Pasta la vista, baby

The RCMP are looking into new claims regarding Brian Mulroney and the $300,000 he was paid by arms lobbyist Karlheinz Schreiber back in '93 to, um, promote a pasta business Schreiber was interested in. Mr.Mulroney says "he was paid the money for private business dealings and was late paying income tax on the three $100,000 payments he received from Mr. Schreiber because he was traumatized by allegations made against him by the RCMP".

He didn't actually mention the $300,000 in the first RCMP go round of course but he was still so traumatized at the time that we had to pay him a $2.1 million libel settlement.

So far the RCMP are holding a preliminary examination that might lead to opening a formal investigation, and Harper, who is also apparently mentioned in Schreiber's affadavit, is going to appoint someone to advise him on how narrow a scope a full inquiry can have while still being, uh, 'full'.

Also at issue for Steve are the two letters containing the affadavit information allegedly sent to Harper by Schreiber in March and again in September - letters that were vetted by the 35 members of the Privy Council Office, apparently hired for the express purpose of just not getting the whole stove-piping thing.
Back in January, the Justice Department prepared Airbus coaching notes for the current Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, who was formerly a parliamentary secretary with Mulroney : "Neither I nor my predecessor, the Honourable Vic Toews, received any briefing material related to this issue.''

And Harper stated this week that he was not about to become Schreiber's "penpal".

Unfortunately Mulroney sounds like he's getting set to feel traumatized all over again anyway.
Here is his statement {emphasis mine}:

"Twelve years ago to the day, I was trying to deal with very grave and damaging accusations against me, contained in a letter sent to the Swiss authorities. These accusations were related to the sale in 1988 of Airbus planes to Air Canada, back then a Crown Corporation.

After a tough and lengthy battle against these false and horrendously libellous accusations, the government of the day had to admit that they had absolutely no evidence to support them, and apologized to me and my family. In addition, they had to reimburse me of all my legal and other expenses.

Twelve years later, the same people at the CBC and at certain other media organizations who were at the origin of the 1995 accusations are still conducting their vendetta. Last Friday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper decided that he needed the counsel of an independent third party to advise him on the course of action to follow after new allegations were made in an affidavit filed by Karlheinz Schreiber from his prison cell where he is detained pending the execution of an extradition order confirmed twice by the Supreme Court of Canada.

I will fully co-operate with the special adviser soon to be appointed by the Prime Minister, but I have come to the conclusion that in order to finally put this matter to rest and expose all the facts and the role played by all the people involved, from public servants to elected officials, from lobbyists to the police authorities, as well as journalists, the only solution is for the government to launch a full-fledged public commission of inquiry which would cover the period from 1988 to today.

Only then will the whole truth be finally exposed and tarnished reputations restored. I am willing to meet the special adviser to reiterate my conviction that this is the only way to prove to Canadians that I have done nothing wrong."
G&M

Steve and Sandra throw Brian under a bus

To : The Ministers of Whatever and your various meaningless minions
From : The PMO
"Effective immediately and until further notice, none of you are to utter the name Brian for any reason whatsoever. Needless to say, talking to anyone named Brian is also strictly forbidden. Some of you nobodies have displayed the unfortunate lack of foresight to name your firstborn Brian. Too bad, no exceptions.
Signed,
Sandra Buckler

PSA : Steve Won't Teabag Brian No More
TGB : Trouble in the Conservative Sandbox

Remembrance Day 2007

Photo by Magda Indigo, who grew up in Flanders.

We'll all meet down at the cenotaph in a little while : the veterans, their relatives, Frank from the Danish Resistance, those honouring the women and the First Nations of WWI & II, the Koreans from the General Store, and the people moved to start attending after the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Peace.

British Columbia : Nigeria North?

Royal Dutch Shell, of Niger Delta infamy, has coalbed methane extraction plans for the Sacred Headwaters Basin at Mount Klappan in B.C.

Shell Canada has striven mightily to present an image of being a good Canadian corporate citizen but if, as mentioned in this excellent video from The Dogwood Initiative, Royal Dutch Shell has now taken over Shell Canada completely, all bets are off.

Royal Dutch Shell is one of the world's worst polluters with one of the world's worst civil rights records and here they are planning to use one of the world's most destructive forms of resource extraction on the Mount Klappan headwaters. We all remember how Shell 'transformed' Nigeria.

So what can you do? You can vote this vid up at YouTube for a start. The more popular it is, and it's a very good vid, the more people will see it. Go on, off you go. For more info : Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition.

A few more like this wouldn't hurt either :

Sent: Sunday, November 11, 2007 8:47 AM

To: questions@shell.com

Subject: Coal Bed Methane Plans in British Columbia

Gentlemen:
This is to express my extreme displeasure with your plans to extract petroleum products in the Sacred Headwaters Basin, Mount Klappan, British Columbia.
This pristine ecological area needs preservation, not industrial mining operations.
Until you can provide verification of the cessation of plans to violate this area of the world, I and my circle of contacts will not be purchasing any Shell products.

Sincerely,

West End Bound

Thanks, guys.

A good start

Quite awe-inspiring, wasn't it - seeing all those lawyers out on the streets in Pakistan, getting their heads bashed for defending their constitution. Lawyers getting tear-gassed, lawyers throwing rocks, lawyers ... scuffling. Almost made me feel bad about all the lawyer jokes. After all, wasn't Gandhi a lawyer?...Hello, what's this?...

"Gasps broke out in a U.S. federal appeals court Friday as a U.S.government lawyer spoke of Maher Arar's "unequivocal membership of al-Qaida."

Right. OK, what do you call a thousand and one lawyers in chains at the bottom of the ocean?

Project Censored - News That Didn't make the News

Top 25 Censored Stories of 2008

#1 No Habeas Corpus for "Any Person"
#2 Bush Moves Towards Martial Law
#3 AFRICOM: US Military Control of Africa’s Resources
#4 Frenzy of Increasingly Destructive Trade Agreements
#5 Human Traffic Builds US Embassy in Iraq
#6 Operation FALCON Raids
#7 Behind Blackwater Inc.
#8 KIA: The US Neoliberal Invasion of India
#9 Privatization of America’s Infrastructure
#10 Vulture Funds Threaten Poor Nations’ Debt Relief
#11 The Scam of “Reconstruction” in Afghanistan
#12 Another Massacre in Haiti by UN Troops
#13 Immigrant Roundups to Gain Cheap Labor for US Corporate Giants
#14 Impunity for US War Criminals
#15 Toxic Exposure Can Be Transmitted to Future Generations on a “Second Genetic Code”
#16 No Hard Evidence Connecting Bin Laden to 9/11
#17 Drinking Water Contaminated by Military and Corporations
#18 Mexico’s Stolen Election
#19 People’s Movement Challenges Neoliberal Agenda
#20 Terror Act Against Animal Activists
#21 US Seeks WTO Immunity for Illegal Farm Payments
#22 North Invades Mexico
#23 Feinstein’s Conflict of Interest in Iraq
#24 Media Misquotes Threat From Iran’s President
#25 Who Will Profit from Native Energy?

That's a whole lot of reading. You'll have read many of these articles or similar ones already of course but perhaps missed the authors' updates to them, which are included here.

Some of it may even be news to you.
This one, on the revolving door between Blackwater and the Bushcorp, was news to me :
"Joseph Schmitz, the former Pentagon Inspector General, whose job was to police the war contractor bonanza, has moved on to become the vice chairman of the Prince Group, Blackwater’s parent company, and the general counsel for Blackwater.
Bush recently hired Fred Fielding, Blackwater’s former lawyer, to replace Harriet Miers as his top lawyer; and Ken Starr, the former Whitewater prosecutor who led the impeachment charge against President Clinton, is now Blackwater’s counsel of record and has filed briefs with Supreme Court to fight wrongful death lawsuits brought against Blackwater.
Cofer Black, thirty-year CIA veteran and former head of CIA’s counterterrorism center, credited with spearheading the extraordinary rendition program after 9/11, is now senior executive at Blackwater."

Ceiling Cat crates teh Univerz an teh Urff

and den rites Teh Buk aboudit :
Leviticats :
Teh Ceiling Cat saiz to Mozes, "O hai! Outta ur tabby-nackels, d00dthx.2
U should go saiz this to Izrulites, for to IM me, Hey Ceiling Cat, I can has stuff :) and liek that, they gotta bring me teh cheezeburgers or other good stuff for impruvin teh conneckshun winkwink."
But if U wana bring teh donutz or teh ExBockzs, thatz kewl too, but don U be bringin me no trash, Ceiling Cat will run out of happy and kiil ur d00dz.

LOLCat Bible Translation Project

Win the Nobel and lose your funding

And as Scruffy Dan points out, the Canadian IPCC scientists are clearly pissed about it :
"Nobel Prize-winning scientists from Canada say the Harper government is failing to protect the country from the dangers of global warming because it has shut down a federal climate change research network and blocked new studies on the impact of rising greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere."

Andrew Weaver, UVic uses words like "vindictive" and "stupidity"
"Harper stands up and waffles on about trying to call for 50% emissions reductions. Where on earth is he getting those numbers from?" Weaver asked. "They're certainly not coming from Canadian scientists."

The government said that it closed the Canadian Climate Impacts and Adaptation Research Network because it had completed its federal mandate. The network and the independent Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Science both sponsored peer-reviewed research that contributed to the award-winning IPCC report that is now being used by governments as a basis for international climate change negotiations.

It was in fact that very IPCC report which apparently caused Harper to adopt, um, a better appreciation of the dangers of AGW and climate change. I guess we know all we need to know about it now.

Environment Minister John Baird said suggestions that his department was cutting research spending were "totally unfounded," since the government was spending a "record amount" on climate research in various departments such as Natural Resources and Industry Canada.

Industry Canada? Please. According to their website, the Industry Canada mandate is : "a fair, efficient and competitive marketplace; an innovative economy; and competitive industry and sustainable communities."
I know - they also have sciencey links. I started to read the "Related links : Science and Technology" and got as far as "The Strategy is focused on creating a more competitive and sustainable Canadian economy with the help of science and technology" when I got distracted by "BizPals" on the sidebar. I get it, John, but I'm not exactly seeing Nobel here.

Back to Baird : "I can appreciate that some people would rather (have) more (spending) on this or on that, but it's a record amount and it's informed by some of the expert officials that we have in science in the public service," he said. "We don't need the politicization of science. That's for sure."

Damn straight, John. Can't have that.

CP : Audit slaps wrist of Natural Resources for lobbyist conflict-of-interest

Apparently Natural Resources Canada spent a cool million bucks last year buying its employees expensive memberships in groups that lobby the government. Conflict of Interest? The list of lobbyists isn't available but the CP story does provide us with this reminder :

"Natural Resources is primarily responsible for the $1.5-billion ecoEnergy program, announced in January by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to promote renewable energy."

As it turns out, promoting renewable energy is the precisely the business of the agri-biz astroturf group Canadian Renewable Fuels Association - you know, the guys who promote ethanol, the practice of feeding corn to cars to produce a 1% reduction in GHG. CRFA was headed by registered federal lobbyist Kory Teneycke up till Nov1 this year when he returned to the Harper fold as Director of the Conservative Resource Group. I say returned because prior to his stint as head of CRFA, Teneycke was a Reform Party activist and campaign strategist for Preston Manning.

Baird is right. We don't need politicization of science because we already have lots of it.

Dr. Gordon McBean, a review editor of the 2007 IPCC report and the volunteer chairperson of the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Science : "Canada likes to think of itself as a G8 country, and we should act like one occasionally."

U.S. General Strike - Nov. 6

No going to work. No shopping. No cell phones. No driving. No TV.
From "Specific Suggestion : General Strike"
by Garret Keizer in October's Harper's :
"Of all the various depredations of the Bush regime, none has been so thorough as its plundering of hope. Iraq will recover sooner.
If someone were to suggest, for example, that we begin a general strike on Election Day, November 6, 2007, for the sole purpose of removing this regime from power, how readily and with what well-practiced assurance would you find yourself producing the words “It won’t do any good”? Plausible and even courageous in the mouth of a patient who knows he’s going to die, the sentiment fits equally well in the heart of a citizen-ry that believes it is already dead.
Any strike, whether it happens in a factory, a nation, or a marriage, amounts to a reaffirmation of consent. The strikers remind their overlords—and, equally important, themselves—that the seemingly perpetual machinery of daily life has an off switch as well as an on."

Some US broadcasters and bloggers, notably Naomi Wolf, have picked this up and are running with it - calling for an inaugural general strike today, even as they know this first one will be small.
Good luck to you today, American cousins.

Steve and Sandra have a cold one

New set of attack ads take aim at Dion

Poilievre provided the "normal....having a cold one" quote.

Dickhead.

As Dave says : "Welcome to the Reform agenda. It hasn't changed save for the political party name under which it exists."