Quote du Jour: Suspicious Red Things

"I don't think it is an issue of the Canadians being the bad guys," the Pentagon's counterintelligence chief wrote, "but then again, who knows."

Yeah. Who knows...?
 

Quote du Jour: Man Without a Conscience

Hillier minimizes detainee abuse:

Mr. Hillier derisively compared the political uproar that surrounded Mr. Colvin's parliamentary testimony to people “howling at the moon” and said nobody ever raised torture concerns with him during the 2006-2007 period in question.

“I don't remember reading a single one of those cables [from Mr. Colvin] ... He doesn't stick out in my mind,” Mr. Hillier said of the diplomat's warnings and criticism.

“He appears to have covered an incredibly broad spectrum, much of which I'm not sure he's qualified to talk about.”

The former soldier rejected suggestions Canada was “complicit in any war crimes” – saying Ottawa had a responsible system in place. He also played down the fact Afghan prisoners got hurt in jails.

“Even in our own prisons [in Canada] somebody can get beaten up. We know that.”

- The Globe and Mail

At least he didn't call it "fraternity hazing".

But let's get real: the man is lying to cover his ass:

Retired general Rick Hillier, who led Canada's 2006 military foray into southern Afghanistan, joined the Conservatives in dismissing Mr. Colvin's story. He told a Toronto audience Thursday night that he can't recall ever coming across reports from the diplomat, who was a senior Foreign Affairs staffer in Afghanistan for 17 months.

From the Globe and Mail, April 2007:

The Harper government knew from its own officials that prisoners held by Afghan security forces faced the possibility of torture, abuse and extrajudicial killing, The Globe and Mail has learned.

But the government has eradicated every single reference to torture and abuse in prison from a heavily blacked-out version of a report prepared by Canadian diplomats in Kabul and released under an access to information request.

Initially, the government denied the existence of the report, responding in writing that "no such report on human-rights performance in other countries exists." After complaints to the Access to Information Commissioner, it released a heavily edited version this week.

Among the sentences blacked out by the Foreign Affairs Department in the report's summary is "Extrajudicial executions, disappearances, torture and detention without trial are all too common," according to full passages of the report obtained independently by The Globe.

The Foreign Affairs report, titled Afghanistan-2006; Good Governance, Democratic Development and Human Rights, was marked "CEO" for Canadian Eyes Only. It seems to remove any last vestige of doubt that the senior officials and ministers knew that torture and abuse were rife in Afghan jails.

Quote du Jour: Don't judge a book...

Sarah Palin:

The choice of photo for the cover of this week's Newsweek is unfortunate. When it comes to Sarah Palin, this "news" magazine has relished focusing on the irrelevant rather than the relevant. The Runner's World magazine one-page profile for which this photo was taken was all about health and fitness - a subject to which I am devoted and which is critically important to this nation. The out-of-context Newsweek approach is sexist and oh-so-expected by now. If anyone can learn anything from it: it shows why you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, gender, or color of skin. The media will do anything to draw attention - even if out of context.

Yes. I try hard not to judge books by their gender or color of skin too.

Good thing she had a ghostwriter for her book. Who knows what literary nightmares the public may have been exposed to had she written an entire book by herself?

As for the charge of sexism, it seems to me that Newsweek has been more than fair and balanced in its choice of cover photos. They can't show you posing with your big gun every single time they feature you, now can they, Sarah?

Sidebar: And the best part of the Oprah/Palin interview? Oprah's gold shoes, hands down. And I'm no fashionista... Ooops. Was that sexist??

Update:

Newsweek defends its choice for the cover photo.

And, this just in from the Department of Irony, Sarah Palin told Barbara Walters in a GMA interview that "political correctness" is going to "do in" America. And she calls the Newsweek cover "cheesy" and "a wee bit degrading". Ummm..Sarah...it's a picture of you that you posed for quite willingly. Mon dieu.
 

Quote du Jour: The Death of Michael Jackson

Today's quote du jour comes from Michael Lazzaro aka Hunter at Daily Kos:

I can imagine no worse curse to afflict someone, in America, than dying while famous.

And I can imagine no worse use of ridiculous hyperbole than that statement - one that minimizes any American afflicted with the agony of being tortured, maimed, murdered; affected by mental or physical illness, extreme poverty or so many other life circumstances that make the so-called "curse" of "dying while famous" the absolute least of all concerns.

I admit that there's no love lost between me and Michael Jackson. I appreciate his musical genius but stopped being a fan when he morphed (physically and emotionally) from being a cute little black boy to a crotch-grabbing, disco-loving (call it "pop" if you want to - I still found it nauseous), narcissistic, Peter Pan impersonating parody of himself.

Oh - but he was abused as a child - that's why he was so tortured. Well, guess what? So are millions of other people. At least he could afford therapy - a luxury many other sufferers don't have.

And don't get me wrong, I'm all for eccentricities, but when they include speculation (and a privately settled lawsuit) of child abuse on his part, the line from odd to unacceptable has been crossed.

Did he live a tough life? Sure. Could he have helped himself if he'd wanted to? Yes. The truth is that the cult of celebrity that he not only grew up with due to his parents' prodding but that he metamorphosed into an art form of its own with delusions of grandeur that led him to don epaulettes and a crown surely took on a life of its own. But wasn't he really above controlling it to some measurable extent? Was the roller coaster really as inevitable as some would have you believe? And how much does society demand those delusions that snowball so often into tragedy?

Some people online question if it's not too soon to "bash" the superstar. I'd respond that discussing the truth about his life is far more valuable for society than eulogizing him (as Lazarro did) as the ultimate tragic figure. When we do that, we minimize the suffering of those who have few or no options - unlike Jackson.

His death was certainly sudden and shocking but let's not dress up his life as he dressed himself - cloaked in images of royalty, pomp, and mega-importance. To do so only enables the blind star worship that elevates those who are famous as being more human than the rest of us.

As Bill Maher said of Barack Obama recently, "He's...not your boyfriend".

Neither was Michael Jackson.

And, for the record, I wasn't a big Elvis fan either. Make of that what you will.

“Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.”

- Henry David Thoreau

Quote du Jour: Crazy stories

From Thursday's Hansard:

Hon. Anita Neville (Winnipeg South Centre, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government scrapped the national child care agreement. It scrapped the court challenges program. It scrapped the Kelowna accord. It made cuts to women's advocacy and literacy. It bargained away women's rights to pay equity. It took meaningful equality out of the mandate of Status of Women Canada and continued to defy international commitments. That does not sound like a government that stands up for the rights of women.

When are we going to see any real commitment from the government for the women of Canada?


Hon. Helena Guergis (Minister of State (Status of Women), CPC):

Mr. Speaker, it does not matter how many times the member makes up crazy stories, they are not believed by women across the country.

This quote brought to you by The Department of Irony.
 

Quotes du Jour: The Canadian Economy

From the Toronto Star:

Today marked the end of a horrendous week for Canadian investors, who watched Toronto's benchmark index fall a total of 1,322.64 points or 11 per cent over five days of frantic trading.

And, if that isn't enough to prove that our economy is teetering, how about this news?

Investors pull billions from funds

Canadian investors, rattled by sinking stock markets and worried about the safety of their money market investments, yanked a whopping $4.6-billion from their mutual funds in September.

It marked the biggest month for net redemptions suffered by the domestic industry since the Investment Funds Institute of Canada began collecting data in 1990.
[...]
“A bubble has burst,” and investors fear that they are going to see a further deterioration of their savings, independent fund analyst Peter Loach said in an interview.

More on that bursting bubble:

Mortgage defaults on the increase

Real estate downturn hits homeowners and investors

Colette Derworiz, Calgary Herald
Published: Thursday, October 02, 2008

For years, bankruptcy trustees and credit counsellors in Calgary haven't had enough work.

But in the past couple of months, the workload has picked up as some Calgarians fall behind on their mounting debts and mortgage payments.

"We are seeing people now who are going into bankruptcy, walking away from properties that in the last . . . four years in Calgary has been very, very, very rare," said David Smith, a trustee in bankruptcy at Bromwich & Smith Inc. "Now it's becoming more common."

Here's further proof that all is not well in Texas North - the land of milk and honey oil.

So, what does Steve have to say about all of this?

Well...

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's prime minister accused the United States on Friday of panicking over the financial crisis and tried to assure nervous voters ahead of the Oct 14 general election there that is no need to worry about Canada's economy.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, whose opponents regularly accuse him of being too close to President George W. Bush, said his Conservative government had avoided the mistakes made in the United States.

"If we don't panic here, we stick on course, we keep taking additional actions, make sure everything we do is affordable, we will emerge from this as strong as ever," he told a televised news conference in Saint John, New Brunswick.

Why does that remind me of you-know-who's "stay the course"?

I guess that's all we can know about the Conservative party's platform considering the fact that they haven't even released one yet. (As Jack Layton asked Steve during the debate last nite, Where's your platform, Mr Harper? Under your sweater?).

Apparently, there is a platform on the way next week (from Bush...or John Howard...or maybe Karl Rove). Maybe they'll pull a Hank Paulson and only make it 3 pages long (exceptionally arrogant power grabs included).

But, as Don Martin reminds Canadians:

Of course, no platform promise comes with a guaranteed delivery. An analysis of the 2006 Conservative platform showed barely half their promises were kept and, as a party holding a major policy convention next month to chart its future, everything they propose now seems subject to change by party members.

As he writes, these platforms are "usually not worth the paper they're written on". True, but we still expect them to thoroughly outline their lies before each election anyway.

Meanwhile, Flaherty is out there right now lying. (Maybe that is their platform since it so obviously was the last time around.)

Flaherty says bailout needed in U.S., not in Canada

He said Canada's banks are well-capitalized and within their statutory requirements, and households are "in much better shape" than their American counterparts.

Speaking in London, Ontario, he said Canadians are able to afford their mortgages, and he repeated assurances by Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney that there are few signs that banks are restricting credit to households and that there is no evidence that companies are facing unusual credit restrictions.

That's interesting, considering the Bank of Canada just pumped $12 billion into the system today.

In one swoop, Canada's central bank shoved another $12 billion into the country's financial system Friday, an increase of 150 per cent from previous injections.

The move means the Bank of Canada has boosted the extra dollars it has pumped into the Canadian economy from $8 billion to $20 billion.

"In light of persistent pressures in these markets, the bank announces additional steps to provide term liquidity through term purchase and resale agreements," said the central bank in a press release.

Then there's this: CIBC to use $1B Cerberus cash to stop mortgage writedowns. And this: Week ahead: Canada's labour market in for a body check.

You get the drift.

Pay no attention to the smiling man behind the sweater vest.

He and Flaherty - The Bubble Won't Burst Twins - don't want to be disturbed. They have an election to win.
 

Quote du Jour: Bush Learns How the Economy Works

From his press briefing on Saturday:

Q Democrats are insisting that the federal bailout package include help for homeowners facing foreclosure, other assistance for middle-class citizens such as possibly expanding the jobless benefits. Is that completely out of the question?

PRESIDENT BUSH: We're going to work with Congress to get a bill done quickly. I called leaders of both chambers, both parties, yesterday to thank them for the initial statements coming out of the meeting that they had with Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke. I found a common understanding of how severe the problem is and how it is necessary to get something done quickly, and I think we will.

President George W. Bush listens as Colombian President Alvaro Uribe speaks to a reporter Saturday, Sept. 20, 2008, during a joint press availability in the Rose Garden at the White House. White House photo by Eric Draper And we'll continue to work with them. It is essential that the package be robust and strong to address the problem. I know -- look, I'm sure there are some of my friends out there saying, I thought this guy was a market guy; what happened to him?

Well, my first instinct wasn't to lay out a huge government plan. My first instinct was to let the market work until I realized, upon being briefed by the experts, of how significant this problem became.

And so I decided to act and act boldly. It turns out that there's a lot of interlinks throughout the financial system. The system had grown to a point where a lot of people were dependent upon each other, and that the collapse of one part of the system wouldn't just affect a part of the financial markets; it would affect the average citizen -- and how. Well, it affect[sic] their capacity to borrow money to buy a house or to finance a college loan. It affect[sic] the ability of a small business to get credit. In other words, the system risk was significant, and it required a significant response, and Congress understands that. And we'll work to get something done as quickly and as big as possible.

The man just found out about those "interlinks" today?

Ummm...holy fuck??
 

Quote du Jour: Obama Has a Bush Moment

Via ABC news:

"If we're going to ask questions about, you know, who has been promulgating negative ads that are completely unrelated to the issues at hand, I think I win that contest pretty handily," Obama said.

Quote du Jour: Bush, again

Bush in Baton Rouge:

And finally, the people in Louisiana must know that all across our country there's a lot of prayer -- prayer for those whose lives have been turned upside down. And I'm one of them.

Quote du Jour: Bush & God

From The Independent:

...the former Palestinian foreign minister Nabil Shaath says Mr Bush told him and Mahmoud Abbas, former prime minister and now Palestinian President: "I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, 'George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan.' And I did, and then God would tell me, 'George go and end the tyranny in Iraq,' and I did."

And "now again", Mr Bush is quoted as telling the two, "I feel God's words coming to me: 'Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East.' And by God, I'm gonna do it."

When asked to comment, God said, "I didn't ask him to do anything. Don't blame what this guy does on me."
 

Quote du Jour: Benchmarks

Via the The Star:

As for Harper's [Afghanistan] benchmarks, they come with their own risks.

French analyst de Durand remembers how U.S. forces famously obsessed on benchmarks during Vietnam.

"They loaded all their benchmark data into a computer in 1968 asking: `When are we going to win?' The answer came back: `You won in 1964.'"

Quotes du Jour: Flaherty v Dion on the Budget

Yes, that's right. Today you get 2 quotes for the price of one because they're both incredibly boneheaded on the same subject: Budget 2008.

First up, Mr Stingy:

“Sir John A. Macdonald used to say ‘look a little ahead my friends.' And if we look a little bit ahead, we see how morally deficient it is for us to live high on the hog now and pass our debt on to the next generation,” Mr. Flaherty told a breakfast audience in Toronto.

I suppose you might to have to go back to Sir John A's time to find a period when Conservatives weren't spending like drunken sailors while the Liberals had to bail them out and sober them up later.

And then there's Stephane:

'We'll find a way to not defeat the government'

I've misplaced my Dion to catnip translator but what immediately comes to mind is "I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog too!!!"

And we all know how that turned out.
 

Quote du Jour: Know Your Quotes

Health minister Tony Clement in question period on Tuesday:

The last refuge of scoundrels is to say you were misled.

Wrong!

Patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels.

- William Samuel Johnson

And when it comes to using the refuge of "patriotism" against anyone who criticizes this Conservative government, there's no doubt who the real "scoundrels" are.
 

Quote du Jour: Bozo Journalist Version

Iain Hunter in the National Post:

It could, of course, be argued -- and has been -- that the American involvement in Afghanistan followed far more logically from the 9/11 attacks than toppling Saddam Hussein and wrecking his country.

That's putting it rather fucking mildly, wouldn't you say, Iain?

There was absolutely no logic involved in linking 9/11 to Iraq.

(And don't count on America "surging" anytime soon in Afghanistan either.)
 

Quote du Jour: Newman on Karzai

My jaw dropped today while watching the CBC show Politics. The reason? While Don Newman was interviewing British Labour MP Kim Howells about the situation in Afghanistan, the matter of Karzai's rejection of Paddy Ashdown as UN "super envoy" to that country came up.

Here's what Newman had to say about Karzai's decision:

Who's he to say he can't accept him?

Gee Don, could it be that he's the president of Afghanistan??
 

Quote du Jour: Hell Edition

Via the G & M:

OTTAWA — A Conservative MP said it's up to the Prime Minister to decide whether to fire his chief spokeswoman for making false statements about Canada's mission in Afghanistan.

The government sent out two designated speakers Saturday — one English, one French — to defend Prime Minister Stephen Harper's communications director Sandra Buckler.

Other Conservatives grumbled privately that her misleading remarks are the latest example of how a potential good-news story about the Afghan mission has been plunged into the bowels of public-relations hell.

Enjoy the heat, Cons.
 

Quote du Jour

Via the New York Times story: Egypt Tries to Plug Border; Gazans Poke New Hole:

The police ordered local hotels not to take in Palestinians, but residents and mosques provided beds. “We’ve been sleeping in the Rifai Mosque. It’s nice they let us in,” Mr. Hirakly said. He was interviewed in a line to ride the bumper cars at a little amusement park. “We’re angry at the Egyptians, who try to rob us with overpriced stuff,” he said. “But it’s the most fun we’ve had in years.”

Quote du Jour: 'Why don't you shut up?'

I just couldn't pass this one up:

Shut up, Spain's king tells Chavez

Spain's King Juan Carlos told Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez to "shut up" as the Ibero-American summit drew to a close in Santiago, Chile.

The outburst came after Mr Chavez called former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar a "fascist".

Mr Chavez then interrupted Spanish PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's calls for him to be more diplomatic, prompting the king's outburst.

Latin American, Portuguese, Spanish and Andorran leaders were meeting in Chile.

'Democratically elected'

Mr Chavez called Mr Aznar, a close ally of US President George W Bush, a fascist, adding "fascists are not human. A snake is more human."

Mr Zapatero said: "[Former Prime Minister] Aznar was democratically elected by the Spanish people and was a legitimate representative of the Spanish people."

Mr Chavez repeatedly tried to interrupt, despite his microphone being turned off. The king leaned forward and said: "Why don't you shut up?"

According to reports, the king used a familiar term normally used only for close acquaintances - or children.

Later, Mr Chavez responded to the king's rebuke.

According to the Associated Press news agency, he said: "I do not offend by telling the truth. The Venezuelan government reserves the right to respond to any aggression, anywhere, in any space and in any manner."

The theme of this year's 22-nation summit was "social cohesion".

Quote du Jour: The US Militarization of Africa

Via Guerilla News Network:

The Congressional Research Service’s latest accounting [PDF] of the Global War on Terrorism, of which AFRICOM would be a part, puts the cost at $611 billion since 2001, not including additional recent requests of $147 billion and another $50 billion.

For less than that $808 billion spent in the last six years, we could provide universal primary education, reduce infant mortality by two thirds and provide universal access to potable water and not just for the United States, but also for the world. These Millennium Development Goals have languished with sporadic investment and big promises, while military solutions to problems are funded robustly.

Reexamining this imbalance seems like a crucial first step. And the battle for African hearts and minds will not be won if it’s clear that it is being waged more for the sake of U.S. strategic interests than African needs.

I urge you to read the entire article.
 

Quote du Jour: Bush, again

Bush in NOLA on Wednesday:

And so it's -- my attitude is this: New Orleans, better days are ahead. It's sometimes hard for people to see progress when you live in a community all the time. Laura and I get to come -- we don't live here, we come on occasion. And it's easy to think about what it was like when we first came here after the hurricane, and what it's like today.

Any questions?