Smackdown – Minister Ambrose Teaches John Godfrey A Lesson About Bob Rae

Mulder

The following took place during the Oral Questions in Parliament on October 31st, 2006:

Hon. John Godfrey (Don Valley West, Lib.):

Mr. Speaker, the government’s cop-out plan on global warming has no short term targets, no medium targets and no action on greenhouse gases for 50 years. While the Conservatives talk, greenhouse gas emissions are increasing.

This dead air act is a sham. It is a smokescreen designed to avoid doing anything real on global warming. No amendments to the bill could ever change that fact. When will the minister withdraw this embarrassing mistake?

Hon. Rona Ambrose (Minister of the Environment, CPC):

Mr. Speaker, I would point out to the hon. member that I believe the Liberal leadership candidate he is supporting has the same target that this government has adopted and that was recommended by the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy.

I will also suggest to him that we will not do what the former government did and set arbitrary targets. We have given our word to the provinces and territories that we will work with them over the coming months and we will set short term targets in the very near future. I hope his party will work with us to make sure we can implement them.

(bold text emphasis is mine)

It’s nice to see that the Conservative Party knows more about the views of the Liberal leadership candidates than the supporters of said candidates.

CTV Wrongly Goes Ambiguous In Defence Of A Canuck

Mulder

This morning on Canada AM, the crew I enjoy watching threw a curve ball out there when discussing the stem cell research position Michael J. Fox holds and the criticism Rush Limbaugh gave Mr. Fox. The conversation appeared to make Rush Limbaugh out to be a monster for criticizing Michael J. Fox’s promotion of candidates who support stem cell research.

I am one who thinks Rush may have crossed a line and I was glad to hear he apologized, but I must point out that CTV made Michael J. Fox sound like a hero without giving the story due diligence.

There are many types of stem cell research, as I have reported in the past. And for Michael J. Fox and the CTV to not differentiate which ones are being discussed is wrong. From Mr. Fox’s perspective, he has a vested interest in any research which may cure his Parkinson’s so he is biased. From the CTV’s perspective, they should report the differences.

These include the fact that Adult stem cell research has cured many things, as has umbilical cord stem cell research, whereas embryonic has not cured anything. The first two are legal in most western nations. It is the embryonic stem cell research that is in question.

I think both Mr. Fox and the CTV need to do a bit more homework.

Bob Runciman Rips Yellow Bellied McShifty A New One

Mulder

I really don’t have much to add other than to put a few words down from Bob Runciman’s article in today’s National Post.

Public sources and documents show the Six Nations council agreed to surrender the land on Jan. 18, 1841, on the agreement the government would sell it and invest the money for them. On May 15, 1848, the land currently occupied was sold to George Ryckman, and a crown deed was issued to him. The same land was purchased by Henco Industries in 1992 and registered on title in July, 2005.

…

Apart from buying the occupied land for $22-million, the McGuinty Liberals are also paying the hydro and water bills for the occupiers. When asked about the costs of the occupation, Mr. Ramsay [David Ramsay, Mr. McGuinty’s Aboriginal Affairs Minister] declared, “It’ll cost what it costs.” That’s the kind of approach to fiscal responsibility that the McGuinty Liberals believe someone else should now pay for.

Under our Constitution, the administration of justice is clearly a provincial responsibility. Dalton McGuinty’s approach to fulfilling this responsibility has been to handcuff the Ontario Provincial Police by encouraging what could be construed as “hands-off” policing in Caledonia — thereby damaging the once-stellar reputation of the OPP.

…

And now, Dalton McGuinty wants Stephen Harper to foot the bill for policing in Caledonia, the $22-million cost of the land, the $1.5-million compensation package for local businesses and who knows what else. Perhaps Dalton McGuinty will add the cost of compensation promised to local homeowners on June 16 of this year, or better yet, he will ask Stephen Harper to keep this promise for him — since Mr. McGuinty’s record in the promise-keeping department leaves too much to be desired.

OUCH!!!

Hey, Dalton! Do you need to use twice as much toilet paper now?

H/T to Jack’s Newswatch

Does A Poppy Mean The Same Thing To Immigrants?

Mulder

Throughout my childhood when the end of October rolled in our teachers handed us all a small envelope that contained a poppy. I wasn’t aware of what it meant the first few years other than to know the money went to help the veterans of the wars in some manner. You see my parents were immigrants from Greece and to them the poppy did not specifically mean much. But every year my father or mother gave me a quarter or two to put into the envelope to bring back to school the next day.

I don’t know why, but I was always proud to wear that poppy and in the occasional year I lost the poppy in the wind or the wear and tear of being a kid I always felt bad. Like something was missing. I think this originally stemmed from the fact that I would not have a poppy to wear at the Remembrance Day ceremony our school had every year.

Why am I telling you this?

Because today on the Lowell Green Show a woman who worked for the Legion called up and told Lowell that she had worked three days for 4 hours a day at a poppy table and that not one visible minority had come up and given a donation for a poppy in the 12 hours. I wrote it off as a perception because I am the son of immigrants and I am well versed in the meaning of the poppy and I hope our schools are doing as good a job educating our children about this, because quite honestly, there are probably many parents who just don’t know what the poppy is.

Whether what this woman said is true or not, I don’t think your ethnic background should matter with respect to the show of support for our military and those who fought to defend not only our freedom, but the freedom of many other nations.

I hope that no matter what YOUR background is, that you pick up a poppy and wear it proudly from now until November 11th.

Lock Me Up And Throw Away The Key

Mulder

This blew me away. (I know I know, it’s a couple of weeks old but I haven’t had much time to surf a few of my favourite blogs the past month).

A writer for Grist, an environmental magazine that in the past has featured interviews with Al Gore and Bill Moyers, is calling for war crimes trials against so-called climate change “deniers” who disagree with the theory that humans have caused global warming. David Roberts says: “when the impacts are really hitting us and we’re in a full worldwide scramble to minimize the damage, we should have war crimes trials for these bastards — some sort of climate Nuremberg.”

The Holocaust references drew criticism from Roger Pielke Jr. of the University of Colorado’s Center for Science and Technology Policy Research — who says he believes in human-caused global warming. He said “this allusion is an affront to those who suffered and died in the Holocaust. This allusion has no place in the discourse on climate change.”

Considering I have been a huge proponent of the fact that over 97% of Green House Gases are water vapour, and that the earth has a self healing process that has produced ice age after ice age and warming after warming, I guess I am going to be one of those that eventually get locked up for putting science ahead of leftist fear mongering.

When that day comes, I will once again be able to say that I have been Officially Screwed.

H/T to ShamTheToryMan

"Pull The Troops Rally" Gets 500 In Toronto. Support The Troops Rally Gets Thousands In Kingston.

Mulder

I watched on and off this weekend as various news agencies reported on the numerous rallys across the country which were to raise awareness by moonbats to pull the troops out of Afghanistan. But one thing I noticed is that Toronto, the nation’s most populous city, could only muster about 500 protesters. Considering Toronto has a population of 4 Million or so and with the surrounding areas you can bump that up to 6 or 7 Million, I would have to say that the rally was a failure.

Meanwhile, there was a rally in Kingston where the Kingston Battalion marched into the city after being granted the key to the city. In the rain, there were thousands there watching.

I think when you compare the two rallys, it is quite obvious that there is a big difference in the amount of support.

I realize one was a rally against a mission and the other was one in support of troops. But the ratio of support was ridiculous. 1 in 8000 showed up for the Afghanistan pullout rally and at least 1 in 60 showed up to support the troops in Kingston. Considering Red Friday in Ottawa had 30,000 out of a million you can say that 1 in 35 or so showed up to support the troops in Ottawa.

I think the leftoid protesters need to toss in the towel.

ADDENDUM: I guess Toronto isn’t the only city with a crappy turnout for the leftoid protesters. Kate at SDA has a CBC post (yes I was shocked the CBC reported it too) that indicates in Edmonton only 100 or so protesters turned out.

ADDENDUM:  As BBS points out in the comments, the anti war rally in Windsor had a meager 50 or 60 people.  That had to take the wind from their sails!!  A city of over 210,000 people and they could only drag out 1 in 3500.  I wonder how many of those were Americans who made the trip across the river.

Red Friday Rally In Edmonton

Mulder

Natacha has kindly let me know that Edmonton is planning a big Red Friday rally. Details are as follows:

Date: Friday, November 3, 2006
Location: Sir Winston Churchill Square
Time: 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Rally Details:

The rally will include speeches, musical performances by Shawn Hlookoff, the sale of Red Friday’s merchandise and Yellow Ribbon products sold through the MFRC and Canex Retail Outlet, face painting and much more.

I Can't Sing

Mulder

I can carry a tune, I just don’t have the voice for it. In grade school, when the teachers walked around the gym listening for good singers for the school choir, I was inevitably tapped on the shoulder to go sit down. Some years I purposely made my voice go south when a listening teacher (or Mrs. Pilkey, the singing Librarian) walked by, but most years it was just my terrible voice that got me dumped.

But last night, for some reason that will probably befuddle me for decades, I was asked to kick off the singing of the national anthem at a dinner hosted by our EDA for our MP and Minister of Defence, the Hon. Gordon O’Connor.

My nerves were pretty shot. I found myself simply focussing on the words while I stared at the ground for most of it. I would hate to goof up and look like one of those singers at a baseball game who doesn’t do their homework on the lyrics.

Surprisingly, once I got going the whole room joined in and I think (or hope) that I was just another voice out of the 125 who sang along.

I do remember looking up at one point and seeing Minister O’Connor turn to face the flag that was behind me and I remember thinking “do I keep singing while I face the room or should I turn my back on everyone and face the flag two feet behind me?”. I probably made the wrong choice and just kept singing into the mic while I faced the room.

I am still not sure what the official protocol is for someone at the podium, but if I was wrong I sure picked a good time to be wrong. Sitting beside the Minister of Defence was Laureen Harper, the Minister’s wife Carol, the Minister of Finance (Jim Flaherty), the Minister of Heritage and Status for Women (Bev Oda), the Parliamentary Secretary for HRSDC (Lynne Yelich) and my ridings MPP (Norm Sterling).

Jeff Skilling Will Rightfully Die In Shackles

Mulder

After bilking the shareholders out of billions, Jeff Skilling, ex CEO of Enron, will die in jail. The 52 year old got sentenced to 24 years and four months in jail for his part in the Enron scandal. It feels good knowing he will be some prisoner’s beeatch for the rest of his years.

Considering Andy Fastow, the CFO (Chief FUBAR Officer in this case), only got 6 years and probably has millions sitting in an offshore trust or Swiss Bank Account and Ken Lay died of a heart attack pending sentencing, I think Skilling got the toughest sentence out of the big three.

Fastow got of lucky for turning over on how inept he was. If you have read Kurt Eichenwald’s book on the subject, you would know that Fastow was the driving force in the financial scandal that rocked the markets. But Skilling was the man in charge so rightfully deserves a harsh sentence for letting it happen on his watch.

So ends the Enron affair as far as the major players go.

Good riddance.

Yellow Belly McShifty Hides Behind Federal Skirts

Mulder

Today I am appauled appalled. I am disgusted. I am angry. I am upset.

Dalton Yellow Bellied McShifty is passing the Caledonia buck to the feds. DustMyBroom has the whole scoop and I wouldn’t do this justice other than to say that this shows poor judgement, poor leadership and poor representation on behalf of the citizens of Ontario by Mr. McGuinty.

An ongoing aboriginal occupation in southern Ontario has worn out the patience of the province’s taxpayers, Premier Dalton McGuinty says — and he’s urging Ottawa to pick up its fair share of the cost and settle the eight-month dispute with Six Nations protesters.

Although McGuinty has consistently called for patience in the aboriginal standoff in Caledonia, south of Hamilton, his own forbearance appeared at an end as he reminded the Conservatives in Ottawa that aboriginal land claims are a federal responsibility.

“It is costing the people of Ontario a lot of money,” McGuinty said after a weekend speech in Niagara Falls.

“We intend to claim for compensation from the federal government and we would encourage the federal government to fully assume its proper responsibility and begin to bring some real vigour to the negotiations and to bring them to some conclusion.”

Go Read It All!!!

ADDENDUM:I added the words “by Mr. McGuinty” to the second paragraph to clarify that it is his actions I am disgusted with. The way it read before may have been misconstrued as me being disgusted with Lisa’s post at DustMyBroom, which is not the case. DustMyBroom is a GREAT blog I urge you all to bookmark and read regularly.