All Purpose Politics and News Thread

[Patty Smyth]

This is all very interesting.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/bowe-be...iban-1.2668732

Do you think John McCain was ridiculed and vilified like this guy when he came back from Vietnam after being held for 5 years?

I think the only reason they are all over this poor guy is because they have such a hatred for Obama that anything he does has to be attacked to death.

Even is what they say is true, that he was a deserter. What about their own "no man left behind" rule? What if it turns out he was planted with the taliban? What if he proves to have invaluable information? Certainly he could have over heard many things while in captivity. What if he just pretended to convert to islam to gain trust and information?

I think he is a hero just for surviving. I cannot imagine the horror he went through and can't imagine how his parents held up all these years.

People are traded every day. Israel is always trading prisoners. This is nothing new.

I just find this whole story being blown out of proportion.

[walkonby]

I was sickened that they had to postpone a welcome home for him because the town and his family have received threats. I believe it is what you said about " anything " Obama does they discredit the minute they can either fabricate a lie about it or blow it way out of proportion.

[DaveP]

I was sickened that they had to postpone a welcome home for him because the town and his family have received threats. I believe it is what you said about " anything " Obama does they discredit the minute they can either fabricate a lie about it or blow it way out of proportion.

But is it blown out of proportion? He deserted his post and was captured by the Taliban. Subsequently, if reports are to be believed, six soldiers lost their lives on missions trying to locate him. And finally 5 high level Taliban were exchanged for him - and who knows what those 5 will be involved with in the future. And exchanging prisoners ended a longstanding US policy of not negotiating with terrorists which potentially paints a target on all Americans backs now that terrorists know the US government will deal with them. All because Begdahl was disillusioned with the war and walked away from his base in the middle of Afghanistan. If it's borne out that these are indeed the facts, then I can see why people would be rather miffed with Bergdahl and with the President.

[Darth Penguin]

Prisoners escape from Quebec jail by helicopter

Three detainees have escaped from a jail in Quebec province by helicopter, police in eastern Canada say.
The helicopter swooped down late on Saturday and is believed to have flown off with the prisoners to the west, possibly towards Montreal.
The men were being held at the Orsainville detention centre, near Quebec City, pending their trial.
The public are being warned not to approach the men but to contact the police immediately if they see them.
It is the second jailbreak involving a helicopter in Quebec province in just over a year.
In March 2013, two inmates fled from a prison near Montreal by climbing up a rope into a waiting helicopter.

[Patty Smyth]

But is it blown out of proportion? He deserted his post and was captured by the Taliban. Subsequently, if reports are to be believed, six soldiers lost their lives on missions trying to locate him. And finally 5 high level Taliban were exchanged for him - and who knows what those 5 will be involved with in the future. And exchanging prisoners ended a longstanding US policy of not negotiating with terrorists which potentially paints a target on all Americans backs now that terrorists know the US government will deal with them. All because Begdahl was disillusioned with the war and walked away from his base in the middle of Afghanistan. If it's borne out that these are indeed the facts, then I can see why people would be rather miffed with Bergdahl and with the President.

Do you think they are counting on these 5 taking them right into the heart of the cells? These guys will be watched like a hawk. I can't help but believe there is much more than meets the eye regarding the release of these 5 in particular.

[DaveP]

Do you think they are counting on these 5 taking them right into the heart of the cells? These guys will be watched like a hawk. I can't help but believe there is much more than meets the eye regarding the release of these 5 in particular.

I don't know, I'd like to hope there is a plan to use these guys to lead the US to some more bad guys but I read they're going to be held in Qatar for a year before being allowed to go back to Afghanistan and the US will be pretty much gone from Afghanistan by the end of this year.

[gryphon]

A Mexican helicopter crossed the border into Arizona and fired shots allegedly

[gryphon]

A Mexican helicopter crossed the border into Arizona and fired shots allegedly

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/06/27...gy-not-enough/

[Darth Penguin]

Mexico denies government helicopter claim

Mexico denied Friday that a government helicopter flew over the border into Arizona and fired two shots at U.S. Border Patrol agents, despite a claim by a Border Patrol spokesman that the air incursion and shooting took place.Mexican authorities said several government helicopters took part in a raid on a ranch near the town of Altar in the border state of Sonora to free 39 migrants held against their will by human traffickers.
The ranch, known as La Sierrita, abuts the border, but no Mexican aircraft crossed the international line, said Tomas Zeron de Lucio, chief of the Agency for Criminal Investigation.
"I do not think we crossed the border because we have navigation equipment, but it was exactly 100 meters from the border," Zeron de Lucio said at a news conference in Mexico City.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/06/2...#storylink=cpy

[Patty Smyth]

Kind of scary.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/08...n_5684558.html

[Darth Penguin]

Gov Rick Perry indicted for abuse of power

The governor of the US state of Texas, Rick Perry, has been charged by a grand jury with abusing his powers of office. A special prosecutor said there was evidence the Republican had broken the law by using a funding veto in a bid to force a local prosecutor to resign.
The potential presidential hopeful was investigated for cutting funds to a state anti-corruption unit run by District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg.
He becomes the state of Texas's first indicted governor in nearly a century.
Governor Perry, who has been in office since the year 2000, says he has violated no laws.
The 63-year-old faces two counts of abuse of power and coercion related to his decision to veto $7.5 million (£4.5 million) in funding for the Public Integrity Unit run by the office of the Travis County district attorney last year.

[Natalka]

Kind of scary.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/08...n_5684558.html

That's awful - yet a 'common burglar' wouldn't be leaving a note... wonder if their alarm system was disabled by the perp.

Justin was here in Saskatoon Thursday, talking water, infrastructure, and marijuana. He went to a few Folkfest pavilions that evening (multicultural festival).


He's by the best ice cream stand in the city, the bus stop; hope he had some!

[Patty Smyth]

That's awful - yet a 'common burglar' wouldn't be leaving a note... wonder if their alarm system was disabled by the perp.

Justin was here in Saskatoon Thursday, talking water, infrastructure, and marijuana. He went to a few Folkfest pavilions that evening (multicultural festival).


He's by the best ice cream stand in the city, the bus stop; hope he had some!

Yeah the note is the scary thing. I am guessing they will not release the contents but I am sure it is not from a fan of the libs.

[Natalka]

Plaques mark internment of 'enemy aliens'



The “CTO Project” or 100 Plaques Project was undertaken to mark the 100th anniversary of the War Measures Act by the Government of Canada and to mark the 100th anniversary of Canada’s First National Internment Operations of 1914-1920, with 100 plaques being unveiled on Friday, 22 August 2014.

On this day at 11:00 local time, for the first time in Canada’s history, a national event will be held in recognition of those Canadians who were interned and impacted by the War Measures Act. The Ukrainian Canadian Congress, the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation and the Canadian First World War Internment Council will be working with communities from across Canada, from Amherst, Nova Scotia to Nanaimo, British Columbia to Rouyn Noranda to create a national wave of unveilings across Canada.


In these centres where there was often an internment camp or processing centre, Canada will bear witness to plaque unveilings to mark the 100th anniversary of this event and hallow the memory of the victims of the internment operations, those who were physically interned in camps as well as those who lost their liberties and rights and were considered “enemy aliens”. This project will help educate Canadians about this little known episode in Canadian history now and for years to come.

The 100 locales selected will pay homage to the thousands of Canadians who were unjustly interred – Serbians, Croatians, Ukrainian Orthodox and Catholics, Armenians, Hungarians, Germans and others inclusive of the communities that were impacted by these operations.

The plaques feature an image of internees behind Canadian barbed wire at Castle Mountain at Banff National Park.

At the onset of World War I, the War Measures Act was implemented as a result of an Order In Council by the Canadian Government. This resulted in the internment of 8,579 “enemy aliens” of which over 5,000 were Ukrainians who had emigrated to Canada from territories under the control of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. An additional 80,000 individuals, of who the vast majority were Ukrainians, were obliged to register as “enemy aliens” and report to police authorities regularly.


The camp internees were used to develop the Canadian infrastructure as “forced-labourers“. They were used to develop Banff National Park, the logging industry in Northern Ontario & Quebec, the steel mills in Ontario & Nova Scotia, and in the mines in British Columbia, Ontario & Nova Scotia. This infrastructure development program was so beneficial to Canadian corporations that the internment program lasted for two years after the end of the war.

http://www.ucc.ca/positions/internment/

http://www2.canada.com/saskatoonstar...9-2222c0de5c29

[Natalka]

I dunno, this doesn't pass the sniff test, somehow... about the person entering the Trudeau house.
Really, who (especially how 'intoxicated' they say the guy was) would gather up knives to steal, then be remorseful and leave a note?


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...ticle20205012/