There’s a lot going on in the world today; a great deal of turmoil, a great deal of death. Those of us that comprise the citizenry of the world’s most fortunate nations are replete with distractions, be they great or small, that seem to dissipate the severity and the urgency of events elsewhere. Even in our own streets, where people lay wrapped in filthy blankets at times, we are afforded a myriad of distractions to aid in the denial of hard realities.

Like many Canadians, I grew up in a gray zone that drifted towards the poverty line at times. I remember a time when I slept in a basement with strangers; paying borders filling up the rooms of our townhouse in an attempt to supplement income. I also remember, having been laid off and denied workers compensation, finding myself in a welfare line. I spent the better part of an hour in the cold talking with a young single mother that, having a newborn and no family to help her out, was left with no other option. She was in nice clothes; she had gotten out of a decent car. Like many of us, she did her best to conceal her shame, to somehow make it appear as if it were all a mistake, a clerical error that would soon be discovered and corrected. Try as we might, our attempts to deflect the shame that clung to us was transparent. We all had different reasons for being in that line, but I have never forgotten the feeling, and have, since that day, made sure to pay my taxes in advance and to the fullest in an attempt to pay back a system that not only helped me when I was down on my luck, but helps a multitude of Canadians who find themselves, for whatever reason, in hopeless situations. There are those that abuse the privilege, no question about it, but at least most of us know that there’s a safety net available, even if it has a few holes. (more…)

In an attempt to kill Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s ideological head, the United States, most likely through the CIA, used an unmanned drone aircraft to launch a strike against the Pakistani village of Damadola Burkanday last week that resulted in the deaths of 18 people, among them four children.

And while a report by The Guardian in the UK probed the intelligence failures of the strike - ‘evidence emerging appeared to indicate that, though the technology that guided the missiles to their targets at 3am on Friday was faultless, the intelligence that had selected those targets was not’, Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, had this to say in response to a US attack that resulted in the deaths of innocent people in an allied country…

“These are not people who can be dealt with lightly”

(more…)

Over the last few weeks I’ve received numerous emails about a post made on New Years Day over at Boing Boing about Ontario MP Sam Bulte, her relationship with the Canadian entertainment industry, and her proposed Canadian copyright legislation. Just so that everyone’s up to speed, here’s what Boing Boing’s Cory Doctorow had to say…

“Sam Bulte, the Canadian Liberal Party MP for Parkdale/High Park is having her election campaign bankrolled by the Canadian entertainment cartel. Bulte previously authored a one-sided report proposing crazy, US-style copyright laws for Canada, and now her pals from the Canadian Recording Industry Association are throwing her a $250/plate fundraiser — just the kind of high-ticket event that the poor artists Bulte claims to represent can’t afford to attend. Instead, expect this dinner to be stacked with industry fat-cats. (more…)

On the 5th of this month, The Guardian reported on James Risen’s mention of MERLIN in ‘State Of War’…

“George Bush insists that Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. So why, six years ago, did the CIA give the Iranians blueprints to build a bomb?�

MERLIN: the CIA SAP created to feed rising nuclear powers, such as Iran, faulty nuclear plans – the objective being that they would produce faulty devices, causing setbacks in their programs. But in 2000, in Vienna, a Russian scientist, once an employee of Russia’s top secret Arzamas-16 facility turned reluctant spy, included a personal letter in the faulty blue-prints for a TBA 480 high voltage block, subtly indicating that there were flaws in the plans. The CIA had instructed him to drop the blueprints off at the Iranian Mission in Vienna, after he had posed as a disgruntled Russian scientist living in the US trying to sell nuclear secrets. But being that he was a scientist, and not an actual operative, perhaps he couldn’t understand why the CIA wanted him to hand over faulty plans (faults that he had noticed when they first showed the plans to him), so he wrote the letter, perhaps naively and harmlessly. MERLIN was instituted during the Clinton administration and continued by the Bush administration according to Risen’s book. (more…)

Britain is threatening to refer Iran to the UN Security Council, of which it is a permanent member, over it’s decision to remove IAEA seals from at least one research centre to resume work. Overnight, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan commented that…

“Any resumption of enrichment and reprocessing activities would be a further violation of Iran’s agreements with the Europeans. Such steps would be a serious escalation of the nuclear issue.”

What makes this issue worrisome, in my opinion, is not the lopsided rationality being employed by the world’s foremost nuclear powers, or their seemingly endless drive to force Iran’s hand in an attempt to justify sanctions in hopes of eliciting some sort of response that may very well justify much more. What worries me the most is the fact that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is no less idiotic than his counterpart in Washington. (more…)

I must admit to an almost drug-like fascination with CNN. Every once in a while, usually while eating lunch or dinner, I’ll flip on the television and, after checking CBC News World, will wander over to channel 33 to see what’s going on.

This afternoon I was treated to a segment on Lou Dobbs’ program about the ‘alarming’ rise in leftist governments in Latin America and how US interests are at risk from this growing political trend. Dobbs evoked the Monroe Doctrine, which I always find humorous given that the United States has interfered in Latin America more than any European power over the last century. In fact, US Latin America policy throughout the Cold War led to decisions that ultimately cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans and support for banana republics and dictatorships from Chile to Colombia. Given that, it’s no wonder that populist movements have emerged over the decades to counter US influencing and interference. (more…)

I’ve received a few emails lately asking if I’m going to comment on the upcoming federal election, some even admonishing me for not making it a staple topic. I’ll not launch into the tired diatribe that Mblog has always primarily focused on human rights and anti-war topics more than others, most of you should know that by now. That said, some commentary on the upcoming election is definitely warranted.

The most popular question that I’m routinely emailed is - who are you voting for? I live in a riding that is, according to some, going to play an important role come January 23. For those of you from other parts of the country (or world) that would like to know more about it, please refer to the CBC’s Vancouver Centre information page. (more…)