1.16.2010
"keeping this secret obsession with radical right-wing dogma hidden is tearing me apart"
Tolerance has its limits! From (where else?) The Onion: "Gay Teen Worried He Might Be Christian".
Don't freak, progressive Christians. Just a bit of humour at your fundie relatives' expense.
Faber's parents, although concerned, said they're convinced their otherwise typical gay son is merely going through a conservative Christian phase.
"I caught him watching The 700 Club once when he thought he was alone in the house, and last week, I found some paperbacks from the Left Behind series hidden in his sock drawer," his mother, Eileen Faber, said. "I'm sure he'll grow out of it, but even if he doesn't, I will love and accept my son no matter what."
Faber's father was far less tolerant in his comments.
"No son of mine is going to try to get intelligent design into school textbooks," Geoffrey Faber said. "And I absolutely refuse to pay his tuition if he decides to go to one of those colleges like Oral Roberts University where they're just going to fill his head with a lot of crazy conservative ideas."
He added, "I just want my normal gay son back."
Don't freak, progressive Christians. Just a bit of humour at your fundie relatives' expense.
the harper attack on canadian democracy, the long version
Why are we protesting on January 23? Here's the long answer.
Most of us who oppose Stephen Harper's prorogation of Parliament know that this is not the first time the Prime Minister has thumbed his nose at democracy. My own passion, US war resisters in Canada, has been up against it for years. The House of Commons passed a motion calling on the government to stop deporting war resisters and to allow them to stay in Canada, then reaffirmed it with a second majority vote - and both times the Harper government ignored the will of the majority. It's maddening, and it's wrong. In April 2005, as leader of the Opposition, Harper said, "The Prime Minister has the moral obligation to respect the will of Parliament." Indeed, he does.
Of course the war resisters issue is but one example of many. No one can remember every instance - unless we're keeping track. Lucky for us someone was.
Redsock found this amazing post from the Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament Facebook group (now 195,000 strong!). A member commenting as "Defend Parliament" posted a jaw-dropping collection of news stories documenting "The Harper Attack on Canadian Democracy".
What follows is most (but not all!) of "Defend Parliament"'s list. Many thanks to redsock for putting this together, and a million thanks to "Defend Parliament" for stellar citizen journalism!
As you scroll through or read this list, ask yourself this: Have I done everything I can to help make January 23 a success? Is there anything else I can do to help spread the word? NoProrogue.ca.
* * * *
MUZZLING CABINET MINISTERS, MPs, JUDGES, ETC.
How Harper controls the spin
Zeal to manage message sees journalists shunned, bureaucrats, cabinet ministers routinely muzzled. Public appearances by cabinet ministers – whether it's a speech or an interview – are carefully staged, starting with a "message event proposal" vetted by the Privy Council Office, the bureaucratic wing of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).
PM slaps muzzle on military brass
Hillier, Sr.Officials Muzzled by PMO
Mums the word: Harper tells MPs to keep mouths shut
Tories tighten muzzle on PS [Public Service] for campaign
Former chief justice of Canada accuses PM of trying to "muzzle" the judiciary
'Muzzle' Placed On Federal Scientists
Tories muzzle environmental scientist
Minister stops book talk by Environment Canada scientist
Mum's the word till message vetted
No federal cabinet minister speaks to a journalist, gives a speech or makes a policy announcement until a "message event proposal" has been vetted by a wing of the Prime Minister's Office.
Harper lawsuit smacks of authoritarian state: prof
Holland shocked by Conservative comments on media
Harper government whips Tories into line with secret handbook
Information Commissioner Robert Marleau told The Hill Times recently that the Harper government has been quietly drafting about 25 government policies that impact on the rights of officers of Parliament, and that it has been happening without their knowledge or input.
Conservative headquarters scripting calls to radio shows
Canada slips in 'press freedom' rankings
Torture probe delayed; Tories deny gagging witness
Lawyers seek to gag witnesses in Afghan prisoner inquiry
Has Canada entered a 'Bush-like vortex'?
Richard Colvin's torture allegations suggest civil servants aren't writing down what the government doesn't want recorded
PMO issued instructions on denying abuse in '07 -- Former NATO official says response to reports was 'scripted' in Ottawa
Tories attack credibility of diplomat who blew whistle on torture
Attack on senior diplomat signals demise of independent public service: experts
"If we don't have a public service that speaks truth to power we might as well have everything run out of the Prime Minister’s Office."
Diplomats told to keep quiet on torture allegations, sources say
Former ambassadors condemn Ottawa's attack on diplomat
Response to Colvin's detainee testimony discourages honest reports, letter says
Public service in crisis over Colvin
The Harper government's attack on a senior diplomat could be the final blow in the unravelling of Canada's once-sacred tradition of an independent, non-partisan public service, warn experts
Afghan detainee watchdog warns of Tory 'chilling effect'
Departing military commission chief's comments come as Harper government digs in its heels in face of parliamentary order to turn over confidential files
Feds refuse legal funding to whistleblower diplomat
Feds tried to order nuclear regulator to bend rules
Conservatives stop funding for learning organization
Ottawa is cutting off public input into climate-change policy
Tory candidate dumped for frank TV comments: Mused riding wouldn't get infrastructure cash because it's Liberal-held
Gov't program wants job applicants' views on Tory budget
Insults, discourtesy and disrespect mark Harper team's behaviour:
Targets have included AIDS activists, Nobel Prize winners and Road to Avonlea star
PM Never Too Busy For a Photo OP
Summoning hordes of photographers to document your every move following a massive humanitarian disaster, and then not letting reporters ask questions seems very disingenuous, and a little ridiculous. The intent is obviously to make Mr. Harper look Prime Ministerial, but I think if the public knew the context behind the images they were seeing they would feel exactly the opposite.
What's Wrong With This Picture
The PMO is sending out a steady stream of publicity photos in the hope they will be used in newspapers and blogs across the country. But photojournalists believe Harper's handlers are going too far in trying to control his image
THE CULTURE OF SECRECY
Watchdog blasts Tories for secrecy obsession: Information chief challenges Ottawa to ease 'stranglehold'
Watchdog alarmed by Harper's information clampdown
Canada's information watchdog says the public knows less than ever about what its government is doing
Government secrecy 'grim,' watchdog says
Ottawa nixes bid to expand transparency
Tories blasted for secrecy on stimulus cash
Ottawa seeks secrecy in Tamil migrant case
CENTRALIZING POWER IN STEPHEN HARPER'S HANDS
Siddiqui: Harper acting like an elected dictator
Gomery slams Harper for ignoring him
The man who investigated the sponsorship scandal says Prime Minister Stephen Harper seems to have abandoned any commitment he once had to transparent government in favour of a top-down style that centralizes power in his own hands.
Gomery slams increasing power of PM's office
Failure to decentralize PMO power poses danger to democracy: Gomery
CONTEMPT FOR ACCOUNTABILITY
Ottawa moves to block detainee-transfer hearings [2008]
Redactions hamper Afghan detainee probe [2009]
Unreadable documents make meaningful inquiry 'almost impossible' and reflect government efforts to keep record a secret
Ottawa won't release Afghan documents
Harper government says it will not comply with Opposition motion passed by Parliament
Tories to ignore vote on releasing prisoner reports
Parliament in showdown with Harper government over Afghan documents
Tories refuse to release uncensored documents on Afghan detainees
Tories force shutdown of hearing on torture [2009]
Opposition blasts boycott as whistleblower readies rebuttal to Ottawa today
Ritz avoids listeria joke questions at agriculture debate
Promised listeriosis probe still lacks investigator
Harper government withholds listeriosis notes
Did lag in releasing listeriosis notes break law?
Tories opened patronage doors before election: CP
Harper, who railed against Liberal patronage in the 2006 election, later failed to deliver on a campaign pledge to put an independent commission in charge of vetting cabinet appointments. He angrily shelved the idea after opposition MPs refused to ratify his nomination of Gwyn Morgan, a Calgary oil baron who is also a friend of the prime minister, as the commission chair.
Prentice defends use of government jet
An analysis of federal air travel by a French-language television network found that 15 ministers had used the private plane 72 times after four years in office, including 31 trips that did not appear to meet government criteria for use of the plane.
Tories stall on Liberal request for jet passengers
The Harper government says it is unable to provide the names of passengers who have flown on its fleet of Challenger executive jets since 2006 because it would take longer than a month-and-a-half to assemble the list.
CONTEMPT FOR ETHICS
People don't care about Afghan detainee issue: Harper
PM's former adviser accused of peddling access to corridors of power
PM ignores fixed-election date law
Conservatives confusing public on 'in and out' financing says Prof. MacIvor
RCMP raids Tory party headquarters
The Conservatives insist the transactions were legal but Elections Canada disagrees and rival parties have labeled the scheme outright fraud
Tories overspent on election by $1M: warrant
Tory dissenters 'idiots, turds'
Workers on the campaign of a Conservative MP who declined to participate in the in-and-out advertising scheme in the 2006 election were denounced as "idiots" and a "bunch of turds" by senior party officials, who wanted to "put the fear of God" into them for not taking part in the contentious TV and radio purchases.
Tory MP admits he broke elections law
Tory MP derides jobless as 'no-good bastards'
MPs' comments on unemployed, abortion show party's 'meanness,' opposition critics say
Finley under fire for 'lucrative' jobless comment
Conservative government has no interest in increasing Employment Insurance payments and making it "lucrative" for jobless workers to sit around the house
"In terms of the unemployed... don't feel particularly bad for many of these people. They don't feel bad about it themselves, as long as they're receiving generous social assistance and unemployment insurance."
Stephen Harper, Speech to the [American] Council for National Policy, June 1997
PM's Jewish pitch hits a new low, critics say Tory flyer suggests Liberals are anti-Semitic
"... new book made the claim that former Conservative MP Chuck Cadman was essentially offered financial inducements [a $1 million life insurance policy] by Conservative party officials to vote down the Liberal government's 2005 budget ... Chuck Cadman's widow [a current Conservative MP] has said her late husband told her about the offer. Two other family members say Cadman told them the same thing ..."
Quoted from "Dion, Harper clash over Cadman allegations"
PM's cutback plan: Choke rival parties
NDP considers legal action after Tories tape private meeting
Recreational stimulus favours Tory ridings
Tory ridings get more stimulus money
Stimulus funds forget high jobless areas
Lobbying czar probes firm with ties to Tories
Raitt accused of expense abuse: She improperly approved her London trip, Port Authority's former chair says
Why were port authority board minutes altered?
Documents approved in December 2008 differ greatly from those rewritten and approved six months later, Star examination finds
Raitt under fire for calling cancer, isotope crisis 'sexy
Tories overstate cost of Liberal EI plan: budget office
Tory attack on carbon tax is dishonest: economist
Harper won't rule out carbon tax
Tories outspent Liberals on consultants
The Conservative government spent almost $1 billion on consultants in its first two years in office – nearly double what the Liberals spent in a similar time period
PM's pal gets government job
Appointment to board of directors is geologist's third posting to be criticized for favouritism
Tory MP who led anti-drug campaign charged with cocaine possession
Tories spend 5 times more on ads than H1N1 prevention
Tories reject fast-tracking of sentencing bill
Conservatives rejected a bid Thursday to expedite a key piece of their tough-on-crime agenda, even as they continued to bash Liberal senators for holding up the legislation
Canada quietly asks EPA to weaken anti-pollution measures
Ethics czar to investigate Tory logos on cheques
Taxpayers on hook for $1.7-million as PMO rolls out video
Extra funding requested to help bolster Stephen Harper's communications support services
Tories spend $108,000 on 1-hour event
The Conservative government spent more than $100,000 staging a one-hour event in June to provide an update on its economic recovery program
John Baird won't let truth blunt a good barb
For second consecutive day, Transport Minister misquotes Liberal defence critic in fending off criticism on Afghan detainee torture allegations
Climate walkout 'certainly happened'
Despite minister's denial, email confirms incident
Flaherty's deficit plan: Take an axe and cut deep
'I've done it before,' in Harris-era Ontario
Tory suspended for comments about dead soldier's father is back on job
Harper was in on the ground floor of coalition building
Ironically, it was Stephen Harper who first brought the option of vaulting to power from the benches of the official Opposition to the fore in the early days of Paul Martin's 2004 minority regime. Even before the presentation of Martin's Speech from the Throne, Harper had sought out his two opposition rivals to lay the groundwork of an alliance to unseat the Liberals.
Bloc part of secret coalition plot in 2000 with Canadian Alliance
Tory aide tried to scuttle Hanukkah event: organizer
Harper zigzags on economy
For the past three months, the only thing consistent about Prime Minister Stephen Harper's position on the economy has been its inconsistency
CONTEMPT FOR CANADA AND CANADIANS
"Canada appears content to become a second-tier socialistic country, boasting ever more loudly about its economy and social services to mask its second-rate status..."
Stephen Harper, National Post editorial, 2000
"It may not be true, but it's legendary that if you're like all Americans, you know almost nothing except for your own country, which makes you probably knowledgeable about one more country than most Canadians."
Stephen Harper, Speech to the [American] Council for National Policy, June 1997
"Canada is a Northern European welfare state in the worst sense of the term, and very proud of it."
Stephen Harper, Speech to the [American] Council for National Policy, June 1997
"Whether Canada ends up as one national government or two national governments or several national governments, or some other kind of arrangement is, quite frankly, secondary in my opinion ..."
Stephen Harper, Speech to the Colin Brown Memorial Dinner, National Citizens Coalition, 1994
"If Ottawa giveth, then Ottawa can taketh away ... This is one more reason why Westerners, but Albertans in particular, need to think hard about their future in this country. After sober reflection, Albertans should decide that it is time to seek a new relationship with Canada ... Having hit a wall, the next logical step is not to bang our heads against it. It is to take the bricks and begin building another home – a stronger and much more autonomous Alberta. It is time to look at Quebec and to learn. What Albertans should take from this example is to become 'maitres chez nous'."
Stephen Harper, National Post, December 8, 2000
"You've got to remember that west of Winnipeg the ridings the Liberals hold are dominated by people who are either recent Asian immigrants or recent migrants from eastern Canada: people who live in ghettoes and who are not integrated into western Canadian society."
Stephen Harper, The Report newsmagazine, January 22, 2001
"I think in Atlantic Canada ... there is a culture of defeat that we have to overcome. ... Atlantic Canada's culture of defeat will be hard to overcome as long as Atlantic Canada is actually physically trailing the rest of the country."
Stephen Harper, New Brunswick Telegraph Journal, May 29, 2002
CONTEMPT FOR PARLIAMENT
WAR WITH ELECTIONS CANADA
RCMP raids Tory party headquarters
The Conservatives insist the transactions were legal but Elections Canada disagrees and rival parties have labeled the scheme outright fraud
Tories oppose Bloc motion supporting Elections Canada
PARLIAMENT DIMINISHED
PM's 'bizarre' report card under attack
Critics charge that not only are his claims that he and the Conservatives saved the economy meaningless, his pattern of disdain for Parliament reached new levels when he upstaged his finance minister and delivered the [economic] update while overseas.
PROLOGUE: THE FIRST LIES ABOUT DETAINEE TORTURE EXPOSED
April 27, 2007
Reports confirm Canada's complicity in Afghan state torture
November 15, 2007
'Credible' case of torture found in Afghanistan
Transfer of detainees is complicity in torture
Conservatives 'fume' about blunder
Their blades remain sheathed but astonished Conservatives are quietly fuming about the tactical blunder they fear could toss them into opposition. And the blame seems to be landing on the prime minister's doorstep.
Harper to blame for political crisis
Canadian Leader Shuts Parliament
Canada's parliamentary opposition reacted with outrage on Thursday after Prime Minister Stephen Harper shut down the legislature until Jan. 26, seeking to forestall a no-confidence vote that he was sure to lose ...
THE SECOND WAR ON PARLIAMENT
ACT I: ESCAPING THE COPENHAGEN FIASCO
Canada contradicts climate change consensus at Commonwealth
Canada falling behind U.S. in clean-energy efforts: experts
No faith in Harper on climate
Harper lies low in Copenhagen
Prentice hints there may be 'special breaks' for tarsands
Ontario and Quebec slam Ottawa on climate
Prentice delivers Canada's unpopular position
Harper leaves it to his Environment Minister to present plenary session
Harper lays low, Prentice addresses UN in Copenhagen
Groups declare Canada world's biggest environmental offender at climate talks
Canada's a joke at climate talks
ACT II: WAS THE HARPER GOVERNMENT COMPLICIT IN WAR CRIMES?
Scene I: THE ACCUSATION
Canada handed over innocent Afghans to torture: diplomat
Scene II: THE VILLAIN’S ROLE IS MISCAST
Tories attack credibility of diplomat who blew whistle on torture
Canada generals deny ignoring Afghan abuse warnings
Generals say crucial reports did not mention torture "Ludicrous" to say most detainees abused – general
Scene III: THE SUPPORTING CAST REVEALED
PMO issued instructions on denying abuse in '07
Former NATO official says response to reports was 'scripted' in Ottawa
Diplomats told to keep quiet on torture allegations, sources say
Many detainees were just farmers, Afghan official says
Detainee ties to insurgency could not always be established: Afghan agency
Canadians warned early that Afghan detainees faced torture
EU diplomat backs claims on torture
Canadian's warnings on Afghan detainees reflected common view, says his European colleague
Dutch raised concerns over conditions in 2006: Netherlands suggested a separate facility
Coalition allies faulted Canada over handling of detainees
Complaint was lodged over secretive approach on captures as early as summer of 2006
Red Cross warned Canada of Afghan prison abuse
Afghans rejected Canadian-captured prisoners for 'insufficient evidence'
Hillier accused of 'trivializing' torture at detainees hearing
The record and the falsehoods: The government's insistence it knew nothing about the torture of Afghan detainees becomes more and more tenuous
Canada defended Afghan 'human-rights abuser,' memos allege
Canada kept feared Afghan governor in power despite rep as 'human-rights abuser'
Scene IV: PETER MACKAY, CANADA'S VERSION OF SERGEANT "I KNOW NOTHING" SCHULTZ, DELIVERS HIS SOLILOQUY
Government denies liability in torture cases despite report
Tories reject call for Afghan torture inquiry
No proof detainees were tortured, defence minister says
Scene V: NEMESIS, THOU ART A BITCH!
Proof of detainee abuse exists, despite MacKay's denials
Ex-ambassadors condemn gov't on detainee issue
Warnings on detainees were e-mailed to MacKay's office
MacKay's office got Red Cross warnings about Afghan treatment
Documents confirm whistleblower's emails were sent to then-Foreign Affairs minister Peter MacKay's office
Why was Harper so blind to abuse?
Scene VI: HARPO, I HAVE A FEELING THAT WE'RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE!
Natynczyk makes major reversal on detainee story
Scene VI: TWAS BUT A DREAM AND THE BLACKED OUT MEMOS ARE STILL A BIT FUZZY
Harper government changes tune on Afghan prisoner issue
MacKay says Tories were aware of concerns and began to act shortly after taking office
Heavily-censored Afghan abuse memos released
Documents confirm whistleblower's emails were sent to then-Foreign Affairs minister Peter MacKay's office
Scene VII: FRAILTY, THY NAME IS PARLIAMENT!
Parliament in showdown with Harper government over Afghan documents
Ottawa won't release Afghan documents
Harper government says it will not comply with Opposition motion passed by Parliament, setting stage for legal battle
Tories to ignore vote on releasing prisoner reports
Tories refuse to release uncensored documents on Afghan detainees
Conservative boycott shuts down Afghan detainee hearing
Tories force shutdown of hearing on torture
Opposition blasts boycott as whistleblower readies rebuttal to Ottawa today
ACT III
Scene I: THE DEMOCRACY DEATH SCENE?
PM suspends Parliament
EPILOGUE: AT HOME AND ABROAD
Democracy diminished, accountability avoided
By suspending Parliament, Stephen Harper allows the governing party to elude the detainee issue, a move that undermines the democratic rights of the people
Prorogation redux: Harper in contempt of Parliament
His request to shut down the House again undermines Canada's democratic institutions
The Economist vents spleen on PM's decision to prorogue
"His officials faced grilling by parliamentary committees over whether they misled the House of Commons in denying knowledge that detainees handed over to the local authorities by Canadian troops in Afghanistan were being tortured. The government would also have come under fire for its lack of policies to curb Canada's abundant carbon emissions."
'Harper goes prorogue,' The Economist laments
"Never mind what his spin doctors say: Mr. Harper's move looks like naked self-interest," says the editorial. The editorial likens Canadian ministers to hapless former U.S. president Gerald Ford, "who could not walk and chew gum at the same time."
Afghans violating detainee-transfer agreement
A number of insurgents handed over to Afghan police can't be accounted for, despite Ottawa's assertion transfer
ADDENDUM
CBC Report on Conservatives' leaked "dirty tricks manual"
Only days after filibustering several committees, a leaked document seems to prove the Conservative government has been deliberately wrecking havoc. ... Spring of 2007: a Conservative manual to purposely and deliberately disrupt and make the government committees dysfunctional. ...
The Harper government has failed to help a number of Canadian citizens in trouble outside the country.
The Harper government resorted to dirty tricks to try to dismantle the Canadian Wheat Board.
101 Reasons not to vote for the Conservative Party (video)
***
Message from Defend Parliament:
HYPOCRITICAL HARPER QUOTES
"The first principle of a democracy is that the Prime Minister is supposed to be able to face this House of Commons any day on a vote. This government now has the deliberate policy of avoiding a vote. This is a violation of the most fundamental constitutional principle of our democracy."
Stephen Harper as Leader of the Opposition, attacking the Martin government, May 3, 2005
"When a government starts trying to cancel dissent or avoid dissent is frankly when it's rapidly losing its moral authority to govern."
Stephen Harper, Canadian Press, April 18, 2005
Most of us who oppose Stephen Harper's prorogation of Parliament know that this is not the first time the Prime Minister has thumbed his nose at democracy. My own passion, US war resisters in Canada, has been up against it for years. The House of Commons passed a motion calling on the government to stop deporting war resisters and to allow them to stay in Canada, then reaffirmed it with a second majority vote - and both times the Harper government ignored the will of the majority. It's maddening, and it's wrong. In April 2005, as leader of the Opposition, Harper said, "The Prime Minister has the moral obligation to respect the will of Parliament." Indeed, he does.
Of course the war resisters issue is but one example of many. No one can remember every instance - unless we're keeping track. Lucky for us someone was.
Redsock found this amazing post from the Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament Facebook group (now 195,000 strong!). A member commenting as "Defend Parliament" posted a jaw-dropping collection of news stories documenting "The Harper Attack on Canadian Democracy".
What follows is most (but not all!) of "Defend Parliament"'s list. Many thanks to redsock for putting this together, and a million thanks to "Defend Parliament" for stellar citizen journalism!
As you scroll through or read this list, ask yourself this: Have I done everything I can to help make January 23 a success? Is there anything else I can do to help spread the word? NoProrogue.ca.
* * * *
MUZZLING CABINET MINISTERS, MPs, JUDGES, ETC.
How Harper controls the spin
Zeal to manage message sees journalists shunned, bureaucrats, cabinet ministers routinely muzzled. Public appearances by cabinet ministers – whether it's a speech or an interview – are carefully staged, starting with a "message event proposal" vetted by the Privy Council Office, the bureaucratic wing of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).
PM slaps muzzle on military brass
Hillier, Sr.Officials Muzzled by PMO
Mums the word: Harper tells MPs to keep mouths shut
Tories tighten muzzle on PS [Public Service] for campaign
Former chief justice of Canada accuses PM of trying to "muzzle" the judiciary
'Muzzle' Placed On Federal Scientists
Tories muzzle environmental scientist
Minister stops book talk by Environment Canada scientist
Mum's the word till message vetted
No federal cabinet minister speaks to a journalist, gives a speech or makes a policy announcement until a "message event proposal" has been vetted by a wing of the Prime Minister's Office.
Harper lawsuit smacks of authoritarian state: prof
Holland shocked by Conservative comments on media
Harper government whips Tories into line with secret handbook
Information Commissioner Robert Marleau told The Hill Times recently that the Harper government has been quietly drafting about 25 government policies that impact on the rights of officers of Parliament, and that it has been happening without their knowledge or input.
Conservative headquarters scripting calls to radio shows
Canada slips in 'press freedom' rankings
Torture probe delayed; Tories deny gagging witness
Lawyers seek to gag witnesses in Afghan prisoner inquiry
Has Canada entered a 'Bush-like vortex'?
Richard Colvin's torture allegations suggest civil servants aren't writing down what the government doesn't want recorded
PMO issued instructions on denying abuse in '07 -- Former NATO official says response to reports was 'scripted' in Ottawa
Tories attack credibility of diplomat who blew whistle on torture
Attack on senior diplomat signals demise of independent public service: experts
"If we don't have a public service that speaks truth to power we might as well have everything run out of the Prime Minister’s Office."
Diplomats told to keep quiet on torture allegations, sources say
Former ambassadors condemn Ottawa's attack on diplomat
Response to Colvin's detainee testimony discourages honest reports, letter says
Public service in crisis over Colvin
The Harper government's attack on a senior diplomat could be the final blow in the unravelling of Canada's once-sacred tradition of an independent, non-partisan public service, warn experts
Afghan detainee watchdog warns of Tory 'chilling effect'
Departing military commission chief's comments come as Harper government digs in its heels in face of parliamentary order to turn over confidential files
Feds refuse legal funding to whistleblower diplomat
Feds tried to order nuclear regulator to bend rules
Conservatives stop funding for learning organization
Ottawa is cutting off public input into climate-change policy
Tory candidate dumped for frank TV comments: Mused riding wouldn't get infrastructure cash because it's Liberal-held
Gov't program wants job applicants' views on Tory budget
Insults, discourtesy and disrespect mark Harper team's behaviour:
Targets have included AIDS activists, Nobel Prize winners and Road to Avonlea star
PM Never Too Busy For a Photo OP
Summoning hordes of photographers to document your every move following a massive humanitarian disaster, and then not letting reporters ask questions seems very disingenuous, and a little ridiculous. The intent is obviously to make Mr. Harper look Prime Ministerial, but I think if the public knew the context behind the images they were seeing they would feel exactly the opposite.
What's Wrong With This Picture
The PMO is sending out a steady stream of publicity photos in the hope they will be used in newspapers and blogs across the country. But photojournalists believe Harper's handlers are going too far in trying to control his image
THE CULTURE OF SECRECY
Watchdog blasts Tories for secrecy obsession: Information chief challenges Ottawa to ease 'stranglehold'
Watchdog alarmed by Harper's information clampdown
Canada's information watchdog says the public knows less than ever about what its government is doing
Government secrecy 'grim,' watchdog says
Ottawa nixes bid to expand transparency
Tories blasted for secrecy on stimulus cash
Ottawa seeks secrecy in Tamil migrant case
CENTRALIZING POWER IN STEPHEN HARPER'S HANDS
Siddiqui: Harper acting like an elected dictator
Gomery slams Harper for ignoring him
The man who investigated the sponsorship scandal says Prime Minister Stephen Harper seems to have abandoned any commitment he once had to transparent government in favour of a top-down style that centralizes power in his own hands.
Gomery slams increasing power of PM's office
Failure to decentralize PMO power poses danger to democracy: Gomery
CONTEMPT FOR ACCOUNTABILITY
Ottawa moves to block detainee-transfer hearings [2008]
Redactions hamper Afghan detainee probe [2009]
Unreadable documents make meaningful inquiry 'almost impossible' and reflect government efforts to keep record a secret
Ottawa won't release Afghan documents
Harper government says it will not comply with Opposition motion passed by Parliament
Tories to ignore vote on releasing prisoner reports
Parliament in showdown with Harper government over Afghan documents
Tories refuse to release uncensored documents on Afghan detainees
Tories force shutdown of hearing on torture [2009]
Opposition blasts boycott as whistleblower readies rebuttal to Ottawa today
Ritz avoids listeria joke questions at agriculture debate
Promised listeriosis probe still lacks investigator
Harper government withholds listeriosis notes
Did lag in releasing listeriosis notes break law?
Tories opened patronage doors before election: CP
Harper, who railed against Liberal patronage in the 2006 election, later failed to deliver on a campaign pledge to put an independent commission in charge of vetting cabinet appointments. He angrily shelved the idea after opposition MPs refused to ratify his nomination of Gwyn Morgan, a Calgary oil baron who is also a friend of the prime minister, as the commission chair.
Prentice defends use of government jet
An analysis of federal air travel by a French-language television network found that 15 ministers had used the private plane 72 times after four years in office, including 31 trips that did not appear to meet government criteria for use of the plane.
Tories stall on Liberal request for jet passengers
The Harper government says it is unable to provide the names of passengers who have flown on its fleet of Challenger executive jets since 2006 because it would take longer than a month-and-a-half to assemble the list.
CONTEMPT FOR ETHICS
People don't care about Afghan detainee issue: Harper
PM's former adviser accused of peddling access to corridors of power
PM ignores fixed-election date law
Conservatives confusing public on 'in and out' financing says Prof. MacIvor
RCMP raids Tory party headquarters
The Conservatives insist the transactions were legal but Elections Canada disagrees and rival parties have labeled the scheme outright fraud
Tories overspent on election by $1M: warrant
Tory dissenters 'idiots, turds'
Workers on the campaign of a Conservative MP who declined to participate in the in-and-out advertising scheme in the 2006 election were denounced as "idiots" and a "bunch of turds" by senior party officials, who wanted to "put the fear of God" into them for not taking part in the contentious TV and radio purchases.
Tory MP admits he broke elections law
Tory MP derides jobless as 'no-good bastards'
MPs' comments on unemployed, abortion show party's 'meanness,' opposition critics say
Finley under fire for 'lucrative' jobless comment
Conservative government has no interest in increasing Employment Insurance payments and making it "lucrative" for jobless workers to sit around the house
"In terms of the unemployed... don't feel particularly bad for many of these people. They don't feel bad about it themselves, as long as they're receiving generous social assistance and unemployment insurance."
Stephen Harper, Speech to the [American] Council for National Policy, June 1997
PM's Jewish pitch hits a new low, critics say Tory flyer suggests Liberals are anti-Semitic
"... new book made the claim that former Conservative MP Chuck Cadman was essentially offered financial inducements [a $1 million life insurance policy] by Conservative party officials to vote down the Liberal government's 2005 budget ... Chuck Cadman's widow [a current Conservative MP] has said her late husband told her about the offer. Two other family members say Cadman told them the same thing ..."
Quoted from "Dion, Harper clash over Cadman allegations"
PM's cutback plan: Choke rival parties
NDP considers legal action after Tories tape private meeting
Recreational stimulus favours Tory ridings
Tory ridings get more stimulus money
Stimulus funds forget high jobless areas
Lobbying czar probes firm with ties to Tories
Raitt accused of expense abuse: She improperly approved her London trip, Port Authority's former chair says
Why were port authority board minutes altered?
Documents approved in December 2008 differ greatly from those rewritten and approved six months later, Star examination finds
Raitt under fire for calling cancer, isotope crisis 'sexy
Tories overstate cost of Liberal EI plan: budget office
Tory attack on carbon tax is dishonest: economist
Harper won't rule out carbon tax
Tories outspent Liberals on consultants
The Conservative government spent almost $1 billion on consultants in its first two years in office – nearly double what the Liberals spent in a similar time period
PM's pal gets government job
Appointment to board of directors is geologist's third posting to be criticized for favouritism
Tory MP who led anti-drug campaign charged with cocaine possession
Tories spend 5 times more on ads than H1N1 prevention
Tories reject fast-tracking of sentencing bill
Conservatives rejected a bid Thursday to expedite a key piece of their tough-on-crime agenda, even as they continued to bash Liberal senators for holding up the legislation
Canada quietly asks EPA to weaken anti-pollution measures
Ethics czar to investigate Tory logos on cheques
Taxpayers on hook for $1.7-million as PMO rolls out video
Extra funding requested to help bolster Stephen Harper's communications support services
Tories spend $108,000 on 1-hour event
The Conservative government spent more than $100,000 staging a one-hour event in June to provide an update on its economic recovery program
John Baird won't let truth blunt a good barb
For second consecutive day, Transport Minister misquotes Liberal defence critic in fending off criticism on Afghan detainee torture allegations
Climate walkout 'certainly happened'
Despite minister's denial, email confirms incident
Flaherty's deficit plan: Take an axe and cut deep
'I've done it before,' in Harris-era Ontario
Tory suspended for comments about dead soldier's father is back on job
Harper was in on the ground floor of coalition building
Ironically, it was Stephen Harper who first brought the option of vaulting to power from the benches of the official Opposition to the fore in the early days of Paul Martin's 2004 minority regime. Even before the presentation of Martin's Speech from the Throne, Harper had sought out his two opposition rivals to lay the groundwork of an alliance to unseat the Liberals.
Bloc part of secret coalition plot in 2000 with Canadian Alliance
Tory aide tried to scuttle Hanukkah event: organizer
Harper zigzags on economy
For the past three months, the only thing consistent about Prime Minister Stephen Harper's position on the economy has been its inconsistency
CONTEMPT FOR CANADA AND CANADIANS
"Canada appears content to become a second-tier socialistic country, boasting ever more loudly about its economy and social services to mask its second-rate status..."
Stephen Harper, National Post editorial, 2000
"It may not be true, but it's legendary that if you're like all Americans, you know almost nothing except for your own country, which makes you probably knowledgeable about one more country than most Canadians."
Stephen Harper, Speech to the [American] Council for National Policy, June 1997
"Canada is a Northern European welfare state in the worst sense of the term, and very proud of it."
Stephen Harper, Speech to the [American] Council for National Policy, June 1997
"Whether Canada ends up as one national government or two national governments or several national governments, or some other kind of arrangement is, quite frankly, secondary in my opinion ..."
Stephen Harper, Speech to the Colin Brown Memorial Dinner, National Citizens Coalition, 1994
"If Ottawa giveth, then Ottawa can taketh away ... This is one more reason why Westerners, but Albertans in particular, need to think hard about their future in this country. After sober reflection, Albertans should decide that it is time to seek a new relationship with Canada ... Having hit a wall, the next logical step is not to bang our heads against it. It is to take the bricks and begin building another home – a stronger and much more autonomous Alberta. It is time to look at Quebec and to learn. What Albertans should take from this example is to become 'maitres chez nous'."
Stephen Harper, National Post, December 8, 2000
"You've got to remember that west of Winnipeg the ridings the Liberals hold are dominated by people who are either recent Asian immigrants or recent migrants from eastern Canada: people who live in ghettoes and who are not integrated into western Canadian society."
Stephen Harper, The Report newsmagazine, January 22, 2001
"I think in Atlantic Canada ... there is a culture of defeat that we have to overcome. ... Atlantic Canada's culture of defeat will be hard to overcome as long as Atlantic Canada is actually physically trailing the rest of the country."
Stephen Harper, New Brunswick Telegraph Journal, May 29, 2002
CONTEMPT FOR PARLIAMENT
WAR WITH ELECTIONS CANADA
RCMP raids Tory party headquarters
The Conservatives insist the transactions were legal but Elections Canada disagrees and rival parties have labeled the scheme outright fraud
Tories oppose Bloc motion supporting Elections Canada
PARLIAMENT DIMINISHED
PM's 'bizarre' report card under attack
Critics charge that not only are his claims that he and the Conservatives saved the economy meaningless, his pattern of disdain for Parliament reached new levels when he upstaged his finance minister and delivered the [economic] update while overseas.
PROLOGUE: THE FIRST LIES ABOUT DETAINEE TORTURE EXPOSED
April 27, 2007
Reports confirm Canada's complicity in Afghan state torture
November 15, 2007
'Credible' case of torture found in Afghanistan
Transfer of detainees is complicity in torture
Conservatives 'fume' about blunder
Their blades remain sheathed but astonished Conservatives are quietly fuming about the tactical blunder they fear could toss them into opposition. And the blame seems to be landing on the prime minister's doorstep.
Harper to blame for political crisis
Canadian Leader Shuts Parliament
Canada's parliamentary opposition reacted with outrage on Thursday after Prime Minister Stephen Harper shut down the legislature until Jan. 26, seeking to forestall a no-confidence vote that he was sure to lose ...
THE SECOND WAR ON PARLIAMENT
ACT I: ESCAPING THE COPENHAGEN FIASCO
Canada contradicts climate change consensus at Commonwealth
Canada falling behind U.S. in clean-energy efforts: experts
No faith in Harper on climate
Harper lies low in Copenhagen
Prentice hints there may be 'special breaks' for tarsands
Ontario and Quebec slam Ottawa on climate
Prentice delivers Canada's unpopular position
Harper leaves it to his Environment Minister to present plenary session
Harper lays low, Prentice addresses UN in Copenhagen
Groups declare Canada world's biggest environmental offender at climate talks
Canada's a joke at climate talks
ACT II: WAS THE HARPER GOVERNMENT COMPLICIT IN WAR CRIMES?
Scene I: THE ACCUSATION
Canada handed over innocent Afghans to torture: diplomat
Scene II: THE VILLAIN’S ROLE IS MISCAST
Tories attack credibility of diplomat who blew whistle on torture
Canada generals deny ignoring Afghan abuse warnings
Generals say crucial reports did not mention torture "Ludicrous" to say most detainees abused – general
Scene III: THE SUPPORTING CAST REVEALED
PMO issued instructions on denying abuse in '07
Former NATO official says response to reports was 'scripted' in Ottawa
Diplomats told to keep quiet on torture allegations, sources say
Many detainees were just farmers, Afghan official says
Detainee ties to insurgency could not always be established: Afghan agency
Canadians warned early that Afghan detainees faced torture
EU diplomat backs claims on torture
Canadian's warnings on Afghan detainees reflected common view, says his European colleague
Dutch raised concerns over conditions in 2006: Netherlands suggested a separate facility
Coalition allies faulted Canada over handling of detainees
Complaint was lodged over secretive approach on captures as early as summer of 2006
Red Cross warned Canada of Afghan prison abuse
Afghans rejected Canadian-captured prisoners for 'insufficient evidence'
Hillier accused of 'trivializing' torture at detainees hearing
The record and the falsehoods: The government's insistence it knew nothing about the torture of Afghan detainees becomes more and more tenuous
Canada defended Afghan 'human-rights abuser,' memos allege
Canada kept feared Afghan governor in power despite rep as 'human-rights abuser'
Scene IV: PETER MACKAY, CANADA'S VERSION OF SERGEANT "I KNOW NOTHING" SCHULTZ, DELIVERS HIS SOLILOQUY
Government denies liability in torture cases despite report
Tories reject call for Afghan torture inquiry
No proof detainees were tortured, defence minister says
Scene V: NEMESIS, THOU ART A BITCH!
Proof of detainee abuse exists, despite MacKay's denials
Ex-ambassadors condemn gov't on detainee issue
Warnings on detainees were e-mailed to MacKay's office
MacKay's office got Red Cross warnings about Afghan treatment
Documents confirm whistleblower's emails were sent to then-Foreign Affairs minister Peter MacKay's office
Why was Harper so blind to abuse?
Scene VI: HARPO, I HAVE A FEELING THAT WE'RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE!
Natynczyk makes major reversal on detainee story
Scene VI: TWAS BUT A DREAM AND THE BLACKED OUT MEMOS ARE STILL A BIT FUZZY
Harper government changes tune on Afghan prisoner issue
MacKay says Tories were aware of concerns and began to act shortly after taking office
Heavily-censored Afghan abuse memos released
Documents confirm whistleblower's emails were sent to then-Foreign Affairs minister Peter MacKay's office
Scene VII: FRAILTY, THY NAME IS PARLIAMENT!
Parliament in showdown with Harper government over Afghan documents
Ottawa won't release Afghan documents
Harper government says it will not comply with Opposition motion passed by Parliament, setting stage for legal battle
Tories to ignore vote on releasing prisoner reports
Tories refuse to release uncensored documents on Afghan detainees
Conservative boycott shuts down Afghan detainee hearing
Tories force shutdown of hearing on torture
Opposition blasts boycott as whistleblower readies rebuttal to Ottawa today
ACT III
Scene I: THE DEMOCRACY DEATH SCENE?
PM suspends Parliament
EPILOGUE: AT HOME AND ABROAD
Democracy diminished, accountability avoided
By suspending Parliament, Stephen Harper allows the governing party to elude the detainee issue, a move that undermines the democratic rights of the people
Prorogation redux: Harper in contempt of Parliament
His request to shut down the House again undermines Canada's democratic institutions
The Economist vents spleen on PM's decision to prorogue
"His officials faced grilling by parliamentary committees over whether they misled the House of Commons in denying knowledge that detainees handed over to the local authorities by Canadian troops in Afghanistan were being tortured. The government would also have come under fire for its lack of policies to curb Canada's abundant carbon emissions."
'Harper goes prorogue,' The Economist laments
"Never mind what his spin doctors say: Mr. Harper's move looks like naked self-interest," says the editorial. The editorial likens Canadian ministers to hapless former U.S. president Gerald Ford, "who could not walk and chew gum at the same time."
Afghans violating detainee-transfer agreement
A number of insurgents handed over to Afghan police can't be accounted for, despite Ottawa's assertion transfer
ADDENDUM
CBC Report on Conservatives' leaked "dirty tricks manual"
Only days after filibustering several committees, a leaked document seems to prove the Conservative government has been deliberately wrecking havoc. ... Spring of 2007: a Conservative manual to purposely and deliberately disrupt and make the government committees dysfunctional. ...
The Harper government has failed to help a number of Canadian citizens in trouble outside the country.
The Harper government resorted to dirty tricks to try to dismantle the Canadian Wheat Board.
101 Reasons not to vote for the Conservative Party (video)
***
Message from Defend Parliament:
I've been saving these links for a few years and finally found a forum to paste them. I've organized them in a logical way, which I hope shows a persistent pattern of attack on Canada's democratic institutions, of which the latest prorogation is only the latest example. The scale of this attack is truly frightening! As you can see from the sheer volume of HEADLINES and LINKS alone (with very little content) that fear for our democracy should not be limited to a few paranoid types or to anyone of a particular political persuasion but to anyone that cares about living in a free society. ...
Conservatives and supporters often try to blame the Liberals before them, or someone else. ... But it wasn't until the Conservative government was in power than problems began to surface (and it was the Conservatives who did nothing about the problems) Fact: General Rick Hillier, acting on his own or not as the case may be, signed a deeply flawed agreement to turn over detainees to the Afghan authorities in December 2005, during an election campaign. The Conservatives were elected a month later. Instances of mistreatment were reported by Richard Colvin to his superiors, first in May 2006, and well into 2007.
HYPOCRITICAL HARPER QUOTES
"The first principle of a democracy is that the Prime Minister is supposed to be able to face this House of Commons any day on a vote. This government now has the deliberate policy of avoiding a vote. This is a violation of the most fundamental constitutional principle of our democracy."
Stephen Harper as Leader of the Opposition, attacking the Martin government, May 3, 2005
"When a government starts trying to cancel dissent or avoid dissent is frankly when it's rapidly losing its moral authority to govern."
Stephen Harper, Canadian Press, April 18, 2005
1.15.2010
aclu: 17 years old, and in solitary
My heart breaks when I read stories like this. From the ACLU: "17... and in solitary".
State-sponsored child abuse and torture of a young person already mentally ill from childhood abuse.
I just cry.
And support the ACLU.
And ask everyone to do the same.
State-sponsored child abuse and torture of a young person already mentally ill from childhood abuse.
I just cry.
And support the ACLU.
And ask everyone to do the same.
poll: harper now "a razor's edge" away from losing government
Jane Taber calls it a "breathtaking shift".
See you on January 23!
Stephen Harper's Conservatives would lose 33 seats if an election were held today and only maintain a tenuous hold on minority government, according to a new EKOS poll.
"From comfortable majority and kudos in October to the razor's edge of losing government altogether," says pollster Frank Graves, whose new survey finds that Canadians simply don't like the Parliamentary shutdown.
"Clearly it has a significant impact. It has become a proxy and a catalyst for a whole bunch of broader frustrations and anxieties that the public are feeling about the government."
Indeed, the EKOS data is consistent with two polls released yesterday showing the Tories and Michael Ignatieff's Liberals effectively tied for support and that Canadians are displeased with Mr. Harper’s decision to prorogue Parliament.
. . .
More interesting, however, is Mr. Graves's seat projections based on the latest numbers.
If an election were held today, he says, the Tories would have only 112 seats compared to the 145 they have now. Last fall, when his polls had the Tories in majority government territory, Mr. Graves had the Harper team winning 177 seats. Now, they would see their biggest losses in Ontario, dropping to 33 from 51 seats.
The Liberals, meanwhile, would make gains in Ontario, taking 60 seats from their current 38. Nationally, Mr. Graves has the Ignatieff team winning 107 seats compared to the 77 seats they have now.
His figures suggest the NDP would win 33 seats, down from the 37 they have now. And the Bloc Quebecois would win five more seats, going to 53 from 48 seats.
See you on January 23!
free at last, cliff cornell is free at last!
Today, Martin Luther King Jr's birthday, war resister Cliff Cornell will be released from prison!
It's fitting that Cliff sees freedom on King's day, as Dr King made the connection between racism and the US's imperialist wars, between poverty and the draft, between peace and justice.
Cliff joined the US Army in 2004 but refused to deploy to Iraq. He came to Canada in 2005, and lived for several years on Gabriola Island, off the coast of Vancouver Island.
In February 2009, the Harper government deported Cliff, despite the expressed will of the majority of the House of Commons, who twice called on the government to allow US war resisters to stay in Canada.
In the US, Cliff was arrested, court-martialed and sentenced to a year in military prison. His crime: refusing to participate in a war of aggression against a civilian population.
It's been a long road, more difficult than we know, I'm sure. But he's a survivor, and he made it through. He's had steadfast support from the Quaker and peace communities in North Carolina, from the war resister communities in both the US and Canada, and from his family in Arkansas. The campaign recently heard from Cliff's mom, and she was brimming with love and thanks for all of us in the movement.
Welcome home, Cliff! We hope to see you in Canada as soon as possible.
[My story about three activists' visit to Cliff in prison is here; long version of my interview with them is here.]
It's fitting that Cliff sees freedom on King's day, as Dr King made the connection between racism and the US's imperialist wars, between poverty and the draft, between peace and justice.
Cliff joined the US Army in 2004 but refused to deploy to Iraq. He came to Canada in 2005, and lived for several years on Gabriola Island, off the coast of Vancouver Island.
In February 2009, the Harper government deported Cliff, despite the expressed will of the majority of the House of Commons, who twice called on the government to allow US war resisters to stay in Canada.
In the US, Cliff was arrested, court-martialed and sentenced to a year in military prison. His crime: refusing to participate in a war of aggression against a civilian population.
It's been a long road, more difficult than we know, I'm sure. But he's a survivor, and he made it through. He's had steadfast support from the Quaker and peace communities in North Carolina, from the war resister communities in both the US and Canada, and from his family in Arkansas. The campaign recently heard from Cliff's mom, and she was brimming with love and thanks for all of us in the movement.
Welcome home, Cliff! We hope to see you in Canada as soon as possible.
[My story about three activists' visit to Cliff in prison is here; long version of my interview with them is here.]
i'd still rather be blogging
I'm having so much trouble getting my head back into studying mode! Last week I had an assignment due, so I had no choice. Not that it was easy, but a deadline is a deadline, and an oral presentation provides a strong incentive. But once over that little hump, I haven't yet found my studying rhythm.
I'm in the final week of preparation for the war resisters event in Mississauga that I'm co-organizing. I also have at least a dozen good topics to blog about, not including the stuff that comes up daily. And you know what? That's what I want to do! I want to work on my war resisters stuff, and I want to blog. I don't want to do schoolwork!
(OK Laura, quit whining and get to work...)
I'm in the final week of preparation for the war resisters event in Mississauga that I'm co-organizing. I also have at least a dozen good topics to blog about, not including the stuff that comes up daily. And you know what? That's what I want to do! I want to work on my war resisters stuff, and I want to blog. I don't want to do schoolwork!
(OK Laura, quit whining and get to work...)
1.14.2010
philadelphia eagles award animal torturer michael vick for his "courage"
[redsock guest post]
WARNING! Contains graphic details of torture.
Shortly before Christmas, the Philadelphia Eagles voted unanimously to give quarterback and admitted dog-killer Michael Vick an award for courage. (I learned about this from Attytood).
Each NFL team gives out the annual Ed Block Courage Award to the player who best exemplifies "commitment to the principles of sportsmanship and courage". Block was the head trainer for the Colts and an advocate for neglected and abused children. Vick's teammate Donovan McNabb said the award for Vick was "well deserved".
Regarding his trial and subsequent conviction (which was not for animal cruelty, but for federal racketeering), Vick said:
What makes those words truly sickening is knowing some of the gruesome details from the investigation:
Donna Reynolds, the Executive Director of BAD RAP, helped assess the 49 dogs rescued from Vick's property:
How courageous of Vick -- slamming dogs' heads on concrete and tossing others into his pool to be electrocuted.
This is, of course, only a part of the brutality. The dogs are often injected with steroids or their teeth are sharpened or their ears are cut off (so another dog cannot grab them).
As many of you know, we had a pit-mix for about six years. Laura and Cody found Buster outside our Manhattan apartment building on a cold, rainy December night. He was near death. He had almost no fur left on his body, and the skin that showed through was gray and diseased. He was covered in open wounds and oozing infections.
We eventually realized that Buster probably had been used as a "bait dog" for other dogs to attack, or possibly had been a poor fighter. When he became too ill to continue, or possibly for under-performing, he was dumped on our street, presumably to starve and die.
Despite all this, Buster re-learned how to trust humans. He had a lot of issues, and always required special care. (Understatement!) But he was a prince.
* * * *
Working with the amazing folks at BAD RAP, almost all the Vick dogs were rehabilitated and placed in homes. A few were rehabilitated but live in sanctuary. Some of dogs even learned how to blog.
WARNING! Contains graphic details of torture.
Shortly before Christmas, the Philadelphia Eagles voted unanimously to give quarterback and admitted dog-killer Michael Vick an award for courage. (I learned about this from Attytood).
Each NFL team gives out the annual Ed Block Courage Award to the player who best exemplifies "commitment to the principles of sportsmanship and courage". Block was the head trainer for the Colts and an advocate for neglected and abused children. Vick's teammate Donovan McNabb said the award for Vick was "well deserved".
Regarding his trial and subsequent conviction (which was not for animal cruelty, but for federal racketeering), Vick said:
I've overcome a lot, more than probably one single individual can handle or bear. You ask certain people to walk through my shoes, they probably couldn't do. Probably 95 per cent of the people in this world, because nobody had to endure what I've been through ...
What makes those words truly sickening is knowing some of the gruesome details from the investigation:
On two occasions, VICK placed his [redacted] dog in the ring and the "BAD NEWZ KENNEL" pit bull dogs caused major injuries to [redacted] dog. VICK also placed his [redacted] dog in the ring. Both dogs were family pets. VICK, PEACE, and PHILLIPS thought it was funny to watch the pit bull dogs belonging to "BAD NEWZ KENNELS" injure or kill the other dogs. ...
In mid-April of 2007, he, VICK, PHILLIPS, PEACE, and ALLEN tested dogs at the [redacted] location. ... It took between five and ten minutes to complete the testing of each dog. They decided to kill the dogs that they deemed not to be good fighters. He and PHILLIPS consequently drowned seven to eight dogs. Additionally, he, VICK, and PHILLIPS hung approximately four dogs with a nylon cord. One dog that did not die from hanging was taken down and drowned in a 5 gallon bucket of water. ... VICK and PHILLIPS killed a red pit bull dog, by slamming it to the ground several times before it died, breaking the dog's back or neck. ...
He and VICK took down one of the dogs that would not die from hanging and tossed the dog to the side. He later hung the same dog until it died. He wore overalls, which were hung in the garage, when he killed the dogs, so he would not soil his clothes.
Donna Reynolds, the Executive Director of BAD RAP, helped assess the 49 dogs rescued from Vick's property:
The details that got to me then and stay with me today involve the swimming pool that was used to kill some of the dogs. Jumper cables were clipped onto the ears of underperforming dogs, then, just like with a car, the cables were connected to the terminals of car batteries before lifting and tossing the shamed dogs into the water. Most of Vick's dogs were small - 40 lbs or so - so tossing them in would've been fast and easy work for thick athlete arms. We don't know how many suffered this premeditated murder, but the damage to the pool walls tells a story. It seems that while they were scrambling to escape, they scratched and clawed at the pool liner and bit at the dented aluminum sides like a hungry dog on a tin can.
I wear some pretty thick skin during our work with dogs, but I can't shake my minds-eye image of a little black dog splashing frantically in bloody water ... screaming in pain and terror ... brown eyes saucer wide and tiny black white-toed feet clawing at anything, desperate to get ahold. This death did not come quickly.
How courageous of Vick -- slamming dogs' heads on concrete and tossing others into his pool to be electrocuted.
This is, of course, only a part of the brutality. The dogs are often injected with steroids or their teeth are sharpened or their ears are cut off (so another dog cannot grab them).
As many of you know, we had a pit-mix for about six years. Laura and Cody found Buster outside our Manhattan apartment building on a cold, rainy December night. He was near death. He had almost no fur left on his body, and the skin that showed through was gray and diseased. He was covered in open wounds and oozing infections.
We eventually realized that Buster probably had been used as a "bait dog" for other dogs to attack, or possibly had been a poor fighter. When he became too ill to continue, or possibly for under-performing, he was dumped on our street, presumably to starve and die.
Despite all this, Buster re-learned how to trust humans. He had a lot of issues, and always required special care. (Understatement!) But he was a prince.
* * * *
Working with the amazing folks at BAD RAP, almost all the Vick dogs were rehabilitated and placed in homes. A few were rehabilitated but live in sanctuary. Some of dogs even learned how to blog.
pact with devil caused earthquake, like gays, lesbians, aclu and feminists caused 9/11
I'm sure you've heard that fundamentalist fanatic Pat Robertson blamed the earthquake in Haiti on Haitians "pact with Satan".
This is not the first time a pronouncement of this nature by Robertson and his fellow professional haters has made headlines. You may remember this exchange between Robertson and Jerry Falwell, also on "The 700 Club". It took place on September 13, 2001.
Partial transcript from "700 Club" found here, video here.
On the Christian Broadcasting Network's "700 Club" today, after a lengthy interview with a missionary who talked about helping the victims earthquake in Haiti, Rev. Pat Robertson had some interesting thoughts as to why the earthquake struck the impoverished nation: "And you know, Kristi, something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French, uh, you know Napoleon the 3rd and whatever, and they got together and swore a pact to the Devil. They said, 'We will serve you if you'll get us free from the French.'"
This is not the first time a pronouncement of this nature by Robertson and his fellow professional haters has made headlines. You may remember this exchange between Robertson and Jerry Falwell, also on "The 700 Club". It took place on September 13, 2001.
JERRY FALWELL: And I agree totally with you that the Lord has protected us so wonderfully these 225 years. And since 1812, this is the first time that we've been attacked on our soil and by far the worst results. And I fear, as Donald Rumsfeld, the Secretary of Defense, said yesterday, that this is only the beginning. And with biological warfare available to these monsters -- the Husseins, the Bin Ladens, the Arafats -- what we saw on Tuesday, as terrible as it is, could be miniscule if, in fact -- if, in fact -- God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve.
PAT ROBERTSON: Jerry, that's my feeling. I think we've just seen the antechamber to terror. We haven't even begun to see what they can do to the major population.
JERRY FALWELL: The ACLU's got to take a lot of blame for this.
PAT ROBERTSON: Well yes.
JERRY FALWELL: And, I know that I'll hear from them for this. But, throwing God out successfully with the help of the federal court system, throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools. The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way -- all of them who have tried to secularize America -- I point the finger in their face and say "you helped this happen."
Partial transcript from "700 Club" found here, video here.
help promote toronto anti-prorogation rally
From Canadians against Proroguing Parliament (Toronto):
We need your help!
Promote the rally for January 23.
NO to prorogation! YES to democracy!
Canadians against Proroguing Parliament (Toronto) has organized a rally and march for Saturday, January 23 at 1:00 p.m. at Yonge-Dundas Square in downtown Toronto. And we urgently need your help to promote it. Here's how you can help spread the word:
Download promotional materials.
Everything is available online - posters, leaflets, stickers, petitions, Facebook profile pics, etc.: http://groups.google.com/group/capp-outreach/files. Let us know where you can distribute them.
Provide free photocopying or printing.
Do you have access to a photocopier or heavy-duty printer? Can you do any free photocopying or printing (no amount is too small or too large)? Also let us know if your workplace, community group, local library, trade union or student union, place of worship, etc. can be a pick-up location for printed materials. If yes, email noproroguetoronto@gmail.com to let us know your address and dates/times when materials may be picked up.
Join us for city-wide poster runs.
On the following dates/times, meet us at Trinity-St. Paul's Centre, 427 Bloor Street West, Suite 207, 2nd floor to pick up posters and postering materials (paste, staplers and/or tape) and to spread out across Toronto to put up posters everywhere we can. Bring your friends!
- Wednesday, January 13 at 6:00pm
- Sunday, January 17 at 4:00pm
- Wednesday, January 20 at 6:00pm
Join us for city-wide leafleting sessions.
On the following dates/times/locations, meet us to distribute leaflets as a large group to passers-by. We'll bring all the printed materials, including display tables; you just have to bring yourself (and friends).
- Saturday, January 16 at 8:00am at the main entrance to St. Lawrence Market, 92 Front Street East (TTC: Union)
- Saturday, January 16 at 1:00pm at Yonge-Dundas Square (TTC: Dundas)
Put up posters/distribute leaflets on your own time.
All printed materials are available at Trinity-St. Paul's Centre, 427 Bloor Street West, Suite 207, 2nd floor, seven days a week from 8:00am to 10:00pm. Distribute materials on busy street corners, at TTC entrances/exits, and in large apartment buildings. Just let us know where you've distributed materials so we know what parts of Toronto have been covered. Email noproroguetoronto@gmail.com.
Donate funds.
Canadians against Proroguing Parliament (Toronto) is a grassroots, non-partisan movement of ordinary Canadians. We urgently need your financial support to build and organize an effective rally that engages the public and gets its message across to MPs. Donate online at http://noprorogue.ca/. Look for the "Donate Now" box. Cheques and/or money orders should be made payable to "Shilo Davis" or "Justin Arjoon" (CAPP in memo area) and mailed to CAPP Toronto, 67 Griffiths Drive, Ajax ON L1T 3J8.
Attend upcoming organizing meetings.
We need as many volunteers as possible to promote the rally ahead of time, and to support the rally itself on January 23. If you'd like to volunteer, please join us. We meet on Fridays (January 15 and 22) from 5:30pm to 7:30pm on the University of Toronto downtown campus. For exact location, email noproroguetoronto@gmail.com. All are welcome!
Promote the event online.
Feel free to forward this email to family, friends, co-workers and/or anyone who cares about democracy in Canada. You can also join our Facebook group, where this movement got started: http://bit.ly/findusonfacebook. Or follow us on Twitter to get regular updates on your cell phone or online: http://twitter.com/NoProrogueTO.
Thank you in advance for whatever support you can offer. We look forward to seeing you on January 23, if not sooner!
For more information, email noproroguetoronto@gmail.com.
http://noprorogue.ca/ | noproroguetoronto@gmail.com
We need your help!
Promote the rally for January 23.
NO to prorogation! YES to democracy!
Canadians against Proroguing Parliament (Toronto) has organized a rally and march for Saturday, January 23 at 1:00 p.m. at Yonge-Dundas Square in downtown Toronto. And we urgently need your help to promote it. Here's how you can help spread the word:
Download promotional materials.
Everything is available online - posters, leaflets, stickers, petitions, Facebook profile pics, etc.: http://groups.google.com/group/capp-outreach/files. Let us know where you can distribute them.
Provide free photocopying or printing.
Do you have access to a photocopier or heavy-duty printer? Can you do any free photocopying or printing (no amount is too small or too large)? Also let us know if your workplace, community group, local library, trade union or student union, place of worship, etc. can be a pick-up location for printed materials. If yes, email noproroguetoronto@gmail.com to let us know your address and dates/times when materials may be picked up.
Join us for city-wide poster runs.
On the following dates/times, meet us at Trinity-St. Paul's Centre, 427 Bloor Street West, Suite 207, 2nd floor to pick up posters and postering materials (paste, staplers and/or tape) and to spread out across Toronto to put up posters everywhere we can. Bring your friends!
- Wednesday, January 13 at 6:00pm
- Sunday, January 17 at 4:00pm
- Wednesday, January 20 at 6:00pm
Join us for city-wide leafleting sessions.
On the following dates/times/locations, meet us to distribute leaflets as a large group to passers-by. We'll bring all the printed materials, including display tables; you just have to bring yourself (and friends).
- Saturday, January 16 at 8:00am at the main entrance to St. Lawrence Market, 92 Front Street East (TTC: Union)
- Saturday, January 16 at 1:00pm at Yonge-Dundas Square (TTC: Dundas)
Put up posters/distribute leaflets on your own time.
All printed materials are available at Trinity-St. Paul's Centre, 427 Bloor Street West, Suite 207, 2nd floor, seven days a week from 8:00am to 10:00pm. Distribute materials on busy street corners, at TTC entrances/exits, and in large apartment buildings. Just let us know where you've distributed materials so we know what parts of Toronto have been covered. Email noproroguetoronto@gmail.com.
Donate funds.
Canadians against Proroguing Parliament (Toronto) is a grassroots, non-partisan movement of ordinary Canadians. We urgently need your financial support to build and organize an effective rally that engages the public and gets its message across to MPs. Donate online at http://noprorogue.ca/. Look for the "Donate Now" box. Cheques and/or money orders should be made payable to "Shilo Davis" or "Justin Arjoon" (CAPP in memo area) and mailed to CAPP Toronto, 67 Griffiths Drive, Ajax ON L1T 3J8.
Attend upcoming organizing meetings.
We need as many volunteers as possible to promote the rally ahead of time, and to support the rally itself on January 23. If you'd like to volunteer, please join us. We meet on Fridays (January 15 and 22) from 5:30pm to 7:30pm on the University of Toronto downtown campus. For exact location, email noproroguetoronto@gmail.com. All are welcome!
Promote the event online.
Feel free to forward this email to family, friends, co-workers and/or anyone who cares about democracy in Canada. You can also join our Facebook group, where this movement got started: http://bit.ly/findusonfacebook. Or follow us on Twitter to get regular updates on your cell phone or online: http://twitter.com/NoProrogueTO.
Thank you in advance for whatever support you can offer. We look forward to seeing you on January 23, if not sooner!
For more information, email noproroguetoronto@gmail.com.
http://noprorogue.ca/ | noproroguetoronto@gmail.com
peter hallward: the international community scrambling to help haiti is responsible for its suffering
From the Guardian:
Read more here. And everywhere you see "United States," read "United States and Canada".
HuffPo has a round-up of organizations collecting disaster relief: here.
Haiti is routinely described as the "poorest country in the western hemisphere". This poverty is the direct legacy of perhaps the most brutal system of colonial exploitation in world history, compounded by decades of systematic postcolonial oppression.
The noble "international community" which is currently scrambling to send its "humanitarian aid" to Haiti is largely responsible for the extent of the suffering it now aims to reduce.
Read more here. And everywhere you see "United States," read "United States and Canada".
HuffPo has a round-up of organizations collecting disaster relief: here.
prorogation and war resisters: an obvious connection
There's an excellent story on GlobalPost about US war resisters in Canada. Some of you may want to leave a supportive comment, or write a quick letter in response, by going here.
Let's not forget the very real connection between Stephen Harper's prorogation of Parliament and his government's treatment of war resisters. The House of Commons voted - not once, but twice - to stop the deportations and allow US war resisters to stay in Canada. Both times, the Harper government ignored the will of the majority.
All indications show that the majority of Canadians want Canada to give refuge to the war resisters. But Stephen Harper doesn't care what the majority wants, because he doesn't care about democracy.
Canada has long been a haven for Americans escaping their wars.
During the American Revolutionary War in the late 1700s, an estimated 50,000 colonists who wanted to remain loyal to Britain fled north to what would later become Canada. Thousands more crossed the border during the Civil War, using an underground railroad that led escaped slaves to freedom.
Canada's role as a sanctuary during the Vietnam War is well known. The conflict spurred an estimated 50,000 Americans old enough for military service to immigrate north, according to sociologist John Hagan, author of "Northern Passage: American Vietnam War Resisters in Canada." Hagan was among the draft dodgers and military deserters that did so.
Many Canadians would consider this tradition a noble one. But it has come to an end.
Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, some 200 American soldiers have fled to Canada looking for asylum. The Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper is determined to send them back.
Let's not forget the very real connection between Stephen Harper's prorogation of Parliament and his government's treatment of war resisters. The House of Commons voted - not once, but twice - to stop the deportations and allow US war resisters to stay in Canada. Both times, the Harper government ignored the will of the majority.
All indications show that the majority of Canadians want Canada to give refuge to the war resisters. But Stephen Harper doesn't care what the majority wants, because he doesn't care about democracy.
1.13.2010
vancouver libraries ordered to become olympic corporate shills
Is there no end to this mass corporate takeover of our landscape?
Has a Vancouver city employee - the marketing manager of the Vancouver Public Library - been so hypnotized by corporate dollars that she fears the wrong logo making a casual appearance in the library?
As you read this, keep in mind that she says neither the City of Vancouver nor VANOC asked her to do this! She's volunteering to be a good corporate shill and warning her colleagues to do the same.
Thanks to Christine for sending.
Has a Vancouver city employee - the marketing manager of the Vancouver Public Library - been so hypnotized by corporate dollars that she fears the wrong logo making a casual appearance in the library?
As you read this, keep in mind that she says neither the City of Vancouver nor VANOC asked her to do this! She's volunteering to be a good corporate shill and warning her colleagues to do the same.
Librarians in Vancouver are being warned to solicit only official Olympic sponsors for any Games-themed events they organize next month, and to cover up the names of any competitors - even slapping tape on offending logos on audiovisual equipment.
The memo, written by marketing and communications manager Jean Kavanagh, tells staff to avoid such companies as Pepsi or Dairy Queen - neither of which is an official sponsor, unlike, say Coca-Cola or McDonald's. And she suggests taking unusual steps to avoid displaying the logos of non-sponsors, writing: "If you have a speaker/guest who happens to work for Telus, ensure he/she is not wearing their Telus jacket, as Bell is the official sponsor."
She also writes that any rented sound equipment have its brand name covered by cloth or tape - if it's not a machine from sponsor Panasonic.
Ms. Kavanagh said in an interview that her list of Olympic dos and don'ts does not constitute censorship.
But Alex Youngberg, president of the library union, says the memo is contrary to the spirit of a public library. "There's something in my library to offend everybody," she said. "And that's our job. Our job as library staff is to not ever censor any information."
The library has a policy that says "sponsorship must not undermine the integrity of the non-commercial public space that the library provides." Ms. Kavanagh said she does not believe using exclusively Olympic brands at Vancouver library locations during the Games will breach that policy.
Ms. Kavanagh said neither the city nor VANOC asked her to send the memo; she simply wanted to make staff aware of Olympic branding guidelines.
"As we all know, the sponsors have paid a lot of money to sponsor these Games. The library is a department of the City of Vancouver and I didn't want any of our staff to be in potentially embarrassing situations," Ms. Kavanagh said.
VANOC spokesman Greg Alexis said the only time that VANOC would be concerned would be a case in which non-sponsor brands were used at an official Vancouver 2010 Winter Games event where the city's Olympic logo was used.
Thanks to Christine for sending.
what does prorogation have to do with afghanistan? everything.
Last night we attended a town hall meeting called "Canada in Afghanistan: Stop the war, end the torture," co-sponsored by the International Socialists at University of Toronto, and the University of Toronto NDP. It was well attended and high spirited, educational and fun.
During the discussion period, many people mentioned the incredible uprising of grassroots activism around Stephen Harper's prorogation of Parliament. Nearly 200 people attended the recent organizing meeting for the rally in Toronto. Two hundred people at an organizing meeting! Many of those said it was the first activism they had ever done. I'm told that more than 75 people came to an organizing in Mississauga! Wow!
We must not forget - we must never forget - that prorogation is inextricable from what is happening in Afghanistan. We all know that Harper prorogued Parliament to avoid the inquiry into the torture of Afghan detainees. Even Conservative guru Tom Flanagan admits that. We need to remind other anti-prorogation people about this connection at every opportunity.
This huge groundswell of activism is a beautiful thing, and I think January 23 will be an incredible day. Canadians across a spectrum of political lines and beliefs will take to the streets to stand up for democracy. That alone is beautiful. But those of us who stand for peace need to bring it one step further: we must demand an inquiry into the torture of Afghan prisoners, and demand that Canada get its troops out of Afghanistan.
When I pop in to the Facebook page to see the current member total (now 178,316!), I usually take a quick glance at the comments. Many people use a Maple Leaf avatar and write "support the troops" messages. Those are the people who need our message the most.
So what is our message?
That "Canada out of Afghanistan" is not disrespectful of the troops. It has nothing to do with supporting individual soldiers. We want soldiers to have all the care and support they need. But we value their lives beyond measure, and we don't want those lives at risk for a war that cannot be won.
We believe Canadian soldiers should not be in Afghanistan. The rationale for their presence there is a lie. They are not supporting democracy. They are not supporting women's rights. They are not making Canadians safer.
Through its misguided foreign policy, Canada is supporting a corrupt, warlord-based regime; it is subjugating its foreign policy to US bidding; it is killing innocent civilians; it is working with the US to breed anti-Western resentment and hatred. That is, Canada is engaging in terrorism, and thus breeding more terrorism. As Major General Andrew Leslie himself said, "Every time you kill an angry young man overseas, you're creating 15 more who will come after you."
This is not the soldiers' fault. They are doing their jobs on their assigned missions. Our fervent desire to end the war is not a reflection of our opinion of them.
Saying this to hardcore right-wingers who parrot Conservative Party talking points is a waste of your breath. Saying it to open-minded people who oppose prorogation is a duty.
On NoProrogue.ca, you will find a list of anti-prorogation actions taking place January 23. Here are the current locations:
Barrie
Bolton
Edmonton
Fredericton
Guelph
Halifax
Hamilton
Kelowna
Kingston
London
Mississauga
Moncton
Montreal
New York City (Canadians abroad protesting at the Consulate!)
Newmarket
Oakville
Orangeville
Oshawa-Whitby
Ottawa
Owen Sound
Peterborough
Quinte
Regina
Saskatoon
Sault Ste. Marie
St. John's
Sydney
Thunder Bay
Toronto
Vancouver
Vernon
Victoria
Waterloo Region
Whitehorse
Windsor
Winnipeg
Yellowknife
Be there!
During the discussion period, many people mentioned the incredible uprising of grassroots activism around Stephen Harper's prorogation of Parliament. Nearly 200 people attended the recent organizing meeting for the rally in Toronto. Two hundred people at an organizing meeting! Many of those said it was the first activism they had ever done. I'm told that more than 75 people came to an organizing in Mississauga! Wow!
We must not forget - we must never forget - that prorogation is inextricable from what is happening in Afghanistan. We all know that Harper prorogued Parliament to avoid the inquiry into the torture of Afghan detainees. Even Conservative guru Tom Flanagan admits that. We need to remind other anti-prorogation people about this connection at every opportunity.
This huge groundswell of activism is a beautiful thing, and I think January 23 will be an incredible day. Canadians across a spectrum of political lines and beliefs will take to the streets to stand up for democracy. That alone is beautiful. But those of us who stand for peace need to bring it one step further: we must demand an inquiry into the torture of Afghan prisoners, and demand that Canada get its troops out of Afghanistan.
When I pop in to the Facebook page to see the current member total (now 178,316!), I usually take a quick glance at the comments. Many people use a Maple Leaf avatar and write "support the troops" messages. Those are the people who need our message the most.
So what is our message?
That "Canada out of Afghanistan" is not disrespectful of the troops. It has nothing to do with supporting individual soldiers. We want soldiers to have all the care and support they need. But we value their lives beyond measure, and we don't want those lives at risk for a war that cannot be won.
We believe Canadian soldiers should not be in Afghanistan. The rationale for their presence there is a lie. They are not supporting democracy. They are not supporting women's rights. They are not making Canadians safer.
Through its misguided foreign policy, Canada is supporting a corrupt, warlord-based regime; it is subjugating its foreign policy to US bidding; it is killing innocent civilians; it is working with the US to breed anti-Western resentment and hatred. That is, Canada is engaging in terrorism, and thus breeding more terrorism. As Major General Andrew Leslie himself said, "Every time you kill an angry young man overseas, you're creating 15 more who will come after you."
This is not the soldiers' fault. They are doing their jobs on their assigned missions. Our fervent desire to end the war is not a reflection of our opinion of them.
Saying this to hardcore right-wingers who parrot Conservative Party talking points is a waste of your breath. Saying it to open-minded people who oppose prorogation is a duty.
On NoProrogue.ca, you will find a list of anti-prorogation actions taking place January 23. Here are the current locations:
Barrie
Bolton
Edmonton
Fredericton
Guelph
Halifax
Hamilton
Kelowna
Kingston
London
Mississauga
Moncton
Montreal
New York City (Canadians abroad protesting at the Consulate!)
Newmarket
Oakville
Orangeville
Oshawa-Whitby
Ottawa
Owen Sound
Peterborough
Quinte
Regina
Saskatoon
Sault Ste. Marie
St. John's
Sydney
Thunder Bay
Toronto
Vancouver
Vernon
Victoria
Waterloo Region
Whitehorse
Windsor
Winnipeg
Yellowknife
Be there!
1.12.2010
miep gies, last surviving member of family to hide anne frank, dead at age 100
Miep Gies, the last surviving member of the Dutch family who hid Anne Frank's family from the Nazis, has died at age 100. Gies was the safekeeper of Anne Frank's diary until she was able to come forward with it after the war - thus helping to preserve not only the Frank family, but one of the most important first-person records of the fight for survival under genocide that we have.
This woman, her family, and so many of her compatriots were the everyday, unsung heroes of their era. I had a Dutch friend once, and mentioned to him that I had visited the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. He said, we Dutch are very proud of how many people hid Jewish people during the war, but we are also ashamed that not everybody did. I was stunned. He was ashamed that not everyone risked their own lives to defend others? What beautifully high standards of humanity.
I'm sure many of you have been to the Anne Frank House. I've been in Amsterdam only once, on my first trip to Europe in 1982. Although I had read The Diary of Anne Frank more than once, standing in that tiny, cramped space where the whole family lived, spending their days in silence and fear, was the first time I truly felt in my bones what they may have been through.
The museum is also a testament to genocides everywhere - not to Jewish suffering, but to all victims of genocides, everywhere, bringing the specific experience of the Franks out to the universal experience of human rights. It's quite wonderful. Perhaps I'll see it again one day.
The Diary means a lot to me - as a reader and writer of work for young people, and as a Jew, and as a person who cares about freedom. Most of it read it in high school or junior high, but if you haven't re-read it as an adult, I recommend it.
Thank you, Miep Gies.
This woman, her family, and so many of her compatriots were the everyday, unsung heroes of their era. I had a Dutch friend once, and mentioned to him that I had visited the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. He said, we Dutch are very proud of how many people hid Jewish people during the war, but we are also ashamed that not everybody did. I was stunned. He was ashamed that not everyone risked their own lives to defend others? What beautifully high standards of humanity.
I'm sure many of you have been to the Anne Frank House. I've been in Amsterdam only once, on my first trip to Europe in 1982. Although I had read The Diary of Anne Frank more than once, standing in that tiny, cramped space where the whole family lived, spending their days in silence and fear, was the first time I truly felt in my bones what they may have been through.
The museum is also a testament to genocides everywhere - not to Jewish suffering, but to all victims of genocides, everywhere, bringing the specific experience of the Franks out to the universal experience of human rights. It's quite wonderful. Perhaps I'll see it again one day.
The Diary means a lot to me - as a reader and writer of work for young people, and as a Jew, and as a person who cares about freedom. Most of it read it in high school or junior high, but if you haven't re-read it as an adult, I recommend it.
Thank you, Miep Gies.
1.11.2010
tony clement isn't getting enough emails, let's help him out
Via Antonia Zerbisias on Facebook:
Clemet1@parl.gc.ca
Clement.T@parl.gc.ca
Clemet2@parl.gc.ca
minister.industry@ic.gc.ca
clemet1a@parl.gc.ca
1.866.375.TONY
Got that?
A group of university professors is condemning the federal government's decision to suspend Parliament, but the ruling Conservatives appear unmoved by the latest criticism.
Over 100 professors have signed a letter written by University of Montreal philosophy Prof. Daniel Weinstock that accuses Prime Minister Stephen Harper of violating "the trust of the Canadian people [and] thus acting anti-democratically."
The letter, to be sent to major newspapers in Eastern Canada, is the latest criticism of Harper's decision to prorogue Parliament until March 3.
. . .
The Conservatives appear unfazed by the criticism, however, with Industry Minister Tony Clement saying Monday that ordinary Canadians don't consider prorogation to be a big issue.
"I know it's a big issue with the Ottawa media elite and some of the elites in our country, but I got to tell you if reaction in my constituency is any indication, I've had maybe three dozen emails," he said. [Emphasis added.]
Clement said the government was focused on the economy and the next session of Parliament.
"It may not be what the chattering classes want, but we're not here to govern on behalf of the chattering classes," he said.
Clemet1@parl.gc.ca
Clement.T@parl.gc.ca
Clemet2@parl.gc.ca
minister.industry@ic.gc.ca
clemet1a@parl.gc.ca
1.866.375.TONY
Got that?
my grades are in and i am happy
I filled in the rest of my first term "report card" here.
In one class, I got an A-minus on my final paper, bringing my total for the class also to an A-minus. I was very pleased.
My grades on papers for that class were, in chronological order, B, B-plus, A-minus, with the papers increasing in difficulty and relative weight. My other grades for that class were for the debate (A-minus) and participation (A-minus).
In my second class, my final (group) project, worth 50% of our grades, earned an A-plus. I was amazed. According to Impudent Strumpet, I owe myself some french fries! In that class, my grades went B+, B+, A+, so I'm not sure what my final tally will be. I guess either A or A-minus.
I found my first term very challenging, in every way. I frequently felt exhausted and overwhelmed, and occasionally doubted my ability to succeed. One form of validation was feeling more relaxed and enjoying school, and now this is another form.
Although my grades improved as I went along, the work I did decreased markedly. (Not the work required, that remained constant.) Clearly, all I need to do is not work at all and I'll ace everything!
In one class, I got an A-minus on my final paper, bringing my total for the class also to an A-minus. I was very pleased.
My grades on papers for that class were, in chronological order, B, B-plus, A-minus, with the papers increasing in difficulty and relative weight. My other grades for that class were for the debate (A-minus) and participation (A-minus).
In my second class, my final (group) project, worth 50% of our grades, earned an A-plus. I was amazed. According to Impudent Strumpet, I owe myself some french fries! In that class, my grades went B+, B+, A+, so I'm not sure what my final tally will be. I guess either A or A-minus.
I found my first term very challenging, in every way. I frequently felt exhausted and overwhelmed, and occasionally doubted my ability to succeed. One form of validation was feeling more relaxed and enjoying school, and now this is another form.
Although my grades improved as I went along, the work I did decreased markedly. (Not the work required, that remained constant.) Clearly, all I need to do is not work at all and I'll ace everything!
david eaves: harper underestimates fb activism at his peril
Harper thinks we don't care. On January 23, he's in for a big surprise. David Eaves, writing in the Globe and Mail.
Read more here.
Over at the National Post, Matt Gurney recently stated that "Facebook groups are just about the dumbest way to advocate a political cause." His comments echo those of a number of pundits and politicians who give online activism – and Facebook groups in particular – short shrift.
For a variety of reasons online activism is discounted as not being "real" politics. Well, Facebook isn't going to remake politics, but it does matter – something the explosive growth of the 150,000 person (and rising) group Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament and the first anniversary of the anti-coalition Facebook campaign offers us a chance to reflect on. So here are three lessons on online activism for the Prime Minister, the news media and the rest of us.
1. Taking out the trash is no more
Back on Dec. 30, when Stephen Harper decided to shut down Parliament, John Ibbitson called it a record "take out the trash day." Journalists use this expression to describe government's nasty habit of burying stories by releasing them on Friday afternoons, ideally before a long weekend.
Such tactics worked because traditional media believed the public wouldn't read a story that by Monday would be considered "old" (old being three days ago). Social media sites like Facebook break this cycle by allowing people to self-identify as members of an interested audience (and electorate).
A 150,000-strong Facebook group means the prorogation story now has a built-in audience. Since a really big story on the Globe website can receive 100,000 pages views in a day, a 150,000 group (which hints at a still much larger audience) is a tempting target for investigative journalists and political commentators hoping to attract the attention of readers. Consequently, Facebook activism takes a story that five years ago might have been buried and gives it strong, powerful legs.
2. Lower barriers to entry are a strength, not a weakness
Easily the biggest fallacy around online politics is the belief that because something is easy, it doesn’t matter. Joining a Facebook group is easy; marching is hard. So pay attention to marchers and ignore Facebook groups, the reasoning goes.
Read more here.
ex-military suicides up again, this time for the very young
More reasons to work for peace.
Then there are the slow suicides: addiction, homelessness, dissolved families.
Bring them home. Each and every one of them.
Update. Something I forgot to mention earlier: the caskets of military suicides do not get the flag-draped coffin treatment. They do not receive presidential messages of condolences.
The suicide rate among 18- to 29-year-old men who've left the military has gone up significantly, the government said Monday.
The rate for these veterans went up 26 percent from 2005 to 2007, according to preliminary data from the Veterans Affairs Department. It's assumed that most of the veterans in this age group served in Iraq or Afghanistan.
If there is a bright spot in the data, it's that in 2007 veterans in the group who used VA health care were less likely to commit suicide than those who did not. That's a change from 2005.
The military in recent years has struggled as well with an increase in suicides, with the Army seeing a record number last year. While the military frequently releases such data, it has been more difficult to track suicide information on veterans once they've left active duty.
Then there are the slow suicides: addiction, homelessness, dissolved families.
Bring them home. Each and every one of them.
Update. Something I forgot to mention earlier: the caskets of military suicides do not get the flag-draped coffin treatment. They do not receive presidential messages of condolences.
i'd rather be blogging
I love today's Daily Dose of Imagery. Some of those "kids today" who don't read anymore. Publishers and booksellers know it's not true. Youth librarians all over the country know, too.
This future youth librarian has to prepare a presentation on two chapters of this book, due tomorrow morning. Allan has a post in the works, so I'll turn wmtc over to him* later today.
Another important note about today: it's a palindrome. 011110.
* Never!
This future youth librarian has to prepare a presentation on two chapters of this book, due tomorrow morning. Allan has a post in the works, so I'll turn wmtc over to him* later today.
Another important note about today: it's a palindrome. 011110.
* Never!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)