Videos, War & Conflict »

[5 Apr 2010 | No Comment | 340 views]
WikiLeaks: Video of Collateral Murder of Reuters Journalists Released

As promised, Wikileaks released a video clip of what they termed a ‘massacre.’
The video was shot from a US Apache helicopter involved with the engagement. The video shows the two Reuters journalists Seed Chmagh, and Namir Noor-Eldeen walking with their cameras on their shoulders, casually in open group with a group of eight to ten men . It seems the cameras were mistaken as weapons. The helicopter opened fire on the men.
A van then approached, with a couple of men in an attempt to rescue one of …

Activism »

[27 Mar 2010 | No Comment | 607 views]
WikiLeaks To Release ‘US Massacre’ Video on April 5, 2010?

Wikileaks has posted a brief article on their homepage, clarifying their messages on Twitter alleging CIA covert monitoring and harassment. More importantly, it confirmed the pending release on April 5, 2010, a decrypted video exposing civilian casualties under the command of US general David Petraeus, which Wikileaks labeled as a “US massacre”.
Wikileaks.org is an anti-secrecy organization that publishes classified and confidential documents. Anonymity of the sources are protected and guaranteed, hence the legitimacy of the organization. Some of the documents that they publish are truly shocking. …

War & Conflict »

[8 Mar 2010 | No Comment | 316 views]
At Least 500 Dead in Nigeria Religious Attack

Nigerian officials say close to 500 people may have been killed in weekend sectarian violence near the central city of Jos, not the 200 first reported.
Witnesses said gangs armed with guns and machetes rampaged through three mostly Christian villages, firing shots to draw people from their homes and then running them down and killing them.
Yemi Kosoko, a reporter with the independent Nigerian news network Channels, told The Associated Press most of the bodies appeared to be women and children killed by blows from machetes.
Plateau …

Activism »

[21 Feb 2010 | 2 Comments | 859 views]
Canada Does Not Guarantee Canadian Rights and Freedoms

On January 29th, 2010, Canada’s Supreme Court declared that Omar Khadr, a Canadian arrested and detained for seven years without civil trial under Bush’s Military Commissions Act, had his “right to life, liberty and security of the person” violated in Guantanamo Bay after evidence surfaced that harsh interrogation methods were used on him by CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Services) and foreign affairs officials. And, well, that’s all, folks!
The highest court of Canada made a declaration that one of our citizens’ basic rights have been violated, yet stopped short of doing …

Civil Rights »

[19 Feb 2010 | No Comment | 208 views]
School Remotely Spies on Kids with Laptop Webcam

A law enforcement official with knowledge of the case says the FBI has opened a criminal investigation into a Pennsylvania school district accused of activating webcams inside students’ homes without their knowledge.
The cameras came with the Apple computers that the school district had distributed to all of its 1,800 students.
The official, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, says the FBI will explore whether Lower Merion School District officials broke any federal wiretap or computer intrusion laws.
Lower Merion officials say they remotely activated webcams 42 times to find …

Politics »

[31 Jan 2010 | One Comment | 541 views]
Understanding the Rage Behind the Canadian Parliamentary Prorogue

On December 30th, 2009, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper rang up Canada’s Governor General, Michaelle Jean to prorogue the Canadian Parliament.  Jean granted permission (as a good Governor General always does), and the Canadian legislative assembly was officially put into suspension until March 2010.
Since then, Canadians have been divided into two camps:
A) ones who are appalled by Harper’s seemingly despotic power and
B) people who just don’t care.
(Personally, I do not know anyone from a camp C who is ecstatic for prorogation.  If you do, let me know.)

It’s an interesting …

Politics »

[24 Jan 2010 | One Comment | 397 views]
Obama: Too Much Respect for the Constitution?

After Senate passed their version health-care reform on Christmas Eve, the prevailing wisdom was that Congressional Democrats would quickly resolve the differences between the House and Senate versions so that the President could sign the bill and use his State of the Union address to pivot to a new job-focused legislative agenda. Scott Brown’s victory on Tuesday in the Massachusetts Senate election now means the era of the Democratic Party’s senatorial “supermajority” is over and brings the fate of American healthcare reform into question.
An obvious solution would be for …

War & Conflict »

[5 Jan 2010 | No Comment | 359 views]
CIA Bomber was Al-Qaeda Triple Agent

The suicide bomber who killed seven CIA agents in Afghanistan was an al-Qaeda triple agent, US media reports say.
He is said to have been a doctor from Jordan who was arrested by Jordanian intelligence a year ago.
He was then reportedly recruited by the Jordanians and CIA – who thought they had successfully turned him – and given a mission to find al-Qaeda leaders.
He is believed to have been working undercover in Afghanistan for weeks before detonating a bomb at a CIA base.
The attack at Forward Operating Base Chapman was the …

Torture »

[9 Dec 2009 | No Comment | 430 views]
Amnesty International: Mexican Army Torture Drug War Prisoners

CULIACÁN, Mexico — The steady drumbeat of complaints against Mexico’s army is expected to continue Tuesday, when Amnesty International is scheduled to release a report raising allegations of extrajudicial killings, torture and arbitrary detentions against soldiers engaged in the nation’s drug war.
The report, which meshes with earlier examinations by Human Rights Watch and Mexican human rights groups, accuses soldiers of torturing 25 police officers in Tijuana in March to coerce them to confess to links to organized crime. It says a man arrested by soldiers in October 2008 in Ciudad …

Media & Journalism »

[1 Dec 2009 | No Comment | 621 views]
Canadian Journalist Beverly Giesecrecht Deserves Our Sympathies

The release of Canadian freelance journalist Amanda Lindhout has brought a sense of relief to her friends and family and Canadians across the nation. After 15 months in captivity in Somalia by their kidnappers, Ms. Lindhout, along with her fellow colleague, Australian photographer, Nigel Brennan, will be home for Christmas.
The scenario, however, is much more bleak for Canadian journalist Beverly Giesecrecht. Not only does she lack the family support base, she seems to have lost the support the from the majority of Canadians.
That is because the 53 year-old West Vancouverite …