Stephen Harper And The Kyoto Accord
0 Comments Published by The R Rated Blogger on Wednesday, January 31, 2007 at 10:12 PM.
All other fun little things Stephen Harper said about the Kyoto Accord:
- “As economic policy the Kyoto Accord is a disaster. As environmental policy it is a fraud.” (Stephen Harper, Address at the Ottawa Leader’s Dinner, November 20, 2002)
- “No, what I am supportive of is, frankly, not ratifying the Kyoto agreement and not implementing it.” (Stephen Harper, CTV News, September 6, 2002)
- "[Kyoto] is designed to address the so-called 'greenhouse gas' phenomenon, the hypothesis that the increase of certain gases - not necessarily pollutants - contribute to a long-term global warming trend.” (Stephen Harper, Address at the Ottawa Leader’s Dinner, November 20, 2002)
- “The accord does negatively impact every region of the country. So rather than talk up separation, it is important to build a coalition across the country to defeat Kyoto.” (Stephen Harper, Report Newsmagazine, December 16, 2002)
- “This is just the beginning of the biggest black-hole boondoggle in Canadian history.” (Stephen Harper, National Post, August 13, 2003)
- “We think the deal itself [Kyoto] is simply bogus.” (Transcript of Stephen Harper interview on the Rafe Mair Show, CKNW Radio Vancouver, November 29, 2002)
- “…there is no environmental benefit [to Kyoto] of any kind.” (Transcript of Stephen Harper interview on the Rafe Mair Show, CKNW Radio Vancouver, November 29, 2002)
- “Carbon dioxide which is a naturally occurring gas vital to the life cycles of this planet. Smog is an entirely different issue is not covered by this treaty.” (Transcript of Stephen Harper interview on the Rafe Mair Show, CKNW Radio Vancouver, November 29, 2002)
- “The Kyoto protocol does not deal with critical environmental issues.” (Stephen Harper, Address on the Kyoto Accord, December 9, 2002)
- “...Canada's implementation will not lead to global reductions of CO2. In fact the transfer of wealth, jobs and emissions to non-target countries virtually ensures that carbon dioxide emissions will increase under the Kyoto Protocol.” (Stephen Harper, Address at the Ottawa Leader’s Dinner, November 20, 2002)
- “I don’t think we should consider signing on to a deal that makes us virtually the sole country in the world that is going to take any action.” (Stephen Harper, Toronto Star, September 5, 2002)
- “Kyoto does virtually nothing to deal with pollution and to deal with the quality of the air that we breathe. Let’s forget about this unworkable treaty…. Kyoto’s never going to be passed.” (Stephen Harper, Toronto Star, September 5, 2002)
- “Carbon dioxide does not cause or contribute to smog, and the Kyoto treaty would do nothing to reduce or prevent smog.” (Stephen Harper, Toronto Star, June 10, 2004)
- ”[The Kyoto Accord is] a socialist scheme to suck money out of wealth-producing nations... [The Accord is] based on tentative and contradictory scientific evidence about climate trends." (Stephen Harper, Canadian Alliance fundraising letter, Fall 2002)
- "Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant." (Stephen Harper, Hansard, October 11, 2002)
- “[Global warming is] a scientific hypothesis and a controversial one.” (Stephen Harper, Toronto Star, September 5, 2002)
- "This may be a lot of fun for a few scientific and environmental elites in Ottawa," he said "But ordinary Canadians from coast to coast will not put up with what this will do to their economy and lifestyle…" (Stephen Harper, Toronto Star, September 5, 2002)
- "We can debate whether or not... CO2 does or does not contribute to global warming. I think the jury is out." (Stephen Harper interview on the Rafe Mair Show, CKNW Radio Vancouver, November 29, 2002)
- “My party’s position on the Kyoto Protocol is clear and has been for a long time. We will oppose ratification of the Kyoto Protocol and its targets. We will work with the provinces and others to discourage the implementation of those targets. And we will rescind the targets when we have the opportunity to do so.” (Stephen Harper, Ottawa Citizen, November 22, 2002)
- “Redirect federal spending aimed at fulfilling the terms of the increasingly irrelevant Kyoto Protocol.” (Stephen Harper, Ottawa Citizen, June 8, 2005)
- “We’re gearing up now for the biggest struggle our party has faced since you entrusted me with the leadership. I’m talking about the “Battle of Kyoto”- our campaign to block the job-killing, economy-destroying Kyoto accord.” (Stephen Harper, Canadian Alliance fundraising letter, Fall 2002)
- "As the effects trickle through other industries, workers and consumers everywhere in Canada will lose. THERE ARE NO CANADIAN WINNERS UNDER THE KYOTO ACCORD.” (Stephen Harper, Canadian Alliance fundraising letter, Fall 2002)
"[The Kyoto Accord is] a socialist scheme to suck money out of wealth-producing nations... [The Accord is] based on tentative and contradictory scientific evidence about climate trends."(Stephen Harper, Canadian Alliance fundraising letter, Fall 2002)
Montreal Police Officer's Song About Ethnics
0 Comments Published by The R Rated Blogger on Monday, January 29, 2007 at 7:49 AM.
Quebec has recently been experiencing a provincial debate on the acceptance of minorities within the mainstream of society. The term used to describe this is "reasonable accommodation" (a phrase borrowed from the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms).
The debate has come to the forefront due to number of highly publicized cases.
- In March, Quebec's human rights tribunal ruled that Muslim students at a Montreal engineering school should be provided with a prayer room.
- In November, members of a YMCA in Montreal launched a petition asking the fitness centre to reverse a decision to tint its second-story windows after members of a neighbouring Orthodox Jewish synagogue complained that children could see some women exercising in revealing clothes.
- Later that month, it was revealed that a pamphlet distributed by Montreal police to female officers suggested they delegate to their male colleagues in cases where male Orthodox Jews insisted on speaking to a male officer.
So is this unreasonable accommodation? According to one police officer it is.
A Montreal police officer is under internal investigation for a song he wrote and recorded disrespecting the department's policy of reasonable accommodation for Quebec's religious minorities.
Simply stated, the concept of reasonable accommodation expects police on the island to accord minorities special treatment according to their beliefs. For example, it discourages female police officers from questioning Hasidic Jewish men.
It also cautions police against frisking Sikhs who wear kirpans (symbolic religious knives) to school.
The 37-year-old officer, who was not identified, has 15 years experience on the force.
He posted his politically incorrect tune on Humour Quebec's website - www.humourqc.com - on Jan. 17.
The lyrics, Ca commence a faire, la! (which roughly translates as Enough Already! in English), is set to Joe Dassin's music and suggests immigration is undermining many of Quebec's traditional values.
"Les accommodations raisonnable, on n'est plus capable," it goes.
"On veut bien accepter des ethnies, mais non pas a n'importe quel prix. ... Si tu n'es pas content de ton sort, il existe un endroit, qu'est l'aeroport."
A rough translation: "We're no longer capable of reasonable accommodation; we welcome ethnics, but not at any price ... if you're not happy with your lot, there's always the airport."
You can listen to the song here.
Read the rest of the story here
How Not To Handle A Racist
0 Comments Published by The R Rated Blogger on Saturday, January 27, 2007 at 3:57 PM.
Canadian Unity Hailed By The British As An Ideal Model
0 Comments Published by The R Rated Blogger on at 3:39 PM.
In a speech delivered at the University of Oxford, British House of Commons leader Jack Straw hailed Canadian Unity as an ideal model for waning British self identity.
In a speech on Thursday at the University of Oxford, House of Commons leader Jack Straw hailed Canada - along with the United States and Australia - as an ideal model for inventing a new brand of "Britishness" that balances multicultural diversity with allegiance to a "national community" of shared beliefs, values and stories.
Canada -- which had to establish its nationalism across a "vast continent" and "has faced the challenge of Quebec separation, too" - has achieved, by necessity, a kind of civic cohesion that still eludes modern Britain, said Straw, a former foreign secretary.
More here
Segolene Royal Weighs In On Quebec Sovereignty
0 Comments Published by The R Rated Blogger on Monday, January 22, 2007 at 5:28 PM.
French presidential candidate Segolene Royal has weighned in on the Quebec sovereignty issue.
The Socialist hopeful was asked about her thoughts on Quebec's national question after a short meeting with Parti Quebecois Leader Andre Boisclair in Paris on Monday.
Royal, who has never visited Quebec, said the province and France have common values, including "sovereignty and Quebec's freedom."
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Liberal Leader Stephane Dion and Quebec Premier Jean Charest have all taken Royal to task for her comments.
Harper: "Experience teaches that it is highly inappropriate for a foreign leader to interfere in the democratic affairs of another country,” he said.
"We look forward to marking the 400th anniversary of the founding of Canada at Quebec City with the next president of France. We expect in turn that the next president will display an understanding of our shared history, and the respect for Canada and Canadians that such an important partnership requires.”
Charest: "what I also know is that the future of Quebec will be decided by Quebecers. No one else."
More here
Quebec Wrestling With Multiculturalism
0 Comments Published by The R Rated Blogger on Sunday, January 21, 2007 at 7:43 PM.
Is this is problem or just media riling up hysteria. Both The Globe and Mail and the Montreal Gazette (CanWest Global Communications Corporation owned newspaper) carried the exact same story.
Something to consider:
In a diverse society, “religious symbols have no place in public space.
Welcome To The Conservative Party Mr. Khan
0 Comments Published by The R Rated Blogger on Thursday, January 18, 2007 at 7:10 AM.
So Wajid Khan jumped ship to get muzzled. Good move.
Wajid Khan, the Prime Minister's special adviser on the Middle East, has expressed support for an Arab initiative that would see Israel return to its pre-1967 borders.
The Arab Peace Initiative would go further than any position publicly stated by the Prime Minister. Indeed, Stephen Harper, as opposition leader, told the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy during last year's election campaign that it was impractical to demand Israel hand back all land it took after the 1967 war.
The comments from Mr. Khan are in an interview the then-Liberal MP gave to the Ramallah-based daily newspaper, Al-Hayat al-Jadida (The New Life), last fall.
They offer another glimpse into the tone and content of the Mississauga-Streetsville MP's meetings during an 18-day tour of the Middle East last fall.
The report from Mr. Khan's trip has been kept under wraps by the Prime Minister's Office, feeding speculation it may contain recommendations that differ from present Canadian policy in the region.
Pimping FOX News On 24
1 Comments Published by The R Rated Blogger on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 at 12:13 PM.
Damn it, hate being beaten to a post.
The amount of FOX news advertising that goes on 24 is ridiculous. If you watched the season opener of 24 you would have noticed that immediately after they announced.
The Following takes place between 6:00 A.M. and 7:00 A.M.
The show opened with a shot of a television monitor broadcasting FOX News Alert.
The whole show was pretty much saturated with how many times they can fit FOX News on the screen. You can understand the fact that they want to pimp their own network. But FOX News is such a right wing tool, that it kind of makes you uneasy when you see these images being sold in sweet package like 24. Just plain old fear mongering sold in glossy fashion.
Here are some other examples.
Here's an interesting article, which asks the question whether the show 24 does a better job at convincing the public than the White House for the use of torture.
The show is much more convincing than the White House at making the case for torture; its ratings have gone steadily up over the last five years, while Bush's ratings have gone steadily down.
In "24," Sutherland plays special agent Jack Bauer, head of the Counter Terrorism Unit. He fights some of his biggest battles not with the dark-skinned enemies trying to nuke L.A., but rather with the light-skinned do-gooders who think the head of the Counter Terrorism Unit should follow the rules.
Back in season four, for example, the bumbling bureaucrats released a captured terrorist before he could be tortured -- because a lawyer for "Amnesty Global" showed up whining about the Geneva Conventions. Jack had to quit the Counter Terrorist Unit and become a private citizen in order to break the suspect's fingers.
For us Canadians this is rather sad because Kiefer is one of our boys.
It's especially unfortunate to see Kiefer Sutherland play the world's most popular torturer -- because his father, Donald Sutherland, has been a prominent antiwar activist since Vietnam days and starred in some great films critiquing fascist politics, including "MASH" and Bertolucci's "1900" -- and also because Kiefer's grandfather, Tommy Douglas, was Canada's first socialist premier, and was recently voted "the greatest Canadian of all time" -- because he introduced universal public health care to Canada. The grandson meanwhile is being paid $10 million a season by Rupert Murdoch to shoot kneecaps, chop off hands, and bite his enemies to death (Sunday's special thrill).
The amount of FOX news advertising that goes on 24 is ridiculous. If you watched the season opener of 24 you would have noticed that immediately after they announced.
The Following takes place between 6:00 A.M. and 7:00 A.M.
The show opened with a shot of a television monitor broadcasting FOX News Alert.
The whole show was pretty much saturated with how many times they can fit FOX News on the screen. You can understand the fact that they want to pimp their own network. But FOX News is such a right wing tool, that it kind of makes you uneasy when you see these images being sold in sweet package like 24. Just plain old fear mongering sold in glossy fashion.
Here are some other examples.
Here's an interesting article, which asks the question whether the show 24 does a better job at convincing the public than the White House for the use of torture.
The show is much more convincing than the White House at making the case for torture; its ratings have gone steadily up over the last five years, while Bush's ratings have gone steadily down.
In "24," Sutherland plays special agent Jack Bauer, head of the Counter Terrorism Unit. He fights some of his biggest battles not with the dark-skinned enemies trying to nuke L.A., but rather with the light-skinned do-gooders who think the head of the Counter Terrorism Unit should follow the rules.
Back in season four, for example, the bumbling bureaucrats released a captured terrorist before he could be tortured -- because a lawyer for "Amnesty Global" showed up whining about the Geneva Conventions. Jack had to quit the Counter Terrorist Unit and become a private citizen in order to break the suspect's fingers.
For us Canadians this is rather sad because Kiefer is one of our boys.
It's especially unfortunate to see Kiefer Sutherland play the world's most popular torturer -- because his father, Donald Sutherland, has been a prominent antiwar activist since Vietnam days and starred in some great films critiquing fascist politics, including "MASH" and Bertolucci's "1900" -- and also because Kiefer's grandfather, Tommy Douglas, was Canada's first socialist premier, and was recently voted "the greatest Canadian of all time" -- because he introduced universal public health care to Canada. The grandson meanwhile is being paid $10 million a season by Rupert Murdoch to shoot kneecaps, chop off hands, and bite his enemies to death (Sunday's special thrill).
Interracial Couples On The Rise In Canada
0 Comments Published by The R Rated Blogger on at 10:13 AM.
Interracial marriages are on the rise in Canada.
According to Statistics Canada, interracial couples made up 3%, or 452,000, of Canada's married or common-law couples in 2001 -- that's up 35% since 1991.
"People in mixed unions tend to be younger, live in urban areas, and tend to be highly educated," said Anne Milan, senior analyst at StatsCan and author of the 2004 report titled Mixed Unions. Experts attribute the rise to Canada's growing diversity.
And some sociologists, like University of Toronto professor Monica Boyd, describe the growing trend as a barometer of social tolerance since marriage is such a binding union between two separate identities.
"Intermarrying is the last frontier in social integration," she said. "It's an intimate act that produces the next generation. It's one of the most important indicators of acceptance and integration into an ongoing social world."
It seems Japanese are most likely to marry outside their race. This can be traced back to the presence of Japanese Canadians in Canada for longer period of time than other ethnic groups. Also the Japanese have much smaller number of potential partners to chose from.
You can read the rest of the article here or check out the video for race relations in Canada that accompanies the article here.
According to Statistics Canada, interracial couples made up 3%, or 452,000, of Canada's married or common-law couples in 2001 -- that's up 35% since 1991.
"People in mixed unions tend to be younger, live in urban areas, and tend to be highly educated," said Anne Milan, senior analyst at StatsCan and author of the 2004 report titled Mixed Unions. Experts attribute the rise to Canada's growing diversity.
And some sociologists, like University of Toronto professor Monica Boyd, describe the growing trend as a barometer of social tolerance since marriage is such a binding union between two separate identities.
"Intermarrying is the last frontier in social integration," she said. "It's an intimate act that produces the next generation. It's one of the most important indicators of acceptance and integration into an ongoing social world."
It seems Japanese are most likely to marry outside their race. This can be traced back to the presence of Japanese Canadians in Canada for longer period of time than other ethnic groups. Also the Japanese have much smaller number of potential partners to chose from.
You can read the rest of the article here or check out the video for race relations in Canada that accompanies the article here.
A survey done by Léger Marketing and published this past Monday in Le Journal De Montreal shows that 59% of Quebecers are racist. That's 12% higher than the attitudes of non-Quebecers.
Among Quebecers, most (43 per cent) said they were only mildly racist, while 15 per cent said they were moderately racist and only one per cent responded that they were very racist.
The survey also found that 36% of Quebecers have a bad opinion of Jewish people, while 27% have a poor opinion of blacks and 50% have a bad opinion of Muslims.
Among Quebecers, most (43 per cent) said they were only mildly racist, while 15 per cent said they were moderately racist and only one per cent responded that they were very racist.
The survey also found that 36% of Quebecers have a bad opinion of Jewish people, while 27% have a poor opinion of blacks and 50% have a bad opinion of Muslims.
British Columbia Woman Saves The Life Of A Condemned Iranian Woman
0 Comments Published by The R Rated Blogger on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 at 9:53 PM.
Nazanin Afshin-Jam is former Miss World Canada, who has been fighting to save the life of Nazanin Fatehi, a 19 year old Iranian Woman. Fatehi received the death sentence in her home country of Iran after she stabbed to death a man who had tried to rape her and her 16 year old niece. Fatehi was 17 years old at the time of the stabbing.
Afshin-Jam received the news yesterday that the death sentence against Fatehi has been dropped.
Fatehi’s lawyer confirmed Monday that the Iranian court had commuted the sentence after recognizing the incident as an act of self-defence. However, the court ruled Fatehi used excessive force and asked her to pay blood money to receive a pardon from the dead man’s family.
This case has gathered world wide attention in part due to Afshin-Jam's efforts.
Using her fame as Miss Canada and knowledge gained through an international relations degree, Afshin-Jam started a petition to save Nazanin. So far, she has collected nearly 300,000 signatures, which have been delivered to the Iranian government. She has also visited Ottawa and the United Nations headquarters in New York, asking politicians to put political pressure on Iran to stop the execution.
B.C. beauty queen saves Iranian girl from death sentence
Beauty queen backs condemned teen
Help Nazanin Website
The Tale of Two Nazanins, A Documentary
Israel Appoints First Arab Muslim Minister
0 Comments Published by The R Rated Blogger on Saturday, January 13, 2007 at 1:54 PM.
Wow.
Amir Peretz, the leader of Israel's Labour Party, has appointed the first Arab Muslim to the Israeli cabinet. Raleb Majadele is the new minister of science and technology.
Amir Peretz, the leader of Israel's Labour Party, has appointed the first Arab Muslim to the Israeli cabinet. Raleb Majadele is the new minister of science and technology.
Crooks and Liars has a nice little post about the liberalization of one time poster boy for the Republican party, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Bev Oda, Always Looking Out For The Big Companies
0 Comments Published by The R Rated Blogger on Friday, January 12, 2007 at 8:43 AM.
How does a person that looks like someone's sweet old grandmother cause so much havoc?
Bev Oda (the Canadian Tory Heritage Minister who funded her campaign with money from the big entertainment, software and pharma companies) is poised to bring down new copyright legislation that will plunge Canada into the dark ages, outdoing the USA for sheer boneheaded lunacy.
More here
Love this man's response to the article that is occupying the home page of the Globe and Mail.
Visible-minority immigrants are slower to integrate into Canadian society than their white, European counterparts, and feel less Canadian, suggesting multiculturalism doesn't work as well for non-whites, according to a landmark report.
The study, based on an analysis of 2002 Statistics Canada data, found that the children of visible-minority immigrants exhibited a more profound sense of exclusion than their parents.
Visible-minority newcomers, and their offspring, identify themselves less as Canadians, trust their fellow citizens less and are less likely to vote than white immigrants from Europe.
The findings suggest that multiculturalism, Canada's official policy on interethnic relations since 1971, is not working as well for newer immigrants or for their children, who hail largely from China, South Asia and the Caribbean, conclude co-authors Jeffrey Reitz, a University of Toronto sociologist, and Rupa Banerjee, a doctoral candidate.
Visible-minority immigrants are slower to integrate into Canadian society than their white, European counterparts, and feel less Canadian, suggesting multiculturalism doesn't work as well for non-whites, according to a landmark report.
The study, based on an analysis of 2002 Statistics Canada data, found that the children of visible-minority immigrants exhibited a more profound sense of exclusion than their parents.
Visible-minority newcomers, and their offspring, identify themselves less as Canadians, trust their fellow citizens less and are less likely to vote than white immigrants from Europe.
The findings suggest that multiculturalism, Canada's official policy on interethnic relations since 1971, is not working as well for newer immigrants or for their children, who hail largely from China, South Asia and the Caribbean, conclude co-authors Jeffrey Reitz, a University of Toronto sociologist, and Rupa Banerjee, a doctoral candidate.
Can You Explain This One Mitt?
0 Comments Published by The R Rated Blogger on Wednesday, January 10, 2007 at 8:52 AM.
Rod 2.0 has an interesting little point about presidential hopeful and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. Romney is a Mormon, a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint.
From approximately 1849 until exactly 1978, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints did not allow men of African descent to be ordained to the priesthood.
The church policy has been that the Lord had placed two successive curses on the Black race. First, the Curse Of Cain (the black skin), and a second later curse, the Curse Of Ham, which was used to justify slavery.
This ban was lifted in 1978, when Romney was 31 years old. At 31, Romney was well into adulthood and clearly aware of what is right and what is wrong. So between the ages of 18 to 31, Romney was an active member and an elder in a church that had a racist belief.
You can basically make this argument for most religions. But something that needs to be pointed out about a man that is running for the most powerful office in the world.
New Nuclear Weapons For The U.S.
0 Comments Published by The R Rated Blogger on Monday, January 08, 2007 at 9:52 AM.
U.S. set to produce new nuclear weapons in nearly 20 years.
Conservatives Tapping Into The Ethnic Votes By Employing Fear
0 Comments Published by The R Rated Blogger on at 6:54 AM.
The Conservatives party's new agenda is to lure the ethnic votes which has typically went to the Liberals. The defection Liberal MP Wajid Khan to the Conservatives was hailed by PM Stephen Harper:
as a sign of the new acceptance of the Tories by Canada's cultural communities, but it was Thursday's elevation to minister rank of MP Jason Kenney, the Prime Minister's bridge-builder with ethnic groups, that is more significant in practice.
Mr. Kenney acknowledged Friday that the Conservatives are making a concerted effort to win over what has long been a Liberal-dominated constituency.
"We have a good story to tell and I now have an additional platform from which to tell that story," Mr. Kenney said in an interview Friday.
"We have a story to tell about a party that is open to newcomers, and we haven't told it as well. And quite frankly, a lot of it is about being on the ground."
But the strategy employed by the Conservatives is as sick as you can get, use the the fears and insecurities that ethnic voters might have towards same-sex marriages as a tactic to lure the voters away.
According to a senior party organizer, Conservatives believe they have potentially tapped into a well-spring of insecurity among ethnic groups, some of whose members feel the Liberal bill will force their clergy to perform same-sex marriage. Even if the same-sex issue is forgotten by the time the next election rolls around, the strategist says, the Conservatives figure that at least some members of the multicultural communities will remember Mr. Harper reached out to them.
Mr. Harper has always argued that his long-term plan is to build a conservative majority in Canada, and tapping into ethnic support is crucial.
Harper On Hockey
0 Comments Published by The R Rated Blogger on Friday, January 05, 2007 at 12:11 PM.
Stephen Harper's view on shootouts in Hockey.
Two Muslims In The Conservative Party, What Is The World Coming To?
0 Comments Published by The R Rated Blogger on at 9:12 AM.
Count them, Rahim Jaffer and Wajid Khan. That's two Muslim MP's in the Conservative Party.
Let's move them to the front for publicity photos like the Reform Party used to.
Let's move them to the front for publicity photos like the Reform Party used to.
Liberal MP Wajid Khan Joins The Conservatives
0 Comments Published by The R Rated Blogger on at 9:09 AM.
Liberal MP Wajid Khan defected to the Conservative party today.
Mr. Khan, who has been serving as Harper's special adviser on the Middle East and Afghanistan since last summer, is crossing the floor to the Tory government benches, shifting the delicate balance of power in the 308-seat House of Commons.
“I must say that I did not come to this decision lightly,” Mr. Kahn said. “But quite frankly, the Liberal Party has moved away from people like me.
“People who believe in free enterprise, support for families and a stronger, more assertive Canada on the world stage.”
Mr. Khan also cited party leadership as an important factor in his decision, describing Mr. Harper as “the best leader for Canada.”
“I wanted to keep work with this Prime Minister — to protect our national security, to advance and defend Canada's interests on the world stage and to ensure that Canada works for all Canadians,” he said.
More here.
Mr. Khan, who has been serving as Harper's special adviser on the Middle East and Afghanistan since last summer, is crossing the floor to the Tory government benches, shifting the delicate balance of power in the 308-seat House of Commons.
“I must say that I did not come to this decision lightly,” Mr. Kahn said. “But quite frankly, the Liberal Party has moved away from people like me.
“People who believe in free enterprise, support for families and a stronger, more assertive Canada on the world stage.”
Mr. Khan also cited party leadership as an important factor in his decision, describing Mr. Harper as “the best leader for Canada.”
“I wanted to keep work with this Prime Minister — to protect our national security, to advance and defend Canada's interests on the world stage and to ensure that Canada works for all Canadians,” he said.
More here.
It's Thomas Jefferson's Koran
0 Comments Published by The R Rated Blogger on Wednesday, January 03, 2007 at 9:46 PM.
Keith Ellison is the first Muslim elected to the United States Congress. Recently he has been under attack from the far right because Ellison announced that he will use the Koran when he takes the oath of office. The man leading the charge against Ellison using the Koran is Virginia Rep. Virgil Goode. In a letter written to his constituents, Goode called it a threat to American values.
When I raise my hand to take the oath on Swearing In Day, I will have the Bible in my other hand. I do not subscribe to using the Koran in any way. The Muslim Representative from Minnesota was elected by the voters of that district and if American citizens don’t wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran.
Ellison isn't backing down. In a one-up-manship, the Koran Ellison will be using for his swearing in ceremony will be a Koran that once belonged to America's third president Thomas Jefferson.
"He wanted to use a Koran that was special," said Mark Dimunation, chief of the rare book and special collections division at the Library of Congress, who was contacted by the Minnesota Dem early in December. Dimunation, who grew up in Ellison's 5th District, was happy to help.
Jefferson's copy is an English translation by George Sale published in the 1750s; it survived the 1851 fire that destroyed most of Jefferson's collection and has his customary initialing on the pages.
Two Somali Islamic Fighters Carrying Canadian Passports Detained In Kenya
0 Comments Published by The R Rated Blogger on Tuesday, January 02, 2007 at 11:15 PM.
The Kenyan government arrested two Somali Islamic fighters carrying Canadian Passport. The two men caught as they were fleeing from Somalia into Kenya.
As many as two Somali Islamic fighters who claim to be Canadian were among 10 fighters arrested by Kenyan police, according to separate reports Tuesday.
The 10 were arrested on Monday at the Liboi border crossing in Kenya as they tried to flee Somalia, the Kenya Daily Nation reported.
Two were reportedly carrying Canadian passports, while the remaining eight were said to have Eritrean passports. According to the newspaper, all 10 militants were being detained in the Kenyan town of Garissa.
The rest of the article here
