Michaëlle Jean

 

Governor General of Canada Michaëlle Jean has received a lot of attention for taking part in a community ceremony that involved Ms. Jean eating a piece of raw seal heart.

I understand that some object to this action but I believe in this case they are misguided.

The Governor General did exactly the right thing in honouring her hosts by accepting an invitation to experience a vital aspect of their community life.

Loon Theory fully supports Michaëlle Jean.

Calling Foul On Loon Theory

I am totally ticked off at myself for the nastiness of my last post on Loon Theory. I  condemn this sort of writing when others do it and here am I launching vitriolic little attacks on Stephen Harper.

Words like that advance no reasonable cause or purpose.

When I read it later I was taken aback.

Completely unacceptable.

No excuses.

I offer my apologies to Prime Minister Harper.

Harper: Leading Canadians To The Gutter

I do not like the politics of Stephen Harper. I see little in Mr. Harper’s words and actions that are reflective of this country. I see a mean, narrow politician of immense ego, with a massive victim complex and severe control issues who is bereft of  ideas now that his Neo Con Lite daydream has imploded and his hard right wing ideology has proven bankrupt of any Canadian graces.

So to see Harper reduce himself and this country to gutter level political grandstanding and sleazy innuendo regarding supposed tapes of Ignatieff that Harper claims to possess does not surprise me.

I am saddened that this man represents Canada.

I look forward to the end of his pointless, witless governing.

Big Ideas And The Long Now

TVOntario’s Big Ideas and The Long Now Foundation are both fantastic sites for free podcasts of seminars that will leave your head spinning.

If you want to expand your horizons there are few better sources.

Over the past several months I’ve had my mind blown by speakers such as Ray Kurzweil, Stephen Lewis, Daniel Suarez, Gwynne Dyer, Gavin Newsom, John Ralston Saul, Neal Stephenson and many others.

The knowledge, experience and the artfully high octane imagination presented in these lectures is stunning.

Best Canadian Song? What?!?

For reasons I do not understand, The Globe & Mail feel that these 10 songs are representitive of the Canadian Soul and are the finalists in the contest to choose the best Canadian song of all time. (Edit: Actually, it appears it is organized by Luminato)

I’m glad they said best Canadian song of all time and not just of historical time because – though I like each of these songs for different reasons –  judging by this list the best Canadian song has not been written yet.

Kidding aside, it is hard to take a list of Great Canadian Songs seriously if it does not include the quintessential Canadian folk song Four Strong Winds by Ian Tyson.

If you pointed a gun at me and told me I had to pick one off this list or else, I still couldn’t do it.

I have a hard time seeing these songs as particularly or even partially representative of the Canadian Soul.

For example, Leonards Cohen’s Hallelujah is an incredible songwriting achievement but it’s purview is far, far more than the spirit of Canada. It is a great song but it does not belong on this list.

Helpless? What a bummer. That song may reveal a slice of a certain aspect of Canadian life but it is not even mariginally representative.

The Weight? You’re kidding me, right? I don’t care where Robbie was the day he was born, that song is as American as you can get.

Robbie Robertson:
When I wrote ‘The Weight’, the first song for ‘Music From Big Pink’, it had a kind of American mythology I was reinventing using my connection to the universal language. The Nazareth in ‘The Weight’ was Nazareth, Pennsylvania. It was a little off-handed – ‘I pulled into Nazareth’. Well I don’t know if the Nazareth that Jesus came from is the kind of place you pull into, but I do know that you pull into Nazareth, Pennsylvania! I’m experimenting with North American mythology. I didn’t mean to take sacred, precious things and turn them into humour.

Cuts Like A Knife? What?!?

Ok. It is obvious that those who created this list have confused songs written by Canadians with songs that are indicative of the Canadian identity.

My earlier jest may be the truth: The song in question may not have been written yet.

 Updated - If the requirement is simply that the song must be written by a Canadian – well, what can I say – if I were to compile such a list I am pretty sure none of these 10 songs would be on it.

Updated -  Ok. I guess I should proffer a few suggestions based on the criteria of  a writer holding (at the time the song was written?) Canadian citizenship. I need to think about this so I will assemble the list slowly, in no particular order, starting with:

1) Both Sides Now – Joni Mitchell

I believe Joni’s early creation is one of the most beautiful and finely balanced songs ever written.

2) Four Strong Winds – Ian Tyson

3) Suzanne – Leonard Cohen

Update: Still thinking………..zzzzzz………..

4)

Penguins

As a native of Toronto, I am only able to enjoy watching hockey when the sad-sack Leafs are not on the ice.

So quite naturally I enjoy the play-offs as a guaranteed Maple Leafs free zone. (Hey MLSE – when you lose me as a fan, you lose me completely) 

Loon Theory is amazed at the skill and competitive spirit shown by Sid Crosby and everyone else on the team and we are now officially backing the Pittsburgh Penguins to beat (probably) Detroit in seven games to win the Stanley Cup.

May Opus look down kindly on Pittsburgh.

 

Updated - Wow. Carolnina is an excellent team but the Pens are explosive. In the last minute of the first period Crosby, Malkin, Guerin  etc, unloaded on the Hurricanes turning a tightly fought 1 – 1 tie into a 3 – 1 lead with two goals in 31 seconds.

Intesity and skill.

No offense to Chicago - I often support the Blackhawks -  but it looks to me as though only Pittsburgh can beat Detroit.

Don Cherry just said no one can beat Detroit if they bring their best game.

Loon Theory has no official position on Don Cherry.

 

Updated -  Eaves laid a nasty elbow on Malkin. No call. Malkin gets a skate in the face, just battered tonight.

Adams just took a shot from the face-off, scoring on the empty net. Amazing.

Pittsburgh seems to have no problem running up the score to 6 -2. Wonder what Don Cherry thinks of this?

Game over. Malkin dominates. Crosby plays an excellent game.

Carolina down 0 -3 in the best four of seven series.

Today’s Loon Theory: Forced Trade

It is neither Fair Trade nor Free Trade but rather Forced Trade wherein markets are opened and forced into existence where they have no natural reason to be.

Markets not based on the needs of the citizens in a region but based instead on convincing the found ”consumer” to buy what the seller happens have for sale.

When done en masse, it is easily mistaken for culture.

Pakistan Sale – Is This A Good Idea?

It is difficult to imagine that a politician, political party or government would arrive at a decision to sell military products to a place as chaotic as Pakistan without considerable pressure from industry lobbyists.

Those lobbyists and their owners being the same folks who later provide seats at boardroom tables to said politicians once they end their public service.

I’ve read several accounts of the proposed deals from various MSM sources and not one of them – as yet – has mentioned the industry role (Stratfor’s quote of approval aside) or really asked any obvious questions such as:

- Is it a good idea for Canada to be brokering military products deals in extremely volatile parts of the world? (Amnesty International quote of disapproval aside)

-  Whose idea is this?

- Are there any safeguards against this becoming a slippery slope into wholesale arms dealing?

- What lobbying has been done on this issue?

 and most importantly:

- Is there any evidence or suggestion that policy is being driven by the industry and their lobbyists?

In other words, who benefits on this end and how cozy are they with our government?

I’m sorry, this is just too big an issue to leave to right-wing business and a bunch of politicians who are likely already sizing up opportunities for their own main chance after the Harper government falls.

I hope to dig up a little more information on the Lobbyist issue, but til then, here are a few links to news articles where they ask few questions and provide little in the way of pertinent background.

http://news.therecord.com/article/539517

http://www.arcamax.com/newsheadlines/s-549964-749997

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/636699

As usual, it looks like the MSM are not reporting the entire story.

 

Updated - Stratfor is an Austin, Texas based private firm specializing in world intelligence  analysis. It’s not clear why Stratfor and not a Canadian equivalent would surface in this story. It also seems that Stratfor has – at best – a rather questionable reputation with those not enamoured with a Neo Con world view.

Apparently the reporter also considers Stratfor as a right wing viewpoint given the juxtaposition with AI, so at least I’m not imagining that.

I know, I know, Amnesty International on the left, Stratfor on the right. Fair and balanced, right? 

The question is – why should we believe anything a spokesman for Stratfor has to say about this.

Perhaps Stratfor has only what is best for Canada at heart.

    

Updated – The Canadian military have recently begun using the weaponized CU-170 Heron UAV in Afghanistan. The Heron seems to be a joint Canada/Israel effort based on the original Israeli design. McDonald Dettwiler is the Canadian company involved.

In TheRecord.com article the writer states:

Pakistan would like the chance to purchase Canadian products such as flight simulators, night-vision goggles and unmanned drones in its fight against the militants.

Seems the writer is asserting the relative innocuousness – the harmlessness - of the military products in question. It all sort of sounds like War Game stuff -  just safe, clean military hardware. Nothing dangerous here at all.

Maybe they aren’t referring to the weaponized Heron but rather the pinpoint cargo delivery systems built by MMIST – Mist Mobility Integrated System Technology Inc. located in Ottawa.

You’ve got to admit – the technology is awesome cool.

But then Minister of National Defense Peter McKay also said this:

“Doing military business in the future and trade in particular is something that is under consideration,” MacKay said after meeting with president Asif Zardari. He added, however, “we’re not there yet.”

If it’s the weaponized CU-170 Heron UVA that Canada would be “trading” then yeah, I’d say we’re pretty much there already.

But even if its something like the MMIST systems, comments like this in therecord.com piece make you stop and think :

As Pakistan’s military continues pounding Taliban fighters, MacKay said Canada would consider requests from Pakistan to buy Canadian military products.

I’d say the Harper government is prepared to barrel down that slippery slope with no more than a Neo Con’s consideration for possible consequences.

 

Updated 05.22.09 – Defense Minister McKay’s musings on military products sale to Pakistan have now been contradicted by an aide from the office of Foreigm Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon:

An aide to Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said the ban will not be lifted.

“Canada’s policy regarding military exports to Pakistan remains unchanged,” said Catherine Loubier, Mr. Cannon’s communications director.

She added: “Was it considered? No. There are no plans to lift restrictions on the arms sales ban with Pakistan.”

Thanks To Canada News Desk

Click for larger image 

A special thanks to Canada News Desk, the latest and best Canadian news aggregator for featuring my post “Canada Must Stand With Tamil Civilians” in the “Hot Talk” section of their excellent site.

What a buzz to see my work up there with Lawrence Martin and other big names in Canadian journalism.

It’s fun to play with the big kids.

Canada Must Stand With Tamil Civilians

Canada has an option and an obligation to use its considerable economic and diplomatic muscle in any way possible to bring about an immediate cease fire in Sri Lanka.

However this clear and obvious course of action is lost in the confusion of political chest thumping and well intentioned but essentially short sighted local hand-wringing.

In Canada, we must focus on the humanitarian reality first.

The main issue is not the nature of Canada’s relations and interactions with a foreign government.

The major issue is not that the Canadian government has declared the Tamil Tigers a terrorist organization or who carried what flag at a demonstration.

The major issue is not the tactics of civil disobedience or the citizenship status of some demonstrators.

And the larger issue is most definitely not the transgressing of traffic or right of way laws that amount to no more inconvenience than that created by a burst water-main or a St. Patrick’s Day parade.

The main issue is the wretched reality of thousands of innocent people trapped in a war zone through no fault of their own.

Canada is being asked by the Canadian Tamil community to take a lead role in restoring sanity in the region. Advocating loudly and vigorously for a cease fire and using whatever tactics available to bring it about could save countless lives, will cost us little and will enhance Canada’s standing in international humanitarian issues.

It’s also clearly the right thing to do.

Cannon Fodder in Sri Lanka

The carnage continues as civilians and hospitals have become fair game. 

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Shells hit the only hospital in Sri Lanka’s northern war zone Wednesday, killing at least 50 people in the second such attack in two days, a doctor said. Medics at the makeshift facility said they were using brief lulls between explosions to tend to patients but had little to offer beyond gauze and bandages.

It was the third attack this month on the hospital and comes on the heels of shelling this past weekend that killed as many as 1,000 civilians. On Tuesday, shells struck the admissions ward, killing 49. But trapped in the tiny coastal strip as the government presses ahead with its offensive against the rebels, the wounded had little alternative but to converge by the hundreds to seek treatment.

Canada must stand, not with a government or specific groups, but with the Politics of Compassion for those trapped in the war zone.

We must use the power of economics and Canadian Diplomacy to join with other international actors and do everything we can to bring an end to this murderous madness.

Weird Comments (Cheney Edition)

We could probably include everything this crazed loon has ever uttered, but I think we’ll go with this recent answer given by former V.P. Dick Cheney when Face The Nation’s Bob Schieffer asked the question ”Did President Bush know everything you knew?”

Cheney’s bizarre, all too comprehensible response:

 I certainly, yes, have every reason to believe he knew — he knew a great deal about the program. He basically authorized it. I mean, this was a presidential-level decision. And the decision went to the president. He signed off on it

 

This just gets weirder and weirder.

No Place To Seek Shelter

As the Sri Lanka government refuses to allow international press into the war zone, reports leak out that civilians are trapped, little aid is getting through and that a hospital was hit by mortar fire.

BBC correspondant Adam Mynott passes on the U.N. position:

The UN estimates that about 50,000 civilians are trapped by the conflict, in a three-sq-km strip of land. Most of this area has been designated by the government as a safe zone which will not be attacked by air or by heavy weapons.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday he was appalled by the killings and called for an immediate halt to the fighting

Both the Sri Lankan military and the Tamil Tigers are blaming the other for any civilian deaths and injuries, but it is the government that is refusing media access to the area.

Sri Lankan government forces have shelled a hospital inside the conflict zone killing at least 45 people, Tamil Tiger rebel and hospital sources say.

The rebels said the makeshift hospital in Mullivaikal was hit early in the morning, but a government spokesman denied knowledge of the incident.

Meanwhile Sri Lanka’s army said it had pierced rebel defences and advanced along a coastal strip to the south.

The claims are impossible to verify as reporters are banned from the area.

More than 400 people were killed and over 1,000 injured over the weekend in what the UN has described as a bloodbath

 The Tamil Tigers have fought for an independent homeland for Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority since 1983.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in the war.

Until there are independent observers on the ground, we have no choice but to assume that the Sri Lankan government is hiding the truth of its actions.

Tamil Demonstration

(Click for full size view)

Audio excerpt of Toronto Tamil Demonstration (00:55)
 

College St. and University Ave.  in Toronto during the Tamil demonstration, May 10/09.

Audio excerpt of Toronto Tamil Demonstration (00:48)

Toronto Harbour Storm

Toronto Harbour from a Webcam on Toronto Island. Note the sailboat, bottom right, heading for shelter.

The webcam refreshes every minute and now you can see the boat – bottom left – much closer to safe harbour.

The same webcam scene about ten minutes later.

The storm passing over Toronto, from the King City Weather Radar.

The same scene about two hours later.

Night falls.

Torture Fixation (The Hierarchy Of Victim-Hood)

There are few writers and thinkers more dedicated to getting to the bottom of the torture issue than Andrew Sullivan.

I commend and applaud his relentless pursuit of truth and justice.

That said, I needed to ask Andrew a question regarding the Neo Con shadow war on the truth.

The post below is an excerpt from an email I sent to Andrew at The Daily Dish.

I know you and many others have thought and written on this very subject in far more detail and depth than I ever could, but I can’t help wondering if – in the up is down world of American conservatism – the (likely unresolvable) torture issue is actually what the Neo Cons would prefer everyone be fixated on.

Although individuals suffered in horrible ways, the greater damage from the torture appears to be – judging from what I read daily – what was done to the American concept of Rule of Law and the American psyche.

Whereas the damage done by the initiating of a murderous war of choice – with hundreds of thousands dead and millions of lives destroyed - appears to have been inflicted on the “other” and therefore is easier to move beyond.

Other broken “Rules of Law” – equal or greater in importance – fall to the wayside.

It seems America will put itself first, even when attempting to come to terms with past actions and especially when sorting out a hierarchy of victim-hood.

Guernica

Guernica by Pablo Picasso

Link to Bombs Falling/Nowhere To Go

Canada News Desk

Canada News Desk is a News Aggregator with an emphasis (obviously) on Canadian News stories.

I think they are already doing an excellent job, though I would like them to identify the original source of the item they are linking to.

For example, I saw the excerpt by someone named Cash writing about Michael Ignatieff. Being a Toronto native I assumed that it was musician/writer Andrew Cash who writes for Now magazine and that was correct, though I see no need to play a guessing game.

Nonetheless, the site looks good, they aggregate all the usual sources but also appear to recognize so called alternative sources such as Now Magazine.

Apparently items by bloggers have also been listed.

Good stuff.

Bring The Coyotes To Hamilton

I hope Research in Motion owner Jim Balsillie succeeds in his efforts to bring the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes to Hamilton Ontario.

As a long time –  but no longer really interested - Toronto Maple Leafs fan, I would welcome anything that might awaken the Maple Leafs owners from their seemingly endless bottom line induced coma of competitive pointlessness and perhaps add some life to a storied team that is dying from a spiritless gridlock.

Balsillie believes that there is a market in Hamilton and I do not doubt his business acumen. He’s a successful businessman and obviously a die hard hockey lover.

He has the cash, he has the plan and he has the ability.

Any moves to block this by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and/or the team owners – absent a viable plan to keep the team in Phoenix – makes little sense.

Condi Rice, This Is Your Life!

I find it amusing to wonder how much communication traffic there is between the Bush, Cheney and Rice camps these days.

They would have known going in that there would be trouble coming out, but clearly the conclusion had to be that they could and would weather any storm that resulted from their actions while in the White House.

But could they have imagined the current scenario? 

My guess is that they imagined much, much worse and therefore would’ve taken today’s reality in a heartbeat.

Another interesting possibility is that hubris, blind ideology and rank incompetence combined to create a sort of strategic and tactical forced improvisation that these dangerous clowns could have very easily mistaken for the brilliant light of creative genius.

Did they make a til death us do part covenant of true believers? Or is it everyman for himself and the devil take the hindmost once Bush walked out of the Oval Office for the last time?

Seems to me that Condi Rice is both the weakest link and the one in the hindmost position, though obviously others lower down the chain would have to turn or fall long before it reached Condi. Nonetheless she appears to be the only one of the big three who is trying to live something like a normal life and if her recent encounters with university and 4th grade students are any indication, things are not going too well on that front.

Few others are calling it this way, but I read her answers to the students as anything but solidarity with Bush. I think she was clearly (but probably reluctantly) saying – don’t look at me, it’s the President who authorized all this.

I hope Ms. Rice believes deeply and completely in what she represents to the American people because from now till her last day on earth, everywhere she goes, everything she does, every aspect of her life, every public utterance and appearance will be dominated by one issue and one issue only: Torture.

Got a speaking engagement? There will be protesters.

Going to the theater? Don’t be surprised to hear booing.

Oh, and watch out for those students. On this subject, I think they will prove to have very long memories.

Investigation, litigation, incarceration? Well, you never know.

It’s likely that the torture issue will never be resolved in any meaningful way, but because of this the major players may never be allowed to put it behind them.

Condi Rice, from now on, this is your life.

How do you feel about Dick Cheney now?

 

Related reading:

Condi’s Really Bad Day – Scott Horton

Odd Comments (NASCAR Edition)

I  was flicking through the channels, stopped to watch a couple of laps of a Nascar race when I heard one of the commentators – I think  it was Darrell Waltrip – say, as cars were bumping each other on a corner:

“There’s some people around here in a real hurry.”

Given where he was and what he was doing, I thought it was pretty funny and the perfect quote to start the newest Loon Theory feature “Odd Comments”.

 

Cheers

The Violence Below

I have long considered it self evident that Harry Truman committed War Crimes when he used atomic bombs on two Japanese cities.

No effort was made to spare the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians and I am always amazed that anyone would see this as anything other than a War Crime.

Andrew Sullivan points to Julian Sanchez’s response to some musings by Martin Goldfarb - who seems to suggest that there is room for comfortable disagreement on the Truman issue:

Serious people have debated Truman’s decision for 60 years, but even those who disagree with that decision rarely describe it as “criminal.” And if it was criminal, whatever crimes the left alleges of President Bush seem pretty trivial in comparison. – Goldfarb

Goldfarb seems to suggest that if Truman indeed committed War Crimes then that means whatever crimes G.W. Bush committed are trivial in comparison and therefore……. what?  He did not define his conclusion which appears to be that because Truman did something bad, Bush ought not to be investigated or indicted.

But the over-riding factor is the magnitude of human suffering caused by the decision to use these weapons.

Sullivan adds:

The grainy mushroom cloud pictures – abstract black and white photos akin to snapshots of volcanic ash – showed nothing of the violence below; these pictures were taken by the military and released to the press. Unflattering stories on the bombings were censored. The true horror of the atomic blasts wasn’t recognized until much later and never made it into the American public’s imagination the way Abu Ghraib did.

Exactly. Many of us in the west refuse to ackowledge what happened on the ground, where the unspeakable violence and suffering has always been obscured by guilt driven revisionist history and the omnipresent soul searing image of the mushroom clouds.

Firewall The Lobbyists

We’ve known for some time now that the most influential voices in democratic politics are not the millions of voting citizens but rather the hand-full of corporate lobbyists who contribute to campaign coffers and take our representatives out to nice restaurants – where it is apparently much easier to cause them to betray their duties, oaths and constituents.

Whether it’s American Senator Dick Durbin stating that banks “are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place” or the powerful Oil lobbyists besieging and manipulating witless Canadian P.M. Steven Harper, the corporations and their lobbyists have established themselves as major parasites and - quite literally -  the enemies of a citizen’s democracy.

And the shortsighted politicians will sell us out for a few dollars and the cost of a few high class dinners.

Schmucks.

How much do I trust politicians, corporations and lobbyists?

This much: We must make it completely illegal for lobbyists and politicians to communicate without adult supervision.

They cannot be trusted to negotiate anything on their own.

We must find a way to firewall the lobbyists.

Sri Lanka Bombing

 

The government of Sri Lanka has denied, then apparently admitted to accidently bombing a civillian safe zone with scores of people killed or injured.

More military insanity.

Launching attacks without knowing where the bombs are falling seems to be standard operational proceedure.

 Click on this link to listen to my Gaza sound collage “Bombs Falling/Nowhere To Go” with (unauthorized) text by Jawad Harb.

Eye On Kinsella

Welcome to the first ever edition of“Eye On Kinsella” wherein we pass along observations, loon theories and other insider information direct from the secret public blog of infamous fictional famous Liberal War Room Spin Doctor Strategist and insider extraordinaire Warren Kinsella.

VANCOUVER – Jean Chretien says Liberals should push for an election `the sooner the better.’
And the former prime minister says his party is in `very good position to win.’
As the most successful Liberal leader in recent history, with three consecutive majority victories to his credit, Chretien’s advice is likely to be taken seriously by Liberals.

Well, that’s pretty darn interesting.  When the Big Dog says go, you should probably take his advice.

Mmmmm. Seems Warren’s insider’s view, as he notes on his blog, happens to come from The Canadian Press.

Warren,  given you’re a Liberal Party Insider and an Ignatieff confidant, we were hoping for  something a little more direct for the inaugural edition of “Eye On Kinsella”.

Oh well. I guess now that you’re a Party Strategist again you have to keep most of the good stuff for yourself.

We understand. And we don’t feel let down.

Be sure to tune in next time for “Eye On Kinsella”.