Buckdog

Someone needs to ask Tory Cabinet Minister Jason Kenney if Canada is prepared to go to war with Iran. The Federal Minister has now said that the Harper government “stands four-square” with the Jewish community in its concerns about Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s “genocidal intentions.”

Kenney spoke at Congregation Beth Israel Beth Aaron last week and pledged that Canada “will pursue every possible avenue in concert with our allies to ensure that [Iran] does not come into possession of nuclear weapons, which could unleash unimaginable violence.”

He said the government is looking at “every reasonable strategy” to thwart Ahmadinejad from his goal. Kenney said Harper understands that Iran is not interested in a two-state solution to the Palestinian issue, but “a final solution, in a perverted twist on history, that would complete the work Hitler began by eliminating the state that came into being as a haven for Jews.”

Harper, he said, is unshakable in his support for Israel, because he “understands its existential fight,” and he has told the Conservative caucus that he would not change his stance even if it means the fall of his government.

CJNEWS

Peter Dyer has a fascinating article in today's Consortium News. He argues that the accelerated execution of Saddam Hussein was intended to prevent his further trial for the gas attacks on Kurdish Iraqi's. The White House was nervous about American invovlement in the 'making' of Saddam Hussein and further court enquiries were getting too close to home for senior American politicos:

"Now that Saddam Hussein has been executed for the 1982 massacre at Dujail, the trial for a larger-scale slaughter involving poison gas in 1988 has all but disappeared from public view.

With Saddam’s death the opportunity for a full account of the tens of thousands of deaths in the so-called Anfal case appears to be lost, along with the opportunity for a frank public discussion of its historical context.

Such a discussion inevitably would have led to how Saddam Hussein’s development of dangerous weapons was enabled by Western powers, including the United States. Between 1985 and 1990, the Reagan and Bush I administrations facilitated Saddam Hussein’s massive and ambitious military industrialization effort.

Billions of dollars of financial assistance and sophisticated technology flowed from the United States to Iraq. The Reagan and Bush I administrations were aware that Saddam Hussein was using this aid to research, develop and/or manufacture chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.

Consortium News

Those of us who know how insane 'war' is, can use this little snippet when talking to others who think the War in Afghanistan is a good thing.

The World Health Organization has estimated that it needs $1 Billion in funding to eradicate the disease of polio from the world.

Canadians could have single handedly wiped Polio off the face of the earth FOUR TIMES OVER with what we have spent on the mission to Afghanistan between 2001 and May of 2006.

Shame on the Harper government for buying into George Bush's war mongering nonsense when we could have actually done something that matters to humanity with our tax dollars.

-alertnet.org
-CBC

Explain to me why Stephen Harper and his band of Tory right wingers are so anxious to make sure that you and I have limited civil liberties??? Why is he so determined to ensure that you could be held without charges? - held with out knowing what you are charged with? - held without knowing who your accuser is? - held without knowing what evidence exists against you???

Harper needs to give his head a shake, stop being such a reactionary right wing extremist and just shut the hell up and leave Canadians alone.

The so called anti-terror measures that he wants to continue were a knee jerk reaction by the fomer Liberal government to the terrorist attacks on New York City on September 11th.

We do not need these measures.

So why is it that Harper and his crew are so anxious to have tools in their tool box that would strip you of your rights as a Canadian citizen.

Harper should piss off!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE!!
HOUSE OF COMMONS DEFEATS HARPER'S MOTION FOR AN EXTENSION TO MEASURES THAT CURTAIL YOUR RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS BY A VOTE OF 124 YES 159 NO!!!

Here is a tip of the hat to the Liberal, NDP and Bloc MP's for not allowing Harper to have his way at the expense of our rights and freedoms!!

Reuters

A suicide bomber attacked the entrance to the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan Tuesday during a visit by Vice President Dick Cheney, killing at least 14 people and wounding a dozen more. The Taliban claimed responsibility and said Cheney was the target.

Cheney’s spokeswoman said he was fine, and the vice president later met with President Hamid Karzai in the capital, Kabul, before leaving the country.

CTV

The following story comes from a Government of Saskatchewan news release dated this day:

"Residents and visitors to the downtown business districts and post-secondary institutions of Saskatchewan’s four largest centres will soon be able to access the country’s largest wireless Internet network, free-of-charge. Premier Lorne Calvert and Minister responsible for Information Technology Andrew Thomson made the announcement today in Saskatoon.

The Saskatchewan! Connected initiative will offer users basic Internet service in Saskatoon, Prince Albert, Regina, and Moose Jaw via a wireless Wi-Fi network to be operated by the government Information Technology Office, SaskTel and other partners. The service will also be available in select business districts in close proximity to downtown Saskatoon and Regina."

Government of Saskatchewan

Dear Sir or Madame;
When you take your boss, the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, on a tour of some farmer's dairy barn for a photo op, ensure that your guy changes out of his shirt & tie and suit.

Nothing looks more urban to western voters then some guy with his Ottawa suit and shiny shoes on as he tours through the straw and cow poop in a dairy barn.

The only thing that could have made this photo op worse, would have been if he was carrying his briefcase with him in the barn.

Federal Liberal leader, Stephane Dion, addressed a thin crowd of 180 delegates to the Saskatchewan Liberal Party Convention in Moose Jaw over the weekend.

(Yawn).

Even though there are a few Saskatchewan Liberal bloggers, no one has bothered to blog the event .... except me .... a New Democrat .... who was finding it a rather slow news day to blog anything interesting .... not much news out of the convention .... sort of like Liberal prospects in Saskatchewan .... which is a wasteland for Liberals ..... (yawn). The theme of the convention could realistically have been ... 'Let's Get Ready To Whimper!!

Discover Moose Jaw

A Practical Update on Global Warming.







With a big old tip o' the hat to TomCat over at Politics Plus


tag global warming

Right wingers think they are so smart in their ability to come up with catchy little phrases to belittle their political adversaries. Remember when they called the French 'cheese eating surrender monkeys' or last years' 'Taliban Jack'?

Well a new little phrase is popping up in the right wing blogosphere, 'Y2Kyoto'. This is supposed to demonstrate (in their feeble little right wing minds), that Y2K was a huge bust and the same applies to 'global warming' - hence Y2Kyoto. What right wingers have never resolved in their life experience is that Y2K was blunted as a result of billions and billions of corporate and government dollars being spent fixing the information technology in advance.

Anyway they have a new phrase and they think they are quite witty in their typical smug way. Let's see here and here.

But as of now, we in the Progressive Blogosphere have a name that we can call all of those science challenged right wingers who deny global warming, from this moment on, they should be referred to as 'Kyoto-Zundels'*!


(Kyoto-Zundel; noun - a person who is in denial or who denies that global warming is occurring as a result of the greenhouse effect or other human influenced causes).

Example: 'Some of the folks over at smalldeadanimals are Kyoto-Zundelists!


tag global warming

The following excerpt is from an article by Bill Kaufmann, Sun Media

Environmentalist David Suzuki savaged Prime Minister Stephen Harper over global warming in front of a gymnasium full of elementary school students and their parents yesterday.

Later, he lashed out at Albertans, calling rapid development of the oilsands "insanity" and a "disaster." [...]

"In Alberta, you've got a great deal of nay-sayers who say it's all junk science, but they don't publish anything," said the activist, who defended his passion on the issue.

"If you don't get emotional about what's happening to the Earth, there's something fundamentally wrong."

Calgary Sun

tag kyoto david suzuki
stephen harper

There are a lot of very worth while support groups in the nation of Canada. This is not one of them. Never the less, a group of misguided individuals has established the 'The Ad Hoc Committee for Conrad Black'.

Black's supporters seem to believe that it is perfectly alright to strip millions and millions of dollars from publically traded companies for your own personal use, because, well, if you are rich, you should be able to do whatever the hell you want and the law be damned!

"I wish there were more people like Conrad Black."
Baroness Thatcher

"He was the best friend that thousands of British, American and Canadian journalists ever had. And for this they have now turned on him. A biting of the hand that fed them, like some petulant and spoiled child laughing as a parent slips on the ice and is obviously hurt."
Michael Coren, Toronto Sun


This group of 'Conrad Black' activists have come up with a threefold plan that will allow you to assist His Lordship:

-"First, you can, using the electronic mail attachment above, post your words of encouragement on our Web site."

-Second, you can join a significant number of us in our On-to-Chicago Caravan, departing Toronto by chartered aircraft on March 13, 2007 (details TBA), and arriving in Chicago in time for Lord Black's show trial, which begins on March 14."

-Third, you can make a purely symbolic financial pledge to the Lord Black Defence Fund. How much would you be willing to contribute to help fight what is already a profoundly disturbing miscarriage of justice, in the highly unlikely event its primary victim should some day need and accept financial assistance?"

-Please help Conrad Black!

-Previous Buckdog Articles on His Lordship, Conrad Black

tag conrad black

Political junkies who DO NOT have 'Bloggers4Labour' in their bookmarks are missing out a a great source of progressive political thought, dialogue and news from a British perspective.

Their blog roll is full of amazing sites.


tag british labour blog aggregator

A float depicting U.S. President George W. Bush being spanked by the Statue Of Liberty passes by during the Rose Monday carnival parade in Mainz, Germany

A big tip o' the hat to one of my favourite American bloggers, 'Did We Say That Out Loud'- Women on the Verge!







Courtesy AP Photo by Bernd Kammerer

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation will tell you that they are not 'political' and that they are not partisan. But you would be hard pressed to believe that when looking at a recent news release that attacks Stephane Dion.

Conservative Cabinet Minister Jason Kenney, was a former of CEO of the CTF.

The CTF is an extreme right wing lobby group who is on record in opposition to many publically funded programs across the nation. Their goal seems to be the total elimination of business and corporate taxation, which would ultimately leave the entire tax burden on individual wage earners.

Read their news release and then tell me that this is a 'non-partisan' group!

The Pasqua First Nation is working with several groups, including the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, to raise money to buy a rare, historic drawing.

The drawing, created by Chief Pasqua of the Pasqua First Nation, shows the negotiations leading up to Treaty 4 and was created sometime in the 1874-77 time period.

The document has been in Britain since the late 1800s and was kept in a private family collection.

CBC Saskatchewan

I have to say that I find it very caring of the British Government to erect a 7 foot high special toilet facility for pigeons to relieve themselves outside of the House of Commons in London.

In this era of sensitivity to the needs of our many animal companions and fellow creatures, the British should be commended for this act of goodwill to the avian community.

Urban pigeon flocks have always appreciated the assistance that humans provide them by way of public facilities. This new facility is going to be particularly popular with pigeons of all stripes.

Tip o' the hat to those responsible for this act of kindness. St. Francis of Assisi would be pleased, I'm sure!!



cnews.ca

Liberals bloggers are reacting to the Ipsos Reid poll that shows Dion as the third favourite of Canadians for the job of Prime Minister.

But rather then deal with the issue of the poll result, the 'Progressive Bloggers' site is abuzz with flame wars, litigation threats, poll methodolgy denials, EVERYTHING EXCEPT WHAT CANADIANS ARE SAYING: Stephane Dion is not going to waltz into 24 Sussex Drive as easy as Libs want.

-vijaysappani.com
-jasoncherniak.blogspot.com
-tdg strategies.com

The Ipsos Reid poll, conducted exclusively for CanWest News Service and Global National and released yesterday, reported 46% of respondents said Mr. Harper would make the best prime minister. Mr. Layton was second choice at 29%, while Mr. Dion trailed at 25%. "The current prime minister usually has an advantage in that kind of question," said pollster Darrell Bricker. "But being behind Layton is a significant problem for [Mr. Dion]."

The online survey -- conducted among a random group of 1,000 respondents from Feb. 15 to Feb. 19 -- also had bad news for Mr. Dion on the one issue the former federal environment minister has sought to own.

-Ipsos Reid Poll
-National Post

JERUSALEM: Israeli police arrested three protesters on Monday who managed to enter the floor of the Jerusalem hotel where U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is staying, a spokesman said.

The three protesters entered the hotel, climbed the stairs to the floor where Rice is staying and shouted before they were stopped by bodyguards, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. They called on the United States to free Jonathan Pollard, an American who is serving a life term in the United States for spying on the Pentagon for Israel.

Israeli police arrested the three protesters before they got very close to Rice's room, Rosenfeld said. It was not clear if Rice was in the room at the time, he said.

Rice had earlier in the day held a meeting in the hotel with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Israel insider
imemc.org

Iraq is broken. 'All the Kings horses and all the Kings men couldn't put Iraq back together again."

Ever pragmatic, the British understand that Iraq is so totally screwed up, there is nothing that can be done to fix the disaster that George Bush has created.

As a result, Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair has announced that some British troops will be withdrawn from Iraq by May and all the troops will be fully removed by 2008.

CNN
The Guardian


tag iraq blair

The Bush Administration insists that it is not planning to attack Iran. However, U.S. Central Command has developed a plan for air strikes against Iran that includes not just nuclear facilities, but most military targets throughout the country.

According to the BBC, confirmation that Iran is building a nuclear weapon or any evidence that links Tehran to attacks against US Armed forces inside Iraq would set the plan in motion.

BBC World

On February 19th, Saskatchewan citizens enjoyed their first ever 'Family Day' holiday. The declaration of the new statutory holiday has the Saskatchewan Director of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business howling.

Marilyn Braun-Pollon made sure that the local media were aware that the Saskatchewan Branch of the CFIB was NOT very happy. Insisting that she would not observe the new holiday and would be at her desk, Braun-Pollon gave a list of grievances concerning the new holiday.

She claims that the federation surveyed about 300 small business owners. Of those owners, the CFIB noted:
-42 per cent of owners polled predicted a loss of sales or revenue,
-more than 30 per cent of those surveyed said they would have to operate longer hours on Monday,
-About one-fourth of the business owners said they would have to pay overtime,

Huh!? Look at those figures.

From what Braun-Pollon is telling us we can assume:
-58 per cent DID NOT predict a loss of sales or revenue,
-about 70 per cent WOULD NOT have to operate longer hours on Monday,
-about three-quarters of the business owners WOULD NOT have to pay overtime,

I think what we have here is a knee jerk reaction by Braun-Pollon and the CFIB who simply cannot bring themselves to say anything positive about the benefits for employees or quality of life issues around the new holiday.

Shame on Marlyn Braun-Pollon for taking her survey and painting the blackest picture possible.

As Buckdog pointed out yesterday, "and just as Christmas has its 'Scrooge', Family Day has its Marilyn Braun-Pollon."

CBC Saskatchewan

Having lost all scientific and other reasonable arguments on the reality of global warming, right wing bloggers are now turning to their more traditional rants, namely, attacking anyone who disagrees with their illogical 'beliefs'.

Case in point is the recent attacks on the character of Dr. David Suzuki.

We shouldn't be surprised at this new tactic by the likes of our friends over at
smalldeadanimals and Canadian Blue Lemons.

These blogs are still defending Bush's Iraqi disaster as well as most other right wing popular causes.

Here is a little sample of some of the nasty nonsense their minions are spouting: "Suzuki has the onset of ALzheimers, saw it in the neighbors, paranoid about everyone and everything. A man has to be crazy to think our activities on this planet can alter it. There a places we need to clean up, like stop flushing raw sewage into the ocean in Victoria Suzuki, but to think we are that powerful, god go wach a Mt. St. Helens show or Krakatoa or look at the power of the Boxing day earthquake you flake david. Nature has power, and you whacko Suzuki Gore types are to stupid to see nature uses it everytime you self hating liberals plan a global warming meeting, like in Washington yesterday/ GLobal Warmiing rally canceled because of huge ice storm. Go back to jerking off fruit flys you pathetic fool." Posted by: bartinsky

I have never really figured what has to happen to a person to end up thinking like these right wingers think. Do they fall on their heads a lot? Are they nutritionally deprived, hence lack the elements necessary for higher brain function?

Whatever the cause, there are a lot of them out there, and they are getting stupider every day.

Yes indeed, while the rest of the nation got up this Monday morning and headed off to their daily drudgery, the good people of the province of Saskatchewan are enjoying their first every 'Family Day'!.

Based on the reality that there are no long weekends from the Christmas / New Year time until months later at Easter, the Saskatchewan government has declared that the third Monday in February will now be a statutory holiday. The only other province with this observance is the Province of Alberta.

And just as Christmas has its 'Scrooge', Family Day has its Marilyn Braun-Pollen.

The Provincial Director of the Federation of Independent Business is ticked off. Marilyn Braun-Pollen says workers in Saskatchewan now have more statutory holidays than any other province in Canada and more vacation days than anywhere else in the country. We have the August long weekend and, according to the CFIB, we have one more week of vacation time than any other province. Braun-Pollen says if Saskatchewan employees wanted a holiday in February they could have used some of their generous vacation time.

Marilyn told reporters that she was going to ignore the holiday and go to work today.

There are always those extreme right wingers who insist that businesses have a duty to gouge out every last cent of profit they can from consumers.

Postscript:
And just to prove that this is a long weekend in Saskatchewan, the gasoline companies all convieniently jacked up gas prices as the long weekend started. Thanks to Saskboy for this!

Hundreds of millions of people are celebrating the lunar New Year.

See what the Online Fortune Cookie
holds for you!








-The News
-Washington Post

In a poll conducted by Angus Reid and Associates, only 10 per cent of American respondents think the situation in Iraq is getting better, while 46 per cent believe it is getting worse.

Meanwhile George W. and Condi are trying to convince the world that things aren't all that bad and in fact are looking up. (Too bad they aren't reading todays headlines): '55 Killed, 127 Wounded In Bagdad Bomb Attacks'

In terms of Vox Populii, the American people have it right. Too bad President Bush and his administration can't figure it out.

Angus Reid


tag iraq bush

Why is it that so many older right wingers have this obsession that things were SO MUCH BETTER in some long ago far away era? Michael Coren, (resident right wing columnist with the Toronto Sun) goes off on one of those nostalgia jags in this weeks column.

"North American society is slipping into the abyss as the years go by. Yet if any of us point to the past and argue that just half a century ago the world was more civilized, gentle, kind and moral we are dismissed --at best -- as nostalgic cranks. Facts, however, are more significant than abuse.

A few examples: Those much-despised 1950s were, we are told, oppressive, confining and prudish."

Coren then goes on about how much better things were in the 50's & 60's. Teen suicide was down, kids respected the principal and shot spit balls. Nowadays the kids shoot the principal. Blah blah blah .... 'gone to hell in a handbag' ... blah blah blah. Typical Coren crap.

What Michael doesn't talk about here is that in the 1950's in Canada, a 14 year old boy could still be sentenced to execution by hanging. First nations people in Canada were not allowed the vote and their children were still being violated in Residential Schools. Women required a male escort to enter a licenced facility where alcohol was served. 'Bad girls' who got pregnant had to go searching for 'health services' in back alleys. Domestic violence was silently occurring without any discussion or tools of intervention.

Right wing thinkers are notorious for articulating some fantasy time in our past, where EVERYTHING was wonderful and all we need to do is get back to that past and by golly, things will be good again! Nonsense.

Every era has its challenges and its prides. We work with today. Guys like Coren, who want to return to some better era, are simply old men who are out of touch and out to lunch, and are better left in their rocking chairs in the old folks home reminiscing about 'the good old days'.

Michael Coren

Photo - cast of 1950's TV Hit, 'Leave it to Beaver'

Yesterday I did a post on Buckdog where I asked the following question, "Is It Time For General Hillier To Step Down?"

I can now answer that question and the answer is YES - it is time for General Hillier to either resign or to be fired.

He has lost all perspective on what his job entails. He is NOT an elected official, he is a civil servant. His opinions and observations should appropriatly be passed on to the government - working the press is NOT appropriate for Canada's top soldier!!

When the Cold War ended and the Berlin Wall came down, this nation was entitled to a 'Peace Dividend' and the government of the day did the correct thing in scaling back the military and military spending.

General Hillier does not like the decisions made at that time. TOO BLOODY BAD GENERAL HILLIER!! It is NOT for you to comment in public to the press! Write all the confidential reports required to report your observations to your political superiors. There is something wrong with playing to the media.

The fact that we have a Prime Minister who is COMPLETELY OUT TO LUNCH when it comes to Iraq and Afghanistan is the cue the general is taking to flap his lips and demonstrate his lack of understanding on what his job is.

Stephen Harper has taken his lead on Canada's role in the Middle East from George Bush. We all know how out to lunch Bush is - too bad Stephen Harper does not have the common sense needed to see how disastrous that has proven to be. General Hillier has taken his lead from Stephen Harper and collectively they are trying to turn this nation into some sort of wannabe USA.

It is time for General Hillier to go (and we will work on getting rid of Harper in the near future)!

-The Star
-Canada .com


tag general hillier afghanistan

One year ago today Buckdog entered the blogosphere and started tormenting the right wing every chance available!

524 posts later it's time for birthday cake - and a big thanks to everyone who has stopped by over the last year! Thanks!

Click Here for the Best Version of 'Happy Birthday To You' Ever!

The United States House of Representatives adopted a resolution today denouncing President Bush’s plan to send more American troops to Iraq. 345 of the 434 House Members had spoken during 44 hours of debate over a four day period.

The vote split 246 to 182 in favor of the Democrats non-binding but extremely important motion and set the stage for a crucial Senate debate which starts on Saturday.

New York Times




tag iraq bush

General Hillier is a public servant. He does not run for public office and is not accountable to the voters in Canada. One has to wonder therefore if he fully understands what his job entails. Canada’s top military officer is once again walking a fine line with political opinions that are best left to politicians.

I have been critical of General Hillier a number of times recently:
-Gen Hillier Insists Canadians Support Afghan War
-Stop Misinformation About Afghanistan
-Harper Puts Top General on Short Leash
-Are You Ready For 10 Years in Afghanistan??

Now once again, we find our top General sticking his toe into political waters that perhaps he should be avoiding.

I am probably more critical of Hillier then most of my fellow citizens are, but he is NOT an elected official and he needs to curb his mouth, leaving politics to politicians who are accountable to the people. If he chooses not to comply or if the concept is beyond him, then perhaps it is time for him to retire.





tag general hillier afghanistan

Canadian grain farmers are currently voting on a Tory proposal on Barley marketing. This vote is a test run by Chuck Strahl and the Conservative government in advance of their plan to kill the Canadian Wheat Board's single desk marketing mandate.

Farmers in western Canada have been receiving their 'barley ballots' and are shocked to find that each ballot has a unique identifier which would allow the Federal government to know how each farmer voted!

More Harper style democracy? More Conservative bullying tactics? More Tory cheating?

KPMG is handling the vote for Agriculture Minister Strahl. KPMG spokesman Jeff Thomas said the vote is secret, even though there is a number on each ballot that identifies the farmer to whom it was sent. Nice!!!

Canadians are getting tired of Tory nonsense. The majority of western farmers are for sure!

CBC.ca

There is a somewhat disturbing article in the National Post entitled, "How Canada Can Help Contain The Iranian Threat" by David Harris and Sayeh Hassan. Their bios state, "David Harris is a lawyer, senior fellow for national security at the Canadian Coalition for Democracies (CCD), and former Canadian Security and Intelligence Service chief of strategic planning. He is counsel to the CCD. Sayeh Hassan is an articling student and a democracy activist who was born in Iran."

Hmmm the Canadian Coalition for Democracies. So I did a bit of searching and found that the CCD has some interesting history. They are fanatically anti-Palestinian, pro-Bush and they always call China - "Communist China", they have links with Daniel Pipes - you detect the right wing pattern here (?) - and most interesting is the award they gave to Stockwell Day in 2004. I bet they are getting ready to give Jason Kenney one too!

So in the article they go to great length to explain how dangerous Iran is to everyone on the planet ... blah blah blah .... pointing out ways we as Canadians can help 'contain the Iranian threat'. The evidence of a looming strike against Iran is begining to pile up. This article nicely does the job of softening up Canadians for that possibility.

In the article, they advocate:
-suspending the $300 Million worth of bilateral trade with Iran
-freezing Iranian funds because, "Some of this money could well have been misappropriated from Iranians. The Harper government should freeze such Canadian based assets."

They conclude their bizarre arguments with "In years to come, Canadians will look back on the coming months and reflect whether the international community showed sufficient resolve to avert a catastrophe. By keeping all options on the table, and working decisively with our allies, Prime Minister Stephen Harper can help ensure that the international community's efforts will not be found wanting. In truth, he -- and we --have no choice."


I believe that Bush is going to hit Iran. I think it is just a question of when.

National Post


tag iran bush

Sometimes there is justice. Associated Press reports:

MANNHEIM, Germany (AP) - Far-right activist Ernst Zundel was convicted of 14 counts of incitement Thursday for Holocaust denial and sentenced to the maximum five years in prison. The 67-year-old, who was deported from Canada in 2005, was accused of years of anti-Semitic activities, including denying the Holocaust a crime in Germany in documents and on the Internet.


Ernst Zundel poses with young right wing bloggers

cnews

Here's your political history lesson for the day: Following Canada's great contribution to the First World War, King George V granted Canada a coat of arms with red and white as the official colours. In 1925 Prime Minister Mackenzie King appointed a parliamentary committee to investigate possible designs for a flag, but it failed to make a formal report. Almost yearly, there would be a debate in the House of Commons on the issue and invariably the debate bogged down on whether or not Canada's flag should be free of colonial symbolism.

Immediately after the end of the Second World War, Prime Minister Mackenzie King again appointed a parliamentary committee to consider the matter. English-speaking MPs demanded that the Union Jack form part of the flag, while French-speaking MPs wanted it eliminated. The committee hoped that its compromise which reduced the size of the Union Jack and added a gold maple leaf on a white background would satisfy everyone. It did not. In fact, the government of Maurice Duplessis passed a motion in the Quebec Legislature demanding that all 'foreign symbols' be excluded from any Canadian flag. When some Quebec Liberal MPs, including Jean Lesage (later premier of Quebec), threatened to vote against the government if it moved to adopt the recommendation, King quietly allowed the matter to drop. The matter remained unsolved largely because some Canadians wanted Canada's symbols to reflect its British heritage while others wanted them to be Canadian.

When he became prime minister in 1963, Lester B. Pearson, the Nobel-prize winning diplomat for his peacekeeping initiatives, wanted a distinctively Canadian flag. He had promised in the Liberal party platform in 1961 that a Liberal government would 'establish a distinctive Canadian flag within two years of taking office.' Unlike previous prime ministers, Pearson was committed to a new flag and, despite the political risks to his government, he ask heraldry experts to work on the flag. He favoured a flag with 3 maple leafs on a white background with a blue bar on each side. When Pearson introduced this flag at a Canadian Legion in Winnipeg on 17 May 1963, he was jeered and howled down by a angry group of veterans and created a storm of protest in parliament and across the country.

The Progressive Conservatives under former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker wanted a flag that honoured the French and British heritage; the New Democratic Party wanted a single maple leaf. The views varied across the country. A columnist in Toronto wrote that Pearson's design is 'a rag of appeasement, thrust upon us by a dictator who has split the country.' A letter to the Toronto Star said 'If all Canadians will fight as vigorously under the new flag as they have over it, there is still hope for us as a great nation.'

Pearson appointed Liberal MP John Matheson to chair a special parliamentary committee to bring a proposal to parliament. It proposed the current flag of a single maple leaf on a white background with two red banners on either side, but that, of course, did not settle the matter. After a lengthy parliamentary debate that tied up government for nearly six months, the government invoked closure to end debate and forced the members of parliament to vote. In the end, the 163 Liberals voted for the current flag; the 73 Conservatives were opposed.

On 15 February, 1965, the red maple leaf was flown for the first time as Canada's official flag and, despite some lingering opposition, an issue that had plagued governments for generations had been finally resolved. The Maple Leaf quickly became a powerful Canadian symbol, showing how much Canada had changed in a single generation.

From 'The Flag Debate'

I just found a right wing website called 'OfficiallyScrewed.com'. Apparently whoever does this blogsite advertises that they are 'Conservatively trying to make sense of it all'. You're not kidding!

Check out their post entitled "Liberal Idealogy Is To Abuse The Word Idealogy". Someone needs spell check - badly!

To start with, they can't spell ideology and from the content of the post, neither do they understand what it means.

Bloody tories. Dumb as ever.

Buckdog has been blogging on the elections in the former Soviet Republic of Turkmenistan, because, well, this is an intriging story and someone should be blogging it.

As many as 89.23 percent in Turkmenistan voted for Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov at the presidential elections, announced Murad Karryev, chief of the Central Election Commission of the country. Berdymukhammedov’s closest rival in the presidential race – Amanniyaz Atadzhikov – was supported by less than 4 percent of the voters, while another formal runner, Ishankuli Nuryev, gathered just 2.38 percent during the elections attended by 98.65 percent, i.e. over 2,677,000 voters in Turkmenistan.

Berdymukhammedov officially took over the country for the following five years once he was approved by the parliament and swore the oath. In Turkmenistan, the president is also the commander-in-chief and prime minister of the country.

During inauguration, the new president vowed to honor international commitments of Turkmenistan, increase the number of jobs, maintain social benefits, introduce compulsory secondary education of ten years, revive physical training lessons and learning foreign languages. Berdymukhammedov also promised to develop private business and fund public health.

kommersant.com

The U.S. House of Representatives is in the middle of their special 'Iraq' debate. Today, Republican Representatives John Shadegg and Peter Hoekstra sent a letter to their fellow Republicans telling them that if they debate Iraq from the Democratic perspective, the Republicans 'lose'.

"We are writing to urge you not to debate the Democratic Iraq resolution on their terms, but rather on ours.

Democrats want to force us to focus on defending the surge, making the case that it will work and explaining why the President's new Iraq policy is different from prior efforts and therefore justified.

We urge you to instead broaden the debate to the threat posed to Americans, the world, and all "unbelievers" by radical Islamists. We would further urge you to join us in educating the American people about the views of radical Islamists and the consequences of not defeating radical Islam in Iraq.

The debate should not be about the surge or its details. This debate should not even be about the Iraq war to date, mistakes that have been made, or whether we can, or cannot, win militarily. If we let Democrats force us into a debate on the surge or the current situation in Iraq, we lose. [...]

Join us in asking our Democratic colleagues the essential question: If we do not defeat radical Isam in Iraq, then where will we do so?

Shadegg - Hoekstra letter pdf


tag iraq bush

The War in Iraq is a complete disaster. Period. Lies were told to the American people and to the world to justify the invasion. Weapons of mass destruction were not found and there was a complete lack of knowlege concerning the history and ethnic makeup of Iraq.

Think Progress has a great feature on those who are to blame for the mistakes in Iraq and most importantly where they are now.

"President Bush has not fired any of the architects of the Iraq war. In fact, a review of the key planners of the conflict reveals that they have been rewarded — not blamed — for their incompetence."

Think Progress

tag iraq bush

This little 1 minute film is a scream. Enjoy!

Parade for the 'Dear Leader'









tag north korea

Things appear to have gone very badly at a board of directors meeting in Philadelphia where three people have been shot and killed by a fourth person who may have committed suicide. The scene is described as 'utter chaos'.

Associated Press reports: "The gunman appeared to get upset at a board meeting for a company that might have been an investment firm or a marketing company, Ross said. Police were unsure of the name of the company and say the man might have been an investor".

CNN reports that the name of the company where the shooting ocurred is 'zigzag.net'.


Associated Press
Zig Zag Net

tag philadelphia shooting

OTTAWA — The Conservative Government has skipped normal protocol for the committees that determine who can become a judge, selecting Tory hacks including former right wing politicians, aides to Conservative ministers, riding association officials and defeated tory candidates.

The powerful judicial advisory committees were created in 1988 to take partisan politics out of the appointment of judges. However Stephen Harper has broken with tradition and the people chosen by the federal justice minister are conservative partisans.

Most share Prime Minister Stephen Harper's desire to change the face of Canada's judiciary, which he has described as a group that holds a liberal bias, oversteps its role to make social policy, and is too soft on crime.

So much for Conservative Party ethics.

-CBC
-CTV

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The FBI lost at least 10 laptop computers containing classified information during a four-year period ending in 2005, the Justice Department's inspector general has found.

The 10 were among the 160 laptops lost or stolen during a 44-month period ending September 30, 2005, Inspector General Glenn Fine reported. Along with the laptops, an equal numbers of weapons were also missing.

The report said the number of missing items, while still a problem, represents a sharp improvement since a 2002 audit, which found more than 300 laptops and 300 weapons lost or stolen during the previous 28-month period.


CNN

All 435 Members of the House of Representatives are entitled to 5 minutes each if they wish to get into a special three day debate concerning the War in Iraq.

The debate will start today in the House and Democrats are planning to propose a carefully worded rebuke of President Bush's buildup. Senior House Republicans expect a large number of defections from their side.

The debate is likely to begin this morning and run until midnight tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday. A vote is expected Friday.

Washington Post


Tag bush

The following article was written by DEAN BEEBY of Canadian Press and appears in Oilweek Magazine:

OTTAWA (CP) The Harper government got blasted over its treatment of Saskatchewan when Canadians were asked about the fiscal imbalance in an Internet survey last summer.

But you won‘t read that in the official report from the Finance Department about the web consultations it‘s found only in an internal document obtained by The Canadian Press.

Saskatchewan‘s demand to exclude non-renewable resources from a revamped equalization program a $12-billion transfer of cash to Canada‘s have-not provinces was clearly the hot-button issue for Canadians responding to the month-long consultation, which ended Sept. 8.

Oilweek


tag equalization

The Bush administration pays Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the nation’s largest private prison company, $95 per person per day to house immigration detainees, who must wear prison style uniforms and live in cells.

Over 400 immigrant detainees, about half of whom are children, infants and toddlers reside in the T. Don Hutto Correctional Center in Taylor, Texas.

They have not been charged with any crime. Many of them are in the process of applying for political asylum, refugees from violence-plagued and impoverished countries like Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Somalia and Palestine. (Since there are different procedures for Mexican immigrants, the facility houses no Mexicans.)

inthesetimes.com

h/t to Larry Hubich's Blog for this


tag detainees bush us immigration

Listen. No one but me is blogging on the elections in Turkmenistan. Somebody has to. This is a story with dictators, intrigue, names that are very hard to say, potential scandal and who knows what else!

Voters in Turkmenistan are going to the polls to choose a successor to late autocratic President Saparmurat Niyazov amid hopes of a political thaw. Here's the official Turkmenistan government news release.

Six men are vying for the post - the first multi-candidate elections in the gas-rich Central Asian nation.

UPDATE: - Sunday, February 11th - It's ELECTION DAY IN TURKMENISTAN!!

You can get up to speed here with earlier Buckdog stories on the situation.

The Turkmenistan thing.


tag turkmenistan

Progressive Canadian bloggers and progressive American bloggers have a lot in common. Both are dealing with right wing administrations that are perilous to every aspect of our culture and global affairs. Basically, with both Bush and Harper in power, things are not all that great. Here is a great assortment of my favourite american progressive thinkers and writers blogging.

YOU CAN NOW FIND ALL OF MY FAVORITE AMERICAN BLOGS ON A NEW BLOGROLL HERE


Hullabaloo

Coyote Angry
Ranting at Assmonkeys from the Mojave desert

Did We Say That Out Loud?
Women on the Verge

Shakespeare’s Sister

Pissed on Politics

Politics Plus

Fundie Watch

Daily Kos

Vladimir Putin has described the United States as "very dangerous" and says its increased use of military force is creating a new arms race.

"Unilateral actions have not resolved conflicts but have made them worse," Putin said, adding that force should only be used when backed by the United Nations Security Council. "This is not about confrontation, it's an invitation to think," he told reporters.

He attacked the United States for what he said was its "almost uncontained" use of force around the world. "One state, the United States, has overstepped its national borders in every way,"

My fellow Progressive Blogger, Rolling Back the Tide of Extremism, One Post at a Time has some great thoughts on this topic as well.


BBC

CALGARY (CP) - The federal Conservative party did everything it could - including breaking many of its own rules - to protect Calgary MP Rob Anders from a contested nomination, a lawyer argued at a judicial review Thursday.

"Every single decision that I can think of that the party made favoured the incumbent - without exception," Hawkes told Alberta Court of Queen's Bench Justice Jed Hawco.

That included not allowing a full 30 days for the nomination process, starting on the Friday before a long weekend, not letting all party members know the nomination was ongoing and not trying to look for other candidates.

James Stevenson, Canadian Press
Published: Wednesday, February 07, 2007

The bottom line is very simple. Rob Anders is one of Stephen Harper's former Reform Party Caucus colleagues, and Harper is prepared to do whatever he has to to ensure that his 'buddy' wins the nomination.

So much for Conservative Party ethics!!

Canada.com

Prime Minister Stephen Harper believes that Minister John Baird is the most qualified member of the Conservative Caucus to be the Federal Minister of the Environment. And why is that?

Well, number one, he can yell VERY loud in the House of Commons. To be the Tory Environment Minister, you must be able to bully your voice over any other voice in the Commons. Since the Tories haven’t a clue concerning the environment, and since the polling shows that Canadians want action, Minister Baird is required to holler and yell in the absence of any tangible and realistic initiatives by the government.

Number two, he has just the right amount of snarkiness* necessary to display an aura of utter disdain for any substantive suggestions that may come from the opposition. Baird has that unique ability to furrow his brow and slightly curl his upper lip so that sufficient contempt is communicated to the other political parties and the press.

Number three, Baird has mastered the use of political spin and memorization of the mindless lines that have been developed by the back room boys to deflect any and all criticism of the Tory flip flop on environmental policy.

John Baird is a natural choice for Minister of the Environment in Harper’s cabinet. Loud voice, snarkey contempt, and ability to stick to script.

Go John go!

*Snark*
Snark, is a derivative word from snarky, "Irritable or short-tempered; irascible" from Dutch and Low German snorken, of imitative origin. Refers to a belittling or sarcastic style of speech or writing. It could loosely be described as irritable, backhanded or "snidely derisive"; hence, 'snarkish', 'snarky', 'to snark at somebody'. It does not necessarily have negative connotations and can be used humorously.

tag john baird kyoto

Oh this is just great!!

Someone hacked into the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission's website and inserted photographs of a nuclear explosion — spurring the agency to call in the RCMP.

According to a report in Thursday's Ottawa Citizen, the commission's current and archived news releases were renamed "security breaches" and contained a photo of a mushroom cloud.

CBC

tag security nuclear safety

Iran's Supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned that any preemptive military strike by the USA against Iran's developing nuclear power facilities will be answered with force. The Iranian Cleric said that American interests throughout the world will be targeted if his nation is attacked.



BBC World

Photo courtesy www.Raavy.com


tag iran bush

Hackers have attempted to topple key parts of the internet's backbone, in one of the most significant attacks of recent years.

The target was a number of servers that help to direct global internet traffic.

In the early hours of Tuesday three key servers were hit by a barrage of data in what is known as a distributed denial-of-service attack.

There is no evidence so far of damage, which experts are saying is testament to the robust nature of the internet.

BBC


tag internet world wide web

The following news report comes from Al Jazeera. Tensions are again rising along the fortified border between Lebanon and Israel.

"Lebanese and Israeli forces have been exchanging fire near the border between the two countries.

There has been increased military activity along the border as an engineering corps from the Israeli army searched for explosive devices, it believes have been planted by Hezbollah, near the frontier on Wednesday."

And from the Houston Chronicle:
"Lebanese troops deployed along the border with Israel opened fire late Wednesday as Israeli troops searched for Hezbollah bombs, drawing retaliatory fire, officials from both sides said.

It was the first time that shooting erupted across the border since shortly after an Aug. 14 cease-fire that ended a 34-day war between Israeli forces and the Lebanese Hezbollah militants.

Lebanese troops opened fire on a bulldozer after it crossed the so-called Blue Line — the U.N.-demarcated boundary — and entered about 20 yards into Lebanon, Lebanese officials said.

Israeli troops responded with tanks and light weapons, Israeli security officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

-Al Jazeera
-Chronicle

tag israel lebanon

American federal prosecutors preparing for the trial of Conrad Black have dropped some hints at what their case will contain.

Throughout the years that Hollinger Inc. was being traded as a public company, Lord Conrad Black dipped massively into Hollinger's cash as if it were his own bank.

Details of the extravagant spending by Black's wife, Barbara Amiel, and paid for out of Hollinger funds, will be entered as evidence in the upcoming trial.

Globe & Mail



More 'Conrad Black' on Buckdog:


tag conrad black

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor says an investigation is underway into allegations that prisoners were abused while in the custody of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.

University of Ottawa law professor Amir Attaran lodged a complaint in a letter sent to the Military Police Complaints Commission last week.

"I discovered that on a single day last year (in April), a single interrogator working for the Canadian military brought three men to Kandahar Airfield," Attaran told Canada AM on Tuesday.

"All three of them had a similar set of injuries to their face, to their head and the most seriously injured man had his eyes swollen, cuts on his eyebrows, a slash across his forehead and a cut on his cheek."

Attaran said it seems the men never received proper medical attention before being handed off to the Afghans, never to be seen again.

He criticized the Canadian military for not having a mechanism in place to monitor what happens to released detainees.

-BBC
-CTV

Praise gawd!! The Rev. Ted Haggard has emerged from three weeks of intensive counseling convinced he is "completely heterosexual" and told an oversight board that his sexual contact with men was limited to his accuser.

That is according to one of the disgraced pastor's overseers, who on Monday revealed new details about where Haggard has been for the last number of weeks.

Rev. Haggard is the evangelical Minister who has attacked gay persons as sinners and infidels (until he was caught with a male prostitute). He resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals and was fired from the church he built from nothing into a 14,000-member congregation after a former male prostitute in Denver alleged a three-year cash-for-sex relationship.

Haggard admitted to "sexual immorality" and a long battle against feelings contrary to his beliefs. He admitted buying methamphetamine but said he never used it.

-New York Times
-Denver Post


tag ted haggard

This story is worth noting. The City of Regina and the Piapot First Nation have finalized an arrangement for a commercial development in the inner city. Our local Canadian Taxpayers Federation characters are yammering and sputtering that somehow this is bad for 'business' in the area. I totally support this First Nation band in their initiatives.

"The grand chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (Chief Lawrence Joseph) is accusing the Canadian Taxpayers Federation of "spreading lies" about First Nations development and taxation. [...]

In an article titled Let's Talk Taxes dated Jan. 30th, the taxpayers group criticized Piapot First Nation's interest in having an urban reserve in the heart of Regina. The group said it would be unfair competition for other businesses in Regina if the reserve had a gas bar and grocery store operating tax free.

Joseph said the taxpayers federation's stance that urban reserves will undermine municipal tax bases is simply not true."
CBC Saskatchewan

People in Regina have grown weary of the constant negative messaging that comes from the CTF. The group advocates an extreme right wing view of the economy very similar in worldview to the Fraser Institute and the folks at smalldeadanimals.

CBC

It is pretty discouraging to watch the total lack of creativity and imagination our Prime Minister has when talking about solutions to climate change and global warming.

Here is what Harper said when acknowledging the findings of the IPCC in France:

"I don't think realistically we can tell Canadians, 'Stop driving your car, stop going to work, stop heating your house in the winter."

So let's just throw our hands up in the air because 'we gotta keep drivin', don't we?'

What an airhead statement from a supposed world 'leader'. So Mr. Harper - you have no creative ideas at all on how we can START a modicum of emission reduction?

Is that all we are going to get from this guy is a dumbass statement like that and more of Minister Baird yelling in the House of Commons?

Call the election!

CBC

tag global warming kyoto

The following article is from the Saskatoon Star Phoenix:

"A baby girl abandoned on a Saskatoon doorstep Saturday morning in cold and wind that could freeze flesh in minutes is in stable condition and good health, police said Sunday.

Now, police are asking the mother to come forward for her own well-being.

"We want to assure her that we are not going to throw the handcuffs on her and throw her in jail," said Saskatoon Police Service spokesperson Alyson Edwards.

"What we want to do is work with her to find out what happened. What were the circumstances leading to this? Hopefully it will come to a positive conclusion."

Ed and Lee Anderson discovered a baby girl wrapped in a towel and sleeping bag on the back doorstep of their Lawson Heights house after checking on their dog, who wouldn't stop barking.

The baby was born only two or three hours before she was found, Saskatoon police say.

At 10 a.m., when the couple found the baby, the temperature was -29 C and dropping to -39 C with the wind chill.


Star Phoenix

tag abandoned baby

With donations in hand from Exxon, Canada's right wing think tank says there is NO global warming or climate change occurning on our planet.

At a news conference in London this morning, the Fraser Institute issued a paper which denys the findings of the IPCC Conference in Paris.

The Fraser Report states, "There is no compelling evidence that dangerous or unprecedented changes are underway. Perceptions of increased extreme weather events are potentially due to increased reporting. There is too little data to reliably confirm these perceptions.

What does this mean for the average person? It means that while scientific evidence shows the climate is naturally variable, we still don't know the extent to which humans are contributing to future climate change and whether or not such change is a good or bad thing. People who are bewildered by the intense global warming alarmism of the past few years should read the Independent Summary for Policymakers to get a more accurate and balanced understanding of the real state of knowledge on this important subject."

Funded by big business, including the oil industry, the Fraser Institute is desperately attempting to maintain the status quo for its patron's interests. Canadians will not accept the denials of the Fraser Institute. They have been exposed.

-Fraser News Release
-DeSmogBlog News Release


tag global warming kyoto fraser institute

Here is a brilliant article which appeared in the Georgia Straight Magazine concerning the connections between Stephen Harper and the extreme right wing think tank, Fraser Institute:

Harperstein
By Donald Gutstein
Publish Date: July 6, 2006
In October 2004, the Fraser Institute held its 30th-anniversary gala celebration. Thirty years during which business and conservative foundations pumped more than $100 million into Fraser activities; thirty years during which Stephen Harper rose from high school to University of Calgary student to Reform party policy chief to head of the National Citizens Coalition and to leader of the official Opposition.

The scene was the glitzy Imperial Ballroom of Calgary's Hyatt Regency, where 1,200 adoring libertarians, conservatives, and reactionaries paid $300 each to hear four prominent conservative politicians Ralph Klein, Mike Harris, Preston Manning, and Harper pay tribute to the Fraser's success in pushing political thought in Canada to the right, helping make their careers possible.

Harper, the ideologue of today, would have been unthinkable as leader as recently as 1983, when Brian Mulroney won the Progressive Conservative leadership. Mulroney's two most right-wing opponents, John Gamble and Peter Pocklington (a long-time Fraser Institute benefactor and trustee), espoused policies not very different than Harper's. But together they received only a handful of delegate votes. In 1983, Harper wouldn't have stood a chance. In 2003, he won handily.

Credit the Fraser Institute? Harper probably thinks so. In his videotaped address to the 30th-anniversary crowd, Harper showed off his $45 Fraser Institute silk Adam Smith tie and confirmed he was a big fan of the institute. [...]

In 2003, Harper delivered an important address to the Civitas Society. This secretive organization is a network of Canadian neoconservative and libertarian academics, politicians, journalists, and think-tank propagandists. Harper said his goal is a future ruled by socially conservative values and small government. Movement toward this goal must be “incremental”, he told Civitas members. Regime change one step at a time.

That's likely why he decided not to dismantle Medicare, and, instead, appears to be a defender of the public health-care system, at least until he has his majority. He has to do it this way. Despite a decade of anti-Medicare propaganda from the Fraser and other corporate lobbies, Medicare is still one of our most valued public programs.

In a major Fraser Institute publication in 2005, Fraser fellows Preston Manning and Mike Harris proposed eliminating the federal role in health-care management and financing. Harper has opposed Medicare for two decades. But he responded to the Harris-Manning recommendations by saying, “I could not imagine a proposal that is more a non-starter than that one.” The Conservative party “supports the evolution of the health-care system within the framework of the Canada Health Act”.

At least until after the next election, he might have added.

Georgia Straight

Photo courtesy Georgia Straight

tag fraser institute

She has been described by The Observer as "the Republican Michael Moore" and "Rush Limbaugh in a miniskirt".

While covering the 2004 Democratic National Convention for USA Today she wrote one article that began, "Here at the Spawn of Satan convention in Boston..."

Like her or not, Ann Coulter is a right wing firebrand that loves to inflame any debate that she gets into.

Her newest book is entitled: "Godless: The Church of Liberalism" She is a lawyer, columnist and public speaker. She has said that some of her favorite books include The Bible, Wuthering Heights, Anna Karenina and true crime stories about serial killers.

Well, to make a long story short, guess who is one of the featured speakers at the 2007 Reclaiming America For Christ Conference put on by the Christian Right and a number of fundamentalist evangelical churches.

"We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity"
Ann Coulter

'Ann Coulter, the Lord's handmaiden - doing the work of gawd in Bush's Amerika!' (not to be confused with the real 'America').


-2007 'Reclaiming America For Christ' Conference
-Ann Coulter Conference Bio


tag ann coulter

Generally I have no hesitation taking on the verbal nonsense of the Toronto Sun's extreme right wing columnist, Michael Coren.

In this weeks article, he is dissing Stephan Dion in a manner that even I as a dipper am finding quite offensive.

Is there a Liberal blogger out there who can pick this one up and go give Mr. Coren a royal Canadian kick in the pants??

Michael Coren's Nonsense

Well - Well - Well. Looks like the progressive blogging community in Canada and England have caught the attention of the Fraser Institute.

On Monday February 5th, in London, the Frasers will be holding a news conference to present their own scientific 'evidence' that questions 'so called global warming'.

This blog - as well as British blog, Climate Change Action and desmogblog carried posts concerning the upcoming Fraser Institute media event. Climate Change Action asked for concerned individuals to come out to the event - "If a few of you could make it and hand out these briefings that would be great"

In response, the Fraser Institute has gotten nervous and has issued a news release announcing that they are raising security measures for their news conference.

Fraser Institute News Release


tag global warming kyoto fraser institute

Some Buckdog readers have been following the saga of Calgary Conservative MP, Rob Anders. Anders is the former Reform Party MP / buddy of the Prime Minister who was confirmed by Harper as the Candidate.

Unhappy party members say the federal Conservatives didn't follow proper nomination process. Here is an update by Kevin Martin in the Calgary Sun.

CALGARY -- Federal Tories breached party rules when they allowed MP Rob Anders to be acclaimed as a candidate, the lawyer for a group of disgruntled members said yesterday.

Robert Hawkes said the process which saw Anders selected as the Conservative candidate in the next federal election was improper.

-Calgary Sun
-Previous Buckdog Posts on the Anders fiasco here, and here

Get ready for more nonsense on global warming from Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his band of neo Reformers who currently are the government of this country.

Our illustrious leader has announced that before we do anything to start decreasing green house gas emissions, we must find a way to 'stabilize' green house gas emissions.

These guys must sit up late into the night thinking of ways to be stupid and how to lie to the Canadian public.

We have a government who has NO regard for future generations of Canadians. All they care about is their buddies in the oil industry.

Canada.com


tag global warming kyoto

Canada's Fraser Institute was attempting to charge business persons $11,000 per head to tag along and meet Prime Minister Stephen Harper. When the Prime Minister's Office discovered that the Fraser's were charging big bucks, the whole meeting was cancelled. The following article details the incident:

John Ivison, National Post
Published: Tuesday, January 30, 2007

"OTTAWA - The Prime Minister cancelled a meeting with a delegation of well-heeled Canadian business leaders yesterday after learning that the free-market think-tank organizing the briefing was charging delegates $11,000 each.

"It was a complete surprise. We were not aware it was being used as a fundraiser," said Sandra Buckler, the Prime Minister's director of communications, after being told by the National Post that the Fraser Institute, a registered charity, was asking business leaders to donate $10,000 to its coffers, in addition to $1,000 for food and accommodation, for the chance to meet Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Governor of the Bank of Canada David Dodge and a number of other political and public policy leaders."

National Post


tag fraser institute

This article comes from The Guardian and is just breaking in Great Britain:
Ian Sample, science correspondent
Friday February 2, 2007
The Guardian

"Scientists and economists have been offered $10,000 each by a lobby group funded by one of the world's largest oil companies to undermine a major climate change report due to be published today.

Letters sent by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), an ExxonMobil-funded thinktank with close links to the Bush administration, offered the payments for articles that emphasise the shortcomings of a report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)."


-The guardian.co.uk
-Related storieshere here, and here



tag global warming kyoto fraser institute

Every citizen of this nation should feel disgust that the Fraser Institute calls Canada home.

The Fraser Institute is dedicated to attacking publically funded health care, education and insurance. It now also is disseminating propaganda intended to minimize the effects of global warming.

Let's start by looking inside this seedy organization.

In an article published in the Winnipeg Free Press, in 2004, Frances Russel wrote, "Earlier this month, the institute held its 30th anniversary dinner attended by luminaries of the Canadian Right like Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, Alberta Premier Ralph Klein, former Reform Leader Preston Manning and former Ontario Premier Mike Harris. Founder and president Michael Walker mapped out an ambitious plan for the future. Having won the battles against universality, deficits and debt, Mr. Walker said the institute will be turning its sights on privatising health and education. With millions of dollars in its coffers donated annually by the Who's Who of business, get ready for more Fraser, more of the time" (Wpg Free Press - 29/10/04)

And now to make their record even worse, this group of right wing extremists is determined to confuse and confound the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which is currently convening in Paris. Oh and did I mention the funding that they receive from EXXON?

This organization is dangerous to the well being of the nation and the planet.

-Exxon secrets
-Stolen Moments blogsite

tag global warming kyoto fraser institute

Canada's environment minister John Baird is off to Paris to attend the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The international conference is expected to review scientific evidence of global climate change.

French President Jacques Chirac is also expected to ask Baird for Canada's support for a new United Nations environment organization. Baird's spokesperson, Mike Van Soelen, would not confirm whether Canada would support the initiative.

If a new UN agency is created with the mandate to work with or assist member nations in their efforts to battle global warming, then Canada should be one of the first nations to sign on.

CTV News