Winter Patriot Community Blog

... and being as this holiday is all about Christ and the resurrection - here's a site that is using an exiting new marketing technique called TBR (Targeted Brand Resurrection) to help companies 'resurrect' their brand names. Check it out; it's called Christvertising.

OTTAWA -- As a chorus of protest rang out from Parliament's public galleries, the House of Commons voted overwhelmingly Thursday night to extend Canada's military mission in Afghanistan to 2011.

Though the result was never in doubt, the outburst of more than two dozen anti-war protesters chanting, "End it, don't extend it," from the public galleries added a poignant dramatic twist as they were peacefully escorted out by security guards.

Both the minority Conservative government and the Liberal opposition heralded the vote as a historic compromise that set aside partisan politics and advanced Canada's international interest, as they easily passed the motion by a 197-77 margin.

...The NDP and Bloc Quebecois opposed the motion but lacked the numbers in the Commons that would have toppled the government and plunged the country into a federal election.

...Liberal Senator Colin Kenny, head of the Senate security and defence committee, says MPs paid too much attention to the high political ideal of why we are in Afghanistan.

They often failed to ask substantive questions, he said, such what the ramifications might be on both the federal treasury and a military that increasingly relies on reservists and equipment under stress from continuous combat.

"This war is going to take a lot more money than this government is prepared to admit," said Kenny.

...It was only in the waning hours of debate that MPs began to consider the question of financial cost, with published reports that the war was $1 billion over budget. The Defence Department countered that the figures were only projections until 2009 and that estimated costs beyond that had not been made final.

...Thursday's vote ended the most extensive and wide-ranging debate in Canada's Parliament since it began sending soldiers to Afghanistan. Contrary to the compressed 48-hour debate that preceded the last vote in Parliament in May 2006, this current round unfolded over five days beginning on Feb. 25. The May 2006 vote extended the mission by two years to February 2009 by a slim 149-145 margin.

Before this mission's next end date in December, 2011, another 12,500 soldiers will decamp from their families in bases across Canada, some doing a second or third rotation, and head into war.

If current casualty rates continue, more than 150 will not return -- a horrifying one-in-80 chance of dying for their home country and a foreign one with a history of chronic conflict and unbeaten insurgency.

...Far from pulling out of combat and leaving Canadian troops armed with shovels and good intentions, the decision essentially endorses the status quo with a preferred emphasis on training and humanitarian work.

So just in case the Taliban are reading this, let me translate: Bomb or shoot at Canadian troops and our soldiers will shoot back, aiming to kill, for at least another three years.

Vatican updates seven deadly sins
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/vatican-updates-seven-deadly-sins...
Barney Zwartz
March 11, 2008

People who don't pick up their dogs' addition to the environment in the park may be risking more than a fine - they may be putting their souls at risk of damnation, according to a new Vatican list of seven deadly sins for the 21st century.

As the seven ancient wonders of the world were matched by seven modern wonders, the seven deadly sins have been given a modern version for a globalised world, announced by a Vatican official yesterday.

Polluting, genetic engineering, obscene riches, taking drugs, abortion, pedophilia and causing social injustice join the original seven deadly sins defined by Pope Gregory the Great in the sixth century: pride, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, wrath and sloth.

Gianfranco Girotti, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, responsible for absolving Catholics from their sins, named the new mortal sins in an interview with the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, yesterday.

He did not spell out details but said the original seven deadly sins had an individualistic dimension, while the new seven had a social resonance and showed worshippers that their vices affected other people.

"New sins have appeared on the horizon of humanity as a corollary of the unstoppable process of globalisation," he said.

God was offended not only by stealing, blaspheming or coveting your neighbour's wife but by ruining the environment, conducting immoral scientific experiments and genetic manipulation.

Traditional Catholic doctrine divides sins into mortal and venial (lesser) and holds that mortal sins, if unrepented, lead to eternal damnation. The Catholic catechism says "mortal sin destroys charity in the heart of man by a grave violation of God's law", while venial sin allows charity to subsist but offends and wounds it.

Mortal sins are not officially listed, but include murder, abortion, perjury and adultery. They can be absolved after confession, and Monsignor Girotti has acted to make this more palatable, launching a course to teach priests to be less aggressive in the confessional booth.

He wrote in the newspaper last week that many Catholics found it hard to be open about their sins to their priest, and the new course would help priests to be ministers of reconciliation.

The course includes instruction on "special cases", such as divorcees and homosexuals.

The American Society of Civil Engineers analysis:
http://www.house.gov/science/hot/wtc/wtcreport.htm
EDIT: Where is the report?!

For all the racists/anti-Semites: http://www.adl.org/anti_semitism/9-11conspiracytheories.pdf
(Special thanks to Zach Hobbs for introducing anti-Semitism to the conspiracy theorist repertoire; his parents must be very proud).

Journal of debunking 9/11 Conspiracies:
http://www.jod911.com/

• changed the front page to list the most recent blog posts instead of my initial welcome message.
• enabled avatars (if you have an account, click "My account", then "edit" to upload your avatar. If you don't have an account, well what are you waiting for?)
• enabled italics and font tags, for more customization of posts, comments, signatures, what have you
• added the custom favicon (that little "WP" in your browser's location bar)

• At some point i bet the spambots will find us; at that time we'll need to turn off unfiltered anonymous posting.
• Rules. So far only friends have posted here. If and when that changes, we'll need to establish some rules.
• Development of the Forums into an R&D area for specific topics and articles, so we can pitch in and help research & develop new & useful material - we'll see how this goes.

Chávez sends troops, tanks to Venezuela's border with Colombia
Strike against rebel commander 'cowardly,' he says
By Juan Forero
Washington Post / March 3, 2008

Calling a Colombian military strike against a guerrilla commander "a cowardly assassination," President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela yesterday closed his country's embassy in Colombia and ordered tanks, planes, and thousands of troops to the 1,300-mile border the two countries share.

President Rafael Correa of Ecuador also recalled his ambassador to Colombia in protest over the assault just inside Ecuador on Saturday that killed 17 guerrillas, including Luis Edgar Devia, a top commander in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Ecuador and Venezuela are allies.

Speaking on his nationally televised show, Chávez lauded Devia and ordered his defense minister to mobilize troops to Venezuela's western border. He also blamed the United States, a staunch ally of President Álvaro Uribe of Colombia, for fueling the conflict in Colombia.

"Move 10 battalions to the Colombian frontier immediately, tank battalions, military aviation," Chávez said. "We are not going to permit the North American empire, which is the ruler, to allow his lapdog, President Uribe and the Colombian oligarchy, to divide or weaken us. We will not permit it."

Another Venezuelan ally, Nicaragua, which is disputing Colombian sovereignty over two islands in the Caribbean, also criticized Colombia. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, a Cold War foe of the United States, called the strike against Devia "an act of total provocation" that reduces the chances of peacefully settling Colombia's conflict.

Although celebrated in Colombia as a major blow against the FARC, the attack has triggered the most serious regional crisis in recent years. Venezuela, Ecuador, and Nicaragua frequently criticize Colombia's military activities in the region and are detached from the United States, which provides billions of dollars in military aid to Colombia.

The Colombian government said Saturday that Devia was killed in heavy combat between rebels on the Ecuadoran side of the frontier and Colombian troops on the other side.

Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said fighters were then called in to bomb the rebels and that after they were killed, Colombian troops crossed the frontier to recover the bodies of Devia and another rebel commander, Guillermo Torres, better known as the writer of revolutionary ballads.

The Colombian government said Uribe called Correa to brief him about the attack.

Yesterday, Correa called the incursion into Ecuador "the worst aggression Ecuador has suffered on the part of Colombia." In a news conference in Quito, he said that although Uribe had told him the attack took place in battle, an Ecuadoran army patrol that examined the camp had determined otherwise.

"They were bombed and massacred while they slept, using pinpoint technology that found them at night, in the jungle, for sure with the collaboration of foreign powers," he said.

Myles Frechette, a former ambassador to Colombia who works as a consultant in Washington, said the Colombians probably weighed the strike on Devia against the potential fallout from going into Ecuador. But he said repairing the diplomatic damage would be a challenge.

"Uribe has got to go down there, meet with Correa, calm him down, and he's going to have Chávez fuming at the border," Frechette said. Uribe is "in a pickle, in the sense that diplomatically he's got to get himself out of this corner that he's got himself in."

Israeli forces were withdrawing from the seaside enclave ruled by the Islamic Hamas movement, an army spokesman said on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Israel began the ground, air and sea operation Feb. 29 after Hamas stepped up cross-border rocket attacks on southern towns, firing Soviet-made Grad missiles that brought Ashkelon, a city of 110,000 people that is 17 kilometers (11 miles) north of Gaza, within range. Militants previously limited most attacks to unguided, shorter range Qassam rockets made in Gaza.

The UN Security Council yesterday said the fighting "must not be allowed to deter the political process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.'' U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to meet tomorrow with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in an effort to push forward the peace talks.

Abbas yesterday said he was suspending negotiations due to the violence, chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia said.

Death Toll

Fifteen Palestinians were killed yesterday, taking the death toll since Feb. 27 to 110, said Mo'aweya Hassanein, chief of emergency services at the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Three Israelis, including two soldiers and a civilian, have been killed.

Israeli warplanes struck three weapons manufacturers, a Hamas command center and an armed gang overnight, an army spokesman said. Three rockets were fired at Israel since midnight, he added.

The use of Grad missiles against Israel has increased calls for the army to invade Gaza, where Hamas has ruled since it ousted forces loyal to Abbas in June, ending a partnership government with his Fatah party.

Oxfam International called on the "international community to take immediate action to stop the escalation of violence'' and press for a truce to ensure civilians are protected.

"Sustaining and increasing human suffering is unlikely to lead to peace,'' Oxfam's Adam Leach said in an e-mailed statement today.

Olmert, who defines the conflict with Hamas in Gaza as a "war,'' yesterday ordered his ministers to stop making public comments about the fighting.