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Welcome to the weekend, kiddies
Via brother pogge. This is for the string players among us. Jeebus. Fingers like spiders on meth.
Rick and Jann go rock climbing
Unscheduled Musical Interlude
Rick's Rant - "Fair" Elections Act
This Will Not Go Away
Nor should it.
"There has been an appalling silence from members of parliament (emphasis mine) regarding Omar's continued imprisonment - a deliberate miscarriage of justice. All Canadians, especially our members of parliament, must demand an end to this travesty and demand Omar's immediate release.The rest HERE.
The words of Constance Backhouse, Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Ottawa, reveal the significance of our neglect and inability to uphold values we supposedly cherish: 'Some cases enshrine the defining moments of their time. Omar Khadr's is one. Future generations will rightly judge our shocking derelictions of responsibility in this matter [and] our collective Canadian failure to extend justice and humanity.'"
6:36 pm
ETA THIS:
Dear Mike,
Thank you for taking the time to write about this important case. We appreciate your interest.
Please know that the NDP shares your concern regarding the treatment of Omar Khadr by both the American and Canadian authorities. Omar Khadr was detained in the controversial Guantanamo Bay prison since the age of 15. Despite the will of Parliament, the ruling of the Supreme Court of Canada and the demand of many Canadians to bring him home, the Harper government ignored their responsibility to protect our citizens abroad.
First, the NDP consistently called for Omar Khadr's repatriation. Khadr is a Canadian-born citizen and, like all Canadian citizens, we believe that he deserves Canada's protection. We asked that Canada ensure that he received a fair and just trial, and would not be further subjected to indefinite detention, questionable legal processes, or cruel and inhumane conditions. We welcomed the Supreme Court of Canada's questioning of the Harper government's treatment of this case and their opinion that it was unacceptable that our foreign policy would violate the constitutional rights of our citizens.
See more here: here; and here.
Further, New Democrat Human Rights Critic Wayne Marston said, "...let us be clear, Omar Khadr's circumstances have little to do with guilt or innocence and everything to do with politics. Under the terms of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Omar Khadr was a child combatant. The Conservative government's refusal to repatriate him has been an unqualified international embarrassment and now, at the last minute, Khadr has accepted a plea deal to save himself from a life sentence in Leavenworth Prison. What steps has the government undertaken with the American government to bring that Canadian home?" (Hansard, October 25, 2010)
NDP Critic for Foreign Affairs Paul Dewar and International Human Rights Critic Wayne Marston continued to advocate for justice for Omar Khadr and his return to Canada. You can read more about our efforts here and here.
Regrettably, the Harper government showed indifference not only to Mr. Khadr's situation, but to the serious situations faced by a growing number of Canadian citizens who are experiencing problems abroad. The Conservatives' handling of such cases is arbitrary and inconsistent. New Democrats called for an end to 'conditional citizenship'. Canada must provide consistent treatment for all Canadians.
Please be assured that New Democrats remain committed to ensuring justice for Omar Khadr and that his rights as a Canadian citizen are protected.
Again, thank you for writing. Hope this helps to clarify our position.
Best regards,
Office of Thomas Mulcair, M.P. (Outremont)
Leader of the Official Opposition
New Democratic Party of Canada
(Ignorant) Tweet Of The Day
@MJGlass2 @nandouglas @HonJohnBaird 2 kids daddy less bc of Terrorist murderer O Khadr like his family of Muslim terrorists a pox on Cdns
— Robert Ross (@RobertRoss4) February 25, 2014
@RobertRoss4 @nandouglas @HonJohnBaird So not going to research? Of course we'll give him a fair trial march the guilty bastard in?
— MJGlass (@MJGlass2) February 25, 2014
We are in trouble, folks
Why does the government want to muzzle Elections Canada the same way that it has muzzled federal scientists and Statistics Canada?
Why does the Harper government NOT want to hear from Canadians on the most basic of our rights - the right to vote for a representative of your choosing?
Why does the Harper government want you to deny your right to identify your neighbour as being a valid Canadian citizen?
Here's one reason.
If you have not yet contacted your MP via email or twitter, please do so.
Your democratic rights hang in the balance.
Note to my snowbird friends: Enjoy the warm weather. But please be aware that the country you will return to in the spring is in peril. Please contact your MP, and voice your opinion.
Canadians deserve to be heard
h/t @janfromthebruce
Who says there's never any good news?
Finally, a strip-proof screw!
News from the future
How wolves change rivers
Thanks, Gary!
Tweet of the day
Dear stupid conservatives: You do realize that the whole *purpose* of government is "tax and spend", right? Right?
— CC (@canadiancynic) February 22, 2014
And the nominees are ...
Harper, unplugged
Welcome to the weekend, kiddies
Sending this one out to all the folks in Sochi, and all the folks around the world watching the folks in Sochi.
When it comes to curling or hockey, sorry world. Canada is just mo hipper.
BIG h/t to sensei Pogge.
This is not going away
Omar Khadr hangs around the neck of Canada and the United States like an albatross. We all of us have his blood on our hands.
Omar Khadr is our nation's shame. He shames us all.
This started under the Liberals, and got even worse under the Conservatives.
It started under George W. Bush, and got worse under Barack H. Obama.
American and Canadian governments are guilty as hell. Opposition parties are complicit, too. I have not heard a peep from the NDP (Correction! Scroll up to Feb. 26!) OR the PQ on this travesty. If I am wrong, I would love to be corrected (again - scroll up to February 26. I am delighted to be proven wrong!).
Romeo Dallaire (ironically enough these days, both a Senator, a retired CF general, and appointed to the Senate by the Liberals, to boot) is the only exception.
This ugliness is not going to go away. There will be no sweeping this under the rug, no matter how much we would like to.
"The Canadian media often describe Khadr as being "polarising" and speak of a "polarised debate". The truth is there is no debate. Fear mongering and vilifying Khadr as a convicted terrorist without an explanation of the facts has had the effect of stifling debate. If Khadr is really guilty of all the things he is accused of, then surely his critics should welcome his court cases to allow the matter to be settled once and for all by a judge in an open and fair court of law?"The road to justice starts here.
Coals to Newcastle HERE.
Follow the links. Arguments to the contrary reply to mjglass@hotmail.com. I would love to hear them. Please include links which support your argument.
(One last time. The NDP has responded, and their response is posted upstairs on the February 26 post!)
Tweet of the day
Coming soon: USA-Canada in hockey. Loser has to keep Bieb.
— God (@TheTweetOfGod) February 19, 2014
Freeborn Man
Unscheduled musical interlude.
Never mind Sochi
Watch this. And love Mother Russia.
Thanks, Gary!
In Which An Old Man Meets His Heroes
More - from the Melfort Journal.
Yeah, I cried
So did Ricky Gervais. Twitter @rickygervais
Re this: Has Canada gone too far down the Conservative rabbit hole?
This.
That is all.
Friday Evening
Welcome to the weekend, kiddies. And Happy Valentine's Day!
Democracy Now
Tweet of the day
Don: The Finns have come out and they're saying 'let's hit the Canadians' Ron: The Norwegians Don: Same thing.
— Dave Kaufman (@TheKaufmanShow) February 13, 2014
That 'Market Freedom'?
It's wiping out farmers and enriching the 1%! Quelle surprise!
Tolja.
What we're reading
The essence of Harper government is personal cruelty: Mallick
"I object to the Harper government for many reasons (harperwatch.wordpress.com provides a good listing service): damage to water, earth and sky via the tarsands, love of pipelines, no census, mandatory jail sentencing, service shrinkage, rubber-stamp Senate appointments, no harm reduction for drug users, the push for salesmanship over foreign aid, turning the Immigration Minister into judge and jury for deportations, silencing of scientists, rail safety deregulation, demonization of public servants, effective banning of strikes, contempt for women's rights, proroguing of Parliament, voter suppression, plans for socially divisive income-splitting, and many more issues."The rest HERE.
Interspecies Communication
Yes, it can happen here. It IS happening here
"Given the pace at which the Harperium is neutralizing democratic rights in this country, wary citizens must now be on guard that the next election is not stolen, one way or the other, by a prime minister apparently committed to dismantling democracy and permanently changing the country."
Go. Read Murray. Has big oil hijacked democracy?.
You don't suppose ...
... our friend Rex is having himself measured for one of the Senate seats that are about to come on the market, do you?
Nah. Couldn't be. Surely Duffy and Wallin have queered that deal for partisanjournalistshacks.
Read this - Rex Murphy, the oilsands and the cone of silence - and decide for yourself.
My Newest Hero - Mr. Blumenauer
This might help
For a long time now - years, really - I have been looking for a way of looking at crows in a way that I don't hate them.
This might help. Maybe. At the very least, it elevates crows over conservatives.
Damned by faint praise, you say?
Tweet of the day
My RE teacher told the class that Homosexuality was an illness. I asked him if I could go home early as I was feeling a bit gay. He said no.
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) February 10, 2014
You don't mess with Samuel L. Jackson
It's lights out for fair elections
"And now the Fair Elections Act. Soon, we will all being doing it Harper's Way. Yes, when this bill gets rammed through parliament like cheap food down the gullets of factory chickens, big cheaters and big spenders will all be wearing smiles.Read the rest at iPolitical.
Elections will be for sale even more than they are now, and uncovering corruption will be harder. Harper won't have to worry about getting caught cheating any more as the Conservatives were in the In-and-Out scandal, and in countless individual cases such as that of disgraced cabinet minister Peter Penashue."
ETA THIS: Vote of marginalized taken away
MY EYE!!!
Veterans are outraged ...
... now they need to do what they once did best.
LEAD.
"What Harper is doing to veterans is NOT singularly unique. What he is doing to you, he is doing to everyone. He has shattered the Canadian public service. He is destroying labour law in this country. His myopic focus on creating a petro-state (in Alberta) has promoted accelerated rust-out in the Canadian manufacturing sector. Essential middle-income jobs are being destroyed in the most populated areas of the country in favour of corporate wealth generation from wanton resource extraction. You are just another domino to fall in a long line of tiles. Complaining loudly will do one thing: he'll do what he can to silence you faster."
Dave says it best. The rest here at The Galloping Beaver.
Hear hear
No beef here with country of origin labelling.
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Yes, I have forsaken Arsenal.
— God (@TheTweetOfGod) February 8, 2014
More proof, should any be necessary
Pierre Poilievere is a lying sack of sh*t. And as such, is an exemplary spokesthingy for the CPC.
Building Poilievre's Electoral Fraud in the Sky
h/t Canadian Cynic
An excerpt
Heard from Lord Vanscoy, migrated south again (wisely) this winter.
He writes:
JAN 22ND
Local police cars bear the slogan "Pro-active Professional Law Enforcement". Case in point: yesterday a woman called them to say her husband had taken his gun and gone off in his car and she feared he was going to shoot himself. So, the Maricopa Police chased him down and shot him. Kind of lends a whole new meaning to "Pro-active". Might want to change that slogan to "Shoot First, Answer Questions After an Interminable Round of Inquiries."
Welcome to the weekend, kiddies
It's the weekend, kiddies. Knock yourselves out.
Kick it.
Not a good week for Canadian democracy
Headline: " Can we agree this was a bad week for Canadian democracy?"
1. Take a whack at Elections Canada
2. Silence environmental groups
3. Go after democratic rights of workers
The Authoritarians will not - will never - agree.
But I do. Wholeheartedly.
Chapter and verse here.
Almost every MP almost always votes the party line. Think about how absurd that is. I don?t even agree with myself that much.
— Dan Gardner (@dgardner) February 6, 2014
The fix is in
Low turnouts favour the Cons. With voter suppression measures and recent Tory-favouring election boundary changes, the fix is in. #cdnpoli
— Dr.Dawg (@DrDawg) February 5, 2014
Rick's Rant
Oh wow
Your mission, should you choose to accept it ...
"So we'll hang the bird suet where the cat can't get at it ..."
Shamelessly stolen from @canadiancynic
Missing the NFL already?
This might help.
Where's the ball?
Where's the ball? Where's the ball? THERE'S the ball!!! HIT IT TO ME!!! HIT IT TO ME!!!
Generation Gap Test
No? Want a hint?
Things I Hate
Hilarious. RT @iancawsey I don't normally like graffiti but....... pic.twitter.com/LarBE8pvQ6 via @rene_zl
— deBeauxOs (@deBeauxOs1) February 1, 2014
Not interested in the Superbowl?