Author: STOP George

Shortly before being told that between 400,000 to 800,000 lives had been wasted since George W. pulled the UN inspectors from completing their largely successful effort to eventually inform the world that Saddam Hussein indeed had no WMDs (and had been contained) — the bloody occupation of Iraq had been largely forgotten in the American media.

Think about that.

FOUR HUNDRED TO EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND people have died because of this unnecessary invasion and this was a story largely neglected by the American media in July, 2006.

Then, CNN had the audacity to remind Americans of the promises that were made in the last 5 years.  This change in narrative certainly got my attention.  And then they showed an exclusive video that has now got the Republicans frothing at the mouth.  The video dramatically shows how vulnerable American soldiers really are out there in an occupation which continues to have no noble cause at all.
Here’s the chilling video (WARNING: graphic scenes)

(click HERE or on pic to view video)

UPDATE: I have been informed that YouTube is creating a warning page for this video — which makes it necessary to create an account.  You may now DOWNLOAD this video HERE (15MB), if you so choose.

And Here is the Republican response:

CNN has become “the publicist for an enemy propaganda film” by broadcasting a video showing an insurgent sniper in Iraq apparently killing an American soldier, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said here Friday.

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon) called for the Pentagon to oust any CNN reporter embedded with U.S. troops in Iraq.

“I think Americans like to think we’re all in this together,” Hunter said. “The average American Marine or soldier has concluded after seeing that film that CNN is not on their side.”

Really, Duncan?

Have any stats to back that up?

Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-Carlsbad), who with Hunter and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) sent a letter to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, called the film “nothing short of a terrorist snuff film.”

And what would you call the decision to keep those soldiers there?  It seems Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has fulfilled the role of “casting agent” for this film, wouldn’t you say?

Snow, at his regular news briefing in Washington, said the video was misleading because it made it appear that Americans were “sitting ducks” and that insurgents were winning the war. In truth, he said, insurgents “are dying in much greater numbers and suffering much greater damage.”

“Made it appear”?  With all due respect to those soldiers, sir, THEY WERE SITTING DUCKS!!!

And notice Tony Snow’s metric on “winning the war”.  Well, Tony, based on your logic — I’ll give you an idea to make “winning the war” a permanent reality for you.

NUKE THE SON-OF-A-BITCHES!!

Go ahead!  Isn’t this what your boy George really wants to do?!  Make that “comma” and exclamation mark, YOU FREAKS!

But just do me one favour, O.K.?

When CNN stops broadcasting from the wasteland that is Baghdad because Anderson Cooper’s “geiger counter radiation update” can’t even compete with reruns of “Who’s The Boss?” — don’t even think about lecturing us that the “liberal” media doesn’t report the “good news” coming out of Iraq.

Jeezus!

Promoted by Steven D. Our right to vote is our most precious right because from it flows all the others.

Here’s a question for you:

In light of all that you’ve heard about e-voting — if given the choice — what method would you prefer when voting in November, 2006?

A. I would prefer using an Electronic voting machine.

B. I would prefer using a paper Ballot.

(you may vote below on this voting issue…)
But, before you make that difficult choice, would you be surprised to find out that on Friday September 29th (TODAY) you now have an opportunity to call your representative in Congress and the Senate to demand that they support a bill introduced by Senators Boxer and  Chris Dodd.  This emergency legislation would

…refund state and county voting jurisdictions that offer paper ballots as an option to voters, and requires such jurisdictions post “in a conspicuous manner at the polling place, a notice stating that contingency paper ballots are available at the polling place and that a voter may request to use such a ballot at the voter’s discretion.”

– source: The Brad Blog

Senators Kerry and Feingold have also become co-sponsors of this bill and are proposing a resolution themselves in order to speed up the process of giving voters the option of being able to vote on paper this November.

Kerry and Feingold both have now co-sponsored and introduced a new “Sense of the Senate Resolution” calling on States around the country to act immediately to put back-up plans in place to have “Emergency Paper Ballots” at the polling places this November to avoid voters being turned away when voting machines fail to work. Thousands, so far this year, have been turned away in one state primary after another due to machine malfunction or unavailability.

An almost identical bill has been introduced in Congress by Rep. Rush Holt with an additional detail in the proposed legislation to treat these paper ballots as regular ballots so that they are counted immediately — unlike provisional ballots.

Furthermore, would you be surprised that this legislation is now endorsed by VoteTrustUSA.org and The DNC Voting Rights Institute?

Here is a letter from DNC Voting Rights Institute Chair, Donna Brazille:

OPEN LETTER TO SUPPORTERS OF

DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA!

Support The “Confidence in Voting Act of 2006”

By

Donna Brazile

Chair, DNC Voting Rights Institute

Fellow citizens,

We still have time to address the e-voting security crisis!

The November 7th mid term congressional and statewide elections are around the corner — and fears and concerns about the integrity of our electoral system and the security of paperless electronic voting systems have increased daily.

But there is time to act!

Before Congress adjourns for the November elections, we must pressure our lawmakers to support legislation that would help produce a fair and transparent election. Please call your lawmaker now and ask them to support the “Confidence in Voting Act of 2006.”

This legislation, sponsored in the Senate by Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Russ Feingold (WI), along with Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ) in the House of Representatives will allow the states to use optical scan or other paper ballot-based voting systems to opt in to a program for this November’s election whereby they would be reimbursed for giving voters the right to cast their votes on paper ballots.

The “Confidence in Voting Act of 2006” would also:

# Reimburse States at the rate of 75 cents per printed ballot for

offering voters, upon their request, the right to cast a vote by means of a contingency paper ballots, regardless of the voting equipment otherwise in use at the precinct;

# Mandate that the voter’s right to cast his or her vote by means of such a contingency paper ballot be conspicuously posted at polling places;

# Mandate that jurisdictions treat contingency paper ballots as

regular ballots, and count them accordingly and not as provisional ballots (unless a voter is otherwise required to vote provisionally); and

# Authorize such sums as are necessary to reimburse the States under the program.

We still have time to address the e-voting security crisis!

Every citizen deserves the right to vote and have that vote counted as cast. This is the system by which we hold our elected officials accountable and the cornerstone of a functioning democracy. A wide variety of non-partisan, objective studies have shown deeply troubling irregularities in the conduct of the 2000 and 2004 elections, as well as in some of the primary elections this year that call into question the fairness and accuracy of our current election system and demonstrate that the problems have not been fixed. Many of these voting irregularities are a direct result of malfunctioning electronic voting machines and poll workers who may be untrained in administering this new technology. Some of the problems could be eliminated by the use of voter-verified paper ballots. It’s time we act and call upon our lawmakers to ensure this election is fair and transparent. Given the recent rampant election irregularities and discrepancies, voters are justifiably concerned about the integrity of their votes cast through potentially flawed and unreliable machinery.

That is why I am calling on Democrats to stand firmly in support of H.R.6187, the Confidence in Voting Act of 2006.

And here is a CNN video on this story:

(click HERE or on pic to view CNN paper ballot contigency legislation video)

Here’s RFK jr. on Hardball 2 nights ago about this issue.

(click HERE or on Pic to watch)

In case you haven’t seen it, this demo by Princeton showing the vulnerability of these machines has been all over the blogosphere.  It has been shown on CNN & Fox and most recently, made it on CBS News yesterday — word is continuing to spread!

(Click HERE or on pic to view the Princeton Security Breach Demo)

(Click HERE or on pic to view the Fox News Princeton Demo — for your Republican friends)

Now, if you select B. in this Kos poll, can you promise me one thing?

Please contact your representative ASAP because the Congressional and Senate election recess may begin on Saturday. CLICK HERE TO DO SO.

Oh, and this poll will become more accurate, statistically, if you press the “Recommend button” after voting.

So, here we are.  Less than 50 days to what may be the most important election this country has ever had — a crucial election that will determine if America drifts further towards fascism or, if accountability will once again mean something.

Do you not want oversight?

Do you not want multiple impeachment hearings?

Do you not want to help get this country back from the depths on insanity so that the world may, one day, come to respect the United States of America once again?

Do you think that there is no possible way that the Democrats can lose this November?

Think again.

Despite catastrophic failures and proven security breaches that you can drive a Mac truck through, E-voting will be used by 80% of the electorate when America determines whether democracy survives this year.

Senators Kerry, Feingold, Boxer, and HAVA co-sponser Chris Dodd along with congressperson Rush Holt want to help prevent this looming disaster about to take place.

Emergency legislation to the rescue!
UPDATE:

Click here or pic to watch a CNN video on the effort…

———————————

Senators Kerry, Feingold, Boxer, and HAVA co-sponser Chris Dodd along with congressperson Rush Holt want to help prevent this looming disaster about to take place.

Emergency legislation to the rescue!

Senator Boxer and Senator Dodd have introduced emergency legislation to help the counties across the nation allow the electorate to vote on paper.

The legislation, filed just after 4pm ET this afternoon, would refund state and county voting jurisdictions that offer paper ballots as an option to voters, and requires such jurisdictions post “in a conspicuous manner at the polling place, a notice stating that contingency paper ballots are available at the polling place and that a voter may request to use such a ballot at the voter’s discretion.“

Although some areas in the U.S. will — unbelievably — not be able to legally comply with this  bill (if passed), it is hoped that this legislation will help millions elsewhere to be able to feel confident that their vote will be counted.  Indeed, if a significant portion of these unreliable machines break down in November, as expected — this legislation will help prevent millions of Americans from becoming disenfranchised.

Congressperson Rush Holt has also now filed a House version of this bill with a very important additional detail.  These optional paper votes will be counted as REGULAR ballots — and not as “provisional” ballots.  Provisional ballots are sometimes not counted and must be “vetted” to determine the legitimacy of the voter.  Therefore, voters can be assured that these “contigency votes” WILL be absolutely counted (and possibly recounted) to determine the winners of the congressional races this year.

Senator Kerry and Feingold issued a press release yesterday (PDF) outlining the fundamental importance of passing this piece of legislation before November.

“[H]ere we are, 42 days away from another election,” Kerry said, “and Congress has again dragged its feet even after we mobilized 35,000 citizens to demand a hearing for our Count Every Vote Act, even after what we saw just this month in Montgomery County [Maryland]. We need emergency action now. That is why I am co-sponsoring the Dodd-Boxer legislation to provide emergency paper ballots and that is why Russ Feingold and I are introducing our resolution today demanding election day back-up plans.”

“We have a duty to ensure that no citizen will be denied the right to vote in 2006,” Kerry concluded.

Do you wish to vote on paper this year?

Call your Congressperson and Senator NOW!

And if you can’t call now because the lines are busy or everyone is asleep, you can watch this video of RFK jr. on Hardball last night.

(click HERE or on Pic to watch)

OR spread these videos around…

(Click HERE or on pic to view the Princeton Security Breach Demo)

(Click HERE or on pic to view the Fox News Princeton Demo — for your Republican friends)

Heads up, everyone!

It seems the WMD / connections to Al Qaeda connetion to Iraq is oozing into the Bush administrations spin again.  Or is it spin?

Yesterday, to an audience of reporters in the East-Wing of the Whitehouse — with the Afghanistan President looking on beside him — Chuckle-nuts told the world that the reason the U.S. invaded Iraq is due to

“…people who want to do harm to the American people.”

In 2006, after all we’ve read / seen, is this evidence that the President’s thinking is “irrational”?

(continued, with video…)
It’s a strange (but somewhat familiar) statement, indeed.  Here’s the full excerpt of that part of his speech yesterday:

Some people have guessed what’s in the report and have concluded that…uh…going into Iraq was a mistake. I strongly disagree.   I think it’s naive.  I think it’s a mistake (pause) for people to believe that…uh…going on offense against people who want to do harm to the American people makes us less safe.

Here’s the video:

(click HERE or on pic to view)

First of all, who the hell are these “people” that he refers to?

If it is the Hussein government, then he is, indeed, making the case again — albeit in a more diffuse way — that Saddam Hussein was an imminent threat.  This conclusion would fly in the face of multiple reports and official documents that say exactly the opposite.  Saddam Hussein was contained and was, in no way, an imminent threat to the United States of America.

If he is referring to the members of terrorist organizations, such as Al Qaeda, then this again flies in the face of evidence and logic.  As we all know, it has been concluded that Saddam Hussein had no operational ties to terrorist organizations according to both the 9/11 Commission Report and the Senate Report of Pre-war Intelligence on Iraq.

I’ll raise a third possibility.  The President of the United States of America has lost his rational train of thought.  The speech seems scripted, but was it?  Did he, in fact, confuse the reason the U.S. is in Iraq NOW with the reason the U.S. invaded Iraq in the first place?  

As I mentioned in my previous diary, this man seems “unstable” to put it mildly.  He giggles and smiles at highly inappropriate times and makes deeply offensive comments about the deaths of thousands.  He even described the Iraq war as a kind of game:

Bush: “I strongly stand by my decision to remove Saddam Hussein.”

Blitzer:  “And you don’t look back with any regrets?”

Bush:  “I regret when people lose lives, but…uh…you,know…Presidents don’t get to do ‘do-overs’ (smiles).”

You may find this shocking video compilation here:

(click HERE or on pic to view video)

Should we be now seriously questioning the President’s mental state?  A quick search reveals to me that the only way to remove the President due to mental or physical incapcity would be to use the 25th Ammendment.  However, involuntary removal requires the cooperation of the Vice President and the members of the executive.  So, I guess this idea dies a quick death. Alas, it really was no solution to begin with, since I doubt any of us believe the operations in the White house would change in any way with only the removal of the President.

Interestingly, I came up with a precedent in another country after doing a google search. The removal of the President due to his mental state occured in Equador.  The year was 1997.

Ecuador’s Congress voted Thursday to remove President Abdala Bucaram for “mental incapacity,” exasperated by a stint in office in which the president sang and pulled political stunts while the country fell into economic crisis.

Members of Congress voted 44-34 to remove Bucaram, with two congressmen abstaining. Bucaram, who cheerfully had referred to himself as “El Loco,” or “the Crazy One,” called the vote on his incompetence a “coup by Congress” and said he would not recognize it.

Back to Chuckle-nuts. Let us consider this. Would it be a good “political” strategy to question the President’s mental health — even if it serves no interest for us to do so in any constitutional sense?  I’m certainly convinced that the man is not mentally sound.  

1.  In recent comments, the President has ignored and blatantly contradicted well established hard evidence and logic.

2.  The President has shown himself, repeatedly, to be insensitive in the extreme with his off-the-cuff remarks.

Should we lay this seed for others to explore?  

Promoted by Steven D.

O.k. MediaMatters, if you are reading this diary (which I hope is recommended), I encourage you to watch this video of Chris Wallace “before” the Clinton interview and Chris Wallace “after” the Clinton interview.

The Bill Clinton / Wallace interview, which is generating headlines in the American Corporate media, is now being played by Chris Wallace as a “surprise”.  They are “surprised” and “bewildered” as to why President Clinton would react in such an angry matter.

This is curious, since it was the same Chris Wallace that went “off” on Fox & Friends a couple of weeks earlier — spitting bricks over ABC’s “docu-dramea”, The Path To 9/11.

(video and analyses below…)
Here is Chris Wallace (2 weeks ago) when “going off” on his attack on The Path to 9/11.  He compares it to the movie “The Insider” which he views unfavorably:

I went to see it and I gotta tell ya — to see my father saying things that were not especially flattering — that he didn’t actually say — is very hurtful.  And I can understand why these guys [the former Clinton administration officials] are mad.

and with regards to Madeleine Albright:

You know, if they want to say Secretary of State John Smith said something — that’s one thing.  But when you say Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said something — then it better be what she said, or I think she’s got a heck of a case.

Here’s Chris Wallace on Fox after the Clinton interview:

I was the only one asking him about his record fighting Al Qaeda.  I have to say, paticularly after the controversy over ABC and the docu-drama, “The Path to 9/11”, I find that astonishing [that no other interview has recently asked him about it].  Not that I asked it, but that none of the others did ask it — and, uhh…you know…I didn’t think it was going to be inflammatory.  I thought, you know, he would handle it for 30 seconds and then we’d move on.  He accused me of having a smirk at one point.  Frankly, I was in wonder in this…kind of…tidle wave of emotion on his part.

It is very interesting to note that the Wallace’s main point in both discussions has changed dramatically.  Look at the video 2 weeks ago.  He associates the PT 9/11 movie very very loosely with, what he believes, are mistakes made by Clinton with respect to fighting Al Qaeda.  He makes it a point as to not to confuse the two issues.  That is:

1. Criticism of the inaccuracies in PT 9/11 and
2. Criticism of Clinton wrt fighting Al Qaeda in general

He condemns the movie and infers that these docu-dramas (which include major fictional distortions) is not being helpful to this overall discussion on where to place the blame.  In one of his half-thoughts, he even says, “We should not do movies [like PT 9/11]…” and then he discusses the Reagan mini-series.

  In the discussion after the Clinton interview, he places much importance on the PT 9/11 movie — and, in fact, tells the viewers that this same docu-drama should have sparked discussion about Clinton’s effectivenes with Al Qaeda:

I have to say, paticularly after the controversy over ABC and the docu-drama, “The Path to 9/11”, I find that astonishing [that no other interview has recently asked him about it].

Got that?

Before the Clinton interview:

Fox Host:  Are you going to be doing a piece about this [the PT 9/11 controversy] on your big show?

Wallace:  Nah!  We’ll leave it up to you guys [Fox & Friends]

(laughter)

Wallace:  On the big show, we’re going to be talking about 9/11…you know, frankly, there’s more important stuff than some silly ABC movie…

After the Clinton interview:

I have to say, paticularly after the controversy over ABC and the docu-drama, “The Path to 9/11”, I find that astonishing [that no other interview has recently asked him about it].

Furthermore, going back to this “surprise” at Clinton reacting this way.  What exactly is Chris smoking?  In the discussion rant he had with his Fox & Friends, he was very passionate about stating that Clinton and his people have every right to be upset over this smear job.  And what does Wallace do in his interview with Clinton?  He brings up Somalia.

To understand how wickedly slimy Chris Wallace is on this hack-job, listen to how he introduces the whole issue in the Clinton interview:

When we announced that you were going to be on Fox News Sunday, I got a lot of emails from viewers — and I gotta say, I was surprised — most of them wanted to ask you this question.  Why didn’t you do more to put Bin Laden and Al Qaeda out of business when you were President?

There he goes with that “being surprised — oh, I’m a fair and balaned reporter” bullshit again.  Listen to this quick slip of the tongue from the Fox & Friends discussion:

And look…there’s plenty…I’m not saying that the Clinton administration didn’t do plenty wrong in the way it handled Al Qaeda…

Surprised are you, Mr. Wallace?  Did you think we wouldn’t notice your incredible disingenuity — there’s a thing called “YouTube”, you know.

Here’s the compilation of the two discussions that I’ve created:

(click HERE or on pic to watch)

(CGP)Washington – Despite Venezualan President Hugo Chavez’ warning…

“And the devil came here yesterday. Yesterday the devil came here. Right here.” [crosses himself] “And it smells of sulfur still today.”

Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf could not resist the temptation to plug his own book by Simon and Shuster saying, “If Hugo can plug a book for Amazon, so can I!”  And he added, “Can you believe Chomsky’s book went to number one?!  I am not going to pass up prime opportunities like this one.  What am I?  The DNC?!”

After arriving in Washington, Musharraf soon felt ill aides have confirmed to CGP.  “The first signs were during the press conference with President Bush in the East Room of the White House.  At first he thought it was a headache induced by the unusually flourescent shine coming from Bush’s tie.”  As reporters started asking questions about U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage’s threats about Pakistan being bombed into the stone-age, Musharraf looked as though he was going to pass out.  Aides also noticed Bush smiling at this moment.  “He couln’t stop smiling.  It was like he was enjoying our General’s pain with that freaky-deeky smirk of his.”

In what may have been a last desperate attempt to save himself, Musharraf appeared to have recalled what was done at the United Nations a couple of days ago by the Venezualan President.  He blessed himself.  He has not been seen since.  Sulphur poisoning has not been ruled out.

Despite questions about the Pakistani President’s health, people of Pakistan are furious.  It is not known if the root of the anger lies with the most recent revelation about the U.S. threats in 2001 or if it is due to his apparent conversion to Christianity.

I’ve been meaning to do this diary since I saw this interview on CNN a few days ago.  I’ve spent some time doing some editing to show you how just how disturbed this man you have in “control” of your country really is.

This video will show you:

• a president of the free world smirking and laughing relentlessly at inappropriate moments for 5 freaking minutes — and I’ve edited out a lot!

• a stunned Wolf Blitzer (He may finally realize what is happening here)

• The most callous statement I’ve ever heard this worthless piece of shit ever utter out of his pie-hole — about the innocent lives of thousands of Iraqi citizens. (I repeated that moment 3 times for you)

I am NOT exaggerating, folks!  This video almost made me puke — and I’ve got a pretty good tolerance for this kind of stuff.  

(see it below — and send it to all of the people you know who do not believe that you have a sociopath in the Oval Office)

If the Devil is as disturbed as this man — Chavez was, indeed, correct.

Watch this video, and you will understand why I continue to call this man “Chuckle-nuts”:

(click HERE or on pic to view video)

Cross-posted at The Next Agenda

A Canadian Commission on the extraordinary rendition case of Maher Arar has recommended that the RCMP withold information from countries with “questionable human rights records” — with, appears to me, to be a direct slap across the face with regards to current American foreign policy.  Specifically, if one reads the recommendations, this is a stinging rebuke of America’s involvement in torture.  What’s more, this aspect of it doesn’t seem to be being played in either the Canadian or American media (NOTE: There WAS an interesting editorial in the NY Times today briefly (but directly) discussing the scolding nature of this report — see update below!

I’ve cut out snippets of the report below…

————————–

Arar and his daughter

For those of you not familiar with the Arar case, it is one of horrific proportions.  Arar was detained by American authorities in New York when he was about to transfer to a flight headed for his hometown of Montreal (after a vacation in Tunisia).  Maher Arar — a Canadian for many years, since he left Syria at the age of 17 — was, without warning, sent to Syria by the U.S. and tortured for more than a year.  He falsely confessed to being an Al Qaeda member after he buckled under the brutality he endured for those many months.  His case was thrown out of U.S. courts due to “technical reasons” and this most recent Canadian report completely exonerates him from any involvement from what he was accused of doing.  The RCMP was found to have given false information to U.S. authorities with regards to his possible involvement with Al Qaeda.

———————–

From the recently released “Commision of Inquiry into the Actions of Canadian Officials in Relation to Maher Arar” under the heading:

IV.
INVESTIGATIVE INTERACTION WITH COUNTRIES
WITH QUESTIONABLE HUMAN RIGHTS RECORDS (p.344 — Recommendation 14)

The RCMP and CSIS should review their policies governing the circumstances in which they supply information to foreign governments with questionable human rights records. Information should never be provided to a foreign country where there is a credible risk that it will cause or contribute to the use of torture. Policies should include specific directions aimed at eliminating any possible Canadian complicity in torture, avoiding the risk of other human rights abuses and ensuring accountability.

The recommendation goes on to say that there are only rare instances when security information should be released to countries like the United States:

The current RCMP policy is inadequate. A policy entitled “Enquiries from Foreign Governments that Violate Human Rights”63 appears to set out two bases for determining when information may be shared. It provides that the RCMP will not become involved or appear to become involved in any activity that might be considered a violation of the rights of an individual unless there is a need to comply with one of five specified international conventions that Canada has signed in relation to various forms of terrorism. In addition, the policy states:

The disclosure of information to an agency of a foreign government that does not share Canada’s respect for democratic or human rights may be considered if it:

1. is justified because of Canadian security or law-enforcement interests,

2. can be controlled by specific terms and conditions, and

3. does not have a negative human rights connotation.64

As a Canadian, I was heartened to hear this as well:

The need to investigate terrorism and the need to comply with international conventions relating to terrorism do not in themselves justify the violation of

human rights.The international conventions cited in the RCMP policy, which I note has only a partial, out-of-date listing of conventions Canada has signed, do not authorize departures from human rights standards protected under various other international instruments Canada has agreed to abide by, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment

or Punishment (Convention against Torture).

Finally, under Article 3, paragraph (1), no state party shall send a person to a country where there are “substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture.” Clearly, the prohibition against torture in the Convention against Torture is absolute. Canada should not inflict torture, nor should it be complicit in the infliction of torture by others.

Here’s some “pre-emptive” caution against the U.S.:

Whenever there is a reasonable basis for

questioning a country’s human rights record, officers should err on the side of ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATONS 346

caution. According to Article 3, paragraph (2) of the Convention against Torture, relevant considerations for determining whether there are grounds for believing

in a danger of torture include the existence of a “pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights.”67 Reliable public reports of patterns of human rights violations in a country must be considered when assessing whether there is or was a credible risk of torture. Canadian officials should not wait for “verification” or unequivocal evidence of torture in a specific case before arriving

at a conclusion of a likelihood of torture.

This report could be mistaken for making recommendations against a 3rd world banana republic.  I had to rub my eyes twice to realize that what this section of the report is actually referring to The United States of America — a friend and ally to Canada.

Furthermore, it should be noted by Americans that this report, if taken seriously, may effectively create a “fire-wall” between the Canadian / American exchange of information on terrorism.  So, because the American officials decided to act on their own — without regard to international law — IT MAY HAVE MADE THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA SIGNIFICANTLY LESS SAFE.

UPDATE:  I just read a NY Times editorial that refers, briefly, to the scolding nature of this Canadian Commission report:

The report said Mr. Arar never had any connection to terrorism. But the United States stonewalled Canada’s investigation, which concluded that the Americans misled Canada about their plans for Mr. Arar. Sending him to Syria, where he would certainly be tortured, was not just immoral and un-American, it was a violation of international law.

———————-

LINKS:

Commission of Inquiry into the Actions of Canadian Officials in Relation to Maher Arar – Website

The Commission Report (in PDF)

Maher Arar’s Website

My Previous Diary (Feb. 21) When the Arar Case was Thrown Out of the U.S. Courts

Cross-posted at Daily Kos, My Left Wing and The Brad Blog

In case you haven’t visited YouTube, DKos, The Brad Blog or other blog sites recently, You may read this excellent diary summarizing Princeton University report, where they were able to reverse the voting results of a Diebold machine without leaving a trace.  I took the initiative to post this incredible video onto YouTube and, as you can imagine, it really took off — it has now been viewed by at least 38,000+ people.

I was discouraged (but not surprised) to learn later that this powerful demonstration by an Ivy League University, showing a direct threat to American democracy, hardly got one sentence of exposure on corporate network news and the corporate printed media. These machines only represent 10% of the electorate, afterall. (NOTE: I’ve been informed below that CNN covered this issue well on Friday — and my search was limited to the internet prior to the creation of this diary)  

Imagine my shock to find out today that none other than FOX News had Professor Ed Felten & his team actually demonstrating their study to their right-wing audience!!!

(view video below)
When you watch the video you will discover that, although not a lot of time is spent discussing this serious issue — Professor Felten clearly shows the right-wingers that they have a lot to be concerned about.  The bubble-head hosts even gasped and seemed to understand the seriousness of this demonstration.

And so, I think we have almost achieved a pivotal point in this whole saga of e-voting in America.  RFK jr. et al’s massive lawsuit against the e-voting companies (which they say will curl your toes) is expected to be front-page news within the next couple of weeks. And now, this issue is starting to gain wide political exposure on such programs as Lou Dobbs and Fox News. Yes, friends — I have a feeling this story is going to go critical mass.  

Now, the importance of this story achieving serious recognition on Fox news should be used to our advantage methinks.  

It’s time, once again, for…

YouTube TAKE ACTION!!

dah…dah…dah..daaaaaaah!!

1.  Click on the following video (it will take you to YouTube)
2.  Rate it with 5 stars
3.  Make it “your favorite”
4. add a comment (it can be very short)
5.  link it to your blog, if you have one  
6.  Email it to others — especially your right-wing friends

That last point is key.  Because this is “Fox News” video, I would think that this will be more likely to received favorably by the wing-nuts.  A lot of right-wing comments from my previous Princeton YouTube video tried to label this as a “left-wing conspiracy” movement.  I really want them to hear their favorite bobble-head anchors uttering, “Oh, my!”

(click HERE or on the pic to take thee to YouTube — NOTE: I’ve posted a new video, correcting the audio problem. Sorry — you’ll have to re-rate if you’ve already done so.)

Here are the stats for this video (I’ll keep updating):

Honors for This Video

#27 – Most Discussed (Today)
#6 – Most Discussed (Today) – News & Blogs
#89 – Top Rated (Today)
#9 – Top Rated (Today) – News & Blogs
#15 – Most Viewed (Today) – News & Blogs
#8 – Top Favorites (Today)
#1 – Top Favorites (Today) – News & Blogs

There are STILL down-raters — keep it up, guys!!

————————

And please — while we’re on the topic — go to this video, if you haven’t already done so, and do the same.  I would really like this video to be one of the top viewed videos of all-time on YouTube.  It deserves this title.  There is nothing more important than maintaining American democracy.

(click HERE or on pic to take thee to YouTube)

Here are the stats for this YouTube video so far…

Views: at start of diary: 38,000 / now: 40,844

#30 – Most Discussed (This Week)
#13 – Most Discussed (This Week) – News & Blogs
#29 – Most Discussed (This Month) – News & Blogs
#46 – Top Rated (This Week) – News & Blogs
#29 – Most Viewed (This Week) – News & Blogs
#24 – Top Favorites (This Week)
#3 – Top Favorites (This Week) – News & Blogs
#7 – Top Favorites (This Month) – News & Blogs

Finally, you can read the report or download the video at the Princeton site (to send to your non-internet connected friends — HERE.

Thanks, guys!!

See (and recommend) this diary for the full story.

I have decided to use my diary today to pimp what should be one of the most important YouTube videos — EVER.

• it is the most important issue facing Americans today
• it is a devastating video against these particular Diebold electronic voting machines that will be used by 10% of the electorate in November.
• it is an issue being ignored by the corporate media (for the most part)

TAKE ACTION:

1.  Go to the YouTube video I posted
2.  Write a comment (it will go towards counting for “the most discussed video”)
3.  Rate it with 5 stars (it will go towards counting for “the most highly rated video”)
4.  Link it to your blog if you can (it will go towards counting for “the most linked video”)
5.  Add it to your “favorites” if you have an account (it will go towards counting for “top favorite videos”

Help make this one of the most successful viral videos in American history!

Video link below…

UPDATE 2: Diebold has made a rebuttal at The Chicago Tribune. Take a look and tell us what you think. The chief points are that the software was 2 generations old and the computers are not networked, so no need to worry.

THE RANKINGS:

Honors for This Video (so far — I’ll keep updating)

#6 – Most Discussed (Today)
#3 – Most Discussed (Today) – News & Blogs
#35 – Most Discussed (This Week)
#14 – Most Discussed (This Week) – News & Blogs
#35 – Most Discussed (This Month) – News & Blogs
#14 – Top Rated (Today)
#5 – Top Rated (Today) – News & Blogs
#60 – Top Rated (This Week) – News & Blogs
#45 – Most Viewed (Today)
#8 – Most Viewed (Today) – News & Blogs
#70 – Most Viewed (This Week) – News & Blogs
#2 – Top Favorites (Today)
#1 – Top Favorites (Today) – News & Blogs
#25 – Top Favorites (This Week)
#4 – Top Favorites (This Week) – News & Blogs
#10 – Top Favorites (This Month) – News & Blogs

Keep it up, guys!! There are also some Diebold supporters out there downrating this video. Don’t forget to make a comment there, too.

(click HERE or on pic to go to YouTube)

I’ve now got this connected to the DIGG system, as well — if you feel like “digging” it.