Increasingly the Taliban have taken to dressing up as women or forcing women to carry weapons for them through police checkpoints in Afghanistan. Afghani police, who are male, on the checkpoints are prohibited from searching women. The search would go against their cultural norms. Women are still largely clothed in burkas which hides their identities and are baggy enough that arms and explosives can be hidden underneath.This situation allows the Taliban free movement past checkpoints.
Meanwhile back at the base in Kandahar women deployed with the Canadian Forces military police were confined to working in the detention centre because of the cultural restrictions on women. After training together with the guys for a year in Canada, Cpl. Jennifer Lettre was close to requesting a return to Canada after being left behind in Afghanistan. That was until Mohammad Safai, Afghan National Police chief at a substation in the Zari district asked for a woman to work at the station. Read the rest of this entry »
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On October 14th RCMP in British Columbia hit a man twice with tasers to subdue him and instead killed him. Video of the incident showed the last 10 minutes of the man’s life. The man had spent several hours in a secured area of the airport, growing increasingly agitated. Four officers arrived on the scene and within moments of approaching him tasered him twice.
The incident raises several serious questions, not the least of which is why was the man in this secured area for so long? Why did no one during the hours of his detention find a Polish speaking interpreter? The question getting the most attention is why did the officers resort to the taser so quickly rather than trying to communicate with him in his own language? Read the rest of this entry »
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They shall grow not old, as we who are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning
We will remember them
In memory of our fallen Canadians:
Cpl. Nicolas Raymond Beauchamp – Afghanistan November 17, 2007
Pte. Michel Levesque — Afghanistan November 17, 2007
Always Caring — Always Canadian — Never Defeated
Support Our Troops — Wear Red on Fridays
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Prime Minister Harper has done what he really has been left with little choice to do, he’s called a full public inquiry into Mulroney, the Airbus affair and Schreiber’s dealings with him. It isn’t that Harper had any suggested involvement in the affair that likely led him to initially try to avoid any inquiry at all.
Harper isn’t stupid, he realizes the optics of a public inquiry into a Conservative Prime Minister is not going to strengthen his position as “Mr Clean”. Even though Paul Martin was exonerated by Gomery of any involvement in the Liberal scandals, Harper rode the optics of a ‘corrupt party’ in government to gain himself a minority government. Read the rest of this entry »
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Brian Mulroney was probably one of the least popular Prime Ministers this country has ever had. Many of his critics, and there were many, referred to him as ‘lying Brian’. My late father, a to the core Conservative, was among those who reviled Mulroney. He would often say that the only time Mulroney told the truth was when his mouth was shut. During his final days in office and to this day questions have swirled about his honesty and integrity.
Occasionally, the questions would venture into the public with revelations that the RCMP were investigating either Mulroney or those around him for their conduct while in office. The last time this exploded into public view was during Chretien’s time in office. The issue was an alleged kickback scheme involving the purchase of aircraft and allegedly involved German-Canadian businessman Karlheinz Schreiber. Read the rest of this entry »
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On Tuesday, Flaherty, the Minister of Finance announced some tax measure in what amounted to a mini-budget. He announced tax cuts, some of which we would have already been enjoying if the Liberals had been elected. He implemented the tax cut for lower income Canadians that the Liberals had set and the Conservatives canceled when they came to power. Flaherty also announced another 1% cut to the GST which fulfills a campaign promise the Conservatives had made and the measure where Dion is shooting himself in the foot.
Instead of capitalizing on the Conservatives implementing, once again, a Liberal policy they had previously canceled Dion is making statements that should the Liberals be re-elected he would consider revisiting the GST cut. Hey dumbass, stating you’re in favour of raising a tax, any tax for that matter, is not a way to get elected Prime Minister of this country. For an academic he doesn’t learn very well. Read the rest of this entry »
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