Sinclair Stevens And Freedom International: Updated

Insufferable Twits 17 Comments

Those who follow the blogosphere will remember that in late May, the Harper bashing website that Sinclair Stevens had originally registered under the Royal Commonwealth Society of Toronto was quickly amended to show Freedom International Association as owner after the information became public.
At the time, several commentors speculated that Mr. Stevens was a member of this Freedom International, a society dedicated to “resisting the legal enforcement of morality on a variety of fronts”. They espouse among other things, public nudity and legalization of sexual activity in public places.
Today I recieved an email response from Tony Pitman, whom I had contacted to ask about the Stevens website. He writes;

Thanks for your email. Yes, that would be a very odd affiliation! No, there’s no link between our two groups … fortunately! Just the coincidence of choosing the same name.

One can understand his relief!

Criminal Intent

Roadkill 55 Comments

I haven’t weighed in on Karla Homolka’s impending release – enough words have been wasted on this piece of sub-human trash.
However, I do have a question for you all – without diminishing the horrific nature of her crimes and the evidence that she’s a true psychopath – just what about Karla Homolka’s release merits more concern for the public than any number of other cold-blooded, casual murderers who are released without fanfare on any other given day?
Other than the breathless publicity the case received – the innumerable replays of the wedding video clip. Happy, shiney, blonde evil.
Would we even have heard her name had she been born at White Bear First Nation, and committed her crimes in an alley behind 20th Street in Saskatoon? How many reporters from the Toronto Star and CBC and CTV would be covering that story?
Speaking of criminal intent – Norma Jean Mooswa, who supposedly recieved a 10 year sentence last December for the vehicular murder of 6 people on July 1, 2004 (multiple drunk driving convictions) has been moved to a “healing lodge” in Southwestern Saskatchewan.
Think college campus with nicer scenery.

Groupaction Thaw

The Libranos 36 Comments

A spirited debate in the comments of the “Wells post” from earlier today. Good points made on all sides, with Mr. Wells serving up a little fact-checking on the Sponsorship shutdown timeline at the expense of readers, in response to criticisms of media sloppiness in reporting. Fair enough.
The discussion reminded me of something I read elsewhere, though – a post at Conservative Life from last Friday, in response to Ralph Goodale’s testimony;

One week after Groupaction had it’s sponsorship program contracts frozen by the PWGS; and after the company had been referred to the RCMP for fraud investigation; Mr. Goodale’s department awarded Groupaction more than a million dollars in contracts to do recruitment ads for the Department of Defence.
And they say there isn’t an open competition. Why exclude a company from Department of Defence advertising dollars just because it was featured in the Auditor General’s Report, centered out in Question Period, and under investigation by the RCMP for fraud in sponsorship contracts?

Now, refresh my memory, people. Can any of you recall the scrum with reporters cornering Goodale on this? Were there blaring headlines across the front page of the Globe and Mail? Mike Duffy pontificating on how a government could justify awarding contracts to companies under police investigation?
Me, either. But they listened in rapture to his tale of refusing Chretien’s paltry little request.

Desert Island Reading

stuff 31 Comments

Lisa at London Fog tagged me.
Number of Books – Not that many, actually. I have limited space, so tend to move out anything I don’t intend to read twice. The only ones I keep are a few favourites (around 10) and my dog breeding reference books, breed magazines (back into the 1960’s), etc. There are quite a few of those, and they’re relatively rare, so they get priority.
Last Book Purchased – Carnage And Culture – The Western Way of War by Victor Davis Hanson. There’s an interview here.
Last Book I Read – Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides
Five Books that mean a lot to me:

  • A Soldier Of The Great War – Mark Helprin
  • Winters Tale – also by Helprin
  • The Fountainhead – Ayn Rand
  • Arcola-Kisbey Golden Heritage – community history book by local volunteers
  • The New Art of Breeding Better Dogs – Philip Onstott and Kyle Onstott (1962)
    Now I’m supposed to tag 5 others:
    Matt Fenwick
    Kathy Shaidle
    Kathy Kinsley
    Brad Farquhar
    Kevin Sinclair

    • Robbing Papoose To Pay Paul’s Promise

    The Libranos 24 Comments

    I needed a p-word. Get over it. Via Dust My Broom; this quote from NDP aboriginal critic, Pat Martin from the Globe and Mail;

    “I’ve gotten a very clear message from first nations leadership and from Liberal cabinet ministers that the money that was intended to be announced May 31 has been redirected to form part of the NDP budget. The government intends to pay for its commitments to the NDP with money that they had already committed to first nations,” he said. “If that’s the case, it’s even sleazier than I had ever imagined.”

    I don’t know which is the bigger story here – the daily machinations of the Librano $pending $pree or Pat Martin’s undiagnosed attention deficit disorder.

    And Now Gormley

    Media 62 Comments

    And now for the local media.
    Again, as much as I like and generally agree with local radio talk host (and former MP in the Mulroney government) John Gormley, he scored a big, fat, miss this morning on the Grewal tapes, by loudly dismissing them as “shenanigans” and “how politics is done in today’s Canada”.
    I cant help but be reminded of a few of the topics covered on John Gormley LIve in the past week or so; the trashing of Saskatchewan provincial parks by teenage partiers during the May long weekend, the lack of “responsible parenting” in the town of Rosetown and just yesterday, the growing problem of graffiti in Saskatoon.
    Well, perhaps it’s time that John revisits those same topics from the perspective of the messages young people hear in the media about behavior and ethics in government – the very government that writes and enforces the laws they flaunt.
    Until you, John, are willing to hold lawmakers in the highest offices in the land to the ethical standards that Canadians deserve, and our constitution and laws demand, you might reconsider your outrage and denunciation of parents when a bunch of drunken teenagers drag an RCMP officer into the water at a lake party.
    The two are not unrelated.

    Hey Wells, Wake Up

    Media 98 Comments

    Bob Tarantino delivers a well deserved reality slap to Paul Wells.

    If I can be so bold as to identify a new iron-clad rule for Canadian political coverage: there is nothing the Liberals can do which is so substantively grievous that its importance cannot be outweighed by minor tactical dithering by the Conservatives.

    Mr. Wells – as much as most of us like you, Tarantino has properly nailed you on this one.
    Blogger or not, those in professional media have a responsibility to keep their eye on the ball when events of this magnitude occur. Deflecting readers from the core issue – the threat to our democracy, and possible criminality suggested by the content of the tapes – with petty criticisms of the opposition is not responsible journalism.
    A signficant number of those in media visit this site. I really want to know – what is your explanation for what is happening? Editorial firewalls? Laziness? Denial? You can use the comments anonymously, or send me an email privately.
    What irony there is in the disclosure of the identity of Deep Throat against this backdrop. Contrast the general level of professionalism and quality of commentary in the Canadian mainstream over the mounting scandals of this government, with the dogged pursuit of Richard Nixon by two rookie reporters at the Washington Post – and tell me why Canadians shouldn’t be utterly disgusted with you.
    There has to be a logical explanation as to why so many of you are flushing your journalistic integrity down the toilet to provide cover for this government.

    The Party Of Comfy Fur

    The Libranos 37 Comments

    “…we are a welcoming party we will do everything we can, obviously for us continuing to expend our base in B.C. and in prominent communities in this country is a political priority for us. It is a welcoming mat that has a lot of nice Comfy fur on it…”

    – Tim Murphy, Chief of Staff for Prime Minister Paul Martin, from The Grewal Tapes

    Librano Translations Online

    The Libranos 8 Comments

    Regular reader Rusty Smith emails;

    “After watching Paul Martin making denials in the House over the last two days, and then reading the Grewal transcripts today, I have come to the conclusion, crude as it might be, that the only difference between Martin and Chretien is that Martin has the ability to LIE out of BOTH sides of his mouth.”

    I’m not sure that’s entirely fair.
    I think that what we lack is the ability to properly translate the Librano dialect heard in the House of Commons into English. To rectify this problem, I have taken the liberty of creating an online translator: Simply enter any quote of Prime Minister Paul Martin that appears to deny Liberal attempts at bribery, as suggested by the Grewal tapes (ie:“No offer was made”) and click “TRANSLATE”.
    (Max 60 characters)


    TRANSLATE!

    Extremist Secularism

    Moonbats 106 Comments

    Expanding on discussion in the comments in the post below, it may be time to remind ourselves there is no such thing as a politician who functions at arm’s length from their personal religious beliefs. Even those who claim to leave their individual religious principles “at the door” when they enter the halls of government have accomplished little more than to trade them in for someone else’s.
    Even the atheist must take the same leap of faith before declaring that no God exists as the person who declares that He does – it’s merely the path taken and the conclusions drawn that differ.
    Thus, in any discussion involving religion in politics, it is a mistake to allow the self-defined “secular community” to assume the default position against which all others are measured, because, in so doing, we are permitting nothing less than the raising one religious belief system to reign supreme over all others.
    With the precedent set, it is simply a matter of time before the secular default is replaced or modified to suit the political ownership of the day. Indeed, it’s not hard to make a case that the phenomenon is already in progress, and that we are witnessing signs of the emergence of “extremist secularists” in Canada and the bastardization of the core ideology into a movement that is increasingly repressive and dogmatic.
    In modern democracy, all religious viewpoints must be provided a place in the public policy debate without fear of reprisal or official scorn (so long as they are not intent on undermining the very democracy that permits them to speak – there is a difference between religious tolerance and societal stupidity.) It is our duty as citizens in a liberal democracy to condemn the secular intelligencia and their voices in the media in the same matter we would any other extremist group who would silence other religion based opinion – for any system that would disallow an evangelical Christian or orthodox Jew or devout Buddist a voice in the political process, including the right to cast a vote in Parliament with the full respect of all members, is putting their own rights to religious freedom – including the freedom not to “believe” – in jeopardy.

    Christophobia In The Media

    Media 39 Comments

    Charles Adler is as fed up as I am with the smear campaign against Christians in the Canadian media.

    Do you think the Globe and Mail would use headlines such as “Indo-Canadian activists capturing Liberal races,” or “Muslim Activists forcing Liberals to shift position on Israel?”
    The truth is the Globe gets a free throw in this country, as do other media, when it comes to castigating Christians.
    If The United Church of Canada gets involved in advancing gay rights, the Globe and Mail is not likely to be concerned. The Globe would never suggest United Church members stay away from Liberal or NDP nomination meetings.
    But, when evangelical Christians and socially conservative Catholics get involved in politics in order to advance their issues, look out.

    If these uppity evangelicals would just respect the system we have in place, they’d convert to Sikhism��or Islam where their views have been declared legitimate by the Official Media Handbook On Canadian Religious Diversity, and then take their opinions on public policy to the political marketplace.
    update – Violet Nightshade serves up a lesson in tolerance, from the persective of the “gay community”.

    Watching Democracy Watch

    Political Animal 3 Comments

    Stephen Taylor is puzzled about the language in a Democracy Watch report on party fundraising released yesterday.

    The Liberals have many more donors donating more than $1,000 than all the other parties combined. (DW suggests the max limit should be reduced to $1,000 as most Canadians cannot afford to give as much as $5,000)
    Gomery has revealed that the Liberals have allegedly used undeclared corporate-bankrolled “volunteer” labour to work election campaigns in Quebec.
    The Liberal Party receives four times more money from riding associations and candidates than all the other parties combined. Remember that the identity of donors who donate to a candidate or riding association and then have their donation transferred to a party are not required to be disclosed quarterly, allowing parties to hide the identity of donors for up to 18 months.
    Where does Democracy Watch find fault in the Conservative Party of Canada?
    In a year where a commission of inquiry hears evidence about hundreds of thousands of dollars flowing to the Liberal Party in unreported, illegal cash and in-kind contributions, allegedly in exchange for favoritism in government ad contracts, Democracy Watch is worried about $85-a-year donors corrupting the process of government in Canada.

    The DW report includes valuable information, and it’s damning stuff for the Liberals. The puzzling portion is that DW goes on to condemn all parties equally – an assertion that seems to have little basis in the facts or figures presented.

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