Thursday, April 27th

1 - Rex Murphy has a piece on the CBC website about Canada's top soldier, General Rick Hillier. The piece is titled 'A General who is Allergic to B.S.', but it really should be titled, 'Why Stephen Harper's decision to muzzle his Cabinet Ministers is foolish.' Rex sticks to his topic at the beginning, noting Hillier's admirable track record when it comes to speaking his mind, but near the end, his article deteriorates into musing about what would happen should Stephen Harper try to silence the General like one of his MP's. Hillier ceases to be the topic and the prime minister's office takes his place. It's also too bad Rex bases his article on such sketchy facts: ex. "Now there's some speculation that the ever more media shy, control conscious communications managers of the prime minister's office want to add some dampers on the general's style and candor." I think the purpose of Mr. Murphy's commentary can be summed up with this sentence, "the idea that the only clear speaking can come from the prime minister is the purest piece of idle hubris." (Note: the word Prime Minister is not capitalized in the article, making it generic, not specific. Translation: This article isn't intended to be a cheap shot at Harper.) Sadly, what was supposed to be a commentary about making Canada's top General look good, deteriorated into an a commentary about making Canada's highest elected office look bad. Next time, don't mince words Rex, just tell us how you really feel.

2 - On a similar note, I wonder if Rex would be so gung ho to talk about General Hillier's blunt analysis if he was calling out Canadian media outlets for not publishing/showing the Danish Cartoons. I remember when Hillier called terrorists 'murderers and scum bags' sending the nation into an uproar. People wrote letters to the editor lambasting Hillier for the comments. Murphy asserts that Hillier's clarity is "a lone lamp in a long deep fog." He's right, but it's partly that way because that's how the Canadian people want it.

3 - More from Murphy:

"However much the focus groups and communication strategists teach public figures to lay on the goop and smother every hard truth with soft and evasive words, they break trust with the public and in some cases with reality itself."

Hello Liberal Party of Canada.

4 - I've never read 'The Da Vinci Code' before, so take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt. Lyn Cockburn has a confounding article about reaction to the book in the Edmonton Sun. Apparently some churches, (mostly Catholic, but also many Protestant) are upset with how Christianity is portrayed and the, ahem, heresy, that author Dan Brown uses to form his plot lines. Cockburn says 'suck it up' because "It's fiction." I disagree. If someone attacks your credibility, regardless of how they do it, it's understandable that you might get mad. When someone suggests, fiction or not, that the Catholic Church has been deceiving humanity for two thousand years, it's understandable that they might get mad. Cockburn's suggestion that people who lose their faith because of this book didn't have much faith to begin with is ignorant of the struggles they might be going through. There are people out there who are looking for truth, but don't know where to get it. If they view this book as the truth, they shouldn't be abandoned. Someone needs to step up and say to those people, 'This is not accurate!' Furthermore, I would say there are right and wrong ways to question your faith. I can't say with certainty that this is the right way.

5 - Cockburn's ending really stuck in my craw. Some columnists are getting in the habit of quoting children to substantiate their point of view. I've seen it before in regards to gay marriage and various forms of politics. Stupid is not a word I would associate with most kids, but naive and innocent are. I don't think the 14 year old she quotes in her article is a walking fountain of wisdom. On the other hand, my 13-year-old brother thought there was some serious over-reaction to the Danish Cartoons. Then he went outside to play hockey. I guess that means every Muslim in the world who protested is a fool. No, not really.

6 - The NHL play-offs are in full swing, and so far I'm making a complete idiot of myself with my play-off predictions. Yes, I said there would be a sweep in the Dallas-Colorado series, but right now it looks like I picked the wrong team. That whole Detroit over Edmonton thing seems to be backfiring as well. If you're a predictions nut, you should take a look at Robert Vollman's Blog. He's a Database Application Specialist from Calgary who added up the predictions from various hockey pundits to see who should be considered the first round favorites. He notes that the only expert who didn't pick Dallas to beat Colorado was a monkey, so I don't feel so bad now. If you're still hungry for more play-off hockey analysis check out this site featuring hockey pundits Emerick, xCRASSx, Lucyille, Derek, and The Pillagers.

7 - For what it's worth, Prime Minister Stephen Harper thinks Ottawa and Calgary will make in to the Cup finals. Link.

8 - I wouldn't bet money on this, but I'd say that this has to be the greatest headline ever: Murray Tells Senators to Play Better. I can just picture what went on in the dressing room:

Jason Spezza: Coach, they're just smothering us out there. We can't get our power play going, we keep taking dumb penalties, and Volchenkov is playing like he's drunk. What can we do differently?

Bryan Murray: We have to play better, darnit.

Spezza: Seriously Bryan...

9 - John Kreiser of nhl.com must have a lot of time on his hands. He recently composed a column on obscure random facts from the previous NHL season. Some highlights:

(1) Philadelphia's Mike Richards scored the leagues only 5 on 3 shorthanded goal.
(2) The New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins met more times in the shoot-out than any other pair in the league. The Islanders won all four.
(3) The Florida Panthers only scored 59 1st period goals all season.

Obviously, I've got a lot of time on my hands if I'm actually reading this stuff.

10 - The Financial Magazine 'MoneySense' recently released an issue where they ranked 108 of Canada's cities on the quality of life they provide. Of the 108, Saskatoon was ranked 51st, Regina 57th, Swift Current 34th, Yorkton 41st, North Battleford 81st, Moose Jaw 87th, and Prince Albert 92nd. Estevan was the highest ranked city in Saskatchewan in 27th place. Weyburn, Melfort and Melville were not ranked. Lloyminster was 3rd. The top city in Canada, according to MoneySense: Leamington, ONT. The worst: Port Alberni, B.C. Regina Leader-Post Columnist Ron Petrie notes that being in last isn't that bad because Port Alberni now gets first overall pick in the draft. In fact, he even suggests Saskatchewan would even be willing to trade Saskatoon to B.C. for their pick. Read about it here.

11 - Researchers have discovered that the tongue may be the quickest way to create human super-soldiers. A report from CTV says, "by routing signals from helmet-mounted cameras, sonar and other equipment through the tongue to the brain, they hope to give elite soldiers superhuman senses similar to owls, snakes and fish." This would make the United States the second country in the world to give animalistic characteristics to human beings, Canada being the first (after all, we designed the Wolverine, and Rick Nash). The processes are somewhat different (neuroscience vs. genetic enhancement) but the effect is somewhat the same, to create soldiers who can see, smell, and hear you coming a mile (1.61 kilometers) away.

12 - The Canadian Press reports: MP's, Soldiers, Families Lash Out

The Meat and Potatoes:

"Families, military officials, opposition parties and even some Tory MPs criticized a decision to ban journalists from covering a repatriation ceremony for fallen soldiers returning to Canadian soil. Many are also unhappy that flags on Parliament Hill will no longer be lowered to half-mast when a soldier is killed in the line of duty. Tina Beerenfenger, whose husband Corporal Robbie Beerenfenger was killed near Kabul in 2003, said she was shocked by the flag decision."

Letters to the CBC:

Speaking as a Canadian soldier currently serving in Afghanistan, I can only say that it is the opposition parties that are dishonoring my comrades by making a fuss over the loss of a four year old tradition that the Liberals instituted for political reasons in 2002. This act in itself dishonored the men who died in the Tarnak Farms incident. November 11 is the right and proper venue for this ceremony.

—Iain R Stewart
Captain ISAF HQ
Task Force Afghanistan
Kabul, Afghanistan


I know that the general public feels that this is an insult to the soldiers who are serving but it is not. It is simply a return to protocols that have long been practiced in this country.

During my 20 year career in our Armed Forces we lost many members, I do not recall the Peace Tower flag being lowered to honor their sacrifice. However, all flags and standards were lowered and their parent bases as well as their command bases as was traditional.

—Martin Johnston CD | Calgary


I asked my military partner what he thought about the issue, and he replied that he thinks soldiers should be remembered with the flag at half-mast on November 11 only. As he is the one doing the peace-keeping and soldering I appreciate his sentiment and will respect it.

—B Hunter | Ottawa


I served in the Middle East from Dec 02-May 03 as part of the initial war on terror and find the PM's tribute an absolute disgrace.

Words are very empty when the actions are not to lower the flag on parliament hill after these four brave soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice to their country. It is an insult to them, their fellow soldiers, their friends and family. I even take it as a personal insult.

—Captain Gordon Soucy | Shearwater, N.S.


I am a serving Canadian Army officer and a veteran of Afghanistan. As such, I was taken aback at the tone of some of the comments posted on this issue thus far. Shame on those who are attempting to politicize this non-issue.

I hardly find it insulting that the entire nation doesn't grind to a halt when a soldier is killed on operations. There are perfectly good reasons for lowering the national flag to half mast and we have well-established traditions that dictate when this is done, just as we have well-established traditions to honor fallen soldiers.

Frankly, the half-masting was getting a bit much and it was difficult to tell why the flag was at half-mast at any given time. Keep the flag flying high - I'll remember ALL the fallen on Remembrance Day, as we all should.

—Shane Bridgeman | Edmonton

So, does 1 out of 5 justify the 'Soldiers Lashing Out' headline? You be the judge.

13 - Gail Clark scored 1 goal in the entire ECFHA season, but it was the game winner in the final game of the Dolan Cup Finals.

14 - This is probably the last post for a long time. I'm heading to New Brunswick this Sunday, and won't be back for 3 weeks. I might log in and post something short, but I probably won't be reading any newspapers, or watching hockey until I get back (May 21st). Until then, cheers!

M.O.F.