Globe And Mail Order Diploma

Little Known Facts 49 Comments

Angry In The Great White North digs into the qualifications of Jack Mitchell, the expert used by the Globe and Mail to analyze the Grewal tapes.

Jack Mitchell is the owner of Computer Audio Engineering in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In an interview I found, he definitely sounds like he knows what he’s talking about (even if the interviewer didn’t — an “FFT” is a “Fast Fourier Transform” — a way of depicitng sound content as a spread over frequencies instead of a spread over time). On the other hand, he proudly lists the American College of Forensic Examiners as as his only professional forensic certification.
If the ACFE home page looks a bit cheesy, you’re not the only one to notice.

It’s a mail-order diploma racket.
MK Braaten kindly informs us in the comments, that you too can become a member of the American College of Forensic Examiners!

Reader Tips

Reader Tips 25 Comments

A few quick links, before I’m off to paint slime on a Harley tank;
Grandinite, with the help of MK Braaten takes another look at the change in Accounting standardsfrom GAAP to International standards and wonders how that might apply to the billions the Liberals have tucked into foundations, out of reach of the Auditor General. He spots this:

For not-for-profit organizations: Not-for-profit organizations (NFPOs) will continue to apply those elements of GAAP for profit-oriented enterprises that are applicable also to the circumstances of NFPOs. The Board will consult with the not-for-profit sector to determine whether all NFPOs should base their accounting on the standards for public companies, or whether some might base their accounting on the standards for Canadian private businesses or be exempted from the scope of accounting standards altogether.

A story that won’t spawn hysterical headlines at the Globe and Mail….
Stupid Angry Canajun asks “What is in it for Jim Karygiannis?” and revisits Patti Starr.
And Arthur Chrenkoff has another roundup of good news from Afghanistan, while Riding Sun asks What Is Being Done In Our Name?
Some of our media friends might check these out – expand your horizons beyond the quagmire scripts you’ve been reading from!
Add your own tips in the comments – reminder: keep descriptions and quoting BRIEF.

More Advice For Newbies

Blogging 19 Comments

I’ve decided to add my own worthless bit of advice as a followup to yesterday’s Carnival of the Newbies.
For all the comparisons to the MSM, at its core, blogging isn’t journalism and it’s not about writing your own private opinion column. While both elements can be a part of the whole, they don’t define the medium. (Why try to duplicate something that already exists? )
So, my advice is pretty simple and it applies no matter what your niche or area of interest is:
Push the envelope.
Don’t be afraid of writing something that sounds stupid in the morning. Stop worrying about being wrong. It’s not about accuracy, it’s not about always being right. That’s what updates and corrections and commentors are for. Blogging is a conversation. Sometimes, in conversations, you blurt out things that offend someone or miss the mark. That’s normal.
If once in awhile, you aren’t saying to yourself.. “Oh boy… maybe I shouldn’t do this” …. you’re being too careful.
Take a deep breath and hit “save”.

Live8 Too White

Insufferable Twits 78 Comments

Independent;

Anarchists from around the world are planning to cause chaos at next month’s G8 summit in Gleneagles as a row broke out last night between Bob Geldof and DJ Andy Kershaw over the absence of black musicians at events staged to benefit Africans.
With police fears mounting over Geldof’s call for one million people to protest at the summit, Kershaw last night condemned the almost exclusively white line-up for the pop concerts to coincide with the summit. “If we are going to change the West’s perception of Africa, events like this are the perfect opportunity to do something for Africa’s self-esteem,” he said. “But the choice of artists for the Live8 concerts will simply reinforce the global perception of Africa’s inferiority.”

Excuse me while I struggle free from this Oprah moment.
So, we need to assist Africa in building “self esteem”. We need to stop reinforcing the perception of Africa’s inferiority.
Well then, why didn’t you say something earlier? That’s an easy one to solve.

Let them start funding their own goddamn aid programs for a change.

Trust The RCMP?

Radioactive 48 Comments

Licia Corbella in the Calgary Sun;

I said something like: “If it’s true Grewal was approached by the Liberals to defect prior to the non-confidence vote in the House for a plum political position, instead of just taping his calls and meetings with the Liberals, he should have got the RCMP to do it, then the veracity of his claims would not be questioned.”
My friend’s response: “The RCMP would have just tipped off the Liberals as to what was happening. The RCMP is a Liberal puppet.”
Example after example appears to prove him right.
What’s more, how diligently can we expect the RCMP to investigate AdScam when it’s known the RCMP helped launder money for the federal Liberals to help Liberal-friendly advertising companies in Quebec, who then funneled the money back into Liberal party coffers?
Federal Auditor General Sheila Fraser unveiled in April 2004 the feds pumped $1.3 million of the $3 million earmarked for the Mounties’ 125th anniversary celebration into the coffers of Liberal-friendly ad firms.
In turn, the RCMP deposited its $1.7-million share of the sponsorships in a separate non-government bank account that was discovered by Fraser’s probe.
“We were unable to verify the transactions from the Quebec bank account, because some of the supporting documents had been destroyed,” the AG report said.

Finally, someone is saying it in print.
Flashback to this;

Canada’s national police force can’t be trusted to conduct a wide- ranging investigation into new criminal allegations made at the Adscam inquiry, Conservative deputy leader Peter MacKay suggested yesterday. MacKay points to RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli’s “perceived” cosy relationship with the previous government of Jean Chretien and the fact the force was itself tangled up in the ad scandal.
“There’s already been significant examples of where the RCMP have been too — and I emphasize ‘too’ — closely linked to the Prime Minister’s Office,” MacKay said, recommending either the Quebec or Ontario provincial police conduct a probe instead.
He cites the involvement of Jean Chretien’s senior staff in the RCMP handling of protesters at a 1997 Asia-Pacific leaders’ summit in Vancouver, the force’s decision not to investigate Chretien’s alleged actions in the so-called Shawinigate affair and the costly, failed probe of former Conservative PM Brian Mulroney and Airbus.
The RCMP also received more than $3 million from the disgraced sponsorship program, some of it channelled through a non-government bank account.
“In all of those instances, there were questions in the minds of the public about (the RCMP’s) proximity to the government, including the commissioner’s close ties, both socially and professionally to Francie Ducros (Chretien’s former communications director) and members of the PMO staff,” MacKay said.

(The original April 12 news item is now truncated. Let that be a lesson to we bloggers to be generous in our quoting.)

Joe Volpe Out?

Roadkill 28 Comments

So sayeth (705) BLUE. Apparently, the Liberals are furious that he opened his mouth to verify some of the most damaging portions of the Grewal tape – and that’s just the latest. He’s about to “to get lost in the shuffle” when new cabinet appointments swing around.
(Via a reader who spotted it at Jack’s Newswatch who’s got his finger on a number of interesting items.)

Carnival Of The Newbies

Blogging 16 Comments


I have quite a number of new blogs to introduce – and for this Newbie Carnival, advice on how to build readership for your blog, courtesy of three established Canadian bloggers.
I’m Not Paranoid is a sacred cow free zone.
Shaken, Occasionally Stirred is gaining a reputation for doing first-rate digging into stories that don’t get a lot of attention elsewhere.
Either Orr has been posting up a storm from Pennsylvania.
Right Ho! is “a conservative journalist by trade (for real, no fooling), but I have decided to remain anonymous for now”.
The Firebrand – “resurrects the ghost” of WL Mackenzie in his approach to political debate.
More To The Story is keeping an “eye on politics”, including this morning’s story that Pat O’Brien may walk away from the LIberals over SSM.
Craig Cantin was inspired to blog by both Warren Kinsella and me? This could get interesting.
David MacLean’s new blog has been mentioned here before – it’s promising to be a good resource for the rest of us: Taxpayers Federation
A conservative from Mississauga, Reasonable Right joins the growing list of blogging accountants – as does Canada’s John Galt a CPA who writes on politics, taxation, economics, and culture…
Lunchpale was recommended by a friend who suggests “he’s probably too dumb to put himself on your newbie express.” (He isn’t)
We need more voices from the Maritimes – welcome Jean Leblanc from New Brunswick.
China E-Lobby – “An organization dedicated to exposing the abuses of human rights, threats to American security, and attacks on general decency committed by Communist China, and to influencing American policy to ensure these egregious acts do not go unopposed.”
Though US based, this is a blog to watch, in light of Chinese government/military investments in Canadian resources.
Saskatchewan is becoming a hotbed for bloggers – introducing Black Sheep Press, a self-described ” libertarian with Western Separatist leanings”.
John Murney is a former broadcast journalist, strong libertarian and currently a full-time time student at the U of R. (Well, they’ll cure that soon enough!)
The Liberty Letter – another Saskabusher!
Exposed Agenda hails from Calgary, Alberta.
Invisible Hand has been “fighting statism since late last night”.
I Hate Hippies and Communists. This rather says it all – “We need to get back to a time where we openly hate these two groups.”
“In the spirit of Cyrano de Bergerac, I try to take the road less trodden – replacing vulgar, low-brow name-calling with classy, high-brow name-calling.�” (What the hell is “Vogon poetry”?)
Like SDA, habamus rodentum doesn’t seem to have much to do with rodents.
Late additions:
Sham The Toryman
The story behind Gomery Inquiry
And now for the advice
Darcey at the popular Dust My Broom offers helpful hints for newbies, including this – “I began to understand that in the blogosphere, links are like money and you may have noticed that I link a lot and have staged many big link fests. I didn’t initially mean them to drive traffic or raise standings or anything like that. Basically they are bookmarks of interest to me that I wish to keep and refer to in the future. They do however have an effect.” Good observations about “crumbtrails”, too.
Poltiical Staples was one of my first favourite reads when I started blogging – ” … don’t worry about traffic too much in the beginning, focus on finding your voice. But once you are confident that you’ve found your groove join blog groups. This is the single best way of getting your blog noticed. Commenting on other peoples blogs helps as well but follow etiquette. Make your comment applicable to the post – don’t comment just to get noticed.”
Andrew at Bound By Gravity writes;

  • Don’t be discouraged if your traffic takes time to build up; there are very few instant superstars in the blogosphere.
  • Post at regular intervals that you are comfortable with. I usually do this by setting goals. I started off targetting 3 posts per week, then 1 post per day, and now I’m comfortable with 2-3 posts per day.
  • Don’t link to every Andrew Coyne/Mark Steyn/Colby Cosh article on the planet. Far too many bloggers do that already. You want to fill a unique niche.
    There you go! I’ll do another in a couple of months, so if you were missed, just watch for the notice and join the next one.
    The first two Newbie Carnivals are here and here. Go check them out, and see how they’re coming along.

    • Bernard Landry Stepping Down

    Radioactive 26 Comments

    QUEBEC (CP);

    Parti Quebecois Leader Bernard Landry made the surprise announcement he would step down as leader and leave politics after earning only a score of 76.2 per cent Saturday in a confidence vote on his leadership.
    […]
    An emotional Landry summed it up this way: “It breaks my heart to tell you this, but I’m doing it in the national interest,” he said as he announced his resignation. “I’m sorry to do this.”
    […]
    “The next person who leads the sovereigntist troops must be strongly supported without equivocation,” he said, adding diversions and quibbles over the party’s leadership don’t advance the cause of making Quebec a nation.

    Via Lunchpale who asks;

    What’s up with the separatists? They vote with the Liberals federally on one bill and now their provincial leader resigns? Are there any open cabinet positions?

    Maybe Gilles Duceppe has signalled he’s packing his bags for home. Speculation on my part, but I know there will be a few Quebec Liberals lying awake tonight thinking the same thing.
    Reaction
    Laurent thinks so, too.

    Things That Go *POOF* In The Night

    Radioactive 13 Comments

    Conservative Life is following up on this tip.

    Between last evening and tonight, Lafleur Communications was wiped out at Contracts Canada. No trace, no contracts showing. Groupaction’s and Gosselin’s are still there.

    One of the commentors suggests some of the contracts have simply aged beyond the three years the CC keeps them online. OK. So, what’s this about?
    shutdowngomery.jpg
    h/t to Anselm
    update: The Force that is the Blogosphere strikes again. Gomery.ca is back up. 😉

    Update 2 A commentor points to this post at Random Notes – the public online source that lists contributors to Paul Martin�s leadership campaign has also been yanked.

    donboudria.crybaby.ca

    The Libranos 37 Comments

    Don Boudria isn’t content with throwing out faxes from critics – he wants them charged.

    �Over the last 29 hours, my office has received no fewer than 828 faxes here on Parliament Hill. I have them here. I am willing to table them for the consideration of the Speaker if Mr. Speaker feels that this will help guide him in determining whether or not this is an abuse of what should legitimately be going on. […] In the case of my office, whereby we normally receive 40 to 50 faxes from constituents in a day, we have been able to receive a grand total of five over the last two days. The rest of the time the equipment is completely blocked. A group calling itself Focus on the Family, which has the website www.marriagematters.ca, is making it such that our telephone systems have been rendered inoperative this way.

    He also wants parliament to control registration of domain names.
    And change his diapers, no doubt.

    Grewal Tapes: Cheema

    The Libranos 15 Comments

    A reader wrote a few days ago asking what this passage alludes to. On Tape 1 about half way through the 2d conversation between Grewal and Kalia (Monday morning), we find this exchange:

    Kalia – You (GG) review, this is their need, why would they (PM and UD) deceive.
    GG – Ok I will call you and tell you (my decision) later on,ok.
    SK – I don’t think they will, he told me again and again. He (PM) promised Dr. (Gulzar) Cheema (consulate in Chandigarh, India) and he’ll meet that commitment after the legal problems are resolved. Cheema also told me that he can not discuss this more than this, he (Cheema) says every thing is OK with him.

    I’ve uploaded a jpg file of a longer exerpt that places this portion in context in the extended entry.
    There is this news item from the Tribune (India) on an upcoming appointment of former Liberal provincial MLA and federal candidate Cheema to Consul-General of the Canadian Consulate in Chandigarh. I wonder what he knows about this.
    Phantom Observer wonders, too.

    Continue reading →

    Using Revenue Canada To Silence Christians

    Radioactive 18 Comments

    I don’t have an independant second source for this memo and I’ve noted that a portion seems to be snipped. It’s the subject of a news release yesterday by the Canadian Christian College voicing concerns that Revenue Canada is again being used as a political arm of the Liberal Party of Canada.
    The question of a registered charity’s address coming up on a whois search is timely – I wonder if Mr. Holland’s office has sent letters of concern over bloc-harper.com, registered by Sinclair Stevens using the contact info of the Royal Commonwealth Society of Toronto, a charity that also has ties to the office of the Governor General. Stevens is the chairman of the organization – surely this is an example that parallels that of the Canadian Christian College? (If someone can provide a memo from Mr. Holland’s office threatening to bring in Revenue Canada to inspect the RCSoT, I’ll be happy to publish it, too.)
    More troubling, note the passage that refers to “associates of”. What does that mean? That those who are employees of registered charities must choose their political friends carefully, if they want to avoid the long arm of the auditor? That Christians who engage in the body politic are a subversive element that requires the attention of the government?

    From: Holland, Mark – M.P.
    Sent: June 1, 2005 2:38 PM
    To: Holland, Mark – M.P.
    Subject: MP Websites registered by Canada Christian College
    Dear Colleagues,
    A couple months ago I wrote to you about the fact that Charles McVety, President of Canada Christian College, has been registering domain names of MPs, a practice called “cybersquatting.”
    Previously only two of these were active — www.josephvolpe.com and www.annemclellan.tv McVety is a strong opponent of same-sex marriage, and also believes in removing the boundaries between church and state.
    It has come to our attention that many domains that were previously “parked” are now being made active. The following are now active: [apparently snipped -ed]
    We have reason to believe that additional sites will be active very soon. I’ve attached a partial list of other MP names that Canada Christian College has registered.
    Although Charles McVety is an active member of the Conservative Party, and was a delegate at the Conservative Convention in Montreal, you will note that some of the MPs who have been targetted are Conservatives. Gerald Keddy, who supports C-38, has been a particular target for harassment by associates of McVety, who have also been trying to nominate their people as Conservative candidates.
    The name listed on the websites is DefendMarriage, but the actual registration is by Charles McVety using contact information of the Canada Christian College. You can verify this by doing a WHOIS search on the domain name.
    Canada Christian College is a registered charity, which claims on its 2003 return filed with Canada Revenue Agency that it doesn’t engage in political activities. You can find its information on this website.
    Mark Holland raised this matter in caucus today. We have previously discussed this with House of Commons legal counsel, but as of yet no legal action has been taken.
    We do think that some kind of a public statement is necessary, and we would be happy to discuss issuing a joint statement with MPs of any party who feel this is improper behaviour for a charitable organization. Please contact me if you have further questions or concerns, or if you would like to participate in a joint statement. Thanks.
    Regards,
    Richard McGuire, Executive Assistant
    to Mark Holland, M.P., Ajax-Pickering
    (613) 995-8614
    Fax: (613) 996-1289
    holland.m@parl.gc.ca

    The press release is below. I’ve done a Google news search on this, and the only references I can find to the college in the media are the Christian smear articles that appeared last week.

    Continue reading →

    BCBC

    Media 14 Comments

    London bureau chief for Fox News Channel Scott Norvell writes on bias at the BBC. It’s hardly worth mentioning the obvious – that the piece could have just as easily be written altering the letters to CBC and hold true in all but the local details;

    The BBC’s world is one in which America is always wrong, George W. Bush is a knuckle-dragging simpleton, people of faith are frightening ignoramuses, and capitalism is a rot on the fabric of social justice. Through this prism, the United Nations is the world’s supreme moral authority, multiculturalism is always a force for good, war is never warranted, and U.S. Republicans sprinkle Third World children over their Cheerios for breakfast.
    […]
    Few with a grip on reality believe that there is a cabal at BBC House wringing their hands and plotting the renationalization of the coal industry or state-mandated racial sensitivity training for all 6-year-olds. But there is little doubt that, as Mr. Aitken puts it, a center-left groupthink dominates at the BBC and colors its entire output. It’s not deliberate. It’s worse. The producers just can’t imagine that someone could possibly oppose European integration or any of the other left-wing causes because to them, and their friends, these are self-evident truths. It simply doesn’t even occur to them that reasonable people could disagree with them.

    Velly Intevesting

    Little Known Facts 12 Comments

    Plato’s Stepchild;

    Canadian accountants Guardians of Accounting Standards have decided – – if I understand their October 2004 Strategic Document (cue Gustave Holst Planets soundtrack) correctly — to move to International rather than US Generally Accepted Accounting principles.
    Hmmm.
    Velly intevesting
    I am sure it is mere coincidence that David Herle of Earnscliffe was involved with polling accountants.

    Grewal: Ethics Commissioner Inquiry

    The Libranos 31 Comments

    I’ve been out of the house most of today, with my only news source Rawlco radio (generally worse than useless), so the one bona fide development I caught upon arriving back comes by way of Angry. The Ethics Commissioner has launched an official investigation into the Grewal tapes. Maybe there is hope that his own discomfort at being used as a bargaining chip in the very tapes he’s investigating will provide an incentive to break from his pattern in acting as an official Liberal party rubber stamp of approval.
    A number of people have talked about “tipping points” for the Liberals. Well, I think that’s a pipe dream. You don’t “tip” a leech. But there may be a tipping point for Paul Martin, the final push by those intent on cutting loose the head so the body can slither away to survive.
    This is a party that never got a chance to bury their dead from the Chretien-Martin wars. The wounds hadn’t begun to heal before the heavens opened up to pour Adscam on them. And while there may be glee and hope in some quarters that the accusations of tape tampering will save them to fight another day – these people aren’t idiots. They know as well as the rest of us what is on those tapes, and that the Prime Minister has been caught in a public lie. There are now signs of breaks in the ranks.
    At a personal level, extended contraversy and dissent is hard enough on a leader – for a micro-manager like Paul Martin, having matters spiraling out of control on a weekly basis has got to be excrutiating and exhausting. He certainly appears out of sorts at times. Then, there’s a longtime habit of deflecting questions (“Did you have lunch with that man?”) directed at him in Question Period to other ministers.
    This sometimes works at a tactical level, but as a general strategy, it’s a loser. At some point, a general understands the importance of rallying his troops and leading by example – of stepping into the fray and facing down the enemy come hell or high water, of taking his share of hits like a man.
    Instead, Paul Martin uses his ministers as cannon fodder. They have to be tiring of it.
    There seems to be more at work than mere lack of moral fibre or personal stubborness – I think there’s genuine fear. I don’t think it’s fear of the opposition, or fear of the media or the public. It’s the fear of a man who hears the unsheathing of a knives – at his rear. The dithering has always been coupled with stammering, and a strong tendency to avoid eye contact when pressed to answer questions. These days the stammering seems more pronounced, the eyes evade a little more wildly. To me – admittedly just a lowly Canadian who sees the PM only in brief television clips – Paul Martin sometimes looks downright spooked.
    Then, there’s this Chantal H�bert Star piece on “whispers of rebellion” and a curious passage buried further down the page;

    Never in the modern history of the province has a Quebec government been as unpopular as Premier Jean Charest’s; never in living memory have the federal Liberals enjoyed so little support.
    Those are the kind of numbers that have government insiders and Parliament Hill observers alike cringing at the notion that Martin’s mettle could one day soon be tested in a real-life crisis involving the future of the country.
    Those concerns were compounded by the performance of the Prime Minister in front of senior managers of the civil service earlier this week. Martin’s speech moved part of the audience but its emotional undertones left others uneasily wondering about his frailty

    Emphasis mine.
    Maybe it’s not my imagination.

    A Brief History Of Lying

    The Libranos 103 Comments

    This handy primer courtesy of the Blue Maple Leaf;

    When Gurmant Grewal first notified the public that he had been offered a cabinet post, the liberal party, including the Prime Minister, denied that anyone had ever talked to Gurmant.
    When Gurmant said that he had been recorded his conversations with liberal party members, the Prime Minister changed his story and said that liberal party members were negotiating with Gurmant, but that Gurmant initiated the negotiations. Paul Martin added that at no time did he ever agree to meet with the Conservative MP.
    However, the audio tapes clearly show that the chief of staff for Prime Minister Paul Martin said, “The Prime Minister is prepared to talk to you directly both by phone and in person.”
    During question period in the House of Commons Conservative Party Leader Stephen Harper asked the Prime Minister why he said he was unwilling to meet with the Conservative MP when clearly he was.
    Paul Martin answered by repeating his previous lie, that Gurmant initiated discussions with the liberal party. The Prime Minister also said that he gave specific instructions to senior party members that no offer could be given to entice a defection and at no time was the Prime Minister prepared to meet with the Conservative MP. Then Paul Martin ended his answer by saying, “obviously anyone would meet with somebody that was interested in crossing the floor.”
    […]
    Paul Martin again changed his story by saying that he would not be willing to meet with the Conservative MP unless he joined the liberal party with no preconditions or offers from the liberals.

    Now, go back to the beginning and review the first sentence;

    When Gurmant Grewal first notified the public that he had been offered a cabinet post, the liberal party, including the Prime Minister, denied that anyone had ever talked to Gurmant.

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