Kosovo has declared it's independence from Serbia today. All free nations should celebrate the occasion but sadly, that is not the case.

Prime Minister Hashim Thaci described the new nation as democratic (hurrah!) and "multi-ethnic". A "multi-ethnic" society seems to me to be a much better option than a "multi-cultural" society. It's a term that is equally welcoming of immigrants, but doesn't suggest that people can necessarily import the values of their homeland. Which is a very important distinction.

My money's on multi-ethnic in the long run. It seems a much stabler idea, not so prone to waves of cultural import.

Labels: democracy, multiculturalism

I had saved this as a draft a few months ago.... In hindsight I think this roundup pretty much answers the question, "What's going on Iraq?" I think in short the answer is, "so little, the MSM doesn't cover it anymore". The lack of news from Iraq is good news.

Democrats want failure in Iraq (h/t).

Many Democrats have anticipated that, at best, Petraeus and U.S. ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker would present a mixed analysis of the success of the current troop surge strategy, given continued violence in Baghdad. But of late there have been signs that the commander of U.S. forces might be preparing something more generally positive. [House Majority (D) Whip James] Clyburn said that would be "a real big problem for us."

American death toll in Iraq hits 8 month low.

Even the New York Times is now willing to admit the war is winnable, and that the "surge" is working.

Here is the most important thing Americans need to understand: We are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, at least in military terms. As two analysts who have harshly criticized the Bush administration’s miserable handling of Iraq, we were surprised by the gains we saw and the potential to produce not necessarily "victory" but a sustainable stability that both we and the Iraqis could live with.

American troops have recovered more insurgent weapons in the first six months of this year than all of 2006.

Football victory unites Iraq’s feuding leaders.

Iraq’s Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called the win - shared by a national football squad of Shiite Arab, Sunni Arab, and Kurdish players - "a lesson in how to triumph over the impossible to realise victory." [...]

Iraq’s Kurdish president, Jalal Talabani, also praised the team, promising an award of 10,000 US dollars to every player, and 20,000 dollars to Younis Mohammed who scored the winning goal in the 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia. [...]

Tariq al-Hashemi, the country’s Sunni Arab vice president, called on the players to bring their rare show of national unity to the seat of government, where Kurdish, Shiite, and Sunni lawmakers have been bickering for weeks.

"There is still hope for a unified, secure and independent Iraq where all live well. There is still an opportunity, thank God," Hashemi said.

"I call on the team and everyone who works with it to come to Baghdad to mount a peaceful demonstration in front of the Green Zone to call on Iraqi politicians to put their differences aside."

Michael Yon reports success in Baqubah, Iraq.

Labels: democracy, Democratic Party, Iraq, Terrorism, Treason

The democratic process has once again elected and NDP government in Manitoba. And not only did the NDP win, they won resoundingly. Three straight majorities, and increasing in seats each time is a hell of a feat for Gary Doer (results).

The Dippers won most of the potential swing ridings, leaving the PC's in the dust. Bob Stefaniuk in La Verendrye lost to Ron Lemieux by almost 900 votes.

Unfortunately fellow blogger Steve Andjelic also lost in the riding of Seine River. I hope it's not his last attempt at Theresa Oswald's seat.

So Manitoba loves it's socialist governments, what else is new? We'll see four more years of little accomplishment, and probably a couple more crocus-esque scandals. By the way, what ever happened with that? Hugh McFadyen told us he'd be tough on crime, but he wouldn't even call Gary Doer out on his own crimes!

Basically the PC's downfall came from the complete lack of substance in their campaign. Daily promises are great, if they're backed up with some kind of detailed plan. A headline screaming "Tories promise to bring back the Jets" only works if there's a Who, When, or What behind the story. Otherwise it's just more empty rhetoric, and Gary Doer's proven to be great at that.

The Tory campaign was also lacking any real focus. What were the big issues that were being hammered home with voters? Other than the "revolving door" commercials, the PC's and McFadyen were all over the map.

Doer and the Dippers coasted their way to victory. They didn't even have to work for it. When the opposition can't articulate what they're going to do differently than the sitting government, the incumbants are going to win every time. Doer knew that he wasn't dealing with a real threat, so all he did was blather on and on about selling Hydro.

At least the weather this evening matched my mood. The weather is also another reason why I always try to take advantage of the early voting option. On the bright side a pretty girl came to visit me at work today. Oh, and I got a letter from MPI saying they want to give me free immobilizer. I think I'm going to take them up on their offer just for laughs. My car's not worth as much as the immobilizer.

Labels: Bob Stefaniuk, democracy, Gary Doer, Hugh McFadyen, Manitoba, NDP, politics

The reasons why Nicolas Sarkozy beat Socialist Segolene Royal in France's Presidential election are too numerous to list here. But two of the most obvious reasons were Royal's close relationship with far-left groups, and desperate fear mongering near the end of the campaign.

Just four days ago, Segolene Royal warned of riots if she were to lose the election. Making sure not to make a liar of their leader, leftist groups across France rioted after the results were announced.

Despite the fact that voter turnout was 85%, and that even women rejected the female candidate, and nobody has questioned the legitimacy of the election, leftists riot in defiance of democracy.

Labels: democracy, France, Nicolas Sarkozy, politics

Jeff Nyquist writes of another impending war on the horizon (h/t New Zeal).

People living a hundred years from now will be puzzled by today’s America. The signs of impending destructive war are everywhere. We do not see the signs because we do not want to see them. This is true in the White House, at the CIA, in the major newspapers and within major corporations. Russia and China are maneuvering against the United States on all fronts. Russia and China are supporting Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, North Korea, Syria, etc. All the worst regimes, led by criminals and butchers, are supported by Moscow and Beijing. The objective is to arm as many rogue states as possible. And the reason for doing so is transparent.
A researcher and former news editor wrote the following note to me last week: "Russia has been conducting war in Chechnya for years, slaughtering, raping, imprisoning and displacing Muslims. Russia slaughtered Muslims for ten years in Afghanistan. Russia is 'right next door' [to the terrorists]. Yet bin Laden, allegedly tired of what has been done to Muslim peoples, chose to attack... the United States. Bin Laden ignores the enemy who has been slaughtering Muslims in his backyard for two decades and instead targets a nation thousands of miles away..."

The tie that binds is pure unbiased anti-Americanism.

Labels: Afghanistan, China, democracy, Iran, politics, Russia, United Nations

What in the hell, you might ask, is "informational equality"? Well, its apparently the basis for the Supreme Court of Canada upholding this country's ancient election blackout law.

First and foremost, is this thing called "informational equality". It's the idea that voters in the Western provinces should not be privy to any information that was not privy to those in the East when they were voting.

The problem is that informational equality will never exist across a country as vast as Canada. Everybody reads different newspapers, watches different TV stations, and socializes in different circles. Furthermore, informational equality doesn't matter. In a process like voting, each voter has particular issues that they care about, and if they intend to vote intelligently they'll actively find out each candidate's positions on those issues.

The problem is that the Supreme Court is trying to protect the population from the folks out there who don't vote intelligently. And lots of people don't vote intelligently. If Newfie Joe who's working the rigs in Alberta decides on election night that he's going to vote in Alberta, for whichever party in Newfoundland wins in his home-riding, he'll do it.

Not that it matters, Joe's going to do it either way. He can still find out, with a simple call home, or by checking some blogs, or even turning his Satellite TV from CBC Calgary to CBC St. John's.

The problem is that the SCC thinks that there should be controls on what information voters get, and when. North Korea is probably the most "informationally equal" nation on the planet. On the other hand, the United States is one of the most "informationally unequal" country on the planet. In the USA, they have free speech. You can say or write all kinds of offensive shit and most people wouldn't bat an eye. In North Korea, if you were to write say, that Kim Jong Il is a gay alien from Saturn's second moon who signed a deal with David Koresh for control of the DPRK, you'd be thrown in jail and tortured.

Which is why Free Speech should be more important than "informational equality". This is why Free Speech is actually in our Constitution; whereas "informational equality" is something that the SCC seemed to invent.

Thanks to the archaic elitists that are the SCC, Canada is moving to become more like North Korea, and less like the United States. But who needs Free Speech in a country where saying something offensive is the cardinal sin?

Labels: Canadian Justice, democracy

It was noted previously that the Aussies are planning on sending more troops to Afghanistan for spring.

Now the Brits are following suit.

Defence Secretary Des Browne is expected to make a Commons statement on Monday setting out details of the new deployment to reinforce the British taskforce in the troubled southern province of Helmand.

More than 1,000 extra troops - together with additional equipment - will be sent, according to a report in The Guardian.

The details apparently leaked out after Mr. Browne briefed the weekly meeting of the Cabinet at No 10 yesterday.

Not to be forgotten, The Americans are diverting 3200 troops from Iraq to Afghanistan.

The US says that 3,200 troops of the 173rd Airborne Brigade will be deployed to Afghanistan in the spring, instead of Iraq.

The Taliban don't stand a chance in hell.

Labels: Afghanistan, Britain, democracy

George W. Bush gets it, and apparently so does the Al-Qaeda leadership.

Al-Qaeda has called for terrorist strikes against Canada's oil and natural gas facilities to "choke the U.S. economy."

An online message, posted by The Al-Qaeda Organization in the Arabian Peninsula, declares "we should strike petroleum interests in all areas which supply the United States ... like Canada," the No. 1 supplier of both fuels to the U.S.

It's the second time since 9/11 that Al-Qaeda has mentioned Canada by name. Interestingly, this comes at the same time that Canada's anti-terror laws are about to expire.

Labels: democracy, politics, Terrorism, Treason

Jay Bryan has the right idea.

The theory that Canada Post must have a monopoly on letter delivery to ensure that others won't "cream off" delivery profits in big cities and leave remote areas unserved, is silly. When you factor in the waste and inefficiency created by the monopoly, it's much cheaper to permit competition and simply pay someone a subsidy to serve unprofitable routes, which is exactly what several other countries do.

Meanwhile, at the Globe & Mail John Ibittson gets it exactly backwards.

The defenders of privatization may respond that the real solution is to stop subsidizing rural service delivery, including postal service. But realists know this is politically impossible. Even though 80 per cent of the country now lives in cities, we accept that the remaining 20 per cent are entitled to roughly equivalent services. When those services aren't forthcoming, the rural vote makes its displeasure loudly known. It is the rural vote that is behind the howls over passport delays.

Is it even remotely reasonable to think that sending a letter from Resolute Bay, Nunavut to Vancouver, BC should be done just as quickly and cheaply as sending a letter from Hamilton, ON to Toronto, ON? I would resolutely have to respond with a resounding NO!

Labels: democracy, politics

After Stephane Dion won the Liberal party nomination, he declared that he wanted women to make up a third of the party's candidates come the next election.

Well, the pace is gearing up for said election, and Dion is prepared to go to great lengths to make sure that women are running for the Liberal party.

During last year's leadership race, Dion promised that under his watch at least a third of the party's candidates in the next election would be women.

But campaign organizers conclude that will be impossible without intervention to secure nominations for women.

So-called green-light committees, set up to run the party's nomination process in each province, have been empowered to ensure the 33 per cent target is met. Among other things, the committees can approve or reject nomination papers from would-be candidates.

Where necessary, the committees will be able to simply refuse to allow men to run for nominations in some ridings.

And if you're sitting there thinking this is a temporary Liberal policy, guess again.

Kennedy said any outcry over perceived favouritism toward women should be limited by the fact that all leadership contenders, including himself, echoed Dion in promising to substantially increase the number of women candidates, with the eventual aim of reaching 50 per cent.

And the final blow to democracy:

The Liberal leader retains the power to simply appoint women candidates, bypassing the nomination process altogether. Insiders say Dion wants to use that power sparingly, if at all.

As Neo points out, theres really nothing stopping them from applying these kinds of affirmative action policies to basically any "minority".

Labels: democracy, Liberal Party, Stephane Dion

A petition is up to get the UN to indict Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on charges of inciting genocide. Click the link, watch the video, and sign the petition to have Ahmadinejad indicted. (h/t)

Labels: democracy, Iran, United Nations, Wish You Were Dead

Iranian State media is predicting the Apocalypse, possibly as soon as Spring! "Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance) will appear all of a sudden on the world scene with a voice from the skies announcing his reappearance at the holy Ka'ba in Mecca."

Imam Mahdi, also known as The Twelfth Imam, is supposed to return to Mecca when the world is in a state of total chaos. His return will mark the beginning of a massive global jihad, resulting in a perfect Muslim state covering the entire globe.

Now this poses two problems. The first being that the world is not in chaos. Sure, there are some "hot spots", but chaos would be a massive overstatement.

This makes one wonder what Ahmadinejad and Khamenei know that the rest of us aren't privy to. Could Iran be planning a Spring attack on Israel? Or possibly a large attack on Israel via their Lebanese proxy Hezbollah? Maybe they've made greater technological breakthroughs in their nuke technology than the West actaully knows.

Ahmadinejad has stated publicly in the past that he believes the main reason for the Islamic Revolution is to pave the way for Imam Mahdi. In fact, Mahmoud also said in 2004 that he believed the Twelfth Imam was due to return in 2007.

Now, problem number two makes things REALLY interesting. It seems Imam Mahdi will be bringing backup with him:

We read in the book Tazkarat ol-Olia, 'the Mahdi will come with Jesus son of Mary accompanying him.' ... Imam Mahdi will be the leader while Prophet Jesus will act as his lieutenant in the struggle against oppression and establishment of justice in the world. Jesus had himself given the tidings of the coming of God's last messenger and will see Mohammad's ideals materialize in the time of the Mahdi.

Thats right, Jesus will be the #2 man in the New Global Jihad, according to Iranian television.

Was the whole mild-mannered peace-mongering carpenter persona just a cover? Were Jesus and his desciples really just a Sleeper Cell? Will Jesus be firing RPG's at Iraqi troops in four months time? And the biggest question of all: would George W. Bush sell American nukes to Jesus, even if he was in cahoots with Mohamed?

If Iran is right, you'd better prepare yourself for a long nuclear winter.

Labels: democracy, Hezbollah, Iran, Israel, politics

In about two hours time from this writing, Saddam Hussein will be hanged for Crimes Against Humanity.

He will not be alone, he'll be hanged alongside two of his half-brothers for the same crimes. They will have hoods over their heads, and their hands bound behind their backs. If the world were a just place, they'd be able to have the gallows in a very public Baghdad square. Alas, they will surely die in a heavily secured secret location with very few eyes in the room.

To some this may seem to be a horrible, lonely, painful end to a life. However, it should be remembered the evil this particular life perpetrated on humanity.

• The use of poison gas and other war crimes against Iran and the Iranian people during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. Iraq summarily executed thousands of Iranian prisoners of war as a matter of policy.
• The "Anfal" campaign in the late 1980's against the Iraqi Kurds, including the use of poison gas on cities. In one of the worst single mass killings in recent history, Iraq dropped chemical weapons on Halabja in 1988, in which as many as 5,000 people -- mostly civilians -- were killed.
• Crimes against humanity and war crimes arising out of Iraq's 1990-91 invasion and occupation of Kuwait.
• Crimes against humanity and possibly genocide against Iraqi Kurds in northern Iraq. This includes the destruction of over 3,000 villages. The Iraqi government's campaign of forced deportations of Kurdish and Turkomen families to southern Iraq has created approximately 900,000 internally displaced citizens throughout the country.
• Crimes against humanity and possibly genocide against Marsh Arabs and Shi'a Arabs in southern Iraq. Entire populations of villages have been forcibly expelled. Government forces have burned their houses and fields, demolished houses with bulldozers, and undertaken a deliberate campaign to drain and poison the marshes. Thousands of civilians have been summarily executed.
• Possible crimes against humanity for killings, ostensibly against political opponents, within Iraq.

These rotten bastards are getting off easy compared to the horrors they brought to the people they were supposed to protect.

Tomorrow morning Iraq will awaken to a better world, with a few found freedom. Will Iraq become a friendly country over night? Highly unlikely. But it will be a better place, and people will be able to feel more secure knowing that The Butcher of Baghdad was bagged and died.

God bless the freedom loving people of Iraq, and God damn anybody who stands in their way. See you in Hell Saddam!

Labels: Dead Dictators, democracy, Treason

The numbers speak volumes.

Those who think Afghan President Hamid Karzai is a lost cause should think again. So says the evidence from a recent poll of what Afghans think, five years after the fall of the Taliban. "The current Afghan government retains broad support," concludes the survey by Charney Research, with 68 per cent of Afghans approving Karzai’s work.
(snip)
While the Taliban are active throughout south and west Afghanistan, their suicide bombings and attacks on schools and government buildings are not winning them any supporters. Nearly 90 per cent of Afghans have unfavourable views of the Taliban, with 76 per cent saying they have "very unfavourable" views. The only thing with a worse rating: Osama bin Laden.
(snip)
Another indication of the trauma of Taliban rule is that 85 per cent or more Afghans are thankful for the US invasion, grateful for the presence of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation troops in the country and prefer the Karzai government – despite its inability to provide law and security or stamp out corruption – to the Taliban.

All the while Jack Bin Layton, Gilles Duceppe and Stephane Dion talk about how the mission is a failure. They want to quit now that we're on the verge of victory. The Taliban are hated in Afghanistan, and they need to be exterminated.

Oh, and is this what it looks like to "force our lifestyle" on another culture? Because I think they like it.

Labels: Afghanistan, Bloc Quebecois, Dead Dictators, democracy, Fun With Polls, NDP, politics, Stephane Dion, Stephen Harper, Treason

Finally, the promise I've been waiting for!

"Imagine that, after a century and a half, democracy will finally come to the Senate of Canada."

That sound you hear is the boiling blood of Liberals everywhere.

Labels: Canadian Senate, democracy, politics, Stephen Harper