Tuesday, October 31, 2006 

Calgary Stampeders CONFIRM Gopher Ban


Demonstrating a streak of mean spirited partisanship, spokespersons for the Calgary Stampeders football club have confirmed that this Sunday's game "is their party and they will ban (gophers) if they want to".

Saskatchewan Roughrider fans are outraged that Rider mascot, 'Gainer the Gopher' has been banned from the field at this weekend's Western Conference Semi-Final in Calgary. We have always welcomed Calgary's mascot, Ralph the Dog at Taylor Field in Regina.

The Calgary Sun - Gopher banned from Stamps game

Gopher Ban Hits Sask Legislature

 

Calgary Stampeders BAN Saskatchewan Gopher From Game


UNBELIEVABLE! The Calgary Stampeders and the management of McMahon Stadium are preparing for the Western Semi-final of the Canadian Football League (CFL) to be played this weekend in Calgary.

But what is this! They have BANNED the beloved mascot of the Saskatchewan Roughriders from the park!

Gainer the Gopher has been blacklisted from attending the game and the Rider Nation is OUTRAGED! This is an INSULT! This is INSANITY!

You HAVE NOT heard the last of this - believe me!!!

(Outraged I say!!)

Gopher Banned in Calgary

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please VOTE for this story on Progressive Bloggers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Tories To Kill Wheat Board In Four Easy Steps

WINNIPEG -- A task force has recommended the federal government set up within two years a new, voluntary Canadian Wheat Board that would be completely owned by farmers with no financial support from Ottawa.

The committee’s report, released Monday in Ottawa, also recommends that the plan to remove the board’s monopoly on wheat and barley exports be carried out in four phases.

Edmonton Sun

canada.com

Monday, October 30, 2006 

The Lies that George Bush Tells Us

"Bush’s lies aren’t about petty matters, such as some personal indiscretion or minor misconduct. Rather his dishonesty deals with issues of war and peace, the patriotism of his opponents, and the founding principles of the American Republic.

They are the kinds of lies and distortions more befitting the leader of a totalitarian state whipping up his followers to go after some perceived enemy than the President of the world’s preeminent democracy seeking an informed debate among the citizenry."

Robert Parry

Consortium news

 

The Extreme Right Wing Mindset of Ezra Levant

When Western Standard Editor, Ezra Levant articulates his typical right wing nonsense, I rarely bat an eye. Having followed his career for the last few years, I can honestly say that it usually takes something major from Ezra for me to be surprised.

Well, he has reached a new highwater mark of NONSENSE with an article in this weeks Calgary Sun.

"The Taliban doesn't have a media relations bureau these days. It doesn't need one, it has the CBC.

It doesn't need a spokesman, it has Jack Layton, making the case for a humiliating evacuation of our troops.
"

This is sheer nonsense! To accuse the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation of being a media relations bureau for the Taliban is not only idiotic, it borders on emotional disorder. And even though Jack Layton has consistently articulated that we need to investigate talks towards a ceasefire, Ezra has now morphed that into a 'humiliating evacuation of our troops.'

How does someone end up so completely out in right field?

Calgary Sun

 

US May Deploy Missiles Around Tokyo

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- The U.S. is considering deploying its advanced Patriot missile defense system near Tokyo after North Korea's recent missile and nuclear tests, a newspaper reported Sunday.

Washington unofficially informed the Japanese government it is considering putting Patriot Advanced Capability 3 surface-to-air interceptor missiles around Yokota Air Base in Tokyo's western suburbs and around Yokosuka Naval Base, south of the capital.

CNN.com
Jerusalem Post

Sunday, October 29, 2006 

Harper Runs Caucus With Iron Fisted Style

Greg Felton has a great interview with former Tory MP Garth Turner at www.gregfelton.com. The resulting article gives insight into the workings of the federal Conservative Caucus room and the iron fisted, 'no debates allowed' style of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

The World According to Garth
On Oct. 18, Garth Turner, MP for the Ontario riding of Halton, was expelled from the Harper Party for having expressed an opinion on a matter of policy.
In an interview, Mr. Turner explains his ouster as a product of Stephen Harper’s secretive, autocratic regime, under which an elected MP needs permission to ask a question, debate or even represent his constituents.
gregfelton.com,
Oct. 28, 2006


"The reality is that prime minister wants to control things very tightly. He has pretty much an iron grip on everything, and it causes problems for guys like me. I don’t think I work for the prime minister; I think I work for my voters, the people who sent me to Ottawa."
Garth Turner

"National caucus is not a place for debate. In fact, in my time during the national caucus I never saw a free-wheeling debate on policy. During the Israeli–Lebanon conflict we did not have a policy debate. An attempt was made to have one during the summer at a caucus meeting, but it was shut down."
Garth Turner


gregfelton.com

Saturday, October 28, 2006 

Russian War Vets Say Afghans Impossible to Beat

MOSCOW -- Senior Sgt. Sergei Kirjushin spent the most intense 18 months of his life in Afghanistan in the late 1980s with an elite Red Army airborne regiment that sometimes fought Islamic holy warriors at such close quarters he could "feel their breath."

Like a surprisingly large number of the former Soviet Union's 620,000 Afghan war vets, the burly ex-paratrooper is aware the Canadian army is now fighting some of the very same mujahideen and their progeny for control of the same unforgiving, arid landscape.

Kirjushin's convinced nothing good will come of Canada's war in Afghanistan!

Canada.com

 

Wheat Board Final Fight Gets Closer


OTTAWA -- The Stephen Harper government moved one step closer to stripping the Canadian Wheat Board of its monopoly over grain sales this week when a task force struck to recommend how it could be done submitted a final report to Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl.

Mr. Strahl received the report Thursday but has not made it public. His office said the document, which is more than 30 pages long, will be released shortly.

With tens of thousands of farmers and two provincial governments who strongly support the current mandate of the CWB, the final battle over its future will be historic.

Globe and mail
(if the Globe and Mail link does not work, here is the full text of the Oct 28 story)

Wheat Board Monopoly Nears End
Agriculture Minister reviews new report on how to scrap powers of grain body

Steven Chase
OTTAWA -- The Stephen Harper government moved one step closer to stripping the Canadian Wheat Board of its monopoly over grain sales this week when a task force struck to recommend how it could be done submitted a final report to Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl.

Mr. Strahl received the report Thursday but has not made it public. His office said the document, which is more than 30 pages long, will be released shortly. The report is expected to suggest a transition period as part of the process of scrapping the monopoly powers of a Western Canadian institution that has managed grain sales on behalf of that region's farmers for more than 70 years.

The Harper government declined to make task force chair Howard Migie available for comment yesterday. But Ottawa did allow Mr. Migie, an Agriculture Canada employee, to speak to Inside U.S. Trade, a prominent trade publication in the United States, where the biggest foes of the Canadian Wheat Board are located. Washington and U.S. farm groups have repeatedly, and unsuccessfully, launched trade challenges to curb board powers.

The task force report will make recommendations on the length of the transition period required before the board would lose all its monopoly powers, Inside U.S. Trade reported in an Oct. 27 story, citing an interview with Mr. Migie.

Mr. Strahl wants to give Western Canadian grain farmers freedom to opt out of the Canadian Wheat Board to sell their products on their own -- a promise the Tories made in the last election campaign.

The Canadian Wheat Board defends its "single desk" selling power as the key to better returns for farmers on international markets. If the board lost its monopoly, agency officials warn, farmers would end up being "price takers" selling at lower prices to local or global firms such as Agricore United or Saskatchewan Wheat Pool. Agency officials warn that the board cannot survive a shift to dual marketing. But board critics, such as the Western Canadian Wheat Growers, say the agency should have the know-how to survive even if some farmers strike out on their own. "They've got 75 years of experience . . . and all kinds of relations around the world, so if with all of that they feel they can't compete, it's ludicrous," says Cherilyn Jolly-Nagel, president of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers.

Her group would like to see the board's monopoly end by Aug. 1, 2007, the start of the new crop year. Liberal agriculture critic Wayne Easter believes the Tories want to make changes by next August.

Critics say opposition parties and farmer opinion could block Conservative plans. Recent wheat board polls show it's far from certain Mr. Harper could get majority support from farmers -- and opposition parties vow to fight any legislative changes. "There is no business case to demolish the Canada Wheat Board. It's pure ideological madness. And make no mistake, doing away with single desk is the death rattle of the board," said NDP MP Pat Martin, whose riding is in Winnipeg where the board is headquartered.

The wheat board said Ottawa must hold a plebiscite to let farmers decide their future, but Ms. Jolly-Nagel disagreed. She said each farmer should be free to sell their wheat as they choose rather than acting in concert with others.

Thursday, October 26, 2006 

Canadian Military Abolishes Fitness Test


OTTAWA -- A minimum level of fitness is no longer required of those who wish to join the Canadian Forces.

A notice posted in the Recruiting Section of Canada's military website says that, as of Oct. 1, the regular test to determine physical capabilities that has traditionally been demanded of all new applicants has been eliminated.

Globe and Mail

Wednesday, October 25, 2006 

Why won't Ralph Klein Just Shut Up and Go Away

He is popular in Alberta. But for the rest of Canadians, many of us sincerely wish that Ralph Klein would just shut up and go away.

He is supposed to do exactly that after December 31, 2006 when he steps down as Premier of Alberta. But in the meanwhile, he keeps flapping his lips. Someone needs to tell him that politically he is what is known as a 'lame duck'. No one cares what he has to say. Clearly even the Conservative Party of Alberta doesn't care what he has to say because they basically kicked him out.

Now, I am also NO fan of Bob Rae. I am a Dipper, so how could I like what he is doing running around with Libs. Bob is NOT my favourite politician either.

But when I read Ralph Klein's verbal attack on Bob Rae, I had to blog.

Where does Ralph get off thinking that he can lecture anyone? Someone needs to stick a cork in his mouth. Maybe a pacifier.

Canoe News

Tuesday, October 24, 2006 

How Democrats Might Yet Blow It

Consortium news

Robert Parry lays out a frightening scenario in his Consortium News article, 'How Democrats Might Blow It'. He cautions Democrats not to be so quick at popping the champagne bottles in anticipation of electoral victory in the upcoming mid-term vote.

"As Democrats go through their biennial rite of premature victory celebrations, they are inviting defeat again by obsessing on polls about how many congressional seats are “in play” rather than on explaining to the American people what a Republican victory on Nov. 7 would mean to the nation."

If you only look at the pure data polling numbers, things look reasonably good for the Democrats. However, if you look at each contest and factor in spending, incumbency and local issues, it is not quite as rosy.

Americans vote in 14 days

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please VOTE for this story on Progressive Bloggers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Manitoba Will Hold Its Own Vote On Wheat Board


WINNIPEG (CP) - Manitoba's government has decided to let farmers vote on the future of the Canadian Wheat Board if the federal government refuses to hold its own plebiscite.

Agriculture Minister Rosann Wowchuk says the future of the wheat board must remain in farmers' hands.

Canada.com

 

George Bush Says He Uses 'The Google'

Oh my gawd! Guess who's online?

Guess who says he likes using 'the google' for 'that map program'?

Well fellow bloggers, it was inevitable. President George Bush is online.

I wonder if he blogs? A big tip of the hat to:
thinkprogress.org

 

Tory MP Anders Nomination to Alberta Court of Appeals

A Calgary judge has rejected a request from lawyers for the federal Conservative Party to quash an attempt to overturn the nomination by 'acclamation' of Calgary West MP Rob Anders.

Mr. Anders was being challenged for the Conservative nomination in Calgary West when Party Leader, Stephen Harper intervened and Anders was confirmed as 'acclaimed'.

On Friday, Court of Queen's Bench Justice Alan Sulatycky refused to strike the whole matter.

The Court of Appeal will therefore hold a hearing on November 10th and will decide whether a review can take place as requested by eleven members of the Calgary West Conservative Party constituency association.

CTV
Globe and Mail
Tories want documents withheld

Monday, October 23, 2006 

Americans Vote in 14 Days


In fourteen days Americans will go to the polls in mid-term elections. Opinion polls clearly indicate that the Democrats are in the lead and poised to win seats in both the Congress and the Senate.

The question is whether or not they will win sufficient seats to put a leash on President George Bush.

Two very different opinions are emerging. One is that the Democrats will do very well winning one or both Houses.

The other, lesser held opinion, is that if you look at each race individually and ignore the polling, the Republicans will survive with marginal control of both Houses.

We will know in two weeks time.

Yahoo news

Barrons.com

 

Byelection Dates Demonstrate Tory Dirty Politics

It is not cute. It is not funny. It is what it is - Conservatives playing dirty politics!

Stephen Harper dropped writs calling by-elections in Repentigny and London North Centre on November 27th. The choice of that date had one thinly veiled goal and that is to cause as much inconvenience to the Liberal party as possible.

Using the same political ethics that removed 16,000 farmers from the Canadian Wheat Board voters list, the Conservative Party of Canada continues to prove that they believe cheating is an acceptable tactic in Canadian politics. Shame on the Tories. They lack honour. Their style is NOT reflective of the Canadian value of fair play.

The Liberal leadership race is a legitimate democratic exercise that the other political parties should respect and not interfere with.

But I guess we are talking here about 'Conservatives' - the honourable party that is proving to be not quite so honourable on Stephen Harper's watch. Shame!

National Post

Sunday, October 22, 2006 

What liberals Say - What Conservatives Hear

Working for Change

 

Conservative MP Sued For Using the Title 'Doctor'


Nanaimo-Alberni MP James Lunney is being sued by a man who claims the chiropractor has misused the title of doctor for political gain.

Nanaimo's Robert Pound, in documents filed in B.C. Supreme Court in September, claims that Lunney's use of the term doctor has been confusing to voters and others.

The Chiropractors Act states that chiropractors "may display or make use of the title 'doctor' or the abbreviation 'Dr.', but only as 'Doctor of Chiropractic', 'Dr. of Chiropractic', 'Chiropractic Doctor' or 'Chiropractic Dr.'"

Canada.com
Dr. James Lunney MP Website

WAIT!!! - THIS JUST IN!!!!!
Doctor Lunney has been controversial in the news before:

Canadian MP misrepresents data

 

No Blogs For You




Aren't these signs cool!
Buckdog will be taking a BLOGGING HOLIDAY TODAY - But we will back later - so to all of you antisocial right wing nutbars - enjoy your small respite. (Cause we will be back at you soon)!

Saturday, October 21, 2006 

Bush's Absolute Power Grab

"Many Americans are in denial about what is happening to the United States. They don't want to believe that a totalitarian structure could be put in place in their own country. They don't want to view the various pieces of George W. Bush's "anti-terror" system in that broad a context. They hope that someone or something -- the Supreme Court maybe -- will strike down the excesses of the Republican-controlled Congress and the Executive Branch.

Though there are still obstacles that stand in Bush's way -- the Nov. 7 elections, for instance -- America's march down a road to a new-age totalitarianism has advanced farther than many understand, as freelance reporter Carla Binion argues in this disturbing guest essay:"

Consortium News: Carla Binion

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please VOTE for this story on Progressive Bloggers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Kimveer Gill's Friend Arrested for Threats

Police in Montreal have arrested the friend of Kimveer Gill, the Dawson College shooter and charged him with uttering threats against students.

Rajiv Rajan, 25, was arrested at his parents' home on the West Island of the City of Montreal. He has been denied bail and is currently undergoing a court-ordered 30-day psychiatric evaluation at Montreal's Phillippe-Pinel Institute.

It is thought that the photos taken of Gill with a variety of weapons were shot by Rajan. At the moment, there is no evidence that Rajiv Rajan was involoved in the Dawson College incident.

CBC.ca

Friday, October 20, 2006 

Harper Government CHEATS

Let's not pull any punches here. Let's just call it for what it is.

Stephen Harper and his Conservative government are CHEATING in the Canadian Wheat Board elections for new directors. Shall I say it again, for anyone who did not yet get the point, ...... by removing 16,000 eligible farmers from the voters list, STEPHEN HARPER AND HIS CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT ARE CHEATING IN AN ELECTION. Period.

Why are they cheating? They are cheating because the ideological changes they want to make to the Canadian Wheat Board WILL NOT PASS A DEMOCRATIC VOTE OF FARMERS. So if Harper can't win, he will CHEAT!

So much for Conservative Party morals. So much for Conservative Party ethics.

CBC.ca
International Customers Nervous

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please VOTE for this story on Progressive Bloggers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Kim Il Jong Says He Is Sorry - sort of

Whether you call him Kim Jong Il or Kim Il Jong, this guy is about as nutty as they come. Clearly Chinese pressure has an influence on him.

SEOUL (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Il said Pyongyang didn't plan to carry out any more nuclear tests and expressed regret about the country's first-ever atomic detonation last week, South Korean news reports said Friday.

Time Star
USA Today

Kim Jong IL Bio

 

Republicans to Air Ad Warning of Terror Attacks


Things are not going well for the Republican Party in the lead up to Mid term elections . In fact, things are going so poorly for the Republicans that they are preparing an ad campaign intended to scare the crap out of voters.

Therefore the National Office of the Republican Party will begin airing a hard-hitting ad this weekend that warns of more cataclysmic terror attacks against the U.S. homeland.

The ad portrays Osama bin Laden and quotes his threats against America dating to February 1998. It includes a scene that appears to show a nuclear explosion. "These are the stakes," the ad concludes. "Vote November 7."

You would think that Americans MUST be getting sick of Republican dishonesty. They have been lied to over Iraq and Afghanistan for years. But fear is a tool that the right wing has been able to use effectively for political purposes.

Breitbart.com

Thursday, October 19, 2006 

Senator McCain Says He Will Suicide if Democrats win Senate



DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Arizona Sen. John McCain , a likely Republican presidential contender in 2008, joked on Wednesday that he would "commit suicide" if Democrats win the Senate in November.

Joke or not, I think this is a bit over the top. Right wingers are such DRAMA QUEENS.

Actually I hope that the Democrats do win the Senate. Whatever Republican Senator McCain chooses to do when that happens is completely up to him.

Yahoo news
Radio Iowa

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please VOTE for this story on Progressive Bloggers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Former Nazi Officer Faces International Rejection



Former Nazi concentration camp guard Johann Leprich was freed on Monday from an American prison. He was held for deportation, but Federal authorities have failed to find a country willing to take him. Neither Germany, Hungary, nor Romania, his birth-place, accept him.

Leprich joined the Waffen SS in 1943 and served as a guard at Mauthausen in Austria, where about 119,000 were killed. After World War II he immigrated to the U.S. and became a citizen in 1958. He fled to Canada in 1987 when his past was discovered.

The 81-year-old former Nazi concentration camp guard was freed this week from a Michigan jail after US officials failed to locate any country that would take him in. He was released into the custody of his wife and family.

Financial Express
Bloggernews.net

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please VOTE for this story on Progressive Bloggers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Peter McKay Is Playing Politics With Afghanistan

Foreign Affairs Minister, Peter McKay, is playing political games with Canadians over the mission to Afghanistan.

MacKay is accusing the New Democrats of demoralizing Canadian troops in Afghanistan with talk of withdrawing them from combat.

NONSENSE! Doesn't McKay read the news? Doesn't McKay have staff that keep him abreast of world affairs?

Is McKay NOT AWARE that US Senate Majority Leader, Bill Frist, stood on the floor of the United States Senate and said THAT THE UNITED STATES SHOULD START TALKING WITH THE TALIBAN!

To gain petty political points, McKay is indirectly accusing Jack Layton and the NDP of advocating what Harper's big Republican buddies are also saying!

Shame on Peter McKay for playing such dishonest political games. Having NEVER been a Reform Member of the Tory Caucus, we expected better from him!

CTV News
US Senator Says Talk to Taliban

-----------------------------------------------------------
Here is the full text of the Globe and Mail story on Senator Frist's proposal that the USA commence talks with the Taliban:
Republicans in Laytonland: Talk to the Taliban
Lawrence Martin

Bill Frist, the Bush Republican who is the Senate majority leader, has come out -- à la Jack Layton -- in favour of undertaking negotiations with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Mr. Frist is no maverick. He has his right-wing spurs. He has backed his President's calamitous attempt at a Babylonian conquest since day one. But now he is in Laytonland.

"You need to bring them [the Taliban] into a more transparent type of government," Mr. Frist said during a visit to Afghanistan this week. "And if that's accomplished, we'll be successful."

The strategy of pitting the "military versus insurgency one-to-one doesn't sound like it can be won," he said. "It sounds to me . . . that the Taliban is everywhere."

He was accompanied by a Florida Republican, Senator Mel Martinez. "A political solution is how it's all going to be solved," Mr. Martinez said.

Mr. Layton, the NDP Leader, must be bemused to see support coming from some upper regions of the Republican Party. When he put forward his pitch for diplomacy in his own country, the elites tore him to shreds. He was ridiculed by many of the same people who called him an idiot for his positions on Iraq -- but who turned out to be not so bright themselves.

Negotiate with the Taliban? Talk to the enemy, to terrorists? Unconscionable, they said, knees jerking like football players in warm-up routines. How can we even think of it?

In fact, negotiations of that sort have been thought of and done on numerous occasions. We negotiated with the FLQ during the 1970 October Crisis. Tony Blair negotiated with the Irish Republican Army. Washington negotiated with Libya's Moammar Gadhafi and, of course, the Evil Empire. In Uganda, the government has been talking to the fanatical Lord's Resistance Army. Anyone with the slightest acquaintance with history can find dozens of other examples.

Political solutions are tried because that's how wars are ended. Sometimes, the talks are fruitful, sometimes not. But when the alternative is killing one another till hell freezes over, how can the bargaining-table option be dismissed out of hand?

In Afghanistan, there's been five years of fighting and the enemy only seems to grow. The Taliban are supported by many ordinary Afghans, and by many outside the country. They are opposed, experts say, by numbers too small to have any realistic hope of eliminating them.

In such circumstances, even if the chances of diplomatic progress are small, what is the downside in trying? If you end up making progress, good. If you don't, it's back to square one -- and back to the battlefield. But at least you've given the peace option a chance and, in so doing, you have won more public support for an enduring military campaign.

The Harper government needs that support -- badly. The latest poll showed that a majority of respondents believe that our soldiers are dying for a hopeless cause. But these Canadians are outshouted by the establishment and the Harper government.

Their vision of the new Canada is as the hard-headed warrior nation. Forget the Pearsonian legacy. We fight and we kill to the brutal end, even if the odds are dismal and we have a grisly precedent staring us down. Last week, a classified report of the entire U.S. intelligence community on how the bull-headed warrior approach has been working in Iraq came to light. Its verdict? Beyond the endless death toll of civilians, the Iraqi occupation is creating more terrorists than it is eliminating.

In Afghanistan, as President Hamid Karzai has observed, negotiations are difficult because the enemy is unstructured, with no hierarchy. But as Bill Frist noted, there are many who come under the Taliban label who are, in fact, moderates. An attempt must be made to bring these elements on board while isolating the fanatics.

Jack Layton is wrong to suggest that Canada should withdraw from Afghanistan, but he is right to suggest that we should look to possible diplomatic solutions. A growing number of Bill Frists are likely to join him. They may even come to include Stephen Harper. When asked in the House of Commons about the Tennessee senator's remarks, his reply was noteworthy: "We will not win this simply militarily."

lawrencemartin9@yahoo.ca

 

Troubles Grip Tories

Public Works Minister Michael Fortier said his government needs to do a better job of getting its message out. "What I've said for a long time is we have to communicate better, and that includes myself," Mr. Fortier said. "In doing that, I think we will win favour with Quebeckers."

I have news for the Conservative Government of Canada. While it is true that you have some communications problems, communications is not your main problem. The main problem that the Tories have is that they are out of sync and out of step with the majority of Canadians in a number of important areas:

-Canadians do not like the military quagmire in Afghanistan.
-Canadians aren't comfortable with Harper's cozy relationship with the Bush Republican government in Washington.
-Canadians were uncomfortable with Harper's 'measured response' pronouncement during the recent action in Lebanon.
-Harper's GST cut was insignificant to the average Canadian, the benefit has been minimal.

The right wing projects a nasty tone (I call it smalldeadanimal syndrome - you know what I mean, that nasty screeching right wing 'din' that resounds everywhere in 'Toryland' these days).

So Mr. Harper can buy the best communications advice in the world and can launch massive ad campaigns, but it will not help him.

The Conservative's problem isn't that they are communicating their priorities poorly; their problem is that they have crappy messages and priorities that the average Canadian doesn't share.

Globe and Mail

Wednesday, October 18, 2006 

ABC News: Bush Accepts Iraq-Vietnam Comparison


WASHINGTON, Oct. 18, 2006 — President Bush said in a one-on-one interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos that a newspaper column comparing the current fighting in Iraq to the 1968 Tet offensive in Vietnam, which was widely seen as the turning point in that war, might be accurate.

ABC NEWS

Did we not learn anything from the Vietnam experience?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please VOTE for this story on Progressive Bloggers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Bush Signs Military Commissions Act -

History should record October 17, 2006, as the reverse of July 4, 1776.

In signing the Military Commissions Act of 2006, Bush remarked that "one of the terrorists believed to have planned the 9/11 attacks said he hoped the attacks would be the beginning of the end of America." Pausing for dramatic effect, Bush added, “He didn’t get his wish.”

Or, perhaps, the terrorist did.

Consortium News

 

Lots of Comment on Garth Turners Blogsite

You may wish to take a look at some of the comments Mr. Turner is getting on his blog site today - under the heading of 'Holy Smokes' - well over 100 responses and counting. It is amazing how NASTY some right wingers can be, even to their own (or until recently, their own).


The Turner Report
Tory Leaders hated Turner's blog

 

Two Premiers Join Forces in Fight For Equalization


Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert and Newfoundland & Labrador Premier Danny Williams appear to be uniting their voices in the fight for fiscal fairness for the two provinces.

During the last Federal Election, Stephen Harper promised to remove the revenues from non-renewable resources when calculating equalization allocations for the two provinces.

As soon as the Conservatives won power, they began to reverse the promise.

Stephen Harper likes to remind Canadians that his government is keeping their 'promises'. Two of Canada's Premiers beg to differ.


CBC Saskatchewan
Canada.com

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please VOTE for this story on Progressive Bloggers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Conservatives Try To Jigger Farmer Vote


The Canadian Wheat Board Act stipulates that any major change to the mandate of the Board MUST be approved by a vote of Farmers. Harper knows that he will not be able to win that vote and obtain the changes he wants.

Meanwhile, farmers are currently preparing to vote on new Board Members for the Canadian Wheat Board. BUT WHAT IS THIS! THE TORIES ARE TRYING TO JIGGER THE VOTERS LIST! It sure looks like they are trying to find a way to manipulate the process to ensure that they get the Board Members that they want!

Shame on Conservatives for playing around with the democratic process in such a blatant and dishonest manner!

Are Tories Prepared to Cheat on Farmer Vote?
Harper Waffles on Letting Farmers Vote
NDP News Release
Liberal News Release

Tuesday, October 17, 2006 

Local Tories Question Their Candidates Honesty


Thirty-three local members of the Conservative Party of Canada have submitted a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other party officials calling for “appropriate action” following alleged untrue statements made by MP Colin Mayes.

According to the letter, MP Mayes made statements at both of the Conservative nomination meetings in September, denying that he was named as a defendant in a lawsuit before the Supreme Court of British Columbia. The letter submitted by the party members says that it has since been revealed that Mayes is listed as a defendant. "This matter could seriously jeopardize his re-election and the hopes of the Conservative Party to form a majority government in the next election," says the letter.

MP Colin Mayes brewed controversy in the past when he suggested that the public might get more “accurate and true information” if reporters faced the threat of jail. (Source Wikipedia)

Daily Courier
Wikipedia Bio

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please VOTE for this story on Progressive Bloggers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Tories Plan More Tax Cuts

Remember the 'massive' 1 cent tax cut that Mr. Harper gave you! Wasn't that a wonderful gift! He then proceeded to hand a $13 Billion surplus to the banks! (Once cent for you - $13 billion for banks!). You gotta love Tory priorities!

Anyway, now that things on Harper's agenda are not going that well (Afghanistan, Fiscal Imbalance, budget cuts, dropping poll numbers) he has decided that he needs to cut your taxes again!!

Somehow I just can't get excited when I hear Tory hype. If he wanted to give the people of Canada some real tax relief, he had an opportunity with the surplus.

Oh well, perhaps after his tax cut I will be able to top off my 'penny jar'.

National Post

 

Equalization is Harpers 'Fly Paper'

Our poor Prime Minister is up to his neck in unhappy provinces.

Both Newfoundland and Saskatchewan have legitimate complaints concerning the way that federal revenues are distributed to the provinces.

The problem is NOT going away and poor Mr. Harper is stuck to it like flypaper.
Weeks go by and Harper does nothing but 'DITHER'.

Our poor dithering Prime Minister should really do something soon!

National Post
Gov't of Saskatchewan campaign
Globe and Mail

Monday, October 16, 2006 

Harper Says He is Rebranding Canada


Last Saturday, Stephen Harper addressed Conservatives gathered in Newfoundland and Labrador for a luncheon speech. I want you to note the specific reference he makes to his 'rebranding' of Canada.

"What we Conservatives are doing both here and in Ottawa is rebranding our country."

"In Ottawa, rebranding is about highlighting the differences between Canada's new government and our predecessors. It's about being accountable to taxpayers, about delivering on commitments, about asserting Canadian leadership in the world. It's about getting things done for everyone. My friends, as you know, we have a minority government in Ottawa which means an election could be forced by the opposition at any time. But regardless of when that election comes the choice will be clear. Do Canadians want to keep moving forward with a government that gets things done for families and taxpayers or do they want to turn back the clock, back to scandal back to inaction?"


So how is it that Mr. Harper thinks that 38% of Canadians voting for him gives him the mandate to 'rebrand' Canada? Does he actually believe that he has a mandate to fundamentally change the nation?

The day that the three Opposition Caucuses in Ottawa throw these guys out on their butts will be a GREAT DAY FOR ALL CANADIANS!!

 

Wheat Board Future



Wheat Board Facts

Tories Take Risk with Wheat Board Changes

Saskatchewan Fights Back

Sunday, October 15, 2006 

Canada formally protests new US user fees

PM Stephen Harper has done a lot to show his hero, George Bush, that Conservatives love what the Republicans are doing south of the border.

We have courted the Americans, flattered the Americans and when it comes to Afghanistan, we have imitated them.

So it must be frustrating for our Mr. Harper that in spite of all of the butt kissing we are doing, the Americans continue to make life difficult for Canadians every chance they get.

It seems that Ottawa is quietly protesting a series of 'user fees' that the United States wants to impose on airline passengers and commercial travel across our common border.

While Ottawa is going through the motions of protest, I doubt that Bush's little buddy 'Steve' will be able to make much of a change.

So much for Conservative ideology as it relates to dealings with President Bush.

CTV News

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please VOTE for this story on Progressive Bloggers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Canada's New Bush-Style Politics

American journalist, Richard Fricker has some enlightening observations on the current mood of Canadian politics. As an outsider looking in, his perspective is quite interesting. Here's a portion of his article dated October 14, 2006 from Consortium News:

"As an American journalist visiting my wife’s relatives in Canada, I’ve always been struck by how ardently the country’s political discourse focused on substance – the budget, health care, schools, roads – with little of the cheap theatrics and angry divisiveness of U.S. politics and punditry.

But in my visit this past summer, I noticed that the tone of Canada suddenly had changed. There was a nastier edge to the commentary. There were not so subtle appeals to racism and xenophobia, references to Muslim neighborhoods in Quebec as “Quebecistan” and to Lebanese-Canadians as “Hezbocrats,” a play on the Muslim group Hezbollah.

It was as if a virus that had long infected the people south of the border had overnight jumped containment and spread northward establishing itself in a new host population. But – as I began to study this new phenomenon – it became clear that this infection did not just accidentally break quarantine.

Rather, it was willfully injected into the Canadian body politic by conservative strategists and right wing media moguls who had studied the modern American model and were seeking to replicate it."

Full Article

 

Harper's Equalization Problems Continue


Prime Minister Stephen Harper spoke at a noon luncheon of the Newfoundland and Labrador Conservative Party on Saturday. Painting a flowery right wing vision of Canada under a new 'brand', he enticed Newfoundland to set aside petty regional complaints and work towards the new Canada.

However, at the evening Banquet, Premier Danny Williams blasted Harper for waffling on the matter of Equalization for Newfoundland and Labrador. He promised that there would be serious electoral consequences for the Prime Minister if campaign promises are not delivered.

Prime Minister Harper is under attack from East and West, by Newfoundland and Saskatchewan for not fulfilling the election promise to remove non-renewable resources from the formula which determines the provincial share of revenue sharing.

CTV Newfoundland

Government of Saskatchewan

Equalization File Gives Harper Headache

Press Grills Harper Over Equalization

Will Harper Pick Winners and Losers in Equalization Fix?

Saturday, October 14, 2006 

Secret Computer Sysytem Dodges Freedom of Information Act

Once again we find our Federal Conservative government NOT quite as 'Open, Honest and Accountable' as they would have us believe.

Due to their own interpretation of the existing freedom of information laws in Canada, the Federal Government is using a confidential computer system for Ministerial information and materials that they DO NOT include under the scope of the 'freedom of information' law in force in Canada.

These guys love secrecy! They love operating out of public view! All I can assume is that when you are operating in a manner that you do not wish the public to be aware of, then you likely have things you wish to hide.

Our Conservative government is not an open, honest and accountable government. Why is that?

What else are they hiding from Canadians? (No one likes a 'sneak')!

There is nothing 'moral' in dishonesty.

NOTE: Buckdog readers - please forgive my spelling error in the title - I go so fast when I get excited, I sometimes forget to spell check -

Ottawa Citizen

 

Alberta Government Spent $1Million to Undermine Wheat Board

The Alberta NDP Caucus released documents today which prove that Ralph Klein's Conservative government spent over one million dollars to undermine the Canadian Wheat Board!

Working hand in hand with the Harper Conservative government, Klein's government is bent on destroying the Canadian Wheat Board for purely right wing ideological reasons.

Those who doubt that there is a concerted effort to open the Canadian wheat market up to large american multinationals should have no further doubts.

CBC
NDP Caucus of Alberta

Friday, October 13, 2006 

YAWN ... slow news day















Follow leftdog on Twitter




About Me

Archives

BANNED FOR ABUSIVE BEHAVIOR

  • -Carmichael-
  • Things I Read

    • -Canadian Political Viewpoints-
    • -ZAG-
    • -Next Year Country-
    • -Huffington Post: Canada-
    • -LEFTIST JAB-
    • -Let Freedom Rain-
    • -Informed On Information-
    • -Wellington Post-NDP-
    • -Trapped In A Whirlpool-
    • -Larry Hubich's Blog-
    • -ROGERISM-
    • -Leftdog's Daily KOS Blog Page-
    • -RIDER PROPHET-
    • -Dipper Chick
    • -Ideagist -
    • -Al Barger's MORETHINGS.COM-
    • -Canadian Cynic-
    • Saskatchewan Progressive Bloggers
    • *NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY*
    • My Zimbio
      Top Stories
    • Blogarama - The Blog Directory
    • Politics Blogs - Blog Top Sites
      View blog authority
    • Display Pagerank
    • Canada's NDP
Powered by Blogger
and Blogger Templates