A Little Bit Of This And A Little Bit Of That

Dateline: Hodgepodge from Canada. A few more reasons why we are very much less than a great country.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation:

There is a great deal of debate surrounding Canada’s television broadcasting corporation; the CBC. Should it, or should it not continue to exist as a public government financed medium?

In a short answer. No. Why should it exist? Virtually no one watches it. No one wants to advertise on it, and with the exception of a few good shows, everything else on the CBC absolutely sucks.

The CBC costs Canadians close to $1 billion dollars annually. Imagine how much health care, or education could benefit from that amount of money. Or just imagine having that amount of money cut from our taxes.

Canada already maintains the public CBC radio airwaves, AM and Fm, which are both commercial free. Get rid of one or the other of those as well. Canada does not need both. We probably don’t need either? Once again, the ratings show that virtually no one is listening.

But; if we are to keep at least one, then at least make that one relevant. Perhaps as an all news channel with the exact same broadcast from coast to coast. CBC could save a fortune simply by simulcasting from CBC News World.

Speaking of CBC News World, it does a relatively good job in broadcasting the news. Keep it as it is in its French and English formats, and use the existing non-cable channels to simulcast News World for people who don’t have cable or satellite reception.

There might have been a time, a long time ago, when the “public” broadcaster was relevant. But; like all things, everything’s time eventually comes to an end.

Peter Gzowski:

Peter Gzowski has died from a chronic lung disease, emphysema, brought on from his inability to stop smoking before it became too late. During his lifetime, Gzowski broadcast for CBC radio, and as such did an “adequate” job.

But; to hear the Canadian government and the media speak about his death, as if Canada has just lost its greatest citizen makes me wonder.

Peter Gzowski was a radio announcer. He didn’t discover the cure for a horrible disease. He didn’t feed hungry children. He didn’t shelter the homeless. He didn’t give sustenance to the elderly. He didn’t fight to save the environment. He didn’t run for public office in order to make Canada a better country. And to the best of my knowledge, he never put himself front and center to protect our way of life.

So, why the huge accolades? Peter Gzowski might have been a real nice guy, but I don’t know one way or the other. I never met him. What I do know, is that other than earning an easy living as one of Canada’s “public” broadcasters for so many years, I don’t know of anything that he has done that sets him above the rest of us.

But; I guess that’s the Canadian way. Where, if heros and people of substantial substance do not exist, we simply create them.

Quebec’s Huge Cabinet:

Almost half of the elected members of the Parti Québécois have been named cabinet ministers by Quebec Premier “Dirty” Bernie Landry, including one unelected member, turncoat, David Levine, who has become a junior minister of health.

In any other province, a move such as the formation of such a colossal, incompetent and monumentally expensive cabinet would generate an outcry. But; in Quebec, it’s nothing more than politics as usual.

We should all remember, when Quebec comes crying, threatening and screaming to the rest of Canada for more federal money, less federal involvement and more “nationalist” sovereignty, in every possible respect, remember what they are doing with the money they already receive.

Who’s A Terrorist? And Who’s A Prisoner Of War?

John Manley, the hopeful Prime Minister in waiting, wants to hold a common discussion with his US counterpart to decide what should constitute who is a prisoner of war, and who is not.

First of all: I don’t believe the USA is all that interested in what Canada thinks concerning this matter, especially since we had to plead with the Americans to let us play in their sand box. Second of all: what business is it of ours to tell the Americans how to deal with people who are responsible for the murder of almost 3,000 people on its soil, not to mention the enormous psychological and monetary blow suffered by all the American people, as a result of 9/11.

To make it easy for Canada to define who is, and who is not a terrorist: what about Quebec Separatists?

If the FLQ was resurrected, and decided to once again plant bombs in mail boxes, kill innocent people, and generally terrorize the people and government in their quest to separate Quebec from Canada, would the federal government try them as prisoners of war, common criminals or terrorists; that is, if they were ever captured?

They certainly wouldn’t be common criminals. They would not be prisoners of war, since they would not be an army representing a legitimate country in any sense of the word. But; they would be terrorists acting upon a design to create organized mayhem for political and perhaps social beliefs.

We know how Canada treated the FLQ murders once they surrendered in 1970. Some were given exile to Cuba and Algeria. Some were incarcerated and given reduced sentences like Raymond Villeneuve, a convicted self confessed murderer. And some became civil servants. But; NONE were considered prisoners of war. So much for Canada’s opinion.

About A Great Offence:

On February 4, 2002, I wrote that America should use the big stick, in spite of the protestations from the international kiss-asses like France. Now it seems that Iran and Iraq have taken serious notice of American resolve to whack them plenty good, and subsequently, they now want to play nice. Go figure.

God Bless The Queen – After 50 Years:

The Monarchist world is rushing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth the Second’s reign. Whoop-de-do.

I would love to celebrate this anniversary by watching it as an outsider, and not as a “subject” of the QUEEN OF ENGLAND, who, with virtually all the money one can ever hope to have, has managed to raise one of the most dysfunctional families in the Free World. What a legacy.