Description
Our opinions of and advice to the world. Updated whenever we get around to it.
Comments and suggestions can be sent to:
Dana - virtual_zero@hotmail.com
Bob - bobtheright@hotmail.com
Syndicate this site: Atom RSS
Latest Posts
The Stink Over Undercover Cops - Dana
On Chinese Goods - Dana
Tweaking The Template - Dana
If I Posted... - Dana
On Automobiles - Dana
The Grim Endpoint Of Public Healthcare - Dana
My Idea: Club His Sorry Ass - Dana
Robbed Again - Dana
Nothing To See Here - Dana
Finally Got Backlinks Working - Dana
Links
Our Sponsors
Miscellaneous
Privacy Policy
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Saturday, April 30, 2005
The NHL strike has turned me off of hockey for good. It was always easy to tell myself that I wouldn't be as interested in hockey as I used to be, but until there was actual hockey worth watching on TV, I had no way of telling if that were true or not.
But today, with Canada playing against Latvia at the World Hockey Championships, and Liverpool playing against Middlesbrough in the English Premier League at the same time, this was the test to see where my loyalties would go. And much to my own surprise, I watched the soccer game, even more surprising, is that either of the two teams involved in the soccer game are my favorite team but I watched it anyway.
I did flip over to the hockey game a couple times during half time of the soccer match, but had no interest in watching those NHLers preform at all. So I guess the verdict is in, the NHL has driven this once loyal fan to another sport. I don't wish to see the demise of the NHL, I just don't see myself caring about it like I once used to. Besides, who's it easier to like Frank Lampard or Alexie Yashin?
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Stanley Kurtz has a great piece about anti-Christian bigotry:
Hedges invokes the warnings of his old Harvard professor against “Christian fascists.” Supposedly, Christians carrying crosses and chanting the Pledge of Allegiance are the new Hitlers. The Left is loathe to treat Islamic terrorists as moral reprobates, but when it comes to conservative Christians, Hedges calls on his fellow liberals to renounce their relativist scruples and acknowledge “the power and allure of evil.”This is a very good summation of the situation in the United States but it has very close parallels to the situation in Canada as well.
Hedges needn’t worry. For a very long time now, secular liberals have treated conservative Christians as the modern embodiment of evil, the one group you’re allowed to openly hate. Although barely noticed by the rest of us, this poison has been floating through our political system for decades. Traditional Christians are tired of it, and I don’t blame them. That doesn’t justify rhetorical excess from either side. But the fact of the matter is that the Left’s rhetorical attacks on conservative Christians have long been more extreme, more widely disseminated, and more politically effective than whatever the Christians have been hurling back. And now that their long ostracism by the media has finally forced conservative Christians to demand redress, the Left has abandoned all rhetorical restraint.
It has come to the point where if anyone states 'a Christian viewpoint' in public that politicians and the media jump all over it and claim that the opinion has no place in the public sphere. How we ever got to the point where only certain people's opinions were suitable for public expression is beyond me.
I've listened to countless people tell me that certain Christian positions on subjects are wrong and that they should have no influence on public policy. When I ask them why the Christian position shouldn't have any influence on public policy they spew out some nonsense about separation of church and state which is a funny position to take considering that no such thing exists in Canada.
Funny times we live in eh? I guess you know the world is twisting itself inside out when those who claim to believe in inclusion and acceptance can unleash so much hatred against one particular group of people.
Update @ 11:12pm
Christopher at The Kallini Brothers discussions this subject as well:
The logical premise to the current Leftist anti-religious crusade in the US is that not only should Christians and Jews not be allowed to hold public office, but that they shouldn’t even be allowed to vote, because morality should not provide the basis for voting decisions, if that morality comes from an organized religion, as opposed to, say, The Communist Manifesto, Gaia worship, or the collected works of Noam Chomsky.He couldn't be any more right.
I was reading Lebanon's Daily Star today and came across a story that says the United States is planning on selling 'bunker busters' to Israel.
"The United States plans to sell Israel 100 of its most effective bombs designed to destroy deep underground facilities, despite growing concern in the Middle East the Jewish state might resort to military strikes to halt Iran's nuclear program, U.S. defense officials said late Wednesday."
"The GBU-28, which Washington is planing to sell to Israel, is a 2.2-ton, laser-guided, conventional munition equipped with a powerful warhead that can burrow through more than six meters of concrete and up to 30.5 meters of hard ground. "
"Experts believe GBU-28 "bunker busters" are the only existing conventional munitions that could be effective against Iran's underground uranium enrichment facility."I personally think this is a good move by the Americans and Israel. They are sending a clear message to Iran, telling them that they might as well make a deal with the European Union and come to a peaceful solution, because one way or another your nuclear program is going to be shut down.
crossposted to The Shotgun
When will the hipocracy of the Liberal-NDP alliance ever end? As Damian points out, the Liberals struck a deal with the NDP to scrap tax deductions and now Martin says that he will introduce the cuts in a separate bill and dare the Conservatives and Bloc to vote against it.
Today we are blessed to see that Jack Layton has joined the chorus by stating that the Conservatives would scrap the Atlantic Accords if elected:
NDP Leader Jack Layton struck back at Stephen Harper on Thursday, saying the Conservative Leader will be "getting into bed with the separatists" if the Tories and Bloc Québécois work together to defeat the Liberal budget.Fear, fear, fear. Is that all these sorry fools have to offer?
He also warned that if the budget is defeated, it could endanger accords recently signed between the federal government and Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia. The Atlantic accords protect equalization payments from cuts because of increased energy revenue.
The intellectual gymnastics required for Martin and Layton to sleep at night must be truly remarkable. The Liberals use government funds to line their own pockets while at the same time making fools out of Quebecers and somehow Layton reasons that it is the Conservatives that have put the future of the country at risk? Now I have no doubt that Jack Layton is an intellectual dimwit but I wonder how he can convince 15% of the population otherwise.
Now we have Jack Layton telling Maritimers that they should be grateful for the few crumbs Ottawa has thrown their way. All this Maritimer has to say to that is: GO FUCK YOURSELF!
We've had two years of the Liberals and NDP refusing to have an actual debate or to have an honest discussion on any of the issues facing this country. During the last election the Conservatives wanted to discuss the state of the Canadian Forces and Paul Martin ran around for weeks babbling about aircraft carriers in a bid to make the Conservatives look stupid. Pathetic, absolutely pathetic!
Our healthcare system is in a crisis and Martin and Layton run around whining about the evils of two-tier healthcare. Is anyone but me interested in a serious discussion on any of this? Does anyone else around here care?
All the Liberals and NDP care about is maintaining control and to hell with the consequences. What a stinking disgrace.
Jamie Ballem, the Conservative Minister of the Environment here on Prince Edward Island has been in the news lately because of the way he was using his government issued credit card. It appears the incident that was pointed out by the opposition Liberal party is small in scale, but since the sponsorship scandal, voter confidence in politicians is at an all time low and this problem needs to be addressed.
The incident in question, was a flight that Ballem and his wife took to Ireland that was charged on his government credit card. When Ballem received the bill, he repaid only part of the flight, the Charlottetown to London portion. Which left $389 dollars owing for the London to Dublin portion of the trip.
Ballem did end up repaying the money owed for the entire flight, but only after the opposition party requested a copy of his credit card statement for examination, which was nearly two years after the trip took place. The taxpayers of PEI aren't out any money, but Ballem's use of the card looks a little fishy at best. He was either extremely careless with the card or was looking to slip one by the taxpayer, either case is unexceptable in today's political environment.
With people up in arms over the mismanagement of our tax dollars, thanks to the federal Liberals, Pat Binns and his Conservative party need to set the example that all corruption, waste and misuse of our tax dollars will be taken seriously. In my opinion, Jamie Ballem must either resign his cabinet post or be forced to by the rest of his party. If Paul Martin isn't going to hold his party accountable for their misdeeds, Pat Binns should do Islanders a favor and hold his to the highest possible standards.
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
When people here in Atlantic Canada want to know if there is going to be an election in the near future, all we have to do is wait for ACOA (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency) to start appearing in the media with funding announcements. When the Feds break out the money, its always a sure sign an election is just around the corner.
And here's the your sign. Take a look at this post from Bruce at Autonomous Source that lists all of the governments spending announcements from today. As you might have noticed, the first five announcements from the list are all from ACOA. So there's your answer, its election time.
What a great idea, Ezra Levant and the gang over at the Western Standard are putting a 17" x 22" glossy poster of The Libranos in the up coming issue. If you want to check it out, go over to The Shotgun and take a look.
There is bad news though, the poster is only available to subscribers. But hey, look on the bright side, if you really want a Libranos poster, I may sell you mine. Because my soon to be kick ass Libranos poster and Jack Layton are a little alike in one respect, they can both can be bought for the right price. But don't get your hopes up too high, I'm not quite as cheap as Jack.
The healthcare system in the community in which I was raised, O'Leary PEI, is on the brink of a total collapse. The system in the West Prince region has been on life support for quite a few years now, with both the federal and provincial governments having their fair share in its demise. Both have chosen to sit on their hands and watch as people struggle through the process of getting medical attention.
The Community Hospital in O'Leary is supposed to be staffed by 5 full-time doctors. As of this moment, the hospital is making due with 2 full-time doctors, with one set to leave in July. Their workload is unbearable, having to be on-call much to often. One doctor just recently went on stress leave and is relocating his practice out of the area, and as I just mentioned another is soon to follow in July. That will leave only 1 full-time doctor in the area to carry the workload of 5 doctors.
It only gets worse, with the hospital and medical center both short staffed, people are waiting 5 and 6 hours to see a doctor or nurse practitioner. Let me tell you, things are not pretty. Just recently the medical center had to hire a security guard, due to irate folks who are spending the better part of their days waiting for medial attention and are starting to take their frustrations out on the staff. How long will it be before someone gets hurt with everyone feeling the pressure?
How much longer will the remaining doctor hold out, we don't know? And how easy will it be to attract new doctors to such a no win situation? What young man or women in their right mind would walk into this mess? Yet neither the federal or provincial governments will talk about serious healthcare reforms to take the pressure off rural ares. Their negligence is also criminal.
Why is it such a taboo is this country for governments to talk about fixing healthcare? I mean fix healthcare, not throw more money away in the current system. Its even one of the federal Liberal's main taking points during elections, bad mouth anyone who wants to change healthcare. With situations like O'Leary happening throughout our country, change is what we need, not the status quo.
Monday, April 25, 2005
So it seems that the time has come that canadiancomment provided the bi-weekly roundup of the best in Canadian bloggery. This entry will cover postings from April 12 to April 24 and will cover everything from the Gomery Inquiry to the selection of Benedict XVI as Pope.
Like everything else in life if you wait to do it at the last minute something will come up and bite you in the ass. So here I am late on a Sunday night trying to slap together a reasonable introduction to the Standard. Like every great plan I have, work has reared it's ugly head and has kept me busy all weekend so that instead of getting a good nights sleep I'm writing this. So considering that I'll keep it short so that priority is given to what is important which is of course the blogs.
Anyways, as is tradition I guess I should provide a little background on ourselves and why we joined the Red Ensign Brigade.
Well Bob and I are childhood buddies who grew up on opposite sides of the street from each other. We are both from the western end of Prince Edward Island though only Bob is lucky enough to still call the Island home. Sadly, like so many other Islanders, I had to move to the mainland in search of food and shelter. I currently call Ottawa home and all I can say is that the stink from Parliament Hill is killing me.
canadiancomment joined the Red Ensign blogroll for the simple reason that we found the group to be genuinely interested in improving our country. Naturally we have differences of opinion amongst ourselves about how to do this but the tone is, for the most part, positive and respectful. Those qualities can be very difficult to find in the blogosphere and they are why we're proud to be members of the Brigade.
You know, now that I've sat down to write this, it's quite difficult to write an introduction when you are writing on behalf of a group blog. These introductions are usually of a personal nature and it doesn't see fair to write like that when Bob contributes as much to this blog as I do.
So with that, Bob and I are pleased to present you with the Red Ensign Brigade XX:
Rue @ Abraca-Pocus! is busy answering your questions. As well, if Rue ever invites you over to dinner, do not hang out in her kitchen.
Ith @ Absinthe & Cookies took a week off to visit her parents in Utah. Russ seems to think Ith is up to no good and will provide updates if he hears anything on the police scanner.
Paul frozen in montreal gives us this hilarious post at the expense of Paul Martin and the French army. Also check out this gem on Paul Martin's little publicity stunt.
Angry in the Great White North has some great details on the gag order put in place to cover up the the shenanigans of Calgary Police Services chief Jack Beaton. After the gag order put on testimony at the Gomery Inquiry this case should be of particular concern to all of us. And speaking of the Gomery Inquiry, what's the buzz about judicial appointments?
DirtCrashrAnthroblogogy has a wonderful new addition to his family. I can't imagine the rounds for the K31 are cheap but hey, I'm the type of guy who buys the cheapest rounds he can find.
John @ Argghhh! finds us a cop who probably shouldn't be armed. Though it has nothing to do with Canada, you should also check out this great post about U.S. military spending.
Damian @ Babbling Brooks shows us how to discuss gay-marriage in a civilized manner. That, plus a post about Jean Chretien's legacy, what more could you ask for?
Huck @ BumfOnline used his sources to get his hands on this letter written by Paul Martin himself. He also calls Paul Martin on his blatant act of self promotion in the face of adversity.
Andrew @ bound by gravity promotes a contest for the best blog in Ottawa. Andrew thinks he may need more coffee but may have come up with a idea for a deck of cards that could be a real money maker.
Bob @ canadiancomment has proposed a letter writing campaign. Meanwhile Dana has been discussing healthcare here and here.
Rebecca @ doxology has been contemplating whether her blog fits in with the rest of the Red Ensign Brigade. If I was in a position to speak on behalf of the Brigade, I would say that Rebecca's writing has a personal flavour that would surely be missed from the blogroll. And lets be serious, there is more to being Canadian than whining about politics day-in-and-day-out. On the other hand, I've heard a rumor that the Red Ensign Brigade models itself after the mafia and that once you're part of the family...
And before you leave doxology check out this touching post on the use of contraception.
Darcey @ dustmybroom discusses Canadian patriotism or the lack thereof. Check out his challenge in the same post. He also lays the smack down on scumbag Paul Watson.
Alan @ Gen X at 40 has had a busy couple of weeks. First he met God while having lunch and then spent some time contemplating the meaning of life. I haven't quite figured out what the title to that last post is supposed to mean but I'm sure it's quite profound.
James @ Hammer into Anvil gives us some good advise: don't trust other people with your money! James would also like a few answers from wishy washy Liberals.
John The Mad has a bizarre or disturbing (take your pick) story of his son's trip to city hall. Personally, I would blame the entire episode on the fact that he lives in Toronto but just in case John likes the city I think I'll keep my mouth shut. After all, annoying a guy with the last name of Mad probably wouldn't be the best idea I've had lately. John also takes a bite out of Christopher Hitchens for his take on Pope John Paul II.
Glenda @ Just Between us Girls discusses correspondence between Paul Martin and Claude Boulay. She also provides a sweet quote from a typical scary conservative.
keith @ Minority of One isn't the least bit impressed with European foreign policy and wonders if Jacques Parizeau was right when he claimed the last Quebec referendum was lost due to dirty tricks.
Hayz @ Musing show us what happens when part of society values human life less than that of our aquatic friends. He also takes a moment to discuss the life of Jane Fonda.
myrick has a great collection of photos from the anti-Japanese protests that took place in China last week. Also check out the post on the Chinese automobile industry and the pictures of the Shanghai Autoshow.
Nathan's Updates from Seoul deals with the frustrations of teaching English to both kids and adults. This sounds very familiar to me as my wife taught English in Hong Kong for three years. And if you have ever wanted to ride a subway in Seoul, you may want to reconsider after seeing this.
Curt @ North Western Winds has a terrific post about religion and Canadian politics. As well if you want to get in touch with your inner European, this is the place to do it.
Alan @ OCCAM'S CARBUNCLE has put on his professors hat and is giving us a math lesson. He also reports about "The Man Who Would Be A Brush" who may have a bit of a brown tinge in his bristles. Do you think he's talking about Paul Martin by any chance?
Nicholas @ Quotulatiousness discusses the impact of economic regulation. And Nicholas also gives us advice on sending a deserving soldier a care package. Check out the roundup of the NFL draft as well.
Ray @ Raging Kraut was having flashbacks from his youth. Luckily Ray recovers in time to comment on the new Pope (Pope should always be capitalized shouldn't it?).
Paul @ Ravishing Light highlights a really stupid idea by the Calgary Police Service. As he says, it seems like a trend. As well, Paul offers some good advice to Jack Layton
Peter @ Rempelia Prime has what you'll not find anywhere else on the Red Ensign blogroll: fond memories of the Chretien era. Stick a spoon in my eye but I have to agree with him.
Stephen Taylor gives us the Liberal seats most at risk due to Adscam. He also peers into the future and brings us this CBC broadcast.
Chris @ Striving Against Opposition takes the left to task for it's economic policies. Chris also points out that it is a really good time to be a Tory.
VW @ The Files of the Phantom Observer found that the Liberals are making fools of themselves on the world stage. VW also hadns out a Ken Epp Award nomination to Monto Solberg for beating a metaphor to death. Tom Lukiwski also grabs a nomination for his gross exaggeration of the current Liberal scandal.
Jay @ The Freeway To Serfdom has a wonderful post about how otherwise normal people lose their freaking minds. Jay also makes the point that stealing from others is never the 'responsible' thing to do.
Kate @ The Last Amazon isn't very impressed with the latest handiwork of the Ontario government. She also points out that it isn't all roses just yet between Israel and the Palestinians.
Lisa @ The London Fog gives a few pointers so that us guys can keep our rods in tip-top shape. Lisa also shows us the coolest road sign you'll ever see. MAPMASTER meanwhile introduces us to the latest in Liberal slogans.
The Meatriarchy highlights an amusing chicken incident. Meat also shows us the socialist thinking behind many religious textbooks.
Walsingham @ The Monarchist admires the virtues of Tony Blair and warns the United Kingdom about further integration with the European Union.
The Monger takes the CBC to task for sloppy reporting. Like the rest of us, he also finds it amusing that the Liberals are concerned about wasting our tax dollars.
Ben @ The Tiger in Winter reminds us that the world is a much better place than people like Heather Mallick would have us believe. He also provides some interesting election projections.
The Mad Sister @ The Unwinding Road has gone on hiatus but there is no need to panic as she has promised to return.
tipper @ tipperography has identified a new medical condition and she also found her own political manifesto.
After a long hiatus is seems that Jaeger of Trudeaupia has returned. His latest post deals with certain government suppliers who get preferencial treatment.
Sue @ Turning 30 and a half comtemplates how the single transferable vote will affect elections in British Columbia. She also provides her thoughts on the health care reforms presented by Preston Manning and Mike Harris.
Temujin at West Coast Chaos introduces us to the latest fad in blogging: Bunny Blogging! Should I consider this a welcome development or another sign of the approaching apocalypse? Temujin also explains his day job and gives us some valuable advice all within one post. Not bad at all.
Update @ 5:50pm
First off, I'ld like to welcome all Instapundit readers to the Red Ensign Standard.
I also want to mention that I made a few minor corrections to the text. I also tried to change the name of the post to 'The Red Ensign Standard #20' and I nearly had a heart attack after Blogger changed the permalink to the post. Thank heavens I was able to undo the change or I suspect the other Red Ensign bloggers would have been flaming me for weeks. Now I can relax...
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Whoever claims that nationalized media isn't biased will have a hard time explaining this away:
The BBC was last night plunged into a damaging general election row after it admitted equipping three hecklers with microphones and sending them into a campaign meeting addressed by Michael Howard, the Conservative leader.Can you imagine? According to the BBC, the hecklers were part of a team creating a program about the 'history and art of political heckling', but this has got to be the strangest thing I've ever heard. Why not send their hecklers to any other political event?
The Tories have made an official protest after the hecklers, who were given the microphones by producers, were caught at a party event in the North West last week. Guy Black, the party's head of communications, wrote in a letter to Helen Boaden, the BBC's director of news, that the hecklers began shouting slogans that were "distracting and clearly hostile to the Conservative Party".
These included "Michael Howard is a liar", "You can't trust the Tories" and "You can only trust Tony Blair".
And of course the BBC should have to disclose which other events this team attended. Let's just say I wouldn't be surprised if they hadn't attended any Labour events.
This attempt at manufacturing news by the BBC is pathetic and as far as I'm concerned should be considered criminal.
Friday, April 22, 2005
This morning I almost feel sorry for Paul Martin because he has officially made himself the most pathetic Prime Minister we have ever had. Now matter what you think of Jean Chretien, he certainly wasn't pathetic. He was a crook and a thug but he never sunk to the lows that Paul Martin has.
To go on TV and beg for your own sorry ass is beneath a Prime Minister, or at least it should be. Regardless, Martin is history. This is his and Chretien's legacy and saner minds within the Liberal Party (if there are any) will try to distance themselves from this mess the first chance they get.
So on to better news, it seems that Paul Martin's story is getting weaker by the day:
While Paul Martin insists he isn't close to Claude Boulay, one of the ad executives embroiled in the sponsorship scandal, Mr. Boulay testified yesterday that he met Mr. Martin at least twice a week when he worked on the politician's election campaign in 1993.Now I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure I'ld remember someone if I 'met' with them twice a week for several months.
Mr. Boulay's wife, Diane Deslauriers, went further. She testified that she saw Mr. Martin daily during that campaign. “At the end, you realize [those campaigning] were a family for 35, 40 days,” she said, adding that Mr. Martin went to her home at the end of the campaign for brunch with a dozen volunteers.
The couple took turns testifying before Mr. Justice John Gomery's inquiry into the federal sponsorship program.
The inquiry also heard an implication yesterday that Mr. Boulay tried to influence the testimony of another witness to hide an alleged secret payment of $50,000 to Jean Charest's Quebec provincial Liberals.
The alleged illicit payoff to Mr. Charest is one of a string of damning allegations of kickbacks, false invoicing and other irregularities the inquiry has been told.
Mr. Boulay's firm, Groupe Everest, received $67-million in federal sponsorship contracts but Mr. Boulay denies he got favours because of his Liberal contacts.
With the scandal threatening his minority government, Mr. Martin has distanced himself from Mr. Boulay and Ms. Deslauriers. “I don't know them well,” Mr. Martin told the inquiry in February. “I don't recall them,” he said when asked whether he had any contact with them from 1990 to 1994.
Wonderful stuff indeed.
You've got to give credit to Paul Martin for one thing though: he's made being a conservative in Canada fun again!
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Just a quick thought on how the Liberals are trying to convince the people of Canada that an election is not necessary at this time. I'm not buying that load of crap for a second, since when is it not necessary to get rid of a government that is corrupt and can't be trusted. I think there would be no better time for an election than now, the Liberals have forced Canadians into taking action against their party, its no ones fault but their own.
Every Canadian government must be held accountable and to the highest standards possible, if Canadians let the Liberal party get away with this type of behavior, what kind of message would we sending to our elected officials? Steal from us, we don't care! Is that the type of lesson that the Liberals should learn from this experience? No, its not. Each and every government that is involved in this type of behavior will be made to pay a heavy price, that's the message we should sending.
As more testimony comes in, it is becoming nearly impossible to argue that the Liberal Party isn't corrupt through-and-through:
Benoît Corbeil, the former director-general of the Liberal Party's office in Montreal, said in an interview that he received approval from some of his superiors for the cash transactions that were part of a regular flouting of electoral law.So this high ranking Liberal admits that his party used our tax dollars to fund the Liberal campaign machine. Paul Martin is still denying that he knew anything about it but even if that is the case (which isn't bloody likely) what does that say about him?
At the time, Mr. Corbeil was at the top of the party's organization in Quebec, working under the direct supervision of then-minister Alfonso Gagliano.
Mr. Corbeil is the first Liberal official to state that funds from the sponsorship program were illicitly funnelled back to the senior members of the party. The declaration corroborates explosive testimony from Jean Brault, president of Groupaction, that he gave money to Mr. Corbeil for the Liberal Party and is certain to rock the Martin government.
“I took the bills [from Mr. Brault] and with that, I paid people, without declaring it [to Elections Canada],” Mr. Corbeil said, refusing to state exactly how much money he received that day.
“I have to admit it, that's the way it happened,” he said.
Mr. Corbeil was giving a preview of his coming testimony at the Gomery inquiry.
Paul Martin was the number two man in the country under the Chretien regime and if he knows as little as he claims he does then all we can conclude is that he is either incompetent or negligent. In either case, there is no way that Paul Martin can claim that he is qualified to be Prime Minister.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Prime Minister Paul Martin is going to address the nation on Thursday night to talk about the sponsorship scandal and the problems it is causing his Liberal government in parliament. The speech is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. ET. Full story here
My first reaction, what an asshole! My second reaction, he better be going on TV to admit that he's an asshole or I'm going to be super pissed, instead of just pissed. Third reaction, I hope Dr. Phil is going to be guest host to help Paul sort out all the problems that Canadians are causing him. Fourth reaction, what an asshole!
[ Via Neale News ]
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but in my opinion Iran will succeed in their mission to develop nuclear weapons. I'm not thrilled to come to that conclusion, but I just don't see that any group of countries, or single country as having enough resolve to stop a very determined Iran from getting themselves a couple of bombs in the very near future. In the next couple of paragraphs I will try and explain why I don't think that either the United States, Israel or the European Union will place enough pressure on Iran to stop them from becoming a nuclear power.
Let's start with the European Union. Much of the EU trades extensively with Iran and depends on that trade to keep their economies going, not to mention a dependence on Iranian oil. After watching the European countries, especially France and Germany, behave as the IAEA was deciding whether Iran was in violation of the NPT, I noticed this. It seemed that those countries were more scared about having to place sanctions on Iran, and ended most of their trade between one another, than they were about Iran having nuclear weapons.
The European Union hasn't threatened trade sanctions as a means to punish Iran for continuing their nuclear program, and its seems that they are not willing to give up doing business in Iran to solve the problem. What other leverage does the EU have over Iran? None, so count out the EU stopping Iran.
Let's move on to America. As we all know, America has a few problems in the Middle East at this very moment, that they require Iran's cooperation with. Iraq and Afghanistan are progressing, but if America pressed or attacked Iran to stop their nuclear program, there is no telling how much trouble Iran could cause America if they threw all their resources into destabilizing both Iraq and Afghanistan.
And if you think that's its highly unlikely Iran could cause the U.S. much grief, then tell me why George W. Bush, a man who takes most challenges head on, is keeping relatively quite about Iran? If Bush thought for a second that the mullahs couldn't turn the situation in Iraq for the worse, do you think he would be leaving the problem of Iran's nuclear program to a toothless European Union like he has?
What about Israel you ask? Well, Israel is the world's best hope to stop Iran's nuclear program, but I just don't see it in the cards at this moment. For starters, the Israelis are getting closer to solving their biggest problem, the Palestinian issue and are not likely to attack Iran directly while the peace process is still moving forward. International opinion matters in Israel, and that opinion would be against Israel if they were the ones who sabotaged the peace talks by starting a war with Iran over its nuclear program.
Secondly, there is no guarantee that Israel would be successful in destroying all of Iran's nuclear facilities in an air strike, like it did against Iraq in the 80's. Iran has learned a lesson from that attack and has spread out its facilities, even keeping some totally secret, making a military solution very difficult. If the peace talks fall apart, I could see Israel taking matters into their own hands, but until then, I don't see Israel taking a gamble.
Add to those factors that the NPT is a joke and should be replaced with a better treaty, one with some bit and tougher guidelines. The NPT allows a country to acquire every step in the process of uranium enrichment and the extraction of plutonium legally. The only thing that the NPT prevents is a country from actually taking fissile material and placing it into a delivery mechanism. And once a country gets that close to developing a nuke, I don't see them stopping.
Iran may have also noticed one other little thing, that no country was any worse off directly after they developed nuclear weapons than they were before they had nuclear weapons. Pakistan, India and North Korea were not punished enough to make developing their nuclear weapons not worth their while. And don't think for a second that Iran doesn't know this.
Right now, the situation doesn't look all that great in regards to stopping Iran's nuclear program. Its a shame that the countries of the world have let it get this far without something being done, because the further along Iran gets, the harder its going to be to stop them from making a few nukes. I just hope I'm wrong about all this.
The Adscam story just keeps getting better and better doesn't it? Yesterday, Alfonso Gagliano predicted that Canada would be split apart due to the Gomery Inquiry.
It isn't the outrage over his and Chretien's antics that he figures will be the cause of a Quebec vote to separate but the fact that an inquiry has been held at all that will be the reason:
Alfonso Gagliano is predicting the end of Canada after Quebec separatists win the next referendum in the province -- and the country will have Paul Martin and his inquiry to blame.Well isn't that rich? He appears to be suggesting that in order to maintain Canadian unity, the federal government should turn a blind eye to whatever corruption Chretien and Gagliano determine is necessary to save the country. Is it possible that the only thing holding the country together is the federal government lining the pockets of Chretien and his friends?
In a telephone interview from Florida, the former Chretien cabinet minister and Quebec lieutenant called Martin and his election team "a bunch of amateurs" in last year's election and suggested that Transport Minister Jean Lapierre may have acted improperly as a lobbyist before returning to federal politics in 2004.
Gagliano said Martin has badly damaged the Liberal party in Quebec and predicts the Bloc Quebecois will sweep the province's 75 seats in an upcoming election.
He says the separatist party's big win will boost the fortunes of the Parti Quebecois.
"(Quebec Premier Jean) Charest has problems. Well, the next provincial election, unless there is a miracle, the PQ will win and they will call a referendum right away," said Gagliano. "And 'goodbye Canada.'
"This is the end -- thanks to Paul Martin's leadership."
...
"I think the first mistake Paul Martin made was calling the inquiry on his own party. Imagine if there had been a Gomery inquiry into the Mulroney years, or any political party. This is a very politically-driven inquiry," said Gagliano.
He said it's too late to turn the Liberal party's fortunes around in Quebec: "The damage has been done for the next 10 years. The Liberal party of Canada will have a tough time in Quebec. I mean, that is the only federalist party that can face the separatists."
The irony of it all that Chretien has indirectly justified the scandal as a means of maintaining national unity. Does anyone think Chretien would care if it did just the opposite?
crossposted to The Shotgun
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
And I thought Canadian court sentences were pathetic. It seems that Spain has managed to one-up us Canucks:
A Spanish court has convicted a former Argentine naval officer of crimes against humanity, terrorism and torture under the former Argentine military government and sentenced him to 640 years in prison -- effectively jailing him for the rest of his life.In case you missed it I'll clear it up in one sentence; it seems that in Spain a person sentenced to 640 years in prison can fulfill his sentence by served 30 years behind bars.
Human rights organizations hailed the case against Adolfo Scilingo, 58, the former officer, as a triumph for "universal justice," in which Spain, for the first time, tried and convicted a defendant for crimes against humanity committed in another country.
Scilingo showed no reaction as the 209-page verdict was read by the presiding judge of the three-judge panel at Spain's National Court in Madrid.
Scilingo can filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of Spain. Under Spanish law, he would only serve 30 years in prison despite the length of the sentence.
Yikes. That's savage justice they got there. It's a new inquisition!
Anyways, I just wish that people served the time that the courts sentenced them too. The only reason that people serve less is because our politicians and our judicial system want people to believe that criminals are paying a much higher price than they really are. Why else are we bombarded with headlines about 10 and 20 year jail sentences when we know that the person will only serve a third of the sentence?
A false sense of security that's why.
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Some people have a wonderful gift for the written word. I don't. And I can live with it.
Anyways, one of those people with the gift is Tim Blair and it definitely shows through in this piece:
“Every minute in the world a woman is raped,” notes Sheikh Feiz Muhammad. We’ve heard similar disturbing statistics in the past; even if such claims are difficult to prove, they always give one pause. Besides which, even a single rape is excessive.Funny stuff...
But where are my manners? I’ve interrupted the Sheikh! Please, sir, continue:“… and she has no one to blame but herself, for she has displayed her beauty to the whole world. Strapless, backless, sleeveless - they are nothing but satanical. Mini-skirts, tight jeans - all this to tease men and to appeal to (their) carnal nature."The Sheikh was speaking at Bankstown Town Hall, in Sydney, last month. He received frequent applause, as The Age’s Pamela Bone reports.
So it seems that the Canadian government found it necessary to use my tax dollars to tell us that vegetables are healthy for us. Actually, the government only found it necessary to mention this detail to our Quebec neighbours. Can any of you Quebecors out there let me know if this was news to any of you? How do you feel with your improved diets?
I guess though that if desperate, the government could claim the ads were necessary to help Quebec radio stations to meet their Canadian content limits. Heck, if the CBC can use my tax dollars to pay for the sindication rights to The Simpsons this wouldn't be much of a stretch. And ignore for a moment the fact that you can watch The Simpsons on about 70 other channels, what would be left of Canadian culture without the CBC and the good graces of your government?
Oh the horrors... I shudder just thinking about it.
[Via Minority of One]
Saturday, April 16, 2005
Are you angry at the Liberal Party of Canada and want a way to express that anger even before you get a chance to do it at the ballot box, for their involvement in the sponsorship scandal? If so, I have a fun little idea for a mail in campaign, so that you the taxpayer, can show them just how angry you are over their behavior.
My idea for the mail in campaign, is to mail envelopes stuffed with monopoly money to Paul Martin's office.
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington St.
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A2
Because we all know how much the Liberal party likes envelopes stuffed with money, so we might as well help them out and all send one. But don't forget to put a note in the envelope too, because you have to request something from them in return for your envelope stuffed with cash. From what we have been hearing, that's how things work inside of the Liberal machine.
So if you think this is a good idea and would also like to see the Prime Minister receive a boat load of envelopes stuffed with play money, you can help out by spreading the idea around. I simply don't have the means myself to get the message out to enough people to make the mail in campaign a success, so I'd appreciate all the help you can give. You could link this post at your own sites, or even get the MSM involved, every little bit will help. Thanks.
crossposted to The Shotgun
Its not bad enough that environmentalists make up their own statistics when they are talking about the seal hunt to the media, now a Boston Globe freelance writer, Barbara Stewart, fabricated large chunks of a story published about the seal hunt last week. Full story here
[ Via Neale News ]
Friday, April 15, 2005
Since I'm having a running discussion about the benefits and pitfalls of the various means of funding healthcare, I figured I might as well highlight articles that discuss the state of Canadian healthcare.
Today I'm going to serve up a piece from the G&M about a new government initiative:
Ontarians will have access to 52 new family health teams to provide primary health care and address the province's shortage of family doctors, Premier Dalton McGuinty said Friday.Sounds like a wonderful plan right? Well in a country where everyone is supposed to get free healthcare why is this necessary?
Mr. McGuinty said the announcement is the first step in the government's plan to set up 150 teams across the province by 2008.
“Ontario families, including thousands who could not find a family doctor, will now have access to doctors, nurses and other health-care professionals who will not only treat them when they're sick, but do more to keep them healthy in the first place,” Mr. McGuinty said in this community near Belleville, Ont.
I highlight this article because many Americans are under the bizarre understanding that all Canadians have access to equal healthcare services. Well according to the Ontario Health Ministry that doesn't seem to be the case:
Health Ministry figures show that about 1.2 million Ontarians in 142 communities do not have access to a family physician.Based on this I'ld like to make two points. First, out of a population of 12 million, 1.2 million do not have access to a family physician. That is just about 10% of the population (based on these figures). This doesn't even take into consideration the fact that having a family physician in no way indicates that you are receiving adequate healthcare services.
The problem is widespread, affecting both rural, remote areas and large city centres such as London, Ont.
As well, one should consider that Ontario is one of the wealthiest provinces in the country. If the wealthiest part of the country can't afford doctors for everyone what state of affairs would we expect in poorer parts of the country?
I certainly wouldn't recommend this animation to everyone but if you are confident in your geekiness then check it out. It takes a while to load so be patient.
Imagine that out there somewhere someone got paid to put this animation together.
Depressing...
Thursday, April 14, 2005
I know that this is a few days late but I just had to put down a few comments about Clara Dasilva who was sentenced to three years for causing the death of her own child.
Now the first point I would like to make is that Dasilva could potentially be released from prison after six months. Imagine? After six months she'll be able to sleep at home, watch Oprah, and talk on the phone, to her hearts content.
I guess that I'm just old fashioned and I haven't been blessed by any of that new-age compassion that is so popular these days. No matter how hard I try, I just can't figure out how a child's life is worth six months. I can't. I saw a report on the news a few days ago and they said that judge David Watt was 'sickened' and 'disgusted' with what Dasilva did. And yet, six months in prison is all that she gets?
But I guess in a world where human life has little value I really shouldn't have expected anything different.
Sometimes a person just expects better.
The first rule of politics is that when you are in trouble you should try and change the conversation. Liberal's of course are masters of this art. During the last election, Paul Martin couldn't shut up about healthcare and aircraft carriers.
Anyways, with Stephen Harper turning up the heat due to Adscam, Paul Martin has decided that healthcare is his number one concern:
The two leaders traded blows, with Mr. Harper referring to Mr. Martin as a national joke, while the Prime Minister accused the Conservatives of hopping into bed with the separatists and of being out to destroy public health care.Relax there Paul. Healthcare can't be any more messed up than you've allowed it to become. Plus no has ever been able to explain to me why Canada should be following Cuba's lead when it comes to healthcare.
Damaging testimony at the Gomery inquiry into the sponsorship scandal has ratcheted up election speculation, prompting workers for all parties to prepare for what many believe is a looming vote.
The most controversial comment came inside the House of Commons. Jason Kenney, a Conservative MP from Calgary, said Mr. Martin may have perjured himself when he testified before the sponsorship inquiry that he did not know Claude Boulay, former president of the advertising firm Groupe Everest, very well.
"There is now testimony that the Prime Minister may, frankly, have perjured himself, that he may have had lunch with Mr. Boulay, one of the principal scamsters in the ad scam," Mr. Kenney told MPs during another raucous session of Question Period.
Groupe Everest was one of the largest recipients of sponsorship contracts.
Mr. Kenney's allegation flowed from the testimony of a former lobbyist for Groupaction, Alain Renaud, who said he witnessed a conversation between Mr. Martin and Mr. Boulay over lunch at a Liberal convention.
Earlier, Mr. Harper asked the Prime Minister repeatedly to acknowledge the incident.
Mr. Martin did not answer directly, pointing instead to his testimony at the commission, in which he said Mr. Boulay was an acquaintance.
Anyways, Martin could certainly find his ass in a sling due to this testimony. Martin's only defence in this entire matter is that he wasn't personally involved in any of the shenanigans. If that turns out to be false then the Liberal hope that this scandal will fade away like all the others won't likely work out.
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
If you what to know what the title to this post is referring to, all you have to do is read this article. And for anybody that cares, I what to be cremated after my death, not buried.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
So it seems that Canada doesn't quite have the gusto to intimidate Iran:
Iran rejected Tuesday a Canadian demand for an international team of forensic scientists to examine the corpse of an Iranian-Canadian photojournalist who died in its custody.As I said here, the latest Liberal stunt in this matter had about a zero percent chance of accomplishing anything.
Doesn't Canada's bowing at the alter of multilateralism mean anything? Why isn't the rest of the world up in arms over this? Don't they owe us?
Sorry, those were stupid questions. Anyways, so does anyone have a prediction of what the Liberals will do next? Maybe we could go crying to the UN? Better yet, another strongly worded letter!
Sure that'll work.
Monday, April 11, 2005
I don't know about you, but I thought that the quote by Scott Reid, in which he said that Paul Martin was a wire brush that is going to scrub away the stain on Canadian politics that the sponsorship scandal has caused, was a real beauty. I personally think it belongs in the quote hall of fame.
But I do have one concern about this whole wire brush thing. I just hope that Mr. Martin cleans the wire brush in peroxide before he tries to clean anything with it, because the wire brush in question sure looks suspiciously like the same one the Liberal party has been screwing the taxpayer with for the last few years. Hey, but that's just me.
... Bang!
What are we up to over here at canadiancomment you ask? Well today Bob and I decided that it would be fun to have a race where monkeys flew out of my ass, down the street, and into the nearest newstand. The first monkey to shit all over the counter wins.
Now an innocent question you might have is why the hell we'ld decide to spend such a beautiful Monday having monkey races. Well, we figured that if Paul Martin can claim he has the 'moral authority' to do anything, there couldn't possibly be a reason why monkeys couldn't fly out of my ass:
On Monday, in his first comments since the explosive testimony became public, Mr. Martin insisted that he still has the “moral authority” to govern. Speaking in Ottawa, he said that he was dismayed by the allegations made by Mr. Brault, and he promised to punish any official found guilty of wrongdoing.Race tickets are $5 apiece. Free if you provide the counter.
“I was as offended as any other Canadian, even if that testimony is contested, I was personally offended by what i heard,” he told reporters on Parliament Hill, in comments carried subsequently on cable news television.
Saturday, April 09, 2005
You know when its a sad day in Canadian politics when you can take a quote from a Russian reporter, Anna Politkovskaya, who is talking about her own corrupt and dirty government, and apply it to our very own Liberal party of Canada.
"The vacated arena is now filled with the ambitions of some, and the laziness and indifference of others; some publicize their ludicrous stupidity, others tell barefaced lies, while idiocy is raised to the level of government policy, and all are guilty of a slovenly inefficiency."Does the Paul Martin government have any moral authority left? Thanks to the Liberal party, Canada now has even less clout on the international stage. How can Mr. Martin tell other countries, such as Russia, with corrupt governments that they should being cleaning up their acts so that they can be better global partners and not have their own poor behavior thrown back in their faces?
crossposted to The Shotgun
Friday, April 08, 2005
No I'm not talking about cycling. I'm talking about everyone's favourite topic, the Liberal's sponsorship scandal.
Today we learn that Paul Martin doesn't want to fight an election anytime soon:
Mr. Martin's spokesman, Scott Reid, said Friday that “the challenge that this Liberal government issues to Stephen Harper and the Conservatives today is this:Well isn't that rich. The Liberals don't want the other political parties to take advantage of the situation? They'ld never do such a thing themselves would they? Oh the nerve...
“Will the leader of the Opposition give Canadians a guarantee that he will let Justice (John) Gomery report his findings – that he will not force voters into an election until they have the answers that this Prime Minister has said that they deserve?”
Judge Gomery's report is due toward the end of this year.
And I especially love when Reid says that the opposition should wait so that voters can 'have the answers that this Prime Minister has said that they deserve'. Really. Well how about this? Paul, head down to the nearest news outlet and start spilling it. If your concern is making sure Canadians know the truth of what you've been up to then isn't that the easiest solution?
Shit, even after all of this they still have the nerve to make out like they, and they alone, are looking out for Canadians best interests. It is beyond laughable.
And to finish off we have:
Mr. Reid insisted that the Prime Minister has no relationship to the scandal and is the best man to deal with it.See, he did it again! Paul Martin is a wire brush? What the f@#k does that mean!
“Paul Martin is the wire brush that will scrub clean this stain on Canadian politics,” Mr. Reid said.
“Stephen Harper is afraid of this, and therefore, it is he who is now talking about an election to pre-empt Justice Gomery. It is Stephen Harper who is calculating whether to put his personal political interest ahead of the wider public interest.”
Opposition parties have indicated that they will be polling in the next few days to see whether the scandal moves public opinion.
And to ensure the humour never ends, Reid says that Harper is afraid of the inquiry and wants to pre-empt it? What the bloody hell? Who takes these fools seriously?
I would love to have a one-on-one conversation with these guys just to find out what they think of the average Canadian. It would probably be pretty ugly.
If you're interested in the sponsorship inquiry, like a lot of Canadian are at this moment, and what to find out all you can about it. Then you have to go over to this post at PolSpy.
There are about 100 links in the post, that link to just about every news story that is available online in Canada. That plus the reaction from some of the best known blogs in Canada, so go over and start clicking, there is tons of reading to be done.
With the Liberal government suffering though one of the biggest scandals in the history of Canada, it looks like the Liberal party and Prime Minister Paul Martin need a great big distraction to take people's minds off of the sponsorship scandal. And, if we were living in a small budget Hollywood B-movie and not in reality, this is how Mr. Martin might do just that.
With the reasons for death of Zahra Kazemi being known to the public now, the Liberals could declare war on Iran, in hopes that everyone would forget about the sponsorship scandal. Its not like Iran could get their armed forces to Canada to attack us, and I don't think the United States would give them the basing rights to station their armed forces close enough to attack us. So I think it would be a safe move.
As for combat, because we know all wars need heroes, and what better way to help people forget about the sponsorship scandal than war heroes. Mr. Martin could start up the well tuned Liberal propaganda machine and film, in the Rockies of course, fake battles between Canadian and Iranian forces locked in life or death struggle.
I can see it now, the sponsorship scandal would be yesterday's news with the fake war in Iran taking center stage. The Liberals would be reelected, because as we all know, war time governments are never voted out of power and in the end everyone is happy. The Liberals stay in power and us ordinary citizens get a heroic war victory over the hated Mullahs in Iran.
The above scenario would make one interesting drama, but its a good thing we live in the real world, because that's one drama we can all live without. The Liberals have already put us through enough, without digging the hole even deeper and deeper, don't you think?
How many times have you seen Reader's Digest quoted on a blog? Never you say? Well consider this your lucky day because I'm going to do just that.
I was reading Reader's Digest today at the gym and their latest issue has a couple of really good articles on the state of Canadian healthcare. My favourite was "Maybe Competition Is The Answer' where they compared the differences in a health care survey between Canadian and American hospital administrators. Unfortunately the article isn't available online so I'm going to have to provide the quotes. As a nod to Reader's Digest I suggest you go out and buy the April 2005 issue if you're interested.
Anyways onto the numbers.
To the question 'How often their patients had to wait six months or more for elective surgery?' the percentages that responded with 'often' or 'very often' were:
Canada: 33%
United Kingdom: 57%
New Zealand: 42%
Australia: 26%
United States: 1%
To the question 'What's the average waiting time for a 50-year-old woman with an 'ill-defined mass in her breast?' the percentages that responded with 'three weeks or more' were:
Canada: 21%
United States: 1%
To the question 'How long does it take for a 65-year-old man to get a routine hip replacement?' the responses for 3 weeks or less were:
Canada: 3%
United States: 86%
There were plenty of other survey question mentioned but I particularly loved this quote:
If U.S. hospital administrators don't have to worry about waiting lists, what does concern them? In a word: competition. Asked whether they feared losing patients to other hospitals, 88 percent of Canadian hospital administrators said 'not very' or 'not at all'. Only 36 percent of Americans were similarly blase.Indeed.
Concerned about losing patients to free-standing diagnostic or treatment centers? Seventy-seven percent of Canadian hospital administrators weren't versus only 18 percent of the U.S. counterparts.
Get the picture? in Canada, hospital administrators can't imagine losing patients. In the United States, hospitals fight to get them. If you were a patient, which system would you want?
The last question I'll provide the results to was 'What is your overall satisfaction level with the health-care system?' the responses for 'very satisfied' or 'somewhat satisfied' were:
Canada: 93%
United States: 51%
Those responding 'not satisfied at all' were:
Canada: 0%
United States: 6%
As the article concludes:
Isn't that just typical? Our system is underperforming badly, yet we're oversatisfied with it.It's certainly something for Canadians to think about the next time they debate health-care.
Granted, the American health-care system isn't universal. Though most people get very responsive care, millions of others are left out - to which the blindingly obvious solution is not to scrap a very responsive system but to find ways to make it responsive to the entire population. For all the U.S. - bashing talk about the evils of 'cheque-book health-care,' the United States is one country at least where waiting times are not a problem.
Thursday, April 07, 2005
So will this be the final straw:
The inquiry has been checking whether the millions of dollars a handful of Quebec agencies received in contracts after the 1995 referendum were tied to benefits the Liberal Party of Canada received from those firms.It's always fun to watch Liberals squirm.
Mr. Brault gave the most candid answer yet to that question.
He said Benoît Corbeil, the executive director of the party's Quebec wing, once asked for a $400,000 donation and promised that he would get him a $3-million sponsorship contract. The commission Mr. Brault would earn on that contract was to compensate for the donation.
He said other disguised donations he made included half a million dollars in false billings to Jacques Corriveau, a confidant of Mr. Chrétien.
"When it comes to sponsorships, it's clear in my mind. If it wasn't for the investments of all types that we made towards the party, despite our abilities, our share of the pie would have been very small," he said.
While some of his allegations cannot be independently verified, many others were buttressed by scores of bogus invoices, cashed cheques, annotations in agenda books and other records the inquiry's forensic accountants dug up.
His testimony further cemented the notion that the program that Mr. Chrétien defended as an essential stratagem to counter the separatist threat has turned into a full-blown scandal threatening the survival of the Liberal governments in Ottawa and Quebec City.
But then again it's much more depressing to see them get away with it. Which they might.
For all of you out there that think David Ahenakew, a member of the Order of Canada, is an anti-semite for stating that he thinks that the Jews were the cause of WWII, and that the Jews were a "disease." Yesterday his lawyer explained the whole situation, so there is no reason at all to think Ahenakew is an anti-semite.
"He was certainly not feeling well that day and wouldn't have said these things if he was feeling well,"He wasn't feeling well! Surely, there must be more to it than that, I wasn't feeling that well the other day and never turned into an anti-semite. That must be quite the virus. But wait, there's more.
"His medication had recently been doubled caused clearly by a chemical imbalance in the blood being related to diabetes. In addition to that he had two glasses of wine the night before. I think in those circumstances it's pretty obvious that he wasn't measuring his words the way he would normally do."Ooooh, it was the combination of diabetes, wine and medication. I guess I can't relate to Ahenakew's condition after all, so who's to know if he should be held responsible for his actions or not.
Does anyone really understand the effects of those factors on the human body? Maybe the government should do a study, about 10 million should get the study started, and actually see if combination of diabetes, wine and medication causes people to say terrible things about the Jews.
I think Ahenakew's lawyer must be suffering from this same three factors, to have the gall to come up with that defence. The first time I get arrested, I'm definitely going to use the diabetes, wine and medication defence.
crossposted to The Shotgun
You just can't beat Liberal politicians. Well I suppose you could but it probably wouldn't be legal. Anyways enough of the fantasizing.
Lately the Liberal Party is busy trying to minimize the damage from the murder of Zahra Kazemi. Like all issues the Liberals deal with, if tough measures are required they often end up spending most of their time trying to look good in front of the cameras. According to the G&M:
“We need an independent autopsy which will help determine precisely what happened during her custody,” said Sébastien Théberge, a spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew.Put pressure on Iran? Who the hell are we kidding here? Certainly not the Iranians.
“Dr. Azam's story reinforces our belief that this was a murder, but the Iranian government will not listen to reasonable demands.
“Now the ball is in Iran's court.”
Mr. Pettigrew made the request for an international autopsy in a conversation with his Iranian counterpart, Kamal Kharazi.
Canada was hoping to take its plea directly to Mr. Khatami, the reform-minded President of the Islamic republic who was in Paris on Tuesday.
He was to speak to hundreds of foreign dignitaries at a conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Canada seemed intent on using its message and its envoy to UNESCO – Yvon Charbonneau – to put pressure on Iran.
And what the hell is an 'international autopsy'? Are they making this shit up as they go? A Canadian citizen has been killed in a foreign country and the best we can do is ask that they cooperate? That's the problem Pierre! Asking them to do something that they refuse to do is not really constructive to resolving this.
I have little doubt that when the Liberal cabinet is discussing this issue the vast majority of the time is spent trying to figure out how to present the issue to the Canadian public and little to no time is spent developing a real stategy to resolve this.
Multilateralism at its best. A strongly worded letter is what Canada has been reduced to... I'm sure that will accomplish a lot with a regime that tortured and murdered a middle-aged woman taking photographs.
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Many people stereotypically view Californians as new age hippsters that eat tonnes of granola and hug the occasional tree. Well I don't know about the granola but it seems that the majority of Californians do actually hug trees. Full story here
In a recent survey done at California State University, marketing professor Dennis Tootelian recently announced that 63% of Californians have actually hugged a tree. I guess some stereotypes are actually true, but why do Californians hug trees?
"Tree hugging grounds you, somehow. It connects you to the earth and the sky. I recommend that everyone do it," - Micaela Hoskins of San Jose, CalifI have to admit that I have hugged a tree a few times in my life as well, not for the same reasons as most Californians though. The first time I hugged a tree, it was about a half a second after I ran into it with my face while I was riding my bike and I hugged that sucker for all I was worth to avoid doing a second face plant into the ground as well. The second time I was at a party at a campground and ended up using a tree as a make shift stabilizer at the end of the evening.
Maybe it is true, I did feel more grounded after I hugged a tree on both those occasions. I too recommend tree hugging for everyone!
[ Via Neale News ]
Imagine for a second that a white female photojournalist with dual U.S. - Canadian citizenship went to a city in the United States and photographed an anti-government student rally. Then was detained by the American government, was raped, beaten, and ultimately murdered by government thugs because of the reporting she had done on the rally.
Just imagine the outrage that would spread, deservedly so, like wild fire across Canada if such an event were to happen. The Liberal party and most of the population would be screaming bloody murder, Liberal MPs and the media would vilify the Americans to no end.
That outrage would also be multiplied several times if the government choose to sit on its hands and do nothing in response to the news that one of our citizens died at the hands of a foreign government. The government would have to act or they would be held responsible by the voters.
With that picture clearly in your head, what would you think might happen if a women of Persian decent, with dual Iranian - Canadian citizenship were to be killed and raped by a foreign dictatorship? My guess would be not near as much would come of it. Why do you think that is?
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
So rumour has it that John Gomery will consider laying charges against any Canadian blogger who links to a site containing information related to the 'closed door' testimony at the Adscam Inquiry. Regardless of what century Gomery believes it currently is, I suspect these threats won't accomplish very much.
Anyways, on to other things...
Have you ever used Google lately? I swear you could punch in any random jiberish and come up with some interesting stuff. Technology eh?
This is the funniest thing I've seen in weeks. My favourites are #9, #5, and #2.
Did anyone out there ever listen to Orleans? As a related question, what the hell was wrong with you?
It seems that the Liberal Party never fails to amaze. Now that, the proverbial shit has hit the proverbial fan as Bob so eloquently put it, the Liberal Party is doing whatever is possible to deflect blame:
“Testimony provided by Jean Brault, as well as certain statements made by Bernard Thiboutot, now assert improper practices did occur. These assertions may harm the interests of the Liberal Party,” the request says.Isn't this like the rapist complaining that the victim wore a short skirt? You twits were lining each others pockets!
The Liberal request repeats key elements of Mr. Brault's testimony that cannot be reported. It then states: “Based on the aforementioned assertions — and any similar such claims that may emerge in future testimony — the Liberal Party has taken the additional step of asking the RCMP to investigate whether the party was also [a] victim of such collusion.”
The same Paul Martin who is now doing everything within his power to cover his ass had this to say over a year ago:
Martin repeatedly declared he intended to get to the bottom of the scandal, which has seen the Liberals drop in the polls nine percentage points to 39 per cent in a matter of days.A contribution to what exactly? To his friends pocketbooks? Arg!
He said he came into public life to make a contribution, and he will do everything in his power to overhaul government to make it more open and accountable -- otherwise, he will get out.
I just wish a reporter would ask Martin how the Liberal Party's latest actions intend to achieve what he promised before the election. I'll be patiently waiting...
Monday, April 04, 2005
As you may have noticed in the last couple of days, the shit storm surrounding the sponsorship inquiry has been upgraded to a tropical storm from a rain shower after lasts week's testimony. But due to the publication ban, yes we do live in a open and free democracy, we still don't know for sure what was actually said during the inquiry. Hopefully we'll hear something concrete soon.
But the news must be bad though, because today the Prime Minister, Paul Martin, called in the RCMP to get to the bottom of things. But its not what you think folks, our beloved PM is playing the victim card on us, he's not actually trying to get to the bottom of things for our benefit. The Prime Minister is now in full damage control and he wants us to believe that the Liberal party is a victim of fraud. Full story here
If Mr. Martin and the bigwigs in the Liberal party believed their own bullshit in the first place, that they didn't know anything about the misused funds. Why didn't Mr. Martin get the RCMP involved from the get go, instead of wasting more money on the inquiry? If the Liberals were the true victims, not the taxpayer, where was the criminal investigation at the beginning of this whole mess?
Anyway, quite a few of us know why there was no investigation to begin with, the Liberals were hoping that the shit storm would past them by, but as we can clearly see now, the eye of the storm is getting closer and closer.
[ Via Neale News ]
Update @ 11:57 PM
For an interesting post that compares Paul Martin's actions of today and Richard Nixon's back in 1974, than check out this headline, President Nixon calls in FBI to investigate possible fraud perpetrated against Republican party. Sound Familiar?
[ Via Small Dead Animals ]
Sunday, April 03, 2005
Friday, April 01, 2005
The has been a few reports tonight that are saying this week's testimony from the sponsorship inquiry, could very well sink Paul Martin's minority government. Nobody seems to know exactly what the damning testimony is, due to the publication ban, but it sounds pretty bad for the Liberals. Full story here
"Although exact details of the testimony cannot be revealed due to a publication ban, there are reports its disclosure would prove so devastating that Paul Martin's Liberal minority could fall if it became public." - CTV NewsNow that this much of the story has come out, I can't imagine it will be very long before we get all the details. Greg from Political Staples has reported the story and is keeping updates, so if you want to know the latest check it out here.
I haven't commented on the Terri Schiavo story simply because the entire affair disgusted me and I didn't want to pay any attention to it. But since her life has ended I figure I might as well give my thoughts on the matter. Before her death I wanted to reach through my computer screen and choke anyone who supported her former husband so it was best that I just shut up and ignored it.
Anyways, now that she is gone, I have a few questions I would like answered by those who supported the final outcome.
The first would be why do you believe the husband's claim that she said she didn't want to live in that condition when he never mentioned it for the first 7 years? Was he lying then or is he lying now? If he was lying then should he face legal consequences for the way this played out? He did after all want her to die because he wanted to 'end her suffering' and if that is the way he viewed her life should he not face legal consequences for making her suffer for so many years?
Another question would be if you apply the same principle to every case where a person claimed their sponse or child said they wouldn't want to live in such a situation? Heck when talking about the situations of some people I've known, or when seeing a similar situation on TV, I know that at times I've said I would never want to live that way. But guess what... I sure as hell don't want the courts pulling the plug on me!
I've heard people say such things lots of times but I've never taken the notion that they wanted me to pull the plug on them if they found themselves in such a situation. They rarely quantified the statement by saying under what conditions they would like to be killed. Is anyone but her former husband privy to what Terri said?
Anyways, I guess my real concern on this matter can best be summed up by Leo Alexander who spoke at the Nuremberg Tribunals after WWII:
Whatever proportion these crimes finally assumed, it became evident to all who investigated them that they had started from small beginnings. The beginnings at first were merely a subtle shift in emphasis in the basic attitudes of the physicians. It started with the acceptance of the attitude, basic in the euthanasia movement, that there is such a thing as life not worthy to be lived. This attitude in its early stages concerned itself merely with the severely and chronically sick. Gradually, the sphere of those to be included in this category was enlarged to encompass the socially unproductive, the ideologically unwanted, the racially unwanted, and finally all non-Germans. But it is important to realize that the infinitely small wedged-in lever from which the entire trend of mind received its impetus was the attitude towards the non-rehabilitative sick.I feel more sorrow for those who believe there is such a thing as a 'life not worth living' than I do for those their so-called 'compassion' is directed.
crossposted to The Shotgun
Have Bob or I ever written something that has totally pissed you off? Are you sick of us making you feel stupid with our grade six writing skills and mindless commentary?
Well this is your chance to get even.
Enjoy.
[Via Right-Wing & Right-Minded]