Canadian CO relieved of Kandahar duty

Brig.-Gen. Daniel Ménard has been relieved of command of Canadian troops in Afghanistan following allegations he was involved in an inappropriate personal relationship while in theatre.
Military sources have told CBC News that Ménard, head of Joint Task Force Kandahar, is alleged to have had an affair with a female member of his staff.
The military has strict rules forbidding its personnel from engaging in personal relationships while in theatre. They include relationships of an emotional, romantic or sexual nature.

Well it looks like pretty bad news for old Daniel. First the negligent charge for weapons handling and now he was in some kind of affair with a female member of his staff. (he-he;; member and staff in same sentence). I'm pretty sure he will be politely forced to retire or end up making photocopies in NDHQ for the rest of his career.
He was praised for launching an investigation on himself for the shooting incident, but what else could he do? His boss witnessed the whole thing and several others.
Good luck in your future career, which will probably be a consultant for a big company making big bucks on top of his big bucks pension.

Mich. woman sues airline for not waking her

Michigan woman who fell asleep on a United Express flight to Philadelphia says she woke up and was shocked to find she was alone on the plane.
Ginger McGuire demonstrates how she was sleeping during a news conference at her lawyer's office. (Brandy Baker/Detroit News/Associated Press)
Ginger McGuire said no one had awakened her when the plane landed more than three hours earlier. She said she paced the aisle for about 15 minutes early Tuesday until the locked door opened and police demanded identification.

"Waking up to an empty airplane and not being able to get out — it was very horrifying," McGuire, 36, told reporters Thursday as her lawyer announced a lawsuit.

McGuire's lawyer, Geoffrey Fieger, said his firm filed a lawsuit against United and Trans States, alleging negligence, false imprisonment and distress. McGuire lives in Ferndale, a Detroit suburb.

"For a crew to leave her there and lock her is beyond a gross abuse," Fieger said.

Wow and wow again. They will sue anybody for anything down in the good ol' USA. False imprisonment?
Actually I find it hard to believe that the crew didn't notice her, unless she was under her seat or in an overhead compartment.
Maybe the aliens beamed her up for a good probing and didn't return her until after the jet was locked up.
Some people...

Sound cannons ready for G20 protests

The addition of sound cannons to the arsenal available to security forces managing G20 protests comes as no surprise to groups planning to demonstrate in Toronto at next month's summit.

They say it's just one more signal amid an unprecedented security operation that dissenting voices are being muzzled.

"We were expecting the use of sound cannons, sound grenades, Tasers, tear gas — they've been used in the past against Canadian protesters," Sharmeen Khan, spokeswoman for the Toronto Community Mobilization Network, said Thursday.

"We definitely are concerned that this will scare people away."

The sound cannons are capable of emitting ear-piercing and hearing-damaging alerts that can be heard up to 1.5 kilometres away.

This should make for good entertainment on TV (have that mute button handy). I can't wait to see the young CBC and CTV reporters embedded in the mobs!
Hey, I'm all for peaceful protest, but as soon as they start throwing rocks, bottles and even Molotov Cocktails, they are criminals and deserve the full weight of the law on them. The riot police aren't there to start a fight, but they appear to be well equipped to stop one.

Summit costs hit $1.1B

The cost of hosting the G8 and G20 summits next month in Ontario now stands at $1.1 billion and further outlays are likely, federal documents show.

The price tag includes $160 million for hospitality, infrastructure, food safety and extra staffing. That amount is in addition to the $933-million security bill the Tories revealed earlier this week.


"This might be the most expensive 72 hours in Canadian history," Liberal MP Mark Holland said.

But Public Safety Minister Vic Toews defended the costs for security, saying Canada has an obligation to make sure world leaders are safe while visiting Toronto and Huntsville, Ont.

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff blamed the Conservative government's "poor management" for the ballooning cost estimates.

Ignatieff said Wednesday that Canadians can't understand how the government's initial earmarking of $179 million for security has multiplied in the space of a couple months.


Absolutely f**king riduculous. If every summit is going to cost us this amount of money, then they should tele-conference and save the $$. $933-million for security? I would love to see a detailed breakdown of this bill.

When our leaders throw around these amounts of money all willy-nilly, it proves we are in serious trouble.

BP Reveals 'Fundamental Mistake' on Oil Well

"Oil giant BP PLC told congressional investigators that a decision to continue work on an oil well in the Gulf of Mexico after a test warned that something was wrong may have been a "fundamental mistake," according to a memo released by two lawmakers Tuesday.

The document describes a wide array of mistakes in the fateful final hours aboard the Deepwater Horizon—but the main revelation is that BP now says there was a clear warning sign of a "very large abnormality" in the well, but work proceeded anyway.

The rig exploded about two hours later."

Well that is just about the stupidest thing I've read in days. To overlook a safety concern like this should be criminal.

World must act on S. Korean ship sinking: Clinton

"U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday the world must respond to the sinking of a South Korean warship that has been blamed on North Korea.

"This was an unacceptable provocation by North Korea, and the international community has a responsibility and a duty to respond," Clinton told reporters after talks with South Korean leaders.

The ship sinking "requires a strong but measured response," she said at a joint news conference with South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan, though she did not elaborate."

Hmmm, just what does she mean by strong buy measured response? And I'm sure the internet is full of conspiracy theorists claiming that this was a set up with false evidence. After all, if you can fly jets into sky scapers what is the mere 46 lives of some South Korean sailors?
Is this just setting up for a future war once the US is finished with Afghanistan?

Obama Tells Military: Prepare for N. Korea 'Aggression'

"The president has directed his military commanders to coordinate closely with their Republic of Korea counterparts to ensure readiness and to deter future aggression," the White House said Monday.
The White House said Monday that President Barack Obama "fully supports" the South Korean president and his response to the torpedo attack by North Korea that killed 46South Korean sailors.
The South Korean president said Monday that his nation would no longer tolerate the North's "brutality" and said the repressive communist regime would pay for the surprise March 26 torpedo attack."

"Canada is imposing sanctions on North Korea after the country was implicated in the sinking of a South Korean warship in March, killing 46 sailors.

In a statement issued Monday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said sanctions will include additional restrictions on trade, investment and other bilateral relations with North Korea."


Hoo boy, what a mess. I find it hard to believe that North Korea would go as far as to sink a South Korean warship, but just as hard to believe that South Korea would fabricate evidence.
But at the same time I'm aware of how far some governments/organizations will go to achieve their goals.
I thought that the sanctions against NK were pretty severe to begin with, resulting in widespread shortages of food and medicines.
Yessir, got to keep an eye on this one...

Anger, Questions Grow Along With Massive Gulf Spill

"BARATARIA BAY, La. -- As the Gulf of Mexico oil spill seeps deeper into the Louisiana marshes, the fragile grasses get difficult to clean, and the rescue efforts of wildlife like the brown pelican become harder. The biggest looming uncertainty of all -- when will BP be able stop the leak?

With each day, the anger and questions grow with the untold millions of gallons of oil that has spewed into the Gulf since an offshore rig exploded more than a month ago. BP PLC is getting barges and other equipment ready to prepare for a risky procedure midweek that the company hopes will finally halt the gusher.

But the "top kill" maneuver, which shoots heavy mud and then cement into the blown well, has never been tried at 5,000 feet underwater and BP officials caution they are working on a range of backup plans."


Hoo Boy, what a disaster. I can see that this will probably take a long time to clean up and influence fisheries in a very bad way. I believe the cause of the initial explosion has not been verified; a Taliban underwater suicide bomber?

Taliban Attack!

A comment on the CBC website:

"Last Tuesday, a Taliban suicide bomber attacked a NATO convoy in the capital, killing 18 people, including five Americans and a Canadian NATO service member."

That's a pretty good return on the ratio of casualties: they lose one fighter and we lose eighteen. For a resistance army, that isn't bad at all. In the past, the British retreat of 1842 was a stunning setback for the empire as only one person - Dr. Brydon - alone of 16,500 people, made it out alive. Granted, that was a high point (or a low point depending on your point of view) in Afghan resistance to foreign troops, but the lessons learned then ought to be applied now. Such as:

* The First Afghan War provided the clear lesson to the British authorities that while it may be relatively straightforward to invade Afghanistan it is wholly impracticable to occupy the country or attempt to impose a government not welcomed by the inhabitants. The only result will be failure and great expense in treasure and lives.
* The British Army learnt a number of lessons from this sorry episode. One was that the political officers must not be permitted to predominate over military judgments.
* The War provides a fascinating illustration of how the character and determination of its leaders can be decisive in determining the morale and success of a military expedition.
* It is extraordinary that officers, particularly senior officers like Elphinstone and Shelton, felt able to surrender themselves as hostages, thereby ensuring their survival, while their soldiers struggled on to be massacred by the Afghans.

Despite all that, the fighting continued long past the 1881 withdrawal of British and Indian troops. So then, last lesson: in these campaigns, Britain carried on a war with Afghanistan for over 40 years.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/05/23/kandahar-airfield-taliban-attack.html#socialcomments#ixzz0onMQqauy

ATV likely started Alberta wildfire

"A wildfire near Opal, Alta., that destroyed one home and burned 30 square kilometres was likely sparked by an all-terrain vehicle in the area on May 12, Thorhild County officials announced Thursday.

I'm very disappointed that people ignored the dry weather conditions and caused a major wildfire that resulted in the loss of a family's home and other properties, forced many people to evacuate and cost millions of dollars to control and extinguish," Thorhild County Reeve Charles Newell said in a news release."

Now friends, how in the heck can anyone come to the decision that an ATV started a fire? I know lots of people don't like recreational vehicles (snowmobiles and 4 wheelers I mean) but to come to this conclusion is hard to prove. Now I will agree that it may have come from an idiot on an ATV who flicked his cigarette away, but to blame ATV riders is reaching for it.

Here's what one commentator wrote:

"Outside of a highly improbable event (such as an engine fire) the only way an ATV could possibly start a wild fire is via a stray spark that exits the exhaust. But since the late 1970's (I don't recall the exact year) all ATVs have been fitted with a US Forest Service (USFS) spark arrestor designed to mimimize this possibility. The chances of an ATV starting a wild fire are almost zero."

Dark Knigt Wrote:
"Probably some hick red neck out on thier ATV to cause as much noise and ruts in the earth as possible. They love to burn gas in noisy gas guzzling engines and they do not care about anything but thier own personal well being and entertainment, no matter how much it may affect others around them."

Another funny story that divides us great peoples!!

N. Korea fired deadly torpedo at ship: probe

"Evidence overwhelmingly proves North Korea fired a torpedo that sank a South Korean warship in March, killing 46 sailors, investigators said Thursday.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak vowed "stern action" for the provocation and called an emergency security meeting for Friday, the presidential Blue House said.

But North Korea warned that it will wage "all-out war" if punished for the sinking of the warship. North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency quoted a spokesman from the National Defence Commission as rejecting the findings as a "fabrication."

Hoo-boy. What a mess. What with China backing the NKs, and the USA backing the SKs. Could this be the start of a really big war?
Probably not.

Canadian military in Kandahar gets free wine

"Canadian military members at the Kandahar Airfield who prefer a Pinot over a pilsner can now raise a glass with their beer-drinking buddies for free.Each month, Canadian Forces personnel in Afghanistan are allowed two drinks.The beer comes at no cost thanks to donations from breweries, whereas a half bottle of wine goes for $9. But to Lt.-Col. Doug Johnson, that inequity was unpalatable. In April, he emailed Dan Aykroyd Wines, owned by the comedian-actor, and within weeks, hundreds of bottles of Pinot Noir and Riesling were being shipped to the Kandahar Airfield."

Story comments:
- "We have them fighting a war which they cannot win, with antiquated equipment in the name of international posturing. Give them all the wine they can drink."

- "Better keep them in the spirits as they prepare to lose their lives for nothing."

While I somewhat agree with the above comments, but overall I think this is a good story about the winery donating wine to the Army. If anyone in this country deserves free wine, it is our troops in Afghanistan.

Palin Says 'We're All Arizonans Now' in Speech Defending State's Immigration Law

Arizona's governor enlisted the help of former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin Saturday to defend a new law cracking down on illegal immigration, as calls spread for an economic boycott of the state. Jan Brewer and Palin blamed President Barack Obama for the state law, saying the measure is Arizona's attempt to enforce immigration laws because the federal government won't do it.
"It's time for Americans across this great country to stand up and say, 'We're all Arizonans now,"' Palin said. "And in clear unison we say, 'Mr. President: Do your job. Secure our border.'"

Golly gee, she just keeps getting sexier and sexier. This is actually a big deal if this law goes through. I imagine the majority of US citizens secretly think this is a good idea, but struggle with the political correctness of it. I wonder how far this will go if it gets passed? Will all the border states try something similiar? I doubt it really....

CF-18s respond to airline bomb threat

"Two armed CF-18 Hornets escorted Cathay Pacific flight 838, bound for Vancouver from Hong Kong, to the airport in Richmond, B.C., after RCMP officials learned of a bomb threat. The plane landed safely at about 1:35 p.m. PT."

Well that would be a comforting sight, to see an escort of CF-18 fighters.... at first; then you realize they are only there to shoot you down if the jet veers off to a high population center.
Gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling in the bottom of your drawers.

The Afghan Prisoner tortue flap

"After two hours of closed-door meetings, MPs trying to negotiate the release of documents related to the treatment of prisoners transferred to Afghan custody by the Canadian military emerged Thursday morning looking sombre and without a deal. House of Commons Speaker Peter Milliken granted the MPs a deadline extension until Friday to come up with an agreement. But with less than 24 hours to go, there still appear to be some sticking points."

This is absolute fucking garbage. We didn't want to take prisoners, but when we did we could not do anything else but hand them over to the US, and then eventually we handed them over to the Afghan forces.

I hate that this is a focus of Canadian politics....

Guergis 'at a loss' about RCMP investigation

"Helena Guergis says testimony at a House of Commons committee Wednesday has left her confused as to why the RCMP was called in to investigate her. Yesterday, the apparent source of the information relating to my alleged improprieties, [Derrick] Snowdy, swore under oath that he provided no information about illegal or even inappropriate behaviour regarding myself to any representative of the PMO," the statement said.

Well ain't she weak. She decided to marry this Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer.
Hey the US will not elect a president without him being born in the good old USA.

What's wrong if we say you have to be, let's say, 3rd generation canadian to hold public office? Or have any say in anything important?

We would have good old Canadians in charge of our governement for at least 3 years, and after that we could vote in a 5 year generation stipulation.

Yes Immagrants are important to Canada, but only as labour, not to change our laws...

Tamil Tiger fundraiser pleads guilty

"The first person charged under Canada's post-Sept. 11 law against raising funds for a terrorist group pleaded guilty in a Vancouver courtroom on Tuesday morning.

Prapaharan Thambithurai of Maple, Ont., admitted to raising money from Tamil immigrants in the Vancouver area, knowing that some of the money would end up funding the banned Tamil Tigers.

He told them he was raising money for humanitarian purposes, but later admitted to RCMP investigators he knew the Sri Lankan rebel group would inevitably keep as much as half of the money.

The Crown is recommending a sentence of two years."

That sounds about right. The sight last year or so of all those Tamil Tiger supporter's demonstrating in Toronto really raised my ire. May as well have a demonstrating supporting the Taliban or Al Queda.

The Jewish Virtual Library is a division of the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise

The deep-rooted friendship between the United States and Israel is not an accidental one, and it cannot be taken for granted. It is a friendship predicated on shared values and on a moral, human and social destiny, the main principles of which are individual liberty, social justice and peace.

— Ehud Olmert

The American people and the Israeli people share a faith in the future, a belief that democracies can shape their own destiny and that opportunities should be available to all. Throughout its own extraordinary history, Israel has given life to that promise.

— Barack Obama

The sooner that the US government gives up support to the criminal jewish state of Isreal the better... The land belongs to other folks,, there will come a time when the end of Isreal will be a benefit to the rest of the world. Let the Americans save the jews from annihalation this time and transplant those jews to the US middle west..
The Indians will argue, but that is life..
And google how many ships full of jews were turned back at US ports.

Canadian killed by IED in Afghanistan

A member of the Canadian navy was killed by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan Monday, the first sailor to die in action since October 2004.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Craig Blake, 37, was killed while working in the Panjwai district, approximately 25 kilometres southwest of Kandahar city.
Blake, a married father of two, was serving his first tour of duty in Afghanistan. He had only been in the country for a few weeks when he was killed.

"In the morning and the day and when the sun goes down in the night, we will remember them."

No Taliban link to NYC bomb: police

"There is no evidence of a Taliban link to a failed bomb found in a sport utility vehicle parked in Times Square, New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Sunday."

So after a day since the event, they say there is no evidence of Taliban. Well let me tell you how simple this act is to accomplish: it doesn't involve being able to fly large jets with enough skill to pilot it into a skyscaper.
I believe there is no way they can rule out the Taliban, maybe Jack Layton was behind it!

No this story will probably lead to more radical laws for the US citizens, and further fuckery for air travelers.

Pope visits Shroud of Turin

"Pope Benedict XVI visited and prayed before the Shroud of Turin in northern Italy on Sunday. The linen cloth, which recently went on display for the first time in 10 years, shows the image of a crucified man who some believe is Christ's burial cloth and others dismiss as a fake.

Here we have the head of a perverted faith praying to a false item. Back in the good old days he would have been branded a heretic. Nowadays we are just happy that there were no altar boys nearby.

Obama promises to clean up Gulf oil spill

"U.S. President Barack Obama called a surging oil spill, which was about 15 kilometres from the southeastern Louisiana coastline, a "massive and potentially unprecedented environmental disaster" and has promised to do whatever it takes to stop it and clean it up. Obama made the comments Sunday in Venice, La., after seeing for himself the growing oil slick and meeting with officials from the navy and the coast guard as well as Gov. Bobby Jindal. "The American people are now aware, certainly, the folks down in the Gulf are aware, that we're dealing with a massive and potentially unprecedented environmental disaster," he said. "The oil that is still leaking from the well could seriously damage the economy and the environment of our Gulf states, and it could extend for a long time."

What else would you expect to hear from Obasma? Yes this is a major spill. What caused the explosion is not yet known. The gulf stream could take this oil spill around Florida and up the east coast. BP is blaming a blowout preventer that failed to prevent this great spill.
Hey listen, I could fly to mexico or one of the gulf states, buy some explosive supplies, rent a boat and scuba equipment, and sail out to the vicinity of the oil rig, then scuba dive to plant explosive on this blowout preventer. I would have paid cash for everything, and would be back in Gowan Brae before the explosion.
Just saying...

Times Square car bomb fails to detonate

"New York City police have disarmed what the mayor has described as an "amateurish" but potentially powerful bomb in a sport utility vehicle parked in Times Square.
Heavily armed police evacuated the area Saturday after a T-shirt vendor reported smoke coming from a Nissan Pathfinder on 45th Street around 6:30 p.m. ET. The vehicle had its engine running and hazard lights flashing.
Officers cleared the streets as investigators removed three propane tanks, fireworks, two full 19-litre gasoline containers and two clocks with batteries, electrical wire and other components from the vehicle, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said."

Well it will be interesting to see where this leads to. One wonders why something like this hasn't happened before. It seems simple enough; steal a car, rig it with explosives, park it somewhere and calmly walk away from it. And why leave the engine running and hazard lights flashing?

This may get the conspiracy theorists going, and by that I mean the ones who believe that 9/11 was an inside job. As dreadful as that sounds, there are groups of Americans who believe it. This type of thing, as explained above, is infinitely easiet to plan and execute than flying planes into buildings.

And the bomb need not go off to be effective. For example, in Kabul there were incidents of old rockets attached to old batteries found in the city. One was quite close to our camp and pointed at it. I was talking to a friend in Intelligence afterwards and commented ,that from the look of the photos I seen, that it didn't look like it would work. He told me it doesn't have to work. Just placing these types of devices around the city proves that the security of the city is low.

So that could explain the "amateurish" explosive device. All the parts of the bomb are readily available and can be slapped together easily. And again it doesn't have to work, just look somewhat like a bomb.

So it could be:

1 - A planned terrorist attack that didn't work;
2 - A planned terrorist attack that was not designed to work;
3 - A planned attack by some homegrown organization;
4 - The work of some lone nutjob;
5 - A planned simulated attack by an inside organization, ie CIA; or
6 - An innocent fire in someone's SUV that just happened to hold items that resemble bomb making stuff.

As I started with, it will be interesting to see where this leads to.
Will there be more attacks?
Will it be linked to an Iranian organization, thus facilitating an invasion of Iran?
Will it be linked to some homegrown organization? or
Will it just fade away in the news?

Yes, interesting indeed.