The Shotgun Blog
« July 15, 2007 - July 21, 2007 |Main| July 29, 2007 - August 4, 2007 »
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Hostages
Our own Mark Steyn wants Iranian regime to be stopped:
"In America, public opinion is in no mood for war with Iran. In Washington, Congress is focused on finding the most politically advantageous way to lose in Iraq. In Europe, they've already psychologically accepted the Iranian nuclear umbrella. In the western world, where talks are not the means to the end but an end in themselves, we find it hard despite the evidence of 30 years to accept that Iran talks the talk and walks the walk. Once it goes nuclear, do you think there will be fewer fatwas on writers, stonings of homosexuals, kidnappings in international waters, forced confessions of American hostages, and bankrolling of terror groups worldwide? These latest hostages are part of a decades-old pattern of behavior. The longer it goes without being stopped, the worse it will be."
Posted by Winston on July 28, 2007 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (36) | TrackBack
Friday, July 27, 2007
McGuinty on the march
It's been quite a week for Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty. First, the Conservatives sucker him into apologizing for some obscure insult by a low level civil servant in a misdirected email--the "ghetto dude" thing. Then his top campaign adviser Warren Kinsella gets raked over in the media for a lame caption--"I wish I was at home baking cookies"--plastered on a photograph of a young female MPP. And now everyone is blaming him for his citizenship and immigration minister's pre-election heritage daze support. On that last one, here's a piece from Wednesday that mentions yet another group that benefited from Colle's vote buying, the Chinese Professionals Association of Canada. Epoch Times: Fundraiser for Ontario's Colle Links Group That Got 'Slush Fund' Grants. I particularly like this line in the story;
CPAC also works with state and local-level Chinese governments to attract Chinese-Canadians with technical knowledge to return to China to discuss their technology, all expenses paid.
How generous.
Posted by Kevin Steel on July 27, 2007 in Canadian Provincial Politics | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBack
Thursday, July 26, 2007
A caveman could figure this out
AP: Producers: `Cavemen' Not Racial Metaphor
The producers are playing with words. Yes, the Geico cavemen are not specifically a "racial metaphor". But everyone knows they are a metaphor for any minority in a first world country obsessed with political correctness. The ad team that came up with this cleverly created a safe, non-existent minority group we could all laugh at as they whined about stereotyping. It's a satire about grievance culture. If the TV show moves away from this premise, then it will fall flat. (btw, I still think the first ad was the best, where the Geico guy is buying the two cavemen lunch and saying, "Seriously, we apologize. We had no idea you guys were still around." The two cavemen play it beautifully. You can watch it here.)
Posted by Kevin Steel on July 26, 2007 in Television | Permalink | Comments (17) | TrackBack
Details of David Pretlove's offer
In London, Ontario, a potential scandal is brewing. In January the federal Liberal riding association discovered $15,000 missing from the accounts. Suspicion fell on former treasurer Suzan Pawlak based in part on cheques that were written to her without supporting documentation. At the time of the discovery of the missing money, Pawlak was a member of David Pretlove's staff. Pretlove was the financial director of the LPC(O). When the riding association made Pretlove aware of the problem, Pretlove responded with an unusual offer:
- David Pretlove would cover to losses for cheques specifically written out to Pawlak (as well as a hotel bill in the amount of $1,000) by cutting a cheque from the LPC(O) account under his control, amounting to $7,200
- The remaining $8,000 required clarification or would not be covered
- In order to receive the cheque, a written assurance would be required that promised no further investigation and no police involvement
- All information regarding Pawlak's involvement would need to be turned over
- The "drop dead" deadline for filing with Elections Canada was only a few weeks away, and the riding association's submissions to the party were "incomplete"
The offer has a hardball quality to it. The last point is the most interesting. Was it a subtle attempt to apply pressure to the riding association? You only have so much time, so take the $7,200, clean up whatever mess is left over on your own, and get it done by March 31 or else you'll have Elections Canada to deal with.
But perhaps the most significant aspect of the offer was that it clearly indicates that LPC(O) funds would be used to cover the losses. Those are funds that David Pretlove had control over, but the president of the LPC(O), Michael Crawley, says that Pretlove was acting on his own and without authority.
And yet Pretlove is still working for the LPC(O). Pawlak, on the other hand, was fired with cause back in March.
The post-Gomery Liberal Party is a lot like the pre-Gomery Liberal Party.
And Stephane Dion's reaction to the financial shenanigans in the Ontario branch of the federal Liberal Party? We haven't heard a thing.
[From a story in the National Post, but with detailed quotes from the Pretlove offer available only at Angry in the Great White North]
Posted by Steve Janke on July 26, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (14) | TrackBack
More Christians than Communists in China
On Jon Stewart's "The Daily" (yeah, "I know"), the author of China Road, Rob Gifford, claimed that there are more Christians -- 70 million -- than members of the Chinese Communist Party. He pointed out that the ChiComms more or less ended the pre-Communist religions of Confucianism and Taoism, and people have lost confidence in Communism, so they're going to Christianity.
There's a move afoot to bring Christian intellectuals and philosophers to teach in China's universities. The motivation seems to be an instrumental one, in that Chinese intellectuals see the Christian world view as grounding the West's scientific and economic success.
There are estimates that the number of China's Christians may well exceed 100 million. But I think, in practice, China has simply shifted back to Confucian authoritarianism. Confucian authoritarianism spawned a family and profit driven society and a government by mandarins who saw their control of the state as an opportunity to get their "fair share" of the cash floating around. All the while, the mandarins ruled China on behalf of the emperor with tight, bureaucratic control. China was a kleptocracy, then, and it may just have returned to its Confucian, kleptocratic roots.
And, um, this is the country Canada wants to trade with?
UPDATE: Just to respond to the apparent confusion in certain quarters, shown in the comments, below, let me point out two key sentences in the above. That is: "There are estimates that the number of China's Christians may well exceed 100 million. But I think, in practice, China has simply shifted back to Confucian authoritarianism. "
N.B. the use of the word, "But." :-) And, to elaborate a bit, I think the jury is still out on China. Right now, it's ruled as a Confucian kleptocracy, maintaining foreign reserves far beyond what is necessary, as I reported in a blog post about a Falun Gong (Epoch Times)-sponsored conference at which Frank Xie spoke. Will Christian influence, both in numbers and in the universities, lead to China's transition from a Confucian kleptocracy (I love writing that) to something closer to a constitutional representative government? Or, will the whole PRC state collapse before it can change, leading to a civil war between Confucians, Christians, and Falun Gong adherents? As they say, "developing."
Posted by Russ Kuykendall on July 26, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBack
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Down by crime
Here are a couple of interesting critiques of recently released crime stats;
Robert Marshall in Winnipeg Sun: Crime drop in stats not whole story
Scott Newark in Prime Time Crime: The 2006 Crime Stats Analysis - Time for the Truth
Posted by Kevin Steel on July 25, 2007 in Crime | Permalink | Comments (20) | TrackBack
Living for today
Vancouver Sun: Huge Burnaby oil spill: 12-metre geyser from broken pipeline empties homes.
"It was impressive," said Rebecca Lee, 27, who lives a couple of houses away. "It was shooting over the lamp posts and it was so thick. It was covering all the trees, I wanted to be in the middle of it all."
I just don't know what to make of this quote. All I will say is that three years ago I moved to B.C. from Alberta, and there is a lot, a lot, of marijuana in this province.
Posted by Kevin Steel on July 25, 2007 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (28) | TrackBack
Your momma
National Post: Toronto murder suspect accused in a previous child shooting
Sappleton was among several people arrested two years ago following a drive-by shooting that hit another innocent young victim, Shaquan. He survived but still has bullets embedded in his body.
Daniel Brown, Sappleton's lawyer at the time, said a charge of attempted murder was quickly dropped. Additional drugs and weapons charges were later dismissed after a judge determined that a statement Sappleton made to police was not voluntary.
That judgment referred to in the last sentence above is online, posted on the website of Brown's firm, Pinkofskys; you can read it here. The judge ruled that Sappleton's confession was inadmissable because the police threatened to charge his mother and sister if he didn't take ownership of the gun found in the home. The gun btw was "a .38-calibre revolver with five rounds in the gun and the serial number removed. Police also seized 78 grams of marijuana and .07 grams of crack" according to an August 6, 2005 Toronto Sun story.
Posted by Kevin Steel on July 25, 2007 in Crime | Permalink | Comments (84) | TrackBack
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
War on Terrorism and Iraq
President Bush recent speech on Iraq and war on terrorism had very important details:
"Some note that al Qaida in Iraq did not exist until the U.S. invasion -- and argue that it is a problem of our own making. The argument follows the flawed logic that terrorism is caused by American actions. Iraq is not the reason that the terrorists are at war with us. We were not in Iraq when the terrorists bombed the World Trade Center in 1993. We were not in Iraq when they attacked our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. We were not in Iraq when they attacked the USS Cole in 2000. And we were not in Iraq on September the 11th, 2001."
Very well said. Islamic terrorism started almost 1400 years ago when Muhammed claimed prophecy and the war in Iraq has nothing to do with today terrorism. Indeed, good men and women of the United States and other coalition forces including Canada are bleeding in Iraq and Afghanistan to prevent Al-Qaeda from mounting an effective offense against us here at home. The war in Iraq and Afghanistan has had the radical Islamists on the run. This is a good fight and as president Bush said "We must win it" and "we can win it". Failure is not an option.
Posted by Winston on July 24, 2007 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (100) | TrackBack
Monday, July 23, 2007
Stephane Dion insults a great Chinese Canadian in front of a room of Chinese Canadians
On the occasion of the inauguration of the Chinese Canadian Liberal Association, a partisan Liberal crowd, Stephane Dion manages to insult everyone in the room while reading from a prepared speech.
Here is my transcription of Stephane Dion's remarks:
Do you know who is Arthur Lee? Arthur Lee. He has been the first MP of Chinese origin. He was under Trudeau in 1974. It took time, eh? Only in 1974, the first one.
| Launch in external player |
Not the first one. The first one was Douglas Jung in 1957. How could Stephane Dion and his researchers miss that bit of Canadian history? Could it be because Douglas Jung was a dedicated Progressive Conservative?
Douglas Jung joined the Progressive Conservative Party in the early 1950s. He had vowed not to join the Liberal Party of Canada because of its racist legislation against Chinese in the past. Jung was elected as an MP in 1957, representing the riding of Vancouver Centre, under the John Diefenbaker government.
Maybe that's the reason. But it couldn't really be because the Liberals simply didn't know. One June 8 and on June 11, Jim Abbott of the Conservatives and Meili Faille of the Bloc Quebecois each made speeches to recognize the 50th anniversary of Douglas Jung's historic achievement as the first Chinese Canadian to be elected as an MP.
Stephane Dion was in the House on June 11.
But five weeks later, Douglas Jung was forgotten and his place was handed over to Liberal Arthur Lee by Stephane Dion, in front of a group of Chinese Canadians celebrating their community's participation in Canadian politics and Canadian history.
So will Stephane Dion be called on to correct this egregious mistake, and apologize to the memory of Douglas Jung? We'll see tomorrow.
[Extended post is at Angry in the Great White North]
Posted by Steve Janke on July 23, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (25) | TrackBack
Australia is to get tough on Sharia advocates
It appears that Australian government led by PM Howard is going to consider tougher actions against those radical muslims who advocate Sharia and support other Islamic laws in Australia.
Can we see that happening here in Canada or the States too?
Posted by Winston on July 23, 2007 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (18) | TrackBack
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Supporting the Troops?
Cross-posted at Wonkitties.
Posted by wonkitties on July 22, 2007 in Military | Permalink | Comments (112) | TrackBack
Jihad comes to Canada
Canadian Vision TV has allowed the enemy to gain a foothold in our society: Vision TV airing Jihad lecture:
TORONTO — VisionTV says it will monitor one of its shows more closely after it broadcast a lecture by an Islamic preacher who said scripture requires Muslims to either fight jihad or finance it.
The multi-faith channel, available in 7.8 million Canadian homes, said it took the precaution following a complaint about last Saturday’s broadcast of a lecture by the Pakistani fundamentalist.
In the hour-long talk, Israr Ahmad said, “Jihad in the way of Allah, for the cause of Allah, can be pursued either with your financial resources or your bodily strength when you go to fight the enemy in the battlefield.
Mr. Ahmad runs a seminary and bookstore in Lahore, Pakistan, and his writings foresee the ”global domination of Islam,“ compare Jews to ”parasites,“ describe the Holocaust as ”divine punishment“ and predict the ”total extermination" of Jews.
His followers in Canada include terror suspect Qayyum Abdul Jamal, who was arrested last summer for his alleged role in a plot to detonate truck bombs in downtown Toronto. According to Mr. Jamal’s wife, Mr. Ahmad was her husband’s teacher and mentor.
The television program left some wondering how the Pakistani preacher, who claims that Jews control the world through a secret conspiracy involving financial institutions, made it on to Canada’s government-regulated airwaves.
And who is paying the Vision TV to be able to stay on air?
(h/t Little Green Footballs)
Posted by Winston on July 22, 2007 in Media | Permalink | Comments (69) | TrackBack