An evening with Maher, Monia and Dr. Stephen J. Toope · Tuesday March 11, 2008 by colin newell
My wife and I attended tonights President’s Distinguished Lecture: “Civil Liberties and National Security:” a panel discussion with Maher Arar, his wife Dr. Monia Mazigh and Dr. Stephen Toope, moderated by Dr. Andrew Petter of the Faculty of Law.
I will assume my readers know who Maher Arar is. Follow the link for specifics.
Long story short: Maher was vacationing with his wife, Monia, in Tunis and upon returning to Canada to work, was detained in New York by the U.S. Government and then flown in a private jet to Jordan and then to Syria for rendition and torture. He was kept in the most notorious prison in Syria where he was tortured regularly until his release to Canada almost a year later.
A subsequent (and thorough) Canadian investigation cleared Maher Arar of any wrong-doing, and for the Canadian goverments part in his experience compensated him and his family for his nightmare.
The United States government, however, refuses to clear Arar’s name and continues to have both him and his family on a watch-list.
In listening to Maher and Monia’s story tonight, I have been given a sense of hope – that a handful of clear thinking and genuinely honest people can make a difference – that we not rush to sacrifice our freedoms to gain some sense of security in an obviously upside-down World – that torture, rendition, or disappearance is not an acceptable tool in achieving this sense of security.
It was a honor to be in the same room as Monia and Maher. UBC Presidents Dr. Toope’s contribution to the proceedings were at all times stimulating and illuminating and moderator Dr. Andrew Petter maintained order and regulated a flow of intelligent questions from the audience.
It is a sad, sad World · Tuesday March 11, 2008 by colin newell
U.S. House Democrats have failed in their attempt to overturn President Bush’s veto of a bill that would have prohibited the CIA from using water-boarding and other harsh interrogation techniques on terrorist suspects. Quoted: “we need to ensure our intelligence officials have all the tools they need to stop the terrorists…”
Torture doesn’t work you moron. Study after study has proven this. Beat someone hard and often enough they will agree to anything to make it stop.
President Bush had vetoed the bill on Saturday and House Democrats could not muster the two-thirds majority they needed Tuesday to force the bill into law despite the veto. It would have limited the CIA to the 19 interrogation methods approved by the U.S. military. That would have banned water-boarding, a technique which makes the person being interrogated feel like he is drowning.
Meantime, while the War in Iraq is guzzling 12 billion dollars a month, George Bush is lampooning (and thumbing his nose at) fellow politicians (and the rest of us) with an off key version of The Green, Green Grass of Home with lines like:
That old White House is behind me, I am once again carefree, don’t have to worry `bout a crisis in Pyongyang. Down the lane I look, Dick Cheney is strolling with documents he`d been withholding, it’s good to touch the brown brown grass of home.
I think future generations will look back on this phase in Human history with great shame; murder, mayhem and genocide all gleefully advocated by George W.
For the Love of Africa · Sunday March 9, 2008 by colin newell
If you love Africa as much as I do, you are going to want to mark your calendar for Sunday, April the 6th, 2008 for an event in Victoria B.C. Canada.
For the Love of Africa is hosting a coffee and chocolate event from 11AM til 4PM.
8 of Vancouver Island’s best coffee roasters will be there doling out samples of their product. And there is most definitely a chocolate component to this event.
So. What about this Love of Africa group? For the Love of Africa has been in existence since 2005, the Society having had its roots in an original team of fourteen people who visited Dodoma, Tanzania in September of 2004 to assist in the construction of the new Kizota School and Student Centre.
They are a humanitarian society interested in projects which focus on two key areas – Education and Health. The issues are critical to the long term development and stability of both Tanzania and Africa in general and they feel it is in these areas that they can most effectively make a difference.
Based in Victoria BC, Canada, they welcome people from across Canada and around the world, thanks to the internet, to join them on their journey in the hopes that together we can bring health and hope to one small corner of the African continent.
Avril Lavigne launches World Tour from Victoria · Thursday March 6, 2008 by colin newell
Overheard moments after the concert ended…
“How does a Vancouver Canucks game differ from an Avril Lavigne concert?”
Well. It seems that after paying over $60 for her, slightly over one hour, show…
Well… “You are the loser.”
I am aware that she has, what, 2 songs that have garnered radio play in the last 2 years or so…
Lemme see… Sk8r Boi… and… Thinking… Thinking…
At a little over $1/minute for Avril (hey, Video games cost more than that!), the average fan might not notice the time passing – but as a music reviewer, it is like being in a room of heroin addicts after a quad-shot of my favorite espresso.
And as a devoted fan of American and Canadian Idol (more pre-fab music in the works), I have noticed that there is a finite pool of musical talent on this continent… and with each trip to the trough, that supply gets more and more scant. And no, I am not saying that Avril is not talented… because she has broad appeal to her legion of teen and pre-teen girlfriends…
It’s just… I hope this is not the future of live music: Where (largely prefabricated) bands trot out their hits in staccato fashion in under an hour… and graceless at that.
