Shouldn’t there be a warning shot?

July 15, 2009 in Canada | Tags: , , , , , , | by Michele | Leave a comment

I completely agree that Canada should require visas for visitors to Canada from the Czech Republic and Mexico.  The multitude of phony refugee claims demands the change.

However, why wasn’t there a warning and a grace period before the new rules were implemented?  People already have travel plans and plane tickets.  Students have quit jobs and enrolled in schools.  I would be furious if I had pre-paid travel plans made following existing rules and the rules were changed midstream.  Totally not fair.

Jeffery Simpson at the Globe and Mail actually has a much better idea for stemming the phony refugee claimant problem.  (This may be the first time that I’ve used “Globe and Mail” and “better idea” in the same sentence.)

Canada should be able – although this would be hard and controversial, and draw the ire of all the refugee advocates in Canada – to post an annual list of countries where, based on extensive research, we do not consider individuals to be threatened with persecution or torture or discrimination, and are unable to seek redress from local courts and authorities.

Brilliant.  RTWT.

This could also eliminate the American military deserters applying for refugee status in Canada.  Absolutely brilliant.

Do you approve? Obama vs. Bush

July 15, 2009 in America, politics | Tags: , , , , , , , | by Michele | Leave a comment

Gallup does daily polls of Americans to ask whether they approve or disapprove of the job the President is doing.

For July 12-14, 2009, Obama’s approval rating was 59% compared to 33% who disapproved.

At a similar time point (July 2001), Bush’s approval rating was about 56% compared to a 33% disapproval rating.

Hmmmm.  59% vs. 56%.  Factoring in the margin of error and the prevasive “Obama love-in” atmosphere, I’d call those equal.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to remind people that the 2008 Presidential Election was not a landslide.

The flow of government mandated healthcare.

July 15, 2009 in health, politics | Tags: , , , , , , , | by Michele | Leave a comment

Holy cow.

I’m a visual person.  I like flowcharts because they can clearly and concisely illustrate processes of all kinds.  However … this is absolutely insane.

hcm flowchart

On second thought, that flowchart does clearly and concisely illustrate just how the House Democrats’ Health Plan will work.

Note:

The chart was created by the Joint Economic Committee Republican Staff and the image is courtesy of CoacheP via LGF links.

Saskatoon Civic Elections

July 15, 2009 in Canada, politics | Tags: , , , , , , | by Michele | Leave a comment

Mark your calendars for Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 which is election day for Saskatoon Mayor, city council, and school board trustees.  Election day is only 15 weeks away.

I know that a lot of people don’t really care about civic elections but it is at the local level that individuals can actually make a difference.  I’m not a Canadian citizen so I can’t vote here but I’m going to encourage everyone who can vote to really participate.

Let’s start with an interesting bit of information.  Do you know what the qualifications are to run for school board trustee?  Answer after the break:

Read the rest of this entry »

Best Book Review Ever.

July 15, 2009 in book reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , | by Michele | Leave a comment

Marilyn Scott-Waters is an illustrator who makes incredibly cool paper toys and gives them away on her website “The Toymaker.”  (If you like them and you can, leave her a tip via Paypal.  Free is great but, if you can afford to pay a bit it helps to provide toys for those who can’t.  Anyhooo … back to the topic at hand.)

She also writes a mean book review.  That’s “mean” as in fantastic not as in she’s a meany.  Again, it’s late and I’m rambling.  Back to the review of Twilight:

Perhaps you have heard of it? It’s about a clutzy, whiney teenage girl that hates everything in her life until she meets the yummiest, prettiest, shiniest, sparkly superhero vampire who wants nothing more than to know everything about her (like her favorite color), watch her sleep (cree-peeee) and to drive really fast in really expensive Volvos. Once you get past the fact that Bella is a total helpless victim through the whole book and is continually saved by the growling but chaste Edward, it’s a fast read and a guilty pleasure. I’m embarrassed that enjoyed reading it even though I annoyed my poor husband every five minutes with snort laughing and “Can you believe this?”. It was like eating a bowl of sugar babies.

That almost makes me want to read Twilight.  Almost but not quite.  There are too many books to read and too little time.

If you like the review, check out her livejournal.

Crowder test drives Canadian-style healthcare.

July 14, 2009 in Canada, Guilticulturalism | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | by Michele | Leave a comment

This is must see PGTV for all Americans, especially if you think that universal, government funded healthcare is the way to go.

Actually, Crowder’s experiences in Montreal should make people in Saskatchewan feel better since I think we have it a bit better.

Does anyone know why Quebec has private clinics and Saskatchewan doesn’t?

Iraqi Thank-you

July 14, 2009 in America, Jihad | Tags: , , , , , , | by Michele | Leave a comment

An Iraqi columnist has written a thank-you to America.  RTWT.

Thank You America – And Damn You, You Bastards

By Jabr Al Jabouri

Al-Bayyna Al-Jadida [Baghdad]

America gave the lives of 4,000 of its people to Iraq’s land to instill security and democracy, while the Arabs sent us their filthy mercenaries who mercilessly murdered, bombed, and slaughtered the Iraqi people.

…

Today, our American friends are true to their word. They have handed over security responsibilities to the Iraq forces, and they decided to withdraw from the Iraqi cities.

Via Public Secrets which I think that I found via LGF.

More nut insanity.

July 14, 2009 in health, rants | Tags: , , , , , , | by Michele | Leave a comment

I thought that it was bad enough when nuts were banned at our school.  We can’t send PB&J sandwiches.  We can’t send any products which contain nuts.  Fine.  I get it.  I don’t like it and I might fight it but I co-operate for now.

So, I wasn’t surprised that summer camps at the University of Saskatchewan are “nut free.”

What was surprising was their requirement that snacks brought from home be labelled as “nut free.”  This includes cookies, muffins, breads, etc. — anything that isn’t clearly nut-free and especially applies to homemade items.

“If the snack isn’t labelled as ‘nut free’, we won’t let the child eat it.”

ORLY?!

My child can’t eat the snack which I packed for her and placed in her lunchbag?  She doesn’t have any food allergies.  Isn’t it enough that I have to send nut-free snacks?  Now you want me to remember to label them?

The staffer actually tried to justify it.  “Some children don’t know if the snack is nut free.”  So?

Let’s try teaching personal responsibility.  If your child has allergies, teach them to only eat what you have packed for them.  In fact, just make it the rule that no one shares snacks.

See how easy that is?

What kind of a secret is that?

July 13, 2009 in Jihad, politics | Tags: , , , , , , , , | by Michele | Leave a comment

Democrats are all up in arms because Cheney supposedly didn’t tell Congress about a CIA plan.

The plan was to kill al-Qaeda leaders.

Did anyone think that we weren’t trying to kill al-Qaeda leaders?  Anyone?

I assumed that we were and I’m actually kind of shocked that maybe we weren’t pursuing this policy.

Did Congress think that we weren’t trying to kill al-Qaeda leaders?

What did they think we were doing?

Islamists in North America

July 13, 2009 in Islam, Jihad | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | by Michele | Leave a comment

For everyone who thinks that we should just let Muslim immigrants do as they please with accommodations as requested because we need to be inclusive and welcoming to other cultures, wake up.

Somali immigrants in America are being manipulated by islamists to push for the slow creep of Sharia Law into work and schools.

What we need to do is to educate ourselves about other cultures and to educate immigrants about our culture.  We need to know our culture and our most fundamental values so that we can defend them.

Freedom of religion doesn’t mean that anyone can do anything they want simply by blaming their religion.  Sharia Law is not welcome here.

*****

This post was partially written when I read a relevant post at LGF.  Somali refugees in Minneapolis are returning to Somalia and joining the jihad. One even became the first known American suicide bomber.

Isolated immigrant communities are ideal targets for extremist imams and mosques.  It’s hard enough for adults to integrate in a new culture but children are especially at risk.

And this leads me back to religious schools.  All children should attend public schools.  Children should not be isolated so that they only meet other children who share their religion.

Who are we protecting?

July 12, 2009 in Canada | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | by Michele | Leave a comment

Farid Noedost, an Iranian refugee, is a sex offender and was found guilty of drug possession with intent to distribute.  He assaulted two young women.  His 16-year-old girlfriend turned him in (a woman scorned?) and did I mention that he is 33 years old?  He now is on parole and has to stay away from female minors.

His deportation became mandatory after his latest sentence, because it was a federal penitentiary term that exceeded two years.

Federal immigration officials have written that “on the balance of probabilities, Mr. Noedost is a possible re-offender whose presence in Canada creates and unacceptable risk to the public.”

He’s being deported.  Right?  Right?  Wrong.

The Immigration and Refugee Board believe that he “fears for his life” if he is returned to Iran.

So, a convicted sex offender wins.  He stays here where he poses a definite risk to Canadian women but he gets to stay safe and sound.

As my daughter would say, “That’s not fair.”

Air Canada must think that we are stupid.

July 11, 2009 in Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | by Michele | Leave a comment

First, it was Northwest Airlines offering to sell me carbon credits for my flight.

Now, Air Canada will let me use Aeroplan miles to offset the greenhouse gases created by the flights I just purchased.  Isn’t that convenient?

aircanada carbon credits

Why would I waste the equivalent of 1/4 of a free ticket to “green it up”?

Do a lot of people do this?

Give a soldier his cigarettes.

July 11, 2009 in health, wtf | Tags: , , , , , , , , | by Michele | Leave a comment

This is just stupid.

The Pentagon has health experts who are recommending that US troops be banned from using tobacco.

Are they insane?  Men and women risk their lives defending our country and their superiors think that they can’t choose whether or not to have a cigarette?  The nanny state invades the military.  If soldiers want a cigarette to relax after patrolling in a sandstorm thousands of miles from home, I say give them a cigarette.  Until 1972, C-rations included small packs of cigarettes.

Can I send cigarettes in care packages?

Update:  I totally forgot.  Obama is a smoker! Do you think the ban will apply to the Commander in Chief?

I’m a referee.

July 11, 2009 in family | Tags: , , , , , , | by Michele | Leave a comment

The passive-aggressive princess strikes again.

No one warned me that, in addition to being short order cooks and taxi drivers, moms get to be referees.

We have a house full of books and toys and games and cable television plus a big yard and a pile of outdoor toys.  The children cannot agree on a single thing to play.

Save me.

Maybe a nice ring would make me feel better.

ring

from EmeliaRo on Etsy.com

Mandatory Voting

July 11, 2009 in politics | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | by Michele | Leave a comment

Do you really want everyone to vote?  What about people who just aren’t interested or who don’t really care which candidate wins?

My sister voted for Obama because her son told her to and he told her to vote for Obama because that’s what he was taught at school.  Without her son’s influence, she wouldn’t have voted at all because she didn’t like either candidate.  She can’t possibly be the only person voting this way.

Obama received 52.9% of the vote and McCain received 45.7%.

You do the math.

Blog Drift

July 11, 2009 in Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | by Michele | Leave a comment

I read the same blogs on a regular basis but sometimes I drift away for awhile.  Short attention span?  Easily distracted by shiny objects?  Frustrated by general insanity among governments?  Whatever.

I found my way back to Five Feet of Fury today just in time for a fantastic quote from Kathy Shaidle:

When a conservative hears the phrase “income tax”, he thinks: “tax”.

When an Obama voter hears the phrase “income tax,” he thinks: “income.”

Brilliant.


That’s not what I meant.

July 11, 2009 in America, politics | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | by Michele | 1 comment

I wrote about this before but it’s worth repeating:  You can’t require insurance companies to insure everyone regardless of pre-existing conditions.  Insurance companies would go out of business.  To have universal coverage and require insurance companies to cover everyone regardless of pre-existing conditions, healthy people need to obtain policies as well to spread the risk out.  If healthy people don’t get insurance and insurance companies have to cover sick people, costs will spiral out of control.

However, and this is the important part, the government should not force everyone to obtain health insurance.  Doing so is just imposing a tax to fund a universal health care system in disguise.

That’s exactly what a Senate plan would do.  People who choose to not buy health insurance would be fined.

What is this insanity?  Is there no personal choice?  No personal responsibility?  Must the government take care of every aspect of our lives?  What is happening to America?

Eastern Promises

July 11, 2009 in Find My Happy Place, entertainment | Tags: , , , , , , , | by Michele | 1 comment

I can’t get this movie out of my head.

Viggo Mortenson is an amazing actor.

Viggo starring plus David Cronenberg directing?  Looks like our next movie night will be “A History of Violence.”

Another Deserter

July 10, 2009 in America, Canada, stupid | Tags: , , , , , , | by Michele | 1 comment

Kimberly Rivera is appealing the denial of refugee status and her lawyer thinks that Canada should consider what will happen to her if she returns to the United States.

Rivera’s lawyer, Alyssa Manning, said her client could be in for stiffer punishment, likely jail time, because she has been a vocal critic of the war in Iraq.

For anyone who feels sorry for the American soldiers attempting to claim refugee status in Canada, let’s review.

She will be tried for desertion and, when she is found guilty, she will serve time in jail.

That’s it.  She knew that was the consequence of desertion.  She chose her course of action and must accept the punishment.  She’s not a refugee.  She’s a runaway.

Why is this so complicated for so many people?

Corner Gas

July 10, 2009 in Canada, entertainment | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | by Michele | Leave a comment

The Corner Gas sets in Rouleau are shuttered and fans of the show expecting a tourist attraction are disappointed when they visit.  Residents of Rouleau call the sets an eyesore but, based on the photo, I don’t see it.  Now talk radio is filled with chattering and whining about how we have to do something.  More specifically, talk has turned to government.  Premiere Brad Wall himself stated that the various levels of government could get involved.

I’d like to help.  I know exactly what the federal, provincial, and municipal governments should do about the Corner Gas sets.

NOTHING.

Government shouldn’t be in the tourism business.  If the Corner Gas sets are a viable tourist destination, some enthusiastic entrepreneur will pursue it without throwing tax dollars at entertainment.

You’re welcome.

 

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