The Shotgun Blog
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Saturday, December 15, 2007
The Vast Right Wing Conspiracy Comes to Canada
The happy day has arrived my friends! The Right in Canada now controls the media!
Lawrence Martin has written several articles about the Canadian media's rightward migration. In a January 2003 column headlined It's not Canadians who've gone to the right, just their media, he quoted an unnamed European diplomat saying "You have a bit of a problem here. Your media are not representative of your people, your values." Too many political commentators are right of centre while the public is in the middle, the diplomat continued. There is a disconnect.
Martin believes the disconnect began when Conrad Black converted the Financial Post into the National Post, hired a stable of conservative commentators like Mark Steyn, David Frum and George Jonas, bought the centrist Southam chain and turned the entire package into a vehicle to unite Canada's right and retool the country's values to U.S.-style conservatism.
Even further right rests the Quebecor-owned tabloid Sun Media chain. Mulroney was chairman of the board of Sun Media and sits on Quebecor's board.
"The country undoubtedly needs its share of right-wing voices," Martin wrote in 2005. "But how many is too many?... Such is the ideological trend in the print media -- broadcast has more balance -- that the largest segment of the population, centre-left Canadians, are at risk of losing their voice."
Writing in the Halifax Daily News last month, Stephen Kimber asked how and why the Parliamentary press gallery and most major news organizations "managed, for close to a decade, to not only ignore but actively dismiss, what will ultimately be one of the great scandals in Canadian political history."
Kimber answered his question in a telephone interview late last week. "The Ottawa media is small-c conservative and has been for a long time.
He thinks the conversion occurred during the Mulroney era."
No word if this vast right-wing conspiracy has reached the CBC or the Toronto Star yet. If it has, clearly the CBC reporters feeding Grit MPs their lines during the on-going Mulroney witch hunt, haven't gotten the memo.
Posted by PUBLIUS on December 15, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (17) | TrackBack
Paul's Tea Party
UPDATE: Supporters dumped over $6 million dollars into Paul's coffers, shattering his previous one-day Republican record of $4.2 million. With yesterday's haul, Paul's campaign has set a new one-day record for either party, Democrat or Republican. His total for the quarter stands at just over $18 million.
Two hours to go until the Ron Paul Boston Tea Party fund raising event begins. Predictions for how much will be raised range from $4 million to $8 million. Just prior to the November 5th one-day "money bomb," those kinds of predictions would have resulted in uncontrollable laughter. But the chuckles have stopped, and Ron Paul is having trouble figuring out how to spend all of his new-found wealth.
At 10:04 p.m., the fund raising amount stands at just over $11,535,000. You can follow the day by viewing the graphs found here, or by watching the following thermometre:
Posted by P.M. Jaworski on December 15, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (40) | TrackBack
Soccer and brain injuries
Is soccer sensation Maradona suffering from central cerebrum atrophy? More evidence supporting this hypothesis emerged recently. Maradona is thinking of adding a tattoo of Venezuelan socialist poohbah Hugo Chavez to his collection of various and sundry left-wing ideologues cluttering up his epidermis.
No word from the Kangaroo Soccer Headgear company as to whether or not use of their product could have prevented this.
Posted by P.M. Jaworski on December 15, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack
No Nukes, No War
"The problem in Iran is not the regime's weaponry: It is the regime itself."
Another problem is the idealogy that's been in place in that region of the world, oppressing the dissidents and women, for the past centuries. The same idealogy that had no problem killing 3000 innocent people in one single day in September 2001.
Posted by Winston on December 15, 2007 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Endorsing Ron Paul
Texas congressman Ron Paul is an anti-war Libertarian who is running for presidency of the United States (Last time I checked he had 7% of the votes in New Hampshire or IOWA) and he seems not to have much chance to win any thing in the primary elections but let's take a look at those who endorse him:
Neo-Nazi members donated money to his campaign And still no response from Congressman Paul or his campaign aides to the open letter addressed to him asking very legitimate questions as to why he does not repudiate these loonie supporters.
Andrew Walden has a close up and detailed look at The Ron Paul Campaign and its Neo-Nazi Supporters.
Posted by Winston on December 15, 2007 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (25) | TrackBack
Why I Love "30 Rock"
This post - and clip - from the Huffington Post pretty much sums up why, by far, 30 Rock is the funniest show on televison.
Jack to C.C. (Edie Falco), his Democratic congresswoman squeeze: "I love when women have ambition. It's like a dog wearing clothes."
Jack, responding to C.C. telling him that the orange-tinted kids suing the Sheinhart Wig Company had settled for $5 million: "$5 million? That's NBA sexual assault money,"
Liz to Jenna on how she coddles her wildly: "I have to because you're so insecure you get jealous of babies for their soft skin." Jenna: "And how much attention they get."
Toofer to Frank, wearing long hair and a trucker hat: "I can't keep dressing like you, the New Yorker Festival is next week!" (I love that Toofer got some play here. Kevin Powell is cute.)
Tracy to Shaquille O'Neil in a clip from their animated family film clip: "Is what we did last night considered sex?"
Posted by Adam T. Yoshida on December 15, 2007 in Film | Permalink | Comments (15) | TrackBack
Friday, December 14, 2007
Column of the Year: John Robson on Steyn, Macleans, Human Rights, and Islamic Radicals
Truly inspired writing, from a columnist I'm going to start reading regularly. A must-read from the Ottawa Citizen's John Robson, "Self-censorship? Me? Absolutely!" exposes the absurdity of Canada's Human Rights tribunals, the attack from radical Islam on Mark Steyn and Maclean's magazine, and the state of freedom of speech in our country. A taste:
Now what? If I write about censorship will the censors censor that? If I were to defend someone's right in principle to be rude about radical Islam, it might constitute my being rude in practice about radical Islam which might be misunderstood by hypersensitive types as rudeness toward Islam generally which might be misunderstood as hate speech rather than just bad manners. Who knows?
All in all it's much safer to write about daisies. Such pretty flowers. They are members of the Asteraceae family, the second-largest family of flowering plants after Orchidaceae. You may be thinking the common daisy, white with a yellow centre, is nice but bland. But my goodness, get into African daisies and painted daisies (a.k.a. "tansies") and the ox-eye and the spectacular Glebionis carinata and what a feast for the eye. None of them file hate speech complaints with aggressive paralegal tribunals either. What's not to like?
The issue here is not whether I want to say, for instance, that contrary to some ignorant stereotypes the Prophet Muhammad was a really nice guy, a teddy bear in fact. It is whether if I say such a thing I may be hauled before some tribunal to answer for the fact that in Sudan I would have a mob howling for my blood, or because I didn't say Peace Be Upon Him.
(h/t National Newswatch. cross-posted to Flaggman's Canada)
Posted by Neil Flagg on December 14, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (23) | TrackBack
An hour with Friedman
Sit back, relax, and enjoy a whole hour with Milton Friedman.
(h/t Reason TV)
Once upon a time, I had the privilege of interviewing Milton Friedman for my campus newspaper. That's how down-to-earth this man was. I asked for ten minutes, he gave me 40. Sharp as a tack, even when he was on the cusp of 90. I then mailed him two copies of the interview, one of which he kept, and the other he signed and sent back to me. (The Queen's Journal website is working on their archives, so all I have is a link to my very old website, with some really crummy decisions about layout and photos.)
Posted by P.M. Jaworski on December 14, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack
Blimpin' for Ron Paul
The Ron Paul blimp is up in the air. It took off this morning at 9:23 a.m. from Elizabeth City, North Carolina.
Check out a video from the launch:
And here is the live stream from Justin.TV:
Watch live video from ronpaulblimp on Justin.tv
Posted by P.M. Jaworski on December 14, 2007 in International Politics | Permalink | Comments (32) | TrackBack
Public facility honours religious figure
My op-ed in today's National Post explores a subject that none of the mainstream media in B.C. thought interesting enough to cover. But judging by the high number of emails I've already received this morning in response to the column, it's clearly an issue of public interest.
Posted by Terry O'Neill on December 14, 2007 in Religion | Permalink | Comments (45) | TrackBack
Do you buy it?
On Wednesday, Frances Russell in the Winnipeg Free Press wrote an opinion piece, "Right-wing media covering up political scandal," alleging that the National Post, and in particular then-editor-in-chief Ken Whyte, in 2001 deliberately killed the story about Mulroney receiving cash payments from Schreiber. Yesterday, Ken Whyte, now editor of Maclean's, responded with "Mulroney and the media."
The problem I have with Russell is that she’s gone way overboard with this conservative/right wing conspiracy idea. She blurs and blends the notion of conservatives with friends or fans of Mulroney. There are many types of conservatives. I do not view Mulroney fans as necessarily conservative. Certainly, some of these fans have claimed the conservative high ground for themselves and have tried to convince everybody else that small “c” conservatives must become large “c” Conservatives who must then become small "l" liberals in order to get elected, but I don't think they've convinced everybody.
But I’ll chuck that quibble aside. The problem I have is that Whyte's justification seems weak. He writes that the Post didn’t have a story because the reporter failed to tie the money to Airbus. But the plain fact is the Post had a story about a politician accepting large cash payments while still in office. And that politician was on the record by that time denying this ever happened. Those two elements together make a story, a very good story. If the reporter couldn't write it because he was obsessed with tying the money to Airbus, then I suggest it should have been reassigned to another writer.
In hindsight, we see their lack of action then now allows writers like Russell to quote other journalists (journalists interviewing journalists, not good) like Stephen Kimber making ridiculous statements like "The Ottawa media is small-c conservative and has been for a long time." Oh really? Maybe you should go to Ottawa and meet these people. I have. A lot of them are quite nice, but they’re not conservative. btw, the National Post is located in Toronto, not Ottawa, last time I checked anyway. But that's a quibble, too, I suppose.
Posted by Kevin Steel on December 14, 2007 in Media | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBack
Early morning music
A few of you may have seen a certain Sears commercial on TV with a nice sounding song that has a Christmas-y feel to it. "...something something sleigh riiide." And you said to yourself, oh what is that song? c'mon c'mon... Here it is. Badly Drawn Boy's "Donna and Blitzen."
Posted by Kevin Steel on December 14, 2007 in Television | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Failed NATO Allies
US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates is frustrated with lack of commitment from some European members of the NATO alliance in Afghanistan.
Most of the fighting against the Taliban has been carried out by the British, American, Canadian and Dutch forces and the rest of the members like Italy, Germany and France have done nothing or little when it comes to actual combat. It's indeed frustrating!
Posted by Winston on December 13, 2007 in International Affairs, Military | Permalink | Comments (25) | TrackBack
Who would Ayn Rand vote for?
A little bit of advice from Ayn Rand, to the 1961 GOP candidates:
(H/T Lew Rockwell Blog)
Posted by P.M. Jaworski on December 13, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (26) | TrackBack
Headline as slogan
This is all very interesting looking back at the Mulroney era.
James Travers in the Toronto Star: Not enough has changed in Ottawa
Yeah, Jim, maybe it is time to change things in Ottawa. Here's a thought. Why don't we start a movement to change things in Ottawa? Or a political party? A movement or a political party to reform Ottawa! We could call it... Oh... right. Forget it.
Posted by Kevin Steel on December 13, 2007 in Canadian Conservative Politics | Permalink | Comments (22) | TrackBack
Mohammed Elmasry: All teenagers are legitimate targets for terrorism
Mohammed Elmasry, head of the Canadian Idiotic Congress, today clarified his views on a number of issues in an attempt to construct a Grand Unified Field Theory of Retardation based on the stupidest things he's said in the last 5 years.
Still stinging from reaction to his comments on "The Michael Coren Show" back in 2004 that every Israeli citizen above the age of 18 is a combatant and a legitimate target of Muslim terrorism, Elmasry explained...
Posted by Kathy Shaidle on December 13, 2007 | Permalink | TrackBack
A little early morning music
This is a little nostalgia nugget I dug up for my father the other day at his request: The Merry Minuet by the Kingston Trio. Found it on YouTube. It's an old song--written in 1958 and recorded a year later--so I’m sure it’s irrelevant today.
Posted by Kevin Steel on December 13, 2007 in Humour | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
The Province Gets it Half Right on Illegal Alien
The editorial board at the Vancouver Province get it at least half right, when it comes to the case of illegal alien Labair Singh. Allowing protestors to block the deportation of Singh as a shameful and spineless capitulation to the mob. However, just as surely, it was – at least in part – a product of the climate of anti-police hysteria that the Province and its confederates in the media have stoked and fed.
Realistically, how many border services officials or politicians are really going to take the risk of using force of any kind against a crowd of largely foreign-born protestors at the Vancouver Airport after what happened two months ago? One can only imagine what the Province editorial board and many of the other spineless and hysterical little girls in the Vancouver-area media would have had to say if one of the members of the mob had gotten their teeth knocked out or whatever else.
Moreover, the Province –and others – endorse the pathetic idea that the stroke that Singh had after he came to Canada is a reason why we ought to allow him to stay here. That’s about as illogical as granting clemency to a parricide on the grounds that he’s now an orphan. Only a soft-minded Canadian liberal could argue that the fact that a now-paralyzed criminal alien will require extensive medical care at public expense is a reason for allow them to stay. If you feel so bad for the guy, then you pay for him – but don’t volunteer my wallet.
In any case, the whole notion of “refugees” from India to Canada is absurd. India is a democracy and an ally. Why are we even considering any claims originating from there at all? Ditto Mexico which, somehow, is apparently the top source of “refugees” to Canada.
Lord, for leaders with some common sense. It wasn’t so long ago when the lawful authorities would have known exactly what to do to a mob whose avowed aim was to obstruct the execution of the duties of servants of the Queen.
Posted by Adam T. Yoshida on December 12, 2007 in Canadian Politics | Permalink | Comments (14) | TrackBack
Iranian-Syrian backed Terrorism wreak havoc in Lebanon
Commanding general of the Lebanese army died in a bomb blast yesterday and many analysts attribute that to the Iranian-Syrian backed terrorism that has wrecked havoc in Lebanon for the past few decades:
"Hezbollah, the party which many believe is behind the current crisis, "is a creation of Iran and Syria", according to Jafaar."
A Lebanese government minister is quoted as saying:
"We believe that all the institutions of Lebanon, civilian and military, are being targeted by the Syrian/Iranian axis."
Posted by Winston on December 12, 2007 in International Affairs | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack
Political Animals
Let's see if this works.
Political Animals is a political talk show that I co-host.
From 6 to 8:15 p.m. EST, this webcam should be streaming that show, if everything works out as it should. You can click on the link beneath the webcam for the live radio stream, coming from 88.1 WBGUFM in Bowling Green, Ohio.
Our guest tonight is Judge Andrew Napolitano, Fox News senior legal analyst and author of "A Nation of Sheep." Visit our website here: www.bgpoliticalanimals.com.
[Ed. note: Next show Wednesday, Dec. 19. Check back with The Shotgun then. We'll make sure the links get posted on that day.]
Posted by P.M. Jaworski on December 12, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Republican Debate in Iowa
The last one. It's on live now.
Continued after the break.
God, I hate Ron Paul. Watching his lisping, weak, seditious self across the stage just makes my skin crawl. I honestly cannot put into words how much I despise that man and his supporters. They are, literally, the scum of the Earth.
Fred Thompson makes the key point. Entitlements, entitlements, entitlements - that's the cost. As a side note, hillariously, so-called "libertarian" Ron Paul seemingly supports keeping Social Security more or less as it is.
Who the hell invited Alan Keyes? Seriously, folks.
Astonishing. Ron Paul is being very carefully advised. Remember who Ron Paul was two or three years ago - Dr. No, the guy who voted against practically all domestic spending and taxation. Now, when asked what people should sacrifice in terms of domestic spending, he announces that it's not necessary for people to sacrifice any government programs because he'll cut military spending. Someone - either Paul or one of his advisors - is well-aware that his support among kooks is largely a result of his support for the defeat and surrender of the West and they would be turned off by, you know, all of the things which Ron Paul supposedly stands for.
Fred Thompson says all of the right things. But does he have what it takes to win? The energy, the fire?
(11:19AM) Man, this modertator is terrible. Just awful - like an uptight high school English teacher.
(11:26AM) Really - Ron Paul is being very carefully positioned to be the candidate of aid and comfort. He answers a trade question by talking about how he wants to create American jobs by exporting to CUBA. Yeah, I'm sure that the Cuban agricultural import market will save tens of thousands of Iowa jobs. But, it's not a stupid answer - it's one calculated to appeal to the powerful and growing traitor constituency.
(11:28AM) I repeat my earlier remark about this moderator. Just listen to her diction. I'm going to modify my description slightly - she's like a substitute high school English teacher, with her flat but robotic delivery.
(11:33AM) "No hand shows today," from Fred Thompson. Good for him.
(11:36AM) Someone shut up Alan Keyes. Good God, what a waste of time.
(11:39AM) Keyes, Hunter, Tancredo, Paul - all a waste of time. None of them are going to win the nomination. Get them off the stage.
(11:45AM) Rudy Giulani's answer on education is exactly right. I could support him.
(11:49AM) This is kind of stupid. Someone should physically drag Alan Keyes from this stage - and perhaps take the moderator with him.
(12PM) This is Thompson's strongest debate so far, by a large margin. If he can keep this up, this race can change... Again.
(12:15PM) Yuck, Huckabee's economic liberalism will drown him eventually. I hope. I can't believe anyone would be stupid enough to vote for an economic liberal and a foreign policy weakling just because he can quote the Bible real good.
(12:18PM) Did Duncan Hunter just accuse Mitt Romney of owning a company doing business with Communist China, Saddam Hussein, and the Taliban?
Also - this religion video by Romney is terrible.
Posted by Adam T. Yoshida on December 12, 2007 in International Politics | Permalink | Comments (30) | TrackBack
The way forward
In considering the Alberta Human Rights panel's [PDF] Lund/Boissoin decision, it just dawned on me that I've been looking at this thing the wrong way. I’ve been thinking of it as an individual rights thing, not a government-to-government power struggle. That decision's revelation, written by panel chair Lori Andreachuk, is right near the end in paragraph 357:
"In balancing the freedom afforded under the Charter and the degree of protection afforded through the provincial legislation, I considered s. 2(b) of the Charter in regards to the fundamental freedoms of conscience and religion, the freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including the freedom of the press and other media, the freedom of peaceful assembly and the freedom of association. Having considered the Charter and the balancing of the freedoms set out in the Charter, I have interpreted the Act in a manner which respected the broad protection granted to religious freedom. However, I have found that this protection does not trump the protection afforded under the Alberta human rights legislation in s. 3. to protection against hatred and contempt. I also take the view that s.3(2) required a balancing of these freedoms afforded to individuals under the Charter, with the prohibitions in s. 3(1) of the Act. In this case, the publication’s exposure of homosexuals to hatred and contempt trumps the freedom of speech afforded in the Charter. It cannot be the case that any speech wrapped in the ‘guise’ of politics or religion is beyond reproach by any legislation but the Criminal Code."
It's right there in the middle. "...I have found that this [Charter] protection does not trump the protection afforded under the Alberta human rights legislation in s. 3. to protection against hatred and contempt." So the Alberta legislation trumps the Charter. No legislative debate, no notwithstanding clause, just BOOM! Good-bye Charter. (Funny, I thought the Vriend decision taught us it was the other way around. No matter.) Congratulations, Lori Andreachuk and the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission, you've just created the new Alberta Firewall.
Posted by Kevin Steel on December 12, 2007 in Canadian Provincial Politics | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBack
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Love me do
Quick note: yesterday I posted on the magazine's main page an opinion piece, "Your love, my right," in support of our new cause, geek rights. :)
Posted by Kevin Steel on December 11, 2007 in Canadian Politics | Permalink | Comments (38) | TrackBack
So: will Canadian Muslims condemn the child killer in their midst?
The day after both the Montreal Massacre and the killings in Tianamen Square, I attended large rallies that were organized without the (then non-existent) internet. There were no cell phones either, and maybe a few rickety fax machines.
Yet "magically" hundreds (and, in the latter case) thousands of people assembled peacefully on little notice within hours, to condemn outrageous acts of violence. (We heard about Tianamen around midnight our time, and the local Chinese community put together a breathtakingly huge demo around 10AM the next morning.) They had signs, bullhorns, speakers, security, permits, the whole dea
Don't count on Toronto Muslims to manage the same, to condemn the killing of one of their own, by one of their own. ..
Posted by Kathy Shaidle on December 11, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Who says Canadian Cops...
Aren't willing to embrace multiculturalism?
Once there, Peel police Const. Andrew Cooper -- a.k.a. Leon the Obeah Man, broke an egg that spilled blood to show off his powers.
Cooper pretended to be an Obeah Man -- a practitioner of witchcraft and voodoo in Caribbean culture -- to get Collette Robinson and her son Evol to reveal their knowledge of the Oct. 9, 2004 slaying of Youhan Oraha, 22.
*
Posted by Neo Conservative on December 11, 2007 in Crime | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Why Pander to Hollywood?
The Government appears to be on track to strengthen Canada’s copyright laws. While I understand the impulse – Conservatives are, after all, naturally disposed towards law and order – I believe that doing so would blow a historic opportunity for the Tories to scoop up the youth vote. Moreover, in failing to thoroughly overhaul the laws which govern Canada’s cultural and communications industries, the government is missing a chance to simultaneously strike a powerful blow against its opponents and to improve the lives of ordinary Canadians.
Now, obviously, it would probably be a bad thing (and counter-productive) if the government simply went and threw out all copyright laws. After all, they protect all sorts of trade secrets and, without them, we would soon find ourselves with the same sort of anarchist intellectual property climate as China, where car companies unveil their new models at tradeshows only to find that they have already been reverse-engineered and copies by their competitors. However, a loosening of present copyright laws (in reality, a legalization of the existing situation) would deal almost exclusively with the entertainment industry. Time-shifting, personal use, and so forth exemptions, if codified into law, would simply formalize what already happens in Canada and prevent the sort of abusive lawsuits against individuals filed by the RIAA in the United States.
Such a move wouldn’t change any facts on the ground in this country – but it would do two very useful things. First, it would give the government an achievement which it could sell to young people. For all that they profess to care about the environment, peace, and blah, blah, blah, avoiding RIAA lawsuits against themselves is an issue which might actually motivate people in their teens and twenties to show up at the polls. Second, it would piss off Hollywood and, so far as I know, no government has ever lost votes by picking a fight with vapid, preening, and stupid Tinseltown gasbags.
Trying to stop file-sharing is futile anyways. Middle-aged women in my office swap television shows burned to DVD’s. My former roommates have several terabytes of Japanese anime and other crap (once, over drinks, we tried to estimate the potential bill if the RIAA were ever able to sue them under U.S. Copyright law and finally gave up after concluding that it would run into either the hundreds of millions or potentially billions of dollars).
In any case, massive file sharing is largely a transitory matter – a temporary stage whose existence will encourage a lazy industry to produce things people actually want to pay for and to deliver them to individuals in a convenient way. Personally, I buy most of my own music through Apple’s iTunes because, at $.99 a song, the price is fair and, more to the point, I am able to buy from my own music player (and from my iPhone) without any of the hassles which historically accompanied other forms of music acquisition.
In other words, to the degree such a move would hurt anyone, it would mostly hurt people we don’t like (and who don’t like us) and would be a momentary affair which would actually encourage innovation and better service in the long-term.
Indeed, a plan to liberalize Canada’s copyright laws could be packaged as part of a broader “Digital Agenda” which, like the above proposal, would improve the services received by Canadians while wounding people who, for the most part, are opposed to the government anyways.
At the core of any future-oriented technology agenda for Canada would be the thorough reform of the CRTC into an organization with a much-narrower mandate resembling that of the Federal Communications Commission in the United States. The cultural protection racket ghettoizes and cripples good Canadian cultural output (like, for example, the brilliant Slings & Arrows) while forcing taxpayers to subsidize crap. At the same time, limits on foreign ownership in the cultural and communications industries allow, to pick one entirely random example, mobile phone providers to continue to set their rates by the same code of gentlemanly conduct which governs inter-inmate relations in prison showers.
It’s absurd that I’m not able to subscribe to HBO, Showtime, FX, and the rest and am instead forced to pay for bastardized Canadian versions of the same and, in some cases, to wait months for episodes to air in this country. It is insane that I had to drive one hundred miles into another country to buy an iPhone, and then to carefully modify its software in order to be able to use half of its features. It is beyond ludicrous that the DISH Network satellite installed by one of my friends is, literally, criminal. All of these injustices are a product of a deeply flawed cultural policy which ought to be flushed down the crapper of history.
In this way – admittedly a small way – the government could continue to demonstrate to Canadians that there is a real alternative to the sort of dime-store totalitarianism to which we’ve been subjected to for so many years.
Posted by Adam T. Yoshida on December 11, 2007 in Canadian Politics | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBack
The Candidate for 2008: John Ellis Bush?
Over at the National Review, David Freddoso discusses the possibility that, instead of giving the GOP an early nominee, the front-loaded primary schedule might lead to a brokered convention. Obviously, that’s the kind of thing that political geeks dream of. Day of floor-fights, dramatic votes, and the like – it’s almost enough to make me book some vacation time in patient expectation. But, for Republicans, it may well represent more than that – an opportunity.So far, among the Republicans, no one’s made the sale. That’s true for me, personally. At the moment, I like McCain – but I have reservations about his age and his maverick tendencies. I admire Giuliani – but I’m not sure if he’d be acceptable to the Republican base and I’m concerned that there may be hidden scandals. I would support Fred Thompson, but his campaign has been kind of listless. I’m ambivalent towards Romney (too fake, too clean-cut) and I dislike Huckabee (I have a hard time believing that, in wartime, anyone could seriously support a candidate for the Presidency whose chief qualifications are that he lost a lot of weight and can quote the Bible real pretty) – but I’d support either of them against the Democrats. The other candidates don’t even cross my radar screen, save for Ron Paul who, as I have mentioned in the past, I despise with every fibre of my being. I think a lot of Republicans (swap the names and the reasons) are in more or less the same place.
But, there is another candidate out there – the perfect candidate for the Republican Party in 2008. The extremely popular former Governor of a major swing state. An articulate and principled conservative. Someone with a clean personal history who has displayed the qualities of a decisive leader in high office. He’s electorally demographically perfect as well – Catholic, Spanish-speaking, and with a Hispanic wife. The only problem is that his name is John Ellis Bush.
If Governor Jeb Bush of Florida was Governor John Ellis of Florida, the race for the Republican nomination would already be long over. But, alas, realities being what they are Bush’s name is now doubly an albatross. First, many would obviously have issues with the President being followed in office by his own brother. Second, of course, there is the fact that President Bush remains fairly unpopular. However, it’s December of 2007 at the moment and the Republican convention isn’t for eight months. Both of those issues might be dispensed with by then.
The first issue, obviously, can be dispensed with in 2008 altogether if Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee for President. Though Democrats are sufficiently venal to passionately denounce nepotism while offering up the wife of a former President as their own candidate for the Presidency, the only Americans stupid enough to fall for that argument are Democrats already.
The second may prove more tricky – but not impossible. Rasmussen, by far the most reliable polling company in recent years, has the President’s approval rating at 39%. With Iraq fading as an issue and a recession looking less and less likely, it’s quite possible that President Bush’s approval rating might be substantially higher by the summer of 2008. If it crosses into the mid-50’s (it’s worth recalling that both President Reagan and President Clinton’s ratings went up significantly during the final year of their term), the Bush name ceases to be a liability and, instead, becomes a rallying cry for Republicans.
Is any of this likely? No. I still think that the most likely GOP nominee is Rudy Giuliani. But, it’s at least remotely possible to imagine scenario where the Republicans emerge from the first or second ballot in Minneapolis and, amid the summer heat, one delegates whispers the name “Bush” to another and things just go from there.
Posted by Adam T. Yoshida on December 11, 2007 in International Politics | Permalink | Comments (25) | TrackBack
Monday, December 10, 2007
CIA punked, Nobody takes NIE serious
Nobody has bought this new shameful NIE report on Iran's nukes, and I think no sane person would ever fall in to that trap. It was a clear political move by anti-Bush elements within the US government to undermine Pres. Bush's position:
"The majority of Americans do not believe the new report co-authored by US spy agencies which claims Iran is no longer pursuing the development of a nuclear program. The poll was released this weekend by Rasmussen Reports."
On other hand, British intelligence chiefs believe that Iran 'hoodwinked' CIA over nuclear plans.
Further readings may be necessary to realize how CIA and US State Dept have become very sad places and may not be trusted when it's necessary:
Shadow Warriors: Kenneth R. Timmerman
Posted by Winston on December 10, 2007 in International Affairs | Permalink | Comments (17) | TrackBack
Black's redefining moment
Conrad Black's appearance in a Chicago court today, during which he expressed "profound regret and sadness" for the hardship endured by Hollinger International shareholders and, more importantly, heard he had been sentenced to 6 1/2 years in jail for misappropriating funds, reminded me of something from Tom Wolfe's novel, The Bonfire of the Vanities.
Towards the end of the novel, the main character, Sherman McCoy, a high-flying businessman who becomes entangled in the U.S. criminal-justice system, has an ephiphany: that he has to change the definition of himself, from that of superstar "Master of the Universe" trader, to one of, essentially, a full-time defendant.
The redefinition was, I believe, necessary for McCoy to preserve his sanity.
Posted by Terry O'Neill on December 10, 2007 in Crime | Permalink | Comments (20) | TrackBack
When environmentalists lobby for the chemical industry
I firmly believe people deserve the opportunity to make a living. But having said that, when part of what a person does is advocacy, there is an element of consistency that needs to be factored in. In other words, I can't make money advocating for one thing while working against that goal in another job.
Imagine that I was the director of a major recycling group, encouraging cities to spend money major environmental initiatives. Imagine that I also worked to get companies to spend money on cutting back on greenhouse gas emissions.
Would it be right to then be accepting money from an industry group trying very hard to avoid having their product, recognized to be an environmentally harmful greenhouse gas, from being placed under potentially expensive government regulation?
I might expect people who have been given the message to spend more to help the environment to challenge me on why I should be profiting by helping those who seem more interested in the bottom line.
Chris Benedetti is labouring under that situation. He is the Director of the Recycling Council of Ontario. He advises companies on cutting back greenhouse gases. At the same time, as a person who for years was well-conntected with previous Liberal governments and who now works for the Sussex Strategy Group, he lobbies for the Bromine Science and Environmental Forum. The BSEF is an industry group with just four members -- major chemical firms that deal in bromine compounds for agriculture and industry. Bromines are recognized as a major greenhouse gas as well a cause of ozone layer depletion. The BSEF is charged with protecting the bromine industry from regulation, including those like section 64 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act that is applied to greenhouse gases.
Benedetti was hired to help the BSEF with its struggles with the government over putting bromide compounds under section 64.
So which is it? Am I allowed to emit greenhouse gases or not? Am I expected to spend money and to change my lifestyle to help the environment or not?
Or do I get a free pass if the only greenhouse gases I emit are bromine compounds?
Full story and links at Angry in the Great White North
Posted by Steve Janke on December 10, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (12) | TrackBack
Segregation by choice
When it comes to the education system, I'm against a monolithic, one-size-fits-all system that ends up putting too much power in the hands of the big teachers' unions, and I'm all for choice, choice, choice.
That's why I support a voucher system and public funding of independent schools or, failing that, comprehensive reforms to allow parents and trustees to set up alternate schools within the public system.
So, naturally enough, I also support the proposed blacks-only school in Toronto. Or do I? As you can see in my weekly Face to Face debate column in the Tri-City News, I'm a very cautious supporter of the concept. I suspect, however, that the many caveats I placed on my support would, essentially, torpedo the plan.
My debating partner, Mary Woo Sims, also has a great many concerns about the planned school, but her published position does not reflect the fact that, in e-discussing this subject before we went to our corners and wrote our pieces, she told me, "I'm OK with black-only schools but am worried what this means to a generation like mine and the one before it who opposed school segregation."
Nevertheless, her piece in yesterday's paper seems entirely opposed to the concept--an apparent change of heart that actually makes for better conflict in our "debate."
Posted by Terry O'Neill on December 10, 2007 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (54) | TrackBack
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Iranian Students
Thanks to our reader "obc" for reminding us about the recent pro-democracy rallies at Tehran university. Needless to say that I have been reporting these events for the past 24 hours.
Posted by Winston on December 9, 2007 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Keeping the pressure on Iran
Charles Krauthammer wants the pressure on Iran to continue and I think his article makes a lot of sense:
"The military option may not be necessary right now. If weaponization has been suspended, the window for sanctions has been widened. But there is no reasonable argument for taking military action off the table. If the Iranians refuse to negotiate seriously [...] the military option needs to be on the table and in plain view."
Posted by Winston on December 9, 2007 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Cultural confidence breaking out in Quebec
I'm impressed with this news report, though the details will be important.
The Quebec Liberals are proposing to make immigrants to the province sign a so-called moral commitment to Quebec values.
Party officials told a news conference in Montreal today that such values include secularism and a French-speaking culture.
It will be fascinating to see the logical acrobatics employed by Canada's left -- for it will be the left -- to oppose the inculcation of Canadian (or Quebec) values. The fact that it's Quebec that's doing this first -- and not the Conservative federal government or, heaven forbid, Alberta -- will likely grant this project some politically correct leeway.
Here's Australia's amazing new booklet on what it means to become an Australian -- a very confident, proud document. Compare it to Canada's lame, vacuous booklet of politically correct cliches. Did you know that a core part of being Canadian is turning off lights and taps when you're not using them? You won't find anything about our great military history, but you'll find lots about composting.
Here's my comparison of the two citizenship documents, as published in a recent issue of Canadian Lawyer magazine.
Posted by Ezra Levant on December 9, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (21) | TrackBack
Pickton guilty
The jury has found Robert Pickton guilty of second-degree murder on all six counts.
Second-degree murder? This must mean the jurors concluded the Crown had not introduced sufficient evidence to show that the killings were premeditated, right? Rather strange, I think.
Posted by Terry O'Neill on December 9, 2007 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (16) | TrackBack
This fuzzy-bunny Bali group hug...
Seems to be more (cough) brown... than green.
Meanwhile, Canada's Conservative government calls for actual measurable results... which, apparently... don't just involve the renaming of household pets.
*
Posted by Neo Conservative on December 9, 2007 in International Politics | Permalink | Comments (14) | TrackBack
New plans for westernstandard.ca
As our readers know, we stopped publishing the Western Standard print edition earlier this fall.
Over the last few weeks, we've been shutting down our operations and preparing our final financial statements. As our subscribers will soon discover, we've made arrangements with Maclean's magazine to fulfill part of our outstanding obligations to our readers -- every Western Standard subscriber will get six free issues of Maclean's. That's six more Mark Steyn columns! Maclean's will also give our subscribers a special offer if they want to continue receiving the magazine. Every subscriber will soon get more information directly from Maclean's.
We've sold the Western Standard websites -- including the .ca site and this blog -- to a handful of our original team who want to make a go of it online. I'll probably blog from time to time just for fun, but I'll be moving on to other projects. Here's a note that we are sending out to our online readers:
Dear friends,
As you know, the Western Standard stopped publishing our print edition last month. But I'm happy to announce that one of the Western Standard's founders, Matthew Johnston, has assembled a small team of our former staff, and they're going to revive our magazine's websites.
Working with other long-time Western Standard staff like writer Kevin Steel and sales manager Josh Frederick, they're going to try to make a go of it online — and I wish them good luck. They loved the magazine and I'm sure they'll do a great job of the new venture.
I'm moving on to other projects, but Matthew and his team have invited me to continue to blog from time to time on the site, and I'm sure I will. So make sure to visit www.westernstandard.ca to see what the new team is up to — and keep an eye peeled for their e-mail updates.
Join with me in wishing them good luck!
Yours truly,
Ezra Levant
Finally, I should mention that the corporate entity that published the magazine still exists, and I am still president of it. The reason that's important is because we intend to fight the human rights complaints that have been filed against us over the cartoon kerfuffle. (Here's the hand-scratched complaint; here's our reply.) The formal "investigation" begins next month, and I'll be there.
Thanks again to everyone for their support over the years. Keep visiting the websites, including for news on our human rights complaint. They seem to be breaking out all over these days.
Posted by Ezra Levant on December 9, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (24) | TrackBack