Omar Khadr

The Ottawa Citizen wrote an article about Omar Khadr called A confession and coercion. The Globe and Mail ran a front page article about how Omar has now plead guilty to terrorism charges in exchange to be released to Canada.

The article listed several questions the judge asked him all of which he replied yes. This is another set of questions he could have been asked that would likely have met the same answer.

Mr. Khadr Do you understand what's happening here? Yes.

No really. I mean do you have any idea how royally you've been screwed? Yes I do.

Is it true that you have been accused of throwing a hand grenade in July 2002 at a foreign soldier invading your home country when you were 15? Yes.

Is it true that you were captured, removed from your country and sent to Guantánamo Naval Base in October 2002 at age 15? Yes.

Is it true the whole time you proclaimed your innocence and refused to participate in this court process? Yes.

Is it true you have now plead guilty to terrorism after 8 years in Guantánamo bay so you can be transferred to Canada in one year? Yes.

Is it true that your father was trained by the CIA in the Taliban to fight Russia when they invaded your home country? Yes.

Is it true that if your father had risked his life to throw a grenade at a Russian soldier in defense of your homeland, the Americans would have given him a medal? Yes.

Is it true that the American Oil companies wanted to build an oil pipeline across Afghanistan called CentGas? Yes.

Is it true that the American oil companies invited the CIA trained Taliban to America for expensive dinners trying to convince the Taliban to give them the contract for the oil pipeline in Afghanistan? Yes.

Is it true that shortly after the Taliban finally decided to award the contract to an Argentina firm that the Americans invaded your country and the contract was given back to the Americans? Yes.

Do you realize that Canadians and Americans have a right to due process? Yes.

Do you realize your right to due process was intentionally removed by removing you from your home country and placing you in a naval detention base on foreign soil? Yes.

Is it true that prisoners are tortured in Guantánamo bay? Yes.

Is it true that Canadian troops in Afghanistan handed over prisoners to local authorities who then tortured them? Yes.

Do you realize that torture is a war crime? Yes.

Do you realize that defending your homeland against a foreign invasion is not a war crime? Yes.

Is it true that the CIA video of Bin Laden confessing to the 911 attacks didn't even look like Bin Laden? Yes.

Is it true that the third tower fell in New York City when no planes hit it? Yes.

Is it true that the building fell at free fall speed not from the pressure of weight from collapsing floors pushing down on each other? Yes.

Is it true that Operation Northwoods was a declassified CIA plan to kill Americans on American soil and blame the attacks on Cuba to gain public support for a Cuban invasion? Yes.

Are you aware that half of Americans didn't vote for George Bush? Yes.

Are you aware that half the Germans didn't vote for Adolf Hitler? Yes.

Do you realize that most Americans and Canadians are too afraid to entertain the thought that the CIA was responsible for the 911 attacks because the very thought of that kind of an internal betrayal scares them? Yes.

Are you aware that not all Americans are bad? Yes.

Do you realize that one day you will be free? Yes.

Peace be with you my son. And with you.

Sunrise over Lion's Bay

I put the kayak in at Lions bay this morning just before sunrise. I wanted to get a picture of the sun rising above the Lions. It was just off centre. The sun rose on the horison right about Mount Strachan on Cypress.

PotashCorp sale reduces Government Revenue

BHP Billiton's proposed takeover of PotashCorp could reduce Saskatchewan government revenues by at least $2 billion over the next 10 years while having little or no net effect on employment in the fertilizer industry, the Conference Board of Canada says.

Well imagine that. Over privatization not only restricts public accountability but it also reduces tax revenue. Kinda like what'll happen if they privatize Canada Post right after borrowing all those tax dollars to upgrade the technology. Can you say BC rail? How about Enron - The sad result of corrupt privatization.

Luge Death Tragedy

Well this is a double tragedy. First a young man lost his life. Second, we are sluffing off accountability and responsibility. His death was not due to inexperience. The track was flawed. Everyone knew about a hard corner where experienced Luger's has trouble with.

Notwithstanding the knowledge of the difficult portion of the track, right after the difficult section the track was completely open with no side rails and exposed pillar. That was a clear flaw in design. It was a fatal flaw.

Yes it was an accident but to say the death was the result of inexperience is untrue. We made a mistake. A life was lost and we corrected the mistake by fixing the exposed section of the track. Let's not deny we made an error. That's pointless and offensive.

What has Moya Greene really done?

The Vancouver local of CUPW posted a really good article about Moya Greene's departure from Canada Post. A lot of bent spin doctors like to pretend Moya Greene is good at business when we know that is simply false. She is just a one trick pony.

She is, in essence, an axe murderer who cuts jobs viciously with no thought or plan on how to build business revenue. The common misconception is if the headlines read jobs were cut then shareholders will jump for joy and stock will rise which is not the case in a service based industry. In a service based industry, if you slash all your services you will reduce your business revenue.

So let's take a step back and look at what Moya Greene has really done to Canada Post. The Vancouver local pointed out the simple truth that cannot be escaped. Before Moya Greene came to Canada Post it was a vibrant business that consistently made profit and consistently paid large amounts of dividends and Corporate tax to the government which increased the government's tax base. Canada Post was in essence a cash cow for the government.

In one sweeping movement with her axe she turned a profit making company into a company that was $2.5 billion in debt. Instantly. It took generations to build the business into a efficient profit making machine and in one foul swoop she killed the profit making company and made it $2.5 billion in debt.

Her rational was she wanted to borrow the money to cut jobs which one day would save money. One day save money. Why does that sound like a snake oil salesman? Maybe because she left right after the devil's deed was done. Long before any future profits would be seen by the dastardly deed.

True the Union can't stand against technology forever. Yet Moya Greene refused to consult the Union or ANYONE skilled in the business. She had no skills in the business and refused to consult with anyone who did have skills in the business because she claims all her managers in the public sector are stupid. That was somewhat ironic.

If Canada Post had invested in machines that would sort the mail to line of travel so letter carriers would basically come in to pick up their mail and go deliver it, that would indeed have cut a huge amount of jobs which in turn would have greatly reduced labour cost. However, she didn't because those kind of machines don't exist in Canada.

For those kind of machines to exist in Canada we would have to completely change our postal code system to a system similar to what's used by the US. Right now everyone on the same side of the street has the same postal code. You can create machines that will sort letter mail to specific routes but not to line of travel which they are hoping for.

Spending money on good technology can save money in the long run. Spending a huge amount of money on bad technology with false promises will not. Oh but Moya Greene is long gone before we can see the results of her foul swoop.

We can go on and on about all the other blunders Moya Greene made at Canada Post which were bad for business but the simple conclusion is the point raised by the Vancouver local of CUPW.

She turned a profit making dividend paying company that took generations to build into a company that was $2.5 billion in debt instantly then left.

Granite Falls

Well I put in just before sunrise at Deep Cove yesterday on the last day of summer. The water was like glass.



Ya gotta love sunrise on the water.



Passed by Silver Falls on the way to Granite Falls.



It's perfect for an overnighter but a bit long for a day trip. Worth the journey nonetheless.

The Final Cut - Requiem for a Post War dream

We've talked about TELUS' censorship. It started with blocking a grass routes movement among it's employees web site called Voices for Change. They blocked access to the web site for everyone who subscribed to the Internet from them. What on earth would they do if they owned a Television station?

It ended with making a fraudulent copyright complaint and taking videos off Youtube they had no possible copyright claim on. And somewhere in between Darren's ninja had that picture we made of Darren having a Pinocchio nose taken off facebook in yet another fraudulent copyright complaint. Clearly the censorship never ends.

I've already expressed my disappointment in Judge Walker's Limp Fish Decision. How he failed to apply any consequence whatsoever to Darren Entwistle's perjury. That was very disappointing to say the least. Lawlessness and censorship is sad. Very sad.

Now their latest motion for a final judgement goes far beyond any jurisdiction I ever agreed to. They want to stop us from discussing criminal behavior. Over my dead body. Gentlemen may cry peace, peace but there is no peace, the war is already begun.

Jeff Puritt has submitted quite a few affidavits for the case. He was that manager on TELUS Idol who flaunted his wedding ring as he joked about the size of the Shaina Twain impersonator's breasts and joked about inviting her up to his room to perform oral sex on him. Forcing employees to watch that as a training video was just plain wrong.

So we have a court order saying I can't post TELUS Idol on Youtube. That is all the order says and that is the only jurisdiction that was agreed upon. I've filed my response to their new motion for a Final Order. You might want to have a peak Super Dave. I think it'll even raise your eyebrow. Let's just say I've had enough and this does indeed constitute the final cut to the final straw. Give me liberty or give me death.