First They Came for Our Beer
November 30, 2010 | 15 Comments
A bit of a head cold has kept me away from the keyboard over the past forty-eight-ish hours. But no sooner have I arisen from my horizontal stupor than I see that here, in god’s country, land of freedom from tyranny, the gummint is trying to tell us we can’t drink high-alcohol beer. To what [...]
Man, it must suck to be Chief Vern White right now.
November 30, 2010 | No Comments
There have been some well-documented cases of police brutality in Ottawa recently. And now, according to The Citizen, there’s another allegation. Roxanne Carr has launched a suit against eight cops (including Desjourdy and Morris, the two most implicated in the Stacy Bonds affair): An Ottawa woman has filed a civil suit against eight police officers, [...]
Blowback
November 29, 2010 | 4 Comments
WikiLeaks has done it again; the infamous whistle blowing site has published 220 of the 251,288 cables it received that were sent by American diplomats, between the end of 1966 and February 2010. These cables narrate dialogue between diplomats and high-level officials on a wide array of topics relating to American foreign policy initiatives, while [...]
In Defense of Washing One’s Hair
November 29, 2010 | 2 Comments
With friends in Korea, I’m a little worried about the recent military exchange. I’m willing to support a limited interventionist liberal foreign policy, and, if the Korean war re-awakens and directly threatens the lives of millions, I’m not necessarily against Canada becoming involved. Apparently, our Defence Minster, Peter MacKay, agrees; he’s noted that we have obligations [...]
Out of our pants, part II
November 28, 2010 | 2 Comments
Over a week ago, it appeared that an angry public would disrupt air traffic during the busy Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. Furious about the perceived erosion of civil liberties that accompanied invasive physical pat-downs and scans, a group of activists were urging people to take part in “opt-out day“. This was intended to slow security lines [...]
More Layers of Ottawa Police Brutality
November 27, 2010 | 5 Comments
If you saw the video of the Ottawa police beating up innocent citizen Stacy Bonds, you might remember the female officer, Constable Melanie Morris. She delivered some vicious knees and grabbed Ms. Bonds by the hair. Well guess what, just like her co-abuser, Steve Desjourdy (who apparently gets off by beating, stripping and tasering women), [...]
Wait, are we inflating death stats?
November 27, 2010 | 5 Comments
I don’t really get this: A soldier who died in Canada while on leave from Afghanistan will be listed as a formal casualty in the mission. Gen. Walter Natynczyk said that Capt. Frank Paul was considered to have been on duty when he died of natural causes on Feb. 10, 2010. … “Although his death [...]
Forget a Liberal-NDP Coalition, What About a NDP-Green Coalition?
November 26, 2010 | 8 Comments
The latest EKOS poll is out and once again shows the Conservatives amassing a modest lead over the Liberals. A preceding Harris Decima poll perhaps helps to shed some light on the latest bout of this merry-go-round, showing that Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff is facing an enthusiasm gap, most notably among his own Liberal allies. [...]
Bureaucracy for Bureaucracy’s Sake (ctd)
November 26, 2010 | No Comments
Reports now show that Elections BC rejected the application to recall Ida Chong using rules that did not exist when organizers downloaded all of the application information from Elections BC’s website and, in fact, weren’t even posted on the website until after the application had been submitted. That’s pretty damning information and only serves to [...]
Bureaucracy for Bureaucracy’s Sake
November 25, 2010 | 15 Comments
I don’t how else to describe this news out of BC today: Elections B.C. has rejected the application for recall in the suburban Victoria riding of Oak Bay-Gordon Head, saying it contains too many words. Fight HST leader Bill Vander Zalm says acting chief electoral officer Craig James turned down the application, ruling that MLA [...]