It is a sad, sad World · Tuesday March 11, 2008 by colin newell
U.S. House Democrats have failed in their attempt to overturn President Bush’s veto of a bill that would have prohibited the CIA from using water-boarding and other harsh interrogation techniques on terrorist suspects. Quoted: “we need to ensure our intelligence officials have all the tools they need to stop the terrorists…”
Torture doesn’t work you moron. Study after study has proven this. Beat someone hard and often enough they will agree to anything to make it stop.
President Bush had vetoed the bill on Saturday and House Democrats could not muster the two-thirds majority they needed Tuesday to force the bill into law despite the veto. It would have limited the CIA to the 19 interrogation methods approved by the U.S. military. That would have banned water-boarding, a technique which makes the person being interrogated feel like he is drowning.
Meantime, while the War in Iraq is guzzling 12 billion dollars a month, George Bush is lampooning (and thumbing his nose at) fellow politicians (and the rest of us) with an off key version of The Green, Green Grass of Home with lines like:
That old White House is behind me, I am once again carefree, don’t have to worry `bout a crisis in Pyongyang. Down the lane I look, Dick Cheney is strolling with documents he`d been withholding, it’s good to touch the brown brown grass of home.
I think future generations will look back on this phase in Human history with great shame; murder, mayhem and genocide all gleefully advocated by George W.
For the Love of Africa · Sunday March 9, 2008 by colin newell
If you love Africa as much as I do, you are going to want to mark your calendar for Sunday, April the 6th, 2008 for an event in Victoria B.C. Canada.
For the Love of Africa is hosting a coffee and chocolate event from 11AM til 4PM.
8 of Vancouver Island’s best coffee roasters will be there doling out samples of their product. And there is most definitely a chocolate component to this event.
So. What about this Love of Africa group? For the Love of Africa has been in existence since 2005, the Society having had its roots in an original team of fourteen people who visited Dodoma, Tanzania in September of 2004 to assist in the construction of the new Kizota School and Student Centre.
They are a humanitarian society interested in projects which focus on two key areas – Education and Health. The issues are critical to the long term development and stability of both Tanzania and Africa in general and they feel it is in these areas that they can most effectively make a difference.
Based in Victoria BC, Canada, they welcome people from across Canada and around the world, thanks to the internet, to join them on their journey in the hopes that together we can bring health and hope to one small corner of the African continent.
Avril Lavigne launches World Tour from Victoria · Thursday March 6, 2008 by colin newell
Overheard moments after the concert ended…
“How does a Vancouver Canucks game differ from an Avril Lavigne concert?”
Well. It seems that after paying over $60 for her, slightly over one hour, show…
Well… “You are the loser.”
I am aware that she has, what, 2 songs that have garnered radio play in the last 2 years or so…
Lemme see… Sk8r Boi… and… Thinking… Thinking…
At a little over $1/minute for Avril (hey, Video games cost more than that!), the average fan might not notice the time passing – but as a music reviewer, it is like being in a room of heroin addicts after a quad-shot of my favorite espresso.
And as a devoted fan of American and Canadian Idol (more pre-fab music in the works), I have noticed that there is a finite pool of musical talent on this continent… and with each trip to the trough, that supply gets more and more scant. And no, I am not saying that Avril is not talented… because she has broad appeal to her legion of teen and pre-teen girlfriends…
It’s just… I hope this is not the future of live music: Where (largely prefabricated) bands trot out their hits in staccato fashion in under an hour… and graceless at that.
Canadian Theocracy Chapter 1 · Wednesday March 5, 2008 by colin newell
The Stephen Harper minority Conservative government has drafted guidelines that would allow it to pull financial aid for any film or television show that it deems offensive or not in the public’s best interest.
The proposed changes to the Income Tax Act would allow the Heritage Minister to deny tax credits to projects deemed offensive, effectively killing the productions.
Morality experts from Heritage Canada and the Department of Justice will determine which shows or films pass the test.
Woo!
Game shows, news, sports, and reality television are already excluded from access to the tax credits. So, the proposed prohibition would cover a range of material, such as anything explicitly sexual nature, excessively violent or without educational value.
Ouch!
So whose idea was this anyway?
Apparently a well-known evangelical crusader is taking credit for the federal government’s desire to cut tax credits to TV and film productions that contain sex and violence or lack moral fiber.
One Charles McVety, president of the Canada Family Action Coalition, said his lobbying efforts included discussions with Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day and Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, and “numerous” meetings with officials in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Oh joy!
“We’re thankful that someone’s finally listening,” he said yesterday. “It’s fitting with conservative values, and I think that’s why Canadians voted for a Conservative government.”
Christian Conservative values?
Now, the last time I checked, Christian Conservative Values (C.C.V’s) seemed to exist in small pockets in Alberta and British Columbia – home to book burnings and other scary behaviors…
And to be precise, we have a Conservative minority government…
Which means… more or less… than the Christian Conservatives, in Canada at least, exist at generally safe levels for the rest of us – meaning few…
Thank you God.
