Cobourg Blog

First of all, you have to wonder about Brenda Martin’s common sense - why did she not leave when her boss was charged. Did she have faith in the Mexican Justice system? Maybe hindsight is why we know better but it seems she wanted to stay in Mexico for some reason we don’t understand.

And now, it seems clear why the verdict had to be guilty. No judge in Canada , US or Western Europe would find her guilty based purely on what the Mexicans admitted was purely circumstantial evidence - or do I have too much faith in our system? But if evidence is only that “she must have known” - it’s ludicrous that she would be found guilty. So why then? It can only be because the Mexican judge wanted to support his peers who had imprisoned her for 2 years. How else to justify this? If innocent, then they would have to explain why they imprisoned an innocent person for 2 years? This way Mexico “saves face”! The judge makes/keeps friends and he keeps his job. I’m not usually this cynical but I am when it comes to third world countries and their rampant corruption. Looks like Mexico just proved it really is a third world banana republic. Why would I want to holiday there? Big risk!!

Hopefully, she can now be transferred to Canada to serve her sentence and for once, Canada’s lenient prison laws are a benefit and she can be released immediately. But the Mexicans will want their money (fine) first - where else will the bribe money come from? Maybe the Canadian Government can “lend” it to her and get it back from the taxpayers. But wait, that’s a “gift”. I’m sure the Mexicans do equally devious things - so why shouldn’t we in this case?

John Draper

I do not know if the Cobourg Daily Star had printed my letter-to-the-editor, which had been submitted early in the week. In the event that they had not, I post it below:
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How pathetically correct is this; the editors of the Cobourg Daily Star have no problem with sexist man-bashing, ie. the ad hominen attack on Conrad Black as a “tubby hubby“, or the unsubstantiated slander that unnamed elements of Cobourg Town Council get over their “Stone Age attitude towards women.“

So then they write an editorial (Nov 11) extolling the “The Boys of War“ and not once is there a suggestion that young women are on the front lines in Afghanistan with young men.

I, for one, am busting with pride that Canada, and other NATO allies have sent young women to serve in Afghanistan, to ensure that Afghan women can attend school, among other things, and yes, shoot to kill those misogynists who threaten to prevent such progress.

Those are my kind of Canadian women — beautiful, intelligent and lethal.

– Wally Keeler

Cobourg Police have either bought or are trying out a couple of Segways - presumably for summer/fall patrols. Apparently works well to catch illegal drinking in Victoria Park.

According to a reliable banking source, the Wolfowitz girlfriend problem is only the tip of the iceberg at the World Bank. It’s what’s below the surface that counts.

The word is that Wolfowitz brought a phalanx of buddies with him when he took over as President of the Bank. He and his hounds threw their weight around, bullied everyone and soon complaints began to fly. This put up the backs of other members of the board. When they’d had enough, they decided Wolfowitz had to go.

The main reason for board opposition was that Wolfowitz turned the World Bank into an instrument of U.S. foreign policy. That’s not how the World Bank works. It became a case of nations who supported the Bush Administration got what the asked for; those opposed to the U.S. White House did not. It was as simple as that.

The United States has a 16 per cent interest in the World Bank. If the board votes Wolfowitz out of office there’s nothing President Bush can do nothing about it. His man will have to go. Further word is that Wolfowitz now has a lawyer whose main aim is to negotiate what severance package Wolfowitz will get.

Canada has a seat on the Board of the Bank. As well as Canada, the Canadian member also represents the Republic of Ireland, Jamaica and Caribbean nations including the Bahamas and Barbados. For this reason, Canada must consult Ireland and the other nations it represents before voting. A nice dilemma, so it’s anyone’s guess which way Canada’s vote will go.

The one job remaining before Wolfowitz gets the boot is to make the severance fee worth it. One may depend that the wily Wolfowitz will get a sizeable packet whichever way it goes. One may also bet his girlfriend will be glad.

A. W. Cockerill

One can occasionally agree with letter writers John Jolie and Tom Lawson even if their politics are hard to stomach. Their views on Afghanistan as the latest example of a war of futility are on target - the metaphor is intentional. There is nothing more ludicrous than sending tanks to Afghanistan. If Canada’s Chief of Staff, General Hillier, believes tanks will help in Canada’s Afghan war, he needs a psychiatrist.

We’re led to believe Afghanistan is a barren and rugged land infested with caves and Taliban fighters. That’s hogwash. The same can be said of Canada when referring only to the Rockies. Afghan farms, hamlets and villages are set in fertile land of lush and productive fields. Like the Nile Delta, Afghan fields are watered by means of carefully-kept irrigation ditches. Imagine what happens when tanks plough over the fields. Armoured vehicles stick to roads and tracks. Tanks roam the landscape at will. Tearing up farmland and bashing down buildings is what tanks do. Watch any tv news footage for proof. If anyone can think of a surer way to lose the hearts and minds of rural Afghanis let them say and General Hillier, out to get the scumbags, will no doubt agree.
A. W. Cockerill