Month: June 2006

Smackdown Of The Week (June 4th, 2006)

Mulder

I love this one. Jean Charest has challenged Gilles Duceppe to put up or shut up.

Charest issued the dare Friday in response to Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe’s accusation earlier this week that the premier has shown “no backbone” in demanding that Prime Minister Stephen Harper share the cost of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“If he (Duceppe) believes in what he’s saying, unless it’s empty rhetoric, well then he’ll vote against the budget in the House of Commons,” Charest retorted angrily.

“So we’ll see who has backbone.”

…

Charest said Duceppe should stop telling him how to do his job and start doing his own.

“Mr. Duceppe is the leader of a federal party that sits in the House of Commons with a minority government. He’s not the premier of Quebec,” Charest said.

Roasto Toasto!!! Backbone indeed. He may as well have told Duceppe his cajones are as big as chick peas.

Ahhh, Jean. You may be a Liberal now, but you still have a place in my heart.

Less than 24 Hours After Canadian Terror Arrests And The Race Card Comes Out

Mulder

Canada is a VERY tolerant country. Unlike the United States, we are not a “melting pot”. In Canada, your ethicity comes first. ex. I am a Greek Canadian, not a Canadian Greek.

But The Buzz at Canoe.ca points out a quote from the Aly Hindy that has visions of Johnny Cochrane flashing before my eyes.

Aly Hindy, an imam at the Salaheddin Islamic Centre in east-end Toronto, said the centre’s mosque had been monitored by security agencies for years. He said Muslims were once again being falsely accused.

“It’s not terrorism. It could be some criminal activity with a few guys, that’s all,” said Hindy.

“We are the ones always accused.”

(bolded emphasis mine)

Brent Colbert reminds us of a quote Aly Hindy made back in July. (note the followup comment to Brent’s post that mentions Hindy is a close friend of the Khadr family.)

He also demanded that the police and intelligence agencies stop “terrorizing Muslim Canadians” and chillingly suggested that he couldn’t “guarantee what is going to happen. Our young people we can’t control.”

Indeed, Mr. Hindy. You can NOT control your youth. This is why we have the RCMP, CSIS and four police divisions jumping when a threat alert occurs. This is why we have lists of anyone buying ammonium nitrate. This is why we have border guards, sniffer dogs, and anti-terrorism divisions in all major western countries.

RCMP assisstant commissioner Mike McDonell put the three tonnes of ammonium nitrate found in perspective:

“If I can put this in context for you, the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people was completed with only one tonne of ammonium nitrate.”

For the record? If the 17 arrested were Greeks, and if some were cousins of mine, I would be the first to say “lock them up and throw away the key”.

ADDENDUM:  By the above article, my main argument, which may be a bit vague is that it doesn’t matter what the accused background is.  Nor does it matter what their religion is.  Nor the colour of their skin.  The fact remains that the authorities feel they had enough intelligence, information and facts to move on the individuals.  And until due process is complete, they are accused of some very nasty crimes, but still innocent until proven guilty.

But if you saw the cell phone, 8D batteries, barbecue element, and assorted guns, knives, etc from today’s Ottawa Sun, you might already be disqualified as a juror.  It was pretty damning evidence.

What The Hell Is Wrong With Our Country?? This One Hits Too Close To Home For Me

Mulder

This one hit especially close to home, because Donview Middle School is where I went to school from Grade 7 to Grade 9. I played Soccer and Flag Football behind the school. I slid down the iced slope on the north side of the school on my Adidas gym bag for hours after school in the winters.

But now I am finding out that my old junior high school is giving out assignments to 8th graders that pushes all boundaries of tolerance. This is NOT the Donview I remember. It is NOT the Geography Mr. Waisglass taught us. It is NOT the Geography Mr. Jardine taught us.

The material includes a fictitious story that depicts Jews persecuting Christians, including the burning of a church. It is one of seven vignettes, and the only one that identifies an oppressor by ethnicity or religion.

“The implication that Jews are burning a church, given our own past, is really offensive,” said Janis Rosen, who teaches Grade 8 geography at Donview Middle School in York Mills. “It just hit me in the stomach.”

The material — pulled from another Toronto area school board curriculum in 2002, according to the Canadian Jewish Congress — comes from a group assignment in “Grade 8 Geography Resources” (2000), a binder that Ontario teachers photocopy looseleaf lessons from.

In a chapter about migration, students are asked to read the ficticious vignettes and identify push factors like war, death threats and natural disasters, before sending refugees to a new country.

In one such vignette, Jamal and his Christian family are forced to leave their hypothetical country, “Country F,” after being tyrannized by Jews.

“Refugees from Jewish neighbourhoods slowly took over the apartment buildings,” it reads.”Great anger” grows between Christians and Jews, and all but one Christian family — the speaker’s — are forced to leave.

The whole article can be viewed here. I urge anyone who knows me and knows people in the old neighbourhood to share this with their friends and urge parents with kids at Donview to complain. This is just too Officially Screwed for me.

H/T to Gay and Right for this one.

Ottawa Bloggers – And Then There Were Four

Mulder

In an effort to keep things honest on the Ottawa Valley Blogroll, I have gone through the sites that were on the list and, with a heavy heart, removed those who have not chosen reciprocate by adding the roll to their sites.

Harsh? No. Just tough love. I still have many of those removed on my personal reading list. But in fairness to those who have put the link up, I have gone ahead and done the dirty deed.

If anyone out there in the Ottawa Valley wishes to be included (or readded), simply follow the link below for details on how to do so. I check my email regularly so it shouldn’t take more than 24 hours before you are added.

Instructions for joining Ottawa Valley Bloggers

Terrorists Busted In Canada!!!

Mulder

It was around 10pm last night when I heard the news that a dozen or so people were arrested (with more to come overnight) under Canada’s anti-terrorism laws. My heart leapt with pride for my hometown security forces.

The investigation, which has been ongoing since 2004, culminated in last night’s arrests. The individuals have been tied to explosives and CTV says that there may have been a series of terrorist attacks on our own soil prevented with the arrests.

It’s about time!! After hearing earlier this week that less than 10% of immigrants from Afghanistan and Pakistan have gone through appropriate security clearance, there has been a small sense of dread in me. That tiny voice that just yells inside, “Are you kidding me??? 10%?? From the hotbed of extremism??” That volume of that little voice has gone down a few deciBels after the announcement about the arrests.

Last night’s arrests bring faith and hope back to me. The report says that the cell is not al-Quaeda related but possibly a self starter and their are rumblings that some of those arrested attended a “training camp” north of Toronto. If they know of a camp north of our most populous city, then I am positive they are starting to track what has gone on there and this will likely lead to more arrests.

Sleep a little bit safer tonight Canada.

Mayorial Math 101 – Bob Chiarelli Fails With A $51 Million Dollar Error

Mulder

What’s wrong with this picture?

After the Sun reported yesterday that the $725-million budget for the north-south line could balloon to almost $900 million, Munter sent a letter to Mayor Bob Chiarelli, renewing his request that the city hire an independent auditor to look at the books to find the project’s true cost.

…

Chiarelli went on the defence yesterday, saying the real cost of the project is not $900 million. He said only portions of projects identified as raising the cost of the north-south line are related to building light-rail transit.

He said the list of projects reported in the Sun was “good news,” because portions of the $124 million worth of associated light-rail projects clearly identified in the 2006 budget will save the city money in the future. “We are taking advantage of the O-Train and increasing cost efficiencies substantially over the long haul,” he said.

The light rail system (O-Train) is going to be the issue which Bob Chiarelli will either be best known for, or live in infamy for. But I give him credit, he is plugging away at making sure it happens as hard as he can. So much so, that he has forgotten his grade 4 math.

My 9 year old helped me out with this one, sans calculator.

The O-Train was expected to cost $725 Million dollars.

The list of expenses is almost $900 Million dollars.

Mayor Bob says that $124 Million dollars of the $900 is programs which have already been accounted for through other city plans or will create future efficiencies.

Now for the tough mathematical part.

$900 Million (in overruns)
-$124 Million (mayor’s number which is not part of O-Train costs)
$776 Million

Hmmmmm……$725M has turned into $776M. We haven’t even approved the O-Train and the overrun is already mathematically $51 Million dollars.

I’m excited to see the CFRA poll on the topic indicate that over 86% of those who have voted on the subject think the O-Train should not be approved by the current city council. At last check after well over 2000 votes, 51% want it to wait until after the election, and over 35% want it added to the referendum in November, which means approval would fall to the next city council.

I have a feeling if the O-Train becomes the major election issue, that we will more than likely have a new mayor come November.

Remember This?

Mulder

Bloody Zit
Well Couche-Tard is at it again.

Last year, I wrote about the slushy drink that was being sold under the name “The Bloody Zit“. Couche-Tard, the owner of three convenience store brand names (Couche-Tard, Mac’s and Circle K) is going down the road of shock marketing for their new slushie. On CTV Newsnet this morning, I saw part of a commercial for their new drink which is taking bigger steps than a Bloody Zit. Now we have the Liposuction.

It starts out showing a doctor performing liposuction on a fairly large man. The doctor is digging away as the tube sucks his fat out. The camera then jumps to a youngster sucking on a fat clear tube as if the liposuction “suction” is being provided by the youngster.

Again, the convenience store owners have pushed the limits of advertising to the point of no return. Again, I will not let my kids order the drink, nor will I ever purchase one myself. In fact, this time I think I am just going to boycott the stores alltogether and do my convenience store shopping at Quickie Mart’s and Gas Stations.

Couche Tard … the Howard Stern of slushies … simply gross.