Smells Like a Cover Up In Progress

It seems that the DND is having a hard time coming up with a defense for the policy around handling arrestees in Afghanistan.

After missing a court deadline, Canada's Department of National Defence has decided it now wants to defend itself against accusations that its Afghan detainee policy violates international law and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Defence Department e-mailed a letter late Wednesday asking lawyers for Amnesty International of Canada and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association to agree to a three-month extension of a 30-day deadline to respond to the charges of the two groups.

Hmmm...the official commentary out of the DND?

“Retrieving and reviewing all relevant documents, including those generated in Afghanistan, is an enormous task,” the letter says. It was signed by Sanderson Graham, the senior Justice Department lawyer, representing Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor and Chief of Defence Staff General Rick Hillier.

This starts to smell rather rotten here - like a bureaucrat trying to cover something up. Especially when we remember that Hillier referred to the Afghanis being arrested in the following colourful language:

However, the blunt-speaking top soldier has also called enemy combatants “detestable murderers and scumbags.”

Meanwhile, on other fronts, Canada lost 8 (6 + 2) soldiers this past week to "IED" bombs (let's get real - these aren't "improvised" devices any more when they can take out armored vehicles - these bombs have been engineered for the purpose - quite well it would seem)

Apparently, in response, our government is going to burn untold amounts of taxpayer money not just on buying new (used) tanks but leasing a batch for immediate use. (The number I heard on CBC driving home yesterday was about $1/2 Billion - to purchase the "new used tanks", no word has been given on the terms and cost of the leased units from Germany - nor the duration of said lease. (How open and accountable of O'Connor)

I'm a little skeptical about buying and overhauling used tanks here - especially after the "great deal" Canadians got buying some surplus submarines from the UK a few years ago. According to the CBC, the tanks from the Netherlands have been "The 100 surplus tanks, which have been sealed in heated buildings for 10 years...".

Anyone who has owned an older car knows that even kept in storage, they need a certain amount of "care and feeding" - or things like seals dry out, gaskets weaken etc. The overhaul of those tanks could easily outstrip the cost of purchase as the overhaul process turns up various problems that would not be obvious on visual inspection. (Remember, tanks are used in battle zones - not exactly the place to be climbing around your vehicle trying to figure out why the engine just died, or the tracks just snapped due to metal fatigue). I'm not saying that the existing tanks (which are old) are a good thing, but I'm cautious about buying someone else's mothballed gear right now. Buy one or two, overhaul them and prove to me that they work reasonably well without costing an arm and a leg.

I'm Baffled

So...we have what is possibly the most dishonest, secretive government to sit in Ottawa in decades. Where's the opposition? I'm sad to say it, but none of the opposition parties is doing a good job right now.

Dion's nearly silent; Duceppe is obviously torn - looking homeward at the crumbling of the PQ and wondering what his future holds; and I don't even want to imagine what Layton and Harper have been doing behind closed doors.

The only opposition party with an excuse here is Elizabeth May's Green Party - who has no sitting members in the House of Commons.

We have a budget that is increasing the cost of spending at twice the rate of inflation, a military that has been committed to an extended stay in Afghanistan - and that is being used to ram through spending at a prolific rate, without adequate oversight.

Harper and his people have been caught out in so many lies and deceptions that they are starting to make Brian Mulroney's last years as Prime Minister seem positively honest. We have Harper condoning the use of so-called "attack ads" and push-polling techniques in a pre-election campaign straight out of Karl Rove's book of tricks. Meanwhile, the opposition is not calling Harper out on this - or at least not effectively. (Granted, living in Alberta as I do, I doubt that I'm going to see or hear much "against" Harper and his band of goons - the media out here is so biased it's not even funny - any counter-ads or commentary from Dion and others probably doesn't even get aired.

The blogosphere gets it, why don't the opposition politicians?

Remember Bush's "Surge"?

It doesn't seem to be having much effect at all.

The situation for civilians in Iraq is “ever-worsening,” even though security in some places has improved as a result of stepped-up efforts by U.S.-led multinational forces, the international Red Cross said Wednesday.

The IRC is probably a little more optimistic than I have been - they go on to state:

“Whatever operation that is today under way, and that may be taken tomorrow and in the weeks after, to improve the security of civilians on the ground may have an effect in the medium term,” said Pierre Kraehenbuehl, director of operations of the International Committee of the Red Cross, or ICRC.

“We're certainly not seeing an immediate effect in terms of stabilization for civilians currently. That is not our reading,” he said.

My opinion - and it is an opinion - is that Iraq will remain a seething disaster until the occupying forces withdraw.

Similarly, Afghanistan won't settle down much as long as there are foreign boots on the ground.

Now, Mr. O'Connor, Mr. Harper - just when are you going to wake up and recognize that military occupation of a foreign power will not change the political climate of that country substantially?

Michael Coren ... Revisionist

Usually I try to ignore Michael Coren - and then there's the days where he's so insufferably stupid that he deserves a more thorough swatting about. This week's column in the Sun newspaper chain is an exceptionally egregious assault on both reality and reason.

More people have died in the name of religion than anything else. Not true. There is a story that the Devil asked God for one century. Fine, said the Almighty, have the 20th century.

And hundreds of millions were slaughtered by atheist regimes led by Hitler, Lenin, Stalin, Mao and their friends. It is the absence of belief rather than its presence that has led to the most suffering.

There's a few bits of illogic here. I'm not sure what twist in scripture Coren uses to derive that God handed the 20th century over to the Devil - I'm not sure that I care. Causal legends don't go very far in helping us understand what really happened. I am, however, rather offended by his bone-headed linking of political totalitarian regimes with atheism. At best such a link is spurious - coincidence rather than causality; at worst, it is nothing more that a childish smear - implying that a worshipful Christian politician is less likely to be a bloodthirsty maniac.

But, that's just his opening assertion, his reasoning becomes ever more unhinged as one reads on.

Hitler was a Catholic. Not at all. He was born a Catholic but hated Christianity and some of the most devoted Nazi theorists wrote that their contempt for Judaism was based less on anti-Semitism than the fact the Jews gave the world Jesus.

Wow - that's a choice little bit of revisionism - been talking to Ernst Zundel again, Michael - or did you forget to put on your tinfoil hat before going out last week?

What about the Crusades? A geo-political response from Christian Europe to the massive military expansion of Islamic armies into the Christian heartlands of North Africa, Palestine and Syria. There were certainly aspects of it that were dreadful but it says nothing about the truth of Christianity.

How do you explain the Inquisition? Actually there is not a lot to explain. The number of people killed under its authority was very small and most European towns saw an Inquisition delegation once every 10 years.

Here's where Coren demonstrates not only his fundamental ignorance of history, but he mangles his interpretation of it as well.

He claims that the Crusades said nothing of the truth of Christianity - yet those same crusades were sanctioned by, if not sponsored by, various Popes. Last I checked, according to Roman Catholic dogma, the Pope is the only member of the clergy with a "direct line" with God - presumably those same Popes shared that line of communication. Besides, even if one says that the Catholic Church does not "represent the truth of Christianity", it's damnably hard to deny that the Crusades were undertaken in the name of Christianity. Trivializing it, and the long lasting consequences of western military and cultural intervention in the Middle East, is facile and stupid on Mr. Coren's part.

[Update 09/04/07]
A regular reader has pointed out the following overview of the Christian Crusades - with a certain amount of hint at the underlying motives at play - none of them exactly paint Coren's oh-so-noble Christianity in a very pleasant light...
[/Update]

As for his dismissal of the Inquisition as having only killed a few people, once again, Coren utterly misses the point. The inquisition was a part of the power structure - it was part of how the Church maintained its hold on not just spiritual power, but political and economic power. As anyone who has read the Malleus Maleficarum will confirm, the Inquisition structure was designed to be a no-win situation - once accused, you were going to die - it was merely a matter of how, and how quickly. It was a powerful tool for keeping a population controlled - in a manner than any 20th century dictator would have admired - from Lenin and Hitler through to Marcos or Duvalier. (Or perhaps, Mr. Coren would like to examine the oh-so-devoutly Catholic leaders of some South American countries who have perpetrated their own evils?)

It is not the numbers that the Inquisitions killed that matter - it is the purpose and intent not just of the inquisition, but the church itself in creating the inquisition. A roaming body of people meting out "the lord's justice" based on some extreme twisting of scripture and logic is little different than the death squads and "disappearances" of numerous regimes.

That the Sun chain pays Mr. Coren is astounding - that they print his monumental stupidity only goes to show the lack of editorial wisdom at the board.

My, my...

How intriguing ... a brief bit of pawing through the neo-separatist website "Project Alberta", I learned a few things of interest.


First, this person has resigned as the CEO of this organization.

Okay, CCC is busy redesigning their website - which I thought was interesting to begin with, as the redesign suggests a significant change in direction for the group - one that didn't make a lot of sense under its previous leadership.

However, it's what's said in the resignation letter that I find intriguing:

In the years I have served the organization we have accomplished many things from being very instrumental in helping Stephen Harper become leader of the Canadian Alliance and the Conservative Party of Canada to our fight against Human Rights Commissions in defence of the family.

The assumptions here are too many to ignore - I have no idea just how some of the things which have been said by and on behalf of "CCC" have anything to do with "defending" the notion of family - they've been little more than blatant expressions of the kind of thing that gives the word "conservative" a bad name.

Firstly, I will be seeking office soon. I do not mean helping out a friend and putting my name on a ballot to help out a struggling party as I did in 1997 with the Social Credit Party. I do not mean running for leadership to deliver a much needed message as I did when I ran for leader of the former Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. I am actually seeking office to win. I believe, as do others that I will be much more effective for the movement in an elected capacity.

How fascinating - it seems that in the wake of Ralph Klein's departure, all sorts of interesting creatures are surfacing with designs on seats in the legislature.

Secondly, I have found service in the social conservative movement, frustrating at best. I have never witnessed a more tribal grouping of people in my life. The people I am refering to are the groups who are supposed to represent Christian interests etc... The best way to describe the back biting, cold shoulders or attacks is with scripture. The verse that comes to mind can be found in Galatians 5: 15 - "But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you are not consumed by one another".

Hmmm...it appears that someone is just beginning to figure out that even within a "movement" there is going to be dissention - and that unity in the case of religious conservatives only goes as far as they interpret scripture similarly for their political ends.

have also been a little troubled that when the Concerned Christians Canada Inc (CCC) is in a massive Human Rights Tribunal the only substantial monies contributed to our legal funds have come from the United States of America and the Alliance Defense Fund. Canada's Christians and social conservatives have not been forthcoming.

There's two points to this paragraph. First is a hint that CCC has had significant funding from American-based evangelical lobby groups - such as Alliance Defense Fund. I've suspected this for quite some time, but haven't had anything to substantiate the suspicion.

The second point of note is that CCC is involved in the suit(s) before various Canadian human rights bodies - as I have noted back here - at least in part as a result of the now resigning CEO's own actions. Given what I found recently on another website owned by the same individual, one has to suspect that things aren't going "as planned" with the various Human Rights complaints at play.

However, seeing this character entering public politics is bothersome - and I hear rumours that this individual is planning to seek a tory nomination somewhere in Calgary as well. (For those not familiar with Mciver's history, his campaigns have been managed by the same individual in the past - and I suspect they remain fairly close).

If this is in fact the case, what we likely have here is a move afoot to swing the provincial PC's even further to the social right wing than they already are.

Credibility ... The Wingnut's Nemesis

Over at Lifesite, it appears that they have forgotten to check the credentials of the "researchers" they cite. In this case, we find them extolling the virtues of improbably awful research done by Paul Cameron. It's the usual "gay men die young" screed, which Cameron's been beating on for years - using the same bad statistical methodologies which have been trashed repeatedly in the past.

Before we leave the subject of really bad research, let's take a look at Lifesite's take on The University of Guelph's Sexuality Conference...mostly because I feel like sandblasting a soda cracker or two.

Says Lifesite:

During the research forum on “Women’s Reproductive and Sexual Rights: A Global and Local Perspective” attendees consider three brief research presentations followed by questions, answers and discussion, such as “The ‘Fire Slut’ Versus the ‘Dyslexbian’ – Depictions of Active Female Sexuality in Forest Fire Suppression.”

Yes, there is a session that mentions these three rather odd-sounding topics:

T12 - Women’s Reproductive and Sexual Rights: A Global and Local Perspective - A Research Forum

Three brief research presentations will be followed by questions, answers and discussion. The session topics are:

* Impacts of Globalization on Reproductive and Sexual Rights of Third World Women
* The “Fire Slut” Versus the “Dyslexbian” – Depictions of Active Female Sexuality in Forest Fire Suppression
* Student Perceptions of Sexual Consent and Sexual Intent: The Impact of Relationship Length and Sexual Experience

Sem Chuddar Ponnambalam, MA, Policy/Legal Consultant, Gloucester; Kathleen Kartes, BA Candidate, Trent University, Peterborough; Stephanie Ross, MA, Research Assistant, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay

Then the brain kicks in and we realize that we are talking about some terminology from a subculture that I'm not actually familiar with. Oh - now it makes a lot more sense. (and oddly, the other two topics of presentation are pretty obvious mainstream sexual politics discussions.

Claims Lifesite:

The Conference also delves into how to make sex education more student-driven with “Out of the Cubicle and into the Classroom: Student Driven Sexual Health Programming in Secondary Schools.” However, according to recent news reports, American students as early as 5th grade are pioneering this one, demonstrating the lessons of sex education during other classes or school gatherings without any compunction.

Typical of neo-Christian denial, sex never happens, except in the blessed confines of holy marriage consecrated by one of the mystical clergy...right...

Reality is:

W14 - Out of the Cubicle and into the Classroom: Student Driven Sexual Health Programming in Secondary Schools

Students are often asked to lead or at least become partners in the development of sexual health programming. As health practioners we make the mistake of over managing student led projects and then risk alienating the student partners. The presentation will focus on a series of health unit/school projects which illustrate how letting go of a project and empowering students can lead to an effective and innovative product. Particpants will leave with a summary of key lessons learned and a series of recommendations for ensuring the future success of student led school-based programs.

Again, reality is much more grounded in something comprehensible - namely a perfectly intelligent and valid discussion of how best to engage students in sex education programs. Hardly the debauched licentiousness that our friends at Lifesite suggest.

As if to further fuel their righteous outrage, Lifesite really gets themselves worked up over all the workshops that focus on various sexual minority groups and the unique issues each represents:

Much attention is paid toward helping sex educators/counselors show LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual, Queer) clients and employees greater “sensitivity and inclusivity [sic]”. Polyamorists, however, do not get the short shrift as “Help! My Client is Polyamorous” teaches how to deal sensitively with polyamorist relationships. A polyamorist leads the course.

However, the gospel of this brave new world would not be complete without workshops on “Queer Family Planning” explaining the 9 week courses on creating children: Dykes Planning Tykes or Daddies & Papas 2B. ...

Yes, a browse through the University of Guelph does show a lot of topics that would raise the eyebrows of most people - especially if they haven't got any background in the amazing diversity of human behaviour, and sexuality in particular.

Of course, Lifesite's pseudo journalists have focused on the most shocking topics - the ones that would attract the most lurid headline they could dream up. Reality is that a lot of the topics are much less inspiring to their moral outrage:

W15 - Status of Sexual Health in Canada

This session presents a comprehensive portrait of sexual and reproductive health in Canada. Key national trends in sexual and reproductive health identified in the Status of Sexual and Reproductive Health in Canada Report, compiled by the Canadian Federation for Sexual Health will be highlighted. The focus will be on significant changes in sexual health indicators over time, including rates of contraception use, STIs, sexual violence, pregnancy, birth, abortion and access to services, with a particular emphasis on trends within the youth population. This presentation will facilitate a greater understanding of sexual health in Canada and discuss consequent policy recommendations.

Linda Capperauld, MSW, Executive Director, Canadian Federation for Sexual Health, Ottawa

Of course, Lifesite has to end off with this little snip:

The 29th Guelph Sexuality Conference follows an entire week dedicated to promoting post-Christian amorality with the Sexual Attitudes Reassessment Weekend (June 9-10) and the Intensive Sex Therapy Training Program (June 11-15).

As if any frank and honest discussion about sexuality was "amoral"...and implicitly, immoral. Yes, let's return to the era when talking about sexuality was verboten - it makes it so much easier for the pedophile priests to do their thing and be quietly hushed up.

As If To Underscore My Point

Sometimes, one has to wonder if government's don't go out of their way to make a point for us. Last week, I commented on a proposal to curtail freedom of speech in this country.

At the time, I raised the very worrisome prospect that terms like "terrorism" or "terrorist" were extremely difficult to define in legal terms, and any law which attempted to do so would either be overly broad, or hamstrung by its own definitions.

This week, we find the Canadian Armed Forces have a training manual which tries to enumerate "potential" sources of "threats", and manages to enumerate Canadian aboriginal peoples among groups like Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad.

To some extent, one may brush this off a little - the draft in question was written a couple of years ago, and under a different political leadership. Further, our armed forces are supposed to be cautious and responsive to possible threats, so an internal document that enumerates potential sources of armed threat shouldn't really surprise us.

However, what it does do is underscore the worrisome point - one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist. Consider the incident at Ipperwash a few years ago. One could certainly see how the natives would have seen themselves as "fighting for freedom" of some sort, and equally how the OPP would have seen the natives as "terrorists" or "insurgents". I do not choose to make any judgement about those events here - rather I want them to be seen as illustrative of the very problems I raised earlier.

We are not talking about a government action to protect the rights of any identifiable group of Canadians, nor are talking about the government taking action to limit the activities of any identifiable groups. Instead, we are talking about the government acting to limit the rights of all Canadians in the face of an unknown, and unknowable "threat".

The Harper government has already shown that it wishes to overturn the notion of presumed innocence, and now we see the first signs of authoritarianism coming forth.