Nader's In

Ralph Nader enters presidential race — the sound you hear is cheering Republicans as Nader sucks out some of the leftist votes.

Ye-ouch!

The President isn’t pulling punches in his last State of the Union address:

…Others have said they would personally be happy to pay higher taxes. I welcome their enthusiasm, and I am pleased to report that the IRS accepts both checks and money orders.

Talk about telling socialists to put their money where their mouths are!

Also, he will hopefully come through on this:

…So this time, if you send me an appropriations bill that does not cut the number and cost of earmarks in half, I will send it back to you with my veto.

And both right at the start of the address, too. Though I have my doubts that any president will manage to cut down the bloated government to size. The Iron Law of Bureaucracy remains strong and true…

Saber Rattling

Looks like the Iranians are trying to provoke the Americans into an incident so they can run to Mommy — excuse me, the U.N. — and get them punished.

The Mullahs must be getting desperate. I say if they want a war that bad… we shouldn’t give it to them. Why help them?

New Whittle Essay

A big new essay from Bill Whittle is a nice way to start the year.

Awkward...

A Chinese submarine popped up in middle of a U.S. Navy exercise not long ago. It shows once again that the most advanced war toys are useless if you’re not actually paying attention and taking things seriously.

Nice of the Chinese government to be so sporting, though. “Yeah, by the way, we’re so the next bad guy on your list. Just FYI, so that you can prepare and make it an interesting match.”

The Slashdot crowd is having fun with it, at any rate.

Optimism at the BBC?!

I know it’s hard to believe (I had to re-read the entire article myself to make sure), but here’s a positive article about Iraq at the BBC. If even the BBC can’t spin the situation negatively, things must really be looking up.

(Well, they are, according to people over there. But it’s important to get confirmation from both sides of the ideological aisle. Trust but verify, as Ronnie used to say.)

The Shame

Bureaucrats have no sense of style. To my regrets, this is in our borough, Ville-Marie; the Apple store will be just up the street from our place.

Propaganda

See, this is a perfect example of media bias and shameless manipulation:

First, note the bold red color, the “breaking news” tag – they’re telling people, “this is important, pay attention now!” There’s no link to provide context, so you have to go with what they tell you. Things look grim, etc., essentially keeping to the established narrative (chaos! violence! murder!) that is keeping viewer eyeball on the page — and ad revenues up.

Let’s dig deeper: “a new report…” – by who? This is important! If it comes from an obscure liberal thinktank that relies on second hand information, the report is worthless! If it comes from Democrats, it’s suspect at best, since they’ve staked their entire 2008 political fortunes on an eventual Iraq war defeat and disaster. But CNN hides this critical piece of data in favor of gross emotional impact. They know most people are too lazy (or busy) to go look up the rest of the story.

UPDATE: The “Breaking News” tag is gone, and the article buried at the bottom of the page. I knew it: the report was published by an “independent commission” and was “ordered by Congress” (majority Democrats). It’s a political attack tool, but hey, let’s not tell the viewers until later, once the first impression is lodged in tight.

Despicable.

The Big Picture

Here’s a long and link-rich essay on media shenanigans during the Iraq War.

Prejudiced or just lazy? Or perhaps both? You decide, based on the available facts (follow the numerous links).

The Surge

First the New York Times, then longtime critic Associated Press now publishing somewhat positive articles about Iraq? Could things actually be improving in the War on Terror?

Journalists, like all people, hate being proven wrong. Like the old saw goes:

Step 1) “It cannot be done.”

Step 2) “It can be done, but it won’t work.”

Step 3) “I’ve always said it would work!”

Eh.

Good News from Iraq

From a most unlikely source: the New York Times. Yes, that NYT, which usually prints the bad news.

I’m getting very curious about the upcoming September US Army Iraq status report.

Incarcerex Ad

This parody ad is a brilliant commentary on the USA’s so-called “war on drugs.”

The Case of the Cardboard Buns

Sure, the reporter could have made it all up.

But knowing the current Chinese government, I wouldn’t put it past them to say this as a cover-up.

Can’t have anything that would cause the government public shame and possible loss of business, what with the Olympics coming and the recent consumer products scares…

Do as I Say, Not as I Do

Heard about the Live Earth concerts? That’s why I don’t like most of the loud people on the Left: the rank hypocrisy. Follow the links, too — there’s more.

Charming

The Talibans are using children as young as six in suicide missions, but we’re the bad guys because “civilian deaths are on the rise.” I’m sure the Guardian is counting dead Talibans as “civilians,” too — after all, they’re not wearing a uniform, right?

It’s either willfull blindness or malice. We have to play by the rules, but everyone else can do whatever they want. (Actually, it reminds me of an old Real Ghostbusters episode — Season 2, number 20.)

Seeing The Unseen

Bill Whittle is at it again with another long essay. This time, he tackles the 911Truthers and other conspiracy theorists, wielding Occam’s Razor with great skill.

Missing

One spine, one set of balls. Please contact 10 Downing Street if found.

It’s 1979 all over again, and we saw where that lead the last time: almost three decades of increasing islamic terrorism. Guess it’s not about to stop. [sigh]

Double Standards

I saw that the bad guys in Iraq have started using chlorine bombs. Aren’t chemical terror weapons forbidden by the Geneva Accords?

Iran has illegally captured soldiers out of its territory, and is accusing them of spying (not possible — they were in uniform). It’s also parading them in front of the cameras for propaganda purposes.

A sewer treatment center has broken up in the Gaza strip, drowning a Palestinian village in sludge and killing four people (including two babies). The Israeli offered to help fix it two years ago, and the Germans even paid to have it fixed, but strangely no one can find the money. It’s like someone in the Pali government used it to buy guns, bombs and hookers.

Funny, no one calls any of them on it. Like there’s a double standard going on.

Just sayin’, that’s all…

Ouch

What do these four stories of woe have in common?

A certain political and social outlook that favor the group over the individual, that’s what. You’d think they’d have learned after the Twentieth Century’s many, many examples…

The Fall of the Roman Empire

And what we should learn from it. I sure hope we don’t get to test Mr. Card’s hypothesis.

Wrong Country, Idiot

Just saw this at Michelle Malkin’s blog: the Democrats photoshopped a picture of a Canadian soldier for one of their anti-Bush tirades on their Web site.

Personnally, I really don’t appreciate them using a picture of one of our soldiers for their propaganda. Did they really think no one would spot the dress uniform?

No wonder the Democrats can’t get control of the US government, they can’t even get the simplest con off. How hard is it to buy a US uniform (hint: check the color and the lapels) and take a picture??

UPDATE: apparently it’s a stock picture. It’s disgraceful how the photo service removed the badges from the uniform. So now I’m cross with two different groups — you may not agree with the policies of the administration, but at least respect the service and its folks.

Saving Pvt. Iran

How to punish a rogue, tyrannical government without harming its people?

Here’s an idea, a two-pronged assault: on one side, you precision-bomb anything that looks like a barrack, military installation, or government office. Anything that’s clearly useful to the bad guys.

At the same time, heavy bombers overhead para-drop millions of “liberty guns” (simple, cheap, rugged firearms) into the cities, along with flyers telling people “now’s your chance, don’t waste it!”. AWACS airplanes orbiting overhead broadcast radio and TV-versions of the same.

Stand back and watch the population clean up the place: now both sides are armed, and there are more good guys than bad guys. They might need occasional air support, such as wall- or bunker-blasting, but technically you don’t need to put anyone on the ground except a few FO squads.

Might just work, and would probably be cheap as heck.

(Alternatively, we can wait until we develop miniature hunter-killer bots a la Minority Report, but who wants to wait that long?)

The media does it again

This time, Reuters alleges an Israeli air strike against one of their press vehicles.

Just a tiny problem — none of the vehicle’s pictures are consistent with an attack, much less a missile-based one. Heck, it looks like rust around the tear in the roof.

I can accept being lied to. I can’t accept being taken for a bloody fool.

Propaganda Overview

A rare lunchtime entry…

Here’s a round-up of the various media frauds uncovered in the past few days, along with analysis and error corrections*.

*(That’s what I like about blogs, when they screw up, they have to come clean or people stop reading.)

we're above the little people

That’s what U.S. Congressmen are effectively saying, protesting a FBI raid in the office of one of its members who was caught accepting a $100,000 bribe.

I think if they’re not careful, this will blow up in their faces come November. Maybe it’s time for a new political party in the United States?

Like InstaPundit wrote: They should remember that the Constitution forbids titles of nobility, too, despite their effort to transform their positions into something very much like that.

Catchy Tune

There are things that make me smile. This is one of them.

But I gently shush them because a) we’re not done yet and b) while no one likes a poor looser, a cocky winner’s even worse. But you gotta admit, it’s catchy. :)

(Fair warning: don’t follow the link if you are Left-leaning. Nothing good can come of it. Trust me on this.)

A Bit of Wisdom

I was reading a leftist forum (yeah, I do that to avoid the “echo chamber” phenomenon) and came across a thread on the woes of leftist parties in North America and how to fix them. Most (but not all) of the comments went something like “we need to be even more shrill in our beliefs!” One guy even wrote that for the Democrats to be big again in the U.S., they need to repudiate capitalism and go back to being a “party of the workers.”

I was about to offer helpful counterpoints, but then I remembered this bit of wisdom:

“Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”
- Napoleon Bonaparte

And it saved me fifteen minutes of typing, too. Not that they would have listened to me, anyway.

Election Day in Canada - 6

Well, color me disappointed. Canadians, once more, blinked at a critical time, and Ontario went to the Liberals — again. I was really hoping for at least 140 seats for the Conservatives, but I guess people aren’t ready for that yet.

It’s interesting to note that a similar pattern to the U.S. election was created: the cities voted for leftist parties, the rest of the country voted for center-right. I’ve seen a few hypothesis about that, but most of them boil to the same basic theme: mainly, that people in cities are more dependent on government (to get the basics of life — food, water, security, thrash removal, etc.) so they tend to elect Big Government parties. And Big Government invariably means corruption: of course the scammers are going to get in there, that’s where the money is!

I think that has technology moves forward, we’re going to get back to the center. The Internet has already started to break the information supply stranglehold, can the rest of the needs be far behind? (Atomize your garbage at home with GarBuster 5000®!)

Canada is taking the Conservatives for a test drive. Let’s hope the latter don’t screw it up.

Election Day in Canada - 5

Steve Janke over at Angry in the Great White North makes a good comment on whether it will be possible for the Conservatives to prosecute the corrupt Liberals.

I had my own doubts. The Libranos have too many powerful friends, too much money put aside, and they know where the bodies are buried. We could prosecute them, and maybe even recover the money, but most of it will be spent on legal fees. There would also probably be severe repercussions on Canadian society as a whole, as partisans on all sides begin to dig.

In the end, it might do us a lot of good, but I’m not 100% convinced that the cure wouldn’t kill the patient.

Election Day in Canada - 4

Looking at the results, one can see that the Maritimes went almost entirely to the Liberals. This was to be expected — they depends so much on the largesses of the government, they were bound to vote for those offering the biggest bucks. So it was Liberals or NPD; forget the Conservatives — they might have cut the checks!

(For non-Canadians: the Maritimes are the four eastern-most provinces. Many of their economies depend on fishing, mines and tourism, and therefore are highly seasonal. In remote places, people can only work half the year due to winter, and spend the cold months on the public dole.)

Election Day in Canada - 3

Well, the results are starting to come in. As expected, and unless there are some very surprising last minute develpment, we should have a minority Conservative government.

The page above updates in real time for all ridings in Canada. You can also check Captain’s Quarters for more developments.

Election Day in Canada - 2

We got back from the polling place about half an hour ago. The place was packed with voters patiently waiting their turn. It took us nearly 45 minutes to vote.

More later when the dog is through with me.

Election Day in Canada - 1

Well, this is it — the big day is upon us. By the time we go to bed tonight, we should have a new government, probably a minority Conservative one. (I’m still hoping for a majority, but you gotta be realistic.)

I’ll be leaving work in about an hour to go vote in my riding of downtown Montreal. I’ll put up a new post when I get back to let you all know about the mood at the polling station.

(Welcome, Small Dead Animals visitors!)

Federal Elections

Canada is going to vote on a new national government next monday. If you read Canadian bloggers like Small Dead Animals or Angry in the Great White North, you get an idea of the corruption we have to deal with here. I just hope my fellow citizens have the good sense of voting for someone, anyone, other than the Liberal party.

I also hope that whomever forms the next government — likely the Conservatives at this point — will immediately call for an in-depth investigation into the lives of all senior Liberal personel for corruption and abuse of power. (Heck, I’d be happy with an old-fashioned witch hunt and hanging, but these are modern times.)

I will be blogging the Montreal-area results on election night, so tune in on January 23.

Patriot Act Extension Voted Down

Some bloggers are displeased that the Patriot Act was not renewed. Others are quite pleased.

For my part, I think it’s mostly a good thing. Sure, not having to adhere to niceties like warrants and proper investigative procedures speeds up the fight against Islamic Fascism, but the problem is that when you have a hammer, all problems start to look like nails. What’s the point of winning the war if we lose ourselves?

I remember an old Ghostbusters cartoon where the team played demons at baseball for the soul of one of them. At one point, they got an opportunity to cheat and only stopped themselves at the last second when they realized that if they cheated, Evil won. (About as plain a morality tale as a 2×4 in the face, but what do you expect, it was a kids’ show.)

We can win this thing without sacrificing our values. We just need to work as a pack instead of a dumb herd, and then make our politicians understand that we don’t need to be coddled – we can take of ourselves, thank you very much.

(And besides, Patriot Act or not, what’s to stop them from wiretapping anyway? Who’s going to know?)

Canadian Political Parties

Repost from a comment I left on another blog, regarding the upcoming elections and how Paul Martin looks smug in front of the cameras:

—-
The Liberals consider themselves the aristocracy of Canada, the smugness just comes naturally with it. Most of us hate them, but since we don’t have much of an alternative we tend to stay home and take it in the ass. Just take a look at this:

Liberals: socialists, cronists; include most of the media/industrial upper crust, hence can crush most rivals through raw cash/influence. Would still be in power if they stopped being so smug and learned to keep appearances up. We’re aware you’re stealing from us but at least try to keep it hidden. Don’t rub it in, you know?

Bloc Quebecois: socialists, supposedly separatists; really just using the threat to scare the rest of the country into giving Quebec money. Remains a force because Quebec is 1/5 of Canada and we’re not stupid — if we can get freebies we will.

New Democratic Party: communists, though they say they are just Left-leaning. Would like nothing more than create a perfect nanny state, with themselves as the head nannies. Still in the fight because a lot of people like being on the government’s dole.

Conservative Party: with a name like that you’d expect Republicans, but really they are closer to the center-left. Which is still too right-wing for most Canadians, who are scared shitless that they might have to do without their precious social safety net. Probably our best hope right now, but really, they need to pull that stick out of their asses: guys, nobody cares if two dudes want to get married, alright? As long as the national budget is balanced, taxes are lowered, and the Canadian army gets a budget for once, we’ll deal with the social values ourselves, ‘kay?

I have no idea what will happen in January, but it should be interesting.

Liberals Going Down?

I just saw that the Liberal government has been defeated. Will we get a repeat of the post-Mulroney Conservative Party Debacle, which left them with only two seats nation-wide and ushered in an era of Liberal rule?

I don’t think so. Too many people have profited from the Liberals’ gifts over the years, and even if the “Libranos” find themselves in the Opposition they’ll sooner or later find their way back in power.

See, we’re going to need a lot of hard work to get this country back on its feet, and this is going to require sacrifices and hard choices. And, alas, there will be many oxes to gore. So even if the Conservatives manage to shape things up, they’ll likely get voted out in the next round.

People tend to vote for the ones offering the goodies, after all. If not like the population is paying for those, right?

It’s government money.

It grows on trees or something.

Anti-War Rally... Well, More of a Tribune for the Cause or Something

We’re kinda far from the promised 100,000 people. I mean, they’re not even close.

I also find it fascinating that in order to get a respectable (to them at least) head count, they have to lump together a bunch of unrelated leftist causes. Apparently, despite “everyone” being against the war, they need to give equal time to the [gay bi transgendered communist green vegetarian vegan druidic pagan anarchist antisemitic propalestinian islamist unionist socialist (race)power feminist rebellious liberal justtherefor thechicksman] folks — did I forget someone? My apologies.

(By the way, other than physical presence at these rallies, I don’t imply any link between any of these groups/causes, unless they themselves make some. So there.)

Isn’t it ironic to see hardcore gays and feminists working side by side with radical Islamists, who’d gladly stone them to death if they weren’t kept in check by the authorities?

We live in a complex world, that we do…

Red Peril

It’s a cliché of western and kung-fu: the up-and-comer who seeks to vault to the alpha position by taking on the top dog.

The Chinese are apparently trying to do the same thing, hoping to cut off the United States at the knees while they are otherwise busy. Knowing full well that a frontal assault would be suicidal, they are being ingenious about it. (And we won’t mention the trade deficit – the Americans are sticking that knife to their own throats.)

Better make sure they go for the killing blow, though. Last time an Asian power tried it and failed, they got roughed up pretty bad.

Poor Belinda

Ouch.

Hope that ministerial position was worth it.

They Survived

So, the Liberals survived the budget vote squeaker. Close call — 153/152, and then only because tradition demands that the tie-breaker, the Speaker of the House, vote with the government.

In effect, Canadians just told their elected officials that they can embezzle public money with no repercussion, as long as they kick some of it back to the movers and shackers. How do I feel about this?

Strangely enough, quite calm. Tear off the labels, and this is the same situation that has occured countless times before in the history of Mankind. The powerfuls do their best to remain powerful, and if that requires unsporting maneuvers, so be it.

I won’t lie down and just take it, but I’ve come to accept that the moral evolution of our species is a long and continued process. Expecting overnight success over nepotism and corruption is not rational. We have already made enormous strides in the past few hundreds of years, what’s a few years more?

The thing is to not give up hope, and, of course, never stop striving. Actions, not just words. Remember: wishes in one hand, crap in the other, see what piles up first…

So let’s roll up our sleeves. Let’s keep giving them rope to hang themselves with. Let’s keep digging for their dark secrets, so we can expose them for all to see. Let’s keep building our dreams, so that we have enough money and clout to tell them “no!” when they come to enslave us.

I’m already hard at work. Are you?

EDIT: Comments closed because of a wave of comment spammers.

Done Deal

It’s done. The non-confidence motion has been adopted 153-150. The Liberals are refusing to consider it binding.

This means that the current government of Canada is, if not wholly illegal, at least rogue.

If we had a system of checks and balances in place (like separate Legislative and Executive branches), the other branches of government would have been able to order the Liberals arrested. But we have a Parliementary system, so instead there’s going to be many press conferences, and more money stolen.

Buying Votes

As usual, an image is worth a thousand words.

More News from Bananada

More news from your favorite third world dictatorship of the North, Bananada (formerly known as Canada).

A group of scientists have just realized that you’re not allowed to oppose the government in public. A documentary on the Kyoto Protocol cannot be aired in Canada because it contradicts the government’s official stance on global warming.

Charming.

I have a solution, that I have been pitching for years: fire all current bureaucrats (apologies to my mother- and sister-in-law, who are both employees of the government). Then we re-hire fresh, with brand new people, and at about half the current staffing levels.

A lot of good, hard-working people would lose their job, but I really don’t see any other way of removing the ones that think being a bureaucrat means you have some sort of higher status.

Say What?!

Liberals will ignore Tory non-confidence motion, according to a newsreport I just saw.

Jay Hill, the Tory House leader, struggled when pressed to explain what he could do if Prime Minister Paul Martin ignores the vote result. “I think it will be up to the Canadian people and the people in the media to convince him otherwise,” he replied.

Of course the Liberals don’t want to call an election. They’re not done emptying the national coffers and setting up their escape routes to prestigious law cabinets and high-powered corporate boardrooms.

In any other Anglosphere country, we’d be getting right at the edge of an armed insurrection. But hey, we’re Canadians. We’ll probably meekly say “okay” and let them be.

We’re a nation of pussy-whipped sheeps.

(And the comparison is doubly-apted, since we’re getting fleeced all the time.)

Revision

Andrew Coyne reviews his opinion on our Prime Minister.

Ouch.

Late Blogging 2

I was discussing Adscam at lunch with coworkers today (yesterday, actually — as the title says, late blogging), and was surprised to discover that while all abhorred the Liberals, many didn’t much like the Conservatives either. In fact, some of them were clearly afraid of them. “They would have made us fight in Iraq!” (And that’s a bad thing, how?)

Clearly, the Conservatives still need to shed the old “Mulroney gang” shadow that hangs over them. They would also need to get rid of the bible-thumper image, by staying as far away as possible of the whole same-sex marriage issue (and possibly a gamut of other “hot button” social issues, too).

The key to complete victory is to keeping hammering on honesty and fiscal responsibility. Show Canadians how much money it’s all costing them.

Playing Both Sides

So now the Liberals in “government” (I use the term lightly, given that they’re not behaving much like one) are now making offers to the Conservatives as well. If the Liberal party was a high school girl, everyone would call her a slut.

On the other hand, maybe Layton doesn’t mind sharing his newfound bed partner. Hippies are often into that “free love” thing.

UPDATE: Well, look at that. Layton does mind, after all.

A Pox on Both Their Houses

Well, it’s confirmed: the NPD made a deal with the Liberals.

Which proves once more that a Socialist will do anything, even associate himself with known criminals, if he can force his ideas onto everyone (whether they like it or not).

Sigh… Now we have two political parties to get rid of completely. There’s a lot of work ahead of us…

The Kinsella Audit

Darn it, I missed the Kinsella Audit for conservative blogs. Here are my (late) results. I’m not an actual Torie, I just happen to hold neo-conservative opinions. Close enough, I guess.

For those not following, Mr. Kinsella made a list of topics to pigeonhole Blogging Tories as a group unservally obsessed with the same ten subjects. So conservative bloggers did an audit of their site: you get a point if you discuss that topic and from the point of view that Mr. Kinsella indicates (i.e., you get a point for having posts critical of same-sex marriage, but no points if in favor). Here’s my own list:

1) Feminists: never discussed here. For the record, I think women are equal to men, just different in preferences and abilities. It’s like the Yin and the Yang, you need both to make a full circle. I do loathe the “men are evil!” radical feminists, though.

2) Gay marriage: nope. For the record, I think it’s no business of the government to get involved in the private lives of people. On the other hand, if gays can get civic priviledges for getting hitched, I think it’s only fair to extend the same advantages to long-time roommates, or adult siblings living together. Must you sleep with someone to get a tax break? No sexual favoritism!

3) The United Nations: I’m sure I blogged about that nest of dictators somewhere in here, but I can’t find the post(s). That corrupt institution should be taken down, and most of the diplomats and bureaucrats in it marched off to prison for fraud and crime against Mankind. If you look up “hypocrite” and “corruption” in the dictionary, you’ll see the UN logo in both places.

4) Bilingualism: nope. Never saw it as a worthwhile topic — everyone I know or work with is fully bilingual and just as likely to use either language. I despise the Office de la Langue Francaise, but then again I dislike all bullying bureaucrats who spend my hard-earned taxes on useless crap.

5) Immigration: nope, again! Not a word on it so far. For the record, I think we don’t control immigration enough. The whole point of immigrating is to adopt the ways of your new country, not slowly transform it into a copy of your old one (that’s know as “invasion”). We should demand that all newcomers either already speak the language, or learn it within the first year of arrival. When landed immigrants try to bring their families over, we should only accept children — you shouldn’t be able to bring in your parents, aunts, uncles and whatnot (we have enough older people to support already, thanks!). As for refugees, they should be put into camps until we determine if their story are true. None of that “come back in three years for a hearing — here’s full social coverage in the meantime.” That’s just begging for abuse. (Conversely, we could avoid camps if it was possible to process them within a few days or so. I’d prefer that solution, actually.)

6) Anti-tobacco laws: nope. For the record, I’m torn on this issue. As a non-smoker with lung and sinus problems, I’d like to see tobacco banned worldwide. On the other hand, I also hate rules that abridge personal liberties (slippery slope and all that). A perfect compromise would be for smokers to realize that they cannot control the path of their smoke, and thus it’s only polite to abstain in presence of non-smokers.

7) Liberals: multiple recent posts, most of them hostile. And to think I used to support them. Gah… Totally corrupt. We should outlaw the party for a few years, say twenty or so. Get the current batch of politicians out of politics altogether.

8) Fluoridation of water: nope. Don’t much care either way. (Is it really useful? Any dentist here to pipe up?)

9) The metric system: nope. For the record, love it. Then again, I’m also fully fluent in Imperial, and use both according to my needs.

10) The Satanic subliminal pro-Stalinist messages used on episodes of The West Wing: nope. For the record, though, it wouldn’t surprise me if there were.

Total score: 3 out of 10.

Fracking Commie Traitors

I’ve never been a fan of the NPD, Canada’s most left-leaning mainstream party (I’m ignoring the Communists, who are too small to make a difference). Their solution to everything is “more taxes, more give-aways, more environmental rules” — and screw the people who actually pay for all this. To them, individuals are not important, only high concepts.

And now the fracking traitors are willing to back up the corrupt Liberals, as long as they get a cut of the sweet deals. Total hypocrites, willing to do anything to shove their diseased ideas (do you know how many human beings have been killed by Socialist and Communist governments in the 20th century?) down our collective throat. A pox on both their houses, I say.

P.S. Oh, and Bono? Love the music, but I’ll decide myself what I want to do with my hard-earned cash, okay? It’s easy to be charitable when you earn millions of dollars per year. Try doing the same on a middle-class budget, with a mortgage, before you tell me what to do, ‘kay?

A New Adscam Website

Anticorruption.ca is a new Web site about, you’ve guessed it, the corruption that plagues Canadian government offices (I’m sure the problem is not restricted to the Liberal party). Warning: Flash-heavy site - do not visit with an antiquated browser or a slow connection. (Hat tip: Small Dead Animals)

Getting Cynical in my Old Age

I was browsing a few other blogs about Adscam (Small Dead Animals, Captain’s Quarters, Angry in the Great White North and others) and the latest topic was how the Liberals might have delayed the Gomery commission to ensure that the statute of limitation would expire on their crimes. Crafty? No, just to be expected.

Our entire political system is designed so that the person most likely to be elected is the one most skilled at social engineering and rules manipulation. Management abilities and how good a job they would do don’t really come into it: it’s all about how many powerful people you know, what kind of “I scratch your back, you rub mine” favors can be exchanged, and so on. If you can’t pull that off, you don’t get elected. Visit a fundraiser cocktail if you don’t believe me — it’s an eye-opening experience.

Given this, it makes sense that our politicians, who are experts at wrangling the best possible deal out of the existing rules, would also know how to protect themselves from those same rules. (Why do you think Jean Chretien’s brand new manor is in his wife’s name? Or why Paul Martin’s ships aren’t registered under the Canadian flag?)

At this point, the whole system is self-sustaining. Some of the accused in the whole Adscam thing had deals in place with the previous Conservative government, too. No matter who replace the Liberals, they will be just as bad. If they are replaced, of course — last I heard, about a quarter of the population would still vote for them. (People getting cash or favor, I presume.)

Sir Alex Fraser Tytler (1742-1813), a Scottish jurist and historian, said this in a 1801 collection of his lectures:

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largess from the public treasury. From that time on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the results that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.”

Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Yet More on Adscam

Sure, you’re probably aware of these links, but it never hurts to spread them around. I don’t want anyone to forget that our government is staffed by a bunch of crooks and mafioso.

See the Adscam Archives at Being American in T.O..

There’s also a link to a page listing the Liberals’ various scandals over the years.

More Adscam Notes

The blog Winds of Change takes a look at AdScam. The writer is a fellow Canadian from Toronto.

We Need a "NOTA" Box!

NOTA is short for “None Of The Above,” and it’s something I have dreamed of seeing on my electoral ballot for years. As things stand, the closest option is spoiling your ballot if you don’t like any of the choices offered, which means your vote is not counted anyway. Why bother to go to the polls?

(I know, I know, voting is sacred, look at people risking their lives to vote in Iraq, etc. Bear with me.)

Right now, politicians who displease the citizens just end up in the Opposition until people get pissed enough at the new guys in charge (repeat the process every few years). I want a way to tell these people that a) I’m not happy with their performances and b) they’re fired. Bring in a new batch.

Apparently, many people share my view (at least in the UK).

Operation Canadian Freedom

An American blog has titled their coverage of the Adscam scandal with Operation Canadian Freedom. From the terrified response of most Canadian bloggers when threatened by the government for saying stuff that is already public knowledge (if you show up in person or know someone who is), I’d say we’re getting close to the point where such an operation is needed.

And just to prove that I’m pissed, here are yet more links! (Hat tip: ARC)

Captain Ed continues to use his Canadian source to obtain “banned” information.

Apparently, Canada’s biggest corporation is heavily involved in this mess.

Colby Cosh (a fellow Canadian blogger) provides interesting commentary about the publication ban.

Bound by Gravity has a list of Canadian blogs.

You can do a Google search on the topic.

See the comments from Bound By Gravity for examples of differing attitudes about government and its relationship to the citizen.

Michelle Malkin, The Politicker, and (of course) the guys over at WizBang are discussing as well…

Angry in the Great White North echoes widespread sentiment that this story, while damaging, won’t bring about a sea change in Canadian politics.

Dammit.

A List of Links Related to Canadian Politics

I was browsing the Web at lunch time and I came across this interesting blog.

I’m just sayin’, you know.

Be Heard!

I just sent an email to the Liberal Party. No doubt it will be deleted along with the deluge of angry mail they’re surely getting, but it feels better.

Hmmm… I think I’ll try to find the phone number of my MP tomorrow and give him a piece of my mind.

All Canadians knew that our politicians were corrupt. We sadly have come to expect it. But it’s even worse than we thought, and all we get is pathetic excuses. Don’t these people have any ethics at all?

The only proper thing to do at this point is for all Liberal MPs and staffers to resign /en masse/. Even if those that were not personally involved in any wrongdoing — how do they sleep at night, being associated with such filth? At this point, if they even want to stay in politics, they need a fresh start. And they’d better be clean, because we’ll be watching closely.

I made the mistake of voting Liberal once or twice in my life. Never again, I assure you.

The More You Try to Hide It...

…the more people will hear about it.

I’m referring, of course, to the Adscam scandal that’s currently unrolling here in Canada. Canadians are shocked, shocked, to hear that their politicians are in league with corrupt businessmen, and maybe even organized crime (what’s the difference?).

All I can say is, it’s about damn time. Let’s bring the whole house down before they can pull more stupid stunts (how dumb do they think we are, anyway?).

More here, here, here and here.

If you read this, here or anywhere else, tell your friends and family about it! Make them do the research and realize the facts for themselves. At the next elections, we need to vaporize the Liberal party. Hit them so hard they never recover. Ever! You thought Kim Campbell got it hard? They ain’t seen nothing yet!

And then we do the same thing to every other Socialist party that shows up in Canadian politics, until we get a government that will take proper care of this country.

More Stuff on the Liberals

Captain’s Quarters has more on the Gomery commission’s discoveries.

How the blog came onto the info is not clear, so take everything with a huge grain of salt.

Elections on the Horizon?

Despite the publication ban imposed on the Gomery commission (for my non-Canadian readers, that’s the committee that’s looking into a corruption scandal), details are leaking out.

Personally, I won’t be surprised to hear that corruption within our political system goes extremely deep, maybe even to the criminal underclass. We pay so much in taxes (roughly 45-50% of annual income, once you count everything) and get so little in return, the money has got to go somewhere.

Nothing would please me more than see a large chunk of our entrenched political caste go down in flames. I want to see prison terms, strong new anti-corruption laws, a cut in any Federal program that cannot be shown to have a direct effect on Canadians’ lives, and (though I doubt it) confiscation of the entire fortune of all people involved.

Gimme back my money, you damn thieves!

Stay Out of It!

I’ve been watching the whole hooplah about steroid use in major league baseball. Frankly, who cares? It’s their bodies, their business. You don’t see the government stepping in to stop porn stars from getting boob jobs, why are they trying to regulate baseball players?

In fact, why is the U.S. federal government stepping into the affairs of a private industry in the first place, anyway?

Holy Crap!

That’s one heck of a lot of freedom-minded people!

And what have we learned today? 1) The Domino theory of politics was entirely valid, and 2) given the choice, most people want to live free.

Who knew?

(Well, most of those on the Right. But I’m trying hard not to gloat, here.)

Get a Life!

Is it just me, or do young Arab men seriously need to get laid and party a bit? I mean, they spend all their time fighting, rioting and otherwise expressing rage. Just take a look at this latest election rally.

Maybe the solution to peace in the Middle East is simply to give them something else to do with their hands… Geezz…

Missile Defense

The always excellent Cox & Forkum give their take on the Canadian reaction to missile defense.

Personally, I’m not convinced such a system will be that useful. Anyone launching a missile at North America just signed its death warrant. If a “rogue” government or group wants to nuke an American city, they are more likely to just ship the bomb in a bulk container. Cheaper, stealthier, more precise and more deniable. The money used for missile defense should go in the War on Terror instead. Drain the swamp, don’t just buy DDT.

That said, I think it’s pretty cheap of us not to contribute. And the gall of demanding input when we don’t spend a dime…

But what else do you expect from a socialist government?

Yo Joe!

I saw this before leaving work today and I laughed my head off. Backcountry Conservative has a round-up of the Blogosphere reactions to an Islamofascist Website claiming a GI capture — it’s an obvious hoax, yet many in the MSM fell for it.

Just for the heck of it, I just re-watched the intro to the G.I. Joe movie. Yo Joe!

UPDATE: Don’t worry, help is on the way. American toys stick together.

Iraq National Vote

Congratulations to the people of Iraq, who today started on the road to peace, prosperity and modernity by voting for the first time in half a century (the Saddam vote didn’t count).

Something's Rotten Here

The blog The Obsidian Order is looking at footage of a recent car bomb in Iraq and noticing some peculiar details.

The international press, manufacturing the news? Couldn’t happen… right?

Right?

Elections 2004

Like most people, I followed the elections. I was up until 2AM last night, in fact, checking results. I started again this morning around 6AM.

Yeah, I’m a freak.

I’m somewhat happy about the outcome (happy, but not blissfully so). I’ll take a few days to collate my thoughts and may post them here. Or not.

Good to Be in D.C.

I laughed my head off, and you should, too.

Come on. Click the link.

You know you want to.

(Safe for work. No, really.)

The Fake Memo Sketch

(With many apologies to Monty Python.)

————————————————————————————-

Blogger: Hello, I wish to register a complaint . . . Hello? Miss?

Dan Rather: What do you mean, miss?

Blogger: Oh, I’m sorry, I have a cold. I wish to make a complaint.

Dan Rather: Sorry, we’re closing for lunch.

Blogger: Never mind that my lad, I wish to complain about this memo that I got not half an hour ago from this very news program.

Dan Rather: Oh yes, the “Killian says Bush Disobeyed” memo. What’s wrong with it?

Blogger: I’ll tell you what’s wrong with it. It’s fake, that’s what’s wrong with it.

Dan Rather: No, no it’s real, look!

Blogger: Look my lad, I know a fake memo when I see one and I’m looking at one right now.

Dan Rather: No, no sir, it’s not fake. It’s real.

Blogger: Real?

Dan Rather: Yeah, remarkable memo, damning evidence, innit?

Blogger: The evidence don’t enter into it — it’s stone fake.

Dan Rather: No, no — it’s just copied from the original.

Blogger: All right then, if it’s copied I’ll check it up. (hits Google) Hello Memo! I’ve got a nice font comparison for you, Memo!

Dan Rather: (pointing toward old secretary) There, she says it’s true.

Blogger: No she didn’t. That was you feeding her lines.

Dan Rather: I did not.

Blogger: Yes, you did. (scans memo, shouts) Hello Memo, Memo (compare font kerning) Memo Memo, wake up. Memo. (check spacing, check against proper TANG paperwork) Now that’s what I call a fake memo.

Dan Rather: No, no it’s genuine.

Blogger: Look my lad, I’ve had just about enough of this. That memo is definitely fake. And when I got it not half an hour ago, you assured me that its lack of quality was due to it being copied and typed out.

Dan Rather: It may be fake but it’s accurate.

Blogger: Fake but accurate, what kind of talk is that? Look, why did it match exactly the moment I retyped it in Word?

Dan Rather: The Selectric II typewriter had the same fonts. Beautiful results, lovely proportional scaling.

Blogger: Look, I took the liberty of examining that memo, and I discovered that the only reason that it had been distributed in the first place was that it promised to hurt the President’s chances for re-election.

Dan Rather: Well of course it would hurt him. Otherwise we would hide it and voom.

Blogger: Look matey (picks up memo) this memo wouldn’t voom if I put four thousand volts through it. It’s bleeding fake.

Dan Rather: It’s not, it’s accurate.

Blogger: It’s not accurate, it’s dead fake! Your credibility is no more. It has ceased to be. It’s expired and gone to meet its maker. It’s a stiff. Bereft of life, it rests in peace. It’s rung down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. If you didn’t have legions of left-wing supporters, your network would be pushing up the daisies. This is a fake memo.

Dan Rather: Well, I’d better retract it then.

Blogger: (to camera) If you want to get anything done in this country you’ve got to complain till you’re blue in the mouth.

Dan Rather: Sorry guv, we’re right out of formal retractions.

Blogger: I see. I see. I get the picture.

Dan Rather: I’ve got another source.

Blogger: Does it talk?

Dan Rather: Not really, no.

Blogger: Well, it’s scarcely a replacement then, is it?

The Last Priests, Part II

Now this is just plain awkward.

For the media priests over at CBS, that is: the Paper Trail is a side-by-side comparison of the CBS memos and examples of real ones. Anyone who still says the CBS memos are real is obviously either a moron or is lying to your face.

Yet CBS still maintain that they are genuine. Who are they protecting? Who made these false memos?

Go Ahnuld!

What can I say, I liked the Governator’speech.

GOP Convention Watch

Tens of thousands protest GOP convention in New York today. As I was reading the article, one quote struck me:

Leslie Cagan, national coordinator for United for Peace and Justice, said the message revolves around the word “no.”

It seems that whenever I see protestors today, they are always negative. It’s not “elect Kerry” — it’s “no more Bush.” Everything is always framed as an opposition, a negative, a demand to stop action, etc.

It’s very strange that we never hear what these people actually stand for. They don’t seem to have any plan put in place for the future. It’s always “we’ll talk about it later, once our goal has been reached.”

It couldn’t be because they’re afraid the majority will oppose them if they actually come out with their true colors, could it be?

Nuclear Plans

According to this article, the Germans and Frenchs have found the solution to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weaponry — they are going to give them what they need, so they don’t have to develop it by themselves.

It sounds stupid, but it actually makes a lot of sense. Consider this plan:

Step 1: Europe give nuke tech to Iran.
Step 2: Iran develops nukes.
Step 3a: Iran nukes Israel, solving Europe’s anti-Jewish issues.
Step 3b: Iran supplies terrorists with nukes to use against American cities, ruining the USA’s economy (consider the cost of losing just two buildings in Manhattan).
Step 4: Israel and USA take care of Islamic problem by either nuking or invading.
Step 5: Profits! (I.e., Europe becomes #1 with Israel and the Middle-East transformed into glass sheets, and the USA crippled economically.)

For some reasons, though, I don’t think Israel or the USA are going to follow the plan…

Freedom of Speech for me, not for thee

Now, I’m in no way a Kerry supporter, but what the Heck are the Democrats doing?!? Don’t they realize how this will hurt them?

All of us on the Right complained about Michael Moore’s “documentary” and MoveOn.org’s relentless attack campaign, but no one actually tried to shut them up by legal means (at least to my knowledge).

There has to be a method to the Democrats’ madness. No one can be that clueless in politics, right?

Descent into Madness

I’ve been reading pages like Protest Warrior and there’s one thing that I see repeated often. Demonstrators from the Right manifest peacefully and are attacked, usually verbally but sometimes physically, by people from the Left. Beyond the irony (who’s complaining the loudest about censorship?), I see a trend that worries me.

Picture this: a man stands there with a placard stating that he supports the War. He stands silently, just offering his opinion to the world. Out come a protester, yelling at him that he’s a fascist, a child-killer, etc. The man with the placard says nothing, doesn’t move. The protester, seeing that his words have no effect, grabs the placard, throws it on the ground, punches the man that was holding it.

Now we’ve seen this happen numerous times. People are smarting up and are starting to film demonstrations, so that they have legal ammunition to defend their rights to free speech. But here’s the worrisome trend: faced with clear, unmistakable video evidence of their violent behavior (and the fact they started it), many protesters will still maintain that they have been attacked themselves, and being framed, and so on. They refuse to see reality, facts, the real world. They refuse responsability. They live entirely in their heads.

What are we going to do, if Bush wins the election and suddenly one third of the West’s population shouts “conspiracy!” and begins to live in fantasy land?

(More on a similar subject here.)

The Muddled Truth

A lot of weird things are surfacing about Kerry’s Vietnam recollections. He was there, wasn’t there… Maybe it’s just me, but if he’s going to make his military “career” a central point of his presidential campaign, he should at least get the details right.

Plus, was he against the Iraq war, or for it? Make up your mind, darnit!

Shove It

It’ll never happen in real life, but I wish, I really wish, that this would happen.

If only for seeing the faces of the journalists in the room.

Not Smart

In what may not be the smartest move possible, Kerry’s people are trying to prevent a devastating ad from being shown. In politics, the best way to bring attention to something is to try to bury it after it came out. Though, as many Internet pundits have suggested, Kerry’s staffers are merely trying to provide the pro-Democrats media with a plausible excuse for not running the ad.

Unfortunately for them all, there’s this thing called the Internet, see…

Presidential Campaign Notes

I’m following the various discussions and events related to the presidential campaign in the U.S. more out of morbid curiosity than anything else. Not being an American citizen, I can’t vote in that election, but its outcome will affect me (and every other citizen of the West) greatly. (No links — see my list of links in the right hand column and read what these guys have to say, and you’ll pretty much get my opinion.)

Oh, I don’t think that a Kerry election would doom us all, like many on the neo-con side (which I consider myself a part of). No matter what, ” our side” (that is, Western values of capitalism, freedom and personal responsabilities) will win out in the end, because those are values that resonate with human nature. It might take time, but it will happen. Humans are greedy, lazy and selfish. We always have been, always will be. We want more, we want it now, and we want it easy. The best way to do all this is be smarter, develop shortcuts, and spread the work around through trading and commerce. Compare this with socialism/communism, which assumes that everyone is willing to share and selfishly take care of others. It just doesn’t work, because you need only a single lazy moron not pulling his weight to start a chain reaction that will bring the whole thing down (see the USSR for a textbook example).

A Bush win would mean the war on terror (also known as the war on Fanatical Islam) will continue, with Syria and Iran as the next targets. A Kerry win means a partial (or complete) retreat, weakness, more attacks, pissing off more Americans until they lash out. In the end, same results, except that with Kerry it will take longer and be much, much messier (I expect nukes).

Speaking of Kerry… I just finished reading Warren Ellis’ excellent graphic novel Transmetropolitan. If you don’t know about it, it tells the story of a near-future journalist who takes on the president of the U.S. The latter is a total psycopath, concerned only with getting elected and then staying in power. Murders and media controls are his main tools of the trade. President Callahan cares nothing about the people, only his personal power. Now I hear that Kerry filmed himself while in Vietnam in order to have footage for future political promotion. The man’s entire life is set on one goal, become the most powerful man on Earth — El Presidente.