Seriously.

The reason stated was to have more time to work on the budget and give a “customary little break” for the Olympics. WHAT THE FUCK?????? Am I hearing you correctly?

#1 Shut it all down so you can work on the budget? Isn’t that part of the regular fucking job???? It’s not as though this budget is a once in a lifetime thing that needs special time over and above the daily work- IT’S PART OF THE FUCKING JOB!

#2 You all just came off of Christmas break but now you’d like time to enjoy the OLYMPICS????? FUCK YOU HARPER!

Let’s be realistic here people- what will happen during this prorogue the sequel??? Over 30 bills will die, over half of which are part of the government’s “Tough on Crime” agenda. Oh, and there’s also that little fly in the ointment called the committee looking into the Afghan detainee scandal. That will die as well. How very convenient.

Harper you smarmy, arrogant, fucking coward! How dare you. And people of Canada, when we’re dragged back to the poles next year- yet again- REMEMBER THAT THIS IS WHO YOU VOTED FOR!

It will give you a headache trying to read it as it would have been more aptly titled the Redacted Report. The little bit that you are able to surmise while reading between the thick black marked out areas is exactly what I thought it would be. Horrific.

We do this shit to other people.

Our Governments say that it’s okay.

Glenn Greenwald over at Salon has some excellent insights that you should read, and as always, Matt’s site and Antiwar both have a plethora of well researched info on tourture and the other fun party tricks of war.

The election has just begun. They have not so politely asked for a media black out on terrorist activities for fear of people deciding not to vote. Not to chance their lives to vote.

Take a step back.

Take a deep breath.

Take just a second out of your day to understand how truly lucky we are.

Then, take a look around and see what you can do to help. Even a little.

Small steps make us global.

Imagine you are one of two American journalist being held–for months– as criminals in a country that is run by a freaky little psycho like, uhm, North Korea for instance.

Now imagine you are randomly summoned to a room. What would you think? A beating? A weird interrogation? A move to simply confuse and frighten you further?

Now imagine that you walk into that room and are greeted by none other than Bill Clinton, who is wearing a blue ribbon winning shit eating grin. Besides the obvious moment of “WTF?”

What would you think?

Personally, I’d look around with great suspicion. That would be the most elaborately set up episode of “Punk’d” ever. And then I would kick Ashton Kutcher’s ass.

(For any of you oldies out there- replace “Punk’d” with “Candid Camera”. See? You get it now? Told you I was fucking funny.)

Oh the follies of that crazy god lovin’, gun toting, former pageant queen, Sarah Palin. There are a shitload of people up in arms over the possibility that she quit her job to begin gearing up to throw all of her misguided efforts at running for the big chair in 2012.

Uh. I don’t think so people.

Seriously, think about it. To begin with, the Republican Party, in what would be a rare display of clever thought, undoubtedly wouldn’t let her run. It’s that whole once bitten twice shy thing. Secondly, walking away from your post prior to the end of your terms for the rather vague reasons supplied doesn’t sit well with most people. Sorry Sarah, I think you just bent yourself over a desk and…. well, you know.

So what is Mrs. Crazypants gonna do? Steve and I laughed at the thought of her going the Blagojevich route by trying to get on “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Outta Here!” (How fucking embarrassing was that??) Don’t laugh too hard, I may not be that far off track. Apparently there is talk of a reality show about running Alaska. Uhmmm. wait a second though, didn’t she just quit that job?

On the up side, if she jumps into reality tv I will never have to listen to her talk again as there is no fucking amount of money that could make me tune into that “I’m a (wannabe/washed up) Celebrity…” crap. That in itself would be a blessing from the gods of wanting to keep Kim’s head from exploding. Perhaps it isn’t reality tv though. Perhaps she trying to pull a good old duck and run prior to some random scandal hitting the media. That really wouldn’t surprise me a whole bunch.

And hey, if she needs somewhere to hide out for well……ever, then there’s always those next door neighbours over in Russia that she knows so well.

The world is alight with news of Iran. The election, the demonstrations, the death, and the denial, have reached us in the western world in an unprecedented way. As the masses took to the streets in Tehran and the world was flooded with those images, I honestly believe that Ahmadinejad was shocked. Genuinely shocked. This wouldn’t have happened 15 years ago, hell, even 5 years ago it would have been a different story. Steal the election, or at the very least, grossly overstate your margin of win and move on. Protests? Sprinkle in some violence and fear and that will settle the masses, right? Not so much anymore because we are watching. The media blackout means nothing as anyone with a cell phone or a twitter account and an Internet connection can bring us along for the ride.

I’m sure there are those that would love to see Mousavi imprisoned, or even killed, but the days where that would be quietly possible are long passed. Whether or not he would have been the correct political choice is no longer even the question. Mousavi has become a martyr, a symbol of the fight for justice. People- young, old, professional and peasant- have taken to the streets to call bullshit. Even the outright threat of deadly retaliation by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, who renounces the demonstrations and backs the election results, has had little affect on the fervor of the Iranian people. I imagine Ahmadinejad is pissed because it wasn’t supposed to happen this way.

We in the west, we in the rest of the world, weren’t supposed to be watching.

A sampling of today’s headlines include the following;

Seven killed during Iran protest

Nuclear N. Korea is a “grave threat”

Report highlights plight of war zone refugees

Swine flu shots may be given at school

Tough battle in Pakistan insurgency stronghold

Sunni MP’s killing stokes fear of sectarian conflict in Iraq

Israel sentences journalists arrested for reporting start of Gaza war

Seriously. This is what we do to one another Every. Single. Day.

It boggles the fucking mind.

Go here and do your bit goddammit!

Do it!!

Now!