I am afraid that the islamists are going to take over in Egypt and and other North African nations. Though I am happy the tyrants will go, they must not be replaced with worse
Watch this video from BCF.
The organizer of this rally sounds anti Israeli. There are many at this rally who are very troubling.He had help from the "peace alliance" and caf.
Today this organizer again sounded very anti Israeli and dismissed the islamist threat. He asked why we didn't ask about succession this when Eastern Europe became free. I remind him of what happened in Iran. Unlike Eastern Europe, those who wanted to bring down communism, were believers in democracy. That is certainly not true of the jihadis and their allies.
Listen here where he talks about starting an anti Israeli secular government in Egypt like they have in European countries??
Salim Mansur understands listen at 54 minutes on Cross Country Checkup.
He understands the jihadi threat. Egypt needs a transition, but a peaceful one, where the old government can transition without Egypt turning into Iran.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Political Fundraising
An interesting article from Pundits guide. It confirms the Tory fundraising juggernaut, but points out it takes money to make money. The grits continue to do badly inspite of ( because of?) the iffy tours. We should be getting Q4 numbers fairly soon , so we will see how things turned out in 2010.
Of note, while the Liberals were obviously well behind where they had been the year before ($4.41M by the end of Q3-2010 vs. $7.56M by the end of Q3-2009) — which was partly to be expected because of the 2009 convention, but partly a surprise to me because of the Liberal Express bus tour and gun registry in summer 2010 — the one thing they have been doing better at is increasing the proportion raised from small donors, compared with the same time last year (92.0% by the end of Q3-2010 as compared with 85.7% at the same point in 2009), and posting an increase in the number of small donors as well. The total contributed in the $200 and under category is still down year over year, however. The non-Convention quarters of over $200 contributions were down as well.
At this stage, the Liberals would have to post fourth quarter contributions of something like $5.15M to match last year's totals as reported on the four quarterly returns. $1.49M would at least get them to where they were at the end of 2008.
Of note, while the Liberals were obviously well behind where they had been the year before ($4.41M by the end of Q3-2010 vs. $7.56M by the end of Q3-2009) — which was partly to be expected because of the 2009 convention, but partly a surprise to me because of the Liberal Express bus tour and gun registry in summer 2010 — the one thing they have been doing better at is increasing the proportion raised from small donors, compared with the same time last year (92.0% by the end of Q3-2010 as compared with 85.7% at the same point in 2009), and posting an increase in the number of small donors as well. The total contributed in the $200 and under category is still down year over year, however. The non-Convention quarters of over $200 contributions were down as well.
At this stage, the Liberals would have to post fourth quarter contributions of something like $5.15M to match last year's totals as reported on the four quarterly returns. $1.49M would at least get them to where they were at the end of 2008.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Sweden and socialism
Its always fascinating to hear North American socialists talk about Sweden with envy. It seems the Swedes are tiring of socialism. It is a failed experiment.
Sweden is not socialist. According to the World Values Survey and other similar studies, Sweden combines one of the highest degrees of individualism in the world, solid trust in well-functioning institutions, and a high degree of social cohesion. Among the 160 countries studied in the Index of Economic Freedom, Sweden ranks 21st, and is one of the few countries that increased its economic freedoms during the financial crisis. …Sweden wasn’t always so free. But Sweden’s socialism lasted only for a couple of decades, roughly during the 1970s and 1980s. And as it happens, these decades mark the only break in the modern Swedish success story. …The Swedish tax burden was lower than the European average throughout these successful 60 years, and lower even than in the U.S. Only in 1950 did Sweden’s tax burden rise to 20% of GDP, though that remained comparatively low. …The 1970s were a decade of radical government intervention in society and in markets, during which Sweden doubled its overall tax burden, socialized a slew of industries, re-regulated its markets, expanded its public systems, and shuttered its borders. In 1970, Sweden had the world’s fourth-highest GDP per capita. By 1990, it had fallen 13 positions. In those 20 years, real wages in Sweden increased by only one percentage point. …
Sweden is not socialist. According to the World Values Survey and other similar studies, Sweden combines one of the highest degrees of individualism in the world, solid trust in well-functioning institutions, and a high degree of social cohesion. Among the 160 countries studied in the Index of Economic Freedom, Sweden ranks 21st, and is one of the few countries that increased its economic freedoms during the financial crisis. …Sweden wasn’t always so free. But Sweden’s socialism lasted only for a couple of decades, roughly during the 1970s and 1980s. And as it happens, these decades mark the only break in the modern Swedish success story. …The Swedish tax burden was lower than the European average throughout these successful 60 years, and lower even than in the U.S. Only in 1950 did Sweden’s tax burden rise to 20% of GDP, though that remained comparatively low. …The 1970s were a decade of radical government intervention in society and in markets, during which Sweden doubled its overall tax burden, socialized a slew of industries, re-regulated its markets, expanded its public systems, and shuttered its borders. In 1970, Sweden had the world’s fourth-highest GDP per capita. By 1990, it had fallen 13 positions. In those 20 years, real wages in Sweden increased by only one percentage point. …
Clint Eastwood likes a flat tax
I like a flat tax. I have mentioned that to HM Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty many times. Nice to hear that Clint does too.
Clint Eastwood Says “Make My Day” with a Flat Tax
January 30, 2011 by Dan Mitchell
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Clint Eastwood is asked about the new governor of California and uses the opportunity to advocate a simple and fair flat tax.
“But I’ll tell you when I liked him—and I wasn’t a registered Democrat—but I liked him when he was running for president [in 1992] on the flat tax. . . . A ton of economists, both liberal and conservative, have argued for a flat tax, but nobody’s ever had the nerve to do it. . . . It would simplify things, but simplification doesn’t seem to be in the human psyche.”
Clint Eastwood Says “Make My Day” with a Flat Tax
January 30, 2011 by Dan Mitchell
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Clint Eastwood is asked about the new governor of California and uses the opportunity to advocate a simple and fair flat tax.
“But I’ll tell you when I liked him—and I wasn’t a registered Democrat—but I liked him when he was running for president [in 1992] on the flat tax. . . . A ton of economists, both liberal and conservative, have argued for a flat tax, but nobody’s ever had the nerve to do it. . . . It would simplify things, but simplification doesn’t seem to be in the human psyche.”
This Probably Won't Show at Sundance
Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer have produced a new short film exposing another enviromentalist hypocrite. Are you surprised?
I'm not.
I'm not.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Debate Cancelled
I went to attend a debate between my friend Tarek Fatahof the Muslim Canadian Congress and Imam Shehary Shaikh at the North American Muslim Foundation in Scarborough. I arrived early and was told the room wouldn't open to 5:30 PM. There were lots of people in attendance, mostly Muslims but many non Muslims as well and some media. There was a prayer ( which I didn't attend) and the we entered the room. The crowd was dividing by sex , men on the left women on the right. Habeeb Ali, the NAMF spokesman, repeatedly said that it was not necessary to sit in a particular way. Anyone could sit anywhere. I was sitting with the men and though some men sat with the women, only one female member of the press sat with the men.
The room filled and Mr Ali told some stories of how Mohammed was open and welcoming to everyone. Then Mr Farooq Khan went to the podium and said there was good news and bad news. The bad news was that Tarek Fatah was not coming. This elicited cries of Allah Akbhar from some of the audience. Mr Khan did tell them to calm down. He then proceeded to call Tarek a coward and tell of how much effort he had expended to organize the event. He then said that the "debate" (now a monologue) would continue. There was some applause and some in the audience again chanted Allah Akhbar. He then introduced the moderator Pastor Neil Bulloch. I left
I spoke to Sohail Raza of the MCC ( I am a member of the MCC) who said that two members of the MCC went into the building to ask about the moderator and they were ejected by security. The moderator was replaced with little notice and no consultation with the MCC. The choice of moderator being mutually acceptable, was a pre condition of the debate. I haven't heard back from Tarek yet, but he tweeted this: Threats of physical violence against MCC vice president Salma Siddiqui disrupt Toronto debate on Islam. A disappointing evening.
Here is the updated press release from the MCC.
Press Release: Attention News Editor
January 29, 2011
An inquisition disguised as a debate fools no one
MCC urges Islamists to abandon medieval authoritarianism
TORONTO - The Muslim Canadian Congress (MCC) regrets the attempt by NAMF, the North American Muslim Foundation to turn a debate on Islam into a public inquisition of its founder Tarek Fatah. The 'debate' was to have taken place today between Mr. Fatah and NAMF imam Sheharyar Sheikh inside the NAMF mosque in Scarborough, and was to be moderated by Karen Mock, the Liberal Party candidate in Thornhill.
On arrival at the venue Mr. Fatah was told that NAMF had unilaterally appointed a new moderator after Karen Mock declined to attend, citing ‘family matters.’ In the typical authoritarian style that governs most Islamist organizations, NAMF did not consult with Mr. Fatah on the appointment of the new moderator, nor did they consider the three names suggested by him (Imam Shabbir Ally, Imam Yahya Fadlallah and CBC broadcaster and Islamic scholar Nazim Baksh)
Leading up to the debate, from the appointment of Dr. Mock as moderator to the format of the debate, all decisions were made unilaterally by NAMF, without any consultation with either Mr. Fatah or the MCC. Mr. Fatah did express his reservations about the arbitrary and authoritarian process, but in the interest of free speech and free public debate, reluctantly agreed to participate in the debate as long as it was moderated by Karen Mock.
Mr. Fatah had placed just one condition as a pre-requisite to the debate: a moderator acceptable to both sides. In appointing an unknown moderator without consultation, NAMF acted in bad faith with the intention of creating an uneven level playing field that could prove to be not conducive to a fair debate.
To make matters worse, NAMF issued a statement that no video cameras would be allowed inside the hall. Furthermore, the MCC discovered that the off-duty policemen NAMF had hired for security, had been withdrawn.
In the absence of an agreed-upon moderator, the restrictions on the media, and the withdrawal of police, the MCC has come to the conclusion that what was being promoted as a debate on Islam, was nothing more than an inquisition where Tarek Fatah was to be ambushed. As a result, the MCC has urged Mr. Fatah not to participate in his own inquisition where his own safety would be in jeopardy.
Toronto Police also advised Mr. Fatah not to attend the debate as they could not provide the police protection he had sought after being falsely accused by yet another Imam of "viciously attacked the Quran and Prophet Muhammad." This allegation essentially labels Mr. Fatah of committing blasphemy and as a result, makes him a possible target of attack by radical Muslims.
Speaking about the MCC decision not to participate in the debate, the president of the MCC Sohail Raza said:
"We came to the NAMF Mosque in good faith and to hear a healthy debate, but on arrival discovered a hostile environment, with no moderator, restrictions on media and the absence of any security. As a result, we have decided not to enter the premises and become potential targets of violence.”
Raza asked Islamists to be more forthcoming in the future as an inquisition disguised as a debate fools no one. "On behalf of the MCC I urge Islamic organizations to abandon medieval authoritarianism and embrace democracy," he added.
For more information, please call Sohail Raza at (416) 505-1613
Update: Here is the monologue from "the debate":http://www.youtube.com/user/thenamfca#p/a/u/2/IZD5Xwri-F0
More from Five Feet of Fury and BCF.
Salim Mansur on the World
Salim Mansur gives some context to the explosions across North Africa. I am still very afraid of islamist victories across North Africa.
Americans are understandably concerned about their economy with an astronomical debt burden now equalling the country’s gross domestic product of $14 trillion, unemployment numbers still hovering close to one in 10 people out of work and the domestic market still in slump.
In the November 2010 election, Americans sent a message to Washington by electing Republicans to deal with economy as the priority. For U.S. President Barack Obama, Tuesday’s State of the Union address was his opportunity to let Americans know he understood their imperative.
Americans will judge and give their verdict in 2012 on how well Obama understood their November message.
But Obama sent his own message to Americans and the world that his administration, to be focused on domestic priorities, has little interest or inclination to respond to the foreign policy challenges growing more ominous even as he spoke.
With America tilting under debt, Obama’s rhetorical flourish — “This is our generation’s Sputnik moment” — was Quixotic, or the unrepentant instinct of a spendthrift with empty pockets and no savings.
It might be worse — America turning inwards and its leadership clueless on how to contend with the gathering storm in the navel of the world, the Middle East, and the dire consequences in its aftermath.
In watching Obama on Tuesday evening, my thoughts took me back to the world adrift exactly 100 years ago in 1911. That was the year, as some historians suggest, that marked the beginning of the short 20th century and an end to the long 19th century.
Few today, without looking into history books, can recall who were the leaders of the great democratic powers in 1911, and what urgent issues preoccupied them.
Americans are understandably concerned about their economy with an astronomical debt burden now equalling the country’s gross domestic product of $14 trillion, unemployment numbers still hovering close to one in 10 people out of work and the domestic market still in slump.
In the November 2010 election, Americans sent a message to Washington by electing Republicans to deal with economy as the priority. For U.S. President Barack Obama, Tuesday’s State of the Union address was his opportunity to let Americans know he understood their imperative.
Americans will judge and give their verdict in 2012 on how well Obama understood their November message.
But Obama sent his own message to Americans and the world that his administration, to be focused on domestic priorities, has little interest or inclination to respond to the foreign policy challenges growing more ominous even as he spoke.
With America tilting under debt, Obama’s rhetorical flourish — “This is our generation’s Sputnik moment” — was Quixotic, or the unrepentant instinct of a spendthrift with empty pockets and no savings.
It might be worse — America turning inwards and its leadership clueless on how to contend with the gathering storm in the navel of the world, the Middle East, and the dire consequences in its aftermath.
In watching Obama on Tuesday evening, my thoughts took me back to the world adrift exactly 100 years ago in 1911. That was the year, as some historians suggest, that marked the beginning of the short 20th century and an end to the long 19th century.
Few today, without looking into history books, can recall who were the leaders of the great democratic powers in 1911, and what urgent issues preoccupied them.
Lord Black on the SOTU
Lord Black has lost any enthusiasm he had for bo. bo is not believable. He is a leftist and will continue to try and turn the US into a failed western European welfare state. Hopefully there will be ever more opposition from the American people.
It was a seriously demoralizing experience to read that the majority of Americans thought that Barack Obama gave a good State of the Union speech this week. Their approval may indicate that the process of the country’s decline is more advanced even than I had feared.
I have been watching these occasions since the Kennedy-Johnson years, and they sometimes click and sometimes don’t. One of the better and more successful addresses was Gerald Ford’s in 1975, beginning “The State of the Union is not good. I do not expect much applause tonight.” The people like straight talk, the applause was generous, and the speech well received by the country. (And in fact, America’s condition was much better then than it is now.)
One of the only positive notes from this year’s disappointing speech came when the President praised the (Republican) speaker of the House, his official host who sat grimly behind him — right beside Vice-President Joe Biden, who giggled like he was being tickled by a motel’s Magic Fingers device in his chair: Speaker John Boehner did not, as is his disturbing custom, burst into tears.
It was a seriously demoralizing experience to read that the majority of Americans thought that Barack Obama gave a good State of the Union speech this week. Their approval may indicate that the process of the country’s decline is more advanced even than I had feared.
I have been watching these occasions since the Kennedy-Johnson years, and they sometimes click and sometimes don’t. One of the better and more successful addresses was Gerald Ford’s in 1975, beginning “The State of the Union is not good. I do not expect much applause tonight.” The people like straight talk, the applause was generous, and the speech well received by the country. (And in fact, America’s condition was much better then than it is now.)
One of the only positive notes from this year’s disappointing speech came when the President praised the (Republican) speaker of the House, his official host who sat grimly behind him — right beside Vice-President Joe Biden, who giggled like he was being tickled by a motel’s Magic Fingers device in his chair: Speaker John Boehner did not, as is his disturbing custom, burst into tears.
Friday, January 28, 2011
E/R waits
Wait times in Quebec E/R's can be very long indeed. There is a shortage of family doctors and specialists , so many use the E/R as access to the medical system. This is what medicare has wrought. Yet governments seem incapable of looking at other solutions like allowing more private care. Canadians and politicians need to stop thinking of healthcare as a religion.
This just in: Going to the emergency room is hazardous to your health. Not only do you have to worry about whatever afflictions may have brought you there in the first place, but also those you could pick up while you wait -- and wait, and wait.
That is the conclusion of a landmark paper authored by researchers at Dalhousie University, recently published in the international health-care journal BMJ Quality and Safety. According to the study, prolonged waits in the ER put patients at greater risk of suffering "adverse events," ranging from surgical complications, medication errors and c. difficile infections.
Among 982 otherwise healthy elderly patients tracked by the study, the risk of these incidents climbed by 3% for every hour spent in the ER. With average wait times of 20 hours in some provinces, this represents a substantial increase in mortality, not to mention an increase in system-wide pain, suffering and economic costs to the health-care system.
This just in: Going to the emergency room is hazardous to your health. Not only do you have to worry about whatever afflictions may have brought you there in the first place, but also those you could pick up while you wait -- and wait, and wait.
That is the conclusion of a landmark paper authored by researchers at Dalhousie University, recently published in the international health-care journal BMJ Quality and Safety. According to the study, prolonged waits in the ER put patients at greater risk of suffering "adverse events," ranging from surgical complications, medication errors and c. difficile infections.
Among 982 otherwise healthy elderly patients tracked by the study, the risk of these incidents climbed by 3% for every hour spent in the ER. With average wait times of 20 hours in some provinces, this represents a substantial increase in mortality, not to mention an increase in system-wide pain, suffering and economic costs to the health-care system.
CKLN
CKLN is a leftist community radio station that is nominally the Ryerson student radio station. It's been a source for marxist propaganda for years. It's been having quite a lot of trouble of late and now the crtc has yanked its licence. I don't like CKLN but I like the crtc even less. They should not be pulling CKLN's broadcast rights. That smacks of censorship. Ryerson should rescue it's radio station from the Marxists and return it to the students. Let's get rid of the crtc.
Ryerson radio station CKLN loses broadcasting rights
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National Post Staff January 28, 2011 – 2:16 pm
By Sara Faruqi
The CRTC has revoked the broadcasting rights of CKLN-FM, a campus-based community radio station at Ryerson University.
“CKLN Radio was given several warnings and opportunities to come into compliance,” the federal broadcast regulator said in a news release on Friday. “Each time, it demonstrated an inability or unwillingness to address our concerns. Taking away its licence is the only appropriate course of action in this case.”
A different view from my friend Mike Brock.
Ryerson radio station CKLN loses broadcasting rights
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National Post Staff January 28, 2011 – 2:16 pm
By Sara Faruqi
The CRTC has revoked the broadcasting rights of CKLN-FM, a campus-based community radio station at Ryerson University.
“CKLN Radio was given several warnings and opportunities to come into compliance,” the federal broadcast regulator said in a news release on Friday. “Each time, it demonstrated an inability or unwillingness to address our concerns. Taking away its licence is the only appropriate course of action in this case.”
A different view from my friend Mike Brock.
Stockwell Day in Montreal
It was nice to see The President of the Treasury Board Stockwell day in Montreal. He came to another event sponsored by the PIERREFONDS-Dollard Riding association, which has sponsored 18 such events in the last year! The candidate in PIERREFONDS-Dollard is of course Agop Evereklian. The event was absolutely packed. Many of our Montreal candidates were in attendance. Minister Day made remarks in French and English. He talked about our amazing Montreal team. He talked about the average Canadian family now pays $3000 less in taxes. It was a great evening.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
The iffy Dean Scream
The new CPC ads feature the iffy Dean scream. The lefty journalists from the cbc and red star are quick to come to the defense of the grits. It's all very amusing as are the ads themselves. Get used to seeing the iffy Dean scream. No need for grit ads or responses. No need for grits grassroots fundraising they have the cbc and their other lefty journalists to jump to their defense.
Quebec and dependancy
I agree with Jonathan Kay. For a party that wants Quebec independance, the name of the game is getting more money from Ottawa. So the Quebec independance movement wants to be more dependant on the rest of Canada. Quebec already receives more than $8 billion in equalization payments. This latest nonsense should be refused.
Just when we all thought that the opposition pretext for the much-mooted 2011 federal election would center around the less-than-thrilling issue of corporate income taxes, along comes Gilles Duceppe to give the Conservatives something meaningful to campaign on. And if Stephen Harper plays his cards right, he might well play the Bloc Québécois’ gambit to his advantage.
Quebec politicians often seek de facto bribes from Ottawa — whether in the form of cold cash or more symbolic gestures. And usually, Ottawa gives in. This explains why our equalization system is skewed so as to deliver a multi-billion-dollar jackpot to Quebec every year; not to mention Paul Martin’s “asymmetric federalism,” and Stephen Harper’s declaration that Quebec constitutes a “nation.” These shakedowns have come to define the Canadian political condition.
Just when we all thought that the opposition pretext for the much-mooted 2011 federal election would center around the less-than-thrilling issue of corporate income taxes, along comes Gilles Duceppe to give the Conservatives something meaningful to campaign on. And if Stephen Harper plays his cards right, he might well play the Bloc Québécois’ gambit to his advantage.
Quebec politicians often seek de facto bribes from Ottawa — whether in the form of cold cash or more symbolic gestures. And usually, Ottawa gives in. This explains why our equalization system is skewed so as to deliver a multi-billion-dollar jackpot to Quebec every year; not to mention Paul Martin’s “asymmetric federalism,” and Stephen Harper’s declaration that Quebec constitutes a “nation.” These shakedowns have come to define the Canadian political condition.
World Holocaust Remembrance Day
Never Again!
"There is only one thing worse than Auschwitz itself…
and that is if the world forgets there was such a place"
- Henry Appel, Auschwitz survivor
and that is if the world forgets there was such a place"
- Henry Appel, Auschwitz survivor
AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU FOUNDATION LAUNCHES “INTERVENE NOW!” CAMPAIGN
$160 million Capital Campaign to Preserve the Physical Evidence of the World’s
Most Notorious Nazi Death Camp and Promote Tolerance Around the World
$160 million Capital Campaign to Preserve the Physical Evidence of the World’s
Most Notorious Nazi Death Camp and Promote Tolerance Around the World
January 27, 2010, Oświęcim, POLAND— On the 66th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in 1945, the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation announces its "Intervene Now!" campaign. “Intervene Now!” is an initiative created to engage individuals, organizations and governments around the world in order to protect and preserve the physical evidence, authentic remains and the memory of the victims and survivors of the German Nazi Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp.
After 66 years, the camp and grounds, along with thousands of invaluable historical objects, face accelerated irreversible deterioration and natural erosion. It is the mission of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation to create a Perpetual Capital Fund which will finance a long time preservation plan of the Memorial Site in order to safeguard it for future generations.
“The barracks, the barbed wire, and the ruins of the crematoria and gas chambers are the best guardian of memory; through their silent presence they ensure that nobody can ever deny that the worst of the Twentieth Century’s crimes actually occurred,” said Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, Chairman of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation Council and former prisoner of the camp. “By ensuring the preservation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Site and maintaining the testimonies of the past, we are, in fact, taking care of the future.”
The Call to Action
“Intervene Now!” is a call for individuals around the world to become members of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation by pledging to preserve the physical evidence of the former Auschwitz-Birkenau camp and raise awareness of the tragedy in order to prevent future acts of hatred and intolerance. Members are asked to take the “Intervene Now!” pledge in recognition of “what happened, what happens and what could happen again” and pass it along to friends and relatives with a piece of artwork or literature created by victims and survivors of Auschwitz.
“Intervene Now!” is a call for individuals around the world to become members of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation by pledging to preserve the physical evidence of the former Auschwitz-Birkenau camp and raise awareness of the tragedy in order to prevent future acts of hatred and intolerance. Members are asked to take the “Intervene Now!” pledge in recognition of “what happened, what happens and what could happen again” and pass it along to friends and relatives with a piece of artwork or literature created by victims and survivors of Auschwitz.
The “Intervene Now!” website (Facebook.com/AuschwitzInterveneNow) will provide art, music and literature from victims and survivors , new and archived photographs of Auschwitz-Birkenau and educational resources that can be used in schools, community groups and religious organizations.
The Preservation Plan
The long-term preservation plan was prepared by a team of professional conservation science specialists from the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum. The plan includes high-priority tasks such as preservation of deteriorated prisoner barracks and guard towers, including reinforcement of foundations and roofs and preservation of architectural landmarks like drawings, inscriptions and wall paintings. The plan also includes conservation of hundreds of thousands of moveable objects and documents that constitute evidence of the crimes committed at Auschwitz-Birkenau, including several thousand photographs and negatives, approximately six thousand works of art and hundreds of prayer garments.
The annual cost to plan and implement the long-term preservation plan for these buildings and objects is approximately $5-6 million. In order to achieve the required income, the Foundation is dedicated to raising a Perpetual Capital Fund of $160 million, which will be invested to ensure the security and authenticity of the Memorial Site for years to come. To ensure the safe and professional investment of the resources allocated to the Perpetual Capital Fund, the Foundation’s Council has appointed a Financial Commission consisting of independent experts which, along with the Foundation’s Management Board, is in charge of the investment process.
Initial Support
The Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation has received strong official support from the Government of the Republic of Poland, the International Auschwitz Council, and the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, along with a number of other countries, organizations and individual donors. Since the establishment of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, the governments of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Austria and the United States have declared to make significant donations the Perpetual Capital Fund amounting to more than $104 million.
World Holocaust Remembrance Day
In conjunction with World Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27th 2011, the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum will hold a ceremony to commemorate the 66th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Camps and to honour the victims and survivors living today. The ceremony will include a reading of the "Intervene Now!" Pledge by a young volunteer from The Foundation Auschwitz-Birkenau. Signifying the official launch of the campaign, the pledge will be signed by Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, the Chairman of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation Council, Chairman of the International Auschwitz Council, former prisoner of KL Auschwitz; recognized as one of the Righteous among the Nations.
“At this moment, when the last eyewitnesses are passing away, the preservation of Auschwitz is becoming a truly shared responsibility,” said Piotr M.A. Cywinski, Director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. “This place is necessary for all of us. This is where we can most fully understand the tragedy of a Europe plunged into war and mutual hatred. Here, too, the younger generations can best understand how important it is that we preserve the site in order for the future to be different.”
About the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation
The Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation was founded in January 2009 by Minister Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, a former prisoner of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. The mission of the Foundation is to secure the conservation and the preservation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Site for future generations by implementing a long-term comprehensive preservation plan.
Four separate bodies of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation (the Council, the International Committee, The Management Board, and the Financial Commission) ensure the transparency, efficiency, and accountability of their respective work. The Foundation’s Statutes regulate the structural and functional integrity of the process behind the creation and management of the Perpetual Capital Fund. Moreover, the Foundation has established a professional relationship with two renowned companies that advise it on legal matters, accounting and bookkeeping. The Foundation’s primary objective is to secure the safety of the Perpetual Capital fund and guarantee transparency with respect to the disposal of funds.
-30-
CONTACT:
Alana Lipton / Stephanie Marton
Edelman
416.849.1114 / 416.849.8929
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
A Free and Prosperous Canada
We are near the top of the Economic freedom Index. Only 5 countries are freer and with out new corporate tax cuts , we will move up even higher on that list. There are many more things that HM Government should do to make us more free in economic and other ways !. defang the hrc censors or better yet get rid the hrcs altogether 2. rid of us of the crtc 3. more personal income tax cuts, a flat tax would be nice. 3. cut the size of government. The more bureaucrats the more regulations and the less freedom. Petty bureaucrats like to control and they must be prevented from doing this. The best way to do that is to get rid of them. 5.balance the budget so capital can go to the free market 6. the Tyranny of Nice should be torn down. Things like the Canadian broadcast standards council is just another censor. Let's be less easily offended and more interested in freedom. 7. adopt the Portuguese solution for dealing with drug abuse. These are a few of my suggestions. What are yours?
Canada, one of the freest (markets) at last
NEIL REYNOLDS
The end of capitalism? Not quite. Not yet. Not here.
Indeed, the Heritage Foundation-Wall Street Journal’s Index of Economic Freedom 2011 says Canada has edged upward in capitalist sentiment and free-market rights in the past couple of years, thereby earning an elite ranking as a “free economy.” In the entire world, only six economies qualify (by scoring 80 points or more on a scale of 1-to-100) for this distinction: Hong Kong (89.7), Singapore (87.20), Australia (82.5), New Zealand 82.3), Switzerland (81.9) and Canada (80.8). Free at last.
Although no other countries except these are designated as truly “free,” Index 2011 notes that capitalism bounced back around the globe last year, reversing two years of decline amid the wrenching market meltdown of 2008-09. Index 2011 reports higher scores in Eastern Europe, Asia and, perhaps most remarkably, Africa. On the same 1-to-100 scale (with one measuring economic freedom in North Korea), three sub-Saharan countries now place higher than China (score: 52.0; rank 135th) and Russia (score: 50.5; rank 143rd) in this 183-country assessment. The sub-Saharan trend setters: the 10-island country of Cape Verde (score: 64.6, up 2.8 points in the past year; rank: 65th), Rwanda (score: 62.7, up 3.6 points; rank: 75th) and Djibouti (score: 54.5, up 3.4 points; rank: 125th). By way of comparison, France ranks 64th (score: 64.6), one slot ahead of Cape Verde; Italy trails in 87th place (score: 60.3).
Index 2011 distributes points on the basis of 10 components of economic freedom, including such things as government spending, competitiveness, openness, property rights and the rule of law. In Index 1995, the inaugural year, the global average score was 57.1. By Index 2007, the global average had risen to 60.2 – the highest score ever. By Index 2008, it had slipped to 59.4. By Index 2011, it had risen back to 59.7 – only 0.5 points from the pinnacle of pre-crash free-market enthusiasm.
Canada, one of the freest (markets) at last
NEIL REYNOLDS
The end of capitalism? Not quite. Not yet. Not here.
Indeed, the Heritage Foundation-Wall Street Journal’s Index of Economic Freedom 2011 says Canada has edged upward in capitalist sentiment and free-market rights in the past couple of years, thereby earning an elite ranking as a “free economy.” In the entire world, only six economies qualify (by scoring 80 points or more on a scale of 1-to-100) for this distinction: Hong Kong (89.7), Singapore (87.20), Australia (82.5), New Zealand 82.3), Switzerland (81.9) and Canada (80.8). Free at last.
Although no other countries except these are designated as truly “free,” Index 2011 notes that capitalism bounced back around the globe last year, reversing two years of decline amid the wrenching market meltdown of 2008-09. Index 2011 reports higher scores in Eastern Europe, Asia and, perhaps most remarkably, Africa. On the same 1-to-100 scale (with one measuring economic freedom in North Korea), three sub-Saharan countries now place higher than China (score: 52.0; rank 135th) and Russia (score: 50.5; rank 143rd) in this 183-country assessment. The sub-Saharan trend setters: the 10-island country of Cape Verde (score: 64.6, up 2.8 points in the past year; rank: 65th), Rwanda (score: 62.7, up 3.6 points; rank: 75th) and Djibouti (score: 54.5, up 3.4 points; rank: 125th). By way of comparison, France ranks 64th (score: 64.6), one slot ahead of Cape Verde; Italy trails in 87th place (score: 60.3).
Index 2011 distributes points on the basis of 10 components of economic freedom, including such things as government spending, competitiveness, openness, property rights and the rule of law. In Index 1995, the inaugural year, the global average score was 57.1. By Index 2007, the global average had risen to 60.2 – the highest score ever. By Index 2008, it had slipped to 59.4. By Index 2011, it had risen back to 59.7 – only 0.5 points from the pinnacle of pre-crash free-market enthusiasm.
Corporate Taxes cuts are good
That's what obama thinks, but not iffy and the grits. They want to spend on big new social programs. Indeed even the dippers are not demanding the rollback of the Tory tax cuts. Blue grits must just despair. The grits are now really a part of the left. Their center is gone.
OTTAWA — Fully implementing the Conservative government’s corporate tax cut scheme will have “little” impact on budget revenue, and in the medium-term generate an estimated $30-billion in additional business investment and 100,000 new jobs, says one of the country’s leading tax and fiscal policy experts in an analysis released Tuesday.
“Given the relatively insignificant anticipated revenue loss from a corporate reduction, it is clear that the investment and employment benefits make a strong case in pursuing this reform,” Jack Mintz, head of the public policy school at the University of Calgary, said in a new paper on business tax reform he co-authored with Duanjie Chen.
OTTAWA — Fully implementing the Conservative government’s corporate tax cut scheme will have “little” impact on budget revenue, and in the medium-term generate an estimated $30-billion in additional business investment and 100,000 new jobs, says one of the country’s leading tax and fiscal policy experts in an analysis released Tuesday.
“Given the relatively insignificant anticipated revenue loss from a corporate reduction, it is clear that the investment and employment benefits make a strong case in pursuing this reform,” Jack Mintz, head of the public policy school at the University of Calgary, said in a new paper on business tax reform he co-authored with Duanjie Chen.
Responses to SOTU
I watched some of bo's rather uninspiring speech last night. He is still a tax and spend liberal. Though he has learned from Canadian Tories and wants to cut corporate taxes to create jobs.I was far more impressed with Congressman Ryan. Even Congresswoman Michele Bachman gave a better speech and she started off saying this was not to undermine her colleagues. You can judge for yourself. here are the three speeches.
Congressman Ryan
Congressman Ryan
Responses to SOTU
I watched some of bo's rather uninspiring speech last night. He is still a tax and spend liberal. Though he has learned from Canadian Tories and wants to cut corporate taxes to create jobs.I was far more impressed with Congressman Ryan. Even Congresswoman Michelle Bachman gave a better speech. You can judge for yourself. here are the three speeches.
Congressman Ryan
Congressman Ryan
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
My friends at GoProud and CPAC
Chris Baron from GoProud makes mincemeat out of this liberal msnbc host cenk ugyur. I will be at CPAC this year!
More Tory seats in Newfoundland and labrador
I was never a big fan of blowhard danny williams. He was an impediment to the Tories winning seats in Newfoundland and Labrador. Now he is gone and perhaps the people of Newfoundland and Labrador realize that is a mistake not being represented directly in cabinet. Every seat counts. The Tories are very very close to a majority now. They need 12 seats to acheive that. Thre or four from the Rock will be a big boost! Inspite of all this, I still dont think we will have a spring election!
The Rock might roll with Tories next time
By: The Corner Brook Western Star
A federal election hasn't been called, but nonetheless a campaign is going full tilt. Leaders of the Liberals and the New Democrats are touring the country, telling Canadians how they would do a better job of running the country.
The ruling Conservatives have released a new ad campaign that attacks the opposition parties and defends the government's record.
It's all in preparation for the possibility the government will be toppled when this year's budget is brought down... and none of the parties wants to be caught off guard if that happens.
If there is a spring federal vote, the landscape will be much different in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Former premier Danny Williams played a big part leading up to the last vote with his Anyone But Conservative campaign.
Williams implored voters in this province not to send any Conservative MPs to Ottawa... and it worked.
The Rock might roll with Tories next time
By: The Corner Brook Western Star
A federal election hasn't been called, but nonetheless a campaign is going full tilt. Leaders of the Liberals and the New Democrats are touring the country, telling Canadians how they would do a better job of running the country.
The ruling Conservatives have released a new ad campaign that attacks the opposition parties and defends the government's record.
It's all in preparation for the possibility the government will be toppled when this year's budget is brought down... and none of the parties wants to be caught off guard if that happens.
If there is a spring federal vote, the landscape will be much different in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Former premier Danny Williams played a big part leading up to the last vote with his Anyone But Conservative campaign.
Williams implored voters in this province not to send any Conservative MPs to Ottawa... and it worked.
fear and loathing from larry martin
larry martin admits the obvious, that The Tories are trying and succeeding in gradually turning the country rightward, and he really doesn't like it. You better get used to it larry, the Tories aren't going anywhere, anytime soon.
The country’s conservative image is seen in the heightened profile of the military and spending on armaments. It is seen in the area of foreign affairs, where the rejection of Canada by the United Nations and our one-sidedness in the Middle East are symptomatic of right-wing, morality-driven politics, much in contrast to the country’s traditional honest-broker role.
On the economy, while Mr. Harper has failed at the bedrock conservative criterion of making government smaller, he has reduced the tax base. More importantly, he has forged a new conservative mindset with regard to taxation. In place is an anti-tax-hike mentality so strong that the Liberal Party fears to even daintily mention the prospect of raising taxes. In a country whose system of social and economic justice was built on a higher taxation regime than in the United States, this is to be well noted.
The inculcation of the conservative mindset is seen also in the rejection of Liberal national programs such as universal daycare, the Kelowna accord and the green shift. It is seen in the Harper party’s supplanting of the Liberals as Canada’s most powerful party. The Conservatives have become stronger in the area of fundraising, in national organization, in communications. They have become a larger presence. While they have a rock-solid base in the West, the Liberals are now without a geographic anchor.
The country’s conservative image is seen in the heightened profile of the military and spending on armaments. It is seen in the area of foreign affairs, where the rejection of Canada by the United Nations and our one-sidedness in the Middle East are symptomatic of right-wing, morality-driven politics, much in contrast to the country’s traditional honest-broker role.
On the economy, while Mr. Harper has failed at the bedrock conservative criterion of making government smaller, he has reduced the tax base. More importantly, he has forged a new conservative mindset with regard to taxation. In place is an anti-tax-hike mentality so strong that the Liberal Party fears to even daintily mention the prospect of raising taxes. In a country whose system of social and economic justice was built on a higher taxation regime than in the United States, this is to be well noted.
The inculcation of the conservative mindset is seen also in the rejection of Liberal national programs such as universal daycare, the Kelowna accord and the green shift. It is seen in the Harper party’s supplanting of the Liberals as Canada’s most powerful party. The Conservatives have become stronger in the area of fundraising, in national organization, in communications. They have become a larger presence. While they have a rock-solid base in the West, the Liberals are now without a geographic anchor.
Here Comes the Sun
Is the sun involved in climate change. The ipcc is going to investigate. Is this a Monty Python sketch? The chicken littles really are funny.
Lawrence Solomon: Has the IPCC discovered the Sun?
Lawrence Solomon January 25, 2011 – 1:05 am
The IPCC is investigating the Sun as a driver of global warming
The IPCC for the first time will investigate “in depth” the role of global cosmic rays in climate change, according to a report last week in the Hindustan Times. Many solar and space scientists believe that cosmic rays, whose ability to enter Earth’s atmosphere is regulated by the Sun, are a dominant factor in global warming.
The turnaround in the IPCC position was announced by the chairman of the IPCC, Rajendra Pachauri, in a communication with India’s Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh. The announcement followed the release of a paper by U R Rao, the former chairman of Indian Space Research Organization, that showed cosmic rays alone were responsible for 40% of global warming. These findings by one of Pachauri’s most distinguished countrymen, rebutted IPCC claims that carbon dioxide and other man-made causes were responsible for more than 90% of global warming. Ramesh, who commissioned Rao’s paper, in 2009 had also released a report rebutting the IPCC’s claims that Himalayan glaciers would melt by 2035. The IPCC subsequently retracted its claims in an embarrassment now known as “Glaciergate.”
Lawrence Solomon: Has the IPCC discovered the Sun?
Lawrence Solomon January 25, 2011 – 1:05 am
The IPCC is investigating the Sun as a driver of global warming
The IPCC for the first time will investigate “in depth” the role of global cosmic rays in climate change, according to a report last week in the Hindustan Times. Many solar and space scientists believe that cosmic rays, whose ability to enter Earth’s atmosphere is regulated by the Sun, are a dominant factor in global warming.
The turnaround in the IPCC position was announced by the chairman of the IPCC, Rajendra Pachauri, in a communication with India’s Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh. The announcement followed the release of a paper by U R Rao, the former chairman of Indian Space Research Organization, that showed cosmic rays alone were responsible for 40% of global warming. These findings by one of Pachauri’s most distinguished countrymen, rebutted IPCC claims that carbon dioxide and other man-made causes were responsible for more than 90% of global warming. Ramesh, who commissioned Rao’s paper, in 2009 had also released a report rebutting the IPCC’s claims that Himalayan glaciers would melt by 2035. The IPCC subsequently retracted its claims in an embarrassment now known as “Glaciergate.”
Monday, January 24, 2011
Lord Black on the welfare state
I agree with Lord Black. Welfare has created an underclass and has led to the balloning of the state apparatus. It has also rmoved the idea that we should help and support our neighbours. Why should we the state will do it. This further separates the rich and poor.
Conrad Black: Individual responsibility and the welfare state
The phrase “personal responsibility” has been bandied about commonly in recent decades. In past eras, when one was personally responsible for more or less everything in life, the phrase would have carried little meaning.
Conrad Black: Individual responsibility and the welfare state
The phrase “personal responsibility” has been bandied about commonly in recent decades. In past eras, when one was personally responsible for more or less everything in life, the phrase would have carried little meaning.
Yesterday's Speech
Here is the text of HM PM's speech from yesterday.
Friends, today we celebrate our fifth anniversary!
So, it’s been five years! What a day. What a time. And what a journey it has been, my friends, since the people of Canada gave us their trust!
It’s almost hard to remember what Canada looked like that winter. Back then, back in the winter of 2006,
the sponsorship scandal hung heavily in the air. Lobbyists ran Ottawa. People had lost faith in the ability – and in the integrity – of their national government. Parents were disrespected, thought more likely to spend money on beer and popcorn than take care of their children. Provinces were denied the resources to properly deliver the services they were bound to do by federal law. The votes of New Canadians were taken for granted. Victims of crime were ignored. In Quebec, support for sovereignty was surging. Our Canadian Armed Forces were neglected and demoralized. No one in the world knew where Canada stood. You could almost say that it really seemed like a Canadian winter!
So, five years ago today, on January 23, 2006 Canadians gave our Party a mandate to shake up Ottawa. We have been faithful! We have kept that trust! And we have delivered!
In a moment, friends, I will remind you of what we have accomplished together. Despite the fact that we have been a minority government, it is a long list. Nous avons accompli beaucoup de choses en cinq ans.
But, before we talk about that, let’s spend a moment – just a moment – not on the what, but upon the why. For, ours is not a party of entitlement. We’re not in Ottawa because we think we’re owed or for what we can get. If anybody is, they’re in the wrong party! For Conservatives, it is about public service and public service means private sacrifice. As it must, my friends, as it must.
So why do we do it? Why do you do it? I think you know.
We are here because we love Canada! We’re proud of Canada. Canada is, and always has been, our country. And we want Canada to be a true north that is as strong and as free as it can be, in every way that matters, the best country in the world! That’s why we’re here. That’s why we strive. That’s why we serve..... read the rest here.
I also note some lefties are "deeply wounded" that I called a few protesters pathetic. I hadn't noticed the Nortel pensioners. I was really talking about the anti seal hunt protesters who were wearing Harper masks with blood flowing from the mouth. All the protesters did look kind of sad walking around in very small numbers in -25 degree celsius weather. If this is the best you can do grits, you really will be in opposition for a very, very long time.
Friends, today we celebrate our fifth anniversary!
So, it’s been five years! What a day. What a time. And what a journey it has been, my friends, since the people of Canada gave us their trust!
It’s almost hard to remember what Canada looked like that winter. Back then, back in the winter of 2006,
the sponsorship scandal hung heavily in the air. Lobbyists ran Ottawa. People had lost faith in the ability – and in the integrity – of their national government. Parents were disrespected, thought more likely to spend money on beer and popcorn than take care of their children. Provinces were denied the resources to properly deliver the services they were bound to do by federal law. The votes of New Canadians were taken for granted. Victims of crime were ignored. In Quebec, support for sovereignty was surging. Our Canadian Armed Forces were neglected and demoralized. No one in the world knew where Canada stood. You could almost say that it really seemed like a Canadian winter!
So, five years ago today, on January 23, 2006 Canadians gave our Party a mandate to shake up Ottawa. We have been faithful! We have kept that trust! And we have delivered!
In a moment, friends, I will remind you of what we have accomplished together. Despite the fact that we have been a minority government, it is a long list. Nous avons accompli beaucoup de choses en cinq ans.
But, before we talk about that, let’s spend a moment – just a moment – not on the what, but upon the why. For, ours is not a party of entitlement. We’re not in Ottawa because we think we’re owed or for what we can get. If anybody is, they’re in the wrong party! For Conservatives, it is about public service and public service means private sacrifice. As it must, my friends, as it must.
So why do we do it? Why do you do it? I think you know.
We are here because we love Canada! We’re proud of Canada. Canada is, and always has been, our country. And we want Canada to be a true north that is as strong and as free as it can be, in every way that matters, the best country in the world! That’s why we’re here. That’s why we strive. That’s why we serve..... read the rest here.
I also note some lefties are "deeply wounded" that I called a few protesters pathetic. I hadn't noticed the Nortel pensioners. I was really talking about the anti seal hunt protesters who were wearing Harper masks with blood flowing from the mouth. All the protesters did look kind of sad walking around in very small numbers in -25 degree celsius weather. If this is the best you can do grits, you really will be in opposition for a very, very long time.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
A Tory Celebration
Today I celebrated 5 years of Tory government with hundreds of Tory supporters in Ottawa. It was great seeing many friends including Stephen Taylor, Fred Litwin, Christian Conservative and too many more to name. I almost met the Phantom Observer. I saw his fedora but he disappeared before I could say hello. There were a few pathetic protesters who froze outside in -25 degree celsius. Inside the Tory family gathered. John Baird introduced HM PM Stephen Harper who received a rapturous welcome. He gave a rousing 40 minute speech. He used real people to demonstrate how Tory policies have benefitted Canada. It was interesting that some of the loudest cheers came for Tory support for Israel and for including many more new Canadians as Tory voters. It was a fun afternoon. I shook hands with HM Pm and Laureen Harper as they left and we all chanted 5 more years!
Watch ten minutes of the speech here.
Other reports from the gathering from Brett Caven.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Trouble in Tunisia
One wonders if we will see a swathe of islamist regimes in North africa now. I hope not, but I fear that is what will happen.
The hasty departure of Tunisian strongman Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali for a life in exile reveals how brittle and lacking in public support are most of the Arab regimes.
The swift collapse of Ben Ali’s 23-year-old dictatorship unmasked the lie that autocrats in the Arab world — or autocrats anywhere, including Communist China — supported by their military and security network are invulnerable to popular opposition.
As I indicated in my column last week on China, it is increasingly evident in our contemporary era that tyranny — irrespective of the left or right — has a relatively short shelf life.
The seemingly invincible Soviet Union imploded some 70 years after its establishment. It could be said this number might well be the benchmark for the duration of any despotic regime, and Arab despots are rapidly approaching this number with Ben Ali’s fate exposing their shaky hold on power.
Tunisia’s popular uprising has been followed by news of similar unrest in Algeria, heightened concerns about anarchy from Libya’s strongman Moammar Gadhafi, protests and sectarian violence in Egypt, discontent in Jordan and tension with fear of sectarian violence erupting in Lebanon.
The hasty departure of Tunisian strongman Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali for a life in exile reveals how brittle and lacking in public support are most of the Arab regimes.
The swift collapse of Ben Ali’s 23-year-old dictatorship unmasked the lie that autocrats in the Arab world — or autocrats anywhere, including Communist China — supported by their military and security network are invulnerable to popular opposition.
As I indicated in my column last week on China, it is increasingly evident in our contemporary era that tyranny — irrespective of the left or right — has a relatively short shelf life.
The seemingly invincible Soviet Union imploded some 70 years after its establishment. It could be said this number might well be the benchmark for the duration of any despotic regime, and Arab despots are rapidly approaching this number with Ben Ali’s fate exposing their shaky hold on power.
Tunisia’s popular uprising has been followed by news of similar unrest in Algeria, heightened concerns about anarchy from Libya’s strongman Moammar Gadhafi, protests and sectarian violence in Egypt, discontent in Jordan and tension with fear of sectarian violence erupting in Lebanon.
Media Bias
A bbc producer reveals the leftist bias at the beeb. Surprise! Surpise!
For 20 years I was a front man at the BBC, anchoring news and current affairs programmes, so I reckon nobody is better placed than me to answer the question that nags at many of its viewers — is the BBC biased?
In my view, ‘bias’ is too blunt a word to describe the subtleties of the pervading culture. The better word is a ‘mindset’. At the core of the BBC, in its very DNA, is a way of thinking that is firmly of the Left.
By far the most popular and widely read newspapers at the BBC are The Guardian and The Independent. Producers refer to them routinely for the line to take on running stories, and for inspiration on which items to cover. In the later stages of my career, I lost count of the number of times I asked a producer for a brief on a story, only to be handed a copy of The Guardian and told ‘it’s all in there’.
The bbc has admitted this in the past, but now says it's different. That's very funny.
The cbc also admits left wing bias, but theyare happy with that.
At least American networks are more honest. They are also privately owned so they should be able to do as they please. Public left wing broadcasters should be sold off. Why do conservatives have to pay to continue the leftist propaganda. Both the cbc and bbc are propaganda wings for the grits and labour respectively. Maybe the election authorities should investigate all the free publicity given to the parties of choice of these "public" broadcasters. The bias isn't surprising. The public broadcasters favour those who will give them more money. They believe in big government! That is far less likely to be conservatives!
For 20 years I was a front man at the BBC, anchoring news and current affairs programmes, so I reckon nobody is better placed than me to answer the question that nags at many of its viewers — is the BBC biased?
In my view, ‘bias’ is too blunt a word to describe the subtleties of the pervading culture. The better word is a ‘mindset’. At the core of the BBC, in its very DNA, is a way of thinking that is firmly of the Left.
By far the most popular and widely read newspapers at the BBC are The Guardian and The Independent. Producers refer to them routinely for the line to take on running stories, and for inspiration on which items to cover. In the later stages of my career, I lost count of the number of times I asked a producer for a brief on a story, only to be handed a copy of The Guardian and told ‘it’s all in there’.
The bbc has admitted this in the past, but now says it's different. That's very funny.
The cbc also admits left wing bias, but theyare happy with that.
At least American networks are more honest. They are also privately owned so they should be able to do as they please. Public left wing broadcasters should be sold off. Why do conservatives have to pay to continue the leftist propaganda. Both the cbc and bbc are propaganda wings for the grits and labour respectively. Maybe the election authorities should investigate all the free publicity given to the parties of choice of these "public" broadcasters. The bias isn't surprising. The public broadcasters favour those who will give them more money. They believe in big government! That is far less likely to be conservatives!
Rex Murphy on Iranium and Free Speech
Rex Murphy nails it again.
Iranium will now show on Feb 6, 2010.
Iranium will be shown in Ottawa on February 6th!
January 21, 2011
Dear Free Thinking Film Society Supporter:
I want to express my extreme disappointment that Iranium was not shown in Ottawa this week. We are committed to ensuring this film is shown in the capital of Canada - and that our cultural policies are not dictated by the Khomeinist thugs of Iran.
So, I am happy to announce that Iranium will now be shown on Sunday, February 6th at 7:00 PM at the Library and Archives Canada. Clare Lopez will also be flying in to talk at the event. Tickets are $15.00 (Students/Seniors - $8.00) and will be available, in advance, at the following locations:
Compact Music, 785 1/2 Bank Street
Compact Music, 190 Bank Street
Ottawa Folklore Centre, 1111 Bank Street
Ottawa Festivals, 47 William Street
Tickets will also be available at the door, but to ensure you get a seat, please buy your ticket in advance.
What really happened this week
On Monday, January 17th at 2 PM, I was informed by staff of the Library & Archives Canada (LAC) that they had received 'complaints' about Iranium and had decided to cancel the film. They offered to find an alternate venue.
I then phoned the office of the Minister of National Heritage (James Moore) to complain about the cancellation. I also sent an e-mail through the official website.
The LAC then offered to move the film to the Museum of Nature, but for a substantial fee. I really couldn't understand why the film could be shown in one building, but not the other. I told the LAC that if it had to be moved, they would have to pick up the costs.
After conferring with our Board of Directors, we decided that it was way too late to move the film, and that we should hold our ground and insist that the film be shown at the LAC. At 6:30 PM on Monday night, I received a call informing me that the film was now back on at the LAC.
On Tuesday morning, January 18th, I was informed that the complaints had indeed come from the Iranian Embassy! At 4 PM, I received a call from a senior manager at the LAC that there were protestors inside and outside the building; that they had called the RCMP; who had then informed them that security could not be assured; and that they had no choice but to cancel the film.
I immediately got into my car and drove to the Archives, arriving about 4:50 PM. The building had been closed and employees were leaving the building. Few people knew what was happening - and I didn't see any protesters anywhere. I was then informed that there were no protests - just the 'threat of protests.'
The police then arrived and the fire department arrived. I conducted a few interviews and left with Clare Lopez for my home. After we left, the hazardous materials team arrived - apparently because of two envelopes left at the front desk - but that occurred after the building had been closed down.
So, there you have it. We still need some answers! What event on Iranian culture was cancelled by the Archives in December of 2010 and why? Why did the Archives cancel so fast on Monday? Why would anybody care if the Iranian Embassy was unhappy? Were there actually threats on Tuesday? From whom? Was there just the 'threat of protest'? Why can't people protest a film? And, why couldn't the building be secured?
And, finally, why can the building now be secure on February 6th for the 'new' screening?
I applaud the Minister of National Heritage, James Moore, for his determination in standing up for freedom of speech - but it should never have had to go to his office.
The Khomeinist Thugs in Action
Check out this important article.
Police in Afghanistan are hunting for an attacker who sprayed acid in the face of journalist Razaq Mamoon as he walked home in Kabul on Tuesday.
Mr Mamoon is in hospital after the assault by a masked man, which was condemned by President Karzai.
The journalist - who has blamed the attack on Iran - said that he was only saved from critical injury because he was wearing glasses at the time.
The Iranian embassy in Kabul has not commented on Mr Mamoon's allegations.
Police, meanwhile, have given no indication in public that Iran is in any way responsible.
But speaking to the BBC from his hospital bed, Mr Mamoon said: ''Absolutely the Iranians are behind this attack because nobody dares to speak out in front of Iran."
He said that a new book he had written, The Footprint of Pharaoh, documented "Iranian sabotage and intelligence activities... of how they wanted to divide Afghanistan during the Taliban's rule".
''The publishers of my book were threatened a few days ago by officials of the Iranian embassy in Kabul," he said.
"They tried to ban the book. I had the feeling that they would do something. I don't think this will be the first and last. There might be other people too on their list.''
Mr Mamoon has accused Iran in the past of being involved involved in the killing of Northern Alliance commander Ahmad Shah Massoud in 2001.
I want to thank the hundreds of people who have called or e-mailed with their support for the Free Thinking Film Society and what we are doing. In particular, I have received many e-mails from Iranian-Canadians who thought they, and their families, had left the Khomeinist regime behind, and are outraged to see Khomeinist influence right here in the capital of Canada.
I want to thank the Board Members of the Free Thinking Film Society who have stepped up to the plate to help out the last three hectic days.
Iranium will now show on Sunday, February 6th at 7 PM at the Library & Archives Canada (395 Wellington). Admission is $15.00 ($8.00 for students/seniors). Clare Lopez will be speaking at the event. Reception to follow Q&A.
Sincerely,
Frederick Litwin
Free Thinking Film Society
Iranium will now show on Feb 6, 2010.
Iranium will be shown in Ottawa on February 6th!
January 21, 2011
Dear Free Thinking Film Society Supporter:
I want to express my extreme disappointment that Iranium was not shown in Ottawa this week. We are committed to ensuring this film is shown in the capital of Canada - and that our cultural policies are not dictated by the Khomeinist thugs of Iran.
So, I am happy to announce that Iranium will now be shown on Sunday, February 6th at 7:00 PM at the Library and Archives Canada. Clare Lopez will also be flying in to talk at the event. Tickets are $15.00 (Students/Seniors - $8.00) and will be available, in advance, at the following locations:
Compact Music, 785 1/2 Bank Street
Compact Music, 190 Bank Street
Ottawa Folklore Centre, 1111 Bank Street
Ottawa Festivals, 47 William Street
Tickets will also be available at the door, but to ensure you get a seat, please buy your ticket in advance.
What really happened this week
On Monday, January 17th at 2 PM, I was informed by staff of the Library & Archives Canada (LAC) that they had received 'complaints' about Iranium and had decided to cancel the film. They offered to find an alternate venue.
I then phoned the office of the Minister of National Heritage (James Moore) to complain about the cancellation. I also sent an e-mail through the official website.
The LAC then offered to move the film to the Museum of Nature, but for a substantial fee. I really couldn't understand why the film could be shown in one building, but not the other. I told the LAC that if it had to be moved, they would have to pick up the costs.
After conferring with our Board of Directors, we decided that it was way too late to move the film, and that we should hold our ground and insist that the film be shown at the LAC. At 6:30 PM on Monday night, I received a call informing me that the film was now back on at the LAC.
On Tuesday morning, January 18th, I was informed that the complaints had indeed come from the Iranian Embassy! At 4 PM, I received a call from a senior manager at the LAC that there were protestors inside and outside the building; that they had called the RCMP; who had then informed them that security could not be assured; and that they had no choice but to cancel the film.
I immediately got into my car and drove to the Archives, arriving about 4:50 PM. The building had been closed and employees were leaving the building. Few people knew what was happening - and I didn't see any protesters anywhere. I was then informed that there were no protests - just the 'threat of protests.'
The police then arrived and the fire department arrived. I conducted a few interviews and left with Clare Lopez for my home. After we left, the hazardous materials team arrived - apparently because of two envelopes left at the front desk - but that occurred after the building had been closed down.
So, there you have it. We still need some answers! What event on Iranian culture was cancelled by the Archives in December of 2010 and why? Why did the Archives cancel so fast on Monday? Why would anybody care if the Iranian Embassy was unhappy? Were there actually threats on Tuesday? From whom? Was there just the 'threat of protest'? Why can't people protest a film? And, why couldn't the building be secured?
And, finally, why can the building now be secure on February 6th for the 'new' screening?
I applaud the Minister of National Heritage, James Moore, for his determination in standing up for freedom of speech - but it should never have had to go to his office.
The Khomeinist Thugs in Action
Check out this important article.
Police in Afghanistan are hunting for an attacker who sprayed acid in the face of journalist Razaq Mamoon as he walked home in Kabul on Tuesday.
Mr Mamoon is in hospital after the assault by a masked man, which was condemned by President Karzai.
The journalist - who has blamed the attack on Iran - said that he was only saved from critical injury because he was wearing glasses at the time.
The Iranian embassy in Kabul has not commented on Mr Mamoon's allegations.
Police, meanwhile, have given no indication in public that Iran is in any way responsible.
But speaking to the BBC from his hospital bed, Mr Mamoon said: ''Absolutely the Iranians are behind this attack because nobody dares to speak out in front of Iran."
He said that a new book he had written, The Footprint of Pharaoh, documented "Iranian sabotage and intelligence activities... of how they wanted to divide Afghanistan during the Taliban's rule".
''The publishers of my book were threatened a few days ago by officials of the Iranian embassy in Kabul," he said.
"They tried to ban the book. I had the feeling that they would do something. I don't think this will be the first and last. There might be other people too on their list.''
Mr Mamoon has accused Iran in the past of being involved involved in the killing of Northern Alliance commander Ahmad Shah Massoud in 2001.
I want to thank the hundreds of people who have called or e-mailed with their support for the Free Thinking Film Society and what we are doing. In particular, I have received many e-mails from Iranian-Canadians who thought they, and their families, had left the Khomeinist regime behind, and are outraged to see Khomeinist influence right here in the capital of Canada.
I want to thank the Board Members of the Free Thinking Film Society who have stepped up to the plate to help out the last three hectic days.
Iranium will now show on Sunday, February 6th at 7 PM at the Library & Archives Canada (395 Wellington). Admission is $15.00 ($8.00 for students/seniors). Clare Lopez will be speaking at the event. Reception to follow Q&A.
Sincerely,
Frederick Litwin
Free Thinking Film Society
Friday, January 21, 2011
Olbermann is gone!!!
Ultra liberal Keith olbermann has left msnbc. His ratings were dropping, so maybe even the msnbc lefty executives saw him as a drag on profits. I am glad he is gone. He was a nasty outrageous prat.
New York, N.Y.—Outspoken liberal MSNBC TV host Keith Olbermann announced Friday that he is leaving the network and has taped his last Countdown show.
MSNBC issued a statement that it had ended its contract with the controversial host, with no further explanation. Olbermann hosted the network’s top-rated show, but his combative liberal opinions often made him a target of critics.
Olbermann did not explain why he was leaving.
New York, N.Y.—Outspoken liberal MSNBC TV host Keith Olbermann announced Friday that he is leaving the network and has taped his last Countdown show.
MSNBC issued a statement that it had ended its contract with the controversial host, with no further explanation. Olbermann hosted the network’s top-rated show, but his combative liberal opinions often made him a target of critics.
Olbermann did not explain why he was leaving.
Choose Life
I am pro life. Abortion is a great sadness. As I have written before I do want to see abortion limited to the first trimester, as they are in many other western democracies. In many European countries abortions are limited after 12 weeks.
In Canada there are no limits and you could have an abortion or kill a baby at 38 weeks! Abortion cheapens the value of human life. In many parts of the world it is used to kill little girls. It has emotional and health consequences.
I involved in a group that wants to reduce the number of abortions. My friend Deborah Rankin is certainly not a Tory, but she is very much pro life. I would not outlaw abortion, but we need to do all we can to make abortions the last resort. We must encourage people to choose life.
My friend Deborah Rankin is certainly not a Tory. She considers herself a progressive and a feminist. She is very much pro life. She has founded a new organization. Here is the press release. She can be reached at dkarankin@yahoo.ca for more info.
Women's Information Network Statement on Maternal-Child Healthcare for G8 Summit
Women's Information Network (W.I.N.) salutes the Canadian Government's commitment to put maternal-child healthcare at the top of its agenda when Canada hosts the G8 summit in June, 2010, and strongly supports the human rights of all elected representatives in Parliament to vote their consciences on this pressing moral issue, free from partisan reprisals.
W.I.N. supports the "conscience rights" of all elected representatives at all levels of government, and in all instances of public life, and supports substantive democratic debate on all issues as the best guarantor of these rights.
The lack of adequate maternal-infant healthcare in the developing world is an urgent concern requiring clear thinking and goodwill from politicians who have the power to make a real difference. Too many women lack the necessities of life, a sad fact that contributes to poor maternal-infant health outcomes.
Yet, women and their children have fundamental human rights to protection, aid, and healthcare, especially during the pre-natal and post-natal years, under the UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
W.I.N. supports the rights of women and children to receive healthcare without any strings attached and strongly opposes any attempt to make funding for abortion a condition of providing this vital humanitarian aid to women and children in some of the poorest countries in the world.
Abortion is incompatible with maternal-child healthcare because it harms the mother, baby, and subsequent born children. Copious research links it to infertility, breast cancer, and depression, while Canada's own long-suppressed research shows elevated risks for suicide and psychosis in post-abortive women.
Abortion causes fetal death, yet one of the goals of maternal-infant healthcare is to reduce the incidence of fetal death i.e. from smoking and other causes. W.I.N. emphasizes that human embryos and fetuses are unique-DNA nascent human beings, and not blobs of tissue, parasites, or tumors, as many abortion advocates claim.
Multiple studies also link abortion to prematurity and low birth weight in subsequent born infants, risk factors for the development of diseases such as diabetes, cerebral palsy, and retardation.
Proactive abortion policies have also resulted in many unforeseen social problems, especially coerced abortion, coupled with violence towards pregnant women who refuse to abort, the latter all too often resulting in fetal injury or fetal death, and increased risk of subsequent miscarriage. The most horrific result is homicide of the mother, with murder by a woman's male partner now the leading cause of death among pregnant women in the US.
Legal abortion has also been accompanied by a marked increase in father absenteeism and the ensuing feminization of poverty when deadbeat dads refuse tosupport their children, rationalizing that the woman could have had an abortion instead.
Coerced abortion is often used to cover up the sexual abuse of minors, and most shockingly, sex slavery, a gravely serious problem in the developing world. Amnesty International opposes forced abortion as a human rights violation and W.I.N. urges all concerned citizens to say a clear no to it.
Since, undeniably, some women die from abortion, either as a direct cause or as an underlying factor in some maternal deaths, often leaving born children without a mother to care for them, W.I.N. believes that the best way to prevent abortion-related deaths is to prevent abortion itself, by deterring legal abortion through health education and better social support for mothers, especially those at the margins of society, and by enforcing prohibitions against illegal abortion.
Given these gripping realities, it can't be reasonably argued that abortion is in the "best interests of the child", the framing principle of the law. W.I.N. firmly believes that the best interests of the child must prevail in determining all norms and standards for maternal-child healthcare.
W.I.N. also strongly opposes "fertility reduction quotas", an intrinsically coercive framework, in the guise of maintaining sustainable population levels, whether such measures are implemented through abortion, sterilization, or contraception. Human beings don't have the same status as animals, and must never be viewed as resources to be managed. Human population control is illegitimate and violates human dignity, as well as human rights.
W.I.N. supports access to family planning resources, including contraception, to help space pregnancies. However, this access must be based solely on free and informed consent. W.I.N. emphasizes that some contraceptive options may have health risks that outweigh benefits, or may conflict with a woman's moral values or personal goals.
W.I.N cautions that family planning isn't the same as maternal-child healthcare and must be viewed only as an option and never as a prerequisite of healthcare for mothers or their children. W.I.N. notes that, under medicare, family planning isn't tied to maternal-child healthcare. Last year, priority access to Swine Flu inoculations for mothers and young children wasn't contingent upon agreement to use contraception, nor were contraceptives or contraceptive information provided on this occasion.
W.I.N. rejects the view that abortion is a form of family-planning. Rather, in most cases it is a crisis-management option that, in countries where abortion is legal, depends upon a misuse of medical resources to solve social problems.
W.I.N. supports educating women about their reproductive cycles by teaching them ovulation detection, a scientifically proven method used to avoid or achieve pregnancy, as well as informing them about the natural contraceptive benefits of the Lactational Amenorrhea Method, the scientific name for breast feeding.
W.I.N. believes that maternal-child healthcare can be best accomplished through a preventative health approach promoting nutrition, inoculations, breast feeding, home visits from nurses, training midwives and front-line workers, providing emergency obstetrical care, protecting a sustainable blood supply, and ensuring clean water and sanitation, coupled with community development requiring the staffing and building of schools, hospitals, birthing-centers, and housing, standardized to current building codes, as well as modernization of transportation and infrastructure, while redoubling efforts to advance literacy and gender equality.
W.I.N. urges our Canadian Government to be steadfast in bringing forward this important and timely initiative without compromising its whole health vision.
Deborah Rankin
Founder/Director
Women's Information Network
Copyright 2010 Deborah Rankin
All rights reserved. This material may be transmitted for educational purposes only, and may not be reproduced in part or in whole for publication or sale without the express permission of the author.
In Canada there are no limits and you could have an abortion or kill a baby at 38 weeks! Abortion cheapens the value of human life. In many parts of the world it is used to kill little girls. It has emotional and health consequences.
I involved in a group that wants to reduce the number of abortions. My friend Deborah Rankin is certainly not a Tory, but she is very much pro life. I would not outlaw abortion, but we need to do all we can to make abortions the last resort. We must encourage people to choose life.
My friend Deborah Rankin is certainly not a Tory. She considers herself a progressive and a feminist. She is very much pro life. She has founded a new organization. Here is the press release. She can be reached at dkarankin@yahoo.ca for more info.
Women's Information Network Statement on Maternal-Child Healthcare for G8 Summit
Women's Information Network (W.I.N.) salutes the Canadian Government's commitment to put maternal-child healthcare at the top of its agenda when Canada hosts the G8 summit in June, 2010, and strongly supports the human rights of all elected representatives in Parliament to vote their consciences on this pressing moral issue, free from partisan reprisals.
W.I.N. supports the "conscience rights" of all elected representatives at all levels of government, and in all instances of public life, and supports substantive democratic debate on all issues as the best guarantor of these rights.
The lack of adequate maternal-infant healthcare in the developing world is an urgent concern requiring clear thinking and goodwill from politicians who have the power to make a real difference. Too many women lack the necessities of life, a sad fact that contributes to poor maternal-infant health outcomes.
Yet, women and their children have fundamental human rights to protection, aid, and healthcare, especially during the pre-natal and post-natal years, under the UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
W.I.N. supports the rights of women and children to receive healthcare without any strings attached and strongly opposes any attempt to make funding for abortion a condition of providing this vital humanitarian aid to women and children in some of the poorest countries in the world.
Abortion is incompatible with maternal-child healthcare because it harms the mother, baby, and subsequent born children. Copious research links it to infertility, breast cancer, and depression, while Canada's own long-suppressed research shows elevated risks for suicide and psychosis in post-abortive women.
Abortion causes fetal death, yet one of the goals of maternal-infant healthcare is to reduce the incidence of fetal death i.e. from smoking and other causes. W.I.N. emphasizes that human embryos and fetuses are unique-DNA nascent human beings, and not blobs of tissue, parasites, or tumors, as many abortion advocates claim.
Multiple studies also link abortion to prematurity and low birth weight in subsequent born infants, risk factors for the development of diseases such as diabetes, cerebral palsy, and retardation.
Proactive abortion policies have also resulted in many unforeseen social problems, especially coerced abortion, coupled with violence towards pregnant women who refuse to abort, the latter all too often resulting in fetal injury or fetal death, and increased risk of subsequent miscarriage. The most horrific result is homicide of the mother, with murder by a woman's male partner now the leading cause of death among pregnant women in the US.
Legal abortion has also been accompanied by a marked increase in father absenteeism and the ensuing feminization of poverty when deadbeat dads refuse tosupport their children, rationalizing that the woman could have had an abortion instead.
Coerced abortion is often used to cover up the sexual abuse of minors, and most shockingly, sex slavery, a gravely serious problem in the developing world. Amnesty International opposes forced abortion as a human rights violation and W.I.N. urges all concerned citizens to say a clear no to it.
Since, undeniably, some women die from abortion, either as a direct cause or as an underlying factor in some maternal deaths, often leaving born children without a mother to care for them, W.I.N. believes that the best way to prevent abortion-related deaths is to prevent abortion itself, by deterring legal abortion through health education and better social support for mothers, especially those at the margins of society, and by enforcing prohibitions against illegal abortion.
Given these gripping realities, it can't be reasonably argued that abortion is in the "best interests of the child", the framing principle of the law. W.I.N. firmly believes that the best interests of the child must prevail in determining all norms and standards for maternal-child healthcare.
W.I.N. also strongly opposes "fertility reduction quotas", an intrinsically coercive framework, in the guise of maintaining sustainable population levels, whether such measures are implemented through abortion, sterilization, or contraception. Human beings don't have the same status as animals, and must never be viewed as resources to be managed. Human population control is illegitimate and violates human dignity, as well as human rights.
W.I.N. supports access to family planning resources, including contraception, to help space pregnancies. However, this access must be based solely on free and informed consent. W.I.N. emphasizes that some contraceptive options may have health risks that outweigh benefits, or may conflict with a woman's moral values or personal goals.
W.I.N cautions that family planning isn't the same as maternal-child healthcare and must be viewed only as an option and never as a prerequisite of healthcare for mothers or their children. W.I.N. notes that, under medicare, family planning isn't tied to maternal-child healthcare. Last year, priority access to Swine Flu inoculations for mothers and young children wasn't contingent upon agreement to use contraception, nor were contraceptives or contraceptive information provided on this occasion.
W.I.N. rejects the view that abortion is a form of family-planning. Rather, in most cases it is a crisis-management option that, in countries where abortion is legal, depends upon a misuse of medical resources to solve social problems.
W.I.N. supports educating women about their reproductive cycles by teaching them ovulation detection, a scientifically proven method used to avoid or achieve pregnancy, as well as informing them about the natural contraceptive benefits of the Lactational Amenorrhea Method, the scientific name for breast feeding.
W.I.N. believes that maternal-child healthcare can be best accomplished through a preventative health approach promoting nutrition, inoculations, breast feeding, home visits from nurses, training midwives and front-line workers, providing emergency obstetrical care, protecting a sustainable blood supply, and ensuring clean water and sanitation, coupled with community development requiring the staffing and building of schools, hospitals, birthing-centers, and housing, standardized to current building codes, as well as modernization of transportation and infrastructure, while redoubling efforts to advance literacy and gender equality.
W.I.N. urges our Canadian Government to be steadfast in bringing forward this important and timely initiative without compromising its whole health vision.
Deborah Rankin
Founder/Director
Women's Information Network
Copyright 2010 Deborah Rankin
All rights reserved. This material may be transmitted for educational purposes only, and may not be reproduced in part or in whole for publication or sale without the express permission of the author.
grit ads
It seems the grits have put their pennies together to produce some ads. I am sure they won't be able to buy many actual TV spots. Their strategy is to get their media minions like the cbc to do the job of spreading their message. The grits are really going left in this new ads. They are the "progressives? I thought that was a dipper buzzword. Probably will not make too many blue grits very happy.It will be interesting to see if the dippers will respond in kind.
They are also attacking the F-35 purchase, something the grits initiated. I have been saying all along that I don't expect an election until 2012, but I have been wrong before. I am wondering if the Tories are also using these latest Truth ads to deplete grit resources even more.
iffy is fighting odd issues these days.
OTTAWA — The Liberal party has launched a series of television ads that attack the ruling Conservative government's position on stealth fighter jets and corporate tax breaks.
Two different advertisements will be broadcast across Canada and were unveiled Friday morning.
The fighter jet ad condemns Prime Minister Stephen Harper's plan to spend $16 billion.
Update More from Gerry Nichols ,Christian Conservative and BLY.
They are also attacking the F-35 purchase, something the grits initiated. I have been saying all along that I don't expect an election until 2012, but I have been wrong before. I am wondering if the Tories are also using these latest Truth ads to deplete grit resources even more.
iffy is fighting odd issues these days.
OTTAWA — The Liberal party has launched a series of television ads that attack the ruling Conservative government's position on stealth fighter jets and corporate tax breaks.
Two different advertisements will be broadcast across Canada and were unveiled Friday morning.
The fighter jet ad condemns Prime Minister Stephen Harper's plan to spend $16 billion.
Update More from Gerry Nichols ,Christian Conservative and BLY.
Wimpy Canada?
Lorne Gunter has a great piece on recent events in Canada.
Lorne Gunter: We’ve become a wimpy state, as well as a nanny state
Lorne Gunter January 20, 2011 – 9:30 am
Last week, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council barred the country’s 700-plus private radio stations from playing the 1980s Dire Straits hit Money for Nothing because a lone complainant in St. John’s, Nfld. objected to the word “faggot” in the lyrics. Just before Christmas, the National Capital Commission (NCC) caused one prominent Montreal chef to withdraw from a winter-festival gala dinner scheduled for this month when it decreed no dish could contain foie gras, the goose liver pate. Apparently the NCC had received “three or four” threats of “possible” protest by animal rights activists outside the banquet. Now, Tuesday evening the National Archives cancelled the screening of a film critical of Iran’s nuclear ambitions because, again, of mere threats of protest.
More editorials on censorship in Ottawa.
Lorne Gunter: We’ve become a wimpy state, as well as a nanny state
Lorne Gunter January 20, 2011 – 9:30 am
Last week, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council barred the country’s 700-plus private radio stations from playing the 1980s Dire Straits hit Money for Nothing because a lone complainant in St. John’s, Nfld. objected to the word “faggot” in the lyrics. Just before Christmas, the National Capital Commission (NCC) caused one prominent Montreal chef to withdraw from a winter-festival gala dinner scheduled for this month when it decreed no dish could contain foie gras, the goose liver pate. Apparently the NCC had received “three or four” threats of “possible” protest by animal rights activists outside the banquet. Now, Tuesday evening the National Archives cancelled the screening of a film critical of Iran’s nuclear ambitions because, again, of mere threats of protest.
More editorials on censorship in Ottawa.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Mark Steyn on the Anglosphere in decline
A very depressing, yet factual analysis by Mark Steyn on the decline in the Anglosphere as a harbinger for a celine in liberty.
Dependence Day
by Mark Steyn
On the erosion of personal liberty.
If I am pessimistic about the future of liberty, it is because I am pessimistic about the strength of the English-speaking nations, which have, in profound ways, surrendered to forces at odds with their inheritance. “Declinism” is in the air, but some of us apocalyptic types are way beyond that. The United States is facing nothing so amiable and genteel as Continental-style “decline,” but something more like sliding off a cliff.
Dependence Day
by Mark Steyn
On the erosion of personal liberty.
If I am pessimistic about the future of liberty, it is because I am pessimistic about the strength of the English-speaking nations, which have, in profound ways, surrendered to forces at odds with their inheritance. “Declinism” is in the air, but some of us apocalyptic types are way beyond that. The United States is facing nothing so amiable and genteel as Continental-style “decline,” but something more like sliding off a cliff.
Another jihadi plot from Canada
To those jihadi apologists and jihadi enablers in Canada and througout the west, ever more evidence of the jihadi threat. Guess they will only believe when the jihadis come to cut their throats.
terror-plot/article1876334/>A suicide bombing in the Iraqi city of Mosul that killed five U.S. soldiers and shook buildings for miles around was hatched by a terrorist network that includes an Iraqi-Canadian man safely situated in Edmonton, the FBI has alleged.
Sayfilden Tahir Sharif – also known as Faruk Khalil Muhammad Isa – spent the past year in the crosshairs of an international investigation that spanned three continents before Mounties arrested him in downtown Edmonton Wednesday. The 38-year-old stands accused of helping organize a pipeline for foreign suicide bombers who were intent on blowing themselves up in Iraq.
Download this media file
PDF Document
United States complaint against Faruq Khalil Muhammad ‘Isa
Police say they were listening to the Canadian for more than a year. A U.S. criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday says Mountie wiretaps caught the suspect saying he was “one million per cent” behind plots to kill “those dog Americans.”
terror-plot/article1876334/>A suicide bombing in the Iraqi city of Mosul that killed five U.S. soldiers and shook buildings for miles around was hatched by a terrorist network that includes an Iraqi-Canadian man safely situated in Edmonton, the FBI has alleged.
Sayfilden Tahir Sharif – also known as Faruk Khalil Muhammad Isa – spent the past year in the crosshairs of an international investigation that spanned three continents before Mounties arrested him in downtown Edmonton Wednesday. The 38-year-old stands accused of helping organize a pipeline for foreign suicide bombers who were intent on blowing themselves up in Iraq.
Download this media file
PDF Document
United States complaint against Faruq Khalil Muhammad ‘Isa
Police say they were listening to the Canadian for more than a year. A U.S. criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday says Mountie wiretaps caught the suspect saying he was “one million per cent” behind plots to kill “those dog Americans.”
Lots more on the censorship incident in Ottawa
Good for HM Government and HM Minister of Heritage James Moore. It made Fox News.
Boo hoo , the murderous mullahs are mad.
More on CTV National News. Fred Litwin on Power Play.
Iranium will be shown in February!
Lots in the Blogs as well.
Boo hoo , the murderous mullahs are mad.
More on CTV National News. Fred Litwin on Power Play.
Iranium will be shown in February!
Lots in the Blogs as well.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
More censorship in Ottawa
Watch Clare Lopez here:
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
R.I.P. Sgt Ryan Russell
My deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Sgt Ryan Russell. He died in the line of duty. We rightly honour his sacrifice and bravery.
CP24.com's live stream of the procession and memorial service for fallen Toronto police Sgt. Ryan Russell is now live - http://bit.ly/b3DKF8
CP24.com's live stream of the procession and memorial service for fallen Toronto police Sgt. Ryan Russell is now live - http://bit.ly/b3DKF8
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