April 26, 2006

Harper on defensive over media ban on return of dead soldiers

There is also talk this morning that the US is pressing for a quick resolution of the softwood issue on terms unfavorable to Canada. The US only has a day or two left to file an appeal to the most recent NAFTA judgement which was very favorable to Canada's position. Wonder Boy and his Can-Neo-Cons like to suggest that with them in charge US-Canada relations are taking a turn toward maturity. It's more accurate to suggest that if Harper has his way Canada's interests will be "harmonized" with those of the US, otherwise known as capitulation. Canada didn't want to be part of the US in the late 1700's and most Canadian's feel the same today.

GOP leader says Democrats, radical environmentalists to blame for gas prices

April 20, 2006

Here's a pic I found on Ingmar Lee Writes showing Snotty McClelland and "Turdblossom" Rove heading in the right direction - Down

Ingmar also has open letter to the creator of the dumb phrase "Axis of Evil" in reponse to his article on the American Enterprise Institute website titled Nuclear Jihad. Ingmar begins his letter:

Dear Dave,

I've just read your fascinating article, "Nuclear Jihad," on the American Enterprise Institute website! Dave, I do believe that you've overlooked a 4th possibilty in your search for reason in the Iranian Mullah's current nuclear stance.

The Iranian Mullahs recognize, as does nearly everybody, that the world's largest debtor nation is led by a stupid, illiterate, illegitimate, liar who is advised by a doddering, tired, old, warmongering Neocon cabal, a veritable "Excess of Evil."

The Iranian Mullahs know that George W. Bush's adventure in the Middle Eastern oil-fields has now devolved into a grotesque Quagmine and the American military is being defeated by several hundred courageous freedom-fighters, operating on a shoestring budget, with bargain-basement improvised weaponry, in Iraq.

Carl Bernstein, the half of the Watergate team who hasn't morphed into a lapdog of the establishment and this administration has a timely article in Vanity Fair.

The first fundamental question that needs to be answered by and about the president, the vice president, and their political and national-security aides, from Donald Rumsfeld to Condoleezza Rice, to Karl Rove, to Michael Chertoff, to Colin Powell, to George Tenet, to Paul Wolfowitz, to Andrew Card (and a dozen others), is whether lying, disinformation, misinformation, and manipulation of information have been a basic matter of policy—used to overwhelm dissent; to hide troublesome truths and inconvenient data from the press, public, and Congress; and to defend the president and his actions when he and they have gone awry or utterly failed.

Los Angeles Times columnist Robert Scheer discusses "the quandary in which Bush finds himself regarding Iran and nuclear weapons." The man who wants to be judged on how well he keeps American's safe, has shown himself to be seriously lacking.

....Hussein, who did not have a nuclear-weapons program and was fundamentally at odds with Bin Laden, now sits in prison, while the dictator of nukes-R-us Pakistan and the theocrats of Iran have had their power immeasurably strengthened by Bush's policies.

April 19, 2006

Little Stevie "Wonder White Bread" Harper

Of course by most Dangerous Man I don't mean Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran. Come to think of it, maybe Little Stevie, Gee Dubya and Mahmoud are actually triplets separated at birth. Maclean's said in their January 23 issue that (he)..."immediately gave notice that his leadership would mean the return of religious conservatism to government, and increased defiance internationally." Who are they talking about, George Bush or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? They were referring to the President of Iran, but obviously the words are as applicable to George Bush. Macleans also refers to Abmadinejad as "messianic," again a term that can reasonably be applied to Bush.

Now Canada has Little Stevie who has made it perfectly clear that he thinks George Bush is the only leader on the planet with the right ideas. Even Tony "lap dog" Blair is trying to distance himself from Bush and his misguided policies, and along comes Little Stevie to take up the slack. His priorities are the same as Bush's, capitulation to the Corporate Elite, marginalization of gays, "staying the course" in the war on a noun (terror or as Bush prefers to say "terra,") which if you think about it is more accurate. Bush has pretty well declared war on "terra" or earth with the use of depleted uranium as well as the threat of pre-emptive use of nuclear bombs, the denial of global warming and science in general if it doesn't agree with the Bible, the gutting of enviromental legislation and research and the capitulation to Big Oil, Big Pharma and Big Agriculture - especially genetically modified seeds and crops.

Little Stevie looked so pathetic yesterday at the daycare in Burnably threatening the opposition to oppose his generous day-care plan at their peril. Does he think Canadians are dumb enough to be bought off by $100 per month in their pocket and rhetoric about "choice." Of course "choice" becomes a bad word in Little Stevie's lexicon once we move into the realm of women and reproductive issues. A mother at Stevie's photo-op told a reporter that she was on a waiting list over 300 names long for a space in that day-care and if she was lucky enough to get one before her kid went to university she would need $940 per month to pay for it. With 1200 whole dollars for the year from Little Stevie, she may as well buy beer and popcorn, it certainly won't solve her day-care requirements.

Then I also had to see David of many faces, all of them phoney, Emerson who actually spoke a few words somewhere in the Lower Mainland yesterday. He was trying to point out how the Sea-to-Sky highway project had nothing to do with the Olympics. Where was he when the Olympic official was taken by car to Whistler and complained about the road and the time it took to get there? David Emerson is very talented at lining his own pockets, but it seems highly unlikely that he is of any value to his constituents or any more that an embarassment to Little Stevie "White Wonder Bread."

Sometimes perhaps it is possible to see more clearly from a distance than close up. This article from yesterday's The Australian (where it is already tomorrow) certainly supports that observation.

Lock him away to stop the next war
With his presidency reduced to a mess, George W. Bush may just decide to lash out wildly at Iran, writes Phillip Adams

WE cannot wait any longer for the impeachment of George W. Bush. Far more efficient to have Bush certified. There is no need for further debate on his mental state. The US President is bonkers.

Having turned the White House into a madhouse, having taken more lunatic positions on more issues than any head of state since GeorgeIII (are they, perchance, related?). GWB needs a long rest and a change of medication. And it shouldn't be too hard to guide him into a padded cell. Just tell him it's the presidential bomb shelter.

Let's examine the symptoms of his mental decline.

April 15, 2006

Berlusconi Suffers Setback Over Recount - It seems as if neo-cons of all nationalities only believe in democracy if they win. Italy's richest man has been whining ever since it appeared that Prodi had won. Maybe he'll shut up now. See article (free registration required at NYT)

Appeals Court Bars Arrests of Homeless in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, April 14 — A federal appeals court panel ruled on Friday that arresting homeless people for sleeping, sitting or lying on sidewalks and other public property when other shelter is not available was cruel and unusual punishment. The 2-to-1 ruling, by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, essentially invalidated a 37-year-old ordinance that the police have used to clear homeless people off the streets.

April 14, 2006

I invite all who pass this way to check out the pictures recently scanned and posted at Villages in the Mist. These are some photos I took on a solo voyage around Louise Island and Upper Moresby exploring abandoned Haida villages and feasting on abalone.

On April 5, Representative Ron Paul of Texas gave a speech in front of the House of Representatives in Washington D.C. Ron Paul is a Republican and holds views on some issues that I don't share. But in this speech to his colleagues on the War in Iraq and the likely one to come against Iran he pulls no punches and nails it down good.

First, Iran doesn't have a nuke and is nowhere close to getting one, according to the CIA. If they did have one, using it would guarantee almost instantaneous annihilation by Israel and the United States. Hysterical fear of Iran is way out of proportion to reality. With a policy of containment, we stood down and won the Cold War against the Soviets and their 30,000 nuclear weapons and missiles. If you're looking for a real kook with a bomb to worry about, North Korea would be high on the list. Yet we negotiate with Kim Jong Il. Pakistan has nukes and was a close ally of the Taliban up until 9/11. Pakistan was never inspected by the IAEA as to their military capability. Yet we not only talk to her, we provide economic assistance-- though someday Musharraf may well be overthrown and a pro-al Qaeda government put in place. We have been nearly obsessed with talking about regime change in Iran, while ignoring Pakistan and North Korea. It makes no sense and it's a very costly and dangerous policy.