Canada has been, all of their anti-war rhetoric aside, a very loyal friend of the U.S. regime during our illegal occupation of Iraq. Many thanks to our brethren in the Great White North!
The Canadian government has refused to offer sanctuary to U.S. soldiers who are conscientious objectors. They have also worked diligently to extradite everyone who has applied for status up to this point. They have made it very clear that they will send back all "draft dodgers". They have even issued statements to the effect that this is "not the same as Vietnam". Apparently not!
There is also the case of "extraordinary rendition" involving Canadian citizen, Maher Arar. He is an Ottawa native who was kidnapped by U.S. and Canadian authorities working in conjunction. He was kidnapped and sent to Syria, detained, tortured for almost a year and then released. While the Canadian government has apologized to the innocent man, they have not condemned the U.S.'s part in the "rendition" nor have they changed their own policies which allowed this to happen again in the future.
The Canadian government have been somewhat reticent about fighting for the return of an Iranian citizen and his 10 year old Canadian son who have been detained in a holding facility in Texas without charge or trial. The boy has never been to Iran and is, by every legal definition, a Canadian citizen. Why are the Canadians not "having a bird" about this? Because they don't want to piss off their fascist neighbors to the south, that's why!
When countries outright lie, torture, kill and spy, that's bad (of course). That's a form of OVERT fascism.
To me, the far more frightening and dangerous component of fascism lies in the COVERT actions we are very unlikely to see. These covert actions often include media control, loss of free speech and the muzzling of dissent. The act below, taken by the "Switzerland of North America", belies a co-operation with our own morally-bankrupt, imperialist government that is both dangerous and frightening.
The Canadian government is now clearly shifting to a more COVERT support of U.S. actions in Iraq by refusing to allow dissent and free speech. Specifically, they are refusing Black Panther Party founder, Bobby Seale, from entering Canada to speak at Ottawa University. While Seale was long ago classified a "criminal" due to legal issues resulting from his long struggle against the murderous, criminal forces of COINTELPRO and their ilk, that was never once cause for disallowing him entry into Canada to speak. Never. Not once. Things have changed!
Below, is a story from the Ottawa Citizen.
Black Panther Founder Denied Entry to Canada: Bobby Seale was to speak at U. of Ottawa
Ottawa Citizen Maria Kubacki Friday March 23
The Canadian government is refusing Bobby Seale entry to Canada and denying students an opportunity to hear a legendary civil rights activist, according to a University of Ottawa group that invited the former Black Panther Party chairman to speak at an event this weekend.
The University of Ottawa branch of the Ontario Public Interest Research Group -- a student group dedicated to social, economic and environmental justice -- invited Mr. Seale to give the keynote address on racism and oppression at their "Public Interest School" workshops on the U of O campus this Saturday. But they found out last week he would not be allowed to enter the country, according to research group board member and University of Ottawa student Michael Cheevers.
"We decided Bobby Seale would be awesome for this because he's not only an iconic figure of the civil rights movement, but he also has some great messages against racism and oppression," said Mr. Cheevers.
In a letter to Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day protesting the decision to deny Mr. Seale permission to come to Ottawa, Mr. Cheevers wrote, "There are no valid reasons to prevent him from speaking in Canada now, considering he has been allowed to speak multiple times in this country since the 1960s."
The Canada Border Services Agency would not comment on the case. However, the agency's website lists reasons why someone could be denied entry into the country, including security concerns or reasonable grounds to believe the person has committed a serious crime.
The person does not necessarily have to have been convicted of the crime, said border services agency spokesman Chris Kealey.
Mr. Seale, 71, was the chairman and co-founder, along with Huey Newton, of the Black Panther Party, an organization formed in 1966 to combat police brutality in black neighbourhoods, but which evolved into a militant Marxist revolutionary group.
He was also one of the Chicago Eight charged with conspiracy during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, but charges against him were eventually dropped.
In 1970-1971, he was tried for the torture and murder of former Black Panther Alex Rackley, who was suspected of being a police informant. However, that trial ended in a hung jury.
Mr. Seale, who lives in Oakland, California, left the Panthers in 1974, but has continued to give talks and workshops on racism and civil rights.
"I would have been fascinated by the opportunity to meet him and I think the students would have found it energizing and thought-provoking," said University of Ottawa law professor Joanne St. Lewis, who will be speaking at the event. "What we remember are images of the Black Panthers with the weapons and all of the propaganda that suggested they were profoundly racist against white people," she said.
But many of the issues the group raised remain valid, she said.
"We're still, as African-Canadians in various parts of this country, living with inequality and challenging some of the same issues that he was talking about in the sixties."
Mr. Seale was not available for comment.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Monday, March 12, 2007
Greg Palast: A Huge National Security Risk
We all know that Greg Palast is an investigative journalist par excellence but perhaps you didn't know Homeland Security is seeking to add the word "felon" to his resume!?
Palast had the nerve to shed light on tens of thousands of blacks being kept off the voter roles in Florida in 2000. Post Katrina, he has been trying to shed light on the racist actions of this rogue criminal fascist administration. Apparently, they're going to seriously attempt to try and jail this crusader for "violating our national security". In their minds this is as simple as filming a trailer park in which Katrina victims are being held! "Free country" my ass!
Palast Charged with Journalism in the First Degree
September 11, 2006
By Greg Palast
It's true. It's weird. It's nuts. The Department of Homeland Security, after a five-year hunt for Osama, has finally brought charges against ... Greg Palast. I kid you not. Send your cakes with files to the Air America wing at Guantanamo.
Though not just yet. Fatherland Security has informed me that television producer Matt Pascarella and I have been charged with unauthorized filming of a "critical national security structure" in Louisiana. On August 22, for LinkTV and Democracy Now! we videotaped the thousands of Katrina evacuees still held behind a barbed wire in a trailer park encampment a hundred miles from New Orleans. It's been a year since the hurricane and 73,000 POW's (Prisoners of W) are still in this aluminum ghetto in the middle of nowhere. One resident, Pamela Lewis said, "It is a prison set-up" -- except there are no home furloughs for these inmates because they no longer have homes.
To give a sense of the full flavor and smell of the place, we wanted to show that this human parking lot, with kids and elderly, is nearly adjacent to the Exxon Oil refinery, the nation's second largest, a chemical-belching behemoth.
So we filmed it. Without Big Brother's authorization. Uh, oh. Apparently, the broadcast of these stinking smokestacks tipped off Osama that, if his assassins pose as poor Black folk, they can get a cramped Airstream right next to a "critical infrastructure" asset. So now Matt and I have a "criminal complaint" lodged against us with the feds.
The positive side for me as a journalist is that I get to see our terror-busters in action. I should note that it took the Maxwell Smarts at Homeland Security a full two weeks to hunt us down.
Frankly, we were a bit scared that, given the charges, we wouldn't be allowed on a plane into New York last night. But what scared us more is that we were allowed on the plane.
Once I was traced, I had a bit of an other-worldly conversation with my would-be captors. Detective Frank Pananepinto of Homeland Security told us, "This is a 'Critical Infrastructure' ... and they get nervous about unauthorized filming of their property.
Well, me too, Detective. In fact, I'm very nervous that this potential chemical blast-site can be mapped in extreme detail at this Google Map location.
What also makes me nervous is that the Bush Terror Terriers have kindly indicated on the Internet that this unprotected critical infrastructure can be targeted -- I mean located -- at 30? 29' 11" N Latitude and 91? 11' 39" W Longitude.
After I assured Detective Pananepinto, "I can swear to you that I'm not part of Al Qaeda," he confirmed that, "Louisiana is still part of the United States," subject to the first amendment and he was therefore required to divulge my accuser.
Not surprisingly, it was Exxon Corporation, one of a handful of companies not in love with my investigations. [See "A Well-Designed Disaster: the Untold Story of the Exxon Valdez."]
So I rang America's top petroleum pusher-men and asked their media relations honcho in Houston, Marc Boudreaux, a simple question. "Do you want us to go to jail or not? Is it Exxon's position that reporters should go to jail?" Because, all my dumb-ass jokes aside, that is what's at stake.
And Exxon knew we were journalists because we showed our press credential to the Exxon guards at the refinery entrance.
The Exxon man was coy: "Well, we'll see what we can find out.... Obviously it's important to national security that we have supplies from that refinery in the event of an emergency."
Really? According to the documents our team uncovered from the offices of Exxon's lawyer, Mr. James Baker, the oil industry is more than happy to see a limit on worldwide crude production. Indeed, the current squeeze has jacked the price of oil from $24 a barrel to $64 and refined products have jumped yet higher -- resulting in a record-busting profit for Exxon of nearly $1 billion per week.
So this silly "criminal complaint" has nothing to do with stopping Al Qaeda or keeping the oil flowing. It has everything to do with obstructing news reports in a way that no one would have dared attempt before the September 11 attack.
Dectective Pananepinto, in justifying our impending bust, said, "If you remember, a lot of people were killed on 9/11."
Yes, Detective, I remember that very well: my office was in the World Trade Center. Lucky for me, I was out of town that day. It was not a lucky day for 3,000 others.
Yes, I remember "a lot" of people were killed. So I have this suggestion, Detective -- and you can pass it on to Mr. Bush: Go and find the people who killed them.
It's been five years and the Bush regime has not done that. Instead, the War on Terror is reduced to taking off our shoes in airports, hoping we can bomb Muslims into loving America and chasing journalists around the bayou. Meanwhile, King Abdullah, the Gambino of oil, whose princelings funded the murderers, gets a free ride in the President's golf cart at the Crawford ranch.
I guess I shouldn't complain. After all, Matt and I look pretty good in orange.
A personal request to readers. Many have written to ask what can be done to protect Matt and me from becoming unwilling guests of the State.
First, this ain't no foolin' around: Matt and I are facing these nutty charges. So spread the info. We believe that getting the word out is the best defense.
Second, call Homeland Security and turn us in. They seem to have trouble finding us. If you get a reward, you may choose to donate it to the Palast Investigative Fund, a 501(c)(3) educational foundation which supports our work and pays our legal fees.
Third, ask your local library to order our book, Armed Madhouse: Who's Afraid of Osama Wolf? Homeland Security now reserves the right to read over your shoulder at the library; therefore, the more our agents are forced to read this subversive material, the more likely we can convince them to come in out of the cold. All kidding aside, we do ask you to request your library order the book: not everyone can afford to purchase this hardbound edition.
© Copyright. 1996-2007. All rights reserved.
Palast had the nerve to shed light on tens of thousands of blacks being kept off the voter roles in Florida in 2000. Post Katrina, he has been trying to shed light on the racist actions of this rogue criminal fascist administration. Apparently, they're going to seriously attempt to try and jail this crusader for "violating our national security". In their minds this is as simple as filming a trailer park in which Katrina victims are being held! "Free country" my ass!
Palast Charged with Journalism in the First Degree
September 11, 2006
By Greg Palast
It's true. It's weird. It's nuts. The Department of Homeland Security, after a five-year hunt for Osama, has finally brought charges against ... Greg Palast. I kid you not. Send your cakes with files to the Air America wing at Guantanamo.
Though not just yet. Fatherland Security has informed me that television producer Matt Pascarella and I have been charged with unauthorized filming of a "critical national security structure" in Louisiana. On August 22, for LinkTV and Democracy Now! we videotaped the thousands of Katrina evacuees still held behind a barbed wire in a trailer park encampment a hundred miles from New Orleans. It's been a year since the hurricane and 73,000 POW's (Prisoners of W) are still in this aluminum ghetto in the middle of nowhere. One resident, Pamela Lewis said, "It is a prison set-up" -- except there are no home furloughs for these inmates because they no longer have homes.
To give a sense of the full flavor and smell of the place, we wanted to show that this human parking lot, with kids and elderly, is nearly adjacent to the Exxon Oil refinery, the nation's second largest, a chemical-belching behemoth.
So we filmed it. Without Big Brother's authorization. Uh, oh. Apparently, the broadcast of these stinking smokestacks tipped off Osama that, if his assassins pose as poor Black folk, they can get a cramped Airstream right next to a "critical infrastructure" asset. So now Matt and I have a "criminal complaint" lodged against us with the feds.
The positive side for me as a journalist is that I get to see our terror-busters in action. I should note that it took the Maxwell Smarts at Homeland Security a full two weeks to hunt us down.
Frankly, we were a bit scared that, given the charges, we wouldn't be allowed on a plane into New York last night. But what scared us more is that we were allowed on the plane.
Once I was traced, I had a bit of an other-worldly conversation with my would-be captors. Detective Frank Pananepinto of Homeland Security told us, "This is a 'Critical Infrastructure' ... and they get nervous about unauthorized filming of their property.
Well, me too, Detective. In fact, I'm very nervous that this potential chemical blast-site can be mapped in extreme detail at this Google Map location.
What also makes me nervous is that the Bush Terror Terriers have kindly indicated on the Internet that this unprotected critical infrastructure can be targeted -- I mean located -- at 30? 29' 11" N Latitude and 91? 11' 39" W Longitude.
After I assured Detective Pananepinto, "I can swear to you that I'm not part of Al Qaeda," he confirmed that, "Louisiana is still part of the United States," subject to the first amendment and he was therefore required to divulge my accuser.
Not surprisingly, it was Exxon Corporation, one of a handful of companies not in love with my investigations. [See "A Well-Designed Disaster: the Untold Story of the Exxon Valdez."]
So I rang America's top petroleum pusher-men and asked their media relations honcho in Houston, Marc Boudreaux, a simple question. "Do you want us to go to jail or not? Is it Exxon's position that reporters should go to jail?" Because, all my dumb-ass jokes aside, that is what's at stake.
And Exxon knew we were journalists because we showed our press credential to the Exxon guards at the refinery entrance.
The Exxon man was coy: "Well, we'll see what we can find out.... Obviously it's important to national security that we have supplies from that refinery in the event of an emergency."
Really? According to the documents our team uncovered from the offices of Exxon's lawyer, Mr. James Baker, the oil industry is more than happy to see a limit on worldwide crude production. Indeed, the current squeeze has jacked the price of oil from $24 a barrel to $64 and refined products have jumped yet higher -- resulting in a record-busting profit for Exxon of nearly $1 billion per week.
So this silly "criminal complaint" has nothing to do with stopping Al Qaeda or keeping the oil flowing. It has everything to do with obstructing news reports in a way that no one would have dared attempt before the September 11 attack.
Dectective Pananepinto, in justifying our impending bust, said, "If you remember, a lot of people were killed on 9/11."
Yes, Detective, I remember that very well: my office was in the World Trade Center. Lucky for me, I was out of town that day. It was not a lucky day for 3,000 others.
Yes, I remember "a lot" of people were killed. So I have this suggestion, Detective -- and you can pass it on to Mr. Bush: Go and find the people who killed them.
It's been five years and the Bush regime has not done that. Instead, the War on Terror is reduced to taking off our shoes in airports, hoping we can bomb Muslims into loving America and chasing journalists around the bayou. Meanwhile, King Abdullah, the Gambino of oil, whose princelings funded the murderers, gets a free ride in the President's golf cart at the Crawford ranch.
I guess I shouldn't complain. After all, Matt and I look pretty good in orange.
A personal request to readers. Many have written to ask what can be done to protect Matt and me from becoming unwilling guests of the State.
First, this ain't no foolin' around: Matt and I are facing these nutty charges. So spread the info. We believe that getting the word out is the best defense.
Second, call Homeland Security and turn us in. They seem to have trouble finding us. If you get a reward, you may choose to donate it to the Palast Investigative Fund, a 501(c)(3) educational foundation which supports our work and pays our legal fees.
Third, ask your local library to order our book, Armed Madhouse: Who's Afraid of Osama Wolf? Homeland Security now reserves the right to read over your shoulder at the library; therefore, the more our agents are forced to read this subversive material, the more likely we can convince them to come in out of the cold. All kidding aside, we do ask you to request your library order the book: not everyone can afford to purchase this hardbound edition.
© Copyright. 1996-2007. All rights reserved.
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