Gag reflex

With all the police violence at the G20 protests, this video finally seems to have triggered the media's gag reflex:

This is the video which Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair said must have been tampered with to delete some supposedly awful thing done by Adam Nobody. So now the Special Investigations Unit is reopening its investigation.
The National Post editorial board writes:

Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair ... suggests the few seconds of footage missing from the video of Mr. Nobody’s arrest “very likely … sheds light on why the man was arrested, and why force was used.”
OK. But he doesn’t know, and we can’t help noticing he doesn’t seem very interested in finding out. In any event, last we checked, freedom from police brutality is not a right Canadians waive while being arrested.

The Toronto Star editorial says:

The Nobody video shows a half-dozen officers arresting him; yet no one can identify the officer throwing the punches, and a bogus badge number was written on the arrest sheet.
This looks like police shielding themselves, before, during and after behaving badly. It’s worrisome. And indefensible.

Blair has even lost the Toronto Sun:

We are long-time supporters of Chief Blair . . . We have also said there shouldn’t be a full inquiry into policing at the G20.
But Blair looks like a scrambling man spinning stories. It makes us think he’s hiding something.
A police source told the Toronto Sun’s Joe Warmington, “The chief has lost the room.”
On this one, the chief has lost us.

And maybe we're all realizing now that the police violence at the G20 protests was more than just a few "bad apples" In today's testimony to the Public Safety Committee, Mike Leitold, a lawyer with the Law Union of Ontario, described the broader pattern of illegal searches and harassment of activists in advance of the G20:

“We received reports leading up to the demonstrations” of 29 instances involving visits by RCMP officers to the work places, schools or homes of protest organizers, he said.
In the week leading up to the G20, he said, the Law Union received dozens of reports of young people being surrounded by armed police while walking down the street in Toronto and forced to undergo searches “without reasonable grounds” by the officers.
Leitold said the police also repeatedly cited “fictitious” powers to justify questionable searches during the summit. An inquiry should find out who ordered what he described as a “blatant pattern of bad-faith searches” by police and “a pattern of proactive targeting of activists that began well in advance of Saturday, June 26.”
He also raised concerns about the use of “excessive force” by police during demonstrations at Queen’s Park and what he said was the breach of rights of those who were detained, including their inability in many cases to access a lawyer quickly or to be brought before a judge “in a timely manner.”
It’s vital to find out how this happened and who directed police conduct during the G20, Leitold said.

You know, I read a couple of stories about this type of thuggish police behaviour toward protesters prior to the Vancouver Olympics.
Maybe its more than a pattern, its a procedure.
Is Scary Cop Lady the new face of Canadian policing?

Read More

Antler Banter: Volume 8

Antler Banter returns today to find the Moose criss-crossing the continent as they go from west to east on their road trip. First, they played two games in Abbotsford against their division rivals in the Heat before trekking to the Windy City to battle the Chicago Wolves. Points against division rivals are always important, so this road trip would go a long way in helping the Moose move up the standings. We'll check out how the Moose are doing on this road trip. If you're looking for additional news or information on the Manitoba Moose, check out the Moose website. If you're interested in attending a Manitoba Moose game, please click here for seating information, ticket pricing, and availability. We're off for some Hardcore Hockey!

Home Games Away From Home

The Moose have a pretty good situation whenever they find themselves traveling to Abbotsford, British Columbia. The Moose always seem to have a large crowd on-hand to support them thanks to their affiliation with the NHL's Vancouver Canucks. The crowds in Abbotsford flock to the arena to support the Canucks' up-and-coming kids, and nearly 6000 people made it down to the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre for this one.

The Moose got great goaltending once again from Eddie Lack as he stopped 25 of 26 shots on the night. Only a second-period goal by Abbotsford's Lance Bouma found its way past the Swedish netminder during regulation time. While Lack's record isn't outstanding, he does need more support in terms of goals from the team when he puts on a display like he did on Friday.

While Manitoba's lone goal on Friday came from Kevin Connauton on the powerplay, no other player looked as dangerous as Cody Hodgson. The rookie has really come on strong for the Herd during the month of November, and his seven shots-on-goal were a team-high tonight. He didn't find the back of the net, though, so that's a little disappointing, but Hodgson is showing the effort that will carry him to the Canucks' line-up in the near future.

Not much to be said in this one for the Moose as they battled the Heat to a 1-1 draw through regulation time. Abbotsford goaltender Leland Irving stole the show as he stopped 40 of 41 Moose shots through 65 minutes, and stopped three more in the shootout. Lack went 1-for-4 in the shootout, and it was all Abbotsford needed to secure the 2-1 shootout win over the Moose. With the shootout loss, the Moose drop to 10-6-2 on the season.

Cheering For The Visitors

Saturday saw an even larger crowd pack the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre as over 7000 fans showed up for a sell-out. There was a very large contingent on-hand that were pro-Moose, so the crowd was split between those who cheered for the hometown Heat and the visiting Manitoba Moose. After peppering the Heat for 41 shots the night before and coming away with a shootout loss, the Moose needed to bounce back with an identical effort, but better result.

Head coach Claude Noel went with Eddie Lack in net for the second straight night, something we've rarely seen this season thus far. However, after Lack's effort the night before, you'd hope that he could continue that magic. The good news is that Lack reproduced the same effort as he stopped 28 of 29 Heat shots on the night. Lack is showing that he is completely capable of being a top-flight goaltender in the AHL, and I'm guessing he'll get a long look at the Canucks camp next season if his play continues as well as it has.

Cody Hodgson had a strong game one night earlier, and he continued his strong play on Saturday as he had five shots in the game, and recorded the empty-net goal late in the game. Hodgson has nine goals on the season, so he has cooled off slightly, but his level of play is high and his effort is definitely showing. Hodgson is turning into a very good professional player, and it is encouraging to see his level of learning and effort being carried forward from his junior days.

Kevin Clark, Mr. "Charlie Hustle" for the Moose, had himself a great night as he worked his butt off. Clark nearly had a goal early in the game as he missed on a breakaway, but he chipped in his fourth goal of the season late in the second period with a great burst of speed down the wing and some soft hands to guide the backhander between Leland Irving's pads. Clark is the kind of energy guy that every team wants - he's quick, he scores, and he works his tail off every shift.

The Moose and Heat were tied at 1-1 after 40 minutes, and it looked like neither goalie were going to give any breaks. However, the Moose found the net twice in the third period as Bill Sweatt's fifth of the season broke the deadlock midway through the third, and Hodgson iced it with his empty-netter. The Moose recorded 35 shots in their 3-1 win as they outshot the Heat for the second straight night, and this time they came away with the victory. With the win, the Moose push their record to 11-6-2.

Old Rivalries Die Hard

The Moose traveled to Chicago to play their former IHL rivals in the Chicago Wolves on Tuesday night. There's no love lost between these former rivals, and the two teams battled hard once again at Allstate Arena. Former Moose sniper Jason Krog faced off against his former team for the first time this season as the Moose battled the youngsters in the Atlanta Thrashers' system. Unlike their IHL days, the Wolves only saw 2000 fans make it down to the arena. Yikes!

For the third straight game, Eddie Lack was sent out to the nets by head coach Claude Noel, and he looked to continue his strong play from the weekend in Abbotsford. Lack did exactly what he had done all weekend - allow one goal during regulation time. Only Jason Krog's fifth goal of the season dented the twine, and Lack's strong play earns him his third consecutive one-goal game, and third consecutive mention here on Antler Banter.

Defenceman Kevin Connauton kept up his strong play as he added fifth goal of the season on the powerplay in the second period. Connauton also tied for the team-lead with four shots on the night, and there's a lot to be excited about when watching this young man play. Much like Alex Edler and Kevin Bieksa before him, it looks like Connauton should be able to earn a spot on Vancouver's blueline if his strong play continues. His development seems to be coming along nicely, though, as evidenced by his strong play with the Moose.

Just like Friday night, the Moose outshot their opponents only to see the game go into the shootout. The Herd outshot Chicago by a 26-18 margin, but goaltender Peter Mannino played extremely well in keeping the Manitoba snipers at bay. In the shootout, Lack stopped the first four Wolves shooters, including Nigel Dawes and Akim Aliu, before Darren Haydar scored. Mannino, however, stonewalled all five shooters the Moose sent out on the ice to record the 2-1 shootout victory. If there's any consolation, the Moose are showing some great effort in these last three games, despite their record falling to 11-6-3 with this shootout loss.

The Week Ahead

The Moose visit the Milwaukee Admirals tonight for another meeting of former IHL rivals. The Moose return home to face the Oklahoma City Barons in their first-ever meeting with the newest AHL franchise on Friday and Saturday. And before the week is out, the Moose will travel to Texas to play the Stars on Tuesday night. It's a busy week for the Herd, so there has to be a concerted effort to record as many points as possible.

The Moose currently sit in fifth-place in the AHL's North Division - a place they certainly don't want to remain. While that spot in the standings sounds discouraging, there is some good news in that the Moose have played the least amount of games in the North Division thus far. Because of this, they sit just two points behind the Toronto Marlies and Abbotsford Heat for second-place in the division, and trail the Hamilton Bulldogs by seven points for top-spot while having games in-hand on all of these teams.

Because of this "games in-hand" situation, the Moose need to continue recording points whenever and where ever they can. It starts in Milwaukee, a place where the Moose haven't fared very well in their history, so any opportunity to turn that around would be ideal. Realistically, the Moose must look at the games against the Barons and Stars as two-point games so they can really vault up the standings and put some space between them and the other North Division teams.

I'm hoping the Moose will have six of eight points by the time Antler Banter rolls around next week, so there's only one thing to say: DO IT!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Read More

YES VIRGINIA_PART XII

This posting contains a video. To hear it properly, please mute the sound on the "Ave Maria" music widget located on the right-hand side of the page.


YES VIRGINIA_PART XII

Read More

Amazon Drops WikiLeaks on Request of Sen. Lieberman; Lie of the Day from Hillary Clinton; How NOT to Stop Leaks; Why we have Leaks

WikiLeaks just gave Senator Joe Lieberman, Amazon, and the Department of Homeland Security what I consider to be a well deserved finger. Amazon dropped WikiLeaks from its servers but is now back up on servers in Sweden at http://www.wikileaks.org/

Let's tie this all together starting with the Wall Street Journal Report WikiLeaks Site Kicked Off Amazon Servers

Amazon.com Inc. has stopped hosting WikiLeaks from its Web servers, prompting the controversial group to move its website to a European provider.

Wikileaks said in a Twitter message that it had been "ousted" by the Seattle company, which sells Web services and storage in addition to being an online retailer.

In its message, Wikileaks said its money is "now spent to employ people in Europe." The organization recently released a trove of sensitive U.S. State Department documents, and turned to Amazon's Web services after it claimed its servers in Sweden were targeted by computer attacks.

White House Seeks New Ways to Hide Damaging Data

Political HotSheet reports White House Moves to Change Classified Information Procedures in Response to WikiLeaks

President Obama's national security team is coordinating new interagency efforts to review and improve the way the government handles classified information, in the wake of the latest WikiLeaks release of secret information.

The White House announced today that Russell Travers, a deputy director at the National Counterterrorism Center, will lead a comprehensive effort to identify and develop the structural reforms needed to prevent future leaks.

The State Department and Defense Department are also conducting their own security reviews.

Meanwhile, Congress is set to pass whistle-blowing legislation to help government employees report corruption or mismanagement so they do not feel compelled to turn over secret information to outside groups like WikiLeaks. The Senate is expected to pass the bill this week, followed by the House.

Whistle-Blower Bill Gains Steam

The response from the administration is not to crack down on abuses but rather to provide new ways of ignoring abuses.

Just ask yourself, has anyone outside of Bernie Madoff ever been prosecuted, fired, or even reprimanded over fraud, torture, kickbacks, or anything else? Here's the bonus-point followup question: How many times did the SEC fail to act on information that proved Bernie Madoff was a crook?

The answer to those questions help explain this pathetic response: After WikiLeaks, Whistle-Blower Bill Gains Steam

Following the latest baring of U.S. secrets on the Internet, Congress is poised to pass legislation giving employees in the most sensitive government jobs a way to report corruption, waste and mismanagement without turning to outside organizations like WikiLeaks.

President Barack Obama is expected to sign the bill, which supporters say will discourage leaks of classified information. The legislation would allow intelligence agency whistle-blowers to raise concerns within their agencies instead of giving classified materials to WikiLeaks or other outlets, which is illegal.

Without protections spelled out in law, whistle-blowers risk being fired or demoted for informing their chains of command about misconduct, according to Tom Devine, legal director at the Government Accountability Project. That leaves no alternative to anonymous - and potentially damaging - leaks unless whistle-blowers are willing to jeopardize their careers, he said.

Anyone who believes that propaganda has holes in the head. The WhiteHouse is not interested in acting on anything, the WhiteHouse is interested in stopping leaks.

So now we will get legislation that will allow whistle-blowers to submit reports to some undefined administration hack who will promptly throw the whistles into the ashcan.

Lie of the Day from Hillary Clinton

Inquiring minds are reading a statement from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that WikiLeaks Won't Hurt U.S. Diplomacy

The recent leak of thousands of sensitive U.S. diplomatic cables will have no adverse effect on America's international relations, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton declared Wednesday at a security summit.

"I have certainly raised the issue of the leaks in order to assure our colleagues that it will not in any way interfere with American diplomacy or our commitment to continuing important work that is ongoing," Clinton said.

"I have not any had any concerns expressed about whether any nation will not continue to work with and discuss matters of importance to us both going forward," she added.

"I anticipate that there will be a lot of questions that people have every right and reason to ask, and we stand ready to discuss them at any time with our counterparts around the world," Clinton added.

Series of Lies

How's that for a series of lies? If people have every right to ask questions, how the hell can questions be asked if the US government classifies everything it does not want anyone to know?

The US has no interest in discussing waterboarding, torture, the killing of innocent civilians with our allies or anyone else. The US wants to and is going to do everything it can to suppress that information.

If WikiLeaks has damaging information about Bank of America, we should all want to see it. We should all stand up for the rights to make that data public, not sweep it under the rug.

We do not have a Department of Homeland Security, we have a Department of Homeland Insecurity putting on a pathetic parade of pomp with full body scanners and pat downs that will not do a damn thing.

Why We Have Leaks

No one has bothered to tackle the question why we have security problems and leaks.

I will tell you why: The US has troops in 140 countries around the world, we arrogantly go where we have no vested interest going, we support corrupt regimes when it suits our purposes, we follow the asinine creed "the enemy of our enemy is our friend", and we believe we - and we alone - act as the moral authority to be the world's policeman.

When you do that you make enemies. When you make enemies you create security problems.

Instead of addressing WHY we make enemies, we setup sham terrorist organizations like the Department of Homeland Security whose efforts make us less secure.

Running List of Needed Criminal Investigations

Instead of addressing fundamental problems we want to stop leaks.

I will tell you how to stop leaks: Don't do stupid things! Stop trying to be the world's policeman. Prosecute fraud.

I have a running list of things we have ignored in FDIC Authorizes $1 Billion Lawsuits Against Failed-Bank Executives; Token Search for Low-Profile Scapegoats

It's time to update my rolling list of who should be criminally indicted and why.

April 29, 2010: Barofsky Threatens Criminal Charges in AIG Coverup, Goldman Sachs Abacus Deal, TARP Insider Trading; New York Fed Implicated

April 16, 2010: Rant of the Day: No Ethics, No Fiduciary Responsibility, No Separation of Duty; Complete Ethics Overhaul Needed

March 2, 2010: Geithner's Illegal Money-Laundering Scheme Exposed; Harry Markopolos Says “Don’t Trust Your Government”

January 31, 2010: 77 Fraud, Money Laundering, Insider Trading, and Tax Evasion Investigations Underway Regarding TARP

January 28, 2010: Secret Deals Involving No One; AIG Coverup Conspiracy Unravels

January 26, 2010: Questions Geithner Cannot Escape

January 07, 2010: Time To Indict Geithner For Securities Fraud

October 20, 2009: Bernanke Guilty of Coercion and Market Manipulation

July 17, 2009: Paulson Admits Coercion; Where are the Indictments?

June 26, 2009: Bernanke Suffers From Selective Memory Loss; Paulson Calls Bank of America "Turd in the Punchbowl"

April 24, 2009: Let the Criminal Indictments Begin: Paulson, Bernanke, Lewis

How NOT to Stop Leaks

Fools like Lieberman think we can stop leaks by legislation. We can't. We can only stop leaks by fostering an attitude from the top that will prosecute fraud and corruption instead of looking for scapegoats, and instead of pursuing policeman policies that "the end justifies the means"

President Obama is a blatant liar. He promised to release details of US torture of prisoners. He failed to do so. I praise WikiLeaks or anyone else who is willing to disclose the hypocrisy of this president and this administration.

I am not a Republican. I am an independent. I praise WikiLeaks or anyone else who is willing to disclose the hypocrisy of Republicans as well.

I fear for our country and the path it is taking.

We need to elect someone willing to stand up TO the banks, stand up TO our bloated military, stand up TO public unions, and stand FOR less government spending, stand FOR prosecuting fraud wherever it takes, stand FOR smaller government.

President Obama is not that person, nor was President Bush. We need a Ron Paul, or someone like him, willing to do what is needed before we destroy ourselves.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

Read More

Hanukka Songs, English Lyrics.

yesterday is the first day of Hanukkah 2010, because they still feel holiday hanukka 2010, I would better post hanukka songs lyrics. who knows you're looking for hannuka song lyrics, lyrics in English language. happy Hanukkah, check it below.



I Have a Little Dreidel

I have a little dreidel

I made it out of clay

And when it's dry and ready

Then dreidel I shall play!



(Chorus)



Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel

I made it out of clay

And when it's dry and ready

Then dreidel I shall play!



It has a lovely body

With legs so short and thin

And when my dreidel's tired

It drops and then I win!



(Chorus)



My dreidel's always playful

It loves to dance and spin

A happy game of dreidel

Come play now, let's begin!



(Chorus)

Read More

Hanukkah 2010 What is This?

Hanukkah, what is this? when I look at google trends, a lot of word Hanukkah ranked high. at position 20 in any word hannukah 2010, Hanukkah, happy Hanukkah, Chanukah, Chanukah 2010, hannukah greetings, Chanukah 2010, Hanukkah songs, and the first day of Hanukkah 2010. for the first time I heard that word makes me want to find out immediately via the Internet.

Hanukkah or  romanized  as Chanukah is a celebrated Jewish holiday celebrated for eight days and nights that starts on the Hebrew calendar date of 25 Kislev, Hanukkah 2010 starts on 1 December to 9 December, hannukah also known as the Festival of Lights.

The name "Hanukkah" derives from the Hebrew verb means Dedication, Hanukkah holiday was to commemorate the re-Dedication of the holy Temple in Jerusalem Following the Jewish victory over the Syrian-Greeks in 165 BCE.

Read More

world aids day

Today is World AIDS Day.

Reflect.

Remember.

End prejudice against HIV-positive people.

Give.

Read More