Get me rewrite

Here's the Canadian Press story on the decision by CUPE's Ontario branch to join the anti-Israel boycott campaign, as it appeared on the Globe and Mail website. (via Steve Janke) The sections I've highlighted in bold text are the portions which came directly from CUPE's own press release:

Ontario's largest public sector union has voted to support an international campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel.

Delegates to the Canadian Union of Public Employees convention in voted overwhelmingly Saturday to support the campaign until Israel recognizes the Palestinian right to self-determination.

The global campaign started last July and has been supported by many North American churches, 20 Quebec organizations, and others.

The Israeli “apartheid wall” has been condemned and determined illegal under international law, CUPE said in a release.

Under the resolution approved by delegates, CUPE Ontario will develop an education campaign about the issue, including Canada's political and economic support for Israeli policies, similar to the campaign developed by CUPE British Columbia.

Canada has a free trade agreement with Israel, the only such agreement this country has outside of the western hemisphere, the union noted.

In Ontario, the liquor control board carried more than 30 Israeli wines, many produced in the occupied Golan Heights, CUPE said.

“Boycott, divestment and sanction worked to end apartheid in South Africa,” said Katherine Nastovski, chairwoman of the CUPE Ontario international solidarity committee. “We believe the same strategy will work to enforce the rights of Palestinian people, including the right of refugees to return to their homes and properties.”

The similarities are striking, no? This could be proof of a shocking Canadian Press/CUPE/Globe and Mail strategy to ensure negative media coverage for Israel, but more likely it's just simple laziness. (You can be sure this happens quite a bit - not just by the CP, and not just on this issue.)

Damian P.

Katrina and New Orleans: Global warming irrelevant

Following on this post of Damian's, Eugene Robinson demonstrates that it's about the governments, stupid.

The evidence, by now, is overwhelming: Beautiful, decadent New Orleans wasn't doomed by Hurricane Katrina but by decades of human incompetence and neglect. As far as the drowned city is concerned, the greatest natural disaster in the nation's history would have been just a messy inconvenience if not for the fumbling hand of man...

The report notes that "no one group or organization had a monopoly on responsibility" for the disaster. Local, state and national government officials were rarely on the same page. In terms of pure engineering, there should have been independent review of some of the Corps of Engineers' assumptions and methods...

Now how, pray tell, are we mere humans and our governments to stop global warming if, indeed, it is a consequence of our actions?

Update: Army Corps of Engineers accepts responsibility for levee failures.

Mark C.

Burgess vs. Hari

Scott Burgess thrashes Johann Hari's thrashing of Skeptical Environmentalist Bjorn Lomborg in The Independent, as well as that paper's refusal to acknowlede Lomborg's response. Hari responds here.

Damian P.

Darfur: The good guys ain't so good neither

What a mess.
...
Sudan's government last month agreed to a peace accord pledging to disarm Arab janjaweed militias and resettle displaced civilians. By contrast, Darfur's black rebels, who are touted by the wristband crowd as freedom fighters, rejected the deal because it did not give them full regional control. Put simply, the rebels were willing to let genocide continue against their own people rather than compromise their demand for power.

The strongest faction, representing the minority Zaghawa tribe, signed the sweetened peace deal in hopes of legitimizing its claim to control Darfur. But that claim is vehemently opposed by rebels representing the larger Fur tribe. Such internecine disputes only recently hit the headlines, but the rebels have long wasted resources fighting each other rather than protecting their people...

Update: Two of the rebel groups continue to refuse to sign the peace agreement.

Two Darfur rebel groups refused on Thursday [May 30] to sign a peace deal ahead of a deadline set by the African Union to end the three-year-old conflict that has killed tens of thousands in Sudan's remote west...

The rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) leader Khalil Ibrahim, in last-minute talks with Slovenian President Janez Drnovsek, said the deal was not acceptable...

Mark C.

Darfur: A way to deal with it that will never be considered

Outsourcing to mercenaries.

SO THE UNITED STATES has brokered a cease-fire among the warring factions in Darfur, and the U.N. Security Council has authorized the deployment of a peacekeeping force. To anyone blissfully unfamiliar with history, this sounds like a decisive step that will finally end the violence that has left at least 200,000 dead and 2 million homeless.

Yet this solution is deemed unacceptable by the moral giants who run the United Nations. They claim that it is objectionable to employ — sniff — mercenaries. More objectionable, it seems, than passing empty resolutions, sending ineffectual peacekeeping forces and letting genocide continue.

Update: At least food rations for refugees will be increased substantially, though not enough. Here Canada is actually doing something it can usefully do. Why is this sort of thing not the focus of those demanding we "do something", rather than silly calls for the Canadian Forces to put significant numbers of "boots on the ground"? Could it be that they simply don't want those boots in Afstan?
...
Emergency cash donations from Canada, the United States, Europe and Australia allowed the UN's World Food Program to increase the ration to 1,770 calories a day from 1,050 calories, WFP executive director James Morris said yesterday...

Mark C.

What the US Senate immigration bill would really mean

Hordes more. And the media--and politicians--do not mention that.

The Senate passed legislation last week that Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) hailed as "the most far-reaching immigration reform in our history." You might think that the first question anyone would ask is how much it would actually increase or decrease legal immigration. But no. After the Senate approved the bill by 62 to 36, you could not find the answer in the news columns of The Post, the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal. Yet the estimates do exist and are fairly startling. By rough projections, the Senate bill would double the legal immigration that would occur during the next two decades from about 20 million (under present law) to about 40 million.

...Whether or not the [media] bias is "liberal," groupthink is a powerful force in journalism. Immigration is considered noble. People who critically examine its value or worry about its social effects are subtly considered small-minded, stupid or bigoted. The result is selective journalism that reflects poorly on our craft and detracts from democratic dialogue.

Sounds rather like the Canadian media. Pity.

Mark C.

Canadian media: Another reason for Conservative distaste

An incredibly cheap shot from the Ottawa Citizen's resident leftist columnist, Susan Riley (full text not online):
...
...MacKay offered, instead, an absurdly ambitious wish list -- call it "part-based" foreign policy...

They just can't stop gnawing that bone can they? I hope it's a chicken bone.

TVO's Studio 2 should replace her on their Thurday political panel. Meanwhile her old buddy of "Two Susans" fame on CBC Newsworld--who got her reward from the Liberals--is still working in the
federal public service.

And probably making a lot more money than Ms. Riley. Poor lady.

Update: Sen. Hillary Clinton ended a speech today with "God bless you [not America]". Perhaps Ms Riley could parse, as they say, this for its "part-based" implications--I mean the good Senator is both a woman and a good Christian, I understand. Up what path might such a person lead the Americans? Surely far beyond anything Ms. Riley might countenance.

The horror, the horror! Scribble on, Ms. Riley.

Mark C.

Hide your Peugeots

No pun intended, but things are heating up again in the Paris suburbs:

Police sent reinforcements to the troubled suburbs of northern Paris yesterday after a night of rioting revived fear of a return to the violence that raged through France’s immigrant housing estates last year.

In another sign of continuing racial tension, the Government also ordered an inquiry into an anti-Semitic black group that staged an aggressive march through the Jewish quarter of the capital.

Seven policemen were injured on Monday night in the town of Montfermeil. Rubber bullets and stun grenades were fired at youths, many of whom were masked and wielding baseball bats. About 100 youths hurled projectiles and petrol bombs at police and public buildings and attempted to storm the home of Xavier Lemoine, the town’s Mayor. The violence was sparked by the arrest of a suspect over the beating of a bus driver.

The violence spread into neighbouring Clichy-sous-Bois, the flashpoint for last year’s riots. Two youths were electrocuted there in October while hiding from police in an electricity sub-station.

Riot police were deployed in force in both centres last night, but there was no violence other than a firebomb being thrown into a police vehicle.

[...]

Politicians and Jewish organisations united yesterday in condemning the acts of the so-called Tribu KA black supremacy group that intimidated passers-by last Sunday in the Rue des Rosiers, the Jewish quarter in the Marais district. [via Tim Blair]

It's not a question of whether the banlieues will erupt in violence again. It's a question of when it will happen, and what will set it off.

Damian P.

Anybody seen my "Boring Stories" book?

You Are Bert

Extremely serious and a little eccentric, people find you loveable - even if you don't love them! You are usually feeling: Logical - you rarely let your emotions rule you You are famous for: Being smart, a total neat freak, and maybe just a little evil How you life your life: With passion, even if your odd passions (like bottle caps and pigeons) are baffling to others

Damian P.

The key to a free society

Everyone knows free elections and freedom of the press are essential in any society moving toward democracy, but the importance of a free judiciary is often overlooked. The Cato Institute's Tom Palmer, in an essay which originally appeared in the Egyptian paper Al-Ghad, expains why it's absolutely essential:

The world is watching Egypt. It holds the key to the flourishing of the Arabs. For the Egyptian protestors are marching for one of the most precious elements of good government, of democracy, of freedom, and of prosperity: an independent judiciary.

The protestors understand quite clearly that an independent judiciary is necessary for free elections, to ensure that the law is followed, but it is more than that: an independent judiciary is the linchpin of a flourishing and free society and economy. Law must be predictable for it to provide social order. And it must be perceived to be fair to induce people to cooperate. It's widely understood that even a good person should not be a judge in his own case; it's even more important that the people who make the laws should not be the ones to judge how they are applied in particular cases, especially when their own interests are involved.

Impartial and independent judges are necessary for both democracy and free markets. The famous economist Mancur Olson, who devoted a lifetime to understanding how and why some societies flourish while others fail, identified the independence of the court system as the key, for "the same court system, independent judiciary, and respect for law and individual rights that are needed for a lasting democracy are also required for security of property and contract rights."

Democracy is not just the realization of some mystical "will of the majority," but a system that requires limits on behavior, such as respecting election results, respecting the rights of all to express their views freely, and respecting the rights of normal citizens. And all of those require an independent legal body that can limit the power of the legislative and the executive powers, especially in cases such as Egypt, where the executive holds almost all the reins of power in its hands.

Read it all.

Damian P.

Guerillas in Iran

The Washington Times says the Iran military is planning an "Iraqi-style guerilla campaign" in response to a U.S. invasion:

Iran, apparently anticipating an American invasion, has quietly been restructuring its military and testing a new military doctrine that calls for a decentralized, Iraqi-style guerrilla campaign against an invading force. Iran's military planners are acutely aware that a military confrontation with technologically more advanced U.S. armed forces would be rapid and multifronted, unlike the static and slow-paced 1980-88 war with Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Therefore, a series of war games have been carried out since late last year to test the army's readiness.

[...]

Foreign diplomats who monitor Iran's army say that Iran's leadership has acknowledged it stands little chance of defeating U.S. armed forces with conventional military doctrine.

The shift in focus to guerrilla warfare against an occupying army in the aftermath of a successful invasion mirrors developments in Iraq, where a triumphant U.S. military campaign has been followed by three years of slow, indecisive struggle with insurgent and terrorist forces.

The Iranian preparations come as the United States refuses to rule out military action over Iran's suspect nuclear programs.

With seemingly no end to the violence in Iraq, I've always thought an American invasion of Iran is a complete non-starter. If this report is credible, it's even less likely.

Damian P.

A tiny step toward Senate reform

The Harper government has tabled a constitutional amendment that would limit newly-appointed Senators to eight years in office:

...the Conservatives introduced a constitutional amendment to limit new senators to eight-year terms.

As it stands, senators can serve until they are 75 years old, regardless of what age they were when appointed.

Under Harper's proposal, current senators will still get to serve until they are 75.

Parliament can approve the amendment, which doesn't require provincial approval, said the government.

There are seven vacant Senate seats: two from Ontario and one each from Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Quebec.

But Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe said forcing new senators to sit for just an eight-year term won't make any difference.

"I think it's not a democratic institution. It's not because they will be there eight years, it will be more democratic — it's not democratic period," he said.

The perfect is the enemy of the good, and while this reform doesn't even come close to what is needed - namely, having all Senators elected, with an equal number from each province (or, at least, a more balanced distribution between the provinces) - it will at least end the farce of political hacks recieving lifetime employment at public expense. There's a lot more to be done, but it's a start.

Changing the composition of the Senate, or bringing in a process through which Senators are elected, will be much more difficult: the necessary constitutional amendment would likely require the approval of at least seven provinces with 50% of the Canadian population between them. In other words, it's a non-starter unless Ontario or Quebec can be brought on side. Meanwhile, the Liberals, true to form, are invoking Godwin's Canadian Law:

While the new legislation is likely to be adopted, further moves may get a considerably more frosty reception. Bill Graham, the interim Liberal leader, said reform could create new divisions in the country.

"[The Liberal government] found that the Senate was doing a good job as it was originally conceived in the Constitution -- not as an active upper House, active in opposition to the House of Commons -- but rather, as a place where reflection could take place. Much good work has been done in the Senate ... but that is not the same as saying we'll have another House, which would create a series of strains between the House of Commons and the Senate.

"Anybody who watches relations in the Congress of the United States between the House of Representatives and the Senate will know it's a totally different system when you have two Houses battling it out over turf and who is going to speak for the people on any given issue."

Damian P.

Holland's Rhino Party

This Dutch political party could be legitimate - it is the Netherlands, after all - but I have a feeling someone is getting a grand laugh out of it:

Dutch pedophiles are launching a political party to push for a cut in the legal age for sexual relations to 12 from 16 and the legalization of child pornography and sex with animals, sparking widespread outrage.

The Charity, Freedom and Diversity (NVD) party said on its Web site it would be officially registered Wednesday, proclaiming: "We are going to shake The Hague awake!"

The party said it wanted to cut the legal age for sexual relations to 12 and eventually scrap the limit altogether.

[...]

The party wants private possession of child pornography to be allowed although it supports the ban on the trade of such materials. It also supports allowing pornography to be broadcast on daytime television, with only violent pornography limited to the late evening.

Toddlers should be given sex education and youths aged 16 and up should be allowed to appear in pornographic films and prostitute themselves. Sex with animals should be allowed although abuse of animals should remain illegal, the NVD said.

The party also said everybody should be allowed to go naked in public and promotes legalizing all soft and hard drugs and free train travel for all.

The interim party leader was unavailable for comment, and a spokesman had nothing to say except "giggity giggity giggity!"

Damian P.

New caretaker appointed

Twillingate-Fogo MHA Gerry Reid, who has been leading the provincial Liberals on an interim basis since Roger Grimes stepped down (aside from the Jim Bennett interlude, when Reid still led the party in the House of Assembly), will be taking over the job on a permanent basis. "Permanent," in this case, meaning until after the Liberals lose the next election.

Reid is following in the footsteps of Len Stirling. Who's Len Stirling? Exactly.

Damian P.

A conversation with Mahmoud

Der Spiegel has posted an English translation of its interview with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and it's pretty much what you'd expect: paranoia...

...I am pleased to note that you are honest people and admit that you are obliged to support the Zionists.

[...]

We stand by our statements because we're honest and act legally. We're no fraudsters. We only want to claim our legitimate right. Incidentally, I never threatened anyone - that, too, is part of the propaganda machine that you've got running against me.

...obfuscation...

SPIEGEL: We're here to find out the truth. The head of state of a neighboring country, for example, told SPIEGEL: "They are very keen on building the bomb." Is that true?

Ahmadinejad: You see, we conduct our discussions with you and the European governments on an entirely different, higher level. In our view, the legal system whereby a handful of countries force their will on the rest of the world is discriminatory and unstable. One-hundred and thirty-nine countries, including us, are members of the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) in Vienna. Both the statutes of IAEA and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as well as all security agreements grant the member countries the right to produce nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes. [It goes on like this for a while - DJP]

...whining...

I'm wondering why you're adopting and fanatically defending the stance of the European politicians. You're a magazine, not a government. Saying that we should accept the world as it is would mean that the winners of World War II would remain the victorious powers for another 1,000 years and that the German people would be humiliated for another 1,000 years. Do you think that is the correct logic?

...anti-war rhetoric...

...For eight years, the Western countries provided arms to Saddam in the war against us, including chemical weapons, and gave him political support. We were against Saddam and suffered severely because of him, so we're happy that he has been toppled. But we don't accept a whole country being swallowed under the pretext of wanting to topple Saddam. More than 100,000 Iraqis have lost their lives under the rule of the occupying forces. Fortunately, the Germans haven't been involved in this. We want security in Iraq.

...neo-Nazi rhetoric...

Why is such a burden heaped on the German people? The German people of today bear no guilt. Why are the German people not permitted the right to defend themselves? Why are the crimes of one group emphasized so greatly, instead of highlighting the great German cultural heritage? Why should the Germans not have the right to express their opinion freely?

...and, of course, Holocaust denial:

We don't want to confirm or deny the Holocaust. We oppose every type of crime against any people. But we want to know whether this crime actually took place or not. If it did, then those who bear the responsibility for it have to be punished, and not the Palestinians. Why isn't research into a deed that occurred 60 years ago permitted? After all, other historical occurrences, some of which lie several thousand years in the past, are open to research, and even the governments support this.

[...]

...Why should you feel obliged to the Zionists? If there really had been a Holocaust, Israel ought to be located in Europe, not in Palestine.

Any questions?

Damian P.

Update: Andrew Sullivan calls Ahmadinejad a neo-Nazi. And Germany's neo-Nazis love him: a rally and march in Ahmadinejad's honour, sponsored by the extreme-right NPD, will be held before the Iran-Angola World Cup match on June 21.

Immigration screening scandal/Star's PC take on home-grown terrorism

We know very little about an awful lot of people who might be cause for concern.

About 90 per cent of immigration applicants from Pakistan and Afghanistan -- hotbeds for Islamic fundamentalism and central in the fight against terrorism -- haven't been adequately screened for security concerns over the past five years, Canada's spy agency said yesterday.

"We're in a position to vet one-tenth of those," he said. "That may be inadequate."..

You don't say?

And the threat of home-grown Jihadi terrorism--note that the Star story carefully avoids using the words "Islamic" or "Muslim". Odd, what?
...
A top spy yesterday revealed Ottawa's fears of an attack unleashed by homegrown terrorists on the same scale as last July's suicide bombings in Britain that killed 52 people.

He said there was a growing number of young people, either born in Canada or who moved here at an early age, who have become "radicalized."..

"Radicalized" in what direction I wonder? Neo-Marxist terrorism à la Red Brigades or Bader-Meinhof? I don't think so. The Citizen story above had the sense to mention "Islamist extremism".

H/t to Steve Madely at CFRA, Ottawa, for focusing on the story this morning. He's still covering it until 1000 EDT, and Nick Vandergragt will likely do more from 1000-1200. Listen live.

Update: Audio of Mr Madely's interview with James Bissett, former head of the Canadian immigration service.

And audio of the interview with Colin Kenny, Chair of the Senate Committee on National Security and Defence (some good stuff on the need for greater military spending too).

Mark C.

Genghis Khan still rules

Maybe his progeny will help keep the right strong.
...
...a study in 2003 suggested that up to 16 million people worldwide — and 8 per cent of Asian men — were descended from Genghis Khan...

Professor Sykes said: “Genghis Khan may have been the most successful male ever at spreading his genes...

Mark C.

Two-tier health care: Thy name is T.O.

Somehow I doubt that hospital care in Yellowkife will be up to this standard.

Businessman Peter Munk is expected to donate more than $25-million to the Toronto General Hospital today, the largest gift ever made to a Canadian hospital...

The largest gift to a Canadian hospital has stood at $25-million. The Campbell family of Toronto and Li Ka Shing each donated that amount to two Toronto hospitals...

More money for T.O, and also Vancouver and Calgary:

$20-million: Jimmy Pattison to create a prostate cancer
research centre at the Vancouver General Hospital, 1999

$10-million: Robert McEwen to create the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine at University Health Network, Toronto, 2003

How come it's OK for rich people to give lots of money to provide better health care in their community, but not for middle class people to buy private insurance for medically-necessary services? One way or another private money is buying better health care for certain individuals.

Same for those lotteries big hospitals use to raise money. How much money could the hospital in Timmins raise? Two-tier again. The hypocrisies of health care are ludicrous.

See also: The many tiers of health care are already well-established (March 5)

Mark C.

Happy Anniversary

The online magazine Enter Stage Right, to which I contribute the occasional book review, turns ten years old on June 1.

Damian P.

Chaos in Iran

Gateway Pundit has extensive coverage of demonstrations in Iran - provoked by a cartoon, no less.

Damian P.

Update: a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty analyst, writing in the Christian Science Monitor, has much more:

The recent incidents of ethnic tensions are only the latest examples of what has been escalating for more than a year. In mid-March in the southeast, which is home to many of Iran's 1.4 million Baluchis, a Baluchi group called Jundallah took responsibility for an attack on a government motorcade in which 20 people were killed. Jundallah seized a number of hostages and claimed that it executed one of them, a member of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps. At least 12 people were killed in a similar attack in the second week of May. Nobody has taken credit for explosions May 8 in Kermanshah, which is home to Iran's 4.8 million Kurds, but the July 2005 shooting of a young Kurd by security forces led to demonstrations in several northwestern cities and the deaths of civilians and police officers. Since April of last year, there have been a number of violent incidents - including bombings that have targeted government facilities and which also have killed innocent bystanders - in the southwest, where many of Iran's 2 million Arabs live.

The central government typically reacts to ethnic unrest with a combination of repression and scapegoating. For example, two men were executed in early March for their roles in fatal October bombings in the southwest. They "confessed" on state television the night before their executions that Iranians in Canada and Britain instructed them to create insecurity.

Chaos in Kabul

Yesterday's deadly rioting in the Afghan capital, sparked by a traffic accident involving U.S. military vehicles, proves that even Afghanistan remains deeply unstable, that an angry mob can be inflamed in almost no time, and that there are still many Afghans who would be perfectly fine with the Taliban returning to power:

The Afghan capital erupted Monday in the worst street violence since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, following a fatal traffic accident involving a U.S. military truck. Mobs of men and boys, many of them shouting slogans against the government and United States, set fires, attacked buildings and clashed with police for about seven hours.

Hotel windows were raked with gunfire, a foreign aid agency was torched and looted, and numerous police posts were destroyed. Some rioters brandished AK-47 assault rifles; gunfire sounded throughout the city and clouds of black smoke wafted in the air. Dozens of vehicles were smashed and burned.

The violence was fed by rumors that U.S. troops had shot and killed civilians, which U.S. military spokesmen denied.

On Monday night, authorities imposed the first curfew in four years as the violence tailed off. President Hamid Karzai went on national television to condemn the rioters as "enemies of Afghanistan." Various news and official reports put the death toll as high as 20.

The riots exposed the bitter resentment that many Afghans harbor toward the U.S.-led military forces that have been stationed here since the Taliban was driven from power. It also reflected the deep ambivalence many Afghan Muslims feel toward the growing Western influence here that includes high fashion and fast-food shops, sprawling aid compounds and even rap music.

The public mood has also been tense since a U.S. airstrike killed at least 16 civilians last week in a village in southern Afghanistan, the scene of heightened fighting this spring. Afghan and U.S. officials blamed Taliban insurgents who had taken shelter in village compounds and then fired at U.S.-led forces.

Damian P.

Godwin's Canadian Law

Bound by Gravity: "As a online discussion about Canadian politics grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving the United States of America or a member of the Republican party public approaches one."

Several mainstream media examples here. (An arguably more subtle variation here.)

Damian P.

What the Danish cartoon controversy taught us

Make enough of a fuss about your faith being "defamed," and you'll get your own way. And it's not just Muslims who've learned that lesson, according to Nick Cohen:

For readers interested in Indian culture, the show at the Asia House gallery in the West End's fine art district should have been essential viewing. Husain is the grand old man of Indian art. He began as a boy painting cinema hoardings for six annas per square foot before getting his first break at the Bombay Art Society in 1947. His international appeal lies in his mixing of classical traditions with modern styles. Art from all over the world inspires him - Emil Nolde and Oskar Kokoschka were early influences - but you only have to glance at his pictures to know an Indian must have painted them.

The Indian High Commissioner, Kamalesh Sharma, claimed at the opening that Husain was India's greatest modern artist. The exhibition was to run until August, to allow visitors to decide for themselves if he was right.

They won't be able to now. Asia House closed the show on Monday after threats of violence from anonymous Hindu fundamentalists. Arjun Malik of the Hindu Human Rights campaign assured me they had nothing to do with him, but said his group had been willing to do everything short of violence to stop the public seeing two of Husain's works.

His supporters had already deluged the gallery with letters, phone calls and emails complaining that Husain's 'so-called art' offended the 'sentiments of the Hindu community of the UK'. (Whether it did is debatable, as no one has elected the Hindu Human Rights campaign to represent the Hindu or any other community.) The protesters also went for Hitachi, which had given Asia House plasma TV screens, and demanded public apologies from everyone involved, including the Indian High Commissioner.

They called off a planned demonstration in London yesterday because, like the managers of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre who closed Behzti after the demonstrations by conservative Sikhs and the national newspaper editors who refused to publish the Danish cartoons, Asia House buckled under the pressure to censor.

[...]

The apparently separate protests from different faiths are connected. What we are seeing is rival fundamentalists egging each other on in a politics of competitive grievance. Every time one secures a victory, the others realise they can't be left behind. If satirists are frightened of having a go at Islam because they believe they may be killed - and they are - why shouldn't Christian fundamentalists decide to become more menacing?

A comedian who takes a pop at the Pope sends the subliminal message: 'We can deride your religion as despicable because we know you are not so despicable you will resort to violence.' There is a limit to how long the ultras for any religion will put up with that before they change the ground rules.

After abusive Sikh men closed Behzti, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti's play about the abuse of Sikh women by Sikh men, Christian Voice upped the ante against Jerry Springer: The Opera. It had previously run at the National Theatre for months without attracting protest. But when BBC2 came to broadcast it, London Christians imitated Birmingham Sikhs and BBC executives suddenly needed the protection of private security guards. (via Kathy Shaidle)

You know someone out there is looking at a Da Vinci Code bookstore display and thinking, "if a few firebombs and death threats are what it takes to get the book off the shelves and the movie out of theatres, so be it."

Damian P.

A razor-thin victory

It was a nail-biter, but Lorraine Michael won the provincial NDP leadership by a vote of 107 to 5.

I congratulate Michael on her victory and I wish her well, but I'm wary of any politician who uses the phrase "social and economic justice," especially when said politician was also involved with the NAC:

Lorraine is a woman of vision and action. Her success as a leader, feminist and committed activist for social and economic justice spans forty years.

[...]

Lorraine later worked as director of the Office of Social Action in St. John's, where she represented the Roman Catholic Archdiocese on social justice campaigns. She also founded the Coalition for Equality, a movement of labour and community organizations.

Lorraine took her work to the international level, studying the effects of globalization on women's work. Her experience with the Toronto-based Ecumenical Coalition for Economic Justice brought her to Mexico, Chile, and Zimbabwe.

A committed voice for women's justice, Lorraine chaired the Women and Work Committee of the National Action Committee on Status Women and served as NAC's interim executive director.

Enjoy your two seats, my New Democratic friends, 'cause you won't be winning more any time soon.

Damian P.

Boycott the Zionist oppressors!

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (Ontario) takes a courageous stand. But rather a one-track attack, don't you think? When will they vote a boycott on India for occupying Kashmir? Or Russia for Chechnya? Or China for Tibet?

The Ontario wing of Canada's largest union has voted to join an international boycott campaign against Israel "until that state recognizes the Palestinian right to self-determination."

Under the resolution approved by delegates, the union -- which represents more than 200,000 workers -- will also develop an education campaign about the issue, according to a press release. The statement condemned the West Bank barrier erected by Israel...

Just like these great defenders of freedom:
...
The National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education, Britain's biggest union of college teachers, is to vote Monday on a resolution asking its 67,000 members to boycott Israeli colleagues who do not distance themselves from what it calls Israel's "apartheid policies."...

H/t to Nick at Night on CFRA, Ottawa.

Mark C.

Is this news you can use?

Beats me.

Smoking down, but syphilis up, report finds: Half of residents obese, Ottawa health study reveals

Mark C.

Why Quebec separatists hate the Montenegrin referendum

It had a clear question and needed 55% to pass--and to get international acceptance. Lysiane Gagnon describes some separatists' horrified reaction in the Globe (full text not online).

Call it the Montenegro syndrome. What happened last week in the tiny ex-Yugoslav republic is sending shock waves through the Quebec sovereigntist ranks.

Quebec sovereigntists are now faced with the possibility that the international community would refuse to recognize a Yes vote if it didn't meet the Montenegrin standard...

But how now can the Kosovars be denied their own referendum on independence from Serbia? Which would pass overwhelmingly--but how to protect the Serb minority in the province? Sad to say some kind of population transfer may be the only answer in the end.

See also: The 55% Montenegrin solution (March 23)

Mark C.

Damian adds: unless ethnic Serbs overwhelmingly agreed to voluntarily leave an independent Kosovo, preferably with some kind of financial compensation (not unlike the way some isolated communities in Newfoundland were "resettled" in recent years) any population transfer would be a "cure" worse than the disease. That goes for pretty much anywhere on earth where a minority population is under threat from the majority. (A few years back, to my horror, I took part in an online chat with a moderately well-known commentator who advocated "transfering" the Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza.)

Military procurement: Déjà vu all over again--plus; and a Quebec kicker

National Defence Minister O'Connor will pitch Cabinet a massive package. It builds on the one his Liberal predecessor Bill Graham couldn't get through last November. Let's hope the new minister has more luck.

The federal government will be asked this week to approve a multi-billion-dollar "wish list" of equipment purchases for the Canadian Forces, including new transport aircraft, helicopters, long-overdue trucks for the army and multi-purpose troop transport and supply ships for the navy.

The army is to get a replacement for its 24-year-old logistics trucks, while the navy will get approval for its three new joint-support ships [JSS], a combination troopship and resupply vessel due to be built over the next five years, the sources said...

The November proposal was just for tactical transports, heavy-lift helicopters, and fixed-wing SAR aircraft. Now the Army and Navy are also to get badly-needed equipment, and Minister O'Connor his C-17s (a good thing if everything can be got). The complete package seems to be most of what Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Hillier and the Canadian Forces have been asking for, in many cases for years (we all know the reason for the delays).

Airbus is already lobbying furiously for its A400M (which has not flown, has a new, untried engine, and likely would not be available until 2011) to serve as a strategic lifter. And this January Airbus was pitching the A400M as a Hercules replacement--and furiously lobbying the Quebec aerospace industry with the lure of off-set work. This could get very nasty given the Conservatives' fierce wooing of Quebec votes.

How governments calculate prices keeps shifting; the costs are obviously not consistent. The Graham package last November was billed as $12.1 billion. This considerably larger one is billed as $8 billion plus. Go figure.

But some things must wait.

...many other projects have been pushed back for a year or longer, including a plan floated under the Liberal government to purchase one or more large amphibious ships to carry troops, aircraft and equipment to trouble spots around the globe...

I smell a fix here. In return for the JSS (at least most of them) being built in Canada (hang the added expense and delays, politics is politics), when the government gets around to the amphibious assault ship it may consider an off-shore purchase. The Dutch have a nifty example but there are several other possible sources (France, UK, US, Italy--the last is the un-Canadian "hybrid" aircraft carrier that the Liberals so misleadingly and viciously attacked in the 2004 election).

News too that the Navy's fleet of twelve coastal defence vessels is severely inadequate. These were built in Canada and replacing them sooner than planned would provide years of work for Canadian shipyards.

Mark C.

Earthquake Aid

The Canadian Red Cross is soliciting donations to help the victims of the devastating earthquake in Indonesia, which has killed over 4,500 people. [Update: U.S. readers may donate through the American Red Cross.] Please give generously.

Damian P.

The letter that will make your day

...is here. (via Screw Loose Change)

Damian P.

The photo that will make your day

Print this one, blow it up, frame it and hang it on your wall.

Damian P.

Ricky comes north

It's official: Ricky Williams, suspended by the NFL for yet another violation of its substance-abuse policy, will be a Toronto Argonaut this year.

Ricky Williams has a new home in the CFL.

Suspended for the 2006 season by the NFL after a fourth violation of the league's drug policy, Williams signed a $240,000, one-year contract Sunday with the Toronto Argonauts -- a deal making him the highest-paid running back in the Canadian league.

[...]

The holdup in getting a deal done was finding a way to get around the CFL's contract structure. For players coming from the states, the CFL wants contracts that are one year in length but have a one-year option. Dolphins coach Nick Saban was only willing to let Williams, who is suspended from the NFL this season because of violations of the league's drug policy, play one CFL season and then come back to the Dolphins.

Leigh Steinberg, William's agent, spent four days in Toronto trying to work on the language changes on the contract. A satisfactory agreement was reached Sunday morning, and Steinberg quickly completed the one-year, $240,000 deal.

Steinberg told The Miami Herald that he and Williams made a "promise" to the Dolphins that Williams would return to the NFL as soon as he could.

Williams will miss his second NFL season in the past three because of the fourth violation of the drug policy during his career. If he stays clean, he wants to play for the Dolphins in 2007 and the Dolphins definitely want him back. Williams did so well last year that Saban became a big supporter of the former University of Texas star.

The former first-round pick of the Saints won't be subject to drug testing by the CFL, a league that doesn't have a drug testing policy.

If the Argos and the CFL are hoping this stunt will get more people interested in Canadian football, well...they're probably right, actually. I'm very curious to see how this plays out, and I'll certainly check out the Argos' June 17 season opener if I get the chance.

Damian P.

He just can't help himself

Mahmoud Ahmaninejad granted his first major interview to a Western publication, and no prizes for guessing where the conversation went:

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran said that Germans should no longer allow themselves to be held prisoner by a sense of guilt over the Holocaust and reiterated doubts that the Holocaust ever happened.

In an interview with Germany's Der Spiegel magazine, Ahmadinejad said he doubted that Germans were allowed to write "the truth" about the Holocaust and that he was still considering traveling to Germany for the World Cup soccer tournament.

"I believe the German people are prisoners of the Holocaust. More than 60 million were killed in World War II. . . . The question is: Why is it that only Jews are at the center of attention?" he said in the interview published Sunday.

In the rare interview with a Western news organization, Ahmadinejad said that if the Holocaust really happened then Jews should be moved from Israel back to Europe.

"We say if the Holocaust happened, then the Europeans must accept the consequences and the price should not be paid by Palestine. If it did not happen, then the Jews must return to where they came from."

[...]

Ahmadinejad said he was still considering going to Germanyto support Iran in the World Cup despite protests stirred by what he called a "worldwide network of Zionists."

That he made these remarks to a German publication just adds another layer of creepiness, doesn't it?

Damian P.

Plymouth Sate Weather Center

For our continental US and southern Canadian readers, this treat from Plymouth State Weather Center.

There are side links to useful features, such as movies of various frequency time-lapse images showing the movement of water vapour, for instance. I've used it to track large storms. As well, the 'US 4-Panel Maps' link on the right (scroll down) is one of the most useful weather pages I've found.

Suggestions welcome!

Ranald

Oasis of Sanity

Robert Fulford.

Your guest blogger doesn't read Mr. Fulford's articles; he studies them. There is a long list of articles on Mr. Fulford's log to keep one busy catching-up.

Perhaps in other ways; One refreshing aspect of Mr. Fulford's work is the maturity with which he graces it. Content and style, he certainly lets one have his way.

(W/ thanks to Adam Daifallah's blog roll.)

Ranald

Happy Memorial Day, America!

To our American friends, with thanks.

Ranald

The cowardly (but consistent) booksellers

Not long ago, I sneered that the Chapters/Indigo bookstore chain, which refused to sell the Western Standard issue featuring the Danish Mohammed cartoons from hell, was almost certainly going to sell the issue of Harper's containing same. ("It's one thing to pull a small, right-wing rag like the Western Standard...but this is Harper's, darn it!") Well, I was wrong:

Canada's largest retail bookseller has removed all copies of the June issue of Harper's Magazine from its 260 stores, claiming an article by New York cartoonist Art Spiegelman could foment protests similar to those that occurred this year in reaction to the publication in a Danish newspaper of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.

Indigo Books and Music took the action this week when its executives noticed that the 10-page Harper's article, titled Drawing Blood, reproduced all 12 cartoons first published last September by Jyllands-Posten (The Morning Newspaper).

The article also contains five cartoons, including one by Mr. Spiegelman and two by Israelis, “inspired” by an Iranian newspaper's call in February for an international Holocaust cartoon contest “to test the limits of Western tolerance of free speech.”

It's unclear what part, if any, the five cartoons played in the Indigo ban; phone calls to its Toronto headquarters were not returned yesterday. In 2001, Indigo founder and CEO Heather Reisman ordered all copies of Adolph Hitler's Mein Kampf pulled from stores, describing the book as “hate literature.” Two years later, she helped found the powerful lobby group the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy.

In a memo obtained by The Globe and Mail that was e-mailed to Indigo managers yesterday about “what to do if customers question Indigo's censorship” of Harper's, employees are told to say that “the decision was made based on the fact that the content about to be published has been known to ignite demonstrations around the world. Indigo [and its subsidiaries] Chapters and Coles will not carry this particular issue of the magazine but will continue to carry other issues of this publication in the future.” [via LGF]

Note that Chatpers/Indigo openly admits its decision was based on pure, unadulterated fear. You'd think Mohammed Elmasry and other Canadian Islamic leaders would be upset about such blatant stereotyping of Muslims as uncontrollable and violent, right?

This is quite a shock for Harper's publisher John MacArthur, who expects such self-censorship in Chimpy McHitlerBurton's Amerikkka, but not in enlightened Canada:

Harper's publisher John MacArthur said he was “genuinely shocked” by Indigo's action, in part because two large U.S. chains, Borders and Waldenbooks, are selling the issue.

(Three months ago, both chains yanked a small U.S. publication, Free Inquiry, when it reproduced four of the Danish cartoons. That Free Inquiry issue with the cartoons is currently on sale at Indigo.)

“I'd expect an American company to do this, not a Canadian,” Mr. MacArthur said yesterday. “Even though you have tougher libel laws than us and your own versions of political correctness, to my mind [Canada] has always been a freer place for political discourse.”

The U.S. news media have become “terribly prone to self-censorship,” especially after the events of Sept. 11, 2001, he said. “There's a more wide open debate [in Canada] than in America.”

Imagine that!

Damian P.

The most famous baby in the world

It's a girl.

Damian P.

Trudeau: Intellectual fool; moral imbecile

Conrad Black outlines the case in his review of a recent book.
...
He believed that Britain initiated the Second World War, and that Nazism and Soviet Communism were "two Bolshevisms to be combatted by expiatory prayer."..

We should have learned something about his real stature in the world when the foreign leaders who came to his funeral were Castro, the president of Guyana and Jimmy Carter, the most inept American president at least since Warren G. Harding...

Poor Warren just can't stop getting bad reviews. Somehow I doubt that will be true for Trudeau; but one can hope.

H/t to Adam Daifallah.

Mark C.

Afstan: Globe reporter declares quagmire

Geoffrey York does it without actually using the "Q" word. It's hopeless; time to cut and run.
...
Just like the U.S. troops in Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s [See! It is a quagmire!], the coalition is trying to prop up a corrupt and unpopular government. Local governments are dominated by so many warlords and gangsters that many Afghans express nostalgia for the Taliban regime of 1996 to 2001, which at least was not perceived as corrupt and immoral.

"The Afghan population is throwing up its hands," a veteran aid worker in Kandahar said. "The disorder today is coming from the government itself. Its mandate was to clean out the warlords, but instead it's engaged in an endless dance with them. Everyone says that the Taliban regime, if nothing else, at least stopped the corruption and created law and order."..

Mussolini made the trains run on time. Hitler both built the Autobahns and eliminated unemployment. Stalin and Mao both increased literacy remarkably. Pol Pot excelled at population control.

This is the same Mr York who called the B-1 a "stealth bomber" in his recent article, Bombs kill Afghan villagers.

Update: Mr York is a graduate of the Carleton University School of Journalism. Enough said. (H/t to Dave in Comments for making me think to check.)

Upperdate: Another Globe reporter, Graeme Smith, called the B-1 a "stealth bomber" in this article, Karzai tries to calm fears over violence; perhaps he was reading Mr York's copy. Silly boy.

Uppestdate: A brief analysis for those who may not realize why Mr York's Vietnam analogy is bogus:

In this piece he compares the Afghan insurgency with Vietnam--but leaves a very false impression. He does not mention (more likely does not know) that the Viet Cong insurgents were beaten comprehensively--the war was won by NVA regulars with tanks and artillery, and only after all American combat support had been withdrawn from South Vietnam, and economic and military aid severely reduced by Congress.

If Mr York means to say that the Taliban might win only if all similar assistance were cut off from the Afghan government, why does he not come out and say so? As it is he is leaving the impression, by false analogy, that the situation is essentially hopeless.

Now if Pakistani regulars were to intevene in Afstan on the Taliban side the analysis would be radically changed (joke, I hope).

Mark C.

The Studebaker Dictator

I'm just waiting for some moonbat to discover that some Bush forebear drove one of these.

Update: The PET special.

Mark C..

A conservative rock song list bemuses me

I sure didn't think Sympathy for the Devil was "conservative" when it came out. John J. Miller's reading in National Review is too clever by half.

Rockin' the Right: The 50 greatest conservative rock songs

I mean:

Who killed the kennedys?
When after all
It was you and me

Now if you want conservative:

Just a little deuce coupe with a flat head mill
But she'll walk a Thunderbird like she's standin' still
She's ported and relieved and she's stroked and bored.
She'll do a hundred and forty in the top end floored
She's my little deuce coupe
You don't know what I got
(My little deuce coupe)
(You don't know what I got)

She's got a competition clutch with the four on the floor
And she purrs like a kitten till the Lake pipes roar
And if that ain't enough to make you flip your lid
There's one more thing, I got the pink slip, Daddy

Now that's getting around.

Mark C.

"Fundamental Freedoms": S. 2. b) not under threat/Giggles watch

Andrew Coyne goes to the heart of the Press Gallery silliness. First a civics reminder:

...
Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:
...
b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication...

Back to Mr Coyne:
...
Let's leave aside the question of how much investigative reporting really goes on at a press conference or hallway scrum, or whether these bits of street theatre serve any useful purpose other than to provide the networks with useable clips...

Well, fair enough. The press has interests like any other trade, and is entitled to defend them. What we're not entitled to do, however, is to dress up our complaints as some sort of constitutional crisis. It is not the responsibility of the government to make our jobs easier. And it is not our job to serve as the Opposition...

A colleague finally takes an unmistakable shot at Giggles Taber. See her pap in the Globe today now that she is cut off from friendly, anonymous Liberal sources:

Tracking the Tory shift in hangouts, hairdressers and attitudes

Enquiring minds want to know if she went undercover(s). Oy veh! That from the "Senior Political Writer" of our "National Newspaper"? Steady Eddie should consider staff re-assignments. Replacing Horrible Heather on the downtown T.O. ridiculously expensive but soul-soothing style beat?

Update: A sample of what owl--"a former member of the Parliamentary press pack"--really thinks about his erstwhile congens in a comment at Mr Coyne's site:

...the vicious and determined day-by-day character assassination leading up to the election, the torqued headlines, the made-up storylines, the rigged background, the relentless kill-the-Conservatives mindset that fuels the media from the lowest cub reporter up to the level of senior... (5/27/2006 12:58AM)

Mark C.

A car so uncool, it's cool

Reader C.D. Patterson is the proud owner of this little beauty: a 1978 AMC Pacer wagon. With fake woodgrain, no less.

You know what he needs now? A Levi's edition Gremlin, to complete the set.

Damian P.

An unspeakable crime in Iraq

The U.S. military is investigating allegations that Marines massacred 24 Iraqi civilians - including women and children - in the insurgent stronghold of Haditha, after an roadside bomb killed one of their men:

Witnesses to the slaying of 24 Iraqi civilians by U.S. Marines in the western town of Haditha say the Americans shot men, women and children at close range in retaliation for the death of a Marine lance corporal in a roadside bombing.

Aws Fahmi, a Haditha resident who said he watched and listened from his home as Marines went from house to house killing members of three families, recalled hearing his neighbor across the street, Younis Salim Khafif, plead in English for his life and the lives of his family members. "I heard Younis speaking to the Americans, saying: 'I am a friend. I am good,' " Fahmi said. "But they killed him, and his wife and daughters."

The 24 Iraqi civilians killed on Nov. 19 included children and the women who were trying to shield them, witnesses told a Washington Post special correspondent in Haditha this week and U.S. investigators said in Washington. The girls killed inside Khafif's house were ages 14, 10, 5, 3 and 1, according to death certificates.

Two U.S. military boards are investigating the incident as potentially the gravest violation of the law of war by U.S. forces in the three-year-old conflict in Iraq. The U.S. military ordered the probes after Time magazine presented military officials in Baghdad this year with the findings of its own investigation, based on accounts of survivors and on a videotape shot by an Iraqi journalism student at Haditha's hospital and inside victims' houses.

An investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service into the killings and a separate military probe into an alleged coverup are slated to end in the next few weeks. Marines have briefed members of the Senate Armed Services Committee and other officials on the findings; some of the officials briefed say the evidence is damaging. Charges of murder, dereliction of duty and making a false statement are likely, people familiar with the case said Friday.

[...]

The remains of the 24 lie today in a cemetery called Martyrs' Graveyard. Stray dogs scrounge in the deserted homes. "Democracy assassinated the family that was here," graffiti on one of the houses declared.

The insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq said it sent copies of the journalism student's videotape to mosques in Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, using the killings of the women and children to recruit fighters.

LGF has more, and Confederate Yankee eloquently expresses what many supporters of the troops and their mission must be thinking right now. I have no doubt many other bloggers, and some of my readers, will attack the media for reporting on this story, but it has not just a right but a duty to report things we may not want to see. Who knows how often this kind of thing would be happening if there wasn't a free press to report it?

Damian P.

Childhood automotive trauma

Further to this post, in which I mentioned station wagons with fake woodgrain trim on the sides, this was our family car from 1984 to 1990:

A 1984 Plymouth Reliant, with a 2.2-litre engine making 93bhp. (To put that in perspective, my brother's Toyota Echo hatchback has 108.) I'll never forget the way it shook, shuddered, popped and burped for about five minutes after you shut off the engine.

Unless your father was a dedicated AMC man, I bet your childhood car was cooler than this. If it wasn't, you have to share your shameful memories in the comment section - or, even better, send a photo.

Damian P.

Little Green Death Threats

An employee of Reuters (not from the news division, the company insists) has been suspended for making a death threat against Charles Johnson.

Damian P.

It's no stupider than your theory

Two days after it aired, I finally got around to watching the Lost season finale this evening. My big theory about the show? Aliens from another planet are doing psychological experiments, with humans as their lab rats.

You know, come to think of it, that probably is stupider than your theory.

Damian P.

Interesting choice of words, Mr. Zinn

A People's History of the United States author Howard Zinn, in the introduction to Cindy Sheehan's book: "A box-cutter can bring down a tower. A poem can build up a movement. A pamphlet can spark a revolution."

Damian P.

Crossovers to pass minivans in popularity

Is there deep social significance to this development? Do crossovers really exist? Have recent wars lessened the macho appeal of SUVs? Do soccer moms want better looking vehicles? The breadth and depth of the questions are endless.

Roll over SUV.

Mark C.

Damian adds: if you're considering a minivan or "crossover" vehicle, I strongly suggest you take a look at the Mazda6 wagon. It might be a genuine, honest-to-God station wagon, but I'm pretty sure Mazda will never make one with fake woodgrain on the sides.

Now can we call it treason?

George Galloway says he isn't calling for the murder of Tony Blair, but that it would be "morally justified" (via Belmont Club):

The Respect MP George Galloway has said it would be morally justified for a suicide bomber to murder Tony Blair.

In an interview with GQ magazine, the reporter asked him: "Would the assassination of, say, Tony Blair by a suicide bomber - if there were no other casualties - be justified as revenge for the war on Iraq?"

Mr Galloway replied: "Yes, it would be morally justified. I am not calling for it - but if it happened it would be of a wholly different moral order to the events of 7/7. It would be entirely logical and explicable. And morally equivalent to ordering the deaths of thousands of innocent people in Iraq - as Blair did."

[...]

The Stop the War Coalition criticised Mr Galloway: "We don't agree with Tony Blair's actions, but neither do we agree with suicide bombers or assassinations."

Galloway's latest comments come just after a televised appearance in Havana with his hero, Commandante Castro:

Mr Galloway yesterday made a surprise appearance on Cuban television with the Caribbean island's Communist dictator, Fidel Castro - whom he defended as a "lion" in a political world populated by "monkeys".

Mr Galloway shocked panellists on a live television discussion show in Havana by emerging on set mid-transmission to offer passionate support for Castro. Looking approvingly into each others' eyes, the pair embraced.

It would be hard to envision a greater example of cosmic justice than to make George Galloway live like an ordinary Cuban.

Damian P.

"All we want is an open debate! Now stop debating us!"

Like most conspiracy wingnuts, the makers of Loose Change can't handle anyone who dares to challenge the nonsense they're spreading.

Meanwhile, "nesync," one of the most prolific 9/11 conspirozoids in the Screw Loose Change comments section, is a frothing Jew-hater. Imagine that.

Damian P.

A decent guy steps down

Provincial NDP leader Jack Harris has served his last day in the House of Assembly. Even for people whose politics couldn't be more different than those of the New Democratic Party (like me, for example) Harris was almost universally liked and respected. Wherever he goes now, I wish him all the best.

With Harris gone, you'd think the sole remaining New Democrat MHA, Randy Collins, would be a lock to take over the party leadership. But Collins inexplicably declined, as did Newfoundland's high-profile labour leaders, and the two contestants - Nina Patey and Lorraine Michael - are relatively unknown. (From what is known, they seem like walking, breathing NDP stereotypes.) The new leader may be able to win Harris's old seat in NDP-friendly downtown St. John's, and Collins seems safe for a long time, but the New Democrats will likely remain the party that wins Newfoundlanders' hearts but not their votes.

Damian P.

Hugo U

At the Bolivarian University of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez is a demigod, Michael Moore books and Che Guevara posters are everywhere, and students are indoctrinated to blame all the world's problems on AmeriKKKan imperialism. In other words, it's pretty much exactly like an American university, except that there's no tuition, and the students are not-so-subtly being used as Chavez's political machine:

The vast majority of students at the three-year-old university grew up in poverty. Now they are recipients of a tuition-free education. They are also part of a massive underclass that Chavez aims to empower through the social programs that have fed his domestic popularity. The school, the cornerstone of those programs, is aimed at educating millions and promoting the sort of social activism that Chavez says can help Venezuela's poor majority to overcome decades of oppression by the rich.

[...]

"Unfortunately, the government is using education as a political tool," said Julio Borges, an opposition leader running for president against Chavez in December's elections. "The Bolivarian University is just another vehicle, a bridge, to politicize the population."

But Venezuela's people are already thoroughly politicized; even the university's physical structures are potent political symbols. Most of the buildings, including those on the main Caracas campus, once served as headquarters for the state petroleum company, an institution purged of many anti-Chavez employees after a crippling strike against the government in 2002. Offices once reserved for executives who favored free-market economics are now decorated with posters of the socialist icon Che Guevara.

Aside from a few bulletin boards and scattered posters, the walls in the corridors are largely bare, an attempt to protect students from what administrators call the "mercantilization of education." There are no "for sale" boards here, and no traces of corporate sponsorship.

Instead, displays such as the one behind glass in the main building's lobby command attention. It's an oversize exhibit featuring motionless marionettes. Some are gathered outside a scaled-down Mercal, the subsidized grocery stores that Chavez has opened in poor neighborhoods. Doctors dressed in blue scrubs operate on a patient in a public health clinic. Hard-hatted maintenance men wearing Chavez campaign shirts sweep the make-believe streets clean.

And looking out over all of it is a plasticized model of El Comandante, sitting behind a desk on the simulated set of Chavez's weekly television show, "Alo, Presidente," wearing a red beret and military jacket. His prominent position on an elevated platform and his emphatically raised left arm suggest he's not just another puppet; instead, he looks more like the one pulling the strings.

I have no problem with Chavez using Veneluela's oil wealth to provide education and health care to the poor. (Better that than, say, using the oil money to spread Wahabbism around the world.) My problem is with his cult of personality.

Damian P.

Enron: Lay, Skilling convicted: not in Canada

From the collapse of Enron to the convictions took less than four and a half years. Warp speed by Canadian standards. But I doubt any Canadian criminal investigation (which would have taken much longer than the federal US one) would have resulted even in charges being laid. Because in Canada the police do the investigative work. In the US federal attorneys do it.

Moreover, both these miserable felons are likely to go to prison for the rest of their lives. Unimaginable in Canada that they would actually spend more that three years in jail. Damian: please correct me if I'm wrong here. [I'm not sure what they'd get in Canada, but it certainly wouldn't be life imprisonment. Of course, even if Lay and Skilling get life, I'd say they'll be paroled in ten years or so. - DJP]

A perverse observation: why is it so rarely pointed out that the investigation and prosecution of these energy industry criminals took place under a Republican administration?

Mark C.

Afstan: Cheese-eating bomb droppers?

The French are happy to serve as part of US Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. Good on them this time. Why then does it bother the NDP so much that Canadian are part of the US operation, especially when Canadian forces will be transferring to NATO ISAF at the end of July?

«Evidemment, depuis le ciel, il est difficile de reconnaître un taliban ! constate un pilote du Charles-de-Gaulle. Mais ce que nous pouvons repérer, par exemple lorsque nous accompagnons un convoi terrestre, c'est une éventuelle embuscade plus loin sur la route, ou des campements suspects dans des zones reculées.»..

...Toute cette semaine, les avions français ont effectué des démonstrations de force sous forme de «passages offensifs» en rase-mottes, mais sans larguer de bombes. «Il n'y a pas eu d'ouverture du feu, car nos troupes étaient trop imbriquées avec l'adversaire»...

Quick translation: French carrier aircraft (including attack aircraft) have been flying support missions for international troops in Afstan from their carrier stationed off the coast of Pakistan. Mirage 2000 fighters based in Tajikistan are taking over this mission. They haven't used their weapons yet but apparently only for lack of opportunity.

Key point: Above all the French planes are taking part in ENDURING FREEDOM. "It is important not to leave our American allies alone here" (in Afstan).

Get that Black Jack, Dawn Black, BQ and far too many Liberals?

H/t to Norman's Spectator.

Update: Rex Murphy nails it. We are at war. Just like the French and Dutch, even if the governments do not want to admit it.

H/t to Dr Roy's Thoughts.

Mark C.

Press Gallery: Trivial pursuers, not reporters

Paul Wells skewered his colleagues in 2003 (at the time of the Martin assumption) for becoming gossip-mongers rather than reporters. The key point is that the barely bother to cover the actual business of government any more.

As an example of that point I would note their almost complete failure to cover or analyze the government's changing commitment in Afstan. They only paid attention when: 1) a Conservative government was elected; and 2) casualties started increasing.

There is also Darfur where they still do not report on the great difficulties facing the authorization and deployment of any UN force with troops from any country. The media do not call the opposition on this when they demand Canada "do something". (The government has also been rather too opaque on the matter for my taste.)

The media's coverage of the substance of health care has also been deplorable--almost zero analysis of the European mixed public/private models.

Readers' thoughts on subjects not covered properly?

Back to Mr Wells:
...
There were probably 100 columns in the larger newspapers last month, and 200 or 300 hours of television pundit-panel time, devoted to speculating about the precise date of Jean Chrétien’s retirement, a story whose distinguishing features were (1) it was impossible to pretend to begin to guess at the answer; and (2) it could not possibly have less impact on the lives of Canadians. If we had asked Chrétien to pick a number between one and 100 and assigned 40 journalists to work fulltime guessing the number we would not have more completely wasted Canadians’ time.

...I don’t know when we will abandon our trivial pursuits...

Not bloody soon. Newsworld's Politics, Mike Duffy Live, Question Period are disgraces. "Hot and Not"? Who cares. About ninety-nine percent of the Canadian public do not; Stephen Harper knows that.

Update: A delicious post at Ottawa Watch that analyzes the decline and fall, over many decades, of the Press Gallery into mindless mediocrity. A main point is that there really is not that much important federal government business to cover. Read it.

H/t to Lorraine in a comment at SDA.

Mark C.

L.I.B., R.I.P.

Bob Tarantino's Let It Bleed, one of the best blogs around, has called it a day. Tarantino says he may return to blogging at some point, and I hope it's soon. Real soon.

Damian P.

Hey, it's not like there's a war on or anything

In 2005, 726 members of the United States Military were discharged for being gay. That's an 11% increase from the previous year, and the first such increase since 2001.

Damian P.

Confirming what we already knew

At yesterday's big "fisheries summit," which has dominated news coverage in Newfoundland and Labrador for the past week, pretty much everyone agreed that the Newfoundland fishery has too many fishermen and too many plants trying to catch and process too few fish. There's not a single person in this province who didn't already know this to be true, and I'm pleasantly surprised to see a consensus emerge from an event I'd dismissed as a big, splashy and completely pointless event in which everybody would blame everybody but themselves for the fishery crisis.

So now that that everyone's agreed that the fishery must be downsized and restructured - and with the provincial government drowning in offshore oil revenues, this is the time to do it - who will be the first to step forward and agree to the sacrifices which will be necessary? Will the government or the opposition agree that some fish plants in rural Newfoundland will have to be closed for good? Will the FFAW, the fishery workers' union, agree that quotas will have to be reduced and that many of its members will have to stop fishing and find new work? Will the federal government stop allowing foreign draggers to overfish in Canadian waters, or make any real attempt to take control of the nose and tail of the Grand Banks? Will anyone agree that the economy of rural Newfoundland has been completely distorted by an Employment Insurance system which allows fishermen to work only a few months per year, or that it's his plant or his community which may have to be weaned away from one of the world's historic fishing industry?

In short, is anyone willing to risk their political careers on doing what needs to be done, or will everyone keep saying the other guys have to change? History suggests the latter.

Damian P.

Harper's self-fulfilling prophecy

As my co-blogger Mark Collins has shown, some Canadian journalists and media outlets are falling over themselves to make Prime Minister Harper look bad. But this kind of whining is only going to make things much, much worse:

Stephen Harper says journalists on Parliament Hill are biased against his government so he'll be avoiding them.

The prime minister says the parliamentary press gallery seems to have decided to become the opposition to his Conservative administration. He told a London, Ont., TV station on Wednesday that he is having problems with reporters in the capital that a Liberal prime minister would never face. So Harper says he will take his message out on the road and deal with the less hostile local media.

"Unfortunately, the press gallery has taken the view they are going to be the opposition to the government," Harper told London's A-Channel.

"They don't ask questions at my press conferences now.

"We'll just get the message out on the road. There's lots of media in the country who do want to ask me questions and hear what the government is doing."

The comments were sparked by an incident Tuesday when two dozen Ottawa reporters walked out on a Harper event when he refused to take their questions.

I think Harper's doing an excellent job (you probably gathered as much from the "Blogging Tories" button on my sidebar), but if he wants to lead the government for more than one term, he'll have to develop thicker skin than this.

Damian P.

Samuel Adams Cream Stout

Your guest blogger has just tried a 'Cream Stout' by Samuel Adams. It's semi-dry, chocolate up front, with lots of coffee and toast on the nose. Creamy, as the name suggests.

Granted, Canada is famous for world-class brews. It's just heavenly to find great stuff like this South o' 49. It's on my short list of 'buy and serve to friends'.

(Dan, no jokes about 'boozo' or 'brew ha-ha', agreed? You HAVE to try this.)

Ranald Hay

The Post backs down

The National Post has apologized for its Iranian-dress-code story:

A Canadian newspaper apologized Wednesday for an article that said Iran planned to force Jews and other religious minorities to wear distinctive clothing to distinguish themselves from Muslims.

The National Post ran the piece on its front page Friday along with a large photo from 1944 that showed a Hungarian couple wearing the yellow stars that the Nazis forced Jews to sew to their clothing.

The story, which included tough anti-Iran comments, was picked up widely by Web sites and by other media.

"Is Iran turning into the new Nazi Germany? Share your opinion online," the paper asked readers Friday.

But the National Post, a longtime supporter of Israel and critic of Tehran, admitted Wednesday it had not checked the piece thoroughly enough before running it.

"It is now clear the story is not true," Douglas Kelly, the National Post's editor in chief, wrote in a long editorial on Page 2. "We apologize for the mistake and for the consternation it has caused not just National Post readers, but the broader public who read the story."

[...]

Asked about the Post story last week, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Iran "is very capable of this kind of action." He added: "It boggles the mind that any regime on the face of the Earth would want to do anything that could remind people of Nazi Germany."

A spokesman for Harper said the prime minister had started off his comments with the words "if this is true."

But Iran summoned Canada's ambassador to Tehran to explain Harper's remarks, a diplomat said Wednesday. [via Andrew Sullivan]

Unless Amir Taheri can convincingly back up his assertions, this story is dead. Unfortunately, the sneering left now has just the excuse it needs to dismiss any news about Iran's repressive government, its nuclear program and support for terrorism, and Iranians' desire for change as "neoconservative propaganda".

Damian P.

Darfur update: NATO not anxious to "do something" serious/Dallaire nonsense

For some odd reason this sort of report is not carried by Canadian media.

The African Union has accepted a NATO offer to extend its assistance in Sudan's violent Darfur region, the Western military alliance said on Wednesday, stressing its presence there would remain small.

The United States has been a vocal backer of a significant NATO role in congo but other allies are cautious, with the Sudanese government resisting international involvement...

Some real clarity on NATO and Darfur, from the horse's mouth:

No NATO troops have been or will be deployed to Darfur.

They aren't wanted anyway.

UN diplomats say the force [if it is ever sent] is expected to be largely drawn from African, South Asian and Islamic nations so as to reduce opposition to the move in Khartoum, while the United States and NATO would provide logistical support behind the scenes.

Meanwhile, why are the Liberals and NDP not applauding President Bush's taking the lead on Darfur? I think the $40 million in aid that PM Harper has pledged is about right for Canada.

Update: Khartoum keeps stringing things out.

Sudan said Thursday [May 25] it would permit the U.N. to lay the groundwork for possible deployment of a peacekeeping force in Darfur, but cautioned that the world body's role would be smaller than some Security Council members want...

"Any forces, if that is agreed upon, would be a force for supervision and not a force for peace implementation," he said...

That's not what Sen. Dallaire et al. want. The Globe and Mail printed a snippet only of a similar AFP story; compare that headline with this earlier misleading one.

Upperdate: Sen. Dallaire does not know what he's talking about.
...
Romeo Dallaire, the former commander of the UN peacekeeping mission during the Rwandan genocide of 1994, has said Canada should send 1,500 troops into Darfur, or at least contribute 500 soldiers to a UN rapid-reaction brigade already operating in Sudan.

I have searched the web and can find no mention that UNMIS has any such thing as a "rapid-reaction brigade".

The UN force for Southern Sudan (UNMIS) has the following strength, May 2006:

troops 8,034; military observers 635; police 596; international civilian 671; local civilian 1,242; UN volunteer 99

This is from the UNMIS site:

Of the 10,000 peacekeepers, there will be 750 UN Military Observers (UNMOs), who will carry out monitoring and verification activities in their respective areas of responsibility.

Another 4,000 peacekeepers will be involved in administrative and logistical support activities, along with demining and reconstruction work.

If the protection force's main duty in protecting UN assets it can hardly be a rapid-reaction force. Helping Sudanese in only a secondary function.

The reporter, Chris Morris of CP, should do a little more work before taking Sen. Dallaire's statements at face value.

By the way, this is what the Canadian Forces are now doing for darfur.
...
As of May 2006 the CF has 17 CF members deployed in support of Operation AUGURAL and their location is as follows:
Twelve (12), including the Commanding Officer of Operation AUGURAL, are in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;
Three (3) are in the Darfur region of Sudan;
Two (2) are in Khartoum, Sudan...

The Canadian Forces is loaning 100 GRIZZLY AVGPs and five HUSKY armoured recovery vehicles to assist the AU in moving its troops quickly and safely...

See: The Grizzly road to Darfur

Mark C.

The comedy of Macbeth

Iowahawk posts a special guest commentary from dissident "Army Ranger" Jessie Macbeth:

...I channeled my anger into my Civic, adding a bitchin' body kit from Pep Boys, nitrous, and a sweet 4" exhaust tip, but the cops busted me for 300 mph over the limit. Without a diploma or any way to pay the $500,000 speeding fine, the angry judge gave me the hard alternatives: jail, the Army, or male modeling school.

A week later I busting my hump in basic at Fort Kill, slogging through the mud and razor wire with live gun bullets swooshing over my head. The Texas heat was hotter and crispier than a Spicy Chicken DeLuxe, but I was oddly enjoying it. Sergeant Fury, the camp's shift manager, frequently praised my natural killer instincts and tidy uniform. I had already learned the Army's two main rules: A) kill or be killed, and B) employees must wash hands after using the latrine (for you civilians, "latrine" is the name we professional Army people call the toilet).

[...]

One afternoon I was practicing my kung fu grip on my wingman, Maverick, when the Sarge gave us the call: "Pack up your stuff," he said ominously. "It's time to cap some hadjis." Three hours later we were parachuting into Fallujah, wondering what our secret mission would be. When I landed in the courtyard of the Iraqi Montessori school, I realized the horrible truth: "Operation Iraqi Freedom" was actually "Operation Iraqis - Fry Them."

It was too late to turn back now. I waded into the crowd of screaming moppets with both machine guns blazing, cutting down row after row of toddlers as the Sarge barked orders to keep killing - "hit the A button! hit the A button!!!". When I ran out of ammo I used my bayonet to kill some more until the blade broke off, and then I began bludgeoning the remaining toddlers with other toddlers and toddler parts. Finally I collapsed on the floor in a daze, completely out of health points.

Damian P.

Lloyd Bentsen, R.I.P.

The former Texas Senator, vice-presidential candidate and Secretary of the Treasury has died at 85 years of age.

Bentsen will forever be known for five words from which Dan Quayle never quite recovered, but he was also a decorated World War II hero and a social liberal who nonetheless stood for a muscular foreign policy and fiscal conservatism. The Democrats - and the country - could use a guy like that today.

Damian P.

Osama: Moussaoui didn't do it

Osama bin Laden's latest tape says the recently convicted Zacarias Moussaoui had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks:

Zacarias Moussaoui's role in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks was fiercely debated at his recent death penalty trial, with the al-Qaeda conspirator and prosecutors agreeing that he was to fly a fifth hijacked airplane into the White House and defense lawyers insisting he was lying.

Now, someone who ought to know has weighed in: Osama bin Laden.

The fugitive al-Qaeda leader issued a videotape yesterday in which he claims that Moussaoui had "no connection whatsoever with the events of September 11" and that he knows this because "I was responsible for entrusting the 19 brothers, Allah have mercy upon them, with those raids."

Bin Laden also says in the 4-minute, 34-second message that the hundreds of prisoners the U.S. military is holding at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, "have no connection whatsoever to the events of Sept. 11 and even stranger is that many of them have no connection with al-Qaeda in the first place."

I've always felt that Moussaoui was trying to play up his role in the 9/11 plot out of all proportion, so Osama could be telling the truth. Or he could be playing to the Kos crowd. Or maybe a little bit of both.

Damian P.

Screw you, hicks

Singles from the Dixie Chicks' new album aren't getting much airplay from country stations, but that's okay because, like, they're hanging with a much cooler crowd these days:

For band member Martie Maguire, the ["we're ashamed the President is from Texas"] controversy was a blessing in disguise.

"I'd rather have a small following of really cool people who get it, who will grow with us as we grow and are fans for life, than people that have us in their five-disc changer with Reba McEntire and Toby Keith," Maguire said. "We don't want those kinds of fans. They limit what you can do."

Damian P.

Update: a commenter at Hot Air compares the Chicks to Willie Nelson, whose politics are even further to the left. Nelson has been shunted aside by mainstream country radio (like far too many C&W legends, unfortunately), but he still commands tremendous respect and admiration from even politically conservative listeners. That may be because his criticism of the U.S. government didn't come out of nowhere on foreign soil, and because he doesn't show such blatant contempt for country music fans. And, of course, because he's Willie Nelson.

Mullahcracy

Sunday's Toronto Star featured an interesting piece by Reza Aslan, about Iran's religious government and Iranians' growing anger and resistance toward same:

...It is difficult to describe the anger and contempt that most Tehranis feel toward the clerical regime. In Tehran the word akhoond — Persian for "cleric" or "mullah" — is a swear word. One might say to someone acting in a shady or despicable manner: "Don't be such an akhoond!"

Before the revolution, clerics were pushed to the head of the line in grocery stores and given the best seats in restaurants. Now people push roughly past clerics in stores, whispering obscenities; a cleric enters a restaurant in Tehran and one can practically hear the hiss rising from the tables.

There was a time when a taxi would be emptied so a cleric could ride comfortably. These days, a taxi is almost as likely to run a cleric over as pick him up.

Antonia Zerbisias cuts and pastes a portion of the article in the comments thread of her blog, during a rowdy debate about Iran. Her choice of excerpt is revealing, to say the least. (Also, in the 1950s women in Montreal couldn't wear shorts, and once she had to wear a long skirt when she visited an ultra-orthodox synagogue. So there. Take that, neocons!)

Damian P.

Conspirozoid vs. Conspirozoid

Screw Loose Change links to some uninentionally hilarious websites alleging that the makers of Loose Change are actually government-sponsored disinformation specialists. This is the "9/11 truth movement" equivalent of disputes between young-earth creationists and old-earth creationists.

Pat and James, the creators of SLC, were interviewed on the Shire Network News podcast this week. (I'll have another audio commentary on next week's SNN.)

Damian P.

Pearl Harbor bombed; White House press corps boycotts Roosevelt's news conference

God bless Kate. And Stephen Taylor.

From sit-ins to walk-outs. Soon no-one will notice. Or care.

Update: Nixon resigns; White House press corps boycotts helicopter south lawn lift-off

Upperdates?

Mark C.

Back to blogging

Andrew Coyne's famously on-again, off-again blog is on again.

Damian P.

Eurotrash

Slate features a very funny but affectionate report on the Eurovision song contest by Mike Atkinson. If you thought North Americans took American Idol and Canadian Idol too seriously, you ain't seen nothing yet:

The selection process for the 2006 Serbian entry was dogged by controversy, climaxing in a near-riot on live television when the winning song was announced. The victors, a boy band called No Name, who also represented their country in 2005, hail from the minority state of Montenegro. Their song was widely interpreted as a thinly veiled call for Montenegrin independence, much to the annoyance of the majority Serbian population. ...After taking to the stage in Belgrade for the customary winner's encore, a storm of abuse from the studio audience—accompanied by a barrage of bottles and chants of "Thieves! Thieves!"—brought No Name's performance to a swift halt and sent them fleeing the venue under the protection of security guards. Immediately afterward, the second-placed Serbian act commandeered the stage for their own reprise, claiming victory by default. The incident relegated even the death of former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic to second place in the following day's news. [emphasis added]

Montenegro, presumably, will get its own Eurovision entry in 2007. This year, these guys won:

Damian P.

Another hoax bites the dust

Say what you want about the folks at truthout.com or the National Post, but they presumably believed their Rove-indictment and Iranian-dress-code stories. "Army Ranger" turned anti-war activist Jessie Macbeth, on the other hand, cannot use the "honest mistake" defence.

Damian P.

Misplaced Outrage

There's something (weird) going on with various (thankfully, not all) elements of the new Left concerning Amir Taheri's warning report of the POSSIBILITY of zonnar marks (special clothing for permitted minorities) being discussed in Iran. In their minds, the fracas is about the reporters, not the report.

For one, Damian Penny has been duly reporting, from the beginning, public sources of doubt about the report's veracity... and yet the Left ignores the qualifiers and jumps to assail Damian as if he had presented the issue as a fait accomplis. Likewise, they went into fits over Mr. Taheri.

Examine Canada's Zerb, for example. "Shame, shame shame"? At first, it was one of the funniest bits of blogging this guest blogger has ever read. Truly, your guest blogger thought at first this was AZ's poke at satire, having taken a first look at her site. It is not satire, however.

Zerb's main point, her salient issue, is finally made at the very end in a credit to Canadian Cynic: "right wingnuts who jumped all over this are not backing off it, even though it's not true."

Hang on. That's a false comment. Patently false, on two levels.

The truth of it, though, is that Zerb and her ilk were more interested in smearing the Right than they were in reports of potential new civil rights abuses by a regime infamous for just such behaviour. The shift in focus is puzzling.

There is not one sentence or thought expressed in AZ's post on behalf of Iranians if Taheri's warning proves to be implemented. Is not civility the essence of modern liberalism? Do not [ ] the rights and freedoms of peoples come first?

For another example, follow the misadventures of our commentor Zorpheous. If our pal Zorph had bothered to do some homework (i.e. follow the links) he'd have seen that Taheri had reported government sources beyond the "draft law" mentioned by AP.

What I find most fascinating is why the Left isn't jumping all over this in defense of women and minorities in Iran!

The zonnar mark for dhimmis (much like the tinfoil on Zorph's head) was used in Iran until 1908. That the Council of Guardians MAY consider its reinstatement is hardly an odd notion. Even if it is sabotaged by Taheri's report, the bigger issue still hasn't been addressed by the Left.

One might think that various elements of the Left would join Mr. Taheri's warning in support of Iranian minority freedoms, IF NOT THE FREEDOM OF WOMEN PROVEN TO BE THREATENED BY THE NEW LAW. Hello... Women are being repressed, people. You there on the Left... Women. In trouble. Hello? Remember women?

(crickets chirping)

One way to asymmetrically apply force to the Mullahcrats in Teheran is to apply the force of public opinion via a spoiling charge... in this case, shout from the rooftops what is being discussed in private by the regime. Right and Left, people. The new law in its draft form is repugnant to. us. all.

Ranald Hay

Damian adds: Canadian Cynic hoists and petards me (his phrase) here, if you're interested.

Minister of National Defence seeing the light?

Perhaps Gordon O'Connor will ditch some of the sillier Conservative campaign promises (full text not online).

Worried about the cost of the Conservative government's plan to build armed icebreakers for the Arctic, military officials are trying to convince Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor to instead use less expensive hovercraft or small patrol boats to monitor the entrances to northern waterways.

The army also has concerns about the Conservatives' plan to station troops in Goose Bay. The army is focused entirely on its ongoing mission in Afghanistan and there are questions about where troops for new army units at Goose Bay and other locations would come from...

Note that the reporter, David Pulgiese, manages to put in a gratuitious jab at the Afstan mission. What would the mission in Goose Bay be?

Another jab: Afstan or the Arctic?

...University of Calgary defence analyst Rob Huebert said...Mr. O'Connor is going to "have a huge battle on his hands" in moving forward significant parts of the government's Arctic agenda, particularly with the Afghanistan mission scheduled to continue until 2009. At the same time, there is a pressing need to re-equip the military with billions of dollars worth of modern gear...

Now some good sense:

Mr. Huebert said if the government is serious about protecting Canadian sovereignty in the North it could do the job with a combined force of military personnel, RCMP and members of the coast guard. He said the coast guard is recognized as one of the most skilled in the world when it comes to icebreaking operations, but various federal governments have severely cut that its funding...

He said there is "absolutely no military reason to station troops in Goose Bay."..

Nor in Bagotville and Trenton, also promised regular battalions during the election.

And another Great Moment in (Deceptive) Canadian Journalism. Mr Pugliese describes the Polaris Institute as a defence think-tank. Here is the Institute's motto:

...retooling citizen movements for democratic social change in an age of corporate-driven globalization.

Draw your own conclusion.

Mark C.

Schooled in Hate

Five years after 9/11, and two years after promising to "modernize" its school textbooks, Saudi Arabia is still teaching its children to hate anyone who isn't a Wahabbi Muslim, and to spread the word by any means necessary.

Damian P.

Standing by his story

Amir Taheri insists the Iranian Parliament is considering a law which would force Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians to wear special markings. At this point, the burden of proof is squarely on him.

This AP report has more on the proposed legislation, which would tighten the national dress code. [via Pejman]

Damian P.

English Canadian TV Pundits: 10 words or less

Jane Taber: Katie Couric without looks, brains or money

Jim Travers: Punching above his cranial capacity

Don Martin: Hunter S. Thompson without serious drugs or brains

Susan Riley: The class struggling

Rex Murphy: Only in Canada you say? Pity

Susan Delacourt: Hair punching above its weight

John Ibbitson: A conflicted but intelligent pixie

Gilles Paquet: The real and delightfully cynical deal

Don Newman: The chuckling fog (I like Mel)

Mike Duffy: The chortling tummy that showed a backbone a few months ago

Greg Weston: Something stinks and it couldn't possibly be my judgement.

Your sketches?

And we'll have fun fun fun...

Mark C.

Moby Dork

The Ahmaninejad fan club gains another member.

Damian P.

The Ahmadinejad Anti-Defamation League

Juan Cole, the mullahs' propagandist, in his hyperventilating reaction to the false National Post story about the Iranian government forcing Jews to wear special markings: "I was in Los Angeles when tens of thousands of Iranians immigrated, fleeing the Khomeini regime. I still remember Jewish Iranian families who suffered a year or two in what they thought of as the sterile social atmosphere of LA, and who shrugged and moved right back to Iran, where they said they felt more comfortable." [via Tim Blair]

There were 80,000 Jews in Iran when Khomeini took over. According to the American Jewish Committee, there were 10,900 in 2004. But they're being treated perfectly well, I'm sure. The left now has its newest version of the Gulf War I hoax about Iraqi soldiers throwing Kuwaiti babies out of incubators: no matter what horror stories come out of Iran from here on out, they can sit back and sneer, "yeah, sure, just like that fairy tale about Iranian Jews being forced to wear yellow markings."

The loudest sneering will probably come from Ontario-based Canadian Cynic, who savages yours truly for my insufficiently contrite response to the Post story falling apart. But he's still sticking with the "truthout.com" story about Karl Rove being indicted any minute now, because...uh...well, that's one of these hoaxes that bespeaks a reality, as Prof. Cole would put it.

Damian P.

RCMP still not getting their (white collar) person

Another story on the police's unsuitability for this job.
...
...IMET [Integrated Market Enforcement Teams] was created with fanfare three years ago to improve Canada's poor record on investigating white-collar crimes, with top officials optimistically pledging that investigations would be wrapped up within a year...

...If IMET can't live up to its promise, it should be fixed or replaced. It's a sad fact that criminals appear to have nothing to fear from Canada's big crackdown on securities crime.

Efforts to explain this sorry situation:

Why the Mounties so rarely get their (white collar) man (March 16)

Why the Mounties rarely get their white-collar person (December 03)

Dishonesty of the day/Harper's racist breakfasts?

The Ottawa Sun reports today that

Prime Minister Stephen Harper should have checked his facts before blasting Iran over a law that doesn't exist, says one of Ottawa's leading Muslim intellectuals.

Harper seized on a story published in the National Post on Friday [May 19] that claimed the Iranian government was planning to force Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians to wear ID badges.

That is simply false. PM Harper did not "seize" on the story; he did not himself raise the issue. Rather he made his remarks in response to a question by Robert Fife of CTV at the joint press conference with Australian PM Howard (I was watching). Fife specifically mentioned the Post story and asked for the PMs' reaction. Both were careful in answering to say "if the story is true".

Terrible, slanted journalism aimed yet again at making PM Harper look bad.

Along with this utterly silly piece on his "American-style" security.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's motorcade has acquired a presidential look.

But one MP says the big black SUV now cruising at the rear of the prime ministerial entourage are a bit too remindful of President George W. Bush...

I suppose if the prime minister has pancakes in the morning he will be eating a "Bush-style breakfast" and questions will be put in the House. And if he uses Aunt Jemima syrup (instead of the maple sort) he will be accused, not only of "American-style sweetening", but also of racism.

Update: Liberal MPs were really "seizing" the Iran story in Question Period Friday morning; that is not being reported--or protested by the usual suspects.

1) Hon. Karen Redman (Kitchener Centre, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, Canadians are shocked and appalled to hear reports today that indicate Iran is about to pass a law requiring non-Muslims to wear coloured badges identifying their religious beliefs. Jews would have to sew yellow strips of cloth on the front of their clothes, while Christians would wear red badges. This kind of state-run bigotry is both disgusting and frightening to Canadians and all citizens of the world who believe in tolerance and religious freedom.

What steps is the government taking to protest the actions of this rogue state?

2) Hon. Keith Martin (Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the comments from the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, but he must also recognize that this is Hitler's shadow stalking the earth, that this is the same regime in Iran that has denied the Holocaust and has state sponsored persecution of members of the Baha'i part. Quite frankly, words are not enough.

I ask the Minister of Foreign Affairs if, at the very least, he has called in the Iranian ambassador to Canada to express Canada's disgust over these actions in Iran.

And this is what CP reported on Friday:

OTTAWA (CP) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper was quick to condemn Iran on Friday for an anti-Semitic law that appears not to exist.

Harper seized on a newspaper report that said Iran's hardline government would require Jews and Christians to wear coloured labels in public...

This is only mentioned far into the story:

He made the remarks during a news conference in Gatineau, Que., with the visiting Australian Prime Minister John Howard...

That he was responding to a direct question from a reporter is not mentioned. Slimy journalism, to be polite.

Mark C.

Giggles Bashing

The Globe and Mail's/CTV's (talk about media concentration) Terrible Taber takes a well-earned hit at Small Dead Animals. Is she even a journalist? And what has she been sniffing?

H/t to Adam Daifallah.

Mark C.

Arabia vs. Indonesia, Turkey, Iraq...

What to make of this? Via Glenn Reynolds, WaPo reports disturbing Saudi mendacity: This is a Saudi textbook. (After the intolerance was removed.)

Saudi schools - from first to twelfth grades - continue to teach hostility and intolerance from a Wahhabist perspective, despite claims to the contrary by Prince Turki al-Faisal, the Saudi ambassador to the United States.

The article, by the Post's Nina Shea is a frightening read. It is a powerful substantiation of what some observers have been pointing out for some time, but goes much further: That various Muslim sects not only see themselves as at war with the West, but at war with each other.

It is going to be rather difficult for elements of the Left and their supporters to blame "neocons" in the West on Saudi official policy or Saudi backed Wahhabist terrorism against Shiites and others.

This guest blogger's take on the situation is that the Saudis and their ideological kin are the exception, not the rule in modern Muslim politics.

The world's largest Muslim nation, Indonesia, stands in marked contrast. A democratic Republic, at once predominantly Muslim and part of the 21st Century.

Perhaps this guest blogger is missing the news, but he doesn't recall Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono claiming Thailand should be "wiped off the map", or reading that Indonesian schools teach the inferiority of women and non-Muslims, or that Indonesia is a state sponsor of "insurgents" in Iraq or suicide murderers in Israel. Rather, Indonesia appears to be the model for the future of political Islam. Is this too much to ask of Arabia? Or Iran? Or Syria? Or "Palestine"?

Indonesia is a scattered archipelago. Perhaps the discipline that comes with hard work, industrial investment and success is what makes Indonesia unique compared to its Shiite and Wahhabist sister nations, for whom pumping oil is the singular achievement.

Turkey, as well: Modern, Islamic, democratic, developing industrially and socially. Iraq has started on the path, too. Which, in this guest blogger's opinion, demonstrates that Islam is not the problem. (Sorry, Al!)

If Saudi's Wahhabi textbooks are a measure of Wahhabist intentions, then modern Muslims everywhere are targets. Iran's hard-liners have already threatened Turkey. It is in everyone's better interest, then, for the modern Indonesian/Turkish model to root itself throughout the entire ME.

To quote Michael Ledeen (with apologies): "Faster, damnit."

Update: If the story published by WaPo turns out to be false, that the Wahhabist intolerance has indeed been expunged from Saudi school textbooks, then your guest blogger will report it. With or without veracity of the specific WaPo report, substantive reform in Arabian and ME schools remains an issue with serious global consequences.

Upperdate: Seems the educational system in KSA lacks advanced English studies. Apparently, two hearty young lads from that storied land decided to enroll at a Florida high school... and took the school bus. Hey, look, the Saudis are our friends. Hat tip to Michelle.

Ranald Hay

Update: Commentor John P. blows my thesis clear out of the water, and finishes with ""People want to believe that a moderate and modernising Islam exists; they will do anything in their power (their imagination) to conjure up this non-existant animal because they find the exercise comforting."

...or out of sheer ignorance, as in *Yours Truly*. Thanks for reporting the pervasive influence of Wahhabi "educational" funding, John P. It is an Arabia vs. Indonesia, etc. scenario, but it's not what your guest blogger had thought.

Afstan: Facts little known in Canada

The Dutch are already there in force and fighting. The French are doing pointy-end things as part of US Operation Enduring Freedom.

Since the Dutch are to be part of the Canadian-commanded Multi-National Brigade in Regional Command (South) under NATO ISAF, I wonder why the Canadian media did not cover this story:

Dutch confident about Afghanistan mission

...The commander will have at his disposal six Apache attack helicopters and, in a few months, eight F-16 fighters. “They are my Apaches so nobody can tell me in a case of emergency, ‘I cannot help you.’ I have my own means to help myself,” he stressed. The soldiers also will undergo special training in Kandahar before leaving for Uruzgan. AFP

Note that the Dutch have their own close air support, unlike Canadian troops.

As for the French, this was reported but it was deep in the story so I doubt many Canadians noticed.
...
Two French special forces troops were killed Saturday while fighting the Taliban in Kandahar province, the French Defence Ministry said. No other details were immediately available.

France has had 200 special forces officers in southeast Afghanistan since 2003 as part of the U.S.-led coalition...

Mark C.

The question: Canada's most influential commentator?

The answer, according to the Financial Times: Margaret Wente of the Globe and Mail.

I would agree one of the best, but not sure about "most influential".

And a real kicker for the US: Charles Krauthammer of the Washington Post. Perhaps a better McGill man than Norman (Hillier youth...a superb feature) Spector.

Mark
Ottawa

"Hillier Youth"

The depths to which David Pugliese of the Ottawa Citizen is willing to sink:
...
Some officers inside the Defence department have a disquieting name for the general's loyal and, some say, fanatical followers--Hillier Youth...

For shame. The media long knives are truly out. After all the Chief of Defence Staff is "American-style" and and clearly a megalomaniac.

To his critics, he is a Canadian version of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the high-profile American commander who in the 1940s and '50s made a career out of ignoring direction from political masters and charging ahead with his own agenda.

He represents the growing Americanization of the Canadian military, a world in which peacekeeping — much loved by the Canadian public — is dead and combat operations, such as those occurring now in Afghanistan, become the norm of the future...

This vast article is the most determined case of character assasination disguised as reporting that I have seen for some time.

Disquieting indeed. And truly disgusting. Read it. The 'Teflon General' (Part Two) is here.

Update: Thomas Walkom of the Crvena Zvezda piles on.
...
... [Modern U.S. strategy] requires a smaller set of favoured allies who are willing to send troops anywhere to do anything that the U.S. requires.

But it is not necessarily favoured by the Canadian public which, insofar as it pays attention, resists military integration with the U.S. and maintains a nostalgic affection for old-style internationalism...

Mark C.

Report disputed

Yesterday's National Post report about Iranian Jews and other minorities being forced to wear special badges may not be true:

On Friday, the Jewish Community's representative in Iran's parliament, known as the Majlis, Morris Mohtemed spoke with the secretary general of the Iranian American Jewish Federation in Los Angeles, Sam Kermanian, and told him the story reported by the National Post in Canada today was false. "We have not been able to confirm the accuracy of the report, nonetheless we are pursuing this issue with concern," Mr. Kermanian said in an interview with The New York Sun.

[...]

It is unclear whether the report that such a law would require non-Muslims to wear different colored badges is correct. There is a legislative proposal that has been considered by the parliament for two years that would impose dress codes on Muslims and non-Muslims.

The executive vice chairman of the conference of presidents of major American Jewish organizations, Malcolm Hoenlein, said yesterday he has yet to confirm the report. "We have gotten word about Mohtemed's reaction, and we heard it from another leader in Tehran," he told The New York Sun. "It is still unclear whether the legislation will require a uniform code of dress or for Muslims or whether it will extend to non Muslims having to wear some identifying marker." Mr. Hoenlein added that it is not inconceivable such regulation, reminiscent of the Nazis, would be contemplated under President Ahmadinejad, a man who has publicly questioned whether the Nazi atrocities ever occurred.

Iran's constitution already carves out special status for non-Muslims. For example, it prohibits non-Muslims from obtaining senior posts in either the army or government. A national ordinance made into law in 2000 and 2001 requires all non-Muslim butchers, grocers, and purveyors of food to post a form in the window of their place of business warning Muslims they do not share their faith. At the time the code was defended in order to enforce Islamic dietary law. Muslims in Iran officially enjoy preference over non-Muslims in terms of admission to universities and colleges.

Tim Blair has much more, and writes, "this story should be widely stomped, lest it grow into a right-wing version of the Plastic Turkey fable." I was thinking of the Gulf War I myth about Kuwaiti babies being thrown from incubators by Iraqi soldiers, myself. There are so many confirmed horror stories about Iran that we shouldn't cling to questionable stories like this.

Damian P.

Update: the lefty bloggers, not surprisingly, are jumping up and down with faux outrage about righty bloggers (including myself) writing about this untrue story.

So, guys, has Karl Rove been indicted yet?

Why we are in Afstan

And why many Canadians, with a blinkered view of reality, will not want us to stay there. Richard Gwyn makes some excellent points in the Toronto Star.
...
For us to decide either to leave, literally the day after tomorrow, or to slide out at the first moment available to us, namely next February when our current one-year commitment ends, would have been unconscionable,

This has to be a long-term project. It can't be done, by many allies as well as ourselves, in under five years.

Mark C.

The attempt to do this may fail, of course. It's excruciatingly difficult.

It will be a victory for the forces of darkness, of hatred, of those who refuse to accept that all people everywhere have the right to a chance at a decent life...

Darfur: rebels fighting each other/Congo: some EU troops

Darfur: Now two of the rebel groups are fighting each other. Good luck with a meaningful peace agreement and a Chapter VII UN force. Sad to say.

Oh yes. Kofi Annan says there is not a second to lose.

Congo: Meanwhile, in Germany there is opposition to sending troops to the Congo (where many more have died than in Darfur) as part of an as part of an EU force to assist the large UN force already there. Some realistic questions are asked--unlike in Canada regarding Darfur.

Some Canadians have even implied that our forces should be in the Congo rather than Afstan.

Darfur update: Effective intervention will not be easy.
...
...humanitarians are painting a picture of an almost pain-free way of securing congo and building a wall around the Sudanese government so that it ceases doing harm. This is an irresponsible fantasy because the Bashir government has not and will not abide by any international standards or agreements. Only force -- and overwhelming force -- will stop Sudan's war criminals. And by applying such force, humanitarians and their military wing will shatter the Sudanese state and create a whirlwind that will require the energies of large numbers of people to contain...

Mark C.

We are amused

It's Victoria Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer in Canada, so I'm outta here until Tuesday. Have a good one!

Damian P.

PS: don't drink and drive!

Somewhere in Argentina, an old German guy sneers, "It's been done"

The Iranian Parliament has passed a law forcing Jews, Christians, and other religious minorities to wear special insignia, according to the National Post:

Human rights groups are raising alarms over a new law passed by the Iranian parliament that would require the country's Jews and Christians to wear coloured badges to identify them and other religious minorities as non-Muslims.

"This is reminiscent of the Holocaust," said Rabbi Marvin Hier, the dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. "Iran is moving closer and closer to the ideology of the Nazis."

Iranian expatriates living in Canada yesterday confirmed reports that the Iranian parliament, called the Islamic Majlis, passed a law this week setting a dress code for all Iranians, requiring them to wear almost identical "standard Islamic garments."

The law, which must still be approved by Iran's "Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenehi before being put into effect, also establishes special insignia to be worn by non-Muslims.

Iran's roughly 25,000 Jews would have to sew a yellow strip of cloth on the front of their clothes, while Christians would wear red badges and Zoroastrians would be forced to wear blue cloth.

"There's no reason to believe they won't pass this," said Rabbi Hier. "It will certainly pass unless there's some sort of international outcry over this."

Montreal's AM940 radio says the report may not be true. We'll see. But aside from Juan Cole, who believes the Iranian government wouldn't do something like this?

Damian P.

A visit to Ramallah

Michael Totten has posted yet another fascinating account of his visit to a place most Westerners would never go: the West Bank. Drop everything and read it now.

Damian P.

The art of the bad movie review

Say what you like about Roger Ebert, no one is better at writing sarcastic reviews of bad movies. He's so good at it that some of his best thrashings were compiled in a very funny book, I Hated, Hated, Hated this Movie. (The title is a reference to his legendary savaging of Rob Reiner's North.)

Ebert actually found The Da Vinci Code entertaining enough to merit three stars. (On his TV show, that's the generally accepted treshold for a "Thumbs Up".) But if his review in the Chicago Sun-Times is any indication, it must have been a close call:

I know there are people who believe [Dan] Brown's fantasies about the Holy Grail, the descendants of Jesus, the Knights Templar, Opus Dei and the true story of Mary Magdalene. This has the advantage of distracting them from the theory that the Pentagon was not hit by an airplane.

[...]

Hanks stars as Robert Langdon, a Harvard symbologist in Paris for a lecture when Inspector Fache (Jean Reno) informs him of the murder of museum curator Jacques Sauniere (Jean-Pierre Marielle). This poor man has been shot and will die late at night inside the Louvre; his wounds, although mortal, fortunately leave him time enough to conceal a safe deposit key, strip himself, cover his body with symbols written in his own blood, arrange his body in a pose and within a design by Da Vinci, and write out, also in blood, an encrypted message, a scrambled numerical sequence and a footnote to Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou), the pretty French policewoman whom he raised after the death of her parents. Most people are content with a dying word or two; Jacques leaves us with a film treatment.

This is one of the better reviews for The Da Vinci Code. (I'm sure I'll see the movie at some point, but it probably won't be until it comes to The Movie Network.)

Damian P.

A world of beers

Just in time for the May 24 weekend, the Toronto Star has an interesting look at how the Canadian beer market is changing, with more imports, specialty beers and discount brands taking on (or, in some cases, brewed by) Labatt and Molson.

There is, of course, only one beer that really matters - and after a ten-year absence, it's finally back on the shelves here in Newfoundland. It's going to be a great long weekend after all!

Damian P.

The cartoons from Hell are back

The latest issue of Harper's features the Danish Mohammed cartoons, and an LGF reader says Borders - who refused to carry an issue of Free Inquiry in which the cartoons were reprinted, because of "safety" concerns - is selling it.

I'll bet Chapters/Indigo is still selling it, too. It's one thing to pull a small, right-wing rag like the Western Standard...but this is Harper's, darn it!

Damian P.

Canada, Sudan and Jihadis

Been there, done that. Logistics.

Mark C.

A martial race rewarded

Khukuri rules.

Mark C.

John Howard hits it for six

A very good speech by the Australian PM to Parliament, especially on terrorism, Asia and the US. Words that need to be heard by Canadians. Video here.

BUSH ALERT! BUSH ALERT! On TVO's Studio Two the Globe's John Ibbitson just pointed out that Messrs Howard and Harper first met in Washington.

Mark C.

Canadian arrogance: NATO and European BMD

Should Canada quit NATO if it goes ahead at some point with a BMD system? The Winnipeg Free Press (via the Crvena Zvezda) examines this issue of vital and pressing concern to Canadians.
...
Now the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is debating setting up its own ballistic missile defence system. This week in Brussels, the alliance announced that the allies would discuss a European-based BMD...

If Canada goes along — and it would have little option other than quitting NATO if the alliance chooses to go ahead — Canadians would be in the curious situation of opting into a missile defence system to protect Europe, after having opted out of one to protect their own country.

I see. Canadians have some sort of moral duty to tell the Europeans in NATO how to defend themselves. If we don't like their choice then we consider quitting NATO.

Arrogance beyond all reason. But that's the NDP, Liberals and Bloc for you.

Mark C.

The Daily Kos guy. Leering through your window. Busting into your house. We're not making this up.

Now that I've seen this, I don't think Joe Lieberman has much to worry about this year.

Damian P.

Afstan: Don't trust the Polaris Institute

Blue Blogging Soapbox exposes this left-wing thoughtless tank's gross over-estimate of the cost of the various Canadian missions in Afstan.

Also a piece at Army.ca and my reaction to an interview on CBC.

Mark C.

The agenda of the Globe and Mail's news editors

The headline was so pleasing to them they used it twice.

Death clouds Afghan debate

Death clouds Afghan debate

One cannot accuse them of subtlety.

Mark C.

Dog bites man

Yasser Arafat used aid money to buy weapons and fund terrorist organizations, according to his former financial aide. This is news?

Yasser Arafat transferred millions of dollars in international aid and taxes transferred to the Palestinian Authority by Israel to purchase large quantities of weapons, the PA chairman's former financial aide, Fuad Shubaki, has told the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency). Some of the Israeli money, Shubaki told his investigators, was also used to fund Palestinian terror groups.

Shubaki was apprehended two months ago during an IDF raid on the Jericho prison where he was being held together with Ahmed Sa'adat - leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - and the other assassins of former Israeli tourism minister Rehavan Ze'evi. Prior to his imprisonment in Jericho, Shubaki served as the chief financial officer for the Palestinian security forces and as such was the mastermind behind the Karine A weapons ship caught by the IDF loaded with advanced weaponry in the Red Sea in 2002 as it was making its way to the Gaza Strip.

Under Arafat's direction, Shubaki, 64, told his interrogators, high-ranking PA security officials were involved in manufacturing and purchasing weapons in addition to funding terror groups in their war against Israel.

Shubaki estimated that $7-10 million were used every two years to purchase arms for the Gaza Strip, and another $2 million were spent on weapons for the West Bank. The money, he said, came from international aid to the PA, tax money Israel routinely transferred to the PA and taxes collected in the Gaza Strip. Shubaki confessed to involvement in the purchasing of weapons for the head of the Tanzim terror group in Gaza, used in attacks against military installations and Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip. [via LGF]

Damian P.

"A comedy 3,000 years in the making"

[via Galley Slaves]

Damian P.

Jughead is a punk

The A.V. Club has an absolutely hilarious feature on the way teenage fads and pop culture were portrayed in Archie comics from the forties through the eighties. I think I still have this issue in a closet somewhere:

Damian P.

Mission extended

The motion to extend the Afghanistan mission until 2009 passed by the slightest of margins, with 25 Liberal MPs voting in favor (and several more remaining conveniently absent from the House):

The House of Commons supported a Conservative motion to extend Canada's military mission to Afghanistan by two years, handing Stephen Harper a narrow victory with a 149-145 vote that came late last night.

The outcome of the vote was in doubt all evening, with MPs from all three opposition parties speaking out against the Tory plan to extend the Afghan mission through to 2009 without providing further details about what the extension would mean for the Canadian Forces.

[...]

Mr. Harper won the support of about 25 of the 101 Liberals eligible to vote. Several of the 308 MPs were not present for the vote. Official Opposition leader Bill Graham said Liberal MPs were free to vote their consciences based on what they heard from Mr. Harper.

Interim Liberal leader Bill Graham voted in favor of the motion, and so did leadership candidates Michael Ignatieff and Scott Brison.

Damian P.

A Close Run Thing

The debate in the Commons this evening was a disgrace to a serious country. Any four citizens of Liechtenstein might have had a more intelligent discussion.

The government side--and this is a reflection on competence--did not clearly answer questions about:

1) Command structure

2) UK and Dutch troop commitments.

These points were raised by opposition MPs. Yet the government never gave the clear and very simple answers. I am very worried that the government side does not know the facts. I am even more worried that they--along with the opposition--may not make the effort to learn them.

Update: Jim Travesty in the Crvena Zvezda, May 18:

1) Canadians will be in the front lines of George W. Bush's war on terrorism until 2009...

A war in Afghanistan endorsed repeatedly by the UN Security Council, a war to be mainly controlled by NATO this summer when it takes over (under a UK general) Regional Command (South)—where our troops are and including US troops—and almost completely NATO-controlled at the end of the year when US troops in Regional Command (East) transfer to NATO command.

2) Canada is targeting a lead role in Afghanistan at the expense of not being able to do much else in, say, congo.

Except for the facts that a) there is no mission in congo and may never be an effective one, and b) no-one wants a large Canadian contingent anyway.

UN diplomats say the force is expected to be largely drawn from African, South Asian and Islamic nations so as to reduce opposition to the move in Khartoum, while the United States and NATO would provide logistical support behind the scenes.

I suspect NATO can provide all the necessary support without Canada.

But Mr Travesty sees no need to explain reality to his readers. That would spoil a nice chance to score points off the government.

Trash journalism.

Upperdate: On Darfur, Iraq and Afstan, a delightful post at Arabian dissent.

Mark C.

If the motion fails

If Parliament votes down the motion to keep Canadian troops in Afghanistan until 2009, we could soon see an election on the issue:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday he will continue Canada's military mission in Afghanistan for one year if opposition MPs vote down a two-year extension.

"What we would do is proceed cautiously for a year," Harper told the House. "If we have to go further beyond that, we would seek a mandate from the Canadian people."

MPs are currently debating in the Commons whether to support a motion to extend the mission, with a vote expected for this evening.

[...]

The Globe and Mail reported Wednesday that the government's sudden decision to call a debate and vote was in part because NATO wants Canada to take over command of the entire Afghan mission in 2008.

CTV's Ottawa bureau chief Robert Fife told Newsnet that he suspected the government would win, but it was "going to be a very close vote."

"The big news is that the Liberals, who decided to send the troops to Afghanistan in the first place, could switch sides and vote against extending the mission tonight."

If no members of the NDP or Bloc vote against their party, the Harper government needs 30 Liberal MPs to support the motion. I think they'll get it, but just barely.

Damian P.

Capt. Nichola Goddard, R.I.P.

On the eve of a Parliaentary vote on whether Canadian troops will remain in Afghanistan until 2009, Canada suffered its first female combat death since the Second World War:

Canada suffered its first female combat death in Afghanistan during a firefight with Taliban insurgents on Wednesday, military officials say.

Capt. Nichola Goddard, of 1st Royal Canadian Horse Artillery based in Shilo, Man. also became the seventeenth Canadian to die in that country since 2002.

Goddard was serving with Task Force Afghanistan as part of the 1st Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (1 PPCLI) Battle Group. Her age and hometown were not immediately available.

A military spokesman said the captain was killed in action at 6:55 p.m. local time (10:25 a.m. ET) about 24 kilometres west of Kandahar city in the Panjwai region.

Members of the Canadian Forces were backing up combined operations of the Afghan National Army and police, who were involved in a firefight against a group of Taliban fighters.

Capt. Goddard was interviewed by CTV's Lisa LaFlamme earlier this year. CTV NewsNet has been showing excerpts this afternoon.

Damian P.

They were for a vote before they were against it

Stephen Taylor describes the NDP's evolving position on a free vote regarding Afhanistan.

Damian P.

Afstan update: Canadian political scum/Doing the CBC slant

The inside poop on tonight's vote in the Commons:
...
CTV's Ottawa bureau chief Robert Fife told AM it was "going to be a very close vote."

If the motion fails to pass, Prime Minister Stephen Harper would be honour-bound not to extend the deployment during this mandate...

Should that happen it will be the end for Canada as a serious member of NATO, and no country that counts will take us seriously as a factor in international affairs (to the very limited extent that we are taken seriously even now).

But what the heck, embarrassing the Conservative government is all that counts. What petty, trivial and pathetic mediocrities these politicians are. Scum. I hurl violently.

Update: Here's hoping. Liberal leader Bill Graham says their caucus has decided on a free vote. But they feel the government is being "abusive". Poor babies.

Upperdate: On CBC News: Today from Toronto, just before 1300 EDT, Peggy Mason of the Polaris Institute had a lengthy interview with Nancy Wilson in which Ms Mason expressed her opposition to the Canadian Forces' mission in Afghanistan. The fact that the Insitute is rather, shall we say leftish, was naturally not mentioned.

One of her key points was that our forces are now under US Operation Enduring Freedom (true) and that we don't know when they will transfer to NATO control. Totally false. The transfer is scheduled for July 31.

If Ms Mason does not know this simple fact she has no business commenting on Afghanistan, or else she is dissembling. And the ditzy host, Nancy Wilson, should have known enough (good luck!) about the subject to call Ms Mason on her misrepresentation.

Sadly, this is all too typical of the sort of "journalism" one has come to expect from the CBC.

Mark C.

Darfur: Another reason not to trust "Canada's National Newspaper"

The Globe and Mail headline: UN decides to send peacekeepers to Darfur

No it didn't. The first paragraph:

The Security Council voted unanimously yesterday to begin the process of establishing a UN peacekeeping force to end the slaughter of civilians in the Darfur region of Sudan.

From the resolution itself:

“The Security Council,
...
“3. Endorses the decision of the African Union Peace and Security Council in its communiqué of 15 May 2006 that, in view of the signing of the Darfur Peace Agreement, concrete steps should be taken to effect the transition from AMIS to a United Nations operation, calls upon the parties to the DarfurPeace Agreement to facilitate and work with the African Union, the United Nations, regional and international organizations and Member States to accelerate transition to a United Nations operation, and, to this end, reiterating the requests of the Secretary-General and the Security Council, calls for the deployment of a joint African Union and United Nations technical assessment mission within one week of the adoption of this resolution;
...

Note:

concrete steps should be taken to effect the transition from AMIS to a United Nations operation

accelerate transition to a United Nations operation

Contrary to the headline, no resolution has been passed that actually authorizes the sending of a force. This resolution is just about preliminary steps--as the first para states correctly.

And some of the problems still to be faced in setting up a force:

Chinese and Russian diplomats yesterday withdrew their objections to the Security Council resolution in deference to the African Union, but insisted Sudan must agree to any eventual UN deployment.

In statements after the vote, China and Russia said they voted for the measure despite misgivings about its being adopted under Chapter 7. Mr. Bolton [US Permanent Representative to the UN] said that raises hopes that there will be a resolution authorizing a peacekeeping force and that it will wield Chapter 7 clout...

The Washington Post headline is as bad: U.N. Council Approves Mission to Darfur

My hopes have not been raised much, but the Globe headline will no doubt provide ammunition for the Liberals and NDP to demand that Canada "do something" in Darfur during the Commons debate on Afstan today.

Mark C.

Books cooked

The Auditor General confirms what we already knew:

The former Liberal government hid more than $60 million in unexpected costs from Parliament, left no written record of important decisions taken by officials, and may have broken numerous contracting rules in its handling of the controversial gun registry, Auditor General Sheila Fraser has found.

CanWest News Service reported the major findings of Fraser's audit last week, including that the source of the continuing problems with the gun registry continues to be a $273 million contract with Team Centra, a computer firm, that has been delayed since May 2002 because of myriad legislative changes, thanks to fierce opposition to the program and the scrutiny of opposition parties.

Kill the gun registry. Kill it and nuke the site from orbit, just to be sure.

Damian P.

Conspiracy proven!!!!!!!

As expected, the newly released 9/11 video from the Pentagon just happens to show an American Airlines Boeing 757, as though a security camera could take such a clear photo of an airplane traveling at that speed! The footage is obviously faked! As expected, the newly released 9/11 video from the Pentagon does not clearly show an American Airlines Boeing 757, which proves that no plane really hit the Pentagon!

Back in the sane world, Hot Air has a frame-by-frame analysis of the security camera footage. (Which, strictly speaking, doesn't show a cruise missile either. Just sayin'.) In this report from CNN, reporter Jamie McIntyre explains how the conspiracy theorists have taken some of his own reporting from 9/11 grossly out of context.

Damian P.

What NSA phone spying?

How many angels cannot dance on the head of a pen register?

Verizon Communications Inc. on Tuesday joined fellow phone company BellSouth Corp. in denying key points of a USA Today story that said the companies had provided records of millions of phone calls to the government.

The denials by Verizon and BellSouth leave AT&T as the sole company named in the USA Today article that hasn't denied involvement...

A tempest that may not be a Teapot Dome?

Mark C.

Sensible thinking rules at globeandmail.com (for now)

Security Council passes Darfur resolution: look at the comment thread.

Update: H/t to Shameless self-...

Mark C.

The chickens come home to roost

Things are looking very, very grim for Ward "Little Eichmanns" Churchill:

University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill plagiarized, fabricated and falsified material and was disrespectful of American Indian traditions in his writings, a report released today said.

Three of the five scholars who examined the ethnic studies professor's work for four months believe Churchill's academic misconduct is serious enough that CU could fire him from his tenured job, the report said.

But two of those three said the most appropriate sanction would be to suspend him without pay for five years.

The other two committee members did not believe Churchill's research misconduct was serious enough to warrant termination. They suggested the university suspend him without pay for two years.

[...]

The committee investigated seven allegations against Churchill, including concerns about his writings about Indian law and a smallpox epidemic at Fort Clark.

The committee found that Churchill's "misconduct was deliberate and not a matter of an occasional careless error."

It found "serious deviation from accepted practices" in university research and that Churchill did not comply with established standards regarding author credit on publications.

Sounds like Ivy League material to me.

Damian P.

Leaf's new life

The greatest flop in NFL history - now a quarterbacks coach at NCAA Division II West Texas A&M - is the subject of an interview and profile on HBO's Real Sports this evening. Too bad we don't get Real Sports and/or HBO up here, because I bet it will be fascinating viewing.

Damian P.

Toronto stinks

And Ottawa might get the two-headed babies. Some marvelous hyperbole from the Globe's Margaret Wente (full text not online):
...
Toronto has a very curious attitude about trash. It's harmless when it's piling up on people's porches or spilling out of public bins and blowing around the park. But once it's collected, it becomes so hazardous that we've got to take it far away....everybody knows that pregnant women living within 500 miles of a landfill will probably give birth to babies with two heads.

Now Michigan doesn't want our garbage any more. The crisis is so great that some people have even proposed that we burn it. No one likes that idea, either, because breathing garbage fumes will give your children cancer. The Mayor is against incineration, too. It may be good enough for Swedes, but what do they know?

Here in Ottawa we're terrified that Dalton McGuinty will cave in to pressure from Toronto and permit their garbage to be trucked here to expand the ever-growing Carp Mountain. And pregnant women are living rather closer to our monster dump than 500 miles:

The Carp Rd. landfill is 1,000 metres away from its closest residential development...

Mark C.

The speech

I didn't see it, but the full text is here. The illegal-immigration debate seems to be dominated by the deport-em-all nativists on the right and the rabidly anti-American reconquista activists on the left, but Bush's proposals, especially on letting long-settled illegals eventually gain citizenship, seem like a reasonable compromise:

...we must face the reality that millions of illegal immigrants are already here. They should not be given an automatic path to citizenship. This is amnesty, and I oppose it. Amnesty would be unfair to those who are here lawfully and it would invite further waves of illegal immigration.

Some in this country argue that the solution is to deport every illegal immigrant and that any proposal short of this amounts to amnesty. I disagree. It is neither wise nor realistic to round up millions of people, many with deep roots in the United States, and send them across the border. There is a rational middle ground between granting an automatic path to citizenship for every illegal immigrant, and a program of mass deportation. That middle ground recognizes that there are differences between an illegal immigrant who crossed the border recently and someone who has worked here for many years, and has a home, a family, and an otherwise clean record. I believe that illegal immigrants who have roots in our country and want to stay should have to pay a meaningful penalty for breaking the law to pay their taxes to learn English and to work in a job for a number of years. People who meet these conditions should be able to apply for citizenship but approval would not be automatic, and they will have to wait in line behind those who played by the rules and followed the law. What I have just described is not amnesty it is a way for those who have broken the law to pay their debt to society, and demonstrate the character that makes a good citizen.

I'm not sold on the need for a "guest worker" program, though, and I really hope Bush’s proposals to crack down on employers who hire illegal labour - many of them prominent Republican contributors - is more than just talk. But the speech should satisfy observers in the mushy middle on this issue. You'd never know it from the blogosphere, but that's where most Americans are.

Damian P.

Afstan: Extending Canadian commitment to 2009

Before MPs vote Wednesday evening, May 17 (note the spin in the Ottawa Citizen's headline), they should read this other article in the Citizen by Arthur Kent, maker of the documentary, Afghanistan: Peacemaking In Progress (full text not online).

On the road to peace: Contrary to popular belief in Canada, the situation in Afghanistan is far from hopeless; an active press is one healthy sign.

Raz says the Western and Afghan government forces battling the Taliban and al-Qaeda should pick up the pace. But he's encouraged to see more NATO countries, including Canada, joining the fight...

Our MPs should also be aware of the commitments of our partners in the Multi-National Brigade in Regional Command (South), which Canada is currently commanding. UK troops are committed for three years, until 2009 (note the detail on the British deployment); Dutch troops are committed for two years, until 2008.

Update: Gerald Caplan, in a letter in the Globe and Mail (Doomed mission, full text not online), claims that the conflict and local disruption necessarily involved in the Canadian Forces' operation in Afghanistan will doom this pointless mission.

I wonder why Dr Caplan thinks it is pointless to support a democratically-elected government in its efforts to resist the return of all-out civil war in Afghanistan--and the possible return to power of a terribly repressive Islamic fundamentalist regime. A regime, one should not forget, that allowed Osama bin Laden to train a great number of terrorists on its territory and also allowed bin Laden to plot the terrorist attack on New York City that killed at least 25 Canadians.

Dr Caplan is a strong advocate of taking action to prevent genocides. I wonder how Dr. Kaplan thinks genocides can be prevented without conflict, and rubbing some locals the wrong way. Or are efforts to prevent genocide also doomed?

Mark C.

The man who gave us short guys hope

Doug Flutie has announced his retirement:

Doug Flutie never lost his passion for playing despite being labelled too short and too much of a scrambler. Now, after 21 years as a pro, he's leaving the football field - and maybe even his critics - behind.

The local hero who won the Heisman Trophy, worked for Donald Trump and made the NFL's first drop kick in 64 years, announced his retirement Monday after spending his final season as backup quarterback for the New England Patriots.

[...]

His most memorable college play came on Nov. 23, 1984, when he threw a 48-yard desperation touchdown heave to Gerard Phelan on the last play to upset Miami 47-45.

Flutie played the next season for the USFL's New Jersey Generals, owned by Trump, then spent two seasons with the Chicago Bears and three with New England before starting his eight-year CFL career with the B.C. Lions in 1990.

His success in the CFL, where he called his own plays, restored his confidence, ''which allowed me to come back to Buffalo and step on the field (and) in my first year, make it to a Pro Bowl,'' Flutie said.

''I could not figure out why he was in the CFL, because I thought he really had the talent to play in'' the NFL, said San Diego general manager A.J. Smith, who, while director of pro personnel in Buffalo, recommended the Bills bring Flutie from the CFL. ''I just thought he was just a terrific player, an exception to the rule.''

Flutie started 30 games in three seasons with Buffalo and 16 in his first of four years with San Diego. But in the next three with the Chargers and one with New England, he started just six times.

Too bad more NFL teams weren't willing to take a chance on the (officially) 5'10" Flutie when he was in his prime, but the NFL's loss was Canada's gain. He'll be missed.

Damian P.

Chomsky in Hezbollahland

MEMRI TV has the video. (Transcript here.) That the Israelis didn't nuke the site is a testament to their patience and decency.

Damian P.

Thumbs down

Roger Ebert, no neoconservative, didn't think much of the 9/11 mockumentary Loose Change:

I have received countless messages urging me to see this film, which essentially charges that 9/11 was a hoax generated by the Bush administration to justify the invasion of Iraq. It questions whether commercial aircraft actually crashed into the Twin Towers, says United 93 may have been shot down by a missile, doubts a plane crashed into the Pentagon, etc. Some of the film's historical information is correct, but its conspiracy theory regarding 9/11 seems cobbled together with a mixture of unsubstantiated speculation, paranoia and pseudoscience.

Coming soon to the Loose Change website:

"'The film's historical information is correct.' - Roger Ebert"

Damian P.

How illegal immigration became the issue

Reason's David Wiegel describes what a certain well-known blogger would call an "Army of Davids":

Social Security reform hit the rocks after the president stumped relentlessly; immigration reform has taken center stage even as the president did his best to ignore it. Why? Support for the former reform was top-down, but passion for the latter issue was real and bubbled up from citizen activism. Virtually all of the lobbying for Social Security reform came from beltway think tanks or groups somehow aligned with the GOP. Virtually all of the lobbying for immigration came from completely unconnected groups - the Minutemen, talk radio, cable news. Whatever your stance on the border debate, it's a nice reminder of how little control the executive actually has over the course of events.

President Bush may be trying to appease the GOP base by sending National Guard troops to the border, but the Washington Times says proposed immigration legislation will dramatically increase the number of legal immigrants allowed in the country. Which is perfectly fine, if you ask me - on balance I think immigration is a good thing, if it's adequately controlled.

Damian P.

Afstan: Canadian snipers snubbed

At least the US gave them the Bronze Star. Follow the discussion at Army.ca.

Mark C.

How do you say "Boogety, Boogety, Boogety" in French?

Crank it up. NASCAR Busch Series very likely for Montreal, 2007--on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Opposite poles, as it were. Champ Car may be out, maybe replaced by IRL. When can those get together? Else they will expire.

Mark C.

Libyan democrats betrayed

Michael Rubin is not happy about the Bush Administration's decision to restore full diplomatic ties with Tripoli:

Contrast Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s speech with Bush’s second inauguration speech. From the Middle Eastern perspective, there can be only two conclusions:

1. Bush is a liar
2. Anyone who listens to White House rhetoric about democracy is a fool.

If Libya has fulfilled its agreements with regard to terrorism, fine. Remove Libya from the state sponsor of terrorism list. But why re-establish full relations? Hadn’t Bush cited the release of Fathi El-Jahmi as evidence that Qadhafi had changed? Well what does it say when Qadhafi then re-arrests Libya’s leading dissident and the White House remains silent? Would it have been that hard to tie rapprochement to human rights? It seems someone in the State Department has taken all the lessons of the fall of Soviet tyranny and decided to do the opposite. The only winners today are the Qadhafi regime. The losers are the Libyan people, Arab liberals across the region, and victims of terrorism in the United States and around the world.

If America's ambassador to Libya is willing to support and work with democratic activists, the way American diplomats do in Cuba, this could turn out to be a very good thing indeed. But I'll need some convincing.

Michael Totten went to Libya last year and called it "a totalitarian police state...but it’s an awfully lethargic totalitarian police state."

Damian P.

America's gain is Europe's devastating loss

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is moving to the United States this fall, to take a position at the American Enterprise Institute. (via LGF)

One person leaving the Netherlands to take up a new job may not seem like much. But years from now, when Europe's divisions are much, much worse than they are already, this will be seen as a major turning point.

Damian P.

Israelis should denounce apartheid

Otherwise British academics might consider them untouchable.

Britain's biggest union for college and university teachers plans to ask its 67,000 members to consider boycotting Israeli lecturers who do not publicly dissociate themselves from what it called Israel's "apartheid policies."..

It was not clear whether the National Association's conference would approve the resolution...

Mark C.

Back to the Shire

Shire Network News is back after a two-week absence, and my commentary this week deals with The Da Vinci Code, Loose Change and the scourge of "But I'm just asking questions!"

Damian P.

Sealing the border

President Bush will be making a televised speech this evening (setting back the season finale of Prison Break about 20 minutes, which will not help his poll numbers) announcing that National Guardsmen will be stationed on the US-Mexico border to curb illegal immigration:

President Bush tried to ease the worries of his Mexican counterpart yesterday as he prepared for a nationally televised address tonight unveiling a plan to send thousands of National Guard troops to help seal the nation's southern border against illegal immigrants.

Mexican President Vicente Fox called to express concern over the prospect of militarization of the border, and Bush reassured him that it would be only a temporary measure to bolster overwhelmed Border Patrol agents, the White House said.

[...]

The White House formally insisted that no decision has been made and that Bush was still considering options yesterday. But aides left little doubt that the president intends to call for an expanded Guard deployment at the border involving several thousand troops, a significant increase from the 200 or so now there.

Officials suggested their mission would be to play a supporting role by providing intelligence, training, transportation, construction and other functions, while leaving the actual guarding of the 2,000-mile line separating the United States and Mexico to the Border Patrol. The National Guard would be a stopgap force until the federal government could hire civilian contractors to take over administrative and support functions from the Border Patrol, freeing more agents to actually hunt for immigrants slipping into the country.

The situation on America's southern border is dangerous and unsustainable, so there's a lot to be said for sending troops down there. Which begs the question as to why Bush is only getting around to it now, halfway through his second term in office. Hey, you don't think a 29% approval rating with midterm elections coming up could have something to do with it, do you?

Damian P.

The left's newest superhero

Ian Buruma on the intellectual and political left's enthusiasm for Lenin Stalin Mao Castro Ho Chi Minh Khomeini Ortega Hugo Chavez:

Chavez is not yet a Castro, let alone a Pol Pot. His fiery populist rhetoric is more in the line of Juan Peron, the Argentinian “caudillo”. Chavez, by the way, rather relishes this pejorative term. Neither quite left, nor quite right, he is a typical macho Latin leader, whose charisma is meant to stand for the empowerment of his people, mostly poor and darker-skinned than the urban elite.

Unlike many traditional caudillos, but like Silvio Berlusconi (who cut his coat from the same cloth), Chavez was democratically elected, in 1998, after having tried and failed to take the more traditional strongman’s route to power, by armed force in 1992. Chavez is the Latin American version of a new type of authoritarianism (Thailand’s Thaksin Shinawatra is the Asian version), built on a mixture of showbusiness, intimidation, paranoia, huge wealth, and public handouts to the poor. The ideal is democracy by referendum, stripped of messy party politics or independent courts.

As Ali, the ubiquitous applauder of Third World blowhards, put it: “Democracy in Venezuela, under the banner of the Bolivarian revolutionaries, has broken through the corrupt two-party system favoured by the oligarchy and its friends in the West.” But whether the corrupt two-party system will be replaced by a functioning democracy is the question.

Ali was lavish in his praise of Venezuela’s new constitution, which allows people to recall the president before he has completed his term of office. “A triumph of the poor against the rich,” he called it. In 2004 Venezuelans exercised their right to do just that by circulating a petition for a referendum. Chavez survived, but soon the names of the petitioners were made public, and anti-Chavistas were denied passports, public welfare and government contracts.

In 2004 a law was passed that would ban broadcasting stations on the grounds of security and public order. Chavez, as well as his cabinet ministers, appears on television to denounce journalists who dare to criticise the revolution. Most ominous, though, is the way Chavez has expanded the 20-seat supreme court by adding 12 sympathetic judges.

[...]

Criticism of American policies and economic practices are necessary and often just, but why do leftists continue to discredit their critical stance by applauding strongmen who oppress and murder their own critics? Is it simply a reverse application of that famous American cold war dictum: “He may be a bastard, but he’s our bastard”? Or is it the fatal attraction to power often felt by writers and artists who feel marginal and impotent in capitalist democracies? The danger of Chavism is not a revival of communism, even though Castro is among its main boosters. Nor should anti-Americanism be our main concern. The US can take care of itself. What needs to be resisted, not just in Latin America, is the new form of populist authoritarianism. [via Tim Blair]

Damian P.

Update: Harry's Place has some questions for Chavez.

Homeland security: "America the Unprepared"/Canada has no emergency agency

A book by former senior official of the new Department of Homeland Security is very critical indeed.
...
Clark Kent Ervin has decided to shout his concerns from the mountaintops in Open Target. Ervin was present at the creation of DHS, serving as the vast new department's first inspector general. His book is part policy analysis, part memoir of the disillusioning experience of simply doing his job...

Open Target details our vulnerabilities in several categories: borders, aviation, ports, mass transit, infrastructure, intelligence and even our capacity to respond after the fact to an attack. A common thread is the government's difficulty in setting and acting upon priorities -- what targets do you protect, what threats do you protect against, and what vulnerabilities do you tolerate? It has taken DHS years to begin answering those questions and prioritize what to protect in America's sprawling critical infrastructure...

Meanwhile in Canada the Martin government abolished our distinct federal emergency agency. And we are very vulnerable ourselves.

Update: An interesting post by William Arkin of the Washington Post on the current US/Canadian emergency response exercise ARDENT SENTRY 2006. Mr Arkin thinks the US military have it wrong.

Mark C.

"How do we rid ourselves of this Hirsi Ali woman?"

The bravest woman in Europe, already forced to live under police protection and then kicked out of her apartment by her thoroughly cowed neighbours, is in trouble for having lied on her asylum application 14 years ago:

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali-born Dutch legislator who has championed the rights of Muslim women, is returning from a book tour to a firestorm for lying on her asylum application when she fled to the Netherlands in 1992 to escape an arranged marriage.

Hirsi Ali, 36, said Saturday she was puzzled by the uproar since she publicly acknowledged the false refugee application when she stood for parliament in 2002.

"Have they all gone mad?" she said, accusing her rivals of a political vendetta.

"Yes, I did lie to get asylum in Holland. This is public knowledge since at least September 2002," she said in a telephone call from Hamburg, Germany.

Political opponents want her stripped of her Dutch citizenship and deported. Others say she should be expelled from parliament.

Hirsi Ali became a popular figure in the Netherlands for renouncing her Muslim faith, condemning the treatment of women in many Muslim households and criticizing Dutch immigration and integration policies.

[...]

The latest political storm followed the airing of a 30-minute TV documentary Thursday tracing her steps from Somalia, where her father was an imprisoned opposition politician, to her family's exile in Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Kenya.

Hirsi Ali repeated on the TV documentary that when she arrived in 1992 she changed her name from Hirsi Magan and her birth date on her asylum application and did not tell the authorities that she had lived in three different countries since leaving Somalia.

If there was ever anyone I was willing to forgive for having lied on a refugee claim, it's Ayaan Hirsi Ali. And sending her out of the Netherlands - especially back to Somalia - would be a death sentence. If she is forced out, I hope Canada has the cojones to take her in.

Anyone want to bet the people demanding her expulsion from the Netherlands would never demand any other refugee claimant be expelled 14 years after the fact?

Damian P.

Nova Scotia votes

A provincial election has been called for June 13. As a rule, I think newly installed premiers should call a new election shortly after they've won their party's leadership, and the polls are looking good for the Tories and Rodney MacDonald. But let's not forget what happened to poor Tom Rideout in 1989, when he called a snap election after his leadership conference. Just a few weeks later, Clyde Wells was premier of Newfoundland.

There will be a provincial election in Nova Scotia on June 13.

Conservative Premier Rodney MacDonald announced the date today, only three months after the 34-year-old former gym teacher and professional fiddler was chosen to replace retired premier John Hamm.

A recent poll suggests MacDonald is enjoying a honeymoon with voters, which could help transform his minority government into a majority on voting day.

[...]

Still, the untested premier from Cape Breton faces some challenges during the 30-day spring campaign.

Though he has pledged to regulate gas prices and reduce the cost of soaring home heating bills by rolling back the provincial sales tax, MacDonald stands accused of stealing those ideas from the NDP, led by Darrell Dexter.

As well, the Conservatives continue to be dogged by allegations involving questionable loans made by the Hamm government, and MacDonald has been accused of going on a pre-election, vote-buying spending spree.

Earlier this week, MacDonald introduced a feel-good budget that cut taxes and substantially increased spending on hospitals, schools, roads and bridges.

A recent editorial cartoon showed a rum bottle next to a ballot box, a less-than-subtle reminder of Nova Scotia's long history of gutter politics and crass electioneering.

But the pundits are suggesting that none of this will stick to MacDonald, who is known as a formidable campaigner in Cape Breton, particularly when he pulls out his fiddle and bow.

Damian P.

This is what happens when the only Canadians you meet are in downtown Toronto

Mother Sheehan: "By many accounts, Stephen Harper was put in place as leader of Canada by the collapse of weak coalitions and scandals that led to this man now leading a minority government there. He is wildly unpopular from coast to coast up north and there is a growing sense of unease about his emulation of a very unpopular person in the USA but even more in Canada: George Bush."

Angus Reid Consultants: "Many adults in Canada hold a positive opinion of their current federal administration, according to a poll by Leger Marketing. 62 per cent of respondents are satisfied with Stephen Harper’s government."

Damian P.

Darfur: Torstar should be ashamed of the Toronto Star

Kitchener's The Record nails it in an editorial. I am close to a state of disbelief. A well-reasoned and well-written piece, with both a logical and factual basis, in a small paper (owned by Torstar) that puts the Star--and the editorial pages of most papers--to shame. Please read it. Then read this silliness in the Star by Jim Travers.

Though the question of how any international force in Darfur will be authorized and come into being is not addressed.

Mark C.

In defence of price gouging

It sounds impossible, but John Stossel - who's coming to Vancouver on June 1 - makes a much better case than you'd think.

Damian P.

Afstan: Poll shows strong support for Canadian mission

Why is this story in the Gulf Times and not front page on the Globe, Star etc.? And not the lead on CBC and CTV?

Support among Canadians for the country’s military mission in Afghanistan has slipped but is still relatively solid despite a rash of recent military casualties, according to a new poll yesterday. The Ekos survey shows 62% of Canadians support the mission in Afghanistan, down from 70% in early February. The number opposed grew to 37% from 28%.
Canada has 2,300 troops based in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar. Four soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb on April 22, bringing to 16 the number of Canadians who have died in Afghanistan since the September 11 attacks.–Reuters

I think the answer is obvious. For our media good news is bad news. I hope PM Harper reads the Gulf Times (or checks out Nealenews.com: Majority support Afghan mission: Poll.

Update: I e-mailed Colin MacKenzie, the Globe's Managing Editor, News, about this and received the following reply:

Ekos was in the field april 20 to 27. We were in the field may 11 and 12.The 'despite casualties' line in the yahoo hed is misleading at best.

To which I have just replied:

Thank you very much for taking the trouble to reply.

It still seems to me that your news reporting has a strong tendency (and I know Christie Blatchford is an exception) to paint things in a negative light. At the very least the Reuters story might have produced one of your own trying to explain the exceptionally sharp apparent change in public opion in such a short period of time.

Mr MacKenzie has a point, but the flag and coffin return flaps were taking place during the latter part of the Ekos poll; I think my larger point still has merit. Reader comments welcome.

Mark C.

Who to do with this guy?

People in Bishop's Falls, Newfoundland, are up in arms about a recently released sex offender living in their town:

Tempers flared at a public meeting in Bishop's Falls Thursday night, as about 100 residents gathered to discuss whether a convicted sex offender should leave town.

The man, 24, served five months in prison for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old boy, and is now on probation in the community.

Meeting organizer Joe O'Reilly – who believes the man should not live in the community – read a letter from the man's family, who pleaded for understanding.

"[He] has been diagnosed as being developmentally delayed and has the mentality of an adolescent," O'Reilly read.

The letter said most rumours about the man were untrue and facts of the case have been blown out of proportion.

The family's letter said the man cannot take care of himself and requires 24-hour care. As well, the family said they can no longer look after his needs.

However, residents at the meeting were not in an understanding mood.

"If they don't get him out soon, I'm going to get him out," neighbour Sean George said to a cheering crowd. "The system screwed up."

There is no crime more vile and disgusting than sexual abuse of a child, so it's not hard to imagine why people in Bishop's Falls are so upset about this. If I lived there and had a child, I'd probably be ready to run the guy out of town myself. It's an understandable reaction - and a complete non-solution, since the guy has done his time and now has to live somewhere. It may as well be in a community where his family resides and where, according to his mother, he's under full-time supervision.

If a convicted sex offender is moving into a neighbourhood or community, I think local residents should be warned about it. (I'm not so sure I agree with publicly accessible online registries, in light of this case.) But once they've completed their sentences, I don't see how they can be stopped from living where they choose, unless we're going to adopt a policy of indefinitely jailing people who sexually abuse children. Of course, you can make a pretty good argument that we should be doing just that.

Damian P.

Afstan and exit strategies

Sen. Colin Kenny wants to know "the plan for success in Afghanistan".

Babbling Brooks anwers the Senator at The Torch.
...
When it comes to Afghanistan, our exit strategy should be this: we'll leave when the democratically elected government of Afghanistan asks us to, and not before. As long as there's more work to be done in the country by foreign troops, Canadians should be helping to do it...

Those worried about an open-ended commitment should revise their expectations. Cyprus wasn't a finite mission; our involvment in the Balkans over the past dozen years or so wasn't laid out in advance; hell, tell me anybody expected us to be in Germany for forty-some-odd years. Any timeline we choose at this point will be nothing more than a wild-assed guess, and some speculation might well be counterproductive...

As an aside, I wonder what the NDP and Liberal exit strategies for Darfur would be.

Mark C.

Into the twenties

29%. And I don't think the decline has stopped yet. On the other hand, Mystery Pollster says the recent NSA/phone records controversy may actually help him a little.

Damian P.

An oxymoron? Russian "democracy" and good relations with the US

Their twenty-somethings dislike the US too.
...
We underestimate at our peril the enormous degree of support for the direction Putin has taken Russia. Among 18- to 24-year-olds — the demographic that supplied the foot soldiers for the democratic "color revolutions" in Georgia and Ukraine — the Putin administration has a 57% approval rating...Three-quarters of Russians reported increases in their disposable income over the last year. There are stirrings of dissatisfaction — most notably with corruption and an inefficient, overbearing bureaucracy — but little desire for any radical overthrow of a system that many believe has brought stability and prosperity after the collapse of the 1990s...

...If the Bush administration cannot find common ground with Putin — the man jailed tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky once described as being more liberal than 70% of the Russian population — what makes them think a more democratic Russia would be a better partner?

Mark C.

Darfur: What can and should Canada do?

An excellent analysis in an Army.ca editorial. The conclusion:
...
The Ruxted Group agrees with an Army.ca member who said, recently, ”… the primary utility of armed forces is to give the government of the day options. To do that the armed forces must be capable of doing a certain range of tasks – decades, nearly four of them, of neglect and, occasionally, actual destruction of military capabilities have deprived the Government of Canada of many of its options. Delaying the rebuilding of our military capabilities, even to help others to deal with a real crime against humanity, would a grave strategic error.” It may be that Canada will, indeed must ‘sit this one out’ while it rebuilds the military so that when the inevitable next crises arise we can respond, efficiently and effectively.

Meanwhile, David Rudd, President and Executive Director of the Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies, thinks Canada could provide tactical helicopters in a pinch(if any international mission ever comes about), a view that finds some support in the Army.ca editorial (full text not online).

Predate: A marvelous column by John Robson of the Ottawa Citizen.

Update: Silly stuff in the Toronto Star from Jim Travers and (gasp) Linda McQuaig. Fairly good stuff from Thomas Walkom. See the comment thread at Army.ca.

Mark C.

Your tax dollars still at work-- for francophone TV writers hors Québec

I wonder if there is a similar program for anglophone writers living in Quebec.

Call for TV Drama Projects for Francophone Writers Living Outside Quebec: Telefilm Canada, Radio-Canada and National Film Board of Canada launch 2006 IPOLC competition for production of two short TV dramas...

...Radio-Canada will acquire the broadcast rights to the programs for its national and regional stations. The National Film Board will act as associate producer, and Telefilm Canada will participate as an investor...

With the encouragement of your MPs on The Standing Committee on Official Languages.

H/t to What's New by Date (Canada Site).

Mark C.

"Right-Of-Center Bloggers Select Their Favorite Columnists"

Guess who won? (Damian was a voter.)

H/t to SteynOnline.

Mark C.

Intelligence and nuclear weapons: a poor track record

Jeremy Bernstein, a physicist who worked at Los Alamos, writes an extensive review of a book about the problems gathering and assessing the information--with disturbing conclusions.
...
"Spying on the Bomb: American Nuclear Intelligence from Nazi Germany to Iran and North Korea", by Jeffrey T. Richelson..

...In some of their statements the Iranians have talked about making a cascade of 54,000 P-2 centrifuges. If this very difficult task can be achieved— and we don't know just how long it would take—and the cascade can be kept running for a year, the Iranians will have enough material to make more than one nuclear weapon...

H/t to Arts & Letters Daily.

Mark C.

Egyptian democracy and other oxymorons

Sandmonkey reports that jailed Egyptian blogger Alaa is blogging from prison. He also has photos and reports of Mubarak's thugs trying to shut down a major demonstration in downtown Cairo.

Damian P.

Music careers explained

I figured this had to be the reason I was hearing Lindsay Lohan and Ashlee Simpson on the radio so often (and why I don't even bother listening to Top 40 radio anymore):

Universal Music Group has become the latest major label to settle with New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer over alleged radio pay-for-play violations.

Under terms of the agreement, UMG will pay a $12 million fine (in the form of a charitable donation to New York State not-for-profit music education and appreciation programs) and agree to a sweeping list of reforms to its radio promotion practices.

Most notably UMG and its labels--Def Jam, Interscope, Universal Motown Recordings Group, Uni-South, Universal Nashville and Verve--have agreed to stop making payments and providing expensive gifts to radio stations and their employees in return for airplay of particular artists’ songs. UMG used such tactics to secure airplay for Nick Lachey, Ashlee Simpson, Brian McKnight, Big Tymers, Lindsay Lohan and others.

Spitzer’s investigation determined that UMG bribed radio station programmers with electronics, vacations, airfare, hotel accommodations and tickets to sporting events and concerts; picked up the tab for radio operational expenses and contest giveaways; participated in advertising based pay-for-play spin buy programs; and used independent promoters--including Jeff McClusky, Bishop, Bait & Tackle and Michele Clark--to funnel illegal payments to radio stations.

Damian P.

It took the invasion of France to take it seriously then

What will it take now? Especially in Canada.

MI5 knew the identities of two of the London bombers a full two years before they launched their suicide attacks on the capital's transport system last July, killing 52 innocent people. But the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC), the parliamentary body that is supposed to scrutinise the work of the various agencies responsible for protecting us from attacks, yesterday said that MI5 could not be blamed for failing to prevent them....

But Tony Blair has always appeared to be more tolerant of the failings of his intelligence services than those of his ministers, and it will take more than mere parliamentary scrutiny if our security chiefs are ultimately to be held accountable for their inaction.

A more "robust" attitude may be in order and not just in the UK. And, guess what, British democracy survived after 1940. Perhaps with a certain skewing of priorities today.
...
On 22nd May 1940 the British government announced the imposition of Defence Regulation 18B. This legislation gave the Home Secretary the right to imprison without trial anybody he believed likely to "endanger the safety of the realm"...

That war was won. Not to suggest and I honestly do not...

Mark C.

Your calls may be monitored

Pajamas Media has a roundup of blog reaction to the NSA/phone records story.

I find it's usually a good idea to let the initial hysteria subside before making up your mind about this kind of thing, but like several other conservative bloggers, I'm wondering whether the NSA and Bush administration have gone too far here. On the other hand, if you've savaged the government for "failing" to prevent the 9/11 attacks, you'd have to say this is the kind of thing they should have been doing all along, right?

Damian P.

J (As in Jeb)

Jeb for Prez? I don't know enough yet about him as a candidate, but what I do know puts him miles ahead of a Colin, a Rudy or a McCain.

"J08" then, for the time being, until a better conservative canidate emerges. There are better choices... Tony Snow, perhaps?

Prediction: The Demos will pick Hillary, the GOP will pick a lib such as McClueless or Rudy or Powell, and libertarians and conservatives both will stay home "in droves." Given how hated Hills is, though, even amongst long-time libs, perhaps Demos will stay home too...

Listen up

I'll be on Rob Breakenridge's World Tonight show this evening around 9PM 10:05PM Eastern, discussing Loose Change and the 9/11 conspiracy industry.

Damian P.

Once they were jailed for treason. Now they get tenure

Once again, Noam Chomsky betrays his country, his people and common decency:

Radical American thinker and MIT professor Noam Chomsky met with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut today and branded the U.S. a terrorist state.

“I think that Nasrallah has a reasoned argument and a persuasive argument that they (the weapons) should be in the hands of Hizbollah as a deterrent to potential aggression and there is plenty of background and reasons for that. So, I think his position, if I am reporting it correctly, and it seems to be a reasonable position, is that until there is a general political settlement in the region and the threat of aggression and violence is reduced or eliminated, there has to be a deterrent. The Lebanese army cannot be a deterrent.”

MORE:

“There is a meaning to the word terrorist, in fact you can read a definition of term terrorist is the U.S. code of laws. It gives a very clear, precise, adequate definition of the word terrorist. have been writing about terrorism for 25 years always using the official U.S. definition [of the word ”terrorist“], but that definition is un-usable, and the reason is that when you use that definition it turns out, not surprisingly, that the U.S. is one of the leading terrorist states, and the other states become terrorist or non-terrorist depending on how they are relating to U.S. goals.”

MORE:

“The regional superpower Israel is threatening to attack it [Iran], the U.S. is threatening to attack it. These threats alone are outright violations international law and of the U.N. charter. Iran is in difficulty. Iran has been trying for some years to negotiate settlement but the U.S. just refuses.”

Damian P.

Immigration: The more the merrier--and what the effects will be

The Globe's John Ibbitson--who lusts for an ever more cosmopolitan, multicultural and postnational Canada (that Canada clearly will not include Quebec)--wants ever more immigrants to keep the major cities growing: Canada's future rests with open-door immigration (full text not online).
...
With these same variables, by mid-century the Golden Horseshoe, Windsor, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Vancouver will still be growing. Every other city in the country will be losing population...

But certain issues are, or should be, settled. The future of this country resides primarily in its major cities. In those cities, Europeans will soon be visible minorities, since almost all immigrants come from the developing world. The only hope to sustain the population at its current level is to defend and promote the immigration ethos...

David Frum wonders about the effects of this type of immigration on the US.
...
In other words, the decision today not to enforce the immigration laws is guaranteeing that the US of the second half of the 21st century will cease to be a country predominantly populated by people of European descent. Isn't that sort of a big deal? Oh well, I suppose we should be glad the item made a newspaper at all...

Yes, that certainly sounds like a formula for tolerance and mutual accommodation ....

Update: Some thoughts on, and analysis of, immigration from Angry in the Great White North.

Mark C.

B.S.

Drop everything and watch this segment from Penn & Teller: Bullshit! about the 9/11 "truth movement":

Damian P.

Update: welcome, Nealenews readers.

I've tracked down yet another blog which refutes 9/11 conspiracy theories, with a special emphasis on the mockumentary Loose Change. In particular, I draw your attention to this post, which refutes the blatant lie that Ben Chertoff, who wrote the excellent Popular Mechanics report on 9/11 conspiracies, is closely related to Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff.

"I'm shocked, shocked to find that hardball rhetoric is going on in here!"

Frankly, I prefer Claude Rains' portrayal of Captain Renault over Warren Kinsella's current trodding of the boards of hypocrisy.

Paul Canniff

1991 again

The sad thing is, this really could have been a hit around the time I was finishing high school.

Damian P.

Darfur: Reality 101

The Globe's Margaret Wente gives the facts of which Jack Layton, Roméo Dallaire, David Kilgour, Keith Martin, et al. prefer to remain in blissful, self-satisfied and self-important ignorance (full text not online).
...
...Jack Layton wants to help Darfur, especially if it means we get to pull our troops out of Afghanistan to do it. "Let there be no doubt," he said in an emotional speech this week. "What we are seeing in Darfur is genocide in slow motion."

The Arab nations have been curiously mum about the Muslims dying in Darfur. Is it because they're the wrong kind of Muslims? Or is it because they're being slaughtered by other Muslims, instead of by Americans and Jews? The African Union isn't enthusiastic about Western meddling either. They're insulted that people think their own 7,000-man security force can't do the job -- even though it has been totally ineffectual. The Europeans, meantime, have mostly got out of the peacekeeping business. They'd rather stand back and denounce American imperialism...

Now if only PM Harper would honestly face and explain reality instead of musing about troops (which could only be very few in any event). And if only our media, while making hay about contradictions between what the PM and the National Defence Minister are saying, would make it clear at the outset in their "reporting" that there is no UN mission for Darfur, likely will not be (at least not a UN Charter Chapter VII peacemaking mission), and that any such mission to be effective would not be a "traditional peacekeeping" (Charter Chapter VI) mission.

Meanwhile, a piece by Jim Travers in the Toronto Star in which he claims that former PM Martin got a promise in March 2005 from Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Hillier that there would be troops for both Afstan and Darfur. The title says it all: Peacekeeping pledge broken. The media's agenda marches on.

Globe and Mail Update: PM Harper talks some sense--unlike the Liberals and NDP in the House who seem to think that Canada is absolutely central to how the world deals with congo, and that Canada has the international clout to "do something".

Montreal Gazette not so upperdate:

Layton the Afghan opportunist. An editorial that nails Black Jack and his fellow hypocrites.

H/t to whiskey601.

Mark C.

The revolution stalls

Max Boot says democratic activists' momentum has slowed down considerably around the world, and that the United States has no business continuing to support tyrants like Egypt's Hosni Mubarak:

Vladimir V. Putin has crushed all competing centers of power in Russia. Belarus, the only other dictatorship left in Europe, held fraudulent elections that confirmed Alexander G. Lukashenko's death grip on power. The same thing happened in Kazakhstan, where president-for-life Nursultan A. Nazarbayev claimed to have won more than 90% of the vote. Next door in Uzbekistan, security forces gunned down hundreds of unarmed protesters in the city of Andijan and then tried to cover up the massacre.

The same worrisome trend is observable in the Middle East. The Iranian ayatollahs have stepped up their campaign of torturing, jailing and executing dissidents. The Assad regime has arrested more opposition figures at home and continues to intimidate anti-Syrian activists in Lebanon. And, most glaring of all, modern-day pharaoh Mubarak has imprisoned his leading liberal opponent and renewed the draconian "emergency law" that allows indefinite detention of anyone who challenges his rule.

What's going on? Well, no one — not even Bush — ever said that the course of liberty would be smooth and easy. Entrenched elites have an obvious incentive to resist giving up power, and they now feel free to do so because they think that Bush, a lame-duck president with approval ratings in the low 30s, is too feeble to resist.

[...]

Mubarak is reputedly one of Washington's closest friends in the Arab world, yet he has been among the most brazen in defying Bush's demands for greater openness while force-feeding his 78 million subjects a steady diet of anti-American and anti-Semitic drivel. His vow to hold multiparty presidential elections produced a suspect ballot last fall in which he secured 88% of a feeble turnout. Afterward, he consigned his chief challenger, Ayman Nour, to five years' hard labor on trumped-up charges of forging signatures to qualify for the ballot. The subsequent parliamentary election was even more dubious; ruling party goons used violence and fraud to keep the Muslim Brotherhood, the main opposition group, from winning too many seats. Now Mubarak's minions are roughing up peaceful demonstrators who support brave judges in their demand for greater independence and less electoral fraud.

Why, oh why, is this repugnant regime still getting $2 billion a year in American subsidies? Take the money away from Mubarak and give it to democracy-promotion programs across the Middle East. That would be a shot heard 'round the world. Failing such a signal, the dictators will become bolder and more brazen in defying what Bush once called "the nonnegotiable demands of human dignity."

Damian P.

Projection

Mad Mahmoud, who James Wolcott would have us believe is quite a rational and intelligent fellow, is at it again:

Iran's president on Thursday intensified his attacks against Israel, calling it a "a tyrannical regime that will one day will be destroyed," but also said he was ready to negotiate with the United States and its allies over his country's nuclear program.

Damian P.

The cars that could save Ford

Why, asks Car and Driver, isn't Ford selling its Aussie V8-powered, rear-wheel-drive models in the United States?

I still say the first automaker which brings its Australian "utes" - modern-day El Caminos and Rancheros - to America will cause a sensation.

Damian P.

Afstan: NY Times admits it got it wrong about Canada

The fact that American troops are pulling out of southern Afghanistan in the coming months, and handing matters over to NATO peacekeepers, who have repeatedly stated that they are not going to fight terrorists [my emphasis], has given a lift to the insurgents, and increased the fears of Afghans...

Oops. A correction.

A front-page article on May 3 about the growing brazenness of Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan referred imprecisely to the combat policies of NATO peacekeeping forces that are scheduled to take over responsibilities as American troops withdraw from that region in coming months. While some contributing nations to the NATO forces have said they do not intend to fight Taliban and other militants, others, including Canada, have said they consider the NATO mission to be more than just peacekeeping [my emphasis] and would operate under the same rules of engagement as the Americans [I doubt they're exactly the same].

At least I had the good sense to put this in my post's title: Pessimistic story in the NY Times.

And to open the post with: Sad to say, I am not sure if I trust this kind of reporting in the Gray Lady any more.

H/t to Opinion Journal - Best of the Web Today which led its item with: Don't Blame Canada.

Mark C.

Screw Loose

I actually watched the "second edition" of the 9/11 conspirozoid "documentary" Loose Change earlier today. I'll have more about it later, but right now I need to take a shower or something.

The worst thing about the internet is that nonsense like Loose Change can spread so rapidly. The best thing about the internet is that refutations and responses to the film - including this blog and an extraordinarily detailed, devastating "viewer's guide" - can spring up so quickly, too.

Damian P.

Update: the filmmakers' persecution complex is illustrated here.

Twenty scariest movies

Pretty good list from Entertainment Weekly, though for a moment I thought they'd left out Carrie.

H/t to Nealenews.

Mark C.

Canada's wonderful human rights company

Captain's Quarters takes a dim view of the UN's new, improved Human Rights Council. Canada, however, is "pleased" to be elected to it.

The United Nations validated every argument yesterday about the efficacy of its so-called reform when it announced that Cuba, China, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Azerbaijan would sit on its Human Rights Council:

The US objected to the new Human Rights Council because its so-called reforms showed little difference between the new panel and the old Human Rights Commission. Once again, we see that notorious human-rights violaters have standing to pass judgment on other nations and to direct investigations as they see fit. Cuba will therefore get a pass on its jailing of dissidents and reporters; China will not answer for its forced abortions and its political oppression...

Mark C.

Positive, albeit Surreal, News

Time was not that long ago when this would have been readily deemed one of the Seven Signs of the Eschaton:

Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams is to nominate DUP leader Ian Paisley for the position of Northern Ireland's first minister when the assembly returns.

Paul Canniff

Why we won't save Darfur

Mick Hartley responds to the New Republic editorial on Darfur:

Is it really up to the West to intervene? The answer, sadly, is....well, no one else is going to do anything about it. But the last time the West intervened to stop a genocidal regime - one which, quite apart from the massacres of Kurds and Marsh Arabs, had invaded two of its neighbours, was in breach of numerous UN resolutions, and whose leader Saddam Hussein made no secret of his ambition to acquire WMDs to further his ambition to be the new Saladin - the protests across the world, and most particularly in the West itself, were so deafening, and the vitriol hurled at Bush and Blair so relentless, that the chances of another intervention by the West - ie the US with its allies - is effectively zero. America marching in to another Muslim oil-producing country? Yeah, right.

Damian P.

But he's only asking questions...

Michael Moore's assistant, Jason Pollock, has seen Loose Change and is now, like, totally convinced that the World Trade Center was destroyed by controlled demolitions and that, well, something other than an airliner hit the Pentagon. ("Another thing that has been hotly contested but virtually proven in this film is that the Pentagon was not hit by a regular-sized passenger plane. What did hit the Pentagon then? Was it a missile? I ask you to watch this film and make your own conclusions.")

Get used to it now, folks, because this will be conventional wisdom in Hollywood - and the version of 9/11 portrayed in the movies and on television - before too long. Ironically, the USA Today story to which Pollock breathlessly links directly contradicts his own post:

Most of what the film alleges is refuted by the evidence at hand. Anything not answered definitively by the government is interpreted by the film as proof of a coverup.

Among the assertions in Loose Change is that a missile hit the Pentagon even though eyewitnesses saw the jet, numerous pieces of wreckage were found including the flight recorder, and those on the flight and in its path at the Pentagon are dead.

There is also the claim that because jet fuel burns at up to 1,500 degrees and steel melts at 2,750 degrees, the World Trade Center's infrastructure could not have been brought down by the airliners. However, as reported by the Journal of the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society, steel loses 50% of its strength at 1,200 degrees, enough for a failure.

"The only thing they (the filmmakers) seem to have gotten right about the Sept. 11 attacks is the date when they occurred," says Debra Burlingame, whose brother was the pilot of American Flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon.

Damian P.

Quote of the Day (II)

"I mean, statesmen don't write 18 page letters to each other."

- Victor Davis Hanson, discussing Mahmoud Ahmadinejead's letter to President Bush, on Hugh Hewitt's show. (The full text of the letter is here, in PDF format. Any resemblence to a Huffington Post blog entry is probably unintentional.)

This story in the Seattle Times notes, "the letter to Bush apparently was more in line with an unsolicited epistle Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of Iran's theocratic system, dispatched to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1989 that urged him to study Islam." The headline: "Is hard-line Iran leader softening his stance?"

Damian P.

Quote of the Day

From The New Republic's powerful editorial about the world's non-intervention in Darfur:

...if you are not willing to use force against genocide immediately, then you do not understand what genocide is. Genocide is not a crisis that escalates into evil. It is evil from its inception. It may change in degree if it is allowed to proceed, but it does not change in kind. It begins with the worst. Nor is its gravity to be measured quantitatively: The intention to destroy an entire group is present in the destruction of even a small number of people from that group. It makes no sense, therefore, to speak of ending genocide later. If you end it later, you will not have ended it.

Damian P.

A coincidence, I'm sure

Ramsey Clark's latest lunatic fringe group, dedicated to turning America into a Marxist police state the "democratization of America", is known as the "International Endowment for Democracy" (IED).

IED also stands for "Improvised Explosive Device".

Damian P.

Thank God I'm not a kid today

Fun is too dangerous for children, according to a growing number of school administrators and municipal councils:

A growing number of school districts are going so far as to ban the game of tag and are even posting signs that read "no running on the playground."

Is there real danger on the modern playground?

Safety advocates say yes and want to eliminate it.

Their first target: swing sets.

They've convinced Portland Public Schools to remove all swings from elementary schools playgrounds.

[...]

In Broward County, Florida, there's a new rule on the playground: no running.

A parent there commented that "no running on the playground, that's kind of like no playing on the playground" and another called for a review of what exactly was "safe" or unsafe.

So what can kids still play?

Not dodge ball or tether ball, that's still too dangerous. And in Beaverton, at Barnes Elementary School, rules there forbid the game of tag.

In Salem, an elementary education director says "we don't encourage the game of tag because it encourages fights."

Is there anything worse than a child getting hurt on the playground? Yes: an entire generation being released into the world without learning the hard way what's dangerous and what isn't.

Damian P.

Liberal blogger Cerberus is concerned

Stephen Harper's long-term agenda may get the feds out of the provinces' business. Good idea.

Mark C.

Decline and fall

Mark Steyn savages the dying European sheep.

What do you get when you take two world wars, add the two most malign ideologies of the century, throw in genocide, the collapse of religious institutions, radical secularism, a political elite sealed off from opinions it finds distasteful, spiraling social costs, deathbed demographics and growing numbers of an unassimilated immigrant population?

Answer: You get Europe in the new millennium - mired in aggressive pacifism, moral nihilism, resurgent anti-semitism and reflex anti-Americanism. And, if you want to blame all that on Bush and Cheney, you have to shut your eyes and ears to a mountain of statistical evidence. To those on the American left who find Europe more “sophisticated”, you’re right: it’s sophisticated in the sense that a belle époque Parisian boulevardier is sophisticated – outwardly dapper and worldly, inwardly eaten away by syphilis and gonorrhea. It’s only a question of how many others the clapped-out bon vivant infects before his final collapse...

And that's just the start.

Mark C.

If the helmet fits...If the magic works

Cost-effective and speedy defence procurement: let's hope this works.
...
Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said yesterday that it's time for the armed forces to buy more products off the shelf rather than continue an expensive practice of ordering uniquely Canadian equipment.

"It just adds to cost," he said outside a Senate standing committee. "If an airplane works, or a truck works or a gun works, just buy it."..

But this is rather worrying (full text not online).

"The magic of accountants" will help the Conservatives deliver on their promise to add 13,000 new full-time Canadian Forces personnel, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said yesterday during tough questioning before a Senate committee.

Mr. O'Connor also reiterated his pledge from last week that he had six to eight major equipment purchases, including transport aircraft and armoured trucks for soldiers in Afghanistan, ready to be launched as soon as federal cabinet gives him the green light.

Mark C.

What to do about Iran?

Edward Luttwak has perhaps the best article I've read on the subject, in Commentary. The short, short version: no sane person can believe Iran's nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but bombing Iran right now would be counterproductive.

There's far too much to excerpt, but it's absolutely packed with fascinating insights into the way that country really works. (The most startling: Iran, one of the biggest oil producers on earth, has to import one-third of its gasoline because they can't refine it all themselves. Great job, mullahs!)

Damian P.

The Bennett era ends

After just three months on the job, Jim Bennett has stepped down as leader of the provincial Liberals.

Given Danny Williams's approval ratings, and Newfoundland's long history of keeping one party in power for at least a decade, the next Liberal leader can expect to hold the job until just after the 2007 election, when he or she will be forced to step down after a humiliating defeat. Now let's not all put in our nominations at once, okay? (With Kelvin Parsons out of the picture, I'd say interim leader Gerry Reid is the most likely sucker candidate.)

Damian P.

Canadian military reality; the NDP in cuckoo-land

The CF are, surprise, stretched.

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor says the Canadian Forces can't take on any new overseas missions while they try to expand their ranks.

He told a Senate committee that the Afghanistan operation can essentially be maintained at the present level forever, but there's nothing to spare for any other deployments...

Meanwhile, George Bush is still trying to conquer Canada by stealth.

The House of Commons voted late Monday to renew and expand the NORAD pact, a keystone of Canada's defence for half a century.

The NDP objects to provisions of the treaty, which they say will compromise Canadian sovereignty and draw Canada into the controversial American missile-defence program.

Well, they would wouldn't they?

Mark C.

White men can jump

Canada's greatest professional athlete ever (NHL aside, and apologies to Larry Walker)?

What is it about B.C. and our best pro athletes?

Mark C.

CF airlift procurement: Airbus is getting desperate

Both Boeing and Airbus have full-page colour ads in the May 8 Hill Times aimed at our politicians and political media.

Boeing's for the C-17 points out:

...its unmatched ability to support troops and deliver humanitarian relief virtually anywhere, anytime...

Go, DART, go!. I think we should ditch DART and give money to experienced relief organizations instead, but no votes there--and the Conservatives promised to double the size of DART.

Airbus, for its part, takes the following line, appealing to traditional Canadian parsimony in defence purchases:

A400M: Get more - pay less!

Canada wants a new tactical military transport aircraft. There is also a demand for a new strategic airlift capability. The A400M does both without finding new tax dollars to buy and maintain tow separate aircraft fleets [Airbus' emphasis]...the A400M will be delivered on time and ready for service in 2009...

In a pig's eye. The plane has not flown yet and it will have an all-new engine (PWC should have won the competition for this on merit but the Euros gave it to a Euro consortium--why should we reward this behaviour?). In any case the A400M simply does not have the trans-oceanic range and payload to be a good strategic lifter for Canada.

Nothing from Lockheed Martin touting the C-130J. Confidence?

Mark C.

Know your enemy dept.

A useful analysis the federal leadership candidates' performance Friday at the Ontario Liberal meeting over the weekend. Ted is a reasonable guy (despite his politics).

And Blue Blogging Soapbox's Liberal Leadership Website Review Update 8.

Mark C.

A special message for The New School, Class of 2006

I had to sit through a commencement address by Nancy Riche at my university graduation, so there's no reason you can't sit through an address by John McCain at yours. Deal with it.

Sincerely,

Damian P.

Cultural assisted suicide

In the London suburb of Barking, firemen have been ordered not to fly the cross of St. George - England's national flag - during the World Cup for fear that minorities and immigrants may be offended. As often with cases like this, it's not actual minorities who've complained (the local mosque secretary calls the ban "oversensitive"), but white leftists imposing their guilt-mongering on everyone else.

Scott Burgess asks, "can you think of any other nation in the entire world in which a display of the national flag would be prohibited for fear of causing offence?" Well, I've read about schools in the Netherlands which have banned Dutch flag patches from students' backpacks for similar reasons. And I'm sure we'll be reading about stories like this in America before too long.

Barking and Dagenham is where the racist British National Party won 11 seats on the local council last week. I'm not sure that's a coincidence.

Damian P.

Afstan: Now we really, really know what the Globe's Editor-in-chief thinks

This is the third paragraph of a story about a meeting of Ontario Liberals attended by all eleven federal leadership candidates:

Comments and speeches by the candidates and interim leader Bill Graham focused on the environment, aboriginals, social justice, foreign aid and longer-term economic issues. Canada's Afghanistan mission, despite being one of the main political issues at the federal level, was barely mentioned.

The headline and first paragraph, however, state:

Liberals ponder role in Afghanistan...

Canada's military mission in Afghanistan is shaping up to be the most sensitive issue in the Liberal leadership campaign, as public support declines for the mission originally launched when the party was in power.

The two paragraphs directly contradict each other. One cannot but suspect that the Globe and Mail is deliberately trying to sow doubt about the Afghanistan mission. That would be fine on the editorial page; it is not fine when it leads to clearly distorted news reporting.

Meanwhile, the NDP reveals its own anti-Afstan mission agenda--and its utter ignorance of foreign affairs (full text not online).

The federal NDP says Canada should take a lead role in any United Nations mission to stop the bloodshed in congo, even if that means reducing its commitment in Afghanistan.

Liberal Senator Romeo Dallaire, the former general who led the doomed UN peacekeeping mission in Rwanda, has called for Canada to play a lead role in a proposed 20,000-member UN peacekeeping force.

Mr Layton is clearly not aware that the UN's Suez peacekeeping mission (UNEF)--Pearson's concept--had nothing to do with protecting people. Its mission was simply to place troops between two armed forces, the Israeli and Egyptian, in order to discourage a resumption of hostilities.

Ms Black wants Canada to do "traditional peacekeeping" in congo. Clearly she is unaware that what the do-gooders, such as Senator Dallaire, want is no such thing. Rather they want a UN Charter Chapter VII mission with a mandate to take action and use force on its own: in other words "peacemaking" (as in Afstan) rather than "traditional peacekeeping".

By the way, both NATO ISAF and US Operation Enduring Freedom in Afstan, are authorized by the UN Security Council under Chapter VII. I doubt Mr Layton or Ms Black know that either. But who cares about truth when trying to make political hay? And how ironic that both the Globe and Citizen stories appear on VE Day--a day that is a reminder of a real tradition.

Update: More nonsense in the Citizen from Susan ("Lefty") Riley: The Afghanistan wedge.

Upperdate: Confirmation that Afstan was barely mentioned at the Ontario Liberal meeting, from a Liberal blogger.

Was Ignatieff the only one to mention Afghanistan on the stage? I think so.

Uppestdate: A very astute analysis of the Riley column at Army.ca.

Mark C.

Public podcasts

CBC Radio is now offering highlights from its programming, including regional shows, in downloadable MP3 format. (via John Gushue)

Damian P.

Update: you have to use iTunes or some other podcast aggregator, though.

Lesson learned

The Danish cartoons controversy proved that people will gladly renounce their freedom of expression if you kick up enough of a fuss. With the Da Vinci Code movie coming out in a few weeks, some Catholics are taking notice:

In the latest Vatican broadside against "The Da Vinci Code", a leading cardinal says Christians should respond to the book and film with legal action because both offend Christ and the Church he founded.

Cardinal Francis Arinze, a Nigerian who was considered a candidate for pope last year, made his strong comments in a documentary called "The Da Vinci Code-A Masterful Deception."

Arinze's appeal came some 10 days after another Vatican cardinal called for a boycott of the film. Both cardinals asserted that other religions would never stand for offences against their beliefs and that Christians should get tough.

[...]

"Those who blaspheme Christ and get away with it are exploiting the Christian readiness to forgive and to love even those who insult us. There are some other religions which if you insult their founder they will not be just talking. They will make it painfully clear to you," Arinze said.

This appeared to be a reference to protests by Muslims around the world over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad. [emphasis added]

I think Catholics have every right to peacefully protest against the book and movie, and they have every right (indeed, a duty) to refute Dan Brown's ridiculous conspiracy theories. (For that matter, Muslims have every right to peacefully protest against the Danish cartoons, too.) I draw the line at violence, threats, intimidation and - in this case - nuisance legal action.

Damian P.

Free Alaa

A prominent Egyptian blogger and democracy activist has been arrested. Sandmonkey has the details.

The website for the Egyptian embassy in Ottawa is down, but you can contact the Washington embassy at the following address:

The Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt
3521 International Ct. NW
Washington DC 20008
Phone (202) 895 5400
Fax (202) 244 5131
(202) 244 4319
Email: embassy@egyptembdc.org

(via InstaPundit)

Damian P.

The most brutal war on earth

It's not Iraq, Afghanistan or even Darfur. It's in the Congo. Johann Hari has written an absolutely chilling account of the horrors he saw there, and the economic factors that keep it going.

Damian P.

Do I even have to say which one?

It was only a matter of time before A former U.S. President started shilling for Hamas.

When this genocidal terror organization did so well in Palestinian legislative elections, I saw a silver lining: surely the world won't keep making excuses for the Palestinians now, will they? Maybe I have no right to attack Jimmah for being so naive, when I could be so naive.

Damian P.

Triple your pleasure, triple your fun

George Will quotes a truth. ¡Arriba!
...
...hitting a triple is better than sex...

Mr Bonds take note.

Update: A "Ruthian clout", no. 713. It sure was. ¿Quién sabe?

Mark C.

The Cruise curse?

Mission: Impossible III made "only" $48 million in its opening weekend, and analysts are scrambling to figure out what went wrong. Tom Cruise's behavior is getting much of the blame, and I have no doubt it was a factor for many moviegoers - but, if anything, he was even more of a laughingstock last summer, and everyone still flocked to see War of the Worlds.

Box Office Mojo's Brandon Gray hints at the real reason for this disappointing opening: nobody was clamoring for another sequel to Mission: Impossible.

...the first two Mission: Impossibles were ephemeral thrill rides, not movies that many continued to love through the years, and they didn't establish compelling characters beyond Cruise's star power, like a James Bond, Jack Ryan or Jason Bourne.

A movie can make over $100 million at the box office based on hype and star power, but that doesn't mean people will like it enough to demand a sequel. (This is the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider rule.) If anything, a $48M opening for Mission: Impossible III proves that Tom Cruise is still one of the biggest movie stars on earth, even if everyone is afraid of him. If the filmmakers had replaced Cruise with Ice Cube, I doubt it would have made $15 million.

Damian P.

Darfur: How real is the hope for a UN force? Mark Steyn has an answer

Perhaps Khartoum will agree to a UN force after all (but any force wouldn't be there for six months!) though I doubt it will agree to a Charter Chapter VII force with a mandate to take action and use force on its own--which is the sort of force the do-gooders are demanding. Without Khartoum's agreement China and Russia will veto any effort at the Security Council to give a force such a mandate. A "peacekeeping" force without such a mandate is unlikely to have much impact.

Sudan's government said Saturday that its peace accord with congo's main insurgent group could pave the way for it to welcome U.N. peacekeepers, as mediators worked to persuade the rest of the fractured rebel movement to join the process...

Zoellick admitted there was much work ahead. Getting a U.N. peacekeeping force on the ground was key but would take at least six months, he said Friday...

Rwanda to the rescue?!?

While details for a U.N. peacekeeping force are finalized, the U.S. diplomat said the United States had asked Rwanda to send in some 1,200 troops to supplement the AU monitors.

Meanwhile, Mark Steyn expresses views much like mine--but rather more vividly and with maybe just a touch of exaggeration for effect.
...
Faced with another thug regime that's no threat to anyone apart from selected ethnocultural groups within its borders which it kills in large numbers (African Muslims and southern Christians), the unilateralist cowboy decided to go by the book. No unlawful actions here. Instead, meetings at the UN. Consultations with allies. Possible referral to the Security Council.

So forget a legal intervention authorised by the UN. If by "multinational" Clooney means military participation by the Sudanese regime's co-religionists, then dream on. The Arab League, as is its wont when one of its bloodier members gets a bad press, has circled the camels and chosen to confer its Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval on Khartoum by holding its most recent summit there...

Mark C.

Iraq: Does the US know its enemies?

Not very well, thinks someone in a good position to judge.

Who are we fighting in Iraq? Ahmed S. Hashim attempts to answer that question in his excellent Insurgency and Counter-Insurgency in Iraq (Cornell Univ., $29.95). The result is probably the best book to appear so far on the U.S. occupation -- a genuine insider's account arguing that the U.S. mission is failing and is likely doomed. In exploring the Iraqi insurgency, Hashim, a professor of strategy at the U.S. Naval War College who has done two tours advising the military in Iraq, goes a long way toward explaining why Iraq is drifting toward civil war.

Only two choices now remain for the United States in Iraq, he warns. Neither is particularly palatable: Either let the country's drift toward civil war continue and watch ethnic militias fight mercilessly "over the rotting carcass of the Iraqi state" -- or get ahead of that trend by managing a partition of the country along ethnic and sectarian lines.

Maybe the new CIA Director can help, but I have my doubts.

Mark C.

Circumventing the Censors

Three University of Toronto students have developed Psiphon, a computer program which will allow internet users to get around government filtering software. If it works, and it allows people in China and Saudi Arabia to access the uncensored internet, I'd say these guys deserve a Nobel Peace Prize. (Yeah, that'll happen.)

One of the developers, Nart Villeneuve, is a Marx- and Chomsky-reading, Che-coffee-mug-owning anti-globalization activist. You have to wonder if he's aware of the irony.

Damian P.

Cracking the Code

With the Da Vinci Code film hitting theatres on May 19, Christians are organizing violent protest marches, firebombing theatres, demanding that the UN introduce and enforce anti-blasphemy laws and have forced Ron Howard and Dan Brown into hiding.

But seriously, folks...

Area churches are preparing to counter unorthodox claims about Jesus Christ in the movie "The Da Vinci Code," which opens in theaters later this month.

"'The Da Vinci Code' kind of gave a focus that there's a lot [of misinformation] about Jesus Christ and Christianity out there, and perhaps it's time to rebut it," said Monsignor Francis J. Maniscalco, a spokesman for the District-based U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "If people see [the movie], they should go prepared."

[...]

The book and upcoming film have triggered a far different response from organized religion than that created by the 2004 release of "The Passion of the Christ," Mel Gibson's version of Christ's crucifixion, which prompted some churches to rent out theaters and hold special screenings of the R-rated film.

This time, churches are educating their members about how to respond to the story, but there is little encouragement to go see the movie.

"I suppose people are free to go, but [understand] you are giving money to those who are attacking the church," said the Rev. William Stetson, director of the Catholic Information Center in Northwest and a member of Opus Dei, the Catholic institution that Mr. Brown casts as a main villain in the novel.

Web sites hosted by the Catholic bishops group and Campus Crusade are dedicated to addressing aspects of Mr. Brown's book, including questions regarding Renaissance art, biblical texts and the origins of the Holy Grail.

At the 8,500-member evangelical McLean Bible Church in Fairfax County, pastors Lon Solomon and Todd Phillips will seek to debunk "The Da Vinci Code" in their respective morning and evening services, beginning May 21.

Over the next few weeks, keep an eye out for many of the same people who made excuses for the Muslim anti-Danish demonstrators to sneer about American Christians' "intolerance" and attempts at "censorship".

Damian P.

Cheering the Crash

I was growing more optimistic about Iraq in recent weeks, but this jolted me back to earth:

A British helicopter crashed Saturday morning in the southern city of Basra, touching off a confrontation in which hundreds of cheering Shiite demonstrators pelted British soldiers with gasoline bombs.

The British Defense Ministry released a statement confirming that soldiers had been killed in the incident, but a military spokesman would not specify how many until their next of kin could be notified. Iraqi firefighters and police officials said they pulled four bodies from the wreckage, news services reported.

[...]

British armored vehicles and ambulances that rushed to the scene were soon surrounded by a crowd of supporters of the radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The al-Jazeera television network broadcast images of demonstrators pumping their fists in the air as they chanted, "Victory to the Mahdi Army!" -- a Shiite militia loyal to Sadr.

British troops attempted to regain control of a street in the crowded, run-down neighborhood, which was filled with smoke from burning tires. Muntz said people in the crowd lobbed Molotov cocktails and makeshift grenades and that a smattering of gunfire could be heard. No soldiers were reported hurt.

Police said four Iraqi adults and a child were killed in the clashes and 30 civilians were injured, the Associated Press reported.

Ominously, Basra was a relatively tranquil, anti-Saddam city until recently:

Basra's predominantly Shiite Muslim population generally opposed Saddam Hussein, and the city has been relatively tranquil since the U.S.-led invasion of the country in 2003. Yet violence has escalated as rival militia groups affiliated with Shiite political parties fight for influence.

Residents of Basra -- Iraq's second-largest city -- have also had an increasingly adversarial relationship with the British army, which has occupied the area since the invasion. The 8,000 British troops have repeatedly clashed with Sadr's militia, which is stridently opposed to the presence of foreign soldiers in Iraq. The British also attempted to disarm Iraqi police units earlier this year, arguing that they have been infiltrated by militia members.

Residents were enraged by the discovery in February of a video from 2004 showing British troops beating an Iraqi teenager. The governor of Basra province broke off relations with the British force after the video became public, but reestablished them in recent weeks. Prior to the helicopter crash, 104 British troops had died in Iraq.

Damian P.

Gas pains

Jonah Goldberg describes how high gas prices make everyone crazy and stupid, regardless of his or her political affiliation:

At a time when (a) the second-largest oil producer in the world — Iran — is engulfed in nuclear messianic nationalism; (b) Iraq is, shall we say, a somewhat unstable oil producer; (c) we have few oil refineries, and many of them are undergoing maintenance that was postponed because of Hurricane Katrina; and (d) China's economy grew at an oil-sucking 10 percent in the first quarter while our own grew at an astounding 4.8 percent, the brain trust in Washington is stunned, stunned, that gas prices are going up. It must be a conspiracy!

No doubt we can soon expect a major investigation into the disturbing reports that bears are using our woodlands as a toilet.

All of this brings to mind T.S. Eliot's observation that no causes are truly lost because no causes are ever truly won. Although poverty is the natural human condition whose only proven remedy is the market, whenever enough voters get mad at the market, politicians can be counted on to play up popular paranoia about powerful "unseen forces" exploiting ordinary folk.

Another example of the phenomenon: the latest offering from veteran Newfoundland columnist Ed Smith.

I told you, I told you! The first time I told you was last fall when gas prices soared sky high. Everyone was more or less understanding it because the vicious, great hurricanes that roared in on the Gulf Coast of the United States of America last fall wreaked so much havoc on their oil production and refining capacities.

I told you then that the spiraling cost of gas had nothing whatever to do with hurricanes in that tormented part of the world. Why tormented? Apart from the hurricanes, the deep South is the home of the fanatical religious right in the States. That’s who got George W. Bush elected president and the whole world has been tormented ever since.

What I told you last fall was that the record high gas prices had to do primarily, if not exclusively, with the greed of the large oil companies — Exxon, Chevron and all the rest. I know you didn’t believe me because I got less response to that column than to practically anything else I’ve written, with the exception of my expose on corruption in the statistical analysis of the sex life of the American cranberry.

So, where are we now? A couple of weeks ago gas prices in some places jumped six cents a litre. And would you believe it? Nary a hurricane in sight. Not so much as a slight breeze ruffling the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Oil platforms and refineries operating at full capacity.

The memories of when I looked forward to Smith's column grow fuzzier and more distant by the day.

Damian P.

Iran: US intelligence gappy

Things could be pretty unsettling if this NY Times story is reliable.
...
But an array of former intelligence officials said the holes in American knowledge are numerous.

"It's likely there are facilities we don't know about," Mr. Leverett said. "And if we knocked out the facilities we do know about, we wouldn't really know how much we'd set back their nuclear program."..

This is especially disturbing--how did the Iranians learn it?

The National Security Agency's efforts to intercept Iranian government communications were hampered in the last two years because Iran learned that the United States had broken its codes and changed them. Satellite photography has provided detailed images of suspected nuclear facilities, but such photographs leave many unanswered questions. Unmanned aerial vehicles are flown into Iran to sniff for gases that would provide clues to nuclear processing, former intelligence officials said.

But such technology cannot remedy Americans' ignorance of Persian language and Iranian culture, said Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, director of the Center for Persian Studies at the University of Maryland, where some intelligence officers will begin immersion language classes this summer. Just 300 to 400 university students nationwide are studying Persian, he estimated, and most of those will drop out before becoming fluent...

H/t to Spotlight on Military News and International Affairs.

Mark C.

The candidate of tomorrow

"Stephen Harper is a guy who looks to the next day. We've got to be the party that looks over the hill to create the jobs for tomorrow."

- PM-in-waiting Michael Ignatieff

Afstan: Now we really know what the Globe's Editor-in-chief thinks

I think this screaming front page headline in today's paper says it all about Steady Eddie's view.

SUPPORT PLUMMETS FOR AFGHAN MISSION: Canadian opposition to troop deployment growing fastest in Quebec, poll finds

Note: The survey was conducted by the Strategic Counsel for CTV and The Globe and Mail on Wednesday and Thursday.

I'd love to see the actual questions--and hear Strategic Counsel chairman Allan Gregg describe how the answers to them led him to conclude unequivocally:

"Active military combat is just not consistent with Canadians' self-image of what we should be doing abroad..."

Mr Gregg goes on (his statements actually seem simply to be his personal opinion--not based specifically on the poll--but the story doesn't mention that inconvenient point):

For good or ill, we continue to see ourselves as kind of the Baden-Powell of the world community, doing good deeds, not getting killed or killing others.

The boy scouts of the world indeed. I think Mr Gregg is just too tragically hip but he may be right (compare with Update here).

In any event, as our "hollow army" now stands, it will have hard time engaging in sustained active military combat for very long. When our current Afstan mission ends in February 07 expect a substantial reduction in the size of any follow-on force regardless of political considerations. We probably just do not have the troops to do Afstan at current levels (2,300 CF personnel) and train an expanding (one hopes) army at the same time.

Mark C.

A deal for Darfur

I certainly hope this will end the genocide, but I think I can be forgiven for not getting my hopes up too high:

With a prod from the United States, the government of Sudan and the biggest Darfur rebel faction signed a complex peace plan yesterday that diplomats and experts said would require careful implementation to ensure an end to a conflict that has left as many as 450,000 people dead and 2 million homeless.

Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick, who pushed the parties to an agreement during three days and nights of almost continuous negotiations in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, warned of the tough task ahead in a conference call with reporters.

"Do I hope there will be a significant decline in violence? Yes. Can I be certain? No," he said. The agreement is "an opportunity for peace," but Darfur "is going to remain a dangerous place."

The peace agreement seeks to dismantle marauding militias, fold thousands of rebel forces into the national army and pave the way to wealth and power-sharing between the central government and an impoverished area the size of France. Minni Minnawi, the leader of the Sudan Liberation Army, a rebel militia, signed the accord shortly after learning that his younger brother had been killed in Darfur, presumably during a firefight. Under the agreement, a cease-fire will go into effect in seven days.

Two other rebel groups -- a rival faction of the SLA and the smaller Justice and Equality Movement -- walked out of the talks, though a splinter group of one of the factions later presented a letter to mediators saying it supported the accord. Zoellick said the failure to win support from all of the rebels "certainly poses dangers," but he said he hoped the momentum generated by the agreement would persuade doubters to eventually sign on.

Damian P.

Communism worked for someone

Before the revolution, a select few Cubans got rich while the masses starved. After the revolution, one Cuban got rich while the masses starved:

Cuban President Fidel Castro was furious when Forbes magazine estimated his fortune at $550 million last year. This year, the magazine upped its estimate of the communist leader's wealth to a cool $900 million.

Castro, who says his net worth is nil, is likely the beneficiary of up to $900 million, based on his control of state-owned companies, the U.S. financial magazine said in its annual tally of "Kings, Queens & Dictators" fortunes Thursday.

That his estimated wealth fluctuated so much in one year shows how hard it can be to estimate this kind of thing, but there's little doubt ol' whiskers isn't worried about where his next meal is coming from. Which is more than you can say for the people under his thumb.

Meanwhile, the worst thing about high oil prices may be that some of the world's worst leaders are getting even more wealthy as a result:

Kings and sheikhs of the oil-rich Gulf Arab states still top the Forbes list, to be published in its May 22 edition.

Saudi King Abdullah is number one with an estimated $21 billion, followed by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei at $20 billion and United Arab Emirates' President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan at $19 billion.

[...]

Africa's Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, president of Equatorial Guinea, made the list of wealthiest leaders for the first time. He is estimated to hold up to $600 million, the magazine said, although an oil boom has not prevented his country's slide down the United Nations' development rankings.

Damian P.

Uranium! The Musical

The Iranians may have mastered nuclear technology, but they haven't figured out this "choreography" thing yet. (via Harry's Place)

Damian P.

Liberal disarray

The turmoil within the Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador just keeps getting worse and worse, with Premier Williams accusing Liberal MHAs of offering to resign in exchange for patronage appointments; Kelvin Parsons, the Liberals' most talented MHA by far, seeking a judicial appointment; and Liberal leader Jim Bennett saying, more or less, that he can run the party without any elected Members:

The Liberal party is so fractured that some members are willing to abandon their seats in exchange for plum appointments, Premier Danny Williams charged Thursday.

"A minister in our government was approached by a senior member of the party who basically indicated to him that he would be prepared to vacate his seat if he was given an appointment by government, and also had a candidate who would run for us in that seat," Williams told the legislature.

Williams would not name names, even though he dared the Liberals to ask him to reveal more.

Government insiders claim that Liberal MHA Kelvin Parsons approached Justice Minister Tom Marshall about a judicial appointment in return for quitting his seat.

Parsons, the Opposition house leader, told reporters that he did talk with Marshall about a judge's position during a phone conversation about another matter. However, he insisted that he did not offer to abandon the party in exchange for a job.

"I advised the minister of justice that I was in fact in the process of applying for a federal court appointment … and that I would also be interested in provincial court," said Parsons, a justice minister in the former Liberal government.

Parsons also said he told Marshall if his seat in Burgeo & La Poile were to become vacant, one of his sons – who "happens to be a Conservative," he said – would be interested in a political career.

[...]

The Liberals are attempting to put to bed a simmering controversy over Bennett, who assumed the reins of the party in February, after he was acclaimed in a leadership contest.

Since then, rumours have flown about caucus members chafing over Bennett's style.

Bennett, a west coast lawyer, has said he has no immediate plans to seek a seat, and said earlier this week the party could run without a caucus.

The provincial Tories went through some chaotic times (and five different leaders, before Danny came along) during the Wells/Tobin era, but never anything like this.

Damian P.

The answer: Hitting them for six (as Monty--the other one--said)

The ontological question:

Cricket and The Meaning of Life.

Take that, you snake! Not to be missed by Daimnation! types. Though I wonder about some of its premises. Still, the conclusion of the movie seems incontrovertible:

Cricket is the very stuff of life itself.

H/t to What's New by Date (Canada Site--note the pix)

Mark C.

Afstan update: UK general takes command of expanding NATO mission

As far as I can see no major Canadian print or electronic media have reported this (only CANOE online); I wonder why as this NATO expansion will have an important impact on the Canadian Forces' Afstan mission--their transfer in three months from the command of US Operation Enduring freedom to NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Note also that US troops will be serving under NATO (i.e. foreign) command in six months or so.

Britain took command of NATO's Afghan peacekeeping force on Thursday as a tide of violence raised apprehension about the alliance's planned takeover of security duties across the country from U.S. forces...

NATO's move south should help the United States, stretched by the Iraq war, cut its troops in Afghanistan from 19,000 to 16,500 by around August...

Update: A reasonable leader from the Guardian.

Note this, Canadians:

...This daunting mission enjoys broad domestic [UK] political support, unlike the deployment in Iraq. But that support cannot be taken for granted and may well crumble if there are casualties. The government and the public need to be aware of the dangers involved.

Note also the similarities.

Mark C.

Darfur: Sen Roméo Dallaire is in cloud cuckoo-land

The retired General is not, however, lonely on his planet (full text not online); many Canadians inhabit this dreamworld too.
...
Canada must play a lead role as a resolute middle power to ensure that there is sufficient political will to enforce the peace treaty and see this mission through. It is critical that Canada exert concerted political energy to head off Russian and Chinese vetoes in the UN Security Council. Similarly, Canada must persuade the government of Sudan to grant entry and free movement to this Chapter 7 mandated UN force.

Finally, Canada must demonstrate its commitment to the Responsibility to Protect doctrine it has endorsed by supporting the United Nations in this mission -- by providing not only resources and expertise but, most importantly, boots on the ground. A reinforced battle group of approximately 1,500 soldiers, with a sizable transport capability for return and humanitarian support, should be Canada's contribution to a robust UN mission to bring peace and stability to the region...

I am sure our "political energy" will stop those nasty Chinese and Russian vetoes. I wish the Senator could explain how the Canadian Forces can put 1,500 troops in Darfur without closing down our Afstan mission. And how would we get them there and supply them (Darfur is effectively as land-locked as Afstan and with even less infrastructure) given our dwindling airlift capacity?

Meanwhile, the Star's Richard Gwyn blames the American invasion of Iraq for the international failure to act. How typical.

The saga of the peace talks goes on.
...
The main rebel group has tentatively agreed to a peace deal with the government during talks in Abuja, Nigeria, according to an U.S. diplomat advising the talks...

Two smaller rebel groups have not yet backed the deal...

While Kofi Annan says sternly:
...
In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged all countries to press the warring parties to reach agreement but warned the international community has an obligation to protect civilians in Darfur, by force if need be...

Somehow I don't think China and Russia are listening (or care). The (non-existent) international community is not going to use force without UNSC authorization--which China and Russia will not allow.

Moreover, even if some sort of "peace deal" is reached it will almost certainly be worthless. Khartoum will still not agree to any significant non-African Union force to "monitor" the deal so things will probably just continue on. While Canadians continue to fantasize.

Mark C.

Denmark stands firm

The prime minister of Denmark says his country will not withdraw troops from Iraq - in no small part because of the cartoons controversy:

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said yesterday that the furor over cartoons of the prophet Muhammad had "strengthened our resolve for the long haul" and that Danish troops would remain in Iraq.

In an interview with The Washington Times in his Copenhagen office, Mr. Rasmussen brushed off a Danish television report of plans to cut Denmark's 530-man deployment in Iraq by nearly one-fifth in July.

"It is clearly our intention to stay in Iraq as long as we are requested by the Iraqi government, as long as our presence is based on a U.N. mandate, and as long as we believe we can make a positive difference on the ground," the center-right Danish leader said.

[...]

"This cartoon affair will not change our basic policies. On the contrary, it has only strengthened our resolve to assist countries that are in the midst of very difficult social transformations," Mr. Rasmussen said yesterday.

Damian P.

Alfa's back

A legendary Italian automaker is returning to the U.S. market. Hopefully that means we'll be able to buy cars like this in Canada, too.

Damian P.

So 2003

Jim Schembri of the Melbourne Age decides to stick it to them "bloggers" once and for all. (via Tim Blair) How, oh Lord, how will we ever compete with devastating wit like this?

Hi there! And welcome one and all to my brand-new blog! Isn't it great? How do you like it so far? Is this cool, or what? You bet!!!

The first thing I should do is come up with a really coolsounding name for my blog. Can you think of any? I was thinking of Blogsworld or Blogospace or Blogsmire, something with blog in it. Or Hunk O'Blog. Ha ha! I love that last one!!! If you've got any suggestions, post them to me. I'd love to hear them.

I love blogging. Blogs rock!!!

Blogging Bloggo McBlog!! Can you believe there are still some people who are not into blogging?! Or who don't know even what blogging is??? What's wrong with these throwbacks? If any of you are reading this, I've got a special message for you - get your clocks fixed!!!

Well, his mom thought it was funny.

Damian P.

Lucas blinks

The original versions of Star Wars episodes IV through VI, which George Lucas had threatened to lock away forever, will be made available on DVD after all:

Die-hard Star Wars fans soon can see the original theatrical versions of the first three Star Wars films on DVD.

[...]

Lucas re-released his original three Star Wars films in theaters in 1997 with inserted scenes and improved special effects. Those "special editions" were further enhanced for the four-disc DVD set. With the original versions coming to DVD, here's what you'll see again:

• In Star Wars, Han Solo shoots a bounty hunter named Greedo. Lucas changed the scene later so it seemed that Greedo draws first, and changed it again for the DVD so that they appear to shoot simultaneously.

• In Empire Strikes Back, the ice creature that captures Luke Skywalker gets less screen time.

• In Jedi, Sebastian Shaw returns as Anakin in the movie's final scene. Lucas substituted Hayden Christiansen, who plays Anakin in the more recent films, for the 2004 DVD. [via Hit & Run]

Wonderful news. Now, if only filmmaking technology was advanced enough to remove any trace of The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones from existence. (I haven't seen Revenge of the Sith.)

Damian P.

Like father, like son

The Kennedy curse strikes again.

Damian P.

The shrinking three

SUV sales are way down this year, and Toyota keeps gaining ground on the major U.S. automakers:

Figures released this week show a continued slide in market share for US automakers as high fuel prices prodded shoppers to shy away from the large trucks and sport utility vehicles that have long anchored Detroit's marketing plans.

A sign of the competitive times: Toyota is outselling the Chrysler Group this year, so the Big Three in name are no longer the biggest three in sales.

[...]

if the upward jolt in gasoline prices proves to be a long-term trend, as some energy experts believe, all carmakers will be scrambling, not just the Big Three. That's because it typically takes at least five years to launch a new car, from initial conception to showroom floor, Mr. Libby says.

Given those long lead times, and the possibility that gas prices might go down, he doubts that US carmakers are adjusting their long-term plans in light of this year's price spike at gas stations.

But if high fuel prices create challenges for selling all types of cars, the burden falls heaviest today on the Big Three.

Sales data from April, which companies released Tuesday, show that overall vehicle sales fell from last year's pace for the month. (For the first four months of the year, however, the pace is similar to last year's.)

In this difficult environment, Toyota, Honda, and many European carmakers saw sales grow, while year-to-date sales are down 6.7 percent at GM, 3.9 percent at Ford, and 0.1 percent at Chrysler.

Central to the dropoff is the smaller number of people buying large SUVs and trucks. Most full-size SUVs have seen double-digit sales drops from last year's pace.

It's absolutely astonishing, watching Ford and GM make the same mistakes they made in the seventies and eighties. Meanwhile, not all Japanese automakers are in the middle of a sales boom: despite a string of excellent products, Mazda's U.S. sales have been flat for a decade.

Damian P.

Let's hope the editor of the "New Republic" doesn't read the "National Post"

If he sees this story today,

Secret Canadian intelligence documents written in the aftermath of last summer's suicide bombings in London warn that Canada has its own cadre of "homegrown" Islamic extremists.

Similar concerns surfaced last Friday, when the U.S. State Department released its annual report on global terrorism, which said, "Terrorists have capitalized on liberal Canadian immigration and asylum policies to enjoy safe haven, raise funds, arrange logistical support and plan terrorist attacks."..

he might write another column in the Washington Post.
...
...Stopping terrorists from coming across America's southern border would be an urgent concern -- if any were actually coming. So far, however, there is little evidence they are. Using newspaper reports and government documents, Robert S. Leiken and Steven Brooke of the Nixon Center have painstakingly compiled a database of 373 known or suspected terrorists in North America or Western Europe since 1993. In a forthcoming essay in the journal Terrorism and Political Violence, they disclose their findings: Not one terrorist has entered the United States from Mexico...

Peter Beinart is editor at large of the New Republic and author of "The Good Fight: Why Liberals -- and Only Liberals -- Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again," to be published next month.

Mark C.

Don't do it

Canada urged to build foreign spying agency: Stop relying on allies, ex-MI6 head says

Here's why not.

Mark C.

Darfur: When the waiter comes with the bill, Canada heads for the can

John Manley had it right. Canadian solipsism in action:

Johnny Canuck stared out the front window of his log House on the hill onto the rich village of Eurmerica. Like most others in the village, he watched every day the terror in that far-away place, Darfur. Johnny had talked before to his neighbour, Uncle Sam, and to others in the village across the pond about his concerns, but they paid him no heed.

And then Johnny and his family, having done their duty, went into the House content and pleased that they had made the effort. And everyone around the family table felt swell -- "Well, if the others in the village had no conscience," they told themselves, "the village can always count on the Canucks, can't they?"

Mark C.

Hirsi Ali in NYC

Ayaan Hirsi Ali recently spoke at an event sponsored by PEN, an organization which supports authors' freedom of expression, in New York City. Atlas Shrugs posts the entire text of the New York Sun's account, in which the hosts bent over backwards to show that they're far too enlightened and sensitive to actually believe these radical things she's saying.

Damian P.

No virgins for you yet, Mr. Moussaoui

He'll be spending the rest of his wretched life in prison. Despite my distaste for the man, I think it's the right decision. I'm not comfortable with the death penalty even in the most clear-cut cases, and Moussaoui always struck me as a barely sane egomaniac trying to portray his role in the 9/11 attacks as something much, much bigger.

And so the only man convicted in connection with the greatest terrorist attack in American history, before a jury of simplistic, vengeful, paranoid Amerikkkans(TM), will not be executed. Imagine that.

Damian P.

They might find something really scary

After the tests doctors decided they should drain his skull...

Moss gathering.

Hoi've got a lo-ve-ly bunch o' coconuts.

H/t to Nealenews.

Damian adds: Keith Richards cannot be killed. It just can't be done. The theological, metaphysical and musical implications are staggering, when you think about it.

Update: Rex Murphy demonstrates again why (Damian aside) he may be the only sane person remaining in Canada. Perhaps Rock has something to do with it (full text not online).
...
...there was some early talk of an operation to drain blood from his head...that won't be necessary after all. I'm glad they didn't have to bore. Certain crania should be left unmined...

I like him, too, because he seems to be cause-phobic. No chance of Keith Richards showing up in PEI or Newfoundland some day, shading himself under the blimpish canopy of Pamela Anderson's hyperinflations, to plead the cause of the seals and chimps...

Now if only I could write or talk like Rex (leaving oneself open...)...

Mark C.

National Defence Minister radio interview/here's hoping

Minister O'Connor will be on CFRA, Ottawa, Madely in the Morning sometime between 0700-0900, May 4. Should be interesting as Madely has been critical of the lack of specifics on new equipment for the CF in the budget--and has a pretty good knowledge of things military.

Listen live; if you miss it you should be able hear it later at CFRA Interviews.

Update: The interview (starts with NORAD renewal). Here's hoping.

Minister O'Connor said he has 6-8 projects for which there is financing and he will be going to Cabinet for approvals through the year. The four airlift projects (strategic, tactical, fixed-wing SAR/light tactical, helicopters) are the priority. No mention specifically of joint support ships or amphibious ship but they presumably are in the 6-8.

Territorial battalions in major cities will go ahead. No mention of the silly campaign promises to put (now non-existent) regular Army battalions in Goose Bay, Bagotville, Trenton and Comox.

Navy icebreakers are "a few years out". Thank goodness--get them for the Coast Guard and sooner.

Pretty much along the lines of this story.

Jack Granatstein takes a dim view unless the money really is there (full text not online).
...
And what about new equipment for the Forces? The budget says nothing about this beyond a mention that "the full cost of capital acquisitions will be provided on a cash basis in the years they are acquired." Will there be new heavy airlift? New Hercules transports? New trucks? Joint Support Ships, icebreakers, patrol craft? No one knows. To be fair, the government has been in power only for 100 days, and perhaps the Supplementary Estimates (or a new budget) in the fall will provide some guidance. Or perhaps not...

J. L. Granatstein writes on behalf of the Council for Canadian Security in the 21st Century.

Echoes of Sen. Colin Kenny, who knows more about defence than any other person in Parliament.

Mark C.

Darfur: A victim of Muslim racism

Tarek Fatah, communication director of the Muslim Canadian Congress, writes about a nasty reality (full text not online).
...
The fact that more than 200,000 congoians, almost all of them Muslims, have been killed in an ongoing genocide; the fact that more than a million Muslim congoians are displaced refugees living in squalor and fear, appears not to have registered with the leadership of traditional Muslim organizations and mosques in this country.

El-Farouk Khaki, the immigration lawyer who was accused of being used by Zionists because he had sent out the invitation to Sunday's rally, agreed that there is widespread internal discrimination within some Muslim societies. "This is racism at its worst. I am an African-Canadian; I can tell you in no uncertain terms that the congo crisis has not made news in the traditional Muslim organizations because Darfurians are black. Had they been Bosnian, Kosovar, Arab, Pakistani or Iranian, I can bet you, these grounds would have been full of slogan-chanting Muslims demanding justice. Muslims need to address their internalized racism before they ask others to respect us," said Mr. Khaki, who is secretary-general of the Muslim Canadian Congress...

My congratulations to Mr Fatah, a brave man to tell this truth. I'm still waiting for the rallies in Cairo and Riyadh and other Muslim capitals (not to mention Beijing).

Mark C.

Burning Cole

Details of the latest public-intellectual feud, between Christopher Hitchens and Ahmadinejad apologist Juan Cole (hmmm...did I just give away whose side I'm on?) can be found here. Bring popcorn.

Damian P.

Afstan update: Pessimistic story in the NY Times/different take in Toronto Star

Sad to say, I am not sure if I trust this kind of reporting in the Gray Lady any more. But if accurate...

Building on a winter campaign of suicide bombings and assassinations and the knowledge that American troops are leaving, the Taliban appear to be moving their insurgency into a new phase, flooding the rural areas of southern Afghanistan with weapons and men...

Unsure of the strength and commitment to fight of the incoming NATO forces — with British, Canadian, Dutch and Australian contingents — Afghan provincial officials, who stand first in the Taliban's firing line, have demanded that Mr. Karzai [President of Afghanistan] provide them with hundreds more police officers and weapons...

Upperdate (logic not time): This in the Times' story:

...NATO peacekeepers, who have repeatedly stated that they are not going to fight terrorists...

Yet:

1) Canadian forces killed 20 militants planning an ambush in Helmand province's Sangin district the past weekend...

2) The fighting was fierce," F/Lt. Williams said. "I remember the radio operator I was speaking to hadn't slept for 28 hours."

The Harriers dropped their bombs on the property and unleashed an enormous explosion. It turned out to be a weapons cache as well as a hideout, and, according to F/Lt. Williams, the size of the explosion indicated a massive store....

Why I doubt the Times' reporting. Pity the Canadian Forces do not have their own close air support.

Update: Rosie DiManno, in the Star(!?!), has a different take. A strange world in which the Red Star may be preferable to the Gray Lady.
...
...according to the United Nations, 62,000 "factional militiamen" have thus far availed themselves of a demobilizing program offered under the Disarmament Demobilization Reintegration Project...

The vast majority...were anonymous Taliban foot soldiers — their names appear on no formal list — who've had a bellyful of fighting and who just want to get on with their lives, free of fear and hounding. It is largely from them that 36,000 small arms and heavy combat weapons have been collected in the past three years, under a program administered, in its first phase, by the Japanese...

Mark C.

...Noor Agha insists all his fighting days are behind him...Noor Agha became a "Taleb," in the beginning, because they seemed the best antidote for a reviled and corrupt regime. Only they appeared capable of making Afghanistan whole again...

"They still enjoy respect, honour, in the outlying areas and the small villages and along the border. There, the people believe that the coalition forces are infidels, that they don't have the right to come into Muslim countries by force, like they did in Iraq and Afghanistan."..

Watch the skies

Now that I've seen this trailer, I'm counting down the days until June 30.

Damian P.

Trackpedia

Of all the Wikipedia knock-offs, this one is probably my favorite. (Or, at least, it will be when it starts to fill up.)

Damian P.

Jean-François Revel, R.I.P.

That rarest of rarities, a passionate French voice against knee-jerk anti-Americanism, has passed away at age 82:

In 1970, after the first of many visits to America, Revel published Without Marx or Jesus: The New American Revolution, in which he predicted that the great revolution of the 20th century would turn out to be the "liberal revolution" of multi-party democracy and market economics, rather than the "Socialist revolution" of Left-wing theory. This revolution would take place not in Cuba, but in California.

On his visit to the States, Revel had been "astonished by evidence that everything Europeans were saying about the US was false"; and most of his book consisted of a heavily sarcastic point-by-point rebuttal of the knee-jerk, anti-American prejudices of the day. Europe's loss of leadership during the post-war era, in his opinion, had led to an irrational envy and resentment.

A definitive proof of the irrational origins of anti-American sentiment, he suggested, was to be found in the way in which critics often reproached the United States for some shortcoming, and then for its opposite.

During the Vietnam conflict of the 1960s, for example, French commentators developed a sudden amnesia about their country's involvement in Indo-China, and the fact that France, while embroiled in its ugly colonial war with the Viet Minh, "frequently pleaded for and sometimes obtained American help".

Without Marx or Jesus became a best-seller in France and in the United States, but won almost universally hostile reviews from European critics. Revel's Swedish publisher was unable to get a single television interview for him, despite impressive sales; in Finland he was confronted on television by two "intellectuals" - one from Romania, the other from Poland; his Greek publisher composed a preface in which he begged his compatriots' pardon for having published the book.

[...]

Revel also detected a tendency of other countries to ascribe their own worst faults to the Americans in a curious "reversal of culpability". Thus, the Japanese and Germans excoriate America for "militarism"; the Mexicans attack it for "electoral corruption"; the British accuse it of "imperialism"; the Chinese accuse it of "hegemonism"; and Arab writers, post 9/11, for "abridging press freedom".

But much of Revel's anger was directed at his fellow countrymen: "We French have had little to say against Saddam Hussein, Muammar Qaddafi, Kim Jong Il, Fidel Castro, Robert Mugabe, the imams of the Islamic Republic of Iran, or the bosses of China and Vietnam. We reserve our admonitions and our contempt and our attacks for Ronald Reagan and George W Bush."

Revel's 2003 book Anti-Americanism, which I reviewed for Blogcritics.com, is a bracing read.

Damian P.

Maximum ignorance in minimum space

Sadly, this letter is all too typical of what regularly gets published in my local paper since the flag controversy flared up:

The flag should be lowered when a Canadian soldier is killed on the battle field. This prime minister is taking his marchingo orders from George Bush. We are not the 51st state and Stephen Harper is not the American ambassador to Canada. He is the prime minister of Canada.

I do not have a good feeling about this man's policies. Canadian soldiers initially went to Afghanistan as peacekeepers (and as peacekeepers very well respected everywhere). Within weeks of becoming prime minister, Mr. Harper had their mission turned into combatants in a theatre of war, a far cry from peace keeping. By the time Canadians defeat this government many more young Canadian men and women will have come home from Afghanistan in body bags.

If Canadians are to have the reality of war removed from TV screens because it upsets us, then we should ask, "Why are we there doing George Bush's bidding in the first place?"

Mr. Harper please get back to what we do best, peace keeping.

Damian P.

Let's see them support one team first

Governor Schwarzenegger wants two NFL teams for Los Angeles.

That's not quite as implausible as it sounds, actually. The NFL has only grown in popularity (and the city has grown by several hundred thousand people) since the Rams and Raiders competed for fans in L.A., and in addition to a Los Angeles expansion club, there's a possibility the Chargers could move a few miles north if they can't get a new stadium in San Diego.

So, stranger things have happened. It's kind of weird watching the Fox pre-game and halftime shows originating from a city which doesn't even have a team. But I don't think anyone should even be talking about putting two teams there just yet.

Damian P.

Heartstopper

Betsy Stark, on ABC World News Tonight:

For American automakers, April's dismal sales were another reminder of how deep a hole they are now in — more than half of the vehicles that roll off Detroit's assembly lines are gas-guzzling SUVs, minivans [my emphases] and light trucks which are increasingly hard to sell.

Take that, Dara! (Damian knows all--see "Comments")

Mark C.

Budget on defence: Not much at all

Slim pickins (scroll way down--symbolic?). Very disappointing. Perhaps Minister O'Connor and Gen. Hillier are still at it (so much for Jim Travers' sources).

1) Finance Minister Jim Flaherty unveiled a surprisingly modest defence-spending package, offering the hard-pressed Canadian military just $1.1-billion in new spending over the next two years...

Defence industry insiders speculated that, in order for the Tories to do this, as well as buy new icebreakers and recruit thousands of new troops, the defence allocation in the budget would have to be significantly greater than $5.3-billion in new money over five years...

2) Like the Liberals before them, the Conservatives are making the Canadian Forces wait several years before delivering on lucrative promises to boost defence spending.

Government officials stressed all large capital projects remained in the planning stages, but were subject to a green light from Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s cabinet...

Mark C.

It really is all about oil (and gas)--for China and India (and Sudan)

And they really don't care who they get it from (full text not online). China will almost certainly veto (along with Russia) any UN Security Council resolution to authorize a force for Sudan, unless Khartoum agrees. Good luck. Canadian MPs and editorial writers (and American ones) just don't get it.

When China's President, Hu Jintao,...visited Nigeria...it was mostly business and that business was mostly oil. In exchange for investing some $4-billion (U.S.) in Nigerian infrastructure projects, China, presumably with Mr. Hu's encouragement, was able to negotiate preferential bidding rights for four oil licences in the continent's biggest oil producer.

The pace of Chinese and Indian investments will not slow; the two countries have voracious demands for energy to fuel their high-growth economies. They have no qualms about treading in the oily muck of mucky countries, where corruption and insecurity may be rife. Canadian companies do. Most energy company bosses would rather pull out than face impolite questioning from human rights groups...

I wonder when our lefties will start protesting against China and India?

The US is at least making a real effort on Darfur without simply being a blowhard. Though I doubt little will come of their efforts. Rock--and hurl--on ("diplomatic muscle" my foot).

Energy also leads to this Indian move into neo-colonialism.

India is to open its first overseas military base this year in the impoverished central Asian country of Tajikistan - a testament to its emerging status on the world stage...India has stepped up its activity in central Asia, eager to gain access to its gas supplies...

Update: New deadline for Darfur agreement..

A new deadline of 48 hours has now been set. It expires on Thursday night...

How odd that Ambassador Rock is not mentioned. Or maybe not.

Mark C.

Sadly, I think he's right

Prof. Reynolds on Stalinist front group International A.N.S.W.E.R. and its role organizing the illegal-immigrant demonstrations:

People are talking about backlash, and how these rallies are counterproductive. That's probably right, but I think that's what the A.N.S.W.E.R. folks are hoping for. Right now you have lots of immigrants who want to be part of America. The A.N.S.W.E.R. people have been stoking these demonstrations not because they want to help illegal immigrants, but because they hope to provoke a backlash that will make them angry at America instead. They don't have short-term ameliorative political goals -- they want shock troops for the revolution.

Damian P.

Battle of the Diet Colas

All I'm sayin' is, Coke Zero tastes like a particularly medicinal store-brand diet cola, while Diet Coke, though not as good as the real thing, at least has a sharp, refreshing taste of its own.

In Canada, at least, there is a store-brand diet cola which is actually pretty good - better than Diet Pepsi, in fact. Of course, I'll choose almost any soft drink over Diet Pepsi - except the devil's saliva itself, Dr. Pepper. (Well, there go my Texas readers.)

Damian P.

Speaking ill of the dead

I've resisted the temptation to say anything nasty about the recently deceased John Kenneth Galbraith. Fortunately, Bob Tarantino and Reason's Jeff Taylor are less inhibited.

Damian P.

The high cost of cheap gas

In Venezuela, gas only costs three cents per litre, on orders from Mr. Chavez. Three cents. As a result, half the country's gas stations are on the verge of closing:

At three cents a litre, Venezuelans have the cheapest gas prices in the world, a fraction of the 56 cents they would pay for a litre of bottled water or the 70 cents they would pay for a litre of milk.

While Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President George W. Bush face increased political pressure to do something about skyrocketing gas prices which have topped $3 (U.S.) per gallon in the United States and a dollar per litre in Canada, the problem here is different.

Half the gas stations in this country say they want to shut down because they can't make any profit selling gas that is about as expensive as the dust that blows onto Roche's service station.

President Hugo Chavez announced last Friday he is raising the minimum wage for workers, meaning gas station owners and franchisees must pay their workers more.

But he won't raise the price of gas for fear his poor backers from the barrios of this city will come down from the hills and bring the economy to a screeching halt as they have before.

Even if gas were free, it wouldn't do anyone any good if no one is willing to sell it. Chances are, if this keeps up, Chavez will just nationalize gas retailing, and if Venezuelans think the lineups are long now...

Damian P.

Update: Bolivia's Evo Morales has nationalized his country's natural gas fields. That's not what worries me, so much as the fact that he sent in troops to occupy said gas fields.

On the other hand, lest you think everyone in Latin America is marching in lockstep behind Venezuela's glorious revolution, note that the conservative candidate in Mexico's presidential election is surging in the polls after comparing the leftist frontrunner to Chavez.

What May Day means to me

This sums it up pretty well. What's the difference between May 1 and April 20? About 80 million corpses.

Jeff Jacoby has a good piece on Commic chic in today's Boston Globe. He could have been writing about these T-shirts. What on earth makes the red star, under which untold millions were enslaved and murdered, a symbol of Newfoundland nationalism?

Damian P.

Air India inquiry to deal with contemporary terrorism too

These are the parts of the terms of reference that could result in findings that are the most relevant to dealing with terrorists and their supporters in Canada today--much more possible contemporary effect than I expected.

I hope these terms demonstrate real seriousness by the Conservative government regarding terrorism. The testimony on the questions below should be interesting and might enlighten the public, politicians and our media.
...
The Commission of Inquiry...is established...in order to provide a report on the following questions:
...
# whether Canada's existing legal framework provides adequate constraints on terrorist financing in, from or through Canada,

# whether the unique challenges presented by the prosecution of terrorism cases are adequately addressed by existing practices or legislation and, if not, the changes in practice or legislation that are required to address these challenges, in particular whether there is merit in having terrorism cases heard by a panel of three judges.

Mark C.

A Brief History of Draft Disasters

ESPN's David Schoenfield has compiled a list of the 100 worst NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL draft picks of all time. Yes, 100. No, smart guy, Mario Williams over Reggie Bush isn't included, but before making their first pick, the Texans should have remembered this one:

45. Mike Mamula, Philadelphia Eagles (No. 7, 1995) Famous for seeing his draft stock rise after a fabulous workout at the NFL combine, the Boston College defensive end's career wasn't so fabulous: six seasons, 209 total tackles, 31½ sacks. In fact, Mamula's workout and resulting career is so famous there is even a term for it: Mike Mamula Syndrome. It's a good thing NFL teams have learned from their mistakes and no longer pay attention to workout wonders.

I'm just sayin' is all. You can tell this is an American list because only 2% of it consists of selections from the NHL draft. (Brian Lawton and Alexandre Daigle. No Doug Wickenheiser?)

At the other end of the spectrum, even if he never makes it in the NFL, there's little chance University of Maine wide receiver Kevin McMahan will be considered a bust.

Damian P.

Super-Sized Ego with Fry

The guffaw quotient of the Grit leadership race may get kicked up a big notch this week:

Speculation is growing that Liberal MP Hedy Fry will seek the federal party leadership later this week.

The Vancouver Centre MP has called a news conference for Thursday to make an announcement regarding "the future of the Liberal Party of Canada."

It just writes itself:

"I can forge a new path for Canada... and any prescriptions you want."

"If you can spot a burning cross, you're my kind of people!"

Bravo to the good doctor for her ceaseless struggle against barriers to advancement... in this, case utter lack of credibility and judgment.

Paul Canniff

You're on your own, Ms. Hirsi Ali

Dutch-Canadian blogger Pieter Dorsman has been following the latest developments involving the exceptionally brave Ayaan Hirsi Ali, whose considerably less brave neighbours had her evicted from her home because of safety concerns.

Damian P.

A society so secret, even its members don't know about it

The Priory of Sion, a "real organization" (Dan Brown's words) which features heavily in The Da Vinci Code, doesn't exist, according to 60 Minutes. Yes, I am aware of the irony in CBS News reporting on faked documents. (via Kathy Shaidle)

I finally got around to reading The Da Vinci Code a few weeks ago - on Easter weekend, ironically enough. My verdict? It's a pretty entertaining read, not particularly well-written, but fast-paced enough to keep you from raising major questions about the plot until well after you've finished it. If you want something to read on a long flight, you could do much worse. But there's hardly a word in the book which should be taken seriously.

Still, now that I've read it, I'm looking forward to the Tom Hanks-Ron Howard film version, set for release on May 19. I believe it was Roger Ebert who said good books usually make bad movies, while bad books usually make good movies.

Damian P.

Alberta's women are working less

David Frum writes:

Social Scientists Baffled...

You can read more on this puzzling - but of course horribly negative - development here.

Front page news!

Mark C.

Darfur: Rallies in Bejing, Cairo and Riyadh? Screamers in TO/mice in Ottawa

What is the NY Times editorial board smoking? Must be the same stuff as Canadian editorial writers and MPs.

On Sunday, thousands of Americans showed up on the Washington Mall to call for action to stop the carnage that has killed hundreds of thousands of men, women and children in the Darfur region of Sudan. Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, in Abuja, Nigeria, mediators from the African Union agreed to give the government of Sudan and the Darfur rebels an extra 48 hours to strike a peace deal...

...it is incumbent on China and the Arab world to join the Bush administration in pressuring the Sudanese government to sign onto the peace deal and allow the UN troops...

If the world applies enough pressure, Sudan will back down. We just wish there were rallies in Beijing, Cairo and Riyadh...

And this distinguished Canadian will really put pressure on Khartoum:

The United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Louise Arbour, headed to Sudan amid growing calls for the government to end rights abuses, particularly in its suppression of a three-year uprising in Darfur...

Finally, some truly refreshing cynicism from Norman Spector:

DEWEY WINS DARFUR ON BRINK OF PEACE

Update: This rally yesterday in Toronto is about what the debate in the Commons tonight will be worth in terms of practical content.
...
It was a scream that spanned a continent, timed to coincide with similar rallies in Washington, D.C., and other U.S. cities yesterday. Protestors at the rallies, many of them in their 20s and early 30s, hoped to send a message to their respective governments — "stop the killings."..

Kilgour was part of a contingent that included NDP Leader Jack Layton, his wife, MP Olivia Chow...

I wish Mr Kigour, our editorial writers and Canadian MPs could come up with a practical scheme to bring about the desirable things they blithely propose--and could say who will carry out the scheme. Meanwhile, scream on if it makes people feel better.

Upperdate: Not vapid but certainly vacuous: the "debate" tonight in the Commons on Darfur. The mouse that will not stop squeaking. How parochial and ignorant our politicians are; their pain is feigned in any real moral sense. If they truly felt such pain they would surely take the time to learn more about the relevant realities. And Stockwell Day is, sad to say, pathetic.

Live blogging uppestdate: A Liberal MP thinks Canada can influence China and Russia. A Parliament of fools. Read it in Hansard.

Mark C.

The struggle between "Christendom" and Islam

Fouad Ajami describes the essence of Bernard Lewis' historical insight.
...
It was thus in the time of the great illusion, in the lost decade of the 1990s, when history had presumably "ended," that Bernard Lewis had come forth to tell us, in a seminal essay, "The Roots of Muslim Rage" (September 1990), that our luck had run out, that an old struggle between "Christendom" and Islam was gathering force. (Note the name given the Western world; it is vintage Lewis, this naming of worlds and drawing of borders--and differences.) It was the time of commerce and globalism; the "modernists" had the run of the decade, and a historian's dark premonitions about a thwarted civilization wishing to avenge the slights and wounds of centuries would not carry the day. Mr. Lewis was the voice of conservatives, a brooding pessimist, in the time of a sublime part in things new and untried. It was he, in that 1990 article, who gave us the notion of a "clash of civilizations" that Samuel Huntington would popularize, with due attribution to Bernard Lewis.

...As a young man, he had been on His Majesty's service during the Second World War, working for British intelligence between 1940 and 1945...a darkness runs through his view of the future of the Western democracies. "In 1940, we knew who we were, we knew who the enemy was, we knew the dangers and the issues," he told me when I pressed him for a reading of the struggle against Islamic radicalism. "In our island, we knew we would prevail, that the Americans would be drawn into the fight. It is different today. We don't know who we are, we don't know the issues, and we still do not understand the nature of the enemy."..

The above paragraph is the nub of the matter, especially in relation to Canada.

Mr. Ajami, Majid Khadduri Professor at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, is author of "The Foreigner's Gift: The Americans, the Arabs, and the Iraqis in Iraq," forthcoming from the Free Press in July.

Mark C.

A more patient man than I

Dean Esmay is making his way through the 9/11 conspirozoid "documentary" Loose Change and posting his response.

I know it's usually wrong to judge a film without seeing the whole thing, but after watching the first three minutes - when the filmmakers present shocking video evidence that, er, a missile was attached to the bottom of one of the planes that struck the World Trade Center and was fired a fraction of a second before impact - I think I can make an exception in this case. (Via Brainster, who also links to a hilarious article about the film from the Phoenix New Times. At least one alt-weekly writer isn't falling for this nonsense.)

Damian P.

Update: the Nazimedia crowd is convinced the makers of Loose Change are government- and Fox News-sponsored disinformation specialists trying to discredit the "9/11 truth movement". You just can't make this stuff up, can you?

Update II: I understand there's a second edition of Loose Change in which the missiles-fired-from-airliners stuff has been excised. Without a hint of irony, the film now opens with seemingly contradictory statements from Bush Administration officials.

Can you imagine how insane the conspiracy crowd would go if critical portions of the official 9/11 report were deleted, without explanation, in subsequent editions?