CTV : "Harper praised outing Bush"

LuLu at Canadian Cynic posted this photo from the Three Amigos Summit and commented:

"It looks like Big Daddy just doesn't know how to quit Dubya.Eewwwwwwwww"

Bad LuLu.
That comment is exactly the kind of gratuitous scurrilous hyperbole the main scream media is always slagging the blogosphere for. Furthermore....

Hang about. What's this from CTV?

Latest : Three amigos summit :
CTV News: Robert Fife with more from the summit
" Prime Minister Stephen Harper praised outing US President George Bush Monday to start the "Three Amigos Summit"

Harper praised outing Bush?

Sorry, LuLu, I didn't realize you already had Harper's endorsement on that "outing" thing. Please carry on.

(And everyone else go look quick before they fix it)

Cross-posted to The Galloping Beaver

SPP : Lobby-fest on the Bayou

While Harper, Bush, and Calderon mug for the cameras in the ruins of New Orleans and the North American Competiveness Council get on with the business of mugging the rest of us, here's a few words for the populist Right from Greg Palast at Tom Paine : José Can You See? Bush's Trojan Taco


"There will be other anti-SSP protesters in New Orleans as well, from America’s populist Right. They are concerned that the Security and Prosperity Summit is worse than the “NAFTA on steroids” that Barlow fears. The populists see in the SPP a nascent “North American Union,” and the elimination of the good old US of A.
They’re wrong, of course. The U.S. of A. has been long eliminated, at least economically. The Competitiveness Council is a multinational crew, with one shared set of country clubs, beach homes, art collections, union busters and lobbyists knowing no borders.

The populist radio hosts railing against the coming North American Union don’t realize that these CEOs won’t take away their flags or Fourth of July or Star-Spangled Banner. The rags and flags will always be kept around to con the schmucks along the Yahoo Belt into donating their children to the Iraq Occupation or other misadventures.


So there is no United States of America nor Canada nor Mexico - at least as we like to imagine ourselves in our national fairy tales: self-governing democracies run by we the people or nosotros el pueblo. There’s just the diktats of the North American Prosperity Council. Get used to it."

A bit of the old 'in and out' on the side, Con style

There's only ever been one traditional 'in and out' storyline :

~ Honestly I've never done anything like this before.

~But you look like a million bucks to me

~And this just feels so right, there can't possibly be anything wrong with it.

~Besides, everybody else does it too.

~Sneaking around. ... Lying about it.

~Guilt, guilt, guilt - you just gotta ignore it!

~Whoa! That was a close one! I sure hope we never get...

~Busted. Damn.

~But I'm innocent - I swear!

~You're just imagining things. Besides, Baby, it really didn't mean a thing to me

~Remember: Damage control is 90% damage + 10% control.

And of course no in and out scandal is complete without the obligaTory :

~Beating a hasty retreat down the back fire escape stairs.

A load of fertilizer

Remember this? Sure you do.
It was back in June 2006, coincidentally two weeks before the vote on whether or not to let the Canadian Anti-Terror Act expire, that the RCMP sold a load of fertilizer to two CSIS moles embedded in a Muslim outdoor club,had it delivered to a warehouse rented by the RCMP a block from the RCMP Regional HQ, and the Toronto 18 were born!

The outdoor camp had been under fruitless investigation by the RCMP for the three years previous, but following the RCMP to CSIS fertilizer sale, it metamorphosed into a jihadi terrorist training camp whose members were going to storm Parliament, although they weren't sure where that was exactly, and cut off the head of Prime Minister Martin, having apparently failed to register that there had been a change in government.

Oh and they were also going to blow up the CBC, the CBC breathlessly reported.


On Friday the taped testimony of one of the 18 from the day after the big bust was played in court :
"Basically we were just chilling, reading the Qu'ran," the teenager recalled of the activities at the 12-day camp that took place in December 2005 near the town of Washago, Ont. "Some guys are lazy, y'know, they're gaining weight. For two weeks we just kind of worked out."
The workouts, he said, included playing around in the snow, chopping down trees, playing with paintball guns and jogging. He also admitted to shooting a gun, which he said was primarily handled by someone whom the officer reveals to be an informant."

...prompting the Star to ask : "So was it simply a fat camp?"

Clearly the kid was not exactly an Al Qaeda insider and was released.
No matter - the Toronto 18, now the Toronto 11, saved the anti-terror act, albeit with restrictions placed on it by the Libs, Bloc, and NDP.


But now those restrictions might be coming off, says Thomas Walkom :

"Last year, Stéphane Dion's Liberals enthusiastically helped to kill two controversial elements of Canada's 2001 anti-terror laws. Now they are quietly allowing them to be brought back.
One, dealing with preventive detention, would allow police to arrest without charge and judges to penalize without trial, people who the authorities fear might commit future terrorist offences.
The second would let judges compel testimony at so-called investigative hearings from those the authorities think might know something about terrorism.

The Harper government has passed in the Senate and introduced into the Commons a new bill to reimplement slightly amended versions of both measures.
Now, the Liberals say they will support them.
In fact, the Liberals now use the same arguments once employed against them.
"We recognize that this is necessary," public safety critic Ujjal Dosanjh said."

Let's have that again : "Would allow police to arrest without charge and judges to penalize without trial people who the authorities fear might commit future terrorist offences."

Say, didn't we used to have something called habeas corpus back in the good old pre-fertilizer days?
Seems that load of RCMP fertilizer has turned out to be pretty dangerous after all.

Skytrain : Ticket or TASER™

On Wednesday CBC reported BC transit police stun fare cheaters with TASER™ :
"In one case, a person ran from transit cops during a check for free-riders and "the Taser was deployed as the subject fled," the documents say. Another person who didn't pay the fare was arrested but "grabbed onto the platform railing and refused to let go … the Taser was deployed."

A Taser may be used when "the situation demands control over a non-compliant, suicidal, potentially violent, or violent individual and lower force options were ineffective," according to the transit police policy."

Note the transit police policy does not include clinging to a frigging railing on its list of occasions justifying use of a TASER™

Today's G&M : Transit police deny tasering fare evaders
"The police force that patrols Vancouver's Skytrain system says it has never used a taser on a rider for refusing to pay a fare, contrary to documents released under provincial freedom of information laws.
Insp. Bob Huston said at a news conference Friday that officers only use force to ensure the safety of passengers.

“We do not, have not and will never taser those in our care for non-payment of fares,” Insp. Huston said."

Well of course not, Bob, it would be ridiculous to zap someone over "non-payment of fares".
No, according to your own incident reports, you only zap them for clinging to a railing to avoid arrest for "non-payment of fares" :

"File 2008-3246 offence - Obstruct Peace Officer
Officer were checking subject for no fare paid on Skytrain. Subject refused to identify self and was placed under arrest. During the arrest procedure the subject became uncooperative and grabbed onto the platform railing and refused to let go. After several warnings to the subject to stop resisting arrest and the subject refusing to comply with the officers' demands, the Taser was deployed and the subject taken into control.
Internal review re the Use of Force was conducted by the Supervisor and the Inspector of Operations. They concluded the action taken, by the member(s), was within the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority Police Service (GVTAPS) policy and training standards and within the guidelines set out in the National Use of Force model."

Paging Charles McVety to the white evangelical courtesy phone

Tory bill could lead to abortion ban: Que. doctors

"Quebec's medical specialists say a private member's bill that would make harming a fetus a crime is likely to outlaw abortions.
Gaetan Barrette, who heads the province's association of specialist doctors, criticized Bill C-484 for opening the door to recognizing the rights of a fetus.
The bill, tabled by Conservative MP Ken Epp, would amend the Criminal Code to allow separate charges to be laid in the death or injury of an unborn child when a pregnant woman is attacked.
It passed first reading last month with support from both Conservative and Liberal MPs.
Barrette, whose association rarely weighs in on policy debates, pointed out that the bill's supporters are already eyeing a court challenge to Canada's abortion laws.
He says the association wants to protect abortion doctors from possible lawsuits and avoid a return to back-alley abortions."

Meanwhile, evangelist Charles McVety has been doing yeoman's work inadvertantly scuttling Bill C-10, the bill to deny government tax credits to tv shows and movies the SoCons don't like, by boasting he'd personally been the guiding hand behind the bill all along.

Hey Chuck, what about Bill C-484? Don't be shy. Surely you and the Canada Family Action Coalition had at least a little influence on writing up this one, huh? C'mon, Chuck, help us out over here - tell the Canadian people you're the force behind C-484 too.

Pope Pop Quiz

Why is Ratso "deeply ashamed" of clergy sex abuse?

Is it #1) Pope led cover-up of child abuse by priests

"In 2001, while he was a cardinal, he issued a secret Vatican edict to Catholic bishops all over the world, instructing them to put the Church's interests ahead of child safety.
The document recommended that rather than reporting sexual abuse to the relevant legal authorities, bishops should encourage the victim, witnesses and perpetrator not to talk about it. And, to keep victims quiet, it threatened that if they repeat the allegations they would be excommunicated."

I've read that the rationale behind this edict was merely to encourage people to come forward and speak freely without fear of reprisal or publicity, an excuse which would possibly hold more holy water if it weren't for the fact that :

"priests accused of child abuse are generally not struck off or arrested but simply moved to another parish, often to reoffend. It gives examples of hush funds being used to silence the victims."

So he was for it before he was against it but hasn't said word one about it since so no, not #1

Is it #2) "Pedophilia is "absolutely incompatible" with the priesthood," Benedict said.

Nope, because pedophilia is a regular ongoing historical feature of the priesthood, mate :

"Book of Gomorrah, an 11th-century tract written by St Peter Damian which, while condemning all forms of "immoral" sexual behaviour, holds priests who defile boys in special contempt. Such clerical offenders should not only be publicly flogged but also, writes St Peter, their tonsures should be "shorn" and their faces "foully besmeared with spit". Next, he recommends six months of imprisonment and fasting, followed by a further six months of prayer in solitary confinement. Even after their release, St Peter writes, offenders should never again be allowed to "associate with youths in private conversation or in counselling them"."

Catholic apologists fed up with being blagged with the Spanish Inquisition because "it was a long time ago" take note : Nothing in there anywhere about moving them to the parish next door.

or #3) "There were 691 new accusations in 2007 alone, according to an annual report from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The U.S. church has paid out $2 billion in abuse costs since 1950, most of that in just the last six years."

BINGO!

Operation Enduring Freedom From Difficult Facts

It was back in October when we first heard about US Marines relocating from Iraq to Afghanistan :

"The US Marine Corps has insisted that its forces be removed from Iraq and sent to Afghanistan instead to take the lead in combat there.
According to senior military and Pentagon officials, the suggestion was raised in a session last week convened by Defence Secretary Robert M Gates for the Joint Chiefs of Staff and regional war-fighting commanders, the New York Times reported.
This would leave the Iraq war in the hands of the Army while the Marines would play an important role in Afghanistan, under overall NATO command."


Then came the Manley panel report and the whole drama of Harper's conditions for staying on in Afghanistan - where oh where would the 1000 extra troops and air power evah come from? - and now the US Marines are indeed relocating to Afghanistan as planned and Operation Enduring Freedom is in da house!


CBC : Afghanistan joint command
"There were sighs of relief in government circles earlier this month when the United States agreed to provide at least an additional 1,000 marines to the Canada-led mission in Kandahar.
Finding an extra 1,000 combat soldiers to help the 2,500-strong Canadian military mission in troubled southern Afghanistan was a key Canadian condition — along with more air power — for keeping our troops there until the end of 2011."


Way to keep up, CBC. I do believe we've already bitched that one.

But in what CBC refers to as the "new, more side-by-side relationship between American and Canadian soldiers in southern Afghanistan", a few questions arise about our differing policies. Quite apart from how the command structure is supposed to work, there's the American propensity for wiping out marijuana and poppy crops, ie Afghani livelihood; their greater reliance on air strikes, ie bombing Afghan civilians; and the little matter of their torturing detainees/POWs, ie Bagram., the US internment facility where Afghan detainees known to be innocent of any crimes are beaten to death.

Uh-oh - detainees. This issue is already a big optics headache for Harper in Canada, and news that detainees might fall under US - Canadian joint jurisdiction is going to play badly for the Cons.
But wait!


CTV : Ottawa hopes to block probe into Afghan detainees :
"The government is seeking to block an independent investigation by the Military Police Complaints Commission into Canada's handling of Afghan detainees, according to court documents filed in Federal Court.
Amnesty International Canada and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association filed a complaint with the commission last year, after allegations surfaced that detainees had been tortured by local Afghan authorities.
Government lawyers filed an application Friday to halt the investigation, saying the commission does not have jurisdiction to probe the complaints."

Something they might have mentioned at any time since the commission began its investigation.
And as Pogge points out, if the commission doesn't have jurisdiction, why has the government of Canada been complying, however reluctantly, with its demands for documentation up till now?

Possibly because now we're under deadline to align our Operation Enduring Freedom From Difficult Facts policies with those of the US before the 'partnership' begins in July - that's why.

"The material has been cleansed too much"

The missing tapes
Five out of the six hours of Canada Border Services Agency security video tape doesn't show Robert Dziekanski at all ; the CBSA says this "may have been due to construction in the area blocking camera angles".
The few minutes in which he does appear are put onto disc by CBSA and then the original tape is "inadvertantly erased".

The internal memos
"The material has been cleansed too much," reads one.
"The documents, obtained by CTV News, show significant co-operation between the airport, RCMP and border services officials in controlling the release of details following the Oct. 14, 2007 death of Robert Dziekanski".
"... the federal agency and the Vancouver airport authority worked closely with the RCMP to ensure the three had their media messaging synchronized after an agitated Mr. Dziekanski died."

The HoC investigating committee
"The House of Commons committee on public safety and national security will hold two days of meetings at Vancouver International Airport on Thursday [with RCMP, border and airport officials], where Robert Dziekanski died after RCMP stunned him with a Taser last October" .
The proceedings will not be open to the public or video-taped, although committee members will take notes.

Note to The Coast of Bohemia : 1) No and 2) All of us

Omar Khadr

G&M : "The U.S. soldier Omar Khadr is alleged to have killed may have died as a result of friendly fire, Mr. Khadr's lawyers argued at Guantanamo Bay yesterday.
Mr. Khadr's U.S. military defence lawyer, Lieutenant-Commander Bill Kuebler, revealed in court that several accounts of the 2002 gun battle show that U.S. soldiers were throwing grenades when they stormed the Afghan compound containing Mr. Khadr.
Mr. Khadr is accused of throwing a grenade at U.S. troops, mortally wounding a medic. The Canadian was 15 at the time."

That's Khadr in the picture at his time of capture.

"It was also revealed that an official with the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs met Thursday with lawyers in the Khadr case in Guantanamo Bay, and showed them a copy of a report compiled by the Americans in the months after the 2002 Afghan battle."
The report was originally deemed classified, but was then declassified when it was handed over to the Canadians.
Military prosecutors at Guantanamo Bay, after reviewing the report, said it may still contain classified information, so Cdr. Kuebler would not comment on its details. However, he said it includes exculpatory information because it contains a description of events that is inconsistent with — and, at times, contradictory to — other reports.
The Canadian copy of the report is especially important because the Americans have since been unable to locate the original copy, meaning the Canadian copy of the report may be the only one still available."

This may prove a breakthrough for Khadr.

In February a leaked copy of witness testimony revealed that Khadr had not been the only survivor in the compound, as previously claimed, and that nobody had seen him throw the grenade.

In March, Kuebler insisted that "Lt. Col. W.", the Army Commander for Eastern Afghanistan at the time of the attack, had initially written in his report the day after the firefight that "the person who threw a grenade that killed Sgt. 1st Class Christopher J. Speer also died in the firefight", meaning that the grenade had not been thrown by Khadr. The report was rewritten several months later to say that the grenade thrower had been "engaged", rather than "killed", changing the wording that would have exonerated Khadr.

In 2005, Guantanamo's chief prosecutor told presiding officers that any evidence suggesting a suspect was innocent would be given a secret security classification, so that defence teams would not learn of its existence.

Although the G&M story doesn't specifically say so, I sincerely hope this visiting DFAIT official brought the Canadian copy of the original US report because Canada has behaved shamefully up till now, refusing to request the extradition of a child soldier despite third party testimony of his having been tortured.

Not that Canada hasn't been involved - Khadr was visited six times in Guantanamo by CSIS officials who then turned his testimony over to US officials. CSIS showed him pictures of people they wished identified, including Maher Arar. Khadr's US military lawyer had to request that CSIS officials be refused further access to Khadr for his own benefit.

Currently Cdr. Kuebler is waiting on whether the Canadian Supreme Court will ask the government to hand over all documents relating to Khadr's case.

"Cdr. Kuebler said Mr. Khadr's conviction is effectively a done deal if a trial commences under the current conditions. "I don't believe anyone can get an acquittal in Guantanamo Bay," he said."

"Canada had reason to know that Omar was being, if not tortured, at least seriously mistreated by the U.S. government and yet it did nothing and has done nothing," said Kuebler.
"I think it's shameful that Canada has displayed indifference for the plight of a Canadian citizen for no other reason than his father and family are unpopular."

On Tuesday, standing next to Condoleezza Rice in Washington, Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier said : "Mr. Khadr faces serious charges and it will be premature to comment about the legal process right now and appeal process because they’re still ongoing. And what we will do is we’ll do -- and I received also assurances that Mr. Khadr has been treated humanely. So we’ll see the legal procedure, and after that we’ll react."