Antagoniste


3 septembre 2010

Le savoir-vivre de « l’ultra-droite » Philosophie États-Unis

« You probably couldn’t have found a more polite crowd at the opera »

Wall Street Journal
Glenn Beck’s Happy Warriors
By JAMES FREEMAN

Glenn BeckPundits will debate whether the crowd at Glenn Beck’s Saturday rally in Washington was the largest in recent political history, but it was certainly among the most impressive.

Mr. Beck is a television host and radio broadcaster with a checkered past and a penchant for incendiary remarks. But if he’s judged by the quality of people of all colors that he attracted to the Lincoln Memorial, his stock can’t help but rise.

One would not be able to find a more polite crowd at a political convention, certainly not at a professional sporting event, probably not even at an opera. In fact, judging by the behavior of the attendees following the event, you’d have a tough time finding churches in which people display more patience as others make their way to the exits.

This army of well-mannered folks that marched into Washington seemed comprised mainly of people who had once marched in the U.S. Army or other military branch, or at least had a family member who had. Perhaps that’s not surprising, given that the event was a fund-raiser for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, which provides scholarships to the children of elite troops killed in the performance of their duty. The day was largely devoted to expressions of gratitude for the sacrifices of U.S. soldiers, for great men of American history like the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and for God.

But it didn’t end there. Dave Roever, a Vietnam veteran, offered a closing prayer in which he thanked the Lord for the president and for the Congress. Despite the unpopularity of the latter two, no booing or catcalls could be heard.

Perhaps feeling defensive about how they would be portrayed in media reports, various attendees wore t-shirts noting that they were « Not violent » or « Non-violent. » For other participants, there was no need for an explicit message. Relaxed young parents felt comfortable enough to push toddlers in strollers through the crowded areas along the memorial’s reflecting pool.

Not only was the rally akin to a « huge church picnic » (in one Journal reporter’s description), but one had to wonder if the over-achievers in this crowd actually left the area in better shape than they found it.

After the event, walking from the Lincoln Memorial’s reflecting pool through Constitution Gardens, this reporter scanned 360 degrees and could not see a scrap of trash anywhere. Participants and volunteers had collected all their refuse and left it piled neatly in bags around the public garbage cans. Near Constitution Avenue, I did encounter one stray piece of paper—but too old and faded to have been left that day.

Given the huge representation of military families at the event, maybe it’s not surprising the grounds were left ship-shape. A principal theme of the day was that attendees should restore the country by making improvements in their own lives—be the change you wish to see in the world, as Gandhi once put it.

Most of the participants were strictly amateurs in the business of activism. For many, it was their first appearance at a public demonstration. Their strikingly mild-mannered nature might inspire even Mr. Beck to acknowledge that in a crowd estimated at 300,000, the craziest person at the event might have been the one with the microphone. While he admits that he’s part entertainer and prone to over-the-top comments, his followers appear to be sincerely responding to his message that Americans need to cling to their best traditions. (Mr. Beck’s program appears on the Fox News Channel, which is owned by News Corp., which also owns this newspaper.)

The conservative Mr. Beck’s ability to draw this many people to Washington may suggest enormous gains for Republicans come the fall. But the GOP shouldn’t expect voters to simply hand them a congressional majority without making them earn it. If pregame chatter and off-season optimism translated into victory, the New York Jets and the Washington Redskins would meet in the Super Bowl every year.

Between Saturday’s crowd in Washington and the tea partiers agitating for limited government, we may be witnessing the rebuilding of the Reagan coalition, the « fusion » of religious and economic conservatives that political theorist Frank Meyer once endorsed. Reagan always believed that the Republican Party was the natural home for this movement, but GOP leaders in Washington need to prove they are worthy of it.

Mr. Freeman is assistant editor of the Journal’s editorial page.

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2 septembre 2010
2 septembre 2010

Perspective En Chiffres Irak Économie États-Unis

Dans son discours à la nation au sujet de la fin de la guerre en Irak, Barack Obama a mis énormément d’emphase sur le fait que cette guerre a été la source de déficits qui ont fragilisé l’économie américaine.  Il va de soi que cette analyse a été reprise en cœur par les médias québécois (ici, ici & ici).

S’il est vrai que le coût de la guerre en Irak a été astronomique, il serait bon de mettre ces chiffres en perspective.  Voici la valeur des déficits des États-Unis avec et sans la guerre en Irak:

Keynesianisme

La guerre en Irak a coûté 709 milliards de dollars alors que les déficits, depuis 2003, s’élèvent à 4 731 milliards de dollars.  En bref, durant cette période, la guerre en Irak a représenté 15% des déficits aux États-Unis.  Toujours durant cette période, la guerre en Irak a représenté 2,3% des dépenses totales du gouvernement…  À lui seul, le déficit de l’année 2009 de l’Administration Obama est presque 2 fois plus élevé que le coût total de la guerre en Irak.

Il est aussi ironique d’entendre des keynésiens affirmer que la guerre en Irak a ruiné l’économie américaine puisque selon la doctrine keynésienne, les guerres sont des stimuli économiques !

Source:
Congressional Budget Office
The Budget and Economic Outlook: An Update

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2 septembre 2010

L’ultra-gauche Coup de gueule Environnement Gauchistan Revue de presse États-Unis

TheWashington Post

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Environmental militant, killed after hostage situation at Discovery Communications
The Washington Post

James J. Lee divided the world into good and bad. According to his writings on a Web site he created, people were bad, especially « parasitic » babies. Animals and bugs were good, Lee wrote. But war was bad, along with global warming, pollution and international trade.

Lee, 43, who once threw money to bystanders as a protest along a Silver Spring street and who believed that the world was better off without people, was shot by police after the almost four-hour standoff. Police have not publicly named Lee, but several local and federal law enforcement sources identified him as the gunman.

Lee held a grudge against Discovery, viewing the network as a purveyor of ideas he considered environmentally destructive and staging protests outside its headquarters, according to authorities and court records. Lee, whose environmental creed was spread across the Internet in a series of manifestoes and blog posts, was killed at 4:48 p.m. after he stalked into the building with a handgun, took three hostages and later pointed his gun at one of them, said Montgomery County Police Chief J. Thomas Manger.

« Humans are the most destructive, filthy, pollutive creatures around and are wrecking what’s left of the planet with their false morals and breeding culture, » he wrote in an 11-point Internet communique that authorities said was similar to demands he made Wednesday. Lee argued thay « Saving the Planet means . . . decreasing the Human population. That means stopping the human race from breeding any more disgusting human babies! »

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1 septembre 2010

Miracle ? Canada En Vidéos Québec Économie

Il semble que, pour le moment, les conservateurs ne soient pas très chauds à l’idée de subventionner la construction d’un nouveau Colisée. Voilà enfin une nouvelle rafraîchissante émanant de la classe politique !

Il aurait été facile pour les conservateurs de gaspiller quelques millions de dollars pour acheter des votes dans la région de Québec, mais, pour le moment, il semble que les conservateurs ont décidé de faire valoir leurs principes plutôt que de se prostituer pour quelques votes.  C’est au privé à payer pour le retour d’une équipe de la NHL à Québec, pas aux payeurs de taxes.

Après tout, contrairement à ce qu’on affirme souvent dans les médias, les subventions publiques pour la construction d’amphithéâtres sportifs sont de purs gaspillages de fonds publics:

À lire aussi:

Colisée Québec
Do Economists Reach a Conclusion on Subsidies for Sports Franchises, Stadiums, and Mega-Events?

Abstract

This paper reviews the empirical literature assessing the effects of subsidies for professional sports franchises and facilities. The evidence reveals a great deal of consistency among economists doing research in this area. That evidence is that sports subsidies cannot be justified on the grounds of local economic development, income growth or job creation, those arguments most frequently used by subsidy advocates. The paper also relates survey evidence showing that economists in general oppose sports subsidies. In addition to reviewing the empirical literature, we describe the economic intuition that probably underlies the strong consensus among economists against sports subsidies.

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1 septembre 2010

Arguing with Idiots: Patrick Lagacé Arguing with Idiots Philosophie États-Unis

De sa chaire, du haut du Plateau Mont-Royal, Patrick Lagacé a déclaré: « Donc, la face ‘légitime’ d’un mouvement de crackpot composé de gens qui croient vraiment qu’Obama est un socialiste, un communiste, un nazi (il y a là des contradictions, mais ces contradictions échappent aux fêlés de l’ultra-droite américaine) ».

Ainsi donc, il faudrait être fêlé pour considérer qu’il n’y a pas de contradiction entre le nazisme et le communisme.

Il semble qu’un certain journaliste de La Presse ait besoin d’une petite leçon d’histoire.

Débutons avec une citation d’Hitler qui a déjà fait l’objet d’un billet il y a quelques semaines:

Mystère

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« Il est nécessaire que l’individu réalise que son propre ego n’a pas d’importance par rapport à l’existence de sa Nation; que son ego doit être encadré par les besoins de sa Nation dans son ensemble. D’autant plus que l’esprit de la Nation vaut beaucoup plus que les simples libertés et volontés d’un seul individu. Cet esprit national, qui subordonne les intérêts de l’ego individuel aux besoins de la communauté, est le premier principe de toute culture humaine. Nous devons accepter que l’individu doive faire des sacrifices pour sa communauté et pour son prochain. »

Dans ce discours prononcé en 1933, Hitler explique en quoi consiste l’idéologie nazie. On peut constater que pour cette doctrine politique, la nation plus importante que l’individu. Cette idée constituait aussi la pierre angulaire du communisme: l’individu ne compte pas et par conséquent, il peut être sacrifié au nom du bien commun.

En résumé, les communistes et les nazis disent que les individus sont trop stupides pour être propriétaire de leur vie. Ainsi, il est légitime d’avoir un régime politique autoritaire qui imposera ses dictats au nom du bien commun. Pour les nazis et les communistes, plaquer un couteau sous la gorge d’un être humain pour le forcer à vivre d’une certaine manière est une chose nécessaire. En somme: aucun individu n’est plus important que la société à laquelle il appartient.

Friedrich Hayek avait très bien expliqué la filiation idéologique qui existe entre les régimes communistes et nazis dans son ouvrage « La Route de la Servitude »:

Friedrich Hayek

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« Long before the Nazis, too, the German and Italian socialists were using techniques of which the Nazis and Fascists later made effective use. The idea of a political party which embraces all activities of the individual from the cradle to the grave, which claims to guide his views on everything, was first put into practice by the socialists.

By the time Hitler came to power, liberalism was dead in Germany. And it was socialism that had killed it. To many who have watched the transition from socialism to fascism at close quarters the connection between the two systems has become increasingly obvious, but in the democracies the majority of people still believe that socialism and freedom can be combined.

It is true, of course, that in Germany before 1933, and in Italy before 1922, communists and Nazis or Fascists clashed more frequently with each other than with other parties. They competed for the support of the same type of mind and reserved for each other the hatred of the heretic. But their practice showed how closely they are related. To both, the real enemy, the man with whom they had nothing in common and whom they could not hope to convince, is the liberal of the old type [i.e. libertarian]. While to the Nazi the communist, and the communist the Nazi, and to both the socialist, are potential recruits who are made of the right timber, although they have listened to false prophets, they both know that there can be no compromise between them and those who really believe in individual freedom.

La prochaine fois que quelqu’un vous racontera que le nazisme est une idéologie d’extrême-droite, rappelez-vous que cette doctrine politique repose sur les mêmes fondations idéologiques que le socialisme. Il ne faut pas oublier non plus que l’eugénisme a été créé par le mouvement progressiste au début du 20e siècle.

Avant de donner des leçons, Patrick Lagacé devrait plutôt penser à faire ses devoirs.

À propos de la dévotion que porte Patrick Lagacé envers Paul Kurgman:

En bonus…

Cliquez ici pour lire la suite »

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1 septembre 2010

Le triomphe de la raison Environnement Revue de presse Économie États-Unis

The Washington Post

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Environmental groups face their future in climate-change debate
The Washington Post

On Thursday, some of the country’s most respected environmental groups – in the midst of their biggest political fight in two decades – sent a group of activists to Milwaukee with a message. We’re losing.

They put on what they called a « CarnivOil » – a fake carnival with a stilt-wearing barker, free « tar balls » (chocolate doughnuts), and a suit-wearing « oil executive » punching somebody dressed like a crab. It was supposed to be satire, but there was a bitter message underneath: When we fight the oil and gas industry, they win.

A year ago, these groups seemed to be at the peak of their influence, needing only the Senate’s approval for a landmark climate-change bill. But they lost that fight, done in by the sluggish economy and opposition from business and fossil-fuel interests.

Now the groups are wondering how they can keep this loss from becoming a rout as their opponents press their advantage and try to undo the Obama administration’s climate efforts. At two events last week in Wisconsin, environmental groups seemed to be trying two strategies: defiance and pleading for sympathy. Neither one drew enough people to fill a high school gym.

“What was revealed by the last year or two was that the energy industry hasn’t even had to break a sweat yet in beating this stuff off. Our side did absolutely everything you’re supposed to do . . . but got nowhere,” said author Bill McKibben, who co-founded the climate-focused group 350.org.

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31 août 2010

Ultra-droite & Ultra-Gauche En Images Philosophie États-Unis

Les « méchants droitistes » qui manifestent contre le gouvernement sont tous des imbéciles, des radicaux hors de contrôle, des gens stupide violents, haineux et raciste… Du moins, c’est ce que nous disent les médias.

Voici comment manifestent les dangereux ultra-droitistes et les gentils ultra-gauchistes.

Droite Gauche
Manifestants présents pour l’événement organisé par Glenn Beck Manifestants présents lors du sommet du G20 de Toronto

Droite Gauche
Manifestants présents pour l’événement organisé par Glenn Beck Manifestants présents lors du sommet du G20 de Toronto

Droite Gauche
Manifestants présents pour l’événement organisé par Glenn Beck Manifestants présents lors du sommet du G20 de Toronto

Droite Gauche
Manifestants présents pour l’événement organisé par Glenn Beck Manifestants présents lors du sommet du G20 de Toronto

Droite Gauche
Manifestants présents pour l’événement organisé par Glenn Beck Manifestants présents lors du sommet du G20 de Toronto

Je vous rappelle que dans les médias, on a dénoncé la manifestation de Glenn Beck alors qu’on a défendu les voyous de Toronto

Petite observation… Dans les médias, quand des gens de gauche s’organisent, on parle d’une initiative citoyenne de la part de gens socialement responsables. Quand ce sont des gens de droite qui s’organisent, les médias nous annoncent la réincarnation d’Hitler… Étrange tout de même quand on sait que la violence vient toujours de la gauche…

MISE-À-JOUR

Question: qui est le hatemonger qui a le plus profané la mémoire de Martin Luther King, Al Sharpton ou Glenn Beck ?

En bonus…

Cliquez ici pour lire la suite »

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31 août 2010

Top 5 Qc/Ca Québec Top Actualité

Le Top 5 de l’actualité québécoise et canadienne (24-30 août) selon Influence Communication:

Actualité Québec

En comparaison, voici le poids médias d’autres commissions :

  • Commission Oliphant (avril 2009): 0,34 %
  • Dépôt du rapport Bouchard-Taylor (mai 2008): 5,78 %
  • Commission Johnson (octobre 2006): 7,36 %
  • Rapport final de la commission Gomery (novembre 2005): 8,43 %

Actualité Canada

Bilan de l’été 2010:

Actualité Québec

L’été 2010 aura été marqué par la dualité entre l’intérêt des médias montréalais et celui des autres régions:

  • 88 % de l’intérêt médiatique pour la Coupe du monde est venu des médias de Montréal
  • 71 % de l’intérêt médiatique pour la canicule est venu des médias de Montréal
  • 91 % de l’intérêt médiatique pour le Tour de France est venu des médias de Montréal
  • 63 % de l’intérêt médiatique pour les Jeux du Québec est venu de l’extérieur de Montréal

Bilan de l’été 2009:

  • Crise financière: 2,98%
  • Michael Jackson: 1,91%
  • Grippe A H1N1: 1,60%
  • Les hauts et les nombreux bas de la météo: 0,95%
  • L’histoire de Earl Jones: 0,94%

Les 10 personnes les plus médiatisées de l’été 2010:

  1. Jean Charest
  2. Barack Obama
  3. Stephen Harper
  4. Tiger Woods
  5. Anthony Calvillo
  6. Roger Federer
  7. Rafael Nadal
  8. Michael Ignatieff
  9. Yves Bolduc
  10. Jean Pascal
  • Marc Bellemare: 12e
  • Gilles Duceppe:  66e (47e en 2009)
  • Pauline Marois:  36e (14e en 2009)
  • Gérard Deltell: 118e
  • Jaroslav Halak: 21e cet été (1er depuis le 1er janvier 2010)

Source:
Influence Communication

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31 août 2010

So-So-So… so ironic… Gauchistan Revue de presse Économie États-Unis

The Wall Street Journal

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To Protest Hiring of Nonunion Help, Union Hires Nonunion Pickets
The Wall Street Journal

Billy Raye, a 51-year-old unemployed bike courier, is looking for work. Fortunately for him, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council of Carpenters is seeking paid demonstrators to march and chant in its current picket line outside the McPherson Building, an office complex here where the council says work is being done with nonunion labor.

« For a lot of our members, it’s really difficult to have them come out, either because of parking or something else, » explains Vincente Garcia, a union representative who is supervising the picketing. So instead, the union hires unemployed people at the minimum wage—$8.25 an hour—to walk picket lines. Mr. Raye says he’s grateful for the work, even though he’s not sure why he’s doing it. « I could care less, » he says. « I am being paid to march around and sound off. »

« Low Pay! Go away! » and « That Rat Gotta Go! » the union stand-ins chanted as other workers banged cow-bells and beat on a trio of empty plastic buckets. Eric Williams, a 70-year-old retiree who said he needs extra cash to buy groceries, wore a sign saying that Can-Am Contractors, a nonunion Maryland drywall and ceiling concern, « does not pay area standard wages & benefits. »

The target of the campaign is the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, which is opening new classrooms on the second floor of the McPherson Building, and is having renovations done, including dry-walling by Can-Am. « It is bizarre, » says Lynne Baker, a school spokeswoman, about the union’s hiring of nonunion picketers.

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30 août 2010
30 août 2010

L’état du monde En Images International Économie

Un graphique assez intéressant sur la répartition de la population mondiale:

Population Mondiale

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30 août 2010

Tolérance Revue de presse États-Unis

The Sacramento Bee

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FBI data: Hate crimes against Muslims rare
The Sacramento Bee

Hate crimes directed against Muslims remain relatively rare, notwithstanding the notoriety gained by incidents such as recent vandalism at the Madera Islamic Center.

Jews, lesbians, gay men and Caucasians, among others, are all more frequently the target of hate crimes, FBI records show. Reported anti-Muslim crimes have declined over recent years, though they still exceed what occurred prior to the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

In 2008, 105 hate crime incidents against Muslims were reported nationwide. There were 10 times as many incidents that were recorded as anti-Jewish during the same year, the most recent for which figures are available.

The number of anti-Muslim hate crimes leaped to a record 481 in 2001, apparently prompted by the terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center. It hasn’t been nearly that high since.

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29 août 2010
29 août 2010

Désinformation Coup de gueule Gauchistan Québec

Hier se tenait à Washington Restoring Honor, un événement organisé par Glenn Beck sur les marches du Lincoln Memorial. Encore une fois, Cyberpresse en a profité pour désinformer la population

L’article a pour titre: « L’ultra-droite envahit le ‘rêve’ de Martin Luther King ».  Pourrait-on définir ce qu’est « l’ultra droite » ?  Glenn Beck est favorable aux mariages gays, il est pour un retrait d’Irak et d’Afghanistan, pour la fermeture des bases militaires américaines à l’extérieur des États-Unis et favorable à la légalisation des drogues.  Est-ce ça « l’ultra-droite » ?  Moi je crains bien plus l’invasion des médias québécois par « l’ultra-gauche ».

À propos de la taille de la foule l’article affirme: « Des dizaines de milliers de partisans de l’ultra-droite américaine ont envahi Washington samedi pour une manifestation ».  Selon NBC News, ils étaient 300 000.

On poursuit avec la traditionnelle accusation de racisme: « La coïncidence de dates a provoqué la colère de la communauté noire, qui soupçonne les partisans des Tea Party, très largement blancs, de racisme à leur endroit ».  Pourtant, dans son émission, Glenn Beck a livré un vibrant plaidoyer sur l’importance des noirs dans l’histoire américaine.  De plus, Alveda King, la nièce de Martin Luther King, était une invitée d’honneur lors de cet événement, voici son discours:

L’article enchaîne en disant: « Au milieu de la foule uniformément blanche, de tous âges et recouverte d’une mer de drapeaux à la bannière étoilée, des manifestants accusaient le président Obama d’avoir bafoué les valeurs de l’Amérique ».  En quoi la couleur de la peau des gens présents est-elle importante ?  Ce n’est pas Martin Luther King qui, 47 ans plus tôt, du même endroit a affirmé: « I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character ».

L’article affirme aussi que dans son discours, Glenn Beck a accusé le président Obama de racisme, ce qui est complètement faux.  On y affirme aussi que le mouvement d’opposition aux réformes de la santé est essentiellement confiné aux Tea Party alors que cette opinion prédomine dans l’ensemble de la population.

L’article laisse aussi entendre que ce rassemblement était un Tea Party anti-Obama, alors que dans les faits c’était un événement apolitique durant lequel les nombreux intervenants ont complètement ignoré les enjeux touchants les politiques émanant de la Maison-Blanche.

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29 août 2010

Gaspillage au nom du bien commun… Gaspillage Gauchistan Québec Revue de presse Économie

Métro

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BIXI intéresse le vérificateur général
Métro

Le vérifi­cateur général de la Ville s’inté­resse aux finances de BIXI. Son bureau décortiquera les comptes de la Société de vélos en libre-service (SVLS) qui gère le service, selon La Presse. Cette vérification intervient alors que les discussions pour une entente financière s’éternisent entre la Ville et SVLS, dont les états financiers, qui n’ont pas été rendus publics, alimentent les rumeurs.

La dette de l’OSBL, qui est lié à Stationnement Montréal, s’élèverait à 31,7 M$, et le déficit net pour l’année dernière a été de 6,9 M$. L’objectif de 32 000 abonnés ne sera vraisemblablement pas atteint. Les dirigeants, qui avaient promis la rentabilité de BIXI en trois ans, attendent toutefois les retombées financières des nombreux contrats signés à l’étranger.

Un tel service doit-il forcément être rentable? s’interroge Dominic Ratthé, qui tient un blogue sur le vélo urbain. «On s’interroge rarement pour savoir si une nouvelle autoroute sera rentable […] Oui à une évaluation des dépenses reliées à BIXI, non à une chasse aux sorcières», écrit-il sur son blogue, Rouler à vélo.

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28 août 2010

Flashback Canada Coup de gueule Gauchistan Québec

Un texte du National Post, publié en 2007, à propos du processus de nomination des juge par le parti libéral fédéral… À mettre dans le contexte de la Commission Bastarache…

« In 2005, an Ottawa Citizen investigation revealed that more than 60% of 93 lawyers who received federal judicial appointments in Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan since 2000 donated exclusively to the Liberal party in the three to five years before securing their posts. »

National Post
Liberals appointed partisans

LibéralLiberal Members of Parliament have in recent days repeatedly accused the Conservative government of appointing partisans to committees that vet judicial appointments, but a review of those selected by the previous government has found a significant number of them had Liberal ties.

In 2005, the government named at least nine loyalists to the bodies that help choose federal and provincial superior court judges, including a president of the federal Liberal party’s B.C. and Manitoba wings, a contender for the presidency of the Nova Scotia branch, a former Newfoundland Cabinet minister and unsuccessful provincial candidate.

Stephen Harper’s Conservatives have come under fire this week from opposition parties and lawyers for stacking retooled versions of the judicial advisory committees with political staffers and former Tory candidates.

Today, Liberal MP Michael Ignatieff will attack the Tory government in Parliament, accusing them of attempting to hijack the courts to enact their law-and-order agenda.

An early draft of the opposition motion states: « That, in the opinion of this house, the government is failing to act in accordance with the democratic and open values expected of its office by imposing a narrow minded, socially conservative ideology as reflected in its approach to the judicial appointment process to dramatically increase the influence of right-wing ideology in the judiciary. »

But given their track record, some say the Liberals are on shaky ground.

« The Liberals could have difficulty getting on their high horse when it comes to partisanship, » said Lorne Sossin, a law professor at the University of Toronto.

But Mr. Ignatieff said yesterday in an interview that his motion is not simply « our patronage versus their patronage.

« It’s a deliberate attempt by the executive branch of our government to stack and create a court system in its image, » he said. « I do not think that the Liberal party has ever gone out and said, ‘Here is our justice philosophy and we’re going to stack the court with people who subscribe to our philosophy.’  »

Legal experts say appointments of people with party ties is a political tradition that does not in itself compromise the way in which judges are selected — as long as it’s not the only criteria.

Roderick Macdonald, a law professor at McGill University in Montreal, said the naming of political allies and friends to boards, commissions and agencies seems an inevitable outcome of democratic politics.

« The fact that someone has previous ties to a political party… should not be a disqualification, » he said. « The real questions are: Are the people who have been selected competent? And will they do the job asked of them with integrity? »

A. Robert Sampson, a prominent lawyer in Sydney, N.S., who once ran for the presidency of the provincial Liberal party, said he’s not naive about how things work in politics. But he believes he was asked to serve two terms on the judicial appointments board for his 25 years of experience practising law.

« For me personally, I would like to think that I’ve got a broad and diverse enough background to have contributed something meaningful, » Mr. Sampson said. « I know this all probably sounds incredibly self-serving, and I’m in a bit of an awkward position but … I don’t think me being a Liberal or someone else being a Tory is the stick by which to judge whether someone is competent or not competent to sit on the committee. »

Peter Bowal, a University of Calgary law professor, said the judicial selection committees, which Mr. Harper has just altered, were set up two decades ago in response to rampant Liberal patronage.

When former prime minister Pierre Trudeau left office, he said there was a « stampede » of party loyalists into plum positions, including the judiciary, that successor John Turner did nothing to stop — giving rise to Brian Mulroney’s ‘You had an option, sir,’ zinger during a televised debate.

« It was exactly the same under them, » Prof. Bowal said. « It’s not more politicized today. »

In 2005, an Ottawa Citizen investigation revealed that more than 60% of 93 lawyers who received federal judicial appointments in Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan since 2000 donated exclusively to the Liberal party in the three to five years before securing their posts.

Marlene Jennings, the Liberal justice critic, said that « hypothetically speaking » even if her party had named political friends to the screening committees, what the Conservatives are doing is worse.

Historically, the committees have been comprised of seven members: a judge, a local member of the Canadian bar association, a nominee from the province and three picks from the federal justice minister. The Conservatives have now added an eighth member: a representative from law enforcement, but stripped the judge of voting power.

This, said Ms. Jennings, has tipped the balance of the committees in favour of federal appointees. Coupled with the fact the bodies will no longer be ranking the pool of candidates to recommend as top contenders, amounts to a « lowering of the bar » for the Conservatives to name their ideological allies judges, she said.

« I have no trouble whatsoever challenging the government because even if I admitted their premise, we still did not have the majority and therefore we were not in a position to push for ‘our’ partisan, political, ideologically bent candidates without the clear support on the part of the four independently appointed members, » she said.

J. Parker MacCarthy, the president of the Canadian Bar Association, said all Commonwealth countries struggle to some degree with concern about patronage infiltrating the bench, but that Canada’s process, however imperfect, has managed to be the envy of the world.

He lamented the fact the latest changes, as well as the political debate surrounding them, could result in the undermining of that golden reputation.

« These committees should not be a forum for bare-knuckled political fighting, » he said. « The process not only has to be fair, it has to be seen to be fair. »

Robert Nicholson, the federal Justice Minister and Attorney- General, is defending Tory choices for the committees — which include one for each province and territory, except Quebec, which has two regional bodies, and Ontario, which has three.

« We make no apologies for including competent and professional individuals on these committees, who do this important work on a voluntary basis, » said Genvieve Breton, a spokesperson for Mr. Nicholson.

« Our government will continue to appoint judges based on merit and legal excellence with input from a broad range of stakeholders. »

Peter Russell, a University of Toronto political scientist who has studied the judiciary, said there is a difference between Mr. Harper’s recent appointments and those of Mr. Mulroney, Jean Chretien and Paul Martin before him.

The difference, he said, is some of the Harper appointees have staked out their ideological ground publicly, said Prof. Russell, giving the example of Rob Martin, a University of Western Ontario law professor who authored The Most Dangerous Branch: How the Supreme Court of Canada has Undermined our Law and our Democracy.

Prof. Sossin said the Conservative government’s picks for the judicial advisory committees can be divided into two categories: those with connections to the party and those who share the Prime Minister’s views.

« The idea of going to partisans is concern A, » Prof. Sossin said. « The idea of going to ideologically motivated individuals, even if they’ve never given to the Tory party, is concern B. And I think those concerns collide. »

But the Conservatives have said it is wrong to assume that anyone tied to the Liberals is simply « partisan » and does not hold an ideological viewpoint.

The Prime Minister has also been unapologetic about his party’s approach to the appointment process.

« We want to make sure we are bringing forward laws to make sure that we crack down on crime, that we make our streets and communities safer, » Mr. Harper said in the House of Commons yesterday. « We want to make sure our selection of judges is in correspondence with those objectives. »

J’espère que personne n’avait besoin de la Commission Bastarache pour découvrir que la nomination des juges se faisait sur des bases partisanes.

La seule solution pour enrayer ce problème ?

Il faut avoir des juges élus par la population plutôt que nommer par les élites politiques. Tant et aussi longtemps que ce processus sera dans les mains des politiciens, il y aura du patronage.

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26 août 2010

Crise de confiance En Vidéos Québec Récession Économie États-Unis

Un vidéo sur le climat politique aux États-Unis, la situation n’est pas sans rappeler celle du Québec…

Si la situation aux États-Unis et au Québec est similaire, la résultante risque d’être radicalement différente; si les démocrates sont presque assurés de perdre le pouvoir, les libéraux peuvent encore espérer gagner la prochaine élection puisqu’au Québec, contrairement aux États-Unis, il n’y a pas d’alternative politique.

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26 août 2010

Obama au commande du Titanic En Chiffres En Vidéos Économie États-Unis

Tout comme pour le Titanic, on disait d’Obama qu’il était insubmersible. Tout comme le Titanic, Obama a frappé un iceberg…

Même les pauvres abandonnent Obama. Au début de l’année sa cote de popularité chez les gens gagnant moins de 2000$ par mois surpassait 60%. Aujourd’hui sa cote n’est que de 49%.

Sur le terrain, voici ce que ça donne:

Now, the 40-year-old is rethinking her lifelong support for the party. She has been without steady work for two years, lost her home and car and began receiving cash assistance from the state for the first time. This year, she says, “I’m willing to take a chance on something different.” Another possibility, she says, is that she won’t vote at all.

Ms. Jones is part of an unmeasured, agitated mass: unemployed Americans who don’t believe the Obama Administration and Congress have done enough to produce jobs. With elections coming up, their unease is especially troublesome for the Democrats, who control both chambers.

A poor economy never bodes well for incumbents. Cook Report, the nonpartisan political newsletter that tracks congressional races, estimates that 73 House seats are vulnerable—including Mr. Schauer’s. This group has two things in common. Almost all (66 of 73) are held by Democrats, and most include counties that have unemployment rates exceeding the national average, according to data assembled by The Wall Street Journal.

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26 août 2010

Je vous l’avais dit (redux) Environnement Revue de presse États-Unis

The Daily Telegraph

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Microbe eating spilled oil in Gulf of Mexico
The Daily Telegraph

The leaking well was plugged on July 15 and two weeks later government scientists said that half of the oil had gone. The new microbe was found to be breaking down oil about twice as fast as expected.

Researchers discovered the new oil-eating microbe while studying the underwater dispersion of millions of gallons which escaped after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in April. It thrives in cold water in the deep sea where temperatures are around 5C (41F) and scientists said it may have adapted over time, through a process of natural selection, due to periodic leaks and natural seeps of oil in the Gulf.

When the bacteria were found to have acted on oil they consumed half of it in 1.2 to 6.1 days, giving an average of about three days. By comparison at the site of the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska in 1989 the average « half life » was seven days. Around 95 per cent of the bacteria in the oil plume were the new type, while outside only five per cent were.

The microbe was discovered by a team led by Terry Hazen, of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California. The study was reported in the journal Science. Hazen said:’What we know about the degradation rates fits with what we are seeing in the last three weeks. We’ve gone out to the sites, and we don’t find any oil, but we do find the bacteria.’ The team also found that the new microbe acts without significantly depleting oxygen in the water.

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25 août 2010

Manipulation En Vidéos Environnement Gauchistan

Comment la science est manipulée par les politiciens pour implémenter un agenda étatiste:

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25 août 2010

La violence socialiste En Chiffres Gauchistan Venezuela

Quelques chiffres intéressants sur l’évolution du taux d’homicide au Venezuela et en Colombie.  Je vous rappelle qu’en 1999, Hugo Chavez (le gentil gauchiste) a pris le pouvoir au Venezuela alors qu’en 2002, Alvaro Uribe (le méchant droitiste) a pris le pouvoir en Colombie.

Violence Socialiste

Depuis que Chavez a fait de son pays un paradis socialiste, le taux d’homicide a littéralement explosé, une augmentation de 112%.  Au Venezuela la situation est à ce point catastrophique que le taux d’homicide de la république bolivarienne surpasse maintenant celui de l’Irak.

En Colombie, c’est la situation inverse qui a prévalu depuis l’arrivée d’Alvaro Uribe; une baisse non négligeable de 44%.  La situation s’est tout particulièrement améliorée du côté des syndicalistes, qui ont été durant un temps particulièrement ciblés.  De 2001 à 2007, les meurtres de leaders syndicaux ont chuté de 88%.

Quand l’État se donne le droit d’utiliser la violence pour s’approprier ce qui ne lui appartient pas, il ne faut pas se surprendre de voir la population émuler le comportement des politiciens. Un autre rappelle que le respect de la propriété privée est la pierre angulaire de toute société décente.

Sources:
Venezuela: ici, ici, ici & ici
Colombie: ici, ici, ici, ici & ici

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25 août 2010

Obama le destructeur Environnement Revue de presse Économie États-Unis

The Wall Street Journal

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U.S. Saw Drill Ban Killing Many Jobs
The Wall Street Journal

Senior Obama administration officials concluded the federal moratorium on deepwater oil drilling would cost roughly 23,000 jobs, but went ahead with the ban because they didn’t trust the industry’s safety equipment and the government’s own inspection process, according to previously undisclosed documents.

Critics of the moratorium, including Gulf Coast political figures and oil-industry leaders, have said it is crippling the region’s economy, and some have called on the administration to make public its economic analysis. A federal judge who in June threw out an earlier six-month moratorium faulted the administration for playing down the economic effects.

Spanning more than 27,000 pages, they provide an unusually detailed look at the debate about how to respond to legal and political opposition to the moratorium.

They show the new top regulator or offshore oil exploration, Michael Bromwich, told Interior Secretary Ken Salazar that a six-month deepwater-drilling halt would result in « lost direct employment » affecting approximately 9,450 workers and « lost jobs from indirect and induced effects » affecting about 13,797 more.

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24 août 2010
24 août 2010

Top 5 Qc/Ca Canada Québec Top Actualité

Le Top 5 de l’actualité québécoise et canadienne (17-23 août) selon Influence Communication:

Actualité Québec

Actualité Canada

Source:
Influence Communication

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