As part of his ongoing mission to pretend the bad stuff isn't happening, Stephen Harper has banned the media from filming the coffins of fallen Canadian soldiers or, indeed, being anywhere near them.
From the CBC, although Metro called it first, and with perfect accuracy, on this very website several days ago. Please note that these pictures are several years old, from the Canadian deaths in Afghanistan resulting from the American bombing.
Reporters were not allowed into the military airbase at Trenton, Ont., to cover the Tuesday evening arrival of the remains of four soldiers who died in a weekend bombing.
Harper said the policy has been implemented to respect the privacy of the families.
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"It should be up to the families to decide whether they want reporters present at such ceremonies," said Richard Leger, whose son Marc was killed in Afghanistan four years ago.
"I know, in 2002, it was a great thing for us to have the media there… We wanted to show all Canadians what the cost of their liberty is," he told CBC Newsworld.
"People saying, 'Thank you for the life of Marc' – as a parent that's hard to hear, but knowing what's the reason behind it helps us to move on."
Maureen Burrowes, who is a cousin of Payne, said the government is depriving her of her chance to be part of Tuesday night's ceremony.
"I honestly believed I would see my cousin's return on CBC as I could not be present today," she wrote in an e-mail. "I really feel that our current government has made a very bad decision and voters will remember this in the next election."
"The timing is absolutely horrendous and I would love to know how to get this reversed."
Today, as you may have noticed, was Politics Day at the ol' raincoaster blog. And, surprisingly, I find that the only thing which out-pulls sex and/or curling (curling porn was a top search, btw) is politics. Glad I found something that did. Getting a wee bit tired of the eedjuts coming to this blog via searches for "Mango Porn."
Not so much "retired," that is. The US government has just reserved the right to call you back after retirement, indefinitely if it decides to. And by swearing up and down it won't cost much to do this, they were able to bypass the approval processes of something like eight different agencies which would normally be involved.
ordered to active duty as needed to perform such duties as the Secretary concerned considers necessary in the interests of national defense as described in 10 U.S.C. 12301 and 688.
But wait! There is, of course, a feedback process. There's no guarantee whatsoever that they will read, much less respond to your feedback, but you are cordially invited to tell them what you think of this policy of geriatric zombie soldier resurrection. At least they promise to pay the geezers, so although it is involuntary labour, it's not techically slavery. Until someone decides to bill them for room and board…wait for it:
raincoaster 