Updated: Rick Mercer & Web Ring for Democracy & Freedom --&--Bud Talkinghorn: "End world poverty"--Give me a break, Bob

Update 2: There was a link error in "Canadian Winners" so I am reposting it here.

What do they have in common? Alexandre (Sacha) Trudeau, CBC's Neil MacDonald, the headline writers of the Toronto Star June 17, 05, honestreporting.ca -- Be sure to follow the links for more that is of interest.



Update1 : Note WebRing -&- CBC & Rick Mercer

May I draw everyone's attention to the WebRing at the bottom of the page. It is time we support freedom and those individuals being persecuted because they want democracy in China.

You can take action. Think how simple it is for the next time you go shopping.

Would any business men and women in North America who are providing decent wages and benefits to their employees like to leave a message in the commment section? Maybe we can start something to support our jobs--to help family, friends and neighbours. Are there any businessmen out there who do not believe that beggaring our own to make a buck is the most important thing in life?

Some might be interested in Boycott China! -- bumper sticker -- via the Shotgun

Send me an e-mail with your address ( US addresses only ) and I'll snail-mail you back one free bumper sticker! [boycottchina@ioa.com]

Banned by China! WebRing

Many websites are strategically banned by the Chinese government, based on content. Nobody using the internet in China is able to access these websites. How do we know which websites are banned by China? We test all submissions to "Banned by China!" at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/filtering/china/test. Banned websites are encouraged to join this Ring.

Look for this to add to your own website: Don't Feed the Dragon


Personally, I'm looking for one that says:

Don't Feed the Dragon That
Tortures its Own Citizens and
Threatens Ours Through Spies & Intimidation

Ah, we might as well go for broke and suggest to CBC and Rick Mercer:

Canada's CBC Harasses UN Over
Atrocities in Darfur and Zimbabwe


CBC Calls for Palestinian
Terrorists to End the Jihad Against Israel


CBC Sends Rick Mercer to the Middle East to Teach
Democracy with Humour. . . Ridiculing Hamas

Those who have heard the latest news on the CBC & Rick's Propaganda for Paul attempt to ridicule another politician will understand what inspired the last one; Rick is going to try to do with Jason Kenny's name what Rick did to Stockwell Day, who has, incidentally, turned out to be an excellent MP and critic. . . but you won't hear that on the Liberal Propaganda Organ. Mercer actually thinks he's funny.

Now, a final suggestion:

Bob Geldof's next concert will start with a bonfire of all schoolbooks in the Muslim world that teach hatred and jihad. He will raise money to buy schoolbooks that do not urge children to become terrorist jihadis.

Did anyone hear a rumour that Mercer has been looking into buying Paul Martin's name for a website; it is said that he intends . . . all in the spirit of "CBC balance" to remind the PM:

Paul Martin, follow through on your "priority" to "end the democratic deficit" in Canada.

Carried away there, I was. . . but the potential is so delicious.

Impact on Canada of Corrupt Foreign Officials in Other Countries Alasdair MacLaren, Ottawa, Ontario, September 2000

They seem to know some of the words but . . .




End world poverty--Give me a break, Bob

Mr. Geldof has hit on the perfect slogan. The fact that it is sheer nonsense is not the point. The point is that Live 8 is this year's Woodstock. The Yuppie kids who will attend won't remember Bob's last aid concert. I doubt 50% could find Ethiopia on a map of Africa. That will prove to be a blessing for Bob. Because, well, that concert to save Ethiopia from famine didn't really work out all that well. It seems the President for Life, Menguistu, thought that the food aid would help plump up his bedraggled Marxist troops. Then because he likes liquidity, he demanded tha all the foreign aid currency be exchanged for the worthless Ethiopian one. Their currency was trading for astronomical sums on the black market. Most countries wouldn't even accept it. The Live Aid people could do nothing about this larceny, so they sucked it up, and then erased that fiasco from the "official record" of Live Aid.

So how is Sir Bob going to save the world's poor, when there was such a snafu in Ethiopia? Does he really believe that Africa hasn't lots of Menguistus? For instance, the little glimmer of hope that the last election in Kenya produced has been extinguished. The "anti-corruption" winner is a bigger kleptocrat than the one he deposed. Even in South Africa, the jewel of Africa, the slow momentum of despotism is evident. I think Geldof should scale back a bit.

Saving Darfur would be a worthy goal. He shouldn't be scared off by the UN and Africa failing to end the slaughter (again). All that fuzzy karmic good will that the ecstasy-dosed kids will project can see the refugees through. And the big boys at the G-8 will be humbled into throwing billions at the kleptocrats . . . who will use it to attack yonder tribe in the northern regions. That will end the famine problem, as most of the starving will be dead, or in exile. "I need lots of food for my tribe, that has seen me through many necessary massacres," will be the klepto's "election" mantra. That simple message will give said dictator another mandate for eternal rule--98.7% affirmation votes is the gold standard in much of Africa. Getting a hundred per cent would make the referendum look rigged.

Somehow, I don't think that Sir Bob's grasp of recent African history is very strong. Perhaps I could recommend Paul Theroux's book, Dark Star Safari--From Cairo to Capetown to him.. It was the chronicle of Theroux's return to Africa, after having worked as a member of the Peace Corp in Malawi, and a lecturer in Uganda twenty years earlier. He was stunned to see that almost every aspect of Africa had declined. His former private school in Blantyre had fallen into neglect. The donated books and teaching tools had been looted, mainly . He also saw a new pathology which had turned millions into beggars. They had come to expect that Western aid would keep them going. This is what he, a keen observer, found after twenty years of regression. The guaranteed continuation of the AIDS crisis was tied up nicely by a Finnish AIDS lecturer, who was giving up. She told Theroux that her final report on the dire Zambian situation ended with,

"What did my AIDS wisdom mean when all the male students propositioned me sexually for nine months straight? They are naturally sexually promiscuous and, despite seeing their their acquaintances and relatives dying all around them, they are in total denial. I tell them that they are committing sexual suicide, and they laugh at me."

Stopping the AIDS plague in Zambia might be expensive and complex, but maybe Bob's concerts could handle it. Ending world poverty might be an over-reach.

Although later, having a 2005 "End world poverty!" t-shirt is pretty cool. And by God, giving those capitalist pigs a good boot in the a** was empowering. Too bad that Live 8 didn't work out very well. Still, what with the ecstasy, it was a stone hoot. I heard that Sir Bob is mounting "End poverty in Togo" at the turn of the decade. The mainliner band will be K'aos. How cool is that?

© Bud Talkinghorn

Perhaps Bob could rally the Canadian government to support freedom fighters in China, instead of encouraging business with the Communist oppressors. Maybe he could expend his energy shaming the UN into doing something about the thugocracies in Zimbabwe and a few other basket case countries, along with helping the refugees of Darfur.

A great idea came from a National Post letter this morning, from George Grossman of Toronto. He suggests Bob, himself, buy a ticket, fly over and start working on the ground.

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