.ArmorGroup mercenaries in charge of security at the US embassy in Kabul :"dancing naked around a fire, licking each others nipples and grabbing each others testicles, sex acts, peeing on each other, vodka shots from butt cracks, eating potato chips from clenched buttocks..."Well, boyz will be boyz, stress of the mission and all that, leading directly to :"hazing, weekly ritual humiliation, forced by their supervisors to take part in the demeaning sex games. Anyone who refused to take part in the games was ridiculed, humiliated, demoted or even fired. Those who took part were rewarded with …
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.ArmorGroup mercenaries in charge of security at the US embassy in Kabul :"dancing naked around a fire, licking each others nipples and grabbing each others testicles, sex acts, peeing on each other, vodka shots from butt cracks, eating potato chips from clenched buttocks..."Well, boyz will be boyz, stress of the mission and all that, leading directly to :"hazing, weekly ritual humiliation, forced by their supervisors to take part in the demeaning sex games. Anyone who refused to take part in the games was ridiculed, humiliated, demoted or even fired. Those who took part were rewarded with …
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G&M : Canada to stage mock Afghan attack in Washington "The Canadian embassy in Washington plans to build a faux Afghan village in the embassy courtyard, populated by Afghan actors, and set of fake IEDs, in an effort to show American opinion makers they're doing all they can to win the war in Afghanistan.The Taliban will attack an Afghan village set up in the heart of Washington courtesy of the Canadian Forces, who will send in a medic in a dramatic effort to save a civilian crippled by the explosion.At least four times over two days this month, simulated IED blasts will bring the Afghan …
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.Last September Harper broke his own rules to trigger an election in the fond hope of being returned with a majority, and he did so to the almost universal acclamation of our national media.A year later we have Iggy threatening to bring Harper down at the first available opportunity.How are the major newsies doin' with that?Liberals only engaged in political opportunismIt's all about vanityWhat's a billion wasted among friends? NDP, Bloc might save us from Ignatieff's folly He couldn't have picked a worse time Ignatieff's election blunder Ignatieff will lose if he can't justify trip to polls …
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.Well who the hell knows? Happy Groundhog Day.The Star : "The Liberals will no longer help prop up Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government, paving the way for a fall election if the other opposition parties also vote no confidence in the Conservatives."Mr. Harper, your time is up," Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff said in a speech to troops today. "The Liberal party cannot support this government any further."Meanwhile Steve actually muttered darkly about "bad things happening to this country if there's an election", while NDP MP Thomas Mulcair hinted the NDP might support the Cons "if …
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says Alberta Energy spokesman Tim Markle.PetroChina, the world's second largest oil company, is buying a 60% majority stake in two Athabasca Oil Sands Corp tar sands projects. The $1.9 billion deal will provide Chinese capital for Athabasca which controls about 1.3 million acres of oil sands properties containing as many as five billion barrels of reserves in Alberta. The deal is slated to go through on Oct 31."Sveinung Svarte, chief executive of Athabasca, said the company would likely ship its initial output to U.S. refiners, but would consider other export routes if they open up." In 2005 …
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says Alberta Energy spokesman Tim Markle.PetroChina, the world's second largest oil company, is buying a 60% majority stake in Athabasca Oil Sands Corp (AOSC) to develop two tar sands projects. The $1.9 billion deal will provide Chinese capital for Athabasca which controls about 1.3 million acres of oil sands properties containing as many as five billion barrels of reserves in Alberta."Sveinung Svarte, chief executive of Athabasca, said the company would likely ship its initial output to U.S. refiners, but would consider other export routes if they open up." In 2005 the state-owned PetroChina …
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The identity of the author of the anonymously hosted website Republicans For Ignatieff remains a mystery - Who is besmirching Iggy? Is it a dipper? Or is it a Con? But today via David Akin, we learn there is now a real live Republican activist for Iggy attached to those fingers in the picture at left :REPUBLICANS FOR IGNATIEFF AT THE MISSOURI STATE FAIR"AUGUST 24, 2009 --This past weekend, Republicans for Ignatieff held its first Ignatieff Meet and Greet at the Missouri State Fair.The event was a huge success. We distributed our new Republicans for Ignatieff signs and stickers to numerous GOP …
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What is Emperor Steve fooling around with in his pocket this time?.Oooh - it's the nine new Senators he appointed yesterday.That makes 27 Cons he's appointed in less than a year, bringing his posse in the Senate up to 46 out 0f 105 senators..G&M : "At an event in Quebec City, the Prime Minister said he had to nominate unelected Conservative supporters to the Senate to ensure that his government, which won a minority last year, gets its legislation approved.".There's some Con Party presidents and backroom operatives and Steve's communications aide from the PMO among the unelected ... plus a …
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Liberals say they're in no rush to force fall election"We're not having an election on EI," said Senator David Smith. ``I don't hear Canadians clamouring for an election on this issue."Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff agreed to strike the panel [on Employment Insurance] last June as part of an eleventh-hour deal to avert a summer election.Oh hell, let's just go with the Jurist's shorter :"So it turns out that our last set of confidence threats involved an issue that we don't think matters enough to be worth an election. But that's just as well, since we've …
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A child detained in Guantanamo Bay for seven years for allegedly throwing a hand grenade at US soldiers in Afghanistan when he was 14 years old is on his way home after a Federal Court ruled the U.S. government was holding him illegally. His initial confession, obtained under duress, was thrown out by the judge.."We are so pleased that this nightmare of abuse and injustice has finally come to an end," said his attorney. "While he can never get back the nearly seven years he was illegally detained and tortured, now he can finally return home to his family, friends and country, and begin to …
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Former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge alleges in his new book that he was pressured to raise the terror alert level in 2004 to help Bush win re-election. We at the Beav would like to point out that the not-so-fine print on the Homeland Security Advisory Lozenges was always perfectly evident to us loony left DFH loser bloggers, and hey, Tom, the time to air your troubled conscience was when you were Secretary of freakin Homeland Security, not five years later when you want to hawk your book. …
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WSJ : Afghanistan Contractors Outnumber TroopsDefense Department census :"The number of military contractors in Afghanistan [update : including 5,165 armed private security guards] rose to almost 74,000 by June 30, far outnumbering the roughly 58,000 U.S. soldiers on the ground at that point. As the military force in Afghanistan grows further, to a planned 68,000 by the end of the year, the Defense Department expects the ranks of contractors to increase more.A recent contract is worth up to $15 billion to two firms, DynCorp International Inc. and Fluor Corp., to build and support U.S. military …
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Last week spp.gov, the official US home of the SPP, read:"The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) is no longer an active initiative and as such this website will act as an archive for SPP documents. There will not be any updates to this site." This week it seems they did think of a site update after all. spp.gov :"Going forward, we want to build on the accomplishments achieved by the SPP and further improve our cooperation."We are then redirected to the Joint Statement by the North American Leaders (August 10, 2009) :"Our three governments recognize that we cannot limit …
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Last week spp.gov, the official US home of the SPP, read:"The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) is no longer an active initiative and as such this website will act as an archive for SPP documents. There will not be any updates to this site." This week it seems they did think of an update after all. spp.gov :"Going forward, we want to build on the accomplishments achieved by the SPP and further improve our cooperation."We are then redirected to the Joint Statement by the North American Leaders (August 10, 2009) [excerpt mine] :"Our three governments recognize that we …
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For a cheerful look at the Afghan election, here's the BBC :Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Western allies have pronounced the country's election a success, after voting passed off largely peacefully... including a helpful vid explaining how the indelible ink used to mark the index finger of people who have already voted won't wash off for four to five days. The UN rep said so.Or you could try the rather more dour Guardian :Presidential poll day sees low turnout amid bombings, fraud claims and 'indelible' finger markings that wash off... wherein a voter turns up half an hour after …
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Then - June 2008 :Obama's fight against 'dirty oil' :"Barack Obama on Tuesday vowed he would break America's addiction to "dirty, dwindling, and dangerously expensive" oil if he is elected U.S. president -- and one of his first targets might well be Canada's oil sands. ."The amount of energy that you have to use to get that oil out of the ground is such that it actually creates a much greater impact on climate change, as well as using much more energy than even traditional petroleum," he said.".The extraction of a barrel of crude from oil sands is estimated to generate as much as five times …
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For the cheerful side of the Afghan election, here's the BBC :Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Western allies have pronounced the country's election a success, after voting passed off largely peacefullyincluding a helpful vid on how the indelible ink used to mark the index finger of people who have already voted won't wash off for four to five days. The UN rep said so.Or you could go to the Guardian : Presidential poll day sees low turnout amid bombings, fraud claims and 'indelible' finger markings that wash offwhere a voter turns up half an hour after voting with his finger washed …
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Rethink Afghanistan : Parts 1 through 6. …
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for conservative talk radio show Declare Your Independence With Ernest Hancock.Hancock and "Chris", the black man carrying the assault rifle, knew each other "through their work for presidential hopeful Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas)"."We know what we're up against," Hancock, also packing heat at the health care rally, told CNN. "We're up against a tyrannical government that will rob the next generation as long as they can get away with it."Just a couple of guys conducting a radio interview while cradling an AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle at a health care rally where the President of the United …
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"Dear Norway: Help Save Canada's Wild Salmon" - an excellent new short doc from Damien Gillis being shown at the Aqua Nor trade show right now in Norway. Go.When even John Fredricksen, owner and largest shareholder of Marine Harvest, one of the big three Norwegian companies which control over 92% of BC open-net salmon farms, says :"I'm concerned about wild salmon. Move salmon farms out of the path of wild salmon" then you have to wonder what the hell Canada Fisheries and Oceans Minister Gail Shea is doing over there promoting "Canada's sustainable aquaculture" at the trade show.Featured …
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The new Olympic hockey jerseys for the 2010 Five Ring Circus, featuring a nearly invisible "aboriginal design in the centre of the Maple Leaf "..The International Olympic Committee objected to the old jersey design because it carried the Hockey Canada logo and the "IOC has banned national sports federations from carrying their logos on athlete uniforms".Quite right too. The Olympics is all about amateur sport, not a venue for promoting professional sports branding. I must say the Nike swoosh shows up very nicely though..Related Olympic designs : The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Toke. …
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Welcome home, Suaad Hagi Mohamud. Welcome home.I am sorry to hear you are seriously ill since your eight day incarceration in a Kenyan prison. .Haroon Siddiqui at The Star has a good article up :How Harperites are damaging our citizenship.And Boris at The Beav has a theory as to why this might be happening : Passport photos?.If Boris is right, and never underestimate the likelihood of a really mundane ass-covering move from the HarperCons, then ironically they will probably use their own mean-spirited incompetence as a further reason to push for their already planned biometric passports.. …
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In his Counterpunch article Three Amigos Summit : Sleepwalking Through the Minefield, author John Ross relates a story not covered up here : Mexican government use of ex-RCMP to pin the murder of a US journalist by Mexican authorities on a Oaxaca social activist.After American journalist Brad Will was gunned down while filming a violent clash between government and anti-government forces in 2006 in Oaxaca, the US Congress stipulated that 15% of $1.4-billion Plan Mexico Merida Initiative war on drugs money flowing from the US to Mexico would be subject to Mexico stemming human rights abuses …
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The vigilantly litigious Taser International is filing an application today with the B.C. Supreme Court to quash all 19 of Justice Braidwood's recommendations, along with the section that deals with medical concerns :Braidwood concluded that “conducted-energy weapons do have the capacity to cause serious injury or death” and that the risk increases with multiple use and when aimed at the person’s chest. ... a conclusion also reached by Taser International : Instructor and User Warnings, Risks (via Stanford) :"When practicable, avoid prolonged or continuous exposure(s) to the TASER device …
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LA Times : Four men with the U.S. firm once known as Blackwater are said to be under investigation in the deaths of two Afghans. A U.S. report found serious fault with private security firms in Afghanistan.Kabul : Residents say the U.S. contractors opened fire without provocation after one of their vehicles tipped over in a traffic accident. The driver of a Toyota said the Americans ordered him to stop, then told him to move on. When the driver began pulling away the Americans started shooting. A passenger in the car was killed and a man walking about 200 yards away was shot in the head. No …
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Of the eight to ten million wild sockeye salmon predicted by Oceans and Fisheries Canada to return to the Fraser River this year, only about 7% are returning, leading to the closure of all sockeye fishing on the river for the third year in a row.Fisheries and Oceans Canada scientists are expressing surprise. Alexandra Morton isn't surprised - she's been warning for 20 years that salmon fry passing through lice-infested open net fish farms become infested and up to 80% fail to return. She notes that both the provincial and federal governments have failed to apply existing Fisheries Act …
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The White House : North American Leaders Summit : Energy DeliverablesThe short version :Now that the North American Energy Working Group has established that Canada and Mexico are little more than US resource banks, we're going to need us a new map : the North American Carbon Atlas .The 21st Century Smart Grid for North America : Now with "information-age technologies, such as microprocessors, communications, advanced computing, and information technologies.".Sure, the "flaring and venting of natural gas associated with oil production wastes a valuable energy resource and contributes to …
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The leaders of Canada, Mexico, and the US, annoyingly known as 'the three amigos', kicked off their annual two day bunfest in Mexico today. Anyone thinking of actually throwing any buns should be advised that protesters from the last summit there five years ago are still in prison without trial.The summit is promising to be less chummy all round this time.Canada has angered Mexico by abruptly slapping Canadian visa requirements on Mexican visitors in order to stem the growing tide of Mexicans claiming refugee status in Canada. As of today Harper has stated he is not open to revoking it.Harper …
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.On her way back to Canada over two months ago, 31 year old Toronto single mother Suaad Hagi Mohamud got stopped at the Nairobi airport because they said her four year old Canadian passport picture didn't look enough like her : her lips were thinner. Charged with identity fraud, she went to jail for eight days and has been stranded in a motel awaiting trial ever since.The High Commission of Canada in Nairobi sent a letter to Kenyan officials on May 28 that stated, "Please be advised that we have carried out conclusive investigations, including an interview, and have confirmed that the person …
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When Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan complained about young boys being kidnapped and sodomized by Afghan soldiers and interpreters inside Canadian Forward Operating Base Wilson in Kandahar, they were informed by their superiors to look the other way because it was a "cultural difference". One reported incident of "cultural difference" left a young boy with "his bowel and lower intestines falling out of his body", but according to the Canadian Forces National Investigation Servies report this May, it was apparently none of our business. When Obama rushed through confirmation of Rumsfeld's …
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As thousands of people in BC are evacuated from their homes ahead of raging forest fires, where are the mighty Martin Mars water bombers?From owners Coulson Flying Tankers in Port Alberni, BC :They can be in the air in ten minutes and, based on historical data, each can make a drop every fifteen minutes. Working in tandem, this equates to 7,200 US gallons (27,276 litres) every seven minutes and each drop can cover an area of up to 4 acres (1.6 hectares).The aircraft [takes on] water at a rate in excess of a ton per second. Pickup time is, on average, 25 seconds.The Hawaii Mars is currently …
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In January three drunk off-duty Metro Vancouver cops were arrested for assault on a newspaper delivery man.Griffin Gillan of the West Vancouver Police assaulted Firoz Khan four times and held him down with a foot on his head while he called for back-up from his drinking buddies - all because Khan failed to give him street directions in what he considered to be a timely manner.After commandeering a car to join in the assault, Jeffrey Klassen of the New Westminster police, a use-of-force instructor for police training at the Justice Institute of BC, punched Khan in the back of the head three or …
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Embassy Mag : "Gender Equality", "Child Soldiers" and "Humanitarian Law" are Axed from Foreign Policy Language With subtle strokes of the pen, it appears the Conservative government has been systematically changing the language employed by the foreign service and, as a result, bringing subtle but sweeping changes to traditional Canadian foreign policy.In an email communication obtained by Embassy, staff at the Department of Foreign Affairs express concern about frequent changes being made to commonly used terms, particularly where such changes are not consistent with accepted Canadian …
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Map of proposed and existing run-of-river licences via IPP WatchThe Province : Private power sources 'not in the public interest'"A bombshell ruling by the B.C. Utilities Commission ... refused to endorse Hydro's long-term call for 3,000 gigawatts of power from public and independent power producers (IPPs) because it was not "in the public interest."In other words, the commission shot down government claims that the province needs more power, NDP energy critic John Horgan told The Province."Power to export to the US, he did not need to add, which anyway is looking much less likely to be able …
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Hands up anyone even remotely surprised to hear a Fraser Institute alumnus making an argument in favour of slavery.In an argument with Rafe Mair at The Tyee "Yes, Sell the Rivers", libertarian Walter Block defends privatization using an example of what he is careful to call "voluntary slavery" :"My child is gravely ill. Only an operation can save his life. But, this medical care costs $100 million, and I am a poor man (we assume away the possibility of government health care that will swoop in and ruin our example).Seemingly, my only option is to witness the passing away of my beloved …
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The new TASER™ X3 can fire off three shots up to 35 feet without being reloaded.Impressive. At a distance of 35 feet, you wouldn't even need to talk to the taseree first."We are the new technology – it's splashy because of the electricity, you can make it scary," said Rick Smith of TASER International as he and his brother fired off six rounds apiece to whoops and applause from law enforcement officers attending TASER's annual conference today.."This is as big a step as when firearms went from a muzzle loader to the revolver," Rick Smith said later. "If I was a cop I'd want to carry …
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The only news that mattered around here on Saturday night was a massive thunder and lightning storm with pelting rain. Just before the storm hit, all the colour bleached out of the land into the air, leaving behind a dark monotone of muddy red - Maxfield Parrish crossed with Joy Division.. …
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.Abdelrazik wants the federal government to help him get his name removed from a United Nations terror watch list so he can lead a normal life again.You know - get a job, go to a doctor, get on a plane, have a bank account, accept anything from anyone without risk of their being charged with being in violation of the UN's 1267 shunning regulations. .Above are the responses to Abdelrazik's lawyers from Minister of Public Security Peter Van Loan and Minister of Foreign Affairs Lawrence Cannon telling them to piss off. Click em to read em, courtesy of The Peoples Commission via the indefatigable …
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BC Ferries employee Wing Sun's wonderful little garden on the concrete wingwall wedged between berths two and three at the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal.As ferries load and offload on either side of him, he sprouts seeds, tends his plants, creates garden art out of found objects discarded by travellers, and paints designs in praise of nature on available outdoor walls. All done on his own time and dime during his coffee breaks and lunch hours, it's a lovely oasis in the otherwise quite unlovely ferry terminal.Thank you, Wing Sun, and to BC Ferries for seeing the value in his labour of love.. …
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