Peter Cook: Fallout

US plans Iran strikes - report

Sun, 16 Apr 2006 22:14:10 GMT

Bush accused of 'messianic' mission after New Yorker magazine report claims US is intent on regime change in Tehran.
[Via Guardian Unlimited World Latest]

U.S. won't seek seat on UN rights body

Thu, 06 Apr 2006 21:45:56 GMT

Will see how new Human Rights Council develops, Washington says
[Via The Globe and Mail - International News]

Of course. Countries in violation of human rights agreements are seldom interesting in governing these agreements.

Law and Disorder March 13, 2006 ....

Wed, 15 Mar 2006 01:56:21 GMT

Law and Disorder March 13, 2006. Download/Listen to this show [37.5 MB] Paul Craig Roberts - Hosts discuss with former assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration how the Neoconservative movement has dismantled legislation to create a police state. From New Orleans 1973.. to Guantanamo 2006, A Discussion On Torture At the Hands of [...] [Law and Disorder Radio]
[Via Donovan's thoughtStream]

Website aims to educate Americans about Canada

Sat, 11 Mar 2006 05:15:38 GMT

Canadian Embassy in Washington is assembling an army of ex-pats as it battles the errors spouted by American television pundits
[Via The Globe and Mail - Technology News]

This is hilarious.

According to the website, there are a lot of myths that still need busting. Among them:

— That 90 per cent of Canadian marijuana is smuggled into the United States. It was actually about 2 per cent in 2003.
— That Canada has a lot of illegal immigrants. Actual estimates range from 60,000 to 200,000 compared with 12 million in the U.S.
— Canada caused the electricity blackout of Aug. 14, 2003. It began in Ohio.
— Homicide rates are as high in Canada as in the U.S. They one-third the rate.

U.S. war resisters in Canada

Wed, 01 Feb 2006 03:32:15 GMT

A new 28-minute video on war resisters from the USA-Iraq War in Canada, and the debate now going on (in the context of Canada's national elections) on whether to grant them refuge in Canada, is now available in full online as streaming video in seven segments (plus links to supplemental video and other resources) from the National Film Board of Canada Web site, or for purchase on DVD or videotape from the War Resisters Support Campaign [Canada].

"Let Them Stay: Voices of U.S. War Resisters in Canada" is directed at a Canadian audience, but people in the USA should watch it as well, especially if you haven't heard or seen first-hand testimony from those who have taken part in fighting the U.S. war against Iraq -- and have opted out.

[Via The Practical Nomad]

RegoczeiBlog

Tue, 13 Sep 2005 02:59:43 GMT

My friend Stephen Regoczei is stoking the fires of his new weblog. I never knew that Stephen was so great at pith:

Terrorists are relatively harmless. They do very little damage when compared to other hazzards such as food poisoning, malaria, or car accidents. Looking at the damage that the inaction of the US Government caused in New Orleans after Katrina, I can not see why why we bother with, or even notice, so-called "terrorists" at all.

[Via ruk.ca from peter rukavina]

U.S. televangelist calls for assassination of Chavez

Wed, 24 Aug 2005 16:33:09 GMT

Targeting Venezuelan President, Pat Robertson says it would be ‘cheaper than starting a war'
[Via The Globe and Mail - International News]
"“We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability,” Mr. Robertson said Monday on the Christian Broadcast Network's The 700 Club.

“We don't need another $200-billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator,” he said of the democratically elected Mr. Chavez, who is a frequent critic of U.S. foreign policy.

“It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with.”"

Mother tips balance against Bush

Sun, 21 Aug 2005 05:16:29 GMT

Vigil outside the president's ranch galvanises the anti-war movement.
[Via Guardian Unlimited World Latest]
"From small towns in the Midwest to big cities on the coast, no state was left untouched. From Red States to Blue States, the effect was to galvanise the anti-war movement in a way nothing else has done since the American-led invasion more than two years ago." [snip] 'This is now about far more than Cindy Sheehan. She has given people the confidence to speak out about the war that they didn't have before. Finally, its OK in America to be anti-war,' Zunes said."

US Americans are beginning to discover that we were right all along.

US right targets anti-war mother

Wed, 17 Aug 2005 05:48:58 GMT

Rightwing criticism of a bereaved mother camped outside President Bush's Texas ranch intensifies.
[Via Guardian Unlimited World Latest]
"Her presence has become a growing problem for the White House, which does not wish to seem heartless to a bereaved mother, but does not wish to be seen giving in to a demand from anti-war protesters."

'No-fly list' can target tots

Wed, 17 Aug 2005 05:30:22 GMT

Infants have been stopped from boarding planes at U.S. airports because their names are the same as those of possible terrorists
[Via The Globe and Mail - International News]

Why use your brain when you can follow a script?

BlogCritics : "The White House Press Corps...

Wed, 13 Jul 2005 13:59:25 GMT

BlogCritics: "The White House Press Corps came roaring back today, discovering the Is Karl Rove Guilty of Leaking a CIA Operative's Name story -- just nine days after most other media began reporting it."
[Via Scripting News]

Jon Stewart had some great stuff last night. After showing a clip of questions from the gallery Stewart whispered to the audience "We've secretly replaced the White House Press Gallery with 'actual' reporters."

Iraq: An upside-down place

Tue, 12 Jul 2005 05:00:31 GMT

Jon Leyne reflects on what the US might have done to limit the scale of the insurgency in Iraq.
[Via BBC News | World | UK Edition]
"The clear implication is that a good part of this mess might have been prevented if the Americans had decided to keep the Iraqi army together, paid their pensions, and been less doctrinaire about getting rid of the Baathists after the invasion two years ago.
In other words, perhaps America's main job in Iraq at the moment is to correct the mistakes of the last couple of years."

Many nations grieve in melting pot of London (Reuters)

Tue, 12 Jul 2005 05:00:25 GMT

"Beneath the headline in Britain's Daily Telegraph on Monday, a list of the missing from around the globe illustrated the deadly reach of last week's bomb attacks in London.

A waiter from France, an oil executive from Nigeria, an accountant from Mauritius, a tour guide from the United States, a dental technician from Romania, an Israeli who wanted to escape bombings in her homeland."
[Via Yahoo! News - World]

Salon.com: Why Karl Rove must go

Tue, 12 Jul 2005 05:00:18 GMT

But none of that can change the fact that Karl Rove revealed the identity of a CIA agent in order to discredit criticism of the president's use of intelligence in the run-up to a war that has now claimed the lives of at least 1,755 Americans.

This is the man responsible for getting George W. re-elected. He committed treason.

Blasts rip through heart of London

Thu, 07 Jul 2005 14:08:24 GMT

Police in London say it's too early to tell how many people were killed after a series of near-simultaneous explosions in the city's public transit system during Thursday morning's rush hour. FULL STORY
[Via CBC News] Last night the story was all about rock stars getting access to the G8 leaders and hopes for some movement on Africa. Unfortunately all of that is put aside now.

Iraq envoy accuses US of killing

Sat, 02 Jul 2005 19:12:16 GMT

Iraq's UN ambassador calls for an inquiry into the "cold-blooded killing" of his unarmed cousin by US marines.
[Via BBC News | World | UK Edition]

Flickr in the US

Thu, 30 Jun 2005 19:19:51 GMT

A couple of days ago Ben Hammersley was noting that difference between the Internet and the Internet in the US. While there's plenty of "warm and cheap places" where developers could write all the software they want, sometime our rights might change when a company moves. Check out this interesting post by Tris Hussey (via Strange Attractor) about Flickr moving their services from Canada to the US.

Under the Patriot Act, the FBI, CIA, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and compel Yahoo/Flickr to open up the data doors to them on the basis of "national security" or that a "person of interest" has photos there. They don't need a warrant. Yahoo/Flickr will not be able by law to inform you that this has happened, going to happen, etc.

And it goes beyond this. Given the right-wing politics of the day, how long will it be before Yahoo is forced to close or restrict the tags "nude" and "erotic"? This would not happen in Canada.

[Via Paolo Valdemarin: Paolo's Weblog]

Guantanamo chief defends guards

Thu, 30 Jun 2005 15:50:34 GMT

Only 10 cases of misconduct by guards at Guantanamo Bay have been recorded, the prison head says.
[Via BBC News | World | UK Edition]

Among Soldiers and Families, Applause Mixes With Doubts

Thu, 30 Jun 2005 15:48:41 GMT

People who have been part of the mission in Iraq expressed support for the troops, but some concern about the mission's execution.
[Via New York Times: International]

Mood of Anxiety Engulfs Afghans as Violence Rises

Thu, 30 Jun 2005 15:47:30 GMT

The loss of a military helicopter with 17 Americans aboard in Afghanistan comes at a time of growing insecurity in the region.
[Via New York Times: International]

Bush 'exploited 9/11' in Iraq plea

Thu, 30 Jun 2005 15:44:16 GMT

Doubts cast on success of speech in halting slide against conflict.
[Via Guardian Unlimited World Latest]

Maybe if you tell the same lie over and over and over and over again people start to catch on.

Bush cites 9/11 in Iraq plea

Wed, 29 Jun 2005 05:49:12 GMT

Terror link used to rally sceptical US public.
[Via Guardian Unlimited World Latest]

CIA blunder on al-Jazeera 'terror messages'

Wed, 29 Jun 2005 05:49:01 GMT

CIA analysts forced 30 flights to be cancelledbecause they thought that al-Qaida was sending hidden messages through the headlines of the Arabic television news channel al-Jazeera.
[Via Guardian Unlimited World Latest]

A Look at U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq (AP)

Sun, 05 Jun 2005 01:45:20 GMT

AP - As of Saturday, June 4, 2005, at least 1,668 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. At least 1,279 died as a result of hostile action, according to the Defense Department. The figures include four military civilians.
[Via Yahoo! News - World]

Amnesty likens Guantanamo Bay to 'gulag'

Thu, 26 May 2005 04:11:34 GMT

Human rights organization Amnesty International says the United States should shut down its prison camp in Guantanamo Bay. FULL STORY
[Via CBC News]