Cdn-Firearms Digest Friday, December 12 2008 Volume 12 : Number 780 In this issue: Re: Cdn-Firearms Digest V12 #779 Column: Wooing West not easy for Liberals BC Mounties walk Re: election facts "Herald Column: When death is the reward, what chance for peace?" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:21:39 -0800 From: "Bob Boswell" Subject: Re: Cdn-Firearms Digest V12 #779 > Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:28:10 -0800 > From: "RFOCBC" > Subject: RE: election facts > > The real popular vote is as follows. > > Conservatives 22.2% > Liberals 15.5% > NDP 10.8% > Bloc 5.9% > Green 4.0% > Other 0.9% > None Of The Above 40.9% > I don't believe you can count those that chose not to vote in your percentage of support Here are some other facts./ Conservative vote 143 seat with 38% of the votes of those who voted. 62% of those that voted did not support he CPC Liberals vote 76 seats with 26% of the votes of those who voted. 74% of those that voted did not support the Liberal NDP vote 37 seats with 18% of the votes of those who voted. 82% of those that voted did not support the NDP Bloc vote 50 seats with 10% of the votes of those who voted 90% of those that voted did not vote for the Bloc Lets look at the leaders Harper Calgary Southwest got 73% of the votes of those that voted 27% of those that voted did not support Harper in his riding Diion St Laurent/Cartierville got 62% of the votes of those that voted and 38% of those that voted did not support Dion in his riding Layton Toronto/Canforth got 45% of the votes of those that voted and 55% of those that voted did not support Layton in his riding Duceppe Laurier/St Marie got 50% of the votes of those that voted and 50% of those that voted did not support Duceppe in his riding In my opinion if you did not exercise your right to vote you have no bitch. Many of us put ourselvs in harms way to ensure that you had the right and many died. It is a shame that our effort was wasted on so many. Bob Boswell ------------------------------ Date: Fri, December 12, 2008 2:02 pm From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 2" Subject: Column: Wooing West not easy for Liberals PUBLICATION: Vancouver Sun DATE: 2008.12.12 EDITION: Final SECTION: Canada & World PAGE: B3 COLUMN: Barbara Yaffe BYLINE: Barbara Yaffe SOURCE: Vancouver Sun WORD COUNT: 492 - --------------------------------------------------------------------- Wooing West not easy for Liberals - --------------------------------------------------------------------- Along with a new Liberal leader inevitably comes a fresh desire to woo the West. Michael Ignatieff, after being crowned interim leader by his party's executive, made an entirely unsolicited pitch Wednesday to Western Canada. "This is where the destiny of our country's economy will be played out," he told reporters in Ottawa. "And I want our party to be at the centre of that adventure and that drama. "I want us to reach out and hope that western Canadians forgive and forget, to be very blunt, some of the errors the party has made in the past." He presumably was referring to the National Energy Program of the 1980s, introduced by his party, which allowed for cut-rate Western oil prices for easterners, a Liberal-inspired firearms registry in the 1990s that ticked off rural westerners, the Kyoto Protocol signed in 2002 by the Chretien Grits that threatened resource projects in Sask-atchewan and Alberta. Heck, even the Liberals' 1969 Official Languages Act was a turnoff for folks in the region. Earlier this year, the party's proposed Green Shift carbon tax alienated voters in Alberta and Saskatchewan. In the October election, Liberals won no seats in Alberta and just one in Saskatchewan. One Liberal was elected in Manitoba. B.C. elected five, four in Greater Vancouver, one in the Victoria area. That translates into seven Liberals of 92 MPs in the four western provinces. That's gawdawful. This will make it difficult for Ignatieff to court the region because he has so few star players. His most revered MP from the west is probably Ralph Goodale and the list gets thin pretty quickly after that. Nor can Ignatieff expect any support that might flow from his being a hometown boy. He was born in Toronto and currently represents the riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore. He spent two years teaching at the University of B.C. back in the '70s but seldom speaks of it. While Ignatieff insisted Wednesday that he appreciates the manure-smell of barns, the former professor and son of a diplomat is anything but rough around the edges. He exudes an urbane sophistication that could be a tough sell in the region's hinterland. University of Victoria political scientist Reg Whitaker sees a path for Ignatieff that is straight uphill when it comes to courting Alberta and Saskatchewan. "Alberta is a lost cause for the Liberals," Whitaker says without hesitation. "Saskatchewan, too." The Liberals' focus on the environment is bound to continue to frighten votes in these energy-rich provinces. On Thursday, Liberals put out a news release: "The Harper government is missing in action as the oilsands continue to pollute without consequence." Says Whitaker, "Liberals are harbouring this wish that they can rebuild the natural governing party. Personally, I think that it's a delusion." That favoured status was rooted in the party's predominance in Quebec and later in Ontario. But these days, with the right lately united in Ontario, Liberals are held to about 40 per cent of the vote. And, in Quebec, the Bloc thwarts Liberal dominance. With Alberta and Sask-atchewan largely out of play, the secret to boosting Liberal strength henceforth, says Whitaker, will be joining forces with the NDP -- uniting the left. This might enable the party to make useful inroads in rural B.C. and Manitoba. Another near-term strategy to boost Liberal support in these same two provinces would be to paint Stephen Harper as a Canadian Herbert Hoover, as ineffectual in the face of an economic crisis. Ignatieff has his work cut out for him. byaffe@vancouversun.com http://www.vancouversun.com/columnists/Wooing+West+easy+Liberals/1065915/story.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:28:34 -0500 From: Lee Jasper Subject: BC Mounties walk [Not one but 5-Taser jolts and 4-cops pin the chap killing him via significant 'arrhythmic disturbance' plus 'restraint asphyxia' and the Mounties weren't guilty of anything - like approaching with, "Hey Bud, we're here to help you"]? No charges in Taser death, B.C. Crown says December 12, 2008; Petti Fong; Western Canada Bureau Chief > http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/552940 VANCOUVER – Four RCMP officers who confronted Polish man Robert Dziekanski at the Vancouver International Airport and shot him with a Taser gun won't be charged criminally. The province's criminal justice branch announced this morning that there is not a substantial likelihood of conviction. "In fact, the available evidence falls markedly short of this standard," said Crown counsel spokesman Stan Lowe. The charges considered against the four RCMP officers were assault, assault with a weapon and manslaughter. Lowe said the officers proceeded lawfully when they confronted Dziekanski. Lowe said Friday that Dziekanski was jolted five times in total but the cause of death was sudden death following restraint, and not directly caused by the Taser. A bystander's video of Dziekanski dying was released a few weeks later and has been seen by people around the world on TV and the Internet. The video shows the four RCMP officers confronting the confused and agitated man, and seconds later using the stun gun on him. Dziekanski died on the floor of the airport in the early hours of Oct. 14, 2007, as officers kneeled on the still-struggling man. The incident prompted several investigations, including a public inquiry beginning in January that will examine Dziekanski's death. Lowe said the stun gun used on Dziekanski initially malfunctioned, and the probes didn't stick to him. He was hit twice by the Taser while he lay on the ground, still struggling with officers. An autopsy showed no drugs or alcohol in Dziekanski's system but did show signs of chronic alcoholism. Prosecutors say he may have been in the grips of alcohol withdrawal, dehydrated and hysterical. A pathologist speculated those factors caused delirium that may have contributed to his heart stopping, along with being hit by the Taser and being restrained. Lowe said the charge assessment went through three levels of approval, which concluded there was no likelihood of conviction against the officers involved. He said the actions of the officers may be seen as having contributed to his death, but they are considered lawful. — With files from The Canadian Press - ---------------------------------------------------------------- CBC Report on Tasers > http://www.cbc.ca/news/pdf/taser-analysis-v1.5.pdf ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:29:53 -0400 From: "Al Muir" Subject: Re: election facts > Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2008 09:01:40 -0800 > From: "Todd Birch" > Subject: Re: Cdn-Firearms Digest V12 #775 > >>> Subject: re: election facts >> I believe 44% of those that could vote did not. > > And your belief is based on ....? It was the figure provided when the votes cast were added up and subtracted from those that were eligible to vote. The percentages were provide on this forum after the election. You must have missed them. It might have been 42%/41% or something close but as I am not sure of the correct percentage I said "I believe 44%" . Perhaps someone could post the figures for you again. If there is anything else I can help you with let me know. Al ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:20:21 -0700 From: "Dennis & Hazel Young" Subject: "Herald Column: When death is the reward, what chance for peace?" Subject: "Calgary Herald Column: When death is the reward, what chance for peace?" Calgary Herald 2008.12.11 The Editorial Page A16 BY Tim Giannuzzi When death is the reward, what chance for peace? http://www.calgaryherald.com/When+death+reward+what+chance+peace/1061569/story.html It might appear to be good news that five of the men behind the 9/11 attacks intend to plead guilty to murder and war crimes charges before the Guantanamo Bay military tribunals, but it is actually just a hollow victory. The five include 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Muhammad of Pakistan and Ramzi bin al-Shibh, a Yemeni who was originally slated to participate in the hijackings but failed to obtain a visa to enter the United States. This sudden change of heart is not genuine remorse. The five plotters are intent on using their captors to commit suicide, achieving officially sanctioned martyrdom at the hands of the enemy. If there was ever any doubt as to their intentions (there wasn't), it was instantly dispelled at Monday's pre-trial hearing when Khalid Shaikh Muhammad withdrew the offer after the judge cast doubt on the likelihood of the five receiving the death penalty because, as the CIA has already admitted, "enhanced interrogation techniques" were used to obtain evidence from the conspirators. Even in the ad hoc environment of the military tribunals, a capital conviction based on evidence obtained by torture is frowned upon. While the tribunals sink back into foggy uncertainty, the lesson to be drawn from the five accused detainees remains the same: the War on Terror will be difficult, if not impossible, to bring to a close through military action alone. Today's ever-shifting terrorist organizations and martyrdom-seeking members are not the main reason why this is so. The forces which created them and inspire them to hold their own lives as worthless will play a larger role. They will ensure the Middle East endures a rough 21st century. It could be argued the area has already had a rough century, what with the Iraq War, the War on Terror, conflicts between Israel and the Palestinians and the general misrule of the incompetent governments which run the region, but things are going to get much worse. Population growth across the Middle East is well above replacement level and is expected to stay high for years to come. Developed countries such as Saudi Arabia have population-growth rates more common in the Third World, while in poor places such as Yemen, the average woman still bears six children. Such growth will not only bring about conflict over resource shortages, it will create bottom-heavy societies with a gigantic proportion of young people. These massive cohorts of future young adults are set to run headlong into the sclerotic economies and dearth of opportunities fostered by the Middle East's inept authoritarian governments. Frustrated, many will look to extremist religion for somewhere to belong, furthering chaos and violence in the region and prompting governments to crack down even harder. Ultimately, numerous new generations of jihadists, like the five detainees, will be created-- stateless agents unafraid of death and dedicated to a violent causes transcending ethnic or cultural loyalties. Ideally, we would isolate ourselves from this mess by having as little to do with it as possible, but that just isn't feasible because of one thing--oil. While few western countries rely heavily on the Middle East for the stuff, the region's large reserves mean it will continue to influence world oil markets. As Middle Eastern governments are not terribly interested in nagging and advice from the West, the safest thing to do is reduce the Middle East's strategic value to us. This means breaking the oil habit. While completely divorcing ourselves from oil is the work of decades (and may not even be possible for certain sectors such as aviation), at least limiting our exposure to this pressure cooker could dampen the clarion call of one of the terrorists' main grievances: foreign interference and domination of the Muslim world. Western support for Israel, which must not slacken, would still make us a target, but at least the risk would be somewhat reduced, the potential battlefront with extremists narrowed. Concerted action will remain necessary from time to time to extinguish the Middle East's worst fires (especially in defence of Israel) but less so than if we continue to allow its oil-producing regions to play a disproportionately outsized role in our affairs because of an accident of geology. The Middle East is in for an ugly century, but we don't necessarily have to go along for the whole ride. Timothy Giannuzzi is a Calgary writer specializing in foreign affairs. His column appears every second Thursday. ------------------------------ End of Cdn-Firearms Digest V12 #780 *********************************** Submissions: mailto:cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca Mailing List Commands: mailto:majordomo@scorpion.bogend.ca Moderator's e-mail address: mailto:drg.jordan@sasktel.net List owner: mailto:owner-cdn-firearms@scorpion.bogend.ca FAQ list: http://www.canfirearms/Skeeter/Faq/cfd-faq1.html Web Site: http://www.canfirearms.ca CFDigest Archives: http://www.canfirearms.ca/archives To unsubscribe from _all_ the lists, put the next four lines in a message and mailto:majordomo@scorpion.bogend.ca unsubscribe cdn-firearms-digest unsubscribe cdn-firearms-chat unsubscribe cdn-firearms end (To subscribe, use "subscribe" instead of "unsubscribe".)