Stephen Taylor

Jean Carle, a former top aide to Jean Chretien and senior executive at the Business Development Bank of Canada, admitted Friday that he helped construct a phoney paper trail to conceal details of a $125,000 sponsorship deal.

The blunt revelation from Jean Carle – who is described as having a father-son relationship with the former prime minister and once lived in his basement – places the scandal in the heart of Chretien’s circle of intimates.

Carle’s startling testimony, at the public inquiry into the federal sponsorship program, drew a tart observation from Justice John Gomery. “If this were a drug deal, it would be called money-laundering,” said Gomery.

“You’re not wrong,” Carle meekly replied.

— Source: CP

I got an email yesterday from Kevin Steel, a reporter from the Western Standard requesting a telephone interview concerning my CBC Board of Directors “exposé” from January 30th.

The interview lasted longer than I ever expected as we chatted about things from CBC bias to the Shotgun to the Blogging Tories.

My first media interview with a nationally distributed political news magazine was an overall positive experience (let’s wait to see how it’s written up — but I knew that I was in ‘friendly’ territory). Thanks to Paul for bringing my post to the Western Standard‘s attention, and to Kate too for her recent nod on the Shotgun.

This past year, I’ve noticed a significant emergence of conservative media in Canada. I’m hopeful that in the next year, and in years to come, our media efforts will see further refinement and focus from the blogosphere, to print, and to broadcast.

At the time of this writing, CNN and the AP are reporting on a US soldier apparently captured in Iraq by terrorists.

However, CNN military analysts note some inconsistancies in the soldier’s appearance:

“A flak jacket the man is wearing in the picture has an unfamiliar kind of piping or trim along its edges, Marks said. The man’s open-legged pants, as opposed to gathered hems, seem odd, [CNN’s military analyst James Marks] said.”

“Marks also questioned what appeared to be camouflage paint on the man’s face. “We have not used camo paint with conventional forces serving in Iraq,” Marks said.”

Fark and Drudge have already debunked the story; the “soldier” captured and photographed by the terrorists is just a 1/6 scale G.I. Joe action figure.

Decide for yourself:

AP photo – from terrorist website

G.I. Joe