Saturday, November 15, 2008

harper blocks public hearings into war crimes

posted by L-girl at we move to canada -
For the third time, the Harper Government is trying to block public hearings on whether it knew that Canadian Forces were transferring prisoners to Afghan authorities, despite knowing they could be torture...







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we move to canada

earings, which would be conducted by an independent federal policing watchdog, the Military Police Complaints Commission, were due to begin Dec. 4.

The Justice Department filed an Oct. 30 application seeking a Federal Court order "prohibiting the chairperson [of the MPCC] and the commission from investigating" the allegations, the Globe and Mail reported Friday.

Government lawyers have argued that the commission should only be allowed to investigate specific cases of torture, not all prisoners that were under a torture risk, according to the Globe and Mail.

The government has issued two previous calls to the Federal Court to stop the public hearings — the first occurred in April, the second in September.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who had previously pledged the government's co-operation in the probe, said in April he believed the commission was acting outside its jurisdiction.

Government lawyers argued in April the handling of detainees is a military operation — not a policing issue.

Both review applications are still in the procedural stages and are yet to be heard in court.

It is now unclear when — or if — the MPCC hearings will be held.

Report suggests government knew of possible abuse

In February 2007, the MPCC received a complaint from Amnesty International and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Union over the treatment of transferred detainees, saying Ottawa was violating the Geneva Conventions.

Under the conventions, it is a war crime to turn over prisoners to a party who might abuse them.

In April 2007, the Globe published a report it had received under the Access to Information Act that suggested the government knew prisoners in Afghanistan jails could be subject to poor conditions.

Although parts were blacked out, the newspaper said it was able to confirm that these blacked-out sections showed that the Canadian Embassy in Kabul had alerted the government last year that prisoners could be tortured once transferred to Afghan detention centres.
What is Stephen Harper afraid of? Why can't the public hear the evidence?

Harper won his first minority government by repeating the words "transparency" and "accountability" over and over. Apparently that only applies to Liberal governments. For Conservatives, secrecy and lies are standard operating procedure.

It is sickening to think that Canadian Forces are complicit in war crimes. But it's the reality we must face, as long as Canada stays in Afghanistan.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

we will never forget!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Flanders_Fields


In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Lt.-Col. John McCrae















Sunday, November 9, 2008

Microsoft IT

Thay can do all of this but have problems OK


Microsoft IT numbers!
Microsoft internal IT:
600k connected devices10,000 Servers3 Datacenters 1 operations center11% is virtualized in Microsoft Datacenters330 of 385 servers run Windows Server 2008 (RC0) plus all 85 Microsoft.com servers11 clustered systems30,000 users in redmond domain (50,000 with vendors)NAP reporting 140K clients, 90 clients deferred mode
The Redmond Active Directory domain is running in Windows Server 2008 mode since last thursday (Nov 1st)
Microsoft Email:
6 million internal emails per day20 Million emails from Internet97% rejected as spam99,999 uptime
Worldwide:
140,000 end users550 buildings98 countries1/3 of the sites are connected over Internet only
2300 Line of business applications1 single SAP instance (5 Terrabyte database)Dynamics/MSCRM


Windows Live Services:
130,000 servers online435 Million unique users280 Billion pageviews daily12 Billion emails daily6 billion Instant Messages daily
Remote connect1 million VPN sessions per month80,000 unique OWA usersRemote app portalTS gateway 20,000 usersDirect Connect pilot
Microsoft.com figures55,7 million unique users, #4 overall site in US280,5 Unique users wordwide #6 site worldwide15,000 request a sec
The Redmond Active Directory domain is running in Windows Server 2008 mode since last thursday (Nov 1st)

Saturday, November 8, 2008

I am happy for Mellissa!!

Abducted CBC journalist released in Afghanistan

Last Updated: Saturday, November 8, 2008 | 9:22 PM ET

CBC journalist MellissaMellissaFung Fung was released to Canadian officials in Kabul on Saturday, four weeks after she wasMellissadFung

Mellissa Fung was on her second tour as a journalist in Afghanistan when she was abducted. She was previously based in Regina and is seen here reporting from Beijing during the Summer Olympics in August.Mellissa Fung was on her second tour as a journalist in Afghanistan when she was abducted. She was previously based in Regina and is seen here reporting from Beijing during the Summer Olympics in AFungt. (CBC)

Fung was taken by armed men who approached her in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Kabul on Oct. 12.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Never do this people!



Driving 101: You can't hot-wheel around a presidential motorcade

Recommend (28) Comments
November 7, 2008
FROM SUN-TIMES STAFF REPORTS
Traffic tip for the days ahead: If you see a motorcade with police cars, black SUVs and guys with sunglasses talking into their cuffs, don't try to cut it off.
One couple tried to drive their tan sedan around Barack Obama's motorcade downtown Thursday morning and found themselves looking at the barrels of Secret Service firepower.
The [Secret Service] SUV cut the car off immediately, and the security team aimed their weapons at the car," a reporter in the motorcade wrote in a pool report. "The driver and passenger in the sedan stopped and looked stunned -- until the male driver appeared to understand what was happening (your pool reporter could see him mouth 'Obama')."
The president-elect was on his way to a security briefing at FBI headquarters in the Loop, when the motorcade left Lake Shore Drive and the sedan tried to drive around it on Van Buren, according to the pool reporter, P.J. Huffstutter, the Los Angeles Times' Midwest Bureau chief.
"Some of the drivers here in Chicago do not seem to understand that a) The Chicago police car at the end of the president-elect's motorcade is serious about having traffic pull over when the officers flash their lights and hit their sirens, and b) It's not a great idea to jump ahead of traffic by trying to cut around the black SUV filled with five heavily-armed Secret Service CAT members," Huffstutter wrote.