Back in May, I noticed that Sunnybrook & Women's College Hospital was the recipient of over $440,000 from the Softwood Industry and Community Economic Adjustment Initiative (SICEAI), as recorded in the 2003-2004 Public Accounts. In 2002, SICEAI was announced by then Industry Minister Allan Rock:

"The communities affected by this dispute [the US-Canada softwood lumber trade dispute], can now begin preparing their ideas and economic development proposals to help bring hope to families in rural communities across Canada," said Minister Rock.

It struck me as strange that money from a fund devoted to helping rural communities ended up in a downtown Toronto hospital.

With the help of an Access to Information request, we now know what was going on.

softwood lumber, SICEAI

Posted by: Steve Janke at 10:40 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Which port is more important?

• Port of New York (4,478,480 TEUs in 2004)


• Port of Vancouver (1,664,906 TEUs in 2004)


• Port of Montreal (1,226,296 TEUs in 2004)

• Port of New York: President Kenneth Ringler (salary C$307,291)


• Port of Vancouver: President Gordon Houston (salary about C$200,000)


• Port of Montreal: President Dominic Taddeo (salary C$636,471)

Dominic Taddeo, the president of the federal government-owned Port of Montreal, billed taxpayers almost $17,000 for two first-class airline trips his wife took with him this year to attend industry conferences in Miami and South Africa.

The Port of Montreal executive's trips coincided with personal holidays he and his wife enjoyed before and after the conferences, according to internal government documents obtained under the Access to Information Act.

Mr. Taddeo's expense claims for his wife's airfare were among the $66,047 he spent between this January and July, including $38,043 for the South African trip, $7,000 for golf and health club memberships, $5,784 on 26 meals at the same restaurant, and $3,986 for concert and hockey tickets, the documents show.

In addition to his trips, Mr. Taddeo also billed the Port of Montreal for $4,230 for his "ordinary gentleman" fees at the Royal Montreal Golf Club.

In June and July alone, he also claimed expenses for meals, beverages and guests at the exclusive club on Ile Bizard for an additional $1,073.12, including $379 for unidentified guests he entertained on its fairways.

He also billed the Port of Montreal $1,725 for an athletic club membership.

You might wonder, aren't the shareholders upset about this? Well, are you?

The Montreal Port Authority (MPA) is an autonomous federal agency created in accordance with the Canada Marine Act. It does everything within its power to make the port as competitive as possible.

This falls under the responsibility of the Minister of Transport, Jean Lapierre. Unlike the former head of the Mint, David Dingwall, Taddeo was never a federal minister, but that is not to say he isn't friendly with the federal Liberals. For instance, his name came up during the Sponsorship Program audit run by the Auditor General:

The Hon. Alfonso Gagliano testified that, in 1997, he took a trip to Italy with Mr. Lafleur, Mr. LeFrançois, Mr. Dominic Taddeo (President of the Montreal Port Authority), Mr. Mincarelli (one of the administrators of ADM airport in Montreal), and a few other people. This was a follow-up to the Prime Minister’s trip to Italy the year before. Mr. Gagliano did not believe that he had received gifts valued at more than $200 during his trip to Italy. (10:1255)

Another federal agency with another CEO being paid what has to consider a princely sum both in direct salary and in expenses and perks.

Dominic Taddeo, Montreal

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Did Scott Brison, Minister of Public Works and Government Services, let the scandal cat out of the bag?

Scott Brison, Public Works, RCMP, Jason Kenney, Gomery, scandal

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A new interview with Cindy Sheehan, and no surprise, you are either her, or you'll be ruined. Cindy Sheehan can guarantee that, because she's in control.

Cindy Sheehan

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A new single from The Right Brothers.

Fox News found a "niche" market when they realized that 50% or more of the American people weren't actually being served by the liberal media.

Will conservative entertainment come next? These are people with CD players but who aren't rushing out to buy "Sweet Neocon" by the Rolling Stones.

George W Bush, The Right Brothers, The Rolling Stones

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Apparently, Ward Churchill is the Great Carnak in disguise.

Ward Churchill

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Ward Churchill, the faux Indian famous for his anti-American radicalism and his comparison of the victims of 9/11 to Nazis, continues to sow chaos wherever his name is mentioned.

In this case, a petition at the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Law School in support of Ward Churchill is likely to cost a patriotic Native American (a real Indian) his job.

Ward Churchill, William Bradford, Florence Wagman Roisman

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For those following events in the US, Judge John Roberts has been sworn in as the 17th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States:

"The Senate has confirmed a man with an astute mind and kind heart," President Bush said before John Paul Stevens, the acting chief justice, administered the oath of office.

"All Americans can be confident that the 17th chief justice of the United States will be prudent in exercising judicial power, firm in defending judicial independence and, above all, a faithful guardian of the Constitution."

Angry at another success for the President, the loonie left is venting their rage at the new chief justice. And being so progressive and so accepting of all lifestyles without being judgmental, they are doing what they always do when they want to insult someone.

They are calling him gay.

John Roberts

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Much of Question Period in the House of Commons is a waste of time. There seems to be no requirement for a member of the government to actually answer the questions being asked. Sometimes I think we should just scrap the whole exercise.

Even more depressing, is that when a question seems to be answered, we are actually listening to a rehearsed stage-play, and not honest debate.

Yesterday, our star was Belinda Stronach.

Belinda Stronach

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It's a small thing, I know, but I think it's worth mentioning. Marking the installation of Michaelle Jean as Governor General, Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP MP for Winnipeg North had this to say:

We welcome a courageous and powerful voice for women's rights on to our national stage. It is my hope and that of my colleagues that Madam Jean's deep conviction in the important and unique role women have in Canadian society can reach beyond the walls of Government House and into every facet of Canadians' daily lives.

The "unique role of women"?

Now to be unique, you must be different from everything else. In this case, the role of women is different from the role of all other genders. Last time I checked, there were only two (no, I'm not counting transsexuals and the confused, simply because biologically they are still a specific gender, and frankly their numbers are too small to matter).

If there are only two genders, and first is unique from the second, then it follows that the second is equally unique compared to the first. If there were eight genders, and one was different, and the other seven were the same (as measured against some particular criteria, such as suitability to be governor general), then being unique means something.

But when there are only two, then both are unique, simply because they are different.

Maybe there is a special form of logic that works in the socialist-feminist mind. I doubt it though. Or more accurately, I doubt you could call it "logic".

So I'd like to add to Ms Wasylycia-Leis' comments by saying, "It is my hope that my deep conviction in the important and unique role men have in Canadian society can reach beyond the walls of sloppy feminist thinking and into every facet of Canadians' daily lives."

Hear, hear!

Michaelle Jean, feminism, gender, language

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Cindy Sheehan is going to start taking on paid speaking engagements. Why?

Because she has almost finished running through Casey Sheehan's life insurance!

Before the event, Sheehan met with reporters to discuss her plans for the future. She said she didn't think her contract with Speaking Matters LLC will distract from her message.

"This is a society where people make money doing what they do and I have to pay my bills, too," she told Cybercast News Service.

"I love doing this and I do it for free," Sheehan continued. She said she has been spending her own money to travel around the country in recent weeks to rally opposition to the war in Iraq.

Sheehan previously told Cybercast News Service that she was not taking money from organizations like MoveOn.org or private financiers like George Soros but that her recent 51-city bus tour was funded by "grassroots fundraising."

She said her contract with Speaking Matters, which has not yet disclosed how much a Sheehan appearance will cost, will help her "finally make some money ...'cause Casey's insurance money's going to run out pretty soon."

Casey left behind a brother, two sisters, and a father as well. But it sounds like Cindy Sheehan took his insurance money and used it to pay her way, and presumably some of the expenses of her "fellow travelers".

How much money? We don't know for sure, but we can guess. From the US Army:

The Serviceman's Group Life Insurance, better known as SGLI, is group term life insurance currently available to all members of the US Army. SGLI is a group life insurance policy purchased by the VA from a commercial life insurance company, and is partially subsidized by the federal government.

Servicemembers on active duty, active duty for training or inactive duty for training and members of the Reserves are automatically covered for $250,000, the maximum amount of coverage, unless they opt out in writing. A soldier can elect lower coverage or no coverage by completing VA Form SGLV-8286. Basic SGLI premiums are currently $.065 per $1,000 of insurance, regardless of the member's age. View rates for different coverage amounts.

Some people were asked if their opinion of her changed now that she'll be taking money for speaking engagements:

[University of Maryland student] Megan Hanford said it makes sense that Sheehan would start charging for appearances. "She can't work while she's traveling the country," Hanford said, "and she's lost any income that her son might have brought her."

Her son was an adult. Her husband had a job. So did she. Casey would not have brought any income to Cindy Sheehan, under normal circumstances (read the Anchoress for more on this facet).

If Cindy Sheehan was the sole beneficiary, then she had every right to take the money and do what she wanted with it. We don't know who Casey named as beneficiary, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was just his mother -- before I got married, I routinely named my dad as my beneficiary on insurance forms, fully expecting that in the event of my demise, the money would be going to both my parents, and to rest of my immediate family, as required.

Did any of the insurance money go to paying off family debts? The mortgage on the house? The car loans? The college bills for the other kids?

What other family resources did Cindy Sheehan squander? Is this part of the reason for the divorce proceedings, including the Patrick Sheehan's demands that Cindy Sheehan pay for the cost of the divorce, and pay some sort of support back to Patrick. Is Patrick Sheehan trying to recover the lost insurance money?

Many have been disturbed by the way Cindy Sheehan has used Casey's name to promote her own agenda. Apparently she was using far more than just his name.

I will try to find out more...

Update: Got more. Much more...

Cindy Sheehan

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Dan Rather is off his meds:

Dan Rather wants to reopen the investigation into President Bush and the National Guard story that resulted in the Memogate scandal and led to his early departure from the anchor desk.

Rather continues to insist that the story was correct and suggested in the interview that he and the network may have been set up by some outsider.

Which is it? The story was correct? Or it was an elaborate ruse to destroy Dan Rather? I'm not sure which is more disturbing -- Dan Rather's bizarre shifts in logic in the space of a single sentence, or that he really believes he was such an important target that he had to be "taken out".

"I believed in the story," Rather said. "The facts of the story were correct."

Perhaps, but then since the memos were fakes, the memos have no relationship to any story, factual or otherwise, except whatever relationship Rather cares to imagine. So technically Rather can assert any story he likes as being factual. Then so can I. Neither of us have any evidence to back any story we chose to hang our careers on.

But of course, for Dan Rather, the memos weren't fakes:

"One supporting pillar of the story, albeit an important one, one supporting pillar was brought into question," he said. "To this day, no one has proven whether it was what it purported to be or not."

Brought into question?

The true purpose of the HAARP installation in Alaska has been brought into question.

The lone gunman theory of the JFK assassination has been brought into question.

Questions about the memos? Hardly. They were fakes. They were poor quality fakes. They were laughably bad fakes.

The Killian memos were ridiculed from all quarters and held up as an example of how a mixture of hubris and desperation blinded an generally well-regarded, if biased, journalist.

But back to his last statement: "To this day, no one has proven whether it was what it purported to be or not."

I'm still parsing that sentence. I think he's saying that to this day, no one has proven the memos to be fakes.

He can't even bring himself to say "fake" -- how pathetic.

Well, that ground has been covered to death.

When Rather refused to see the obvious, he was seen by many as the anti-thesis of a good journalist.

And when a news anchor loses the respect of his audience, even his partisan supporters, he might as well be replaced by a sock puppet reading the news. That was Dan Rather's fate. He became an object of pity, and was shuffled off the stage with what little dignity could be afforded to him.

Clearly that was wasted effort, as he seems to eager to relive his last moments of celebrity, as humiliating as they were.

Pathetic.

[Dan Rather is like a recurring case of syphilis? Or is he just a bad joke?]

Dan Rather

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1 It's called The Retirement Blahs. It's like the Blues, except it's out of tune. What Dan Rather wants is a way to untarnish his own legacy, by somehow mitigating the damage that Rathergate did. He's not going to get it. For the following reasons: 1) George W. Bush's past is no longer relevant to the American public, and by extension to news editors. He's been re-elected over a year ago, and there are more than enough "screw-ups" in the present to keep the press occupied. Hence it's a non-starter. 2) Rather has yet to realize that, by using fake evidence to support his story, he's destroyed his ability to follow up on the allegations. Any further investigation he does will be under super-intense scrutiny, to see if what he digs up is also fake, coached, or otherwise presented under less than real credentials. 3) At age 75 and semi-retired, Rather is no longer in a position to insist that a particular story be followed.

Posted by: PhantomObserver at September 29, 2005 10:27 AM (U8FJD)

2 Well, I don't know if he's in *no* position to see it followed. Hollywood Squares might still provide a comeback. Besides, to this day, no one has proven whether his retirement was what it purported to be or not. :-)

Posted by: J-P at September 29, 2005 11:02 AM (GrOuj)

3 I think what he saying, which is what he said all the way along, was that the piece of paper was a fake as it turned out but it was a fake copy of a letter that real people remember. The content of the fake document were written up from memory. The fake document poisoned the issue of the debate. Having said that, Bush using connections to skip out on serving his country in time of war is really past history and irrelevant to anyone but historians. Pursuing it just to make Bush look even worse is almost as bad as, and just as horribly partisan as, making up stories to attack a true, albeit admittedly minor, war hero soldier who volunteered to put his life on the line for his country. TB Cerberus

Posted by: TB at September 29, 2005 11:03 AM (9l8Vc)

4 Oh yeah, right, Bush used his connections to get the Democrat governor of Texas to let him out of the national guard. Riiiiight. I have a bridge in Southern Louisiana to sell you.

Posted by: Ed Minchau at September 29, 2005 11:46 AM (pPVQ0)

5 For a good summary of the attacks that have been leveled against President Bush, and an explanation of why they are groundless, see this article by Air Force Col. John H. Wambough, Jr. The piece is lengthy and can be regarded as definitive; here are a few excerpts: I can say from my experience that flying operational fighter jets is highly dangerous. People don't strap fighter jets to their backside if they are overly concerned for their future. While in F-105 training at McConnell AFB in early 1968, we lost five aircraft in six weeks. I can assure you that Lt. Bush was continuously exposed to similar dangers during all weather scrambles and during training exercises as evidenced by the F-102 pilots killed in his unit. Cowards (or people who lack courage) don't take on the risks that Lt. Bush did in flying Fighter Interceptor Aircraft. Flying jets in wing formation in the weather and carrying explosive ordnance on board is dangerous work. The pilots in these squadrons (including Lt. Bush) did what their country asked them to do. They performed their assigned mission and did it well. In November 1970, the Commander of the Texas Air National Guard, Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian, called Mr. Bush, then 24, "a dynamic outstanding young officer" who stood out as "a top-notch fighter interceptor pilot." "Lt. Bush's skills far exceed his contemporaries," Colonel Killian wrote: "He is a natural leader whom his contemporaries look to for leadership. Lt. Bush is also a good follower with outstanding disciplinary traits and an impeccable military bearing." Lt. Bush entered the ANG in May 1968 and took his last (F-102) flight in the Guard four years later in April 1972. His flying tour included pilot training and than operational flying in the F-102 (111th Tactical interceptor Squadron). During Lt. Bush's time in the Guard he accumulated hundreds of hours of flying time; he served his nation honorably; he flew close to 4 years straight and performed Guard duties in 1972 and 1973 satisfactory to his Squadron Commander (Lt. Col Killian) and satisfactory to the ANG; he was given an honorable discharge in October 1973. Like all Guard members, Lt. Bush was required to accrue a minimum of 50 points (annually) to meet Guard service requirements (a minimum of 300 points in six years). What the liberal media may not have covered in their many articles about Lt. Bush's ANG service is that Lt. Bush accumulated 954 points - exceeding the six-year Air National Guard requirement for service - threefold. Of course, everyone knows this, right? All those investigative reporters must have brought this fact out a dozen times. I just must have missed it. In a sane world, for the Democrats to try to make an election issue out of President Bush's National Guard service, more than thirty years after the fact, would be regarded as a sick joke. http://powerlineblog.com/archives/007941.php

Posted by: Slim at September 29, 2005 12:36 PM (U/Xw4)

6 How do we know the documents are fakes? Here are a few of the most basic reasons: 1) Read the summary of the report of Mr. Peter Tytell, document expert, which is Appendix 4 to the Thornburgh Report. You can find it here. Mr. Tytell "concluded that the Killian documents were generated on a computer. He does not believe that any manual or electric typewriter of the early 1970s could have produced the typeface used in the Killian documents." 2) Read the analysis of Dr. Joseph Newcomer, one of the founders of modern electric typesetting, which you can find here. Dr. Newcomer's conclusion: "These documents are modern forgeries." 3) The "Killian documents" are in Times New Roman font. Times New Roman is common on modern word processors, but was never licensed for use on any typewriter. 4) The Thornburgh Report found that whoever forged the documents got no fewer than six military acronyms wrong. 5) One of the fake documents says that General "Buck" Staudt was pressuring Lt. Col. Bobby Hodges to sugarcoat Lt. Bush's evaluation. The document is dated August 1973. General Staudt retired in April 1972. 6) The source of the documents was Bill Burkett, a notorious Bush-hating crank with a personal vendetta against the National Guard. He lied about where he got the documents. First he said they were given to him by someone named "Conn" who promptly left for Europe. (CBS never made any attempt to locate Mr. Conn, who turned out to be fictitious, to verify Burkett's story or, more important, find out where Conn got them.) After the 60 Minutes story blew up, Burkett admitted that Conn didn't exist. His revised story was that he got a call from someone named "Lucy Ramirez" who told him to go to the Texas Livestock Show. He went to the Texas Livestock Show. A man he'd never seen before walked up to him and handed him an envelope, which contained the documents. He took them home, photocopied them, and burned the originals. Do you find that story credible? Would it be credible even if it were the first story he told? 7) Jerry Killian's widow and sons say that he did not write the memos, and that he did not agree with the sentiments they express. President Bush's evaluations from that time period are glowing. His superiors, including Jerry Killian, described him as a first-rate officer and pilot. You can access the evaluations on my web site,Power Line. There is a great deal more, but that should be sufficient. I would add that the burden of proof is not on those who have pointed out multitudes of reasons why the documents are fakes. Anyone can type up "documents" and claim that they were mysteriously given to him by an anonymous stranger.The burden of proof is on those who claim that the documents are genuine. As to the broader issue, there is no support for the claim that Bush received some kind of "special treatment." General Staudt, who approved Bush's application, has said repeatedly that he received no communications of any kind from anyone in connection with that application, and accepted it because he thought Bush would be a good pilot. There was no waiting list for pilots in the Texas Air National Guard at that time, so there is no reason to think that some kind of "special treatment" was necessary. Nor did Bush volunteer for the National Guard to escape service on Vietnam; on the contrary, he volunteered to go to Vietnam while in the Guard, but was turned down because he did not have the required number of pilot hours. Col. Ed Morrisey, who served in the TANG with Bush, says: "The Air Force, in their ultimate wisdom, assembled a group of 102's and took them to Southeast Asia. Bush volunteered to go. But he needed to have 500 [flight] hours, but he only had just over 300 hours so he wasn't eligible to go." You can read about it here. Interestingly, the Thornburgh Report says that Mary Mapes' file on her investigation that led up to the 60 Minutes story shows that she learned, in the course of the investigation, that Bush had not in fact received any kind of preferential treatment, but went ahead with the story anyway. With all due respect, Mr. Kalb, it is unfortunate that you have enabled Mr. Rather's ongoing perpetration of a notorious fraud without taking the time to apprise yourself of the facts. John Hinderaker http://www.powerlineblog.com/

Posted by: Slim at September 30, 2005 10:54 AM (U/Xw4)

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From the Globe and Mail:

David Dingwall resigned Wednesday as president of the Royal Canadian Mint.
The former Liberal cabinet minister has become embroiled in controversy after it was recently revealed he failed to register as a lobbyist for a Toronto pharmaceutical company.

In a statement Wednesday he said he believed all of his actvities were above-board.

A chink the in the Liberal armour? The first resignaton of many?

Or a speedy resolution to an isolated problem?

I know what I'm putting my money on.

While we wait to find out, I guess we can also place bets on how long it is before Dingwall is named to the Senate or is made a judge.

(Special congratulations to Simon Tuck and Jeff Sallot at the Globe and Mail who have been working this story for months.)

Technology Partnerships Canada, David Dingwall

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Remember these junior rapists from Florida?

The surly fellow in the upper left is Ronterius Lamar Hubbard, 14:

A quartet of Florida boys ripped the clothes off fellow middle school students and photographed the terrified girls with their cell phones in a sickening school bus attack Friday afternoon. The boys, aged 12 to 14, were arrested and hit with felony battery and molestation charges for assaulting and groping the girls.

Well, Ronterius is known to the police, quite the accomplishment for a boy so young, for burglary and criminal mischief, but he wasn't prosecuted in July of 2004:

The defendant has entered into a diversion program (VIP). This case will be refiled if the defendant fails to qualify for or successfully complete the diversion program.

Prosecutor J. Carnahan made that decision. In fact, in July of 2004, no less than 11 cases were diverted to VIP, all by Carnahan. Either Carnahan really has faith in this VIP diversion, or Carnahan prefers sending cases to VIP instead of actually prosecuting them.

Let's hope at least a few of them worked out better than Hubbard.

So what is VIP? VIP stands for "Violence Intervention and Prevention":

SWFAS counselors work with youth (ages 10 - 17) and their families who have engaged in violent behavior in school or in the community. This program is offered through a Community Partnership Grant through the Department of Juvenile Justice. VIP works with youth/families who are self referred or those youth who have been arrested for domestic violence. The program also offers Aggression Replacement Training services for those juveniles who have engaged in some form of violent related behavior in school.

Sounds like they didn't intervene enough. Now he has graduated from property crime to sexual assault. Assuming this is the first time he's done this, and not just the first time he's been caught.

I hope someone in the Florida media follows up on this. Might be interesting to see what other "successes" VIP programs have had. This information might also be of interest to the parents of the girls who were assaulted.

Tavares Middle School

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In the tension between Church and State, this is the first time I've heard of Church officials (in this case, Episcopal priests) appealing to the State for legal relief from a Church that seems to have lost its way.

Though I feel for these priests trying to be Christians in a Church that seems to have forgotten what that means, I think what they are doing is wrong. There is a right thing to do in this situation, but I can understand that this choice is a difficult one.

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"It varies from person to person."

This gag from Futurama popped into my head as I read about Sweden's new funeral rite. People as fertilizer.

How environmentally friendly, right? Not really.

[Updated with some more explanatory notes about energy usage.]

cremation, funeral

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Recall that Cindy Sheehan complained that the news media was spending too much time on Hurricane Rita and has been roundly criticized for it, in particular by the left, many of whom are wondering if the accusations of Cindy Sheehan being a media opportunist leveled by the right were true.

Recall that Cindy Sheehan's spokesperson then issued a denial, suggesting that someone else had used Cindy Sheehan's Kos account to make that post, a story which few believed.

Now on MichaelMoore.com, Cindy Sheehan admits that she posted the original complaint:

Now about Hurricane Rita: I woke up on Saturday morning filled with excitement. I knew that the rally and march were going to be amazing events and I was thrilled to be a part of them. I switched on the TV and turned on CNN and for 2 hours, I watched one of their reporters in front of the same downed tree and it wasn't even raining. I knew that there was a hurricane and it was damaging. At the point of the news cycle though, I thought CNN could be covering other news.

OK, so nows she's complaining that CNN wasn't covering how she was watching CNN hours before the actual rally? And didn't the spokeswoman who issued the denial, Morrigan Phillips, say that Cindy Sheehan would not have had the time to post the offensive comment because Sheehan "was pretty busy on Saturday"? In fact, Phillips said she was "certain" of that.

Well, from Cindy Sheehan herself -- she had enough time on Saturday to watch CNN for 2 hours hoping to catch herself on TV.

Time for a new spokesperson.

But back to the retraction:

I am sorry for what seemed to be an insensitive remark about the people who were affected by Rita, but that was not my intention. I am very aware that the failed policies of the Bush administration have all put us in the same boat, so to speak, and we need to take responsibility for righting the wrongs here in our country and in Iraq.

Cute working George W Bush in there. Nothing ruins a good apology than trying to blame someone else. My four-year-old does it all the time.

So there you have it. To all the Democratic Underground folks who desperately wanted to believe that Cindy Sheehan's really stupid comments were the result of some nefarious but Republican hackers...oh well.

Cindy Sheehan, Hurricane Rita

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When American children are expected to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, fireworks go off when the words "under God" are spoken. Separation of Church and State! The Establishment Clause! Pro-Christian bias!

But start spouting off about inner energies and ancient African rites and "spherical holy breath" in an elementary school, and no one bats an eye.

Diane Gunter, Vandorn Hinnant

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Two unrelated stories about the world of broadcast news.

First from the Washington Post:

Masked Anchorman Lauds Gaza Pullout, Iraq Attacks, Hurricane Katrina

An Internet video newscast called the Voice of the Caliphate was broadcast for the first time on Monday, purporting to be a production of al Qaeda and featuring an anchorman who wore a black ski mask and an ammunition belt.

The anchorman, who said the report would appear once a week, presented news about the Gaza Strip and Iraq and expressed happiness about recent hurricanes in the United States. A copy of the Koran, the Muslim holy book, was placed by his right hand and a rifle affixed to a tripod was pointed at the camera.

The lead segment recounted Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, which the narrator proclaimed as a "great victory," while showing Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia walking and talking among celebrating compatriots.

That was followed by a repeat of a pledge on Sept. 14 by Abu Musab Zarqawi, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, to wage all-out war on Iraq's Shiite Muslims. An image of Zarqawi, a Jordanian-born Sunni Muslim, remained on the screen for about half the broadcast.

A commercial break of sorts followed, which previewed a movie, "Total Jihad," directed by Mousslim Mouwaheed. The ad was in English, suggesting that the target audience might be Muslims living in Britain and the United States.

Disturbing news indeed about a news program by radical America-hating radicals, right down to an anchorman spewing lies and half-truths.

In unrelated news, a spokeman for disgraced ex-CBS anchorman Dan Rather announced today that Rather had left the United States for an unspecified period of time to take up a new oversees assignment in an undisclosed location with an unnamed burgeoning news organization that needed his expertise, experience, and his unique editorial take on American current events.

Dan Rather, Al Qaeda

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Belinda Stronach has exceeded my expectations when it comes to lowering the quality of debate in the House of Commons.

Our Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister responsible for Democratic Renewal seems to be a vacuous as we all feared.

Belinda Stronach

Posted by: Steve Janke at 12:47 PM | Comments (16) | Add Comment
Post contains 399 words, total size 3 kb.