Wind Turbines On Juno Beach???

When I saw this story on the news, it felt like an April Fool's joke made in really bad taste. The same beach where Canadian soldiers landed on D-Day to help liberate Europe is set for the construction of a thousand new wind turbines courtesy of the government of France. A revered historical site is going to be littered with a thousand giant spinning turbines? Gee won't that be a lovely backdrop for our future D-Day commemorative ceremonies. What else can I say? This is ridiculous. Show some gratitude for your freedom France. Build your wind farm somewhere else.

War With Libya?

As six Canadian jets from a Quebec base are on their way to the Mediterranean to assist in the enforcement of a no fly zone, are you willing to risk going to war with Gaddafi to enforce this endeavour? That's today's poll question. After declaring a cease fire, Gaddafi's forces were opening fire on ambulances and civilians. Personally I say yes, this nut needs to be cracked. Kudos to French President Nick Sarkozy for being ready and willing to "go hot" against Libya for over a year, before the protests even started. It would appear that the French and British will be taking the lead. Canadian forces will still take a few days to get all their equipment and support staff into the theatre, but the French and British are ready to start at a moment's notice. Good on our colonial forefathers. Vivre La France!

Retirement Riots In France

Public employees have been rioting in the streets of France to protest the raising of the "national retirement age" from 60 to 62. First, why does any modern country have a legislated age of retirement? People should be free to work as long as they want to, even if the majority of people want to retire as soon as is logistically possible. Nobody should ever be forced into retirement if they want to keep working, and conversely nobody should be forced to work until 62 if they want to retire at 60. What's happening in France is completely unecessary on so many levels.

This public union unrest is happening throughout Europe as many governments try to reign in spending. It is nice to see so many of those governments listening to Stephen Harper's advice at the G20 conference when Obama was trying to lobby to continue spending. On that file, Europe liked Canada a whole lot. If only we sat in the European Union, then maybe the EU bloc would have supported us for the Security Council?

French Animosity Towards Ignatieff?

I am curious to know where this myth that Mike Ignatieff is very popular in Quebec came from. It seems like from the very moment that the Liberals flew him in from Boston, the spin doctors were citing his popularity in la Belle Province as justification for pumping him to be the Liberal leader. I feel like sending an e-mail to the Discovery Channel's Mythbusters with the question "Mike Ignatieff very popular among the French, fact or myth?" It is as though we were being told the French loved Iggy pop long before most Quebecers even knew who the Hell he was! Have we seen any evidence of any popularity in Quebec? None, except the opinion of Chantal Hebert, and even she is wavering now.

I would like to go back to the theme where Iggy was proclaiming any Tory policy initiative which included Quebec to be a "national unity crisis"; because with a new Tory blue seat near Quebec City, the only thing I'm seeing is a "Liberal unity crisis". I believe that Iggy's French popularity is about as believable as Enzyte growing my "package". Not only is Iggy not popular in Quebec, he appears toxic. Maybe that's what happens when you let a bunch of kooks in an office at Toronto run your Quebec policies?

Let's also not forget that nearly 200 years ago Iggy's beloved Czarist ancestors were locked in mortal combat with the French. Hundreds of thousands of Frenchmen died on Russian soil in 1812, and with them died the dream of global French supremacy. Let's be clear, those Frenchmen were killed because of the cowardice of the Cossacks and the ferocity of the Russian winter. Rather than engage the French in battle, Iggy's forefathers decided it would be a better idea to retreat, retreat, retreat, and torch their own country as they fled. Scorched earth was born because a bunch of scared cowards where too chicken to stand and fight. You can see parallels with how Donolo is running the show out of the gate.

They lured the French deep into Russia, and when a particularly harsh winter hit, the loss of French life was devastating. The French resorted to eating their own French horses. Yes, Ignatieff's ancestors inflicted this suffering upon innocent farm animals by acting with careless malice! Napoleon's great miscalculation was assuming that no sane leadership would torch their own country. But the Czars and the goofs working for them had a unique brand of depraved incompetence that was highlighted by their surrender of power to the Bolsheviks that would inflict death upon untold millions.

And to think Ignatieff is proud of his family history, so much so that he writes books about how great he is and how we should all envy his lineage. Is that not the ultimate act of vanity? Vanity, definitely Ignatieff's favourite sin.

I Remember Dien Bien Phu

I would like to take a moment to remember the fallen from one of the most disastrous military decisions of modern history. After WWII France set out to ambitiously reassert control of its former colonies, among them Vietnam. Their leadership determined that it would be tactically advantageous to disrupt enemy supply lines into French friendly Laos, by landing thousands of French troops into a remote airfield deep in the Vietnamese jungle surrounded by mountains. The objective was to seize the airfield base, and secure it indefinitely. What could possibly go wrong?

The French commanders were not aware that the Vietcong had both artillery and anti-aircraft guns and could drag them through difficult terrain. The French seized the airfield and set up a base and defensive perimeter with approximately 16,000 troops. General Vo Nguyen Giap began his counter offensive almost immediately after the French landed, and re-directed all Vietcong military force at his disposal to engulf the French position. The French dug trenches in the Valley, with the Vietcong bearing down from the mountains.

Once the artillery reached Dien Bien Phu, this combat operation quickly descended into catastrophe. It became impossible to even land a plane on the airfield, let alone engage in an orderly retreat should that order come. By the time it was apparent that the force would be completely overrun, retreat was impossible. Virtually the entire force of 16,000 French were either killed or taken to a Vietnamese POW camp (like the one in Rambo II). Vietnamese prison camps could be considered a fate worse than death. Gitmo is like a tropical paradise compared to Vietnamese prison camps. 11,000 Frenchmen were taken prisoner when the position was overrun. Only 3,000 of those men would survive the next four months.

This tragedy soured French foreign policy for the next 50 years.

To my countrymen who had relatives massacred at Dien Bien Phu, I remember.

France French

Sunday I played a round of golf and was paired with a very nice gentleman from France. When he made reference to himself as "French" I asked "France French or Quebec French"? Evidently he gets asked that question a lot. We continued with a very interesting conversation on the differences between France and Quebec, such as how the Quebecois have developed a distinct accent. He spoke of the Quebecois as though it were a younger sibling. When I asked him about his thoughts on Quebec Separation he had a fantastic answer; "it doesn't make any sense, Canada is one of the greatest countries in the world and they should be happy to be a part of it."

I wish that I had brought a tape recorder to record that opinion in the cool French accent that delivered it. As for my round of golf, I played one of my better rounds of the year. I could only get in 9 holes before the sun set, but I shot a 49 on a par 36. That would have projected to 98 on a full par 72. I have never scored under 100. My personal best is 110. The key to my Sunday round was my hybrid iron. I was all-hybrid-all-the-time until I got to the 150 yard marker. My driver, 3, 5, and 9 never left the bag. I continue to struggle out of tee box and rely on my ability to hit greens with my 8 iron and pitching wedge.

When "Scorched Earth" does not work

I have no doubt that Ignatieff's decision to "scorch the earth" in parliament was influenced by his Czarist ancestors defeating Napoleon's "Grand Army" with that same tactic. The problem with that strategy is that if your opponent doesn't stretch his supply lines too far too fast, the tactic doesn't work. If Napoleon did not press for Moscow and march right into the Czarist trap, they might very well be speaking French in modern day Stalingrad. While we could never know the actual data, as a student that studied Napoleon's invasion of Russia, it is reasonable to say that as many French soldiers froze to death in the winter as were killed by Russian troops. Had Napoleon decided to winter in Vilnius and gathered his force and supplies instead of marching on Moscow, the results of the campaign would have been different. Ironic that one of the coldest winters in the history of Russia came before the invention of the modern internal combustion engine…

To the Conservatives, I say build your strength in Vilnius and do not march on Moscow. Let the "Ruskies" burn their supplies and suffocate themselves.

The "Lost" Czar and the French

Ironically it was not until after this Coderre insurrection happened that I began to remember how much Ignatieff adores his own Russian roots. He has studied his own family tree more than a Mormon on "speed". He loves his Czarist ancestry. Again with the irony; at University I minored in History because "those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it" right? I took a course in the History of France: Revolution to De Gaul. My term paper was titled "Scorched Earth: Napoleon's failed invasion of Russia." I earned an A+.

I of all people should have seen the parallels. I'm sorry that I didn't see this yesterday. Those Czarist ancestors that Iggy loves so much were mortal enemies of the French and ended the French Golden Age by innovating a "scorched earth" policy. Is that not what he's doing right now? He is obsessed with what his grandparents did, how can that not seep into his political strategy? I'm just saying...

I would direct you to my post True Patriot Abandonment...I think it is some of my best work.