Torture. Texas Hold 'em Style.

If this was Texas hold 'em I think a 3 Generals with Red Cross high would easily beat the Liberal hand of a single Colvin.



Time to fold Liberals.

- Colvin visited the first prison on May 16, 2006
- ICRC rated the prisons as "not that bad", "not the worst in Afghanistan", inmates were "...in reasonably good condition", and received "enough food"
- Colvin only sent 3 emails in 2006
- Only one in the first three months of 2007
- Vast majority written about the same time the Globe and Mail was breaking the story on the abuses in the Afghanistan story
- Colvin only spent a day and a half outside the wire
- Prisoners were not simple farmers etc, they were all tested for gun shot residue, or were caught with large amounts of Pakistani cash.

ht Right as Rain.

A Simple solution.

My humble submission to the Nobel Prize Committee for consideration.

How to solve 2 of the greatest problems of our times with one simple fix.

Why don't we just feed the polar bears people* who refuse to tow the Anthropogenic global warming line.



If Al Gore can get a Nobel Prize for that crappy bit of propaganda of his, I should be a shoe-in with this idea for the 2010 awards.



*or the AGW scientists. I think that I can be bit flexible on this one.

Liberal Fundraising letter. Circa 1951

Uncovered from deep within the special archives:

Friend– Please donate now.

Help us uncover the truth. Canada’s reputation as a human rights champion is on the line. Let’s stop this travesty before Canada becomes a place we can’t recognize.

The Korean detainee scandal has the government’s spin machine on overdrive. First they said that the reports of prisoner abuse made last week had no credibility, and now we’ve learned that we have handed over prisoners to the Americans in spite of the fact that their commander, General Douglas MacArthur, was recently relieved of his command for reasons that are still unclear. Could they be related to prisoner abuse? We don't know but we need your help to find out.

With China now in the picture we are into an an entirely new war. Our detainee policy is in shambles and it is undermining Canada’s mission to bring democracy and respect for the rule of law to Korea. We owe it to our troops, our diplomats, and to Canada’s international reputation to find the truth about what happened. In times like these, no one can afford to sit on the political sidelines.

Your contribution of $5, $10 or $40 today will help the Liberal Party uncover the truth. Please give as generously as you are able.

Thank you,

(redacted)
National Director, Liberal Party of Canada

PS. Your donation right now is timely for the Christmas Season. What better gift than to make a donation on behalf of a loved one so we can smear the good reputation of our Canadian Armed Forces.

Some things never change.

From: “Rocco Rossi”
Subject: Help us uncover the truth / Aidez-nous à découvrir la vérité

Le français suit

Friend–

Donate now. Help us uncover the truth. Canada’s reputation as a human rights champion is on the line. Let’s stop Stephen Harper before he makes Canada a place we can’t recognize.

The Afghan detainee scandal has the government’s spin machine on overdrive. First the Conservatives called Richard Colvin, the courageous public servant who testified about prisoner abuse at a parliamentary committee last week, a Taliban “dupe.” Now, we’ve learned that Mr. Colvin copied the Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs on his warnings, suggesting that those at the highest levels of government were aware of the situation.

It’s textbook US Republican-style attack politics, except this time it’s undermining Canada’s mission to bring democracy and respect for the rule of law to Afghanistan. We owe it to our troops, our diplomats, and to Canada’s international reputation to find the truth about what happened. In times like these, no one can afford to sit on the political sidelines.

Your contribution of $25, $50 or $100 today will help the Liberal Party uncover the truth. Please give as generously as you are able.

Thank you,

Rocco Rossi
National Director, Liberal Party of Canada

PS. Your donation right now is timely for tax reasons, too. Political donations entitle you to a tax credit of up to 75 per cent. That means that the after-tax net cost of your $100 donation will be as little as $25. So please make a donation now and help the Liberal Party uncover the truth.

Thank you Al Gore

Now I don't have to worry about putting money away for my retirement.

From the T-Star

"I know that doesn't make me popular in Alberta, but it's simply a fact. A lot of money is at stake, but a lot of lives and the future of human civilization are also at stake."



Yes Al, a lot of money is at stake here. Yours.

Where is Ignatieff?

Where is Michael Ignatieff? I have not seen a press interview with him for awhile and he was absent from oral questions all of last week where the subject of discussion has been mostly about something that he is very familiar with; torture.


Odd that a guy who said this:



and this:





and wrote stuff like this:

"…torture is not served by collapsing the distinction between coercive interrogation and torture. Both may be repugnant, but repugnance does not make them into the same thing."

"…necessity may require the commission of bad acts…"

"An outright ban on torture and coercive interrogation leave a conscientious security officer with little choice but to disobey the ban."

"…it must be the case that other acts of torture occur because interrogators believe, in good faith, that torture is the only way to extract information in a timely fashion…"

"The argument that torture and coercion do not work is contradicted by the dire frequency with which both practices occur."

And, finally, the epitaph:

"I am willing to get my hands dirty."

"I am willing to get my hands dirty." That much, it seems, is true."

would be absent the very same week where the subject of his expertise comes up. What are the odds of that.



BTW: Ignatieff is also an expert in war crimes ("I was a professor of human rights, and I am also a professor of the laws of war, and what happened in Qana was a war crime, and I should have said that. That's clear.") too, or at least he was ("As I said earlier this week, whether war crimes were or were not committed on the attack on Qana is for international bodies to determine,") before being called on his words.

(To all of those that claim that Ignatieff was sorry for his war crime comments I hope you note that what he said above was not an apology from Ignatieff. Not even close.)

More'Apologizing' from Ignatieff: "I do believe that in this conflict, war crimes were visited on Israeli citizens and were visited on Lebanese civilians," he said. "Whether war crimes were committed in the attack on Qana is for international bodies to determine. That doesn't change the fact that Qana was a terrible tragedy."

Turnabout is fair play. Stephane Dion's wife has some thoughts

Considering how Ignatieff was working behind the scenes long before he seized power from Dion; this could have been much worse.

Janine Krieber from her Facebook Page.

It's been a year and one week since I last wrote on my blog. Ah! "la présidente" is lazy. But we have to take action now.

The Liberal Party is falling apart, and will not recover. Like all liberal parties in Europe, it will become a weakling at the mercy of ephemeral coalitions. By refusing the historic coalition that would have placed it at the helm of the left, it will be punished by history.

Anyway, I became convinced of it the moment that Paul Martin treated Jean Chrétien so cavalierly. The party died at that moment. If the Toronto elites had been more in tune, humble and realist, Stéphane would have been willing to take all the time and absord all the hits needed to rebuild the party. But they couldn't swallow the 26%, and now we are at 23%.

The time for choices is now. I don't want to see the Conservatives continue to change my country. They are, slowly, like any dictatorship, changing the world. Torture doesn't exist, corruption is a fabrication. Do we really have the right leader to discuss these questions? Can someone really write these insanities and lead us to believe that he simply changed his mind? In order to justify violence, he must have engaged in serious thought. Otherwise, it's very dangerous. How can we be sure that he won't change his mind one more time?

The party grassroots had understood all of that, and the average citizen is starting to understand it too. Ignatieff's supporters have not done their homework. They did not read his books, consult his colleagues. They were satisfied that he could be charming at cocktails. Some of them are outraged now. I am hearing: Why did no one say it? We told you loud and clear, you didn't listen.

I am starting a serious reflection. I will not give my voice to a party that will end up in the trashcan of history. I am looking around me, and certain things are attractive. Like a dedicated party that doesn't challenge its leader at every hiccup in the polls. A party where the rule would be the principle of pleasure, and not assassination. A party where work ethic and competence would be respected and where smiles would be real.

Maybe I'm not dreaming.

"La présidente."

A trip down memory lane on torture and Liberal spin.

(Reproduced from the original post April 26, 2007.)



I find the Liberals to be full of nostalgia as of late for a time when they were still in power. For them everything was rosy and much better than it is today, take the Afghan prisoner ruckus that the Liberals and their close friends are trying to milk for all it is worth as an example.

Care to join me in a trip down memory lane......

Does anyone remember this picture?

For those that do not, this picture is of Canada's own JTF 2 in Afghanistan with prisoners that they had taken and was published Jan 2002 (AP / DarioLopez-Mills) .

Please note the date of the photo January 2002. A time where the Liberal led Government of Canada was not even admitting to Canadians that we had troops in Afghanistan; never mind that they were already involved in active combat and were taking prisoners.

When asked in QP about how Canadian Forces would deal with prisoners, PM JeanChrétien said "You are asking me a purely hypothetical question at this time." totally unaware that the event(s) had even happened and having no idea what was going on with prisoners. CBC NEWS SOURCE

The Prime Minister of Canada, Jean Chrétien, the man that sent our troops into war, did not know what our forces were doing on the other side of the world in the name of Canada!

Good times, good times.

A more positive note for the Liberals was that after a few years in Afghanistan, and after numerous prisoners were handed over to the Afghan authorities, the Paul Martin government negotiated a prisoner transfer agreement. Does anyone want to guess why the Liberals negotiated that deal? Could it be that allegations of coercion and torture just did not start in March of last year when the CPC took over, and that this has been an issue from the time Chrétien first showed all that "Liberal compassion" for the Canadian Armed Forces in question period?

That same transfer agreement, which was good enough for the Liberals, remained intact right up until yesterday when the Conservative Government negotiated the right for Canadian authorities to visit all detention facilities to check on prisoners. Why this was not in the agreement in the first place is beyond me, but maybe while those Liberals are going back down memory lane they could ask themselves why they didn't add this clause when they negotiated the deal!

Thanks for the memories, Liberals.

----------------------

On another related point; I am getting tired of Liberals deliberately misleading Canadians on the role of the International Red Cross with Afghan prisoners.

From a Liberal Press release: "...Minister O’Connor told Canadians the Red Cross was responsible for monitoring the treatment of detainees, until the Red Cross came forward to confirm that was not its mandate."

This from the ICRC: "According to its international mandate, the ICRC visits detainees held as a result of armed conflict and other situations of violence being held by the Afghan authorities and forces such as the United States and NATO. Delegates regularly assess the conditions of detention, the treatment of detainees and respect of their fundamental judicial guarantees."

I don't think the truth could be any clearer. The Liberals again are lying for their own political gain and while lying may bring back memories of the good old days for many Liberals, it just goes to show the rest of us that the Liberal good old days should be remembered for what they really were.

---------------------------

Mr.Colvin was in Afghanistan from April 2006 until September 2007*. Compare those dates to what you have read above and ask yourself under whose watch did most of the problems occur and who was it that tried to make the situation better once they found problems.

Then ask why the time line seems to be completely ignored by most of the media in their quest for smear.


*Does anyone have the exact dates?

Update:A must read Interview with an Afghan Warden. ( ht Wilson from the comments)

Liberals in charge a history.

A Picture says a 1000 words.

Don Newman missed us.

I guess Don Newman misses taking shots at the conservatives on the Braaaaaawdcast.

Take your BP meds and have a read: Stephen Harper and the politics of suspicion.


Your tax dollars at work ladies and gentlemen.

"I agree with this. Big time."

Things were not always so happy in Liberal land.

Warren Kinsella wrote on his blog October 11, 2006. "I agree with this. Big time." (Note: Link is now dead)


And what is "this"?

October 11, 2006

Mr. Michael Ignatieff, M.P.
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
Dear Mr. Ignatieff:
On behalf of the Canada-Israel Committee, I am writing to express profound concern about your comments over the weekend regarding the recent conflict in Lebanon. In what appears to be very straightforward language, you accused Israel of having committed war crimes in Qa’na – an assertion you explicitly anchored in your expertise in the area of international law and the conduct of war. Notwithstanding attempts by your campaign team to provide a different context for the remarks, we remain troubled by them and what it may suggest about your overall orientation to the Middle East, Israel’s values as a vibrant democracy and the challenges Israel faces from those determined to destroy the Jewish state.
If your intentions were not to accuse Israel of having committed war crimes in Qa’na, we would ask that you issue an immediate clarification – in both official languages – that clearly sets out your view of the issue and unambiguously rejects the suggestion that Israel is guilty of any such conduct. Should you choose to offer such a clarification, we will undertake to circulate it widely within the pro-Israel community. Should you choose not to issue a statement, we would feel obliged to convey that message to our constituency as well.
Sincerely,
Marc Gold, National Chair

-------------

Related: More blasts from the Liberal Past:

Thomas Hubert, Vice President of Communications for the Young Liberal of Canada (B.C.), wrote the following on his blog:

“One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter ... History will remember Hezbollah as an organization that stood up to the most vile ‘nation’ in human history.”

And this from the comment section on another Liberal Blog



BigCityLib had some thoughts on the "monster" within here.


A run down of Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj quotes can be found here. (Worth reading)

And finally back to Warren again who wrote the following: August 20, 2006 – Why is the author of this blog (deadlink to thelongwalk.ca) a putative supporter of Gerard Kennedy, and claiming to be a member of the Liberal Party of Canada’s executive in BC, writing things like this on Cherniak’s blog?(see photo above) Is anything going to be done about this? If Bill Graham and Denis Coderre have any say in the matter, I doubt it. And people still ask me why I don’t feel comfortable in the Liberal Party of Canada anymore. It’s rather self-evident, I’d say.


and for an added bonus this on

August 22, 2006 - By the by, some folks are asking why Jason and I are now paying attention to the likes of the (for now) anonymous "Big City Lib" and, in Jason's case, Martha's anti-Israel communications guy. It's a fair question.

My grandmother, God rest her eternal soul, had the best view on situations like this one. "Once you've decided to clean out one toilet," said she, "you may as well clean out all the toilets."

Well, she didn't actually say that, but I can see her saying that. And it makes sense, don't it?

Pass the Brillo pads.

August 21, 2006 - Just received this, late, from the Kennedy campaign. Good statement, albeit late. It should have mentioned Hubert, however.

Now - does anyone know who is behind "Big City Lib"? Say this much for Thomas: he at least used his real name when spewing hate. Big City Lib lacks the courage of his convictions, it seems.

***

Those Liberals. One big happy bunch.

The facts on the Liberals spin on Durban1, and as you may have guessed the facts get in the way again.

Kady O'Malley and flawed logic.

You may already be familiar with the story of Michelle Simson, Liberal MP for Scarborough Southwest, having to apologize for a Twitter she made yesterday regarding Dean Del Mastro. Simson apologized to Mr. Del Mastro before the House, and even though the apology may have been half hearted, it was done and the story should have ended there.

But it didn't.

The CBC's Kady O'Malley wrote a little piece suggesting that perhaps Del Mastro may not be deserving of an apology because of something that he had said in Committee earlier in the day.

Here is some of what O'Malley wrote:

"Okay, so I have to admit that I was momentarily struck speechless when Dean del Mastro got up in the House after Question Period to demand an apology from Liberal MP Michelle Simson over "an entry she posted on twitter" -- a tweet, in other words -- in which, he sorrowfully informed the speaker, she had made hurtful remarks about his weight that, as far as he was concerned, went beyond the bounds of decent parliamentary conduct. With the air of a grievously wounded martyr, del Mastro read the text of the tweet from his BlackBerry, accusing Simson of "discrimination" -- not just against him, but every Canadian whose body shape falls outside the approved Liberal standard, and even suggested that it was this kind of elitism that will keep the party from ever returning to its previous strength." It was a masterful performance, really -- del Masterful, even -- given the fact that it was coming from a member who, just a few hours earlier, had repeatedly refused to withdraw the potentially unparliamentary comments that he made at the very committee meeting to which Simson's tweeting referred; a meeting that, as luck would have it, I was able to witness firsthand, what with liveblogging it and all.

A few points.

It is not up to Kady to judge what is and what is not ''unparliamentary" behavior. That is for the Speaker to decide.

Comparing Del Mastro to "a grievously wounded martyr" does not help your case. Come on Kady, you are better than that.

It is not wise or classy to make fun of the persons name (del Masterful, even) in a story calling out the bad behavior of others.

It is not a good idea to enter into some kind of bizarre relativism exercise in an attempt to equate 2 totally separate statements as if somehow one could possibly cancel out the other, and more so when O'Malley uses the following bit of very flawed logic for the basis of her argument:

"Szabo points out that actually, no Liberal members (or does he mean Members?) were charged with, or convicted of a crime, and invites del Mastro to withdraw; he refuses to do so, repeating, somewhat sulkily, that *he* thinks it was a crime. Does del Mastro understand the meaning of the word "crime"? Because it does technically involve charges, and courts, and convictions."

Really. A crime does not become a crime unless you are caught and charged. Wow! This of course is total bunk and unless you are a attorney for the Province of Ontario in Caledonia would anyone think that a crime is not a crime unless arrests and charges are made.

I think perhaps Kady may have accidentally stumbled upon the main plank of the Liberals election platform.

Fire the police and we can reduce Canada's crime rate to zero!

Do I really need to go on?



FYI you can hear Del Mastro's words here if you are interested. ( he starts at approx 34:25, the crime comment comes at approx 38:30)

Del Mastro was referring of course to Adscam and the FACT that some of the STOLEN money somehow made its way into the hands of some Liberal riding associations in Quebec. There were arrests, there were charges, and there were convictions with Adscam and although I am not a lawyer, the use of stolen money for anything sure appears to be a crime to me as well.


Did Del Mastro cross the line of proper behavior in Committee? I do not know if he did but whether he did or did not should have no bearing at all in justifying the classless Tweet from Michelle Simson, and Kady should know better than to even attempt to do so.

The lighter side of politics.

Team Tory puts on the skates for a good cause.



From Jane Tabor at the Globe and Mail. The boys of winter hit the ice. A team of Tory MPs, including some cabinet ministers, is traveling from west to east, playing hockey and raising money for local charities. The Tory team usually loses badly but the MPs are having fun while doing it. Last night the boys got together in Tory MP Gord Brown’s eastern Ontario riding, raising over $70,000 for the United Way of Leeds Grenville. Mr. Brown won’t give the score, “Let's just leave the score out … United Way won big.” He said that he and Defence Minister Peter MacKay both scored while New Brunswick Tory MP, Rob Moore scored a hat trick.

Last weekend, the team was in Edmonton Tory MP James Rajotte’s riding, raising $60,000 for the Boys and Girls Club of Leduc. Team Conservative, Mr. Rajotte said, lost 9 to 5 to the “Leduc Dream Team.” Mr. Rajotte, who also played last night, said that the way they viewed the game in his riding was that “we tied the first period, lost the second and won the third.”

Regulars on team are Defence Minister MacKay, Peterborough MP Dean Del Mastro, Environment Minister Jim Prentice and Alberta MP Mike Lake.

WTG Team Tory!

Just imagine the trash talk that happens when they play the Liberals.

Programs. Get your Programs. You can't tell the players without a program

And so the new Liberal Team is unveiled.

The new recruits include:

-Mario Lague, one-time communications director to former prime minister Paul Martin, former diplomat and former senior bureaucrat. Lague will take over as Ignatieff's communications director. (updated with link to Stephen Taylor post)

-Pat Sorbara, a longtime organizer and former senior adviser in David Peterson's Liberal government in Ontario. Sorbara was named Ignatieff's chief operating officer.

-Brian Bohunicky, a former top ministerial aide during the Chretien years. He takes over the Liberal caucus research bureau and will be a senior policy adviser to the leader.

-Heather Chiasson, another Chretien-era organizer and longtime party worker. She will be Ignatieff's liaison with the party.

Donolo has also shuffled some of the aides who remained in the office after the exodus of the last couple of weeks.

Jean Marc Fournier, a former Quebec cabinet minister who had been advising Ignatieff on the province, becomes principal secretary. Jim Pimblett, formerly legislative assistant, becomes Ignatieff's executive assistant.

I will leave you with the money quote from the above article "Ignatieff fired longtime supporter Ian Davey as his chief of staff several weeks ago, amid plunging poll numbers, repeated miscues and flip-flops." Because we all know that the mess that the Liberals are in could not possibly be the fault of Ignatieff himself.

From Peter Donolo's letter to Liberals (pdf) announcing the above changes:(highlighting mine)

In Michael Ignatieff, we Liberals have a leader of truly international standing. He understands the huge, long term economic challenges our country is facing – and the tremendous human cost they are already exacting across Canada under a callous, uncaring, incompetent government. And he knows that our future depends on innovative thinking and caring, engaged leadership to enable our country to secure the industries and jobs of tomorrow - and the prosperity and the strong, vital social programs that go with them.

Our job in the OLO is to help Mr. Ignatieff and his Liberal Team across Canada bring that message of hope and change to Canadians in the months ahead.

Peter Donolo.


Attacks and borrowed catch phrases. The same old same old from the new and improved 'old Liberals' now running the show for Ignatieff. A man who has never ran or organized anything more complex than a study group.

Ujjal Dosanjh rejects our reality and substitutes his own.

The Liberal Party is all about lies and games. Take Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh's recent appearance on CTV's Power Play with Tom Clark on Nov, 10 2009 as an example. (Video @ bottom of post)

Here is what he had to say on the subject of 10%'ers: "The difference is most of the conservative 10 percenters for instance that come into my riding, at least 1 every month, have been personally attacking Michael Ignatieff for having stayed outside the country. I mean that is disgusting. That is not an appropriate use of the10 percenters. If the want to argue policy, if they want to argue ideas, if they want to attack what we stand for, ah..that is different. If you are spending money for purely partisan personal attacks, that is not acceptable and that is the problem with the Conservative 10 percenters."

Is he lying to your face or just the most unaware MP in Ottawa?

Sorry to be so blunt but how can Dosanjh actually sit there and say with a straight face that the Liberals do not send out partisan 10%'ers? That is beyond the realm of belief considering that Caroline Bennett was just forced to apologize for this particular 10 %'er using aboriginal children as pawns for political games while using the fake body bag scandal as cover.And who can forget the outrageous 10%'er Hedy Fry sent out slagging our military and implying that Canadians abroad feel shame for wearing OUR flag because Canada has a conservative government!


I should note that to my knowledge Hedy Fry has not yet apologized for this outrage.



These 2 examples are common knowledge, there are more including ones that attack Stephen Harper, and there is NO possible way that that Dosanjh did not know about these or the other partisan material coming from the brain trust of the Liberal Party. So what the hell was Dosanjh, a guy who won his seat by just 20 votes, doing other than playing political games for political gain? I await an answer, but I know that like an apology from Hedy Fry, I should not expect one anytime soon.


If the above was not enough proof of the games that the Liberals are trying to play, consider what Dosanjh had to say about prisoners in Afghanistan getting the H1N1 vaccine claiming that the government prioritized the prisoners ahead of Canadians at home.

"The question I have is. How come those men, ah you know robust men who are engaged against our soldiers and fighting our soldiers, how come they become the priority and ah men and women in this country, majority of them at this point, are not a priority and that is the mess this governement created."

Pathetic. Nobody believes that the conservatives would purposely put Taliban prisoners ahead of Canadians, but yet we have Dosanjh trying to spin it as if they did.

I just hope that when the next election does come that at least 20 people in Vancouver South come to their senses and change their vote too get rid of this guy and his smears.

Marc Garneau demonstrates the problems of the Liberal Party.

Does the Liberal Party of Canada have any idea what they stand for?


I don't think so.


Here is Liberal MP Marc Garneau 'lost in space' on CBC's Power & Politics with Evan Solomon from November 10th 2009.

Perhaps Garneau, Ignatieff's Quebec Lieutenant, should be more worried about this guy rather than trying to spin non existent Liberal policies and values on the CBC.


Update: from the comments Another blogger on Garneau's visit with the CBC.

More Carnage at the OLO

Further to my earlier post today it seems that the carnage continues at the OLO for the Rosedale gang as Principal Secretary Dan Brock is leaving Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff’s office.

Denis Coderre wins another one.

Update: 9 more people go onto the EI rolls. From Susan Delacourt who corrected her original number of 30 Liberals looking for work.

Bonus update: Some are speculating that Warren Kinsella may be among those no longer working for the Liberals.

It is Official. Not that anyone really thought otherwise but..

It is now official. Ian Davey, former chief of staff, and his partner, Jill Fairbrother, the director of communications, confirmed they will no longer be working for so called 'leader' of the Liberal Party, Michael Ignatieff.

With last weeks departure of Mark Sakamoto and Alexis Levine and now with Davey and Fairbrother gone, it looks like Denis Coderre* is the one with the real power in Liberal Party as the culling of the Rosedale gang continues at the OLO.





* When Ignatieff said "What Mr. Coderre does is his business." "He took actions earlier in the week that have consequences."

Did anyone think that those consequences would be felt by everyone BUT Denis Coderre?

The very same Denis Coderre who wants to be the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada!

.

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month..

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month an armistice was signed to end the war to end all wars. Unfortunately man kind thought differently.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Lt Col John McCrae.

Remember.

Sacrifice

http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhr-ddhr/chc-tdh/chart-tableau-eng.asp?ref=SM


The first presentations.

Results of Stelmach leadership review

The results are in and Premier Stelmach has received 77.4 % support from PC party members in the leadership review taking place in Red Deer.

1191 cast. Yes 269. No 922*


ht Stephen Taylor.

I'm sorry, so sorry.....

NDP MP Pat Martin has apologized to the government. Earlier this week Martin called federal Sports Minister Gary Lunn and the Conservative government "crass" and "petty" and claimed that "There's clearly some political interference here" when a list of Olympic torch relay events released was heavy on Tory ridings and light on opposition turf. Martin went ballistic in the belief the list meant the torch wasn't going anywhere in Winnipeg fired off an angry letter to Lunn, accusing the Conservatives of using the torch relay to promote Conservatives. "I think your deliberate gerrymandering of the torch route to avoid opposition ridings is cheap, petty, and offends the Olympic spirit," Martin wrote. "Any reasonable person would route the torch through the corner of Portage and Main and if you are willing to do so I'll even agree to stay away if you're worried about having to share the glory with an opposition MP."

But once reality entered the picture, including the fact that the torch will be going through his riding, Martin had this to say: "I wish I had known this earlier, before I accused the (government) of deliberately manipulating the torch relay in Winnipeg to avoid NDP ridings," Martin said. "I apologize for these remarks and appreciate the invitation to participate in this exciting event for Winnipeg when it occurs in January."


Now the question is, will the MSM, who ran with this story in-spite of the fact that the head of VANOC has flat out denied any Conservative involvement. "At no time did anybody in any government, or any political party offer one iota of counsel or influence about that," John Furlong said. "We did our jobs the way we should have done them.", put as much ink or air time into the apology as they did with the original unfounded smear?

Ok, I know that the MSM really couldn't be bothered, has anyone seen any MSM outlet other than the Telegraph-Journal apologize for the fake wafergate coverage, but one can always hope.


.

That didn't take long: 2 more staffers gone from the OLO.

Jane Taber has the latest: Things are sure getting ugly for the 'Rosedale Gang'.

Two senior Ignatieff aides are leaving their positions in the Opposition Leader's Office to return to Toronto.

Mark Sakamoto and Alexis Levine, both lawyers who have been part of Michael Ignatieff's inner circle since his 2006 leadership bid, confirmed their decisions in separate e-mails to The Globe and Mail tonight. They were part of the "Toronto gang" around Mr. Ignatieff.

I am not sure if it is directly related to his departure but you may remember Mark Sakamoto as he was the news just the other day. No word as of yet on the fate of communications director Jill Fairbrother, but I assume she too is gone.

With all of these changes in the OLO is it any wonder that Ignatieff wanted all those changes to EI.

Is Krista's name missing from the by line?

From yesterdays National Post comes this drivel from Pablo Rodriguez.

Some excerpts:

"Remember that for 18 years, the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada was an author himself, as well as a screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. He lived the life of an artist, with all the financial insecurity that comes with it. He watched with pride as our artists flourished on the world stage, and as they made Quebec and Canada models of creativity."

(Ignatieff the starving artist? Sorry Pablo, not buying it, and the last time I checked Quebec was part of Canada so there is no need to separate the 2, unless.....)
"Let us not allow ourselves to fall under the spell of the siren’s song, or should we say, of Stephen Harper’s song. Let us not forget that behind the Conservatives’ public relations strategy lurks a lacklustre vision whereby culture is subject to Conservative ideology. Let’s not forget Bill C-10, which sought to censor movies deemed “contrary to public policy” by revoking their funding."

(Nice attempt to smear the PM, you're all class Pablo. I see that the old Bill C-10 lie again makes an appearance. That was Liberal policy Pablo in case you forgot. The big lie here though is that not a single film is going to be censored by the government as Pablo maintains. No one from government is going to stop ANY film from being made; they are just going to have to find their own funding as do 99% of all business ventures in this country who mange to do quite well without using tax dollars to do so, which is something that Liberals like Pablo will never really understand.)

"Our Liberal leader is also committed to ensuring stable funding to CBC/Radio-Canada, allowing long-term planning so the broadcaster can continue to offer unique, quality programming, as per its mandate as a Crown corporation."

Yes he went there; Pablo actually brought up the CBC. Some days this is too easy.

The post somehow got messed up, it should now be fixed.

Ouch! Stelmach leads PC's to lowest level of support in 16 years

The Alberta PC Party is at the lowest level of support in 16 years according to a new Environics survey which came out on Wednesday, only days before Premier Stelmach faces a leadership review: From The National Post.

An independent survey of 1,000 adult Albertans (840 decided voters) conducted by Environics, and provided exclusively to the Calgary Herald, reveals the Wildrose Alliance party has firmly cemented itself in second place provincewide -- and has passed the Tories as the favoured party in Calgary.

The telephone poll, conducted Oct. 19-31, finds that 34% of decided voters would cast a ballot for Mr. Stelmach and his Progressive Conservatives if an election were held now, compared to 28% for the fledgling Wildrose Alliance and new leader Danielle Smith.

The Liberals are in third with the backing of 20% of voters, followed by the NDP at 9% and the Greens at 8%.

It might be a real rough weekend for the Premier.

ht daveberta.ca

How they voted: Bill C391 on the Firearms Registry

The members of the opposition that voted in favour of C391.

NDP Malcom Allen (Welland)
Lib Scott Andrews (Avalon)
NDP Charlie Angus (Timmons-James Bay)
IND Andre Arthur (Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier)
NDP Niki Ashton (Churchill)
Lib Larry Bagnell (Yukon)
NDP Dennis Bevington (Western Arctic)
NDP Nathan Cullen (Skeena—Bulkley Valley)
Lib Jean-Claude D'Amours (Madawaska—Restigouche)
Lib Wayne Easter (Malpeque)
NDP Claude Gravelle (Nickel Belt)
NDP Carol Hughes (Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing)
NDP Bruce Hyer (Thunder Bay—Superior North)
NDP Mark Maloway (Elmwood—Transcona)
Lib Keith Martin (Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca)
NDP John Rafferty (Thunder Bay—Rainy River)
Lib Anthony Rota (Nipissing—Timiskaming)
Lib Todd Russel (Labrador)
Lib Scott Simms (Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor)
NDP Peter Stoffer (Sackville—Eastern Shore)
NDP Glen Thibeault (Sudbury)


Thank you for voting for freedom.

And here is a thank you from the so called tolerant left. (Potentially offensive link click at your own risk)



The complete voting results can be found here.

H1N1: How concerned were the opposition Liberals?

They were so concerned that if Ignatieff had his way we would be into the last week or two of a 300 million dollar national election campaign as you read this; right in the middle of the "H1N1 hysteria". Now that is concern if I had ever heard it.

Updated(thanks CJ) Here is what Bob Rae had to say (approx 30 min mark) about campaigning in a possible H1N1 outbreak:"I'll kiss anybody who comes forward. I don't think that's going to be an issue for us in the campaign. I think it's going to be a very positive exercise, if we have one, ..."



Just something to think about while you watch fake Liberal outrage on a television screen near you.



Some more to think about:



Back at the end of August of this year, Liberal MP and medical doctor Carolyn Bennett said the following:

“Asked directly whether Canada is prepared to donate any surplus vaccine, the Conservative government – which has purchased 50.4 million doses of the H1N1 vaccine for Canadians from GlaxoSmithKline – ruled nothing in or out….

[Francoise] Baylis [a bioethicist at Dalhousie University in Halifax] said Canada’s 50 million doses should be more than enough to handle the number of people who want and need the vaccine. Assuming two doses of vaccine are needed per person, there is enough for 75 per cent of Canada’s 35 million people.

The expectation at this point is that only about 60 per cent of the population will want to be vaccinated, she said, meaning a surplus is likely.

Liberals and New Democrats say they’re prepared to push the government to step up to the plate.

‘Canadians have long understood that on this tiny planet we’re only as safe as the whole planet,’ said Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett, the party’s health critic.

Bennett said Canadian authorities should know by Christmas how much vaccine will be needed, and whether people should have one or two doses.” ht Sandy


Did you catch that? Canada should step up to the plate as we would have enough vaccine to give away and that the authorities should know by Christmas just how much will be needed by Canadians! Christmas! That sure is a far cry from what Bennett has been saying lately isn't it?




Oh and how can we forget that the reason that there is only a single source supplier for the vaccine in Canada is because of a 325 million dollar deal signed by Liberal PM Jean Chretien with GSK that runs until 2011. Coincidentally the same year as that deal was signed the Liberal Party of Canada received a donation of $56,000 from GSK. Another Liberal talking point bites the dust.



Playing politics with H1N1 is going to backfire on the Liberals even more-so than their other recent lame attempts at creating scandal. They are cementing the notion in the minds of the electorate that the Liberals are the party that contributes nothing other than faux scandal and faux outrage. And make no mistake that this will be remembered. Poor Peter Donolo. Only 1 week into his new job and he already has an epic failure on his record.


Updated with video of the CTV story:

CBC Man on the street is also Ignatieff's Man

What are the odds?

Last night CBC News did a story on H1N1 (what else is new) and they spoke with people waiting in line for the flu shot about their thoughts on the subject. One of those 'men on the street' that the CBC spoke with just happens to currently work for Michael Ignatieff and used to work for the CBC as a lawyer.

From The Globe and Mail: "The staffer in question is Mark Sakamoto, formerly a lawyer with the CBC. He is one of Mr. Ignatieff’s senior strategists and part of the so-called Toronto gang who have been with him since 2006. Mr. Sakamoto and his wife have a newborn. In a note to a colleague, Mr. Sakamoto denied he was a plant: “Not a plant. My wife and I were in line because my 6-week-old baby cannot be vaccinated. Caregivers for parents with children under 6 months are one of the priority groups. That's the sole reason that I was there.”

Could it just be a coincidence? Well yes it could be, but really what are the odds that the CBC would just happen to choose one of their former employees and current Ignatieff staffer out of a line up of hundreds of people to interview?

Time to buy a lottery ticket I guess.

Update: Video


CBC Twitter on the subject can be seen here. But does Mr. Sakamoto have any responsibility here to identify himself as a CBC employee (on leave?) I would think that CBC policy or their code of conduct would say that the answer is yes

Chucker's thoughts.

Somebody is getting nervous in Edmonton Strathcona

Is Linda Duncan, the NDP MP for Edmonton-Strathcona, getting nervous?

Here is a sign that she is: from the Edmonton Journal a few weeks back. More distressing, she said, is that Ryan Hastman, the Conservative nominee in Edmonton Strathcona, did appear at a number of funding announcements in the riding over the summer. "I find it really inappropriate," she said. "I am the elected official for this riding, whether they like it or not. I have been duly elected. In protocol, it would be the appropriate thing to simply invite me."

Taking shots in the press at your main political opponent, in this case Conservative Party candidate Ryan Hastman, is a good sign that Ms. Duncan has at a minimum been paying attention to the competition.

Since his nomination win back in June of this year, Ryan has been going door to door almost non stop meeting the constituents of Edm_Strathcona. He has already knocked on 1000's of doors and he plans do knock on many more before any possible upcoming election. I went door knocking with Ryan back when the weather was much more pleasant than it is today and I can tell you first hand the he is getting noticed and making a very favorable impression on the ground. The impression I got that night was that the MP previous to Duncan, and Duncan herself were 'not very active' in the riding and they appreciated being able to talk with Hastman.


Her complaint that Ryan Hastman attending some funding announcements is somehow inappropriate is laughable when you consider that she also said the following"To tell you the truth, I've noticed that I am attracting a lot of money to my riding," she said. "We had a very nice, sizable grant to the Fringe, grants to Kings University, Newman College, LRT expansion and so forth." Duncan, though, was critical of the way the grants have been handed out, calling the various infrastructure plans "political slush funds. Nice try. Duncan wants to be able to claim credit in attracting money into the riding but also is maintaining that infrastructure plans are just"Political slush funds". You can't have it both ways , pick one Linda. Oh, and having Ryan Hastman, or any other resident of Edmonton Strathcona for that matter, attend a public announcement is neither distressing or inappropriate.




So what do you think. Is Linda Duncan getting nervous?

I believe she is, but if I am wrong and she isn't, she should be. With Hastman's work ethic, a dedicated team backing him up, and the ability to run a fully funded campaign, Linda Duncan is going to be in for quite the battle when ever the writ is dropped. That she can count on.