Harper’s Latest CON Job

Here’s why I hate the Harper’s government (link coming up soon) :

The Conservatives have used their clout in the Senate stacked by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to kill an NDP climate change bill that was passed by a majority of the House of Commons.

It is the first time that the unelected Conservative senators have used
their near-majority to kill a bill passed by elected politicians. The
absence of more than 15 Liberals from the Senate allowed the bill to be
defeated by a margin of 43 to 32.

Wow! So much for “Transparency” and “Accountability”.

I think the only reason he is getting away with this kind of shit is
because there is no leader to oppose him. I mean the Liberals have Iggy.
Canada’s version of Sen. Kerry. I mean his speeches are so devoid of
charisma that they are used to put babies to sleep. And Jack Layton of the
NDP? He is basically your “do as I say and not as I do” kinda guy.
Canadians need to remove Harper’s administration from power but I cannot
see anyone better taking his place.

Sad, sad day for Canada.

More (broken) Harper Promises

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“What’s becoming apparent is that the Conservative stimulus program is biased, unfair, targeted to Conservative ridings and shameless in the way it uses party logos to promote a stimulus program that ought to benefit all of Canadians,” Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff said in Regina on Wednesday.

Conservative MPs have been orchestrating cheque-presentation ceremonies, in which the oversized ceremonial cheque contains the picture of the MP, the signature of the MP, Conservative Party logos or a combination of all three.

One of those MPs, Nova Scotia’s Gerald Keddy, said the $300,000 cheque he presented for an arena upgrade mistakenly contained his party’s logo and he could not explain how his signature ended up on the cheque.

“I think the member (of Parliament) in question admitted that was a mistake and should not be repeated,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday while visiting Edmonton.

“So Keddy’s not going to do it again, but what about the rest of them?” said NDP MP Peter Stoffer. Stoffer filed a complaint with the ethics commissioner this week. “It blows me away that they could be so blatant, using your tax dollars to promote themselves.”

And this is the same political party that howled incessantly on the Liberal Party sponsorship scandal. It’s one thing to try and win an election but this is blatantly politicising an infrastructure program. I hope Harper is investigated oh wait that can’t happen because of all the cronies now in place.

And this just proves why it’s so easy to detest the Harper adminsitration:

In one case, B.C. Conservative MP Colin Mayes handed over a cheque with the Conservative party logo and his own picture on it.

In Ontario, Conservative MPs Scott Reid and Larry Miller dispensed with party logos altogether, but put their own names in large print in the top left corner of ceremonial cheques they posed with, making it seem as if the cheques were drawn on their personal accounts.

“These are the tax dollars of Canadians,” said Easter. “They’re not Conservative dollars . . . just to be used for the Harper propaganda and messaging machine.”

Abdelrazik Sues Ottawa

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Abousfian Abdelrazik is suing the government – and Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon personally – for $27-million over Canada’s role in his arrest and alleged torture in Sudan and for violating his constitutional right to come home.

Mr. Abdelrazik, who spent nearly six years in prison or forced exile while his attempts to come home were thwarted, returned to Canada in June after Ottawa was ordered by a federal judge to repatriate the 47-year-old Sudanese-Canadian.

I knew it was a matter of time before Abdelrazik sued Ottawa but what’s surprising is the lawsuit includes Cannon! Good for Abdelrazik. Cannon has displayed over and over again that he is all about “CONservative compassion” – of course, he means only for the non-dark skinned folks.

I don’t know why some anglo-Canadians do not reconcile with the fact that Canada (and USA) is changing. Both these countries are now going to be different shades of colours and to stay fixated on “your own kind of folks” is small mindedness and stupid.

Having said that, this statement is also true for Canadian or other colours. I mean, we Canadians from north India are one of the most racist folks in the world!! Try having a conversation about south Indians (who are a shade darker than north Indians) amongst people from Delhi and Punjab (northern states in India). Oh boy, some of the things I have heard said are so politically incorrect that they would be down right hate speech!!

Bill O’Reilly Is A Douchebag

Not only I do think that, Mike Conway, Assistant Professor at Indiana University says so after conducting a quantitative data based research to back up his and his partners’ claims.

The research team analyzed 105 segments of O’Reilly’s “Talking Points Memo,” a segment that opens his nightly show on Fox News Network. The segments were recorded from shows airing between the first week of January to the last week of June 2005.

In these segments, they looked for the seven elements of propaganda previously identified by the IPA: name calling, glittering generalities, transfer, testimonial, plain folks, card stacking and band wagon. Techniques were measured by the number of times they occurred in a minute, a strategy Conway said he thought would counteract the different lengths of the two men’s broadcasts.

The data shows that O’Reilly used all seven of these techniques. Most prominent in his verbiage is the use of name calling, occurring an average of 8.88 times per minute, or close to once every seven seconds.

A pattern also exists in the subjects of this name-calling. The “left-leaning media” led the pack, receiving 21.6 percent of the name calling during the studied time. Illegal aliens and terrorists also held prominence, receiving 26.8 percent and 21.4 percent respectively, with academics rounding out the top four, the study stated.

On the other hand, Americans, the U.S. military and the Bush administration were most commonly alluded to as victims in O’Reilly’s nightly commentary.

CONservative’s Hypocrisy At Display……

….and this is why we make soooooo much fun of them.

Conservatives labeled Bloc Québécois “separatists, socialists, leftist” when the Bloc was part of the coalition to bring down the conservative government, but when the Bloc supports the Conservatives, they are partners!!!

Pathetic.

CONservatives Agenda

Nope there is no “hidden” agenda from the conservatives. It’s business as usual.

A gay and lesbian arts festival that was told it met all government criteria under a new tourism stimulus program learned today it was rejected for funding.

The news arrived at Montreal’s Divers-Cite a few weeks after tension swept the Conservative caucus over funding for Toronto’s Pride week, and just days before the beginning of their event.

“We met all the criteria – this is a democracy,” said Girard. “They changed the rules as they went along.

“I feel like I’ve been had.”

Clement’s office was not immediately available for comment Tuesday evening.

Clement took over the new tourism funding envelope late last month, after members of the Tory caucus complained that junior minister Diane Ablonczy had approved funding for Toronto’s Pride week festivities.

MP Brad Trost told a socially conservative news website that Ablonczy had been stripped of the portfolio. The government said the plan was to move the envelope to Clement all along.

WTF

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The federal government is telling the courts to back off when it comes to the Omar Khadr case and leave foreign affairs decisions to the Prime Minister and his cabinet.

In a hearing yesterday, Justice Department lawyer Doreen Mueller urged the Federal Court of Appeal to reject the Federal Court’s April ruling that the government should request Mr. Khadr’s return from the United States.

Ms. Mueller said the Crown rejects the view that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms applies when Canadians face charges outside the country.

“There is clearly no duty to protect citizens under international law,” Ms. Mueller told the court.

“No duty to protect citizens under international law”? Wow!! And then they ask me why I detest conservatives. So, the government is not interested in defending it’s own citizens. This guy may be a monster, but he is our monster and we should deal with him they way our constitution demands. But, oh no, that’s not a-ok by our piss-in-pants conservatives. And here is why:

Ms. Mueller argued that it is constitutionally inappropriate for the courts to interfere in foreign policy, which she said is the exclusive jurisdiction of the executive branch of government. The executive is made up of the Prime Minister and cabinet.

What. The. Fuck.

“Inappropriate for courts to interfere in foreign policy.” May I ask what happened to your cojones when this issue came up last week ?

After weeks of pressure by his supporters, the federal government said yesterday it would comply with a court order to bring Abousfian Abdelrazik back to Canada.

Moreover, newly declassified documents revealed yesterday that the Montreal man, who has been stranded at the Canadian Embassy in Sudan for more than a year, was placed on a United Nations no-fly list at the request of the U.S. government.

A scathing Federal Court ruling ordered the Conservative government on June 4 to repatriate Abdelrazik, a Sudanese-born Canadian citizen, within 30 days, and it gave them until today to come up with a travel plan for his return.

So, in this case, your conservative government acquiesced to a court’s “interference in foreign policy” but when it comes to a similar situation, they say “oh nos. We cannot piss of the US”.

What a bunch of cowards.

Christie Blatchford : Dumb Fucking Stupid

Update (1MAy2013) : Man I seem to sound like  one of those hyperventilating fear mongers from FOX or SUN news. Apologies to Ms. Blatchford. I must have been really upset to write trash talk like this.

How many times are we going to have to point to globeandmail the obvious? On a personal level I have no idea what kind of person she is but on a professional level, Christie Blatchford is dumb fucking stupid.

Here is her latest shit regarding the controversy surrounding taped conversations of Lisa Raitt (the minister for Natural Resources) :

On the tape, Ms. MacDonnell said the isotope issue is confusing to a lot of people. “But it’s sexy,” Ms. Raitt replied. “Radioactive leaks. Cancer.” It was clear as a bell she wasn’t talking about cancer being sexy. About Ms. Aglukkaq, Ms. Raitt said, “Oh. Leona. I’m so disappointed.” Ms. MacDonnell said, “I wonder if it’s her staff trying to shield her from it or whether she is just terrified.”

Ms. Raitt replied: “I think her staff is trying to shield her. Oh God. She’s such a capable woman, but it’s hard for her to come out of a co-operative government into this rough-and-tumble. She had a question in the House yesterday, or two days ago, that planked. I really hope she never gets anything hot.”

This is irresponsible? Disparaging? Disgusting? This is what prompted Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff and Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe to yesterday invoke the spectre of breast-cancer patients needing tests being told that a cabinet minister called their disease sexy; now, that’s disgusting.

Irresponsible – errrrr, yes.

Disparaging – errrrr, of course.

Disgusting – errrr, yeah.

I don’t think Christie has a clue what the fuck she is talking about. And hearing her use that screeching voice on The Bill Carroll show (another apologist for Lisa Raitt and the conservatives in general) this morning to say over and over again “she did nothing wrong” is  moronic on many levels.

The minister WAS referring to cancer as being a sexy ISSUE for her which, in political jargon means, “lots of public attention for me”. How the hell can anyone be idiotic enough to talk about an issue of life and death for the advancement of her political career in such a cavalier way in front of her aides, driver, etc.? I have listened to the conversations and it was fairly obvious she is trying to say – this is a great issue as it will get a me a lot of publicity as soon as I fix it.

The problem is, a few months later from that conversation, she is nowhere near fixing it. In fact, Canada is ready to bring in private parties and transfer the knowledge of isotopes production to them!! Instead of fixing the problem, she has ended up mucking it further and that’s why we on the progressive side are having this fit of outrage.

And, Christie, please don’t throw her brother’s death by cancer in our face. We are not exactly stupid to immediately say “oooooh her brother died of cancer so she is never going to use any issue with cancer to advance her career”.

From what I understand from your nonsensical piece on the globeandmail.com today, you are saying “oh what the hell. She was just being herself. We are all like that so leave her alone”. And if that really is your defense, then you are more idiotic than I thought.

Because all said and done, there is nothing on that tape that can’t be put to rest with the correct apology. All the minister had to say was, it was a private conversation and she is sorry if some people got hurt because of it. That’s all. But conservatives being blockheads, they had to put on a display of sheer arogance. They went to the court to try and stop the release of the tape!!! Why? Because the public might hear a private conversation??? BTW, it’s not private when you are talking in front of a driver as the judge has confirmed.

This is what is wrong with this whole issue. The conservative government is not trying to govern Canada. Rather they are trying to RULE Canada. They want their agenda, their policies, their opinions thrust on everyone even though 65% of the Canadian population opposes them.

And that’s what you fail to understand, Ms Blatchford. And that’s why you are dumb fucking stupid.

Update : She finally apologised. I think we can now put the matter to rest.

Flip Flop : Your Conservatives At Work (for the month of May 2009)

Jim Flaherty Then :

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty was facing a deficit of $5.9-billion in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010, according to the fiscal update he released last fall. To achieve a surplus, Mr. Flaherty pledged to reduce government spending by $4.3-billion and predicted the government would earn $1.6-billion from changes to public sector compensation and the gains on purchases of insured mortgages from banks.

Jim Flaherty Now :

Mr. Flaherty revised his projection again this week, citing a deeper-than-expected recession, higher-than-anticipated employment insurance payments and the rescues of Chrysler and General Motors.

Lisa Riatt Then (UPDATE : here she is trying to sound the alarm bells about how the isotopes shortfall is a “really, really” bad thing)

“Ensuring that the Canadian medical community receives a consistent and reliable supply of medical isotopes has been of critical importance to me,” (Lisa) Raitt said

Lisa Raitt Now (UPDATE : Here she is saying, a few months later, “not to worry. There is no shortage of isotopes in the world”)

During this extended outage at Chalk River, other isotope-producing countries have the capacity to assist in minimizing production shortfall.

These countries all have different sets of constraints and capacity, and we will need to work through those. There is good will amongst all and a willingness to be helpful. They also fully recognize that Canada stepped up to the plate and provided a significant amount of additional isotope capacity when the Petten reactor in the Netherlands was down.

I know it’s very easy to beat up conservatives because they waffle sooooooooooooo much but I think Flaherty got a raw deal. The poor guy probably made inane statements about how everything was a-ok after being asked to by the big guy PM Harper and now he is paying for it. It’s not Flaherty’s fault that we have a deficit of $50 billion, but he is at fault for saying Canada is at a better state than it really was.

It’s not Lisa Raitt’s fault that she inherited a leaky and crumbling nuclear reactor but then to go claim that the safety would be reviewed and a plan would be put into action which is TO SELL THE NUCLEAR PLANT TO A PRIVATE PARTY!!!! That’s the dumbest thing I have ever heard. So much for ensuring a ensuring safety and a steady supply of isotopes. Let’s shut down the reactor and find some buyer who would restart the reactor as it is now.

Just go through the interview (Liveblogging Lisa Raitt on the sale of AECL’s reactor building division) and get ready to swear over Lisa’s incompetent handling of the crisis.

And when the National Post is making fun of the conservatives, then you KNOW there is trouble brewing.

The Ultimate Right Wing Stupidity!!

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Following President Obama’s May 5 visit to Ray’s Hell Burger in Arlington, Virginia, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and Rush Limbaugh Show guest host Mark Steyn criticized Obama as an elitist because he ordered a burger with “spicy mustard” or “Dijon mustard.” Hannity claimed that Obama ordered a “fancy burger” with a “very special condiment,” while Steyn asserted Obama is trying “to enlighten us” through his order. Ingraham asked of Obama: “What kind of man orders a cheeseburger without ketchup but Dijon mustard? … The guy orders a cheeseburger without ketchup? What is that?” In their discussions of Obama’s burger order, Hannity, Ingraham, and Steyn all referenced a Grey Poupon commercial featuring actors portraying wealthy British men expressing desire for the mustard.

Oh my dear god.

As has been discussed over and over again in the last 5 months or so, this is a prime example of the stupidity of the conservatives/right wingers. Picking over the fact that guy ordered a cheeseburger without ketchup and with DIJON mustard – which means he is an elitist. Holy fuck. That is by far the dumbest thing I have heard.

And if you ever say Canadians are not that stupid, our very own Mark Steyn displays his utter lack of intelligence in the accompanying video clip.

The relevant question is, why is the right acting this way? Is it because they know they have lost the fight (for the moment) and the way they can maintain their dignity is to fight back at everything and anything? It will be interesting to see what happens to the conservatives/republicans. Will fresh new blood bring in about sanity to the conservative movement? Or will the right wing implode and some new movement/philosophy arise out of the ashes?

BTW, I will donate $5 to a charity for every person who can sit through the video! You have to tell me what Mark Steyn said in the end that sounded so deranged that any doubts about Mark’s insanity can now be put to rest.

UPDATE : I was going ignore this (via CC) as a comment by some run of the mill blogger like me but :

About Me
Associate Clinical Professor of Law, Cornell Law School, Ithaca, NY

Mother of god, professor you are stupid!!

Do As I Say Not As I Do

Ah, hypocrisy is so simple and beautiful.

The directors of the Miss California USA pageant are looking into whether title holder Carrie Prejean violated her contract by working with a national group opposed to gay marriage and by posing semi-nude when she was a teenage model.

Pageant spokesman Roger Neal said Tuesday it appears Prejean has run afoul of several sections of the 12-page contract that all prospective contestants were required to sign before competing in the November state contest.

So the new voice of the loopy Right is basically a hypocrite. It’s ok for her to express her sexuality in whatever way she wants to but not ok for others.

Prejean, a San Diego native who attends San Diego Christian College, was named the first runner-up to Miss North Carolina in the Miss USA pageant April 19. Her response to a question during the pageant that she opposed extending marriage to gays and lesbians made her a media sensation, darling of religious conservatives and the target of embarrassing disclosures.

Updated: Oops…..the post is not very clear. I was trying to say that this beauty queen with her “principled stand” of dissing other people’s sexual practices, flaunts her own sexuality the way she she’s fit to do so. Hence, the title.

Brain Drain In Full Speed

The brain drain from Canada to the US just kicked into high gear!!

One of Canada’s top AIDS researchers is moving to the United States, taking as many as 25 scientists on his team with him.

The University of Montreal’s Rafick-Pierre Sékaly says he is leaving in part because of federal cuts in science funding and hopes his departure will be a wake-up call.

“I hope it will trigger some kind of movement that will foster a deep soul searching and investment,” he said in an interview.

He expects to more than double his $3.5-million research budget in his new position as scientific director of the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute in Florida, but will also keep a lab going at the University of Montreal.

Of course the brain drain has been going on for years. The simple fact is that there are more jobs in US and more money. But the truth is that Canada was still able to retain top talent especially in the Bush years. Now that the war on science in US is over and is continuing under Stephen Harper in Canada, we are watching the end of the leadership in science.

Congratulations to Harper on his win against science. I expect that Canada will turn to evangelical science soon.

I Hate Wingnuts

(via CC)

Why I hate wingnuts. This is a comment by one of Canada’s premier wingnuts.

[pre-emptive note… to the usual anonymous trolls]

this is, indisputably… a terrible loss for the family & friends of these brave soldiers… but let’s also try to keep a little perspective.

before you go all “taliban jack” here… try to remember that, statistically, we have lost less than 20 soldiers per year since 2001.

in contrast…

“nineteen snowmobilers have died in avalanches in B.C. and Alberta just this winter.”and if you want a real wakeup call… read a book about world war one… or snakes.

Here’s my comment :

“we have lost less than 20 soldiers per year since 2001.”

Neo. How many of them were your kids/relatives/uncles/aunts/neighbours/people you know?

..dumbest comments EVAH!! Keep digging that hole, Neo, keep digging that hole…….

…..aaaand the response from Neo.

oh, look… agsharma… another empty blogger profile set up exclusively for drive-by trolling.

hey mr troll… let’s go with the complete quote, shall we?

begin quote…

[pre-emptive note… to the usual anonymous trolls]

this is, indisputably… a terrible loss for the family & friends of these brave soldiers… but let’s also try to keep a little perspective.

before you go all “taliban jack” here… try to remember that, statistically, we have lost less than 20 soldiers per year since 2001.

in contrast…

“nineteen snowmobilers have died in avalanches in B.C. and Alberta just this winter.”and if you want a real wakeup call… read a book about world war one… or snakes.end quote…

which of the facts here are you disputing? you’re suggesting i don’t support the troops?

oh, that’s right… you’re not disputing anything factually. you’re just using the infamous, leftbot… “you’re a big poopyhead”… gambit.

you guys are just so pathetic.

It never ceases to amaze me how the right wing thinks.

My point was how could this blogger say “just” 20 deaths per year? It almost seems like this blogger says, because there were a few deaths, we should continue letting soldiers die out there even if it means that the probability of a soldier dying each year is 0.571% ((20/3500)*100). This is precisely why I hate politicians (and idiotic bloggers) who think this probability is low enough to continue a war that has lost it’s meaning. And that’s why I do not support this war. The soldiers, yes. But not the war.

And what the hell is the meaning of comparing deaths on the battlefield with accidental deaths in BC?

I have been warned not to engage the wingnuts because their screams and moans do wake up the dead. I usually do not leave comments on their sites. But I could not resist this time.  My excuse is that I had not finished my morning coffee yet!!

Werner Patels Loves Being Kicked Around

I found a “delightful” post by a dickhead named Werner Patels. I have never really been to his blog before although I have seen him being kicked around so I should have known better when I read his post on immigration.

Immigration to Canada is a sensitive issue for me. It pains me to hear nonsense from people who are utterly delighted in being a mr-know-it-all because they had a smooth ride in immigrating to Canada. I am assuming he immigrated to Canada considering the authority with which he write his afore mentioned post.

What pissed me off right away was the way he was pulling out numbers out of his tight ass. E.g.

23% of immigrants in Canada contribute to the country’s prosperity and the other 77% cost us $18 billion (a year, according to some sources, and excluding any of the costs incurred for law enforcement in fighting crime)

I see. That bit of information is really impressive but can you back it up? I mean, where are the links? That’s ok, I will do the work for you :

As far as I can see from this table from statcan.gc.ca, the labour participation is waaaaay above your number of 23% employed. And what is this shit about 77% costing us $18 billion!!! Dude, take a chill pill. Either give us references or stop trying to be a bad magician.

Immigrants not learning to speak English or French: I agree that if a SKILLED labour is entering the country, he/she is REQUIRED to know one of these two languages. But there are numerous unskilled labourers entering the market by droves. How the fuck can you expect them to know Eng or Fr? And please don’t give me a lecture about requiring only skilled labourers in Canada. Are you going to get your emaculate hands dirty? There are jobs that skilled labourers cannot and will not do and that’s where your miners, your truck drivers, your security guards come in (BTW, I suddenly realised, that all the jobs I listed require a certain amount of skill. So what exactly is a un-skilled labourer?)

And check this para by the blabbering mouth

Not demanding that our immigrants speak our official languages is not only dangerous to the social cohesion of our country, but also extremely detrimental to the democratic process. So many votes in places like Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver are regularly cast not by the people themselves, but by party officials who, either through gestures or with the help of a corrupt translator, direct those people how to vote.

Holy Shit!!! As you can see this guy likes to paint with broad strokes. According to him there is a massive scam going on in the ethinic communities in immigration hubs of Canada’s major cities . Sure there would be some push by a politician from South Asia to court a vote from people from south Asia. But what happens when there are 3 south Asians running for the same seat from different? As far as I can tell, south Asianess goes out the window and the issues come out. And that is what is happening in the ethnic community. If this is not democratic, then I don t know what the hell democracy is anymore.

I had ignored this campaign against Patels from CC as I did not know much about him but now I would like to join the campaign : Werner Patels Banned.

Hate. Hate. Hate (Part 2)

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India’s election authority has censured the great-grandson of India’s first prime minister for making hate speeches against minority Muslims during political rallies ahead of the country’s national elections.

The Election Commission’s order came late Sunday after footage emerged of 29-year-old Varun Gandhi, who is seeking a seat in Parliament for the first time on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), comparing a rival Muslim politician to Osama bin Laden and threatening to cut the throats of Muslims during political rallies.

I have to ask the obvious question, who the fuck sponsors these kind of people to politics? These self anointed saviours of Hinduism are the scum that feeds at the bottom of a barrel. The sad fact is that uneducated masses of India will follow whosoever says “Jai Sri Ram” the loudest. It is pathetic how India portrays itself to be this developing super power and yet is run by people advocating mass murder in the name of religion. Case in point, we have a murderer running the state of Gujrat (the state in which, ironically, the peace loving Mahatma Gandhi was born).

And once caught on tape, would the main Hindu body, back track to cover the faux pax? No, no, that would be too “cowardly”. Instead they did a brave thing by saying :

The state unit president of the All India Hindu Mahasabha, Mahant Narayan Giri, told newspersons that Varun Gandhi has said nothing wrong in his speech and was being targeted for speaking for the cause of “Hindutva”.

Aah, yes, the old defend, the poor weak Hindus because they are third class citizens of India where they constitute 80% of the population. And I just lost my lunch when I read this by Varun Gandhi :

“It’s a very sad day in Indian politics when anyone who speaks for Hindus is branded communal.”

Communal. God fucking damn!! You represent a party that is nothing BUT communal. Each and every riot in the last 20 years can be traced back to BJP and their subsidiary parties.

Shame on you all who vote for these people.

Hate. Hate. Hate.

Link

All homosexuals should face stoning to death, a Muslim preacher of hate declared yesterday.

Anjem Choudary, the firebrand cleric who wants to see Britain ruled by Sharia law, said such a regime was the only way to fix the country’s ills.

Under it, adulterers and homosexuals would be killed by stoning. Asked if that would include anybody – even a Cabinet minister such as Business Secretary Lord Mandelson – Choudary responded with an astonishing diatribe.

He said: ‘If a man likes another man, it can happen, but if you go on to fulfil your desire, if it is proved, then there is a punishment to follow. You don’t stone to death unless there are four eyewitnesses. It is a very stringent procedure.

‘There are some people who are attracted to donkeys but that does not mean it is right.’

Well, truth be told, I was going to say the things like everyone else would say…..’typical statement from your religion of peace’…….’the authour of this quote should be arrested’……’we need to see more moderate-religious people admonishing these kind of statements’…..and so on when a thought occurred to me.

As much as I have a right to call this person and his cohorts, FUCKING BIGOTS, this person has a right to say what he wants. The line, for this guy and his followers, can easliy be crossed. They have done it before as shown by the bomb attacks in London in July ’07. But as long as he maintains his right of freedom of speech, I maintain the fact that behind closed doors, these guys are as gay as the rainbow!!! Let these guys bray and bark as much as they want, because at the end of the day, they know they are wrong and there is no way they are going to convert anyone with their ”flowery language”.

And it never ceases to amaze me – the obsession of the religious right`s obsession of sex with animals!!!

Minister Of Science And Technology?

Continuing from yesterday’s post about Evolution, here is a prime example of Conservative moral depravity :

Canada’s science minister, the man at the centre of the controversy over federal funding cuts to researchers, won’t say if he believes in evolution.

“I’m not going to answer that question. I am a Christian, and I don’t think anybody asking a question about my religion is appropriate,” Gary Goodyear, the federal Minister of State for Science and Technology, said in an interview with The Globe and Mail.

The question was do you believe in Evolution. Who the fuck asked about your religion? You are the SCIENCE minister. If you have troubling saying right off the bat about your belief (or in this case non-belief) in Evolution then you have every reason to go back to your Chiropractor job.

I love this doctor’s response to the crap that Goodyear spewed :

Evolution is a scientific fact, Dr. Alters said, and the foundation of modern biology, genetics and paleontology. It is taught at universities and accepted by many of the world’s major religions, he said.

“It is the same as asking the gentleman, ‘Do you believe the world is flat?’ and he doesn’t answer on religious grounds,” said Dr. Alters. “Or gravity, or plate tectonics, or that the Earth goes around the sun.”

Lol!!! That’s a good smack down.

Anyway, I googled Goodyear this morning and saw that the minister now all of a sudden does not believe that asking his views on Evolution is a violation of his religious beliefs :

OTTAWA — Canada’s science minister moved to cut short a brewing controversy Tuesday over his views on evolution.

Gary Goodyear raised eyebrows when he refused to tell a national newspaper if he believed in the science of evolution.

But the minister of state for science and technology clarified Tuesday that he does indeed believe in evolution.

“We’re evolving all the time,” Goodyear said in an interview.

“Of course I believe in evolution.”

I wonder how many Hail Marys he had to say after such blasphemous talk!!! Now that your “faith” in science has been restored, can we not cut the research budget? Supporting science and research is what is going to help Canada be a stronger country not praying for a miracle.

Bush In Canada

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George W. Bush, who left office with one of the lowest popularity ratings in U.S. history, will officially kick off his unofficial post-presidential image rehabilitation tour with a speech in Calgary on Tuesday.

But some protesters who plan to be on hand at the city’s convention centre say “Dubya” doesn’t deserve a soapbox — he should be in handcuffs.

When Mr. Bush steps up to the podium at a closely controlled private event, he’ll face 1,500 friendly faces brought in by organizers and the Calgary Chamber of Commerce. Tickets reportedly sold for $400 each and were made available exclusively by invitation.

Those invitations say Mr. Bush will share his thoughts “on eight momentous years in the Oval Office.” The former president will also speak about “the challenges facing the world in the 21st century.”

Protesters promise to be out in full force.

It’s a war criminal being invited to Canada by a municipal representative body, to come and have a chat,” said Toby Pollett, who argues Mr. Bush should be arrested at the border over the alleged torture of prisoners in U.S. military camps.

It’s ludicrous, really, when you look at it.”

What I find amusing of this escapade is when 50 Cents was banned from performing in Toronto because of his violent lyrics and his celebration of the “gangsta” culture 2 or 3 years ago. And here we have a preson who freely admits that war in Iraq war was wrong.  A war in which 100,000’s are dead, a war in which 4,000 US citizens have been killed, a war that encouraged torture and “any means necessary” to extract information….and what do the yahoos in Calgary do? They invite this potential mass murderer for a speech!! No protest from the government about the presence of a mass murderer in this case.

Orson Scott Card

<Link To Wikipedia Entry For Orson Scott Card>

Being a fan of science fiction, how can one ignore Orson Scott Card. He has written two Hugo winning books, one of which is amongst my personal favourites, Ender’s Game. Here is a brief synopsis to whet your appetite

It is set in Earth’s future where mankind has barely survived two conflicts with the Formics (an insectoid alien race also known as the “Buggers”) and the International Fleet is preparing for war. In order to find and train the eventual commander for the anticipated third invasion, the world’s most talented children, including the extraordinary Ender Wiggin, are taken into a training center known as the Battle School at a very young age and trained in the arts of war through increasingly difficult games.

The book is very very good. It takes you through the morality issues, the “human” issues and some political issues. The setting created by Card is truly awesome. I know most of the focus is on the BattleSchool described in the book, I loved the virtual game that Ender plays and how he forces the computer to continue beyond it’s limits and how, eventually, it is revealed that the game is tied intrinsically with Ender’s life. And the ending…..wow!!! It was a complete knockout punch by Card. Never had he prepared the reader on what was going to happen.

I read the sequel too, Speaker For The Dead in which Ender has come to terms (or is in the process of coming to terms) with his role in the massacre of an intelligent race in the previous book and now is actually a protector of life.

But the sequel did disturb me a little bit. In the first book the focus was on the action, politics and moral issues. The sequel was all those but there was a heavy dose of spirituality in the book. Spirituality is fine with me but I could not help feel that Card had overdone it. It seemed he was PREACHING even though he never put it in so many words.

And when I read the third book in the series Xenocide, I was convinced that there was something going on with the author (remember this was all before easy access to Internet so I could not look it up).

Now, of course, it is common knowledge that Card is a conservative. He abhors  gays, he loves Bush’s War On Terror and he does not believe in global warming.

When I found this about Card, I have begun to detest his novels. Not Ender’s Game. That one is still pretty good. But the rest of the novels, have lost their meaning.

Here is an author who wrote and explained beautifully what it means to be a human; What it means to preserve life; What it means try and kill another race just because it is different, and then in real life he is all for killing “them because they hate us”.

This hypocrisy is really difficult for me to swallow.

Update : The reason for this post is this article on Card.

Moron Of The Day : Obama

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Prominent liberal groups and gay rights proponents criticized President-elect Barack Obama Wednesday for choosing evangelical pastor Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at the presidential inauguration next month.

Prominent liberal groups and gay rights proponents criticized President-elect Barack Obama Wednesday for choosing evangelical pastor Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at the presidential inauguration next month.

Oh Obama, Obama, Obama. Why did you have to take such a bullshit step? I know you want to toe the centrist line but come on, Warren. Here is what he said about people of different faiths :

……….I have yet to let Jesus enter my life, but I admire Warren. We once appeared on a panel together along with Harvard’s Peter Gomes at the Aspen Ideas Festival. When it came time for questions, a woman stood up, proclaimed her Judaism, and asked Warren if she was going to burn in hell. He paused before responding — and then answered her question the only way it could be answered. Yes, he said to audible gasps. My reaction was that either you believe that Jesus is the savior or you do not, and I found myself impressed that Warren remained true to his convictions, knowing full well that the audience would not like what he said

Yup. So all you non-Christians, see ya in hell. And he does not believe in evolution. Which in my books is the worst sin ever!!

Oh, and he is a homophobe.

President elect Obama, are you beginning to slide from the “moral” high that you claim you have?