Political News or Comments

Updated Fri., March 25 | 10:30 a.m. ET: The Liberal Party has introduced a motion of non-confidence in Prime Minister Stephen Harper and federal Conservatives.

"I have to inform the House that the official opposition has lost confidence in the government," Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff told the House of Commons Friday morning. "Enough is enough."

MPs will vote on the motion on Friday afternoon. If it passes, the government will fall and Canadians will head to the polls in early May.

On Wednesday, Ignatieff announced plans to table the motion, saying the government stands accused of contempt of Parliament, election fraud and influence peddling. He also attacked the government over the spending priorities in the budget.

NDP Leader Jack Layton said his party "would be voting in favour" of the Liberal contempt motion. Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe also said he would vote against the government.

Harper is expected to head to Rideau Hall on Saturday to ask Gov. Gen. David Johnston to dissolve Parliament and issue a writ of election, CBC News learned Wednesday.

On February 6, 2006, Oda was sworn in as Heritage Minister in the cabinet of the newly elected Conservative government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper. She is the first Japanese-Canadian cabinet minister in Canadian history.

Oda was re-elected by a significant margin in the 2008 federal election.

In November 2006, Oda planned on holding a fundraising dinner for broadcasting executives, just weeks before a major review of broadcasting rules. The event was cancelled, but a number of donations were still made.[5]

In 2006, Oda paid back $2,200 to taxpayers after the Liberals found that she had incurred nearly $5,500 in limo rides at the 2006 Juno Awards in Halifax.[6] In 2008, she was accused of hiding over $17,000 of limo expenses billed to taxpayers.[6]

In February 2011, Bev Oda admitted to directing one of her staff to add a hand-written annotation to an already signed Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) memo in 2009 that resulted in a funding recommendation for KAIROS being ignored.[7] The memo was altered by the addition of 'not' into the recommendation line of the document.[8] For more than a year, Oda had represented this change as an action taken by CIDA staff, when in fact it was a political decision made at her direction. KAIROS is a faith-based human rights organization, and has been attacked by Conservatives for an allegedly anti-Israel stance in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. When asked about the matter, Oda had at first told Parliament that she did not know who had made the change.[7]

Opposition MPs in the House Foreign Affairs committee requested that the Speaker rule on the possible contempt of parliament against Oda; this would be the first time in Canadian history that a sitting cabinet minister would be found in contempt. Prime Minister Harper continued to support Oda.[9] On March 9, 2011, the Speaker of the House made a ruling on the issue of Oda's behaviour, stating that "on its face" Oda's statements had caused confusion, which still persisted. Oda replied in the House that she was ready to answer to the confusion, at a House of Commons special committee meeting to be held over three full days the following week.[10] It was deemed unlikely that the Liberals would call for a vote of confidence on this issue. However, Speaker Peter Milliken did find the Conservatives in contempt of Parliament, on this issue as well as on a second matter, handing powerful ammunition to opposition claims that the Harper government’s autocratic behaviour represented an abuse of power.[11][12]

By GREGORY KATZ, Associated Press – 2 hrs 17 mins ago

LONDON – Prince Harry said Friday he plans to show his support for wounded Afghanistan war veterans by joining a small group on a segment of their punishing expedition to the North Pole.

Harry plans to join the group in frigid northern Norway on March 29 for three days of training and five days of trekking. The trip is being organized by the Walking With the Wounded charity, of which Harry is a patron.

The group includes four soldiers who were seriously wounded while on active duty, including two amputees.

"What the Walking With The Wounded North Pole Team is undertaking is an enormous adventure of the most challenging order," Harry said in a statement.

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Tiny Qatar became the first Arab country to fly combat missions over Libya on Friday after NATO agreed to take command of the no-fly zone part of air operations against Moammar Gadhafi's regime.

Colony Hotel in Jerusalem, which he rarely visits, are maintained at a cost of £700,000 per year, allegedly funded by none other than the UN Development Programme. Meanwhile, the world’s most lucrative after-dinner speaker (who’d listen to him before [...]

Prince William chooses wedding cake made of cookies

London (CNN) -- Prince William and bride-to-be Kate Middleton's wedding may be full of all the pomp and ceremony of a traditional British state occasion, but when it comes to their wedding cake they've taken their inspiration from the United States.

Sweet-toothed Prince William has personally requested a "groom's cake" made of cookies and chocolate to be served alongside the couple's official wedding cake. The groom's cake is a wedding tradition associated with the southern United States.

Guests at the Buckingham Palace reception on April 29 will be able to choose between the "chocolate biscuit cake," as it is commonly known in the UK, and a classic fruitcake.

The groom's cake will be made by British cookie-makers McVitie's, using a secret recipe given to them by royal insiders. What is known is that huge cake will contain 17 kilos of chocolate and some 1,700 of the company's "Rich Tea" brand cookies -- enough to feed all 600 guests.

"It's going to be literally covered in chocolate decoration," Paul Courtney, the cake head chef at McVitie's said. "It's going to be beautiful."

Kate has organized the main wedding cake, commissioning luxury cake designer Fiona Cairns to make a huge multi-tiered fruit cake decorated with cream and white floral decorations.

It is a British tradition to choose fruitcake for weddings, and Cairns is famous for them. Her celebrity clients include U2 singer Bono, ex-Beatle Paul McCartney and many top London department stores.

Cairns says Kate knew exactly what she wanted: "She showed us her mood board. She had quite a few ideas and has led us as to how she would like her wedding cake to be. So, quite traditional with a modern twist really," she said.

Each tier will be made unique by delicate, handmade decorations that have been personally requested by Kate. The ornate features of Buckingham Palace will be reflected on the cake,but most of the decorations will be floral, and each has a meaning.

"I've been very much learning from her. But she has selected these flowers," said Cairns. "For example, the bridal rose symbolizes happiness, the oak and the acorn symbolize endurance ... and we have a long list. We haven't made Sweet William yet but we will."

A team of 10 has been working on the vast fruitcake, which also has to be big enough to cater for all the guests at the reception.

One royal wedding, two wedding cakes: The proof is in the eating they say and the couple will no doubt be watching to see which cake is more popular. Guesses on which cake is likely to go first ...!

and a classic fruitcake.

On February 3, 2010, David A. Larson, an elected official in California who has a relationship with government contract personnel, made disclosures to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), Office of the Inspector General (OIG) alleging that under the Bush Administration, prisoners detained at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, and undisclosed "black sites" were being used as involuntary research subjects for human biomedical experimentation, behavior modification research, and drug-testosterone delivery in a manner similar to past CIA Project MKULTRA activities investigated in 1977 by Senators Kennedy and Inuoye. The allegation supports information contained in a International Red Cross report relative to the expanded role of CIA medical personnel in torture and interrogation.

There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don't know we don't know.

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorising covert United States government support for rebel forces seeking to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, government officials told Reuters yesterday.

Mr Obama signed the order, known as a presidential "finding", within the last two or three weeks, according to government sources familiar with the matter.

Such findings are a principal form of presidential directive used to authorise secret operations by the CIA. This is a necessary legal step before such action can take place, but does not mean that it will.

"As is common practice for this and all administrations, I am not going to comment on intelligence matters," White House spokesman Jay Carney said. "I will reiterate what the President said yesterday - no decision has been made about providing arms to the opposition or to any group in Libya."

The CIA declined comment.

People familiar with US intelligence procedures said that presidential covert action "findings" are normally crafted to provide broad authorisation for a range of potential US government actions to support a particular covert objective.

In order for specific operations to be carried out under the provisions of such a broad authorisation - for example the delivery of cash or weapons - the White House also would have to give additional "permission" allowing such activities to proceed.

Former officials say these follow-up authorizations are known in the intelligence world as "'Mother may I' findings."

In 2009, Mr Obama gave a similar authorisation for the expansion of covert US counter-terrorism actions by the CIA in Yemen. The White House does not normally confirm such orders have been issued.

News that Mr Obama had given the authorisation surfaced as the President and other US and allied officials spoke openly about the possibility of sending arms supplies to Col Gaddafi's opponents, who are fighting better-equipped government forces.

The US is part of a coalition, including NATO, which is conducting air strikes on Libyan government forces under a United Nations mandate aimed at protecting civilians opposing Col Gaddafi.

In interviews by US networks on Tuesday, Mr Obama spoke of applying "steady pressure, not only militarily but also through these other means", with the objective of having Col Gaddafi "ultimately step down" from power. REUTERS

Serious Fraud Office

• 
  David Cameron - Prime Minister of England

• 
  The Janus-faced liar

• STOCKHOLM: The world's 100 largest arms dealers, excluding Chinese vendors, sold weapons for $401 billion in 2009, with US vendors remaining in first place, according to a report published Monday. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/1112030/1/.html

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  BAE Systems AN/PAS-13 thermal weapon sights

• 
  "...it's just fucking bloody commerce, mate, get over it."

• The Truth About Libya (Beloved Qaddafi/West Oil Invasion)
  By Stephen Goodson
  April 2nd, 2011
  
  Colonel Muammar Gadaffi is frequently referred to in the media as a "mad dictator" and "bloody tyrant", but do these allegations accord with the facts?
  
  Libya consists of over 15O tribes, with the two main groups, the Meghabra living in Tripolitania in the west and the Wafallah living in Cyrenaica in the east. Previous attempts to unite these tribes by the Turkish (1855-1911) and ltalian {1911-43) colonial rulers failed and the country was split in two for administrative purposes.
  
  Oil was discovered in Libya in 1959, but King ldris of the Senussi tribe allowed most of the oil profits to be siphoned into the coffers of the oil companies. The coup d'etat on 1 September 1969 led by Colonel Gadaffi had countrywide support. He subsequently married a woman from the royal Barqa tribe and adroitly unified the nation.
  
  By retaining Libya's oil wealth for the benefit of all its people, Gadaffi had created a socialist paradise. There is no unemployment, Libya has the highest GDP in Africa, less than 5% of the population is classified as poor and it has fewer people living below the poverty datum line than for example in Holland. Life expectancy is 75 years and is the highest in Africa and I0% above the world average.
  
  With the exception of the nomadic Bedouin and Tuareg tribes, most Libyan families possess a house and a car. There is free health care and education and not surprisingly Libya has a literacy rate of 82%. Last year Gadaffi distributed $500 to each man, woman and child (population 6.5 million).
  
  Libya has a tolerable human rights record and stands at 61 on the International Incarceration Index, comparable with countries in central Europe (the lower the rating, the lower the standing - the USA occupies the no.1 spot!). There is hardly any crime and only rebels and traitors are dealt with harshly.
  
  Anyone who has read Gadaffi's little Green Book will realize that he is a thoughtful and enlightened leader. Libya has been accused of having committed numerous acts of terrorism in the past, but many of these have been perpetrated by foreign intelligence agencies as false flag operations - the Lockerbie bombing being a prime example.
  
  The CIA and MI6 and their front men have been stoking up dissent in the east of the country for almost 30 years. Libya produces exceptionally high quality light crude oil and its production cost of $1 a barrel, compared to the current price of $115, is the lowest in the world.
  
  Riba (usury) is not permitted. The Central bank of Libya is a wholly-owned by the Libyan Government and is run as a state bank, issuing all government loans free of interest. This is in contrast to the exploitative fractional reserve banking system of the West. The no-fly zone and the bombing of Libya have nothing to do with the protection of civilians. It is an act of war ­ a blatant and crude attempt by the oil corporations and international bankers to steal the wealth of Libya.

• Internet means end for media barons, says Murdoch
  The Guardian, Tuesday 14 March 2006
  
  Rupert Murdoch last night sounded the death knell for the era of the media baron, comparing today's internet pioneers with explorers such as Christopher Columbus and John Cabot and hailing the arrival of a "second great age of discovery".
  
  The News Corp media magnate nurtures a long-held distaste for "the establishment" [janus-faced lie] but last night confided to one of the few clubs to which he does belong - The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers - that he may be among the last of a dying breed. [the sooner the better]
  
  "Power is moving away from the old elite in our industry - the editors, the chief executives and, let's face it, the proprietors," said Mr Murdoch, having flown into London [London is where power resides] from New York after celebrating his 75th birthday on Saturday.
  http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2006/mar/14/newmedia.studentmediaawards

6th April 2011
Plans for mercenaries to train the rebels stretch the terms of the United Nations Security Council edict authorising force in Libya – but British officials insist that they are allowed.

UN Resolution 1970 put an arms embargo in place throughout Libya but Resolution 1973 was deliberately worded more vaguely. It authorises Britain and its international partners ‘to take all necessary measures to protect civilians … while excluding a foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory’.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1374206/Libya-Mercenaries-help-rebels-war-Gaddafi-say-UK-generals.html#ixzz1ItJy9mXL

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  Evelyn de Rothschild and Lynn Forester de Rothschild