Canada just lost 4 more troops in Afghanistan. Since the start of this “War on Terror” (more on that below), every time a Canadian soldier or citizen has been killed in the “Warzone”, the flag above the peacetower has been lowered to half-staff.

I found a wonderful picture of the flag atop the Peace Tower in Ottawa on Google. The flag is at full mast.

I’d ask for someone reading this to go to Ottawa and try to take a picture of the Peace Tower with it’s flag at half-mast, so that I could post it myself everytime a soldier was killed (which will likely be happening more now anyway) but it seems now we’ll have to wait until November 11 for that to happen. Anyone gonna be in Ottawa on Nov. 11?

Not anymore.

What’s more, up until now, the Media has always been allowed to observe the return of the fallen soldiers as they flew into Trenton, Ontario. Not from now on. We’ll just have to try to remember them when the 11th hour finally strikes.

But ya know… just in case you didn’t hear the announcement in the House of Commons… some Conservatives MPs seem to think Canada is at War.

Oh really? When did Parliament enforce the War Measures Act? (Now known as the Emergencies Act

And is this the Act governing the internment, without trial or charge, of people now being held in a “Guantanamo North” near Kingston, Ontario? No, those people are apparently under Security Certificates which have been part of the Immigration Act since 1978**.

Yes, my fellow Canadians, welcome to the Bush-ification of your country. But hey, maybe Stephens Blair-like lapdog tendencies towards Bush are starting to pay off.

Apparently Bush called Mr. Harper over the weekend to offer a resolution to the Softwood Lumber issue.

Doesn’t it feel great to have the ear of the US President again?!

**The inclusion of Security Certifications in the Immigration Act is something I did not previously know. I, like most other people, thought they were a direct result of 9/11 and tied to Bill C36 which ammended many acts including the criminal code and others… This changes somewhat the frame of the debate around these certificates… however, the constitutionality of holding someone without charge is still very much up for debate. There have been recent Court decisions have upheld the constitutionality of the Certificates, but no doubt there will be other challenges in the future, especially as these prisoners stay in jail for longer and longer periods of time.

Actually, to be honest, Tree found the charger, I had nothing to do with it aside from complaining that I couldn’t find the battery charger for the digital camera.

So… the battery is charging… which means the camera will be operational again.. which means I will FINALLY put up some new pictures of our little mons—err, beauty.

Stay tuned!

Chris

I have an Iranian friend with whom I often chat online. She’s a recent immigrant to Vancouver from Iran. She is studying at one of the Universities here. Now that classes are over, she is headed back to Iran to visit family and friends. (Her parents have immigrated here as well).

Our conversation veered today to talk about what Iranians back home think about the possibility of War with the US, or a US bombing campaign against nuclear sites.

Here is something she said that really caught my attention and made me think that it should be heard by more people than just me.

A: the last time war happened in Iran that was the best thing for the new governemt because it was a source reason for whatever they did with people

A: even they people who have lost their kids by their givernment
prefer to have this government but dont have US bombing

Please read the entire thing, it is verbatim except for one [] section where I explain, to you, what I was thinking…

Here is our conversation is below the fold (click more)
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Because it is a continuation of the problem, so some tax will come off. So what? The price of crude will continue to rise, and quickly make up the difference. It’s not “relief” it’s a vote grab.

By lowering Gas Taxes we are in effect saying.

“We do not like to pay high prices for gas, so we will make the prices lower.”

That is not addressing the underlying cause of these high gas (and crude oil) prices.

The cause of the high oil prices is a simple case of uncertainty about supply. Whether we are nervous because of Iran possibly cutting off it’s exports due to US military action… or because Nigeria is having civil unrest issues… or because Gulf Coast Hurricane damage is still limiting both crude oil and refined gas production. They *all* have one thing in common… they all affect supply.

If we weren’t having a supply/demand issue, then we wouldn’t be worried about one, or any of these things, and the market prices would not be reacting the way they are.

In that fashion… it’s quite simple.

So, back to my first statement. What we should be saying is:

“We do not like to pay high prices for gas, so we will *do* something to *cause* prices to lower themselves.”

Notice the subtle difference in the two statements?

If you do, and you combine the obvious facts that a) supply cannot be increased and b) demand is growing, then it becomes clear that lowering Gas taxes is exactly the opposite of what we need to be doing.

More below the fold…

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So says Stephen Rademaker, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation

FALSE!

FALSE!

FALSE!

This is propaganda and war mongering in the worst possible way.

The Iranians have just announced that they have built 164 centrifuges and successfully enriched some uranium… to a level suitable only for nuclear reactors NOT a bomb.

Yes, that’s a step towards a bomb… an important one. But what the Assistant Secretary of State implied when he said “16 days”… was that the Iranians would can use 50,000 more centrifuges to accelerate production and produce a bomb.

In reality, it will take many years for Iran to build 50,000 centrifuges. These are highly complex devices. From *the same article* used by the Asst Secretary…

Iran has informed the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency that it plans to construct 3,000 centrifuges at Natanz next year, Rademaker said.

3000 next year… so if they build 3000 centrifuges per year, it would take Iran over 10 years to reach the fabled “50,000″.

So why would Rademaker let slip that obviously inflammatory quote and yet in the same breath speak the real facts? Simple, because he knew which quote woud be the headline.

Bloomberg used the quote in their headline. And the Drudge Report has it plastered on it’s frontpage.

How many bets the rightwing talking-heads and radio blowhards have this on their slate today? I actually saw note that NPR even quoted the 16 days claim without realizing it was obvious hyperbole.

This Administration is taking the People of the United States to another war, and fast.