Blog about politics (mideast and pro-Israel, Canadian and local Montreal), world events, and random thoughts.

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The World I Know is updated on a semi-regular basis by segacs.

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2:54 PM
Annan: It's America's fault

Kofi Annan has learned the redirection game well, as he tries to deflect some of the heat from the oil-for-food scandal off himself and onto the U.S. and Britain:

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Thursday the United States and Britain bore part of the blame in the Iraq oil-for-food debacle by allowing unsupervised oil exports that Saddam Hussein exploited.

Annan, addressing a seminar on the United Nations and the media, said most of the money Saddam earned was by oil sold to Jordan and Turkey outside of the $67 billion U.N. program.

Only countries like the United States and Britain had interdiction forces that could have stopped it. But he said they "decided to close their eyes to Turkey and Jordan because they are allies."

Annan may be corrupt and useless but he understands his political stage flawlessly. The same morally bankrupt people who refuse to condemn him for his role in the scandal will be only too happy to blame America, public enemy number one.

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2:50 PM
Enemies of freedom strike again

Two bombings in Iraq left at least 15 people dead today, as the enemies of freedom struck again:

Twin suicide car bombs killed at least 15 people during the morning rush hour in central Baghdad on Thursday, cutting short what had appeared to be a lull in violence since elections in January.

[ . . . ]

The blasts came a day after a series of explosions around the country that killed 15 people. Together they constitute one of the deadliest spates of guerrilla activity in six weeks.

The attacks would appear to mark a new surge in the violence that has been so common over the past two years in Iraq but which seemed to have subsided since the elections.

Democracy takes enormous effort, time and patience to build - and sadly, precious little effort to destroy. But I still believe that most of the people in Iraq want feedom. They showed up at the polls en masse in January to prove that, and now they will have to face down adversity to continue proving it every single day.

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12:15 PM
Reuters does it again

Check out the opening paragraph of this news story on North Korea's nuclear announcement:

North Korea is to strengthen its "atomic potential" in response to Washington's hostile policies, Russia's Itar-Tass news agency quoted the president of its parliament as saying Thursday.

The article then continues to expand on the quotes from the Dear Leader of Death Camps for - count them - ten paragraphs, before bothering to mention that "Washington's hostile policies" don't really exist except in Kim Jong-Il's mind:

On Feb. 10, North Korea said it possessed nuclear weapons and was dropping out of six-party talks aimed at ending its atomic ambitions. It blamed U.S. hostility for the decision to pull out.

About six weeks later, the North said it was forced to increase its nuclear arsenal because it saw the U.S. military as a serious threat.

U.S. officials have repeatedly said Washington has no plans to invade the North.

Frankly, I've given up expecting fair media coverage from Reuters.

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10:38 AM
Wednesday morning dose of perspective

Courtesy of Meryl Yourish:

On the serious side, it appears that W. isn't going to get the fact that Ma'ale Adunim is a neighborhood of Jerusalem, not a "settlement" in the West Bank (think Queens in NYC for a comparison, or the south side of Richmond, which is actually fifteen minutes away from downtown yet is still part of the city, and I have the tax bills to prove it), and then tell the PA to eff off. Because Ariel Sharon isn't giving it up, nor will the rest of Israel.

Jerusalem was out of Jewish control for nearly two millennia. We will never willingly give it up again, since we had the proof during Jordanian control, when they were legally obligated by treaty to let Jews worship at the Western Wall and did not, that the Arabs cannot be trusted to let Jews worship at our holy sites — even though Jews have let Muslims worship at theirs since 1967, and indeed, enacted a law protecting all holy sites.

In fact, the Jordanians destroyed much of Jewish Jerusalem while they were in control.

Here's the thing: The Arabs lost the war. Now they lose some territory. It happens. Deal with it.

Ah yes, cause they've been "dealing with it" oh-so-well for all these years.

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10:23 AM
Another reason why I vote for Marlene Jennings

Because this guy doesn't.

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10:08 AM
More nonsense from the OLF

First, they don't let qualified nurses work even during a nursing shortage, because they failed a French exam. Now, they won't let the nurses work because they did too well on that exam:

The message from the Office Quebecois de la langue francaise to anglophone and immigrant nurses is as clear as it is ridiculous: Learn French, but don't learn it too well. For the second time in as many months, the Office has decided to reject a set of professional test results because they were too good.

In both cases, the too-fluent applicants are required to write the darn thing again if they wish to practise their profession in Quebec. The latest victim is Scottish-born Janice Douglas, who works in the emergency room at the Jewish General Hospital. After failing the written part of the test on four previous occasions, Douglas hired a tutor and buckled down and spent three months mastering the intricacies of writing a business letter in French.

On her fifth attempt, she passed with flying colours, which for most people, would be an occasion to celebrate both Douglas's industry and the competence of her tutor. But not for the Office. It's not saying she cheated, but it is saying her mark was suspiciously high.

If this nonsense continues, second-language teachers are going to have to teach their students to be mediocre.

Too late, they already are. This really begs the question of what exactly the OLF is trying to accomplish, other than restricting job access to non-Francophones.

Hat tip: Suburban Guy, who comments:

The Office de Measuring Signs says that a person is sometimes asked to rewrite a test when they are suspected of memorizing a text rather than writing a business letter off the top of their head during the exam.

Not only do these idiots get paid to measure the size of letters on signs but they can also read people minds and determine whether they actually memorized a text or wrote it off the top of their head.

This is all happening in democratic Quebec.

Ms. Pevreal has told the Brown Shirts err, I mean, the OLF that she would not rewrite the test.

Good on her.

But, the OLF has told her if she doesn't retake the test she will lose her license to work in Quebec. It's not good enough that she passed it but they have to make her life a living hell. Why? Because she is not a francophone.

Arrrggghhhhhhh!

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9:59 AM
Say it ain't so!

Oy vey, she's reproducing.

Anyone taking bets on how many years Britney's kid-to-be will wind up spending in expensive therapy?

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9:56 AM
Not just dollars and cents

Hmmm... you think there may be more obstacles to unification of North and South Korea than financial costs alone?

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9:22 PM
I hadn't intended to spark a political debate with my post below about the futility of a quick election. But since it evolved into one, I might as well explain that one of the reasons I won't vote Conservative is because of things like this:

Members of the Canadian Parliament on Tuesday voted down an opposition attempt to derail the minority Liberal government's bill to legalize gay marriage.

The New Democratic Party and most Bloc Quebecois MPs joined with a majority of Liberals in voting 164-132 against a motion to block legislation to legalize gay marriage nationally. The Conservative Party motion called for no second-reading of the bill unless it included language that reaffirmed the traditional definition of marriage as between a man and a woman.

My Canada affirms equal rights for all citizens regardless of religion or religious beliefs, gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation. My Canada doesn't look to enshrine discrimination in any form in legislation. My Canada is flawed, but at least it's trying. And the Conservatives do not reflect my Canada in their persistent, singular focus on an issue that's meant to get votes from one group by denying rights to another.

No, this isn't the most important voting issue for me. It won't even make the top ten. But it is a shining example of how the Conservative pandering to the social right-wing is not going to get them elected anytime soon. Memo to Harper: elections are won in the middle.

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11:57 PM
Am I the only one...

With all the fallout from the sponsorship scandal bringing down the Liberal government, am I the only one who doesn't want another quick election?

Sure, we can't just let them get away with such corruption. But what does anyone think would happen with an election? Is there really any chance of a party besides the Liberals getting into power?

Last time, the Bloc nearly swept Quebec. They'd probably do even better this time. The Conservatives might pick up some seats in a new election and the NDP might pick up one or two. But we'd still end up with a Liberal minority government, albeit a somewhat weaker minority than this time. Not much would change. No lessons would be taught.

And the clincher: we'd waste even more taxpayer money. Hundreds of millions on the scandal itself and on the inquiry are already down the toilet. Do we really need to pay for an election, too?

Admittedly, I'm saying this as someone who's always - grudgingly - voted Liberal, and who probably would again. I'm no big fan of Martin or most of his team but they're the "least worst" out there right now, sponsorship scandal or not. I'm still a fan of my own riding's MP, Marlene Jennings. Besides, what's my alternative, the Bloc?

With the current math of the country, the point is moot and a new election would just be a waste of money. Let's identify and prosecute the guilty in this scandal and look to weed out this kind of corruption from all our politics, instead of covering it up with just more political finger-pointing.

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