The Stranger posts Mohammed Cartoons

... what’s happening here is that a gang of bullies—led by a country, Saudi Arabia, where Bibles are forbidden, Christians tortured, Jews routinely labeled “apes and pigs” in the state-controlled media, and apostasy from Islam punished by death—is trying to compel a tiny democracy to live by its own theocratic rules. To succumb to pressure from this gang would simply be to invite further pressure, and lead to further concessions—not just by Denmark but by all of democratic Europe. And when they’ve tamed Europe, they’ll come after America.

After all, the list of Western phenomena that offend the sensibilities of many Muslims is a long one—ranging from religious liberty, sexual equality, and the right of gay people not to have a wall dropped on them, to music, alcohol, dogs, and pork. After a few Danish cartoons, what’s next? - The Stranger - News - Feature - All the Rage:

It is important to thoroughly consider who it is that are re-publishing and distributing these cartoons.

Some folks like to point, with a look-at-them-right-wingers-go glee, those folks posting the Mohammed cartoons.

Yet, certainly Seattle's The Stranger is nowhere close to being labeled a right wing paper and they have evidently posted several of the cartoons on their website and perhaps published them too (to be confirmed).

And what about the clerics that distributed the cartoons in the Muslim world? What makes them different from Levant, publisher of the Western Standard? Shouldn't they be scolded just as much as newspaper publishers for distributing the materials in question?

Liberals contemplate quick comeback after disastrous first week for Harper - Yahoo! News

'We're going to oppose those measures that we find are not in the interests of Canada and Canadians and we'll oppose them all the way,' Graham said.

'And if that leads to the government falling, it's going to lead to the government falling. And the way they're making their decisions it's clear that could happen earlier rather than later just given the nature of what they're doing.'

Harper plunged his fledgling regime into turmoil with some unusual choices for his cabinet which cast doubt on his election pledge to run a more accountable, ethical administration. - Liberals contemplate quick comeback after disastrous first week for Harper - Yahoo! News:

Am I missing something? Is the situation really that dire?

Anti-protest protest in Paris

Two guys in Paris are caught on video wearing a Danish flag and a sign reading "free cartoonists" amid what I think may be called an anti-Danish
Mohammed Cartoon" protest.

Check out the video here.

While I wouldn't want to be them, I do wonder if they really are in the wrong for protesting agains the protest.

Do they not have the write to stand up for the other side, even if the other side is wrong?

TheStar.com - Toronto lawyer wants to be Liberal leader

TheStar.com - Toronto lawyer wants to be Liberal leader:

A relatively obscure Toronto lawyer has become the first declared candidate for the Liberal leadership.

Martha Hall Findlay threw her hat in the ring Wednesday, undaunted by the fact that much higher profile contenders have been dropping from the race like flies.

And which riding will she be running in? Last time she ran she was beat out by Belinda Stronach in the riding of Newmarket-Aurora. Perhaps her offer to be the Liberal leader is to challenge Ms Stronach to run for Liberal leadership.

Mohammed cartoon row a case against religion?

Does the violent reaction to anti-muslim cartoons make Christopher Hitchens right?

For most of human history, religion and bigotry have been two sides of the same coin, and it still shows. - Hitchens, The case for mocking religion

Of course I find it rather ironic that for all his accusing religion Hitchens forgets that people putting together anti-muslim illustrations are not expressly religious which would suggest that bigotry, religion, and secularism are all going to be somewhere together on that coin of his.

Still, religious things do give a group of people something in their relation to another group of people to be upset about. Cartoonist Doug Marlette recounts his experience with religious groups:

I have outraged Christians by skewering Jerry Falwell, Catholics by needling the pope, and Jews by criticizing Israel. Those who rise up against the expression of ideas are strikingly similar. No one is less tolerant than those demanding tolerance. Despite differences of culture and creed, they all seem to share the notion that there is only one way of looking at things, their way. What I have learned from years of this is one of the great lessons of all the world's religions: we are all one in our humanness. - Marlette, I Was a Tool of Satan

That's a victory for secular humanism against religion.

But then we come back to Denmark, a country that the Spiegel's Jürgen Gottschlich says has Europe's most xenophobic government. There Danish voters, perceiving Muslim immigrants as social welfare freeloaders, elected a government to impose stricter immigration controls. This isn't religious bigotry, this is secular bigotry.

Jurgen goes on to consider the bankruptcy of secular values,

Instead of participating in a disingenuous battle for free speech, it is high time for some in Europe to return to the virtues of Enlightenment to help them find reason. The situation is difficult enough already and there are idiots on all sides. Indeed, neither is free of guilt.

The Telegraph's John Casey hasn't forgot history nor the culpability of the Enlightenment's nation states in today's violence.

Have we in the West become so historically ignorant that we forget how closely, within living memory, Christian attitudes to the sacred resembled those of Muslims? ... There is little doubt that only a generation ago the blasphemy laws would have been used against Jerry Springer, the Opera. They would certainly have been used against Gibbon had he not concealed his assault on Christianity in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire under layers of irony.

The current political violence by Muslims can be traced to two quite clear events. The first was the fatal decision of President Sadat of Egypt to bring the Islamists into politics as a weapon against the Left. The second was the creation by the Americans of the Mujahideen to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan. This Frankenstein's monster has stalked the world ever since. - Casey, This is folly, not a clash of civilisations

Give Islam some time to evolve, says John Casey, accusing the badly drawn cartoons as inhibitors of progress.

But where are we going, Casey? That's the question progress poses. And that may only be a question that religion can answer, unless we start to claim that secularism actually has an eschatology other than that day when religions will exist no more. Because that would just be intolerant and bigotted.

Casey mentions Gibbon. To what end did he work? I know a little about Gibbon and his "irony". Joseph Levine in his Autonomy of History draws a number of similarities in his comparisons of Gibbon's historical method with that of Erasmus in his work The Autonomy of History. Erasmus came to similar conclusions as Gibbon (centuries before Gibbon) and was called blasphemous for chopping off the Johannine Comma and among others little work entitled The Praise of Folly.

And we know what end Erasmus worked for.

TheStar.com - Harper debuts his team

TheStar.com - Harper debuts his team:
Key members of the new cabinet
# Jim Flaherty, Finance
# Peter MacKay, Foreign Affairs
# David Emerson, Int'l Trade
# Tony Clement, Health
# Gordon O'Connor, Defence
# Vic Toews, Justice
# Rona Ambrose, Environment
# Stockwell Day, Public Safety
# Monte Solberg, Citizenship
# Maxime Bernier, Industry
# John Baird, Treasury Board
# Rob Nicholson, Democratic Reform"

Yup, that's right. David Emerson is staying on. He crossed the floor.

Telegraph | News | Cleric calls on Mohammed cartoonist to be executed

Telegraph : Cleric calls on Mohammed cartoonist to be executed:

"'We are not saying ourselves to go there and start to look to him and kill him, we are not talking about that. We are talking about Islamic rules. If anybody insults the prophet, he will have to take a punishment.'

He said if countries refused to put people on trial for insulting Mohammed they must 'face the consequences'."

And while Omar Bakri Mohammed is termed by the article as a radical Muslim cleric, the question that still persists in my mind is, wouldn't administering "a punishment" (nothing short of an execution (!!!)> to the cartoonist be the ultimate demonstration of Western tolerance?

rights, reactions, and the closing of the Red Sea

The cartoons of Muslims, particularly depicting Muhammed, published by Denmark's Jyllands-Posten is still getting quite a lot of attention today. I sincerely hope that this awful tragedy in the Red Sea will turn attention agitated in the West and East to something that can be agreed upon - that death is an inhuman thief that can come in the night.

Yet from the comments I've received I'm coming to suspect that there are several deeply significant issues taking place here:

• There's the matter of european solidarity (via Michael). Non-muslim europeans have probably been looking for something worthwhile to unite them on and I think the loss of Spirit non-muslim europeans have in contrast to their muslim counter parts could be an effective motivator. This interpretation quite strongly suggests that jealousy is the motivator. Are europeans jealous of the muslim spirit?


• There's the matter of christians comparing their reactions to insulting depictions of their God in a freedom of speech society to the reaction of some in the muslim world (via DP). Christians can look at a people who are burning Danish flags and boycotting Danish goods and too easily say that they're not capable of the same thing. Christians believe strongly in consciencious freedoms. But I think this is the part of the truth that will be emphasised to the point of becoming a myth. Christians may not burn flags, but they sure do enjoy reacting. Christians love to react to images insulting their values. It thrills them to be insulted. Can't have evolution taught in school, insulted. Homosexual cowboys in the movies, insulted. Sharon pulls out of Gaza, insulted. Jesus Christ Superstar, insulted. Britney Spears mocking Christ, insulted. Of course there are many Christians who are on the opposite coin of all these offensive ideas and images, but I don't know if it is a complete picture to focus on just those that don't get insulted.


• The west's religious history of iconoclasm has reduced the value of images for them and therefore makes them insensitive to peoples who do not share that same history (via Anastasia). "I seriously think that Christians in the West having been the predominant religion for centuries have completely forgotten what it’s like to be persecuted for your beliefs the way that Muslims have been lately," says Anastasia.


• Many in the west are confusing this matter with the war on terrorism (via Anastasia). I agree, but I think it will be too easily done. Apart from telling people that these are two different matters, I do not know how to substantiate it.


• Should good manners trump rights. Michael procured two interesting quotes: "Kofi Annan said freedom of the press should not be an excuse for insulting religions. The French interior minister, Nicholas Sarkozy, said he preferred “an excess of caricature to an excess of censure”."

On the growing anger over badly drawn cartoons

Here are the cartoons that have caused quite a stink in the Muslim World.

and

Here is a cartoon that has not caused a stink in the West.

and

Here is Britney Spears trying to create a stink. Perhaps religious fanatics in the West will be led by this to burn her records.

Is there a difference and what is the difference between Judaism, Christianity and Islam that sparks a varied reaction to acts of defacement committed in the name of free speech?

Harper snubbed by 'progressive' summit

Seems like this organization is confusing the Canadian centre-right for the American right. Canadian centre-right is more left than the American left! Tory support for nationalized health care is pretty much the only evidence needed.

"'My understanding is that the invitation wouldn't be extended to Stephen Harper,' he said.

'I think it's fair to say the Conservative party as a whole now operates from a centre-right position. This is a movement designed to bring the centre and left together.'" - From the National Post

Canadian sovereignty over the arctic

Curt words are being exchanged between Stephen Harper and David Wilkins, the American ambassador, over the Arctic. The CBC reports.

Harper is planning to spend $5 billion over the next five years to defend Canada's sovereignty over portion of the arctic with military ice-breaker vessels.

Wilkins response:

"There's no reason to create a problem that doesn't exist."

"We don't recognize Canada's claims to those waters... Most other countries do not recognize their claim."

Harper's stance:

"The United States defends its sovereignty and the Canadian government will defend our sovereignty,"

I'd like to know what people think about this. Is Canadian sovereignty over the arctic important? Why is it worth 5 billion? How ought we to understand Canadian sovereignty?

Who's more into oil, Al Gore?

The self-proclaimed inventor of the internet should maybe browse over to Wikipedia and make a quick comparison of Stephen Harper's career to that of Paul Martin's.

Wikipedia, certainly credible for the inventor of the internet, has this to say on the leader's connections to oil and big business:

Stephen Harper "briefly studied at the University of Toronto before travelling to Edmonton where he found employment in the oil and gas industry of Alberta as a computer programmer in his early twenties." [1]

Paul Martin: "Executive Assistant to Maurice Strong, President of Power Corporation of Canada Vice-President, Power Corporation Vice-President, Consolidated Bathurst Ltd. (A Power Co. subsidiary) Vice-President, Planning and Development for Power Corporation President and later Chief Executive Officer, CSL Group Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Steamship Lines Corporate Director for C.B. Pak Inc, Redpath Industries Ltd., Fednav Ltd., Manufacturers Life Insurance Co., Canadian Shipbuilding & Engineering Ltd. and Imasco Corp..." and much more.

And you know what Power Corporation means? Oil.

... plus a couple of other things, but who cares when your political vision is tunneled and your motivation embittered ...

Now, still using dubious internet techniques to prove a point,
google oil "Stephen Harper"
> 334,000 hits

and then
google oil "Paul Martin"
> 528,000 hits

Then whip on over to The Ethics Comissioner's site and look up Paul Martin in the public registry search find these oil related records:

1995/09/27 - 2002/02/14

Cordex Petroleums Inc. (oil and gas exploration and production) (Alberta)
- 4.6% owned by The CSL Group Inc.

1994/02/24 - 1995/07/12

Argyll Energy Corporation
(inactive, formerly engaged in
oil and gas exploration and
production) - 10%

Cordex Petroleums Inc.(formerly Baca
Petroleum Corporation)(oil & gas
expl. and prod.) - 4.6%

Of course I'd like to see Stephen Harper's public registry entry when it comes available, but for now I think the line "backed by big oil" cannot be backed by a claim that because a man is from oil country, he is ergo oil backed.

update: good point, Mr Anonymous

Unconfirmed outdated law in Calgary

I was just reading the BBC article on outdated laws that were being weeded out of the statute books. Came across this in one of the comments:

[A law] in the city of Calgary ... requires one to have a hitching post outside of their business establishment, or if one is kicked out of the city, the accused is entitled a horse and a day's worth of rations to see them to the next city. Cowboy laws die hard out here.

Can we confirm this?

Martin announces he will step down as leader

Watching Mr Martin's speech. He just announced that he will not be leading the party into the next election.

Algorithm detects Canadian politicians' spin

Stephen Harper: 73
Jack Layton: 88
Paul Martin: 124

According to a new deception-detecting computer algorithm developed at Queen's University, Paul Martin spins the most of the candidates.

Developers define spin as “text or speech where the apparent meaning is not the true belief of the person saying or writing it”.

The program analyzes text for the diminished use of personal pronouns, among other things.

New Scientist has the details on this breaking news.

oh the parodies of the liberal attack ads

and oh how true to form

Check out the scripts from Daimnation!

Edmonton women fined $632 for passing stopped police car

The grace period for the two month old legislation in the province of Alberta that requires drivers to slow down when passing emergency vehicles, tow trucks with flashing lights, or when passing through construction zones has expired.

An Alberta woman discovered the new law when she was fined $632 for passing an unmarked cop car that had pulled over a speeding vehicle. She was driving under the posted speed limit, but over double the limit required by the new legislation. CBC Edmonton has the report.

Observations:

1. This may actually be the best way to run a marketing campaign for new laws. Fine people, let it hit the media, and then have a judge reduce the fine (eliminate it altogether for the lady - I hope).
   
   
2. As for this new law reducing injuries in the case of pulled over cars. I wonder if demanding by law for cars to reduce their speed to 60km/h on Albertan highways of posted limits of 110km/h will not actually cause greater danger to drivers than the previous situation did for police officers.

Kinsella: NDP and Conservative war rooms "so superior" to Liberal's

"On all of the key war room indicators - speed, accuracy, volume, resulting media coverage - the Grit effort is pitiful," says war room vet Warren Kinsella.

Ontario seeks more powers for premier

Ontario community safety minister, Monte Kwinter, is framing his Bill 56 as a precautionary measure in lieu of a potential influenza pandemic.

By way of amending the Emergency Management Act, the Employment Standards Act, and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, Bill 56 would grant the Premier administrative powers over any district or municipality together with the power to restrict popular moblity, force labour for the premier, close any institutions (including businesses and hospitals), remove private property, and freeze prices of goods.

A state of emergency has several time limits, the provincial cabinet can extend it for 14 days after 14 days have expired and the provincial legislature can extend it after that for another period of time.

Emergency powers and planning for health oriented disasters (in which this Bill is framed, but not to which the Bill is limited) is a dreadfully important task to undertake by local and provincial governments. The experience of New Orleans cannot be over emphasised nor the experience of the 2003 blackout in Ontario ignored.

First, is it necessarily prudent to suppose that the highest level of government in a province is necessarily the most compotent at dealing with a disaster? Can they respond or coordinate a response more effectively than a municipality, or even a non-governmental organization? Giving the premier power to do what is necessary is one thing, that they would be the most efficient and effective at "immediate action to prevent, reduce or mitigate a danger of major proportions" is quite another and should be qualified with this Bill.

Secondly, giving the premier emergency powers over muncipalities could hand the principles that govern a response over to partisan politics. We see this currently happening in New Orleans where, the Washington Post reports, the "nation's response to Katrina is cleaving the public down partisan lines as a domestic issue." In addition to the question "how could this be prevented" it also related to my third point.

Thirdly, centralizing power in a response to a disaster would rather than unify the population at the ground, the people against the disaster, it would have people unload a sense of personal responsibility upon the provincial government of whom they would wait orders. A spokesperson officially representing electrical engineers in Ontario says that during the 2003 power outage his people volunteered to help out in the crisis, they did not need a law to force them to work (reported in a Canoe article). Rather than being inspired by disaster to volunteerism, labourers would be threatened by law.

Governor General Jean's New Year address

Anyone get a chance to watch GG Jean's New Year address?

The computer generated opening of national symbols, the crystal clear, mellow voice providing distinct pronunciation, together with the inspirational music that fulfills the nationalistic ambience - it all reminds me of the Bible on DVD I got for Christmas from a new relative.

I'm glad Canadians have not constitutionally stressed that questionable idea that religion can actually be separated from the state.

Ah, the good old days, when everyone hated the media but had no other news source

Someone at the Ottawa, Citizen is bitter that blogs are ruining their sport.

News stories regularly quote bloggers commenting on the latest political issue -- not just famous bloggers, or those involved in the game, but ordinary guys with blogs, sometimes even anonymous guys making postings on other peoples' blogs. If these ordinary guys were shouting on the street corner, their views would go unmarked...

People we will never hear of again, some of them anonymous or pseudonymous, got their vicious little ideas into the paper. If they had written letters to the editor and tried to use a pen name, the letters would not have been printed.

...

A decade ago, the most inconsequential opinions and events regularly become news because they were on the Internet. The Internet was new to us then, and everything about it was exciting. So now are the views of Mike from Mississauga and his cousins in cyberspace. It is less a question of what is said than how it is said.

'Bloody hell, who let the plebs into the club?'

As with anything new, there will probably be a maturation process that would take place with the discovery of blogs as a medium of the active populace in deliberating issues or even setting the agenda toward a nation's elections.

I wonder how unique the Canadian electorate is in their use of the blog?