Monday, October 31, 2005

And you know people will vote for him again...

Mr. Martin said last week that he was only following Judge Gomery's wishes in receiving the report first. But Judge Gomery has made it clear that the final decision rested with Mr. Martin.

In response to a letter from all three opposition parties, Judge Gomery said all 6,000 copies of his report belonged to the Government of Canada as of 6 p.m. EST Monday.

"The commission did not and does not plan to submit its report to the Prime Minister," Judge Gomery wrote in a letter earlier Monday.

"From (6 p.m.) on, the commission no longer owns the report and has no control over how it may be dealt with. Subsequent decisions about the tabling, public release and distribution of the report are the responsibility of the government....

"I am suggesting that careful consideration be given to the request (for opposition parties to receive the report Monday night)."


Every day I develop more and more respect for King Paul. He lies right to our faces and we let him. We don't deserve better government. We don't deserve not to be taken out back and shot.

Friday, October 28, 2005

"Excessive Massacres"

That is how Theoneste Bagosora has been referring to the 1994 genocide. You know, it was warm and rainy that year, the machetes just kind of slipped in peoples hands. Yes, it does seem there were a disproportionate number of Tutsis killed, but sometimes you'll flip a coin ten times and it keeps coming up heads. It's a crazy world!

It's the 'excessive' part I really love. Like we all recognize that occasionally there needs to be a moderate amount of massacre, you just need to know when to draw the line.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

The other genocidal fuckhead currently on trial (no, not Milosevic, the other one)

I know everybody is anxiously awaiting the trial against Saddam. But to bide your time until that starts, might I draw your attention towards the International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda in Arusha where Theoneste Bagosora took the stand in his own defence today in his trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. He is generally considered to be the person most responsible for directing the genocide (and is Romeo Dallaire's titular "devil"). Theoneste's defense is that he can't be guilty of genocide, because it wasn't a genocide.... I guess if it has worked for Turkey for over 80 years, he may as well give it a shot.

Canada finds its place in the world

I don't even believe in destiny, but hosting the world's health ministers for a meeting on Avian flu is surely Canada's. There are only so many times that the provincial health ministers can get together before these gatherings become tedious. But international health ministers? Now that's the big time!

I don't like to start rumours (hah!), but has anyone considered that the Canadian government is responsible for creating the Avian flu? Sure SARS got the world excited about health, but not nearly enough for our liking. We needed a good old fashioned global flu pandemic in order to get the entire world completely focused on health (AIDS, schmAIDS). Sure, infectious disease isn't really our specialty (okay, it could completely be our specialty, I have no idea -- no offence intended medical researchers of Canada. Let's just say it isn't what we really like to talk about), but it's kinda hard to get the entire world focused on reducing hospital waitings times, so we'll take what we can get.

You heard it here first folks.

Saturday, October 08, 2005

Well, I guess if Yasser has one....

They've given the Nobel Peace Prize to ElBaradei and the International Atomic Energy Agency. Remember when you were a kid and your parents used to tell you that all that they could ask for was that you try your best? (alright, those words never crossed my parents' lips, but I'm sure I've heard it said by many a TV mother) That's how the Nobel Committee decides who deserves a prize. It's not about succeeding in bringing more peace to the world, but how hard you try. The IAEA clearly wants there to not be any nuclear war, surely that counts for something. Let's give them a shiny gold star medal... and 10 million kronor!

I just hope that the Nobel Prize selection committee is prepared to deal with the consequences of their actions. By deciding that the peaceful use of nuclear energy is their issue this year, they have totally snubbed third world debt relief. And we all know an angry Bono is not going to be good for world peace. Don't say you weren't warned.