Profound Quotes

"Neither is it that US foreign policy is cruel because American leaders are cruel. It's that our leaders are cruel because only those willing to be inordinately cruel and remorseless can hold positions of leadership in the foreign policy establishment; it might as well be written into the job description. People capable of expressing a full human measure of compassion and empathy toward faraway powerless strangers - (let alone American soldiers - do not become president of the United States, or vice president, or secretary of state, or national security adviser or secretary of the treasury. Nor do they want to." From 'Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower' by William Blum

From "9-11, Six Years Later": "If one looks at the credentials of skeptics compared to the credentials of defenders of the official line, it is impossible to dismiss skeptics as kooks. There are many people with strong imaginations on the Internet, but serious skeptics stick to known facts, known violations of standard procedures and the laws of physics. The vast majority of the people who call skeptics "kooks" are themselves ignorant of physics and have little comprehension of the improbability that such an attack could succeed without either the complicity or complete failure of government agencies. " Paul Craig Roberts

"Cowardice asks the question, 'Is it safe?' Expediency asks the question, 'Is it politic?' Vanity asks the question, 'Is it popular? But, conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?' And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because one's conscience tells one that it is right." Martin Luther King, Jr.

Categories

Letter from Honduras :: News :: thetyee.ca

On Tuesday in Honduras, two days after a military coup forced President Jose Manuel “Mel” Zelaya from office, I am headed down towards a rural village where protest is gathering strength.

The people in the car with me switch from one radio station to another, each announcer declaring that Tegucigalpa, the capital, is swamped with anti-Mel, pro-military demonstrations.

My colleague shakes his head, saying soldiers are standing outside of radio stations. The military is running the communications all over the country now, he sighs. Independent broadcasters, and Channel 8, which supports Mel, have been taken off the air.

As electricity flickers, the only way to know exactly what is going on is to be in the eye of the storm.

We arrive at the protest. My colleague tells me that it is probably best if I stay in the car. Foreign journalists were taken hostage yesterday and threatened with violence by the military government in the capital. I scout out the situation and decide it is safe to get a closer look.

About two hundred people wave their fists in the air chanting “The village, united, will never be defeated.”

Letter from Honduras :: News :: thetyee.ca.

Defence in Basi-Virk trial gets access to some emails :: The Hook

Defence in Basi-Virk trial gets access to some emails

By Bill Tieleman July 1, 2009 08:29 am

VANCOUVER - British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Bennett ruled Tuesday that defence lawyers for three former B.C. Liberal government aides facing corruption charges can gain access to any emails between Premier Gordon Campbell and three Pilothouse Public Affairs lobbyists.

Bennett also ruled that lawyers for David Basi, Bob Virk and Aneal Basi can obtain emails related to Pilothouse for 14 other current or former BC Liberal MLAs, including former Deputy Premier Christy Clark.

But a defence application that Bennett remain as judge for the trial of the three aides was put off until July 20.

In an interview after the short hearing Michael Bolton, the lawyer representing David Basi, said the defence was pleased with the ruling.

“The judge ruled that the email records related to the divestiture of BC Rail and contact with lobbyists Erik Bornmann, Brian Kieran and Jamie Elmhirst be disclosed to the defence,” he said.

“She ordered communications on Mr. Campbell’s email account on Pilothouse be disclosed and those with any of the lobbyists,” Bolton added.

“This result means the defence will get a large part of the emails it was seeking for 2002 to 2004,” Bolton said. “It also means we may be in a position to bring an application for some of the records that were not disclosed today.”

Bolton said that Clark had not objected to release of her records or had legal counsel at the hearing despite being served notice of the defence application.

He added that the court will hear an additional defence request for Campbell’s executive branch records on July 16-17, from B.C. government lawyer George Copley.

Defence in Basi-Virk trial gets access to some emails :: The Hook.

‘Good Luck BC’: Morton’s Cry of Despair :: News :: thetyee.ca

TheTyee.ca

Alexandra Morton has spent over 20 years studying whales and salmon on the B.C. coast. That led her, inevitably, into conflicts about the fish farming industry. She has argued, on the evidence of her own research and others’, that farming Atlantic salmon is destroying B.C.’s native wild salmon.

After a vote taken last week by the Strathcona Regional District, it looked as if Morton and the supporters of wild salmon had sustained their worst defeat yet.

Morton isn’t giving up — but she is demanding that British Columbians take serious action if they really do want to save the salmon.

Last weekend Morton sent a letter to members of several newsgroups, setting out the problem. Excerpts from that letter:

“On June 25, 2009, the Strathcona Regional District rural directors opened the door to fish farming on the jugular of the B.C. coast. Every other fish farm has been sited among braided waterways, but this Grieg application is for one of the biggest fish farms on the B.C. coast to be lodged where 1/3 of all Canada’s Pacific salmon pass on their voyage back to us through Johnstone Strait.

“Sensing some public opposition to this decision, the board did consider the risks and asked Grieg to compromise. But the concessions Grieg responded with are worthless tradebeads of deception as they are either impossible or irrelevant.

“The media reports they offer to harvest their fish before the wild salmon migrations, but they know their fish need to be in our ocean for 22 months and ours migrate every 12 months. They say they will have zero lice, but they know this is impossible with the drugs we allow in Canada. And they say they will turn off their growlights in the spring, when they never use them anyway.

‘Good Luck BC’: Morton’s Cry of Despair :: News :: thetyee.ca.

Riding move to BC could net Greens first MP: May Interview :: The Hook

Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May is considering making British Columbia her new political home.

At a book signing on Salt Spring Island earlier this month, May was overwhelmed by the crowd asking her to run as the candidate for the Saanich-Gulf Islands riding.

She replied that she had already considered it, saying that she wants to run in a riding where she can win and land the Greens a seat in the House of Commons.

Riding move to BC could net Greens first MP: May Interview :: The Hook.

The Legislature Raids

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Contact Leonard Krog today on BC Rail secret deal

.

It’s the secrecy. If the BCR-CN deal is such a great deal, as Gordo says, why is the deal still secret?

After 5 years, on July 14, 2009, certain new benefits are all set up to roll into CN pockets, such as a virtual kingdom of BC Rail properties … and another 60 years’ of renewable lease with no increased costs for almost 1,000 years. Items like that. Big province-changing items.

And if B.C. did receive $1Billion, did anyone see the photo op with Gordo holding up the big cardboard cheque for all to see? No. No we didn’t.

If British Columbia had a functioning Opposition, they would long ago have insisted that the government show us the deal. That’s what Oppositions do. They’re supposed to speak on behalf of the people. To defend us, when governments won’t.

Now, at the 11th hour, the BC Opposition must act. They won’t, of course, until the citizens push and shove them, telling them what needs to be done (if THEY hope to survive politically).

The BC Rail deal is before BC Supreme Court, for gosh sakes. And Gordo’s Gang will try to keep the BC Rail deal secret until after the critical 5-year anniversary date when certain new, sweeping benefits come into play. Must the citizens of British Columbia go to the UN for protection?

The sensible, practical, parliamentary thing is for Leonard Krog, lawyer and Opposition critic for Attorney-General matters, to take action. Krog on our behalf must seek an injunction demanding that the Campbell Government:

* SHOW US THE BCRAIL-CN DEAL. Surely that’s basic contract law: 2 parties agree a deal so both parties must SEE the deal, right?

* The injunction must also STOP ANY FURTHER BENEFITS ROLLING OUT INTO CN POCKETS UNTIL WE ARE SURE THAT THE DEAL IS FAIR TO THE PEOPLE OF B.C. Surely that’s basic law, too.

* FREEZE THE DEAL UNTIL B.C. CITIZENS ARE ASSURED THAT NO WRONGFUL OR CRIMINAL ACTS FORMED PART OF THE NEGOTIATIONS.

* Freeze the BCR-CN deal until the people of B.C. decide on whether they wish to repossess their railway. Rumour has it that there’s a one-time-only option for that, as of July 14, 2009 … Such an opportunity may never happen again.

So please: contact Krog. Tell him to stand up for British Columbia.

- BC Mary.

The Legislature Raids.

The key to the BC Rail sale lies in Premier Gordon Campbells beginnings in real estate and land development. « I’m Laila Yuile, and This Is How I See It

One must never forget that first and foremost, Gordon Campbell is a real estate man – his past and beginnings were as a developer, and at no time when dealing with him and his administration should that be forgotten.

Not when it comes to forest land deals the province had been criticized for ( Weyerhaeuser /Brookfield Asset Management deals) , nor when it comes to highway construction and road work deals( South Fraser Perimeter Road and Sea to Sky) . But especially not if one begins mulling about the ramifications of the $1.00 transfer of land clause written into the dubious privatization of BC Rail, which is about to occur on or before July 15th 2009.

While reading the June 27th, 2009 post on The Legislature Raids titled ” BC Rail: Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs says Province Wilfully Mislead or Withheld Information About B.C. Rail ” , something sparked a memory of an article that talked about the Sea to Sky highway construction. And how the value of lands along that corridor skyrocketed with the news of the highway construction and the 2010 Olympic bid. And more importantly, how those lucrative properties were obtained.

The key to the BC Rail sale lies in Premier Gordon Campbells beginnings in real estate and land development. « I’m Laila Yuile, and This Is How I See It.

Campbell’s Own Watergate? :: Views :: thetyee.ca

Consider this: a B.C. premier who says he’s fully cooperating with the investigation even as tens of thousands of emails spanning four years are erased or simply vanish before defence lawyers in a political corruption trial can obtain them.

It’s as though Rose Mary Woods, Nixon’s secretary who erased 18 minutes of secret tapes, is still alive and working in Victoria.

Two years after the defence requests the emails in a legal application, a government lawyer admits they have disappeared without a trace.

A former senior deputy minister to the premier who admits publicly that when it comes to his own emails: “I delete the stuff all the time as fast as I can.”

Government political staff members who allegedly direct dirty tricks — like phony protests and paid callers to talk radio shows — right out of the premier’s office.

A senior government ministerial aide who is allegedly paid on the side by the B.C. Liberal Party to conduct dirty tricks.

A former top political aide to both federal and provincial Liberal Party governments who turns lobbyist and allegedly bribes ministerial assistants to obtain confidential information about a $1 billion privatization.

Can anyone spell Watergate?

Campbell: Law was kept

The parallels between the actions of the Gordon Campbell B.C. Liberal government and the Richard Nixon White House appear to be increasingly, disturbingly strong.

Last week Campbell broke from his usual pattern of not commenting on the corruption charges case against former ministerial aides David Basi and Bob Virk and former communications aide Aneal Basi to comment on the disclosure that emails from 2001 to 2005 between cabinet ministers, MLAs and staff regarding B.C. Rail had either been erased or just disappeared.

“The records that should be kept under the law have been kept,” Campbell said, without explaining how the missing emails could disappear despite the Documents Disposal Act that requires they be kept for seven years and only destroyed if specific permission is granted by a special committee.

‘May be no explanation’: BC gov’t lawyer

Consider that Basi and Virk were both charged with breach of trust in 2004 in connection with the November, 2003 sale of B.C. Rail and after the unprecedented December, 2003 police raid on the B.C. Legislature.

And yet the government emails were not secured, despite their obvious potential relevance to the defence, which argues that the two aides were following the orders of political superiors.

“There may be no explanation. No filing system is perfect,” B.C. government lawyer George Copley said in the B.C. Supreme Court about the loss of records.

Aside from Basi and Virk, what if potential B.C. Rail buyers like Canadian Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe — who dropped out of the bidding because they believed it was “unfair” — had sued the government over the process?

Would those missing emails have been critical to their legal success and what would a judge say about them disappearing?

There is one possible explanation — that the Basi-Virk case feels more and more like Watergate.

Bill Tieleman is a regular Tyee contributor who writes a column on B.C. politics every Tuesday in 24 Hours newspaper. Tieleman can be heard Mondays at 10 a.m. on the Bill Good Show on CKNW AM 980 or at www.cknw.com. E-mail him at weststar@telus.net or visit his blog.

Campbell’s Own Watergate? :: Views :: thetyee.ca.

Solidarity with Six Nations - What do smoke shops have to do with land claims? | rabble.ca

Show Notes:

Interviews with Six Nations activist and proprietor of Pine Ridge Tobacco, Steve “Boots” Powless and retired Caledonia farmer Ernie Palmer. Also, coverage of the press conference at the Pine Ridge Tobacco shop on the outskirts of Caledonia and the Six Nations res. The shop has been the centre of recent conflict and agitation. The press conference on June 26 was only three days after the rally against the formation of the “Caledonia Militia” in Cayuga.

The first interview with Boots and the introductory audio are from AW@L Radio, June 25.

To hear the full program, including extensive audio from the rally in Cayuga on June 23, visit http://www.peaceculture.org/drupal/awal-radio

Solidarity with Six Nations - What do smoke shops have to do with land claims? | rabble.ca.

Toronto protest calls for an end to military coup in Honduras | rabble.ca

As customers devour their gourmet burgers and triple decker sandwiches at open air cafes along Parliament Street in Cabbagetown, the Latin American Solidarity Network – Toronto holds a noon hour rally outside Liberal MP Bob Rae’s constituency office Thursday, demanding the return of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya after he was ousted in a military coup last weekend.

Toronto protest calls for an end to military coup in Honduras | rabble.ca.

The cost of this war | rabble.ca

The cost of this war

“How much is this war costing Canadians?” ask Steven Staples and David MacDonald in a chapter from a new anthology dedicated to examining the toll of war in Afghanistan.

By Steven Staples and David MacDonald

| July 2, 2009

The cost of this war | rabble.ca.