Archive for the 'Eh?' Category

Bill Donohue of the Catholic League and Justin Trottier of Center for Inquiry Canada: two peas in a pod

Ian Bushfield has a great article up about the sorry state of the Canadian secularist movement. Bushfield points out that the most visible advocate for secularism in Canada is Justin Trottier, who is quickly becoming the Canadian Bill Donohue (or the Atheist Bill Donohue, if you prefer).

Bill Donohue is the president of the Catholic League, and he’s become a hot item on news shows because he can be counted on to deliver an angry attack on secularism and a whiny defense of Catholicism. He’s a professional victim. And the same can be said of Justin Trottier, who often gets invited as a guest on news shows because he’s also predictably whiny. Trottier thinks that he’s in a perpetual state of victimhood because he’s an atheist, because he’s a cultural conservative, and because he’s a white man (yes, really: see here).

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s occurred to us that we’ve not had one of our caption competitions for quite a while.

Also, since we’ve lately been enjoying some amazingly, unseasonably hot April weather around here, we’ve been out & about a bit with our battered old “Brownie Box”.

OK, so we’ve fibbed a bit about the Brownie, but when did we ever pass up absolutely any chance to mega-milk almost any kind of elongated/extended “alliteration” opportunity — at all?

Anyway, coupling those first few sentences with our (so often, so obviously), shameless personal narcissusism, we’ve decided to display one of our own photos this time.

Over to you.

(Cross posted from How This Old Brit Sees It)

Hmmmmmm.

We honestly can’t decide whether we’ve got good news or bad news today.

Moreover, nor can we decide whether it’s genuine “leaked” type “learned by the BBC” information — or purposely (professionally), planted Machiavellian mischievous misinformation — and/or diabolically deliberate disinformation.

Read this remarkably surprising report and see (and say), what you think.

We say again, hmmmmm.

Don’t you just hate being damned well undecided?

(Cross posted from across at How This Old Brit Sees It)

We’ve been called cooks, conspiracy, theorists, cranks, so on & so forth, several times before. As well as worse things.

Well, we should worry, Not.

One of our most long standing virtual friends & correspondents is Pokey Anderson. She co-hosts a regular weekly radio programme in the Lone Star state of Texas. It’s called the Sunday Monitor, and transmits on Sundays.

Pokey Anderson’s about as awesomely astute and acutely aware, as they come. You’d better believe it.

Though you won’t find Pokey’s name plastered across the big name papers of the states, she could certainly show the way to many other so-called, mainstream investigative journalists - who’s names are far too many to mention. Even if we had the inclination. But we don’t, so we won’t. Since we don’t believe so many of said stenographers are worth the bother, time or effort.

So, here’s an incredibly important uber-topical piece she’s pleased to share with us. Not altogether exclusively, but nonetheless, we’re more than pleased and proud to be among some especially select associates whom our old online pal Pokey appreciates enough to share. Enough, that is, to allow to present the following:

Who was Mike Connell?

Pokey Anderson — December 20, 2008

Investigative journalists online have been digging into the story of Mike Connell for two years. Connell’s largely unknown role in elections and government technology infrastructure should be a top story of the year, yet major media have ignored it.

Last night, a small plane crashed and burned near Akron, Ohio, reportedly carrying only one person, Mike Connell.

Connell was close to Karl Rove, but Rove reportedly had threatened him of late. Connell’s testimony re the Ohio 2004 election was being compelled in an Ohio court.

Ohio election attorney Cliff Arnebeck sent a letter to US Attorney General Mukasey, July 24, 2008:

Dear Attorney General Mukasey:
We have been confidentially informed by a source we believe to be credible that Karl Rove has threatened Michael Connell, a principal witness we have identified in our King Lincoln case in federal court in Columbus, Ohio, that if he does not agree to “take the fall” for election fraud in Ohio, his wife Heather will be prosecuted for supposed lobby law violations …

Who was Mike Connell? Who was he connected to? What did he have to do with the Ohio 2004 presidential election results? What about the US attorney firings? Find out in the independent media.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Free Press.org

Are Rove’s missing e-mails the smoking guns of the stolen 2004 election?
by Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
April 25, 2007
Free Press.org
http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2007/2562

The GOP’s cyber election hit squad
by Steven Rosenfeld and Bob Fitrakis
April 22, 2007
Free Press.org
http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2007/2553 and also http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/042407A.shtml
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ePluribus Media, a collaborative citizen journalist site, first uncovered the complex Mike Connell story.

Ken Blackwell Outsources Ohio Election Results to GOP Internet Operatives, Again
by luaptifer
Tue Nov 07, 2006
ePluribus Media
http://scoop.epluribusmedia.org/story/2006/11/7/115314/922

Ohio’s election website still sent real-time results to GOP mirror server
by intranets
Thu Nov 09, 2006
ePluribus Media
http://scoop.epluribusmedia.org/story/2006/11/9/61233/1283

The GOP, GeorgeWBush.com and the Line that Jumped the Congressional Firewall
Mar 27, 2007
http://scoop.epluribusmedia.org/story/2007/3/26/22612/9031

Who is Michael L. Connell? Part I: The Atwater School of Politics
Mar 28, 2007
http://scoop.epluribusmedia.org/story/2007/3/28/143050/889

Who is Michael L. Connell? Part II: Behind the firewall
Apr 02, 2007
http://scoop.epluribusmedia.org/story/2007/4/2/6328/14926

Rove -ing emails: what else could go missing?
by Todd Johnston and Luaptifer
ePluribus Media
Sun Apr 22, 2007
http://scoop.epluribusmedia.org/story/2007/4/22/33926/1773
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BradBlog stories on Mike Connell

7/17/08: Ohio Attorney Files to Lift Stay on ‘04 Election Case, Cites Allegations, Evidence of Massive Fraud by a Number of GOP Operatives, http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6189

7/22/08: GOP Tech Guru Mike Connell ‘High IQ Forrest Gump…At Scene of Every Single Crime’ Say Ohio Attorneys, http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6206

7/24/08: Rove Threatened GOP IT Guru If He Does Not ‘Take the Fall’ for Election Fraud in Ohio, Says Attorney, http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6214

7/25/08: Cliff Arnebeck, OH Attorney, Interviewed Live on Peter B. Collins Show, http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6217

7/26/08: So Who Is Mike Connell? A Clip from ‘Free For All’ Gives You an Idea… , http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6220

9/29/08: STAY LIFTED IN ‘04 OHIO ELECTION FRAUD CASE, GOP ‘TECH GURU’ SUBPOENAED, http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6445

10/31/08: BREAKING: Federal Judge Compels GOP IT Guru Mike Connell To Give Deposition in Ohio ‘04 Election Case,
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6600
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6696

12/19/08: BREAKING: MIKE CONNELL, GOP ‘IT GURU’, KILLED IN SOLO PLANE CRASH,

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Velvet Revolution website, Rove Cybergate: http://www.rovecybergate.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Raw Story has done a number of stories on Connell, including

Republican IT consultant subpoenaed in case alleging tampering with 2004 election
Larisa Alexandrovna and Muriel Kane
Monday September 29, 2008
Raw Story
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Republican_IT_consultant_subpoenaed_in_case_0929.html
‘Karl Rove’s IT guru’ Mike Connell dies in plane crash
RAW STORY
Saturday December 20, 2008
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Karl_Roves_IT_guru_Mike_Connell_1220.html

Pokey, old pal, you’re an absolute star.

For far from the first time, we salute you.

Oh, that we ourselves owned far fewer years and possessed instead, lots more strength and stamina.

(Cross posted from How This Old Brit Sees It

Watch out ya don’t get cancer on yer hands, eh?

Looks like the oil sands that helped save Canada’s economy during the recent oil shock are helping to wreck Canada’s environment:

George Whiteknife, known as Sloan, has lived in Fort Chipewyan all his life. He provides much of the food for his family and dogs by hunting, fishing and trapping. Sloan, a member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, says he first began noticing something was different about eight or 10 years ago, when for a period of a couple of weeks, the fish in Lake Athabasca seemed to disappear and his fishing net came out of the water covered in a black, oily substance.

There have been reports of deformed fish with tumours, of muskrats found dead in their dens, of whitefish turning red. Some hunters and trappers were saying the meat tasted unusual. No one will now drink water from the lake, some refuse even after the water has been treated.

The oil sands industry, based around Fort McMurray, relies on the Athabasca River for water to help extract the oil from the sand. Waste water from the process is re-used many times, but it contains such high concentrations of naturally occurring elements like arsenic and mercury that it must be stored in vast, man-made lakes surrounded by earthen dykes, known as tailings ponds. Government and industry officials say no tailings water ever ends up back in the river, and point to data collected by their scientists to back this up.

However, in a report for the local Nunee Health Board last year, environmental scientist Kevin Timoney found higher levels of contaminants in the water downstream from the oil sands plants, suggesting that tailings could be leaking into the water system. Once in the water, the contaminants - which also include napthenic acids and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) - enter the food chain. Some of the most popular fish have so much mercury in them that they should not be eaten, Dr Timoney cautions.

His conclusions are broadly backed up by David Schindler, a water ecologist and the Killam memorial professor of ecology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.

“I think it’s very unlikely that mining on that scale is not increasing all of the amounts of pollutants coming… into the river,” he says.

The problem for the locals extends beyond having to eat canned fish and drink bottled water:

Read the rest of this entry »

Stephane Dion proved adept at finding rope with which to hang himself

When Canada’s parliament restarts on January 26, left-leaning parties will probably patch together a coalition that will topple the current government and elevate the leader of the Liberal Party to the office of Prime Minister. Sounds like good news for Stephane Dion, the leader of the Liberal Party. Except that he’s being forced to resign his leadership post.

The immediate cause for Dion’s resignation was a dustup over a piece of political theater. Dion recorded a video response to an address by Prime Minister Brian Harper. But the video arrived so late at television networks that it could not be broadcast immediately after Harper’s address, and it was out of focus in some places. Dion tried to blame his staff, but they said that it was all Dion’s fault:

Read the rest of this entry »

Don’t ask us.

What would we know?

What do you think?

US global dominance ’set to wane’

The US will face more competition at the top of a multi-polar global system US economic, military and political dominance is likely to decline over the next two decades, according to a new US intelligence report on global trends.

The National Intelligence Council (NIC) predicts China, India and Russia will increasingly challenge US influence.

It also says the dollar may no longer be the world’s major currency, and food and water shortages will fuel conflict.

Read the rest.

Is the end in sight?

What say ye?

(Cross posted from How This Old Brit Sees It)

From the Reuters:

The leader of Canada’s Green Party, unveiling an election platform that includes a proposal to legalize marijuana, apologised on Wednesday for not having smoked pot.

“I am not a fan of marijuana use. I have to confess this — I know all politicians are asked. I’ve never used marijuana. I apologise,” said Elizabeth May, who won extra attention this year by being allowed to join the televised national leaders’ debates.

By the way, here’s the photo I really wanted to use to illustrate this story.

We’re sure you can guess how we “see” the sort of stuff that follows.

We wonder how the rest of America and the wider world sees it?

We bet you can guess.

WASILLA, Alaska —

Gov. Sarah Palin lives by the maxim that all politics is local, not to mention personal.

So when there was a vacancy at the top of the State Division of Agriculture, she appointed a high school classmate, Franci Havemeister, to the $95,000-a-year directorship. A former real estate agent, Ms. Havemeister cited her childhood love of cows as a qualification for running the roughly $2 million agency.

Ms. Havemeister was one of at least five schoolmates Ms. Palin hired, often at salaries far exceeding their private sector wages.

Read the rest of this rather alarmingly revealing report.

And then there’s THIS.

(Cross posted from How This Old Brit Sees It)

Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper shows his love of democracy with a power grab

From CNN:

Canada’s prime minister dissolved Parliament on Sunday and called an early election for next month in hopes of strengthening his Conservative minority government’s hold on power. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s party needs an additional 28 seats to have a majority in Parliament. Although he has downplayed that possibility, polls in recent days indicate his right wing party has a chance to do so.

The October 14 election will be Canada’s third ballot in four years.

The Conservatives unseated the Liberal Party in 2006 after nearly 13 years in power, but as a minority government the Conservatives have been forced to rely on opposition lawmakers to pass legislation and adopt budgets. With Harper signaling in recent weeks that he was leaning toward calling early elections, analysts said the Conservatives had a better shot of winning now than if they waited until being forced by the opposition into a vote later, when the Canadian economy might be worse off.

It’s always been my opinion that the trick of calling early elections is anti-democratic. It’s a way of manipulating the electoral system as a way of artificially extending your term in office. And it gives the party in power a tremendous advantage, since they can plan for an election campaign, while the opposition has to scramble to catch up.

Unfortunately for Canada’s liberals, party leader Stephane Dion’s proposal to reduce income taxes and make up the revenue with an energy tax is proving unpopular, so much so that he’s now amending his proposal to include subsidies for truckers and farmers.