Day: January 26, 2005

Canada a bit player worldwide, says the Edmonton Journal:

A major study of politicians, diplomats and thinkers from Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America has concluded that Canada has become an irrelevant force on the international stage, but can regain its edge if it creates a swift and mobile brigade of peacekeepers.

Although the world appreciates Canada’s military contributions to the Balkans and Afghanistan, the country is seen as a bit player in bringing peace to war-torn parts of the world.

But the international community does not want it to stay that way, Greenhill added in the interview.

“Everybody from the Africans to the Americans to the Europeans said Canada having an autonomous mobile brigade that could actually get into tough regions quickly and be there for a couple of months at a time would make a huge difference,” he said.

“First is that few people can do it today. Secondly, those who can, like the Americans and British, are often seen as compromised politically.

“Where as Canada coming in with the Maple Leaf, with civility, is seen as very useful.”

Uh, yeah, right. The peace loving Canadians. And we’re supposed to believe that just because Canadians come in to patrol and rebuild, the insurgent terrorists wouldn’t want to slit their throats? These people want to kill anyone who is against Islam, no matter where in the world they call home.

Go back to your lives citizens.

Via the Boston Globe:

The nation’s new education secretary denounced PBS yesterday for spending public money on a cartoon with lesbian characters, saying many parents would not want their children exposed to such lifestyles.

The not-yet-aired episode of “Postcards From Buster” shows the title character, an animated bunny, on a trip to Vermont — a state known for recognizing same-sex civil unions. The episode features two lesbian couples, although the focus is on farm life and maple sugaring.

A PBS spokesman said late yesterday that the nonprofit network has decided not to distribute the episode, called “Sugartime!,” to its 349 stations. She said the Education Department’s objections were not a factor in that decision.

“Ultimately, our decision was based on the fact that we recognize this is a sensitive issue, and we wanted to make sure that parents had an opportunity to introduce this subject to their children in their own time,” said Lea Sloan, vice president of media relations at PBS.

Bravo.

THANK YOU MARGARET SPELLINGS! It’s about time a secretary of education moves to combat the elitists that spend our tax dollars to run PBS as a vehicle to indoctrinate our children with a radical agenda that is out of step with a majority of Americans.

Margaret, while your at it, NPR and the NEA need some cleaning too.

Via CNN:

When two men walked into a popular country store outside Atlanta, announced a holdup and fired a shot, owners Bobby and Gloria Doster never hesitated. The pair pulled out their own pistols and opened fire.

The armed suspect and his partner were killed. The Dosters won’t be charged, according to local officials, because they were acting in self-defense.

“I just started shooting,” said Gloria Doster, 56. “I was trying to blow his brains out is what I was trying to do.”

And that’s the last time the Dosters will ever be robbed. God Bless ’em.

Note to future convenience store robbers…steer clear of hitting any store in the deep south. Chances are good that the owner is packing anything from a .44 or .45 semi-automatic to a bazooka, and they aint gonna ask any questions first.

Via Drudge:

ANOTHER COLUMNIST WAS PAID TO PROMOTE BUSH PROPOSAL
Tue Jan 25 2005 20:13:59 ET

In 2002, syndicated columnist Maggie Gallagher repeatedly defended President Bush’s push for a $300 million initiative encouraging marriage as a way of strengthening families.

But Gallagher failed to mention that she had a $21,500 contract with the Department of Health and Human Services to help promote the president’s proposal, reveals Howard Kurtz in Wednesday runs of the WASHINGTON POST.

“The Bush marriage initiative would emphasize the importance of marriage to poor couples” and “educate teens on the value of delaying childbearing until marriage,” she wrote in National Review Online, for example, adding that this could “carry big payoffs down the road for taxpayers and children.”

Gallagher explains to Kurtz: “Did I violate journalistic ethics by not disclosing it? I don’t know. You tell me.” She said she would have “been happy to tell anyone who called me” about the contract but that “frankly, it never occurred to me” to disclose it.

National Review Editor Rich Lowry said of the HHS contract: “We would have preferred that she told us, and we would have disclosed it in her bio.”

Forget for a moment the whole issue of disclosure, etc. Yes, I know that’s the meat of the story, but when I read this, one thing came to my mind. Why is it that when caught with a hand in the cookie jar, the first instinct is to say something like “No one asked me, so I didn’t say anything”? Explanations like this never cut it. In PR terms, this is a no no. It’s better to just shut up and not comment. Then, she makes matters worse by saying, “frankly, it never occurred to me” to disclose. This is like spoon feeding the critics.

Gallagher has made her bed.