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The big scandal in Canada right now is over whether it is OK (or appropriate) to call Liberal MP Belinda Stronach a bitch.

It started out simply enough. Stronach was a Conservative MP, dating another Conservative -- Peter MacKay.

Then Stronach decided to "cross the floor" and switch to the Liberal party. The day she announced this move, the press went to town with MacKay, who posed on his farm with his dog looking woeful.

That was in the spring of 2005.

Jump to last week. This is how the whole bitch debacle started.

The besieged Tory MP was once again forced to deny he ever called his ex-girlfriend - and now Liberal - Belinda Stronach a dog in an off mike joke in the House of Commons last week.

The barely audible exchange supposedly has MacKay being asked by a Liberal "What about your dog?"

A voice can be heard saying something like "You have her" and critics charge MacKay pointed to her ex's empty seat as he said it.

- CityNews

Then, just as it seemed the issue was going to pass, a former Canadian ambassador to Israel (for the Conservative Mulroney government of the 1980s), Norman Spector, comes out on a Vancouver radio station calling Stronach a bitch.

He doesn't just say it once, but over and over.

Spector told a Vancouver radio talk show that Stronach's public breakup last year with Peter MacKay, who is now foreign affairs minister, as well as a role she is alleged to have had in the marital problems of former Toronto Maple Leaf Tie Domi, means she is a bitch.

"I think she's a bitch. It's as simple as that," Spector said. He added that he believed 90 per cent of men would agree, considering her involvement with the former National Hockey League player and her break-up with MacKay.

-Toronto Star

In case you're not privy to the Tie Domi thing -- basically, Stronach is dating the former Toronto Maple Leafs hockey player. He is going through a break up with his wife. For some reason, this makes Stronach a bitch.

So, what's with all of the fuss about Stronach? Why has she suddenly become the most attacked woman in Canadian politics? Is it because of her blonde hair? Her money? Her looks?

We know nothing about other MPs personal lives -- not the men nor the women -- and for all we know, they could lead just as interesting lives.

They probably do.

So, to Mr. Spector, I say: Get a life.

The big scandal in Canada right now is over whether it is OK (or appropriate) to call Liberal MP Belinda Stronach a bitch.

It started out simply enough. Stronach was a Conservative MP, dating another Conservative -- Peter MacKay.

Then Stronach decided to "cross the floor" and switch to the Liberal party. The day she announced this move, the press went to town with MacKay, who posed on his farm with his dog looking woeful.

That was in the spring of 2005.

Jump to last week. This is how the whole bitch debacle started.

The besieged Tory MP was once again forced to deny he ever called his ex-girlfriend - and now Liberal - Belinda Stronach a dog in an off mike joke in the House of Commons last week.

The barely audible exchange supposedly has MacKay being asked by a Liberal "What about your dog?"

A voice can be heard saying something like "You have her" and critics charge MacKay pointed to her ex's empty seat as he said it.

- CityNews

Then, just as it seemed the issue was going to pass, a former Canadian ambassador to Israel (for the Conservative Mulroney government of the 1980s), Norman Spector, comes out on a Vancouver radio station calling Stronach a bitch.

He doesn't just say it once, but over and over.

Spector told a Vancouver radio talk show that Stronach's public breakup last year with Peter MacKay, who is now foreign affairs minister, as well as a role she is alleged to have had in the marital problems of former Toronto Maple Leaf Tie Domi, means she is a bitch.

"I think she's a bitch. It's as simple as that," Spector said. He added that he believed 90 per cent of men would agree, considering her involvement with the former National Hockey League player and her break-up with MacKay.

-Toronto Star

In case you're not privy to the Tie Domi thing -- basically, Stronach is dating the former Toronto Maple Leafs hockey player. He is going through a break up with his wife. For some reason, this makes Stronach a bitch.

So, what's with all of the fuss about Stronach? Why has she suddenly become the most attacked woman in Canadian politics? Is it because of her blonde hair? Her money? Her looks?

We know nothing about other MPs personal lives -- not the men nor the women -- and for all we know, they could lead just as interesting lives.

They probably do.

So, to Mr. Spector, I say: Get a life.

The big scandal in Canada right now is over whether it is OK (or appropriate) to call Liberal MP Belinda Stronach a bitch.

It started out simply enough. Stronach was a Conservative MP, dating another Conservative -- Peter MacKay.

Then Stronach decided to "cross the floor" and switch to the Liberal party. The day she announced this move, the press went to town with MacKay, who posed on his farm with his dog looking woeful.

That was in the spring of 2005.

Jump to last week. This is how the whole bitch debacle started.

The besieged Tory MP was once again forced to deny he ever called his ex-girlfriend - and now Liberal - Belinda Stronach a dog in an off mike joke in the House of Commons last week.

The barely audible exchange supposedly has MacKay being asked by a Liberal "What about your dog?"

A voice can be heard saying something like "You have her" and critics charge MacKay pointed to her ex's empty seat as he said it.

- CityNews

Then, just as it seemed the issue was going to pass, a former Canadian ambassador to Israel (for the Conservative Mulroney government of the 1980s), Norman Spector, comes out on a Vancouver radio station calling Stronach a bitch.

He doesn't just say it once, but over and over.

Spector told a Vancouver radio talk show that Stronach's public breakup last year with Peter MacKay, who is now foreign affairs minister, as well as a role she is alleged to have had in the marital problems of former Toronto Maple Leaf Tie Domi, means she is a bitch.

"I think she's a bitch. It's as simple as that," Spector said. He added that he believed 90 per cent of men would agree, considering her involvement with the former National Hockey League player and her break-up with MacKay.

-Toronto Star

In case you're not privy to the Tie Domi thing -- basically, Stronach is dating the former Toronto Maple Leafs hockey player. He is going through a break up with his wife. For some reason, this makes Stronach a bitch.

So, what's with all of the fuss about Stronach? Why has she suddenly become the most attacked woman in Canadian politics? Is it because of her blonde hair? Her money? Her looks?

We know nothing about other MPs personal lives -- not the men nor the women -- and for all we know, they could lead just as interesting lives.

They probably do.

So, to Mr. Spector, I say: Get a life.

Of the 20 works of art to see before you die, I've viewed seven. How 'bout you?

From me and my monkey.

Yes, I am the guest blogger with nothing much to say.

Go read "Why feminists must stand against government oppression in Mexico."

Happy Halloween! I wanted to give you a Very Scary Picture, even if it's an older one. Here are all the happy wingnut gentlemen witnessing the signing of a ban on certain types of abortions.

If that doesn't frighten you how about a ride on the ghost train? For something warmer and gentler, watch a video about teaching English to the seniors. If that's too warm and human for you, would you like to know why Air America can't get any advertisers?

Chocolate is still the answer to most of the smaller problems in this life, so make sure that you are well supplied this Halloween. Have fun and be careful.

But whatever you do, don't try to dye your dog's white fur orange with food coloring for Halloween. It doesn't work, unless you had in mind a drowned-rat look.

Pushing marriage as a way to encourage stability isn’t just for President Bush anymore. Apparently, it’s also for soccer coaches. “Bulgarian soccer club Litex Lovech wants its talented striker, Ivelin Popov, to curb his wild off-field living.”

So what’s their solution? Order the 19-year-old player to get married by the end of the year. The wackiest bit? Popov has agreed to do it, saying (and I am really hoping there are either some translation or language barrier issues) that “I know I’m a very bad boy and I want to meet my 20th birthday as a married man.” Popov is planning to settle down with his current girlfriend and no longer wants to be reminded of his past. (Maybe someone should have suggested a similar strategy for Maurice Clarett?)

Sports Illustrated wants to know where the player’s union is, which is a valid question. The obvious follow up to that question, naturally, is just to snark about gold-diggers.

Still, we’d be very amused if Popov ended up marrying the Bulgarian equivalent of Anna Benson. Sometimes sports wives, such as Anna Benson, can be a handful.

(That second sentence is the caption to a picture of Benson holding a huge wad of money.)

Benson, a model, is the wife of major league baseball player Kris Benson and has been noted for her “outspoken personality”. It’s been alleged that her husband was traded to the Orioles from the Mets as a direct result of her antics, and apparently when Kris Benson returned to pitch at Shea Stadium, fans chanted “Let’s go Anna.” She’s also posed for FHM.

Wasn’t ordering a 19-year-old athlete to get married weird enough? Did SI really need to rely on trite stereotypes to make this story more appealing? I mean, OMG, some baseball player can’t control his wife! She’s running around *doing stuff* and posing in various states of undress for magazines. A handful is what you call an energetic kid. It’s not what you call an adult woman with the implication that she’s just not being managed well enough.

I can think of few things more disgusting than the rape and sexual assault of females. But, as Pinko Feminist Hellcat points out, there really is something more disgusting--the tacit approval of rape and sexual assault, and the blaming of victims. The cases presented here remind me, yet again, how outrageously irresponsible so many parents are, and how scornful our culture is of females. In my