totalled up the number of hours I've spent playing D&D, and some of its offshoots, sin I began as a wee sprout in Junior Hight School, it would probably total something like a year of my life.

R.I.P., and Thank You, to Gary Gygax, for creating a hobby that has brought so much pleasure, and good company (I have a nephew because of D&D), to so many millions of people. Long may it continue to do so!

Random Thoughts on the Events of Yesterday


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• The size of the Tory majority was greater than I'd thought it would be.
• The size of the voter turnout was smaller than expected. These two points may be related.
• The Wildrose Alliance Party got deservedly shut out.
• Craig Chandler did not get elected.
• Rachel Notley did, so virtue, in that small regard, triumphed.
• The Tories may now hold the majority in Edmonton, but they're going to have to work to keep it. Edmonton voters get pissed off fairly easily.
• As Alison has pointed out at Creekside, many Alberta voters will now be represented by very few MLAs. This election was among other things, a scream for some nod to proportional representation.
• The Green Party did very well, doubling their vote from last time out.
• Our riding saw the Liberal incumbent defeated by a Tory newcomer. This isn't too surprising, as our riding has gone back and forth between the two parties over the last few provincial elections.
• Ed Stelmach has been, and will be, a far better premier than Ralph Klein. This does not mean that he has been, or will be, a good premier.
• Alberta is once again the political laughing stock of Canada. This time out, Alberta earned it.
• Oddly enought, Calgary has now has more Liberals in the legislature than Edmonton. That didn't used to happen...
• Edmonton, however, has the only two NDPers.
• Despite having one quarter the number of seats that the Liberals do, the NDP is actually in better shape for the next election. The Liberals have got to pretty much start over, while the NDP already has (and don't underestimate the Notley name being back in their ranks).
• The Wildrose Alliance may go away, but the people involved with it will put something else together to try to lure the lunatic right vote away from the Tories.
• Even with a small number of seats, the opposition should still be able to hold Ed Stelmach's feet to the fire, at least a certain amount of the time.

'Tis Election Day!

So, we're straggling off to the polls today through the remnants of a late-winter/early-spring snowfall. Well, in all likelihood, something less than 50% of registered voters are doing that. It's provincial election day here, and this time, there's actually some interest in what the results are going to be! The Tories will be ecstatic if their majority grows, or at least doesn't shrink too much (except the legion of Tories who hate Ed Stelmach - they're hoping for disaster, but not enough of a disaster to cost them any real power). The Liberals will call it a success if they increase their seat count, and they'll be over the moon if they could actually force the Tories into a minority government. I don't the NDP are going to be happy at all; they're trailing the Liberals in most places, and will be lucky to hang on to what they've got. The Wildrose Alliance thingy will be happy if everybody in the rest of Canada dies. And the Alberta Greens will be pleased if somebody just notices them.

My prediction - Tory majority, again, with perhaps some modest gains by the Liberals. I see the NDP keeping roughly the same number of seats. The Wildrose Alliance folks could double their seat-count, which would give them two (is the era of Link Byfield, MLA, upon us?). The Greens will continue to get no love in this neck of the woods.