Dec. 2, 2006: #1

Kennedy camp names its price , John Ivison, National Post, December 01, 2006

[....] Kennedy ... kingmaker.

... the price will be reform. [....]

However, this leadership will be decided by the ultimate insiders -- people who have paid the better part of $3,000 to sit in a dark room and debate amendments and sub-amendments. Given a chance yesterday to replace future leadership conventions with a system of one-member, one-vote, the delegates voted it down. [....]

When Kennedy and Holland talk about reform, there is an air of boy scout earnestness about them. You can imagine the old pros in the Ignatieff camp rubbing their hands at the thought of promising these young naifs the moon and the stars to secure their support, with the intention of leaving them with a handful of mud once the leadership is won. After all, promises of reform stretch back to ... only to ditch it in the nearest waste paper basket once elected. [....]

It will be business as usual ... for the heavy-weight ones ... the ones who know how and with whom the game is played ... and won ... if down and dirty enough.

I noticed that one logo was missing from the Globe and Mail's photo of a collection of Liberal leadership buttons ......... perhaps choose one here or here or here and scroll down to the bottom -- or here, for a nostalgic look at the symbol and for the latest information.

---

Read with a jaundiced eye all news emanating from those who just might have an agenda to take more money from you ... all for the good of ... the ones who need it. The only certainty is that it won't be you.

Plan a holiday ... or dream of one ... photos from a friend who visited this beach, lately, the lucky sod.

Magical Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica




To all, for Christmas, the gift of the wisdom to know what is important, and enjoying a holiday may be important.

---

Have you heard of the journalistic poisoned sandwich?

Ordinarily, to show a sense of balance, the poisoned sandwich has three layers. The first layer is negative news about .... whatever. The second layer is some actually good news not fabricated nor unearthed from layers of the deep past ... but downplayed. The final layer is yet more negative commentary about this particular person or institution or government.

What follows is a screen capture for your edification, what I would term the journalistic triple whopper. This consists of three quarters or seven-eighths bad news on a thin layer of good news. The good news is smothered.

Today's Triple Whopper! ... with free fries for the faithful ...

Note that infectious TB is of much more danger to our world than AIDS in that, while the activities that contribute to AIDS/HIV may be avoided, it is quite another thing if infectious TB is around. It is now in Canada. Is there screening at ports and borders and before immigrants and refugees board planes to come to Canada?

Just for you Dear Globe and Mail:

This was intended originally, for a fellow traveller but I thought you might benefit from considering what many of us think of your "competition" ... as competition is understood in Canada ... in this best of all possible ... controlled information worlds. You may share it with the appointees on the CRTC ... I hope you understand my desire to economize on postage ... Like all really neo, or about to be, neo-progressives, now that the media is in high gear, I want to save my pennies to contribute to really worthwhile causes, doing good globally ... to help the poor, the AIDS victims, the deserving meth freaks and root causes gangs ... just about everyone ... Our own don't need it, of course. Do you suppose I should apply for a government grant ... since I believe I feel the light of the true believer shining on me and mine, converting us to all things progressive ... As you can see, by using a blog (also email), I'm quite economical ... so all the taxpayer-funded agencies and foundations trying to stretch tax dollars will probably be beating a path ...

Sorry, gotta go for a minute ... doorbell ringing ... Is that a sow I see ... with a begging bowl ... ?

The skinny on funding for Status of Women (SoW), entitled "Ongoing discrimination by the Status of Women", from REALwomen, who are not funded by taxpayers but by those who choose to fund them.

[....] Organizations funded by the Status of Women include national, provincial and regional feminist organizations, such as the following:

The legal arm of the feminist organization, The Legal Education Action Fund (LEAF) received $900,334 over a 10-year period, 1992 - 2002, which enabled this group to intervene in court cases and to mount their own court challenges. In contrast, REAL Women of Canada was obliged to fund its own pro-family interventions before the courts.

The National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL) received $1,648,318 in the same 10-year period. In the fiscal year 2004-2005, this organization received an additional grant of $474,879. [Election year windfall?]

The National Action Committee on the Status of Women, (NAC), the umbrella group for the feminist organizations of Canada, received $984,551 in the 10-year period, and In the fiscal year 2004 - 2005 received an additional $150,000. [See election year budget for funding.]

Child Care lobby groups, such as the Canadian Child Care Federation, and the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada, received $1,362,209 between 1992 and 2002. These organizations form the pressure group for a national child care plan as recently proposed and implemented by the former Liberal government.

In the fiscal year 2004 - 2005 these child care lobby groups received a further $483,753 from the Women's Program. This large grant was given during the time that the former Liberal government was negotiating with the provinces for a national child care program. [Again, see Paul Martin's election year budget for funding.]

On February 16, 2006 [just after the Conservatives were elected], the tax funded Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada launched a Canada wide campaign called "Code Blue" to lobby for and work with the provincial / territorial governments and parliamentarians to prevent the present Conservative government from cancelling the federal / provincial agreements on child care made last year by the former Liberal government.

It is significant that these child care lobby groups have the most to gain from a national child care plan since such a program would provide them with financial security by placing them on the government payroll with secure income and benefits.

In the 20-month period preceding December 4, 1998, lesbian organizations received $250,918. In the fiscal year 2004 - 2005, an additional $90,280 was awarded to a homosexual / lesbian association. [Do check the funding for just one example on which I posted in Sept., St. Stephen's House ... progressive ... on several fronts.]

524 women's shelters across Canada have been funded by the Status of Women, even though such shelters fall within provincial jurisdiction. These women's centres serve as agents of change for feminists in communities across Canada. Feminists claim they provide protection from male assault, in spite of the fact that a Statistics Canada study, released in July 2003, found that more men were killed, hurt, or threatened by their partners in 2001 than in previous years. The study "Family Violence in Canada," funded by the Federal Family Violence Initiative, found that spousal violence has increased for both men and women. In 2001, there were 344 incidents per 100,000 women, and for men, there were 62 incidents for every 100,000 - the latter is up 40% from six years ago. Although there were many more incidents of assault against women, this does not mean that men should be neglected. [....]

www.realwomenca.com/newsletter
/2006_may_jun/article_7.html