WINNIPEG -- The Canadian embassy in Thailand has told 82 Canadians stuck in a hotel in Bangkok that the Canadian government will not send a plane to get them out of the country, a Manitoba woman said from Bangkok on Friday night. "We met with the people from the Canadian Embassy. They were very concerned, but they can't do anything for us," said Judith Tougher of LaSalle, a bedroom community of Winnipeg. [...more]
The opposition in the House of Commons refused to back down yesterday from plans to form a Liberal-New Democratic Party coalition government, even as the governing Conservatives announced they will withdraw their controversial proposal to end public subsidies for political parties. [...more]
The gunmen who executed the Rwandan genocide and now fight in the Democratic Republic of Congo will "always" kill Tutsis because the two sides "cannot mix", according to a field commander. At the root of Congo's turmoil is the presence of the militias who exterminated at least 800,000 people, largely the minority Tutsis, in neighbouring Rwanda 14 years ago. [...more]
In a significant setback to Robert Mugabe's regime, uniformed soldiers have for the first time rioted in the centre of Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, after trying to withdraw cash from a bank that had run out of money. [...more]
King David Miller, a.k.a. our mayor, was pleased as punch last week when he rode in on his white steed to save the day with his new best friends in the city's grocery industry. Never mind that he delivered his so-called compromise with the industry to reduce the number of plastic bags used by Toronto citizens in a cold, stinky transfer station -- with scavenging seagulls and a mountain of waste serving as the backdrop. (Oh the possibilities of that scenario!) [...more]
The philosophical argument against using the blunt instrument of the law to control hate-promoting speech is familiar enough: Free societies ought to be open to all ideas, but should also challenge and counter hate speech whenever it occurs. Forcing such speech underground by force of law merely allows it to fester, and makes martyrs of the people who seek to convert others to their hateful views. [...more]
OTTAWA - This week's fiscal update from the federal Conservative government has become something of a tipping point for Canada's march toward long-sought changes to the pension system. On Thursday, Jim Flaherty, the Finance Minister, said he would work with the provinces on issues related to defined-benefit (DB) and defined-contribution plans, "with a view of making permanent changes to the framework" next year. [...more]
China successfully flight tested its first home-grown commercial airliner. The ARJ-21's maiden flight lasted one hour and the aircraft did not rise above 900 metres in altitude due to safety reasons. [...more]
OTTAWA -- The Conservative party is using opposition threats of taking over government to issue an emergency plea for political donations. Irving Gerstein, the chairman of the Conservative Fund Canada, is appealing for "emergency donations of $200 or $100" from party faithful to avert what he says is the hijacking of Canadian democracy. [...more]
A revolutionary device that can harness energy from slow-moving rivers and ocean currents could provide enough power for the entire world, scientists claim. The technology can generate electricity in water flowing at a rate of less than one knot - about one mile an hour - meaning it could operate on most waterways and sea beds around the globe. [...more]
Politics is a sifter that eliminates all competent but honest people from the profession while retaining all those not necessarily intelligent but definitely smart. In order to succeed in politics you need to be decisive but also unscrupulous (Jean Chrétien); you need to be charismatic but also willing to use your charisma to manipulate the electorate (Pierre Trudeau); you need to show leadership but also be ready to defend it by retaliating against your enemies (Stephen Harper); and be loyal to friends to the point that loyalty becomes complicity (Richard Nixon). [...more]
The only terrorist captured alive after the Mumbai massacre has given police the first full account of the extraordinary events that led to it – revealing he was ordered to ‘kill until the last breath’. Azam Amir Kasab, 21, from Pakistan, said the attacks were meticulously planned six months ago and were intended to kill 5,000 people. [...more]
It was a deal to make Alistair Darling hug himself with glee. Just as the world’s existing financial markets were hitting a five-year low two weeks ago, the Treasury raked in a cool £54m from a brand new one. The occasion was Britain’s first auction of CO2 permits. Almost 4m were knocked down to greenhouse gas emitters in a sale that was four times oversubscribed. The government expects to sell 80m more over the next four years, raising a further £1 billion. [...more]
As I wrote yesterday, trying to replace the current Conservative government with a so-called Liberal/NDP/Bloc "coalition" is nothing but a power grab, a non-violent Coup d'Etat. Moreover, while I don't think the party financing issue should have been included in the economic update given by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty on Thursday, November 27th, the criticism that the opposition parties must put together a coalition and a stimulus package to "save" the country is pure political posturing and nonsense. Remember the Harper government accomplishments? [...more]
Stephen Taylor | Prorogue? -- I’m at the Parliamentary Press Gallery dinner right now and a quiet rumour among a small number of of the gathered people here is that Prime Minister Stephen Harper may prorogue Parliament until the new year. [...more]
National Post | Kelly McParland: Liberals stage a coup with three heads and no leader -- To lead an effective coup you need a leader, something those MPs plotting the overthrow of Stephen Harper conspicuously lack. Media coverage of the attempted putsch has been intense, but even those closest to the action can't agree on who might be the lucky Liberal who gets named to head the unwieldy collection of parties that would ask Governor General Michaelle Jean to proclaim it the government. [...more]
BBC | Minister 'quits' over Mumbai attacks -- Indian home minister Shivraj Patil and national security adviser MK Narayanan have submitted their resignations in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks. [...more]
CTV | Tories back away from slashing political funding -- The Conservatives have backed away from a contentious proposal to slash public funding for political parties, potentially defusing a political standoff that could have led to a Tory defeat in Parliament. [...more]
The top entry today features a lot of information on the ongoing "coup d'etat" being plotted by Her Majesties Loyal Opposition. MSM "bobble heads" on either side of the issue are weighing in and are deep in thought as they consider all the in's and outs of the situation. [...more]
Hundreds of people are reported to have been killed during religious clashes in the central Nigerian town of Jos. A Muslim charity says it collected more than 300 bodies, and fatalities are also expected from other ethnic groups, mainly Christians. [...more]
Anti-government protesters occupying Bangkok's main airport chased riot police from a checkpoint Saturday, as tensions escalated on the fifth day of a standoff that has disrupted Thailand's lucrative tourist industry. About 150 officers sped away in their vehicles when attacked by a throng of protesters, many armed with metal rods, and some with guns. [...more]
Sexual intercourse provides but fleeting satisfaction, while chastity offers a better life and "more freedom", the Dalai Lama has said. Conjugal life causes too many "ups and downs", the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader told reporters in a Lagos hotel. "Sexual pressure, sexual desire, actually, I think is short-period satisfaction and, often, that leads to more complication," he said. [...more]
An eight-year-old US boy accused of murdering his father and a family friend kept a tally of his parents' smackings, vowing that the 1,000th time would be the last, police believe. The unnamed boy allegedly shot dead his father, Vincent Romero, 29, and Timothy Romans, 39, their lodger, at the family home in St Johns, Arizona, with a .22 rifle as they were coming home from work at a local power plant. [...more]
When terrorists attack, media analysts go into Sherlock Holmes mode, metaphorically prowling the crime scene for footprints, as if the way to solve the mystery is to add up all the clues. The Mumbai gunmen seized British and American tourists. Therefore, it must be an attack on Westerners! [...more]
The Canadian Coast Guard has confirmed that in a major first, a commercial ship travelled through the Northwest Passage this fall to deliver supplies to communities in western Nunavut. The MV Camilla Desgagnés, owned by Desgagnés Transarctik Inc., transported cargo from Montreal to the hamlets of Cambridge Bay, Kugluktuk, Gjoa Haven and Taloyoak in September. [...more]
The amount of time Sea King pilots get in the air has increased considerably since a crash off Denmark nearly three years ago that investigators blamed on "an insidious combination of circumstances that led to a lowering of aircrew proficiency." [...more]
A court in Iran has ruled that a man who blinded a woman with acid after she spurned his marriage proposals will also be blinded with acid. The ruling was reported in Iranian newspapers on Thursday. [...more]
By general assent among Earth-watchers, the most scandalous decision of the week – and I include Alistair Darling's bottling-out of the new aviation tax in his pre-Budget statement – was made by the international body that presides over the large fishes of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic to allow the magnificent bluefin tuna to continue being hunted to extinction. [...more]
Traces of the industrial chemical melamine have been detected in samples of top-selling U.S. infant formula, but federal regulators insist the products are safe. The Food and Drug Administration said last month it was unable to identify any melamine exposure level as safe for infants, but a top official said it would be a "dangerous overreaction" for parents to stop feeding infant formula to babies who depend on it. [...more]
