Celebrity Groper as Governor? Who'd have thunk it?
Sunday, June 19, 2005
"Seems..." cont'd.
And what if we a were all to answer (breathlessly) ‘I Love it. Can’t get enough?’ Would the Gob and Flail then devote more space yet to this pathetic celebrity gazing phenomena that our society has managed to sleaze into?
Giving the common public what it wants is not necessarily a noble and educating thing to do. Given that our society is becoming illiterate and graduating morons, maybe it would behove the mainstream media to awaken to the crisis in this country of anti-intellectualism and start giving its readership that which it desperately needs: Real debate, thoughtful and well researched articles. And more space for readers to participate in the dialogue.
The common media across the board in this country, including the public-owned CBC, are all guilty of elitism and their own brand of pseudo-intellectualism while people of real intellectual drive, a thirst for enlightenment and an expectation of emancipated debate all suffer for this weary approach to journalism which focuses on the tawdry and amoral lives of a few unhappy freaks we have catapulted into a stellar social status.
When the Gob and Flail can’t even acknowledge honestly its own descent into celebrity worship (“It seems the media are paying more attention…”) , then it becomes the role of the bloggers and cyber-scribes to pick up the slack and offer the red meat of investigative journalism, the juice of revolutionary thinking. And we attempt to do this without the vast resources of corporate advertising and subsidies.
Giving the common public what it wants is not necessarily a noble and educating thing to do. Given that our society is becoming illiterate and graduating morons, maybe it would behove the mainstream media to awaken to the crisis in this country of anti-intellectualism and start giving its readership that which it desperately needs: Real debate, thoughtful and well researched articles. And more space for readers to participate in the dialogue.
The common media across the board in this country, including the public-owned CBC, are all guilty of elitism and their own brand of pseudo-intellectualism while people of real intellectual drive, a thirst for enlightenment and an expectation of emancipated debate all suffer for this weary approach to journalism which focuses on the tawdry and amoral lives of a few unhappy freaks we have catapulted into a stellar social status.
When the Gob and Flail can’t even acknowledge honestly its own descent into celebrity worship (“It seems the media are paying more attention…”) , then it becomes the role of the bloggers and cyber-scribes to pick up the slack and offer the red meat of investigative journalism, the juice of revolutionary thinking. And we attempt to do this without the vast resources of corporate advertising and subsidies.
Feeling Sick Yet? Give George a Buzz.
Recently appointed Health Minister George Abbot has declared he has the “mojo and the jazz” to manage this complex and critical portfolio dealing with the life and death issues of our people.
How reassuring for all those patients dying for a bed, lined up in emergency wards, driving with heart attacks an hour longer to a hospital, and trying to find the funds to pay for drugs not covered by Pharamcare to know that their new head honcho charged with managing their recoveries has the following credentials:
“Before his election to the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Abbott was a political science instructor at Okanagan University College . He also owned the oldest and largest berry farm in the Interior.
“He received his bachelor of arts from the University of British Columbia and his master of arts in political science from the University of Victoria.
“Mr. Abbott was the chair of the Columbia-Shuswap Regional District. He was also involved in amateur sports as a minor hockey coach."
How reassuring for all those patients dying for a bed, lined up in emergency wards, driving with heart attacks an hour longer to a hospital, and trying to find the funds to pay for drugs not covered by Pharamcare to know that their new head honcho charged with managing their recoveries has the following credentials:
“Before his election to the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Abbott was a political science instructor at Okanagan University College . He also owned the oldest and largest berry farm in the Interior.
“He received his bachelor of arts from the University of British Columbia and his master of arts in political science from the University of Victoria.
“Mr. Abbott was the chair of the Columbia-Shuswap Regional District. He was also involved in amateur sports as a minor hockey coach."
Georgie and his Minor Hockey Whistle
Thanking you in advance Mr Campbell, our fearless criminal leader, for the inevitably hilarious gallow’s humour we can expect from this minister. And with all due respect and gratitude, we thank you also for focusing so thoughtfully on the well being of our families.
Did you bring your whistle, George?
Did you bring your whistle, George?
Another George Front
On another George front, we have John Bonifaz, an American constitutional lawyer, rallying the public and families of the war dead in Iraq with the declaration that there is enough evidence to impeach George Bush for war crimes and for lying to Congress about the justification of the war.
To make this charge stick however, Bonifaz is going to need to appeal to a world body not overly infiltrated by American propagandists or to sufficiently inflame the American people, a majority of whom now disapprove of their president, and find among them enough commonly decent people to rise up and revolt against any more of Bush’s illegal bullying on the world stage.
A mother of one dead soldier, Cindy Sheehan, stated, “This aggression on Iraq was based on a lie of historic proportions…” Ouch. “The leadership of this country rushed us into an illegal invasion of another sovereign country on prefabricated and cherry-picked intelligence.”
To make this charge stick however, Bonifaz is going to need to appeal to a world body not overly infiltrated by American propagandists or to sufficiently inflame the American people, a majority of whom now disapprove of their president, and find among them enough commonly decent people to rise up and revolt against any more of Bush’s illegal bullying on the world stage.
A mother of one dead soldier, Cindy Sheehan, stated, “This aggression on Iraq was based on a lie of historic proportions…” Ouch. “The leadership of this country rushed us into an illegal invasion of another sovereign country on prefabricated and cherry-picked intelligence.”
Seething Mothers
There are 1700+ more mothers (and dads and brothers and sisters) and one can never tell when a groundswell of protest might hit its tipping point and bring down a government.
If more Americans were to expose themselves to European newscasts and the opinions of Europeans generally, they may find that they are becoming increasingly isolated by world opinion and that America is losing critical ground in the role it may play in shaping the new world order.
Bill Clinton was impeached for lying about what he did in the darkened corridors of the Whitehouse with a lipstick-smeared intern. But many believe those actions don’t hold a candle to what George Bush is currently doing on his war rampage.
Countless Iraqi civilians have been killed and deeper divisions have been carved into their unstable society since Bush’s campaign in his “war against terror.”
If Bonifaz and the grieving American mothers have their say, the war against a true terrorist will be fought where it belongs, on American soil, targeting a place of some recent disrepute, the Whitehouse.
And yet another on a George front…
If more Americans were to expose themselves to European newscasts and the opinions of Europeans generally, they may find that they are becoming increasingly isolated by world opinion and that America is losing critical ground in the role it may play in shaping the new world order.
Bill Clinton was impeached for lying about what he did in the darkened corridors of the Whitehouse with a lipstick-smeared intern. But many believe those actions don’t hold a candle to what George Bush is currently doing on his war rampage.
Countless Iraqi civilians have been killed and deeper divisions have been carved into their unstable society since Bush’s campaign in his “war against terror.”
If Bonifaz and the grieving American mothers have their say, the war against a true terrorist will be fought where it belongs, on American soil, targeting a place of some recent disrepute, the Whitehouse.
And yet another on a George front…
PRINCE GEORGE TO BUILD COLISEUM
Prince George Mayor Mawlin’ Kingsley sees hockey goon fights as a chance to get his city on the map. He is in the process of having plans drawn up to erect a Coliseum in the spittin' image of the famed Roman edifice where Gladiators brutally maimed each other unto death.
Coliseum Plans cont''d.
Citing a loss of public image with the charging of a local judge recently in the kiddie sex scandal, Kingsley believes his city could use a makeover and what better way to present yourself to a world obsessed with violent video games and bloodfestive movies than to grab the bull by the horns and host extreme goon fights at a venue reminiscent of the coliseum.
To test the viability of his plan, he has scheduled some wife-bashing fests at the local arena and once he has a grip on the public interest levels he’ll know best what size of coliseum to build.
Kingsley states, "Talking to staff, they believe this (the hockey goon-bash)is quite an attraction for people to come from across Canada and from the States to view the show live and it's going to broadcast globally on pay-per-view TV," he said. "We view it as an opportunity to get the name of the city out there."
To test the viability of his plan, he has scheduled some wife-bashing fests at the local arena and once he has a grip on the public interest levels he’ll know best what size of coliseum to build.
Kingsley states, "Talking to staff, they believe this (the hockey goon-bash)is quite an attraction for people to come from across Canada and from the States to view the show live and it's going to broadcast globally on pay-per-view TV," he said. "We view it as an opportunity to get the name of the city out there."
Grizzly Contests
Having conferred with members of the local RCMP, the mayor expects to showcase some pre-pubescent working gals outdoors under the newly dimmed lamplights on the nights when the ladies will be brawling with ex-hubbies indoors at the arena. Intermissions and half time shows will feature cock fights, dwarf-pitching and size contests among the self-esteem challenged.
Gerhardt Speer, grandson of Albert, has been consigned the task of drawing up the coliseum's architectural designs but Kingsley hastens to add that the building itself will concur with all current earthquake and blood-drainage bylaws currently in place for Prince George.
In its slower seasons when gladiators’ rosters are being refilled, Mawlin’ has it in mind to offer ambidextrous lumberjacks a chance to compete in grizzly deballocking contests. To prep for this unusual form of rivalry, local environmentalists have been invited to don bear costumes and share some quality time with lumberjacks in the arena.
As to Kinglsey’s unwavering belief in the prospects of his very own Coliseum, he has this to offer, “If I build it they will come.”
Caligula couldn’t have said it better.
Gerhardt Speer, grandson of Albert, has been consigned the task of drawing up the coliseum's architectural designs but Kingsley hastens to add that the building itself will concur with all current earthquake and blood-drainage bylaws currently in place for Prince George.
In its slower seasons when gladiators’ rosters are being refilled, Mawlin’ has it in mind to offer ambidextrous lumberjacks a chance to compete in grizzly deballocking contests. To prep for this unusual form of rivalry, local environmentalists have been invited to don bear costumes and share some quality time with lumberjacks in the arena.
As to Kinglsey’s unwavering belief in the prospects of his very own Coliseum, he has this to offer, “If I build it they will come.”
Caligula couldn’t have said it better.
And by George, one more George for the road…
In memory of my Dad, war hero George Langen, who at 19 years of age survived “being hit twice in 20 minutes” and was willing to return to the front lines in service of a very different country in those days.
And now for just one more celeb shot for all those addicted slatherers...
If he doth proteth too much, what doth that say about Thientology?
And now for just one more celeb shot for all those addicted slatherers...
If he doth proteth too much, what doth that say about Thientology?
Kudos to the CRTC
Are we to witness the end of a.m. radio as it finally falls from grace to the advent of satellite radio? No more DJ’s pretending to be hip and funny every Monday a.m. and an end to live broadcasts from the back alley of Pharmasave? And maybe if we’re all lucky the collapse of yap radio and all those gravelly-voiced pontificating lords of the airwaves who thought of themselves as God’s vocal gift to the rest of us squeaky heathens. Good riddance to all of that.
"I am..."
"I am..." Photo and text: R Harry Langen
I am the tall yellow grass which makes visible the warm wind delivering the scent of the honeysuckle. And the seeds of that field of strawberries there and the rain which imbues the lake of milk with my spirit.
I am the design of the heavens at night, their perfect wheels marking rhythms and I am the Holy Breath comprising the misty galaxies.
I am the lover of young men and finisher of their fantasies.
See me in the enthusiasm of young students and in the delights of curious girls. Spy me in the intelligence inherent in nature where even the lowly ant has, by my design, instructions for you.
I am the bee others swarm about as they labour to make the nectar for your table. I am the face of a thousand heroes, the trust between friends and the spirit of the winning effort, the perseverance of the man lost in the dark wood and his triumph.
I am the affirmer, that light which reconciles your conduct to the universe. I am the path of heart, the wisdom of the sages and the denial of the iniquitous.
I am the object of desire and the confounder. I am the insight of holy men and the mother's knowing of her child.
I am her milk.
In you I am well pleased. What will you have of me?
-Excerpt from Lightstream, copyright R Harry Langen
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Drum Roll for Revolutionary Manifesto, Please
Mass Murder by Starvation, OnGoing Species Extinction and Corporate Fascism
or
Change the Global Mindset
A minor hallelujah if you will. Live8 founders have won a major 40 Billion dollar concession from G8 counties, releasing Africa from its debtload. The efforts of these world’s prominent musicians (Geldof used to hang in Vancouver) and environmental groups are most laudable in organizing the global effort focusing as it does on world poverty. In this heightened state of awareness, allow me to suggest a more long term and even possibly a permanent fix to our current global dilemma.
Tap tap tap. Now listen up class.
It’s really very simple. This situation we face of mass starvation in Africa (again), species extinction and criminal corporate greed is the result of our own peculiar social evolution. The world has witnessed extreme improvements in communications technology and hence speedier deal-making and economic shifts.
Who, for example, would have considered China to become such a major player, and so quickly that their government hasn’t even bothered to address its human rights issues among its own people before stampeding into the global marketplace? And to the shame of most countries of any economic significance, China has been allowed to neglect those issues of human decency and bully its way around with its unchecked, dubious moral status.
It’s in this neglect and charging around where we find the actual evidence of the problem which has plagued mankind throughout our human history. These economic actions and decisions are now playing out on a global field and their consequences are hurrying along the demise of our very living environment. Witness the extreme pollution warnings sounding right now back in Montreal and Toronto, and that whole Canadian northeastern industrial hub. Asthmatics are wired for oxygen and carcinogens are being gulped by children at play.
Well if we can expedite the demise of our environment through enhanced communications technology then why can’t we expedite the recovery of our environment the same way? All we would need is the will to change the global mindset, shifting away from plundering to preservation.
And now that we can all see the evidence in satellite photographs of the devastation of the Amazon, the Dead Sea, the sacred forests of India etc etc and witness also the degree of air and ocean pollution we have created as a global society what choice do we really have? Much sooner than we expected it will be a matter of grasping at desperate straws to see our way clear again.
So here’s Uncle Harry’s really very simple...
or
Change the Global Mindset
A minor hallelujah if you will. Live8 founders have won a major 40 Billion dollar concession from G8 counties, releasing Africa from its debtload. The efforts of these world’s prominent musicians (Geldof used to hang in Vancouver) and environmental groups are most laudable in organizing the global effort focusing as it does on world poverty. In this heightened state of awareness, allow me to suggest a more long term and even possibly a permanent fix to our current global dilemma.
Tap tap tap. Now listen up class.
It’s really very simple. This situation we face of mass starvation in Africa (again), species extinction and criminal corporate greed is the result of our own peculiar social evolution. The world has witnessed extreme improvements in communications technology and hence speedier deal-making and economic shifts.
Who, for example, would have considered China to become such a major player, and so quickly that their government hasn’t even bothered to address its human rights issues among its own people before stampeding into the global marketplace? And to the shame of most countries of any economic significance, China has been allowed to neglect those issues of human decency and bully its way around with its unchecked, dubious moral status.
It’s in this neglect and charging around where we find the actual evidence of the problem which has plagued mankind throughout our human history. These economic actions and decisions are now playing out on a global field and their consequences are hurrying along the demise of our very living environment. Witness the extreme pollution warnings sounding right now back in Montreal and Toronto, and that whole Canadian northeastern industrial hub. Asthmatics are wired for oxygen and carcinogens are being gulped by children at play.
Well if we can expedite the demise of our environment through enhanced communications technology then why can’t we expedite the recovery of our environment the same way? All we would need is the will to change the global mindset, shifting away from plundering to preservation.
And now that we can all see the evidence in satellite photographs of the devastation of the Amazon, the Dead Sea, the sacred forests of India etc etc and witness also the degree of air and ocean pollution we have created as a global society what choice do we really have? Much sooner than we expected it will be a matter of grasping at desperate straws to see our way clear again.
So here’s Uncle Harry’s really very simple...
Seven Point Save the World Program
Shifting the global mindset:
i) create or pick a global body that has political teeth to create and enforce new global laws protecting what’s left of our environment;
ii) begin a process of de-industrialization;
iii) implement and insist upon the adoption of the global moral creed which would place human life and decency above the demands of corporations insistent on “protecting their shareholders” (as though their shareholders are somehow intrinsically more important than the starving millions of children in ‘developing’ countries); and which would protect citizens from oppressive and murderous tyrannies;
iv) globalize the production and distribution of all pharmaceuticals;
v) free scientists to work for the common good directing their shared energies to serve the emancipation and healing of all humankind;
vi) guarantee the education of all people;
vii) pay for all this by redistributing current wealth and making it criminal to horde or amass wealth beyond what can be reasonably spent on luxuries.
In future issues, I will examine these points and hope to illustrate that they’re really not all that far-fetched. Remember: If we created this mess with our whiz-bang technology then we can fix it too. And why wouldn’t you want to be able to enjoy your occasional luxuries (which this plan affords us) in the knowing that all other citizens of the world are now being actively cared for. What a relief!
Imagine the results! How the earth itself would breathe a great sigh. How our boundaries will be loosened to permit some ease of travel and concepts of private property and land hording would be re-evaluated so as to allow for more people spreading out from the overly congested urban areas into more relaxed rural environments.
The oceans would become enlivened and enriched and the air we breathe would become fresher, even more aromatic. Breezes would be delightfully alive. Deserts would become green pastures and rivers would spawn new and plentiful fishes. De-industrialization can achieve this.
New songs of rejoicing, enlightening dances and new holidays would all contribute to the sense of being completely revivified.
And as to that all-important global moral creed? Let it be begin with the words of my mentor: “There is no one greater than you. There is no one less than you. There is no one the same as you.”
Carry a lamp to frighten the naysayers and illuminate the way of science.
I can die now, having thrown in my nickle’s worth.
i) create or pick a global body that has political teeth to create and enforce new global laws protecting what’s left of our environment;
ii) begin a process of de-industrialization;
iii) implement and insist upon the adoption of the global moral creed which would place human life and decency above the demands of corporations insistent on “protecting their shareholders” (as though their shareholders are somehow intrinsically more important than the starving millions of children in ‘developing’ countries); and which would protect citizens from oppressive and murderous tyrannies;
iv) globalize the production and distribution of all pharmaceuticals;
v) free scientists to work for the common good directing their shared energies to serve the emancipation and healing of all humankind;
vi) guarantee the education of all people;
vii) pay for all this by redistributing current wealth and making it criminal to horde or amass wealth beyond what can be reasonably spent on luxuries.
In future issues, I will examine these points and hope to illustrate that they’re really not all that far-fetched. Remember: If we created this mess with our whiz-bang technology then we can fix it too. And why wouldn’t you want to be able to enjoy your occasional luxuries (which this plan affords us) in the knowing that all other citizens of the world are now being actively cared for. What a relief!
Imagine the results! How the earth itself would breathe a great sigh. How our boundaries will be loosened to permit some ease of travel and concepts of private property and land hording would be re-evaluated so as to allow for more people spreading out from the overly congested urban areas into more relaxed rural environments.
The oceans would become enlivened and enriched and the air we breathe would become fresher, even more aromatic. Breezes would be delightfully alive. Deserts would become green pastures and rivers would spawn new and plentiful fishes. De-industrialization can achieve this.
New songs of rejoicing, enlightening dances and new holidays would all contribute to the sense of being completely revivified.
And as to that all-important global moral creed? Let it be begin with the words of my mentor: “There is no one greater than you. There is no one less than you. There is no one the same as you.”
Carry a lamp to frighten the naysayers and illuminate the way of science.
I can die now, having thrown in my nickle’s worth.
The Safe Sex Club
So the kiddies have invented a new way to have sex. And I thought we’d exhausted all those greasy avenues. This new form of sexual adventuring is entirely in keeping with their desire for isolationism as they bebop down the sidewalks in their i.poddled states, play their latest video game tabulating all their kills and learning their social skills from a computer chip named Intel… everything in defiance of the natural mode of relating to the outside world with senses and limbs that actually protrude into that world. Everything about this human body was designed to relate to everything outside the human body but in step with all that is wonderful to man we persist in learning new ways to enclose ourselves.
Try this on for size!
So the kiddies go home after school and being all worked up from all that non-communicating, turn on their computers, switch on their webcams and drop their drawers for some mutual masturbation with their girlie (or otherwise) chums.
Perfectly safe and thoroughly dehumanizing. But given their education in the ladies and gentlemen department, what can we expect? Tenderness? Words of desire spoken with thoughtful restraint? Charm and considerateness? Courtship and artful social timing? Dream on. “I don't have to worry about getting to her house, she doesn't have to worry about getting to my house. I don't have to walk, I don't have to try and get a ride.” And doesn’t he sound like a fun partner?
Perfectly safe and thoroughly dehumanizing. But given their education in the ladies and gentlemen department, what can we expect? Tenderness? Words of desire spoken with thoughtful restraint? Charm and considerateness? Courtship and artful social timing? Dream on. “I don't have to worry about getting to her house, she doesn't have to worry about getting to my house. I don't have to walk, I don't have to try and get a ride.” And doesn’t he sound like a fun partner?
Be the first on your Vancouver Block… To Piss in Public
The city fathers of Vancouver are finally becoming aware of the problem of facilitating nature’s call. After decades of ignoring the needs of pedestrians to occasionally pee and poop at bathrooms, the problem of stench and visual blight has forced their hand to actually consider doing some thing about the issue.
It was alright to ignore it when it appeared to only affect the poor and homeless people of the downtown east side. The restaurateurs have for many years enforced a policy of No Public Bathroom on Premises which some might argue is really quite mean-spirited but they are not in the business of accommodating people to traipse down their hallways to relieve or otherwise amuse themselves in their tiny closeted spaces.
But now this problem may become an issue with the almighty tourists so instead of building new bathrooms and to save money the city is seriously considering open urinals to be installed throughout the problem areas. (One doubts that the installation of these urban biffies would be in the vicinity of the convention centre or the grand theatres.)
It was alright to ignore it when it appeared to only affect the poor and homeless people of the downtown east side. The restaurateurs have for many years enforced a policy of No Public Bathroom on Premises which some might argue is really quite mean-spirited but they are not in the business of accommodating people to traipse down their hallways to relieve or otherwise amuse themselves in their tiny closeted spaces.
But now this problem may become an issue with the almighty tourists so instead of building new bathrooms and to save money the city is seriously considering open urinals to be installed throughout the problem areas. (One doubts that the installation of these urban biffies would be in the vicinity of the convention centre or the grand theatres.)
Whither to pee?
There’s something seriously ass-backward about how this problem has evolved. Now with the prospect of drunkards peeing on the sunny side of the street for all to witness, we are reminded that Vancouver has been quite remiss in its considerateness for a painfully long time. And fast-food restaurants locking their doors decades ago did not help matters, and as though they had some chic to protect.
All this points to the need for street workers to be back on the front lines identifying these concerns and teaching the lordly politicians what's really going on at street level. Enough of the painted sewer caps. Let’s put the money into the humane matter of returning to people their sense of dignity.
All this points to the need for street workers to be back on the front lines identifying these concerns and teaching the lordly politicians what's really going on at street level. Enough of the painted sewer caps. Let’s put the money into the humane matter of returning to people their sense of dignity.
Worth Repeating, U.K. Law Lord Castigates U.S.
Guantanamo Bay detainees facing trial by 'kangaroo court'
Clare Dyer, legal correspondent
Wednesday November 26, 2003
The Guardian
A senior law lord last night delivered a scathing attack on the US government's and the American courts' treatment of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, branding it "a monstrous failure of justice".
Lord Steyn, one of the most senior judges in Britain's highest court, described the military tribunal for trying the detainees as a "kangaroo court".
The term, he said, implied "a pre-ordained arbitrary rush to judgment by an irregular tribunal which makes a mockery of justice". He asked whether the British government should not "make plain, publicly and unambiguously, our condemnation of the utter lawlessness" at Guantanamo Bay.
Delivering the FA Mann lecture at Lincoln's Inn in central London, Lord Steyn added: "Trials of the type contemplated by the United States government would be a stain on United States justice. The only thing that could be worse is simply to leave the prisoners in their black hole indefinitely."
Lord Steyn said it was a recurring theme in history "that in times of war, armed conflict, or perceived national danger, even liberal democracies adopt measures infringing human rights in ways that are wholly disproportionate to the crisis. Often the loss of liberty is permanent".
Judges were often too deferential to the executive even in peacetime. He regarded it as "a monstrous failure of justice" that so far the US courts had decided they could not even consider credible medical evidence that a detainee had been or was being tortured.
The Red Cross had described the camp at Guantanamo Bay as principally a centre of interrogation rather than detention. Officials had been reported as saying that the techniques of interrogation were "not quite torture, but as close as you can get".
"The purpose of holding the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay was and is to put them beyond the rule of law, beyond the protection of any courts, and at the mercy of the victors," Lord Steyn said.
Clare Dyer, legal correspondent
Wednesday November 26, 2003
The Guardian
A senior law lord last night delivered a scathing attack on the US government's and the American courts' treatment of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, branding it "a monstrous failure of justice".
Lord Steyn, one of the most senior judges in Britain's highest court, described the military tribunal for trying the detainees as a "kangaroo court".
The term, he said, implied "a pre-ordained arbitrary rush to judgment by an irregular tribunal which makes a mockery of justice". He asked whether the British government should not "make plain, publicly and unambiguously, our condemnation of the utter lawlessness" at Guantanamo Bay.
Delivering the FA Mann lecture at Lincoln's Inn in central London, Lord Steyn added: "Trials of the type contemplated by the United States government would be a stain on United States justice. The only thing that could be worse is simply to leave the prisoners in their black hole indefinitely."
Lord Steyn said it was a recurring theme in history "that in times of war, armed conflict, or perceived national danger, even liberal democracies adopt measures infringing human rights in ways that are wholly disproportionate to the crisis. Often the loss of liberty is permanent".
Judges were often too deferential to the executive even in peacetime. He regarded it as "a monstrous failure of justice" that so far the US courts had decided they could not even consider credible medical evidence that a detainee had been or was being tortured.
The Red Cross had described the camp at Guantanamo Bay as principally a centre of interrogation rather than detention. Officials had been reported as saying that the techniques of interrogation were "not quite torture, but as close as you can get".
"The purpose of holding the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay was and is to put them beyond the rule of law, beyond the protection of any courts, and at the mercy of the victors," Lord Steyn said.
Steyn cont'd.
"The procedural rules do not prohibit the use of force to coerce prisoners to confess," he went on. "On the contrary, the rules expressly provide that statements made by a prisoner under physical and mental duress are admissible 'if the evidence would have value to a reasonable person', ie military officers trying enemy soldiers."
Lord Steyn said the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay had no access to the writ of habeas corpus to determine whether their detention was even arguably justified. The military would act as interrogators, prosecutors, defence counsel, judges and executioners. Trials would be held in secret, with none of the basic guarantees for a fair trial.
The jurisdiction of the US courts was excluded. The military controlled everything, subject to decisions of the president even on guilt or innocence in individual cases, as well as sentences.
President Bush had already described the prisoners as "killers".
The concession extracted by the attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, that the British detainees would not face the death penalty, gave a new dimension to the concept of "most favoured nation" treatment, he said. "How could it be morally defensible to discriminate in this way between individual prisoners? It lifts the curtain a little on the arbitrariness of what is happening at Guantanamo Bay and in the corridors of power on both sides of the Atlantic."
I Am
(Excerpt from Paracletus! - Harry Langen)
I am the last song and the first word;
The spirit of your dance and your richest elation.
Across each soar the blue-breasted birds,
All of my which are of my creation.
I am the secret equation;
The cuddle, hug and cradle.
Your babies very first steps
And the elders' successful collaboration.
I am the scent of the hardwood fireplace
After a day of chilly toil.
Your first glimpse of a young lady's grace
And the distant sound a seashell makes.
I am the anticipation of the ten happy brides
And the designs of the heavens at night.
Their wheels turning and their clocks ticking
Marking the arrival of the day's last light.
My windy words sprinkle seeds.
I am the success of continuity,
The debt paid and the Sunday ease.
The illusion and the shocking reality.
Find me in the unmanifest
Who asks your faith.
I am the correct decision,
Who is the poem which you may envision.
I am the one you will see at the last of times
When it is clear there is not time; there never was.
And I adorn myself in tumbling white clouds;
There about my throat strings of yellow topaz
and green sapphires.
I am the last song and the first word;
The spirit of your dance and your richest elation.
Across each soar the blue-breasted birds
All of my which are of my creation.
Lord Steyn said the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay had no access to the writ of habeas corpus to determine whether their detention was even arguably justified. The military would act as interrogators, prosecutors, defence counsel, judges and executioners. Trials would be held in secret, with none of the basic guarantees for a fair trial.
The jurisdiction of the US courts was excluded. The military controlled everything, subject to decisions of the president even on guilt or innocence in individual cases, as well as sentences.
President Bush had already described the prisoners as "killers".
The concession extracted by the attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, that the British detainees would not face the death penalty, gave a new dimension to the concept of "most favoured nation" treatment, he said. "How could it be morally defensible to discriminate in this way between individual prisoners? It lifts the curtain a little on the arbitrariness of what is happening at Guantanamo Bay and in the corridors of power on both sides of the Atlantic."
I Am
(Excerpt from Paracletus! - Harry Langen)
I am the last song and the first word;
The spirit of your dance and your richest elation.
Across each soar the blue-breasted birds,
All of my which are of my creation.
I am the secret equation;
The cuddle, hug and cradle.
Your babies very first steps
And the elders' successful collaboration.
I am the scent of the hardwood fireplace
After a day of chilly toil.
Your first glimpse of a young lady's grace
And the distant sound a seashell makes.
I am the anticipation of the ten happy brides
And the designs of the heavens at night.
Their wheels turning and their clocks ticking
Marking the arrival of the day's last light.
My windy words sprinkle seeds.
I am the success of continuity,
The debt paid and the Sunday ease.
The illusion and the shocking reality.
Find me in the unmanifest
Who asks your faith.
I am the correct decision,
Who is the poem which you may envision.
I am the one you will see at the last of times
When it is clear there is not time; there never was.
And I adorn myself in tumbling white clouds;
There about my throat strings of yellow topaz
and green sapphires.
I am the last song and the first word;
The spirit of your dance and your richest elation.
Across each soar the blue-breasted birds
All of my which are of my creation.
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Election Remnants
How interesting to see how the vote broke out in the west end.
Apparently we have our very own version of blue and red states. The newly rich, or just weary rich among the new developments, voted for the party impersonating Liberals while the NDP support was rooted in the apartment dwellers’ territory in the inner west end mostly between Robson and Davie and Chilco and Burrard.
So the well-heeled voted for the guy under whose policies were singularly responsible for the doubling of the homeless numbers and the unstitching of the so-called social safety net.
Had the homeless been more visible perhaps in Yaletown or in Coal Harbour, I wonder how the elitists might have felt then about their plight, having to rub shoulders with those untouchables. Maybe if the destitute go camp in those neighbourhoods we might see some real action for affordable housing and some pretense of concern for social justice.
The NDP obviously ran a lacklustre campaign when an NDP minister can’t defeat a man even the Mayor calls a “menace.”
Trivia Time
Laim Campain is
i) an Irish drink?
ii) A Scottish Actor leading a medieval assault against the Saxons;
iii) a Social Credit lawn sign;
iv) what the reverend ran in the West End.
(see upside down answer in Issue A-1 of last year’s Farmer’s Almanac)
Apparently we have our very own version of blue and red states. The newly rich, or just weary rich among the new developments, voted for the party impersonating Liberals while the NDP support was rooted in the apartment dwellers’ territory in the inner west end mostly between Robson and Davie and Chilco and Burrard.
So the well-heeled voted for the guy under whose policies were singularly responsible for the doubling of the homeless numbers and the unstitching of the so-called social safety net.
Had the homeless been more visible perhaps in Yaletown or in Coal Harbour, I wonder how the elitists might have felt then about their plight, having to rub shoulders with those untouchables. Maybe if the destitute go camp in those neighbourhoods we might see some real action for affordable housing and some pretense of concern for social justice.
The NDP obviously ran a lacklustre campaign when an NDP minister can’t defeat a man even the Mayor calls a “menace.”
Trivia Time
Laim Campain is
i) an Irish drink?
ii) A Scottish Actor leading a medieval assault against the Saxons;
iii) a Social Credit lawn sign;
iv) what the reverend ran in the West End.
(see upside down answer in Issue A-1 of last year’s Farmer’s Almanac)
ANOTHER STONE IN THE WEST END MOSAIC
To add to the West End social mosaic, we can now report 160 new cases of AIDS in Vancouver’s gay community. This is a one year increase.
What is it about the words “protected sex” that these fellows don’t seem to be getting? Great fussiness is exhibited about parade routes and Leatherman contests, hot new DJ’s and meth-driven dance parties but little concern is being shown it seems for the value of humanity and good health. This is truly a headscratcher.
What is it about the words “protected sex” that these fellows don’t seem to be getting? Great fussiness is exhibited about parade routes and Leatherman contests, hot new DJ’s and meth-driven dance parties but little concern is being shown it seems for the value of humanity and good health. This is truly a headscratcher.
Is Happy Hour Over?
Come on, guys. The cocktail of new (expensive) drugs is really not something you wanna be introducing at your next rave after the free-for-alls in the back room.
Here’s a wake-up call: What if the government in its infinite wisdom (and considering how it deals with the homeless, we know how wise our government is), well what if they changed the Pharmacare rules along the lines of: “If you get a disease from undisciplined sexual activity it will be considered a self-inflicted disease and so the meds for it will no longer be covered. Buy your own way out.” You don’t think there’s a horde of barbarians who already are thinking along these lines? Think again. Remember how the west end voted?
If some calamity were to befall our society and medications of all sorts were harder to come by, how fast would those famously generous pharmaceutical companies in cahoots with a heartless government make some decisions that would see the abandonment of care for the self-inflicted, sexually diseased? In a withering heartbeat. If it were a matter of choice between one’s children getting their meds and another gay guy who partied too much, guess who wins?
Here’s a wake-up call: What if the government in its infinite wisdom (and considering how it deals with the homeless, we know how wise our government is), well what if they changed the Pharmacare rules along the lines of: “If you get a disease from undisciplined sexual activity it will be considered a self-inflicted disease and so the meds for it will no longer be covered. Buy your own way out.” You don’t think there’s a horde of barbarians who already are thinking along these lines? Think again. Remember how the west end voted?
If some calamity were to befall our society and medications of all sorts were harder to come by, how fast would those famously generous pharmaceutical companies in cahoots with a heartless government make some decisions that would see the abandonment of care for the self-inflicted, sexually diseased? In a withering heartbeat. If it were a matter of choice between one’s children getting their meds and another gay guy who partied too much, guess who wins?
Ivor Tossell’s “Web” Column
Globe and Mail, page R19, June 3…
"Now here's the funny thing about weblogs: Bloggers are forever leery of what they call the "mainstream media" (or "the MSM" for short, which makes it sound either kinky or contagious). Webloggers see themselves as the new vanguard of democratic journalism, railing against elitist dinosaurs of print and broadcast.
"But the amount of original material on weblogs is surprisingly low. The Internet is always turning up new writing talent, but most weblogs fill up space by pointing to items on other weblogs and adding their own two cents. It amounts to an awful lot of commentary, and as it happens, the seed is usually an item from the hated mainstream media.
"Instead of 1,000 teenaged girls with diaries, the blogosphere is more like 1,000 grumpy dads watching the 6 p.m. news and complaining that the world is going to hell. Remember that the next time someone tells you that blogs are the future.
So: What does it mean to be Canadian? It means forwarding around American articles about us. Will weblogs bury the old media once and for all? Of course not. Then what would there be to blog about?"
Grumpy Response to Ivor Tossel
Thought you’d never notice. We of the vanguard of democratic journalism (you liken to grumpy dads) have been out here on our ancient donkeys across the moat now for some time. Did one of our teensy darts actually make it over the castle wall?
I can’t speak for my fellow cyber.scribes (a term I much prefer over “bloggers”), but while you express your constrained thoughts from the comfy confines of your establishment some of us out here really do manage to get up a gallop every once in a while into new territory. I suggest ‘constrained’ because it is patently clear that you toil in an environment and a culture which relies almost exclusively for its support on the whims of corporate advertisers.
For example, in the case of your competitor Canwest, a mega-player in the newspaper publishing industry of Canada, how many pro-Palestinian articles could one expect to find on page one while that conglomerate is owned by the Aspers? Would that Harry Rosen banner ad disappear from page one so as not to be splitting ink with any such stories supporting the Palestinian plight? Do you really think that a columnist who called for the establishment of a Palestinian state to include Jerusalem would last long in The Vancouver Sun or The National Post, Ottawa Citizen or Calgary Herald?
Given that the current global unrest is very much connected to the affairs of the Middle East, is it really too grumpy to suggest that the Aspers may be wielding too much political power through their newspapers deliberately biasing the readership toward accepting ideas and attitudes which impel the world toward more upheaval?
And what of The Globe and Mail? “With stations, news bureaus and offices in all of Canada’s major cities, Bell Globemedia employees are connected to local communities, ensuring that what interests Canadians – locally, nationally and internationally – makes it to the screen, into print and onto the Internet. More than $285-million over seven years has been allocated for the creation of new programming and support for organizations, educational institutions and associations in our industry.” That’s not chicken scratch. And again you’re tethered to and limited by the response of your advertisers, many of whom are clearly inclined to be right wing because they’re businesspeople. But you soldier on having taken the left side of the issues that The National Post in its unabashed elitism relentlessly throttles.
And that’s what I mean by ‘constrained.’ Both your organizations are beholding to the right wingnuts of our wearisomely greed-driven society and you really don’t have much in the way of wiggle room. (And what’s the point of a snake room if you can’t even wiggle?)
"Now here's the funny thing about weblogs: Bloggers are forever leery of what they call the "mainstream media" (or "the MSM" for short, which makes it sound either kinky or contagious). Webloggers see themselves as the new vanguard of democratic journalism, railing against elitist dinosaurs of print and broadcast.
"But the amount of original material on weblogs is surprisingly low. The Internet is always turning up new writing talent, but most weblogs fill up space by pointing to items on other weblogs and adding their own two cents. It amounts to an awful lot of commentary, and as it happens, the seed is usually an item from the hated mainstream media.
"Instead of 1,000 teenaged girls with diaries, the blogosphere is more like 1,000 grumpy dads watching the 6 p.m. news and complaining that the world is going to hell. Remember that the next time someone tells you that blogs are the future.
So: What does it mean to be Canadian? It means forwarding around American articles about us. Will weblogs bury the old media once and for all? Of course not. Then what would there be to blog about?"
Grumpy Response to Ivor Tossel
Thought you’d never notice. We of the vanguard of democratic journalism (you liken to grumpy dads) have been out here on our ancient donkeys across the moat now for some time. Did one of our teensy darts actually make it over the castle wall?
I can’t speak for my fellow cyber.scribes (a term I much prefer over “bloggers”), but while you express your constrained thoughts from the comfy confines of your establishment some of us out here really do manage to get up a gallop every once in a while into new territory. I suggest ‘constrained’ because it is patently clear that you toil in an environment and a culture which relies almost exclusively for its support on the whims of corporate advertisers.
For example, in the case of your competitor Canwest, a mega-player in the newspaper publishing industry of Canada, how many pro-Palestinian articles could one expect to find on page one while that conglomerate is owned by the Aspers? Would that Harry Rosen banner ad disappear from page one so as not to be splitting ink with any such stories supporting the Palestinian plight? Do you really think that a columnist who called for the establishment of a Palestinian state to include Jerusalem would last long in The Vancouver Sun or The National Post, Ottawa Citizen or Calgary Herald?
Given that the current global unrest is very much connected to the affairs of the Middle East, is it really too grumpy to suggest that the Aspers may be wielding too much political power through their newspapers deliberately biasing the readership toward accepting ideas and attitudes which impel the world toward more upheaval?
And what of The Globe and Mail? “With stations, news bureaus and offices in all of Canada’s major cities, Bell Globemedia employees are connected to local communities, ensuring that what interests Canadians – locally, nationally and internationally – makes it to the screen, into print and onto the Internet. More than $285-million over seven years has been allocated for the creation of new programming and support for organizations, educational institutions and associations in our industry.” That’s not chicken scratch. And again you’re tethered to and limited by the response of your advertisers, many of whom are clearly inclined to be right wing because they’re businesspeople. But you soldier on having taken the left side of the issues that The National Post in its unabashed elitism relentlessly throttles.
And that’s what I mean by ‘constrained.’ Both your organizations are beholding to the right wingnuts of our wearisomely greed-driven society and you really don’t have much in the way of wiggle room. (And what’s the point of a snake room if you can’t even wiggle?)
Cyber.scribe responds to Globe Piece
The cyber.scribe meanwhile is truly independent, unshackled from advertisers’ whims and enjoying a perspective which permits a broad range of thoughts and ideas to be perused and seriously examined. It’s the forums of the cyber.scribes where one may find the original resolutions stemming from the honest dialogue of his peers as they all (or most) express their desire to live and function in a more just society, now with global repercussions. “The new vanguard of democratic journalism?” Why not? Sure beats the old guard of compromised souls peddling someone else’s brand of truth, justice and their American way – war, extreme poverty and that old standard: obscene greed.
And when there is an issue requiring a resolution, it’s the common media’s tactic to throw up a storm of excitable rhetoric and then quickly bored go on about their sniffing for something sensational for the next day’s headlines. How canine. Meanwhile, the original issue is never resolved, people get tired of hearing about it and the rot deepens. Serious communicators, be they cyber.scribes or e-zine creators, tend to be more real and like the upcoming Live8 concerts have real resolutions to offer. It’s precisely among that crowd you’ll find your heroes.
As to the paucity of original material you find on cyber.scribes' sites, well, that’s simple enough: no moolah for sustained investigative efforts and no resources as in weight to throw around to sway people to cooperate with those investigations explains this occasional lack. (But you couldn’t accuse this site of unoriginality.)
As to having an ultimate impact, on my own site, every time I create a news story as in the violence at Super Valu, I have to shovel it over to the common media to get any attention to it. And their latest response to the scoop in Issue 9 (being none so far) illustrates that their own credentials are somewhat lacking in the investigative reporter department. There have been two manslaughters in the downtown area which went uncharged recently, both relating to a criminal faction in our society which seems to have successfully intimidated even our law enforcement people, let alone the meek folks of the common media.
So is the world going to hell, as you suggest Mr Tossell that cyber.scribes believe? Well, if the common media of the world continue to dazzle us with celebrity sleaze and war-mongering fictions, I’d suggest that Yup, maybe indeed it is. What could be more hellish than Iraq, Afganistan, Guantanamo Bay, Haiti, Africa, the Middle East, the turmoil in Europe… hell, just ask a homeless person right here under our noses.
The common local media with all their reporters, thoughtful editors and shrewd publishers and even a spiritual columnist have left those people homeless for years, and their numbers doubling. That issue not flashy enough? For shame on all of you behind that castle wall.
And when there is an issue requiring a resolution, it’s the common media’s tactic to throw up a storm of excitable rhetoric and then quickly bored go on about their sniffing for something sensational for the next day’s headlines. How canine. Meanwhile, the original issue is never resolved, people get tired of hearing about it and the rot deepens. Serious communicators, be they cyber.scribes or e-zine creators, tend to be more real and like the upcoming Live8 concerts have real resolutions to offer. It’s precisely among that crowd you’ll find your heroes.
As to the paucity of original material you find on cyber.scribes' sites, well, that’s simple enough: no moolah for sustained investigative efforts and no resources as in weight to throw around to sway people to cooperate with those investigations explains this occasional lack. (But you couldn’t accuse this site of unoriginality.)
As to having an ultimate impact, on my own site, every time I create a news story as in the violence at Super Valu, I have to shovel it over to the common media to get any attention to it. And their latest response to the scoop in Issue 9 (being none so far) illustrates that their own credentials are somewhat lacking in the investigative reporter department. There have been two manslaughters in the downtown area which went uncharged recently, both relating to a criminal faction in our society which seems to have successfully intimidated even our law enforcement people, let alone the meek folks of the common media.
So is the world going to hell, as you suggest Mr Tossell that cyber.scribes believe? Well, if the common media of the world continue to dazzle us with celebrity sleaze and war-mongering fictions, I’d suggest that Yup, maybe indeed it is. What could be more hellish than Iraq, Afganistan, Guantanamo Bay, Haiti, Africa, the Middle East, the turmoil in Europe… hell, just ask a homeless person right here under our noses.
The common local media with all their reporters, thoughtful editors and shrewd publishers and even a spiritual columnist have left those people homeless for years, and their numbers doubling. That issue not flashy enough? For shame on all of you behind that castle wall.
The Bloody Zit File
The marketing geniuses responsible for so much of what we are all exposed to every day of our lives have a tendency for self-congratulation which rivals that of even Hollywood. In a column entitled The Hard Sell, The Globe and Mail, B4, May 31, a cinema ad created by Bos, Toronto, about a froster beverage they branded Bloody Zit is critiqued by three of their peers: Target Marketing, St John’s, TBWA, Vancouver, and Lowe Roche, Toronto.
Gross out for dollars
The ad depicts a teenaged girl touching the pimpled face of a teenaged boy drawing blood from the pimple. She then licks his blood-smeared face. Pam Fraser of Vancouver, to her slim merit actually managed to call the ad “gross” but did give it one star (of five). Target’s Tom Murphy raved about it because it was “refreshing” so three stars from him and Geofrey Roche of Lowe Roche gushed “I love this spot… for its gross out factor.” Mark three and half stars.
Are we on the same pimple? Did it occur to any of these dimwits that this ad conveys the idea that kissing a bloody pimple is erotic and cool? We live (hullo?) in an age of blood-borne diseases and kids at this age should be especially advised as to what’s hip in the touching department.
We have enough kiddies out there playing vampire games in nightclubs that we don’t need to be helping them along in swapping blood refuse. Did the word “hygiene” not occur to any of these super cool advertising people?
Obviously not. And who cares? As long as clients like Mac’s Convenience Stores is shelling out, Bos makes the big bucks. Now that we’ve got a fix on the moral compass of this industry, how about targeting ads for arms dealers? Anyone know the telephone prefix for North Korea or Zimbabwe?
Are we on the same pimple? Did it occur to any of these dimwits that this ad conveys the idea that kissing a bloody pimple is erotic and cool? We live (hullo?) in an age of blood-borne diseases and kids at this age should be especially advised as to what’s hip in the touching department.
We have enough kiddies out there playing vampire games in nightclubs that we don’t need to be helping them along in swapping blood refuse. Did the word “hygiene” not occur to any of these super cool advertising people?
Obviously not. And who cares? As long as clients like Mac’s Convenience Stores is shelling out, Bos makes the big bucks. Now that we’ve got a fix on the moral compass of this industry, how about targeting ads for arms dealers? Anyone know the telephone prefix for North Korea or Zimbabwe?
THE CELEBRITY FILE
MOONDANCING WITH MUGABE
I wonder what Mikey sounds like right about now? That high-pitched, pretend voice of his saved for all those bedazzled nincompoops (aka fans) outside the courthouse, is not something Mikey takes home with him. Can you imagine how it must grate his ma and pa to listen to it? And right about now no amount of moolah could make them happy campers in court being so intimately related to that made-in-amercuh monstrosity. I wonder what his Dad’s drug of choice has been?
Hanging out with cancer-afflicted kiddies and doing things (anything) in bedrooms with booze and without white gloves has sleaze written all over it but it is expected (and you read it here first!) that Mikey will walk. Now we can take that two ways: Walk as in get off. Or walk as in take flight.
I wonder what Mikey sounds like right about now? That high-pitched, pretend voice of his saved for all those bedazzled nincompoops (aka fans) outside the courthouse, is not something Mikey takes home with him. Can you imagine how it must grate his ma and pa to listen to it? And right about now no amount of moolah could make them happy campers in court being so intimately related to that made-in-amercuh monstrosity. I wonder what his Dad’s drug of choice has been?
Hanging out with cancer-afflicted kiddies and doing things (anything) in bedrooms with booze and without white gloves has sleaze written all over it but it is expected (and you read it here first!) that Mikey will walk. Now we can take that two ways: Walk as in get off. Or walk as in take flight.
Flight of Fancy
He’ll just pull up stakes and transport his Peter Pansiness to another country which doesn’t have an extradition treaty in place (Zimbabwe?) with the U. S. of A. Never-to-land in Gawd’s country again. Just imagine (I had to ask His Squeakiness for the right to use that word ya know, eh?): He’ll amass his followers and do a Jim Jones except as Boystown. Maybe import a couple of defrocked priests to teach them all how to sing choir-like and Kazaam, he’s back in business moonwalking with Mugabe. Idi Amin never looked so good.
A Personal Statement from His Magestic Robert Mugabe
“Dear Comrades
After the recent spate of biased and mischievous reporting by the colonialist foreign press, I have ultimately decided to reveal to you, the honest and hard-working citizens of Zimbabwe, a little more of Mugabe - The Man.
I know you love your leader as much as you love your country. I know you deserve to see what kind of man I am. To those of you that already know me, this will simply be a joyous refresher of your cherished memories of me. To those with the still unfulfilled desire to know me better, I welcome you to an intimate glimpse of Mugabe - The Man.
The white racists in America forced Michael Jackson to find his roots, and happily he chose Zimbabwe - the land of the free - as his destination. I put on my rare Liz Taylor gown for the occasion and met him personally at Zim Aerodrome. He asked me for asylum but I assured him that we only put members of the opposition there.”
After the recent spate of biased and mischievous reporting by the colonialist foreign press, I have ultimately decided to reveal to you, the honest and hard-working citizens of Zimbabwe, a little more of Mugabe - The Man.
I know you love your leader as much as you love your country. I know you deserve to see what kind of man I am. To those of you that already know me, this will simply be a joyous refresher of your cherished memories of me. To those with the still unfulfilled desire to know me better, I welcome you to an intimate glimpse of Mugabe - The Man.
The white racists in America forced Michael Jackson to find his roots, and happily he chose Zimbabwe - the land of the free - as his destination. I put on my rare Liz Taylor gown for the occasion and met him personally at Zim Aerodrome. He asked me for asylum but I assured him that we only put members of the opposition there.”
Mugabe's Fairgrounds
Don’t miss: Mugabe’s Newest Never-a-land for Whities Fairground Attractions
Kevorkian’s kiddie-killing rides!
Mikey's Specials:
Faerie's Wheels. Cinnamon flavoured Cotton Candy (shaped like Twinky Buns. Best suited for long tongues). Hang at Dahlmer’s Diner for a chance run-in with Clifford Olson’s latest astral-traveling hitch-hiker’s guide to his very private circus.
And here’s something to wave about! Slightly soiled white gloves are on discount during Mikey’s flight of fancy from Americuh. Be the first on your block to Wave.
Book now for sneak previews of last year’s Idi Amin’s winning entry of Leatherman 2009, and The Karla H Home Fashion Show. (See The Gob and Flail Tabloid for details.)
MUGABE’S PERSONAL GUARANATEE: All clowns are Graduates of the John Wayne Gacy School of Just Funnin’ Around.
Live*8 , Bob Geldof’s Good News:
"This is not Live Aid 2.
These concerts are the start point for The Long Walk To Justice, the one way we can all make our voices heard in unison.
This is without doubt a moment in history where ordinary people can grasp the chance to achieve something truly monumental and demand from the 8 world leaders at G8 an end to poverty.
Kevorkian’s kiddie-killing rides!
Mikey's Specials:
Faerie's Wheels. Cinnamon flavoured Cotton Candy (shaped like Twinky Buns. Best suited for long tongues). Hang at Dahlmer’s Diner for a chance run-in with Clifford Olson’s latest astral-traveling hitch-hiker’s guide to his very private circus.
And here’s something to wave about! Slightly soiled white gloves are on discount during Mikey’s flight of fancy from Americuh. Be the first on your block to Wave.
Book now for sneak previews of last year’s Idi Amin’s winning entry of Leatherman 2009, and The Karla H Home Fashion Show. (See The Gob and Flail Tabloid for details.)
MUGABE’S PERSONAL GUARANATEE: All clowns are Graduates of the John Wayne Gacy School of Just Funnin’ Around.
Live*8 , Bob Geldof’s Good News:
"This is not Live Aid 2.
These concerts are the start point for The Long Walk To Justice, the one way we can all make our voices heard in unison.
This is without doubt a moment in history where ordinary people can grasp the chance to achieve something truly monumental and demand from the 8 world leaders at G8 an end to poverty.
Live8
The G8 leaders have it within their power to alter history. They will only have the will to do so if tens of thousands of people show them that enough is enough.
By doubling aid, fully cancelling debt, and delivering trade justice for Africa, the G8 could change the future for millions of men, women and children."
2nd July is just the beginning.
The five LIVE 8 concerts taking place around the world mark the start of The Long Walk To Justice.
Ahead of the G8 Summit, hundreds of thousands of people from across the globe will make their way by land, sea and air to the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, to show the leaders of the world's richest nations that they must act to stop the scandal of extreme poverty.
The event will culminate on the eve of the G8 Summit on Wednesday 6th July with the final mass moment before the eyes of the world turn to those 8 men in that 1 room – one final chance to say now is the time, this is the year, YOU can make poverty history.
http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca/e/home.php
By doubling aid, fully cancelling debt, and delivering trade justice for Africa, the G8 could change the future for millions of men, women and children."
2nd July is just the beginning.
The five LIVE 8 concerts taking place around the world mark the start of The Long Walk To Justice.
Ahead of the G8 Summit, hundreds of thousands of people from across the globe will make their way by land, sea and air to the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, to show the leaders of the world's richest nations that they must act to stop the scandal of extreme poverty.
The event will culminate on the eve of the G8 Summit on Wednesday 6th July with the final mass moment before the eyes of the world turn to those 8 men in that 1 room – one final chance to say now is the time, this is the year, YOU can make poverty history.
http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca/e/home.php
If it quacks like a Gulag...
By LIZETTE ALVAREZ
Published: June 4, 2005
LONDON, June 3 - An official of Amnesty International said Friday that the term gulag in its annual report to describe the United States prison camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, was chosen deliberately, and she shrugged off harsh criticism of the report by the Bush administration.
The official, Kate Gilmore, the group's executive deputy secretary general, said the administration's response was "typical of a government on the defensive," and she drew parallels to the reactions of the former Soviet Union, Libya and Iran under Ayatollah Khomeini, when those governments were accused of human rights abuses.
The report, released May 25, placed the United States at the heart of its list of human rights offenders, citing indefinite detentions of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib in Iraq and secret renditions of prisoners to countries that practice torture. But it is the use of the word gulag, a reference to the complex of labor camps where Stalin sent thousands of dissidents, that has drawn the most attention.
President Bush called the report "absurd" several times, and said it was the product of people who "hate America." Vice President Dick Cheney told CNN that he was "offended" by the use of the term and that he did not take the organization "seriously." And Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld called the comparison "reprehensible."
Published: June 4, 2005
LONDON, June 3 - An official of Amnesty International said Friday that the term gulag in its annual report to describe the United States prison camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, was chosen deliberately, and she shrugged off harsh criticism of the report by the Bush administration.
The official, Kate Gilmore, the group's executive deputy secretary general, said the administration's response was "typical of a government on the defensive," and she drew parallels to the reactions of the former Soviet Union, Libya and Iran under Ayatollah Khomeini, when those governments were accused of human rights abuses.
The report, released May 25, placed the United States at the heart of its list of human rights offenders, citing indefinite detentions of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib in Iraq and secret renditions of prisoners to countries that practice torture. But it is the use of the word gulag, a reference to the complex of labor camps where Stalin sent thousands of dissidents, that has drawn the most attention.
President Bush called the report "absurd" several times, and said it was the product of people who "hate America." Vice President Dick Cheney told CNN that he was "offended" by the use of the term and that he did not take the organization "seriously." And Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld called the comparison "reprehensible."
Amnesty Report cont'd.
Amnesty has fired right back, pointing out that the administration often cites its reports when that suits its purposes. "If our reports are so 'absurd,' why did the administration repeatedly cite our findings about Saddam Hussein before the Iraq war?" wrote William F. Schultz, executive director of the group's United States branch, in a letter to the editor being published Saturday in The New York Times. "Why does it welcome our criticisms of Cuba, China and North Korea? And why does it cite our research in its own annual human rights reports?"
In a telephone interview on Friday, Ms. Gilmore, the second-ranking official in Amnesty, said "gulag" was not meant as a literal description of Guantánamo but was emblematic of the sense of injustice and lack of due process surrounding the prison.
"The issue of the gulag is about policies and practices," she said. "You put people beyond the reach of law, you locate them in facilities where families can't access them, you deny them access to legal representation, you attempt to prevent judicial review."
She added, "This creates the likelihood that the people who are there have nothing to do with criminal conduct or that it is a breach of the Geneva Convention."
In its 308-page human rights report, Amnesty International pointed to an "impunity and accountability deficit," and called on Congress to conduct "a full and independent investigation of the use of torture and other human rights abuses by U.S. officials" as a starting point in "restoring confidence that true justice has no double standards."
Long used to biting criticism, the group said this was the first time one of its reports had drawn the public wrath of the United States president and vice president, its secretary of defense, its secretary of state and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Ms. Gilmore said the response was telling. "When we see a government at this level engaging in rhetorical attacks and avoiding dealing with the details or the facts," she said, "we interpret that as being a sign that we are starting to have an impact."
Ms. Gilmore said Amnesty International has been working on terrorism-related human rights violations for more than two years. It was a natural progression and a predictable course of action, she said, to place the United States, a defender of democracy and human rights, at the forefront of the annual report of human rights violations.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, the F.B.I. and United States courts have criticized the detention policies at Guantánamo Bay, she said. In addition, Ms. Gilmore said, the detention policy has been expanded to apply to jails in countries like Egypt, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. The creation of an archipelago of detention centers, she said, was another factor in the choice of the term gulag.
There has been no internal discussion about the wisdom of having used the term and certainly no sense of regret, Ms. Gilmore said, although the group has found the unrelenting focus on the word, and not the contents of the report, irritating. "On the other hand," she added, "we're getting more airing of our message than we would have otherwise."
So far, Washington's reaction has galvanized support for Amnesty International, she said. In the past week, the United States branch of the group has reported an increase in memberships, donations and volunteers.
The fact that the United States was prominent on the list came as little surprise internationally, she said.
"I think it's a dangerous game the U.S. administration is playing, to attack civil society in this manner," Ms. Gilmore said. "Civil society is essential to a robust democratic society. For the Bush administration to think that it's a legitimate political strategy to attack a nongovernmental organization of Amnesty's standing signals a ruthlessness that is deeply troubling."
In a telephone interview on Friday, Ms. Gilmore, the second-ranking official in Amnesty, said "gulag" was not meant as a literal description of Guantánamo but was emblematic of the sense of injustice and lack of due process surrounding the prison.
"The issue of the gulag is about policies and practices," she said. "You put people beyond the reach of law, you locate them in facilities where families can't access them, you deny them access to legal representation, you attempt to prevent judicial review."
She added, "This creates the likelihood that the people who are there have nothing to do with criminal conduct or that it is a breach of the Geneva Convention."
In its 308-page human rights report, Amnesty International pointed to an "impunity and accountability deficit," and called on Congress to conduct "a full and independent investigation of the use of torture and other human rights abuses by U.S. officials" as a starting point in "restoring confidence that true justice has no double standards."
Long used to biting criticism, the group said this was the first time one of its reports had drawn the public wrath of the United States president and vice president, its secretary of defense, its secretary of state and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Ms. Gilmore said the response was telling. "When we see a government at this level engaging in rhetorical attacks and avoiding dealing with the details or the facts," she said, "we interpret that as being a sign that we are starting to have an impact."
Ms. Gilmore said Amnesty International has been working on terrorism-related human rights violations for more than two years. It was a natural progression and a predictable course of action, she said, to place the United States, a defender of democracy and human rights, at the forefront of the annual report of human rights violations.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, the F.B.I. and United States courts have criticized the detention policies at Guantánamo Bay, she said. In addition, Ms. Gilmore said, the detention policy has been expanded to apply to jails in countries like Egypt, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. The creation of an archipelago of detention centers, she said, was another factor in the choice of the term gulag.
There has been no internal discussion about the wisdom of having used the term and certainly no sense of regret, Ms. Gilmore said, although the group has found the unrelenting focus on the word, and not the contents of the report, irritating. "On the other hand," she added, "we're getting more airing of our message than we would have otherwise."
So far, Washington's reaction has galvanized support for Amnesty International, she said. In the past week, the United States branch of the group has reported an increase in memberships, donations and volunteers.
The fact that the United States was prominent on the list came as little surprise internationally, she said.
"I think it's a dangerous game the U.S. administration is playing, to attack civil society in this manner," Ms. Gilmore said. "Civil society is essential to a robust democratic society. For the Bush administration to think that it's a legitimate political strategy to attack a nongovernmental organization of Amnesty's standing signals a ruthlessness that is deeply troubling."
The 'Gulag' Debate cont'd.
While the substance of the report was defended by human rights organizations and others, several said Amnesty International had erred in using the word gulag, if only because it allowed the Bush administration to change the conversation.
"I think it was a rather serious misjudgment to use the term gulag," said Sir Nigel Rodley, a professor of law at the University of Essex and chairman of the Human Rights Center there. "The basic criticism of some of the problems are very real and it has given the administration the opportunity to divert from the substance of the concern."
Sir Nigel, who said that having been Amnesty International's legal adviser from 1973 to 1990 he represents the old guard, also said that the organization should have avoided using an inflammatory term that did not precisely apply. He also said the "lapse" lent credence to a growing chorus of concerns that Amnesty, which was founded in 1961 to lobby for political prisoners and has since expanded into the areas of poverty, domestic violence and AIDS, had overextended itself and lost focus.
Reed Brody, special counsel with Human Rights Watch in New York, said he thought the Bush administration had taken cover behind semantics. "We're concerned that the debate over the label is obscuring the real issue," he said. "That the United States is locking people up without due process possibly for the rest of their lives."
"I think it was a rather serious misjudgment to use the term gulag," said Sir Nigel Rodley, a professor of law at the University of Essex and chairman of the Human Rights Center there. "The basic criticism of some of the problems are very real and it has given the administration the opportunity to divert from the substance of the concern."
Sir Nigel, who said that having been Amnesty International's legal adviser from 1973 to 1990 he represents the old guard, also said that the organization should have avoided using an inflammatory term that did not precisely apply. He also said the "lapse" lent credence to a growing chorus of concerns that Amnesty, which was founded in 1961 to lobby for political prisoners and has since expanded into the areas of poverty, domestic violence and AIDS, had overextended itself and lost focus.
Reed Brody, special counsel with Human Rights Watch in New York, said he thought the Bush administration had taken cover behind semantics. "We're concerned that the debate over the label is obscuring the real issue," he said. "That the United States is locking people up without due process possibly for the rest of their lives."
GAY GENES
"We have shown that a single gene in the fruit fly is sufficient to determine all aspects of the flies' sexual orientation and behavior," says Dr. Barry Dickson, senior scientist at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.
"It's very surprising. What it tells us is that instinctive behaviors can be specified by genetic programs, just like the morphologic development of an organ or a nose."
The results are certain to prove influential in debates about whether genes or environment determine who we are, how we act and, especially, our sexual orientation, although it is not clear now if there is a similar master sexual gene for humans.
"It's very surprising. What it tells us is that instinctive behaviors can be specified by genetic programs, just like the morphologic development of an organ or a nose."
The results are certain to prove influential in debates about whether genes or environment determine who we are, how we act and, especially, our sexual orientation, although it is not clear now if there is a similar master sexual gene for humans.
Fruit Flies and Gay Genes
Still, experts said they were both awed and shocked by the findings. "The results are so clean and compelling, the whole field of the genetic roots of behavior is moved forward tremendously by this work," said Dr. Michael Weiss, chairman of the department of biochemistry at Case Western Reserve University. "Hopefully this will take the discussion about sexual preferences out of the realm of morality and put it in the realm of science."
He added: "I never chose to be heterosexual; it just happened. But humans are complicated. With the flies we can see in a simple and elegant way how a gene can influence and determine behavior."
The finding supports scientific evidence accumulating over the past decade that sexual orientation may be innately programmed into the brains of men and women. Equally intriguing, the researchers say, is the possibility that a number of behaviors - hitting back when feeling threatened, fleeing when scared or laughing when amused - may also be programmed into human brains, a product of genetic heritage.
"This is a first - a superb demonstration that a single gene can serve as a switch for complex behaviors," said Dr. Gero Miesenboeck, a professor of cell biology at Yale.
He added: "I never chose to be heterosexual; it just happened. But humans are complicated. With the flies we can see in a simple and elegant way how a gene can influence and determine behavior."
The finding supports scientific evidence accumulating over the past decade that sexual orientation may be innately programmed into the brains of men and women. Equally intriguing, the researchers say, is the possibility that a number of behaviors - hitting back when feeling threatened, fleeing when scared or laughing when amused - may also be programmed into human brains, a product of genetic heritage.
"This is a first - a superb demonstration that a single gene can serve as a switch for complex behaviors," said Dr. Gero Miesenboeck, a professor of cell biology at Yale.
Snaps from Space Check Earth's Health
BY MARK HENDERSON, SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT, TIMES ONLINE
SCIENTISTS are assembling the most detailed map of the Earth’s surface yet, using images from a European satellite.
The Globcover project will produce a global portrait of the world’s land cover with a resolution three times sharper than any previous satellite map, enabling researchers to study the impact of global warming and environmental change with unprecedented accuracy.
The map is being pieced together using millions of images taken by Envisat, an environmental monitoring satellite launched by the European Space Agency in 2002.
It will have a resolution of 300 square metres per pixel, a great improvement on the previous best for land cover of a kilometre per pixel produced by older satellites in 2000. The final “mosaic” formed by the images will contain 20 terabytes of data — or enough information to fill 20 million books.
The project will assign one of 20 land cover types — such as wetland, rainforest, tundra or desert — to each 300-metre square, producing a map of the extent of the world’s ecosystems that can be used to monitor environmental change.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), one of the six international partners in Globcover, plans to use the information to analyse how climate change, urbanisation and other trends are altering the planet’s land cover. Ron Witt, of UNEP, said: “Changes in land-cover patterns, effects of environmental pollution and loss of biodiversity often do not respect national or other artificial boundaries. An updated view of such problems — or their effects — from interpreted space imagery should offer a large boost to UNEP’s effort to monitor the health of the planet and our changing environment.”
Envisat is spending on average of 2½ hours every day capturing images for the map. It will make multiple passes over many parts of the world to secure accurate pictures of land that is obscured by cloud or snow cover. A map of Europe has been produced, from 160 separate Envisat images.
SCIENTISTS are assembling the most detailed map of the Earth’s surface yet, using images from a European satellite.
The Globcover project will produce a global portrait of the world’s land cover with a resolution three times sharper than any previous satellite map, enabling researchers to study the impact of global warming and environmental change with unprecedented accuracy.
The map is being pieced together using millions of images taken by Envisat, an environmental monitoring satellite launched by the European Space Agency in 2002.
It will have a resolution of 300 square metres per pixel, a great improvement on the previous best for land cover of a kilometre per pixel produced by older satellites in 2000. The final “mosaic” formed by the images will contain 20 terabytes of data — or enough information to fill 20 million books.
The project will assign one of 20 land cover types — such as wetland, rainforest, tundra or desert — to each 300-metre square, producing a map of the extent of the world’s ecosystems that can be used to monitor environmental change.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), one of the six international partners in Globcover, plans to use the information to analyse how climate change, urbanisation and other trends are altering the planet’s land cover. Ron Witt, of UNEP, said: “Changes in land-cover patterns, effects of environmental pollution and loss of biodiversity often do not respect national or other artificial boundaries. An updated view of such problems — or their effects — from interpreted space imagery should offer a large boost to UNEP’s effort to monitor the health of the planet and our changing environment.”
Envisat is spending on average of 2½ hours every day capturing images for the map. It will make multiple passes over many parts of the world to secure accurate pictures of land that is obscured by cloud or snow cover. A map of Europe has been produced, from 160 separate Envisat images.
Satellite Evidence of Global Warming
The United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) "One Planet Many People" compares and contrasts satellite images from past decades with those from the present. The atlas is aimed to show citizens, notably of industrialized nations, the effect that lifestyle can have on the environment.
The agency says the images clearly illustrate the major environmental devastation that has been wreaked on the planet over past decades that isn't noticeable on the ground because of its gradual occurrence.
"Most of these changes are very slow. But if you look over periods of five to 10 years you can see dramatic changes on the environment," Pascal Peduzzi of UNEP told journalists.
"The changes are just as impressive as a tsunami or a flood," he added.
On Friday, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged leaders to ensure that environmental planning is incorporated into all aspects of urban management.
"As human beings, we are bound by our common humanity. And like all species on Earth, we are bound by our common dependence on the environment," he said in New York.
"If we are to build a world of peace, freedom and dignity for all, we need clean water, pure air and enough resources to sustain us."
Annan's statement came as representatives from cities from all over the world gathered in San Francisco to discuss the future of the environment.
The gathering is the first of its kind for 60 international mayors, coming together to celebrate the UN's World Environment Day held this year in San Francisco -- the birthplace of the UN 60 years ago.
The images from UNEP's atlas also show:
• that Las Vegas expansion into the desert has leached scarce water supplies between 1973 and 2000;
• the expansion of Mexico City from a city of nine million in 1973 to over 20 million today is stripping forested mountainsides;
• how wars, pests and oil development have stripped away the once abundant date palm trees in the Shatt Al-Arab waterway between Iran and Iraq since the 1970s; and
• depleted forests in the Parrot's Beak region of Guinea, due to the trees being used to for fuel, shelter and crops for tens of thousands of refugees from civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone in the 1990s.
-from CTV and The Times OnLine
The agency says the images clearly illustrate the major environmental devastation that has been wreaked on the planet over past decades that isn't noticeable on the ground because of its gradual occurrence.
"Most of these changes are very slow. But if you look over periods of five to 10 years you can see dramatic changes on the environment," Pascal Peduzzi of UNEP told journalists.
"The changes are just as impressive as a tsunami or a flood," he added.
On Friday, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged leaders to ensure that environmental planning is incorporated into all aspects of urban management.
"As human beings, we are bound by our common humanity. And like all species on Earth, we are bound by our common dependence on the environment," he said in New York.
"If we are to build a world of peace, freedom and dignity for all, we need clean water, pure air and enough resources to sustain us."
Annan's statement came as representatives from cities from all over the world gathered in San Francisco to discuss the future of the environment.
The gathering is the first of its kind for 60 international mayors, coming together to celebrate the UN's World Environment Day held this year in San Francisco -- the birthplace of the UN 60 years ago.
The images from UNEP's atlas also show:
• that Las Vegas expansion into the desert has leached scarce water supplies between 1973 and 2000;
• the expansion of Mexico City from a city of nine million in 1973 to over 20 million today is stripping forested mountainsides;
• how wars, pests and oil development have stripped away the once abundant date palm trees in the Shatt Al-Arab waterway between Iran and Iraq since the 1970s; and
• depleted forests in the Parrot's Beak region of Guinea, due to the trees being used to for fuel, shelter and crops for tens of thousands of refugees from civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone in the 1990s.
-from CTV and The Times OnLine
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