» Archive: December 2005
When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will wait for the legislation to pass to buy guns
CBC Saskatchewan: "Liberal leader Paul Martin may have inadvertently become the best salesperson around for guns dealers in Saskatchewan. Earlier this month, Martin announced a $650-million law-and-order plan that would put new restrictions on handgun owners. Some collectors might be required to disable their handguns or surrender them to police."
Media Analysis Stateside
Media analysis in the US is kind of like shooting fish in a barrel. Except that the barrel is so large and so fish-saturated that one has to wade in order to get a shot off. And there are a lot more fish than there are bullets. To extend the metaphor.
So good on the folks who occasionally get a well-aimed shot into the mix. It's easy enough to give up, and many have.
Svend him packing?
Anyone else find that Macleans' cover story hitpiece on Svend Robinson is a little incoherent?
Is it too much to ask that a Canadian legislator revere and uphold the law in all circumstances, not picking and choosing when to play by the rules? Yes, principled dissent is fine. Civil disobedience, too, has its place. But that's not what Robinson is about. He's a self-aggrandizing lout with a disdain for parliamentary and judicial institutions.You can either say that civil disobedience "has its place," or you can say that MPs are obligated to "revere and uphold the law in all circumstances". But you can't say both at the same time, much less in the same paragraph--at least not without changing the subject.
According to the first definition I found, civil disobedience is:
Refusal to obey civil laws in an effort to induce change in governmental policy or legislation, characterized by the use of passive resistance or other nonviolent means.Admittedly, it doesn't sound as good if you just come out and say that you don't like his politics.
And if the case to keep Svend Robinson out of the House of Commons is so strong, why does the case against him rely so heavily on half truths (in addition to self-contradicting principles) like the following:
Yet however much he behaves as a law unto himself, Robinson has been quick to appeal to the justice system when it suits his purposes. After being tear-gassed and having his pants ripped in Quebec City, he encouraged anyone who had been "illegally attacked" to sue the RCMP. This year he received $10,000 for "general damages, pain and suffering" from the Mounties as a result. He also sued a newspaper that ridiculed his performance at the Quebec summit. He is currently suing a Vancouver radio station for comments made on-air.The opening implication here is that one cannot oppose specific laws without opposing the justice system as a whole. That one is, as it were, either with the whole of Canadian legislation and jurisprudence, or against it. This position is at best untenable.
The characterization of Quebec City and the subsequent coverage also relies on misreporting. Macleans says that Robinson's "pants were ripped". In fact, he was hit in the leg with a rubber bullet fired by the RCMP, which is a little different. Macleans says that he sued a newspaper that "ridiculed his performance". That newspaper was the National Post, and Robinson sued them for quoting him as saying things that he never said. The reporter whose name appeared on the byline later noted that the editors had rewritten large portions of the original article, inserting purported facts that were, in fact, lies.
The legal term, in case Macleans isn't aware of it, is libel.
If one looks at the actual coherent and factual bits, Macleans' case against Robinson boils down to two things: that his stealing of a ring was unforgivable, and he must be punished; and that Robinson is a "self-aggrandizing lout".
Basically, they don't like him, or the political causes he advocates on behalf of. This is fine, by why pretend that it is some kind of principled argument?
Talkin' Trash
Tucker Carlson: "Third, Canada is a sweet country. It is like your retarded cousin you see at Thanksgiving and sort of pat him on the head. You know, he's nice, but you don't take him seriously. That's Canada."
The Martin Two-Step
CalgaryGrit: "Martin quietly doubted Chretien's decision to stay out of Iraq and ran commercials attacking Harper on it last election. Martin quietly opposed same sex marriage until this election and now he's viciously attacking Harper on the issue (without ever once saying he supports Same Sex Marriage - it's the Charter, stupid). Martin quietly made his objections to Kyoto known during the leadership race and now is attacking George Bush on it. He quietly complained about Jean Chretien's poor relationship with George Bush and now...well, see the last point."
40,000 Slovenians
WSWS: "On November 26, protesters took to the streets of the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana against government plans for massive cuts in the country's social security system. More than 40,000 people participated--the largest demonstration since the republic's independence from the former Yugoslavia."
So where does the waste go?
Atomic Energy of Canada has a plan to bury nuclear waste in Northern Ontario. Selon Thunder Bay Indymedia:
Of course, the pitch is much more sophisticated than that. For ten years, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited described and defended their "geological disposal concept" in a federal environmental assessment review. The AECL "concept" was of an underground repository 500 to 100 metres below the surface, using either titanium or copper containers, in canisters either the size of a room or small enough to fit in boreholes in the floor of a rock cavern. It would be in the Canadian Shield, and almost certainly in northern Ontario (all the maps showed northern Ontario, but the nuclear industry also gave signals that they were open to offers from elsewhere - from anywhere!)One of the central issues with burying nuclear waste is that, over time, the repository will leak. The debate in the 13 month hearing held as part of the federal environmental assessment was not whether the vault at the centre of the "geological disposal concept" would leak, but rather "how much? How soon? How bad?"
Critics apt redubbing of the the approach from nuclear waste disposal to nuclear waste dispersal might be why the "d" word has disappeared from the NWMO's newest document.
Indigenous Lefty favoured to win Bolivian election
The head of Bolivia's socialist movement is the favourite to become the South American country's first indigenous president when voters go to the polls on Sunday.Evo Morales has promised to nationalize Bolivia's energy industry. On one of his last campaign stops, he told supporters the country's natural gas resources will "no longer be controlled by a few rich people or foreign companies."
That stand has raised alarm among the wealthy in Bolivia, but it's extremely popular with the vast majority of poor people in a country that has South America's deepest levels of poverty.
Even though two-thirds of the population is indigenous, Morales, an Aymara Indian and former coca farmer, is the first native leader to come within striking distance of the presidency.
December 16, 2005Activists' destruction of GM crops was justified: French court
In a judgement expected to send a chill through companies growing genetically modified (GM) crops in Europe and embolden their opponents, a French court acquitted 49 activists who destroyed GM plants after ruling their actions were justified.December 15, 2005Wikipedia as accurate as Britannica, say scientists
Science articles in Wikipedia, the free online resource, are about as accurate as those in Encyclopedia Britannica, Nature magazine says.The British publication had independent reviewers assess the accuracy of 42 pairs of articles from both encyclopedias.
Novices, experts and professionals all voluntarily submit or edit articles for Wikipedia. Britannica, meanwhile, charges for content and pays staff to research and write articles in the established resource.
"I am the anti-Proust"
Tom Tomorrow documents the NYTimes' affliction of gratuitous Proust references.
Bizarre. Funny. Grim.
Wonkette on Canada
Call me a prude, but I never thought about softwood lumber in the way that Wonkette, the perversely popular home of lecherous political commentary stateside, does.
Yet another "Americans know Canada exists" moment.
Apparently US Ambassador David Wilson (and yes, it does seem that everyone even tangentially connected to Canada must have the most generic white guy names on the planet) suggested that Martin and the candidates opposing him in the upcoming Canadian ballot lay off the casual derision of Yankee wood interests.December 14, 2005Dylan on Tookie?
Sometimes I think this whole world Is one big prison yard. Some of us are prisoners The rest of us are guards. Lord, Lord, They cut George Jackson down. Lord, Lord, They laid him in the ground.On the day the state of California killed Tookie Williams, Counterpunch posted this Dylan song as an article.
Rumsfeld the media analyst
Donal Rumsfeld: "We've arrived at a strange time in this country where the worst about America and our military seems to so quickly be taken as truth by the press, and reported and spread around the world, often with little context and little scrutiny, let alone correction or accountability after the fact."
December 09, 2005Grassroots Peoples' Coalition and the 5 Billion Dollar Deal
[I couldn't find this anywhere online, so I'm posting it here. From Arthur Manuel of the Grassroots Peoples' Coalition, November 28, 2005.]
Dear Friends:
First of all allow me to thank all of you in your grassroots effort to
disengage your support for the deals signed by the Assembly of First Nations
and the First Nations Leadership Council of British Columbia.I believe that we did make a presence. Plans at the First Ministers and
National Aboriginal Leadership did have to change. The Canadian government
wanted to make the event a big love-in but they had to cancel and change
location of some activities because we were there. We also got a lot of
local, national and international coverage for Grassroots Peoples' Coalition
efforts.The government did get our lobbying organizations to agree with certain
multilateral processes and sign a BC agreement but we made it clear that
these processes do not represent us, despite the fact that the government
will try and ram those agreements down our throat.I am preparing a document on the deals signed by the AFN and the BC First
Nations Leader Council but deals and the process agreed to under these deals
that our Aboriginal and Treaty Rights have been seriously undermined.[continues...]
read more...
Hargrove's Ridiculousness
1.
Buzz Hargrove: Making the most of opportunity
My call last week for Canadians to re-elect a minority Liberal government, with the NDP holding a clear balance of power, sent shockwaves through the federal campaign. And I'm still somewhat puzzled as to why. For I've simply given expression to a sentiment that is clearly shared by almost everyone on the Canadian left — including most NDP members.2.
...
Still puzzled?
Liberals are Pyromaniacs, say Harper and Lord
For the second time in three days, a prominent Conservative politician has labelled the Liberals "pyromaniacs", a label sure to incense Paul Martin and his party.
This past Tuesday, NB premier Bernard Lord slammed the Liberals, arguing "they're like pyromaniacs with the matches and gasoline in their hands, they light the fire and then say, `Oh, let us put it out,'"
Riding the wake of these comments, Stephen Harper addressed a small crowd of supporters in Montreal Thursday night. "Having tarnished the reputation of federalism in Quebec with their corruption, federal Liberals on national unity? It's like sending a pyromaniac to be a firefighter."
Meanwhile, it's Ralph Klein's Conservatives in Alberta that are most likely to actually burn down the house.
December 07, 2005Memo to NDP
This is not how you win an election, much less get any votes at all:
The NDP candidate in the riding is also skeptical. Evelyn Myskiw says she cannot imagine New Democrats voting Liberal, given the sponsorship scandal and the spending spree by government just before the election call."I can't see how any Liberal can cast another Liberal vote this time round," she said. "This to me is not the way to go. I think you have to give the NDP a chance. I think you have to give the NDP credit for what has happened so far, and I think you have to give them credit for standing up for the working person."
"Give the NDP a chance"??
Ambassador
Three days before the non-confidence vote, Pierre Pettigrew named a new ambassador to Ecuador, Christian Lapointe. Anthony Fenton looks at Lapointe's role in the overthrow of Haiti's democratically elected government.
December 06, 2005Doubling
On the National tonight, Keith Boag reported that the Liberals will be making their first "major" policy announcement of the campaign. This announcement is...I swear I am not making this up...the Liberals child care plan which currently calls for 5 billion over 5 years, will be extended to pay 10 billion over 10 years. Oh man...December 05, 2005Yves Engler (and free speech) on trial
I just got back from Yves Engler's bail hearing. Yves, you may recall, or not, is the guy who wrote a book called Canada in Haiti: Waging war on the poor majority, and who poured red paint on Pierre Pettigrew's hands a few months ago to call attention to Canada's complicity with massacres, political prisoners and other human rights violations in Haiti.
Last Thursday, Engler got up during Paul Martin's speech and yelled "Martin lies, Haitians die", while throwing confetti printed with excerpts from international news reports about human rights violations of the current Haitian government (which has no democratic mandate, and which Canada helped install).
Within about 15 seconds, the RCMP dragged him out of the room. They kept him in jail for a total of five days, which brings us to today, when they announced his bail conditions. They are as follows:
- $5000
- Barred from coming within 500m (or something like that, I can't remember exactly) of any MP, Québec MNA, or the Governor General
- Barred from communicating with (via email or phone, etc.) any MP, Québec MNA, or the Governor General(!!!)
- Barred from the Palais des Congrés in Montreal for the duration of the CoP/MoP meetings
- Disallowed from possessing weapons or firearms (or explosives, the judge added pensively).
The money alone is 50 times that asked of the guy who had his hearing before Yves, who was in for domestic abuse.
But not communicating with any Federal or Provincial elected official?
Seriously.
December 04, 2005Staying in the Political Party Box
All of the campaign weblogs seem to be focused on portraying their authors as thoughtful, caring, charming, good human beings. Not a lot of policy though. An exception is the NDP's great [economist] hope, Paul Summerville, who posts his letters to the editor, stats and analysis of NHL standings.
I'm surprised none of the parties are making any effort to tap, Dean style, the grassroots energy of weblogs. I suppose it helps to have fixed election dates and a year-long campaign, but the current party web sites are boringly identical, as if they're all using the same consultants. Ugh.
The NDP, with its lack of funds, just ends up looking like the other parties, but weaker. Doesn't anyone want to be different anymore?
Is politics really about having the biggest picture of your party leader with the least amount of mud on it? How incredibly depressing.
If I stop being depressed at some point, I'll write up a post about all the things that, say, the NDP (not that I have any particular affinity with them; they just seem to have the least abhorrent economic, social and environmental policies) could be doing at little cost.
For a while there, it looked like politics was going to come out of the hermetically sealed bag that it likes to be in... at least with the NDP, it seemed like Jack Layton's plan was to work with, from, and occasionally for social movements. Perhaps playing power broker is more rewarding.
Election coverage...
The Greens are pissed about being excluded from the vote.
A phone system glitch made it look like calls from the Conservative party were coming from the US Senate in Washington DC. This, after a ringing endorsement of Harper from a US-based right winger.
The Ottawa Sun has a curious piece where they ask homeless people about politics. In the process, they mention that five of the last six PMs have been millionaires--Martin, Chretien, Mulroney, Turner, Trudeau. The only one who wasn't was Kim Campbell.
John Murtha
Alex Cockburn over at Counterpunch has been paying close attention to Congressman John Murtha's remarkable stand against continuing the occupation of Iraq. (Murtha is on the right of the Democratic party, and is a decorated veteran.)
Amazingly, leading Democrats -- Clinton, Kerry, Obama, etc. -- have abandoned Murtha and maintained a pro-war stand.
In his latest piece, Cockburn says that Murtha's speech signals the revolt of the Generals on the Iraq war.
Meanwhile, Bush's approval rating is below 35% in a lot of populous states.
December 02, 2005I'd like to see more ledes like this one...
CTV: "Paul Martin has resurrected his 'promise made, promise kept' mantra for the election campaign, but when it comes to one of his biggest promises -- eliminating the so-called democratic deficit -- the chant rings a tad hollow."
If it's obvious, why not call politicians on their bullshit?
December 01, 2005The Wind Beneath My Wings
I went to Paul Martin's appearance this morning at the Montréal Hilton. It was sponsored by SNC Lavalin and Alcan.
In her introduction, International Development Minister Aileen Carroll (who still can't speak French) said that Paul Martin was the "wind beneath my wings". Her words. A few stifled guffaws were heard from the press area.
Haiti Action Montreal's Yves Engler burst into the room, yelling "Martin Lies, Haitians Die" and threw confetti-sized flyers containing quotes from the international press about police killings in Haiti. Canada is training the Haitian police, and refuses to take responsibility for, or even acknowledge, what's going on.
Engler was grabbed by several RCMP officers and dragged off.
I was grabbed by RCMP officers before I was able to ask Martin a question. This, appparently, because I spoke with Engler before he disrupted Martin's speech. (Not that people acting in the capacity of Dominion reporters haven't been denied access to Martin numerous times in the past, for no reason at all.)
