This is from a CBC report on an incident that occurred while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was addressing a joint session of the U.S. Congress: Netanyahu … was briefly interrupted by a protester in the gallery, who stood and shouted, "No more occupation, end Israeli war crimes" before being escorted out of the gallery. The Israeli prime minister said the interruption showed the difference between democracies and the "farcical parliaments in Tehran and Tripoli. "This is real democracy," he said. I’m not sure this incident makes the point that Netanyahu hoped it would. Nor am I sure that the CBC has used "escorted" in its truest sense. Police arrested CODEPINK peace activist Rae Abileah at the George Washington University Hospital in Washington DC. Abileah was taken to the hospital after having been assaulted and tackled to the ground by AIPAC members of the audience in the House Gallery during Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech to Congress. … As this 28-year-old Jewish American woman spoke out for the human rights of Palestinians, other members of the audience–wearing badges from the conference of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee–brutally attacked her. The police then dragged her out of the Gallery and took…
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Peace, order and good government, eh?: A matter of national security
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Canada is on the verge of imposing sanctions on Syria. Since the Americans, along with the EU, have already moved in that direction it’s only natural that the Harper Government™ would tag along. But I thought this part of the report was interesting: John Baird, the new Minister of Foreign Affairs, will present his recommendations for punitive measures at the cabinet committee on national security, which was created as part of last week’s cabinet shuffle. Tim Naumetz of The Hill Times reported at length on this new cabinet committee last week. He described as "a dramatic measure…" the establishment of an entirely new committee of Cabinet ministers responsible for overseeing national security and intelligence agencies, even intelligence and information gathered through delivery of Canadian aid programs. It will be only the second of two Cabinet committees now chaired by the Prime Minister… As an aside: does this demonstrate a conscious intention to use aid programs as a means of intelligence gathering? Are we already doing that? But I digress….
Continue readingPeace, order and good government, eh?: Sunday morning
Good morning. You might want to turn your volume up a bit lest you miss some tasty licks….
Continue readingPeace, order and good government, eh?: Friday night: Ladies night
Just because. This is Carolyn Wonderland. Did you ever take a look to see who is left around? Everyone I thought was cool, is six feet under ground They tried to get me lots of times and now they’re coming after you I got out and I’m here to say, baby you can get out too I’m still alive and well, still alive and well Every now and then I know it’s kind of hard to tell But I’m still alive and well…
Continue readingPeace, order and good government, eh?: Apparently we need to hold the Arar inquiry all over again
Because we didn’t learn anything from it the first time around. Canadians secretly added to U.S. security list: WikiLeaks The Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Canada’s principal intelligence agency, routinely transmits to U.S. authorities the names and personal details of Canadian citizens who are suspected of, but not charged with, what the agency refers to as "terrorist-related activity." The criteria used to turn over the names are secret, as is the process itself. Our "principal intelligence agency" doesn’t work for us; it works for American intelligence agencies. In at least some cases, the people in the cables appear to have been named as potential terrorists solely based on their associations with other suspects, rather than any actions or hard evidence. Of the 41 people named, 21 do not appear to have ever been charged, and some had never come to the attention of the Americans before being named by their own government. This isn’t old news; it’s based on leaked cables from WikiLeaks that cover a period from 2009 to 2010. And while the United States may be our ally, it’s also the same country that has been running show trials posing as military tribunals, legalizing indefinite detention without due process,…
Continue readingPeace, order and good government, eh?: Now representing Canada on the world stage
This could be the end of diplomacy as we know it….
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