Mark Johnson, Imprint staff. (U of Waterloo)
Like many Canadians, I reacted with a mixture of shock, sorrow and anger to the news of the horrifying terrorist attacks in downtown London, now dubbed “7/7.” The disaster, which took the lives of 52 people and counting, has even been referred to as England’s own September 11th.
I see things entirely differently. The deluded band of egocentric, paranoid terrorists that I think have made up the present and past governments of the United States of America has been launching petty, cowardly attacks on legitimate sovereign nations for decades, and 9/11 was something they had coming to them.
The World Trade Centre and the Pentagon I think were government-connected targets, and those attacks were not aimed at the general population.
In London, on the other hand, it was the mass transit system that was blown up, harming no one but civilians. The bombings were evidently retaliation for the British involvement in the American-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
After the Madrid bombings, which were timed to coincide with a national election, Spanish voters threw out an arrogant liar of a president � who sent their troops to die in Iraq � and elected a socialist who soon withdrew the troops to safety. In doing so, Spain wisely diminished its chances of provoking another attack.
We in Canada think of ourselves as relatively safe from terrorists, but were it not for the intelligent, thoughtful decision of an awesome former Prime Minister, Jean Chr�tien, to keep our troops out of the Iraq quagmire, it’s more than likely that we’d now be in line for some sort of terrorist attack.
Thank heavens we had (and continue to have) the Liberal Party of Canada in office!
[…]
R.I.P. to the victims of the London massacre and likewise to the victims of the U.S./U.K. massacres in Iraq and elsewhere. What goes around comes around, I suppose.
[emphasis mine]
Mark’s Angelfire homepage is probably subject to bandwidth limits, so I’ve quoted it in the extended entry.
“I serve as a director for the Liberal Party of Canada in my riding of Kitchener-Conestoga, and am obviously also a member of that prestigious political party. “
*Information was current as of Feb. 2005 – still trying to get confirmation on his current status with the riding ass’n.
Ok, who am I? My name’s Mark Johnson, I’m a fourth-year student at the University of Waterloo, in Waterloo, Ontario, and am 21 years old. I have two younger brothers, Steve and Mike, and a beautiful girlfriend, Kassie. My main interest is politics – that’s what I’m studying, majoring in Political Science and minoring in French…parles-tu francais bien?
I’m a security guard for the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires, and I also porter at the St. Jacobs Best Western and clean at Programmed Insurance Brokers. When I’m not working or in school, I love playing baseball or hockey. I watch hockey or CPAC on TV, and sleep as much as I can. I serve as a director for the Liberal Party of Canada in my riding of Kitchener-Conestoga, and am obviously also a member of that prestigious political party.
Apart from the Liberals, I also admire many policies of the NDP and the Bloc Qu�b�cois. I’ve moderated quite a bit in my old age – I used to be a communist, but I’ve since woken up, and am glad of it.
Here’s some of my political views and/or aspirations:restructuring the tax system to stop penalizing low and middle-income earners legalization of marijuana, gay marriages, and euthanasia protection of the environment, including the ratification of the Kyoto Accord more centralized government in Canada massive expansion of public transit aggressively paying down Canada’s national debt
Enough politics, then. I’m a big fan of the Ottawa Senators and if they’re not playing, I’ll cheer for any other Canadian team, usually Toronto. For baseball, I cheer on the Toronto Blue Jays and Florida Marlins. I’m a writer for my school newspaper, Imprint.
My views on religion have varied greatly over the past few years. I was raised as a conservative Christian, but left in disgust, and turned to atheism. I have recently been impressed with the liberal views of some churches, primarily the United and Presbyterian churches, so I might wind up there soon. For now, I guess I consider myself to be an extremely liberal Christian, and open to new ideas.
I like Blink 182, P.O.D. and a few other music groups. I don’t usually mind any music except country and some virulent forms of rap.
Sports I like playing are baseball, hockey, tennis and rugby. I play hockey when I can, not in leagues though, and I play baseball in church league. For my stats, click here.
I’m fairly active in campus groups at my university, and work with the following groups:Vice-President (Finance) of the Students for Palestinian Rights Co-President of Students for Same-Sex Marriage Member of the Arab Student Association Member of the University of Waterloo Young Liberals Volunteer, University of Waterloo Sustainability Project Past Vice-President (Finance) of the Political Science Student Association
Volunteer, Wellness CentrePresidential candidate of record, University of Waterloo Federation of Students
Here’s a picture I found of some silly moonies:
http://www.strangepolitics.com/content/item/104225.html
Here’s a comparison between Dubya and some moonie in a wetsuit, whatwastheguy’sname?
http://www.strangepolitics.com/content/item/102384.html
Another comparison:
http://www.strangepolitics.com/content/item/102056.html
Candace, you wanted to know:
“Stephen, how do you KNOW the refinery across from you is insecure?”
A: All I have to do is take a look around everytime I drive right past. I see no sign of any kind of security, physical, human, etc. I could simply drive right into the complex, get out, plant a tiny suitcase nuke somewhere strategic and casually walk away holding the remote detonator. It’s plain to the naked eye there’s no security against terrorists. I believe what I see.
OMG! Thanks Kate, you really ruined my day with this tidbit. And he is a security guard??? As it those people who provide security at airports??? I feel really safe flying into Canada now.
BTW, most of the Corps of Commissionaires are retired military folks that take their job seriously and would NOT like to be associated with this nutbar.
Plus, the new natural gas pipeline is a short distance away, ABOVEGROUND AND VULNERABLE. It is possible to stand on an overpass and drop a bomb onto it, just like that! Saint John is not very security conscious as far as my observations and experiences go.
” most of the Corps of Commissionaires are retired military folks that take their job seriously and would NOT like to be associated with this nutbar.”
That’s so true. I know from meeting the Commissionaires. Very serious yet friendly (after they know you enough), mostly ex-military.
Picked this post up from the comment section on Captains Quarters on the “Tories Still Polling Badly thread. I think this poster may be a freind of Mark Johnson. So much misinformation and fuzzy logic its hard to know where to begin to rebut.
(The)document that is the Conservative Party’s platform? But what is it really? There are very few statements that commit to anything? It just a bunch of rhetoric!
But I did see a little bit of clearly articulated statements in Issues:
Definition of Marriage
The Conservative Party will fight to give a greater voice to Parliament. We will ensure that issues like marriage are decided by Parliament, not the courts. That’s a cop out! He already knew the court had made their ruling � all that was required from government was the rubber stamp.
So big deal � had a free vote been given in parliament the decision of the court had already overruled whatever stance anyone took. Just another miserable attempt to throw flames at the Liberal government.
Defending our Fisheries
The Conservative Party will fight for our fisheries. We will decentralize fisheries decision-making and ensure that EI provides adequate income protection in case of job loss.
Oh ho � and we all know what Harper thinks about the eastern provinces, he described them in 2003 as the “culture of defeat”.
The man just doesn’t know when to keep inflammatory statements to himself.
Access to Health Care
The Conservative Party supports the national health care agreement. A Conservative government will cooperate with the provinces to ensure adequate funding, shorter waiting lists, and more doctors and nurses.
If you don’t know that Harper has waffled going from totally supporting the 3rd way, to now claiming he would work with the system, you just haven’t been listening.
Immigrant Credentials
The Conservative party will fight for immigrants. We will work to ensure speedier recognition of foreign credentials and prior work experience.
And yet when he addresses the Sikk Community he used same sex as a divisive issue. “This is a threat to any Canadian who supports multiculturalism,” Mr. Harper said Friday night. “It is a threat to a genuinely multicultural country.”
No I don’t want a party rooted in religion.
Protecting Children
The Conservative Party will fight for our children. We will replace the Liberal�s �public good� defense for child pornography with a zero tolerance policy.
That is not something I want governments involved in. There are already enough laws against pornography especially where children are involved. That just tells me he wants to interfere in my right to form my own opinion. That’s just more of the Conservatives need to impress their version of how society is to think.
Support for our Canadian Forces
The Conservative Party will fight for our armed forces. We will ensure our armed forces are properly funded and equipped to do the difficult and dangerous work we ask of them.
I don’t know or anyone who wouldn’t support that, albeit Liberal or Conservative. So that really is a non-issue, issue.
Canada�s Place in the World
The Conservative Party will fight for Canada�s national interest. We will stand with our allies and international bodies against terrorism and for the basic values of freedom and democracy.
And if Harper had his way, Canadian troops would now be losing their lives in Iraq.
Canada � US Relations
The Conservative Party will fight for our primary producers in trade disputes. We will stand shoulder to shoulder with the US when we can so that we can sit eyeball to eyeball when we must.
Well isn’t that wonderful? He would encourage Canada follow the lead of the States and be lead around by a ring in our nose!
Harper is never going to learn that people remember what he’s says. FACT � I know of no newspapers, either with a Liberal or a Conservative bias that would dare to put things in quotations that people don’t actually say.
Once a negative image has been formed, it is very difficult to change it. And it is Harper himself that is responsible for the words that came out of his mouth. So I’d just start fresh and dump Harper if you ever expect to make gains for the Conservative party.
Jeff Cosford,
“Cantor Fitzgerald leased about 9 floors in the WTC ….. was the primary dealer in Government debt.”
“Espeed is owned by Cantor and is the largest electronic platform for trading in Government securities.”
I’m not sure I get your point. Are you attempting to connect these tenants to the 9/11 terrorist attacks? It’s unclear what, if anything you’re implying. Perhaps you can just come out and say it.
By the way, for those who have been talking speculatively about various tenants at the WTC, if there were to be a connection between those tenants and the WTC being targeted on 9/11, would that somehow make a difference in the deaths of anyone who didn’t work there? Like the passengers on the hijacked planes? What justifies murdering them?
Hey, the Libs are just being accountable to the electorate that placed them there…
Joey W
First off let me say that there is no amount of justifaction in the world that can condone what happened on 9/11
Second communist guy differentiates between London and 9/11 in saying that 9/11 had government targets
ie. the Pentagon. Therefore he feels more empathy
for those involved in the London attacks.
My point is that the WTC although did not have government opertions in the traditional sense that the Pentagon has. The management of Government debt is still integral to government operations. The 9/11 attack shut down securities markets for a week. I floated the information for 2 reasons first
where they attempting to attack the foundation of the American economy. As misguided and fanciful as that may have been.
Also you could argue that it was US government opertions that where being attacked because Cantor handles so much Government Debt. And is in fact an Agent of the Government. Some have said that there was no Government agency to attack at the WTC similar to the pentagon.
Ward, that moonbat you found on Cpt. Ed is indubitably an undercover Librano. He understands the right slurs to hurl. He’s a broken leftist record. I recognize the language and nonlogic. His only intent is to HURT us. He’s a member in excellent standing of the VLWC.
Let’s all tell him, if he comes on here to say vile excrement like that, to EFF OH! I personally would like to take the red-hot iron of the words I can use to brand every damned square inch of his being!
These commies cat ever be trusted i mean they are wanting to spread the evil ways to all of america and it fact HANIO JANE once told a university of michican students that IF YOU REALY UNDERSTOOD COMMUNISM YOU WOULD HOPE YOU WOULD PRAY ON YOUR KNEES WE WILL SOMEDAY BECOME COMMUNISTS PRAY? COMMUNISM IS ATHEISTS THEY PERSICUTE CHRISTIANS
I think Mark Johnsons Lenin beard missed the memo that explained he is no longer a commie.
Sorry Dudley. But I don’t think they need our help.
Stephen McAllister. I disagree with you about Kyoto. When the Conservatives finally form the government they must kill Kyoto. If they don’t it will be the last time I vote for anyone in this country.
Candace. Darn. I knew those pipelines were mostly buried. Geez. I’ve taken pictures of them being buried. But there are several sections that are not buried for one reason or another.
Impressive article, Mr. Johnson! Seriously, I am very, very impressed!
Just imagine, you somehow managed to type that entire *article* with your head so far up your ass!
You really know your way around a keyboard!
Oh, and by the way, us Presbyterians can do without the likes of you – go haunt the UC’s…You’ll find them more to your liking. They also have a peyote-eater’s perspective on all things material and spiritual.
And there are a lot more where he came from.
Jeff,
Thanks very much for your clarification. I understand what you are saying, but I believe that it’s important to always accompany something like that idea with a clear-cut statement to the effect “regardless of what terrorists may mistakenly think, no public building or area can ever be considered a legitimate target.” I just hate to see a discussion which allows speculation that Al Qaeda might have been justified in attacking the WTC. While the method used can never, ever have any legitimacy, I can conceive of the Pentagon (US Military Headquarters) being singled out by those looking to attack the US Government. But attacks on civilian targets (and presence of a government office does not make a building a government facility; that kind of logic is best suited to Monty Python movies) have got to be called what they are – terrorism, pure and simple. Not acts of war, attacks on a government, or political statements – they are murder, no less than a Jack the Ripper, Dr. Crippen, Boston Strangler, Son of Sam. etc……
TonyGuitar – send me a private email kate@katewerk.com
I don’t believe this part: he says he has “a beautiful girlfriend, Kassie”. This would not fit with the babe theory of political movements. The good-looking women are for freedom! The less lucky women are for anti-western things like: “I see things entirely differently. The deluded band of egocentric, paranoid terrorists that I think have made up the present and past governments of the United States of America has been launching petty, cowardly attacks on legitimate sovereign nations for decades, and 9/11 was something they had coming to them.”
By legitimate sovereign nations, I suppose he means all those awful murderous dictatorships. How are they legitimate? I guess Hitler was legitimate too. And Pol Pot. And Stalin. And Kim Jong-Il. And Saddam. And the Taliban. And Castro.
I would hate to find out what a illegitimate leader was like.
Anyway – if by some chance there is a beautiful girlfriend, Kassie, all I can say is – dump him quick before he traps you within his miserable worldview!
Joey W
I believe that all the facts should be laid out. Our strength lies in our honesty. To say that there was no government presence is misleading. Albeit in this
case it maybe insignificant to the discussion.
I personally find it fasinating that there was such a significant economic presence at the terrorists target the WTC. But that should in no way be misconscruded that I am not horrified by what happened at the WTC or the Pentagon. Both were acts of despicable barbarism. Again what the terrorists
did at both the WTC and the Pentagon is nothing short of murder.
“Member of the Arab Student Association”?
*Ugh*
Oh god. I’m familiar with guys like him. I used to fight with guys like this all the time in University.
Arab Student Associations accross Canada are originaly created to simply offer aid and assistance to the Arab students. And simply ensure that they get through their academic years smoothly. From time to time they take part in festivities to promote Arab Culture. And help out Foriegn Middle Eastern students with matters like Visas, Housing and jobs. Nothing more nothing less.
WHat guys like this do (White, middle-class “progressives)” is that they join the group in hope to politicize them and integrate them into their causes. (Anti-Globalization, Anti-War, Anti-Capitalis etc). And it works, especially to gullible new immigrants, its very easy for them to convince them as they havn’t been in the country for long and don’t know how things work.
I was the Communications Director for the Syrian Student Association in Concordia University 3 years ago. and I quit becuase guys like this screwd evreything up for us.
I’m sure they do this with other ethnic student groups as well. Its very smart, becuase once they integrate them into their causes and have them join their protests, they can easily smear any of their critics or the protest police as “racists”.
Qoute:
“Material may not be published, at the discretion of Imprint, if that material is deemed to be libelous or in contravention with Imprint’s policies with reference to our code of ethics and journalistic standards.”
Well that settles it then – the Opinion Editor (Johnston)has lowered the standards so should be asked to resign….
I emailed the editor thanking him for allowing Johnson to piss off so many British like myself. No reply….such bravery! Such willingness to stand up and say ‘another boy did it’ and run away…! How typical!
Dave T.: “I emailed the editor thanking him for allowing Johnson to piss off so many British like myself. No reply….such bravery! Such willingness to stand up and say ‘another boy did it’ and run away…! How typical!”
Dave, you’re so right. I wouldn’t myself have bothered to email the editor of that fancy pile of bogroll imploring a damn thing. I all too well understand these braindead lefties.
Earlier in this strand, someone named Mike asked to point out any errors in the article. I sent the author of the article the following email — I didn’t bother adding the obvious conclusion that thinking people draw about the opinions of people who are too ignorant to know even the basic facts behind their rants:
Sir
I wouldn’t presume to comment on your views as I’m sure it would be a waste of time — there are no more closed minds on earth that those within our academic institutions.
However, when confidently stating your views on international affairs, you should make an effort to avoid astonishing blunders of fact. You state:
“After the Madrid bombings… Spanish voters threw out an arrogant liar of a president – who sent their troops to die in Iraq – and elected a socialist who soon withdrew the troops to safety. In doing so, Spain wisely diminished its chances of provoking another attack.”
Again I wouldn’t presume to question your characterization of Mr Aznar (and I’m assuming you knew his name although you avoid mentioning it), but I do take issue with the statement nonetheless. First, Mr. Aznar was not the President, but the Prime Minister of Spain. Surely you know that the difference in those offices is very significant. I dare say that if Mr. Bush ever made an error like that he would be immediately labelled an idiot by the wise and knowledgeable Canadians.
But even more shocking is that you say he was thrown out. Again, do you really not know that Mr. Aznar had retired from politics and was not standing in the election? Do you in fact know or is this a lie on your part? It would be like saying Canadian voters threw out Mr. Trudeau in 1984, or Mr. Mulroney in 1993. I suppose to a sloppy academic it’s largely true, but of course neither man was contesting the elections that their party lost. Neither was your arrogant liar of a President.
I do hope your knowledge of the world isn’t reflective of the quality of education provided by the university.
Paul
Paul: Not to mention that Spain is a kingdom (i.e. no president at all), with Juan Carlos Alfonso V�ctor Mar�a de Borb�n y Borb�n-Dos Siciliasas the constitutional monarch (for short Juan Carlos I).
Mark
Ottawa
Si! And hees daughter the Infanta isa hottie….
The greatest irony of this ( if it is irony) is this spewing little Bolshevick considers himself “liberal”. Once again proving the commonly observed phenomena that there is nothing less liberal than a liberal. There is no Orthodoxy with more intensely inane logic: such as Steven Harper is “scarey” but people who accept civilian terror as a legitimate political statement are not.
If this is the extremist sandbox the Libranos recruit from, we better dust off out flame throwers because the next generation of Libranos won’t be sociopathic criminals but totally viral psychotics…we may have to decontaminate parliment rather than just remove them from office.
The other thing that struck me was the aggravated hatred this little Jihadi-sympathizing terd displays for western governments who would stand in the way of terrorism as a political tool. People like this may be of interest to the RCMP who encourage Canadian citizens to report suspicious people and activities: here’s the RCMP counter terrorist tip line 1-800-420-5805
More evidence of the brain-eating disease, liberalism. But this guy is especially far gone.
“…Mr. Aznar was not the President, but the Prime Minister of Spain. Surely you know that the difference in those offices is very significant.”
The Spanish Prime Minister’s title is El Presidente del Gobierno. It is not usual for a Spanish PM to be referred to even in English as President, despite that he is not a head of state.
Not UNusual, I mean.
Dave
That is true, but it is still wrong. He was not President and simply having people repeat it doesn’t make it so.
WOW…I love his final sentence in his last paragraph: “What goes around comes around, I suppose”. Now there’s a well-thought out bit of words, don’t you think? Hey Mark…dude…go take another hit from your bong and lay me out with some more of your well-reasoned and brilliant thoughts from that incredible, fertile mind of yours. What a freakin’ putz.
The editor came back to me after my email!
She wants a reply to be posted as Letter to the Editor and also states that although she does not agree with him, she des not believe in censorship. Think they have realised he has dropped them in it……..
Anyone with valid points to add to my letter which will cover Spain, UK, Canadian military, his strange support of Muslims and Gays at the same time, his arrogant ‘ clear thinking people’ meaning himself and the overall tone.
Soonest please as I have to reply to the Editor. Thanks
Sorry – email as per link on my name not blog
mark johnson is a Mega-Coward.
His mother should’ve swallowed.
A perfect example of typical Canadian pile of disgusting ignorance. Mark must be a professor.
Pop quiz: Explain the “Dos Siciliasas” in Juan Carlos I’s name. Hint: he’s not a made man in Cosa Nostra.
Mark
Ottawa
“There is no Orthodoxy with more intensely inane logic: such as Steven Harper is “scarey” but people who accept civilian terror as a legitimate political statement are not.”
…thus spake WL MacKenzie.
Absolutely correct, WL. The VLWC always attempts to paint all Conservative leaders as “scary”. Manning, Day (Maclean’s “How Scary?” cover photo) and now Harper. It’s like a broken, screeching record. Paul Martin IS extremely scary, but the MSM paints him as beautiful and loving! I cannot help but be angrily contemptuous of this anencephalitic fawning over the Supreme Librano Overlord! And celebrities who embrace terrorism are declared “world’s sexiest” or something as infinitely jaw-gaping. True reality, as I recall getting info from, not the MSM, naturally, but from the conservative internet information community, forget where, but Angelina Jolie is actually just as horrible as Mark Johnson, was his name? She said she wants to feck everybody, taste everybody, yet, after learning her vile views along the lines of Johnson and even worse, I couldn’t bring myself to bang that queen moonbat, never mind her looking so damn hot!
Fo’ fecksake!
“Pop quiz: Explain the “Dos Siciliasas” in Juan Carlos I’s name. Hint: he’s not a made man in Cosa Nostra.”
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (which consisted of Sicily and Naples) was ruled by a collateral line of the House of Bourbon (hence, the House of “Bourbon-Two Siciles”) until Italian unification under Victor Emmanuel of Savoy. Juan Carlos is thus descended from two seperate branches of the House of Bourbon: the main Spanish branch that was placed there by Louis XIV following the War of the Spanish Succession, and the Two Sicilies line that married in centuries later.
If I missed explaining the Carlist claims to both France and Spain, that’s because it’s just too complicated and anyone who claims to understand it all completely is lying. 😉 It’s like what Palmerston said about Schleswig-Holstein.
Dave J: Brilliant. Have a double Jack Daniels. I forgot what Palmerson said about Schleswig-Holstein (-Lauenburg). Must re-read “Royal Flash”.
Mark
Ottawa
Dave J. and Mark Collins:
Duh… that stuff all went right over my bald head, except for the Bourbon and the Jack Daniels.
Does this mean I’m a redneck? Not that there’s anything wrong with that… I sure do love Gretchen Wilson. Hot babe!
Had to write him an email: The text –
Re: London attack seemed inevitable
What with recently graduating from a top US law school I have never had ill feelings about flunking out of Waterloo some 6 years ago. Hey, I just didn’t like computer science. However, neither did I feel proud of it. What was done was done – I met my Waterloo. Now, for the first time ever, and thanks to your column, I am actually jubilant that “University of Waterloo” appears nowhere on my resume. Thank you so very much.
Stephen: It just means you’ve been reading two damn fools who like history. Smetimes it can be important. Glad you made the Bourbons and Jack, a pretty thin joke.
Just checked out Gretchen Wilson website. Redneck, no neck (“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”), whatever–but boy is the site loud.
Mark
Ottawa
The student paper at UW has a long history of nutbars. It used to be the “Chevron” but that paper finally got itself shut down over the crap it was spewing. (They tried publishing a couple issues off-campus as recently as the mid-80’s but were nothing more than a joke.)
The Imprint was more sane for a while, but the PoliSci department was always a little more “out there”.
Then there’s Mr.K’s “buddy” Telegdi who came through the cycle of UW student politics.
Carla the editor has let me do a long Letter to the Editor for the next issue. It won’t change his views as he is beyond saving probably (he is so intelligent and politically savvy you see..). But at least some people will hopefully see that he was wrong on many counts and that such muddled ill-informed and downright nasty writing is unacceptable even for a self proclaimed communist/liberal/Arabist/gay rights supporter/atheist/Christian etc. Boy is he confused……! We will see how much she cuts. Thanks to all who suggested bits.