Sunday Afternoon Round-up

Don't blame the Bloc for minority governments

"The minority governments we have had lately are not due only to the presence of the Bloc. In fact, during Jean Chrétien's third Liberal majority government, the Bloc was on the verge of extinction. The Bloc is still alive today only because of the shortcomings of the national political parties. Quebec voters have flirted with the Conservatives, tried again with the Liberals and also with the NDP. Still, they go back to the Bloc because they are not yet convinced of the merits of the alternatives.

Voters in the rest of the country have the same problem. The difference is that they don't have alternatives. They are treading water between the Conservatives, who look more and more like the Liberals, a Liberal party that is in complete chaos due to the lack of effective leadership, and an NDP that is still caged by old ideologies."

You got that right.

FNUC's Federal funding won't increase: Strahl

"Students of the First Nations University of Canada and some chiefs at its controlling agency, the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, are calling for Ottawa to step in and replace the $5.2 million in funding the province provides the school."

Remember Clarence Bellegarde's blustering braggadocio about how they would find the money somewhere? Ha!!

"Strahl said moves by FNUC to dissolve the board and place staff on leave are a good start, but he also said it may be too little, too late.

He said he's raised issues about oversight at the school with FSIN leaders in the past two years, but change has been slow to come.

"[I've] not only urged them but said that we're withholding half your funding until you get your house in order … we've been very aware of the difficulties. We've shared the concerns that the province has had," Strahl said.

Strahl, however, promised a "herculean effort" to ensure FNUC students' needs are met."

I think it's important to note that both the province and the fed's have sworn to do everything possible to protect the students' interests and ensure they finish their year. Somewhere down the road I can almost guarantee that goons from the FSIN will pretend that was not the case, when in fact it was they who failed to safeguard the education of their young people. Screwing up and then blaming Whitey is just standard operating procedure within the Indian Industry.

The phosphorus cloud over Ha'aretz

"Two days ago, the BBC ran with a story that the Israel Defence Force had disciplined two senior officers for firing white phosphorus shells at a UN compound in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead, endangering the lives of civilians. Given the enormous traction that had been given to claims that Israel had used phosphorus shells illegally in Gaza, with accusations that it had thereby recklessly endangered civilians and injured them through burns, the story was damaging. Even though it appeared that this had been a one-off breach of the international rules – which permit the use of white phosphorus in warfare to create either smoke or illumination but not to endanger civilians – rather than the wholesale unlawful practice which had been claimed, even one such incident was clearly a political setback. Accordingly the Times in particular – which had long been running a campaign that Israel had made unlawful use of white phosphorus and tried to cover it up – ran a news story headlined

Israeli officers get ‘slap on wrist’ for white phosphorus use in Gaza

while a (balanced) leading article opined:

A ‘slap on the wrist’ (to quote one senior Israeli official) is an indefensibly cursory punishment for those responsible. Even so, it should be seen for what it is — a clear acknowledgment by Israel that, during the conflict, it behaved in a manner in which it should not.

Except that it hadn’t...."

And who was to blame for this error? Why, it was one of Israel's largest daily newspapers, Ha'aretz, itself. The 'slap on the wrist' was for firing artillery shells, not white phosphorus. The firing of white phosphorus for purposes that were legal was authorized. The firing of artillery shells was not. Read the whole thing. Another classic example of "the MSM strikes again".

Winnipeg's homeless hero viciously beaten

Assholes!!