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Greenwald nails it. See original for links and updates. Numerous commentators are objecting to the idea that Barack Obama deserves credit for his release of the OLC torture memos yesterday in light of his accompanying pledge that CIA officials relying in good faith on those memos won't be prosecuted. Chris Floyd is one who articulates that objection quite well and, as is always true for Chris, his criticisms are well worth reading. Many others -- including Keith Olbermann, Jonathan Turley, John Dean and Bruce Fein -- yesterday lambasted Obama for his anti-prosecution stance. Since I gave substantial credit to Obama yesterday for the release of the memos and believe even more so today that he deserves it (despite finding the anti-prosecution case as corrupted and morally bankrupt as ever), I want to return to the issue of Obama's actions. Purely as an analytical matter, releasing the OLC memos and advocating against prosecutions are two separate acts. It's perfectly cohere...

Many thanks to Giselle Portenier of Toronto for this excellent letter in yesterday's Globe and Mail . I am concerned about continued references in the press and by government ministers to "women's rights" when discussing atrocities committed against women in Afghanistan and elsewhere - honour killings, rape, executions, female genital mutilation, enslavement (MPs Furious Law Stifling Women's Rights Passed - April 15). We don't cite "men's rights" when we talk about torture in Abu Ghraib, or "men's rights" when we report on political assassinations of men. The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights makes no distinction between "men's rights" and "women's rights." They're just fundamental, basic, human rights. Abuses committed against women are not issues of "women's rights." They are abuses of women's human rights. It's just one extra little word, but it goes a long way in af...

To follow up on my question here , Ren's Pet Depot in Oakville carried the ramp we were looking for. They didn't have any in stock, but they ordered it for us. It came in yesterday, and it's great! It's lightweight, telescopes for different uses (car, patio, etc.), and has a great surface for paws. It's this one here. Predictably, Cody was afraid of it at first, but with encouragement, treats, and having no choice as we blocked her attempts to get around it, she's learning to use it. Many thanks to James, M@, David H and others who had ideas on the ramp. I also want to highly recommend Ren's , a large, independent pet supply store with good prices and a knowledgeable staff. Dharma Seeker said they sell food to the local animal shelter food at cost, another reason to support them. I think we'll switch from PetSmart to Ren's whenever possible. The ramp is made by SolvIt Products , a company who declares "No Pet Left Behind". They make steps...

Three things to do. 1. Please watch this. 2. Then read this. Science, Mythology, Hatred, and the Fate of the Gray Wolf By Verlyn Klinkenborg For the past few weeks, I've been trying to find a way to accept the decision by Ken Salazar, the new secretary of the interior, to remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list in Idaho and Montana. It was a relief to have a sensible conversation with newly appointed interior officials after eight years of hearing almost nothing but distortion and duplicity from the top figures in the department. It was also a relief to hear them say, in describing the way they reached this decision, that they were simply following the guidance of career scientists. And yet I still can’t accept it. The reintroduction of wolves in the Rocky Mountain West has been an overwhelming success. It began with 65 wolves in 1995 and 1996, and the population has now reached approximately 1,600 across the region, with about a hundred breeding pairs. The numerical...

If you read wmtc when Allan and I were in Newfoundland, you may remember my friend "NCF," Newfie Campaign Friend. We met NCF's mom - who insisted we stay for dinner and spend the night - and visited the birthplace of her grandmother, which just happens to be a National Historic Site, the Cape Bonavista Lighthouse . NCF sent me these photos, sent to her from a friend back home. They were taken around Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland. Click to enlarge. I didn't find any stories online about this incident, but it is mentioned in a CBC story about another polar bear sighting in Central Newfoundland: Conservation officers caught two polar bears over the weekend — one in Cape Freels near Lumsden, the other in Bonaventure on the Bonavista peninsula. Rebecca Jeffery, a wildlife biologist with the Newfoundland and Labrador government, said at the end of March that while sightings of polar bears may be up, that doesn't mean there are more; they might just be moving in areas wh...

Here's the rest of the great talk given by Pam Johnson, a member of International Socialists . (Part one is here .) * * * * [Pam outlined the ways that leadership from socialists helped workers fight back, often with organizational skills and critical-thinking perspectives. She briefly mentioned some of the organizations on the left at that time.] Toledo Auto-Lite, 1934 One place where the presence of Marxists provided a lead was in Toledo in 1934, when a strike was called at Toledo Auto-Lite, an important factory in the burgeoning auto industry sector. Two members of a group called the American Workers Party, who were organizing the unemployed, sent unemployed volunteers to reinforce picket lines. The strengthened lines provoked the company to file for an injunction restricting picketing. At the urging of the American Workers Party members, the strikers decided to defy the injunction. The police began making arrests, but this only led to the picket numbers growing. Workers from o...

This week I attended another talk organized by the International Socialists . I wrote about my first experience with this group here , and posted the talk I heard here . This was the second meeting I attended. These talks have been very interesting and educational, but beyond that, it's been so enriching for me to find this group, one that I'm so comfortable with both socially and politically. Talking with one of the members - who is also a leader of the War Resisters Support Campaign - I realize (as I suspected) that my prior bad experiences with socialist groups was not at all unique. In the past, the groups I checked out were either purely theoretical, not activists at all, or frighteningly authoritarian, or puzzlingly dogmatic. People would ignore or even defend repressive regimes if they were supposedly leftist. And the dynamics of group themselves were often exclusionary or autocratic or hierarchical. My friend told me when she casting around for a socialist group to get ...