Oh Canada.

We all know the stories about the PESTy people wanting to leave the USA for Canada after their guy lost the election to George W. Bush. This made many people think, many of whom are much smarter and insightful than myself.

Though, one thing I have never seen written is comparisons of this phenomena with respect to the founding of our nation. Back then there were also people who left the States for Canada. These people for whatever reason wanted to be part of a tradition more like what was in Britain rather than setting of on their own. This exactly what the PESTs and the left complain about. Our nation is not like the UK and Europe and therefore is not fit to live in, off to Canada they go.

Our nation was founded by those who were either cast off by Britain or by those who cast off Britain. The Old World wanted nothing of them and those leaving may have not been happy leaving but they figured it could not be worse in the New World. When Britain began to assert itself over the colonies, the New World inhabitants rebelled, why wouldn't they? They moved across an ocean to escape Britain and then Britain comes after them. Those who came along with the idea of New Britain went to Canada to escape the war.

So too it is today. The people who clamor for socialized medicine, the abolition of the death penalty, Kyoto, the ICC and so on, realize their vision is an Old World vision and the United States is not of the Old World but of the New World, while at least the politically powerful areas of Canada is Old World and that is all that matters.

Changing the Story

Is that what Barak Obama means by change?

National Review's Byron York reports on the trouble the Obama campaign is in, over its discussions with the Canadian government on NAFTA. Of course, none of this will matter to those attending the revival meetings, but there are a lot of people who have genuine concerns on both sides of the NAFTA debate.

Those criticisms have been particularly intense in the run-up to today’s primary in economically struggling Ohio. At last week’s debate in Cleveland, Obama and Clinton dueled to see who could be more anti-NAFTA; Obama won, at least rhetorically, by promising to “use the hammer of a potential opt-out as leverage” to renegotiate NAFTA on his own terms.

Source: National Review Online – Is Obama Lying About NAFTAGate? (He certainly doesn’t seem to be telling the whole truth.) by Byron York The story is essentially Barak Obama is talking trash about NAFTA (a somewhat trendy thing to do among the left) and threatening to withdraw or to force a renegotiation. Of course, this talk disturbs our NAFTA treaty partners, but the Canadian trade minister thinks it might be a good idea:

Ottawa — Trade Minister David Emerson suggested the United States has a sweet deal over access to Canada's oil under the North American Free Trade Agreement, saying the two Democratic presidential candidates calling for renegotiations may not know just how good the U.S. has it under the deal.

Source: ViveleCanada.ca Emerson Says Oil On The Table If US Wants To Renegotiate NAFTA (Oil would be on table if NAFTA reopened: Emerson hints) by Julian Beltrame of The Canadian Press Anyway, it is clearly not something Canada wants and Canada is just reminding us it is probably something we really do not want either.

However, the story goes on. Anyway there were denials from Canada and from the Obama campaign and then a memo turns up showing the meeting did take place. Byron's piece details the evolving story complete with continued denials, more reporting on the meeting, an official memo from the Canadian Government, an oh-yeah from the Obama official, and continued story evolution from the Obama campaign. The only side presenting a dead story (i.e. non-changing/non-evolving) is the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the only changing aspect of that reporting is on the scrambling by the Canadian Goverment and the Obama campaign.

One further dodge the Obama campaign and Austan Goolsbee (an Obama adviser from the University of Chicago) tried to foist on the public was the notion Mr. Goolsbee was visiting the Canadian Consulate as an official from the university and not the Campaign. However, CBC published memo indicates Mr. Goolsbee was there representing the campaign.

The point of the meeting was to assure the Canadian Government Obama's trashing of NAFTA is nothing more than words. Now, the only thing in doubt now (according to Byron's investigations and reporting) is exactly what was said between the parties.

The Obama campaign is in a quandary here. The campaign promising to bring change and hope is now appearing to be using the lofty rhetoric with a sly wink. Not unheard of, but hardly anything that could be change (in fact, this is they type of back room dealing the Obama campaign is trying to tell us they want to change).

Of course, the Obama campaign may issue a tough and detailed policy they would pursue in harmony with the revival meeting rhetoric. Canada, of course being a foreign entity, has little they can do to steer the our elections one way or another, but then this goes against all sorts of Democrat rhetoric about playing nice with the nations of the world.

Do not hope Obama will change much of anything.

Oh Canada!

Have you heard yet? There is a big deal going down in Canada at the moment (big deal for political junkies).

Captain Ed at Captain Quarters is the main force behind the story.

Apparently there is a commission investigating charges of scandalous corruption. The charges center around allegations that the Liberal Party in control of the Canadian government used governmental money to hire advertising firms for next to no work, then some of that money found its way back to the Liberal Party. A judge in charge of investigating this case has banned the publication of testimony from three key individuals.

Unfortunately Captain Ed has sources within the investigation and is releasing the details of this testimony! The Liberal Party was planning on snap-elections before the news was released and out but it seems too late. The story is getting out.

The Canadian Government has now banned Canadian websites and bloggers from linking to Captain's Quarters. Some have toed the line others are boldly stepping over it.

In my opinion this is a very good thing. Government is supposed to answer to the people and the plan to hold snap elections before the release of the information is nothing but contempt for the people of Canada.

If you are from Canada I urge you to visit Captain's Quarters to see what is going on. Hold your government accountable! This is not a matter of faulty intelligence but outright corruption and theft of your over-taxed dollars!

Europe's Appeasement Buys Little

Large teams of newly trained suicide bombers are being sent to the United States and Europe, according to evidence contained on a new videotape obtained by the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

Teams assigned to carry out attacks in the United States, Canada, [emphasis added] Great Britain and Germany [emphasis added] were introduced at an al Qaeda/Taliban training camp graduation ceremony held June 9.

Source: The Blotter – Exclusive: Suicide Bomb Teams Sent to U.S., Europe (Brian Ross) When will Canada & Germany learn and get out of Iraq? Oh yeah, they are not in Iraq, but they are in Afghanistan.

Of course, the commentary discussion at The Blotter is focusing in on Iraq policy but my perusal of the discussion seems very few notice this has nothing to do with Iraq but Afghanistan and the closest many come is the diversion of resources argument. Of course, there is plenty of people claiming it is all our fault.

First, the very loud announcement of the graduation of suicide bombers tasked with missions in Europe, the USA, and Canada is very deliberately targeted at those who would would blame ourselves.

How about this:

Red State notices that one minister from Pakistan believes granting the knighthood to Salman Rushdie is justification for a suicide bombing. That remark indicates the width of the divide between people who believe they have the right to tell the West what to do and the small remnant that mistakenly believes that they still have liberty.

Source: The Belmont Club – Sir Saman Rusdie

More Canadian Censorship.

You may recall the brewhaha (much better word than kerfuffle) about Captain Ed at Captain's Quarters spilling the beans on the corruption case going on in Canada involving The Liberal Party (I believe it to be their official title otherwise I would refer to them as leftists). This time it is going down in Calgary and involves a blogger who was criticizing the Police Chief. HT: The Royal Flush. According to Royal Flush's source this is legal in Canada. No wonder why our PESTy leftists want to flock to Canada they can censor their opposition there.

Not Just the QB But the Team Too!

I am not commenting specifically on Brett Favre but will refer to him.

When Brett did not have a good team around him, his numbers looked terrible. Large numbers of interceptions, reduced touchdowns, reduced wins, etc. This is because football is a team sport. Don't get me wrong, the quarterback is very important to a team's success but a QB who tries to do it all by himself throws a lot of interceptions.

Same too with a presidential effort. The President relies a whole lot on the team they work with and recruit. It is not enough to look simply at the QB (the candidate) and make a determination based solely on the candidate, you have to look at the team they surround themselves with.

To a large extent this is what I believe is going on with Obama & the Canadian Fiasco (Blame Canada! Blame Canada!), Obama in his naivety may actually believe he is going to rip up NAFTA or renegotiate it on terms more favorable to the USA. His advisers apparently do not nor do I. This is quite normal and do not believe it necessarily a bad thing, teams and their leaders in liberal societies do have a fair amount of give and take about where the team goes.

However, this sort of thing is going to happen again before Obama is out of the race or in the Whitehouse.

Give Me Non-Islamic Clothes or Give Me Death

Source: Posted Toronto – Girl, 16, dies after hijab dispute with father (Rob Roberts)
In Mississuagua Canada (near Toronto) a young woman is murdered by her father. Why? Because she would not wear the clothing he demanded her to wear. That is she would not cover up properly.

The 16-year-old Mississauga girl who was allegedly strangled by her father in a dispute over her refusal to wear the hijab has died. Aqsa Parvez, a Grade 11 student at Applewood Heights, succumbed to her injuries late last night, Peel Regional Police said today.

The girl’s 57-year-old father, Muhammad Parvez, has been charged with muder. Aqsa’s 26-year-old brother, Waqas Parvez, has been charged with obstructing police.

Friends believe Aqsa (seen above in a personal photo) was the victim of a dispute over the teenager's desire to be more western. “She wanted to live her life the way she wanted to, not the way her parents wanted her to,” classmate Krista Garbhet told the Post this morning.

Source: Posted Toronto – Girl, 16, dies after hijab dispute with father (Rob Roberts) Such a pity. When this family left their native land they took this ugly custom with them. We in the West want to welcome all who want to share in the promise of liberty, but leave your illiberal traditions at home, after all, isn't there a reason you left?

However, here are one of Mohamad Parvez's enabler's interviewing Ayan Hirsi Ali:
Ayan Hirsi Ali had to fight against the likes of Muhamad Parvez and a combination of wits, luck, and the Almighty got Ayan out of the Aqsa's fate (to date as Ayan is marked for death). Wonder if those who knee jerkingly detest Ayan (i.e. Westerner's, the Islamists detest her) see what Ayan escaped and why they should support her.

I give the standard disclaimer about innocence and hope if Mr. Mohamad Parvez and his son are convicted in the death of Aqsa they become someone's boyfriends and they stay awake all night long in fear the food is haram. Stash them in the bowels of the prison and never tell them which way is Mecca, why should they get to observe the tenets of their faith on my in-laws (we have family in Canada) dime observing all the customs of something that obviously instilled them with barbarism?

Now, do not get me wrong or believe I am on the fence about this. However, if a Muslim woman in the West voluntarily covers up, I have no problem with that. I do buy (at least partially) the argument that too often women here in the West are commoditified (i.e. turned into commoditys) that there is way too much pressure upon women to be sex toys for men. In fact, given time perhaps Aqsa would have learned it first hand and reverted to covering (at least partially) but to kill her for not is evil.

BTW, I wonder if Lawarence O'Donnell has anything to say about this? I doubt it, he is probably out there bravely denouncing Mitt Romney or something.

A hat tip to the Jawa Report on two counts: The story from Toronto and Lawrence O'Donnell's honesty.

The Only Argument.

That comes close in my mind, to stopping the port deal is the Richard Clarke fiasco.

By now you are probably aware of this. The CIA had a fairly good fix on Osama Bin Laden, the 9/11 Report says they were about to pull the trigger on some cruise missiles when a plane identified as coming from the UAE Government was spotted in the camp. The shoot was called off (Why? Anyone who associates with the likes of Bin Laden, Zawahiri, Zarqawi, et al know they are targets) on account of that. The report goes on to say Richard Clarke thought he had CIA permission to express displeasure with a high ranking UAE government official visiting with Osama Bin Laden. He supposedly talked to two different Sheiks. Sheik Mohammed (Mohd is a standard abbreviation for Mohammed and I will use from this point on) bin Rashid and Sheik Mohd bin Zayed.

Mohd bin Rashid is the ruler of Dubai. Sheik Mohd bin Zayed was the chief of staff in the UAE government and is from Abu Dhabi (how can I tell? "bin Zayed" means son of Zayed, Sheik Zayed the first president of the UAE and former ruler of Abu Dhabi. Sheik Zayed died early Nov 2004).

Shortly after Mr. Clarke's discussion the hunting camp that Osama Bin Laden had been frequenting disappeared. Also, it was confirmed that Sheik Mohd bin Zayed was in Afghanistan hunting during the time frame the missile strike was contemplated. So it is reasonable to believe it was Sheik Mohd bin Zayed who relayed Clarke's information onto Al Qaida.

Okay, so you are probably wondering why as a supporter I relate the story. Well I present it to put some doubt into the meaning the ports deal detractors are giving it.

Lets suppose the Governor of Minnesota refused to hand over a blogger that the Canadian government wanted. Furthermore let us say Mercury Marine wanted to outfit Canada's cod fishing fleet with marine engines. Question: Would Canada be justified in turning away Mercury Marine because Minnesota refused to hand over the blogger? Silly you say? A government owned company is involved. Okay, let us say for whatever reason the Canadian govt. contracted with the UW to do a study on the cod fishery. The Canadian govt then calls off the deal because the UW may be in cahoots with Captain Ed to bring down the Canadian govt, who knows they may poison the cod fishery and ruin it!

We would find it preposterous to punish a given state for the crimes of another. That is what I believe is happening with this case. The penance for the sins of a sheik from Abu Dbabi is being extracted from Dubai (at least with the Clarke argument).

Drudgies.

Interesting Drudge Report headlines and MA's quick takes.

1. 1 PM, MARCH 18
A judge apparently has issued an order allowing Terry Schiavo's husband to remove her feeding tube three weeks from now. Murder.


2. Heart Attack Victim Was Moved for Michael Jackson; Family Says Woman Died...
I hope this story does not actually to be as is currently being reported. If true add ghoul to freak.


3. WAL-MART ASSOCIATES ONCE AGAIN SAY 'NO' TO UNION...
Great! Wal-Mart is doing something right!


4. WASH POST: 'Condoleezza Rice's coat and boots speak of sex and power'...
Condeleeza Rice is turning heads! The usual take I have been seeing is that MSM is being condescending and to a certain extent it is. BUT some of the reports I have heard indicate she does turn heads! I recall hearing Ariel Sharon saying he was in a conference and had a hard time concentrating due to her legs. I also recall hearing she is a shoe nut and has a large collection of shoes. Certainly, the press obsessed with Madeline Allbright's fashion tastes, why not Condis? Michelle Malkin also a relevant take on this whole story.


5. U.S. pushes Arabic: Study of language now tops Hebrew...
First take is good but with the state of Middle Eastern studies in our universities how long before our universities are turning out suicide bombers?


6. CANADA SAYS 'NO' TO MISSILE DEFENSE SHIELD
Why should we expect Paul Martin's leftist government to say yes? After all, who is angry at Canada?

DITTO!

Over the past few months one thing has become more clear to me than it was on November 4, 2008 — Barak Obama is a bait & switch artist. He wasn't all that good at it, but good enough to get a large number of people to vote for him believing he is a "centrist". He is no such thing, I had held out hope he would live up to his rhetoric but on a large number of policy concerns he is much farther to the left than Bush was to the right.

Obama is smart, making his moves on a large number of insignificant fronts, but add them all up and they sum to a decidedly leftward lurch. It will take time for these directions to percolate down but when they do it will be too late and the guy after Obama will take the rap.

Now, Al-Pazeera has a story out on W speaking in front of a Canadian crowd:

CALGARY, Alberta – Former President George W. Bush said on Tuesday that he won't criticize Barack Obama because the new U.S. president "deserves my silence," and said he plans to write a book about the 12 toughest decisions he made in office. Bush declined to critique the Obama administration in his first speech since leaving office in January. Former Vice President Dick Cheney has said that Obama's decisions threatened America's safety.

"I'm not going to spend my time criticizing him. There are plenty of critics in the arena," Bush said. "He deserves my silence."

Bush said he wants Obama to succeed and said it's important that he has that support. Talk-show host Rush Limbaugh has said he hoped Obama would fail. [emphasis added]

Source: Bush declines to criticize Obama in Canada speech from Al-Pazeera & Yahoo News (ROB GILLIES).

Now, what gets me in this article is how Rush is gratuitously brought into the discussion. There is no mention of him being brought up in the speech. Sure, Rush is well on the record as hoping for President Obama's failure, but there were scant few Democrat well wishes for President Bush. In fact, James Carville had hopes similar to Rush's and by the last eight years so too many Democrats. Quite simply put, many Democrats despite their feigning outrage over Rush Limbaugh's desire for President Obama to fail, were in the failure cheering box from '00 to '08.

In any event, I don't think we can be 100% united for more than brief periods of time. This is not an indictment, but a praise. Our nation was built on the premise we will never agree and instead of assuming 100% agreement rules were put down to deal with our disagreements in a peaceable manner. I am much more in fear of those who outrage at Rush than those who outrage at squishes who praise President Obama. Remember, President Obama commands the US Military and Federal Law Enforcement, whereas Rush does not.

For the record, I detested the bleating of certain commentators who were outraged (or at least acted so) when Democrats would "play politics" with our national defense. Politics is how we settle our disagreements, I rue the disagreements but in a liberal society there are bound to be disagreements.

I too hope for an Obama failure. I fear the direction he is trying to lurch the nation into is one of servitude and slavery.

Its Worse Than I Thought In Europe.

Reading The Brussel's Journal one finds some very disturbing trends.

The government of Slovakia has fallen after criticism by a European Union committee that it protects Catholic doctors against being forced to perform abortions. Two clashes of civilization are currently taking place in Europe. Freedom-loving people having to fight on two fronts. One involves the radical segment of the immigrant Muslim population that opposes basic Western values such as freedom of speech and that is intent on imposing Islamic taboos (such as the mere fact of depicting their prophet Muhammad) on the non-Islamic population. The other involves radical secularists that want to eradicate all remnants of traditional Christian culture from post-Christian Europe by restricting the right to conscientious objection on the part of religious people.

Source: The Brussel's Journal - The Other Culture War: EU Brings Down Slovak Government (Paul Belien) So, what we have here is an EU that is tripping over itself to please Muslims while at the same time doing its utmost to stamp out Christianity and any sense of Christian values.

The only thing with enough will to fight against the Islamic tide in Europe (and save the radical leftist secularists from dhimmitude) is being stamped out wherever it is found.

When the Cartoon Conflagration first started to flair up I saw other European papers publish the photos and the Jyllands-Posten stand up against the demands for apology. Now, even after it became clear the controversy was manufactured by Islamothugs, the editor responsible for the original publication of the cartoons is placed on extended leave, the paper apologizes, Canada confiscates an entire run of a college paper with the cartoons, our media (here in the USA) refuses to show them etc. Now add on the fact that doctors who believe abortion is an extreme wrong are to be forced to perform them.

Where does it stop? Is Germany (the one nation in Europe that seems to have backbone) going to be required to outlaw the production of bratwurst? How about black pudding in Poland?

Europe stop your blind and willing dhimmification before it is too late. Is Ayan Hirsi Ali the Churchill of our time?

Wow Wow Whoa!

A horror hit the Philippines. A stampede occurred at Manila's Ultra Stadium as people were trying to secure entrance to the venue for the 1 Year Anniversary edition of the game show WowWowWee.

Details are in this BBC News Story.

Last count reported was 73 dead and about 300 injured (mostly minor injuries). We are all saddened by the horror and pray for those who were killed in the crush.

Going to a WowWowWee show was one of the things on our to do list. However, we (i.e. The Empress and Myself) did not get around to going to WowWowWee but my brother-in-law and nieces (all residing in Canada), and my sister-in-law (residing in Manila) did make a show. We even saw them on the TV, it was real cool.

Prelim reports point the finger at a poor design of the venue and my guess is inadequate crowd control by the authorities on the scene are going to be tagged as the cause of this horror.

WowWowWee is a fun show to watch and I like it because some parts of the show move slowly enough I can make out the questions (which are in Tagalog) but the main reason I like WowWowWee are for all of the jiggles! ;-) I hope all concerned can pick up the pieces and carry on with the show.

Dissent vs. Treason.

Commentor Scott says

Dissent is patriotic. It is what got America here in the first place. If everybody had just sat around defending the honor of the King, talking about staying the course, ignoring the facts, etc... we would still be a British colony.

Source: Blogger Beer Comments.

The confusion of dissent with treason is obvious. Treason is not dissent. I am sure Code Pink considers themselves to be brave dissenting patriots

Remember the Americans burnt to a crisp and hung from a bridge in the Fallujah uprising? Code Pink donated over $650,000 to those Fallujah terrorists (Code Pinkos call them "refugees.")

Back on U.S. soil, Code Pink harasses badly wounded American soldiers, protesting them outside the Walter Reed medical facility in Washington, DC. Code Pinkos disrupted last week's Congressional confirmation hearings on UN Ambassador nominee John Bolton, shouting and unfurling banners against him. They are also shadowing military recruiters to foil recruiting efforts. The upside: there won't be enough soldiers to protect Code Pinkos' rights and freedoms.

This is Marla Ruzicka's beloved Code Pink. It's time to stop worshipping at the alter of this false heroine.

Source: Deb Schlussel for Political USA - Treasonatrix Barbie: Meet the Real Marla Ruzicka

That is not dissent it is treason.


Finally Scott says "If everybody had just sat around defending the honor of the King, talking about staying the course, ignoring the facts, etc... we would still be a British colony." Ummm, those who defended the honor of the King went to Canada, the utopia of the left in this nation.

Anyway Scott, thanks for reading & commenting!

Who Said This?

The Jawa Report posts a transcript from an under-reported speaking appearance by a current media figure. Read it and guess who said it.

I take responsibility partly for my son’s death, too. I was raised in a country by a public school system that taught us that America was good, that America was just. America has been killing people, like my sister over here says, since we first stepped on this continent, we have been responsible for death and destruction. I passed on that bull$#!+ to my son and my son enlisted. IÂ’m going all over the country telling moms: “This country is not worth dying for. If weÂ’re attacked, we would all go out. We’d all take whatever we had. I’d take my rolling pin and I’d beat the attackers over the head with it. But we were not attacked by Iraq. {applause} We might not even have been attacked by Osama bin Laden if {applause}. 9/11 was their Pearl Harbor to get their neo-con agenda through and, if I would have known that before my son was killed, I would have taken him to Canada. I would never have let him go and try and defend this morally repugnant system we have. The people are good, the system is morally repugnant. {applause}

Source: The Jawa Report - Transcript of XXXXX XXXXXXXX anti-American moonbattery: bin Laden not behind 9/11, US Using Nuke Weapons in Iraq

Read the whole Jawa Report blog as it contains a picture of a flyer from the event. This is all treason. I really love this quote: I’d take my rolling pin and I’d beat the attackers over the head with it. which is followed by a denial we were really attacked on 9/11. Seems to me the above speaker would not defend this nation even when attacked, after all what all the talk about This country is not worth dying for?

The left says they love this nation and spew the bile above. The question must be asked, how can they stand living in such a nation? If you work for a company, or are involved with an organization that contradicts your beliefs, morals, and ideals then if you can not change the organization the honorable thing to do is to quit. In this case, leave. After all the Canadian immigration website servers seem to be able to handle the traffic. Perhaps Iran would more suit your tastes?

The last point which is a repeat. This person's son volunteered, voluntarily re-enlisted, and then voluntarily went off on the mission where he was killed. All humanity recognizes there is a time for childhood and a time for adulthood. Quite treating your son like a child.

Read Wretchard's Latest!

Wretchard notes a very interesting development about the Italian arrest warrant issued against 13 CIA agents.

CIA officials are claiming the op was done with the knowledge and approval of the equivalent agency in Italy. The guy that was snatched was not guilty of robbing the rich but was recruiting jihadis. Wretchard likens the situation to the Canadian fellow of Syrian who was detained in New York City on his way back from Syria to Canada and sent to Syria for some very un-Gitmo like questioning. The dude in Italy was kidnapped and then sent to Egypt again, his treatment was un-Gitmo like.

Wretchard states:

The World War 2 generation now being criticized for dropping the atomic bomb on Japan at least had the sand to do it under its own name. Twenty first century men have another slogan: Not In My Name. It's an organization which wants the annihilation of Israel without the taint of anti-Semitism. It is separate and distinct from Not In Our Name, though one can hardly see why, because its "mission is to build, strengthen and expand resistance to stop the U.S. government's entire course of war and repression being waged in the name of 'fighting terrorism.'" Not that it is for terrorism, lest anyone misunderstand, just that whatever must be done to stop it should not be done in "our name". So to keep everybody happy what's necessary will be done in the name of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Morroco and the CIA. This is called moral behavior. But what's in a name?

Yet acquiescence to this cynical game of political correctness represents the greatest debasement of all. Not only is it cowardly and irresponsible, it allows polite society to evade, for however long it wishes, substantive debate on moral choices which should concern us all. A society which wants to wage war without seeming to shed blood is one which has no intention of confronting the ethical issues. Then we are blind in heart as we are in sight. Nothing to see here, just Move On.

Source The Belmont Club - Nowhere Man

Italy has been a fair ally. Of course they would probably go the way of Spain shortly. Appease appease%2

Ignorance on the UN and Zimbabwe.

Wretchard notices some comments at the BBC's website.

The most astonishing one is:

I feel the United Nations should be granted the power to act in a really positive way to bring dictators to heel. Words and oral warnings do nothing to rid an oppressed people of a despot dictator. Any action taken would have to be ordered and directed by the United Nations and not the president of the United States of America and any of his cohorts Edward Seyforth, Halifax, Canada

The Belmont Club - Good questions

That comment, my friends, is nothing but 190 proof willful blindness. How can one not see what the UN really is? The UN is an institution where Robert Mugabe's government is held on equal moral ground to that of the US, the UK, France, Germany etc. To add to the problem, there are more nations willing to look out for a Mugabe thugocracy because they could be the next target than nations willing to stand u for justice.

I would also ask Mr. Seyforth what sort of action other than "Words and oral warnings" would do? Sanctions? As we see again, the UN is being investigated for circumventing its own sanctions. Perhaps, he thinks the "Oil for Food" scandal is a witch hunt, but what did years and years of sanctions do to Saddam? They gave him license to starve his people (while hoarding supplies and building palaces) and blame it on the sanctions.

Shall, the UN make war on such nations? As has been proven time and time again UN forces (without assistance from the US) are unable to even keep rag-tag armies in check, unable to protect the refugee camps they "guard". The other problem with that approach (as far as the UN is concerned, is most nations think Humanity has transcended war that is humanity itself) would never sanction it. Look at Iraq, the only approach the UN was willing to consider was actions that were proven by time NOT to work.

No Mr. Seyforth, the UN is not the answer to Zimbabwe and is unlikely to ever be the answer to such situations unless it is more selective about membership which is highly unlikely.

Similar?

Read these two articles:
Oh Canada by myself and then Invasion of the America Snatchers by Jonah Goldberg.

Jonah finishes off what I started! Jonah, are you reading Blogger Beer?

Beer!

Not blogger beer but real beer!

I can not believe it has taken me this long to blog on a topic near and dear to my heart.

I have not done so in a while but I am an occasional homebrewer. I have I want to say three batches of beer under my belt (literally)! The first two were brewed with liquid malt extracts (a real gooey substance that is mixed with water) and the last one was a whole grain brew.

The process is not too complicated (at least for extract beers). Pour the extract into a quantity of water, boil it for a while, add hops, cool it down, pour it into a fermentation vessel add yeast and let it go for about a week, siphon the brew into another vessel let it sit for a week to two weeks, mix in some more sugars to create carbonation, bottle it and let it sit for about another two weeks. Chill it and drink it.

Of course, sanitation and the logistics of it all adds factors of complication.

Our standard beer we buy in the store is a class of beer called a pilsner. It is light bodied and lightly hopped lager (not blogger). Don't let any Canadian or Aussie tell you their beer is so much more "beerly" than our beer. Their standard beers are the same as ours! I have had plenty of Aussie standard beer and plenty from Canada as well. They are all pilsners.

Of course not all beers are pilsners. Most people are at least aware of the stout beer, there are ales, there are bocks, there are porters, there are reds etc. There are many variety of beers and like wines each variety has a time and place.

The largest division of beers is the lager vs. ale beer. What's the difference? The yeast used to ferment the beer. Ale beers have more complicated tastes than lagers. Why? Because of byproducts from ale yeast fermentation called "esters". The esters give the ales hints of fruity flavors. This is why good wine testers talk of all sorts of fruits when tasting wine. Lager yeasts do not produce the same esters and lagers are usually fermented at cooler temperatures both contribute to a less complicated taste. Ales are easier to brew.

Next Blogger Beer Beer Blog I will talk about the grains used for brewing beer!

"Beer is Proof That God Loves Us and Wants Us To Be Happy!"
Benjamin Franklin

Day by Day Comments on Internet Speech.

Lets get started right away this morning!

As you all know I have been commenting quite a bit on the efforts by government to restrict online speech. Make no mistake about this, these attempts are striking at the very heart of the Constitution more so than the Patriot Act. Justice Scalia noted when the BCFRA (Bi-Partisan Campaign Finance Reform Act) came in front of the supreme court the Constitution's main purpose in the First Amendment is to protect political speech! I think the protections given to speech such as virtual child pornography are debatable with good points on both sides. The fact our courts deem virtual child pornography as more worthy of First Amendment protection than our political speech should make anyone fearful.

As you may be aware Canada is trying to contain the speech of the blogosphere. I mentioned the (don't you dare think I am going to use the word kerfuffle!) controversy yesterday. Essentially Captain Ed at Captain's Quarters is blogging on a Canadian investigation into corruption by the ruling Liberal Party. Parts of the testimony in the case are closed to publication and Captain Ed has a birdie feeding him the testimony and is publishing the facts revealed and the testimony.

Needless to say the investigator and the Canadian government are not too happy. They have prohibited Canadian bloggers from linking to Captain's Quarters!

San Francisco is considering placing restrictions on bloggers who blog on local politics. I know very little about the details but it is scary. So too is the sets of rules the FEC may come up with doing the same for bloggers in this nation.

Anyway onto the Day by Day cartoon!


Source: Day by Day Chris Muir April 5, 2005.

How sad.

Update

1. Guess which cartoon Captain Ed is featuring at Captain's Quarters? Yes this very one! 6:55 am 4/5/2005


2. Added cartoon citation. 6:55 am 4/5/2005

Terri McCormick: A Bio Part II.

First off. Thanks to Owen at Boots and Sabers for alerting his readers to this series of blogs! As I said at the PEN event, one can have tons of talent and ability (don't take this as a claim that I do) but without the help of others we get nowhere.

I will be blogging on Terri McCormick's credentials as revealed by the bio-sheet I picked up at the Friends of McCormick event yesterday. If you want me to dig up ammo to use against her, forget it find it yourself. It should be very evident who I support in this matter and for the other candidates out there please do not take it as an affront. You too would be worthy for the job and I will support you if you win the nomination.

Like I said in the previous blog I have never been in this position before. In the previous senatorial race I had to explain myself to friends who supported the other candidates but never to the candidate.

Representative Terri McCormick's background focuses on political science and education. Her Bachelor's Degree is from UW-Oshkosh in Political Science and then went to to earn a Master's in Educational Administration from Marian and earned her education certificate from Lawrence here in Appleton. She also studied at the University of Windsor in Windsor Ontario (the fact she remains a Republican despite studying at a U in Canada is a tribute to the strength of her convictions).

Representative McCormick served as an instructor and consultant at Xavier HS and St. Joseph Middle school (both in Appleton). She also founded the Wisconsin Charter School Association and served as its president.

Terri was first elected to the State Assembly in 2000 and represents Wisconsin's 56th Assembly District. As a member of the Assembly Terri chairs the Assembly Economic Development Committee and in the last session she chaired the Speaker's Task Force on Local Government Health Parthnerships. She is the vice-chair of the Assembly Judiciary Committee and serves on the Insurance, Public Health, Education Reform, and Transportation committees. Wow! That seems like an awful lot!

Awards

• 2001-2002 Wisconsin Counties Association "Outstanding Legislator" Award.


• 2001-2002 & 2003-2004 National Federation of Independent Business "Guardian of Small Business"


• 2002 Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce "Working for Wisconsin" Award


• 2004 Wisconsin State Public Defender Board "Eisenberg" Award


• 2002-04 Wisconsin Builders Association "Friend of the Housing Industry" Award


• 2004 American Cancer Society Award


• 2004 State Bar Association "Scales of Justice" Award


• 2004-2004 Wisconsin Farm Bureau "Friend of Agriculture"