Saturday, January 28, 2006

Conservative Morality


Here is a fine example of Conservative morality. It's ok to lie to the media. It's ok to lie. Sounds familar doesn't it. Sounds like the moral values of Dr. Goebbels. "If you tell a lie, tell a big one."

In this case outspoken American rightwhingnut Paul Weyrich admits he lied to , lied not misled, a Canadian reporter during the election, about the American Right wing involvement with Harper and the Conservatives, according to the Globe and Mail.

And he is rather proud of himself for it too.
So if you lie, then why should we believe anything you say.

Mr. Weyrich acknowledges in the commentary that he evaded questions last week from Canadian journalists who called asking him about an e-mail he wrote to fellow conservatives urging them to stay mum if they were asked to comment on the coming Canadian vote.

In the e-mail, copies of which were obtained by The Globe and Mail and The Canadian Press, Mr. Weyrich said that voters in Canada had been led to believe that U.S. conservatives were "scary" so it would be best if right-wing leaders kept their mouths shut before crowing about a likely Tory win.

Last week, Mr. Weyrich declined to confirm that he wrote the e-mail and said he did not know Gerard Chipeur, the Calgary lawyer and Harper supporter who had asked Mr. Weyrich to get the no-interview message across to other U.S. conservatives.

But in this week's commentary, Mr. Weyrich recounted the story with some gloating. He explained how Mr. Chipeur had contacted him "out of concern for what the left-wing Canadian media could do to obtain from some unsuspecting United States conservative an off-the-charts quote which could be hung around Prime Minister-elect Stephen Harper's neck."

Mr. Weyrich described how he had asked his associate, Bob Thompson, to write up the e-mail seeking to muzzle his fellow conservatives until after the election, only to discover that the message had soon been leaked to the press.

"After speaking with two Canadian reporters, I chose not to return such telephone calls. In the end, there just wasn't enough there to make a fuss, although there was potential to blow this sky high. Conservatives did not conduct interviews. Small victory."

And he accuses Canada of being cultural Marxists, there's that shade of Dr. Goebbels again hovering in the rhetoric of the American right.

The essence of propaganda consists in winning people over to an idea so sincerely, so vitally, that in the end they succumb to it utterly and can never again escape from it.

Goebbels.

Poor American rightwhingnuts can't tell the difference between social democracy, socialism and Marxism. But what the hell do you expect from cultural conservatives who take the bible literally and think dinosaurs lived with men.

Here is another ironic comparison between Dr. Goebbels and Mr. Weyrich;
both of them suffered from disabilities.Perhaps their outrageous views are a compensation factor, or it could just be a coincidence of history.


And yet because of his disability Weyrich supports public ownership of rail and transit, by right wing standards that would be a form of National Socialism.


Who is Paul Weyrich and why should you care? Read this; Harper: Free advice from Weyrich, godfather of the right


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Hamas Refuses To Recognize Harper


An unnamed spokesman for Hamas today told this blog that the new Hamas government in Palestine will not recognize Stephen Harper as Prime Minister of Canada or his new Conservative Government.

"We had a landslide victory and Harper refuses to recognize us as the legitimate government of the Palestinians, what a joke. He has a squeeker of an election and a minority government and he wants recognition. We certainly have more legitimacy then his government. "

The unnamed Hamas spokesman suggested the Conservative Leader and PM designate was unduly influenced by Canadian Blogger Warren Kinsella and expatriates like David Frum.

"Now that Carolyn Parrish is gone they only have Hamas to kick around" the unnamed spokesman said.

Harper,the new Canadian PM designate is upset over the issue of the Palestianian armed struggle.

"He is mad because we have a military and he doesn't." said the unnamed spokesman.


The Palestinians' democratic choice must be respected

The excuses given for refusing to deal with Hamas will not wash. This is a chance for Europe to have an independent role

Jonathan Steele
Friday January 27, 2006
The Guardian

A tip o the blog to BBS and Arabian Dissent for this, you guys inspired me.

Yes this is a satire.

For a good non-satirical article see:
The government of Hamas should be recognized!

Previous articles on Hamas

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Blogging Tories Jump Ship

As I predicted the Blogging Tories no longer have anything to say now that their boy Harper is in the House.

So one of the founding members of the aggregator known as Blogging Tories has hung up his blog and forums and gone into retirement, job done. Liberals trashed. Conservatives victorious.

Time to grow up and take care of lifes responsibilities like the wife and kids, and the grass in the back yard.

Now if the rest of them would follow suit.

Conservative Life is saying goodbye

After two years of blogging I've decided to hang up the gloves. It has proven to be a lot of fun and a lot of aggravation. I have two young children and a wife that deserve more attention than I've been giving them (especially during the election). I would like to thank my fellow bloggers for all of their contributions and all those who bothered to comment on my opinions.

A few days back CL crossed the 1,000,000 hit mark and the forums reached 1,000 members. It will be hard to let this website go but it is something I must do. I will still be involved in the maintenance of the Blogging Tories website and will comment lots in the member blogs.

Thanks everyone. It has been fun..

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Whew that was close

It seems all the worry about the Harpers asthma attack was for not.

Harper illness prompts false asthma report, raises issue of political privacy

He hasn't had asthma since he was a kid. Whew. Had me worried there.

But he did check into a local hospital emergency ward for antibiotics, he had a chest cold and didn't want it to turn into pneumonia. Just walked into the public hospital and waited in Emegency. Just like that.

Harper treated in Ottawa hospital

Damn good system we have here with socialized medicine. Just walked into the hospital and got service. No HMO's, no extra billing, no credit card, no getting kicked out cause you don't have any of those things.

Nope he just walked into the hospital. The PM designate of Canada. Just like any other Canadian.

For now.

New Conservative Gov't Issues Warning to Alberta
Friday, January 27, 2006 9:05 PM

A spokesman for the incoming Conservative Government says Alberta can go ahead with all the health reforms it likes.

But William Stairs says the province must stay within the rules of the Canada Health Act.

Stairs was responding Friday to suggestions by Alberta Premier Ralph Klein that some of the province's reforms might violate the federal legislation.

Stairs says Stephen Harper has made his position clear - "any changes should be made within the Canada Health Act."


Alberta reforms could violate health act: Klein
CBC Saskatchewan, Canada - 18 hours ago
Alberta Premier Ralph Klein says his government is ready to move forward with health-care changes that may violate the Canada Health Act. ...
Alberta health-care reforms must obey medicare rules, says Harper ... Canada.com
Alberta's Third Way on the horizon CBC Calgary
Calgary Sun - all 52 related »


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Friday, January 27, 2006

Harpers Cat is a Liberal


The Harpers own cats. Could it be that Harpers cat is a closet Liberal out to get the newly elected PM? Sneaky cat. Just kidding we all know cats are real libertarians (unlike Mr. Harper).Harper Own Worst Enemy?

Or could it be that Harper was stupid in posing for this picture which resulted in this;
Harper goes to hospital with asthma attack, no lasting damage

If this had been the U.S. they would have run 24/7 news on this, as it was it was a sidebar story in the media.

Harper treated in hospital for asthma attack
CTV.ca - 3 hours ago
Prime minister-designate Stephen Harper, a longtime asthma sufferer, was taken briefly to an Ottawa hospital Thursday night after suffering an attack.
Harper goes to hospital with asthma attack National Post
Harper briefly hospitalized with asthma Reuters Canada

But wait asthma is a serious condition that is brought on by stress, furry animals and air pollution.

What would happen if under undue stress, such as Americans invading the Arctic, Harper got another attack that imobilized him?
Harper rebukes US envoy over Arctic dispute

Shouldn't he have been honest with voters and told us of his condition before he ran for PM?

Didn't we have the right to know that we might have a physically challenged PM. Who at moments of crisis could end up using Canada's public health care system. The one he wants to privatize.

Which might not be such a good isea in light of the fact that asthma is a growing childhood disease.
Asthma now hits one in 10 children, study says
Globe and Mail - 7 hours ago
The rate of childhood asthma in Canada has soared fourfold over the past 20 years, to a level where more than one out of every 10 children is now diagnosed with the respiratory ...
First Report on North American Children Finds High Asthma Rates Environment News Service
Number of Canadian children with asthma jumps fourfold over the ... Canada.com
CBC News - all 11 related »

And besides fluffy animals what else causes Asthma, why air pollution. You know emissions, the stuff the Kyoto accord is all about. The accord that Stephen 'asthma' Harper wants to cancel. He might want to reconsider that since it could be bad for his and our health.

)Future of Kyoto cash, climate plan still in doubt
Toronto Star - 10 hours ago
Stephen Harper's government will give Ontario $538 million that the Liberals pledged last year to help comply with the Kyoto Protocol.
Will Kyoto die at Canadian hands? BBC News
Canada's withdrawl from Kyoto seen as unlikely Vancouver Sun (subscription)
New Scientist (subscription) - Green Consumer Guide - all 8 related »





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Al Gore and Big Oil


It's funny to hear Al Gore lecture Canada about
the political influence of Big Oil, Gore accuses big oil of bankrolling Tories when he is a shareholder in Big Oil.




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Terrorist State Refuses to Talk to Terrorist State

Ah this is ironic. The (democratically elected) Israeli State won't talk to the newly (democratically) elected Palestinian authority because Hamas won and they are militant terrorists engaged in armed struggle.

Gee Hamas sounds exactly like the founding fathers of the Zionist State of Israel, who led their terrorist war for indpendence against Arab neighbours and the British. A state that refused to recognize the existence of the Palestinians until after Munich.


Refusing to Talk

The Israeli government ``will not negotiate with a Palestinian Authority that is comprised in part of an armed terrorist organization that calls for the destruction of the State of Israel,'' acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in a statement issued after an emergency meeting with security chiefs in Jerusalem.

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They Walked Like Men

An intersting discovery in the news is about the unearthing of a bipedal crocodile fossil. No not from Southern Alberta or the Gobi Desert, but bundled up and forgotten the bowels of a museum, like so many other fossils are.


Basement find has scientists going snap


Crocosaur? ... the skeleton of an early reptile shows evolutionary similarites between crocodiles and dinosaurs.

Crocosaur? ... the skeleton of an early reptile shows evolutionary similarites between crocodiles and dinosaurs.
Photo: Reuters


January 27, 2006

Scientists have discovered a fossil in New Mexico that looks like a two-metre-long, two-legged dinosaur along the lines of a tyrannosaur or a velociraptor. But it is actually an ancient relative of today's crocodiles and alligators.

The discovery is a striking example of how different animals can evolve the same kind of body over and over again.

For almost 60 years, the 210-million-year-old fossil has been hiding in plain sight, in the basement of New York's American Museum of Natural History. It was in a slab of rock dug up in 1947 in New Mexico.


Now whats interesting is that this crocidile walked upright on two feet, bipedal. It occured at the end of the crocidile species dominance on the earth prior to the rise of the dinosaurs. Hey I didn't know that crocs are older than dinos.

Anyways like later developments, bipedalism appears to be an evolutionary stream that occurs in later species development, now I won't say more advanced, as that may not be the case, but in later development.

Whether that would lead to expanded brain activity and the evolution of the species into a hominid like with higher intelligence, has been speculated on. And the similarity between this croc and the species
Troodon (Stenonychosaurus unequalis) which was creature speculated upon are quite startling.




But it is not nessacary to speculate, to once again be awed by what evolution shows us. Bipedalism is a late development of species.

Dino-Era Fossil Reveals Two-Footed Croc Relative

Croc Decline Key to Dino Rise?

Modern crocodiles are but one remnant of what was once a far more diverse croc family.

"Today we think of crocodiles as looking basically the same," said Nesbitt, of the American Museum of Natural History and Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. "But in their history they took on a wide variety of different body plans."

"Some looked like reptilian armadillos or cats, and others looked like little dinosaurs," Nesbitt said.

The crocodilian family may have been at its peak during the Triassic period.

"Toward the end of the Triassic period you have this crazy diversification of these crocodile relatives, including this animal," Nesbitt said.

"It was really the heyday of the crocodile-like animals, but the only lineage to really make it out of the Triassic was the lineage that led to modern crocodiles."

Nesbitt explains that dinosaur evolution was likely in its infancy during this period.

"We're not 100 percent sure what the story is," he cautioned.

"Now it seems that dinosaurs were there with these animals, they were part of the fauna. But they remained pretty small and not very diverse.

"We don't see the typical museum type dinosaurs until the Jurassic. Nothing is really happening [in dinosaur evolution] until after these crocodile relatives are gone," Nesbitt added.

It may be that Effigia-like animals were widespread but dinosaurs were comparatively rare during this era, Norell, the museum curator, explained.

If so, dinosaur evolution might have blossomed only after most crocodile-like animals became extinct. Those extinctions might have left an attractive environmental niche for the dinosaurs.

The theory seems to be backed by the abundance of Effigia-like animals found from North America's late Triassic period.

Many fossils once thought to be dinosaurs turn out, on closer inspection, to be crocodile-like animals that, like Effigia, only look like dinosaurs.

Many of these croc-like animals "are difficult to identify without nearly complete specimens, especially skulls," Nesbitt said. "If you just have a vertebra, for example, you can't tell them apart."




For more stories on dinosaurs and cryptozoology see my Live Journal Heresiology


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Thursday, January 26, 2006

The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress


The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is one of my favorite Heinlein novels along with Stranger in a Strange Land. Its about a revolt of a moon colony and their reorganization as an anarchist society. One of its characters Manny a technician worker who is an communist (well a Cold War Russian at least).

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is similar to Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) in that both describe social upheavals, and both contain a strong streak of irony. In The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, the irony is that although the lunar colony is, at the beginning of the story, theoretically a kind of prison ruled by a tyrannical Warden, in reality the Warden seldom interferes in lunar society, which is portrayed as a kind of libertarian utopia. When the revolution succeeds, the new lunar government succumbs to its own worst instincts to regulate society to the hilt. The novel is notable stylistically for its use of an invented Lunar dialect consisting predominantly of English words but strongly influenced by Russian grammar (cf. Nadsat slang from Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess).


Well today Russia announced is planning to build a base on the moon for industrialization rather than weaponization of space.


Russia plans to put a mine on the Moon to help boost energy supply
Independent -
Russia has staked out plans to recapture its Soviet-era space-race glory and start mining the Moon for a promising energy resource that scientists say could meet the Earth's power needs for more than a thousand years.

Russian Rocket Builder Aims for Moon Base by 2015, Reports Say Space.com


Bloody well about time too. That someone used the space race for something other than weapons systems, spy sattelites and 500 channels on TV.

We should have had a viable space station orbiting in the L5 years ago, with regular missions to the moon, ala 2001 A Space Odessy.

But the Space Race was part of the Cold War and after that it was part of the American privatization of NASA at any cost program around the Space Shuttle. A cost which was measured in lives lost rather than missions accomplished.

After the umpteenth mission we know the space orbiter works, now do something with it like build a space station, one that won't come crashing down after a decade. But that opportunity is lost too. Won't be no more Space Shuttle missions, the point of which was what? Waste in space.

Really once the Reagan regime got the Space Weapons bug thats all the Space Shuttle missions were for, but seeing that no Weaponization systems could be put up well the Space shuttle went up and down, sometimes with horrendous accidents.

We should have one global space agency always should have. NASA the EU Space Program, the Japanese, Canadian, and all the other space programs and yes the Russians and Chinese should be part of a global space program. But sigh that is too much Star Trek for the liking of the Star Wars mentality around the Pentagon.

Now the Russians are onto something. Mining the moon, just like in the Moon Is A Harsh Mistress. One word of advice, from the novel, don't rely on prison labour for the miners or they may revolt and that would be Anarchy in space.

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress - Wikiquote


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agorism, counter-economics, left libertarian, new libertarian or Movement of the Libertarian Left.



Aren't you sorry you sold your shares

That should be the question going through all our minds as shareholders in fact former owners of Petro Canada, the Liberals sold off the last of our shares to pay for their 2004 election promises. Too bad. Had they waited they could have paid them off on the interest the shares earned this past year.

Petro-Canada earns $1.8B in 2005, plans new upgrader near Edmonton
CBC News - 5 hours ago
CALGARY (CP) - Petro-Canada (TSX:PCA) posted record annual earnings of $1.8 billion Thursday, up slightly over 2004, and announced it will build its new oilsands upgrader just northeast of Edmonton.

Petro-Canada profit rises 62% Globe and Mail



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