Is Syria Next?

Violence in Syria breaks out over the protests there. Does that mean the Western allies will start bombing Syria next? Of course not. Syria doesn't have oil. Libya has oil. The largest oil reserve in Africa. Let's see how the Allies divide up that theft between them.

Dan Gardner wrote a bizarre editorial claiming that the bombing and invasion of Libya shows why Canada needs to purchase more fighter jets. Not. That is the exact reason why we shouldn't buy them. So Canada doesn't join in the oil wars and start bombing foreign countries for their oil.

Indeed the whole concept of the Conservatives being in contempt of Parliament is unprecedented. No other political party in Canada has ever refused to disclose itemized budget costs when asked to produce them for the House to debate and vote on the budget.

I take back what I said about Stephen Harper. I don't think he is stupid after all. I think he clearly is malicious as well if not more. It's those quiet awkward ones ya gotta worry about. They're the ones that end up being serial killers. So how many civilians have the allies murdered in Libya so far anyways?

Harper says one thing and does another. He talks about reducing taxes but spends more and instigates new taxes like the HST. Dropping the GST a percentage then raising it and taxing things the GST doesn't tax under the HST is deceptive.

Harper said he supported an elected Senate. Yet he pulled a Brian Mulroney and stacked the Senate to ram his HST through just like Mulroney did. Harper would have invade Iraq for their oil. Now he is invading Libya for their oil. This is a very bad precedent for Canada. Bombing Libya has nothing to do with creating a no fly zone or a cease fire.

In Syria, like in Egypt we have protesters against the government and for the government. One group wants the government to step down, the other group wants them to stay. So the protesters are fighting with each other.

In Libya the protesters took up arms and started firring on Gadaffi. He fired back. That is a civil war not a peaceful protest. There's a big difference. When a civilian takes up arms and starts shooting at the military, they are no longer civilians, they are rebels. Shooting an armed rebel is different than shooting an unarmed civilian.

Like I said, I'm no fan of Gadaffi, but I do object to this invasion completely just like the invasion of Iraq. Where were these greedy oil mongering bastards in Rwanda? Rwanda was a real human rights crisis and no one cared because they didn't have oil.

So stop pretending we are doing anything noble in Libya because it's obvious we are not. Our actions and motives are suspect and we should be ashamed of ourselves. Sarkozy is not trustworthy.

A series of classified US memos depict the French president as a self-absorbed, thin-skinned, erratic character who tyrannises his ministers and staff. He is portrayed as undiplomatic, hyperactive, sometimes uncouth and in need of careful handling, despite being the most pro-US French president since the second world war.

Sarkozy admired Bush and was disappointed France wasn't supportive of the invasion of Iraq. Kinda like Stephen Harper. You'd think he'd be proud after finding out they lied about Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction but no. Sarkozy doesn't care about that. He just wants to be... an oil wars storm trooper just like Stephen Harper does. Sad for both Canada and France. That is not the way it used to be. Je me souviens.

Canadian to command bombing of Libya mission

Great, the Harper government falls to a non confidence and they put a Canadian in charge of the invasion of Libya. Perhaps now's not the best time for Canada to take charge of that mission. Oh they're not, they just have a Canadian puppet up front and centre to run PR interference. Wonderful.

I thought this wasn't a NATO mission because Turkey didn't agree with the mission? Charles Bouchard will work with "his naval and air component commands" to enforce the no-fly zone and the so-called civilian-protection mission in Libya. So who's really in charge and who's really the PR man? Enforcing the no fly zone to protect civilians doesn't mean bombing Libya.

I don't think Harper is malicious. I think Michael Ignatieff is malicious. Harper is naive, power hungry and stupid. However, he is smart enough to become the leader of the conservatives so he just might be malicious after all. Birds of a feather.

Canadians have lost confidence in the government

Michael Ignatieff was right about one thing he said in the House of Commons today. Canadians have lost confidence in the government. Unfortunately, that would include him. He was right Harper and the Conservatives should have provided costs for new fighter jets, over reaching crime bills and corporate tax cuts.

He was right in that a government that breaks the rules and conceals facts from the Canadian people doesn't deserve to remain in office. He might even be right about the fact that Canadians have a "hunger" and "longing" for new leadership. Unfortunately he is certainly not the one Canadians hunger and long for. He is only a legend in his own mind.

So we are back at square one. We have kids fighting over who gets to be Prime Minister while they fail to do the job they were elected to do. Harper refused to take the amendment on the crime bill. He is determined to race ahead on this sick self glorifying Lord of War model as he pulls a Brian Mulroney and steam rolls over the general public with his HST - Harper Sales Tax.

Where is Chuck Cadman when you need him? We don't need another election. We need leaders who listen. We need a minority government that will work with the other parties instead of attacking and belittling them to promote themselves so they can push their own agenda without listening to the concerns of other Canadians.

It is a sad day for Canada. Their leaders are self serving children who refuse to listen to their constituents. Are we any better than those we demonize and bomb? Not much. I will say this though: the only party I really trust in Ottawa right now is the Bloc Québécois and I'm an anglaphone from Colombie Britannique. Isn't that ironic?

Crisis in Japan

How much does each one of those missiles deployed in Libya cost? Instead of spending tax dollars promoting private companies that profit from war, why not doing something noble and help the rescue efforts in Japan? The Japanese are very noble people. They would prefer to suffer in silence than accept help from outside. Yet the daily death toll rises simply because the number of people still missing is staggering.

Let's think about the earthquake in Haiti. The thought of being buried alive and trapped waiting for rescue is daunting. Many people died in that earthquake. Many were buried for long periods of time then rescued and survived.

The rising death toll in Japan just broke 10,000. Yet there are 17,500 still missing as foreign aid begins to trickle in. We were all outraged to hear that a police officer mishandled a "non emergency" call when a neighbour reported shots fired at Lisa Dudley's house where she lied in her home dying for four days. She was found alive but died of her injuries.

That was a tragedy. They thought of being trapped in her home dying for four days is heart wrenching. How about two weeks? It has been two weeks since the earthquake and Tsunami hot Japan and 17,500 people are still missing. Many of those people are trapped buried under ruble waiting to be rescued. Instead they suffer in silence as we run around spending millions of dollars pretending to be Noble in a conflicted bombing campaign against another oil Barron we have armed and exploited.

Japan has issued a non emergency call for help. Yet it should clearly be treated as an emergency just like the call to the police about Lisa Dudley's shooting. We are doing the same thing we criticize that police officer of doing. We are ignoring the real emergency and are being distracted by other things.

England shot civilians on Bloody Sunday. Did we bomb England? Saudi shot civilians protesting their monarchy. Did we bomb Saudi? A no fly zone in Libya can be rationalized. A conflict of interest bombing campaign can not be rationalized.

There is nothing laudable or brave about profiting from war and creating manufactured emergencies where we can pretend to be brave and noble. God knows there are enough real emergencies on this planet that need our attention. The rescue mission in Japan is one of them. Think about it. The survivors have no food. One survivor told the media we have no goal. They need a plan they can work towards to rebuild their lives and feed their families. That is something we can help with.

Hillary Clinton - I Spy a Bad Spy

So Harper is getting cosy with Hillary Clinton. Great, that's all we need. I sure hope Harper isn't still using that old PROMIS software we bought from the States. It was supposed to help US Allies categorize information but really was a Trojan horse that let the CIA spy on it's allies. As if that comes as any big surprise.

Recent Wiki Leaks documents show that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ordered U.S. diplomats, the CIA, and the FBI to spy on highest echelons of UN officialdom. Hold the door, that certainly comes as no big surprise either. I will add that the CIA certainly didn't need her permission to do what they have always done.

Hillary came out with public criticism of Wiki Leaks like others have but I will add that this trendy criticism is very Stalin like. If Wiki Leaks was posting letters from Nobel Peace Price winner Alexander Solzhenitsyn or if they were posting letters from China dissident and Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, the critics would be singing WikiLeaks' praises.

I find it very concerning that they would be in an uproar when WikiLeaks releases information about them but not their political opponents. That is a flaming red flag and a huge concern. The rhetoric they spew to rationalize their concerns is offensive. Pretending it has anything to do with saving innocent lives. Innocent lives are saved when we expose and confront corruption not when we hide or rationalize it.

Since Hillary Clinton has stepped up to the plate to be the CIA and Joint Chiefs of Staff PR Person for the invasion of Libya, perhaps we should ask Ms. Clinton to answer about her involvement in Mena Arkansas? After all she was first lady to the Governor of Arkansas who helped hide and cover up the CIA's cocaine smuggling operation that went on out of there for so many years.

In fact it has been said that she was a partner in the Rose Law Firm that had some questionable involvement in that affair. Then there was Whitewater. Why did Bill Clinton support that crooked corner who falsified death records and tampered with evidence ruling several murders in Arkansas suicides? Let's ask those questions and get those answers. Her connection to the Shadow government is quite concerning. Reminiscent of Vice President Johnston who took over after Kennedy was assassinated.

I will say this, there is nothing laudable or brave about censorship. There is nothing laudable or brave about smuggling cocaine and laundering money for the CIA. There is nothing laudable or brave about selling countries chemical weapons then invading them for their oil and pretending it has anything to do with human rights. And of course there is nothing laudable or brave about killing someone for revealing a state secret when it's in the public's best interest to do so. That is murder. At least Stalin threw his dissidents in jail.

BTW this blog just broke over a million views. I guess someone is actually reading some of this nonsense. And just for the record, France leading the bombing in Libya is a conflict of interest. They have been pals with Gadaffi for many years until he recently broke off ties with them. Now all of a sudden France wants a new leader there. Like that's not suspicious. France did have colonies in Africa BTW just like England and Spain did in the Americas. Sarkozy denies Gaddafi's donations claim of course.

Wow, look at all the countries ready to pounce on the spoils of war and seize all of Libya's assets. I'm sure they'll give themselves lots of congressional medals of honour for that theft.

The Federal Budget

Everyone talks about the Federal Budget like they are kids in a candy store. What's in it for me? Pork Barrel politics got us in this mess. I don't like the fact that Harper is hiding how much his overreaching crime bills cost and the cost of the new fighter jets. Let's face it, fighter jets are massively expensive. Yet when we use them to bomb a country for their oil I'm forced to question the integrity of that investment. Especially when it involves increase taxes like the HST.

Instead of saying what's in the budget for me, why aren't we asking how much of the debt are we eliminating? If we don't control the National Debt, there will be no social programs left. Period. If we want pensions, schools and hospitals then we need to address the debt and change the way we expect financial favors from the government. The HST - Harper Sales Tax has got to go. I'm not willing to spend those tax dollars to bomb countries for their oil. Especially when it means we aren't getting cheaper gas out of it. It just means the oil companies will be able to gouge us more and make more profit so they can give kick backs to the politicians in tax deductible contributions.

I was somewhat shocked to see the Vancouver Province print some pretty racists rants in their feedback section on an anti Justin Trudeau rant this morning. They had the audacity to slam Pierre Trudeau and state multiculturalism doesn't work. Excuse me but multiculturalism does work. It's called diversity. The great Canadian Mosaic. It's bigotry that doesn't work.

Trudeau gave us the Charter of rights. Eileen Mohan referred to it as out sacred charter. That is a wonderful document. The right to due process is not a bad thing. The right to be protected from searches and wire taps without cause is a good thing. How the judges in BC are misinterpreting the charter is bad.

Bilingualism is not bad. Complaining about bilingualism is just huckleberry hillbilly. In Europe, people know several languages. Knowing more than one language is a sign of education. Even being taught French in school and having French on our product labels, I still suck at French. That's an embarrassment. Complaining about bilingualism is just plain bigotry.

Trudeau was a good leader. He gave us binding arbitration. Quebec wanted to Separate. The West said let them go. Subsequent attempts at compromise were made. Upon voting on them Quebec said it wasn't enough and the West said it was too much. The Charter of Rights was the perfect balance. It was a noble compromise we all can be proud of. I'm leery of people who trash Trudeau with bigotry.

Yes the Federal Liberals watered down our judicial system and we have to make some course corrections but they did save us money. We did away with the two for one pretrial credit. That was a good change that was needed. That change will cost us more money. Doing away with statutory release will cost us more money. We need course corrections not sweeping changes that will put us further in debt.

The media sings about Harper's tough on crime bills as an election campaign. It's an election slogan he uses to sell himself. Our prisons are already over crowed. Implementing mandatory minimum sentences for violent crime and for selling hard drugs is necessary and will cost us more money. Mandatory minimum sentences for possession of pot is not necessary and will cost us too much money. We need balance not extremism.

In BC we have a pot activist running as a candidate for the NDP leadership debate. From one extreme to the other. Thankfully it will likely be down to Adrian Dix and Mike Farnworth but the fact remains. Harper refuses to take an amendment on the crime bill because he wants to promote himself not what's best for Canada.

The Oil Wars have Begun

Let's start with the most obvious Oil War - the Invasion of Iraq. I remember speaking with a friend about the Invasion of Iraq and how I opposed it. They responded by saying they crashed a plane into the towers and killed innocent people. I said, that was Afghanistan, not Iraq. When Iraq was invaded there never was a claim that they were involved with 9/11.

When Iraq was invaded Bush said they had Weapons of Mass destruction. That administration said they were sure of it. Only when they invaded they didn't find any. Yet after the invasion Bush boasted "Mission Accomplished."



Tony Blaire was given a Congressional Medal of Honor for supporting that lie and for aiding and abetting the invasion of a foreign country. MI 6 was caught red handed giving false information to the media about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction called Operation Mass Appeal. They pretended they invaded for WMD when in reality they invaded for oil. History has made that very clear.

I am glad Jean Chretien didn't follow the Americans into that Oil War. Stephen Harper would have. So would of Michael Ignatieff. The other Oil War which is less obvious is Afghanistan. We were told at first that Afghanistan was responsible for 9/11 which everyone will agree was a horrible event.

Only the Bin Laden confession video didn't even look like Bin Laden. Prior to that invasion the Texas oil companies were wining and dining the Taliban (who were trained by the CIA to fight the Russian invasion of their country) trying to win the contract for a gas pipeline through Afghanistan called CentGas - Central Asia Gas Pipeline. UNICAL was supposed to get the contract. When the Taliban changed their mind and gave the contract to Bridas, an Argentina firm, Afghanistan was invaded and the contract was reversed.

All the bad things the Taliban did didn't matter when they were going to give the contract to UNICAL. When UNICAL lost the contract all of a sudden all the bad things the Taliban did started to matter. Clearly the old adage has merit. The first causality of war is the truth.

Now let's look at Libya. Libya has oil. So does Saudi Arabia. Both dictators are experiencing opposition from the people and both dictators are standing against that opposition. Unlike in Egypt where the protesters were peaceful except for fighting with supporters of the government, in Libya the opposition to the government took up arms and engaged in a civil war.

Canada sent jets in to support a no fly zone. The Arab League supported a no fly zone. "What is happening in Libya differs from the aim of imposing a no-fly zone, and what we want is the protection of civilians and not the bombardment of more civilians,"

Indeed bombing Libya is different that establishing a no fly zone. How can you say you are enforcing a cease fire when you are bombing one side of that dispute? Your act of bombing violates that cease fire.

Western jets launch second day of bombing. That is a violation of the cease fire and and a complete deviation from the no fly zone mandate. And why shouldn't they? David Cameron was afraid they'd lose their opportunity for an invasion so they seized the opportunity. Tony Blair time a thousand.

How can we in good conscience claim that we are opposing a dictator in Libya when we refuse to do the same in Saudi Arabia? Because we like that monarchy. They let US troops stay in Saudi. Libya doesn't so we need to get rid of Gadaffi. It does reek of Imperialism. That's all it is so let's be honest and not pretend it isn't.

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Let me be clear. Muammar Gaddafi is not my friend any more than Saddam Hussein is. I just think it's very important to remember what happened to Iraq and why. They said Hussein had Weapons of Mass destruction. They said they were sure of it. They didn't find any. They hanged him for using chemical weapons on the Kurds but the Americans were the ones that sold him chemical weapons.

They sold him the chemical weapons to use on Iran during that war. I work with a woman who left Iran with her family during that war. She said it was horrible. They were dropping mustard gas on whole villages. The real tragedy in the Invasion of Iraq was the fact that the people who supplied Saddam Hussein with chemical weapons weren't hanged as well.

Nanaimo RCMP Accused of Punching Woman in the face

Yes there are two sides to every story. Yet with the numerous videos of police using excessive force, this doesn't look good. Camilla McGuire, 53, said she required emergency surgery to place metal plates in her face after a punch that broke bones and loosened teeth. We don't have a video of the attack but we do have the testimony of witnesses and we do have a victim with tangible injuries.

The Harper Government

I've heard mention of the Harper Government before but I didn't realize it was a rebrand and how Harper stopped using the term the Government of Canada and changed it to the Harper Government. Somewhat ironic for someone who claims to be right wing.

In fact the Harper Government seems to be really concerned about propaganda. The new Economic Action Plan ads will cost taxpayers 26 Million. Then there's Harper's negotiations for creating a Fox News North where the government can brainwash the public with blatantly biased news reports. All to help Harper get a majority government so he can "govern."

Let's just remind Mr. Harper what a minority government is. In a democratic society a minority government must form a coalition with another political party to assume the role of government. Otherwise it can not form the government. Thus making the term Harper government somewhat of an oxymoron.

Remember all that outrage the Harper Government had when the other three main political parties said they were going to form a coalition under the direction of Stephen Dion and dethrone Harper? The Harper Government went on and on about how undemocratic that was because the majority of Canadians didn't vote for Stephen Dion. Well let me break the bad news to the Harper government. The majority of Canadians didn't vote for him either.

143 seats out of 306 is less than half - 46.7% of the seats. 53.7% of the seats in the House do not belong to the Hapless Government. Now the past practice for any minority government in Canada is that since they have less than 50% of the seats, they must for a coalition with one other party so they collectively have more than 50% of the seats so they can govern. Otherwise anytime they submit a bill to the house it will fail and a non confidence will result.

Having said that, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the other three parties forming a coalition and assuming the role of government if they collectively have more than 50% of the seats. That is our democratic system. It's called compromise and coalition which is indeed in direct opposition to Mr. Harper's control and berate.

Don't get me wrong. I totally supported Preston Manning and the Reform Party's sweep of Western Canada. I felt balancing the budget to save social programs not abolish them was a noble quest. What I oppose is Stephen Harper pimping out the dream to unite the right instead of unite the bright and thereby merging with the dreaded Mulroneyism which plagued our nation with unrighteous dominion and fiscal irresponsibility. That is the same quest Harper currently obsesses over. No wonder Stockwell Day has had enough.

I don't see Ignatieff as the answer either. He claims torture is good like Chretien claimed sponsorship is good. Although Chretien was bad with money, I liked him as a human being and as a leader of our country. He didn't follow the US into Iraq for their oil. That we can be proud of. Harper would have.

I liked Trudeau too. He was a leader not a politician. He gave us the Charter of Rights. Although the debt rose greatly under their leadership no more so than under Harper's or Mulroney's. Those spin doctors claim the other guys will tax and spend yet they are the worse offenders. At least the other guys spend the money on the people not their political partners.

I wish the Green party would draw a line between pot and crack. I cannot vote for anyone who maintains the position that we should legalize all drugs. Decriminalization of pot is one thing, legalization of crack, meth and date rape drug is another. A responsible society doesn't do that. Yet it is clear that Harper has gone far enough. Giving him any more seats in an election would be bad for Canada and bad for democracy. Harper needs to stop talking and start listening. Something he hasn't done since he formed government.

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I just saw one of the new Harper adds and it made me sick to my stomach. I sure hope he's not using tax dollars for his personal campaign adds. I'm all for patriotism and being proud of being Canadain but Stephen Harper is not Molsen Canadian beer commercial material. The Pillsbury Mr. Rogers does not stir patriotism and that face is reminiscent of Gordon Campbell.

People got so fed up with seeing Gordon Campbell's face in adds the BC Liberals had to stop running his face in adds because their popularity was plummeting. You look at Gordon Campbell and all that comes to mind is dishonest arrogance and ruthless cuts to senoirs to pay for his two massive pay raises and his gold plated pension. I'm starting to get that feeling when I see the Harper adds. Mind you Iggy is worse. Now that's a face only a mother could love.

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Harper government found in contempt.

Ontario's Criticism of their Judges

I find it somewhat interesting that while some claim criticizing a judge's decision in B.C. is blasphemous, Ontario doesn't seem to have a problem with it. Over minor issues. The latest one is described in an article in the Globe and Mail.

The Globe referred to one as the judge who writes like a paperback novelist. The article claims that because one Ontario judge uses complex sentences in his decisions and writes like a crime novelist he is out of control and should be the subject of a judicial council complaint.

I'm not going to get into the merits of the complaint against the judge, much. Other than the obvious fact that I really don't see what the big deal is. If he overturned a murder conviction and the evidence would lead one to believe that he should not have overturned that conviction then speak to the conviction not the words he used to describe it.

The article admits that Judge Watt’s transformation is seen by some as part of a welcome trend away from impenetrable, legal jargon. No kidding. The uproar is that others feel that the author of a judgment ought to be an invisible presence. Yeah whatever. Hence my point: the big deal isn't really a big deal.

What I do find interesting is this whole judicial council complaint process that seems to be such an active tool in Ontario to deal with bad judges shall we say. Why can't we use a judicial council to get rid of a real idiot like Peter Leask?

I'm not talking about minor concerns about his unprofessional swearing in court. I'm talking about his treasonous decisions that let a Hells Angel off Scott free when he was caught red handed loading boxes of 52 kilograms of cocaine from His storage locker onto a truck. He was caught red handed and Peter Leask let him walk. The accused said he didn't know what was in the boxes. Those kind of judicial decisions constitute treason.

Finally some of Leaks bizarre decisions are being appealed and overturned but that is such a long and expensive process. Let's do the world a favor and fire his ass through the judicial council complaint process. Don't we have one in BC? Only in Ontario? Why is that?