Prorogue Harper

Harper Must Go

The grassroots movements protesting Emperor Harper's attacks on Canadian democracy, are growing more and more all the time. I'm hoping to be involved in a rally in Hamilton in the next couple of weeks (will keep anyone interested from here posted on that).

Sure enough, there are still some Conservative trolls (and Members of Parliament) insisting that Harper is a great leader, that this is all perfectly normal, etc. I really wish the right-wing would stop pissing on the public and trying to tell us that it's raining -- it's not only unethical but it's just plain insulting to our intelligence.

They claim that suspending Parliament is a normal procedure -- if so, then why does it rarely happen, and is widely considered a bad thing whenever it does? Furthermore, why does Harper conspicuously only do this, when his ass has been put in a sling?

They claim Harper hasn't been accused of war crimes. Excuse me? His administration has been caught -- in writing -- knowing about the torture of war prisoners in Afghanistan (not all of them Taliban, I might add), and not only has have the Harperites done nothing to stop it, but they have consistently muzzled and vilified anyone who brings it up in public. They have also done everything in their power to obstruct an investigation into the matter (which, in any other world, would be a crime by itself).

Incidentally, one of the many things shut down, by proroguing Parliament, has been the investigation. For a party that claims to be innocent of wrong doing, they do a really bad job of not looking like they have something to hide.

They finally claim that there is no evidence of torture, and that anyone who says otherwise is against the Canadian troops (yet another example of modern McCarthyism and slander). Well, anyone who's paid any attention to this story at all, knows that there have MANY allegations, from sources including our on-the-frontlines diplomats, the Red Cross (who personally met with the Harper cabinet), and various soldiers (even if some top soldiers were apparently kept in the dark). I would therefore argue that anyone trying to get this issue resolved properly, is the real sort of patriot needed right now.

I can go on -- and intend to, later -- but suffice it to say that the Harper government and his lackies will stop at nothing to control Canada with an iron fist, and they clearly have no qualms about using Thought Police-style tactics to do it.

To anyone reading this, please do something about it. If you are Canadian, protest at your MP's offices, city halls, anywhere that can get attention (if you're on Facebook, look for the group "Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament").

If you're not Canadian, please re-post this anywhere you can. We must get the word out to as many people as possible -- at the very least, show the world that we aren't all like Harper.

2009 Douchebag of the Year

Airport Security (again)

We all know by now that, in the wake of the failed airline bombing on Christmas Day, the American and Canadian governments are once again playing "Security Theatre" (ie. pretending to take the issue very seriously, by creating rules that do nothing to address the actual problem). I'll admit that I have a bit of self-interest in this annoyance, given that my parents and I each have trips planned in the next two months, but please bear with me on this.

U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman (known in some Democratic circles as "The Turncoat"), is calling for more of those enhanced body scanners to be used in American airports -- claiming that that would have stopped the Christmas Day incident. There's just a tiny problem with that, Joe: that flight originated in The Netherlands! Unless you plan on twisting the arms of foreign powers -- again -- to do your bidding, then security measures at home aren't going to mean very much.

Additional pissing up a rope comes in the rule that passengers will no longer be allowed to walk around the cabin, during the last hour of a flight.

...

...

...What difference is that supposed to make?

Let me break down the problem here, on two paths. First of all, we are -- by definition -- talking about criminals. If they're willing to break laws about mass murder, what exactly makes you think that they'll give a shit about when you're allowed to stand up inside a plane?

Second of all, since the general idea of a terrorist attack is simply to kill a lot of people in the most shocking and unexpected way possible, has it ever occurred to the government that a bomber could simply rig his/her device during that time that you ARE allowed to move around?

Now look, terrorists are generally very good at adapting to setbacks anyway, so I'm skeptical about how much difference any security measure will really make, but the chest-thumpers could at least try to come up with stuff that makes even basic sense.

Canadians don't care about torture?

So the Conservative government of Emperor Harper has effectively shut down a commission that is trying to investigate the allegations of Canadian soldiers knowingly letting Afghan prisoners of war being tortured, under government orders. This is fairly typical of the Harper government's hostility towards oversight, justice, and democracy.

One MP, Laurie Hawn, claims that Canadians don't care about the issue -- what planet is he on?

Every poll I've seen since this issue came up, says Canadians are just about ready to throw the Tories into the street. So all that this does is perpetuate the idea that the Harperites know that something fishy is going on, and are trying -- rather badly -- to cover it up.

So everyone reading this, if you agree with me on it, e-mail Mr. Hawn at hawnl1@parl.gc.ca Let him know how the public REALLY feels about this disgrace.

I also invite you to contact our REAL head of state, Governor General Michaelle Jean, to ask her to stop Harper from destroying this country (he can only suspend Parliament with her permission -- she might even be able to pull the plug on him, I don't know about that though).

http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=325

Psychotic Hatreds III

WHAT War on Christmas?