Stupid Humans

Just typical of folks who decide to carry their prejudices to their logical extreme, like lynching parties in the U.S......

The discovery of a dozen dead stingrays on Australian beaches has raised fears that angry fans of "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin are taking revenge on the normally placid creatures for his death.

	Stringrays: found with their tails cut off on beaches

The rays were found with their tails cut off on beaches in Queensland, where Irwin died last week. He was speared in the heart by a stingray barb while filming on the Great Barrier Reef.

Irwin's supporters said he would have been appalled by any harm done to stingrays, which have accounted for only three or four deaths since Australian records began.

"We will not accept and not stand for anyone who's taken a form of retribution. That's the last thing Steve would want," said Michael Hornby, the executive director of Irwin's charity, Wildlife Warriors.

Also See:

"Things that Can Kill you in the Sea"

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Bad News For the Bloc

As I said here the BQ has joined the other Federal Political parties in their opportunitic denounciation of the NDP poisiton on Afghanistan. How quickly they will change their tune....

Canadian tank deployment carries political risks

Sending tanks to fight Taliban insurgents could cause problems both in Afghanistan and at home, especially if some of the troops involved are drawn from units in Quebec, experts warned Tuesday.

A Montreal political scientist said if there are casualties from Quebec, Stephen Harper and his Conservatives could pay a heavy price in political support in a province already deeply opposed to the war.

In addition, the grim appearance and destructive power of up to 15 Leopard tanks has the potential to further alienate Afghans already suspicious of foreign troops, said experts in counter-insurgency warfare.

A proposal to send reinforcements, including tanks, to a war-torn country where the Canadian army has met stiff resistance, will be debated this week by the federal cabinet. It's been suggested some of the troops could be drawn from units in Valcartier, Que.

Also See:

Afghanistan






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The Solution to Racial Profiling

Dust My Broom the Blogging Tory provides us with the solution for Muslims in Canada and the United States to feel safe again. Of course it really has nothing to do with religion but region. Dark swarthy Christians and athiests also get harrassed by the new Security State in Canada. And some even get tortured even though they are Canadian citizens.Canada had rendition program, Amnesty aide suggests



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Cherniak and Kinsellas Wet Dream

Found at the Blogging Tories
(said in the voice of Rod Sterling of the Twilight Zone)

Vote Liberal. Just this once. PLEASE!
→ Upper Canada Catholic | 12 Sep 2006 | 10:46pm EST
I never thought I would type those words, honest, but if you live in Parkdale-High Park there is a provincial by-election tomorrow – and YOU NEED TO VOTE Liberal.

The reason is simple: the Tory candidate (preferred in these quarters) isn’t going to win, but the NDP fruitcake just might. AND WE NEED TO STOP HER. She thinks Karla Homolka is a “scapegoat like Christ” and that pedophiles get a raw deal from society. Presumably, she would lobby hard on behalf of her constituents to bring more half-way houses and sex offenders into their neighborhoods.

She is also a United Church minister, making that reason #498 I left the United Church of Canada and became a Catholic.

Speaking of Serling this quote is particularly apt for the smear campaign ortchestrated by Cherniak, and abetted by Kinsella and the Liberals against DiNovo.

• "The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosives and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices, to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill, and suspicion can destroy. And a thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own."

The Twilight Zone

"The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street"

Also See:

Cherniak

Kinsella

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Did They Practice Safe Sex?

MacKay invited Rice to accompany him to his home district where polite but cheeky protests greeted the pair.Other signs made light of the tandem visit by the two unmarried diplomats. "Condi + Peter Make Love Not War," read one, decorated with a large, red heart.

MacKay could not have given Rice a warmer welcome. The two had dinner together in the town of Pictou on Monday night and were up early on Tuesday to tour its picturesque waterfront.

Rice described the renewed relationship as an "alliance" that has never been stronger.

MacKay and Rice seemed to hit it off on a personal level throughout the two-day visit, which ended in MacKay's home riding of Central Nova.

Rice said she spent Monday evening at Pictou Lodge Resort - an oceanside retreat that features log cabins and fine dining - leaving her window open to enjoy the ocean breezes.

In the morning, MacKay led her on a waterfront tour, which included a stop at the local Tim Hortons.

Also See

Peter McKay



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Damascus 6-500

George call Damascus 6-500 time to talk. US grateful as Syria foils attack on embassy raid


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9/12

The day after 9/11. Remember? The day NATO invoked article 5 aka the Three Musketeers article, one for all and all for one.

Article 5 The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.

This was the first time that Article 5 was ever used. Originally intended to assure European members that if they were attacked by Russia traditionally isolationist America would come to their aid immediately (unlike WWI and WWII).

The world was aghast after 9/11 where even the French cried "We Are All Americans Now" misquoting JFK. Three years later America would repay that statement of soldiarity by renaming french fries as Freedom Fries, as France refused to support the Americans arbitrary invasion of Iraq.

Not all Americans now - World - Times Online

Sympathy for a grieving America translated quickly into general support for the US war against the Taleban. But within a few weeks that support began to drain, as civilian casualties mounted and some questioned whether the US was doing enough to address the “root causes” of terrorism, in particular the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Then, in the view of most of the world, the US took a terrible detour: from the high road of regime change against the perpetrators and enablers of 9/11, the US descended into the thickets of Guantanamo, the “axis of evil”, pre-emptive war without UN authorisation, the invasion of Iraq, Abu Ghraib and the quagmire of Baghdad today

NATO's generosity and solidarity on 9/12 was ignored by the Bush White House which went its own way and declared war on the Taliban, much like it preempted the UN resolution on Iraq, and went to war against Saddam. Ironically the Bush Doctrine while declaring itself a global strategy is really just another form of America First isolationism. Yer with us or agin us. But we call the shots.

What happened to the new world order
In other words, the appearance of American foreign policy after 9/11 conveyed the notion that the US was (and to a degree remains) aloof from its former allies - If not geographically, then at least mentally and strategically. With its description as a hyperpower came the epithet of unilateralism. Yet from a European perspective, American unilateralism looked like the secretly raised child of American isolationism.

Only in hindsight did the Bush White house involve NATO, three years later as they planned to move out of Afghanistan, Mission Accomplished, and on to Iraq.

Then, now and beyond

By Tod Lindberg
September 12, 2006

That said, I think the Bush administration, in addition to getting a great deal right following the attacks of five years ago, made three specific mistakes in the early going that unnecessarily damaged the position of the United States.
The first was to sideline NATO for the Afghanistan operation. Following the September 11 attacks, the Atlantic alliance quickly decided for the first time ever to invoke Article 5 of the Washington treaty, which declares an attack on any member of the alliance to be an attack on all members. The administration, wanting to act quickly against the Taliban, thought working through or with NATO would be an unacceptable and unnecessary hindrance. So Article 5 went by the boards.
Now, as it happens, there is solidarity of the sentimental sort, which is touching, and there is solidarity of the hard security sort, which is when allies are willing to fight your war with you. The latter is a big deal. It would have been worth the trouble to figure out how to involve NATO from the early going, especially since the administration was, quite rightly, making broad claims about September 11 as an attack not just on the United States but also on the modern world itself.

At no time has the US or NATO or any of its member states officially declared WAR on Afghanistan or Iraq. Instead all these hot wars started by the U.S. are considered police actions. Not unlike the 'war' which was not a 'war' in Vietnam.

The New NATO that exists today is an organization in transition from a Cold War common front in Europe to the new Global Policeman. In becoming that policeman its role and membership will change. Thus what is occuring now in the crisis of failure of the old membership to step up to the plate in Afghanistan is that NATO is being challenged to change. To become a broader member organization that can be America's ally in new American policing actions.

The reshaping of NATO is occuring now. The failure of European nations to step up to the plate in Afghanistan will allow America and now Canada to call for expansion of membership to other American allies like Australia and Israel. To globalize NATO has been the American agenda all along.

A Global Alliance
Globalization of the alliance does not require any changes to its basic structure. But amendments will have to be made to the North Atlantic Treaty, especially article 10, which only allows NATO to expand in European countries. At present, the treaty allows for the accession of a number of countries with questionable democracy, Belarus, for instance, but does not allow for the admission of such democratic powers as Australia and Japan. Adherence to general values should be the better recommendation than geography.

The principle of article 5, that an attack on one member of the alliance is seen as an attack on all the members, should remain the main principle. That is a relatively simple affair for the U.S. In the end, whether officially or not, the U.S. is the guarantor of the security of such states as Australia, Israel, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.





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Pleasures of The Harbour

I was listening to Phil Ochs album Pleasures of The Harbour when I read this...

'We cannot retreat, we cannot come back.

Boats are safe in the harbour, but that's not what they're made for.'

-Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay

Somehow its poignancy counteracted the stupidity of this bit of homespun Atlantic wisdom. Obviously said by someone who is not a fisherman or a fisherman's wife. Only to be matched by this one; there are no safe ports in a storm.

And I thought of Phil and his lifelong struggles against War, Imperialism, Injustice and played the album again.

Seeking solace in the fact that we can come back, it is only a matter of time as the Americans found out in Vietnam.

And the ship sets the sail
They've lived the tale
To carry to the shore
Straining at the oars
Or staring from the rail
And the sea bids farewell
She waves in swells
And sends them on their way
Time has been her pay
And time will have to tell
Soon your sailing will be over
Come and take the pleasures of the har - bor

And the anchor hits the sand
The hungry hands
Have tied them to the port
The hour will be short
For leisure on the land
And the girls scent the air
They seem so fair
With paint on their face
Soft is their embrace
To lead them up the stairs
Soon your sailing will be over
Come and take the pleasures of the harbor

In the room dark and dim
Touch of skin
He asks her of her name
She answers with no shame
And not a sense of sin
Until the fingers draw the blinds
Sip of wine
The cigarette of doubt
The candle is blown out
The darkness is so kind
Soon your sailing will be over
Come and take the pleasures of the harbor

And the shadows frame the light
Same old sight
Thrill has blown away
Now all alone they lay
Two strangers in the night


Till his heart skips a beat
He's on his feet
To shipmates he must join
She's counting up the coins
He's swallowed by the street
Soon your sailing will be over
Come and take the pleasures of the harbor

In the bar hangs a cloud
The whiskey's loud
There's laughter in their eyes
The lonely in disguse
Are clinging to the crowd
And the bottle fills the glass
The haze is fast
He's trembling for the taste
Of passion gone to waste
In memories of the past
Soon your sailing will be over
Come and take the pleasures of the harbor

In the alley, red with rain
Cry of pain
For love was but a smile
Teasing all the while
Now dancing down the drain
'till the boys reach the dock
They gently mock
Lift him on their backs
Lay him on his rack
And leave beneath the light
Soon your sailing will be over
Come and take the pleasures of the harbor

And the ship sets the sail
They've lived the tale
To carry from the shore
Straining at the oars
Or staring from the rail
And the sea bids farewell
She waves in swells
And sends them on their way
Time has been her pay
And time will have to tell
Soon your sailing will be over
Come and take the pleasures of the harbor

Also See:

Afghanistan






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Should Liberal Leader Be Bilingual

A lot of flack over the Sunday Liberal Leadership debate in French. Even before the debate Liberalbloggers were asking; How important is bilingualism in a Prime Minister

In her column on the Liberal debate Chantal Hébert says; "But that also means that they are more than ever on the lookout for a leader who would hit the ground running and hold his own in French and in Quebec against Gilles Duceppe, Jack Layton and Stephen Harper in a matter of months, not years.In a party that had a paucity of qualified bilingual candidates, Gerard Kennedy or Scott Brison's French might pass although Ken Dryden's would not, even in those reduced circumstances. But in a party that offers a perfectly fluent trio of top-tier candidates, aspirants whose second language turns to gibberish under pressure simply don't make the grade."

While the whole question of biligualism has been focused on the candidates ability to speak French, it should also behoove the Liberals to make sure all the candidates can speak Canada's other offical language.

If they did this guy would be disqualified.


















Also See

Liberal Leadership Race



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Off To Global War We Go

The Blogging Tories and other commentators on the right claim that Harper is not a George Bush finger puppet, that Ottawa is not the White House North. Someone should tell Condi Rice that. The Harper military foreign policy has been made in the White House.

Rice said the freedom that Canadians and Americans enjoy increasingly depends on "freedom in other lands." She said the U.S. is now engage in a "great global struggle to determine what ideas will organize the 21st century." As a result, Canada's alliance with the United States must become global in scope, she said. "We are employing our alliance to serve great purposes," she said, citing the work of Canadian and American troops and officials in Haiti, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Where is our super secret Joint Task Force 2 ? Why they are still in Iraq of course.
And you didn't think Canada had troops in Iraq.

Iraq 2003-Present

It was widely speculated that JTF2 was in Iraq, working closely with fellow Special Operations Forces units the SAS and Delta Force. These speculations were confirmed Thursday March 23, 2006 by The Pentagon and the British Foreign Office when they both commented on the instrumental role JTF2 played in rescuing the British and Canadian Christian Peace Activists that were being held hostage in Iraq.

And their motto seems to fit Harpers new macho military stance....The Joint Task Force 2's motto is Facta non verba, Latin for "Deeds, not words."

CANADIAN SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES: A BLUEPRINT FOR THE FUTURE
The security environment within which Canada must exist for the foreseeable future is characterized by global dominance exercised by the United States of America. This dominance is, however, likely to be challenged periodically by trans-national groups and non-state actors who will employ asymmetric tactics and strategies to achieve their goals and objectives – groups that will not necessarily be constrained by funding or technology, or western morals and ethical standards.

Joint Task Force (JTF) 2, a Tier 1-capable unit, acknowledged by the Chief of the Defence Staff as a counter-terrorism and special operations unit capable of deploying abroad for the conduct of special operations

Trained at the notorious School of the Americas special forces centre in the U.S.

Canadian, U.S. Soldiers commemorate Special Forces operations

Available for secret covert operations elsewhere that the Americans want us to go.



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