Bring On the Flames

Yeah we were distracted on May Day when the Oilers beat the Dead Things in game six. Whyte Trash Avenue was crammed with fans for hours distracting us from the Flames sputering out against the Mighty Ducks. However tonight well we are all cheering for the Flames. Really.

I mean who wouldn't want the Battle of Alberta.

It's better than the Stanley Cup. All else pales in comparisson of this historic rivalry.

And we have to make up for the regular season match up.

Besides we all know that Oil douses Flame. Bring em on.

Oilers fans cheer on Flames for Battle of Alberta

Edmonton Journal

Published: Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Many Edmonton Oiler fans will be doing something totally out of character tonight.

They’ll be cheering for the Calgary Flames.

As the Flames face elimination in Game 7 of their playoff series against Anaheim, Oilers fans hoping for a Battle of Alberta are temporarily switching allegiances.

Journal columnist John MacKinnon says a lot of excitement is being fueled by hopes for an Edmonton-Calgary series.

“It’s a unique event,” he says. “An Edmonton-Calgary playoff series is like no other sporting event. That level of excitement is something that people want to see again. All the drama and intensity and memories of wonderful playoff series between Calgary and Edmonton is what’s driving their short-term cheering for calgary.”

And the city is up for it, says MacKinnon, who is in Calgary for the game.

“Driving in from the airport, every other car has a Calgary Flames flag flapping from the window. And people are talking about it. It doesn’t matter who you’re talking to, it’s on everybody’s mind.”

As for the game itself, he expects to see two teams out to prove they deserve to move to the next round in the playoffs.

MacKinnon: “Calgary plays a very defensive, intense, hard-hitting style of play. Nothing fancy, just trying to choke the life out of a very talented, very speedy team from Anaheim. It’s a contrast. Often, when we see Calgary play just about anybody, we see a very nuts-and-bolts hockey team try to exert its will on a team that is usually much more talented.”

And, of course, he expects a sea of red Flames jerseys in the Saddledome and along the Red Mile.

MacKinnon will be blogging from the game tonight (click here) and is part of the Journal team that will be providing full coverage of the game in Thursday’s paper.

The game starts at 7 p.m. It is being carried live on CBC TV.

Battle of Alberta: A Century of Hockey’s Greatest Rivalry

Can$19.95

Steven Sandor

Alberta has long been a big part of the frantic Canadian hockey scene, and even before Alberta became a province in 1905, the intense hockey rivalry between Calgary and Edmonton was in full swing. In The Battle of Alberta the rough- and-tumble relationship between these two hockey hotbeds is presented in all its colourful glory. The tussle got its start in 1895 when an all-star team from Calgary journeyed to Edmonton to take on the mighty Thistles and a team of Northwest Mounted Police pucksters. Calgary came away victorious; Edmonton vowed revenge, and thus began a long procession of battling teams in both cities. Illustrated with archival photographs of the many teams and players from the far and near past, hockey fans throughout Alberta and across Canada will delight in this wonderful history of hockey’s longest and greatest rivalry.

STEVEN SANDOR is the former editor-in-chief of Edmonton’s Vue Weekly magazine. He is currently the North American editor of Face-Off, one of Europe’s largest hockey magazines, and Zone, the official magazine of the Edmonton Oilers. He lives in Edmonton, Alberta, where he works part-time for the Edmonton Sun.

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Justice

Despite the States attempt to murder a madman making him the scapegoat for 9/11, the American people, 12 jurors and a fair minded judge, today showed that Justice can be done.

In giving him a life sentence instead of death, they have given him poetic justice as well, denying him a martyrs fate.

And when one considers the case of Sirhan Sirhan who out and out assisinated a Presidential Candidate in front of TV cameras, Moussaoui got as fair a sentence. Who lost, the Bush regime and its eye for an eye old testament biblical vindicitveness. Who won, the American people and the 9/11 families who saw a just and fair trial and verdict despite the States shennigans.

Jury spares 9/11 plotter Moussaoui

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) -- Al Qaeda terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui should spend the rest of his life in prison for his role in the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, a federal jury decided Wednesday.Defense attorneys focused on Moussaoui's mental health, calling experts who diagnosed him as a delusional paranoid schizophrenic. The jury heard that Moussaoui's troubled family history includes two sisters and an abusive father who suffer from mental illness. (Full story)


Zacarias Moussaoui is the only person convicted in the U.S. of playing a role in the 9/11 attacks.


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Some People Never Learn

You cannot blow up a social relationship.

In this case its a lesson that continues to be lost on anarcho-punk animal rights activist Darren Thurston, who boiled lobsters alive in Edmonton in order to free them, moved to Vancouver where he then worked on Saving Bears, by allegedly sending bombs to pro hunting organizations.

Today he sits in a jail cell in Oregon for having fire bombed a corral filled with wild horses and mules. As with most of Thurstons actions this one too failed. But it could have been a disaster, killing the very animals they wanted to free.

When will these idiots ever learn.They aren't anarchists they are an infantile caricature of anarchism.

But of course there are those idiots who consider them political prisoners, instead of the juvenile delinquints they really are. Seriously folks you would think this guy would realize that bombs do not a message make. But they are great for making self appointed martyrs.

I knew Darren in Edmonton , and I argued against his tactics since he refused to accept, that you do not engage in armed struggle when you should build a mass movement. Instead he and his fellow martyr David Barabash decided to engage in armed struggle, for their own selfish ends. And they claim to be anarchists. Which they ARE NOT.

Those in the anarchist movement who continue to mistakenly support these twits in the ALF do a disservice to anarchism and real political prisoners.




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crime, fire-bombing, terrorism, eco-terrorism

Kelowna Accord

A great deal of gnashing and wailing has occured over the Harpocrites abandonment of the Kelowna Accord.

Stageleft does a well thought out presentation on the Conservatives anti-aboriginal agenda.

Unfortunately what gets overlooked is who speaks for aboriginal peoples. There is no real self government amongst aboriginal peoples in Canada.

The self appointed family compact of leaders in the aboriginal community, those recognized by the Department of Indian Affairs and by Provincial and Federal governments, continue to claim they speak for the people. Ha.

As anyone knows there is no democracy in native communities they are colonial governments appointed and recognized by the Colonial Department of Indian Affairs.

If any political party wanted to seriously address aboriginal self government they would first abolish this colonial hangover, and assure that all aboriginal peoples, including those disenfranchised by department policies such as native women, and those whose families are not in power now, had their democratic and economic rights assured. Then we could hand over the $9 billion the department controls to the people who really need it.

The Kelowna accord was not worth the paper it was written on. Contrary to Stagelefts assertions, the bottom line is it was too little too late, Paul Martins swan song. It was a political ploy by the Liberals to stay in power until this spring. And it failed. Sure blame the Conservatives for their right wing agenda, but don't forget to blame the Liberals who had 13 years to settle this matter.

If the Kelowna accord meant anything then the Caledonia protest laid lie to that.And it laid lie to the phony government appointed leadership in the aboriginal community in Canada.




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Jack Fights Back Over Census

Jack Layton has responded to the ViveCanada.ca campaign against the contracting out of Census data collection to Lockheed Martin. The first and only leader of a federal Canadian political party to do so. I got his email response as did others who have sent in their complaints via the Count Me Out campaign website. And I got my census form in the mail yesterday.

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Bloggers Budget Reaction

As expected there was uniform joy in the land of Blogging Tories over the Harpocrite budget. These guys are so predictable. The majority all cooed over the budget like the syncophants they are. And they denounce the left for being in lockstep. Ha.

One critical comment on the budget, because it failed the military, and one link to my comment on the budget. I shocked the BT's. And only one liberaltarian amongst the lot who reviewed the budget in a balanced way.

Stephn Taylor the webmeister of BT runs the closest thing to a critical comment in his blog where he basically quotes the reactions to the budget.

On the other hand this blog and others of us in the Progressive Bloggers did not do the knee jerk reaction thingee, showing which blogosphere actually does not follow the party line. In particular the following did not go with the usual Liberal or NDP criticism of the budget. One could say these were fair and balanced comments from the No Spin Zone (wink).

Liberal Catnip

RCI Budget Analysis

Capitalist Pig vs. Socialist Swine

Pample the Moose

Calgary Grit

Syncategorematic

Red Tory

The Moderate Post

The Liberal Times

Flash Point Canada

And at least Progressive Bloggers pointed out, with no help from the political spinmeisters that the Harpocrites are incapable of telling the truth about their budget.

Lies Lies Lies

Flaherty Lies, Layton Cries

Tax reduction? Only if you're wealthy enough

Now if only the Blogging Tories could be as honest or at least take off the rose coloured glasses and speak truth to power. For political honesty in comments on the budget the score is PB 14 BT 2



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Census Beer

Not satisfied with going south of the border and contracting out computer operations for the 2006 Census to the warmachine maker Lockeed Martin, Stats Canada takes contracting out one step further. Now they are running ads for Census 2006 in Alberta on a scab made beer.

If you are from Western Canada, in particular their home base of Alberta or recently Manitoba where they have been aggressively advertising, you know these guys as the low cost www.damngoodbeer.ca

The only thing good about it is the cheap cost. And how do they get that cost, why the same way they get their watery flavour, they have it brewed south of the border. Mountain Crest Breweries is not a brewery it's a Calgary holding company that contracts out its brewing to a Wisconsin brewery. Its a guy his warehouse, truck and his webpage.

It's the ultiamte NAFTA beer. US made beer shipped to Canada, all they do is take care of the packagining and re-selling. Well now Stats Canada in an effort to get 18-24 year olds to take the Census in Alberta, has teamed up with this scummy company and created Census Beer.

This is a new low for even them. Think so, well maybe not. Stats Canada is just as scummy since it is one of the few government departments that contracts out Census work on a mass scale and still uses piece wage labour.

And besides the lucrative contract paid for by you and me what does this beer front company get? Advertising and demographic data.

And Stats Canada is doing this promotion, in Alberta only, why?

Not enough Albertans between 18 and 24 participate in the federal census, so Statistics Canada has come up with a new gimmick to get their attention: advertising on beer cans. The feds have partnered with Calgary's Mountain Crest Brewing Co. to market Mountain Crest Census Brew 2006, a run of 25,000 six-packs promoting census day on May 16.

Wait a minute I thought it was illegal NOT to participate in the Census.

So if all these folks between 18-24 aren't how does Stats Canada know that? Or are they guessing. And what does that mean for their so called "you must participate or face a fine or jail" threat? Not much guess it's as watered down as the beer.

Wait a minute this is kinda last minute ain't it. Wonder if this is a Tory perk to the beer boy in Calgary.

This story was edited May 6, 2006. See: Correction

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Daisy Kinsella

So big bad nasty Warren Kinsella has gone off on his own with some pals and created a new consulting firm called...wait for it...Daisy.

Actually it should probably should have been called Daisy Chain.

A rose by any other name...?
Really Daisy?!

Kinda of whimpy name for folks who claim to be able to do all this and leap buildings in a single bound.

• Need someone to improve a government decision
• Need someone to protect your reputation
• Need someone to move public opinion
• Need someone to help face a crisis

After all Kinsella is no Spring Daisy (think geriatric punk rocker) and he certainly ain't no wilting daisy when it comes to selling out.


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May Day Redux

Rabble.ca has published an excellent essay on May Day versus Labour Day, by Canadian Marxist Leo Panitch. He refer's to Bryan Palmers book; Cultures of Darkness:

Palmer was a student of E.P.Thompson's (The Making of the English Working Class) and is a leading Canadian Labour Historian. Panitch sums up Palmers thesis which coincides with mine, click on the title to read it.

Debate on the origins of May Day is conducted in the truncated Babble.ca


What Palmer says about May Day fits well with my Origins and Traditions of May Day

This radical May Day tradition is nowhere better captured than in Bryan Palmer's monumental book, Cultures of Darkness: Night Travels in the Histories of Transgression [From Medieval to Modern] (Monthly Review Press, 2000). Palmer, one of Canada's foremost Marxist labour historians, has done more than anyone to recover and analyze the cultures of resistance that working people developed in practicing class struggle from below. He's strongly critical of labour-movement leaders who've appealed to those elements of working-class culture that crave ersatz bourgeois respectability.

Set amid chapters on peasants and witches in late feudalism, on pirates and slaves during the rise of mercantile imperialism, on fraternal lodge members and anarchists in the new cities of industrial capitalism, on lesbians, homosexuals and communists under fascism, and on the mafia, youth gangs and race riots, jazz, beats and bohemians in modern U.S. capitalism, are two chapters that brilliantly tell the story of May Day.

One locates Haymarket in the context of the Victorian bourgeoisie's fears of what they called the “dangerous classes.” This account confirms the central role of the “anarcho-communist movement in Chicago [which] was blessed with talented leaders, dedicated ranks and the most active left-wing press in the country. The dangerous classes were becoming truly dangerous.”

The other chapter, a survey of “Festivals of Revolution,” locates “the celebratory May Day, a festive seizure of working-class initiative that encompassed demands for shorter hours, improvement in conditions, and socialist agitation and organization” against the backdrop of the traditional spring calendar of class confrontation.

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Tories Are Boozers

I don't klnow what it is about the Tories but they seem to have an inordinate fondness for booze, take King Ralph. Well in the new Federal Budget they made a big deal out of dropping excise taxes for Canadian wineries and Beer Microbreweries. Just in time for Canada Day, hic.

— Effective July 1st, 100-per-cent Canadian wine produced by small vintners will be exempt from duty.

— Effective July 1st, the rate of excise duty on beer produced by small brewers will be reduced.

Text of James Flaherty's budget speech

So I guess that makes the Liberals and NDP Pot Heads.



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