Rest in Peace Steve Gilliard

*1964 †2007

The world just lost the light of one of its finest citizens

The News Blog

Hey Chertoff! You've already trashed your constitution. Keep your hands off of ours!

So after a long day contributing to the Canadian economic engine, I read an article tonight that caught my eye in the Toronto Star.

Peace Bridge talks end
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/207336

I thought it was something about the prospective new span across the Niagara River to take the load off of the existing 3-lane Peace Bridge - and how it's gone back to the drawing board again.

But then I saw the sub-title
'Canada objects to U.S. plans to fingerprint travellers'

WTF?

Somehow over the last two years I had not paid any attention to this planned reconstruction of this incredibly busy border crossing (2nd busiest crossing between Canada and the US, with more than $20 Billion worth of trade crossing it annually). What would happen is that since the Canadian side in Fort Erie has more space than the cramped Buffalo side, all inspections-both for Canada and the US-would occur on the Canadian side.

Kudos should be given to Rep. Slaughter who was trying to find a creative way to keep commerce flowing through what is part of her district.

This would have also allowed Canadians to work on the US side - which would have also allowed them to replace any Dunkin' Donuts coffee with a cup of Tim Horton's ;-)

Had the test-project been succesful, it may have been extended to other busy crossings (Detroit-Windsor; Lacolle-Champlain; Niagara Falls; White Rock/Surrey-Blaine; etc).

But the Department of Fatherland Homeland Security threw a wrench into the plans by wanting a chance to fingerprint people not only crossing, but those also approaching the Peace Bridge, but not deciding to cross.

The United States would have had to give up critical inspection tools to comply with Canada's charter of rights, a Homeland Security spokesman said, including the ability to fingerprint travellers who approach the Peace Bridge but then decide not to cross.

Canada allows only those being charged with a crime to be fingerprinted.

"That's a vital authority that we're simply not willing to surrender," DHS spokesman Russ Knocke said.

The Horror! - only fingerprinting those who are actually guilty of a crime.

I believe that the section of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (http://www.answers.com/canadian+char...) that provides this protection is likely a combination of:
* Section 7 - fundamental justice;
* Section 8 - right against unreasonable intrusion from the state;
* Section 9 - right against arbitrary detainment and imprisonment;
* Section 10 - the right to on arrest or detention a) to be informed promptly of the reasons therefor; b) to retain and instruct counsel without delay and to be informed of that right; and c) to have the validity of the detention determined by way of habeas corpus and to be released if the detention is not lawful;
* Section 11 - Right to be presumed innocent.

(I am not a constituational lawyer nor scholar - so feel free to correct if you are.) Oh and since the US no longer subscribes to Habeas Corpus, how would that affect section 10c?

For the moment, I have to give some recognition to Stockwell "Doris" Day for not folding like a cheap card table when faced with Chertoff's request.

"If the administration decides to stay with their decision, that will shut down that potential," Canadian Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said.
Day said the United States would not accept broader background and criminal checks as alternatives to the fingerprint requirement.

"That would run up against some of our individual rights," he said.

The sheer callousness and absolute despotism of the administration shows in the following quote from Mr. Knocke:

Knocke, at the Department of Homeland Security, said it was Canada's interpretation of its own civil rights laws that prevented agreement.

"The U.S. government reached accommodations with the government of Canada on a number of challenging issues," he said.

Excuse me!?

We don't know how to interpret our own civil rights?

If by interpret, you mean we find some nutbar like John Yoo to shred the rights to bits - Mr. Knocke - you are absolutely, unequivably, unfailingly, incredibly dead wrong.

You already trashed your Bill of Rights, purged more than 700 years of habeas corpus and defecated all over your constitution.

Don't even think about treading on ours you fascist prick! We'll scrap with you down to our last hockey stick.

Nearly 200 years ago another George (Izard) abandoned the American presence at Fort Erie in the War of 1812, never to return.

Mr. Knocke - you and/or the DHS Fatherland dreams will never return to Fort Erie without recognizing that Canadians take their Charter pretty damn seriously.

So in closing, Mr. Knocke - take off eh, get the puck out of here and may you be cursed with the worst case of Beaver Fever!

Steven Harper's flights - ripping off Canadian taxpayers?

Remember how Steven Harper ripped into the Liberals "$11,000-per-hour Challenger jet flights" when he was leader of the opposition?

Well he's now trying to convince Canadian taxpayers it's not that expensive.

But in doing so, he's massively ripping off Canadian taxpayers.

(Sources CBC http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/02/28/jet-harper.html; Toronto Star http://www.thestar.com/News/article/186974)

First of all Steve-o is copying Dubya in twisting in small government meetings to pay for Conservative events

From the Star (all emphasis mine)

"Curiously, a flight by Harper to Charlottetown, and Moncton on April 28-29 for a party fundraiser was not reimbursed. Buckler [Sandra Buckler, Harper's director of communications] said the trip included a "roundtable meeting with Block Parents" and was therefore government business."

Nothing against the Block Parent association, but that is a pretty chintzy way of getting out of paying the costs of your flight - which was used for a longer period for party business than government business.

But additionally to that the PMO office or Conservative Party is not even paying the normal costs that are incurred by National Defense with maintaining and flying the Challenger jet.  They're underpaying - often by more than half.

From the CBC:

"...According to invoices obtained through the Access to Information Act, Harper and six staff members used a military jet to fly from Ottawa to Moncton, N.B., for a Conservative event on July 26.

The Conservative party paid the Defence Department $3,144.18 for the trip — half of what the flight was estimated to cost.

The Prime Minister's Office, in an e-mail to the Defence Department, explained that it settled on the $3,144.18 price tag after consulting with a travel agent and determining how much it would have cost the group to fly on a regular commercial airline.

Another invoice says that on Oct. 4, Harper, his son and five staff members flew to Toronto to watch a Maple Leafs hockey game and paid the commercial rate once again.

Only on a Feb. 10 flight from Ottawa to Halifax, for a retirement party after John Hamm stepped down as Nova Scotia premier, did the Conservative party pay for the full cost of the jet, an invoice shows. On that invoice, the military outlined the cost, stating the flight cost $2,139 per hour.

Military documents, obtained through Access to Information, suggest the cost of operating the jets range from $9,124 to $11,541 per hour

I realize that the PM has to fly with a non-commercial airline for security reasons (though I would take great joy if a security agent was to tell him he was on the no-fly list, or to watch him have to stand in line and take off his shoes.  Or what if he was renditioned off to Syria, or put in a Texas prison while transferring or waiting on a non-scheduled stop.)  I don't even mind if he watches the Maple Leafs games (although as a rep for Calgary SW, you would think that Flames games might be a bit more pudent.)

Dammit Steve-o you're not going to pay commercial rates for a private jet.  As an economist, I thought you could understand those numbers - you know that whole pricing thing?  And as the Conservative party, I thought you had respect for the military...so the Conservatives are saying they don't think the ground and air crews are worth the rate that they charge?

As for the Conservative party - the jet's not a toy...so quit being so goddamned cheap and pay the DND the proper hourly rate.

The smug hypocrisy smells worse than a summer smog day in Toronto.

Advanced copy of Bush's speech on Monday

Well since certain readers of my blog blathered and decried that they were sick of Evil Dick on the top of my blog (what is it with the Republicans and evil men named Dick - Dick Nixon, Dick Cheney, Dick Armey...and well Barb Bush (the matriarch) is just a dick!) - I thought I'd cover up Satan's stunt man.

To remedy the situation I've placed the (currently embargoed) text that GW Bush is going to be reading to the press on Monday - so long as he puts down the bottle of Jack long enough to stand behind the dais.
















"My Fellow Americans:

Im vendipis adiat deliquis nosto duisit, conullam digna cons endio essequis exero cortincil illuptat, quismod olessequam del ut volore del incip erosto conum delenim quipit irit aci exerat at. Ed dolore feuisim delesequis doloreet wis at digniscinim vulputat.

9/11!
9/11!!
9/11!!!

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Terrists!
Terrists!!
Terrists!!!

Per adiam, quat iure dit vel et, sequatin utpatet ilit lummy nit, sustion hendrem irillaorem acidunt ad dunt wis num inibh eu feuissisit, consed tinci eum in eugait ea facidunt aliquat dit, vulputpat. Ut ip eu feu facipsu mmodipit exer susci tatis nit vel estionum aliquatin er inibh etum ad te conum dolorerosto commy nos nibh el dolobore dolor sequisl euguer sum dolorero commy nulla at do consed eum zzrit accum dolendre dignis nullam dolutat ipit ute tio del illa consed exercinis duisl dit atummy nulla commolorper inci bla alis ad enis dolor ip er sequam nos num zzriure dignibh erosto ex eugait am, quat atue magna core eu faccums andreetue feu facinibh euis accum veliqua tueriliquis erat illa feugait nos adit deleniscil utpatem veleseq uismolor sum in volutpatum quatem venit nos ad ex et ut nulla feugiat utatio commy nim nulputpat. Ut digna consecte volutpat aliquis nulputat nit dunt la aci blamet dionulputpat init ipissit prat lutat.

Support the troops!
We don't need no stinkin' Geneva conventions!!
I'm the proud builder of Gulag America!!!

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Saddam Hussein!
Stay the Course!!
To challenge my wargasm makes you a traitor!!!
True Americans strive for the freedom for the NSA to spy on them!!!!

Ommy nim volut vel in ullandre faccum deliquat aliquis sequat, volore tat lore dit eniat lorem doloboreet utpat aut velendre delendre dolenit at utatueratie esectem ing ex enim dunt delisl deliquisim zzrit iriuscip enim er ad ex eliquis aliquam vulla facil elit alit, sequipit wisl ute conse velisit ut lortie tis.

Thank you and God Bless America"

Frankly folks - it's the same non-sensical bullshit we've heard for the last 5 years since he finished reading "My Pet Goat" and the Dick pulled itself out of some dark hole - in Iowa - not his wife.

Cheney - Live from Folsom Prison?

Cheney Accidentally Shoots Fellow Hunter















Good thing I didn't get the deferment today...I wanted to shoot all over another man

When I was just a baby, my mama told me, "Son,
/Always be a good boy; don't ever play with guns."
/But I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.
(I apologize Mr. Cash - you fought against the very things the Dick stands for)

So Mr. Cheney - I'm just wondering why it took 24 hours for this to hit the media. Where you a bit tipsy, or what? Or were those quail just in their last throes?

I see that you have as much control over your use of a rifle as you do for handling American public policy. A few (thousand) dead soldiers and a mass of "sand niggers" so you can put your patriotic shaft in the hole of Iraq to fuck the world with your black gold. Being as blind to the location of your fellow hunter - just like you're willfuly blind to the gross conflicts of interest that Haliburton has for secret cost-plus contracts. Hitting the wrong target...oh shit where to begin...Iraq, Ms. Plame, citizens of the globe. I see that you were as excited to shoot as you were when holding your other "gun" over top of Lynne after you found out that parents of children wouldn't be drafted.

I like Steve Gilliard's compare and contrast of the quail vs the quail hunter...

Maybe he should try for Skeet shooting at the next Summer Olympics...and if he misses and hits someone - hey it's in Beijing and he'll finally get to shoot those "commies" he's been wetting himself over for the last 40 years.

Strange times my friend...strange times

Bullshit

How did Aesop know about Bush?

Bush details Qaeda hijack plot to use shoe bombs

Dear Mr. Bush:

For 2500 years the world has warned us against petulant little boys who don't tell the truth, and the consequences that their message becomes white noise.

Oh where to start...

Mr. Bush, you were wrong about the August 6th 2001 Daily Brief when you were told you would be attacked, you were wrong about Saddam having Weapons of Mass Destruction, you were wrong about the Iraqis accepting you with flowers and chocolates, you were wrong about your mission being accomplished, you were wrong on so many occasions with your terror warning in the last election cycle, you were wrong about the amount of times you wiretapped Americans.

Wrong
Wrong
Wrong
Wrong

So why should we believe you now?

Shoe bombing threats? I've taken off my shoes at various global airports over the last few years.

But what about the people who might have bombs in their jockstraps?


Or what about beautiful women who might actually be fembots with poisonous gas nozzles located under their push-up bras?


Should we just require people to now go through airport security naked?


I'm sure there would be heads exploding across America of people who believe the "terrists" are out to get them, but that the naked human form is two steps from the lowest level of Hell. After the Adult Film Industry awards or the Erotic Tradeshows, or after College Spring break or fresh after a party on South Beach, I'm sure there would be plenty of men (and buxom women) talking about their missiles of mass destruction.

Oh and by the way George, have you found and fired the leaker of covert CIA spy names in your whitehouse yet? And what happened to that "dead or alive" speech you gave 4.5 years ago for Mr. Bin Laden?

Anyway George, glad to see you got put back in your bubble so quickly after you got your ass handed to you at Ms. King's funeral.

Oh fucking hell

Leaving destruction in their wake

Powell: US will pull troops out this year

Thank you America. Thank you for getting the War on Terror all wrong. Thank you for making the rest of the world despise you. Thank you for ruining lives of National Guard soldiers whose only wish was to help at home and get some education at the same time. Thank you for stuffing the portfolio of Dick Cheney with non-bid contracts for Haliburton. Thank you for the latest "Soldier of Fortune" delights. Thank you for defiling the name of Christianity in the worst way since the Crusades. Thank you for using the TWAT (Total War on Terror) in a purely partisan way - but hell what would we expect...I mean the lack of those evil commies is crimping your defense budget justifications. Thank you for the plundering of thousands of years of history. Thank you for being as transparent about your true motives as a brick wall. Thank you for spitting on the hard working soldiers who are only doing their jobs - supporting the troops my ass. Thank you Mr. Bush for not reading history - maybe you'd have understood that the Brits, Ottomans, Mongols and others didn't defeat the cultures at the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers - take a number and wait in the queue. Thank you American liberal hawks - boy I bet you feel a right bunch of charlies. Thank you American opposition for not sticking it to the Bush cabal every single moment of every single day. Thank you American media (I'm lookin' at you CNN - trusted voice in journalism? More like stenography) for losing your teeth and interest in covering political scandal and fellating the Whitehouse like it's an episode of Sesame Street for Grownups. Thank you America for your kangaroo court capture and trial of Saddam Hussein. Thank you America for your reduction of women's rights in Iraq. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

Now for you who have gotten this far go back and replace "thank" with "fuck"