In 1974, while Canada was embroiled in the second of a pair of intense Summit Series against the Soviet Union, the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds travelled to China on a national tour of their own, in the style of the many Soviet teams that would tour Canada during the 1970s and '80s.Playing against a variety of club teams across communist China, the Thunderbirds would encounter a very different atmosphere than that confronted by Canada's teams playing in the Soviet Union. While Canadian players touring the Soviet Union were subjected to late night phone calls and stolen steak, Canadian players touring China were treated to friendship ceremonies and tours of hydroelectric dams.In the years since the height of the Canada-Soviet rivalry in the 1980s, Soviet hockey became known...
The Liberal Party has already drawn considerable fire for its "Anywhere but Copenhagen" contest.But by displaying the contest entries on their webiste and using them for political purposes, the Party runs the risk of being embarrassed in more than simply the "whackos fantasize about assassinating Stephen Harper" department. They also run the risk of embarrassing themselves in the "can't keep the message straight" department.A case in point is the above image, in which Harper's face is superimposed on an image of Kanye West interrupting Tailor Swift and the MTV Video Music Awards. The Spaceman award Swift just received is replaced by a picture of the Earth, and Harper/Kanye is saying "Yo Copenhagen, I'm really sorry about those GHGs, and I'mmma let you finish, but Canada-China relations...
by HM PM Harper and the Tory team. Honk Kong has reopened its markets to Canadian beef. The China trip has been quite a success and HM PM didn't sell our soul. So in response to Clara Pell, the beef is going to Hong Kong.Canadian beef exporters have regained access to the Hong Kong market following a meeting between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the former British colony's chief executive.In a news release, Mr. Harper said that regaining access to Hong Kong sends a strong signal to all Asian markets that Canadian beef is safe.Hong Kong is a key market for the Canadian agriculture sector and is worth more than half a billion dollars for Canada's farmers and processors.In 2008, Hong Kong was Canada's fourth largest export market for beef....
Don has really changed his tune on HM PM Harper, he also predicts that HM PM HaHarper has had another victory on his trip to China and that iffy looks small and petty yet again.This go-slow paying of Chinese homage might've been fodder for the Liberals except, once again, every decision made by their leader looks terrible in hindsight.Remember when Michael Ignatieff declared Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government dead last September? Well, the same week he cancelled his proudly-announced all-important odyssey to China where he could have set himself up as the breakthrough catalyst for restored relations.Now that Harper has been there first, all Ignatieff can do is big gulp a theoretical protest and hope nobody remembers he gave it the original pass.It's not that Harper should be...
Those examining the general case study in human psychological ugliness that is Robert Peter John Day have likely long noticed that one thing he loves, above all others, is the opportunity to preen about anything he can pass off as an embarrassment for a conservative thinker or leader.If there's more to any particular story than Day would like to present, he either blatantly omits it, or simply ignores it, confident that his sycophants will follow his lead. That is the very foundation of his intellectual dishonesty.A clear recent example of that is this little tidbit about the Prime Minister's current visit to China:That Day decided it as imperative that he bump up the paragraph about criticism from the Chinese media from where it actually appears in the original article is particularly...
I am gald that HM PM will be visiting the land of my birth and China. I think doubling trade and encourageing free trade with India would be an excellent idea. I am less sure about trade with the chinese commies. Unlike pseudo chretien and his ilk, I don't think selling one's soul for trade with the chinese commies is a good idea. China must be engaged , but human rights issues must certainly be addressed.Prime Minister Stephen Harper has announced plans to visit two of the world's emerging economic superpowers — China and India — for the first time this fall.Harper will travel to India — where Canada recently opened new trade offices in Hyderabad, Calcutta and Ahmedabad — from Nov. 16 to 18 after meeting APEC leaders in Singapore, his office said in a statement released...
Globe and Mail scribe Jan Wong long ago discovered the cure for Maoism: actually traveling to communist China.In Red China Blues, Wong chronicles her journey to China as a young communist-leaning student, and her later return as a Globe and Mail foreign correspondent.As it turns out, if Wong's example holds true, that the cure for Maoism is actually seeing how Chinese society shaped up under Maoist principles, and watching how that particular ideology was rendered utterly meaningless by the communist state's paradoxical turn toward capitalism.Even Wong's account of the student protests at Tienanmen Square reveals how much of the revolutionary fervour of Chinese society was adopted purely for show. Wong recounts for readers the contrast in the protesters' behaviour when the television...
An interesting article that warns that China's economy may be the next bubble to burstEveryone knows that China is the economy of the future. But beware of a potential blow-up of the Chinese economy.Anyone who thinks China can save the world from recession needs to read former Morgan Stanley analyst Andy Xie’s opinion on the matter. Andy reckons “China is the next giant Ponzi scheme set to collapse.” Andy predicted the bubbles in Japan, Southeast Asia, and Silicon Valley but also the most recently one in the US housing market. So when Andy speaks, people should listen....
Lawrence Cannon calls for "public accounting"In a statement on the eve of today's 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon joined the chorus of voices calling for a public accounting of the massacre."The 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square tragedy provides an opportunity for China to remember those who lost their lives at that time while calling for political and economic reforms in China," Cannon said. "Twenty years later, we hope that they will be able to examine these events in an open and transparent fashion -- including the public accounting of those killed, detained or missing."Cannon shouldn't hold his breath -- nor should anyone else in the world.The Communist Party regime in China will certainly not hold any kind of...
Of all the Terminator films, Rise of the Machines was certainly the most disappointing.Directed by Jonathon Mostow in place of James Cameron, Terminator 3 came across with all the gloss, polish and adrenaline of a Hollywood action film, and none of the grit and tension of Cameron's masterpieces.But, interestingly enough, of the three Terminator films, Rise of the Machines may have been the best-situated out of the three in terms of its prescience.In the film, John Connor (Nick Stahl) is living "off-the-grid", with nothing but the clothes of his back and his motorcycle. He works day jobs to subsist himself, and has no place of residence, credit cards, or cell phone -- nothing that would leave a record he could be traced by.Even though he and his now-deceased mother, Sarah Connor, have been...
In Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, Canadian anthropoligist Sam Dunn traces the history of heavy metal music and compares its historical cultural overtones to the outrage expressed against it by those who consider themselves a cultural elite.In Global Metal Dunn takes his studies to the rest of the world and uncovers a startling and intriguing motif: heavy metal as a force for democracy.In Brazil, Carlos Lopes of Dorsal Atlantica provides an intriguing thesis -- of heavy metal as a sound of Brazilian democracy. He relates the tale of how Brazil emerged from under the dictatorship of Marshal Emilio Garrastazu Médici and embraced heavy metal as a symbol that Brazil had finally become a free country. He and others treat the staging of a massive heavy metal festival in Rio Di Janeiro...
In
Music,
Iran,
democracy,
Metallica,
jamaica,
Indonesia,
Sam Dunn,
Sepultura,
Bob Marley,
Brazil,
Global Metal,
movies,
China,
Saturday Cinema
policies are destoying the global markets....
This post will probably get my site blacklisted in China. The people of China no longer have access to YouTube, a company spokesperson confirmed Tuesday. "We understand there are reports of users being unable to access YouTube within the People's Republic of China," the spokesperson said in an e-mailed statement. "We are looking into the matter and working to ensure that the service is restored as soon as possible." The spokesperson offered no explanation as to why the video-sharing site had become inaccessible, but a BBC news report indicates that Chinese authorities blocked access to YouTube because it hosted videos......
Those who claim that giving the Chinese commies the Olympics would help speed up democratic reforms, will be very disappointed. The Chinese commies have little intention of changing their system and are again cracking down on dissent.China aims to silence reform callBy Michael Bristow BBC News, BeijingChina's economy has liberalised, but its political system has notChinese lawyers, dissidents and academics who signed a document calling for political reform are being harassed by the authorities.Signatories to the Charter 08 document have been detained, questioned by the police and put under pressure at work.The charter calls for a radical overhaul of China's political system by introducing elections, a new constitution and an independent judiciary. in that time.Despite 30 years of economic...
China becoming a global leader in African exploitationWith Michael Ignatieff set to lead the Liberal party into the new year, it's safe to say that foreign policy will find itself firmly entrenched in the Liberal party`s agenda.Of particular interest should be Ignatieff`s stance on China. In 2006, Ignatieff criticized Stephen Harper for the Prime Minister`s criticism of China.Among other things, Ignatieff hailed reductions in Chinese poverty as an erstwhile human rights triumph."You have to give them credit for a fact not enough Canadians, I think, recognize which is over the last 10 years, the most important human-rights advance in the world has been the hundreds of millions of Chinese lifted out of absolute poverty," he mused.Yet one can`t help but wonder how Ignatieff might have...
Tienanmen Square activist arrested over Charter 0860 years ago today, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations.In the 60 years since, it's amazing how far some countries in the world haven't come.In China today, Liu Xiaobo, a press freedom activist and a participant in the Tiananmen Square demonstration, was arrest for signing Charter 08, a pro-democracy manifesto. The charter reads:"A hundred years have passed since the writing of China‘s first constitution. 2008 also marks the sixtieth anniversary of the promulgation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the thirtieth anniversary of the appearance of Democracy Wall in Beijing, and the tenth of China’s signing of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. We are approaching...
Epoch Times declines to ask Michael Byers about his China dilemmaIn the most recent issue of the Epoch Times Michael Byers, the NDP candidate in Vancouver Centre, is profiled.Over the course of the interview, Byers is asked about his dedication to human rights. What transpires is as follows:"Epoch Times - You’re known as a strong human rights advocate….Michael Byers - Nationally and internationally, because I’ve spent most of my life working on international law, international politics, human rights elsewhere are very important to me. Obviously, we’re talking about the genocide in Darfur, in Sudan, for instance, or the repression that exists in Burma. Or the human rights questions in the People’s Republic of China. These are issues that matter to me. I don’t see them as...
No flag, anthem -- or even country name -- for Taiwanese OlympiansThose who have been paying close attention to the Beijing Olympics may have taken notice of a country that they otherwise may have been unaware exists.Mostly because it doesn't.As this Al Jazeera report notes, "Chinese Taipei" may seem like the name of some fledging new Asian state, but it isn't. Rather, "Chinese Taipei" is the name imposed by the IOC on Taiwan, whom China regards as a "renegade province". The IOC even took the liberty of giving the Taiwanese team a new -- distinctly non-Taiwanese -- flag for the duration of the 2008 games.Countless events leading up to the 2008 games have put the lie to the IOC's insistence that hosting the games would help China improve its human rights record. Now, the IOC's treatment of...
But we'll wait for someone with credibility to speak upWhen considering relations between Canada and China, one has to wonder just how far Canadians would really agree with a man who couldn't even bring himself to say the words "human rights" to the Premier of China.After all, Canada is a country that respects human rights. China? Not so much.So when such a man -- a former Prime Minister of this country -- cannot bring himself to talk to Chinese leaders about their myriad human rights abuses, one has to wonder precisely how in touch with Canadian values he really is.When that man is Jean Chretien, the very man who insisted on using the rather ambiguous phrase "good governance and the rule of law" in lieu of "human rights", it just so happens to say a lot about how deeply he shares the...
Liberals always like to say that Stephen Harper is a puppet whose strings are pulled by George Bush at the White House in Washington. As it turns out, former PM Jean Chrétien fits that description more so than Harper. One should not forget either that it was the Liberals who invited a major U.S. politico, Howard Dean, as keynote speaker to their last convention in December 2006. Conservatives, by contrast, can handle their business without "special guest-stars from the United States". Given Chrétien's recent outburst and attack on Harper for not attending the Beijing Olympics, it is clear that...
Twitter often gets a (somewhat deserved) rap for being shallow, filled mostly with people’s thoughts about the weather or what they had for breakfast. But every now and then something important happens, like an earthquake or a forest fire, and the service shows its true potential. The most recent example was the Twitter stream from a Chinese “citizen journalist” or blogger named Zhou “Zhuola” Shuguang, who got a visit from some government officials after he showed up in Beijing to blog about the Olympics. They said they were there to talk with him about a breach of the government’s “one child only” rule (which is more than a little odd, considering Zhou is childless), but it became obvious that what they really wanted was for him to leave...
From today's Globe and Mail: In the Calgary home of Werner Patels, all eyes were not on the Olympic Games TV behemoth in recent days. As his mother-in-law watched the lavish opening ceremonies, Mr. Patels and the others in the household sat it out in protest. "Awarding the Olympics to China was certainly motivated and inspired by a noble idea, but the experiment has failed," says Mr. Patels, who also blogs about politics at Wernerpatels.ca and has written notes of support to other abstainers, such as Laura Kaminker, a Toronto-based American who outlined her own boycott plans back in...
Hudema's Chinese adventure may instill some respect for Canadian-style "good governance and the rule of law"For the past year, Mike Hudema has proven to be a royal headache for anyone even remotely associated with the oilsands developments in Fort MacMurray, Alberta.Participating in a number of well-orchestrated stunts both in Fort MacMurray and across Alberta, Hudema's protest methods have gotten him arrested before -- mostly for trespassing.But when Hudema and four other activists -- Steve Anderson, Padma-Dolma Fieltz, Paul Baker and Denise Ogonoski -- tried to unveil a banner and a flag in Tiananmen Square, Chinese security officials weren't about to have any of that.They were promptly arrested, and have been deported back to Canada.In retrospect, the unprecedented level of security in...
Lorne Gunter points out the obvious behind the young , modern China, the commies hide their horrible tyrannical regime.The Olympics has revealed two Chinas. There is the one the Chinese government, the IOC and the CBC are doing their darnedest to portray -- modern, confident, competent, out-reaching. It is a very real and very genuine China. Yet it exists simultaneously with another very real China, the one no one wants to admit to -- violent, dictatorial, repressive....
Modern media revolutionizing politicsWith the eyes of the world now firmly on China as the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games are officially underway, many people the world over are appraising how the Chinese state reacts to the extra attention the Olympics inevitably bring.In particular, bans restricting the internet access of journalists covering the games have proven to be especially controversial -- and disturbing.While Mediapolitik actually covers the ever-increasing influence of journalism on politics -- and inevitably vice versa -- on a global scale, Edwards' examination of China is particularly prescient as the Chinese state takes unprecedented steps to control the flow of information into and out of China during the Olympic games.In particular, Edwards takes note of the Chinese...
China has become one of great defenders of tyranny. The Chinese commies should not have been given the olympic games. I believe that Milton Friedman was right and that economic freedom is the foundation for personal freedom, but he never specified the time frame. Unfortunately China does not seem to be moving very far towards liberty. David Frum makes the case that China's economy is in decline. Perhaps China's declining economy will stop them from supporting monsters like mugabe.David Frum: China's brightest day may have just passedPosted: August 09, 2008, 11:57 AM by Kelly McParlandDavid Frum, Full CommentThe leaders of China have carefully planned an imposing Olympics. They have bought new stadiums, new airports, new facilities of every kind — in fact, just about everything...