Here, on the importance of substance over spin in politics – and the counterproductive effect of dedicating a party’s resources to the opposite effect. For further reading…– As I’ve previously noted, the observations of Allan Gregg and Winslow Wheeler are here and here respectively.– Joe Klein discussed the impact of
Continue readingTag: Iran
Saskboy's Abandoned Stuff: No Go Argo
When I saw the trailer for Argo, I had a flashback to the Tommy Douglas Story. It was obvious from the focus of the plot that the CIA was going to get credit for saving the American hostages in Iran, 1979, instead of Ken Taylor, the Canadian diplomat. That’s the
Continue readingPeace, order and good government, eh?: In which Mulcair muddies the waters
This was NDP leader Tom Mulcair yesterday on the Harper government’s decision to cut off diplomatic relations with Iran: …it’s … becoming increasingly clear that there were serious concerns, we don’t have the same information but it would appear that there might be some very solid information that would have
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Stephen Harper and the Red Line
When it finally hit me why Stephen Harper suddenly cut ties with Iran, I felt slightly dizzy. So great was my horror. For it seems obvious to me that it had little or nothing to do with security, and everything to do with an orchestrated campaign by Benjamin Netanyahu to
Continue readingLeft Over: Get Chicken Little on the Phone!!!!!
Did intelligence fears prompt Canada to cut Iran ties?By Brian Stewart, CBC News Shades of the 1950′s, McCarthyism and the Red Scare! One would think that we were in the middle of the so-called Cold War, and that the Commies were hiding under the beds, once again…. Really, Harpo?
Continue readingCanadian Progressive: Photo Tells Us Why Canada Severed Diplomatic Ties With Iran
Last Friday, the right-wing Conservative government of Stephen Harper closed the Canadian embassy in Tehran, and kicked Iranian diplomats out of Canada. Since than, Canadians have struggled to figure out Harper’s motive for this hotile and undepolomatic move. This picture partly answers the question. The picture was taken during Israeli
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Don Lenihan responds to Allan Gregg’s recent critique of Canadian politics, featuring this on the connection that ought to exist between ideology and policy: First, the fact that a policy is based on ideological conviction does not mean it is opposed to
Continue readingBlast Furnace Canada Blog: Who’s protecting Canada now that we’ve left Iran?
There’s no doubt sanctions need to be put on Iran. And at first, I thought John Baird had a lot of guts going for the jugular like this. But wasn’t Canada suddenly cutting ties with Iran last Friday just a tad too rapid? No skeletal staff to handle outstanding visa
Continue readingDrive-by Planet: Harper gov calls Iran ‘a threat to global peace’: Chomsky on the real threat
In a move that has greatly pleased Israeli PM Netanyahu the Harper government has shut down its Iran embassy and expelled Iranian diplomats in Canada. On Sept 7 Harper’s foreign minister, John Baird, announced they had five days to leave. Baird characterized Iran as ‘a threat to global peace.’ The
Continue readingThe folly of shunning Iran
“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” said the oft-quoted ancient military strategist Sun-tzu. Our government, as militarist as it is, has decided to ignore this advice and cut all ties with its enemy of the day. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird announced last week that we are suspending
Continue readingCanadian Progressive: Watergate Journalist Carl Bernstein Spoke at Event Supporting Iranian ‘Terrorist’ Group
Written by Justin Elliott | ProPublica On a Saturday afternoon last February, journalist Carl Bernstein got up on stage at the grand ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan and delivered a speech questioning the listing of an obscure Iranian group called the Mujahadin-e Khalq (MEK) on the U.S. government list of officially designated foreign
Continue readingLeDaro: Stephen Harper the warrior on Iran
What the hell were Harper and Baird thinking to cut diplomatic ties with Iran? What does Harper know that the rest of the world does not know? Even Britain is not cutting diplomatic ties with Iran. Britain should be more worried about the safety of its diplomats than Canada given
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Benny and Steve and the War with Iran
As you know I'm a real romantic eh? And I'm usually a sucker for movies about two men in love. Especially if they're R-rated.But I think it's safe to say that with the Middle East on the brink of a war that could kill millions of people, the last thing
Continue readingTrashy's World: I really cannot imagine anything good…
… or productive coming out of this new, aggressive stance against Iran! Why, Stevo? What is there to gain from this? Need to grab some headlines? I don’t get it. (6) Trashy, Ottawa, Ontario
Continue readingMorsi’s brave initiative
Egypt and Iran have barely been on speaking terms for some time. An Egyptian leader hasn’t visited Tehran since the Islamic revolution in 1979. But new president Mohamed Morsi intends to change that. This week he is attending the Non-Aligned Movement summit hosted by Iran. Apparently, Morsi’s visit will be
Continue readingwRanter.com: Church settlement boycott becomes interfaith train wreck
Share this: This past August, the General Council of the United Church of Canada, the country’s largest Protestant denomination, adopted a motion urging its members to boycott goods produced in West Bank settlements. The proposal was part of a larger, rather one-sided report prepared by the church’s Working Group on Israel/Palestine
Continue readingCuriosityCat: If Israel attacks before November 6, 2012
This is what one set of supposedly leaked documents says will happen if Israel decides to strike Iran: According to Silverstein, an Israeli strike on Iran will include a “barrage of tens of ballistic missiles” launched from Israeli territory towards Iran, as well as a barrage of “hundreds of cruise
Continue readingBlast Furnace Canada Blog: Iran: Getting away with genocide, thanks to banks (maybe)
If the allegations about the British based bank Standard Chartered Bank PLC are true then a financial institution that has been at the forefront of a “corporate responsibility” campaign is guilty of an instance of money laundering that makes the Bank of Credit and Commerce International look like Romper Room
Continue readingUnintended consequences—Bangladesh suffers from Iran sanctions
The Bangladeshis are entirely innocent of any real or imagined transgressions on the part of Iran, yet they are being punished nonetheless. Their sin is a heavy reliance on the jute crop. Jute is a major industry in Bangladesh, worth a billion dollars in exports, mainly to Iran. Forty million
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Anderson Cooper: “The Fact Is, I’m Gay”
A couple of years ago, a friend swore to me that the CNN’s Anderson Cooper was gay. And that it was a matter of time before he came out. I argued that Cooper would be gay only after he’d publicly confirmed that he was gay. The essence of the conversation
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