Monthly Archives: July 2006

Dianne Feinstein (D-California) Speech at Solidarity With Israel Rally



Probably one of the best speeches (in terms of depth and delivering a point) I have heard since the terrorist organization Hezbollah attacked Israeli soldiers capturing/kidnapping (seems to depend on your point of view) two starting the most recent crisis in the Middle East:

It is worth noting that Dianne Feinstein is on the left wing of the Democratic Party. Considering how strong words in support of Israel, this is an interesting juxtaposition. She has done a better job of speaking in support of Israel than any of the neo-cons.
France has proposed a good ceasefire with a plan for preventing more attacks by Hezbollah which has now fired over 1500 missiles into Israel since the current crisis began.
You can read the AP report here.
I hope that this ceasefire is imposed immediately! This ceasefire is fair to Israel and imposes a solution to the current crisis that will not result in Israel occupying Southern Lebanon and does not allow a terrorist organization that is merely a proxy for Syria and Iran to occupy Southern Lebanon either.
I found this image to be worth a thousand words. It is of the Israel strikes in Beirut:
beirut2_2.jpg
Let me be clear: I am not happy with the current situation. I am pissed off that so many civilians have died on both sides. I am especially pissed off that a Canadian UN Observer is presumed dead. I want to see this madness end sooner rather than later.

More MSU: My Freedom of Information Request



About a month ago, I took advantage of the changes to the Freedom of Information Act in Ontario. The Act now applies to Universities which means that any personal information that hold on me, I am entitled to see unless it does harm or damage to another party.
I requested to see all documentation on the charges filed against me under the Student Code of Conduct when the MSU Inc. decided to ban me from all MSU space. I also was aware that the MSU attempted to have me charged under the Student Code of Conduct prior to the March General Assembly when the Movement for Democratic Reform of the MSU, of which I am a part, tried to ban the acceptance of corporate gifts by the MSU.
To jog the memory, you can read what I said that got me in trouble with the University then here:
MSU President Opposed to ban on Corporate Gifts, Threatens to Work to Rule.
Two weeks later, I decided to run for the appointment of Vice-President Education to make a point. Despite the fact that I was public enemy number one of the MSU, I was not going away. After this appointment, I found a lot of problems with the process and sent an internal email to the MSU SRA. I, incorrectly, pointed at one SRA member for the fact that an MSU member was not allowed to run for the appointment and called for a resignation. I publicly apologized for that and withdrew the call
Following this, the MSU Inc banned me from all MSU space and the University nailed me under the Student Code of Conduct. The charges were all false and never revealed to me. Instead, the University banned me from any communication with other full-time students unless I obtained prior written permission, reinforced the MSU’s ban on me and threatened that I would suffer more severe consequences if I continued to challenge the MSU. The MSU is currently in the back pocket of the University on most issues and is extremely ineffective at representing students. The University is doing everything they can to prevent students from having effective say over the MSU Inc. This is why I have been so severely punished by the University.

DEVELOPING: Evan Cole, President of the University of Sask. Students’ Union resigns



(5 Updates at bottom)
I have learned of sad news: Evan Cole, the President of the USSU has resigned.
Exact details are still unavailable but this is what I know.
Evan has been a target of the Canadian Federation of Students for over a year now. They have been trying to push him out of elected student office for over a year. Some evidence of this was in Gavin Gardiner’s notebook (Hittip: studentunion.ca) which he wrote of getting Evan to resign.
Basically, Evan Cole was one of the best student leaders in Canada. I thought (and continue to think) very highly of him. During the past year, I was able to ask him many questions about the work he was doing as VP (Academic) of the USSU and he always returned my emails. He build one of the best student academic support sites on the USSU website. You can view it here: http://www.ussu.ca/ass/
He was elected President for 2006/2007 of the USSU by a healthy margin in the Spring and took office. Immediately, the CFS faction went after him.
From what I have learned so far:
I found out about his resignation from the Wayward Reporter (a great blog btw)
According to the Wayward Reporter, Evan resigned yesterday morning.
I confirmed it by going to the USSU website looked under Executive, and sure enough the news was true. It is interesting to note how quickly the site was updated.
Here is what happened that most likely caused the resignation:
From Jadeblog:

The USSU – I was privileged to watch inhumanly tortured in the University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union’s University Students’ Council’s poorly ventilated meeting room for three hours on a sweltering summers afternoon where I watched, for the first time in the USSU’s 97 year history, the procedures for removal of office of the president. Evan Cole will now have to face a special general meeting to decide whether or not he will continue on as president of the union. It’s exciting times for a student of politics. During the meetings, there was a great deal of debate over whether or not they were required to have 2/3 (13 members which was the exact number who supported the motion) of the present members of USC or 2/3s of the total USC (18 members) required in order to send the motion to a Special General Meeting. Article 9, Section A of the USSU constitution states that “Elected Members of the Executive may be removed from office passed by both a vote of at least two-thirds of the councillors of the University Students’ Council in favour of removal from office and a majority vote at a special general meeting for that purpose.” According to the lawyer present and the law student chairing the meeting, that meant the needed 2/3s of the total USC. However, the chair was challenged and USC decided it meant 2/3s of those present at USC that day (as they had quorum). I fully expect this controversial interpretation to have major ramifications.
The Special General Meeting is to be held on July 22nd. It’s basically going to come down to which faction can get the most people out. I have no idea how to vote but I may have to do something about that constitution.

It is very sad to see another good student leader ran out by the CFS. Dirty student politics, it is sickening!
Update 1: 22:39 GMT: Evan Cole has a few words here: http://apatheology.blogspot.com/2006/07/leadership.html
Update 2: 23:27 GMT: This has some connection to the CFS lawsuit filed by students at USask due to the gross violations of common fairness by CFS in rigging the vote: http://www.thesheaf.com/opinion/editorial/impeachy_keen_cfs_lawsuit_gets_juicy
You can read about the rigging of the vote by CFS here (they do this at every school):
CFS Removes The Rights of Some Students to Vote
Thousands of Dollars Lots Of Flown In CFS Staff Rigging Of The Rules Removing The Right Of Some Students To Vote And The CFS Barely Pulls It Off
Coverage of CFS at USask, a Warning for the rest of us.
Update 3
I now have a copy of Evan Cole’s Resignation Letter. I have converted it to .png format for viewing.

Evan_Cole_Resignation_Letter.png

Update 4
Students at USask are starting to react at their blogs:
http://derekbturner.blogspot.com/2006/07/there-goes-my-hero.html
Update 5 28 July 06
The Sheaf has coverage online here: http://www.thesheaf.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1677&Itemid=44

What Happens to Vehicles when the University does not need them?



In the case of this 1950 Chevy, it went from University of Manitoba to Waterloo!
From the Waterloo Record:

Every classic car has a story and J. David Martin’s 1950 Chevy has lived a life and a half.
Originally purchased hot off the line by the University of Manitoba, the truck spent its first few decades as a maintenance vehicle.
Nearly 30 years of service later, it was left to rot on campus when a newer model was purchased. That was until a savvy collector spotted it and scooped it up.

The Price of Freedom and Uniform Service



This has been a sad week for Canada, we have lost 6 people who served us. 2 RCMP and 4 Canadian Forces members. One overseas, 5 here in Canada. Earlier today, we lost 3 men in a training accident in the Atlantic. These men were improving their lifesaving search and rescue skills. Thankfully, they are there to save us when the unexpected occurs. Sadly, the risks of that noble profession took their lives.
From CTVnews:

The military has released the names of the crew members who were involved in the crash.
The men who were killed were flight engineers Sgt. Duane Brazil, 39, and Master-Cpl. Kirk Bradley Noel, 33, and rescue technician Cpl. Trevor Sterling McDavid, 31, said a spokesman from 14-Wing public affairs.
Brazil was from Gander, N.L., and was married with two daughters, Noel was from St. Anthony, N.L. and was single, and McDavid, who was originally from Sudbury, Ont. was married with two daughters.
The injured crew members are Capt. Gabriel Simon Ringuette, 41, Sgt. Martin Francis Moloney, 48, Capt. Ronald Earl Busch, 40, and Major Gordon Clements Ireland, 42.
Ireland was born in Northern Ireland, while the other survivors are originally from Ontario.

Firefox 2 Beta 1 : More Screenshots



I am starting to like the new Firefox as I get used to it.
Here is another screen shot:
Firefox2b1_Screenshot_2.jpg
What I really like is the restart Firefox button. It makes installing extensions (they now call them add-ons) a lot easier and less annoying. Best part, it restarts with the exact windows/tabs you had open.