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Join the Facebook Group calling for a Public Inquiry on Afghan Detainees

The Mission Statement of this group (setup by one of the members of Amnesty International) reads: This non-partisan group calls on the Government of Canada to convene a public Commission of Inquiry into all aspects of the laws, policy and practice that has governed Canada"s approach to handling detainees in Afghanistan. If you're a Facebook member, and support the aims of the group, join it, and invite those friends of yours on Facebook who you feel would support a Public Inquiry to join it as well.

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March 1, 2010: Please welcome to Progressive Bloggers: It's Cowboy Steve, Excerptcize, and Co2 Art

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Conservative Kyoto Watch!

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latest posts
Cambodia's growing acceptance of same-sex love

Life seems to be increasingly comfortable for gay people in Cambodia, the predominantly Theravada Buddhist kingdom of approximately 15 million people. From The New York Times:"Homosexual acts are not outlawed in Cambodia, as they are in a few Southeast Asian countries, but outward displays of…

- From Gay Persons Of Color: An Eye On The Gay Worlds Of Color on Mar 19, 13:52 EDT)

London - Beijing via India in two days by train?

China is planning to build 3 continental high-speed rail lines that will link China all of Europe and Asia.in an intense, dynamic network. All within the next ten years. The other two continental-scale lines include - one linking through Russia to north-central Europe and another…

- From Co2 Art on Mar 19, 13:40 EDT)

1952...Mike Duffy, Er Senator Duffy, Surfaces

Not in the Maritimes, not in Halifax. And he spends less time in PEI than Minister Guergis so you know it were not there.The Senator isn't backing down on his criticisms of the University of King's College and other Canadian journalism programs, saying he "...dared to show a little spotlight…

- From The World Famous Dan Shields on Mar 19, 13:36 EDT)

Jane McGonigal: Gaming can make a better world(Video)

Filed under: Social Media, Video Tagged: TED talks, WOW

- From The Equivocator on Mar 19, 13:23 EDT)

1951...At Least Tiger Didn't Date A Nazi

Michelle "Bombshell" McGee, Jesse James' mistress, Jesse James being Mr. Sandra Bullock to most of the world, is not just the woman he cheated with, a tattoo model but she is also in a custody battle with her ex who says that “I believe that Michelle is mentally ill and should be in the…

- From The World Famous Dan Shields on Mar 19, 13:22 EDT)

Transatlantic Echo Chamber

The big news for Canadians from the OECD’s Going for Growth 2010 report was that we should privatize Canada Post. An article in the current issue of Maclean’s (pages 26 and 27), which does not (yet) seem to be available online, sheds some interesting light on that recommendation: [Yvan…

- From Relentlessly Progressive Economics on Mar 19, 13:21 EDT)

Have You Voted Yet?

The Young Greens elections are on now and each Green Party of Canada member under the age of 30 was sent an email with a BallotBin.com URL and voting instructions.  Voting closes this Sunday at midnight. The Young Greens Council is responsible for reaching out to what many would argue is…

- From Dave Bagler's Blog on Mar 19, 13:14 EDT)

"Operation Exodus"

A "policing plan for an end-of-the-world scenario involving a mostly white group of ex-police volunteers and a .50-caliber machine gun, inspired in part from the Book of Exodus in the Bible"....State-funded too!If only Sheriff Bossier, his Exodusers(?), and their machine-gun outfitted "War…

- From Enormous Thriving Plants on Mar 19, 13:11 EDT)

Yens Pedersen Illustrates Generational Change Occuring In Sask New Democrats

Yens Pedersen is a Regina lawyer who sought the leadership of the Saskatchewan New Democrats last year. He brought a breath of fresh air into the race and has certainly made his mark in the ranks of the provincial party. Yens today announced that he is seeking the NDP nomination for the…

- From Buckdog on Mar 19, 13:11 EDT)

Festive Left Friday Blogging: Chavecito Mercalito!

The municipality of San Francisco, in the state of Zulia, Venezuela, got a brand-new grocery store, with good foods at very good prices. It also got a distinguished visitor to help them open it: Yep, Chavecito was in town. And he didn't come alone; ministers Félix Osorio (food production…

- From News of the Restless on Mar 19, 13:07 EDT)

More Conservative airport security adventures

I admit some sympathy here -- the restrictions on what you carry on are silly. BUT, the "heated argument" part is an issue. They say no, you accept it like everyone else.http://tinyurl.com/y9eyqpvVeterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn has apologized for trying to bring a bottle of…

- From Mortons Musings on Mar 19, 13:07 EDT)

FNUC

No, that’s not a typo. If you live in Saskatchewan (or probably, mostly anywhere in Western Canada), you’ll have heard about First Nations University of Canada (I feel I have to apologise for their HORRIBLE website – Coyote, can you please do something about that?).…

- From centre of the universe on Mar 19, 13:06 EDT)

Comedian Jon Stewart riffs for fifteen minutes on Glenn Beck, and leaves me thinking, yet again, that he might well be the most astute, incisive and influential progressive political thinker in America. See: Tonight, the Role of Glenn Beck will be Played By...... John Stewart.- Garry J.…

- From Wise Law Blog on Mar 19, 12:44 EDT)

NYT's David Brooks Turns ...Pink?

While he's supposed to be a voice of the Right, you might be hard-pressed to come to that conclusion by reading today's New York Times column by David Brooks.Brooks laments that his country is becoming a "broken society":"The public has contempt for the political class. Public debt is piling…

- From The Disaffected Lib on Mar 19, 12:43 EDT)

The Invisible Woman

I haven't been blogging here a lot in recent months, but my political roots have been showing over here and over here. Just thought I'd let you know I haven't gone totally AWOL. Hope to be back to posting here...

- From One Woman. One Blog. on Mar 19, 12:32 EDT)

CANADIAN LABOUR - VANCOUVER:WORLD WATER DAY WITH CUPE: This in from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). next Monday, March 22, will be World Water day, and CUPE will be holding a preliminary celebration on Sunday the 21st out in Vancouver. Here's the…

- From Mollys Blog on Mar 19, 12:12 EDT)

The kind of church service I could get into

Praise the lord and pop the clutch! It’s like something out of the Blues Brothers.  Woohoo!

- From Unrepentant Old Hippie on Mar 19, 12:03 EDT)

The Supreme Court Hands Harper a Thick Slab of Raw Meat

It was a tough case and came down to a 4-3 decision but the Supreme Court of Canada today aquitted a Saskatchewan man of kiddie porn charges. The case came down to the validity and scope of the search and seizure of the man's home computer.It's a highly technical and complex legal decision…

- From The Disaffected Lib on Mar 19, 11:50 EDT)

Japan 1 Bluefin 0

THE NEW YORK TIMES has a sad report, "U.N. Rejects Export Ban on Atlantic Bluefin Tuna", by David Jolly and John Broder. If you're a polar bear, it's also a bummer, too.Delegates at a United Nations conference on endangered species in Doha, Qatar, soundly defeated American-supported proposals…

- From The Galloping Beaver on Mar 19, 11:40 EDT)

CIC E-Conference on Afghanistan

Last week I had the opportunity to moderate an e-conference on Afghanistan for the CIC as part of their GPS (Global Positioning Strategy) process. There ended up being a lively and substantive conversation building on contributions from Mark Sedra, Major-General David Fraser, Sarah Jane…

- From taylorowen.com on Mar 19, 11:36 EDT)

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Help Progressive Bloggers by voting on your favourite affiliates' posts.
4
votes
Sarah Palin VS Reality.
This is one of those 'Whatever shall I blog about today?' moment. But I believe that I shall eschew Mags Wente's strategy, described by balbulican in the combox after this blogpost.The time-honoured tradition here at DJ! when drawing a blank is to ask oneself: WWSD? So I searched her name on Google News. There's a lot of material to mine there. Where to start? Palin asking $1 million per episode of reality series? Or about this, from here: Sarah Palin, a woman who's never allowed a deep thought to get between her brain and her tongue, recently remarked how her family in Alaska "used to hustle on over the border for health care that we would receive in Whitehorse... and I think, isn't that kind of ironic now. Zooming over the border, getting health care from Canada." Yeah, how ironic. The former governor of Alaska holds out our healthcare system as a nightmare example of the Nanny State morphing into the Big Bad Welfare Wolf. Palin's Tea Party fan base has slammed the Obama administrati...
Permalink / From DAMMIT JANET! / Mar 19, 13:30 EDT / Related
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votes
‘So be it’
If the Conservatives and Prime Minister Stephen Harper threaten to dissolve Parliament and force an election rather then be forced to turn documents over to Parliament (and having the spectacle of Parliament’s Sergeant-At-Arms seizing the documents/arresting Cabinet Ministers for contempt of Parliament), that’s their prerogative, and their problem. Nowhere in any of the motions of [...]
Permalink / From Scott's DiaTribes / Mar 19, 12:35 EDT / Related
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At least he didn't call Ontario a "Shithole"
If Jean-Pierre Blackburn wants to be in the same league as Helena Guergis, he's got a long way to go. I don't think he even tried to offend an entire province of Canadians.It's OK JP. Keep trying. You'll get it eventually. Being a spoiled entitled brat takes practice I guess.
Permalink / From Bowie's Blog / Mar 19, 12:03 EDT / Related
3
votes
A Meeting Of Minds
Both Paul Wells of Macleans and Paul Tuns of The Interim think Stephen Harper's reversal/capitulation on contraception also amounts to a reversal/capitulation on abortion. Their reasoning is even similar. Here's Tuns:Six of the other seven G8 countries are all strongly committed to “reproductive health” (a euphemism for both abortion and contraception) as part of maternal health, so Harper has effectively capitulated on that and he will be under tremendous pressure from foreign leaders, NGOs and the opposition parties to include abortion.If so, watch the inevitable clarification re abortion to take place on the down-low: it's not something, that is, that the Tory base will want to hear about.
Permalink / From BigCityLib Strikes Back / Mar 19, 11:55 EDT / Related
13
votes
Let her speak you BASTARDS!
The government of Stephen Harper is fighting tooth and nail to keep Suzanne Trepanier, the grieving widow of Remy Beauregard from being allowed to speak to parliament. The reason is straightforward; Trepanier believes that the vicious harassment from the partisan ideologues Harper' government appointed to the board of Rights and Democracy drover her husband to an early grave. Tory filibuster keeps widow from speakingOTTAWA (CP) — Conservative MPs are thwarting the grieving widow of former Rights and Democracy president Remy Beauregard from testifying at a Commons committee.Suzanne Trepanier has requested permission to appear at the Foreign Affairs committee to defend her husband’s record and provide her version of events that she believes contributed to Beauregard’s fatal heart attack in January following an agency board meeting.But Tory MP Jim Abbott’s hour-long filibuster Thursday ran out the clock on a committee decision, and Abbott made of point of reminding the committee c...
Permalink / From Rusty Idols / Mar 19, 10:34 EDT / Related
9
votes
Mike Duffy: Expert in media bias
CTV "journalist" turned Conservative senator Mike Duffy isn't backing down from his criticism of journalism schools, which he attacked for daring to teach "critical thinking." After refusing media requests for a few days, he went on a radio program yesterday to accuse journalism schools of "brainwashing" students:Senator Mike Duffy isn’t backing down on his criticisms of the University of King’s College and other Canadian journalism programs, saying he “dared to show a little spotlight on some of the bias in the media.”Last weekend, Duffy delivered a speech to local Conservatives in Amherst criticizing journalism schools for teaching critical thinking and Noam Chomksy’s book Manufacturing Consent. He also said students aren’t being taught to be fair and balanced.“They all get preached to with the same cookie cutter thing,” Duffy told Tom Young’s Afternoon News program on Rogers radio Thursday. “And when you talk to these kids in job interviews, you realize some of t...
Permalink / From A BCer in Toronto / Mar 19, 10:32 EDT / Related
4
votes
Margaret Wente There
According to Margaret Wente, I'm a man. And all of these bloggers apparently suffer from "Male Answer Syndrome" (MAS) too. Who knew? And that's about all you need to know about Margaret Wente. Except that she doesn't mind being called an "idiot". (I wonder if sexist idiot is out of bounds.) Regardless, with all of this raging testosterone and adrenalin now coursing through my system, I have to hurry up and finish this post because after I'm done scratching my (imaginary) nuts, I'm going to rush out to shoot and skin a deer for my (imaginary) little woman to cook up for supper. And, of course, after that I'll force her to stuff the (imaginary) dead deer's head so I can mount it on the wall. Because that's just the kind of (imaginary) manly man I am! Blog on! Buuuuuuuuuuuuurp.  
Permalink / From liberal catnip / Mar 19, 10:27 EDT / Related
12
votes
On Confidence Motions
Now that the opposition has asserted the supremacy of Parliament, I note Conservative supporters are moving the goal posts. The opposition is just blustering, they will fold as soon as the Conservatives make this whole affair a confidence motion. First, some background:Bob Rae was asked yesterday how far the opposition was willing to go to obtain documents related to the Afghan detainee affair and, paraphrasing Pierre Trudeau, responded, “Just watch us.”Jack Harris was asked about the possibility that the government might declare any vote on the matter to be a confidence vote. His response: “Well, you know, the government and the Prime Minister can declare any motion a confidence motion. They may decide that this is a confidence motion. If so, so be it.”Doesn't sound like a timid opposition, and I think people knew FULL well what yesterday's proceedings could ultimately mean. In other words, none of this is rash, entirely calculated.I'm sorry, but as much as I try, I can't ...
Permalink / From Far and Wide / Mar 19, 10:23 EDT / Related
3
votes
On choices
Shorter Diane Finley (to the Institute of Marriage and Family, quoted by Paul Wells):And while we're at it, I'd add indoor plumbing, potable water and shelter to the list of unaffordable luxuries which we should be looking to take away from those lazy, shiftless bums who don't deserve them.
Permalink / From Accidental Deliberations / Mar 19, 10:11 EDT / Related
10
votes
A Modest Proposal for Our Struggling Canadian Teabaggers
I suspect we have all been entertained by the bold, revolutionary fervor displayed by our Canadian Teabaggers. Whether it's fearlessly addressing tiny crowds in parking lots or harassing folks whose religion they despise, they inspire us all with their grim commitment to sipping the dregs of American crazy and game attempts to whip up comparable levels of hysteria in our calmer, kinder climate. But doesn't it seem just a little - silly?
Permalink / From Stageleft:. Life on the left side / Mar 19, 09:01 EDT / Related
5
votes
Akaash Maharaj - Blog: Once More Unto the Breach, Dear Friends, Once More
It has been my life's ambition to evade growing up as I grow older. So far so good, but over the next fortnight, I may discover that I have failed to outrun senility. Throwing caution and judgement to the wind, I have taken up my sword and lance to ride for Canada once more at the FEI International Tent Pegging Championships, to be held 23-28 March in New Delhi.
Permalink / From Akaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism / Mar 19, 08:45 EDT / Related
7
votes
Quick Friday reads
Some things kinda speak for themselves...but my quick comments are in brackets...Second cabinet minister loses cool in airportVeterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn caused a fuss when airport security stopped him from carrying a bottle of tequila onto a plane in Ottawa, just four days after Helena Guergis berated airport employees in P.E.I., CTV News has learned. (Must have been the recalibration...)Mike Duffy says some students ‘brainwashed’Senator Mike Duffy isn’t backing down on his criticisms of the University of King’s College and other Canadian journalism programs, saying he “dared to show a little spotlight on some of the bias in the media.” (Canada has more than its share of concentration in the media...CanWest, Sun Media, CTVglobemedia...and it is pretty much right-leaning)Harper's MPs refuse to let widow speak outFederal Conservatives are trying to block a grieving widow's emotional appeal to speak on behalf of her dead husband, the former president of Mo...
Permalink / From HarperBizarro / Mar 19, 07:54 EDT / Related
4
votes
Section 13 Repeal On Back Burner
The NDP's justice critic Joe Comartin says:"Given the backlog of bills, and other work, studies that we're doing on organized crime, I have a hard time quite frankly seeing us doing anything more on that at least in this year, and I expect an election sometime this year, so I think it probably is not going to go anyplace." Liberal justice critic Dominic LeBlanc concurs:"We're going to wait to see what the government wants to do," LeBlanc says. "My view was that there was a very legitimate basis for some human rights commission review with respect to Section 13. We've heard evidence about how we can perhaps increase some of the procedural protections, but you're certainly not going to see the Liberals leading a charge to re-open that at this point, and if the government decides to let it go, that certainly would be fine with us." Worse news for the speechies, an OHRC/OHRT repeal seems to have dropped off the bottom of PCPO opposition leader Tim Hudak's list of priorities. One thing poli...
Permalink / From BigCityLib Strikes Back / Mar 19, 06:13 EDT / Related
4
votes
School Cancels Prom Rather Than Allow Gay Dates
A school in rural Mississippi has cancelled the school prom rather than letting a lesbian student bring her same-sex partner. Constance McMillen said she approached her school’s administration about taking her date to the prom and wearing a dashing tuxedo, but was told that the two must attend separately, be accompanied by “guys,” wear dresses, and [...]
Permalink / From Slap Upside The Head / Mar 19, 06:00 EDT / Related
9
votes
Annals of airport tantrums
About that Harper Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn and his very own airport dust-up, what is there to say except that on the heels of the Guergis incident there's clearly an attitude on display among some of these ministers that suggests they think they're invulnerable. The Ottawa atmosphere where the Conservatives have avoided mucho accountability over the past few years, led by the great unaccountable one at the top who sets the tone, has perhaps led some of them to think that the rules just don't apply to them. It's the scene.Here's a neat part of the reporting which states that the PM is going to issue an "edict" for his ministers: The PMO says Prime Minister Stephen Harper will issue an edict to his ministers, reminding them that they're not above the law. Did you fall off your chair just there or what? That has to be one of the most comical things that's been offered up to the media in recent memory. Mr. Prorogation who breaks parliamentary convention with ease, Mr. Not-So-Fixed-E...
Permalink / From Impolitical / Mar 19, 06:00 EDT / Related
15
votes
Harper Conservative Jim Abbott believes in torture...
So long as a a whisper-fine technicality allows it.Let's put it another way. Despite the fact that the Canadian Forces and the Department of National Defence have absolutely vowed that the articles of the Geneva Conventions apply to all combatants in Afghanistan, Jim Abbott is defending the actions of Canada's Afghan jailers on the basis that "the enemy" does not constitute a "state" as defined in the various conventions of the laws of armed conflict of which Canada is seized.Therefore, according to Abbott, torture is NOT prohibited... technically, y'know.Resolved. Jim Abbott is not suggesting torture does not happen to detainees handed over to our Afghan jailers. He is suggesting it happens and it is perfectly legal because the combatants taken into custody are not protected by any convention.That is the Harper Conservative position... once again emerging as a defence against charges of Canadian government complicity in inhumane treatment.I guess Abbott now understands he has just put...
Permalink / From The Galloping Beaver / Mar 19, 01:49 EDT / Related
5
votes
Today's Unionist award goes to......... Unionist
There is no paucity of malicious misreading, willful distortion, of wanton decontextualization, of utter disingenuousness, and basic intellectual dishonesty. Something I'm sure we're all guilty of from time to time, but occasionally people elevate this to an art form. For years I used to call this "pullin' a Cherniak", but having recently come across Cherniak's doppelgänger in the rabid Left wing of the blogoasylum known as babble, I now use the phrase "pullin' a Unionist" to refer to such practice on the Left.In my previous post I pointed to a classic instance of "pullin' a Unionist". Today I will demonstrate another, and not only because I'm an a**hole, but because I want to share with you some beautiful words, which I wouldn't have discovered were it not for Unionist "pullin' a Unionist". You see, as Grand Inquisitor and Supreme Authority on babble, Unionist is prone to seeing himself as not having to abide by babble policy (although in fairness, the policy only really exists to al...
Permalink / From spurs / Mar 19, 01:15 EDT / Related
6
votes
What we've said the whole time...
That question of whether the Conservatives made a breach of privilege by refusing to turn over those Afghan detainee documents finally reared its head in the House yesterday – first from Liberal Derek Lee, then the NDP’s Jack Harris, followed by the Bloc’s Claude Bachand. The Conservatives tried to make a specious defence, citing a precedent that was completely and utterly unrelated, probably hoping the bafflegab would provide an adequate shield. I’m not so sure. The Speaker isn’t expected to rule until sometime next week, so stay tuned. Ralph Goodale started off Question Period on the issue of the ten percenters, saying that there was no way one could “paint a moustache on that pig and call it Brad Pitt.” Now there’s a sexy image. Would the Conservatives stop them? Harper said sure, they’d stop if the Liberals would – but they’d also want the “direct subsidy to political parties” stopped. Goodale moved on...
Permalink / From Hill Queeries / Mar 19, 01:03 EDT / Related
4
votes
MP Blackburn's Boozing AirBus Bitterness
I think this alliteration works better than the last one.Well, according to blogger ABC (yes, that's how I call him), MP Jean Pierre Blackburn behaved similarly to Helena Guergis at an airport last month.Funny thing is no one told on him until now.Apparently, MP Blackburn objected to his tequila being throw out because of the liquid on airline policy.Hey, I've been there. I hate bringing my own juice to the airport and then having to dump it. Then you have to pay $10 for another juice inside the airport. what a crock of sh!t.Well, why don't they just change the damn law, then? They are the govm't in power, aren't they? you have time to worry about laws that apply to the high number of 14-year-old murderers in this country but no time for a law that affects millions?Anyways, when a woman did it, it was news w/in minutes. When the male MP got so heated security had its thumb on the "9-1-1" emergency auto-dial, they didn't feel the need to call him "spoiled" or "entitled". No sir-ree-bob...
Permalink / From Adventures of Diva Rachel / Mar 19, 00:29 EDT / Related
10
votes
The Day Canadians Stood Up for Democracy
It was sunny and warm today. And I wasn't in the mood for serious blogging...as you may have noticed.But how could I not write about this?“The Prime Minister’s refusal to respect the will of Parliament is a serious abuse of power. He is not a king. He answers to the will of Parliament, not the reverse,” NDP MP Jack Harris said.The day when the opposition joined forces and stood up for the House of the Canadian People.And my Canada never looked better.I don't know where this process will take us. And like Don Martin I believe it could trigger an election.It’s now Parliament verses the Prime Minister in the battle for procedural supremacy. And Stephen Harper doesn’t back down when his will is under combined opposition attack.But I don't agree that Harper is in such a strong position. His government is under attack from all quarters. And I do know that weakness will get us nowhere.And that it's the right thing to do, because nothing is more important than defending our democrati...
Permalink / From Montreal Simon / Mar 18, 23:40 EDT / Related