Deniers stick together

I've said it before and I'll say it again: not all 9/11 conspiracy theorists are Holocaust deniers, but nearly all Holocaust deniers are 9/11 conspiracy theorists.

Damian P.

And I had so much respect for her until now

Paris Hilton is a racist anti-semite? I don't believe in nuthin' no more.

Damian P.

Just another religion?

A review of Richard Dawkins's The God Delusion, by Steven Weinberg, looks at Islam and science:

...In the areas of science I know best, though there are talented scientists of Muslim origin working productively in the West, for forty years I have not seen a single paper by a physicist or astronomer working in a Muslim country that was worth reading. This is despite the fact that in the ninth century, when science barely existed in Europe, the greatest centre of scientific research in the world was the House of Wisdom in Baghdad.

Alas, Islam turned against science in the twelfth century. The most influential figure was the philosopher Abu Hamid al-Ghazzali, who argued in The Incoherence of the Philosophers against the very idea of laws of nature, on the ground that any such laws would put God’s hands in chains. According to al-Ghazzali, a piece of cotton placed in a flame does not darken and smoulder because of the heat, but because God wants it to darken and smoulder. After al-Ghazzali, there was no more science worth mentioning in Islamic countries.

The consequences are hideous. Whatever one thinks of the Muslims who blow themselves up in crowded cities in Europe or Israel or fly planes into buildings in the US, who could dispute that the certainty of their part had something to do with it?..

...Dawkins treats Islam as just another deplorable religion, but there is a difference. The difference lies in the extent to which religious certitude lingers in the Islamic world, and in the harm it does. Richard Dawkins’s even-handedness is well-intentioned, but it is misplaced. I share his lack of respect for all religions, but in our times it is folly to disrespect them all equally.

Mark C.

How long before Boston can live this down?

The bomb scare that shut down much of the city today was caused by a Cartoon Network viral marketing campaign. A campaign which had been going on for a couple of weeks, at that:

More than 10 blinking electronic devices planted at bridges and other spots in Boston threw a scare into the city Wednesday in what turned out to be a publicity campaign for a late-night cable cartoon. Police later said they made an arrest.

Highways, bridges and a section of the Charles River were shut down and bomb squads were sent in before authorities declared the devices were harmless.

"It's a hoax - and it's not funny," said Gov. Deval Patrick, who said he'll speak to the state's attorney general "about what recourse we may have."

[...]

Turner Broadcasting, a division of Time Warner Inc. and parent of Cartoon Network, said the devices were part of a promotion for the TV show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," a surreal series about a talking milkshake, a box of fries and a meatball.

"The packages in question are magnetic lights that pose no danger," Turner said in a statement, issued a few hours after reports of the first devices came in.

It said the devices have been in place for two to three weeks in 10 cities: Boston; New York; Los Angeles; Chicago; Atlanta; Seattle; Portland, Ore.; Austin, Texas; San Francisco; and Philadelphia.

Damian P.

"Poor sod"

Prof. Noreen Golfman, associate dean of Graduate Studies and professor of English at Memorial University of Newfoundland (specializing in feminist theory), that is.

She riled Rick Mercer by complaining...

that her holidays were ruined by what she felt were incessant reports about Canadian men and women serving in Afghanistan.

Rick replies:

I am so sorry to hear about the interruption to your holiday cheer. You say in your column that it all started when the CBC ran a story on some "poor sod" who got his legs blown off in Afghanistan...

I urge you to read all of Rick's response. One good man at the CBC.

Ms. Golfman recently became President of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Your tax dollars at work (though they're not easy to find or immediately recognize at the Federation's site)--from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). Add maybe other federal sources via The National Dialogue on Higher Education, 2005.

A substantial discussion thread is here at Army.ca.

Mark C.

Update: What the good professor wrote, here.

Another terror bust in Britain

Nine people have been arrested for their alleged role in what Sky News calls an "Iraq-style kidnapping and beheading plot." Their would-be victim was a fellow Muslim who served with the British Armed Forces:

A Muslim serving as a soldier in the British Army was the target of an alleged kidnap, torture and beheading plot, Sky News has learned.

The allegation follows the arrest of nine people in Birmingham under the Terrorism Act.

Sources have told Sky News the man, who was in his 20s, would have suffered a terrifying ordeal and torturous death.

The whole episode would have been filmed and posted on the internet in a chilling echo of the execution of Ken Bigley, who was beheaded by insurgents in Iraq.

The soldier is known to have served in Afghanistan. He has been told about the threat against him and is now being protected by police.

For Islamic radicals, what greater insult could there possibly be than a Muslim who chooses to serve the country they want destroyed?

Damian P.

"Eau de Hezbollah"

I don't even want to know what it smells like. I bet George Galloway has several cases on order, though.

Damian P.

Whose War Is It?

How wet are we? Drenched, according to Jack Granatstein, in our Never Never Land.

It was 7:32 in the morning on Feb. 12, 2008 when the first quake rippled through Vancouver, a city just getting itself together to go to work. It was raining hard, and the thunderstorms were almost certainly loud enough for only a few to notice the tremor. The two uber-blonde hosts of the city's most popular morning television show saw their coffee jiggle, joked briefly of gremlins in the cup and carried on discussing the city's newest high-end restaurant on Robson Street. The Pacific Geoscience Centre, phoned by one of the show's producers, said the tremor was only 3.7 on the Richter scale, nothing serious, just enough to rattle plates.

But 18 minutes later an earthquake measuring 5.2 shook the city, knocking pictures off walls, swaying the Lions Gate Bridge and rocking the freighters in English Bay along with the pleasure craft tied up in the city's many marinas...

...At 8:08 a.m., the long-feared "big one" hit Vancouver...

...Although all seaside cities were spared a tsunami, the coast lowered itself by more than a metre and, in some places near Seattle, the land slid as much as six metres seaward. The earthquake had almost completely destroyed harbour facilities from Portland through Washington to 20 kilometres north of Vancouver...

Were any of the big Ukrainian or Russian air transports available for charter, one official asked. The vice-chief of the defence staff replied that this lead had already been tried, but the situation in Kyrgyzstan and the civil war in the Philippines had absorbed every single one of the aircraft until at least the end of February. "Without the Americans, without our own lift, without the charters," the Prime Minister asked, "how can we get heavy equipment and large quantities of relief supplies to the West Coast?" "There's only one way, sir. The railroads." "How long will that take?" The answer was stark: one week at the minimum, though some supplies could be dropped by parachute to cut-off areas -- if the Hercs could be made available...

Who put Canada into this mess? Canadians' governments had done the job, and so, too, had those Canadians who elected them...

These excerpts do not include the terrorism aspect.

More about the book, from which this series of articles is drawn, here. And commentary:

Liberal politicians such as Lloyd Axworthy and Bill Graham, and former UN Ambassador Paul Heinbecker come under attack for promoting naive and moralistic mythologies about Canada's role in the world.

When will Canadians wake up? Who killed the Canadian military? We did.

Mark C.

Damian adds: today's National Post has another excerpt from Granatstein's book, about the Canadian "peacekeeper" mythology, but it doesn't appear to be available online.

Update: Second piece here, via Spotlight on Military News and International Affairs:

The peacekeeping myth: 'Canadians keep the peace; Americans fight wars,' goes the cliche. In Afghanistan, the Balkans and beyond, the reality has been very different

The new order in Venezuela

As of today, Hugo Chavez will be allowed to rule by decree:

Two months after Chávez was reelected to another six-year term by an overwhelming margin, Venezuela is experiencing a fundamental shift in its political and economic climate that could remake the country in a way perhaps not seen in Latin America since Fidel Castro took power in Cuba in 1959. On Wednesday, the National Assembly is expected to entrust him with tremendous powers that will allow him to dictate new laws for 18 months to transform the economy, redraw the structure of government and establish a new funding apparatus for Venezuela's huge oil wealth.

Chávez's government announced earlier that it intends to nationalize strategic industries, such as telecommunications and electric utilities, and amend the constitution to end presidential term limits.

Damian P.

No headlines yet

From Bruce Rolston at Flit:

Canadian Afghanistan update you didn't read

In the "News you didn't read in your weekend papers" column, it has been over two months since the last Canadian fatality in Afghanistan.

No, it's not going to last forever. Let's hope it lasts as long as possible, though.

Mark C.

Darfur update: Khartoum still won't accept UN troops

...even as UN support for the African Union troops now there. At least Sudan didn't get to chair the AU.

But Irwin Cotler, a former justice minister, wants a UN invasion (though he does not call it that) if necessary. Somehow I don't see too many countries volunteering.

The resolve of the international community must be clear: to put the UN force on the ground with the consent of the Sudanese government if possible, but without it if necessary...

Meanwhile, the Washington Post wants China to do something. Good luck.

Mark C.

Come for the surgery, stay for the beaches

This story involves the unforgivable sin of paying for health care, but it's also about a much-needed source of hard currency for the Caribbean socialist paradise. I therefore suspect many Canadians will have mixed feelings about it:

Canadians fed up with long health care waiting lists at home have begun seeking out orthopedic surgery and other services in Cuba, as the communist country markets its well-regarded health-care system on the international free market.

A new medical broker in Quebec has just started arranging for patients here to receive care in the Caribbean nation, but Health Services International says its clients will not be the first Canadians to try the new brand of Cuban tourism. More than 30 underwent hip replacements, cosmetic operations and other procedures in Cuba last year alone, according to Lucie Vermette, a partner in the newly formed company.

Damian P.

Un vrai Canadien

I watched the moving ceremony in Montreal for the retirement of Ken Dryden's number 29. Mr Dryden worked hard at his French; I wish he had worked harder, given his intelligence, on his politics. One of Canada's great athletes.

But did he, or his children, ever go to daycare at an early age? I fear his "liberal" (in the modern sense) heart has over-ridden his mind.

Mark C.

Everything you need to know about 9/11 conspiracy theories

...in one handy guide. A few excerpts:

- A black helicopter was hovering over the WTC South Tower before, during, and after the crashes, and the floor that was on fire the most must have had barrels and barrels of a crude oil-diesel mixture that was remotely ignited to ensure a hiding place for the helicopter which is the only thing that could explain black sooty smoke coming from an office building filled with office supplies, and the people working on that floor didn't notice the barrels and barrels of oil and went about their daily routine, and nobody working security or janitorial in the building noticed black-suited men rolling barrels of crude oil on the elevators, all to hide the black helicopter because we all know what black helicopters do. Seriously!

- Because the shape of the impact holes in the WTC towers and the Pentagon don't match what I think the shape of the planes should be, then it must have been some other type of craft that did the damage, in spite of all of the eyewitness reports and physical evidence to the contrary. Which means that, since the alleged hijacked aircraft are, indeed, missing, and the passengers on said aircraft are, indeed, missing, then the government must have landed those passenger jets in secret somewhere, removed the people, killed them, dismembered them, sprinkled their remains around the crash sites somehow, and destroyed/hid the aircraft somewhere else. Masterful. Much more convincing than just actually crashing the planes into the buildings in the first place.

- 99.9% of the world's top engineers, architects, physicists, and chemists are all wrong, and I am right, because I read the Intarweb and I am so smart. (via Colby Cosh)

Damian P.

Environmental Moralism

David Suzuki wants to make the environment the top political issue of Canadians. In other words, he wants to leverage the masses to force on others what they are not willing to do themselves.

If a large enough majority of the country really cared about the environment, it wouldn't be a problem. We'd all voluntarily make pocketbook sacrifices and energy saving bulbs, drive hybrids, lower thermostats, recycle, and divest from environmentally unfriendly corporations, etc.

Most of this is about Canadians wanting other Canadians to care about the environment. Some want it so badly, they hope to use the power of the state to impose their desires. Now why is it that I don't hear anything about morality being forced on others?

Let's get it straight: the environment can be a top issue for individuals without it being their top political issue.

Jon N

An inconvenient truth

Canada's worst greenhouse gas problem: the carbon dioxide emitted by MPs (all parties) during Question Period.

Mark C.

Bud Bowl

Thanks to the internet, we Canadians can finally see the signature Super Bowl commercials of the nineties.

Damian P.

Going negative

Don Martin is critical of the Tories' decision to run anti-Dion commercials during the Super Bowl - partly because they're negative ads, and partly because it's during the Super Bowl. (Martin earns bonus points for adding, "Da Bears will deliver an against-all-odds spanking on the Colts.") But he says they might work, and that the Liberals have little right to complain.

Nobody wants an election, but the governing party is advertising for one. The Stephen Harper Conservatives insist they fear not the owlish Dion, yet they have delivered a pre-emptive strike at his credibility and credentials. And amid all the lofty talk of restoring dignity and decorum to the federal political process, both sides have retreated to cheap shots while unleashing their best-in-show attack dogs in the Commons.

But just because the Conservative commercials are false advertising for an imminent election featuring out-of-context comments doesn't mean it's dumb politics.

The governing party has enjoyed considerable success in fundraising under the new party financing rules. With more cash in hand than all other political parties combined, the Tories can afford to buy themselves a Liberal smear or three.

[...]

The Liberals can only gulp in empty protest at this unexpected strategy. With their 2006 commercial insisting Mr. Harper would send soldiers marching through Canadian cities (when all he proposed was a bolstering of the military emergency forces near cities), they proved themselves master of the bogus attack ad.

And while it's arguably unbecoming to whack a new leader barely two months into the job, don't forget it was Liberal prime minister Jean Chretien who barely gave former Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day time to dry off from his jet-skiing escapade before calling an election.

These ads are not personal enough to offend voters or factually embellished enough to be ridiculed. And they might actually work: Former Ontario premier Mike Harris employed a similar tactic -- and similar wording -- to put Dalton McGuinty on the defensive after he took over as Liberal leader.

Damian P.

Update: Peter Rempel defends the strategy.

Iraq: Responsibilities of those advocating withdrawal

Robert Kagan asks the relevant questions:

...These supposedly braver critics demand a cutoff of funds for the war and the start of a withdrawal within months. But they're not honest either, since they refuse to answer the most obvious and necessary questions: What do they propose the United States do when, as a result of withdrawal, Iraq explodes and ethnic cleansing on a truly horrific scale begins? What do they propose our response should be when the entire region becomes a war zone, when al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations establish bases in Iraq from which to attack neighboring states as well as the United States? Even the Iraq Study Group acknowledged that these are likely consequences of precipitate withdrawal.

Those who call for an "end to the war" don't want to talk about the fact that the war in Iraq and in the region will not end but will only grow more dangerous. Do they recommend that we then do nothing, regardless of the consequences? Or are they willing to say publicly, right now, that they would favor sending U.S. troops back into Iraq to confront those new dangers? Answering those questions really would be honest and brave...

I wish I had good answers. When the public in a democracy gives up (with a large push from the media), what is the government to do? A caution for the Canadian mission in Afghanistan.

Mark C.

Update: What can happen during a bug-out. And remember the fate of the Harkis in Algeria.

The perversion of criminal justice in the UK

Once again, things are no better in Canada:

So let's state this without ambiguity: the criminal justice system exists to protect the law-abiding individual from the criminal. Anything else that it may try to do, such as reforming delinquents, treating drug addicts or addressing social deprivation, however admirable in itself, will be largely pointless if it fails in that primary purpose. In fact, there is a case for saying that, in a free society, the justice system (traditionally represented wearing a blindfold) should deal only with the offence and leave the reform of the offender or of the social conditions from which he emerged to other agencies.

What the New Labour doctrine has done is to conflate the purpose of law enforcement ("crime") with the role of the social services ("the causes of crime"). Not only does that famous aphorism imply that crime always has a socially determined "cause", but it creates conflicting and inhibiting constraints on law enforcement: the police and the courts are now under as much pressure to consider the supposed causes of an offence as its consequences. And the "causes" are not simply the specific mitigating circumstances that a judge would traditionally have taken into account in a specific case, but much wider and more endemic issues of deprivation and social injustice. (Some of the most influential spokesmen for this view say that it will be impossible to reduce levels of crime and anti-social behaviour until the larger problems of "inequality" in society are resolved.)..

Mark C.

Trench coats hung up

I very much doubt it's any better in Canada. I'm sure we need more coverage of Mississauga, you know.

...Journalist Jill Carroll, studying foreign news coverage for a report published by the Shorenstein Center at Harvard University last fall, found that the number of U.S. newspaper foreign correspondents declined from 188 in 2002 to 141 last year. (If you include the Wall Street Journal, which publishes editions in Europe and Asia, the decline was from 304 to 249.)

[...]

Maybe the old model just can't work anymore. Though The Washington Post has managed to maintain its stable of 20-plus foreign correspondents, no newspaper, including The Post, is insulated from the pressure of Internet competition for advertising dollars. Nor are the television networks, which have cut way back on their foreign bureaus as well.

Yet in an era when clan structures in Somalia or separatist movements in the Philippines may have a direct bearing on U.S. national security -- when the people who run multinational companies such as GE regularly complain that Americans don't understand the world -- we should all worry about who, if anyone, will report from abroad.

I shudder to think of the effects if free tabloids seriously eat into the circulation of regular papers (much as I may blast them).

Mark C.

"Too many Jews"

The New York Sun confirms a story, originally from WorldNetDaily (which is why I didn't mention it here) alleging that Jimmy Carter complained about the number of Jews on the Holocaust Memorial Council:

We spoke to the former Executive Director of the Holocaust Memorial Council, Monroe Freedman, who confirmed a WorldNetDaily report that he had received a note from Jimmy Carter complaining that there were "too many Jews" on the Holocaust Memorial Council. Professor Freedman also said that Carter's support for the Holocaust Memorial Council was "principally a political gimmick" based on getting political support from Jews.

Professor Freedman, now a law professor at Hofstra University, also confirmed that a respected Holocaust scholar was rejected as a board member by Carter's office because the scholar's name "sounded too Jewish" -- although he was a Presbyterian Christian. Mr. Freedman told us that the WND account was "entirely accurate" except that Elie Wiesel, not Freedman himself, had selected the board members.

[...]

Mr. Freedman told us that Carter saw the idea of a Holocaust Memorial "principally as a political gimmick." He "in effect politicized the idea" and saw it as a means of getting "political support from Jews" but at the same time he didn't want to "alienate other potential constituencies," and so wanted more Polish Americans, and other ethnic groups, who claimed to be equally affected by the Holocaust.

Maybe Carter should move to Bolton.

Damian P.

Betrayal by the left

"Some things, as Orwell wrote, are true even if The Daily Telegraph says they are true."

...Here’s his [Nick Cohen's] problem: the people who would die before they would applaud the squaddies and grunts who removed hideous regimes from Afghanistan and Iraq, yet who happily describe Islamist video-butchers and suicide-murderers as a “resistance”. Those who do this are not “anti-war” at all, but are shadily taking the other side in a conflict where the moral and civilisational stakes are extremely high.

[...]

It’s all here: from the pseudo-radicals who said there was nothing to choose between Nazi imperialism in Europe and British rule in India, through the supporters of the Hitler-Stalin pact, all the way to those who defended Slobodan Milosevic as a socialist and those who took, quite literally took, money from the bloody hands of Saddam Hussein. Just in the past decade or so, had this “anti-war” rabble had its way, we would have seen Kuwait stay part of Iraq, Bosnia and Kosovo cleansed and annexed by “Greater” Serbia, and the Taliban retaining control of Afghanistan. You might think that such a record would lead its adherents to be dismissed as a silly and sinister fringe, but instead it is they who pose as the principled radicals and their opponents who are treated with unconcealed disdain in the universities and on the BBC.

This betrayal (because there is no other word for it) has been made possible in part by a degraded version of multiculturalism. The hard left has junked its historic secularism, to say nothing of its principles of equality for females and homosexuals, to make common cause with Muslim outfits some of which are associated in other countries with the extreme right. It has done this by the use of nonsense terms such as “Islamophobia”, which are designed to give the no-less nonsensical impression that Islam is some kind of persecuted ethnicity. But the vile attacks by Islamists on the Jews (Britain’s oldest minority) and on India (Britain’s most important democratic ally after the United States) show the truly reactionary and hateful character of the opportunist alliance between failed ex-Stalinists and fanatical theocrats. For Cohen, as for some others of us, this is no longer a difference of emphasis within the family of the left. It is the adamant line of division in a bitter fight against a new form of fascism, at home no less than abroad...

What we're up against, in Britain:

In the survey of 1,003 Muslims by the polling company Populus through internet and telephone questionnaires, nearly 60% said they would prefer to live under British law, while 37% of 16 to 24-year-olds said they would prefer sharia law, against 17% of those over 55. Eighty-six per cent said their religion was the most important thing in their lives.

Nearly a third of 16 to 24-year-olds believed that those converting to another religion should be executed [emphasis added]...

More here, and the survey here.

Mark C.

Update: A Canadian sample of the attitude Mr Cohen describes.

Ford no longer a racing Champ

The blue oval withdraws as sponsor of open wheel racing--a consequence of dismal finances?

Can Champ Cars and the IRL get together before first-rate open wheel racing dies in North America?

Mark C.

Fortier reined in

The Harper government has stepped in against Sen. Fortier's meddling with the C-17 contract, according to The Globe and Mail:

The Harper government has avoided a repeat of the 1986 CF-18 debacle by thwarting Public Works Minister Michael Fortier's efforts to increase Quebec's share of the economic benefits flowing from a $3.4-billion military purchase.

"This government and our ministers have no intention of interfering in the regional distribution of the contracts," Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters yesterday afternoon.

Laying down the law, Mr. Harper said it is up to market forces to determine which companies would receive benefits flowing from the government's purchase of C-17 cargo aircraft from Boeing Co.

"It depends on the company that has the contract and its relations with other industry players," Mr. Harper said.

[...]

A senior Conservative source added that Mr. Fortier was "hauled out on the carpet" at the cabinet committee meeting for his efforts to boost Quebec's share of the benefits.

"The view was that Fortier was getting too greedy," said the source, who added that the other senior Quebec minister on the file, Industry Canada's Maxime Bernier, has taken a pan-Canadian view.

(via Andrew Coyne)

Damian P.

Let's just lie back and lose

Mark Steyn thinks Westerners have an "air of Andropovian exhaustion":

Darfur is an apt symbol of early 21st century liberalism: What matters is that you urge action rather than take any...

The other day I was reading an account of the latest genius idea from Britain. The carbon emission-trading system imposed by Kyoto is absurd and entirely ineffectual, but in London David Cameron now wants to apply it to hamburgers. Over there, a Big Mac costs three bucks or so. But, if children eat too many, the consequent problems of juvenile obesity will be a further strain on the National Health Service. So Cameron wants to impose some sort of Kyotoesque calorie-trading system on fast-food purveyors whereby McDonald's would have some trans fat cap imposed on it to ensure they pick up the tab for what that $3 Big Mac really costs society.

And David Cameron is the leader of the alleged Conservative Party.

He's also living in a country whose major cities have been hollowed out by Islamist cells. Nevertheless, as England decays into Somalia with chip shops, taxing the chip shops is the Conservatives' priority.

The civilized world faces profound challenges that threaten the global order. But most advanced democracies now run two-party systems in which both parties sell themselves to the electorate on the basis of unaffordable entitlements whose costs can be kicked down the road, even though the road is a short cul-de-sac and the kicked cans are already piled sky-high. That's the real energy crisis.

Mark C.

Afghanistan: More troops from the usual contributors

There are several stories on this, so I've picked bits from them to try and give an overall picture. It would seem that only the US, UK and Poland are really doing much more. It also looks as if the US hopes only to extend the tour of the 10th Mountain soldiers as a temporary measure and not actually increase its continuing troop strength (because of Iraq?)--but Canadians will be getting some help for a while at Kandahar. Caveats by ISAF members on troop use remain a serious problem.

1) "More US troops for Afghanistan"

The 3,500-strong 10th Mountain Division, currently deployed along the eastern border with Pakistan, is to have its tour of duty extended by four months.

The unit, on its third tour of the country since 2001, was due to have been replaced next month by men from the 82nd Airborne division, who will still be deployed...

2) "NATO Allies Wary of Sending More Troops to Afghanistan"

America’s European allies on Friday remained noncommittal about sending additional troops to Afghanistan, even as the Bush administration sought to inject new energy into the NATO mission against the Taliban by offering more American soldiers and money...

...the realities that have troubled the NATO mission in Afghanistan since the 26-member trans-Atlantic alliance took command last year remained on display. France and Germany continued to limit their combat role; both countries have refused to deploy troops in the south of the country, where Taliban forces are strongest. Germany’s Parliament has yet to approve a proposal to send six Tornado reconnaissance jets to the south...

...While Mr. Prodi’s government passed a measure on Friday to renew financing for Italy’s troops in Afghanistan, it did so without the support of all of Mr. Prodi’s coalition partners, and Italian officials said it was unlikely that Mr. Prodi could rally support for any increase in troops...

3) "Nato falls in behind US to step up aid to Afghanistan"

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Nato Secretary-General, said that the issue of extra troops was likely to be discussed at a meeting of defence ministers in Seville, Spain on February 8. "The message has been clear that the international community intends to keep up the initiative in Afghanistan..."

4) "NATO to send in more troops to Afghanistan"

The surge in allied troops follows a recent warning from U.S. generals that Taliban militants are poised to unleash a bloody spring offensive across the southern half of Afghanistan.

British Gen. David Richards downplayed the gloomy assessment..

"We’ve now got a stabilized (situation)," said Richards, who steps down as commander of the NATO force in Afghanistan on Feb. 4. "I’m not saying we’ve won. We have a stabilized security situation across the south and in the east. We have a lot more to do but we’ve set the conditions for that."

On Thursday, the United States extended by four months the combat tour of 3,200 soldiers from the 3rd Brigade of the New York-based 10th Mountain Division ["...only been pledged for the short term, however."]. At least one battalion, roughly 650 troops, of that group will form a so-called theatre reserve, said Richards. He said he envies the flexibility such a formation will give his successor, an American general.

Based in Kandahar [emphasis added], the tough alpine-trained soldiers will be called upon to respond to emergencies throughout the volatile region. In theory, this should allow Canadians to concentrate on security and reconstruction.

Richards was eager to trumpet as "fantastic news" NATO plans to deploy a mixed brigade of combat troops — as many as 3,500 — in addition to the bolstered U.S. commitment. But even after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels on Friday, it remained unclear which countries planned to contribute new troops to the multinational combat group.

Poland, which had committed 900 soldiers last fall, has boosted its contingent to 1,200. There were reports this week that Britain was considering putting 600 more troops on the ground in addition to the 5,200 already deployed...

5) "US Says Troop Coordination Critical to NATO, Afghanistan Mission"

A top US State Department official warned Friday that NATO's future may hinge on alliance members dropping conditions they have placed on their troops' service in Afghanistan. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns says the so-called "caveats" on what various contingents may do in that country are an "existential" issue for NATO...

[US Defense Secretary]Gates said if things go as anticipated, it will not be necessary [emphasis added] to further extend the tours of U.S. troops.

He has said in recent days that he would be receptive to increasing the overall U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan if that is the recommendation of field commanders.

And then there's this: "NATO slow to respond on Afghan force level".

...[Secretary of State] Rice added that in addition to extending the tours, Defense Secretary Robert Gates would expand the number of U.S. troops, "partly through extra forces [emphasis added]."..

Hmm...things not quite clear.

Mark C.

Hydro chic

The Winnipeg lineman takes Europe by storm, with a mighty "honk" (full text subscriber only):

Lest we think Canada is short on superheros, we need only remember Hydro Man, able to climb tall electrical poles and sell our natural resources to the United States in a single shinny.

Lately, he's also been able to sell his style sense to international fashion powers.

The Hydro parka -- made by longtime Winnipeg-based outerwear manufacturer Richlu, and the unofficial uniform of Canada's hydro-electricians -- is this winter's cult item for Paris's and Milan's fashionistas, for whom it seems authenticity is the new black.
[...]

There is more colour choice among the European versions and they are cut smaller, not only for svelte European bodies but also because the Canadian versions need to be bulkier to accommodate insulating layers for colder climes. And the continental version has goose down instead of polyester filling...

Any bets on the next hot piece of Canadian clothing?

Mark C.

Choosing to forget

Yesterday was Holocaust Memorial Day in most of Britain, but not in Bolton:

Widespread criticism has been levelled at Bolton Council for scrapping the town's annual Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony.

Town Hall chiefs have instead decided to hold an event as part of a genocide memorial day in June.

The council says that would be more inclusive.

But the decision to scrap the Holocaust Memorial event - made following consultation with Bolton Interfaith Council - has triggered criticism from religious leaders and councillors, some of whom said they were unaware of the move.

[...]

Louis Rapaport, president of the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester, said: "There may not be many Jews in Bolton, but the day is supposed to have an educational message to the whole community.

"I can't help feeling the decision was influenced by Bolton's large Muslim community."

Bolton Interfaith Council, which is made up of Christian, Muslim and Hindu representatives, suggested the idea of Genocide Memorial Day to Bolton Council.

Tony McNeile, secretary of the Interfaith Council, said a general memorial day would be more inclusive of all faiths.

He added: "It does not mean bypassing the Holocaust or ignoring it because it will be included in the memorial day in June. It is one of the great tragedies of the world, but it is not the only one."

Typical comment on the Bolton Evening News website: "Jewish groups however will probably say that this is anti-semtism, which it isnt. That is their way of intimidating anyone who is critical."

Several senior members of the Muslim Council of Britain, meanwhile, tried to get the group to reverse its heavily criticized boycott of Holocaust Remembrance Day, but they were outnumbered. If groups like the MCB don't like being accused of anti-semitism, maybe they should stop acting like anti-semites.

Damian P.

2004 election explained

John Kerry does it again. I don't think it's necessarily wrong to criticize your country's policies on foreign soil, but to do it on the same stage as the President of Iran once again betrays the political tone-deafness that lost Kerry the Presidency three years ago. (How do Americans not see the world "exclusively through an American lens," anyway? Do the French or the Chinese carefully think, "hmmm, but how would the Americans view this?" before they make any foreign policy decisions?)

In Kerry's defence, the Fox News video only shows a few clips from his appearance at Davos. If he made other comments criticizing Iran or members of the Arab League - whose Secretary-General also appeared on the same panel - his performance might not have been as bad as it looks.

Damian P.

The making of a racist martyr

The National Post describes the fiasco involving white supremacist Jared Taylor, who was scheduled to debate a Black-studies professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

Inviting Mr. Taylor was the first mistake - and then things were made even worse when the school canceled the debate, and Taylor's subsequent "lecture" was disrupted by masked left-wing thugs. The Post concludes:

Lewd curiosity and naive confidence had conspired to get Mr. Taylor invited to Halifax, but it was old-fashioned thuggery that allowed him to leave as a weirdly sympathetic figure, a media darling with another great war story to tell of his pseudo-intellectual derring-do. He became, in the end, a more effective racist.

Damian P.

Addicted to Intervention

The New Republic's Sacha Zimmerman defends the gripping A&E reality show. I touched on some similar points in my Blogcritics review last year.

Damian P.

Darfur update: No UN "surge"; blame George

An account of the current situation follows--should you wonder why so little is happening, see here.

The forced withdrawal of aid organisations from Darfur could leave more than two million civilians facing catastrophe, vulnerable to militia attacks, starvation and disease, a leading human rights activist has warned...

...[There have been] a string of attacks on humanitarian organisations by Janjaweed militiamen and rebel groups, in which a dozen aid workers have died. The onslaught prompted an unprecedented joint statement this month by UN agencies in the western Sudanese province, saying that the aid operation there, the world's largest, was under threat. Aid officials say the government of Omar al-Bashir is also holding up visas and customs clearance for their supplies...

The Sudanese government breached a UN-brokered ceasefire agreement in recent days by conducting air strikes on Darfur villages, according to African Union observers. Mr Bashir told the BBC that his forces had carried out bombing in northern Darfur, but said the truce had first been broken by rebel forces.

Mr Bashir has agreed to allow UN peacekeepers into Darfur to support a small force deployed by the African Union, but only 40 have arrived, and Khartoum is dragging its heels over further deployments...

Now note the final paragraph of this piece in The Guardian:

In his state of the union address on Tuesday, President George Bush said he would "continue to awaken the conscience of the world to save the people of Darfur". But, said Mr Rossin [a former US ambassador now acting as international coordinator of the Save Darfur Coalition]: "We've all raised consciousness about Darur. That's not the president's job. It's the president's job to do things."

Of course, as always, it's George's fault. No mention of China or Russia. Do we want a hyperpower or not? Or just when it suits us?

Mark C.

Deal me out

"Ford losing $1,925 on every car".

The Buzz on what's it all about:

The threat is not bankruptcy. It's the lack of new products over the next two years which will push it further behind its competitors, especially Detroit foe General Motors Corp. A thin lineup of new vehicles will lead buyers elsewhere, analysts warn. And it could also affect Ford's sales network.

"The Ford loyalists will continue to buy Fords. And the people who are on the fence, won't. It's that simple," said John Wolkonowicz, an analyst at consultancy Global Insight in Lexington, Mass. The biggest immediate danger for Ford is losing dealers, which have until now been one of its major strengths...

Ford suffered a collapse in the volume of its most profitable trucks in the United States last year as buyers turned to smaller models...

Ford reported full-year losses in its Asia Pacific operations. Its Premier Automotive Group, which includes the Jaguar brand, also lost money.

The carmaker said it was profitable in Europe and South America. It said it expects total automotive results will be worse in 2007 than 2006.

Canadian Auto Workers president Buzz Hargrove said the size of Ford's loss last year will make it much tougher for the union to argue for increased investment in Ford's Canadian operations...

Mark C.

Damian adds: here's a pretty good example of what's wrong with Ford. The company's new Fiesta is all set to go in Europe, and it would be a much-needed competitor in the "B-car" segment (Yaris, Fit, Rio, etc.) over here. But instead of the Fiesta, they're planning to build a variation called the "Ecosport" for the U.S. market - starting in 2010.

Mazda will happily sell Americans and Canadians a small car based on the second-generation Focus platform, the Mazda3, but Ford makes us settle for a refreshed version of the original Focus. Which was first sold in Europe in 1999. The way things are going, Ford will probably be a subsidiary of Mazda by 2010.

Australia Day

To all my Aussie readers, have a good one. (I was wondering why the Australian national holiday was held in the middle of winter, until I remembered that whole "southern hemisphere" thing.)

Damian P.

Maher Arar's Settlement

The cycle: bureaucrats mess up, person suffers (torture in this case!), taxpayers pay.

I don't mind paying a little to Mr. Arar with my tax dollars (even though it's not my fault), but why don't the Syrians have to pay anything? They're the ones who tortured Mr. Arar for a year. Are we supposed to hold Syria to different, more "culturally sensitive" standards?

It must be amusing from the Syrian standpoint. They can mistreat foreign citizens and then watch that foreign country flagellate itself for it.

Jon N

Damian adds: I'd like to see the Syrians pay up as well - but the fact is, Mr. Arar would never have found himself stuck there in the first place if not for mistakes made by the Canadian government. (Taking this point to its logical extreme, the Americans would owe him compensation as well.)

Europe defended

Timothy Garton Ash celebrates Europe (with some criticism), takes some licks at the US, and ends with a damp squib:

...Eleven of the 27 heads of government who will gather round the table at the spring European council, including the German chancellor Angela Merkel, were subjects of communist dictatorships less than 20 years ago. They know what freedom is because they know what unfreedom is...

The EU is a community of law. The treaty of Rome, and succeeding treaties, have been turned into a kind of constitution by the work of European courts...Why are the leading European football teams full of players from other countries? Because of a 1995 ruling of the court of justice...

Europe is an intricate, multicoloured patchwork. Every national (and sub-national) culture has its own specialities and beauties. Each itty-bitty language reveals a subtly different way of life and thought, ripened over centuries...

...There must be no American-style, social Darwinian capitalist jungle here, with the poor and weak left to die in the gutter...

...To be poor, old and sick in Europe's wild east is no more pleasant than it is to be poor, old and sick in America's wild west...

...I love Europe. Not in the same sense that I love my family, of course; nothing compares with that. Not even in the sense that I love England, although on a rainy day it runs it close. But there is a meaningful sense in which I can say that I love Europe—in other words, that I am a European patriot...

...Europeans today are not called upon to die for Europe. Most of us are not even called upon to live for Europe. All that is required is that we should let Europe live.

Like this?

...Gilles Kepel, the French scholar of Islam, once told me that when he lectures in North Africa his listeners often ask how many Muslims live in France. If he replies that he believes the official figures to be mostly correct, scornful laughter erupts. The true figure, his listeners say, is much higher. France is on its way to becoming part of the dar-al-Islam. It is leaving the dar-al-Harb (“House of War”), but without a fight...

Mark C.

Update: Hurray, We're Capitulating!

Action Against Iranians Authorized

From today's Washington Post:

The Bush administration has authorized the U.S. military to kill or capture Iranian operatives inside Iraq as part of an aggressive new strategy to weaken Tehran's influence across the Middle East and compel it to give up its nuclear program, according to government and counterterrorism officials with direct knowledge of the effort.

For more than a year, U.S. forces in Iraq have secretly detained dozens of suspected Iranian agents, holding them for three to four days at a time. The "catch and release" policy was designed to avoid escalating tensions with Iran and yet intimidate its emissaries. U.S. forces collected DNA samples from some of the Iranians without their knowledge, subjected others to retina scans, and fingerprinted and photographed all of them before letting them go.

Last summer, however, senior administration officials decided that a more confrontational approach was necessary, as Iran's regional influence grew and U.S. efforts to isolate Tehran appeared to be failing. The country's nuclear work was advancing, U.S. allies were resisting robust sanctions against the Tehran government, and Iran was aggravating sectarian violence in Iraq.

"There were no costs for the Iranians," said one senior administration official. "They are hurting our mission in Iraq, and we were bending over backwards not to fight back."

[...]

The wide-ranging plan has several influential skeptics in the intelligence community, at the State Department and at the Defense Department who said that they worry it could push the growing conflict between Tehran and Washington into the center of a chaotic Iraq war.

Captain Ed has more. I agree that action against the Iranians in Iraq may be necessary, but I'm still very nervous about how this will play out.

Damian P.

But what about the children?

Helmets for kids on toboggans. Laugh if you want, but this will be the law in five years or so.

Damian P.

Flea Market! Montgomery!

It's just like/it's just like/a mini-mall!

(via Lileks)

Damian P.

The Globe's loss

Cathy Young, as fair-minded and reasonable a writer as you'll ever read, has written her last weekly commentary for the Boston Globe. Fortunately, she will continue writing for Reason and posting to her own site, and hopefully another paper will be wise enough to pick up her column.

Damian P.

EU: More principle than Canadian journalists

If the Canadian media were in Europe, they'd be publishing a stream of stories about how banning arms sales to China was damaging relations. So what if the Chinese fire a missile and destroy a satellite in orbit? It's all George's and Dick's fault. Of course.

More on the Globe and Mail's approach to China here.

Mark C.

Messy MPs' visit to Kandahar

Damian Brooks throws darts and gives laurels concerning the visit (SCOND is the acronym for the House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs, which is now just the Standing Committee on National Defence).

Mark C.

Update: More on Canadian politicians and Afghanistan here.

I guess they didn't like United 93, either

A report by Britain's Islamic Human Rights Commission complains about the way Muslims are portrayed in the movies. Here's the only post-9/11 movie mentioned in this Guardian story:

House of Sand and Fog (2003)

An abandoned wife is evicted from her home, which is taken over by an Iranian family forced to flee their country following the 1979 revolution. The report says the film constructs a "negative description of the revolution, without enabling any detailed or balanced analysis of the event" [emphasis added]

Edward Zwick's 1998 film The Siege comes in for particular criticism - which leads me to conclude the IHRC folks weren't watching the movie very closely, since it's about the U.S. government over-reacting to terrorism by imposing martial law and locking all Arab adult males in detention camps. (In other words, just like the police state Chimpy McLikudBurton is supposed to impose any second now.) The message of The Siege is that Arabs and Muslims shouldn't be stereotyped as terrorists and fanatics - but it acknowledges that Islamist terrorism exists, and evidently that's too much.

I shouldn't have to tell you they didn't think much of that Channel 4 documentary, either. Their response: "But what about the Jews?"

Tonight’s programme ‘exposes’ ‘intolerant’ preaching by various clerics in Birmingham and discusses this without context either to the Muslim community / ies, society at large or more specifically religious communities in the UK.

The usual litany of accusations from being against gay rights and women’s rights, as well as accusations regarding support for jihad, Osamah bin Laden, the Taliban and Muslim world domination are ranged at various people within the film. This ‘standard’ is used exclusively for Muslims and exemplifies the problems of inherent Islamophobia and racism within the mainstream media.

Prayers for the Israeli Defence Forces, as well as preaching that condemns homosexuality and could be considered anti-women as well as teachings that call into question loyalty to Britain as a state can be found in many British synagogues. Likewise other faith communities hold similar views, yet it is Muslim views that are continuously scrutinized.

Damian P.

The end of our identity?

Francis Fukuyama wonders, in born-again neoliberal fashion, how to deal with Muslim immigrants in the West. I don't think he really has answers.

...The line of modern political theory that begins with Machiavelli and continues through Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau and the American founding fathers understands the issue of political freedom as one that pits the state against individuals rather than groups...

...contemporary multiculturalism and identity politics were in many ways born in Canada [emphasis added], with the demands of the francophone community for recognition of its rights. Law 101 of 1977 [a Quebec law, since watered down somewhat - DJP] violates the liberal principle of equal individual rights: French speakers enjoy linguistic rights not shared by English speakers...

...most....European countries tend to conceive of multiculturalism as a framework for the coexistence of separate cultures rather than a transitional mechanism for integrating newcomers into a dominant culture (what Amartya Sen has called "plural monoculturalism")...

...The civilisation of the European Enlightenment, of which contemporary liberal democracy is the heir, cannot be culturally neutral, since liberal societies have their own values regarding the equal worth and dignity of individuals. Cultures that do not accept these premises do not deserve equal protection in a liberal democracy...

Mark C.

Rock Gods reunited

It looks like David Lee Roth is back with Van Halen - for real, this time. A 40-date tour is reportedly set for later this year, and I bet you could make a pretty good reality show out of it.

This, on the other hand, sounds even sadder than Roth's short-lived radio career:

[Michael] Anthony, however, will not be along for the proposed ride, having since joined up with Van Halen's second former frontman Sammy Hagar for a series of shows in which they billed themselves as The Other Half and performed both Roth and Van Hagar-era Van Halen tunes.

Damian P.

But will they die as British subjects?

A United Kingdom?

Less than half of the public say that "British" is the best or only way to describe themselves, according to the Social Attitudes survey. The decrease in a sense of Britishness, long established in Scotland and Wales, is partly explained by a rise in a feeling of Englishness, according to researchers. Four in 10 people in England now regard themselves as solely or primarily English.

Evidence of an apparent shift away from a united British identity comes at a politically sensitive time, with the pro-independence Scottish National party making a strong showing before the Scottish parliamentary elections in May. Earlier this month Gordon Brown, the chancellor, called for a renewed sense of Britishness and warned of the need to "resist any drift towards a Balkanisation of Britain"...

Here is the story of how the Britons came to feel united. To speak of the English themselves, how's this for debunking (text subscriber only)?

I have tried hard, despite the impossibility of defining the term, to detect a sense of Englishness in Chaucer. He refers to various bits of England, but not with any sense of wanting to share them with us as part of a common heritage...of the Englishness that all seem to desire to celebrate in him I find nothing. Chaucer is not in any significant way English, nor could he be, in his time. He is a great European poet. The sooner we understand this, and follow his example, and forget the aberrations of nationhood and empire, the better.

Mark C.

Ahmadinejad under pressure?

Some hopeful developments from Iran, according to the Daily Telegraph:

Internal pressure on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran to abandon his confrontational policies with the West has intensified after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's supreme spiritual leader, snubbed a request for a meeting on the country's controversial nuclear programme.

Iran's president meets regularly with Ayatollah Khamenei, who is regarded as the guardian of the Islamic Revolution, to brief him on international and domestic political issues. But when the president requested a meeting earlier this month, the ayatollah declined.

It is the first time that he has refused to meet Mr Ahmadinejad since the former Revolutionary Guard commander was elected president in 2005 and is a further indication of the growing unrest within Iran at his hard-line policies.

"It is a clear indication that the cracks are starting to appear in the highest echelons of the Iranian regime," said a senior Bush administration official with responsibility for monitoring Iran. "If the country's leading religious figure is not talking to the political leadership then obviously something is going seriously wrong."

[...]

...the country's growing international isolation, together with a dramatic decline in the economy, has seen opposition to Mr Ahmadinejad harden. Last week 150 Iranian parliamentarians took the extraordinary step of signing a letter blaming him for the country's economic woes.

Damian P.

Update: more here.

China and the internet

The Chinese government says the number of Chinese internet users will overtake that of the United States within two years. Naturally, the Communists are looking for ways to "purify" the net:

Chinese Communist Party chief Hu Jintao has vowed to "purify" the Internet, state media reported on Wednesday, describing a top-level meeting that discussed ways to master the country's sprawling, unruly online population.

Hu made the comments as the ruling party's Politburo -- its 24-member leading council -- was studying China's Internet, which claimed 137 million registered users at the end of 2006.

Hu, a strait-laced communist with little sympathy for cultural relaxation, did not directly mention censorship.

But he made it clear that the Communist Party was looking to ensure it keeps control of China's Internet users, often more interested in salacious pictures, bloodthirsty games and political scandal than Marxist lessons.

[...]

The vast majority of those users have no access to overseas Chinese Web sites offering uncensored opinion and news critical of the ruling party. But even in heavily monitored China, news of official misdeeds and dissident opinion has been able to travel through online bulletin boards and blogs.

Hu told officials to intensify control even as they seek to release the Internet's economic potential. "Ensure that one hand grasps development while one hand grasps administration," he said.

Mao is dead, but he's not dead enough.

Damian P.

Steyn is not alone

Christopher Hitchens likes Mark's new book. He also puts forth some proposals of his own:

1. An end to one-way multiculturalism and to the cultural masochism that goes with it. The Koran does not mandate the wearing of veils or genital mutilation, and until recently only those who apostasized from Islam faced the threat of punishment by death. Now, though, all manner of antisocial practices find themselves validated in the name of religion, and mullahs have begun to issue threats even against non-Muslims for criticism of Islam. This creeping Islamism must cease at once, and those responsible must feel the full weight of the law. Meanwhile, we should insist on reciprocity at all times. We should not allow a single Saudi dollar to pay for propaganda within the U.S., for example, until Saudi Arabia also permits Jewish and Christian and secular practices. No Wahhabi-printed Korans anywhere in our prison system. No Salafist imams in our armed forces.

2. A strong, open alliance with India on all fronts, from the military to the political and economic, backed by an extensive cultural exchange program, to demonstrate solidarity with the other great multiethnic democracy under attack from Muslim fascism. A hugely enlarged quota for qualified Indian immigrants and a reduction in quotas from Pakistan and other nations where fundamentalism dominates...

Via Arts & Letters Daily.

Mark C.

Damian adds: Steyn was interviewed for the latest Shire Network News podcast. Check it out.

Who's hot and who's not...

...at the Davos World Economic Forum. Full coverage here.

Mark C.

Easing up on Mubarak

Gene at Harry's Place accuses the Bush Administration of abandoning its pro-democracy rhetoric towards Egypt.

Damian P.

Peyton Manning responds to his critics

Warning: coarse language, and lots of it.

Damian P.

"Sign the damn deal"

From a post at The Torch, "They just don't get it", by Paul Synnott:

Not to be outdone by Fortier, Foreign Affairs Minister (and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency) Peter MacKay wants to stick his oar in the water. The message to him is the same as the others. Lobby for your region AFTER the contract has been signed with NO PRE-CONDITIONS on where the work is to be completed in Canada.

Help your region present the best business case to Boeing for placing their business there.

Sign the damn deal.

The article notes that the item is set for Cabinet committee discussion tomorrow. Take some time and let Cabinet know what you think [emphasis added].

"MacKay joins call for Boeing to spread [C-17] benefits"

Mark C.

Clark and the "New York Money People"

Jonathan Chait looks into Wesley Clark's comments about war with Iran.

Damian P.

"The Bible Says"

I've watched this, and I've browsed the associated websites, and I'm still not sure whether it's an elaborate parody. (I hope it is.)

Damian P.

Update: regular commenter "debbie" argues it's a hoax, and I think she's right:

There are certainly ministries to people that wish to leave the homosexual "lifestyle" (the success of these are probably dubious) [there's no "probably" about it - DJP] but they are of the "love the sinner hate the sin" school and would NEVER use the term God hates fags.

Afghanistan: Not your grandfather's war

Italians in neutral (at least not reverse), Germans trying to slide into first, Brits in second:

1) "Italy to stay in Afganistan but no more troops, PM says"

...The (Afghanistan) undertaking isn't an undertaking of war," he [PM Prodi] said...

2) "Berlin fears war planes only first step"

...The deployment of reconnaissance planes is seen as a relatively safe way to do so [doing more - MC], at least when it comes to human casualties...

3) "More troops for Afghanistan"

The preparations to send more [UK] troops will raise concerns about so-called "mission creep" in Afghanistan...

Mark C.

Update: "Afstan: US keeping troops, planning to up aid, asking NATO for more"

Who cares about the Oscars?

The Razzie nominations are out, and Basic Instinct 2 and Little Man are the frontrunners.

Basic Instinct 2 sounds like the kind of over-the-top disaster that only comes along once every few years, so I feel like I have to see it. On the other hand, I'd watch all eight hours of Andy Warhol's Empire - with no bathroom breaks - instead of Little Man.

Damian P.

You get your Oscars where you can

No-one watching it would ever think Water is Canadian. But if the movie--which is very good--can get us an Oscar, I give one cheer for multiculturalism.

Mark C.

The Royal "oui"

The never-ending gall: Vive "la souveraineté et la liberté du Québec"!

If the people of Quebec are indeed "sovereign" and can "freely decide their own destiny", then they can declare independence unilaterally, should they so choose. Which is contrary to the Clarity Act, and thus an encouragement to break the law of Canada. Which I would certainly call "interference" in our internal affairs. Plus ça change...

[I think Canada should devote all its diplomatic efforts toward making St. Pierre and Miquelon part of Newfoundland. Who's with me? - DJP]

Still on Quebec, this column in the Daily Telegraph once again demonstrates the Brits' ignorance about Canada:

...when it comes to unearthing slights and insults, we Scots are the tops... we're the cat's pyjamas.

Shouldn't that be les pyjamas du chat? Yet another UK paper ignores Canada. But will the Québécois ignore Kosovo?

The breakaway British region of Scotland could be among the beneficiaries of this week's expected UN recommendation that Kosovo be granted provisional independence from Serbia, leading in time to full sovereign status. If the plan backed by the US, Britain and Germany is formally accepted by the UN security council, it will be taken as an important international legal precedent by would-be separatist movements from Georgia to Moldova to Chechnya, and possibly also the Scottish National party...

Mark C.

Update: I wonder if Mme Royal, as a loyal citoyenne of the EU, has a position on the relevance of the Montenegrin precedent to a Quebec separation referendum? That precedent, as commenter Paul Canniff notes, raises problems for the Parti Québécois.

The hate-America right

Dean Barnett and Scott Johnson savage Dinesh D'Souza's new book The Enemy at Home, which blames the "cultural left" for radical Islamic hatred of America. (Is that a simplistic, unfair characterization of D'Souza's thesis? He should have thought of that before subtitling his book, "The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11.") I'm sure some conservative bloggers liked the book, but of all the ones I regularly read, only Kathy Shaidle isn't completely repulsed by D'Souza's thesis - and even she links to Robert Spencer's thrashing of the book.

I haven't read The Enemy at Home and have no plans to waste my time with it, but I think there might be a kernel of truth to what D'Souza believes: that is, I have no doubt Islamists really do despise an American culture they perceive as too secular, permissive and decadent. The thing is, I do not believe this means Americans should overhaul their culture to ensure Osama Bin Laden finds it more to his liking - and it's downright foolish to believe anything less than an Islamic theocracy would satisfy the jihadists. (It's the same way I feel about American support for Israel: just because it infuriates the "Arab street" doesn't mean it's wrong.)

The New Republic's James Kirchick, meanwhile, notes an embarrassing inclusion in D'Souza's "acknowledgments" chapter.

Damian P.

Update: D'Souza has done the impossible: he got Andrew Sullivan and David Frum on the same side.

This is ouuuuuuur country (not John Mellencamp's)

Until earlier this evening, during Pardon the Interruption, I didn't even know the most annoying ad campaign in recent memory (not featuring washed-up Growing Pains stars, anyway) had been repackaged for Canada. Would it have cost that much to get Trooper's "Raise a Little Hell"?

It's still not as egregious as Wrangler using "Fortunate Son" in a jeans commercial, though. (For some reason, the only lyrics they used were "some folks were born/made to wave the flag/ooh the red white and blue.")

Damian P.

From anti-fascist to anti-Western

Yesterday's Observer features a lengthy excerpt from Nick Cohen's new book:

Why is it that apologies for a militant Islam which stands for everything the liberal left is against come from the liberal left? Why will students hear a leftish postmodern theorist defend the exploitation of women in traditional cultures but not a crusty conservative don? After the American and British wars in Bosnia and Kosovo against Slobodan Milosevic's ethnic cleansers, why were men and women of the left denying the existence of Serb concentration camps? As important, why did a European Union that daily announces its commitment to the liberal principles of human rights and international law do nothing as crimes against humanity took place just over its borders? Why is Palestine a cause for the liberal left, but not China, Sudan, Zimbabwe, the Congo or North Korea? Why, even in the case of Palestine, can't those who say they support the Palestinian cause tell you what type of Palestine they would like to see? After the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington why were you as likely to read that a sinister conspiracy of Jews controlled American or British foreign policy in a superior literary journal as in a neo-Nazi hate sheet? And why after the 7/7 attacks on London did leftish rather than right-wing newspapers run pieces excusing suicide bombers who were inspired by a psychopathic theology from the ultra-right?

In short, why is the world upside down? In the past conservatives made excuses for fascism because they mistakenly saw it as a continuation of their democratic rightwing ideas. Now, overwhelmingly and every where, liberals and leftists are far more likely than conservatives to excuse fascistic governments and movements, with the exception of their native far-right parties. As long as local racists are white, they have no difficulty in opposing them in a manner that would have been recognisable to the traditional left. But give them a foreign far-right movement that is anti-Western and they treat it as at best a distraction and at worst an ally.

Read it all.

Damian P.

Middle Eastern democrats betrayed

The Washington Post reports on the disappointment felt by the few Middle Easterners (plus American-born Michael Young of Beirut's Daily Star) who openly supported the ouster of Saddam Hussein. They speak for many of us outside of the Middle East, too.

Damian P.

I'm not chortling

...but it is thought-provoking (and worrying) to see Belinda, Jack, Rona (oops! there) groveling before the Duffster--the great insider--in the CTV ads promoting his return this week on Mike Duffy Live.

He is nonetheless slightly preferable to Don Newman.

Mark C.

Be afraid...be very afraid

The Toronto Sun has a scoop on the scope of Canada's growing participation in "George Bush's so-called 'War on Terrorism'." Note the photo of the vicious-looking C-130J.

Warplanes at Pearson: Military jets from several countries landing in T.O.

Military jets from the U.S., Britain and other countries have been quietly touching down at Pearson airport for repairs or to "gas and go" as part of the global war on terror, authorities confirm.

Two Royal Air Force Hercules transport planes -- one used in special operations [horrors! MC]-- were being serviced at Pearson this month along with a Swedish coast guard aircraft that was awaiting delivery, according to workers and YYZNews.com, a site that logs flights at the airport...

Then check out virtually the same photo at this site; in fact the plane is just using its anti-missile defensive countermeasures. But, since the prop only has four blades, it might just be this plane (third at left).

And the planes mentioned are turboprops, not jets--but what's a Canadian journalist to know? In any event, it's the Swedish coast guard aircraft that really has me worried.

Mark C.

Update: Further research shows that the photo in the Sun is of a British C-130J (second at left). Spooky. And I don't think the Sun knew it. There is a prize (only by acknowledgment) for the person who identifies the jape.

Upperdate: Commenter rws wins the prize.

Hamas: move Israel to Nunavut

This paragraph is buried inside the paper at the end of a front page story in today's Globe and Mail:

Later in the interview, he suggested that there should be a single Islamic state stretching across the Middle East, adding that there was plenty of space in Canada to establish a Jewish homeland.

"He" is Palestinian foreign minister, and founding member of Hamas, Mahmoud Zahar. This is the first paragraph of the story written by Mark MacKinnon:

Canada risks making itself an enemy of the Palestinian people and of the broader Islamist movement by boycotting Hamas and openly siding with Israel, Palestinian foreign minister Mahmoud Zahar said Sunday after he was shunned [emphasis added] by visiting Foreign Minister Peter MacKay.

Why is simply carrying out the government's policy of not having direct contact with Hamas described with the perjorative "shunned"? Then there's this gem in the second paragraph:

...Mr. Zahar alternated between saying he was anxious to open a dialogue with Canada and saying he looked forward to the moment that Canadians voted the "extremist" [emphasis added] Conservative government out of office.

Now which would you think is more significant?

1) A senior Hamas leader wants to move the Jews of Israel to Canada and establish one (extremist) Islamic state in the middle east; or

2) A senior Hamas leader is critical of Canadian policy towards the Hamas government and wants Canadians to get rid of the Conservative government.

Interesting news priorities chez Globe...Succumbing to flattery?

During an hour-long interview that he [Mr. Zahar] said was a replacement for the meeting Mr. MacKay denied him...

I suppose the Globe, in its stupendous self-importance, considers HAMAS ("Islamic Resistance Movement") an interlocuteur valable for influencing the Canadian people's attitude regarding the Canadian government.

Mark C.

Paging Dr Freud

"Anal troubles need analysis".

Mark C.

No Iron Lady

Further to Ranald's post from yesterday, Professor Bainbridge compares Hillary Clinton to Margaret Thatcher. (via InstaPundit) Aside from their gender, they have very, very little in common.

Damian P.

Remembering Papa

Nova Scotia's Denny Doherty gets a Daily Telegraph obituary.

His hometown paper notes that, on one fateful day in 1969, Doherty and bandmate John Phillips decided at the last minute not to go to a get-together at Sharon Tate's home.

Damian P.

A Fine Mess

These are the two most disturbing and sobering articles I've read in quite a while:

First, Benny Morris for the Jerusalem Post: "THIS HOLOCAUST WILL BE DIFFERENT"

Background issues are addressed by Michael Ledeen: "A Fine Mess You've Gotten Us Into"

In my view, the West can not win against the terror masters by constantly playing defense in Iraq or Israel or anywhere else. No Department of Defense can win the future.

What we need is a Department of War, with a mandate to bring war and defeat to the enemy. The well-meaning types who truly believe that we can sit down at the table "and discuss our differences" so that we may "move ahead and find common ground" will yet prove to be suicidally ignorant.

Dr. Ledeen's analysis is merciless:

From the beginning, the war was fettered by a fundamental failure of strategic vision, accompanied by an intellectual conceit. The failure of vision was the insistence that we would fight in Iraq alone, win there, and then move on.

Si vis pacem, para bellum.

Ranald Hay

Any real conservatives in Ottawa?

Andrew Coyne raises the question, using this story as the hook.

Mark C.

Update: A riposte from Chuckercanuck.

Curse broken

Peyton Manning is going to the Super Bowl after one of the most extraordinary football games I've ever seen. There's a lesson here: if your team is down 21-3 in the first half, don't give up.

I'd love to see Manning win a Super Bowl some day - just not this one. Bring on February 4!

Damian P.

A survey

Which of these phrases is more likely to make you throw your TV out the window in a blind rage?

A. "This is ouuuuuuuur country"

B. "These people live like money grows on trees - trees they can't find."

Either answer is acceptable.

Damian P.

Fairy Tales rarely come true

So much for the popular "the NFL rigged it so New Orleans would win the Super Bowl this year" theory.

Regardless of whether they're up against the Colts or the Patriots, I hope everyone writes off the Bears again in two weeks. It worked pretty well this time around. (Credit to Bill Simmons, one of the very few people who called it for Chicago this weekend - though even he thought it was going to be fairly close.)

Damian P.

The early leaders

A Washington Post/ABC News poll shows Hillary Clinton with a big lead among Democratic Presidential candidates, while Rudy Giuliani is ahead of all other Republicans:

Clinton took 41 percent in a hypothetical primary field against 12 other Democrats, far ahead of Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) at 17 percent, former Sen. John Edwards (N.C) at 11 percent and former Vice President Al Gore at 10 percent. The party's 2004 nominee -- Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) -- received 8 percent support. No other candidate crested three percent.

[...]

On the Republican side, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani held a 34 percent to 27 percent lead over Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), with no other potential candidate registering in double digits. Former Gov. Mitt Romney (Mass.) and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) took nine percent each. Sen. Sam Brownback, who formally entered the race today, stood at one percent in the poll.

I always thought Clinton and Giuliani were opposites, in a way. I figured Clinton could romp to victory in the Democratic primaries but would have no chance in the general election, while Rudy could easily win the election but would have serious trouble getting the GOP nomination in the first place. However, it looks like many Republicans will hold their noses and support a candidate they consider socially liberal, if it means they can hold the White House.

I figured Romney would be in third place for the GOP nomination, but nine percent - tied with Newt Gingrich - has to be extremely disappointing. Brownback is nowhere now, but I wouldn't be surprised to see social conservatives gravitate toward him as the campaign goes on.

Damian P.

Hatchet job

David Pugliese of the Ottawa Citizen is at it again. This article purports to explore the issue of sole-sourcing (simple or de facto) military equipment, particularly aircraft. The article follows typical Canadian journalistic style, giving quotes from "experts" with differing views in the interest of "objectivity". (Why though are "critics" always mentioned but not "supporters"?)

But note the prejudicial and perjorative language that is used to slant the reader's view against sole-sourcing (single quotes indicate words used by people quoted, not Mr Pugliese's):

disgusted...with disgust..'it's outrageous'...was rigged...questioning the fairness...civilian oversight and accountability have disappeared..complained that CFN [a lobbying company] has had an inside track with the general [CDS Hillier]...civilian oversight over the $4-billion annual defence equipment budget has all but disappeared and the generals [poor admirals! MC] are firmly in charge of the process...'mind-boggling'...allegations that deals have been rigged...C-130J, which A400M officials claim has been plagued with engine and other problems and is based on new technology [Mr Pugliese fails to mention the problems of the A400M and its new technology, including engines]...lacks oversight and may not obtain the best equipment in the shortest time...'The democratic process and competitive process in Canada loses [sic] out in the end'...lose out...'handing them (a contract) on a silver platter'...doesn't buy those explanations...the big losers...shrouded in secrecy...'DND's recent history is not good'...'ripe for abuse'...concern within Canada's defence and aerospace industry that they could be stuck simply providing labourers...concerns that defence contracts have been rigged...

What impression do you think all that leaves? (More after the jump...)

Mark C.

And just for good measure, there's this kitchen-sink paragraph:

Mr. Conacher [co-ordinator of Democracy Watch] points to the recent Defence Department computer scandal as evidence of a lack of accountability on procurement projects. Last year the RCMP laid charges against a former Defence Department contracts manager and two Ottawa businessmen for their involvement in an alleged scheme that defrauded the federal government of more than $100 million. The contract irregularities were revealed in 2004, but officials with the Defence Department and Public Works knew there were problems with the military computer maintenance deals since 1999 but did nothing.

Maybe we should be calling in the Mounties to investigate the aircraft procurements, eh?

Nowhere in the article does Mr Pugliese make an effort to describe in any detail the missions the planes must fill, what capabilities they need, when they are needed and why by then, and which aircraft are available in the time-frames. Without such background the article is effectively in a vacuum; the reader cannot assess intelligently why the purchasing decisions are being made (other than for scandalous reasons).

On the other hand, Minister of Defence O'Connor certainly left himself open by flip-flopping on the C-130J acquisition. And the fixed-wing search and rescue aircraft purchase deserves a critical look.

But this paragraph of the story sums up the essence of Mr Pugliese's misleading, indeed spinning, approach to reporting:

Mr. Williams ["former top Defence Department bureaucrat...in charge of military procurement for almost six years"] also warns both the military and taxpayers are going to lose out because of the lack of competition on the large-scale aircraft purchases. Like Mr. Edgar, he argues that competition helps drive down prices and forces companies to make concessions to the military and government that they would not otherwise have to do when they know they are guaranteed to get a contract. Mr. Williams uses the analogy of purchasing a family car: A person doesn't walk into a car dealership, inform the salesman they intend to buy a specific vehicle and then start negotiating for a good price [people don't quite often? I just did because I knew what I wanted and got a standard end of model year discount].

Now, if you need that new car in the next couple of years and if a) only one vehicle is being made that suits your needs (C-17J), or b) no other vehicle is available when you need it (C-130J vs. A400M), what do you do? There is a hell of a lot of choice in the family car market; there is a very small range of choice in the military transport aircraft market. I wonder why Mr Pugliese did not raise this with Mr Williams?

Hillary is not the new Thatcher...

...rather, the new Indira Gandhi.

Via Drudge, this report from TimesOnLine: Hillary runs for the White House as ‘new Thatcher’. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was a conservative ideologically comparable to Ronald Reagan. The Iron Lady earned her moniker from the Soviets.

In contradistinction, Hillary shares nothing with Baroness Thatcher or Ronaldus Magnus. Compare, for example, her ranting screech-speech over "dissent" with any address delivered by either Thatcher or Reagan.

When one factors in Hillary's far-left politics and her charmless ambition, the comparison to Indira Ghandi becomes a stern warning:

Mrs. Gandhi acquired a formidable international reputation as a "statesman", and there is no doubt that she was extraordinarily skilled in politics. She was prone, like many other politicians, to thrive on slogans, and one -- Garibi Hatao, "Remove Poverty" -- became the rallying cry for one of her election campaigns. She had an authoritarian streak, and though a cultured woman, rarely tolerated dissent; and she did, in many respects, irreparable harm to Indian democracy. Apart from her infamous imposition of the internal emergency, the use of the army to resolve internal disputes greatly increased in her time; and she encouraged a culture of sycophancy and nepotism.[ ]

Ranald Hay

Tex triumphantly returns

Whackingday.com is active again. With Castro on his deathbed, I didn't think he'd stay away forever.

Damian P.

Sometimes you don't know whether to laugh or cry, do you?

A student at the University of Minnesota "proves" the World Trade Center was brought down by controlled demolition...by comparing it to Jenga.

"9/11 truth" theorists constantly whine about how some of their fellow conspirozoids are actually government disinformation specialists, whose mission is to discredit the entire movement. At times like this, I think they may be on to something.

Damian P.

Afghanistan: "Coming down off the legalization high"

Damian Brooks, at The Torch, builds on a post by Bruce Rolston at Flit to raise very good questions about the line taken in this guest-post of mine here.

Mark C.

Return to Hezbollahland

Michael Totten has another fascinating report, with plenty of photos, from Hezbollah's battered stronghold in Beirut.

Damian P.

Democrats Pass Subsidies for Foreign Oil Companies

The Democrats are taking on Big Oil by raising their taxes. How heroic of them. (Hmm... I suppose this makes Canadian oil more attractive to American buyers and investors...)

Never mind that most of the decreased revenues will actually be passed back down to consumers. They don't seem so upset that poor Americans will suffer most, as higher gas prices will take up a bigger percentage of their spending. There also isn't much fight for the unionized labourers who will lose their jobs.

The Democratic bogeyman known as the trade deficit will also increase--don't hear much complaining do you? Pelosi doesn't seem to care that American demand will be met with foreign supply, dumping cash into radical government coffers. Her party also don't seem to care that some foreign producers don't have any environmental protection schemes.

The Democrats know the negatives. They also know that most people don't. And if the economy tanks? Blame Bush!

Jon N

DA BEARS

Every expert on ESPN.com, except for the "AccuScore" computer, is picking the Saints. So are both of the NFL Rants & Raves guys, and five of the seven experts at Sports Illustrated.

This actually makes me feel much better about the Bears' chances. Something tells me a 14-3 team playing at home really, really doesn't like being so resoundingly written off.

Damian P.

Blu-Ray blues

If you're unsure who's going to win the big Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD war, this should set you straight. (via Galley Slaves)

Damian P.

But we did have the loonie at Salt Lake City

"Canadian spy coins coins never existed". Covert ops vs. technical intelligence.

Mark C.

Conference criticized

MEMRI, often criticized for allegedly trying to portray the Middle Eastern media in the worst possible light, reports on several Arab and Iranian reports attacking Ahmadinejad's Holocaust-denial conference.

Damian P.

Most ineffective conspiracy ever

Remember before (and even after) the mid-term elections, when those in the know insisted that Bush's oil buddies were temporarily letting gas prices fall just long enough to let the GOP hold Congress? Well, here we are, two months later, with the Democrats holding the House and the Senate - and gas prices keep falling and falling. (Here in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, it's down to 95.4 cents per litre - the lowest prices in well over a year.)

Two lessons can possibly be drawn from all of this: either the market for oil and gas is volatile, unpredictable and influenced by hundreds if not thousands of factors; or, this is all part of an even greater conspiracy, possibly involving reverse vampires, for 2008.

Damian P.

Toronto Blog Bash: Feb. 17

...and my girlfriend and I will be there. Details here.

Damian P.

CANDU can't...

...withstand the blast from a commercial airliner crash?

Plans by Canada's nuclear regulator to require that international safety standards be applied to all new reactor designs could prove a major setback for federally owned Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., the Toronto Star has learned.

The rules, sources say, would likely make AECL's Candu technology a tougher sell in Ontario, which has announced its intention to build at least 1,000 megawatts of new reactors under a relatively tight schedule.

At issue is the expectation of a nuclear reactor's robustness – its ability to withstand a massive outside shock or explosion, such as the impact of a commercial jetliner. The International Atomic Energy Agency established such guidelines [see Chapter 4 of this 2004 document] after Sept. 11, 2001, when jetliners brought down the World Trade Center towers.

"There have been few details, but interpretation of many knowledgeable of the IAEA and other international standards is that (AECL's) current Candu 6 reactors would not pass a strict application of those rules," states the most recent issue of the Canadian Nuclear Society's quarterly journal.

Even if CANDU can meet the safety standards, let's just have an honest value-for-money competition with the best reactor winning. But I wouldn't bet on the McGuinty government keeping its word on this--as on several other things.

Mark C.

Littler ratings for Little Mosque

In its second week, Little Mosque on the Prairie drew 1.2 million viewers - excellent numbers for a Canadian series, but down significantly from its first week.

The big drop doesn't surprise me, considering how much media attention was devoted to the premiere. (Many people undoubtedly watched last week just to see what the fuss was about, never intending to stick with the series.) If Little Mosque can keep its ratings around this level, it should be around for a while. If half the viewers abandon it next week, it's in serious trouble.

Damian P.

Europe: for itself, or against America?

What's it all about, Alfried? (Or Johnny Canuck?)

The future of anti-Americanism in Europe's public discourse will remain deeply tied to the fate of Europe's unification process, one of the most ambitious political projects anywhere in the world. Fundamentally, the European views about America have little to do with the real America but much to do with Europe. Europe's anti-Americanism has become an essential ingredient in — perhaps even a key mobilizing agent for — the inevitable formation of a common European identity, which I have always longed for and continue to support vigorously, although I would have preferred to witness a different agency in its creation. Anti-Americanism has already commenced to forge a concrete, emotionally experienced — as opposed to intellectually constructed — European identity, in which Swedes and Greeks, Finns and Italians are helped to experience their still-frail emotive commonality not as "anti-Americans" but as Europeans, which at this stage constitutes one sole thing: that they are "non-Americans."..

(Via Arts & Letters Daily.)

I ask myself how much common feeling those Greeks and Finns have, just as I ask myself the same question about many Canadians.

Mark C.

Benny Parsons, R.I.P.

I'm a bit late posting about it, but Parsons - a tremendously likable NASCAR driver and broadcaster - died earlier this week after a battle with lung cancer. This column, from Wyoming's Casper StarTribune, is a touching remembrance.

At the only NASCAR race I ever attended, at Daytona in 1988, Parsons (in his final season) was doing a practice lap just as I entered the speedway. That makes him the first professional race driver I ever saw in person.

Damian P.

Same old, same old

Even under a Conservative government, getting benefits for Quebec is delaying the purchase of C-17 strategic airlifters. The more things change...

The delivery of Canada's first military cargo aircraft faces delays while Boeing is embroiled in a backroom battle with Public Works Minister Michael Fortier over Quebec's share of economic benefits flowing from the $3.4-billion purchase.

The negotiations, which were scheduled to close last month, are running into overtime and jeopardizing the plan to deliver the first of four C-17 aircraft to the Canadian Forces in June.

To obtain the contract, U.S.-based Boeing Co. has to pledge to buy supplies and services worth the exact value of the purchase in Canada. This package of regional benefits can be spent directly to build or maintain the Boeing C-17s, or any other current and future Boeing aircraft.

As for defence spending generally, see this post by Damian Brooks at The Torch.

Mark C.

Deliver us from Air Canada

Since CanJet left us high and dry, everyone in Western Newfoundland had been waiting for this:

WestJet (TSX:WJA) today announced the introduction of seasonal non-stop service to three new destinations in Eastern Canada: Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge (Ontario), Saint John (New Brunswick), and Deer Lake (Newfoundland and Labrador) starting May 14, 2007. [emphasis added]

I've never flown WestJet, but I've heard nothing but good things about the experience. I can't wait.

Damian P.

Mao defended

If you read that subject heading and thought, "this was in The Guardian, right?" you're very, very wise:

China was in economic stasis. The Confucian gentry - mandarin officials, landlords and merchants - had so effectively delivered the stability that hundreds of millions of peasants craved, that together they became an obstacle to vitally needed change. The peasants were wedded to obsolete farming techniques on tiny plots; the Confucian gentry were wedded to a system that allowed them to become absentee landlords for around half of China. They continued to run the country at the behest of the warlords, still genuflecting before Confucian maxims that were now hopelessly outdated. Japan's invasion in 1931 could not be effectively opposed.

There was a craving for a decisive rupture with all that had produced this. Radical egalitarianism, a kind of transformed Confucianism, seemed the only way to respond. The Confucian mandarinate had to be broken. The land had to be taken off absentee landlords. Savings had to be mobilised in a collective effort to create a modern industrial base. There seemed no other viable prospectus.

Mao gave vent to this ambition. The negative side of the Maoist balance sheet is well-known: mass murder, famine, injustice, and economic waste. But there are less well-known positives. Industrial output climbed 13-fold, albeit from a tiny base. The rail network doubled. Half of Chinese land became irrigated. There was a dramatic lowering of illiteracy. Near universal healthcare was established. Life expectancy rose; and despite Mao's appetite for imperial-style concubines, women were given the same right to petition for divorce and education as men. Their position was transformed.

Just a few years before Mao showed up, there was another much-maligned leader who took over a war-torn, politically divided, economic basket case of a country and practically eliminated unemployment, rebuilt its infrastructure and industrial base and made his people proud of their nation once again. I suppose it's okay to start making excuses for him now, too. (Yes, I know Godwin's Law applies here, but I couldn't resist.)

By coincidence, this one appeared while I'm in the middle of Jung Chang's Wild Swans, her horrific and compelling memoir of growing up in Mao's socialist paradise. (Chang went on to co-write Mao: The Unknown Story.) When Chang was sent to an isolated Chinese backwater to serve as a "barefoot doctor," she met one villager who had served as a production leader during the catastrophic "Great Leap Forward," when Mao ordered the entire country to devote all their time and energy to making steel in their backyards. Agriculture was neglected, and tens of millions died:

...He and his cronies had smashed the peasants' woks and stoves so they could not cook at home, and so the woks could be fed into the furnaces. He had reported vastly exaggerated harvests, with the result that the taxes were so high they took every morsel of grain the peasants had left. The villagers died in scores. After the famine, he was blamed for all the wrongs in the village. The commune allowed the villagers to vote him out of office, and labeled him a "class enemy."

[...]

The peasants thanked Chairman Mao for punishing him. No one questioned his guilt, or the degree of his responsibility. I sought him out, on his own, and asked him his story.

He seemed pathetically grateful to be asked. "I was carrying out orders," he kept saying. "I had to carry out orders..." Then he sighed: "Of course, I didn't want to lose my post. Somebody else would have taken my place. Then what would have happened to me and my kids? We probably would have died of hunger. A production team leader is small, but at least he can die after everyone else in the village."

That's what Mao did to China.

Damian P.

Our Pakistani ally

The Christian Science Monitor says Mullah Omar, leader of the Taliban, is allegedly hiding in Pakistan under the protection of the ISI:

A captured Taliban spokesman says Mr. Omar is hiding in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's Balochistan Province, under the protection of Pakistan's intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Abul Haq Haqiq, also known as Dr. Mohammad Hanif, made the statements in a video-taped interrogation released by Afghan intelligence on Wednesday, following his arrest while crossing from Pakistan into the Afghan province of Nangarhar.

Hanif's claims are the latest in a stream of international criticism of Pakistan. Afghanistan officials, including President Hamid Karzai, have accused Pakistan of harboring Omar, and news of his whereabouts – credible or not – is amplifying questions about Pakistan's commitment to the war on terror, analysts say.

[...]

Earlier this month, Omar was heard from for the first time in years when he told Reuters, through Hanif, that he hadn't seen Osama bin Laden since 2001.

If true, Hanif's taped confession would constitute the highest level official statement from the Taliban that Omar is in Quetta. It would also verify that the operational center of the movement is in Pakistan. Many have long claimed this, chief among them Mr. Karzai, who last February delivered a series of dossiers to Islamabad detailing the addresses of Taliban leaders in Quetta.

Damian P.

Go McCain!

...fries, that is. Especially 'crinkle cuts.'

The other McCain, well, that's another matter altogether. Thanks to the Senator's pioneering leadership, another assault on freedom and First Amendment rights is under consideration before the US Senate.

The Vitter Amendment, Section 220 to Senate Bill 1, "would require grassroots causes, even bloggers, who communicate to 500 or more members of the public on policy matters, to register and report quarterly to Congress the same as the big K Street lobbyists. Section 220 would amend existing lobbying reporting law by creating the most expansive intrusion on First Amendment rights ever. For the first time in history, critics of Congress will need to register and report with Congress itself."

Vitter is having second thoughts? (Could it be his Republican base in rebellion?) He is now co-sponsor of "Amendment 20 by Senator Robert Bennett (R-UT) to remove Section 220 from the bill."

Our American readers are encouraged to sign the petition organized by Richard A. Viguerie to defeat Section 220. Any bets Vitter is learning why McCain is tanking amongst grass-roots Republicans?

Tyranny (like democratization) is a process, not an event. Keeping Vitter and McCain in their place means getting involved in your local political organizations and directly promoting candidates who support your views.

All you need do is to stand aside, and someone else will step up.

(Hat tip to InstaPundit and to David Hardy.)

Ran H.

UPDATE: InstaPundit reports, via Jason Pye, that the Bennett Amendment nixing 220 has passed.

It's worth noting that Vitter, like McCain, is a Republican. They both have redeemed themselves somewhat - and their Party - by voting YEA.

Note Clinton *and* Obama voted NAY. Check the entire voting record. Why is it that "progressives" fear free-speech?

Equality suppresses excellence

The Canadian fixation on equality (as in "equalization" payments to provinces), together with our balkanized internal market, prevents us from developing the economy we could have, according to a new report by the Conference Board of Canada. (Not dissimilar in essence to the argument made here by Charles Murray.)

Canada's culture of cross-country equality is seriously undermining its ability to compete in the global economy, states a major new analysis and road map for the Canadian economy.

Public policy and opinion leaders are caught up in distributing Canada's wealth equally across Canada, instead of focusing on how to create excellence or spawn more wealth, say the authors of a Conference Board report on improving Canada's economic status. "We've called that the peanut butter approach," says Glen Hodgson, chief economist at the Conference Board and co-author of the 144-page first instalment of the report. "You kind of spread it smoothly across the land, even though you could get greater benefits if you found a way to concentrate in particular areas."

Once again I repeat my regret that this sort of story is buried in the Globe and Mail's business section.

Mark C.

Update: Yet another good one buried: "The incredible shrinking country".

Do you doubt there is an agenda?

Headline in today's Globe:

Afghan costs leave navy up the creek

Then the first paragraph by Gloria Galloway [see second part at link]:

Canada's navy is out of money for operations as the military diverts resources to the fight in Afghanistan.

That is written as fact. Then this, also presented as fact:

...it is a sign of how much pressure the Afghan mission is putting on other military operations.

But on what are these statements based?

"Afghanistan is eating money like you wouldn't believe," said Peter Haydon, a retired naval officer now with the Centre for Foreign Policy Studies in Halifax. "The demand for money is being transferred through the whole military system. Afghanistan is a huge financial drain."..

Defence experts says those priorities are in Afghanistan.

"I think the big picture here, if I have to make one, is that Afghanistan has become so all-absorbing of time, energy and resources for everyone that there's nothing left over," said Dan Middlemiss, a political science professor who teaches defence policy at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

"They haven't been able to budget adequately for Afghanistan, as much as they are trying, because needs keep evolving and new requirements emerge on the spot and they have to deal with them quickly. So it's exhausting everybody in the process."..

In other words, the evidence for the diversion of funds from the Navy to Afghanistan is the opinion of two "experts". Now their opinions may be accurate; but they are not facts. This story as written is agenda journalism, not reporting.

Mark C.

Update: More on what may be an agenda: "Hope fading among Afghans".

The end is nigher than you thought

The bit on nuclear energy really is over the top:

The Doomsday Clock, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists' ticking nudge to the world's conscience, moved two minutes closer to nuclear midnight yesterday, the closest to doomsday it has been since the Cold War.

North Korea's nuclear bomb test, Iran's nuclear plans, and atomic energy projects posed as an answer to climate change prompted the scientific journal to move the hands of the clock on its cover to 11:55. Midnight represents doomsday on the clock, for six decades a symbolic indicator of the threat posed by nuclear proliferation...

There are currently 29 reactors under construction (435 actually operating), hardly deserving the hysteria. Many others are under consideration but will take years to build. Contributing to the "two minutes closer" on this account? My foot.

The Board Statement of the Bulletin also makes this claim:

Sixteen years after the end of the Cold War, following substantial reductions in nuclear weapons by the United States and Russia, the two major powers have now stalled in their progress toward deeper reductions in their arsenals...

Very misleading: under the 2002 Moscow Treaty On Strategic Offensive Reductions (signed by President Bush, and since ratified by both the US and Russia) the two countries agreed that by 2012 each one would reduce its strategic nuclear warheads to 1700-2200. That is a very significant reduction from the numbers they have now.

Mark C.

"You were arrested 11 times before age 17. In that sense, won't your heart always be with the Bengals?"

Kissing Suzy Kolber "interviews" Corey Dillon. (If you don't get the Shannon Sharpe reference, watch this.)

Damian P.

"New Jersey is looking better and better all the time."

Further to this post, Meryl Yourish responds to Virginia politician Frank Hargrove. I assumed anyone who would make a "Jews killed Christ" remark must be from some backwater, but Meryl says he represents a wealthy suburb of Richmond.

Damian P.

A big thumbs up

My wife watched Little Mosque on the Prairie last night. Her reaction: "They're trying to educate Muslims how to be Canadian. Bloody funny PC--I'm looking forward to the next episode."

Appointment television?

Mark C.

Plumbing, not political science

Too many Americans (and I would say Canadians) are trying to get college degrees, according to Charles Murray.

There is no magic point at which a genuine college-level education becomes an option, but anything below an IQ of 110 is problematic. If you want to do well, you should have an IQ of 115 or higher. Put another way, it makes sense for only about 15% of the population, 25% if one stretches it, to get a college education. And yet more than 45% of recent high school graduates enroll in four-year colleges. Adjust that percentage to account for high-school dropouts, and more than 40% of all persons in their late teens are trying to go to a four-year college--enough people to absorb everyone down through an IQ of 104...

...They are in college to improve their chances of making a good living. What they really need is vocational training. But nobody will say so, because "vocational training" is second class. "College" is first class...

For a few occupations, a college degree still certifies a qualification. For example, employers appropriately treat a bachelor's degree in engineering as a requirement for hiring engineers. But a bachelor's degree in a field such as sociology, psychology, economics, history or literature certifies nothing. It is a screening device for employers...

A reality about the job market must eventually begin to affect the valuation of a college education: The spread of wealth at the top of American society has created an explosive increase in the demand for craftsmen. Finding a good lawyer or physician is easy. Finding a good carpenter, painter, electrician, plumber, glazier, mason--the list goes on and on--is difficult, and it is a seller's market. Journeymen craftsmen routinely make incomes in the top half of the income distribution while master craftsmen can make six figures. They have work even in a soft economy. Their jobs cannot be outsourced to India...

Mark C.

God has a finely tuned sense of irony

The Cuban health care system may be killing Castro. (via InstaPundit)

Damian P.

Obama and the melting pot

His mother is white, as a child he lived in Indonesia with an Asian stepfather, and he then lived with white grandparents before going to college. So why is Sen. Barack Obama simply called "black"?

Born in Honolulu where his mother, a white American, met his father, a foreign student from Kenya, while both were at university. His parents divorced when he was 2, and his mother married an Indonesian man and moved the family to Jakarta. His father returned to Kenya. When Barack was 10, he moved back to the United States and lived with his maternal grandparents in Hawaii.

Stanley Crouch of the NY Daily News made a similar point last November (via WSJ "Best of the Web Today"):

...After all, Obama's mother is of white U.S. stock. His father is a black Kenyan. Other than color, Obama did not - does not - share a heritage with the majority of black Americans, who are descendants of plantation slaves...

I ask the question in particular with Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees in mind. Mr Jeter also has a white mother and a black father; yet I always think of him as just Derek Jeter--neither black nor white--and I suspect many others have the same perception.

Mark C.

Ship all banged up!

The online petition mentioned in the latest NFL Rants and Raves podcast can be signed here. We already have 30 real people who really signed under their real names, but we need more! More! MORE!

Damian P.

The Vietnam exception

Contrary to popular belief, according to Donald Stoker in Foreign Policy, insurgencies rarely succeed in achieving their goals. The Viet Cong were an anomaly - and they had the regular North Vietnamese Army backing them up:

...The Vietnamese may have been tough and persistent, but they were not brilliant. Rather, they were lucky—they faced an opponent with leaders unwilling to learn from their failures: the United States. When the Vietcong went toe-to-toe with U.S. forces in the 1968 Tet Offensive, they were decimated. When South Vietnam finally fell in 1975, it did so not to the Vietcong, but to regular units of the invading North Vietnamese Army. The Vietcong insurgency contributed greatly to the erosion of the American public’s will to fight, but so did the way that President Lyndon Johnson and the American military waged the war. It was North Vietnam’s will and American failure, not skillful use of an insurgency, that were the keys to Hanoi’s victory.

Stoker actually believes the proposed "troop surge" could work - if the Americans can build a functioning Iraqi government and army. (After three-and-a-half squandered years, that's a big "if".)

...the real question in Iraq is not whether the insurgency can be defeated—it can be. The real question is whether the United States might have already missed its chance to snuff it out. The United States has failed to provide internal security for the Iraqi populace. The result is a climate of fear and insecurity in areas of the country overrun by insurgents, particularly in Baghdad. This undermines confidence in the elected Iraqi government and makes it difficult for it to assert its authority over insurgent-dominated areas. Clearing out the insurgents and reestablishing security will take time and a lot of manpower. Sectarian violence adds a bloody wrinkle. The United States and the Iraqi government have to deal with Sunni and Shia insurgencies, as well as the added complication of al Qaeda guerrillas.

But the strategy of “surging” troops could offer a rare chance for success—if the Pentagon and the White House learn from their past mistakes. Previously, the U.S. military cleared areas such as Baghdad’s notorious Haifa Street, but then failed to follow up with security. So the insurgents simply returned to create havoc. As for the White House, it has so far failed to convince the Iraqi government to remove elements that undermine its authority, such as the Mahdi Army. Bush’s recent speech on Iraq included admissions of these failures, providing some hope that they might not be repeated.

Kevin Drum is more skeptical:

Basically, since 1960, not a single major military power has had any success fighting directly against an overseas insurgency. Maybe, as Stoker says, this is just coincidence. But big military powers are 0 for 3 in the past 50 years, and Iraq is darn close to making it 0 for 4. (Afghanistan is still up in the air.) That's a helluva coincidence.

(Both links via Pajamas Media)

Damian P.

You can't please everyone

The Hindus have a point, and history on their side:

Germany's plans to push for a Europe-wide ban on swastikas may seem reasonable enough to those who prefer not to see far-right extremists sporting Nazi symbols in public. Unless of course, you are a Hindu, for whom the Nazi era is just an unpleasant blip in the millennia-old symbol's history.

European Hindu groups have come together to oppose a German proposal to introduce a ban on Nazi symbols -- including the swastika -- within the European Union, arguing that the Nazis hijacked the Hindu symbol.

"The swastika has been around for 5,000 years as a symbol of peace. This is exactly the opposite of how it was used by Hitler," Ramesh Kallidai of the Hindu Forum of Britain told Reuters. The swastika is commonly used as a blessing in Hindu rituals such as weddings.

"It is almost like saying that the Ku Klux Klan used burning crosses to terrorize black men, so therefore let us ban the cross," he added. "How does that sound to you?"..

And I think banning Mein Kampf (as Germany does) is both silly and counter-productive. If you want to understand Hitler's evil you need to read it.

Mark C.

Damian adds: if there's any country on earth where banning Nazi imagery is at least understandable, it's Germany (not to mention Austria). But such bans also give ammunition to the likes of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who whines about the West's "double standard" in banning Holocaust denial while allowing unflattering cartoons of the Mohammed. Not that we should base our policies on the Iranian President's delicate sensibilities, but it is an argument we should not be giving him.

Cynical Harper, Barmy Dion

Andrew Coyne dissects the politics of the Conservatives' turning on climate change. (The column also has some very good stuff on statistics).

The new Environment Minister has hardly been appointed, but already the outlines of the Tory environmental strategy are clear. It is to remake themselves as the Liberal party, only more so. You like recycling? So do we! We're one big blue box of failed Liberal policies.

The original Tory plan was premised on the idea that the public was ready for straight talk on global warming. Face it, they said: There's no way we can meet our Kyoto targets. The targets were picked out of thin air in the first place, and there had been no serious effort to meet them in the intervening eight years...

So the Tories set about dismantling them, on the theory that the public would prefer effective policies, at the price of some delay, than ineffective ones now. But they allowed too much time to elapse; expectations raced ahead of education. By the time the Conservatives unveiled their own plan, they had set themselves up for a PR debacle...

...so those same Liberal programs the Tories had taken such care to strangle-- subsidies to retrofit your home, or to encourage wind power, or biomass fuels and so on -- will now be revived: not because they work, but because they fill space...

But however ineffective, they offer the appearance of action. Jean Chretien knew this better than anyone: In politics, you have to have a story. It doesn't matter what the story is. It just has to be something. You think anyone read the Red Book, the famous platform the Liberals used to such effect in the 1993 election? No. It was just a prop, something to fend off accusations that he lacked substance.

And so the Tories, in their turn, will have their Green Book. I can think of no more affectionate tribute.

As for "Dionomics". Peter Foster concludes:

Mr. Dion's model seems to be that if the whole world is going to introduce barmy legislation, then we should get there first, so that we can export the relevant barmy technology...

Norman Spector finds TODAY'S IDIOCY within the above piece:

Canada has been a leader in each industrial revolution since the invention of the steam engine. We must not miss this new economic opportunity.

Mark C.

Update: Somehow I doubt this is the result the framer of today's CTV poll expected (as of 1450 EST):

Who do you think would do a better job of protecting the environment?

Conservatives 1971 votes (41 %)
Liberals 1282 votes (26 %)
NDP 911 votes (19 %)
Other 677 votes (14 %)

Total Votes: 4841

Pretty good election results too, I'd say.

Kate upperdate.

Shark jumped

24 is Republican propaganda, sez Keith Olbermann. Who wants to start taking bets on when Olby begins using his show to promote Loose Change?

I'm one of the few people who doesn't regularly watch 24, so correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the last season feature the President being arrested for treason after faking terror attacks to start an oil war? That sounds like a typical episode of Countdown.

Damian P.

Preachers of Hate

Hot Air has posted excerpts from Dispatches: Undercover Mosque, a documentary which recently aired on Britain's Channel 4. It is essential viewing, and I hope someone is planning a similar program about Saudi-funded mosques here in Canada. (While I'm dreaming, I'd also like a Ferrari.)

The Muslim Council of Britain relies upon the "it's all taken out of context" defence, while the Secretary-General of another Islamic organization (PDF format) says Muslim clerics aren't necessarily attacking all Jews when they attack "the Jews":

When, for example, someone speaks ill of 'the Jews', he may be thinking of those members of the IDF who use Palestinian children and British journalists for target practice, whereas he may be on very good terms with the local rabbi.

Glad he cleared that up.

Damian P.

The death toll

Sectarian violence claimed over 34,000 lives in Iraq last year, according to the UN:

Suicide bombs at a university, blasts in a marketplace and a drive-by shooting killed more than 100 people in Baghdad yesterday, on the same day that the UN reported more than 34,000 Iraqis died violently last year in sectarian violence.

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq estimates 34,452 civilians were killed in 2006 – an average of 94 a day – and 36,685 wounded.

The figures were provided by the Medico-Legal Institute in Baghdad and hospitals around the country.

The Iraqi Health Ministry hasn't commented on the report, but has disputed previous UN figures as "inaccurate and exaggerated." Earlier this month, it put last year's civilian death toll at 12,357.

The huge discrepancy is nothing new in the complicated, highly contested field of civilian death counts.

[...]

The report says the absence of an effective, impartial judicial system "leads people to take the law into their hands and rely on actions by militias or criminal gangs," many of which have infiltrated or are in collusion with Iraqi security forces.

The UN also looked at murders of police, seen by insurgents as collaborators with the U.S. military, and says 12,000 officers have been killed since 2003.

After Saddam Hussein was deposed in 2003, many Iraqis who had fled his reign of terror returned to the country to help rebuild. Four years later, they're leaving again.

Please don't tell me Saddam at least kept sectarian tensions "under control" while he was ruling the country. His Sunni-dominated rule is largely responsible for what is happening in Iraq today. But the Bush Administration - and those of us who supported the ouster of Saddam and the Ba'athists - should have seen it coming.

Damian P.

Like Mel Gibson, only less racially sensitive

There's a lot I could say about Virginia state legislator Frank Hargrove - most of it consisting of four-letter words - but I bet Virginia resident Meryl Yourish could say it better. Meryl?

Damian P.

The new fringe party?

Chuckercanuck thinks Citoyen Dion's single-minded and economically incoherent focus on things green puts the Liberals at the fringe, if not beyond.

Mark C.

Damian adds: I dunno. I think the Liberal Party of Canada could propose changing the national anthem to Yoko Ono's "Walking on Thin Ice," and it would still get at least 25-30% of the vote.

NPR "Well Done" Indeed!

When Jonah Goldberg is quoted by Glenn Reynolds jumping to National Public Radio's defense, one wonders what's up. Global warming, perhaps?

Sorry gents, marvelous & expensive kitchen prep serving up Marxist cuisine doesn't make for fine dining, just kitsch. Garnishes and under-glass be damned, it's not fit to be served to guests. Not even "well-done".

There is a myth, even in conservative circles, that NPR is "privately funded" through "membership" drives, sales of its products to affiliates and through private sources. In reality, much of that funding is through direct NEA grants. Indirectly, NPR receives state funding through "sales" when the affiliate stations are funded by NEA, State and local taxes.

Please, someone tell us with a straight face that if state funds were discounted from NPR's operational budget they'd survive even one fiscal year.

NPR doesn't have "flaws"; It doesn't lack "diversity". It is fundamentally biased. In practice, every 'medium' that is dependent upon tax-payer dollars devolves into a local version of Pravda. The arrogance, condescension and failure of accountability of Pravda are typical of any organization that does not feel the need to compete for earnings.

The plight of the NY Times and CNN are illustrative of the advantages of market forces in this regard. Consumers are voting with their dollars and their TiVos. When falling market demand lowers prices, economists call the phenomenon a "correction." There will always be a free market niche for the Grey Lady and the Comrade's News... but they will honestly earn their keep. There is plenty of room in the marketplace of ideas for liberal views and liberal media.

By sharp contrast, there is no room in the command economy for conservative views or libertarian media or balanced news reporting.

This listener, for one, no longer gives NPR (or their local news affiliates) a minute of the week. They have squandered trust and patience. Unfortunately, they still forcibly diminish our incomes, even when no-one is listening.

Clearly, NPR feels the heat from uppity consumers such as myself, as Cap'n Ed did attest. Occasional editorial self-examination and token "criticism" haven't improved NPR's product one bit, in this consumer's view.

I stand by my point: State sponsorship of media leads to inherent socialist bias. There is, therefore, only one solution to NPR's "flaws" and lack of "diversity": Dissolution.

Sell off the assets. Let taxpayers keep their earnings. Let NPR's editors and news directors and program directors go out into the world and earn their keep.

Ran H.

Obama '08

Sen. Barack Obama has launched a presidential exploratory committee.

I think Obama is a lock to win the Democratic presidential nomination - in 2012 (or 2016, if the Democrat nominee wins in 2008). Actually, I think that's what he's aiming for.

Damian P.

Canada Pays, China Pollutes

If Canadians really wanted to reduce greenhouse gases, they'd do it voluntarily, just like if Canadians want beer, they'd buy it voluntarily. Yet, millions of people are still investing in oil companies, driving SUVs, and cranking up their thermostats to 23 degrees.

No, following Kyoto is Canadians wanting something done about global warming by making their neighbours (he's the real baddie) pay. It all sounds good until someone loses their job. Too bad even that will be for nothing, writes Lorrie Goldstein:

China, India and the U.S. -- none of them restricted by Kyoto -- are planning to build more than 850 new coal-fired energy plants over the next few years. China alone is planning 562. (Burning coal emits more greenhouse gas, linked to global warming, than oil or natural gas, the world's two other major fossil fuels.)

Two years ago, the respected Christian Science Monitor (CSM) did an in-depth analysis of the implications of this planned coal-fired plant construction in China, India and the U.S. It estimated these 850 plants will put five times more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than Kyoto is designed to remove, even if every other country, including Canada, miraculously hits its Kyoto target.

Though I concede a recession would be bad, it's not like those in my profession will lose their jobs over this treaty (and I have no oil investments, take the bus, and shiver my way through winter anyway). Here, I'm supposed to shrug and support Kyoto. I just need to know that Canada's environmentalists will spend at least half their wrath on China, India and the U.S.

Jon N

Damian adds: the wrath against the U.S. part, at least, shouldn't be a problem...

Afghanistan and opium

It really does seem to me that this is the most sensible way to deal with the problem--eradication efforts will only hurt the anti-Taliban struggle.

...NATO is fighting a war to eradicate opium from Afghanistan. Allegedly, the goals this time around are different. According to the British government, Afghanistan's illicit drug trade poses the "gravest threat to the long term security, development, and effective governance of Afghanistan," particularly since the Taliban is believed to be the biggest beneficiary of drug sales. Convinced that this time they are doing the morally right thing, Western governments are spending hundreds of millions of dollars bulldozing poppy fields, building up counternarcotics squads and financing alternative crops in Afghanistan. Chemical spraying may begin as early as this spring...

...At the moment, Afghanistan's opium exports account for somewhere between one-third and two-thirds of the country's gross domestic product, depending on whose statistics you believe. The biggest producers are in the southern provinces where the Taliban is at its strongest, and no wonder: Every time a poppy field is destroyed, a poor person becomes poorer -- and more likely to support the Taliban against the Western forces who wrecked his crops. Yet little changes: The amount of land dedicated to poppy production grew last year by more than 60 percent, as The Post reported last month...

Yet by far the most depressing aspect of the Afghan poppy crisis is that it exists at all -- because it doesn't have to. To see what I mean, look at the history of Turkey, where once upon a time the drug trade also threatened the country's political and economic stability...

...in 1974 the Turks, with American and U.N. support, tried a different tactic. They began licensing poppy cultivation for the purpose of producing morphine, codeine and other legal opiates. Legal factories were built to replace the illegal ones. Farmers registered to grow poppies, and they paid taxes. You wouldn't necessarily know this from the latest White House drug strategy report-- which devotes several pages to Afghanistan but doesn't mention Turkey -- but the U.S. government still supports the Turkish program, even requiring U.S. drug companies to purchase 80 percent of what the legal documents euphemistically refer to as "narcotic raw materials" from the two traditional producers, Turkey and India.

Mark C.

So, do we want censorship?

The Canadian media's apparent obsession with this country's offending China is beyond me--except for their having an agenda:

NAC performance angers China...

The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa issued a strongly worded statement last night denouncing as propaganda a travelling cultural performance that features the simulated killing of a Falun Gong supporter by Chinese police.

The statement warned that China was opposed to officials from any country participating in the event -- an apparent reference to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who wrote a greeting letter published in the program for the show that was billed as a celebration of the Chinese New Year...

Mark C.

Update: Filthy lucre: the Globe is still fixated on placating China, making money, and knocking the Cons. Human rights, well, tail-end Charlie in the story.

The federal Conservative government has vowed to revive its stalled relationship with China, promising new money and staff to reinforce Canada's trade offices in the world's most populous country.

The government is dispatching two senior cabinet ministers to Beijing this week, sending a new signal that it wants to halt the tensions that had plagued Canada-China relations over the past year...

While the Tories are trying to strengthen their economic relations with China, they are showing no signs of backing down on their concerns about China's human rights record [as if that is a stand worth raising eyebrows about: good grief - MC]. Mr. Emerson said he expects to raise human rights issues on Wednesday during a meeting with China's foreign minister.

This is gratuitous on my part, but in 1939 Germany was the most populous country in Europe (besides the USSR). It all depends on what one thinks important.

An interesting sidelight: today's CTV News poll question is:

What do you think should be top priority in Canada's dealings with China?

The results as of 1950 EST:

Human rights 3370 votes (56 %) Trade 2635 votes (44 %)

Wars are not won with such headlines

This sort of journalism applies equally to Canada. The headline may be factual but what's the point behind it?

Two British deaths in 48 hours in Helmand

Also, an Afghanistan update here.

Mark C.

Good service, bad service: continued

Further to this post, here's a list of the best and worst American companies' call-centre service. Looks like Jeff Jarvis's problems with Dell were no fluke.

Damian P.

Zombie Redenbacher

This is so horrifying, it makes me want to hide under my desk. (via Lileks)

Damian P.

Not again

After the Saddam execution fiasco, the Iraqi government did all it could to make sure the execution of his sadistic half-brother went more smoothly. It didn't.

More depressing news about Iraq: the Daily Telegraph describes how the Iranians are moving into the southern part of the country as the British prepare to move out.

Damian P.

Castro: the end is near

It's not looking good for ol' whiskers:

The Cuban leader Fidel Castro is in a serious condition after three failed operations and complications from an intestinal infection, a Spanish newspaper has reported.

El País said on Monday that the 80 year old suffered an infection that worsened to peritonitis, citing two medical sources at the Madrid hospital where a surgeon who visited Castro in December works.

The report, posted on the paper’s website reads: "A grave infection in the large intestine, at least three failed operations and various complications have left the Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro, laid up with a very grave prognosis".

Earlier on Monday, a Latin American diplomat close to Havana said Castro was having problems with the healing of his stitches after stomach surgery. Cuban officials have released little information on the dictator’s condition since he disappeared from public life in July and ceded power to his brother Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz.

Damian P.

Best. Severance. Package. Ever.

Yeah, it's only Budwesier, but it's still free:

Perhaps my favorite farewell perk—certainly one that many execs will covet for themselves—is provided to retiring Anheuser Busch Chairman August Busch III: "draught beer services and packaged products to your residence."

Damian P.

Watching the border

Defending a very long frontier [via Spotlight on Military News and International Affairs]:

THE United States government is poised to begin flying unmanned surveillance aircraft along the Canadian border, using Grand Forks as the takeoff point for the robot-controlled flights [actually the flights are controlled by humans on the ground, not robots--though no doubt the Pentagon is working on the latter - MC].

Before September, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, an arm of the federal Department of Homeland Security, will start sending propeller-driven drones called Predators into American airspace. At first one drone, with more to follow, will span much of the 8,900-kilometre frontier Canada and the U.S. share between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Never before has the U.S. kept such a close watch over its northern boundary. The move is a response to growing American fears that the entry of even one potential terrorist through Canada could have serious consequences, said Scott Baker. He took over last Friday as Chief Patrol Agent of Customs and Border Protection in Grand Forks, N.D., responsible for guarding the 1,400-kilometre stretch of border between Lake Superior and Montana...

Predators, known by the military as unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, have flown missions along the U.S.-Mexico border for several years, Baker said...

All part of a wider effort on the northern border:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection in North Dakota will also get 22 pilots to fly manned missions in airplanes and helicopters, a deployment similar to others in Bellingham, Wash., Great Falls, Mont. and Plattsburgh, N.Y...

But fair's fair: the US just has higher technology (and perceives a greater cross-border threat, a perception about which the Canadian government is rather sensitive).

Mark C.

Antipodean multiculturalism in action

Some familiar rivals, of European origin, have at it:

ONE OF the nation's biggest international sporting events endured its blackest day yesterday as Serbs, Croats and Greeks clashed at the Australian Open tennis and threatened further ethnic warfare as the grand slam event continues...

Leaders of Melbourne's Serbian and Croatian communities accused each other's compatriots of provoking the fracas...

Mark C.

X X'ed?

On one hand, I haven't seen this in any legitimate news source except the New York Sun, so some skepticism may be in order. On the other hand, it is Saudi Arabia, so the story is at least plausible.

The letter "X" soon may be banned in Saudi Arabia because it resembles the mother of all banned religious symbols in the oil kingdom: the cross.

The new development came with the issuing of another mind-bending fatwa, or religious edict, by the infamous Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice — the group of senior Islamic clergy that reigns supreme on all legal, civil, and governance matters in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The commission's damning of the letter "X" came in response to a Ministry of Trade query about whether it should grant trademark protection to a Saudi businessman for a new service carrying the English name "Explorer."

[...]

Among the commission's deeds is the famed 1974 fatwa — issued by its blind leader at the time, Sheik Abdul Aziz Ben Baz — which declared that the Earth was flat and immobile. In a book issued by the Islamic University of Medina, the sheik argued: "If the earth is rotating, as they claim, the countries, the mountains, the trees, the rivers, and the oceans will have no bottom." Another bright light of the commission, Sheik Abdel-Aziz al-Sheikh, recently stopped a government reform proposal aimed at creating work for women by allowing them to replace male sales clerks in women's clothing stores. ...

Damian P.

Update: Hot Air says this "new development" was first reported in 2003, and also digs up some interesting information about the thwarted businessman.

What do those who pay get?

Mr. Bourque...hmm.

Reader beware: the headline on your favourite Internet news site may have been bought and prescribed by a political party, candidate, lobbyist, corporation or TV show...

If a political party pays a news site to highlight as a top story something that is deeply negative about an opponent, complete with a deliberately torqued headline, should that be considered advertising?

Make no mistake, this practice is occurring all the time.

A multitude of sources say this is precisely the business model of Bourque Newswatch, Canada's most popular private political news aggregator [what about National Newswatch? - MC] and the Internet news destination of choice for much of the federal chattering class.

In fact the site, run by Pierre Bourque, a one-time Ottawa city councillor and failed federal Liberal candidate, seems to openly advertise the practice...

Mark C.

Newspaper on Newspaper

I'm amused. In an editorial, the National Post attacks the Toronto Star for being scammers and socialists, but I like "champion of economic suicide" most.

Jon N

Axis of conspirozoids

One believes the Holocaust is a hoax. One believes 9/11 is a hoax. Together, they're going to save the world from Yankee imperialism:

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- fiery anti-American leaders whose moves to extend their influence have alarmed Washington -- said Saturday they would help finance investment projects in other countries seeking to thwart U.S. domination.

The two countries had previously revealed plans for a joint $2 billion fund to finance investments in Venezuela and Iran, but the leaders said Saturday the money would also be used for projects in friendly countries throughout the developing world.

"It will permit us to underpin investments ... above all in those countries whose governments are making efforts to liberate themselves from the (U.S.) imperialist yoke," Chavez said.

"This fund, my brother," the Venezuelan president said, referring affectionately to Ahmadinejad, "will become a mechanism for liberation."

"Death to U.S. imperialism!" Chavez said.

[...]

It was not clear if the leaders were referring to investment in infrastructure, social and energy projects -- areas that the two countries have focused on until now -- or other types of financing.

One Latin American leader who won't take the bait is Argentina's Nestor Kirchner, who is still trying to prosecute top Iranian officials for their role in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community centre.

Damian P.

True Patriot Love

Looks like the running game is not all it's cracked up to be. Brady vs. Manning will be a treat. If the NFC wins the Super Bowl I'm a monkey's nephew.

But poor L.T. (And poor Schottenheimer - DP)

Mark C.

The bestial Dion--is he growling or purring?

Colby Cosh analyzes the Liberal leader's use of language:

...Why would Dion suggest that it is not good for the economy to have a lot of people working hard in producing an export commodity at a time when it offers very high return on investment? On the narrow view of "economy" this is good by definition. The Leader of the Opposition probably means to incorporate the psychological cohesion of the country, the welfare of the worst-off in boom areas, the integrity of the non-human environment, and God knows what else into his notion of "economy." I suppose, anyhow, that this is what he would say in his defence (though even this wouldn't account for an attack on the lifestyles and work habits of several hundred thousand people singled out for abuse because they sought productive work).

But one problem is that once you endow some word freely with a purely private meaning, you can no longer claim to be engaging in language or persuasion as such. You reduce yourself to the level of a beast who is only capable of expressing approval or disapproval--purring or growling--and the habit of bestial words tends to end in beastly deeds. The other big problem is that a man who uses subjective criteria in an impulsive way to decide what is "good for the economy" is hard to trust with the management of one.

Mark C.

An unsatisfying win

Yeah, the Bears won. And aside from a fumble, Grossman didn't make any serious mistakes. (His "interception" bounced out of the receiver's hands.) But after needing overtime to beat Seattle, does anyone actually think the Bears will beat the Team of Destiny(TM) next week? Even playing at home? I just hope I'm pleasantly surprised next Saturday.

In minor-league football news, the Cardinals have a new coach.

Damian P.

Update: the new season of 24 premieres tonight - at least that's what I've heard, even though the typically understated Fox network has done little to promote the show. Now look at these scores from the weekend:

New Orleans 27, Philly 24.
Chicago 27, Seattle 24.
New England 24, San Diego 21.
Indianapolis 15, Baltimore 6 - which only totals 21, but Indianapolis was the third-ranked team in the AFC, and when you add 3 to 21 you get 24.

I think this merits further investigation.

You gotta admit, it's ingenious

Sheik Taj Din Al Hilali, the mufti of Australia best known for referring to unveiled women as "uncovered meat," argues that Muslims are more entitled to Australia than the Australians:

Anyway, he [sic] is another comment the Mufti-imam made: "Muslims are more entitled to Australia than the Anglo-Saxons who came shackled as prisoners with no choice while the sons of Islam came to Australia in search of better opportunities in life." And another: "We came as free men. We bought our own tickets so we are more entitled to Australia than the white Australians."

Aussie Tim Blair, not surprisingly, has more.

Damian P.

Skepticism about the surge

Daniel Drezner: "what Bush is proposing now is exactly what happened in Vietnam, Beirut and Somalia."

I hope he's wrong, but I fear he's right.

Damian P.

Afghan and Canadian reality: Different strokes for different folks

1) The Gray Lady takes a dark view: a relentlessly negative (about Canadians too) story by Carlotta Gall in the NY Times.

The road that cuts through the heart of Panjwai district here tells all that is going wrong with NATO’s war in Afghanistan...

Ms Gall has a track record in this line of reporting, and has made at least one serious mistake.

2) The Globe and Mail's Graeme Smith presents a different perspective:

Noise of war gives way to the sound of rebuilding: With Canada and NATO's help, a battlefield's residents return in droves

Which is not to say that everything is rosy.

At the same time we find headlines with differing takes on Canadian support for the war:

1) Toronto Star:

Defence minister taps new PR chief to help sell unpopular Afghan mission

2) Vancouver Sun:

Support for Afghan mission increases: 58% of Canadians in favour of effort: poll

What's a poor media consumer to believe? But this day at least one can support the Leafs.

Meanwhile, Minister of National Defence O'Connor looks rather silly.

Mark C.

Update: The headline I assigned to the Vancouver Sun was actually from the Canada.com site, not the paper. The different headlines for the same story in the CanWest papers are here--and would make significantly different impressions on a reader.

BNP and the Far Left

Frequent contributor Bruce R. took issue with "the description of the [British National Party] as “ultra-right.” The BNP are socialists, which places them properly on the left side of the political spectrum." It's a valid point.

The question to be addressed by Bruce' observation is the nature of the Right. From an American perspective, an article in Human Events by Ohio's former Secretary of State, Mr. Kenneth Blackwell, covers it within the context of the Republican Party's situation.

Many Republican leaders have demonstrated little commitment to one or more of our conservative principles - limited government, individual liberty, free-market enterprise and belief in the sanctity of life.

...

We on the right are particularly equipped to defend human freedoms, for we embrace a tradition established in the United States by our Founders and ordered in the universe by our God: the understanding that the state of a society is determined by the liberty of and choices made by each of its members. As Americans we are entitled to political and economic freedom as individuals; because we were willed one-by-one into existence by our Creator, our lives have uninfringeable worth.

There simply isn't ideological room in such a worldview for Fascist or Communist flavours of Socialism. (For those of you with Bush Derangement Syndrome, get a grip: Conservatives don't care much for this Administration either.)

Ranald Hay

Damian adds: conservatives may bristle at the BNP being described as "conservative," but I don't think "leftist" fits, either. Really, it's a pretty good example of how the left-right continuum sort of doubles back on itself, with many similarities between the authoritarian right and the extreme left.

Regular commenter Bruce Rheinstein points to the BNP's 2005 election manifesto, which includes these gems:

We are utterly opposed to attempts by American imperialists, the Zionist lobby, the neo-con movement and the US's British puppets in the Labour and Tory parties to drag us into a ‘Clash of Civilisations' with the Islamic world.

[...]

We will also withdraw all British troops with immediate effect from Iraq. We will never again involve British troops in any more American 'wars for oil' or neo-con adventures on behalf of the Zionist government of Israel.

Just because they hate Muslims doesn't mean they don't hate Jews, too.

Darfur: Why the UN Security Council will do nothing serious

The simple explanation, in another context:

China and Russia vetoed a U.S.-drafted resolution Friday that would have demanded Myanmar's military regime end political repression and human rights violations, insisting that the Southeast Asian nation's internal matters don't threaten international peace and security...

Strange to say, an article in the leftist New Statesman gets things right:

...China and other states have protected the Khartoum government while the US has been powerless to act. The reality is that Washington could do nothing to stop any state acting unilaterally to stop this killing, and would actually welcome anyone doing so.

Mesmerised by US history and by post-invasion Iraq, the international human-rights industry has also been slow to state what is now obvious. This is not an American problem. This is not a British problem. This is not even an EU problem. None of them could take the lead in solving it. This is an African, Arab and Asian problem. The solution is not invasion, or occupation, or regime change. The solution is in the hands of China and the African, Arab and other Asian states that surround, trade with and finance Sudan...

Western imperialism can be blamed for many things, but there is no imperialist explanation for why African, Asian and Arab states do not act over congo. They face no logistical obstacle to establishing a no-fly zone. The problem is one of will, not agency or capability...

Via Arts & Letters Daily.

Mark C.

Counterterrorism: Did Sandy Berger steal documents for a particular purpose?

The Wall Street Journal raises an interesting question concerning President Clinton's National Security Adviser.

Mark C.

Multicultural meltdown

Non-white immigrants and their children are feeling "less Canadian". Not to worry, multiculturalism is irrelevant. It was never the answer to the real problem: the white power structure.

Embracing diversity or legislating multiculturalism is not enough, he [Robert Jensen, who teaches journalism at the University of Texas] maintained. That merely creates room in the existing power structures for non-whites. The structures themselves have to be changed.

The York students sat impassively through the first half of Jensen's lecture. But when he assailed multiculturalism, their ears pricked up.

They knew what it was like to be allowed into white-run institutions without being treated as equals; to be denied opportunities by bureaucrats who were supposedly colour-blind, to be patronized by employers who had taken diversity courses...

Judging from the response in the lecture hall, young Canadians are looking for educators who understand that multiculturalism – however bold it may have been when Trudeau announced the policy 36 years ago – is an aging relic as far as they're concerned. They need new tools to advance the fight for equality...

The Globe's Margaret Wente quotes an Indo-Canadian who gets to the heart of the matter:

He [Binoy Thomas, editor of the Indo-Canadian newspaper Weekly Voice] argues that official multiculturalism, with its emphasis on race and difference, only makes matters worse. "We glorify something that never should have been glorified," he says. "Multiculturalism means you're always thinking about somebody's skin colour. In Mumbai, people don't think, 'Oh, I have to be inclusive with this guy.' People think, 'How can I do business with him?' "

Mr. Thomas is also riled by the political ideology dispensed on every university campus -- the official narratives of Western wickedness and discrimination. "It's a kind of self-perpetuating victimhood, the sense that maybe we can't survive in the mainstream without special help." The last thing that immigrants and minorities need is special help. What they do need is "to be able to contribute, to make money, to do well."

It's no accident that immigrants do best in open, highly entrepreneurial economies. The Europeans say, "Come on in, and we'll take care of you, but that doesn't necessarily include a job." The Americans say, "Come on in, and that's the only favour we're going to do you. Good luck. Take a shot at the American dream." In Mr. Thomas's view, we'd be a lot better off if we behaved more like Americans -- or businessmen in Mumbai...

Mark C.

Good service, Bad service

David Bernstein of The Volokh Conspiracy describes his recent experiences with uncaring, incompetent or surly customer service. He asks, "has customer service in the U.S. really gone to Hell?" I dunno: I can't remember a time when people in the U.S. - and Canada, and presumably everywhere else - didn't complain about their ordeals when calling companies' 1-800 numbers.

My worst such encounters have been with Air Canada (surprise!) and telecommunications provider Aliant, who keep playing a message encouraging you to use their self-service website - when you're calling to complain about being unable to get online in the first place. My best customer service experiences have been with StarChoice satellite TV, who will actually call you back within a specified time, and President's Choice Financial, a Loblaws/CIBC no-fee banking venture I can't believe everyone doesn't use.

Damian P.

Federline's only fan

K-Fed - sorry, "Fed-Ex" - may have been reduced to selling his clothes, but he does have one supporter:

Moviemaker John Waters, the man behind such cinematic originals like Cry Baby and Serial Mom, may be at the forefront of something else truly innovative: he's a one-man Kevin Federline fan club.

"You don't see him out there getting out of limousines and flashing his shaved crotch," Waters, holed up at Toronto's Royal York Hotel, says animatedly of the estranged husband of pop diva Britney Spears. "He's been the gentleman since they split up. I hope he gets the kids - he deserves them more than she does."

[...]

"I'm a big fan of K-Fed - that's who I want to marry," he says with a laugh. "What did he do that was so wrong? She's the idiot. She's the one who gave him the Ferrari. Who gives a Ferrari to rough trade? Who could blame him for taking it? And he looks good whether he's all cleaned up or long-haired and sleazy."

Waters is coy, however, about whether he'd ever cast Federline in any future movies.

If Federline joins the ranks of Divine, Patty Hearst and Traci Lords as a John Waters movie star, I might actually develop an ounce of respect for the guy.

Damian P.

The BNP Ballerina

Simone Clarke, a principal dancer for the English National Ballet, was outed as a member of the ultra-right British National Party by The Guardian last month. Since then, anti-racist activists have been demanding she be fired:

Political activists shouted abuse at a ballerina yesterday as she danced on stage for the first time since being unmasked as a member of the British National Party.

Less than 15 minutes into Simone Clarke's star performance in Giselle, protesters taunted her from the stalls with the words: "The principal ballerina is a BNP member. No to facism [sic] in the arts."

In an extraordinary escalation of the row that has surrounded the English National Ballet company for weeks, a 34-year-old man and several sixth-form students jumped up from their seats to shout: "Black and white unite. No to the BNP."

Clarke, who was mid-step when the outburst occurred, continued to smile and danced on as if nothing was happening. But there were loud cries of "shame" and "shut up" from the usually tranquil ballet audience, which yesterday included high profile members of the BNP.

[...]

The disruption followed a day of tension and loud demonstrations outside the London Coliseum by up to 50 members of UAF, which is chaired by the London mayor Ken Livingstone.

The group is calling for Clarke, 36, to be sacked as principal dancer with the ENB, because it receives £6million of public money a year from the Arts Council.

I have no time for the racist British National Party - nor for taking away someone's livelihood because of her personal political views. Who wants to bet the same people protesting against Clarke in 2007 were rushing to the defense of Vanessa Redgrave during her Revolutionary Workers Party years?

Damian P.

Afghanistan: US intelligence views

Outgoing Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte:

He also warned of the successes that a resurgent Taliban is having in Afghanistan in its attempts to destabilize the government of President Hamid Karzai.

The intelligence chief said the Taliban “probably” [emphasis added] does not directly threaten the viability of Mr. Karzai’s government. At the same time, he said the Taliban is achieving more limited goals of impeding economic development in southern and eastern Afghanistan and undermining popular support for the government in Kabul.

More:

In his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Negroponte said that ''eliminating the safe haven that the Taliban and other extremists have found in Pakistan's tribal areas is not sufficient to end the insurgency in Afghanistan, but it is necessary.''..

Now, taken literally, that means: a) if the havens are not eliminated then the insurgency will not end; and b) even eliminating them will not be enough. Pretty bleak to me.

Defence Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Maples:

The DIA believes attacks in Afghanistan from the Taliban-led insurgency will increase this spring. ''Nearly five years after the Taliban's fall, many Afghans expected the situation to be better by now and are beginning to blame President (Hamid) Karzai for the lack of greater progress,'' Maples said...

Mark C.

Military action against Iran?

William Arkin of the Washington Post parses Secretary Rice.

On CNN during the noon hour, John Pike of GlobalSecurity.org thought that February could well be a critical month--for both the US and Israel--as Iran's enrichment program is scheduled to go operational next month, and Russia will ship nuclear fuel for the Bushehr reactor. Mr Pike noted that by then the US will have two carriers in the area.

Mark C.

Detroit management defended

Mickey Kaus says the UAW, not management, is responsible for the cost-cutting so evident in GM and Ford products:

...GM pays $31.35 an hour. Toyota pays $27 an hour. Not such a big difference. But--thanks in part to union work rules that prevent the thousands of little changes that boost productivity--it takes GM, on average, 34.3 hours to build a car, while it takes Toyota only 27.9 hours. ** Multiply those two numbers together and it comes out that GM spends 43% more on labor per car. And that's before health care costs (where GM has a $1,300/vehicle disadvantage).

If you're GM or Ford, how do you make up for a 43% disadvantage? Well, you concentrate on vehicle types where you don't have competition from Toyota--e.g. big SUVs in the 1980s and 1990s. Or you build cars that strike an iconic, patriotic chord--like pickup trucks, or the Mustang and Camaro. Or--and this is the most common technique--you skimp on the quality and expense of materials. Indeed, you have special teams that go over a design to "sweat" out the cost. Unfortunately, these cost-cutting measures (needed to make up for the UAW disadvantage) are all too apparent to buyers. Cost-cutting can even affect handling--does GM spend the extra money for this or that steel support to stabilize the steering, etc. As Robert Cumberford of Automobile magazine has noted, Detroit designers design great cars--but those aren't what gets built, after the cost-cutters are through with them.

Micheline Maynard's book The End of Detroit describes how GM's agreements with the UAW prevent it from implementing time- and labour-saving processes regularly used by Toyota, and when the Chevy Lumina came out, I remember reading about how the cheap, ugly dashboard was designed with ease of assembly - not customer satisfaction - in mind.

But General Motors and Ford build cars in Europe with unionized workforces, and their European products don't look nearly as shoddy as those built in North America. Perhaps the European unions are more flexible about work rules - or, the American managers and executives are indeed more short-sighted and stingy. There's plenty of blame to go around.

Damian P.

More Larfs...

... From contributor Ellie-in-T.O., comes this link to Arrogant Worms lyrics:

Carrot Juice Is Murder

Listen up brothers and sisters/ come hear my desperate tale/ I speak of our friends of nature/ trapped in the dirt like a jail/ Veg'tables live in oppression/ served on out tables each night/ This killing of veggies is madness/ I say we take up the fight/ Salads are only for murderers/ cole slaw’s a fascist regime/ Don’t think that they don’t have feelings/ just cause a radish can’t scream

Check out the words to "I Am Cow!!!" Worms Rule!

Is nothing sacred?

Ranald Hay

Calvin and the snowmen

I miss this so much. (via John Gushue)

Damian P.

Strike unsuccessful

The American air strikes in Somalia killed some Al-Qaida terrorists, according to the Financial Times, but the major targets got away:

The controversial US air strike in southern Somalia missed all three top al-Qaeda members Washington alleges are hiding out in the country, a senior US official said on Thursday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said eight to 10 “al-Qaeda affiliated terrorists” were killed in Monday’s attack, but gave no details.

On Tuesday the Pentagon confirmed that an AC130 aircraft was used to target “the principal al-Qaeda leadership in the region”. The attack marked the first overt US military intervention in the Horn of Africa nation since its doomed invasion in the 1990s.

The strike was criticised by the European Commission, as well as the Arab League which claimed it had killed “many innocent victims” and demanded that Washington refrain from further attacks. There were no accurate casualty figures.

Damian P.

A solution to global warming

How "to exculpate my sin?...kill a flatulent cow."

Mark C.

Update: Colby Cosh demonstrates that...

...climate catastrophism isn't a pure scientific point of view, but a crude world-picture, one that divides our species neatly into the damned and the elect, and bifurcates the future into heaven and hell. In short, a dogma. It is no coincidence that the dissenters are being called "heretics."

Sounds like a good move to me

Anything that reduces subsidization of the CBC:

Jim Shaw is ticked off.

The CEO of Shaw Communications is tired of subsidizing the CBC. He's frustrated by spending five per cent of his company's annual revenues on television programs no one watches...

Noting that "over the past 10 years, Shaw has contributed over $350 million in direct subsidies to the Canadian production industry," Mr. Shaw observes the fund [Canadian Television Fund: your cable/satellite dollars at work--check out bureaucracy in action - MC] "has become nothing more than a means of subsidizing broadcasters, pay and specialty services and independent producers to produce Canadian television programming that few watch and has no commercial or exportable value."..

He is particularly rankled that a full 37 per cent of the fund's revenues are set aside annually for the CBC/SRC -- something he declares "should be ended immediately" in light of the fact that the "CBC already receives over $1.2 billion from Canadian taxpayers in the form of grants and mandatory subscriber fees."..

Mark C.

I've had it with CNN

Secretary of State Rice testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today. CNN covered live the opening statements of Democratic Chairman Biden and ranking Republican Lugar, and of the Secretary. As soon as questions began, the coverage stopped. (Only one senator's qestioning has been carried live: John Kerry's. Hmmm...)

I never got the chance to see much of Defense Secretary Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Pace at the House Armed Services Committee, either. Pathetic.

Mark C.

Improving Afghanistan PR

Minister of National Defence O'Connor selects a new communications director. The government surely must do a better job on Afghanstan - the minister is pretty hopeless in that regard, as he is on procurement matters. Whether a former PQ worker will help much in Quebec is something else:

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor, under fire for his chippy style and faced with sliding [I would say "divided" - MC] public support for Canada's controversial Afghanistan mission, has replaced his top communications aide.

And, in a telling move, O'Connor has made a Quebecer, Isabelle Bouchard, his new director of communications just as the federal Conservatives brace for a summer influx of troops from Quebec into the dangerous Kandahar region...

She's promising a defence department communications strategy with "more heart."

"Of course, it's going to be a little different," said Bouchard, a veteran of O'Connor's office. She once worked for Quebec's separatist Parti Québécois but says she "saw the light."

The move comes as the Conservatives try to shift the Afghan mission spotlight onto reconstruction and redevelopment and away from military operations – with mixed success...

NDP defence critic Dawn Black expressed doubt a new communications chief will help O'Connor and the "unbalanced" mission.

Well, Ms Black would say that, wouldn't she? No doubt she will be equally helpful during House committee hearings on aircraft procurement next month.

As well as "heart", the government needs more "mind" in its PR besides calls to patriotism and doing good--such as explaining the real threat a re-established Taliban regime plus al Qaeda would present to the West and Canada. That is the bottom-line reason for our military presence; all the warm and fuzzy stuff is fundamentally in pursuit of preventing that re-establishment. In other words, which Canadians are reluctant to hear and the government is reluctant to speak, we have a national interest.

But somehow I do not think Ms Black's leader will be convinced. From the mouth of Jack Layton:

So what's the way forward now?

The first thing is to make clear that we are taking our troops out. No one takes you seriously unless you're willing to take that step.

Immediately?

Yes. It's what our convention approved It's what I asked them to approve. I mean you take them out safely. You don't say it on Monday and you're gone on Tuesday. But as that's happening,, you start talking to the three or four other countries who are in Afghanistan and are refusing to participate in the war and you say, let's try to launch a whole new national approach based on diplomacy, trying to approve a cease fire, etcetera...

Mark C.

Update: Warm and fuzzy continues.

More Treacher

The great Jim Treacher is now contributing to The Daily Gut.

Damian P.

How many left-wing cliches can you fit in a single painting?

This one inexplicably omits the abortion clinic being blown up and Ronald McDonald personally shoving hamburgers down the throats of obese American children. But that's about it.

Damian P.

Laytonomics

NDP Leader Jack Layton tries class warfare in his latest attention getting ploy. The Toronto Star reports:

"The big corporations, the powerful have had their turn. It's time for a campaign for fairness for Canadians from coast to coast," he said.

"New Democrats are going to lead that campaign, and that campaign starts today," he said to enthusiastic applause in a speech kicking off caucus discussion.

News flash to Mr. Layton: driving out those big corporations won't help Canada either. Lowering their profits won't hurt The Man at the top, it'll be the workers at the bottom who suffer. Taking down bank interest rates probably won't help the pension plans of the senior Mr. Layton cares about so much either. Yes, that's it... encourage Canadians to move their capital elsewhere.

Mr. Layton will enthusiastically talk about control, but he will seldom talk about creation. His message will never be that ordinary Canadians can also found businesses and come to run corporations, because his is a message of despair. Once his voting core develop hope in themselves, he will lose them. So if Jack Layton can help it, working class Canadians will remain victims.

Jon N

Beckham Goes Hollywood

The world's most famous active footballer is coming to L.A.:

David Beckham will leave Real Madrid at the end of the season to join the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer in a five-year deal.

[...]

Beckham has been unhappy this season at Madrid under coach Fabio Capello. He has started only seven of 25 matches and was left off the squad for Thursday's Copa del Rey match against Real Betis.

Beckham has a soccer academy in Los Angeles. His wife Victoria, a former Spice Girl, was recently photographed house-hunting in Los Angeles.

MLS recently changed its rules on salary caps, clearing the way for Beckham to sign a lucrative deal. British news reports put the LA deal at US$250 million.

This isn't at all surprising, since Beckham has often mused about coming Stateside. (The MLS salary cap change is popularly called the "Beckham rule.") This should make soccer popular in Los Angeles, at least for a little while, and it won't be long before other MLS clubs start throwing money at other aging superstars. (You just know someone is already going after Zinedine Zidane, familiar to even the most soccer-averse Americans after the head-butt that shook the world.)

The North American Soccer League did the same thing, giving legends like Pele, Best and Beckenbauer one last big payday. And look what happened to the NASL.

Damian P.

And then there were 100

The Liberals lose another Member of Parliament:

Less than a week after the defection of Wajid Khan to the Conservatives, the Liberals have lost another MP. Quebec MP Jean Lapierre announced Thursday morning that he is resigning from the federal party caucus.

News reports indicate that Lapierre intends to take a job at the Montreal-based TVA television network where he will co-host a weekly politics show.

[...]

Lapierre’s resignation drops the Liberals’ seat count to 100 in the 308-seat House of Commons.

The Stephane Dion era is off to a wonderful start, isn't it? (Lapierre remained neutral during the Liberal leadership race, but you can't help wondering how well he got along with his new leader.)

Damian P.

Chavez the Christianist

While left-wingers fret about America becoming a Christian theocracy any minute now, their hero Hugo Chavez openly brags about basing his economic policies on the teachings of "the grestest socialist in history": Jesus Christ.

Invoking Christ and Castro as his socialist models, President Hugo Chávez began his third term yesterday by declaring that socialism, not capitalism, is the only way forward for Venezuela and the world.

[...]

At the apex of a resurgent Latin American left, Chávez has been emboldened to make more radical changes at home after winning reelection with 63 percent of the vote, his widest margin ever. Chávez can now count on remaining president until 2013 -- or later if he gets his way with a constitutional amendment allowing him to run again.

His next moves include nationalizing electrical and telecommunications companies, forming a commission to oversee constitutional reforms and asking the National Assembly, now entirely controlled by his supporters, to allow him to enact "revolutionary laws" by presidential decree.

His right hand raised yesterday, Chávez declared: "Fatherland, socialism or death -- I swear it," words reminiscent of Fidel Castro's famous call-to-arms. He also alluded to Jesus: "I swear by Christ -- the greatest socialist in history."

Imagine George W. Bush boasting about how he will base his policies on his interpretation of the Bible, forcing through constitutional amendments that will eliminate presidential term limits, ordering American NGOs to register with the government, and getting MSNBC taken off the air because of Keith Olbermann. That's basically what's happening in Venezuela right now. (Some might argue the failed, American-backed coup of 2002 has driven him to adopt a more authoritarian line - an argument I would find more credible had Chavez not attempted his own coup ten years earlier.)

Damian P.

The best profile of Robin Williams I've ever read

Jenny at IDontLikeYouInThatWay.com:

I love the way he exhausts me with the same routine he's been using since 1910 which is drenched with neverending, unfunny impressions of famous people. I hope he went up there and said, "Robin couldn't be here, so Jack Nicholson and John Wayne will be accepting this award on his behalf." and then Robin went back and forth acting like Jack and John were talking to each other and the people in the audience did that ass kissing, bullshit, secretly embarrassed for him laughing. Aw man, he's great.

Damian P.

I'd rather go naked than wear pleather

I find the wording of this PETA BlogAd (now appearing on Tim Blair's site) kind of interesting:

So, Pink will always boycott fur, but can't always be bothered to boycott leather. Got it.

Damian P.

Iran update: Michael Ledeen

Money quote: "We cannot ‘solve’ the Iraqi problem without regime change in Iran."

If you're not reading Dr. Ledeen's blog, you're missing out on a lot of fresh, relevant data. You knew that the Basque thugs ETA were in on the '93 WTC bombings, didn't you?

"Surge" in Baghdad, huh? How 'bout a surge here at home:

We need new men and women at VOA, at the Board of Broadcasting Governors (Ken Tomlinson, in particular, should be given a medal and replaced), and at the State Department (we should know by now that the touchy-feely approach thus far championed by Karen Hughes is not effective).

This country is loaded with talent, and the mullahs do not have a big constituency here. It cannot be hard to find a critical mass of talented people who want to support democratic revolution in Iran. We lack only the will of the president.

Faster, please.

Ranald Hay

Damian adds: Ledeen is backing away from his much-talked-about (and heavily criticized) report on the death of Ayatollah Khamenei - sort of.

"Little Church in the Middle East"

I'm waiting for the sitcom on some Arab (or Turkish) channel. (No chance in Iran.)

Christians have lived in the Arab world for the past 2,000 years. They were there before the Muslims. Their current predicament is not the first crisis they have faced and, compared to the massacres of the past, it is certainly not the most severe in Middle Eastern Christianity [I'm not so certain - MC]. But in some countries, it could be the last one. Even the pope, in his Christmas address, mentioned the "small flock" of the partful in the Middle East, who he said are forced to live with "little light and too much shadow," and demanded that they be given more rights...

Given the lack of hard numbers, demographers must rely on estimates, whereby Christians make up about 40 percent of the population in Lebanon, less than 10 percent in Egypt and Syria, two to four percent in Jordan and Iraq and less than one percent in North Africa. But the major political changes that are currently affecting the Middle East have led to shrinking Christian minorities...

...there are deeper-seated reasons behind the most recent exodus: the demise of secular movements and the growing influence of political Islam in the Middle East...

More here--read the book mentioned at the end of the post. Whatever one may say of the German media, they do provide a wider view than Canadian sources.

Mark C.

Damian adds: the Jewish population of most Middle East countries, outside of Israel, was practically exterminated after 1948.

Somalia: Wouldn't it be nice...

...if Canada could deal in this way with dual citizens who do things like this?

Several British terror suspects have been captured during the fighting in Somalia, it was claimed yesterday.

At least seven Britons are said to have been picked up as they fled with fighters from the Islamic movement when they were forced out of the capital, Mogadishu. The men, all carrying British passports and including one said to have been badly wounded, are reportedly being held by Ethiopian troops...

...The British authorities are expected to ask for the men to be deported to Britain, where they can be prosecuted under new terror laws if there is any evidence of their association with al-Qaeda or taking part in terror operations abroad...

And someone in the press actually writes with approval of the American strikes:

Most Africans, like most Americans, are deeply inimical to the creation of pro-al-Qa'eda, Islamic fundamentalist regimes that pose a threat to their security and liberty.

Consequently, a rare combination of African steadfastness and raw American power has won an important victory on this new battlefront in the war on terror, thereby frustrating attempts by Islamic militants to seize control of a strategically important country, and denying refuge to the instigators and perpetrators of acts of evil.

Sunday's events in Somalia lend credence to the warning the late President Ronald Reagan gave a previous generation of Islamic terrorists: you can run, but you can't hide.

Mark C.

The speech

Drudge has the full text of President Bush's televised address to the nation. A key excerpt:

Let me explain the main elements of this effort: The Iraqi government will appoint a military commander and two deputy commanders for their capital. The Iraqi government will deploy Iraqi Army and National Police brigades across Baghdad’s nine districts. When these forces are fully deployed, there will be 18 Iraqi Army and National Police brigades committed to this effort – along with local police. These Iraqi forces will operate from local police stations – conducting patrols, setting up checkpoints, and going door-to-door to gain the trust of Baghdad residents.

This is a strong commitment. But for it to succeed, our commanders say the Iraqis will need our help. So America will change our strategy to help the Iraqis carry out their campaign to put down sectarian violence – and bring security to the people of Baghdad. This will require increasing American force levels. So I have committed more than 20,000 additional American troops to Iraq. The vast majority of them – five brigades – will be deployed to Baghdad. These troops will work alongside Iraqi units and be embedded in their formations. Our troops will have a well-defined mission: to help Iraqis clear and secure neighborhoods, to help them protect the local population, and to help ensure that the Iraqi forces left behind are capable of providing the security that Baghdad needs.

Many listening tonight will ask why this effort will succeed when previous operations to secure Baghdad did not. Here are the differences: In earlier operations, Iraqi and American forces cleared many neighborhoods of terrorists and insurgents – but when our forces moved on to other targets, the killers returned. This time, we will have the force levels we need to hold the areas that have been cleared. In earlier operations, political and sectarian interference prevented Iraqi and American forces from going into neighborhoods that are home to those fueling the sectarian violence. This time, Iraqi and American forces will have a green light to enter these neighborhoods – and Prime Minister Maliki has pledged that political or sectarian interference will not be tolerated.

The Iraqi government couldn't keep the execution of Saddam Hussein from deteriorating into a sectarian fiasco, so my biggest concern - aside from whether even 20,000 additional troops is enough to do the job - is that this plan relies so heavily upon that same government keeping religious strife among its own troops to a minimum. I hope this "surge" works - according to ABC News, it's already begun - but I'll remain skeptical until I see some real results. I've been burned too many times to remain optimistic.

PJM should have a big roundup of blog reaction before too long.

Damian P.

Name Ruined

As far as I'm concerned, MG will always stand for "Morris Garages" - regardless of what the new owners say.

Damian P.

Things military: Duh!

At The Torch, Damian Brooks takes on a retired civilian who has antiquated conceptions about current military procurements, and also Scott Taylor (of Esprit de Corps) about the current NATO operation in Afghanistan.

Mark C.

Little Mosque, Big Audience

The most talked-about CBC series in recent memory drew over two million viewers - huge numbers for Canadian television. (Desperate Housewives and House get similar ratings up here.)

The question is, how many will stick around for the second episode? I didn't see the premiere, but Rick McGinnis and Kathy Shaidle did.

Damian P.

Bahrainis, start your engines

The royal family of Bahrain has purchased a 15% stake in the McLaren F1 team. (Bad news for any Israelis who want to race for McLaren.)

Looks like the Bahrainis have no problem with their team being sponsored by Johnnie Walker whiskey, even though champagne is banned from podium ceremonies at the Bahrain Grand Prix. (Orange juice - which Alan Jones and the late Clay Regazzoni had to guzzle when Williams was sponsored by Saudia airlines - is used as a substitute.)

Damian P.

Journalistic ethics or madness?

David Frum finds a new blog, written by one who did the honourable (and sensible) thing:

You may have heard of his brush with the watchdogs of press ethics: Riding in a Bradley Fighting Vehicle, he alerted the gunner that an Iraqi militiaman was about to fire upon the car. Some felt that this action detracted from his journalistic objectivity...

Mark C.

Chairman Hugo

Venezuela's transition into a socialist basketcase continues.

Hugo Chavez was elected by a pretty clear margin, and if this is what the people of Venezuela really want, so be it. The question is whether Chavez - who plans to stay in power until 2021 - will be so obliging toward the popular vote when it finally turns against him.

Damian P.

Climate Change--Make Industry Pass on the Buck

Now here's a slightly better scheme to combat Canadian emissions, reported in the Globe and Mail:

Canadian industry -- and not governments -- must foot the bill for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions if there is to be a long-term and effective strategy to combat climate change, environmentalists argued yesterday.

What environmentalists don't say is what that when Canadian industry pays for something, its really their workers, consumers, and shareholders who suffer. As operating costs increase, employers will have less available for wages--maybe they'll pay less, maybe they'll hire fewer. Much of the cost will be passed onto consumers, and shareholders will be hit by the decreased competitiveness compared to unrestrained economies like our southern neighbours.

It's still better than taxpayer-funded programs. What we don't need is for money to go through a mysterious black box called "government" before whatever funds that escape are used to pay for things. In this the environmentalists make a good point, that government subsidies to the oil industry should be removed.

In defence of the oil industry, they don't deserve all harsh rap they've been getting. Using Environment Canada's 2004 greenhouse gas emissions website, let's assume they're responsible for petroleum refining, oil production, and all the fugitive emissions. That's 144.5 megatons of Carbon Dioxide equivalents in greenhouse gases, out of Canada's 758 megatons. That's 19% of the problem. They're getting much more than 19% of the blame.

Why not put some of the blame on the other heavy hitting sectors: transportation (190 Mt), electricity/heat generation (130 Mt) or land use change/forestry (81 Mt)? Big oil is just too big a target.

Remember, they're producers. End users have to share the blame because greenhouse gas production is a demand problem. If Canadians demand things whose production and use will emit, we'll buy it from the cheapest source, domestic or foreign. Cheaper would still be higher though, and higher means workers, consumers, and shareholders suffer.

In other news... China continues building hundreds of coal-fired power plants.

Jon N

Life imitates blog parody

Read the dullest blog in the world, and then read this. (via Lileks)

Damian P.

One more surge

President Bush is expected to announce plans to send 20,000 more troops to Baghdad - against the advice of top Generals, according to the Washington Post.

The same paper features an op-ed by Iraqi vice-president Tariq al-Hashimi, asking Americans not to give up on his country. I agree that American failure in Iraq would have disastrous consequences, in Iraq and elsewhere - but 20,000 additional soldiers sounds like too little, too late.

Damian P.

Update: the Toronto Star helpfully illustrates its story with a photo of American-flag-draped coffins.

In his own words

Ten days after his execution, an Iraqi courtroom played a recording of Saddam Hussein discussing chemical attacks against his own people:

On one recording, Mr. Hussein presses the merits of chemical weapons on Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, his vice-president, and now, the Americans believe, the fugitive leader of the Sunni insurgency that has tied down thousands of American troops. Mr. Douri, a notorious hard-liner, asks whether chemical attacks will be effective against civilian populations, and suggests that they might stir an international outcry.

“Yes, they’re very effective if people don’t wear masks,” Mr. Hussein replies.

“You mean they will kill thousands?” Mr. Douri asks.

“Yes, they will kill thousands,” Mr. Hussein says.

[...]

Mr. Hussein sounds matter of fact as he describes what chemical weapons will do. “They will prevent people eating and drinking the local water, and they won’t be able to sleep in their beds,” he says. “They will force people to leave their homes and make them uninhabitable until they have been decontaminated.”

As for the concern about international reaction, he assures Mr. Douri that only he will order the attacks. “I don’t know if you know this, Comrade Izzat, but chemical weapons are not used unless I personally give the orders,” he says. (Via The Plank)

Damian P.

Nova Scotia Minimum Wage Increase

The Minimum Wage Review Committee Department of Environment and Labour released a report today that advises an increase in the minimum wage from $7.15 to $7.60. I urge the Minister to refrain from giving into the illusory benefits of the situation and decline.

Someone needs to do the math. The press release claims 26,700 who work minimum wage. Assuming fifty 40-hour work weeks per year, employers currently budget an aggregated $381,810,000 wage pot for the pay of these workers.

The big news flash is that raising the minimum wage does not proportionately jack up the budget for wages. An increase of 6% per hour does not mean employers will be forced to increase the wage pot 6% to $405 million. Take your pick: think like a hard-pressed small business owner or an evil corporate HR executive.

It's more likely that the wage pot will be more or less the same next year. So $382 million will be split among $7.60 earners, 40 hours, 50 weeks, leaving 25,100 minimum wage workers. Would the Minister dare ask 1,600 Nova Scotians to lose their jobs?

The minimum wage committee recognizes this in the report:

Several recent studies have been completed for the Federal Labour Code review, notably those completed by Professor Morley Gunderson, Chair of the University of Toronto Economics Department. He estimates that for every 10% increase in the minimum wage, there is a 3% increase in the unemployment rate, mostly impacting youth employment.

The committee however, sidesteps this by suggesting that "programs" can be implemented to mitigate that effect. Easy for them to write. Just what government programs live up to what they're sold as?

My figures are not exact as the inputs are much more complicated, but the principle holds. Unfortunately for the minister, the electoral system seem to demands it. 25,000 primary benefactors and legions of economics ignorant voters are more likely to support him, outnumbering the 1,000 displaced (who will probably blame their employers instead) and the thin ranks of basic economic theorists.

It is the job of ministers to make the tough decisions that are required to protect minorities. The opposition will not fight for them. The media will not fight for them. Most voters will not fight for them. Will the minister fight for these already disadvantaged Nova Scotians?

Jon N

"Little Mosque on the Prairie": What to think?

Two views from Globe and Mail columnists:

1) John Doyle is exuberantly ecstatic, for reasons that remind one of his former Globe colleague Heather Mallick:

Today, we celebrate a triumph. What arrives tonight on CBC is the smartest thing the broadcaster has done in years.

Little Mosque on the Prairie (CBC, 8:30 p.m.) is no masterpiece of comedy or social observation. It's hokey as hell. But it's terrifically good-natured, has a few terrific jokes and its mere existence is a grand-slam assertion that Canadian TV is different and that the best of Canadian TV amounts to a rejection of the hegemony of U.S. network TV...

2) Margaret Wente, on the other hand, is dismissive of good old Mother Corpse's latest effort to be relevant:

Like all CBC shows, it has a mandate to instruct and uplift. Here is the moral lesson: Muslims are people too! And guess what! They're harmless!..

Little Mosque is a show only the CBC could make. It is so risk-averse, so painfully correct, it makes your teeth ache. No sacred cows were gored, or even scratched, in the making of this show...

The CBC has made a big deal of how brave it is. "Just doing the series is a risk in itself, but one the public broadcaster should take on if we're to help communicate the authenticity of living in Canada," explains programming guru, Kirstine Layfield. But not that brave. To make sure there is no unforeseen offence, an independent Muslim consultant is on hand to vet it.

In fact, the only possible offence in this show is to the intelligence. Its running gag is that most Canadians see terrorists under every bed. Frankly, most Canadians (even in small towns) are not so dim. And it is a slur to pretend they are...

More on Mr. Doyle here.

Mark C.

Update: My proposed show: "Leave it to Ali".

Well, I'm convinced

Larry Flynt joins the "9/11 Truth Movement," thereby giving that movement credibility it never had before. (I'm not being sarcastic, by the way. Compared with the Loose Change guys, Larry Flynt is credible.)

Damian P.

A great day for headline writers

...and they almost rhyme:

1) "Bloomberg Solution to NYC Stink Crisis: 'Waiting for the Gas to Pass'"

2) "Ice Church Consecrated in Romania: Freezing Your Mass Off"

Mark C.

London Drives out a Daughter

Herman Goodden writes a thought-provoking column in the London Free Press about the cold shoulder shown to Dianne Haskett, when she returned to her hometown to run in the November federal by-election:

Her parents met when they both were working at that most quintessential of London institutions, London Life. She can trace her family's London roots back six generations and from early on, left her mark on this city she loves. She was the youngest student ever granted entrance to UWO's law school with a BA at the age of 19. She established her own law firm here in 1980. She served on London city council for three terms from 1991 to 2000 -- the last two as mayor.

She had spent periods away from London and Canada before, studying advanced law in the U.S. and England. When she headed south in 2000, Haskett said she intended to come back in about five years and might re-enter political life. And she was as good as her word.

While losing an election was a new experience for her, she's coming to terms with that. What she can't accept is the narrow-minded arrogance of some of her townspeople who believe anyone who goes away for a while to broaden their horizons is some kind of civic traitor.

They didn't have to vote for her, but couldn't she have been treated with more respect? I remember the newspaper articles at the time--she was portrayed as some kind of a foreigner.

The country seems to accept a French citizen as Leader of the Opposition, and after a 27-year absence, one of his leadership rivals parachuted into Toronto from America just fine. I wonder what happened in London?

HT: NNW

Jon N

The entire Arab-Israeli conflict, summed up in one story

From The Jerusalem Post, January 7:

Just two days after winning the Tiberias Marathon and speaking about how "people should live together in harmony," Kenyan-born runner Mushir Salem Jawher was stripped of his Bahraini citizenship Saturday for competing in Israel.

[...]

But while he celebrated afterward and declared that he was "very proud" to have run in Israel, Bahrain's Athletic Union said in a statement Saturday that it had received the news that a Bahraini national competed in Israel with "shock and regret."

"The union deeply regrets what the athlete has done," the statement said. A committee of sport and government authorities decided to strike Jawher's name off the sport union records and strip him of his Bahraini nationality, the statement said.

It said Jawher had entered Israel with his Kenyan passport and added that the runner's Bahraini citizenship was revoked because he had "violated the laws of Bahrain."

Damian P.

Somalia: Broader US involvement

The AC-130 attack may be only one aspect of US military actions.

The al-Qaeda affiliated Islamic Courts Union’s surprisingly rapid retreat in the face of Ethiopia’s military campaign in Somalia has puzzled many observers. How could the Ethiopians roll up the jihadists so quickly? Pajamas Media has learned that one significant factor is that U.S. air and ground forces covertly aided the Ethiopian military since its intervention began on Christmas day.

U.S. ground forces have been active in Somalia from the start, a senior military intelligence officer confirmed. “In fact,” he said, “they were part of the first group in.”..

Pajamas Media previously reported that Ethiopia’s use of helicopter gunships capable of targeting the Islamic Courts Union’s ground forces was a decisive factor in the army-to-army fighting against the ICU. A senior military intelligence source says that some of the gunships earlier described as Ethiopian were in fact U.S. aircraft. This has been confirmed by Dahir Jibreel, the transitional government’s permanent secretary in charge of international cooperation, who said that U.S. planes and helicopters with their markings obscured have been striking targets since December 25...

Via Counterterrorism Blog.

Mark C.

Update: Expected reactions from the usual suspects, analysts and Europeans:

With a mixed track record of air strikes against Islamist leaders, the United States was taking a big risk when it launched Monday night's raid against a suspected al Qaeda target in Somalia, analysts say.

...The use of airstrikes "certainly has its moments, but it can be a pretty blunt instrument. Smart weapons are only as good as the intelligence you have to target them," said Michael Williams of the Royal United Services Institute in London.

"The downside is those attacks can be used -- especially if there's collateral damage in terms of civilian deaths -- by radical Islamists to foment hate and violence towards the United States. If it's done poorly, it could be disastrous [emphasis added]."..

As for Europeans:

The U.S. airstrikes in southern Somalia as part of an anti-terror operation will not contribute to bringing about long-term peace to the African nation, the EU's executive office said Tuesday.

"Any incident of this kind is not helpful [emphasis added] in the long term," European Commission spokesman Amadeu Altafaj Tardio said...

Via Best of the Web Today.

Mark C.

Jimmy plays fast and loose with the facts

President Clinton's former envoy to the Middle East says President Carter is being economical with the truth is his recent book:

...Mr. Carter’s presentation [of two maps] badly misrepresents the Middle East proposals advanced by President Bill Clinton in 2000, and in so doing undermines, in a small but important way, efforts to bring peace to the region...

The article also makes a compelling case (if it needs to be made yet again) that Yasser Arafat indeed never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

Mark C.

Cartoon Madness: One Year Later

MEMRI looks back at early 2006, when much of the world went completely insane because of twelve cartoons published in a Danish newspaper. If you suspected that Arab clerics, governments and media were deliberately playing up the controversy to keep the masses angry and distracted, you were right:

It should be noted that Jyllands-Posten culture editor Flemming Rose, who published the cartoons, apologized for the insult to the Muslims during an interview with Al-Jazeera - but the channel refrained from translating his apology into Arabic. When the London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat asked Al-Jazeera about this, Al-Jazeera refused to comment.

Egyptian Ambassador to Denmark Muna Omar, who, following the crisis, was reassigned as ambassador to South Africa, told the Saudi daily Al-Watan that she had rejoiced when Danish Prime Minister Rasmussen had refused to apologize for the cartoons and thus end the crisis. She revealed that the Egyptian Foreign Ministry had played a central role in the crisis, and that Saudi Arabia had also contributed. According to Ms. Omar, "The ambassadors of the Muslim countries, who had sensed a malicious aim in the spreading of the cartoons, met and agreed to work together as a group against the Danish government. We sent a communiqué to the Danish prime minister, directed his attention to the severity of the deed, and presented him with many previous examples of insults to Islam...

"In truth, I feared that the matter would end with an apology from the prime minister... The best thing the Danish prime minister did was not apologizing for [Jylland-Posten's] disgraceful stand. Had he apologized, he would have temporarily ended this issue, until its recurrence, here in the form of cartoons, there in the form of articles, and here again in the form of attacks [on Islam]. The truth is that the Egyptian Foreign Ministry played an important role in the crisis, and the foreign minister was constantly guiding me in reacting to the matter... [emphasis added]

MEMRI doesn't go into detail about two of the most infuriating aspects of the cartoon controversy: that many Western newspapers sheepishly refused to show the cartoons for fear that they would be attacked next, and the reaction of Western commentators like Haroon Siddiqui and Robert Fisk.

Damian P.

Here's your room key, Sir--Welcome back

A top Canadian Islamist in Somalia is thinking about leaving. The Toronto Star seems to worry that CSIS might be on his case should he return here:

Somalia will descend into anarchy if Ethiopian troops do not leave, says a Canadian who is a high-ranking member of an Islamist group in the country.

Abdullahi Afrah, who remained in Mogadishu when fellow leaders of the Union of Islamic Courts fled the Somali capital last month, warned against the involvement of "external forces" in shaping Somalia's future.

"The only solution is that Ethiopia should get out of Somalia peacefully, or with force," the former Toronto grocer said when the Toronto Star reached him on a cellphone in Mogadishu. "They will be out either willingly or unwillingly."

But while the 54-year-old denounced Al Qaeda and suicide bombers [well he would say that to the Star, wouldn't he? - MC] following a call on Friday for "martyrdom campaigns" against Ethiopia, other Islamists have vowed a holy war.

That raises the question of what happens if Somali Islamists with dual citizenship do decide to return to the West.

Afrah said while he plans to stay in Mogadishu for now, he might return to Toronto some day...

...it's likely Canada's spy service would attempt to question him upon his arrival here. As early as June, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service was compiling reports every two weeks on the UIC, according to documents released to the Star under Access to Information legislation...

Meanwhile there are Canadians on the other side, too:

The interim government of clan elders, former warlords and business professionals (many of them Canadian) was established two years ago with the backing of the UN...

According to the Star story Mr Afrah was just a working joe in T.O. who has surprised those who knew him:

Those who knew Afrah here in the 1990s as the mild-mannered co-owner of a Dundas St. W. halal grocery store were shocked at his involvement with the UIC.

Afrah, who left Toronto with his wife and children for Mogadishu in 1997, said he also once worked as a security supervisor for Toronto's Catholic Board. His friends here said that while he lived in Canada, Afrah wasn't overly political or religious...

Mark C.

Update: More on foreign involvment from Ethiopia's prime minister:

British and Canadian passport-holders were among the "international terrorists" killed or injured during the offensive against Somalia's Islamist movement, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said in an interview.

"Many international terrorists died in Somalia," Zenawi told France's Le Monde newspaper Tuesday.

"The Kenyans are detaining holders of Eritrean and Canadian passports. We wounded people coming from Yemen, Pakistan, Sudan and the United Kingdom," he said...

Big strike in Somalia

The Americans have attacked Al-Qaida members - some allegedly connected to the 1998 embassy bombings - in Somalia:

A U.S. Air Force gunship has conducted a strike against suspected members of al Qaeda in Somalia, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports exclusively.

The targets included the senior al Qaeda leader in East Africa and an al Qaeda operative wanted for his involvement in the 1998 bombings of two American embassies in Africa, Martin reports. Those terror attacks killed more than 200 people.

The AC-130 gunship is capable of firing thousands of rounds per second, and sources say a lot of bodies were seen on the ground after the strike, but there is as yet, no confirmation of the identities.

Keep your fingers crossed, and hope everything went as planned.

Damian P.

Update: The Guardian says the air strike - which the Somali government officially supported - was against a village in which Al-Qaida fighters were hiding. Unfortunately, there may have been civilian casualties:

The suspects were spotted hiding on the remote Badmadow island on the southern tip of Somalia, close to the Kenyan border. The area of the island that was attacked is known as Ras Kamboni and is suspected of being a terror training base.

"I understand there are so many dead bodies and animals in the village," a senior Somalian government official told Reuters.

It was the first overt military action by the US in Somalia since the 1990s.

"The US were trying to kill the al-Qaida terrorists who carried out the bomb attacks on their embassies in Kenya and Tanzania," Somalia's deputy prime minister, Hussein Aideed, said. "They have our full support for the attacks."

The government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said the strike was carried out after al-Qaida members were confirmed to be hiding in the area.

"We don't know how many people were killed in the attack but we understand there were a lot of casualties," he said. "Most were Islamic fighters."

Witnesses said at least four civilians were killed in the attack, including a small boy.

The Associated Press says the U.S. carried out a second air strikes as well, and that the targets may also have been responsible for a 2002 attack against Israeli tourists in Kenya. Still more on the U.S. role in Somalia here.

"Anti-Semitism in the 21st Century"

This documentary, airing on PBS tonight (10PM Eastern, but check local listings), sounds like a must-see.

Damian P.

Smart question

Regular commenter "Sigivald," responding to this post, doesn't see the point of the Smart Car:

...why not buy a Yaris or a Fit or a used Metro?

Plenty of cheaper cars offer exceptional mileage, better comfort, easy parking, and more interior space.

American Motors (remember them?) used a similar sales pitch against the Volkswagen Beetle in the 1960s. But while the Rambler might have been bigger, faster and more comfortable than the venerable Bug, it just couldn't compete when it came to personality. Same thing with the Smart ForTwo: it looks like nothing else on the road, and for many buyers, that's enough. When the glitterati trade in their Priuses, they'll get Smart cars.

If I did all my driving in a crowded city, I'd probably get a Rio. Seriously. It's a much better car than you'd expect, and it's several thousand dollars less than the Honda Fit - which, around here, is selling for almost as much as the Civic.

Damian P.

No rides for Captain Morgan or Fido

Multiculturalism and its malcontents: Captain's Quarters reports on the objection to booze and service dogs from Muslim taxi drivers in Minnesota's Twin Cities.

Mark C.

"I have had it with these motherf**king scorpions on this motherf**king plane"

January 2: Snakes on a Plane comes out on DVD. January 8: this happens. Coincidence?

Damian P.

Condition upgraded to "alive"

A deceased American soldier, who appears in an Iraqi insurgent propaganda video, isn't actually dead:

An Iraqi insurgent propaganda video, containing what is described as a Christmas message from a U.S. soldier taped just before he was killed, appeared on dozens of Web sites and on the al Jazeera network.

But a lot about the video does not add up, including the fact that ABC News found the supposedly dead soldier is "alive and well" and present for duty, according to a U.S. Army spokesman at Fort Campbell, Ky.

[...]

Lt. Col. Loomis told ABC News that while the pictures appear to be authentic, it was a case of Tucker's identity being stolen in Iraq.

The voice identified as Tucker says he and his fellow soldiers became violent and reckless searching for insurgents.

"The crimes by our soldiers during break-ins started to merge, such as burglary, harassment, raping and random manslaughter," says the voice. "Why are we even here? The people hate us."

Laura Mansfield, an Arabic language analyst at Strategic Translations, said this is a new trick in the jihadists' propaganda campaign.

"This is part of a very shrewd campaign to reach a U.S. audience, soldiers and voters," she said. "It is in English and forgives most soldiers and Americans, calling on them to help end the war." [emphasis added]

Damian P.

Invasion of the Smart Cars

DaimlerChrysler has partnered with Roger Penske to start selling the tiny Smart ForTwo in the United States, beginning next year.

Smart Cars have been available in Canada for a couple of years now, and while they're rare here in sparsely populated Newfoundland, they're all over the place in Halifax - usually promoting small businesses. (Over the holiday, I saw one "wearing" antlers and a little red nose. Seriously.) The little cars attract attention everywhere they go, and I think they will be surprisingly popular in America's larger cities.

Damian P.

Israel's Nuclear Plans

When I read the Sunday Times story that claimed Israel is planning a nuclear strike on Iran, I figured it was just a sensationalist report. Never did it occur to think more about the reporter who wrote the story or strategic considerations or anything beyond that.

Fortunately for us, the good people at Pajamas Media put some thought into it. Allison Kaplan Sommer writes:

One thing is clear: [Article author] Mahnaimi makes a regular habit of reporting that Israel is about to attack Iran. If his reporting was accurate, Iranian nuclear facilities would already be a smoking ruin – not once, but multiple times.

[...]

An unrelated story that nonetheless casts a big shadow on his credibility was published in 1998 when he reported on the Sunday Times front page that Israel was working on an “ethnically targeted” biological weapon that would kill or harm Arabs but not Jews quoting “Israeli military and western intelligence sources.”

In the so-called ethno-bomb, he reported, Israeli scientists were trying to exploit medical advances by identifying distinctive genes carried by some Arabs, and then engineer deadly microorganisms that attack only those bearing the distinctive genes.

I understand news reporting is not a science, but it's frustrating that editors continue to publish misleading material by reporters with obviously dubious records. Why wouldn't editors want readers to trust them? Surely, I'm not of a small minority who distrusts newspaper editors.

Jon N

Losing Focus

What's more horrifying: the 2008 Ford Focus, or this?

I guess Ford deserves credit for giving the Focus a striking design, even if it bears an unnerving resemblance to the Saturn Ion. But here's the real problem with the "new" car:

When the Focus was introduced in 1999, it was at the cutting edge, at least stylistically, debuting as one of the most striking small cars on the market. It got a minor facelift a few years later, more evolutionary than revolutionary. While the 2008 update looks substantially different, it's still not a complete overhaul, just another facelift. [emphasis added]

Ford has been selling a second-generation Focus in Europe for several years now. I'd really love for the "Bold Moves" company to explain why North Americans can only buy it in Mazda3 form.

The new Cadillac CTS, on the other hand, is a stunner. Here's hoping it drives as well as it looks.

Damian P.

Blogger news

Rick McGinnis has a new site up called Life With Father - only one post yet, but hopefully more to come - and Scott Burgess has resumed regular blogging.

Also, Michael Totten is once again posting regular dispatches from Lebanon. (His recent interview with Hugh Hewitt is also well worth a listen.) Totten's excellent work is mostly reader-supported, so send him a few bucks.

Damian P.

Commercials I never, ever, ever want to see again

After a whole weekend of watching football, my distaste for the following is greater than ever:

The Coors Light ads featuring NFL coaches (except for the one with Jim Mora).

Sam Waterston for TD Ameritrade.

Any ad for Cingular.

Any ad for Sprint.

Any ad for Verizon. (Are you starting to see a pattern here?)

The IBM ads with the big red tablecloth.

The Jeep Wranglers-as-insects commercials.

The Jeep Wrangler skateboarding commercial.

The Jeep Compass bobblehead commercials. (Geez, what advertising agency did these guys get?)

The Chrysler Sebring commercial in which the car's "skirt" is blown upwards. Wrong on many, many levels. (Plus, according to the latest Car and Driver, the car sucks.)

"It's amazing. It's the mirrors."

"That's a Bombardier. That's my train." (These ads only air on Canadian television, but since they're rubbing in the fact that they get so many of my tax dollars, I'm including them anyway.)

The Diet Pepsi commercial in which NFL players and coaches are talking about Diet Pepsi. Funny idea, poor execution.

The McDonald's "Dollar Menunaires" commercial, which inexplicably features the guy who played Ben on Growing Pains.

And, of course..."This is ouuuuuuuur country." When Bill Simmons is using your ad campaign as a running gag, that's a pretty good sign your ad campaign isn't working.

Damian P.

No joy in New York

New England beat the Jets earlier this afternoon, and the Giants just lost to the Eagles.

In other words, two teams from the same city were knocked out of the playoffs in back-to-back games on the same day. Has that ever happened before, in any major sport?

Damian P.

Identity Politics 1, Students 0

Nobody voted in an election for a African-Canadian seat on a rural Nova Scotia school board seat yesterday, while the advance polling did little better, garnering twelve votes. The school board, which governs 8,629 students, hired 28 people at seven polls and 4 mobile polls, spending a total of $30,000.

The board superintendent feels no shame in this. After all, somebody else will pay for it. The Halifax Chronicle Herald reports:

"We’re going to ask the Department of Education if, because of the unique circumstances of this election, they will help us out," Mr. Gunn said. "If they won’t, we’ll see if we can make it up by taking it from somewhere else. We’ll take it from wherever we see some money or we’ll just have to let something run over."

However you look at it, $30,000 is gone from the budget for educating students into the budget for petty politics. Gunn and the board members get to trumpet in their reelection campaigns that they care about minorities (even though its evident that the African-Nova Scotians don't really care much for this condescension) and the sad part is people might actually buy it.

I sincerely hope no one fooled by liberal antics like this. The board thinks that by adding a token member, their failures in educating young African-Nova Scotians will be somehow lessened. $3,000 might well pay for half the salary of another teacher or specialist. One more teacher doesn't quite capture the headlines as a "diversity" program though, right?

I could say that the anger should lie with the residents of the South Shore or the rest of Nova Scotia who will have to pay for this, but really it's the people they intended to help who will pay--in the continued undereducation of their children.

Jon N

Betting on Baltimore

At the start of the NFL season, I picked the Seahawks to overcome to the Super Bowl-loser curse and win the whole thing this year. But while they did make the playoffs and picked up a lucky win over Dallas last night, they certainly didn't look like a contender.

Neither did the Colts, whose much-maligned defence won a game in which Peyton Manning threw three picks. Rex Grossman's appalling recent form will keep my Bears out of the big game, and Philip Rivers's relative inexperience keeps me from picking the Chargers, too.

Philadelphia? Jeff Garcia has plenty of experience, but he's also 37 years old. The Jets or Giants? Just making the playoffs was a victory for each, though I'd certainly love to see the Jets tear Bill Belichick a new one this afternoon. Speaking of the Patriots, Tom Brady is the man I'd want leading my team into the playoffs, but it would help if he had someone to whom he could throw the ball.

In the NFC, the Saints have a "team of destiny" vibe this year. But in th AFC, the Ravens have a dominant defence and, after years of QB struggles, a quarterback who has not only made it to the big game but came heartbreakingly close to winning it all. And that's why, if I were a betting man, I'd be putting my money on the Ravens.

(Lest you're actually tempted to take my advice and bet little Billy's college fund on Baltimore, take a look at my pre-season picks again. I was right about Cincinnati, Washington and Philip Rivers, and I'll even give myself credit for saying the Jets could do well if Pennington stayed healthy, but that's about it.)

Damian P.

Israel and Iran

Meryl Yourish looks into recent reports about Israeli plans for military strikes - using tactical nuclear weapons - against Iranian nuke sites.

Israel's decision to strike Saddam's nuclear facilities in 1981 looks pretty good in retrospect, and I cannot blame the Israelis for considering doing to Iran what they did to Iraq.

But that doesn't mean I'm not extremely nervous about it. The use of even relatively limited tactical nuclear strikes against military targets would be a political nightmare for the Israelis. And, as Yourish notes, Ahmadinejad and the mullahs probably wouldn't refrain from retaliating against Jews outside of Israel.

Can an ugly resolution to this conflict be avoided? Only if the Islamic government of Iran is overthrown - and despite the bravery and tenacity of Iran's democratic opposition, that probably won't happen anytime soon.

Damian P.

Two articles about modern secularists

First, Tobias Jones in The Guardian:

There's an aspiring totalitarianism in Britain which is brilliantly disguised. It's disguised because the would-be dictators - and there are many of them - all pretend to be more tolerant than thou. They hide alongside the anti-racists, the anti-homophobes and anti-sexists. But what they are really against is something very different. They - call them secular fundamentalists - are anti-God, and what they really want is the eradication of religion, and all believers, from the face of the earth.

[...]

That is why these fundamentalists are so in evidence. They're not only needled by their own hypocrisy; they are also furious that believers have broken the old pact to stay out of public debate. Witness, for example, Mary Riddell's astonishing sentence in the Observer last month (try replacing "religion" with "homosexuality" to get the point): "secularists do not wish to harm religion or deny its great cultural influence. They simply want it to know its place." In other words: get back in the closet.

And Sam Schulman in the Wall Street Journal:

There are many themes to the atheist lament. A common worry is the political and social effect of religious belief. To a lot of atheists, the fate of civilization and of mankind depends on their ability to cool--or better, simply to ban--the fevered fancies of the God-intoxicated among us.

[...]

For them, belief in God is beyond childish, it is unsuitable for children. Today's atheists are particularly disgusted by the religious training of young people--which Dr. Dawkins calls "a form of child abuse." He even floats the idea that the state should intervene to protect children from their parents' religious beliefs.

The secular-left, progenitors of tolerance and diversity and all, surely wouldn't hold such contempt against those with religious views... would they?

Jon N

Citoyen Dion: Party--or country?

Let us compare party loyalties with other ones:

As Leader of the Party, I felt it imperative that he decide to which party he would ultimately be loyal...

Mark C.

Somalia: World's greatest hotel has franchises

Room service may soon be run off its feet.

The Kenyan Foreign Affairs minister, Raphael Tuju, said: "We will not allow combatants and their families to use this country as a base. It is apparent that some so-called refugees are combatants on the run. We have arrested men holding British, Canadian, Eritrean and Danish passports."..

Are militants involved? You judge.

Islamic fighters hiding in Mogadishu since their movement's main force was driven from the Somali capital say they will heed al-Qaida's call for guerrilla attacks and suicide bombings against Ethiopian troops whose intervention was key to the Islamists' defeat.

"I am committed to die for the sake of my religion and the al-Qaida deputy's speech only encourages me to go ahead with my holy war," 18-year-old Sahal Abdi told The Associated Press, referring to an audio message posted on the Internet on Friday...

"The call from the al-Qaida deputy leader is based on Islam and we are adamant in our religion," said Sheik Musa, who would not identify himself further. "There is no option but to heed his call."

Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, urged the Islamic movement's fighters and other Muslims to attack the troops of Christian-dominated Ethiopia, which he called a "crusader" invasion force.

"Launch ambushes, land mines, raids and suicidal combats until you consume them as the lions and eat their prey," al-Zawahri said in the taped message that aired on a Web site frequently used by militants and carried the logo of al-Qaida's media production wing, al-Sahab...

"Christian-dominated Ethiopia"? That is what the reporter is writing, not quoting. Christian-dominated Venezuela? One really does wonder about this fixation on Christianity--a (false) religious equivalence.

Another view, on the attraction of the Islamists:

On reflection, however, it's not Waugh but Thomas Hobbes who deserves the last word on Somalia. As Hobbes wrote in Leviathan, life in the state of Nature is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short". The same could be said about life in Somalia today. "During the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe," observed Hobbes, "they are in … a war … of every man against every man." Again, it's Somalia.

Hobbes's key insight was that, especially in the wake of a civil war, men can only live in peace and thereby achieve prosperity if they fear the law. For that reason, he argued, power must be monopolised by a strong and unitary sovereign. The implication is clear: the more the foreign policy of the United States promotes the opposite state of affairs — not order but anarchy — the stronger the Islamists' appeal will be. And the darker the shade of mischief that will ensue.

Mark C.

Afstan: Misleading headline of the day

From the Ottawa Citizen, top of front page:

Afghan mission 'doomed to fail'

The phrase in quotes appears nowhere, as the quotes suggest, in the Foreign Affairs article, "Saving Afghanistan", on which the story is based.

Indeed, a headline writer with a different agenda could have written this using a phrase that actually is in the article:

Battle for Afghanistan 'is still ours to lose'

But that would not suit the agenda of many of our journalists, who seem to be lusting for defeat.

The Foreign Affairs piece, by Barnett Rubin, is a critical, and good, assessment of the difficulties ahead in Afstan, an assessment similar to that of Anthony Cordesman covered here.

Victor Davis Hanson meanwhile points out the problems Western countries have fighting Islamic extremists:

(2) When losses mount, they are viewed differently by the two sides. Violent death and endemic poverty are commonplace in the Middle East, but not so in the West. We aim to avoid casualties in our warmaking; the Islamists want only to inflict them, whatever the cost to themselves.

(3) Everything our soldiers do is subject to Western jurisprudence and ethical censure. Americans distinguish soldiers from civilians to avoid collateral damage. Jihadists deliberately hide among women and children to ensure our restraint provides them sanctuary. Our utopian moral expectations can never be met; their very lack of such considerations means we are accustomed to rather than are outraged by their beheadings, kidnappings and suicide bombings.

(4) In the process of reconstruction, Americans are held responsible for keeping the electricity and water on to ensure life improves for Afghans and Iraqis. Jihadists win only by destroying such efforts. And it is always easier to tear down than to build...

Mark C.

"The 101 Dumbest Moments in Business," 2006

The annual Business 2.0 list is here. So, did any of you NASCAR fans see the "ITT Industries, Systems Division, & Goulds Pump Salute to the Troops 250 presented by Dodge" last summer?

Damian P.

"The bigotry that is still socially acceptable in Canada"

Norman Spector highlights the Globe and Mail's constantly-expressed denigration of one (and only one) sort of Canadian.

The headline you will never see: "The dingbat years are over for Quebec."

Mark C.

Deadly but beautiful

Tim Blair looks back upon the old days of tobacco-sponsored Formula 1 cars. (In 2007, for the first time in decades, no team will be sponsored by a cigarette company.)

It was always amusing to see how sponsors would modify their logos for races where tobacco sponsorship was restricted. The Zakspeed team was sponsored by West cigarettes from 1985 to 1989, but here's what the cars looked like when they weren't allowed to use the "West" brand name.

Damian P.

The mystery deepens

Tomorrow night's episode of 60 Minutes alleges that Alexander Litvinenko had been planning to blackmail a wealthy Russian businessman (and Putin ally) before his death.

Damian P.

A taste for taste

Simon Jenkins reflects on trends in the arts and mass media:

...Taste is what I like, you hate and other people want the government to ban. It has long been a marketing maxim that if you can chart the map of taste, the world will beat a path to your door. You will have found the secret of desire, acquisitiveness and profit.

To the artist, taste is a meaningless concern. Art's role is ceaselessly to "push back the boundary of taste". Wagner is redesigned with naked maidens. Actors have sex on screen and presumably one day on stage. Comedians are dreadfully rude about Tony Blair. Little damage is done as long as the Arts Council money keeps flowing. I remember a striptease dancer demanding her right "as an artist" to perform at the Institute of Contemporary Arts. The director and staff were terrified of being seen as censors and let her go ahead. The show was a total con, but the takings were great...

...The editor has been demystified and disempowered. All the world can peddle its wares on the internet without let or hindrance. Each is his own artist, novelist, reporter, diarist, columnist and, above all, editor. The carefully written and processed article enjoys no higher status than the blog responses that cling to its feet. Why listen to steam radio when you can wander the backstreets of YouTube and MySpace and watch real people do real things. Alexander Pope was right: such random chance is "direction which thou canst not see,/ All discord, harmony not understood". Or as Donald Rumsfeld put it, stuff happens.

True to a point. The reporting of news-gatherers (e.g. NY Times, Globe and Mail) now bears close watching in a way perhaps not previously necessary. Blogs etc. for their part can keep the news-gatherers honest, sometimes report new news, and offer interesting and informed comment. They have valuably expanded the mediasphere. You just have to figure out which ones to trust. And have a sense of taste.

Mark C.

US intelligence: Militarization and technologization?

The new Director of National Intelligence (the recently created position of supposed "czar") is to be retired Navy Admiral John M. McConnell, director of the National Security Agency (SIGINT) from 1992 to 1996.

The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency is General Michael V. Hayden, USAF, director of the NSA from 1999 to 2005 and briefly the number two to the Director of National Intelligence.

The Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence (acting) is Lieutenant General Ronald L. Burgess, Jr., USA.

So, three of the four top people in the main US civilian intelligence agencies are military men, two serving officers. The National Security Act of 1947 that established the CIA said that "Not more than one of the [Director and Deputy Directors]...may be a commissioned officer of the Armed Forces, whether in active or retired status."

The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 that established the DNI states:

Military Status of Director of National Intelligence and Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence.--(1) Not more than one of the individuals serving in the positions specified in paragraph (2) may be a commissioned officer of the Armed Forces in active status.

The 1947 Act clearly intended to limit possible military influence on civilian intelligence by allowing only one officer--serving or retired--among the top CIA jobs. The 2004 Act, for the DNI's office, only states that the top two jobs there may not both be held by a serving officer--so both the retired Admiral and the serving Lieutenant General qualify.

So the spirit of the 1947 Act seems to be slipping away with 75% military leadership of the two civilian agencies--Rumsfeld's revenge, even if the "acting" Lt.-Gen Burgess is eventually replaced by a civilian?

And the heads of the two agencies have both served as head of the technology-focused NSA--when the mantra for several years has been that US intelligence must do much better at HUMINT.

What gives?

Captain's Quarters thinks the DNI post should never have been created--certainly not, I agree, as a burgeoning bureaucracy.

And I seem to be thinking (horrors!) along the lines of a Democratic Congresswoman--though also along the lines of a former Deputy Director of Central Intelligence:

"If it's McConnell [for director of national intelligence], it's one more uniform," Rep. Harman said, adding that it raised "at least a question mark about the military takeover of our intelligence organizations."

Kerr, the former CIA deputy director, voiced similar concerns, saying that civilian leadership of intelligence organizations was particularly important now because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "The military can get themselves so committed to the mission that their objectivity at times can be less than it should be," he said.

At least Nancy Pelosi did not...

...name fellow California Congresswoman Jane Harman as Chairwoman of the House Intelligence Committee...

Mark C.

Almost moderate

I scored 25 on this test, which would put me slightly to the right of Glenn Reynolds and Ann Althouse, and slightly to the left of Andrew Sullivan.

In other words, the quiz - written in 1994 - is pretty much meaningless. (I should have gathered as much when I saw the reference to "Jessie Jackson.") It's still amusing, though.

Damian P.

Update: Eugene Volokh points out some of the problems with the test.

William Arkin's 2007 predictions

The WaPo's defence specialist thinks...the more they stay the same. The Afstan bit is discouraging for Canada.

Mark C.

Saddam's botched execution

Charles Krauthammer says Saddam Hussein may very well have deserved to die, but that his hanging could not possibly have been carried out in a worse manner:

...He was hanged for the killing of 148 men and boys in the Shiite village of Dujail. This was a perfectly good starting point -- a specific incident as a prelude to an inquiry into the larger canvas of his crimes. The trial for his genocidal campaign against the Kurds was just beginning.

That larger canvas will never be painted. The starting point became the endpoint. The only charge for which Hussein was executed was that 1982 killing of Shiites -- interestingly, his response to a failed assassination attempt by Maliki's Dawa Party.

Maliki ultimately got his revenge, completing Dawa's mission a quarter-century later. However, Saddam Hussein will now never be tried for the Kurdish genocide, the decimation of the Marsh Arabs, the multiple war crimes and all the rest.

Finally, there was the motley crew -- handpicked by the government -- that constituted the hanging party. They turned what was an act of national justice into a scene of sectarian vengeance. The world has now seen the smuggled video of the shouting and taunting that turned Saddam Hussein into the most dignified figure in the room -- another remarkable achievement in burnishing the image of the most evil man of his time.

Damian P.

Nothing "conservative" about it

Internet-radio host Hal Turner is calling for the assassination of public officials? There's nothing new about that, and I'm surprised Hot Air, at least, would use the word "conservative" to describe a frothing neo-Nazi.

Damian P.

Minister steps down

Provincial Transportation and Works Minister John Hickey has resigned because of irregularities with his expense claims:

John Hickey has relinquished his post as Newfoundland and Labrador's transportation and works minister, pending a review of expense claims flagged as questionable by the auditor general's office.

Premier Danny Williams told reporters Thursday that Hickey had agreed to step down because of the allegations in a report from provincial Auditor General John Noseworthy. Noseworthy alleged that Hickey, who represents the Labrador district of Lake Melville, submitted double bills through his constituency allowance that added up to about $3,700.

Williams pointed out that Hickey has not been shown to have exceeded his constituency allowances, unlike five politicians named in a series of reports that Noseworthy filed through 2006.

[...]

Hickey hand-delivered a cheque Thursday to the house of assembly, for the full amount of the double payment.

Hickey said he also asked an aide to go through his claims and make sure his allowance is audited every year by an outside firm.

Damian P.

Rum, sodomy, and the lash-- what's left?

The Queen's Navee ain't gonna be what it uster be:

Royal Navy commanders were in uproar yesterday after it was revealed that almost half of the Fleet's 44 warships are to be mothballed as part of a Ministry of Defence cost-cutting measure...

The Government has admitted that 13 unnamed warships are in a state of reduced readiness, putting them around 18 months away from active service. Today The Daily Telegraph can name a further six destroyers and frigates that are being proposed for cuts...

The six warships to be mothballed are the Type 22 frigates Cumberland, Chatham, Cornwall and Campbeltown and two Type 42 destroyers Southampton and Exeter.

It is likely that they will eventually be sold or scrapped. There are also fears in the Admiralty that two new aircraft carriers, promised in 1998, might never be built.

Merde alors!

Meanwhile the French navy, which will be far superior to the Royal Navy after the cuts, will announce before the April presidential elections that a new carrier will be built.

Mark C.

Update: Further to the comment by Wednesday Keller on carriers (text subscriber only):

With maximum commonality now assured, British and French military planners are beginning to discuss a structure for tying together their new aircraft carrier programs...

U.K. and French planners have arrived at a carrier design showing "better than 90% commonality" between the two British CVF vessels and France's PA2...

Now, will the Brits build their two carriers?

Insert your own "Wrath of Khan" reference here

Stephen Taylor says Liberal MP Wajid Khan is planning to join the Conservatives - as a backbencher, no less. (Hat tip: Paul C.)

Damian P.

"Is This A Franchise?"

Captain's Quarters deals with more allegations of sexual abuses by UN peacekeepers.

As you well know, the NDP and Steven Staples of the Polaris Institute are grievously disappointed that Canada is not engaged in more UN missions:

The mission in Afghanistan has crowded out all other possible internal [sic] roles for our military. In the last five years the Afghan mission has consumed 68 per cent of our military spending on international missions. While Minister MacKay portrayed the mission as supporting the UN, the truth is that during the same five-year period the full cost of our contribution to UN peacekeeping was only $214 million, or 3 per cent of our military spending on international missions.

Once a proud top-10 contributor of soldiers for UN Blue Helmet missions, today we are far down the list at 50, just behind Romania and ahead of Mali. In terms of actual soldiers, we provide only 59 peacekeepers. You can fit all of our UN peacekeeping troops on a single school bus.

Thank goodness.

Mark C.

February aircraft follies

Any House of Commons committee hearings on the aircraft procurements for the Air Force will be a massive partisan joke (even largely by the Conservatives). These hearings will contribute little or nothing to the public's understanding of what planes are needed (and are available) to perform which missions. For our MPs' pathetic performance on military matters, see posts by Babbling Brooks at The Torch, here, here, here, and here.

Opposition parties will start probing $14-billion in "de facto sole-sourced" military contracts next month, arguing the interests of taxpayers are at risk as the Canadian Forces acquire new planes and helicopters with minimal competitions...

The committee's decision to investigate procurement issues was prompted by Ottawa's decision to buy $11-billion worth of aircraft last year. In each of the cases then, only the winning bids were considered as they were the only products that met the specifications of the Canadian Forces.

"We can't have the Department of National Defence making up grocery lists and then letting us pick up the tab," Bloc Québécois MP Claude Bachand said in an interview yesterday.

Mr. Bachand said the committee's resolve was increased by a report in yesterday's Globe and Mail, which said that once again only one aircraft met the current requirements for a planned purchase of 15 to 19 search-and-rescue planes...

DND is negotiating the contract with Boeing Co. to acquire C-17 cargo jets and Chinook heavy-lift helicopters at a total cost of $6-billion, and with Lockheed Martin for the purchase of C-130J transport planes at a cost of $5-billion.

DND is also planning to acquire new search-and-rescue aircraft at a cost of $3-billion, but Ms. Black [NDP National Defence critic] denounced the fact that only one aircraft -- the Italian-built Spartan C-27J -- seems to be in the running...

Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh said the current process is flawed, with too much power in the hands of the military and a lack of civilian oversight.

"These are essentially de facto sole-sourced contracts, masquerading as competitions," he said...

Meanwhile, that ace observer of things military, Globe columnist Lawrence Martin, credulously gives us this quote:

"Mr. Martin wouldn't accept sole-sourcing on contracts," said Eugene Lang, who served as chief of staff to Liberal defence ministers John McCallum and Bill Graham. "He was adamant. I remember him saying to us, 'I'm not going to let the military determine how we buy things. There are broader issues at play here.' "..

Mr Martin (Globe version) has forgotten, or chosen to overlook, that in December, 2005, the Conservatives were criticizing those Liberals in government for planning to sole-source the purchase of C-130Js.

...it's up in the air whether the Tories will go for 16 mid-range transport planes worth nearly $5 billion, as the Liberals announced Nov. 22, or opt for fewer of those supplemented by larger, heavy-lift aircraft capable of transporting troops and equipment over vast distances...

[Gordon] O'Connor [then Conservative National Defence critic] said he strongly supports streamlined military procurement practices, but he says the Liberal method will hurt competition and favour certain products - Lockheed Martin's C-130J transport plane [emphasis added], for example.

Prime Minister Paul Martin has said getting what the military needs takes precedence over regional and industrial benefits...

Liberals and Conservatives sometimes seem like pots and kettles, with the NDP calling both black. But at least in office the Conservatives are really trying to do the best they can for the Canadian Forces.

Mark C.

Dictator Dead Pool

Stroessner

Pinochet

Niyazov

Hussein

Khamenei?

Castro

Damian P.

Pogey for Provinces

Jim Meek writes a noteworthy column in today's Chronicle Herald about getting the federal government to improve the economy in Atlantic Canada. Meeks is not impressed. His viewpoint is that Alberta gets federal economic programs while "[Atlantic Canada is] left with the traditional table scraps of Confederation - welfare subsidies instead of economic investment."

Two things occur to me as I read this. First, where does this leave the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency? There should be no more obvious source of federal "investment" than this. But does this bloated pork monster of federal money figure into the minds of observers? Evidently not. Makes one wonder why ACOA is kept alive. And it surely makes the case that if nobody remembers it exists because it makes no impact, there's no sense in throwing more money at it.

Secondly, Atlantic Canadians did seem to happily receive extended "pogey" benefits last year. Meeks writes that such a decision showed the Prime Minister's bias in favor personal welfare subsidies instead of economic growth, to which I respond it shows the same bias in Atlantic Canadians because we (as an aggregate) accept it. This is a cultural matter.

Meeks concludes that perhaps Harper needs to increase direct support to Nova Scotia industries. With respect, I disagree. Those of us tired of failed economic government solutions for this region need to embark on a totally different path, one that asks less of government. Pinning all our economic hopes on payments from the rest of Canada has only made us worse off. Just what economic model are we using that says redistribution creates wealth?

Atlantic Canada doesn't need the federal government to survive. We are not helpless children, cowering in the cold. Why should we whine that our sister Alberta is getting goodies, when in fact we already get billions in special tax expenditures, economic agencies, and equalization--pogey for provinces. Let's demand an end to Ottawa's scraps that leave us addicted, distracted, and squabbling. Let's focus instead on what we can do independently. We can do it...can't we?

Jon N

Smarter than we think

A piece in the Christian Science Monitor suggests that Kim Jong-Il is much more rational and intelligent than most people believe. I'm not sure whether that makes me more or less worried about him.

Damian P.

Sic semper tyrannis

Just a thought: if it had been Augusto Pinochet inside that noose instead of Saddam Hussein, would there be even a fraction of the outrage today?

I have absolutely no qualms about Saddam Hussein being executed. If anyone deserved the ultimate penalty, it was him. But as to when and how the execution was carried out - especially the apparent involvement of Moqtada al-Sadr's thugs - I have some serious concerns. David Warren and Christopher Hitchens have good columns for and against the execution, respectively.

Would the Americans have saved themselves a lot of trouble by simply shooting Saddam when he was captured, as Warren suggests? Maybe - but I can't help thinking the legend of Saddam bravely fighting to his death, or being taken down in an unfair fight, would persist to this day.

Damian P.

"Hitler was Jewish"

So says an advisor to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, anyway. Did I mention these guys may have nuclear weapons soon?

More here.

Damian P.

Soviet Cold War Era Plans

Now here's something you don't see every day... the Daily Telegraph reports the newly elected Polish government has released cold war archives including a depiction of a 7-day war plan against NATO by the Warsaw Pact.

It's a good reminder that just one generation ago the threat of nuclear war loomed large. Now, for better or for worse, Canadians can take it for granted they're safe at night.

Jon N

The same question I ask every New Year's Day

Where's my flying car?

(Yes, I know it's January 3, but I just got home this evening.)

Damian P.

Priorities, values and dead people

Why is it--and how did it come to be--that our media are obsessed with the affronts to the dignity of one executed dictator whilst generally ignoring the affronts to the dignity of thousands of murdered people in Darfur (and elsewhere)?

Perhaps, as Stalin supposedly said, "One dead person is a a tragedy [hah!], a million dead is a statistic."

On the other hand, a UK Tory's cri de coeur:

There was a great scuffling, and joyous shouts, and at last you had what they call the money shot: a man in death, his bloody neck at right angles....

Some (bloody) tyrant, some (not bloody as far as one has seen) neck.

Mark C.

Afstan: How to win--and lose

Excerpts from a press briefing in December by Anthony Cordesman (recently returned from Afstan) of the Center for Strategic & International Studies - the CSIS the rest of the world recognizes - in Washington (via Bruce Rolston at Flit--whole thing well worth reading):

...building a successful Afghan government, particularly because we have done so little since 2001 to do that, takes time...

This is a winnable war. There will be problems with Pakistan. There will be problems with our allies. We do need probably a doubling of our infantry presence for U.S. forces, and more Special Forces. But these aren’t brigades; these are battalions. We need to bring our allies fully into the fight, and at least in the south with the British, there needs to be reinforcement. But these are very limited numbers of people. When you look at the list here, what you see too is the problem is not the way NATO is organized; it is the way member countries fail to participate in that organization fully and effectively. We don’t have a problem with NATO; we have a problem with member countries, and that is a very important distinction to remember.

I’ve already talked to you about the urgency. The fact is that we will go into the 2007 offensive in the spring unready to really make a difference. The most we could do is to put pressure on our allies, Pakistan, and try to move our own troops in...

Blaming the Iraqis or the Afghanis [sic] for this rather than saying, it’s going to take adequate resources and time, is the recipe to lose. We already made the mistake in Iraq. It is recoverable at least in Afghanistan. Pakistan – let me be blunt again. One of the problems is this is a two-country war. Denying that because it is politically correct or diplomatically tactful ignores the realities necessary to win.

The steps toward victory I’ve already outlined. They are probably about two more U.S. infantry battalions and more Special Forces. British reinforcements are needed. The problem – the bargain they made in the south is the Taliban influence we can’t afford. We need to have the stand-aside forces come online. We need a major increase not only in our own aid program, but we need our allies to join in that aid program, and it has to move into the field and not in dealing with capitals. And above all, we need to patiently work with the Afghan government to develop the capability so it can become effective over time.

Mark C.

Let me just make one quick point. If you’re wondering what the importance of stand-aside forces is, take a look at the map. The French are supposed to be providing security in Kabul. They are only reactive, not proactive. Look where the German and Spanish forces are. Look at the limited areas we control as U. S. forces, and look at the importance of the British, Canadian and Dutch contribution. This cannot be won through American action, and it cannot be won unless NATO countries allow NATO to be effective...

To make things work and to win, you have to have a strategy that deals with the military side and the police side. You have to have criminal justice. That is one key element of governance. You have to have effective governance. You have to have incentives for national unity. If you fail in any given dimension, you tend to lose in counterinsurgency. This has been a message every since Malaysia, but it was also in the handbooks the U.S. issued after our campaign in the Philippines nearly a century ago – in fact, more than a century ago. These aren’t new lessons, but they’re lessons we have to learn...

And in answer to a question from the audience:

Now, one problem we have here that I didn’t show on these charts but is very clear in the detailed briefing I’ve given you – we wouldn’t have had tactical victory in 2006 if we hadn’t flown at least as many strike sorties in support of forces in Afghanistan as we did in Iraq, and during peak periods of the offensives, we often flew far more sorties. Here is the practical problem: Without adequate troops on the ground, even with what are amazing advances in intelligence and surveillance, you are going to have repeated incidents where you hit civilians and you cause collateral damage. The reality is no matter what you do, you cannot attack insurgents and hostile groups without attacking women and children because you cannot separate them...

Note this today:

"The single thing that we have done wrong and we are striving extremely hard to improve on (in 2007) is killing innocent civilians," Brig. Richard E. Nugee, the chief spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, told a news conference...

Good books vs. cheap thrills

What's a public library for (though the two need not be mutually exclusive)?

"For Whom the Bell Tolls" may be one of Ernest Hemingway's best-known books, but it isn't exactly flying off the shelves in northern Virginia these days. Precisely nobody has checked out a copy from the Fairfax County Public Library system in the past two years, according to a front-page story in yesterday's Washington Post.

And now the bell may toll for Hemingway. A software program developed by SirsiDynix, an Alabama-based library-technology company, informs librarians of which books are circulating and which ones aren't. If titles remain untouched for two years, they may be discarded--permanently. "We're being very ruthless," boasts library director Sam Clay...

...Books by Charlotte Brontë, William Faulkner, Thomas Hardy, Marcel Proust and Alexander Solzhenitsyn have recently been pulled.

Library officials explain, not unreasonably, that their shelf space is limited and that they want to satisfy the demands of the public. Every unpopular book that's removed from circulation, after all, creates room for a new page-turner by John Grisham, David Baldacci, or James Patterson--the authors of the three most checked-out books in Fairfax County last month...

The bottom line is that it has never been easier or cheaper to read a book, and the costs of reading probably will do nothing but drop further.

If public libraries attempt to compete in this environment, they will increasingly be seen for what Fairfax County apparently envisions them to be: welfare programs for middle-class readers who would rather borrow Nelson DeMille's newest potboiler than spend a few dollars for it at their local Wal-Mart...

Hell, at the Ottawa Public Library a new book of any sort is a rare find. All the money seems to be going into DVDs (in competition with Blockbuster et al.) and free internet access on computers.

Mark C.

Ford=Bush 43?

Christopher Hitchens, ever the contrarian, makes good points.

One expects a certain amount of piety and hypocrisy when retired statesmen give up the ghost, but this doesn't excuse the astonishing number of omissions and misstatements that have characterized the sickly national farewell to Gerald Ford. One could graze for hours on the great slopes of the massive obituaries and never guess that...

During his tenure, and while Henry Kissinger was secretary of state, the United States secretly armed and financed a Kurdish rebellion against Saddam Hussein. This was done in collusion with the Shah of Iran, who was then considered in Washington a man who could do no wrong. So that when the shah signed a separate peace with Saddam in 1975, and abandoned his opportunist support for the Kurds, the United States shamefacedly followed his lead and knifed the Kurds in the back. The congressional inquiry led by Rep. Otis Pike was later to describe this betrayal as one of the most cynical acts of statecraft on record.

In December 1975, Ford was actually in the same room as Gen. Suharto of Indonesia when the latter asked for American permission to impose Indonesian military occupation on East Timor. Despite many denials and evasions, we now possess the conclusive evidence that Ford (and his deputy Kissinger) did more than simply nod assent to this outrageous proposition. They also undertook to defend it from criticism in the United States Congress and elsewhere. From that time forward, the Indonesian dictatorship knew that it would not lack for armaments or excuses, both of these lavishly supplied from Washington. The figures for civilian deaths in this shameful business have never been properly calculated, but may well amount to several hundred thousand and thus more than a quarter of East Timor's population...

Mark C.

I thought the extended family was a good thing

I was thinking about doing a post on this but The Shotgun Blog gets it:

...blatant partisanship [by the Globe] promoting the Liberal daycare plan.

Mark C.

The CBC Honours Ford

During lunch today, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television channel carried live the funeral service of United States President Gerald Ford. It struck me as odd.

Out of all the heads of state that pass away every year around the world, Canada's public broadcaster chooses to devote an hour to Ford, as if he were a Prime Minister. Not that I agree or disagree, but why?

Surely I'm not the only one who thinks the Canadian media has a peculiar fascination with American affairs. News isn't simply 'domestic' or 'foreign' in this country, it's 'domestic', 'foreign,' or 'American.'

I can't imagine any other country's news media thinking in those categories. Perhaps it's a function of the looming presence south of us, or perhaps, it's much easier to examine others.

Admire the Americans' pomp as in during funerals, marvel at their riches, gawk at their excesses, criticize their policies, to keep our own eyes off ourselves?

Jon N

The CBC Honours Ford

During lunch today, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television channel carried live the funeral service of United States President Gerald Ford. It struck me as odd.

Out of all the heads of state that pass away every year around the world, Canada's public broadcaster chooses to devote an hour to Ford, as if he were a Prime Minister. Not that I agree or disagree, but why?

Surely I'm not the only one who thinks the Canadian media has a peculiar fascination with American affairs. News isn't simply 'domestic' or 'foreign' in this country, it's 'domestic', 'foreign,' or 'American.'

I can't imagine any other country's news media thinking in those categories. Perhaps it's a function of the looming presence south of us, or perhaps, it's much easier to examine others.

Admire the Americans' pomp as in during funerals, marvel at their riches, gawk at their excesses, criticize their policies, to keep our own eyes off ourselves?

Jon N

"the Byrds rocking out at the Playboy mansion"

Colby, "rocking", puhlease.

Some rollin'. Some soul. Some more roll. More soul. And should one want rocking:

Even better rocking ("Kick in the Head").

Mark C.

Pas d'ennemis à gauche: section Hugo

When will they ever learn?

The great news events of 2006, as well as the ominous year-end forecasts for 2007, were dominated by dictatorial figures from the Muslim world: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Saddam Hussein, Hassan Nasrallah, Mullah Omar. But here in the Americas, we have another dictator to worry about. No, his name isn't Fidel Castro. But like the ailing Cuban, he has fans among the NDP and Canadian labour unions.

Indeed, Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez has become a beacon for disaffected leftists everywhere, what with his talk of "social production," his anti-American (and occasionally anti- Semitic) screeds and his generous gifts to other socialist regimes...Over time, his rhetoric has become more messianic, his tactics more heavy-handed. "Those who are really with me must be with me in their spirits -- they must be ready to die with me," he recently declared. "They must be able to forget material goods and rid themselves of all. Supreme love is the love for the collective."

Some will find such sentiments stirring: Here at last is the man who will finally -- finally -- put an end to the alleged evils of capitalism and globalization...

...on Friday, in an address to the Venezuelan army, Chavez took the next step, uncorking a furious rant against private broadcaster RCTV. In March, the president warned that "the broadcasting license for this coup plotting TV channel ? will not be renewed ? Start turning your equipment off! No media at the service of coup plotting, against the people, against the nation, against the national independence and against the dignity of the Republic will be tolerated in this country!"..

...Open Chavista war against opposition media, however, represents a new, overt phase in Venezuela's "Bolivarian Revolution." It is one that should cost Chavez his last friends in the liberal democracies -- but don't bet on it.

But, hey, just a regular guy (no gals, one notes) in the pantheon of leftist leaders.

Mark C.

Update: "Corruption, Mismanagement, and Abuse of Power in Hugo Chávez's Venezuela" (via David Frum's Diary).

Room service?

On the whole they might rather be in Lebanon.

As many as two Somali Islamic fighters who claim to be Canadian were among 10 fighters arrested by Kenyan police, according to separate reports Tuesday.

The 10 were arrested on Monday at the Liboi border crossing in Kenya as they tried to flee Somalia, the Kenya Daily Nation reported...

"Consular officials are aware of the arrest on the Kenya-Somalia border," said Ian McKinley, a counsellor with the High Commission [in Nairobi]. "We are actively investigating whether Canadian nationals were detained in order to provide them with consular help [emphasis added]."..

Mark C.

Some fun from the other side

The occluded tyrant? Time for a double something.

Mark C.

Trojans rule, Broncos buck received wisdom

Captain's Quarters does a nice job on the Rose and Fiesta bowls. Boise State vs. Oklahoma was a truly great game--demonstrated the value of taking chances to seize the moment.

Mark C.

"Top 10 Stories of 2007"

A Cannonball Press report:

OTTAWA (CBP): A panel of experts, analysts, observers, critics and insiders consulted by the Cannonball Press predicted that the following would be the top ten stories in the new year.

10) Tony Blair stays on as British prime minister, citing "personal reasons".

9) Vladimir Putin revises the Russian constitution so he can be re-elected president in 2008, citing "personal reasons".

8) Belinda Stronach, on a date with Bill Clinton, goes commando.

7) Peter MacKay reveals that his favourite song is "Hound Dog", sung by Elvis Presley.

6) Iranian President Ahmadinejad denies the Armenian genocide and signs a treaty of alliance with Turkey.

5) Jean Charest, facing defeat in the Quebec election, says that if re-elected his government will call a referendum on sovereignty with the Quebec Liberal Party favouring "le beau risque". M. Charest states that "le jour de gloire est arrivé".

4) Hillary Rodham Clinton, on a date with Barack Obama, goes commando.

3) Bill Clinton reveals that his favourite song is "Hound Dog" by Big Mama Thornton.

2) The Chinese government buys General Motors, renaming it the Plum Corporation.

1) The Conservative government loses a non-confidence motion in the House of Commons. Governor General Michaëlle Jean refuses Prime Minister Harper's request to dissolve Parliament and call an election; she instead asks Citoyen Dion to form a government. The Governor General notes that M. Dion has not renounced his French citizenship and announces she is resuming hers.

When asked for her comment, Jane Taber of Bell Globemedia said she had lost her blue suede pumps but would have something to say when she found her red Pradas.

Mark "Cannonball" C.

And you thought his "Star-Spangled Banner" was a pain

Can't wait to hear Jimi's "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" (via Norman's Spectator).

Mark C.