Amateur Hour at the White House

Jennifer Rubin reports.

Mayor Robertson Meets Reality

I just heard a woman on the radio named "Lynne" talking about the situation of the two homeless shelters near Beach and Howe. She mentioned that there are now dozens upon dozens of street people living just a block from a preschool, how loud parties are going on all the time, how urinating and fornicating is going on, and how used needles are being found all around the area.

Our "beloved" leader, Mayor Gregor Robertson, was interviewed on the issue here @ 36:00. Listen to the naive twit and see if you gain ANY confidence from what he's saying. If you think I'm being too harsh then read what Alex Tsakumis has to say.

I will never forget when Robertson was running to be my MLA for the first time. He was on a radio talk show which I called and asked him this simple question:

My elderly mother and her friends are getting increasingly scared of being out on the streets. They are getting increasingly harassed by panhandlers. If you're elected, what are you going to do about it?

His answered floored me: "Elderly people like your mother should appreciate all they have and have more empathy for those without." His answer spoke volumes to me and why I'm not surprised one bit about his absolute incompetence on this issue.

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With the world media soon to be descending on Vancouver in greater & greater numbers, this will clearly be a story they will (and should!) focus on!!

Mark Steyn [Rightfully] Mocks the New Stimulus Programs

The Left's greatest fantasies are quickly becoming reality in America. Mark Steyn slices & dices the absolute bureaucratic stupidity that is Obama's America. Here's a snippet:

Ever since last November, many Americans have been ready for free health care, free day care, free college, free mortgages – and, once you get a taste for that, it's hardly surprising you're not ready for gainful employment.

Michael Bryant: Ontario's Chief Pickpocket!

If you want to see how arrogant (and incompetent) the Ontario government has become then look no further than this and this.

Mark Steyn: AIG Execs the New 'Enemy Combatants'

The first two months of the Age of the Hopeychange have been an eye-opener. I expected it to be ideologically distasteful to me, but I didn't expect it to be so inept. Not because I had any expectations of President Obama's executive skills. But I assumed he'd have folks around him who could take care of details like governing, while he pranced around as the smiley-face hopeychange frontman. But the bench is still empty save for a handful of mediocrities. And the disconnect between the smoothly scripted mush and what's actually happening makes the telepromptered cool look even more ridiculous.

Full article

Another Inconvenient Truth

Canada's corrupt mainstream media refused to ask The Messiah (aka Barack Obama) even one difficult question. Yet they're always quick to condemn Canada's Oil Sands. Click on the image above to read more.

An Aussie Saying It As It Is

If you've ever been frustrated by a government agency then you'll appreciate this, which I just received via e-mail (foul language warning) :

This is an actual letter sent to the then DFAT Minister, The Hon. Alexander Downer and the then Immigration Minister, The Hon Minister Amanda Vanstone. The Government tried in desperation to censure the author, but got nowhere because every legal person who read it nearly wet themselves laughing!

Please excuse the language contained within, but I suspect the author was somewhat upset? Yet another "happy" customer of a bureaucratic, inefficient, and ineffectual Federal Government. A fabulous characteristic of Australians is that they are far more direct and outspoken than others when dealing with the sort of elected wanker who wouldn't otherwise get the full drift of what they were trying to communicate.


Dear Mr. Minister,

I'm in the process of renewing my passport, and still cannot believe this.

How is it that K-Mart has my address and telephone number and knows that I bought a Television Set and Golf Clubs from them back in 1997, and yet, the Federal Government is still asking me where I was born and on what date???

For Christ sakes, do you guys do this by hand?

My birth date you have in my Medicare information, and it is on all the income tax forms I've filed for the past 40 years. It is on my driver's license, on the last eight passports I've ever had, on all those stupid customs declaration forms I've had to fill out before being allowed
off the planes over the last 30 years, and all those insufferable census forms that I've filled out every 5 years since 1966.

Also, would somebody please take note, once and for all, that my mother's name is Audrey, my Father's name is Jack, and I'd be absolutely fucking astounded if that ever changed between now and when I drop dead!!!...

SHIT!

I apologize, Mr. Minister. But I'm really pissed off this morning. Between you and me, I've had enough of all this bullshit! You send the application to my house, then you ask me for my fucking address!! What the hell is going on with your mob? Have you got a gang of mindless Neanderthal arseholes workin' there?!

And another thing, look at my damn picture. Do I look like Bin Laden? I can't even grow a beard for God's sakes. I just want to go to New Zealand and see my new granddaughter. (Yes, my son interbred with a Kiwi girl). And would someone please tell me, why would you give a shit whether I plan on visiting a farm in the next 15 days? If I ever got the urge to do something weird to a sheep or a horse, believe you me, I'd sure as hell not want to tell anyone!

Well, I have to go now, 'cause I have to go to the other end of the city, and get another fucking copy of my birth certificate and part with another $80 for the privilege of accessing MY OWN
INFORMATION!

Would it be so complicated to have all the services in the same spot, to assist in the issuance of a new passport on the same day?? Nooooo... that'd be too fucking easy and makes far too much sense. You would much prefer to have us running all over the place like chickens with our fucking heads cut off, and then having to find some high society wanker to confirm that it's really me in the goddamn photo! You know the photo ... the one where we're not allowed to smile?! ... you fucking morons.

Signed - An Irate Australian Citizen.

P.S Remember what I said above about the picture, and getting someone in high-society to confirm that it's me? Well, my family has been in this country since before 1850! In 1856, one of my forefathers took up arms with Peter Lalor. (You do remember the Eureka Stockade!!) I have also served in both the CMF and regular Army something over 30 years (I went to Vietnam in 1967), and still have high security clearances. I'm also a personal friend of the president of the RSL. and Lt General Peter Cosgrove sends me a Christmas card each year.

However, your rules require that I have to get someone 'important' to verify who I am; You know ... someone like my doctor; WHO WAS BORN AND RAISED IN PAKISTAN!!! ... a country where they either assassinate or hang their ex-Prime Ministers, and are suspended from the Commonwealth for not having the 'right sort of government.'

You are all Fucking idiots.

Something You Won't See on the Regular News

Hamas using ambulances with UN insignia to transport their able-bodied soldiers:

What's the UN saying about this? Nothing
What's the MSM (Mainstream Media) saying about this? Nothing

S.E.C. Incompetence

I just heard a detailed accounting of how Bernie Madoff has been able to pull off his $50 Billion scam over several decades. You can listen to it here (tune to 36:00). Here's the article of the interview subject, Binyamin Appelbaum.

One critical part of the story that is not yet mentioned on Wikipedia is how a competitor of Madoff's named Harry Markopolos took a careful look at what Madoff was doing. He concluded it was a scam way back in 1999. So he informed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (S.E.C.), not just once, but multiple times. They ignored him repeatedly. Finally, in 2005 they did investigate Madoff and ... wait for it ... concluded that he was legit!

How on earth could the S.E.C. have failed to detect this massive crime? Was it just pure incompetence or was someone paid off?

This clearly had to be the rotten cherry on top of a year where the very roots of our entire financial system has been badly shaken.

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Update: Sadly, one of the investors of Madoff, has allegedly committed suicide:

Yet Another Story About That "Horrible" Wal-Mart

I seem to have a talent for meeting an endless stream of Socialist Kool-Aid drinkers, who nowadays prefer to call themselves "progressives". Here are some "truths" amongst their high-priests:

• The government is good and the primary protector of you, dear naive citizen.
• Private enterprise is bad.
• The gold medalist for horrible private companies is Exxon.
  
• Wal-Mart earns the silver medal.

A fly-in-the-ointment of such beliefs is an interesting story that has come out of the September 2005 Katrina Hurricane disaster.

John Les: Top Cop-Out

Vaughn Palmer has just written a subtle, but telling article about another Peter Principle candidate, BC's Solicitor General, John Les. I heard him on the radio today and it was nothing short of embarrassing.

One thing is crystal clear: We have Major League Organized Crime vs. Disorganized Double-A Politicians. It's no surprise who's winning, no surprise at all. :-(

Good to Great: Leadership

On the recommendation of my friend, Sarah, I've started reading a very interesting book called "Good to Great", by Jim Collins. In it he & his team analyzed the performance of 1,435 companies over 40 years - no small feat.

It's late but I was so inspired by what I read that I just had to put my thoughts down to paper ... albeit of the electronic kind!

Some intriguing results came out of their research. One is that there's a consistency in personalities of the CEOs that were at the helm when the [relatively small number of] companies made the leap from just good to truly great. What may be surprising to you is that all of the following would not end up on that list:

• Donald Trump
• Lee Iacocca (Chrysler)
• Jack Welch (GE)
• Carly Fiorina (HP)

This group of four would have the following in common:

• Bigger egos than perhaps anyone within a square mile of them
• Much larger paycheques than any of them deserve
  
• Sub-par performance records in the long term and after they left

Collins would most likely use the term "Level 4" to describe their leadership skills. But by their very nature (success of themselves over top of success of the company), they're incapable of achieving "Level 5" leadership status, which is necessary to make a company truly great.

In my own life, I've been sucked in by the allure of charming egotistical leaders. I've worked for some and done business with others. Much like top athletes or movie stars, they're very interesting people to be around. But, in reading Collins' book, it's clear why these supposed "superstars" are the ones to walk quickly away from if you ever encounter them in business.

It's telling and somewhat sad that everyone in the business world has top-of-mind knowledge of the 4 CEOs listed above. Yet the CEOs who are the true superstars - the ones with the most profitable winning teams - are rarely ever mentioned in the mainstream press. We shouldn't be surprised though because this same media does exactly the same thing with the glitterati of Hollywood. For example, why exactly is Paris Hilton famous?

I've thought for some time now that we, as a society, have gone down the wrong path, starting perhaps 25 years ago:

• With business leaders making scandalously large amounts of money, approved by incompetent or complicit boards of directors. I'm a capitalist but what is going on in some of these companies is just pure theft from the shareholders.
  
• Ditto re professional athletes, plus the issue of rampant steroid use in many sports.
• Sub-standard Hollywood "stars" churning out sub-standard TV shows & movies. What exactly is the minimum requirement for being a "star" these days, anyhow?
  
• Greedy politicians who are more interested in padding their own coffers than actually looking out for the longterm good of the citizens they represent. Might not a 3-term lifetime limit be a good thing for ALL politicians?
• The media. Not all, but most. It sickens me to see that so many of them don't focus on reporting the news but much prefer to manufacture the news instead. Artificially created controversy is a prime tool of these folks. With their mindless 10-second sound bites, agenda-driven slanted polls, and tremendous power to shape public opinion, I'm absolutely convinced that the mainstream media are more responsible than any other group for damaging society and the average person's faith in the goodness of their fellow man.