Give To Save My Flagging Career

Insufferable Twits 15 Comments

Tom “Life Is A Highway” Cochrane, at a press conference yesterday to announce two Canadian fundraising concerts for tsunami relief;

“It’s a natural disaster, but if one person dies because of disease or because of malnutrition because of this, then [the] shame [is] on us.”

Tom, go fuck yourself.
If one person “dies because of disease or malnutrition”, Mr. Cochrane, it’s because they were unfortunate enough to be living in countries ruled by corrupt dictatorships, burdened with socialism, civil war and/or religious anachronism that have so crippled their economies that they remain too poor to have resources at the ready to respond to disaster.
And you – you sanctimonious twit – have no business parcelling out “shame” vouchers. Indeed, if I were you, I’d be turning a few shades of red – capitalizing on the losses of those less fortunate to reap a little energy boost for your own flagging career. Going to prance around on a stage for us, screaming “ring those phones”, are we? Be sure to shower us with praise, tell us how very remarkable we Canadians are. We can already picture Margaret Atwood looking on from the sidelines, swooning in self-congratulation.
Oh, and the charities you’ve chosen! Ms. Atwood’s political hand has been at work here, surely – Oxfam, Care Canada, Doctors Without Borders (who already announced they’ve got enough) and War Child. War Child? – why yes! The kindergarten version of Amnesty International. (How did those little Dutch and German children manage without psychiatric centers, music and dance therapy, as they recovered in the wake of WWII…? )
I have a different deal for you Tom. Instead of another self-serving charity concert, with sky-high production costs and celebrities flying in on private jets, how about something truly groundbreaking – just cut a goddamn check. Pass the hat around. Celine? She’s got to be good for 5 or 10 million. Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan – two more ladies who could save everyone a lot of trouble and just pick up a pen. David Foster is out there somewhere. (I know it’s harder to capture their interest without a tv camera pointed their way, but still…) Print up one of those nifty 6 foot long “checks” for the cameras, if you wish. Have your news conference and tell everyone the total you’ve raised directly from the Canadian music industry and then just … go … away.
Save the jet fuel, the stadium bookings, the long vans carrying CBC equipment and personnel to record and broadcast the events. Save the speeches, and the heart-rending personal stories, and the mismatched duets. Just save it.
We’ll contribute by going out and picking up a CD or two, OK?
Win, win – and nobody has to endure the day-long spectacle of 25 millionaire musicians on stage doing the group hug singalong.

Saving Dolphins From Water

Little Known Facts 1 Comment

The Humane Society of the United States has a blog, detailing the efforts of these selfless people who are rescuing dolphins and breaking up dog fights in the tsunami flood zone.

I sent a text message to Jim Styers from Myanmar Dolphin Project to let him know the adult dolphin had been caught.�He wanted to know if anyone had taken any statistics� was the animal rehydrated, did it get antibiotics, etc?�I told him I didn’t know, but�thought probably not since the rescue was conducted by local fishermen who would�not have�had the resources.�Jim suggested that someone should be checking the beach regularly as stressed or tired dolphins�will beach themselves.�That made me think of what�Miranda said: that it was easy to catch the animal�because she seemed tired. I hope this is a victory.
Edwin Wiek from SOS Wildlife Rescue Center went to the site immediately when he heard the news, and�stayed until dark surveying from the shore to see if the other dolphin surfaces.

I spotted a HSUS blogad earlier today, soliciting donations for the relief effort.
The Humane Society of the United States is not the US Humane Society. They are not the people who rescue homeless strays and volunteer at animal shelters. In fact, HSUS doesn’t run any shelters at all.
They are yet another incarnation of the various animal rights organizations that are politically and legislatively oriented. Like PETA but with the added advantage of confusing nomenclature, they solicit donations exploiting big brown puppy dog eyes, and spend them forming PACs and lobbying for animal rights legislation and breeding bans. They are reported to be the richest animal rights organization in the USA.

Worth magazine rates HSUS among the worst-managed U.S. charities, noting that HSUS took in over $65 million in 2000, yet spent more than half of it to raise additional money. “We’re not saying they’re crooked,” offered Worth writer Reshma Memom Yaqub in November 2002, “but we do take issue with some business practices.”

Don’t send them a cent.

Team Hollywood, Environment Police

Insufferable Twits 1 Comment

Intrepid citizen journalist “Huck” is hot on the trail of members of F.A.G.*, otherwise known as the Waterkeeper Alliance*.

This is the weekend where Calgarians get to listen to such notable ecological researchers as actor Alec Baldwin and, um, socialite Marla Maples tell us how our river is dying and that our lifestyle is killing it. This, apparently, is a good thing because residents living in the Bow valley are complete idiots and wouldn’t know how to properly maintain our environmental standards unless Hollywood (and Martha’s Vineyard) educates us on our behalf.
[…]
I’ll be sure to keep you all up to date on the progress these wonderful philathropists will have accomplished this weekend, from the all-important snowshoe races to the Kenny Loggins concert.

Yes, do.

The Vultures Descend

Roadkill No Comments

The UN’s Margareta Wahlstrom, aka “United Nations Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator and the Secretary-General’s Special Coordinator for Humanitarian Assistance in Tsunami-afected countries” – (yes, this is her title) is calling all psychiatrists;

“Counselling is the key thing as people have lost everything — children, family, shelter… which is why the UN will launch these appeals,” she said after visiting Sri Lanka’s southern region of Galle.

And after the psychiatrists arrive, then what? Why – family planning, that’s what. Lifesite;

“The United Nations Population Fund, the UNFPA, is calling for US $28 million in donations to re- establish ‘reproductive health services,’ in the Tsunami-stricken regions of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives, according to a UNFPA press release published Thursday.”

As expected, the Diplomad is inside-reporting on the job.

Seeing these UNocrats perched at the table, whispering to each other, back-slapping, shaking hands, they seemed like a periodic reunion of old cynical Mafia chieftains or mercenaries who run into each other in different hot spots, as they move from one slaughter to another, “How are you? Haven’t seen you since Bosnia . . ..” As the hours wore on, however, and I nervously doodled in my note pad, shifted in my chair, looked at my watch, and thought about all the real work I had to do that evening, I decided that, no, labeling them mafiosos or mercenaries was much too kind. They seemed more to be the progeny resulting from a mating between a mad oracle and a giant carrion-eater. They were akin to some sort of ancient mythical Greco-Roman-Aztec-Wes Craven-Egyptian-bird-god that demands constant sacrifice and feeding, and speaks in riddles which only it can solve. Yes, I decided, the UNocrats are great hideous vultures, roused from their caves in the European Alps and in the cement canyons and peaks of Manhattan by the stench of death in the Turd World. They leisurely take flight toward the smell of death; circle, and then swoop down, screeching UNintelligble nonsense. They arrive and immediately force others, e.g., the American tax payer, to build them new exclusive nests in the midst of poverty, and make themselves fat on the flesh of the dead. My friends, allow The Diplomad to present to you The High Priest Vulture Elite (HPVE).
These genuinely repulsive, arrogant creatures survive only because the world’s rich countries, the non-Turd World, allow them, too. We in the First World find it politically impossible to reveal their pronouncements as the cant they are. For many in Europe and among the New York Times crowd, helping maintain these mad vultures substitutes for genuine action, “The UN is on the job!” In addition, for many senior bureaucrats and minor politicians, there is always the hope that if they play the game right, they, too, can join the High Priest Vulture Elite: We see the ranks of the HPVE full of Scandinavians and leftist Americans, and the occasional pompous Euro-Brazilian, all of whom parlayed mediocre domestic careers of lip-biting humanitarian symbolism into well-paying tax-free sinecures in the HPVE.

Well, with oil-for-food finally buried, we knew they’d be on the prowl for new bodies.

Maj. Gen. Walter Natynczyk

Military 1 Comment

Canadians are doing our nation proud on the field of battle.

Maj. Gen. Walter Natynczyk, once Commanding Officer of the Royal Canadian Dragoons, is now deputy commander of the U.S. Army’s III Corps …. at 138,000 troops, is roughly seven times as large as the whole Canadian army. No Canadian general since WWII has commanded so many troops in a combat zone.

In Iraq.
Via Bill Strong

Scottie News

Dogblogging 5 Comments

The White House has welcomed a new arrival.

President Bush and his wife, Laura, got a new pet on Thursday, a Scottish terrier puppy named Miss Beazley.
The puppy, a gift to the first lady from the president for her 58th birthday in November, was born on Oct. 28. The puppy joins the Bushes’ other two pets: Barney, another Scottish terrier, and a black cat named India.

Two scotties, one cat?
Uh oh…

Embrace Hollywood

Embrace Hollywood 7 Comments

“Democrats need to embrace Hollywood because this is where they need to come to learn how to tell a story.” – Michael Moore*

‘Sexuality is a large issue in America right now, but it isn’t so much in other countries. There’s a raging fundamentalism in morality in the United States. From day one audiences didn’t show up. They didn’t even read the reviews in the south because the media was using the words: ‘Alex is Gay’.
“The script was just too ambiguous, too questioning about an action-hero who was masculine/feminine. These are tough qualities in Hollywood. It’s just too big a life. It doesn’t fit in into the Hollywood formula.” – Oliver Stone – director

Ignore The Stern Goatherds, Mr. Harper

Political Animal 2 Comments

Bob Tarantino called this the post of the day, yesterday, and I agree.

Mr. Harper, imagine for a moment that you are a goat. Now, please divert your attention briefly from that dead patch of dirt you are currently competing over with the Liberal, NDP, and BQ goats, as well as Joe Clark. Let your gaze drift a few yards to the right. Oooh, what a lovely patch of lush, green grass that is! The stern goatherds will yell at you if you venture over there, but that’s OK – the grass over there is much more nourishing, and it might even give you some extra energy to compete with the others over the dirt later!

Tell ’em, Matt.

Tsunami Donation Day in Saskatchewan

Radioactive No Comments

Today, there is a 12 hour long Saskatchewan pledge drive on Rawlco Radio for tsunami relief. The number to call is 866-363-4483.. At time of writing, they’ve already raised over $40,000, which will be matched by federal government tax dollars.
(update- final total for the 12 hours sets a “radio-thon” record for the province – $401,161 $442,000 for the Canadian Red Cross)
That is not the only way to support the afflicted countries – as I argued on the Murray Wood Show a couple of days ago, the criticism of tourists who continue to arrive in the area is misplaced. While relief is necessary to help people immediately affected by the crisis, it’s not going to solve their greater problem – long term employment, the devastating hit to the overall economy. The media isn’t helping either – the inbred urge to sensationalize paints a picture that may be worse than it is.
This item by way of Instapundit, from a diving/cruise company in the region;

Much to our dismay there are many unsubstantiated news stories about “total destruction” of Phuket’s coral reefs. Even our own effort to bring a CBS team to the Similans for a first hand look turned into a nightmare when they broke their promise and turned it into yet another “spectacular disaster” story. Our crew and passengers were quoted out of context and our underwater video footage used incorrectly. Never again!

The page goes on to list areas only slightly or unaffected by tsunami damage.

Those who call this callous fail to see that last thing Phuket needs right now is an economic meltdown caused by tourists staying away as a result of inaccurate news coverage. Thousands of ordinary Thais are employed in the resorts that are now damaged and closed. Mass cancellations would destroy what is left of the island’s fragile economy. If you are booked for a Thailand holiday, please do not cancel.

If you’re one of those individuals who planned to donate in the four figures, it may be more constructive to book a holiday.
Meanwhile, the UN does what it does best – add new levels of beaurocracy, fly to meetings in 5 star hotels and maneuver for power. Canada’s DART team is scheduled to leave CFB Trenton today (courtesy of rented Russian transport planes).
The US and Australians continue to do the heavy lifting. The Canadian media tallies up contributions from the various western countries now trying to outdo each other, while scrupulously avoiding mention of the costs to the respective militaries of those two countries, and the troops and equipment that have been arriving since the early hours of the disaster. Television coverage a couple of nights ago showed glimpses of soldiers in fatigues handing out supplies to surviviors over reports of “international giving”. That there was US military insignia on them went unmentioned.
As worthy as the fund raising drives of the Red Cross and other NGO’s are here, I’m starting to think that the best place to send donations may be to the United States Department of Defense.

UglyRipe Conspiracy

Little Known Facts No Comments

Beauty really is skin deep, according to the Florida Tomato Committee.

“These requirements serve to ensure customer satisfaction and improve grower returns. Not holding the UglyRipe tomato to these same standards defies orderly marketing and provides it unfair, undue marketing advantage…. The bottom line is that the Florida Tomato Committee is empowered to protect the standards of the Florida round tomato…”

Others smell a conspiracy. I don’t know… I’m kinda on the side of the Florida Tomato Committee on this one.

2005: Year Of The Aboriginal Friend

Radioactive 2 Comments

If Raskolnikov isn’t on your blogroll, he should be. This takedown of Colleen Simard, of the Winnipeg Free Press, (who urges every Winnipeger to get “an aboriginal friend” for 2005, then trots through the steps with helpful instructions);

So please Ms Simard, don’t go around telling non- indians to approach the indian they see at a WAG show just like they would anyone else, or to join a support group or club to meet indians. Unless that club or support group is centred on something indian, or it allows indians to rage about racism or history, the odds are there won’t be any indians around. As for indians in an art gallery? See my post here to get a glimpse into an indian mindset I have encountered all too often.
On a personal level, I would encourage all non- indians to search high and low for indians. From what I have heard and what I can see with my own two eyes, most of the indians that are easy to find and accessible are the ones on Main Street. These are the ones non-indians use as a template, Ms Simard, whether you like it or not. And if that insults you, you may want to change your own template, the one where every culturally clueless white person needs an indian friend, as well as guidance from someone like yourself on how to get close to that strange exotic indian.
As for my fellow indians, try opening your mind to other cultures. You have spent the last 50 years or so forcing our culture down the throat of everyone else, maybe it’s time you started swallowing.

And he’s just warming up…
crossposted to the Shotgun

Reader Tips

Reader Tips No Comments

B Raman, in the Asia Times;

It is not without significance that almost all countries – even those which were critical of the US-led intervention in Iraq – have been in favor of going ahead with the elections as planned, however unsatisfactory they may turn out to be. The holding of the elections will not turn out to be the end of – or even the beginning of the end – of jihadi activities, but it will demonstrate to the jihadis the determination of the international community not to let jihadi terrorism succeed.
Such a demonstration is necessary, whatever the cost of it. It needs to be recalled how India’s determination to hold periodic elections in Jammu & Kashmir in the face of an escalation of terrorist violence by Pakistan-supported jihadi terrorist organizations ultimately broke their morale and made Pakistan amenable to reason.

An open letter from The American Thinker to those campaigning for the enemy on this side of the Atlantic.
Also, in Iraq, Ali has moved from Iraq The Model, to set up his own blog titled “Free Iraq”.
More on failed European policy and the growth of radical Islam in the Netherlands.
Canada’s Paper Airplane , DART – a concept, not a capability.

Sound Politics Finds Unsound Math

Blogging No Comments

Blogger Stephan Sheransky started to ask questions a little while ago about the extremely close vote, recount and resultant overturning of results in the Washington State governor’s race. Questions like…. “why are there more votes than voters?”
Others are starting to listen. The Seattle Times;

House Minority Leader Bruce Chandler, R- Granger, said yesterday that unless questions are answered about the election process — specifically about how several counties counted thousands more votes than there were voters recorded — Republicans plan to object.

Not bad work for a guy in pajamas.

200K

Blogging 21 Comments

It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was celebrating my 100,000 visit to small dead – October 2nd or thereabouts. At the rate of visits today (1700 so far), it looks like the 200K will click over on the sitemeter sometime this evening.
Thankyou, all.

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