Well, now; doesn’t this just look like it has all kinds of interesting little possibilities? Gee, whiz, I wonder how long it will be before the religion of perpetual outrage gets wind of this and starts cranking out fatwas calling for Andy Donato‘s head? After all, if it’s good enough for Jyllands-Posten, then why not for the Toronto Sun?  Yes indeed, they should be rioting like chimps any day now because, remember, if you draw a picture of Mohammed, his peace-loving followers are going to want to saw your melon off on one of Baghdad’s unfunniest home videos.

Let the indignation begin…

Well, it’s that time of year, isn’t it? No, I don’t mean National Thank God That Hangover’s Finally Gone Day. I mean that it’s the time of year when journalists, pundits, cranks and crackpots the world over pipe up and risk making utter jackasses of themselves by telling all of us just what it is that they think is going to happen over the next 12 months.

You’d think that they’d learn by now. I mean seriously, folks, any predictions that you try to make about the direction that the planet’s affairs are going to head — in amidst the perfect storms of instability and political convenience that are currently blowing here and there across the globe — are one hell of a lot more likely to come back and bite you on the ass than they are to come true. Why someone would take such a risk of making an utter dolt of themselves in front of the whole world is beyond me.

So, here I go…

• The Tories will win… BIG time.
  I know, I know; I’m really risking sticking my balls in a bear trap by starting off with this one, but I can’t help it. In spite of what and how I usually rant and write, I really am an optimist. Stephie D, the new Grand Grit, will turn out to be a flop and disappointment on a scale that will rival Mr Dithers. His command of the English language will leave the ROC wistfully longing for the dulcet tones of Jonny Cretin. Dion and Duceppe will spend the election — which will likely come in March or April — sniping back and forth while the NDP and the Greens go after the eco-extremist loony Left vote like two seagulls squabbling over a dead fish. Harper will stand back, looking very Prime Ministerial in the wake of another tax-cutting budget, and pick up a majority. The CBC will totally blow a gasket.
• Stringing up Saddam isn’t going to change things much.
  Not really. Putting the Butcher of Bagdad on the end of a rope may or may not have been justice (that’s another post entirely) but the fact is that the US seems to be slowly but surely running out of the political will to put the needed military resources into the Iraqi front. Without those resources, especially manpower, arms and fighters will continue to seep in from Syria, Iran and the likes, and anything even remotely resembling a US withdrawal will be seen as a victory for the extremists. And if the US does pull out, then you’ll see things really start to circle the bowl. Understanding this, look for the Yanks to start taking a serious look at reinstating the draft. On the bright side, at least American high school grads will finally be able to find Canada on a map. 🙄
• Caledonia will go kablooie.
  This idiocy has been going on for nearly a year now and it’s only a matter of time before some damned hothead — on one side or the other — does something drastic. When that happens, look for the army to move in. Also look for Ditherin’ Dolt McWimpy to get knocked off his perch for his utter lack of leadership in this friggin’ fracas.
• We’ll finally get hit.
  Canada has been on Osama bin Hidin’s Al-Quaeda shitlist for years now and let’s not fool ourselves folks, our continued namby-pamby, half-assed attitude towards security means that it’s only a matter of time before our luck runs out. The effectiveness of our troops in the field in the Afghan theatre is an ongoing source of frustration for the lunatics who want that country reduced to a medieval hellhole and if they can’t break our troops in the field, they’ll damn well make for a softer target; likely hoping that if they can’t break the resolve of our soldiers, they can make a try for the resolve of the country that sends them.
• Multicultism will begin to slide away.
  Until recently, anybody that dared to point out that multiculturalism has its flaws was instantly tarred and feathered as a closet — or not-so closet — racist and dismissed as a knuckle-dragging neocon redneck neanderthal. Not so anymore. That bullshit has run out of gas in Europe in the wake of attacks in London and Madrid, and (especially if the previous prediction pans out) the same debate will begin in earnest here. John Q Public is going to start asking the hard questions about just who and what we are and are not willing to tolerate in our country. Europe, meanwhile, will continue to see an escalation of multicult-related ethnic violence, particularly in France and possibly the Netherlands as well.
• Lethal fighting will continue in Afghanistan.
  The question is not so much of “will we continue the mission” as it is of how many troops will we keep sending. If we do, in fact, have our first major domestic terrorist strike, look for the numbers of troops to swell, not dwindle. Canadians will be looking to send the message that such tactics will only accomplish the opposite of what the terrorists want. Look for Harper to dig in his heels, the Librano$ to stay divided and Smirkin’ Jack! to keep absurdly banging away on the bring-’em-home drum while he slides down into irrelevance.
• Alberta will keep on booming.
  Duh!
• Chicken Little will keep at it.
  Every little cold snap, heat wave, blizzard, lack of blizzards, hurricane or lack of hurricanes will be said to point to global warming, regardless of whether there is any hard scientific evidence or not. Look for the Lefties to holler themselves green in the face about it and tell us that it’s all our fault, even though we make up less than 2% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Watch them try to turn you into a social leper for having a woodstove.
• Same old same old from CBC.
  Look for the CBC to keep sounding the “scary Tories will be the end of the world” alarm, as usual. Also look for serious budget cuts to the Ministry of What You Should Think after Harper gets his majority.
• The Leafs will win the Stanley Cup.
  Anyone caught laughing will be shot.

I have to say that, after my last post, this is a refreshing bit of news. I could spout off about this for hours, but it really does speak for itself. This is so good that I’m putting the whole damn thing up here for everyone to see. For those out there who would question the courage and dedication of our men and women in uniform who put themselves in harm’s way for the greater good: keep reading, and learn something…

Canadian soldiers ready to re-enlist

Mon, January 1, 2007
The six-month tours leave troops seemingly enthused for more.
By BILL GRAVELAND, CP

HOWZ-E MADAD, AFGHAN-ISTAN — Sweltering heat in the summer, frigid cold in the winter, sleeping in the desert and the ever-present threat of Taliban attacks doesn’t seem to be a downside for some Canadian soldiers serving here.

As a matter of fact, with the end of this rotation coming up in February, a number are already talking about coming back for another tour of duty.

Forty-four Canadian soldiers have died in this war-torn country since 2002 and 2006 has been the bloodiest year for our troops since the Korean War.

But individuals like Cpl. Mark Ejdrygiewicz, 22, of Lethbridge, Alta., believe a six-month tour isn’t long enough to get the job done.

“On this six-month tour we did a lot. There was a lot of progress made: Op Medusa and down in Panjwaii and the districts there opening up the schools and building highways,” said Ejdrygiewicz, known as “Edge” to his patrol mates, as he rode in the back of a light armoured vehicle near Howz-e Madad.

“We’re doing what we can but we know the Taliban are going to come back. Winter’s here and they’ve gone back to Pakistan,” he said, taking a drag from his cigarette. “We’ve got a foothold on the ground in the area but in the back of your mind you know they will be coming back and it will be another threat.”

And Ejdrygiewicz takes his job very seriously. Written in felt pen on the cover of his helmet in Pashto is “Taliban Relocation Service,” a tribute to fallen comrade Master Cpl. Jeffrey Walsh, who was killed by an accidental rifle discharge last summer.

“One of our good friends who passed away back in August, Jeff Walsh, on his first roto, he had the acronym TRS and his idea was to make T-shirts for this platoon,” smiled Ejdrygiewicz.

“When he passed away it’s something we all kind of held onto and put that tag onto everything. Some interpreters helped me translate it into Pashto and I thought it would be a nice thing to put on the helmet,” he added.

“The reason it is in Pashto is so we can have a laugh and the locals can have a laugh as well and it’s caught on pretty well so far.”

As far as Ejdrygiewicz is concerned, any soldier who doesn’t want to come back for another tour here, shouldn’t have come in the first place.

“Being gung-ho, being enthusiastic about doing his job? Hey that’s a good thing,” he said. “If you’ve got soldiers out here wanting to go home, miserable and complaining, they’re a risk to you, they’re a risk to themselves and they don’t need to be here.”