ISPs, Tazers, RCMP, Warrants, Freedom

The public enquiry into the taser death of a man, has shown the officers lied under oath. The Supreme Court has ruled that a citizen must be allowed to return home, after both the RCMP & CSIS wrongfully suspected him of being a terrorist. Mr. Arar still cannot travel due to the error by the RCMP & CSIS about him being a terrorist. Yet the Harper Government wants to give these same agencies the ability to access our Internet Lives, without the need of any judicial oversight, or warrants. It is one more example of how Harper is moving Canada towards a Dictatorship, rather than protecting our rights. Civil Rights are being ignored, removed, all under the political guise of national security, when the truth is, the greatest threat to our democracy, to our freedom, is the Harper Government, itself.

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Without a Warrant

What is really behind the Harper plan to make ISPs subservient to law enforcement isn’t to root out terrorists, isn’t to find child pornographers, but is an attempt to make Canada a tin pot dictatorship. The goal is to give big business an edge, to root out those who may, or may not, be downloading their copyright material. It isn’t about protecting society from a terrorist plot, but about avoiding having to prove their suspicions. It is about guessing, instead of being vigilant, it is about creating more fear, not limiting it. Stephen Harper is doing what George Bush did, to deny real opposition to his plans, through fear & intimidation. It is how Hitler seized power, and it is how Hitler attempted to make all subservient to him, just as today, Stephen Harper is attempting. From attack ads that run non stop, to threats, to secret hearings, to now secret listening in on the day to day lives of Canadians. He protects only those who are white, of the right religion, of the right political leanings, while leaving minorities to hang in the wind, like he’s done with Arar, and others.

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Who to Believe – Flaherty or Budget Office?

Stephen Harper is supposed to be an economist. Flaherty is the finance minister, and yet it is the parliamentary budget officer, Page, who has gotten the projections right, while the two Conservatives in Charge have been way off base. Now Flaherty says that Page is wrong about the need for increased taxes, cuts in spending, in order to bring us out of the red, within five years. He continues to project a surplus, even though the leading private sector analysists say other wise, even though the Bank of Canada says otherwise, and even though the Parliamentary Budget Officer says otherwise. Now if they had been wildly wrong in the past, okay I would believe Flaherty or give him the benefit of the doubt, however the fact is, they have been right for years now, while Flaherty & Harper have been way off target, each and every time. How can we believe Harper, when he’s been so wrong, so often? Maybe it is time to pull the plug on this group of total incompetents, who obviously would rather spend millions on attack ads, than on dealing with the economy.

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Renegotiating Great Lakes Treaty

For 100 years the treaty has existed. Now it is to be renegotiated, under the guise of updating it, of making it meet today’s standars. Funny don’t you think? After all, are they really telling us that the Great Lakes Treaty hasn’t been updated since its inception one hundred years ago? Or are they simply trying to hide the fact, that once more the Harper Government is about to sell us out to the Americans? After all, they are his true saviors, and he would much rather do them a favor, than protect Canadian Interests. He can always come up with some attack ad, to deflect the truth, can’t he? Then too, maybe he is just trying to get an extra dollar or two, before he sells off Niagra Falls? I mean who needs such a leaky faucet, and now with the borders being more rigid in who can, or can’t get across, maybe we should sell it to the Americans. After all, it might lower the fifty billion dollar deficit to forty nine point nine billion. And that is good for the economy, because well, other countries do much worse.

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Can Politicians Add?

3000 infrastructure projects, fifty billion in the red, from 30 billion in the red, from a surplus of a billion, all in less than a year. How can Stephen Harper look anyone in the face, when in less than a year we have gone from being basically sound and not going to be impacted by the global recession, to where our economy is shrinking at record levels? How can he expect anyone to trust his projections, that go from a surplus to a whopping fifty billion dollar deficit in less than 9 months? How is that sound fiscal management? And yet that is what he claims, and once more, says we are doing good, unless the People are given an opportunity to decide, then well, its just plain reckless. I don’t know, when did people deciding on the direction of government, known as democracy, become reckless? When it doesn’t suit Stephen Harper?

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Cheap Politics

The real cheap politics comes not from the Opposition, but from the man claiming it is cheap. This from a man who swore that all cabinet ministers were to be held accountable for their actions, and for all documents in their department, then allows the firing of an underling, to cover the Minister’s negligence. That is cheap politics Mister Harper, and that is why you need to be retired by the electorate.

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Isotopes & Harper

Smoke and mirrors a la Harper style politics. Once again a cabinet minister is involved in controversy, and it just happens to be the same one who leaked documents. THe one who got special treatment, for allowing secret documents to be left at a news agency, is once more embroiled in controversy. This time for a tape recording of a private conversation, that shows her inability to care about the isotope crisis, she is charged with fixing. Makes you wonder though, how a tape recording of over five hours, was just left at another news agency. I mean, no one keeps track of their equipment and files in her department? And Harper hasn’t even talked to her about it? Or is this just a smoke screen, to take the mind off the fact that Cancer patients need these isotopes, that the medical profession needs this issue to be resolved, which doesn’t mean selling it off, but means canning the current incompetent from being in charge, that being his Minister. Typical Harper, duck the real issue, to avoid being held accountable.

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Chrysler’s Legal Battle

How much wasted taxpayer money has to be spent, before the people wake up and realize that Harpernomics doesn’t work? How much must we go into debt, before we come to our senses and stop listening to the fear mongering by Harper & Flaherty, and realize that bailouts are not a solution to the economic crisis? Doesn’t it stand to reason, that if prices like energy go up, that the cost of everything goes up, but while we focus on bailing out failed business institutions like Chrysler & GM, the price at the pump creep upwards, fueling more rising costs, but Harper does nothing about it. Says nothing about it, and worse, plans to throw more money at the failed businesses, while allowing the economy to drop into further recession. Harpernomics is the one just visiting, and is what should be sent packing.

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Scary Thing About Growing Old

It is a lonely job, caring for someone who is 92 years of age. Married but yet alone, because as much as you want their support, you hide how it hurts, how much you are afraid, because of many things. Maybe it is to spare them seeing you weak, maybe it is simply fear that they won’t understand, or maybe it is just not knowing how to talk to them. Whatever the reason, it makes for a lonely vigil, and yet the news, the inhumanity of leaders, intrudes and makes you angry. You see a 92 year old, whose only goal is to just have another day, while you listen to the smugness of leaders discounting the rise in unemployment, or threatening the opposition because they don’t want to face the electorate. You cringe, because they could help, by caring, but instead they only care for themselves, for their power, for their payoffs. It isn’t a nice world, but it is hers, and yet, she refuses to give in, and you sit, wondering, why?

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Jobless Rate 11 Year High

There is the bottom line, and then there is the real bottom line. Everyone wants to make money, but how can you justify obscene profits, at the expense of being a responsible corporate citizen? And yet, despite the free trade mantra, the shipping of jobs oversease, these same greedy companies are begging for taxpayer relief, in order to survive. Doesn’t that tell you that the business model they follow is not working? Does it not tell you that if you put those in your home country out of work, to add to your own pocket, that eventually you will have no one able to buy your products? This is what has happened, Corporate greed, has finally seen its end result. Yet governments like the Harper Regime, continue to pour billions of our money into these failed businesses, simply to garner campaign funding, not to keep Canadians working, as the rising unemployment figures prove. Harpernomics does not work, but then he knew that, he just wants the perks without the responsibility for doing what is right. He’d rather threaten, attack, than govern.

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Court Last Hope for Rights

What good is a Charter of Rights, if the Government of the day, have no intention of honoring it, or of adhering to its principles, its concept? That is what is becoming more apparent each day that Stephen Harper remains Prime Minister. When it takes the Supreme Court to continue to uphold the Charter, because the Conservatives are unwilling to protect Canadian Citizens, it becomes clear, that racism, and bigotry are all that matters. It is also clear, as to why Mr Harper wants to change the process to get Judges into the Supreme Court, so he can hand pick them, and completely shatter the rights of the poor, of minorities, of the disadvantages, just as his hero George Bush did to the US Supreme Court. When a government fails to protect its own citizens, it is time for that government to go.

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Accidents Happen, BUT

Health Watch Comments (0)

How does it happen in meat processing plants?

I can see it in a home scenario, where the raw food being cooked, gets contaminated. I mean it isn’t like the average household cook is that aware of food handling precautions, and to be honest, many cooks in restaurants aren’t either. Which is a whole other story.

President’s Choice has a beef recall happening, which seems to be typical these days. The contamination is e.coli which isn’t something you want to mess with. Course, the recall is for fresh beef that has moved through the system, which again, makes me wonder about CIFA & the FDA.

Consumers should avoid eating certain President’s Choice brand steaks, roasts and ground beef products that are being pulled from store shelves because of possible contamination with E. coli, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency says. ( CBC News )

Now I don’t know, but here on the Westcoast, we get a lot of ads for President’s Choice saying how their beef is all Choice Canadian Beef. So how come the recall back east is for meat processed in Colorodo?

What good is it, to try and shop locally, when they lie and mislead you as to where their products actually come from? I mean is the Beef Canadian, shipped to the US plant in Colorodo for butchering, then sent back to the East Coast for sale? Kind of seems a bit stupid if you ask me, and I would more likely believe that it is US Beef, butchered and packaged, then sent up here to be sold.

Maybe back East, where the recall is taking place, has more about it, but why is such a recall, not made National? I really wonder, is CIFA deliberately being forced to downplay these recalls, in order to appease the industry? After all, our Stevie Boy believes that the Industry can better Self Regulate than Government.

Funny how recalls get less attention, and are now always AFTER the food has passed through the system.

Ian @ July 3, 2009

Emergency Wiretaps

Justice Comments (0)

A provision in our Criminal Code allows Police the ability to wiretap a person(s) without their knowledge, or without having to inform them of the tap, once the investigation is completed. However, the provision is for ‘emergency use’ where lives are believed to be in ‘immediate danger’.

CBC News has learned that McMynn’s case is just one of at least 267 cases between 2000 and 2008 where major police forces across the country used warrant-less wiretaps. ( CBC News )

Personally, I happen to agree with the need of an emergency provision, so that Police can act in order to save a life, or lives. However, there still needs to be some form of accountability, to insure that the provision is being properly used, and not for other purposes.

Certainly we want to act, when speed is essential in protecting lives. However, what about property or inconvenience? Should that also be included as just cause to by pass the legal system?

I don’t think so.

And yet, that is what is at the heart of this matter. How can we, the people, or those in charge of the Police, even know if such instances are proper or not, if there is no record keeping, no passing along of information? While it is nice to think that every law enforcement officer is honest, true, and dedicated, free of personal bias, the simple truth is, they are human, just like everyone else. They have prejudices, they have bias leanings, and yes, they too act out of anger, out of irrational fear at times, so they do need to be held accountable.

It is that accountability that makes our society different from a Dictatorship, or Tyranical Ruler. We are at War, with those forces that would like to see our society crumble, but you know, the greatest threat is coming from within, not from them. It is our fear that is driving us to ignore the very principles that set us apart, and when you blur the lines that much, you give the enemy exactly what they seek.

The end of our society.

Laws exist for the protection of everyone in our society, not just a select few who are born of the right religion, have the right skin color, and have the right view or opinion. Laws are for those who disagree, who are willing to accept that others may have a point, or that they are at least allowed to voice them, openly & free from retribution.

Those are the principles that founded this country, that are its backbone for being.

Emergency Powers are needed, but we still need to have procedures, to maybe detail better how and when such powers can be used, and also, to insure that each time they are used, there is proper documentation, & records. Not so we can just punish abusers of the system, but in an effort to refine and make the rules perform better.

Without the data, you can’t say how many lives were saved, or not. You can’t determine what methods worked or didn’t, in saving lives, if you don’t know how Police got to that point.  This is about Democracy, about being held accountable, yet it seems, we try to duck that, by using sensationalism stories to illustrate a point, either for or against.

Instead of promising accountability, as Stephen Harper does, let us, for a change, actually BE ACCOUNTABLE.

Ian @ June 29, 2009

Indecision Leads to Drop in Polls

Minority Watch Comments (0)

Harper’s Goons have retaken the lead in the Political Polls, not because of anything they have done, but due to the indecision of the Opposition Parties, especially the Liberals under Ignatieff.  Frankly, Politics is becoming a joke, no better than Used Car Salesmen or some Product Hawker on television.

Asked which party they would support if a federal election were held tomorrow, 34.8 per cent of respondents said they would cast their ballots for Stephen Harper’s Tories, while 32.6 per cent opted for Ignatieff’s Liberals, EKOS said. ( CBC News )

I wonder what goes on in the minds of those who advise Political leaders?

Sure, maybe people don’t want an election now, in which case, why create a situation where one might be expected? How is that going to get my support? How is that going to translate into me wanting to support you down the road, when you are only using that ‘threat‘ to garner support for your pet policy?

Harper has shown he is not the ideal choice among Canadians, but gets his sorry ass re-elected because the Opposition cannot get it’s own act together. If the Harper Tories are dismantling this country, are incapable of managing its finances, then force the issue, and be man/woman enough to stand your ground.

If we want less attack ads, then how about we actually stand for what we say, for what we claim to believe in?

If the EI plans of the government are wrong, if their economic policy is wrong, if their environmental policy is wrong, THEN WHY ARE YOU SUPPORTING THEM, MR. IGNATIEFF? MR. LAYTON?

People want decisions, not platitudes or posturing. We want leaders WHO WILL ACT, and not those who will compromise their principles, to avoid what maybe an unpleasent or inconvenient election call.

It is the JOB of the Leaders to make their cases, and if you are so unsure of your policies, of garnering my support for them, then perhaps instead of bluster, instead of bluff, YOU ADJUST YOUR POLICIES.

In other words, Mr. Ignatieff, Ms. May, Mr. Layton, CONVINCE ME I SHOULD SUPPORT YOU & YOUR PARTY WITH CONVICTION, NOT HOT AIR, NOT EMPTY THREATS.

Ian @ June 25, 2009

The Terrorist Card.

Justice Comments (0)

Everyone has heard about the ‘race card’ or the ‘religion card’ when used to attack a difference of opinion. Some claim it is racist to oppose someone of an ethnic origin, or that it is anti religious to object to religious groups that interfere in political issues. And then there is the ‘Terrorist Card’ that governments like George Bush played with extreme deftness, and dexterity.  Stephen Harper & his band of thugs are also pretty good at using it too.

It took a Supreme Court order to bring back a Canadian citizen from the Sudan. Took a public enquiry to get Arar an apology from the RCMP along with a cash settlement. It has taken a Court Order to also slap the wrists of the Government for its raid on a SUSPECTED TERRORIST HARKET.  Also a Court Order to bring back another Canadian Citizen who has been held in Gitmo since 2002, which is being appealed by Harper.

In a 24-page decision released Tuesday, Justice Simon Noel says the May 12 raid violated the Charter rights of Mohamed Harkat, an Algerian refugee whom the Canadian Security Intelligence Service accuses of having ties to terrorist organizations. ( CBC News )

Federal lawyers filed an appeal in Ottawa Tuesday of a court ruling that ordered the government to seek Omar Khadr’s return to Canada from Guantanamo Bay. ( CBC News )

It isn’t just the story that worries me, but the comments for each of these two stories, that detail the excesses of our Government, and it’s UNWILLINGNESS to protect our basic civil rights.

To begin with, all of the cases I have listed, Arar, Harknett, etc. are cases WHERE NO ACTUAL PROOF OF TERRORISM HAS BEEN FOUND. Even in the case of Khadr, a kid at the time, has no real evidence that proves he threw a grenade or not. In fact, evidence has been found, that shows that the suspicions against Arar were wrong, and that the one’s against the man in the Sudan were baseless.

In the case of Harknett, again, he has not been convicted, but is a  SUSPECT OUT ON BAIL.  The fact that he is under certain conditions, does not alter the simple fact, that he is not convicted of any crime.

YET PEOPLE ALREADY ARE WANTING TO END HIS LIFE, CLAIMING BLEEDING HEART LIBERALS ARE BENDING OVER TO PROTECT MURDERS & TERRORISTS.

Truth is, that until you know if a person is a murder, or a terrorist, and can prove it, you are delaing with an innocent person. That is the basics of our legal system, and yet so many seem intent on not just convicting these people, but demanding they be incarcerated or killed, without knowing the truth.

In fact, the Government prosecuting these individuals REFUSE to disclose the evidence against them, citing bogus National Security Issues. I mean come on, since when did SECRET TRIALS ever be DEMOCRATIC?   And how does opposing such tactics, make me a bleeding heart Liberal?

I believe in LAW, and being a minority, my life hangs on those RULES OF LAW. To listen to those complaining about insuring that Justice is followed is scary, because that is what leads to dictatorship, to anarchy. It is what HITLER DID IN GERMANY and these people need a reminder of just how that worked out.

I do not know if Harknett is guilty or innocent, nor do I know if Khadr is guilty or innocent, and it should be left up to a COURT OF LAW TO DECIDE NOT STEPHEN HARPER.  That is what makes this a democracy, the rights of individuals to be held above the rights of dictators, of Governments.   It may not be perfect, and yes, some who are guilty get away with their crimes, but what about those who are innocent?

Is it really better to have your mail opened without your knowledge? Is it really okay to not have any privacy on your internet journey?  All to supposedly catch a bad buy? How about being held in Prison for 3 1/2 years without seeing a court room based soley on someone’s suspicion that you are a bad person?

How would YOU feel if YOU were that person, and the sole reason you are being held is because your last name is FINKLESTEIN or because your skin color is BLACK, or you were seen leaving a MOSQUE?

Think about that, before you condemn Arar, Khadr, or Harknett.  Think about it, before you consider whether, or not, Stephen Harper is the kind of despot you want running your country?

THINK ABOUT IT FIRST, ABOUT WHAT IF SOME IMPERFECTION YOU HAVE, LIKE A BIG NOSE, A DIFFERENT SOUNDING LAST NAME, OR A DIFFERENT RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION, BECOMES OUT OF FASHION TOMORROW & YOU ARE ACCUSED OF BEING WHAT YOU AREN’T. ALL BECAUSE OF SOME SUPPOSED SUSPICION.

 THINK ABOUT IT.

Ian @ June 23, 2009