Bud Talkinghorn: Chretien's legacy of scandal continues -- Sports Coverage Quibble

Bud Talkinghorn: Chretien is gone, but his legacy of scandal continues

The National Post (Jan. 16) reports that Chretien and Alfonso Gagliano set up a deal with the Prime Minister of Lebanon to restructure the failing Lebanese postal system. Somehow Hariri's personally-owned university got a $925,000 CIDA grant in 1998 as part of the bargain. This to a man who was worth an estimated $3 billion. The postal deal involved SNC-Lavalin (one of Chretien's favourite charities) and was announced to trumpets blaring that "it was the deal of the century".

You, humble taxpayer, decide if this was really the deal of the century. The $281 million put up by Canada as seed money to retrain the Lebanese postal workers, has left a post office that still doesn't mail out government cheques. The Lebanese middle man, a Montrealer called El-Husseini, has now become the chairman of Liban Post. The Hariri's university has $US 122.1 million in outstanding student debt "whose collectibility is uncertain". As for SNC-Lavalin, they pulled out of the deal after incurring huge losses; citing their experience with Liban Post as being "extremely difficult."

Everybody in the Liberal government who was involved in this boondoggle (or outright scam) has either tried to spin it as "part of a diplomatic effort to develop good social and civil society relationships," or simply clammed up. Maybe the real question is why are we involved at all with such a failed state as Lebanon? It is a country where the real center of power is split between the Syrian Baathists (backed by 15,000 troops in the country) and Hezbollah, the terrorist group. Now freed from scrutiny Chretien and his business cronies are--or have been--off to China [Bombardier] for more "deals of the century." Paul Martin is in Asia now and soon to be in China for more "deals" -- "business partnerships". Stay tuned to see how much that is going to cost the taxpayer.

© Bud Talkinghorn

Guess who loses, Bud? The little people too busy 'getting and spending' on their taxes to these guys who waste their money; they are too busy to read the fine print when it finally comes out -- years later. NJC




A small quibble with sports coverage

I realize that my favourite TV sports--golf, figure skating, and beach volleyball--may suggest a reduced testosterone level, but I maintain these sports surpass the skill level of college basketball. Tonight was a total bummer, as ABC cut off the entire dance program from their U.S. National Championship so we could watch a bunch of mutant pimpled giants throw a ball. I accept that there is a skill level to these hoopsters, but they aren't even professionals. At least with my choices, they are the creme de la creme of their sports. However, even in ice skating competitions we are now subjected to watching the best of the dancers and pairs reduced to a few competitors, while they parade every stumblebum man and woman in the individual segment. It is that loudmouth Dick Buttons detailing the reason for everyone of their endless pratfalls? Even in golf coverage they have taken to only showing the top four, while the eventful winner, just behind them, has make five birdies in a row. Unless you make a hole-in-one, you are ignored. They used to give you the scores of the potential rivals. Now, if you aren't on page one of the leader board, forget about it. Unless you are Tiger Woods; then you can be nine strokes behind and still hog twenty minutes of coverage as they discuss your swing plane problems. There is something perverse about this selectivity. The last tournament I watched they didn't even flash the field's scores at the end. It didn't matter that one golfer might have shot 62 to come from last to sixth place; you didn't win, 'sucker'. There is some ominous sign here (rampant individualism?) that still eludes full definition. I will keep working on it.

© Bud Talkinghorn