Residents in Waterloo, Ontario have voted to stop adding fluoride to water supplies.

Campaigners against fluoride believe that adding fluoride to the water supply is tantamount to poisoning and are lobbying for fluoridation to be stopped all over Canada. Opponents of fluoride claim the chemical is illegal, unnecessary and dangerous; campaigners believe fluoride contributes to health conditions, including increased risk of cancer, thyroid disease and arthritis.

In fact, it is manifestly clear that Israel uses, or more correctly, misuses the issue of anti-Semitism as its ultimate red herring to distract attention from its affronting criminality in occupied Palestine.

Independant Jewish Voices-Canada has released a new video:

Defend Free Speech: The threat is from the new McCarthyism NOT the new antisemitism.

It is a strong refutation of the legitimacy of the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism (CPCCA) meeting today and tomorrow. The Harper government has given then a $451,000 grant to advance repression against free speech that criticizes Israeli war crimes or Zionist ideology. The CPCCA is focused against the Palestinian human rights solidarity movement.

His dedication to that country supersedes his commitment to his own. That would be disturbing enough if Harper were merely a private citizen. But as prime minister it is beyond the pale and it isn't much of a stretch to suggest it borders on the betrayal of Canada and certainly Canadian interests. For what does it mean that Harper will defend Israel no matter the consequences for Canada?

Harper referred in his speech to "the anti-Israeli mob." I have to presume here that he is referring to all the Arab and Muslim countries which regularly criticize Israel at the UN. But, of course, not only them. UN resolutions criticizing Israel are regularly supported by virtually every country with the exception of Israel, the U.S. and -- sometimes -- El Salvador. Is the whole of the UN membership part of the "mob"?

Harper's disturbing performance sends a clear message: Canada is prepared to sacrifice relations with all other countries if it has to defend Israel. Coming off the rejection of Canada for a Security Council seat, Harper deems determined to islate himself even more, and Canada along with him.

Why Isn't the FDA Taking Action Against BPA?

According to the FDA, its regulatory framework limits its ability to regulate BPA production.

That's right. Under its current construction, the FDA is unable to remove a toxic chemical that is leaching into canned goods and other common foods as we speak, because it was classified in 1963 as an indirect food additive and is listed among the 3,000 or so chemicals categorized as GRAS ("generally regarded as safe").

Deep Integration and harmonization of laws, standards and policy between Canada, United States and Mexico is what is driving the North American Union agenda forward and is how they avoid Parliamentary scrutiny. We already have deep economic integration, security Integration and now they seek the integration of environmental law and promote the idea to redefine the meaning of national sovereignty to include what they call “sovereign duties”. Duties imposed on a sovereign nations that they will no longer have any control over unilaterally and are place under the jurisdiction of International law. A regulator to regulate the regulators as Paul Martin (former Prime Minister of Canada) likes to say.

This is a scam in progress! The big lie is that we need to harmonize and integrate, give up our sovereignty, and consolidate North America, in order to “save the planet” from the ravishes of climate change or to enjoy security and prosperity.

Jeffrey joined Khourosh Ziabari in an exclusive interview to discuss the influence of Israeli lobby on the decision-makers of the U.S. government, Israel’s illegal, underground nuclear program, the prospect of Israeli – Palestinian conflict and the imminent threat of an Israeli strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Blankfort is quite outspoken in his criticism of the apartheid regime of Israel and believes that Israel is the most immediate threat to the future of our planet.

Col. Russell Williams pleads guilty to all 88 charges
WARNING: This story contains disturbing details and images
Last Updated: Monday, October 18, 2010 |
Thousands of explicit photos that Col. Russell Williams took while wearing women's and girls' lingerie show how his sexual obsession escalated from lesser crimes to sexual assault and murder, a Belleville, Ont., court heard Monday.
The decorated former commander of Canadian Forces Base Trenton, in eastern Ontario, pleaded guilty to all 88 charges against him — including two counts of first-degree murder, two counts each of sexual assault and forcible confinement and 82 break-ins and attempted break-ins.

In a statement of claim filed in court on Sept. 29, Holly McDermott says she suffered multiple injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder in the alleged Jan. 16, 2009, incident at a McDonald's restaurant at 10305 80 Ave.

McDermott claims that after going to the fast food outlet for coffee at about 10:45 a.m., she went to use the ladies' washroom. Then, as she entered one of the toilet cubicles, "the door came off its hinges and fell on top of her."

As a result of allegedly being hit by the toilet stall door, McDermott claims she suffered injuries to her head, neck, upper back, left shoulder, arm and forearm, left leg, chest, left hand, index finger and right foot.

As well, she claims four of her ribs were fractured and she developed post-traumatic stress disorder.

---oOo---

Canada became the first country in the world yesterday to declare bisphenol A (BPA) to be a toxic substance that poses risks to human health and the environment.

The announcement by the Canadian Health and Environment Ministries confirmed the chemical had formally been added Schedule 1 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999).

"The Government of Canada has a strong record of taking action on Bisphenol A to protect the environment and health of Canadians," said Environment Minister Jim Prentice. "We are continuing our leadership on this issue and...working hard to monitor and manage Bisphenol A."

BPA is an industrial chemical used to make a hard, clear plastic such as re-usable polycarbonate baby bottles. It is also used in the manufacture of epoxy resins, which act as a protective lining on the inside of metal-based food and beverage cans.

By James Clark — rabble.ca

Eighteen months ago, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Jason Kenney blocked then-British MP George Galloway from Canada, labeling him a terror supporter and a national security risk. At the time, Galloway was scheduled to appear in four Canadian cities on a speaking tour called “Resisting War: from Gaza to Afghanistan.”

This week, after Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley issued his 60-page decision on the matter, Galloway and his supporters were fully vindicated.

This latest about-face by the Crown constitutes an implicit admission of defeat; it shows how flimsy the charges are and how scandalously the police behaved during the security operations around the Summit. It is now clear that the mass arrests at the gymnasium, like the vast majority of the arrests during the Summit, were arbitrary and uncalled for, and were intended to terrorize the demonstrators and to discourage them from exercising their right to protest in the future.

In that vein, the CLAC would like to remind people that the Crown is persisting in its prosecution of 20 organizers that it is wrongly accusing of being the "ringleaders" behind the events of June 26th. There are two CLAC members amongst these scapegoats; they are facing three charges of conspiracy and are currently subject to draconian bail conditions including house arrest.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26546.htm

Anti-war activist and former British MP George Galloway arrived in Canada to a throng of supporters waiting to greet him at the Toronto Pearson International Airport. Eighteen months ago, Galloway was refused entry and deemed a security threat.

[In the video he has a dig at Bibi, and his Zionist supporters, who've damaged the reputation of Canada.]

Did Leo Strauss Get Rick Salutin Fired?

Rick Salutin, recently of the Globe and Mail, was easily one of that papers most sophisticated and erudite columnists. He wrote with authority and conviction on a wide range of subjects. He “stuck out” at the Globe and Mail as he was clearly identified as left leaning, but then good newspapers have a mandate to publish a cross section of opinion. With the departure of Salutin the Globe and Mail has big shoes to fill on its opinion page.

In one of his last columns(Stephen Harper- the last Straussian?, Sept.18th 2010) Salutin suggested the prime minister was a Straussian. If you are a prime minister who has spent his political capital and lusts after one last run at a majority government the last thing you want is to be outed as a Straussian.

"I'm very happy to be here in Canada, and my presence proves that Canada remains a country governed by laws, not by 'here today, gone tomorrow' politicians and their whims," he said.

Don't miss George Galloway's talk today at Trinity Saint Paul's in Toronto at 3 p.m. EST (12 p.m. PST) on rabbletv.

http://www.rabble.ca/rabbletv

On the evening of Oct. 2, 2010, outspoken anti-war activist and former British MP George Galloway arrived in Canada to a throng of supporters waiting to greet him at the Toronto Pearson International Airport. Eighteen months ago, Galloway was refused entry and deemed a security threat.

This time, Galloway was armed with the ruling of Federal Court Judge Richard Mosley, who made it clear that the Conservative government used the Immigration Act to prevent Galloway from entering Canada because they disagreed with his political views -- not because he presented any threat to Canadians.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7aG51TSjYI

When Galloway arrives on Saturday evening, he will be greeted with a welcome rally between 5 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. at the arrivals gate at Pearson Airport. On Sunday, a city-wide public meeting will be held at Trinity-St. Pauls’s United Church in Toronto at 3 p.m. when Galloway will speak about the fight to overturn his ban and the struggle to end war and occupation in Palestine, Afghanistan and around the world. rabble.ca will be livestreaming his arrival and speech.

By these criteria, even though the application was ultimately dismissed, the ruling sides overwhelmingly with Galloway and his supporters. The government and its backers in the press may try to spin it as a defeat for Galloway, but they really have nothing to cheer about: the government's political interference has been exposed and condemned, the door is now open for Galloway to return to Canada this weekend, and the government's unfounded allegations against Galloway have been dismissed.

But the ruling also raises some very troubling questions.

The most alarming concern is the way in which the government continues to exploit Canada's so-called anti-terror legislation to stifle dissent. This is a long-standing criticism of Canada's post-9/11 restrictions on civil liberties. Legal experts have pointed to the vague and undefined language of anti-terror laws that allows for the broadest possible interpretations of "terrorism."

there are a few points i want to make
while prostitution IS legal in Canada some aspects are not legal (Like pimping is not legal)
another thing about about making prostitution illegal is like trying to make people stop drinking water it is the worlds oldest job, yet it is illegal almost everywhere in the US. In places that prostitution is legal it is safer, there are no pimps, everyone is tested for stds, and the prostitutes even pay taxes!

anyway thats my 2 cents, now heres the story

The court declared unconstitutional portions of the law banning brothels and soliciting for prostitution.

Three Toronto women launched the legal challenge in October 2009, arguing that prohibiting solicitation endangers prostitutes by forcing them to seek customers on street corners.

As Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires so too is it the graveyard of a hopelessly discredited NATO. So too is it the graveyard of defense ministers who are courtesans to the empire and who buy oversold war toys such as the F 35 that are totally inappropriate to our needs and hideously expensive in a time of economic austerity where economies are sagging and too many thousands are jobless.

Minister MacKay treats the Canadian electorate like local mushroom farmers treat their mushrooms; keep them in the dark and feed them bullshit. Nor is our national media doing Canadians any favors as the Globe and Mail publishes any number of inane reasons for the acquisition of this multi- billion dollar dinosaur that will be still-born seven years from now.

BPA can be found in a wide variety of consumer products, including hard plastic items such as baby bottles, food storage containers, the epoxy lining of canned foods, and dental sealants.

Despite decades of research, questions about BPA have lingered. The chemical has been under the microscope for possible links to diabetes, cancer, sexual dysfunction, obesity and heart disease, along with brain and development problems in babies and young children.

Back in July, vom Saal and University of Missouri colleague Julia Taylor partnered with the Environmental Working Group for a study that found high amounts of BPA in cash register receipts.

B’nai Brith has asked a Quebec newspaper to remove a political cartoon from its website that appears to have a Star of David drawn on the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa.

However, Canadian Jewish Congress CEO Bernie Farber rejected the idea that Badeaux’s cartoon is anti-Semitic.

“The cartoonist in question is a friend of the Jewish community,” Farber told Shalom Life. “He has, in fact, been part of a program that we sponsored a year or so ago called ‘Cartoons for Peace’ that had cartoonists involved in doing editorial cartoons showing the way for peace in the Middle East. He has spoken extensively at synagogues, [and is] very much a friend of the community.”

---oOo---

I love the addition of the yellow "slippery road" sign - how true!

In Journey to a Revolution, Michael Korda writes of the Hungarian Revolution:
"the general object of fascism was to stifle dissent, and bolster the existing establishment, while producing much drama in the way of rallies, parades, and propoganda, and the occasional foreign adventure to siphon off the energy of the lower middle class and the working class, who might otherwise have moved towards radical social reform."

The Olympics? The G8 and the G20? The Pan Am Games? Bread not circuses, anyone? In addition to ceaseless pageantry, Harper deliberately prorogued parliament a second time to enact a bill, more powerful than NAFTA to undercut our sovereignty, the Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). This far reaching bill will provide sub-national access to municipal services, and undermine the public sector even further, losing thousands of good, Canadian jobs to international outsourcing.

Put it together. Civil society is no longer is prioritized by our government, our country is being sold off to corporations and banks, enabled by a newly armed police state, and expanding prison system, and jobs in our public sector are about to be slashed for international corporations to profit through CETA. This is a Conservative agenda campaign, military in execution, orchestrated by Harper, against local economies and the right to self-determination. Provincially, McGuinty is designing his own policies through corporate gladhanding of governmental contracts

One whitefish has a golfball-sized tumour bulging from its side. Another is simply missing part of its spine, its tail growing from a stumpy rear end.

One has no snout. Another is coloured a lurid red instead of a healthy cream. Others are covered with lesions and still others are bent and crooked from deformed vertebrae.

All were taken from Lake Athabasca, downstream from the oilsands in northern Alberta, and were on display Thursday. All are reasons, say a group of scientists and aboriginals, for the federal government to conduct an independent study on what's happening to the Athabasca River and its watershed after decades of industry expansion.

--oOo---

Documents reveal federal researchers, whose work is financed by taxpayers, need approval from Ottawa before speaking with media.

The Harper government has tightened the muzzle on federal scientists, going so far as to control when and what they can say about floods at the end of the last ice age.

Natural Resources Canada (NRC) scientists were told this spring they need "pre-approval" from Minister Christian Paradis' office to speak with journalists. Their "media lines" also need ministerial approval, say documents obtained by Postmedia News through access-to-information legislation.

The documents say the "new" rules went into force in March and reveal how they apply to not only to contentious issues including the oilsands, but benign subjects such as floods that occurred 13,000 years ago.

Military police are investigating claims that British soldiers may have trafficked heroin from Afghanistan.

The Ministry of Defence said they were aware of "unsubstantiated" claims that troops were using military aircraft to ship the drug out of the country.

The inquiry is focusing on British and Canadian service personnel at airports in Camp Bastion and Kandahar.

By Stuart Littlewood –

Can the resistance exploit the fake talks, re-position itself and finally “come good”?

Hamas “vows to step up attacks on Israel”, say reports in the western media.

Reading further, we learn that this escalation is either “a natural response to the crimes of the occupation” or a spiteful reaction to being left out of the talks.

Either way, Hamas surely knows better than to let such crude impressions be formed.

This is their golden opportunity. The eyes and ears of the world are focused on the Israel problem, and will re-focus every two weeks.

He did it with seven words. “Ultimately the U.S. cannot impose a solution.”

The next question asks itself. Why won’t Obama be the president to call and hold the Zionist state to account for its crimes, even when doing so is necessary for the best protection of America’s own interests?

He was speaking at the White House the day before the start of the new round of direct talks between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, after he had met with them and Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan’s King Abdullah II. (In my last post I anticipated Obama saying at the point of his complete surrender that “America can’t want peace more than the parties.” He also said that – ahead of schedule!)

ED NOTE: NEVER thought I would seriously consider an op-ed piece in the NYT for My Catbird Seat, but here it is today:

A key quote:

"This drumbeat [to war with Iran] must be silenced, and only President Obama can silence it."

"An Israeli attack on Iran would almost certainly precipitate a devastating regional war with unforeseeable global consequences."

Not perfect, to be sure, but considering the source....

Stop the War Talk

By REZA ASLAN and BERNARD AVISHAI

The "other half" of Amb. Freeman's very recent public utterances.
The interviewer Malsin was very competent in asking the right questions

By Jared Malsin

New York – When it comes to the normally stultified American debate on Middle East issues, Charles Freeman, the former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, is one of the most outspoken US officials.

His pronouncements, by his own admission, break established taboos against criticism of Israel, against skepticism about the two-state solution, against supporting engagement with Hamas. And the central taboo, he argues, which underpins the others, prohibits discussion of the role of right wing organizations lobbying for Israel, such as AIPAC.

Another "FACT" Buster:

By Mehdi Hasan–

Our ex-prime minister is still the best Bliar in the business.

I’m knackered and sleepy, hungry from all the Ramadan fasting and — officially — on vacation. But I couldn’t go to bed without commenting on Tony Blair’s new book, A Journey, extracts of which have been published online here.

Much of the instant attention from the chattering classes in the Westminster village has been on the Gordon Brown (GB) chapter, and on Martin Kettle’s pre-publication interview with Tony Blair (TB) in the Guardian, in which the latter says he always believed GB would be a “disaster” as prime minister.

A $115-million class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of more than 1,100 people who were arrested or detained or whose business was vandalized during the G20 summit in June.

According to lawyer David Midanik, the 41-page brief to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice asks the court to declare that the constitutional and civil rights of 1,150 people, some of whom were arrested, were violated during the summit.

The suit names the police services boards of Toronto and Peel and the attorney general of Canada.

The class action has not been certified and none of the claims has been proven in court.

By Alan Hart — My Catbird Seat

I never thought a day could come when I would agree with anything stated by Moshe Arens (three times an Israeli minister of defense, a one-time foreign minister, a former ambassador to the U.S. and, in my opinion, Zionism’s in-Israel equivalent of Richard “Prince of Darkness” Perle in America). But the day came.

On 31 August, in article for Ha’aretz with the headline Blame game on the horizon. Arens wrote the following about the nakedness of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as he was making his final preparations for the start of direct negotiations in Washington DC.

Any serious effort to understand the extraordinary influence of the Zionist power configuration over US foreign policy must examine the presence of key operatives in strategic positions in the government andlocal Zionist organizations affiliated with mainstream Jewish organizations and religious orders.

There are at least 52 major American Jewish organizations actively engaged in promoting Israel’s foreign policy, economic and technological agenda in the US (see the appendix).

A YouTube video of Maidhc Ó Cathail’s article on the “radical Muslims” behind the South Park controversy shows just how easy it is to foster Islamophobia in America…

Like the contrived Danish cartoon controversy, the much-hyped Times Square car bomb incident provided an ideal opportunity for those who seek to make Islam look bad in the eyes of the world.

Before the arrest of Faisal “The Fizzler”...

Go here to view and read the the full article:

http://mycatbirdseat.com/2010/09/view-video-how-to-foster-islamophobia...

By Gus Bridi (Sabbah Report)

“There should be no mosque near Ground Zero in New York so long as there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia. The time for double standards that allow Islamists to behave aggressively toward us while they demand our weakness and submission is over.”- Newt Gingrich

Has Lebanon officially become more tolerant and progressive than the United States?

Let’s talk about Lebanon’s Ground Zero and you can decide for yourself.

One must first understand what “Ground Zero” means to most Lebanese.

Antiwar.com radio

Among nations considered to be friendly to Washington, Israel leads all others in its active espionage directed against American companies and the Defense Department. It also dominates two commercial sectors that enable it to extend its reach inside America’s domestic infrastructure: airline and telecommunications security. Israel is believed to have the ability to monitor nearly all phone records originating in the United States, while numerous Israeli air-travel security companies are known to act as the local Mossad stations.

By Alan Hart for My Catbird Seat

Short answer. Iran’s President Ahmadinejad did NOT call for Israeli Jews to be annihilated. Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader of Israel’s Shas party, HAS called, more than once, for the Palestinians (and, in fact, all Arabs) to be exterminated.

As reported by the mainstream Western media, Ahmadinejad called for Israel to be “wiped off the map”. What that meant, it was asserted, was the destruction, the driving into the sea, of Israel’s Jews.

Oil sands operations are polluting the Athabasca River system, researchers said on Monday, contradicting the Alberta government's assertions that toxins in the watershed are naturally occurring.

In a study likely to add more fuel to the environmental battle over oil sands development, researchers said mercury, arsenic, lead and cadmium are among the toxins being released into the Athabasca, which flows north through the region's major oil sands operations.

The environmental impact of developing the oil sands, the biggest reserves of crude outside the Middle East, has been a topic of snowballing controversy in Canada and around the world. The Alberta government has devoted millions of dollars to defend the multibillion-dollar industry.

---oOo---

This superlative op-ed, which I read at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/opinion/29abunimah.html, provides ample evidence to justify my great respect for Ali Abunimah. He’s fearless, uncompromising, articulate, knowledgeable in both historical and current facts, and right: right for our America, right for Palestine, and, yes, right even for Israel, if only it were capable of regaining its sanity and applying norms of morality, law and justice commonly accepted by the community of man. If right were to take hold and to prevail in our country, Ali Abunimah would be on the evening news as an analyst/commentator every night, every channel.

Thanks to the New York Times for (unexpectedly, to be sure) offering space to him.

– Robert H. Stiver
Pearl City, Hawaii

By Mike Whitney ( Information Clearing House)

– Robert Herz was forced to resign from his job as chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) because he insisted that the banks assign a fair value to their assets. That’s not what you’ll read in the papers, but it’s true just the same. Herz was a major proponent of mark-to-market accounting, a simple means of determining the value of a bond or security by comparing the price of similar assets sold at market. In other words, Herz is a defender of universally-accepted accounting principles, which is why he was terminated, er, I mean, resigned. According to the Wall Street Journal:

By Gordon Duff

IS THE SILENCE OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE COMPLICITY IN WAR CRIMES?

I am not against war. I am a combat veteran. I sit on my tail, watch TV, go to restaurants and have fond delusional memories about Vietnam. In my bedroom closet, I have a trash bag. It is never opened, it has been there for years. It has, along with other “military mementos,” a small green “government issued” address book. Marines, long ago, scrawled their names in it. Half of them never came back from Vietnam, never had children, grandchildren, got to finish college or even high school. Many, maybe most, had never had sex, owned a car or traveled more than 50 miles from home.

MyCatbirdSeat –

Remarkable in its sense of human sensibilities and awareness. This poem reaches beyond the understanding of most westerners, who have been fed on the poison of the White Man’s burden, but it will, someday, when it is all over, be treasured as an everlasting gem of light, a spark in the period of the darkest darkness.

William Blake, another poet of Universal humanitarian dimensions was once imprisoned for his poetry in the narrow cell of his own culture.

–MCS

Watch the video here:

http://mycatbirdseat.com/2010/08/the-capture-of-saddam-hussein-by-rich...

By Alan Hart (My Catbird Seat)

I have written and often say that very many if not most Jews do not want to know the truth of history as it relates to the making and sustaining of the conflict in and over Palestine that became Israel. (An essential element of the truth being that Israel was created, mainly, by Zionist terrorism and ethnic cleansing).

Read the full article and more here:

http://mycatbirdseat.com/2010/08/do-most-israelis-and-many-other-jews-...

By Stephen J. Sniegoski (My Catbird Seat)

The mainstream media acclaim Neoconservatism: The Biography of a Movement as the best book on neoconservatism—the definitive account—and portray its author, Justin Vaïsse, a French specialist on American foreign policy and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, as a veritable Alexis de Tocqueville for his masterly insights.

The mainstream’s high praise of this book, however, would seem to be due in large part to its minimization of two taboo issues—neoconservatism’s Jewish nature and its focus on Israel. Where the book breaks through what was heretofore largely blacked-out in the mainstream media is its discussion of the major role played by the neoconservatives in bringing about the war on Iraq.

READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE:

By Stephen J. Sniegoski

The mainstream media acclaim Neoconservatism: The Biography of a Movement as the best book on neoconservatism—the definitive account—and portray its author, Justin Vaïsse, a French specialist on American foreign policy and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, as a veritable Alexis de Tocqueville for his masterly insights. The mainstream’s high praise of this book, however, would seem to be due in large part to its minimization of two taboo issues—neoconservatism’s Jewish nature and its focus on Israel. Where the book breaks through what was heretofore largely blacked-out in the mainstream media is its discussion of the major role played by the neoconservatives in bringing about the war on Iraq.

Israeli intelligence steps up its activity in the U.S. — and gets away with it.

It is not a topic or study of behaviour you will ever find in a Masters and Johnson report. But it's there. Evolved from isolated cases of discontent into a mass phenomena.

The G20 Spot.
Courtesy of Mr. McGuinty.

Unfortunately it doesn't equate with pleasure (even though I did fancy a ciggy for the first time in years, after the fact) - the spot in question arouses disgust, disappointment, a bit of fear for the future, but mainly anger.

FOR OUR FRIENDS WHO STILL DON’T GET IT

How can a nation like the United States be duped into two wars and total bankruptcy? It would be one thing if the “truth” about 9/11 was internet conspiracy theory. This isn’t the case. It was all right there in everyone’s living room. They fooled us once and then fooled us again and again. Yes, America has some tail to kick but this time, maybe we should make sure our boot goes up the right rear end for a change.

Greta Berlin for Free Gaza Team:

Excerpts:

Two years ago today, 44 people from 17 countries were on the Mediterranian heading toward Gaza. We were in two dilapidated fishing boats, the seas were rough, most of us were seasick, and all of us were worried that Israeli military warships would prevent us from getting into the illegally blockaded port of Gaza.

We successfully went in four more times, taking in another 100+ witnesses, European members of Parliament, charity workers from the Gulf, doctors, activists who stayed to work in Gaza, and Palestinians who just wanted to go home and visit. We brought out 38 Palestinians, including students who had visas to attend universities, yet Israel would not allow them to leave.

Read the Full Story here:

Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate (www.peacepeople.com)

Dear BBC Panorama Team

I write to you regarding your programme of 16th August, 2010, about The Freedom Flotilla and particularly the killings of unarmed civilians by Israeli Navy Seals on the ship MV “Mavi Marmara’, on 3lst May, 2010.

I have been campaigning for the rights of Palestinians for over ten years. I have visited Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories many times. I was part of the Freedom Flotilla in May on the MV ‘Rachel Corrie’, my third journey on a Free Gaza boat. I am deeply disappointed at the misrepresentation, lack of truth, and bias displayed by your programme.

By Medea Benjamin (opednews.com)
With the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq, the administration, the military and the media are trying to put a positive spin on this grim chapter of U.S. history. It would certainly give some comfort to the grieving families of the over 4,400 soldiers killed in Iraq if their sacrifices had left Iraq a better place or made America safer. But the bitter truth is that the U.S. intervention has been an utter disaster for both Iraq and the United States.

“Antiwar.com” — Jeffrey Goldberg’s current cover story in The Atlantic, “The Point of No Return,” achieved massive distribution across a broad spectrum of old and new media in the United States. Some observers – including Glenn Greenwald in “How Propagandists Function” – noted how well the methodology and message of Goldberg’s piece serves the Israeli government’s efforts to push U.S. military action against Iran. Gareth Porter views it as part of an overarching strategy to keep the U.S. from restoring productive relations with Iran. A huge trove of newly declassified documents subpoenaed during a Senate investigation reveals how Israel’s lobby pitched, promoted, and paid to have content placed in America’s top news magazines with overseas funding.

WHISTLEBLOWER OR “KAPO QUEEN,” AMERICAN CENSORSHIP IN HIGH GEAR

“I am in favor of the Zionist state. I would gladly kill Arabs, even slaughter them. I can’t allow Arab lovers to ruin the perfect life I lead.”….Eden Abergil

A rather bizarre looking series of slide shows on the UK mainstream media website Telegraph.co.uk under the name "Blackjack" appears to depict a mini-nuke attack on London, England followed by similar attacks on NYC , Washington DC, Toronto, LA, Portland Oregon, and Mexico City. It starts of with MI5 getting a warning that "a coalition of home-grown extremists, Islamists, and Christian doomsday cultists may have acquired the means to carry out a mass-casualty attack..."

There is very little text to explain what is going on, just the depictions of the cities undergoing what appears to be mini-nuke attacks and then the pics also appears to depict the formation of a new state comprising England and North America after these attacks.

Rather bizarre looking for a mainstream media type web site. Looks like someone is pulling a psy-op.

On Edit, ok it looks like this is old news from 2009 and has been discussed in prisonplanet.com articles, but this was the first time I saw it and it just struck my as very psy-op like.

You can see it at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/4220575/Bla...

Russia Today interviews Grant F. Smith, Director of Institute for Research on Middle Eastern Policy Files declassified in America have revealed covert public relations and lobbying activities of Israel in the U.S. The National Archive made the documents public following a Senate investigation. They suggest Israel has been trying to shape media coverage of issues...

FOR MORE CONTINUE HERE:

http://mycatbirdseat.com/2010/08/declassified-massive-israeli-manipula...

NY Times “German 9/11 mosque” article plagued by false statements, Islamophobia

Not everybody “got” the ambivalent humor of my Build a Mega-Mosque on Ground Zero proposal. So I’m returning to straightfaced seriousness — all outrage and no wit. Below is today’s letter to the New York Times ombudsman.
-KB

CONTINUE READING HERE:

http://mycatbirdseat.com/2010/08/the-kevin-barrett-show-2/

(San Francisco) – Russia is burning down this summer. The smoke is engulfing Moscow and the European Union. Embassies are emptying.

What’s the deal?

Thousands of forest fires are burning all over Russia. More importantly, the nuclear weapons factories and reactors around Mayak and the former Soviet Union’s Uranium Project are going up in smoke. The smoke is toxic and radioactive in every possible sense of the words.

By Stuart Littlewood

Littlewood calls on Hamas – indeed, on all Palestinians – to hone their long-neglected public relations strategy, arguing that “whoever rules in Palestine will never win any battles with Israel or the US without a proper media set-up and an effective communications strategy”.

In the five years since I became interested in the Palestinians, only two things of positive note have happened in the occupied territories.

The Palestinians held full and fair elections in 2006 to establish themselves as a democracy – and much good it did them.

By Tim King of Salem-News.Com
If Iran is attacked, a large percentage of Americans will have nothing to do with it.

Artwork by the amazing Carlos Latuff & Jame-Jam. Carlos is a friend of Salem-News.com located in Rio de Janeiro. To see more of his work, visit: Latuff Gallery

(SALEM, Ore.) – Want to see the end of the world as we know it? If you do, you are in luck, because your chance to see the future of your kids and grandkids go up in smoke is nearing, and if the republicans and Israelis’ have anything to say about it, the grand final act will be here before you know it.

Kourosh Ziabari (Salem-News.Com)

The three countries stressed the importance of Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and underlined the inalienable right of the NPT member states to use the nuclear power for peaceful purposes.

(TEHRAN) - The Trilateral Summit of the presidents of three Persian-speaking countries of Iran, Tajikistan and Afghanistan wrapped up on 5 August in Tehran and recorded another unforgettable event in the memory of the three brother nations.

Human rights lawyer Francis Boyle has pointed out, the war in Afghanistan, as the one in Iraq, is illegal under international law. “Congress never declared war. The UN Security Council never authorized it under Article 51. And the Taliban never attacked the United States or authorized or approved such an attack.”FBI Director Robert Mueller, and CIA Deputy Director John McLaughlin admitted finding no link between the Taliban and 9/11.”

Wake Up America!

Some might recall the enemies list that President Richard Nixon kept in his desk. The list was appended to a memo that asked “how we can use the available federal machinery to screw our political enemies?” Named were a number of journalists who had criticized Nixon’s administration as well as celebrities like actors Gregory Peck and Paul Newman and athletes like Joe Namath. Nixon was clearly on to something because in today’s America we have a new enemies list, one that is updated annually to make sure that nary a single malefactor is overlooked. It is the US State Department’s Country Reports on Terrorism, which was unveiled last week in its 2009 version at a briefing conducted by Ambassador Daniel Benjamin , Foggy Bottom’s Coordinator for Counterterrorism.

I was at the jail solidarity rally on Sunday June 27th, outside of the detention centre in support of my friends who had been surrounded and arrested in Queen's Park, the designated protest zone, the day before. Sunday's protest followed the route decided upon by the police, and was proceeding peacefully. A line of riot police formed between us and the detention centre. Without warning, two unmarked minivans screeched to a stop behind the police line. A number of plainclothes men stormed through the line and into the crowd, violently pushing two people into the ground. The people were dragged along the pavement and aggressively thrown into the vans and the vans took off. To all who were there, this appeared to be a strategically orchestrated kidnapping. The small woman who was snatched later became my cellmate. She told me of being choked and sat on by two large men to the verge of unconsciousness. A third man pulled her hair and all three verbally abused her, referring to her as "cunt," "bitch," "whore" and "street trash" on the way to the detention centre. All three refused to identify themselves.

Marin Katusa, Chief Energy Strategist
Casey Research

The Gulf of Mexico disaster has changed U.S. priorities, costs, and energy supply sources for years to come. But the fact that the U.S. needs energy isn’t changing anytime soon, and as mass sources of green energy are still a while away, the most likely alternative might be the most surprising one.

With US$15 billion invested annually in offshore drilling in the United States, the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico means that this money is getting ready to migrate elsewhere. And it is the Athabasca oil sands of Alberta, Canada, that are number one on the list.

And I want to reiterate my sincere belief that the rights which we do have came about from long social struggles, of which gathering and protesting was an important part. The right to assemble isn’t about the right to get together for picnics or parties (though I like those as much as the next person), it’s about the right to assemble exactly when the government or another authority doesn’t want you to. And a moment when the police say “don’t come downtown, you might get caught in a mass arrest.” Is the exact moment when I think it’s important to assert my right to assemble. The crucial moments to assert your rights are always when they are threatened.

To conclude this section on repression, let me just ask one more time for you to review the accounts of events I’ve written about - combined with the other stories that you have heard or heard about - and judge them against the normal narrative of how this stuff happens: that a protest turned violent and the police responded in order to stop the violence. Then try to think about it in the light of the government and the police trying to discourage protest and demobilize people. Which one makes more sense?

So the officer proceeded to tell me "he needed to know what my problem was, as he knew the person using the equipment, that they were a nice person, would never try to offend anyone and emphatically stated he knew the individual was a Christian... and also that the operator was fearful of a confrontation. Lastly, he he said he showed up to keep the peace"

The situation went downhill fast.

His statement coupled with his earnest and pointed emphasis caused me to burst out laughing. And for some reason he took great offense first to that and then even more to my reply...which in retrospect my not have been one of my better options...

"there are an awful lot of alter boys that could attest being Christian is not a guarantee of an individuals good character. But if HE is indeed a GOOD Christian, then why is he working on a Sunday, breaking one of the ten commandments, knowingly contravening the disrupting the peace bylaw and breaking a littering by-law, simultaneously? Not very thoughtful or righteous, is it?" He was not very amused.

War is highly corrosive to democratic values hollowing a nation’s wealth, its institutions, and its legislatures. Leaders who are supposed to lead are diminished to pathetic sycophants, pandering to the grand subterfuge. Where the instigators of this war, most prominently the USA, measure losses in terms of lives lost and money spent we are far from recognizing the damage done on the home front, not physical damage to cities and populations but the damage done to our democratic institutions, to the trust and the credibility of government, to the social contract with citizens. This despicable war has proven us to be our own worst enemy inflicting far greater damage on ourselves than any coterie of terrorists could do in ten life times.

Harper’s Ottawa is a blighted political landscape where not so honorable members loiter in the halls of power lacking courage and conviction, oblivious to their misdeeds.

A Defence Department spokesperson confirms computers at the department's research agency were used to alter a Wikipedia page entry about the Joint Strike Fighter jet and the Conservative government's decision to spend as much as $18 billion on the aircraft.

Those edits included the removal of information critical of the government's plan to buy the jets and the addition of insulting comments aimed at Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff.

If it wasn't bad enough that the Toronto police lied to the public about a new 'security law' - passed down by the Government of Ontario - giving them new policing powers during the G20 Summit only to have to later admit that no such law ever existed.

Now, Toronto police are backtracking on another statement they made claiming that rubber bullets were not fired into the crowd outside the Eastern Avenue Detention Centre on Sunday June 27, 2010.