Anything Prose

Quebec Conservative Organizers Back Belinda Stronach - Bilingual Post

See below for English POST et plus de détail

Des accusations que l'appui a été payé en tranche de dixaines de milliers . . .

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Le vendredi 23 janvier 2004 Page A7
PARTI CONSERVATEUR

Belinda Stronach a l'appui des principaux organisateurs au Québec

Cyberpresse et Joël-Denis Bellavance (La Presse)

Ottawa
À peine trois jours après avoir lancé sa campagne, la jeune candidate à la direction du Parti conservateur, Belinda Stronach, a réussi à obtenir l'appui des principaux organisateurs du parti au Québec même si elle ne parle pas français.

Les organisateurs du Québec, qui devaient appuyer la candidature du député Peter MacKay ou celle de l'homme d'affaires de Calgary Jim Prentice, qui se sont tous les deux désistés au cours des dernières semaines, ont en effet jeté leur dévolu sur l'ex-présidente de Magna International pour les mener au pouvoir.

Le sénateur conservateur Pierre Claude Nolin a aussi annoncé qu'il appuiera Mme Stronach dans cette course qui l'oppose à l'ancien chef allianciste Stephen Harper et à l'ancien ministre de la Santé de l'Ontario, Tony Clement.

«Presque tous les conservateurs au Québec sont derrière Belinda Stronach», a affirmé hier Dany Renauld, codirecteur de la campagne au Québec de la riche femme d'affaires et codirecteur des communications à l'échelle nationale.

Note: (Le reste de l'article est juteux mais n'est pas intégré dans la version éléctronique. Refèrez-vous au résumé en anglais çi-dessous et/ou achetez un exemplaire imprimé.) rjp

+ /\ + /\ + English Translation and More Detail

Conservative Party: Stronach has the support of the principal organizers in Quebec

Accusations fly that support in Quebec was paid for in cash.

Cyberpresse and Joel-Denis Bellavance (La Press)

(Ottawa) Hardly three days after having launched her national campaign for the party leadership and candidacy, the young (38) Belinda Stronach succeeded in obtaining the support of the principal organizers of the party in Quebec -- even if she does not speak French.

Organizers in Quebec previously split in lending support to leadership candidate Peter MacKay or to Calgary businessman Jim Prentice. Both dropped out over the last weeks. Now these Quebec conservatives have thrown their unreserved backing to the ex-president of Magna International (in hopes she will) lead them to electoral victory in the upcoming federal elections.

The Conservative senator Pierre Claude Nolin has announced he will support Mrs. Stronach in the party's race, which opposes former Canadian Alliance leader Stephen Harper against the former Minister for Health of Ontario, Tony Clement. "Almost all the conservatives (sic - party organizers) in Quebec are behind Belinda Stronach", Dany Renauld, co-director of the campaign in Quebec affirmed yesterday, speaking of the rich businesswoman and her bid for party leadership.

Note: La Presse gives the meat of the story in the print edition but not on line. Here we have given a quick translation of the printed article, where we read--

Stephen Harper's chief Quebec organizer, Richard Décarie, admits that the Stronach machine has swept its influence across the entire province. But to explain how and why the former Progressive-Conservative loyalists went over to Belinda Stronach, rich daughter of wealthy autoframe maker Frank Stronach, Décarie says "According to our information, they were bought-off, in bundles of tens of thousands of dollars. Lots and lots of money is flowing right now toward recruiting supporters."

"The boys are dying of laughter, so much money is passing hands", stated M. Décarie.

Dany Renaud of the Stronach camp dismisses the accusations with a shrug. He says he gets no salary at all. "It is normal that people working at the grassroots will get paid."

The Conservative Party, born through the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive-Conservative Party last December, held their first caucus yesterday in Ottawa.

The story and translation above were taken as printed in La Press. We have not corroborated this story independently and make no other claims for the authenticity of the remarks noted by the La Presse writer.

Investigation of 9-11 and Beyond

Investigation of 9-11 and Beyond - BlackState.com: Loved & Feared
by Ross Peterson

I wrote an article after getting really pumped-up. It was after watching two or three Oliver Stone movies (Nixon, JFK, whatever) all in a row. So the piece got published by my buddies in D.C. who edit BlackState . . a great site to find links to news on current affairs. rjp

Click on link in blue above. The local file will be available on-site here after a decent delay -- an opportunity for you to log onto www.blackstate.com and also to purchase there all your T-Shirts, caps, and personal coffee mugs. They are editorial friends who need and deserve your support.

. . . . . . + /\ + /\ + . . . . . .

The lead-up to 9-11, when two and a half thousand lives went dramatically up in flames in the Pentagon building and NYC's World Trade Center, still requires continuing investigation before the book is closed. -- It looks very, very bad to see the White House recommend that Henry Kissinger be the one in charge. That is like putting Dean Acheson in charge of investigating the JFK assassination. (The sort of thing you expected. JFK's assassination is still not a closed book--largely because of a botched investigation.)

Another investigation that may have involved some cover-up was examination of Dr. David Kelley, the British scientist-arms-investigator who 'was suicided' after someone leaked info (to BBC) on how Downing Street tried to "sex up" the dossier on why Iraq presented a clear danger to civilization.

Dennis Kucinich: Horsetrading for Dummies

Afterthoughts Burn after Iowa Caucus Vote

Why would Dennis Kucinich, who has staked positions significantly to the left of most of the other Democratic candidates, instruct his Iowa supporters to vote in caucuses for John Edwards in precincts where Kucinich would fail to reach the minimum 15% figure? Everyone seems to be stumped.

Kucinich has to buck very long odds to win the nomination, but the most likely scenario in which he is a political force in July—probably as a kingmaker, not a king—requires that no candidate have a majority of delegates when the Democratic National Convention opens. And in order for no one to have a majority, Kucinich wants, or rather needs, no one to run away with the nomination.

Let's say that Kucinich would have garnered 5% of the votes in a mythical Iowa primary. In the actual caucuses, (having only) 5% of the voters in any precinct would prevent his votes from (even) being counted. But they mean an extra 5% for another candidate, if those votes all go to one candidate. if Kucinich read the polls accurately, he knew that Kerry didn't need any help in Iowa and that Gephardt needed more help than he could give. He (also) had to know that Dean has enough cash and volunteers to keep his campaign going. And he had to know that Edwards needed a strong showing in Iowa to show his viability outside the South.

Kucinich is still running a quixotic campaign, but if but if he wins enough delegates and the rest of (an) impossible dream comes true, then he will have traded Rocinante* for Seabiscuit**.

*refers to Don Quixote's lame horse ** a race-horse winner
Thank you, Tim F-W, for reminding us of English Lit 101. . .
Posted by Tim Francis-Wright at 1/21/2004 01:22:57 AM on K Marx The Spot

Helium III / China / Moon : Big Reasons to Land There Now

Priority for Moon Landing: Is It Hot Air or Helium III ? What's it got to do with the price of beans in China?

Among companies that could cash in on Bush's space plans are Lockheed Martin Corp., Boeing Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp., which do big business with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as well as with the Pentagon.

The moon, scientists have said, is a source of potentially unlimited energy in the form of the helium 3 isotope -- a near perfect fuel source: potent, nonpolluting and causing virtually no radioactive byproduct in a fusion reactor.

"And if we could get a monopoly on that, we wouldn't have to worry about the Saudis and we could basically tell everybody what the price of energy was going to be," said Pike.

Gerald Kulcinski of the Fusion Technology Institute at the University of Wisconsin at Madison estimated the moon's helium 3 would have a cash value of perhaps $4 billion a ton in terms of its energy equivalent in oil.

Scientists reckon there are about 1 million tons of helium 3 on the moon, enough to power the earth for thousands of years. The equivalent of a single space shuttle load or roughly 30 tons could meet all U.S. electric power needs for a year, Kulcinski said by e-mail.

(I would have capitalized both Earth and Moon here -- sorry.)

Afterthoughts on Kerry Winning the Iowa Democratic Party Caucus Vote last Monday

The John Kerry campaign had a progressively staged plan for winning Iowa caucus votes. It went into play by late November 2003 (once staff squabbling was resolved). That stepped approach landed him a win on voting night at meeting halls across the state on January 19th.

The resident Iowan serving as strategists for Kerry, though their names are not highlighted in the national news stories, were very much on the ball. They remained confident (though at times surprised at Howard Dean's early lead). When Howard Dean started to stumble, though, the Kerry team was just at its prime.

Democrats who place the Iraq quagmire at the top of their electoral priorities stayed with Dean. But these pacifists (or multilaterists) count for less than one tenth of the state caucus. We should also note that, of the majority who see the US economy as the top priority, the majority is also convinced that the Bush offensive in Iraq is wrongheaded -- motivated by the special interests of the neoconservatives. This was not a hawks versus doves caucus context.

It is not as if the Democrats can turn a deaf ear to their own grassroots -- they have Kucinich and now a radicalized Dean yelling in their collective ear!

Hopefully, Rev. Al Sharpeton will stay on the campaign trail to further sensitize the leading candidate on the inequitable and sytemically racist treatment of African Americans at all levels of US society. In Dean's case specifically, having Sharpeton snap at him in debate did not help the Dean machine a bit. To have Sharpeton point out in Iowa that the State of Vermont was not a positive-action employer at any level for Blacks raised serious doubts about how well he could carry the nation.

Dean, former governor for little more than 650,000 souls, could hardly come back claiming there simply aren't enough soul brothers back home to make a difference! No wonder Howard D. was running ragged in the last week before the caucus meetings.

Personally though, neither the Senator from Massachusetts, Kerry, nor Governor Dean strike me as being 'men of the people'--certainly not 'of' the Iowa people. Lord knows that if GOP candidate George W. Bush can stick the blemish of S.E.B. (Spoiled Establishment Brat) on the Democrat (whoever) come the fall, it will tip in favour of the Republicans and swing enough voters in the midwest and elsewhere, winning greater margins than progressives already fear are coming. (This is partly why, despite his persona as an elitist and millionare to boot, Kerry's military service in Vietnam might have influenced Democrat Iowans to choose him over Edwards and Dean. Obviously it is way to early to predict whether the logic will hold in other states, but I think Dean will learn to play a more moderate card and will regain the composure he had with the press and apply it to political debate as well.

Key state officials who announced their support for Kerry over the last days before the caucuses were Iowa Atty. Gen. Tom Miller, Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack, and Agriculture Secretary Patty Judge. The Des Moines Register's endorsement of Edwards may have helped pull him into a respectable second position.

It is disappointing that the two to three thousand youthful volunteers who plied the state door-to-door did not win the caucus vote. Their enthusiasm was, despite the futility of the methods applied, a boost again for the Howard Dean cyber populist image nationwide.

See also a Los Angeles Times article,

Kerry Again Able to Come Through at Crunch Time

. . . . . . . by Maria L. La Ganga

Post script: In Los Angeles they know Iowa better than anywhere else outside the state. L.A. has been a magnet for expat Iowans for some three or four generations. Sunset Magazine, that icon of California living and landscaping, was started by an expat Iowan, albeit one of that rare 'blue-blood' variety.

Haitian eNews 1 - Jan 10, 2004

Click to Open a Text Copy

Irregular, first-hand accounts are coming in from Haiti about the situation as it deteriorates for the Aristide government and as the masses mobilize there. Now that Anything Prose has subscribed to a Haitian email list (described below), we will pass on selected articles unavailable in the mainstream media.

Unless the text requires an introduction, you will find them simply referred to by date in the title (as above). From time to time we will complement these posts with editorial and news discussions.

To view Haiti Newsletter 10/01/04, "Haiti still light years away from the honeypot "click HERE.

The text article that opens is by Twan van den Brand, was published originally by Brabants Dagblad, a leading Dutch daily newspaper, and is translated here into English.

Note on the original email:

This email is forwarded as a service of the Haiti Support Group.

See the Haiti Support Group web site: http://www.haitisupport.gn.apc.org

Solidarity with the Haitian people's struggle for justice, participatory
democracy and equitable development, since 1992.

Hollinger Black Scandal - Links

Hollinger Black Financial Scandals

The Montreal Gazette is on a roll in covering the demise of Lord Conrad Black's media empire. The paper is owned by the Aspers, so they can afford the editorial license to blacken Black's reputation.

Click on the blue link at the top to find links to some of the Asper CanWest news copy. Unfortunately, when Canada.com archives these articles you will be asked to pay around CAN $5 for them (which is about half a dollar US, ha ha). I don't want to take on another media mogul here by loading them all as files, so just click right away and do it yourself.

The Montreal Gazette can be very good and very bad - no different today than when Black owned the paper. I have to laugh. One distraught staffer or reader scrawled graffiti on an alley wall near the Gazette offices reading:

. . . . ."Ignorance is Strength -- Read the Gazette."

. . . The actual ad slogan for the paper is not that bad: "The English News . . Daily"

Two-Thirds of Democrats Will Want to Forget

IOWA is OVER

World STORY
Kerry wins Iowa Democratic caucuses; Edwards is in 2nd place and Dean 3rd

BETH GORHAM
Canadian Press

Sorry Beth, but this trailer on your article is written so poorly that it confuses the reader more than anything . . .

Iowa and five other rural states hold caucuses - hundreds of informal meetings in homes, church basements and community halls. The others hold primaries, more formal state-level elections.
Iowa has been an important but often unreliable barometer of public opinion since the 1970s. But early front-runners don't always end up with the prize. That happened in only four out of 10 election years, according to the Gallup Organization. In other years, someone came from behind as the state voting unfolded.

Astute readers of this web log are expected to have figured out by now that the editor was born and raised in IOWA, though he now resides in Quebec (which is still a province of Canada despite 51% who would rather split).

The phony headline "Iowa is Over" is a send-up written by me to underscore a point. Us Iowans are cynical about all the attention our state has attracted lately with the dubious status of being the first Democratic Party primary in the nation.

Not only will most of the folks forget Iowa well before the election next fall, but very few of the candidates and their entourage will even return to the state for the biggest State Fair you could imagine -- held in mid August every year.

African / Caribbean Videos at U. of Colorado

Do you like lists and short descriptive paragraphs about culture, history and biography? Try this catalog of films on African American and Caribbean culture. It might fit. Click HERE It is a PDF file.

Sample entries:

Adam Clayton Powell
53 min Sr.High/College
A candid chronicle of the influence
and personality of this powerful politician
and Civil Rights leader. Archival footage,
photographs and onscreen interviews tell
the story of Powell’s achievements–from
smashing racial barriers in 1930’s Harlem
to spearheading Congressional social
legislation in the 1960’s. While a
flamboyant lifestyle led to political ruin,
Powell’s story provides a perspective on
America as it entered the Civil Rights era.

Produced by Richard Kilberg. (1989
DCINEMA)
V00595,VH VHS Video
. . . + + + . . .
Black Is...Black Ain’t
86 min Sr.High/College
Producer Marlon Riggs’ last film
explores African American identity by
weaving together the testimony of those
whose complexion, class, gender, speech
or sexuality has made them feel "too
black" or "not black enough." Riggs
locates the essence of "blackness" in
African Americans’ courage from slavery
down to the present to improvise a
positive meaning in their lives in the face
of discrimination and suffering. Riggs
expresses his reaction to dealing with
AIDS from which he died before final
completion of the film.

Produced by
Marlon Riggs and Signifyin’ Works.
(1995CNEWS)
AV0433,VH VHS Video
. . . + + + . . .
Bernice Johnson Reagon: The
Singing Warrior
40 min College
An interview with Bernice Johnson
Reagon, SNCC freedom singer and
founder of Sweet Honey in the Rock, at
the Iliff School of Theology, Denver,
Colorado on October 27, 1997. Contents
include: On childhood religion – On
activism – On singing – Songforms and
democracy – On being an elder –
Understanding the movement.

(2000
ILIFF)
V09962,VH VHS Video

The listings are from the video library of the University of Colorado at Boulder

Acrobat Reader is worth your time for the free download to access gems like these.

The video library list of mediagraphies links is topical. The interesting PDF files can be found HERE

. . . + + + . . .

A View from the Top: Reformers Struggle in Iran

A Political Insider's View of the Struggle in Iran for Democracy

WEBNEVESHT The Personal Website of Mohammad Ali Abtabi

(click on the link to see the site)

http://www.webnevesht.com/en/about.asp

This blog site gives the reader a unique opportunity to examine the reform movement inside Iran. The reformers' struggle and their recent disappointment because of heavy-handed domination by Iran's General Council is ventilated on a government leader's web log. He tells it about as straight as one imagines is possible when you are as close to top as is Mohammed Ali Abatabi.

Ali Abtabi cannot be described as a secularist, but he is most certainly a reformer. Here are some short extracts, but I leave it to you to follow his commentary on his personal web log -- if this interests you.

I have been with President Khatami as one of his closest compatriots during the most trying time of his presidential first and second term. In the second tenure of Mr. Khatami, he appointed me as his Vice President in the Parliamentary Legal Affairs. He wanted me to play a new role in strengthening and cementing the relations between the Executive and Legislative branches.

Finally, the only way to salve Iran would be to bring about reforms that would fully democratize the Iranian society, and that would respect norms and practices of our traditions and religion. I have always held the Late Leader of Islamic Revolution in high esteem and have remained loyal to all his ideals and I treasure being in service of my Iranian people.

= + = + = + = http://www.webnevesht.com/en/about.asp