Peter, Be Nice

So the controversy surrounding Puppygate continues even as Peter MacKay tries to put the accusations that he called Belinda Stronach a dog behind him.

All I can say is Peter, be nice and apologize. Not everyone has the same gifts as others. Besides, comparing Belinda to a dog is both childish and inaccurate . . . Dogs are loyal.

Finally, the next time your tempted to make fun of someone's physical attributes. You should be aware that some have suggested you have a bit of an eagle beek. I personally wouldn't make fun of you for that, but others might.

Don't Waste Your Time

If you're ever in Toronto, don't waste your time at the Ontario Science Centre. I always understood that the Centre's purpose was to engage the public and particularly young people to cultivate an interest in Science. Apparently not.

The Centre's website states its mission is to, "To delight, inform and challenge visitors through engaging and thought-provoking experiences in science and technology." The current management seems to interpret this as a mission to force feed flavour of the month, political ideological ideas down the throats of their visitors. I visited the Centre last Thursday, here are a few observations:

As soon as I entered the main exhibit area, (which is 5 floors down who know's what the other 4 floors are for?), there was a survey question which went something like this, "new studies indicate that tounge piercing can cause infections and increase exposure to AIDS, would you risk getting a tounge piercing?" You could vote as many times as you wanted. The results were then posted up in lights. No mention that this was as unscientific as a survey could get, or the obvious bias in the question.

Then I entered the communication technology section. The first exhibit I entered had a black and white checkered floor and a sign that said step only on the black tiles. At the end of the tiles there was a message board that said, "Did you step on only black tiles, if so why? What are other people doing? Nothing would have happened if you stepped on the white tiles. As a society we are trained to follow signs, without questioning why." Ok, you pompous twits, I followed the directions because I expected some sort of optical illusion or something engaging. There was an implicit promise that there would be something half-way interesting when I followed the directions. In stead, you break the promise and call me a putz, well stuff it.

Next, I entered the "What is Truth?" display. It was the newest looking exhibit. It was also a complete waste of time. Just a bunch of exercises in moral relativism, truth depends on perspective crap. In a 'SCIENCE' Centre, give me a break. It would have been honest to say things are not always as they appear, but instead the message is everyone has a different perspective an no one is more right than anyone else. Oh yeah, the Earth rotates around the sun. It doesn't matter what your perspective is. That's the truth. Don't pretend it's any different.

Next we moved into the "sports" section, this is where all the traditional science centre activities were. If you have to go, spend your time here. The only problem is most things are old or broken. We looked at an exhibit that was supposed to show how an organ worked, the only problem was the motor running the fan was louder than the sound coming out of the organ pipes.

Next we saw the section on the human body. We walked in and we saw a wall of contraceptives. Wait a minute, most of the Centre is targeted to 10 - 12 year olds, I guess the human body is just a sex machine. Right beside the contraceptives was a display of how the foetus develops with impressive pictures, but the word descriptions were pathetic, 'after X days the cells form into a fluid sac that attaches itself to the uterine wall.' No human life here. I don't expect pro-life apologetics, but some more neutral language would be nice.

There was the obligatory lung display to demonstrate smoking is bad and so is second hand smoke and the stool samples that say, North Americans don't know how to eat. To be fair, the human body section looked like it had some interesting stuff, but the Centre closed before we could see it all.

There may not be anything wrong with the individual exhibits, smoking is bad for you, we should eat better, and we should be aware of our biases, but overall the preachy tone of the Centre is too much. This, along with the antiquated displays make me feel that neither donors, tax payers or visitors are getting value for their money.

Save your time and money and do something else.

Good Riddance

Continuing the Spirit of Thanksgiving. I'm thankful that Garth Turner has been suspended from the Conservative caucus. The self righteous loud mouth claims to have his supporters in mind saying, "I work for the voters — the people, the taxpayers. After that, I heed my party and the political establishment. All are important, of course, but the people come first." That's not entirely accurate, Garth comes first and whatever will generate publicity and give him a bigger soap box.

I trust that this means the Conservative nomination will be open in his riding and that Halton voters will have a chance for a real conservative on the next ballot.

Hat's off to the Conservative Party today.

Handy Man

Last fall we had new windows installed in our house. Last night, more than a year later, the trim is up around the windows!

I rented a Nail gun after work and went to work for about 4.5 hours. It's amazing what even a desk jockey can do with the right tools. Right now I should be putting some trim up in the bathroom while I still have the gun.

I guess that means I have to go. A handy man's work is never done. (Psst . . . that last sentence is talking about me! Go figure.)

Be Honest, Ms Magazine

Ms. Magazine has organized a petition for women who have had abortions and want to remove laws that restrict abortion. An MSN story headlines, "Ms. magazine names women who had abortions: more than 5,000 signed petition saying they are unashamed of decision."

All I can say is be honest. The magazines effort is a transparent attempt to influence laws in the United States. More than likely it's also a reaction to the very successful Silent No More campaign where women share their touching stories about why they regret their abortion.

The magazine is abusing women a second time by asking women who have had abortions to sign on to the statement: "I have had an abortion. I publicly join the millions of women in the United States who have had an abortion in demanding a repeal of laws that restrict women's reproductive freedom."

I'm sure there's something liberating for women to publicly confess that they had an abortion, rather than keeping it secret. But this petition misses the point, they should not use women as political ammunition, it would be more useful if they were creating a forum for those women to come to terms with what they had done.

Down Boy

Chuck Strahl has been all over the Canadian Wheat Board like a dog on a bone. During the last election, the Conservatives made an ill advised promise to get rid of the Wheat Board.

The Canadian Wheat Board is a democratic organization that represents all wheat producers and markets all wheat produced in the Western Provinces. These monopoly selling powers allow the board the ability to have leverage in setting prices rather than being simple price takers in a commodity market. A market report from an independent market research firm made this observation yesterday:

Wow! The world buyers and sellers of wheat are finally coming to the realization that supplies are running seriously low. This could mean the world agricultural markets are finally making the great transition from cheap to dear that the energy and metals markets did.

After previous reports saying the Aussie crop could sink to 10 million tonnes, new reports are now indicating Ukraine might suspend or limit its exports. With European supplies down and wheat prices rising fast there, buyers are wondering where to go for wheat. The U.S. does not have a lot. Canada does but a lot of wheat in the west is in the strong hands of a Central-Desk seller known as the Canadian Wheat Board!

The market power the wheat board holds was also recently recognized by provincial ministers of Agriculture:

“The removal of the single desk would result in a serious financial loss for western Canadian grain producers and would have far-reaching negative effects on
short-line railways, independent inland grain terminals, the Port of Churchill and trade with the U.S.,” Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives Minister Rosann Wowchuk said.

Like every monopoly, the Wheat board should be held accountable. The wheat board recognizes this saying:

As an organization, we are fully aware of the extensive debate surrounding the future of the CWB. We believe that it is critical that farmers have the benefit of a free and open debate. Any restrictions which stifle this debate will not do it justice.

Our position has always been that farmers, through the plebiscite called for under the CWB Act, must vote on any changes to the mandate of the organization. The CWB works on behalf of the farmers of Western Canada, and it is the farmers of Western Canada who should decide its future.

Instead of allowing a free debate among producers the Government placed a gag order on the wheat board and issued a press release that made Minister Strahl sound eerily undemocratic and borderline arrogant:

"The CWB reports to Parliament through me, and should not be attempting to
undermine this government’s policy objectives."

Whoa! I thought this government was about grassroots democracy, statements like this one undermine that message. Minister Strahl should let this one go and let Prairie farmers decide the best way to operate their wheat board. Down Boy.

Not Prime-Ministerial

Poor Iggy. He was the darling of the media and the heir apparent to the Liberal leadership. But even with all the attention and the big name support, he wasn't able to garner enough delegate support to put himself within striking distance of victory. Now he's clearly doomed, not because losing any key supporter matters, but because he's shown himself to be about as decisive as Paul Martin.

Until recently Ignatieff has been intellectually honest and supportive of the war against terror. By stating that Israel committed war crimes in its defensive conflict against Hezbollah, he's demonstrated that he's willing to be swayed from his morally defensible position. He cannot win now. He cannot recover from this. Those Liberals who are anti-war, anti-Israel, pro-terrorist etc, will never support him because of his past positions. Those Liberals who supported his principled stand have been betrayed and no apology can take away the fact that he was willing to abandon his principles to pander to voters who would not support him anyway.

This policy flip flop matters because his credentials as an authority on the struggle against terror were so strong. His flip flop leaves a dark stain on his character. He's finished before he even started. Poor Iggy.

Bye Bye Kofi

The UN Security Council has officially endorsed their nominee to replace Kofi Annan as the next UN Secretary General.

Ban Ki-Moon hails from South Korea and had the support of 14 out of 15 countries on the Security Council, only Japan withheld their opinion. CBC has some decent analysis on Mr Ki-Moon here.

But the best part is Kofi Annan is going to be history, and not a moment to soon. He has been totally irrelevant and counter productive during this summer's crisis in Lebanon. The level of corruption under his leadership has been disgusting, and I better stop before I get on a roll. I'm sure I'll get to do some UN bashing in another post. The main thing is that the UN will have a new leader, who appears to understand the need for reforming the UN and the need to fight terrorism. I wish him luck, unfortunately he's going to need more than that.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Canadian Thanksgiving Holiday weekend is wrapping up. Mine was awesome with 2 huge Thanksgiving dinners and plenty of opportunity to get outside and enjoy the amazing fall weather.

I also took time to reflect on my many blessings, particularly at mass this morning. The Gospel was the story of the Good Samaritan and our priest's message was simple. When we realize that every good thing we have (our food, shelter, families, jobs, health and abilities) are all gifts we have no choice but to be very thankful. Then when we realize how generous God has been to us, we should react by being equally generous to those around us. Normally my prayer life is mostly about asking for things so the call to just be thankful is very welcome.

Thanksgiving is probably the greatest secular holiday that our country has to offer. Regardless of your particular denomination, almost regardless of your religion, Thanksgiving is call to recognize that so much of what we have is a totally undeserved gift. For this reason, I respectfully ask everyone to refrain from calling this holiday Turkey Day; it robs the day of all meaning, and it ignores the fact that ham is an equally important part of the meal.

I hope everyone here in Canada had a Happy Thanksgiving, and I hope everyone else feels welcome to join us.

Comedy, Iraqi Style

Great article here about the new Iraqi Comedy show, "Hurry Up, He's Dead." Some highlights:

After a summer of the worst violence since U.S. troops toppled Saddam Hussein's regime, tens of thousands of Iraqis are finding solace and amusement in a new television show whose dark satirical humor makes it an Iraqi version of Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show."

...

In the next day's episode, Saaed joyfully announces that the Americans are finally leaving Iraq. Referring to the U.S. secretary of defense, Saaed, sitting behind his news desk, says: "Rums bin Feld said the American forces are leaving on 1-1," referring to Jan. 1.

He's giddy, raising his arms in the air. Then he realizes he's made a mistake. The soldiers are leaving one by one, not on 1-1. He computes in his head what leaving one by one means and announces that the soldiers will be gone in 694 years. He starts to cry; Iraqis watching the show howl.

Political Satire; I wonder how long that would have lasted in Saddam Hussein's Iraq. This is good news for freedom, and the best part is the show might actually be funny.

Religious Freedom in Danger

Judging by the aggressive response of Liberals against an alleged bill to protect religious freedoms. Religious freedoms in Canada don't seem very safe. The comments on to the article show widespread disdain for the rights of religious Canadians to refuse to marry same sex couples.

The spite and disdain that many elitists apparently have for religious freedoms, underlines the need for this type of law. Even better, parliament should vote to have an honest debate on the merits of same sex marriage. That's really the only way to solve this issue.

Pope Benedict's Meeting with Muslims

I just read the speech Pope Benedict gave to Muslim Leaders at his summer residence on September 25. It deserves to be widely reported in the Arab and the Western Press. Here are some highlights:

I should like to reiterate today all the esteem and the profound respect that I have for Muslim believers, calling to mind the words of the Second Vatican Council which for the Catholic Church are the Magna Carta of Muslim-Christian dialogue: "The Church looks upon Muslims with respect. They worship the one God living and subsistent, merciful and almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, who has spoken to humanity and to whose decrees, even the hidden ones, they seek to submit themselves whole-heartedly, just as Abraham, to whom the Islamic faith readily relates itself, submitted to God."

Placing myself firmly within this perspective, I have had occasion, since the very beginning of my pontificate, to express my wish to continue establishing bridges of friendship with the adherents of all religions, showing particular appreciation for the growth of dialogue between Muslims and Christians.

As I underlined at Cologne last year, "Inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue between Christians and Muslims cannot be reduced to an optional extra. It is, in fact, a vital necessity, on which in large measure our future depends" (Meeting with Representatives of Some Muslim Communities, Cologne, 20 August 2005). In a world marked by relativism and too often excluding the transcendence and universality of reason, we are in great need of an authentic dialogue between religions and between cultures, capable of assisting us, in a spirit of fruitful co-operation, to overcome all the tensions together.

...

As Pope John Paul II said in his memorable speech to young people at Casablanca in Morocco, "Respect and dialogue require reciprocity in all spheres, especially in that which concerns basic freedoms, more particularly religious freedom. They favour peace and agreement between peoples"

Dear friends, I am profoundly convinced that in the current world situation it is imperative that Christians and Muslims engage with one another in order to address the numerous challenges that present themselves to humanity, especially those concerning the defence and promotion of the dignity of the human person and of the rights ensuing from that dignity. When threats mount up against people and against peace, by recognizing the central character of the human person and by working with perseverance to see that human life is always respected, Christians and Muslims manifest their obedience to the Creator, who wishes all people to live in the dignity that he has bestowed upon them.

Excellent. This was so much more clear than his controversial university address in Regensburg, which I tried to read but simply couldn't plow through. I saw three clear messages the September 25th address:

1. The Church and the Pope respect the desire of Muslims to submit themselves to the will of the creator.
2. Pope Benedict recognizes that the future of Catholics, Muslims, and the entire world depends on a sincere meaningful dialogue between Muslims and the church.
3. The starting point for this dialogue is reciprocity, which would grant Christians living in Muslim dominated areas the same religious freedom that is given to Muslims in Western countries and other Christian areas.

I believe the Holy Spirit guided the Church in preparing this address. I also believe that this message, much more than the Regensburg address will be a defining moment in Benedict's ministry as Pope.

Virtual Life Chain: The Big Blue Wave Pro-Life BlogBurst

Today concerned citizens accross North America are participating in the Life Chain as a testament to the value of life at all stages.

Thanks to Suzanne at Big Blue Wave there's a blogburst in defence of the fetal rights.

I'm happy to be part of it. The miracle of creation is so extraoridinary it's breathtaking when I pause to reflect on it. It's equally breathtaking that God is so gracious that he allows us to be participants in his plan. But one thing I cannot grasp is how anyone being so intimately involved could ever think to abuse the process by aborting an unborn child or destroying an embryo to harvest its cells.

The threats against unborn children seem to grow each year. At the thin edge of the wedge, there are the heart-wrenching stories of young women who are so scared by the prospect of having a child that they feel abortion is their only option. Often these young women can be helped by simply knowing about the many caring people who are willing to help them through their pregnancy and help them raise the child, or even offer it up for adoption.

The unborn are facing even greater threats from chemical abortions through drugs such as RU-486, and from predators that wish to destroy young embryos to harvest their cells.

Now more than ever we must remember the humanity of these yet to be born children. Fetal rights are human rights and if we do not defend their rights, we will diminish our own.

PS - This is my 100th post on this blog. I'm thoroughly enjoying blogging even though I can't always find the time to do it.

PPS - If you are called to raise awareness about some of the tragedy of abortion, here's one worthy organization.

Country Music

I grew up on Country music and would aggressively fight anyone who dared try to change the dial from my local country station (BX93). Straight through high school and university nothing but country music would do. However, when I met my wife I started to appreciate other kinds of music so that I started listening to classical, pop, soft rock, oldies, etc. In the last couple years I've discovered some talented Christian artists, talk shows and radio drama (my current favourite).

In the last five years or so Country music has apparently become more popular. There are a lot of radio stations offering it, but so much of the new stuff was artificial, patronizing and loud. When a Toronto country station started playing Jan Arden, I just tuned out. I couldn't listen to a "New Country" station for more than 2 - 3 songs before something incredibly annoying like the Dixie Chicks or Toby Keith (who was fun at first, but is just a jerk) would force me to turn the dial.

I was travelling a lot for work this week, and I tuned in to a few country stations. There are two songs that really stick out. The Truck Got Stuck, and I'd Rather be Lucky are both great new traditional sounding country songs. Last Wednesday I tuned into a country station about a half hour away from home, and I never changed the dial. I hope this is a sign of things to come.

Remarkable

Stephen Harper's speech to the UN General Assembly was truly remarkable. Stephen Harper is not only a brilliant strategist, but a great statesman. Who knew?

Stephen Harper eloquently set out the justification for the UN mission in Afghanistan, and while praising the accomplishments of the UN made it clear that it must be more effective and accountable. It was well done, and if you haven't seen it, read it.

Here's our man in action:

Bob Rae - The Next Liberal Leader

I think it will happen. The Globe and Mail / CTV poll of Liberal party membership shows a very close race for Leader of the Liberal Party. Of course, delegates elect the leader of the party and not members, so you can only read so much into the poll. Michael Ignatieff, being the perceived front runner and having the advantage of organizing since the last election, most likely has a stronger position among delegates than among the general membership.

But, the poll results are interesting 19% favour Ignatieff, and 17% Bob Rae. Bob Rae is significantly stronger when you add second and third choice responses. Add it up and you have to come to the same conclusion as pollster Allan Gregg, "if you had to put money on it, you'd bet Rae right now." It makes sense to me, I can't see Liberal Party members who actually swallowed all the soft power pabulum fed to them by Lloyd Axworthy and the rest of the Chretien Liberals would ever be able to vote for a pro-Iraq war leader like Ignatieff.

Conventional wisdom, which is on display in the comments on the Globe's article, has it tha Bob Rae can't win because he has too much baggage from his time as the NDP premier of Ontario. I don't think that's the case. Even after the devastating deficits, social engineering, and unfocused leadership from his government, I still remember people saying Bob Rae was "the right man in the wrong party." If he can keep that reputation in Ontario even after severely damaging the province's economy, the man can obviously sell himself.

An election with Bob Rae as leader will also give Canadians a clear choice between a Liberal party that is solcialist, pacifist and socially progressive, or a Conservative party that promises to improve Canada's reputation on the world stage, and make the country a competive place to do business and a safe place to raise a family. This is an honest choice that Canadians deserve.

I think Bob Rae will win, and I hope he does.

On the other hand, it would be way more fun if Ignatieff won. Half the Liberal party would bolt over to the NDP, and you would be looking at one of the largest majority Conservative governments in history.

I'm a Radical Christian

This is craziness. On ABC's The View, Rosie O'Donnel said, "Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam." What's even more sick is her studio audience applauded loudly at her statement. I've never been more glad that I don't own a TV, if this is the kind of crap that's out there.

MSN has interesting coverage and a follow up discussion, with a panel that includes two female "media analysts" who defend Rosie and one white male Republican trying to help people understand how utterly ridiculous this is. Left wing extremists like Rosie are equating "radical" Christians with terrorists who deliberately target civilians and who would kill us all given the opportunity.

In the discussion, the two female analysts defined radical christians first as isolated individuals that would blow up an abortion clinic, but then they expanded the definition to include people who hold up signs with offensive slogans, then included people who don't believe in widespread distribution of condoms. It's a good thing the discussion was short or they would have had two thirds of the country described as radical Christians.

I happen to be what they would call a radical Christian. No, I haven't blown up any abortuaries lately, but I believe in Jesus Christ and that in itself is radical. Canadians will remember how the mainstream media tore up Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day several years ago, calling him scary because he believed in creation. But it doesn't matter where you are, if you press a secularist left winger, they will have to tell you that believing that God created the world, lived among us in the person of Jesus, then died and rose again is totally radical and contrary to everything they believe. Catholics who believe that God makes himself present in the Eucharist, must be just plain nuts to them.

I think its fair to say, Christ himself was a radical. He basically said as much:

Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law." Luke12:51-53

It's OK that crazies like Rosie O'Donnell think that we're extreme. I have a similar opinion of her. The real insanity is that she and others could try to make a link between murderous Islamic terrorists and those Christians who merely disagree with mainstream public opinion on some issues. That Ms. O'Donnell would make the link is intolerant, offensive, and has no value in a civil discussion.

ABC should take away her soap box.

PS. If this seems a bit contrary to my recent post on free speech, it's not. Rosie has every right to her opinions no matter how deluded, however, she's not adding anything useful to public debate there's no reason for her to have a rant on a major televison network. Maybe she should try blogging instead; It's easy.

Scandal - Canada to Send Tanks to Afghanistan

War-Mongering Prime Minister Stephen Harper will single handedly lose the next election, cause Quebec to seperate from Canada, and allow the Taliban to retake Afghanistan. Experts warn his insensitive decision to send tanks to Afghanistan may also cause people's feelings to get hurt.

Maybe it's just me but I don't have the same desire to panic as Murray Brewster, whose article for the Canadian Press has been widely republished. Here are some of his choice observations:

A Montreal political scientist said if there are casualties from Quebec, Stephen Harper and his Conservatives could end up paying a heavy price in political support in a province already deeply opposed to the war.
...
Members of the famed Royal 22nd Regiment - the fighting Van Doo - are scheduled to ship out to Afghanistan next year as part of a planned rotation. Moving up the deployment of other Quebec units could create a political problem for Harper, if there are casualties among them.

That would bring the war more sharply into focus for Quebecers at time when Conservatives are trying to win their support, said Pierre Martin, a political science professor at the University of Montreal. "It will hit home much more strongly."

Umm, Quebec soldiers, like all Canadian soldiers have volunteered to serve and are well trained professionals. Any suggestion that they should not see the same action as soldiers from other provinces is disrespectful and foolish. Hey wait there's more:

But there is a danger that the appearance of heavy armour in the chalky, mud-walled villages and towns will backfire in the battle for Afghan hearts and minds.

"If you see tanks in your streets it's hard not to think about it as an army of occupation," said Gavin Cameron, a specialist in counter-insurgency wars at the University of Calgary's Centre for Military and Strategic Studies.

By buttoning down inside a tank, Canadian soldiers could also end up losing personal contact with locals, which is crucial in building public support.

This is just silly. I don't think the tanks will be used to patrol the marketplaces. The military commanders will naturally use the tanks in targeted operations, i.e. in traditional battle. Why a so called expert would suggest otherwise just doesn't make sense. Here's my favourite line:

Calls to Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor's office were not returned.

Why not just say, hey I waited to the last minute to call the minister's office?

There's no scandal here.

United 93 the Movie

Well, today's September 11, and I've been intentionally avoiding reading any news coverage or blogs, or commentaries about how the world has changed in the last 5 years. I was stuck in a room forced to watch "the National with Peter Mansbridge" on Friday night, and I cannot bear taking the risk that I might be exposed to any more CBC-esque retrospectives.

Fortunately, last night I rented United 93. It's an excellent film about about how events were unfolding on the morning of September 11th. The movie is simply an historical account how things were unfolding at civilian and military aviation headquarters, and of course on United Airlines Flight 93. The movie pulled me in instantly and I was so involved I remember noticing how my heart was racing and my hand was shaking each time I tried to take a sip from my coffee cup.

The director was absolutely committed to realism, contacting every family of the victims of the plane crash. The acting was incredible especially at the FAA headquarters, I noticed why when the final credits listed "as himself" at least a half dozen times.

The film completely steers clear of social commentary and simply presents the facts in an engaging and gripping manner. It's a fitting tribute to the victims / heroes on flight 93. If you haven't seen it, rent it, its well worth 2 hours of your time.

Dangerous Precedent - Hate Crime Sentence

A 63 year old Alberta man is going to jail for 16 months followed by 36 months probation for having an offensive website.

I'm going to sleep better tonight knowing that the world is a safer place with an old crank who wanted to spout off online behind bars.

Seriously, Reni Sentana-Ries' website, the Federation of Free Planets, and his opinions are outrageous, vile and disgusting. Anyone who denies the holocaust has more than a few screws loose. I shouldn't even need to state that, but I will lest anyone get the wrong idea.

I do have a major problem with the fact that he was arrested and jailed for simply stating his opinion, however misinformed that might be. I'm especially concerned about the words of the crown prosecutor:

Crown prosecutor Steven Bilodeau said outside court that the conviction and sentence sets a benchmark for similar Internet hate-crime cases.

"The Crown wanted a strong message because it's the first hate-crime conviction
involving hate on the Internet," said Bilodeau, who handles technology and
Internet crimes.

"Putting hate on the Internet means everyone can see it, not just the people you run into on the street corner and it's really hard to get rid of."

The crown did send a strong message, freedom of speech in Canada is not as safe as we may think. Hate Crimes are often fake crimes. Our criminal code is full of laws to protect society from nut cases like Reni Sentana-Ries, if he were uttering threats or defaming individuals he could have been prosecuted under any number of laws. In this case he's only being jailed for holding a disgraceful opinion.

It's probably just as well that nobody will read this man's diatribes any longer, but a dangerous precedent has been set for the next person who posts an unpopular viewpoint on their website.

Neat Idea: A Conservative Cruise

The Western Standard is hosting a cruise for its readers. Sounds like a great idea, fun in the sun and some great conversations. The only question I have is security. With all these sharp conservative minds in one place, what's to stop the Iranians from having a submarine lurking around in the Pacific just off the coast of Northern Mexico?