General

Guilty till we can prove you..ah..guilty

12/16/2006 by Debra

Remember when they at least pretended there was a presumption of innocence?

Remember when having gone through trial and proved not guilty you were in fact considered not guilty?

Did you ever think that two world governments would conspire against one man? And then compound all the wrong that had transpired by folding their arms stomping their feet and refusing to admit either their own guilt or any satisfaction with the declaration of innocence.

For Maher Arar, it never ends.
It wasn’t enough that the Canadian computer engineer was deported by the U.S. to Syria to be tortured.
Nor was it enough that, even after he got home, unknown Canadian government officials deliberately leaked false and damaging information to the media in an attempt to smear him.
Now, after a painstaking 34-month judicial inquiry finally cleared his name, the U.S. government has decided that it is its turn to smear Arar.
The smear was delivered by David Wilkins, U.S. ambassador to Canada. In a statement released yesterday, he said that Arar will stay on a U.S. watch list that denies him entry to that country “based on information from a variety of sources.”

Right wing governments are correct when they say they do not believe in big government. Big government being a code word for government responsible to and for the people.

Totalitarian government, however, seems to be something they can get behind.

totalitarianism
Form of government that subordinates all aspects of its citizens’ lives to the authority of the state, with a single charismatic leader as the ultimate authority. The term was coined in the early 1920s by Benito Mussolini, but totalitarianism has existed throughout history throughout the world (e.g., Qin dynasty China). It is distinguished from dictatorship and authoritarianism by its supplanting of all political institutions and all old legal and social traditions with new ones to meet the state’s needs, which are usually highly focused. Large-scale, organized violence may be legitimized. The police operate without the constraint of laws and regulations. Where pursuit of the state’s goal is the only ideological foundation for such a government, achievement of the goal can never be acknowledged.

Wheel of misfortune

12/15/2006 by Debra

Italy has revived the medieval practice of establishing special depositories where parents can safely and anonymously abandon their unwanted newborn babies.
From the as far back as the 8th century, it was common for desperate mothers to lay an unwanted child on a wooden wheel, which was half inside the wall of a convent and half outside. This allowed mothers to leave their babies without been seen.
Today’s version of the so-called “foundling wheel,” follows the same concept, but has been updated. The new foundling wheel offers a heated cradle area and is located half inside the Casilino hospital in Rome.

Some would ponder why we are still using medieval concepts to deal with women’s issues. Some might ponder the circumstances of these pregnancies, the emotional after care of the mothers and children.

Others might say

“It represents an intelligent and efficient way for social structures to face dramatic situations…it follows the call of all those struggling to give children, women and all those who live in difficult conditions, equal opportunities and dignity,” Turco said in a statement.

huh.

Here’s a list of things that contribute to equal rights and dignity see if you can find the one that doesn’t seem to belong;

Obviously this is better than a child being left in the street but rights and dignity?

I don’t think so.

I May have to scream….

12/14/2006 by Debra

After beginning this post I realized I was just too angry to write a nice explanatory post.

I’m angry…I’m angry that some really think that a womans’ right of control of her body is something they can have high school level debates about.

I’m angry for my daughters. I’m angry because of the young woman I know who was kept away from all friends and family until it was too late to abort and then beaten so badly that she miscarried at 22 weeks.

I’m angry for the victims of rape forced to carry the evidence of the sperm of the prick they never wanted in their body.

I’m angry for the women who birthed till they died. I’m angry for the women who had to beg and be shamed by a panel of doctors who decided whether their choice to abort was frivolous or not.

I’m angry for all the women who have had to deal with some bastard thinking he had any fucking right deciding what she could or could not do.

I’m angry for the women fought and bled and died to get us as far as we’ve come only to have their victories put up as dartboards on frat boy walls.

Perhaps the white knights could climb off their high white horses for just a second or two and pay attention.

Abortion= a woman’s right to control a) her own body b) her own destiny c) her own life.

Why would you even put that up for debate? Who the fuck gave you permission to discuss what goes on in my womb?

Will we next be treated to a debate on whether or not rape is really a crime? If a woman has no say over her own body then how can rape exist?

And after all we wouldn’t want women saying no frivolously.

Reproductive rights are not up for political ~~wankers~~ wonkers to debate.

My body MY FUCKING CHOICE!

Lessons from 1984

12/13/2006 by Debra

Status of Women Minister Bev Oda says the Conservative government has removed “equality” from the mandate of the status of women program because it wants to instil the belief in equality in every government department, agency and office.

That’s right we want to take away the concept of equality to ensure equality. Now if you aren’t understanding that logic you likely belong to one of those special interests groups.

A lot of issues are not women’s issues, they’re Canadian issues,” Oda said, explaining the government philosophy behind a series of moves that have provoked a week of Opposition criticism and protests by women’s groups.
snip
“If you want to advocate for more opportunities for women to enter the workforce, you should be talking to the minister of human resources and social development,” Oda said. “If it’s aboriginal women, it’s the responsibility of the minister of aboriginal affairs.
“We believe as a government that every part of the federal government has to be founded in the belief of equality,” Oda said.

Not actual equality mind you, the belief of equality.

Now if you want to see a demonstration of such belief, look to the south where they have cured hunger! Though there are still some who are food insecure. But hey we all have insecurities!

Oda said the term feminist “doesn’t bother me. It’s not pro or con. All I know is that I stand for what’s right and what’s wrong

Exactly! She stands for the right and as usual they are wrong.

We can take heart though that the other members of the conservative cabinet are already brushing up on women’s issues.

Stockwell Day, Conservative MP for Okanagan Coquihalla, disagrees with that assertion and noted there will be no cuts to services. He added that he doesn’t know anything about the word equality being stripped.
“Status of Women was established in 1976, and there are going to be no cuts in service, the women’s program will continue to receive all of its funding,” Day said.

Er…maybe not.

Book Tagged

12/12/2006 by Debra

I got tagged.

The instructions:
Find the nearest book.
Turn to page 123.
Go to the fifth sentence on the page.
Copy out the next three sentences and post to your blog.
Name the book and the author.

It turned out, however, that Douglas had been just slightly ahead of his time. This was the era of the common front; in Europe especially, socialists and Communists united to fight the fascist threat. THere were no declared fascists in Saskatchewan politics, and few Communists, but CCF supporters set out to find allies to overthrow the Liberals, whom they regarded as the worst of all possible ruling parties.

Tommy Douglas
The Road to Jerusalem

Thomas H. McLeod
Ian McLeod

Consider yourself tagged

Domestic Dispute

12/12/2006 by Debra

Dispute: to debate, question, to argue.

Sounds so innocuous doesn’t it?

In this story three people including the one doing the “disputing” died.

Mayor Scott Lang said the shooter died of a self-inflicted wound. Police said there was an exchange of gunfire with officers and would not confirm the shooter killed himself.
The club’s owner, Tom Tsoumas of Easton, told WBZ-AM his nephew Tory Marandos, 30, who was managing the club, and a floor host, Bobby Carreira, were killed by the man, who had been told to stay away after a failed relationship with a bartender.
Tsoumas identifed the shooter as Scott Medeiros. He said the club had hired him about two years ago to install a security system.
Tsoumas said Medeiros had dated a bartender at the club, and she feared him. He went to the club about two weeks ago and Carreira told him to stay away.
‘‘He said, ‘This isn’t the place for you. She doesn’t want to see you. It’s only going to cause problems.’ And he went away, but he evidently came in last night,’’ Tsoumas said.

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