Thank God it’s finally Friday, and a long weekend Friday at that. Here’s some beautiful pictures to inspire you to get out and enjoy this incredible world…
Location: Torres Del Paine National Park, Southern Chile. Photographer: Bajy
Location: Loch Tulla, Scotland.
Mandarin Fish
Location: Bromo Volcano, East Java
Location: Vancouver at sunset. Photographer: Reader submission, Robert Werner.
No, I’m not ill, or injured, or otherwise too busy to blog. I’m too hot. It’s so hot right now it’s Toronto hot. That Toronto kind of hot where the humidity makes everything so sticky that a spouses skin contact is the second most unpleasant feeling to simply sitting there, marinating in your own glandular secretions. The last time I think it was this hot was in Toronto in 2003 when the power went out for a few days and we all sat around in the dark and watched the food go bad in the refrigerator.
It’s a cry from that February day earlier this year when the temperatures dipped to -20 here and we were installing windows on the Northeast aspect of the Fairmont hotel with a blizzard bearing down into our faces. My hands went numb and I lost all ability to hold hand tools. I had 8 layers on and it didn’t feel nearly enough. Thermal underwear, two pairs of socks, and we all wore toques under our hard hats. All of that is more bearable than this heat.
Today we basically melted inside the Fairmont, going through a litre of water every two hours or so. This heat wave has been utterly relentless, and it’s almost the end of the second week of it. We got a brief thunder storm on Saturday, but that just wasn’t enough. It’s been clear, sunny, and hot as hell for 2 weeks. I just can’t take any more showers. I cut my hair and shaved my beard off so that I would be cooler. I don’t think I have any more mammalian hair to cut off to keep cooler. Hell, I think even the Mexicans in the construction site think it’s too hot out.
So right now I’m in survival mode. Tomorrow comes Friday Photography. Until then, put your water in the freezer and the frozen peas on your forehead. If you’re reading this from Ontario, you can have your weather back any time you want it.
Photo: Adrian Wyld, Canadian Press
According to the government of Canada website, Foreign Affairs recently announced that it would not be intervening in cases where Canadians have been sentenced to death outside of their jurisdiction, unless asked in writing to do so. The move was met with a mix of criticism and praise, particularly as many feel that Canada should not be interfering in the laws of countries who provide a fair trial.
Now that new policy should be put to the test with news that a Canadian businessman, Bashir Makhtal, will likely face execution in Ethiopia after being convicted on terrorism charges:
Makhtal, 40, of Toronto, is to be sentenced next week, but in the meantime, his supporters in Canada are urgently pressing the federal government to intervene in his case.
“The chances are high he will get the death penalty,” Said Maktal, the imprisoned man’s cousin, told the Citizen in an interview.
“This is the time we need the prime minister’s intervention.”
Maktal, who lives near Hamilton, said relatives in Ethiopia met with his cousin after the verdict was handed down and found him to be “very angry, very worried and very scared.”
There are all sorts of questions that need to be answered before the government gets involved in this case. Did Bashir Makhtal receive a fair trial, and was it proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he has ties to terrorism? Of interest, Transport Minister John Baird has taken a very active interest, something which should surprise detractors of the government who seem to believe that it has a bias against “brown-skinned Canadians”.
Mr.Baird believes that “there’s absolutely no evidence whatsoever” that Makhtal has committed a crime, and issued a statement to the press that Canada will be providing all consular assistance. While he didn’t specifically say whether they would ask for clemency in the event that Mr.Makhtal is sentenced to death, he hinted strongly that the government would.
“It is important not to speculate on the outcome, but I remain personally committed to doing all I can for Bashir once he is sentenced.”
If the government does ask for clemency, it would be based on a new subjective policy style in which the Conservative government solely determine who deserves it, and who does not. That troubles many people who feel that such issues should not be left at the discretion of politicians and bureaucrats. This case should certainly of great interest in determining to what lengths this new policy will be interpreted and, forgive the pun, executed.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has managed to impress me several times during his time in his current portfolio. He affirmed that Canadian values need to be more emphasized to new immigrants; he rightfully rejects the concept of asylum for American soldiers dodging their volunteer positions in the military; and he cut off funding to the Canadian Arab Federation for anti-Semitism, a move which has since been proven thoroughly justified. Most recently he made changes to visa restrictions for Mexican and Czech nationals who were disproportionately applying for asylum, despite the fact that very few would ever be approved. There was a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth over the move, but the results are difficult to argue with:
There have been virtually no asylum claims from Czech or Mexican nationals in the two weeks since the federal government required them to obtain travel visas before visiting Canada, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said Wednesday.
On July 13, the Conservative government announced it was imposing the new visa requirement on the two countries because they are the two top sources of refugee claims, many of which turn out to be unwarranted.
In an interview with CTV’s Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife before a Conservative caucus meeting in Ottawa, Kenney said Canada has received only one refugee claim from the two countries since a 48-hour grace period ended on July 15.
“I think this is working. It’s allowing the legitimate visitors to come and it’s screening out the bogus asylum claims,” Kenney said during the interview, which was broadcast on CTV News Channel.
As Mr.Kenney explains very logically, the only alternative to the move was to allow the continued use of a two-tiered immigration system. One which would allow for people to apply through the proper channels, provide proper information, proof of education and experience, and find a sponsor; and the other being one in which people simply “show up” in Canada and demand welfare, legal aid, and before long, citizenship. An ill-begotten citizenship at that, and an affront to every genuine immigrant in Canada who went through the proper process.
To put it more bluntly, “real refugees” don’t arrive by airplane.
As many other bloggers and journalists have written, I stayed out of the entire “Wafer” affair because I considered it to be a non-story manufactured in the name of infotainment. As it turns out, I was probably right. The fallout from the story has been significant, with the Telegraph-Journal in New Brunswick issuing a front-page apology for lying about a story that insisted Prime Minister Stephen Harper slid his communion wafer into his pocket during the funeral of Romeo LeBlanc. Significantly, the newspaper also admits that the details to the story were added without the consent or knowledge of the journalists who covered the event.
At the time, Mr.Harper described the story as “a low moment in journalism”. Indeed, the bar has been set dangerously close to the earth. Shawna Richer, the editor of the paper, has been removed, while publisher Jamie Irving has been suspended. As Steve Janke explained in his article in the National Post, Mr.Irving is the link to this scandal, one that has certainly turned on the Liberal party. His theory is that Paul Zed, former MP for the New Brunswick riding of Fundy-Royal, who is now interim chief of staff to Michael Ignatieff, and is related by marriage to Judith Irving, fed this story to the Journal.
Charles Adler perhaps says it best about the wafer video:
I have no evidence that Stephen Harper did what he is accused of doing. I could find you a video of the Queen holding a baby in one frame and then edit out the baby and ask the question, “What did the Queen do with the baby? Is the Queen a baby killer? Let’s interview experts for reaction. Let’s talk to historians who have covered the blood thirsty background of the Queen’s ancestors and draw links between her DNA and theirs and just go with that story. The public has a right to know whether their Queen is homicidal and whether she targets babies.”
Although the mounting evidence is indicating that this was a Liberal smear, their war room architect Warren Kinsella continues to insist that it’s still all about Stephen Harper. Despite the apology from the Telegraph-Journal and despite the people who have either lost their jobs, or are in the process of losing their jobs during this fiasco. After all, where was the journalistic integrity during this whole incident?
As for the Liberal Party, perhaps those responsible for prodding the “scandal” will be discovered, or perhaps not. Either way, all of the talk about the higher road, the morally superior airs put on by the Liberals regarding the Conservative attack ads, and the constant prodding for a scandal to shakeup the minority deadlock, has revealed the Liberal hypocrisy to be most transparent.
Photo: Globe and Mail
Do you really blame the Liberal leader for disappearing during this summer break? It’s a strategy that has more than a few pundits wondering why, although I suspect the reasons are more benign than others would like to believe. During a summer that has seen it’s share of silly news and haphazard conjecture about nothingness [Wafergate has come to it's painfully logical conclusion], it’s particularly difficult to care out here on the west coast where we’re in the throes of a heat wave that is doing it’s best imitation of Toronto. Only Toronto isn’t being Toronto this year, it’s being Vancouver. In October.
Where was I again? Ah yes, Michael Ignatieff and his reclusive Marlon Brando-like disappearing act. As I say, what exactly would the Liberals prefer to attack the Conservatives on this time? They still haven’t galvanized a platform that makes any sense beyond their desire to champion Employment Insurance reform, and even that little wedge went out when Mr.Ignatieff blinked in the early summer showdown. Besides, Employment Insurance rolls are at their highest levels since 1997 when a certain Finance Minister, let’s call him Paul Martin, decided to cut this terrible burden to the Liberal government by reducing eligibility. Yes, I can see how that might be awkward to bring up again, particularly as it’s difficult to now argue that E.I. doesn’t work when it has record numbers swelling it’s ranks.
Of course, I will offer a devil’s advocacy here. Part of the problem with Michael Ignatieff’s ascendancy to the Liberal throne is that he came in hot and heavy, ready to do battle at every corner and turn, and to disassociate his leadership from his weak-kneed predecessor as much as possible. But the Conservative Party, shrewd strategists that they are, have managed to effectively curtail the Liberal momentum by creating policies and programs that the Liberals would likely have invented themselves. Rather difficult to criticize a government that is running a Liberal platform, isn’t it? I mean, what are they going to do, complain they’re not spending enough money?
An effective opposition to the Conservative government would be, surprisingly, a Conservative party. One that demanded fiscal sobriety, responsible governance, an end to the seemingly self-generating programs and regional development crown corporations and perpetuation of social justice entities like the Status of Women ministry, and the Human Rights Commission. But, because the Liberals favour all of the things the Conservatives are doing, except for the unfortunate fact that they don’t get to be the ones doing them, there isn’t much that Michael Ignatieff can do right now. Short of finding a new “scandal” to invent, although to date the government has fairly resembled Teflon on all sticky issues, there’s nothing new under the sun.
So I don’t think it’s a particularly bad strategy for Michael Ignatieff to find a rock and crawl under it for a while. He’s certainly no stranger to disappearing acts, as the Conservative attack ads have been quite forthright in reminding us of. By keeping a low profile, and not constantly appearing in front of the cameras to wave his finger at the government, furrow his considerably bushy brows, and use eloquent language to describe the absolute inadequacy of power he presents in doing anything about it, he might actually do himself a favour.
There’s also a more obvious [and perhaps self-defeating for a political writer] logic to his absence. It’s summer, and people have better things to do than worry about politics.
Every time I think about how Toronto residents went 36 days without services in a city that never fails to find new reasons to increase property taxes, only to concede on pretty much every single union demand, I am reminded of the scene in Bad Santa where Santa Billy Bob’s partner negotiates his own position into complete capitulation. Although perhaps that’s not a completely fair comparison. After all, it’s not like the characters in that movie had a particularly strong bargaining position to begin with. To borrow from Seinfeld, then, I am reminded of the episode in which George Costanza manages to negotiate himself into a lower settlement from NBC’s original offer. In this case, David Miller plays George Costanza, a comparison that I think fits quite well with Mr.Miller’s zany comedy he puts on as Mayor of Toronto.
Truly this is a man who has lost all credibility in a mayoral tenure that has run it’s course; indeed, one that has now run off course and lays upside down in a ditch, wheels spinning fruitlessly. So what has 36 days of inconvenience provided Toronto residents 7 years after David Miller promised to never let it happen again? Why, let’s ask Mark Ferguson, president of CUPE Local 416:
“We feel quite pleased that we were able to reach a settlement that we believe is fair, a settlement without concessions.
[...]
“This is a deal, I think, my membership will be happy with,” echoed Ann Dembinski, of CUPE Local 79.
Quite. When you have union representatives openly boasting about reaching a settlement that is “fair” and without concessions, it’s pretty much like pressing your thumb and forefinger opposed to each other whilst thrusting the finger from your opposite hand through the circle and winking. That’s right Toronto, you’ve been screwed.
The David Miller word for “flexibility” should be understood as a synonym for “utter surrender”, when refusing to answer whether CUPE had to give up their 18 bankable sick days. We do know the answer now: they won’t have to. But future hires will. That’s “kind of” a victory, isn’t it? In the same way that hearsay and conjecture are “kinds of” evidence, to borrow a line from the Simpsons.
Q: Why is this man smiling? A: He works for the union. Photo: Peter Power, Globe and Mail
Other “flexible” agreements decided upon are the three-year [not four-year] contract, so that we can all do this again in 2012, and pay raises of 6% over three years. Yes, I said 6%, not 4% that the city offered earlier. Again, masterful negotiating. In every regard this settlement is better then what the city offered on July 10.
What I can’t understand, beyond all the rhetoric from both the union and the city of Toronto, is how anyone for one moment could accept that the striking union had any leverage, whatsoever, in this struggle. If anything, I expected the kind of outcome from a “Bad Santa” or a “George Costanza” negotiation, because after all, it’s not like you couldn’t replace each and every single city of Toronto worker in about 24 hours, given the level of unemployment in the province. I mean, this was actually a great opportunity for a political leader to stand up once and for all, look the unions straight in the eye, and tell them to get lost. Who in this recession is getting “bankable sick days”? Who is getting 6% raises? Who is even able to say with certainty that their job is safe?
But we know why David Miller folded with a Royal Flush against a pair of dueces. Because a man made by the union, is a man beholden to the union. This was all a sham, a big show for the audience, some rhetorical tough talk, followed by the inevitable dive in the third round. And in the end, the same taxpayers who were screwed in the short term from a 36-day strike that yielded 48,900 tonnes of garbage, will be utterly crushed when the city’s impossibly expensive concessions can’t be met, and they have to raise taxes again. David Miller probably won’t be around when that eventuality works it’s way down the pipe, but you can bet there will plenty of people around to remember who was responsible.
The swimsuit competition…
Miss Saudi Arabia, Aya Ali al-Mulla, defeated 274 other women to win a beauty pageant crown, jewelry, cash and a vacation to Malaysia. But she didn’t even show her face. All of the traditional beauty pageant contests were eschewed in favour of a different approach:
With her face and body completely covered by the black head-to-toe abaya mandatory in the conservative Muslim kingdom, 18-year-old Mulla was named “Queen of Beautiful Morals” late Thursday, newspapers reported.
There was none of the swimsuit and evening gown competitions and heavy media coverage of beauty pageants elsewhere when the contest was decided in the eastern city of Safwa.
Instead, the winner and the two runner-up princesses had to undergo a three-month test of their dutifulness to their parents and family, and their service to society.
Unfortunately for Ms.Mulla, if she winds up following the western tradition of winning beauty pageants by being caught posing nude, going to wild parties and drinking alcohol, she won’t be fired by Donald Trump. She would likely be fired upon, however. With rocks. That, or flogged, beheaded, hung… there are a variety of ways to proceed. No, this winner won’t be going to Disneyland, but she is likely to try the merry-go-round in Mecca and stone the jamrah.
h/t Dust my Broom
There are some wonderful images of children skateboarding in Kabul, Afghanistan, thanks to a nonprofit effort from an Australian called “Skateistan”. Imagine, just for a little while the kids of Afghanistan get to be kids. It’s funded by the governments of Canada, Denmark, Germany, and Norway. Girls up to 12 and boys up to 17 are allowed to participate.
The standard issue rifle for Canadian soldiers [and anyone can contradict me if I'm wrong] is the Colt C7, modelled after the M16A2. Canada issued 2,500 C7’s to the Afghan National Army in December of 2007. However, there may be a more valid reason for the Taliban to use AK-47’s, as cited in a comparative analysis in Wikipedia: “The AK-47 is often built with generous clearances, allowing it to function easily in a dirty environment with little or no maintenance.”
