Is that a Pearl in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

Ah, that's nice. It seems that McGuinty and RIM can't gush enough about each other (Record - Feb. 12 "McGuinty lauds RIM's Leaders"):

Brandishing a new BlackBerry Pearl like a TV pitchman, Premier Dalton McGuinty said the Waterloo invention shows all Ontario businesses the benefits of taking risks and ignoring naysayers.

(...)

"I then pull mine out of my pocket . . . and I tell people, as I did just recently in Pakistan and India, that as premier when I see one of these, I see much more than a very convenient, highly developed piece of wireless communications technology," said McGuinty.

(...)

While the billionaire RIM chair and co-chief executive officer insisted in his speech that he would not be so presumptuous as to proffer policy advice to the Liberals gathered here to work on their re-election platform for the Oct. 10 vote, he said they're on the right track.

"You've adopted and implemented very, very good and integrated policies for prosperity, very focused on innovation (and) investment. Cities are major wealth drivers," Balsillie said.

"Quite frankly, I think the fiscal policies of the government have been pretty untouchable and so I encourage what you're doing there. Keep driving the prosperity agendas."

(Record links are acting up today, so you'll just have to take my word for it.)

Now remember a while back when the Record reported the following? - (Feb. 2 - RIM execs among top donors to Liberals")

The link is no longer be accessible to non-subcribers, but here is the interesting part:

Research In Motion Ltd.'s top executives, who until last year largely stayed out of provincial politics, were among the top donors to the Ontario Liberal Party among individuals in 2006, according to party disclosures published by Elections Ontario.

A numbered corporation registered to Mike Lazaridis, RIM's co-chief executive officer, contributed $25,200. The Certified General Accountants Association of Ontario and Tribute Communities (York) Inc. were the only donors more generous than Lazaridis's numbered company.

RIM's other co-CEO, Jim Balsillie, his wife, Heidi, and Lazaridis's wife, Ophelia, each gave $14,000, making them the top donors among individuals.

I have a feeling that we are going to see that brand new Pearl popping out of McGuinty's pocket quite often in the upcoming election campaign.

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Meanwhile, it seems that Furious George has popped something else. Photo of the happy couple here. They are apparently planning to adopt a child.