You've Come Along Way, Conservatives

Don Martin in an interesting piece talks about how far the Conservatives have come since 2000. From the time when Stockwell Day became the leader of the Alliance, to the merger that united the Alliance with the Progressive Conservatives, to today where we have a Conservative government with Stephen Harper as PM.

The merger is the best thing that has happened to Canada in the last few years. Kudos to Stephen Harper and Peter Mackay for making it happen. Peter Mackay in my opinion has not been given enough credit for what he did. He gave up his leadership in the PCs and was called a Judas by former leadership rival in what he called a betrayal. Mr. Mackay would have betrayed Canada IMHO had he not gone forward with Stephen Harper to renunite the Conservative family.

This is the part I liked best in the piece that sums up the last decade nicely.

"For a party whose decade began with the mocking smirk of the Liberal political establishment at Mr. Day’s jet-ski stunt, the merger gave the Conservatives the keys to power — and the last laugh."

The last ten years have been good for Conservatives. The best is yet to come I believe.

Thank-you, Stephen Harper and Peter Mackay for uniting the right. The country is better off for it.

I shudder the thought of what would have been had the merger not have happened.

Fair and Balanced and Just the Facts Please

In today's Chronicle Herald, Dan Leger laments how bad 2009 was a bad year for the MSM, libel chill, advertising taking a nosedive, newspapers in North America folding blah,blah, blah......

He also laments the PM, celebrities, sports teams are going over they, the journalism elite heads to get message out. He especially hones in on PM Harper.

But there are other attacks on journalism of which few citizens are even aware. And they are insidious.

Professional sports teams, actors, musicians and others are now trying to wrest control and copyright from the news media on everything from concerts to cricket matches. A worldwide trend is emerging in which sports and entertainment promoters try to control what is portrayed, how it’s distributed and who owns it.

At music, entertainment and sports events, photographers are being presented with written demands for prior approval of their pictures and for ownership of those photographs. Many news agencies are simply boycotting public events rather than sign away their rights.

And that means people might not see coverage of the rock show they attended or the hockey game they cheered. But it’s not just greedy promoters who are trying to manipulate the media in ways never attempted before. It’s happening in politics, too. Too frequently, the prime minister’s official media corps is covering events from which conventional journalists are excluded. A full-fledged media machine is growing in the prime minister’s office, paid for by the taxpayer and designed to burnish Stephen Harper’s image.

Prime ministers have always had photographers. But now, independent journalists are prevented from covering stories in the public interest. This is something new and worrisome for those who value our basic freedoms.

Well duh... he can't trust "you know it alls" to report honestly without some sort of smear.

In the comments section at the end of the piece, a commenter hits the nail on the head.

"thecaper wrote:
I must disagree with the comments of our esteemed editor. If reporters and, especially editors, would just report the story and not try to couch the news in certain ways to match their biases, then it would have been a good year. I challenge all editors and reporters to self-identify their political affiliations so that we can properly judge their "stories" on their merit. "

Amen to that. That's why the public is increasingly getting turned off and resorting to alternative news sources. Your credibility is shot.
You guys blew it last summer on Wafergate, bodybags, H1N1, etc,etc. We aren't buying what you are selling anymore.
Climate-gate the biggest story in ages. Where were you? You have been asleep at the switch. The biggest story in years. Instead what do you pathetic journalists focus on, the overblown story about Afghan prisoners that the general public doesn't care about and Tiger Woods.
If it weren't for the blogs, radio guys like Dave Rutherford, Charles Adler, Roy Green we would be totally oblivious to the issue. Although, I must say Lorrie Goldstein from the Sun Chain and some in the National Post did a pretty good job making the public aware. Heck a person even had to go international media like Russia Today for info. Pathetic!

So MSM, wake up, give us the public what we are looking for, fair and balanced and just the facts. Not some spinned and manipulated garbage to drive an agenda.

Like this: Then the lie was exposed.

2010 could be a better year for you, just stop the spin and the bias. You might be suprised, you might get some of us back.

The Best Christmas Gift

Wow! Christmas 2009 is now history. I pray each one had a very blessed time and remembered what the season is really about. Yes, the food, decorations, gifts, family time is great but focus is really about the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, the ultimate gift. He loves us so much!! He came to give us a gift, the gift of eternal life.

He left His home in heaven with the Father and became flesh to live among us. He showed us how we should live our lives so that it is pleasing to God the Father. He taught us how to pray, how to have faith and trust God no matter what we are going through, whether good or bad.

He was rejected and despised. He was beaten, broken and suffered just for us. He took on our sins and our burdens for which he hung on the cross and died for so that we may live.

Yes, He is alive today! He rose out of his grave and ascended to heaven to sit on the right hand side of God. He sent His spirit to be with us, to comfort us and guide us so that we can do the things that are right and steer us away from the things that are wrong.

So now that the presents are all unwrapped, dinner is finished, things are starting to wind down, just take the time to reflect.

He is real. He loves us. He wants to help us. He wants to be a part of our lives. He wants to be our friend. All we have to do is invite Him and receive Him into our heart. It is just that easy.

It is the best gift you will ever receive. Believe me! I know!

Cap and Trade= Organized Crime

In Europe, cops are saying cap and trade is an organized crime scheme. So that should send signals to North America where Canada and the US are talking about adopting such a scheme.
We need to be careful and not let this through. Hopefully it can be stopped at the US Senate level. Then we don't have to go through with it, because remember, Minister Prentice and PM Harper said that we are going to integrate whatever we do with the Americans.


Fraud in Europe's Cap and Trade System a 'Red Flag,' Critics Say

"The top cops in Europe say carbon-trading is an organized crime scheme that has robbed the continent of $7.4 billion -- a massive fraud that lawmakers and energy experts say should send a "red flag" to the U.S., which approved cap-and-trade legislation over the summer amid stiff opposition."

Foxnews

Europol

Way to Go Premier Ed

I don't often agree with Premier Ed Stelmach but I applaud him for standing up for Alberta against Ontario and Quebec when a few days ago they were finger pointing at the bad guy Alberta again.

From the Calgary Herald

In an open letter published in major Canadian newspapers, Stelmach appeared to take aim at Quebec and Ontario, and also used a Thursday radio interview to throw direct jabs at the Liberal premiers of the two provinces.

Both Quebec and Ontario served notice at the Copenhagen climate talks they don't want their greenhouse gas cuts contributing the lion's share of national reductions simply to offset rising emissions from the carbon-intensive oilsands.

On Thursday, Stelmach fired back. In the three-quarter-page newspaper ads, which cost $118,862 to run across the country, the premier said Alberta is doing its part both on the environmental and economic fronts.

"Albertans want to reduce emissions. We offer pragmatic, practical ways to do it. No one should ignore the economic stakes of this debate," Stelmach penned in the ad, which ran on Page A17 of Thursday's Calgary Herald.

"Slowing our economy is a guaranteed way to reduce emissions. But if Alberta's economy stops growing, all Canadians will feel this pain," said the premier, who skipped the Copenhagen talks and sent instead Environment Minister Rob Renner.

Stelmach explained in the letter that Alberta's contribution to the federal treasury is "huge," with its people and businesses sending $21 billion more in taxes to Ottawa than it receives back in grants, programs and services

The following radio interview that is referred to is from the Dave Rutherford Show, QR77. If you want to listen click on the link, go to Dec. 17, 9:00 am after the news.

More from the Calgary Hearld

In a radio interview, the embattled Stelmach ramped up his attack against Charest and Ontario's Dalton McGuinty.

"I said I can predict that Quebec is going to go grandstand (in Copenhagen)," Stelmach said. "I didn't think Ontario would because there's a lot of jobs in Ontario that are dependent on the oilsands."

The premier said he thought cooler heads would ultimately prevail in Denmark, believing premiers had agreed technology was the country's best tool in reducing greenhouse gas emissions without crippling the Canadian economy.

Stelmach said he's onside with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice, who've expressed their support for relying on technology, such as carbon capture and storage, to slash Canada's emissions.

"They had an agreement going in, and the only province that was offside was Quebec," he said. "I can tell you that one of the premiers that's pointing the finger against Alberta has a fleet of Audis and a jet to fly around the country," said Stelmach, who drives a fleet of Fords.

Thank you Premier, keep it up!