Category: Americas

And here I thought that this kind of idiocy was, gratefully, a thing of the past. I guess not. Oh, well; at least it dates back to the days of Grit government.  Plenty of media outlets are hooting away lately about an organization called the Institute for Media, Policy and Civil Society (IMPACS) and a project that they were running in Afghanistan. Now, I don’t recall ever hearing about IMPACS before, but their webpage describes them as “a registered not-for-profit charitable organization committed to strengthening the voice and profile of civil society organizations in Canada and internationally,” and a little poking around seems to indicate a bit of a Leftist slant to their philosophy.

Another indication might be the pie-in-the-sky, impractical, idealistic approach that they took to their project in Afghanistan. According to the IMPACS website for the project:

IMPACS Afghanistan works to encourage the development of free and fair media in Afghanistan. It focuses its work on women’s participation in media, and the use of media as a tool to educate women.

Doesn’t sound too bad, does it? I mean, after all, isn’t it about time that Afghan women — who were treated little better than slaves or livestock under the Taliban regime — had more of a voice? Hell, this actually sounds like something I’d give a few bucks to myself, so look for all the usual suspects latched onto the public teat to wail away about how this is another example of the cold-hearted Conservative Hidden Agenda® now that Ottawa has pulled the plug (after damn near $3 million was already blown) on its funding. The problem is that the agency made a complete balls-up of it.

So what did they do to accomplish their stated goals? Well, see for yourself:

• “… the 2004 launch of a now defunct monthly newspaper in the capital of Kabul, the report says. Its purpose was in part to train female reporters and educate women about politics and other issues. “
• “The rest of the $2.7 million in total CIDA funds was previously used to start two radio stations. They offered women, especially in rural areas, a rare chance to be trained and heard in a repressively male-dominated culture.”

A radio station. In rural Afghanistan. Where most buildings have no electricity at all and the majority of the ones that do, haven’t got radios.

And a newspaper. Isn’t that nice? The problem with putting out a newspaper for Afghan women is that, thanks to the prohibition against schooling girls that was in force for all the years of Taliban rule, fewer than 10% of the female population can actually read the damn thing!

Now, I have NO problem whatsoever with charities that do good work (and there are plenty of them) but this… this was nothing more than a money pit. All it did was to supply a few do-gooder moonbats with jobs for a few months.  And, in typical Lefty fashion, they responded to questions with the predictable “go away; we’re doing nice things” attitude:

Asked to explain the audit’s findings, a CIDA spokesperson said no one was available.

“A briefing is not a possibility at this time,” said Greg Scott. In an e-mail, he said that IMPACS was the first media development group trying to put women’s voices on community radio.

The problem, Greggy, is that putting “women’s voices on community radio” doesn’t do Jack Shit. Teach them to read first.  Go out into the Afghan countryside and actually get your hands dirty.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The problem with “liberals” is that they see the world as they think it should be, act accordingly, and then wonder what the hell went wrong (or try to blame conservatives) when they end up accomplishing nothing.  Conservatives, on the other hand, see the world as it is, warts and all, and just deal with it in the most direct fashion possible.

Now this right here is a perfect example of why I loathe the so-called “gay rights activists” crowd. It seems that New Brunswick is perhaps on the way to becoming one of the first provinces in the country to take a stand against the politically correct thought police, in favour of freedom of religion. And — gee whiz, who’d’a thunk it? — the SSM Left-wingnuts are totally pissed:

Conservative MLA David Alward said his proposed amendment to the Marriage Act would grant rights to commissioners who are opposed to same-sex “marriage” on religious grounds.

Homosexual activist groups have responded to the proposal with outrage, saying the legislation would grant rights to individuals who “discriminate” and would be an affront to the “equal marriage” movement.

Oh yeah, BIG surprise there. 🙄 They’ve got themselves all affronted, abacked, and probably asidewaysed as well. As usual, the rewriters of human nature assume that, whatever it is, it must be all about them. Surely, it couldn’t possibly have anything to do with people like Scott Brickie, Chris Kempling, Orville Nichols, or any of the other God-knows-how-many people who have been hauled in front of so-called “rights” tribunals and pilloried for nothing more than exercising their own rights.

And by “rights,” I mean real ones — like freedom of religion and speech — that are actually in documents like the CCRF or the USBOR; as opposed to “gay marriage,” which a handful of unelected judges just made up out of thin air.

These assholes try to make it sound like they’re somehow standing up for freedom when in fact, they’re destroying it. Perhaps the most fundamental freedom is the one to say “no, I choose to not participate in this,” and that is exactly what these bastards are trying to eliminate. They say they want “tolerance.” Bullshit. What they want is the whole world up on their little bandwagon with them and if you don’t want to go along with it, that’s tough shit because you’ll be dragged along if that’s what it takes.

Whatever rights you think you have don’t mean shit to them.  They don’t want to be “tolerated,” or just left alone to mind their own business.  They want to tell you what you can and cannot believe and they will bring all the coercive power of the state down on you towards that end.

How long will Canadians allow this cacophonous-but-miniscule minority to run roughshod over traditions and rights that have sustained our society for generations?  And when the oppressed faithful are finally pushed too far, what will the backlash be?

Only time will tell.  But I just can’t shake the feeling that it won’t be pretty…

I’ve been getting a few notes from some folks in other parts of the world lately asking me things like, “is the Canadian winter really like that?” and some of the other questions that we’ve all gotten so used to. Why the hell is it that it seems like every damned question is about nothing but winter?? 🙄 We actually do have four separate seasons up here, you know. And don’t give me any of that “almost winter, winter, still winter and construction” bullshit, either. It’s FOUR; as in spring, summer, fall and then winter.

Aw, screw it. To answer JB’s question (that he asked all the way from the land of Oz): Yes, it can get a little hairy sometimes. But you get used to it. Really.

And as for Nicole from the other London and her question, the answer is “pretty damned quick.” As luck would have it, the front page of today’s Freeps had a perfect example of what I’m talking about. This is what can happen in 12 seconds:

Pretty funky, eh? So, can we try to get some non-winter-related curiosity stirred in our melons now? Sheesh…

I have to admit, some days this country just leaves me scratching my head. Sometimes it’s in a good way. Some times it’s in a “where are we going and what am I doing in this handbasket” kind of way. Still other times it’s in a “just what the hell was that” kind of way. Lately it’s been like the last one… a lot. It’s not that things have been going spectacularly bad, or especially good, or anything else like that. I just find myself poking around on the net, looking for anything that resembles interesting news, and I just can’t help but ask myself sometimes, “and where the hell else in the world could you possibly find this combination of events??” The answer, I think, is nowhere. Don’t take my word for it, though. See for yourself and you tell me what you think…

The last few days has seen everything from a uniquely Canadian solution to a shortage of beer on a warship (arguably also a uniquely Canadian problem) to ref abuse becoming a science. The Great White Oops of the Librano$ is bumbling across the land trying to convince people that he’s not really an idiot — starting out with telling Alberta oilpatch workers that they’re “living too fast for the easy money” and being bad for our economy — while punditos across the land furiously try to read the national entrails for signs of the next election. Speaking of elections, over in la belle province, PQ leader Andre Boisclair has begun to realize that his political fortunes are flagging and so has responded by creating a new, smarter package of policies to present the people of Quebec playing the Gay Victim card. Immigration authorities will violate the traditional sanctuary of a church to get your ass out of the country; unless you assassinate a head of state, in which case you’re welcome to stay.

Name someplace else where you can find that mix. Go on, I dare ya…

As if I didn’t already have enough to bitch about when it comes to our idiotic immigration and ridiculous refugee systems, it now seems that even assassinating a head of state isn’t enough to get your sorry ass declared persona non grata in this country anymore. Yeah, you read that right. According to reports which are conspicuously NOT splattered all over the MSM lately, it seems that one Noor Chowdhury has decided to get all comfy in Canada after murdering the head of state back in his home country… and our screwball Immigration and Refugee Board is letting him!! See for yourself:

A Bangladeshi fugitive convicted of killing his country’s prime minister in a bloody coup won’t be deported from Canada because he faces a death sentence in his native land, an immigration board has ruled.

So friggin’ WHAT?? I don’t give a damn what’s going to happen to him once we get rid of his ass, I just plain don’t want him in MY country. And just who is this asshole you’re wondering? Well, he’s the guy that has been convicted of murdering Bangladesh’s then-PM Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975. Now, before you go tooting away about how Bangladeshi jurisprudence may not measure up to our own, bear in mind that the IRB agreed that this bugger is, in fact, a murderer:

“C participated in a coup against the president, walking into the victim’s home and killing him,” the board said in a ruling made available last week.

Yup, that’s us: haven to the world’s murderers. Pissed off yet? No? Try this for size:

Chowdhury and two others allegedly involved in the coup fled to Canada after years on the run. The two have since obtained citizenship — one lives in Ottawa, the other in Montreal.

And just how much do you want to bet that not a damn one of them lives on the same street as anybody on the IRB?

Well, I kind of guess it’s inevitable, especially when the government is in a minority situation. For those of you that don’t know this little nugget of trivia already, the average life expectancy for a minority government in the Canadian Parliament is about a year and a half, give or take a week or two. That’s eighteen months, or 78 weeks, or 546 days. A quick peek to your right shows that Her Majesty’s Prime Minister of Canada, the Right Honourable Stephen Hardass, has been leading the current Tory government in the House for 389 days now. In other words, if history is any indicator, we can likely expect to drag our collective ass back to the polls again sometime before Labour Day.

Whoopee.

No surprise then, that speculation about “when, when, when is it gonna be??” is running rampant, not just in Ottawa but in just about every other damn place between St John’s and Vancouver. For those of you that might be hoping this will all blow over so you can actually enjoy your summer, forget it. The media is all over this stuff like the homeless industry on a TO budget surplus, and that’s the way it’s likely to stay…

“Poll puts Liberals well back of Tories,” hooted a headline in the Freeps today…

The suddenly gaping chasm between the two front-running parties, after months of neck-and-neck polls, is less about a Tory surge than it is about foundering Liberal fortunes — but that’s enough in the capital’s hothouse atmosphere to fire fresh election talk.

Out in Cowtown, Licia Corbella says it’s “being called ‘the perfect storm,'” and she might well be right…

It’s being called “the perfect storm” and is instructive on so many levels, including attitudes about oil and gas, terrorism and Liberal Leader Stephane Dion.

Over at the National Post, they seem to be taking a more wait-and-see kind of approach…

The pollster also said while the trend in recent polls is good news for the Conservatives, the chances of a majority win are still not there.

“He has the trend. It is hard to look at these numbers, especially given the splits in Quebec, and say there is a real big win in the offing for the Conservatives and so these numbers may still continue to argue a certain measure of caution,” Mr. Anderson said.

So what the hell does all this mean, you ask? Well it’s simple: like it or not, we’re almost certainly going to the polls sometime this year, and likely sooner than later. While it’s a pain in the ass, this still isn’t all a bad thing. Recent events — from the cheap PR stunt of Pablo Rodriguez’s little Make-A-Kyoto-Plan-Or-Else bill to the killing of anti-terror measures that the Grits passed in the first place — have shown beyond any shadow of a doubt that if we want anything genuinely constructive to actually get done, we need a Conservative majority before it can happen. Until that happens, the Librano$ will continue stymying anything the Tories put forth (in order to prevent the Tories from being seen as getting anything done) while putting through more self-serving idiotic stunts like we’ve already seen, with the Dippers and Blocheads gleefully going along, all in the great spirit of the ABH principle.

The sooner we go the polls, the sooner we can get a majority, the sooner things can really start getting done, the better for everyone. I don’t know about you, but I’m getting damned sick and tired of waiting.