The Gaza Offensive

http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/abc/home/contentposting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V3&showbyline=True&date=true&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20081230%2fgaza_day5_081231

Talk about a mess. OK Hamas fires rockets into Israel from Gaza and won’t stop. Israel says stop or we’ll kick your ass. They continue. So Israel launches an air strike on Hamas targets in Gaza. So what does Hamas do? They keep firing rockets at civilians and keep playing the victim. That is bullshit.

I will agree that both Israel and the United States tend to over react. Take Pearl Harbor for example. Japan hits a military target and the US responds by nuking two cities of civilians. That was wacked. Especially when you realize that the oil embargo the US placed Japan under forced them to do something to stop the oil embargo. Then there’s the whole drama about how the US knew about the attack before it happened, left the old ships in the harbour while the new ships were out to sea during the attack. But we won’t get into that now. Much.

My point is that I will admit Israel and the United States tend to over react. You kill one of ours we kill a hundred of yours. That’s fair so they say. Then there’s the torture issue. I have no doubt that Israel will torture prisoners who are known terrorists to get information to save lives. I disagree with that practice. The US uses that argument to torture innocent people to get fake confessions for their false flag attacks to justify their oil wars. I really disagree with that.

I will agree that there are Jewish extremists just like there are Muslim extremists, born again Christian extremists and even Atheist extremists. The problem isn’t religion. The problem is self-determination and murder.

Let’s compare Gaza to Ireland. England conquered and oppressed Ireland and the Irish people objected. The Easter Rising was the height of the rebellion, which eventually paved the way for the creation of the free state. Before Ireland became a republic England let them form a free state as a stepping stone to becoming an independent republic.

Now let’s compare that to Gaza. Gaza is conquered by England and England gives the land to Israel so they can have a home of their own. Gaza objects. Israel pulls out and starts giving them more autonomy. So what do they do? They say we want more and start shooting rockets at Israeli citizens. If the Irish Free State started shooting rockets at England when given their new independence there is no way England would have let them form a republic.

Northern Ireland is problematic. 51% of the people there want to remain part of England. 49% do not. Compare that to Israel. The Jewish people living in Palestine want to be independent. If Gaza had their way they would be the oppressors and we would be in the same boat.

Palestinians have a right to live in Palestine. Jews have a right to live there as well. So do Armenians and Christians. Wiping one group off the face of the earth is just plain wrong. It’s that simple. And murdering innocent civilians in acts of terrorism is murder.

In Ireland the IRA would hit military targets. When they targeted civilians they lost public support. The bottom line is that Gaza needs to stop starting shit and then play the victim. It’s just plain pathetic and defies the public peace.

The thing I can’t figure out is if Israel sends in air strikes how and the hell can Hamas keep firing rockets? Gaza is pretty small. About the size of Vancouver Island only very densely populated. You’d think with all high tech equipment and spy satellites out there Israel would be able to blow up each new location Hamas fired rockets from. The problem arises when they fire rockets from civilian areas and then cry the victim about civilian casualties when Israel strikes where they were firing the rockets from. In essence they are using their own people as human shields. That is shameful. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/6166998.stm

Blogfather arrested in Iran

http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/abc/home/contentposting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V3&showbyline=True&date=true&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20081230%2fHossein_Derakhshan_081230

Well this is pretty typical. This Iranian guy named Hossein Derakhshan starts bloging way back when and teaches his fellow citizens how to blog in Persian. He inspired an estimated 70,000 Iranians to create their own blogs. Something the Iranian government doesn’t like much. Kinda like China where free speech does not exist.

This is his blog: http://hoder.com/ Although he spoke out against Internet censorship in Iran he opposed foreign intervention. His criticisms of censorship were in no way a plea for US invasion. He is a Muslim and supports a democratic Islamic republic: http://stop.censoring.us/

The Blogfather was a journalist that spoke out on political issues. He certainly wasn’t pro US but he did at times disagree with some things the current Iranian government did. That was his crime. He asserted his right to free speech. Now he is in jail.

Since Terran has a street named after Bobby Sands does that mean they are gonna name the Blogfather’s cell H Block? Naming a street in Terran after Bobby Sands is somewhat ironic. Iran is far worse then England when it comes to censorship and oppression.

I will comment on a link in his last post. I can’t read it because it’s in Persian but a link on his post goes to spinwatch which is a very interesting web site exposing spin doctor propaganda:
http://www.spinwatch.org/

The thing with the news about the Blogfather's arrest is that it simply confirms suspicions. His last post was October 6 2008 then it abruptly stops and everyone thinks he was arrested. Well today is December 30 2008 and all of a sudden Iran admits that they arrested him. Talk about an oppressive government. Communist China, Nazi Germany or Stalin’s Russia. The parallels are disheartening.

Not to say that there is anything wrong with Iranian culture, not at all. It’s just the backward bullshit oppression from the removal of free speech and human rights. Talk about being denied a fair trial. They didn’t even admit they arrested him for almost three months. Pathetic. It certainly does nothing for their cause. Makes the government look pretty oppressive to the rest of the world so it does.

Not that we’re far behind. It just shows how real the fight for free speech and human rights is and how real the threat is of those rights being taken away from us in our day. Isn’t that right Moya?

Looks like his real crime is that he supported the other candidate for presidency of Iran in the last election. So much for democracy:

Brackendale Eagles

Speaking of the Cheakamus River, I went to see the eagles in Brackendale today. There wasn’t many on the dyke but there were quite a few further up the river towards the hatchery. Eagles are pretty private. As soon as you walk close they tend to fly away.

They refer to Brackendale and the Winter home of the Bald Eagle. It’s just outside of Squamish. The eagles come to feed on the spawning salmon in winter. December 15 to January 15 is the peak of the season. Mind you Harrison River in November is getting lots of eagles as well. I saw way more salmon there and more eagles too. I think the hatchery at Harrison Mills has been there longer and sure is efective at replenishing the chum stock.

In fact I didn’t see any salmon today. There were quite a few carcasses outside the hatchery on Tenderfoot Creek but they were picked pretty clean. I guess November is the peak spawning season for Chum. I read somewhere the eagles like the salmon after they’ve been rotting a while. Doesn’t sound very appetizing but I suppose it’s softer then.

It’s hard to catch them in flight with my camera but I did get a couple of shots. I know the caretaker at Paradise Valley outdoor school and he let me walk on the property to take pictures of the eagles. Actually he knows my father. He used to take me there when I was young but that was in the summer. I didn’t clue in to the eagles until I was older.

Near the river is the best place to see them. Where the salmon are is where you’ll see the eagles. It’s really impressive. Walking through the forest along the river with all those eagles everywhere really feels like you’re walking on holy ground.

Michael Ritter, Larry Osaki and Merrill Lynch

Wow, this one is complicated. It’s an American scam that went into hiding in Canada when the SEC investigated them: http://www.404.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr18446.htm
It involves a prominent Canadian parliament lawyer committing massive fraud and getting 10 years in prison: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2006/10/31/ritter-sentence.html

The founder of the scam, Larry Osaki got 20 years in prison: http://friendsoflarryosaki.com/ for creating a scam of a company that didn’t exist but rose and fell based on hype just like Bre-X also run out of Alberta: http://finiansworld.blogspot.com/2008/10/bre-x-and-stornoway.html

The story was on TV tonight and was one of the biggest fraud cases in Canadian history. Turns out that the Canadian parliament lawyer even lied about his law degree. I kid you not. Ritter was also tied to money laundering for Dan Gordon who had stolen $40 million from Merrill Lynch in New York: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/brokerage/2003-09-03-gordon_x.htm

That was an interesting case all on it’s own. Take a look at the dates. "Daniel L. Gordon's carefully crafted image as a Wall Street whiz kid began unraveling on March 15, 2001. That day began as a career capstone for the tall, lanky Gordon, who had built Merrill Lynch's energy-trading business from scratch two years earlier and elevated it into one of Wall Street's leaders"

Here we have another scam directly related to the privatization of US Energy just like Enron. The case began to unravel on March 15 2001. Less than six months later, the third tower fell in New York City, the one that was not hit by any plane that contained CIA and military records as well as Wall Street watchdog information about Enron and you guessed it the Merrill Lynch energy-trading scam.

What am I trying to say? I’m trying to say the corporate corruption has followed a pattern. The stock fraud was linked to Canada. The privatization of energy fraud was linked to America. The investigation of those frauds was linked to the suspicious fall of the Third Tower in New York City. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to do the math and see how deep the rabbit hole goes.

The moral of the story? The public has every right to be concerned with privatization and deregulation of their energy and natural resources. The public has every right to be concerned about the lack of public accountability in the stock market especially when they are asked to spend trillions of dollars to bail out scams and fake stocks.

Indeed Michael Ritter is a very bad man but he isn’t the only one.
http://finiansworld.blogspot.com/2008/12/mortgage-sex.html

Israel Strikes Back

http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/abc/home/contentposting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V3&showbyline=True&date=true&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20081227%2fgaza_airstrikes_081227

Israel strikes back after Hamas continues to launch rockets into Israel on Christmas eve and Hamas has the audacity to play the victim. The Israeli air strike was launched at 4:30 AM yet Hamas claims some of the air strikes were in areas where children had left school. Going to school at 4:30 AM?

"The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely-populated places on the plant." That is where they are firing the rockets from. They are firing rockets from densely populated areas into civilian areas. Israel strikes back and somehow they are the bad guys? Get real.

I certainly don’t agree with everything Israel does but stop the bullsh*t. Terrorism is wrong. Stop playing the victim. Don’t fire rockets from civilian areas into civilian areas. The more concessions Israel make the more are demanded of her.

Obama and the North American Union

Clinton supported NAFTA. Obama supports the NAU:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcQE_HHlhoI

One step forward, three steps back. Republican or Democrat - Coke or Pepsi - Despite the debate not much different. http://finiansworld.blogspot.com/2008/11/obama-to-send-10000-more-troops-to.html

Murderers from Gaza

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/25/world/middleeast/25mideast.html

Gaza continues to launch rockets into Israel Christmas Eve. That is murder. Nothing more nothing less. There is nothing holy about it. I will be the first person to admit the Palestinian situation is very problematic. How can we criticize Israel for building a wall to defend itself? Israel wants and deserves a home. So do the Palestinians. Murdering civilians is wrong. Creating a Jewish state is problematic. Basically it's a mess but history has demonstrated the more concessions Israel makes, the more are demanded of her.

Canadian soldier killed in roadside bomb

http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/abc/home/contentposting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V3&showbyline=True&date=true&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20081226%2fafghanistan_soldier_081226

That headline has become so common we have become immune to it. The number of casualties in war does not determine it’s validity. There were far more casualties in WWI and WWII and that was clearly a noble cause. Against good people who had been conned by false flag attacks I might add.

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Just because soldiers are dying in Afghanistan does not mean it is not a noble cause. The proposed Oil Pipeline right before the war makes it a tainted cause. All the bad things the Taliban did didn’t matter as long as the Taliban were giving the contract for the Oil Pipeline to an American firm. As soon as they award the contract to an Argentina firm we are at war and all the bad things the Taliban do matter.

Canada has been conned and it is only the tip of the iceberg. If we dare to take our heads out of the sand and Google Operation Northwoods or Operation Gladio we will see the motive for the thermite cuts in the load bearing beams of the twin towers. No plane made those thermite cuts.

Are we really courageous and noble? Will we dare to defend the truth and stop defending a lie? I doubt it.

Deranged Christmas murder

http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/abc/home/contentposting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V3&showbyline=True&date=true&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20081226%2fSanta_details_081226

This one is so outrageous I shudder to cite it. A guy goes through a messy divorce and after the mother and child he moved in with leaves him, dresses up as Santa and goes to his ex wife's family’s Christmas Eve party and goes on a columbine shooting spree then torches the place before committing suicide. WTF.
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If you’re going to commit suicide, don’t take innocent people with you. Shooting an 8 year old girl in the face who answers the door on Christmas Eve is just plain deranged. Nothing more nothing less.
Messy divorce. Welcome to the club. That doesn’t give you the right or excuse to commit murder. Especially of innocent people including children. Maybe your ex was a b*tch. Maybe she was a tramp. Welcome to the real world. As awful as that may be murder is worse.

Christmas Morning

The magic fades but a we bit of magic still prevails nonetheless. As the kids get older it is increasingly harder to find that magical smile of hitting the nail on the head and finding the perfect gift.

When the kids were young there is no question Christmas was magic. As they get older the magic fades until it is renewed with the next generation. Somehow it’s just not the same when your daughter shows you youtube videos of tickle me elmo doused in gasoline and set on fire as he rolls around the ground burning giggling away as though the fire tickles. Or the Hokey Pokey Elmo with a beer can in his hand and the exploding head. It’s a little bit funny but a lot more deranged but life goes on so it does.

Greed and economic uncertainty still exist. They always have and they always will. I remember an old friend who used to make all their own gifts. Not everyone is that talented but it did bring much more meaning to the season.

When I look back I can think of my two favorite Christmases. One was as a Single parent when the kids were very young and the other was visiting friends from out of town and going for a sleigh ride on the mountain Christmas day. Now that was Christmas. This year our Christmas is very simple. It’s the first time we broke down and got a real tree.

I’ve always felt guilty about cutting down a live tree but realize these are grown for that purpose on tree farms and I really wanted the smell of a fresh tree in the house this year. Ikea had a deal we couldn’t refuse. Spend 20 bucks on a tree and get a $20 gift certificate. Can’t beat that.

I procrastinated and didn’t get my mother a live Christmas reef until they were all sold out. Fortunately, Safeway had some live rosemary reefs. They were awesome. The smell of the fresh rosemary enhanced the season. I liked it so much I had to buy one for us too.

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I did a glazed ham last night. Roast ham with a honey, mustard and brown sugar coating. My mother used to always do that Christmas eve for my father’s birthday God rest his soul. Tonight it’s the turkey and dressing. Got a free turkey from work again this year. All I ever got from Canada Post was a kick in the a*s.

Well the stress is over. Now it’s just quiet time enjoying the snow. MCG. Cheers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lKYxjDg6XU

Vancouver’s White Christmas

Gotta Love all the snow. They say this is the most snow Vancouver city has had. So much for global warming: http://finiansworld.blogspot.com/2008/08/global-warming-and-industrial-waste.html

Canadian Troops

A great big thank you to all the brave men and women who got conned into risking their lives for the Oil Pipeline through Afghanistan. Noble blood has been split for a lie: http://finiansworld.blogspot.com/2008/11/centgas-afghanistans-oil-war.html

They even appointed a Canadian to be the governor of Kandahar: http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=1095379

If that is not a farce I don’t know what is. Foreign occupation is all it is. Canada should not participate in American or British Imperialism. And to all those politicians pretending that war has anything to do with human rights, F*ck You.

Who killed the electric car anyways:

http://www.sonyclassics.com/whokilledtheelectriccar/

CN and the Golden Ears Bridge

This one’s kinda funny and kinda sad. It’s an example of the stupidity of greed. Remember how Moya Greene brags about helping privatize CN and how their obsession for profits has seen a dramatic increase in derailments due to the longer trains and reduced brake maintenance? Not to mention the cover up of the sale of B.C. Rail.

The news did a clip on the CN’s obsession with profits. (It’s been deleted off youtube. I’ll have to inquire as to why. The corporate censorship continues.) but this is what happened after the CN derailment in the Cheakamus River in BC: http://www.ariverneversleeps.com/online/news.shtml and here's why: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070209/wfive_derailments_070209/20070210?hub=WFive

(OK The video is back on youtube now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C09txsoT1V0) (Oh no it's not. They took it down again. Bastards. Looks like it's time to call in Dr. Geist)

Well in keeping with their obsession and in keeping with their driving right over the public’s democratic will, they came out with the double decker trains. They would stack them on top of each other. Which to a banker would make perfect sense. In fact in the Prairies where the tracks are long and straight it would make perfect sense.

It becomes problematic in B.C. because of all the curves in the track and the steep inclines and declines. I am told B.C. is the only province where the train tracks have more than a 7 percent incline. As a result the longer trains are more prone to derail and if you raise an object’s centre of gravity going around a corner you increase the likelihood of it derailing. I sure hope they don’t stack any of those toxic chemicals on top of each other going by the Cheakamus.

Ya know how they spent all that money on special railway cars that would carry double stacked containers? Well here’s the deal. They’re building a new bridge over the Fraser River called the Golden Ears Bridge. The onramps to the bridge on the south side of the river go over the CN train tracks. Only they built it too low and a double stacked railway car won’t fit under it.

I’m sorry if I find that humorous but I do. It is another example of poor planing yes but more importantly corporate greed defeating itself. It’s sad because the railway could definitely help off set transportation costs. Unfortunately we see that the railway was built with exploitation of Chinese immigrants and that heritage of exploitation is determined to continue in a self defeating spiral to you know where. Cheers.

The worth of a soul

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=1096536

I was really sad to hear about the homeless woman that died in Vancouver because the candle she was using to keep warm caught her tarp on fire. It’s just so sad. I know minus 15 is nothing but it sure is cold if you’re homeless.

She was on a pretty mayor intersection. The police asked to take her to a shelter several times but she wouldn’t leave without her shopping cart of belongings. Two weeks and the new shelter opens up where they accept pets and shopping carts.

I really get angry when I hear people say "those people" want to be homeless. No one wants to be homeless. You try sleeping on the cold concrete for a night and see how you like it. Some won’t give up their pet because that is all they have. Likewise some won’t leave without their shopping cart full of belongings because those are their life possessions. I was upset the Victoria police were stealing homeless people’s shopping carts. They said it was an eye sore but to some of those people that’s all they have.

That’s what happens when we close Riverview and put all the mentally ill on the street then throw our hands in the air and say it’s not our problem. It is our problem. I’m glad the new shelter is opening up but more has to be done. We need more affordable housing. No one wants to be homeless.

Grouse Mountain in December

Gotta love the snow. This is a view of Crown and Goat mountain from Dam mountain on Grouse. Crowns on the left Goat’s on the right. Then when you turn to the right this is Thunderbird ridge.

That’s the thing with hiking in Vancouver. As soon as you reach one of these peaks you can see more peaks as far as the eye can see. They call it back country. No roads because it’s too hilly to build or live on.

I was trying to find the trail to Goat mountain and Goat Ridge. I love the view from there. It was snowed over but I saw a dip where it looked like people had been before and sure enough as soon as I started walking on it I could tell it was the right trail. I wasn’t sinking up to my knees. Then the trail was marked with deer tacks for quite a ways. There were deer tracks all over the place.



Technically anything past Dam mountain and Thunderbird ridge is closed due to the snow but I think they just say that to discourage tourists or unseasoned hikers to prevent injuries. On Cypress you can get a backcountry pass and go whereever you want.

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I guess this is where they break out the crampons and ice axe. This is at the very beginning of the trail on the very flat part. You don’t even need snowshoes to get here.

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There’s lots of stuff happening for the Christmas season. The reindeer are out. They have a tiny skating rink with Christmas carols playing and a nice outdoor fire to warm up beside. It’s worth being crammed in like sardines for the four minute gondola ride up.

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They still have the sleigh rides but Silverstar has the best sleigh rides by far. You go further on them. Silverstar even has snowmobile safari’s. They won’t rent snowmobiles on the coast. They say it’s too dangerous. I guess they are worried about someone going back country and getting lost till spring. It is wise to avoid the backcountry part when avalanche season hits. That is too dangerous but the view from Dam mountain and Thunderbird ridge is fine. Cheers.

Wondering where the Lions are

The Lions are twin mountain peaks in Vancouver, B.C. also called the Sisters. This is a Youtube video clip I made with some pictures I took of the Lions, from the Lions and around the Lions in the greater Vancouver Area. Bruce Cockburn's song Wondering where the lions are is playing in the background. Cheers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_NeFrQAF1Q

George Bush shoe attack

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rwxIjQZF98

Ya gotta love this. An Iraqi news reporter throws his shoe at George Bush on a surprise press conference in Iraq. He shouts out here’s a farewell kiss you dog and throws his shoes at him. George Bush is an asshole. History will remember him as such.

Lord of the Dance comes to Vancouver

Wow, that was magnificent. Michael Flatley reaches into the ancient and remixes it with a touch of the modern and creates a masterpiece. Well done. I was hesitant going to the Lord of the Dance because although there is no question Michael Flatley has great talent as a dancer his overpowering arrogance made him impossible at times to watch or listen to.

Nevertheless, now he’s the director and he has a new person playing the lead role. Three cheers. Now it is more about a balanced celebration of talent than being all about Michael Flatley. I always thought it was Flaherty. I’m not sure where the name Flatley comes from. Regardless, the final production is without question magnificent.

Riverdance was the original and did a marvelous job of incorporating the drums into the Irish dance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaHmcCp77JE

This story is a good versus evil battle based on the old Hymn Lord of the Dance. That tune is played in the beginning and throughout the show on a tin whistle.

The song is really about Christ:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fzRZuGEr04&feature=related

Irish Dancing is similar to Scottish Highland dancing except the Irish keep their hands at their side symbolizing being in slavery to a foreign power. Despite the foreign occupation and oppression the Irish culture persisted and the dance went on so it did.

More Snow on the Mountains

Dude. Over 40 cm of fresh snow on the mountains in the past 24 hours. The local mountains each have some runs open. Finally. We had a nice snowfall a few weekends ago but it warmed up and the rain made it a mess.

http://finiansworld.blogspot.com/search/label/Snowshoeing

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Then all of a sudden, bam, the mountains are open. Must be the good luck from the Jamaican Bobsled team. Whistler was already open but now the local mountains are alive too.

This time there was visibility on top of Mount Strachan. That’s one of my favorite places to see the Lions and Howe Sound. Cheers.

Michael Ignatieff is Imhotep

The Mummy Returns:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GG_nbW1tbU&feature=related

Michael Ignatieff represents all that was bad out of the Liberal Party. Fiscal irresponsibility, back room sponsorship deals, then he takes some evil from the right and remix it with pure insanity - torture, wars for money disguised as human rights, Corporate trade agreements that remove human rights. The list goes on and it all comes back to the same thing - arrogance.

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Pride leads us to keep talking when we should be listening. Listening to the voters is what a democracy is supposed to do.

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Why is it every time Michael Ignatieff opens his mouth it attracts flies? Maybe because every time he opens his mouth he talks sh*t.

Iggy's the same stuff just a different pile. Did I say that I don’t support him? Oh yeah I did. I have recorded my dissent.

Mortgage Sex

Back to reality. If this one wasn’t so infuriating it’d be funny. Simpatico news ran an interesting article on the seven deadly sins that led to the recent stock market crash and current financial crisis: http://finance.sympatico.msn.ca/investing/stocks/article.aspx?cp-documentid=15853320

Well check out the Mortgage Sluts section under the heading Lust. Remember what triggered this whole financial crisis? Buying stock on margin yes, just like in the twenties but the collapse was caused in relation to the mortgage crisis in the States. Too much deregulation saw the epitome of corruption rise and fall.

Mortgage wholesalers traded sex for loan applications. I kid you not. This wasn’t just one or two cases, it was a trend:

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_47/b4109070638235.htm

So there we have it. The financial crisis was created by greed which resulted in buying high risk stock on margin and corporate pigs who traded sex for bad loans. Why did we bail that out: http://themortgageinsider.net/mortgage-news/bush-speech-creating-phantom-crisis-to-dupe-congress-again

Jamaican Bobsled team welcomed in Pemberton

http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/story.html?id=1059376
On a more positive note, the Jamaican bobsled team has been a Canadian Favorite. The comedy Cool Runnings immortalized the story and the town of Pemberton has invited them to come and train there. Part of the reason they’re a Canadian favorite is the cheering for the underdog but it goes beyond that. The Caribbean community is awesome. A vibrant culture that is welcome here. Ever had rice and peas with some curry mutton? Now that’s what I’m talkin about. Cheers.

Anarchy in the UK Revisited

http://finiansworld.blogspot.com/2008/10/anarchy-in-uk.html

Just to clarify let’s step outside the box and contemplate what this really means. Two under cover British military personnel were caught red handed at an Iraqi checkpoint dressed as Arabs with a car filled with guns and explosives.

Don’t ya think that looks and sounds a little suspicious? Two white guys dressed as Arabs wearing fake beards. It looked suspicious enough from a distance for a checkpoint to require a closer look.
Best case scenario is that they were going undercover and trying to make contacts with some terrorists to arrest them. However, that just doesn’t pass the test of believability. Two white Brits dressed as Arabs wearing fake beards want to fool some terrorists into thinking they are one of them. Not likely. It’s just not believable.

As soon as the terrorist got a closer look or heard them speak, they would know they were not local terrorists. That best case scenario doesn’t make sense. Yet we know they were on a mission and that they were under cover. We know that the British Military supported their mission because they broke them out of jail without a trial and called it a rescue. They did exchange fire with the Iraqi police, the ones they put in power and were supposed to be helping and ended up killing one of the police officers.

All because they didn’t want to tell them what their mission was. I’m sorry but all conspiracies aside, I don’t see any other plausible explanation as to what their mission could possibly have been. It clearly looks like they were going to shoot someone and blow something up dressed as Arabs and blame it on terrorists. There is no other plausible explanation. It fits with Operation Northwoods and Operation Gladio.

This is really serious. We as a people are sleeping. We either don’t want to know or are too afraid to know. We all like to criticize the Germans for not standing up to Hitler but are we really any different? Hitler used false flag attacks to gain control of his senate and fool public opinion: http://finiansworld.blogspot.com/2008/09/history-of-faked-military-attacks.html

Here’s the math: http://unblinkered.blogspot.com/2005/09/picture-update-two-british-undercover.html

Tell me, is it apathy, stupidity or fear? Why are we so blind?

UK Invasion

No I’m not talking about the Beatles. Much: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87yq372R4Ts
I’m talking about England in Iraq. We all remember Tony Blair’s lovefest with George Bush: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nupdcGwIG-g

Somewhat pathetic so it was. He received the congressional I’ve blown bush badge for standing by Bush’s side as they invaded Iraq under false pretense and sent in MI6 to launch Operation Mass Appeal by giving false information to the media. They were all caught red handed: http://www.peacecandy.com/gwbush/remindus/

Don’t forget the purpose of MI6: "The purpose of MI6 is to defend the economic well being of the UK." And don’t forget the recruiting question of MI6: "Where do Britain's best long-term interests lie? Washington, Brussels or Moscow?"

The bottom line is despite the propaganda, it’s all about the money. Human rights have nothing to do with it. They didn’t care about Saddam Hussein using American chemical weapons on Iran. They didn’t care about all the bad things the Taliban did when they were going to let UNOCAL build an oil pipeline through Afghanistan. They don’t care Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are the only two countries left on the planet that still don’t let women vote in elections. It’s all about the money. Don’t let them tell you any different.

Tony Blair wondered if he should stay or if he should he go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1vwKZiDsY4&NR=1 He left but he forgot to take his MI6 propaganda machine with him. Canada does not need Iggy.

Vancouver homeless

Well three cheers for Vancouver’s new mayor and for First United. The Province ran a front page article today of some homeless sleeping in pews of a church. As soon as I saw the photo I knew where it was First United. I saw the same thing during the Woodwards Squat housing crisis. I was really surprised and impressed to see them open up their sanctuary for the homeless. Now that is holy ground I thought.

Well thanks to Vancouver’s new mayor Gregor Robertson they’ve done it again. They’ve opened up their chapel doors to the homeless.

http://www.theprovince.com/HEAT+turns+homeless/1056105/story.html

"Urgency is what this is all about," said Robertson, the team chairman. I don't want to see anybody dying on the streets this winter. We will be working diligently over these coming weeks to open and secure shelter and transitional housing as quickly as possible."

Looks like Mayor Robertson is rising to the challenge. We do have a housing crisis. We closed Riverview and put all the mentally ill on the street. We made drastic changes to social assistance and many can’t fill out all the forms and fulfill all the requirements so they go without. A civilized society that tramples the homeless does not exist. I’m glad we’ve taken one small step in the right direction.

Michael Ignatieff MI6’s shining star

Think about it. This guy supports torture and has the audacity to pretend the wars for oil actually have anything to do with human rights. This is a MI6 propaganda shining star.

Remember MI6 gave false information to the media about Iraq. Remember MI6 actively participated in Operation Gladio in Europe which was Operation Northwoods implemented. Remember MI6 participated in a foiled false flag event in Iraq: http://finiansworld.blogspot.com/2008/10/anarchy-in-uk.html

The truth is MI6 is connected to Oil: http://www.mathaba.net/data/sis/mi6-oil.html

"SIS (often known as MI6) provides HMG with a global covert capability to promote and defend the national security and economic well-being of the United Kingdom."

http://www.sis.gov.uk/output/about-us.html

The purpose of MI6 is to defend the economic well being of the UK.



Historian Andrew Roberts has written about his own experience of being approached in 1987 to join MI6. In the interview he was asked "Where do Britain's best long-term interests lie? Washington, Brussels or Moscow?" Obviously Tony Blair thought Britain’s best long term economic well being resides in Washington. Thus his support for the Invasion of Iraq under false pretense which his intelligence agency helped promote. http://www.mathaba.net/data/sis/mi6-sd36.shtml

Ignatieff creates the Cuckoo's Nest

http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/abc/home/contentposting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V3&showbyline=True&date=true&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20081206%2frae_ignatieff_081207

Well this is down right suspicious. I trust Dion more than I trust Ignatieff. In fact I don’t trust Ignatieff. Period. And it’s not just that used car salesmen look on his face. It’s his position on torture and his position on Afghanistan and Iraq. He is a spin doctor ptetending the war for oil has anything to do with human rights. He's another President Johnston. A wolf in sheep's clothing. This is bad. http://www.straight.com/telling-true-lies-about-michael-ignatieff

I do not suport him. Period. What about Justine Trudeau?

Alberta’s Free Medical

http://www.health.alberta.ca/ahcip/AHCIP.html

Here’s another example of breaking down stereotypes and the benefits of fiscal responsibility. Alberta is a wealthy province. Mostly because of the oil but it goes beyond that. No sales tax, less government, balanced budgets, the list goes on. As a result their economy prospers. So what do they do? They turn around and give everyone free medical. To the left that would be an oxymoron. Conservatives supporting free medical. Yet if you step outside the box, logic dictates that fiscal responsibility is the key to social prosperity.

Diversity makes us strong

We had our diversity training at work the other day. This was long after we had our legal training on sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace course. This went beyond that and was much more positive. The intent was to avoid conflict and lawsuits in the workplace before they happened by changing the way we see the differences in each other and foster respect for different opinions.

The training material was from coastal dot com: http://coastal.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=34984
That’s coastal not postal.

I actually enjoyed it. I did think it was a bit funny at first. We’re all sitting around the table in the boardroom and I read the first question on the survey they handed out. "If you could be a tree what type would you be?" What the hell is this I thought to myself. The next question was "What vegetable in the diversity soup would you be?" Then "If they made a movie about your life, what character would play you and why?"

I thought to myself you have got to be kidding. They are taking us away from work to talk about obscure touchy feelie things? Why? I asked if this was like the "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" kind of things and my supervisor sitting beside me chuckled. He said the character that would play him was a cross between Homer Simpson and Brad Pitt. I really like and respect him.

There are two points I’d like to make. One is about the training and the other is about my new employer and my new workplace. Canada Post would never take the time to do something like this. Neither would TELUS. They would only fulfill their legal obligations by defining legal discrimination. TELUS only did that to hide and prevent being sued over the sexual harassment displayed in TELUS Idol. They gave the employees sexual harassment training when they should have given it to the CEO who was the one responsible for promoting the sexual harassment displayed in TELUIS Idol.

The only training that Canada Post gives is passionate brainwashing why the Union is bad and why the Corporation is good. Their training is diametrically opposed to the fundamental basis of diversity training. Theirs is a petty power struggle to prove we are good and they are bad. The other is a power sharing thought process encouraging people to see the value in diversity.

Moya Greene is the epitome of this extreme. Not only does she refuse to listen to her employees or the union, she also refuses to listen to most of her managers. She goes on record to say that the private sector thinks public sector managers are stupid and don’t know anything. Then she complains in her submission to the mandate review that there is an "internal management culture of risk aversion". It is unwise for someone with no successful experience in a service based industry to conclude all her managers and employees who have been in the industry for 20 years are stupid.

When asked to list all the various differences in our society and workplace the facilitator said what about management and employees? Those are differences. As a manager I know sometimes I feel a difference between us and head office. Doesn’t the same apply to employees and managers in the workplace? Some of us shrugged and said I guess so we added it to the list but I will tell you one thing. The management worker barrier is not nearly the same at my new employer as it is with Canada Post or TELUS.

They key to the difference is that my new employer hires from within. Canada Post and TELUS does not. Not any more. In my workplace my supervisor knows my job and can do it better than I can because they have done it for 15 yeas. At Canada Post or TELUS you have someone with no idea how to do the job literally bossing someone around who has been in the industry for many years.

The perfect example of this starts right at the top with Moya Greene. She has no idea how to do the job. She feels insecure so she fires all her managers who know how to do the job and promotes managers with classroom experience on management only. The same at Telus. Darren Entwistle is doing his best to remove skilled labour from the workplace by ending apprenticeships. If that is not the recipe for disaster I don't know what is.

The primary objective of my new employer is to make a profit just as it is at Canada Post and TELUS. Only they have two completely different approaches to obtaining that objective and if you look at the stock and the profit margins my new employer is much more successful at obtaining that objective. A happy workforce is a productive workforce. Indeed "Canada Post will profit from labour peace." Dale Clark

Harper’s Shame

Harper’s only shame is that he has no shame. Just like his idol Brian Mulroney. Harper pulls another dirty trick just like Mulroney did. Mulroney found an obscure legal loophole to appoint extra senators to stack the senate and ram the GST through. That was not democratic. That was not fiscally responsible. That was not noble. It was an example of how the conservatives talk the talk but they do not walk the walk of democracy. Democracy means listening to the constituents not railroading them. Kind of like what Harper did with David Emerson. It is a repeating precedent.

Harper closing parliament for six weeks just prolongs the inevitable. What we have here is a minority government. Whenever this happens, the party who gets the most seats must team up with one of the other parties and form a government. Harper never did that. Either time. Instead the rude cat calling arrogance typical of a majority government prevailed as he persisted to flame the other parties in the house.

Harper failed to form a coalition to form a minority government. There is nothing stopping the other parties to pool their seats and assume the role of government. Nothing. And as I said before I do think it’s rather humorous.

The Conservatives did come out hard painting Dion as an idiot. I don’t know much about Dion other than he can’t speak English very well. However, he can speak English better than I can speak French and better than Harper can speak French. Personally I don’t care what language he speaks. French, Mandarin, Punjabi…

.

My beef with Dion was him resorting to the Conservatives mud slinging over crime. He sent out a flyer saying Harper is wrong on crime then walks out on the vote when Harper tries to introduce a bill addressing crime. We need to rise above the pettiness. They all do.

There might well have been something wrong with Harper’s crime bill. We asked for minimum sentences for violent crime and he proposes minimum sentences for the possession of Marijuana. From one extreme to the other with out addressing the issue we needed to address, violent crime.

I do prefer Dion to Paul Martin. There was something about Martin that I just didn’t trust. Maybe it was Buz the snake Hargrove. I didn’t like how the Liberals screwed the TWU in their dispute with TELUS’ offshore call centres. Then again it turned out the TWU was screwed by Bruce Bell and Buzz Hargrove who turned down a special mediator so maybe it wasn’t the Liberals fault.

The Liberals did come out with a good web site comparing Harper’s goals to George Bush. It is no secret Harper drooled over the thought of meeting not to mention following Bush. That is a colossal red flag. Harper would have followed the States into Iraq based on a lie. That would have been criminal. Cretchien may have been bad with money but not invading Iraq was one thing he did right. http://www.thestar.com/FederalElection/article/509958

My concern with Harper and with Martin is their position on the North American Union. Throwing away the constitution and the Charter of Rights and replacing them with TILMA a trade agreement that opens Pandora’s box by making it illegal for any government to create any law that would inhibit a corporation’s ability to make a profit. When you think about the seriousness of the ramifications of that, it’s simply mind boggling.

The Coalition isn’t just Dion. Dion has to get agreement from the NDP and the Bloc on issues, which keeps him in line. As a result the Liberal's carbon tax was axed. The NDP and the Bloc are the only ones other than the Green Party, which has expressed any concern about the wording of the North American Secret Union deal. That is a huge election issue.

The New Coalition

Well this made my day. There is nothing, I repeat nothing stopping the other political parties in a minority government teaming up and forming a coalition. It is not a conspiracy nor is it undemocratic. It is the natural consequence of arrogance.

We don’t have the two party system in Canada which is a good thing. As Jesse Ventura stated the two party system just gives you one more choice than Communist Russia.

I totally supported the Reform party. Balance the budget to save social programs not eliminate them. They stood apart from Mulroney’s pork barrel politics and said look beyond the left and right. Three cheers. Then came unite the right instead of unite the bright and that vision was lost. Reform merged with the Conservatives and dejavu Mulronism was back in black.

I tell ya what it’s about, it’s about arrogance. Harper wasted all that money on another election because he wanted a free license to "govern." Somehow the way he says that, it sounds an awful lot like a monarchy. That’s the problem with a majority government, they steam roll ahead with their extreme agenda and don’t listen to a word anyone else says. The Conservatives wanted to "govern" so they could do whatever they wanted whenever they wanted without listening to a word from the opposition.

I tell ya why I’m thrilled with the new coalition and why I’m concerned. I’m thrilled because it’s about time the other political parties teamed up on anything. Getting rid of the Liberal’s carbon tax proposal is good. Protecting pensions is good. Spending money indiscriminately is bad but the conservatives are no better with money. They just spend it on different things and oppress and exploit the elderly and disabled while they do it.

I really take offense to the conservative’s mud slinging stereotypes. "And the new socialist-separatist driven coalition is an attack on Canada itself." STFU! If caring for the elderly and disabled is socialism then I am a socialist so stfu. Look at Gordon Campbell in BC. He shuts down Riverview, puts all the mentally ill on the street then gives himself a huge pay raise and gold plated pension. The very pension he was elected campaigning against. Then he gives himself another obscene raise and puts all the seniors on the street. That is satanic. Stop calling that godly and stop saying anyone who objects is a socialist. Have you no self respect?!

The Bloc does not want to destroy Canada. They want to rule themselves. Just like Ireland wanted. However, just like Northern Ireland, it is problematic because just over 50% don’t want to separate. So why do they elect a separatist government if they don’t all want to separate? Because they want to put their goals as a province first just like every other province wants. That by the way is a problem in itself. The provinces need to stop seeing elections as getting more money from Ottawa. Fiscal responsibility is social programs job security. Without it there is no money for social programs.

The sky will not fall if Quebec separates. Take a look at the map. Quebec is huge. Alaska functions fine apart from the US just as the Eat Coast would if Quebec were to separate. Nevertheless, I still believe we are stronger together than we are apart.

They key word here is listen. We need to listen to each other and respect each other’s opinions. We don’t have to agree on everything. That’s unrealistic. But if we maintain the status quo and let each party have a veto then we don’t steam roll ahead in extreme directions.

The only thing we really need to fix right now is the non confidence vote. MP’s should have free votes. If the government proposes a bill and that bill is defeated then there shouldn’t be another election until the time is up. That way we have a perfect democracy. The politicians’ hands are tied which for the public interest is a good thing.

Now as far as my concerns go, every person and party has good and bad, Harper included. The Liberals created massive debt when they were in power. It’s not the government’s job to create employment. It’s the government’s job to protect human rights as they collect taxes and administer a set of democratically chosen social programs like the police and the fire department. All social programs are not evil.

Hospitals, schools, they are not evil. Nor is housing. George Bush was evil. After pimping the church and spending billions on a war that was based on a lie the economy collapsed under his catastrophic leadership. Then he spends billions on the banks but not a penny on all the families who lost their homes. I am very concerned about fiscal responsibility but personally I rather spend tax dollars on housing, hospitals and schools than banks, fake stocks and wars driven by oil resulting in the occupation and oppression of foreign countries.

The good news is that maybe the new coalition will be less trigger happy to privatize Canada Post and everything else under the sun so we don’t follow the States path of unregulated self destruction.