Catch 22 for MS victims

Shorter Canadian Institutes of Health Research:

We won't do any research into whether liberation therapy is an effective treatment for multiple sclerosis, unless we already know that liberation therapy is an effective treatment for multiple sclerosis.

Read More

End Of An Era... Or An Age?

The announcement was made today, and I am still in shock over it. Long-time NHL defenceman Chris Chelios - he of 48 years young - has decided to hang up his skates for retirement. While most hockey players call it a career between the ages of 38 and 42, Chelios defied the odds and continued to play at a high level well past 45. However, it appears that Gordie Howe's record will continue to stand as the eldest statesman in the NHLPA has decided to call it quits before his first pension cheque arrives.

There were a ton of accomplishments in the rearguard's career of which he should be proud:

• 1651 games by a defenceman - the most by a blueliner in NHL history.
• Three-time Norris Trophy winner.
• Three-time Stanley Cup winner.
• 27 years as a member of an NHL team.
• Four Olympic appearances.

However, the bigger accomplishments may come in helping Detroit's young players develop. Chelios accepted a role with the Red Wings as Advisor to Hockey Operations. It is reported that he will spend much of his time working with the players on Detroit's AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins.

"The luxury I have now is being able to stay in Detroit with my family and working for the Red Wings," Chelios said to Brian Compton of NHL.com. "I watched what [Steve Yzerman] did, and I'm trying to kind of follow in his footsteps what he did. His first year was kind of a learning experience for him. He didn't know what he wanted to do. He tried to find his niche with the organization. I'm just going to take it day by day here and enjoy what I'm doing. I'm learning from the best."

The "best" that he is referring to is none other than Red Wings' GM Ken Holland. Holland seemed particularly thrilled with Chelios' hiring, and sees him working in a number of capacities within the organization.

"It's a little bit of trying to figure out time commitment, figuring out what 'Cheli' wants to do and where he fits in," Holland said. "Player development is one area that he's going to be very important to us, going to Grand Rapids and working with our young defencemen. It's not one defined job. His role is probably going to evolve over the course of the year. I think Chris is going to bring us a lot of different dimensions to our front office."

Is there a chance that the veteran defenceman could suit up for the Griffins or the Red Wings this year?

"I'm not going to leave the door open," Chelios said. "I'm 100-percent sure that this is it. I know that I'll never play in the NHL again. It's not a hard decision. I couldn't have played any longer than I did. I accomplished what I wanted to. Basically, there's nothing left."

Sounds like he's ready to make the next step.

Congratulations to Chris Chelios on his amazing career and longevity in one of the most violent and brutal games on the planet! There is no doubt that he belongs in the Hall of Fame, and should be a shoo-in once his time comes in three years!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Read More

GOOD-BYE PARTY FOR AMERICA / RELIGION OF PEACE AND LOVE:

I was thinking this afternoon, how about we all get together on New Years Eve and have a going away party for the United States?

I mean, just how much longer can this nation survive while Obama occupies the Oval Office?

This moron, who claims that it is his job as president is to see that we follow the Rule of Law and the Constitution. Yeah sure only when it comes to allowing his Muslim brothers to build their mosque at Ground Zero or whenever else it suits him. When it doesn't suit him, he will violate the Constitution at the drop of a hat.

On August 20, the United States State Department, for the first time ever, submitted a 29 page "Universal Periodic Review", under the direction of Obama and Hillary Clinton, which contained a laundry list of alleged human rights abuses committed by the United States. By so doing, Obama has just given the United Nations jurisdiction to go after the State of Arizona and the 22 other states that are attempting to enforce the immigration laws that he refuses to enforce.

Instead of performing his constitutionally mandated responsibility of protecting our borders, this Commander-in-treason has also ordered his Immigration and Nationalization Department to DROP all pending and in- process deportation cases against all illegal immigrants and releasing those that are already being held. He has made it plain that he will ONLY proceed with deportation cases against those illegals who have committed felonies. The rest are now free to go about their lives here in the good ol' U.S. of A, taking our jobs, getting low income housing, medicaid, food stamps, free education, etc., all at largess of We the People.

The "Universal Periodic Review" is pure B.S., but it's also much more than an opportunity for Barack Hussein Obama, the Apologist-In-Chief, to bad-mouth America to the rest of the world. Contained within that laundry list of so-called abuses is a direct condemnation of S.B. 1070, legislation enacted by the State of Arizona (and supported by two-thirds of the American people), which seeks to do the job that the federal government has refused to do... secure the border.

The submission of this UPR is the first step in a United Nations review process which will culminate with the issuance of a plan of action, approximately 90 days from now, from a panel of UN bureaucrats from France, Japan, and Cameroon.

The United States WILL be expected to "VOLUNTARILY" comply with the UN panels recommendations, but as the UN Human Rights Council states on its website: "The Human Rights Council will decide on the measures it will need to take in case of persistent non-cooperation by a State....."

Thus, this treasonous bastard has effectively placed the people of Arizona (and the twenty-two other states that are considering similar border security legislation) under the direct jurisdiction of a triumvirate of America-hating United Nations Bureaucrats. Can you say "Good-bye National Sovereignty"?

How many more deaths of American citizens at the hands of illegals must occur before Obama does the job the Constitution requires of him. The horrendous discovery of 72 slaughtered migrant workers just across the U.S. border, should have been a wake-up call, but Obama doesn't give a damn.

The people of Arizona see firsthand, the bloody results of the crime and violence being imported by criminal aliens across our borders. Peaceful Phoenix has been transformed into the kidnapping capital of America.

A group of dedicated state and local officials has attempted to quell the violence, but what did they get in return for their efforts? The result has been to watch these local leaders be sued, investigated, and harassed by the police powers of the Obama administration.... ....

It was bad enough that Obama's Justice Department, under Eric Holder, dropped all charges against the two New Black Panthers members who committed voter intimidation at a voting center in Pennsylvania, after the case against the men had been won, but now Obama has ordered Holder to drop ALL charges against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, One of the “alleged” bombers of the U.S.S. Cole, off the coast of Aden, Yemen, on October 12, 2000, which killed 17 U.S. sailors.

Eric Holder, the Attorney General, wrote in a brief, “no charges are either pending or contemplated with respect to al-Nashiri in the near future.” This is the second time the Obama administration has stopped al-Nashiri’s trial, halting a Guantanamo Bay hearing shortly after Obama came to power in February 2009.

So there you have it, Obama refuses to prosecute terrorists, he refuses to prosecute the New Black Panther members who intimidated Republican voters (or white Democrats, for that matter), he refuses to prosecute all illegal aliens.

Instead, Obama has ordered Eric Holder to sue the state of Arizona over its immigration bill, and he has ordered Holder to legally harass Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpio for doing the very job that Obama is supposed to be doing on the border.

Obama, Holder, and the Democrats agenda and priorities of "fundamentally changing America", are NOT the priorities of the majority of American citizens.

Does any of this sound like Obama has the best interest of America and the American people at heart?

If America is to survive as an independent, free and sovereign nations beyond January 2011, we must make every effort to elect ONLY those who will not only look into a wide variety of Obama’s misdeeds and crimes, some of which, if not all, are grounds for impeachment and immediate removal, but to take the needed action to see that it is accomplished. There just is no other way to save our nation.


NOW THIS:

THERE ARE NO WORDS TO DESCRIBE THIS!!!!!

MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON THOSE WHO TOLERATE THE MUSLIMS!!!


An eight year-old child was caught in a market in Iran stealing bread.















In the name of Islam he is being punished by having his arm crushed by a car. He will loose forever the possibility to use his arm again.

How in God's name can this be a religion of peace and love?







No religion can ever justify such hideous crimes.... What sort of a civilization is this?






























Please pass this on, let the world know what's happening in the name of Islam...













Can the Muslims build a mosque near you?

Read More

Buchanan's Liberty First Spouse Gold Coin

On September 2, 2010 at 12:00 Noon ET, the United States Mint will begin sales of the 2010-W James Buchanan's Liberty First Spouse Gold Coins. This will represent the 16th release in the overall series and the 4th and final release of the "Liberty subset".

The obverse design of the coin is based on Christian Gobrecht's Liberty Head Quarter Eagle, minted from 1840 to 1907. Inscriptions have been added indicating "15th Presidency", the years of the term "1857 1861", the motto "In God We Trust", and the date of issue "2010".

The reverse design features an image of a young James Buchanan working as a bookkeeper in his family's country store. Surrounding inscriptions include "United States of America", "E Puluribus Unum", and the coin's bullion weight, fineness, and legal tender face value. The reverse was designed by David Westwood and sculpted by Joseph Menna.

The maximum authorized mintage for the Buchanan's Liberty First Spouse Gold Coin has been set at 15,000 across proof and uncirculated versions. Based on the recent average price of gold, the coins will be priced at $779 and $766 for proof and uncirculated versions, accordingly. There will be no household ordering limits imposed.

On the same date, the US Mint will also begin sales of a 1-5/16 inch bronze medal duplicate. This medal will feature the same design as the gold coin, but with some inscriptions removed. The bronze medals are priced at $5.50 each.

The First Spouse Gold Coins "Liberty Subset"

While the broader series is intended to honor the First Spouses of the United States, four issues of the series feature depictions of Liberty taken from circulating coins issued during the corresponding Presidential term. These designs are used for Presidents who served in office without a spouse. Previously, this has included Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, and Martin Van Buren. The 21st President Chester A. Arthur also served without a spouse, but the authorizing legislation specifically calls for a design bearing the likeness of Alice Paul, who led a successful campaign for women's suffrage. She was born during the Presidency of Chester A. Arthur.

The previous designs used for the Liberty subset were from the Draped Bust Half Cent (Jefferson), Capped Bust Lettered Edge Half Dollar (Jackson), and Liberty Seated Dime (Van Buren).

These previous issues each had maximum authorized mintages of 40,000 coins across both proof and uncirculated versions. Only the first managed to reach the maximum, while the others had combined sales less than the maximum established for the upcoming Buchanan's Liberty coin. The last reported sales figures for the first three issues of the Liberty subset are shown below.

	Unc	Proof	Total
Jefferson's Liberty	20,000	20,000	40,000
Jackson's Liberty	4,754	7,806	12,560
Van Buren's Liberty	4,334	7,515	11,849

Sarah Polk First Spouse Gold Coins

On a final note, when sales of the Buchanan's Liberty coins begin, sales of the Sarah Polk First Spouse Gold Coins will likely end. These coins originally went on sale September 3, 2009. The US Mint has stated that sales of each issue of the series continue until the maximum authorized mintage is reached, or for approximately one year, whichever comes first. In practice, the Mint has ended sales of each issue when sales for the corresponding issue of the current year begin.

Through September 29, 2010, the US Mint has recorded sales of 3,395 uncirculated and 5,060 proof Sarah Polk coins, for a combined total of 8,455. This amount is higher than the current mintage low for the series, the Julia Tyler First Spouse Gold Coin, which had last reported sales of 2,861 uncirculated and 4,830 proof coins, for a combined total of 7,691.

Coin Update News: Latest US Mint Sales Report

Read More

Jedi Mind Inc. Changes Its Mind Over Company Name

Read More

Go on vacation with a Virtual Girlfriend?

At first I thought the idea of vacationing with a virtual girlfriend was lame!  Yet another way to make fun of uber dorks with no real life relying on technology to be a companion.

Then I considered the "virtual girlfriend".  She has some positives that real girls can never have.

1. She doesn't cost anything to feed hence more vacation $$ to spend on yourself
2. She doesn't bore you with annoying conversation
3. She doesn't nag you to go stand in line to see some touristy bs
4. She doesn't get you out of bed early
5. She won't be pissed you brought your laptop so you can play warcraft

All in all the virtual travel companion may be the way to go.

Read More

By the power of Grey Skull!!

Read More

tarek loubani: "in the absence of evidence, sher is being tried in the court of public opinion"

From the London Free Press, by Tarek Loubani:

As a member of London's medical and Muslim communities, I was surprised to read the news that Dr. Khurram Sher was arrested Thursday along with two others, accused in a terrorism-related plot.

I was also surprised -- and became increasingly concerned -- as more information was published regarding the allegations. Our system of justice is built on the zealous presumption of innocence, yet this man and the Muslim community around him have already been judged. In the absence of evidence, Sher is being tried in the court of public opinion.

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews' spokesperson already found Sher guilty in comments to The Toronto Star. Even The London Free Press's headline of Byron terror bust left little room for the presumption of innocence. The effects are chilling for all, and leave Muslims and non-Muslims feeling tense and unsafe in the rush to accept arrests as guilty verdicts.

It is the same disturbing pattern we saw with the Toronto 18, even as the numbers dwindled and charges were stayed.

It shouldn't need saying that most Muslim Canadians are law-abiding citizens who abhor violence and terrorism, and are committed to the safety of their communities. Yet we find ourselves as one of the only communities in Canada compelled to write public statements when members of our community are alleged to have done something.

When we do speak up, we are expected only to assert our "Canadian-ness," rather than raise serious questions about due process and intelligence agencies with poor human rights records -- questions shared by many Canadians and sorely in need of addressing.

Read more here. Thanks to David H for sharing.

Read More

mom visit starts today

My mom comes in today for her annual visit, staying until Friday morning.

I would have ordered last week's weather - cool, dry and autumnal - rather than this week's heat and oppressive humidity, but no one had the courtesy to ask. I hope the heat won't be prohibitive, as we have a much better time if we are out doing things.

This year the plan is Mississauga and St. Jacobs. There are a few cultural and historical things to do in Mississauga - which proves that there's culture everywhere - and I thought we might drive around and do them all in one day, plus maybe a park or a lakeshore stroll. St. Jacobs is not for the outlet stores or the cutesy factor, but for quilts and glassware. My mom loves handwork of all kinds, especially glass, and St. Jacobs has a quilt museum and several glass studios. (Last year we went to the Textile Museum of Canada; we both loved it.) We'll probably hang out in St. Jacobs, or perhaps in nearby Elora, for dinner and miss the traffic on the 401.

Tonight I'm making a special dinner, which is very easy to do for my mother. She's the world's least critical guest. Perhaps my mom developed her attitude of absolutely loving everything! to balance out my other parent's chronic complaining and criticizing. But he's long gone, and we're left with my mom's happy, open spirit and her constant enjoyment of life. I'm very lucky that way.

Read More

So do we want the gun registry or not?

In the end, nobody is going to remember exactly how Harper dismantled the gun registry, only whether he did it in spite of having a minority government.
If the registry is dismantled, that the Tories abused the Private Members Bill to trick the NDP into abandoning their rural members will be portrayed by the media as an example of Harper's masterful parliamentary finesse.
In retrospect, the bill should not have made it through second reading last fall. But by promoting the mantra about how private members bills are "free" votes -- as though that is some kind of inviolate rule --Harper got just enough Liberal and NDP support.
Yes, usually PMBs are free votes, because PMBs are not supposed to be used to implement government policy. But in this case, dismantling the registry is definitely a Tory policy.
So Michael Ignatieff basically had to decide whether the Liberals wanted a gun registry in Canada or not. As the Liberal leader, he had to take the pressure off his MPs by taking the heat himself, and whipping the Liberal vote to support the registry.
Its a decision Jack Layton should be making.

Read More

Telling me I've got to beware

There sure seems to be a lot of news lately about how Threatened we are by Tamil "terrorists" by Russian jets and now by "homegrown terrorists" -- is this all just another Lucy and the football moment for the media? Or is there something weird underway?

Read More

Back To Phoenix

Some interesting news hit the wires today as the Phoenix Business Journal is reporting that there is a new bid for the Phoenix Coyotes, and the mystery buyer wants to keep the team in the Glendale, Arizona locale! Honestly, between all the Ice Edge Holdings news and the possibility of the team relocating back to its original home of Winnipeg, Manitoba, I have been ready to close the book on this story until something significant happened. With new owners on the horizon and a commitment to keep the team in Arizona, the Coyotes may have received the best news they've heard all summer that hasn't included any player signings.

As the article states, there has been no names mentioned as to who is involved with this possible bid, but it sounds as though Ice Edge may not be fully out of the picture.

"We understand another party that we have become acquainted with is in advanced negotiations with Glendale and an announcement could happen soon. If this occurs, we expect to continue to be involved with the Coyotes as an adviser for the foreseeable future," Ice Edge CEO Keith McCullough said in a statement. Ice Edge is reportedly interested in and committed to founding an ECHL franchise in Thunder Bay, Ontario at this point.

We do know that Jerry Reinsdorf is not involved, and that the purchasing group is not affiliated with True North Sports and Entertainment in Winnipeg. True North has maintained its position as a possible relocation option for an NHL franchise, but they have not ventured forth with a purchase offer at this time, according to several sources.

So who is this mystery buyer? Anyone want to venture a guess?

UPDATE: According to Yahoo!'s Puck Daddy, the mystery buyer is Matthew Hulsizer. Click the link for more details!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Read More

Education secretary urged his employees to go to Sharpton's rally | Washington Examiner

Read More

ABC News Exclusive: Two Men on United Flight from Chicago Arrested on 'Preparation of a Terrorist Attack' in Amsterdam

Suspects Had Been Cleared Sunday by TSA in Chicago, Birmingham Despite Security Concerns

Read More

islamophobia in the u.s. is an "increasingly vehement, nationwide movement"

Our comments in this post morphed - predictably, I think - into a conversation about the insanity taking place in the US against the planned Muslim cultural centre in lower Manhattan. In a recent column, Haroon Siddiqui pointed out that:

This theme has emerged in opposition to mosque projects in California, Connecticut, Kentucky, Michigan, New York state, Texas and Tennessee.

but concludes:

These groups are noisy but marginal. This is the opposite of Europe, where Islamophobia has gone mainstream. In North America, it is still held in disdain.

From what I gather, Islamophobia is much deadlier and more virulent in Europe, but I think Siddiqui is misreading the situation in the US, perhaps confusing it with the more mild forms of Islamophobia we see in Canada. (I'm using "mild" as a relative term here, not to excuse or explain away.)

Islamophobia is indeed held in disdain by many good people in the US, but in a country founded and built on racism, any bigoted movement can quickly gain traction - especially when the actions of the government do nothing but reinforce the hatred. This is, after all, a country where more than half the national budget is spent on wars against Muslim countries.

Glenn Greenwald:

One of the most under-reported political stories is the increasingly vehement, nationwide movement -- far from Ground Zero -- to oppose new mosques and Islamic community centers. These ugly campaigns are found across the country, in every region, and extend far beyond the warped extremists who are doing things such as sponsoring "Burn a Quran Day." And now, from CBS News last night, we have this:

Fire at Tenn. Mosque Building Site Ruled Arson

Federal officials are investigating a fire that started overnight at the site of a new Islamic center in a Nashville suburb.

Ben Goodwin of the Rutherford County Sheriff's Department confirmed to CBS Affiliate WTVF that the fire, which burned construction equipment at the future site of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, is being ruled as arson. . . .

The chair of the center's planning committee, Essim Fathy, said he drove to the site at around 5:30 a.m. Saturday morning after he was contacted by the sheriff's department.

"Our people and community are so worried of what else can happen," said Fathy. "They are so scared" . . .

Opponents of a new Islamic center say they believe the mosque will be more than a place of prayer; they are afraid the 15-acre site that was once farmland will be turned into a terrorist training ground for Muslim militants bent on overthrowing the U.S. government.

"They are not a religion. They are a political, militaristic group," Bob Shelton, a 76-year-old retiree who lives in the area, told The Associated Press.

Shelton was among several hundred demonstrators who recently wore "Vote for Jesus" T-shirts and carried signs that said "No Sharia law for USA!," referring to the Islamic code of law.

Others took their opposition further, spray painting a sign announcing the "Future site of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro" and tearing it up.

Earlier this summer opponents criticized the planned mosque at hearings held by the Rutherford County Commission, as supporters held prayer vigils.

At one such prayer vigil, WTVF reported opponents speaking out against construction.

"No mosque in Murfreesboro. I don't want it. I don't want them here," Evy Summers said to WTVF. "Go start their own country overseas somewhere. This is a Christian country. It was based on Christianity."

The arsonists undoubtedly will be happy to tell you how much they hate Terrorism. And how there's a War on Christianity underway in the U.S. The harm from these actions are not merely the physical damage they cause, but also the well-grounded fear it imposes on a minority of the American population. If you launch a nationwide, anti-Islamic campaign in Lower Manhattan based on the toxic premise that Muslims generally are responsible for 9/11 -- and spend a decade expanding American wars on one Muslim country after the next -- this is the inevitable, and obviously dangerous, outcome.

Why should non-Muslim Americans care about this? Besides the same reasons white Americans needed to care about civil rights, non-gay Americans need to care about same-sex marriage, and men need to care about feminism, because what kind of world do we want to live in? Besides that. This growing hatred against an imagined internal enemy is one of the requirements of the fascist shift. How much clearer can the parallels be?

Read More

end canine profiling: support hershey's bill

Also five years on: Ontario's discriminatory anti-pit-bull law. Many thanks to the organizers and attendees of yesterday's rally in Toronto, and to MPP Cheri DiNovo for everything she's done.

In the Star: Dog owners want same laws for all breeds.

One law for all. Is that too much to ask?

Stop K9 Profiling

Read More

five years ago today, we move to canada

The fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina is also the fifth anniversary of the day we moved to Canada.

It's a poignant anniversary, as two members of that family are gone now.

Cody was in a den of boxes at the far back of the World Fullest Mini Van™. She had no grey fur yet!

Buster was in the front, between us, touching me in some way for the entire trip. We had a cooler full of special food and medication for him.

So much has changed since then. Allan often says that his day-to-day life has changed little since moving to Canada, but I feel that mine has changed drastically. Suburban life, our friends here, the war resisters campaign, grad school - all new. I'm not writing professionally; I'm looking towards a new career.

Five years doesn't seem that long, but it's a lifetime of sorts.

Read More

Dowbiggin Makes A Case

The Globe & Mail, one of Canada's daily national newspapers, has a number of excellent writers at its disposal. One of those writers is Mr. Bruce Dowbiggin. Today, Mr. Dowbiggin's column sounded surprisingly like an excerpt from the NHL Commissioner's various speeches about NHL participation at the Olympics. It is worth pointing out, though, that Mr. Dowbiggin is framing this article very well, and makes a case for why the NHL should be compensated in some way if they are releasing the players they have under contract to the Olympics.

Now don't get me wrong here: I love Olympic hockey. Besides the national pride on the line, there's always a good chance to see a surprising upset, a highlight-reel play, or a show-stopping save. Olympic hockey is fun, fast, and exciting, and the reason it is this way is due to the talents of the men on the ice.

And there's the rub: the NHL employs the best hockey players on the planet, and they get little to nothing in return except a few headaches.

As Mr. Dowbiggin writes,

"The Olympic TV impact is negligible in most of the American burgs where Bettman has hawked franchises, the elite players are exhausted by the travel and it punishes the NHL regional broadcasters who must go on hiatus at a time when hockey has the stage almost alone to itself in February.

"Plus, the NHL gets bupkis in return. As it stands now, the panjandrums of the International Olympic Committee and International Ice Hockey Federation are telling the league to butt out, they’ll be the ones to collect the cash. They’ll also tell you what uniforms teams can wear, how often you’ll play and probably how much luggage you’re entitled to bring.

"It’s a one-sided deal, one not reflecting the NHL’s leverage: the world’s best hockey players."

If you were the owner of an NHL team and you allowed your best players to head over to Sochi, Russia in 2014, what kind of return do you get besides a little national pride? And how does the IOC repay you if your superstar - say, Ovechkin or Crosby - ends up with a season-ending injury during his participation at the Olympics?

Mr. Dowbiggin even points out that the NFL may be pushing the Super Bowl into the Winter Olympics' normal window of time by expanding its season to an eighteen-game schedule. If you're a hockey fan, you want the NHL players there to give the Olympic hockey event some meaning, especially if they are competing against the largest annually televised sporting event. Otherwise, it should be business as usual for NHL teams, and the players watch the national teams from North American soil.

My feelings are that the teams should allow their players to represent their countries. Much like the transfer fees that the respective sport federations demand in Europe, the NHL should turn the tables on those federations and demand compensation for their stars.

After all, if the federations' arguments are that they trained and developed the players that the NHL teams are drafting, the same excuse can be used against them: NHL teams are training and developing those players into stars. If the Russian National Hockey Federation can demand payment from an NHL team, the same can be done by the NHL teams to the federations that demand that payment.

Isn't that fair for both sides?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Read More

the u.s. police state at home and abroad

I found three items in my inbox, seemingly unrelated, but in reality, inextricably connected. Think of their implications, on the people of the US and on the world.

First we have The Real News' Paul Jay speaking with author Eric Margolis. The former head of the MI5, the British equivalent of the FBI or the RCMP, admits that the Iraq War was based on lies and deception - but consumers of mainstream US news never hear this.

Next we have Glenn Greenwald musing on the The Washington Post's revelations of a secret US government, spying on nearly everyone - certainly including its own citizens. Jeremy Scahill, writing in The Nation, points out that this has all been known and reported on before, but a major corporate media report should at least raise an eyebrow. But no one makes a peep. Greenwald:

This all "amounts to an alternative geography of the United States, a Top Secret America hidden from public view and lacking in thorough oversight." We chirp endlessly about the Congress, the White House, the Supreme Court, the Democrats and Republicans, but this is the Real U.S. Government: functioning in total darkness, beyond elections and parties, so secret, vast and powerful that it evades the control or knowledge of any one person or even any organization.

Anyone who thinks that's hyperbole should just read some of what Priest and Arkin chronicle. Consider this: "Every day, collection systems at the National Security Agency intercept and store 1.7 billion e-mails, phone calls and other types of communications." To call that an out-of-control, privacy-destroying Surveillance State is to understate the case. Equally understated is the observation that we have become a militarized nation living under an omnipotent, self-perpetuating, bankrupting National Security State.

I find reading Greenwald on the WaPo expose more edifying than the Top Secret America project itself, for the context and commentary he brings.

And then one more piece, this by Ed Brayton, who tirelessly chronicles (among other things) the epidemic of police abuse of power in North America. This one is particularly brutal. Brayton quotes Alison Kilkenny, who some of you know as the partner of comic Jamie Kilstein.

Late one night in October, a 17-year-old on a bike was chased by a police officer in a cruiser. When the boy refused to stop, the officer aimed his Taser out the driver's window and fired. The boy fell off the bike and the cruiser ran over him, killing him.

Another report on the same incident:

At about 12:45 a.m., said Moultrie, Victor left on a borrowed bike. From there to where the chase started was about four and a half miles. But it was about 1:45 a.m. that Officer Jerald Ard spotted Victor. Where Victor went after leaving Moultrie's house is unclear.

Ard would later say that he tried to stop Victor because he had seen him at a construction site and thought he may have stolen something. But witness Victor Stallworth said he saw Victor ride his bicycle past the construction site without stopping. Months later, Ard gave investigators a different reason for stopping Victor: He didn't have a light on his bike -- only two reflectors.

A video camera on the dashboard of Ard's squad car recorded the brief chase:

Ard spotted Victor and did a fast U-turn to stop him. When Victor didn't stop, Ard veered to the wrong side of the street and up on the sidewalk behind the teenager.

The officer revved the motor, his tires screeching, as he followed Victor into the side yard of an apartment building. With his flashers and PA system on, Ard yelled at Victor to "stop the bike."

It is unclear why Victor disobeyed the order to stop, but the teenager continued pedaling, trying to escape. Ard followed his every move, driving in and out of the wrong lane of traffic and up onto the sidewalk again. One minute and seven seconds into the chase Ard fired his Taser at Victor, who turned into a parking lot. About two seconds later, Victor fell to the ground and Ard ran over him.

And if that isn't enough to make your blood boil, this certainly should:

A video, taken from the dashboard of another officer's car, recorded what happened in the minutes before the discovery:

Three officers squatted next to Ard's car, looking under it at Victor. Ard unlocked the passenger side of his car and got something out. The object is light-colored and floppy, but isn't clearly visible. Ard, holding the object, crawled under the car next to Victor's body and stayed there for 40 seconds. Two minutes later, paramedics found a 9mm silver and black semi-automatic in Victor's pocket.

Lab tests showed the gun had been wiped clean. No fingerprints were on it -- not Victor's, not anyone's. Victor's family, as well as his pastors and friends, were aghast. Victor was scared of guns, they said. He would not have carried a gun around.

None of this is particularly unusual. The officers in the Atlanta PD drug squad who turned state's evidence against their colleagues testified that virtually every officer in the department kept bags full of drugs in the trunks of their squad cars to plant on people.

And guess what? A judge decided that the officer had not done anything wrong by firing a taser at a kid on a bike on the false basis that he might have stolen something that had never been reported stolen.

If this incident shocks you, consider that Brayton blogs about this kind of thing all the time.

So we see a police state on the macro level, as the US attempts to monitor and control nearly the entire world, and a police state on the local level, as police officers operate as uniformed organized crime units. And we see a public largely ignorant of either condition.

To the usual protestations that the US is not a police state, because the person speaking is free to come and go as she chooses, I retort that in every police state, some people remain free and some live under siege. Historically, in any former or current authoritarian society - be it East Germany, Argentina, South Africa or elsewhere - some portion of the population lived well and undisturbed, and some lived in fear and degradation.

Apartheid-era South Africa was a lovely, comfortable society for well-off white people. So can it be said that South Africa was a free society? Whether the distinction is based on class, colour, ethnic origin, or anything else, how can we say a society is free, if a large percentage of its population is harassed, spied on, preyed on, even murdered, with no access to justice and zero consequences to the perpetrators? I explored this theme in this previous post, which documents the millions of law-abiding New Yorkers who live in a police state today.

And if we must look at everything from a purely selfish level, does this map include you? If Winston Smith believed himself to be free, did that make him free?

Around the globe, the US makes war against anyone who challenges its global empire, or happens to live in the way of resources it claims as its own. At home, it makes war against the poor, the ranks of which are growing exponentially.

And the vast majority of its citizens continues to believe they live in a democracy and a free society, because no one tells them otherwise. If anyone does try to raise an alarm, most people have no context in which to place the information; it sounds completely bizarre, and they automatically reject it. Or, increasingly, the bell is a false alarm, ringing backwards, sounded by the people who foment and profit from fascism.

Read More

Shorter

Shorter Glenn Beck's "Restoration of Honor" rally:

The South shall rise again

UPDATE: Steve Benen argues that the Beckapalooza rally wasn't actually ABOUT anything. He has a point. But just as the message of the Iraq War was, get those Iraqis away from our oil, the message of the rally was, get that black man out of our White House.

Read More

Springfield Looks Good!

If you watch Sunday evening television, or any sort of syndicated television, the image to the right is a bit of a joke from The Simpsons. While the Simpson family lives in a fictional town of Springfield, there is a real Springfield in Massachusetts that is home to the AHL Falcons franchise. This franchise has undergone many changes in its history, but they always seem to honour their past. With the AHL beginning its 75th Anniversary with a home-and-home throwback series involving the Falcons, it's time we take a quick peek at what the Falcons will be wearing.

We're still waiting on the other five teams to reveal what they will be wearing, but the Springfield Falcons made the AHL look exponentially better with their opening weekend throwback jersey. That, readers, is absolutely stunning!

How much is there to like on that jersey? The old Springfield Indians logo from 1936 is absolutely gorgeous! Combined with the beige background colour, the bright red really jumps out at you, and the white colouring is accented brightly, making it stand out from the rest of the jersey. If drawing your eyes to the logo wasn't enough, the blue stripes and red sleeves frame the logo beautifully.

People, this is entirely what a hockey jersey should look like, and I cannot credit the Falcons and the AHL enough for their efforts in making these throwback games look amazing.

While we wait to see what Rochester, Lake Erie, Syracuse, Hershey, and Providence will do, seeing Springfield pull off a gorgeous jersey like this makes me happy, and leaves me wanting more of these incredible throwback jerseys. There's also a good chance we could see more jersey magic at the 2011 AHL All-Star Classic as the league pushes the game's look back to 1942 with more throwback sweaters.

Two thumbs-up to the look that Springfield will don on October 8 and 9. Simply beautiful!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Read More

view from my kitchen

This was hanging in the kitchen when I came home from work. It wasn't there when I left this morning!

Read More

The rules have changed

Back in the day, if a natural resource company started screwing around, a government would just expropriate the company, or at least would threaten to do so..
So if BHP Billiton started screwing around with Saskatchewan potash mines -- like, shutting down mines because they were playing hardball on royalties or some other corporate game -- could the Saskatchewan government just expropriate the mines?
Not really, not anymore -- NAFTA would be angry. And we wouldn't like NAFTA when its angry...

Read More

GOP plans wave of White House probes

Read More

People Overcome by Fumes at MGM Grand Pool - KLAS-TV Channel 8 News Las Vegas

Read More

Paris Hilton arrested on cocaine charge in Vegas

Read More

Dog-gone

The owners must have set up the camera because they couldn't figure out how this puppy could keep getting out of the crate:



Also too


UPDATE: And here's the one I was looking for:

Read More

USA Today shaking up staff in 'radical' overhaul USA Today reorganizing its staff in digital makeover that will result in 130 layoffs

Read More

Glenn Beck 8/28 rally: It's a matter of honor - CSMonitor.com

Read More

Jackson Hole Debate on Recession Risk Shows Bernanke Challenge

Read More

'Israel ready to destroy LAF in 4 hours'

Read More

Ground Zero Muslim center may get public financing

Read More

Microsoft Co-Founder Launches Patent War

Read More

Ben Bernanke dashes Democrats' hopes

Read More

Obama, Democrats got 88 percent of 2008 contributions by TV network execs, writers, reporters | Washington Examiner

Read More

Desperate homeowners line up for mortgage modification marathon

Read More

Mullen: National Debt is a Security Threat

Read More

The Most Fiscally Irresponsible Government in U.S. History - US News and World Report

Read More

Calendar Notes

With the summer months rolling into the autumn season, there are a lot of things to consider in terms of time. As you may be aware from reading this blog, I'll be away for the entire month of September, but this blog will not stop. Instead, I've already lined up some excellent writers to do a few pieces for me while I'm away, and they will receive the schedule this week. There are also some notes on the AHL and KHL calendars for important dates, and we'll take a look at these dates this evening. We can't be missing these events from other leagues not named "NHL", so I want to be sure you're up-to-date on your calendar with all of these events.

September 8th sees the KHL season kick off as the two-time Gagarin Cup Champion AK Bars Kazan meet the newly-named OHC Dynamo, the merged team of last year's finalist in HC MVD and the folded Moscow Dynamo. If you remember, it took Kazan the full seven games to finally knock off HC MVD, so this game should be a great start to the third KHL season.

St. Petersburg, Russia will have all eyes on it as the KHL All-Star Game festivities take place there on February 5th and 6th. The KHL season will end on February 20th, and the Gagarin Cup Playoffs will begin on February 23rd. If the Gagarin Cup Final goes the distance, the last game in the KHL season will be played on April 20th.

The AHL finally released their schedule for the teams in the circuit, and I am already looking forward to a few games on the Manitoba Moose schedule. But we'll start with the unhappy news.

The Moose have two ugly road trips this season: one that spans seven games, and another that sees eleven games played consecutively on the road. The Moose play six three-games-in-three-nights scenarios this season. While some teams thrive on this setup, the Moose have maintained that it is something they would like to see changed in the future.

"There’s no way to avoid them," Moose GM Craig Heisinger told Jim Bender of The Winnipeg Sun. "We don’t have too many of them. Some teams that bus from city to city can’t get enough of them."

While those are the blemishes on the schedule, there are some bonuses. The Moose get to play their North Division rivals a total of eight times per team. Abbotsford, Hamilton, Toronto, and Rochester will play four games in Winnipeg, and the Moose will visit those teams' respective buildings four times as well. The Moose will tangle with the Lake Erie Monsters four times as well - twice at MTS Centre and twice at Quicken Loans Arena. The expansion Oklahoma City Barons visit Manitoba on December 3 for the first time in their history.

Looking at the Eastern Conference, the Moose get to battle their nemeses in the Hershey Bears and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins once again this season. They will play these teams twice in Manitoba, and twice in their respective arenas.

The Moose open the season on the road against the Peoria Rivermen on Friday, October 8. They travel to Rockford for the second half of their two-game road trip to start the season on October 9 for a date with the IceHogs. The Moose hold their home-opener on October 15 against the Grand Rapids Griffins. After a pair of games against the Griffins, they welcome the Hamilton Bulldogs to MTS Centre.

As for special dates, the Moose will host the Chicago Wolves for the third time in fifteen years on their New Year's Eve game. The Moose get their CBC airtime on the brand-new "AHL on CBC" program when they battle the Abbotsford Heat on Sunday, January 23. They follow-up those games with a CBC airing of a Toronto-Manitoba on February 27, another Abbotsford-Manitoba affair on March 27, and close out the CBC AHL schedule with a Toronto-Manitoba battle on April 3. The January 23 and March 27 games will be broadcast live from the MTS Centre in Winnipeg.

Looking at the AHL's overall schedule, the opening weekend on October 8 will feature a home-and-home throwback series between the AHL's most storied clubs. From the AHL site: "The Providence Bruins will take on the Springfield Falcons (Oct. 8 and 9), the Lake Erie Monsters will square off against the Syracuse Crunch (Oct. 8 and 9) and the Hershey Bears will face the Rochester Americans (Oct. 10 and 16) while wearing throwback uniforms that will hark back to the earliest days of the American Hockey League. Providence, Springfield, Cleveland and Syracuse were among the league’s charter cities in 1936, with Hershey coming aboard in 1938 and Rochester hitting the ice in 1956."

The AHL will also see the WBS Penguins and the Hershey Bears clash on December 30 at the brand-new Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh as a part of the build-up to the 2011 Bridgestone Winter Classic. The XCel Energy Center in Minneapolis will play host to a game between the Houston Aeros and the Peoria Rivermen on February 12 as a part of "Hockey Day In Minnesota" festivities.

The 2011 AHL All-Star Classic will take place on January 30 and 31. The Hershey Bears are playing host to this year's event, and the event reverts back to an East-vs-West format for the first time since 1942, and all of the players in the game will wear throwback sweaters from that year.

Lots of great news from the AHL and KHL, so start marking your calendars! I'm especially excited for the 75th Anniversary activities that the AHL is planning!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Read More

OBAMA VACATIONS AS AMERICA COLLAPSES:

This post contains a video. To hear it properly, please turn off the sound on the "Ave Maria" music widget on the right hand side of the page.

HANG ON TO YOUR HATS FOLKS, THIS SHOULD GIVE YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE A REAL JOLT.

It appears that as Americans die at the hands of illegals, as our country falls victim to waves of illegals flooding in, Obama vacations his ass off, and he just don't seem to give a damn about us or our nation. Now, Obama's Immigration director has stopped ALL legal deportation proceedings against all illegals being held for deportation. They are to be released back onto the streets. ICE will now only go after those who have felony records, the rest are being granted defacto AMNESTY. Check out the following video:





Page 2.

HERE IS HOW THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION WILL MAKE AN "END RUN" AROUND THE SECOND AMENDMENT CONCERNING OUR RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS:

Will Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson make a back door move to ban lead bullets the day before the November 2 elections? Several environmentalist groups led by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) are petitioning the EPA to ban lead bullets and shot (as well as lead sinkers for fishing) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Although EPA is barred by statute from controlling ammunition, CBD is seeking to work farther back along the manufacturing chain and have EPA ban the use of lead in bullets and shot because non-lead alternatives are available. But here's the catch: the alternatives to lead bullets are more expensive. A ban on the sale of lead ammunition would force hunters and sport shooters to buy non-lead ammunition that is often double the cost of traditional lead ammunition. A box of deer hunting bullets in a popular caliber could be upwards of $55. You can keep your guns, but you may not be able to afford the ammo.

Read More

a few notes on how crazy my country of origin has become

My classes don't start until September 13, but next week my mother is here, so my time is suddenly very limited. As my last days of relative freedom tick away, I'm combing through some very old email in my inbox, to see what I can read, post and/or dispose of. I found a neat juxtaposition between two links sent by two of my main link-senders.

First, Kevin Drum, writing in Mother Jones, makes a dead-on assessment of the Obama administration. Thanks to James.

Here's the good news: this record of progressive accomplishment officially makes Obama the most successful domestic Democratic president of the last 40 years. And here's the bad news: this shoddy collection of centrist, watered down, corporatist sellout legislation was all it took to make Obama the most successful domestic Democratic president of the last 40 years. Take your pick.

Widening the lens, Glenn Greenwald dissects the greatest hoax perpetrated in my lifetime: "The Liberal Media". This one is longer, but like all of Greenwald's columns, very much worth your time. Sent by my Greenwald correspondent, redsock.

First, consider which viewpoints cause someone to be fired from The Liberal Media. Last month, Helen Thomas' 60-year career as a journalist ended when she expressed the exact view about Jews which numerous public figures have expressed (with no consequence or even controversy) about Palestinians. Just weeks ago, The Washington Post accepted the "resignation" of Dave Weigel because of scorn he heaped on right-wing figures such as Matt Drudge and Rush Limbaugh. CNN's Chief News Executive, Eason Jordan, was previously forced to resign after he provoked a right-wing fit of fury over comments he made about the numerous -- and obviously disturbing -- incidents where the U.S. military had injured or killed journalists in war zones. NBC fired Peter Arnett for criticizing the U.S. war plan on Iraqi television, which prompted accusations of Treason from the Right. MSNBC demoted and then fired its rising star Ashleigh Banfield after she criticized American media war coverage for adhering to the Fox model of glorifying U.S. wars; the same network fired its top-rated host, Phil Donahue, due to its fear of being perceived as anti-war; and its former reporter, Jessica Yellin, confessed that journalists were "under enormous pressure from corporate executives" to present the news in a pro-war and pro-Bush manner.

What each of these firing offenses have in common is that they angered and offended the neocon Right. Isn't that a strange dynamic for the supposedly Liberal Media: the only viewpoint-based firings of journalists are ones where the journalist breaches neoconservative orthodoxy? Have there ever been any viewpoint-based firings of establishment journalists by The Liberal Media because of comments which offended liberals? None that I can recall. I foolishly thought that when George Bush's own Press Secretary mocked the American media for being "too deferential" to the Bush administration, that would at least put a dent in that most fictitious American myth: The Liberal Media. But it didn't; nothing does, not even the endless spate of journalist firings for deviating from right-wing dogma.

. . . .

Then there's the Nasr case itself. Look at how our discourse is completely distorted and dumbed-down by the same stunted, cartoonish neocon orthodoxies that have also destroyed our foreign policy. In our standard political discussions, the simplistic and false notion -- obviously accepted by CNN -- drives the discussion: Fadlallah is an Evil Hezbollah Terrorist!!, and Nasr probably is as well given the "respect" she expressed for him during his death. Thus: CNN got caught employing an Israel-hating Terrorist-lover, and once she revealed herself, she had to be fired immediately!!!! That really is the primitive level of agitprop churned out by neocon polemicists and then dutifully ingested and embraced by CNN.

The reality, though, is completely different. [More here, with copious links.]

I tune out a good deal of US news and distraction, but inevitably, someone solicits my opinion. When people ask me what I think about the "mosque at ground zero" controversy, and I can't even begin to stutter an answer. You mean, the Muslim cultural centre in lower Manhattan? Why are we allowing bigots and jingoists to define our speech? It's not ground zero, some mythical mirage of the worst thing that's ever happened in the history of ever. It's a real place with a real name: lower Manhattan. It's not a mosque, and if it were? Why should Muslim prayer be prohibited there? Imagine if churches couldn't be built near the former sites of any US-led or -funded terrorism exploits. Christians would have to colonize the Moon.

Read More

chelsea baker, little league superstar

If Eri Yoshida doesn't break baseball's gender barrier, maybe Chelsea Baker will.

This is the kind of story I used to go after when I wrote for kids' magazines. So if you know any kids, send them this link. The original on ESPN.com has video, plus a sidebar about women in profressional baseball.

In a league of her own
By Ben Houser

PLANT CITY, Fla. -- She registered another perfect pitching record this year, 12-0, for her Little League team.

She threw her second perfect game -- and predicted this one just hours before she did it.

Her fastball hits the mid-60s, and she can send opponents to the bench in tears, embarrassing them with a knuckleball she learned from former major league knuckleball legend Joe Niekro.

Meet Chelsea Baker, a girl pitcher in a boys' league.

Heads are turning in Plant City, where Chelsea hasn't lost a sanctioned Little League game in four seasons.

Although it is a little early to call the 13-year-old the next big thing in baseball, she's a sought-after pitcher who has the attention of respected talent evaluators, including former Boston Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette. They see grand possibilities in her developing knuckleball, already-hopping fastball and strong hitting skills that sparked a .604 batting average this past season.

"She is definitely one-of-a-kind," said Keith Maxwell, one of her coaches and a former minor leaguer who coaches Little Leaguers across several states. "I've had an opportunity to play with some girls coming up in Little League, and they were actually pretty good ballplayers. Some of them actually made all-star teams and that kind of stuff. Chelsea is on a whole different planet compared to them.

"Chelsea Baker is by far the best female 13-year-old girl [baseball player] in the United States. She is the best I've ever seen in my life hands down. The sky is the limit."

Baseball until she no longer wins

It's baseball, and it will be that way so long as Chelsea has a say.

"I don't like to play softball," she said.

Opponents' parents often remark about Chelsea -- not always quietly or kindly.

The most common: "'Go play softball with the girls' -- we get that a lot, and we have gotten that a lot over the last three years," her mother, Missy Mason Baker, said. "'When is she going to move to softball?' At some point, maybe she might have to go play softball, but right now as good as she is doing and she is able to keep up … and that is her goal, I am going to stand behind her and let her continue playing baseball as long as possible."

"She tried softball," said Rod Mason, her stepfather and coach. "She doesn't like it, so baseball is her deal."

His thoughts about when softball may enter the picture: "When she can't strike out little Johnny no more."

Such talk does not affect her, Chelsea said; it just motivates her.

"I think they say stuff like that because they are jealous," she said.

Chelsea's Little League teams are 95-8-2 the past four years with three city championships, one city championship runner-up, two tournament of champions titles and two District IV championships. She struck out 127 batters in 60 innings this year.

"After I usually strike somebody out with a knuckleball, they sometimes start crying back to the dugout, and a lot of them just like open their mouth like they can't believe it," she said.

"There's no crying in baseball, right?" said Duquette, the former Red Sox executive. "It's embarrassing to strike out anytime, but I'm sure for young boys it's probably more embarrassing to be struck out by a girl."

Corey Blanchette, a player on a team of all-stars from Pittsfield, Mass., laughed after recently becoming a victim.

"She got me on the two fastballs, and I didn't know she had a knuckle curve, and then the knuckle came in and it was just so dirty [good] I didn't know what to say," he said.

. . . .

Chelsea learned the knuckleball from one of the best: former major leaguer Joe Niekro, who died shortly after he taught her how to throw it. She met him in 2005 when she was a player on a baseball team he coached.

"I'm so happy that Joe's memory is living on; his legacy is continuing through Chelsea Baker learning how to throw the knuckleball," Duquette said. "The key for her will be commanding her knuckleball pitch and getting it in the strike zone consistently."

Breaking down barriers

All agree that consistency will be key for Chelsea.

But maybe just as important will be how she handles navigating the traditional boys' game as she moves forward and how the traditional boys' game treats her.

"It's unfortunate that boys feel so much pressure to perform well against the girls," Siegal said. "I know that Chelsea would like to be seen as a player, not just a girl playing baseball. And in our society, we have this myth that girls are weak and boys are strong. Chelsea's debunking that myth. And as soon as girls and boys realize that they can play the game together -- the whole game -- baseball, the greatest game on Earth, will become a better game for everyone."

Lance Niekro, Joe's son, played in the major leagues with the San Francisco Giants for four seasons. He watched Chelsea pitch in her regular-season finale in a pitching duel against his younger brother, J.J. Niekro.

"Who are we to say that she can't play baseball?" Lance Niekro said. "There's no rule that states that. So as long as she's doing well and people want her on their team, I don't see why she shouldn't be allowed to play. If parents have something to say [about a girl playing baseball], then maybe that's the parent whose kid is striking out against Chelsea.

"With the success that Chelsea has had now, throwing a couple of perfect games … boys will learn not to make fun of her."

Siegal said that negative remarks are only now beginning for Chelsea and her family.

"Once you start playing in high school, the sexual jeers get more intense," said Siegal, who pitched and played shortstop on a high school boys' baseball team in the 1990s. "As a pitcher, I had a lot of sexual comments directed towards me that are not PG for ESPN. But as a pitcher, a female, who wants to succeed at the game, you have to be able to hear those words and then ignore them and continue your game.

"Chelsea's doing a great job with the taunts as a 13-year-old, and she'll have to do even better and continue to focus as she gets older with the high school level as the taunts get more intense."

Duquette seems to think that being a female won't be a factor in how far Chelsea is able to go in her baseball career.

"People will recognize Chelsea Baker, and they'll promote her based on her skill," he said. "Her gender won't really matter to anybody if she develops the skills. She'll find the opportunity.

"I know that there are some physical limitations that will not allow the girls to compete with the boys on higher levels, but if Chelsea Baker can perfect her knuckleball, she has a chance. The knuckleball is a great equalizer, and that would give her an out pitch, where she could get hitters out, irrespective of their sex and irrespective of their level."

As Chelsea heads into eighth grade next year, she is already thinking about high school. She plans to try out for the high school boys' baseball team.

Plant City high school baseball coach Mark Persails, who played for 12 years with Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros, is looking forward to her coming of age. . . .

Read More

seth klein: what has happened to canada's compassion?

I hope you will read this excellent Op-Ed by Seth Klein, director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives' BC office, writing in The Province:

What's happened to Canada's compassion?

If the 492 Tamil asylum-seekers who recently arrived by boat on B.C.'s shores are "queue-jumpers," then I guess my parents were too.

They came as Vietnam War draft dodgers from the U.S. in 1967. Like a couple of the Tamil women who just arrived, my mom was pregnant with me. My parents did not seek advance permission from Ottawa to immigrate. They did not fill out any paperwork before arriving. And they could no more seek permission to leave from their home government than these Tamils could, for what they were doing, as far as the U.S. was concerned, was illegal and would result in my father's arrest.

Of course that's the thing about being an asylum-seeker — you don't get into a queue. When you've got to go, you've got to go.

My folks didn't even know Montreal, where they landed, was a predominantly French-speaking city. They just showed up. A key difference, however, was that in those days, they got landed-immigrant status in 20 minutes at the airport. While estimates vary, over the course of the Vietnam War, as many as 100,000 American war resisters came to Canada. Yet here we are setting our hair on fire about 492 people.

But those aren't the only numeric comparisons I find curious.

Among the common reactions to the arrival of the MV Sun Sea is the proposition that Canada's alleged lax immigration laws make us a global sucker — a target for many of the world's migrants. This is absurd.

World conflicts, environmental disasters and a global economic system that keeps billions impoverished has resulted in millions upon millions of refugees and displaced people. In Pakistan alone, the current flooding has produced as many as 14 million internally displaced people. Globally, the United Nations says, there are more than 43 million "forcibly displaced people," of which some 15 million are refugees.

The vast majority of these globally displaced people are not being absorbed by wealthy countries, but rather internally or by neighbouring poor countries — the places least able to afford the costs and with the bleakest economic prospects. The number of refugees accepted by Canada has declined in recent years, and last year we accepted fewer than 20,000 — just over 0.1 per cent of global refugees. Surely, when a few hundred people arrive on our shores, we can afford to treat them with respect and grant them due process.

Here's another curious comparison: The real and much more significant Canadian immigration story of recent years, at least measured numerically, isn't about refugees or people arriving by boats. It's about the explosion in the number of temporary foreign workers. The number of those workers entering Canada each year now exceeds 200,000 and surpasses immigrants.

But the Harper government hasn't been sounding the alarm about this. On the contrary, the federal government has been promoting and facilitating the massive growth in this category of migrants. Why? Because unlike regular immigrants and refugees, these workers are being specifically requested by employers, their indentured status makes them unable to exercise key employment rights and leaves them highly vulnerable to exploitation and unsafe conditions, and they are unable to make the same claims to the social and economic rights that Canadians take for granted.

Immigration is central to the story of Canada. Waves of people came, mostly to meet a domestic need for labour, but sometimes fleeing harm and conflict. But historically, once people arrived, either as immigrants or refugees, they were upon landing met with a social contract: They could avail themselves of the social and economic rights Canadians enjoyed, and in a few years could be granted citizenship.

With the explosion of temporary workers and tightening of regular immigration, the government is effectively saying, "that deal is off — we're happy to have temporary indentured labour, but don't think you can be a Canadian."

When my parents arrived, some Canadians slapped unwelcome labels on the war resisters, but the government itself refrained from such labelling. By and large, the draft dodgers were welcomed, and went on to make valuable contributions to Canada. Much the same can be said of the Vietnamese boat people who arrived in the late 1970s. Why can't better receptions be the norm?

A key difference today is that the government itself immediately labelled the Tamil asylum-seekers as terrorists, criminals and queue-jumpers, before any due process. In doing so, they set the tone of the debate, and gave licence to a particularly nasty wave of xenophobia.

Here's what troubles me most. In a world still coming to terms with the reality of climate change, the truth is that the number of global climate migrants and displaced people will soon dwarf the UN numbers cited above. Will the recent ugliness mark each new unexpected arrival, or can we have a rational conversation about what our moral obligations and humanitarian response should be to the global realities ahead?

Supportive letters can be sent to provletters@theprovince.com. Wouldn't hurt to mention our current crop of war resisters, either.

Read More

i have something in common with keith richards

Keith Richards - rock icon, guitar legend, wizened senior spirit of rock, soul survivor, hero to millions and the first interest Allan and I discovered we had in common - wanted to be a librarian.

It’s only books ’n’ shelves but I like it

SHHH! Keith Richards, the grizzled veteran of rock’n’roll excess, has confessed to a secret longing: to be a librarian. After decades spent partying in a haze of alcohol and drugs, Richards will tell in his forthcoming autobiography that he has been quietly nurturing his inner bookworm.

He has even considered “professional training” to manage thousands of books at his homes in Sussex and Connecticut, according to publishing sources familiar with the outline of Richards’s autobiography, which is due out this autumn. He has received a reported advance of $7.3m (£4.8m) for it.

The guitarist started to arrange the volumes, including rare histories of early American rock music and the second world war, by the librarian’s standard Dewey Decimal classification system but gave up on that as “too much hassle.” He has opted instead for keeping favoured volumes close to hand and the rest languishing on dusty shelves.

. . .

In his autobiography, Life, due to be published in October, Richards will reveal how, as a child growing up in the post-war-austerity of 1950s London, he found refuge in books before he discovered the blues.

He has declared: “When you are growing up there are two institutional places that affect you most powerfully: the church, which belongs to God, and the public library, which belongs to you. The public library is a great equaliser.”

I didn't think it was possible to revere Keith Richards any more than I already did. I was wrong!

And now I learn that Keith will be appearing at the New York Public Library, speaking in the Celeste Bartos auditorium on Fifth Avenue, as part of the promotion for his memoir Life. Remind me why I left New York again? While you think of an answer, I'll check my October calendar.

Read More

naomi klein to appear at howard zinn movie in support of u.s. war resisters in canada

How's that for a headline?

Please join us on Wednesday, September 8, at Toronto's Bloor Cinema, for a screening of "You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Memoir of Howard Zinn".

Naomi Klein will introduce the movie, and filmmakers Deb Ellis and Denis Mueller will be on hand to take questions. War resister Jeremy Hinzman will speak, and war resister Chuck Wiley will emcee the evening.

Tickets are only $10 and all proceeds support the War Resisters Support Campaign and our fight to pass Bill C-440, the private member's bill that would Let Them Stay.

WHEN: September 8, 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Box Office opens 6:30.

WHERE: Bloor Cinema, 506 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON

TICKETS: $10

Event on Facebook

Read More

save ontario's dogs! anti-bsl rally next weekend in coronation park

On Sunday, August 29, join people who love dogs and hate bigotry for Ontario's largest anti-breed-specific-legislation (BSL) rally ever.

August 29 is the five-year anniversary of the day Ontario's unjust, ignorant BSL law went into effect. It is also the day before the five-year anniversary of our move to Canada. Because of that timing, our Buster was a criminal before his paws ever touched Ontario land, simply because of who his parents were and what he looked like. See this old post: "why bigoted breed-specific laws must be repealed, or how ontario laws almost ruined my life".

If you are in the area and love dogs, come to Toronto's Coronation Park and hear how you can help repeal this awful law.

WHEN: Sunday, August 29, 12:00 noon

WHERE: Coronation Park, Lakeshore Boulevard west of Bathurst, Toronto

WHAT: SAVE ONTARIO'S DOGS! A day of entertainment, information and education in support of Hershey's Law.

Come learn more about what Hershey's Law means for Dogs in Ontario and how Calgary has become the most successful city for bite reduction with NO BSL!

Featuring: Ontario MPP Cheri DiNovo, Bill Bruce of Calgary Animal Services, music, Canine Good Neighbour Testing, Agility Course, and more.

In the evening, there will be a candlelight vigil at Queen’s Park.

The event is sponsored by Stop Canine Profiling and The Dog Legislation Council of Canada.

Read More

Not ready for prime time

I'm not sure really how much we need to worry about the QMI news agency and Fox News North problem -- judging by the content of CNEWS lately, their stories will be about one step up from the National Enquirer.
Today's 12 front page stories include these seven gems:

Russian spy goes public with sexy shoot
Sea monster or big fish in BC lake?
Sex offender busted babysitting
Home invasion horror for Toronto family
Australian lizards on verge of evolutionary leap
Road rage gets British man 9 years
Victim says couple 'like the Bernardos'

Check them out if you want, but I cannot be bothered to post a CNEWS link on my blogroll anymore.

Read More

The Great Whale

We head back to the mailbag, or email inbox, for Thursday's question, and it's quite a doozy if I do say so myself. Personally, I like the tough questions, and I really want to be sure that I get this one right. It means a great deal to me, and I'm sure it means a great deal to the email writer and the people of Hartford, Connecticut. They may have the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack playing there now, but it sounds as if the "Whalers" may make a triumphant return to the city they called home through the NHL and WHA eras.

I've cleaned up the email a little bit in terms of grammar, but Sal S. of East Hartford, Connecticut writes,

"I’d like to get your take on if you think the NHL could and should return to Hartford. Obviously, this is not going to be an overnight adventure. We are trying to build support again here in this city (not that us fans ever lost it).

"I think Baldwin is the right guy to try his hand at this. He did it before here, and we believe he can do it again. There is a lot of renewed energy here again with Howard in the picture.

"But with Bettman still as commish, I just don’t know. We here in Hartford also support the return of the Winnipeg Jets and the Quebec Nordiques. That the Whalers merchandise is the 11th best selling merchandise in the NHL should say something about this once proud franchise. P.S... we still HATE Karmanos!!!!"

First off, a great email to hit me with as I am still a huge fan of the Hartford Whalers franchise. The Whale can do no wrong in my eyes, and I used to love the old Boston-Hartford/Montreal-Hartford battles in the Stanley Cup Playoffs before Peter Karmanos decided to pack up his gear and head south to Raleigh, North Carolina.

Here's what I know thus far.

First, according to Howlings - a reliable Hartford Wolf Pack blog from all I've read - the movement to bring the Whalers back to Hartford is already on, albeit in a different form. Mitch Beck wrote on July 24, 2010,

"[T]he last hurdle has been cleared for Howard Baldwin and his Whalers Sports & Entertainment to take over operation of the Hartford Wolf Pack. Larry Gottesdiener and his Northland Investment Corporation’s essentially removed itself from the equation in the operation of the XL Center. They turned over their interests to AEG. Well, it is only a matter of time now, as early as next week, that it should become official. When that happens, the Hartford Wolf Pack will be no more and the new team will be the Connecticut Whalers. The relationship with the Rangers will remain in place."

So while the Connecticut Whalers are on the verge of being born as an AHL franchise, the question of whether or not the city of Hartford can support the NHL returning is a murky one.

There are a few things to remember here: the NHL currently owns the logo of the former Hartford Whalers, and is marketing it extremely well. Sal S. correctly points out that Whalers merchandise is eleventh-best when it comes to merchandise sales, so the new Connecticut Whalers will undoubtedly be forced to come up with another logo.

Secondly, if there is an opportunity for an NHL team to move back into Hartford, there are some questions that have been raised about the arena, the XL Center. For hockey games, the seating plan allows for 15,635 people, and this would be the smallest arena in the NHL by a longshot. The smallest, and oldest, arena right now is Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Long Island, and it seats 16,297. If the Islanders are suggesting that they need a bigger place to play, Hartford might also have to examine their arena options.

There was a push by Hartford mayor Eddie Perez to secure the funding to replace the aging XL Center with a new arena. There are good points and bad points to this plan, but the truth is that this decision comes down to the people of Hartford. Do they want to push for a new arena in the hopes of getting an NHL team one day?

My thoughts come down to this: the citizens of Hartford need to come out and show the world that they are passionate about hockey, in particular the new Connecticut Whalers/Hartford Wolf Pack. In 2009, the Pack averaged 4190 fans per game, putting them eighteenth in league attendance. In 2010, they actually had less fans out to games as they averaged 4188 fans per game. Comparatively, one city that continues to pop up on the NHL map is Winnipeg, and the Manitoba Moose have finished second in league attendance for two straight seasons.

The NHL notices these numbers, and normally responds in kind. The fans of the Whalers need to start going to games if and when the franchise changes its name from Wolf Pack to Whalers. While I get that the people of Hartford never felt as though the Pack were a part of their community, shunning the AHL team only looks bad on the city if Whaler fans are truly passionate about getting an NHL team back.

Can Hartford become an NHL city once again? I believe they can. The greater Hartford area has a population of 1,188,841 people, but those people need to start supporting their local team. The NHL will notice, but it takes a concerted effort from the community for the NHL to actually consider placing a team there if one is available.

Hartfordians, the opportunity to be back in the professional hockey ranks is certainly within your reach. But you have to make the effort by showing that you're willing to support your pro team.

You know what you have to do to bring back the Whale. Now do it!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Read More