Free Speech

Check out this great post concerning free speech over at The Times of Winnipeg.

It's well worth reading.

Riding Shotgun!

I'ld just like to let everyone know that Bob and I will be posting at The Shotgun from time to time.

It's quite an honour to be asked to write with people who can... well let's be honest, write. Regardless we appreciate the invitation and we'll do our best which is all we can promise to do.

We'll still do most of our posting here at canadiancomment but we'll post selected material at The Shotgun with a 'crossposted at The Shotgun' tagline.

Now back to work!

PS: Did I link to The Shotgun enough?

crossposted at The Shotgun

Oh Kofi This Is Mint

Kofi Annan is at his best today saying that he was 'disappointed and surprised' to learn that his son was receiving payments from a company involved in the oil-for-food program.

So if Kofi is 'disappointed and surprised' about the actions of his son what words would describe his feelings toward a person who willingly stood by and did nothing while a couple hundred thousand people were murdered by a brutal tyrant?

Just curious.

crossposted at The Shotgun

Business Lost

Well after CIBC's actions the last couple of days it is safe to say that I won't be taking any of my business to them anytime soon.

I'm sure most of you have heard that for quite a while now CIBC has been faxing customer information to a junk yard down in the US. After the owner of the junk yard informed CIBC several times he finally resorted to the media since CIBC wouldn't do anything to stop it.

Well CIBC just lost a potential customer today. Today we find CIBC at it's ethical best:

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce accuses scrapyard operator Wade Peer of deliberately leaking confidential CIBC customer data and of violating Canadian privacy laws.

The bank's allegations, made in court filings yesterday, come just one business day after the bank publicly praised him for the way he protected confidential customer data that the bank had mistakenly faxed to him for more than three years.

Mr. Peer is seeking $3-million (U.S.) in damages from the bank in a Maryland court, claiming that the volume of faxes sent to his business, AllStar Sportsline Properties, by CIBC branches prevented him from communicating with his customers. As a result, he claims in the suit, his business failed.

In their brief, CIBC lawyers said: “Mr. Peer provided The Globe and Mail (a mass publication Toronto newspaper) and the Canadian television network CTV with confidential financial information about CIBC's customers — either from his own copies of the faxes or, as Peer now claims, from the materials his counsel had already placed on this Court's website.

“[Mr. Peer and AllStar] have already shown that they will misuse CIBC's confidential customer information. . . . None of this conduct can possibly be justified as a matter of fairness or common sense.”

So let me get this straight. The CIBC fraudulantly handles customer information. An individual informs them of what they are doing and yet they do nothing. He finally forces them to put a stop to it by speaking out to the media. The CIBC becomes worried about it's reputation and so it proceeds to blame the guy on the other end of the fax machine. Gotcha. Makes perfect sense.

That's it for now. I've got a letter to CIBC that I have to write.

Update @ 10:17am

If you want to send CIBC a message you can do it here.

Clueless In Orange

You've got to love your average NDP supporter. Tommy Douglas won the CBC's The Greatest Canadian contest thanks to an effort by the NDP to get it's members to vote for Douglas.

How clueless must a party's supporters be that they need a recommendation from party brass in who to vote for in a TV contest? From the NDP website:

The CBC contest in search of “The Greatest Canadian” is underway and Tommy Douglas, the father of Medicare and the first federal leader of the NDP, is in the finals. All Canadians are eligible to vote. Voting for Tommy is an excellent way for all Canadians to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Tommy Douglas (October 20).

Anyways.

You'll also find on the NDP's website a petition against the American 'Star Wars' project. The petition says:

WE, the undersigned residents of Canada, draw the attention of the House to the following:

THAT Canadians want to build a peaceful world based on human security;

THAT supporting Star Wars would undermine Canada’s proud tradition of supporting arms control;

THAT this new weapons system is destabilizing, expensive and doesn’t work;

THAT the development of the Star Wars missile defence was only permitted by abandoning one of the world’s most important arms control treaties: the Anti Ballistic Missile Treaty.

THEREFORE, your petitioners call upon Parliament to:

ACKNOWLEDGE that Canada will not participate in a Star Wars missile defence program and strongly condemns George Bush’s destabilizing plans;

WORK with our partners in peace for more arms control and to peacefully bring an end to the production and sale of weapons of mass destruction and any material used to build them; SAY “NO” to Star Wars.

So The Great Southern Horde is going to destabilize the world with their 'crazy' plans.

My question is: Where is the petition protesting against the Russian anti-missile system? Jack? Have you been reading the news the last few weeks? The latest news is:

Russia has successfully tested a modernised anti-ballistic missile at a range in the former Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan, its defence ministry says.

The A-135 missile is said to have successfully hit a training target.

The test suggests Russia has a working system in place around Moscow as the US presses ahead with the deployment of its new anti-ballistic missile (ABM).

My God! The Russians are destabilizing the world!

What a bunch of idiots these NDP'ers are. They are so obsessed with their anti-Americanism that they totally ignore this developement in Russia.

Does This Make Any Sense?

According to a poll conducted recently most Canadians believe university tuition should be free:

Most Canadians believe tuition fees are too high, and half say they want increases in federal spending on post-secondary education to go toward reducing tuition, a new poll shows.

Two out of three polled said tuition fees have reached an unacceptable level, while one in two said the federal government should provide a free university or college education to any qualified student who can't afford it.

Nearly seven in 10 said Ottawa should increase the amount it spends on post-secondary education. And many disagree with how the government now targets its spending: if Ottawa were to increase spending, fully half said the top priority should be reducing tuition. That response was well ahead of support for research funding, at 13 per cent.

Now did I miss something here? The intro to the article tells us that 50% of Canadians want university to be free. Then in the above quote the article says half want increased federal spending to reduce tuition. And then:

When asked to indicate the best way Ottawa could ensure all qualified people can get a post-secondary education, 30 per cent said to increase funding so tuition can be lowered - the most popular response.

So 30% want lower tuition costs and the author of this article somehow twists that to mean 50% want free tuition? What am I missing here?

The article also says that that Canadians think people who can't afford a university education should be able to get one for free. Excuse me but how many 18 year old kids can afford a university education? None of them can. That is why we provide student loans. You study now. Get a job later. Then pay off the loan. Where is the rocket science in this?

Israeli Rebirth

This BlogBurst piece is cross-posted by participating websites, to commemorate a milestone in Israel's history. The list of the participating sites is appended at the end of this post.

November 29, 2004:

Anniversary of the UN vote on Resolution 181


Today is the anniversary of the UN vote on resolution 181, which approved the partition of the western part Palestine into a predominately Jewish state and a predominately Arab state. (It is vital to recall that the UN partition plan referred to western Palestine, to underscore that in 1921 the eastern part was ripped off the Jewish National Home by the British Government and handed over to the then Emir Abdullah.)

The partition plan was approved by 33 to 13, with 10 abstentions.

The 33 countries that cast the "Yes" vote were: Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Byelorussia, Canada, Costa Rica, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Guatemala, Haiti, Iceland, Liberia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Sweden, Ukraine, Union of South Africa, USSR, USA, Uruguay, Venezuela. (Among other countries, the list includes the US, the three British Dominions, all the European countries except for Greece and the UK, but including all the Soviet-block countries.)

The 13 countries that chose the Hall of Shame and voted "No" were: Afghanistan, Cuba, Egypt, Greece, India, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Yemen. (Ten of these are Moslem countries; Greece has the special distinction of being the only European country to have joined the Hall of Shame.)

The ten countries that abstained are: Argentina, Chile, China, Colombia, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Honduras, Mexico, United Kingdom, Yugoslavia.

On November 30, 1947, the day following the vote, the Palestinian Arabs murdered six Jews in a bus making its way to Jerusalem, and proceeded to murder another Jew in the Tel-Aviv - Jaffa area. This was a prelude to a war that claimed the lives of 6,000 Jews, or 1% of the total Jewish population in 1948. This toll is the per capita equivalent of today's Canada losing 300,000 lives, or the US losing 3,000,000.

The object of the war, launched by the Arabs in the former Palestine and the armies of Egypt, Tansjordan, Syria and Lebanon (with help from other Arab countries), was to "throw the Jews into the sea". As the partition map indicates, however, rather than annihilate the Jewish population, the Arabs ended up with less territory than they would have gained by peaceful means.

In addition to the bloodshed in nascent Israel, immediately after the UN vote, Arabs attacks their Jewish neighbours in a number of Arab countries, the murders in Syria's Aleppo being the best known.

Bruised and bleeding, Israel prevailed nonetheless. May our sister-democracy thrive and flourish.

List of participating sites, in alphabetical order of site name

Anti Idiotarian Rottweiler
Arkansas Bushwacker
Armies Of Liberation
Bama Pachyderm
Biurchametz
Blimpish
Blithered
Blog Willy
Blue Rev
canadiancomment
Cao's Blog
Catholic Friends of Israel
Christian Patriot
Christian Action for Israel
Clarity and Resolve
Crusader War College
Cuanas
Danegerus
Daniel Davis
Flig
God Pigeon
Harald Tribune
Hatshepsut
Heretics Almanac
Hidden Nook
History Nerd
IceVikings
I Love America
Instant Knowledge News
IsraPundit
Israel Commentary
JPundit
Jersusalem Posts
Leaning Right News
Letter from Israel
Lindasog
MCNS
Martinipundit
Mererhetoric
Motnews
Mugged By Reality
Mystery Achievement
Mystical Paths
Naebunny
NetWMD
Nice Jewish Boy
Peaktalk
Protect Our Heritage
Reaganesque
Red Tigress
Riteturnonly
Shimshon9
Solomonia
Spitball Defense
Supernatural
Tampa Bay Primer
Techie Vampire
Texasbug
Tex The Pontificator
The Autism homepage
The Conservative
The Homeland
The Seal Club
Wackingday
Who's Your Rabbi
Voxfelisi
Yoan Hermida
Weblog of a Wondering Jew

The 'Ring' And The West

I came across a good article from 2003 comparing Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings to Richard Wagner's The Ring Of The Nibelungs.

I especially liked the ending as he compares the Hobbits to contemporary Americans:

Those who hold America in contempt for its lack of refinement (this writer always has held the term "American culture" to be an oxymoron) should think carefully about this conclusion. From their founding on Christmas Day 800 AD, when Charlemagne accepted the crown of the revived Roman Empire, the institutions of the West have been formed in response to external threat. The Holy Roman Empire of the High Middle Ages, Tolkien's conscious model for the Kingdom of Gondor, arose in response to the incursions of Arabs in the south, Vikings in the north, and Magyars in the West. Boorish and gruff as the new American Empire might seem, it is an anti-empire populated by reluctant heroes who want nothing more than to till their fields and mind their homes, much like Tolkien's Hobbits. Under pressure, though, it will respond with a fierceness and cohesion that will surprise its adversaries.

Orcs of the world: Take note and beware.

Indeed.

More Changes Needed

Now that the CRTC has removed all restrictions from allowing FOXNews in Canada it is time that the CRTC remove all programming restrictions from CTV Newsnet:

"The issue is fairness," said Robert Hurst, president, CTV News. "This makes Fox News the sixth American television news service to be approved for broadcast in Canada - without any format restrictions. In fact, CTV Newsnet continues to be the only English-language television news service, which must operate under severely restrictive conditions."

"We have entered a new era in which American news choices dominate English-language Canadian television. Canadians have a right to increased, enhanced, unmistakably Canadian news sources, with the ability to compete head-on with Fox News or any other foreign news channels. That's what our application is all about. And today's CRTC announcement makes it more urgent than ever," said Hurst.

CTV applied Aug. 25, 2004, for a change in its licence conditions that requires it to air rigid "newswheel" segments every 15 minutes. It is limited in its ability to air breaking news. CTV Newsnet is the only English-language news service that operates under such restrictions. It is seeking to remain a headline news service in its application, but with greater flexibility to bring Canadians the headline news of the day.

The restrictions CTV operates under are totally draconian whose only purpose is to protect the franchise of CBC Newsworld. There is no place for such restrictions on a Canadian news channel in this day and age. The CRTC has to grow up and recognize that it's job is not to protect us from 'un-Canadian' ideas or to protect one television station from the competition of another.

Fallujans And Foreign Fighters

From The Jordan Times we have this story about the 'Arabs' who terrorized Falluja:

Fallujans are furious at the foreign fighters who controlled and terrorised their city before they were driven out by a massive US-led assault.

“Their arrival turned the victorious Fallujah of the early fighting into the capital of crime,” says one man, from Al Jughaifi neighbourhood, who was among the tens of thousands to flee Fallujah before the attack.

In April, Fallujah had become a symbol for insurgent groups across Iraq after its fighters held off a US-led push against the Sunni bastion.

Since then, the city of 300,000 became a theocratic no-go zone and a hub for criminals who, posing as resistors, imposed a rule of terror and developed a brutal trade in hostage-taking.

None of the residents who spoke to AFP accepted having their names published, as the fear of retaliation from the infamous foreign fighters still runs high.

But everyone of them has an anecdote or a comment on the handful of fighters who instilled fear among the population and whom Iraqis refer to as “Arabs.”

“Throat-cutting is the only thing they know, they used to terrorise us,” said one Fallujan, who found refuge with relatives in Baghdad.

“They wreaked havoc in the city and the fighters from Fallujah did nothing to stop them,” another resident said.

It is difficult to know how many foreign fighters were in Fallujah before US and Iraqi forces launched the largest postwar military offensive against the rebel bastion, but most estimates put the figure at around 500.

“Lately, some residents were even secretly been hoping that the Americans would invade the town and rid them of the Arab fighters,” said one resident.

He claimed that some slogans hostile to the fighters had been inscribed on walls in Fallujah. “No to the presence of Arab fighters” or “the sons of Fallujah can take care of their own defenc,” read some of them.

Most displaced people interviewed by AFP explained that the bulk of these fighters — from countries such as Algeria, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen — arrived after the “April victory.”

Why do the people who oppose US actions in Iraq refuse to listen to the actual voices of average Iraqis? I guess the usual stories of grateful Iraqis just doesn't make good headlines.

It's a shame that these people have to suffer because the UN and our national media don't care.

Liberal Exxxonomics

The Liberal Party is once again doing it's best to improve Canada's economic performance.

Worried about the economic prospects of the erotic dancing industry, Immigration Canada has taken it upon themselves to bail out the industry:

New Democratic MP Pat Martin yesterday accused two top aides of Immigration Minister Judy Sgro of issuing a "thinly veiled" threat to deny ministerial permits to his constituents if he criticized her conduct in granting a Canadian-resident permit to a Romanian stripper.

Mr. Martin said he was afraid to question Ms. Sgro's handling of the controversy after he received calls from Marc Khouri, the director of parliamentary affairs in her office, and another senior aide, Rene Ouellet.

He claims Ms. Sgro's advisors read a list of applications for temporary-resident permits from people in his Winnipeg Centre riding and implied they would be denied if he attacked her in the Commons for fast-tracking the stripper's application after she worked on Ms. Sgro's election campaign.

"I kept my mouth shut so far because I don't want to lose my ability to get ministerial permits when I need them," Mr. Martin said in an interview. "The thinly veiled message there was if you enjoy being able to achieve ministerial permits, you should stop criticizing this ministerial permit. You would to be an idiot not to read between the lines."

His allegations came as Ms. Sgro faced another day of intense questioning in the Commons and told reporters there was "a labour market need" for importing foreign exotic dancers.

"It's an industry that is in Canada. You have to recognize that it is," she said. "Otherwise, you'd have to wipe out the whole industry."

This is simply another example of the Liberal Party having gone off it's meds. Canada needs more strippers? Really.

I wonder how funny Judy Sgro finds all of this. She doesn't actually take herself seriously does she? Could she? With a straight face Ms. Sgro can actually tell us that the strippers applications wasn't fast tracked after working on Ms. Sgro's election campaign. These people are beyond belief.

I've read about Canada having a shortage of doctors, scientists, and high-tech workers. Never have I read in any Canadian newspaper about stripclubs going out of business due to a lack of workers. Perhaps I'm reading the wrong newspapers.

We're All Screwed

According to a study here in Ontario drinking too much water is unhealthy for you:

DRINKING WATER when you're not thirsty could be harmful to your health, according to a surprise finding of medical researchers studying the health fallout from Walkerton's tainted water tragedy. "We think we have the rare opportunity to identify a problem that will have a huge impact on the general population," Bill Clark, a kidney specialist and chair of the Walkerton Health Study, said Thursday.

Well isn't that just wonderful. So how long will it be before bottled water has health warnings on them? The government better get on this quickly before we have an epidemic of kidney disease.

Sometimes I'ld like to find the people doing these studies and just slap them a few times. We micromanage our lives enough as it is these days that we don't have to keep adding to the stupidity. A society that can worry about such things has way to much time on it's hands.

Maybe we should force people to do 10 hours of forced labour a week so that they don't have time to worry about such minutia.

Dumbing Down

Here is a test for 11-year-old kids from 1898.

Sure. School standards haven't fallen over the years. Of course not.

Are They Serious?

You know your position on the separation of church and state is totally messed up when you start to believe that things like this make sense:

A California teacher has been barred by his school from giving students documents from American history that refer to God -- including the Declaration of Independence.

Steven Williams, a fifth-grade teacher at Stevens Creek School in the San Francisco Bay area suburb of Cupertino, sued for discrimination on Monday, claiming he had been singled out for censorship by principal Patricia Vidmar because he is a Christian.

"It's a fact of American history that our founders were religious men, and to hide this fact from young fifth-graders in the name of political correctness is outrageous and shameful," said Williams' attorney, Terry Thompson.

"Williams wants to teach his students the true history of our country," he said. "There is nothing in the Establishment Clause (of the U.S. Constitution) that prohibits a teacher from showing students the Declaration of Independence."

Do the idiots at Stevens Creek School not realize that their position doesn't make any sense. They ultimately claim that religion has no place in American schools based on the founding documents of the United States (i.e. the Constituation, Bill of Rights, etc...). Now they want to ban those same documents because they refer to God.

Bizarre.

[Via small dead animals]

Martin Tries To Make A Good Impression

Paul Martin has been in Sudan this week trying to impress the locals. Unfortunately this is probably not the best way to go about it.

Nice Van

I posted this in a comment to one of Bob's posts but I just had to mention it again here since I was so impressed.

The weather driving home from Ottawa today totally sucked. It was wet, slippery, and all around nasty. Anyways, we're about halfway home and I noticed the van just ahead of us had something written all over the back of it. We get a bit closer and what do I see but 'Tired of being fucked by the government'.

The first thought to go through my head was... awesome!

Then we notice that there was more written on the side so we speed up a bit and am greeted with 'We used to sent criminals to jail now we elect them' and 'Drop your pants, bend over, and grab your ankles'.

Sweet!

The better-half assumed it was some friend of mine which unfortunately it wasn't.

Van guy. If you're out there let me know. I'll take you out for a few beers.

A Piece Of Wisdom

Theodore Dalrymple is a physician who has worked in prison and hospital wards throughout Britian for the last 14 years. Dalrymple is planning to retire from his work as a physician in the coming months and I'm dearing hoping that he doesn't retire his writing career as well.

His writings quite possibly provide the most insightful and direct observations on human behaviour you'll find on the Internet.

His latest piece The Frivolity of Evil is another must read. In it he describes the small evils that people commit and how the welfare state actively encourages such behaviours. He says:

The result is a rising tide of neglect, cruelty, sadism, and joyous malignity that staggers and appalls me. I am more horrified after 14 years than the day I started.

Where does this evil come from? There is obviously something flawed in the heart of man that he should wish to behave in this depraved fashion—the legacy of original sin, to speak metaphorically. But if, not so long ago, such conduct was much less widespread than it is now (in a time of much lesser prosperity, be it remembered by those who think that poverty explains everything), then something more is needed to explain it.

A necessary, though not sufficient, condition is the welfare state, which makes it possible, and sometimes advantageous, to behave like this. Just as the IMF is the bank of last resort, encouraging commercial banks to make unwise loans to countries that they know the IMF will bail out, so the state is the parent of last resort—or, more often than not, of first resort. The state, guided by the apparently generous and humane philosophy that no child, whatever its origins, should suffer deprivation, gives assistance to any child, or rather the mother of any child, once it has come into being. In matters of public housing, it is actually advantageous for a mother to put herself at a disadvantage, to be a single mother, without support from the fathers of the children and dependent on the state for income. She is then a priority; she won't pay local taxes, rent, or utility bills.

As for the men, the state absolves them of all responsibility for their children. The state is now father to the child. The biological father is therefore free to use whatever income he has as pocket money, for entertainment and little treats. He is thereby reduced to the status of a child, though a spoiled child with the physical capabilities of a man: petulant, demanding, querulous, self-centered, and violent if he doesn't get his own way. The violence escalates and becomes a habit. A spoiled brat becomes an evil tyrant.

...

Ultimately, the moral cowardice of the intellectual and political elites is responsible for the continuing social disaster that has overtaken Britain, a disaster whose full social and economic consequences have yet to be seen. A sharp economic downturn would expose how far the policies of successive governments, all in the direction of libertinism, have atomized British society, so that all social solidarity within families and communities, so protective in times of hardship, has been destroyed. The elites cannot even acknowledge what has happened, however obvious it is, for to do so would be to admit their past responsibility for it, and that would make them feel bad. Better that millions should live in wretchedness and squalor than that they should feel bad about themselves—another aspect of the frivolity of evil. Moreover, if members of the elite acknowledged the social disaster brought about by their ideological libertinism, they might feel called upon to place restraints upon their own behavior, for you cannot long demand of others what you balk at doing yourself.

I fear that over time our society is losing it's 'civilizing' abilities and in time will lead to a tyrannical government. I don't think it is too far of a stretch. When I grew up on PEI we never locked our doors. Heck we couldn't lock the doors since the stinking lock didn't work. But we never worried. Today, even on PEI you would be crazy to leave your house unlocked. Cottages are broken into on a regular basis and if you leave anything of value in your yard then you better ensure that you have it chained to something.

How have things come to this? Why can't people feel secure in their own communities? Dalrymple informs us that in 1921 there was one crime for every 370 people in England and Wales. Today that number has risen to one crime for every 10. I have no reason to believe the numbers would be much different for Canada. What has led to this?

I know the answer is certainly complex with many probably causes. Dalrymple's insight into this subject is impressive.

As he says elsewhere in the article '... sooner or later the summation of small evils leads to the triumph of evil itself.'

Here's To Goodbye

If I didn't think he was such a conniving weasel I'ld almost feel sorry for him.

Sometimes I Wonder

What is the Conservative Party thinking? Jay brings to our attention the Conservative Party's support to ban trans-fat.

One of the major concerns I have about Canada's only major conservative party is that is doesn't have a freaking clue. OK perhaps that is a bit more than a 'major concern'. Regardless, I don't want the government telling me what to eat or what not to eat. I don't care that I will have a 0.5% increased chance of a heart attack in 20 years if I eat 5000 lbs of potato chips. Now if I dropped dead an hour after eating a handful of chips then I'ld appreciate their concern. Otherwise this is just another example of government sticking it's nose where it doesn't belong.

I don't want the government micro-managing my very existence.

Since I sat down at the computer I've probably eaten about thirty Whoppers. This can't possibly be good for me. Anyone from the Conservative Party wanna come down and take my blood pressure?

Idiots.

Socialism Is Your Friend

I thought this was so funny I figured I'ld post it in it's entirety:

SOCIALISM IS YOUR FRIEND

Look at it this way:

You go to the pie shop and realize that you only have enough money for one slice of pie. Then in walks Bill Gates who proceeds to buy all the pies and leaves you standing there completely pieless. Is that fair? Why does he get all the pies? Shouldn't he be made to share some of his pies instead of hording them all? Socialism says "YES, everyone is entitled to a piece of the pie! For now on, all pie shops will be under the control of The People, and The People will decide how to distribute the pies fairly and equitably."

Imagine a world where, instead of walking into a pie shop and hoping, PRAYING you have enough money for one itty bitty little piece of pie, you simply put your name on a waiting list for the priviledge to go before a special commitee, who will carefully determine how deserving you are of pie, and will then give you a slice of pie FOR FREE!!!!! Never again will anyone have to pay for pie, and never again will one man be able to horde ALL the pie. No more will people compete to get more pie than their neighbor. Everyone will be entitled to exactly the same amount of pie, with the exception of the People on the Pie Committee, who will get extra pie because they wear party pins.

How do you get a party pin? Well, you have to join the Party, and that will cost you a fee of 100 pies. Then you have to be approved by the party leader, MOI, and I don't like the shape of your nose. In fact, I think you're being greedy by coming around and asking for pie all the time when the People are starving in the streets. "I want pie! I want pie! ME ME ME ME ME!!!!" You are putting your needs above the needs of The People, and that just won't do. Your selfish attitude is harmful to The People, and you're the reason everyone is starving. It's because of YOU that there aren't enough pies to go around. The only way we're going to make this a perfect Socialist Utopia is if we put a stop to big-nosed, pie-stealing scum like you sabotaging the system! THE PEOPLE MUST BE CLEANSED OF YOUR DISEASE!!!! GET ON THE BOXCAR!!!! NOW!!!!

So the next time some right-wing extemist asks if you're a socialist, just smile and say, "I like pie".

Now why couldn't I come up with something like that. BlameBush! is a must read blog.

War Crimes

Did I ever mention that I hate most of the mainstream media? The recent coverage of the marine who was caught on video shooting a combatant is a perfect reminder of why the mainstream media makes me want to pull my hair out.

All over the world, the media trumpeted the charge that the marine had commited a war crime.

I am not sure as to the exact details of the case in question but I can tell you this... the combatant was in no way protected under the Geneva Convention. In every instance the media should make it a point to mention that tiny little detail.

None of these combatants in Iraq qualify for the protections outlined in the Geneva Convention and anyone who suggests otherwise has no understanding of International Law. As well do the people who want such protections granted to the insurgents in Iraq really want to deal with the consequences of such a precedent?

Do these people really want to make it acceptable to use civilians as shields? Do they want to make it acceptable to target children?

The rules outlined in the Geneva Conventions were put there for a reason. That reason was to ensure war was fought in as much of a humane manner as possible. Granting such rights to the insurgents turns such reasoning totally on it's head.

And not only does the fact that the 'rules of war' are being permanently blurred worry me, but the lack of context equally worries me. The world gets in an uproar about the actions of one marine and yet were are these voices of outrage when a public space is bombed by the insurgents? Where the hell is it!?

Jane Novak writing for the Arab News reflects my frustration:

What a glaring double standard. The Arab world is enraged over the shooting of a wounded, unarmed Iraqi insurgent by a uniformed US soldier.

There is no similar outrage for Margaret Hassan. Is it because she was an Anglo, a woman, or because a Muslim killed her?

The video of the soldier shooting is proof, we are told, of America’s evil. And the kidnapping, torture and murder of Mrs. Hassan is then proof of what? That America is evil! Muslims wouldn’t do that unless evil America forced their hand.

Bombing children, defiling mosques, kidnapping civilians, executing poor workers and cleaning out women — these are not discussed or broadcast with frequency, or invoke much anger. Videos where a masked man shakes a bloody head while the curtains flutter do not evoke such fury. Why? The identity of the victim or the perpetrator?

All tactics of the insurgents are excused. Hide among civilians. Justified. Wear civilian clothes. Justified. Shoot from a mosque. Justified. Feign death to draw soldiers in (the way one Marine died the day before the incident). Justified. Wave a white flag as a ploy. Justified. Booby-trap dead bodies. Justified. That’s just Fallujah.

Moving outward — Deliberately killing Iraqi civilians daily. Justified. Bombing churches. Justified. Bombing cafes. Justified. Using schools and mosques as arsenals. Justified. Attacking the police. Just fine.

The rules of war don’t apply to the insurgents, only the Americans. And if one horrible act occurs at the hands of one American soldier, the world howls.

Go read the whole thing.

The Odds

What are the odds that this holds out for at least a year?

My guess. Zero.

But hey, at least the bureaucrats at the UN can feel like they've earned their paychecks.

Finally Some Sanity

[Via Nealenews]

Why is it that Rex Murphy is the only person at the CBC who speaks sense anymore. I suspect that I probably disagree with Murphy on a lot of issues but at least he thinks through the events that Canada is faced. Today he discusses Carolyn Parrish's latest antics:

A lot of private Canadians have said a lot worse about U.S. and a whole lot about George Bush. But there's one Canadian who is not a private citizen, she's an MP who's almost worked up a whole vaudeville act built on strands of anti-Americanism and condescending or straight up insults either to the Americans themselves, "Damn Americans, I hate those bastards, coalition of the idiots," or to their president and head of state.

She doesn't hold Mr. Bush in any esteem whatsoever and seems to think it's part of her function as an MP to seek out increasingly ridiculous venues, it used to be the Mike Bullard show, to air her meagre tiny distempers. Now on the eve of the President's visit, Miss Parrish has obliged "22 Minutes" by doing a little number on a George Bush doll.

Pure enlightenment. Miss Parrish occasionally makes the claim that she's extending the debate, that she's standing up to the Americans and all sorts of noble stuff about the right to free speech. I don't know. "Idiots, damn Americans, I hate those bastards," that "22 Minutes" jig, these are words and actions that belong to the classroom show-off, the needy clown, attention getting by means of insult and crude display. They're nothing but "Look at me insulting George Bush and sticking it to the Yanks." It's juvenile, it's smug, and it's vulgar. It will amuse only very limited minds, and it will offend a great number of Americans, even those who do not support George Bush but who don't like to see their head of state derided by second rate comments and third rate stunts by one of our members of Parliament.

I don't want to see her muscled. Far from it. Let her continue to air her angry heart's content. The deeper embarrassment here is to herself, however long the realization is in coming. And one last note: A lot of people who think George Bush is the stupid party ought to visit a mirror. For "The National," I'm Rex Murphy.

Go check all of Rex's material. He's the only one worth reading at the CBC.

Oh This Is Mint

[Via La Shawn Barber's Corner]

I've ranted with friends before about people changing the terms B.C. to B.C.E. and A.D. to C.E. It drives me nuts when I see books and whatnot changing these terms. A while back a museum in Toronto caused a stink when they dated their exhibits with the 'common' notations.

Well Selwyn Duke does an awesome job showing how stupid such a thing is:

All joking aside, their reasoning is the epitome of specious logic. B.C. and A.D. certainly are reflective of Christianity, but everything is reflective of something. For instance, since we’re talking about our calendar, it’s instructive to note that every single month’s name is of Roman origin. A few examples: July and August were named after Julius and Augustus Caesar. January and March were named after Janus and Mars, the Roman pagan gods of war, and of gates and doors and entrances and exits, respectively. September, November and December are named after the Latin [which was the language the Romans spoke] words for seven, nine and ten, respectively. Should we rename our months? After all, relatively few people are of Roman descent.

Then there’s the fact that we use the Roman alphabet [although they learned it from the Etruscans] and Arabic numerals [invented by the Hindus, most likely]. Yet, I never hear anyone say that we should dispense with those designations because they might offend those not of Roman, Etruscan, Arabic or Hindu lineage. Or, how about the fact that English, which is spoken in all corners of the Earth now, bears the name of a people on a small island in the Atlantic?

And what about our cities and states? Many of them bear names that are reflective of Christian influence: Los Angeles [the Angels], Sacramento [the Sacraments] and Corpus Christi [the Body of Christ], to name a few. But, then, some are reflective of French influence, such as Baton Rouge and Louisiana; some are reflective of American Indian influence, such as Chappaqua, Saratoga, Illinois, Texas and twenty-five other states; some are reflective of Spanish influence, such as Palo Alto, Los Alamos and over two-thousand other places. And, of course, there’s the fact that our country was named after the explorer Amerigo Vespucci. There go those Italians again, hogging all the influence.

Methinks much offense can be taken, so some remedial action is in order. Here are my suggestions: our months should be renamed and referred to as “Common Month One,” “Common Month Two,” etc. Then, our alphabet can be called “the Common Alphabet,” our numbers “the Common Numerals” and English “the Common Language.” Then we must resolve to rename our states “Common State One,” “Common State two,” all the way up to fifty, assigning them the Common Numbers based on the order in which they entered our Common Union. The end of this good start – but only the beginning of a journey toward total sensitivity – will be to take the lead among nations and rename America “Common Nation 192.” Why Common Number 192? Well, that’s how many nations exist at present, and we wouldn’t want to be so insensitive as to take Common Number One for ourselves simply because we were so privileged as to be sensitive first. Now, I don’t expect other nations to follow suit immediately, but I reckon that when our common-sense extends across the Common Oceans and to the common folk, Common Continents one through six will become sensitized to sensitivity.

I simply couldn't agree more.

Israeli Reality

Joey Tartakovsky does a very good job of describing Israel's place in the world:

If it puffs Syrian or Egyptian pride vis-à-vis Israel to do at the UN what they could not do on the battlefield—win—then let them posture. It does not change the fact that Israelis are rich and powerful and free, and Syrians and Egyptians are poor and illiterate and weak. Does anyone doubt that grudge and envy do not fire their anger against Israel, a country of six million? Israel’s neighbors have fallen so far behind the rest of the world in the globalizing era that their literacy rates lag behind those of sub-Saharan Africa. Spain translates more books in a year than the entire Arab Middle East has in the last thousand years.

Meanwhile, Israel has transformed a resource-poor land the size of New Jersey into a proud and unapologetic democracy that wins wars. Self-investment, openness and unbound inquiry have catapulted Israel to world leader in medical, military and internet technology, developers of everything from the agricultural equipment used in the valleys of California and AOL Instant Messenger to our ballistic missile defense system. A commitment to economic liberty and the rule of law have grown Israel’s economy larger than those of South Africa and Argentina, whose populations number 42 million and 39 million, respectively. Critics whine that Israelis possess tanks while Palestinians wield only rocks. It does not seem to register with them that Israel has tanks because Israel invented tanks. (It’s called the Merkava, from the Biblical word for “chariot.”) Out of twelve Nobel prizes awarded this year, Israelis received two. These are the earned fruits of a free society.

The Holocaust destroyed forever the universe of European Jewry from which Einstein, Freud and Marx emerged—its culture, language, and two-thirds of its lives. But one of the most curious aspects of this narrative is that the survivors did not allow themselves to drown in a black ocean of loss and pity, or pledge eternal revenge against Germany. Instead, they set about to rebuild, painfully, but inspirited by a deep sense of faith and dignity. This moral character explains why Israel has never produced a suicide bomber, and why Palestine has never produced a real Nobel laureate. History is made not by unseen social forces but by men, and it matters dearly in the determination of a nation’s fate whether its Founding Fathers are men like David Ben-Gurion, Chaim Weizmann and Abba Eban and whether they are men like Hajj Amin al-Husseini, Sheik Ahmed Yassin and Yasir Arafat.

Go read the whole thing.

Addressing The Democratic Deficit

Paul Martin made a big deal about addressing the democratic deficit in Canada during the last election campaign. And what has he done since taking office. Well nothing of course which is just about what I figured he would do.

Paul Martin has a golden opportunity to reinforce democratic values in our country by appointing some of Alberta's 'senators in waiting' that will be elected in the provincial election. Martin's response to this is:

I have long been an advocate of Senate reform. However, I do not believe, Mr. Speaker, that doing Senate reform piecemeal really would bring us the desired result. In fact, what it would quite well do is, in fact, simply exacerbate a number of the problems.

So, Mr. Speaker, what I think we should to is to look at Senate reform but look at it in its entirety.

What is the desired result Martin speaks of here? A senate dominated by Liberal appointees?

And how exactly does appointing these 'senators in waiting' not bring about the desired result? The desired result is to have a more representative senate through direct elections. Isn't it?

No Comment?

According to Zaman Online the Russians have developed some sort of anti-missle shield:

According to the Russian news agencies Interfax and ITAR-Tass, Putin disclosed that the trials of new missile shields system were complete and that the new missiles will be ready to use within a few years.

The details are few and far between so it is kind of difficult to determine what this system involves.

But my questions are... Why isn't Jack Layton screaming about nuclear armageddon? Why is Carolyn Parrish not screaming about those 'idiot' Russians?

Oh I forgot... Vladimir Putin isn't American.

Now You Can Be A Moonbat Too!

Finally I'll be able to participate in the Democratic Underground forums. With Sean's Autorantic Virtual Moonbat you can too. Here is my first conspircay theory:

Once again, the Nazis have STOLEN the so-called "election"!!! The henchmen of Karl Rove gassed minority voters in France!!!!!!!!! And their last-minute SCARE TACTICS of accusing John Kerry of being a space bunny, and trying to focus on character instead of REAL ISSUES like dental insurance were calculated to frighten so-called "chimps" into VOTING!!!! If you're not FURIOUS about this, then you're a BIG IDIOT!!!!!!!

It's almost poetic.

[Via Daimnation!]

Whoa!

[Via Nealenews]

According to Gene Johnson of the AP Canadians are urging American lefties to move to Canada.

Apparently Canada has suffered a horrendous genocide because, according to Johnson, the only remaining Canadian is a Vancouver lawyer named Rudi Kischer. Kischer is giving information sessions to Americans who have an interest in immigrating to Canada. I don't want to call these people whiners. I don't want to call them idiots either. So instead I'll give them 10 reasons not to move to Canada. Here goes...

The top 10 reasons for an American not to move to Canada:

10) Killer squirrels. These squirrels are strong enough that two of them can carry off a small child. Bad. Very bad.
9) Do I have to tell you about the cold? You Americans are soft. You won't make through February.
8) Due to how close we are to the North Pole there are only two hours of daylight during the winter months. Yes Toronto too. Those two hours are usually spent knocking the snow off of the roof and hunting squirrels for food.
7) Horrible hair. Horrendous. Have you ever heard of hat-head?
6) Hockey is mandatory. As I said in reason #9 you people are soft and won't make it through an hour of shinny.
5) Due to our obsession with reason #6 most Canadians are lucky if they have more than twelve teeth. During the harsh winter months most of us are reduced to gumming frozen squirrel meat for sustenance.
4) Taxes are so high in Canada that most Canadians have to spent two hours a day hunting squirrels. All Canadian taxes are paid with squirrel pelts. Due to restrictions on gun ownership most Canadians must hunt for squirrels using a large stick or a small frozen piece of rubber called a puck.
3) Contrary to what you have heard igloos are NOT warm.
2) Travelling is dangerous in Canada. Dog-sled teams are known to eat their owners if they get sufficiently hungry.
1) Scurrvy!

Well Said

Mike at Cold Fury has a must read post about the left and its view of the world. A small sample:

Okay, is anybody but me sick yet of the Left’s floundering and flailing about, trying to find any way they possibly can to blame somebody else for their failure to espouse a message remotely palatable to the majority of eligible American voters? Is anybody but me wishing right about now that somebody would clong them upside the head with a shovel and say, “Look, morons, here’s the deal….”?

Well, let’s try this then. Let’s stipulate for the sake of argument that everything the Left claims to fear about the Bush admin and mainstream red-state America is true.

Yep, that’s right, you commie bastiches, we’re coming for you. It’s only a matter of time now until you hear that late-night knock on the door you’ve been dreading all along. Our jack-booted gendarmerie is going to be working overtime rounding up every non-white and non-rich subject of our fascist regime, and we’re going to be baking every last one of you into pies that we’ll then refuse to share with the poor and hungry. We’ll be baking those pies in coal-fired ovens, and those ovens will be devoid of any sort of exhaust-scrubber whatever, because we want to release all the toxic gases and chemicals we can into the atmosphere.

...

All of that: so stipulated. Now, the question for you moonbat Lefty baglappers: what the hell are you going to do about it?

I mean, seriously; if you truly believe that all this is now in the process of happening right before your very eyes, doesn’t it become incumbent upon you, as the most basic imaginable of moral obligations, to do something to prevent it, or overturn it? I mean, obviously, you tried peaceful means of stopping us, but that didn’t work—because us right-wingnuts rigged the election and disenfranchised everybody. And you can’t go to the courts because they’re in the Bushitler’s pocket too, all the way up to the Supreme Court, which you’ve been saying for four years now illegally handed him the White House after the tainted 2000 “election.” So your last legal, nonviolent means of resistance has been taken away from you, and you can’t even count on the media to publicize the reality of what’s going on because of their right-wing slant, their fondness for the status quo, and of course the fact that they’re really nothing but money-grubbing corporations themselves whose only concern is the bottom line.

So what’s left, Lefties? Where do you go from here? What are you gonna do about it?

I’ll tell you what you’re going to do about it: you’re not going to do one damned thing but continue with your whining, that’s what, and it’s not because deep down you’re all cowards either. It’s because deep down, you know you’re full of shit. You don’t even believe half the stuff you’re currently crying about yourselves.

Because if you did, you wouldn’t be talking about it. You wouldn’t be writing whiny letters to the editor; you wouldn’t be fearfully mincing down to the Canadian Consulate to half-seriously inquire about moving; you wouldn’t be sitting in coffee houses denouncing the moronic inhabitants of Jesusland with your fellow smug, self-satisfied pseudo-hip doofuses. You’d be gearing up and arming yourselves for the fight of your lives. And much to your surprise, you’d have a lot of us over here on the right offering to help load mags.

Go read the whole thing.

This Is Nice To See

Isn't this a wonderful problem to have.

If this is what is considered a problem in today's Afganistan then you'ld be hard pressed to convince me that the country isn't better off than it was 4 years ago.

I'm Pissed!

I thought John Ashcroft was going to throw all the moonbats into prison.

His role in creating the American facist state has been an utter and total failure.

Damn him! He let me get my hopes so high...

I Think So!

SporkGoddess posted this brilliant idea in one of the ProtestWarrior.com forums:

I had the best idea ever... the Communist Exchange Program.

We take the pro-capitalism people from communist countries (the ones who, y'know, risk their lives to escape them), and trade the communists in capitalist countries for them! Plenty of people for both sides... It's a win/win situation!

Brilliant! Absolutely freaking brilliant!

Imagine such a world. To all of you who support the Green Party... straight to North Korea you go. Let's see how much you love nature after a year of eating grass and bark.

Oh the justice!

Don't Doubt Their Patriotism

You gotta love those Democrats. During the entire election they kept complaining about people questioning their patriotism. We can ignore the fact that most of their complaints were self delusions but they were convinced that they loved America as much as the average Republican.

Actually in most instances they claimed that they loved their country more.

Well if what they claimed was indeed the case why is there so much talk about immigrating to Canada or seceeding from 'red America' from those who supported Democratic candidates?

When Republicans lose an election, and they've lost plenty, their supporters never say make such suggestions.

It's just an observation. I'm not suggesting anything. Really I'm not. Really.

Freedom Of Speech

Here is a shot from the Netherlands of a mural being removed because it offended Muslims.


Any free nation willing to accept that the phase 'Thou Shalt Not Kill' is hate speech has no ability to defend itself.

Oh The Justice!

Quotes from Iraqi interim defence minister Hazem Sha'alan before the attack on Fallujah began last night:

"Where was Kofi Annan when Saddam was slaughtering the Iraqis like sheep?"

...

"Where were the calls we hear from Arab and Islamic countries when Saddam was messing up the country?"

"Those who call not to fight the criminals, we say to them, 'You are the criminals.' They are the criminals,"

...

"How could you shake hands with Saddam Hussein before? You were a slave to Saddam Hussein, and today you try your best to restore dictatorship and crime, but under a new umbrella -- that is the umbrella of Islam."

Should I hold my breath waiting for Kofi to respond?

The Next Four Years - Iraq

Now that G.W. Bush has won the election I figured it is appropriate to throw out some ideas on what the next four years have in store for us. I'll break this down into several posts, each dealing with a specific arena of US foreign policy.

Today's, in case you couldn't figure it out, deals with Iraq.

At the top of the agenda for Iraq right now is the offensive to pacify Falluja. Prime Minister Ayad Allawi has given the go-ahead to 'clean Falluja'. Reports have US and Iraqi forces in position and ready to move against the militants:

"We're going to start at one end of the city, and we're not going to stop until we get to the other," said Lt. Col. Pete Newell, a battalion commander from the U.S. Army's 1st Infantry Division.

"If there's anybody left when that happens, we're going to turn around and we're going to go back and finish it."

Now that G.W. is secure with his second term the US can deal with the militants without listening to the lecturing of the European and Arab press. The US is now free to inflict such a severe price on the militants that I would expect militant attacks throughout the country to fall off dramatically over the next several months.

The militants have relied upon the methods used by the Vietcong decades ago. Since a military victory was impossible they instead tried to subvert the war effort from within the US. With the re-election of G.W. Bush, this strategy is nothing but a ticket straight to hell given US military superiority on the field.

The militants, like any fighting force of the past, want to win. When faced with certain death and no hope of future success, odds are that they will melt away and return to the countries from which they came. Those who remain will be dealt with accordingly.

In regards to non-military progress Chrenkoff does the topic much more justice than I ever could. If such change was taking place in any other Arab country they'ld be calling it an Arab Renaissance.

Things of course could always go off track but all indicators point towards significant progress on all fronts.

Arafat Burial Revisited

Bob made a very reasonable suggestion yesterday that Yassar Arafat should be buried in Ramallah when he dies.

I tend to disagree and think that under no circumstances should he be buried anywhere within the Palestinian territories.

A reader was kind enough to send us this suggestion as to what should happen to Yasser's remains:

Arafat Burial Suggestion
By Dr. Pat Santy November 7, 2004

There are strong differences of opinion between Israel and the Palestinian Authority about where Yasser Arafat should be buried. Let me make a modest proposal.

But before I make my suggestion, a little history is in order. On October 7, 1985 as 69 year old disabled Leon Klinghoffer sat in his wheelchair aboard the Achilles Lauro cruise ship, four Palestinian terrorists shot then threw him overboard while his wife watched in horror. Leon and Marilyn Klinghoffer, American Jews, had been celebrating their wedding anniversary by taking this cruise.

Yasser Arafat's life was a monument to hatred, self-absorption and death. He encouraged suicide bombers and prevented any solution to the Palestinian Israeli conflict. He single-handedly over the last decades has seen to it that the Palestinian people remain poor and oppressed, while he systematically looted their wealth and destroyed their dreams. The world will not miss this bastard and the sooner he dies, the better for his people. He was his entire life a Terrorist with a capital "T".

I propose that his body be placed in a wheelchair, and that he be wheeled off the deck of some ship--possibly a garbage scow--and dumped without ceremony into the deepest part of the ocean. Preferably, his "devoted" wife can be nearby watching, if she can bestir herself from her lavish lifestyle in France.

This is what Arafat deserves. Nothing more and nothing less.

There was nothing honourable about Arafat's life. After his death, let's not pretend there was.

Red Ensign Standard

The latest Red Ensign Standard can be found at bound by gravity.

The very best in Canadian blogging.

Beautiful Things

For those of you in Eastern Ontario you should take a step outside tonight. The Northern Lights are putting on a wonderful show.

Is Timing Everything?

One of the many reasons people give for voting for G.W. Bush was that their vote was a protest against the likes of Michael Moore, Dan Rather, etc... People do not like be talked down to by celebrities, the media, or any of the other 'elite' classes. As well people were put off by the extremes that many people who supported Kerry went to. Bush is not Hitler. Christians are not extremists.

Given that Democrat's have, to a certain degree, been taken over by the radical left one has to ask how it can be saved. How can it be pulled back to the mainstream so that it doesn't insult the lives and beliefs of 30% to 40% of the American population?

One scenario that I've been thinking about is that it may not be possible to pull it back. I say this due to the influence that the Internet now has over political parties and those who form their policies.

Before the Internet, it was much easier for a party to repudiate the extreme members of their own party. They could be denyed TV coverage during the election cycle. They could be denyed a presense at party functions. Today this is not possible because of the power of the Internet and its ability to allow people to reinforce the beliefs of likeminded people. Could this cause trouble for the Democrats?

Think of it this way, people will not vote for the party of extremists. Every American (and Canadian) election has proven this. The problem is that the Internet is an echo-chamber where those who are opposed to Republican policies scream and yell at each other until they've convinced themselves that they are the only ones capable of seeing the truth.

They take part in bizarre protests making claims that 9/11 was a plot by the CIA, that Bush is worse than Hitler, on and on and on...

How many people voted against Kerry after seeing pictures and video of such protests online? Was it significant? It's a tough call to make but if I was sitting on the fence I would certainly have had second thoughts about voting for Kerry after seeing such foolishness.

The first problem the Democrats have to deal with is how it can separate themselves from these extreme views. Is this even possible given the nature of the Internet and how it can reinforce someone's views on a subject. If you don't believe the Internet tends to reinforce someone's politics then ask yourself this question: Do you consider yourself a conservative or a libertarian? I bet 9 out of 10 of you answered yes to that question. If you weren't either a conservative or libertarian odds are you wouldn't be reading this post. That is the nature of the beast, and both lefties and righties are susceptible to reading articles that they'll agree with.

Secondly the Democrats have to separate themselves from the perception that these crazies are associated with them. The simple fact is that anyone who says something critical about G.W. Bush is automatically assumed to be a Kerry supporter even if this is not truely the case. That's one of the problems with a two party system. If you're not with us then you must obviously be with the other guy. It doesn't matter if you freak the other guy out, people will assume you support him.

I titled this post 'Is Timing Everything?' because Republicans are probably just as likely to fall for this phenomenon. The problem may be the Democrat's were just unlikely enough to have their moonbats more vocal at the same time that political blogging became popular.

Is the moonbat echo-chamber something the Democrat's can separate themselves from? I guess time will tell.

My Favourite Hack

Mark Steyn is again at his best. Explaining to Europeans about the kind of people who voted for G.W. Bush he says:

The restrictions on expression that B J Kelly sees as evidence of European enlightenment are regarded as profoundly unhealthy by most Americans. When one examines Brian Reade's anatomy of redneck disfigurements - "gun-totin', military-lovin', abortion-hatin' " - most of them are about the will to survive, as individuals and as a society. Americans tote guns because they're assertive citizens, not docile subjects of a permanent governing class. They love their military because they think there's something contemptible about Europeans preening and posing as a great power when they can't even stop some nickel'n'dime Balkan genital-severers piling up hundreds of thousands of corpses on their borders.

And, if Americans do "hate abortion", is Mr Reade saying he loves it? It's at least partially responsible for the collapsed birthrates of post-Christian Europe. However superior the EU is to the US, it will only last as long as Mr Reade's generation: the design flaw of the radical secular welfare state is that it depends on a traditionally religious society birthrate to sustain it. True, you can't be a redneck in Spain or Italy: when the birthrates are 1.1 and 1.2 children per couple, there are no sisters to shag.

What was revealing about this election campaign was how little the condescending Europeans understand even about the side in American politics they purport to agree with - witness The Guardian's disastrous intervention in Clark County. Simon Schama last week week defined the Bush/Kerry divide as "Godly America" and "Worldly America", hailing the latter as "pragmatic, practical, rational and sceptical". That's exactly the wrong way round: it's Godly America that is rational and sceptical - especially of Euro-delusions. Uncowed by Islamists, undeferential to government, unshrivelled in its birthrates, Bush's redneck America is a more reliable long-term bet. Europe's media would do their readers a service if they stopped condescending to it.

In case you weren't aware, Steyn promised to retire from writing if Bush lost the election. If Kerry would have won, the loss of Steyn's wit and wisdom would have been one of my biggest disappointments. Thank God.

Good Advice On Judges

Nicholas Kristof is giving Democrats advice on how to return to being a majority party. His best advice relates to the appointment of judges:

Hold your nose and work with President Bush as much as you can because it's lethal to be portrayed as obstructionists. Sure, block another Clarence Thomas, but here's a rule of thumb: if an otherwise qualified Supreme Court nominee would turn the clock back 10 years, approve; back 25 years, vote no; back a half-century, filibuster.

Common sense as far as I'm concerned.

This Ever Happen To You?

Have you ever been reading something and have it totally stop you in your tracks. I'm sure you have. Well I've just had one of those moments.

I just read a piece at Davids Medienkritik about the German's media's hesitancy to report positive developments in Afganistan and Iraq.

The part that really hit me is:

In all the televised panel discussions, talk shows, news reports, and documentaries on Afghanistan and Iraq there has been one notable absence. Nowhere does a viewer get to hear an Afghan or Iraqi government official speak of the enormous positive changes taking place in their countries. This is especially sad in the case of Afghanistan, where Germany played a leading role organizing the post-Taliban government. Today German peacekeepers are active in building stability in a country that is vital for the security of the West. It would seem the government would want to take credit for its achievements. But to have President Karzai appear on German TV would run the risk that he would contradict an article of German faith. Namely, that Mr. Bush’s war on terrorism is a mistake and his policy of installing democracies in Islamic countries is at best naïve and at worst a debacle.

Germans have died for many causes but democracy is not one of them. It is understandable that their attachment to it is not as strong as in other countries. But I imagine the conversation that will take place next year between Iraqi Prime Minister Allawi and Chancellor Schroeder. Allawi will observe that fifty years ago the German people were given the gift of democracy after a terrible war. He will then ask the Chancellor why Germany did not help Iraq when it was Iraq’s turn. And Schroeder will answer, “Because we are Germans and we are afraid.”

I wish there was some way for a copy of this to make it into every household in Germany. The same sentiment applies to the vast majority of European households as well.

Arg!

I can't take it anymore! I don't even know where to start.

Kofi Annan has written a letter expressing concern about the planned assult on Falluja. He starts:

Iraq is approaching a decisive moment in its history - the elections which, as you know, are due to be held in three months' time.

The United Nations is committed to doing everything possible, as circumstances permit, to support Iraqi efforts to hold credible elections and, more broadly, to assist with Iraq's political transition...

Really. Translation: We'll do anything that allows us to take credit for something positive as long as it entails no risk.

He continues:

Persuading elements who are currently alienated from, or sceptical about, the transition process to compete politically is key to creating a political and security context that will inspire confidence among all Iraqis in the process and allow the full participation of all segments of society in the elections...

Against this backdrop, I wish to share with you my increasing concern at the prospect of an escalation in violence, which I fear could be very disruptive for Iraq's political transition.

I have in mind not only the risk of increased insurgent violence, but also reports of major military offensives being planned by the multinational force in key localities such as Falluja.

Who the hell is he talking about here? Those who take pleasure in sawing off heads? Those who bomb markets?

Kofi are you out of your freaking mind? What planet do you live on? Has the comforts and security of New York and Europe twisted your view of reality?

And to finish off:

The threat or actual use of force not only risks deepening the sense of alienation of certain communities, but would also reinforce perceptions among the Iraqi population of a continued military occupation.

I believe that these concerns are particularly relevant in light of the various initiatives that are being taken to address, through political dialogue, the grievances of certain Iraqi constituencies... It seems to me essential that the interim Iraqi government and the coalition should seize such opportunities...

I, and all my colleagues at the United Nations Secretariat, want to help. But we need a conducive environment if elections are to produce a positive effect.

This is the moment for redoubling efforts to break the cycle of violence and open a new chapter of inclusiveness and national reconciliation...

And how do you plan to break the 'cycle of violence'? How do you intend to create this 'conducive environment'?

He is worse than stinking France! Or the Democrats! He's got lots of complaints. Not one stinking alternative though.

I honestly think I couldn't hate this man anymore than I do.

Very Cool

Check out this map of the county-by-county vote in the US election.

It seems the map isn't totally accurate. Maine is mostly grey but since the Democrats took the state you'ld expect it to be blue. Some other parts may be messed up as well. Anyways the amount of detail is really cool.

Please Spare Us

I went to a United Church most of my life. Until a few years ago I wouldn't say that I had any great complaints about it. The place was kid friendly and for the most part all the people were wonderful.

Today it's a different story. I've been in a United Church only once in the last 5 years. I have no intention of ever going back.

The first problem for me was the desire of some congregations to perform same-sex marriages. I'm against same-sex marriage but if it was enacted in a democratic manner and was not imposed on any congregations (i.e. civil ceromonies only) then I could live with it. How could I not. But, I would not be part of a congregation that voluntarily choose to sanctify such a ceromony.

Today we find out that the 'servants of God' who minister to the United Church are planning to unionize. Now regardless of whether you believe in God, or whether you are a union supporter or not, does it not seem bizarre that a minister would want to unionize?

I can hear Peter, Paul, etc... now: 'Yes, Lord Jesus, we would love to spread the gospel. Unfortunately though due to inflation and rising transportation costs two sheckels a day just won't do. Three sheckels is a minimum, plus vacation pay, and a pension plan would be nice as well.'

Jesus would likely reply: 'Wha? Guys. I think there has been a small miscommunication.'

Anyways.

The prospect of United Church ministers demanding higher wages from their congregations is downright wacky. I'm not in any way saying that they may not deserve higher pay. Certainly not. But still.

Worse still if this plan goes ahead, will be the added incentive for the federal government to get involved in the affairs of religous groups. Once ministers become 'employees' with the right to unionize it isn't much of a stretch for the government to require them to be treated like, and have the responsibilities of, all employees in Canada. If the rest of us can't speak out against issues of morality in our workplace then common sense says that similar restrictions will be placed on a ministers workplace. Your Church.

And regardless if congregations can't afford the higher wages that unionized ministers demand... well you can always bring in this guy.

The Arab Press

I am starting to get the feeling that Arab journalists are not as bad as I may have previously thought. Over the last couple of weeks I've noticed that the most deranged and unhinged writing comes from Western writers contributing to these papers.

Now be warned that I don't get copies of any Middle-Eastern papers delivered to my door. The best I can do is read what they post on the english language sites.

So today I'm reading an article by Patrick Seale in The Daily Star. Patrick enlightens us to the ways of the world by telling us that the US is evil. Israel is evil too. Russia. Ditto evil.

G.W. is pure evil and he likes killing Muslims for sport.

Anyways, the entire article is quotable but to spare the space, I'll just give you the ending:

There have been many American interpretations of bin Laden's latest video lecture, most of them dismissive. "We are fighting you," bin Laden said, "because you attacked us and continue to attack us. ... You attacked us in Palestine. ...You attacked us in Somalia; you supported the Russian atrocities against us in Chechnya, the Indian oppression against us in Kashmir, and the Jewish aggression against us in Lebanon."

These grievances strike a chord with most Arabs and Muslims.

One phrase escaped the attention of the commentators. Addressing America, bin Laden declared: "We call on you to deal with us and interact with us on the basis of mutual interests and benefits." What is this if not an invitation to negotiate?

A wise American president would heed such calls, revise his policies and seek to make his peace with militant Islam. Not so, George W Bush!

So Patrick Seale is saying the G.W. is evil because of all the war/hunger/misery that he has caused. And yet he wants G.W. to 'make peace' with militant Islam? Why? So militant Islam can regroup and kill people in greater numbers a few years down the road? What kind of reasoning is that.

As a final note (and an added insult to the French) Patrick Seale is a 'Paris-based political analyst and commentator'. Translation: He lives in a bubble.

Perhaps all of these Western journalists are Karl Rove operatives. These journalists are placed in order to stir Arabs into a self-induced rage. This rage justifies killing the worst of them and thus makes G.W. a global cowboy loved by his simple-minded people. Come on... it makes sense.

About as much sense as Seale's article.

Was It Moral Issues?

So what everyone whats to know is: Why did the Republicans do so well?

I think in general the media, and the blogosphere in general, may have underestimated the role of moral issues in this election.

Most blogs I read are very libertarian or at least socially progressive on many moral issues. The media would also fall under this category as well. And since there were many other issues that, well lets be honest, are more fun to talk about, perhaps moral issues fell off of the radar screen of most people.

I tend to think that moral issues may have played a significant role in this election. In watching the coverage on CNN, Robert Novak in responding to comments from Paul Begala and Jim Carville, replyed that America is a 'very conservative' nation and that the Democrats are out of step with this mentality. The response from Begala and Carville was... nothing. They just sat there silently. Perhaps they were just bummed out, but they seemed to be very talkative 30 seconds before Novak made his comment so it certainly gives the impression that they had nothing to refute it.

Looking at the ballot initiatives across the various states the conservative position seemed to win in the vast majority of cases. I believe the bill to fund stem-cell research in California won but I can't think of any others.

As the numbers become clearer, it will be very interesting to see how the Catholic vote turned out. It of course has been traditionally Democratic but many people felt during the campaign that there was a good chance it would break Republican due to Democratic positions on many social and religious issues. The same goes for the Latino vote which of course is very Catholic and very conservative.

One other factor that may have come into play is the possibility that the next administration has the opportunity to appoint several judges to the Supreme Court. The Democrats raised this as a scare tactic (perhaps very legitimately from their viewpoint) but it seemed to be very low key from a Republican perspective. At least publicly. Did Republicans use this as a rallying cry to get out the vote. It'll be interesting to see.

And A Few More Things...

The election seems over so its time to move on and get back to the business at hand. Well it seems the election is over... I guess considering Al Gore's early concession speech in 2000 that no Democrat in his right mind would repeat that mistake. If you call it a mistake. Anyways.

As of now it is basically a statistical impossibility that Kerry can win. He needs Ohio, Iowa, Nevada and New Mexico all of which he is currently losing. It's very unlikely that even with recounts, legal challenges, etc... he'll be able to turn all of those around. Not impossible I suppose but as likely as me being crowned King of Spain before today is out.

So moving onward...

First off, check out Walter Hudson's An Open Letter To Usama Bin Laden. Walter, if you're ever in Ottawa give us a call. You earned yourself a few pints. Walter says:

You tell us you do not hate freedom. You tell us you “fought” us on 9-11 because you are free. We find that argument ridiculous, the result of a small mind. To call the attack you ordered “fighting”, an attack whose deliberate target was thousands of innocent civilians and the infrastructure of the world’s greatest democratic republic is a desecration of the word. A fighter stands toe-to-toe with his opponent, looks him in the eye, targets him, not innocent unarmed bystanders. You did not fight us on 9-11. You attempted to burn us as we slept. You did not face us. You hit us while our face was turned. You betrayed the humanity with which God blessed you upon your creation. You did it, not because you are free, but because we are free, because we threaten to free others from the oppression of your kind, because the only freedom you support is the freedom to submit.

You tell us the reason you killed three-thousand innocents was because you perceived injustice and felt “a strong determination to punish” us. Do you truly expect us to accept that explanation? Do you believe we will write off our dead as a fair price paid for a debt you arbitrarily determined we owed? Do you expect our reaction to be anything less than utter defiance? I suppose you have little choice but to hope it will be. I suppose you have little choice but to try and dissuade our anger by citing your own. Indeed, we shamefully concede there are those among us weak enough to accept your judgment, men like John Kerry, men you would see the rest of us emulate. However, today we choose to reject submission. We do so because we recognize the choice to submit is the last free choice one can make. We recognize that cycles of violence are not ended by submission, but by imposition. Thus, we will make our war on you and the ideology you represent until both are no more.

Go read the whole thing. His closer brings tears to my eyes. ;-)

And The Winner Is?

Thank God the actual numbers are starting to come in. Everyone, both Democrat and Republican, has been going on about the exit polls all day. According to most of the exit polls I'm one handsome devil. OK, maybe they didn't say that but they didn't say anything else either.

Since the networks drive me bonkers with their coverage of elections I'm going all out Internet this time. I'm using MegaPundit to track the current results and cross-referencing the numbers with this to try and figure out some trends. Not very scientific I know but can any of the networks out there do any better? Not likely.

Based on my method, at this time, G.W. is up in all states except West Virginia with reported numbers. This of course means nothing since the number of precincts reporting is small to none but it is a starting point I guess.

I may update with a few more comments throughout the night but I make no promises.

Congratulations to whoever wins.

Later.

Update @ 8:00pm

I agree with Spoons on this one.

Update @ 9:43pm

Well the numbers are still coming in with G.W. at 53% and Kerry at 46%. It doesn't seem too out of whack.

I've been checking out the Internet looking for the best places to find whackjobs posting comments. DailyKos isn't bad but his site doesn't seem to update very often. If anyone has any suggestions of sites to check out then drop them in the comments.

I'm still off the TV which really helps to calm a guy down. None of those party operatives telling me there guy is gonna win and generally babbling the night away. NO MORE! I can get the info I want, when I want, from whom I want.

So... you know the most entertaining part of all this will be reading the European, Canadian, and Arab media tomorrow morning if Bush wins. I imagine that will be very amusing. Oh the satisfaction! If Kerry wins... well I won't be reading any papers tomorrow.

Those Dutch

Those Dutch have yet to learn their place in the order of things. Dhimmis are NOT allowed to criticize.

Update @ 9:11am

From the BBC:

Van Gogh, 47, had received death threats after his film Submission, on violence against women in Islamic societies, was shown on Dutch TV.

The film was made with liberal Dutch politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali refugee who fled an arranged marriage.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali has been under police protection since the film was aired. She has also received death threats and has renounced the Islamic faith.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is an outspoken critic of Islam

Eyewitnesses quoted by Radio Netherlands said Van Gogh was attacked while cycling by a man dressed in a traditional Moroccan jallaba.

Tactics Of The Left

Orson Scott Card expresses similar opinions to my post on this topic.

[Via Occam's Toothbrush]

Update @ 5:44pm

A great post here about Democratic tactics.

Lileks On bin Laden

The latest Bleat has this money quote:

He’s on the same page as the would-be First Lady, proclaiming the war in Iraq a “war for oil,” and complains that not enough people were killed during the recent Afghan elections. And we’re the ones waging war on Muslims. Got that? We kick out the theocrats, hold an election for the first time in a region that was old and busted around the time Nero was stringing his first lute, and the election takes place without bands of jihadists careening around town gunning down women who want to cast a ballot. To bin Laden, this is bad. C’mon, people! If we’re going to be serious about the war against the infidel, we have to get down to killing believers in numbers that count!

Go read the whole thing.