Hard to imagine anyone cares about this after an entire week, but let’s tie up a few loose ends regarding my hyped-up, misquoted and out-of-context comments on our Afghan mission.
What started with a yappy snarling little letter from a local Tory attack dog, Cam Battley, based on an erroneous newspaper report, ended up embarrassing a lot of people. Battley, for sure. Blogger Steve Janke, absolutely. Calgary radio right-winger Rob Breakenridge, yeah. John whatever-whatever, PhD, of the National Post, without a doubt. Various Con bloggers from Alberta, hooya. The weenies who turn out libellous smut on Conservative-dot-ca, oh yes, baby. Plus the usual conbot trolls and snakes who slither over to garth.ca whenever a fresh feeding is signaled, of course.
Mightily embarrassed, I’d say, is the Milton Canadian Champion, the local newspaper that sent a reporter to cover an event at which I was speaking. Said reporter did not have a recording device, didn’t take accurate notes, did not speak with me at the event and didn’t verify the quotes she’d written. Even more embarrassed must be the editor, who Conservative blogger Janke contacted to verify that the things I did not say were actually said by me.
Janke wrote this, after I’d indicated the quote attributed to me did not sound quite right:
“In an attempt to put this issue to bed, I went ahead and got in touch with the managing editor of the Milton Champion, Karen Miceli: (She replied) ‘The comment is in the reporter’s notes as being made at the end of the meeting and I stand behind the accuracy of her reporting. Thanks for writing, and reading.’
“Indeed, she followed up to say that the paper stands behind the story as printed, in its entirety.”
Well, not so much. A subsequent recording of the meeting, provided by the rival Halton Compass, showed the Champion reporter freelanced. She paraphrased me, then put quotation marks around it. That was sloppy. The editor who then responded to a politically-motivated blogger, saying categorically “I stand behind the accuracy of her reporting” doesn’t have much to stand behind today.
I guess there are, as I stated before, lots of lessons here. In a couple of hours I am slated to go on CHQR in Calgary, with the same Rob Breakenridge who dissed me last week, on air and in a blog of his own. Will he apologize, now that an entire radio show he did on this subject, complete with an interview of Steve Janke, is dust?
Or will the blind partisanship continue, since it matters little what the words were, the issue, the relevance or the facts?
That was a rhetorical one, by the way. They will never stop. Until they’re stopped.
Letters to the Editor of the Milton Canadian Champion, May 23, 2008
Turner didn’t trivialize efforts of our troops
Turner’s remarks were taken out of context
Comment in recent article misquoted
Comments were compassionate
Update: The Rob Breakenridge show was a total bore. Typical of his questions, “But if an MP had said that, wouldn’t that get people upset?!?!” If this turns folks in Calgary on, no wonder they’re all out buying units in Concrete Equities. I’ve seen this movie. It ends badly.
144 comments ↓
And to think the whole tempest-in-a-teapot started because you forgot to add
“at the taliban” when you commented on Canadian troops shooting artillery into Afghan villages.
Looks like a case of dubious journalism meets sloppy speaker. Not much to be admired in any of the affair.
I am slated to go on CHQR in Calgary, with the same Rob Breckenridge who dissed me last week, on air and in a blog of his own. Will he apologize?
BY GARTH TURNER 05.23.08 6:32PM
Garth ~ We’ll be listening from Calgary
for everyone else CHQR 770 is online at
http://www.am770chqr.com/Station/OnAirSchedule.aspx
The World Tonight with Rob Breakenridge
6:30PM – 9:00PM Calgary time
[8:30-11 Eastern]
THE WORLD TONIGHT WITH ROB BREAKENRIDGE
~tonight~
A new study says Alberta needs to start saving billions more each year to avoid an economic cash crunch when energy revenues dwindle. We’ll speak with Colin Busby, policy analyst with the C.D. Howe Institute.
MP Garth Turner joins us to clear the air over a recent misquote that got quite a lot of publicity.
We’ll talk to Sheilla Jones, author of The Quantum Ten: A Story of Passion, Tragedy, Ambition and Science.
Re: OOOPS
I guess you have to re-think everything you say so that it doesn’t turn into a bullet. But that removes the community network which works so well with you.
So -I don’t have an answer, but do you need to focus so much on it?
But, but, but, Garth, we hve it on good authority that you political dead meat and will kicked out of Liberals,… oh wait, Janke now says you are pissing off other Liberals and not Dion,… In fact it’s you and Dion against the entire Liberal Party,… nope, wait,… the story is changing again.
PS, I still waiting for my billions for all photoshopping I did for you, Janke and his Conbots told me you paid me very well,…
PS, if Halton Johny is lurking out there, and I know you are Johny, I have one thing to say to you,….
KITTEN, KITTEN, KITTEN, KITTEN, KITTEN, KITTEN,….
(don’t worry people, Johny to dumb to figure it)
I think the milton canadian champion site must be overwhelmed by Garth’s billions of fans.
I can’t get through to read those links.
Garth Turner lamenting the rise of “partisanship”? There’s irony there, folks! Sorta like his constant whinging about the media and how it distorts things; there’s no bigger media whore on Parliament Hill than the member from Halton.
Offbeat, but what the hell. Commentary on the first one courtesy whatreallyhappened.com
“Astronomy Picture of the Day: Jupiter’s recent outbreak of red spots is likely related to large scale climate change as the gas giant planet is getting warmer near the equator.
“So, how does Al Gore plan to blame THAT on human beings?”
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080523.html
******************************************
Iceland seems to have taken it’s lead from the US, as they are in somewhat of a pickle.
http://tinyurl.com/6dnrlu
****************************************
US and UK banks, along with the prior report on Iceland, are balancing on the edge of a hurricane.
It will affect Cdns. as well, I suppose.
http://tinyurl.com/6nrcvl
Hey G (I can call you G, eh?),
Would love to have a link to the audio of your interview. Would be an intereting listen while I’m baking the wife her 30th b-day cake in the AM.
Cheers,
j
a follow-up for KPN n MEN WITH HATS
Pesticides, Oil, Water, Energy – the SPP
Canadian plans to “harmonize” pesticide use to U.S. levels will raise exposure – also provides a glimpse at the kinds of regulatory changes we can expect from the SPP – the same mechanism would make energy more expensive for Canadian consumers, who will be in direct competition with U.S. buyers – easily-tapped Canadian conventional reserves are dwindling rapidly.
Raising oil production accelerates depletion and risks Canadian energy and environmental security – huge quantities of gas and water needed for production from the oil sands increase environmental risks and make economic feasibility dependent on continued high oil prices”
Canada is home to a quarter of the earth’s fresh water – it’s believed that SPP includes discussions of bulk water exports to the United States, threatening Canadian water security just as the world enters a period of anticipated severe water shortages.
http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2008/0108sciacchitano.html
The Council of Canadians says the SPP is anti-democratic, makes Canadians less secure and ties Canada to the U.S. “war on terror.”
The Council is also concerned about the SPP discussions of bulk water exports from Canada to the U.S.
The NDP has said it has concerns about the SPP’s “lack of transparency and democratic oversight.”
Liberal Leader Stephane Dion has demanded that Harper reject trade deals involving bulk water exports and insist that the U.S. crack down on gun smuggling into Canada
Aug. 2007 http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/spp/
Off the main topic. However, I doubt Kennedy was misquoted in his distaste for Harper’s inaction on the environment. Just another reason to get him out of power. I hope Dion addresses this in his vision for Canada. If he has the guts to go for a fall election on his “carbon tax”, he has the guts to say “NO” to the US for our water. I know I am voting for the Liberals for the first time in years. Tell all those dissidents to settle down and support this new type of leader. He is not a lawyer and he doesn’t own a steamship company. He is a man of vision and integrity unlike the present PM.
I am excited that the man who spent 1/2 hour before the last election attempting to talk me into voting for Harper is very disappointed in the man and won’t vote for him again. This man is influential. I hope he spends lots of time supporting Dion.
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/CanadaWorld/2008/05/23/5647596-sun.html
Kennedy attacks Harper’s inaction
The environmental crusader says the prime minister follows U.S. President George W. Bush
By THE CANADIAN PRESS
PETERBOROUGH — Canadians should be seriously concerned about wasteful lifestyles south of the border that could leave the U.S. dry and looking north for water, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said yesterday.
Kennedy, an environmental crusader recently called a “hero for the planet” by Time Magazine, made the comments in Peterborough where he delivered a speech at a conference for the International Association for Great Lakes Research.
“Canada is blessed with an abundance of fresh water so I think people don’t view the issue with the kind of urgency (that’s needed),” he said.
He added many Canadians don’t support sending large amounts of water to the U.S., but so far, Ottawa hasn’t acted accordingly.
“There’s a broad consensus in Canada that’s against bulk water transfers, but the government has been very slow to act on that consensus.”
He encouraged Canadians to pressure local governments and opposition party representatives to take action on water management. Kennedy added it’s unlikely Prime Minister Stephen Harper will act to protect Canada’s water.
“The federal government has not been a friendly government to the environment, they’ve basically followed George W. Bush’s path of hostility.”
Kennedy said out-of-control suburban sprawl in the southwestern United States, coupled with wasteful agricultural water usage in the U.S., is spawning a water crisis that will only worsen in the future.
“We’re in the midst of a water crisis that has no end in sight, and the place people are looking to solve it is Canada,” he said. “If you talk to the engineers and the planning and policy makers in Scottsdale, Ariz., and Phoenix and Las Vegas . . . they’ll say, ‘Well we don’t have to worry about this because we’ll just get the water from Canada.’ ”
Kennedy added it’s important for the Canadian public to make it clear funnelling water southward is not the solution. “It’s really important for us to be able say, ‘Canada’s not going to give us the water.’ ”
I love the photo Garth. Best wishes on the air tonight.
If its the same CHQR I’m thinking it is, 770 AM radio, prepare for the worst.
Their callers are screened and often pre-chosen on any politically sensitive issues. Their political stories are so pro Conservative, listeners will never hear any bad words said against them. Anything thats damaging to Cons elsewhere reported by media simply never comes up. Conservative scandals don’t hit the airwaves on this radio station.
Its probably “thee” most poltically propagandistic radio station in all of Canada. There could be one like it in Quebec for parties there, I don’t know but to this degree? I doubt it and CHQR broadcasts a strong signal to boot, reaching a 500+ mile radius.
They like Fox News. They probably love Rush Limbaugh. Their callers are highly likely to be screened and versed or prepped before hand if you field questions from “callers” and its also highly likely that they will try to continue on with their own “version of truth” so…
Good luck!
It is sad that so many got caught up in the minutiae of your quote/paraphrase/etc. You were obviously speaking about the basic problem of economics: what to do with limited resources vs. unlimited wants. What could $150,000 do if not used to buy a bomb, whomever the bomb is aimed at. That is a discussion worth having.
Bonnie’s post: RFK Jr: “If you talk to the engineers and the planning and policy makers in Scottsdale, Phoenix, Vegas.. they say ‘We don’t have to worry about [water] because we’ll just get the water from Canada. Kennedy added it’s IMPORTANT for the Canadian public to MAKE IT CLEAR funnelling water south is not the solution. It’s REALLY IMPORTANT for [Kennedy] to be ABLE say, ‘Canada’s NOT going to give the U.S. the water.’ BY BONNIE
What Kennedy is saying to CANADA: Please get your asses in gear and FORCE the Canadian government to guarantee Canadians that our water is not going to be given away
We need to KNOW there will be NO WATER GRAB when the U.S. runs themselves into their inevitable water crisis
And Kennedy NEEDS that argument so that the good people of the U.S. can stop their own madness – that they can’t just take it for granted that they ARE getting Canadian water
The U.S. is under the impression Canadian water is a slam dunk? Is it too late?
With NAFTA and SPP schemes – the baby steps – we have plenty to think about – that our bulk water is not only on the table – maybe out of our contol already
But we silly voters aren’t supposed to think about thingies like that, stuff that only rich corporations can understand and guide (while fondling their wallets)
SPP WATCH
http://www.canadians.org/integratethis/
what security? whose prosperity?
http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2008/0108sciacchitano.html
Google: maude barlow water
visit:
http://www.canadians.org/
Baby steps: Nafta, SPP, NAU..
BRAIN, others can listen
CHQR 770 on the web – LISTEN button at top
http://www.am770chqr.com/index.aspx
The World Tonight with Rob Breakenridge
6:30PM – 9:00PM Calgary time
[8:30-11 Eastern]
He hasn’t started Garth’s interview yet 9 ET right now
yes – insanely tory here – I stopped listening to radio or buying calgary papers long ago
The picture reminds me of an old song with the line.. “With her head tucked underneath her arm.”
Looks like the reporter and editor of the offending daily rag should join Mearly Headless Nick… although, I’m sure they ahave no idea who Steve Janke is, in his insignificance!
He hasn’t started Garth’s interview yet 9 ET right now
yes – insanely tory here – I stopped listening to radio or buying calgary papers long ago
By Barb the proof-reader
on 05.23.08 8:34 pm
Me too . I unplugged the radio as I was sick to death of Dave Rutherfords particular brand of rah,rah psrtisanship.
Damn… just missed it. Got on for the “summary”.
However, considering the way he dismissed your commentary, Garth, I can well imagine the “fun” you had.
Seems he thinks it is unnecessary to verify his sources, eh?
“Great Western Journalism”…. NOT!!!
Redneck in the worst cliche definition…
Jeez – no wonder Karen seemed like she was in such a foul mood yesterday.
Do be careful not to burn your bridges over there. You get a lot of ink out of the Champion, and it wouldn’t do to have them turn on you.
It really was nice of them to print all the letters – even yours!
Point taken. Interesting to note, however, of the 5 community newspapers covering Halton, this is the only one that refuses to run my column. Weird. — Garth
BY KPN 4:25 “one has to have optimism”
KPN, I’ve similar probs.. just wanted to share that with you. BTW.. love your posts
- -
BY MEN WITH HATS 8:52 “Me too. I unplugged the radio as I was sick to death of Dave Rutherfords particular brand of rah, rah partisanship”
Men,
That’s too funny. Rutherford was the reason I stopped listening, too. I think way back, his show was my first clue that Calgary wasn’t living in the real world. The media here is so dumbed down. But it’s not unexpected. Money talks.
- -
Garth, you were great tonight. I laughed when you finally told him “this is boring”. You got that one in. Good one!
Garth, only you can get me to listen to an AM radio band on a Friday nite.
BTW,don’t worry, I have a life.
Anyways, I don’t know where to start.
As I listened to your interview that was conducted by Breckenridge I couldn’t help but think about a religious scripture , whatever, that states “forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
I read it as meaning you have to forgive them for their ignorance which is a result of being uneducated and they are uneducated because they are just plain too lazy in the first place.
This guy Breckenridge was too lazy to do the homework but that doesn’t matter when you are trying to be a shock joke to an audience that is just as stupid as the DJ.
ps: You didn’t really think he was going to apologize?
I didn’t think so.
Mr Garth TurnerMP, FYI
The Canadian Club of Toronto is pleased to invite as a guest speaker the Hon. Raymond Bachand, Quebec’s Minister of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade. Minister Bachand will discuss the development of what his government refers to as Quebec’s “New economic space”, a framework aimed at strengthening Quebec’s foothold in the global economy by working in partnership with Ontario and the European Union, in particular to achieve trade and labour mobility agreements.
Thursday, June 5, 2008 – 12:00 PM
Sheraton Centre Hotel – Dominion Ballroom
Tickets: $70/$60 members; $700/$600 tables of 10
To order tickets please visit us at http://www.canadianclub.org or call 416-364-5590
What leads the Gates and Rockefeller foundations to back the proliferation of patented seeds across Africa – a process which destroys the natural plant seed varieties with their introduction?
Especially in light of the fact those foundations invest tens of millions of dollars to preserve every seed variety known, in a bomb-proof vault near the remote Arctic Circle ‘so that crop diversity can be conserved for the future’
Either way, they win, rights to both sets of seeds are handily tied up and ready for profits, after the new set of seeds eradicates the old, formerly naturally available set.
Is it no accident that the foundations are teaming up to push a GMO-style Green Revolution in Africa at the same time they are quietly financing the ‘seed vault’ on Svalbard”. We do live in interesting times.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7529
Radio show host was an attack BOAR
Attack boar:
n. similar to attack dog, but not exiciting; a bore
talk show host who hogs air time with repeated lies
piglike, with no apology
Ironic isn’t it . Gates builds software infected with a billion viruses / glitches and Rockefeller is destroying the natural world through pollution .What is the difference ?
To BILL-MUSKOKA re: 05.23.08 9:25AM
Bill, we always knew they had to be on drugs:
Incense is psychoactive
“Perhaps Marx wasn’t too wrong when he called religion the opium of the people: morphine comes from poppies, cannabinoids from marijuana, and LSD from mushrooms; each of these has been used in one or another religious ceremony.”
“Studies of how those psychoactive drugs work have helped us understand modern neurobiology. The discovery of how frankincense works on specific targets in the brain should also help us understand diseases of the nervous system. This study also provides a biological explanation for millennia-old spiritual practices that have persisted across time, distance, culture, language, and religion—burning incense really does make you feel warm and tingly all over!”
http://www.fasebj.org/Press_Room/07_101865_Press_Release.shtml
We need a far more independent and critical media!
BY K MURPHY 05.23.08 7:17 AM
The Right plays a cynical game, jealous and boggled by the sincerity of their opponents, they claim the virtues of Liberals as their own, all the while selling an untrue picture of Liberals as elitists and other such baseless contraries. Sadly, the neocons have purposely done so – cynically and repeatedly – untrue mantras. Everyone suffers when such deceit is used. The neocon movement made sure it bought up any media it can.
Read the excerpt from Nation columnist Eric Alterman’s “Why We’re Liberals” in the April 14th issue of The Nation to understand the cynicism and hypocrisy at the root of the conservative cabal’s forty-year campaign
Who Are They Calling Elitist? 2 pages
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080414/alterman
Garth, you must be doing a great job getting under the skin of the Harperites or else they would not be so zealous in their attacks on you. Keep up the good work!
Garth, you’re precious and funny. Dig your sense of humor and your healthy ethics, standards, values and morals.
Cons should be sorry to have abandoned your from their gang. You seem to be a threat to them right now and they seem to be picking on you. Oh yeah, bully style is Harper’s style.
Good on you for putting that dismal duffy in his place. He must have been given a new heart or something when he had heart problems.
Lose some weight their tomcat duffy.
Ya, Rutherford….uh, huh – what a jerk. Mike Duffy has him and Adler on as guest radio talk jocks and Duffy even had Rutherford fill in for him once. Now, there’s a balanced political show for you – all right-wing talk jocks….I just can’t stand Duffy anymore. I’ve lost total respect for the man (and Taber).
When a man of 60 hears gossip and calls it delicious – there’s something wrong with him.
Mr. Garth TurnerMP, FYI,
HUMANIST ASSOCIATION OF CANADA.
WHAT IS HUMANISM?
TWELVE PRINCIPLES OF HUMANISM.
http://www.humanists.ca/what-is-humanism/
The Halton-Peel Humanist Community had a public meeting last week with
chair of the Peel Region chapter of the Sierra Club, will be speaking about,
‘The true cost of fossil fuels’.
I ask him about Peak-oil after.
He seem to choise to stick with the myth that oil will last forever.
I guess this would apply again since the reamifications are so great.
‘Belief in myth avoids the discomfort of thought.’
I was at a different meeting a few weeks ago regarding the tar sands.
At the PMSH ‘plan’ growth, Canada will be all out of Natural gas by 2028.
If the world keeps using oil at projected rates, the world will be out of oil in about 2050-2060.
That just when PMSH clean are plan may start to kick in?
Also NAFTA has built in big penalities, if Canada even trys to slow the growth of the Tar sands expantion. The SPP deal makes things even worse.
Signing the SPP deal was treasones!
Have you been paying attention?
Are you well informed?
What kind of world do you want to live in and your family to grow up in?
What are you going to do now?
Don’t just site there!
Have you seen this,
Talk by Naomi Wolf author of “The End of America: Letter of Warning To A Young Patriot” given October 11, 2007 at Kane Hall on the University of Washington. 48min.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjALf12PAWc
Mr Garth TurnerMP, FYI,
Have you seen this yet? 4min
Proof that George W. Bush had advanced knowledge of 9-11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlWSv0NZBRw&NR=1
Overall the consensus is that you pretty much sh!t between the bedsheets last week .. but only time will tell whether you will again emerge the winner, the champion, the man …!!!
I would love to be a fly on the wall in the next Liberal caucus meeting .. just to hear and see how adversarial it has become between the factions within the party. The posturing .. the positioning .. the mendacity, as words are flung around like tiny grenades exploding in everybody’s face like shards of glass.
Best to rally round the leader and his Carbone-Income Tax Shifting Plan .. so garth yer loins and go forth to do battle with the barbarians across the aisle and lurking in the halls of Parliament.
The siege of abstention is over and you Liberal warriors must travel the land to bring the word, the Liberal word to the people … whether that word is ‘global’ or ‘warming’ or ‘climate’ or ‘change’ or ‘greener’ or ‘cleaner’ or ‘fairer’ or even ‘Dion’… you must bravely emerge from your barricades and attack the enemy that pillages and plunders the people’s minds and money.
UDAMAN GARTH … EVERYBODY LOVES A RASCAL … GO FER IT …!!!!
Is Janke on the CPC payroll? He’s got a lot of time to rant, attack and so-called investigations. Just curious.
I laugh at the responses he gets – too funny and so stupid.
Well, whoopeee doodoo.
Through sheer arrogance, or complete lunacy (whichever is preferable), dubya continually manages to piss off almost the entire planet.
http://tinyurl.com/535e4p
****************************************
Does this make sense, combined with the next report?
The Saudis are swimming in oil, which means money to buy food for others, but are they simply helping dubya? . . .
http://tinyurl.com/5nmux8
****************************************
. . . and the Saudi Sheiks again, combined with the fake “war on terror” — designed to use up as much oil and fuel as it can.
http://tinyurl.com/5n386b
Garth,
Why don’t you give politics a break for a week or so and spend time around some positive people.
Daryn
….MAN ON THE MOVE (to nowhereland)…
http://multimedia.thestar.com/images/ce/49/40ae445540b389ef997de597fded.jpeg
UHH … UHHH … UHHHHH HORSESHIT!
Oh GOODY, “Who-Does-What…AGAIN?
Chuck McVety’s Version … LYING TRUTHFULLY
If this turns folks in Calgary on, -end quote.
Duh….NOT!!! In fact my NE corner of Calgary elected a Liberal in the last provincial election.
)))
But there is a problem here with big oil and our smiling Eddy just caved into them.
GREAT POLITICAL PHOTO!
(Action shot of at least one Canadian pulling their head out of the sand.)
Hey Garth,
Try to stay out of trouble.
The report on NAFTA-gate is BS. This government consistently goes to new lows to protect itself. Always somebody elses fault, never take responsibility for anything.
Don Martin’s view:
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=536095
The Star:
http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/429368
The conservatives say its the bureaucracy’s (DFAIT-department of foreign affairs) and the media’s fault for leaked information.
These Harper Conservatives will do anything to avoid accountability, and anything to stay in power, which is becoming all to obvious.
The other disgusting thing about this government, is the way it tries to capitalise on the ignorance, or what it thinks the ignorance of voters is, via its media-communication strategy. Moreover, in the information age; where everyone can read every newspaper, every magazine, watch every news show; radio or TV at anytime they choose…..such a strategy is bound to haunt them.
A bit of good news though, all the polls are turning against the conservatives, which sort of reaffirms my argument above.
Ipsos Reid:
http://www.ipsos-na.com/news/pressrelease.cfm?id=3923
Nanos:
http://www.nanosresearch.com/library/polls/POLNAT-S08-T301.pdf
Daryn
I quit taking Albertans seriously when I got an earful about how there was no way on God’s green earth that there would ever be a (I won’t say the word) brown person as premier anywhere in Canada, let alone the West. Then, after that happened, I got an earful about how Alberta was just gonna pack up and leave if ever gas got over 50 cents…
Then, I got an earful about how Alberta was going to go independent, secede from Canada. When asked about the Cantons in Switzerland… well, I might as well been asking the milch cows how the weather was. At least milch cows don’t make stuff up.
I didn’t have the heart to bring up the Balkans. Or Quebec for that matter, especially the Harper nation within a nation conflag… Torture is against Canadian law, and I didn’t want to subject myself to any more.
Keep on keeping’ on, Garth Turner.
You’re not one of the most read blogs in Canada just cuz you got a Harley, eh!
Garth Turner lamenting the rise of “partisanship”? There’s irony there, folks! Sorta like his constant whinging about the media and how it distorts things; there’s no bigger media whore on Parliament Hill than the member from Halton.
By John L on 05.23.08 7:32 pm
Awe poor Johnny is upset things didn’t go his way….here’s a bottle for you Johnnny, and it’s not whisky!
Google: maude barlow water
visit:
http://www.canadians.org/
Baby steps: Nafta, SPP, NAU..
By Barb the proof-reader
on 05.23.08 8:23 pm
and
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7529
By Barb the proof-reader
on 05.23.08 10:00 pm
Great links, Barb, and worth re-posting.
It is posts like yours that make this blog valuable.
I was also interested in your post about Calgary news. I had a niece visiting me from Calgary (she originated from Ontario),and we could not talk about Canadian politics without getting each other upset. I couldn’t figure out how she could be so one-sided, or how she could so blindly admire Harper. Now I know. As well, she works in an oil-related industry…..
She likes Duffy and I prefer Newman, although I do switch back and forth on commercials. Like someone else posted here, the partisan slant is pretty obvious, if you keep your ears, eyes and mind open.
She’s a smart, young lady who has been drinking the Kon-Koolaid because there is nothing else out there to drink, I guess. Certainly, there will be a water shortage in Alberta in the future.
I am going to send her the links you have posted, as well as some of the other informative, unbiased links posted by others. Once she has access to other sides of the arguments (and there are more than 2) she can at least make an informed decision.
By Jennifer Smith on 05.23.08 9:09 pm
Way to stick up for Freedom of the Press, Jennifer! They’re all hacks! (if they publish stuff you don’t like/agree with) but generally a good thing if one doesn’t get in their craw so to speak. You certainly wouldn’t want to get on the bad side of some rags, (not talking about the Champion of course, a last bastion of free speech if ever there was one), right?
Politicians Get the Lowest Level of Respect
Canadians give top marks to doctors, teachers and police officers, a new Angus Reid Strategies poll has found, while politicians garner the least amount of respect. In the online survey, a large majority of Canadians say they have a great deal or a fair amount of respect for doctors (94%), police officers (83%) and teachers (83%). At the bottom end are politicians (25%), lawyers (44%) and journalists (49%).
The results of the current survey are especially noteworthy when compared to those of an identical poll carried out by the Angus Reid Group in 1994. Interestingly, over the past 14 years, respect for every single profession—with the exception of doctors—has diminished across the country.
Ipsos Reid:
http://www.ipsos-na.com/news/pressrelease.cfm?id=3923
By Daryn on 05.24.08 4:10 am
Interesting that there are only 7% undecided. I’m one of them (unless they had given me the option of ABC).
As Jesse Ventura said on Larry King Live… if only they had “none of the above” on the ballot…then my options for voting would increase.
New Column:
—Screw Hurley-Tewart—Piled High and Deep
1.Turner didn’t trivialize efforts of our troops
2.Turner’s remarks were taken out of context
3.Comment in recent article misquoted
4.Comments were compassionate
My broker called me late yesterday. The gist of his remarks was, “Get liquid Pyotr, as quickly as you can.”
MORE HELP @
http://www.thebeerstore.ca/beers/brandsearch.asp
We were ‘totally wrong’ about Jan-ICE yesterday.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/shaffer/shaffer173.html
Apparently, we’re just not well-informed on the virtues of starvation.
There is a terrific article in the June 2008 issue of National Geographic that anyone interested in learning more about the world supply of oil should read.
The bottom line is that leading oil experts, including the CEO’s of major oil companies are very concerned about the future…and by future I mean the next several decades, NOT a hundred years from now.
Major shifts in the world economic model are quickly approaching. By 2030 the CEO of ConocoPhillips predicts that nearly all of the oil pumped will have to come from fields not currently in production. A crisis is looming since the amount of new oil being discovered around the globe has been in decline for decades…and production from existing fields is declining by as much as 8% a year. The current average production from large fields in now about 77,000 barrels a day down steadily from the peak production per field of 198,000 barrells that was achieved back in the 1940’s.
Dion’s plan needs to address more than climate change. All of us need to change our behaviour to conserve an increasily scarse resource…oil.
By Greg W., Oakville on 05.23.08 11:53 pm,
In an interview with the defunct Alberta Report Stephen Harper when asked about the free market was quoted as saying: “I don’t worship the marketplace, but it is a proven mechansim for providing the highest opportunities for personal choice and prosperity. I’m not a humanist, so I wouldn’t worship a human institution.”
Does this make sense?
Sorry to throw this in off topic…did you see where Wendy Mesley Marketplace is going off the air on CBC to be replaced by Jeopardy….Wendy is the one who has brought to light the scam #1….PRODUCT of Canada…and scam #2…Health check on foods is bought by companies and not accurate. kindest regards…
“As you know we live in a time that is complex and is contradictory. You know our country is at war. Our country is spending $150,000 on every artillery shell that we’re shooting in Afghanistan. Those artillery shells have GPS. They’ve got computers in the tips of them. And those computers fulfill no function but to guide that shell from our Canadian Army howitzers into villages to kill people. I mean that’s a reality.”
posted by Garth Turner on 05.16.08 @ 4:07 pm
Computers guiding bombs to villages to kill people sure seems to say that our troops are there blowing up villages.
Who are in those poverty stricken villages? Women, children, elderly.
That would be the reasonable picture one would have of the scenario Garth describes.
I haven’t been to Afghanistan and only know of what goes on from the media. It would seem to me that the Taliban would be hiding in the mountains waiting for their opportunity to strike. I don’t know, but thats the picture painted from what I get from the media.
When I read we have computer guided missiles directed at villages, I just automatically think we are killing innocents. That our military men and women indiscriminately kill whatever is in the way. That is not good.
Now had Garth said that the computer missiles were directed at the Taliban or the enemy or the mountains to kill people then I would have a picture that we are attacking the terrorists and protecting the innocent. Garth’s statement doesn’t say that.
So really, all this is because an MP that has been around for many years was careless in his choice of words. That those words were interpreted in a reasonable way. That Garth got a hard time from numerous media sources. That Garth now wants an apology.
Think before you speak, Garth. But then again, maybe you did.
Why would our troops fire on innocents? You are insane. — Garth
By Daryn on 05.24.08 4:10 am
“As New Democrat leader Jack Layton summed up, the Prime Minister ordered his bureaucrats to investigate his staff and, not surprisingly, they found leaks but no leakers. As a result, the media should be the ones punished with an even tighter gag order.”
So we have leaks with no leakers or leakees…that was helpful.
Does this make sense?
By C. B. Innes on 05.24.08 8:54 am
Apparently it’s all esoteric, C.B. It appears to be a willingness to stand aside and let the marketplace determine success or failure … all the while deploring the fact that it’s not part of an irreducible complexity or intelligent design.
I think he’s talking in code, C.B., and deliberately intending to confuse or obscure his motives. After watching him say one thing and do the opposite over the years, my mistrust deepens.
“This government consistently goes to new lows to protect itself”- Daryn. And, evidently, win elections…Pyotr, reading you is a great way to start each day- with a little COMPASSION for the brothers and sisters. Thanks.
By Janice on 05.24.08 9:16 am
Your room awaits you at Penetanguishene. If you’re unfamiliar with our offerings, we only restrain our clientele when necessary.
Rather than employ the services of a border collie, we use a small boy on a tryke to patrol the vast shiny expansive hallways … while Pyotr, the consummate interning professional, stares vacantly after his charges.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6GHPaAJFlw
http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/54/039_12800~Jack-Nicholson-Posters.jpg
By Greg W., Oakville on 05.23.08 11:53 pm,
In an interview with the defunct Alberta Report Stephen Harper when asked about the free market was quoted as saying: “I don’t worship the marketplace, but it is a proven mechansim for providing the highest opportunities for personal choice and prosperity. I’m not a humanist, so I wouldn’t worship a human institution.”
Does this make sense?
By C. B. Innes on 05.24.08 8:54 am
Who is John Galt?
Why would our troops fire on innocents? You are insane. — Garth
By Janice on 05.24.08 9:16 am
Garth, you are the one thats not clear. Its not as though we haven’t heard extreme rhetoric from politicians before, you included, or maybe you especially.
Politicians say whatever is expedient at the time. You are no exception. I don’t want to read between the lines, I want to read the lines. If you are not clear its not my fault.
Liberals have flip flopped on the Afghan mission since the election. You have led the way on that with this blog.
So for you to say our military is blowing up villages killing people is no surprise. That fact you don’t mention the Taliban in that context is no surprise either.
I voted twice to supportg our mission. What did you do? — Garth
Obama Leak (Naftagate)
So what I did find passing strange is they could never figure out who sent the fax to the CTV reporter in Washington. It would have been time stamped, dated and show the outgoing phone number. I cannot imagine you could not interview the people who had access to the FAX machine. Strange days in Foreign Affairs.
So here is the kicker. One of the recommendations by Mr. Lynch is to have all press sign their first born away in the budget lockup. See below:
3. Any future undertakings signed by media representatives for admission to budget lock-ups should clearly indicate that comments made by any Government of Canada officials and/or ministerial staff during such lock-ups will be made on a background- not-for-attribution-basis only, and are to be considered and treated accordingly.
As sourced from Kady O Malley’s blog on McLeans May 23, 2008
By the way Mr. Lynch is on “The House” CBC radio this a.m.
Vast Cracks appear in Artic ice
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7417123.stm
What leads the Gates and Rockefeller foundations to back the proliferation of patented seeds across Africa – a process which destroys the natural plant seed varieties with their introduction?
Especially in light of the fact those foundations invest tens of millions of dollars to preserve every seed variety known, in a bomb-proof vault near the remote Arctic Circle ‘so that crop diversity can be conserved for the future’
Either way, they win, rights to both sets of seeds are handily tied up and ready for profits, after the new set of seeds eradicates the old, formerly naturally available set.
Is it no accident that the foundations are teaming up to push a GMO-style Green Revolution in Africa at the same time they are quietly financing the ‘seed vault’ on Svalbard”. We do live in interesting times.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7529
By Barb the proof-reader
on 05.23.08 10:00 pm
Could this be one of those places?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aou6c2MOmg
Barb- “Who are they calling elitist?” May 23 11:15am. Yes that’s IT! I could hear them doing this in QP quite heavily and it was disgusting. Who fights for the most PEOPLE? This is what they are going to run on? What, exactly DO they have to run on? It shall be very interesting to see what plans Mr. Giorno has to help the cons win Ontario…NOT GONNA HAPPEN!!!
Now had Garth said that the computer missiles were directed at the Taliban or the enemy or the mountains to kill people then I would have a picture that we are attacking the terrorists and protecting the innocent. Garth’s statement doesn’t say that.
So really, all this is because an MP that has been around for many years was careless in his choice of words. That those words were interpreted in a reasonable way. That Garth got a hard time from numerous media sources. That Garth now wants an apology.
Think before you speak, Garth. But then again, maybe you did.
Why would our troops fire on innocents? You are insane. — Garth
By Janice on 05.24.08 9:16 am
Janice, you fail to understand the complexities of active combat missions in a civil war situation. In such a situation it is difficult to identify the “enemy” or where the “enemy” is located. There is a constant danger of mistaken identity. Missiles and bombs are used in situations where it is virtually impossible to prevent what is called “co-lateral” damage to the civilian population even when it is believed they are directed at opposing forces.
Many Taliban fighters today are formerly unemployed civilians who join the fighters to get money to support their families. Bombing their homes or villages can be characterized as bombing the enemy but it has much larger implications.
In these situations cannot be approached from a “black and white” perspective as you are trying to do.
It is for these reasons that many of our soldiers come home with mental and emotional problems. Their ethical and moral beliefs come into direct conflict with the realities of a combat mission.
By Barb the proof-reader
on 05.23.08 10:31 pm
LOL! I will have you know I do NOT burn incense, and really can’t even stand scented candles. Besides I do NOT inhale! LOL
Just other day I was at a store and someone ahead of me line had on a Musk colonge which I am allergic to. Had I determined who it was I would have said ‘Nice colonge, but must you marinate in it?’
However, I have been known to enjoy the finer beverages like Single Malt Scotch now and then. LOL
I voted twice to supportg our mission. What did you do? — Garth
Elected a government that will give them the resources and support to do the jobs they are asked to do.
So did I. And then I followed through. So, stuff it. — Garth
Think before you speak, Garth. But then again, maybe you did.
Why would our troops fire on innocents? You are insane. — Garth
By Janice on 05.24.08 9:16 am
————-
Janice you really need to take your own advise and think before you speak. You really are starting to sound “Insane”
“It would seem to me that the Taliban would be hiding in the mountains to strike” by Jamice
From the majority of news reports I have read it seems to be a well known fact that one of the tactics of the Taliban is to infiltrate the villages, posing as residents, and the true villagers are too scared to reveal their identities. I have also read that when villages are bombed in order to destroy Taliban intruders, many times innocent civilians are killed. I also know that our troops DO NOT fire these shells to kill innocent villagers. Why would any intelligent and critical thinker jump to the conclusion that a man who is so supportive of our troops would malign them in this manner?
In these situations cannot be approached from a “black and white” perspective as you are trying to do.
By C. B. Innes on 05.24.08 10:11 am
I’m not trying to do anything. I just want an MP who talks as though he is an authority on the situation to be clear.
All the things you say are not disputed. The point is, are all Canadians as knowledgeable as you? I think not. I think they see the war on CBC and CTV and draw conclusions accordingly.
When an MP says we are bombing villages, if it is taken at face value it seems like we are committing war crimes. If he says we are bombing Taliban strong holds then we think we are fighting the intended war.
Its not up to me to ensure Garth is understood. Its up to him. But he knows that. Thats why is says things like “And, yes, I am dead Liberal meat” and waits for the fallout so he can spin another episode in the life of victim Garth.
Its time you guys caught on to this guy.
End your agony, lady. Leave. — Garth
So did I. And then I followed through. So, stuff it. — Garth
No, Garth. It was your liberals that slashed the military so they ended up in dangerous situations with inferior equipment.
You are a mindless partisan. This conversation is over. — Garth
By C. B. Innes on 05.24.08 10:11 am
While there is a certain amount of logic on your last post on troops in Afghanistan,it isn,t always the case as the accompanying link proves.
And while these troops involved are Polish,it would certainly creat only negative repercussions for NATO as a whole.
Bigger question is why hasn’t the Canadian and American media except for those mentioned covered this story?????
http://stopwarblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/nato-troops-face-war-crimes-trial-in.html
And while the next link is related to Iraq and re-reported from a New York times article by Dexter Filkins in 2004 this is an unimaginable war crime tantamount to anything ever perpetrated by Saddam.
http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/lindorff/101
And all because Garth forgot to inlcude that our soldiers would be firing “at the taliban” in his comments. The devil really is in the details.
In any event I think this controversy has pretty much ran the course, without saying much positive about anyone involved.
As to Garth being “supportive of our troops” he’s proposing that money spent on military kit would be better spent on funding immigration or communtiy centres. On wonders if soldiers consider him a supporter.
Where did I say money “would be better spent on funding immigration or community centres”? Reference please. — Garth
The folks in Calgary are “all out buying Concrete Equities”? Keep in mind that embellishing is what leads you into your misadventures most of the time, Garth. Playing fast and loose with the truth doesn’t instill confidence in a politician.
And you literalists are so boring. — Garth
Politicians say whatever is expedient at the time. You are no exception. I don’t want to read between the lines, I want to read the lines. If you are not clear its not my fault.
Liberals have flip flopped on the Afghan mission since the election. You have led the way on that with this blog.
So for you to say our military is blowing up villages killing people is no surprise. That fact you don’t mention the Taliban in that context is no surprise either.
I voted twice to supportg our mission. What did you do? — Garth
By Janice on 05.24.08 9:55 am
What’s the matter Janice? Is it so hard to admit that maybe you & your brain dead friends were wrong? Please try & tell the truth for a change.
Janice, you said you didn’t want to read between the lines but I’ve got to tell you that you are either a dunce or a chronic liar or both. You & your CRAP followers do nothing but insert words between the lines even if it’s pure lies. That’s called propaganda.
I have to admit though that your party has perfected the art of making up stories & you know what Janice, words do have a way of coming back to haunt you so maybe you & your buddies should just shut up while the going is good.
Good Day,
“Easy on the “mindless patisan” label, dude. People in glass houses…
Hey Men! Good point at 10:21 re Gates/Rockefeller- what’s the difference? There is none…?
Dear Garth,
I’m a supporter, but I’m worried about you man. This issue seems to have really gotten under your skin.
Naturally when someone is the victim of a false statement, he needs to set the record straigh. But this is your third blog entry on this topic, and it seems to me that by paying so much attention to this issue, you’re actually letting the rabid Tory bloggers and misinformation sowers set your agenda.
This technique is lifted from US-style talk radio, where people call and froth at the mouth, based purely on opinion with no facts in sight. It spread to television, with people like Ann Coulter and the right-wingers on Fox News, and now thanks to the Harper style of “government”, it has spread here.
When debate devolves into mere opinion, people believe or disbelieve according to pre-formed political affiliations. It’s faith-based politics in the worst sense.
The people who are attacking you will not be stopped by appeals to either logiic or truth. They are like the pshycho roommate that most of us have had at some point in our lives. You know, the one who borrows your best leather jacket without asking, ruins it, denies it, and then claims somehow that the whole thing was your fault in the first place. There’s no reasoning with the psycho roommate, and there’s no reasoning with the rabid right.
Personally, I have only heard about this issue in your blog. It didn’t make any of the papers I read (Globe and Mail, Toronto Star) or CBC news, or if it did I missed it. I think you’re getting way too caught up in the machinations of the lunatic fringe and it’s time to distance yourself from these people. As the old saying goes “Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience. …”
Janice,
Garth is no different from any political partisan whether Liberal or Conservative. He has certain areas of concern and often has little knowledge on others. Even cabinet ministers often know little about their portfolio or how to manage it. A good example is Bernier at Foreign Affairs.
Garth does provide a forum for debate whether he agrees with an opinion or not. I can agree with him on some issues and disagree on others. That is what is important in a democracy: that people are freely able to express their opinions.
I disagree with Garth, and most likely you, on support for the Afghan mission. Because I cannot support the mission, I cannot support what our troops are required to do to carry out their mandate. I believe that you cannot support the troops without supporting the mission they have been given by the government: a mission that involves eliminating a significant portion of the Afganistan population.
Barb the proof-reader
on 05.23.08 10:31 pm, FYI, LSD is sinthetic/man made. The Mushrooms your thinking of have another drug by basically same effect. I read about it in the drug cemisty books.
Janice,
Get over it! Garth made an error in speech – for crying out loud!
Look, the liberals initiated the mission and, not only that; they voted to extend it with a revised agenda.
Garth supported the mission twice.
Janice, on the whole, I think that there are MPs in parliament who want the mission to continue in full force, some want it to end, some want Canada to focus on reconstruction. However, at the end of the day, I think there are NO MPs in the federal parliament whom are anti-troop.
We love our troops, because they represent us abroad, the defend us, and they make us proud.
Why can’t you just accept that and move on. If you are trying to break Garth’s spirit, or turn his supporters against him, let me just let you know, it wont happen.
Daryn
Hi Charles Oxley on 05.24.08 12:38 am,
It seems Chin, Russia, Iran know about peak-oil and are building Nuclear power plants NOW so they can keep the lights on literally in the near future!
Where did I say money “would be better spent on funding immigration or community centres”? Reference please. — Garth
By John L on 05.24.08 10:53 am
Should have taken my advise, you got to learn when to fold ‘em. Apologize already.
Gord.
Ah, for what? Sparking debate instead of standing for jingoism? — Garth
Mr Garth TurnerMP, FYI
Have you seen this link yet?
‘the truth will set you free’
The Truth about the “Federal Reserve”
http://www.wakeupfromyourslumber.com/node/5725
Just turf the trolls and the Conservative partisans who are not interested in actually communicating with the MP, but are getting some sort of rise out of being confrontational.
Does anyone think their lives are improved by being exposed to “Janice”’s dull droning?
Cut their mics; if they want to moan, there are a million other places for them to do it. And they know that, because these perenially-aggrieved miseries are over at all of them, repeating the same litany of petty and unstylish complaints.
By Janice on 05.24.08 10:44 am
No Janice, they were a peacekeeping force prior to Afghanistan, of course, the Liberals sent them into Afghanistan, must to their detriment, now Harper would like to emulate his master GWB and become a WMD…if NATO, the US and Canada were really serious about this mission, they would not allow GWB to provide sanctuary for Bin Laden and his boys in Pakistan…you haven’t got it yet, it is all a ploy to fatten up all of GWB’s friends…and his bum boy is playing right along….
The people who don’t support our troops are those who have them fighting an enemy who has been provided protection.
By Janice on 05.24.08 10:42 am
Isn’t it obvious by now that Janice knows everything and spins it all correctly and the rest of the contributor’s to this blog are beneath her? At least in her own mind and to her that is all that counts…
“Sparking debate”? Hardly, what you did was clearly claim that funds spent on a small part of one area of government spending directly impacts on funds spent on another part of government spending, which is nonsense.
As for “jingoism” if that playing fast and loose with the truth/shameless sucking up to whichever group it is
you’re speaking to at the moment you’ve got it nailed; a true politician.
I do note that you failed entirely to speak to the references you requested.
Still waiting, troll. — Garth
I’d imagien a lot of our our vets, a few from WW1, far more from WW2 and a few thousand from Korea would be surprised to hear that Canada is a “peacekeeping force”. If there is “peace” to be kept we can do it, however if a more forceful approach is required we should be capable of doing that too. One wonders if those so keen to send our forces to Darfur are prepared to see our troops do what is required over there.
Man the CPC Harpy Goon Troll Squad certainly seem randy today.
Damn Garth, you gots the best collection of Trollies I have ever seen.
This issue seems to have really gotten under your skin.
By I believe in Canada on 05.24.08 11:16 am
I agree with you.
There are two ways of looking at this though. Someone in the entertainment industry said “Any publicity is good publicity”. That’s one way.
The other is, some people are susceptible to petty attacks and go overboard in response. Kids who tease other kids recognize this and feed off of it. Kids who are smart enough to understand that ignoring childish needling and not feeding it, is the only way to make it go away. Simply, if it’s not getting the desired reaction, they soon tire of it and stop.
I would think the tape of the actually wording should have been the end of this attempt to get a rise out of the good Member from Halton. Apparently not.
Apparently these things have circumvented issues like oil prices. Did you hear the major announcements on mass transit proposals and revitalization of the railways recently? NO? Me either. Distraction is always a useful tactic.
Yes Comrade Herb, if you are out there; Jesus did weep, and for good reason.
Hmmm…
I pointed out to Garth where he advocated spending the money spent on the artillery shells somewhere else, notably immigration or, depending on the audience, community centres, and my post appears to have gone amiss?!
Because I asked you to provide a reference to support your assertion, and you were unable. — Garth
You are a mindless partisan. This conversation is over. — Garth
By Janice on 05.24.08 10:44 am
Garth, at one point she had an open mind, but her brain fell out and that is why her driveway doesn’t go all the way to the garage.
Man the CPC Harpy Goon Troll Squad certainly seem randy today.
Damn Garth, you gots the best collection of Trollies I have ever seen.
By Zorpheous on 05.24.08 12:49 pm
Zorpheous I love you. You help to make this blog. You hit the nail on the head this time.
Methinks the neocons are getting even more scared of the coming election. We have had time to see how Harper is destroying Canada. Wasn’t Dion smart to wait and watch his numbers go up as the cons go down:)
Janice,
Garth is no different from any political partisan whether Liberal or Conservative.
With respect CB . There is a vast difference between Liberal and Con-bot partisans .
Con-bots are blindly partisan and lack intelligence of any kind .
Janice :
I am already visualizing the duct tape over your mouth ,
I do note that you failed entirely to speak to the references you requested.
Still waiting, troll. — Garth
By John L on 05.24.08 12:25 pm
Thank you we are all refreshed and challenged by your unique point of
view.
What a stupid fairy .
By John L on 05.24.08 12:59 pm
John, may I suggest that no reasonably intelligent person cares about this, except you, Janice and apparently Garth or his representative.
Do you suppose discussions could move more toward the concerns of men, rather than those of mice?
So did I. And then I followed through. So, stuff it. — Garth
No, Garth. It was your liberals that slashed the military so they ended up in dangerous situations with inferior equipment.
You are a mindless partisan. This conversation is over. — Garth
By Janice on 05.24.08 10:44 am
Janice – the country was on the verge of bankruptcy after the Mulroney years – we’d lost our credit rating – so brainbag where do you think Canada would have the resources for the military in the 90’s? We couldn’t borrow more money (because of our poor credit rating). Janice, tell where you think we should have gotten the money for the military when there was none to be had? Waiting for your expert advice here.
By the way Janice – are you Catherine under another name?
If you want to be so extremely partisan – try to do it with some intelligence.
Yup, the Tory trolls all come out together to attack – isn’t that cute?
And you literalists are so boring. — Garth
By John L on 05.24.08 10:58 am
Of course you wouldn’t wanted to state that our Canadians are targeting innocent Afghanistan villages.
However, you know full well (you are a journalist by trade?) that wording does matter when communicating. So instead of just confessing that you used poor wording choice and are letting this story go on and on. While any type of publicity (negative or positive) is good – sometimes it makes you, the politician, look untrustworthy. Surely, Garth, you want us, the Canadian, have some trust in our politicians?
Boring. Move on. There’s no story here. — Garth
http://www.cla-ace.ca/petition.php
Allan Rock signed it you can too. And remember it is NOT about the Khadr family, okay?
Garth, at one point she had an open mind, but her brain fell out and that is why her driveway doesn’t go all the way to the garage.
By Ron p on 05.24.08 1:21 pm
ROFLMAO! That’s a definite KEEPER!
Re the NAFTAgate affair:
By Lana on 05.24.08 9:22 am
“So we have leaks with no leakers or leakees…that was helpful.”
Ain’t that the truth? It’s all part of the Con Miracle Network. Like the Cadman affair (may he rest in peace), there was a bribe (Harper said there was a financial consideration discussed) but no briber (Finley and Flanagan were very careful to leave not a trace) and no bribee (even though his wife and daughter said he’d been offered financial considerations). It was “investigated” and dropped.
What’s happening with the Elections Canada thing and the “in-and-out” stuff? I haven’t heard anything about it in ages.
———-
By C. B. Innes on 05.24.08 8:54 am
Stephen Harper’s words, “I’m not a humanist, so I wouldn’t worship a human institution.”
The implication, of course, is that he worships “higher things”. But here’s news for you, Stevie. Humanists don’t worship anything. Worship isn’t part of their lexicon.
Just for the record, I found a definition of a humanist as “…one who is concerned with the interests and welfare of humans.”
You’re right, Stevie. You’re no humanist.
—–
By C. B. Innes on 05.24.08 10:11 am
“It is for these reasons that many of our soldiers come home with mental and emotional problems. Their ethical and moral beliefs come into direct conflict with the realities of a combat mission.”
By C. B. Innes on 05.24.08 11:21 am
“Because I cannot support the mission, I cannot support what our troops are required to do to carry out their mandate.”
That’s the bind that we and they have been put in. Their actions are in conflict with their ethics. They are soldiers and this is their job. Our government has to ask itself whether it has any right to ask this of them. So far, it seems to think it has.
I just can’t go along with it.
William Astore, the retired air force officer whom I’ve mentioned before had this to say late last year:
Saving the Military from Itself
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174845/astore_on_a_military_bemedaled_bothered_and_beleaguered
We magnet-ribbon people who sport “support our troops” on our SUVs need to learn that “support” sometimes means pulling the troops out, even when some of them are kicking and screaming to stay.”
He was talking about Iraq, but NATO and ISAF forces have been in Afghanistan for longer than the war has been going on in Iraq.
And I still don’t know what the mission is supposed to be. If it’s defeating the Taliban, whatever that is supposed to mean, it’s not happening. The Canadian Forces were fired upon by rockets when they were watching a show or concert a few days ago.
And those “Fight…fight…fight” CF ads – can them. They’re so obviously of U.S./Pentagon origin that they might as well have it stamped on them in letters ten feet high.
A letter in the Globe and Mail a couple of days ago by a person called A.S. Brown from Kingston commented on the “Made in Canada” food regulations that Harper was pushing. Ms./Mr. Brown said it was too bad that Canadian content wasn’t required for Canada’s foreign and defence policies too.
by Alexa McDonough:
At least Ms.McDonough is addressing a real issue.YaYa,a really great democratic government we’re backing there in Kabul.
You support this too Garth.
http://www.rabble.ca/news_full_story.shtml?x=71538
Link for Alexa McDonough….
Janice:I guess you need to read similar sentences that you were taught in Grade 1.
Look, Janice, look.
Look at the missile.
Look at the missile go.
Oh, oh. See the missile fall.
See the missile fall down.
See the missile fall on the house.
See the missile fall on the wrong house.
Bad, missile, bad.
How is that for subject/verb/object.
Can you understand that?
Can someone tell me if Maxime is going to reimburse the taxpayers for his mis-speak which is costing us $900,000?
With respect CB . There is a vast difference between Liberal and Con-bot partisans .
Con-bots are blindly partisan and lack intelligence of any kind .
By Men With Hats on 05.24.08 1:54 pm,
It is difficult to see yourselves as others see you, to paraphrase Bobby Burns.
Liberals are just as partisan and unfair in their comments. They are often just as blinded by partisan bias but they don’t recognize it in themselves.
I expected to be slammed by Liberals who just don’t get it anymore than Conservatives.
Just because I don’t agree with someone’s philosophy or ideas does not make them unintelligent or blindly partisan. There are just as many, probably more, blindly partisan Liberals on Garth’s forums, as Conservatives.
By John L on 05.24.08 12:35 pm
Says:
“I’d imagien a lot of our our vets, a few from WW1, far more from…..”
A few from WW I, John????’
Don’t you watch the news?
There is one (1) – he 107 years old and has lived in the US most of his life. He is now applying to return to Canada to die in his native homeland.
Silliness like this makes you and some others here just plain – well, to be kind – silly.
First, a play on words.
This is REALLY good planning, so in the immortal words of Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors, “Break On Through To The Other Side”!
****************************************
LIVING WILL FORM
I, (name), being of sound mind and body, do not wish to be kept alive indefinitely by artificial means.
Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the hands of pinhead partisan politicians who couldn’t pass ninth-grade biology if their lives depended on it or, lawyers, doctors, and hospitals interested in simply running up the bills.
If a reasonable amount of time passes and I fail to ask for at least one of the following:
A Martini; a Margarita; a Scotch and soda; a Bloody Mary; a Gin and Tonic; a Glass of Chardonnay; a Steak; Lobster or crab legs; The remote control; a bowl of ice cream; The sports page; Chocolate or Sex, then it should be presumed that I won’t ever get any better.
When such a determination is reached, I hereby instruct my appointed person and attending physicians to pull the plug, reel in the tubes and call it a day.
At this point, it is time to call the New Orleans Jazz Funeral Band to come do their thing at my funeral, and ask all of my friends to raise their glasses to toast the good times we have had.
Signature: ___________________________
Date: ___________________________
NOTE: I also hear that in Ireland, they have a Nursing Home with a Pub.
The patients are happier and they have a lot more visitors. Some of them don’t even need embalming when their time comes.
If anyone knows the name of this happy place PLEASE pass it on!
****************************************
. . . It ends badly.
posted by Garth Turner on 05.23.08 @ 6:32 pm
In July ‘87, we sold our townhome in Trawnna; half a year and more later, your last three words apply to what took place then, so we got lucky by selling it at a really good price, but just as night follows day, it will happen again.
Note for Bill-Muskoka, and others who may be interested:
John Ralston Saul will give a talk, presented by the Penticton Philosopher’s Cafe on Sunday, May 25 at 7:30 pm (PST).
We won’t go, as it’s not really our cup of tea — intellectualism is much too intelligent for us!
Ah, for what? Sparking debate instead of standing for jingoism? — Garth
By Gord G on 05.24.08 11:37 am
Boring. Move on. There’s no story here. — Garth
By Catherine on 05.24.08 3:00 pm
It would seem that you don’t want to move on. If there is no story here then who do you keep bringing this to the forefront on your blog. What point are you trying to make in all this?
Gord.
Already made. Move on. — Garth
Just because I don’t agree with someone’s philosophy or ideas does not make them unintelligent or blindly partisan. There are just as many, probably more, blindly partisan Liberals on Garth’s forums, as Conservatives.
By C. B. Innes on 05.24.08 4:08 pm
It is scientifically proven that you are,quite,wrong .
Harper pushes climate change plan in Europe?-CTV
What plan? Why preach to the converted? Has he trully gone insane?
It is scientifically proven that you are,quite,wrong .
By Men With Hats on 05.24.08 5:19 pm
Is this the same science that proves AGW is causing global warming?
Gord
Note for Bill-Muskoka, and others who may be interested:
John Ralston Saul will give a talk, presented by the Penticton Philosopher’s Cafe on Sunday, May 25 at 7:30 pm (PST).
We won’t go, as it’s not really our cup of tea — intellectualism is much too intelligent for us!
By Charles Oxley on 05.24.08 4:52 pm
Thanks for the headsup. Unfortuna6tely that date is already committed for.
Wow, what do you think Charles? I think someone needs to bring a mop and bucket in this topic because the pissing contest has everything wet! LOL In fact, a shop vac would be ideal…a BIG CAPACITY one.
The Singular Face of Megalomania.
An inner look at Stephen Harper
It has been talked about a lot the past couple of years. Canadians, supportive or not, cannot seem to pinpoint what it is about Stephen Harper that makes them distrust him, that seems cold, unapproachable… wrong. And then, mixed up with this confusion, is the question about whether……………………….
When I recently re-read the definition of the term, “malignant narcissism”, I felt like I was sitting in the gallery of the House of Commons, watching Harper tell outrageous lies about his opponents (like how they support the Taliban or their family is a terrorist) under the libel protection afforded to him in the House, makeup running in its customary stream down the right side of his face, eyes flashing in that rare emotional occurrence mentioned above, lips pulled back against his teeth in an expression that more resembles a rabid dog about to attack than an actual, human smile:………………….
In fact, in Harper’s current life, there seems to be no witness from his pre-Calgary days. His wife, his ‘friends’, his colleagues, were all acquired in his twenties or thirties. This “quiet” boy who “showed leadership skills” in high school didn’t manage to maintain one acquaintance from…………………………
Stephen Harper wrote a masters’ thesis in economics, criticizing pre-election government spending and how it affected the free market. He got a good grade on it and a lot of attention. It ended up making a prof think of recommending him to work for the fledgling Reform Party under Preston Manning, where he and his future puppet-master, Tom Flanagan………
For more revealing information go to
http://metaball.ca/2008/ball_Mar-08/0308_01.html
Comrade Okie,
I’m out there all right, quietly
checking up on proceedings now and then. Having left the chestwaders at the cottage, I have not waded into the wrestling with the trolls. But I have not given up on Garth (or Catherine, Janice, John L., Leasa and Van, for instance), I’m just waiting for the right subject to wade in on.
Comradely greetings to all,
CM,
I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank you for that 3:43 pm link to Astore. It reminded me of the US Army I got to know during my military service, and showed me that I had not fallen through the looking glass seeing all this admiration and emulation by our CF.
More in a more relevant thread.
. . . LOL In fact, a shop vac would be ideal…a BIG CAPACITY one.
By Bill-Muskoka on 05.24.08 5:55 pm
Hello Bill.
Figured out why Saul is appearing in Penticton — dimdumjim gave a speech yesterday in The Peach City, and the headline in today’s The Okanagan Saturday is:
Federal surplus safe, says Flaherty
This from one of two worthless, pathetic clowns who publicly stated “. . . we will NEVER tax ITs”; can anyone ever buy a used car from this man?
BTW, what federal surplus? Didn’t CRAP spend all of it on nothing, just to make us feel all nice, warm and fuzzy?
South Okanagan folk have been subjected to more shock value from CRAP, and will recover via Saul so no more need be said on this subject.
You are correct — a MASSIVE SHOP VAC will be needed after the Libs., Greens and Rhinos have covered CRAP with rotten, smelly, stinking fish and have been sent packing, the way the dinosaurs went!
Garth, as much as this issue has had it’s effects on you, it’s time to let it go.
It is only political junkies that are looking for straws to trash you. The same 30% who vote CON. They rely on sound bites and commentary and no amount of fact will change their mind.
Go enjoy the sunshine, relax and spend some time with your loved ones.
Just remember that an open and honest politician means more than one that must guard their words for the fear of publicity.
Is this the same science that proves AGW is causing global warming?
Gord
By Gord G on 05.24.08 5:48 pm
No scientists already have the facts that we could cut GHG’s in half if you’d shut your stupid yap .
By John L on 05.24.08 12:35 pm
Says:
“I’d imagien a lot of our our vets, a few from WW1, far more from…..”
A few from WW I, John????’
Don’t you watch the news?
There is one (1) – he 107 years old and has lived in the US most of his life. He is now applying to return to Canada to die in his native homeland.
Silliness like this makes you and some others here just plain – well, to be kind – silly.
By rms on 05.24.08 4:41 pm
Fact is the soldier was granted full Canadian citizenship the week he applied.
He is happily a Canuck again .
Canada’s last link to the First World War is a citizen again.
John (Jack) Babcock is now 107-years-old and living in Spokane, Washington. But he wasn’t always an American. He grew up in a rural community, on a farm near Kingston, Ont. He’s now Canada’s only surviving veteran from the Great War.
Babcock tried to join the Canadian army in 1915 at the tender age of 15. He was young, but tenacious, and he didn’t mind lying to fight for his cause. He finally made it to Britain and served, but didn’t see combat.
“There were a lot of good guys that got to the front and a lot of them got killed,” he told CTV News recently for an exclusive report.
After the war, he moved to the U.S. and became a citizen there, and that forced him to renounce his Canadian citizenship.
Zorpheous I love you. You help to make this blog. You hit the nail on the head this time.
Methinks the neocons are getting even more scared of the coming election. We have had time to see how Harper is destroying Canada. Wasn’t Dion smart to wait and watch his numbers go up as the cons go down:)
By Bonnie L on 05.24.08 1:45 pm
Well you know Harry and the Harper-Bots keep going on about how Dion sucks as a leader, his personal numbers are at 10% according to one poll,… yet Nick Nanos (sp?) latest poll still has the Liberals and CPC tied (Lib ahead by one point). So despite Harper being a Great leader (Herpy-bot opinon) and Dion sucking lemons, the CPC still can’t beat Dion. Sucks to be them.
Man Garth, Angry in the Great White North has become some what obsessed with you of late. The last time he got in a blogging rut like this was with Cindy Sheanhand (sp?) and during that two week period he did some thing like posts on her, including an analysis of her menstrual cycles (ok I’m playing a bit liberties there, but it is more or less correct)
So what do you think he’ll blog about next? Possible topics;
1) Garth Turner Parts his nose hair to the Left, obviously a socialist nose groomer.
2) Does Garth Turner have hemorrhoids?
3) Garth Turner only chews his food 10 times before swallowing,… Will Garth Choke to Death?
4) Garth Turner wore mis matched socks today, obvious signal that Garth will soon be kicked out of the Liberals.
Oh man, one has to wonder why he has become suddenly obsessed with Garth, it can be good.
It is scientifically proven that you are,quite,wrong .
By Men With Hats on 05.24.08 5:19 pm,
Another true believer in the religion of science!!!!
We need seed collectors around the world to collect seeds that have not been mutated genetically .
That is the only chance we have to maintain a non-Frankenstinian food chain.
This is more frightening than the Manhatten project that gave us the ‘A’ bomb .It affects every human on the planet .
By Men With Hats on 05.24.08 4:09 pm
I have been upset for years about GMO & terminator seeds. IIRC, Seeds of Diversity & other similar sites encourage gardeners to use heritage seeds. I used to save many seeds years ago when I’d start my 500+ seedlings in the basement under lights. Especially loved my heritage tomato plants. Grew a Brandywine (delicious tom) & one weighed`in at 3+ lbs.
Tomorrow am planning on seeding some veggies. Am really late this yr due to the rain which prevented DH getting the garden turned over. Actually, his back was bad so we hired someone to do, but DH raked it over 2 nights ago.
Spent time gardening today. Damn weeds.
Tomorrow am planning on seeding some veggies. Am really late this yr due to the rain which prevented DH getting the garden turned over. Actually, his back was bad so we hired someone to do, but DH raked it over 2 nights ago.
Spent time gardening today. Damn weeds.
By kpn on 05.24.08 7:52 pm
Yes, KPN it is a crying shame you do not have sample seeds of all the superb varieties you have had over the years .
Never mind food banks . Seed banks are the wave of the future .And a necessity if our species is to survive .
We are losing our pollination species which accounts for a third of the food chain .
Jesus wept .
Barb and
Brain:
Are you both Calgarians? I went to Mt. Royal College when I was a teen, many years ago, because my asthma got very bad in Hamilton. We had Stelco and another steel company which spewed pollution all over the Hamilton/Burlington/Oakville area.
Calgary air was so clean then. Is It now?
I loved Calgary and had a number of good friends there. People were so hospitable and the ones I met were really fine people. It’s hard to think they could be brain-washed by the media but look at how many Americans fell for the Bush line on their corporate-owned media.
I heard your CHQR on CPAC this morning and Rutherford had a ‘casual’ talk with one of the heads of the oil business out there and it was pretty obviously well-spun. They were aiming it eastward, I thought.
I hope you are both successful in reaching the good people of Calgary.
Maude Barlow has done such a great service for Canadians. She’s a pretty smart cookie and so knowledgeable about the issues she brings forward. She works very hard and deserves a listen.
It’s all too one-sided now.
All the best,
It is scientifically proven that you are,quite,wrong .
By Men With Hats on 05.24.08 5:19 pm,
Another true believer in the religion of science!!!!
By C. B. Innes on 05.24.08 7:37 pm
I would hardly say that religion and science are analogous .
You say it like it is a bad thing .
Janice, tell where you think we should have gotten the money for the military when there was none to be had? Waiting for your expert advice here.
By slg on 05.24.08 2:45 pm
Well, slug, after Garth Turner and his cons messed up the country’s finances, the liberals slashed military spending. After doing that, they put the military personnel in combat areas such as Boznia and Afghanistan. They were poorly equipped to do the tasks they were sent to do. Hillier even said so.
So, here’s the question, slug. Why did your libs put our men and women in combat zones without the resources to succeed? That is not support for our troops.
Bill- May 24 2:04pm. Your answers to my questions Bill, were enlightening. And encouraging. I wish I could express myself better. It seems only responsible for us to learn from God AND man…
Man-o-man is the forum tide bringing in a lot of flotsam and jetsam … and it’s piling up into a stinking mess …. as the Liberal Beast makes it’s last gasps for life, it’s carcass spewing forth vile bile attempting to destroy all decent and living things …..!!!!!
Who the heck wrote those silly comments about such a successful man in action = Garth Turner observer has such a high vision of Garth. God, where does he get his brains from? I find them absolutely disfunctional. Who’s Zorpheous?
Must be a liberal if you part your nose hair to the left and wears odd socks. Hmm, this guy must really like Garth in order to care so much for his wellness.
Thanks Garth, great page.
I will be supporting Dion and believe in his integrity.
“One major effect of the Green Revolution was to depopulate the countryside of peasants who were forced to flee into shantytown slums around the cities in desperate search for work.”
That was no accident; it was part of the plan to create cheap labor pools for the coming multinational corporations and free trade agreements that have facilitated the “globalization” process in recent years.
Green revolution vs. Chemical revolution
Huge quantities of herbicides and pesticides were also used, creating additional markets for the oil and chemical giants. As one analyst put it, in effect, the Green Revolution was merely a chemical revolution. At no point could developing nations pay for the huge amounts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
For decades the same interests, including the Rockefeller Foundation which backed the initial Green Revolution, have worked to promote a second “Gene Revolution” as Rockefeller Foundation President Gordon Conway termed it several years ago, the spread of industrial agriculture and commercial inputs including GMO patented seeds.
If broadly introduced around the world it could, within perhaps a decade or so, make the majority of food producers feudal serfs in bondage to the world’s three or four giant seed companies, such as Monsanto, DuPont or Dow Chemical.
This is more frightening than the Manhatten project that gave us the ‘A’ bomb .It affects every human on the planet .
By Men With Hats on 05.24.08 4:09 pm
That should give them something to think about. I’ve been trying to tell them.
The first paragraph selected speaks pretty clearly. Makes me think of urban sprawl and chipboard mansions.
How could this happen some will think? Could the politicians have been asleep at the wheel?? Only Rumpelstiltskin could have slept that long.
I would hardly say that religion and science are analogous .
You say it like it is a bad thing .
By Men With Hats on 05.24.08 11:12 pm,
There are people that only need to see the word “science” to believe what is produced. Many claims to “science” are bogus. Other claims merely refer to a method which is tainted by a whole series of unproven assumptions. The “science” you refer to is of the latter type. It is a great way to feed the gullible what they want to hear.
Using that kind of science to vilify others is what can be referred to as demagoguery and is similar to what the Nazis did in Germany during the pre-WW II period.
When you start using that kind of science to create a mythology against a target group be aware of the company you keep.
By Greg on 05.25.08 7:56 am
A simple solution is the careful review of the long term societal effects certain patents will have. The U.S. mandates under DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Program Administration) that all developments must have a commercial use at the end to recieve funding for R&D. Not a bad idea.
Instead of merely granting patent protection the government should look more closely at the real costs to society, not merely the innovative ideas of a patent application. That would stymie a lot of monopolistic patents at the very beginning.
Speaking of innovation. Today is the running of the Indy 500…a most innovative place for almost 100 years. It is on ABC HD/SD about noon.
Censorship appears to be rearing up at Garth.ca; Garth asks for references, they’re provided and the post disappears.
It’s not censorship, just disease prevention. Try again. — Garth
Instead of merely granting patent protection the government should look more closely at the real costs to society, not merely the innovative ideas of a patent application. That would stymie a lot of monopolistic patents at the very beginning.
By Bill-Muskoka on 05.25.08 9:21 am
Once competent non aligned people are assigned to analyze such things and special interest lobbying is removed from the overall picture, then what you suggest could be a determining factor.
Until then, I suspect it will be business as usual.
Which leads me back to my theories that even the reported food crises is being manipulated. In a system of supply and demand, you only have to squeeze the supply, in order to enable effect on the demand. It’s working with Oil, why not food? I have sensed for a long time that this was coming in North America, but I didn’t consider that it might go global. So many of the world’s people live a precarious existence and for them, there is little or no room for significant changes in food supply.
The first paragraph selected speaks pretty clearly. Makes me think of urban sprawl and chipboard mansions.
How could this happen some will think? Could the politicians have been asleep at the wheel?? Only Rumpelstiltskin could have slept that long.
By Greg on 05.25.08 7:56 am
I agree Greg , We are on the same page.
Which leads me back to my theories that even the reported food crises is being manipulated. In a system of supply and demand, you only have to squeeze the supply, in order to enable effect on the demand. It’s working with Oil, why not food? I have sensed for a long time that this was coming in North America, but I didn’t consider that it might go global. So many of the world’s people live a precarious existence and for them, there is little or no room for significant changes in food supply.
By Greg on 05.25.08 11:32 am
Absolutely . Control the food you control the proletariat ,
I like the “disease prevention” thing, Garth. It sounds very fascist.
Man-o-man is the forum tide bringing in a lot of flotsam and jetsam … and it’s piling up into a stinking mess …. as the Liberal Beast makes it’s last gasps for life, it’s carcass spewing forth vile bile attempting to destroy all decent and living things …..!!!!!
By Harry S on 05.24.08 11:53 pm
Hey Harry, sort of like road kill, you know, the other white meat. Enjoy your supper and don’t forget to take your meds before bedtime.
When you start using that kind of science to create a mythology against a target group be aware of the company you keep.
By C. B. Innes on 05.25.08 8:43 am
Kind of like the same science you use in angst against the Suzuki foundation? Uh huh…
By Greg on 05.25.08 11:32 am
I will believe there is a food shortage when goverments stop paying farmers to produce what they are capable of, and they cease culling overstocks of pigs, etc.
Manipulated markets? Do bears sh-t in woods?