The World According to George Bush - The Independent

Don't miss the World According to George Bush.

Telus indicted over cell phone records

"It took nearly five months and two legal orders for Telus Corp. to start handing over cellphone records to the RCMP to help track a possible serial killer stalking Edmonton-area prostitutes."

Read the whole atricle in the Globe and Mail:
Telus indicted over cell phone records

Why Bertuzzi and Heatley should stay home

It's sad when "incidents" like this happen. But it's even worse when a punch from behind is OK for the olympic team.

Personally I believe Mr. Bertuzzi should never have been allowed back on the ice. Nevertheless he's playing again and, as the New York Times announces today, Canada Selects Bertuzzi [for the Olympic Games in Torino]. The Times also comments on the picking of Dany Heatley. Although there is something to be said that his "incident" happened outside the rink, anyone with a second-degree vehicular homicide criminal record should not represent Canada at the Olympic Games.

And I thought that Wayne Gretzky was a man of decent principles...

See also a few other blogs:

Leave Bertuzzi at home

Bertuzzi VS Heatley

Most Israelis Oppose Strike Against Iran

A survey in the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth showed that most people Israelis believe the dispute over Iran's atomic program should be handled diplomatically.

Read the full article here:
Most Israelis Oppose Strike Against Iran

Bush is not the disease; only the symptom

An interesting view on American Democracy by Frances Moore Lappe can be found on the Huffington Post today.

In short Moore Lappe explains that Bush is not the problem; the American version of democracy is. With wise words she concludes that everyone needs to create a living democracy:

As the deadly consequences of thin democracy –- a disastrous war, torture in our name, the post-Katrina debacle, and daily disclosures of cronyism and corruption fill us with shame, let’s dig to the root of our pain. Exposing Bush’s ineptitude and deception isn’t enough. It’s time to reframe the very meaning of democracy and get on with creating a real one.

Read the complete post: Bush Isn'’t the Problem: The Weakness of our Thin Democracy

See also Ira Chernus' article (July 2003) on Bush's Lies being the symptom

Lawsuit Charges CIA with Kidnapping and Torture of German Citizen

Canada is not alone when it comes to citizens that appear to have been tortured after being kidnapped by the CIA. A federal lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of a German citizen. Khaled El-Masri was detained while on vacation in Macedonia. Once in CIA custody he claims to have been tortured.

Read the whole story at Democracy Now!: Lawsuit Charges CIA with Kidnapping and Torture of German Citizen

Common Dreams: German Citizen Held in Secret Prison Sues Ex-CIA Director

Interview with Helen Thomas

Helen Thomas, Veteran White House correspondent still hopes to see peace:

You always feel and hope that whoever lives in the White House is a man of peace and will work in every possible way to the last resort for peace. Because war is horrible. There are no winners, really, in the end. So much pain and so forth. And so unnecessary. There are peaceful solutions to most problems.

Read Mitch Jeserich's complete interwiew with Helen Thomas (scroll down)

First RIAA "illegal downloading" trial

It's going to happen; a New York mother of five children is not going to pay the 3,000 - 4,000 dollars to settle with the RIAA (a.k.a. Big Music: Sony BMG, Vivendi Universal, Warner Music and EMI) over some songs that she's accused of having downloaded.

Here's the list of songs:

* Lit "Happy"
* Incubus "Nowhere fast"
* Third Eye Blind "Semi-Charmed Life"
* UB40 "Can't Help Falling in Love"
* Godsmack "Whatever"
* Foo Fighters "Breakout"

Value? Probably about $6 dollars (Apple's iTunes sells songs online for 99¢ each).

"We haven't seen a trial on this issue yet because the RIAA has generously offered to settle the suits for amounts in the US$3000-4000 range, rather than the tens of thousands they would demand if they prevailed in court. To date, more than three thousand people have coughed up. Santangelo vows to fight on, though, claiming that the likely culprit is not her but a friend's child who used her computer."

"I'm willing to take it as far as I have to prevent other innocent people being dragged into frivolous lawsuits," she told p2pnet.net. "It's wrong."

See the full posting here: First RIAA p2p file share trial

Neocons floated idea of bombing AlJazeera before

Eric Schmeltzer's googling resulted in an interesting discovery that the neocons floated the idea of bombing AlJazeera before. Although this probably doesn't surprise anybody, it's good to get these facts in black and white. Frank Gaffney Jr, wrote for Fox News:

Under present wartime circumstances, though, the United States has the ability -- and, indeed, an urgent responsibility -- to take more comprehensive action against Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya. Unless the two networks adjust their behavior so as no longer to act as the propaganda arm of our enemies, they should be taken off the air, one way or another.

Indeed, for the US Pentagon it's fine to spout US propaganda towards Iraqis, but if other engage in this game, Neocons want them to be taken out, "one way or another".

Neocons hate AlJazeera (and therefore free speech; nothing new, really) and the use of force (read power) to shut it down comes easily to their minds.

President Bush "jokes" about bombing AlJazeera

According to the Washington Post, one senior diplomat is blaming the messenger: "It was foolish for someone to write [president Bush's "joke"] down, and now it will be a story for days".

A joke or not, here we go:
- Washington Post
- New York Times
- The Guardian

Who's looking foolish now?

Shame on Bush and Cheney?

Good analyses about how the neo-conservatives did mislead the American people (and the rest of us).

Sony sold 120,000 faulty CDs in Canada

Sony BMG said Friday that about 120,000 of the 4.7 million faulty CDs were sold in Canada.

Source: National Post

Sony sued over DRM

It didn't take long: Sony has been sued for it's malicious DRM software (rootkit) that automatically installs (without telling you!) on your computer raising privacy concerns and inviting virus attacks.

Fortunately there is a list of Sony Cds to boycott: CD List with Sony DRM. Another list can be found here: US List of Sony DRM CDs.

You still want to listen to these CDs? Well, most people I know will forget about buying these new Sony CDs all together and download them for free online since most songs can still be found that way.

It's probably the best lesson we can teach Big Music: more restrictions on CDs will slow down sales even further; exactly the opposite effect they were hoping for.

Obviously Sony has not been thinking this through at all which defines the current attitudes of the struggling industry that does not know how to innovate on terms of the 21st century.

See also wiki for more information on Sony DRM and how to see if it is (already) installed on your computer.

US caught using chemical weapons

Rai, Italian state TV, broadcasted a documentary with evidence that US forces used chemical weapons against Iraqi civilians.

The new evidence shows the dropping of massive quantities of white phosphor on Fallujah during the attack on the city in November 2004.

See also Democracy Now!
US uses chemical weapons in Iraq

Taser defends giving stock options to police

Taser defends giving stock options to police

Robert Anglen
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 24, 2005 12:00 AM

Taser International gave potentially lucrative stock options to six police officers from 2001 to 2003, most of whom promoted Taser's stun guns and, in some cases, urged their cities to buy them.

Court documents released this week show that officers in Arizona, California, Washington, Texas, and Canada received thousands of company stock options, some only weeks after urging police commanders or city officials to purchase Tasers.

Four of the six officers are now employed by Scottsdale-based Taser International, which is facing state and federal inquiries over the safety of its stun gun and the weapon's involvement in deaths across the country.

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The stock options, as well as payments to other officers for Taser training, have sparked concerns about potential conflicts of interest. Critics say Taser paid officers to influence cities to get them to purchase the stun guns.

"We've raised concerns about Taser's options-granting practices since this past January," stock analyst John Gavin of SEC Insight wrote in a report to investors this week.

Other critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union, say payments to police officers have created a conflict of interest, with officers promoting the stun gun and repeating Taser's assurances of safety while minimizing risks.

Taser officials issued a news release Thursday defending the police officers and denying any conflict.

"The officers on our (training) board were involved in training operations at their respective departments - not the purchasing departments," Taser Chief Executive Officer Rick Smith said in the news release. "They followed all relevant conflict-of-interest regulations at their departments, and the grant of stock options did not violate Taser's code of ethics nor industry norms."

The information concerning the stock options was released this week after Taser lost a legal challenge to seal documents from a lawsuit against Taser filed in Maricopa County Superior Court.

Taser asked the court to keep confidential the deposition of company President Tom Smith, arguing that his answers about who received stock options was proprietary. The Arizona Republic and SEC Insight both filed motions to keep the records open, arguing that information about Taser is vital to the public's interest.

The court agreed, and Taser did not appeal.

According to Republic research, medical examiners in 18 cases have said Tasers were a cause, a contributing factor or could not be ruled out in someone's death.

The newly released documents for the first time reveal who outside the company received stock options.

The six active-duty officers who received options were from police departments in Chandler and Glendale, Seattle, Sacramento, Austin and Victoria, British Columbia. Records show all but the Austin officer promoted the effectiveness of the weapons and some urged their cities to purchase them.

Five other individuals also were issued stock options: a retired New York police officer; a former United Airlines employee; Taser's current medical director; a lawyer who did patent work for Taser, and his assistant. New York, Austin and United Airlines purchased Tasers, but it's unclear if the employees played a role in the decision.

The options could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on when they were exercised and sold.

The 11 individuals received a total of 27,671 options. It is not known when each person exercised and sold his options.

In its news release, Taser defends giving options to officers. Rick Smith says the officers were not being rewarded but being compensated for serving on Taser's Master Instructor Training Board, which advises Taser on law enforcement training programs.

"It should be noted that none of the board members were in a position to approve product purchases," Smith said. "Every one of their agencies had already purchased and deployed Taser devices prior to their joining our advisory training board."

Public records show that one of the officers, former Chandler police Officer Jim Halsted, received 500 stock options a year before he urged the City Council to spend $193,000 on Tasers. Halsted, now a regional sales manager for Taser, was later investigated by the city for conflict-of-interest violations and cleared of any wrongdoing.

On March 27, 2003, Halsted made a presentation to the Chandler City Council in which he stressed the importance of buying Tasers and encouraged officials to act that night. Contacted at his office Friday, Halsted declined to comment.

Former Seattle police Officer Steve Ward, who now works for Taser, was issued stock options on Jan. 1, 2001, almost a year before Taser created its training board. In September 2000, Ward co-authored a report that advocated arming officers with Tasers.

Another officer who received Taser stock options is Darren Laur of the Victoria, British Columbia, Police Department. Laur has been a staunch advocate for Taser for years and helped write a report in 1999 that helped usher Tasers into Canada.

According to court documents, Laur was given 750 stock options in 2001 for helping to design a holster for the Taser. Taser said he sold the options in 2003.

"In my view there is an appearance of a conflict of interest, or at least the perception of a conflict," Canadian lawyer Cameron Ward said. Ward represents the family of Robert Bagnell, who died in June 2004 after officers shocked him with a Taser.

In his deposition, Taser President Tom Smith said he did not believe any of the options granted to police officers represented a conflict.

Police Chief Sues Taser Over Injuries Suffered During Training

Even with the Canadian Police Research Centre reporting that there is no "causal" link between taser and death, the fight over the use of the Taser is far from over:


"Stun gun manufacturer Taser is facing another lawsuit over the safety of its product. This time the lawsuit has been filed by a police chief in Hallsville, Missouri. Jacob Herring has sued the company claiming that he was severely injured after being shocked with a Taser weapon during training. Herring says he suffered at least two strokes, loss and impairment of his vision and hearing, neurological damage, a head injury and "significant cardiac damage" after being shocked by a Taser M26 during a class last year. Taser has now been sued 14 times since 2003 by officers who say they were injured in training." (Democracy Now)

Why Canadian Conservatives loose.

So why are the Canadian Conservatives in so much trouble?

Not too hard to figure out for a Dutchman. Just look at some of the issues of the last few months and how Conservatives have handled them.

Remember the confidence vote? Conservatives were willing to align with the Bloc Quebecois to beat the governing parties. Yes, align themselves with "the Bloc".

And then there was Belinda. Now I have to agree with the Conservatives when they disapprove of her actions: changing parties right before an important vote (the confidence vote, can it be more important?) is immoral. Actually I believe it should be illegal. The fact that it is not, is just as astonishing as the fact that BC parties are still allowed to spend huge amounts of money on advertising (to sway political opinion); both actions are part of the Canadian democratic deficit and all Canadians should be ashamed that the buying of votes is still legal. But Conservatives gave Belinda's latest "moves" names that where unfamiliar political terms to me. I suppose that's what Conservatives "express" when "power hungry hypocrites" loose. Just another reason to find Conservatives scary.

Today more reasonto distrust Tories. Here are Harper's "wise" comments when discussing Bloc Quebecois' position on same sex marriage: "Because it's being passed with the support of the Bloc, I think it will lack legitimacy with most Canadians". So what does this say about the Conservatives? Indeed: power hungry hypocrites! Conservatives align with the Bloc when they feel they have a chance of beating the Liberals (regardless that it might "lack legitimacy with most Canadians") but, when on a different issue the Bloc aligns with the Liberals, the Bloc is suddenly considered illegitimate.

So what have we learned?
1. Conservatives think Quebec voters are not legitimate Canadian voters
2. Conservatives do not know how to make or keep friends; therefore a future minority government with Conservatives seems unlikely.
3. Conservatives use polarization to clarify their position, even if it will work against them.

Personally I can't wait to see what will happen with "Defend Marriage Canada", "a citizen based effort" that considers the same-sex legislation "a costly social experiment on the backs of our children". What's there to defend when gays have the same rights under the law?

Conservatives, with their self-destructive actions, get better and better at loosing. Reason enough for some to call this party the "Canada Stupid Party". Congrats.

Downing Street Memo (3) - Thanks to Wolfowitz and Friends

The NPR on the Downing Street Memo.

And Wolfowitz, a prime architect of the Iraq war during his service as Deputy Defense Secretary, has heard about the downing street memos, but is not going to read them (excuse: he doesn't want to be distracted by history from his new job as head of the world's leading development bank).

For Wolfowitz the War seems to have lost it's "glance" and is now just another "issue" that he chooses not to focus on; "There will be a time and place to talk about history". It's frightening to read how Wolfowitz tries to escape history by not to talking about it while so many innocent Iraqis (and U.S. soldiers) have no other choice than live trough it. Thanks to Wolfowitz and friends.

Downing street memo(2)

A growing number of media outlets (including some in the U.S.) are picking up on the "downing street memo". Bloggers throw in their own two cents.

Downing Street memo is gaining momentum

Don't miss the latest developments in the downing street memo.

The minutes [or memo], which were published May 1 by the Sunday Times of London, paint a picture of an administration that had already committed to attacking Iraq, was manipulating intelligence and had already begun intense bombing of Iraq to prepare for the ground invasion. This was almost a year before the actual invasion officially began. The minutes are from a July 23, 2002 briefing of Prime Minister Tony Blair and his top national security advisers by British intelligence chief Richard Dearlove. The minutes contain an account of Dearlove's report that President George W. Bush had decided to bring about "regime change" in Iraq by military action; that the attack would be "justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD" (weapons of mass destruction); and that "the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."

Listen to the interview by Democracy Now by clicking here.