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Mystery surrounds Jean Chretien's possible visit to Iran AFP - World News (via Yahoo) Jun 22, 2004 MONTREAL - A possible visit to Iran by former Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien in his capacity as adviser to oil company Petrokazakhstan remains wrapped in silence here. If it takes place this month as scheduled, it will occur ahead of a trial in Tehran of a man accused of the murder of Canadian-Iranian journalist Zahra Kazemi. "We are aware of his plans to go there" in his personal capacity, said a Canadian Foreign Ministry official. But his new employer, Calgary-based Petrokazakhstan, declined...

NDP in hot water over 'Shrub' memo Canadian Press Wednesday, July 30, 2003 Saskatchewan's plan to petition the United States to reopen borders to Canadian beef stumbled out of the gate Wednesday when an internal government document flippantly referred to U.S. President George W. Bush as "Shrub." "Re: Petition to President Shrub," is the title of the memo, dated Tuesday, and sent to NDP legislature members and candidates by party researcher Ted Bowen. The memo was sent to media outlets by mistake. "Shrub is Molly Ivins' dismissive nickname for President Bush," reads the P.S. Shrub: The Short But Happy Political...

Front: Weapons in Iraq will be found, Bush says A student holds a picture of President Bush that she wears around her neck during a party at the Tahama Primary School in Kirkuk, Iraq on Thursday, April 24, 2003 CRAWFORD, Texas (May 3, 2003 1:17 p.m. EDT) - President Bush expressed unshakable confidence Saturday about finding banned weapons in Iraq and complained that Tariq Aziz, one of Saddam Hussein's closest deputies, is not cooperating with U.S. forces who have him in custody. Bush said the deputy prime minister, the most visible face of the former Iraqi government other than Saddam,...

Canadians should listen very carefully to the voices of Iraqi citizens who have been celebrating on the streets of Baghdad, Basra, Kirkuk and Mosul, and then re-evaluate the "principles" Prime Minister Jean Chrétien is defending. Canada's "principled" position encompasses three core tenets: 1) no support for regime change; 2) support for interventions that are sanctioned exclusively by multilateral consensus in the United Nations Security Council; and 3) independent control over our own foreign policy. The Chrétien Doctrine fails on all three counts. A principled position against "regime change" in Iraq would continue to oppose that policy especially when it succeeds....

Top 10 signs that Canada has become Palestine in the Pines:10. Back-bacon is ruled halal. 9. They change the name to Al Q'uranada. 8. Firing AK-47's in the air when the Habs win. 7. Tablecloths instead of toques. 6. Strippers in Vancouver clubs wear burkhas. 5. Opium starts outselling Moosehead. 4. Mmmmmm, pea-soup flavored cous-cous. 3. 'Quebec' now pronounced 'Qaeda'. 2. "There is no God but Allah, Eh?" And the number one reason Canada is Palestine in the Pines: 1. That's not a moose, that's a camel with antlers!

EL NINO Pacific Ocean Temperature Changes Point To Natural Climate Variability College Station - Nov 18, 2002 Analysis of long-term changes in Pacific Ocean temperatures may provide additional data with which to evaluate global warming hypotheses. "Abrupt changes in water temperatures occurring over intervals of up to 25 years suggest that global warming may result as much from natural cyclical climate variations as from human activity," said Benjamin Giese, oceanography professor in the College of Geosciences. "Climate models constructed here at Texas A&M University were used to analyze ocean surface temperature records in the tropical Pacific since 1950. The results...

Canadian PM pledges to steamroll Kyoto ratification through parliament OTTAWA (AFP) Nov 20, 2002 Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien pledged Tuesday to force parliamentary approval of the Kyoto Protocol by the end of the year, even without a detailed plan on how to implement Canada's commitment. The pledge, in both a meeting with reporters and during the House of Commons' Question Period, came in the wake of threats by Chretien's nemesis within the governing Liberal Party, former finance minister Paul Martin. Martin is the front-runner to succeed Chretien as leader of the Liberal Party and as prime minister when...