Thursday Thirteen - 139 - 13 of My Favorite News Stories From 2009

1 - There was no question as to what my top news story for this year would be:

"Oh, Canada.

Above is the first official group portrait of the world leaders attending the G20 summit taken at the ExCel centre, in east London, on April 2, 2009. The so-called 'family photo' is a common affair at these summits.

Canada's Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, is not on the stage. He was supposed to be standing next to Angela Merkel (red jacket, second row).

Apparently, either no one noticed, or they couldn't wait. Ouch.

The BBC reported that Mr. Harper was 'in the loo' when the first photograph was done." - Shane Dingman, National Post


























2 - "When caught in a tight spot, Canada's Defense Minister Peter Mackay has a tendency to change ground without apology, or even a blush. As a result, he suffers what might be charitably called a trust deficit - and it pre-dates this month's unpleasantness over Afghan detainees.

The most memorable example is his betrayal of David Orchard in 2003.

To secure leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party, Mackay made a deal with Orchard - he wouldn't encourage a merger with Stephen Harper's Canadian Alliance - and, in return, Orchard's loyal delegates vaulted MacKay to victory over Jim Prentice. Within months of this promise, made public by Orchard, MacKay was meeting with Harper to discuss a merger - selling out not only Orchard, but legions of Progressive Conservatives who wanted nothing to do with the Reform/Alliance crowd.

Following this, in a poisonous off-mic exchange in the Commons in 2006, MacKay referred obliquely to his once-girlfriend, Belinda Stronach, as a dog. A number of reporters and MPs heard the remark and instantly understood its meaning, but MacKay never owned up. Rather than apologizing for an intemperate outburst, he stonily denied ever making it.

These incidents both pale, however, beside MacKay's daily evasions on the Afghan detainee file (Julia's note: or torture scandal - however you want to say it.)

Now the minister is denying he ever attacked whistle-blower Richard Colvin personally and insists that he never used the words 'Taliban dupe.' But he did disparage Colvin for relying on the word 'of people who throw acid into the faces of schoolchildren' - implying that the diplomat's sources were exclusively Taliban fanatics.

MacKay (and the prime minister) accuse opponents of impugning the reputation of the troops. This is not only untrue, it is deplorably cowardly. MacKay and Harper are hiding their own political mistakes behind the valour and professionalism of Canada's forces." Susan Riley, The Ottawa Citizen / Photo by Chris Wattie












3 - One of my favorite stories from 2009 are all the stories we'll never hear about.

"The bad thing that didn’t happen?

The same bad thing that hasn’t happened every year since 2001.

There was no mass loss of life (by which I mean more than a thousand people murdered in a single incident) due to terrorist action in any Western country." - Gwynne Dyer, Straight.com

My gratitude to all of the truly unsung heroes who protect us day in, day out - the spies who live among us, protecting us.














4 - "Some Russians believe President Dmitry Medvedev is emerging from Vladimir Putin’s shadow.

Medvedev has distanced himself from his mentor and 'the time is close when Medvedev is likely to offer Putin a deal he can’t refuse,' write Ethan Burger, adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, and Mary Holland, director of the graduate legal skills program at New York University School of Law, in Foreign Policy. 'This true power shift, unlike the symbolic one last May, might be Russia’s best hope to navigate peacefully its deepening economic and political crisis.' " - David Kampf, Rising Powers

"On Oct. 30, the official day of mourning for the victims of Stalin's regime, President Dmitry Mevdedev said that Russia 'must not allow those who destroyed their own people to be defended under the banner of restoring historical justice. ... There can be no justification for repressions.' " - Simon Shuster, Time magazine












A supposed ventriloquist-dummy figure who openly contradicts his puppeteer gives me hope for a Russia I could not have imagined 20 years ago.














5 - "Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby chose his 22nd birthday - Aug. 7 - as the day he would give a gift back to the community where he was raised. In fact, the day he brought the Stanley Cup home to Cole Harbour and Halifax might have been the best of his entire year.

More than 70,000 people turned out for a parade through the streets of his hometown.

'It was incredible,' said Crosby. 'I always realized the support I've had back home - I've never taken that for granted - it's been amazing since really I left home. I left at 15. But I don't think I ever experienced anything like that in my life as far as being home with that many people and really seeing it first-hand. ...

'It really meant a lot to me and it really set in. That was I guess the best way I could say thank you to everyone and it was a perfect couple days there.' " - Chris Johnston, The Canadian Press / Photo by Andrew Vaughan
















6 - "Governor General Michaëlle Jean's raw seal heart chowdown was a widely praised culinary tasting of cultural significance to her Inuit hosts.

That snack forced the Prime Minister and a clutch of Cabinet ministers to follow suit on their summer Arctic tour this year, although only Mr. Harper's photographer was allowed to take pictures of the group reaching for the meat without recording any actual consumption." - Don Martin, National Post / Photo of Michaëlle Jean and her husband by Canadian Press

7 - I'm not a fan of Simon Cowell. I'm not into his mean-spirited verbal lacerations of people who sing to the best of their abilities. There are all sorts of ways to get the message across that one is not a fan of a particular performance without doing it the Simon Cowell way.

Having said that, one of my favorite things to have discovered this year is that hiding somewhere deep inside scowly old Cowelly is a romantic waiting to be swept away by something impossible but true.

Susan Boyle was the woman who did that for him, and for all of us.



















8 - This is a heart-breaking story, but I have enormous admiration for Chance, a mixed-breed dog who tried to keep the young son of the dog's family from freezing when the boy was lost in the woods. I also have tremendous gratitude toward the funeral organizers for honoring the dog during the ceremony for his young companion.

"James Delorey, 7, who had autism and did not speak, went missing in Cape Breton woods on Dec. 5th. Hundreds of volunteers and search and rescue crew members descended on South Bar, near Sydney, to look for the boy during the snowstorm that began shortly after his disappearance.

Chance returned to the family home two days later, sparking renewed hope in the search for James. As one team of searchers followed Chance's tracks back into the woods, another team working from the opposite direction found James.

James was huddled in an area of thick brush and snow about a kilometre from his home. There was an imprint in the snow next to where James was found, where Chance had apparently huddled with the boy to keep him warm.

Suffering from severe hypothermia, James died early the next day after he was rushed to the IWK Health Centre in Halifax." - CBC














"The boy's dog sat in the front passenger seat of the hearse as it pulled into the parking lot of Holy Redeemer Church in the Sydney neighbourhood of Whitney Pier.

Chance was led into the large Roman Catholic church behind the tiny casket and stood outside later with the boy's family as those who took part in the search blanketed it in green." - John Lewandowski, Globe and Mail / Photos by CBC and The Globe and Mail


















9 - Faith is a Labrador-chow mixed breed dog with a story that inspires wounded soldiers returning from Iran and Afghanistan with missing limbs and painful rehabilitation ahead of them.

The mother of the disfigured puppy was sitting on Faith when Reuben Stringfellow rescued her. The vet suggested that Faith be put down. But Reuben's mother Jude never considered that as an option.

"At first the family had to carry Faith to keep her off her chest and chin. But with peanut butter and practice, Faith learned to walk on her two hind legs.

Faith and Jude make dozens of appearances every year, including stops at veterans' hospitals across the country to cheer injured soldiers. For many, Faith brings a powerful message about overcoming adversity. 'Faith has shown me that different is beautiful,' wrote Jill Salomon of Montreal, Quebec on Faith's web site. 'It is not the body you are in but the soul that you have.' " - MSNBC.com / Photo by Anthony M. Tortoriello














10 - Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger remained cool as a cucumber after flying his airbus jet through a flock of geese and losing power in both engines.

"During the next three and a half minutes, Sullenberger swung the aircraft into a left turn, reviewing his options while First Officer Skiles tried in vain to restart the engines.

Sullenberger considered and rejected both LaGuardia and Teterboro, N.J., airports. Grimly he told air traffic controllers that the airplane was going to land in the Hudson River, abreast of midtown Manhattan.

The aircraft shed an engine, but otherwise stayed intact as it skied to a halt, veering left at the very end. Passengers and crew quickly exited the airplane and waited on the wings or in rafts for help to come, which it soon did.

The pilots, Sullenberger in particular, drew praise for their quick thinking and cool actions that saved an airplane filled with 150 passengers and three flight attendants with only a few serious injuries." - Terry Maxon, DallasNews.com / Photo by Theodorakis















11 - Instead of beating around the bush, the plain facts are being released about the discrepancy between jobless rates for white America versus black America. This is one of the more precious changes which the election of President Obama has given to all of us - the freedom to tell it like it is.

"Black unemployment has climbed from 8.9 percent to 15.6 percent since the recession began in December 2007. In comparison, the white rate climbed from 4.4 percent to 9.3 percent.

It would be unconstitutional to designate aid or jobs specifically for blacks, so the Congressional Black Caucus is asking for at least 10 percent of various federal funds to be spent in areas where 20 percent of the population is below the poverty line.

Numerous studies show that when white and black workers with identical qualifications apply to the same job, 'they consistently favor the white applicants, even though the black applicants are equally qualified,' said Algernon Austin, director of the Race, Ethnicity and the Economy program at the Economic Policy Institute." - Jesse Washington, The Associated Press / Photo by Paul Sancya

12 - My darling Gerard Butler had three - count 'em - three film releases this year. Four, if you include the excellent narration for the animated short Tales of the Black Freighter. Just listen to how compelling his voice is, in this clip - WARNING - gruesome images.

















13 - My mom realized a precious dream this fall by starting cello lessons.

My sister, my husband and I were sworn to secrecy so Mom could surprise everyone on Christmas Eve, after dinner when we have an informal musical evening. Usually, my mom and sister and I sing. Not this year!














Mom wrapped her cello as if it was a huge present, and I helped her carry it into Uncle Charlie's office as if it was really heavy.














After my aunt and my young cousin played a flute duet with Uncle Charlie, my sister announced, "You've heard of Yo-Yo Ma. Well, this is Yo Mama!"
















Auntie's pretty excited!














Hope you enjoyed my look back at the year's news stories.

Happy New Year and all the very, very best in 2010!










Andi says Cello lessons - awesome! I've always wanted to learn to play the violin, but I worry that I'm 40 years too old to start.

Jennifer Leeland says Those are fantastic stories! Love it. Your mother is so terrific! Good for her learning the cello!

Joanna Cake says Loving the World Summit photo story too :) Happy New Year!!!

Thursday Thirteen - 134 - 13 Reasons Canada's Defense Minister Peter Mackay Should Man Up About Torture Allegations

1 - "A top diplomat’s account of the rampant torture and rape of Afghan detainees is not credible, Defence Minister Peter MacKay (shown with Gen. Natynczyk) said Thursday.

Under fire from all parties, MacKay dismissed testimony from Richard Colvin as second- and third-hand information from enemy sources.

'What we’re talking about here is not only hearsay, we’re talking about basing much of his evidence on what the Taliban have been specifically instructed to lie about if captured,' he said." - Kathleen Harris, Toronto Sun Photo by Andrew Vaughan












2 - "The mugging of Mr. Colvin's reputation showed the Conservatives' underside.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative Party has its own Frat Pack: a cluster of ministers and MPs who represent the sharp point of the party's attack machine. You could see it at work last week, with Transport Minister John Baird and others attacking the credibility of Richard Colvin, the civil servant who tried to alert the Canadian government to the torture awaiting Canadian Forces detainees sent to Afghan prisons." - Jeffrey Simpson, Globe and Mail Photo by Chris Wattie



3 - "In December of 2005, while Canada was in the middle of the election campaign that brought Stephen Harper to power, then-Chief of Defence Staff General Rick Hillier signed a deal establishing our detainee transfer protocol — an arrangement that did not provide for Canadians to monitor their prisoners.

According to Mr. Colvin, Canadian soldiers were rounding up large numbers of suspected insurgents and turning them over to the Afghan authorities, and then relying on the Red Cross and an Afghan human rights group to make sure they were not tortured." - Stephen Maher, Chronicle Herald Photo by Globe and Mail

















4 - "Inevitably in this kind of insurgency, where foreign troops sweep the countryside for guerrillas, some innocents get scooped into the same net as actual enemy fighters.

All three of the independent military commands at that point (in 2007) — the Canadian, Dutch and British — knew that under international law they were responsible for the well being of all Afghans they picked up, even after they were handed over to Afghan prisons and interrogation centres.

The Dutch were concerned enough to report immediately any handover to the local Red Cross officials. Britain acted within 24 hours.

But Canada?

When Canadian soldiers brought in the usually hooded and tightly bound detainee, our military police on the spot would first inform the colonels and generals in the Kandahar mission control centre.

But instead of alerting the Red Cross right away, like the Dutch and British, these commanders, following orders, sent the information to CEFCOM, the Canadian Expeditionary Force Command in Ottawa.

This information would then be passed over to Defence Headquarters and to Foreign Affairs.

Instead of CEFCOM sending word back to Kandahar to immediately engage local Red Cross officials, the file instead was forwarded to the Canadian Embassy in Geneva.

Only then did Canada inform the International Red Cross, suggesting that it check up on some Afghan civilians our troops had detained and handed over to Afghan interrogators.

It was while this odd Kandahar to Ottawa to Geneva to Kandahar shuffle was going on that detainees would be under the greatest threat of torture and other abuses. If you wanted to ensure your detainee was grilled to the hilt over days, weeks, or months, would this not be the kind of play-for-time system that you would devise?" - Brian Stewart, CBC News Photo by Musadeq Sadeq













5 - "Former warden of Sarpoza Prison, Abdul Qadar Khan Popal, told Canwest News Service 'Prisoners were kept several days in the custody of the NDS,' Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security. 'It was not a matter of hours,' Popal said before detainees were transferred from the dilapidated NDS detention centre to Sarpoza. 'I myself have seen injuries on their bodies caused by torture by the NDS.' " - Matthew Fisher, Canada.com Photo by Natalie Behring-Chisholm











6 - "Colvin’s analysis came from interviewing hundreds of prisoners who had been transferred to the Sarposa prison, after allegedly being abused. In May 2007, the Globe and Mail’s intrepid, unembedded reporter Graeme Smith had ventured to the Sarposa prison and broke the same story of alleged torture. I happened to be in Kabul with colleagues when Smith’s expose hit the newsstands and, as a result, we were able to do some first-hand followup.

The head of the NDS acknowledged that the abuse issue could strain Afghan-Canadian relations and, as a gesture of good faith, he offered to grant us direct access to the notorious NDS detention centre in Kandahar.

When we interviewed the directing staff, they proudly admitted that to a man they had all received their training from the Soviets and were all former KGB officers." - Scott Taylor, Chronicle Herald Photo by Dene Moore


7 - "Colvin told a special Commons committee on Afghanistan Wednesday that Canada took vastly more battlefield prisoners than either the British or Dutch militaries operating in southern Afghanistan.

He said that those detainees were, by and large, innocent taxi drivers and farmers rather than Taliban operatives, and that abuse was the 'standard operating procedure' of Afghan authorities, regardless of the intelligence value of a prisoner.

The implements of torture were wire cables, electrical shocks and physical and sexual abuse, he said.

Once newspaper reports in April 2007 brought the problems to light, Colvin said he was instructed to keep quiet by David Mulroney, a senior official who had responsibilities to report on Afghanistan to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, then-foreign affairs minister Peter MacKay and Gordon O'Connor, who was the defence minister before he became the first political casualty of the detainee scandal." - Tonda MacCharles, Toronto Star













8 - "As far as anyone knows, no one has seen a Canadian soldier turn over a suspect to a torturer to be pistol-whipped, cudgelled, shocked or raped.

Yet Richard Colvin sent senior Canadian officials no fewer than 17 messages in 2006 and 2007 warning that Afghan interrogators used torture as 'standard operating procedure,' that Canadian troops were handing over 'a lot of innocent people,' and that could make them complicit in war crimes. He also copied more than 70 people.

As for Colvin's credibility, the Afghan human rights panel has just confirmed that there were indeed 232 cases of torture in 2006/07." - Editorial, Toronto Star Photo by Finbarr O'Reilly












9 - "The Foreign Affairs report, titled Afghanistan-2006; Good Governance, Democratic Development and Human Rights, was marked 'CEO' for Canadian Eyes Only. It seems to remove any last vestige of doubt that the senior officials and ministers knew that torture and abuse were rife in Afghan jails.

The report leaves untouched many paragraphs such as those beginning 'one positive development' or 'there are some bright spots.'

But heavy dark blocks obliterate sentences such as 'military, intelligence and police forces have been accused of involvement in arbitrary arrest, kidnapping, extortion, torture and extrajudicial killing.' " - Paul Koring, April 2007, Globe and Mail Photo by Canadian Press


















10 - "Whistleblower Richard Colvin joined Foreign Affairs 15 years ago, in his mid-20s, with the idea that – in the words of one source close to him – Canada might not be a major player but 'we're a force for good, we stand for something.' " - Tonda MacCharles, Toronto Star Photo by Sean Kilpatrick














11 - "Counter-insurgency is an argument to win the support of the locals.

Every action, reaction or failure to act become part of the debate. In Kandahar, Canada needs to convince local people that we are better than the Taliban, that our values were superior, that we would look after their interests and protect them.

In my judgment, some of our actions in Kandahar, including complicity in torture, turned local people against us. Instead of winning hearts and minds, we caused Kandaharis to fear the foreigners. Canada’s detainee practices alienated us from the population and strengthened the insurgency." - Richard Colvin, House of Commons testimony, Macleans Photo by Tylere Couture
















12 - "I find it insulting to listen to the governing party in Canada trying to discredit someone who is standing up for the Canadian sense of human justice. I think the Harper crew is insulting everything that each and every Canadian soldier fought and died for - basic human rights. We are a country that upholds the human rights of all people, all the time. This government just celebrated Remembrance Day, and now it slaps the face of all who died for this great nation. Canada deserves better." - Rod Sarty, letter to the editor, Chronicle Herald













13 - " 'We inherited an inadequate transfer arrangement left in place by the previous government,' said Defence Minister Peter MacKay.

'There is something called ministerial accountability,' said Liberal defence critic Ujjal Dosanjh. 'You can't shut your eyes, your ears and your mouth to say "No, I didn't know." '

The opposition demanded to know the names of the officials who tried to shut down Colvin's reports and sanitize the reports of other diplomats.

'Who in this government issued that order?' asked Dosanjh. 'Why is this government creating a culture - an un-Canadian culture - of secrecy about an issue as abhorrent as torture?' " - Murray Brewster, Canadian Press Photo by Pete Williamson