"And now, young girls also, they learn from it, and I really hope young men can learn from it. Even more than the girls, the men really need to learn from it. Because everyone's focusing on the women, but the problem isn't the women."
Full interview
Related article: What is being taught in rape-prevention programs?
Hon. Bob Rae (Toronto Centre, Lib.):
Mr. Speaker, the testimony yesterday of Richard Colvin before the Afghanistan committee showed two clear things. First, Mr. Colvin testified that he had information with respect to the mistreatment of prisoners in Afghan prisons and that he gave that information to his superiors. Second, Mr. Colvin testified that he was also told by his superiors to shut up, essentially.
Given the importance of these two revelations, the revelations of mistreatment, harsh treatment and even torture, and the revelation with respect to a cover-up, would the minister not agree with me and with others that there should indeed be a full public inquiry into what has taken place with respect to the transfer of these detainees?
Hon. Peter MacKay (Minister of National Defence and Minister for the Atlantic Gateway, CPC):
Mr. Speaker, it has been stated here a number of times that there has not been a single, solitary proven allegation of abuse involving a transferred Taliban prisoner by Canadian Forces. Second, with respect to the evidence yesterday, what we know is that when the evidence is put to the test, it simply does not stand up.
Mr. Colvin had an opportunity to speak directly to me and other ministers of the government who were in Afghanistan. He did not raise the issue. As well, what is being relied upon here is nothing short of hearsay, second- or third-hand information, or that which came directly from the Taliban.
( the rest of it )___
WASHINGTON _ Think of it as closed captioning for the new media world.
Google Inc. said Thursday it is introducing automatic, machine-generated captions for videos on its YouTube site. The new service, being launched this week, is intended to make online videos accessible to the deaf and hearing-impaired.
Hundreds of thousands of videos on Google sites already contain caption tracks that users have created and added manually with Google's existing captioning service. But with 20 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute, most videos on the site still lack captions.
So Google is tapping into the speech-recognition technology that it uses for its Google Voice call management service to make captions an automatic feature on YouTube.
Because the speech-recognition technology is still a work in progress, Google is launching the automatic captioning service on the YouTube channels of just a handful of partners, including PBS, National Geographic and a few big universities. But the company promises that the technology will improve over time _ and it hopes for a much broader rollout.
In the meantime, Google is adding a new ``auto-timing'' feature to its existing manual captioning service to make it easier to use. Video creators will now simply have to create a text file with all the words spoken in a video and Google's speech recognition technology will take it from there _ matching the text to the words as they are spoken. Google hopes this will encourage more users to add captions to their videos.
Some of these Afghans may have been foot soldiers or day fighters. But many were just local people — farmers, truck drivers, tailors, peasants; random human beings in the wrong place at the wrong time; young men in their fields and villages who were completely innocent but were nevertheless rounded up. In other words, we detained, and handed over for severe torture, a lot of innocent people.
Seizing people and rendering them for torture is a very serious violation of international and Canadian law. Complicity in torture is a war crime. It is illegal and prosecutable.
---
Blood boiling parts of this article in the Globe.
One: The diplomat said the Canadian government responded to his frequent warnings by telling him to stop writing these concerns into reports. He said those asking him to censor himself included David Mulroney, then the senior point man on Afghanistan, as well as Colleen Swords, a senior official at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT).
Two: Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant said talk of abuse of detainees is hurting public support for Afghan military mission.
“The fanning of the fames of outrage over allegations [of torture], however unproven, are really having the desired effect on the Canadian people of wanting our troops to return even quicker.”
---
From Kady O'Malley's liveblogging of the committee meeting:
[Conservative MP] Laurie Hawn critiques Colvin's protocol for addressing memos, noting that if he *really* wanted all 71 recipients to read his memos, he wouldn't simply have simply cc'd them.
Appearing before a House of Commons committee Wednesday, Richard Colvin blasted the detainees policies of Canada and compared them with the policies of the British and the Netherlands.
The detainees were captured by Canadian soldiers then handed over to the Afghan intelligence service, called the NDS.
Colvin said Canada was taking six times as many detainees as British troops and 20 times as many as the Dutch.
He said unlike the British and Dutch, Canada did not monitor their conditions; took days, weeks or months to notify the Red Cross; kept poor records; and to prevent scrutiny, the Canadian Forces leadership concealed this behind "walls of secrecy."
"As I learned more about our detainee practices, I came to a conclusion they were contrary to Canada's values, contrary to Canada's interests, contrary to Canada's official policies and also contrary to international law. That is, they were un-Canadian, counterproductive and probably illegal.
"According to our information, the likelihood is that all the Afghans we handed over were tortured. For interrogators in Kandahar, it was a standard operating procedure," Colvin said.
He said the most common forms of torture were beatings, whipping with power cables, the use of electricity, knives, open flames and rape.
---
I feel like it's every Canadian's duty to read this.
Mr. Dean Del Mastro (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, CPC):
Mr. Speaker, I am in fact saddened to rise on this point of order because I had hoped members in the House would not sink to this level. However, this morning the member for Scarborough Southwest made an entry on Twitter that I find particularly demeaning, discriminatory and unbecoming of a member of Parliament.
This morning, in the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, I had to put up with the abhorrent behaviour of a partisan chair, who pays no attention to the rules governing parliamentary committees whatsoever. However, during that meeting, I provided the respect that each member is due.
The member for Scarborough Southwest wrote on her Twitter, and I apologize as I will have to use my name, "In committee this morning. M.P. Del Mastro should grow up (not out)". I hear some people in the House laughing and that is unfortunate. I apologize for not being perfect and perhaps my stature does not meet the criteria that some members in the House set, but I have battled that problem since birth. I apologize for not actually fitting into the requirements.
I still hear the chastising going on. It is this kind of arrogance and elitism that will be the downfall of the Liberal Party if this continues. I am giving the member the opportunity to apologize. The actions of the members in committee this morning do nothing to discourage me. They only encourage me.
I would ask the member to take the opportunity to apologize for what she wrote. She may wish to consider that a number of her own constituents are less than perfect and she represents them as well.
Mr. Rodger Cuzner (Cape Breton—Canso, Lib.):
Mr. Speaker, for the benefit of the member, the lion's share of the quips and giggles were coming from his side of the House.
Mrs. Michelle Simson (Scarborough Southwest, Lib.):
Mr. Speaker, I, too, sat through the committee meeting today and listened to a great deal of disparaging remarks about myself and my party.
That said, if there is anything I said that offended the member, I am sorry. To say one should grow up and not out was out of line and I do apologize. Growing up and growing out is not something I should have said to the hon. member.
Mr. Charlie Angus (Timmins—James Bay, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, I am very glad the hon. colleague has apologized. However, I think it speaks to a bigger issue.
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
Mr. Charlie Angus:
Mr. Speaker, I am sorry, but this is not a clown show. We are elected to represent our people. We go to committee to do serious business. I believe the issue of members sitting on committee with their inane Twitters about what happens at committee demeans the work of all parliamentarians. I am not going to speak on this party or that party. We have an obligation to represent the best of our country and I would like members of Parliament to put the inane little games away and get down to business of serving their constituents.
When I saw that Twitter, I was appalled because I thought it could happen at any of our committees. I am asking all—
The Speaker:
Order, please. I think the point of order has been dealt with. Perhaps we could move on to orders of the day at this point.
The great majority of Canadians identify as Christians. The largest religious affiliation is Roman Catholic, followed by various Protestant churches. The numbers of Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, and members of other religions, as well as atheists, are also growing. In Canada the state has traditionally partnered with faith communities to promote social welfare, harmony and mutual respect; to provide schools and health care; to resettle refugees; and to uphold religious freedom and freedom of conscience.
No comment just yet! Anything jump out at anyone right away?
After the Second World War, the veterans of the Canadian military were demobilized and sent home. In recognition for their contribution to the war effort, they were given money, access to enhanced education, and titles to pieces of land.
First Nations veterans, however, were treated differently. They received less money. In the majority of cases, they received land that belonged to the reserves on which they already lived. Most were not provided with increased access to education.
As Status Indians, they had rights to some of their reserve benefits as long as they returned to the reserve.
Except.
1. Fighting in the war had given them the right to vote
2. The right to vote cost them their Status designation.
3. Losing their status cost them reserve benefits.
4. The government refused them military service benefits because they were still considered to have Status rights.
What an absurd and insane Catch 22. More than 70 years after Canada declared war on Nazi Germany in 1939, hundreds of aboriginal veterans of the Second World War and Korean War are still seeking equal compensation for their service.
All the wreath-laying ceremonies in the world aren't going to fix this. Tell our government that we demand better.
I didn't want people to ask me every time I did an interview, "Oh, is this record about your relationship with your ex-girlfriend?" But that damage is part of it, and the song "I Want to Kill You Like They Do in The Movies" is about my fantasies. I have fantasies every day about smashing her skull in with a sledgehammer.
He's made a video acting it out.
No need to watch it, really. But it is HORRIBLE. He beats a woman to death who looks like Evan Rachel Wood, then leaves her bloody, dead body in a bathtub.
HAVE I MENTIONED HOW MUCH I FUCKING HATE OUR STUPID CULTURE??
BECAUSE IT IS A LOT.
(Snapshot of my life: I'm at Jairus's right now, and he's talking about how he dances at raves. Rather than actually dancing for me, he is looking up Youtube videos of other people dancing to try to find an example that is the most similar. It's pretty daft, but adorable.)
Today I'm trying to NaNoWriMo (working title: 'The Rag Trade'. Ha!), but am hindered by the fact that my laptop battery is dead and I think I left my powers adapter at work. I am writing this LJ update on Jairus's laptop, which of COURSE I could also write my novel on, but I don't know the keyboard super well and I can't make a question mark and the whole thing just adds a layer of irritation to the writing process that I do not need! There was a write-in today that I half wanted to go to, but I just wasn't really prepared and I psyched myself out. I am disappointed but not defeated!
Other than that, I've had a nice recharge-y weekend, which was exactly what I needed. I accidentally didn't really go to bed on Thursday night, which meant that Friday found me closer to the edge of over-tiredness-induced irrationality than I've been for the last ten days or so. That was unfortunate, because Jesse and I have a song we're trying to work on for his next album, and had plans for a nice night of making art and having a date. Instead, we were both pretty sleepy, and ended up instead spending 12 hours in bed. It was nice to listen to new music together, though, since we often mean to do this but don't get the chance. Discovering new bands and albums is the thing I miss most about having a car and a job that requires a lot of driving. Jesse would just download a bunch of stuff for these giant roadtrips, and it was so great to drive around Alberta and do that. Anyway, last night, between talking and sleeping and kissing and being awesome, we checked out Kyp Malone's solo project Rain Machine, the new Themselves, the awesome birthday mix that Sadie made for me, and some other things that Jesse will have to remind me in the comments! What other bands should we check out?
Last night, the lovely and amazing
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
claire_fontaine came over for some Watcher in the Woods, snacks, and cuddling. The movie was JUST AS SCARY as I remembered it, and we actually had to turn it off a couple of times to calm ourselves down. Then we watched the alternate endings (you can peep out the shorter one here) and felt like we'd gone straight up (and down!) the banana wall. ALIENS WHAT? Anyway I stand by my assertion that this movie is totally terrifying. After the movie we were joined by Nick (who has no LJ as I understand it) and Jairus, who was teased heavily for having just played A HALLOWE'EN RAVE CALLED "UNITY" AT A BAR CALLED "SWIZZLES". To shut us up he bought us pizza. I think he won't like how this goes from now on. After she left (at 3am) we exchanged texts about how it totally didn't feel like we'd just spent 9 hours together, and it also totally didn't feel like we haven't hung out that many times. Aw!Today has been both productive and not. We got a slow start to the day, watching a few hours of Farscape, and being generally sedentary. But also I finally have a start to The Rag Trade that I don't HATE, Jairus is doing some computer thing that seems to be really important, and later we will run some errands! Glamourous!
Also! Finally tomorrow Jesse and I will join The Plant Bath, and then I will start to go swimming like every day. HOW CAN I NOT? This is going to be so good for me and my knees and my feelings!
Hi! HI!
whiskeredsadie left a comment in my last entry that contained this gem:I think I should probally find a good therapist. Its just that I already tried twice and it was soooo frustrating. One wore 100% purple and cried constantly, calling me "brave" and "strong", and offered no help.
OH MAN THIS MADE ME LAUGH SO MUCH. I can totally picture this woman.
Please share your horrible therapist stories. My problem is just that everyone has typically said "You seem fine" to me. Bleargh.
Via littlestink
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoes Bill 1176. The state Press Secretary says the acrostic was a "a weird coincidence".
Uh huh.
It's tricky for me to internalize the diagnosis, not as a result of any stigma or whatever, but because I've yet to fully acknowledge that it as a thing that is different about me. I've never been in another brain.
It's like when I found out I had low blood pressure. The doctor was like "Do you see spots in front of your eyes when you stand up?" and I said "Well of course, like everyone!" but as it turns out no! Not everyone! So I think I'm a bit "Well, sure, sometimes I am gripped with blinding terror for days on end. Like everyone!" But I guess, again, not everyone experiences what I do.
I think maybe part of the problem is that everyone does get stressed or anxious. But maybe not to the degree where they are terrified constantly and can't sleep or eat or participate rationally in conversations? I don't even know. I'm certainly not trying to be all "NO ONE SUFFERS LIKE I SUFFER", because I think that's not true. Just different things hinder me and different things help me that would most people.
Here is diagnostic criteria for PTSD, per the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV:
A. Exposure to a traumatic event
B. Persistent reexperience (e.g. flashbacks, nightmares)
C. Persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma (e.g. avoidance of experiences that they fear will trigger flashbacks and reexperiencing of symptoms fear of losing control)
D. Persistent symptoms of increased arousal (e.g. difficulty falling or staying asleep, anger and hypervigilance)
E. Duration of symptoms for more than 1 month
F. Significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning (e.g. problems with work and relationships.)
I have pretty much all of these. They manifest like this:
A. My childhood was sort of relentlessly traumatic in a lot of ways. My mom was an unstable alcoholic who was also on a lot of pills that made her even more erratic. Sometimes she was GREAT! Other time she'd do things like destroying the furniture in our house with an axe, or making me call the police when my dad was at work to say he'd abandoned us. I was also, after my parents split up and my mom re-married, sexually abused for years by my stepfather.
B. I re-experience the trauma when it feels like someone is suddenly acting as if they no longer think I am worth taking care of. This makes me feel like I am in inescapable and likely fatal danger. That’s an oversimplification, but that’s sort of the gist.
C. I have incredibly severe fight-or-flight instincts. If I'm not able to avoid being triggered, I either dig my heels in and come out swinging (not at other people, but sometimes at myself), or have an entirely consuming urge to go lock myself away somewhere.
D. When I'm having the physical or emotional symptoms of an anxiety attack, I go days without sleeping, have constant knots in my stomach, and am pretty much furious all the time.
E. Yeah. It's been years now, and I've not really gotten much better. I mean, I'm better at coping, but the symptoms have never subsided.
F. It has huge impacts on my personal and professional relationships, because when I am triggered I become completely terrified and irrational and it can go on for days. I’ll pick unfair fights, avoid people who love me, and be unable to go to work because I am so paralyzed with terror and anxiety.
Basically all the things that kept me alive when I was little are the things that are doing me real damage now. Things like: always being on my guard, seeing danger where there maybe isn't danger yet, trying to make sure I always have as much information as possible on things that have any chance of impacting me, not really taking anything at face value.
So I'm working on it. Lalita said something that was really enlightening to me, after I sort of said "Uh, yeah and people try to get me to do relaxation exercises, but ... I'm not that girl." She pointed out that standard relaxation exercises never work for people who have PTSD, because the only thing that keeps us feeling even as safe as we do is our hypervigilance. The idea of like letting go and letting everything all fall away is infuriating. Something that does work for me, though, is my old-standard: listing 5 things I can see, 5 things I can hear, and 5 things I can feel in my body. Then 4, then 3, then 2, then 1. Evidently this works because it's taking stock of your surroundings. And that's really calming unless, like, there is a tiger sitting at my feet which hasn't happened yet.
So yeah, breathing and trying to 'clear my mind' = total disaster. Checking in with my surroundings and body = utterly soothing.
So that's up with me! Jesse and I have been having GREAT talks about it, and have action items for how we're going to navigate things so they are a million times better for everyone. Such a huge relief. I've been sort of a mess for months.
Oh, one of the things Lalita is recommending I do is go through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, regarding the sexual abuse I experienced as a kid. It's evidently quite a different process than my experience with the police, which is reassuring. I've printed out the paperwork, and will keep you posted. Has anyone had any experience with this? I guess it could end up covering two years of therapy (which is good because my drug plan only covers about 10 sessions a year, and I'd like to go weekly). Does anyone know anything about the process?
Finally:
The Quebec Police Ethics Committee has ordered a review of the conduct of three provincial police officers who posed as protesters at the summit of the three North American leaders in Montebello, Que., in August 2007.
The ruling comes after the police ethics commissioner rejected a complaint in May 2009 filed by a union leader whose members took part in demonstrations at the summit.
Complainant Dave Coles, president of the Communications Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, subsequently asked the committee to review the commissioner's decision.
In a ruling released this week, the committee set aside the commissioner's rejection of Coles' allegations that the officers violated sections of the police ethics code dealing with:
Disrespect or impoliteness towards any person.
Use of obscene, blasphemous or abusive language.
Failure to respect the authority of the law by inciting persons to violence.
Refusal to produce identification when asked to do so.
The committee found the commissioner was wrong to reject six of the eight allegations made by Coles.
Full story.
I'm so psyched.
---
Hon. Ujjal Dosanjh (Vancouver South, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I wish to inform you and the House that I inadvertently tweeted about matters that I ought not to have tweeted about. That is the proceedings in camera of the defence committee. That was an error on my part and that entry will be deleted at the earliest possible opportunity, which is right after I get out of here.
The Speaker: I thank the hon. member. I assume that tweeting means it went on Twitter.
---
Ha ha ha ha ha!
Secretary of State (not "Senator", I am a dimwit) Hillary Clinton wrote an op-ed recently that contained this sentence:
"Consider the world's typical small farmer. She lives in a rural village, rises before dawn, and walks miles to collect water."
The amazing Melissa McEwan had an emotional reaction to Clinton's use of the female pronoun. I do, too! She posted all of these great pictures of farmers who are women. You should go look at them, for they are truly wonderful.
Like the lady above, from Wales!
This event was part of what to me felt like our "coming out party" as a couple! A tour where I met all of Jesse's rap friends who are now my friends. I was really nervous. Jesse and I had been a legitimate couple for about four months at this point I think! But in love for way longer than that! We had both just had haircuts at the Aveda school that day, it's why we look so swank. We were the swankest thing in London Ontario that day.
( THE OTHER NINE CAN YOU EVEN RESIST CLICKING ON THIS LINK )
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESSE D I LOVE YOU.
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