Let's get ready to rumble, Republican style.

The primary season in America is always a fascinating thing to watch from afar, as contenders and pretenders battle it out in the quest for their respective parties nomination for the Presidency.

This year, while President Obama plans his re-election strategy (something tells me it will be along the lines of Tax the Rich), the Republicans have suddenly entered into a nasty, beer room brawl of a nomination process.

While the also rans have long since faded from view and the sideline participation of Ron Paul and Rick Santorum continues on the campaign trail, the real battle at the moment seems to be the very visceral dislike between Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney.

With the two candidates now seemingly locked into battle in Florida, separated by but a few polling points,  it would appear that the Gingrich rise has put a bit of the fear of Elohim into the Romney side.

To that end, the New York Times and the Washington Post blog Plum line outline the latest developments in the battle of the two top possibilities at the moment.

For those that think the Liberals and Conservatives have no limits when it comes to Canadian elections, gaze upon the latest salvo from Florida, now that's going negative...

New York Times-- Romney Embraces Attack Style Against Gingrich
Washington Post-- Romney paints Gingrich as mentally unstable

We're not sure how all this is going to play out.  We imagine the Romney moves will now be countered by something else from the Gingrich campaign, making for fascinating theatre but certainly a new level subterranean in the course of the debate.

Hmm, what's that we see, it could be that over there in the Republican bullpen there's someone warming up, should the mutually assured sense of destruction continue on, it could be that Chris Christie has to loosen up his arm after all!

Mr. Gingrich, please stay after Geography class...

We're not sure that the Prime Minister is going to be overly thrilled with a shout out from Newt Gingrich, what considering the current tone of the Republican race for the nomination and all that, but one thing is certain, Gingrich's political aside about Canadian oil and gas certainly brings the focus back onto Canada in the American debate, though perhaps with a rather shaky hold on the geography of the nation above the 49th.

In his speech Saturday night after his success in the South Carolina primary, Gingrich applauded Prime Minister Harper as a good friend of America, ready to provide their thirsty vehicles and industry with gas and oil if only the US government of the day (hello Mr. Obama) would get out of the way.

Gingrich, using the current Keystone stalemate as a political point, proclaimed that the President was pushing Canadians into the arms of the waiting Chinese government, seemingly ready to begin the shipment of oil and gas through Vancouver and on to China.

A handy bit of political imagery we imagine, though somewhat incomplete as to the facts and combining two issues, the Keystone pipeline and the proposed Northern Gateway almost as one.

Of course, the plan to ship oil and gas to China isn't destined to flow through Vancouver (at least it isn't yet, time will tell we guess) rather it is destined to head through Northern British Columbia to port a Kitimat or maybe Prince Rupert.

We understand than in the fast paced environment of a Republican primary season, a quick scan of a map probably isn't key to the political arguments, still it's probably helpful to the debate to at least know where the Chinese are planning to accept all of that oil and gas that the US Government doesn't seem to want.

The Huffington Post provides the content of the Gingrich call out, something destined we're sure to be number one on the viewing list for Opposition members in Ottawa.

One thing is certain, whether the oil and gas ever makes it to the coast of British Columbia, whether it's Vancouver, Kitimat or Prince Rupert, the NDP and the Liberals are going to make sure that the visual of a Gingrich/Harper alliance stands the test of time...

BC's strange little education job dispute

British Columbia's teachers' dispute continues on into its fourth month, a curious disruption of the educational process which sees classroom instruction continuing on, but such things as report cards but a blank sheet of a record of achievement.

The latest developments are finding students entering exam season, whether it be high school semester exams or the always controversial Foundation Skills Assessments, a creation which the Fraser Institute likes to use as a benchmark for educational success in the province and for which the teachers in particular has a rather strong dislike for.

Regardless, while the tests will go forward, it will be up to administration officials to offer up the marking and recording of results for them.

The nature of negotiations is also a curious thing, seemingly little in the way of progress has been made and it would seem that little will take place in the future as the British Columbia government examines the latest salvo from the BCTF, that of a contract demand of a pay hike of 15 per cent, something that dosen't seem to fit into the Christy Clark government's mantra of controlling costs and expense.

Left on the sidelines, parents and students, who await some kind of sign that work of their children will find some sense of accomplishment this year, though how that accomplishment will be acknowledged seems unknown at this point.

With little of substance to discuss from both the government and the BCTF, we're all left to divine the latest  developments, if there are any, from a variety of media sources.

Two articles of note from the Vancouver Province will most likely find a place on bulletin boards at BCTF offices across the province, as both Michael Smyth and Jon Ferry weigh in on the latest negotiating stance of the teachers.

Two columns that will surely send many of the teachers to the barricades as they say.

Or at least to the online journals, where the Tyee provides a little less contentious examination of the issues of the day, one that is a tad more friendly towards the BCTF, in some cases reading as though it came from the latest press release from the Federation.

To gain more background on the dispute, the always helpful blog by Janet Steffenhagen is there for resource material,  her Vancouver Sun blog The Report Card, provides a timeline of sorts for educational matters in the province.

At the moment, when it comes to public education its actually the only thing named Report Card that is being distributed, quite useful for those that are trying to make sense of a protracted dispute that sees no breakthrough on the horizon.

Let's get ready to rumble

The rough and tough sparring of the House of Commons is about to give way to the real thing in the ring, as Liberal MP Justin Trudeau and Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau.

The two who apparently carry on a spirited bit of debate on Twitter are taking their left hooks and upper cuts to the ring in aid of Breast Cancer research.

Trudeau may actually have an edge in boxing, he trained as one in his youth, though Brazeau it seems has his disciplines in the martial arts holding a second degree black belt.

Regardless it should make for a spirited bout, as neither of the participants seems to have a great deal of respect for each other.

The National Post has lovely rendition of a fight poster (see above left) as well as some background on this tale of the tape.

CTV Ottawa-- Justin Trudeau to fight Sen. Brazeau in boxing bout
Globe and Mail-- Trudeau picks fight with Senator, for a good cause
Hill Times-- The Fighter: starring Liberal MP Trudeau and Tory Senator Brazeau