Most people that pop by here, even just every now and then, know by now that I’m something of a fan of conservative journalist, publisher and editor (not to mention regular contributor to the Calgary Sun) Ted Byfield. For those not familiar with him, Ted has a great way of hitting the nail right on the head sometimes and often — though, I suspect, purely unintentionally — manages to come up with articles about topics that have been on my own mind lately; some of which I’d been working on writing about myself. The bothersome bit about it is that he damn near always does it better than me. He went and did it again yesterday…

Tinkering left society’s institutions in tatters

Those who predicted the consequences were dismissed as being out of touch with reality.

By TED BYFIELD

There’s an old saying that if you castrate the stallion, you shouldn’t complain that he no longer sires young.

I think of this when I see modern society frantically trying to replace the institutions, it has been diligently castrating for the last 30 or 40 years.

Take the family, for instance.

First we decided that divorce should be made easy, then stood back alarmed when we discovered so many couples breaking up, often leaving women to raise children without a father.

At the same time, we came to deplore women whose main career aspiration was to have babies and raise them to adulthood.

We called their lives wasted. Then we were aghast to see our birthrate descend to levels so low our culture and society cannot survive.

Again, we decided women should really have a career, earn good money, and not remain “chained” to the household. But then we were horrified to see the spectacle of “latch-key children” whose parents were not there when they came home from school, and began getting into trouble.

The complete article is here.

I don’t like the media very much. You can tell, I know. More often than not, the media displays a habitual, even vindictive, Leftist slant in virtually every issue. Sometimes, reading the paper or watching the news, it’s hard to imagine that they believe conservatives can do anything right or that liberals can do anything wrong. Every now and then, however — not often, mind you but just often enough — I come across something that just plain makes good sense and demonstrates that even the media is capable of heaving its head out of its arse from time to time.

Maybe I judge the media too harshly. Or maybe it’s just a case of even a stopped clock being right twice a day. Whatever it is, I do enjoy seeing it on those occasions it comes along. Today’s editorial in the Freeps was one of those occasions. Check it out for yourselves:

Reinforce our troops

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has rightly reminded the opposition parties that Canada has an obligation to its NATO partners in fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.

But NATO has an obligation to Canada as well.

Because, along with the British and Dutch, it is our troops who are on the sharp end of the stick when it comes to the fighting in the deadly Kandahar region.

To date, 44 Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan, 36 of them this year in and around Kandahar, including two killed in a suicide bombing this week. Almost nine per cent of the 511 coalition soldiers killed in Afghanistan since fighting began in 2001 have been Canadians.

This week, Harper came away from a NATO meeting in Latvia with only vague assurances that more countries in the 26-member alliance will start sharing the heavy lifting in Kandahar.

There was also confusion about which NATO countries will supply needed troops; and about the extent to which restrictions they have placed on their military that preclude their forces from serving on the front lines in Kandahar, will be lifted.

Harper who had gone to the meeting looking for reinforcements from other NATO countries, acknowledged that while Canada will be getting some help, it is not at the level he had hoped.

“Look, we’re not going to kid you, the security situation remains a challenge in the south,” he said. “We still believe we are under-manned, but we’re getting more forces all of the time, we’re getting more flexibility from our NATO partners.”

Gone are the days when Canada stood apart from these deadly conflicts and self-righteously lectured from the sidelines. Canadian soldiers are now in harm’s way, doing what must be done in Afghanistan if it is not to fall back into the hands of the religious fanatics and terrorists who first plotted 9/11 from within that country.

Canada has earned the right — through the sacrifices made by its soldiers in Afghanistan — to have its concerns taken seriously at the NATO table.

If it weren’t for the fact that they’re doing it out of such sheer frustration, this would be funnier than a clown convention. Eleven men and one woman from Leader, Sasflatchewan — who have had it up to here with the provincial NDP (No Damn Pavement) government’s do-nothing approach to the appalling condition of too many roads in the Land of The Big Flat — have gone and done something a little… creative to bring attention to the problem. Just ask anyone from Leader to Swift Current and most will tell you that the worst of the worst (so bad it’s got its own website) is Highway 32. This place sounds like 90 miles of Jean Chretien speeches:

“Highway 32 from Leader to Swift Current was so bad . . . you were driving all over the road trying to avoid these potholes,” said [Gord] Stueck.

It was so difficult to travel, Stueck said, that ambulances were forced to take alternate, longer routes.

“You couldn’t transport patients that were cardiac patients or fracture patients. You just couldn’t transport a patient on that.”

And that’s just a tiny snippet of the complaints that you’ll hear. The Dippers, of course, have taken the typically arrogant Lefty approach to the whole affair:

“They’re very creative people,” [Saskatchewan Highways Minister Eldon] Lautermilch told reporters after seeing the calendar at the provincial legislature.

“But I don’t think a calendar is going to rebuild a road. I think recommendation from my department in terms of priority will probably be a fairer gauge.”

Isn’t it nice to see a government so responsive and accountable to the people that elect them? Why do I get the feeling that Flatland is heading for their own Chansaw Mike (2.0)? 😆

Sometimes the elephant in the room isn’t just avoided, it’s downright verboten. Here is a perfect example of one such pachyderm: Canada’s Governor General, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, has stood up and spoken what the self-loathing liberal crowd would never dare say out loud, let alone in public. In Accra, Ghana, during “a state dinner on the eve of her emotional pilgrimage to a seaside fortress where thousands of slaves were shipped to the Americas,” Her Excellency (funny how she seems to wear that title well sometimes, isn’t it?) rose and declared that Africa must finally own up to it’s own collusion in the slave trade.

That’s right — Africans were just as guilty of complicity in the buying and selling of human beings as whites were, although you will rarely, if ever, hear that. Her Excellency also praised the government of Ghana for their own recent Mea Culpa on the matter:

“As it looks to the future, Ghana has shown that it is willing to confront the past. … I am impressed by your government’s decision to apologize for what was done hundreds of years ago by the people of this region involved in the slave trade. … As a descendent of slaves, that touched me very much. I know that we cannot go back and solve past injustices. All we can do is learn from the lessons of the past — even the painful lessons — and use that knowledge to build a better future.”

This is a stark truth that those content with — and sometimes having a vested interest in — merely pointing the accusatory finger at, and laying all the blame on, “Whitey” have rabidly avoided for decades, burying anyone who dared point it out under an avalanche of accusations of racism, bigotry, etc, ad nauseum. One look at Her Excellency tells exactly why we won’t be hearing that this time, except from the most deranged adherents of the “blame the whites for everything” crowd, who will be quickly dismissed for the malcontents that they are. But no one but the most deluded would ever think that any white person could ever make this point so honestly without being immediately drowned in a sea of ad hominem accusations.

While I could go on at length — and may, in the near future — about how the truth is the truth, no matter who says it, I’m not going to do that now. The truth is where it needs to be and this time, it cannot be venomously dismissed amidst a flurry of slurs. It will have to be dealt with, bluntly and in an honest manner.

Many will recall that I was initially very (some would say harshly) critical of Mme Jean’s appointment as Governor General. If she continues to conduct herself in such a fashion as this, I may well be proven wrong.

And, believe it or not, I would be just fine with that. A little crow in my diet isn’t going to kill me.

Okay, everybody; things have been way to serious around here lately. Between byelections, Bishop’s operation, and all the other yadda that you can yadda, things have been downright funless. Bearing that in mind, here’s a little something that I found in my email a while back. Yes, I know that most of you (or most of you from Canada, at least) have probably seen this before but, considering recent events, I thought it would be a fitting little interludefrom the daily grind. If nothing else, at least it’s good for a yuk or two:

Vancouver (Reuters)

Day 2 – Vancouver Blizzard 2005 – Revenge of the Commuters

Chilled Vancouver commuters faced their second day of winter hell today, as an additional ¼ centimeter of the peculiar white stuff fell, bringing the lower mainland to its knees and causing millions of dollars worth of damage to the marijuana crops.

Scientists suspect that the substance is some form of frozen water particles and experts from Saskatchewan are being flown in. With temperatures dipping to the almost but not quite near zero mark, Vancouverites were warned to double insulate their lattes before venturing out.

Vancouver police recommended that people stay inside except for emergencies, such as running out of espresso or biscotti to see them through Vancouver’s most terrible storm to date. The local Canadian Tire reported that they had completely sold out of fur-lined sandals.

Drivers were cautioned to put their convertible tops up, and several have been shocked to learn that their SUV’s actually have four wheel drive, although most have no idea how to use it.

Weary commuters faced soggy sushi, and the threat of frozen breast implants. Although Dr. John Blatherwick, of the Coastal Health Authority reassured everyone that most breast implants were perfectly safe to 25 below, down-filled bras are flying off the shelves at Mountain Equipment Co-op.

“The government has to do something,” snarled an angry Trevor Warburton. “I didn’t pay $540,000 for my one bedroom condo so I could sit around and be treated like someone from Toronto.”

Crack a cold one, throw Flight of the Valkyries on the turntable and enjoy the spectacle of all the soaring swine. That’s right boys and girls, Rick Mercer said something with which I am in total agreement. He actually manages to take all the criticism of Harper’s stance with China and, in what I must admit is a very Canadian fashion, put it in just the right light.

No, I haven’t been drinking. Well, not that much anyway. Here, see for yourself and see what you think.