Bud Talkinghorn: Saturday Comment

Limousine Liberal hypocrisy

Usually the targets of laughter at the contradictions of others are conservatives. However, conservatives like Rush Limbaugh--a perpetually stoned man calling for heavy mandatory drug sentences--and Stephen Harper--"We want an elected Senate" ***--do not have a monopoly on hypocrisy. In the United States, that great poobah of liberalism, Noam Chomsky, who states that the very idea of private property is anethema to him, owns a $850,000 house and a $1.2 million "cottage" in Wellfleet, Mass. Not the reality, but the "idea", you understand. This is reported to us by Peter Schweizer, in his book "Do as I say (not as I do) Profiles of Liberal hypocrisy."

Then there is Michael Moore, the scourge of all things conservative. He is on record as saying, "I don't own a single stock." Schweizer then goes on to list numerous stocks held in Moore's name. Included is one for Halliburton stock, the company Moore claims is run by "thugs". The author sees Moore as the archetypal hypocrite, who, when investigated is "particularily pathological, in the way everything he says is 180 degrees from what he does." Of course we have our own uber-hypocrites. Take John Ralston Saul, who often criticizes Canadian "elites", but once elevated from obscure social commentator to the bright lights of Rideau Hall, started asking people to refer to him as "Your Excellency". Even as he clutched the homeless issue to his breast, he was living very large on the taxpayers' dime. But no piece on hypocrisy could neglect our ex-PM's legacy.

Martin castigated the Quebec sovereignists, while making Jean Lapierre, the co-founder of the Bloc Quebecois, his chief lieutenant for that province. He used a private clinic while telling us we mustn't. He tightened the tax haven loopholes, but left the one he uses as legal. He maintained the Charter is untouchable; yet blurted out during the debate that he would yank out the notwithstanding clause--our only defense against a rampant "activist" Supreme Court. Finally, he had the gall to try to shame America at the UN Climate Change Conference. He scolded it over its "lack of conscience" about emission control. The truth was that since 1990, America's record has been double ours--only an increase of 13% to our whopping 23% increase. He was simply playing up to the UN's leftist and thug nations who love to bash America. How, after all these reported hypocricies, he did as well as he did in the election is a mystery. Maybe it was his urban ploy to ban all handguns. Another billion dollar boondoggle, but so what? Outside the city's ghettoes, most Torontians haven't any handguns anyway. A safe election gambit, that one. He and Chretien should make up and create some fabulist version of how they erased the democratic deficit in Canada.

© Bud Talkinghorn--Just not to kick a man when he is down, I didn't get into how Martin claimed that the Conservatives were the real reason for Quebec's anti-federalist sentiment. Liberals were.


*** Bud, PM Harper might still change the law and give Canada an elected Senate, or at least, its first elected Senators. In making his Senate appointment, he said that the new Senator Fortier would go to the people. Harper used the tools he had to give representation to Vancouver and BC, the latter particularly important with the cost overruns related to the Olympics and construction and the business expansion related to ports, rail and pipeline(s). Personally, what I see as problems with the appointments are:

* There is not a compelling reason to give special representation to those who have not voted for Conservative representation. Apportion ministerial positions to those areas which elected Conservatives.

* All MP's are supposed to represent the interests of ALL of Canada, not just their own patch. Emphasize this for a change from the Liberals.

* Two elected Senators from Alberta are waiting to sit in the Senate; it is time.

* Did the rest of Canada get a hearing when most of the important positions in Canada were held by Quebeckers and Francophones? (j0ke question) Why add to the assumption that somehow this is "owed" to Quebec? Already every government nook and cranny--think civil service and their union--is top-heavy with Francophones. Why? It is demonstrably unfair to a large segment of Canada, that group who speak English.


Finally, everyone, stop telling Anglophones not to notice; we're tired of it. We can see; we can read; we know exactly what has been going on. Now, get over it. Address our concerns. NJC, Anglo



Celebrity is ruining golf

It is bad enough that any game that Tiger plays in becomes a Tigerthon. This is half-way reasonable if Tiger is leading the tournament; however it even extends to Tiger flailing around in the rough, twelve strokes off the lead. Still nothing could surpass this year's AT&T Pebble Beach Open. Sure, it is a celebrity event; that is why it is five days long. In the past, the network would give over most of the first three days to the antics of Bill Murray, but then zero in on the pros. This year the celebs were the focus for four days. Meanwhile Mike Weir was shooting the best rounds of the tournament. He appeared twice to my recollection. What is next? All five days devoted to how George Lopez's new series is going, or some such? Heck, why not cancel the pro part altogether, and turn the event over to Hollywood Access? It is a bad sign indeed, my golfing friends. The Olympics have been going into that touchy-feelie dark side for a while now. We don't get to see the 25th place Nigerian skier actually ski, but we will be treated to a half hour "backgrounder" on his struggles to make it. True fans must protest this smarmy emotionalism that is engulfing sport's programing. Show us the actual players as they perform please.

© Bud Talkinghorn



I concur; I hate the way the programming does not specify which sport is going to be shown; at least, what I looked at was not listed in the schedule of events to be shown. I stumbled upon skating when looking for something else. Mixing sports with a little here, a little there, and a whole lot of interviewing the individuals involved -- not a good idea. I want to see the performances with a little commentary. I love the breathtaking display of those who skateboard the half pipe, but I hold my breath for them. I don't want to watch some sports such as the bobsled run or cross-country skiing. Some sports are meant to be participatory, not watched and cross-country is one of these. Let us choose.

I love the ice dancing, along with other figure skating events. I am waiting to see Dubreuil and Lauzon tomorrow; they are simply wonderful to watch, also Sasha Cohen, and a few others. Does anyone else think the emphasis on jumping--quads, for example--has gone too far? I don't want to see these healthy looking people get hurt. Could we have more artistry and less potential for damage? Or is that a personal view not shared? NJC


Manufactured news

Over and over again we are shown the pictures of British soldiers meting out street justice to rioters in Iraq. Now it turns out that as the riot broke out, a mortar round had been lobbed at the Brit headquarters. The teenagers were throwing rocks (gasoline cocktails also?) at the British troops. From the film clips, it appears that the soldiers had cornered some ring leaders. Nothing like being an armchair general and micromanaging the events to exclaim, "unacceptable brutality". Really? As one British soldier told BBC, "That time period was one of sheer hell. All day long, we fought against vicious rioting, while the nights were filled with armed attacks. Probably some of the same people involved" Let's not turn what happens in every soccer hooligan riot and its cop aftermath into another Abu Graib. They were simply lucky that the soldiers weren't Iraqi.

It goes without saying that any bad news for the coalition forces is good news for the liberal media.

© Bud Talkinghorn


The tears of Africa are a constant

Many decades after freedom from colonialism, most of Africa is sliding into a "fifth world" state. Thousands of Sierra Leonians cannot even tie their shoe laces because their arms or hands have been amputated during the civil war. Children in Liberia, Uganda, and the Congo are irredeemably scarred by being forced to fight for various warlords--often told to kill their own family to show loyalty. AIDS stalks all of sub-Saharian Africa. Even relatively successful states like Botswana are ravaged by huge AIDS rates. Zimbabwe, once the food basket of southern Africa is now a basketcase, where the starving population is kept alive by Western food aid--it helps if you are ZANU supporter. South Africa has gone from being the most prosperous state to a future as another failed state. Despite a horrendous AIDS epidemic, Mbeki, the President, believes that poverty, not HIV, causes AIDS. He also refuses to condemn that neighbour monster, Mugabe. The Muslim North Africa is mired in a battle between the fundamentalists and the more Western oriented governments. The race back to the 7th century versus evolving into something better is the essence of that struggle.

Africa has become the darling issue for Chretien, Martin, Lewis, Annan and, of course, Bono. Despite untold billions pumped into African countries, there is little progress to show. Many are worse off than when they were colonies. Part of the problem--besides corruption, civil wars and tribal superstitions--is that Canada spreads its CIDA aid too widely. We aid over 150 different countries, so no country gets concented attention. It would be efficacious to narrow that down to 10 or 15. Pick some countries that has shown some degree of self-reliance and are relatively unkleptocratic. Isolate areas that would make the greatest advancement for the average citizen. Monitor the funds so they don't go to the "big Man's" tribe only. Uganda seems to be trying to rise up, but is bogged down by an insane rebellion by the Lord's Army, so give the central government military advisors also. The Congo is basically a lost cause, so send our peace keepers there over to Uganda. If a few countries begin the voyage to democracy and progress, it might influence their neighbours. Finally, we could give those targeted countries a break on tariffs for their exports. A co-ordinated effort is the key. Simply shovelling money to the kleptocrats is not an option anymore. Canadians want to see real benefit to the tax money supplied.

An example of misguided funding is to the UN's Stephen Lewis, who wants billions spent on AIDS drugs for Africans, while most experts support sexual education to stem the neverending explosion of new cases. Uganda used that approach and it is working. If Lewis's remedy were applied, the overload of new cases would swamp any contribution. It is time to stop trying to mop up all Africa's tears and center on the potential survivors.

© Bud Talkinghorn



Today's Holy Horror Show

Cinema verite has reached greater peaks. If you can't afford to subscribe to the Terror channel--"thrills and chills galore"-- then merely check out our productions. The Osama Media Group, in conjunction with the Saudi Orphan Association and al-Jazeera, brings you the best in vibrant entertainment. Check out the enclosed program notes.

"Yesterday, we video-taped the blowing up of 200 young Western tourists, our attempt at film noir. Critics complained about the lack of visuals and Yankee victims, but we're capable of moving the drama a notch higher. Today's program presents a thousand terrified Russian elementary children, surrounded by rigged bombs and machine guns. We don't want to give away the finale, so stay with this riveting three part series. You won't forget the explosive ending!" Now for a sneak preview of an upcoming attraction. What should happen to Iraqi apostate children accepting candy from the infidel Americans? Follow the decision filmed in gore-a-scope. For up-coming beheadings, check your local al-Jazeera channel guide.

Join with millions of Muslims around the world who consistently give us two bloody thumbs up. You too will be screaming, "Encore! Encore! Allah akbar!"

© Bud Talkinghorn



Rousing the Rabble, Latin and Muslim style

I am always shocked when people are shocked at how easily certain groups can be aroused to murderous fury by their leaders. It might be instructive to examine two past examples from others on Argentina and Nigeria. When the Falkland War broke out in the early eighties, the Argentines rushed to the presidental Casa Rosada to proclaim the military dictator, General Gaultieri, a hero. The fact that the entire country had cursed him and rioted over his abysmal rule for the week preceding his invasion, was lost in the nationalistic hysteria. Gaultieri was so convinced that England would never attack over a pile of rocks in the South Atlantic that he staked his reputation on the reconquest of "Las Malvinas" (as Argentines called the Falklands). He and the Argentines never counted on Margaret Thatcher's resolve. When the British prevailed, the same mobs returned to the Galtieri's Casa Rosada to throw him out of office. The final result for Argentina was an economic collapse that eclipsed their previous malaise. By 1984, it took 732,000 pesoes (or more since the number rose so fast) to buy a greenback. The same kind of demagoguery has been used by numerous Latin American countries to win elections. In Venezuela's case, Hugo Chavez, its leftist leader has reduced his country's GDP by 23% in his five year reign, this, despite the country's vast oil reserves.

Further back in time, there was the Biafran war. Nigeria is roughly split between the Islamic north and the Christian / animistic south. Of all the tribes, the Ibo were the ones to most advance through British colonial education. After the independence of Nigeria, it was the Ibo who became the administrative and educational elites. The least educated were the Hausa and Fulani of the north. Mired in an Islamic distrust of Western education, they bristled at being ruled by the Christian Ibos. Kano was the epicenter of this xenophobia. The answer was to slaughter them. The Ibos fled southward, but were rebuffed by the other southern tribes, who also resented their dominance. Finally, the Ibo gathered in their traditional homeland in South-East Nigeria, where they claimed independence and renamed their area Biafra. Through military force and a starvation policy, they were defeated in 1970. Nigeria began its slow retreat into economic and social decline. The northern provinces have enforced sharia law; inter-religious conflict with the infidels amongst them has become endemic. A full-blown religious war is not out of the question. The murderous frenzy by Muslims during the Miss Universe contest in Abuja is but one of numerous such mindless rampages. If Biafra had been remembered, we shouldn't be surprised.

© Bud Talkinghorn

Saturday Roundup

Update: the link for the Supreme Court members and their political and provincial backgrounds was out of place yesterday; they have been moved. See the list below, by "TrustOnlyMulder".


Update: witty Navel-gazing shocker Re: Are These Our Future Leaders?, letter to the editor, Feb. 17 from Daniel Fuchs, St-Leonard, Que.



Muslims burn Italian consulate, at least 11 killed ! -- "In Libya, 11 reportedly die in cartoon protests", Posted by Ron, 2006/02/17

[....] Trupiano speculated that the consulate was targeted because it is the only Western consulate in the city. However, many of the protesters said they were angry because Italian Reforms Minister Roberto Calderoli recently flaunted a T-shirt displaying one of the controversial cartoons on state TV this week.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has asked Calderoli to resign. [....]

Fearful? Or gutless?



Editorial: Offending selectively NatPost, Feb. 18, 06

[. . . . ] Most of the Western media responded to Jyllands-Postens with "yes, but." Yes, it was the newspaper's legal right to publish the images. But it was bad editorial judgment, since the cartoons constituted a gratuitous provocation to Muslims who reject any depiction of the Prophet.

But then, why are all these champions of self-censorship not tut-tutting at Salon? Indeed, Salon is hardly alone. [. . . . ]

Search: providing grist to the jihadists , What explains the different responses?

Check the examples given.



Aid to Hamas & Palestinians

Richard Gwyn, in Star, says: don't cut aid to Hamas CCD, Posted by Ron on 10:55:09 2006/02/17

We should not cut aid to Palestinians
Feb. 17, 2006. 01:00 AM
RICHARD GWYN

For how long is it likely that Canadians will be content to watch Palestinians starve? A couple of nanoseconds, at a guess. For even shorter than that, at a further guess, once the Palestinian leader whom we like, as do all in the West, namely President Mahmoud Abbas, appeals for food and money to be sent in to keep his people from starving.

Early this week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper declared that all future Canadian aid to Palestine would be "reviewed" in the light of whether the incoming Palestinian government, which will be dominated by the extremist Hamas party, is prepared to renounce violence and recognize the state of Israel. [. . . . ]

There's simply no way we can resist appeals such as that just made by UN official Ehab Shanti: "It's really essential that at this critical juncture the world does not abandon the needy." Even less could we resist the pictures of emaciated Palestinian children that might soon fill our television screens. [. . . . ]

Mr. Gwyn, do read on. I have an answer below for your first question. Just watch me ... if I ran this whole shebang.


Follow up comments:

Hamas was not elected out of thin air. The majority of Mr. Gwyn's ordinary Palestinians are hardly ordinary when they vote for a party openly committed to the destruction of Israel by engaging in terrorism to harm and murder Israelis until Israelis can no longer defend their own country. Bill Narvey


Canadian aid cutoff would cost Hamas millions MICHAEL DEN TANDT AND CAROLYNNE WHEELER

Please note that Paul Martin's "announcements" are simply that; no budget was passed so trying to act as if this disbursement were a foregone conclusion is a shuck ... Paul Martin was running for election, remember. He could make all kinds of promises, have any number of priorities ... or have you forgotten?

OTTAWA, JERUSALEM -- The West Bank and Gaza could lose $25-million in long-term annual funding and $37-million more in aid announced by the Martin government last year unless the Islamist group Hamas renounces violence and accepts Israel's right to exist, Ottawa's foreign aid arm said yesterday.

More than 20 humanitarian projects [I might differ on whether all that CIDA does is humanitarian, as might others. Often, it is self-serving. ]... are at risk. The projects at issue are listed in a dossier compiled by the Canadian International Development Agency. [That agency has been very active; maybe they need a hiatus to re-think who is being helped with all their projects.]

[. . . . ] However, a CIDA spokeswoman said Mr. Harper's position is unequivocal and that all Canadian aid projects are under review, including those disbursed through secondary donors and non-governmental organizations.

"The Prime Minister's statement is the final statement of the Canadian government,"
CIDA spokeswoman Eleonora Karabatic said. "These programs are under review, all of them are under review."

[. . . . ] Among the Canadian aid projects that could be cancelled:

$3-million for trauma counselling and other health services for Palestinian children, from 2004 through 2007. [Through what agency? Not named, strangely enough.]

$1-million for improved living conditions for refugees, disbursed through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine.

$1.5-million to promote human rights and good governance, distributed through Oxfam Quebec.

$3-million for new homes in the West Bank and Gaza, disbursed through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

The Palestinian Authority receives about $1-billion (U.S.) annually in foreign aid, money which Israel is now lobbying to have stopped once the Hamas-led parliament is sworn in. [. . . . ]

My Comments: Not "nice" -- Consider yourself forewarned.

It is amazing how quickly hunger focuses the mind on what is really important. The Palestinians chose their poison; let them live with it. We must allow them the chance to see what they have accomplished and perhaps to change. Why support them in their choice of Hamas?

The leadership, whether Arafat or Hamas, have relied on the reasoning of the Richard Gwyn's of this world (keep throwing guilt geld) and the UN global guilt gang who need poverty and refugees, world conflicts and all the rest to keep them in business (think of the style in which they travel, where they stay and who pays, the university symposia and speaking tours to get even more money from those who obey laws and work, who do not riot and call for death and destruction at the sight of a cartoon, whether offended or not, etc.).

With all the aid money siphoned to Swiss bank accounts and to representatives of UN thug states who live very well in NY, Geneva, Paris and wherever the gang congregate, what has changed with the aid agencies' involvement? Personally, if I were PM Harper, I would get out of the UN which seldom manages to really help anywhere (Rwanda, Darfur).

I agree with Al Gordon of Canadian Coalition for Democracies; Palestinians can stop killing Israelis and get fed, housed, doctored, et cetera or accept the consequences. We would do Palestinians a disservice by interfering with this opportunity for reassessment and learning.

Otherwise, try life without aid. Suffer the consequences of your voting choice. Stop relying on the rest of the world's guilt and soppy, sentimental stupidity (Suffer little children ... who grow up to be suicide bombers in that utterly crazy education system which teaches the glories of jihad and shaheed.). Let the Palestinians have a dose of reality.



Close Down the UN Now -- in poetry kilkee, 2/16/2006 16:54:05. I agree with him.



Terence Corcoran: Two telecom truths --

[. . . . ] The story of the CRTC withdrawal from most telecom regulation, while hugely beneficial to everyone, isn't over yet. We learned that clearly on Thursday when the agency announced that it planned to act as minister of finance by redistributing $650-million from consumers to the telephone companies.

Give the CRTC top marks for political self-preservation. The money, said the commission, would be used to expand broadband service to rural and remote communities and "improve accessibility of telecommunications services for persons with disabilities." [5%]When imposing suspect policy, slip a few dollars to some under-privileged group and people won't care about what you're really doing. [. . . . ]

What is clear, however, is that the CRTC is keeping itself in business by acting as controller of the purse strings on $650-million. One CRTC commissioner, Barbara Cram, said that's not the CRTC's job. [....]

As part of an aging society, you may find this article to be of interest. My personal bias is against warehousing the elderly. They lose hope without family around them. Besides, there are responsibilities that come with being part of a family. At a point, it may not be possible, but that should be at the end, not before. Grandchildren keep the elderly interested. My fondest memories of my childhood are of five elderly ladies sitting under a linden tree teaching me to knit and crochet. None of them were related to me but all were surrogates. One's husband even took me to first day of school; he was on the Board and would introduce me. They were so much a part of my childhood that I could not imagine not having them. That is what the elderly do so well, teach and talk with children.

A childless culture

[. . . . ] "If you check housing today you will notice a very interesting phenomenon -- we have smaller families but larger homes. We're increasing the level of comfort," says Prof. Friedman, who teaches architecture and whose book examines how our neighbourhoods and houses will reflect the coming demographic change.

He envisions a future where these fewer children are showered with the more plentiful resources of their families and afforded more "comforts" in their daily living, and where neighbourhoods are filled with a blend of "life-cycle" homes equipped to support people as they age, large "bi-generational homes" big enough to accommodate families and ageing parents, homes for the multiple family dwellings favoured by some ethnic groups, and clusters of condos or townhouses where good friends congregate in their old age. [. . . . ]

John Major voices a real concern; remember the Clarence Thomas hearings? However, if Justice McLachlin is against, I am probably for it. Let's give it a try.

Allowing top court justice appointments to be politicized unwise -- judicial leaders John Major and Beverley McLachlin

In a speech to the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce this month, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin said: "I think in order to preserve the public confidence in the impartiality of the courts we should avoid politicizing it." [. . . . ]

Is there anyone who does not think the court has been highly politicized already? Check the list of Supremes here:

The Supreme Court has been readied for whatever is needed

How Much Do You Know About Your Supreme Court? from TrustOnlyMulder

Check the political party associated with each; note 5 from Quebec.


Book

Considering that PM Harper (with the help of Min. Toews, I would guess) is about to choose a Supreme Court Justice ... from a list already prepared for the Liberal government, this might be timely reading. Why not expand the list? Add a few non-liberal justices for fairness and a different approach.

Charles Willis Pickering: Supreme Chaos: The Politics of Judicial Confirmation and the Culture War via RightWingNews

Hardcover, January 2006
Publisher: Stroud & Hall Publishers
ISBN: 0974537659

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The judicial confirmation process is in a state of chaos. America’s culture war has set the stage for a power struggle reaching to the highest court in the land-the Supreme Court. Integrity and ability are no longer the criteria for evaluating the caliber of a judge. Rather it is one’s position on hot-button social issues. Without control of the White House, the House, or the Senate, the Left looks to liberal activist judges rather than to the American voters or their elected representatives to create new rights. [. . . . ]

ACCREDITATION

CHARLES W. PICKERING SR., retired federal circuit judge, knows firsthand the chaos of the broken judicial confirmation process.

After unanimous Senate confirmation, President George H. W. Bush appointed Judge Pickering United States District Judge for the Southern District of Mississippi on October 2, 1990. In May 2001, President George W. Bush nominated Judge Pickering to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. When asked to evaluate his ten years on the bench, the American Bar Association gave Judge Pickering its highest rating, "Well Qualified." Nevertheless, a minority in the U.S. Senate obstructed and blocked Judge Pickering’s confirmation for more than two and a half years.

Elizabeth Thompson: Arar inquiry will call government conduct into question, lawyer says -- 'Focus for good debate' -- "we have had access to all of the information the government had -- whether it be confidential or can be disclosed to the public."

[. . . . ] the inquiry being headed by Judge Dennis O'Connor is likely to cost $27-million. More than $1.6-million of that amount is to cover fees and expenses for Mr. Cavalluzzo's firm. [. . . . ]

While initial estimates of the cost of the inquiry were around $8.7-million, the commission's costs are now expected to total $15.8-million. .... and $775,068 has gone to cover fees and expenses for the Arar lawyers.

Who is paying for that? The report will be released in April.



Sask Party tells NDP not to bully aboriginal group CBC News, posted as "SASK NDP tries to bully Native Group?" by casper34, 2/16/2006

Last Updated Feb 16 2006 10:20 AM CST A Saskatchewan Party MLA says the NDP is bullying the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations after a senior government official rebuked the leader of the aboriginal group for saying he could work with the opposition.

June Draude is demanding that deputy premier Clay Serby apologize to Alphonse Bird, chief of the FSIN. Serby made an angry phone call to Bird after Bird said publicly he thinks he would be able to work with a government headed by Brad Wall. Wall is the leader of the Saskatchewan Party. [....]

John Hawkins: Right Wing News: The Hard, Cold Reality About Money And Blogging via newsbeat1.com




Excerpt Of The Day: Warrantless Wiretaps And FISA by Ed Morrissey -- "The authority to conduct wartime surveillance on one's enemy, regardless of whether one terminus of the communication was located in the US, has never been questioned until now."

Cartoons

Editorial cartoons & articles



New Christian think-tank expects to be heard by new government -- The Institute of Marriage and Family Canada -- an offshoot of Focus on the Family, a faith-based advocacy group



Canadian companies won't get to buy credits under Kyoto



Geoffrey Miller: How it all ends -- physical reality vs virtual entertainment NatPost, Feb. 18, 06

[....] Fermi's Paradox became, for a while, a cautionary tale about Cold War geopolitics.

I suggest a different, even darker solution to Fermi's Paradox. [....]

We have already shifted from a reality economy to a virtual economy, from physics to psychology as the value-driver and resource-allocator. We are already disappearing up our own brainstems. Freud's pleasure principle triumphs over the reality principle. [. . . . ]

Heritable variation in personality might allow some lineages to resist the Great Temptation and last longer. Those who persist will evolve more self-control, conscientiousness and pragmatism. They will evolve a horror of virtual entertainment, psychoactive drugs and contraception. They will stress the values of hard work, delayed gratification, child-rearing and environmental stewardship. They will combine the family values of the Religious Right with the sustainability values of the Greenpeace Left.

Link to "OUTRAGED MUSLIMS! OH MY!" posted by mmaxx on 14:21:18 2006/02/16

I posted some of this the other day because someone sent it to me but I had no link.
Thanks to mmaxx for the link.

For humour, also, thanks for leading me to the greatest laughs I have had lately. Maybe it is recognition? A "friend" sent me the dog photo which I posted with a comment from another friend. FHTR Feb. 11, 06: "It has been suggested that I choose which of these Appalachian Redneck Bird Dogs is really me; after all, the Applachians do end in the Maritimes."

Redneck Scrap Book which I just loved.


Defining a Redneck -- one of the more positive aspects casper34, 2/16/2006

[. . . . ] James Webb (former US Secretary of the Navy) uses this thesis to suggest that the character traits of the Scots Irish, loyalty to kin, mistrust of governmental authority, and military readiness, helped shape the "American identity." Fiercely independent, and frequently belligerent, "Rednecks" perpetuated old Celtic ideas of honor and clanship. [. . . . ]

Despite the teasing from those who know me, I do not think I fit into what I read as the definition of redneck, though I am hardly objective, but I enjoyed it, never having considered what other people think a redneck is. If you can laugh at the Redneck Scrap Book, does that make you one? The rednecks I know--by my definition--are the salt of the earth, unpretentious, and generally, they are straightforward and self-sufficient. They do not belong to groups, especially politically correct ones lining up at the trough or the porkbarrel. For that alone, I have high regard for them. Also, they are often self-taught, know how to fix a thing like a vehicle (I have learned the word metal fatigue lately; need I say more?) or are able to do something else needed by those who sneer; they often grow and make things which I preserve ... the kind of people I appreciate. Some even know about stills but, despite an offer to try one, I have decided I really like living too much to ever try the product or to make it ... but it does go to demonstrate their ingenuity. Those are only a few of their skills and they have the best stories of their shenanigans. They are not averse to expressing a political opinion ... when the elites spout some politically correct bilge ... something along the line of "b***sh**!" which covers the situation perfectly, in my humble opinion. I appreciate those who cut through it all with their own assessment delivered in few words. As I said, they're the salt of the earth; they have substance, have little need of artifice, and when you need them, they're the best people to turn to. They have honour and dignity ... and may wear a peaked cap.

Roundup 2

It seems that the former governing Liberals are not concerned with good governance nor with the the wishes of a great body of Canadians; their sole concern is power. A local Liberal, with great confidence, has told me that there will be another election within six months. What does that tell you about Liberal concerns?



According to Graham (the stand-in for the ex-PM hovering in the background?), "It could lead to an election."

Liberals unwilling to prop up Harper -- Graham says onus now on Bloc and NDP to support Conservative minority -- "either accommodate Liberal positions on key issues such as child care and income-tax cuts or turn to the New Democratic Party and Bloc Quebecois" Campbell Clark, Feb. 16, 06


To join the Conservative Party of Canada , follow this link or contact the CPC directly at 1-866-808-8407. You may also reach our membership department by email at membership@conservative.ca



Prime Minister announces diplomatic nominations

Biographies: John McNee as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations in New York, & Michael Wilson as Ambassador of Canada to the United States of America


Steven Edwards: Career diplomat next UN ambassador -- Mideast specialist

[. . . . ] Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canada will be represented at the world body by John McNee, a former Canadian ambassador to Syria as well as former chief of the Middle East division of the Foreign Affairs Department in Ottawa.

He will succeed Allan Rock, a former Liberal Cabinet minister whose term would normally have stretched at least until 2007. He will not, however, take up the post until July, allowing Mr. Rock to complete work pushing for management reform at the world body. [ See "Louise Arbour" below . . . . ]

The policy is that Canadian aid to the Palestinians may be withdrawn unless Hamas renounces violence, a condition already set by the Quartet, whose other members are the United States, Russia and the European Union.

Search: National Council on Canada-Arab Relations , Canada-Israel Committee



Canadian Space Agency scandal linked to Lansdowne Technologies Inc. Judi McLeod and David Hawkins, February 16, 2006

Millions of dollars in suspect contracts approved by Canada’s Public Works Department for the Canadian Space Agency may have links to Lansdowne Technologies Inc., the company that disappeared from former Prime Minister Paul Martin’s public disclosure statement, Canada Free Press has learned. [. . . . ]

Search: Canadian Space Station Program (CSSP) , "NASA, ESA, NASDA and Russia." $27.7-million in Canadian federal government contracts , Previous stories on Lansdowne Technologies [There are several with links at the bottom of this article. ]



Terence Corcoran: A thousand bad ideas Financial Post, Feb. 17, 06



Worth reading: “Consider a few of the shortcomings of existing forms of democracy:"
Klaus Rohrich: Feb. 16, 06



Globalization, the UN, the racism industry & Louise Arbour

The UN's Coming International Code of Unacceptable Speech Joseph Klein, CFP, Feb. 14, 06

[.... ] The first step on the way to UN-sanctioned censorship took place last December when Louise Arbour--the United Nations high Commissioner for Human Rights--appointed two UN "experts on racism" to investigate what Arbour characterized as a "disrespect for belief." She was responding to a complaint by the Organization of Islamic Conference over the Danish cartoons. [. . . . ]

Search:

a resolution against "defamation of religions." Its one-sided focus

The third step toward deepening the UN’s involvement in censorship occurred on February 5, 2006

This is lengthy, with links, a must read. Louise Arbour left Canada's Supreme Court because of plans, in my opinion. She would be able to harness the race industry at the UN for global guilt, global control and just maybe, a little more power for herself and the ones who would control us.

Dear Stephen Harper, keep Canada out of UN control. Some Canadians will not take being denied the right to comment because a large number of Muslims go berserk and the ones who want to lead them to violence capitalize on their lack of education, poverty, mindless parroting of "death" at the slightest provocation, and inability to reason, it seems on the issue of equivalence ... whether any cartoon merits the usual madness.



Terry Pedwell: Harper sets Palestinian aid rules posted by mmaxx, Feb. 15. 06

[....] "Future assistance to any new Palestinian government will be reviewed against that government's commitment to the principles of non-violence, recognition of Israel and acceptance of previous agreements and obligations," Harper said in a statement released after the phone call.

The demands are in line with a UN Security Council call for Hamas to commit itself to a negotiated settlement of the Mideast conflict. [....]

Harper lays out conditions for further aid in talks with Abbas maz2



CRTC tells local phone companies to cut residential rates -- using the phone companies for social engineering?


Mark Evans: High tech's abuzz -- television, satellite radio, wireless data, blogging and podcasting

[....] As cable companies such as Rogers Communications Inc., Videotron Ltee and Shaw Communications Inc. move into the telephone market, carriers such as Bell Canada and Telus Corp. hope to penetrate the television market by leveraging their high-speed Internet networks. [....]

A big issue within the VoIP industry is an appeal launched by Bell against a Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission decision that regulated incumbent carriers in the VoIP market. Bell argues its ability to compete is being marginalized because it has to seek approval for pricing changes while the cable companies are free to price their services however they want.

[. . . . ] The blogosphere .... more than 27 million blogs in existence with more than 70,000 new blogs created daily. It is estimated the blogosphere is 60 times larger than it was three years ago. .... Podcasting is also exploding as new tools make it easier for people to create their own radio shows. [. . . . ]

Those who would control the dissemination of information would control us ... certainly make life difficult for those who note anomalies and such.


Politicians lash out at tech firms over China Declan McCullagh / Anne Broache, CNET News.com, Feb. 15, 06, via newsbeat1

Update: Politicians lashed out at U.S. Internet companies on Wednesday, accusing them of collaborating with China's "regime of repression" and pledging to enact a law soon to make such cooperation illegal.

During a House of Representatives hearing, members of Congress offered repeated condemnations of Google, Yahoo, Cisco Systems and Microsoft that were the most antagonistic so far in an ongoing dispute about how U.S.-based companies can offer services in China while protecting the free speech and privacy of Chinese users. [. . . . ]

The short answer? In my opinion, they can't unless China allows it.



Gates: End to passwords in sight

InfoCard attempts to address the complaint many critics had with Passport, which was that people's information was managed by Microsoft instead of by the users themselves and the businesses with which they dealt.

[. . . . ] Internet Explorer 7 will support InfoCard, Gates announced. The technology will also be available for Windows XP, Microsoft said. InfoCard is one of several technologies Microsoft is developing for Vista, but the company is also making it available for XP.
[http://news.com.com/Microsoft+revamps+its+plans+for+Longhorn/2100-1016_3-5327150.html?tag=nl . . . . ]

[. . . . ] As expected, the company on Tuesday released a second beta version of Windows AntiSpyware, now called Windows Defender.

[. . . . ] A public preview of IE 7 was released in late January. [http://news.com.com/Microsoft+releases+IE+7+beta+to+public/2100-1032_3-6033116.html?tag=nl ]

Lauren La Rose: Migrants shelled out up to $40,000 to be smuggled over border: RCMP Feb. 15, 06

TORONTO (CP) - ... nearly 100 migrants captured ...

[....] The RCMP partnered with Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to crack the international ring after a two-year investigation.

... Windsor-Sarnia area .... China, Korea, Albania and Eastern Europe ... car trunks, on rail cars, in the back of transport trucks or on small boats ...

Canadian, U.S. authorities charge 23 people in alleged human smuggling ring Feb. 14, 06


17 accused of human smuggling Doug Schmidt, CanWest, February 15, 2006

[. . . . ] Brian Moskowitz, special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told reporters at Windsor's RCMP headquarters. More than 100 illegal aliens from China, Korea, Albania, Russia, Poland, Ukraine and elsewhere were rounded up at the Windsor and Sarnia border crossings over the past two years as part of Operation O Boy, which relied heavily on intelligence gathered from more than 2,000 intercepted wiretap conversations in multiple languages. [. . . . ]

85 guns tied to smuggling network -- U.S., Peel Police effort: Some of the weapons used in Ontario crimes Natalie Alcoba, National Post, February 15, 2006

A two-year, cross-border investigation into a "significant" gun smuggling operation ... Project Bluegrass -- named for the Kentucky origins of many of the recovered weapons -- has identified 85 guns that were purchased in the United States, with the intention of smuggling them into Ontario.

[. . . . ] Riccardo Tolliver, 29, a U.S. citizen, was picked up by police on Feb. 7 while in a 1998 Pontiac Sunfire in Toronto. He had with him a semi-automatic .45 calibre handgun that he produced and was trying to sell, police allege.

Among the charges Mr. Tolliver is facing are conspiracy to import firearms, conspiracy to traffic firearms and firearms trafficking. [. . . . ]

Border trial -- Judge says lawyers can't bring up violence Louie Gilot, El Paso Times, February 15, 2006

The jury in the case of the two Border Patrol agents who shot a man in the buttocks last year will get to hear about the victim's alleged drug-smuggling activities but won't get a picture of the border as a violent place for law enforcement.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone partly granted the motion by the U.S. attorney -- who is prosecuting the agents -- to exclude any mention of border violence, in particular the recent standoff in Hudspeth County. Lawyers will have to advise all witnesses of the prohibition. They will be able to ask the judge to allow mentions of border violence on a case-by-case basis, but they will have to approach the bench every time and speak out of earshot of the jury, according to the ruling issued Monday evening.

However, defense lawyers for agents Jose Alonso Compean and Ignacio Ramos have a right to cross-examine the victim, Osvaldo Aldrete Davila, about being an undocumented immigrant and an alleged drug smuggler "but only related to his immunity agreement with the government," according to court documents.

I just do not understand the law and its application; I suspect I am not alone. So often I read of omission of what would seem to be germane to a case ... but the evidence is disallowed. Why?


"Success will be measured not by events that happen but by events that don't happen." "Long Twilight Struggle", Posted 2/6/2006

[....] Today we find ourselves in a not-unfamiliar situation. China is rising to become the global threat the Soviet Union once was. Iran seeks to join North Korea as a nuclear power even as it reigns as the prime state sponsor of terror, with Syria running a close second. Together they finance the terrorist group Hezbollah. And the equally dangerous and virulently anti-U.S. and anti-Israel group Hamas now rules the Palestinian state.

In our own hemisphere, thugs like Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Bolivia's Evo Morales have become the allies and heirs of Cuba's Fidel Castro. And then there are the terrorists who set off bombs at weddings in Jordan, discos in Bali, train stations in Madrid and subways in London, and who fly passenger jets into buildings in the U.S. [....]

Greg Weston: Hill is alive with the sound of lobbyists -- "Harper, on the other hand, is already seeing results from his promised five-year ban on senior political staffers becoming lobbyists: Some of the best and brightest are refusing to work for the new government." -- Does this prove how lucrative lobbying has been? Why are lobbyists necessary?



Gunter on civil servant: "they have promoted Maryantonett Flumian and missed another chance to show there are new sheriffs in town."

Gunter is not amused and gives reasons.
http://www.tdhstrategies.com/home.html



[Warren] Kinsella Sues for One Hundred Bazillion Dollars* -- The lawsuit has to do with commentary made concerning Kinsella, Dingwall, Chuck Guite, sponsorship kickback scandal and Paul Martin



Captain's Quarters: "I expect that Kinsella will regret filing this lawsuit. His role in this scandal appears to have flown under the radar until now, and Bourrie's defense will have a field day answering Kinsella with these quotes." -- Is this another test of free speech? ....



ABC News has obtained 12 hours of tape recordings of Saddam Hussein meeting with top aides during the 1990s, tapes apparently recorded in Baghdad's version of the Oval Office.

ABC News obtained the tapes from Bill Tierney, a former member of a United Nations inspection team who translated them for the FBI. Brian Ross & Rhonda Schwartz, Feb. 15, 2006



This WAR is for REAL! To: Sen. Saxby Chambliss, October 25, 2005, By: Major General Dr. Vernon Chong, USAFR

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/userletter/?id=197&letter_id=509378041

[....] First, let's examine a few basics:

1. When did the threat to us start?

Many will say September 11, 2001. The answer as far as the United States is concerned is 1979, 22 years prior to September 2001, with the following attacks on us:

* Iran Embassy Hostages, 1979;
* Beirut, Lebanon Embassy 1983;
* Beirut, Lebanon Marine Barracks 1983;
* Lockerbie, Scotland Pan-Am flight to New York 1988;
* First New York World Trade Center attack 1993;
* Dhahran, Saudi Arabia Khobar Towers Military complex 1996;
* Nairobi, Kenya US Embassy 1998;
* Dares Salaam, Tanzania US Embassy 1998;
* Aden, Yemen USS Cole 2000;
* New York World Trade Center 2001;
* Pentagon 2001.

(Note that during the period from 1981 to 2001 there were 7,581 terrorist attacks worldwide). [....]

This is excellent, lengthy, definitely worth reading. h/t newsbeat1



U.N. report urges Gitmo shutdown Sam Cage, AP, Feb. 16, 06

GENEVA - The United States should shut down the prison for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay and either release all detainees being held there or bring them to trial, the United Nations said in a report released Thursday.

[. . . . ] The report's findings were based on interviews with former detainees, public documents, media reports, lawyers and a questionnaire filled out by the U.S. government.

[. . . . ] The five investigators, who come from Argentina, Austria, New Zealand, Algeria and Pakistan, were appointed by the commission to the three-year project. They worked independently and received no payment, though the U.N. covered expenses.

The U.S., which is a member of the commission, has criticized the body itself for including members with poor human rights records.[. . . . ]

They interviewed some who had been released but did not go to Gitmo to see for themselves, which the Red Cross has done.

Algeria and Pakistan would have no bias, of course.



Politics 101 for David Emerson Arthur Weinreb, CFP, Feb. 14, 06


Restaurant toilet water purer than ice water, student finds -- Science fair test turns 12-year-old off fast food Mary Vallis, National Post, February 15, 2006

A 12-year-old Florida student has determined it is better to drink from a fast-food restaurant's toilet than eat the ice in its soft drinks. [. . . . ]

Jasmine conducted her research with the help of a University of South Florida professor at the H. Lee Moffit Cancer Center. Her experiment did not determine why the ice samples were contaminated with more bacteria than the toilet samples, but she has several theories. Restaurant bathrooms are cleaned regularly, she said, while the ice dispensers may have been overlooked. The bacteria may have festered in stagnant water in the machine's water lines, she added. [. . . . ]

Time taken to investigate fraud case inordinate David Baines, Vancouver Sun, Jan. 25, 2006

The magnitude of the fraud perpetrated by former Vancouver lawyer Martin Wirick and his developer client, Tarsem Gill, is breathtaking. So is the amount of time it is taking police to investigate the case.

So far, the B.C. Law Society has approved 347 claims totalling $32.5 million. Another 157 claims with a face value of $16 million have not yet been resolved. I have no idea how many of these remaining claims will be approved, but if just half are validated, the final payout would be more than $40 million. [....]

Search:

Gill's method of operation -- as described in the latest edition of the Benchers' Bulletin (the law society's in-house publication) ....

assumed he had obtained a first mortgage ....

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, an ardent critic of the U.S. government, is backing Iran's right to develop nuclear fuel despite international community opposition to Tehran pursuing its atomic program.

"Although we have not had any conversations until now with Venezuelan authorities, we would be willing to study the possibility," Iran's parliament speaker, Gholamali Haddadadel, said when asked by reporters in Caracas whether Tehran could offer cooperation to Venezuela.

Venezuela, the world's No. 5 oil exporter, last year said it was interested in developing nuclear technology with the possible help of Argentina, Brazil or Iran for civilian energy and medical purposes.

Why not just let the market operate freely? Why are the costs for Canadian wines not much lower than imports, since there are not the same shipping costs? Why must Canadians protect Bombardier and keep feeding it money but penalize our own vintners? Why is government selling alcohol and wines at all? Shouldn't it be privatized?

Quebec accused of snubbing own vintners -- Provincial liquor stores said to favour foreign producers Graeme Hamilton, National Post, February 15, 2006

Quebec allows the sale of Quebec-bottled foreign wines in its supermarkets and corner stores, and in 2000, some independent grocers began adding locally produced wines, ice ciders and liqueurs to their selection. They were using a loophole in provincial regulations that allowed the sale of homegrown wines in "public markets."

But in 2004, the SAQ complained to the provincial body responsible for liquor licensing, the RACJ, and the products were ordered removed from the shelves.[....]

It's not right that we have producers here who can sell their products in Chile and around the world, but they cannot sell them in Quebec."

The SAQ, which is facing a public backlash after it was found last month to be inflating the prices of European wines [kickbacks alleged also], says it supports Quebec producers. [....]

Feminist Middle East Studies by Alyssa A. Lappen, FrontPage Magazine, February 17, 2006
-- or -- Feminists do not speak for me; check for yourself.

It is a sad fact that many feminist academics "have adopted a pro-PLO and pro-terrorist line of thinking."[1] Middle East Studies specialists are among the worst [. . . . ]

Shields' 2002 course on "Women in the Middle East" was no better. It focused on things that "enable and circumscribe women's roles and choices" but assumed an almost entirely Islamic perspective. [. . . . ]

"There are Palestinian terrorists," she admitted. But she excused them because they were raised "under occupation." Humiliation gives people "no alternative to violence." [. . . . ]

Search:

a card-carrying member of the "root causes" crowd

blamed the U.S. "for the current tragic impasse, by virtue of our massive economic and military support for the Israeli government: $500 per Israeli citizen per year."

Would it be politically incorrect to repeat myself? Blinkin' nuts!

Roundup 1: Cartoons, Islam, Reality, Peace-Loving Elmasry & Respect

Before the cartoon controversy posts, for those who enjoyed Pavarotti at the opening ceremonies for the Olympics: Nessun Dorma or "No-one shall sleep " and explanation of the aria Puccini's Turandot-Nessun Dorma



Lawrence Solomon: Cultures collide: Muslim immigrants will be expelled from Europe unless they reverse the growing perception of them as a social threat Financial Post, Feb. 17, 06

Excellent roundup of attitudes in some European countries



Letter Re: EU Backs Bid For UN Blasphemy Rules, Feb. 14. -- Muslims politicized their own prophet NatPost, Feb. 16, 06, by Thomas Mueller

European Union support for a petro-dollar-paid UN bid supporting "international blasphemy rules" is most laughable ....

[....] Readers should realize that even primary Islamic sources, such as the hadiths of Sahih Bukhari, credit Muhammad with practising and advocating genocide of Jews. No less a source than the Hamas Covenant cites the Hadith, interpreting Muhammad as demanding that Israel be destroyed.

Hamas and others -- not the Western press -- have politicized the prophet. The logical consequence is inescapable; Muhammad has become a legitimate object of scrutiny for the jaundiced eye of a secular press, including cartoon satire.

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the secretary-general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), called upon European governments to enact legislation against "Islamophobia" and claimed that Muslims are being discriminated against, likening current events to "a new Sept. 11 against them". "An "anti-blasphemy" convention?!", DFP, Klaus Roherich, Feb. 15, 06

Search:

While a "convention" isn’t exactly a law ...

The real goal of Islam was clearly stated by a "moderate" Muslim on July 2, 1998 ...

Another must read, with examples of "voluntarily censoring ourselves so as not to inadvertently offend."



Canadian News & Politics -- Spare us, O' Lord By Gary Reid, Friday, February 17, 2006

We are urged on all sides to appease Muslims.

Why?

Well, because they get angry and kill people. Not all of them, of course, just some of them. But, enough of them to matter. [. . . . ]

Islamic Protestors in Paris Come Face to Face with an Unexpected Counter-Protest -- "I will show you my ID 10 meters from here" says the plainclothes cop. "They are going to lynch you!" she adds" No Pasaran, February 12, 2006

[. . . . ] One, in red and white, is (silently) wearing a sign with the Danish flag saying "Support Denmark, Support free speech". Besides (silently) wearing a sign reading "Free Cartoonist" on it, the other, the founder of the BAF protest warrior-type organisation, is holding a (fake) severed hand, a pen among its fingers.

Voices start to ring out. "It's provocation!" "You tread on 1.5 million Muslims!" "Connards!" "Rat faces!" [. . . . ]

Did anyone mention multiculturalism? respect?



Fark.com h/t newsbeat1

Excellent: encapsulates Insult Law By Jackie Mason & Raoul Felder, 2/14/2006

Jackie Mason is a comedian. Raoul Felder is an attorney.

The Muslims have pronounced their verdict. The cartoon man has been found guilty. The real crime is, of course, not being a Muslim. Now that they have established the crime, they have also pronounced the sentence. Even if you never saw or heard of the cartoon, you deserve to be hit with rocks, your car wrecked, and your embassies destroyed because you are an infidel -- and incidentally, there are no appeals. [....]

"OY VEY IS THIS TERRIBLE!"

Everyday Muslim and European newspapers insult and degrade Jews as animals and rodents, which is not only insulting but, additionally, encourages the hatred of Jews. But did you ever hear any Jewish authority anywhere demanding that we find any of these cartoonists so that we can choke them to death or cut them up. Did you ever hear of an Israeli death squad searching for a cartoonist? [....]

Yet, the "peaceful ones" are taken seriously!

Denmark is, at this moment, the proverbial "canary in the mine" of the Islamofascist war on Western democracy. We must not let history repeat itself. If Britain had heeded Churchill's warnings and stood firm against Hitler, World War II may not have occurred. The Danes have shown again, as they did in World War II, that they have the moral courage to stand up for what they believe. Please join us in a demonstration of solidarity and sign the postcard attached which will be sent to the Danish Government on your behalf [. . . . ]

Torino: Europe’s Last Hurrah? February 14th, 2006,

Christopher Chantrill blogs at www.roadtothemiddleclass.com. His Road to the Middle Class is forthcoming.

Essayist Theodore Dalrymple has been thinking about the Islamists, and has realized that they have a culture just like the alienated underclass youths in Britain in his book Life at the Bottom. In National Review, he wrote that the Muslim extremists in Europe and the Middle East in the front lines of the Cartoon Wars:

are like the inhabitants of our ghettoes who demand something that they call “respect,” and which they extort by fear for lack of any other means by which to earn it.

MMN Editorial Regarding Azerbaijan's Eni Khabar Publishing Derogatory Cartoon Of Prophet Jesus Montreal Muslim News Editorial (Feb 14, 2006), via CCD, posted by Peter, Feb. 15, 06

[. . . . ] In addition, we are totally against the Iranian 'Holocaust cartoon competition.' It is simply wrong and repugnant to seek to score political points by denying the sufferings of others. It is also un-Islamic as it is perpetuating a lie. Those people, including Muslims, who deny the systematic genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of Nazis are simply wrong and misguided, and we distance ourselves from such hurtful talk which only inflicts deeper wounds into a people who have already suffered so much.

Also, publishing openly anti-semitic cartoons is an example of not only crude racism, which only fosters hatred and animosity, but gives Islam and Muslims a bad name. Thus, such evil practices must cease. [. . . . ]

Overhaul of U.N. rights body hits snag David R. Sands, WashTimes, Feb. 16, 06

A drive by a bloc of Islamic nations for a global ban on "defamation of religions and prophets" has thrown a major kink into U.S. hopes for an overhaul of the leading U.N. human rights body.

The proposal by the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), floated last week amid violent protests over the publication in Europe of cartoons mocking the prophet Muhammad, came as U.N. delegates were trying to negotiate the charter for a new Human Rights Council.

"It's a giant monkey wrench in the process

[. . . . ] Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said at a Senate hearing yesterday that the Bush administration was insisting on real changes for the U.N. human rights body, including blackballing from membership any state under sanctions for terrorism or human rights abuses. [. . . . ]

Hypocrisy: Bookstores which won't stock the Western Standard will stock the following ... free speech and all that

McNally Robinson: Protocols of the elders of Zion

Chapters: To see the sequel to Mein Kampf




Link: To support The Western Standard and your own ability to state what your senses and common sense tells you, what you believe about any topic, that is, free speech, you might want to subscribe to The Western Standard/Shotgun or telephone 1-866-520-5222




What we believe -- comments -- Ezra Levant in the Western Standard

By publishing the cartoons that send radical Islamists into frenzies of their usual reaction, Ezra has brought to the attention of all Canadians just how little these touchy and intolerant followers of the Prophet of the Sword fit into Western society ... a needed lesson for those who have preferred to believe that, over time, the Muslims who came to Canada would integrate. They won't, unless the peaceful ones reform Islam from the inside. Tolerance for radical Islam's adherents will last only until breeding and importation of more believers allow them the numbers to "improve" our society with sharia and the burka, in my opinion.



Judy Monchuk: Western Standard causes uproar among Muslims Feb. 13, 06

Levant dismisses suggestions from some editors that they don't like to offend religious groups. He points to the current cover of Rolling Stone, with rapper Kanye West portrayed as Jesus Christ with a crown of thorns.

"The difference is when they offend Christianity, Christians write a letter to the editor or maybe invite them out for lunch and try to appeal to them," said Levant, who is Jewish. "What the Muslim world has demonstrated over the last month is that they will get violent."

Peaceful Mr. Elmasry, self-selected spokesman for CIC ... for himself, I would guess

Elmasry - Fascist darling of the Star & Globe Posted by Calgary Herald on 23:12:14 2006/02/13, Licia Corbella, October 31, 2004

[....] Well, Mohamed Elmasry, president of the CIC is that charming fella who recently advocated the genocide of Israeli Jews while having a little chat with Michael Coren, a Sun columnist, when he appeared as a guest on the Michael Coren Live Show, which runs every weeknight on an Ontario cable channel.

On the show, Elmasry said any Israeli over the age of 18 was a legitimate target of suicide bombers because they are all members of the Israeli army.

"Anyone and everyone in Israel -- irrespective of gender-- over the age of 18 is a valid target?" host Michael Coren asked.

"Yes, I would say," Elmasry responded.

There is more.



This supports Salim Mansur's proposal: "If the West is to have meaningful dialogue with Muslims and Islam, it had best look to finding, supporting and giving voice to those Muslims who are more accurately described as Peaceful and tolerant Muslims." CCD, Bill Narvey, Feb. 11, 06

[....] In the Muslim world there is no freedom of speech, except when it comes to Muslim leaders and imams daily disseminating and inciting hatred against Jews, Israelis, Christians, America and the West generally or publishing such incitements daily in the form of cartoons and opinions in the media as well as making movies that disseminate such hatreds.

The Muslim nations in this regard have shown absolutely no tolerance or sensitivity for the feelings or beliefs of others. If any Westerner were to speak out and complain, the Muslim world would laugh or just ignore it as they have for they know it is offensive. The Muslim Middle East world intended to be offensive.

Now the Middle East Muslims which claim the right to publish what it wants, is claiming that the West has no right to publish what it wants. [....]

Perhaps ignoring Mr. Elmasry and his CIC would be a start. Memo to new government ...

Updated: Happy Valentines & A Legacy of Love

Update below. Thanks to the man who sent these wonderful photos!






































A Legacy of Love: From My Parents, Grandmother & Great Grandmother

In my family, celebrations of anyone's return or any special occasion involved the kitchen and the dining room. Home made bread was almost always available and, over the years, the men in the family learned to knead it to help the women. Food prepared together is a large part of showing and sharing love. With that in mind, and in honour of my parents, a grandmother and great grandmother whose recipe came down to me, what follows is how my mother made bread. I try, but mine will never be as good, even following the same recipe. It was the best smell when we came home after school. There is nothing like warm bread, butter and a glass of milk.



Mother's Bread and How to Knead Bread

Use the base for white and brown bread – especially when you have a growing family who like homemade bread. It freezes well.

The base:
4 cups lukewarm water (To test for lukewarm, put a few drops on your arm, and if it is neither hot nor cold, then it is lukewarm. Also, I use coffee mugs for measuring so don't quite fill to the brim. Anyway, don't get too hung up over measurements. You will learn to feel when bread is right over time.)
3 packets dry yeast or 3 tbsp loose yeast
1 ½ cups sugar (Try using less after you try it this way. Older recipes tended to use more sugar than recipes today.)

Beat with a mixer.
Let all the above sit in a warm place until the yeast is working well -- 20-30 minutes. You will know when it is working by looking at it.

Meanwhile, melt 1 cup butter or a mix of butter, margarine, lard, shortening and add:
a 2 litre ice-cream container of lukewarm water ( I learned rather loose methods and measurements at my mother's knee. Sorry but that's the way she did it.)
3 eggs beaten
3 tsp salt (or 4 ?)
Add this to the yeast mixture or vice versa and beat.

12 cups flour – Add to the above 4 cups at a time. Add a bit more, if it is sticking.
Mix well. Then knead (see below for method) 15 min. or until it becomes elastic and doesn't stick. Let rise, place in 10-12 bread pans and bake at 350 degrees for 45 min. or until done. Check after 25 minutes.


To make white and brown breads with the same starter

If you want brown bread, separate the dough evenly into two large bowls before adding the flour.

White bread from ½ of basic mixture:

Add 6-8 cups flour (more or less), knead 15 min. and let rise until at least double in bulk (overnight, if you wish). The amount of flour is hard to determine. As you knead it on a floured board, it will stick less and less. You’ll need very little flour on the board or the table to keep it from sticking. It will achieve an elastic quality and I think you will recognize it. It becomes easy to knead and doesn't stick. Cover the bowl with clean tea towels for rising (proofing).


Brown bread from half of basic bread mixture:

To ½ the basic mixture, add:
1 ½ cups molasses -- or a bit less -- You'll figure it out, over time.
1 cup seeded raisins – or any other you like. You may soak them in 1/4 C brandy, water, or sherry first to make them plump.
Add 6-8 cups flour (approximate) and knead 15 minutes.

Brown bread tends to be stickier than white, so add a little more flour and keep kneading. Let rise until double in bulk (overnight, if you wish, but do cover it with clean tea towels – and don’t leave it on your finest wooden table in case it rises above the top of the bowl and falls over the side).

When both the white and brown bread have risen over double, put each out on a table, knead 4-5 min. more and leave under a tea towel 15 minutes. Then cut into loaves and knead each loaf 4-5 minutes (Mother kneaded it longer.) and place in greased bread pans.

How do you know how much to put in a pan? Cut some dough off, knead it, put it in a pan; if it is no more than half way up the side, it is probably a good amount. Let rise again until it fills the pan and is at least double in size – or more. Bake at 350 degrees 45 min. or until, when you tap it, it sounds hollow.

Brown bread burns easily because of the molasses or sugar in it so you may have to cover it with a large sheet of foil (loosely – not fastened down) to prevent it from burning – after it is as brown as you want it. There will be a distinct hollow sound when you tap the top of bread so you’ll know the bread is done. If you take it out of the oven and the bottom is not pleasingly brown, return it to the oven until it is. (Later,check your oven. It may not be heating evenly.) This whole thing will make between 10 and 13 loaves of bread. (Mother’s rose better than mine.) Anyway, you may make half of it or only white bread, but Mother’s brown bread was the best I ever ate.


How to knead bread

Once you have incorporated enough flour to render bread dough more or less a ball and not too sticky to handle, sift flour (if you own a sifter) onto a clean surface. If not, throw some flour onto the board or table; it works just about as well, though good cooks would disagree, and put the dough on the flour. Lightly roll it around so a fine dusting of flour covers it and prevents sticking. Form a ball. Some will stick to your hands; rub it off with a bit of flour.

With your hands, fold the 1/2 to 1/3 of the ball toward you. Press it in with the heels of your hands. Turn the ball slightly -- about 1/4 turn -- and do the same again. Keep doing this, adding a little more flour to the table if the bread still sticks. Eventually, it will become an elastic ball that doesn't stick, and the more you knead it, the finer the texture. Continue for 12-15 minutes.

Then, place it in a large bowl, one that will allow it to rise to double or more in bulk. Oil your hands and rub the ball in the pan with the oil -- keeps a crust from forming on the top as it rises. (I don't know whether good cooks do that but it works for me.) Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and let rise in a warm spot. In winter, while I am cooking other things and the kitchen is warm, I put it on the cupboard next to the stove, or on the floor next to the heater coils or whatever they're called (electric heat). If your bowl is large enough (the large stainless steel ones sold at restaurant equipment outlets are a good size), you may cover the bowl with a large clean towel over the tea towel(s) and leave it all night to rise. Sit it on towels, as well to keep drafts from it.

Then, in the morning, punch it down and knead it again for 5 min. before you cut off pieces to knead and shape into loaves. Follow the rest of the instructions above.

Appointing, Pandering, Criticizing, Spying & Terrorizing

Update:

The Menu is still at the bottom and I have no time to try to fix it.

Some Previous Posts

Appointing, Pandering, Criticizing, Spying & Terrorizing
Touchy
DND: Audit of the Language of Work at NDHQ
Language Tzar Flexing Muscle
If a Cdn. Gov. Tree Falls in the Parliamentary Forest, Did It Ever Exist?
Menu & Diversity File, Bud: Civil Service Scandal & Ban Islamophobia?
Harper: Emerson & Others Crossing the Bar & What You Should Know
Regulating Vice
More Peace
You Will Learn to Love Big Brother

“There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries.” Shakespeare via Doug Fisher, Ottawa Sun, Feb. 12, 06

This article left me very sad. I too, was disappointed that Stephen Harper believed it necessary to make two appointments, because I have railed against appointments in the past. I take comfort only from the fact that I have tilted at windmills all my life ... and invariably lost. Perhaps Stephen Harper saw what had to be done to get anything done, and was willing to take a normal amount of negative publicity to accomplish his goals, perhaps forgetting that Conservatives always take more negative press than the Liberals or NDP do for the same thing or worse--think Svend's theft, Jean Chretien's many nefarious exercises of power.

I do not want Stephen to lose a chance to make changes in Canada; maybe compromises are necessary. Having chosen too often not to compromise, having stood up when it would have been politic to keep my head down, I can attest to the fact that it is not a winning move in Canada. Invariably, I was the one who suffered. Power rolls over and crushes those who stand up. However, I have no regrets; in fact, I could not be otherwise. Nevertheless, I know that those who play the game, who mouth the politically correct platitudes, who agree publicly when privately, they disagree, make the more politically astute choices and they survive. Hence, I bow to those who know how the political game is played, and play it. It seems that, given the apportionment of the numbers in the House, one does not even have a chance to govern without accommodation -- whether it be to placate business, the cities, or some other area or group, particularly Quebec, which has grown used to and demands power. Strangely enough, the Quebec appointee has not suffered the media excoriaton that the BC appointee has.

Additionally, in governing, I would completely eliminate so much that government is involved in at present, because I think it creates dependency or a sense of entitlement ... from those adults who see it as normal to live on welfare, who breed children with little thought or planning, who give society children who learn from these parents to live the same careless lives, adults who make no attempt to wean themselves or their children off their 'right' to support from other people's money ... to those who use forged documents or none, yet demand their 'right' to remain in Canada at taxpayer expense, even fighting for their 'right' not to be extradited (for cause) at taxpayer expense ... to the higher end of this continuum ... to the gum-chewing, high-living Dingwall's effrontery, ending with his entitlement to $400,000 being paid off (Was it, in effect, a bribe to keep him quiet, as has been suggested?) ... to the top of the dung heap the pinnacle of networking success that culminated in the swanning around the Polar regions by our last CBC-GG, royal entourage in tow, at taxpayer expense ... to the latest CBC-GG who rose from immigrant or refugee, to rapidly fit into the mould that allows appointees such as Michaelle Jean to believe they are entitled to drink $400 bottles of wine at the taxpayers' expense.

I would be appalled at spending that outrageous a sum, even in that position, from the public purse ... just because I could ... but then, my perspective has lost out to the opposite view so often that perhaps I am short-sighted in this, as well. Perhaps Canadians do want and reward a queenly approach or the pretense of it, at any rate.

Perhaps, when government can allow and facilitate or disallow and prevent one the ability to work in one's own country, one is entitled to batten on the public purse. Whether through overbearing and unfair business, job and unemployment funding, whether through coercive language legislation (an example of which is below), through the exercise of political clout, for example, because one has crossed the group who hold government power, as several whistleblowers have learned or for some other reason, the underlying cause of which remains shrouded, the effect is the same, unemployment or underemployment. With so much government power over whether people are able to earn their livelihood, maybe the only response to being cut out of work would be "Support me" ... or as a teenager used to put it, "Suffah dawg".

It seems that the majority of citizens want government involvement in their lives and, as long as they get a bit of whatever government has to offer or some of the pork, they are willing to overlook the outrageous spending of other people's money that occurs, under whatever guise, whether giving votes for preferment or monetary advantage, whether being helped or having to live up to the demands of the position.

As a consequence of my personal reality check, I have resigned myself to the hope that Stephen Harper's decisions will lead to something better for Canada. The appointments themselves, as I have posted previously, do not differ appreciably from what has gone on before. The difference lies in the differing reactions from by the media, and is politically motivated, in my opinion. Compare:

* the demands for the repayments of electioneering money made to a newly minted Conservative versus the glossing over same for turncoats who became Liberals

* the demands that Min. Emerson go back to the electorate versus no such demand to Keith Martin, Belinda Stronach or Scott Brison (etc.) -- but they became Liberals so that was all right. Remember the glee with which our Pravda reported the saving of Paul Martin's government by Belinda?

* the harassment of Min. Emerson's children compared to the lack thereof (or lesser degree of harassment) with Ms. Stronach's children

In all cases, it was different and much easier treatment accorded ones who left the Conservatives to become Liberals compared to the treatment of the one who did the opposite. The instigation to action by leftists and a leftist/Liberal media in BC over Emerson is faux outrage and self-serving. A pox upon them!



Welcome additions to Multiculturalism & the ACOA Agency

Jason Kenney
Calgary Southeast (Alberta)
Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister for Multiculturalism

Western input should add some balance to what had become a vote-garnering department designed to placate groups using other people's money. In fact, there is no reason for this department to exist except to help newcomers become Canadians. They will keep their own cultures as long as they wish. Why should the rest pay for home-culture maintenance?

Peter Van Loan
York – Simcoe (Ontario)
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency

Deepak Obhrai
Calgary East (Alberta)
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency

No agency should serve just one area, in my opinion; it is too easy for corruption to set in. In practice, it has meant ACOA had become a porkbarrel. An-all Canada look at how money is allocated is necessary and input from the West and the Centre is a step in the right direction. I don't think we need these agencies devoted to single areas anyway. Their existence simply reinforces seeing the federal government as a piggy bank for its friends via that agency. Let the MP's consider all of Canada and what is best. Maybe a phase-out is in order.



Left-Wing Monster: Ceausescu -- Canadian Connection Ion Mihai Pacepa, FrontPageMagazine.com February 10, 2006

“Dunãrea,” the Romanian name for the Danube, was the codename for an operation involving heavy water. Ceausescu wanted to produce nuclear weapons that he could secretly sell to terrorist states, and heavy water was his first step toward attaining that dream. Our man in “Dunãrea” was a DIE illegal officer[2] documented as a Western engineer who had gotten himself hired by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, where he had been given a top-secret clearance. [. . . . ]

Contemporary political memory seems to be increasingly afflicted with a kind of convenient Alzheimer disease. In 1978, however, just a couple of months before I was granted political asylum in the United States, Ceausescu ... [. . . . ]

In December 1989 Ceausescu was executed at the end of a trial whose accusations came almost word-for-word out of General Ion Pacepa's book Red Horizons (Regnery, 1987), republished in 27 countries.

[1] Departamentul de Informatii Externe (Foreign Intelligence Service). [. . . . ]

Who would that AECL engineer be?


RCMP scopes out suspicious space contracts CP, Feb. 11, 06

MONTREAL -- The RCMP's commercial crime section has opened a file on the Canadian Space Agency and intends to investigate potentially millions of dollars in suspect contracts approved by the federal Public Works Department while Alfonso Gagliano was its minister.

[. . . . ] Samir Elomari, a former CSA scientist who successfully sued the space agency for falsely appropriating one of his inventions, submitted a formal complaint to the RCMP last month. [. . . . ]

Search: $7.3 million worth of contracts have never , $14.375-million civil


Know Radical Islam Conference at the University of Toronto

David B. Harris spoke on "Terrorism at our Doorstep". The former Chief of Strategic Planning for CSIS gave a frighteningly thorough analysis of the dangers currently threatening Canada. He identified enemies such as Ahmadejani and Hamas citing their own words to show that their stated goal is to destroy us. He described how Canada's failures to deal with post-Cold War reality have made our country a haven for terrorist organizations. We are regarded as a rogue state in the eyes of other beleaguered nations, and as idiots by those who seek our destruction. Politicians who pander to ethnic voters, such as Chrétien who personally advocated for the Khadr family, journalists who rush to gather news without due diligence in determining the background and credibility of sources, naïve University administrators: all have given legitimacy to radical spokesman for anti-democratic groups, leaving moderates without a voice. In Canada as in the United States, those groups are .........

Search: Salim Mansur , if scholars were allowed the freedom to discuss the Koran

It sounds like a Catch 22 situation there.