My favorite part of the Olympics, besides watching Apollo Anton Ohno speed skate, was the couples ice dancing.
Of course, I rooted for the USA team: Meryl Davis and Charlie White, however Canada’s team Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir skated were my favorite! Their performance for the gold medal was so fluid, and they were so in-sync with one another, it was hard not to fall in love with them and their routine. It was like watching a young couple in love stealing a few moments together on the ice.
I’d watch that one performance over and over again – it was absolutely beautiful.
Also, I’m absolutely certain Tessa and Scott are dating. At a press conference, they were asked if they were a couple. Tessa hesitated, stuttered, blushed and laughing stating, “Um, I forgot the first question now.” Scott then chimed in saying, “Tessa and I are actually not dating, just on the ice for 7 minutes, every time we do the program and that’s about it.“
Right. I still don’t believe you Scott – but whatever you say . . .
While one group of Canadians are involved in a vile sexual campaign to encourage tourism to Israel, another group is actively involved in fighting Israeli Apartheid.
500 Artists Against Israeli Apartheid
Artists Against Israeli Apartheid: Montreal, February 25th 2010
A call from Montreal artists to support the international campaign for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israeli apartheid…
Today, a broad spectrum of Montreal artists are standing in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom and supporting the growing international campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against the Israeli state. Last winter, the Israeli state launched a violent military assault on the Palestinian people of the Gaza Strip, leaving over 1400 Palestinians dead, including over 300 children. Despite the official end of military operations, the blockade continues to this day, with devastating consequences for Gaza’s residents.
Over 60 years from the beginning of the ongoing Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) in 1948, in which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced from historic Palestine through Israel’s creation, Montreal artists are united in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom and justice.
Montreal artists are now joining this international campaign to concretely protest the Israeli state’s ongoing denial of the inalienable rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties, as stipulated in and protected by international law, as well as Israel’s ongoing occupation and colonization of the West Bank (including Jerusalem) and Gaza, which also constitutes a violation of international law and multiple United Nations resolutions.
Palestinian citizens face an entrenched system of racial discrimination and segregation, resembling the defeated apartheid system in South Africa. A matrix of Israeli-only roads, electrified fences, and over 500 military checkpoints and roadblocks erase freedom of movement for Palestinians. Israel’s apartheid wall, which was condemned by the International Court of Justice in 2004, cuts through Palestinian lands, further annexing Palestinian territory and surrounding Palestinian communities with electrified barbed wire fences and a concrete barrier soaring eight meters high.
Gaza remains under siege. Israel continues to impose collective punishment on the 1.5 million Palestinians of Gaza, who still face chronic shortages of electricity, fuel, food and basic necessities as the campaign of military violence executed by the apartheid state of Israel endures. UN officials recently observed that the “situation has deteriorated into a full-fledged emergency because of the cut-off of vital supplies for Palestinians.” As a result of Israeli actions, Gaza has become a giant prison.
The global movement against Israeli apartheid, supported by a large majority of Palestinian civil society, is not targeted at individual Israelis but at Israeli institutions that are complicit in maintaining the multi-tiered Israeli system of oppression against the Palestinian people.
In fact, the Palestinian civil society BDS call, launched by over 170 Palestinian organisations in 2005, explicitly appeals to conscientious Israelis, urging them to support international efforts to bring about Israel’s compliance with international law and fundamental human rights, essential elements for a justice-based peace in the region. The present appeal is also rooted in an active engagement with many progressive Israeli artists and activists who are working on a daily basis for peace and justice while supporting the growing global movement in opposition to Israeli apartheid.
During the first and second intifadas, Israel invaded, ransacked, and even closed down cinemas, theatres and cultural centers in the occupied territories. These deliberate attempts to stifle the Palestinian cultural voice have failed and will continue to fail. Around the world, the call for BDS is growing and is strongly rooted in the historic international solidarity movement against apartheid in South Africa.
In keeping with Nelson Mandela’s declaration that “our freedom [in South Africa] is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians,” we believe that international solidarity is critical to liberating Palestinians from Israeli colonialism and apartheid. This struggle will continue until all Palestinians are granted their basic human rights, including the right of return for all Palestinian refugees living in the Diaspora.
Today, a diverse array of artists in Montreal, from filmmakers, musicians and dancers to poets, authors and painters, are joining the international movement against Israeli apartheid. On the streets, in concert halls, in words and in song, we commit to fighting against apartheid and call upon all artists and cultural producers across the country and around the world to adopt a similar position in this global struggle.
to add your support to this letter or to present questions or suggestions please write to info(at)tadamon.ca
After a good day for Canada, they are now top of the medal table, at least the way it is ordered in Europe, where the number of gold medals counts first. In Canada and the USA, they just add up the number of medals, in which case the USA are in the lead.
Here is the BBC medal table for the day. The British look like not getting any more medals, as both curling teams bombed out yesterday and the 4 man bob had a nasty spill today. I still think “Own the Podium” is a silly name.
The Final Four of the medal tournament was decided last night. We are down to the United States vs. Finland and Slovakia vs. Canada.
This tournament has been full of things I wouldn’t have believed would happen if you told me. I really can’t say I expected this to be the final four. If someone would have told me before the games started that Sweden and Russia would both finish without a medal, I wouldn’t have believed you. Add to the fact that the U.S. got the number seed and I would’ve thought you were downright insane. It’s funny how things happen though. Just a few days ago, Team America beat Team Canada and everyone and their mother began to panic north of the border (except for Steve Yzerman and Mike Babcock, of course). Now, the Canadians look like the big, bad dog they were supposed to be when this whole Olympic gig started.
On the first edition of The Good Old Hockey Show, we made some predictions before the games started. I picked Sweden to win it all. Not many people were talking about them. It was all Canada or Russia. I felt like the Swedes could sneak up on some people. I was looking pretty smart until last night. Slovakia took it to the Swedes and won thanks to a game winning goal from Tomas freakin’ Kopecky. Really Sweden? You let Tomas Kopecky beat you?
The Fins? They’re good. We knew they’d have a shot to compete. I think they might be the only team that hasn’t surprised me. Before this thing started, I could believe the Fins would make the final four and I also wouldn’t have been shocked to see them out in the first round either.
And then there is the good old U-S-of-A – the young kids who are just playing out of their minds and having a good time…and winning. I didn’t think they could hold up defensively after they lost Paul Martin and Mike Komisarek, but they’re playing as a team out there. Unlike the Russians who looked like a bunch of individual all-stars against Canada, the United States looks like a team when you watch them. The kids have heart and they’re thriving in their role.
Can’t you just feel where all of this is headed? Last Sunday, the world watched the U.S. beat Canada. Arguably the biggest win for the U.S. in hockey since the Miracle on Ice. The Canadians were on life support. Now, just four days later, the Canadians have found their swagger and are probably the gold medal favorites once again. We’re on a collision course for one of the biggest re-matches in the history of the game of hockey and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m extremely glad that Canada absolutely crushed Russia last night. Team USA needs to be the underdog. That’s their role and they can play it to perfection. I don’t care if they’re technically the top seed. The U.S. needs the underdog label. I sincerely hope that Canada crushes Slovakia and the U.S. gets by Finland in a close game. Then all the pressure goes back on the Canadians and the U.S. will have them right where they want them.
Then again, this tournament has been full of things I wouldn’t have believed, so I guess we should expect to see Finland vs. Slovakia for the gold, eh?
Hi everyone, I have a nice little article for you e-commuters out there! Electric bikes are all the craze now here in Canada. Among those brands that are leading the pack, the BionX system is the Cadillac of eBikes. Here’s what they have to say about their product on their website:
BionX intelligent mobility products are the system of choice for many world renowned bicycle manufacturers, when it comes to powering their electric bicycles. In addition, our BionX retrofit kits allow you to convert your current bicycle into an electric one. It installs on almost any bicycle and can drastically improve your commute, training and lifestyle
What’s great about this kit is that it’s easily installed on ANY bike. Unlike many other electric systems that are designed for a specific bike frame.
I am not an owner of one unfortunately, I opted for a petrol-bike for cost reasons. However a friend of mine was lucky enough to purchase one. Needless to say, I am impressed. It’s quiet, It’s zippy, and just a fun ride.
The BionX system can:
recharge on breaking
power assisted pedalling-option
turn of electicity, and pedal like a normal bike (pop the battery off too!)
recharge while pedalling.
everything is computer controlled.
Here in Canada there are some regulations regarding electric bikes. The Ontario Ministry of Transportation here in Canada has set bikes with the following stipulations:
it has a total continuous power output rating, measured at the shaft of each motor, of 500 W or less,
if it is engaged by the use of muscular power, power assistance immediately ceases when the muscular power ceases,
if it is engaged by the use of an accelerator controller, power assistance immediately ceases when the brakes are applied, and
it is incapable of providing further assistance when the bicycle attains a speed of 32 km/h on level ground
One hot summer’s afternoon, and after a few drinks – we had decided that 33km/h just doesn’t cut it. After some debate about how the motor was limited at 33km/h. We couldn’t find any specific component, that would have limited the speed of the motor. Therefore, the computer/spedometer must be controlling it. After donig some google searches, and a bit of fiddling, we were able to determine that we could very easily have this bike break 33km/h!
This softhack will allow e-bikes to go past their limited speed of 33km/h.
Hold down the chorono and mode button at the same time
hold it until the screen shows four zeros (0000)
Change the 4 zeroes to the number 3773
use the A and G buttons to change the numbers
push the mode button when you are done
This will take you to the next configuration screen.
I’ve never been a huge sports person. I did the usual when I was younger – dance, swimming, gymnastics, and figure skating – but eventually I gave it all up. I’m also not the most patriotic Canadian out there. I do my fair share of complaining about the country. It’s too cold, there aren’t any good beaches, it’s too boring. You name it, I complain about it.
But every so often I do a complete 180, and turn on the Canadian spirit in a big way.
The first is during the World Juniors hockey. For some reason hockey makes me incredibly patriotic. Perhaps it’s because I’m one of those people that believe hockey is Canada’s game. Sure, the US and Russia can play too. We know how to share. But when it comes right down to it, we own it. It’s ours.
The second is during the winter Olympics. For two weeks every four years I find myself watching sports I never had an interest in before, cheering on athletes I’ve never heard of simply because we share citizenship of the same country. There’s always a lot of talk about the US “owning the podium.” You know what? If the US can go on and win 30-some odd medals, good for them. But no matter where Canada ranks, the Canuck spirit remains strong.
I say that with one notable exception: hockey. As much as winning isn’t supposed to matter, it’s important to the country that we win gold in men’s hockey. There’s something so special about watching your flag rise to the top while the anthem plays. It’s a national past-time; the sport that unites us all. And we’re on home soil. We had a little lapse on Sunday night against the Americans – it didn’t help that their goalie was incredible – but we’ll come back strong and make it right again. Because we’re Canadian. And this is our sport.
So, Sid, bring it home. We’ll be behind you every step of the way.
1. Lines: The Canadian provinces, various countries, and corporate sponsors have set up “houses” in various locations around Vancouver. If there’s one house you particularly want to go to, be prepared for long lines. For example, get to the Royal Canadian Mint at least two hours before it opens if you want to see the Olympic medals. Otherwise, you’ll be standing a couple blocks away. Other really popular locations: the zip line at Robson Square, the Vancouver Art Gallery showing Leonardo Da Vinci drawings, and pretty much any place giving out free food. On the upside, people tend to do the wave to pass the time.
2. Pins: Fancy yourself a pin collector? You can get different ones at each house–for free. But go in and ask the volunteers working at the house about the pins. Some of the houses do not publicize the fact that they give away pins because of the crowds of people.
3. The Official Olympic store at the Bay: During the Olympics, it’s open until midnight on the weekdays and twenty-four hours on the weekend. Every time I passed by that place, there were long lines. If you want official merchandise, be prepared to wait for a couple hours just to get into the store. Or you can get the merchandise at other stores instead (I suggest checking the shops at Granville Island or Robson Street).
4. Transportation: It was a good thing my sister actually lives in Vancouver and knew the bus lines, because at times (especially an hour or two prior to game times), there are long lines just to get into the Skytrain stations. Although the buses are also packed to capacity, there are a lot more of them and taking one will actually get you faster to your destination than the newer Skytrain. I suppose this would apply to any Olympics. Keep in mind the alternatives before you go anywhere.
5. Tickets: If you have a ticket to an Olympic event, you don’t have to pay to get on the Skytrain or any of the buses for the day of the event. Just show your ticket to the driver and get on.
6. Security: You are required to go through security for any Olympic event. Pack as if you are heading to the airport. Don’t bring any food or drinks. There are two types of lines, a regular line where you will get your bags x-rayed and an express line for people who don’t have bags or just small purses. However, note that if you do bring a bag (no matter the size) through the express line, they will manually check it. With a flashlight.
7. Curling: Be prepared to watch four games–at the same time.
8. Food downtown: Yes, be prepared to wait in long lines to get into restaurants and pubs. It’s probably a better idea to get out of the city center to find some grub. Because by the time you’ve advanced a couple feet in the line, you could have just taken a bus uptown and gotten seated at a cozy place frequented by the locals.
9. Some pictures:
From 20100220_Vancouver
From 20100220_Vancouver
From 20100220_Vancouver
From 20100220_Vancouver
From 20100220_Vancouver
From 20100220_Vancouver
From 20100220_Vancouver
From 20100220_Vancouver
From 20100220_Vancouver
From 20100220_Vancouver
10. Mukmuk: Want to get a giant stuffed marmot? Get it at the Vancouver International Airport and save fifty bucks.
Yesterday, February 20th, 2010, Michael Schmidt was a guest panelist at the Canadian Organic Growers conference in Toronto.
Michael Schmidt (right) at Feb 20 Canadian Organic Growers conference in Toronto with anti-GMO farmer activist Percy Schmieser and the German Minister of Agriculture Bärbel Höhn, who is a Green.
Here’s Michael Schmidt’s nutshell review of the proceedings and commentary on the picture above:
“The conference was great. Percy Schmeiser spoke as well. I was on the closing Panel of the conference. Theme of the last Panel was Change with or without the Government. On my Panel was the first green Minister for Agriculture in Germany Bärbel Höhn. I had a very intense discussion about Agricultural policies here and in Germany. On the picture you can see Percy the Monsanto challenger in the middle the Green Member of the German Parliament and… who is the guy on the right.”
From the conference brochure:
Stepping up to the Plate … with or without the government
It takes intention, persistence and conviction to change an unyielding world. Sometimes it seems like an impossible task when citizens and governments don’t see eye to eye, especially when governments seem indifferent and agri-biz is content to ignore or counter-attack the concerns about their products. Can we do enough without the government stepping up to the plate? Do grassroots efforts really make a substantive difference? Hear how visionary retailers are saying ‘no to GMO’ as the Big Carrot takes GMO products off its shelves. Hear how one dairy farmer is trying to work with an uncooperative Ontario government. When California passed a revolutionary law that if genetic engineered products are found on your property the agri-chemical company has to pay the damages, it shows what is possible. While your choices matter, will they be enough?
Panel: Bärbel Höhn, Megan Westgate, Michael Schmidt, Wayne Roberts
Opening Keynote – The Reluctant Leader: Bärbel Höhn
The body is amazingly resilient. In spite of the degradation in the quality of our food and the fragility of our food sources, we carry on. Some people are hard pressed to see a food system in crisis and how it affects health. While imports currently fill supermarket shelves, some do not see the need for a healthy, thriving, local farm economy. Exports and imports rule the economic model disguised by government ads as the family farm. At best perceived as a niche market, healthy food and local economies are challenged to compete, while high ideals and determination keep organic growers in the game. More and more we are faced with questions surrounding the use of genetic engineering to grow food without much review. But where is the leadership to guide the organic sector to the next level? Farmers, scientists and dedicated individuals have had to become the reluctant leaders showing the way when it comes to organics. It is not a mantle they wear easily, but the value is so great they cannot do otherwise.
And here’s what Percy Schmieser spoke on:
Percy against Goliath – taking on the corporations …
Percy Schmeiser ’s story is an amazing account of one farmer’s brave battle with a multinational corporation. When his fields of canola were found to be contaminated with GMO canola, Monsanto had the nerve to accuse him of stealing their seed. Percy fought them all the way to the Supreme Court. Hear his heart-felt story. Percy has received awards
from around the world acknowledging his courage and self-sacrifice in fighting this fight for all of us.
This is a post that I’ve written. Pretty self explanatory. What may not be; however, is that it is a response to the media conglomerates that are well respected in journalism. Not only USA today, but the BBC and CNN have also called the Vancouver Olympics some pretty nasty things. Media is getting increasingly negative and uneducated, for ratings and show rather than quality of journalism. I cover this in my response here below:
Only when the world gathers together can people’s true colours come out. — And whether they are red, white and blue or not, does that give any media correspondent the right to take their own podiums and critique something so well done as the opening ceremonies and compare it to those of another country? What troubles me is that interpretation and negativity are strikingly different, and having grown up Canadian my entire life, negativity is frowned upon.
Comparing one country to another when both are entirely different, in a negative and degrading context, is un-respectable. It lacks the unity and brotherly kindness that the world united under when all the countries marched into one room cheering each other on.
Our opening ceremonies were about us Canadians, just as Beijings were about them. It gives the world a chance to learn something about the country they are viewing through their televisions and hearing on their radios across the world for 17 days. Education. Something media is not handing out often enough these days. We have praries, powerful orcas, cultural diversity like Ashley MacIsaac, and say please between slam poems. We wanted you to know it at the ceremonies because it makes us Canadians who we are.
Now, aside from the big hair and poor french accent of Mr. Furlong, let’s call the ceremonies something other than horrible compared when to the past. Let’s call them educational at the least, and creative at the most. If you were to talk of the skating delays and poverty, or cancellation of tickets I may speak another story.
The world no longer needs to see impressive permanent structures and a ridiculous use of resources, but the different colours and sounds that express a world of difference, and hope for change towards better ways. It was our time to express that. For highly respected writers in journalism to complain about the opening ceremony is sad. To use the death of an incredible, young athlete, and blame Canada for being unfair, is callous. That young man ran the course 20 times prior to his accident, may he rest in peace.
Something else we have seemed to lose with our advancements in media and technology are manners. Let’s play nice. Do not elbow my fellow snowboarder, it’s not sportsmanlike. In these days of crumbling consumption and selfish ways, we must all try to do our best with what we have been given. This means allowing others to do the best they can as well.
We must not get in their way, become jealous, or hate our neighbours next door.
We must also remember to fund the artistic soul of Canada, rather than treating it
like nothing more than a tourist attraction.
Nicole Kornelson
Oh yes, and subtextmag will be going into it’s second issue near the end of march 2010.
I’ve written at length about the beautiful majesty of Mixed Martial Arts. The uncultured in society fail to grasp its magnificence.
Unfortunately, the uncultured rule the roost in this debt-infested province.
Dalton McGuinty mused a few months back that he was open to legalizing MMA in Ontario. That would have paved the way for UFC to hold Pay Per Views and other blockbuster events in our jurisdiction.
Just this week, McGuinty said it’s, “not a priority for his government.”
So, our prizefighting laws languish on in the stone age while revenues from UFC events continue to go elsewhere.
The government is supposedly preoccupied with bolstering our battered economy. If that’s true then they should roll out the red carpet for the UFC and other promotions.
UFC 97 in Montreal alone generated an immediate financial impact of $5 million in the city. Toronto could do it bigger and better. The UFC is huge and it just keeps getting bigger.
Oh sure, MMA revenue isn’t going to cover the monstrous provincial deficit McGuinty has piled up nor will it solve all our woes but it sure beats a kick in the ass with a frozen boot.
Ontarians will watch this wonderful sport with or without the provincial government’s blessing. We already are. Roughly 42 % of the spectators at UFC 97 in Montreal came from Ontario. The government could generate millions of dollars for its empty coffers tomorrow but chooses not to.
Not a priority indeed.
Ontarians don’t need to be shielded from violence by a nanny state. Moreover, Ontario needs the money anyway. That should be reason enough to drag our laws into modernity.
I think there’s a simple way to resolve this; we stick Dalton McGuinty and Georges St. Pierre into a steel octagon cage. The winner decides whether we legalize MMA in the province.
CTV Online here - By Kristina Rutherford, CTVOlympics.ca
He was sitting in second with one run to go, but Canada’s Jon Montgomery put together a gutsy performance to win men’s skeleton gold on Friday at the Whistler Sliding Centre.
The Russell, Man., native edged Latvia’s Martins Dukurs by just 0.07 seconds.
“When I saw that plus 0.07s come up, I lost my mind,” a smiling Montgomery, draped in a Canadian flag, said after his race. “It’s Canada’s gold medal.
“Without my sponsors and Own the Podium and the COC and everybody else involved, this wouldn’t be a reality, so everybody in Canada has a piece of this gold medal for sure, especially Russell, Manitoba – yeah, yeah, yeah,” he added, grinning.
It was Dukurs who led the competition after Day 1, and through three runs was sitting 0.18s ahead of Montgomery.
The Canadian laid down a track record-setting time in his opening run on Friday to pull closer to that gold medal with one heat to go.
Montgomery, 30, saved his best start for last, clocking a time of 4.61s en route to a 52.36s run.
It’s the fourth Olympic gold medal for Canada at the 2010 Games, and the second straight Olympic gold in men’s skeleton following Duff Gibson’s win in 2006.
Sporting his Canada toque, an elated Montgomery jumped on the victory podium and pumped his fists as a Canadian contingent cheered him on track-side.
Told he was an Olympic champion, Montgomery said, “That sounds unreal, man. I’m gonna have to get used to hearing that, because it hasn’t sunk in yet, that’s for sure.”
Montgomery clocked a four-run time of 3 minutes, 29.73 seconds.
“I certainly didn’t leave anything on the track. I let it – like I said - all hang out, and it turned out for the best today,” he said.
Russia’s Alexander Tretyakov won bronze, 1.02s back.
Jeff Pain of Calgary, the reigning Olympic silver medallist, finished 9th.
Pain, who was 10th in overall 2009-10 World Cup standings, was competing despite a torn oblique muscle.
Calgary’s Mike Douglas was disqualified from the competition earlier Friday for a technical violation.
According to the FIBT, he failed to remove the covers from his runner blades in time. All runners need to be exposed to the air 45 minutes before competition, and Douglas was three minutes late.
Douglas was sitting in seventh overall after Thursday’s opening two runs, 0.96 off the pace and with a shot at the bronze medal.
“It’s awful. It’s one of those mental lapses that you pray never happens to me and to my teammates,” said Pain.
Montgomery will receive his gold medal Saturday night at a ceremony in Whistler.
Here’s a comentary by Karen Selick which appeared in yesterday’s Calgary Herald. It’s mostly about Bill C-6:
Canadian Constitution Foundation litigation director Karen Selick speaks to reporters about the Province's raw milk appeal at Queen's Park last Tuesday, while farmer Michael Schmidt looks on.
While many Canadians have denounced the recent proroguing of Parliament, there is another sizable contingent who heaved a mighty sigh of relief. Prorogation has resulted in an unexpected, 11th-hour reprieve from a highly controversial piece of legislation: Bill C-6, the proposed Canada Consumer Product Safety Act.
Passed in the House of Commons last June with virtually no opposition, the bill went to the Senate where it was perceived with a more critical eye — perhaps due to the deluge of e-mail from concerned citizens who implored senators to defeat it. In debate, two senators expressed alarm about what they viewed as its unconstitutionality, while a third, Senator Elaine McCoy, denounced the extraordinarily intrusive new regulatory regime as “totalitarian.” In late December, it passed, but with amendments. This meant it had to return to the House of Commons for reconsideration, but fortunately, it died there when the session ended.
Bill C-6 seems so absurdly out of character for a supposedly conservative government that it calls to mind the 1980s British satirical sitcom, Yes Minister. One can picture the Harper cabinet — continually berated by the media as unfeeling droids — brainstorming for ways to demonstrate their tender concern for the country’s babies. Enter the career bureaucrats from Health Canada with a plan ( “Outlaw killer cribs!”) designed both to plump up the government’s warm fuzzy image and to vastly expand their own empire and powers. “We’ll take it,” cry cabinet members, dismissing Faust from their minds.
In fact, Canada already had legislation governing product safety, ever since 1969: the Hazardous Products Act. Although Health Canada bureaucrats admit “this product safety regime has served us well,” they characterized it as outdated and out of sync with the modern legislative regimes of Europe and the United States.
Notably absent was any evidence that European and American babies are safer than Canadian babies as a consequence of that so-called modern legislation. What has instead become obvious to even casual observers in recent years is that the European Union and the U.S. have both become gargantuan bureaucracies whose citizens are ever more continually stripped of their liberties and subjected to state control of the minutest aspects of their daily lives.
I experienced two jaw-dropping examples of this on a vacation to Arizona last month. The resort suite I rented via the Internet promised a private patio with hot tub and a fully equipped kitchen. Upon arrival, I found the door to my patio bolted shut. “Entry prohibited by federal law,” read the sign. Hotel management explained that the drains in all the resort’s hot tubs had recently been found not to comply with new safety regulations. Compliance costs would be astronomical. Dozens of hot tubs would instead be cemented over permanently. But where were the pots, pans, plates and kitchen utensils? These, too, had been removed “by federal law” said the embarrassed bellhop. They would be delivered to a suite only upon explicit customer request. What horrible safety hazard would have befallen me had the kitchenware been present before I requested it, I wondered? Only a bureaucrat could possibly know.
But far worse than these inane inconveniences would be the injury Canadians would suffer to their traditional legal rights and freedoms if Bill C-6 is adopted in the next session of Parliament. The bill would empower Canada to disclose citizens’ confidential information to foreign governments on the most nebulous of pretexts and without reliable safeguards for maintaining confidentiality.
Armies of newly hired inspectors would be deployed throughout the country with instructions — and the legal authority — to poke their noses into every business place containing consumer products, to seize products and vehicles, and to order the business to stop manufacturing or selling its products. No proof of danger or harm would be required.
Even homes could be searched, with a warrant — but a warrant could be issued for the flimsiest of reasons: namely, that the home has a consumer product stored in it. Under that criterion, not a single home in the country would be secure from these legalized invasions. The bill contains other egregious provisions too numerous to catalogue here.
Health Canada acts as if it is the only thing standing between citizens and imminent death. The truth is that the greatest forces keeping individuals safe from dangerous products are our common-law right to sue for tort, and business’s self-interest in maintaining their reputation for quality. Prime Minister Stephen Harper once headed an organization, the National Citizens Coalition, whose motto was “For more freedom through less government.” If he reintroduces Bill C-6 in the next session of Parliament, any lingering doubts about his abandonment of that philosophy will be laid to rest.
Karen Selick is the litigation director for the Canadian Constitution Foundation.
I wish to thank you all so much for your kind comments on my first UStamp project as a guest designer. It was such fun to put together and Dawn has graciously asked me again to guest design for the next edition of UStamp….Spring Soiree 2010!
I have a FREE PASS to give away and have been trying to figure out a cool way to do it but I’m tapped! So, I’ve decided to ask a question…..what is your favorite thing about spring? Just answer your question in this post and I’ll draw the winner on February 20th at midnight.
My fave thing about spring is watching all the trees bud and bloom and it has already started here!
I just got back from one of my Winter Magic Photo Tours in the Canadian Rockies. We had great weather and great light and a great group of people. Here is a quick snap illustrating some ice patterns reflecting the golden lit peaks and clear blue skies. The next tour begins on Feb 24 and we had a cancellation so if anyone out there wants to join us for a four day tour contact Alan at info@aurumlodge for more details.
And so I’m here and it’s been an incredibly long day! I have done a lot today and the day certain feels like it has lasted forever (if 20 hours is forever, then it has).
Coming in for Landing
5:00am EST I woke up and headed to the Royal York in Toronto to hop on the airport shuttle to Pearson. Security & Check-In wasn’t bad at all (as you’ll know by reading my previous post) and the plane ended up leaving on time, joy! The fight was great, no turbulence and good views of North Dakota and Montana (sarcasm intended). When we landed in Vancouver I pulled out my cellphone to turn it on, only to find that I had somehow turned it on in my pocket and that it had been on for the duration of the flight (maybe I never turned it off?). I’m thinking tomorrow if I get the chance I’ll call rogers and explain how I managed to stay on my phone while visiting two countries (3 provinces and 3 states) within 4 hours.
10:15am PST I met up with my friend Cassie who I will be staying with at the airport and we grabbed my bags and headed into town. Her house is not too far from the airport so it was a short little commute. After getting out of the airport, it was awesome to breathe in the air. I think it’s probably something like 50% mental and 50% actual that the air here smells and feels cleaner than back in Ontario. Did I mention it was about +10 and full sun? It only lasted until mid-afternoon but I felt like it was the middle of April, it was great!
A neat sculpture outside the Vancouver Art Gallery
The Massive Canadian Flag you keep seeing on TV
11:30am PST Cassie, her boyfriend Sean and I headed downtown to check out Robson street and all of the attractions. There is TONS to do here, I failed to realize that only half of the olympics involves sport. There seem to be “houses” from every country, and province of Canada, all over the place. It is very much like I would’ve assumed the old world’s fairs of Expo’s to have been like. We’ve yet to actually go into a house, but that is something we’ll surely be doing. After trolling around for a bit we headed over to pick up my uniform.
My Volunteer Uniform
2:30pm PST What they tell you about East Vancouver is true. The bus we had to take to get us to the uniform pickup location was…interesting and the sights we saw were, out of this world. That is all you need to know – if you don’t believe me, just ask, I have stories. The Uniform pick up was smooth – except for the fact they were “out” of all men’s sizes. As the guy told me, 24,600 of the 25,300 volunteers had already gone through. Luckily I was able to convince him to go see if anyone had returned anything and he manged to find me the perfect sizes; my jacket is Large, vest is Small and pants are Medium – and people as why I have trouble fitting into clothes.
A Vancouver to Victoria waterplane with the olympic rings in the background.
4:00pm PST After picking up my uniform we headed to Gastown which Cassie told me was like “old vancouver”. It was pretty touristy, but was very nice to walk around in. By this point in the afternoon it had started to cloud over, but I was still able to manage in just a fleece jacket, it was great. We walked all the way down to the International Press Centre (IPC) and the Canada Pavillion where the torch was located. I also happened to run into one of the ref’s that used to ref for me back at the University Intramural Department. It was really cool to just run into someone completely out of the blue – I’m always humbled at how small the world can be sometimes. I know this post is picture filled already, but there are two pictures here I wanted to share, one of the waterplanes dock with the olympic rings out on the barge and one of the torch.
The olympic torch in clear view through the fence.
I figured showing it closer to its true size was most appropriate…..
6:00pm PST Eventually we headed home. Cassie had some friends over for a bit but everyone headed downtown for one of their friends’ birthday’s and now I’m off to bed. I’ve got my first shift tomorrow at 9am and will need to get up at 7am to give myself time to head out to the venue. I was expecting to have to get up at 6 but was really happy to see that there was a bus route nearly directly from Cassie’s house to Canada Hockey Place!
Oh, and I had three people ask to take a picture of my hair today (for those of you that don’t know, I got the olympic rings shaved into the side of my head – picture to come). It is starting to grow over already (it’s only been since thursday!) so Cassie’s going to try tomorrow to trim it up.
Good night for now everyone! Hopefully I’ll have a lot more to fill you in on tomorrow when I actually get to work!
Priscila Uppal is poet-in-residence for the Canadian Athletes Now Fund during the Olympics and Paralympics. Through dispatches and poetry for the LRC, Priscila will blog about her experiences there and at the Arctic Games in Grande Prairie, Alberta. She is the editor ofThe Exile Book of Canadian Sports Stories and author of the Griffin Poetry Prize-nominated Ontological Necessities.
To read her blog go to: http://games.reviewcanada.ca/
On February 12, 2010, President Felipe Calderón of Mexico met with Prince Andrew of the United Kingdom to both reiterate Mexico’s interest in stronger trade and investment relationships with the UK, as well as to restate an ongoing Mexican goal of reducing their “dependence” on the United States as an export market.
In Mexico, the trade relationship with the U.S. is, by many, considered a mixed blessing: while NAFTA and the increasing integration with the U.S. economy has attracted significant foreign investment, created stronger commercial relations (and job growth), and has likely helped infrastructure modernization – it has come at the cost of Mexico being highly dependent on U.S.’ economic health. In 2008, President Calderón himself repeated the old phrase: “When the US catches a cold, Mexico gets pneumonia.”
The benefit and weakness of this relationship can be seen in Mexico’s trade data – the most recent of which covers January-November of 2009. CrossborderBusiness.com has analyzed this data, and provides a few brief observations about Mexico’s export trends in our new Crossborder Insights briefing — including:
Total exports dropped by 24.6% — but, as seen at right, this was significantly influenced by the effects of lower exports to the U.S. That said, exports also dropped 37.1% with the European Union, and 30.9% with South America. Only five countries (Canada, China, Norway, Lithuania, and the Slovak Republic) posted positive export gains.
2010Feb06-CInsights-MexExportTrends09
Crossborder Insights Brief: Mexico’s Export Growth & Market Dependence on the US
An Ontario man has been sentenced to two years less a day in jail Friday for attacking a group of Asian anglers and their friends in 2007. Justice Alfred Stong also sentenced Trevor Middleton, 23, to three years’ probation after he has served his sentence, and 240 hours of community service helping seniors and people with mental disabilities. Middleton will also be required to attend a cultural awareness course, and he’s been banned from driving for 10 years. A jury found Middleton guilty in December of four counts of aggravated assault and two counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm. The charges relate to an attack on Shayne Berwick and six of his friends — two of Asian descent — in Georgina Township, northeast of Newmarket, about 50 kilometres north of Toronto. The group was fishing near Mossington Park Bridge off Lake Simcoe early in the morning on Sept. 16, 2007, when Middleton and some of his friends arrived. Middleton’s group pushed two of Berwick’s friends off the dock and into the lake, the court heard. A scuffle ensued between members of the two groups, and one of Middleton’s friends was badly beaten. Berwick and his friends then got into a car and fled. But Middleton chased them down a road with his pickup truck, ramming into the car repeatedly until it crashed into a tree, court heard. Berwick was severely injured in the crash and suffered brain damage. Despite finding that race played a role in the attack, the judge didn’t use hate crime provisions of the criminal code when he handed down his sentence. That prompted members of Berwick’s family to question outside the court whether the law acts as a deterrent. Berwick’s family is urging the Crown to appeal the sentence, arguing that it isn’t long enough.
Our criminal justice system obviously needs a big overhaul. Legal ethics appear to have trumped basic morality and common sense. “A jury found Middleton guilty in December of four counts of aggravated assault and two counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.” “Berwick and his friends then got into a car and fled. But Middleton chased them down a road with his pickup truck, ramming into the car repeatedly until it crashed into a tree, court heard. Berwick was severely injured in the crash and suffered brain damage.” And this bonehead, Middleton, only get 2 years less a day? Ridiculous. Should be a lot more. 2 years less a day? Attempted murder + crippling a man for life =2 years less a day + 240 hours community service + 1 community aware course + no driver’s license for 10 years = a sick joke of a justice system in Ontario When a guilty man like Middleton, a poster child for Klan recruitment, got into his pickup truck to run down his fleeing victims, that should have signaled to the judge there should be serious consequences for attempted murder. I guess the “tough on crime” justice system only works against blacks, not whites. Factoring in any credit for time served this guy at most will do 16 months. No wonder crime rates are up. Idiot thugs will never respect the law, so the only way to control them is to make them fear it. Until then, expect more of the same. We need to start electing judges. It is obvious that race played a roll in this vicious assault. It seems that judges are afraid to throw the book at criminals in this country. Either that or they just don’t care. Berwick’s family is urging the Crown to appeal the sentence, arguing that it isn’t long enough. By at least a factor of 12. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/02/12/toronto-asian-angler-attack.html
I just watched the opening ceremonies for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games. It was a beautiful show. I loved the colours and the feel of it. I thought Sarah MacLachlan and kd lang were wonderful. And I really loved the poem by Shane Koyczan, which was beautiful not only in its words but in its performance. (The text of it is here, and I encourage you to go and read it.) It was amazing to feel the reactions of the crowd, to feel those same emotions myself. It felt slightly un-Canadian to toot our own horn that way in public, but oh, it was wonderful to feel that proud of my country and know that the world was watching.
Suppose you have a patient come in by EMS who shows all the signs of stroke: severe right-sided weakness, expressive aphasia, facial droop, with a known time of onset three hours ago. Suppose your patient is a youngish 54 year-old guy, with no medical history. Suppose your hospital’s Stroke Protocol calls for stat transfer — no CT, no blood work, just pick up and go — to the Regional Stroke Centre 10 minutes down the road, and if the patient leaves immediately, he will just make it within the window of opportunity to get his thrombolytic, and hopefully make a full recovery.
Now suppose you inform the emergency physician of all of this, and he says, “I don’t believe in that shit!” and then proceeds to order the full stroke work-up, thus ensuring the patient will face permanent disability. The physician will not change her mind.
As charge nurse, do you:
Do nothing, because the physician knows best?
Do nothing, but write up the physician later, and discuss the matter with the manager?
Advise the family to take the patient in their own vehicle to the the Regional Stroke Centre immediately?
Assume there is no practical way to get the physician to reverse her decision before time running out, and that each of the choices carries potentially dire consequences for yourself or the patient or both.
Sameer Tandon, a Hotel Director who had done his MBA from Barkatulla University gets the Canada file number. Congrats from team Opulentus for clearing the first level of Federal Skilled Workers and Professionals Program for Canada. We sincerely hope that the rest of the process works out smoothly in your favour.
To view some more success stories and to gather entire information about flying abroad visit www.opulentuz.com
S-a maritat si a plecat la Canada…a furat-o Flavius…. foarte bine… dar totushi… nu pot sa… nu-mi para rau k a plecat..desi shtiu k bine a facut…. dar…roxi e…tipa care te determina sa faci kestii pt tine…sa te afirmi… sa ajuti, sa intelegi… roxi e cea care te sfatuieste … care era acolo cu o vba buna si cu o solutie la fiecare prostie pe care o faceam… )
It was a good day overall. I did some things around the house this afternoon before I went to class. I spoke to my friend Louise, she is having a biopsy done next week to see if she has breast cancer. She is taking it one day at a time. We had a short conversation but she was distracted and concerned so I did not press the issue. We should keep her in our prayers … We were not prepared for another bout with cancer…
Rick called from Kingston, it seems that his parents had been airlifted from Florida back to Canada in the past few days. He will be out of pocket until next week. That means that Susie and I have to take care of running the late meeting and closing up shop afterwards. It will be ok…
We are working on the book of Samuel in class. Tonight we looked at 1 Samuel chapters 9 and 10. There is so much we don’t know without looking at the Hebrew translation of the Old Testament. It is all so mind boggling the number of words used and the word play that the writers and redactors added to the stories. I got a reprieve tonight from presenting my short topic paper on my chosen scriptures (Samuel chapters 24 & 26 ) … I don’t have to present my paper until the 15th of March. safe …
I have to get to work on my reworks from last term. We have a week coming for reading week in two weeks, I am hoping to knock off as much work as I can during that time, not to mention my classwork and reading that I have to do for this term as well.
I hope that Wednesday nights class is substantial. People are skeptical about that class because of the whole, throw out the schedule attitude that my prof took with it this term. We are flying by the seat of her pants and at her mercy as well. There isn’t a huge challenge and people are complaining.
One of my boys is on the verge of moving out into the world on his own after years of trauma and drama at the hands of his fucked up parents. We have been waiting for this day to come for a long time. He got a good job with good pay in San Antonio where he will be relocating to in the next week. I will get to see the work I have done with him when I travel there in July for the AA conference.
All is well here … still no snow …
We are 4 days out from the start of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics here in Canada. The weather is not cooperating and Vanoc the Olympic committee is keeping Cypress Mountain under wraps to make sure there is enough snow on the slopes for competition.There is still no snow falling from the sky and all the second chance contingency plans are being done to make sure there is ample snow on the slopes taking it from as far away as three hours on other mountains to groom the slopes for the competitions. The weather looks like rain for the end of the week, so it may be a wet start to the Olympic games.
We have seen the massive communications hub on tv Sunday night, it is incredible. Canadians are setting the bar very high with high high expectations for owning the Podium these Olympics …
I hope that happens because we are setting ourselves up for a big fall if we don’t hit the marks across the board. There is such hype over the Men’s and women’s Canadian hockey team right now that anything less than Gold for both is going to upset the fine balance of hysteria that is overtaking the country when it comes to hockey. The pressure is palpable. I imagine that the athletes are under immense pressure to perform up to spec.
If they fail to attain Gold in the finals of Men’s Hockey, there is going to be a countrywide FUNK !!!! It is all over the news tonight. We still don’t have word on the final torch bearer but speculation is running rampant, maybe we will find out before the games start, but that is a closely guarded secret. Friday will be a big day for Canada, as we welcome the world to Vancouver…
Larry was the brother of my uncles wife. They were both pre-teens. Larry was a husky guy. Even as a kid was a great person.
One night he decided to sleep over at our place. We had spent all that day frolicking on the beach; swimming, collecting rocks.
Even as a child I knew that night that something was going to happen with him as he had no other choice but to sleep in the bed that my brother & I shared. Shortly after we went to bed, Larry fell fast asleep.
My brother started to make his move. Larry was sleeping on stomach and my brother gently tried to lower his white underwear to get a look at his ass. Because Larry was such a deep sleeper it wasn’t easy and he would quickly stir as my brother was making his moves. The attempts were unsuccessful to get his underwear down. Then Larry rolled on his stomach. Still snoring fast asleep, he wasn’t aware of what was about to happen. I seen his dick getting hard in his underwear so I made my move. I gently took his dick out the side of his underwear and it was the first time my brother made any move to suck. He moved in and sucked and licked that guys dick then motioned me to do the same. We were both quietly and gently going at Larry taking turns. We figured, I guess that we pushed it far enough and put his dick away. Because we were so turned on, it was my turn to go at my brother then.
I am filled with shame at so events of my childhood and I think of the huge risk we took with Larry that night. He knew nothing of what happened. We woke the next morning, ate breakfast and were off to the beach again that whole day. Nothing was mentioned as he didn’t know we had performed oral sex on him that night. He was a wicked deep sleeper as ALL kids are at that age. The secret between my brother and I could have been exposed that night, but we let our boy-hood hormones take over good judgement.
Peter van Onselen is wrong to claims sceptics didn’t like discussing climate change. In fact, what they demanded was more discussion, not censorship and media shut-ups, to achieve just what now so bemuses Peter:
How quickly things can change in politics. At the end of last year the (Australian) government’s CPRS was something most Liberals (The Conservative Party here in Australia) wanted off the political agenda. Whether it was Malcolm Turnbull (the former Conservative leader) and his supporters who wanted it pasted into law so they could get back to talking about debt and deficits or the climate change sceptics who wanted the legislation defeated, conservatives didn’t particularly like discussing climate change.
The reason was simple: opinion polls showed an overwhelming majority of the public supported action on climate change and (Australian Prime Minister) Rudd’s CPRS (Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme) had become the conventional wisdom for what shape action should take….
The government has (now) looked to shift the policy agenda on to matters other than climate change for two reasons: it is concerned that selling the CPRS might be as complicated as selling the Goods and Services Tax was for John Hewson in 1993 and Howard in 1998. ..
For a government that ended last year urging action on climate change (the greatest moral challenge of our generation, as Rudd calls it), to focus policy attention elsewhere this year has been utterly brazen… The risk for Rudd is that a double dissolution guarantees climate change is more likely to become the central issue of the campaign, exactly what the Coalition now appears to be wanting.
UPDATE 1
Even greens are coming to their senses, scared by the now-imminent prospect of an economy with no emissions-belching industry:
IT’S the Queensland town renowned for a postcard setting, caring community and laidback lifestyle … but has Maleny become too green for its own good?
As the children of a generation of tree-changers begin their working lives, Maleny is discovering that being green is no protection against that scourge of rural communities: youth unemployment….
Community concern has become so acute that even local greenies are calling for drastic action and putting out the welcome mat for new industry.
UPDATE 2
It’s telling that when Canadian commentator Mark Steyn and Canadian blogger Donna Laframboise cast around for examples of outrageously biased reporting, journalists who bought the IPCC spin and academics with a vested interest in defending the IPCC’s dodgy sources, they look to Australia - and specifically to the (Australian)ABC’s Lateline and to Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg.
UPDATE 3
Global Cooling – California Now Rethinks Its Gas-Slash Laws
An admission of the fact that slashing gases is also slashing jobs:
Republican politicians and conservative activists are launching a ballot campaign to suspend California’s landmark global-warming law, in what they hope will serve as a showcase for a national backlash against climate regulations.
Supporters say they have “solid commitments” of nearly $600,000 to pay signature gatherers for a November initiative aimed at delaying curbs on the greenhouse gas emissions of power plants and factories until the state’s unemployment rate drops.
Meanwhile another reminder that getting warming won’t be so awful, after all, since it’s a cold planet that’s least comfortable, as Americans have found all winter:
A winter storm continued its blizzard rage in some parts of the Mid-Atlantic region on Saturday morning, dumping nearly two feet of wet, heavy snow that cut power to about 200,000 residents, caused the roof of a private jet hangar to collapse at Washington Dulles International Airport and forced the nation’s capital into quiet hibernation.
(Via Instapundit.)
Andrew Bolt is a journalist and columnist writing for The Herald Sun in Melbourne Victoria Australia.
Read more excellent articles from Andrew Bolt’s Blog
Porky’s is a 1981 Canadian Comedy that is considered the King of all Teen-Sex comedies of the 1980’s.
The movie was released in the United States in 1982.
The film starred a cast of young, virtually unknown actors.
The film spawned two sequels, “Porky’s 2: The Next Day” (1983) and “Porky’s Revenge” (1985)
Adjusting for inflation, it is the highest grossing Canadian-Produced film of All-Time. The 2006 film “Bon Cop, Bad Cop” (I’ve never heard of it either..) has grossed more, but adjusting to early 80’s inflation, Porky’s is still the leader.
It was directed by Bob Clark who would go on and direct the Christmas Classic “A Christmas Story“.
To date, the film has grossed over $111 Million worldwide.
The film did nothing to launch the acting careers of any of it’s young stars…..with one notable exception.
A brunette Kim Cattrall appeared in the film as Miss “Lassie” Honeywell, who has a very memorable (and loud) scene in the film. (Ya’ll know which one I am talking about…) Kim has gone on to have, by far, the most successful career of all the young actors in the film, at least here in the US.
This film had me in stitches the first time I saw it, and it still has the same effect 30 years later.
Since forming in 2006, Canadian east coasters the Idlers have taken their reggae ska act across the nation, performing what they call a “reggae circus.” With sophomore album Keep Out, their high-energy live performance doesn’t exactly translate onto disc but there are still many gems. Opener “Wonderwars” features pulsating guitar, an ace horn section and tight musicianship ― no surprise from this well rehearsed 11-piece band. The Idlers’ use of falsetto backup vocals on every track gives their sound an old-school reggae feel. On “Fish ‘n Rum,” a ringing guitar chorus is accompanied by tooting horns making sweet harmonies. Produced by Bad Brains bassist Darryl Jenifer, Keep Out is cohesively mellow from beginning to end. Tracks to look out for are “Better Day,” which gives the horns plenty of room to blow their roaring notes, and “Englishman,” picking up their ska influences with danceable beats. (Independent)
Is it wrong for people to share information and ideas in quest of truth? Would a government with hidden agendas want to disguise national security concerns with an attempt to censor and control the ability for us to discuss the important issues of our day?
Could the message embodying the President’s speech of May 29th, 2009 be the underlying precursor when an agenda reaches critical mass?
It was 6:30 AM this morning, and this site was visited by a cyber security company from Washington, D.C.. For “privacy reasons” I will not disclose the name of the company, but I googled the company name that had a very official, “cyber-security” sounding name.
I am concerned but not intimidated; that an innocent little blog site like mine would be of interest of cyber-security issues. Although I will not disclose the name of the security firm, here is the actual search term that was used to investigate my site.
The search term deliberately looked for the name of this site as it would appear on google. Again, the company doing the search is based in Washington, D.C., and I have had visits to this site in the past from the CIA, the Justice Department, and the Executive Office of the President. Those visits occurred on the heels of our investigation of potential corruption in hockey.
Strangely, the hockey investigation led me to discover that for years, Alex Jones was conducting a similar “corruption investigation” on a much broader scale, with greater consequences. My search for truth was Jones’ search on a micro scale, but with striking similarities. Corruption in any form, it would seem, has similar qualities.
But, back to this “cyber security firm” checking us out this morning…
I, in turn, googled this “invader of my space”, and on their website I came across the document of the speech delivered by the President in May, that is linked here. Could there be a link between this company and the government of the United States? Why would this company make a special visit to a little blog like makeiteigheh.com?
And more importantly, should it dissuade a blogger from investigating and sharing honest information as we have done on this site? Heck no!
And, should it stop others from sharing information of vital interest in the same way? Again, not a chance!
In the speech given by President Obama in May of 2009, he made some very interesting comments, and I’ll start with this one:
Let me also be clear about what we will not do. Our pursuit of cybersecurity will not — I repeat, will not include — monitoring private sector networks or Internet traffic. We will preserve and protect the personal privacy and civil liberties that we cherish as Americans. Indeed, I remain firmly committed to net neutrality so we can keep the Internet as it should be — open and free.
Was this “promise” before or after the arrival of Cass Sunstein?
It is up to us, the free on the internet to ensure the President of the United States, and the Prime Minister of Canada continue to allow our liberties to flourish. We must continue to speak strong and loud, and refuse to be intimidated.
We must refuse to allow the twisting of truth, where those expressing opinion and sharing ideas can be viewed as bringing “weapons of mass disruption”, and it is time we remind President Obama of his promise to allow free speech in every form to continue.
For the war is about knowledge, and the seeking of truth!
Heather Mallick is at it again, pointing out that Harper is no ladies man (hint:he doesn’t have a mustache), and that he is returning women to the 18th century. She truly fears for you ladies, as you can tell from the spit dripping off her keyboard as she hurriedly tries to warn you.
Ms. Mallick inexplicably clings to the minor nuances of Canadian policy, so much so she can’t see the forest for the trees when it comes to the status of women. It seems odd that someone so sophisticated; who is typically embarrassed of her hidebound homeland, should be so obsessed with the internationally renowned boredness of Canadian politics.
What is pathetic though is that she reads like she looses sleep at night because moderate conservatives are running the country. This could require medication if the electorate doesn’t come around to her thinking-which in 143 years hasn’t happened.
Predictably, she condemns conservatives and Harper, pushes all the panic buttons and trots out all the boogeymen (except she forgot Bush??). Of course she misses the point, women in Canada today are better off than they ever have been. Numbers in parliament or in caucus are not a reflection of the greater populous. Such measures are not informative considering the nature of politics and the difficulty finding good candidates male or female. But, if that’s the kind of score she likes to keep, why not mention the party the first female Prime Minister came from?
Where this charlatan goes wrong in her eagerness to sling mud at conservatives, is her failure to recognize meaningful outcomes. By most objective measures the status of women in Canada is better than ever before, amongst the best in the world and a model for others. This is not something to sniff at and certainly can not be credited to any one party. It should not be looked down upon to try and score cheap points.
Mallick recognizes (as Ignatieff set out the marker) much is also likely to be made over childcare in the next election battle. She attacks the government for lack of government childcare, although this was never a conservative cross to bare. She actually suggests electing Liberals to make sure childcare happens, ignoring that the stock Liberal promise is never accomplished. She smugly dismisses the $100 dollar a month subsidy taxpayers provide to help with childcare, yet has no problem suggesting turning your young children over to bureaucrats for indoctrination-without even considering the cost.
Luckily most people don’t consider Mallick a victim of society; and only a victim of self-loathing. I think I’ll leave it at that.
China has warned Barack Obama not to meet with Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, saying such a meeting would harm bilateral relations. China considers the Tibetan leader a dangerous separatist, and opposes any such meeting. The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule. He claims he isn’t campaigning for Tibetan independence but only seeks ‘meaningful autonomy’ for Tibetan areas within the framework of Chinese sovereignty over Tibet. The Chinese government said that it would give “no concessions” on the issue of Tibet’s sovereignty but the “door remained open” for talks with the Dalai Lama.
Given that India has offered refuge to the Dalai Lama and the countless Tibetans who’ve fled their homeland, China’s strategy on Tibet lies in ‘waiting out’ the Dalai Lama.
Envoys of the Tibetan religious leader have been in Beijing this past week for the ninth round of talks with the Chinese government on the question of Tibet’s autonomy. The Dalai Lama maintains that his demands for greater autonomy were within the limits of the Chinese constitution. He wants the Chinese government to do more to protect the religious rights and ethnic identity of Tibetans, which he says have been eroded under the Communist Party’s rule. China said a meeting between the Dalai Lama and Obama would set back ties with the U.S. that have soured in recent weeks.
Click On Links: Obama Won’t Meet Dala Lama Dalai Lama Fist Bump Google May Leave China Obama Visits Great Wall In China Obama Bowing To Japan’s Emperor Akihito Obama Wants More Internet Freedom In China Wang Zifei, Obama Girl In Black Impeach Obama The House Negro And The Field Negro Burning Man Obama Obamamania Hits Japan Obama Image in Tomb
2010: February. Cold Pizza, originally uploaded by Jon Chiang.
2010: February. Cold Pizza, originally uploaded by Jon Chiang.
This daily “what did I eat” theme is going to be interesting because I don’t have a kitchen. It’s kind of a downer because I love to cook and this would have been a perfect chance to share the delicious food I made with you guys. Anyways here is the first of them, Cold delicious Panago pizza. Also here’s my first week landscape photo from Steveston dike (again). Enjoy!
Of course, I rooted for the USA team: Meryl Davis and Charlie White, however Canada’s team Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir skated were my favorite! Their performance for the gold medal was so fluid, and they were so in-sync with one another, it was hard not to fall in love with them and their routine. It was like watching a young couple in love stealing a few moments together on the ice.
From 20100220_Vancouver
From 20100220_Vancouver
From 20100220_Vancouver
From 20100220_Vancouver
From 20100220_Vancouver
From 20100220_Vancouver
From 20100220_Vancouver
From 20100220_Vancouver
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From 20100221_Vancouver
This is going to be short and sweet.
w but chooses not to. 
Darwin Wiggett
)
By Andrew Bolt
Idlers
China has warned Barack Obama not to meet with Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, saying such a meeting would harm bilateral relations. China considers the Tibetan leader a dangerous separatist, and opposes any such meeting. The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule. He claims he isn’t campaigning for Tibetan independence but only seeks ‘meaningful autonomy’ for Tibetan areas within the framework of Chinese sovereignty over Tibet. The Chinese government said that it would give “no concessions” on the issue of Tibet’s sovereignty but the “door remained open” for talks with the Dalai Lama.
