Nov. 27 - I started

Nov. 27 - I started crying when I read this: Bush makes secret Thanksgiving Day trip to Iraq.

God bless you, Mr. President. Your visit to Iraq means that we are all there with the fine men and women who protect this country.

Best. Thanksgiving. Day. Ever.

UPDATE: Yes, I was a little emotional with this one, but I'm not apologizing. This was an extraordinary act by our President, and he did us all proud. He wasn't the only one with tears when the troops roared when they first saw him! I too was on my feet cheering and crying.

Canadians are somewhat bemused by the American attitude to Thanksgiving, and I'm not sure if I can even explain it. It has grown far away from an original celebration and thankfulness for the successful harvesting of crops and grown to thankfulness of another kind of harvest: family, friends, community and sharing.

But I stand by my original conclusion: as the troops couldn't be home with their families on Thanksgiving, it was right and proper that President Bush, as the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, be with them representing the bigger American family.

I fear I will never be sophisticated enough discard emotion and sentimentality.

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Sharia in Ontario

Nov. 27 - I'm really not sure what to make of this post about Sharia in Canada, or, more properly, in Ontario, from Damien Penny. Read the comments, too.

Although Damien doesn't think it is much of a problem because Ontario courts would still have the power to strike down any offensive decisions, I still wonder about the effect of having two tiers of civil arbitration structures. There's also the small matter of enforcement, which can involve the government should wages be garnisheed or seizure of property be deemed necessary.

As we have a Liberal government in Ontario now, I think any MPP who asked such questions would be treated in typical Liberal fashion: booed, accused of racism, and, in short, the questions wouldn't be addressed.

UPDATE: Jack comments and provides more information. I too didn't see anything about this meeting in the local media.

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Clinton defends Chretien

Nov. 27 - Via Neale News, a National Post article Clinton defends Chretien and the decision for Canada not to support the US in Iraq. He explains that

Republican complaints that Canada, France and Mexico were soft on terrorism by refusing to join the war was unjustified and failed to take into account Chretien's strong belief in getting authorization from the United Nations, Clinton wrote.

[...]

Clinton praised Chretien as a valued friend, "whose intelligence, experience, common touch and common sense made him an extraordinarily effective leader."

Looks as though Clinton has learned to not publicly support people until they're out of office. Even he recognizes he's a curse!

More seriously, what binds Chretien to the UN? Maybe the fact that neither of them are required to be accountable? The ethical behaviour of Chretien and his Cabinet is of scandalous proportions up here, but there is no way to punish them unless Chretien choses to do so.

As for Chretien himself, we can write conflict of interest in huge honking letters whenever the names Bombardier and TotalFinaElf come up, but to no avail. The only ethics constraining Chretien are that which he places upon himself.

Roger L. Simon has a post that warms my cockles, demanding that the UN open the books and show where the money for the Oil-For-Food program went. As he points out, the funds required to maintain that vast police state and reward those who committed torture during Saddam's regime as well as the money now funding the terrorists in Iraq came from somewhere, and let's not forget the billions of dollars in both US currency and gold that were secured by US forces as attempts were made to smuggle same out of Iraq by the truckloads. (Be sure and read the comments, and link here for Gerard Van der Leun's devastating account of the French and Bonn banks' lending practices to any country known to be antagonistic toward the US.)

There is no legal requirement for the UN to account for the money it spends, and you don't have to be a genius to figure out that that guarantees corruption.

Accountability is the necessary partner for freedom, and, as an American citizen and Canadian taxpayer, I object to tax dollars being spent on any organization that doesn't have to account for that money.

Go Roger! As he points out, we have a right to know, as do the people of Iraq who were cheated out of food and critical medical supplies by the UN and Saddam.

UPDATE: Paul has some rather pointed comments about Bubba's defense of the PM in He just won't shut up . . .

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Nov. 27 - Alpha Patriot

Nov. 27 - Alpha Patriot has some interesting links regarding the effectiveness of the President's recent visit to England on the British media (AlphaPatriot: So Just How Did It Go In England?) which still begs the question: why didn't they figure this out earlier?

Don't get me wrong, I thought the Whitehall Speech was wonderful, but it really didn't break any new ground in terms of policy or resolve. As all the presidential speeches are available online, I guess it gets back to the laziness of journalists to do a bit of fact-checking and research.

Surely it can't be that they substitute wisecracks for actual reporting, can it?

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Nov. 27 - The latest

Nov. 27 - The latest lie assignment from the Alliance is What will Evil Glenn be doing for Thanksgiving?

That one's easy. He'll be stuffing puppies. Into turkeys. Guess he wants to be known as Puppy Stuffer.

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Nov. 27 - This is

Nov. 27 - This is odd: Terror refugee ordered to go. Hasan Dhaifullah Alkuhali was denied refugee status based on his claim that his refusal to join a terrorist group in Yemen, the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army (AAIA), caused him to flee for his life.

The AAIA is a bin Laden kidnap-for-ransom group whose members raise millions of dollars for its jihad in ransom paid to free kidnapped foreigners, police said.

[...]

"The board accepted the AAIA was a violent terrorist organization with international connections," Mr. Justice Edmond P. Blanchard said. He (Alkuhali) claimed the leader of the AAIA was Osama bin Laden."

Alkuhali said his troubles began in November 2000 after five heavily armed and masked men came to his home in Yemen to recruit him. He said the men offered him weapons, money and a car if he joined, but he refused and was given 24 hours to reconsider.

Alkuhali said he purchased a phony U.S. passport and a plane ticket, fled to Detroit and then to Windsor, where he made a refugee claim at the border.

Akuhali told the court he didn't contact Yemeni police about the threat because they were "corrupt and dangerous."

Blanchard said Alkuhali had an obligation to seek assistance in Yemen.

Interesting.

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Nov. 27 - Peter Worthington

Nov. 27 - Peter Worthington delivers a smackdown to the Pulitizer Prize Committee for their decision to not rescind that prize for Walter Duranty's report on Stalin which lied about the engineered famine in the Ukraine which killed over 7 million people (Pulitzer's prize injustice.)

I guess that once you start, it's hard to quit being apologists for Stalin and communism.

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Nov. 27 - To paraphrase

Nov. 27 - To paraphrase John Derringer, What A Bitch!

A woman appeared in Barrie court yesterday over a Sept. 13 incident involving road hockey: Rage rap over road hockey. She objected to kids playing street hockey, so got into our car and charged the net. The kids scattered onto nearby lawns and ran home terrified.

So the ball went into her yard several times. There was no damage to her precious grass.

The parents of the kids are standing foursquare behind them:

Parents yesterday said they were not only upset about the potential for injury but for the effect it's had on their children's ability to play Canada's beloved pastime.

"It's not only that it is a national sport," said one father, Sunil Mehra, "it's also that they were playing a game and having fun and being children. They were not out ransacking or in the shops causing trouble. These kids were terrified. They came running with tears in their eyes. It's a sad thing and none of us are feeling good about it."

Karen Seeley-Andrews made a brief appearance in Barrie court yesterday charged with dangerous driving and mischief by willfully destroying a goalie net. She is to be back in court Jan. 7.

There actually are people who can't stand the thought of kids playing (I've run into some of those sourpusses too often.) They object to the "noise" kids make.

Freaking cheerless uptight pursed-lips psychos. Sorry your childhood was so solitary. Like, maybe there's a reason the other kids didn't want to play with you?

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Nov. 27 - They may

Nov. 27 - They may be a little late to the party, but what the heck? French Join In on Anti-France Bandwagon. According to the article, the French are snapping up books that question current French policy.

In the last few months, there have been a slew of books published in the country slamming French policy with titles that translate to: "The Arrogant French," "The French in Disarray," and "France in Free-Fall."

"France has a great obstructive power, destructive power and this is very dangerous for France itself," said Andre Glucksmann, author of "West Versus West."

Readers are snapping up books that question whether or not the policies of French president Jacques Chirac are hurting their homeland.

Considering that it was also reported that the French snap up books such as the one that purported to show the attacks on Sept. 11 were only Hollywood special effects, I'm not rushing out to purchase anything French.

So the French pay attention when it hurts their pocketbooks? Too f---ing bad.

Mmm, Australian wines.

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Nov. 27 - Sadly, this

Nov. 27 - Sadly, this is not a surprise: Kashmir: 8 dead in a series of attacks by terrorists.

The good news: 5 of the dead are suspected terrorists:

In Thursday's violence, a civilian was killed in Srinagar's main market when insurgents launched grenades at Indian paramilitary forces, but missed their target, police said.

They hit a group of bystanders, killing one and injuring 10.

Indian security forces were searching for the suspected militants responsible for the attack, which happened at 12:30 p.m. (0700 GMT). Srinagar is the summer capital of India's Jammu and Kashmir state.

In the winter capital Jammu, three militants were killed in a gun battle with Indian security forces in Gool district.

Also in Jammu, a gun battle left two militants dead and an Indian paramilitary security officer seriously injured in Doda.

In central Kashmir, suspected militants burst into the house of an off-duty Indian police officer, and shot him dead.

Also, suspected militants in southern Kashmir gunned down a member of a plainclothes special police officer.

The 14-year insurgency in Indian-Kashmir has killed an estimated 30,000 to 60,000 people.

I shudder at those numbers, and CNN's numbers are lower than APs, which was over 68,000 dead. (That doesn't even include injuries.)

I think everyone knew the 2 day-old ceasefire would prove irresistable to those terrorists who are committed to murder, but it doesn't make the ceasefire any the less commendable. India is a long time ally of the US, and Pakistan has been impressive despite internal problems in helping in the war in Afghanistan and on al Qaeda.

True, there's a lot of history behind their current antagonism, but history can surprise us sometimes, and I keep hoping that the leadership of those two countries can resolve to put their very real differences on the back burner and focus on what is in their mutual self-interest: fighting terrorism.

Maybe some day we'll have a real Dept. of State and they'll work on such matters.

Aside: What the heck does CNN mean "suspected" militants? I think that once they've killed they've gone way, way beyond "suspicion." India has the bodies to prove it. Damn the media some more ...

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Nov. 25 - I found

Nov. 25 - I found Earthly Passions: A Puritan Idealism in Iraq just as blogger went down Monday night, but maybe it's just as well I wasn't able post on it then because it has provoked a lot of thinking and reflection as Thanksgiving approaches.

Every school child knows that the Pilgrims landed and made it through winter with the help of friendly Native Americans. They also know about the Mayflower Compact, but the hardships these early settlers endured aboard the Mayflower as they hammered out that statement are often underplayed.

The crucial partnership of the Pilgrims and the Native Americans of the Wampanoags enabled both to survive, and it becomes relevant again as Mark brings those early lessons into the present:

The Pilgrims heard "Welcome" from Samoset, Squanto, Massasoit, and the Wampanoag tribe. However, this welcome did not extend from all Native Americans. The Narragansett tribe and others proved to be a constant and deadly threat. The Plymouth colonists concentrated and benefited from their welcoming neighbors and were not swayed from their objective by those who proved hostile. Today we forget that many, if not most, Iraqis welcomed their liberators last March. But that's yesterday's headlines. What we read today are those fewer but more vocal and violent in Iraq who work their deadly deeds against American soldiers.

In the same way that the treaty with the Wampanoags did not encompass an agreement with all Native Americans and Englishmen, today's commitment to Iraq does not encompass all Iraqis. It does not, obviously, involve Baathists and foreign jihadists who would use terror to advance their cause. In 1621, there were also terrorists, sadly from both sides, who would use terrorist tactics to advance their cause. Other Native Americans, not of the Wampanoag tribe, would have unleashed their own terrorism to destroy either the Pilgrims or the Wampanoags. But together the Puritan settlers and Wampanoag tribe were able to defend themselves, when they might not have done so separately.

Likewise the new, fragile Iraqi democracy cannot survive without American and British assistance. But it also cannot survive only on the support of American and British troops. There must be a mutual commitment between Iraqis who will eventually take the lead in their own democracy and the leaders of the free world who lend their strength. "America only" fails on its own intrusiveness. "Iraqis only" fails on its own lack of military strength. Together they can forge a new alliance that will survive the never ending bombs from within Iraq and the barbs from without.

The next section is moral courage:

Idealism, common purpose, and a treaty forged out of necessity provided the strength for the Pilgrims to survive. But without moral courage they surely would have floundered.

I highly recommend you read the entire post.

Thanksgiving Day is when we unite with family and celebrate our gratitude for family, shelter, food, and our heritage of the Idealism of those Pilgrims who underwent enormous hardship and suffering in order to safeguard their religious views. That we remember the idealism is important, because this nation was founded on idealism, and much of who we are and what we have done stems from those ideals. One of those ideals is that all men and women yearn for freedom; the necessary other is that all men and women can behave responsibly and rationally.

The combination of the sober, industrious Puritans and the jaunty, younger sons who wanted to make their fortunes forged the early colonies and the necessity of compromise hammered us. The question of slavery was not settled when the nation was founded and required that the Civil War complete the task. It tempered us.

The Civil War also contributed a new song to Americans, "The Empty Chair," which sat empty in memory of the son, brother, husband or father who had died in that war. I doubt many Americans have even heard of it, but it will have a new poignancy for me tomorrow as I remember those young men and women we have sent to war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

For those of us who early on supported the action in Iraq, I think we already knew that, in some ways, the blood of those good soldiers who have fallen would be on our consciences, not because we doubted that the cause was just but because we knew we would owe a mighty debt to them and we needed to be worthy. Every day web logs renew our pledge to them that we would do what it takes on the homefront to see it through and ensure that their deaths were not wasted but would have meaning, and that new hope can and must be born for millions of people because of their sacrifices.

That is poor comfort for those away from home and those who miss them, but it's all we have. Hope and faith, honour and strength, courage and steadfastness. These are things we call upon to sustain us in times that try our souls. In past years, we have been able to get by without thinking much about those words, but no more. Now those words have been reclaimed for us and by us as our heritage. Our moral courage.

On Sept. 21, 2001, President Bush reminded us of who we are and what our nation represents as he spoke these words in his speech to the joint houses of Congress:

Great harm has been done to us. We have suffered great loss. And in our grief and anger we have found our mission and our moment. Freedom and fear are at war. The advance of human freedom -- the great achievement of our time, and the great hope of every time -- now depends on us. Our nation -- this generation -- will lift a dark threat of violence from our people and our future. We will rally the world to this cause by our efforts, by our courage.

He concluded with words that have been uttered many times since:

We will not tire. We will not falter. We will not fail.

I think these good words, purposeful words that do not diminish the task we've set for ourselves but steel our resolve and steady our hearts for the trying times today and ahead.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. We have so much to be grateful for, and so many good men and women to be grateful to.

(Via Dustbury.)

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Nov. 25 - I have

Nov. 25 - I have admitted before that I love The Sun (UK). I think the word that best describes it is brash. They may not have the "respectability" of the Daily Telegraph, but they write in a rock'em sock'em style I find endearing.

For example, there's this: Operation Santa:

BRITISH troops spending Christmas in Iraq will tuck into a sleigh-load of traditional festive treats -- thanks to Santa Sun.

The forces' favourite newspaper has teamed up with Tesco to send an individual hamper of goodies to EVERY ONE of our 14,000 brave boys and girls who will be away from loved ones.

Each box is crammed with mince pies, sweets, nuts, soft drinks, crisps, cakes, Christmas pud -- and even a Father Christmas hat.

The only thing missing is booze -- banned as Iraq is a strict Muslim country.

Boxes are also being sent to 1,000 British troops on active service over the holidays in other foreign countries, including Bosnia and Afghanistan. (Emphasis added)

The Naafi, which distributes supplies to Our Boys and Girls across the world, is making sure all the boxes are delivered in time for Christmas.

Our 14,000 troops in Iraq are now involved in peacekeeping duties in extremely dangerous conditions.

They include squaddies from the Paras, Light Infantry, Royal Green Jackets and Queen's Lancashire Regiment.

Type 23 frigates Sutherland and Kent are on duty -- plus Tornados from the RAF's 2 and 13 squadrons.

Squaddies, sailors and RAF crews will spend the holidays in Basra, in Southern Iraq, where temperatures will be around 50°F (10°C) on Christmas Day.

More than 50 Tesco staff worked around the clock to pack the containers at a base in Ely, Cambridgeshire, in the operation with The Sun.

Staff from the local Tesco store joined volunteers from head office on the production line to pack the boxes.

[...]

A convoy of seven lorries ferried the 75-ton load to the Naafi ship Michigan, in Felixstowe, Suffolk.

It has set sail and is due in Kuwait on December 12.

The goodies will then be distributed to troops over the border in Iraq by trucks and helicopters.

[...]

Tesco suppliers have generously donated their products to the festive boxes and Brand Momentum in Cambridgeshire loaned its packing site and expertise to ensure the boxes were ready to go on time.

The suppliers are: Elkes Biscuits, Kinnerton Confectionery, Rocket Design, Readifoods, Jacobs Biscuits, Shannon Minerals, Gerber Foods, Princes Soft Drinks, Macaw Soft Drinks, Redmill Snacks, McVitie's, Haribo, Manor Bakeries, Hazlewood Foods, Soreen, KP, Ludwig Chocolate, Toms Confectionery, Memory Lane Cakes and Burton's Biscuits.

Not exactly the BBC, but that's of the good.

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Nov. 26 - Australian news

Nov. 26 - Australian news reports the Italian mission in Iraq was hit with mortar or rocket fire.

RAI said only a few people were in the building at the time of the blast, which targeted the building's second floor. The head of the mission, Gianludovico de Martino di Montegiordano, wasn't inside at the time, RAI [the Italian state-run television]reported.

It said the building was damaged, but that there were no injuries.

Never forget that, far from being unilateral, we have strong allies in Iraq. Remember them and pray for their safety.

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Nov. 26 - Salim Mansur

Nov. 26 - Salim Mansur poses the question we have all been frustrated and aggravated about:

Since a violent end game between the liberating American-led coalition forces and Saddam loyalists, joined by the fanatics of the Arab-Muslim world, was expected and has occurred, the interesting question is why there is so much mock surprise and gloom in the media. (Emphasis added.)

Mr. Mansur doesn't have permalinks (drat!) so I'm going to quote extensively from his column "Make no mistake: Iraq is not another Vietnam" and hope for future permalinks:

The gloom pervading this sort of analysis carries the odour of a self-fulfilling wish.

It is to be found in the language used to portray the nightly roundup of the day's events in Iraq - of endlessly piling up the costs of war, its after-effects and casualties, with scant reference to gains being made in rebuilding a country plundered by Saddam and his kinsmen. All this to drive the message home to Americans, not Iraqis, that the overthrow of a tyrannical regime was an illusion and defeat is now inevitable in an Iraqi quagmire that ignites memories of Vietnam.

It is strange, even obscene, to hear those sending out suicide bombers against soft civilian targets, assaulting American and coalition soldiers, and perpetrating terror against Iraqis, referred to even in some of our media as "resistance" fighters." And even stranger to hear their efforts to return Iraq to the tyranny of the Saddam years described as a "liberation" struggle.

Iraq is not becoming another Vietnam, despite the spike in the recent round of terrorist violence. Moreover, describing the desperate, losing campaign of murdering thugs as a "resistance" struggle is an insult to the memory of those Iraqis who perished resisting Saddam's regime in the uprising of 1991, betrayed by a former U.S. president, the elder George Bush.

It was a betrayal. We all know that, and I think it must firm our resolve to do whatever it takes however long it takes. On many levels, it's a matter of honour. I know it was an expedient betrayal, if you will, just as the failure to stop the Soviet Union from invading and occupying Eastern Europe was, and we're not going to to that any more.

[...]

It is worth repeating. Iraqis overwhelmingly - Kurds in the north and Shiites in the south together constitute about 85% of Iraq's population - recognize the difference between tyranny and freedom.

No surrender to terrorism

They are not about to surrender to terrorism after having so recently acquired their freedom. The terrorists know this. But they are in a race against the coalition forces to see if they can succeed, before being defeated, in convincing the American public to abandon Iraq. To convince Americans that the price that must be paid for securing Iraq's freedom is too steep.

Ibn Khaldun, one of the greatest Arab thinkers from the 14th century and considered by many as an intellectual giant of the Middle Ages, would have made no mistake about his methods in dealing with terrorists.

He would have recognized them as the fanatics and fundamentalists of his time, who, posing as men of religion, brought ruination to the Arab-Islamic civilization between Cordoba in Moorish Spain and Baghdad.

He would have counselled the Americans and their coalition partners to proceed unwaveringly with their missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, preventing terrorists from spreading elsewhere.

For Ibn Khaldun understood through experience, unlike so many of today's media "experts", that civilization periodically must contend forcefully with those who seek its destruction.

Read the whole thing. The link should be good until next Thursday.

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Nov. 26 - Did I

Nov. 26 - Did I mention that hockey is a way of life up here? Joe Wormington's column today features a team effort by Tom Cochrane, Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Guy LeFleur to send a message to the Canadian troops in Afghanistan. But first about Cochrane's hockey game:

Talk about the Big Leagues. "I have got sore ribs," laughs Canadian music legend Tom Cochrane last night. "I was hit with a pretty good body check in my Brampton men's-league hockey game."

Ouch. That bruise is probably White Hot but he wouldn't change a thing because it has been a magical couple of days. Picture this: On Saturday night the Oakville resident was in Edmonton for the great Heritage Classic.

And then on Monday he was on stage at the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada dinner, receiving a National Achievement Award for a long career in writing tremendous songs, including Life is a Highway.

But since "hockey is the tie that binds the country," we'll talk about that treat first.

"I had my nose pressed up against the glass and was watching my heroes as a kid playing on an outdoor rink," Tom said excitedly. "I felt like a 10-year-old kid."

A lot of people know exactly what he means. During the festivities, Cochrane sang his famous song Big Leagues and dedicated it to Canadian Forces troops over in Afghanistan. It was at that point he was approached by a familiar face. "It was Wayne Gretzky," Tom says. "He said 'I want to tape a special message for those troops.'"

Later, Gretzky, Mark Messier and Guy LaFleur did exactly that. Cochrane, who has done so many humanitarian missions, will be heading to the war zone near Kabul to see and entertain those troops next month.

"I will be bringing that tape," he said. "It was a class thing for those guys to do that."

We are talking legends here, and I think the troops will be totally awestruck by the support and recognition from these greats.

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Nov. 26 - Pierre Le

Nov. 26 - Pierre Le Brun of the Canadian Press must not watch Coaches Corner on Saturday Night Hockey regularly or he'd know that this was the second Don Cherry rant against commercials which are supposed to "educate" parents about being too agressive when it comes to their kids in sports. Don lit into the commercials when they were first aired earlier this year (last March, maybe? it was shortly after the Iraq war began) and hockey parents everywhere cheered for him and thanked him back then too.

The program is called "Relax, It's Just a Game" which is heresy up here. It's not just a game, it's The Game. It's fast. It's exciting. It's aggressive. It's not a game for the timid and kids love it and play it every chance they get. Attempts to make street hockey illegal are usually shot down. You don't mess with Tradition.

Hockey is so freaking politically incorrect it makes my heart sing. Ask a Canadian hockey fan what he thinks of European hockey teams and prepare for a long rant on underhanded cheating sneaky back-stabbing cowardly bastards who don't have the balls to check you right and proper to your face but use their skates to trip you and avoid detection.

Hockey is capitalism and team work in action: recognizing and seizing opportunity, taking risks, taking your shot when you see an opening or passing the puck to the open man. It's a fast, gutsy game, and we love it.

As for the nutty parents, I've been involved in minor sports on the administrative level for over 10 years and raised 3 active boys who played organized hockey, baseball, swimming and soccer. I have a bit of first-hand knowledge on the Matter of Nutty Parents, and I agree with Don Cherry. These ads paint sports parents unfairly.

Yes, there are some wackos who are also parents and who put their kids into amateur sports programs. But these parents are just plain nutty and the kids-sports connection is convenient for the politically correct but irrelevant to the nuttiness.

The overwhelming majority of hockey parents are fantastic. They go to a lot of trouble to get their kids to in-town and out-of-town games and tournaments at god-awful hours (I'm talking being at the rink at 5:30 a.m. for a 6 a.m. game in mid-freaking-winter) plus the financial expenses for skates, equipment and training camps and the travel costs for tournaments.

Parents talk to one another. The wackos are well-known because they are uncommon and they stand out.

The aforementioned wackos are also nutty in other sports programs, Scouts, schools, music competitions, ballet recitals, at the pool and pretty much wherever they go out in public with or without their kids. I saw one of them go ballistic in the library because the book he wanted was on a waiting list. He was a nut job, and the fact that he's a parent just gives him more venues to exhibit his belligerance.

The major stupidity of these commercials is that people who are nuts think they are rational, so using the airwaves to reach them is a waste of time. Sheesh, some of these nuts have complained to me about others they perceived to be out-of-control. What are you gonna do? I suspect the nuts sit there and nod their heads in agreement when they see those commercials because they don't realize it's aimed at them. It's already been established they're clueless, right?

The cruelty of the commercial is that it makes it appear to the unknowing that overly agressive hockey parents it is a widespread phenomena which is untrue. The side-cruelty is that it makes hockey parents feel targeted because they support their kids desire to play the game.

It's the same b.s. as the gun registry. It only affects lawful gun owners, and as recent events in Toronto bear out, doesn't affect those who want to commit crimes with guns.

The types who are always trying to legislate niceness have been trying to tame hockey for years, at least in Ontario. If they weren't such self-important morons, they'd realize that hockey and indeed all amateur sports are character builders as well as teaching kids self-discipline.

It's a very simple case of logical consequences. You mouth off at the umpire or ref, and you're out of the game. In many leagues, you're also suspended for the next game. Your coach and teammates are angry with you for being so selfish, and you learn to keep your mouth shut.

It teaches the lesson much faster than schools and other social institutions are capable of doing, and it's effective because the kids are there because they want to play so the consequences of violating the rules and norms hit them where it matters.

Of course, what happens on the playing fields and rinks is out of the control of everyone except those playing, which really drives a lot of control freakery types crazy, and not just parents.

These nuts know all the latest psycho-babble too. They'll argue a suspension because it might hurt their kid's self-esteem. They'll insist he's a hell-raising little brat because he lacks self-esteem. They'll cast dark looks at a better player and insist he's playing short-stop for nefarious reasons which somehow never includes the fact that he's one hell of a infielder, alert, and receptive to being coached.

When you come down to it, I think many of the problems with these parents come straight out of the Book of Undeserved Entitlement. The ones who insist the commercials are needed are the ones who created the problem to begin with because they've preached the message of equal entitlement without equal effort and some parents are trying to cash in.

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Leaks that the media overlooked

Nov. 25 - Tom Blankley of the Washington Times delivers sarcastic homage to the Three leaks major media has ignored:

Three vastly embarrassing and newsworthy memos - two from the Senate and one from the Pentagon - came to light. But in each case, the shocking revelations were not revealed in the august pages and electrons of the newly mature media elite.

In the remaining actual news gathering and reporting institutions (the Weekly Standard, The Washington Times, the New York Post, Fox News,Wall Street Journal Editorial Page, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh radio programs, et al.) those three leaked memos were substantively reported on and extensively quoted.

For those of you who get your news from the WashingtonPostNewYorkTimesCBSetc., here is a summary of those three now half-famous memos: 1) Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee had drafted plans to use and misconstrue classified intelligence data to politically undercut the president of the United States ("pulling the trigger" closer to the election); (2) the CIA and other intelligence offices of the government have identified 10 years of contacts between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden -thus tending to dramatically justify our war against Iraq and contradicting one of the major Democratic Party criticisms of President Bush's Iraq policy; and 3) Democratic senators on the Judiciary Committee were working closely with outside groups to block judicial appointments for the purpose of ethnic bigotry and unethical manipulation of court proceedings. In Sen. Durbin's case,the memo advised that Miguel Estrada be blocked as he is "especially dangerous because he is Latino." In Sen. Kennedy's case, the memo advised to stall Judge Gibbons appointment so she couldn't get on the bench in time to decide the pending Michigan affirmative action case. The memo questioned "the propriety" of such tactics, but nonetheless advised it. She was confirmed just two months after the landmark case in question.

By the time I finished reading the Weekly Standard article about the ties between Saddam and al Qaeda everyone else had it, but on reflection I haven't seen anything about it in the Toronto news (although that means little.) (The link to the Weekly Standard article is here.)

What liberal bias in the media? By the way, Roger L. Simon and his commenters have a good discussion about the leak on Saddam/al Qaeda, Newsweek's response, and the Weekly Standard's response to Newsweek.

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Nov. 25 - I'm letting

Nov. 25 - I'm letting Toronto Sun editor and columnist Lorrie Goldstein take point on the increased gun violence in Toronto with Handcuffed as he sums up the problems facing Toronto police as they try to cope with fewer police and more paperwork:

Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino fired off a letter to Federal Justice Minister Martin Cauchon yesterday demanding a public inquiry into Canada's criminal justice system.

He couldn't have picked a better day, considering we've just endured yet another bloody weekend in Toronto - three gun murders, four stabbings, a drive by shooting in which two men narrowly escaped death and a home invasion in which the victim was pistol-whipped.

Yesterday, there was a shootout between two men outside a Scarborough alternative school.

Fantino had earlier called for such an inquiry, noting the system is broken and Toronto has the victims to prove it.

Homicide Insp. Gary Ellis was interviewed by the Sun and says is asking for simplification of the legal system so police can spend more time investigating and less time filling out forms.

Toronto mayor elect David Miller has vowed to get guns off the streets although he's a bit short on details other than working with other levels of government.

Speaking of guns, governments and not having a plan, the bill for the Federal Gun Registry will reach $1 billion sometime in 2004 or 2005. The original budget for the registry was $1 million.

Jack adds much insight from his vantage point as a cop.

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Nov. 25 - I'll keep

Nov. 25 - I'll keep the Ottawa Citizen headline intact, Italian PM: I'm 'too busy' for Canada, although I tend to put a slightly different spin on this, believing that maybe Berlusconi would rather not meet with Chretien.

LONDON -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has cancelled a regular summit meeting between Canada and the European Union scheduled for Ottawa on Dec. 17, effectively saying he is too busy to attend.

Mr. Berlusconi's snub comes despite frantic attempts by Canadian diplomats to find an alternative venue in Europe for the meeting with Prime Minister Jean Chretien. It also met with some criticism from EU parliamentarians, one of whom decried it as a "slap in the face to a good friend of Europe."

I wonder which parliamentarians from which countries? Heh.

It is the first time any of the twice-yearly summits have been cancelled since they began in 1990.

[...]

The EU's imminent expansion -- it will balloon from 15 to 25 countries next May -- means the potential European market is getting even bigger. But European issues remain dwarfed in Canada by the government's demands and obsession with its relationship with Washington. (Emphasis added)

They said it, not me.

Indeed while the federal government dismissed Mr. Berlusconi's cancellation as a headstrong act by an unpredictable politician, it may be interpreted by some as another sign of Canada's diminishing profile and significance in Europe, the sense it is a country that can be casually sloughed off.

The Italian leader's decision was made before Mr. Chretien announced he would resign Dec. 12. Mr. Berlusconi told Canadian officials Nov. 13 that he would not make the trip to Ottawa, sparking frantic attempts by Canadian diplomats to reschedule the meeting in Europe at an earlier date. Those efforts collapsed last weekend, by which time Mr. Berlusconi would have known he would be meeting new prime minister Paul Martin instead of Mr. Chretien. (Emphasis added)

Still, Mr. Berlusconi's decision to back out of the summit offered his critics another chance to chastize him. Skipping the summit, said Scottish Liberal Democrat MEP Graham Watson during a parliamentary session, was a "tactless decision." And Scottish Labour party MEP David Martin said "it does not matter whether that summit is held in Europe or whether it is held in Canada. The important thing is that it is held before Dec. 12." Otherwise, Mr. Martin said, it would be a "slap in the face to a good friend of Europe."

The December summit had no outstanding tensions on its agenda that demanded soothing or settling. Yet it was regarded as significant by Canadian officials who had planned it as symbolic corner-turning in relations with the EU. Among the documents prepared for signing by the leaders was a further trade and economic enhancement agreement, aimed at protecting and improving the investment environment.

While trade growth between Canada and the EU remains sluggish and slips into near insignificance next to trade with the U.S., the stock of Canadian direct investment in the EU reached almost $100 billion in 2002, surpassing the EU's $94-billion investment stock in Canada. For Canada, European investment represents three of every four dollars of non-American investment coming into the country.

"We want the summit to lift this relationship to a new plateau," European Commissioner Antonio Vitorino said last week, before the last options for rescheduling had been exhausted.

WEASEL Chretien is wrecked on the rocks of the Anglosphere. Oh wait, Italy is not an Anglophone country. Neither is Poland, or Estonia, or Denmark, or most of the countries in the Coalition of the Willing.

Dude, your legacy is just beginning.

(Link via Neale News.)

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Abdul Rahman Khadr

Nov. 25 - The US released 20 prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay facility including a former Toronto (Scarborough) resident Abdul Rahman Khadr.

According to Reynald Doiron, spokesman for the Foreign Affairs Office, Khadr reportedly went to a country of his own choosing. "Privacy concerns limit our ability to provide information on his current whereabouts," Doiron said. Khadr could return to Canada someday as a matter of right.

Oh goodie.

The man's father, Ahmed Said Khadr, is a known operative of al Qaeda and although he was reportedly killed by Pakistan forces during a raid on an al-Qaeda camp in Waziristan, Pakistan. last October, although it has not been substantiated. (If blogspotted, go to Oct. archives and use the search function (Ctrl+F for IE users) and key in Khadr. The original source was the National Post and their links live for only 2 weeks, poor things.)

Abdul's brother Omar, known to some as the "Toronto Teen" and to others as the murderer of a US Army medic in Afghanistan, was injured and captured and is still presumed to be held at Guantanamo.

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