Canada’s Debate

Tonight at 9pm EST America’s Debate Radio launches another show. Each show is generally an hour of news and commentary, an hour (or more) of live phone-calls, and the show closes with some “lighter side” news until midnight. I encourage you to tune in and check it out, or stop by the chat. It’s a good chance to pick up a diverse sample of American opinions. I will of course be watching the Sens lose.

This is just a reminder that friends of mine will be doing their regular internet-radio broadcast of America’s Debate Radio tonight starting at 9pm (with live calls to commence after Bush’s speech.) The general subject of this week’s show will be the much-discussed troop “Surge.” The show is American, but it nonetheless offers a unique insight into the American perspective which is valuable to us north-of-the-border progressives. I may even sneak a call in.

I encourage you to come by the chat, or tune in and listen to the broadcast. It’s always a lot of fun.

You know, the more I work (more on that when I have good news to share) the more I find myself feeling stagnant during my free time. For some reason playing the same old computer games and watching the same old tv shows doesn’t satisfy (even if they are among the best) as much as honest intellectual endeavours. Now, as it turns out I’ve had this blog-thing all this while… and that seems like a pretty good way to involve myself a bit. So I’m going to get back to more regular posting… for what it’s worth. Just a few quick hits for tonight:

1. Are these the dumbest people on earth?

   The intensified discussions are being prompted by several deputies of Cabinet members and reflect a growing belief that the continued use of the detention facility is tainting the image of the United States, and as a result hampering America’s campaign against terrorism, the officials said.

   This is a realization? Where have these “leaders” been for the last five years? Every single conflagration of Muslim anger (or political anger in general) directed towards the United States has carried mention of Guantanamo Bay. It is beyond comprehension that this is news… which begs the question? Does the Bush administration not care, or are they all in some sort of prolonged spell of hysterical blindness?

(Continue reading…)

Now I realize that for some people the Climate Change debate hasn’t really been decided. That’s fine, there’s nothing that I can do to persuade you and I have no intention of trying. However, it doesn’t look good when the best “ally” in the fight against Climate Change theory uses bully tactics and surpresses scientific research at every turn…

Internal memorandums circulated in the Alaskan division of the Federal Fish and Wildlife Service appear to require government biologists or other employees traveling in countries around the Arctic not to discuss climate change, polar bears or sea ice if they are not designated to do so…

Limits on government scientists’ freedom to speak freely about climate change became a heated issue last year after news reports showed that political appointees at NASA had canceled journalists’ interview requests with climate scientists and discouraged news releases on global warming.

If the truth speaks for itself, why is this kind of action necessary?

Just a couple of quick hits for the morning commute:

1. I’m off to Blood Services again. They always need more people-juice, so give early and give often.
2. Paladiea has joined Scott Tribe over at his blog for the time being. She has presumably had a frustrating couple of days so it wouldn’t hurt to stop by and say hello in a non politicized-setting.
3. Despite what the poll at left currently suggest, I will not address the McLelland-myblahg fiasco at any point beyond this paragraph. I have made my feelings known, and am moving on. As a community we should all do the same. By staking out territory as righteous all we do is descend into a parody of ourselves. It’s a blog, nothing more and nothing less.
4. Holy frozen-nipples it was cold out yesterday morning.
5. Don’t forget that America’s Debate Radio is coming up tonight at 9pm. Tune in for the call-in period and you may even get to hear me prattle on about Canadian politics for a bit.

Well the trial of Scooter Libby has reached its conclusion, and much to my surprise he has been found guilty.

NOW things are bound to get interesting… just what does Fitzgerald do with his conviction? Does Libby flip, does Bush issue a pardon (or even an apology), does Cheney or Rove resign? It should be fun beltway-watching for the next week or so.

Can someone explain to me what the big deal is with acquiring a personal passport before travelling to the United States? I understand there are economic concerns about increased border vigilance by the United States, but lets be realistic. The United States is a sovereign country with border security concerns (however illegitimate.) They are well within their rights to ask for a passport when entering that country from another. Canadians have (rightly) rejected deep integration of North America, so we have to live with the reality of sovereignty. Yes, it’s a pain in the ass, but for majority of Canadians travelling to the United States is not a necessity, nor a daily activity.

The “biggest” combatant on the War on Terror (so to speak) is the United States. One would think then that they are in constant danger and the massive new legal apparatus put in place after the WTC attacks would be rounding up terrorists by the dozens… well; not so much. To borrow a bit from George Carlin:

There are no bombs, the whole thing is fucking pointless.

I’m not disputing that there are some people out there who do in fact both want and intend to attack the United States, but if there were as many inside the U.S. as rhetoric suggests, one would think that the federales would pick one up every now and then, if only by accident… only it has never happened. Since 9/11 there’s been one arrest made in the United States that I can think of that turned out to be directly related to a terrorist attack (not counting the infamous shoe-bomber who obviously had more anger than brains), Jose Padilla, and as it turns out the guy was a solo nutjob who was long on ideas and short on resources and practicality. Think I’m crazy? Why are Americans living in fear of an enemy that has been unable to penetrate America in a meaningful way. You’re more likely to be killed my airborne pollutants than you are a terrorist attack, and the EPA’s funding is miniscule in comparison to the various intelligence agencies in the United States.

Think that maybe the government is just doing such a great job catching “the terrorists” that we don’t even appreciate their efforts?

Federal prosecutors counted immigration violations, marriage fraud and drug trafficking among anti-terror cases in the four years after 9/11 even though no evidence linked them to terror activity, a Justice Department audit said Tuesday…

“We do not agree that law enforcement efforts such as these should be counted as anti-terrorism,” the audit concluded. Even if those cases were not taken into account, the audit said, the U.S. attorneys’ office had overstated statistics in all other categories it reported.