Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Leftwing Political Incompotence Appears to Be Genetic...
* St. Clair Right Of Way
* Homeless Hilton
* ????
Don’t blame the messenger. Blame the people who have caused every project, no matter how small, to be dragged out with study after study. Blame the rules that restrict competitive bidding and require that construction is done by overpriced union labor. Blame the politicians who have allowed this process to descend into this disaster all over our country. Governor Christie was just the first to say no more. For that, he should be declared a hero.
SOURCE
* Homeless Hilton
* ????
Don’t blame the messenger. Blame the people who have caused every project, no matter how small, to be dragged out with study after study. Blame the rules that restrict competitive bidding and require that construction is done by overpriced union labor. Blame the politicians who have allowed this process to descend into this disaster all over our country. Governor Christie was just the first to say no more. For that, he should be declared a hero.
SOURCE
Another Broken Promise...
Ontario housing strategy: Won’t reduce long wait lists
Tue Nov 30 2010
Claiming it needed “the time to get it right,” the Liberal government at Queen’s Park long delayed releasing a long-term affordable housing strategy. That’s what makes what was released Monday – three years after it was first promised in the 2007 election campaign – all the more disappointing.
Tue Nov 30 2010
Claiming it needed “the time to get it right,” the Liberal government at Queen’s Park long delayed releasing a long-term affordable housing strategy. That’s what makes what was released Monday – three years after it was first promised in the 2007 election campaign – all the more disappointing.
Return To A Single Tier Society...
John Reilly: Shut down the native industry and spend the money on natives
“What would I do if I had the power? I would dissolve INAC and repeal the Indian Act“
Writing Bad Medicine: A Judge’s Struggle for Justice in a First Nations Community, my recently published book, has been an amazing experience for me.
When I started the project, I had very modest expectations. I believed the book would be a good read for me when my memory and mental acuity had so deteriorated with age that I no longer had any direct recollection of the subject matter. I thought I might sell a few copies, give a few to my children and close friends, maybe get a little coverage from the local media. I even hoped that at some point an opposition Indian Affairs critic might use the book to ask a few embarrassing questions of the Minister of Indian Affairs & Northern Development during Question Period in the House of Commons. I did not expect the national media coverage that has resulted. Read More »
“What would I do if I had the power? I would dissolve INAC and repeal the Indian Act“
Writing Bad Medicine: A Judge’s Struggle for Justice in a First Nations Community, my recently published book, has been an amazing experience for me.
When I started the project, I had very modest expectations. I believed the book would be a good read for me when my memory and mental acuity had so deteriorated with age that I no longer had any direct recollection of the subject matter. I thought I might sell a few copies, give a few to my children and close friends, maybe get a little coverage from the local media. I even hoped that at some point an opposition Indian Affairs critic might use the book to ask a few embarrassing questions of the Minister of Indian Affairs & Northern Development during Question Period in the House of Commons. I did not expect the national media coverage that has resulted. Read More »
Miller And His Team...
Miller Loyalists And Cronies Highlight Miller's Accoplishments
David Miller’s math still befuddling
By Jerry Agar, Guest Columnist
Remember Baghdad Bob? He was Iraqi information minister during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Monday, November 29, 2010
With Sad Regrets But Fond Memories...
Veteran comedian and actor Leslie Nielsen has died in a Florida hospital, his family confirmed to Global News on Sunday evening. The Regina native was 84.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Reality...
Today’s letters: Canada has learned from its past mistakes
Re: Canada To Boycott Durban III ‘Hatefest,’ Nov. 26.
As a resident New Yorker and the granddaughter of a Canadian veteran, it is difficult to be away from home during this time of year. Yet over the past few weeks, nothing has made me feel closer to home than hearing Prime Minister Harper’s timeless words in support of morality and humanity.
His refusal to send delegates to the upcoming Durban process in 2011 makes me proud. Read More »
Would you accept a human rights award named after this guy? Sadly many Canadians would and they show their support by championing US deserters, mocking Highway Of Heros, supporting orgs like Hamas, etc.
Re: Canada To Boycott Durban III ‘Hatefest,’ Nov. 26.
As a resident New Yorker and the granddaughter of a Canadian veteran, it is difficult to be away from home during this time of year. Yet over the past few weeks, nothing has made me feel closer to home than hearing Prime Minister Harper’s timeless words in support of morality and humanity.
His refusal to send delegates to the upcoming Durban process in 2011 makes me proud. Read More »
United Nations Poster Boy Of Year
Would you accept a human rights award named after this guy? Sadly many Canadians would and they show their support by championing US deserters, mocking Highway Of Heros, supporting orgs like Hamas, etc.
Will Somebody Turn On The Lights In Hallways Of Learning...
David Frum: Standing morality on its head
Vancouver is about as far as you can get from the Middle East without bumping into penguins.
Yet this month, students at the University of British Columbia are getting a little taste of Hamas thuggery right on their own campus.
All UBC students pay a small fee to support student activities. One of the groups receiving the money has proposed donating $700 to a new Gaza flotilla: an attempt to deliver aid directly to Hamas (widely recognized as a terrorist group), bypassing Israeli inspections.
The UBC student group that oversees student funds did the responsible thing, and put a temporary stop to the Hamas donation, pending a vote by the full student council. Read More »
Vancouver is about as far as you can get from the Middle East without bumping into penguins.
Yet this month, students at the University of British Columbia are getting a little taste of Hamas thuggery right on their own campus.
All UBC students pay a small fee to support student activities. One of the groups receiving the money has proposed donating $700 to a new Gaza flotilla: an attempt to deliver aid directly to Hamas (widely recognized as a terrorist group), bypassing Israeli inspections.
The UBC student group that oversees student funds did the responsible thing, and put a temporary stop to the Hamas donation, pending a vote by the full student council. Read More »
Fantino's Arrogance Not A Quality I Support...
Fantino wasn’t ‘there for the little guy’ in Caledonia
Nov 26, 2010 9:33PM EST
Vaughan candidate who demonized ‘an outsider’ during native occupation trumpets endorsement from Don Cherry, who lives in Mississauga
Toronto-area byelection pivotal battle for parties
As byelections sometimes do, the battle for Vaughan, north of Toronto, could deliver a blow to the federal Conservatives, who are running a marquee candidate in a bid to snatch the riding from the Liberals. Or it could signal the beginning of the end of the Grit stranglehold on seats in the Greater Toronto Area. MORE...
Nov 26, 2010 9:33PM EST
Vaughan candidate who demonized ‘an outsider’ during native occupation trumpets endorsement from Don Cherry, who lives in Mississauga
Toronto-area byelection pivotal battle for parties
As byelections sometimes do, the battle for Vaughan, north of Toronto, could deliver a blow to the federal Conservatives, who are running a marquee candidate in a bid to snatch the riding from the Liberals. Or it could signal the beginning of the end of the Grit stranglehold on seats in the Greater Toronto Area. MORE...
Reality Of Comrade Miller's Legacy...
Mayor Miller: Leaving behind a mixed legacy
Sat Nov 27 2010
David Miller's policy achievements are many but his legacy includes a fundamental disconnect with city voters. (24)
Sat Nov 27 2010
David Miller's policy achievements are many but his legacy includes a fundamental disconnect with city voters. (24)
THE STAR: More Police NOT Needed...
Five wounded in three shootings
By TAMARA CHERRY, Toronto Sun
Five people were shot in three separate incidents across the GTA early Saturday morning in the latest spate of gunplay to rock local streets.
By TAMARA CHERRY, Toronto Sun
Five people were shot in three separate incidents across the GTA early Saturday morning in the latest spate of gunplay to rock local streets.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
University/College Freedom Of Speech...
Political correctness is most pervasive in universities and colleges but I rarely report the incidents concerned here as I have a separate blog for educational matters.
American "liberals" often deny being Leftists and say that they are very different from the Communist rulers of other countries. The only real difference, however, is how much power they have. In America, their power is limited by democracy. To see what they WOULD be like with more power, look at where they ARE already very powerful: in America's educational system -- particularly in the universities and colleges. They show there the same respect for free-speech and political diversity that Stalin did: None. So look to the colleges to see what the whole country would be like if "liberals" had their way. It would be a dictatorship.
American "liberals" often deny being Leftists and say that they are very different from the Communist rulers of other countries. The only real difference, however, is how much power they have. In America, their power is limited by democracy. To see what they WOULD be like with more power, look at where they ARE already very powerful: in America's educational system -- particularly in the universities and colleges. They show there the same respect for free-speech and political diversity that Stalin did: None. So look to the colleges to see what the whole country would be like if "liberals" had their way. It would be a dictatorship.
It Is Obvious Many Islamic Officials...
...graduated from Goebbels University on scholarships established by Grand Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini - Welcome to Palestine Facts
The Islamists attempt to write Judaism out of history
A 'moderate' outrage
The Islamists attempt to write Judaism out of history
A 'moderate' outrage
Heinrich Himmler Head of SS and close colleague of Amin Al-Husseini, financed and established Islamic Institute (‘Islamische Zentralinstitut’) in Dresden under the Mufti. The purpose was to create a generation of Islamic leaders that would continue to use Islam as a carrier for Nazi ideology into the 21st century.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Common Sense Returning To TV...
On the air: SUN NEWS granted licence
By QMI Agency
The line for shuddering and moaning on the political left forms here.
Sun TV News, Quebecor's all-news network, has been approved by Canada's broadcast regulator.
The CRTC announced on Friday that it has granted the forthcoming national news service approval to broadcast as an English-language, Category 2, specialty TV channel.
In its statement, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission reiterated "the importance of maintaining and enhancing the plurality of editorial voices in local and national markets and ensuring that Canadians are exposed to an appropriate plurality of those voices."
"The licensing of additional competitive mainstream national news services is one means of achieving this objective," the CRTC statement added.
The CRTC's list of Category 2 specialty channels is wide-ranging and includes services such as Animal Planet, National Geographic Channel, the NHL Network, GameTV and Nikelodeon.
"Today marks the dawn of a new era for Canadian news media," Quebecor Media president and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau said in a statement reacting to the CRTC announcement.
"[Sun TV News] will aim to challenge conventional wisdom and offer Canadians a new choice and a new voice on TV."
Run by Quebecor's TVA Group and Sun Media divisions, the new right-leaning network will replace the over-the-air Sun TV station in Toronto and have its headquarters there.
'Hard news and straight talk'
Since Péladeau unveiled plans for the network in June, its motto has been "hard news and straight talk." Some in the industry have dubbed the service "Fox News North" — a label Sun TV News officials have rejected.
Quebecor had initially sought Category 1 status, which would guarantee it a place among the default channels for all cable subscribers, like news rivals such as CBC News Network and CTV News Channel.
However, the CRTC is not considering new tier-one broadcast licences until October 2011, following the switchover of all Canadian TV signals from over-the-air to digital.
The media company subsequently requested a must-carry exemption for its Category 2 licence bid. The request was to be the subject of a public hearing scheduled this month, but Quebecor announced it was dropping the must-carry bid in October.
In recent months, Sun TV News has announced a number of high-profile hirings, including former CBC journalist Krista Erickson, commentator and broadcaster Charles Adler, veteran journalist David Akin, radio broadcaster Brian Lilley and columnist Ezra Levant.
The network is expected to take to the airwaves in spring 2011.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/arts/media/story/2010/11/26/crtc-sun-tv-licence.html?ref=rss#ixzz16PmmVSYO
By QMI Agency
The line for shuddering and moaning on the political left forms here.
Sun TV News, Quebecor's all-news network, has been approved by Canada's broadcast regulator.
The CRTC announced on Friday that it has granted the forthcoming national news service approval to broadcast as an English-language, Category 2, specialty TV channel.
In its statement, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission reiterated "the importance of maintaining and enhancing the plurality of editorial voices in local and national markets and ensuring that Canadians are exposed to an appropriate plurality of those voices."
"The licensing of additional competitive mainstream national news services is one means of achieving this objective," the CRTC statement added.
The CRTC's list of Category 2 specialty channels is wide-ranging and includes services such as Animal Planet, National Geographic Channel, the NHL Network, GameTV and Nikelodeon.
"Today marks the dawn of a new era for Canadian news media," Quebecor Media president and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau said in a statement reacting to the CRTC announcement.
"[Sun TV News] will aim to challenge conventional wisdom and offer Canadians a new choice and a new voice on TV."
Run by Quebecor's TVA Group and Sun Media divisions, the new right-leaning network will replace the over-the-air Sun TV station in Toronto and have its headquarters there.
'Hard news and straight talk'
Since Péladeau unveiled plans for the network in June, its motto has been "hard news and straight talk." Some in the industry have dubbed the service "Fox News North" — a label Sun TV News officials have rejected.
Quebecor had initially sought Category 1 status, which would guarantee it a place among the default channels for all cable subscribers, like news rivals such as CBC News Network and CTV News Channel.
However, the CRTC is not considering new tier-one broadcast licences until October 2011, following the switchover of all Canadian TV signals from over-the-air to digital.
The media company subsequently requested a must-carry exemption for its Category 2 licence bid. The request was to be the subject of a public hearing scheduled this month, but Quebecor announced it was dropping the must-carry bid in October.
In recent months, Sun TV News has announced a number of high-profile hirings, including former CBC journalist Krista Erickson, commentator and broadcaster Charles Adler, veteran journalist David Akin, radio broadcaster Brian Lilley and columnist Ezra Levant.
The network is expected to take to the airwaves in spring 2011.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/arts/media/story/2010/11/26/crtc-sun-tv-licence.html?ref=rss#ixzz16PmmVSYO
Cut TSA Employees Some Slack...
...they are doing a job that they probably find as reprehensible as you might and it would appear that the vast majority of travellers are taking it in stride.
"Tis The Season TO BE POLITICALLY CORRECT...
Lorne Gunter: Stop covering up “Merry Christmas” with politically correct wallpaper
Last year during the holidays, a clerk at a large national retail chain leaned in towards me after ringing up my gift purchase and barely whispered “Merry Christmas.” I leaned in, too, and winked, “Merry Christmas to you, too.”
I admired her for her courageous act. There had been several news reports about how her employer had instructed workers to tell customers “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings,” but not “Merry Christmas,” out of fear of offending non-Christian shoppers. My secret Christmas-sharing cashier was putting her job at risk. “I just like it saying so much,” she confessed. Read More »
Are University Water/Food Supplies Contaminated...
University of Lethbridge pays student $7,714 to pursue 9/11 conspiracy theories
As some readers may know, I’ve spent the last few years tracking the 9/11 Truth Movement — these being the conspiracy theorists who believe that the 9/11 terror attacks were staged by American neo-conservatives as a pretext to launch wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Truth movement is primarily an American phenomenon, but there are a few major Canadian “Truthers.” One of them is Anthony Hall, the founding coordinator or the Globalization Studies program at the University of Lethbridge.
As I can report from my personal encounters with Hall at 9/11 Truth events in Montreal and Walkerton, Ont., the man is very passionate about his Trutherdom. But as long as he keeps it out of the classroom, he’s free to believe in whatever conspiracy theories he likes.
Unfortunately, Hall seems to be using his post at Lethbridge as a training ground for 9/11 Trutherdom. His star pupil in this regard is British graduate student Joshua Blakeney, who can be seen in this 2009 video harassing a female CBC reporter with his dark theories about the CBC’s failure to investigate the 9/11 “cover-up.” Blakeney also wrote this charming article expressing delight that author Christopher Hitchens had been sickened with cancer. Read More »
As some readers may know, I’ve spent the last few years tracking the 9/11 Truth Movement — these being the conspiracy theorists who believe that the 9/11 terror attacks were staged by American neo-conservatives as a pretext to launch wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Truth movement is primarily an American phenomenon, but there are a few major Canadian “Truthers.” One of them is Anthony Hall, the founding coordinator or the Globalization Studies program at the University of Lethbridge.
As I can report from my personal encounters with Hall at 9/11 Truth events in Montreal and Walkerton, Ont., the man is very passionate about his Trutherdom. But as long as he keeps it out of the classroom, he’s free to believe in whatever conspiracy theories he likes.
Unfortunately, Hall seems to be using his post at Lethbridge as a training ground for 9/11 Trutherdom. His star pupil in this regard is British graduate student Joshua Blakeney, who can be seen in this 2009 video harassing a female CBC reporter with his dark theories about the CBC’s failure to investigate the 9/11 “cover-up.” Blakeney also wrote this charming article expressing delight that author Christopher Hitchens had been sickened with cancer. Read More »
Iggy Moment...
Ignatieff suffering ‘enthusiasm gap’ with voters
John Ivison: Things may get so bad for Michael Ignatieff that by next week’s end, we could hear the characteristic sound of the Liberal Party calling for its next Messiah.
...prayer won't help:
John Ivison: Things may get so bad for Michael Ignatieff that by next week’s end, we could hear the characteristic sound of the Liberal Party calling for its next Messiah.
...prayer won't help:
Legacy Reality...
This is what Comrade Miller and his cronies left...
Hepburn: Farewell David Miller: Your legacy is Rob Ford
Canada's Loss...
Rex Murphy: Danny Williams a modern day Joe SmallwoodHébert: Williams forged new face of provincial nationalism
by Chantal Hébert
Danny Williams’ political instincts stay true to the very end
Don Martin: Williams, the premier who gave Newfoundland its combative but cool personality, is the last leader on the national stage to uniquely define and defend his political territory, most of it at Ottawa’s expense
It is the highest sanity and not a little touch of class to know when to leave. There have been many in politics who found themselves, after much strife and Herculean effort, occupying the biggest chair only to learn that leaving it, when the time came, was even more arduous than winning it in the first place. Danny Williams, who has shown during his decade in politics that he has a surprising arsenal of talents and gifts, proved yesterday he had that rarest one too. He knew the right moment to go and had the courage to act with dispatch and clarity on the insight. He’ll be gone in a week. And, boy, did he pick his moment.
There are opera singers who’ll never hit the high note Danny Williams is leaving on. It’s the very highest of the high: the signing of a deal to develop the Lower Churchill. Read More »
by Chantal Hébert
Danny Williams’ political instincts stay true to the very end
Don Martin: Williams, the premier who gave Newfoundland its combative but cool personality, is the last leader on the national stage to uniquely define and defend his political territory, most of it at Ottawa’s expense
It is the highest sanity and not a little touch of class to know when to leave. There have been many in politics who found themselves, after much strife and Herculean effort, occupying the biggest chair only to learn that leaving it, when the time came, was even more arduous than winning it in the first place. Danny Williams, who has shown during his decade in politics that he has a surprising arsenal of talents and gifts, proved yesterday he had that rarest one too. He knew the right moment to go and had the courage to act with dispatch and clarity on the insight. He’ll be gone in a week. And, boy, did he pick his moment.
There are opera singers who’ll never hit the high note Danny Williams is leaving on. It’s the very highest of the high: the signing of a deal to develop the Lower Churchill. Read More »
Another Example of The Nut Not Falling Far From The Tree...
22 minutes ago
North Korea warned Friday that U.S.-South Korean plans for military manoeuvres put the peninsula on the brink of war.
WIRE: North Korean leader and son visited artillery site before shelling...
Black murders a Toronto issue: Editorial
By Toronto Sun
Why is it that 25 of the 28 people shot to death this year in Toronto are black?
...the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree:
BBC News AMERICAS Jamaica murder rate soars
By Toronto Sun
Why is it that 25 of the 28 people shot to death this year in Toronto are black?
...the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree:
BBC News AMERICAS Jamaica murder rate soars
THE STAR: More Police NOT Needed...
By CHRIS DOUCETTE, Toronto Sun
Those who wield the guns in Toronto and the victims whose lives they’ve snuffed out both seem to be getting younger all the time.
Hopefully Mayor Ford's solution is more one on one involvement from the community and less funding for racism cottage industries...
Keeping kids from gangs is key, Ford says
By JOE WARMINGTON, Toronto Sun
The “coach” knows the horror of knowing kids who have lost their battle on Toronto’s deadly streets.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Anoth Green Saviour Shows Their Prioritis...
November 25, 2010
Y2Kyoto: Scene From A David Suzuki Book Signing
On Nov. 20 Jenn Carson went to see David Suzuki speak in Moncton;
I was hoping to ask him during the question period that normally follows these types of talks for advice on how to help me promote environmentalism to my group of largely apathetic students at Hampton High School, where I am the librarian.
Unfortunately, there was no question period. Directly following Dr. Suzuki's speech, where he emphatically urged the audience to form strong interpersonal connections with their neighbours, family and local ecology, there was a book signing. I waited until the line was gone before I approached. I did not purchase any books, since I either have them at home, or have read them through our public library service. There was only one other man at the table, talking about a Prius, and he stopped and said he should go since I was waiting. Dr. Suzuki said it was alright since there was "no one there."
I assumed since he was 75, perhaps his eyesight was poor and he did not see me. When the man left, I approached Dr. Suzuki.
He looked up and said, "book?" I said I didn't have one but I wanted to ask him a question. He said, "I don't have time for that," and waved me away like a king dismissing a commoner.
There was absolutely no one else around the table except the security guards.
Then he shouted out, "Books! Books!" and continued waving me out of the way. There was no sign indicating no questions were allowed.
Only minutes before he had been espousing the value of slowing down and making time for each other and he didn't even have the decency to say, "I'm sorry, I'm tired . . . or I'm not allowed to answer questions . . ."
Instead here I was, an educator and great promoter of his books, looking for help with the generation he claimed was most important, but because I was not spending money (other than the $45 I spent to hear him lecture), I was waved off.
I used to be proud to call Dr. Suzuki one of my heroes, and now I can see that he is a hypocrite.
I am in no way turned off the environmental causes I have always believed in, simply disappointed to have to tell my students, once again, that celebrity and integrity seem to be mutually exclusive.
Jenn Carson,
Hampton
Welcome to the club, Jenn!
ht Robert in Calgary
Posted by Kate
Y2Kyoto: Scene From A David Suzuki Book Signing
On Nov. 20 Jenn Carson went to see David Suzuki speak in Moncton;
I was hoping to ask him during the question period that normally follows these types of talks for advice on how to help me promote environmentalism to my group of largely apathetic students at Hampton High School, where I am the librarian.
Unfortunately, there was no question period. Directly following Dr. Suzuki's speech, where he emphatically urged the audience to form strong interpersonal connections with their neighbours, family and local ecology, there was a book signing. I waited until the line was gone before I approached. I did not purchase any books, since I either have them at home, or have read them through our public library service. There was only one other man at the table, talking about a Prius, and he stopped and said he should go since I was waiting. Dr. Suzuki said it was alright since there was "no one there."
I assumed since he was 75, perhaps his eyesight was poor and he did not see me. When the man left, I approached Dr. Suzuki.
He looked up and said, "book?" I said I didn't have one but I wanted to ask him a question. He said, "I don't have time for that," and waved me away like a king dismissing a commoner.
There was absolutely no one else around the table except the security guards.
Then he shouted out, "Books! Books!" and continued waving me out of the way. There was no sign indicating no questions were allowed.
Only minutes before he had been espousing the value of slowing down and making time for each other and he didn't even have the decency to say, "I'm sorry, I'm tired . . . or I'm not allowed to answer questions . . ."
Instead here I was, an educator and great promoter of his books, looking for help with the generation he claimed was most important, but because I was not spending money (other than the $45 I spent to hear him lecture), I was waved off.
I used to be proud to call Dr. Suzuki one of my heroes, and now I can see that he is a hypocrite.
I am in no way turned off the environmental causes I have always believed in, simply disappointed to have to tell my students, once again, that celebrity and integrity seem to be mutually exclusive.
Jenn Carson,
Hampton
Welcome to the club, Jenn!
ht Robert in Calgary
Posted by Kate
Take Newfie Humour Out Of Our Culture And We Fail To Have Any Unique Culture
Canada: talking like a normal person gets you fired
Even in Newfoundland:
In an interview, Ms. Pardy Ghent said her comment was a tongue-in-cheek response to an ongoing political furor over revelations that an opposition Liberal staffer had sent Mr. Williams’ communications director an e-mail asking whether the premier had mental illness or syphilis.
Instead of eliciting a laugh, Ms. Pardy Ghent got a call from a deputy minister earlier this month, telling her she was being let go from the Burin Peninsula Regional Council, a government advisory board she helped found in 2005.
That prompted the board’s chairman, Michael Graham, to issue a letter demanding she be reinstated, essentially arguing that making off-colour jokes is part of the province’s unique character.
(...)
Geoff Meeker, whose political blog appears on the website of the St. John’s Telegram, said this incident is part of a more worrying trend in the province, where people who call in to talk radio shows to air their complaints about the government end up getting calls from ministers or their deputies chastising them for their comments.
***
Question:
Was the "Liberal staffer" whose bizarre email sparked this incident fired, too?
# Kathy Shaidle
Even in Newfoundland:
In an interview, Ms. Pardy Ghent said her comment was a tongue-in-cheek response to an ongoing political furor over revelations that an opposition Liberal staffer had sent Mr. Williams’ communications director an e-mail asking whether the premier had mental illness or syphilis.
Instead of eliciting a laugh, Ms. Pardy Ghent got a call from a deputy minister earlier this month, telling her she was being let go from the Burin Peninsula Regional Council, a government advisory board she helped found in 2005.
That prompted the board’s chairman, Michael Graham, to issue a letter demanding she be reinstated, essentially arguing that making off-colour jokes is part of the province’s unique character.
(...)
Geoff Meeker, whose political blog appears on the website of the St. John’s Telegram, said this incident is part of a more worrying trend in the province, where people who call in to talk radio shows to air their complaints about the government end up getting calls from ministers or their deputies chastising them for their comments.
***
Question:
Was the "Liberal staffer" whose bizarre email sparked this incident fired, too?
# Kathy Shaidle
Dealing With The Miller Lagacy...
Where Miller gets off
We’re left to judge him against his own exacting standard
By Michael Hollett
...here is how most will judge Comrade Miller...
We’re left to judge him against his own exacting standard
By Michael Hollett
...here is how most will judge Comrade Miller...
Putting TSA Pat Downs In Perspective...
The Human Factor
Jeff Dunetz;
When my family entered the El Al terminal at Newark Airport, we were met by someone who asked where we came from and where were going. When we got into the terminal and on the line to check in, an El Al employee asked my 12 year old son (out of my ear’s range) why we were going to Israel. He asked if we were Jewish and when my son answered yes, so followed up by asking the name of our Synagogue and our Rabbi’s name. But while he was asking questions I could feel his eyes gauging my reaction to our kid’s interrogation. The “interrogation” took no longer than thirty seconds. When he was done with my son, he came to me and asked the same questions (plus the typical who packed your luggage-type queries) once again gauging my reaction very closely.
Like the Mossad, tank drivers, and air force pilots, Israeli airport security have that super hero, no-nonsense, get to the point directness and efficiency. “Who packed your bags?” “What was your bar mitzah portion?” “Why are you even here visiting?” This quick-fire interrogation was not bothersome but reassuring. We got the feeling that we were dealing with people who knew what they were doing.
Via
Related - "The Nation magazine, a liberal publication that typically opposed George W. Bush's NSA snooping on our phone calls, has a new article attacking those who oppose Barack Obama's TSA snooping around our boxer briefs."
Posted by Kate at 11:01 AM Comments (21)
THE STAR: More Police NOT Needed...
Man killed in drive-by shooting
By CHRIS DOUCETTE, Toronto Sun
A man was critically injured in a drive-by shooting in Scarborough Wednesday night, the latest in a string of shootings that have plagued the city over the last week.
By CHRIS DOUCETTE, Toronto Sun
A man was critically injured in a drive-by shooting in Scarborough Wednesday night, the latest in a string of shootings that have plagued the city over the last week.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Canada's JUSTICE System...
Jury should have withstood lawyer’s facial gymnastics Nov 24, 2010 4:50AM EST
Clown in the gallery showed the courtroom is a theatre, sometimes of the absurd
CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD
...a venue for those who aspire to become stars in television reality show!
Clown in the gallery showed the courtroom is a theatre, sometimes of the absurd
CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD
...a venue for those who aspire to become stars in television reality show!
Free Speech...Leftist Version
George Jonas: Free speech? Depends. What do you want to say?
If a mob disrupted a pro-choice speaker at a Canadian university, chances are the protesters would be removed. If a mob disrupted a pro-life speaker at a Canadian university, chances are the speech would be cancelled.
One kind of speech is free in Canada; another kind isn’t. Speech broadly characterized as “left-wing” a.k.a. “progressive” — e.g., pro-choice, anti-Israeli, anti-capitalist — is protected even at its extreme. Speech broadly characterized as “right-wing” a.k.a. “reactionary” — pro-life, pro-Western, pro-Israel — isn’t protected, even when it’s moderate. Read More »
If a mob disrupted a pro-choice speaker at a Canadian university, chances are the protesters would be removed. If a mob disrupted a pro-life speaker at a Canadian university, chances are the speech would be cancelled.
One kind of speech is free in Canada; another kind isn’t. Speech broadly characterized as “left-wing” a.k.a. “progressive” — e.g., pro-choice, anti-Israeli, anti-capitalist — is protected even at its extreme. Speech broadly characterized as “right-wing” a.k.a. “reactionary” — pro-life, pro-Western, pro-Israel — isn’t protected, even when it’s moderate. Read More »
Native Solitude...
Lorne Gunter: Victimhood mentality leading to inflated salaries for chiefs
On tiny reserve, big pay defended
A reserve of 300 people in rural Nova Scotia is governed by three of the highest-paid politicians in Canada, including one band councillor who made almost $1-million in tax-free income last year
Band chiefs’ salaries overhaul overdue
Marilla Stephenson: Many of the First Nations people they represent live in poverty, have substandard housing and water, and have limited access to jobs and education. Yet band chiefs and councillors are collecting hundreds of.. MORE...
On tiny reserve, big pay defended
A reserve of 300 people in rural Nova Scotia is governed by three of the highest-paid politicians in Canada, including one band councillor who made almost $1-million in tax-free income last year
Band chiefs’ salaries overhaul overdue
Marilla Stephenson: Many of the First Nations people they represent live in poverty, have substandard housing and water, and have limited access to jobs and education. Yet band chiefs and councillors are collecting hundreds of.. MORE...
A Glimmer Of Hope From The Left...
Universities ‘hotbeds of anti-Israel activity’: MP Joe Volpe
Liberal MP Joe Volpe — whose Toronto riding is home to the rabbi at the centre of a public row with York University — said “anti-Semitism cannot be tolerated, especially under the cloak of free speech”
Liberal MP Joe Volpe — whose Toronto riding is home to the rabbi at the centre of a public row with York University — said “anti-Semitism cannot be tolerated, especially under the cloak of free speech”
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Coulter And TSA...
NAPOLITANO: THE BALL’S IN MY COURT NOW
by Ann Coulter
November 17, 2010
After the 9/11 attacks, when 19 Muslim terrorists -- 15 from Saudi Arabia, two from the United Arab Emirates and one each from Egypt and Lebanon, 14 with "al" in their names -- took over commercial aircraft with box-cutters, the government banned sharp objects from planes.
Airport security began confiscating little old ladies' knitting needles and breaking the mouse-sized nail files off of passengers' nail clippers. Surprisingly, no decrease in the number of hijacking attempts by little old ladies and manicurists was noted.
After another Muslim terrorist, Richard Reid, AKA Tariq Raja, AKA Abdel Rahim, AKA Abdul Raheem, AKA Abu Ibrahim, AKA Sammy Cohen (which was only his eHarmony alias), tried to blow up a commercial aircraft with explosive-laden sneakers, the government prohibited more than 3 ounces of liquid from being carried on airplanes.
All passengers were required to take off their shoes for special security screening, which did not thwart a single terrorist attack, but made airport security checkpoints a lot smellier.
After Muslim terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab of Nigeria tried to detonate explosive material in his underwear over Detroit last Christmas, the government began requiring nude body scans at airports.
The machines, which cannot detect chemicals or plastic, would not have caught the diaper bomber. So, again, no hijackers were stopped, but being able to see passengers in the nude boosted the morale of airport security personnel by 22 percent.
After explosives were inserted in two ink cartridges and placed on a plane headed to the United States from the Muslim nation of Yemen, the government banned printer cartridges from all domestic flights, resulting in no improvement in airport security, while requiring ink cartridges who traveled to take Amtrak.
So when the next Muslim terrorist, probably named Abdul Ahmed al Shehri, places explosives in his anal cavity, what is the government going to require then? (If you're looking for a good investment opportunity, might I suggest rubber gloves?)
Last year, a Muslim attempting to murder Prince Mohammed bin Nayef of Saudi Arabia blew himself up with a bomb stuck up his anus. Fortunately, this didn't happen near an airport, or Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano would now be requiring full body cavity searches to fly.
You can't stop a terrorist attack by searching for the explosives any more than you can stop crime by taking away everyone's guns.
In the 1970s, liberal ideas on crime swept the country. Gun owners were treated like criminals while actual criminals were coddled and released. If only we treated criminals with dignity and respect and showed them the system was fair, liberals told us, criminals would reward us with good behavior.
As is now well known, crime exploded in the '70s. It took decades of conservative law-and-order policies to get crime back to near-1950s levels.
It's similarly pointless to treat all Americans as if they're potential terrorists while trying to find and confiscate anything that could be used as a weapon. We can't search all passengers for explosives because Muslims stick explosives up their anuses. (Talk about jobs Americans just won't do.)
You have to search for the terrorists.
Fortunately, that's the one advantage we have in this war. In a lucky stroke, all the terrorists are swarthy, foreign-born, Muslim males. (Think: "Guys Madonna would date.")
This would give us a major leg up -- if only the country weren't insane.
Is there any question that we'd be looking for Swedes if the 9/11 terrorists, the shoe bomber, the diaper bomber and the printer cartridge bomber had all been Swedish? If the Irish Republican Army were bombing our planes, wouldn't we be looking for people with Irish surnames and an Irish appearance?
Only because the terrorists are Muslims do we pretend not to notice who keeps trying to blow up our planes.
It would be harder to find Swedes or Irish boarding commercial airliners in the U.S. than Muslims. Swarthy foreigners stand out like a sore thumb in an airport. The American domestic flying population is remarkably homogenous. An airport is not a Sears department store.
Only about a third of all Americans flew even once in the last year, and only 7 percent took more than four round trips. The majority of airline passengers are middle-aged, middle-class, white businessmen with about a million frequent flier miles. I'd wager that more than 90 percent of domestic air travelers were born in the U.S.
If the government did nothing more than have a five-minute conversation with the one passenger per flight born outside the U.S., you'd need 90 percent fewer Transportation Security Administration agents and airlines would be far safer than they are now.
Instead, Napolitano just keeps ordering more invasive searches of all passengers, without exception -- except members of Congress and government officials, who get VIP treatment, so they never know what she's doing to the rest of us.
Two weeks ago, Napolitano ordered TSA agents to start groping women's breasts and all passengers' genitalia -- children, nuns and rape victims, everyone except government officials and members of Congress. (Which is weird because Dennis Kucinich would like it.)
"Please have your genitalia out and ready to be fondled when you approach the security checkpoint."
This is the punishment for refusing the nude body scan for passengers who don't want to appear nude on live video or are worried about the skin cancer risk of the machines -- risks acknowledged by the very Johns Hopkins study touted by the government.
It is becoming increasingly obvious that we need to keep the government as far away from airport security as possible, and not only because Janet Napolitano did her graduate work in North Korea.
COPYRIGHT 2010 ANN COULTER
DISTRIBUTED BY UNIVERSAL UCLICK
1130 Walnut, Kansas City, MO 64106
by Ann Coulter
November 17, 2010
After the 9/11 attacks, when 19 Muslim terrorists -- 15 from Saudi Arabia, two from the United Arab Emirates and one each from Egypt and Lebanon, 14 with "al" in their names -- took over commercial aircraft with box-cutters, the government banned sharp objects from planes.
Airport security began confiscating little old ladies' knitting needles and breaking the mouse-sized nail files off of passengers' nail clippers. Surprisingly, no decrease in the number of hijacking attempts by little old ladies and manicurists was noted.
After another Muslim terrorist, Richard Reid, AKA Tariq Raja, AKA Abdel Rahim, AKA Abdul Raheem, AKA Abu Ibrahim, AKA Sammy Cohen (which was only his eHarmony alias), tried to blow up a commercial aircraft with explosive-laden sneakers, the government prohibited more than 3 ounces of liquid from being carried on airplanes.
All passengers were required to take off their shoes for special security screening, which did not thwart a single terrorist attack, but made airport security checkpoints a lot smellier.
After Muslim terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab of Nigeria tried to detonate explosive material in his underwear over Detroit last Christmas, the government began requiring nude body scans at airports.
The machines, which cannot detect chemicals or plastic, would not have caught the diaper bomber. So, again, no hijackers were stopped, but being able to see passengers in the nude boosted the morale of airport security personnel by 22 percent.
After explosives were inserted in two ink cartridges and placed on a plane headed to the United States from the Muslim nation of Yemen, the government banned printer cartridges from all domestic flights, resulting in no improvement in airport security, while requiring ink cartridges who traveled to take Amtrak.
So when the next Muslim terrorist, probably named Abdul Ahmed al Shehri, places explosives in his anal cavity, what is the government going to require then? (If you're looking for a good investment opportunity, might I suggest rubber gloves?)
Last year, a Muslim attempting to murder Prince Mohammed bin Nayef of Saudi Arabia blew himself up with a bomb stuck up his anus. Fortunately, this didn't happen near an airport, or Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano would now be requiring full body cavity searches to fly.
You can't stop a terrorist attack by searching for the explosives any more than you can stop crime by taking away everyone's guns.
In the 1970s, liberal ideas on crime swept the country. Gun owners were treated like criminals while actual criminals were coddled and released. If only we treated criminals with dignity and respect and showed them the system was fair, liberals told us, criminals would reward us with good behavior.
As is now well known, crime exploded in the '70s. It took decades of conservative law-and-order policies to get crime back to near-1950s levels.
It's similarly pointless to treat all Americans as if they're potential terrorists while trying to find and confiscate anything that could be used as a weapon. We can't search all passengers for explosives because Muslims stick explosives up their anuses. (Talk about jobs Americans just won't do.)
You have to search for the terrorists.
Fortunately, that's the one advantage we have in this war. In a lucky stroke, all the terrorists are swarthy, foreign-born, Muslim males. (Think: "Guys Madonna would date.")
This would give us a major leg up -- if only the country weren't insane.
Is there any question that we'd be looking for Swedes if the 9/11 terrorists, the shoe bomber, the diaper bomber and the printer cartridge bomber had all been Swedish? If the Irish Republican Army were bombing our planes, wouldn't we be looking for people with Irish surnames and an Irish appearance?
Only because the terrorists are Muslims do we pretend not to notice who keeps trying to blow up our planes.
It would be harder to find Swedes or Irish boarding commercial airliners in the U.S. than Muslims. Swarthy foreigners stand out like a sore thumb in an airport. The American domestic flying population is remarkably homogenous. An airport is not a Sears department store.
Only about a third of all Americans flew even once in the last year, and only 7 percent took more than four round trips. The majority of airline passengers are middle-aged, middle-class, white businessmen with about a million frequent flier miles. I'd wager that more than 90 percent of domestic air travelers were born in the U.S.
If the government did nothing more than have a five-minute conversation with the one passenger per flight born outside the U.S., you'd need 90 percent fewer Transportation Security Administration agents and airlines would be far safer than they are now.
Instead, Napolitano just keeps ordering more invasive searches of all passengers, without exception -- except members of Congress and government officials, who get VIP treatment, so they never know what she's doing to the rest of us.
Two weeks ago, Napolitano ordered TSA agents to start groping women's breasts and all passengers' genitalia -- children, nuns and rape victims, everyone except government officials and members of Congress. (Which is weird because Dennis Kucinich would like it.)
"Please have your genitalia out and ready to be fondled when you approach the security checkpoint."
This is the punishment for refusing the nude body scan for passengers who don't want to appear nude on live video or are worried about the skin cancer risk of the machines -- risks acknowledged by the very Johns Hopkins study touted by the government.
It is becoming increasingly obvious that we need to keep the government as far away from airport security as possible, and not only because Janet Napolitano did her graduate work in North Korea.
COPYRIGHT 2010 ANN COULTER
DISTRIBUTED BY UNIVERSAL UCLICK
1130 Walnut, Kansas City, MO 64106
Universities And Freedom Of Expression...
...the Ultimate Oxymoron. Universities have allowed groups to hijack the administration and taken to the extreme the adage that shouting fire in a crowd is not allowed in their version of freedom of expression.
Chris Selley’s Full Pundit: Free speech is where it’s at
Universal derision
In which various university presidents make their lives far more difficult than they need to be.
In the National Post, David Frum compares York University’s reception of right-wing academic Daniel Pipes (a briefing on hate speech, and an eventually cancelled appearance) to its reception of socialist former British MP George Galloway (a non-cancelled speech conducted under police protection paid for by students, with threats of legal action against protesters), and concludes there’s something rather wrong with this picture.
No kidding. Setting aside the fact the situations aren’t precisely analogous, and all the various allegations against Mr. Pipes and Mr. Galloway levelled by their ideological opponents, what we really don’t get is this: What kind of self-respecting university president wouldn’t bend over backwards, even if it costs him a few bucks, to ensure he presides over a bastion of absolute (or as absolute as possible) free speech? As Sun Media’s Ezra Levant says, they’re supposed to be in charge of educating young people. What the hell kind of message are they sending? (Mind you, as someone who applauded Mr. Galloway initially being kept out of Canada because he doesn’t like him — and because there was, technically speaking, a legal justification for doing so — Levant isn’t exactly dripping with credibility on this subject.)
Read More »
Chris Selley’s Full Pundit: Free speech is where it’s at
Universal derision
In which various university presidents make their lives far more difficult than they need to be.
In the National Post, David Frum compares York University’s reception of right-wing academic Daniel Pipes (a briefing on hate speech, and an eventually cancelled appearance) to its reception of socialist former British MP George Galloway (a non-cancelled speech conducted under police protection paid for by students, with threats of legal action against protesters), and concludes there’s something rather wrong with this picture.
No kidding. Setting aside the fact the situations aren’t precisely analogous, and all the various allegations against Mr. Pipes and Mr. Galloway levelled by their ideological opponents, what we really don’t get is this: What kind of self-respecting university president wouldn’t bend over backwards, even if it costs him a few bucks, to ensure he presides over a bastion of absolute (or as absolute as possible) free speech? As Sun Media’s Ezra Levant says, they’re supposed to be in charge of educating young people. What the hell kind of message are they sending? (Mind you, as someone who applauded Mr. Galloway initially being kept out of Canada because he doesn’t like him — and because there was, technically speaking, a legal justification for doing so — Levant isn’t exactly dripping with credibility on this subject.)
Read More »
The Reality Behind First Nation Solitude...
Native chiefs earn more than PM
John Ivison: Transparency must precede money for native reforms
Most Canadians would agree that something needs to be done about the dismal state of First Nations schools, from which less than half of young native men and women graduate. At the same time, those same Canadians will be appalled to discover that more than 80 aboriginal reserve politicians are paid more than the Prime Minister, and 222 earned more than their provincial premiers. No one likes to be played for a sucker. Why should taxpayers spend more on natives when so much of the existing funding seems to be siphoned off by greedy chiefs?
John Duncan, the Indian Affairs Minister, is currently trying to navigate through the rocky shoals of aboriginal politics by reforming native education, while at the same time demanding more accountability and transparency from chiefs.
In the House of Commons Monday, he said an announcement on education is imminent. Later he said the government wants to expand a Conservative private members’ bill aimed at forcing chiefs to disclose all sources of income, not just public funds.
Read More »
Judge finds Six Nations’ land claim ‘exceedingly weak’
Christie Blatchford
John Ivison: Transparency must precede money for native reforms
Most Canadians would agree that something needs to be done about the dismal state of First Nations schools, from which less than half of young native men and women graduate. At the same time, those same Canadians will be appalled to discover that more than 80 aboriginal reserve politicians are paid more than the Prime Minister, and 222 earned more than their provincial premiers. No one likes to be played for a sucker. Why should taxpayers spend more on natives when so much of the existing funding seems to be siphoned off by greedy chiefs?
John Duncan, the Indian Affairs Minister, is currently trying to navigate through the rocky shoals of aboriginal politics by reforming native education, while at the same time demanding more accountability and transparency from chiefs.
In the House of Commons Monday, he said an announcement on education is imminent. Later he said the government wants to expand a Conservative private members’ bill aimed at forcing chiefs to disclose all sources of income, not just public funds.
Read More »
Judge finds Six Nations’ land claim ‘exceedingly weak’
Christie Blatchford
The Star Needs To Look At Reality...
...and look at what has been happening on our streets paricularly during the past couple of weeks. The Star's vendetta against the police continues even in the face of increased violence by groups that cannot be identified due to charges of racial profiling, ethnic diversity and the leftwing social in-activists.
Male victim dies after gunfire in north end
A male has died after being shot in the city's north end Monday night, CTV Toronto reports. The victim was taken to Sunnybrook Hospital for treatment but was pronounced dead.
Police say no links among weekend shootings
Teen stabbed outside Toronto school
A male has died after being shot in the city's north end Monday night, CTV Toronto reports. The victim was taken to Sunnybrook Hospital for treatment but was pronounced dead.
Police say no links among weekend shootings
Monday, November 22, 2010
How Mucch Damage Will A Year Make///
Ontario voters would turf McGuinty: poll
The Ipsos Reid poll found that 41% of respondents who were decided voters said they would elect the provincial Progressive Conservatives, under leader Tim Hudak, if the election took place now
The Ipsos Reid poll found that 41% of respondents who were decided voters said they would elect the provincial Progressive Conservatives, under leader Tim Hudak, if the election took place now
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Blatchford Probably Apprecates All The Support BUT>>>
...she is more than able to speak for herself and she does so in her Globe and Mail column.
The police are not your friend
Michael Coren on the cops not protecting a woman who wrote a book about people not being protected by the cops:
What is most bothering is why the police or campus security did not drag these idiots from the stage and arrest them. The explanation as to why they didn’t is that there were safety concerns. So what?
Criminals sometimes get hurt, but that’s the risk you take when you commit a crime. And occupying a stage so as to prevent a speech by an invited guest is a public order offence punishable under the law.
But, once again, the hoodlums won. As when Ann Coulter was silenced, Mark Steyn forced to change venue, pro-lifers attacked and when native gangsters had their way in the very Caledonia so ably described by Blatchford in her book.
Rex Murphy adds:
It was also extremely interesting to note that in some of the online comments that appeared when the story was written up in the Waterloo Record, someone identifying himself as Dan Kellar dismissed the part of the audience that opposed the protesters as "old white men" and "old white ladies."
So apparently it's the "anti-racists" who take skin colour into account when making their judgments, and "white" is obviously deemed second-class and unworthy. Activism works some strange transmutations. Anti-racism, meet racism: You are slopebrowed twins.
# Kathy Shaidle :
The police are not your friend
Michael Coren on the cops not protecting a woman who wrote a book about people not being protected by the cops:
What is most bothering is why the police or campus security did not drag these idiots from the stage and arrest them. The explanation as to why they didn’t is that there were safety concerns. So what?
Criminals sometimes get hurt, but that’s the risk you take when you commit a crime. And occupying a stage so as to prevent a speech by an invited guest is a public order offence punishable under the law.
But, once again, the hoodlums won. As when Ann Coulter was silenced, Mark Steyn forced to change venue, pro-lifers attacked and when native gangsters had their way in the very Caledonia so ably described by Blatchford in her book.
Rex Murphy adds:
It was also extremely interesting to note that in some of the online comments that appeared when the story was written up in the Waterloo Record, someone identifying himself as Dan Kellar dismissed the part of the audience that opposed the protesters as "old white men" and "old white ladies."
So apparently it's the "anti-racists" who take skin colour into account when making their judgments, and "white" is obviously deemed second-class and unworthy. Activism works some strange transmutations. Anti-racism, meet racism: You are slopebrowed twins.
# Kathy Shaidle :
Dance Gypsie, Dance...
'Romas from Eastern Europe are what normal people call gypsies'
James Fulford explains:
They typically want a better life so much that they’re willing to steal it.
***
And they're flooding into Canada as you read this.
# Kathy Shaidle
James Fulford explains:
They typically want a better life so much that they’re willing to steal it.
***
And they're flooding into Canada as you read this.
# Kathy Shaidle
iGGY MOMENT...
Kinsella: Liberal rumour
Bob Rae leaving for Isreal position? Kinsella: From a friend with deep Grit caucus connections: “Rae to Jerusalem. Smitherman to Ottawa. All’s well that ends well.”
Delacourt: Ask Bob Rae - "Completely, utterly, and totally ridiculous. False, a lie, and a calumny. "
Bob Rae zips from dove to hawk
Kinsella: Liberals fuming over ‘backroom deal’to prolong Canadian Forces mission in Afghanistan. Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae peered into his crystal ball last weekend and predicted that “interesting”times lay ahead in Parliament. MORE...
Bob Rae leaving for Isreal position? Kinsella: From a friend with deep Grit caucus connections: “Rae to Jerusalem. Smitherman to Ottawa. All’s well that ends well.”
Delacourt: Ask Bob Rae - "Completely, utterly, and totally ridiculous. False, a lie, and a calumny. "
Bob Rae zips from dove to hawk
Kinsella: Liberals fuming over ‘backroom deal’to prolong Canadian Forces mission in Afghanistan. Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae peered into his crystal ball last weekend and predicted that “interesting”times lay ahead in Parliament. MORE...
BLATCHFORD SPEAKS OUT...
Three protesters shut me down once; they won’t do it again
Christie Blatchford
Two Fridays ago, I was driving in fog to give a talk about my new book, never dreaming I was about to join the list of those, most recently the American writer Ann Coulter and the former British MP George Galloway, who have been prevented from speaking at Canadian college campuses.
The difference, as Joe Brean wryly put it in a story in the National Post this week, is that where Ms. Coulter was shut down at the University of Ottawa by an unruly mob (which sufficiently alarmed authorities or her own security people that the event was cancelled), Mr. Galloway banned by the federal government (that decision overturned by a judge, with the result that Mr. Galloway was in Canada on a speaking tour this month), “Ms. Blatchford was shut down by three people and a couple of bike locks.”
I arrived late to the University of Waterloo to learn that the three, bike locks on their necks, were on the stage, behind the podium where I was to speak, chanting “Racist, racist, racist!”
We were all taken by surprise, I think – me, university spokesman Michael Strickland and a nice campus-police officer.
They asked what I’d like to do and I said I’d like to go on stage and give it a whirl, and that though I’d prefer the trio be removed first, I’d go on regardless. Nicola Makoway, the Doubleday/Random House publicist with me, asked if the police approved of that. The campus cop, who had called in a couple of cruisers from Waterloo Regional Police before I even got there, said no, because if things got rowdy, they wouldn’t be able to protect me.
Before I knew it, he had cancelled the event, and Nicola and I were back in the car, driving home to Toronto.
Now in the days since, I’ve been second-guessing myself all over the place: Should I have insisted on going on stage? Could I have? Should I have made a run through the curtains?
The reason, of course, is that there was something shameful about slinking away. To take liberties with a great line from the old movie Apocalypse Now, I hate the clank of bike lock in the evening; it sounds like defeat.
But I was an invited guest, not the boss of the university, and in those few minutes backstage, I deferred to those who worked for the school. It still feels like a mistake but I’m damned if I know what else I could have done.
The university brass appear to have felt the same way: President Feridun Hamdullahpur quickly phoned to apologize, I have been invited back and am going, and there it sits.
I think we were all mystified. I’m hardly a Coulter-esque stirrer of pots, but a reporter, and my book, which is about the ruination of the rule of law in Caledonia, Ont., during the native occupation there, is most sharply critical of the Ontario government and the senior ranks of the Ontario Provincial Police – that is, the state, which cheerfully threw the town under the bus.
I took pains in the book to explain what it is not about, and while I expected (and the university might have reasonably expected) there might be those who disagreed with that approach, it never occurred to me that anyone would try to stop me from speaking.
In fact, however, as I’ve only recently learned – publishers and their people tend to keep discouraging news from their authors, lest we crawl into the fetal position and stop typing – from the get-go, from the moment they began talking up Helpless: Caledonia’s Nightmare of Fear and Anarchy and How the Law Failed All of Us, they encountered what they call “pushback.”
Some bookstores were reluctant to host signings or events for fear of a native backlash; some news shows were less than keen to touch the subject for the same reason.
Their timidity seems to be all of a piece with what the U of W protesters said motivated them. As Dan Kellar, one of the three locked together on the stage, told Mr. Brean, I am a “settler” on native land who hasn’t come to term with settlers’ responsibilities and am therefore important to silence.
I take from that horse manure what I take from the booksellers’ reluctance: That if one doesn’t bow at the altar of aboriginal self-determination, however criminally it may be expressed, one should not be allowed to speak.
Mr. Kellar went on to tell Mr. Brean that “older members” of Kitchener-Waterloo Anti-Racist Action recalled me “glorifying” the neo-Nazi Ernst Zundel and went on to compare me to a Nazi propagandist.
Now, I knew damn well that I have never done anything of the sort, but before I said so, had Globe and Mail researcher Stephanie Chambers check the record.
She found that in more than 35 years of daily journalism, working for four different Toronto newspapers, I had mentioned Mr. Zundel’s name a total of five times, mostly peripherally.
In the one piece that was actually about him, this in 1994 when he had applied for Canadian citizenship, I defended his right to freedom of speech, but said, “There is no comparable right to citizenship” and concluded, “I am, in other words, wholeheartedly in favour of letting Ernst Zundel say anything in the whole world that he wants or believes – even that the Holocaust didn’t happen. The only four words, coming out of his mouth, that would make me cringe are these: ‘I’m a Canadian citizen.’”
I think I’ll bring my own bike lock when I’m back at Waterloo, with a suggestion where Mr. Kellar might put it.
COMMENTS
COMMENTS ON THE TOWN THE LAW FORGOT...
Christie Blatchford
Two Fridays ago, I was driving in fog to give a talk about my new book, never dreaming I was about to join the list of those, most recently the American writer Ann Coulter and the former British MP George Galloway, who have been prevented from speaking at Canadian college campuses.
The difference, as Joe Brean wryly put it in a story in the National Post this week, is that where Ms. Coulter was shut down at the University of Ottawa by an unruly mob (which sufficiently alarmed authorities or her own security people that the event was cancelled), Mr. Galloway banned by the federal government (that decision overturned by a judge, with the result that Mr. Galloway was in Canada on a speaking tour this month), “Ms. Blatchford was shut down by three people and a couple of bike locks.”
I arrived late to the University of Waterloo to learn that the three, bike locks on their necks, were on the stage, behind the podium where I was to speak, chanting “Racist, racist, racist!”
We were all taken by surprise, I think – me, university spokesman Michael Strickland and a nice campus-police officer.
They asked what I’d like to do and I said I’d like to go on stage and give it a whirl, and that though I’d prefer the trio be removed first, I’d go on regardless. Nicola Makoway, the Doubleday/Random House publicist with me, asked if the police approved of that. The campus cop, who had called in a couple of cruisers from Waterloo Regional Police before I even got there, said no, because if things got rowdy, they wouldn’t be able to protect me.
Before I knew it, he had cancelled the event, and Nicola and I were back in the car, driving home to Toronto.
Now in the days since, I’ve been second-guessing myself all over the place: Should I have insisted on going on stage? Could I have? Should I have made a run through the curtains?
The reason, of course, is that there was something shameful about slinking away. To take liberties with a great line from the old movie Apocalypse Now, I hate the clank of bike lock in the evening; it sounds like defeat.
But I was an invited guest, not the boss of the university, and in those few minutes backstage, I deferred to those who worked for the school. It still feels like a mistake but I’m damned if I know what else I could have done.
The university brass appear to have felt the same way: President Feridun Hamdullahpur quickly phoned to apologize, I have been invited back and am going, and there it sits.
I think we were all mystified. I’m hardly a Coulter-esque stirrer of pots, but a reporter, and my book, which is about the ruination of the rule of law in Caledonia, Ont., during the native occupation there, is most sharply critical of the Ontario government and the senior ranks of the Ontario Provincial Police – that is, the state, which cheerfully threw the town under the bus.
I took pains in the book to explain what it is not about, and while I expected (and the university might have reasonably expected) there might be those who disagreed with that approach, it never occurred to me that anyone would try to stop me from speaking.
In fact, however, as I’ve only recently learned – publishers and their people tend to keep discouraging news from their authors, lest we crawl into the fetal position and stop typing – from the get-go, from the moment they began talking up Helpless: Caledonia’s Nightmare of Fear and Anarchy and How the Law Failed All of Us, they encountered what they call “pushback.”
Some bookstores were reluctant to host signings or events for fear of a native backlash; some news shows were less than keen to touch the subject for the same reason.
Their timidity seems to be all of a piece with what the U of W protesters said motivated them. As Dan Kellar, one of the three locked together on the stage, told Mr. Brean, I am a “settler” on native land who hasn’t come to term with settlers’ responsibilities and am therefore important to silence.
I take from that horse manure what I take from the booksellers’ reluctance: That if one doesn’t bow at the altar of aboriginal self-determination, however criminally it may be expressed, one should not be allowed to speak.
Mr. Kellar went on to tell Mr. Brean that “older members” of Kitchener-Waterloo Anti-Racist Action recalled me “glorifying” the neo-Nazi Ernst Zundel and went on to compare me to a Nazi propagandist.
Now, I knew damn well that I have never done anything of the sort, but before I said so, had Globe and Mail researcher Stephanie Chambers check the record.
She found that in more than 35 years of daily journalism, working for four different Toronto newspapers, I had mentioned Mr. Zundel’s name a total of five times, mostly peripherally.
In the one piece that was actually about him, this in 1994 when he had applied for Canadian citizenship, I defended his right to freedom of speech, but said, “There is no comparable right to citizenship” and concluded, “I am, in other words, wholeheartedly in favour of letting Ernst Zundel say anything in the whole world that he wants or believes – even that the Holocaust didn’t happen. The only four words, coming out of his mouth, that would make me cringe are these: ‘I’m a Canadian citizen.’”
I think I’ll bring my own bike lock when I’m back at Waterloo, with a suggestion where Mr. Kellar might put it.
COMMENTS
COMMENTS ON THE TOWN THE LAW FORGOT...
Thank Gawd There Are Some Cracks In Leftwing Version Of Freedom Of Expression...
Paul Russell: Readers love Blatchford, Beck, naughty statues and bread pudding
When four excerpts from Christie Blatchford’s book about Caledonia graced our pages this week — the first one coming the same day as a front-page story about the author being barred from speaking at the University of Waterloo due to student protests — readers flooded our mailbox with notes of support.
“Christie Blatchford should be happy Dan Kellar and his band of goons interrupted her speech,” wrote Tim Lemieux. “What would have been a presentation to a small audience has now become national news, and has helped bring even more attention to her excellent new book, Helpless. Thanks, Dan.”
“Dan Kellar’s self-chained protest at the University of Waterloo focused my attention on the excerpt about the suspension of Canadian law in Caledonia, Ont.,” added Judy Turner. “Ms. Blatchford’s recounting of this episode shows how easily the special status received by today’s savvy natives (and sometimes others) can be used to manipulate our politicians, our laws and freedom of speech.”
– More than two dozen letter writers lined up to slap the proverbial wrist of columnist Jonathan Kay this week, after he dared criticize conservative commentator Glenn Beck in his column last Saturday, “The George Soros effect.”
Read More »
When four excerpts from Christie Blatchford’s book about Caledonia graced our pages this week — the first one coming the same day as a front-page story about the author being barred from speaking at the University of Waterloo due to student protests — readers flooded our mailbox with notes of support.
“Christie Blatchford should be happy Dan Kellar and his band of goons interrupted her speech,” wrote Tim Lemieux. “What would have been a presentation to a small audience has now become national news, and has helped bring even more attention to her excellent new book, Helpless. Thanks, Dan.”
“Dan Kellar’s self-chained protest at the University of Waterloo focused my attention on the excerpt about the suspension of Canadian law in Caledonia, Ont.,” added Judy Turner. “Ms. Blatchford’s recounting of this episode shows how easily the special status received by today’s savvy natives (and sometimes others) can be used to manipulate our politicians, our laws and freedom of speech.”
– More than two dozen letter writers lined up to slap the proverbial wrist of columnist Jonathan Kay this week, after he dared criticize conservative commentator Glenn Beck in his column last Saturday, “The George Soros effect.”
Read More »
Hells Of Higher Learning...
'Progressive' intolerance in action
Rex Murphy: The University of Waterloo is inadequately and belatedly trying to make up for the shabby treatment afforded Christie Blatchford at the renowned institution
Heavy-handed university presidents are the problem
By EZRA LEVANT, QMI Agency
What is it with university presidents threatening to sic the police on their critics?
Carleton anti-abortion club to sue over ban
The lawyer for an anti-abortion group just decertified at Carleton University said Friday he will take the school’s student association to court unless the ban is reversed
David Frum: York University, where the rules change based on who’s speaking
York University’s reception of George Galloway — and the Toronto-area university’s legal threats against Galloway protesters — reminded me of an old joke from the Jim Crow American South.
A line of white men are waiting to cast their votes. The polling officer presents each white man with an elementary school reader and asks him to read a line aloud. The white men sound out, “the cat is fat,” “the mice are nice,” and so on. The polling officer congratulates them for passing the literacy test. At last, an old black farmer steps forward. The polling officer pulls out a medical school text book on diseases of the esophagus and points the farmer to the most obscure passage. “What’s it say here?” The farmer looks at the dense type and answers sadly, “It says this old man ain’t voting today.”
The point of the story is that institutions sometimes have two sets of rules. The institution may say, “All literate men may vote.” But the institution actually practises the rule, “Only white men may vote.” Read More »
Rex Murphy: The University of Waterloo is inadequately and belatedly trying to make up for the shabby treatment afforded Christie Blatchford at the renowned institution
Heavy-handed university presidents are the problem
By EZRA LEVANT, QMI Agency
What is it with university presidents threatening to sic the police on their critics?
Carleton anti-abortion club to sue over ban
The lawyer for an anti-abortion group just decertified at Carleton University said Friday he will take the school’s student association to court unless the ban is reversed
David Frum: York University, where the rules change based on who’s speaking
York University’s reception of George Galloway — and the Toronto-area university’s legal threats against Galloway protesters — reminded me of an old joke from the Jim Crow American South.
A line of white men are waiting to cast their votes. The polling officer presents each white man with an elementary school reader and asks him to read a line aloud. The white men sound out, “the cat is fat,” “the mice are nice,” and so on. The polling officer congratulates them for passing the literacy test. At last, an old black farmer steps forward. The polling officer pulls out a medical school text book on diseases of the esophagus and points the farmer to the most obscure passage. “What’s it say here?” The farmer looks at the dense type and answers sadly, “It says this old man ain’t voting today.”
The point of the story is that institutions sometimes have two sets of rules. The institution may say, “All literate men may vote.” But the institution actually practises the rule, “Only white men may vote.” Read More »
Lets Give Premier Dad Some Credit...
...he will screw you irregardless of your socio-economic status.
When Will Leftists Take A Share Of The Blame...
It's A Start to Get Toronto Silly Hall Turned Around...
Buzz builds as mayor set to fill top jobs
By Leslie Ferenc Sat Nov 20 2010
Councillors Doug Holyday, Mike Del Grande, Frances Nunziata and Karen Stintz expected to fill top jobs in new administration at city hall.
Toronto Ford chooses long-time allies, right-leaning councillor to form new administration
By Leslie Ferenc Sat Nov 20 2010
Councillors Doug Holyday, Mike Del Grande, Frances Nunziata and Karen Stintz expected to fill top jobs in new administration at city hall.
Toronto Ford chooses long-time allies, right-leaning councillor to form new administration
The Star Needs To Look At Reality...
Published On Wed Nov 17
Mayor-elect Rob Ford’s insistence — repeated this week — that we “can’t have enough police” seems to fly in the face of the law of diminishing returns. Simply put, there’s a point at which the investment of additional resources doesn’t yield significant new benefits.
And a reasonable case can be made that Toronto’s existing police force doesn’t need to be increased in size, especially given the falling crime rate.
Police seek two men after separate shootings; 1 dead
Toronto police are looking for two men in their 20s after a pair of overnight shootings left one dead and four others injured in the city's north end.
Victim identified in ‘family plaza’ shooting
Sat Nov 20 2010
Police were at a North York plaza Saturday investigating a fatal shooting after a violent night in Toronto.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Leftwing Getting Out Of The Kitchen...
...it seems they can't stand the heat but many of the homegrown anarchists and potential terrorists stand fast.
‘Backers’ distance themselves from Galloway tour
David Suzuki and a B.C. MLA have withdrawn their endorsement of a group sponsoring George Galloway’s upcoming talk in Vancouver, just as the pastor of the church rented for the event voices concerns over the former British MP
‘Backers’ distance themselves from Galloway tour
David Suzuki and a B.C. MLA have withdrawn their endorsement of a group sponsoring George Galloway’s upcoming talk in Vancouver, just as the pastor of the church rented for the event voices concerns over the former British MP
Premier Dad Sodimizes People Of Ontario...
...including those that Voted For Change TWICE. Even the leftwing media supporter visualizes the pain:
Better for the government to spend the money on restoring the cuts in transit funding or on advancing its plans to reduce poverty.
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About Me
- Unhypentated Canadian
- I lean to the right but I still have a heart and if I have a mission it is to respond to attacks on people not available to protect themselves and to point out the hypocrisy of the left at every opportunity.MY MAJOR GOAL IS HIGHLIGHT THE HYPOCRISY AND STUPIDITY OF THE LEFTISTS ON TORONTO CITY COUNCIL. Last word: In the final analysis this blog is a relief valve for my rants/raves.