Four words ...

Get the flu shot.

ORU Faculty: Richard Out!

The faculty at Oral Roberts University have now had their turn to speak, and it's resounding: They want Richard Roberts out. Richard, son of Oral, has been on "leave" pending an investigation into charges as wide ranging as lavish spending, improper dismissal of tenured faculty, phone sex and illegal campaigning.

To think a lounge singer and his wife might be capable of all of that. Then again, some Catholics -- lay as well as priests -- aren't all that much better.

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Harper calls inquiry

After nearly two weeks, Harper has finally caved into enormous pressure -- some from his most loyal supporters -- and has agreed to a public inquiry in the Mulroney-Schreiber matter. As well, the Mounties are also relaunching an investigation many had thought had been settled ages ago.

Way back when CBC Newsworld aired Air Farce and 22 Minutes (before the regulators here said they couldn't -- Newsworld was a news channel, not a comedy one said the CRTC -- BS!) I watched one Sunday night and seeing the Farceurs doing another routine about Airbus when the "crawl" broke in with a special bulletin; that Chrétien had reached an out-of-court settlement with Mulroney, the night before the civil trial was set to begin. It took me thirty seconds to realize it wasn't a joke.

Frankly, Canada missed out on a great trial if for no other reason than Mulroney cleverly chose a Québec court as the venue. It was no accident. Under common law in the English provinces (and to a lesser extent Québec in terms of criminal matters) one must prove allegations against someone are not true, on a preponderance of the evidence. Under Québec's Civil Code, however, one only has to prove damage to one's reputation regardless of whether charges are true or not. The distinction is important; and it's relevant as the public inquiry process goes forward.

Like Clark, Turner, Campbell, Chrétien and Martin (as well as the late Trudeau), Mulroney was an unregistered lobbyist. Perhaps the fact one used to be in government exempts former ministers of the Crown (it should not), but the fact is ex-PMs do wield influence behind the scenes. The incumbent in the office would be foolish not to rely on the advise of his or her predecessors -- for their candor as well as their experience.

The problem becomes greater, though, when claims like Schreiber are making are made. It doesn't matter whether they are true or not; people will believe them period and because the targets of the claims are politicians, people in general think the worse of them. In terms of heads of government, the stakes are even higher. It was Rick Mercer, after all, who wryly said when the Airbus scandal broke that "89% of Canadians believed Mulroney took kickbacks, the other 11% believe he turned them down."

I'd take advise from anyone, of course, but I'd be extra careful if there was the hint of scandal; I'd limit my inquiry of those who came before me to specifics, not a back slapping howya doing. I certainly wouldn't take advise from a known liar but the standards for those who spin the truth are even higher; bizarre as that may sound.

What I find even more bewildering is that Mulroney and Harper who once despised each other's mere existence on this planet (let alone Turtle Island) get along so well. Harper says he is temporarily breaking off ties with Mulroney until this is settled and is well advised to do so, but the question is what advice did Harper get in the first place and did that taint his judgement on policy matters? In particular, what Harper was saying two weeks ago to an inquiry (no) and what he said today (yes)?

This certainly comes nowhere near eclipsing Sponsorgate. But Air Canada was owned by the government until well into the 1990s as were many other Crown Corporations; and if this goes beyond Airbus the shakedown will be fierce.

I truly hope Mulroney is vindicated. We need our elder statespersons more than ever. But like many of these matters, the truth may very well come out between what Mulroney is saying and what is said by Schreiber. And any public inquiry report can be appealed so this may drag on for quite some time yet.

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Mulroney demands inquiry on himself

Late last night, Brian Mulroney himself dropped the other foot and also said it's time for a public inquiry to clear the air once and for about his dealings with Karlheinz Schreiber.

"I have come to the conclusion that in order to finally put this matter to rest and expose all the facts and the role played by all the people involved, from public servants to elected officials, from lobbyists to police authorities, as well as journalists, the only solution is for the government to launch a full-fledged public commission of inquiry," Mulroney said.

All I can say is I respect Prime Minister Mulroney for realizing just how serious this is. The question I have this morning is, does Prime Minister Harper?

And it goes without saying; the Federal Court of Appeal should stay Schreiber's extradition to Germany on charges he evaded taxes there and bribed former Chancellor Helmut Kohl -- until we get more answers.

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What did he know and when did he know it?

It's a phrase coined during Watergate. But it's truly à propos now.

This one's really troubling. Stephen Harper last Friday finally called a "limited" inquiry into allegations made by Karlheinz Schreiber that Brian Mulroney received a payoff of $300k in his final days as PM. About time ... except for one little thing we learned today: The PMO first learned about this claim seven months ago.

Harper has staked his reputation on the claim he runs a "clean" and "accountable" government. And these are very serious charges, whether they ultimately prove to be true or not. The question I and a lot of other Canadians have is why did Harper wait all this time? He just can't claim the letter got clogged in the mail -- there are dozens of people in the sorting room at the Langevin Block. This is the kind of thing that should have been vetted by the Mounties from the very beginning.

In fact, the so-called "Accountability Act" calls for a special prosecutor in circumstances like this one. So if Harper knew but sat on it, he broke his own law.

It's not the crime that does someone in, it's the cover-up. I have nothing to suggest anything untoward happened but I don't like the way this smells. An independent counsel, if not an outright judicial inquiry, is called for.

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Faith in action, NY style

A very delightful story in the NYT today to brighten up a dreary morning. A Jewish congregation is taking on the task of handwriting a Torah -- the first five books in what we Christians call the Old Testament -- one letter at a time. The difference? Rather than pay a scholar to write the whole thing, they're doing it themselves, a letter at a time. In other words they're honouring and revering Torah firsthand.

Now that's what I call faith in action. Of course, they have to pay for the privilege of adding their hand to it but that's another point -- they're learning about their faith rather than have someone tell it to them from the pulpit or the idiot box. And of course, it's another nail in the coffin of the theory that NYC is a godless city.

Can you imagine a televangelist allowing his or her supporters to take part in a project where they could help write a new printing of the King James Bible, a handwritten letter at a time, for a song? No, it wouldn't happen. They'd rather sell their own overpriced "study" Bibles with very heretical notations for a couple hundred bucks for something that cost maybe five bucks to print.

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Red Hill: Boon or bust?

The Red Hill Valley Parkway here in Hamilton -- possibly one of the most controversial expressways ever built in North America -- finally opens up to the public this Friday. It's long overdue and the opportunity to zip from one end of the city to the other in just minutes and taking heavy truck traffic off arterial roads will be taken advantage of by many who thought the north-south highway, first proposed 50 years ago, would never be built. It's not the panacea for Hamilton's ills but it's an important step.

Even before the opening there have been some successes. It was thought 47,000 trees would have to be cut down; it was more like 15,000 and the highway was built along the valley's eastern slope rather than straight through the middle. A short tunnel for wildlife to pass under -- a ridiculous 30 metres -- was extended to a 400 metre + viaduct; and the creek itself which was once a concrete runway for overflow sewage has been redesigned, so well apparently that salmon are swimming up creek again for the first time since most people can remember. And the trail system built alongside the project has reopened and it's as user-friendly as before, perhaps more so.

Still, together with the east west Lincoln Alexander, the total cost of the project runs to a total of about a half billion. Infrastructure of this nature really is a provincial responsibility, not a local one; and it's going to be a few years before we know whether this was a disaster just waiting to happen or a blessing. Not to mention we've had a several "fifty year storms" the last half decade the highway was being built, not just one.

Will I drive it when it opens? Sure. It'll cut the drive time to my grandmother's place in half.

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Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

10 simple sentences, words which still resonate today as our men and women in uniform face dangers greater than any those fought in the wars of the 19th and 20th centuries could have imagined:

Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation: conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war. . .testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated. . . can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war.

We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate. . .we cannot consecrate. . . we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us. . .that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. . . that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. . . that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. . . and that government of the people. . .by the people. . .for the people. . . shall not perish from the earth.

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Style guide influenced by IM?

This is an actual headline in the former US "paper of record" today: Rudy and Bernie, B.F.F.

Gail Collins makes some good points, but since when did chat room abbrev. become acceptable in that newspaper's style guide? This is just getting sloppy and is a rather low water mark for the Old Gray Lady. After all, there may be some readers who may not be entirely acquainted with instant messaging lingo -- even if they do read the paper online.

The paper makes a billion a year in ad revenue. How much ink and bandwidth would they have wasted spelling out the words Best Friends Forever?

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Mussolini-ette busts right wing grouping in EU

On the darker side of the news comes word that the far-right grouping in the European Parliament (which is mostly a farce to begin with; its only real power is to approve the EU budget -- the real decisions are made by the Eurocrats) is on the verge of collapse after Alessandra Mussolini, grandaughter of Benito, used a rather inappropriate slur to describe Romanians. She called them "habitual law breakers."

I'm trying hard not to chuckle as I write these words but find it hard. For with the withdrawal of five right-wing Romanian MEPs, the group which calls itself "Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty" is now down to 18 and it needs 20 to be an official "party." Not unlike the quota of twelve in Canada's lower house.

I see it as a hopeful sign that some of the truly dark days of European history are truly over and that ethnic bigotry in whatever form is simply not acceptable, in the EU, Canada or anywhere else. Just because some members of an ethnic group commit crimes should not cast aspersion on the group as a whole.

Personally, I think what Mussolini's beef is with Romania's anticipated accession (along with Bulgaria) to the Schengen acquis four years hence; and with it further expansion of the open border regime in Europe. Nine other countries are joining the zone next month with two (or three) more next year. While eliminating border controls has no doubt been a boon for trade and tourism in the zone as it is currently constituted right now (and will be for the new members) it's also led to the exacerbation of illegal immigration and along with it resentment of recipient countries at those immigrants; and a failure of nativists to distinguish between legitimate migrants and those who just jump borders to take advantage of another state's social programs.

Not to mention that with open borders gun control can end up being a farce, especially if one wants to smuggle a gun from a "guns for all" state to a "guns for none." Frankly if I was Mussolini, I'd be more worried about illegals from Switzerland -- there gun ownership is mandatory and men are far more likely to murder their wives with a gun than in Italy.

As always there must be respect for the law ... but I think Lou Dobbs must be wondering if there's inspiration to be had in his battle to make America "the way it used to be" and building a Berlin Wall along the Mexican and Canadian borders.

The way it used to be? Uh, like before the white people stole land from Native Americans? If the right wing is losing its tracks in Europe one can only hope it's a matter of time before the nativists in America and Canada are exposed for who they truly are.

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As Dan Rather would say ...

Courage. To the men and women in uniform around the world fighting the wars the rest of us couldn't care about. As Remembrance / Veterans' Day comes up this weekend, let us remember our troops regardless of whether we agree or not with the political decisions that sent the troops there.

And if you love freedom ... thank a veteran.

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Racing law working too well?

Ontario's new road racing law is beginning to take hold -- well beyond anyone's expectations. In its first month, 1300 people have been caught doing 50 km/h (30 mph) over the speed limit. The sanctions are tough: Zero tolerance, no warnings -- a mandatory seven day suspension beginning at roadside, vehicle impoundment and a fine ranging from $2,000 to $10,000.

One consequence is that people in a "rush" to get somewhere are keeping the needle just below the fault line -- say, 148 in a 100 zone. On the other hand, the dragnet has caught people who aren't even aware they broke the law. That's not an excuse, of course, but the principle of mens rea states that to be found guilty one must have willingly broken the law or acted recklessly. That means people who just used bad judgment -- rather than acted with criminal intent -- could face the same kinds of sanctions, and I'm not sure that's constitutional.

I'm surprised few who have been cited attempt to turn the tables on the cops and issue a sub poena demanding the radar be calibrated and tested by an independent lab. This is a common legal tactic in the States and it results in more than a few speeding tickets getting quashed because the cops are found in contempt for not having obeyed the order.

And it does raise an important question, too -- whatever happened to the presumption of innocence, or the right to retain and instruct counsel without delay? The Therens precedent has resulted in 3/4 of DUI charges in Canada being dropped on these important points; and I see no reason why a court would have a problem in striking down the racing law.

We need to stop speeders, without question. There are better ways to do it, however. If people actually bothered to drive at or just above the limit in all lanes of traffic, thus forcing the would be crooks to follow the flow of traffic, that might be a first step. Of course, that would just send drivers to the back roads -- so try such things as spike strips or the "California stop" ramming technique.

35 automatic suspensions per day ... something's not quite right there. Our roads can't be that bad.

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Mainse shelves Hagee -- for two days

HT to my conservative colleague, Kathy Shaidle (although my take on this one is probably different from hers!):

Crossroads Television (CTS) which has stations in Burlington, Calgary and Edmonton and whose Burlington signal is broadcast across Canada via satellite and cable -- decided to pull the last two parts of the three-part series "Islam in America" by San Antonio, Texas based televangelist John Hagee after complaints from CAIR, the Council on American Islamic Relations. While Rev. Hagee never says it specifically, the interference in the program is that Muslims can never be patriotic Americans.

CTS, founded by 100 Huntley Street kingpin David Mainse, apologized for the offence the programs may have caused and that it goes against its mission to serve all communities in its broadcast area. As well as it should -- unlike many US religious broadcasters which can be 100% evangelical or Catholic or whatever, CTS takes the balance requirement seriously and has done so from the start 10 years ago.

One can only wonder what the Lethbridge based Miracle Channel's position is going to be on this one. It has long aired the unedited version of the 700 Club, for example (rather than the CRTC-approved "Canadian edition) and Hagee features prominently in its prime time schedule (9:30 pm Mountain). And unlike Southern Ontario, the Lethbridge area probably doesn't have that many Muslims percentage wise by comparison -- so they can probably afford to show the episodes unedited without too much flak.

And well they might were it not for the fact TMC is also broadcast across Canada on cable and satellite.

The argument will be that Canada's criminal hate statutes allow for an exception where people make purportedly hateful statements "in good faith." That might work if Hagee spoke on a stump in, say, Toronto's High Park. But the airwaves are owned by the people, and while people are entitled to their opinions it must also be remembered that one must respect the opinions of others. Any inference one group or another is "unpatriotic" or threatening to impose a caliphate or theocracy without solid proof had better be prepared to accept criticism.

I know I can annoy a lot of people with my opinions on religion, the media, politics, whatever -- but I haven't appeared on TV since a "man on the street" interview about a hot topic; and that was cable access. Hagee reaches millions every day. There are ways to say what one means without marginalizing whole groups of people. And I find it rather interesting that one doesn't see that many blacks or Hispanics in his congregation.

Hagee is on tour in Israel and "unavailable for comment." Convenient.

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Veto this!

It looks like the US President will not get his wish to be the first President since LBJ to have all his vetoes sustained. The House voted by a huge margin to override Bush's "I forbid" on a water resources bill and the Senate is expected to override it sometime later this week. Some of the items amount to pork, but it's good to see that this Congress finally sees a President is not a King.

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Clearing up the border wait; cigs on reserves

Two thoughts today. First ...

With the loonie hitting $1.07 US, more and more Canadians are crossing the border to do their shopping and scoop up bargains. And the return trip at the crossings can be up to five hours. What's the hold-up? Once again, it's customs agents who are playing by the book looking for contraband liquor and cigarettes instead of terrorists and phony refugee claimants.

This may have made sense in an age when customs duties made up 80% of the federal treasury. Today, it's 0.17%. For a government collecting $200 billion per year in revenues that works out to ... $340 million. And that's on everything, including raw materials imported by manufacturers. Duties paid by ordinary Canadians make up -- wait for it -- only 10% of that.

Nearly a year ago, the Senate's committee that deals with national security issues issued a unanimous report that suggested increasing the exemption for out of country trips up -- way up -- to $2000 per trip. It's a good idea. It's not like the feds are going to miss less than a dollar per Canadian, and it'll free up the border guards for more important tasks.

Of course it would be better if Canadians spent their money in Canada. But they have the right to leave and re-enter Canada whenever they want so that right should be facilitated.

Second ...

Some provincial politicians are calling for a crackdown on people going onto reserves for no-tax cigarettes. This after a study showed about 1/4 of sales in Ontario -- all sales -- are on reserves or Natives selling tobacco to non-Natives. Up North, it's well over 50%.

Not like my family was totally innocent -- my mom went to Haudenasonee quite regularly for her stash while she was alive. So did my dad while he was still smoking -- before he smartened up. But that was during the nineties.

This is not an issue that's going to go away any time soon. Short of setting up border posts at the edge of native territories there is no effective way of cracking down on illegal sales without raising the ire of the First Nations, especially bands with their own police forces.

What is required here is respect for the law. Reserves know well enough to make sure only those with federal status cards get cut-rate gasoline. I would urge them to apply a similar firm hand when it comes to those who want to cheap out on that "other" sin. In return, the provincial government should allow bands to keep a greater share of the taxes that would otherwise go to Queen's Park and Parliament Hill. This would be a positive step towards self-sufficiency.

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