Canada and Ukraine

UPDATE:  Another Ukrainian arms dump goes 'kablooie'!  A day after somebody tried to assassinate a 'dissident' leader in Donetsk.  Co-inky-dink?  Who knows?  Canada better 'pitter-patter' on their free 'bang-bang!

This past weekend after a meeting with Poroshenko the  ("peace") President of Ukraine, Canada's Justin Trudeau announced that his government was giving the green light for the export of restricted weapons to that benighted land.

This in counterpoint to the US announcement that it would not be arming the Ukraine.

A decent overview of the Canada-Ukraine  relationship  was written by  Jim Miles for Global Research

Global Research Site

Here's his article:

Poroshenko and Trudeau: Canada’s Ukrainian Attitude

"“We continue to stand with Ukraine against the illegal illegitimate incursion of Russia into Ukrainian territorial sovereignty and their attempts to destabilize Ukraine economically and many other ways,” Trudeau said. CBC, September 22, 2017.  

Donbass

The Canadian government operates under as many double standards as that of the U.S. and its other NATO allies.  Russia did not invade Donbass, but more than likely supplied the rebel defenders with equipment, (much as the U.S. does globally). And what were they rebelling against, you dare not ask?

Well, they rebelled against the U.S. covert actions against the democratically elected government of Yanukovich, not wanting the newly installed neonazi Maidan strongmen (e.g. Arseniy Yatsenyuk) to control their region of the country. Further, the same bunch also used language that indicated they wished for ethnic cleansing and even genocide – Yulia Tymoshenko, the new revived darling of the western backed government, called for their complete destruction. The criminal Saakashvili (wanted for crimes in Georgia, his home state) is attempting to do something now that he has returned to Cherkasy in the geographical centre of Ukraine, another CIA sponsored overthrow of their first internationally illegal operation?

The Minsk agreement is an agreement signed between Donetsk-Luhansk on one side and Ukraine on the other, with France and Germany as co-signees – not the Russians. The agreement calls for unconditional ceasefire, withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line, release of prisoners of war, and constitutional reform in Ukraine. All of these are dependent on the Ukraine government in Kiev to act upon (not Russia) and they have not acted on any of them.

Heavy weapons have not been withdrawn and continue to fire daily and nightly from the front line into the Donbass region, mostly at civilian targets. Some prisoners were exchanged, but many from the Minsk side were simply civilians rounded up to use as ‘trade’. There has been no constitutional reform from the Ukrainian Rada.

The current desire to place peacekeepers inside Donbass is a non-starter for Donbass residents who have suffered under continual artillery fire since the Minsk agreement was signed. If the peacekeepers were on the ceasefire line, that might be acceptable, but for Poroshenko that obviously recognizes that the real problem is internal rather than with Russia.

Canada’s integrity

So where else is Canada concerned about territorial integrity? Hmmm, perhaps Syria, with its support for U.S. actions against Assad – nominally against terrorism, but the intelligent broad reader would know that the real target is Assad astride a critical oil route (as well as having ongoing troubles with Israel, the country that illegally annexed the Golan Heights, an action that the Canadian government never criticizes.)

Or perhaps Libya? Canada was one of the lead brave bombers that destroyed that country, aggravating the ISIS terror nexus, aggravating the immigrant problem to the EU, once again supporting U.S. international criminal actions under the false accusation of genocide (there wasn’t any, Gaddafi was fighting against ISIS affiliates in his eastern provinces).

Or maybe Yugoslavia/Serbia, where once again the brave Canadian bombers destroyed civilian infrastructure and more in order to carve apart another country that did not fit the U.S. definition of what a country should be – that is, subservient to the U.S., as Canada is.

Crimea

Trudeau and cohorts would of course cry out that Crimea is an obvious illegal international intervention. But consider….Crimea had always wanted independence from Ukraine ever since the fall of the Soviet Union. Twice they voted for it, twice they were denied it by Ukraine, and Russia at that time was to weak to do anything to assist them (remember originally Crimea had been ‘gifted’ to Ukraine by Khrushchev).

When the U.S./Yatsenyuk team overthrew the duly elected (if corrupt) government, the Russian forces already in Crimea blocked any attempts of the Ukraine towards violent actions such as happened at the Maidan, in Odessa, and in Donbass. Really they should be thanked for the prevention of another area with a large loss of life due to U.S. imperial desires (sort of like they should be thanked for destroying most of ISIS in Syria, you know, the Saudi backed group the U.S. covertly supports).

It also became known that U.S. warships were bound for the Crimean port of Sevastopol, an action prevented by the quick move of the Russian forces stationed there. What would have happened if the U.S. had arrived first, once again violating an international boundary – well of course, the sycophantic Canadian government would have lauded the action, while the Ukrainian forces rampaged against all things Russian in Crimea – which is most of it.

Following that a referendum was held to know if the people wished to join with Russia. The vast majority said yes, not at gunpoint as the western MSM wished to argue, and the Russian Duma accepted the request. Peaceful, no lives lost, and Crimea is better off than the rest of Ukraine and the Donbass.

Trudeau can lament that all he wants, there is no way Crimea will voluntarily return to Ukraine. But as long as the U.S. wants it, so long as the domestic Ukrainian lobby wants it, so the lament will continue.

Economic destabilizing

If the actions of the countries involved are looked at closely, the main economic destabilizing factor for Ukraine has been its own actions. It was Ukraine that blocked coal shipments from Donbsas. It was Ukraine that stopped the farmers and citizens of Kherson from trading with Crimea. It was Ukraine that knocked down power lines to Crimea, and cut of water to Crimea as well as parts of Donbass. It is Ukraine that continues to shell civilian structures in Donbass (water pumping stations, power stations, railways, schools, hospitals et al) causing serious economic damage to that region. Donbass has not responded in kind, and has withdrawn its heavy weapons from the contact line.

Ukraine itself has devolved into familiarity, with various oligarchs controlling the political, industrial, and financial actions both domestically and internationally that have ruined much of what little the Ukrainian people had. Factories are closing (lack of coal, lack of orders, for the latter a significant part being industries that used to sell equipment to Russia). The war effort of Kiev against Donbass is itself a costly affair, both in human lives and in economic losses to the economy.

Canada’s Ukrainian attitude

Canada’s Ukrainian attitude – that is its anti-Russian attitude – is a combination of both domestic politics as well as its subservient role to U.S. interests via NATO. The ultimate U.S. goal is to deconstruct if not destroy Russia, to make it part of the U.S. empire as it tries for global hegemony. Unfortunately for the world it is that very U.S. imperial desire that has wreaked havoc across many countries on all continents of the world.

Personally, I support the actions of Russia in Syria, an area where they are operating within international law, as opposed to the U.S., Canada and all the other uninvited nations fighting – theoretically – against terrorism. Given the global method that the U.S. uses to destabilize nations – through economics (sanctions, embargoes et al) combined with covert military means that frequently become overt military means – I support the growing positive relations between Russia and China and their efforts at building infrastructure and economic relationships across Eurasia (and Africa and Latin America), without using the military.

That of course is another reason for Ukraine being used as it is – to keep Eurasia from developing independence from the U.S. economic system and the reserve currency status of the US$. With Ukraine as another puppet U.S./EU/NATO government, it will be easier to try and block the Chinese BRI (Belt and Road Initiative). That then spreads globally to U.S. actions in Syria, Iran and anywhere else in the Greater Middle East where Canada plays its supporting role in all things imperial. After all it’s only natural – the U.S. and Canada are children of the once greatest colonial-settler imperial nation in the world, the U.K.

In short then, Canada’s Ukrainian attitude is supported by its internal Ukrainian cohort and more broadly by its warmongering imperial backing of U.S. adventurism to capture…well, the world.

Featured image is from Radio Canada International.

The original source of this article is Global Research

Copyright © Jim Miles, Global Research, 2017


For all his 'evil stupidity Muammar Ghaddafi had Ukraine all figured out years ago.  He was right, it did have serious implications.

дезинформация (dezinformatsiya:disinformation)

The American disease is spreading north!  It's called "disinformation", Russian disinformation,  and how it's gonna wreck civilization.

                                  "Left foot in, left foot out - doing jiggery pokery, shake it all about"

For the past two days, it would appear, Canada has either been under attack or is imminently going to be attacked (depending on which one of the two 'media sources' (Macleans Magazine, National Post) that 'discovered' it)  by whatever parts of Russia are accused of 'attacking' America - skewing the vote there and electing a President nobody - 'except Putin' - wanted.

                                                     What more needs be said?

The 'threat', we are told, has arisen since Canada announced, on Tuesday, (well that's a fib, Putin has been trying to 'screw' Canada, or Krystia Freeland or both, for a much longer time),  that it will be continuing to 'support' Ukraine, in  small part, by maintaining a force of 200  military trainers, in Ukraine, until 2019.  No mention of Canada's already having had military forces, periodically,  in Ukraine dating back some 20 years and that whatever 'parts of Russia' etc,  not attacking us - until now.

                                 Khristia .... and freedumb. She even looks like a real Canadian

What this 'disinformation attack' is about is our (relatively) new Foreign Affairs Minister, Krystia Freeland and her stalwart defence of EUkrainia. It would appear that 'Russia' has, lately, been attacking her, personally, by claiming that her grandfather - a Ukrainian 'refugee' (they used to be called "DP's"  after WW2),  spent some of his 'war' time working for a  pro-Nazi,  anti-Jew, -Pole, -communist, etc publication that blossomed after Ukraine was 'liberated' by Hitler & Co.  The Russians have already listed Freeland on a 'sanctioned persons' list for some of the things she said and did, in person, to get Russians sanctioned here in Canada.  This latest 'move' (other than having been attributed to 'pro-russian blogs', there is no proof the Russian governmment is actually attacking at all)  is, supposedly, just like the Russian 'disinformation campaigns' that have blighted recent modern history. Although it would seem that, like the other 'disinformations',  the facts of the story are essentially true - but 'lacking in nuance'.

That good 'nuance' is being provided in Canadian media (Toronto Star) to correct the disinformation 'nuance' goes like this:

1.   You won't understand if you weren't there.  "War is hell", General Sherman said that, and you can't make omelets without breaking heads. Dirty deeds get done, by accident mostly, and, well, just because "good people" are scared for their lives and willing to do almost anything to survive.

2.  Some of them pretend to do one thing (bad stuff)  but they are really heroes (Brad Pitt and the Nazi-killerz?) , like Krystia's grandad, who used his 'job' to get documents for, and save the lives of,  "anti-nazi fighters".  Don't even try to understand it, except the 'other guys' were worse.

3.  It's been so long now and, heck, Krystia had nothing to do with it - except editing the book her Uncle wrote about his Pop.

4. There were a few of 'ex-nazis' who may have 'sneaked in' with the real refugees but they went on to live in peace and, we hope, tried to live down any evil they had done. If we caught them, we dealt with them ... so we're good and now so are they - unless somebody from Israel finds them.

5. The whole family would have been dead - murdered by the filthy Russians or Russian-sympathizing 'Commie' Ukrainians -  if they'd stayed in Europe - so would Krystia and she's innocent.

                                              Hier Wir haben den gutes Nazis. So?

This is  the 'Canadian chapter' of the 'other' Russian 'disinformation':  that there are  modern 'Nazis' fighting in Ukraine, and in the 'revolutionary' government there.  Once again the 'disinformation' may be in the nuance, for there are 'nazis',  or people who seem to espouse the 'value' of that aspect of Ukrainian history,  who actually do form voluntary military units fighting alongside regular Ukrainian armed forces, in what they call 'the ATO'. And some of the (former) leadership of such groups do hold high office in the government of Ukraine. One of them was invited to, and did, address the Parliament of Canada.  But, once again, our 'nuance' might (probably does) make him a great guy. The truth may be that, politically, he's still well 'right' of Oskar Dirlewanger.

                              Pariuby, founder of the Ukrainian Nazi party, smiles on parliament

So what's the effect of all  this?

Well  for starters - it's going to make any sort of improvement in the relationship between Canada and Russia 'more complicated' - if we wanted anything like that. Not that Canada needs worry,  for we've gotten along well without Russians for so long, now. For about 9 years Canada has been in the forefront of those nations of the world who have more concern for downtrodden Russians and the 'evil  that is done to them by their government'  than we do for the downtrodden of most other places on earth. Human rights for Russians seem far more important, to Canada, than, say, human rights for a lot of other people - many kinds of Moslems come to mind. For instance what Putin is 'doing to the gay population of Russia' is somehow much worse than anything Israel does, regularly, to the ordinary people of Gaza or what's happening to  the Rohinga, or the Houthis. We complain about Russia  and 'defund' our charities aimed at helping Palestine - or Yemen - or the Assad side of Syria.  Moslems 'do things' to "deserve" their treatment and Russian gays, well, they just don't.

But this isn't only about Russia for, you see, like Israel - (and this is perhaps why we don't gripe about human rights there; they have great human rights - for Israelis),  Ukraine is 'under attack'. Yes they don't like gays there, either, but the 'new' Ukrainian police, unlike Russian police, show-up to 'protect' the 'Rainbow March'. If Putin wasn't being so bad to them, they'd be nicer to everybody - or pass more nice laws they won't 'be able' to enforce. Ukraine has been "invaded", parts of it "illegally annexed" (Disinformation?  Nah, undebateable 'facts', dropped and left because they're 'common knowledge') and right now Ukraine is 'holding the Russians back from destroying European culture' (dezinformatsiye - in Ukrainian) . It needs "more effective" weapons, and it needs more money to fight - and to look after culture,  art and beauty - things they would be more interested in than armored divisions, bulletproof vests, night vision glasses and ballistic helmets if only ...  Putin would leave them in peace!

Canada is willing to help train-up the army to do all that the 'right way'. We have, and will, continue to give them money. Ms Freeland and the Ukrainian-Canadian community would like Canada to give them, (even sell if necessary), "more effective" weapons to shoot at 'their' Donbass. But I may be 'disinformed' - maybe EUkraine doesn't need money, or weapons, or anything else and is really at peace ..... nah.

'Russian invasions' play better - we grew up  with that threat - we've 'seen' them on the TV - in Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. We've 'seen' what the Russians have done to Afghanistan, to Latvia and Lithuania and Estonia - oops, those may have been anti-Russian events. We've seen Kruschev and his UN shoe (something else never actually recorded on film)  and we've 'known the fear' of a nuclear stand-off.  We've heard the warning sirens - and we've ducked and covered.

Like the nice man in the Star said, to-day, 'We weren't really there and we can't understand' - he may be right. But if he is, then shouldn't we take into consideration that, having lost World War One and come very close to losing the Second World War Two, the Russians  have 'been there' more than we have?  And might understand Ukraine better than some romantically-homesick 'Canadian' greatgrandchildren?

                                            Definitely NOT bullshit - it's Love

Disinformation aside, what we need to bear in mind that this could all be heading in a direction our grandparents (who "didn't want to know" about war  (?)- the Star) had some real fear of going. Depending on everybody to be 'rational' about nuclear weapons when they can't be rational about an election, accents the point that emotions 'make us' do more than common sense - and often the 'wrong' thing. Disinformation, whether coming from Russia, or the counter-disinformation 'necessary' to make 'theirs' look bad - drives an emotional reaction.  If you've heard Krystia when she gets' upset' you would know that.

I checked out the word 'disinformation' - it didn't look like a 'real' word. It wasn't - until sometime in the 1980's. According to Wikipedia,  it's a 'translation', or transliteration, of a probably-just-as-contrived "Russian word".  Isn't it strange that, having bested the propaganda of the Comintern, and International Communism, the 'agitprop' and a plethora of Soviet propaganda forms about almost everything we love, we have to 'borrow' another 'Russian  word'  to describe something even more nefarious - 'twisting the truth'.

                             Definitely not bullshit either - it's desecrating a Presidential bed

It's a pity that there are such 'truths' for them to find, and twist.

Some other of our 'truths'?  Good guys have to be evil - otherwise, 'the other guys would win'.  THEY 'choose' to do evil and WE have it forced on us. We're good and they're just not. Like Krystia's granddad and all the German Nazis?

                                     Casey, Casey... Casey from the emerald isle - and 'the agency'


ADDENDUM: Smashback Canada

From the pages of the little tabloid that should - Canada's opposition leader (pro tem) - the gorgeous and smart Rona Barrett - reminds us all of the diplomat and pantywaister that was Steve Harper 'standing-up' to Putin when all the other leaders of 'the wurld' were too afraid. Yes!  Steve told Vlad to  'Get out of Ukraine' and backed-that-up by banning a couple of Russian businessmen and some others from ever coming to Canada,  if they were thinking about that. He deployed the forces (or a couple of hundred of them) to go on a mission to 'train-up' a 'real' military for EUkrainia  and backed their fight for 'freedumb'. He  gave them money and flak vests, boots and helmets ( they left most of those unused for the rebels at Debaltsevo).  But he failed to send them the lethal weapons they so desperately needed to kill even more eastern Ukrainians than the 10 000, or so, they already have, with the lethal weapons they've already got.

And now, having so desperately tried , striven even, to "normalize" relations with the Russians - it's time for 'the Kid' to "get serious" (never mind the new troops he's deployed to Ukraine and the Baltics, or the money he's donated for us,  the Mounties now 'training-up' a real police force to match that military in EUkraine, or all his support for their 'freedumb')  and do "what we've done for the Kurds", fer pete's sakes, arm those poor Ukrainians!

And Jesus wept again.

Security: Colour it Green

The Government of Canada is currently engaged in a  process of seeking input in what it calls its "Green Paper' on a revised security apparatus in Canada.  This is, possibly, the new Liberal government's, 'promise' to reevaluate the legislation set in place to 'protect Canada from terrorist attacks' after 9/11.  That has done a remarkable job,  as there haven't been any notable terrorist attacks in Canada since 9/11.  But that's no reason for not 'plugging the holes', that haven't been noticed yet, in the legislation.

                                                                        As if, eh?
 
 But is that real evidence of the effectiveness of the current legislation, or the ability of our security services to stay on top of a burgeoning threat?

 Well, if you listen to the head honchos, "No!"

The straight poop on a National 'Necessity'

Let's face it, right now we're defenceless, eh?  


CSIS has been remarkable in saying - when it does make public utterance - that the 'threat' is growing and developing and becoming ever so much more robust. So robust that CSIS is about to 'pop'?

And coming out of the blocks on that public consultation-green paper 'thingy' is Canada's premier police service, and its 'Big Stick of Solictiude'. To-day our RCMP 'commish' - took to the airways and media hubs, in class 5 dress-down office (casual) uniform, to decry the fact that the Force is to-day faced with new investigative hurdles due to cell phones and the 'innernet', that requires them to seek to acquire all basic data, everywhere, in Canada,  and require your internet service provider to store all your business for the future reference of police.

                                               'We just can't guarantee your protection' -

                                                                      Nor can we.
  
He showed up, as is his wont, with a Powerpoint presentation that shows just how far Canadian police are behind other civilized nations in tracking the business of the ordinary joe - New Zealand is waaaaay ahead  (having almost all its 'security' list spots 'checked' while the poor Canucks have none!)  If there had been a study of how much more effective New Zealand police were, as a result, I'm sure he would have presented it, No?

But isn't New Zealand famous for the case against "Kim DotCom" - the multimillionaire internet data thief?  After a court case lasting more than a half decade now, he's out 'on bail' and, of late, now able to travel internationally.  Obviously he has a good lawyer, a kazillion ill-gotten Kiwi dollars and  his case must have started in the 'old days' when police actually had to work to find evidence and prove something.  Back in the 'bad old days' when they had to warn you that you could give them evidence to convict yourself.  Or, 'horrors', when they had to show a judge that they had 'a case' to get a judicial warrant to  allow  them to search you,  or your house, or  to  play 'sneaky pete' and 'spy' on you to get evidence. But I divulge.

Commissioner Paulsen went on to enumerate a number of 'real' police case files that were hamstrung because either somebody had their rights protected, or refused to turn over their passwords or encrypted their communications.  He outlined a case of a child abuser who was thought to have files of his own children being abused on his 'locked cell phone'.  Now wherever would they get that impression, if they weren't finding images of his children somewhere else? And wouldn't they serve for a conviction?  Paulsen must have more knowledge of criminal behaviour than the rest of us, but even watching the movies would indicate that any crook who deliberately kept any kind of records of his sculduggery was a stiff sentence just waiting to happen. The real sharpies do everything viva voce and on the QT.  Having it all down in unencoded communications just seems like a big 'break' for the stupid.

He outlined some very expensive electronic wizardries gone wrong because of 'electronic tricks' the police never thought about and he decries electronic solutions tried,  that forced the police to go back to using 'less expensive' undercover agents (any of those I've heard about weren't cheap either) because the 'gizmos' were just too dang expensive.

Even though he had a heart-rending appeal about being 'stuck' and how somebody on-line had 'screwed-over his favorite niece' (probably those assholes from Nigeria), what Paulsen failed to do is make a convincing case about more data making police more effective, or Canadian citizens more secure.

Police 'mistakes' largely haven't happened because of things police didn't know, as much as from things they did know - and deliberately chose to ignore, or misinterpret. More information isn't going to prevent human nature.  And it's that 'lowest common denominator' part that should be the major concern. For the problems aren't going to be caused by the 'good' police, they're going to arise in the few 'bad apples that inhabit every organization'. If recent stories about policemen downloading official files to their home computers,  or worse still,  civilian employees accessing police databases for unknown personal reasons - as both happened this past week  - aren't a 'heads-up', then things like 'computer hacking' and guys like Snowden should be. For there is no indication that police and security can keep the information they already collect secure.

the green paper - backgrounder one page

To prepare Canadians for possible change - and the 'waffling' ( 'I really hate that sheeyat!  But I think it's really necessary') of Security Minister Ralph Gooddale over a recent CSI court case indicates there will be 'changes' - the Federal government has prepared a substantial website on the topic - with an overview of the proposed areas of legislation and a 'background document' to accompany each of the the feedback formS - multiple.

I took a glance at one page 'backgrounding':  'Information Sharing' - which outlined a bunch of info sharing scenarios. The ones that involved security interested me. A number of individuals interacted with a nefarious "Mr. A" to endanger Canada, possibly, in a number of  different ways. The document concludes with a synopsis of their faults and the actions to be taken.  But it, for me, begged a fundamental question: What about "Mr. A"?

If what he was doing, in each of these cases, wasn't prosecutable under the current law,  then the whole national edifice, and its National Security Act IS in trouble. Rather than develop a sledgehammer to nail every one of the B to L 'perps' in the background 'scenarios', and the very real prospect of  everybody else in Canada, why not just go after the  "Mr. A" who was also part of the endangerment of Canada?  Unless, of course, he's a CSIS 'operative', or a paid informant.  Somebody a pay grade or ten above duty counsel or  legal aid, would have to be protecting the hell out of his Charter Rights and Freedoms.

TorStar opinion piece

Omniscience is not a power I would trust to any security organization, just like omnipotence or any other attributes of what we used to call 'God'.  They're just not that good at much, yet.

High Drama American-style II - the Canuck Connection

One would think the recent dog and pony show would be over, if for no other reason due to the opposition to such a grand idea. But when you're defending freedom and saving the world from unparalleled horrors, you'd have to be a milquetoast, or at least undecided, to let ordinary people affect your decision to do some humanitarian bombing. So despite a notable lack of support, the dog and pony show continues. And it grows!

Today the media is a-babble with new 'intel' taken from the sources at Wikileaks - I'd imagine that's supposed to impress everybody, for, apparently, we'd all missed it - that the good guys have known that Assad was building bunkers full of nerve gas and had been doing their darnedest to stop him. And how other things, like flotillas and natural disasters and Kim Dong Il's WMDs got in the way. You see, sheeple, this is not new news - it's  only the nature of the beast. Assad intends to gas everybody!

I'd bet Julian Assange is probably poring over the Manning files to figure out how Madame Bourguiba's predilection for leopard print thongs made it out to the public while an incipient chemical 'gotterdammerung' being executed in Damascus didn't. And where were our Mossad pals, who know where every sparrow falls, while this theoretically real "existential threat" was being pigeon-holed? I find it more than convenient that the leaked faxes and emails show up now - as 'evidence'.

What's 'nice', too, is a critical thread running through the narrative, a 'fessing up to failing', for weren't  exporters in the 'democracies' busily shipping out precursor compounds to enable Assad's doomsday device?  Him being able to take advantage of 'loopholes' in the processes in place to 'sanction' him for other 'crimes'? According to the leaks, he's the proud owner of some 20 years worth of production.

All that gas, and the possibility it could be captured by some of the evil forces fighting Assad - yeppers they don't like him either - could wind up floating ashore in some of those invasion rowboats, come the Jihad. In the meanwhile, there's the threat that Assad, now realizing he won't get bombed for badness, will be encouraged to do it again. After all, both times he's done it already resulted in big gains and really slowed up that rebellion....NOT!

Thus far the narrative has failed to get more than luke-warm acquiescence from the usual suspects. France is now back-pedaling. Britain has voted itself out of the warrior mode. The Chinese and Russians are still making the UN "ineffective" for a bombing permit. And now the Pope is sticking is nose into it.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/09/08/john_baird_fears_assad_poised_to_gas_citizens_again_tim_harper.html

But for those who have the courage of their convictions, and 'Harperguvermint' has convictions if it has nothing else, the ineffective UN should not be permitted to stop 'good guys' from doing an act of  'goodness'. Big mouth John Baird, - Canada's gift to foreign affairs - just wants to remind us how we will feel when Assad has the pictures taken of 25 000 foam-flecked nerve cases, after he dabs the tears from his little piggly eyes that is. Yes, folks, Canada may not be 'up' for any bombing this week, but we stand firmly behind our pals if they want to.  Oh the humanity, and the little girls who aren't in school - somebody has to DO something!

And let's not lose to Putin and a commie 'resurgency', eh?

Imagine that nerve gas causing spasms as it "melts lungs" according to Canada's ambling sack of mother love. That must have been quite the "briefing" John got. Hope he was wearing some briefs at the time. He sure doesn't know his poison gases.

The Jihadis of Middlesex County

Almost immediately after the attack on an Algerian oil drilling operation back in February, it was noised about that Canadians, or somebody carrying  Canadian passports, had been involved with the AQ force blamed for the attack.

This is the second such incident, another being the attack on a bus-ful Israelis holidaying in Bulgaria just before Christmas. Recent follow-ups to that incident  claim that the dead bomber was assisted by two others - one carrying Australian papers and the other, a Canadian. Thus far neither of the suspects has been identified.

The Algerian connection remained fairly speculative until yesterday, when  the names of two Canadians were announced and it came to light that both CSIS and the RCMP had been investigating them well before 'the balloon went up' in the Sahara. The name of a third Canadian - all residents of London, Ontario who had, we're being told,  hied-off to seek jihad, had been schoolmates. One was of  middle-eastern extraction and the other two were 'converts' to Islam. They had been reported to authorities as ' hanging around with bad characters'. Who reported them remains unknown, but security forces indicate the three were being asked-about.

Somehow, despite the official curiosity, all three obtained Canadian passports and then 'disappeared' overseas only to turn up as members of an AQ unit whch captured an oil installation, taking a number of foreign workers hostage, and, we're told, executing a number of the 53 of them who died. The two major players were killed in the ensuing counter attack by Algerian security forces, and the third is reputedly in jail somewhere in the middle east - arrested before he could 'do any harm'.

To-day the 'Harpergovermint' is on 'the hotseat' about who knew what, when and how much? Needless to say the 'Harpergovermint' is doing its standard fancy-dancing for, once again, it's fairly obvious that nobody had a clue what was going on. Still don't.

So far they haven't been able to either find out or come up with a plausible story. So we have the Minister of Foreign Affairs handing-off to the Minister of Justice who then hands-off to the RCMP who in turn have no comment. Teeedle dee Baird,  tweedle-dum Vic Toews and Duddly Doowright  we've seen this 'force' before - standing on guard for thee and mee.

On the news last night the moslem population of London, Ontario were taking to the airways to deny any knowledge and express their  shared concern with all Canadians. Question is, where were these young guys getting all their jihad info and is there somebody still educating the disaffected to head off for parts east and the GWOT? Are the mosques of London, or any where else in Canada, being used to foment jihad?

Harpergovermint  needs to de-thumb the bum and let the people of Canada know what our security services are about. Either we have a problem, or we don't -  keeping it a secret doesn't help Canadians ... of any flavour..

Make Whey for the Big Baird

Canada's foreign affairs fairy is taking his sweet ass and bad dentures off to bait the commies in their nests. John (the bigmouth) Baird - Canada's Foreign Minister has been tasked with a visit to Cuba and Venezuela.

 Yeppers he's going down to talk trade and more human rights for the poor 'jinoteros y jinoteras' who 'befriend' Canadian holidaymakers. Maybe he should be taking along the Minister of Immigration - his 'bud' from the old days -  Jay Kenney, who has a bone to pick with the Cubans for tempting so many Canucks into sponsoring their immigration and then leaving a trail of unrequited love, broken hearts and angry taxpayers who have to support them for 3 years. It would be far better if they had more rights and could stay in Cuba, rather than bringing those rights they don't have up to Canada.

No doubt he'll want to take credit for all the Conservative government has never done for the Cubans - except take holidays there. A friend of mine who sold tobacco products for a living had the opportunity to meet Allan Rock, a late Justice Minister, on the last 'official' Conservative visit to the island more than a decade ago. Rock and his missus got a couple of 'free days' at a tourist resort. Rock, who was 'down' on smoking back home, was with a spouse who a) used the weed and b) didn't have any with her. My buddy provided her with a couple of large Rothman's.

 It's sad that Baird can't speak for Obama, but they share even less in common than with the commies. So I'm wondering why he's going at all?  For he can't do anybody any good. He is supposed to bring a message of hope to the Jewish people of Havana - one I guess the jewish holiday makers of Montreal can't, don't, or won't deliver.. Maybe he thinks that by springing the Jewish American Cuba jailed for hi-tech 'gifting' a couple of years back, he'll do an 'Argo' and get into Obama's good books.

He's on his way to Venezuela too. And there is more common ground there. Both Canada and Venezuela supply oil to the USA. And neither get much thanks for it. Venezuela because the guys who 'owned' the oil on behalf of their 'amigos norte-americanos' don't own the oil any more. And Canada because we can't give our shit away without a new pipeline. Not that I think it will make any difference to Chavez who gives heating oil away free in a reverse foreign-aid thing, while the Canadians (Americans too) who 'own' oil wouldn't give anybody the sweat off their balls. The big mouth might be challenged by Chavez, whom the Americans claim, has the biggest mouth.

Slow Learning

Whoo-hoo! My second-favorite p'leece force is doing it again!

My first favourite Justice Minister Vic 'movember man' Toews has commanded  the  stick-bearer general of the RCMP/GRcC to prepare, for his ocular orbs, a detailed 'gender audit' of the force. In a knee-jerk reaction the Commandant has stated that the RCMP is 'no more prone to gender bias and harassment of females than any other government bodies'. I guess Canada Post and the Coast Guard have a bumper crop of females suing the ass off them too.

Is there a 'donney' a-brooking?

                                                      The Chief and his Stick of State

 You see, since he took command, other than getting a new set of uniforms made and re-inventing the RCMP totem pole, the new 'Commissaire' has done little more for females than marry his second one.  He appeared to be one of those reflective types who would observe, study and then  take action. In actuality that was an act. After forcibly retiring all his 'peers', the 'Sultan of the Skagway'  has felt safe enough to regress to the state of honour so well-enjoyed by others who have gone before him. He's really done SFA as  far as we've been able to glean, but there haven't been new lawsuits - just unsettled old lawsuits.

And then there's the marriage. 'Constable Bob' took a second wife earlier this year. It was an 'all force' affair, planned, we are told, by a couple of duty Sargeants from his Office and attended by 'volunteers' ordered up from the Musical Ride's 'trainee' program. It was, from the look of the picture below, a red letter day. Until Bob found out the trainees were 'on duty' and had been assigned to provide the honour guard/cum ushers/cum valet parking roles at the hitching.  It was then, too, he found out he was 'honour-bound' to cough-up some $912 semollianos Canadenses to pay for them. On the cheque he wrote the annotation - "Honour Gaurd fiasco".

                                            The Chief, the bride and the Musical bambini

 It seems to me that somebody thought he might have been 'entitled' to something here. Or those kids turned into a bunch of bumbling putzes and accidentally 'lanced' some of the wedding guests. Just what part of it all was the 'fiasco' part.

The two sargeants who 'planned' the manueuvre were present - off duty-  to do a sword salute at the door (above). Like all policemen's pals they were doing this out of 'pal-ship'. But they were probably 'at work' when they were drawing-up the operational plans.

                                               Sorry they pulled-it, so it wasn't flattering

It looks like the Mounties are staying true-to-form when it comes to 'promoting' boneheads from the inside. It's a cultural thing, ya know?

Maybe Vic Toews doesn't like getting 'unrespected' by the hired help. The Commandant certainly wouldn't. And Toews is only an elected official. I do believe the CO's days are numbered, now that Toews has him in the sights.

Canada slams the door shut on Iran.

Actually it was more like Canada put a 'fatwa' on Iran. We pulled our embassy staff out early yesterday morning. That was probably a good thing considering Johnny Baird had rinsed his dentures in preparation for announcing the Iranians were welcome to leave Ottawa. No timeline involved since their leaving probably was more of a surprise than ours - at least for the 'good guys'.

But why now? The Iranians, according to Harperment, are now recognized as THE singular threat to the universe - but then they were just as threatening last year, or the year before, or at any time since Ambassador Ken won the 'plum post' on the Potomac by freeing some of the slaves, er , hostages, back in the yellow ribbon days. The National post published a clarification - repeated in the Saturday Star - which outlines what 'they've' been doing to bug 'us' since 1979 5 key Points in Dispute  When you look down the list, the Iranians have done a lot less to us than we've done to them over those 25-odd years. So I'm wondering why this,  and why now.

Harper's off on a jaunt to an APEC meeting in Russia so, although it will have been no surprise, he's bound to get an earful from Putin. Much like the one Putin got in Peking when the world found out the Russian Army was  were 'sticking-up' for the invaded Ossetians and kicking the tar out of gallant little Georgia. I'm pretty sure the Steverino can handle himself when facing down 'Putin's glooms'. Some sources say the Iranians are going to "retaliate" for this, but aside from boycotting 'maple surple' - like a funny 'politicartoon' noted the other day -  or stopping our supply of  'real' pistachios, I don't think they can do much. They aren't even affecting the record high oil prices - as their ex-customers are now buying Saudi.. Oil production in Iran has fallen, and the prices are up, so they have to be hurting too  much to hurt us. Unless as Bigmouth Baird intoned, they've developed an Iranian 5th column already. Maybe the MinDef's newly pregnant 'laydee' is a sleeper cell in 'freedom-fighter' disguise!!!

We're told the resident Iranians in Canada are taking the news like a Turkish-Armenian festival - some are joyful, and others aren't.  The good thing is that, like all the rest of us Canadians who leave our hatreds and animosities outside the door when we come in, they're not fighting their regime change here. Like the rest of us Canucks, some think Harpergovermint is snog-worthy, and others think they're chimps in suits.

Some nasty gits are writing this one off as getting the diplomats to safety before Benny Netanyahoo commits America to another little war. Something near Teheran would have to get bombed to 'take out' those Iranian 'nukuler' sites and well, as we all know airborne 'accidents' have a nasty habit of happening to any Canadians in the vicinity.  Best safe, than repatriating coffins, eh?

So if the balloon goes up will be called upon to stand up for freedom again? I would imagine that we wouldn't be found wanting. We have HMCS Provideur over there in the Gulf supporting a couple of our city-class whatevers as targets for the initial rowboat attacks. We might even have a platoon of the secret JP5 waiting to go 'downtown' on the Revolutionary Guard . But it's virtual cert we won't be putting much up into the air, as the CF18 fleet is pretty-well attritted and Harpergovermint is still waffling on the CF-35. Even if this crisis stimulates them into action, we're well down the customer list for the revolutionary freedom bird. And construction of those 'deliveries' haven't even been started.

So the overall effect? A great big 'ho-hum'. Unless you're one of the three Canadians Harpergovermint hasn't been able to get out of Iranian slammers. We weren't 'talking' to them before, ya know? And we certainly won't be 'talking' to them now, either.  CSIS be getting our 'intel' from the Bulgarians, or somebody who still has an embassy in Teheran, or from the Israelis who 'know all' anyway.

A Codicil: Everybody's looking tres sharp on this one, ladies.
 "Prescient" the Star called Harperino. Getting the diplomats out of Iran's looking like a masterstroke given the attack on the Benghazi consulate and the other embassy demos and burnings.
But what about getting our diplomats out of Libya?

"Well what about it?", asks the Premeer.

It's a Nutty Old World

The Canadian News was monopolized by a story that began with somebody's foot being mailed to a political office in Ottawa. The next day the postal department headed-off what turned out to be a hand, in the mail to a different political office. Then the headless, limbless torso of a body turned-up in a suitcase put out for garbage pick-up. Since then, the story has morphed into the world-wide (Europe at least) manhunt for a fugitive porn-star cum (no pun intended) artist, who allegedly video-taped himself murdering and dismembering a 'pal' in his apartment. The victim was to-day identified as a nice-guy university student of Chinese extraction who was looking 'for a friend'. His friend, the killer, is being described as someone very closely related to the great lord Beelzebub. He's also managed to make himself go 'poof', allegedly leaving Canada by air shortly after the murder and disappearing from the radar screen due, we are told, to the possibility that he has created multiple identities for himself and can change his appearance with some facility. That he doesn't have a proverbial pot to piss in, is, apparently, no impediment to his ability to get around and get away.

As an update: the killer was arrested while using the facilities of an internet cafe in Germany to keep up with his facebook following.  The latter, we learn, are a growing number  who see the gender-confused 'prawduct' of modern society as a 'troll model'. The cafe manager 'saw through' his disguise - ie recognized him from news posts, and called the police. The police were, it is reported, taken in by his denials - (keine deutsche spreche?)- but he finally 'fessed-up'. He was flown back to Canada on a military aircraft and is now undergoing intensive counselling. In sidebar, a teacher was fired for showing the u-tube vodeo of the murder/dissection to his civics class in a lesson about how to treat, or not treat, other people.

Bizarre as that might be,  is an even better story coming out of Miami this week where an apparently 'decent human being' (according to his family) reportedly got 'hepped-up' on some new style 'acid' and, after stripping naked while making his way home, assaulted and ate the face of a homeless individual he encountered, who was sleeping on a bridge. Numerous passers-by witnessed the attack and eventually police showed up. They ordered the man to stop feeding but after he refused and 'growled' at them, they shot him, and then shot him again whan he resumed eating. The assailant died, the assailed is reported to be a candidate for facial replacement surgery - having lost most of the skin on his forehead, his nose, his eyelids and lips. It was only the apparent  lack of a decent shave that saved the lower part of his face.

More mundane was the reported massacre of more than 100 people including a large number of women and children in a place called Houla in Syria.  Within  minutes of the occurrence the world press was laying the killings at the door of Bashir Assad, describing how the army had been shelling the area. It later turned out that the majority of the dead had been killed up close by gunshot. The notion of the Syrian army shooting civilians while under a barrage of friendly artillery fire seemed a little out of whack. Then the killings were laid at the door of 'government militia' who can, apparently, better stand the shelling whilst killing the innocent. An eyewitness, a little lad who drenched himself in his dead brother's  blood and avoided detection by the killers, when asked who did it, he responded, 'Why are you asking me that? Everybody knows who did it."

Since the intial reports,  at least three 'dissonent' ones are reporting the dead weren't shiite Arabs, but rather Armenian Christians and others aligned with the Assad government and  the killers now might well be the anti-government 'free Syria' forces. The UNHRC is calling for an investigation.

FARC,  the almost-defunct 'terrorist' organization in Colombia, recently released the French reporter they had taken 'hostage' when they ambushed a group of Colombian military engaged in a "peaceful" drug lab take-down operation a month ago. The release was accomplished in a village where the people seemed to be happy and  supportive of FARC - or all looped-up on the local 'medication'. A Colombian ex-senator and the IRC were on hand to take the 'victim' under protection. Notable in its absence was the Colombian military, which has stage-managed so many other such 'rescues'  and 'releases'. It will be interesting to find out if the 'hostage' bad mouths  his captors now that he's free, as has been the 'de rigeur' exercise on such similiar cases. Colombia is well on its way to having one of the world's premier fighting forces that American money can buy, it's certainly of a quality to-day to be able to make FARC permanently defunct. Then all the 'illegal' drug trade can stop. Unless those FARC are like the Taliban.

We were told this week that President Obama, as part of his duties has assumed the mantle of  'killer-in-chief' of the United States of America. In his duty as chief protector of America, we are told, he meets with his advisory staff and vets all those, world-wide, who are targeted for extinction due to their 'threat to  ___________'  (fill in the blank). What we weren't told was how somebody gets on the list, and how many times these targets have been acquired and attacked. Taking it on faith -  it's 'all good', clean, kills and totally necessary - otherwise it wouldn't be done, see? 'Legs Diamond' running 'Murder Inc' was  a crime, the President's-class world-wide version is a 'necessity'.

The Gem in Canada's Crown

One of the best things Canadians have ever done, was to follow the lead of a former 'commie' preacher from the west and set-up a national medicare system. Tommy Douglas was the leader of the Canadian Commonwealth Federation - a cover for 'the communists' - during the 50's and 60's.  He had the notion that one of the things every Canadian should be able to afford was to look after their health. For a long time that wasn't the case, doctors and medicine were private enterprises to which those who could afford subscribed and the rest borrowed when it was absolutely necessary. Doctors 'built' their own patient lists and sold their practices to new-comers as sort of a retirement gratuity. Doctor Fred Banting, the discoverer of insulin, failed in business as a GP and was only saved from a different career by a lab assistant's job at the University of Toronto. Doctors and their patients, both had it rough.

The Government of Canada passed legislation to set up the national medicare plan in the early sixties. But the government left the administration of the plan to each province. Each province set up its own bureaucracy to administer the plan. Hospitals were socialized.  Doctors joined the plan as private corporations contracted  at fixed rates for service, or opted out, as they wished. Each individual was registered with the plan and issued a membership card and could be assigned a doctor if they didn't have one. Individuals paid for the plan at one of two rates, through their employers. Those unable to pay were registered for free. As time passed, many employers subsumed all, or part of the insurance costs  as fringe benefits. Provincial governments allocated other funds to healthcare as well. There were disparities between some provinces, but essentially most common medical and surgical services were 'covered'. Dentists, and some specialists like specialized clinics and opthalmologists exempted themselves and required private arrangements.

As time went on, drug benefit plans were added to insurance coverage paid by individuals, or as fringe benefits. Public coverage of some medications was extended to the unemployed, aged and needy. Some drug abuse treatment and mental health programs became part of the medical establishment. Hospitals and clinics were built in many areas where there had previously been none. Doctors were educated, or imported, often at public expense, to meet needs. Canada has perhaps one of the most wide-spread medical care in the world.  Regional Health Centres to address high-tech treatments, or unique services e.g. oncology, were developed in the 80's  and 'families' of hospitals refer patients for specialized or intensive treatment. Costs were beginning to be concerning in the 80's and 90's and cost savings, as well as increased payments, were instituted.  Some aspects became payable e.g. testing, disposable materials, prosthetics and appliances, private rooms, and there were cutbacks in others e.g. nursing staff reductions. Multi-doctor clinics and nurse-practitioners are becoming more common, to ease pressure on  medical facilities and deal with trivial complaints. Prescription by pharmacists is also being considered to ease the cost of doctor visits.

So where does this leave us all to-day? We're still in good shape.

If you become ill and call an ambulance, there is a paid public service that will have EMS personnel pick you up, treat you as necessary and transport you to an ER. You will be seen by a nurse and physician in order depending on the severity of your problem,  eg chest pains are seen at once and monitoring started. Should you require emergency surgery, that will be done within 24 hours either 'on site' or, if necessary, after transfer to a regional center by land or air ambulance. Other surgery will be done within 26 to 48 hours if required, non-essential procedures will be scheduled at anything from two weeks to three months. Such might involve screening, or evaluatory visits to specialists. Stays in hospital are covered at 'ward rates', private rooms are available at an extra daily cost. All meals and most in hospital treaments, drugs and materials are covered. You will be released when full body function is restored, provided there is safe care for you. Some people are placed in nursing facilities for recovery, at their own cost. Some visiting nurse activity can be arranged at low or no cost. What we only rarely find out in all this is the cost of such treatment. From time to time the plan auditors will send out reports of treatments received and costs involved for corroboration by patients. It is at that time Canadians can appreciate what a gift we have in our healthcare system. For whatever the cost, it could only be increased if there were somebody's 'profit margin'. A payment out of pocket, for a visit to a top-rate opthalmologist, say, is a real 'eye opener', when one gets a glimpse of what 'quality private care' costs.

When  somebody says most Americans are one disease away from bankruptcy,  that's not hard to believe.

I was hospitalized for 5 days due to an aneurism. It was my first real trip to 'the shop'. I signed in, under my own steam, after a day spent with the lab people, the anaesthiologist, heart eval. monitor, x ray, Cat Scan, etc. I was tagged and gowned and swabbed for C Diff. etc. I walked up the hall to the surgical suite, was checked, taken into a theatre, introduced to the 'gang'  present, greeted by my doctors - the surgeon and my GP, there to assist. I was sedated and awoke some 3 hours later in the ICU where I spent the next two full days as there was no room for me on the ward. I had been given a spinal analgesic,  had my abdomen opened and my aorta opened and patched with dacron, the incision had been stapled closed and dressed.

The spinal analgesia was miraculous until I displaced the shunt flopping around in bed. I had the 'trots' due to a preexisting condition that caused almost-constant use of the bedpan and, later, the commode. My nurses deserve a service medal for putting up with my foul output.

Hospital food is crap. I think it a total waste of time and money. Most of it, I would bet, goes into the garbage. That is an area of potential cost saving. Either make a deal with a mass-manufacturer for something like TV dinners, or leave it for the family to provide. Nobody is in hospital long enough to get sick, or well,  from the food. Nutrition should not be a problem, or a hospital department, unless someone is starving.

I noticed that the folks who had come in with me - for some equally-serious surgery - and who had been placed in a ward  (4 to 6 beds) were discharged a full day before I was from my 'private ' room. I found out later that my insurance didn't cover a private room. That was when I got the bill for $600.00. I had a few squawks about that private room, as, the first day I was there, they put somebody in the next room to die. They 'closed' my side of the bathroom door with a paper notice saying that I couldn't use it. Whatever he had required biohazard dress from the staff, one of whom stayed with him every night. She coughed constantly and I could hear her through my side of the common bathroom to which she kept her door open. He also seemed to be visited by members of the staff, with their  kids, well after visiting hours. I know tough times are often lightened by levity, but at one point I had to ask them to take their 'laffs' down the hall to the lounge rather than outside my door. That was close to midnight.  The moribund chap was still in residence when I left.

When I called the hospital business office about my tab, I was told I was getting a "one-time amnesty" on the bill and my insurance coverage was being changed to note 'no private coverage'.

On some floors there are no wards, in that case there is no charge for a private room. Likewise if you get 'bumped up'.  I have feeling, however, that,  if you have insurance coverage, your insurer gets billed. A little 'money-maker' for the hospital, like the parking lot.

 Since then,  it's been back to see the surgeon once, to have the staples out. To see my GP on a number of occasions related to the surgery. All at no cost to dear old retired me. Except for a medicare surcharge on my annual taxable income ($400) . Since I turned 65, my prescriptions cost me $6.88 each, in co-payments, covered by my  family medical insurance.

 Canadian medicare is great.

 Changes may be in the wind but I'd bet Canadians would give up their military and politicians before they'll give up 'socialized' medicine.

.

Preverts of the World, Untie!

Canada is in the throes of trying to enact some legislation to allow the music and film industry to stop getting their stuff stolen by people who won't go to the cinema or buy/rent their 'prawducts' from a commercial enterprise.Canada's  version of 'SOPA' and 'PIPA' is called "Bill C-11". But yesterday it was pettifogged by being dealt with, along with a 'new' Bill 30 - an "Act to enact the Investigating and Preventing Criminal Electronic Communications Act and to amend the Criminal Code and other acts". It's on its way through the Tory parliament, again. After having failed a number of times before, it resurrected. It will give those 'investigating, or injured, parties' the right to acquire the personal information of internet users by requiring service providers to track usage and turn over pertenant details, upon request by law enforcement, or security services  -  anybody suspecting 'piracy' of a  copywrite would be included. But it's been smoke-screened by a furor over 'kiddie porn'.

To sweeten the pot of debate, to-day, "Public Safety Minister" Vic (Mortimer Snerd) Toews, claimed that anybody opposed to the Bill would be "enabling child pornographers"! He offered Canadians the choice of being 'with us' or 'with the kiddie-diddlers'.  That's certainly putting an edge on things.

Except that he's dead wrong. Just two weeks ago, most of the police brass in the Province of Ontario called a press conference to announce they'd 'taken down' a 'kiddie porn' ring of thousands. They'd saved  a number of children from sexually-exploitive circumstances and they festooned a map of the province with, what they claimed, were the ISP addresses of those who were involved. All done with the 'old' law and the 'old' technology. But I'd guess that wasn't good enough to nab all the other pervs they couldn't take down. For it seems kiddie porn might be as popular as guns.

The two issues are related. It's all about law enforcement and public safety, you see. Toew's party is just coming off dismantling the Canadian Gun Registry. A billion-dollar boondoggle that succeeded in identifying Canadians who obeyed the law and 'registered' their guns. Its signal failings were not being able to register all guns, which left criminals using illegal, stolen, and/or unregistered guns; making gun owners more widely responsible for their firearms, and leaving the Police not knowing who really had a firearm, except legal owners, and, so, having to treat every call as a potential 'hi-risk' situation. Needless to say, the Tories will be 'doing away' with all this, leaving gun licensing, acquistion and the'old' registry data in the hands of the RCMP.

Our local MP, one Larry Miller Esq, was foolish enough to point out in parliament,  that Adolf Hiler registered all  the guns in Germany, which eased his way into power and helped him create a police state. He was greeted with a toofay salute, even from among his own party, and demands for an apology.

It isn't a hard stretch to see how Bill C11 isn't going to do much the same thing, even if you are a gun owner. What they describe as 'lawful access' legislation, will allow police and security, disgruntled copywrite owners and probably some other organizations, to acquire personal information about internet users, essentially, on request. It will require ISP's to maintain records of internet use, including links to other users, and provide access to these, by warrant. Courts can require long-term storage of data and communications. The costs, of course, will become part of the fees charged for internent service. As in the gun law, however, the achilles heel is the same; the fact that 'criminals' are not required to use an open internet.

Even now 'hard core' users of the internet use  high-level encryption and proxy software to access the internet in ways that are almost impossible to trace. This legislation will do little, or nothing, to address that problem. But it just might drive some ordinary people to become 'hard core' users, just as the old 'gun law' created a whole new class of, now unnecessary, criminals.

Will the law be equitably applied? 'If you're innocent you have nothing to worry about', is never a great reassurance. We have only to look at the 'gun law'. Having a registry gave Police the power to 'inspect' firearms for safety and storage compliance.  That was, no doubt, the basis for a number of 'search warrants'. And it also resulted in a large number of charges resulting from 'police business' carried out in other circumstances. Just this last week a court case was in the news,

One Leroy Smickle (I'm not making this up),  a 30-something from Toronto,  was charged with a gun offence, careless use of  a firearm, requiring a mandatory sentence of  3 years, when he was caught 'playing' with a loaded pistol while entertaining himself on an internet chat ( a future 'double-whammy'?). The police had raided his home on a search warrant for another man. An Ottawa judge refused to put him in jail for being stupid and getting caight by accident,  I'd guess. You'll note that the law didn't leave the police much leeway in just walking away from the situation they'd happened upon unintendedly, Leroy was getting charged - even though he'd dropped both his pistol, and his laptop, when the raiders burst in. Of course the focus of the story was on the necessity of giving him 3 years in jail, not the necessity of charging him under the gun law..

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/02/13/judge-rejects-outrageous-unconstitutional-mandatory-gun-sentence/

If you're at all concerned that by this time next week your 'browsing habits' might have to change, a lot; you might want to tell your MPP how you feel. He doesn't give a shit what you think.

We're Out the Door!

Well not quite. In today's reality nothing is ever as it seems, or as it's cracked up to be. The denouement of Canada's adventures in Panjwai no less than anything else.

The Canada Day papers were full of the 'last' Canada Day in 'Canadahar' stories. Tales of ebullient Canuck merriment as the last 'roto' rotates its way into history. Stories of the Canada Day party at the base, where all the troops - front liners included - were gathered in for a couple of brewskis, some free red ball caps - a corporate 'goody' from Tim's  to repay the 'opportunity to serve' where the Red Cross and Sally Ann served our sires - with donuts and coffee, and a 'good time'.

How many of to-day's vets will have the same sour taste as their Grampies caused by the Red Cross' habit of charging for what the Sally Ann gave away free? Tim's, after all, is  in Kandahar on a 'cash' basis. Perhaps 'saving the world' and 'defending democracy from evil doers' are substantially different things than 70 years ago and there's supposedly a sense of entitlement missing to-day but it's definitely 'user buys'. I wonder how they work the 'buy a soldier a coffee'  campaign the Legion runs over there? If the bottom line is 'covered' by what they charge the military? The Horton's 'volunteer' staff may qualify for the new 'Afghan service medal' - the one foreign service workers don't qualify for, but this is volunteering with a corporate edge. When the US vets see a Timmy's going up in their neighborhoods, it hopefully won't give them the heeby-jeebies. Let it be known, however, that Tim's plows all the 'profits' of that Afghan operation as charitable donations, back into programs for soldiers. A win-win situation for any 'patriotic' corporation.

There were road hockey games with the politicos, other entertainers and press. 'Bubbles' the Trailer-park boy was there, a French Canadian comic to entertain the rump of the Vandoos was there, the CinC and 'MinDef' were there - sticks, and mikes, in hand. And so was Canada's latter-day 'Cracklin'  Rosie' Di Manno the granny, warrior-groupie of the Toronto Star.

Rosie's is out-doing herself these days. It's almost as if she thinks she won't be going back to Afghanistan over the next decade to report on the 'sacrifices' of our military police units and square-bashing aficionados. She's no spring chicken,  but one might almost suspect she gets moist being around all that military junk  Describing how a unit used an Afghan hill to 'clear' their APC guns and artillery before they were packed for shipping, one might be amused by the apparent glee of the lads on a free-fire exercise. Everybody who hadn't had a chance to shoot something significant must have been bussed out to the site. A jarring little bit of reality intruded into the good time, in the form of a Afghan station wagon,  straying into an area that was thought to 'civilian free'.  It just underscores the fact that our 'intel' still isn't 90 percent.

That doesn't stop Rosie from drooling over some Playgirl candidate's gelled 'stiffie'.  It's good that our guys can manage to look great while fighting terror. And a real bummer they have to slap a 'pot' onto a flashy 'do'. But that's war. To-day's Rosie report is titled, 'No Warning ... No Regrets'.  It tells of the prowess of the Canadian sniper.

The papers speak glowingly, for the saga isn't finished yet, of how Canada's 'footprint' was being 'erased' as we leave. That will be a change, if it's not more BS, as Afghanistan is littered with the detritus left behind by better war-fighters than us. The jury is still out on 'the mark' we've left on Afghanistan. Not only in terms of the stuff we won't be 'repatriating',  but also in terms of  the 'wonders'  Johnny Canuck has wrought. Those wonders are now in the gentle hands of the US Marine Corps. We'll see what happens next.

For the Canadian Forces, however, the gaze is directed northward ... toward Canada's Arctic. The 'challenge' there will not be from Afghan farmers, but from the Bears and Bison. It was our current PM who, only three years ago, 'Stepforded'** the renascent Russian air force's encroaching on Canadian airspace as they flew around their half of the Arctic. Canadian F-18's were scrambled to meet the potential intruder and the case made that we 'need' something stealthier to sneak up on them, and actually 'catch them in some act' or other. I wonder what the PM will think when our 'allies' steam a fleet into the Arctic to protect their vital oil interests and declare the Northwest Passage an 'international seaway'  like the Red Sea, or the Intracoastal Waterway? Our allies seem intent on manifesting their destiny on Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic, while our enemas, the Russki's, don't.

Or maybe we'll be saddling-up the Governor General's Horse guards to ride to the rescue of the gallant little Libyans.  Wouldn't that be a shock?  For they don't particularly like us either.

A country in search of an adventure is a country with too much time on its hands.

** The act of pointing and shrieking - at 'aliens'  a la The Stepford Wives' and hecklers who attend Netanyahu speeches. Alerting the herd to danger.

Blessed St. Nicholas, start praying for us

Santa Claus in his holier aspect is 'told off' as the patron saint of prostitutes. It is said that he saved a poor man from pimping his three daughters by giving him a sackful of gold. Why else would a guy want to peddle his daughters' butts than for some of the long green? It seems, though, that this story makes Nicholas the patron saint of almost-prostitutes, gals who get 'on the game'  need more patronage than that.

And so it goes in summertime Canada. For a decent little first world spot, Canada has its share of  'sex trade workers' - males and females who extend whatever paypacket they've got with a little 'professional' sex on the side. Now a non-association "they've" formed to 'represent' them has been hied into court to defend against a government challenge to a lower court ruling on 'anti-prostition laws' being contrary to their Charter rights and freedoms. This after another court ruling that cited prostitution as a "legitimate" occupation. Nobody seemed to challenge the notion that balling for dough was much different than anything else people do for dough, except when it comes to doing it on the street, or by bothering passers-by to find somebody with dough to do it for. Those laws about public prostitution, communicating for prostitution and living on the avails of prostitution are being challenged as laws that 'force' women  to 'work in the shadows' where, sometimes, their customers do them harm. What they want, I imagine, is the right to hang out a shingle, along with the more marketable body parts.

Strikes me that, unless the gals are working out of a high-security establishment, with glorified 'bouncers', that risk of harm isn't much diminished. Nor is any risk to 'johns' from those bouncers - who might be equated with guys who flunked out of police foundations courses at best, or a self-ordained 'lawmen' like 'The Dawg' at worst. One can only imagine the clientele. When you're breaking 'Mom's first law' and exposing yourself to 'strangers' you're asking for some trouble. Just look at the havoc caused by overly-friendly uncles and overzealous persons in authority - even to, we're told, the willing! I would doubt prostitution, even where it's a pillar of the society isn't plagued with a whole whack of related social ills. If it was any sort of social panacea, or even decent way to make a living, it would be promoted world-wide and we wouldn't be trying to remake it, again.

When it comes to banging for bucks there is no telling when a 'relationship' of long-standing isn't going to 'go sour' and somebody receive a good hiding - even in those non-prostitutional relationships. Adding a cash exchange just adds a flillip to the level of customer satisfaction and fogs the notion of another 'tip'. Cash enterprise is the stuff of real-world hurt feelings, donneybrooks and gunshots on  regular occasions. Prostitution has been a risky business since the days when the ladies had to 'show up for duty' in honor of the goddess at the temple once a year. Even nice gals, doing their religious duty, were exposed to the social misfits  who hung around the temple, gland in hand, waiting for just such an opportunity. Just look at the Pig Farmer of Kelowna. He could have slaughtered nice girls, but the hookers' lifestyle made it oh-so-much easier. That wouldn't have changed much, even if there were no 'take-out services', he was inviting them to 'parties'.

The Sex Trade Workers essentially want the law changed so they can 'open' their business in places it's not open now.  Anybody who's had the privilege of living beside an 'illegal' bawdy house can only imagine the fun it would be to have a legal one - running all above-board, 24/7 (closed for Christmas and high holidays)- next door. The increased tax revenue wouldn't begin to cover the increased police costs to fend off the phone complaints and investigate the damage to customers cars. And why would the girls want to give up the goodies they've got now - welfare, state child support  and/or disability payments, untaxed income, free health coverage and other social service benefits? No doubt these lifestyle 'perqs' wouldn't be included in any new legislation, but they will be, eventually, if prostituion continues to be expanded as a legitimate way to earn a living.

Hey, there's a new career field - specializing in the business end of the sex trade for 10 percent off the top. And let's not forget the investment opportunities provided by a chain of franchised high-end bordellos. Or is that just legalized pimping?