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Saturday, July 09, 2005

View To The West

Taken from just west of Delisle, SK, tonight.

Posted by Kate McMillan on July 9, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Urgent: Needs Cancon

July 9 - Some enterprising webbers have set up a site to affirm that we ordinary types continue to enjoy our lives and stand unafraid and unbowed despite the terror attacks in London.

Even a quick perusal of the entries at We're Not Afraid  indicates that this is far from a frivolous exercise but in fact a defiant challenge to those who would try to intimidate free people.  The entries have a common, irrefutable message: the joy, love and humour in our lives come complete with a stiff spine.

The latest have been a steady stream of contributions from Italians. (Heh, some of them are more than a little brassed off.) They, as well as the Danes, were threatened by the same shadowy cowards who claim to be responsible for the London attacks.

I looked for a Canadian contribution - by country, by province and by city - in the search feature and found nothing (but sheesh, there are over 742 entries and another 1000 waiting to be uploaded!) The site managers are working in shifts around the clock to upload the entries and are determined to continue for so long as contribution come in.

Come on, surely one of you knows how to create that sort of thing. Canadians ought to be in this enterprise for reasons you already know.

If we can't go all snarky with photo shop then ... (you know it's coming) the terrorist will have won!

Posted by Debbye Stratigacos on July 9, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

The Church punishes another MP

Another NDP MP has been given an ecclesiastical bum's rush by the Catholic Church over his very active support for same-sex marriage.

Is the Church just lashing out?  I don't think so.  I think there may be plan at work here.  And it's not the obvious one -- punishing individual MPs in order to get a change in C-38 or to otherwise influence party platforms.

I think it is much more fundamental.  I think the Church has recognized the creeping influence of something called "regalism".  That word describes the situation in which the Church is subordinate to the State -- she must either remain silent, or worse yet, she must always give support to State policy.

That's how it works in Communist China.  That's how some Canadian politicians wish it worked here.

If that's the case, punishing these MPs is a message to the Canadian body politic that the Church will not be subservient, and that Caesar had better stop meddling in the business of the Church, which is to give guidance to, and expect obedience from, her flock.

Sound interesting?  If so, read my extended post.

Posted by Steve Janke on July 9, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (42) | TrackBack

Passage

Reform/Canadian Alliance turned Independent MP Chuck Cadman died today after a two-year battle with cancer. Though Canadian conservatives were disappointed by his vote to help keep the Liberal Party in power, I'm sure everyone offers their sincerest condolences to his family.

Cross-posted at ESR's Musings...

Posted by Steve Martinovich on July 9, 2005 in Canadian Politics | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack

Sounds a Bit Like a Place in Alberta

From ABC News International [with thanks to AlexK]:

ISTANBUL, Turkey Jul 8, 2005 — First one sheep jumped to its death. Then stunned Turkish shepherds, who had left the herd to graze while they had breakfast, watched as nearly 1,500 others followed, each leaping off the same cliff, Turkish media reported.

In the end, 450 dead animals lay on top of one another in a billowy white pile, the Aksam newspaper said. Those who jumped later were saved as the pile got higher and the fall more cushioned, Aksam reported.

The risk that sheep will act like lemmings is probably an unforeseeable risk (at least it isn't something I would have imagined). I wonder if this is an insurable risk.

It sounds remotely like Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump [which I have visited twice and highly recommend] except that in that case the buffalo were enticed and driven over the cliff.

Posted by EclectEcon on July 9, 2005 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Friday, July 08, 2005

Jupiter

Lileks.

Posted by Kate McMillan on July 8, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Where Did Their Culture Go?

This little gemat Wizbang;

We were traveling into Cancun and I was seeing Gucci stores, fancy restaurants, and big hotels. I was thinking, "Wow, I didn't realize parts of Mexico were this developed. This is great." But that's not what my cab- mates were thinking.
Woman One: "Yuck, look at this. It's so terrible."
Woman Two: "I know, you used to come to Mexico and see a different culture. Now, it looks just like home."
June: "What is it exactly that you miss about the old Mexico?"
Woman Two: "Well, there used to be tiny houses, dusty streets, and merchants selling homemade goods along the road."
June: "That's poverty that you were seeing. That's what poverty looks like."
Woman One: "But so much has been lost. The culture, you know."
June: "You said that Canada looks like this. That is prosperity. Do you think that Mexicans don't deserve that, too?"
Woman One:
Woman Two:
Woman One:
Woman Two:

Posted by Kate McMillan on July 8, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBack

Terrorism -- the very small threat

Our national broadcaster has broadcast a commentary by Gwynne Dyer, historian and CBC pundit, in which he takes issue with the characterization of the terrorists and their attacks in London.  We should see this in perspective, he argues.  Fifty deaths is mere 10% increase in the daily mortality rate in London.  Just 50 people out of a city of 11 million which normally sees 400 deaths a day.  The attacks were on par with Irish terror attacks of years past, and like Irish terrorism (in his view), Islamic terrorism is soluble if we just engaged in an "awkward public debate" about foreign policy.  Fix foreign policy, and the terror nuisance subsides.

Read it for yourself and post what your thoughts.

Remarkable that my tax dollars paid for this.  I wrote a long response, and you can read it for free.

Posted by Steve Janke on July 8, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (42) | TrackBack

Bob Geldof is probably still angry

In case you missed it, our political masters at the G8 conference in Scotland have agreed to double the amount of aid being sent to Africa, to $50 billion annually by 2010.

Earlier this week in the Jerusalem Post I argued that the last thing Africa needs is more aid money. I write that only political and economic reforms, coupled with free and fair trade (even Kofi Annan agrees with me!), will rescue Africa. You can read it here.

Posted by Steve Martinovich on July 8, 2005 in International Affairs | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Is Canada Next? Or Is It Again?

With the "is Canada next?" debate raging as a result of the attacks on London, not a lot of Canadians seem aware that if we are, it won't be the first time that a calculated attack with mass casualties has been perpetrated by an individual who viewed his victims through a lens shaped by Islamic fundamentalism.

His name was Gamil Rodrigue Gharbi.

On Dec. 6, 1989 he shot 14 female engineering students at Ecole Polytechnique, and injured 15 others.

Posted by Kate McMillan on July 8, 2005 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (21) | TrackBack

The Spectator on 7/7

The Spectator editorializes with "calm resolution," here for now with free registration, on yesterday's tube terrorism, countering the notion that London would not, could not have been bombed, had not Prime Minister Blair taken Britain into the Iraq war. The Spec points out the Islamicist attacks on Paris and on New York (more Britons were killed on 9/11 than on 7/7) pre-date the Iraq invasion.

Think blindly fanatical, "ineradicable," hate-driven Islamo-fascists can be reasoned with or appeased?

Only if you are a wilfully blind, Western-loathing, thorough-goingly secularist, um, America-hating, modernist liberal?
(Cross-posted to Burkean Canuck).

Posted by Russ Kuykendall on July 8, 2005 in International Affairs | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBack

More Blasts

This time, it appears to be Kofi Annan's fault.

At least three blasts rocked the center of
Kosovo's capital on Saturday, and one targeted the U.N. mission headquarters.

An Associated Press reporter saw at least three U.N. vehicles set ablaze in the parking lot of the U.N. mission headquarters in Pristina.


Also hit are the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and a Kosovo government building which also houses the province's parliament.

No word on casualites.

Via OTB

Posted by Kate McMillan on July 8, 2005 in International Affairs | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Ahenakew Guilty

Ahenakew has been found guilty. The National Post (where updates are promised);

A defiant David Ahenakew lashed out at the Jewish community, the courts and the media Friday shortly after being convicted and fined for promoting hatred.

Ahenakew said he is convinced authorities decided to strip him of the Order of Canada before the court reached its verdict.

"This, of course, was the direct result of the pressure put on the (Governor General's) advisory committee by some of the Jewish community, including a letter-writing campaign and the lobbying by the Canadian Jewish Congress," he said at a news conference.

"If I'm forced to choose between freedom of speech and the Order of Canada, I chose free speech."


I missed the first part of the news conference, but what I just caught on local radio tells me I got to get my hands on a transcript. If anyone knows of one, shoot it too me, and I'll post it in its entirety.

Listening to more audio clips, it's safe to say he's unrepentant about his views.


Posted by Kate McMillan on July 8, 2005 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack

From the fringe: Other theories about the London Bombings

From the fringe comes conspiracy theories about the true force behind the London bombings, each stranger than the last:

The last one comes from Michael Moore.

Thank goodness the British authorities will be relying on evidence!

Posted by Steve Janke on July 8, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

The Heart Of Little Beirut

From the comments section at SDA;

Born in '66 and living in Vancouver. Probably the only person I know in my age group around these leftist parts that supports an aggressive war on terrorism, here and abroad. Of course, the Liberals will never do anything so aggressive, however, I clandestinely support George W. at work and more openly at home... Nevertheless, my Muslim supervisor was laughing yesterday about the bombings in London.... I was so upset I called in sick today... I can't believe how many terrorist supporters openly wear their pro-terrorist affiliations here in Vancouver... Funny though, him and all his Muslim friends all contribute huge amounts to the Liberals....

Charmaine Yoest was in London on the day of the bombings. What she found was just as disturbing.
I decided I needed to expand my demographic sample and started looking for the quintessential English gentleman businessman.

Spied him talking on the phone near the barricade and moved in. Warily, he agreed to talk.

No, he wasn't surprised. "It's been due to happen. Sooner or later." He got the talking points, too.

Bu then he pointed out something very interesting that I had noticed only on a subconscious level. "This is the heart of Little Beirut" he said. We were indeed surrounded by people, like the young men, who appeared to be Arab. A strange and exceptionally cold-blooded choice of targets for Al Quaida, even by terrorist standards.

Finally, I asked him the Tony Blair question. He looked at me puzzled: "How can you blame Tony Blair?"

I told him he was the only one all day I'd found who didn't.

He frowned. "Interesting," he said. And walked off.

Posted by Kate McMillan on July 8, 2005 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Eco-terrorist to leave Canada -- sometime

An eco-terrorist (and subject of my post on "foodism") was ordered extradited, but that might take a while:

British Columbia Supreme Court Judge Kristi Gill ruled that there was enough evidence against [suspected eco-terrorist Tre Arrow] to have him extradited to face federal charges. His lawyer said he would appeal, a process that could take months.

The former U.S. Green Party candidate for Congress in 2000 -- who says the trees told him to change his name -- last week told the court that he was innocent of the charges and a target of a government conspiracy.

The trees told him to change his name to "Tre Arrow"?  Come on, buddy, don't you know when some tree is playing a joke on you?

I bet there's an aspen and a maple somewhere just yucking it up. 

"I can't believe he fell for it," the aspen will say, "He actually changed his name to 'Tre Arrow'!"

"Oh man, if only we had known he was such a rube," responds the maple, sap running down its bark from laughing so hard, "we could have told him to change his name to 'I. P. Freeley'!"

[More links and background at Angry in the Great White North]

Posted by Steve Janke on July 8, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Are Canadians drawing the right conclusion about why we haven't been attacked?

In considering why Canada is the only "Crusader" country not yet attacked (Al Qaeda listed America, Britain, Spain, Australia, Canada and Italy, in that order), the typical reason given is Iraq:

"I think it is less likely to happen here," said Stuart Farson, a political scientist at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. "I find it difficult to imagine."

Farson points out Canada did not take part in the invasion of Iraq, a conflict that has inflamed the ire of extremists.

Farson does not point out another possibility. The other reason not to draw attention to Canada is because they have important assets in Canada. This is pure speculation, but if Al Qaeda had important personnel in Canada working on a new attack on the US, the last thing they would do is stage an attack on Canadian soil.

What was it Sherlock Holmes said about the dog that didn't bark?

[Update: Does Canadian support of regime in Sudan fit into the theory I'm suggesting?]

Posted by Steve Janke on July 8, 2005 in International Affairs | Permalink | Comments (18) | TrackBack

Thursday, July 07, 2005

7/7 & the net

The Guardian has a story on the blog reaction to the terrorist attacks in London. There really isn't much there although they note that Wikipedia already has "a comprehensive entry" on it. It also points to the Observer's newsblog on how the media dealt with the story. There really isn't much there. The Guardian's own newsblog had excellent and frequent updates on breaking news throughout the day.

Posted by Paul Tuns on July 7, 2005 in Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Giuliani to Londoners

Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani writes in his letter to the editor of the London Times:

"Great Britain was there for us on September 11, 2001, and you should know that the United States supports you in your time of need.

New Yorkers feel particular empathy, just as Londoners showed empathy to New York. In fact, I’ve mentioned many times that in the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001, I viewed the people of London during the air attacks of the Second World War as a model for how to remain courageous and strong during times of great trouble.

After September 11, 2001, the good people of Great Britain showed enormous support and empathy to Americans. Prime Minister Blair came to New York City to comfort and assist people.

Of course, Great Britain lost many people in the September 11 attacks as well, which reminds us that the citizens of free nations are linked in the modern world. Prime Minister Blair’s visit and the support my city received from Great Britain demonstrate that we stand together in opposing those who use terror to attack freedom and democracy. These are dastardly, cowardly acts and the best way to deal with them is to stand up to them."

Posted by Paul Tuns on July 7, 2005 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Howard Moscoe is an Idiot

I just wrote an email to the councilor responsible for the Toronto Transit Commission, regarding inappropriate remarks he made earlier today at a press conference.

Mr. Moscoe

I am writing because I feel ashamed at this moment that you - a high profile member of Toronto's council -  were quoted in a press conference this afternoon making glib and catty remarks regarding the London attacks.
For you to say that "we have no troops to pull out of Iraq" and "the terrorists would have to find Toronto first" is disrespectful, condescending, and completely out of line.
In regards to your comment about Iraq, it leads to even more anti-Americanism, and it is already rampant here in Toronto. There is already a feeling that everything from the Crusades to a fender bender should be blamed on George Bush and America. Your remarks do not help. It also indicates that the blame for today's attacks rests with Tony Blair and the UK itself. Would you have the courage to say such things on the BBC? Please remember that you are a politician, and you are to behave in a more diplomatic way than you demonstrated to us today.
Your words about the terrorists finding their way to Toronto is a lark, when you consider the "diversity" that is oh so prized in this city. The remark also diminishes Toronto's importance on the world stage, as if it were a backwater that no one should bother with. Perhaps you should run for minister of tourism?
You owe the people of Toronto an apology, for it is by them you are employed. And you owe the people of London an apology for your crass and disrespectful behaviour. Remember that the United Kingdom is the home from which we sprang as Canadians, and there is little point in flying our flags at half-mast in their honour if our councillors and other public figures demean the occasion by hamming it up for the cameras.

Posted by RightGirl on July 7, 2005 in Canadian Politics | Permalink | Comments (36) | TrackBack

More on 7/7

MIchelle Malkin has been working overtime on London bombing linkage and commentary. Or just go to the main page and keep scrolling.

Also, via this link rich post at Protein Wisdom, a quote from Cliff May at the Corner;

On the BBC today one British official was quite puzzled that the terrorists would strike during the G8, a time when world leaders were addressing "poverty, inequality and injustice."

That presupposes that the terrorists care about "poverty, inequality and injustice." How stupid do you have to be to believe that someone who takes money from a Saudi billionaire to buy bombs cares about "poverty and inequality"? How ignorant do you have to be to believe that to Radical Islamists "justice" means anything other than infidels choking on their own blood, their civilization burning and a glorious, renewed caliphate arising from the ashes?


Also - a preliminary report from a "source inside the Pentagon" that one of the bombers was a recent Gitmo release.

Finally - observations about the relative weakness of the attack from Wretchard.


Posted by Kate McMillan on July 7, 2005 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

God Save The Queen

Gb

We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, What is our policy? I will say; "It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us: to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy." You ask, What is our aim? I can answer with one word: Victory - victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival."     Sir Winston Churchill

Posted by Michael Dabioch on July 7, 2005 in International Affairs | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Not Knowing The Enemy

This CBC news item from today is a perfect example of why Canadians continue to be misinformed on the nature of Islamic terrorism. Whether it's incompetence or a deliberate attempt to place blame for the Madrid train bombings on the Bush administration, I'll leave to the reader to judge;

The deputy prime minister said there's no way of guaranteeing bombers won't strike here, given that Canada made it onto a list of al-Qaeda targets for sending troops to Afghanistan to support the U.S.-led mission against that country's former government after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks against the United States.

The other countries on the al-Qaeda list released in November 2002 were Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany and Australia.

Spain later became a target because it sent troops to Iraq when U.S. President George W. Bush's administration decided to invade and topple Saddam Hussein's government.

Suicide bombings later confirmed to be the work of al-Qaeda militants killed 191 train commuters in and around the Spanish capital of Madrid in March 2004.


Emphasis mine.

As I noted in this SDA post of nearly a year ago, the New Yorker had reported ;

"One of the most sobering pieces of information to come out of the investigation of the March 11th bombings is that the planning for the attacks may have begun nearly a year before 9/11. In October, 2000, several of the suspects met in Istanbul with Amer Azizi, who had taken the nom de guerre Othman Al Andalusi-Othman of Al Andalus. Azizi later gave the conspirators permission to act in the name of Al Qaeda, although it is unclear whether he authorized money or other assistance- or, indeed, whether Al Qaeda had much support to offer. In June, Italian police released a surveillance tape of one of the alleged planners of the train bombings, an Egyptian housepainter named Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, who said that the operation 'took me two and a half years.' Ahmed had served as an explosives expert in the Egyptian Army. It appears that some kind of attack would have happened even if Spain had not joined the Coalition- or if the invasion of Iraq had never occurred."

This was one of the major news stories to occur that year. Now, if a gawdamned nobody artist in Saskatchewan knows this, why doesn't the CBC?


Posted by Kate McMillan on July 7, 2005 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

7/7 Attacks: reaction

Canadian and world reaction to the 7/7 attacks

Posted by Stephen Taylor on July 7, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Know The Enemy

A good time to revisit this essay by Bill Whittle - particularly for those who have found their way to the blogosphere only recently, perhaps through searches for information on the London bomb attacks.

If someone is coming toward me in an alley, knife drawn, I do not give a damn why their socio-economic status may have had an influence in coloring their worldview regarding income redistribution. To take such a position rather than preparing to defend yourself is suicide, and we will come back to this later because it is a key to understanding what is going on out there.

Radical Islam is a religious cult based on constant, never-ending warfare. I personally am aware of no other religious tracts that are as filled with page after page of conquest, strategy and military jargon. Islam rose to prominence under the sword, and the Prophet was, above all else, a military commander determined to spread his faith by conquest and enslavement. Islam has rules for when prisoners should be released, ransomed, sold into slavery or have their throats cut. As a matter of fact, Islam has rules for everything. What to eat, how to wash, where and when and in which direction to pray. Islam has rules for the treatment of animals and the treatment of women. There is no part of daily life that is not specifically addressed, sanctioned or outlawed by Islam.

And contrary to post 9/11 spin, the most accurate translation of Islam is not "peace." Prior to 9/11, the nearly universally accepted translation of the concept of Islam was "submission."

[...]

First, Islam philosophically divides the world into two camps - this is Islam's definitions, not mine -- Dar al-Islam and Dar al-Harb. Dar al-Islam is the House of Submission. Dar Al-Harb is not the House of Infidels. It is the House of War.

Posted by Kate McMillan on July 7, 2005 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

We stand together

Today, terrorism has changed nothing, save to strengthen the resolve and the unity of civilized nations everywhere who fight to defeat it.

Stephen Taylor

Posted by Stephen Taylor on July 7, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack

South Korea Must Be A Paradise

After much debate on the pros and cons of repatriating Lee, the Kim Young-Sam government decided to send him back in a humanitarian spirit (62 others were later sent back by President Kim Dae-Jung) and to attempt a breakthrough in the deadlocked South-North relations.

Lee received a hero's welcome and, sure enough, Pyongyang made a film on Lee's "heroic struggle for the motherland" in South Korean prisons and made sure all North Koreans saw it.

However, the movie caused many North Koreans to become curious about South Korean society.

Many North Korean defectors said their first reaction upon seeing the film was to ask how people could stay in prison for more than 10 years and remain alive? They say few people survive even three years in North Korean political prisons. Being fed three regular meals a day is utterly unimaginable.


Via Drudge.

Posted by Kate McMillan on July 7, 2005 in International Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Jack Layton reminds us of what is important in these troubled times

Leave it to Jack Layton to remind us of what is important as we watch aghast as one the world's largest cities reel from a terrorist attack.

He tells us we should show the terrorists we mean business using...subsidized housing!

Posted by Steve Janke on July 7, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (15) | TrackBack

The Libranos: Drug Connections

Another drug bust tied to Liberal Party operatives in British Columbia. This time it's Ecstacy.

Ravinderjit Kaur Puar, who is also known as Ravinderjit Kaur Shergill, was captured on tape saying she was involved in the sale of ecstasy and marijuana and also said she did not want any "heat" because both she and her father are politicians, according to U.S. court documents.

"We don't drop our weed off here. We take it all the way to California," Puar was also quoted in the documents as saying.

Puar ran unsuccessfully earlier this year for the NDP nomination in Vancouver-Kensington, which was won by David Chudnovsky, who went on to win in the May provincial election.

She was also elected as a Liberal party delegate for Paul Martin's leadership team in the fall of 2003, but did not end up attending the convention.

Puar's father, Kalwant Singh Puar, is on the executive of Vancouver's Ross Street Sikh temple. He has been a high-profile supporter of federal Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh.


83 kilos of cocaine found on a Martin owned Canada Steamship Lines vessel, drug related arrests in BC of Liberal fundraisers and organizers (the Basi Boys) associated with Paul Martin's leadership campaign, and the curious testimony of Miriam Bedard at the Commons committee hearings into Adscam.

Perhaps it's time the federal Liberals were asked to recuse themselves from further debate on marijuana decriminalization. Conflict of interest, and all that.


Posted by Kate McMillan on July 7, 2005 in Canadian Politics | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack

For Canadians who need information about the London attacks...

CBC Radio reporting the following CANADIAN number(s) to call for info:

613-943-1055

outside the National Capital Region:

1-800-387-3124

Foreign Affairs has set up a hotline for Canadians with strong reasons to believe their relatives might have been travelling in London transit this morning. They should have on hand the missing person's full name, date of birth and passport number before calling the toll-free hotline at 1-800-387-3124.

Posted by Steve Janke on July 7, 2005 in International Affairs | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

More From London

Instapundit has a comprehensive link roundup and commentary this morning. It's probably the best one-stop gathering point for extra-MSM information at the moment, especially from bloggers on the scene.

Posted by Kate McMillan on July 7, 2005 in International Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

A loss of nerve and loss of the will to live?

Here, on Burkean Canuck.

Posted by Russ Kuykendall on July 7, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (12) | TrackBack

British Socialists are blaming Blair

The British Socialist Workers Party has issued a statement.  In something that should be no surprise to anyone, they blame the British government, and make no mention of the terrorists responsible.

Oh, and that most of the victims probably supported the SWP.

Sad but predictable.

Posted by Steve Janke on July 7, 2005 in International Affairs | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Terrorism in London while all eyes were on Scotland

I'm going out on a limb here, but if any official suggests that the terrible bombings in London were made easier to carry out because the anarchist socialist anti-G8 anti-capitalism anti-globalization violence in Scotland distracted the attention of anti-terror forces in the United Kingdom, you know that, free speech or no free speech, these rock-throwing window-breaking vandalizing fools are not going to be allowed to gather and demonstrate anywhere, anytime.

[Cross-posted from Angry in the Great White North]

Posted by Steve Janke on July 7, 2005 in International Affairs | Permalink | Comments (15) | TrackBack

Tube terrorism

Pictures, here and here.   Reuters, here.  BBC audio, here, and video, here.  Eye-witness reports, here.  (Cross-posted at Burkean Canuck).Tube_map_600_3

Posted by Russ Kuykendall on July 7, 2005 in International Affairs | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack

High Oil Prices Do NOT Mean There Will Be Line-ups at Gas Stations

A recent article in the Christian Science Monitor attributes most of the oil price increases over the past two years to growth in demand.

The fact that the price of a barrel of light sweet crude has doubled from $30 to near $60 in less than two years is largely about demand, experts say.

Part of the increase can be attributed to a new batch of increasingly heavy fuel users, namely China and India. But perhaps most notable is that Americans seem to be thumbing their noses at the gas lines of the 1970s and saying - at least for the time being - they are not willing to cut their use as oil prices climb.

Unfortunately, the article goes on to imply that high oil prices will lead to shortages and lineups at the gas pumps.

Christina ... vividly remembers the "even- and odd-day" fill-ups during the oil embargo of the 1970s.

"Those were terrifying days," she says.

..."...it's hard for people to get excited about it," says David Stewart, a professor of marketing and consumer psychology at the University of Southern California. "I, for one, am not going to go out of my way to save 10 cents a gallon."

That may change, however, if people are shown standing in line for fuel, as they were during the oil embargo.

High oil prices do not mean there will be shortages and line-ups. The only thing that causes line-ups is a price set below the market-clearing price.

The shortages and line-ups of 1978-79 in the U.S. would not have existed if gasoline prices had been allowed to increase to reflect changed supply and demand conditions, as they did in Canada. In that instance, the primary cause of the shortages and line-ups was the gubmnt restrictions on gasoline price increases, in the U.S., especially in California.

And the only thing that will bring back the shortages and line-ups will be price controls. I hope the gubmnts responsible for those line-ups learned something from the experiences of the late 1970s and from the general economic failure of the soviet economies, where people were forced to waste hours each week, standing in line to purchase items for which the gubmnt set too low a price.

Cross-posted at The Eclectic Economist.

Posted by EclectEcon on July 7, 2005 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

UNESCO opportunity

Are you between the ages of 18-30? If so, check out this opportunity to provide a conservative perspective at what will otherwise most likely be a gathering of hardcore social democrats.  Via UNESCO Canada's webpage you can find the application form to participate in a UNESCO consultation taking place in Ottawa.  If chosen, your travel and accomidation are provided, and one person from that group will be selected to represent Canadian youth in Paris, France.  The application form can be found here.  It's recommended that you have experience in some sort of youth organization.  The deadline for application is July 15th.

Posted by CharLeBois on July 6, 2005 in International Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

"Republicans can't write"

Terry Teachout on political art, here.
(Cross-posted to Burkean Canuck).

Posted by Russ Kuykendall on July 6, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Choking on it

In the-Africa-problem-is-not-a-money-problem department, see here and here.

About six months before he showed up for grad school, a friend of mine was elected an MP to the Parliament of a former-British-colony-made-independent-republic-in-the-1960s. He and his siblings were the first members of a tribe of some half a million people who had learned to read and write, thanks to their father who had served in the British army when the country was still part of the Empire. His tribe was not the ruling tribe, and he didn't stand as a candidate for the ruling party. Officially the country operated under a multi-party constitution, but de facto it was a one-party state (like Canada?). Instead he stood as an independent. He wasn't supposed to win -- many ballot boxes were stuffed by members of the ruling party -- but he was elected MP by an overwhelming plurality, and went to sit in Parliament. Trouble was, my friend made the mistake of asking where funds had gone that had been allocated to drill wells for his people, for they clearly hadn't gone into wells.

In those days, people would regularly just turn up missing, without warning. But somehow, he got word that he was about to be picked up by ruling party thugs, so he boarded a plane out of the country, and ended up at grad school where his wife and infant daughter joined him a few months later.

That was more than fifteen years ago, and little has changed in his country or most of the other countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Foreign aid keeps pouring into Africa, rails rust and roads become rubble, investors leave, and graft is the acceptable way of doing business.
(Cross-posted to Burkean Canuck).

Posted by Russ Kuykendall on July 6, 2005 in International Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The Worst Thing You Can Do With A Gun

"So Secretary Rice suggested to Kofi Annan that if he wanted scarier troops she would be more than glad to help him get the French and Canadians."

Posted by Kate McMillan on July 6, 2005 in International Politics | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Sachs in Scotland

Jeffrey Sachs is blogging from the G8 confab in Gleneagles for the Financial Times.

Posted by Paul Tuns on July 6, 2005 in Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

"How'd theyvote?"

Cory Horner, 24, an unemployed engineer according to a Canadian Press piece, here, has constructed a database of MP activity in the House of Commons, here. It's a useful service, allowing those who visit to monitor how many votes the MP was present and accounted for in the chamber of the House of Commons when the recorded vote was taken.

Without taking anything away from Mr. Horner, here's a couple of provisos and suggestions:

  1. The database doesn't take account of MPs' work in committee.  On some Standing Committees of the House of Commons, the work is significantly more demanding than on others, especially if a lot of bills are referred to it.  For example, the Finance committee and the Procedure and House Affairs committee are very busy, and this will keep MPs away from the chamber to speak to bills during "questions and comments" following interventions (speeches);
  2. The vote database doesn't take account of multiple votes being taken at one time.  For example, on complex bills at report stage, there can be hundreds of votes on one occasion.  I suggest noting the number of "voting occasions" for which MPs were present, as well as the raw number of votes;
  3. Numbers of words spoken will be influenced by how often a MP gets on his feet for question period.  Question period is controlled for the most part by caucuses who determine speaking rotations each morning during the issues meeting.  Some MPs are more effective than others in this setting, so they will necessarily be called on more often than others; and
  4. Some MPs tend to be "constituency MPs" who concentrate on working in their riding for their constituents.  Others work on a particular issue which may mean significant meetings and travels to meet with stakeholders.  Others do a lot of media work on behalf of the caucus and party.  Still others engage in party work, which is part of our system.  Our members are elected for the most part as members of a political party, they sit as caucuses in parties, and so on.

And here's a hint for Mr. Cory on data collection . . . if he's collecting all his data from "Hansard"(House of Commons Debates), he should consider going to Journals for this which gives a daily summary of all the business transacted in the chamber.  It's easier to track the votes from this.
(Cross-posted to Burkean Canuck)

Posted by Russ Kuykendall on July 6, 2005 in Canadian Politics | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Ironic words

From the Globe and Mail:

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has ordered construction speeded up on the West Bank separation barrier, giving priority to the section around Jerusalem, the head of Israel's National Security Council said Wednesday.

Three Arab neighbourhoods that are within Jerusalem's municipal boundaries recently filed suit against the route of the barrier, which puts them on the “Palestinian” side.

The petitioners accused the government of using the barrier to reduce the number of Palestinians living in the city.

Maybe they should stop and recall the Palestinian technique of reducing the number of Jews living in the city.

Jerusalembusterrorism_3

Posted by Steve Janke on July 6, 2005 in International Affairs | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Liberals to move research facility from NDP riding to Liberal riding; majority of staff to quit

An email from a person inside the CANMET-MTL research lab reveals that the Liberals are moving the facility out of Ed Broadbent's Ottawa Centre riding to Tony Valeri's riding in Hamilton.  Not too many people are happy -- my source tells me that the majority of the 100 highly skilled researchers affected won't be moving, destroying that pool of experience as the government is forced to re-staff the facility.

Among the reasons given:

The move to Hamilton will facilitate collaboration with university researchers through the existing Academic User Access Facility arrangement, as well as with international partners in China, India and the United States.

Well, if it makes China happy, then by all means.

[Updates added -- more information from inside the lab]

Posted by Steve Janke on July 6, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

An internet thief gets caught

Though this story has a happy ending, I would hope the people who run the online version of the Western Standard read it carefully, and consider what exposure they might have.  I bet there are more than a few people in Canada who would love to see Ezra Levant and company have the bejeezus hacked out of them, and for them to suffer the fate that ProtestWarrior.com narrowly avoided.

Posted by Steve Janke on July 6, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBack

Belinda Stronach to renew faith in democracy

Belinda Stronach is going on tour to find out why people today don't trust politicians.

After the spasms of laughter subside, feel free to read the full post.

Posted by Steve Janke on July 6, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (16) | TrackBack

Canada: a Country of Rugged Individualists.
Socialism is not part of our heritage.

The mainstream media of Canada, along with the interventionists of the country, would have us believe that socialism is at the heart of our unique Canadian identity.

They are wrong. Michel Kelly-Gagnon emphasizes in a recent column in the National Post that Canada was much later than the U.S. was in adopting many "social reforms" and was fervently individualistic for most of its history. [Thanks to Jack for the link; $req'd]

Now, it is obviously a fact that in today’s Canada taxes are high, the unions are strong (especially in Quebec) and you have powerful interest groups who will fight any attempts at change. It is also undeniable that, under most indicators, governments in Canada (especially when you compare provincial governments with state governments) are bigger today than they are in the United States.

But what needs to be challenged is the claim that interventionist government, high taxes, protectionist policies and socialized medicine constitute the very fabric of our national identity. We should not accept any more the notion that anyone who believes that less government is economically beneficial as well as morally justifiable is, de facto, trying to Americanize Canada and, thus, would be some sort of traitor to the Canada nation. The reality is that this so-called “Canadian identity” based on government compassion (or socialism, to speak more clearly) was only invented in the 1960s and ’70s.

He concludes

... free-market ideas are part of our Canadian heritage and of our Canadian identity. It’s something to be proud of. And it’s about time we started explaining to our fellow citizens, with patience, passion and reason, that you can be a true Canadian while wanting to reduce government control over our lives.

For more on Canada's individualistic beginnings and its drift toward statism, see Globalization and the Meaning of Canadian Life by Bill Watson. Sadly, both Kelly-Gagnon and Watson go overboard, trying to make their point, and in doing so they needlessly open themselves up to picky criticism.

Posted by EclectEcon on July 6, 2005 in Canadian Politics | Permalink | Comments (17) | TrackBack

Big Surprise -- No general election after the Gomery Report

The only surprise here is if anyone is surprised that the idea of reneging on this promise is being seriously discussed within the Liberal Party.

Posted by Steve Janke on July 6, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Ouvrez La Bouche

Insert spotted dick.

Posted by Kate McMillan on July 6, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

A Few Fuses Short

Insurgents do the darndest things.

Posted by Kate McMillan on July 6, 2005 in Military | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack