My Lai Redux

Marines Killed Civilians "In Cold Blood"

By Michael Scherer and Mark Benjamin

Senior House Democrat Jack Murtha warns that the details of a reported massacre in Iraq last year will prove "a very bad thing" for the US.

DPA US Representative John Murtha says the US military may be in for some bad press.

A senior House Democrat with close ties to the military claimed Wednesday that U.S. Marines wantonly killed innocent Iraqi civilians, including women and children, in an early morning raid last November, buttressing a March report by Time.

"Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood," said Jack Murtha of Pennsylvania, a decorated Marine Corps veteran who served in Vietnam and is among the most influential Democratic voices on military matters. "This is going to be a very, very bad thing for the United States."

Flashback

by TChris

The secretary of defense and the national security adviser debate "whether there was any way to stop newspapers and television news programs from showing graphic photographs of the victims."

Pictures of Abu Ghraib? No. Pictures of My Lai, 1969.

A transcript of this 1969 telephone conversation, with its uncanny echoes of the Iraq war and the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison, at least in the fact of the photographs, if not in the severity of the wrongdoing, was released on Wednesday by the National Archives as part of 20,000 pages of records of Mr. Kissinger's telephone conversations.

The tapes show a secretary of defense frustrated by his inability to bury the truth.

In their conversation on Nov. 21, 1969, about the My Lai massacre, Mr. Laird told Mr. Kissinger that while he would like "to sweep it under the rug," the photographs prevented it.

United for Peace : Press Release: Haditha Massacre Is Iraq's Mai Lai


Marines accused of cover-up after Haditha killings

— Stark evidence is emerging of deliberate reprisal killings of about two dozen civilians, including women and children, by a handful of U.S. Marines last November in what may prove to be the worst atrocity yet by U.S. forces in Iraq.Details surface of US ‘atrocity' in Iraq

Stay the Lie: Iraq equivilant of Viet Nam Mai Lai Massacre? Why is there no outrage?

The massacre in this farming town on the Euphrates, about 150 miles northwest of Baghdad, may not be precisely part of Operation Iraqi Freedom's official mission, but neither is it an aberration. Indeed, it is, as Iraq vet Charlie Anderson said to me, a "foreseeable consequence" of an occupation that from day one was clumsy, brutal and clueless. As it grinds into its fourth year, with thousands of GIs caught by stop-loss orders in a tour of duty without end, and with all claims of noble purpose long since abandoned by our government like burned-out tanks in the desert, the frustrations and hatreds generated by our presence continue to intensify.

What happened in Haditha six months ago -- two days after Rep. John Murtha introduced his brave, lonely resolution to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq -- shatters every argument of the stay-the-course crowd and throws the dithering cowardice of Congress into stark relief. The longer we force our exhausted troops to stay not the "course" but the lie, the more dangerous the occupation becomes, for the Iraqis, for us, for the world.

The Politics of Evil versus Boston Legal

The 2002 invasion of Afghanistan showcased the "march-in-shooting" strategy of US house searches, which served to boost support for bin Laden. There were reports of massacres. It was alleged that 30 to 40 U.S. Special Forces assisted in the massacre of 3,000 Taliban prisoners. When Amnesty International viewed the documentary footage, much of it wisely shot in secret, it stated there was prima facie evidence of serious war crimes. In July, US planes and helicopters swooped on a wedding party southwest of Kabul, killing 54 guests and injuring over 100. "It was like an abattoir", said a survivor. "There was blood everywhere." One of the guests, Mohammad Anwar, whose wife was killed in the raid, told Yahoo News that after the bombing, US soldiers "stormed into the houses and tied the hands of men and women. They refused to let the people help the victims." A week later, the local District Commissioner Abdur Rahim, paid out to relatives US$200 on behalf of each person killed and US$75 for each of the wounded. Little was made of this at the time. The US military has had four years to learn how to win Afghani hearts and minds. Last week, when A-10 "Warthog" warplanes strafed the village of Azizi from midnight till dawn, suspected Taliban ran from a religious school into nearby mud brick homes, which were then attacked. "I saw 35 to 40 dead Taliban", said Haji Ikhlaf, a blood smeared witness, "and around 50 dead or wounded civilians". Another villager, Zurmina Bibi, cradled her wounded 8-month-old. She said about 10 people were killed in her home, including three or four children. Attah Mohammad, said at the hospital that 24 members of his family were dead , including children. In New York Times speak, such houses would be considered "legitimately bombed".


American Experience | Vietnam Online | The My Lai Massacre | PBS On March 16, 1968 the angry and frustrated men of Charlie Company, 11th Brigade, Americal Division entered the Vietnamese village of My Lai. "This is what you've been waiting for -- search and destroy -- and you've got it," said their superior officers. A short time later the killing began. When news of the atrocities surfaced, it sent shockwaves through the U.S. political establishment, the military's chain of command, and an already divided American public. Word of the atrocities did not reach the American public until November 1969, when journalist Seymour Hersh published a story detailing his conversations with a Vietnam veteran, Ron Ridenhour. Ridenhour learned of the events at My Lai from members of Charlie Company who had been there. Before speaking with Hersh, he had appealed to Congress, the White House, and the Pentagon to investigate the matter. The military investigation resulted in Calley's being charged with murder in September 1969 -- a full two months before the Hersh story hit the streets.


My Lai Massacre - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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No More Mr. Nice Guy

Provinces won't dictate equalization, Harper says

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the national equalization program falls under Ottawa's jurisdiction and none of the provinces can dictate how the money collected from taxpayers gets divvied up among poorer regions.

So much for Asymmetrical Federalism. Gee this guy is sounding more and more like Trudeau.

In representative first past the pole parliamentary democracy it's so much easier to be an autarch than a democrat.

If Trudeau was Canada's Philosopher King, then the Harpocrite is Pooh-Ba, the Minister of Everything.




Also See: He Won't Share


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Greedy Banks

Royal posts $1.1B profit Analysts said the Royal, which delivered a record $3.4-billion annual profit last year, is on track to achieve its 2006 targets, including more than 20 per cent growth in earnings per share.

So how much is too much profit. Why it's never enough since the Royal Bank intends to up its service charges on Canada Day. While some folks worry about gouging gas prices, the real gouging we face is Bank Service charges. Something that should be outlawed.



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The Big Lie

Emissions reality check
environmental activists and individual scientists claimed the Conservative government was deliberately misleading the public on climate-change matters, especially on international comparisons and the payoff from its new domestic programs

Gee do ya think the Conservatives would rig the data to make good on their promise, err priority to get out of Kyoto?! That they would mispeak the facts?!

Of course they wold, they are from Alberta after all home of the big lie. As I said before Rona Ambrose Lied. And now it looks as if her script written for her by the PMO has worn thin. As thin as the ozone layer over the Antarctic.


Also See:

Harper Has Already Abandoned Kyoto

The Cone of Silence Over Kyoto

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Oligarchs

Some oligarchs are more equal than others,
to paraphrase George Orwell.

Proving once again that State Capitalism is the highest form of Monopoly Capitalism.

A Steel Magnate With Kremlin Connections New York Times

The first step in Aleksei Mordashov's path to becoming Russia's seventh-richest man, with a fortune estimated at $8.5 billion, was privatizing the steel mill where both his parents had worked as Soviet engineers.

Actually, his luck can be traced to his days as a college student. He studied economics at the Leningrad Economic and Engineering University, where he was an assistant for an up-and-coming professor, Anatoly B. Chubais. Mr. Chubais later became the architect of Russian privatization in the 1990's under President Boris N. Yeltsin. He also met students who later went on to hold high-level positions in the Russian government. It did not hurt that he went to school in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, where Mr. Putin is from.

Dofasco guessing game heats up
Dofasco Inc.'s future ownership is murkier after Luxembourg parent Arcelor SA struck a complex merger deal with Russia's Severstal to fend off hostile suitor Mittal Steel Co.

Also See:

Mittal

Steel Wars-Why Isn't This An Election Issue

Time For A Canadian Steel Workers Union

Union Free State Capitalism

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A Perfect Storm

The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, made famous in song by Gordon Lightfoot, was the result of a Perfect Storm according to the latest news reports.

"During the late afternoon and early evening of Nov. 10, conditions deteriorated rapidly with winds in excess of 69 mph, hurricane-force gusts [over 74 mph] and waves more than 25 feet high," said Thomas Hultquist, science and operations officer at the NOAA National Weather Service forecast office in Negaunee, Mich.

The freighter, thought like the Titanic to be invincible, was heading south. Waves were traveling west-to-east, the new analysis shows. This could have created a hazardous rolling motion. The ship sank about 15 miles from Whitefish Bay. New Clues to the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

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Caledonia, Caledonia

What seems to be overlooked in this dispute between the Sovereign Six Nations and the local folks in Caledonia is that both the local folks and natives settled this dispute over the road closerure through mediation and discussion. Despite flaring tempers and hot heads, mostly on the locals side on Monday, the spokesperson for the local folks , Ken Hewitt stated it clearly, no level of government helped. The negotiations were between the local folks and Six Nations. Sure there were government appointed mediators, but the real dispute which underscored the blockade, land development on native land, which is a Federal responsibility, has been abdicated by the Harpocrite government. Probably because they are on the side of the developers. Which is contrary to the interests of both the local folks and the Six Nations. That cool heads prevaled is a tribute to the enlightened self-interest shown by the local residents and their neighbours the Six Nations. And what was avoided was violence, due to limited police interference, again thanks to what in effect became a joint protest, until some local yahoos decided to resort to reactionary racist attacks on the Six Nations.

A tip o' the blog to Cowboys for Social Responsibility and Verbena-19 for their coverage of this.

Caledonia

Now my mother told me she said “Tom you leave that girl Caledonia alone.
You know she just ain’t no good for you
She come from the wrong folks in the wrong part of town
I said mama you don’t know what this gals putting down
I love her I need her I ain’t never gonna leave her

Cho: Caledonia, Caledonia
You’re what make my big head so hard
I love her I love her just the same
I’m crazy ‘bout the girl Caledonia is her name.





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Brokeback Mounties

RCMP Consts. David Connors (left) and Jason Tree to wed.

MPs gagged on gay Mounties' wedding Oh those Kinky Conservatives either this has to do with their immediate reaction, as in they gagged over the idea of a Gay Mountie Wedding, or else its a bit of Bondage and Dominace from the PMO. Yep defintely B&D PMO muzzles MPs on wedding of gay Mounties

The Prime Minister's Office has warned Tory MPs not to comment on the marriage next month of two gay RCMP constables. The gag order went to all MPs but was aimed at "the small minority who might say something stupid," said one caucus member.

Stupid as in opposing Gay Marriage?! What the Conservatives are admiting their opposition to Gay Marriage is Stupid. So much for their Sixth Priority; Harper Promises Free Vote on Same Sex Marriage.

This gives new meaning to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Don't tell even if reporters ask Prime Minister's Office lays down the law

Also See: Gay Marriage

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Brokeback Mountain,

Peel For the Police

Those whacky cops with the Peel Police Department are at it again.

Transsexuals facing a strip search by Peel Region police should be allowed to choose the gender of the officer conducting the search, the Human Rights Commission has ruled.Peel police have also been ordered to produce a training video on transsexuality after the commission ruled the force violated the rights of a person undergoing a sex change. Transsexuals given choice on search

You have to wonder about macho he-men wanting to strip search she-males.

Of course there are those that contend that the authoritarian male urge to power, nifty uniforms and phallic weaponry is a form of repressed homosexuality. Such as Klaus Theweleit.

He wrote his dissertation about a literature produced by former soldiers who during the Weimar republic had organized in "Freikorps". i.e. paramilitary right-wing death squads ("Freikorpsliteratur und den Körper des soldatischen Mannes"). Nobody had cared to analyse this literature before Theweleit. His book Männerphantasien (1979), in english "Male fantasies" (1987), a study of fascist consciousness and the bodily experience of these former soldiers was well received. Theweleit used Wilhelm Reich, Felix Guattari and other theorists and discussed his findings with his wife who had clinical experience. He formulated his insights in a voluntarily nonacademic personal style. Klaus Theweleit: Information From Answers.com



Both of these folks are wearing uniforms one for gender bending and one for enforcing fear. Uniforms, costumes, etc. are social constructs, just as gender defininitons of masculine and feminine are.

Self fear and self loathing is the source of power over the other that makes up the authoritarian personality (cops, fascists, military, etc. armed and dangerous men). The police see us as the other; civilians if we are good, bad guys if we are not. But they are never of us. We are the other, and they are a power over us and are a power unto themselves. Which is why they do not so much enforce laws, as view themseleves as being the law. Which is why they feel they can break the laws or are above the law. Cops and Tasers

Hypermasculinity or the "macho personality constellation" is an example of extreme adherence to the masculine gender role. Mosher and Sirkin (1984) indicated that macho men believe that "violence is manly" and "danger is exciting," and they have sexually calloused attitudes toward women. They devised a scale to measure adherence to the macho personality and found that men high in hypermasculinity had a higher self-report of SA against women (Mosher & Anderson, 1986; Mosher & Sirkin, 1984). Mosher and Tomkins (1988) used script theory to discuss the development of the macho personality. They proposed that feelings such as excitement and anger are socialized to replace "inferior, feminine" feelings such as distress and fear. Macho men are taught such rules as "Don't be scared. Be brave. Be tough. Be daring. Become excited by the danger. Risk injury or death. Be proud of fearlessness. Be contemptuous of danger and cowards." Adolescent rites of passage in male peer groups and various aspects of American culture p erpetuate the macho script. According to this model macho males are more susceptible to peer influence because of rejecting parents. Fighting, seeking out danger, and calloused sexual encounters that are shared with peers help perpetuate this script. If "boys will be boys," then girls will be victims? A meta-analytic review of the research that relates masculine ideology to sexual aggression

Self fear and self loathing is also the tragedy of the personal life of many Transexuals and Drag Queens.

SUSAN SHAH Died Oct. 10, 2004

Yet another cautionary tale from the world of Porn. Transexual porn actress Susan Shah apparently committed suicide at age 36. Ms. Shah fell 20 stories from a New York apartment building. She had suffered from AIDS for 10 years. Ms. Shah was born a man and underwent sexual reassignment surgery. She appeared in several porn films under the name Princess Shah. She recently directed the PG-13 short film "A Step Ahead," which dealt with her sex change. She recently enrolled in film school at NYU. Prayers of comfort for her family and friends.

Transexuals on TV and in the Movies

• Showtime's "Soldier's Girl" (2003) revealed the true tale of how a GI was beaten to death in 1999 by other soldiers who were enraged by his relationship with Calpernia Addams, (a.k.a. Scottie) a transsexual nightclub performer. The movie tagline read: "She was the only man he ever loved."

  
  Lee Pace stars in
  'Soldier's Girl' on Showtime

Living in a heterosexist society, means that they fail to fit the norm. The personality and psyche is thus forced into a dualistic form of social schizophrenia, which means that as members of an erotic minority, they must conform to a norm which is not normal for them.

Guardian | Boys will be girls

Boys will be girls. What do you do when your child wants to be the opposite sex? Naomi Coleman examines the rise of gender identity disorder.

This is the real meaning of the sexual revolution, the freeing of erotic minorities from the oppression of social schizophrenia created by heterosexism.

PARADISE BENT

Screenplay: Heather Croall. Cinematography: Tony Wilson. Editing: Mark Atkin. Sound: Des Kenneally. Music: Andrew Hillam. Producer: Heather Croall. Video Colour 51'

When it comes to gender, there is a truly Samoan way of seeing the world. Paradise Bent tells the story of the Samoan fa'fafines: boys who are raised as girls and play an important domestic role in the Samoan culture. Although the anthropological spotlight has shone on Samoa many times this century, fa'fafines have never been mentioned. Is it possible the anthropologists just didn't notice them? The traditional role of the fa'fafines is now under threat, as the western drag scene filters into Samoa. The older fa'fafines are not impressed. Through our main character, Cindy, we see the complexities of life facing the modern day fa'fafines in Paradise.

Redefining Fa'afafine: Western Discourses and the Construction of Transgenderism in Samoa

Wife 'didn't realise husband was a woman' -- FOR 17 YEARS!!!!



Also See:

Metrosexual

Mirror Mirror On The Wall

Nazi Gay Killer Wanted to be a Cop

The Real Crime In Canada

The Sexual Revolution Continues

Whose Family Values?

SOME REMARKS ON WAR SPIRIT

HeShe Said

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Blog Spam

Our old pal Werner Patels is at it again.

Lets see he trolls and he spits venom, against his favorite straw man; The Left.

He attacks Scott Tribe, (because Patels was kicked off the Progressive Bloogers while Tribe was a moderator there).

He whines about James Bow and his blogroll. And sees conspiracies in the blogosphere, aimed at...wait for it...him Which could simply be good sense on the part of those who are removing his multiple blogs from their listings.

For the past two years he has produced multiple blogs, as he went from running for the Alberta Liberals and supporting the Federal Conservatives and Greens, to finally settling on becoming a Federal and Provincial Conservative.

Now he lists himself as a MA. As in; It's Alright MA (I Am Only Bleeding)
Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn
Suicide remarks are torn
From the fool's gold mouthpiece
The hollow horn plays wasted words
Proves to warn
That he not busy being born
Is busy dying.

While having finally decided not to hide behind anonymous blogs, well except for this one, he has gone on to create a new field of blogging. Spam blogging.

Yep thats when you have more than six blogs, which repeat themselves over and over and over and over......his assertion is that the Left is intolerant. And by left he includes everyone this side of Attila the Hun.

The Left is not intolerant it is pseudo-right wingers like Patels who reveal themselves to be intolerant of others opinions. Which is of course why he blogs. Not that he has anything to say.

Here are a listing of his blogs, all of which should be avoided. Blogs are subject to change at Herr Patels whimsy.

	Werner Patels on Politics & Society
	Werner Patels on Media
	The German-English Translator: Werner Patels on Translation
	Werner Patels berichtet aus Kanada
	Musings about This and That
	En Français
	My Opinion

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The Bush Blair Show

On the end of the special relationship

Bush: Hmmm. I'll miss those red ties, is what I'll miss. I'll say one thing - he can answer the question - don't count him out. Let me tell it to you that way. I know a man of resolve and vision and courage. And my attitude is, I want him to be here so long as I'm the president.

Blair: Well, what more can I say? Probably not wise to say anything more at all.




Photo courtesy Madame Tussauds Wax Museum



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Cherry Picking Conservatives

The Harpocrites cherry pick which Liberal Government policies they will abide by. Let's see they support the War in Afghanistan, but will close the Gun registry, end funding to the provinces for day care and now this.

Kyoto deals abandoned?
OTTAWA - The federal government appears set to walk away from agreements worth millions of dollars that the Liberals had negotiated to help provinces cut greenhouse gas emissions

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Inside the Beltway

No one is interested in stories coming from inside the Belt Way is how the Bush regime south of the border justified its years of cherry picking who could ask questions at the White House Press Briefings . Sounds just like this.

Mr. Harper was challenged to produce specific evidence that the Ottawa press corps is biased. He didn't do that. Instead, he said the whole issue is so "inside Ottawa stuff" that the public is not interested in it. PM presses on in his feud with the news media



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Ken Lay and Son of Sam

What is it with criminals that once convicted of henious crimes they find Jesus? Or is this becoming Born Again Christian God stuff just their excuse for having been bad boys but now they are good. Honest. Honest to God we are nice guys.

Or is it that since the jails are full of guy's named Jesus, that they find God watching them in jail, more than he was when they committed their crimes.

Such moral self righteousness is enough to make one an athiest.


Judge orders prison interview for 'Son of Sam'
Heller said his client, who was born Jewish but claims to have become a devout Christian in prison, objected to the people he victimized being further exploited by Harmatz

Ken Lay is surrounded by police after the verdict

Lay and his family, who are members of one of Houston's largest Baptist congregations, remained in the courtroom, their hands joined in prayer. He was heard trying to comfort weeping relatives, saying: "God's got another plan right now."

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Stephen Trudeau Pierre Harper

Gallery dinner looks like a bust as GG declines
"We already know that Mr. Harper doesn't want to go. Gilles Duceppe hasn't been in years, and CTV has found out that the Governor General won't go to the dinner either," Thompson told CTV Newsnet. Pierre Trudeau was the last prime minister to boycott the dinner.

Oh this is rich. It took a couple of years for Trudeau to dis the media and the media to dis Trudeau. In three short months Harper has managed to Fuddle Duddle the Parliamentary Press Gallery. Ah well I am sure Jack would want to attend.

Experts weigh in on the Conservative media ban

Luc Lavoie, former communications director for Brian Mulroney, dismissed the notion that controlling the media is a Conservative tendency, arguing instead that it has a Liberal precedent.

"If a page was torn from anyone, it was torn from Pierre Elliott Trudeau," he said.

"The years of Pierre Eliot Trudeau Elliott Trudeau were years when Trudeau never spoke to (reporters). There were fights all the time and he couldn't care less about the media."

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On the Diotte

Kerry Diotte whose passion for privatization is only matched by his passion for sports is the city hall columnist for the Edmonton Sun. On rare occassions do I find myself agreeing with him. Yesterday was just such a case. He wrote a column about the failure of the Eastern Canadian Media to give the Oilers their due. Oilers getting short shrift

Comments I have seen in some blogs and in some press reports from folks in Toronto Canada attest to this. In fact the paucity of cheering for the Oilers by non-Edmonton bloggers even appears in the hockey column of the Canadian Blog Exchange.

Too bad sore losers. The Oilers are after all Canada's team. Not unlike the Blue Jays if they were to make the World Cup. But no for some folks in Toronto if the Leafs ain't in it, or Montreal, well we will move on to cheering the perennial losers the Raptors.

So now I find myself agreeing with Diotte two days in a row, yoiks. Wake up, Don! You're in Edmonton

I was downtown at a Quiznos and who should I line up behind but a gaggle of American sports reporters including Fox Sports Network, ABC, ESPN, etc. here to cover the game on Tuesday. Why? Because this is the real playoff game, Canada versus the U.S. Let me repeat that Canada versus the U.S.

It's time that the rest of the country joins in celebrating Canada's team cause we are going to the Stanely Cup.

Even this die hard Calgary Flames Fan is cheering for Edmonton.
Go Oilers Go!


Premier Klein holds up an Edmonton Oilers jersey in support of Alberta's team in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Now when will the Harper wear the Oilers jersey in the House?! Any day now would be good.

Also See: Hockey


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You Are Here

REDMONTON

edmonton - Google Maps

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Blogging Freedom in the Middle East

As blogs grow in numbers and influence, Arab states have become worried. A number of bloggers have been arrested in Bahrain, Syria and Tunisia. Throughout the recent conflict between the Egyptian government and the judiciary, bloggers have expressed their solidarity with the judges on the internet. When the security forces arrested a number of protestors who took to the street in support of the judges, six of those detained were renowned bloggers. They included Alaa Ahmad Said al Islam, who started a blog with his wife Manal. Governments vs. Bloggers: The Battle Continues… : Diana Mukkaled


Al-Ahram Weekly | Egypt | Battle of the blogs

The arrest and then release of an Alexandria blogger has pushed the vibrant Egyptian blogosphere into the limelight. Amira Howeidy talks to some of its stars




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More Alberta in Ottawa

Ah more evidence of the practices of the Conservative Government in Ottawa mirroring the practices of the Conservative Government in Alberta, again. In this case the Official Government of Canada Web Site morphing into the Conservative Party of Canada website. Yep just another little treat from Alberta for all you folks.

Ralph Klein Premiers Page

Ralph Klein PC Leaders Page


Also see: Ottawa, Alberta


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Calgary Fraud Funds Dubai Boom

A criminal cell operating across Canada is funnelling millions of dollars to Dubai to fund terrorist activities through a sophisticated credit/debit card fraud scheme, says the head of Alberta's Integrated Response to Organized Crime unit.''For one of the groups, it (cash) goes straight to terrorism in Dubai and some of the other countries. They live on nothing and send all their money to fund terrorist activities.'Canada fraud scheme linked to terrorist activities

This is idle speculation, with no factual basis to say it is going to terrorists. Or she would have named the guilty parties. Sure they know its going to Dubai, but it is just as likely to end up here.

Or considering the booming economy of Dubai, being hot money invested into this;

Dubai’s building frenzy lays foundation for global power The Gulf emirate is spending £140bn to transform itself into a capitalist powerhouse that will be a model for its neighbours.

Terrorism indeed. Obviously someone here is trying to get more funding for their department.

After this week's budget, taxpayers as well as voters and concerned citizens have even more reason to demand a full exposure of RCMP actions. Those reasons are only reinforced by a national capital consensus that, for a policeman, Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli is an usually skilled and determined politician. Budget renews concerns about RCMP

Terrorism is so much sexier than saying White Collar Crime which the RCMP have failed to prosecute effectively. The RCMP's IMET has little to show for itself


Also See:

The Joys of Telemarketing

Credit Card Fraud

Free Trade: Primitive Accumulation of Capital

White Collar Crime

Criminal Capitalism

Ponzi Schemes

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Time Stands Still

On Parliament Hill. We knew that. The Conservatives in an attempt to turn back the clock on thirteen years of Liberal rule, have somehow created a cosmic conundrum with the horology of the Peace Tower Clock. It has stopped for the first time since it was installed during the last Trudeau reign. Shocked perhaps by the antics of the Harpocrites, even the Peace Tower is protesting our new war mongering, law and order government.


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He Won't Share

Klein issues warning on sharing the wealth heck he won't share with Albertan's why would he share with the rest of Canada. Besides the fact that the only folks who really share in Alberta's wealth are the Petro Chemical Industry Cartel in Calgary. Come to think of it they are the Party of Calgary that Klein speaks for. And so does the Harpocrite.

Poll queries royalty

Albertans want a public review of the oilsands royalty system because they don't think the province is reaping maximum revenues, according to a new Pembina Institute poll.

The survey suggests 84% of Albertans want a review of the program that allows companies to pay a 1% royalty until their capital costs are paid.

Pembina economist Amy Taylor said oilsands production rose 88% between 1997 and 2005, but royalty revenues increased only 14%.

'DECLINING AMOUNT OF REVENUE'

"We're getting a declining amount of revenue from each barrel we're pulling out of the oilsands."

She said the royalty scheme, which requires companies to pay 25% only after paying off project costs, was created when oil prices were lower, costs were higher and oilsands technology was in its infancy.

"We think the regime should be updated to reflect current developments," Taylor said.

The Pembina findings are based on a phone survey of 500 Albertans between April 7 and 13, with a margin of error of 4.4%, 19 times out of 20.

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ACLU Hypocrites

They purged founding member and free speech fighter; Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, the IWW Rebel Girl, from the ACLU Board in the Forties for being a communist.

Today they demand their board take an oath of silence. ACLU May Block Criticism by Its Board

Typical liberals.

Once I was young and impulsive
I wore every conceivable pin
Even went to the socialist meetings
Learned all the old union hymns
But I've grown older and wiser
And that's why I'm turning you in
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

Love Me I'mA Liberal, by Phil Ochs


A tip o' the blog to Alberta Ardvark


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Happy Birthday Bob

Bob Dylan turned 65 yesterday.

He obviously survived.

Ah, but I was so much older then,
I'm younger than that now.

And now he is a DJ on Sattelite Radio.

Even wierder; Australian actress Cate Blanchett has confirmed that she will play a young Bob Dylan - the name Zimmerman is slightly more familiar as across the globe -- in I'm Not There, reportedly the first Hollywood film the iconic and eccentric singer-songwriter has authorised on his life.

"It's horrible," he told Playboy 40 years ago, on one of the countless occasions when he was asked if being a folk hero was a position of great responsibility. "I'll bet Tony Bennett doesn't have to go through this kind of thing. I wonder what Billy the Kid would have answered to such a question."

Billy the Kid didn't engage in a book's worth of verbal showdowns with the press. But Dylan has, and now those interviews have been invaluably collected. In an irresistible new anthology edited by Jonathan Cott, one of the original editors of Rolling Stone and arguably the most simpatico writer ever to converse with Dylan, the interview format remains eminently readable through more than 400 pages.Bob Dylan and The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia

For fans of Bob see My Back Pages and Bringing It All Back Homepage

And what goes around comes around, Dylan the protest singer seems just as relevant today as he was waaay back in the early sixties.

It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)

While preachers preach of evil fates
Teachers teach that knowledge waits
Can lead to hundred-dollar plates
Goodness hides behind its gates
But even the president of the United States
Sometimes must have
To stand naked.

Although the masters make the rules
For the wise men and the fools
I got nothing, Ma, to live up to.

For them that must obey authority
That they do not respect in any degree
Who despise their jobs, their destinies
Speak jealously of them that are free
Cultivate their flowers to be
Nothing more than something
They invest in.

Masters of War

Come you masters of war You that build all the guns You that build the death planes You that build the big bombs You that hide behind walls You that hide behind desks I just want you to know I can see through your masks You that never done nothin' But build to destroy You play with my world Like it's your little toy You put a gun in my hand And you hide from my eyes And you turn and run farther When the fast bullets fly Like Judas of old You lie and deceive A world war can be won You want me to believe But I see through your eyes And I see through your brain Like I see through the water That runs down my drain You fasten the triggers For the others to fire Then you set back and watch When the death count gets higher You hide in your mansion As young people's blood Flows out of their bodies And is buried in the mud You've thrown the worst fear That can ever be hurled Fear to bring children Into the world For threatening my baby Unborn and unnamed You ain't worth the blood That runs in your veins How much do I know To talk out of turn You might say that I'm young You might say I'm unlearned But there's one thing I know Though I'm younger than you Even Jesus would never Forgive what you do Let me ask you one question Is your money that good Will it buy you forgiveness Do you think that it could I think you will find When your death takes its toll All the money you made Will never buy back your soul And I hope that you die And your death'll come soon I will follow your casket In the pale afternoon And I'll watch while you're lowered Down to your deathbed And I'll stand o'er your grave 'Til I'm sure that you're dead

Copyright © 1963; renewed 1991 Special Rider Music

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CBC on Bolivia

Once again the CBC shows why it is more like the BBC than CNN. In this 'fair and balanced' report by long time international reporter; Joe Schlesinger; EVO-LUTION!

The Bolivian revolution is explained and not spared coverage of its blemishes. The reality is that there is a social revolution occuring here, one that is part of a larger transformation in Latin America that offers all of us hope that the Struggle Continues. Real revolution, by real people, combating American Hegemony and global capitalism.


More on Bolivia


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