Milliken Ruling More About Democracy Than Detainees
On Tuesday Peter Milliken, the Speaker of the House of Commons, brought down his ruling on the Opposition parties motion which demanded that the Government turn over unredacted documents related to the Afghan detainee issue. Apparently, in the mind of the Prime Minister, that ruling was of such minor consequence it didn’t even warrant his attendance in the House to hear it.
Milliken upheld the supremacy of Parliament and its right to demand documents or even persons, claims of national security notwithstanding, to be delivered to it. He recognised that in the interest of national security not all documents can be delivered in public. He has called upon both sides of the House to do what Parliament has been doing for 140 years, to work out the differences and find a way to accommodate the supremacy of Parliament. He gave them two weeks to do so.
That is democracy in action. The government does (or should do) what is right and the Opposition provides oversight on behalf of the people.
Over the years, that basic principle has become eroded to the point it has, up until now, allowed a Prime Minister to behave more like a sovereign or President than a Prime Minister. A Prime Minister who truly understood the checks and balances within the system would never have stonewalled to the point that a ruling like Milliken was just called on to deliver would even have been needed.
The detainee issue is important in that Canadians should know if their government has failed to live up to our international obligations in regards to the safety of those detained by our military. Canadians know our troops have done what was required of them, the question is, did our government ensure those requirements were proper?
The government’s stonewalling and refusal to disclose documents to the Opposition to which it is entitled has moved the issue more to the question of what will it take for this Prime Minister to recognise his legal and moral responsibility to respect the Parliamentary rules and practices?
One day later, the Prime Minister rises in the House and gives every indication he intends to continue to defy the democratic principles he has been sworn to uphold. He hints that he is ready to take that defiance to the electorate. He tries to wrap himself in the flag and as the defender of the safety and well being of our troops fighting overseas.
Does he really think that the Canadian people are not smart enough to see the hypocrisy of his stand? Instead of truly supporting and leading our troops, Harper is cowering behind their good name to protect his own political ass.
His government has flatly turned down any suggestions by the Opposition to find middle ground which would allow a least some Opposition MPs to review the documents yet now claims that any ‘reasonable suggestion’ would be considered. Just who determines what is reasonable when we have an autocratic control freak Prime Minister?
Harper needs to find a way to step back from the edge, he might not like the ruling the Canadian people return on his contempt for the workings of our Parliament should he allow this to go to an election.
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Mme Arbour Speaks Truth to Canada’s Foreign ‘Policy’
I’m not much of a fan of the National Post as I find many of its writers a lot more right leaning (I’m trying to be kind) than I have tolerance for. However, as intolerant as I am of these writers, I do occasionally read their drivel if for nothing else to make sure I really am still intolerant of them.
So, rather than subject myself to actually reading the National Post, I follow them on Twitter and scan the headlines they tweet for items of interest. One caught my attention today “Louise Arbour speaks out on the world’s worst country — Canada“, a piece written by Kelly McParland.
I have a lot of respect for Mme Arbour having read about her actions in Bosnia and the Hague. I admired her gutsy stands, especially in bringing the indictment against Slobodan Milosevic in the face of some of the NATO countries demonstrating their lack of will in bringing him to justice. I admired that she is not only a gutsy woman in an often man’s world but a gutsy Canadian woman.
McParland on the other hand, appears to be very good at the type of armchair journalism which can be pretty safe to engage in. You know, the kind of writing that bloggers, like me, do from the comfort of our homes. Except he gets paid and should be writing to a higher standard.
What McParland was slamming Arbour over was her candid remarks made to Olivia Ward in her piece today in the Toronto Star; “Louise Arbour can finally talk about world’s worst regimes“. During the interview Arbour shared that she can now speak her mind in her current position as President and CEO of the International Crisis Group.
What set McParland off is this:
“Is Canada punching below its weight?” she says. “Is it punching at all?”
Ottawa, Arbour argues, is “largely absent on the international scene. It’s very difficult to capture any kind of message, position or form of engagement these days.”
And she adds, “when I was prosecutor in 1996, it mattered what Canada thought. On issues of justice and ethics, it mattered what the Canadian position was. There was a sense that you would get an honest, well-thought-out approach. Not just a raw pursuit of ideological or national interest.”
I went over and read the piece myself. It didn’t take me a degree in journalism to take a reasonable guess that Olivia Ward was engaged in an interview with Louise Arbour and since she had limited space for her piece, she focused on Arbour’s remarks that were relevant to Canadians. It is after all, a Canadian newspaper and Canadian audience. You can pick up pretty easily that there were other countries discussed.
Just to make sure my impressions weren’t just assumptions on my part I shot an email off to Ward. Apparently McParland didn’t think about that simple little stop, but then it would have robbed him of his rant material. She responded in short order and yes, my assumptions were correct.
Arbour is correct in her comments. It is very difficult to know where Canada stands on much of anything and when you do figure out a stand it drips with partisan ideology. Canada at one time had a nuanced approach to the conflicts in the Middle East.
We didn’t trumpet Israel as taking a “measured response” when they bombed the Gaza. We wouldn’t have stayed silent over their use of phosphorus weapons on a civilian population, like we have recently. We wouldn’t have cut off funding to an aid group like KAIROS for having the temerity to criticise the actions of Israel.
When Canada took a stand, it meant something more than pandering to the right wing Christian Evangelical interests in the political party of government.
These days, Harper is quick to strut on the world stage and claim Canada is no longer a ’soft power’, but with our military refitting and boots on the ground in places like Afghanistan and Haiti that we can prove ourselves as ‘hard power’ through our capabilities.
One of his most recent chest thumpings took place in Haiti in February. I’ll give him his due, Canada reacted swiftly to the devastating earthquake there on February 12th. Putting 2000 Canadian troops on the ground is swift order should have made most Canadians puff a bit with pride. Course, less noticed was that within a couple of months, those troops were just as quickly pulled out.
Having never heard of ICG organization, I looked it up and spent some time exploring their site. Too bad McParland didn’t take some time to do the same. It places Arbour’s comments in even more perspective. She isn’t speaking just from past experiences, she’s speaking from today’s experiences.
This 15 year old non-profit group is independent and non-governmental. They focus on trying to prevent and resolve deadly conflicts like Afghanistan amongst about 60 hot spots in the world. A scan down the list of their board members shows an international cast of all stars who have had up close experience in hot spots. They are not armchair quarterbacks.
The reports they have prepared and delivered on their research in these areas are available for reading on the website. I took a read down through their most recent report on Afghanistan and from their linked to another paper and was scanning down through that when I came across this:
Canada, the US and other allies appear to have placed a cone of silence over this action. Thankfully the International Criminal Court, to which Afghanistan signed on to in 2005 and is thus subject to, is considering launching a formal investigation into war crimes there in the last seven years. With some of the Taliban leadership in custody in Pakistan, the ICC appears to be the mostly likely place to bring them to justice.
So, why exactly is ‘hard power’ Harper not standing up and breaking the silence on the Karzai government’s corruption and subterfuge? Why is he not pressing the other allies to step up and demand better when our country’s blood and treasure has gone into trying to bring stability to this country?
If McParland wants to have a good rant, he might want to look where Arbour is coming from and what is backing her up. He’d have enough material to keep his pay cheque coming for several months.
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Jaffer Associate Invokes Race Card, Nice Try Dude
On Wednesday Rahim Jaffer and his business partner appeared before the House government operations committee to answers questions in regards to their dealings with the federal government. Jaffer is a former Conservative MP who lost a seat he should have won in the 2008 election, his partner a former Liberal candidate in that same election.
The two faced some hard questioning from all parties present, including the Conservatives. The two needed to face some hard questions when it is clear that they have been involved in either, at best skirting the edges of the lobbying rules or at worst, directly ignoring them in their quest to try to get funding for projects their business is supposed to represent.
A principle of one of the companies named as being represented by Jaffer and his partner and applications for millions in grants claimed he didn’t even know his company was involved in the applications. The former Liberal MP said if he wanted to apply for grants he would have done so himself. Makes sense since he would know his way around government grants as well as Jaffer likely would.
Jaffer’s conduct and how he’s involved his wife appears to be at this point the cause of his wife’s resignation and removal from the Conservative caucus.
By all reports, neither of the two men even gave a whiff that something they did might have been unwise let alone downright wrong. It is not surprising that with no indication of any sense of contriteness that the MPs on the committee would be more than frustrated trying to get to the truth.
For Jaffer’s partner, Patrick Glemaud, not only was this attempt to break through a couple of brick walls to find the truth ‘unfair’ — why, it was down right racist. Give me a break dude. There is nothing racist about spotting and calling anyone, regardless of race, creed or colour, on bad behaviour.
Try standing up and taking responsibility for your dirty behaviour. Never mind trying to play the race card like it is a get out of jail free card.
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Don’t Mess With Americans & Their Flag, Eh
Back on February 28th, the day Canada’s mens team won hockey gold, a couple of Canadians down in La Quinta, California decided it would be fun to celebrate the Canadian win by hiking up a steep mountain, taking down an American flag and replacing it with a Canadian flag.
Local police have tracked down the two suspects and have asked their local district attorney to lay misdemeanour vandalism and flag desecration charges against them. When the owner of the flag’s son when up in early March to swap the two flags, he discovered the American flag had been torn apart and buried under some rocks.
Adding insult to injury, the flag has been flying at this location in honour of those killed in 9/11 which also includes 24 Canadians. The local Walmart donates a new flag every six months to keep the flag in good shape.
Personally, I think those two should be charged. I think it is great the Americans have a charge specifically for desecrating flags, Canada would be wise to adopt one. Should fit right in with Harper’s ‘tough on crime’ campaign. But I digress.
Well Canadians have been more willing to wave the flag in the last several years, we often do so without a lot of thought to what that flag represents. It is not just our country but all those who have gone before it to uphold and preserve our freedoms. The Americans understand that fact and take it very seriously.
Those two guys could have found a lot of other ways to show their pride in their Olympic hockey team than than rubbing salt in a very raw wound. They seem to have forgotten, Canadian soldiers are fighting and dying today in Afghanistan as the result of 9/11.
Seems they need a serious lesson in respect.
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7 Deadly Copywriting Sins
Knowing what not to do helps to give a clearer picture of what to do. Here are seven mistakes you should never make when writing sales copy.
1. Being slow to get to the point
- impressions are made in moments
- mention the main benefit and incentive right out of the gate
- your opening should be impossible to ignore
- tell the reader “what’s in it for me” (WIFM)
2. Not giving the reader some WIFM at every point
- use headings, illustrations, videos and captions to communicate prominent benefits wherever the reader’s eye might land
- repetition is okay just vary the point each time
3. Failing to do a complete selling job
- give every sensible reason why the reader should respond
- overcome those objectives
- omit nothing relevant
4. Failing to prove your statements are true
- use testimonials
- when possible use photos of those giving testimonials and their letters in original form — don’t edit them
5. Failing to connect as people
- show your own picture or pictures of customers
- people look at and relate to people
6. Failing to cut the fluff
- every element of your message must contribute to the result
- don’t distract the reader
- don’t belabour the details
- balance between effective repetition and overkill
7. Failing to guide the readers response
- a strong opening with a weak close leaves the reader feeling more frustrated than motivated
- make it easy for the reader to respond
- close persuasively — repeat all the reasons your reader should respond
- guide the reader to a yes/no choice
- have more than one call to action
Anything I missed here? Please let me know in the comments.
visit the Patti Network News to see where else I’m writing.
When Will Revenue Override Prudence?
As the volcano in Iceland continues to spew forth ash and the cloud continues to spread itself across Europe and now apparently to the eastern shores of North America I’ve wondered how long the airlines would be tolerant of the prudence being shown by the air traffic controllers.
I’m going to say at the outset, I have never flown on an aircraft and at this point in my life have never had a need to. I have on occasion turned my vehicle into a flying vehicle due to lead footitis but I’ve never left the ground.
I’m sure millions of travellers stuck in countries they are trying to leave would certainly like to see planes flying to get them home. Over the weekend some European airlines sent up test flights through the volcanic ash cloud. At this point, they seem to be claiming their planes returned without any problems or damage.
Affected airlines are losing millions of dollars a day as this situation continues to drag on. Weather forecasters are now saying this will likely continue for days at a minimum and possible weeks depending on how long it takes this volcano to settle down. Meanwhile a NATO F-16 who flew through the cloud area reportedly has sustained damage to its engines.
From the material I’ve read, most volcanoes initial eruption sends ash cloud into the air and then it settles as the volcano sends out molten lava. The Iceland volcano is erupting within a ice-field which means that the lava is being cooled by the ice which it hasn’t been able to instantly melt, this sends more and more ash cloud into the sky.
Weather patterns, not just winds, move the cloud around. Right now a high pressure system extending from Newfoundland to Iceland is pulling cloud from Iceland towards Canadian shores as it turns in a clockwise pattern. Two low pressure systems are sitting just below that high pressure and are moving counterclockwise. At least one of those lows will pull some of the cloud out of the high and down the eastern US seaboard.
And we thought there was chaos happening in Europe.
It appears that winds and weather patterns are capable of moving this grit filled cloud farther and faster than expected just as airlines are getting really anxious about the millions they are losing.
Were their test flights successful or are they wilfully overlooking effects which could potentially have devastating effects on planes making their way through the skies? Will world governments give into pressure from airlines and stranded passengers to get them to their destinations?
Even more frightening will be the prospect of planes full of hundreds of passengers at a time playing Russian roulette in the name of world commerce. Mother nature has a devastating way of showing us just who is in control doesn’t she?
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Guergis Affair Bigger Than Her
I’ve been reading extensively about the dismissal of Helena Guergis from the Conservative cabinet and caucus. I blogged about the really big break her husband, former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer, received after being charged not only with impaired driving but also possession of cocaine, and the red flags it raised.
Now that didn’t directly mean his wife, then a Conservative cabinet minister, was involved. It did however provide truly bad optics. Justice not only has to be done, it has to be seen to be done. Jaffer’s case doesn’t show justice being done, it shows someone with money and connections walking away from some very serious charges.
As the result of some investigative reporting by Kevin Donovan at the Toronto Star, we’ve since learned that being nailed with impaired and drug possession that night was just the end of what could well be seen as a rather questionable evening. He spent the evening partying with Nazim Gillani, a rather shady business person with criminal charges hanging over his head and apparently being investigated in regards to some serious fraud.
Jaffer and Gillani apparently have been involved in some business dealings over a period of time. According to reports read, Jaffer has approached current MPs to make enquiries about the availability of government funding. Gillani felt cocky enough about the link between the two men to make claims of having access to the Prime Minister’s office and to green funding from the government.
None of those events are known to directly involve Guergis. Somewhere within the information that private investigator brought forward to the Conservatives is what directly involved Guergis and brought about her downfall. It prompted Harper to dismiss her not just as a cabinet minister but from the Conservative caucus and refer the information to the Ethics Commissioner’s office and the RCMP.
Yes, I know, Guergis resigned — moot point, resign or be fired, was her options at that point.
From those two actions, one can learn that what was brought forward was either questionable behaviour on the part of Guergis or criminal. At this point the RCMP are not even admitting to actually doing an investigation and the Ethics Commissioner is claiming no request was made to her office.
Interesting that the RCMP would announce in the midsts of an election campaign they were investigating a Liberal candidate, Ralph Goodale, and thus influencing the outcome of an election which brought the Conservatives to power but wont even say if they are investigating a Conservative MP at the request of the PM. BTW, it was later found there was no basis for an investigation of Goodale.
In reading through reports of an interview conducted by the CBC with the private investigator, Daryl Snowdy, who brought forward this MP toppling information it becomes clear that the Ethics Commissioner’s office received some sort of official communication which prompted a call from that office to Snowdy.
It appears that because Snowdy made it clear he had brought forth information and had not made allegations the Ethics Commissioner’s office has chosen to decline to investigate further. In my understanding of the role of the Commissioner, she has the right to act pro actively in holding the feet of government officials and in particular MPs to the fire over their behaviour.
This isn’t the first time I’ve read reports of questionable behaviour being referred to her office and her declining to act. So, just what is she doing to earn her keep and just what are we paying her for? If she comes into possession of information which indicates a potential problem, it should not take that information being accompanied by allegations for her to act.
The PM and in fact, Parliament, should be insisting on this. The commissioner should never be allowed to say she hasn’t received an official request therefore she isn’t responding. That’s a little like a fireman saying just because there’s smoke he’s not going to check if there is a fire.
This is one more area where the promise of accountability and transparency which Harper used to bring him to power has not been delivered. I thought the Chretien government was bad for flipping the bird at the public and refusing to allow information about their behaviour out, they didn’t hold a candle to the antics that have been wafting out of the Conservative government.
Harper took the right actions by removing Guergis but trying to do so behind a wall of silence is not helping. Then again, the wall of silence is the trademark of his contempt towards Parliament and the people.
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Guide To Trading Futures
In the stock trading industry, many people have garnered a lot of money from futures markets. It is only in this arena where people who have limited capitals can actually make substantial profits even in a short period of time. But because like any other market, this involves a lot of risks and may cost you significant losses, people may often fear to get involved.
Despite its bad reputation however, many experts would claim that futures trading could only be as risky as you want to make it. And if you take on good strategies and give yourself the proper exposure, then this can make you very rich.
What Are Futures?
Futures are standardized and transferable contracts that require a buyer to purchase a stock at a specific sum and within a certain time period in the future. This contract gives the buyer the obligation of purchase, and the seller the obligation to deliver the specific asset traded.
Unlike options, futures contracts obligate the traders to buy and sell instead of just merely giving them the right.
People basically profit from futures by performing speculations in order to provide liquidity and to assume risks for price fluctuations in the market. These valuable functions provide them with substantial returns and potentially large gains. But take note that along with these, substantial risks are involved as well.
How And Why Are Futures Traded?
Trading futures has become quite popular in many markets, especially in day trading. These kinds of trades offer a wide variety of markets and it can be traded at a low cost.
Futures can be traded in both up and down markets. If a particular trader expects the market to go up, a long trade is usually done wherein the trader buys a contract and then sells it. On the contrary, if a trader believes that the market will go down, and then he will most probably make a short trade by entering a trade through selling a contract and then exiting by buying another contract.
With this system, traders are able to profit regardless of what direction the market trends are going. This is the main reason why most traders are only concerned if the market is moving at all, instead of which direction it is actually going.
In futures trading, instead of taking or making deliveries, a trader merely speculates his position in the market’s volatility by predicting directions of trends. If prices move in the right direction, then the trader would be able to profit. If this does not happen, then a trader would experience some losses.
This particular arena in trading can be very promising, but it involves so many risks as well. But if you are well experienced in trading stocks and have adopted quite an understanding in the different trends, behaviors and strategies that the industry has to offer, then chances are, you may probably do well in this particular playing field.
All of this may sound pretty easy at the moment, but if you are planning to engage in futures trading, make sure that you do your research and prepare yourself with the necessary knowledge and skills to successfully execute transactions.
Along with huge profits possible, there are a lot of risks involved and trading futures without the right background can be very detrimental.
Google Wonder Wheel & Other Search Fun
Just finished reading a neat article over at Search Engine Land on some search tools. The article is part of a series on PPC (Pay Per Click) they have been running. The article provides an overview of search engine tools; social monitoring platforms like Twitter, Technorati and Social Mention; SEO tools includes an overview of who SEOMoz’s tool suite can be used for paid search campaigns and industry intelligence sources like eMarketer, comScore and Marketing Sherpa.
Google Wonder Wheel
What really grabbed my attention was the pointer to the Google Wonder Wheel. All this time I’ve been using Google for search and never knew this little gem was there. The wonder wheel provides a visual display of some other search terms which your search results contains. A great way to drill down to more specific data when exploring for article ideas for example.
How Do you find the Wheel?
- Go to Google
- Do a search for a topic
- Click “Show Options”
- Scroll down to “wonder wheel” on the left hand menu
- go explore
You might also want to read through the article, never know what treasures you might find that I missed.
visit the Patti Network News to see where else I’m writing.
Google Wonder Wheel & Other Search Fun
