Toyota halts sales of Lexus GX460

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 7:13 PM - 1 Comment

Toyota has temporarilly halted sales of an luxury SUV amid reports the vehicle is dangerous. Consumer Reports magazine recently urged readers not to buy the Lexus GX460, saying it presented an usually high risk of rollovers, the first such warning from the influential publication in nine years. According to the magazine, the problem occurs when drivers take their foot off the gas pedal while driving quickly into a sharp turn. This causes the back of the SUV to slide toward the outside of the turn, a phenomenon otherwise known as “trailing throttle” or “lift-throttle oversteer.”

New York Times

The Commons: In other news

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 6:52 PM - 46 Comments

The Scene. When all of this is past, and Helena Guergis has either been redeemed or forgotten or both, various members of this government might send her a polite note of thanks. Peter MacKay in particular.

If not for Ms. Guergis’s unfortunate spring, it might very well be much worse for the government side. If not for the opposition’s eagerness to chase the mystery of Ms. Guergis’s misdeeds—rightly or wrongly, justifiably or not—the questions would be far more profound and far less easily dismissed. As it is, every question asked about who may or may not have alleged what she may or may not have done and why we may or may not ever know about any of it, is a question that does not involve the phrases “torture” and “Asadullah Khalid” and “Afghanistan.”

Indeed, every question about the affairs of the former minister of state for the status of women is one less opportunity for Peter MacKay to stand up and say something silly. And for this we are all surely the poorer. Continue…

A bird's life is one of adultery, divorce

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 6:27 PM - 2 Comments

The notion of “love birds” pairing up with their mates to form a life-long bond is an enduring one, but a new book argues it’s simply not true. In fact, the “The Bird Detective,” which draws on 20 years of research from radio tracking and DNA testing, shows birds aren’t much better at relationships than we are. Many females, for example, will keep their eyes peeled for males more colourful than their partner, or one who provides a safer living environment. Males, meanwhile, are known to fertilize the eggs of neighbouring females, leaving their mates to care for the offspring. The main discovery, though, is just how common bird divorces are: most live birds take a partner for only a few months or years and divorce rates range from 99 percent in the greater flamingo to zero in the wandering albatross.

Vancouver Sun

YouTube: behind the music!

By Colby Cosh - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 5:26 PM - 9 Comments

Those of us who are pretty severely colour-blind are familiar with a certain kind of conversation that takes place when a normally-sighted person discovers our affliction; after a brief quiz, the moment always arrives when the normal finds himself trying to ask “So what do things look like to you?” and (quickly or slowly) realizes that it is impossible to share pure perceptions by means of natural language.

Because I’ve had that chat so often, I’ve always been interested in the similar question of how English “sounds” to a non-native speaker. The closest the native speaker can come to appreciating this is by means of certain rare occasions in which a non-native speaker talks gibberish designed to sound like English. I once saw an interview with the late Raúl Juliá in which he recalled playing cowboys-’n'-Indians with friends as a child in Puerto Rico. They had devoured countless untranslated, unsubtitled cheap Westerns, and he lapsed instantly into several seconds of a delightful, drawling, totally improvised fake English—a fantastic collision between the spirits of John Wayne and Russell Hoban’s Kleinzeit.

Last year this 1972 clip from Italy’s RAI television surfaced on the net and went viral in the anglophone world; it features four minutes of nonsense-English, more carefully constructed than Juliá’s, set to a groove by the singer-comic Adriano Celentano.

Even if you’ve seen the original “Prisencolinensinainciusol”, you probably haven’t watched the even weirder 2005 video in which Italian TV host Paolo Bonolis confronts Will Smith with the lyrics and is mock-horrified to discover that they are not, in fact, fine English balladry of the first water.

Who is behind the Center for Iranian Studies?

By Michael Petrou - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 5:04 PM - 21 Comments

An organization in Toronto that describes itself as a non-partisan centre for Iranian culture and scholarship was founded by a well-connected Iranian diplomat and is funded by the Iranian embassy in Ottawa.

The Center for Iranian Studies, located at 290 Sheppard Ave. W., was incorporated in January 2008. One of its three directors at the time was Fazel Larijani, who was then Iran’s cultural attaché in Ottawa. He is the brother of Ali Larijani, speaker of the Iranian parliament, and Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani, head of the judiciary. Mahdi Shahrokhi, who works at the centre, says it still receives money from the Iranian embassy but is not controlled by it.

The embassy’s involvement is not mentioned on the centre’s website, which claims its goals are research and study. It says it helps universities organize seminars and workshops, although Shahrokhi could not give an example of when this had taken place. The website has a section called “Who is who?” that contains biographies of three Canadian academics studying Iran, and of Iranian-Canadian director and actor, Soheil Parsa. The implication is they are involved with the centre. Maclean’s reached two of the four, Concordia professor Richard Foltz and Soheil Parsa. Both say they have no affiliation with the centre, and Parsa has written to ask that his name be removed from its website.

This week, eight prominent Iranian academics in Toronto—including University of Toronto professor Ramin Jahanbegloo, who was imprisoned in Iran for four months in 2006—wrote an open letter questioning the centre’s motives and mission.

“We are not aware of any of our colleagues who are engaged in this Centre’s activities. However, functionaries of the Centre regularly contact Iranian student groups with promises of assistance, and fund Farsi classes and/or cultural events,” they wrote. “We demand that the Centre post the names of the founding members as appears on the website of Industry Canada, name its officers and advisors involved in its activities, and above all disclose the sources of its funding inside or outside Canada.”

The missing half of Yann Martel's new novel

By Brian D. Johnson - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 4:15 PM - 2 Comments

Photograph by Andrew Tolson

It’s been almost nine years now since Life of Pi turned Yann Martel into the most famous male Canadian author in the world. A head-scratching combination of dense religious allegory, zoological lore and enthralling adventure tale, written with warmth and grace, Pi hit the sweet spot with English-language readers, capturing the 2002 Booker prize and going on to sell seven million copies. Hardly prolific before—one novel and a short-story collection during the 1990s—Martel, 46, has spent the decade since as a literary celebrity and somewhat enigmatic public intellectual, sparking a chattering-class storm by proclaiming Canada “the greatest hotel on earth,” and, since 2007, sending Prime Minister Stephen Harper two books a month (for fear our leader doesn’t read). And wrestling with his Holocaust “project” (his word), now finally in print with his just-released third novel, Beatrice & Virgil.

It was no easy task, as Martel cheerfully allows in an interview. He might as well admit it, of course, since the book centres around Henry L’Hôte, a very Martel-like writer—right down to his baby son, Theo (Martel began his interview by pulling out a photo of his eight-month-old boy, Theo). Henry is invited to lunch by his publishers; a celebration, he thinks, of the new book he is so proud of, a work in two parts: an allegorical novel of the Holocaust and an essay on why there is so little fiction about an event virtually always dealt with in ways “historical, factual, literal.” But lunch turns into “a firing squad,” as four editors, backed by a historian and a skeptical bookseller, spend the meal demolishing Henry’s “complete, unpublishable failure.”

“The real lunch was nowhere near as brutal,” laughs Martel, recalling his editors’ response to his identical proposal. “But they did convince me publishing the essay—which I have finished—with the novel would limit the ways readers could approach the novel. It would be telling them how they should read it, putting blinkers on their eyes.” Henry responds to the rejection by abandoning writing; just another author, Martel writes, silenced by the Holocaust. (Martel, made of sterner stuff, went back to work on the fictional part.)

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This afternoon in Guergis

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 3:57 PM - 24 Comments

Mr. Jaffer used Ms. Guergis’ ministerial chauffeur. The ethics commissioner won’t investigate whatever allegations were forwarded to her by the Prime Minister’s Office. Mr. Jaffer’s business partner says Mr. Jaffer and Ms. Guergis are unfairly under seige. The Liberals, meanwhile, are asking questions about a company linked to said business partner.

Upcoming: Where do we go from here in Afghanistan?

By Andrew Potter - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 3:44 PM - 4 Comments

Coming up this weekend, I’ll be moderating a panel that will feature Chris Alexander, Bob Rae, Terry Glavin, and Najia Haneefi debating Canada’s future role in Afghanistan.

The event – at the Taj Banquet Hall, 4611 Steeles Avenue West, starting at 3:30 p.m. on April 17 – is one in a series of public events the Solidarity Committee is sponsoring across Canada to build support for a “new mission” in Afghanistan after 2011, when the Canadian Forces’ battle group is expected to be withdrawn from Kandahar Province.

Face veils? No. Racy lingerie? Yes.

By Patricia Treble - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 3:30 PM - 8 Comments

The sometimes fraught, often conflicted world of European Muslims took a strange turn last week. On the same day media outlets covered a Belgian parliamentary committee’s decision to outlaw face veils in public, the press also reported on a new online sex shop in next-door Holland selling sex aids deemed halal, or permissible under Islam. And, interestingly, reactions from Muslim leaders to both developments have been muted at most.

If the Belgian parliament approves the ban later this month, wearing anything “that covers all or most of the face” in public could be subject to a $40 fine, or possibly a week behind bars. While a similar proposition in France has caused an uproar, this proposal, which would ban the niqab and burka, has garnered few vocal opponents, even among Muslims. “I really don’t have a problem with the ban itself,” Semsettin Ugurlu, a leader of the Belgian Muslim community, told the Wall Street Journal. “I just worry it could be a slippery slope to taking away other freedoms.” One reason for the lack of fuss is that most of Belgium’s Muslims are from countries where face coverings are rarely used.

Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, Abdelaziz Aouragh has launched what he believes is the first Islamic online sex shop. The devout Muslim is selling everything from “sensual stimulators” to cocoa-butter lubricants. Before opening the site, Aouragh consulted an imam to see whether the trade was allowed. Boularia Houari, who also gives sex advice to couples, approved, as long as the products were halal and meant to improve the marriage. So while racy underwear is okay, toys and porn are out. “It’s important in Islam that both men and women reach orgasm,” explained Houari to NRC Handelsblad. “If a woman is not satisfied, she will use impure methods such as masturbation or vibrators.” Aouragh hopes his website will change the “image of women in the kitchen, submissive, dressed in a burka.”

Ethics commish won't investigate Guergis (UPDATED)

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 2:20 PM - 7 Comments

The House of Commons ethics commissioner has decided not to pursue an investigation into allegations against former Conservative cabinet minister Helena Guergis. Mary Dawson’s office was made aware of unspecified allegations against Guergis by officials in the PMO’s office last week, and has responded that Dawson is “not in a position to proceed with an inquiry under the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons or an examination under the Conflict of Interest Act, but she will continue to monitor the situation.” Meanwhile, the RCMP wouldn’t say whether they have launched an investigation into Guergis’s activities but have confirmed Stephen Harper’s office relayed a matter to them.

Canadian Press

That CEO smile

By Claire Ward - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 1:10 PM - 7 Comments

The art of the corporate mugshot is, to some, a serious business. To Gary Cutlack, a 36-year-old gaming and technology writer, it’s one big joke. Cutlack’s blog, Sexy Executives, focuses on poking fun­ of corporate photography, and occasionally offers style tips to the unfortunate subjects within.

“The thing I find most interesting about these photos is the body language,” says the soft-spoken Brit. “What I enjoy from a good executive photograph is getting the impression that they’re thinking, ‘Oh God, I really wish I wasn’t having my photograph taken, I’ve got so many better things to be doing today than standing in front of a cloudy background, trying to smile.’ But, at the same time, I get the impression that they’ve worn their nicest suit and special tie.”

Parodying corporate culture has become something of an art form since movies like Office Space and TV shows like The Office popularized the awkwardness of that world. This is something Cutlack understands. “I’ve had some pretty dull office jobs. I draw on that.” His subjects are mainly middle-aged white men sporting wan smiles, bad hair, tortoise-shell frames, and ill-fitting suits. Not exactly an appealing collection of photographs. But Cutlack’s commentary is what amuses his up to 9,000 daily readers.

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Obama rallies against nukes

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 1:08 PM - 4 Comments

President Barack Obama called for the securing of all nuclear weapons materials within four years at a 47-nation conference in Washington Tuesday. The U.S. government is concerned that hundreds of tons of enriched uranium and plutonium left over from the cold war are ripe for theft from poorly secured reactors, research facilities and military bases around the world. A draft text of a communiqué to lock down the materials is being written, although its details remain sketchy. “Two decades after the end of the Cold War, we face a cruel irony of history — the risk of a nuclear confrontation between nations has gone down, but the risk of a nuclear attack has gone up,” said Obama, adding that a nuclear weapon falling into the hands of terrorists would be a “catastrophe for the world.” The conference is expected to result in an agreement between Russia and Washington to reduce stockpiles of weapons-grade plutonium, and follows an announcement that Ukraine will get rid of it’s enriched uranium. Obama also met with leaders to get their support for new U.N. sanctions against Iran, which has been defiant over its uranium enrichment program and supposed plan to build a nuclear bomb. However, China, which has a veto on the U.N. Security Council and will be a crucial player in the signing of any agreement, said it will only support a resolution that offers a diplomatic solution to the Iranian crisis. Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has criticized the summit as a U.S. forum to “humiliate human beings.”

New York Times

Werner Herzog, 3-D caveman

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 12:38 PM - 0 Comments

Werner Herzog is famous for turning movies into expeditions—he dragged a steamship over a mountain in the Amazon jungle to make Fitzcarraldo and traced the fatal Alaskan footsteps of of bear-lover Timothy Treadwell in Grizzly Man. Now Herzog has persuaded French authorities to allow him to film cave art that has previously been off limits to filmmakers. And he’s doing it in 3-D. This report includes video of the director discussing his project. And Herzog’s wild descriptions of his art, whether in voice-over narration or interviews—have become as compelling as the art itself. With his hyperbolic accent, this guy can make anything sound monstrous and scary, even the “concavities” and “bulges” and “niches” of a dusty old cave.

The Guardian

Colvin redux

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 12:32 PM - 16 Comments

Richard Colvin is in Ottawa today to testify at hearings of the Military Police Complaints Commission. The morning was mostly a repeat, with some added detail and commentary, of his testimony at the special committee last year. Early reviews are in from the Globe, Canadian Press, CBC, Canwest, Star and Sun.

The Colvin encyclopedia is fully up to date with the latest relevant links and background.

Meanwhile, Derek Lee and Jack Harris responded yesterday to the government’s response to the opposition’s question of privilege on the House order to produce documents. Tom Lukiwski and Jim Abbott then commented for the government. The Speaker thanked all for their submissions and said he would now be considering the matter with a judgment to be delivered in due course.

The text of the discussion if available here.

Charest government rocked by allegations of illegal fundraising

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 12:12 PM - 0 Comments

In an explosive interview with Radio-Canada that hit the airwaves Monday, Marc Bellemare, a former provincial justice minister in Quebec Premier Jean Charest’s government, alleged the provincial Liberals had engaged in illegal fundraising and influence peddling. Bellemare said he saw officials with the provincial Liberals take in large amounts of cash from party donors linked to the construction industry on at least two occasions in a bid to circumvent Quebec’s strict party financing rules. In exchange, Bellemare claims the fundraisers were given a say in the nomination of judges. Bellemare also claimed Charest brushed him off when he brought his concerns about the matter to the premier’s attention. Charest has vehemently denied the allegations, telling reporters he would be asking for a retraction and an apology from Bellemare. “[Bellemare] didn’t speak to me about it,” Charest said of the allegations of dubious fundraising. “I don’t know what he’s talking about.”

Toronto Star

Demolition Porn

By Claire Ward - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 10:57 AM - 6 Comments

1. Texas Stadium (demolished on April 11, 2010; Irving, Texas)
   Former home of the Dallas Cowboys, the Texas Stadium represented 38 years of football under a domed roof that the building’s structure couldn’t entirely support. As a result, the dome covered only the stands, but not the playing field. Cowboys linebacker D. D. Lewis famously said, “Texas Stadium has a hole in its roof so God can watch His favorite team play.” Felled by 2,715 pounds of explosives in 25 seconds, the Texas Stadium grounds will be replaced by a staging area for highway construction. Go inside the demolition here, with an interactive camera panning 360 degrees within the exploding stadium.
2. New Frontier Hotel and Casino (demolished on November 13, 2007; Paradise, Nevada)
   The New Frontier was opened in 1942 as “The Last Frontier,” a Wild West-themed hotel and low-key gambling hall. Over the years, the hotel changed names to “New Frontier” and adopted a space-age theme—in 1956, it hosted Elvis Presley’s Vegas debut in its ‘Venus Room’—but ultimately the decor went back to its cowboy roots. Felled by over 1,000 pounds of explosives, the New Frontier will be replaced by a multibillion-dollar resort belonging to The Plaza chain, set to open in 2011.
3. Aladdin Hotel and Casino (demolished on April 27, 1998; Las Vegas, Nevada)
   Instead of remodeling or upgrading the 17-floor Arabian-themed 1966 structure, the new owners of the Aladdin demolished the property and rebuilt it from the ground up. A new $1.4 billion mega-resort by the same name popped up in 2000, but due to financial woes was eventually bought and changed to a Planet Hollywood. This implosion was witnessed by an estimated 20,000 onlookers and apparently left behind 50 million pounds of debris.
4. Market Square Arena (demolished on July 8, 2001; Indianapolis, Indiana)
   Best known as the home of the Indiana Pacers, the Market Square Arena also housed the games of the Indianapolis Racers, the WHA hockey team 17-year-old Wayne Gretzky played on before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers. The Arena, which collapsed into 15,000 tons of rubble in less than 15 seconds, was also the site of Elvis Presley’s final concert.
5. Landmark Tower (demolished on March 18, 2006; Fort Worth, Texas)
   The 380-foot tall, 30-storey Landmark Tower was originally built for the Continental National Bank in 1957. Prior to its implosion, a total area of approximately 15 city blocks was cordoned off and evacuated. From the first blast, it took just 13 seconds for the structure to hit the ground. Owners XTO Energy now use the location for employee parking, and have tentative plans to use site for a new high-rise building to house their corporate headquarters.
6. Atlanta Fulton County Stadium (demolished on August 2, 1997; Atlanta, Georgia)
   In the late 1960s, the Fulton County Stadium—former home of the Braves—was known for its “ghost town” atmosphere. When new owner Ted Turner took over operations in 1976, he set about remedying this through a series of now-infamous promotions. “Wedlock and Headlock Day” was one event where the team saw 34 couples get married on the field before a game, which was followed by a pro wrestling match. The site imploded in less than thirty seconds, and now holds the parking lot for the new home of the Braves, Turner Field.
7. Kingdome (demolished on March 26, 2000; Seattle, Washington)
   Home to the Supersonics, Seahawks, Mariners and, less notably, Sounders (Seattle’s North American Soccer League team), the Kingdome was known for hosting major sports events. It opened in 1976 with a 25,000 ton concrete domed roof that was notoriously problematic—leaks were discovered two months before opening and in ’94, waterlogged acoustic ceiling tiles fell into the seating area just a half hour before doors opened to fans. However, poor attendance and revenue are what ultimately brought the Kingdome down. Interested in demolition? Blow up the Kingdome for yourself.
8. J.L. Hudson Department Store (demolished on October 24, 1998; Detroit, Michigan)
   At 439 ft. tall and 2.2 million square feet, Hudson’s Department Store, second in square footage only to Macy’s flagship store in New York City, is the tallest and largest building ever to have been demolished via implosion. The 33-storey structure was built in 12 separate stages between 1911 and 1946. Mark Loizeaux, President of Controlled Demolition Inc., called the Hudson’s demolition the “greatest dynamic structural control challenge” his company had ever faced.


9. Landmark Hotel (demolished on November 7, 1995; Las Vegas, Nevada)
   A darling of Hollywood films, the 365-feet-tall Landmark hotel was used to shoot scenes for Diamonds Are Forever, Casino, and Viva Las Vegas. Its implosion will even be forever-immortalized as the Galaxy Hotel destroyed by Martians in Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks!. The futuristic hotel, complete with a flying saucer-like dish, opened its doors in 1969 and was owned by eccentric aviator and film producer Howard Hughes. Its former site is now a parking lot.
10. Flour factory (attempted implosion on August 2, 2009; Cankin, Turkey)
    No one was hurt in this disastrously unsuccessful implosion of a flour factory in Turkey. Instead of imploding, the building tipped over onto its side and rolled, narrowly missing a neighbouring apartment building.

Michel Chartrand dies at 93

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 10:53 AM - 0 Comments

Michel Chartrand, the famously hot-tempered, long-time labour leader from Quebec, has died. Born in 1916, Chartrand spent nearly all 93 years of his life surrounded by union and politics, even running against Lucien Bouchard in the premier’s riding in the 1998 provincial election. Though Chartrand was said to have been suffering from an illness for a while, little is known about the circumstances of his death. Even so, Chartrand’s death marks the end of a colourful, often outrageous era in Quebec’s labour politics. As La Presse‘s Marie-Andrée Amiot puts it, “Chartrand symbolized, for thousands of Quebecers, the anarchist union leader, the man who said out loud what many didn’t even dare to think.”

La Presse

Diet can determine dementia risk: study

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 10:35 AM - 4 Comments

According to new research in the Archives of Neurology, eating a diet rich in nuts, fish and vegetables can reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease significantly. A “Mediterranean diet,” which has lots of fresh produce, and less dairy and red meat, has long been thought to boost health; in the most recent study, US researchers looked at the diets of 2,148 retirement-age adults living in New York. Over four years, 253 of them developed Alzheimer’s. Researchers looked at their diets, and noticed a pattern: those who ate more salad dressing, nuts, fish, poultry, fruits and green leafy vegetables, and less high-fat dairy, red meat and butter, were far less likely to develop the disease.

BBC News

Parties unite for prostate cancer

By Mitchel Raphael - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 10:20 AM - 9 Comments

All parties were united by wearing blue to show their support for NDP leader Jack Layton in his battle with prostate cancer. The men were given ties and the women were given scarves by Prostate Cancer Canada. Below, Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose.

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Liberal MP Justin Trudeau.

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Oil's not peaking. It's jumping the shark

By Colby Cosh - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 10:14 AM - 72 Comments

“You’ve heard of peak oil,” the Globe & Mail asks us this morning. “How about peak gold?” Peak gold, O wise Globe editors? Are you insulting our intelligence by picking such an popular, recognizable substance to create a stir over? Throw a dart at the periodic table, and I can practically promise you that for whichever element you impale, you will be able find a cluster of Hubbertian cranks frantic to raise awareness over its imminent, irreversible, apocalyptic “peaking”. A single Italian study sweeps a whole buffet of minerals off the desk: mercury, lead, gallium, selenium. They missed aluminum, but someone else has it covered. Salon was complaining about peak copper four years ago, and as any fool can tell you, peak copper means peak silver!

How about peak lithium? Surely not… wait, yep, there’s a peak lithium guy. Helium? C’mon, helium makes up a quarter of the goddamn universe! Sorry, peaked. Phosphorus too. You may be under the impression that we’re all swimming around in a sea of nitrogen but turns out that’s peaked. And you may be certain that long-passed, purely local peaks of many resources represent rehearsals for more intractable global limits, and cannot possibly just mean that the Republic of So-and-So found better things to do than mining arsenic. Pretty much everything’s peaking, all at once. Very soon now we’ll all be scurrying like ants across an eight-thousand-mile celestial object that looks suspiciously like an apple core.

When Nostalgias Collide

By Andrew Potter - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 10:07 AM - 3 Comments

America is angry

By Nicholas Köhler - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 9:57 AM - 181 Comments

Mark Wilson/Getty Images; Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty

Late last week, as families across the U.S. prepared for Easter, gubernatorial staff in state capitals across the U.S. were busy dealing with a strange homegrown security threat. An organization calling itself the Guardians of the Free Republics, according to its website committed to the “behind-the-scenes peaceful” dismantling of the U.S. government “without controversy, violence or civil war,” had sent letters to all 50 governors telling them to resign within three days or face removal. The demand was part of a “Restore America Plan,” launched, said the group on its website, after “consultation with high-ranking members of the United States armed forces.”

Part of a “sovereign citizenship” fringe in the U.S. that repudiates government and such modern realities as taxes, the Guardians of the Free Republics argues that “illicit corporations” usurped the U.S. federal government in 1933, and refers to the Internal Revenue Service as a “foreign bank cartel.” Its plan seeks a fundamentalist return to the American constitution and an end to both the “foreclosure nightmare” and the horrors of Department of Motor Vehicles registration, which the group refers to as a “hijacking of automobile ownership.” While FBI investigators said they did not believe the letters themselves were threatening, they did worry the group’s anti-government message might spur others to violence.

No wonder. So much has the U.S. surrendered to its anxieties over the last 18 months, to caustic political division and wild conspiracy theory, that the surreal concerns of the Guardians of the Free Republics can sound almost mainstream. Oddball debates over the birthplace of Barack Obama—who so-called “birthers” charge is ineligible to be president because he was born in Kenya or Indonesia rather than Hawaii—his religion, and the depth of his relationship with former Weatherman radical Bill Ayers, have collided with the recession’s near-double-digit unemployment and substantive policy debates over industry bailouts, stimulus spending and health care, to trigger an angry grassroots conservative movement almost without parallel in the U.S. Made up of anti-government, anti-tax and anti-abortion agitators, it is now opposed by a Democratic party newly galvanized by its successful passage of health care reform.

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Newfoundland Liberals gather

By Mitchel Raphael - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 9:00 AM - 10 Comments

A fundraiser was held in an Ottawa Legion hall for the Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador. Below, Liberal MP Todd Russell (left) and Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador leader Yvonne Jones.

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Newfoundlander and Liberal Senate staffer Christian Dicks.

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What they said (V)

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 8:01 AM - 6 Comments

The issue of Governor Asadullah Khalid was raised three times during Afghanistan committee hearings last year. Specifically, the matter was pursued with Richard Colvin, Major-General David Fraser, the commander of Task Force Afghanistan for most of 2006, and ambassador David Mulroney, the former associate deputy minister for foreign affairs.

Herein, those exchanges.

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