We have no names or pictures yet of the four Canadian soldiers who were killed in Afghanistan yesterday. They were lost to an IED, traversing a chunk of parched and worthless ground that has been fought over again and again and again. Why???
Also killed was a Canadian journalist, a young woman who worked for the Calgary Herald. She was engaged to be married in July. There will be no wedding for her, no new year at all.
Canadians were not the only ones to have "a bad day" in Afghanistan yesterday. The Americans lost eight "civilians" (CIA operatives, actually), killed in a fortified base in the north-east of that miserable country, near the border with almost-as-miserable Pakistan.
Will there be any questions asked in the Canadian parliament? Will there be a debate on why we are in Afghanistan and how much longer we're going to stay there? Noooooo, because Smarmy Steve Harper, who has offered his "sincere condolences" to the families of those killed, has quietly asked [you mean "told", ed.] the Governor-General to progrogue (suspend) Parliament until March so he won't have to answer any questions about anything.
His regime has shown tremendous fear of criticism and has done everything it can to avoid having its policies and actions examined by representatives of the people. Perhaps Mr. Harpoon is taking lessons from the "government" of Afghanistan.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
A letter to the editor re immigration
Agent 38 passes along what purports to be a letter to the editor of a Canadian newspaper, from a typical Canadian, on the subject of immigration...
So many letter writers have explained how this land is made up of immigrants. Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people why today's Canadian is not willing to accept the new kind of immigrant any longer.
Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to Canada. People had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in Halifax and be documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground.
They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in good and bad times.
They made learning English a primary rule in their new Canadian households and some even changed their names to blend in with their new home. They had waved good bye to their birthplace to give their children a new life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate into one culture.
Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labour laws to protect them. All they had were the skills, craftsmanship and desire they had brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity.
Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. Canadians fought along side men whose parents had come straight over from Germany, Italy, France, Japan, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Sweden, Poland and so many other places. None of these first-generation Canadians ever gave any thought about what country their parents had come from. They were Canadians fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan.
They were defending Freedom as one people. When we liberated France, no-one in those villages was looking for the Ukrainian-Canadian or the German-Canadian or the Irish-Canadian. The people of France saw only Canadians. And we carried one flag that represented our country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent who they were. It would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here.
These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be a Canadian. They stirred the melting pot into one red and white bowl.
Now here we are in 2009 with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve it by playing with a different set of rules, one that includes a Canadian passport and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry, that's not what being a Canadian is all about.
Canadians have been very open-hearted and open-minded regarding immigrants, whether they were fleeing poverty, dictatorship, persecution, or whatever else makes us think of those aforementioned immigrants who truly did ADOPT our country, and our flag and our morals and our customs. And left their wars, hatred, and divisions behind.
I believe that the immigrants who landed in Canada in the early 1900s deserve better than that for the toil, hard work and sacrifice of those legally searching for a better life. I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by those waving foreign country flags, fighting foreign battles on our soil, making Canadians change to suit their religions and cultures, and wanting to change our country's fabric by claiming discrimination when we do not give in to their demands.
It's about time we get real and stand up for our forefathers' rights! We are CANADIAN, lest we forget it! I am a Native of this Country & proud of it!
I think this letter...not the editorials in the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star or other politically correct media...represents the views of the ordinary Canadian. And Americans and Britons too!
Speak up, people! Keep the letters flowing to editors, columnists, bloggers, MPs, senators, congressmen, pundits, and all and sundry. Maybe those in power will finally learn the lesson that politically correct is not politically smart!
So many letter writers have explained how this land is made up of immigrants. Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people why today's Canadian is not willing to accept the new kind of immigrant any longer.
Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to Canada. People had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in Halifax and be documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground.
They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in good and bad times.
They made learning English a primary rule in their new Canadian households and some even changed their names to blend in with their new home. They had waved good bye to their birthplace to give their children a new life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate into one culture.
Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labour laws to protect them. All they had were the skills, craftsmanship and desire they had brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity.
Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. Canadians fought along side men whose parents had come straight over from Germany, Italy, France, Japan, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Sweden, Poland and so many other places. None of these first-generation Canadians ever gave any thought about what country their parents had come from. They were Canadians fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan.
They were defending Freedom as one people. When we liberated France, no-one in those villages was looking for the Ukrainian-Canadian or the German-Canadian or the Irish-Canadian. The people of France saw only Canadians. And we carried one flag that represented our country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent who they were. It would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here.
These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be a Canadian. They stirred the melting pot into one red and white bowl.
Now here we are in 2009 with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve it by playing with a different set of rules, one that includes a Canadian passport and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry, that's not what being a Canadian is all about.
Canadians have been very open-hearted and open-minded regarding immigrants, whether they were fleeing poverty, dictatorship, persecution, or whatever else makes us think of those aforementioned immigrants who truly did ADOPT our country, and our flag and our morals and our customs. And left their wars, hatred, and divisions behind.
I believe that the immigrants who landed in Canada in the early 1900s deserve better than that for the toil, hard work and sacrifice of those legally searching for a better life. I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by those waving foreign country flags, fighting foreign battles on our soil, making Canadians change to suit their religions and cultures, and wanting to change our country's fabric by claiming discrimination when we do not give in to their demands.
It's about time we get real and stand up for our forefathers' rights! We are CANADIAN, lest we forget it! I am a Native of this Country & proud of it!
I think this letter...not the editorials in the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star or other politically correct media...represents the views of the ordinary Canadian. And Americans and Britons too!
Speak up, people! Keep the letters flowing to editors, columnists, bloggers, MPs, senators, congressmen, pundits, and all and sundry. Maybe those in power will finally learn the lesson that politically correct is not politically smart!
Immigration: what the people really want
Walt has long maintained that there is a huge disconnect between what the average Briton, American or Canadian thinks about immigration and what our "leaders", the left-liberal press and the chattering classes tell us we should think.
Many religious leaders are lobbying for increases in immigration numbers. But a new Zogby poll of U.S. voters who belong to religious communities finds strong support for reducing overall immigration.
Here's another shocker. Joe Sixpack strongly disagrees with opinion-makers' arguments that we need more immigrants. And they believe that the illegals who are already here in their 1000s should be sent back where they came from, pronto!
Among lay Catholics, 78% said that inadequate enforcement, rather than strict quotas, was the main cause of illegal immigration. According to 69% of the Catholics surveyed, immigration is now too high; only 4% thought it was too low, while 14% were happy with the current level.
The survey of mainline Catholics and Protestants, evangelical Protestants and Jewish voters was one of the largest polls on immigration ever published. Our governments are, of course, doing their own polling, but draw the veil of secrecy over the findings lest people find out their immigration "policies" are a big black crock.
Many religious leaders are lobbying for increases in immigration numbers. But a new Zogby poll of U.S. voters who belong to religious communities finds strong support for reducing overall immigration.
Here's another shocker. Joe Sixpack strongly disagrees with opinion-makers' arguments that we need more immigrants. And they believe that the illegals who are already here in their 1000s should be sent back where they came from, pronto!
Among lay Catholics, 78% said that inadequate enforcement, rather than strict quotas, was the main cause of illegal immigration. According to 69% of the Catholics surveyed, immigration is now too high; only 4% thought it was too low, while 14% were happy with the current level.
The survey of mainline Catholics and Protestants, evangelical Protestants and Jewish voters was one of the largest polls on immigration ever published. Our governments are, of course, doing their own polling, but draw the veil of secrecy over the findings lest people find out their immigration "policies" are a big black crock.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Conrad Black on a dismal decade
Agent 6 passes along a lengthy column by Conrad Black, which appeared in the so-called National Post just before Christmas. Conrad Black used to own the Post. Possibly he owes the present owners some money as a result of the financial dealings which have landed him in a Florida country club [prison, surely. ed.] Maybe he's working off the debt at so much per word.
Be that as it may, his dismal view of a dismal decade is still worth reading. He inveighs against the dismal campaign against global warming [also so-called, ed.], the dismal Copenhagen conference, the utterly dismal Al Gore and the dismal and "untrammeled vulgarity of public taste". I agree entirely and recommend the article for the cold nights when a little attack of biliousness will help to warm you.
On the subject of global warming [yes, yes...get on with it, ed.] I pass on a comment from Rex Murphy, whose book Canada and Other Matters of Opinion I reviewed this morning.
"Of all the causes that are out there, none is so sentimental, so saturated with vague, emotive attitudinizing, fed on soft science and ripe with moral grandstanding, as global warming.
"Global warming, precisely because it is so grand and nebulous, precisely because it is that perfect storm of scientism and moralism, because it is so susceptible to demagoguery (however fashionably packaged and presented), is an almost unstoppable cause.
"Hands up, those of you who are against 'saving the world'."
Be that as it may, his dismal view of a dismal decade is still worth reading. He inveighs against the dismal campaign against global warming [also so-called, ed.], the dismal Copenhagen conference, the utterly dismal Al Gore and the dismal and "untrammeled vulgarity of public taste". I agree entirely and recommend the article for the cold nights when a little attack of biliousness will help to warm you.
On the subject of global warming [yes, yes...get on with it, ed.] I pass on a comment from Rex Murphy, whose book Canada and Other Matters of Opinion I reviewed this morning.
"Of all the causes that are out there, none is so sentimental, so saturated with vague, emotive attitudinizing, fed on soft science and ripe with moral grandstanding, as global warming.
"Global warming, precisely because it is so grand and nebulous, precisely because it is that perfect storm of scientism and moralism, because it is so susceptible to demagoguery (however fashionably packaged and presented), is an almost unstoppable cause.
"Hands up, those of you who are against 'saving the world'."
Book review: "Canada and Other Matters of Opinion"
For thinking Canadians, Rex Murphy has become something of a National Treasure. Not exactly Don Cherry -- though Murphy admires Cherry greatly -- but then the audience isn't quite the same.
Mr. Murphy hails from Newfoundland and has that peculiar love of and feel for the English language that seems to come naturally to educated Newfoundlanders, even though some of them (hello, John Crosbie) try to disguise it when they cast a few pearls before us ordinary people. It must be the Irish ancestry, I think.
Only a Rex Murphy could use the word "objurgation" in a sentence and make it seem entirely appropriate. His Fog Index* must be atmospheric, if you'll parden the pun, but his commentaries on Canadian mores, politics and personalities are eminently readable all the same.
Mr. Murphy commentates [is dis a word? ed.] a lot. He appears Thursday nights on CBC-TV's The National, hosts CBC Radio's Cross Country Checkup on Sunday afternoons, and writes a Saturday column at the Globe and Mail. Rarely do I miss any of them.
Let me give you just one short sample from an essay called "Real Rights and Rights Commissions".
"Human rights are as profound and central a concept to the democracties of the world as we have. They constitutute the core of human freedom. They are the antidote to tyranny. They are fundamental.
"Of late, however, in Canada, this most painfully acquired understanding has been utterly unmoored. The various provincial human rights commissions and their federal godfather have been cuttings away at the core of, and extending into utter fatuity, the term 'human rights'. They are capricious, agenda-driven, a great mishmash of political correctness and 'right t hinking' bulldozing away at the basic freedoms of thought, speech and expression while they, under some osmotic impulse, investiage, prescribe and torment with zealous and self-righteous abandon."
Amen! How I wish I'd said that. How I wish I could write like that.
I borrowed Canada and Other Matters of Opinion (Doubleday Canada, 2009) from the library. I'm going to buy it.
*I refer to the Gunning-Mueller Fog Index, a test used by editors for decades to find out whether a text can be read and understood with more or less ease.
Mr. Murphy hails from Newfoundland and has that peculiar love of and feel for the English language that seems to come naturally to educated Newfoundlanders, even though some of them (hello, John Crosbie) try to disguise it when they cast a few pearls before us ordinary people. It must be the Irish ancestry, I think.
Only a Rex Murphy could use the word "objurgation" in a sentence and make it seem entirely appropriate. His Fog Index* must be atmospheric, if you'll parden the pun, but his commentaries on Canadian mores, politics and personalities are eminently readable all the same.
Mr. Murphy commentates [is dis a word? ed.] a lot. He appears Thursday nights on CBC-TV's The National, hosts CBC Radio's Cross Country Checkup on Sunday afternoons, and writes a Saturday column at the Globe and Mail. Rarely do I miss any of them.
Let me give you just one short sample from an essay called "Real Rights and Rights Commissions".
"Human rights are as profound and central a concept to the democracties of the world as we have. They constitutute the core of human freedom. They are the antidote to tyranny. They are fundamental.
"Of late, however, in Canada, this most painfully acquired understanding has been utterly unmoored. The various provincial human rights commissions and their federal godfather have been cuttings away at the core of, and extending into utter fatuity, the term 'human rights'. They are capricious, agenda-driven, a great mishmash of political correctness and 'right t hinking' bulldozing away at the basic freedoms of thought, speech and expression while they, under some osmotic impulse, investiage, prescribe and torment with zealous and self-righteous abandon."
Amen! How I wish I'd said that. How I wish I could write like that.
I borrowed Canada and Other Matters of Opinion (Doubleday Canada, 2009) from the library. I'm going to buy it.
*I refer to the Gunning-Mueller Fog Index, a test used by editors for decades to find out whether a text can be read and understood with more or less ease.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Worst TV ads
This is the time of year for lists: the best this, the worst that, the top 10, the bottom 10, etc. I just saw a list of best TV commercials, and another of characters you love to hate, so am moved to add a couple of nominations.
What's up with the Geico lizard? How does a lizard...a lizard!...have anything to say about insurance? The latest commercial airing in this region suggests that the lizard is the boss of the insurance company, approving ad campaigns! Is this incredible or what?
To top it off, the lizard speaks with an estuary (lower-class English) accent! Talk about grating on these North American ears. Image? "Slimy limey".
Speaking of insurance, there was the Grey Power (is it Gray Power in the USA?) road rage lady. "You don't drive like this..." Of course I don't drive like that. The lady was barking mad. What a relief when they finally dropped the net on her!
Now we come to three commercials which many of you won't have seen (lucky you) since they we aired, as far as I know, only in the lower Great Lakes markets. Again as far as I know, they were all created by BBD&O. If BBD&O is reading and would like to disclaim responsibility, please e-mail me.
I haven't been able to upload the first two, so please click on the YouTube links to see them.
First have a look at the one I like. You've heard the expression about having horseshoes up one's ass? Get the message? Well, maybe you have to be a hockey fan.
IMHO the second one is just plain stupid. Even if you accept the premise that the guy is dumb enough to tattoo himself backwards, why would he be putting the casino's tattoo on his chest in the first place? Stupid, stupid, stupid!
And if that's stupid, this last one is worse than inane. It has been withdrawn now, doubtless following adverse comments and complaints. So powerful was its emetic effect on me that I dare not describe the results here. Suffice it to say that if I were a gambling man, I would never...never...darken the doors of Fallsview Casino, just for fear of meeting this ditzy blonde!
What's up with the Geico lizard? How does a lizard...a lizard!...have anything to say about insurance? The latest commercial airing in this region suggests that the lizard is the boss of the insurance company, approving ad campaigns! Is this incredible or what?
To top it off, the lizard speaks with an estuary (lower-class English) accent! Talk about grating on these North American ears. Image? "Slimy limey".
Speaking of insurance, there was the Grey Power (is it Gray Power in the USA?) road rage lady. "You don't drive like this..." Of course I don't drive like that. The lady was barking mad. What a relief when they finally dropped the net on her!
Now we come to three commercials which many of you won't have seen (lucky you) since they we aired, as far as I know, only in the lower Great Lakes markets. Again as far as I know, they were all created by BBD&O. If BBD&O is reading and would like to disclaim responsibility, please e-mail me.
I haven't been able to upload the first two, so please click on the YouTube links to see them.
First have a look at the one I like. You've heard the expression about having horseshoes up one's ass? Get the message? Well, maybe you have to be a hockey fan.
IMHO the second one is just plain stupid. Even if you accept the premise that the guy is dumb enough to tattoo himself backwards, why would he be putting the casino's tattoo on his chest in the first place? Stupid, stupid, stupid!
And if that's stupid, this last one is worse than inane. It has been withdrawn now, doubtless following adverse comments and complaints. So powerful was its emetic effect on me that I dare not describe the results here. Suffice it to say that if I were a gambling man, I would never...never...darken the doors of Fallsview Casino, just for fear of meeting this ditzy blonde!
Doesn't she make you just wanna throw something at her? Actually she could be the mayor of a small mid-western town. I couldn't be in the same town, let alone the same building, with this woman. I hope she throws boxcars all day long and has to file for bankruptcy.
Worst commercial of the year...maybe the decade...maybe EVER!
Friday, December 25, 2009
A Happy and Holy Christmas to all
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us... Gospel of St. John 1:14
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