Presumed guilty, each and every one of us

More changes proposed to appeal to that base law and order morality pack.  They have been incredibly useful tools (yep, that was intentional) for Harper's plans to silence dissenters.

The most effective way to reduce crime is to prevent it in the first place, and in order to do that, we need to stop people from choosing a life of crime to begin with.  Not all crime will be eliminated, but a hell of a lot of it will.  Instead, the ass-backwards Harper government works on the presumption that we are all potential criminals.  Look at what happened at the G20, and look at the CONs messed up push to spend billions or more prisons despite crime rates dropping.

And now, Nicholson wants to make us safe by coming down hard on prostitutes and gamblers.  I won't include drug dealers in this right now, but as I am very sure stricter laws on users are coming, I'll cover it then.

Stricter laws aren't going to make certain crime oriented types suddenly switch careers.  Addressing social issues that do little to encourage good social behaviour will.

Notice how Harper & co. attack those issues that offend the atavistic, religious sensibilities of the moral nuts.  Sex and gambling.  Does anyone seriously think those are the most important aspects of organized crime that should be addressed?  What about infiltrating government?  Coercing construction contracts?  Threatening unions?

Ah, but those don't hit that self-righteous, holier-than-though, fear of their own vices group.  Sex and gambling do.

Nor do I believe the news delivered by Nicholson has only to do with locking up organized crime bosses.  Look at what the cops will be able to do with their new powers:

(P)olice will be able to more easily obtain wiretaps and orders such as peace bonds, block bail or parole eligibility, seize assets and seek stiffer sentences. The criminal code defines as “organized” crime gangs those cases involving three or more people acting together in a criminal venture.

Three or more people acting together...the hooker, her pimp, and the guy who rents out the room...three fellas gambling...and anyone else who happens to be in the vicinity, because you know, they could be involved...like at the G20.

The CONs don't like any dissent, any opposition, any transparency because they can't fool the public as easily, so they change our systems to shut us down, then make up some bull-shit justification for it afterward.  Like unreported crimes.

So now they have not only the plans to make more room to lock people up, they are moving on changes that will enable them to spy on citizens without having to justify their actions, and reasons to scoop up a whole lot of folks at once.  Then, take their sweet-ass time sifting through the detainees at their leisure, charging some, releasing others, but reinforcing that message that we are all suspect, we have no real rights, and we had better not cross the elected government.

A few measures put through by a government can be coincidental, but when the ridiculous is used to justify such sweeping changes that threaten our rights and freedoms, we had better take notice.

Harper’s Face of Diplomacy

Okaaaaayyyy....

The House Leader’s role is to attempt to secure Opposition’s support for the government’s legislative agenda.  That requires negotiating skills and the ability to compromise.   

I never thought Stevie was all that smart, more cunning, without the hampering nature of a conscience to get in his way, but this appointment seems beyond stupid.  Unless, of course, it’s that lack of conscience and respect for Parliament kicking in:

However, by putting such a divisive politician into the job, the Prime Minister may be signalling he wants to push full-steam ahead on his agenda this sitting.

Goodale, who will have to work with him since he’s Opposition Leader is keeping an open mind.  He says it depends what persona Baird brings to the table.

That, I think, will be chosen by Harper, not Baird.  My guess is we are in for more CON bullying.

Harper can’t get rid of all public servants

He needs a few to kick around and blame shit on.

I’m not a big believer in coincidence when it comes to who is writing about what and when where politics are concerned.  Today, the Ottawa Citizen printed and article by print media’s very own Lowell Green, Kelly Egan. 

Egan valiantly takes it upon himself to inform us that “(we) have no idea how bad it is”… “(d)ealing with the federal government in this town (Ottawa).”  It is so bad, he says, that “(s)ome days, honestly, you just want to scream.”  He supports this claim with plenty of useful and reliable evidence in the form of anecdotes. 

One of the most vital functions for any government department is to be the organized gatekeeper for the flow of information. In this town, there are literally hundreds of people who do nothing but this one thing all day.  Why must it be such a battle?

Why?  Well, Egan, you dishonest Harper bag boy, left me tell you why.

An investigation by The Canadian Press revealed in June that MEPs are being used across the federal government to literally script words uttered by cabinet ministers and lowly backbenchers as well as screen media requests for interviews with public servants who have expert knowledge of government policy.
The tools — aimed at yielding a desired headline or soundbite from a public event — allow Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Office, through its bureaucratic arm at the Privy Council Office, to stay on message while controlling access to politicians and public servants. They've been used to plan the details of everything from answers for a journalism student seeking information about aid programming to a conference on helping save the polar bear.

Critics say MEPs undermine democracy and transparency because they allow the government to micromanage its message while blurring the time-honoured separation of non-partisan public servants and their political masters.

But you already knew this, didn’t you, Kelly?  This is not news, nor is it speculation.  MEPs control all public messages, and Ministers, as we have seen recently, can and do override departmental policies on information release.

For Pete's sake, the way they treat you, as though guarding information is Job One, not releasing it. What are they so afraid of? Where is their commitment to public discourse?

The commitment is there, Egan, but unfortunately harper has duct-taped it into silence.

What is evident -- and most dangerous -- is the brick wall that has been erected between the public service and the public via the media conduit.  Can you think of one prominent federal public servant who is regularly quoted in the nation's newspapers?   We have 140,000 PS workers in this town and one sealed lip. Amazing.

Egan does what dishonest, partisan neander-hacks do: he blends some truth with blatant omissions, producing an overall lie.

Yes, there is a brick wall, and yes, it is very, very dangerous, and yes, the media isn’t getting the message from the public service.  What Egan doesn’t bother saying, and what I maintain he deliberately misguides readers on, is that the brick wall has been erected by various elected governments, and the bulk of that wall was built by harper who introduced MEPs and is widely known by anyone who isn’t a complete moron as a message control freak of galactic proportions.

So why does Egan pick today to whine about public servants and how they just want to make him scream when it comes to obtaining information from them?  Well, Egan manages to use an anecdote about Stats Can as useful and reliable evidence of how badly public servants suck at communicating info to the public.  Yeah, Stats Can of the long form census.  That very same entity of misinformation gathered through threats and intimidation at 10 pm at night, on your very doorstep.  Bastards!

This bit of news made papers today as well:

Nationwide focus groups assembled by a federal pollster expressed "frustration" over the Harper government's lack of communication, leaving them in the dark about the Tory agenda.

Other articles (presumably not written by dishonest Harper bag boys) actually explain why the flow of info has stalled, linking much of it to Harper’s MEPs.  Even Doris admits to his party’s use of duct tape as a promotional tool:

Treasury Board President Stockwell Day said he'd consider removing the veritable gag on federal public servants that's been in place since the Conservatives introduced a potent messaging tool called the Message Event Proposal four years ago.

Dan Garner writes an entertaining piece with a serious message illustrating the absolute lack of respect the Harper government has for conveying truth. 

A slim majority of Conservative party members believe homosexuals should be arrested and imprisoned in federal dinner theatres, where they would perform The Sound of Music and other wholesome entertainment for children and seniors. Twenty per cent of the Conservative caucus dropped acid with the Grateful Dead. At least three cabinet ministers have outstanding arrest warrants in Nepal; one is a former member of the Manson family.

In the past, I would not have presented these claims as facts because they're not "true," in the narrow sense of an assertion supported by logic and evidence. That stuff mattered to me. I was a "member of the reality-based community," as a Bush administration official famously said about people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality."

But no more. "When we act," that official said, "we create our own reality." That's where I am now. Stephen Harper, the Conservative government, and me. Creating our own reality. And dropping acid with the Dead.

While Gardner’s article is primarily about the distortion of truth as Harper massages the message, it is yet another study of how real information is kept from the public while providing the illusion that valuable communication is occurring.

The astonishing rhetorical genius Doris affirms this (unintentionally, of course):


"When I say that our tax plan is regarded as the most competitive in the G7 countries and I ask people that, hardly any of them are aware," Day said.  "Those are called talking points and we believe they’re important…We send that stuff out all the time whether it’s talking points, speeches, whatever, we’re communicating it daily.”

No amount of letter writing to MPs will change harper’s demolition of information channels, because when the ideology that you are trying to force on an entire nation is so narrow that it only appeals only to a small percentage of the population (the 30% does not apply here because I am talking about the real, hardcore narrow ideology that would send most conservative supporters running en masse for protest sings), then truth and reality are not animals you want roaming free.  Gotta club those babies.  Lobotomize them.  Do some corrective surgery.

… Facts, evidence, logic. Irony. We're moved beyond that. I might even say we've evolved, but some of the guys in the purple van might not like that. So let's just say we've opened the doors of perception. We make reality, man.

And hacks like Egan are more than happy to type up Stevie’s latest versions.  So if we can’t get harper & co. to tell the truth because the truth is their enemy, and if we can’t get brown nosers like Egan to print the truth, we are left with one thing:  vote the mother-fuckers out of office.  Now.  Hammer away at the opposition parties, insist they grow a decent set of balls, vote the CONs out next possible chance, hold a damn election, and vote strategically.  (go see ACR)

Entropy : a function of a system's tendency towards spontaneous change

So that’s what harper’s ideology is based on.

Entropy and the census:

Back in mid-July the long form sucked because it generated bad data :
PMO spokesman Dimitri Soudas suggested the census generated bad data, noting in a widely circulated e-mail that “21,000 Canadians registered Jedi knight as a religion in the 2001 census.”

July 13, 2010, the long form sucked because it was intrusive and applied heavy-handed tactics:
"I think that government forcing people, threatening to put people in jail if they don't tell the government how many bathrooms they have is a bit heavy-handed, and a bit ridiculous frankly," (Baird) said in Ottawa.

Yesterday, August 5, 2010, the long form didn’t suck anymore, in fact was quite good:
“Yeah, there are groups that are upset. … Hey, listen, they had a good deal going,” Mr. Clement said Thursday following a meeting with fellow MPs in Ottawa.  “They got good, quality data and the government of Canada was the heavy.

August 5, 2010, the long form is still great, but once more uses heavy-handed tactics which Harperites want no part of:
Mr. Clement, however, said Ottawa no longer wants to act as data collection enforcer for statistics users. “It worked for them. Doesn't mean it worked for other Canadians.”

August 5, 2010, who the hell needs it anyway?:
“All these provincial governments and these social institutions and private businesses – we’ll get them some data that will be useful and reliable,” (Clement) said.

Great!  Useful and reliable.  From the HarperCONs.  Like this useful and reliable data upon which the decision has been made to spend 9.1 billion taxpayer dollars on unreported criminals:

“If you ask, is there unreported crime in Canada, there’s unreported crime, there’s no question about it,” Nicholson (said)…“I get anecdotal evidence and there are certainly some studies on that.”

Wow!  Anecdotal evidence!  Think of the cost savings! 

Finley can go hang out in the Market in Ottawa, and for the price of a pack of cigarettes and a little pocket change, she can gather reams of anecdotal evidence on the need for adult literacy programs, job training, transitional programs for people who lives have suddenly been shot to hell.

Leona Aglukkaq can join her (just need one Parl. Assistant handing out cigarettes that way) to get plenty of anecdotal evidence on the need for rehab centres, safe injection sites, half-way houses, temporary shelter.

Prentice can borrow a fishing rod from Scott Reid and go hang out with the natives on the Wabigoon River system catching fish no one can eat while they swap anecdotes. 

Oh, this could add up after all.  A better solution to collecting useful and reliable evidence at low cost with little to no intrusive methods would be to send a few MPs with their Parliamentary aids to hang out where the real Canadians go.  The place where common sense is found.  Tim Horton’s. 

Wait…still to expensive.  All those Parliamentary photographers…

Got it!  Create a new Ministry, the Ministry of Truth.  Put Max Bernier in charge.  Hell, if he can get useful and reliable info on the long form by receiving over 1,000 e-mails without even asking for input, just think – think what he can do if he’s on a mission!  And if anyone is worried about their personal anecdotal information getting into the hands of a hot biker chick with ties to the Mafia and Hell’s Angels, don’t worry.  Maxie doesn’t print out the e-mails.  He doesn’t even save them.  But he remembers each and every one.
Then Maxie can call whatever Minister may be interested, pass on the useful and reliable info, and the said Minister can make changes that affect all our lives.  Over the summer, of course.  When the House isn’t sitting.  Cheaper that way, and really, average Canadians just aren’t that interested in how their tax dollars are spent, or how their lives will be affected by sweeping changes.

If any of you need any further convincing, just think of the savings:  we could get rid of all researchers, planners, strategists, policy makers, and legal teams from all departments.  That would mean far less support/admin. Staff, and barely a handful of HR staff.  Communication staff?  Why pay those assholes!  Since PCO has to vet every piece of communication they produce for the public as it stands now,  just get PCO to make the products from the start.  In fact, we could get rid of PCO altogether and have the lot done by the PMO!!!!

This is very exciting.  I can’t wait to stop at Timmie’s on the way in tomorrow and gather useful and reliable information so I can put together a portfolio and apply for a job with the PMO.

Care to help a fellow blogger with a few anecdotes?

Field Day - Or is that DAYzed and CONfused?

His mother would be so proud.  Doris had his name in print more than any other Canadian, today.

A few gems:

Best blog quote:

Doris' cheery crime shoppers philosophy on prisons seems to be : If you build them, they will come. (Alison at Dawg’s Blawg - great photoshop as well!) 

Must read analysis of the CONs’ strategy of inventing a crisis to create a need, then apply the results to move toward a very frightening goal.  Brilliant and chilling piece by Boris at TGB

Boris makes excellent points.  It is difficult not to laugh at Dino Doris and his foot-in-mouth disease, but what the Harperites are doing, and how they are managing to by-pass legislation and reality to do it is no laughing matter.  Those speak of a frightening, ideological, very hostile takeover of our rights and democracy.

Letters from the Ottawa Citizen, August 5, 2010:

...Mr. Day might well have borrowed from the Queen of Hearts: Minister Day: “Alice, my dear, are you ready for your sentence?” Alice: “But there has to be a verdict first.” Minister: “Sentence first, verdict afterwards!” Michael Friendly, professor of psychology, chair, quantitative methods program, York University

What Canada really needs are more unbuilt prison cells to deal with the rise in unreported crime. Because unbuilt prisons are so much cheaper than actual prisons, the Conservative government could announce twice as many new unbuilt cells and still save taxpayers money. Add imaginary prison guards and the government can deal with unemployment at virtually no cost. Then we can all go for tea down the rabbit hole. Norman Rosencwaig, Toronto

I await (the Fraser Institute’s) study supporting Stockwell Day’s contention that dinosaurs did indeed once roam the Earth with humans.  Mike Hutton, Ottawa

If Statistics Canada has numbers underscoring the declining rates of crime overall in Canada, yet we need more prisons, what is the game plan of this Conservative government in creating this wealth of new criminals?

Malcontent foreign affairs employees, dissenting board members of the Wheat Board, suspended staffers of rights and democracy agencies, outspoken RCMP officers, representatives of women’s shelters, scientists from Environment Canada speaking out on global warming, or simply the growing numbers of dissenting Canadians who are concerned about these now very transparent attacks on our democracy and rights across Canada?  Kevin Morris, Gatineau, Que.

Now, let’s hear from Dullard Doris himself:

(Day) also questioned the value of information gathered by the census, suggesting data older than a year is "untenable in today's information age."

That was two days ago when Stats Can statistics sucked and threatened the very fabric of our society, but folks, keep up with current events!

Yesterday, Doris wanted to make us all safe by spending 9 billion of our tax dollars building more prisons and revamping existing ones.  They would be needed, he warned us, because of all of those unreported criminals who have committed an alarming number of unreported (and unclassified) crimes!  OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!  Am I an unwitting victim of these faceless scum bags???!!!  Lock them up!!!!!  For doing whatever it is that has not been reported!!!!!  Hire Steve’s psychic hairdresser NOW!!!!!! 

And Stockboy knows this how?

A spokesperson for the justice minister said Day was referring to the General Social Survey conducted by Statistics Canada that asks individuals if they have been victims of crimes and if they reported the incidents to police.  Results of the 2009 survey conducted every five years will not be published until September, but the 2004 report does show a slight decrease, from 37 per cent to 34 per cent, of reported crimes.

Oh...Stats Can.  Totally sucks, except when it doesn’t, and only when you can leave out the parts you don’t like - the vast majority of unreported crimes aren’t reported because people don’t think they are serious enough to report.

Since Walks-With-Angels-Tony wasn’t around to rescue the floundering minister, Iceman Nicholson jumped into the maelstrom.

"If you ask, is there unreported crime in Canada, there’s unreported crime, there’s no question about it, Nicholson (said)..."I get anecdotal evidence and there are certainly some studies on that.”    

Anecdotal evidence.  I see...So we just need to sent in our cute, funny stories, the Minister of Justice will faithfully read each and every one, accord them fair, impartial weight, and develop policies accordingly.  Sort of like the wisdom of Solomon.  Hang on to your babies, ladies!

“We don’t govern on the basis of statistics,” Nicholson said. “We govern on the basis of what we hear from the public and what law enforcement agencies tell us. That has not changed in the four and a half years we’ve been in government.”

Oh?...OH???

In support of Day, Nicholson’s spokeswoman referred to the General Social Survey conducted by Statistics Canada that asks people if they’ve been victims of crimes and if they reported them to police.

That would be Stats Can, the department that churns out statistics...and doesn’t Stats Can tell government what the public thinks?

But wait!  Rob mentions listening to what enforcement agencies tell the Hasrperites.  So what have these agencies been saying? (emphasis mine)

Various police organizations - Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, Canadian Association of Police Boards, and Canadian Police Association - have been lobbying MPs to ensure they do not support the removal of long guns from the gun registry. This has been a matter of considerable debate in Ottawa, and some members of the Liberal and New Democratic parties have said they intend to support the removal of long guns from control, which would Allow the Conservative party motion to pass.  The success of the long gun registry in preventing deaths seems overwhelming. (From Toronto Police Accountability Bulletin, No. 54, June 21, 2010.)

Whoops.  No bloody wonder Stevie the Petulant only made a three minute appearance today and took no questions.  The waters are just a bit to rough.

Just awesome

This is too cool.

Rev. paperboy is podcasting. 

Episode One - In which Lindsay Stewart's eloquence rescues us from a slow start and we discuss the music industry, Canadian political scandals, the recent spinelessness of the Liberal Party of Canada and who might be the next Governor General...

Looking forward to more.

Nice ruling if it applied to anyone who gave a damn about democracy

"It is the view of the chair that accepting an unconditional authority of the executive to censor the information provided to Parliament would, in fact, jeopardize the very separation of powers that is purported to lie at the heart of our parliamentary system and the independence of its constituent parts," Milliken told the House.  "Furthermore, it risks diminishing the inherent privileges of the House and its members, which have been earned and must be safeguarded."


The odds that the CONs will abide by the ruling - they have two weeks, are about as good as Velacott marrying McVety and holding their reception at The Lookout Bar.

Milliken offered them a few outs.  Two weeks to plan a challenge to the ruling by appealing to the Supreme Court; two weeks to form another tail-dragging strategy so that they simply go through the motions of trying to comply while putting up endless barriers to any info release and hope, as they have, people will tire of the issue; trigger an election (I doubt they'll do this considering their weak position).

Nicholson's words give a big clue as to the tactic the CONs will use immediately:  "Our government will not compromise Canada's national security, nor will it jeopardize the lives of our men and women in uniform."

Just what they've been using so far:  hiding behind the troops, and refusing based on security concerns without allowing impartial eyes to decide if such concerns are valid.

Not a hollow victory for democracy, but the battle to defend it ain't over yet.

Another week, another poll

and a musical tribute to the four leaders in light of the latest Harris Decima.  With some unsolicited advice.  Because I’m not paid for this.  

Stevie Harper



Quit. Lose the hairpiece. CPC: dump fatso if he won’t quit, ban him from the party. Make Diane Ablonczy leader; get rid of everyone else except Michael Chong; have all candidates take a PCL-R test - remember, high scores are bad! And make sure they read more than the Bible.

Michael Ignatieff



Quit for “personal reasons” and hand the mantle over to Bob Rae. He clearly has the support of the party. Liberals: leave the small, scandal stuff alone and focus on the big problems: accountability, access to information, torture, and environmental issues; ship Scott Brison off to Columbia to do time as a union rep and if he survives a couple of years, he may be ok; get rid of deadwood like Volpe; quit sucking up to poll results and take a strong stance on the big issues.

Jack Layton



Quit. NDP: take Broadbent on as advisor; pick a leader who has been consistent in her or his views and who won’t suck up to the ruling party for a few extra seats. Drop the kitchen table talk and remember that even rich, Canadian assholes need to be addressed, but not catered to.


Gilles Duceppe



Continue come tu le fait. If the other three were anywhere near the leader and politician you are, they be a shoe-in for a majority.

Between the brazen whores, the satan worshipping pagans, and the ho-mo-seck-shulls...

...it’s a wonder any decent folk survive the invisible sky monsters' collateral damage.

It appears the forgiving, compassionate christian deity never really dealt adequately with Sodom and Gomorrah and returns to exact more punishment.  

The invisible monster’s alternate ego is still pursuing his wimin’ hatin’ ways.  Shoulda been breast fed, maybe.    

Sure, he fucked up and made satan, but that doesn’t mean anyone should, you know, be mentioned in the same sentence as the dark one.           

Those gods really suck at marksmanship.  Hell of a lot of civilian casualties in their war against being human.

There are training camps for that problem.

What Canadians want

While it’s nice to see the CONs have post their brief lead  - if it was real at all - I wish the drop had been attributed to something other than the Guergis-Jaffer story.  While it does have to be pursued because corruption, influence peddling, and political interference are serious issues, I would much rather Canadians had been reacting to the two other big stories: the government’s cover-up and manipulation of information, and the torture of detainees.

I doubt even the Guergis-Jaffer thing would be getting much attention if sex and drugs weren’t mentioned.

This does not reflect well on our media, nor on the public.

Murder, war crimes, contracting out torture linked to our military?  The government taking measures so outrageous to cover this up and prevent witnesses from talking that the approach has been called Kafkaesque?

There was a time I would have thought - no way!  Not in my Canada!

But it is happening, here in this country we have been so proud of because Canadians, so it goes, just don’t tolerate that crap.

Well, we are tolerating it, and it isn’t crap.  Through our apathy, through our weakness for flashy headlines screaming of sex and drugs, and the private and public lives of public figures, we fail to support the demand for serious, thorough, independent investigation into the allegations of murder, torture and cover-up.

Without the public’s pressure demanding the truth come out without interference, the government will keep hiding any wrongdoing on their part, and the abuses will continue.

If they are allowed to get away with it in this very serious, international issue, we are truly screwed.  The public will show government that it need not be held accountable, that the public does not have the right to be informed.

What follows is a snowball effect.  We get used to less and less info and become more apathetic.  Government becomes more confident that it can violate the will of the people by deceiving them and counting on that apathy, and it becomes more corrupt.  A handful of special interest groups with lots of money hold the real power because they are the only ones lobbying, and they push for legislation that favours them, while the rest of us are no more than cattle - low wage earners and mindless consumers.

If we start to get fed up, we’ll just be tossed another Guergis-Jaffer story to distract us, or we’ll be shown infomercials to stir up blind patriotism, or we’ll be told of how severe measures are necessary because the world is a scary place full of criminals and terrorists who are out to get us and destroy our democracy.

Meanwhile, our democracy is being destroyed by three things: the very government we elected to protect it, the powerful, wealthy self-interest groups pulling the government’s reins, and out our pathetic apathy.

Yes, let us demand answers to the Guergis-Jaffer thing, but only as it relates to wrongdoing that affects our country.  Any corruption needs to be addressed and stopped.  But we cannot pick and choose what we will take interest in based on its entertainment value.  Keep the government’s heels to the flame on accountability, openness, and the respect of all laws - international as well as domestic.

Canadians should care about whether or not our military and government is complicit in murder, torture, and cover-ups.  Isn’t that what we so proudly say we oppose?

In defense of Guergis, this is bullshit

Ditchburn had no call to write this piece of crap.  It’s not news.  Guergis’ life before she became an MP, as long as no crime was committed or has no direct connection to her current mess, has no bearing on the allegations she faces now.  It’s no one’s business.  This is not responsible journalism.

She was probably doing research

The central allegation Snowdy presented is that Gillani, an accused fraudster, claimed to Snowdy that three offshore companies in Belize B a tax haven B had been "reserved" to hold cash for Guergis and Jaffer. Snowdy said he also told the Tory lawyer that Gillani boasted that he had cellphone pictures of Jaffer and Guergis partying with high-class escorts when cocaine was being snorted.

You know, as Minister for Status of Women...examining how prostitution in Canada affects women...

This is a little harder to explain, though:

At a meeting in the Spice Trader restaurant on Queen St. W. in July 2009, Snowdy said Gillani showed him a series of companies, and claimed that Jaffer and "his wife" had three companies reserved for them, all in Belize. Further, Gillani claimed Guergis had "a contact in Belize that set everything up."

Snowdy checked and with a simple review of government press releases saw that Guergis had visited Belize in July 2008. Guergis was Secretary of Trade for Foreign Affairs and International Trade at the time.

If she indeed was meeting a contact to set up an offshore account for shady deals, and doing so while acting in her capacity as Secretary of Trade, then she used her position for personal gain and to engage in something that does not appear entirely legal.

So far, these are allegations which Guergis denies, but her credibility has taken a big hit. 

Howard Rubel, hired to represent Guergis, said early Wednesday afternoon that even after speaking with RCMP investigators two days ago, he and his client are in the dark about what he said were unspecified allegations about her conduct.

"The prime minister's office is not providing any information," Rubel said. "She is ready to respond and co-operate but it's important that she not respond until she knows what the allegations are."
 
But Soudas suggested Rubel had been misinformed. "The Conservative party lawyer last Friday -- the day that Ms. Guergis resigned -- spoke with Ms. Guergis and informed her of the allegations the Prime Minister's Office referred to (the) ethics commissioner and the RCMP," Soudas said.

And in case anyone is saying the lawyer put words in Guergis’ mouth:

Earlier on Wednesday, Guergis spoke out against a CTV report which said the third-party allegations against her are related to blackmail and drug use.

The former junior Conservative cabinet minister said she was shocked by the story. "This is completely ridiculous and an example of rumours gone amok," Guergis wrote in an email to The Canadian Press Wednesday.

It is important to note as well that Jaffer was still an MP and Chair of the Conservative caucus at the time Guergis may have visited her contact in Belize.  In fact, he accompanied her on that trip.

That means that two MPs Harper handpicked for high profile positions may have been busy abusing their posts and breaking laws while being paid more than the average MP, all on taxpayers dollars.

This goes beyond the affront of abusing public funds and an inflated sense of privilege.  As private investigator Snowdy (and self-proclaimed “committed member” of the Conservative party) claims, such actions by Jaffer and Guergis makes them great targets for blackmail.  As members of Parliament who Stevo entrusted with special portfolios, the squeeze would not only affect the couple personally, but would put Canadians at risk should a blackmailer decide to push them to further abuse their positions.

Again, the story here is not the sex and drugs, as entertaining as they are, but that Harper had not only failed to identify Jaffer and Guergis as highly unfit for office, he even gave them elevated positions in his caucus and kept defending Guergis up until Thursday night when the threat of compromising photos reached him.

And we know how Steve feels about the power of the perfect photo.

Exceedingly bad judgement on his part, and near inability to admit to a mistake all enforcing his massive efforts at covering up the slightest whisper of wrongdoing rather than being open and addressing it in the interests of Canada and Canadians.

Don’t worry...Harper promised

Sinopec's $4.6-billion deal to acquire a minority stake in the Syncrude oil-sands plant would give the Chinese state-controlled company a veto over the crucial decision of whether the company should upgrade more oil in Alberta or export raw bitumen for processing.

That would include decisions on whether to invest in a proposed project that would increase the plant's production and whether to boost capacity to process the additional bitumen into lighter synthetic oil on site. It could also cover investments in technology needed to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

That would be bad.  Exporting raw bitumen would not favour job creation for Canadians and would most assuredly lead to greater GHG release in China, which affects us all.

Not to worry, though.

In the last election campaign, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said his government would prevent any company from exporting raw bitumen to take advantage of weaker environmental rules in other countries.

And he always keeps his election promises, right?

The hilarity that is Hunter

They (leftie women) prefer swingers clubs to a stable family life.

Well, sure.

There's a link between heterosexuality and pedophilia.

Well, there must be, according to the Vatican which is attempting to blame pedophilia on homosexuality.

"But many others have demonstrated, and have told me recently, that there is a link between homosexuality and pedophilia. This is true, this is the problem.". - Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone, the Vatican's secretary of state

Since homosexuals are attracted to same sex, then I guess all those cases where girls are raped or molested by men proves that there is a link between straight sex and dudes who like to mess with little girls.

What utter rubbish.  Homosexuals are attracted to their own sex - adults, like themselves.  Usually, as with heteros, they want a relationship that is intimate, long term, and where both adults are compatable physically, emotionally, and intellectually - a partnership.

Same for well balanced heteros: consenting adults who are compatable.

Pedophiles have very different buttons.  Removing the vows of celibacy or allowing homosexual relationships in the priesthood would not reduce incidents of pedophilia because pedophiles don't want sex with adults anyway.  Or at least, they aren't satisfied by it.  They want to dominate someone much weaker.  They aren't attracted to either same sex or opposite sex.  They are drawn to children whose sex has not yet matured.  They don't want a mature partner, they don=t want a long term relationship, they can=t related well to another adult in an intimate relationship.

Considering that, it is not homosexuality nor celibacy that causes some priests to molest children.  Those pedophiles entered the church with their tendencies already in place, whether they had as yet acted upon them.

It is likely that the catholic Church itself draws these pedophiles.  It offers secrecy.  It offers an environment where they won't be looked at oddly for not being in an adult, intimate relationship.  It gives them access to kids.  It offers them a position in which they have influence over, and access to trusting and vulnerable kids.

And the Vatican has shown over and over that pedophiles will not have to face the law for their crimes.  Most won't even have to stop molesting because they'll just be moved to another parish where no one will be warned of their tendencies and past crimes.

They even get to die believing they will go to heaven, since they are rarely defrocked or excommunicated.

Where does a guy go who is very uncomfortable with women, needs an excuse for appearing celibate because he doesn't want sex with adults - male or female, and who thrives on having vulnerable folks under his control?  The Church draws them, offers them a place where they feel comfortable.

As long as the Vatican fails to hand them over to the cops and courts for their crimes, pedophiles will continue to feel that the Church is their safe place, their home.

“more Catholic than the Pope”

Unfortunate word choice for a defense, that.


The Liberals produced paperwork showing that BMCI Consulting Inc. has won more than 50 contracts with the Conservative government, and did two sensitive security investigations for the government — one on the Maxime Bernier affair, the other on a leak of information from the Canadian consulate in Chicago that damaged the Democratic leadership campaign of Barrack Obama.

Ottawa lawyer, businessman and former Conservative candidate Patrick Glemaud, who works for BMCI, is Jaffer’s business partner in Green Power Generation Corporation.

...He said the principals at BMCI are “more Catholic than the Pope,” and he didn’t use Conservative connections to land contracts for them.

The Pope. Well, then. The Liberals may be onto something.

Update: Glemaud (he of the more-catholic-than-the-Pope agency) is not having a good day:

On Tuesday, Jaffer’s business partner, former Conservative candidate Patrick Glemaud, told The Chronicle Herald that he and Jaffer did not lobby the government or try to win funding for projects.

He is contradicted by Jean, the parliamentary secretary to Transport Minister John Baird, who has been sorting through projects for the government’s $1 billion Green Infrastructure Fund. Jean says he rejected three projects proposed by Green Power Generation Corp., the firm owned by Glemaud and Jaffer...“I’ve got the paperwork right in front of me,” he said.

Neither Glemaud nor Jaffer were registered as lobbyists, nor did they report their meeting with Jean.  That puts them in violation of the lobbying act.

Harper seems ready to serve both conservatives up.  That pretty much tells us Guergis will not be taken back into the fold.  Steve gets rid of a troublesome MP and comes out looking like Mr. Do-Right.

Always time to leech off of a good tragedy

Who the hell except a creepy sociopath trying desperately to convince Canadians that he has feelings would ever even think of posting these on the PMO site?

Seriously.  I know the little dick-tator hates to be told anything, but someone should tell him this is not what people with normal feelings do.

First, the emotional flat-liner pulls out a 3 1/2 year old photo of himself with Lech Kaczynski and puts it up...why?  Because I'm not a sociopath, I can only guess.  To make us think he was pals with the man so we believe the loss is really touching him?

Prime Minister Stephen Harper with Lech Kaczynski, President of Poland, at the NATO Summit in Riga, Latvia, on November 27, 2006. President Kaczynski died today in a tragic plane accident

Next come the grief photos.  Note the sombre look as he signs the book.  Most of us prefer privacy at such times, but not the Big Guy.  He actually sets up a photo op to capture his sincere sadness for all anadians to see.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper signs the Book of Condolences for Lech Kaczynski, President of Poland, in the presence of Zenon Kosiniak-Kamysz, Poland's Ambassador to Canada

In case you didn't quite figure out how truly saddened Fatso is by the tragedy, he kindly sets up another photo op of him on the phone (my favourite type of Steve promo shot!), nice and close so that all Canadians can see how sad he is.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper offers his condolences to Donald Tusk, Prime Minister of Poland

Because, you see, it isn't about President Lech Kaczynski at all, nor those others who died with him, nor the many directly affected by the loss.  No, it's all about Harper.  All the time.

Guergis just isn't all that important

Can’t say I feel bad for Guergis.  I’m glad she won’t be doing the boggle-head thing behind Harper in the House anymore.  Her smirking and poor imitation of a person with a conscience was massively distracting and offensive.

That personal pique aside, the Guergis issue should be addressed by opposition for two reasons: if, as the CONs are so fond of saying, she did the crime, then she should do the time.  We need to hold our parliamentarians accountable for their actions.

The second reason to bring up the issue is that it must be shown how seriously flawed Harper’s judgement is.  Guergis is just the latest (and not likely the last) in a long list of monumental fuckwads personally appointed by The Master Strategist.

The issue, however, should not dominate talks in the House.  As embarrassing as events surrounding Guergis are to Mr. Petulant, they also offer a diversion from far more serious issues such as detainee torture, lack of environmental protection, the selling off of Canada piece by piece, to name a few.





Even if it comes out that Guergis was involved in corrupt activities, unless they can be directly linked to Stevie - which is unlikely - The Arrogant One will claim high moral ground since he not only ousted her from his caucus, but ordered an investigation as well.  He will most likely control the investigation and any info that comes from it, but he'll still look like Mr. Clean (but fatter).  The opposition will risk looking petty and vicious.

So they should keep comments concerning Guergis focused on the investigation process itself, and on Harper's propensity for selecting idiots for Ministers.


Throughout all of that, hammer away at the big policy issues.

The CONs getting tough on...

...women

Johanne Perron (executive director of the Coalition for Pay Equity ) learned last week that the coalition's request for funding from Status of Women Canada wasn't approved. "It came as a surprise given our past history with Status of Women," Perron said. "Considering our good record with them, we thought they would support us."

She said since Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government came into power, the Status of Women Canada's mandate has been altered. "They have changed their criteria. Instead of supporting advocacy groups that work to eliminate discrimination, they focus on groups that help women develop skills," Perron said. "Funding used to be exclusively for women's groups but now it's also open to private-sector businesses. "We do feel it's important for women to develop skills, but as long as there is still discrimination, it's hard for them to really make progress."

Well, Status of Women really needs to be streamlined, Ms. Perron, you uppity chick.  Since Miss Huronia was turfed from SWC, the department has been shoved into Rona Ambrose’s shelf for embarrassing knick-knacks, hidden behind the higher profile Public Works.

Ambrose might have a few more credentials with volunteering for women's shelters in Edmonton before entering political life, but it won’t make a difference.  Might as well give the portfolio back to that dullard Oda.  Harper won’t let a Minister take the lead, or make any changes he personally hasn’t initiated, not just approved.  His demotion of Status of Women to subtext to PWGSC shows how he views women’s issues.  Damn good for photo ops, those ladies and their kids, but that’s about it.

Saving the savage heathen from themselves...again.

In this year's federal budget, Ottawa allotted $199 million for residential school survivor programs. But this money will not be administered by the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, already set up, but by Health Canada.

"Not only is this a horrendous waste of money and time," says Grand Chief Ron Evans, "but it puts our healing programs into the hands of the federal government, which erected the federal residential schools in the first place."

Because Whiteface knows better what being Aboriginal is all about.

Is the Vatican dropping a hint?

The Vatican has finally made peace with the Beatles.

The Vatican newspaper says the members' "dissolute" lives and John Lennon's boastful claim that the band was more popular than Jesus are in the past, while their music lives on.

Well, if the Vatican thinks that forgiving the actions of young four guys suddenly thrust into world-wide fame at the peak of the sexual revolution should cause the rest of the world to forgive the Catholic Church for centuries of murder, rape, child rape and abuse, theft, lies, suppression of women, interference with governments, and really, really tasteless outfits, they are mistaken.

First off, the actions of the Church were not only immoral, they were criminal.  Secondly, they are not in the past, but continue today.

It takes a monstrous hypocrite to pretend that they have any moral authority whatsoever when it comes to defining and judging dissolute behaviour.

Under constant attack from all around the world for its actions, the church is scampering Steve Harper style to save their asses by pretending to be taking action to deal with their own corruption.

The Vatican responded Monday to allegations that it had concealed years of clerical sex abuse by making it clear for the first time that bishops and other high-ranking clerics should report such crimes to police if required by law.

Not good enough.

We have the word “should” and the phrase “if required by law.”

It is not law in all countries that the church report such abuse.  Why include that line unless they are still looking for a dodge?  Or maybe they really don’t get it: Raping a kid is not wrong because it’s against the law and the law may punish you if you get caught, it is against the law because it harms someone.  So whether a country requires that such crimes be reported or not, that should not be the deciding factor as to whether or not a complaint should be reported.  The simple desire to be good, decent, not harm others, and refusal to turn away in silence when abuse is suspected should mandate behaviour.

The word “should” also offers the church a fuzzy way out by not stating unequivocally that every single instance of suspected abuse must absolutely be reported to police.

And how seriously is the Church itself taking this token add-in to their polices?

A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini, said the reporting requirement had been the internal policy of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since 2003. Asked how bishops were supposed to
know of this internal policy, he declined to comment.

A cover-their-ass phrase meant only to give the illusion that the church has any intention of ever stopping its criminal activities.

Good post here at Overthinking It  on the horsehit behind the Vatican’s forginess policies.

(Photo)

Condolences to family and friends

Pte. Tyler William Todd

1st Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry

Like I said, after the photo op is done...

...the promise becomes no more than a caption.

 (photo)
It was hailed just four months ago by Environment Minister Jim Prentice as one of Canada's "richest ecological areas" when he announced a landmark $5-million study aimed at declaring it a National Marine Conservation Area.  But while one branch of the federal government has moved to protect Nunavut's Lancaster Sound as a one-of-a-kind natural treasure — "an area of incredible beauty that is teeming with wildlife," according the region's Conservative MP Leona Aglukkaq — the Geological Survey of Canada has confounded environmentalists and local communities by planning a seismic seabed survey this summer to probe for potential oil and gas deposits in the beluga and narwhal-rich waters north of Baffin Island, at the eastern entrance to the Northwest Passage.

While proudly announcing their intentions to declare Lancaster Sound a national marine conservation area (and including token Inuit in their promotional photo ops),  Prentice and Aglukkaq stated consultations would be held on an ongoing basis with the Inuit concerning the area.  What do the Inuit have to say about this latest bit of use-it-or-lose-it news?

"The legislation is very clear with respect to marine conservation areas: Oil and gas development is expressly prohibited," said Chris Debicki, Iqaluit-based director of the eco-advocacy group Oceans North. "They just don't go together."

He told Canwest News Service on Wednesday that the proposed resource survey conflicts not only with Parks Canada's high-profile push for a Lancaster Sound protected zone but also with the traditional use of the area by Inuit hunters, who have raised concerns through the Nunavut review agency about the potential impact of the Arctic Ocean survey — and any resource development that could follow — on caribou herds and marine mammals.

The Inuit may be the original inhabitants of the area.  They may offer terrific photo ops.  Their traditional outfits looked super cool at the Olympics.  But really, does Harper intend to consider their needs or listen to their wishes when it comes to the Arctic?

Not likely, considering they were not even invited to the recent Arctic Council meeting.

(photo)
"As global climate change continues and traffic through the Northwest Passage is expected to increase, our government is committed to safeguarding Canada's Arctic and protecting its most special natural features," Prentice said at the time (of announcing the marine sanctuary). "The Government of Canada recognizes the increasing importance of understanding and protecting the Arctic and this project will allow us to significantly advance our knowledge as well as our protection and conservation activities in this area."

Really?

The Harper government is rewriting the rules of environmental assessments, handing the Environment Ministry the power to minimize reviews of projects from open-pit mines to municipal construction along with other changes that critics claim will “gut” the environmental review process...Environment Minister Jim Prentice said the changes to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act will ensure “that we get good environmental outcomes” while “not delaying and frustrating projects through unnecessary red tape.”

The measures...would give the Minister of the Environment the power to determine the scope of any assessment.

That would be this Minister:

Canada's leading environmentalists say they're losing interest in lobbying federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice because the government has locked itself into an environmental policy "bunker" and is not giving their ideas serious consideration.  Meanwhile, according to the Registry of Lobbyists, representatives for big oil companies frequently lobby the minister, and appear to be a major source of policy advice on energy and climate issues.

...Some say energy interests have an inordinate influence on Canada's national policy, something which is symptomatic of a deeper "corruption" in Canada. Among them is Thomas Homer-Dixon, who holds the Centre for International Governance Innovation Chair of Global Systems at the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Waterloo, Ontario.

In a December interview, Mr. Dixon asserted that "our political processes in Canada are being corrupted by narrow energy interests."

And in what direction are those narrow interests leading Harper?

"A strong and sovereign Arctic must be a healthy and prosperous Arctic. In the weeks and months that lie ahead, our government will continue to introduce measures aimed at unleashing the North's true potential," said the prime minister.

A recent post at Far and Wide talks about how the Liberals should approach the CONs undermining of environmental protection:

Unlike Carbon Emissions /Climate Change, the environmental concerns here are pretty cut and dry – very easy for the media and public to understand the issues at stake. The Reformatories would be on the defensive to explain why they put this into the budget, and why they feel it’s necessary to pollute our lakes and streams for generations to come for dubious short-term economic gain.

The Libs should put out a few trial balloons and see where it goes – have a few MPs talk to the media-types about this little nugget buried in the budget. Then if all goes well make the threat that you’ll vote against the budget unless this legislation is specifically removed. It would be interesting to see how Harper & Co. will try to defend overriding provincial jurisdiction to pollute lakes and poison indigenous communities - while saying this issue somehow proves that Iggy is just in it for himself.

As entertaining as the Guergis-Jaffer train wreck is to watch, and while they should be investigated if there appears to be corruption, opposition parties, and the Liberals in particular need to show Canadians that we can do better.  That is not accomplished by lowering the opponent, but by elevating themselves.  Fighting for protection of our environment is a good platform to speak from as it affects not just voters today, but future generations.  Harper doesn’t care if he kills the golden goose because his narrow vision is also very, very short term.

Way to go, Joanna!

Like many people, I’ve been watching this case for years.  Alan Cutler can go on all he wants with his self-promoting, self-given label of The Whistleblower as though he was the embodiment of exposing wrong-doing in the public service and government, but this lady is hardcore tough in her fight for what's right:

In what is being hailed as a victory, a 17-year battle between a federal whistleblower and the federal government has ended with an undisclosed financial settlement.  Joanna Gualtieri, a former foreign affairs realty portfolio manager, began to file reports alleging the department was spending extravagant amounts on accommodations for Canadian diplomats abroad in 1992.

She claims her bosses ignored her warnings and tried to censor reports that described how the government’s multi-million-dollar properties were being misused while extra funds were disbursed to rent luxurious accommodations that diplomats demanded. When she went public, Gualtieri said she was harassed, given a dead-end job and later ended up on unpaid medical leave.

That Cutler came forward is a good thing.  However, it always annoyed me how he elevated himself, sought out media after his case was settled, branding himself as the defender of accountability, even counting on his new fame to win him a seat in Parliament despite his weak knowledge of issues and even federal politics. 

Meanwhile, other whistleblowers were still suffering due to their courageous actions and fighting not only for themselves, but for greater transparency and accountability.  Guatieri was responsible for drafting Bill C-201, the Whistleblower’s Human Rights Act.

There’s another name often linked to Gualtieri’s when whsitleblowing comes up: Dr. Shiv Chopra.

Dr. Shiv Chopra, a microbiologist from Health Canada, was fired (in 2004) along with three others due to a stated cause of "insubordination." Chopra warned of mad cow disease two years before it became public. He was also one of the first people in the world to warn of the effects of bovine growth hormone, leading to a ban on BVH in Canada.

His forthcoming book, Corrupt to the Core: Memoirs of a Health Canada Scientist, will outline how he was pressured to approve hormones and antibiotics that lead to such conditions as the early onset of puberty in children and high rates of cancer.

"It's all to favour the multinational corporations producing 'wrong drugs, wrong foods,'" he says, explaining that new bills introduced by the current government, C51 and C52, will only worsen the situation.

At 74 years of age, Chopra should have retired, but decided to stay on and fight. "What keeps me going is the damage that's occurring to my country, my family, my community, my children, my grandchildren," he says. "I feel it's my duty. It's not a matter of putting my morals in it - it's my job."

Joanna Gualtieri and Shiv Chopra: two of my personal heros. 

After the photo op is locked down, what’s a broken promise or two?

In 2007, when Canada announced its own Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative, Canada committed that the CHVI "would not compromise Canada's international support of AIDS vaccines."  The CHVI is a $139-million, five-year joint venture between Canada and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It was announced to great fanfare in February 2007.

See?  Here’s the Big Guy with the Rich Guy making the announcement and Steve smiling for the camera like finding a cure for AIDS was always his secret mission.

While the photo remains crisp and clear on the PMO bragging site, the promises has faded...considerably.

But three years later, less than $9 million has been spent on CHVI, including almost $700,000 on a proposed $88-million vaccine production facility which was scrapped last month.

Canada has pulled the plug on funding to one of the largest AIDS vaccine development agencies in the world. 

I guess Fat Boy has to keep the christo-facists happy.   Can’t be spending money trying to minimize god’s pride and joy, the gay plague.

Steve’s precious world stage™? 

Stephen Lewis, co-director of AIDS Free World in the U.S. and former UN special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, said the global AIDS research community now knows Canada can't be counted on to help.  "This government is now abandoning one of the greatest vaccine initiatives in the world," said Lewis, who is on the board of IAVI. "I just think it's unconscionable."

Steve had a busy week breaking promises -

Broken promise or broken calculator?

The federal budget promised to inject $30 million into the Prince Edward Island economy and create 300 jobs but The Guardian has learned the project only costs $2 million and the money was spent last fall.





Here’s the shiny picture:

Still nice’n sharp on the PMO site, but the details of the promise to PEI are rather blurry:

Erik Waddell, a spokesman for federal Industry Minister Tony Clement, says there is no funding for the Centre of Excellence and no $30-million cheque coming to P.E.I.’s only university.  “It’s pretty clear from what’s there, that does not say there is a $30-million cheque in the mail to UPEI,” Waddell said in an interview from Ottawa. “Really, what it says is that the investments to UPEI are going to generate jobs and economic growth in the Island economy.”

I’d love to learn how to convert 2 million to 30 million, wouldn’t you?  Let’s ask:

But when pushed, Waddell confirmed the only project to receive funding from the federal government is $2 million for renovations to existing buildings on the Charlottetown campus and that money was received last fall.  The work has already been carried out...When asked how $2 million in federal funding could inject $30 million into the Island economy, Waddell said: “The numbers in there are based on submissions we got from the university in terms of the expected economic impact.”

Charles Lammam (of the Fraser Institute)...said the federal government is trying to justify its massive spending initiatives, which have also translated into massive deficits, by using a multiplier-effect that is not supported by economic evidence.

“A multiplier of 1.5 per cent would mean that $1 the government spends magically translates into $1.50 increase in GDP. Even with that number, you can’t get $30 million from $2 million.”

Oh...magically. With the airport hissy fits among the CONs lately, one of them may have broken a mirror, jinxed the magic.

Or it’s the Liberals fault.

(Adscam.)

This would have made my mother happy –

- good Catholic that she was.

However, she did not blindly agree with everything that came out of Rome, and her criticism over the child rapes would have been loud. (emphasis mine)

"It is important to us that unconditional transparency is brought to the past," the Swiss bishops said in a statement. They urged all abusers to "stand before God and the people whom they have wronged and report to the relevant authorities."

Switzerland, home of the Swiss Guard papal protectors, is considering creating a central registry of pedophile priests to prevent them from coming into contact with children. Swiss bishops are divided over the proposal.

Amid renewed outrage over the European scandal, Schoenborn announced over the weekend the creation of a church-funded but independent and clergy-free commission headed by a woman to suggest ways to strengthen church guidelines for dealing with sexual abuse.

Swiss bishops urged victims to consider filing criminal complaints. German bishops opened a hot line for victims. Danish bishops launched an inquiry into decades-old claims.

"Thank you for breaking your silence," Schoenborn told the victims. "A lot has been broken open. There is less looking away. But there is still a lot to do."

He’s right. While these cries for reform and words of condemnation are good to hear, there’s still a lot to do. So, on this holiest of weeks, what is the head of the Catholic church doing about this predatory conduct of its own?

Asked how Benedict was responding to the scandal swirling around the Vatican, Lombardi replied: "The pope is a person of faith. He sees this as a test for him and the church."

Right.  Like it's some outside thing testing them, poor victims.  Not their fault.  It's the church that's under attack, not the trusting children the continue to violate.

Benny is showing his humility this week through the tradition of washing his clergy’s feet.

That test, Benny? Massive fail.  My mother would not have been so happy about that.