The Week in Preview

Still, some planes are grounded by the volcano in Iceland.

Volcanic ash from last week's eruption in Iceland disrupted air travel within North America for the first time on Monday with Canada announcing the cancellation of a batch of domestic flights.

Nine morning flights out of Saint John's, Newfoundland were cancelled, airport spokeswoman Marie Manning told AFP.

"Last night a number of airlines decided... they would cancel the Monday morning flights because, even though it was low, there was a probability that the volcanic ash would reach Newfoundland," she said.

Apparently, someone working for CNN had no idea that Iceland even had volcanoes.

On Thursday's Rick's List, CNN's Rick Sanchez again demonstrated his lack of knowledge of basic science, again related to geology. As he covered the volcanic eruption in Iceland which has disrupted thousands of airplane flights across Europe, he commented that "when you think of a volcano, you think of Hawaii and long words like that. You don't think of Iceland. You think it's too cold to have a volcano there"

The Chosen One has no contingency plan for rogue state Iran and the nuclear disaster it will become (hat tip: ABC):

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has warned in a secret three-page memorandum to top White House officials that the United States does not have an effective long-range policy for dealing with Iran's steady progress toward nuclear capability, according to government officials familiar with the document....

Officials familiar with the memo’s contents would describe only portions dealing with strategy and policy, and not sections that apparently dealt with secret operations against Iran, or how to deal with Persian Gulf allies.

One senior official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the memo, described the document as “a wake-up call.” But White House officials dispute that view, insisting that for 15 months they had been conducting detailed planning for many possible outcomes regarding Iran's nuclear program.

In an interview on Friday, General Jones declined to speak about the memorandum. But he said: “On Iran, we are doing what we said we were going to do. The fact that we don’t announce publicly our entire strategy for the world to see doesn’t mean we don’t have a strategy that anticipates the full range of contingencies — we do.”

But in his memo, Mr. Gates wrote of a variety of concerns, including the absence of an effective strategy should Iran choose the course that many government and outside analysts consider likely: Iran could assemble all the major parts it needs for a nuclear weapon — fuel, designs and detonators — but stop just short of assembling a fully operational weapon.

I guess someone owes Mrs. Palin a rather enormous apology.


Karla Homolka can apply for a pardon and I fear she may get one. Fear.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says ex-convict Karla Homolka will be able to apply for a pardon this year.

It's the latest in a series of frustrations the prime minister said he has felt in the last few weeks about the weaknesses in Canada's justice system.

Harper said the news that murderer Clifford Olson is receiving government pension benefits in jail was compounded by revelations by The Canadian Press that hockey coach Graham James received a pardon for sexual-abuse convictions.

Homolka, who was convicted of manslaughter in the sex-slaying of two girls, is also eligible to apply for a pardon through a system that grants 99 per cent of applicants their wishes, Harper noted.

"For many years, the vast majority of Canadians have found this deeply offensive. Now, they find it unacceptable," Harper told a victims' rights conference.

"Yet, for now, the law remains. And the law will allow Karla Homolka to apply for a pardon this year."

As a result, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said he has been asked to table legislation to tighten the pardon system by this fall at the latest.

Earf Day occurs some time this week.

Saint George's feast day may sink into irrelevance due to stupidity:

The English are the least patriotic people in Europe, a St George's Day poll found today.

Their fear of being smeared as racist is greater than their enthusiasm for expressing their love of their country, it found.

Only one in ten would happily fly the cross of St George to celebrate their national saint's day...

The new survey showed that six per cent of English people are scared to show the flag and around 18 per cent are worried that if they do they will be instructed by officialdom to take it down. Only a third are aware that 23 April is St George's Day and four out of 10 have no idea why he is England's patron saint...

This is the same country that banned Irish as a language, that allowed the Amritsar Massacre and killed Saint Thomas More. How the mighty have run away with their tail between their legs.

Speaking of massacre:

Surrey city council will review if annual Vaisakhi celebrations comply with city policy after a controversial political float depicting Sikh “martyrs” unexpectedly showed up in Saturday’s parade.

The float flies flags of Khalistan, a proposed-nation state encompassing the Punjabi region of India, and displays pictures of Sikh martyrs, some of whom are members of groups Canada considers terrorist organizations.

It doesn't bother Premier Gordon Campbell that much.

See here.

Go to hell, Omar Khadr.


The photo to the right is from "The Enterprise Incident" which was based on the Pueblo Incident in which the USS Pueblo was boarded by the North Koreans in 1968.

Who said art doesn't resemble life?