Dec. 2, 2006: Updated - Liberals breathe easier ...

Update: Greg Weston has written an excellent analysis of what happened, different from mine below. He would understand more clearly what occurred, given his Ottawa background and presence, I assume. He thinks the little people have finally gained some clout, considering that Gerard Kennedy's support and supporters moved to Stephane Dion in the end.

Greg Weston's analysis of what happened at the Liberal leadership convention, Nov. 3, 06, Ottawa Sun

www.ottawasun.com/News/Columnists/
Weston_Greg/2006/12/03/2606555.html


You might want to check this too: Sue-Ann Levy: "A new hope for Toronto" -- re: the formation of the Toronto Party , Dec. 3, 06, Toronto Sun, via newsbeat1

www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/
Levy_Sue-Ann/2006/12/03/2606175.html

www.thetorontoparty.com

Are the people gittin' uppity? We can only hope.



The Liberal Leadership Convention ... and more

The power brokers have come through and Stephane Dion won. Paul Martin, played his part and emitted bombast and bafflegab with gusto ... as though he meant what he said. Michael Ignatieff looked as though he had been tackled by a 350 pound gorilla--or guerilla ... and he was. Jean Chretien slithered in from China ... just in time to watch his nemesis publicly squirm, having to accept the reality, finally and publicly, of his utter loss, the actual loss having occurred months ago, leading to his public--or media--absence. All are undoubtedly relieved that none of the guilty have gone to gaol.

And Canadian Liberals? They will be led by another Quebecker ... elected not by one member, one vote, but by proxy. Whatever his personal qualifications, and I suspect he has many positive ones, Stephane Dion was not elected by Liberal Party members, but by others voting in their stead. The power brokers have won; no one without a stake in the system as it is had the opportunity to vote for a new leader. What is that aphorism ... with perhaps, an added twist ... The more things change, the more they remain the same ... so democracy loses. In placating the one province that has really counted in Canadian politics for forty years, the rest of Canada can read the message. It cannot be sugar-coated. Nothing has changed; the result was orchestrated by those desirous of power and particularly, taking into account how it would play in that one province with the political clout of the language promoted through Trudeau's Charter, the power brokers who understand the back room dickering, and with the willingness, where necessary, to buy the votes of blocks of voters ... to accomplish their designs ... with promises, we can be certain, using taxpayer money, should they win back power. It has been a cozy little system and you just observed it in action.


A short ancestral memory , Editorial: What have the Grits learned? via newsbeat1

www.torontosun.com/Comment/Commentary
/2006/12/02/2591130-sun.html

Search: to borrow the unforgettable phrase from Western Standard magazine


Chretien's advice: elect a winner
Former PM boasts of his three majorities -- all revealing of his character ... , John Ivison, National Post, December 02, 2006

www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=
0395776e-9599-41d4-823d-e330c4179b37

Admirable? Read Ivison and decide for yourself.

... Chretien ... like an ageing thespian offered one last chance to creep the boards. For one thing, it allowed him to indulge in one of his favourite past-times -- boasting....

... gave him a chance to put the boots to Martin while he's down. ....

This was the message that the Shawinigan Strangler brought to the convention. .... For Chretien, it's not about taking part, it's all about the winning.

What kind of leader should be elected, he was asked? "A good one." What's a good one? "One who wins elections."

Fair enough, you might say, that's the name of the game. But there is a growing band of Liberals, particularly in the Gerard Kennedy camp, who think this attitude is partly to blame for the predicament the party finds itself in. Much more important than beating Stephen Harper in the next election is putting the party on the right footing financially, organizationally and ideologically.

[....] Chretien .... an unfortunate scheduling problem over a business trip to China for his non-appearance at [Paul] Martin's tribute on Thursday night. .... With the vendetta between Ignatieff and Bob Rae about to get really nasty, that would have been too much intrigue, treachery and fratricide even for the Liberal Party of Canada. [....]

Apropos of nothing ... or everything

Soliloquy, Macbeth, V.v.19-28 -- "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow", Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/webstuff/po
etry/Shakespeare-Tomorrow.html

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more; it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

Stop the presses: Liberalism doesn't work -- 'Play it again, Sam', George Jonas, National Post, Dec. 2, 2006

www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/editorialsletters/story.html?id=
3f13589d-1a1c-4f0d-8a16-a35944f521af

[....] Big-L Liberalism not being necessarily liberal isn't exactly news either, but the Liberal party's preference not to talk about it qualifies it as a dirty secret. Liberalism's dirty secret is that it has lost virtually all aspects of liberalism during the 20th century. By the end of the Trudeau era in Canada, "liberalism" had become the word for its opposite, state interventionism. One could almost write the equation as Liberalism + 20th Century = Illiberalism. [....]

Search: Westphalian dirigiste with a human face.

Dec. 2, 2006: Bud Talkinghorn

The niqab, lust, and "explosive" orgasams

I have been following the whole "niqab" commentary in the press. The female defenders claim that it saves them from the impure gazes of men. To the rest of the non-Muslim world, it screams female subjugation and total mind control. It reminds me of the old song, "Lincoln Freed the Slaves Today", where the chorus from the slaves is, "What is going to become of us now?" These women are so controlled by a patriarchical society that they have no inkling what freedom means. Like the slaves, they have been taught to fear it.

Perhaps these masked women should ask themselves a simple human question. Which is better, that these young, hormonal Islamic males should have a genuine erotic impulse, or that they blow themselves up--along with numerous innocent civilians--so they can slate their lust with 72 virgins that Allah is going to provide? I have never heard a single explanation about what pleasures these women will receive when their time comes. Even the female suicide bombers are unsure what awaits them. Will they find that their sacrifices for Islam have some consolation, as their menfolk are deflowering their allotted virgins? [Or do they still have to simply satisfy men, even in the Muslim afterlife? Have they no purpose even in the afterlife, in and of themselves, aside from consideration of men? FHTR]

What these Islamic immigrant women to Canada do not grasp, is that their masked faces and shrouded bodies are the personification of female disenfranchisement. That is an affront to the entire Canadian community, be they Caucasian or the rest of the racial/ethnic diversity that comprises this country. They are the very symbol of "the other", that will not assimilate. They and their male counterparts are seen as Trojan horses allowed through our naive immigration system.

The sight of these veiled Canadian women cheering on the 17 terrorist suspects arrested in Toronto was etched on many minds. The idea of their supporting mass terrorism against a country that helped to lift them out of their abysmal ancestral status spoke volumes. "A picture is worth a thousand words" is a truism here. Economic immigrants we can understand; Trojan Horses are a little harder to take. When the trials start, please show up again, ladies. Canadians need to see the "face" of radical Islam, and your masked faces are a perfect example of what we are up against.

© Bud Talkinghorn--Calling Dr. Freud to help alleviate all this sexual repression.


Suffer the little children

Can we be shocked by corruption in our institutions anymore? The Globe and Mail (Dec 1, A-6) published an article on the Ontario Childrens' Aid Society and its outrageous fraudulent abuses of their budget. A fleet of 50 cars, that includes two SUV's worth respectively, $53,000 and $59,000, were purchased. Half the cars were used to drive, on average, no more than 10,000 km each. Then there were the trips to the Caribbean islands. One staff member was returning a kid to Lucia, but stayed on for a $4,000 resort visit. It seems that some officials felt it necessary to eat at high end restuarants on a frequent basis. As of March 11, 2006, the CAS budget had doubled from year 2000; yet their case load has not increased nearly as much. Speaking of their primary duty, to take care of children in need, their record is quite poor. One-third of the children who were supposed to be checked after one day or a week, were not seen until three weeks later. What's next? To find out that the Salvation Army is using the money from their Christmas kettles to stage gambling junkets down in Las Vegas? With hookers supplied?

Recently we hear that the ombudsman for convicts rarely showed up for work and was fleecing the system to the tune of $320,000. He managed to pull off this scam for over a decade. Nobody checked and nobody in that office ever blew the whistle on him. But then they had received very hefty "annual performance packages." While this might have had nothing to do with this ethical/criminal breakdown in our social services, I think an Environics poll from about 19 years ago might have pointed a direction. It was a large survey of the attitudes of youths between ages 16 and 24. In it, they said loudly that they gauged their worth by the money they made and the material goods they could accumulate. When asked about entering the altruistic professions, the majority said "never". Not enough money. However, I suspect that some of these people did end up there. This scandal is the result of their being there.

© Bud Talkinghorn--The admission in polls that students engage in rampant plagiarism in high school and university is a signpost as well. "That is all right as long as we get ahead" is the gist of their feelings about it.


I wonder whether any of them have been appointed to any significant positions, Bud. FHTR

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

Dec. 2, 2006: Update and More

Don't worry. Be happy.

How much have you heard about polonium, now that the Liberal convention is on and a charismatic son is there to be mobbed? Surely, this should be a journalistic concern ... at least requiring as many words as the hot topics ... Belinda's hair and Rae's butt, for example.

Polonium: Deadly if ingested and easy to transport , AP / G & M, Nov. 30 2006 6:29 PM ET

[....] Polonium -- like all radioactive substances -- is found naturally in the environment: in the air, water, food, soil, and in all living organisms. All humans are exposed to some degree of radiation, as well as from X-rays taken for medical purposes.

But polonium also is produced artificially in nuclear reactors, mainly used in devices to eliminate static electricity.

Russia has used polonium in its space program.

"The poison was probably made in a very specialist facility,'' said Dr. Derek Hill, a radiology expert at Kings College in London. "It isn't the sort of thing you could do in your garage.''

Conservatives point out that Justin Trudeau is star of the show -- "Without your noble and fruitless efforts, my triumphant future entry into national politics wouldn't be nearly as grand," the newsletter says in a pretend Trudeau quote. Les Perreaux, CP/NatPost, Dec. 1, 06

www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=
6ab5403e-022d-4b2b-a195-1d142271f413&k=8668

[....] "You will forgive me if I don't make a donation to this effort," said Rae's e-mail, passed along by NDP insiders. "Best regards, Bob Rae."

Rae didn't seem to rule out a donation for other efforts down the road, however.

[....] unusual for wannabe prime ministers to answer automated mass e-mail appeals themselves.

They become very friendly canvassing for votes and money. Why a few even call the hoi polloi.

Liberals love to brag about how open they are toward homosexuals.

Tough to explain, then, the printed gay joke some are handing out at the expense of George W. Bush and Stephen Harper.

No change in the Liberals ... say one thing, do another.

[....] A turf war ... delegates can surf for free.

[....] noticed "guerrilla marketers" sneaking in and out of the area.....

The sneaky campaign workers then change the web browser's homepage to the website of their favoured leadership candidate for a little free advertising.

Is that like Google Bombing? I wonder what it costs ... and whether all that money the Liberals owed Canadians was repaid. Of course, I jest.

[....] [Ex-PM, please. Canadians did vote him out. ] Prime Minister Paul Martin waxed on Thursday about his days as a young red activist years ago.

[....] brushed over the real past political allegiances of the potential Liberal leaders.

[....] Royal Canadian Air Farce is planning an episode [....]

The CBC is planning their free advertising for the Liberals. $$$$$$$$ promises must be in place.

[....] Entitled "Map to the Scars," the pamphlets give directions to key locations in the city linked to the sponsorship scandal.

[....] "No Liberal visit to Montreal is complete without dropping by the offices of Groupaction Marketing Inc. - the home of 'money for little or no work'." [....]

But I thought the Liberals had "put all that behind them". Of course, the rest of us haven't.



Fuel-saving airline adopts a no-go stance -- Carrier has a fear of flushing; tribal chants go wireless; cane to the rescue , Commentary by Brian Tracey, Business Editor, MSNBC

The Brave New World edition ... check what I-sticks can do, along with the wonders of cell phones

Brazilian cell phone users ... 100 Xavantes living in the remote Sao Pedro village in Mato Grosso state have been profiting from the sales ... Gilson Schwartz, coordinator of an aide [sic] group called Cidade Movel.

... alternative sources of income ...

"... a business model of social content for the wireless phone industry," ...

... generated tens of thousands of dollars for the Xavante and several other impoverished rural communities ... [....]

Have I mentioned the Left is on the move, globally? It's all for the good of the poor, the downtrodden, the AIDS victims, the .... ones who would control all of us forever.

Those who fall for this schtick are #%^&*%! fools who would get in bed with the enablers and their politicians ... already bought with taxpayer money ... more, soon come.



Does this mean the results will be safe for the usual? -- "Liberals reject one-member, one-vote" -- Delegates "rejected a shift to a one-member, one-vote leadership process." I wonder if they ever have the rank and file vote ... or does being Liberal mean never having to waste time with voting ... that someone else does it for you? , CP / Globe and Mail, Nov. 30 2006 6:15 PM ET

www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews
/20061130/liberal_process_061130/20061130?hub=Politics


Quebec Stats, SeanMcElroy, 11/24/2006 13:42:55 -- or here

www.canoe.ca/mb2/messages/cnewsf/13393.html

tinyurl.com/y39gbw



Take The Peter Mansbridge Challenge , November 30, 2006

www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/005062.html

What you haven't heard, and he won't tell you!;

Quickly now - no Googling: can you name three projects Canada's Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team (KPRT) has undertaken in the past year? The first wiseguy to spout off that "they dug a well" gets a slap in the head for his trouble.

If you couldn't think of one specific thing, you're not alone - I couldn't either, until I did a bit of digging. The truth is that the KPRT has almost a hundred projects either on the go or completed right now, put together by CF, Civilian Police (CivPol), DFAIT, or CIDA personnel with the team.

[...] Here's a stat that might surprise you as well: since January 16th of this year, 175 journalists from 37 different media outlets have embedded with the CF in Afghanistan. How many stories have you seen about the KPRT - other than from the BBC? Now, how many ramp ceremonies have you seen? [....]

From Kate at Small Dead Animals



GOOD NEWS FOR CANADIANS
AGAINST SUICIDE BOMBING

www.canasb.ca

* CANASB is in regular contact with Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Minister Stockwell Day and the Prime Minister’s office. The Conservative Canadian government told us they would help Liberal Senator Grafstein’s Bill S-206, considered a “Made in Canada Solution”, to specifically cover suicide bombing as terrorism. [Go to this site for links.]

CANASB’s Letter to the Senate supporting the Bill is signed by “A remarkable collection” of prominent Canadian political, religious and business leaders including Bob Rae, John Tory, Ed Broadbent, David Peterson, General MacKenzie, Gerald Schwartz, Salim Mansur and the Anglican primate. We will send it to the Senate and publicize it nationally when the Hearings start.

Passing Bill S-206 to declare “suicide bombing as terrorism” would be a first for any parliament in the world.

The Australian Parliament became the first in the world to pass a bipartisan motion urging suicide terrorism be declared a "crime against humanity”. Many experts consider suicide bombing as “terrorism” and as a “crime against humanity” interchangeable concept.

It is shaping up to be that kind of weekend ... a time to get one's priorities straight.

From friends, some advice.

Get plenty of exercise





Rest



And curl up with your nearest and dearest

Dec. 1, 2006: #1

Anne McLellan interview with Stephen Taylor

www.stephentaylor.ca/archives/000725.html

Albertans, particularly those interested in the provincial Conservative leadership aspirations of Ted Morton, might want to check this.


Liberal leadership race

Now, what does this header mean or is the National Post being oblique?

Did Dion's husky inspire his button?

[....] Word at the convention is that the paw is actually meant to represent Dion's dog, Kyoto.

[....] SHADES OF RED

On sale this week are thongs proudly proclaiming I Am A Liberal, and Young Liberal-branded condoms.

[....] WITH ENEMIES LIKE THESE ....

[....] THE POWER IS ON [....]

Bob Rae delegates were having trouble finding the Rae hospitality suite at his hotel the first night -- it was not listed anywhere. Eventually, someone figured out it was the meeting rooms labelled ... Power Corporation. [....]

Of course, Bob Rae would find his brother John there ... nothing else of significance ...




Hugo "Chavez puts on a show for world media"
Election on sunday: Venezuelan leader touches on the devil, Beatles and coup plots , Sheldon Alberts, CanWest, Dec. 01, 2006

www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=
a070142f-f04a-4bf6-a693-2bb133f15e01

CARACAS - Hugo Chavez ....

[....] yesterday's marathon news conference .... this Sunday's presidential election.
There was more. Mr. Chavez waxed philosophical about the Beatles, the 1970s era of peace and love -- "those were the times" -- and claimed to have thwarted a "fascist" assassination plot against his main opponent in this election, a man he calls the "little candidate of imperialism."

[....] his main challenger, Manuel Rosales

[....] "We have neutralized several plans, many plans."

Though he answered every question put to him, Mr. Chavez frequently went off on tangents that seemed apropos of nothing.

[....] Moscow ....

First, gain control of information ... the media ... academe ...

Academic freedom at issue in lawsuit
Dalhousie researcher: Doctor claims false accusations destroyed career -- "The status of clinical medical faculty ... cross-appointments at university medical faculties and their affiliated teaching hospitals ... no grievance process to challenge the actions of hospital administrators, Sarah Schmidt, CanWest / The Halifax Daily News, Dec,. 1, 2006

www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=
68443d41-96f3-471b-a580-3a6f16579b0e

[Dr.] Gabrielle Horne .... Halifax cardiologist and professor at Dalhousie University has been locked in a battle with a hospital whose management improperly revoked her access to patients necessary for her cutting-edge research.

[....] two prestigious awards for research excellence... teacher of the year ...

Dr. Horne's troubles began in 2002, when she refused her boss's request to include a hospital colleague as a prominent collaborator in her research lab.

The potential collaborator then complained that Dr. Horne's research practices were unsafe, that she was endangering patient safety and that she displayed "uncollegial behaviour." [....]

Make a guess about the import of that last bit. Education is full of it at all levels. That may be the reason some children are such successes ... the best of them being the ones who go to work for Liberal governments ... the really top ones in that particular field being the ones who are appointed to many and varied positions of power and influence.

Nov. 30, 2006: Various

Updated

In memory of Canadian soldiers who died in Afghanistan , Moxie38, 11/29/2006 20:26:02

www.canoe.ca/mb2/messages/cnewsf/13460.html

Update Dec. 1, 06: The Torch: Why Canadians don't know the trivia that's not trivial

toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2006/11/
why-canadians-dont-know-trivia-thats.html

The China principle , Peter Foster, Financial Post, November 29, 2006

www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=
4b66bcf1-c4d3-4a74-9235-1f6f80ac0afa&p=2

[....] The United States will presumably like Mr. Flaherty's stand against state-owned takeovers, but Canadian shareholders might be less happy about cutting off anybody who is prepared to overpay for their companies.

[....] One of the United States' alleged main concerns is that the Chinese are running around the world overpaying for petroleum assets. But their bigger concern should be that even more of the world's supplies might wind up under state control. State oil companies just aren't as good at finding and producing petroleum as their private-sector counterparts, and they are inevitably subject to costly political pressures.

Peak oil, schmeak oil. The main threat to the world's petroleum supplies continues to come not from depletion, but from government control. Canada learned its lesson and the whole country has been the better for it. Meanwhile, the main point of Mr. Flaherty's message may have been preemptive: to warn off Chinese state oil concerns from making any takeover bids.

2006 Report of the Auditor General of Canada
www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/domino/reports.nsf/html/06menu_e.html

www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/domino/
media.nsf/html/200611sipr_e.html

"Demands on government are unlimited, but the resources available to meet them are not," said Ms. Fraser. "That's why the government needs an effective system to decide how much it can afford to spend, what to spend it on, and how to get the best results for the money." [....]

Update Dec. 1, 06: Scroll down to Nov. 30. 2006: Auditor General Denied Access ...

Treasury Board Secretariat has denied the Auditor General access to information from previous year(s), citing Cabinet secrecy, which "imposed a limitation on the scope of the Auditor General's examination". In other words, AG Sheila Fraser could not carry out the audit as planned.

frosthitstherhubarb.blogspot.com/2006/11/
nov-30-2006-auditor-general-denied.html



Hard time to pay better? , by Louis Mathieu Gagne, Nov. 27, 06

www.ottawasun.com/News/National
/2006/11/27/2515779-sun.html

Canada's prisoners need a raise, says the correctional investigator of federal penitentiaries. [Howard Sapers ]

[....] He said many people believe everything is free in prison, but that's not the case. Prisoners have to pay for plenty of things and if they don't have the means to do so a parallel economy is created, he said.

Many prisoners have to borrow from their fellow inmates and must assume all the risks that come along with those arrangements, he said.

The creation of a parallel prison economy often results in intimidation, harassment, and both physical and psychological violence between prisoners.

These debt grudges can also follow prisoners once they're on the outside as well and could even put the debtor's family in danger if the lender wanted his money that bad, said Bernheim. [....]

RCMP foils terror plots, but partners doubt intelligence, Andrew Mayeda, CanWest, November 28, 2006

www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/story.html?id=
83f7cce8-dd75-44af-83f5-700efd68f860&k=84337

[....] But Martin Rudner, a security and intelligence expert at Carleton University, said the results may not be fair to the RCMP, because it can take years to determine if intelligence is accurate. "The reliability can only be tested in five years, in some cases," he said. "That's one of the difficulties in doing performance assessments."

[....] By focusing on charities, the RCMP is likely hoping to fill an overlooked "lacuna" in the government's monitoring of terrorist financing networks, said Rudner.

"Some of it involves knowledgeable corruption, in other words a charity knows precisely what's happening. Sometimes it doesn't, when individuals within the charity divert funds."

The flow of money to and from terrorist organizations is already partially tracked by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada. But FINTRAC focuses on cross-border transfers, not fundraising, said Rudner. [....]

Krauthammer: Borat looks in the wrong place for anti-Semitism , Commentary by Charles Krauthammer, www.insightmag.com - Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2006, Posted On: 11/27/2006

http://www.insightmag.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=
5D3B38F8A2584DB5A77BA05660C6045C&nm=
Free+Access&type=Publishing&mod=
Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=
8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=
3EFC6699601A49D99859EF20536EE88D

[....] Sacha Baron Cohen, the creator of Borat, revealed his purpose for doing that in a rare out-of-character interview he granted Rolling Stone in part to counter charges that he was promoting anti-Semitism. On the face of it, this would be odd, given that Mr. Cohen is himself a Sabbath-observing Jew. His defense is that he is using Borat's anti-Semitism as a “tool” to expose it in others. And that his Arizona bar stunt revealed, if not anti-Semitism, then “indifference” to anti-Semitism. And that, he maintains, was the path to the Holocaust.

Whoaaaa. Does he really believe such rubbish? Can a man that smart (Cambridge, investment banker and now brilliant filmmaker) really believe that indifference to anti-Semitism and the road to the Holocaust are to be found in a country and western bar in Tucson?

Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world. [....]

LGF Exclusive: How Much Does It Cost to Buy Global TV News?, August 11, 2006

littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=
22055_LGF_Exclusive-_How_Much_Do
es_It_Cost_to_Buy_Global_TV_News&only

An LGF reader who worked for Associated Press TV News sent me the following article explaining how APTN works, and suggesting a reason why their coverage of the Middle East is so overwhelmingly biased against Israel:

[....] It is pretty much impossible, however, to operate a TV news organization without taking feeds from either APTN or Reuters or usually both. [....]

A Separate Service for Arab States

.... While most of the world takes news pictures with minimal interpretation beyond editing, the Arab Gulf States have asked for and receive a different and far more expensive service. .... full editing and voice overs [....]

[....] The slant of the stories required by the Gulf States ....

This full service feed is much more expensive for the customers than the usual service, but it is also much higher margin for APTN. [....]

Disproportionately Negative Coverage of Israel

Anything involving Israel is a favorite with Gulf Arab states for showing to their viewers. Could this be the reason why Israel receives such a disproportionate amount of particularly negative coverage especially and increasingly ever since the early 1970’s? HonestReporting is usually unable to decide which is most biased: AP or BBC. As the BBC is often using APTN footage, the difference is minor. A significant twist to what is seen, concerns what is not seen. Footage such as the Palestinian mob joyfully lynching two Israeli reservists in Ramallah in October 2000 is held by APTN’s library: any attempt to license this film for reshow is carefully vetted. Requests for the use of “sensitive clips” are referred directly to the Library director. This is not the case with clips that paint Israel in a bad light. Likewise, the re-showing of Palestinian celebrations on 9/11 is considered “sensitive”.

The way in which raw footage such as APTN’s is compiled into a news report and sent round the world has also been analyzed. The Second Draft gives a comprehensive view of how editing can make all the difference. APTN is the gatekeeper that sits between you and the actual event. You will never see what the editors at APTN see before they compile your evening news. What do you think is cut out? [....]

Comments:># 27 via Michelle, former Reuters reporter Phillip Klein, spills the beans.

littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=22055#c0026

Whatever its editors' political inclinations are, there is also a practical reason why Reuters is biased against Israel. As a global news provider, Reuters has to operate in more places than just about any other news organization, with 189 bureaus serving 128 countries. Because Israel is a free society, Reuters is able to run articles critical of the government without endangering the lives of its journalists or losing its ability to work in the country. Were Reuters to start striking a critical tone against the likes of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Arab governments, its reporters' lives would be at risk as would its ability to operate in those parts of the world. Pretty soon, it would cease to be a "global" news provider and it would struggle for a raison d'etre.

The irony of the situation is that Reuters expects us to give it the benefit of the doubt that the mistake was unintentional, yet its editors would never give the same benefit of doubt to Israel when it accidentally kills innocent bystanders when fighting an enemy that deliberately hides among civilians.


Louise Arbour: Israel may be more to blame than Hizbullah -- or here , Jerusalem Post Nov. 24, 2006, by Hilary Leila Krieger and Tovah Lazaroff

www.freerepublic.info/focus/f-news/1743285/posts

www.freerepublic.info/^http://www.jpost.com/servlet/
Satellite?apage=1&cid=1162378470980&pagename=
JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull


Bozell Column: Who's Soft on Propaganda?, Posted by Brent Bozell on November 28, 2006 , NewsBusters, via newsbeat1

newsbusters.org/node/9311

If we were to believe liberals, the last several years could be dubbed the Age of Propaganda, what scandalized columnist Frank Rich, who knows quite a lot about this subject, calls the “decline and fall of truth.” [....]

But the same left-wing crowd that claims to hate propaganda seems to be offering nothing but flowers and best wishes for the November launch of al-Jazeera English. The new network presents itself as a bold, adventurous news outlet to promote an Arab point of view, to redirect global news coverage to the point of view of the “South” -- left-wing lingo for Third World monarchs and dictators. Its sugar daddy is the Emir of Qatar, seriously wealthy and very much committed to an Islamic agenda.

Questions about the network’s radical ideology emerged quickly. CNN attempted to interview al-Jazeera talk show host (and former CNN International journalist) Riz Khan and discovered how al-Jazeera English won’t be speaking the truth to power, especially [....]

Take this from where it comes. The federal Liberal women's caucus ........ Tories want women ‘barefoot and pregnant', Liberal group charges , posted Nov. 27, 06, CP / Globe and Mail

www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/
RTGAM.20061127.wlibcaucus1127/BNStory/National/home



Brilliant analysis

Liberal Women's Caucus Warns: "More Paris Hiltons the inevitable result of Tory cuts", SDA News by Kate

www.ottawasun.com/News/National
/2006/11/28/2530266-sun.html

The Conservative government is taking women's rights back into the Dark Ages by .... Pink Book of policies...

"Speaking as a member of the privileged underachiever community, I can personally testify that mediocrity would have stood in the way of my goals, had it not been for the support and extreme wealth of my family. I would never have headed my father's company, nor had a snowball's chance in Hell of becoming a Member of Parliament. In our current patriarchal system, these jobs almost always go to college graduates." [....]

See the full post here

www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/005055.html




Thanks to W who gave me this glimpse of a moment in time, yesterday: a Globe and Mail poll -- the vote from a self-selected group.

Will you be watching the Liberal leadership convention this week?
Wall-to-wall coverage 513 11%
Will tune in for the speeches 404 9%
Final results only 3677 80%
Total Votes: 4594




Judge scolds spying suspect's lawyers -- Unprepared: Testimony only reinforces past available evidence , Paul Cherry, CanWest, November 29, 2006

www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=
a5b0a856-dcc9-4a6e-b8e6-593842ad5a1b

[....] "You haven't been taken by surprise by anything you heard [yesterday]," Judge Blais told the defence lawyers, referring to the two witnesses who testified for the federal government. The witnesses merely supported evidence made public through documents released last week.

Dale Hopkins, a senior investigator for Ontario's office of the registrar-general, testified the Ontario birth certificate the alleged spy used to get three Canadian passports between 1995 and 2002 was indeed a fake.

[....] The analyst was only able to say that the man known as Mr. Hampel operated much like agents of the SVR typically do, by creating false identities and building up "legends" that help them blend into the country they are spying on.

He added SVR agents are normally used by Russia for counterterrorism and economic espionage. [....]

Terms used in human-smuggling business, Jul. 23, 2006 12:00 AM

www.azcentral.com/specials/special21/articles
/0720Online-Drophouse-Terms.html

You might need to know these ... should you vote to bring back the same gang to govern, the ones who brought Canada to ... what it is today. Think about that.



Debbie Schlussel: OUTRAGE: New Jersey Cops Disciplined for Helping ICE Arrest Illegal Alien; Embarrassing "Timing/Environment"?! , By Debbie Schlussel, Nov, 28, 06


www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/001682print.html

Why are we losing the war on illegal immigration?

Well, it might have something to do with the fact that we go after those who try to protect our borders. Or it might have something to do with the fact that politics, not law enforcement, governs the behavior of cops trying to help stem the illegal alien rising tide.

Take the absurd case of Rajnikant Parikh, an illegal alien who used multiple identities. He was ordered deported. Yet, he remained here. On August 2nd, two Edison, New Jersey cops helped Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrest him at a political protest.

Instead of hailing the two cops for helping ICE to enforce immigration laws, the cops have been found guilty of wrongdoing and sentenced them to counseling. Their crime: they shared information with ICE and they arrested this lawbreaker in front of others at a protest, which was very embarrassing to him. [....]

Embarrassing to an illegal? This decision concerning the cops is the absurd. How is it possible?




Another MP who gets it, November 28, 2006

www.melaniephillips.com/diary/?p=1410

Michael Gove, one-time journalist, author of ‘Celsius 7/7′ and now a Tory MP who absolutely grasps that we are in a war to defend the free world, made an excellent speech in the Commons yesterday. He had taken the trouble to investigate Gordon Brown’s claim to be clamping down on terrorist funding and had found it seriously wanting. Because of the importance of his speech, I reproduce it here in full:

[....] There are some 1,600 mosques in Britain, most of them exemplary houses of instruction that provide spiritual nourishment to our fellow citizens, and that teach them in a tradition that all of us would think admirable. However, there are mosques—some with direct relationships with Saudi Arabia—that do not cleave to the moderate mainstream path taken by the majority of British Muslims. I shall mention two of them. One subject of concern is the East London mosque, which is one of the largest in Britain. Its president, Dr. Muhammad Abdul Bari, is the chairman of the Muslim Council of Britain, but the speaker invited to open the mosque, Sheikh al-Sudais, had preached sermons in his native Saudi Arabia in which he described Jewish people as pigs and monkeys. He has called Hindus idol-worshippers to whom it would be wrong to speak sweetly. That is an example of Saudi influence raising profound concerns. [....]

Canadian Journalism Foundation: The Media, the Military and the Pollsters: Who’s got the story on Afghanistan?

www.cjf-fjc.ca/

Join L.-Gen. Andrew Leslie, Chief of Land Staff and Commander Land Forces Command of the Canadian Forces, Lisa LaFlamme, National Affairs Correspondent with CTV, John Wright, Senior Vice-President with Ipsos-Reid and moderator Paul Knox, Chair of Ryerson University School of Journalism, for a lively discussion on news coverage of the war in Afghanistan. See panelist bios below.

After the panelists have made their presentations, there will be an interactive discussion with the audience. We hope you will attend the reception immediately after the discussion for an opportunity to talk to the panelists.

Date: Thursday December 7, 2006
Presentation: 6:30 p.m.
Reception: 8:00 p.m.
Location: Robert Gill Theatre, University of Toronto

The Kremlin’s Killing Ways -- A long tradition continues. November 28, 2006, By Ion Mihai Pacepa

article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=MzY4NWU2ZjY3
YWYxMDllNWQ5MjQ3ZGJmMzg3MmQyNjQ=

Lt. General Ion Mihai Pacepa is the highest-ranking intelligence officer ever to have defected from the former Soviet bloc. His book Red Horizons has been republished in 27 countries

www.nationalreview.com/redirect/amazon.p?j=0895267462

There is no doubt in my mind that the former KGB/FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko was assassinated at Putin’s order. He was killed, I believe, because he revealed Putin’s crimes and the FSB’s secret training of Ayman al-Zahawiri, the number-two in al Qaeda. I know for a fact that the Kremlin has repeatedly used radioactive weapons to kill political enemies abroad.... Ceausescu, via the KGB and its Romanian sister, the Securitate, .... a new generation of the radioactive thallium weapon .... Its Romanian codename was “Radu” (from radioactive), and I described it in my first book, Red Horizons, published in 1987. The Polonium 210 that was used to kill Litvinenko seems to be an upgraded form of “Radu.”

Assassination as Foreign Policy [....]

.... Laszlo Rajk and Imre Nagy of Hungary; Lucretiu Patrascanu and Gheorghiu-Dej in Romania; Rudolf Slansky, the head of Czechoslovakia, and Jan Masaryk, that country’s chief diplomat; the shah of Iran; Palmiro Togliatti of Italy; American President John F. Kennedy; and Mao Zedong. [....]

Bolton: Future of Mideast 'may well be decided' in days , November 27, 2006

www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/06/
front2454067.046527778.html

[....] "A successful re-emergence of democracy there is being directly challenged by the terrorist Hizbullah and those who support them, Syria, Iran and others."

The U.S. dilemma is whether or not to provide up to $200 million in military aid to Lebanon over the next year. [....]

Canada Joins Running of the Jew at U.N. for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Canukistan*

canadiancoalition.com/forum/messages/20285.shtml

Toronto, Thursday, November 30, 2006 – The Canadian Coalition for Democracies (CCD) is disappointed by the voting of the government of Canada in yesterday's slew of anti-Israel resolutions at the United Nations.

"Canada has again legitimized the use of UN resolutions to demonize one nation, while ignoring the truly serious human rights violations of other member states," said Alastair Gordon, president of CCD. "Until resolutions are applied even-handedly to all UN members, Canada must express its condemnation by voting 'no' on all such resolutions." [....]

Nov. 30. 2006: Auditor General Denied Access ...

Treasury Board Secretariat has denied the Auditor General access to information from previous year(s), citing Cabinet secrecy, which "imposed a limitation on the scope of the Auditor General's examination". In other words, AG Sheila Fraser could not carry out the audit as planned. She reported that a satisfactory agreement for access has come into effect with the Conservative government since they came into office in Jan. 2006. Unfortunately, the previous government(s) have stymied access through "Cabinet secrecy." If you plan to attend the Liberal convention, you might want to ask ex-PM Paul Martin who will be there for the Liberal tribute to him for his contribution.

Bear in mind the problems the AG faced when you consider the statute of limitations on anyone being punished for what was revealed by the Gomery Report. Then there were the comments about CIDA-- what they were actually doing--access to information being the problem with CIDA, as well, when Senator Kenny's committee were trying to get to Afghanistan to find out what actually was being done -- projects involving CIDA and ... whoever, there. Check further.

Note in the following how often information was denied to the Auditor General.

Only one example: Auditor General: Report
Large Information Technology Projects

www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/domino/reports.nsf/
html/20061103ce.html

What we examined

The many large information technology projects now under way across the federal government are no longer only about introducing new computer hardware, software, or systems. They are meant to help departments change the way they do business—for example, by introducing new processes and modernizing work practices.

We examined a sample of seven large IT projects from four perspectives:

* Governance. [....]
* Business case. [....]
* Organizational capacity. [....]
* Project management. [....]

We also attempted to examine the role the Treasury Board Secretariat played in the challenge and oversight of these large information technology projects. However, we could not audit this role because we were denied access to most of the information and analysis it collects and prepares. The government has effectively imposed a limitation on the scope of the Auditor General's examination.

[....]

What we found

* ... limited progress since our last audit of IT projects in 1997 ...
* ... In four of the seven projects we found that governance responsibilities were not carried out adequately ...
* Five of the seven projects we looked at were allowed to proceed with a business case that was incomplete or out-of-date or contained information that could not be supported.
* Four of the projects were undertaken by departments that lacked the appropriate skills and experience to manage the projects or the capacity to use the system to improve the way they deliver their programs.
* Depending on the project, the quality of project management ranged from good to seriously flawed.
[....]
3.8 During this audit, we attempted to determine whether the Treasury Board Secretariat has adequately fulfilled its challenge and oversight responsibilities for the large IT projects in our sample. After consulting the Privy Council Office, the Treasury Board Secretariat has denied us access to most of the information and analysis it collects and prepares, citing Cabinet confidence of a type that cannot be disclosed to us. We met with the Privy Council Office in an attempt to resolve the issue but were unsuccessful. As a result, we are unable to conclude whether the Treasury Board Secretariat has carried out a proper challenge and oversight role for these projects.
3.9 The Auditor General's reporting obligations are set out in section 7 of the Auditor General Act. Among other things, we are required to report to Parliament when we observe that the government has not shown due regard for economy when it makes significant expenditures. Under section 13 of the Act, we have a right to the information and explanations we need to examine these significant expenditures. The extent to which the Treasury Board Secretariat has fulfilled its role in analyzing significant expenditures is an important element of the Auditor General's examination.
3.10 Since we have been denied access to most of the documents we need to complete this examination, we cannot complete this audit and provide Parliament with the assurance that the government has in fact shown due regard for economy in this case. Furthermore, we are required to report to Parliament when we do not receive all of the information and explanations we require. By denying us access to the required information, the government has effectively imposed a limitation on the scope of the Auditor General's examination that may diminish Parliament's fundamental role of holding the government to account. This could be viewed as an infringement of House of Commons privileges. However, only the House itself can determine whether such a breach has occurred.
3.11 The seven sample projects we audited are large IT projects that involve large amounts of money and offer service improvements to large sections of the community. The selected projects were not intended to be a representative sample, but to provide an insight into government management of large IT projects.
[....]
3.74 In April 2005, PWGSC asked the Treasury Board for $126 million to fund operations until 31 March 2006. PWGSC also requested approval in principle for $509 million to fund operations for the next 4.5 years. At that time, PWGSC made a commitment to send an updated request before December 2005, for approval to sign a contract with the Secure Channel service provider and for final approval of the funds. This updated request was actually made in June 2006. When PWGSC made the request in April 2005, it indicated that three departments that use the technology may receive $5.2 billion of indirect benefits—notably, HRSDC and PWGSC could each realize benefits of about $2.5 billion over five years. We asked to see the analysis that supported these projected benefits. However, because we were not given this analysis, we do not know how these amounts were determined.
[....]
3.81 The Global Case Management System (GCMS). In June 2000, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) presented a business case to the Treasury Board Secretariat for a Global Case Management System (GCMS).
[....]
3.85 We found that CIC received budget increases without submitting a revised business case to the Treasury Board. [....]
[....]
3.88 AgConnex. .... However, in the summer of 2002, the launch of the joint federal/provincial Agriculture Policy Framework significantly changed the scope and cost of the project, which was originally estimated at $60 million. By the summer of 2003, the estimated cost of the project had increased to over $177 million.

[Insert - Definition: Expenditure Management Sector—Primarily responsible for managing the reserves assigned to Treasury Board to support priority investments or provide interim funding for urgent program requirements.]

3.93 Expenditure Management Information System (EMIS). The Treasury Board Secretariat sponsored the EMIS project, and we found it lacked the organizational capacity for the new system. The Secretariat never assessed whether it had enough people with the appropriate skills and experience to complete the project. Specifically, the Secretariat never determined the resources it needed to meet the objectives of the EMIS project. In addition, we found no evidence of a formal mechanism to align human resources planning with technology planning. In November 2005, the Treasury Board Secretariat reported that 33 percent of its funded positions associated with the EMIS project were vacant.
3.94 High turnover in management positions has also been a major problem. Since 2001, the EMIS project has had six project managers and seven senior responsible officers.
3.95 Clearly, poor organizational capacity—not filling vacant positions with experienced and qualified people—prevented the Secretariat from achieving its goals.
[....]
3.106 Expenditure Management Information System (EMIS). The EMIS project, which began in 2000, is an example of ineffective project management.
[....]
3.114 With the exception of the 2006 Census Online project and the My Account, My Business Account project, we found that the proponents of large IT projects had not adequately explained the project's rationale or the results they expected to achieve in their business cases. In addition, they had not adequately assessed their capacity to take on high-risk IT projects that have long life spans and require large amounts of public funds to build and maintain.
3.115 Most projects we looked at suffered from the same shortage of experienced and qualified people and inadequate analysis of key business issues as before. The lack of progress is worrisome, because large IT projects are becoming more and more complex and often involve a growing number of players across government.
[....]
3.117 One of the objectives of this audit was to determine whether the Treasury Board Secretariat has adequately fulfilled its challenge and oversight responsibilities as part of its role in the governance of large IT projects. Since we were denied access to most of the evidence of the Secretariat's review of project documents such as the business case, options analysis, project plan, and risk management plan for our sample of IT projects, we are unable to determine whether it followed a complete and rigorous process when it reviewed these IT projects.
[....]
We could not audit the review and oversight role played by the Treasury Board Secretariat because it has denied us access to most of the information and analysis it collects and prepares, citing Cabinet confidence. The government has effectively imposed a limitation on the scope of the Auditor General's examination.
[....]

Nov. 28, 2006: In they creep ...

On little cat feet ... like the fog ... minute errors ... rendering search impossible or meaning corrupted ... foiling a searcher or a blogger ... Nevertheless, anomalies do get noted, eventually, perhaps because some things just don't "look right" ... so ... Lo and behold, I have found another Gremlin ...

[See Nov. 29, 06 Updates 1 and 2 at bottom]

As part of this post, Nov. 23, 2006, The system kicks in , I referred to ex-Governor General Adrienne Clarkson's circumpolar tour, Adrienne's Junket, important only for who were along. You figure out why.

Error, in that one word was inserted -- "of" -- which changes the meaning:

NOT ... Knowledge of the Economy BUT, RATHER,

French on the Internet: Key to the Canadian Identity and the Knowledge Economy

I considered this significant, in view of the Grand Chief's Phil Fontaine's comments that he feels native concerns have not been addressed. I would suggest that one aspect has been planned and taxpayer money has gone into it for years, the development of native languages: News Junkie Canada September 14, 2003

Scroll to: Update: Adrienne’s Junket

The governor-general’s junket, Sept. 12, 03
[National Post: It is no longer available]
www.canada.com/search/story.aspx?id=2d1d
7d1b-7eab-47fc-920a-a52239f6b04a

The group travelled to Russia and Finland. Among the 59 guests of Governor General Adrienne Clarkson travelling with her were the CBC's Mark Starowicz, Bob Rae, Peter Adams of the Makivik Corp. in Kuujjuaq and Fibbie Tatti, the Languages Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, among others.

[Languages Commissioner at the time, Dyane Adam is committed] to achieving social justice and the recognition of the minority rights of Francophones, . . . .

A researcher and lecturer, Dr. Adam is the author of many publications on bilingualism in Canada. Her most recent works include "Official Languages in the Canadian Sport System: Getting a Second Wind!" (2003), "Official Languages and Immigration: Obstacles and Opportunities for Immigrants and Communities" (2002) and "French on the Internet: Key to the Canadian Identity and the Knowledge Economy" (2002). ["of " removed -- see screen capture for several references to this. ]

Fibbie Tatti, one of whose concerns is strategies for preserving Aboriginal languages and the development of Aboriginal language curricula in other jurisdictions in Canada.

She also undertook the task of developing the first Dene languages curriculum, enabling students from kindergarten to grade 9 to study in their own language. She has since assisted in the development of Aboriginal language curricula in other jurisdictions in Canada.

This experience led to her participation in a tour of Russia in 1990 during which she spoke on issues related to the development of educational curricula for Aboriginal students and on strategies for preserving Aboriginal languages.

More: here

Canadian Taxpayers Federation September 15, 2003: Adrienne's World Tour 2003 ... Moscow, Helsinki, Reykjavik

Governor-General's spending to be probed -- Committee will examine budget, mandate -- Follows on public outrage over ballooning costs on expenses by Mary Gordon, Feb. 25, 04


Consider the above in relation to Governor General Michaelle Jean's junket to Africa currently. When was this was planned and was there a stated purpose, at the time? Is there another or unstated, purpose? I believe the latter.


A Google search for Dyane Adam's paper: French on the Internet: Key to the Canadian Identity and the Knowledge Economy

Update 1 added: Nov. 29, 2006

Link missing in this post: Frost Hits the Rhubarb June 3, 2005
Compilation 3: Roaming Around
frosthitstherhubarb.blogspot.com/2005/
06/compilation-3-roaming-around.html

Correct link: CRIME, BUSINESS AND POLITICS IN ASIA pdf by Bertil Lintner
www.asiapacificms.com/papers/pdf/
crime_business_politics_in_asia.pdf

An extra: Book Extract: Blood Brothers by Bertil Lintner
www.asiapacificms.com/books/blood_brothers.php

Update 2: Nov. 29, 2006 -- re: former Supreme Court Justice

Louise Arbour vs. Israel , Jonathan Kay, National Post, November 28, 2006

www.canada.com/nationalpost/columnists/story.html?id=
6b5431ff-84a9-4042-a7c0-facc72b73685

When Israel confronted Hezbollah [....] deliberate slaughter of civilians ...

... Stephen Harper refused to condemn [....]

... Michael Ignatieff [....] Canadians are on the right side of this issue.

But another Canadian, former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour, is apparently playing to a much larger audience. As the United Nations' High Commissioner for Human Rights, her stature makes her a credible future UN secretary general. This may explain why she is busy currying favour with the European, Islamic and Third World constituencies that control the world body's major voting blocs. While bashing Israel is bad politics in Ottawa and Washington, it plays well in Brussels and Turtle Bay. [....]

Search: went further than moral equivalence , let's be clear about what Ms. Arbour is saying. , an effort to at least appear even-handed. , quickly hustled away

Scroll down for more -- or search: Arbour , Memory Lane: Judicial independence and impartiality ...
also, Nov. 27, 2006: #2

Canadians' heroine, Sheila Fraser

Auditor General sacks ex-CFL star, Jim Brown, Nov. 28, 06 -- via Ne0_North: More Government Mis-Spending Uncovered
www.forumsvibe.com/elwoodpdowd/viewtopic.php?t=
1227&mforum=elwoodpdowd

cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/
2006/11/28/2531390-cp.html

OTTAWA (CP) - The former ombudsman for federal prison inmates often failed to show up for work, billed the government for personal travel and hospitality, and collected up to $325,000 in salary and benefits he didn't deserve, says Auditor General Sheila Fraser.

Ron Stewart, who left the post of correctional investigator in 2004, spent much of his time during his last six years on the job at an isolated cottage where he couldn't be reached by staff, Fraser said in a report Tuesday. [....]

Search: $83,000 , $127,000 in "questionable" , $1.3 million , travel and hospitality expense , Several Mounties , amend the RCMP Act , Royal LePage Relocation Services , Envoy Relocation Services

The correctional investigator's office wasn't the only agency at Public Safety to come under fire in Fraser's report.

Robmik43 comment: "That crooked ... "Privacy Commisioner" George Radwanski never went to jail, and never had to pay anything back..."

Bang on!

Check out how the system works in other cases: Nov. 23, 2006: The system kicks in
frosthitstherhubarb.blogspot.com/2006/11/
nov-23-2006-system-kicks-in.html

Nov. 28, 2006: Various

Broadcasters push CRTC for viewer fees -- Specialty channels have advantage, TV networks say , Barbara Shecter, Financial Post, Published: Monday, November 27, 2006

www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=
2bd60e65-a5d2-4afb-83e8-831e1037c1b8

[....] Among the items broadcasters are hoping will result from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission hearings: fees from the cable and satellite companies that deliver their channels to people's homes and more flexibility to get around a 12-minute-per-hour cap on advertising. [....]

Global, Canada's second-largest conventional TV network, has asked for a fee of 50 cents per channel [....]

Another tempering factor is likely to be the looming transition to high-definition TV signals from analogue to keep pace with developments in the U.S.

The process, which could cost hundreds of millions of dollars, has divided the industry on how it should be done and who will pay for it. [....]

Worth reading.




Toronto mobsters see their chance, Peter Edwards, Nov. 27, 2006. 05:29 AM

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/
ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/
Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=
1164581411349&call_pageid=968332188492

[....] The RCMP takedown of 73 alleged members of the Montreal-based Rizzuto crime family last week has created an opportunity for more business and less competition for organized criminals in Toronto, often seen as the Second City of the Canadian underworld, local mob experts say.

Warrants are outstanding for another 18 accused members of the Montreal organization, believed by police to be the richest mob group in the country. [....]

Francesco Arcadi, 53, arrested last week in a Quebec country cottage, sporting a camouflage jacket, was frequently seen in Woodbridge over the past year, visiting mob hangouts, including a members-only sports bar. [....]

Canada's David Duke, Nov. 27, 2006, The Shotgun
westernstandard.blogs.com/shotgun/2006
/11/canadas_david_d.html#more

Search: ignored by the mainstream press , WASP , Trudeau Foundation . Elmasry , CIC



Memory Lane: Frost Hits the Rhubarb April 17, 2005

Search: Technip , Paris , Husky , White Rose , $2 million Chair in Oil and Gas Research at Memorial University , Atlantic Accord

"Technip, the Paris based company with world-wide reach. A search brought up Technip Asia branches (Myanmar / Burma and Malaysia) and there is a contract with Brazil's PetroBraziliera."

"Husky Energy Announces Prince George Oil Refinery Upgrade"


UNSCAM - Natural Gas - Pricing - Pipeline - Tarsands - Atlantic Accord - Oil - Husky - Newfoundland Labrador
frosthitstherhubarb.blogspot.com/2005/04/
unscam-natural-gas-pricing-pipeline.html


Memory Lane: Judicial independence and impartiality ...

Frost Hits the Rhubarb April 17, 2005

This Puts a New Slant on Judicial "Appointments" -- and how to get one

PM dismisses judicial appointment allegations , CTV.ca News Staff

[....] Corbeil told the newspaper that the people who received the cash were part of a group of Liberal supporters at the party's Montreal headquarters during the campaign.

... lawyers, engineers or accountants from major firms[....]

Corbeil noted that many of the lawyers have since been named to the bench. [....]

Memory Lane: Kyoto -- Terrence Corcoran article


Frost Hits the Rhubarb April 17, 2005
Kyoto & Conservative Party has NOT altered its Policy on Kyoto

frosthitstherhubarb.blogspot.com/2005/04/
kyoto-conservative-party-has-not.html

For the specific post: Kyoto Madness, Terence Corcoran, Financial Post, April 14, 2005

www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=
b71832f5-531f-43d2-a082-b99ca653dd0f

... the Liberal Kyoto Plan .... a $1-billion Climate Fund and a Partnership Fund and a $200-million Wind Power Production Incentive and a slew of other programs, initiatives and regulations. What we couldn't appreciate, until it was all assembled yesterday in a single monster document, is the mind-blowing madness behind Kyoto. Only by looking at the whole plan ... mass exercise in collective insanity ...

The post-Kyoto plan has been assigned to the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, an "independent" agency stacked with prime ministerial appointments, including a new chairman, former Winnipeg mayor Glenn Murray. Also fresh to the Round Table are an assortment of mushy corporate types, including Robert Schad, green founder of Husky Injection Molding, and Audrey McLaughlin, former NDP leader."

Who these people are is less important than what they are to do.

Memory Lane: Natives - First Nations, Russian, Arctic ... and more

Frost Hits the Rhubarb April 26, 2006 #1
frosthitstherhubarb.blogspot.com/
2006/04/april-26-2006-1.html

Don't miss. What a compilation!

Dust My Broom: THE CALEDONIA OPEN THREAD ...

Non-Aboriginal Canadians are thankfully not as gutless as their law enforcement officials and politicians. Someone has to stand up against the Mohawk criminals, and it’s obviously not going to be the local rent-a-cops or pussy-ass politicians:
[....]
members of the Aboriginal Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (A-CFSEU) arrested 26 people -- nearly half of them from the Kitigan Zibi reserve where the operation was based -- for a series of drug trafficking and firearms offences.
[....]

The Gift that Keeps on Giving [GG and husband Lafond]

Paul Martin's hand-picked conspiracy theorist -- Lafond's embarrassing film is a parting Liberal gift to Canadians John Geiger, NatPost, Apr. 26, 06

The controversy and embarrassment that has erupted again over a film by Jean-Daniel Lafond, the husband of Governor-General Michaelle Jean, is a parting gift to Canadians from former prime minister Paul Martin.
[....]
Lafond's film presents conspiracy theories -- Debunked stories portrayed as real in documentary
[....]
In a book he published , "So, a sovereign Quebec? An independent Quebec? Yes
[....]
The latest case has drawn a flock of intervenors, including the Canadian Bar Association, Egale Canada, the Sierra Legal Defence Fund ...



Starving the activist propaganda machine

[....] Every year, the federal government spends between $6-billion and $8-billion underwriting the activities of special interest groups, non-government organizations (NGOs) and advocacy groups. Much of this sum is knowingly given for the purpose of lobbying the public and government on behalf of these organizations' pet causes.

The model is one of the most enduring legacies of the Trudeau era. In the 1960s, the government of Pierre Trudeau hit on the idea of funding activist groups to "speak for the voiceless in society," to tell government what it was doing wrong and how it might create new programs to rectify it. [Update Nov. 28, 06: See below Bud Talkinghorn's post: Do you miss the Court Challenges Program? ]

Welfare coalitions, therefore, are funded to do research that shows the need for more welfare, health-care advocates for more public funding for health care, gun-control supporters for stricter registration of firearms and so on. [....]


Search: the highest profile feminist and multicultural organizations , Court Challenges program
[....]
Substance abuse costing economy about $40-billion a year, new study finds
[....]
television
[....]
Russian bombers flew undetected across Arctic - AF commander
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1619441/posts
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060422/46792049.html
Posted on 04/22/2006 8:10:10 AM EDT by RusIvan

Kyoto
frosthitstherhubarb.blogspot.com/2005/04/
kyoto-conservative-party-has-not.html

Kyoto Plan Backgrounder

.... creating the potential for a backdoor carbon tax

· This “plan” encourages sending billions of Canadian tax dollars offshore for projects which will have almost no oversight, and will not improve our environment here at home. [....]

Re: Ottawa's $10-billion Kyoto flop, April 14, 2005

www.canadiancoalition.com/forum/messages/6541.shtml