Cue the usual excuses for slow blogging, and roll the quick hits:

• A month or two ago I posted some photos by my friend Alper Ozdemir. He now has some new photos up -- at the TLR club blog.
• Is it just me, or is this police harassment story in Edmonton quite disturbing? Similar things have been alleged here in Toronto from time to time.
• Kevin writes about the same-sex marriage issue and makes the point that a Conservative Party position of "civil union" doesn't really make a lot of sense. If that's their position, it's come down to a simple case of semantics. If they have already accepted the notion of a same-sex couple wanting to formalize their commitment, what's so scary about the M-word?
• Speaking of which, this looks like another example where the Conservatives act like the Democrats in the USA -- meekly defending just part of their position against a stronger opponent.
• Kevin also suggests that marriage is really just a religious rite and wouldn't mind the state getting out of that business. Actually, I'd guess that marriage is more of a fact of our species' evolution, and probably predates religion-as-we-know-it. I don't see any reason for the state to pull its punches when using words like marriage. A marriage recognized by the crown is entirely consistent with the origins of the custom.
• I join Mike Brock in wishing for a better, greater Canada, but I think it is quite a stretch to suggest that "cultural pluralism" is getting in our way. Just because you read something in the Toronto Star -- like talk of a separate school system for black youth -- doesn't mean it reflects reality.
• Warren Kinsella may have a point about Gomery's inappropriate statements, but I'll never be concerned by the cost of the inquiry... just as I always supported Toronto's MFP inquiry, despite similar criticisms of it. The investigation-costs-more-than-the-crime argument is nonsense.

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