Hezbollywood's Leading Lady – Unlucky Beirut Property Woman

Mulder

I guess a grandma in a babushka isn’t so memorable that she can be used several times. Unlike hiring Eva Longoria or Jessica Alba for the role of Bomb Magnet. Like Green Helmet Guy, this woman is being called Unlucky Beirut Property Woman.

A Lebanese woman wails after looking at the wreckage of her apartment, in a building, that was demolished by the Israeli attacks in southern Beirut July 22, 2006. REUTERS/Issam Kobeisi

babushka 1

And here she is again.

A Lebanese woman reacts at the destruction after she came to inspect her house in the suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Aug. 5, 2006, after israeli warplanes repeatedly bombed the area overnight. Israeli commandos attacked near the southern city of Tyre early Saturday but were repelled by Hezbollah guerrillas who killed an Israeli member of the force and wounded others, the group said in a statement. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

babushka 2

Notice the same black outfit with red stitching throughout. Notice the scar under the left eye? Notice the same spot under the right eye? Notice the same sad mouth curving downward drastically at the sides?

H/T to Shotgun via Jesse Gritter

CBC Circles The Wagons, Competitors Smell Blood

Mulder

We all know the MSM has been getting pounded for their primarily left leaning bias. Well things are getting quite interesting on two fronts.
One is when Stephen Taylor busted Christina Lawand of the CBC for juxtaposing a comment by the Prime Minister right after a Lebanese protesters statement that made him look quite cold and uncaring towards the Lebanese. The two clips took place in two different places and the PM’s statement was the tail end of a quote which asked him about much more than just the Lebanese Canadian feelings.

Well in the follow up post which Stephen takes a well deserved bow after Warren Kinsella comments on the bust, a commenter, Jay, posts his feedback from Jonathan Whitten, producer of CBC’s The National. You can read the comment and response here. Whitten doesn’t admit there was any wrong doing, but does admit they could have clarified the Prime Minister’s position a little better.

I do, however, agree with your concern about the structure of the report. The construction of the piece did make it appear the Prime Minister was responding directly to the woman protester, and that was not the case. We should have taken the time to make it clear that the Prime Minister was responding to a general question, and not a specific question about the woman’s concerns, and I regret that. While this does not constitute a misrepresentation of Mr. Harper’s position, or the position of his Government, the program could have, and should have, taken the time to be clear about what prompted the response.

The second front is the CTV hostile takeover attempt at the rights to Hockey Night in Canada. I have blogged about this before and the HNIC rights are one of the only profitable divisions of the CBC.

Right now, the CBC is paying about $65-million a year for broadcasting; TSN’s cable deal is worth about $15-million; and CTV-owned RDS’s Montreal Canadiens’ French-language agreement is for about $12-million.

That adds up to $92-million, meaning a CTV-TSN bid of $140-million would exceed the current amount by almost $50-million a year.

Could the CBC match that offer? Not likely. For starters, it doesn’t have a sports cable outlet. Therefore, it would bid only for English-language broadcast rights and perhaps French-language rights for Radio-Canada.

If the CTV offer gets accepted then you can pretty much kiss either the CBC goodbye, or a big whack of your tax dollars as the national entity appeals to the government for more financing to support itself.

Can we all start singing it now?

Ding dong the witch is dead…which old witch, the CBC Witch…
Ding dong the wicked witch is dead…..

Get Well Soon Mike Duffy!!

Mulder

I had just assumed the summer slowdown in politics was the reason Mike Duffy’s Countdown had not been on the air the past month or so.

But tonight on local Ottawa News Gallery Talk, Norm Fetterley mentioned that Mike had open heart surgery today and that he made it through the surgery with flying colours.

I won’t pry for details but I did want to wish Mike all the best and hope he has a speedy recovery and is back in his old seat grilling politicians again soon.

Green Helmet Crossing Guard?

Mulder

When you can work with a bit of paint shop pro like Reuters freelancers, you start having some fun. Green helmet guy’s vest reminded me of something, but I just couldn’t figure it out until I dug this old photo out of my public school yearbook…errrr ….ok maybe I was just getting rid of some dust spots and this is what it turned out like.

Green Helmet Crossing guard

An Order of Edamame, A Rainbow Roll, and A Sleeman's Honey Brown Please!

Mulder

My friends know I am a big fan of Sushi. They also know that on the rare occasion when I hoist a brew or two, they are inevitably Sleeman’s, and in particular, the Sleeman’s Honey Brown.

Today it was announced that Sapporo of Japan is buying Sleeman’s Brewery in Canada. The deal is expected to make Sleeman’s more competitive.

I think what I like most about this deal is being able to get a good Sleeman’s when I head out for some edamame and sashimi!!!

Domo Arigato Sapporo!!

Smackdown – Cotler Breaks Rank, Bitchslaps Louise Arbour

Mulder

Almost a month ago, I wrote that Irwin Cotler was already on the record regarding his view on the situation in the middle east.

Well now Cotler has come out and bitchslapped Louise Arbour for her view on the situation.

Louise Arbour’s comments on international law as it applies to Israel’s military actions in Lebanon are as superficial as they are simplistic as a matter of law, and uninformed and misleading in their appreciation of and application to the facts.

There is much more to read and I urge you to do so. It is quite nice to see someone speak out for what is right instead of just towing the party line.

H/T to Dispatches From The Socialist Gulag

Is It All About Religion? Or Just About The Money?

Mulder

Many believe that there is a war going on between radical Islam and Western values. Is it truly a battle of philosophy and religion? I am curious how many people wonder about what drives the price of oil up?

Instability. So let’s look at the top 10 nations by oil reserves.(in billions of barrels)

1. Saudi Arabia (264.3) – Terrorists from 9/11 were primarily Saudi Arabs. What better way to keep the House of Saud rolling in cash than to support terrorism under the table.

2. Canada (178.8) – For 13 years Chretien ruled with an iron fist that tossed cash out left right and center buying votes. Adscam, HRDC, Gun Registry, etc. All the money that could have paid off our debt and reinforced our armed forces blown on cash envelopes and monogrammed golfballs.

3. Iran (132.5) – Spawned Hezbollah and support terrorism openly.

4. Iraq (115.0) – Saddam supported terrorists and ruled with an iron fist to control the oil money.

5. Kuwait (101.5) – A tiny friend among giants.

6. United Arab Emirates (97.8) – Another tiny friend among giants.

7. Venezuela (79.7) – Hugo Chavez is pushing limits of sanity and joining forces with Iran and Russia.

8. Russia (60.0) – Don’t be fooled by Putin’s G8 Status and friendly trade pacts. Putin likes the instability in the middle east which is why the Russians are indirectly supporting nations where terrorists tend to breed.

9. Libya (39.1) – We know what Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi’s nation did for terrorism in the 70’s and 80’s before Ronnie Reagan bombed his home, killing his daughter and putting the Libyan terrorism on hold.

10. Nigeria (35.9) – A nation ruled by military generals for decades before the people stepped up and put a civilian (Olusegun Obasanjo) in charge. Just when the nation is looking to be turning a corner, rumours are starting that Al Qaeda has moved their base from Afghanistan to Nigeria.

Breaking down these top ten nations we have 6 that have been indirectly involved in destabilizing the oil supplies of the world which lead to higher oil prices. You can almost toss Russia into the mix due to their support via weapon sales to many of the other nations on this list, including Iraq. (just think SCUD missiles).

This leaves Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Canada.

Our current government’s stance against terrorism is a refreshing change from the previous governments wishy washy approach. Bravo Stephen Harper.  Previous PM Paul Martin has received kudos for getting Canada back on track financially when he was the Finance Minister, but he also had a tripling of oil prices since 1999 to ride and the huge tax surpluses created when big oil started raking in the dough.

So when you go fill your tank up and think it is because of a religious war going on overseas, you might want to rethink what the wars and terrorism are really all about.

Follow the money.