Unannounced pay increase far from transparent

So much for transparancy by Canada's Conservatives.

The Harper government has quietly pushed through pay increases for senior government officials, sparking criticisms that it is failing to live up to its pledge for disclosure and accountability.

Senior executives, which include deputy ministers, have been given a 2.5 per cent raise on their base salary, while heads of Crown corporations will receive increases of 3 per cent.

The government executives will also get a boost of 1.1 per cent to their bonus packages -- money known as "at-risk" pay that is due to them should they meet a series of goals and objectives.

WHOLE STORY

Rough reception for Harper's stand-in

Stephen Harper is in the news again. This time it's about his decision not to attend the event himself.

"But even the mayor couldn't help Public Works Minister Michael Fortier, Harper's Quebec lieutenant and stand-in for the event. Fortier's remarks were swallowed up in a rising tide of boos, which then grew more deafening as much of the crowd began slamming their folding seats up and down. Harper has promised to revisit the issue of same-sex marriage in Parliament.

'Shame! Shame! Shame!' spectators cried, wagging their upraised fingers in unison."

I wonder about the polls...

WHOLE STORY

Polls shows Harper is loosing ground.

Polls shows Harper is loosing ground.

"Despite a post-election surge in popularity for the Conservatives, a Decima poll of 1,009 people released Thursday showed Tory support has fallen to 36 per cent, compared to 30 per cent for the Liberals and 17 per cent for the New Democrats."

TheStar.com - Stakes high for Harper:

UNIFIL observers possibly killed by a so-called precision-guided missile

Phyllis Bennis, a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, specializing in Middle East and United Nations issues, explains;

"The four UNIFIL observers were killed after somewhere between six and eight hours of consistent shelling, during which there were ten separate phone calls made by UN officials to the Israeli military, who agreed they knew it was underway and each time told them it would stop. It didn't stop. Instead, it culminated in a so-called precision-guided missile that led to the death of the four that you mentioned."

Democracy Now! | Ahead of New Confirmation Hearings, UN Ambassador Bolton Blocks Measure Condemning Lethal Israeli Attack on UN:

Australia, all talk but the wrong actions

Australia, all talk but the wrong actions;

CANBERRA, July 27 (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister John Howard said he would support a major multinational force for Lebanon to disarm Hizbollah, but his foreign minister said that without a ceasefire it would be a "suicide mission".

"If the world community is serious, it will put together a force of tens of thousands. That force will act as an effective buffer, and it will have the power and the will to disarm Hizbollah," Howard told Australian radio on Thursday.

So who is he blaming here, the world community? Last time I looked on the map Australia was still on it too.

Israel urged to shun cluster bomb; BBC News

"US-based Human Rights Watch says Israel has used cluster bombs in civilian areas during its assault on Lebanon."

See Wikipedia why cluster bombs are a threat to civilians
WHOLE STORY BBC:

UN envoy says Israel uses disproportionate force in Gaza; People's Daily Online

"UN emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland said on Tuesday that Israel used 'disproportionate' force in its offensive in the Gaza Strip.

'This is very clear, a disproportionate use (of force),' Egeland told reporters while touring the Gaza power plant, which was destroyed in Israeli airstrikes last month."

WHOLE STORY

Israel-Lebanon: The mounting toll

* Number of Lebanese people killed in the two-week conflict: 422, of whom 375 were civilians.

* A further 27 Hizbollah guerrillas have been killed and 20 Lebanese soldiers.

* Number of Israeli dead since the conflict began: 42, of whom 18 were civilians and 24 soldiers.

* Number of Palestinians killed by Israel in the Gaza Strip since the capture of Cpl Gilad Shalit: 121.

* Number of Israeli air strikes on Lebanon yesterday: 100.

* Hizbollah rockets fired yesterday: 80.

* The Israel Defence Force claimed yesterday to have hit 10 Hizbollah buildings.

* That adds up to an estimated $1bn ($600m) in damage to infrastructure.

* Number of Lebanese bridges destroyed: 105

* The number of Israeli bridges destroyed: 0.

* Number of Lebanese ports bombed: 3.

* Estimate of the number of Lebanese people displaced in the fighting: 750,000.

* Lebanon has 2,000 UN troops who have been in the south since 1978.

* Israel's military spending: $9.45bn (in 1995); Lebanon: $540"

WHOLE STORY

Why is there not a murmur of protest from Washington?

Independent Online Edition > Middle East: "Why is there not a murmur of protest from Washington?'
By Kim Sengupta in Nicosia
Published: 21 July 2006

Outside the cavernous US government-run holding centre in Nicosia, Mohammed Shami shook his head. 'I feel embarrassed to be an American. They have given Israel the green light to destroy Lebanon. What they are doing is wrong; it is immoral.'

Mr Shami, who is of Lebanese-American descent, arrived here with 1,000 fellow Americans early yesterday, part of the exodus to Cyprus expected to reach more than 80,000 people fleeing the ferocity of the conflict in Lebanon.

WHOLE STORY

Annan condemns Israel's excessive use of force

BBC NEWS | Middle East | In quotes: Annan on Mid-East crisis: "Israel states that it has no quarrel with the government or people of Lebanon, and that it is taking extreme precautions to avoid harm to them. Yet a number of its actions have hurt and killed Lebanese civilians and military personnel and caused great damage to infrastructure. While Hezbollah's actions are deplorable, and as I've said, Israel has a right to defend itself, the excessive use of force is to be condemned."

WHOLE STORY

Canada rather deals with symptoms than cause of the problem

Canada wants Israel and Lebanon to guarantee they will not attack seven ships scheduled to pick up Canadians stranded in the strife-torn country, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay said Tuesday.
The first of seven chartered passenger ships are expected to arrive at the port of Beirut on Wednesday. They will be able to transport an estimated 2,000 Canadians a day.
"We want assurances that those ships will be protected and afforded the utmost safety," MacKay said on CBC Newsworld.

WHOLE STORY

The Blog | Russell Shaw: The REAL Reason Israel Is Going Full-Frontal on Hezbollah - NOW | The Huffington Post

Israel uses kidnapped soldiers as pretext:

The Blog | Russell Shaw: The REAL Reason Israel Is Going Full-Frontal on Hezbollah - NOW | The Huffington Post

Israel aircraft strike economic ministry in Gaza

GAZA (Reuters) - An Israeli air strike set the Palestinian Ministry of Economy building in the Gaza Strip ablaze early on Saturday, but there were no reports of casualties.

Witnesses said the building was badly damaged and still on fire after the strike.

The army confirmed the attack in Gaza City.

WHOLE STORY

EU: Israel Uses "Disproportionate Force" in Lebanon

The worsening situation in the Middle East has captured the world's attention, including the European Union's, which has accused Israel of "disproportionate use of force" in Lebanon. Violence continued into Friday.

Here's the situation; on June 24 Israel abducted two Gaza civilians, a doctor and his brother. They were taken to Israel, but knowbody knows where they are right now.
The next day militants in Gaza abducted an Israeli soldier (Gilad Shalit), which was followed by the response of Israel; attacks on Gaza. Hezbollah captures two (sic) Israeli soldiers. On Wednesday Israel began retaliating for the capture of two Israeli soldiers and sofar we are left with a death toll of 61.

WHOLE STORY

In Big Shift, U.S. to Follow Geneva Treaty for Detainees

In Big Shift, U.S. to Follow Geneva Treaty for Detainees - July 11, 2006

Neil A. Lewis, John O'Neil - The New York Times:

"In a sweeping change of policy, the Pentagon has decided that it will treat all detainees in compliance with the minimum standards spelled out in the Geneva conventions, a senior defense official said today.

The new policy comes on the heels of a Supreme Court ruling last month invalidating a system of military tribunals the Pentagon had created to try suspected terrorists, and just before Congress takes up the question of a replacement system in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing today.

As part of its decision, the court found that a key provision of the Geneva conventions, known as Common Article 3, did apply to terror suspects, contradicting the position taken by the Bush administration." WHOLE STORY

I wonder if this will actually change the practises so common at Guantanamo Bay

More Government Support for BC Ferries; a Stupid Idea

The latest idea from the Times Colonist staff: the government should [..] consider increasing its subsidy to B.C. Ferries to help hold rates down on tourism-critical routes.

First of all, it goes against one of the core points of British Columbia Ferry Commission mandate: (f) the designated ferry routes are to move towards a greater reliance on a user pay system so as to reduce, over time, the service fee contributions by the government.

And, personally, I don't see the "extraordinary circumstances" in rising fuel prices; they are a reality for all travelers, across B.C.

The funny thing is, the article does bring up this argument, but uses it as an excuse; a strange way of using rising fuel costs to subsidize a privately held company. Who do we support next, Air Canada, Horizon Air, WestJet, or maybe the Clipper and the Coho? And what about the taxi companies? They loose business too. And why not give HeliJet some extra support?

And what do we do when oil reaches $120 a barrel, do we double our support to BC Ferries?
It's a slippery slope with no end in sight.

Here's the kind of conclusion that straightforward thinking would produce:
Rising fuel costs are a global issue, which indeed can (and probably will) have an impact on travelers. But to financially support one (privatized) company over an other, under the show of loss of tourism, is an unfair solution and therefore the wrong way to go.

Why then not support restaurants too? If it's more affordable to dine out, then there's more money left to spend on travel; Victoria, the dining Mekka of Canada! And maybe hotels too? Great idea! Let's give everybody $25 dollars if they spend a night in Victoria!

More government support for BC Ferries is a stupid idea.

House Republican War Crimes; William Rivers Pitt

House Republican War Crimes
By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Thursday 15 June 2006

There is going to be a debate today on the floor of the House of Representatives regarding Iraq. Is it within the realm of possibility to categorize a debate on the floor of the House as a war crime? Is that too much of a stretch? Leveling a war crime accusation is deadly serious business after all, and not to be bandied about like some meager political football. Given what is expected to take place today in Washington, unfortunately, such a categorization is worth considering.

WHOLE STORY

Stephen Harper and other "Ottawa Stuff"

Stephen Harper is in my hometown Victoria today. And it's busy. I wonder if he will also be challenged by local journalists about his stand not taking questions from the National press gallery anymore.

This issue is an important one. Apart from Harper's (unproven) conceived bias against him, he has not given any reason why it is that the Prime Minister's Office wants to chose who gets to ask the question. What are his objectives with this policy? To ignore tough questions?

In the meantime many abroad get little (but important) snippets of the current feuds. Here are some of the articles about the press feud: Gulf News, United Arab Emirates - Malaysia Sun, Malaysia - Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney Australia. Also reactions to the "new Canadian view" on the Kyoto Protocol: Die Tageszeiting, Germany. And how about the fake news about Iran? NRC Handelsblad, Netherlands. In other words, our country is noticed again, but it's far from good news. Is this the image of Canada we want others to have about us?

Harper thinks that this press-feud is just "inside Ottawa stuff", but that time has long gone; things get noticed everywhere, and that's a good thing! We (, the people) have to be able to scrutinize the government. Harper can not be taken serious by calling the National Press Gallery biased, and doesn't offer any proof either. The argument should be reversed: "Why is Harper so biased against the National Press Gallery?" Linwood Barclay's editorial gives (funny) insight where Harper's perceived bias comes from.

A skeptical press, yes, Canada's press is quite skeptical about the Conservative party. And calling journalists biased while not offering any proof is not a clever thing to do. I hope that Canadians start to realize the importance of the issue. This is not a simple "inside Ottawa stuff" issue: We need to know what's going on in Ottawa. No media can be trusted better than a skeptical media.

Is Harper up to the Job of PM?

This story is not about current problems of the media; it's all about Harper.

Stephen Harper has a problem with the media. He tells us the media is biased, but I don't think that's the case; if the National Media was really all that biased he probably would never have in office. The issue is actually quite simple: he wants the media to report what he has to tell them. And please, no questions.

It brings me back to the interview Bill Clinton gave (video) at Democracy Now! (DN!) on election day 2000. Clinton, a Democrat, is also not used to tough questioning by (one of my favourite) journalists {Amy Goodman) which resulted in a hostile reaction:

"Now you listen to me. You ask the questions, and I'm going to answer. You have asked questions in a hostile, combatitive and even disrespectful tone [...], and you have never been able to combat the facts that I have given you."

After this show DN! got a phone call from the White House press office (US version of the PMO):

"[Clinton] called to discuss getting out the vote, and you strayed from the topic. You also kept him much longer than the two to three minutes we agreed to."

Amy Goodman replied:

"President Clinton is the most powerful man in the world, he can hang up when he wants to."

This example describes my position well. Harper does not need to answer all questions in the most detailed way; he can answer them the way he wants, even walk off when the questions become too hostile. If he's not up to dealing with the National Media, he should consider getting an easier job.

Harper: "Media, Bad Media"

It's interesting when politicians start blaming the media. Harper accuses the media of "being the opposition of the government". Are things that ugly already?

The media is upset with the latest controversial policy regarding questions to the prime minister. And they should be. Geoff Norquay explains:

The reality is that every new government wants to keep a tight lid on its messages and this one in particular.

I'm puzzled with such announcements. What does this have to do with the way the press functions? Are you telling me Harper is not able to keep his mouth shut when necessary? Is Harper not up to the job of prime minister?

It really isn't about the press; it's about the Conservatives, and their need to control how to "get the message out". Questions are not needed. It's simply a lot easier to answer questions from conservative-friendly journalists than from unrespectful others; you might not have the right answers up front (like Rumsfeld in this video - Realplayer).

"Real politicians" make the news themselves. Stephen Harper is one of them, using a false story by the National Post to make up his own story about a new Iranian law forcing Jews and minorities to wear badges. When the truth of the actual story was questionable, he continued with the following:

"Unfortunately, we've seen enough already from the Iranian regime to suggest that it is very capable of this kind of action," Harper said.
"We've seen a number of things from the Iranian regime that are along these lines . . .
"It boggles the mind that any regime on the face of the Earth would want to do anything that could remind people of Nazi Germany."

An apology has been given by the National Post, but no comments yet from Stephen Harper; prime ministers obviously don't apologize to the public. I guess we won't be able to ask him about it either.

What is it what we, voters (and non-voters), want from a govenment? I believe that transparency is essential to a well functioning democracy, where a government is responsive and responsable to it's voters. We need to be able to ask questions, all questions, and let it be up to the prime minister (in this case Stephen Harper) in what way she/he likes to answer.

I always enjoy looking at some of the blogging tories blogs to see what kind of reasoning they can come up with. William Deemers argues that "the media lacks the ethical will to stick to reporting the news, but instead takes it upon themselves to create news ".

When it comes to news you have to take the good with the bad. Yes, free speech has limits which are outlined in our laws. I would be surprised if the majority of Canadians want any change. I also hear often from Conservative circles (and from William Deemers) that

Harper is [...] caught up with his work as PM and does not have time [to] waste every other minute talking to journalists.

Bush supporters claim the same thing too and I can only point to this story by the Washington Post. And mister Harper, it's simply part of your job to take questions from the press; get used to it or step down. Compared to European politics (which I continue to follow) we already see very little of what's going on in Ottawa; deny voters essential insight and we'll see what will happens with the next elections.

Footnote:
I'm wondering if Harper is considering other US tactics too: How about paying reporters to skew the news?. Maybe he'll be in for the same approval ratings of Bush too.