Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Finding someone that likes Steve

Fox News North National Post has a new puff piece framing Harper's traditional conservative support for what I assume are the declining number of Progressive Conservatives that the neocons need to diversify their base. They had to dig pretty deep, coming up with Kim Campbell. I guess quoting Mulroney's praises just won't cut it anymore or more likely were no longer being offered.

Anyway the best Kim could come up with was that "Harpers competent but too controlling". Not quite sure what basis Kim is using for comparison, but Harpers team certainly seems as inexperienced as hers was during her short as Prime Minister. Just as inexperienced, but a lot more arrogant. Kim sugested that "Harper needs to be a little bit franker about what he would do if he got a majority government."

Sure Kim, asking a Neocon to be open and honest about their agenda is the same as asking a leopard to change it's spots, or little Johnny to quit swearing in class or a snake to get up and walk or.... well you know what I mean.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

iPhone coming to Canada soon: I hope

Christian group rocks on as God brings down the house

With one church destroyed the Christian rock group Starfield is continuing it's tour across Canada.
You would think that these evangelical, cultists just might take it as a sign of some sort, you know, like from God that he/she or it is not really happy with what they are doing and how they are doing it.

You could be a devout Catholic, Jew, Hindu, Muslin, Buddhist (I like the Buddhists, they're cool) or even the Pope himself, but you ain't going to heaven with these spurious, sycophants. At least not until you convert and are reborn by renouncing your other faiths and accept Jesus as your savour. And these churches are renting out their halls to allow these well organized propagandists access to the children of their congregation. Are they not a competing group for Christ sake (pun intended).

PS: Oh and check out their online store where you can buy a cool shirt that reads "I want to hold the hand that holds the world". I really don't know much about religion, but doesn't that mean you would have to be dead first.

Harper looses his war

According to this Globe article the US has now set up camp next the Canadian forces. So much for Steve having his own war.

This move in support of Harpers demands at the last NATO meeting is considered as the Americanization of the Afghanistan war.

Maybe that should be the re-Americanization, since they sort of took off a while ago to spread democracy throughout the middle east.
But this new U.S. contribution is accompanied by a push to "Americanize" the 40-nation NATO mission, especially in the British-Canadian Southern Command. General Dan McNeill, the U.S. Army officer who currently commands the 40-nation NATO coalition fighting in Afghanistan, said in an interview that he hopes Canada and other nations will adopt U.S.-style tactics and doctrines, including lengthier deployments for soldiers, harder-line opium-poppy-eradication strategies and the use of military forces in reconstruction and humanitarian work. Canadian and British senior officers, in interviews yesterday, said the marines are a welcome relief to their faltering missions. But they expressed reservations about the American commanders' efforts to get their forces to adopt U.S. approaches.
However, there seems to be some concern about the differences in dealing with the insurgency:
But the arrival of the U.S. Marines at Kandahar Air Field has caused some anxiety among the Canadians. Other countries have already committed troops under Canadian leadership in the province - Nepalese Gurkhas, Portuguese soldiers, and a British parachute regiment - but it's not clear how much guidance the Canadians will be able to give the American newcomers.
My guess would be little to none on the guidance issue.

The first 1,000 marines are going to Helmand, the neighbouring province and as one unnamed, cocky Canadian officer is quoted "It's a good thing they're going to Helmand first," a Canadian official said. "They can do their learning over there, make their mistakes over there.".

It is nice to see the Americans sending in the marines, but I would strongly suggest, with them stationed that close, that our troops watch their backs or at least let the Americans know when they are practicing at night.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

I miss this man. Rest in peace.


It is strange though that the CTV headline here emphasizes the spray painting of "Traitor" and not the "FLQ" which you would think would be more to the point. Maybe they are taking their new found affection for the neocons too seriously or they just want to increase their Alberta ratings,

Fighting pollution one finger at a time

As promised by Baird, when announcing his plans to save the environment, Canadians are going to have to make sacrifices in order to lower our carbon emissions. Harpers government wants to reduce smog-causing additives in paints, stains and varnishes. 

According to CNEWS: Baird is proposing limits on volatile organic compounds, which are found in everything from house paint to nail polish and vehicle coatings. Baird says the compounds are the second largest contributor to smog in Canada, after vehicle emissions.

Apparently they are not quite as concerned about the Tar Oil Sands. At least not in the same way.

PS: In all fairness Baird probably saw the word "Organic"and thought is was a Liberal additive.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Post framing Bill C57

Right on queue here's the Fox News Canada National Post framing of the neocon spin on the forthcoming Bill C57. The article is about a Roman Catholic doctor: Dr. Levia "who refuses to prescribe birth control pills, though he will talk about natural family planning; and no patient should expect him to give a referral for an abortion because that, he said, would be akin to "co-operating with evil".

When you read down the article you find that Levia is member of the "Canadian Physicians for Life". This organization headed by a Williard Johnston MD defines something called the Hippocratic Tradition (apparently not the Oath that we have heard some much about) as being against abortions and birth control. 

The Post article basically steers it along the Roman Catholic argument, even mentioning the Pope's recent visit and of course no mention of C57. I mean Catholics still represent a large portion of voters in Canada and especially in Quebec, you know the new bastion of conservatism.

Well who is Williard Johnston you might ask. Don't know, but a quick google finds Williard either commenting on his religious beliefs as it applies to health care or being supported in his views at Worshippersplace, Consciencelaws.org and Baptist Press News, the basic US styled and in some cases associated evangelical sites.

Well it is lucky for Williard that Harper is going to introduce Bill C57 that seems to go along with his somewhat strange idea of universal healthcare. I wonder if that is a coincidence? I mean Williard's group is located in Ottawa and he has apparently been part of a Parliamentary report back in the past?

It was also nice of the Post to do this totally unrelated article about the Roman Catholic Dr. Levia, just as the shit is about to hit the fan on C57. You know the neocon, right wing, evangelical, abortion of an amendment mentioned in the previous post.

Yep, just like Fox News worked with George Bush who worked with Jerry Falwell who..

Neocon Scandal of the Week

Interestingly the winner of last Friday's Neocon Scandal of the Week: Harpers, In and Out Scheme, dominated the media throughout the early part of this week. 
There were numerous articles and newscasts about how the neocons tried to circumvent the messaging of the raid by holding a private meeting with select representatives from friendly, media, corporations and how candidates were unaware of the tricks used in funding. 

Some conservative candidates in the last election claim that they were dropped by the party because they wouldn't agree to the shady accounting. There were even charts showing how the scheme might have unfairly influenced the actual results of the election.

But hey, they are neocons and as Harper said upon his return from praising Bush in New Orleans, if our interpretation of the rules was wrong, we won't do it next time.

With so much press, I  was concerned that we would have to run with the same story. But leave it to those crazy Neocons, there's always a new scandal emerging. At least until they get all of their hidden agenda plan implemented.

Announcing this weeks NeoCon scandal of the week:
Bill C57: An Act to amend the Criminal Code
(protection of conscience rights in the health care profession) 

Basically what we have here is a little amendment that allows doctors, nurses and I assume hospital administrators, hell even the administration clerks for all I know,  the right to refuse performing procedures that are against their conscience. Well what could be behind this little neocon, right wing, evangelical, abortion of an amendment? No ideology or hidden agendas being displayed here folks. Just like Harper replied when asked if "he would overturn a women's right to an abortion", during his first campaign: "Well not in my first term". Oh and delivered with a big grin. Asshole

This story is being fully explained by much better writers than I, all over the Progressive Blogs. Check out one of my favorites The Galloping Beaver for more information.

And here's this weeks runners up:
  • Flaherty's no bid contracts to friends in his riding is heating up with the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner announcing an investigation. As the Liberals claim it is more than one instance and that the numbers are substantially larger.
  • More from CNEWS on Bernier's gaffes in Afghanistan. Apparently "Asadullah Khalid, the beleaguered governor, was packing his bags and poised to depart his post as the governor of Kandahar province when Canada's foreign affairs minister inadvertently called for his ouster last week." Now to save face for all he will remain in his position. So Harper sends Bernier to press Karzai to remove the khalid and the net result is that his stay is prolonged. Brilliant.
  • It was finally announced by the Post that Canada's new war that Harper has proudly taken over on our behalf will cost close to billion dollars this year. The budget doubled from the previous year, but don't worry the neocons are expecting only margins increased through 2011. Of course we won't see those projections or the actuals until 2012.
  • Anders, the neocon Chair of the Veterans Affairs Committee called China “the worst human rights abuser in the world” and said the Beijing Games had “similarities” to the 1936 Summer Games held in Berlin at the height of the Nazi dictatorship.
PS: Sorry I'm a day late posting our weekly review of Neocon scandals, I was busy becoming a Grandfather again. Peace

Let's go kill a Polar Bear

It's a rough time to be a Polar Bear according to the recent flurry of articles about killing them. From Canada, the Numavut government is proposing to our Feds that the annual hunt on Baffin Island be reduced to 64 bears from a 105 last year. Of course the local Inuit are claiming that their government is wrong on the number of bears available for slaughter. We are talking about a difference of less than 50 bears here.

The last actual count was done in 1997, where the population was set at 2,100. According to our government's revised numbers based on computer models, the current, estimated, number is now around 1,500 or a 30% drop in 10 years. Local hunters claim that these estimates are wrong, One man's brother-in-law has seen six bears in a single day, and that the government is looking for bears in the wrong spots. Besides Polar Bears to the Inuit are like cows are to the people in the south.

But it gets worse for the bears. The US Senate for some reason was supposed to come up with a decision on whether Polar Bears should be put on the endangered species list in early January. However that decision remains postponed, with the most recent reason being the failure of the committee chairman to show up for the meeting.

Who knew that the US had Polar Bears or that they were that concerned about endangered species in general. Certainly seems out of character. Until in the next article announcing a possible decision by the summer, we discover that the oil industry might have to curb exploration and possibly drilling if the Polar Bears are put on the endangered list. Well that explains their interest and the indecision.

So how does that affect the bears. From the Globe article here: American hunters are now rebooking their hunting trips for the big bear.
The rules of engagement are simple: The trophy must be male and at least 2.4 metres tall. And since March, big-game hunters, mainly Americans, clad head to toe in caribou-skin outfits and riding dogsleds, have been on the hunt in Canada's Arctic for one of the most controversial animals on the planet: polar bears. In this male-dominated, high-priced world, where Inuit-guided hunts can run more than $40,000 (U.S.), bigger is better, right down to the animal's baculum, or penis bone. But this year, the stakes to bag the iconic predator before the annual season ends next month are at an all-time high...
That sort of shoots "they are just like cows in the south" argument dead. At $40,000 a pop for guided hunts, you only have to work for three months of the year.

Meanwhile for the bears: the polar ice cap is melting, even the Inuit hunters admit that they are thinner than in the past, the bears have actually starting mating with Grizzlies as they move south and we, Canadians are arguing about whether we can kill 64 this year on Baffin Island instead of the 105 that were allowed to be killed last year.

Maybe we can set up new rules for killing Polar Bears. A lottery perhaps, similar to the one we presently use to kill Moose. Except to make it more exciting for the hunters, and a bit more fair for the bears, you know since there are less of them now, we could pre-tag all the bears with first names. Each authorized hunter would draw a name for execution and then using the scopes on their high powered rifles, they would have to find Tom or Sally before they were allowed to shoot. Think of the more personalized stories they can tell their grandchildren, "Hunting Polar Bears was a lot more difficult back in my day. I remember the time I bagged old Larry. I had to look at all 500 of them, before I could find him"

I was going to find the video on You Tube showing starving Polar Bears, drowning in warm water, that ran on the news from a year ago, but I just can't watch it any more. 

Meanwhile my grandson who was born yesterday will grow up in a world where Polar Bears are nothing more than the plastic dinosaurs are today.

To learn more go to Polar Bears International and rip off the pictures, you can save them for your grand kids.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Bush confident about definition of state

Associated Press: U.S. President George Bush sought Thursday to boost the flagging Mideast peace process by voicing fresh optimism about the creation of a Palestinian state.
He remains confident that the definition of a state for the Palestinian people would be reached before he leaves office in January.
This is from the fucking idiot who when taking office in 2001, scrapped Clinton's Mid East Peace Plan, claiming that he was not interested in nation building and that the Israelis and the Palestinians should work it out on their own.

Let me help you out here, George. There already is a definition for a state, you idiot.

state |stāt| noun: a nation or territory considered as an organized political community under one government

Next week Bush will be in Africa, working on a new definition for hunger.

Microsoft disappoints Wall Street

SEATTLE — Microsoft Corp. said Thursday its fiscal third-quarter profit fell 11 per cent from a year earlier, when the software maker reported more than $1-billion (U.S.) in deferred revenue tied to delays in the launch of the Windows Vista operating system.
So what's new, they have been disappointing technology users for years.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Ethics watchdog plans early retirement

Mary Dawson our Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner has just joined the ranks of Marc Mayrand our Chief Electoral Officer of Canada and Linda Keen the former head of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission in announcing an investigation in the misconduct of another one of Harper's neoconservatives.

From CTV: "The federal ethics watchdog is investigating a sole-source contract Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's office awarded to a well-connected Conservative."

Wow is it only Tuesday? The picking the winner for our "NEOCON Scandal of the Week" segment is going to be really tough this week. Drop by Friday night for the winner.

Harper exposes Canada to threat of invasion

Just in from the Canadian Press: Harper while defending NAFTA "Canada is the United States' No. 1 supplier of energy. We are a secure and stable supplier," said Harper, standing at a lecturn next to Bush and Calderon. As Bush chuckled into his microphone,..."
Great now Bush knows that we have oil.

Happy Earth Day

Monday, April 21, 2008

Brazil priest carried aloft by balloons missing

I'm sorry, the poor man is probably dead but this MSNBC headline is one of the funniest I have read in a while.

Apparently he was trying "to raise money for a spiritual rest-stop for truckers"

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Canada's New Drug Culture: Neocon Style

Don’t you miss the indecisive, vacillation of a federal Liberal government. Their ability to take the middle of the road on any issue, do nothing and try to maintain the status quo. Not so much indecisiveness with our New Neocon government, they have a plan.

Where the Liberals would wait for an overwhelming majority of Canadians to demand that they finally take action one way or the other, you know sort of let the people demand change (at least until that sycophant Martin did his stint). However, to our new Neocon government, it is more a matter of implementation. They already know what they want to do.

To the reformers, old conservatives or whoever actually supports these neoconservative ideologies, who claim that this is nothing more than the baseless “secret agenda” scare tactic used in the past, here is an example.

The recent abundance of Pot articles in the news this last month has jogged my still functioning brain cells and reminded me of the evils of these Neocon ideologues. To set the framework here’s a few quotes from a Maclean’s article back in October of last year, where Steve is explaining some of the changes he expects to make to Canada’s culture with his new large scale anti-drug strategy.
"We are up against ... a culture that since the 1960s has at the minimum not discouraged drug use and often romanticized it, or made it cool," Harper said... "My son is listening to my Beatles records and asking me what all these lyrics mean ... I love these records. I'm not putting them away ... But we have to change the culture."
"It's time to be straight with Canadians," he said, "so Canadians who use drugs can get straight." So far, being "straight with Canadians" has meant a sharp rise in the number of pot-related arrests in Canadian cities. Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa and Halifax saw some of the biggest jumps in 2006, with the number of arrests up as much as 50 per cent from the previous year."
And here are some more recent Neocon changes in action:
A Post article about doctors having to increase the dosage of medical prescribed government grown pot, because the potency is not as high as the pot available on the street. Of course that is the Post argument that goes along with the Neocon “super potency” frame that the Pot of today is not like the harmless drug that we smoked in the 60s. The reality is that the Pot grown in a mind shaft in Manitoba is crap.
A CNEWS article explains how a new ruling from a federal judge granted licensed medical marijuana users more freedom in picking their own grower and allows growers to supply the drug to more than one patient, which was the stipulation previously. It provides wider access to the higher potency that the doctors above claim are required.
Again from the Globe we learn that the government is now owed more than $500,000 in delinquent payments from the licensed Marijuana users. In most cases medical users are prescribed marijuana to combat nausea and pain associated with chronic ailments, resulting from such infections as HIV and hepatitis C, after standard medicines fail. 
These people are impoverished, unable to work, and basically survive on disability payments, provincial drug plans and charity. However since Medical marijuana has never been assigned official drug status by Health Canada, it is therefore not covered by pharmacare programs and these patients (let’s call them that) have to pay the full pop. And what a price they pay. Apparently the government is selling their dope at a 1,500% markup
And here is the kicker in all this new culture getting straight strategy...
This article entitled “Wanted: Pot Grower” explains how Health Canada is looking for someone to grow government-approved weed. To date the only source of government grown medical marijuana is from Prairie Plant Systems Inc. who has been paid $10-million to cultivate the inferior dope in a mine shaft in Flin Flon, Manitoba. With the new licensees Government has said it plans to eventually end its licensing of home-grown marijuana – forcing all medical users to buy their supplies directly from government sources.
And finally we have Marc Emery a well known marijuana activist for decades in Canada, who has been openly selling BC seeds through the mail (and in fact regularly sending his catalogues to our members of parliament) gets labelled by the US as North Americas premiere drug king pin. He has been up for extradition to the US where he could be facing life imprisonment, has finally worked out a deal with the DEA to serve only five years with most of the time to be served in Canada. The US has agreed to the deal but as this article from CNEWs and Emery’s own site explains our new government has refused to go along with it.
There you have it folks, our new Canadian culture, neoconservative style.

Even though our doctors are reporting that they have to increase the dosages on the low quality government supplied pain relieving medicine (because that is what it is to these patients). And our Federal courts have realized this and are trying to increase availability to higher quality home grown medicine. The Necons are looking for ways to increase production of their inferior product, and eventually cut off the access to home grown pot while continuing to force patients who can’t afford it to pay exorbitant prices.

Oh and that romantic Marc Emery, he is simply being made an example of.

I really can’t believe that Steve listened to any Beatle albums after Rubber Soul and as far as explaining the lyrics to his children, they would be better off figuring them out on their own.

Listening to Steve talk about marijuana reminds me of a brilliant Sam Gross cartoon about two burly cops walking down the street. One cop says to the other “I tried marijuana once. It made me want to rape and kill.”

PS: One last pot related article from the Globe Midlife pot smoking on the rise.



Happy 420 day.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Welcome Progressive Blogger Searchers


Hey, we made the list. That is very progressive of them. Welcome.

I feel just like Steve Martin did in the movie "The Jerk". The phone book's here! The phone book's here!

Friday, April 18, 2008

Friday Night Acid Test



From the Jeff Beck album Truth
Truth (1968) was the first full-length album by Jeff Beck and his backing group. The album featured three original songwriting collaborations between Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart, "Let Me Love You", "Blues Deluxe", and "Rock My Plimsoul". Highlighted by a re-recording of the Yardbirds' "Shapes of Things", Willie Dixon's "I Ain't Superstitious" and the traditional "Greensleeves", it is considered by many to be one of the first heavy metal albums. Both Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones played on "Beck's Bolero", originally recorded in 1966 with Keith Moon on drums and Nicky Hopkins on piano.
I owned too many copies of this album (4 albums and 2 CDs). I kept lending it to friends or apparently giving them away. The above listing from Wikipedia calls it the first Heavy Metal album. There was a lot of confusion with genre back then.

I have many memories about Truth (not necessarily truthful memories). The one that I always think of first happened at 3:00 am in the morning. Two of us were tripping in  a small apartment off Yonge. At some moment during Morning Dew (probably around the 3:45 mark if you listen to the left speaker) we both decided that we should go out and make sure that there still was a morning dew. 

After two long, quiet, blocks, we still weren't sure, when a Toronto cruiser suddenly appeared from behind. The cop made us get in the back seat while he checked our non existent ID. Although glad to see that the world hadn't been destroyed, I just couldn't get the damn song to stop playing in my head. 

Since I was basically comatose, the cop turned to my friend and asked "What colour are your friends eyes?" In a monotone voice and straight dead pan delivery she replied "Stoned blue." From what I remember the cop took a long pause, started laughing his ass off and told us to get out of his car and go home.
That is the problem, when you get old, you tell too many stories. But there is still some Truth left in this one.

Conservative Scandal of the Week

Our editorial board here at JAWL has decided that we are starting to sound a little bit too liberal with so many rants about the Steve and his party. So we have instituted this new feature in an effort to sound less partisan.
Introducing
The Neocon Scandal of the week.
Although there were a few good offerings from Steve this week the inaugural winner is the neocon reaction to the raid on the Conservative headquarters by the RCMP.
A closer look at the 'in and out' scheme

The Conservatives are under investigation for an "in and out" scheme, under which the party allegedly funnelled money through the local election campaigns of individual Tory candidates so they could spend more on their national campaign.
In the 2005-06 election campaign, the Conservatives' national headquarters transferred money to 67 local candidates - who immediately transferred it back as "payment" for campaign advertising.
Of course the neocons claim that this was all legal and that the various local candidates and local ridings were supplying funds to advertise nationally. Apparently, however some did not know about the transfers and candidates in the 308 ridings across the country were not allowed to spend additional sums on their local campaigns, and many would not be able to spend their limit. Basically Steve circumvented the elections act and the limits placed on advertising in the last election.

But the best part is how the neocons are fighting the move by their own appointed head of Elections Canada, claiming everything from media bias to the work of a Liberal mole. Here's their responses over the past few days. They even have their lobbyists into the act.
So much for that honesty thing that Steve went on about before the election. Typical US styled neocon bullshit: Say one thing, do the opposite.

Here's the runners up for the week:
  1. A flavour of pork from the Globe highlighting Steve's finance minister's involvement in pork barreling.
  2. Time for Karzai to replace Kandahar governor: the Globe covering Foreign Affairs Minister Bernier gaffe in Afghanistan (covered in a previous post)
  3. Government trying to stop hearings into detainee abuse allegations from the CBC outlining how the Neocons on both sides of the border have a problem torture and culpability.
  4. Tories to sell immigration changes with ad blitz The Globe outlines the forthcoming propaganda from the Neocons to maintain support from the various ethnic communities as they try to reduce the number of permanent immigrants.
  5. Senator caught saying Verner hates Bill C-10 Globe story exposes some of the neocon infighting against the Religious Rights influence on their party.
  6. Latest Canadian Forces ads omit Afghan mission Globe outlines some necon advertising techniques to support our troops
  7. Medical marijuana users more than $500K in arrears CTV reports on the beginning of the necons War on Drugs.

Happy Birthday to my daughter.

Thirty five years of sunshine. 

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Bush holds breath until 2025

Today, Bush acting upon his new found knowledge that the world is round, has decided to fight global warming. Here's the Associated Press, press release by way of the CBC.
Bush sees U.S. greenhouse emissions leveling off by 2025

U.S. President George W. Bush stepped into the White House Rose Garden Wednesday to announce a new target in the fight against global warming. He wants U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases to stop increasing by 2025 and says his administration has taken a rational and balanced approach to the threat of climate change.

Bush, who leaves office next January, again dismissed what he called "the flawed approach of the Kyoto Protocol." The 1997 deal, which the United States did not ratify, calls on industrial countries to cut their emissions to an average five per cent below 1990 levels by 2012.

It would have limited U.S. economic growth and shifted American jobs to other countries while letting new industrial powers such as China and India increase rather than reduce their emissions, Bush said. He called for a new international deal "that includes the meaningful participation of every major economy and gives none a free ride."
By the time the White House turns green there won't be rose gardens. Imagine if Jeb hadn't been the Governor of Florida and his cousin wasn't on the Fox news desk and the elected president had been in power since 2000.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Canada's Steve's Warriors


More War News from the Globe:

Apparently Maxime Bernier, Steve's point man on Foreign Affairs got carried away with our country's new role of running a war (I mean we are very new at it).
Bernier urges Karzai to replace Kandahar Governor

Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier dropped a bombshell Monday when he effectively called for the ouster of Asadullah Khalid, the controversial governor of Kandahar province. 
"There's the question to maybe have a new governor," Mr. Bernier said when asked what Karzai could do about the perception of political corruption in Kandahar province, where Canadian forces are based. "I think (Karzai) can work with us to be sure the (new) governor will be more powerful ... (and) will do what he has to do to help us."
Kind of pissed off the Afghans. I mean if one of the objectives is that Afghanistan is going to become a democracy, that should include self rule. Or if Karzai really wants to get rid of one of his corrupt drug lords (elected or not) it is probably not a good thing to have a Canadian freshman telling the international press before hand. Anyway Foreign Affairs quickly retracted Bernier's gaffes as noted again in this Globe piece later in the day:
Bernier backs off Kandahar comments
“Afghanistan is a sovereign state that makes its own decisions about government appointments. I can assure you that Canada fully respects this and is not calling for any changes to the Afghan government,” the statement reads.

“In fact, our primary goal is promoting the self-sufficiency of Afghanistan in all aspects of nationhood, including development, security and governance. We will continue working closely with all levels of the Afghan government to advance this objective.”
Besides the sheer stupidity of sending this young pup out on the international stage alone, the thing that really gets to me is: who is managing our war and what is the fucking mission, objectives, measurements or goals. Two days ago we had Emerson, Steve's Minister of Trade claiming he was the Minister in Charge of coming up with the objectives (see previous post: Canada's War: Still in the Planning Stages) and reporting back to us (quarterly) about benchmarks etc. Of course that would be after the Afghanis informed us of what those measurements and objectives were. On the same day we have Hillier telling the Foreign Affairs Committee that the mission continues in a positive direction.

Now Bernier is let loose to negotiate the removal of an Afghan governor in what is supposed to be private meeting with Karzai.

Who the fuck is in charge and what is the fucking reason we are there!





No wonder Hillier is resigning.

Monday, April 14, 2008

US State Department Googles Canadian Nikolai Pedersen

We do not get a lot of visitors around JAWL (as lamented on earlier posts). However when we get such esteemed guests as the United States Department of State, we tend to get excited. 

Apparently someone in the State Department googled Nikolai Pedersen today. As you might recall Nikolai is the 85 year old Canadian farmer whose farm sits on the Canada/US border and whose lane way runs on the US side. See the recent article from the CBC here

Right after 911 the US border patrol started harassing Canadians living in cross border towns and in Nicolai's case actually cut off Canada Post from delivering his mail. See the problem is that there is road without a border crossing that runs from Canada through the US to Nicolai's farm house back in Canada. The border patrol stopped Canada Post from using this road and said they would have to go through the border crossing a considerable number of miles away. And of course have the Canada Post truck searched.

The CBC ran a Fifth Estate piece a couple years ago that included other examples of US harassment. Anyway all that died down until early March this year, when the US border patrol was back and cut the road off to all traffic including Nicolai's daughter. 

As reported here at JAWL in March and of course the CBC (sorry it was actually a rip off from the CBC), the new harassment is a joint operation between the Mounties & US border Patrol. However there seems to be a discrepancy between the goals and length of the harassment. The Mounties claim it is a temporary situation dealing with drug running, but the US border patrol calls the crackdown the "beginning of a long-term enhanced security effort on the border." 

Of course this could be good news for Nicolai. McKay might be calling in a chip from Condi and she is just catching up on the story, before she ends the harassment. Or it could mean that they are preparing to send him off to Cuba. Could go either way with these two working on it.

Anyway, today the US State Department googled on old Nikolai and they ended up visiting JAWL. Of course the article they linked to was titled "American Idiots". 

I feel like such a shit. 

In an effort to make amends, I would like to offer the following recommendation or tip per se. When you do a Google search of more than one word in a particular order and particularly in the case of a name, put quotation marks around the search words. It streamlines your search and saves valuable time (your open search found every nikolai and every pederson or 176,000 hits. By using quotations for a more targeted search, you get 1,860). Now you have more time to search for more 85 year old Canadians, or check out what other resources, time and money your eight years of fear mongering is fucking wasting.

There, now I feel better.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Canada's War: Still in the Planning Stages


War News from the Globe & Mail
Our top political war manager, Trade Minister David Emerson, has determined that "Ottawa will start releasing progress reports every three months on the mission, a move that should begin before the Commons rises in early to mid-June."
Well that sort of makes sense as Emerson is an ex-CEO of one of the largest lumber companies in North America and everyone knows progress and success should be measured quarterly. But the war is being managed by the Trade Ministry. We are new at this
One goal of these reports will be to shift the focus away from casualties – the only broadly watched benchmark currently tracked by news media – and toward other measures.
Well that would explain the not lowering the flag thing and we better get those people off the 401 over passes every time a dead soldier comes home too. What kind of way is that to support a war.
Mr. Emerson said new benchmarks aren't ready yet but acknowledged reducing Canada's proportionately high level of casualties will be one. The benchmarks, which the Tories hope to be able to point to in 2011 as proof they've accomplished their mission, will track development work, education levels and the Afghan government's capacity to run its own affairs and maintain law and order. Mr. Emerson said his job is to bring “all of the disparate moving pieces” of the Afghan mission “together in a coherent way” so the Tories can adroitly steer its progress. “That's my task and it's probably an impossible task,” Mr. Emerson joked.
Emerson was hesitant to predict precisely what kind of Kandahar the Canadians will leave behind, but emphasized that the hopes and expectations of the Afghans themselves are being taken into account. "We are consulting with them about what the key priorities should be in their minds," he said. "There's not much point having benchmarks that are critical to Afghanistan's future and Afghanistan doesn't buy into them."
Let me see if I understand this. We are not supposed to focus on casualties, but on other measures, that the government will tell us about every three months, as soon as the Afghan government decides what we are supposed to accomplish by 2011. Then he jokes that it is probably an impossible task. Give me a fucking break.
Meanwhile, the country's top military commander gave the House of Commons foreign affairs committee a cautious assessment of the insurgency on the ground. "The direct threat is still very real," said Gen. Rick Hillier, the chief of defence staff. "The mission continues in a positive direction, but that threat remains high especially in the south of Afghanistan and especially, from our perspective in the west and north of Kandahar city itself."
What fucking mission is Hillier talking about. I don't think Emerson and him are fighting the same war.

But don't worry The National Post: is on the job, with a story and quotes from two former low level US and British bureaucrats that think Steve is doing a good job and making Canada into a real country.
"Canada is the model NATO citizen. Under the Government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Canada has seen a steady increase in its defence spending and a modernization of its defence capabilities, along with an increasing willingness to play a full role in international security."
Thanks Steve, this one's for you

Leave Brian Mulroney alone

In fact do more than that wipe him from our collective memories. He was unceremoniously driven from office and should be left in solitude, to deal with his impending end of life anxieties. Just as Benedict Arnold quietly lived out his life in England, Mulroney should be allowed to live out his time, anonymously in his chosen homeland.

I remember Canada before Mulroney and I remember why he was driven out office. It wasn't just the rumors of corruption running rampant throughout his government that forced him out. It wasn't just the formation of the Bloc and its revitalized separatist movement that forced him out. It wasn't just his arrogance of demanding 100% approval from all provincial legislatures for the Meech Lake Accord. And it wasn't even the GST (It had to be created as a convenient replacement for the Manufacturers Tax that was impeding Free Trade).

For me it was just the Free Trade Agreement itself and the fact that he sold our country to the US corporations. 

I remember Canada before we were mulronied. I remember hammering back cognac with the head of the Canadian Manufacturers Association in 1987 on a flight back to Toronto. Business class and cognac were both cheaper then. Since I was not that focussed on politics, trade agreements or much else, in those days, I asked him, after listening to him berate Mulroney and the impending FTA for over an hour "what's the problem look at the size of the US market that you will get access to with this deal". And this 50 year old man, through tears (partially brought on by the 5 cognacs and partially from pure frustration) explained. He had two manufacturing businesses and had grown his businesses to almost 60% market share in their respective product categories. He was the leading manufacturer in Canada for his products. With the open borders he would have to actually double his production capacity to even gain a 5% market share in the US. Meanwhile his new US competitors with a similar market share down south could flood the Canadian market by putting on a single shift. There would be no way to economically compete with the massive influx of competing products. "Canadian manufacturing will disappear."

I remember Canada before we were mulronied and I remember Canadian manufacturers, Canadian retail chains and when decisions were made by Canadian head offices, not implemented by North American regional offices.

Here's a little YouTube from 1987 of Reagan's visit prior to the final deal being worked out. Reagan makes a little quip about how Californian wines should be made available in Canada and Molson's Beer available in the US.



Here we are 20 years later and Molson's is now owned by Coors.

Rest in peace Brian.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Neocons loving them foreigners


Neocon Marketing 101: Hide the intent of your policies by claiming they do the opposite and give them names, slogans if you like so you can win popular support. They call it framing and it is expertly explained by the The Harper Index A great site to keep track of the Neocon con and should be a prerequisite for every Canadian that is concerned about the corporate, right wing, takeover of our country that is now being implemented by Harper and his rebranded Reform Party.

As Canadians we are all aware of the numerous examples from the US. Ignoring the marketing of lies that went into Iraq, it was the social and environmental policies where the Neocons really got creative. In education "No child left behind" left more children behind, in environment, they assigned a former oil Industry lobbyist as head of the environmental protection agency who opened the national parks to the lumber industry, increased the burning of fossil fuels (coal which apparently will be clean someday), discouraged the publishing of the causes of global warming. introduced funding for hydrogen fuel cells of the future, in a direct effort to kill electric cars and the California "zero emissions" initiative (see the documentary) and so on.

Well our Neocons are using the same playbook and Harper is much better at delivery than Bush. (see previous post) The latest example is Harper's sweeping changes to the Immigration Act that claims to address the backlog of 900,000 applicants caused by failed Liberal management. However instead of fixing the problem by adding more resources and improving the procedures, Harper installs a so called fast track program, that in reality ignores the backlog, imits immigration and sets up a two tier system of permanent and temporary visas.

Despite all our self righteous proclamations to be the world's example of multiculturalism, the old reform party "fear of immigrants taking all the jobs" gambit got Preston Manning, his votes in Ontario. Even though the marketing of this new immigration act will be completely different (more neoconservative as opposed to outright racist, if you will) it will allow Harper and his xenophobes reformists to selectively reduce the number of permanent immigrants into Canada

From The Harper Index:

"Immigration advocates charge that the legislation is really intended to provide a quick source of cheap labour, both skilled and unskilled, for the oil industry in Alberta, as well as for the hospitality industry in western Canada. They are outraged at the effects the changes will likely have, encouraging queue-jumping and preferential treatment for those the government, or big companies, want in while keeping out many ordinary applicants who apply legitimately, in addition to humanitarian and compassion-based cases.

The immigration changes are likely to support a growing reliance on guest or migrant workers across Canada. "The effects of these changes have been particularly pronounced in turbo-charged Alberta," writes Canadian Labour Congress human rights director Karl Flecker. In fiscal year 2006-07, 31,000 applications for temporary foreign workers were processed in Alberta - with an additional 9,000 outstanding - compared with 12,000 during the previous year.

"Significantly, the number of temporary workers has now, for the first time ever, eclipsed the number of permanent immigrants who gained entry into the province. Nationally in 2007, over 236,000 employer applications for guest workers were made. Clearly a shift is taking place in labour market planning," says Flecker. He feels the government has failed to "build into their Temporary Foreign Worker Program, effective compliance, monitoring and enforcement mechanisms that will assure that Canadian employers respect the rights of the guest workers they invite into the country, as well as the rights of any Canadian workers they may displace."

Complaints from workers have grown with the program's use. In 2007, the Alberta Federation of Labour launched a project to address their issues and was soon taking more than 50 calls a week from desperate migrant workers looking for assistance, according to Flecker."

And the marketing begins with the flurry of activity and press releases listed on the Government website last week showing how much Harper and his xenophobes ex-Reform Party hacks appreciate Canada's ethnic communities and their votes:

  • Government of Canada announces support for the Canadian Ukrainian Immigrant Aid Society to help newcomers settle in the community

  • The Government of Canada is Proud to Participate in Taoist Tai Chi Society of Canada's Festival of Health and Longevity

  • Government of Canada announces support for newcomer youth in the Peel region

  • Government of Canada Committed to Health of Young Canadians of African and Caribbean Origin

  • Canada and Manitoba developing letter of understanding for temporary foreign workers


  • Yep, Harper loves them foreigners. He just doesn't want so many of them to, you know, be here permanently.

    We are alone, really alone

    According to a report published by the CBC, Blog reading become a habit, study says. Apparently, the regular reading of blogs has become an "internet ritual".

    The study found that:


    • The usefulness of the blog is less important

    • Routine act of checking is more important

    • Date & frequency of posts doesn't matter

    • Missed posts are not missed opportunities

    • Reading blogs a form of "chilling out" or "wasting time"

    • Readers feel pressured to produce worthwhile comments

    • Date & frequency of posts doesn't matter

    Well according to our site monitor, there are no internet rituals happening around here


    Friday, April 11, 2008

    Sunday, April 6, 2008

    And when the US tortures?

    According to this Associated Press article, a Florida jury has awarded $253M to the children of a Cuban man arrested and jailed in Cuba in 1959. He died in captivity in 1977.

    The lawsuit alleged that the Cuban government "intentionally, unlawfully, and with complete disregard for human life, tortured and killed him by hanging." The plaintiffs were ceremoniously awarded, 50% more than the $187M they asked for.

    And the reason as explained by one juror "Basically, all of us decided that we all wanted to send a message to the world that countries don't mess around with U.S. citizens,"

    Meanwhile on Cuba, the US government is abducting, people from other countries and torturing them.

    Give me a fucking break.

    Friday, April 4, 2008

    Friday Night Acid Test



    Lather by Jefferson Airplane from The Smothers Brothers show.

    That was a great show. Dam that burning bush.

    PS: I think the new Acid Test tile is better.

    Afghanistan is now Canada's war

    That's right it is not NATO's war anymore, it is ours. We have ownership.

    Steve stepped forward and set down the conditions that had to be met to be successful in Afghanistan (see 1,000 below). Yup, Steve went to Romania and laid claim to the war in Afghanistan. And according to old Lloyd at CTV, the US as our ally is now going to step up and send a 1,000 additional troops. Oh and France is sending a battalion, roughly 700 more troops to help Canada out. They are going to east though, not the south where the Taliban currently is, but hey they are French (sorry France just practicing my US style war rhetoric).

    Steve even got to talk to the world press on a podium with Karzi right beside him and explain what is needed and Karzi acknowledged Canada's role. I'm so proud, we finally have our own war.

    Way to go Steve! This one's for you.

    I'm older than the Peace Sign


    The Peace Sign turns 50 today.

    From the Washington Post today. "Unveiled at a British ban-the-bomb rally on April 4, 1958, the peace symbol's peak of potency was in the 1960s, when it was the emblem of the anti-Vietnam War movement and all things groovily counterculture.

    Said its late creator, British graphic designer Gerald Holtom: "I drew myself . . . a man in despair . . . put a circle around it to represent the world."

    The symbol has marched in service of many causes over the years: civil rights, women's rights, environmentalism, gay rights, anti-apartheid, the nuclear-freeze movement and the latter-day antiwar crowd."

    And I have always looked really cool wearing it.


    Happy Birthday and Peace 




    Tuesday, April 1, 2008

    1,000 The Meeting

    Reading all the hype about Harper's visit to Romania for the NATO meetings, you would think the balance of the free world was depending upon Canada getting a 1,000 troops.

    Will Canada get them, won't we get them.  Harper and Bernier are optimistic one day, but so much the next day and often of opposing opinion.

    There were stories from Canadian Press, Reuters, Globe, CTV, CBC and of course a plethora of positive positioning from the Canwest media.

    Here's a few examples prior to, during and following the meeting:
     
    PM appears to dampen NATO meeting expectations from Canadian Press on Saturday

    The Post had this article about Nato agreeing with Canada and taking the Canadian lead, published under different headlines on their sites.

    Talk about spin, you would think it was 1919 and Harper was on his way to Paris. Unfortunately when you see them in the pictures or read their quotes, it seemed more like the junior sales staff were attending their first sales conference. Let's show Canadians that we are pulling out all stops to get the support our troops need and were demanded in our manly report.

    "I have every reason to believe these conditions will be fulfilled in the not-too-distant future,"

    "I hope we will have our troops -- maybe at this meeting or maybe later,"

    "If we don't succeed (in getting) these 1,000 troops in the south, in Kandahar, it will be a failure for us, it will be a failure for the NATO mission because we cannot succeed in Afghanistan if we don't succeed in the south."

    "I anticipate in the weeks to come there will be additional commitments made in Afghanistan by some of our allies,"

    "I don't think we will necessarily finish that process at Bucharest but we will finish it in the very near future."

    But in the end it is all summed up by this Peter McKay quote: "We've done everything humanly possible to set up those conditions -- but keep in mind we have until February 2009 to fulfil those commitments,"

    Right. Somehow Harper has twisted the extension of Canada's tour in Afghanistan to solely depend upon 1,000 troops coming from NATO. Because 1,000 is the magic number, that's all that matters to the Canadian public. The 1,000 will eliminate the Taliban. The 1,000 will eradicate the opium production. The 1,000 will clean up the corrupt Afghan government. The 1,000 will prevent our troops from being killed and maimed by road side bombs.

    Bull shit. The 1,000 is a fictitious panacea that Harper is trying to make the only objective he has to meet to extend Canada's role in this Afghan quagmire. Surely there must be other objectives or measurements that should be considered over the next eleven months to warrant our troops remaining there beyond Feb 2009 or for that matter beyond July 1st, 2008.

    So all this press and posturing was just hype, headlines and marketing to justify our increased military spending (we're not sure how much), project Harper as a world leader and unfortunately risk the lives of more Canadian troops.

    Meanwhile, the US has already committed 2,000 marines and stated that they will maintain that level. That was announced earlier on in the week and I believe they are part of NATO. So fuck off, you are covered either way asshole.