Paul S. Graham

By now, everyone has heard that George Carlin died on Sunday of a heart attack. Adoring broadcasters have been playing clips of some of his more controversial routines and editing out the naughty bits, a development that I’m sure Carlin would have mocked mercilessly.

I can hear him now: “Those motherfuckers! How dare they play Seven Words You Can’t Say on Television and bleep out the fuckin’ words?”

Carlin loved language and hated hypocrisy. He could use language to entertain and to enlighten. He was a keen observer of how language is used to confuse, mislead and ultimately enslave people.

Here’s a memorable clip on the subject of language which concludes, ironically, on the topic of his death.

We’re gonna miss ya, George.

Forgive the stereotyping, but Americans are legends in their own minds on the subject of free speech. Or, at least they were until George Bush invaded Afghanistan and declared that any criticism, however muted, was tantamount to terrorism.

Perhaps this kind of declaration was inevitable in a country where the public political discourse is limited to discussing the policy options offered by Republicans and Democrats, which is akin to being permitted to choose between brands of toilet paper.

Still, depending on your point of view, American talk radio is vibrant, irreverent and free-wheeling or hysterical, reactionary and offensive. But even by American standards, a line may have been crossed when Radio America-syndicated talk show host Michael Reagan called for the murder of anti-war activist Mark Dice, on the air, June 10.

Evidently, Dice brought down the wrath of Regan by sending letters and DVDs to American troops stationed in Iraq which support the idea that U.S. officials allowed the 9/11 attacks to happen for political purposes.

Said Reagan: “How about you take Mark Dice out and put him in the middle of a firing range. Tie him to a post, don’t blindfold him, let it rip and have some fun with Mark Dice.”

Now, even in the United States (or at least in California) it is against the law to incite murder. So far, thankfully, it has remained a war of words. Dice wants Reagan fired and prosecuted. Reagan has apologized, but Dice, understandably is not reassured.

Here’s a clip of the offending broadcast.

And you can read more at Info Wars.

——

* Yes, he’s Ronnie’s adopted son. Never had a chance. Sigh . . .

This just came in from Eric Lee at Labour Start. Please support it.

This is one of the most unusual trade union campaigns I’ve ever heard of — and I’m pretty excited by it. Please take a moment and read on.

Many of you will have heard that two leaders of Zimbabwe’s embattled trade union movement were arrested a few weeks ago on charges of ‘spreading falsehoods prejudicial to the state’ — in other words, telling the truth.

Next Monday, Lovemore Matombo and Wellington Chibebe, President and General Secretary of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, are going back to court to face charges. Unions around the world are organizing protests that day at Zimbabwe embassies, and if you can attend or organize such an event that’s great.

But there’s something you can do right now without getting up out of your chair. The Trades Union Congress here in London is making a giant photo mosaic of Lovemore and Wellington, using pictures of hundreds of their supporters from around the world — and they want to use your photo as one tiny part of it.

They’ll get this printed on a large banner in time for the London demonstration on 23 June, and they’ll make the image available to other international demonstrations and to the media.

Please email a photo of your face to zim@tuc.org.uk.

You can read more about this effort here.

Demonstration for democracy, rights and freedom for Zimbabwe The Zimbabwean, Africa – 13 Jun 2008 On 23 June Lovemore Matombo, President of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and Wellington Chibebe, General Secretary of ZCTU are due in court to …

TopNews

Wrexham AM’s bid to free Zimbabwe union men Evening Leader, UK – 20 May 2008 In her letter, Miss Griffiths expressed her deep concern for the safety and well-being of Lovemore Matombo, Wellington Chibebe and Raymond Majongwe. … Labour union leaders released on bail Zimbabwejournalists.com ZCTU leaders out on bail Politicsweb all 14 news articles »

ZCTU PRESS RELEASE The Zimbabwean, Africa – 4 Jun 2008 … with Freedom of Expression and Association while. The ZCTU is represented at the ILO by President Lovemore Matombo and secretary-General Wellington Chibebe.

Zimbabwe: Unionists granted bail Green Left Weekly, Australia – 24 May 2008 … High Court had granted Z$20 billion bail to Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions president Lovemore Matombo and ZCTU general secretary Wellington Chibebe. …

Zimbabwe: ZCTU Sets Out to Tarnish Country’s Image AllAfrica.com, Washington – 23 May 2008 Some of the issues ZCTU is expected to raise include the arrest of its president, Mr Lovemore Matombo, and secretary-general Mr Wellington Chibebe two weeks …

Times Online

Opposing Robert Mugabe is now ‘treason Times Online, UK – 12 Jun 2008 … be charged with making prejudicial statements, a charge used to silence a raft of government critics, including the trade union leader Lovemore Matombo. …

Vancouver East MP Libby Davies brought the issue of 9/11 Truth to the House of Commons last week, but you’d never know about it if you relied on the mainstream media. Fortunately, the blogosphere did take notice, and if faithful readers (this means you) do their part, we can make sure this petition doesn’t gather dust on some shelf in the Parliamentary Library.

The Petition

PETITION TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED

We, the undersigned citizens of Canada draw the attention of the House to the following:

THAT, scientific and eyewitness evidence shows that the 9/11 Commission Report is a fraudulent document and that those behind the report are consciously or unconsciously guilty of covering up what happened on 9/11/2001. This evidence overwhelmingly supports the conclusion that World Trade Center Towers 1, 2 and 7 were brought down by demolition explosives and that the official theory of the towers collapsing from the airplanes and the ensuing fires is irrefutably false.

We further believe that elements within the US government were complicit in the murder of thousands of people on 9/11/2001. This event brought Canada into the so-called “War on Terror,” it changed our domestic and foreign policies for the worse, and it will continue to have negative consequences for us all if we refuse to look at the facts.

THEREFORE, your petitioners call upon Parliament to:

(1) Immediately launch its own investigation into the events of 9/11/2001 on behalf of the 24 Canadian citizens murdered in New York City.

(2) Act lawfully on the findings of its own investigation by helping to pursue the guilty parties in the international courts.

Committed to truth and accountability,

————————————————–
PETITION POUR LA CHAMBRE DES COMMUNES
SIÉGEANT AU PARLEMENT

NOUS, les soussignés,citoyen du Canada,voulons attirer l’attention de la Chambre sur ce qui suit:

QUE, des témoignages et des preuves scientifiques démontrent que le rapport de la commission d’enquête officielle sur les évènements du 11 septembre 2001 est un document frauduleux et que ceux a l’origine du rapport,consciemment ou inconsciemment, sont coupables d’occulter les évènements réels du 11 septembre 2001. Les preuves amassées démontrent de façon évidente que les tours 1,2 et 7 du World Trade Center ont été démolies a l’aide d’engins explosifs et que la théorie officielle supportant la thèse que les trois tours se sont écroulées suite à l’impact des avions et de la chaleur des incendies qui suivirent est de façon irréfutable,fausse.

Nous croyons fermement que des éléments au sein du gouvernement américain ont été complices du meurtre de milliers d’innocents le 11 septembre 2001. Cet évènement a conduit le Canada a s’engager dans la soi-disant ”guerre au terrorisme” et a changer notre politique nationale et internationale pour le pire. Le 11 septembre 2001 vas continuer d’avoir des conséquences néfastes pour tout le monde si nous refusons d’examiner les faits attentivemement et de facon objective.

Pour ces motifs,les signataires de la présente pétition demandent au Parlement:

(1) De lancer immédiatement sa propre enquête sur les évenement du 11 septembre 2001 au nom des 24 citoyens canadiens tués le 11 septembre 2001 a New York City.

(2) Agir de facon légale,à la lumiere de sa propre enquête,en aidant a pousuivre en justice les vrai coupables devant la cours internationalle de justice.

Pour la vérité et la responsabilité,

When Davies presented the petition it had 500 signatures. If you want to add your name, go to http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/canada911truth/.

Davies has guts

Bringing this petition to Parliament was a bold move for Davies. If the mainstream media begins to pay attention, she can expect to be dismissed as a nutty, half-baked “conspiracy theorist.” Indeed, many on the left might be tempted to cluck their tongues sympathetically and roll their eyes — “Poor Libby,” they’ll sigh. “She’s surely been working too hard.”

I hope this doesn’t happen. I hope Davies’ gesture encourages friends and critics alike to take a serious look at the research and analysis that supports the idea that 9/11 was an inside job perpetrated by ruthless sociopaths whose aim it was to secure what is left of the world’s petroleum reserves.

I don’t why it is so difficult for otherwise intelligent folks to grasp the idea that international war criminals capable of murdering over one million Iraqis are capable of anything, including killing their own citizens. If you are one of those who has decided to dismiss “9/11 Truthers” as cranks in tin foil hats, you owe it to yourself to take another look at the evidence they have amassed over the past seven years.

Some Resources to Get You Started

9/11 Truth
Scholars for 9/11 Truth
Canada Wants the Truth
Complete 9/11 Timeline

It is cliched, but true, to say that 9/11 changed everything. Among other hideous things, it embroiled Canada in a war of aggression on the side of the American Empire in Afghanistan. Getting out of that war and getting to the truth of the 9/11 attacks are connected. We must not let the federal government ignore Davies’ petition.

If there was a time to write your MP, this is it. Don’t know where to write? Go here.

Winnipeg’s annual Walk for Peace is scheduled for Saturday, June 14, 2008, beginning at 12 Noon.

The Walk will oppose Canada’s continuing military intervention in Afghanistan and the increasing tendency of Canadian governments to support such unjust wars.

In a complementary theme, the marchers will express support for American war resisters who have chosen to flee to Canada rather than participate in US military aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Prior to the march, Project Peacemakers will host a Peace Service at Broadway Disciples United Church (396 Broadway), beginning at 11:00 A.M.

The Walk for Peace will begin at noon at the Manitoba Legislature. Marchers will proceed west on Broadway to Portage Avenue, and then east on Portage Avenue to Memorial Boulevard.

Following the march there will be speakers, food and entertainment at Memorial Park.

Speakers will include:

• Judy Wasylycia-Leis (MP-Winnipeg North), who will speak on Canada’s war in Afghanistan
• Howard Davidson, who will speak from personal experience on war resisters in Canada

More Information: Peace Alliance Winnipeg

Geeze bureaucrats piss me off — especially those devious but less than artful dealers in weasel words who are employed by Ministers of the Crown to answer straight forward queries made by earnest citizens, such as myself.

As a case in point, I recently wrote our Prime Minister asking, with characteristic politeness, why labour leaders invited to the Canadian Labour Congress convention in May were denied entry visas. The response completely evaded the question I had asked but assured me that my email had been forwarded to the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration who, the Prime Ministerial factotum was sure, would “appreciate being made aware of [my] views.”

Finley: appreciative of my views?

Well, however appreciative Hon. Minister Finley might have been (at left: are the shades in the official pic indicative of an unwillingness to reveal her inner thoughts, or are they merely cool? But I digress.), her Ministerial Enquiries Division was less than helpful. Not only was my initial question not addressed in the Ministerial Missive I received today, the response went into great detail explaining how I might get information on all manner of things that I had not mentioned.

By now I was feeling less polite. I responded with less typical sharpness: “In response to your totally unhelpful and needlessly bureaucratic reply to my request for information to the Prime Minister, I am a citizen of Canada who is outraged that Canada would bar people invited by the Canadian Labour Congress to its 2008 convention. My email to the PM was quite clear and to the point. It is disappointing that your response is anything but that.”

I pressed “send” and within seconds received the reply: “This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification. Delivery to the following recipients failed. Ministerial.Enquiries.Division@cic.gc.ca.”

Sigh.

FYI: The chain of correspondence follows. At the very least, you will get some potentially useful web site addresses. But then again, maybe not.

May 28, 2008
Dear Mr. Harper,

I wish to know why labour leaders invited to the Canadian Labour
Congress convention were denied entry visas (see below). In a world
where dialog and understanding should be encouraged, the exclusion of
these foreign labour representatives is incomprehensible.

I await your reply,

Paul Graham
Winnipeg, Manitoba

Middle Eastern and African Labour Leaders Refused Entry to Canada

May 26, 2008
TORONTO — The Canadian Labour Congress Convention in Toronto opens today without invited guests from the Middle East and Nigeria. Our Embassies in Tehran (Iran), Amman (Jordan), Tel Aviv (Israel), and our High Commission in Lagos (Nigeria) have refused visitors’ visas to our colleagues without explanation.

‘Why are delegates to our Convention denied the opportunity to hear from the labour leadership of these countries about workers’ rights situations and struggles in other countries, especially when they happen to work in development projects co-funded by the government of Canada?’ asked Ken Georgetti, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. ‘This situation is totally absurd.’

The decision to deny them entry seems arbitrary in the extreme. Despite repeated attempts to appeal the decision over the last weeks, all we have received was an e-mail saying that ‘when Visa requests are not granted, privacy considerations prohibit them from divulging the details of their decision.’

‘The working men and women who will attend the Canadian Labour Congress’ Convention in Toronto want a better explanation than this,’ Ken Georgetti concluded.

The CLC has invited international guests without incident to many functions for more than 50 years including many of those currently refused visas.

The Canadian Labour Congress, the national voice of the labour movement, represents 3.2 million Canadian workers. The CLC brings together Canada’s national and international unions along with the provincial and territorial federations of labour and 130 district labour councils. Web site: http://www.canadianlabour.ca

May 29, 2008
Dear Mr. Graham:

On behalf of the Prime Minister, I would like to acknowledge receipt of your e-mail regarding Canada’s immigration policy.

You may be assured that your comments have been carefully considered. As the issue you have raised falls under the responsibilities of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, I have taken the liberty of forwarding your e-mail to the Minister, who, I am sure, will appreciate being made aware of your views.

Thank you for writing to the Prime Minister. For more information on the Government’s initiatives, you may wish to visit the Prime Minister’s Web site, at http://www.pm.gc.ca.

L.A. Lavell
Executive Correspondence Officer
for the Prime Minister’s Office
Agent de correspondance
de la haute direction
pour le Cabinet du Premier ministre

June 10, 2008
From: Ministerial.Enquiries.Division@cic.gc.ca

This will acknowledge receipt of your e-mail forwarded from the office of the Prime Minister to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.
If this is a request for case information, the responsibility placed on us by the Privacy Act to protect all personal information precludes us from responding using e-mail unless we are able to verify that you are entitled/authorized to receive the case specific information. In this respect, if you are the applicant or a dependant listed on the application and you provide us with your full name, date of birth, and a file number or Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) client ID, or you are a person to whom we are authorized to release information (written consent on the citizenship or immigration file) and are able to provide the applicant’s full name, DOB and the file number or CIC client ID, you will receive a reply by e-mail within 10 – 30 working days. If you are not the applicant or listed dependant or you are not authorized to receive the information, you will not receive a further reply to your e-mail.
*Please note that we will not respond to e-mails concerning the following:
· Assessment of points/qualifications.
· Calculation of time for citizenship eligibility, visit http://services3.cic.gc.ca/ols/ols.do?lang=en.
· Refusal of an application by immigration or visa officials.
· Complaints about the Call Centre (will be sent to CIC officials for necessary action/information).
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· Processing of Citizenship applications (will be sent to the Case Processing Centre in Sydney).
· Requests to expedite processing of cases (will be sent to the processing office).
· Travel documents/requirements for travel to other countries.
· Complaints about U.S. Immigration.
· Issuance of Canadian passports (please consult http://www.passportcanada.gc.ca).
· Canadian citizens outside Canada seeking assistance (please consult http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca).
· Opinions about recent announcements/news releases/cases.
· Information about visiting, living, working or studying in Canada (please consult http://www.cic.gc.ca <http://www.cic.gc.ca/&gt; ).
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· Requests to confirm the legitimacy of a lawyer, consultant or organization.
· Requests for employment with the federal government (please consult http://www.jobs-emplois.gc.ca <http://www.jobs-emploi.gc.ca/&gt; ).
If you are a Parliamentarian (Member of Parliament or Senator) seeking to assist the applicant, we will reply to you by telephone or letter.
Please note that e-mail is not a secure channel of communication. CIC is not liable for the unauthorized disclosure of personal information to or the misuse of that information by a third party where we took reasonable means to verify the identity of the party.
For more information about CIC, please visit one of the following sites.
General information – visit http://www.cic.gc.ca <http://www.cic.gc.ca/&gt;
For the Call Centre, please visit http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/contacts/call. <http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/contacts/call.html&gt; asp.
For a list of visa offices, please visit http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/offices/missions.asp.
Application forms – visit http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/index.asp.
Permanent Resident Card – visit http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/pr-card/index.asp.
Sponsor your family – visit http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/index.asp.
Immigrating to Canada – visit http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/index.asp.
Refugees – visit http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/refugees/index.asp .
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Announcements/News Releases – visit http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/index.asp.
For on-line services provided by CIC such as a change of address or to check your application status, visit http://services3.cic.gc.ca/ols/ols.do?lang=en.

On Tuesday, June 3rd, at 3 p.m., Canada’s Parliament will vote on an historic motion to support U.S. Iraq War Resisters in Canada.

The motion calls on the Government of Canada to stop removal orders against those who refuse to fight in Bush’s illegal war in Iraq, and has the support of all three opposition parties. Calls and e-mails are making a difference—and we need to continue to put pressure on the Government to ensure that this historic motion passes. Here is how you can support this motion. Act now!

And then, come back here and watch this.

U. Utah Phillips died yesterday. As news of his passing spreads across the world, those of us who have been moved by his music and tickled by his outrageously funny story telling pause to remember a favourite song, or performance.

My all time favourite expresses Utah’s unconditional affirmation of working people and his uncompromising critique of bankers, bosses and associated social parasites.

WE HAVE FED YOU ALL A THOUSAND YEARS
(WRITTEN BY `AN UNKNOWN PROLETARIAN,’ MUSIC BY VON LIEBICH)
(FIRST LISTED PRINTING, INDUSTRIAL UNION BULLETIN, APRIL 18, 1908)

We have fed you all for a thousand years
And you hail us still unfed,
Though there’s never a dollar of all your wealth
But marks the workers’ dead.
We have yielded our best to give you rest
And you lie on crimson wool.
Then if blood be the price of all your wealth,
Good God! We have paid it in full!

There is never a mine blown skyward now
But we’re buried alive for you.
There’s never a wreck drifts shoreward now
But we are its ghastly crew.
Go reckon our dead by the forges red
And the factories where we spin.
If blood be the price of your cursed wealth,
Good God! We have paid it in!

We have fed you all a thousand years-
For that was our doom, you know,
From the days when you chained us in your fields
To the strike a week ago.
You have taken our lives, and our babies and wives,
And we’re told it’s your legal share,
But if blood be the price of your lawful wealth,
Good God! We bought it fair!

By all accounts, Utah led a good and a full life. His official obituary gives a sense of the breadth and depth of his interests and passions. Richer insights can be found in a letter he wrote to his many friends and supporters nine days before his death. But the proof of this man’s pudding is in his music. Here’s a clip from 2007. Bring it home, Utah!

Malalai Joya addressing the Afghan Parliament, April 15, 2006,
shortly before the Speaker disconnected her microphone because
she criticised the government.

On May 21, there will be an international day of action in support of suspended Afghan MP Malalai Joya. Joya was suspended from the Afghan Parliament May 21, 2007 for three years. Her crime: speaking out about the record of human rights abuses by members of the warlord dominated Afghan Parliament.

She has faced death threats, assault and attempts on her life. She needs and deserves our support.

The Canadian Peace Alliance is calling on members and supporters to organize events or to send letters demanding that Joya be re-instated to the Afghan Parliament. It is also calling on the government of Canada to immediately call for her to be re-instated to the parliament to which she was duly elected.

The case of Malalai Joya speaks volumes about the nature of the new Afghan government, currently being supported by more than 2500 Canadian soldiers. She is a tireless defender of women’s rights and has organized a grassroots movement for peace and democracy in Afghanistan. That movement which can lay the foundation for real democratic development is being silenced by the Afghan state.

Please take the time to fax or e-mail a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier, the Afghan ambassador to Canada, Omar Samad, and the Afghan President Hamid Karzai and demand that they re-instate Malalai Joya.

To learn how you can support Ms. Joya, click here.

The Net is awash in weapons of mass deception. DeSmogBlog, a web site dedicated to defusing the WMDs employed by climate change deniers, identified one yesterday that deserves your attention.

500 Scientists with Documented Doubts – about the Heartland Institute?
29 Apr 08
UPDATE: we have received notes now from 45 outraged scientists whose names appear on the list of 500. We’ve published more quotes here.

Dozens of scientists are demanding that their names be removed from a widely distributed Heartland Institute article entitled 500 Scientists with Documented Doubts of Man-Made Global Warming Scares.

The article, by Hudson Institute director and Heartland “Senior Fellow” Dennis T. Avery, purports to list scientists whose work contradicts the overwhelming scientific agreement that human-induced climate change is endangering the world as we know it.

DeSmogBlog manager Kevin Grandia emailed 122 of the scientists yesterday afternoon, calling their attention to the list. So far – in less than 24 hours – three dozen of those scientists had responded in outrage, denying that their research supports Avery’s conclusions and demanding that their names be removed. READ MORE.

Finding accurate news and informed commentary is a challenge, but a manageable one if we refuse to accept anything on faith and check the sources.

One of my favourite source-checking resources is PRWatch, operated by the Center for Media Democracy in the United States. They are dedicated to unmasking the hacks, flacks, spin doctors and associated bottom feeders who grind out corporate propaganda.