Obfuscated Thoughtlessness Inversed

Last night I posted about how I received visits last month from the Canadian Military. Tonight, I have the dubious honour of posting about a visit to this blog from a US Military computer/human operator.

I was hoping they were reading about how to flee war and go to Canada. But after reading the log-file I realized they were simply reading about being Welcomed to Canada.

Meanwhile, the US Military announced by declassifying a document that they were engaged in electronic disruption against their enemies, apparently including blogs like this one.

To quote from a BBC report:

The operations described in the document include a surprising range of military activities: public affairs officers who brief journalists, psychological operations troops who try to manipulate the thoughts and beliefs of an enemy, computer network attack specialists who seek to destroy enemy networks.

The fact that the "Information Operations Roadmap" is approved by the Secretary of Defense suggests that these plans are taken very seriously indeed in the Pentagon.

Thanks to Blogging Change and Verbena 19 for the heads up.

Labels: anti-war, canada, green isn't just a colour it's an imperative, internal, leftist content creation, opinion, scary technology, spy-watch, tools

The BC Government's on-going conversation on health continues to suck. Only 5,000 people, so far are talking to the provincial government about their plans for privatization of health care. The public appears to be wise enough to realize that anything they say to the Gordon Campbell Liberals will likely be used to justify a pre-determined course of action.

A petition, against health-care privatization, I ran a few years ago received nearly 40,000 responses on a near-zero budget. When you compare this with 5,000 participants on a multi-million dollar public relations fiasco (normally not even a slightly fair comparison but...) it is clear there is a massive credibility gap on the Conversation on Health. Oh yeah, it's true I am finally and publicly admitting that Alfred Young is a pseudonym for me. Take that privatization and no longer being afraid of recriminations!

The BC Health Conversation is another matter. This excellent subvertisement sponsored by the HEU is a great way to impact future health policy. Check it out.

The HEU also had their website voted into the 2007 Top 10 Labour websites as announced today by Labourstart. The LHMU, the union I spent much of last year working for in Melbourne, also made the list. Congratulations to them and the other 2007 winners.

Labels: canada, democracy, health, historical, hospitality, human rights abuse, link, online campaign

No deal has been cut with the Tories, but balance of power pressure is making a difference.

The Great Bear Rainforest, a series of beautiful and largely pristine watersheds up the BC Coast has some new funding to develop sustainable industries within the forest.

Saved permanently? Nope. Our world is still at risk. We need to keep up the fight but, for the short-term and for a just transition this is an incredible sign of the recognition of climate change. A realization that this is a gigantic intact tract of a disappearing and irreplaceable part of the world we live on.

18,000 km2 of protected area and 46,900 km2 to be sustainably managed forest. A government that 6 weeks ago wouldn't acknowledge climate change was anything but bunk science. Today, we have a Prime Minister forced into actively working against climate change and I don't mean just by replanting Stanley Park.

I'm not going to start blogging about how I like this government but, I sure like this house of commons and its balance of power.

Brad Lavigne's quote attributed by catprint yesterday, on Mike Duffy, sure seems apropos. Hey Dion.. "So you only needed 14 years, then it would have been done right?"

The NDP has shown that a couple of weeks in the pole position is enough to "Take the lead on climate change."

Thanks LeftCoastRant for the inspiration for this post.

Labels: alternatives, blogosphere, cat, cons, environment, green isn't just a colour it's an imperative, leftist content creation, ndp, public power

Today's press release from the federal NDP reminded me just how shocking our treatment of refugees and new immigrants is in this country. No wonder we are one of the least densely populated countries on earth.

What happened to the open armed welcome into our communities, that we should be delivering to people who newly arrive here, as a nation of of mostly immigrants and their descendants. (It would of course be better to welcome people to land on which certainty over land claims existed-if only our governments would hurry up and settle)? And I'm not talking about the kind of welcome these people received or the kind of welcome this community is trying to give.

Anyone notice that skills shortage that is looming? Anyone notice the baby boom? Anyone notice the melting ice and the unpopulated plains? Actually, I guess the Canada West Foundation did...

But that won't get me off my rant. No way.. No single think tank from Calgary saying something somewhat sensible is going earn a moment's silence.

Instead, let's say it loud and proud, "welcome to Canada."

Now, I will quote others. Here's some select sections from press releases by the NDP on immigration issues from the last six months:

“We are breaking a promise to new Canadians when we cannot provide them with secure employment, steady income and a stable quality of life,” said Bill Siksay. “Immigrants are hardworking new Canadians who are trying to provide for their families. We must not turn our backs on them.” - NDP concerned over new Canadian's growing income gap

“The people who work directly with immigrants and their families have been telling us for years that this is the kind of legislation that we need,” said Peggy Nash. “The aim of this bill is to reunite families that in many cases have spent years apart. Let’s not miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to do the right thing.” - Peggy Nash introduces a “Once in a Lifetime” bill

“Many of these refugees have been living in limbo in the Philippines for over 17 years after fleeing the Vietnam War and its aftermath, said Siksay. “As stateless people they live an insecure existence. They can never fully be integrated into society and communities, they are unable to work legally, and they and their families are denied basic necessities like education, and health care.” - Siksay calls on Conservative government to settle last of Vietnamese boat people

"Mr. Speaker: This afternoon, refugees who are seeking shelter in Canada will be out in the cold on Parliament Hill. They are mostly women and children who are struggling to survive. They are vulnerable, they are hungry, most are very poor – and many of the women are trying to escape domestic violence or the sex trade. But the previous liberal government and now the conservative is exploiting and punishing them further by applying a modern day head tax – the refugee fee of $550 per refugee and $150 per child. I have tabled a motion in this House – to drop these fees - this head tax – this blood money on the heads of the most vulnerable…if this government does not act, then it is saying to the world and the ten thousand Canadians who signed a petition that children should be made to suffer and women should indeed be treated like dogs. Mr. Speaker, we must end this cruel practice now." - Chow and Siksay renew call for government to drop fees

"All immigrants face the risk of being made to feel like second class citizens. This summer, during the war in Lebanon, we saw the loyalty of many dual citizens questioned most inappropriately during a time of crisis when Canadians were actually dying. That is shameful,” said Olivia Chow. Chow also noted that at that time, two young girls from her riding were visiting relatives in Lebanon. "Fortunately, they were safely evacuated. Ensuring the safety of all Canadians should never have been an issue. There is only one class of Canadian citizen so citizens are citizens, no matter where they were born. And they should receive Canada's assistance during a crisis." - Dual citizenship a bonus for Canada, says NDP

"This is not just an isolated tale of abuse by a Liberal crony appointee, but a stain on our country for which the Government must hold itself responsible. It is a terrible indictment of our tattered and frayed immigration and refugee system. This sordid episode is a sign of a badly broken immigration system in Canada, which was neglected by four successive Liberal governments. Clearly, the neglect continues with the Harper Conservatives. Enough is enough!" - Refugee board sex scandal demonstrates need for independent appeal: NDP

Labels: alternatives, annotation, human rights abuse, leftist content creation, ndp, new media critique, opinion, yay immigration

Thanks to the 929 visitors who made this blog what it is this month. I failed to meet my 1000 unique visit dream, but each one of your unique visits means just as much to me as if I had. Your return visits not so much. Obfuscated Thoughtlessness Inversed had way more of those.. 2652 or an average of 2.85 visits per visitor.

I couldn't have done it with out you. I cherish your visits, especially from the several folks who work for the Department of National Defense, and the repeat visitors from Human Resources and Social Development Canada and even the one guy who visited once from the Government of Nova Scotia. At least the RCMP didn't visit this month, like they did last month. Then again I didn't make fun of the commissioner this month, like I did last month.

On the plus side staff at the Council of Canadians, War Amps of Canada, COPE 378, BCGEU, CBC, Sierra Club of BC, BC and Federal NDP Caucus and federal NDP staff all visited. I like being noticed by them. Also, those of you who I called idiots who then proved that you are fast learners, thanks to you too. The IE ratio dropped from nearly 50% to 38.3% and beyond that Firefox came in on the month at 39%-just slightly ahead. Yay!

On the corporate side of things, the coolest-non-ISP-.com-to-visit award goes to Agilent.com. Whereas the award for creepiest Human Resources/Evil doers inc. award goes to PSI Limited. May PSI never get asked to psych my brain out for corporate profit.. From the PSI website:

International Leadership Assessment:

Assessing the competence of existing and potential international leaders contributes to both selection and development processes. In selection, assessment helps evaluate the suitability of leaders for particular assignments. In development, it helps identify areas of potential leadership growth and feeds into personal and career development processes. It can also contribute to succession planning. The tools used in assessment include PSi’s Standard and International TAISs (a psychometric profiling inventory) and our web-based International 360° and International Leadership 360° profiles, as well as other psychometric instruments.

There isn't much difference between these two companies. .com's really aren't usually cool. After I looked up the anonymous IP of PSI's internet gateway, read their website and digested the above, I ran away shrieking like my dog after getting stung by the bee she just ate.

(Reality check: I wasn't actually shrieking and the dog usually only eats bees during the summer and then she kinda half-mumbles half cries, and that's the northern hemisphere summer some time away still, oh and the word just is somewhat of a loose time measurement. I suggest longitude and latitude for those of you who are into measurement. For regular readers, my dog, refers to the brown one you often see on this page in little photos. Alright this is getting way to random and nothing like a reality check, close bracket:).

True to my promise I will not post dates, times or actual IP addresses of these visits. Hopefully your network admins are not bored or crazy enough to pull up the logs to bust you for looking at my blog.

Ok, that's enough navel gazing. On to a new month and more near exponential growth in readership!

Labels: annotation, bc blogs, internal, personal story, tools

For five minutes. Tomorrow at 10:55 am PST and then again at 6:55 pm PST.

Why you ask? Does the OTI server need critical maintenance? Are you going to install Windows Vista?

No and No! The OTI server is a FreeBSD install and has no need for silly downtime during upgrades. As if you could install and test Windows Vista in five minutes.

Instead, the reason is that Obfuscated Thoughtlessness Inversed and conjoined twin sites (like http://morganstewart.org/) have been arbitrarily deemed to be participating in this Facebook/Chain e-mail event started by L'Alliance pour la Planète.

To quote:

Everybody to extinguish all their lights and illuminations and turn off equipment on stand-by on the 1st February 2007 from 18h55 until 19h00. (GMT)

The purpose is not just to save electricity for 5 minutes that day, but to draw the attention of citizens, the media and the authorities to the waste of energy and the need to initiate action! 5 minutes respite for the planet: that's not long, it costs nothing and will show our politicians that climate change is something which should figure prominently in political debates.

Why the 1st February? Because that is the day on which the latest report of the United Nations Panel of Experts is to be released in Paris.

Although this event is scheduled to take place in France, we should not miss this opportunity of drawing attention to the global climatic situation.

If we all participate our actions will have great public and political resonance, at an important moment in our political life!

Please make this appeal as widely known as possible in your own circles and networks ! please also publish it on your websites and in your newsletters.

So don't just stop after this little event but carry on everyday being aware of the little things that you can do to save our world.

There seems to be some confusion about the exact right hour to do this at. OTI will participate twice at both 6:55 pm and 10:55 am PST...

For a daily tip on stopping climate change try coolmove.org.

Labels: alternatives, blogosphere, environment, green isn't just a colour it's an imperative, leftist content creation

With the recent and long overdue apology to Maher Arar finally issued, it is time for arrest warrants to be issued against those responsible.

This style of warrant issued by prosecutor Christian Schmidt-Sommerfeld of Berlin, Germany has issued against 13 CIA agents is a spectacular step forward for democracy. Although, we may never see a trial or any kind of a conviction in this case.

In Canada we have had a public inquiry, we allocated blame, we apologized, we compensated and we simply cannot leave out the last steps on the stairs to justice. Those steps are charging and potentially convicting those who are criminally responsible. Mr. Arar and our entire country deserve to know that our government will prosecute those responsible to the fullest extent of the law. I suggest we start with US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales who still will not clear Mr. Arar's name and have been involved in this illegal policy of rendition from the start.

It is likely we can not gain jurisdiction over the American agents who broke international law and deported Mr. Arar to be tortured. However, we can at least ensure these people understand they are being sought and will be arrested if they do happen into our country's jurisdiction. The Canadian's responsible should be charged as well.

At the very least we need to ask: Where's the contrition for rendition?

Labels: anti-war, copwatch, day, democracy, human rights abuse, rcmp, spy-watch

"Individual actions do make a difference. We all have a role in protecting the health of our communities and reducing greenhouse gases. Project Porchlight is accomplishing both goals - one light bulb at a time." - Dr. David Suzuki

Given that Nuclear Power isn't my choice for an environmental solution, I'd like to refer you to an organization that does have a simple solution and workable solution. Won't fix everything, but it is a place to start with one change: Project Porchlight.



These guys are going door-to-door to drop off a Compact Fluoro Light at your house. The theory is that even changing a single light to a CFL Bulb will result in significant power savings.

From their website:

Project Porchlight staff and volunteers have delivered almost a quarter-million CFL bulbs this fall! To make some very conservative calculations, that'll mean more than $10 million in energy savings! And just to sweeten the deal, Ottawa residents will stop 100,000 tons of greenhouse gases from being emitted into our atmosphere over 5 years.

Labels: alternatives, environment, green isn't just a colour it's an imperative, leftist content creation, public power, scary technology, tools

Alright, I have to admit it, I watch the stats page on my blog with a severe addiction. Since I set this blog up, about 70 posts ago, I have been glued to the unique visitor count provided by my awstats.

The truth of the matter is I really want to hit 1000 unique visitors by the end of this month. As I write this, 900 unique visitors (ie. IP addresses) have happened this month including bots, worms and other automated annoyances.

Crappy post eh?

Here have a look at some recent posts with interesting content:

• Project Porchlight - Or one bulb to save the world
• Steckle's my favourite
• Gary Lunn is confused - Thinks Nuclear is a solution not a problem.
• Take that student debt!
• The right to conscientiously object and brownshirted bloggers
• Yup that's me.. why I'm pro-choice!

Labels: blogosphere, leftist content creation, opinion, personal story

This morning I was introduced to my new favourite MP. Paul Steckle.

You guessed it, that's him in the picture, with his family and their firearms. This was the Christmas card he sent out to his constituents in 2004. As he puts it in this recent article "people are still talking about that one."

Apparently this Christmas card is old news, but sometimes Members of Parliament distinguish themselves in ways that shouldn't be forgotten. Whether that be Darryl Stinson's infamous "Do you have the fortitude or the gonads to stand up and come across here and say that to me, you son of a bitch? Come on." Or Jean Chretien's "For me, pepper, I put it on my plate." These two however have moved into the past and are gone from parliament with Stinson retiring at the last election.

This pro-life, anti-gay marriage, gun-toting (yup that's him and his family in the picture), Christmas wishing-in-fatigues Liberal is still an MP for the riding of Huron-Bruce.

To the great delight of the anti-choice freakazoids Paul Steckle went so far as to introduce a motion into the house last June (2006) attempting to further restrict abortion.

As Stéphane Dion tries the inevitable lefty-reinvention we have seen every time the Liberals are in opposition, we should ensure that we don't forget the likes of Steckle. Scary guys like this one end up damn close to the back room and cabinet if the Liberals win.

Labels: alternatives, canada, cons, human rights abuse, pro-choice