Tamils Use Children as Shields to Blockade Toronto Highway

When you come to Canada you should drop your Sri Lankan politics. I don't know how they're going to garner sympathy when they pull crap like this. 'Unlawful' Tamil protest blocks Toronto highway

The Tamil protest has spilled onto Toronto's Gardiner Expressway Sunday, blocking traffic in both directions-- and there's no end in sight.

Hundreds of people from Toronto's Tamil community, including women with babies in strollers, marched up the highway ramp on Spadina Avenue at around 7 p.m. to protest the violence against civilians in Sri Lanka.

They are demanding to speak to a representative of Prime Minister Stephen Harper about the civil war in Sri Lanka. Police have said that will not be possible.

How do they think this is going to win over the Canadian public? But here's the real outrage...

Blair said he was extremely concerned about the presence of children at the protest and said the elevated highway itself was very dangerous for people on foot.

"I'm very concerned about the safety of children, I think it's an extremely dangerous situation to put children on the front line of a protest in that way, I think it puts them at tremendous risk' he said.

They bring children, and put them in harm's way, so the police (or motorists) can't break them up. Disgusting! Outrageous! I don't care what their cause is!

Unclenched Fist Watch

Barack Obama in his inaugural address said to America's enemies: "we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist." I guess the mullahs in Iran weren't listening.

However, Khamenei exhibited little will to bend, using his speech to outline a long list of grievances against the United States, including U.S. sanctions against Iran, U.S. support for Saddam Hussein during his 1980-88 war against Iran and the downing of an Iranian airliner over the Persian Gulf in 1988.

"Have you released Iranian assets? Have you lifted oppressive sanctions? Have you given up mudslinging and making accusations against the great Iranian nation and its officials? Have you given up your unconditional support for the Zionist regime? Even the language remains unchanged," Khamenei said.

As he spoke, the crowd chanted "Death to America."

Death to America, eh? Definitely not unclenched.

Obama should have had a more subversive message, straight to the people. Something like: "Overthrow your theocratic dictatorship, you know you want to."

Hat tip: Strack Attack

UPDATE: PBS travel nerd Rick Steves was recently in Iran, and had some interesting thoughts in this Salon interview:

When I came home after the most learning 12 days of travel I've ever had in my life, I realized this is a proud nation of 70 million people. They are loving parents, motivated by fear for their kids' future and the culture they want to raise their kids in. I had people walk across the street to tell me they don't want their kids to be raised like Britney Spears. They are afraid Western culture will take over their society and their kids will be sex toys, drug addicts and crass materialists. That scares the heck out of less educated, fundamentalist, small-town Iranians, which is the political core of the Islamic Revolution and guys like Ahmadinejad.

After all, this is a country that lost a quarter of a million people fighting Saddam Hussein, when Iraq, funded by the United States, invaded Iran. And they remember the invasion like it was yesterday to them. It's amazing: They have a quarter of our population and they lost a quarter of a million people, fighting Hussein. That's a huge scar in their society.

I just feel we underestimate the spine of these people. They will fight and die to defend their values. And their values are not to destroy America and Israel. Their values are to defend their way of life against Western encroachment. Because of recent history, they have grounds to think America threatens them. So it would be dangerously naive to think we could shock and awe them into any kind of submission.

The entire inteview is interesting on a variety of topics. Some of his opinions are not what you'd expect, considering his Mr. Rogers-like persona.

Drug War Front: Vancouver

There are plenty of jokes about hippy Vancouver pot heads, but the reality is that drugs are big business over here. BC Bud sells in large quantities down in the US. Everybody knows somebody who knows somebody who has a grow op. As always, when illegal smuggling is highly profitable, people end up getting killed. It's not quite as bad as Mexico, YET.

The rash of violence in the Vancouver area, which has had 12 shootings in 16 days, is a result of "disorganized" and "reckless" gangs that have exploded in the province over the last decade, says a criminology professor.

Prof. Darryl Plecas of the University of the Fraser Valley said the number of gangs in B.C. has grown from about a dozen ten years ago to more than 100 today, a growth fuelled in part by an expanding drug trade.

This summer, I came home from work and my street was cordoned off, cops were everywhere, including in the sky in helicopters. It turns out somebody was gunned down 25 meters from where I live. A gangland "hit". Seeing the alley behind my apartment on the television news was surreal. Another time a body was found in the trunk of a car parked right outside my living room window. Cops even came to my door to ask if I had seen anything suspicious.

Liberals Posturing Before Budget

Are the Liberals going to take down the Tories over tax cuts?

Opposition parties are threatening to vote down this week's much-anticipated Conservative budget because it contains a potentially contentious proposal to permanently slash taxes for middle-class Canadians.

While the Conservatives say the tax cuts will help working families during a challenging economic era, the Liberals say the rollback is ill-advised and will do little to stimulate the economy.

"If the permanent tax cuts were very large, we would be very concerned, partly because it would saddle future generations with a big debt and a permanent deficit," Liberal finance critic John McCallum told CTV's Question Period Sunday.

McCallum added that the tax reductions will be an ineffectual stimulus because people are more likely to save extra money during recessionary periods.

And if the Tory budget fails to deliver what's best for Canada, McCallum said the Liberals will have little option than to vote it down.

Good luck with that message. "Hey Canadians, you wouldn't spend your money like we want you too, so we are going to take the tax cuts off the table. " Not a very good piece of an election platform. Sounds like a bluff to me.

Hat tip to Strack Attack. Who also mentions that heroic Obama is giving lower and middle class tax cuts in the US, why is it so bad when Harper does it?

Free Speech At Universities

Union may ban Israeli academics who support offensive:

An Ontario union may ban Israeli academics from teaching or speaking at the province's universities unless they condemn the current military action in the Gaza Strip, according to the Globe and Mail, sparking a fierce debate.

This is dreadful. Why is it these days that the universities are centre for the anti-free speechers and book burners? I thought the whole point was to have a forum with variety of opinions to be criticized and debated.

Insurgency Tactics

Protests erupted across the world in response to Israel's incursion into Gaza. There was one right here in Vancouver.

1980's pain-in-the-rear Annie Lennox is speaking out against the bombing of civilians:

Singer Annie Lennox and other celebrities are calling on Israel to stop its air attacks on the Gaza Strip.

Lennox said violence could never be a solution to conflict.

Do any of these western protestors even consider that maybe Hamas was provoking a response and that civilian casualties actually help their cause? That the protestors are the type of wind-up toy response they expected?

How Will the Coup Sell? A Big Night for Public Opinion

I have been watching coverage all day on CTV and CBC and I think this coup is going to fail. I'm anxious to see how the public react when they get home tonight and watch the news.

1. Tax payer subsidies for political parties is not exactly an issue that needs to have an emergency change of government, under unprecedented circumstances in our country's history.
2. Even the Quebec appeasers in Ontario surely can't think you reward separatists by bringing them into the government?
3. What did the Liberals and Dippers offer up to the Bloc to join? Mike Duffy on CTV said that it will be 6 Senate seats to separatists and transfer payment goodies.
4. Ignatieff, who is the real leader of the Liberals, is invisible and rumour has it that he will refuse a cabinet position in the coalition if it becomes government.
5. I don't think Canadians are happy that Elizabeth May, who lost the vote in her riding and heads a party that has no seats has been promised a senate seat, and possible cabinet appointment. Seriously, the will of the people said they don't want her.
6. I watched Dion in the press scrum today defend the Bloc as being a positive part of the government. Not a winning line to take. (And we already know Canadians find him an unattractive politician.)
7. Duceppe said today in the scrum that the coalition is good for the Quebec sovereignty movement.

On the other hand, what if the plotters pull this off? I don't know what I'll do. Will there be rioting? Western separatism?

UPDATE: Here is an online petition against the Coup. The backlash is in full swing.

UPDATEII: The CBC National was a disgrace, even for CBC. They kept saying the Bloc weren't part of the coalition. They are trying to say it is the Liberal-NDP coalition. Bullshit! The Libs and NDP don't have enough seats. Duceppe and the Bloc signed the agreement. How can they say that?.... They grimly reported that Harper and the Conservatives were going to put out attack ads. Before Harper has spoken to the Governor General they had a long segment of what would happen if she agreed to prorogue Parliament.