Jungle jack you need more than a name change.

Well sometimes a good idea stops quick. Here is one of these so called good Ideas Stopped. maybe some of the spin doctors should have been more awake. what do you think?



NDP Leader Jack Layton questions the government on CPP management during question period in Ottawa, Thursday, May 28, 2009.

NDP name change could prove embarrassing in Quebec
Updated Fri. Aug. 14 2009 6:07 PM ET

The Canadian Press

HALIFAX -- Jack Layton has remained coy on the topic, but talk of a possible name change for the federal NDP generated growing buzz -- and in some cases outright bewilderment -- as the party opened its convention Friday in Halifax.

Layton has played down the significance of a movement afoot to drop the word "New" from the NDP, but if approved, the new moniker could be embarrassing for the party, particularly in Quebec.

Now abbreviated as the NPD in the province, the party faces the prospect of becoming known as the PD -- initials that sound like "pede," a derogatory term for a homosexual derived from the French word "pederaste."

Several delegates expressed concerns that the proposed name change could prove an awkward sell in a seat-rich province.

"I think it's a downside," said 26-year-old Ethan Cox of Montreal.

"If I'm going to be going out and trying to solicit votes, it's got to not have negative connotations in French."

Lisa Jackson said the party needs to consider the implications of dropping the word "New" from its 48-year-old name.

"If it's a derogatory term, then you'd have to widen debates within the party," the 28-year-old Toronto woman said.

"Definitely if there's a negative connotation to the French spelling of it, it's important to consider that."

Branding expert Glenda Rissman said the party needs to consider how a different name would translate -- and its potential to offend.

"Pede is not a great word," said Rissman, one of the founders of Q30 Design Inc., a Toronto-based design and branding firm.

"It's just going to create some negative press ... in this case, the acronym is essentially the name, so there's lots of things to consider."

The party also needs to determine whether the new name works well as an acronym and whether it can buy a website that matches its new identity, said Rissman.

"It's a pretty serious thing to do and there are serious implications," she said.

"In this case, there's more equity in the acronym than the fully spelled out name. People know the NDP."

Jim Bickerton, a political science professor in Antigonish, N.S., said Democratic success south of the border might be the driving force behind the idea to change the party's name.

"(With) the favourable impression of the Democratic Party in the United States now under (Barack) Obama's leadership, maybe things are coming together at this juncture for the Democratic Party as an alternative to the New Democratic Party," Bickerton said.

"They feel ... the name is no longer apt and somewhat misleading and also might be holding the party back, in the sense that if the party is perennially the new party, then they never get to be perceived as one of the established alternatives."

Toronto delegate Julian Benson said he opposed the idea because he felt it took the party away from the issues they should be grappling with, such as union rights and the economy.

"It's a distraction," said Benson, 23.

"The party is about ideas and policy rather than image and marketing."

The NDP's roots can be traced back to Calgary in 1932, when the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was founded. At the time, the party was a collection of socialist and labour supporters eager to bring about economic reforms after the Great Depression.

But the party became known as the New Democratic Party in 1961 after supporters agreed to drop the cumbersome moniker.

More recently, the federal Tories dropped the word, "Progressive," from their name and emerged as the Conservatives in December 2003. The name change came about after the Progressive Conservatives and Canadian Alliance, the successor to the Reform Party, agreed to merge.

In 2000, supporters of the Canadian Conservative Reform Alliance Party found themselves the butt of jokes when it was pointed out to them that their acronym would be CCRAP. The party later became known simply as the Canadian Alliance.

NDP delegates are expected to vote on the name change proposal Sunday.

Bone Heads

Please stop enough all ready with these guys.

Duck shoot video brings 3 arrests in Sask.
Last Updated: Saturday, August 8, 2009 | 9:05 PM CT
CBC News
A video posted on YouTube shows men firing a rifle at ducks swimming in a pond. Some of the shooting took place from a car window. (YouTube)Three Saskatchewan men have been arrested over a video recently posted on YouTube that shows men using rifles to shoot ducks on a pond illegally, sometimes from a car window.

Saskatchewan's Environment Ministry said the three will appear in court in Saskatoon on Monday on charges laid under federal and provincial wildlife protection laws. The men, who were released until their court appearance, are from a community in the Saskatoon area.

The ministry said the video was shot in rural Saskatchewan. The internet posting led to widespread public outrage over the shootings, which the ministry said resulted in a significant number of calls to the Turn in Poachers hotline.

The ministry said it was information from those calls that led to the arrests, which were carried out by provincial conservation officers, federal wildlife enforcement officers and RCMP.

According to Darrell Crabbe, executive director of the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation, the video indicates the men on it broke several hunting and firearms laws, including a prohibition on shooting out of a vehicle.

Gary Harrison, manager of the ministry's special investigations unit, said officers were able to pin down the location where the video was shot.

"It's close to the community that the arrests were made in," he said.

Harrison said more investigation is needed of the area where the video was shot.

Number not known
"Anybody who has watched the video knows that some birds have been killed and we really don't know how many that was," he said.

The video prompted the Toronto-based Humane Society of Canada to post a reward of $1,000 for information leading to the arrest of those shown in the internet posting.

Society executive director Michael O'Sullivan said the organization also got calls from people who wanted to help and they were directed to tip lines in both western provinces. O'Sullivan said he is pleased to hear of the arrests.

"I would like to commend all the members of the public who provided information. Canadians take cruelty to animals very seriously and they want to help out as best as they can," he said.