* Afghan female MP tours Canada and tells us, “Don’t do like the Americans!”
* Gwynne Dyer Tells us, “Don’t destroy the poppies!” I’ve got to admit, his essay makes some sense.
* The Media Fumble the Ball Again. This time it’s in the multimedia arena.
* General Wesley Clark praises Canada; and he’s not even part of the Bush administration.
CLICK
MSM Completely Ignores Pro-Israel Rally
Astoundingly (or maybe not), yesterday 35,000 people turned out to demonstrate for Israel and against Iran and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad…
…and not a single mainstream media source carried the story.
LGF reader Scott Silverstein writes:
From an information science perspective it is as clear evidence of world news media collusion and bias as any.
Indeed. …-
LGF
Of the 15000 Canadians evacuated by the gov’t an estimated 7000 have returned to Lebanon. Should Can. withdraw the 30-yr.old policy that allows Canadians permanently residing abroad to hold dual citizenship (incl. pension benefits & emergency assistance)?
Yes
87.2%
No
12.1%
Other (email mornings@cfra.com)
0.65%
Total Votes: 1220
cfra.com
Gwynn Dyer might be a moron most of the time, but IMO he’s bang on in his article at the Embassy.
Don’t destroy the puppies??? How can I make my smoothies without destroying puppies? Don’t you realize how essential this is?
Oh, POPpies, not puppies. Never mind.
So, this young Afghan MP is standing up for her country – all well and good. But, her opinions are utopian rather than grounded.
She informs us that ‘since the US-led invasion’ things aren’t better for the Afghan people; the life expectancy hasn’t increased. My dear – life expectancies aren’t measured within 5 year spans but require a longer data base. And if she thinks that a country that has been involved in tribalism, in war, and without ever having a democratic govt’, can be remade in a few years, then, she’s writing and living in a fictional world.
Then, she informs us that the US is in league with the warlords; that’s another specious opinion. There’s no-one else to deal with in many parts of Afghanistan. Indeed, the warlords may be vile tribal leaders, but they are the leaders and to ignore them, won’t help resolve the situation.
Her argument seems to be to ‘get rid of the evil warlords’, which would be like us saying ‘get rid of the corrupt’ in gov’t, in business, in everywhere. That’s a utopian notion; it’s impossible, for corruption is a psychological factor and basic to human nature. It can’t ever, ever, ever, be eliminated except and unless, if you decide to live in a fictional world.
The notion of ‘If Only’ we had ‘this’, then, life would be perfect, is utopian – the curse of parties like the NDP and the Bloc. No, it’s isn’t a value of the Liberals, for the Liberals have only one value; Power. And they don’t care how they obtain it.
Not to mention that a female Afghan MP wouldn’t be standing ANYWHERE under the Taliban.
And where was this Afghan MP making her UTOPIAN speach ? A University, of course.
The Socialists are always creating and fostering doubt in an individual’s competance. Everything is wrong in this world, they pteach. Just listen to the Utopians and the governments will fix everything for us.
Their “tools” ? Main Stream Media
Universities
Hollywood
United Nations
NGOs
And I am afraid the latest addition, the Public School System.
That “Media Fumble the Ball” post is a load of crap.
His whole post is based on the question: Why aren’t the MSM showing us more footage like THIS, from Operation Medusa?
One small problem: that footage was shot and aired by CTV.
Other than that, the post is… well, that was pretty much his entire point, so I guess this one’s a nice fat dose of empty calories.
Gwynne Dyer…12 paragraphs of over-simplified regurgitated boredom.
Sure it makes sense but thousands of people already have said the same thing.
The USA can’t even get their head out of the sand on something as benign as legalizing marijuana and Dwyer wants them to legalize opium/heroin production.
Every one of the folks evacuated from Lebanon and who subsequently returned to Lebanon should be invoiced for travel expenses. Canada isn’t running a free tourist operation. Make up your chicken-s_ _ t mind!
Can this Afghan MP now safely return to her country ? Could she have under the Taliban ? Is it possible for Canada to do things better than the US of A ? Absolutely !!
The Socialists-Utopians always seem to ignore a basic Human fault that always screws up their Utopian “ideas”,… everybody, EVERBODY will always look for the easy way out. If they can get away with it. Hippies.
no mr brown, he didnt say that at all and when are you right winger going to abandon the habit of putting words in the mouth of the truth tellers.
Dyer wants the farmers subsidized by buying up the poppy crops. read the friggin editorial for a change.
with time the country can move to self sustaining food crops to displace the opium headed poppies; all in good time.
the alternative is the right wing favoured status quo.
he also quotes the british commander who we might assume knows about these things stating ‘we could lose this fight’ or words to that effect, I dont have the item in front of me it went out in a blue box.
so, for the 3rd time on this blog now, have ANY of you right wingers so much as seen another right winger criticize the george dubya white house on anything??? too afraid of being shunned ??? hmmmm ???? the man’s never made a mistake or perhaps thats all he does??? which is it???
Why not let the farmers grow the poppies, buy them, and THEN destroy them?
This Afghan MP enjoys the privelege of her liberty paid for by the blood of our soldiers. She shouldn’t presume to lecture the very reason that allows her to show her face. If she had the clout and the geopolitical resources to get the job done, she would have ousted the Taliban before Nato did. If she has an alternative army to the Norther Alliance to offer up, I’m sure someone will listen. Until that happens, I think that effectively asking Canadian troops to fight a two front war is astounding.
As a small L libertarian I am against prohibition anyway. Free will & all that.
It only causes more corruption & jails people who have a problem. With a the stigma of jail time hanging over them for life. Usually there young.
Takes money away from pre-emptive programs or addiction centers. We deal with this like a crime when its a plague. It does not stop the drug flow. It does make the police departments rich though, with houses , cars, & other property they confiscate. Judges have been caught who had millions sent there way to distort them, with the rest of the legal apparatus.
It also pits the police against the citizenry with laws that are unenforceable. Like cat, smoking, dog, photo radar,& other species by laws. It seems there more interested in forcing people to follow certain others obsessions, than Justice.
That said , I think in one way she is right. I remember PET paying farmers not to grow wheat. A disaster of a policy. I propose we buy all there poppy crops for cash, than sell them to drug companies at a cheap price for pain medication. Some of which could be sent to the third world. An obverse approach to a similar problem of over production. Legal or not.
I would have no problem paying taxes for that , while allowing Afghanistani’s there work. It also eliminates the drug lords & there intermediaries. I might also say it would reduce a lot of break & enters caused by this form of prohibition I our own Country.
The only other viable alternative that works is the death penalty like in Asia for drug selling.
People have abused all manner of drugs for eons. To think we can stem that is insane at worst , fantasy at best. As time has shown. Drug control has become part of the drug industry.
Just an opinion.
This is off-topic but I believe important.
Have just received a transcript of Harper’s address to the UN today.
I believe you all may find it very interesting.
Probably posted on the Gov’t website.
t. Schmuck: You had a lot of interesting things to say, except you spoiled the soup with the vitriol. Save the name calling and just stick to the intelligent things you have to say.
Is this female Afghani here on the invitation of Taliban Jack and are they paying for her services?
One small problem: that footage was shot and aired by CTV.
Care to back that up, Tony? I’d love to be proven wrong on this one, since the whole point of my post – you know, the point you missed completely – is that I want this sort of thing seen by the widest distribution of Canadians possible.
But from what I can see, footage in the six videos highlighted was shot by CF Forces Combat Camera. I’ve got an e-mail in to a CTV reporter right now, one who’s spent a bit of time embedded in Afghanistan, so we’ll see what he says.
let’s take this drug thing one step further…some of u folks have this idea that if u smoke a joint, u automatically end up on heroin(gateway drug)..time for a little truth…my oldest daughter(19) has chosen marijuana over liquor…i have no say in this…she is an adult with free will…she mentioned to me that the only people who sell pot also sell cocaine, heroin, weapons, whatever…the gateway is the fact that we r exposing our kids to career criminals to buy little bits of pot…f…ing insane…..if your kid is smoking pot, the odds are that they are buying it from someone who would love to corrupt them, addict them or subject them to prostitution, etc…why???because we have given organized crime a monopoly…insane
“Free will and all that” ??? … Fact; drug users are often drug pushers. Fact; pushers entice kids. Fact; drug pushers destroy KID’S lives. Fact; some countries have VERY strict drugie laws.
Question. Are children better taken care of in a drug enforced Country, OR in a “free spirit” country ?? If you think our children are better off with the druggies in charge you are a Sicko !!!
Nope – I don’t agree with Dyer’s suggestion to legalize the growing of poppy, purchase it at its premium price and then, whatever, burn it.
First, those crops wouldn’t be burnt; the volume of crops grown, and the volume of crops handed over for burning, would be different. The warlords/druglords would make a huge profit; they’d demand prime compensation for this transaction.
Second, a percentage of the crops handed over for burning – would be ‘lost’ on the way to the fireworks. More profit.
Third – why should the west subsidize its own drug addicts? The agenda is to reduce the percentage of drug addicts and keep that percentage ratio low. This idea would increase the ratio. Since drug addiction is costly to a society, then, why encourage such an action?
Fourth, if we are talking about subsidies, then, subsidize food production; rather than pay for poppies, pay for food and police protection. Why put all your money into drugs instead of productive areas.
exactly…take marijuana away from the sicko chemical drug dealers, regulate it, control it(like alcohol, a much worst drug, by the way), and we keep our kids away from organized crime
t. schmuck esq.,
I have to agree with Debris Trail on this one. I did read the essay and merely stated what Dwyer wrote is what many people think and have said already. It holds water but has zero practicality.
If you read what I wrote then you would know that I in fact was criticizing George W. and the USA.
You should leave the vitriol to a politicaly confused moonbat like myself.
From 11 Sept 2001 onward I have thought that the Americans and their allies had a choice: (a) prosecute and win the war on Islamofascism; or (b) bang on with the utterly futile “war on drugs”. Otherwise the routes and connections developed and maintained for the second will be used by terrorists; and the large numbers of people who
use drugs will not support the war on terror, which is the real war. Drug trafficking is the second major source of money for terror, after oil money to Iran and to Saudi Arabia. I strongly support Canadian troops in Afghanistan, and I am utterly opposed to their being used to destroy poppyfields etc. They are there to kill Taliban, not plants.
Although I have not used and do not use recreational pharmaceuticals, and I am fully aware of the havoc which they can inflict on individuals, my estimate is that more than half of all Canadians, at all levels of seniority and responsibility, use, have used, or have children who use, drugs recreationally (drugs beyond alcohol). I am glad that Gwyn Dyer has written against the nonsense of wasting our military resources in ways which, in effect, shoot ourselves in the foot.
one more thing…and ask any cop…most of the marijuana consumed by canadians is grown by canadians, in canadian fields and houses…the only possibility of any of this getting into the hands of terrorists is through organized crime…once again, another reason to regulate, control and distribute the product
If the Govmint had a monopoly on the so called “harmless” Pot Market,.. the drug pushers would then also abandon the Hard LIFE DESTROYER Drugs ??? Florida Property ??
Liquor “Control” Commission ??.. Like I am only allowed to buy a small # of bottles a day ?? like a 1000 per year ?, or more. enough to ruin my life, I would think.
Kids, then, with easy access to govmint pot would be a ready market for the pushers of the next step drugs.
Similiar to the gov racking $Millions$ off of gambling and then spending thousands on addiction control. Sick.
We are all the same, we all have vices. Introduce the right circumstances and many lives are destroyed. Even innocent bystanders. Of course that’s what the left wants,… new problem for the politicos to fix,. that they caused, a la PET.
Afghan MP who happens to be female gets invited to speak to a University crowd? And bashes the US!
Big surprise..what’s her point? That NATO is conspiring with the Druglords? This sounds like LIbcomsimp malarkey to me.
Gwynn Dyer says let them grow poppies..not even close to an original thought! Not a bad suggestion though and maybe the frozen assets of terrorists could be used to pay the farmers for their crops…lots of ways to make this a win-win situation if managed well.
Mainstream media don’t use vidclips like this?
Well they do on their websites! The just don’t write much about it…………
General Wesley Clarke praises Canadian military efforts….well he damned well should.
B. HOAX AWARE;
If you think our children are better off with the druggies in charge you are a Sicko !!!
With Billions made in this trade who do you think does already? Think Ritalin, Prozac, & a multitude of pharmaceuticals. Young kids are being drugged because of exaggerated mental disorders that effect on a small percentage of the populace. Nothing better than drugging most of the male students if your a female teacher with no morals. I guess drug pushing is okay as long as government or educationally approved. Re-read my post. I said the alternative is the death penalty like in Asia. You have two choices that work. Pick your poison.
The war on drugs was lost many years ago. Now its more a war on the populace that does drugs. For conficatory reasons & public relations. They don’t make a dent . Any cop will tell you the same.
Where just creating an ever more rich criminal class. Remember prohibition in the US & here for 3 years. We got the Mafia joined to international crime. From the absurd profits from selling alcohol.
I have no objection to the death penalty. Some do. I might add , that in the 19nth centuries drug addiction was the less than that now . Even though cocaine, opium, heroin, & other drugs where legal. Heroin was thought of as a miracle drug.
Hoax. Unlike you I have enough faith in humanity that I don’t think we need people to protect us from ourselves. Per pressure & knowledge is important. There has been little in this psudo-war.
Take heroin addiction. It takes year to get addicted. By lying about that authorities have just invalidated themselves. You don’t become a heroin addict by chance . You have to work at it.
As for free will. Would you like to have religious police as well. Thought not. Is this any different?
I State here for the record I don’t approve of drug use. but lets find a sane way of dealing with this.
Maybe the death penalty is the way to go.
As for calling me a sico for expressing an opinion, you show your own true colors. Another power junkie that thinks they have the right to run everyone’s lives for there own good. Than you make aspersions on my disposition with no reason or validity.
As well you did not deal with one of my points. That in my book makes you a Liberal elitist interventionist.
By the way freedom is earned. I do not believe in a do all you want society. I do think though that where being conned by the people who make fortunes by this “war on drugs” & its aftermath of negative effects on the Judicially with society the loser.
If the billions spent on this phony war where used for education, addiction centers ,with life skill courses. With no Mystic about these poisons. It would wither away. That or Killing all Pushers publicly will work. What we have now is a sad joke, with an ever increasing drug based culture. I want rid of it, not fertilize this plague.
Anyway believe what you want, thats your right.
Cost of paying Afghanistan farmers to grow a crop to be destroyed: $$$$ millions.
t. schmuck esq calling David Brown a ‘right winger’: Priceless!
Texas,
I fell off my chair laughing when I read schmuck’s post. That’s a person who should be paying closer attention.
Yes it was priceless, for a moment there I felt like voting CPC in the next election.
Speaking of dumb statements, we now have Ahmadinejad claiming, at the UN, that he isn’t anti-semitic – that’s a few months after claiming that the Holocaust didn’t happen, after holding a Mock the Holocaust cartoon contest; after claiming that Israel should be ‘wiped off the map’.
He further claims that Iran’s nuclear ambitions are purely for ‘energy’ (I didn’t know they had any energy fuel problems).
The person whom he seems most similar to, rhetorically and ideologically, is Hitler. And Europe is behaving just as it did before Hitler marched into Poland.
Remember to wear red tomorrow!
Sorry HWM,
I had my colours done and they are brown.
Harper’s speech to the UN was excellent. It was primarily about Afghanistan and located that mission firmly within the agenda of the UN.
Our NDP/Liberals/Bloc are locating the mission with the Imperialist Agenda of the Evil US. But, it’s a UN and NATO mission.
Harper – ‘the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan is the UN’s single largest special political mission….19 UN agencies…20,000 troops from 37 countries.
Changes? 5 million refugees repatriated, 5 million children in schools; 10 million registered to vote; 1/4 of parl’t seats held by women – when under the Taliban, women couldn’t go to school and had no human rights…
And that the gov’t of Afghanistan requested this UN assistance
‘If we fail the Afghan people, we will be failing ourselves (ie the UN)..
Plus, a few critiques of the UN…
An excellent speech. Wonder how our MSM will ignore it and reject it?
Saying that pot is a gateway drug to heroin etc., is like saying that beer drinkers will end up being homeless alcoholics drinking listerine under a bridge somewhere.
Yes, in either case the worst can and does happen. There will always be the weak, the dumb and the foolish among us.
I say, regulate pot. Those who constantly lump pot in with all other drugs are still spouting the same uninformed opinion that started in the 20’s. It’s not a great idea to have any legal drugs, (alcohol included), but let’s stop sneaking around trying to jail someone who wants to smoke a plant that grows over the back fence and requires no additives or distillation etc.
Not all conservatives are rabid anti pot zealots.
I’m in my 50th year now and no longer smoke pot. However, I know many who have enjoyed it since high school and still do. All are productive tax paying citizens. Please get Cheech and Chong out of your mind set.
“Remember to wear red tomorrow!”
I’ll wear my red che guevara t-shirt.
Wonder how our MSM will ignore it and reject it?
They’ll do what they always do:
“There’s a new poll showing that Tory support has slipped!”
(And they’ll ignore the one next week that shows it’s on the rise)
Marijuana ought to be de-criminalized, if not legalized. It’s ridiculous to have alcohol a legal substance, then, throw taxpayer money and law enforcement time down the rat hole of marijuana enforcement. I don’t think it is a gateway drug. The Psychiatric DSM recognizes it as a substance of abuse only rather than dependence.
The reality of Afghanistan is that it has no other realistic export crop but heroin. I’m all for the US government buying the heroin and burning it, if we can’t put a better income producing program in place. Heck, we’ve subsidized farmers here not to grow certain crops for decades.
Before poppies they grew olives and some other crops.
The return isnt as high and growing those doesnt buy you protection and/or a future for your family.
Yes they should buy it up. Buy it up at a premium price. It will drive the street price up and out of the reach of lots of addicts….they’ll move on to something else and cause the price to crash since demand will go away in the short run. Cut the price drop the subsidy etc etc….long term
In the meantime keep working on the security and slowly the farmers will return to their normal crops. In fact teach them how to maximize their yields and make more money.
Once you have stability then the government can stop buying and burn crops, making it illegal.
One war at a time.
Offer to purchase at slightly higher than going rate. Offer to buy food produce from them at an even higher price.
International Committee of the Red Cross Admits Covering Up Evidence
Last month, LGF noted that the International Committee of the Red Cross had deliberately removed from their web site, with no notice or explanation, a very clear high-resolution image of the Lebanese ambulance supposedly attacked by the IDF.
Blogger David Amior managed to get a reply from an ICRC spokesman … and I was right. They did deliberately remove it, and it was in response to the blogosphere controversy over the transparently false claims made about this incident.
The ICRC’s reason for surreptitiously removing crucial evidence, like a criminal in the night?
They did it “to keep the moral high ground.”
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/
You want to know who is with us and who is against us in this war? go here and read the bruhaha i had with those opposed to the struggle.In the face of contrary evidence,and quite clear statements, i and others received spite,vulgarity and hilarious “yeah , me too!” comments from the other posters.Read the bile and see why this war will be difficult with these quislings to deal with.
http://myblahg.com/?p=1298
I made it a point yesterday afternoon to check CBC, CTV and the radio for the pro-Israel demo that I knew was coming in New York. Nothing. Nothing in my daily asswipe this morning either. Does anyone know how it went and, if so, where did you get your info?
Joe says no. …-
• For the sake of our party, and what is left of your reputation, resign Joe…please.
Lib TDH Strategies calls for Joe Volpe to resign….-
Joe’s alternate website is here:
http://www.youthforvolpe.no-libs.com/
CNN had a brief pic of this rally this a.m., and a much longer pic of the hezbollah rally today. From what little I saw, it was a mass rally for Isreal. Streets were full of people. Surprise, hezbollah will not disarm. Did anyone think they would, and soldiers are not yet returned. To bad the UN and all the leftists forced Isreal to quit. Next time they wont and there will be a next time. Hezzy still has 20,000 rockets to fire.