Friday Blogwhoring
by matttbastard
Have been out of the loop, so this is largely a catch-up edition. Anyone who has any recommendations (whether of their own work or someone elses) feel free to join in the orgy via comments. As always, much love (and respect) to all.
(edit: I still heart–and respect–teh Shakes)
Vox ex Machina: Feminist blogosphere: Love it or leave it (h/t Kevin)
Women of Color Blog: teaching full frontal feminism
Black Amazon: I really tried.
Problem Chylde: A Quick Note
misscripchick: BA and BFP always get me going
Three-Toed Sloth: Last Words on Saletan (h/t Crooked Timber)
Prometheus 6: And by the way, Saletan never actually admitted to being a dick
Shark-fu @ Shakespeare’s Sister: Black and Missing
AngryBlackBitch: A worthy discussion that we need to stop dancing around Part I… and A worthy discussion that we need to stop dancing around Part II…
Birth Pangs: Not only do Sens suck, their ‘Better Halves’ support fetish fetishists and Sens still suck, but their fans are pretty nice
Politics ‘n’ Poetry: Canada Aglow for Dubya’s GNEP
April Reign: Our Glorious Dead
Hope and Onions: Postcards from the Toronto Vigil in memory of Robert Dziekanski
A Creative Revolution: You have to pay for your own expertise…Real or fake.
The Galloping Beaver: Nah! No conflict of interest there.
Zuky: Roundup — Fascism, Racism, Resistance (So much bloggy nourishment to digest over the weekend–thanks, Kai!)
unrepentant old hippie: More slogan co-opting
PoliTits: Stop Me Before I Blog Again (DCup, you get a big ol’ smooshy hug for posting a most awesome Weakerthans vid. Shall reciprocate in a li’l bit *smooshes*)
More On The NDP And Bill C-6
by matttbastard
[cobbled together from various comments/forum posts, edited substantially for coherency]
Ok, so we’ve heard from the NDP (sort of). And if the NDP kills the bill, great.
But upon reflection (thanks, skdadl) I think my last post was itself too mealy-mouthed in reaction to what amounts to awkward damage control by the Dippers. The NDP dropped the ball and still hasn’t picked it up–period. Some may be comforted by Dewar’s non-response, but, rather than clarifying the Dipper position on C-6, I find it further muddies the water.
Dewar’s letter, and the response from some hardcore NDP partisans, rubs me the wrong way. “Muslims see this as a non-issue” was initially the preferred talking point of some Dipper apologists (we’ll leave aside the crass notion of Muslims in Canada holding monolithic views). But this is a misrepresentation of what has been said by some (some) leaders in the Islamic community who have spoken out in regards to the (non) issue. Here’s an example courtesy the Halifax Daily News:
The veiled voting controversy is a tempest in search of a teapot, says Saleem Ahmad, president of the Islamic Association of Nova Scotia. Framed in the context of “reasonable accommodation,” a national firestorm has been raging over the issue of whether Muslim women can vote while covering their faces with veils.
“It’s just the hypocrisy of the government,” Ahmad says.
“There was no controversy. The Muslim community never complained. The women would gladly take off their veil for a woman official.”
He points out that no one is required to show photo ID to vote, and postal voting does not require photo ID. Further, he estimates that 300 women in all of Canada wear the veil.
Hamzah Mangera, the imam at the Dartmouth mosque, agrees it is a non-issue. His wife, who wears a veil, happily removes it in private for female officials when using her passport to cross borders.
Mangera says the row points to a deeper issue of fears over cultural integration, as illustrated by the “code of conduct” produced by Herouxvile, Que., which informed newcomers that stoning women was prohibited and that women should show their faces in public, apart from Halloween.
Ahmad blames an outburst of xenophobia against Muslims, led by “that idiot down south” (U.S. President George W. Bush) and a lack of nerve among Canadian politicians to say it is not an issue, “rather than courting an easy vote.”
What has stirred up the tempest is Bill C-6, not the outcry against it. Face saving or not, the fact that some members of a purported social democratic party feel there’s even room for discussion is highly disturbing. The last thing we need is New Labour North.
Sinister Greg asked some pertinent questions yesterday that still deserve an answer:
Was Godin freelancing or did he have reason to think the party was behind him? Why did they sit on this for over 24 hours? Where is Jack Layton? Usually he can’t run to the microphones fast enough, why is he silent now? Why does Dewar say the party has not taken a final position on Bill C-6? Why not? Do they think they can somehow spin shit into gold? I think it is a bit rich too, for Dewar to say this bill was introduced for political reasons, when the NDP, the Liberals and the Bloc egged the government on with their craven attacks on Mr. Maynard. Trying to slam the barn door now is just a laughable attempt at damage control.
pogge has some questions of his own:
There was no ambiguity at all in the Globe and Mail‘s headline: NDP supports show-your-face bill. And the story supported the headline. And there is, as of this writing, no correction attached to that story.
So what gives? Did Yvon Godin miscommunicate? Did someone else? Did the Globe reporter screw up?
Bill C-6 doesn’t exist in a vacuum. On its own, it may be a ‘non-issue’, but it takes on an entirely different meaning when taken in context with today’s increasingly xenophobic political culture where Muslims have been singled out for attention (especially in Quebec). As any person of colour can tell you (*waves*), it’s easy to shrug off blatant attempts at othering when one is privileged to be a member of the majority culture.
Now, to be fair, though ideologically I’m a social democrat and have only ever voted NDP (both federally and provincially), I hold no love for Jack Layton. I do try to restrain myself from reflexively ‘piling on’ out of spite when it appears he’s giving the Stephen Harper Party a pass (even though admittedly the temptation is ever present). But this issue in particular should transcend partisan loyalty (or lack thereof).
Should.
Over the past several years our neighbours next door have provided an all-too-visceral example of what happens when unapologetic nativism is allowed to be mainstreamed. I for one refuse to remain silent as this country continues its incremental-but-increasingly-apparent shift to the capital ‘R’ Right; the potential consequences threaten everything that makes (post ’67) Canada Canada. And when the party that best represents my ideals helps contribute to fascism’s creep (whether deliberately or unintentionally) I feel obligated to speak out, goddamn the optics–especially when those purportedly on ‘my side’ have reflexively defended the indefensible with privileged apologia like this.
To quote the ever-quotable skdadl:
The issue here isn’t ID by face. The issue is a neocon assault on voters’ rights, spun for the neocon base on sexist, racist, and paranoid-political grounds, and if Canadian leftists haven’t wised up enough yet to recognize this kind of Rovian shit and call it for what it is, then we are in trouble … srsly.”
Bottom line: why won’t the NDP take a definite position against legislation that is both (admittedly) unnecessary and (IMO) deliberately inflammatory?
Layton Sees Daylight?
by matttbastard
Via pogge, Dawg finally heard back from his MP, Paul Dewar. According to Dewar, the NDP hasn’t taken a final decision position on Bill C-6, the so-called ‘show-your-face bill’. Props to Dewar for allowing Dawg to get out the information prior to publication in the Globe; I will happily issue a ‘mea culpa’ and extract Smilin’ Jack’s shiny pate from his (purportedly) pert and tight posterior (assuming, as Dawg says, “a thorough, proper evisceration of C-6 at committee or an NDP “No” vote” occurs).
Whether it was the Globe that jumped the gun with yesterday’s incindiary article (complete with leaves-no-room-for-doubt headline: NDP supports show-your-face bill) or Yvon Godin, the NDP MP who (apparently) told Conservative House Leader Peter Van Loan that the Dippers were going to support Bill C-6, is unknown at this time. Still, one would hope that the NDP’s communication apparatus was more expediant in countering apparently erroneous information–especially in this bloggy age where a story can grow legs and start running within minutes. One also hopes that the message actually has been received loud and clear by the Dipper leadership: this bill (as proposed) stinks and should not be allowed to pass.
Now to wait for the Globe to issue a correction…
Update: Just to further clarify: this retraction is entirely conditional on the NDP killing C-6–full stop. Dewar’s letter to the editor still leaves room for C-6 to pass in a different form. That’s not acceptable, no matter how many (at this point hypothetical) Muslims shrug their shoulders.
More later…
PSA: Sign The Petition
by matttbastard
Via ACR:
Pass it on. If there’s enough signatures, we can mail the petition to the media of the other Commonwealth countries, and the Canadian media as well.
To all the people in the Commonwealth,
RE: The Commonwealth leaders meeting in Uganda, November 2007.
We the undersigned, apologize profusely for the utter stupidity and arrogance of the Minority Conservative Government of Canada.
We apologize for Stephen Harper’s uneducated, stubborn, small minded and heavily subsidized denial of the climate crisis.
36% of the Canadian population voted for the Harper Conservatives, but the rest of us are well aware that Mr. Harper’s actions are very destructive to humanity, and only help out the world’s large corporate polluters such as big oil, etc.
We the undersigned promise to do everything in our power to elect a better more responsible government in the future, for all our sakes.
In the meanwhile, please know that we are as horrified and disgusted as many of our fellow citizens in the Commonwealth, and we hope that you don’t completely lose faith in us.I can make a PDF version to take out in meatspace, (stores, meetings, schools etc.) Let me know if you are interested.
pale (dot) cold (at) gmail (dot) com
“The best gift you can give your child is another sibling”
by sassywho
Pat Adair, director of the anti-abortion group Women Influencing the Nation, said she’s been “very impatient” to see Kline file the charges [against Planned Parenthood].
“Let them have their day in court,” she said.
“If they haven’t done anything wrong, then they have nothing to be afraid of.”
Name sound vaguely familiar? That’s because Johnson County DA Phill Kline is her (absentee) tenant:
Adair and his wife Pat own the storage facility in Stilwell and said Phill Kline paid $400 a month to rent an upstairs apartment from them.They are also both clearly Phill Kline supporters.
“He’s one of the greatest heroes we know,” said Earnest Adair.
The Adairs say Kline lives in one of three apartments they have on site.
Pat Adair says Kline works most of the time but does in fact sleep at the Stilwell address.
“Yes, he sleeps here. Yes, absolutely sleeps here,” she said.
Surely Pat would expect her county’s District Attorney (and her lease holder) to comply with the law, since in the past she has demonstrated her very high expectations regarding how tax-payers’ dollars are spent:
For Immediate Release Women Influencing the Nation
November 7, 2007 Pat Adair, Kansas State Director
Media contact: 913-484-7749Olathe, KS-”Women Influencing the Nation applauds Kansas Senator Sam Brownback for standing with 12 other U.S Senators in a call for Federal Funding suspension for Abortion until it is determined if Planned Parenthood is complying with state laws. While many folks can vary in their opinions on abortion,” said Pat Adair, Kansas State Director for Women Influencing the Nation, ” we all can agree that everyone should be bound to obey the same laws. Therefore, it is very significant when 13 United States Senators step forward and do something like this as a direct result of a District Attorney’s 107 criminal charges after probable cause has been determined by a judge. It shows that these Senators not only see the merits of this case but also believe that no person or organization is above the law. Furthermore, it shows the taxpayers that these Senators understand that we do not want one dime of our taxes to go to an organization that could be breaking the law “.This show of support from this many U.S. Senators (2 from Kansas and many from across other states) is another indication of the strength and momentum behind Kline’s criminal charges.
Strong words coming from a woman renting a crummy $400 apartment. Been a while since I lived in good ole JOCO but $400 hardly seems market rate, even for a shithole in Stillwell. Way to go Kline, I’m sure there are a lot of struggling families in the area that would appreciate such a deal for a place.
In fact, I’d bet that you would have to be a super-special guy willing to go the extra mile to swing that kind of deal. Maybe, oh I don’t know, file charges against Planned Parenthood? Nope, already did that. Wait! Wait! You could do it again? Nah, that’ll never work.
Everything Kline does is smarmy. Shame he hopped on the (D)A-train. He could have made a killing defending drug companies.
But I digress.
One final note: even though the aforementioned tagline was giggle-worthy, it was the WIN manifesto that provoked outright fits of laughter:
Yet we truly believe that ‘the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world’. Women Influencing the Nation sees the devastation that the radical feminist movement has brought down upon the family in the last 40 years and it is our challenge to uncover the lies, reverse the damage, and reclaim the respect for women that has been lost in America today. We hope to once again instill a love for children and to re-ignite a desire in young women, especially, to have large famlies [sic] again. Truly, we must spread the word that “the greatest gift you can give your child is another sibling”. We are losing this concept today. In America we have subconsciously adopted the China mentality. Sadly, most young people believe they should only have one or two children. One way to un-do this attitude is to expose the misconceptions out there of who Planned Parenthood really is and to show the extensive damage they have done to women over the years. Our challege is to create a positive love of all children again. God does not create any mistakes. Women Influencing the Nation believes in the right to Life from natural conception to natural death, and that God has supreme rights over all of us.
This is probably the most honest site I’ve seen with regards to the “pro-life” agenda. It’s refreshing in a sense: no pretense of “women have the right to control their fertility, blah blah blah,” all that stuff that you know, uh, feminists and Planned Parenthood believe in. No, according to Adair and Co., women are Holy baby factories, divinely employed to produce at the mercy of management their husbands.
Better pray for impotence or infertility; otherwise you’ll be spending a good part of your life manufacturing boxes.
Layton Gets Up-Close And Personal With His Colon
by matttbastard
Way to play wingman while Uncle Steve flirts with nativism, Jack.
h/t pogge and Sinister Greg.
Update: Found the following delightful dispatch at a private forum; apparently it’s making the rounds as an email forward. Who knew Bryan Adam’s manager was a racist sack of shit – and that his unrepentant bigotry would strike a chord with ‘real’ citizens:
WE ARE CANADIANS
Bruce Allan [sic] is on the 2010 Olympic Committee and new Canadians (specifically Hindi’s / Indian’s) want him fired for his recent comments outlined below;
Our National Anthem: I am sorry, but after hearing they want to sing the National Anthem in Hindi – enough is enough. Nowhere or at no other time in our nation’s history, did they sing it in Italian, Japanese, Polish, Irish (Celtic), German, Portuguese, Greek, or any other language because of immigration.
It was written in English, adapted into co-founding French, and should be sung word for word the way it was written. The news broadcasts even gave the Hindi version translation which was not even close to our National Anthem. I am not sorry if this offends anyone, this is MY COUNTRY – IF IT IS YOUR COUNTRY SPEAK UP —- please pass this along.I am not against immigration – just come through like everyone else. Get a sponsor; have a place to lay your head; have a job; pay your taxes, live by the rules AND LEARN THE LANGUAGE as all other immigrants have in the past and LONG LIVE CANADA!”
It’s time we all get behind Bruce Allen, and scrap this Political Correctness crap. His comments were anything but racist, but there are far too many overly sensitive ‘New Canadians’ that are trying to change everything we hold dear. ARE WE PART OF THE PROBLEM! Think about this: If you don’t want to forward this for fear of offending someone,will we still be the Country of Choice and still be CANADA if we continue to make the changes forced on us by the people from other countries who have come to live in CANADA because it is the Country of Choice? Think about it.
IMMIGRANTS, NOT CANADIAN’S, MUST ADAPT. It is Time for CANADA to speak up. If you agree – pass this along.
Is that the sort of dangerously exclusive sentiment our political elite wish to further cultivate in Canada by legitimizing othering and outright xenophobia? Because misguided sops to the lowest common denominator like the so-called ‘show-your-face’ bill only encourages the dubious celebration of cultural homogeneity. Like Greg says, “[i]f they think these kinds of actions will not have consequences for the health of our society, they are wrong.”
Update 2: Dr Dawg has an ultimatum for the NDP: vote this bill down or forever lose his support. Count me in–even though I haven’t been a member since 2003, I’ve never voted for any other party other than the Dippers. But I can’t in good conscience continue to support them if they allow this bill to pass.
Mandatory Minimum Madness
by matttbastard
More from Prole on the latest bit of bright and shiny base-fluffing idiocy from ‘the North Star’ (h/t Frank).
CBC Gets Too Friendly With Rusty And Jerome
by matttbastard
It seems that in this era of Viagra and retirement home STD crises, you really gotta keep your eyes on a pair of jazz-loving, septuagenarian hand puppets:
The children of the late Bob Homme – the Friendly Giant, whose children’s program appeared on the network from 1958 to 1985 – have reclaimed the iconic puppets from CBC’s Toronto headquarters after they were used last month in a comedy routine on the 2007 Gemini Awards without the family’s permission.
In a brief clip that aired Oct. 28, Rusty the Rooster and Jerome the Giraffe are portrayed by a narrator as smoking, drinking and having sex while living in retirement.
I’d heard the rumours of wild parties at Fred Penner’s place, but was unaware the situation was so grave as to warrant an intervention.
“I think of you all day long, so try to get some sleep.”
by matttbastard
“Nostalgia is the symptom of a dying culture.”
CBSA Dziekanski Report: Jolicoeur “very, very sorry.”
by matttbastard
The CBSA report on the death of Robert Dziekanski is out, and–surprise surprise–the border service agency ain’t admittin’ nuthin’:
Alain Jolicoeur, the agency’s president, said on Monday that “we do not have all the answers” as to how Dziekanski could spend at least six hours loitering in the baggage area of the international arrivals terminal, waiting for his mother while she tried to get information about him from the public area of the airport.
But Jolicoeur said he will try to fix what went wrong.
“I’m very, very sorry and I really wish that we had found out about Mr. Dziekanski before.”
Yet Jolicoeur said in an area the size of two football fields, with upwards of 4,000 passengers circulating the night Dziekanski died, the officers on duty did what they were supposed to do.
“There is no action that in my view requires discipline,” he said.
Two adverbs! I’m sure that’s comforting to Mr Dziekanski’s family. Very, very cold comfort. JJ is dead on goddamn right in her bitter summation of this inaugural white wash: “The CBSA’s condolences: “We’re sorry, but we ain’t that sorry.”"
Expect more of the same as the results from still-ongoing (internal) investigations continue to come in: hollow (non)apologies compounded by an all-too-apparent lack of accountability. “Responsibility” is apparently an alien concept to those who would (boldly erroneously) claim to represent our best interests. Therefore, we must continue to demand answers and accept nothing less than justice.
For Robert.
Paradox and Hypocrisy
by matttbastard
Fatemeh Fakhraie examines the reaction garnered by the story of a female Saudi gang rape victim who was recently sentenced to 200 lashes and six months in prison as punishment for speaking to Saudi media outlets about the crime perpetrated against her. Fakhraie laments the subsequent no win situation Muslim women often find themselves in when situations like the Saudi incident arise, forced to choose whether to defend themselves “against Islamophobia, against racism, or against misogyny”:
This “triple threat” is one we often face as Muslim women (especially if we are also women of color). We always seem to be battling against one (or more) of these three issues: racism (for Muslim women who are also non-white), Islamophobia, or misogyny (not just from our own Muslim communities, but also from non-Muslim communities who think they know what’s best for us).
Being on the defensive all the time creates reactionary behavior. We always feel like we have to keep our guards up to defend our faith and our choices, and it gets tiring. Most Muslims don’t necessarily mind explaining stuff (that is, if you’re genuinely interested in understanding instead of starting an argument), but we can’t all be Encyclopedia Islamicas all the time.
Some of this “damage control” keeps us from having dialogues within our communities. Muslim women face a lot of problems within our communities as well as outside, but we’re afraid to talk about it because it can potentially be used against us. People in our own communities this power: for example, feminists in Iran are accused of being too “Westernized” by compatriots who have no interest in changing the status quo for women. Many women who seek their fair share are given this load of crap in order to guilt them into shutting up, because Westernization is equated with undesirable qualities in the Muslim world. Or, if we try to speak out to a non-Muslim audience, we are accused of “betraying” Islam or our communities by airing out our “dirty laundry.”
And this is a legitimate fear. We don’t want to reinforce negative ideas about Islam, Muslim men and women, or Muslims of any race. But if our own communities won’t listen to us or engage in a dialogue to raise awareness and potentially enact change (phew, a lot of buzzwords in there!), what else are we supposed to do?
Related: Laila Lalami reviews The Politics of the Veil by historian Joan Wallach Scott, which “examines the particular French obsession with the foulard [headscarf], which culminated in March 2004 with the adoption of a law that made it illegal for students to display any “conspicuous signs” of religious affiliation.” As Lalami notes, “both Islamic Sharia and strict French laïcité produced gender systems that essentially deprived women of the right to dispose of their bodies as they wished”:
[I[n Islamic tradition, women are urged to be modest and to steer clear of tabarruj. This Arabic noun has its roots in the verb baraja, which means “to display” or “to show off,” and the noun can be translated as something like “affectation.” In A Season in Mecca, his narrative book about the pilgrimage, Moroccan anthropologist Abdellah Hammoudi uses the term “ostentation” to translate tabarruj, “the invariable term for a bearing that is deemed immodest or conspicuous, a hieratic stance.” Similarly, the French law born out of strict definitions of laïcité warned schoolgirls about displaying “conspicuous” signs of religious affiliation. In short, the battle between the two modes of thinking was played out in women’s bodies.
The sexual argument against the foulard was common in France in 2003, although by that point the word “foulard” had all but disappeared from public discourse and was replaced by voile, or veil, which covers the entire face except for the eyes. This was erroneous but not entirely innocent, of course, because it made it possible for commentators to talk in terms of more general stereotypes of Muslim women in places like Yemen, where the veil is prevalent, rather than the reality of suburban Paris, where it is not. More recently, in an interview with a London-based newspaper, Bernard-Henri Lévy went as far as to say that “the veil is an invitation to rape.” It is perverse to suggest that a woman is inviting rape by the way she dresses, but such is the extreme that Lévy will go to in order to preserve the idea of a homogeneous female European identity. In this view, a European woman is uncovered, and that signifies both her availability to the male gaze as well as her liberation.
It is interesting, too, that Lévy demands for himself that which he is not willing to give others. In 2004 he hired the designer Andrée Putman to renovate his vacation home in Tangier. The home lies next to the famous Café Hafa, whose regulars once included Paul Bowles, Tennessee Williams and Jean Genet, and which has unparalleled views of the Mediterranean. Patrons of the cafe can no longer enjoy an unobstructed view, however, because during the renovations Lévy constructed a wall around his terrace, where his wife, the actress and singer Arielle Dombasle, likes to sunbathe. Lévy reportedly wanted to protect her from the eyes of the men at the Café Hafa. Unveiling only goes one way, it seems.
Quote Of The Day 2: High-Brow Panty-Sniffing
by matttbastard
The goal of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy isn’t merely to win — it’s to make the public feel that any Democrat who might attain real power is someone no decent person should associate with, someone we should cross the street to avoid, someone whose intentions and goals are dangerous — if not unspeakable. That’s the message being spread right now about Hillary Clinton in these linked communications. She is a lesbian agent of terror. Her vagina will get us all killed.
- Steve M., nailing it.
Seriously, Matt Drudge and Rupert Murdoch, along with Beltway/blogosphere rodents who are always so quick to mindless scurry in line when the first few notes are breathlessly played by the aforementioned VRWC opinion-pipers, still personify everything that is wrong with contemporary political journalism. Welcome to the official kickoff to real 2008 campaign press coverage. Check your standards at the door, right alongside your brain.
Via Memeorandum
Shifting Paradigms
by matttbastard
- speech by Naomi Wolf, author of “The End of America: Letter of Warning To A Young Patriot,” given October 11, 2007 at Kane Hall on the University of Washington campus.
- interview with Naomi Wolf re: “The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot”
Related: Naomi Wolf on Blackwater and the “newly created thug caste” (h/t LadyBroadoak).
Flashback: David Neiwert: Rush, Newspeak and Fascism: An Exegesis and The Rise of Pseudo Fascism: An essay (both PDF format); Chris Hedges: The Christian Right and the Rise of American Fascism; Matthew N. Lyons: Is the Bush Administration Fascist?
Quote of the Day: Equal Opportunity Electrocution
by matttbastard
“Obviously, (law enforcement agencies) don’t want to use a Taser [sic] on young children, pregnant woman or elderly people… . But if in your policy you deliberately exclude a segment of the population, then you have potentially closed off a tool that could have ended a confrontation.”
- Sgt. Donald Davis, King County sheriff’s dept (Washington), commenting after a 2005 incident in which an electronic control device™SM®OMFGWTFBBQ!!!1 was used on a woman (of colour) who, at the time, was 8 months pregnant. She had refused to sign a traffic ticket (shades of Jared Massey). fern hill has more (much more, sigh) on how some law enforcement agencies have a strict non-discrimination policy regarding the (indiscriminate) use of stun guns.
“I have a dream”, indeed.
Related: Do electronic control devices™SM®OMFGWTFBBQ!!!1 actually save lives? There are at least six families this past week who would contend otherwise.
I Once Had A Soul
by matttbastard
Lazy Sunday
by matttbastard
Have many non-web related activities to attend to today, so expect light blogging from yours truly. Feel free to entertain yourselves with the following vids, tucked below the fold. Hey, if any of my wayward cobloggers feel inspired to emerge from hiding…
Truthful Lies, Respectable Murder
by matttbastard
“A lie repeated often enough becomes truth.”
- Vladimir Lenin
Via Alison, seeds of confusion and doubt continue to be sown through an unofficial private/public partnership that has been cultivated between law enforcement officials and the private security sector. Some believe there could be deadly consequences as a result of this convergence.
“Three months before Robert Dziekanski was tasered, the RCMP adopted a change in force protocol that allows officers to fire multiple shocks to control people under certain circumstances.
Until August, officers trained to use stun guns were cautioned to avoid using them more than once because of concerns about health effects. However, the force’s belief that excited-delirium symptoms can escalate and cause death outweighed their worries about the impact of multiple shocks.
But the term “excited delirium” is not formally recognized by the World Health Organization nor the American Medical Association as an actual psychological or medical condition.
However, the condition is being used increasingly by coroners tasked with attributing causes of death among victims in police custody. David Evans, Ontario’s regional supervising coroner for investigations, described it as a “forensic term” not a medical one.
“I think previous to the description of excited delirium, [it] was sometimes called custody death,” he said.
Cpl. Gilles conceded that the policy on multiple taser shots “may be hazardous. We don’t know.”
“[M]ay be hazardous. We don’t know.” Well, what the hell do we know? I’m going to quote from my November 15th post detailing the fallout from the release of the Robert Dziekanski video:
CBC News just interviewed…and posted this rather one-sided backgrounder featuring University of Miami neurology professor Deborah Mash, the designated go-to ‘expert’ on
bullshit cover stories“excited delirium”. The Lede has more on Professor Mash and ‘excited delirium’, which, as noted earlier this year by an NPR report, “is not recognized by professional medical associations, and [is not] listed in the chief psychiatric reference book.” Part 2 of the report is also entirely relevant, focusing on the vested interest law enforcement officials and [TASER] International have in marketing the dubious disorder and includes the following abridged list of individuals who have died in police custody after being [shocked], with the cause of death listed as ‘excited delirium’:
- June 13, 2005 – Shawn C. Pirolozzi, 30, of Canton, Ohio, dies after police tried to subdue him with a Taser. His death certificate listed excited delirium as the cause of death. The Taser was not listed as a contributing factor.
- April 21, 2006 — Alvin Itula, 35, dies after a struggle with Salt Lake City police. Itula led officers on a foot chase, then fought with them when the officers caught up, according to police. Officers tased Itula and also used pepper spray and a baton. Itula stopped breathing soon after. The medical examiner found that Itula died of excited delirium brought on by methamphetamine and cocaine.
- April 24, 2006 — Jose Romero, 23, dies in Dallas police custody. He was in his underwear, screaming and holding a knife on his neighbor’s porch. Police tased him multiple times. He died shortly thereafter. The Dallas County medical examiner ruled Romero died of excited delirium.
- Sept. 5, 2006 — Larry Noles, 52, dies in Louisville, Ky., after a struggle with police. Noles, an ex-Marine, was standing naked in the middle of a street when police were called. Police said he was agitated. They tased him two or three times. He died a few minutes later. The Jefferson County medical examiner ruled Noles died because of excited delirium and not the Taser.
- Oct. 29, 2006 — Roger Holyfield, 17, dies after police in Jerseyville, Ill., shocked him twice with a Taser. Holyfield had been walking down a street, holding a phone in one hand and a Bible in the other, yelling that he wanted Jesus. After policed shot him with the stun gun, Holyfield went into a coma; he died the following day. A medical examiner ruled the death was probably a result of excited delirium.
- Dec. 17, 2006 — Terill Enard, 29, dies following a disturbance at a Waffle house in Lafayette, La. He was naked and yelling, with a broken leg bone piercing his skin. Police stunned Enard with a Taser; he died several hours later. Police said the forensic report from the Lafayette Parish coroner’s office found Enard died as a result of “cocaine-induced excited delirium.”
…[V]ia MistahTibbs in comments @ The Politic, “the RCMP said after Dziekanski’s death that he was in a state of excited delirium,” according to a Canadian Press report published October 14th.
So, we know that as a medical term ‘excited delirium’ is meaningless. What else? Well, we also know that electronic control device™SM®OMFGWTFBBQ!!!1 manufacturer TASER International really doesn’t like having its products’ reputation tainted by suggestions of deadly complicity:
“We are taken aback by the number of media outlets that have irresponsibly published conclusive headlines blaming the TASER device and / or the law enforcement officers involved as the cause of death before completion of the investigation. These sensationalistic media reports completely ignore the earmark symptoms of excited delirium shown in the video. TASER International is transmitting over 60 legal demand letters requiring correction of these false and misleading headlines and will take other actions as appropriate. These unsubstantiated, false headlines mislead the public and could adversely influence public policy in ways which could place the lives of both law enforcement and the public at greater risk,” concluded Tom Smith, Founder and Chairman of the Board of TASER International, Inc.
“[C]ould adversely influence public policy in ways which could place the lives of both law enforcement and the public at greater risk”. Try ‘may put our bottom line at risk.’ As Randy Burton of the StarPhoenix notes, in just over a decade stun guns have grown in ubiquity, with TASER International apparently hoping to expand the market beyond law enforcement to the private sphere:
For just $349.99 American citizens can zap somebody with thousands of volts of electricity. Sorry, they’re not available in Canada yet, where Tasers are still classified as a restricted weapon.
But in the U.S. it’s open season, and the company promotion seems very empowering, too.
The Taser website shows an attractive young woman under the caption “I Will Control My Own Destiny.” If not for the pictures of stun guns in four designer colours, it could be an ad for university enrolment.
In the hands of the marketing specialists, the Taser has become just another tool for conducting a successful contemporary life, like a cellphone or a BlackBerry.
You have to get to the fine print in the legal warnings before you learn to watch out for something the manufacturer calls “Sudden In Custody Death Syndrome.” [Apparently someone didn't get the memo re: change in terminology--mb.] This is marketing speak for “watch out you don’t kill somebody.”
Somehow the warning to “avoid torturous or other misuse” fails to reassure that the Taser will only be used by the right people in the right circumstances. Lethal technology has a way of putting itself in the wrong hands.
While it’s touted as a major step forward in law enforcement, it’s just as likely to be making life much easier for back alley muggers.
Of course, that’s the way technology works. What begins with a very specialized use soon becomes democratized to the point where it’s accessible to the masses. Inevitably, yesterday’s dangerous implement becomes today’s purse accessory.
And so it is with the Taser. You don’t have to look very far to find plenty of examples of its use or misuse, as the case may be.
The things are ubiquitous. In the last 10 years, some 11,000 law enforcement agencies in 44 countries have started to use them. Of these, 3,500 agencies equip all of their patrol officers with the powerful stun gun. As we know, not all uses end with a happy conclusion.
There’s a quote most famously attributed to Benito Mussolini that springs to mind: “Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power.” Though some dispute its origins, there’s no denying the inherent truth of the statement, even if apocryphal.
JJ does the hammer/nail/head thing:
I hate to keep banging this drum, but that’s tough, because it’s true: one of the first signs of authoritarianism bullying its way into our society is apologist propaganda, including the invention of new quasi-credible-sounding terminology to rationalize inhumane treatment… .
Yeah, “apologist propaganda” and bullying authoritarianism by way of litigious threats (h/t April Reign) and obfuscating press releases. This “quasi-credible-sounding terminology” has been utilized by a corporate entity (and, in a merger of interests, further legitimized by the State) to market a product–”another tool for conducting a successful contemporary life, like a cellphone or a BlackBerry.” Of course, to my knowledge cellphones and BlackBerries have yet to be scrutinized by the United Nations’ Committee against Torture, out of fear that indiscriminate use of the aforementioned lifestyle tools “constituted a form of torture, and that in certain cases…could also cause death, as shown by several reliable studies and by certain cases that had happened after practical use.” (h/t Alison.)
Why (vehemently, boldly, zealously) rationalize inhumane treatment, with truth counted among the increasing collateral damage?
In this instance, we know they do so because it is profitable.
Today: Solidarity and Justice for Robert Dziekanski
by matttbastard
Vancouver: Protest against RCMP using excessive force on Robert!
Host: Facebook Group – “Petition against RCMP officers involved in YVR Tazer [sic] Death”Date: Saturday, November 24, 2007
Time: 12:00pm – 3:00pm
Location: Downtown Vancouver, Art Gallery (Georgia Street side)
City/Town: Vancouver, BCDescription:
A protest against the brutality shown in the video, which resulted in the death of new immigrant Robert Dziekanski, 40. Please express your interest by showing up next Saturday November 24th, downtown at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Georgia Street side. Rally will commence 12pm. Please try to wear the red/white colors of the deceased’s Polish heritage, in his memory. Remember, this is about awareness of the tragedy and a protest against the excessive use of tasers, _NOT_ an anti-police rally. THIS WILL BE A PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATION!More info on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=8636840125
VICTORIA: Solidarity and Justice for Robert Dziekanski.
Express your outrage and show supprt for his family through a peaceful demonstrationHost: Facebook Group – “Petition against RCMP officers involved in YVR Tazer [sic] Death”
Date: Saturday, November 24, 2007
Time: 12:00pm – 3:00pm
Location: Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
City/Town: Victoria, BCDescription: PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATION – come along and express your outrage and your disgust at the recent events resulting in the unlawful killing of Robert Dziekanski. Show Solidarity for the Dziekanski family and demand Justice so that this kind of thing NEVER happens again
More info on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=6187158110
TORONTO: Solidarity and Justice for Robert Dziekanski Toronto Queen’s Park Protest Nov 24
Protesting Unreasonable Force/Showing Solidarity with Vancouver BC Protest Nov 24Host: Facebook Group – “Protesting the use of Excessive force on Robert Dziekanski”
Date: Saturday, November 24, 2007
Time: 12:00pm – 2:00pm
Location: Queen’s Park
Street: University Avenue
City/Town: Toronto, ONProtest SCHEDULE:
i) Opening Remarks by organizers & circulation of petitions.
ii) Guest Speakers:
Peggy Nash – NDP Member of Parliament for High Park
Borys Wrzesnewskyj – Liberal Member of Parliament for Etobicoke Centre
Peter Milczyn – City of Toronto Councilor of Etobicoke Lakeshore
Alan Borovoy – General Counsel – Canadian Civil Liberties Association
Wladyslaw Lizon – President – Canadian Polish Congressiii) Moment of Silence and Candlelight Vigil.
iv) Musical Guests (tbc).
Description: This Protest is designed to continue raising media awareness about the mistreatment of Robert Dziekanski and protest the unreasonable use of force. We want the government to know that Canadians, regardless of their location in Canada are disgusted and heartbroken by the handling of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver Airport. This situation involves issues of race, nationalism, violence and most significantly ethical human behaviour of kindness, patience and compassion.
More info on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6407280731
For those who will be attending the Toronto protest:
Thank you for joining the event and showing your solidarity! The protest will begin tommorrow (Saturday) as scheduled at 12 noon on the south lawn of Queens Park.
Just two quick announcements:
1) At the end of the rally there will be a candlelight vigil, so if you are so inclined, there will be a memorial display where you can leave candles and flowers.
2) This is a very grass-roots movment so we are asking people to please bring their own home-made protest signs. It is very important to make sure tommorows protest remains peaceful, so please be counscious of any slogans that others might find offensive. Below are a few suggestions for slogans:
“Solidarity and Justice for Robert Dziekanski” (our offiical slogan)
“Pokoj, Peace”
“Accountability Now”
“Tasers are not Toys”Thanks again for your solidarity and support!!
Sincerely,
Mike Mlynarczyk
Protest Co-chair.Please show your support!
Related: CTV News reports that Poland will be watching:
A documentary crew from Poland is in Vancouver pursuing the story behind the death of their countryman Robert Dziekanski.
[...]
“(We’ve come) to show what happened. To tell the story, but at the very same time, to portray the reaction of Canadians themselves,” said Marcin Wojcik with TVN, a national broadcaster in Poland.
In Poland, there is no ill will towards Canada but rather questions about the country’s policing system, said Wojcik.
“Nobody is connecting the story with Canada itself,” he said.
The TVN crew members plan to stay in Canada for the next 10 days and say they’ve been promised co-operation from many of the agencies involved in the incident.
On Saturday, the crew will be filming a rally for Dziekanski on the grounds of the Vancouver Art Gallery.
More from Godammitkitty and skdadl (h/t and hugs to you both), who reminds us that “[t]he Poles know something about people who show up.”
(click image for more on “The strike that changed the world.”)
Also see this rabble interview with Tania Lukasiewicz, one of the organizers of the Vancouver rally:
As a registered psychiatric nurse, I fight for my patients’ everyday, to make sure that their rights are upheld, their needs are met and their wants are considered. I felt that as a citizen of Canada it is really important that I bring this to light. And nobody else had a protest going so I thought, ‘OK, I’m going to start one.’
[...]
The first day the rally group [on Facebook] started, there were 30 people, then 35, but now there are over 430 people. It has been very inspiring to know that people care, and people from all walks of life, Canadians, immigrants, children, young people, old people – everybody. And I think they are coming out in the masses that they are because there are so many things that went wrong.
“Doo Oo Oo Yeah”
by matttbastard
Friday Blogwhoring
by matttbastard
Happy holidays to our Southerly neighbours, two of whom kindly presented holiday themed posts yesterday. Hope you’re having a halfway-decent BND/Black Friday, y’all. Love and runaway consumerism forever.
(All Hail The Queen.)
Eric Stoller: The 19th Erase Racism Carnival
Designated Protest Zone: The Micro, Meso, And Meta of Robert Dziekanski’s State Execution
OurKingdom: Ayaan Hirsi Ali and coherent disagreement
Afghanistanica: Theorizing Conflict In Afghanistan
unrepentant old hippie: It’s about protecting choice. Really. (h/t fern hill)
Birth Pangs: Another Tedious Poll
Questioning Transphobia: The Goddess
Slap Upside The Head: Alberta Premier Reviews Anti-Gay Candidate
A Creative Revolution: The New Tobacco?
The Gimp Parade: My fat (but actually very normal-sized) legs (Kay Olsen is one of the best writers on teh webz – period.)
Dawg’s Blawg: Slate Magazine’s true colours
Intrapolitics: On William Saletan’s sense of humor
Too Sense: NYPD Says Frisk Policy Is ‘Not Biased’ (h/t Racialicious)
Black Looks: Invading Black women’s spaces: Further attack on Megan Williams (h/t Kevin)
Reclusive Leftist: Thanksgiving, Life and Death, and Anti-feminism
The Angry Black Woman: Irrational Men
Mandolin @ Alas, a Blog: Atheists In Ur Blogosphere, Dominatin’ Ur Discourse
Justice is a Woman with a Sword: Being the Catholic Church is never having to say you’re sorry…
(en)Gender: Remembering We’re Living
Taking Steps: vigilance (h/t Lisa)
William K. Wolfrum: By making America suck, Republican rule ushering in new immigration problem
Suburban Guerrilla: Kennedy Assassination
nexy’s cocoon: thanksgiving
Jon Swift: This Year Let’s Celebrate Thankstaking Instead of Thanksgiving (FTW!)
First Draft: Embarrassment Squick
Half of Grandpa’s mouth is missing
by sassywho
(It’s Turkey day in the states, so please excuse the personal nature of the post)
Growing up I only knew my maternal grandparents, Garnet and LaVernie. As a child I loved my goofy Grandpa and despised my critical Grandma. Later on, as they both aged, my grandfather became a little less silly and my grandmother a little more nutty… both in a good way.
I was only 5 years old the year that we lived in their house, after my parents divorced. Being the seriously Devastatingly-Dramatic-”OMG” child… there was very little that could make me laugh. My days were spent on a very strict schedule–no time for kid shit. The morning news before being dropped off at my babysitters; once there I would head downstairs to the 2nd T.V. to watch more serious news, followed by soap operas.
The world was tough and I was convinced that I needed to do all I could to prepare for it.
My Grandpa was the person who would pick us up from the sitter’s after he got off work, taking us home to fresh snacks from my oh-so-serious Grandmother (runs in the family). I usually had chicken noodle soup, but my Grandfather loved his crackers and milk—- mixed together. Usually he would take out his teeth first, hand them to me and see who would giggle first. Without fail I could never contain my sky-is-falling smirk.
Afterward, I would watch Brady Bunch before the evening news.
My Grandpa died 8 years ago, and my Grandmother hung on for 6 more. I took care of her the last year of her life, and it was then I met a woman who lived life the best way she knew how. When she passed away the year before last, we decided to sell her house and I had part of the responsibility of cleaning it out. Rummaging through an old box I found a set of dentures, the old set of my Grandfathers from when I was a child. I tucked them away as a keepsake (gross says you).
This time of the year always feels strange, not going to the same house where we always celebrated the holidays. We gathered at my Aunt’s house this year, ate turkey with Grandma’s dressing. Actually had wine, too–which was never allowed while she was alive.
When I got home tonight, I walked in to find a torn up old bag and a half-chewed pair of dentures. Scattered across the floor were Grandpa’s porcelain teeth. So far, I’ve only found three or four. Have no idea how my golden lab Kiwi got a hold of them, but I can’t stop giggling.
The Real War On Christmas
guest post by Dynamic
Don’t let the warm temperatures, lack of snow, or surprisingly Novemberish date fool you – Christmas is here! Feeling merry, I hope?
Heck, for those of us who spend our time hanging around retail land, the “holidays” have been in full swing for weeks, even months in some cases. I can tell it’s the season for spending time with the family, because I have to work all the time instead of spending time with my family. I can also tell it’s the holiday season because I get to hear all about how Christmas is under attack – at least, if I can get away from the Christmas carols, the Christmas trees, the decorations, the choirs dressed as angels, the religious ornaments, and the evangelicals long enough to watch Fox News.
The irony, of course, is that Christmas IS under attack – swamped under a rising tide of greed, consumerism, and all the other hallmarks of capitalism at work. And nothing exemplifies that assault more than the chaos of “Black Friday.”
Often cited (erroneously) as the busiest shopping day of the year, Black Friday – the day after the American Thanksgiving holiday – represents the ultimate in consumer excess. With massive deals designed to entice the holiday shopper into spending early and spending often, stores open their doors from their holiday break (those that took one) well before the sun rises – but despite the early hours, many shoppers still spend hours waiting to gain access, hoping to be first in line. It is not at all unheard of for fights to break out over particularly in demand items, such as the latest video game system, the hottest movie, or – and I’m not kidding – Tickle Me Elmos.
Now, I’m not the sort of person who likes to complain without offering a couple alternatives, for the most part. I’m not going to ask you to give up the holiday season entirely. I truly don’t believe there is anything wrong with giving a heartfelt gift (but if you don’t know someone well enough to give them anything more meaningful than a gift card, then you don’t know them well enough to need to give them a gift, no matter how ‘close’ you may be in society’s eyes), and Christmas remains my favourite holiday in spirit and in meaning. But just for one day, take a break. Don’t be a part of the great consumerist orgy that is Black Friday. This November 23rd, buy nothing. All day.
It’s both harder, and easier, than you think.
To Defence Minister Peter McKay, On Behalf Of Myself And All Canadians Who Dare To Show Dissent
by matttbastard
Here’s a “scurrilous” gesture for you.
Kee-hrist – “un-Canadian”? My Taliban-appeasing black ass. Apparently Stockboy isn’t the only member of the Tory caucus who thinks trollspeak is an appropriate response to legitimate opposition.
h/t pogge, who is far more dignified and decorous in his response to McKay than yours truly was.
PSA: Speak Out For Nuclear Disarmament
by matttbastard
From Steven Staples @ Ceasefire.ca:
November 22, 2007
Dear friend,
Canada’s voting record at the UN on crucial anti-nuclear weapons resolutions indicates an alarming shift away from Canada’s traditional role as a supporter of disarmament.
Yesterday, the Toronto Star published [an article] written by Anthony Salloum, program director of the Rideau Institute (Ceasefire.ca’s parent).
Anthony outlines what happened at the UN and why we should be concerned about the direction the government is heading.
If you have not done so already, please send your letter to Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier, urging the government to support nuclear disarmament.
Best wishes,
Dear Minister Bernier,
I write to express my concern that Canada recently abstained from voting on an important resolution at the United Nations calling on Nuclear Weapons States to lower the operating status of nuclear weapons. Fortunately, that resolution passed even without Canadian support.
I urge you to redouble Canada’s efforts towards nuclear disarmament, by supporting global initiatives that aim to lessen the risk of nuclear use, such as working to develop a treaty prohibiting these dangerous weapons.
With 27,000 nuclear weapons still remaining on the planet, Canada must not relent in working towards a safer, nuclear-free world.
I await your reply.
h/t Alison @ Creekside.
Utah Man ‘Stunned’ Over Speeding Ticket (Or, Respekt Mah Authoritay! The Policeman Said)
by matttbastard
Via Radley Balko and pale: another day, another video involving the discharge of an electronic control device™SM®OMFGWTFBBQ!!!1:
Five double yews here, more from Digby [edit: h/t Mandos] and Libby Spencer. Is it really a good idea to give trigger happy law enforcement officials carte blanche just because the phallic icon in question is purportedly ‘non-lethal’ (ahem)?
Frank Frink in comments @ ACR nails it:
I can’t see how this situation (refusing to sign a traffic ticket) would merit the use of a gun or a baton. It’s another use of a taser for sake of convenience and compliance rather than it’s actual intended use. Being ‘mouthy’ means it’s OK to be tasered? Not going to convince me of that.
The other thing that bothers me, and much in the same way as with Mr. Dziekanski and the Jama Jama case in Toronto, is law enforcement’s seeming indifference to investigating things unless you shame them into it by either catching them on film or in Mr. Massey’s case, using access laws to get a copy of what they film and then posting it.
In Mr. [Dziekanski's] case absolutely nothing would have been done or said further about it if Mr. Pritchard had not caught it on video. In Mr. Massey’s case?
“We’ve known about the incident since it occurred,” Cameron Roden, a spokesman for the Utah Highway Patrol, told ABC News. “But with it coming out on the Internet, we’re trying to move the investigation along.”
Oh, and another day, another death wholly and entirely unrelated to the victim being jolted with a life-protecting electronic control device™SM®OMFGWTFBBQ!!!1 Luckily for Halifax City Police, this lethal incident wasn’t caught on video, meaning they can pretty much make shit up with impunity let the facts speak for themselves. Bring on the full departmental review and RCMP investigation!
Related: Alison gets letters! Fuck life; apparently the primary corporate concern is protection of intellectual property (and calming nervous investors). So affirming to see that TASER International has its priorities straight.
Update: TASER International cares so much about product safety that it wants to participate in a recently announced review by Paul Kennedy, head of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, of “all RCMP protocols on the use of CEDs (conducted electrical devices).” The investigation will also “assess the compliance of the RCMP with these protocols.” Apparently TASER co-founder and chairman Tom Smith didn’t get the official grammar memo:
“I have been Tasered myself. I have Tasered my brother.”
Thanksgiving in the Smith household must be a real jolt.
(h/t ReWind.It)
Quote Of The Day: The Blind Leading The Naked
by matttbastard
Iran’s involvement in Lebanon is destabilizing, to be sure. An international confrontation with Tehran would be serious indeed, and Hezbollah’s political power within Lebanon is cause for concern. But the [Bush] administration has allowed the focus on Iran and Hezbollah to result in policy that is dangerously blind to other dynamics at play.In the context of the current political stalemate, the administration cannot afford to view the possible selection of a consensus candidate acceptable to Hezbollah as a greater danger than the failure to select anyone at all. And, beyond this week’s crisis, the focus on Hezbollah and Iran has distracted from the rise of Al Qaeda-inspired Sunni radical groups in Lebanon — groups that represent a far greater strategic threat to the U.S. and its allies.
These groups don’t have the popular support in Lebanon that Hezbollah boasts. But that also means they have no “red lines” of violence they will not cross. And, while Hezbollah wants to play an expanded political role in the Lebanese state, the Sunni extremist groups would like nothing more than to see the collapse of the state into anarchy and civil war – truly a worst-case scenario both for Lebanon’s fragile democracy and for regional security.
- Andrew Exum and Stephen McInerney, Beirut Is Not Tehran
(h/t abu muqawama)
More on Lebanon’s burgeoning political crisis from Milton Viorst and Robert Fisk, who penned a sobering report last month that detailed the recent influx of weaponry into the increasingly unstable region, seemingly on the verge once again of civil war.
Related: Blake Hounshell, referencing Exum and McIerney’s op-ed, is blunt–and expansive–in his condemnation of “a mistaken U.S. approach to foreign policy that dates back decades and across administrations of both parties”:
Here’s how it works: The United States says it supports democracy, but ends up backing pro-Western leaders when push comes to shove. Take the case of Pervez Musharraf, whom U.S. President George W. Bush described Tuesday as “somebody who believes in democracy” despite the fact that the Pakistani leader has suspended the Constitution, thrown many of his opponents in jail, and gone after independent media outlets. Or consider the Palestinian territories, where the White House called for elections and then blanched when the distasteful Hamas won them fair and square. Is it any wonder that U.S. rhetoric on democracy isn’t taken seriously?
Hump Day Music Spotlight: La Na Na FREAKIN’ Na!
by matttbastard
This song is catchier than the Norwalk virus and a far more pleasant experience, to boot.
Attack in Black – Young Leaves (Dine Alone)
Mein Stock in Himmel!
by matttbastard
Holy humpin’ Himmler, Dave @ The Beav called out Stockboy, Godwin be damned:
This is what Day said.
One person was killed who didn’t have to be killed
Does that mean that Day believes there are those who should be killed? It is not acceptable that he misspoke. He is a minister of the Crown: equivalent to the vice-president of a major global corporation. Every word he speaks means something. And, it’s right there, he believes there are people who should be killed.
Explain yourself, minister.
Those words come right from the pages of Aufbau einer Nation, written in 1934.
Explain yourself, Mr. Day, or accept that sometime in the next 72 hours I will, without apology, hang you up there with one of the worst human beings of the 20th Century.
Hey now, let’s not be too hard on ol’ Stock. We should be grateful that he took off his wetsuit before shaking us up with his typically asinine blatherings–and without any props to further illustrate the utterly specious (if not passively eliminationist) sentiments to boot! Credit where credit is due, my partisan brethren (yes, yes, the soft bigotry of low expectations, etc).
Update – Matt Guerin:
Every time Day opens his mouth and the super ‘Public Safety Minister’ appears below him on the news or in Parliament, a chill goes down my spine. I’ll never forget how much of a wacko leader he turned out to be. I don’t think most moderate Canadians will forget that either. The fact Day continues to hold such power in the Harper government scares the crap out of me.
Tuesday Blogwhoring
by matttbastard
This one goes out to my fellow bastard.logicians. Love.
(Melissa McEwan effin’ owns like Snorlax!)
Designated Protest Zone: Power, Privilege, and “Challenging Ourselves”
Intrapolitics: The Space Between Ethnocentrism and Race Supremacy (h/t Prometheus 6)
POGGE: On blood-drenched metaphors
thwap’s schoolyard: “Don’t Tase Me Bro” – Vancouver International Airport Edition
Shakesville: Killing Your Wife is the Best Gift You Can Give Yourself This Holiday Season
Hatewatch: FBI Releases Hate Crime Statistics
Culture Kitchen: Hate Crimes Rising in America
Birth Pangs: Be careful with my box! and Paternity Blues
Justice is a Woman with a Sword: Finally, an intelligent film with … um… bite?
The Newshoggers: Relative progress in Iraq
Feminist Peace Network: Unilever Ditches Self Esteem as a Marketing Concept in Favor of Good Ol’ Misogyny
Daisy’s Dead Air: Bob Jones and Billy Graham
Creekside: On cowardice
Too Sense: FBI Convicted Thousands On Faulty Evidence…Then Forgot To Tell Them
The Heathlander: Walled In
Feline Formal Shorts: Reactions
Zenpundit: Recommended Reading (update your bookmarks – the new digs look spiffy, Mark!)
Who Is IOZ? Aieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! She explained. (Yeah, that’s pretty much my feelings re: US presidential debates and Wolf Blitzer in a nutshell, too)
Politics ‘n’ Poetry: Nuclear Guardianship: We Need to Know
PSA: Transgender Day Of Remembrance
by matttbastard
Today marks the 9th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. The event was founded to honor Rita Hester, whose 1998 murder led to a candlelight vigil in San Francisco, CA, as well as the beginning of the Remembering Our Dead web project, which memorializes those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice.
The goals of the Day of Remembrance are to both raise public awareness of hate crimes against transgender people and to publicly mourn and honor the lives of those killed. According to the event website, more than one person per month has died over the past decade due to transgender-based hate or prejudice, regardless of any other factors in their lives. The murder [of] Rita Haster, which led to the creation of Transgender Day of Remembrance, remains unsolved.
The incomparable Lisa Harney has links galore over at her superlative site, Questioning Transphobia, including an amazing post @ Feministing by Julia Serano, There’s Something About Deception:
Much of the violence that is directed at trans people is predicated on the myth of deception. For example, straight men who become attracted to trans women sometimes erupt into homophobic/transphobic rage and violence upon discovering that the woman in question was born male. Perhaps the most well known of such cases is that of Gwen Araujo, who was bludgeoned to death by a four men, two of whom she had been sexually intimate with. Despite the fact that the men plotted her murder a week in advance, defense lawyers insisted that the murder was merely manslaughter because the defendants were victims of Gwen’s “sexual deceit.”
[...]
Few attempts to blame the victim are more blatant than when trans people are accused of “sexual deceit” or “sexual assault” simply because other people have chosen to express their attraction toward us. In reality, it is they who are guilty of cissexual/cisgender assumption (when one presumes that every person they meet is nontrans by default). Trans people simply exist, we are everywhere, and the rest of the world has to start recognizing and accepting that.
Also see Julia Serano again and Transgender Day of Remembrance Comics Project. Make sure to also check out quench zine (h/t Jessica Valenti) and to visit the Transgender Day of Remembrance website. And, of course, never forget, 24/7/365.
Tragicomedy Without A Punchline: Polish Speaking Airport Worker Could Have Prevented Dziekanski Killing
by matttbastard
Minutes after Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski picked up a Vancouver airport computer and threw it at a glass wall, a Polish-speaking airport worker wandered into the facility’s operations centre to pick up some paperwork.
Slovakian immigrant Karol Vrba was in the room on Oct. 14 when the pair of calls came in reporting Mr. Dziekanski’s erratic behaviour, but was never asked to help, even though he is conversant in Polish and Russian, the language bystanders told authorities the 40-year-old Pole was speaking.
“I feel really upset because I saw that video of what they did to him and it could have been prevented. Definitely,” he said yesterday.”
h/t JJ Hippie and April Reign
Related:
- BC’s provincial government orders a full public enquiry into Mr Dziekanski’s death. Are you paying attention, Stockboy? (h/t Holly Stick)
- Dr Dawg expands upon his proposal for a new federal police force to replace the RCMP.
- Frank Frink gives TASER International some sincere, heartfelt advice with regards to bogus intimidation tactics and “electronic control devices™SM®OMFGWTFBBQ!!!1“.
Related: The Canadian Press: “Three out of four suspects stun-gunned by the RCMP were unarmed, indicates a review of 563 cases that shows [electronic control devices™SM®OMFGWTFBBQ!!!1] are often used for compliance rather than to defuse major threats.” CP also notes that many of these cases ” involved First Nations.” (h/t pale)
Stockboy’s Fish Market
by matttbastard
Canadians want answers; instead, our Public Safety Minister offers logical fallacies:
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day says he wishes Canadians were as outraged over impaired driving deaths as they are over the death of a Polish immigrant shot with a Taser by police.
[...]
The minister told a crowd in the B.C. Interior on Saturday [ie, the day of the funeral-mb] that Dziekanski’s death was “tragic.”
“Quite rightly, the whole nation is aghast…. One person was killed who didn’t have to be killed,” said Day, MP for Okanagan-Coquihalla.
But he says drunk-driving accidents also claim the lives of fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and other loved ones, “and where’s the shock and horror?”
Chet Scofield (h/t) explains how Stockboy is, in essence, concern-trolling the public conversation regarding the killing of Robert Dziekanski:
Red herrings can derail discussions very quickly if you’re not careful. But in this case, Day is not only trying to confuse the issue. He’s also attempting to create the illusion of holding the moral high ground. By invoking a different, unrelated, serious societal problem and accusing Canadians of not caring about it, Day is essentially trying to shame his listeners into shutting up: how dare you talk about problem A when you aren’t even mentioning problem B? You must be very bad people.
Once again, I defer to Greg Weston’s by-now rhetorical (if not requisite) question: “Why is Stockwell Day still in charge of the Mounties?”
Related: More from Leftdog on how Stockboy is “comparing apples to snowmobiles” with his ridiculous and intellectually offensive statements.
Petition: “No to Police Brutality- No to tasers- RIP Robert Dziekanski” UPDATE 11.24: Petition Is Back Up, No Signatures Lost
by matttbastard
Update 11.24: Received word that the petition is back up at www.defendrobert.com Please feel free to sign if you haven’t done so already. All signatures have been preserved from the original site.
Update 11.22: Just received the following from the group that originally started the petition:
[T]he petition is down, apparently the domain that was hosting it received thousands of calls regarding it and they had enough.
[...]
In any case, we have the progress coded, and as soon as my friend is able to get a domain, it will be right back up—[no] signatures lost…so that’s a good thing.
Update 11.20: link appears to be broken atm (h/t opit). Will update once it’s been restored [edit 11.24: updated with new URL].
Please take a moment to sign the Petition (CLICK HERE, LINK CORRECTED 11.24)
Your names on this petition will be included with a letter to the Prime Minisiter along to his hundreds of MP’s demanding an end to the use of tasers and demand answers to our questions.It is our duty as citizens of this nation to ask Canadian Government to act now with an immediate moratorium on taser use by enforcement agencies in Canada.
[...]
We are shocked and appalled the way RCMP officers attacked and killed Mr. Robert Dziekanski on October 14 2007 in Vancouver airport.
We need answers from our Government!!!
Is it a standard procedure for RCMP (fully loaded with other restraining devices and bullet proof vests) to surround and attack citizens with a taser without obvious threat ?
Is it a standard procedure for RCMP to create misleading public announcements as to what happened ?
Is it a standard procedure for RCMP personnel not to provide basic CPR to a helpless dying individual ?
How are citizens of this nation with emotional distress or panic attacks currently protected from being tasered ?
Canadian citizens are in danger now, it is clearly evident that enforcement agencies are now using deadly taser devices as a convenience tool and are breaking the rules of law.
We should not wait until enquiries and probes get completed with recommendations by various agencies, including RCMP.
It is our duty as citizens of this nation to ask Canadian Government to act now with an immediate moratorium on taser use by enforcement agencies in Canada.
———–
Please visit Facebook group http://uwo.facebook.com/group.php?gid=17541660393
for further information along with discussion forum.
Domestic rabble
by boomgate
Things have started to get ridiculously steamy Down Under. So what do I do when the weather reaches 37 Celsius? (Please don’t ask me what that is in non-metric)
Naturally, I do some baking. Today I made a batch of passionfruit buttercake cupcakes, topped with passionfruit frosting. They be pretty good, maybe a little dry. I’m really enjoying seeing the summer fruits come into season.
And now for some food porn
PSA: November 24th: Solidarity and Justice for Robert Dziekanski
by matttbastard
Via Getting It Right:
Rallies in support of Robert Dziekanski and family have been organized (for next Saturday, November 24th, 2007) in Vancouver, Victoria and Toronto. Here’s an overview:
Vancouver: Protest against RCMP using excessive force on Robert!
Host: Facebook Group – “Petition against RCMP officers involved in YVR Tazer Death”Date: Saturday, November 24, 2007
Time: 12:00pm – 3:00pm
Location: Downtown Vancouver, Art Gallery (Georgia Street side)
City/Town: Vancouver, BCDescription:
A protest against the brutality shown in the video, which resulted in the death of new immigrant Robert Dziekanski, 40. Please express your interest by showing up next Saturday November 24th, downtown at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Georgia Street side. Rally will commence 12pm. Please try to wear the red/white colors of the deceased’s Polish heritage, in his memory. Remember, this is about awareness of the tragedy and a protest against the excessive use of tasers, _NOT_ an anti-police rally. THIS WILL BE A PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATION!More info on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=8636840125
VICTORIA: Solidarity and Justice for Robert Dziekanski.
Express your outrage and show supprt for his family through a peaceful demonstrationHost: Facebook Group – “Petition against RCMP officers involved in YVR Tazer Death”
Date: Saturday, November 24, 2007
Time: 12:00pm – 3:00pm
Location: Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
City/Town: Victoria, BCDescription: PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATION – come along and express your outrage and your disgust at the recent events resulting in the unlawful killing of Robert Dziekanski. Show Solidarity for the Dziekanski family and demand Justice so that this kind of thing NEVER happens again
More info on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=6187158110
TORONTO: Defend Robert Dziekanski Toronto Queen’s Park Protest Nov 24
Protesting Unreasonable Force/Showing Solidarity with Vancouver BC Protest Nov 24Host: Facebook Group – “Protesting the use of Excessive force on Robert Dziekanski”
Date: Saturday, November 24, 2007
Time: 12:00pm – 2:00pm
Location: Queen’s Park
Street: University Avenue
City/Town: Toronto, ONDescription: This Protest is designed to continue raising media awareness about the mistreatment of Robert Dziekanski and protest the unreasonable use of force. We want the government to know that Canadians, regardless of their location in Canada are disgusted and heartbroken by the handling of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver Airport. This situation involves issues of race, nationalism, violence and most significantly ethical human behaviour of kindness, patience and compassion.
More info on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6407280731
Please show your support!
Update: also see skdadl @ pogge and April Reign
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