Better the status quo and the devil you know than a leader and party with a clean record but roots in the West?

Torontonians look at corruption and shrug -- "Better the status quo and the devil you know than a leader and party with a clean record but roots in the West?" Paul Stanway, Edmonton Sun, May 20, 05

TORONTO -- Welcome to the land of the "Belinda Bounce" and the GTA [Greater Toronto Area]. This may not yet be the belly of the beast, but it has surely become the navel of the nation. The days are long gone since a visiting Albertan could rail against the political absurdity of all Ontarians. Or even all residents of southern Ontario [. . . . ]

Is that not disheartening? Mainstream media will play along with the Librano$; after all, that's their bread and butter.



Tory turncoats nothing new Peter Worthington, May 20, 05

[. . . . ] In 2000, when Keith Martin failed to convince members of the Canadian Alliance that he should be leader, he switched to the Liberals and today is parliamentary secretary to the defence minister and a defender of second-hand British submarines that leak underwater.

[. . . . ] It's the Liberals who have made the Bloc a viable threat to Confederation. The Bloc can't get many more seats than they have now.

They too have had a bellyful of Liberal corruption.

Belinda's decision is akin to joining a mafia that governs by intimidation, deceit and malice when it can't get its way by bribery and blackmail. But she calls it acting on principles and ethics. Some "ethics." Tony Soprano ethics.

A tour of defectors that you must read.



A fancy name for tribalism George Jonas, May 20, 05

[. . . . ] Affirmative action was about raising motivations, not expectations. It was about helping all people to meet standards, not about relaxing standards for some. It was about unlocking every door, then inviting every individual from ever group to turn the knob for himself or herself. It wasn't about barring the doors for some and carrying others across the threshold. That's only what it turned out to be. [. . . . ]

It's Jonas' list of Why I Dislike Affirmative Action that is a must read.

How sensible . . . so of course, he will be ignored in this "best of all possible worlds" of asymmetrical * * * * * * . . . . . fill in your own pet peeve there.

Stronach: "the government cannot give you anything it has not taken from you first"

The trouble with CEO conservatives William Watson

[. . . . Belinda Stronach said she believed] "in a smaller government and a more decentralized government. And Liberals believe in slightly larger government, and there's a good saying -- that the government cannot give you anything it has not taken from you first." [. . . . ]

Paul Martin is a former CEO, too, and he's an inveterate meddler. Early childhood education, R&D, machinery and equipment, science and technology: Put our money there and there and there and things will really roll.

To make the economy roll, you need to get out of the way and let it happen. If a government really were fixated on reducing marginal tax rates, Canadians' desire to better their standard of living would automatically generate economic growth. We may not get that kind of government from the new, centrist Conservative party. We certainly won't get it from ex-CEOs Stronach and Martin.

The Feds Found Money to Buy Votes -- Underfund Greater Toronto Enforcement Centre & Infrastructure

Editorial: End immigration chaos

The federal government has routinely failed to fulfill its responsibility to remove those who do not qualify for asylum under the UN convention on refugees. And now we have evidence of the degree to which it has failed even to deal with foreign nationals who are the subject of criminal arrest warrants.

[. . . . ] Of 22,027 warrants issued through the Greater Toronto Enforcement Centre -- the country's largest -- only 146 were assigned to active investigation. The largest component of the backlog involves people whose refugee claims were rejected. But some of the unassigned warrants were for criminal matters, and some of those even involve cases of "serious criminality" -- that means cases potentially punishable by a prison term of 10 or more years.

In explaining the failure, the Citizenship and Immigration Canada internal report notes "the loss of investigative resources" and the inability of already heavily burdened officers to take on new cases.

You will notice there was money to buy votes.



A public-private fix -- Ontario's $100B infrastructure needs are too rich for the public purse. Happily, private-sector investment is being recruited Don Drummond and Derek Burleton, Financial Post, May 20, 05

Private sector funding is needed for public infrastructure because governments simply have not been able to allocate sufficient funds to keep up with the needs. In Ontario, as in most Canadian jurisdictions, one of the reasons is that a rising share of revenues is being allocated to health care costs. Furthermore, with about 12 cents of each Ontario revenue dollar being directed at servicing the province's lofty debt load, infrastructure has been losing out.

Business Deals: Harmony Air China Flights -&- Indian Affairs Oil & Gas Branch

This would have come into force even if Paul Martin had lost the Ebay sale and vote auction in the House of Commons last night. It appears to have been a busy day yesterday . . . before the PM's almost-death experience in the House of Commons.

Harmony to have China flights Financial Post, May 19, 05

Harmony Airways, the tiny, Vancouver-based airline [owned by TK Ho ], has been given permission to begin operating flights to China this year. One month after Ottawa and China signed a new bilateral air services agreement, Harmony has been granted designation by Transport Canada to begin offering flights on a code-share basis to Chinese cities this fall. Code-sharing arrangements allow one airline to sell seats in its name on another airline. [. . . . ] Meanwhile, Air Canada, the only Canadian air carrier that now flies to China, was also given permission to add five more flights a week between Toronto and Beijing. [. . . . ]

Remember Dyane Adam, Minister of the Promotion of French, and her world tour to Canadian embassies? She travelled to China last year. Now, do you suppose we know the reason? Bilingual in Canada will soon be French / Mandarin. . . . . language courses offered at language schools in Quebec?

Related: China, Canada, Networks & Connections, Harmony Airways, Donations to PM, Awards Received & More




Gas firms will spend $58M to tap North Jon Harding, Financial Post, May 20, 05

Yesterday, the northern oil and gas branch of Indian and Northern Affairs awarded six exploration licences for parcels of land in the Central Mackenzie Valley of the Northwest Territories, a region with untapped resource potential but no outside link.

[. . . . ] Apache Canada Ltd., a unit of Houston-based Apache Corp., and partner Paramount Resources Ltd., together secured rights to a pair of parcels and roughly 130,000 hectares worth of land yesterday. The partnership, already active in the region, committed to spending more than $6.7-million.

Maurice Strong, the UN & "Collectivist Tides" -&- Flight of the Earth Council from Costa Rica

The prince of power Peter Foster, May 20, 05, Financial Post

[. . . . ] However, according to David Henderson, former chief economist for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the dangerous collectivist tides currently sloshing through both governments and executive suites have their origins down at Turtle Bay.

[. . . . ] Mr. Henderson has laid out his concerns in an excellent recent book, The Role of Business in the Modern World, and in a series of recent speeches (. . . ). However, what Mr. Henderson's plot lacks is a central character. Whom should it be? None other than Canada's own Maurice Strong, the world's best-connected doomster and inveterate promoter of a more powerful UN (which is, admittedly, something of a tough sell at the moment).

[. . . . ] The trends described by Mr. Henderson have their ultimate roots in an almost universal failure to appreciate the strength and complexity of markets, combined with an elitist power lust -- wrapped up in moralistic posturing -- that seeks to exploit such ignorance. These are compounded by a tendency to conform with "conventional wisdom," particularly when it is promoted by governments, CEOs, NGOs and the UN.

Flight of the Earth Council from Costa Rica -- or here

TORONTO, May 14, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In a Financial Post feature, titled Earth Council flees Costa Rica, Peter Foster exposes a recent debacles of Maurice Strong's Earth Council. The Costa Rican government is pursuing the Earth Council for payment of US$1.65-million, for the wrongful sale of a tract of land it donated to the Council. The land was donated by the Cost Rican government with the agreement that, if the Earth Council moved, it would have to return the land.

"In the wake of the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, Mr. Strong -- perennial United Nations player-referee and now a key advisor to Prime Minister Paul Martin -- set up the Earth Council as a 'watchdog' on the process he had started himself," Foster explains. "It was to keep up the pressure for Agenda 21, Rio's doorstop socialist wish list, as well as for global restrictions on carbon emissions (which brought us the horrors of Kyoto)."

Foster describes the Earth Council's mandate to "spread the gospel of sustainable development, and push the notion of an 'Earth Charter,' which had been rejected at Rio." [. . . . ]

Sponsorship: TV Series for China -- Benefits Whom?

Terrorists behind friendly lines Newsbeat1, May 20, 05. Link for the article.

How did promotion of TV series for China aid National Unity? via Newsbeat1, May 20, 05, Montreal Gazette, from an article by William Marsden, The Gazette, May 19, 05

Ex-minister paid to lobby, probe told -- Justice John Gomery questions how David Dingwall's promotion of TV series for China aided national unity

A former senior Liberal cabinet minister was paid $180,038 to obtain money from the federal sponsorship program to make a series of television programs that were broadcast only in China, the Gomery commission heard yesterday.

Just eight months after he was defeated in the June 1997 election, David Dingwall became a lobbyist for Toronto advertising firm Vickers & Benson.

Normally, government officials are required to undergo a "cooling-off period" of one year before they start lobbying.

There are no rules for Liberals, it seems.

Melting Moment, IMET, Myanmar / Burma, Business & China

I Had a Melting Moment

Topic: Hansard from rosemarie59 5/08/2005 20:01:05

Speaking of what goes on in the house, and it's amazing how much you can read on this link which is verbatim from Question Period, that you DON'T read in the newspapers.

Go to: Frost Hits the Rhubarb

Thanks. I'm delighted! Usually, I just get hacks from a far-flung part of the world or email with fake headers. Monkey business.



Slogans: Circle of Confusion Magazine (circleofconfusion.ca) -- Take a break and check these.


Integrated Market Enforcement Teams (IMET's)

Police report 33 current investigations into Canadian financial crimes CP, May 19, 2005

OTTAWA (CP) - Financial crime specialists have at least 33 investigations on the go involving Canadian firms with a market value totalling $55 billion, says the RCMP.

[. . . . ] Best known are probes of finances at high-tech company Nortel Networks and Royal Group Technologies, German said following a presentation to the Senate banking committee Wednesday. [. . . . ]

Stand up for democracy in Myanmar Posted by Stockwell Day on 09:18:38 2005/05/10 from an article by him in the National Post, May 10, 05

On May 3 and 4, delegates of the government of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) attended a meeting of senior economic officials in Toronto -- at the invitation of the government of Canada. Ken Sunquist, Assistant Deputy Minister of International Business at International Trade Canada, co-chaired the meeting. He responded to protests about the invitation by asserting that while "we discourage companies from trading and investing in Burma," we could not miss an opportunity to "show them the benefits of working together toward a different future."

This is typical of the sheepish line our government takes whenever an opportunity appears to make repressive regimes pay a price for their brutal suppression of their own people.

Myanmar's ruling junta is a savage regime. [. . . . ]

Many journalists are languishing in Myanmar's prisons. [. . . . ]

[. . . . ] Instead of talking about business opportunities, we should be telling Myanmar's junta about our commitment to the promotion of democracy and human rights -- and how this commitment is forcing us to contemplate the speedy termination of diplomatic recognition.

The fact that the Desmarais Power Corp's TotalFinaElf is in Myanmar / Burma would have nothing at all to do with this, of course.




Ted Fishman: China, Inc.: How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World, ISBN: 0743257529 -- Search for the review: "China's Economic Viability Is All in Its Numbers", May 10 2005

[. . . . ] Fishman contends that China is well poised for success by wielding a competitive advantage Japan, the last global entrant, could never provide, an endless and cheap supply of workers. Lots of statistics fortify the strength in China's numbers - there are more workers there than people in this country, there are more Chinese who have studied English there than people who speak English here, and the state owns all the factories and machinery over there versus the capital that has to be invested privately here. Couple this data with an authoritarian government that can manage industrial policy without the distractions of public opinion or politicians running for re-election, and one can see China's preferred position pretty clearly from Fishman's perspective. However, the author is almost too preoccupied with the data and not enough on the culture itself. Unlike Japan, China is a country divided into haves and have-nots ruled by a heartless regime that crushes all dissidents. [. . . . ]

Global Manufacturing - The China Challenge

[. . . . ] * Wal-mart – Buys $18 billion from China, providing a direct link to the US consumer

A massive shift in economic power is under way. A tenfold surge in high-quality Chinese imports at below US manufacturing costs is changing the landscape. In the US, the message is loud and clear – cut your price at least 30% or lose your customers.

[. . . . ] Meanwhile, America's trade deficit with China keeps soaring to new records. It's likely to be more than $150 billion in 2004, and about 12% of that through the world's biggest retailer: Wal-Mart. All the other large retailers (Target, Home Dept, Sears, K-Mart) are following suit.

A new book, "The Chinese Century" has a clear message: If you still make anything labor intensive, get out now rather than bleed to death. Shaving 5% here and there won't work. You need an entirely new business model to compete.

America has survived import waves before, and it has lived with China for decades. But now something very different is happening. The assumption has always been that the U.S. and other industrialized nations will keep leading in knowledge-intensive industries while developing nations focus on lower skills and lower labor costs.

That's now changed. What is stunning about China is that, for the first time, a huge country competes both with very low wages and high tech. Combine the two, and America has a problem.[. . . . ]

Note my comments on hacking above.


Solutions for the China Challenge

Librano$ Sleaze --&-- Andrew Coyne: Murphy-Grewel Tape

Update 1:

Duceppe wants Tory allegation probed -- MP approached Liberals about switching sides, not other way around, friend says Petti Fong with reports from Daniel Leblanc and Gloria Galloway, May 20, 05.

VANCOUVER -- Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe called for an RCMP investigation into a Conservative MP's allegation he and his wife received enticements of cabinet and Senate positions in exchange for their support, offers Prime Minister Paul Martin denied yesterday were ever made.

Mr. Duceppe said the allegation made by Gurmant Grewal, who is an MP for Surrey, B.C. -- as is his wife, Nina -- is "very serious" and called on RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli to investigate the potentially "criminal matter."

Mr. Martin said in the House yesterday that Mr. Grewal approached the Liberals and not the other way around.

"No such offers were made," Mr. Martin told the Commons. [. . . . ]

Of course, if you go to Andrew Coyne's site (scroll down here), listen to the tape, read what is there, you may have your own ideas.

Don't forget, as corruption swirls around the innocents, the Librano$ have become expert at "seeing, hearing and knowing nothing".




PMO negotiates with two more Tory MPs to miss vote Alexander Panetta, CP, May 19, 05

But the audio recording suggests Tim Murphy, Martin's top aide, urged Tory MP Gurmant Grewal and his wife and fellow Conservative MP Nina to abstain during the vote for an unspecified reward down the road.

[. . . . ] On the tape, Murphy is overheard discussing confidence-vote strategy with Grewal.

He tells Grewal that he and Nina could miss several votes this spring, and says he's willing to negotiate something later.

Sleazy and not unexpected in the Librano$ Canada.


Just go to Andrew Coyne's site for these two articles:

* The smoking audio tape

* Yeah, but can she bake a bigger pie?

Hezbollah in America

Hezbollah in America

Aside from al Qaeda, no terrorist group has killed more Americans than Hezbollah, which is bankrolled by Iran to the tune of at least $100 million a year. Hezbollah's main theaters of operation are Lebanon, its home country (where it killed hundreds of Americans during the 1980s), and the West Bank and Gaza, where it helps Palestinian rejectionists target Israel. But the group is active in the United States as well. Hezbollah is believed to have cells in at least 10 U.S. cities.

Although the organization has yet to launch an attack on U.S. soil, its U.S. activities are far from benign. Its work in this country has two major purposes: One is to raise money and smuggle arms to Hezbollah fighters, often by criminal activities ranging from credit-card fraud to cigarette smuggling; and the other is to conduct surveillance behind enemy lines, with a possible eye toward launching attacks on U.S. targets in the event of an armed conflict between the United States and Tehran. [. . . . ]

Search: arrest of Nemr Ali Rahal , credit-card fraud , Mahmoud Kourani of Dearborn , Mohammed Hammoud

Another Lesson in How It's Done: Mainstream Media Kick in to Oust Leader -- & -- PMO: Purchasing Dept. for Liberal Votes

This is presented as unbiased news but . . . if you read to the end, you will learn:

John Duffy is a volunteer advisor to Paul Martin and a registered federal lobbyist.

So why present the following as news in the National Post? I love some of the National Post writers but this bodes ill for the newspaper.

An Asper Media Outlet: "The people have spoken" John Duffy, May 20, 05

To call last night's confidence vote a defining moment restores to that term what years of overuse has robbed it of. The vote harnessed the unities of time, place and action into a political drama as compelling as any in our nation's history. Moreover, last night brought together several narrative threads that have been increasingly visible over the past several months.

The first is the tremendous political resilience of Prime Minister Paul Martin. [. . . . ]

The second major thread of this episode has been the performance of Stephen Harper at centre stage. A pattern is beginning to emerge with Mr. Harper, on two levels. [. . . . ]

The third and final point that has been defined last night beyond further question is the growing supremacy of the people over their parliament.

PMO: Purchasing Dept. for Liberal Votes


Bill Carroll of NewsTalk 1010 online radio and Similar Mainstream Media Opinion on Stephen Harper

This morning Bill Carroll called on Stephen to resign the CPC leadership.

Absolutely not! This is a media point of view coming out of Ontario, the Centre of Canada, the old Progressive Conservatives who hate that a leader comes from the West, those

Throughout his tenure as leader of the CPC, the mainstream media have criticized Stephen Harper's leadership for the following reasons; it is not a definitive list, but it may get you thinking of your own list:

* not "centrist" enough (not from Ontario? not bought by all the "right" people yet) -- or it could refer to . . .

* not "progressive" enough -- as though principles are arrived at after consulting and polling for the concensus of those who have supported the way things are now -- and those who have brought Canada's government into disrepute (perhaps those from the "centre"? Toronto? Ontario? even better if from "progressive" Quebec with all the politically correct views on marriage, gays, assymetrical language rights / promotion / federal job openings limited to 20% of the population?

* not enough charisma (hasn't developed the mendacity to plaster on a sickly, faux-smile -- a practiced art by dissemblers such as . . . )

* not able to keep high-profile people in the party (Liberals-in-conservative-clothing / Red Tories such as Belinda Stronach, Scott Brison, Keith Martin? What education and experience did Belinda Stronach bring, outside her money? What is Scott Brison's salient quality for the Liberal Party but as its front and center mouthpiece for Paul Martin? Should we mention that he proves the Libs are gay-friendly. Keith Martin, I suspect, is genuinely more leftist and is more at home in the Liberal Party.)

* crankiness -- as if there were no reason (Should he pretend that it is fiscally responsible to throw money at every problem? That buying votes from people whose principles are elastic or whose ambitions override other considerations is "leadership"?)

These media types are propagandizing for the disgruntled Progressive Conservatives in order to get power back to Central Canada. If it helps the Liberals, well, the Liberals know how the system works; they invented it. CBC-LPO will take care of Liberal concerns.

An outbreak of real integrity? Of genuine emotion? Of warranted indignation at the criminality being revealed as connected to the government / Liberal Party (alleged, still?) by the Gomery Inquiry? Of real democracy instead of rule from the PMO? A political leader who considers the Canada's citizens' best interests ahead of personal ones? That would ruin everything. We can't allow democracy to break out in Canada; the centre has to maintain control!

Mainly, the media abet the Liberals in keeping the moneyed tribe in power. Why can they not see that attractiveness and charisma are often the garb of self-interest in Canada.

Do any of these media types not understahnd that genuine integrity and principled leadership does not lend itself to currying favour as the follows:

* by handng out power positions in any organization including government, positions not earned

* by dipping into the public purse to to buy the support of every bloc / province that recognizes that the Prime Minister's weaknesses have replaced principles

* by buying support with other people's money for something as crass as remaining in power.

Bring on more Stephen Harpers for me! We could use his character in that house of ill-repute, the purchasing department for Liberal votes, the PMO.

---

Another nail in the coffin of voter cynicism

Jesus saves. Liberals pay cash

Found in the National Post, May 20, 05, A7; it may have come from Kate McMillan of Small Dead Animals.



Another nail in the coffin of voter cynicism

The defection of Belinda Stronach to the Liberals is a final proof, for those who have come to believe that ALL POLITICIANS are driven by bloated egoes, blind ideology or financial gain. Even before this flip-flop, I began to hear a nation-wide chorus of "They are all the same". I don't believe this, but this sentiment has taken on a life of its own. Stronach's move, two days before a crucial no-confidence vote, is so blatant as to defy any positive Liberal spin doctoring. The reasons for her decision range from personal aggrandizment to even more sinister considerations. After all, Daddy ran for the Liberal Party. Was she simply a mole? Money, for her, couldn't have been a consideration. Was it a vindictive ploy to avenge the removable of the Joe Clark Red Tories from the political arena? To push the possibilities to the edge, did she join the ranks of those seduced by Bill Clinton? It was big tabloid news in the US that she attended and canoodled a bit with Clinton at a soiree. Is she the Monica Lewinski of politics? Just to play Freud for a minute, does her sense of entitlement extend to the belief that her wealth and power should have afforded her some top position in the Conservative party? And if it didn't happen, she was going to pick up her toys and refuse to play anymore--at least with those nasty boys. Through a confidential source, I saw how a party of the people could be taken over by big money. Suddenly, all the ground troops were replaced by the back room crowd of this individual.

It would be interesting to see where Magna's political contributions flow now. Two weeks ago Belinda Stronach stood with the Conservatives to call for the fall of the corrupt Liberals: now she sees them as the saviours of Canadian unity--Please! Let's just call her the Madonna of the political scene--today fervent Catholicism, tomorrow Epicurianism, and now mystical Judaism. Who knows, tomorrow the new interest of Bill Clinton? (intellectually, of course) This is what you get when you woo the diletantes. Now she can count on her face fronting the cover of Maclean's magazine. Maybe she will even make the cover of Queer Eye for the Straight Voter. I would compare her to Arnold Schwarzenegger, except Arnold was always a true conservative.

Now we can only wait for the new additions to Martin's "sacred budget" to see how it can be changed to her business advantage. Wait for it: NEWS BREAK! "Magna Corp wins billion dollar government forgivable loan. Bombardier crashes on news." Oh, don't get me started on the vile possibilities of this. A shipping tycoon, whose company has picked up $161 million dollars in "loans", has picked up another tycoon to support his party. Quelle Surprise!, as they would say in Quebec.

© Bud Talkinghorn--It's all enough to make one vote for the Marijuana Party.


PS: Bud, it's too late. The leader of the Marijuana Party joined the Liberal Party, if I recall correctly. NJC

---

A Lack of Resources for Immigration Enforcement

Immigration overwhelmed by crime files -- Warrants untouched Adrian Humphreys, May 20, 05

The vast majority of arrest warrants issued in Canada against foreign nationals -- including those wanted for serious criminality -- are not assigned for active investigation because of a lack of resources for immigration enforcement, newly disclosed documents show.

Of 22,027 warrants issued through the Greater Toronto Enforcement Centre, only 146 were assigned for active investigation at the time a government report was prepared in June, 2003.

[. . . . ] It says 15,000 people who are not Canadian citizens but are facing criminal charges are referred to immigration officials each year by Toronto police alone.

Of those, 30% result in detailed court-tracking or immediate arrest by immigration.

"This document plainly sets out that they are under-resourced," said Richard Kurland, a Vancouver immigration lawyer. [. . . . ]

NewsTalk 1010 & Newsbeat1: Recapping the last couple of months in Parliament

I thought this had been posted yesterday; evidently, I erred . . . again. Here it is today. NJC


Truth

Newstalk 1010 Radio Online

There must be something wrong with Canadians. The slimier the Liberals get, the more we admire them

Devastating assessment but the truth. I cannot believe that Chuck Cadman or David Kilgour would even consider voting for this government, some of whose members may be corrupt (alleged, as yet, but you know in your heart and soul that much is true). Certainly Paul Martin is willing to spend--or promise to spend which is not the same thing--Canadians' money to buy votes.

Desperate, mendacious, corrupt. Do you think this Prime Minister is fit to govern any country? Or are his business interests--the ones he no longer owns--threatened by the light of decency and integrity?




Don't Miss

Recapping the last couple of months in Parliament Newsbeat1, May 19, 05 -- or the complete article by Paul Albers who is a freelance columnist living in Ottawa

If the Liberals manage to survive the budget vote today, it will only be because they defied the will of Parliament long enough to use taxpayer funds to buy votes they would have never gotten otherwise. A Liberal victory would represent the end of responsible government in Canada. We would be left with nothing but an empty shell of democracy where the only virtue is power and the only vice is getting caught.

The Liberal party has raided the public purse, violated electoral law, limited opposition in the House of Commons, defied the will of Parliament and now appears to be bribing Members of Parliament. If that isn't enough to justify an election, what is?"

---

The Crooks Have Won -- & -- Andrew Coyne

The Crooks Have Won

Paul Martin's government has survived with the help of Belinda Stronach and Chuck Cadman. It may be a Pyrrhic victory; that remains to be played out.


It's open season now:

* our government can sell out the country to the authoritarian "friends of . . . ":

* our justices will continue to exacerbate the problems of criminality because they do not uphold the laws as already written and they remember who appointed them or have the same leftist views

* our security forces will remain underfunded . . . for if they had sufficient funding for manpower and resources, they might be able to uncover the proof for what has been occurring for years that we know some of but not yet enough

* our ports of entry will not be closed to criminal gangs and criminality (I believe there have been pacts made with the devil(s))

* gays will marry and the family will be diminished as the basic social structure for rearing children who are buttressed by two opposite sex parents

* mothers will have to go out to work to afford all Paul Martin's profligate $22-$23-BILLION in promises and vote buying to the NDP, the provinces, and to individuals as quid pro quo . . . e.g. daycare, PM won't fund stay-at-home mothers when he can take your children and indoctrinate them in state-run institutions in correct thought

* marijuana smoke will fill the air . . . . pot will be grown legally eventually, though taxed to afford the plutocrats their perqs and payoffs . . . among other things

All is now well in the best of all possible corrupt worlds . . . for those Liberals who know how the game is played and for whom principle is spelled with $$$ and the naked exercise of power . . . . and to heck with the great unwashed. Democracy has been saved from the people.

The governments of Paul Martin and Jean Chretien, the powerful parts, disgust me. I only wish the decent members would see the light.

I just listened to a fine, inspiring speech from Stephen Harper after the vote that Chuck Cadman decided. Stephen Harper is so admirable by comparison to Paul Martin. While the mainstream media lament his lack of charisma, even decry what they call his crankiness in the face of Liberal vote buying, I think he has great potential as a fine Prime Minister. I am cranky about what I see; he's cranky for a lot of us.

The problem for the mainstream media is that they are so used to faux emotion, BS and bribery that they fear genuine, warranted emotion.

As for the Conservative Party of Canada's Deputy Leader, last night, in the face of a personal body blow, Peter MacKay demonstrated his finer qualities; he behaved honourably and gained tremendous sympathy and respect from many of us by his speech. He's made of good Maritime stuff. I am proud of him and of the people who face this corrupt government as the Official Opposition.

PS: Peter, you are fortunate. Now, go find yourself a woman made of more solid stuff who won't need as much tending and watering as the last. I just happen to know a few . . . . . and I'm a born matchmaker. Look for my email.




The smoking audio tape Andrew Coyne's website

APPENDIX: Just to remind people of what the laws of the land say about trafficking in offices... Under Section 119 (1) of the Criminal Code,

every one who ... being a member of Parliament or of the legislature of a province, corruptly
(i) accepts or obtains,
(ii) agrees to accept, or
(iii) attempts to obtain,
any money, valuable consideration, office, place or employment for himself or another person in respect of anything done or omitted or to be done or omitted by him in his official capacity,

or makes such an offer, is “liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years.”

[. . . . ] You follow: an MP whom the government has asked the RCMP to investigate on allegations he insists are completely spurious wanted to cross the floor to join that same government. Of course. Makes perfect sense.

No connection, of course . . .

Volpe asks RCMP to investigate two Tory MPs CTV.ca News Staff, May 14, 05

Federal Immigration Minister Joe Volpe has asked the RCMP and Federal Ethics Commissioner to investigate two Conservative MPs, CTV News has learned. [. . . . ]

---

Revenge of the Red Tories -- & -- Not Fit to Investigate, Nor to Print

The revenge of the Red Tories

If you don't parrot the Liberal or NDP line on social values, then you are simply too redneck to govern. So sayeth a small parade of Red Tories. I suppose the handwriting was on the wall when Jean Charest, the leader of the two person PC rump, jumped ship and became the Quebec leader of the Liberal party. Then we had the spectacle of Scott Brison switching sides. The fact that he actually ran for the combined Conservative party leadership seems to be easily forgotten. But Brison was small potatoes compared to Joe Clark, the resurrected leader after Charest. When he was put back in his cryrpt by Harper and Mackay, Joe's final schtick was "Vote for the Liberals!" Wow! Isn't that loyalty to a political ideology?

Belinda Stronach is simply the latest Red Tory to come out of the closet. She will discover soon enough that the knife she used to stab her party in the back, will be turned on her by the Liberals, once they no longer need her. Ms. Robillard must be fuming that her portfolio has so quickly been turned over to the neophyte Stronach, who has contributed nothing to the Liberals. One can only hope that the electorate will understand her lack of principles. But then the BC voters gave 33 seats to the leftist / socialist NDP. Obviously, the Canadian voter has the memory of a gnat, so who knows. Today we will see where Cadman and Kilgour stand.

© Bud Talkinghorn




All the news that's fit to print

According to David Frum, the Ottawa press gallery thinks there are many Liberal scandals that are not fit to print. I have been frustrated by the lack of inquiry into the $2 billion dollar HRDC scandal. Surely the waste and/or outright theft of such vast sums of taxpayers' dollars warrants press investigation.

In his National Post column (Tuesday, May 17) Frum states that the Press gallery are ideologically joined at the hip with the Liberals they are reporting on. He finds it almost amusing that they nitpick on Harper's "warmth", or his hairdo, while letting massive government fraud slide by unnoticed. As Frum says, "The political reporters, editors and commentators live in an ideological cocoon back in Toronto, where they see abortion and gay marriage issues as Canadians' paramount concerns. Where were these supposedly eagle-eyed reporters during the ten year run of the sponsorship program? Why did it take the Gomery Inquiry to uncover what was wide-open mismanagement and outright chicanery?

A perfect example of this studied neglect was seen in how CBC and The Globe and Mail handled Sheila Fraser's latest revelation that almost $800 million in Liberal ad spending is suspect; chicanery is not limited just to the $250 million in the Adscam deals. Obviously, the liberal / Liberal media is frightened that highlighting this would further harm the LIberal Party, so they have essentially buried it.

Comparisons with such stellar news sources as Russia's Pravda and Isvestia would be apt. Thank God for the National Post, for without it we would get only the socialist, ultraliberal viewpoint, which conspires to keep the Liberals in power in perpetuity.

© Bud Talkinghorn

Comment:

Well, the National Post has some good journalists, Bud, but David Asper's defence of the way things are in it today was part and parcel of the problem. He / his business interests kicked $100,000 into Paul Martin's campaign. Surely, we are not to see the Aspers as unbiased? Then, what is the overall result with their paper? Despite the good journalists, there has not been digging into the sponsorship scandal over the years . . . . nor into the PWGSC and other departments. What about the gun registry? Et cetera.

No news gathering and analyzing organization should be connected to receiving government advertising $$$, nor should its owners be contributing to or in any way be associated with supporting a political party. There might be a way around this if a newspaper openly declared its political bias. As it is, the bias is there, but unacknowledged.

How else are we to get investigative journalism . . . . rather than government press releases and fawning articles from the mainstream media. NJC

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Cadman, Take a Stand Against Corruption -- & -- Memory Lane on $$$ Interests and Political Power

* Contact David Kilgour and Chuck Cadman to Support a Conservative Non-confidence Motion -- No Charge / Toll Free Line 1-866-599-4999

Lines may be very busy but there is still five hours to go before the vote. This is a most corrupt, profligate with Canadians' tax $$$, cynical and vote-buying government to which Canadians have been exposed in most Canadians' lifetimes.

Get rid of the corruption. Vote out the Liberals.

Liberal Sloganator: Create your own ads appropriate to the current situation in Parliament and in Canada





Memory Lane: Reminders from 2004 when Belinda Stronach ran for leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada -- along with a few of my comments



‘FACT CHECK’ REALITY CHECK -- from a year ago on Frost Hits the Rhubarb Mar. 4, 04


To save readers time, I have excerpted my own post from a year ago.

$$$ May Not Bring You Love, but This is a Great Second Best

Andrew Stronach, the brother of Belinda, registered an online gambling outfit in Barbados that is owned by Magna Entertainment Corp., a subsidiary of Magna International.

See article below on Brian Tobin, ex Liberal Minister, who apparently wanted to lead the Liberals but was thwarted by JC or those who saw a new day dawning with Mr. Clean, Paul Martin. Ha!.

Does Ms. Stronach not represent a particular region -- called the Centre? But of course, that is too logical. The Center is the ONLY region, as long as Quebec gets to run the civil service and the government, Toronto remains the centre of the Centre and received opinion -- and nothing changes for the Canadian power elite -- whether Liberal / Red Tory / NDP of the champagne socialist variety. We would not want too many principled MPs in Ottawa, now, would we? Something might change; THEY MIGHT NOT UNDERSTAND HOW THINGS WORK! Really! NJC

[Keep scrolling down on that page. . . . ]

A Newfie Has Made It to the Winners' Circle

Brian Tobin to run Magna's real-estate and gaming firm -- 'To be announced' Sean Gordon, Canwest, Mar. 3, 04

OTTAWA - Brian Tobin, the former Newfoundland premier and federal industry minister, has been tabbed to run the real-estate, gaming and horse-racing company controlled by Magna International chairman Frank Stronach, sources say. [Note that word gaming -- not gambling. NJC] . . . .


Magna Entertainment oversees a panoply of horse-racing and off-track betting interests

[. . . .] Mr. Tobin is one of many former politicians who have joined Magna advisory boards. Former Ontario premier Mike Harris sits alongside Mr. Stronach on the board of Magna International. Former Ontario premier Bill Davis sits on the M.I. Developments board. [Magna International Developments Board NJC]

There is more News Junkie Canada March 4, 2004 -- and mention of the same story here, The Citizen Fink Archives

March 3 [2004]

Well, we can be pretty sure that if Belinda Stronach wins the leadership race, her campaign ads won't be harping on Paul Martin's various upper income and corporate tax breaks, or the shelter in Barbados. As the National Post pointed out today, Stronach's father has saved himself Canadian income tax on about 200 million dollars of salary in the past 10 years - by shifting his 'principal' place of residence, and paying himself through out-of-country branches of his company. Meanwhile, Belinda's brother is taking advantage of Paul's Barbados tax haven for an online gambling operation.

Nope, there won't be much mention of tax havens and CSL if Belinda wins. Yet another reason the Liberals are probably pulling for her in the March vote.

Note: That was written one year ago when Belinda wanted to lead the Conservative Party of Canada.

May 18, 2005, the Liberals now have Belinda and her connections.

Between $$$, the moneyed tribe, global 'business' interests and politics, the circle is unbroken.

Stronach avoids Caribbean connection questions CP, Feb. 28 2004

Documents leaked to The Canadian Press on Thursday show that Futuristic Entertainment Holdings Inc., an online gambling outfit registered in St. Michael, Barbados, was at one time owned by Magna Entertainment Corp., a division of Magna International. Its current status is unclear.

[. . . . ] "I'm no longer authorized to speak on behalf of Magna. I resigned Jan. 20. I was never an officer of Magna Entertainment, so you'll have to ask Magna and Magna Entertainment."

[. . . . ] Most Canadian companies must pay tax of roughly 40 per cent on their income.

Magna founder Frank Stronach - Belinda Stronach's father - and his son Andrew had a falling-out two years ago over ownership of betting software being developed through the company.

Compilation 1: Tsunami $ DART CIDA, PM Power Corp, Oil-for-Food, Cordex Petroleum, Strong, Chretien, Loopholes & More -- & PM Power Corp Oil for Food Cordex Petroleum Maurice Strong

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Hansard: May 18, 2005 -- What Liberals Hope You Forget While Watching Belinda & Peter

Trust Fund for Dirty Sponsorship Money, Gomery: Clause K, Politicized Court Appointments, Sudan: Darfur, Brison Won't Attend Committee: Why? Clothing and Textile Industry, Liberal MP on Traditional Marriage

Hansard May 18, 2005

Mr. Rahim Jaffer (Edmonton—Strathcona, CPC): Mr. Speaker, this Liberal government lost a vote which obliged it to create a trust fund for the dirty sponsorship money. So far, it has not done so. Elections Canada is now preparing to pay $2 million back to the government.

Can the Prime Minister tell us whether he is going to put that dirty money into a trust account, or fund a fourth election campaign with it?

The Speaker: I have the same reservations on this question as on the previous one. The question must be asked in other terms. [. . . . ]

[English]

Mr. Rahim Jaffer: Mr. Speaker, while I did ask if they would return it as a government, the Liberals have rigged every rule in the book to benefit themselves. They have laundered thousands if not millions for ad scam. They rewrote election financing laws to get millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies.

The only way Canadians can be sure the Liberals are not campaigning with dirty money is to put the Elections Canada subsidy in trust. Maybe it is their intention to buy another election campaign using that dirty money.

[. . . . ] Mrs. Diane Ablonczy (Calgary—Nose Hill, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the government continues to suggest that things must wait for the Gomery report before people can make up their minds about ad scam wrongdoing. Clause k of Gomery's mandate prevents him from telling who is responsible.

Yesterday government bureaucrats admitted they were not waiting for Judge Gomery's report to implement reforms to the system. Why should Canadians have to wait to make a political judgment on the government?

Hon. Scott Brison (Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, [. . . . ]

We are doing the right thing by taking action and changing our processes to ensure better value for Canadian taxpayers, more open and competitive processes and accountable and transparent ones.

[. . . . ]

Mrs. Diane Ablonczy (Calgary—Nose Hill, CPC): [. . . . ] The Prime Minister told Canadians on national TV that only Gomery could tell who was responsible for the organized ad scam scandal, but all the while he knew that clause k explicitly prevented Gomery from naming names.

Day after day televised evidence leaves no doubt that the stain on our nation's honour was put there by the Liberal Party. Gomery's report will just be a summary of facts we already know.

Is it not true that the government is just inventing excuses to hold off the day of reckoning? [. . . . ]

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Justice

Mr. Vic Toews (Provencher, CPC): Mr. Speaker, a top Liberal has given sworn testimony at the Gomery commission that many court appointments in Canada have been based on political consideration and merit plays a secondary role. As long as the Liberal government controls the process, the political pedigree of any candidate will be the overriding consideration.

The Minister of Justice has stubbornly refused to turn the matter over to an independent body for examination when he knows Gomery has no jurisdiction. What is he afraid it will uncover?

Hon. Irwin Cotler (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the body is not controlled by the Liberals. It is an independent body. It was the same body that the hon. member presided over. It was good enough for him when he was the attorney general of Manitoba and it is good enough for us when we are the Government of Canada.

Mr. Vic Toews (Provencher, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the justice minister understands perfectly well the distinction between an independent body and the body that controls federal judicial appointments. The denials of the minister are simply not enough. An independent investigation is needed to clear the air. It is more than a coincidence that predominantly Liberal Party loyalists get appointed to the bench, including the minister's former chief of staff.

Why does the minister refuse to put into place a transparent public process that actually limits political patronage?

Hon. Scott Brison (Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the member earlier referenced Gomery and the work of Justice Gomery. It is important to realize that recently constituents of the hon. member started receiving householders that he sent out. In that householder he said: [. . . . ]
(1435)

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Sudan

Mr. Stockwell Day (Okanagan—Coquihalla, CPC): Mr. Speaker, unilateral action is not the way to resolve the crisis in Darfur. Last week the Prime Minister did not consult with African Union leaders, NATO leaders or even the head of the Sudanese government before rushing to make an announcement that he was sending Canadian military into Darfur without our allies, without the Sudanese government knowing, and without even the means to protect themselves.

Helping people in Darfur is too important to ignore these things. Why did he not at least warn the African Union leaders that he was about to take unilateral action in Darfur?

Hon. Pierre Pettigrew (Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, that is absolutely wrong. There have been the appropriate consultations. The Prime Minister and I have conducted consultations with the government in Iran, the United Nations, the African Union and the government of Sudan.

[. . . . ] Mr. Stockwell Day (Okanagan—Coquihalla, CPC): Mr. Speaker, it is not catalytic leadership; it is catatonic leadership.

I have a statement which was released today by the leaders of Egypt, Libya, Chad, Nigeria, Sudan, Gabon and Eritrea. They said that they reject any foreign intervention in the Darfur problem. Today in Brussels the African Union president, Alpha Konare, said that there will be no troops on the ground unless they are exclusively African. The Sudanese ambassador to Canada said that her country will not allow Canadian military into Darfur. [. . . . ]

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Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates

Mr. Joe Preston (Elgin—Middlesex—London, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Public Works [Scott Brison] often says he is open and accountable, but his actions say he is not. We just cannot trust what he says. The truth is that he refuses to attend the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates to be held accountable on the 2005-06 spending estimates for his department. [. . . . ]

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Clothing and Textile Industry

Mr. Alain Boire (Beauharnois—Salaberry, BQ): Mr. Speaker, the textile plants that remain continue to shut down, in Huntingdon and elsewhere in Quebec. This clearly shows that, in its present form, the government's improvised rescue plan cannot solve the crisis.

In light of the mediocre results of its plan, what is the government waiting for to put forward a true plan that would include, among other measures, safeguards, a program for older workers, and a program to support the modernization of the clothing and textile sectors?

Hon. Jacques Saada (Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec and Minister responsible for the Francophonie, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, long before plants began shutting down, we had the pleasure, through the Suroît-Sud renewal committee, of meeting with municipal and local economic stakeholders. We were involved in the renewal plan. Through the Canadian Apparel and Textile Industries Program, or CATIP, and then through the Canadian Textiles Program, or CANtex, we offered funding to industry members, but they did not avail themselves of those funds. We are still there. [. . . . ]

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PETITIONS

Marriage

Mr. Paul Steckle (Huron—Bruce, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to table a number of petitions which include several thousands of names of residents who draw to the attention of the House the issue that the moral good of society be protected as we elected officials make judgments in the House and as we pass laws.

The petitioners believe that the defence of traditional marriage as the bond between one man and one woman is a serious moral good. They also believe that marriage is the lasting union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of others, and cannot and should not be modified by a legislative act or court of law.

The petitioners request that Parliament take whatever action is required to maintain the current definition of marriage in law and perpetuity, and to prevent any court from overturning or amending that definition.

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Out of Control?

Volumes, someone once remarked, can be written on the impiety of the pious. Warren Kinsella, May 13, 2005, National Post via JR and RC

Mr. Martin's British Columbia apparatchiks took over the riding association of former Cabinet minister Herb Dhaliwal, knowing (a) Mr. Dhaliwal was out of the country; and (b) his wife was dying of cancer.

Smuggling opportunities 'limitless' -- PORTS I Criminals are well entrenched in Canada's harbours, RCMP report says Jonathan Fowlie, Vancouver Sun, May 14, 2005

VANCOUVER I Organized crime groups and other criminals are "well entrenched" in Canada's three largest marine ports, and have "limitless" ways to smuggle goods into the country, says a recent report by the RCMP.

"What is undeniable is that criminals are well entrenched in the port environment," says the May 2004 report, which looks at the involvement of criminal organizations, and the possible involvement of terrorist groups, in the ports of Vancouver, Montreal and Halifax.

"Some groups have rooted themselves firmly on the docks over decades," it adds.

[. . . . ] Details of how criminal groups operate at the port are mostly blanked out in the copy of the report released to The Sun, as is much of the information dealing with potential involvement of terrorist organizations.

The 24-page document does state, however, that the presence of criminals at the ports creates a difficult environment for those workers who want to follow the rules.

"With these [criminal] elements exerting general control over their work area, law-abiding co-workers often find themselves coerced into cooperating in illegal acts or turning a blind eye," it says.

"The intimidation tactics can also target customs and police officers," it adds, "but instances are fairly uncommon." [. . . . ]

The following report may not be the one mentioned; it was not named. However, this will give some idea of the situation.

Criminal Intelligence Service Canada 2004 Annual Report on Organized Crime in Canada

Cat #: PS61-1/2004
ISBN: 0-662-68249-1
ISSN: 0839-6728
NCS-SNC 004

Organized Crime at Marine Ports, Airports and
Land Border Areas ............................................................................10




Pillow Talk - Peter and Belinda Revanchist, May 17, 2005

[. . . . ] Belinda: He is such a sweet man, so like Daddy and almost as rich. He said: "Sweet Belinda, cross the floor with me and I will put you in charge of the most renewable of resources, Human Resources. We have been using them to our advantage for decades now and you just never run out of them Belinda. It is amazing, you abuse them, you lie to them, you steal from them, and when they complain a bit, we just lie to them again, throw some of the money we stole from them back to them, tell them we will save them from the scary Conservatives and they come back to us in droves. [. . . . ]

12 Organized Crime Articles

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/national/000908/4108415.html
Ottawa Citizen
Friday 8 September 2000
(4) Mobsters target Parliament, RCMP commissioner says
Aim is to 'corrupt, destabilize' system
Tim Naumetz
The Ottawa Citizen

Organized crime mobs are targeting Parliament and other Canadian institutions in an attempt to spread corruption and political instability, says the new head of the RCMP.

During a remarkably candid news conference, Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli said yesterday that criminal groups are focusing on Parliament, the courts and other institutions with the aim of "destabilizing" the political system.

[. . . . ]



Five police injured in melee at crack den -- Officers barred from project over racial complaints Nicholas Kohler, National Post, May 13, 2005

[. . . . ] Toronto Community Housing suspended non-emergency access rights to police 18 months ago, citing perceptions among its minorities and youth of police racial bias.

Without what is known as an ''Agent of Landlord Letter,'' police can only walk on to private property in response to a call.

"This wouldn't have happened if the police had had the right to patrol here prior," said Cliff Martin, 54, a tenant in the building for 17 years.

"Up until a year and a half ago, this was a very safe building," Mr. Martin said. [. . . . ]

Note, the "perception" of racial bias -- fed no doubt by certain people whose job it is to keep the pot stirring to sell something (news? services?) or gain advantage. How despicable!

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Hansard: May 17/05 -- Creativity Out of the West -- On Separation -- Political Blogs

Question Period - Hansard - May 17/05 via Newsbeat1

Mr. Stockwell Day (Okanagan—Coquihalla, CPC): Mr. Speaker, nobody else seems to know that Canada is talking to them. Darfur is one of the most dangerous places on earth.

Thousands of people have been murdered. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced. Women are being raped in a systematic way. We have now found out that the Canadians troops that are going there will be unarmed. The regime has said that they are not allowed to enter with the ability to protect themselves.

Did the Prime Minister know that our troops were going there unarmed when he made this announcement on Thursday? If that is not true, again, why the confusion? Why is the regime saying nobody is entering there with arms?

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Out of the West: Ideas

Read Libranos and MSM business model at work. Snippets from the CBC peanut gallery:



Via Newsbeat1 and Small Dead Animals


Belinda [Stronach's] recent interview with The Globe and Mail on May 3, 05

She's very supportive of Stephen in what he's doing. She believes the budget is flawed, she's appalled by the politics of the government, the way they manipulate the budget process. posted by Adam Daifallah, May 17, 05



Create!

Librano Sloganator via Kate McMillan on Western Standard

One suggestion made is that we "plaster these all over Liberal election signs".

Go to the Western Standard Shotgun or to Small Dead Animals and create your own.

"buying a corrupt Canada one bribe at a time....what's your price?...let us make an offer." WL Mackenzie Redux, May 17, 2005


Belinda Stronach: "Paris Hilton of Canadian Politics"

Tony Clement's line "She's Paul Martin in a cocktail dress!" Ezra Levant on May 17, 2005

Via Western Standard Shotgun -- Best lines on the occasion of . . .

You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two

Inspired by a Newsbeat 1 post, Paul Martin "The Librano Tsunami Fraud" , I humbly suggest these slogans:

* Librano$ Tsunami Fraud

* Daddy & Machiavelli would be proud!

* Keith Martin, Scott Brison, Belinda Stronach Rejected as CPC Leaders . . . .Good Liberals All

* PM & Belinda: Same Loyalty Genes

On separation -- out of the West by jetson on the Western Standard, May 17, 05.

This is exactly what I expected the West to feel. Paul and Belinda, you will go down in history.

You know now that I think back through my life in this country all I have been fed is how great Canada is and how evil anyone is that would want to break a country apart. Who the hell says that this version of Canada is the best, except of course the Liberals who owe their jobs and envelopes of cash to Canada.

Its time that we had our own political system, our own control over our social policies, and our own separate state. We are as much different than [sic] Easterners as Quebec is of [sic] the rest of Canada.

Revival of political public may depend on blogs By Val Sears -- For the Ottawa Sun, May 17, 05

With so many Canadians apparently believing that the Liberals are a bunch of thieves and bandits, the Conservative party not a party at all but a collection of special interest groups and the NDP simply overpaid social workers, it seems likely the voter turnout in the next election will be the lowest in history.

This would seem to favour the Conservatives given that the antis -- anti-abortion, anti-same sex marriage, anti-gun registry, anti-whatever -- are passionate people and more likely than the rest of us slobs to get out and vote. [. . . . ]

With the MSM already bought by the Librano$, blogging is the only media outlet conservatives have, for the most part.

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Potpourri -- Reminders

Auditor general says "Canadians expect better" from federal ad contracting Brian Daly, Apr. 27, 2005

MONTREAL (CP) - Federal advertising activities worth $800 million were wrought with "major problems" and taxpayers deserve better for their money, Auditor General Sheila Fraser told the Gomery inquiry Monday. [. . . . ]

Appointment of judges too political, critics say Kirk Makin, May 16, 05, G & M

Scanning a list of every judge on the Newfoundland bench, former Conservative justice minister John Crosbie rhymes off their prior political affiliations.

[. . . . ] While Mr. Crosbie emphasized that most on the list became excellent judges, his summary highlights the fact that who you know and which party you support can be an inescapable fact of life when it comes to landing a federal judgeship.

The issue moved front and centre recently, when Benoît Corbeil, a former senior Liberal Party organizer in Quebec and a witness at the Gomery inquiry into the federal sponsorship program, alleged that judicial appointments had been handed out as rewards to Liberal stalwarts. [. . . . ]

Search: Madam Justice Claudette Tessier-Couture of the Quebec Superior Court , A mediocre appointment made to , indispensable oil to the machinery of a political party , passing over top-rated , a body of approved candidates who also happen to be supporters of

It was ever thus.




The man behind 'MP' Stronach Hill Times, May 16, 05

Well, a day later, it is 'Minister' Stronach.




The World According to Frank: The Life and Times of Frank Stronach

[. . . . ] Stronach’s passion for taking risks also led him into federal politics in 1988 as a Liberal candidate and into the world of horse breeding. Though his political bid was unsuccessful, Stronach saw his horse-breeding venture soar: the company owned by Stronach and his son Andy has become one of the largest and most successful horse breeders in North America, worth more than $100 million.

Original Air Date - Janaury 11, 2000

Monte Solberg May 17, 05, Jack's Newswatch:

"Ya that's it. They care about her [Stronach's] insights on skills training. Sure it will help to have her vote on the budget, but really it's her ideas they want. I bet those senior bureaucrats are salivating at the idea of doing a little "blue skying" with B. on the foreign credentials thing. That's been her strength all along. It's just that we Conservatives didn't see it. We didn't draw that out of her the way we should have, and now we are paying the price."

Another Canadian history lesson Kevin Steel on May 12, 2005 at 02:22 PM




Court points to guilty verdict for Yukos founder CTV.ca News Staff, May 17, 05

Is this the company that Jean Chretien went to Russia to consult on, with or about? I suppose he took mentioned some of his proven tactics. Do read the article.

Khodorkovsky is the former head of the Yukos oil company and was once believed to be the richest man in Russia.

His supporters contend the case against him was based on Kremlin revenge for his funding of opposition parties. [. . . . ]

Editorial: Canada's poisoned soldiers

[. . . . ] At first, they denied any testing had been conducted.
When that was no longer possible, they denied any link between Agent Orange and cancer and other diseases, despite American medical research showing just such a link.

Then, 10 months ago, Prime Minister Paul Martin's Liberals quietly reversed this policy, acknowledging that Agent Orange had been used at Gagetown, and that Canadian soldiers had been harmed. . . .

[. . . . ] Indeed, it's becoming abundantly clear that this stale, corrupt Liberal government, so cheap when it comes to fairly compensating our soldiers and yet so greedy when it comes to helping itself to our tax dollars in AdScam, has no shame left at all.

"Palestinian terrorism, especially coming out of Gaza, has dramatically increased since April."

Business as Usual in the Palestinian Authority by Daniel Pipes, New York Sun, May 17, 2005

[New York Sun title: "Little Change In Mideast Post-Arafat"]
Yasser Arafat's demise in November excited great hopes among those who saw his malign personality as the main reason for Palestinian intransigence.

But those of us who saw the problem as larger than Arafat – as resulting, rather, from the deep radicalization of the Palestinian body politic – expected little change. Indeed, I wrote at the time of Mahmoud Abbas' election to head the Palestinian Authority that, "he is potentially a far more formidable enemy to Israel" than was Arafat.

How do things look half a year after Arafat's death? About as awful as anyone might have expected. Specifically, Mr. Abbas is unambiguously leading the Palestinians to war after the Israeli retreat from Gaza in August 2005. Consider some recent developments. [. . . . ]

France Fighting Mad!

France is finally going to war ... against Google!

Plans by Google to scan millions of books and make them available online has the europeans in a lather. They fear that ... "the continent's contribution to the pillars of recorded knowledge will be crushed by a profit-oriented California company."

They are also concerned about english become overly dominant.

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Shotgun: Early Business with Beijing

Link and do not miss reading the whole Western Standard Shotgun article:

Early Business with Beijing

One of the benefits of doing a large cover story like the Western Standard's current "Puppets of Beijing" is that people start contacting you with information that supplements the overall picture. While it would have been nice to have the info before the thing went to press, nevertheless I appreciate the effort people take to point out this or that fact, correct me, or give me references to other sources, etc. In the long run all this is of tremendous help because it expands the base of credible sources in case the story must be revisited.

One such fact came to light recently is on point with the story. It shows an early business interest that now-embattled UN advisor Maurice Strong (also an advisor to Paul Martin) had in China back in the pre-Deng Xiaoping 'capitalist' reform days (that began roughly in 1978). It is from the book Rae Days: The Rise and Follies of the NDP by Thomas Walkom, 1994. The excerpt is from Chapter 13: "Mo of the Jungle: On and off the privatization bandwagon":

By the 1970s, Strong had been picked by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to head Petro-Canada, the new state-owned oil company which the NDP of David Lewis (Stephen's father) had demanded as their price for keeping the minority Liberals in power. In November 1976, as Mao Tse-tung's widow and the rest of the so-called Gang of Four were about to be arrested in Beijing, a company linked to Strong was flying antiquities, gold, furniture, and jewelry out of China.

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Family Honour -- Trafficking in Persons

The death of a Muslim woman

BERLIN - In the past four months, six Muslim women living in Berlin have been brutally murdered by family members. Their crime? Trying to break free and live Western lifestyles. Within their communities, the killers are revered as heroes for preserving their family dignity. [. . . . ]

Lengthy and informative -- download this PDF file.

34158US_Trafficking in Persons.pdf

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE PUBLICATION 11150
OFFICE OF THE UNDER SECRETARY FOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS
Revised June 2004
Designed by the Bureau of Public Affairs

Table of Contents

I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................5
What is the Purpose of the 2004 Trafficking in Persons Report? ...................5
What is Trafficking?............................................................................................9
What is the Human and Societal Toll of Trafficking?.......................................10
Trafficking Is a Human Rights Violation and a Crime .............................10
Trafficking Promotes Social Breakdown...................................................12
Trafficking Fuels Organized Crime...........................................................14
Trafficking Deprives Countries of Human Capital ...................................14
Trafficking Undermines Public Health .....................................................15
Trafficking Subverts Government Authority .............................................16
Trafficking Imposes Enormous Economic Costs ......................................16
How do Traffickers Operate?............................................................................18
What are the Causes of Trafficking?................................................................19
What Strategies are Effective in the War Against Trafficking?.......................21
More About the 2004 TIP Report......................................................................25
What the Report Is and Is Not .................................................................25
What is Different in This Year’s Report ...................................................26
Why This Year’s Report Contains More Country Assessments..................27
How the Report is Used ...........................................................................29
Methodology ............................................................................................29
Step One: Significant Number of Victims ................................................30
Step Two: Tier Placement.........................................................................30
Penalties .................................................................................................31
II. INTERNATIONAL BEST PRACTICES .........................................................................33
International Heroes.........................................................................................35
III. TIER PLACEMENTS ................................................................................................39
IV. COUNTRY NARRATIVES ..........................................................................................40
Africa.................................................................................................................41
East Asia and Pacific........................................................................................85
Europe and Eurasia.........................................................................................115
Near East.........................................................................................................189
South Asia .......................................................................................................207
Western Hemisphere ......................................................................................223
V. SPECIAL CASES...................................................................................................249
VI. UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT EFFORTS ...............................................................255
VII. INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS–MATRIX ..............................................................262
VIII. TRAFFICKING VICTIMS PROTECTION ACT .............................................................266
IX. GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS ...................................................................................268

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Paul & Belinda, With the AG's New $$$ Revelations, It Was Time to Activate the Belinda Bot -&- Hacker 'friends of'?

Related to today's big political story:

Charles Adler Wants Input From Readers -- Is anyone buying the Belinda-bot? by Charles Adler, Winnipeg Sun, Feb. 24, 2004 -- post on News Junkie Canada, February 27, 2004 (Thanks, Charles Adler. )

4) When is [Belinda Stronach] going to shut up about having run a company with more than 70,000 employees?

5) Who on Earth believes that she ran that company or any company? [. . . . ]

10) Since the grassroots in Western Canada simply cannot take the Belinda bot seriously as a Conservative leader, what would prevent them from wanting to pull the pin and march down the road of western separatism?

If Paul "Porky" Martin is the same old, same old eastern twaddle, and if the Conservatives are being led by a handful of Ontario whoremasters with a chequebook that doesn't quit, why wouldn't hundreds of thousands of conservatives opt for quitting Confederation?

[. . . . ] Do you think that Paul "Porky" Martin is handing the Conservatives an opportunity with his handling of the sponsorship scandal?

Do you think Conservatives would be blowing that opportunity by trying to market to Canadians a Belinda-bot?

Background?

Slush Fund for the Election? Was it Paul Martin who wrote the recipe for Jean Chretien's Pork Supreme?, News Junkie Canada, week of February 22, 2004



Digression? You decide.

Frost Hits the Rhubarb: most popular post lately

It mentions hackers from China; well, they are working overtime and it is advantageous to our government that they do. It makes me realize that those of us who have noted the corruption and/or connections between politicos and business, particularly out of the Authoritarian Tiger must be doing something right for democracy in Canada. We are now subject to endless hacking.

GG & Order of Canada-Aga Khan & Paul Desmarais, Jr., Tax $$$ to Khan's 'centre for pluralism', Maurice Strong, Zenon, China, Kyoto, Coal, Info Control Monday, May 9, 2005

Is there a connection between my posts on . . . . . . whatever you might term my writing on the Liberal government(s), their enablers and the Authoritarian Communist Asian Tiger, along with its links throughout the world and "business"? I think there is.

The hackers out of China are insidious.

Are they concerned that this friendly government not fall? Why else are they so avidly hacking? I have my own ideas.



It was time to wind up and put the Belinda Bot in motion.

CFP's Judi McLeod: 'Back-stabbing Belinda' jumps ship to return to Liberals

"Can there really be any serious doubt that Blondie Belinda is a Liberal, dispatched by the Liberals as a sugar-and-spice hammer against the advancement of a vulnerable, new Conservative Party in Canada?" canadafreepress.com asked in a February 9, 2004 cover story. [. . . . ]

Fraser vows no repeat of $793-million ad scandal -- Note: it used to be mentioned as a $100-MILLION scandal. How Perfect to get this off the front page with the Belinda Bot Andy Riga, CanWest, May 17, 05

Much attention has been focused on the inquiry's revelations about the $250-million sponsorship scandal involving the federal Liberal party, but Judge Gomery also is investigating how Ottawa doled out its advertising contracts.

This week, attention turned to $793-million Ottawa spent on 2,200 advertising contracts between 1998 and 2003. An audit by Ms. Fraser found that civil servants who broke rules for the sponsorship program broke the same rules when selecting ad agencies.

In many cases, there was no evidence a selection process was conducted, and documentation was scarce.

[. . . . ] The inquiry delved into some of the deals Ms. Fraser investigated. One involved $65.7-million in tourism-related contracts that went to the BCP ad agency. In July, 1994, Tourism Canada asked for bids from ad agencies to handle advertising targeting U.S. tourists. Vickers & Benson of Toronto was chosen, with Montreal's BCP coming second.

Both companies had worked on Liberal election campaigns. [. . . . ]

The Auditor General has not even looked at the Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) termites' nest yet. Then there are other scandals shut down by the little guy from shenanigan.

It was time to set the Belinda Bot in motion.

Belinda Stronach--Queen of Political Opportunism, Tax Haven Mavens, & More from the Frosty Cynic

Democracy has been bought again. First, there was that weasel Scott Brison running for the Conservative Party leadership; then when he lost, he picked up his toys and crossed the floor for political gain, to join the Liberal Government and Party that he had claimed was led by "Genghis Khan".

Now Canadians have to listen to this traitorous woman who had accused the Liberal Party of every conceivable excess of arrogance, fiscal mismanagement, and outright fraud. She will, of course, be given a huge political elevation, as a Cabinet member, to "salve her painful soul-searching in making such a move". Martin is ready to boot aside his colleagues' hopes for her new post to win this vote.

As a final bitter joke, Martin has given her the extra position of--try to stifle your laughs--"the advancment of democratic reforms in the governance of Canada". First, Martin ran around the country scattering slush money to every province, now he is into buying the opposition members. As well, Paul Martin has just this morning had the effrontery to suggest that this ideological betrayal by Stronach was not orchestrated to win the no-confidence vote. Thankfully, the reporters en masse broke into raucous hoots at this naked lie. As one of them asked of Stronach, "If this was purely a personal disagreement with the Conservative ideology, why didn't you cross over as a mere Liberal backbencher?" She stumbled over that question, because there was no reasonable answer, except sheer opportunism. Despite Ms. Stronach's arduous promises to help correct the Liberals' "democratic deficit", she has only helped further it. Shameful.

Scott Brison's betrayal was more logical. Like so many homosexuals I have known, his sexual identity seems to be the core driving force of his existence--life lived through a gay filter, if you like. The Conservatives were not about to advance his agenda, so he was willing (for a price, of course) to switch to a party that was. Stronach's rationale might be more baffling--to some, although Stephen Harper may have given the reason. He stated that he could see that Stronach had political ambitions, possibly for the leadership itself. That wasn't going to happen. He also refuted Belinda's statement that he heard about her turncoat move first by her. Rather, he said that he first heard about it from Peter MacKay, who is crushed by her defection, so it has been reported. Here we have a woman who consistently accused the Liberals of undermining business in Canada--herself a plutocrat--now suddenly reversing her opinion. Small wonder that Joe Public believes that politians have a credibility level below that of used car salesmen. Her proclaiming that she won't support a party that allows the the Bloc Quebeois to advance, is absurd. No party has advanced that party more than the Liberals' scurrilous behaviour in Quebec. Cynicism about politics is now total.

Bud Talkinghorn--Stephen Harper had the last word: "There is no grand principle involved her decision; it was pure personal ambition."




Commentary, Background and Predictions

There is a possibility that the West will split off from Canada; they have effectively been disenfranchised from participation in real governing by a cabal of moneyed interests from the centre of the Canadian world, abetted by self-interest from the East. Maritimers don't yet realize that it serves the Liberals and the Centre to keep them bent low in servitude for the money they get.

Liberal methods, particularly in the Maritimes but not limited to the Maritimes, range over the following -- and undoubtedly many more:

* Employment Insurance gerrymandering by playing one area off against another even within one province so as to split voting between groups and parties. This method has endless variations all related to "initiatives" and government control of who gets what for stooping low -- or lower.

* Short term contracts / jobs -- the way of the world Down East

* ACOA grants to friends and supporters -- e.g. foundations pay for workshops, conferences, groups meeting at local universities for supporters,

* Student grants for research (See June 24, News Junkie Canada for one example having to do with ACOA or Technology Partnerships Canada and developing gambling software. Ho Ho Ho, as Stanley Ho, immigrant businessman and now Canadian, must be saying today. Originally, he earned his millions or is it billions as gambling czar of Macau .)

* Playing Red against Blue Tories, in any number of ways, so as to maintain corrupt Liberal regimes. Language has been one of the more effective ones because jobs are tied to whether one speaks the language of power; you figure it out.

* Don't ever underestimate the naivete of people from the boondocks of Canada who desire to be photographed with, whose complaints can be papered over and who will be quieted down--even satisfied--by rubbing shoulders with power. Da Boss Paul Martin, ex-Capo Jean Chretien and their ilk know this.

People like Belinda are rewarded with even more clout for lack of principles -- and of course, Stronach's business connections will not suffer unduly, nor monetarily. Watch for Magna to win . . . . in some way. Remember, Daddy Frank Stronach ran for the Liberal Party. I suspect Daddy is proud. Is Paul Martin's father proud, as well?

The East: will it be bought again? . . . . This time because of the Atlantic Accord which is of dubious value to Maritimers anyway, that is, the Maritimers who need jobs because they're not on the gravy train of the government. If so, how short-sighted and how sad.

There is just a faint hope that Quebeckers will see the Stronach move for the cynical moneyed ploy that I think it is . . . . . and they will massively reject the Liberals. To the best of Quebeckers, think.

Stronach's interests were evident at the time of her entry into the CPC leadership. All she needed was to see an end to governing as the Liberals and Moneyed Interests know it . . . . . and tribal affiliations would kick in.




The Gay Marriage Red Herring which will be played by MSM / LPO-CBC and the Liberal Corruptos of PM and JC

As for gay marriage, it is a red herring, designed to be trotted out whenever PM Paul Martin, the Liberals and their MSM / LPO / CBC minions need to draw attention away from the cynicism and corruption of MONEY and LIBERAL alliances. Stephen Harper's desire to let the House of Commons MP's decide contentious social issues, among many items, would upset the tradition of power and control from the moneyed centre, where it is easily harnessed if true democracy might break out.

Note those and their dependents who would support the status quo:

* Paul Martin (Research a bit and note his weak position that might be exposed.) and his predecessor Jean Chretien (he of the APEC, spiked Sidewinder Report, other corruptions era -- and that is just what we know at this point. Then dig into PWGSC / Public Works and Government Services Canada for a really big department which needs the light of day, particularly into its contracting and sales.

* The PMO, filled with Earnscliffe cronies--those who helped shiv-in-the-back-Martin fulfil Paul Martin's--or his Daddy's--ambitions by finding those who would do the dirty work of sticking the knife in to replace candidates (BC, for example) in order to defeat Jean Chretien

* Unprincipled Liberal lackeys who have been so brain washed they cannot imagine democracy (Not all Liberals are unprincipled, one must keep reminding oneself.)

* Mainstream media (MSM) hangers on who depend on Canadians' money for their jobs, so they have become the Liberal Propaganda Organs; CBC comes to mind.

* Those who contract with this government and therefore fear uncertainty (They have to know who to pay off, after all.)

* Recipients of Canadians' tax money via noblesse oblige from the PMO -- beneficiaries of Crown Corporations, agencies such as ACOA and foundations grants and probably some other groups that would fit in here that I have forgotten.

* The crooks who know that their staying out of jail depends upon keeping Paul Martin in office -- and the electorate anaesthetized in myriad ways. (That topic deserves another post.)

* Favoured groups who have nothing to gain but favours if the money spigot keeps spouting -- Make up your own list here but, for me, NGO's who get those world trips on globablization and the environment, women's issues, CIDA grant recipients who get to travel first class around the globe . . . . . and the like.

This is not the definitive list, but off the top of my head in a hurry, it may cause to make up your own.




"Liberal" Belinda Stronach Related

How Have Liberals Gained Control of the Hoi Polloi for So Many Years? News Junkie Canada, March 14, 2004

Brian Mulroney, Mike Harris, Bill Davis: What is the Common Denominator in Their Support for Belinda? Magna? -- News Junkie Canada, March 14, 2004

$$$ May Not Bring You Love, but This is a Great Second Best -- Ms. Stronach has criticized high taxes and promised to make Canada the most competitive tax jurisdiction in the world. News Junkie Canada, March 4, 2004

Frank Stronach shelters $198M from taxman, Conservatives have slammed Martin for comparable tactics, Robert Fife, Ottawa Bureau Chief, Mar. 3, 04

OTTAWA - Frank Stronach has avoided paying Canadian income tax on almost $200-million of compensation and fees since 1994, corporate figures show. [His residence is in Switzerland, I have read. NJC]

[. . . . ] Canadians can escape taxes if they set up their principal residence in tax havens, such as Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and Barbados.

[. . . . ] Since she resigned as CEO of Magna to run for the Conservative leadership, Belinda Stronach has not directly attacked CSL's tax avoidance strategy nor has she defended the use of tax havens to escape paying taxes at home.

On the campaign trial, Ms. Stronach has criticized high taxes and promised to make Canada the most competitive tax jurisdiction in the world. She would eliminate the tax on capital investment and decrease personal and corporate tax rates. [. . . . ]

I have copied this last one here because it was so precient. I have been a cynic a long time.

The Frosty Cynic, NJC

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