Oligarchs

Some oligarchs are more equal than others,
to paraphrase George Orwell.

Proving once again that State Capitalism is the highest form of Monopoly Capitalism.

A Steel Magnate With Kremlin Connections New York Times

The first step in Aleksei Mordashov's path to becoming Russia's seventh-richest man, with a fortune estimated at $8.5 billion, was privatizing the steel mill where both his parents had worked as Soviet engineers.

Actually, his luck can be traced to his days as a college student. He studied economics at the Leningrad Economic and Engineering University, where he was an assistant for an up-and-coming professor, Anatoly B. Chubais. Mr. Chubais later became the architect of Russian privatization in the 1990's under President Boris N. Yeltsin. He also met students who later went on to hold high-level positions in the Russian government. It did not hurt that he went to school in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, where Mr. Putin is from.

Dofasco guessing game heats up
Dofasco Inc.'s future ownership is murkier after Luxembourg parent Arcelor SA struck a complex merger deal with Russia's Severstal to fend off hostile suitor Mittal Steel Co.

Also See:

Mittal

Steel Wars-Why Isn't This An Election Issue

Time For A Canadian Steel Workers Union

Union Free State Capitalism

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A Perfect Storm

The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, made famous in song by Gordon Lightfoot, was the result of a Perfect Storm according to the latest news reports.

"During the late afternoon and early evening of Nov. 10, conditions deteriorated rapidly with winds in excess of 69 mph, hurricane-force gusts [over 74 mph] and waves more than 25 feet high," said Thomas Hultquist, science and operations officer at the NOAA National Weather Service forecast office in Negaunee, Mich.

The freighter, thought like the Titanic to be invincible, was heading south. Waves were traveling west-to-east, the new analysis shows. This could have created a hazardous rolling motion. The ship sank about 15 miles from Whitefish Bay. New Clues to the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

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Caledonia, Caledonia

What seems to be overlooked in this dispute between the Sovereign Six Nations and the local folks in Caledonia is that both the local folks and natives settled this dispute over the road closerure through mediation and discussion. Despite flaring tempers and hot heads, mostly on the locals side on Monday, the spokesperson for the local folks , Ken Hewitt stated it clearly, no level of government helped. The negotiations were between the local folks and Six Nations. Sure there were government appointed mediators, but the real dispute which underscored the blockade, land development on native land, which is a Federal responsibility, has been abdicated by the Harpocrite government. Probably because they are on the side of the developers. Which is contrary to the interests of both the local folks and the Six Nations. That cool heads prevaled is a tribute to the enlightened self-interest shown by the local residents and their neighbours the Six Nations. And what was avoided was violence, due to limited police interference, again thanks to what in effect became a joint protest, until some local yahoos decided to resort to reactionary racist attacks on the Six Nations.

A tip o' the blog to Cowboys for Social Responsibility and Verbena-19 for their coverage of this.

Caledonia

Now my mother told me she said “Tom you leave that girl Caledonia alone.
You know she just ain’t no good for you
She come from the wrong folks in the wrong part of town
I said mama you don’t know what this gals putting down
I love her I need her I ain’t never gonna leave her

Cho: Caledonia, Caledonia
You’re what make my big head so hard
I love her I love her just the same
I’m crazy ‘bout the girl Caledonia is her name.





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Brokeback Mounties

RCMP Consts. David Connors (left) and Jason Tree to wed.

MPs gagged on gay Mounties' wedding Oh those Kinky Conservatives either this has to do with their immediate reaction, as in they gagged over the idea of a Gay Mountie Wedding, or else its a bit of Bondage and Dominace from the PMO. Yep defintely B&D PMO muzzles MPs on wedding of gay Mounties

The Prime Minister's Office has warned Tory MPs not to comment on the marriage next month of two gay RCMP constables. The gag order went to all MPs but was aimed at "the small minority who might say something stupid," said one caucus member.

Stupid as in opposing Gay Marriage?! What the Conservatives are admiting their opposition to Gay Marriage is Stupid. So much for their Sixth Priority; Harper Promises Free Vote on Same Sex Marriage.

This gives new meaning to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Don't tell even if reporters ask Prime Minister's Office lays down the law

Also See: Gay Marriage

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Brokeback Mountain,

Peel For the Police

Those whacky cops with the Peel Police Department are at it again.

Transsexuals facing a strip search by Peel Region police should be allowed to choose the gender of the officer conducting the search, the Human Rights Commission has ruled.Peel police have also been ordered to produce a training video on transsexuality after the commission ruled the force violated the rights of a person undergoing a sex change. Transsexuals given choice on search

You have to wonder about macho he-men wanting to strip search she-males.

Of course there are those that contend that the authoritarian male urge to power, nifty uniforms and phallic weaponry is a form of repressed homosexuality. Such as Klaus Theweleit.

He wrote his dissertation about a literature produced by former soldiers who during the Weimar republic had organized in "Freikorps". i.e. paramilitary right-wing death squads ("Freikorpsliteratur und den Körper des soldatischen Mannes"). Nobody had cared to analyse this literature before Theweleit. His book Männerphantasien (1979), in english "Male fantasies" (1987), a study of fascist consciousness and the bodily experience of these former soldiers was well received. Theweleit used Wilhelm Reich, Felix Guattari and other theorists and discussed his findings with his wife who had clinical experience. He formulated his insights in a voluntarily nonacademic personal style. Klaus Theweleit: Information From Answers.com



Both of these folks are wearing uniforms one for gender bending and one for enforcing fear. Uniforms, costumes, etc. are social constructs, just as gender defininitons of masculine and feminine are.

Self fear and self loathing is the source of power over the other that makes up the authoritarian personality (cops, fascists, military, etc. armed and dangerous men). The police see us as the other; civilians if we are good, bad guys if we are not. But they are never of us. We are the other, and they are a power over us and are a power unto themselves. Which is why they do not so much enforce laws, as view themseleves as being the law. Which is why they feel they can break the laws or are above the law. Cops and Tasers

Hypermasculinity or the "macho personality constellation" is an example of extreme adherence to the masculine gender role. Mosher and Sirkin (1984) indicated that macho men believe that "violence is manly" and "danger is exciting," and they have sexually calloused attitudes toward women. They devised a scale to measure adherence to the macho personality and found that men high in hypermasculinity had a higher self-report of SA against women (Mosher & Anderson, 1986; Mosher & Sirkin, 1984). Mosher and Tomkins (1988) used script theory to discuss the development of the macho personality. They proposed that feelings such as excitement and anger are socialized to replace "inferior, feminine" feelings such as distress and fear. Macho men are taught such rules as "Don't be scared. Be brave. Be tough. Be daring. Become excited by the danger. Risk injury or death. Be proud of fearlessness. Be contemptuous of danger and cowards." Adolescent rites of passage in male peer groups and various aspects of American culture p erpetuate the macho script. According to this model macho males are more susceptible to peer influence because of rejecting parents. Fighting, seeking out danger, and calloused sexual encounters that are shared with peers help perpetuate this script. If "boys will be boys," then girls will be victims? A meta-analytic review of the research that relates masculine ideology to sexual aggression

Self fear and self loathing is also the tragedy of the personal life of many Transexuals and Drag Queens.

SUSAN SHAH Died Oct. 10, 2004

Yet another cautionary tale from the world of Porn. Transexual porn actress Susan Shah apparently committed suicide at age 36. Ms. Shah fell 20 stories from a New York apartment building. She had suffered from AIDS for 10 years. Ms. Shah was born a man and underwent sexual reassignment surgery. She appeared in several porn films under the name Princess Shah. She recently directed the PG-13 short film "A Step Ahead," which dealt with her sex change. She recently enrolled in film school at NYU. Prayers of comfort for her family and friends.

Transexuals on TV and in the Movies

• Showtime's "Soldier's Girl" (2003) revealed the true tale of how a GI was beaten to death in 1999 by other soldiers who were enraged by his relationship with Calpernia Addams, (a.k.a. Scottie) a transsexual nightclub performer. The movie tagline read: "She was the only man he ever loved."

  
  Lee Pace stars in
  'Soldier's Girl' on Showtime

Living in a heterosexist society, means that they fail to fit the norm. The personality and psyche is thus forced into a dualistic form of social schizophrenia, which means that as members of an erotic minority, they must conform to a norm which is not normal for them.

Guardian | Boys will be girls

Boys will be girls. What do you do when your child wants to be the opposite sex? Naomi Coleman examines the rise of gender identity disorder.

This is the real meaning of the sexual revolution, the freeing of erotic minorities from the oppression of social schizophrenia created by heterosexism.

PARADISE BENT

Screenplay: Heather Croall. Cinematography: Tony Wilson. Editing: Mark Atkin. Sound: Des Kenneally. Music: Andrew Hillam. Producer: Heather Croall. Video Colour 51'

When it comes to gender, there is a truly Samoan way of seeing the world. Paradise Bent tells the story of the Samoan fa'fafines: boys who are raised as girls and play an important domestic role in the Samoan culture. Although the anthropological spotlight has shone on Samoa many times this century, fa'fafines have never been mentioned. Is it possible the anthropologists just didn't notice them? The traditional role of the fa'fafines is now under threat, as the western drag scene filters into Samoa. The older fa'fafines are not impressed. Through our main character, Cindy, we see the complexities of life facing the modern day fa'fafines in Paradise.

Redefining Fa'afafine: Western Discourses and the Construction of Transgenderism in Samoa

Wife 'didn't realise husband was a woman' -- FOR 17 YEARS!!!!



Also See:

Metrosexual

Mirror Mirror On The Wall

Nazi Gay Killer Wanted to be a Cop

The Real Crime In Canada

The Sexual Revolution Continues

Whose Family Values?

SOME REMARKS ON WAR SPIRIT

HeShe Said

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Blog Spam

Our old pal Werner Patels is at it again.

Lets see he trolls and he spits venom, against his favorite straw man; The Left.

He attacks Scott Tribe, (because Patels was kicked off the Progressive Bloogers while Tribe was a moderator there).

He whines about James Bow and his blogroll. And sees conspiracies in the blogosphere, aimed at...wait for it...him Which could simply be good sense on the part of those who are removing his multiple blogs from their listings.

For the past two years he has produced multiple blogs, as he went from running for the Alberta Liberals and supporting the Federal Conservatives and Greens, to finally settling on becoming a Federal and Provincial Conservative.

Now he lists himself as a MA. As in; It's Alright MA (I Am Only Bleeding)
Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn
Suicide remarks are torn
From the fool's gold mouthpiece
The hollow horn plays wasted words
Proves to warn
That he not busy being born
Is busy dying.

While having finally decided not to hide behind anonymous blogs, well except for this one, he has gone on to create a new field of blogging. Spam blogging.

Yep thats when you have more than six blogs, which repeat themselves over and over and over and over......his assertion is that the Left is intolerant. And by left he includes everyone this side of Attila the Hun.

The Left is not intolerant it is pseudo-right wingers like Patels who reveal themselves to be intolerant of others opinions. Which is of course why he blogs. Not that he has anything to say.

Here are a listing of his blogs, all of which should be avoided. Blogs are subject to change at Herr Patels whimsy.

	Werner Patels on Politics & Society
	Werner Patels on Media
	The German-English Translator: Werner Patels on Translation
	Werner Patels berichtet aus Kanada
	Musings about This and That
	En Français
	My Opinion

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The Bush Blair Show

On the end of the special relationship

Bush: Hmmm. I'll miss those red ties, is what I'll miss. I'll say one thing - he can answer the question - don't count him out. Let me tell it to you that way. I know a man of resolve and vision and courage. And my attitude is, I want him to be here so long as I'm the president.

Blair: Well, what more can I say? Probably not wise to say anything more at all.




Photo courtesy Madame Tussauds Wax Museum



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Cherry Picking Conservatives

The Harpocrites cherry pick which Liberal Government policies they will abide by. Let's see they support the War in Afghanistan, but will close the Gun registry, end funding to the provinces for day care and now this.

Kyoto deals abandoned?
OTTAWA - The federal government appears set to walk away from agreements worth millions of dollars that the Liberals had negotiated to help provinces cut greenhouse gas emissions

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Inside the Beltway

No one is interested in stories coming from inside the Belt Way is how the Bush regime south of the border justified its years of cherry picking who could ask questions at the White House Press Briefings . Sounds just like this.

Mr. Harper was challenged to produce specific evidence that the Ottawa press corps is biased. He didn't do that. Instead, he said the whole issue is so "inside Ottawa stuff" that the public is not interested in it. PM presses on in his feud with the news media



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Ken Lay and Son of Sam

What is it with criminals that once convicted of henious crimes they find Jesus? Or is this becoming Born Again Christian God stuff just their excuse for having been bad boys but now they are good. Honest. Honest to God we are nice guys.

Or is it that since the jails are full of guy's named Jesus, that they find God watching them in jail, more than he was when they committed their crimes.

Such moral self righteousness is enough to make one an athiest.


Judge orders prison interview for 'Son of Sam'
Heller said his client, who was born Jewish but claims to have become a devout Christian in prison, objected to the people he victimized being further exploited by Harmatz

Ken Lay is surrounded by police after the verdict

Lay and his family, who are members of one of Houston's largest Baptist congregations, remained in the courtroom, their hands joined in prayer. He was heard trying to comfort weeping relatives, saying: "God's got another plan right now."

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