Islamophobia And The Running Of Some Ports

Hey folks, sorry for the lack'o'posts lately, the new work situation is a killer, and well politically, there just aint that much a going on. I really haven't been up on the whole scene politique, so my sporadic posting of late has been all Olympics, from my count I am up to like 5 or 6 Olympic/hockey posts in a row..... Sorry sports is easy after a long day, politics is hard, especially when the P.M is in hiding and well the Ceeb my network of choice for info has Olympic coverage 24/7.

But here we go, here is my take on portgate. When I first heard that the American admin had decide to allow a company for the U.A.E run six major ports in the US, I was like waaaaa? Heavens to Betsy yet another retarded political decision, by an admin, that is well politically retarded. But than I began to discover what exactly this company from Dubai was going to do at these ports, I am sorry folks, but they are not primarily responsible for security, the coast guard and customs are responsible for that...... This company is responsible for the loading and unloading of containers from overseas. Yes, they are responsible for the reporting of what they deem as suspicious containers which may arrive at a port, but they are by no means the first responders in the advent of a terrorist attack. So, all those folks who, from both ends of the political spectrum,that are up in arms, screaming how the hell can we allow a company based in an Arab country run major ports in the States, get over it...... All this is, is a shipping/receiving company, not unlike UPS, or Fedex, that is based in the UAE, the people who work for this company are going to be as American as bad beer and apple pie...... There is no security risk here folks, this story is more about Islamophbia, and political stupidity.

Good Day, Bad Day At The Olympics

Well there you have it, the Canadian Men's Hockey Team continued to stink it up and were shutout for the 3rd time in the tournment. Canada lost 2 zip to the Russians and fail to even make the medal round, way to go les boys. Who is to blame, Gretzky, Quinn, primadona overpaid professional players...... All the above. Gretzky has to take some of the blame, no not because of the whole gambling scandal, but because he was the man who picked this team.... These guys were Gretzky's boys, and well they just did not mush well. Too big, too slow, and no heart. Pat Quinn is a horrible coach, he had no clue which players to place with who, his lines were a mess, and the team played with absolutely no system. But, deep down you have to blame the players themselves, any time you wear the Maple Leaf on your chest, and represent Canada, you have to bring it. I can excuse them for their lack of speed, and offence, but this team had no physical presence, a Canadian team hits damn it, a Canadian team is not supposed be physically manhandled by anyone. Poor show boys.....Now go back home and earn those millions already.


On a more positive note we did pick up 4 more medals, Cindy Klassen continues to be the story of the Olympics winning a fourth medal, with a gold. Kristina Groves won the silver in the same event. Canada also won a gold medal in cross country skiing, and a silver in short track speed skating relay. Now I know we live and die with hockey in this country, but we can take solace in the fact that our women are still the best in the world, and for the most part Canada as a county is having a very good games. So chin up Canada we are gonna finish with 20+ medals, and that aint so bad.

Congrats To Team Canada

Way to go girls, you kicked ass!!!! Now if you could only teach our men's team how to score on the big ice we would be all set. Oh Canada.......

Hairline Fracture.......

Things have gotten from bad to worse for Jose Theodore. The Montreal Canadien's netminder slipped on some ice just outside his home, and broke his heel. Theodore is expected to be out 6-8 weeks. I have been awfully hard on Theo lately, but you can't help but think that kharma just isn't on his side this season. Hope you get well soon old buddy, as a Habs fan I need somebody to blame for my teams ineptitude. Hat tip to Ron Mclean for the hairline fracture comment.

D'oh Canada

Wow the Swiss just beat Team Canada 2 zip. Martin Gerber was unfreaking believeable, but please. The Swiss have now beat the Canadians and the Czechs, the 2 teams that I believe are the class of the Olympic tournment. Can anyone explain to be why Pat Quinn is Canada's head coach, his Leafs are going nowhere this year... the goon and fluke goal method of hockey aint gonna cut it at the world level. WTF!!!!

Olympic Hockey Prediction

Started a new job this week, so my sleeping habits are all mess up. Because of lack of sleep, and with a lot less time on my hands, I will probably be posting a bit less.

It has been a bit of a slow news day, so I thought I would focus on Canada's Olympic hockey teams. First the woman, from what I have seen from them, outscoring their first 2 opponents 28-0, I think that they will repeat and win gold in 2006. I am not as confident about our men, forget about the whole Gretzky gambling thing, that is not going to effect the way this team plays. My main concern with this team, is defense, no Neidermayer, no Jovo, Brian McCabe may be having a heck of a season this year, but I don't think he has the defensive skills to play on the big ice. I also would have liked to have seen Gretzky put a coupla kids on this team as well.... I think Staal, or Crosby/Spezza would be more productive than say Draper, or Doan. It has long been said that Canada could ice 2 teams that would medal in the Olympics, I am sure this team will come home with a medal, but I am not convinced that they are going to win the gold. I think the Czechs are going to bring home the gold, with Canada slugging away with the Swedes and Finns for Silver and Bronze.

Cheney Misses Bird Hits Hunter

Okay now this is funny: http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/02/12/cheney-hunt.html
Am I wrong?

The Western Standard To Publish Cartoons Monday

The rightwing Western Standard, is going to publish the offensive Mohammed cartoons on Monday. Great, Canada for the most part has been able to skirt this whole controversy, sure a nutball prof from Halifax, pinned the cartoons to his office door, and a student paper at UPEI published the cartoons, only to have the paper pulled from circulation the same day, but all the major newspapers and media outlets refused to show the cartoons. So there you have it, freedom of press, speech, and expression, trumps logic, racial tolerance and good taste. Or more simply,
controversy sells magazines.

Ontario Dippers Dump Buzz

The excutive of the Ontario wing of the NDP have voted to revoke the membership of Buzz Hargrove. The Ontario Dippers said that by Buzz endorsing certain Liberal candidates in the last election, he violated the constitution of the NDP party, and his membership should be revoked. Good, the Liberals can have him for all I care. The thing is I think he did more damage to the Liberals in the last election than he did to the NDP, his whole Harper is a separatist, vote for the separatist Bloc in Quebec, statement put Martin in defense mode, further pooh poohing any momentum the Libs might have had. Hey Stephen Harper, why not put him in the senate, and add him to your cabinet, it would give you a big voice in Ontario, and a leader of the labour movement to boot....... Hey stranger things have happened.

Way To Go Jenn!!!

Canada's, yes Canada's Jennifer Heil, (did anyone else hear the announcer say representing the United States Of America?... Classic the wtf face Jennifer made) won Canada's first gold medal, in Womans Moguls. Our hats are off to you, Jenn, nice job!!!

Fuzzy Logic Over At Daimnation!

So I was peeking in on the Blogging Tories, lots of Garth bashing, a silly little post about ethics and the NDP, then I stumbled upon a post entitled, Banning images of Mohammed and Banning Abortion Are The Same Thing
http://www.damianpenny.com/archived/005729.html , right so according to this dude's logic, because Islam bans images of the prophet Mohammed, and the publishing of these cartoons thus offend Muslims, and yada yada,the state should ban publication of these cartoons. He goes on to equate this to feeling that Catholics have for abortion, abortion offends Catholics, peaceful, and political protest, yada yada, the government should then ban abortion..... All I can say is we don't live in a theocracy, separation of church and state buddy, our courts and legislative bodies are not ruled by the church, so the hurt feelings of a certain religious movement tend not to sway rulings on human rights issues.

Hair Supply

The Montreal Canadiens announced today that goaltender Jose Theodore has been caught using a banned substance. What is coke, roids, nope its Propecia, a hair growth product. Propecia according to WADA, The World Anti Doping Agency, is a masking agent. Theodore does not face any sanctions from the NHL, but he could face a 2 year ban from international competition, once his case is reviewed by CCES, the Canadian Center for Ethics in Sports, and WADA. So again this does not effect Theo's status in the NHL, but it is yet another controversy for the embattled goalie. Hey Theo if you'd put as much care on your game, as you do your hair, maybe you wouldn't be riding the pine. Kinda reminds me of when Guy Lafleur was doing those Hair Club For Men ads. The hits keep coming for Theo, the Habs can't ship this pretty boy out of town fast enough.

A Foiled Attack On Liberty, Er Library, Er The US Bank Building

The Preznit during a stop on his SOTU For Dummies Tour, announced that US intelligence with the help from an unnamed South East Asian nation foiled an attack on the largest building in Los Angeles. Bush, who orginally called the Library Tower, now known as the US Bank Building, the Liberty Tower (Freudian slip, hey the word liberty must be ingrained in his mind by now) said that a group of Asian Muslims, armed with shoe bombs, planned to bridge the cockpick of a plane, and then fly the plane into the west coast's largest building. Regardless of the validity of this statement, one has to question the timing of such a statement. The Preznit made reference to this foiled ploy in the past, and the attack itself was supposed to have been launched shortly after 9/11, sometime in early 2002. I guess with the 2006 elections coming, and with departure of Tom Ridge and his near weekly Terror Level alerts, the Repugnants, are now going to offer up terror plot foiling successes as a means of keeping the American electorate focused on the fear of terror, and how well the administration is responding to these plots. I guess Karl Rove is using the stick to what works strategy. I can't help but to think that maybe the American electorate might see through this smokscreen this time, fool me once, shame on me, yada yada.

Forget About, Downloads, Here Is Why The Music Industry Is In The Toilet....

I did not watch the Grammys lastnight, disinterest and a Brian Mulroney expose tuned me out. When it was said and done, U2, Kelly Clarkson, Mariah Carey, and Kayne West were the big winners.
http://www.grammy.com/Grammy_Awards/Annual_Show/48_nominees.aspx
What is wrong with the music industry, lets start with who the industry deem worthy of reward. Okay so U2, wins 5 Grammys for yet another over hyped, piece of radio friendly shit, titled How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb....Bomb being the operative word. Um Kelly Clarkson, the Idol winner, who sings industry manufactured pop tunes.. nuff said. Mariah Carey The Emancipation Of Mimi, the new and improved Mariah Carey has nothing to do with music, she has been less reconstructed spiritually, but physically...Mimi looks great but the 'music' sounds the same. As for Kayne West, he is all right, but again he is more hype than substance. If the Grammys are a reflection of the health of the music industry, bring out the defibrillator, cuz it's on life support.
Need further proof that the music industry is in trouble; CNN is reporting that Barry Manilow, yes Barry Manilow has the Number One album in the US.http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/02/09/music.sales.reut/index.html
Its not so much that people have lost their love for music, its that the music industry, and the corporations that run the major music labels, have lost touch with what true music lovers want. Barry Manilow singing the hits of the fifties..... Please. Barry Manilow, what's next Stomping Tom sings the best of big hair rock of the 80's, Ozzy sings classic jazz tunes.....Ugh.

Giving Bush The Gears

Right-wing pundits in the US are all in a tizzy about the comments of Rev. Lowery who said at the funeral of Coretta Scott King: "She deplored the terror inflicted by our smart bombs on missions way afar," Lowery said. "We know now there were no weapons of mass destruction over there. But Coretta knew, and we knew, that there are weapons of misdirection right down here. Millions without health insurance. Poverty abounds. For war, billions more, but no more for the poor." The tighty righties would have you believe that a funeral is no time to be making political statements. But this is no normal funeral, Coretta Scott King, and her husband Dr. Martin Luther King are political symbols, they are the American embodiments of the human rights movement. Jimmy Carter said in his speech at the funeral, the Dr. Martin Luther King was the greatest leader of his state, and probably the greatest leader of the United States. Coretta Scott King continued her husbands legacy, and if the Bush administration, and its propaganda/smear brigade that is the right-wing punditry are not able to live up to the leadership, and legacy that the King's embodied, they deserve to be given the gears.

The Gamblers

Wow, not a great coupla days for the Great One, his assistant coach, and good friend Rick Tocchet, his wife, former actress Janet Jones Gretzky, and now good buddy Jeremy Roenick have all been implicated in a sports gambling ring. The implication of Tocchet and Roenick are not surprising to me, but Janet wtf. To be fair it has been stated that these allegations are not hockey related, "its a football thing" according to Tocchet. Tocchet was not behind the bench last night during the Coyotes 3-1 lose to the Black Hawks, he reportedly was to met with the Commish Wee Gary Bettman. Roenick had 1 shot on goal and 2 minutes in penalties, in the King's 5-1 lose to the Wild. As for Janet Jones Gretzky, the Great One said that he has no idea whether she was involved, "you would have to ask her", he chuckled, (way to stand up for your girl Wayne) and that he thought that she would respond to questions in the near future. This is not a scandal of Pete Rose stature, but it sure does put a stench on a product in the process of renewal, and might put a wee asterisk on the legacy of the Great One.

Maya Angelou Is Amazing

I was watching coverage of the funeral of Coretta Scott King, when the American poet and one of Mrs. King's greatest friends Maya Angelou spoke, the CBC has audio: http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/02/07/corettaking-funeral060307.html
She knocked my socks off, with her words and her soulful voice, by the end of her speech, I will admit I was misty eyed, and moved. The world not only needs more Dr. Martin Luther Kings, and Coretta Scott Kings, the world needs more Maya Angelou's who can move people with their eloquence, and instill reverence with moral responsibility.

Swiftboating Britney

Images have emerged of Britney Spears driving her svu with her baby on her lap. Okay this is for sure an irresponsible act, come on Brit, you know better than that, don't cha. But I can't help thinking that these paparazzi photos, might be a sinister response by the Christian Right of the US, to smear Spears for her "controversial" appearance on the sitcom Will & Grace. On the episode Britney plays a neocon sidekick to Jack, on Jack's talk show, and will appear on a cooking segment in the show called "Crucifixin's". If we have learned anything from the last 5 years of Bushit rule, its that the Christian Right can attack, and smear like no ones business. Watch your back Britney, looks like the hounds have been released.

Canada's First Small c Liberal

Harper's big get, David Emerson claims that he let it be know to his constituents that he was a small c Liberal. So now that he is a Conservative Cabinet Minister, is he a small l Conservative? Me I think he is nothing more the a big O opportunist.

Flip Flop Hurray

On the pretext that Montreal needs presentation in the new Conservative cabinet, Stephen Harper, flip flops on two accounts by adding Michael Fortier to his cabinet. First Mr Harper said during the election that everyone on his cabinet would be an elected M.P., well guess what Michael Fortier did not even run in the election.....Flip. Second PM Harper promised to make the Senate an elected body, guess what, in order to have Fortier in his Cabinet, he appointed, yep appointed Fortier to the Senate.....Flop. Hurray. Same old, same old, stand up for change my ass.

Congratulates To The Bus And The Steelers

It was ugly at times, but the Steelers pulled it off. Hats off to Jerome Bettis who is leaving football as a champion. Congratulates to the city of Pittsburgh, now build a stadium for the Penguins, Sidney Crosby with some help, could bring you a cup as well.

Good News Bad News

First the good news, Habs win Habs win, Cristobal Huet had his second consecutive shutout , as the Habs smoked the Flyers 5-0.
Now the bad news, the NFC is 6-3 when the Habs win on Superbowl Sunday. A bad sign if you are a Steeler fan, who are representing the AFC tonight in the game of all games. Go Steelers!!!! P.S Stevie Wonder rocks!!!!

So Dingbat Really Is entitled To His entitlements

An independent arbiter has decided that David Dingwall is entitled to $417,000 in severance. Seems he did not resign but was fired, and therefore deserves close to a half million in severance...Right, um ya okay. I gotta get fired more often, I have to learn how to use the threat of litigation inorder to suck so cash out of my ex-employer, I want to be entitled to some entitlement.
The Tories are gonna be all over this because well I guess the arbiter's decision was made on January 20, 3 days before Canadians went to the polls. The Tories will scream cover-up, and that if this had come out on the 20th, well it would have almost guaranteed a Tory majority. Whatever, Dingwall is a dick, and well I believe he should pay the Liberal party a half million dollars as compensation for his dickheadedness. Yes, if this had come out during the election, especially in the the election's last weekend, it would have really torpedoed the Liberal campaign. The Tories might have won a small majority, but I believe that regardless of how sick the Canadian electorate felt for the Liberals, I don't think even with yet another Liberal scandal, that the Canadian electorate would be comfortable giving the Tories a free ride to govern. The Tories would have picked up more seats sure, the Liberals would take it in the ass sure, the NDP I think would have gotten a boost, especially in the East Coast and Ontario, and I think this may have allowed the Bloc to sweep Quebec of Liberals all together. Things would look different, but I think we might have still been in a minority situation. So go ahead my Tory friends, bang your head, scream bloody murder, about how you were robbed, funny thing is the more you bitch and whine, the less you look like winners, and well maybe next time around, the Canadian electorate will vote for progressive government, who will get shit done, instead of trying to beat a battered poltical party to submission, and whining about conspiracies, scandal, and a culture on entitlement..... please....get to governing all ready.

Lets Go Steel Town

I hate to make predictions, especially in a game of the magnitude of the Superbowl, one can never predict how specific players or a team as a whole are going to react to the pressure that is this game. So I am going to tell you first how I feel in my heart, I really want Steelers to win, Jerome Bettis is my guy, and you have to give props to the Steelers, for their 3 road playoff wins (Bengals, Colts, Broncos). Which brings me to my gut, I have to say that my gut and my head are leaning towards the Seahalks.... why, best offence in the league, league MVP, fast defence which lead the league in sacks, underdog status, even though the have a better record. Here's hoping that this is a classic, I am pulling for the Steelers, but I won't be to upset if the Seahalks win....I mean seriously when was the last time Seattle won anything. Go Steelers!!!!

John Turner Is Crazy

I watched the CTV joint, Canada's Next Great Prime Minister, I know, I know, I am a political geek with nothing better to do on a Saturday night, shit the Habs played (and won, wow) this afternoon, so I had to watch something. Surprise, surprise a panel of 4 judges with 3 Conservatives would pick Deirdra McCracken, who was all about 2 tier health care. Props to her in the debate, she was feisty, and really held her own against, my 2 picks, Akil Alleyne, or Taylor Noakes.
The only thing this show proved, was that John Turner is either a drunk, or just plan losing it. He spent most of the night rambling almost incoherently, about what he thought these youngsters should think, or trying to relive old battles with Mulroney. Get over it John, Mulroney smoked you in 2 elections, and well with your little performance tonight you reminded the Canadian population how come.

Cartoons, Freedom of Expression, and Promoting Hate

We love our freedoms here in the west, we display them to the world, and say see, see look how great our rights and liberties really are. Freedom of expression is something that an artist, or even a piss poor wanna be writer like myself feel very strongly about. That being said the cartoons that were originally published in a Danish newspaper, and which are now being republished throughout Europe, have less to do with freedom of expression, and are more an expression of hate and intolerance. There is no humour in them, they are an expression of the irrational fear that has gripped Europe, and well pretty much the whole of the western world for anything Muslim. Sure this cartoonist has a right to think or feel however the hell he wants, but I have a hard time when this same guy uses his medium to promote hate or fear. This is a mess similar to the publishing of books by that nutball from Moncton, who wrote that the holocaust never happened, or some of the whacky things that Pat Robertson, or even Bill O'Reilly might say.... Hate crime legislation exists here in Canada, but I am not sure if there is similar legislation exists in Europe, and I am not even sure if this would qualify as a hate crime. What I am sure is that the Danish newspaper, and its editors are the real asshats for even allowing these cartoons to make print.

And The New Majority House Leader Is......

Wow leave it to the Republicans to appeal to my funny bone at its most juvenile level. The new Majority House Leader's name is John Boehner....sound it out people.... hee hee hee boner.

So I Googled Switch Grass

Addicted to oil, and keen on finding alternative sources for fuel the POTUS threw out switch grass as a new clean source of ethanol. Switch grass eh?, what's switch grass? Well through the wonders of the internets, and the power of Google search, I found out. 'Switchgrass, also known as Tall Panicgrass, is a tall-growing grass found in marshes, lakeshores, and meadows. It grows in large clumps.' http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/StratfordLandingES/Ecology/mpages/switch_grass.htm Right, so its a tall grass grown mostly in wet areas, love that Tall Panicgrass nickname... we are addicted to oil time to call in the Tall Panicgrass. But seriously what potential does switch grass have as an alternative fuel source: 'for use as ethanol, the grass has advantages over other plants such as corn because it is a perennial and does not have to be replanted each year.' http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/news/2000/Aug/switch.htm Okay and its ecological benefits are what: 'During combustion of plant-based biofuels, the carbon dioxide emitted is considered to be sequestered during the growth cycle of the plant. Carbon emissions are largely neutral except for energy associated with their production and conversion into fuel pellets. The savings in GHG emissions is considerable because pellets (at 5 kg CO2e/GJ) have much lower emissions than coal (96 kg CO2e/GJ) and natural gas (62.13 kg CO2e/GJ). ' http://www.reap-canada.com/bio_and_climate_3_2.htm Sounds great, sounds like Bush is on to something for once. Funny thing is throughout my search into the now sexy switch grass plant, usually the second or third search result was a story about hybrid grasses like Giant Miscanthus, or some mismash of elephant grass, and switch grass, which produce 17 foot monster grasses, that because of their size, make switch grass look like mud. This brings me to Bush's nutjob statement about animal-human hybrids, o.k. sure sounds like scary stuff, not sure I am really into supporting human-pig hybrids, or even the monstrosity that was that mouse with a human ear. But Mr President, where do you draw the line ethically, on cloning or genetic manipulation, you are against animal-human hybrids, you are against stem cell research, but you have no problem allowing the genetic manipulation of plant life. I am all for the development of clean fuel sources, productive crops that could feed the world great, but genetically engineered foods freak me out, I like my food to be produced and grown the old fashion way thanks, a 40 pound steroid filled tomato kinda freaks me out. So good on you GWB, its nice to see your speech writers are up on some new alternative fuel sources, but don't be gettting all ethical and high and mighty about the horrors of genetic manipulation on us, real ongoing science trumps science fiction everytime.

Concern For The Habs Goaltending Situation Brings Canadian Blogosphere Together

Just another after thought about redlight Theodore, seems that Jose's ineptitude is the one issue that members of the Canadian political blogosphere from every stripe, blogging tories, liblogs, or dippers can agree on. Problem is, I am not to sure if Bob Gainey reads blogs. But Bob if you are listening for the sake of this new found unity, trade Theo, your country depends on it.

Anybody Want A Goalie?

Please, please rid the Habs of this absolute asshat. Jose Theodore, is awful, I am not sure if it is a confidence thing, mob related family problems, or those new pads, but Jose is rotten. Please Bob Gainey send him packing, at this point I could care less what you get in return, a bag of pucks, a roll of tape and a water bottle, would be more beneficial to the Habs than this guy.

U2 Vs. The Democrats

I sat through the SOTU lastnight, GWB used his usual catch phrases freedom, hope, terror, evil, democracy, liberty, tax cuts.... um Osama, freedom, liberty, hope, Iraq, bla, bla bla. The most interesting part of his speech was watching the house mostly split in their applause, the democrats would sit on their hands, and the Republicans would rise and hoot, holler, and clap.... The two best moments were when Georgie made a joke about his dad's two favorite babyboomers being himself and Clinton and the camera pans to Hillary Clinton, wow what a smirk she had on. The second was the rousing applause the Democrats gave when GW said that he couldn't get enough non partisan support for last years overhaul attempt of social security. If the SOTU proved anything, it was that American politics is deeply divided along party lines, and with the 2006 elections approaching, this is unlikely to change anytime soon.
This brings me to the Democrat's response to the SOTU, the Democrats rolled out Tim Kaine, the newly elected Governor of Virginia. First off, what the hell is going on with that guy's crazy left eyebrow, I spent his whole response staring at that crazy thing, and chuckling, I just couldn't take the guy seriously........ Editorial cartoonists are gonna love this dude. Secondly, is this really the best person the democrats could find, I mean really, is he the new face of the Democrats, where was Obama? Christ Teddy K, is more entertaining then this guy.
Right, so what the hell does this have to do with U2. In my opinion U2 has not produced anything worth purchasing since Zooropa, in 1993. Even Zooropa is a stretch, but for the sake of having the dates match up with the Democrats, I will give them that one. The Democrats for their part have not had an electable figure since Clinton in 1992. So although in my heart, I feel that I should be a fan of U2, and the Democrats, its hard to support a band or a political party that hasn't produced anything of quality for 13 years. To Bono, quit snuggling up to the worlds leaders, regardless of the cause, and get into the studio with the boys, and produce something more than catchy radio friendly crap. To the democrats, get yourselves together, find a viable voice, a leader, somebody anybody that can rid the world of the asshats that are running the US right now. I really want to cheer for you, I want to be on your side, I really do, but my patience is running thin, get to work!