This is my third time hosting the Red Ensign Standard.

The first two times I hosted (here and here) I spoke about why I was a member and how our nation was earned on Vimy Ridge, and the price that was paid.

It bears repeating: we earned our nation with blood and sacrifice. We've been reprogrammed by beer commercials to believe that we're warm fuzzy peacekeepers whom the whole world loves. American Socialists, fearful of being treated rudely by obnoxious Parisian waiters sew Canadian flags on their backpacks - aren't you proud? Why is this the source of modern-day pride in our nation? People like us and think we're harmless - that's it? That is all we have going for us?

It's so easy to forget that in two world wars we punched far above our weight in terms of the military we fielded and the reputation for fierceness we EARNED. Enemies were reluctant to face Canadian troops, not because we were nicer than others, but because we were deadly in combat and would make our enemies pay the price in facing us.

Well the members of the Red Ensign Brigade are keen to remember. Wars have a price as Canada has paid recently in Afghanistan. What remains to be seen is if the revisionist history that has been foisted upon this nation that dishonours the memory of those that gave their lives for freedom has succeeded in convincing us that sometimes Freedom has too high a price and maybe someone else should pay for it this time.

That's not the Canada I remember and it's not the one the Red Ensign Brigade will stand for.



"Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields."


The following is a sampling of the writings of the Red Ensign Brigade between April 17 and April 30.



--Ray of Raging Kraut • Comments • Permalink

Cpl. Matthew Dinning, Lt. William Turner, Bombardier Myles Mansell and Cpl. Randy Payne.

Andrew at Bound By Gravity: On Saturday four Canadian soldiers were killed in Afghanistan, our country's largest loss of life in a combat situation since the Korean war. The men - Cpl. Matthew Dinning, Bombardier Myles Mansell, Lieut. William Turner, and Cpl. Randy Payne were performing a job they loved for a country that they were proud to serve.

Web ragingkraut.com

"For the record I want it known that I will debate ANY simian regarding hisor her alleged rights to be considered human. Maybe Planet of the Apes was't fiction after all?"
- Blair Hansen at ItalicsMine,

Andrew at Bound By Gravity: CTVHeadline Writer Snorts Cocaine - "It boggles my mind that a professional news organization could run a headline that is directly contradicted by the first three paragraphs of their article."

Dust My Broom: "Pakistan has filed blasphemy cases against publishers and editors in the EU and of course against the famous Danish paper for publishing the Mohammed Cartoon’s. Google and Yahoo have also been included and the crime carries the death penalty"

John of Argghhh!has a piece on the new Canadian Special Operations Regiment. "Lt.-Col. Hammond insists that his new unit is much more than just a battalion of paratroopers. The regiment will all be trained to parachute into action, but he says with a shrug: 'That's just another way to get to work.'"

"Of course, most Canadians are still in that little dream world where soldiers are only there for peacekeeping and never actually fire their weapons or are in the firing line when others are firing. The idea of the JTF2 and the new CSOR getting involved in combat operations is still an unwelcome, foreign notion. Canadian public opinion took a nice long vacation from diplomatic and military reality between 1991 and 2005."
- Nicholas of Quotulatiousness


"Somehow, limiting donations is seen as a violation of free speech and free association. Did even one of these people stop to think about everything that went on during the Sponsorship Scandal?"
- Rootleweb

Ghosts of Government's past... WARNING: following images not suitable for Conservative Minors. You have been warned.

"Whether or not this strategy of attempting to make the Liberal’s irrelevant will work is still in question. However, in my view, it’s great to see the Liberal party being kicked in the teeth continually. After all, a political party who has been accused of looting the federal treasury of hundreds of millions of dollars doesn’t deserve anything better; other than, perhaps, the occasional curb stomping."
MK Braaten

"Well, the president got mentioned, and with some praise! Jack Layton said that the environmentalists are better off living in the United States under George W Bush and the Republicans than in Canada under Paul Martin and the Liberals.
Phrased like that, Stephen Harper doesn't have to say much more than what he did -- we'll be better than the Liberals. Next question."
- Steve Janke, Angry in the Great White North

"I suppose we’ll have to forgive Mr. Dryden for his tendency to speak in tired rhetoric. I believe it’s a virtue for goaltenders to inflate themselves with hot air. (It must make it easier for them to stop the puck.) It’s also noteworthy that Dryden’s site also has space for a blog. I’d be curious to see if he or his campaign team are actually savvy enough to use it properly."
- Victor, on Ken Dryden's announcement of running for the Liberal Leadership.


"Even such supposedly unifying historical events as the Second World War left very different marks on the many different countries. It is not just a question of whether you were on the winning or the losing side. There is thematter of whether there had been an occupation and if so, how many, how popular and how long did they last. Which parts of the population or the political elite supported which occupation? Where does treason lie? One cango on asking these questions for a very long time."
- Albion's Seedlings opines withThere is no such thing as Europe

Asiapundit informs about the increasing quantity and quality of beer sales in Central Asia and informs about Korea's decreasing miniskirt length - "AsiaPundit will note that South Korea is not presently in a recession, leading him to concur with The Flea that the socio-economic theory is less satisfying than this optical-illusion explanation."
"If George W. Bush is an unpopular figure in Canada, does the media's invocation of the U.S. President when commenting on Stephen Harper's government's policy on not lowering the flag after every military death (and the restriction of media on Canadian bases when fallen soldiers arrive home) merely allow them to offer negative commentary when they are supposed to be filing so-called unbiased reports?"
- Stephen Taylor

"The only way to make government "accountable", in any meaningful way, wouldbe to immediately make all government funding voluntary - starting tomorrow. Anything else is just the equivalent of adding a cover page to the TPS report."
- Jay Jardine, The Freeway to Serfdom

"The message here is quite simple. It's the Jihad, and any excuse is a good excuse for killing Israelis (and any other bystanders, from the linked article you will note that several of the little scumbag's victims were foreigners)."
- The Face of the Enemy, Minority of One

My evil twin, Damian Brooks : "Okay, here goes. If Canada is on the side of the angels in this little dispute, if we're kicking Yankee tail in court and in dispute-resolution panels and anywhere else this thing is being fought, then why is this compromise a good deal for Canada?"

King'sPerspective: "From my experience, from that vast majority (although not all) of the environmentalists, there is little to no consideration of what the best way is to achieve their goals. Generally, there is just an implied assumption that the tools don't matter, just get the government to make it so, set controls, use tariffs, or some other form of coercion. David Suzuki is a textbook example of this folly. It's the same thing as saying we need to eliminate poverty. Fair enough, I don't think anybody really wants poverty,but the how is really the essence of the argument and it is largely dismissed or at least not rigorously considered."

"Everyone, to an extent, lives in a bubble of subjective reality, usually based on subjective preferences. Goths tend to hang out with Goths and athletes tend to hang out with athletes. This is because we feel that someone who’s in the same shoes as we are “gets us”. They understand."
- Hey Baby.U R Hawt by Grandinite

"Fine. Keep them all alive. I would like a law passed, however, ensuring the owner of any dog which viciously attacks another human is held criminally liable for it. In other words, if a dog mauls a person, the owner is prosectuted as if he mauled the victim himself. If a person dies as a result, not only is the dog put down, but the owner has charges of manslaughter issued against him. If a child is wounded, a court would consider the owner to have attacked that child personally."
- Huck on the latest Pitbull attack in Toronto

"The May 1 protest - if it achieves any significant size - will, with its threats to “shut down” major American cities, cement voter and citizen resolve to stop illegal immigration once and for all.* In effect, the illegal immigration activists are moving beyond shooting themselves in the foot, as they did with the last rallies. With this latest protest, they are threatening to blow off both feet and sizable chunks of their legs."
- Jason Hayes

"Banning spray paint for young people, as is being discussed by City Council, is stupid for all the usual reasons that prohibition and collective punishment don't work. It creates forbidden fruit, makes vandalism even cooler, creates a profit opportunity for resale to minors, and it makes life harder for legitimate human beings with legitimate uses for spraypaint."
- The London Fog

"So, Russia sells nuclear secrets to Iran, then sells a launch to Israel so that Israel can spy on Iran's nuclear installations. It sure must give the Russians a hearty laugh, being able to sell to both sides like that. I wonder if Russia will continue to laugh when Iran starts selling nuclear technology to all those Muslim states on Russia's borders. Does the word "Chechnya" ringa bell?"
- Ed, the Robot Guy


"If the government wants to really affect gas consumption amongst the urban drivers, they should put subsidies on the purchase of really economizing cars. VW Golfs, diesel powered. Smart cars. Can you imagine how much gas and money would be saved if the government offered a $2000 tax break for buying Smart Cars?"
- Shaneat The High Places

"I have long been convinced that Canada needlessly sells itself short; we tend not to celebrate success very loudly or readily up here. Our celebrities are considered to have "made it" when they've achieved success in L.A. or New York. Our executives are considered successful when they move on to helm large American or international firms. Our entrepreneurs are considered successful when their companies get bought up by a wealthier competitor. If we want to stay ahead in a global game, those attitudes have to change."
- Canadianbusiness setting self-defeating goals? by Chris Taylor

"Why is it that beer companies have to give 30 days notice of any price change, but gas companies can change their price hourly. It seems to me that the gas that is in the tank under the ground was bought and paid for at a certain price. The company marked it up to make a profit and the govenment taxed it. If the gas station has not received a new delivery of gas, what has changed in their day to day operations that makes it necessary to change the price."
- The Conservative Hipster

"What should we do about rising gasoline prices? The Cato Institute is bang on - we should do NOTHING."
- John Murney's Blog

"According to a new Fraser Institute study, taxes for the average Canadian family have risen 1,600 percent since 1961 -- for an extra levy to the government of $26,792 in taxes."
- ESR's Musings

"Truth is I have not one ounce of optimism for the future of agriculture in this country. There isn't enough money to bail them out in the short term.One can only hope that there is now both the political will and the astuteness needed to level the playing field in the long term."
- Glenda, Some people don't know their arse from a hole in the ground

"It's decades like the last four that make me wish I wasn't a Leafs fan."

The DMCA . . . tyrannical enough yet?

Ith dishes all the entertainment news:

• #1 - Sci Fi confirms the news that Michael Ausiello broke Wednesday -- that "Firefly's" Morena Baccarin will be joining "Stargate SG-1" (editor's note: HUBBA HUBBA!)...
• #2 - Alias: "Oh, there were some great lines! My favourite being Jack scolding Sydney about keeping bladed weopons under wraps, especially 'around young Bristow women"
• #3 - "I'm just up to watching Gilmore Girls, and discover that Paris is pre-med. Lord, now I have visions of Resident Paris and House...."

Dynasty in Space?

"What am I doing spending time commenting on the public birthing drama involving a former Catholic now known as Placenta Man, and a former Catholic, but still winsome, Katie? I have no idea. I don't normally follow the comings and goings of diminutive actors who can't act, but I shall press on to the bitter end of this story, .... which I fully intend to be this posting."
- John the Mad
"And so because you are our Queen, and because you are virtuous, Your Majesty, on your 80th birthday, we, and your peoples around the world salute you."
- 80 reasons to Honour the Queen at The Monarchist

"God Save the Queen." Queen at 80 - King's Perspective

"Even if your economics are mere faith-based contrarianism, you may try to resist but should not as you will find the bright quality of his mind reflected in the writing nonetheless, the sort of mind which, when asked as an election night pundit at 7 pm who would win replied ask me at 11 pm and was happily never asked back to be an election night pundit."
- Alan, Gen X at 40 on John Kenneth Galbraith

Speaking of which, please wish Alan a three-year blogiversary!
Further proof that used car salesmen have no shame:

National Anthems For Sale "How about We re-write your old-country song to our own words and language, change a few things - sing it in English? It will still sound like the old anthem-thing, but that was old and we need to change it so it addresses our modern-day needs and wants. That would be bitchin' kewl (andso postmodern), right?"
- DirtCrashr of Anthroblogogy