Vancouver Remembers

Melanie Phillips Comments on the Insanity of the Modern Left

"We are gripped by a kind of madness in our society in which demonstrable facts and common sense are turned upside down in the service of an ideology - that is to say a governing idea to which all facts are wrenched to fit - even if it's demonstrably absurd.  And this ideology is that people who are members of ethnic minorities, who come from Third World countries, basically can do no wrong and that if we criticize them or if we hold them to account for terrible deeds that they do, we are guilty of racism - because we are The West.

In this mindset the Third World ethnic minorities, who are deemed to be oppressed, can do no wrong.  Or to be more precise, if they do wrong they must not be held responsible for that wrong.  While we in the white skinned capitalist dominant West must always be held responsible for everything that happens, even if we are the victims.

This is a kind of absolutely Alice Through the Looking Glass, upside down, Orwellian, Kafkaesque, mad world in which truth and lies have been turned inside out, right and wrong turned inside out, justice and injustice turned inside out."

-- Melanie Phillips on Charles Adler's show, November 11, 2009

You can listen to it here beginning at 6:00.

Here's her longer article on the same subject.

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Where I do disagree with her is that I don't believe the primary battle is between Traditional Western Values and Radical Islam.  Rather it's a fight against the Ideology of the Radical Left, whose primary weapon is Political Correctness.

Remembrance Day Ballad

An Example of the Nonsense Some Women Put Up With

This allegedly true story was written by David Menzies, who is heard every Friday on Charles Adler's national radio show on the Corus Radio Network. It is written from the perspective of his female friend, Sharona. Full permission was kindly granted by Mr. Menzies to post it here.

I know, I know . . .

I said it was over as in *forever* with James when his brand new Mustang GT turned out to be a radio-controlled toy car. I know I vowed I’d only date men with a real vehicle.

But James is persistent. He kept calling me (from his mom’s house) and I ignored his calls. I think that had something to do with his 13-year-old friend, Tobey, admonishing me for calling James’s Mustang a “toy” as opposed to a remote-control vehicle.

But the last message I received from James was so compelling and made me so curious I just had to give him one last try at keeping our relationship intact.

Alas, like Charlie Brown being enlisted by Lucy to kick the football, I should’ve known better.

In any event, James left a message on my voicemail noting that he was getting into business for himself. He was tired of working for “The Man” and like his friend, Fast Freddie, he was going to re-invent himself as self-employed entrepreneur.

Fast Freddie, by the way, is a friend of James who drives a mobile catering truck. As James told me, it will mean getting up at 5 in the morning so that he can prepare his inventory and do his routes, commuting from job site to job site to serve up hot coffee and fresh pastries to hungry construction workers. James pleaded with me to help him on the first day. I knew he likely really didn’t need my help, that he just wanted to get back together with me. After all, these catering truck businesses are one-man operations.

Still, I admired his initiative. He’s going to get up at 5 a.m. instead of the crack of noon. And finally, James obviously now had a set of wheels that wasn’t a toy. In fact, I imagine a catering truck must’ve set him back quite a bit. Perhaps I was wrong about my pathetic Peter Pan? Maybe he had grown up at long last?

I phoned him back. “OK,” I said. “I’ve arranged to take the day off work. I’ll help you out on your first day.”

“Great, Sharona!”, James enthused. “And don’t be late! Us entrepreneurs like to hit the road when the rooster is singing.”

The next day I showed up at James’s house, or, more accurately, his elderly mother’s house, at precisely 5 a.m. When I rang the doorbell, I was surprised to see James mother, Agnes, at the door, in her housecoat.

“Hi, Sharona,” said Agnes. “Please come in. But please keep it down. James is still sleeping.”

I was rendered speechless. What happened to that rise of the rooster jazz?

Anyway, I followed Agnes into the kitchen. The table resembled an assembly line. Agnes was making peanut butter and marmalade sandwiches, wrapping each sandwich in cellophane. I estimate she had made about 80 sandwiches, most of which had Agnes’s thumbprints in the bread.

“Would you like to help me out, dear?” Agnes asked. “You can get started on the Liverwurst sandwiches.”

I thought I was still dreaming at this point. I’m supposed to be helping James with his catering business and here I am with Mumsie preparing a family picnic for the ages at quarter past 5 in the morning.

“Agnes,” I said after making my 10^th Liverwurst sandwich. “What’s all this food for?”

“Oh, it’s for James’s new catering business,” she said joyfully. At this point, she sneezed, saturating about 7 peanut butter and marmalade sandwiches in the process. I felt queasy.

“Oh… kay…” I said. “James will be selling these sandwiches?”

“That’s right,” said Agnes. “As soon as my teddy bear gets up.”

“But, Agnes,” I said, somewhat exasperated. “I don’t think a lot of people eat peanut butter and marmalade sandwiches.”

“James does!” she snapped back.

“And with all due respect, Agnes, I don’t think a lot of people eat Liverwurst.”

“James does!” she snapped again, and let out a hearty sneeze in the process.

Like an idiot, I continued making sandwiches. At 6:45, Sleeping Beauty finally arose, stumbling out of his room as if he barely slept.

“Hey, Sharona, what’s up?” said James, yawning. He was clad in a pair of Joe Boxer briefs and a T-shirt bearing the image of Aquaman. As he yawned, he began to – how do I put this politely – scratch his fishing tackle.

“James,” I said, somewhat irritated. “I thought you wanted to hit the road at 5.”

“Well … 5-ish…” he said. “Say, Ma, what’s for breakfast?”

“I’ll have your oatmeal on in a jiffy, son. Maple and Brown Sugar or Cookies ‘n Cream?”

“I want the one with the little dinosaurs,” said James, and this apparently made perfect sense to Agnes as she waddled off to boil the water, leaving me with the Liverwurst and Wonderbread.

“Hey, how ’bout those Leafs?” James said as he cracked open the paper.

“James!” I snapped. “Should we be doing your catering route by now.”

“An army travels on its stomach,” responded Col. Klink.

It was almost 9 a.m. when we got out of there due to James’s need for a sit-down breakfast, a long hot, shower and his “morning constitution.”

“I’ll get my wheels – meet you out front Sharona,” he said.

I was thankful for the fresh air. The scent of marmalade, Liverwurst and what James left behind in the bathroom was making me gag.

When James emerged from the garage, he was not behind the wheel of a catering truck. Instead, he was rolling out his bicycle. He had attached a wagon to the back and a carrier over the rear wheel. The carrier had a Bunn-O-Matic coffee maker, which appeared to be powered by a generator in the wagon. The coffee urn was held in place by duct tape and bungee cord. A sign read: “Catering by James in a Jiffy”

“Isn’t this great, Sharona?” said James beaming.

“James – your … your truck is a … bicycle?”

“Not just any bicycle, a Mongoose,” said James.

I began to feel like a cobra.

Next out of the house was Agnes with two humungous backpacks. The sandwiches were packed – as in jam-packed – inside. I looked in my backpack and saw squished Liverwurst sandwiches co-mingled with peanut butter and marmalade sandwiches. For the second time in one morning, I almost puked.

“Hop on, Sharona,” said James pointing to his handlebars.

I knew it was useless to ask, but I asked anyway: “James, for the love of God, please tell me you are kidding?”

“No, c’mon Sharona – we can do this.”

I explained to James that since I was older than 7 my days of riding on a bike’s handlebars were over. I told him I would get into my Honda Civic and meet up with him at the first job site.

James agreed, gave me an address, and peddled off with his food and coffee. Actually, just the food. When he went off the curb and onto the road, the coffee urn fell off, smashing into a million pieces. James looked over his shoulder, shrugged and kept peddling. Agnes waddled back into the house to get a broom.

I got into my car and drove in the precise opposite direction of James, having no intention of meeting him at a construction site or anywhere else – ever again. About 40 minutes later, I received a phone call. Since it was from James, I let it go to voicemail. When I retrieved the message, it was a plea for help. He suffered a flat tire at his first stop. He found out the hard way that a construction site doesn’t exactly resemble a velodrome. He desperately needed a ride home because he was:

A. Lacking in funds for a cab; and

B. Nobody was buying those co-mingled peanut butter and marmalade and Liverwurst sandwiches (gently seasoned with Ma’s good ol mucous.)

I never returned the call. After all, I had done my part: I had already put in four hours of labour. Without compensation.

Today, I can never look at peanut butter, marmalade or Liverwurst without getting the feeling to throw-up. Ad for Jimbo, for all I know, he’s still at some construction site trying to bum enough money to get home to Mama.

ObamaCare Humor

P.S. The coroner's report will list Global Warming as the Cause of Death.

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In Washington, D.C. an old priest lay dying in the hospital. For years he had faithfully served the people of the nation's capital. He motioned for his nurse to come near.

"Yes, Father?" said the nurse.

"I would really like to see President Obama and Speaker Pelosi before I die", whispered the priest.

"I'll see what I can do, Father", replied the nurse.

The nurse sent the request to The President and Congress and waited for a response. Soon the word arrived; President Obama and Nancy Pelosi would be delighted to visit the priest.

As they went to the hospital, Obama commented to Pelosi, "I don't know why the old priest wants to see us, but it will certainly help our images and might even get me re-elected. After all, I'm IN IT TO WIN."

Pelosi agreed that it was a good thing.

When they arrived at the priest's room, the priest took Obama's hand in his right hand and Pelosi's hand in his left hand. There was silence and a look of serenity on the old priest's face.

Finally President Obama spoke. "Father, of all the people you could have chosen, why did you choose us to be with you as you near the end?"

The old priest slowly replied, "I have always tried to pattern my life after our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."

"Amen", said Obama.

"Amen", said Pelosi.

The old priest continued, "Jesus died between two lying thieves; I would like to do the same."

Fall Colours in Vancouver

Future Juxtaposition - A Thought Experiment

Nov 5, 2009: A crazed Muslim man hands out Korans in the morning and then later in the day kills 13 people and injures many more.  In the aftermath, many in the MSM are finding excuses for him and some are treating him like an abused victim.

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Future Date: A crazed Christian man hands out Bibles in the morning and then later in the day kills and injures people.

How do you think the MSM would handle this story?

A More Apropos Masthead

The Lighting of the Olympic Rings

Dennis Miller on the O'Reilly Factor

• President Obama has less coattails than a naked midget.
• Nancy Pelosi could loose a game of Tic Tac Toe to an amoeba.
• She memorizes the bullet points phonetically.

The Massive Defeat of the Democrats in Virginia

"There's been a feeling in Washington that you could wrap yourself in the Obama cloak and be okay - you could cast votes that your constituents didn't like and you'd still be alright.  The Virginia experience [Nov 3rd governor's vote] shows that that's not only not so but is not even remotely so.  I think that's going to send a chilling message to the Democrats." - Dick Morris on the Dennis Prager Show, Nov 4, 2009

The Vivid Colours of Vancouver in Early November

Amy Alkon's New Book

This is the new book of a smart lady from L.A. whose blog I read daily. Give it a gander and consider it as an excellent stocking stuffer for friends & family alike!

Click on the image to find out more

Much Needed Wisdom from Dennis Miller

Dennis Miller turned 56 today and had more than a little wisdom to share with his callers:

Peggy Noonan: We're Governed by Callous Children

A must read for what she's saying extends far beyond the borders of America!

Joe Scarborough Analyzes the Scozzafava Fiasco

Is Canadian History Repeating Itself in America?

Here's an interesting article that makes a direct comparison between what occurred in Canada in 1993 and what may be occurring in America now.  Well worth a read, especially for American conservatives who are not familiar with what happened on Canada's political right.

Here's a related article, focused solely on the NY-23 race that is causing such an uproar in Republican circles.

A Tale of Two States

Here's an interesting juxtaposition:

In October 1999 Boeing Corporation warned the powers at be in Washington State that if they didn't improve the business climate then they would start moving future expansions out of the state.

The government there did not pay any attention.

Now 10 years later, in October 2009, Boeing is expanding . . . in South Carolina.

Colourful Vancouver in the Fall

Krunch in Concert

Friday night I filmed the Halloween concert of some friends of mine:


Apologies for the poor sound!


Here's a few time-lapse clips I shot:

Escaping the MSM's Umbrella of Ignorance

A reader named Susann left me an insightful comment about this post.  I was going to write her back therein but decided to make it an entirely new post altogether:

Just this afternoon I had a long conversation with a longtime friend visiting from Vancouver Island. She's a smart person, an entrepreneur, is originally from the U.S., and keeps herself well informed.

But when I started hearing her perspectives on current events, especially U.S. politics, I immediately inquired about where she heard such things. The answer was as one might expect: "Oh, on the TV news."

A long standing bugaboo of mine is the severe bias in the media. For the record, I am NOT looking for the media to become a puppet of the Republican Party in the U.S. and the Conservative government here in Canada. BUT I am absolutely sick & tired of the individuals in the media pretending that they are mostly centrist & balanced. News Flash: They're NOT!!!

What I was reminded of today is that most members of the general public are not dumb. But the opinions of most ARE shaped by what they see on TV, hear on the radio, and read in the newspaper. The fact that their input data is severely corrupted (bent, twisted, obscured) has everything to do with the great ignorance of so many.

In the software business there's an acronym known as "GIGO". It stands for: "Garbage In, Garbage Out". I never realized just how appropriate this term is to describe a more commonly known acronym, the MSM!

A great irony of 2009 is that on the political front, Canada and America appear to have switched politically.

Many Canadians seem to have woken up to the fact of just how corrupt much of their media has become in favour of the left of centre Liberal Party of Canada and the Democrat Party in the U.S.  This became blatantly apparent late last year:

• In Canadian politics during the "Coupscam"
• In American politics during the presidential election campaign
  

The most unethical & unprofessional of all was the CBC, but most of the other media outlets weren't far behind.  In times past they would have gotten away with it unscathed.  But the New Media of the Internet has provided an avenue for interested news consumers to step past the stench of bias and even vent at the Old Media if they so choose.  In no small part I believe great credit is due to widely read websites like Kate McMillan's Small Dead Animals and Pierre Bourque's Bourque.com.  They have become de facto watch dogs of the Canadian media and all that is terribly wrong with it.

On the other hand, down south in Amerika, the majority of citizens have not yet become aware of how deeply biased most of their media is to insulate Barack Obama and his Democrat Party from legitimate criticism. But inroads are being made, mostly by Fox News, conservative talk radio, the Drudge Report, and a legion of conservative bloggers. Still, poll most non-conservative Americans and you will find them to be mostly ignorant of huge news stories like the ACORN fiasco and the firings of key personnel in Obama's cabinet.

This next year, with the run-up to the 2010 mid-term elections in the U.S., it'll be most interesting to see if a majority of Americans come out from underneath the umbrella of ignorance imposed upon them by the MSM outlets they get their "news" from.  I, for one, have faith that they indeed will! Or put another way, we'll know in about a year whether the American public takes the red pill or the blue pill:

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Update: Talk about synchronicity, read the comments to this ridiculous editorial.

Did Karl Marx Predict the Ascendency of Barack Obama?

I came across this 1848 Manifesto of the Communist Party quite by accident. It makes for interesting reading.  Completely flawed, of course, but more than a little predictive of the steps that Barack Obama and the modern Democrat government are quickly changing America.  Here's a 10 Step plan from Section II:


We have seen above that the first step in the revolution by the working class is to raise the proletariat to the position of ruling class to win the battle of democracy.

The proletariat will use its political supremacy to wrest, by degree, all capital from the bourgeoisie, to centralize all instruments of production in the hands of the state, i.e., of the proletariat organized as the ruling class; and to increase the total productive forces as rapidly as possible.

Of course, in the beginning, this cannot be effected except by means of despotic inroads on the rights of property, and on the conditions of bourgeois production; by means of measures, therefore, which appear economically insufficient and untenable, but which, in the course of the movement, outstrip themselves, necessitate further inroads upon the old social order, and are unavoidable as a means of entirely revolutionizing the mode of production.

These measures will, of course, be different in different countries.

Nevertheless, in most advanced countries, the following will be pretty generally applicable.

1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
5. Centralization of credit in the banks of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.
6. Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the state.
7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state; the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.
8. Equal obligation of all to work. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of all the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the populace over the country.
10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, etc.

Snow at Whistler: Good News for the Olympics!

A friend of mine predicted that there wouldn't be much snow in Southeast BC this year. Thankfully she is incorrect!

Here's today's weather report:

The Krauthammer Interview at Der Spiegel

"In the American context, to be the hero of five Norwegian leftists, is not exactly politically positive."

Beyond Brilliant!!!

What do David Frum and Levi Johnston Have in Common?

1. Both hail from north of the 49th Parallel.
2. Both dislike Sarah Palin.
3. Both are desperate to attract media attention.
4. Nothing either says seems relevant to anyone.
5. Neither can get more than $25K posing for PlayGirl.

The Purpose of War Used to Be to Destroy the Enemy

Apparently not in the Age of Obama  :-(

Data source: http://www.icasualties.org/OEF/ByMonth.aspx

Medicare Fraud in America

The Orchestrated Ignorance of the General Public

This morning I heard a fascinating discussion on a local Vancouver radio station. The segment usually covers national Canadian politics but today, for some reason, most of it had to with Obama and the very unbalanced coverage of the same by the MSM.

Since I get my news from the Internet and talk radio, I had NO IDEA that much of the public in the U.S. and 99% of the public in Canada were not aware of any of these stories:

• ACORN's disgusting behaviour in those O'Keefe/Giles videos
• Van Jones' resignation
• Anita Dunn's love affair with mass murder, Mao Tse-Tung

I naturally assumed that everyone knew about these things about apparently if you don't watch Fox or don't listen to conservative talk radio or don't read certain political/news websites then you would be completely ignorant of these facts. Why? Because the MSM has deliberately neglected to report on any stories that might hurt their Messiah, Barack Obama.

If you'd like to listen to the segment, just go here and move the slider to 6:00.

You'll hear the host, a left of center populist named Bill Good, a slightly right of center political veteran named Norman Spector, and a true comrade of all things socialist named Bill Tieleman.

Bonus: You'll also hear a story about our past prime minister, Pierre Trudeau, taking Lois Lane actress, Margot Kidder, to a dinner with Ronald Reagan, where Ms. Kidder lectured Reagan on the virtues of getting rid of all nuclear weapons ... and getting a complimentary squeeze on her thigh from Trudeau for each point she made!

The Gettysburg Address, Obama Style

A friend of mine recently sent me the full text of the Gettysburg Address. Here it is:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate...we can not consecrate...we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government: of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.



I got to thinking, what would be the "equivalent" speech that Obama would give, considering that:

1. History has no meaning for the Left.
2. The past deeds & valor of others have no meaning to the Left.
3. The entire history of America appears to be shameful to Obama.
4. The prime directive of the Left is Equality ... not of opportunity, but of end results.
5. Wealth Distribution would have to be in there for good measure.

If you have any suggestions for any/all of the 3 paragraphs, please do share them! I'm trying to get Dennis Miller to run a contest about this. If he does, then I'll submit your ideas, giving full credit to anyone who leaves their actual name.

A Leftist Bedtime Story