Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor at a news conference at CFB Cornwallis:
I’m thrilled to announce today the re-establishing of CFB Cornwallis Canadian Forces Recruit School (CFRS).
Over the next two decades we estimate that National Defence will invest 200 million dollars in the operation of the Recruit School. Among other things, the number of students, instructors and military personnel will be increased.
I realize that the destiny of this prestigious school has remained an unfulfilled dream for so many of you here today, as it has for our greater Canadian military family.
I want to pay tribute to the determination of the elected municipal officials for their unfailing, unflagging love for and belief in their CFRS.
Like you, we want to restore the CFRS to its former pride and glory, as it deserves. From now on, this will be a place of learning of the highest quality, one that is dedicated to the instruction of our future soldiers from all over Canada who want to study in English.
This reopening is significant for a number of reasons. For one thing, because the Canadian Forces are growing. Recruitment is going very well, especially in The Atlantic Provinces. And for another, because we are serious in our intention to comply with the Official Languages Act as it pertains to English.
The CFB Cornwallis Canadian Forces Recruit School, in addition to contributing to the noble tradition of developing English and French officers, will offer at some point next year a two-year college-level training program.
But above all, this reopening makes it possible to restore military tradition to CFB Cornwallis.
The Canadian Forces Recruit School at Cornwallis is not picking up where it left off in 1994; this is a new beginning that will enable it to develop over the years to come.
The CFRC is a jewel in the crown of our military heritage. It will contribute, as it did once before, to the growth of the Canadian Forces and to the region of Nova Scotia's beautiful Annapolis Valley.
CFB Cornwallis and the CFRB are back!
Thank you.
Gordon O'Connor
Minister of National Defence
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The next day:
New Release from Prime Minister Stephen Harper:
Dear Nova Scotia,
Further to Minister O'Connor's announcement yesterday regarding the reopening of CFB Cornwallis.....
PSYCH! You didn't seriously think that we were going to give you wankers in Nova Scotia 300 million smackeroos now did ya? God you people are so freaking gullible.
Regards
Steve
P.S. If Rockin' Rod reads this - SNAP!
Saturday, 21 July 2007
Monday, 16 July 2007
The Grays - They Really Are Here - Deal With It
.........................................................................................................................
Earlier today I reluctantly finished reading a book that has managed to re-kindle my curiosity and fascination with a topic that if brought up in polite conversation will undoubtedly and irrevocably set you apart from the crowd as an oddball.
The book - The Grays written convincingly by Whitley Strieber, an author whose works I haven't read for more than a decade. Strieber is a renowned expert on the subject of alien abductions and believes that extraterrestrials or as he refers to them, "the visitors" have been visiting earth for centuries. Himself an abductee, Strieber describes his experience in the best-seller, Communion published in 1985.
Strieber describes The Grays as "fact-based fiction" and is a culmination of Strieber's extensive research findings as well as his own past experiences. For the non-believer the novel will no doubt entertain, perhaps even spark a bit of self-doubt that maybe they should re-evaluate their positions on the existence of ETs. For those of us who at one time belonged to the group of believers, The Grays will re-kindle the once burning questions-with-no-answers that helped make life just a tad more interesting but eventually gave up after buying into the whole mantra that anyone who believed in extraterrestrials were simply nut cases.
I belonged to that category. I wanted to believe that extraterrestrials were among us but life sort of got in the way and I grew away from the notion. The constant government denials of any extraordinary event occurring in New Mexico in 1947 had succeeded over the years in convincing me that aliens were simply a figment of our overactive imaginations.
But how could I turn my back on my own experience with an extraordinary event? I actually encountered something that can only be described as an unidentified flying object - a UFO - when I was no older than seven or eight. How could I possibly convince myself that the encounter didn't really happen? The government propaganda machine has always been very well oiled and maintained....
Thank god for people like Whitley Streiber and Stanton T. Friedman, another notable Ufologist. They never wavered in their beliefs and they never allowed the government to wear them down. They know the truths and they will never give up. They have me back.
I grew up in a tiny village that bordered Canadian Forces Base Gagetown in New Brunswick Canada. Our family would partake of a few annual community events organized by civilians in the town of Gagetown and one of those happened to be a Gagetown Fair which took place in the late summer of either 1959 or 1960. I have no distinct memories of the Fair but I remember quite vividly the drive home.
There were four of us in the car heading back to Welsford on the lonely two-lane highway bordered on both sides with forest. The sun had dipped below the tree line - it was dusk. My parents were in the front seat - my father behind the wheel. I and my younger brother were in the backseat and I, seated behind my mother on the passenger side of the car was looking out the side window at nothing in particular. My brother suddenly indicated to our parents that he had to "go" so Dad slowed the car and pulled over to the side of the highway. He put the car in park and turned off the ignition.
As was the norm in those days when one of the kids needed to "go" when in a car out in the middle of nowhere, my mother got out of the car, left her door open and opened the back door on her side, leaving that open as well. My brother scrambled out of the car, relieved himself within the "privacy" of the two open doors. But while he was in the process of zipping up, I saw something in the sky just over the tree line beyond where our car was temporarily parked. I watched it for a moment...it seemed to be moving slowly but I heard no sound.
I told my mother and pointed. She took one look and scurried us back in the car immediately. I can remember sensing that she was suddenly afraid. My father by now was aware of this strange object and after making sure we were all in the car and the doors were closed - and locked for the first time that evening, he hurriedly pulled the car back on the road and sped away. But not away from the flying object.
As we drove along that dark highway the object appeared to be shadowing us. It never came any closer to the car but kept up at the same speed as the car. It remained just over the treetops to our right. The object was long and shaped like a big cigar. I remember pretty lights that went along the length of the object. It never ever made a sound or noise like one would expect from a flying craft.
It shadowed us almost the entire way back to Welsford. Then suddenly as we were coming up on the turn into the village, it was gone. I didn't see it speed away...it was just gone. Our family never discussed the event until years later, I don't know why.
Later when we did start talking about it, my mother told me that she felt fear because she sensed fear in my father. My father was not a man who would scare easily so for her to sense fear from him was alarming. During the event I remember no feelings of fear. I was very young and felt more....in awe I guess is the right feeling. My brother was too young to remember the event at all. My father refused to ever talk about it and eventually took his emotions from that night to the grave.
And that was the end of that. It was the first and last time I witnessed an extraordinary event like that. As I grew older into my teens I realized the magnitude of what we had seen - a UFO. I felt rather special that I was the only girl in my circle of friends who had ever seen one.
Of course one could say that living so close to CFB Gagetown, there might be all sorts of experimental vehicles out and about. True but for one important point - this was the late 1950s/early 1960s....they may have been testing new airplanes but they certainly did not have the knowledge to actually fly one of these things for miles without making a sound. It had no wings, no props, no chem trails. Just pretty lights on a very large cigar. Which followed our car for miles. And then....went poof.
So I'm back. Call me crazy...that's fine. Call me a conspiracy theorist if you must but I prefer conspiracy factualist. The object I and my family saw that night is a fact...the conspiracy was and continues to be perpetuated by those who don't want us to believe our own eyes....by those who will do whatever it takes to continue to deny that we are not alone....
ET came to us eons ago and have stuck around.
It's now up to us to find out why....
Earlier today I reluctantly finished reading a book that has managed to re-kindle my curiosity and fascination with a topic that if brought up in polite conversation will undoubtedly and irrevocably set you apart from the crowd as an oddball.
The book - The Grays written convincingly by Whitley Strieber, an author whose works I haven't read for more than a decade. Strieber is a renowned expert on the subject of alien abductions and believes that extraterrestrials or as he refers to them, "the visitors" have been visiting earth for centuries. Himself an abductee, Strieber describes his experience in the best-seller, Communion published in 1985.
Strieber describes The Grays as "fact-based fiction" and is a culmination of Strieber's extensive research findings as well as his own past experiences. For the non-believer the novel will no doubt entertain, perhaps even spark a bit of self-doubt that maybe they should re-evaluate their positions on the existence of ETs. For those of us who at one time belonged to the group of believers, The Grays will re-kindle the once burning questions-with-no-answers that helped make life just a tad more interesting but eventually gave up after buying into the whole mantra that anyone who believed in extraterrestrials were simply nut cases.
I belonged to that category. I wanted to believe that extraterrestrials were among us but life sort of got in the way and I grew away from the notion. The constant government denials of any extraordinary event occurring in New Mexico in 1947 had succeeded over the years in convincing me that aliens were simply a figment of our overactive imaginations.
But how could I turn my back on my own experience with an extraordinary event? I actually encountered something that can only be described as an unidentified flying object - a UFO - when I was no older than seven or eight. How could I possibly convince myself that the encounter didn't really happen? The government propaganda machine has always been very well oiled and maintained....
Thank god for people like Whitley Streiber and Stanton T. Friedman, another notable Ufologist. They never wavered in their beliefs and they never allowed the government to wear them down. They know the truths and they will never give up. They have me back.
I grew up in a tiny village that bordered Canadian Forces Base Gagetown in New Brunswick Canada. Our family would partake of a few annual community events organized by civilians in the town of Gagetown and one of those happened to be a Gagetown Fair which took place in the late summer of either 1959 or 1960. I have no distinct memories of the Fair but I remember quite vividly the drive home.
There were four of us in the car heading back to Welsford on the lonely two-lane highway bordered on both sides with forest. The sun had dipped below the tree line - it was dusk. My parents were in the front seat - my father behind the wheel. I and my younger brother were in the backseat and I, seated behind my mother on the passenger side of the car was looking out the side window at nothing in particular. My brother suddenly indicated to our parents that he had to "go" so Dad slowed the car and pulled over to the side of the highway. He put the car in park and turned off the ignition.
As was the norm in those days when one of the kids needed to "go" when in a car out in the middle of nowhere, my mother got out of the car, left her door open and opened the back door on her side, leaving that open as well. My brother scrambled out of the car, relieved himself within the "privacy" of the two open doors. But while he was in the process of zipping up, I saw something in the sky just over the tree line beyond where our car was temporarily parked. I watched it for a moment...it seemed to be moving slowly but I heard no sound.
I told my mother and pointed. She took one look and scurried us back in the car immediately. I can remember sensing that she was suddenly afraid. My father by now was aware of this strange object and after making sure we were all in the car and the doors were closed - and locked for the first time that evening, he hurriedly pulled the car back on the road and sped away. But not away from the flying object.
As we drove along that dark highway the object appeared to be shadowing us. It never came any closer to the car but kept up at the same speed as the car. It remained just over the treetops to our right. The object was long and shaped like a big cigar. I remember pretty lights that went along the length of the object. It never ever made a sound or noise like one would expect from a flying craft.
It shadowed us almost the entire way back to Welsford. Then suddenly as we were coming up on the turn into the village, it was gone. I didn't see it speed away...it was just gone. Our family never discussed the event until years later, I don't know why.
Later when we did start talking about it, my mother told me that she felt fear because she sensed fear in my father. My father was not a man who would scare easily so for her to sense fear from him was alarming. During the event I remember no feelings of fear. I was very young and felt more....in awe I guess is the right feeling. My brother was too young to remember the event at all. My father refused to ever talk about it and eventually took his emotions from that night to the grave.
And that was the end of that. It was the first and last time I witnessed an extraordinary event like that. As I grew older into my teens I realized the magnitude of what we had seen - a UFO. I felt rather special that I was the only girl in my circle of friends who had ever seen one.
Of course one could say that living so close to CFB Gagetown, there might be all sorts of experimental vehicles out and about. True but for one important point - this was the late 1950s/early 1960s....they may have been testing new airplanes but they certainly did not have the knowledge to actually fly one of these things for miles without making a sound. It had no wings, no props, no chem trails. Just pretty lights on a very large cigar. Which followed our car for miles. And then....went poof.
So I'm back. Call me crazy...that's fine. Call me a conspiracy theorist if you must but I prefer conspiracy factualist. The object I and my family saw that night is a fact...the conspiracy was and continues to be perpetuated by those who don't want us to believe our own eyes....by those who will do whatever it takes to continue to deny that we are not alone....
ET came to us eons ago and have stuck around.
It's now up to us to find out why....
Thursday, 5 July 2007
Hey Stephen Harper! When Are You Going To Newfoundland?
There's a whole lot of people down east in Atlantic Canada who are taking bets on whether you have the gonads to travel to Danny Williams country A.K.A. Newfoundland so you can make yet another one of your very important (but previously released) federal announcements and get your picture taken by gullible CP photogs who don't have the intestinal fortitude to boycott your constant craving for control.
People down here are wondering if you'd snub Premier Williams like you've snubbed Nova Scotia Premier Rodney MacDonald. We'd all like to see you try, I can tell you that. Come on Mr. Prime Minister, take a little jaunt to the Rock so you can get your picture taken standing in downtown Dildo. Now that I think about it, you should commission an artist to create a statue of your grand self and then have it erected in the Dildo town square.
I can't think of a more appropriate setting for a life-sized statue of Your Royal Lowness.
Wednesday, 4 July 2007
Six Canadians Soldiers Killed in IED Attack
Six Canadian soldiers have been killed in the Panjwaii district of Afghanistan along with their Afghan interpreter. The soldiers were approximately 20 kilometres outside their base in the Panjwaii district west of Kandahar city when their armoured vehicle was struck by an IED or improvised explosive device.
The identities of the six soldiers are being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
Task Force Afghanistan commander Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant expressed sadness at the loss of six more "great young Canadians" but went on to stress the military's resolve and "determination to bring to Afghanistan a peaceful land for the children of this country."
Canada has lost 66 men and women in the Afghanistan war since 2002.
The identities of the six soldiers are being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
Task Force Afghanistan commander Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant expressed sadness at the loss of six more "great young Canadians" but went on to stress the military's resolve and "determination to bring to Afghanistan a peaceful land for the children of this country."
Canada has lost 66 men and women in the Afghanistan war since 2002.
Robert's American Gourmet Veggie Tings Crunchy Corn Sticks Can Make You Sick!
Seems like every day brings news of yet another food product that's been contaminated with one toxic organism or another and today is no different.
Wednesday's poisoned food is Robert's American Gourmet Veggie Tings Crunchy Corn Sticks and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning the public that the popular snack food may be laced with Salmonella. This particular snack food is a product of the United States and reports indicate 54 cases of salmonella poisoning in 17 U.S. states after eating the veggie corn sticks. No adverse effects have been confirmed in Canada so far.
The recall affects all sizes and codes of Robert's American Gourmet Veggie Tings Crunchy Corn Sticks which are available for purchase nationally as well as through the internet, phone orders and mail orders.
This recall is an expanded version of the original issued on June 28, 2007 which focused on Veggie Booty snack food after it was determined that a seasoning made with imported Chinese ingredients was contaminated with Salmonella.
For more information, Canadian consumers and industry can call the CFIA at 1-800-442-2342 / TTY 1-800-465-7735 (8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday to Friday).
Wednesday's poisoned food is Robert's American Gourmet Veggie Tings Crunchy Corn Sticks and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning the public that the popular snack food may be laced with Salmonella. This particular snack food is a product of the United States and reports indicate 54 cases of salmonella poisoning in 17 U.S. states after eating the veggie corn sticks. No adverse effects have been confirmed in Canada so far.
The recall affects all sizes and codes of Robert's American Gourmet Veggie Tings Crunchy Corn Sticks which are available for purchase nationally as well as through the internet, phone orders and mail orders.This recall is an expanded version of the original issued on June 28, 2007 which focused on Veggie Booty snack food after it was determined that a seasoning made with imported Chinese ingredients was contaminated with Salmonella.
For more information, Canadian consumers and industry can call the CFIA at 1-800-442-2342 / TTY 1-800-465-7735 (8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday to Friday).
Wednesday, 27 June 2007
Liz Claiborne Dies
One of my favourite fashion designers and environmentalists has died. Liz Claiborne died today at the age of 78 following a courageous battle with cancer. Not only was she the founder of Liz Claiborne Inc. which catered to the professional woman, she and her husband Art Ortenberg were active in environmental and charity work and founded The Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg Foundation to provide support for protection of the wilderness.Ms. Claiborne was honoured in 2000 for her continuing efforts in helping to fight the killing of African elephants for their ivory tusks.
U.S. College Students Reminded To Watch out For Terrorist Activity
Various alternative news sources on the Internet, otherwise known as the only news you can believe are reporting recent activity by the FBI visiting several American universities and technical colleges in a stepped-up effort to further their role as Big Brother Brown Shirts to students.
Armed with a set of guidelines to assist American youth in their role as individual terrorist watchdogs, whistleblowers and stool pigeons, college and university administrators have been supplied with thier own copies and told in no uncertain terms that it would be in their best interests to abide by the contents. It's a matter of national security, you see..
Titled "Your Role in Combating The Insider Threat", the guidelines stipulate rules that will prevent American secondary education students from:
The guidelines explain how to spot a suspected terrorist in a set of "Suitablity Issues" which are intended to heighten one's awareness of suitability factors and potential espionage indicators. Suitability factors include this from the guidelines: “one-fourth of known American spies experienced a personal life crisis (such as a divorce, death of someone close, or a love affair gone awry) in the months before they decided to attempt espionage.”
In other words, the FBI wants American college students to believe that their best friend who is in mourning following the death of a parent should now become suspect because that friend now has a high possibility of being recruited by a terrorist group.
Other indicators that your friend or colleague just might be a terrorist include:
In other words, every last teenager in the United States. Read the guidelines here:
http://www.ncix.gov/archives/docs/Your_Role_in_Combating_the_Insider_Threat.pdf
Go to the FBI page on Academic Alliance:
http://www.fbi.gov/page2/april06/academicalliance040506.htm
Armed with a set of guidelines to assist American youth in their role as individual terrorist watchdogs, whistleblowers and stool pigeons, college and university administrators have been supplied with thier own copies and told in no uncertain terms that it would be in their best interests to abide by the contents. It's a matter of national security, you see..Titled "Your Role in Combating The Insider Threat", the guidelines stipulate rules that will prevent American secondary education students from:
- travelling abroad without seeking permission from the proper authorities
- showing an interest in their colleagues' work
- having friends outside the United States
- working late at the campus
- engaging in independent research
- making extra money without the prior consent of the authorities.
The guidelines explain how to spot a suspected terrorist in a set of "Suitablity Issues" which are intended to heighten one's awareness of suitability factors and potential espionage indicators. Suitability factors include this from the guidelines: “one-fourth of known American spies experienced a personal life crisis (such as a divorce, death of someone close, or a love affair gone awry) in the months before they decided to attempt espionage.”
In other words, the FBI wants American college students to believe that their best friend who is in mourning following the death of a parent should now become suspect because that friend now has a high possibility of being recruited by a terrorist group.
Other indicators that your friend or colleague just might be a terrorist include:
- Drug or alcohol abuse.
- Repeated irresponsibility.
- An “above the rules” attitude.
- Financial irresponsibility.
- Repeated impulsive behaviors.
- Extreme immaturity.
- Willingness to violate the rights of others to achieve one’s own ends.
- Accumulating or overwhelming life crises or career disappointments.
- Willingness to break rules or violations of laws and regulations.
In other words, every last teenager in the United States. Read the guidelines here:
http://www.ncix.gov/archives/docs/Your_Role_in_Combating_the_Insider_Threat.pdf
Go to the FBI page on Academic Alliance:
http://www.fbi.gov/page2/april06/academicalliance040506.htm
Tuesday, 26 June 2007
Stephen Harper - The Classic Political Bully
When we hear the word 'bully' we associate the word and the subsequent behaviour to children and teenagers who exert their power over other children in the schoolyard, those they see as weak. But there is another form of bullying that although no more or less damaging, is more difficult to address and to overcome.
It's called Political Bullying and although relatively rare in today's society, the world is seeing examples of the behaviour in pockets throughout the globe. There are two distinct forms of Political Bullying, the first involves bullying by the head of a government toward other nations. An excellent example of off-shore Political Bullying would be the current American Bush administration. The second is much more insidious - bullying by a nation's leader of his or her own people. This second form of in-country Political Bullying is my topic for today.
Canada, early in 2006 elected into power a man who promised to change the way the federal government does business. Relying heavily on an opposition political party who had remained in power for well over a decade and subsequently became mired in arrogance and corruption, Conservative leader Stephen Harper based his election campaign on promises of openness, fairness and accountability in government to a voter demographic who were so fed up with the long-ruling Liberals that they granted Harper a minority government.
During the campaign Harper had his critics, who accused him of a desire to become fully integrated with the United States while others issued warnings of Harper's secret agenda to further involve Canada in the wars of either Iraq or Afghanistan. Both warnings have since proven correct which have been reflected in Canada's participation in the Bush-initiated Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America and our country's ongoing commitment to the war in Afghanistan which since 2002 has claimed the lives of 60 Canadian soldiers.
Of late another side of Stephen Harper has been emerging that could lead to a devastatingly divided country as he pits one part of Canada against another. I speak of course of the Atlantic Accords, signed, sealed and delivered between the previous federal government and the provinces of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland/Labrador. A contract that Harper himself promised during his campaign, not to touch.
The prime minister however went back on his word earlier this year when his finance minister introduced his annual federal budget. One specific section of the budget in effect canceled the Accords and forced both provinces to choose between a new formula for equalization. They could opt to keep the Accords but millions of offshore revenue dollars would be clawed back by the feds if they did. The federal government under Harper's leadership broke the contract.
The first hint that Harper is afflicted with Political Bullying came in a statement to the press after a reporter asked his reaction to Atlantic Canada's assertion that he had illegally broken a signed contract. In a nutshell, Harper with arrogance accompanied by a barely concealed sense of malice invited the provinces of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland to "sue me". This writer had visions of Nelson Muntz, the bully on The Simpsons pointing his finger at Atlantic Canada and uttering his famous "Ha Ha!".
Confirmation of Harper's Political Bullying came just yesterday during a short trip to New Brunswick. Harper came bearing millions of much-needed dollars to bestow upon that province's infrastructure. In his presentation speech Harper declared his Political Bullying personality by sending a message to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland that the New Brunswick example is what happens when one cooperates with the feds.
So what is a Political Bully? As we know, bullying occurs when someone conducts themselves in a manner which exerts power over others whom they perceive as weak. Bullying methods include:
*demeaning their victims
*isolating victims from groups and/or manipulating their allies
*ignoring them
*threatening them
*causing feelings of discomfort and/or anger
*taking and/or damaging their possessions
*making them participate in activities against their will.
As you can see, 100% of the above bullying methods have been practiced by Stephen Harper against Atlantic Canada. But why, you might be asking do some people bully others. The answers of course are complex and wide-ranging but the majority of Political Bullies see their methods as a way of making them look assertive and in charge. Other reasons behind the Political Bully's tactics include their constant need to be the centre of attention and to be admired (if not feared) by others.
Political bullies surround themselves with more political bullies. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is a perfect example of a Subordinate Political Bully. They are almost never heard from unless they feel the need to remind the primary Political Bully that they're still behind him and usually a short loud burst of "yeah, what he said" will be sufficient in securing their seemingly exalted position in the pack. But a puzzling scenario emerges as we witness the number of non-bullies who will align themselves with the pack. These non-bullying entities see themselves as weaker than the Political and Subordinate Bullies and therefore vulnerable to becoming targets if they refuse to go along. Examples of weaker powerless non-bullying entities would be Peter MacKay and Gerald Keddy.
So as you can see Stephen Harper displays the classic characteristics of a Political Bully. Specific to the Harper model is a new trait that will no doubt be attributed to Political Bullies of the future, specifically the emergence of a seemingly cold lack of human emotion. Harper demonstrated this characteristic early on in his tenure when as he escorted his two young children to school, instead of a warm embrace he shook the hand of his young daughter in what could only be described as a cold and stilted demonstration of an emotion he finds puzzling - affection. In retrospect this incident should have been the first red flag that Harper wasn't what he appeared to be.
Atlantic Canada can expect to be on the receiving end of Political Bullying tactics for some time. This particular region of the country has been historically perceived by Political and Secondary Bullies as a prime target and proof of that is demonstrated in our ongoing "have-not" designation. Our struggles to rise up from that negative status in an effort to join the wealthier and more powerful "haves" is seen by Political and Secondary Bullies as extremely threatening.
And we're all learning the consequences of threatening a pack of Political Bullies.
It's called Political Bullying and although relatively rare in today's society, the world is seeing examples of the behaviour in pockets throughout the globe. There are two distinct forms of Political Bullying, the first involves bullying by the head of a government toward other nations. An excellent example of off-shore Political Bullying would be the current American Bush administration. The second is much more insidious - bullying by a nation's leader of his or her own people. This second form of in-country Political Bullying is my topic for today.
Canada, early in 2006 elected into power a man who promised to change the way the federal government does business. Relying heavily on an opposition political party who had remained in power for well over a decade and subsequently became mired in arrogance and corruption, Conservative leader Stephen Harper based his election campaign on promises of openness, fairness and accountability in government to a voter demographic who were so fed up with the long-ruling Liberals that they granted Harper a minority government.
During the campaign Harper had his critics, who accused him of a desire to become fully integrated with the United States while others issued warnings of Harper's secret agenda to further involve Canada in the wars of either Iraq or Afghanistan. Both warnings have since proven correct which have been reflected in Canada's participation in the Bush-initiated Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America and our country's ongoing commitment to the war in Afghanistan which since 2002 has claimed the lives of 60 Canadian soldiers.
Of late another side of Stephen Harper has been emerging that could lead to a devastatingly divided country as he pits one part of Canada against another. I speak of course of the Atlantic Accords, signed, sealed and delivered between the previous federal government and the provinces of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland/Labrador. A contract that Harper himself promised during his campaign, not to touch.
The prime minister however went back on his word earlier this year when his finance minister introduced his annual federal budget. One specific section of the budget in effect canceled the Accords and forced both provinces to choose between a new formula for equalization. They could opt to keep the Accords but millions of offshore revenue dollars would be clawed back by the feds if they did. The federal government under Harper's leadership broke the contract.
The first hint that Harper is afflicted with Political Bullying came in a statement to the press after a reporter asked his reaction to Atlantic Canada's assertion that he had illegally broken a signed contract. In a nutshell, Harper with arrogance accompanied by a barely concealed sense of malice invited the provinces of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland to "sue me". This writer had visions of Nelson Muntz, the bully on The Simpsons pointing his finger at Atlantic Canada and uttering his famous "Ha Ha!".Confirmation of Harper's Political Bullying came just yesterday during a short trip to New Brunswick. Harper came bearing millions of much-needed dollars to bestow upon that province's infrastructure. In his presentation speech Harper declared his Political Bullying personality by sending a message to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland that the New Brunswick example is what happens when one cooperates with the feds.
So what is a Political Bully? As we know, bullying occurs when someone conducts themselves in a manner which exerts power over others whom they perceive as weak. Bullying methods include:
*demeaning their victims
*isolating victims from groups and/or manipulating their allies
*ignoring them
*threatening them
*causing feelings of discomfort and/or anger
*taking and/or damaging their possessions
*making them participate in activities against their will.
As you can see, 100% of the above bullying methods have been practiced by Stephen Harper against Atlantic Canada. But why, you might be asking do some people bully others. The answers of course are complex and wide-ranging but the majority of Political Bullies see their methods as a way of making them look assertive and in charge. Other reasons behind the Political Bully's tactics include their constant need to be the centre of attention and to be admired (if not feared) by others.
Political bullies surround themselves with more political bullies. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is a perfect example of a Subordinate Political Bully. They are almost never heard from unless they feel the need to remind the primary Political Bully that they're still behind him and usually a short loud burst of "yeah, what he said" will be sufficient in securing their seemingly exalted position in the pack. But a puzzling scenario emerges as we witness the number of non-bullies who will align themselves with the pack. These non-bullying entities see themselves as weaker than the Political and Subordinate Bullies and therefore vulnerable to becoming targets if they refuse to go along. Examples of weaker powerless non-bullying entities would be Peter MacKay and Gerald Keddy.
So as you can see Stephen Harper displays the classic characteristics of a Political Bully. Specific to the Harper model is a new trait that will no doubt be attributed to Political Bullies of the future, specifically the emergence of a seemingly cold lack of human emotion. Harper demonstrated this characteristic early on in his tenure when as he escorted his two young children to school, instead of a warm embrace he shook the hand of his young daughter in what could only be described as a cold and stilted demonstration of an emotion he finds puzzling - affection. In retrospect this incident should have been the first red flag that Harper wasn't what he appeared to be.
Atlantic Canada can expect to be on the receiving end of Political Bullying tactics for some time. This particular region of the country has been historically perceived by Political and Secondary Bullies as a prime target and proof of that is demonstrated in our ongoing "have-not" designation. Our struggles to rise up from that negative status in an effort to join the wealthier and more powerful "haves" is seen by Political and Secondary Bullies as extremely threatening.
And we're all learning the consequences of threatening a pack of Political Bullies.
The Brainwashing of America is Almost Complete. Now What?
Ever wondered why there hasn't been a terrorist attack on U.S. soil since September 11, 2001? It's certainly not the result of finely-tuned Homeland Security efforts. They couldn't even contain one TB patient.
Is the average American citizen fearful of being attacked by terrorists using dirty bombs or biological agents or even both?
How many times has U.S. President George W. Bush warned his fellow citizens of an impending "second 9-11"? How many times does one have to be told something before they begin to believe it?
What about "al Qaeda"? How does the average American citizen visualize them? Have they, in one's mind's eye morphed into a 10-foot tall hulking fire-breathing entity who live and breath nothing beyond their inborn compulsion to kill Americans?
And why doesn't the American administration talk about Osama bin Laden anymore? He's still a wanted man, according to official doctrines. He's still the "mastermind" behind 9-11, according to those same doctrines. He was the reason the U.S. went into Afghanistan immediately after 9-11 on their search & destroy mission to find him. So why is he no longer important? Could he be dead? Could the U.S. admin know that?
As you try to answer the above questions, imagine a scenario whereby 350 million people have been continuously manipulated, conditioned, led by the nose, lied to and terrorized by their own government. How would it feel to suddenly realize that everything you have come to believe and fear in the last five years wasn't real? Wag The Dog, indeed...
Ready for some reality? Click this. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=CHO20070624&articleId=6134
Is the average American citizen fearful of being attacked by terrorists using dirty bombs or biological agents or even both?
How many times has U.S. President George W. Bush warned his fellow citizens of an impending "second 9-11"? How many times does one have to be told something before they begin to believe it?
What about "al Qaeda"? How does the average American citizen visualize them? Have they, in one's mind's eye morphed into a 10-foot tall hulking fire-breathing entity who live and breath nothing beyond their inborn compulsion to kill Americans?
And why doesn't the American administration talk about Osama bin Laden anymore? He's still a wanted man, according to official doctrines. He's still the "mastermind" behind 9-11, according to those same doctrines. He was the reason the U.S. went into Afghanistan immediately after 9-11 on their search & destroy mission to find him. So why is he no longer important? Could he be dead? Could the U.S. admin know that?
As you try to answer the above questions, imagine a scenario whereby 350 million people have been continuously manipulated, conditioned, led by the nose, lied to and terrorized by their own government. How would it feel to suddenly realize that everything you have come to believe and fear in the last five years wasn't real? Wag The Dog, indeed...
Ready for some reality? Click this. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=CHO20070624&articleId=6134
Monday, 25 June 2007
Ellen DeGeneres Greeting Card Collection!
If you love Ellen DeGeneres, you're really going to love her newly launched signature line of greeting cards. Debuting today (Monday) across Canada in stores carrying Carleton Card products, the ellen collection(TM) will offer consumers a variety of greeting cards for several occasions which will offer the lucky recipients a glimpse into the quirky and hilarious mind of one of the most beloved media personalities today.The 32-card ellen collection will feature the comedian's own designs along with her observations about ordinary, daily life situations. Selections will be available for birthdays, friendship, thank you and encouragement. The cards show DeGeneres in many of her trademark fashions, like crisp white pants, argyle sweaters, button-down shirts and Chuck Taylor-like sneakers. Her love for animals is also incorporated into several designs that show her with "Pig," her famous white French bulldog.
One of the thank you cards shows Ellen and Pig on the front, and says, "Wow. Thanks. Does this mean I have to do something nice for you now?" A birthday card in the ellen collection(TM) shows Ellen dancing while Pig looks on. The message on the front says, "Your birthday makes me wanna dance!" while the inside explains, "...which is weird because I'm in line at the DMV and now everyone's staring at me. Enjoy your day."Cards in the ellen collection(TM) are available across Canada at participating drug, department and grocery stores that carry Carlton Cards for $3.59 each. Carlton Cards and American Greetings stores in Canada and the U.S. will also carry the full 32-card line.
Saturday, 23 June 2007
I'll Be Back..But In The Meantime..
I haven't disappeared forever. A mysterious illness has knocked me on my ass...
In the meantime and for your continuing viewing pleasure I include in its entirety a short welcoming speech by U.S. President GW Bush as he and Laura kick off a garden party on the south lawn of the White House. Bush must have forgotten his morning meds....again.
In the meantime and for your continuing viewing pleasure I include in its entirety a short welcoming speech by U.S. President GW Bush as he and Laura kick off a garden party on the south lawn of the White House. Bush must have forgotten his morning meds....again.
President and Mrs. Bush Host Congressional Picnic
South Lawn
8:10 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming. Laura and I welcome you to the South Lawn. This is an opportunity to thank the members of Congress and their families for serving the United States.
First, I want to recognize the Speaker. Madam Speaker, thank you for joining us. It means a lot that you've come. I appreciate the leadership of the House and the Senate who have joined us. For all the wives and husbands, thank you for standing by your spouse. It's not easy to be in public office. It's a lot easier, though, when you have somebody who loves you to help you do your job. And so Laura and I want to thank you all, in particular. We're proud to be serving with you. Occasionally we might have our differences, but one thing we all agree on is we represent the greatest country on the face of the Earth. (Applause.)
I want to thank our Chef, Paul Prudhomme, from New Orleans, Louisiana -- one of the great chefs in America. Thanks for coming, Paul. (Applause.) I thank Tony Snow and his bunch of, well, mediocre musicians -- (laughter) -- no, great musicians. Beats Workin, thanks for coming. (Applause.) Kermit, come up here. Kermit, we're proud to have you.
MR. RUFFINS: Well, thanks for having us.
THE PRESIDENT: Kermit Ruffins and the Barbeque Swingers, right out of New Orleans, Louisiana. (Applause.)
MR. RUFFINS: Thank you. Thanks for having us. We're glad to be here.
THE PRESIDENT: Proud you're here. Thanks for coming. You all enjoy yourself. Make sure you pick up all the trash after it's over. (Laughter.)
God bless you, and may God bless America. Thanks for coming. (Applause.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile back at Bush's hobby otherwise known as the complete and utter destruction of an entire nation and its people, take a gander at what's going on there as the elite in Washington nibble their cucumber sandwiches and sip their champagne:
http://www.uruknet.de/?s1=55&p=33919&s2=22Tuesday, 19 June 2007
The Ten Commandments V 2.0 'Road Rules'!
A new Vatican document announced today in Vatican City titled "Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of the Road" will have devout Catholics following a new set of Ten Commandments but this time around, the edict outlines road rules. Although the documents address several topics unrelated to operating one's vehicle in a polite and charitable manner, it's the "Driver's Ten Commandments" that has taken centre stage.
While perusing the Driver's Ten Commandments, it became glaringly clear that if one were to delete a couple of important keywords and replace them with words like "peace", "war" and a few other more appropriate phrases, a new and more powerful document would emerge, one that just might address something of global importance.
The Vatican's version of the Drivers' Ten Commandments follow with the suggested replacement words in brackets supplied by yours truly. Number 1 on the list needs no improvement but it does bear repeating.
The "Drivers' (Peace Seeker's) Ten Commandments," as listed in the document, are:
1. You shall not kill. (I repeat, You shall not kill.)
2. The road (events of September 11, 2001) shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm.
3. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.
4. Be charitable and help your neighbour in need, especially victims of accidents (wars & atrocities).
5. Cars (Wars) shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.
6. Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive (kill people) when they are not in a fitting condition to do so (ever).
7. Support the families of accident (war & atrocity) victims.
8. Bring guilty motorists (warmongers) and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness (impeachment).
9. On the road (battlefield), protect the more vulnerable party (lay down your arms).
10. Feel responsible toward others. (Amen)
Now, if any of the rampant rabid neo-conservative ultra right-wing warmongers happen to read the above, say a couple of "hail Marys" and move along quietly. Whatever you might say to me I've heard way too many times before.
And I would be remiss if I didn't include a note to the Anglicans out there who are debating as I type whether or not Anglican Priests should bless gay marriage. As it stands right now, the Anglican church denounces same-sex marriage as an abomination or crimes against humanity or something equally silly.
People who are gay are people. The gay part should not be part of the equation when it comes to religious rites and ceremonies so take that big step into the 21st century from the 15th century rut you've been stuck in and recognize marriage for all. Period. It's really that simple.
While perusing the Driver's Ten Commandments, it became glaringly clear that if one were to delete a couple of important keywords and replace them with words like "peace", "war" and a few other more appropriate phrases, a new and more powerful document would emerge, one that just might address something of global importance.
The Vatican's version of the Drivers' Ten Commandments follow with the suggested replacement words in brackets supplied by yours truly. Number 1 on the list needs no improvement but it does bear repeating.
The "Drivers' (Peace Seeker's) Ten Commandments," as listed in the document, are:
1. You shall not kill. (I repeat, You shall not kill.)
2. The road (events of September 11, 2001) shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm.
3. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.
4. Be charitable and help your neighbour in need, especially victims of accidents (wars & atrocities).
5. Cars (Wars) shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.6. Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive (kill people) when they are not in a fitting condition to do so (ever).
7. Support the families of accident (war & atrocity) victims.
8. Bring guilty motorists (warmongers) and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness (impeachment).
9. On the road (battlefield), protect the more vulnerable party (lay down your arms).
10. Feel responsible toward others. (Amen)
Now, if any of the rampant rabid neo-conservative ultra right-wing warmongers happen to read the above, say a couple of "hail Marys" and move along quietly. Whatever you might say to me I've heard way too many times before.
And I would be remiss if I didn't include a note to the Anglicans out there who are debating as I type whether or not Anglican Priests should bless gay marriage. As it stands right now, the Anglican church denounces same-sex marriage as an abomination or crimes against humanity or something equally silly.
People who are gay are people. The gay part should not be part of the equation when it comes to religious rites and ceremonies so take that big step into the 21st century from the 15th century rut you've been stuck in and recognize marriage for all. Period. It's really that simple.
Beware Malicious E-card Phishing
I read about this in my latest Windows newsletter and although e-card phishing has been around for a couple of years it's worth re-visiting especially for those among us who love not only receiving ecards but sending them.
"Phishing" according to Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phishing) is an attempt to fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication such as eBay, PayPal and online banks. Phishers disguise themselves as legitimate websites and it's difficult to tell the fake sites from the real ones. That also applies tor phishing emails disguised as real ones including e-card announcements. The common goal of all phishers is identity theft.
Beware of an e-card announcement email that has something like this in the subject line:
A friend has sent you an e-card from [name of a legitimate e-card website]
The body of the announcement instructs you to download a file in order to view your e-card:
download and view your e-card
Your e-card number is:
GreetingCardNr7496336687.flash
If in any doubt, don't open it and delete the message.
Other ways to protect yourself from email phishing:
"Phishing" according to Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phishing) is an attempt to fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication such as eBay, PayPal and online banks. Phishers disguise themselves as legitimate websites and it's difficult to tell the fake sites from the real ones. That also applies tor phishing emails disguised as real ones including e-card announcements. The common goal of all phishers is identity theft.
Beware of an e-card announcement email that has something like this in the subject line:
A friend has sent you an e-card from [name of a legitimate e-card website]
The body of the announcement instructs you to download a file in order to view your e-card:
download and view your e-card
Your e-card number is:
GreetingCardNr7496336687.flash
If in any doubt, don't open it and delete the message.
Other ways to protect yourself from email phishing:
- Delete any e-card from someone you don't know.
- Read the company website's Terms of Service before clicking 'Agree'! . You'd be surprised what phishing sites get unsuspecting visitors to agree to knowing that most of us NEVER read a long and lengthy ToS.
- Of course having effective and constantly updated antivirus software goes without saying.
- Proceed with caution when an e-card announcement comes with an attachment even if it appears that the e-card has been sent by someone you know.
Monday, 18 June 2007
If I Had Half A Ball...
I write for a local news and information website called Halifax Live. Some of the articles found here on this blog can also be found there including my latest entry here titled "Way To Go Soldier Boys". Today in my Halifax Live mail box I found three messages from people who took great exception to the article and for your viewing pleasure I'm placing the best one here. No wait...I'll put the best two messages here.
All three of them are hate-filled vituperations. All three are written by males. If they're adults well, that's just scary as hell. If they're teenagers, that's even scarier because they're going to take this hate and anger into their adult years and do god-knows-what with it. Maybe join the military...
This is what one gets for exercising freedom of speech and expression these days. Not only do they attack the message, they verbally assault the messenger and god forbid that anyone says anything negative about a soldier fighting the "good fight" in Afghanistan or Iraq in an attempt to rid the world of all those Middle Eastern "animals".
So without further ado, the first email:
Screw you, you friggin bloody ass wipe. It seems you don't have too much to say when there are soldiers getting killed every day, but when some "rag head" little snot nosed (soon to become a suicide bomber)gets whacked, you become a blithering idiot that don't really know what the hell you are talking , or writing about. Why don't you go enlist and volunteer to go to afghansitan so you could talk'em to surrendering. Let's see, wasn't your kind the same idiots that thought they could TALK hitler in to being a nice man? He did too. He let the young ones organize into the youth corp. and they went about recruiting "other children" that were worse than the older scum bags. Tell that to the Jewish children that he murdered you left wing prick, and who say's we lost? You? The taliban and alqaida think you are A OK. They will kill you last, butt head.
And the second one:
This editorial garbage reflects someone who has never been near, let alone engaged in, a combat situation. If the enemy hides with children and the children are killed, at least they won’t grow up to be the enemy. That is when the terror goes away, when the last Muslim dies. Age makes no difference.
Oh wait. D. L. McCracken is Canadian. Almost as used to losing as the French. That explains it. And if he had half a ball, he’d try to find me so we could “discuss” his shortcomings outside.
Oh hell, I may as well include the third one:
Im glad they blasted the school. They're animals. Enough of us playing by ridiculous rules of war while the enemy runs and hides in religious sites. Do our troops put children in cars filled with explosives then leave it on a busy street, run away then blow it up with the kids inside. Umm nope. The purpose of the kids there was so that the parked car wouldnt raise suspicion from patrolling police. We should target mosques, these people are animals. Our military troops are the elite people of the US. Yet scum like you look down upon them, if it wasnt for them youd be dead.
All three are published verbatim.
All three of them are hate-filled vituperations. All three are written by males. If they're adults well, that's just scary as hell. If they're teenagers, that's even scarier because they're going to take this hate and anger into their adult years and do god-knows-what with it. Maybe join the military...
This is what one gets for exercising freedom of speech and expression these days. Not only do they attack the message, they verbally assault the messenger and god forbid that anyone says anything negative about a soldier fighting the "good fight" in Afghanistan or Iraq in an attempt to rid the world of all those Middle Eastern "animals".
So without further ado, the first email:
Screw you, you friggin bloody ass wipe. It seems you don't have too much to say when there are soldiers getting killed every day, but when some "rag head" little snot nosed (soon to become a suicide bomber)gets whacked, you become a blithering idiot that don't really know what the hell you are talking , or writing about. Why don't you go enlist and volunteer to go to afghansitan so you could talk'em to surrendering. Let's see, wasn't your kind the same idiots that thought they could TALK hitler in to being a nice man? He did too. He let the young ones organize into the youth corp. and they went about recruiting "other children" that were worse than the older scum bags. Tell that to the Jewish children that he murdered you left wing prick, and who say's we lost? You? The taliban and alqaida think you are A OK. They will kill you last, butt head.
And the second one:
This editorial garbage reflects someone who has never been near, let alone engaged in, a combat situation. If the enemy hides with children and the children are killed, at least they won’t grow up to be the enemy. That is when the terror goes away, when the last Muslim dies. Age makes no difference.
Oh wait. D. L. McCracken is Canadian. Almost as used to losing as the French. That explains it. And if he had half a ball, he’d try to find me so we could “discuss” his shortcomings outside.
Oh hell, I may as well include the third one:
Im glad they blasted the school. They're animals. Enough of us playing by ridiculous rules of war while the enemy runs and hides in religious sites. Do our troops put children in cars filled with explosives then leave it on a busy street, run away then blow it up with the kids inside. Umm nope. The purpose of the kids there was so that the parked car wouldnt raise suspicion from patrolling police. We should target mosques, these people are animals. Our military troops are the elite people of the US. Yet scum like you look down upon them, if it wasnt for them youd be dead.
All three are published verbatim.
Way To Go Soldier Boys
In any armed conflict a sure sign that the invading army has lost occurs when a raid is conducted on a suspected enemy haven where there is a high possibility of children but the raid is carried out anyway.
This was the news greeting us this morning. A U.S.-led coalition air strike was conducted against a religious school (a madrassa) in the Paktika province of eastern Afghanistan. A few Taliban fighters were killed in the raid but so were at least seven children. Coincidentally, the death of these seven innocents occurred on the same day a Taliban suicide bomber blew up more than 35 people on a police bus in Kabul. Sort of a tit-for-tat scenario if you will.
This isn't the first time innocents have been caught in the crossfire in a war situation and it certainly won't be the last but how are the western invading armies any better than the designated enemy-in-residence if we consider children nothing more than unavoidable collateral damage?
Look at how this latest tra
gedy is being reported: they say that coalition forces were in possession of "credible intelligence" that several resistance fighters were holed up in a "compound" in Paktika. So far, so good. But the compound in question is also a religious school, a fact that the coalition forces were well aware of. But they blew it to smithereens anyway. To cover their own asses, reports indicate that the mission commander sought and received permission from their war bosses before carrying out the mission.
After it was determined that 7 children had been killed, the coalition spin doctors immediately released their previously-prepared pat response that they are "saddened" by the loss of innocent lives. And then they turn the whole thing around and blame it on the enemy fighters by stating that the children are dead only because the Taliban or Al-Qaeda used them as human shields.
Another coalition spokesperson in another cover-one's-ass statement said, "If we knew that there were children inside the building, there was no way that that airstrike would have occurred."
HELLO! You bombed a madrassa - a school! Madrassas are known for taking in orphans and poor children and god knows Afghanistan has more than its fair share of orphans since 2001 and you damn well knew there would be innocents inside that building and you blew it up anyway.
It's no doubt that some of the more militant fighters in Afghanistan (and Iraq for that matter) use women and children as "human shields" and for that reason innocents do tragically get killed in the crossfire. Indeed, we in the west call that particular militant practice cowardice and rightly so. But how are western forces any better than the enemy "cowards" if we bomb buildings where there is a high probability of innocents being killed?
Wouldn't a more reasonable and civilized approach be to avoid the killing of innocents at all costs? Are dead children worth a few less Taliban fighters? Apparently not anymore.
Shame on us for reading any given news report out of Afghanistan that includes collateral damage in the guise of dead innocents, without even batting an eyelash. Shame on us for learning of the latest school shooting in North America that leaves countless dead innocents, and we deeply and publicly mourn the loss of part of our future generation.
Shame on all of us for holding western youth in such high esteem and protecting them at all cost while we shrug off the youth of Afghanistan and Iraq as just a few more dead ragheads.
Makes one wonder who the real barbarians are.
This was the news greeting us this morning. A U.S.-led coalition air strike was conducted against a religious school (a madrassa) in the Paktika province of eastern Afghanistan. A few Taliban fighters were killed in the raid but so were at least seven children. Coincidentally, the death of these seven innocents occurred on the same day a Taliban suicide bomber blew up more than 35 people on a police bus in Kabul. Sort of a tit-for-tat scenario if you will.
This isn't the first time innocents have been caught in the crossfire in a war situation and it certainly won't be the last but how are the western invading armies any better than the designated enemy-in-residence if we consider children nothing more than unavoidable collateral damage?
Look at how this latest tra
gedy is being reported: they say that coalition forces were in possession of "credible intelligence" that several resistance fighters were holed up in a "compound" in Paktika. So far, so good. But the compound in question is also a religious school, a fact that the coalition forces were well aware of. But they blew it to smithereens anyway. To cover their own asses, reports indicate that the mission commander sought and received permission from their war bosses before carrying out the mission.After it was determined that 7 children had been killed, the coalition spin doctors immediately released their previously-prepared pat response that they are "saddened" by the loss of innocent lives. And then they turn the whole thing around and blame it on the enemy fighters by stating that the children are dead only because the Taliban or Al-Qaeda used them as human shields.
Another coalition spokesperson in another cover-one's-ass statement said, "If we knew that there were children inside the building, there was no way that that airstrike would have occurred."
HELLO! You bombed a madrassa - a school! Madrassas are known for taking in orphans and poor children and god knows Afghanistan has more than its fair share of orphans since 2001 and you damn well knew there would be innocents inside that building and you blew it up anyway.
It's no doubt that some of the more militant fighters in Afghanistan (and Iraq for that matter) use women and children as "human shields" and for that reason innocents do tragically get killed in the crossfire. Indeed, we in the west call that particular militant practice cowardice and rightly so. But how are western forces any better than the enemy "cowards" if we bomb buildings where there is a high probability of innocents being killed?
Wouldn't a more reasonable and civilized approach be to avoid the killing of innocents at all costs? Are dead children worth a few less Taliban fighters? Apparently not anymore.
Shame on us for reading any given news report out of Afghanistan that includes collateral damage in the guise of dead innocents, without even batting an eyelash. Shame on us for learning of the latest school shooting in North America that leaves countless dead innocents, and we deeply and publicly mourn the loss of part of our future generation.
Shame on all of us for holding western youth in such high esteem and protecting them at all cost while we shrug off the youth of Afghanistan and Iraq as just a few more dead ragheads.
Makes one wonder who the real barbarians are.
Sunday, 17 June 2007
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty Spewing Smog-Polluted Rhetoric?
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty in a Liberal fund raising speech this week in Ottawa said in reference to the Atlantic Accord, "The point I'm making to Prime Minister Harper is don't enter into any kind of new arrangement that somehow gives people living in equalization-receiving provinces a greater fiscal capacity than ours. That is not fair".
McGuinty warned Prime Minister Stephen Harper to stand his ground on the Accord dispute between Ottawa and Nova Scotia and Newfoundland because to give into their demands would allow those provinces a greater financial capability than Ontario. He waxed poetic on the generous altruism Ontario displays toward poorer provinces in Atlantic Canada so that Atlantic Canadians can enjoy "comparable programs at comparable taxation levels" but the people of Ontario have their limits. McGuinty, speaking on behalf of the people he represents in Ontario warned the Atlantic provinces, "don't take advantage of us".
What, we wondered are some of the "comparable programs" that we in Atlantic Canada are allowed to enjoy and emulate, funded in part with alms from Ontario. How about our transit system? Subways for example. We don't have subways in Atlantic Canada. We have buses. Most metro transit authorities service only in the larger cities and directly outside the city limits. Rural regions do not have the luxury of city buses.
Toronto on the other hand does have an extensive subway system. So that could be an example of the Atlantic region being granted "comparable programs" to those in Ontario. They have and no doubt require a subway system and we have the comparable city bus which is more suitable for our station in life. The Halifax Regional Municipality could certainly use a more efficient system of public transit but alas according to McGuinty, we just don't deserve it because that would make it appear that Atlantic Canada is equal to Ontario and that wouldn't be fair to Ontario the avaricious.
But look what was just announced for the southern Ontario region - a $17.5 billion GO Transit service expansion which is projected to create 175,000 new jobs. The Ontario government promises to chip in two-thirds of the cost and will ask Ottawa....I mean, the Canadian taxpayers for the rest to the tune of $5.8 billion.
Now we're sure that Toronto deserves this $17.5 billion project. But about that $5.8 billion that they will be asking the Canadian taxpayer to fork over...not so sure we want to be contributing to that Mr. McGuinty. At least not the taxpayers of Atlantic Canada who would love to construct and improve upon our own transit system but won't be financially capable because you and others of your ilk are afraid that we'll go all uppity Canadian in your caboose.
Is that the ozone we're smelling in the rain-laden air or is it just McGuinty & Company spewing a whole lot of sanctimonious smog-polluted rhetoric?
McGuinty warned Prime Minister Stephen Harper to stand his ground on the Accord dispute between Ottawa and Nova Scotia and Newfoundland because to give into their demands would allow those provinces a greater financial capability than Ontario. He waxed poetic on the generous altruism Ontario displays toward poorer provinces in Atlantic Canada so that Atlantic Canadians can enjoy "comparable programs at comparable taxation levels" but the people of Ontario have their limits. McGuinty, speaking on behalf of the people he represents in Ontario warned the Atlantic provinces, "don't take advantage of us".
What, we wondered are some of the "comparable programs" that we in Atlantic Canada are allowed to enjoy and emulate, funded in part with alms from Ontario. How about our transit system? Subways for example. We don't have subways in Atlantic Canada. We have buses. Most metro transit authorities service only in the larger cities and directly outside the city limits. Rural regions do not have the luxury of city buses.
Toronto on the other hand does have an extensive subway system. So that could be an example of the Atlantic region being granted "comparable programs" to those in Ontario. They have and no doubt require a subway system and we have the comparable city bus which is more suitable for our station in life. The Halifax Regional Municipality could certainly use a more efficient system of public transit but alas according to McGuinty, we just don't deserve it because that would make it appear that Atlantic Canada is equal to Ontario and that wouldn't be fair to Ontario the avaricious.
But look what was just announced for the southern Ontario region - a $17.5 billion GO Transit service expansion which is projected to create 175,000 new jobs. The Ontario government promises to chip in two-thirds of the cost and will ask Ottawa....I mean, the Canadian taxpayers for the rest to the tune of $5.8 billion.
Now we're sure that Toronto deserves this $17.5 billion project. But about that $5.8 billion that they will be asking the Canadian taxpayer to fork over...not so sure we want to be contributing to that Mr. McGuinty. At least not the taxpayers of Atlantic Canada who would love to construct and improve upon our own transit system but won't be financially capable because you and others of your ilk are afraid that we'll go all uppity Canadian in your caboose.
Is that the ozone we're smelling in the rain-laden air or is it just McGuinty & Company spewing a whole lot of sanctimonious smog-polluted rhetoric?
Thursday, 14 June 2007
Women and heart attacks (Myocardial Infarction)
Did you know that women rarely have the same dramatic symptoms that men have when they have a heart attack? You know, the sudden stabbing pain in the chest, the cold sweat, grabbing the chest & dropping to the floor that we see in the movies. Here is the story of one woman's experience with a heart attack.
I had a completely unexpected heart attack at about 10:30 pm with NO prior exertion, NO prior emotional trauma that one would suspect might've brought it on. I was sitting all snugly & warm on a cold evening, with my purring cat in my lap, reading an interesting story my friend had sent me, and actually thinking,"A-A-h, this is the life, all cozy and warm in my soft, cushy Lazy Boy with my feet propped up.
"A moment later, I felt that awful sensation of indigestion, when you've been in a hurry and grabbed a bite of sandwich and washed it down with a dash of water, and that hurried bite seems to feel like you've swallowed a golf ball going down the esophagus in slow motion and it is most uncomfortable. You realize you shouldn't have gulped it down so fast and needed to chew it more thoroughly and this time drink a glass of water to hasten its progress down to the stomach. This was my initial sensation---the only trouble was that I hadn't taken a bite of anything since about 5:00 p.m.
After that had seemed to subside, the next sensation was like little squeezing motions that seemed to be racing up my SPINE (hind-sight, it was probably my aorta spasming), gaining speed as they continued racing up and under my sternum (breast bone, where one presses rhythmically when administering CPR). This fascinating process continued on into my throat and branched out into both jaws.
AHA!! NOW I stopped puzzling about what was happening--we all have read and/or heard about pain in the jaws being one of the signals of an MI happening, haven't we? I said aloud to myself and the cat, "Dear God, I think I'm having a heart attack !" I lowered the foot rest, dumping the cat from my lap, started to take a step and fell on the floor instead. I thought to myself "If this is a heart attack, I shouldn't be walking into the next room where the phone is or anywhere else.......but, on the other hand, if I don't, nobody will know that I need help, and if I wait any longer I may not be able to get up in moment."
I pulled myself up with the arms of the chair, walked slowly into the next room and dialed the Paramedics... I told her I thought I was having a heart attack due to the pressure building under the sternum and radiating into my jaws. I didn't feel hysterical or afraid, just stating the facts. She said she was sending the Paramedics over immediately, asked if the front door was near to me, and if so, to unbolt the door and then lie down on the floor where they could see me when they came in.
I then lay down on the floor as instructed and lost consciousness, as I don't remember the medics coming in, their examination, lifting me onto a gurney or getting me into their ambulance, or hearing the call they made to St. Jude ER on the way, but I did briefly awaken when we arrived and saw that the Cardiologist was already there in his surgical blues and cap, helping the medics pull my stretcher out of the ambulance.
He was bending over me asking questions (probably something like "Have you taken any medications?") but I couldn't make my mind interpret what he was saying, or form an answer, and nodded off again, not waking up until the Cardiologist and partner had already threaded the teeny angiogram balloonup my femoral artery into the aorta and into my heart where they installed 2 side by side stents to hold open my right coronary artery.
I know it sounds like all my thinking and actions at home must have taken at least 20-30 minutes before calling the Paramedics, but actually it took perhaps 4-5 minutes before the call, and both the fire station and St. Jude are only minutes away from my home, and my Cardiologist was already to go to the OR in his scrubs and get going on restarting my heart (which had stopped somewhere between my arrival and the procedure) and installing the stents.
Why have I written all of this to you with so much detail? Because I want all of you who are so important in my life to know what I learned first hand.
Women having a heart attack can experience exhaustion.
Men having a hear attack can have classic chest pain.
1. Be aware that something very different is happening in your body not the usual men's symptoms, but inexplicable things happening (until my sternum and jaws got into the act ). It is said that many more women than men die of their first (and last) MI because they didn't know they were having one, and commonly mistake it as indigestion, take some Maalox or other anti-heartburn preparation, and go to bed, hoping they'll feel better in the morning when they wake up....which doesn't happen. My female friends, your symptoms might not be exactly like mine, so I advise you to call the Paramedics if ANYTHING is unpleasantly happening that you've not felt before. It is better to have a "false alarm" visitation than to risk your life guessing what it might be.
2. Note that I said "Call the Paramedics". Ladies, time is of the essence! Do not try to drive yourself to the ER--you're a hazard to others on the road, and so is your panicked husband who will be speeding and looking anxiously at what's happening with you instead of the road.
Do NOT call your doctor--he doesn't know where you live and if it's at night you won't reach him anyway, and if it's daytime, his assistants (or answering service) will tell you to call the Paramedics. He doesn't carry the equipment in his car that you need to be saved! The Paramedics do, principally oxygen that you need ASAP. Your Dr. will be notified later.
3. Don't assume it couldn't be a heart attack because you have a normal cholesterol count. Research has discovered that a cholesterol elevated reading is rarely the cause of an MI (unless it's unbelievably high,and/or accompanied by high blood pressure.) MI's are usually caused by long-term stress and inflammation in the body, which dumps all sorts of deadly hormones into your system to sludge things up in there.
Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let's be careful and be aware. The more we know, the better chance we could survive...
==========================================================================================================
Symptoms of a heart attack that more likely appear in women include:
More women will die from heart disease than all forms of cancer combined.
One in five women have some form of heart or blood vessel disease.
Thirty-eight percent of women who have heart attacks die within a year.
But most women don't regard heart disease as a health risk.
I had a completely unexpected heart attack at about 10:30 pm with NO prior exertion, NO prior emotional trauma that one would suspect might've brought it on. I was sitting all snugly & warm on a cold evening, with my purring cat in my lap, reading an interesting story my friend had sent me, and actually thinking,"A-A-h, this is the life, all cozy and warm in my soft, cushy Lazy Boy with my feet propped up.
"A moment later, I felt that awful sensation of indigestion, when you've been in a hurry and grabbed a bite of sandwich and washed it down with a dash of water, and that hurried bite seems to feel like you've swallowed a golf ball going down the esophagus in slow motion and it is most uncomfortable. You realize you shouldn't have gulped it down so fast and needed to chew it more thoroughly and this time drink a glass of water to hasten its progress down to the stomach. This was my initial sensation---the only trouble was that I hadn't taken a bite of anything since about 5:00 p.m.
After that had seemed to subside, the next sensation was like little squeezing motions that seemed to be racing up my SPINE (hind-sight, it was probably my aorta spasming), gaining speed as they continued racing up and under my sternum (breast bone, where one presses rhythmically when administering CPR). This fascinating process continued on into my throat and branched out into both jaws.
AHA!! NOW I stopped puzzling about what was happening--we all have read and/or heard about pain in the jaws being one of the signals of an MI happening, haven't we? I said aloud to myself and the cat, "Dear God, I think I'm having a heart attack !" I lowered the foot rest, dumping the cat from my lap, started to take a step and fell on the floor instead. I thought to myself "If this is a heart attack, I shouldn't be walking into the next room where the phone is or anywhere else.......but, on the other hand, if I don't, nobody will know that I need help, and if I wait any longer I may not be able to get up in moment."
I pulled myself up with the arms of the chair, walked slowly into the next room and dialed the Paramedics... I told her I thought I was having a heart attack due to the pressure building under the sternum and radiating into my jaws. I didn't feel hysterical or afraid, just stating the facts. She said she was sending the Paramedics over immediately, asked if the front door was near to me, and if so, to unbolt the door and then lie down on the floor where they could see me when they came in.
I then lay down on the floor as instructed and lost consciousness, as I don't remember the medics coming in, their examination, lifting me onto a gurney or getting me into their ambulance, or hearing the call they made to St. Jude ER on the way, but I did briefly awaken when we arrived and saw that the Cardiologist was already there in his surgical blues and cap, helping the medics pull my stretcher out of the ambulance.
He was bending over me asking questions (probably something like "Have you taken any medications?") but I couldn't make my mind interpret what he was saying, or form an answer, and nodded off again, not waking up until the Cardiologist and partner had already threaded the teeny angiogram balloonup my femoral artery into the aorta and into my heart where they installed 2 side by side stents to hold open my right coronary artery.
I know it sounds like all my thinking and actions at home must have taken at least 20-30 minutes before calling the Paramedics, but actually it took perhaps 4-5 minutes before the call, and both the fire station and St. Jude are only minutes away from my home, and my Cardiologist was already to go to the OR in his scrubs and get going on restarting my heart (which had stopped somewhere between my arrival and the procedure) and installing the stents.
Why have I written all of this to you with so much detail? Because I want all of you who are so important in my life to know what I learned first hand.
Women having a heart attack can experience exhaustion.Men having a hear attack can have classic chest pain.
1. Be aware that something very different is happening in your body not the usual men's symptoms, but inexplicable things happening (until my sternum and jaws got into the act ). It is said that many more women than men die of their first (and last) MI because they didn't know they were having one, and commonly mistake it as indigestion, take some Maalox or other anti-heartburn preparation, and go to bed, hoping they'll feel better in the morning when they wake up....which doesn't happen. My female friends, your symptoms might not be exactly like mine, so I advise you to call the Paramedics if ANYTHING is unpleasantly happening that you've not felt before. It is better to have a "false alarm" visitation than to risk your life guessing what it might be.
2. Note that I said "Call the Paramedics". Ladies, time is of the essence! Do not try to drive yourself to the ER--you're a hazard to others on the road, and so is your panicked husband who will be speeding and looking anxiously at what's happening with you instead of the road.
Do NOT call your doctor--he doesn't know where you live and if it's at night you won't reach him anyway, and if it's daytime, his assistants (or answering service) will tell you to call the Paramedics. He doesn't carry the equipment in his car that you need to be saved! The Paramedics do, principally oxygen that you need ASAP. Your Dr. will be notified later.
3. Don't assume it couldn't be a heart attack because you have a normal cholesterol count. Research has discovered that a cholesterol elevated reading is rarely the cause of an MI (unless it's unbelievably high,and/or accompanied by high blood pressure.) MI's are usually caused by long-term stress and inflammation in the body, which dumps all sorts of deadly hormones into your system to sludge things up in there.
Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let's be careful and be aware. The more we know, the better chance we could survive...
==========================================================================================================
Symptoms of a heart attack that more likely appear in women include:
- Indigestion or gas-like pain
- Dizziness, nausea, or vomiting
- Unexplained weakness, fatigue
- Discomfort/pain between shoulder blades
- Recurring chest discomfort
- Shortness of breath
- Cold sweats
- Jaw pain
- Sense of impending doom
More women will die from heart disease than all forms of cancer combined.
One in five women have some form of heart or blood vessel disease.
Thirty-eight percent of women who have heart attacks die within a year.
But most women don't regard heart disease as a health risk.
Wednesday, 13 June 2007
The Sopranos
Ok I admit it, I'm a television junkie. That doesn't mean that I have my nose in front of a set 24/7 - the TV gets turned on at 6 pm so I can catch the local evening news and later, a half hour of Lou Dobbs just so I can keep my eye on those crazy Americans. I say that with affection, not malice. Well, except for Bush..
Last night I finally caught the series finale of one of my favourite shows, The Sopranos. Before I go any further a warning for anyone who hasn't seen the finale yet....**SPOILERS AHEAD**.
So anyway...there have been months of speculation on how HBO was going to end the series and the general consensus was that Tony would definitely be whacked. Probably in a big bloody way. Tony himself whacked Christopher a few episodes back and he almost fed Paulie to the fishes but couldn't make himself do it.
The ultra-cool Sil was shot last week and although he didn't die in the series, we pretty well knew he was about to being in a coma and all.
The thought of whacking Tony didn't sit right with me. It just didn't seem right, somehow. But I had heard so many rumours that he would be that as I settled in to watch last night's finale, I was practically on the edge of my seat cringing at who would do it, how they'd do it and when it would happen all the time dreading the moment.
So, when it happened - no, not the whacking but the ending - my immediate reaction was WTF?? A blank screen right in the middle of a conversation between Tony, Carm, Meadow and AJ?? Ok, I thought as I continued to watch that blank screen, they're going to show us a the scene of the carnage after everyone's been shot in the head.....
But it didn't happen! HBO was absolutely brilliant. They decided to let the fans decide Tony's fate. Now the entire set-up to the last scene in the diner was meant to give one the impression that an assassin was there at the counter. Tony checked him out when he came in, the guy looked guilty as hell but he sat down at the counter and Tony seemed to relax.
Then Meadow arrived and at that moment the would-be assassin got up abruptly from his seat, turned toward Tony's general direction (Tony was back on alert) but instead headed for the men's room.
The last shot was of the Soprano family together discussing what they were going to order. That's when the screen went blank.
The end.
So for this fan, nobody got whacked. The guy at the counter was just that - a guy in the diner for a bite to eat and the Soprano family went on to live another day. That's exactly the way I wanted it to end.
For other fans, that guy was indeed an assassin, he went into the men's room but made a quick u-turn, came out with guns blazing and whacked the whole family. That's exactly the way they wanted it.
I tip my hat to HBO and the writers who came up with this ending that so intimately involved fan participation.
Choose your own ending...who woulda thunk it?
Last night I finally caught the series finale of one of my favourite shows, The Sopranos. Before I go any further a warning for anyone who hasn't seen the finale yet....**SPOILERS AHEAD**.
So anyway...there have been months of speculation on how HBO was going to end the series and the general consensus was that Tony would definitely be whacked. Probably in a big bloody way. Tony himself whacked Christopher a few episodes back and he almost fed Paulie to the fishes but couldn't make himself do it.
The ultra-cool Sil was shot last week and although he didn't die in the series, we pretty well knew he was about to being in a coma and all.
The thought of whacking Tony didn't sit right with me. It just didn't seem right, somehow. But I had heard so many rumours that he would be that as I settled in to watch last night's finale, I was practically on the edge of my seat cringing at who would do it, how they'd do it and when it would happen all the time dreading the moment.
So, when it happened - no, not the whacking but the ending - my immediate reaction was WTF?? A blank screen right in the middle of a conversation between Tony, Carm, Meadow and AJ?? Ok, I thought as I continued to watch that blank screen, they're going to show us a the scene of the carnage after everyone's been shot in the head.....
But it didn't happen! HBO was absolutely brilliant. They decided to let the fans decide Tony's fate. Now the entire set-up to the last scene in the diner was meant to give one the impression that an assassin was there at the counter. Tony checked him out when he came in, the guy looked guilty as hell but he sat down at the counter and Tony seemed to relax.
Then Meadow arrived and at that moment the would-be assassin got up abruptly from his seat, turned toward Tony's general direction (Tony was back on alert) but instead headed for the men's room.
The last shot was of the Soprano family together discussing what they were going to order. That's when the screen went blank.
The end.
So for this fan, nobody got whacked. The guy at the counter was just that - a guy in the diner for a bite to eat and the Soprano family went on to live another day. That's exactly the way I wanted it to end.
For other fans, that guy was indeed an assassin, he went into the men's room but made a quick u-turn, came out with guns blazing and whacked the whole family. That's exactly the way they wanted it.
I tip my hat to HBO and the writers who came up with this ending that so intimately involved fan participation.
Choose your own ending...who woulda thunk it?
Why Guantánamo Bay?
Ever wondered how the United States can maintain a military base on the island nation of Cuba when the two countries do not have diplomatic relations? I'm referring of course to Guantánamo Bay and the 1903 Platt Amendment which was added as a rider to the U.S. Army Appropriations Act following their withdrawal from Cuba in the aftermath of the Spanish-American war.
The Amendment stipulated:
1.) Cuba surrender to the U.S. that country's existing naval base in Guantánamo Bay;
2.) Cuba would not be allowed to transfer Cuban land to anyone other than the United States;
3.) The U.S. had the right to intervene in any and/or all Cuba affairs that the U.S. felt was necessary;
4.) Cuba was not allowed to "negotiate treaties" with any other country other than the United States.
Cuba at that time agreed to the Amendment for various reasons including one supposes, the fact that the U.S. could even in the early 20th century, blow them to smithereens if crossed. The original Platt Amendment provisions however were mostly repealed thirty years later in 1934 except for one - the U.S. insisted upon its retention of Guantánamo Bay through a long-term lease policy until "they no longer needed it". The lease can only be revoked if both the United States and Cuba agree.
The United States government each year sends to Cuba a cheque in the amount of $4,085 to cover the lease agreement but since Fidel Castro assumed power, not one cheque has been cashed and rumours suggest that they have been accumulating in a government office desk drawer for decades.
The U.S. military base at Guantánamo Bay occupies some 120 square kilometres (71 square miles) of prime Cuban land which includes 17square kilometres (23 square miles) of previously pristine coastline. At least 7,000 people are stationed on the base permanently, 3,000 of which are military personnel and an unknown amount of "enemy combatants". The bay has 42 moorings and the port can accommodate the largest ships in the U.S. Navy. Until 1998, within base perimeters was one of the densest mine fields in the world, with an estimated 735 acres containing 70,000 antipersonnel and antitank mines.
Local environmentalists are becoming increasingly concerned over the accumulation of hazardous materials ending up in landfills on the base including electronic equipment, paint, solvents, tires, aerosol cans and batteries.
The base newsletter, The Guantanamo Bay Gazette reported earlier this year that a recipe for disaster is being created today that will be realized "10, 20, 50 years from now." The Cuban Foreign Affairs Department reports that ongoing American military exercises including the use of nuclear-powered submarines have resulted in damage to the ecosystem along the Cuban coastline including the offshore delicate coral reef system.
The Amendment stipulated:
1.) Cuba surrender to the U.S. that country's existing naval base in Guantánamo Bay;
2.) Cuba would not be allowed to transfer Cuban land to anyone other than the United States;
3.) The U.S. had the right to intervene in any and/or all Cuba affairs that the U.S. felt was necessary;
4.) Cuba was not allowed to "negotiate treaties" with any other country other than the United States.
Cuba at that time agreed to the Amendment for various reasons including one supposes, the fact that the U.S. could even in the early 20th century, blow them to smithereens if crossed. The original Platt Amendment provisions however were mostly repealed thirty years later in 1934 except for one - the U.S. insisted upon its retention of Guantánamo Bay through a long-term lease policy until "they no longer needed it". The lease can only be revoked if both the United States and Cuba agree. The United States government each year sends to Cuba a cheque in the amount of $4,085 to cover the lease agreement but since Fidel Castro assumed power, not one cheque has been cashed and rumours suggest that they have been accumulating in a government office desk drawer for decades.
The U.S. military base at Guantánamo Bay occupies some 120 square kilometres (71 square miles) of prime Cuban land which includes 17square kilometres (23 square miles) of previously pristine coastline. At least 7,000 people are stationed on the base permanently, 3,000 of which are military personnel and an unknown amount of "enemy combatants". The bay has 42 moorings and the port can accommodate the largest ships in the U.S. Navy. Until 1998, within base perimeters was one of the densest mine fields in the world, with an estimated 735 acres containing 70,000 antipersonnel and antitank mines.
Local environmentalists are becoming increasingly concerned over the accumulation of hazardous materials ending up in landfills on the base including electronic equipment, paint, solvents, tires, aerosol cans and batteries.
The base newsletter, The Guantanamo Bay Gazette reported earlier this year that a recipe for disaster is being created today that will be realized "10, 20, 50 years from now." The Cuban Foreign Affairs Department reports that ongoing American military exercises including the use of nuclear-powered submarines have resulted in damage to the ecosystem along the Cuban coastline including the offshore delicate coral reef system.
An Open Letter To The Rest of Canada
Greetings from Atlantic Canada,
It has come to my attention that many people beyond the New Brunswick/Quebec border have an extremely limited understanding of what it means to have the leader of this country and his cronies decide to unilaterally tear up a signed, sealed and delivered contract and replace it with something else...anything else, as long as it doesn't have the heading, "Atlantic Accord".
Imagine my dismay to read some of the comments offered by so many of the uninformed in upper Canada to the question, 'Is the Harper government breaking a contract and gleefully putting the screws to Atlantic Canada in regards to the 2007 federal budget and the Atlantic Accord?' or something like that....
Before I get to some of the more naive comments let me try to explain to you people in upper Canada what exactly has transpired. Actually I think I'll let Nova Scotia Premier Rodney MacDonald explain it to you. He was a teacher in his previous life and shows a remarkable understanding of the science behind explaining a topic to those among us with particularly impenetrable skulls. Without further ado, the following explanation was written by Premier MacDonald a few days ago and published in a local Halifax daily:
It has come to my attention that many people beyond the New Brunswick/Quebec border have an extremely limited understanding of what it means to have the leader of this country and his cronies decide to unilaterally tear up a signed, sealed and delivered contract and replace it with something else...anything else, as long as it doesn't have the heading, "Atlantic Accord".
Imagine my dismay to read some of the comments offered by so many of the uninformed in upper Canada to the question, 'Is the Harper government breaking a contract and gleefully putting the screws to Atlantic Canada in regards to the 2007 federal budget and the Atlantic Accord?' or something like that....
Before I get to some of the more naive comments let me try to explain to you people in upper Canada what exactly has transpired. Actually I think I'll let Nova Scotia Premier Rodney MacDonald explain it to you. He was a teacher in his previous life and shows a remarkable understanding of the science behind explaining a topic to those among us with particularly impenetrable skulls. Without further ado, the following explanation was written by Premier MacDonald a few days ago and published in a local Halifax daily:
"Suppose you are an employee in a company and you achieve a bonus from your boss. You take that bonus and put all of it against your mortgage. Two years later, the company is doing better so the boss gives everyone a raise. But he gives you a choice between your old salary with the bonus you got two years ago or the raise. But the catch is that if you take the raise you have to pay back the bonus you got. Is that fair?
"That's what the federal government is doing to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. They gave us the accord two years ago and we put it on our debt. Now they are clawing it back if you choose the richer Equalization formula. In effect, to get the full value of the Equalization formula they are asking Nova Scotia to go further into debt. It makes you wonder if Nova Scotia and Newfoundland are part of Canada."
Now do you understand? Does that make it any clearer? How about you, Pat in Newfoundland? Do you see the error of your words when you write how ashamed you are of being from Newfoundland because you are under the false impression that NL is now a "have" province that still demands more money from the other "have" provinces? Silly Pat. Newfoundland wants to be a have-province, they're working hard towards being a have-province but they aren't there yet. The Accord would have been quite helpful in their endeavours.
How about Gary from somewhere in Canada but I seriously doubt it's anywhere in the Atlantic region? Do you understand now? Do you get it? Because it's not reflected in your little flash of uninformed perspective. How did you put it? Atlantic Canadians "still want to be on welfare as well as working...talk about double dipping"? Apparently Gary is under the impression that until very recently no one in Atlantic Canada actually worked for a living and now everyone is magically independently wealthy. Gary has to be from Ontario.
This next one just depressed me. Because this person didn't sign with a real name I'll refer to him or her as "Bubba". Bubba, like Pat is an Atlantic Canadian and downright ashamed of that fact. Oops sorry, Bubba is embarrassed, not ashamed. I'd be embarrassed too Bubba if I thought like you do about this being a simple issue and all. And really, if I was as embarrassed as you (and Pat for that matter) I'd be slinking out of the Maritimes under darkness of night and taking up residence somewhere in upper Canada where I'm sure you'd fit right in.
Danny dear you actually have it half right and you don't even realize it! You say with an air of authority that the east coast cannot have it both ways. That's true and furthermore we don't want it both ways. Then you declare that once offshore revenue equals or exceeds equalization payments then those payments should be halted. BINGO! Give a gold star to Danny because that is the position we in Atlantic Canada have always maintained. Wonder why Danny states that he sides with Harper on this issue...? Funny that.
And then there was Deidra. Poor pitiful Deidra is sick and tired. Sick and tired of whining Atlantic Canadians who would rather work just long enough to be eligible for EI cheques (we call them pogey cheques, eh) and why shouldn't Atlantic Canada share our offshore revenue "wealth" with the rest of Canada anyway?? And what's with those lazy Maritimers who don't want to work to the extent that certain companies have to hire from outside Canada altogether?? Diedra your entire diatribe was "just wrong"!
Sam, it never ceases to amaze me how little of an understanding the rest of Canada has about life beyond Quebec. Sam is so good at the stereotyping I'm going to let him speak for himself: "Grow up, get to work, and perhaps, just perhaps one day, you might actually contribute to Confederation like the few of us that actually do." Sam makes me so proud to be a Canadian that I'm getting all teary-eyed.
So Canada, you see the general consensus from the samplings above. If Pat and Gary and Danny and Diedra and that irascible scamp Sam can actually post their opinions on a national message board believing wholeheartedly that they have a deep and astute understanding of the Atlantic Accord and what it means not only to Atlantic Canada but to all of Canada, if they can write such uninformed, stereotypical, bigoted garbage about their fellow Canadians, what does that say about Canada?
All I can do is shake my head in disgust at the absolute ignorance the rest of Canada has when it involves anything beyond Quebec. It's like I'm reading racist comments about a group of uneducated bums in a distant Third World country. Look at the words and phrases my fellow Canadians are directing toward the good people of Atlantic Canada:
Bellyaching
On the dole
Whiners
Tiresome
EI bums
Culture of defeat
Jerks
Welfare recipients
Double-dipping bums
And that's just from ONE message board.
There's talk of Alberta separating or at least building a firewall around itself...Quebec continues to threaten separation insisting they can and want to go it alone...people in the west call people in the east, "eastern bastards"....people in the east call people in Ontario "uppity Canadians"....others refer to Canada from coast to coast as "BC to Quebec"...what the hell happened to this country? What happened that created the hate and ignorance and animosity and vituperation?
Atlantic Canada doesn't want something for nothing, we don't want our cake and eat too, we don't want it both ways and we definitely don't want anything to do with "double-dipping". We are not a "have" region but we want a fair chance to become one someday. Our offshore is still in the baby stages. If the Atlantic Accord is taken from us, this region will NEVER have a chance at being a have-province. We will continue to be "on the dole" to the feds. We want to be self-sustaining and once we are self-sustaining, we will not require any more assistance from the rest of Canada. That should make you very happy.
I invite...no I implore you to please enlighten yourselves about the real meaning and the wording of the Atlantic Accord and what it will mean for the Atlantic provinces and all of Canada. Once you've developed a better understanding of our position, take a good long look at what Harper and Flaherty want to do with this Accord. Learn what Harper and Flaherty want to do to Atlantic Canada, discover what Harper thinks of Atlantic Canada. Oddly enough, Stephen Harper feels the same way Diedra, Danny, Pat and Gary feel....and I've already established how ignorant, uninformed and hateful those sentiments are.
Do this country a favour, become informed and stop the negative long-standing stereotypes. If not, ask yourselves what the alternatives will be.
And finally, how do celebrate Canada Day in Ontario and Alberta and Manitoba? Do you wave tiny maple leaf flags at your local Canada Day parade? Do you attend open concerts and stand proudly joining thousands of other voices as you all belt out a sincere rendidtion of 'Oh Canada'? Do you on that day display open patriotism for this great country?
So do we here in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland/Labrador. See? We're not so different afterall..
Tuesday, 12 June 2007
Who Voted For Harper Anyway??
If you voted Conservative in the last election and put Stephen Harper in charge, raise your hand if you have the gonads.
Tell me, are you one of those disillusioned Canadians so pissed off with those "lying cheating" Liberals that Harper appeared to be that breath of fresh air you craved? Did you fall hook, line and sinker for all that "I stand for openness and integrity and accountability in government" crap? Did you honestly believe that Harper was Canada's glorious knight in shining armor who believed it was his mission from god to clean up government?
Because I was one of those people who saw the man for what he really was - a neo-conservative neo-Christian American-wannabe Bush-worshiping anal retentive homophobic Albertan who subscribed to the mantra that Atlantic Canadians are a "culture of defeat".
So let's take a minute to review some statements this Fascist in Ottawa has made over the last few years:
So again, who out there has the gonads to stand up and tell us if you voted Conservative in the last election?
Tell us how proud of yourselves you are now.
Tell me, are you one of those disillusioned Canadians so pissed off with those "lying cheating" Liberals that Harper appeared to be that breath of fresh air you craved? Did you fall hook, line and sinker for all that "I stand for openness and integrity and accountability in government" crap? Did you honestly believe that Harper was Canada's glorious knight in shining armor who believed it was his mission from god to clean up government?
Because I was one of those people who saw the man for what he really was - a neo-conservative neo-Christian American-wannabe Bush-worshiping anal retentive homophobic Albertan who subscribed to the mantra that Atlantic Canadians are a "culture of defeat".
So let's take a minute to review some statements this Fascist in Ottawa has made over the last few years:
- I think in Atlantic Canada, because of what happened in the decades following Confederation, there is a culture of defeat that we have to overcome.
- I've always been clear, I support the traditional definition of marriage.
- If Ottawa giveth, then Ottawa can taketh away
- It is imperative to take the initiative, to build firewalls around Alberta, to limit the extent to which an aggressive and hostile federal government can encroach upon legitimate provincial jurisdiction.
- The world is now unipolar and contains only one superpower. Canada shares a continent with that superpower.
- We should have been there shoulder to shoulder with our allies. Our concern is the instability of our government as an ally. We are playing again with national and global security matters.
- Canada appears content to become a second-tier socialistic country, boasting ever more loudly about its economy and social services to mask its second-rate status.
So again, who out there has the gonads to stand up and tell us if you voted Conservative in the last election?
Tell us how proud of yourselves you are now.
Monday, 11 June 2007
Conrad's Beach
Lawrencetown's Best Kept Secret - Conrad's Beach
In the province of Nova Scotia there are two Lawrencetowns. One community is situated in the beautiful Annapolis Valley and the other can be found outside Cole Harbour by travelling toward the eastern shore. The main thoroughfare in Lawrencetown also goes by two different names - Lawrencetown Road and Highway 207. Confusing? Not for those of us who live here but for everyone else, whenever I speak of Lawrencetown to a "townie" I make sure they know I'm talking about "Lawrencetown Beach, not Valley".
We are known however far and wide for our beautiful beach, aptly named Lawrencetown Beach. If you're driving on Highway 207 (the Lawrencetown Road) toward Seaforth or Three Fathom Harbour there's no missing this impressive beach. Just beyond The MacDonald House which is situated high on the hill to your right and then just around a sharp corner...there it is in all its splendor. The beach is a popular destination for the locals and for those who live in Dartmouth and Halifax and is known for its regular surfing conditions and its rip currents. On any given day you may very well run into well known author Leslie Choyce who lives in the area and is an avid surfer.
The Lawrencetown Beach is a Provincial Park and boasts long boardwalks, a canteen, showers, flush toilets and lots of parking as well as the presence of lifeguards during the peak summer season.
But there's another beach in Lawrencetown that isn't as well known. As everyone speeds toward the Lawrencetown Beach on a hot Sunday afternoon, they pass right by another even more beautiful and larger beach - Conrad's Beach. I hesitate to provide precise directions to this wonderful little secret. So I'll just coyly say if you are intent on finding Conrad's, success will be in your grasp if you pay attention to the signs.
Conrad's Beach is part of the Nova Scotia Coastal Heritage Park System and therefore boasts boardwalks from the very small parking lot to the water. The boardwalk's purpose is twofold - several years ago before the boardwalks were constructed one had to traverse through very sandy pathways amongst the dunes - makes for difficult walking. But there's another more important reason for the boardwalks - the piping plover.
Piping plovers are small tan-coloured birds that scurry along the shorelines of Conrad's Beach which is a protected breeding ground for the endangered birds. Called The Piping Pover Guardian Program, signs are posted at various locations along the marshes and beach areas in an effort to protect the chicks as they hatch and grow. If you're lucky enough to find Conrad's Beach, be on the lookout for these signs:
PIPING PLOVER BREEDING AREA DO NOT DISTURB!!!!!
Volunteers also patrol the protected areas of the beach during the breeding period and are only too happy to explain the program to the curious.
But now, onto the beach itself. Conrad's Beach at low tide is a huge expanse comprised of wonderful fine sand both loose and packed nearer the waterline, almost as far as the eye can see in either direction. I personally believe that Conrad's outshines the Lawrencetown Beach by miles. The water here is less active wave-wise than Lawrencetown but most of the time just as cold. Every once in awhile though the water at Conrad's has been described as lukewarm. I've been lucky enough only a few times to experience that deliciously warm water. The beach is hardly ever packed with people. There are no lifeguards and no facilities. There are however trash cans and everyone is strongly encouraged to use them.
Swimming and sunbathing are only two activities one can enjoy on this beach - strolling from one end to the other is rich in the sights of funny piping plovers as they follow the water line going in and out, scurrying up and down foraging for tiny worms and crustaceans. Always present are the seagulls, either standing still at the water's edge or flying over the surf as they too search for their next meal. The sights and sounds and smells of the ocean is something I never take for granted and Conrad's is always just down the road if I suddenly need an ocean fix.
If one is feeling extra energetic, a trek out to the remnants of an old wharf situated on a point to the left of the beach is invigorating but be aware of the tides! That particular spit of land disappears during high tide.
If you happen upon Conrad's Beach someday as you're taking a drive outside the city in search of the cooler air, enjoy. But can I ask one small favour? Don't tell anyone how to find it..let them discover it themselves. That way maybe Conrad's Beach will remain a best kept secret for a very long time.
In the province of Nova Scotia there are two Lawrencetowns. One community is situated in the beautiful Annapolis Valley and the other can be found outside Cole Harbour by travelling toward the eastern shore. The main thoroughfare in Lawrencetown also goes by two different names - Lawrencetown Road and Highway 207. Confusing? Not for those of us who live here but for everyone else, whenever I speak of Lawrencetown to a "townie" I make sure they know I'm talking about "Lawrencetown Beach, not Valley".
We are known however far and wide for our beautiful beach, aptly named Lawrencetown Beach. If you're driving on Highway 207 (the Lawrencetown Road) toward Seaforth or Three Fathom Harbour there's no missing this impressive beach. Just beyond The MacDonald House which is situated high on the hill to your right and then just around a sharp corner...there it is in all its splendor. The beach is a popular destination for the locals and for those who live in Dartmouth and Halifax and is known for its regular surfing conditions and its rip currents. On any given day you may very well run into well known author Leslie Choyce who lives in the area and is an avid surfer.
The Lawrencetown Beach is a Provincial Park and boasts long boardwalks, a canteen, showers, flush toilets and lots of parking as well as the presence of lifeguards during the peak summer season.
But there's another beach in Lawrencetown that isn't as well known. As everyone speeds toward the Lawrencetown Beach on a hot Sunday afternoon, they pass right by another even more beautiful and larger beach - Conrad's Beach. I hesitate to provide precise directions to this wonderful little secret. So I'll just coyly say if you are intent on finding Conrad's, success will be in your grasp if you pay attention to the signs.
Conrad's Beach is part of the Nova Scotia Coastal Heritage Park System and therefore boasts boardwalks from the very small parking lot to the water. The boardwalk's purpose is twofold - several years ago before the boardwalks were constructed one had to traverse through very sandy pathways amongst the dunes - makes for difficult walking. But there's another more important reason for the boardwalks - the piping plover.Piping plovers are small tan-coloured birds that scurry along the shorelines of Conrad's Beach which is a protected breeding ground for the endangered birds. Called The Piping Pover Guardian Program, signs are posted at various locations along the marshes and beach areas in an effort to protect the chicks as they hatch and grow. If you're lucky enough to find Conrad's Beach, be on the lookout for these signs:
PIPING PLOVER BREEDING AREA DO NOT DISTURB!!!!!
Volunteers also patrol the protected areas of the beach during the breeding period and are only too happy to explain the program to the curious.
But now, onto the beach itself. Conrad's Beach at low tide is a huge expanse comprised of wonderful fine sand both loose and packed nearer the waterline, almost as far as the eye can see in either direction. I personally believe that Conrad's outshines the Lawrencetown Beach by miles. The water here is less active wave-wise than Lawrencetown but most of the time just as cold. Every once in awhile though the water at Conrad's has been described as lukewarm. I've been lucky enough only a few times to experience that deliciously warm water. The beach is hardly ever packed with people. There are no lifeguards and no facilities. There are however trash cans and everyone is strongly encouraged to use them.
Swimming and sunbathing are only two activities one can enjoy on this beach - strolling from one end to the other is rich in the sights of funny piping plovers as they follow the water line going in and out, scurrying up and down foraging for tiny worms and crustaceans. Always present are the seagulls, either standing still at the water's edge or flying over the surf as they too search for their next meal. The sights and sounds and smells of the ocean is something I never take for granted and Conrad's is always just down the road if I suddenly need an ocean fix.
If one is feeling extra energetic, a trek out to the remnants of an old wharf situated on a point to the left of the beach is invigorating but be aware of the tides! That particular spit of land disappears during high tide.
If you happen upon Conrad's Beach someday as you're taking a drive outside the city in search of the cooler air, enjoy. But can I ask one small favour? Don't tell anyone how to find it..let them discover it themselves. That way maybe Conrad's Beach will remain a best kept secret for a very long time.
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