From the bowels of rubbletv?

Urgh.

Our esteemed blogging colleague Montreal Simon wrote this:

There's a strange and disturbing story circulating quietly on the internet. It was forwarded to me by someone I trust.
And it seems to show that the CBC wrote a story claiming that Stephen Harper was thinking about conscripting young Canadians if he is re-elected.

Disturbing, yet plausible since it's been demonstrated that Harper is a mendacious warmonger and profiteer (politically, yes - personally, that's not known) from MASSIVE military weapons sales to Saudi Arabia.

Tyrants have for centuries used mandatory military recruitment aka conscription to legally control young people and to counter high unemployment rates. Some libertarians even defend it as a "pillar of freedom". 

Though it's claimed the dubious item was posted on a CBC website, then withdrawn, there isn't any google cache links to substantiate this.

So, a twitter storm erupted about this purported CBC story.  The only Hill reporter to respond was a *junior journalist* who provided some background with regard to the item, as he sneered at those who try to keep abreast of political issues.

Earlier, Ling had said:

So, an email was sent to the Parliamentary Press Gallery members list.  Fuzzy Wuzzy observed:

Isn't anyone curious about where that purported CBC blogpost — which has now been dismissed as an April 1st prank and hoax — originated?

In addition to the claim that Harper would introduce conscription AFTER he is re-elected, there are some odd details, as fern hill points out:

That made me think: things have not gone well for Levant since the plug was pulled on StunTV.

He has indulged in his usual bullying, slanderous, hissy-fits on Twitter:

That was deleted, along with the nasty little rant he linked to, since it might be actionable.  Levant is intimately familiar with defamation suits.

What if Levant had been asked, as a favour by one of Harper's more devious back-room operatives, say... Jenni Byrne, to plant some vicious little item that, were it used by members of the Opposition parties or CPC critics, could be deployed to discredit any future legitimate information presented?

I can imagine that Levant, desperate for the media attention and brownie points, might jump at such opportunity.  A trifecta!  Smear the CBC for allegedly caving in to political pressure.  Test the public response to the circonscription notion.

And what about that allegedly fictitious, juicy detail about Stevie and Bibi?

But according to two reliable sources — both close friends of Baird — it was during a special closed-door meeting with Baird, Harper and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in January 2014 — on the third day of Harper's four-day trip to Israel — that Harper discussed the possibility of a conscription bill for 18-year-old men and women, based on the Israeli model.

Remember, Levant's father was one of the many schnorrers who went to Israel with Harper.

So, if anyone dared to deploy that particular bit of colourful information about a private Stevie/Bibi convo, Levant might weigh in as official debunker — amply weaponized with confidential Con sources as well as his own propensity to quickly switch from bully tactics to victim mode in order to shriek "anti-semitism".

Sheer speculation.  But to paraphrase Levant (on Lac-Mégantic): "It would be irresponsible not to speculate on these matters."

UPDATE: Montreal Simon articulates why the hoax has a very plausible resonance to it.

Harper's revisionism - updated

PMSHithead is off to Europe to add more selfies to his MASSIVE gallery of photo ops that feature mostly his-self.

This might be awkward, given Harper's first stop, and his government's crusade against unions but ... no.

InCONvenient perhaps, but nothing that a judicious pruning of facts - something that his Politburo/PMO excels at doing - can't fix.

The irony in all this of course is that a large chunk of the CPC base is composed of folks who escaped totalitarian regimes, came to Canada, thrived here and were CONned by the party's Reformist/Evangelical populist rhetoric.

There's a reason certain countries outlaw specific religious organisations, unless they're complicit with those in power.  Authoritarian political parties do not want to be undermined.  Added: Nor do they want religious ideologies competing with their own.

As our Parliament surely devolves into the very type of corrupt Stalinist government that Kenney and Harper denounce but only when it suits their purpose, one sane response is to continue to prick holes in their puffery.

Grand merci to Alison at Creekside for the above.

UPDATE: Now with added totalitarian goodness! 

The [Harper] government is expanding its surveillance of public activities to include all known demonstrations across the country, a move that collects information even on the most mundane of protests by Canadians.

The email requesting such information was sent out Tuesday by the Government Operations Centre in Ottawa to all federal departments.

“The Government Operations Centre is seeking your assistance in compiling a comprehensive listing of all known demonstrations which will occur either in your geographical area or that may touch on your mandate,” noted the email, leaked to the Citizen. “We will compile this information and make this information available to our partners unless of course, this information is not to be shared and not available on open sources. In the case of the latter, this information will only be used by the GOC for our Situational Awareness.”

The Government Operations Centre or GOC is supposed to provide strategic-level coordination on behalf of the federal government “in response to an emerging or occurring event affecting the national interest.”

It assesses the requirement for developing plans to prevent or deal with emergencies such as pandemics, earthquakes, forest fires and floods. It also monitors overseas situations such as the 2011 crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan.

But the Government Operations Centre has also been involved, as an intelligence clearing house, in compiling information on Aboriginal protesters.

From here.

Coming soon: CON revisionist history, with a dump of tarsands on the side.

The stunning artifact above is featured in Vodou, a magnificent exhition that will close at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, on February 23, 2014.

I have seen it twice and I hope to see it again and again before it leaves town.  Ça vaut vraiment le déplacement. Here's one review.  Entrance to the CMC is free on Thursdays after 5pm, and that includes Vodou.

If CPC Harper government is dumbing down the Canadian Museum of Civilization, it might also turn its laser-like gaze to other cultural institutions that it can defile and degrade to please its political base.

New Democrat and Liberal critics are saying, however, that the museum’s renaming is part of a larger, very deliberate effort by the Harper government to put a Conservative stamp on every symbol of the country. Since Harper came to power, lavish attention and money have been splashed on everything to do with the monarchy and the military in particular.
NDP heritage critic Andrew Cash said the Conservatives are throwing money at the museum while they cutting federal library and archive budgets — “robbing Peter to pay Paul” — and paying more attention to displays of history than the preservation of it.
Cash also pointed out that Moore has not been reticent about his displeasure over cultural exhibits in Ottawa, such as last year’s sex education exhibit at the science museum. He said it is hard to believe that the minister wouldn’t actively try to shape this museum according to Conservatives’ likes and dislikes.

The source for the cash flow that will turn the crank of Reformatory Can-CON History has been revealed.

Canada's 150th birthday is being brought to you by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.
The federal Museum of Civilization has announced it is teaming up with the oil industry lobby group as an official sponsor of its exhibits to mark 150 years since Confederation in 2015.
The $1-million, five-year sponsorship is the largest ever for the Museum of Civilization.
Dave Collyer, president of the petroleum producers' lobby group, says the goal of the exercise is to promote his industry by engaging and communicating with the public.
The president and CEO of the taxpayer-funded museum, Mark O'Neill, says such sponsorships are going to become more common in future as flat government funding fails to keep up with the rising costs of exhibitions.
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and Imperial Oil ran into controversy in 2011 when they sponsored exhibits at the federal Museum of Science and Technology and documents later showed they had exerted pressure to alter exhibit content they felt treated the industry too harshly.

The change of focus, from civilization to history is viewed with concern by some.  And now it's obvious why.

PMSHithead sure knows how to negotiate!

Bwahahaha! Go read Alison at Creekside: Another thrilling episode of Beyond the Border.

She nails it. Eh.

Black Versus White?

Not inspired right at the moment to write. However, in the course of looking for something else, I came across this charming photograph.

After I stopped chuckling, I checked out the website where I found it - Molly's Blog is devoted to anarchism, socialism, evolutionary biology, animal behavior and "a whole raft of other subjects" including some very solid writing about labour and union issues from around the world. And of course, Molly's Blog is an affiliate of Progressive Bloggers too.

Good stuff. Does our friend and blogging colleague brebis noire @ the black ewe know about this?

The ignorant, the zealots and the haters will reveal themselves.

Earlier this evening, a Radio-Canada journalist was trying to interview Dimitri Soulas, the PM's media spokesman. Michel Picard, I think it was, became increasingly frustrated with Soulas' evasiveness and his overbearing rote declarations that ran roughshod over the reporter's attempts to get him to actually answer the questions asked.

The speaking points issued by Harper play over and over again in a never-ending audio loop, emerging from those who still march to his beat.

On discussion boards and blogs, such as those associated to Stephen Taylor's Blogging Tories, Harper supporters - the knuckle draggers, the religious ideologues and the lunatics have been free-styling and embellishing the party line.

Over the last four days, they have been savaging members of Parliament and the political parties who were elected by Canadians to serve them and govern their country.

Next they will direct their ignorance, their zealotry and their hate towards Governor General Michaëlle Jean. She is a woman, she is of Haïtian ancestry and she is progressive. She is also the most powerful person in Canada at the moment, invested with the legal and political potential to determine who will be governing our country in the year to come.

Pay attention to what they'll write about her, the lies they'll concoct, the venom they'll spew, the rage they'll direct towards this intelligent, powerful woman who represents the sum of all their irrational and toxic fears.

We Demand. . .

Hot off the wire: Tories relent on public sector ban.

We got 'em on the run, folks.

Tomorrow (this afternoon?), they'll reinstate pay equity.

What do we want next?

Let the demands begin. . .

ETA: I hadda make a cig run. This song popped into my head.

Girls and Women, Girls and Women, Girls and Women

We at Birth Pangs are heartily sick of this bullshit meme.

From the recent throne speech:

Our mission in Afghanistan is a noble and necessary endeavour.

It is making a difference in the lives of men who were victims of Taliban oppression, for children forced to live in ignorance, and for women who had no human rights.

From Peter MacKay:

We are supporting women who, under the Taliban regime, were forbidden to go to school, to work or to vote. . . . We are building a future for children, so that they can all be educated, have access to medical care, and have the freedom to grow up in a climate of security and hope rather than in fear.

And from Bev Oda:

"After years of conflict and insecurity, Afghanistan’s education system is one of the weakest in the world. This has deeply affected the country’s ability to rebuild and sustain itself,” said Minister Oda. “But progress is being made, and Canada continues to reinforce its role as a leader for education in Afghanistan, particularly for women and girls."

Well, thank Gord for the Canadians.

Um, well, maybe not. Today, UNICEF released a report on Afghanistan's children.