Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend. - Albert Camus

The past 24 have had a lot of contemplation about right and wrong. Watching the sheer joy of the jabbering heads discussing the pictures of Saddam's neck snapping as captured by a cell phone camera have led me to think about what is right and wrong anymore, when it comes to government policy.

It used to be, the best government policy was the one that helped the most people. Now it would appear that the best government policy is the one that causes the least number of deaths.

As governments increasingly take on the role of vindicator, it is up to us, to try and preserve, in our own worlds any sense of morality.

Government as Superhero. What a thought. It's a flawed hero though. Unlike the idealized world of Superman and spider man though, this is a hero who bumbles, and stumbles his way, and hurts more innocent people than criminals. One of the reasons a judicial system outlaws vigilantism is because there is the likelihood of mistake. A mistake which cannot be repaired.

The body count rises on an hourly basis in the "war on terror" a war which will continue throughout my lifetime, and probably into the lifetime of my children. Years ago, someone said, this is a war that cannot be won, because it's a war on a tactic, not a war on an enemy. For every death, a new generation of soldiers is born. It would appear we have entered a state of perpetual conflict.

Death is not only an unusually severe punishment, unusual in its pain, in its finality and in its enormity, but is serves no penal purpose more effectively than a less severe punishment.
William J. Brennan


If there was ever a man worthy of being executed publicly, certain Hussein falls into that category. However, this does not make it right. All that was accomplished yesterday was another death in a war that has claimed far too many deaths as it is. Odds are, more people will be killed in revenge for Hussein's death, then more deaths in revenge for those deaths. Being put in jail, Hussein was no longer a threat, he had become a cartoon, a pathetic figure, ranting and screaming.

What moral obligation is served by swinging him by a thread and snapping his neck? Near as I can see, the world isn't any safer. The only purpose served was revenge, sating a blood lust.

Stories abound about the behaviour of those who witnessed the execution, stories of dancing around the corpse. Tell me this was the behaviour of a democracy. I defy you to find three presidents of the united states elected in the twentieth century who are not worthy of hanging by the neck until dead. Clinton? Bombing medical warehouses, Kennedy? He escalated the war in Vietnam, despite the revisions of history to claim he didn't. Roosevelt? His directives led to the development of the atomic bomb.

Canadian prime ministers are guilty of crimes as well, the nature of ours is less malevolent though due to our lack of a budget.

The absurdity of what happened on December 29 will cost a price that will be paid for years, in blood and death. Hussein needed to be kept in jail, humiliated, turned into a clown. Now he can grow in stature in the fuzzy reflection of history.

rea ipsa loquitur

Now that Bush has his pound of flesh, will he go home?


The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Awaits alike the inevitable hour.
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.

Thomas Gray

She asked for my love and I gave her a dangerous mind

I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours.
Hunter S. Thompson

Weird sensations waking up this morning, a strange hand has gripped my forehead and is squeezing tight. Maybe it's just a lack of coffee, I'm never sure anymore, the yule season is an odd one, the ghosts outside the window are more schizophrenic than usual.

People want to to be nicer, but don't know how to, it's an unusual state of mind for people to be pleasant to each other, and doing so makes them well, jittery.

Weird noises coming from the magic box this morning, anticipation that a man will be hung by the weekend. Not sure, but a violent death like that never leads to anything good. I have a suspicion that next week we'll be talking about the aftermath of an incredible upswing in violence. I hope I'm wrong. The American media wizards are practically rubbing their hands with glee at the possibility that Hussein's execution will be televised.

Send lawyers, guns, and money.

The TV business is uglier than most things. It is normally perceived as some kind of cruel and shallow money trench through the heart of the journalism industry, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs, for no good reason.
Hunter S. Thompson

Your correspondent's clock has gone haywire, doing the graveyard shifts last night and tonight, I'm completely oblivious to what time of day it is, the clock on the wall glows purple and tells me it's 3PM, but it feels like 6AM. An attempt to sleep was made but this horrific electronic, shrieking, high treble version of "buttons and bows" kept playing, not sure if it was grounded in reality or a audio hallucination caused by exhaustion, either way it kept me awake and in a very agitated state.

Filling myself with caffeine is the only solution, this is the only solution to most of my problems that affect my state of mind. Exhaustion hounds me like a foul spirit. The ghosts that hang over my head in a perpetual state of torment, swarm on days like these.

George Harrison said it best "It seems like years since it's been clear". Despite the fact that the sun is shining today, there is a shadow that hangs over the day. Watching the magic box, the world is astounded that a 93 year old man who had been fighting pneumonia and heart disease has died.

Peering through the windows of the bunker, I see the hollow eyes of the ghosts as they wander the alleys of the urban jungle. Despite the commanded joy of the season, the streets seem to be filled with despair. Walking home in the morning, there is an imagic irony of a man in a sleeping bag seeking shelter from the elements in the doorway of a bank.

I need to sleep.

I'm a street walking cheetah with a heart full of napalm

Each blade of grass has its spot on earth whence it draws its life, its strength; and so is man rooted to the land from which he draws his faith together with his life.
Joseph Conrad

It occurs to me that I arrived in Vancouver 18 years ago. This is the longest I've called one place home in my life. Where I grew up, Ottawa, isn't my home. This is my home, in fact my apartment now, is literally 50 feet away from the room where I spent my first night in Vancouver.

I draw a strength from this city, I've been to hell and back in this burgh. For all of my whining and griping that appears on this journal of my life, this city is my strength, my spine, my heart, my courage, and my soul.

Perhaps it's the newness of the place. The ground is still ripping open and pushing up, it's not eroding like the eastern part of the country which emerged further back in time, and is falling back to the sea.

my life will span one tenth of a blink of an eye in geological time, but I feel a birthing going on here, more than a renewal, it's a creation.

Giving some more thought to solidarity, I'm compelled, for reasons of fairness, to think of reasons, beyond pure ego, of why people would sacrifice their brothers and sisters in a union for their own ambitions.

Systemic bigotry. Sadly, it does still exist today, homophobia, racism, and sexism are still rampant. The terms are couched a little nicer, and not as hostile, but it's still there.

This bigotry would not only require but would compel a person to step out and confront it on it's face.

solidarity forever

sol·i·dar·i·ty Pronunciation (sl-dr-t)
n.
A union of interests, purposes, or sympathies among members of a group; fellowship of responsibilities and interests.

"A Trade Union (Labour union) ... is a continuous association of wage-earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment."[1]

Over the last three hundred years, trade unions have developed into a number of forms, influenced by differing political and economic regimes. The immediate objectives and activities of trade unions vary, but may include:

Some people in my extended circle of colleagues, are in need of a reminder of the above two definitions. Frequently, in the past few years, I've seen members of a union hang out their brothers and sisters in order to further their own goals and ambitions.

At first, my own naivety wrote this off as a youthful misunderstanding of the purpose of a labour union. However, as time passes, I'm realizing that this is more of a trend, rather than an isolated, misguided attempt at ambition.

There are two ways to rise up through the ranks, one is to be carried up on the arms and shoulders of your co-workers, the second is to step on their necks and heads. Who do you think will have the more stable stay at the top?

The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.
Joseph Conrad

I've slept poorly for nearly 20 years now. With the exception of times I've been ill I've not slept for more than 5 hours since the early 90's. I'm haunted by a lot of ghosts. The blackness is torn open every night and new spirits are shaken out into the world.

Watching the feeds this morning, The yule season is dominated by stories of rape. Escorts, and soldiers, the christmas season is apparently the season for violent penetration.

When the room holds it's breath even the shadows listen to you

They talk of a man betraying his country, his friends, his sweetheart. There must be a moral bond first. All a man can betray is his conscience.
Joseph Conrad

Like a shade that's starting to fray, colours are appearing through the clouds this morning. A weird mix of purples and oranges poking through the blanket of grey.

According to the weather wizards, the rain is taking a break until this evening.

Weird flickers from the magic box this morning, whispers of terrorist attacks in England, talk of explosions in Iraq. This Christmas is deep in the grip of "the fear", a tragic and horrible season is a Christmas in the arms of the black beast.

As governments halfway around the world commit mass murder, the hemming and hawing seems to be to try and find a way to stop, much like a sociopath suddenly finding his conscience, but unable to contain his urges, the new year promises many disturbing twists and turns, periods of harsh inhumanity mixed with episodes of angst.

The United States is a troubled country of late, hiding from a threat it doesn't know how to contain. Committing military acts that far outweigh the original atrocities committed against them, and against the wrong people.

The original intention, I believe for the invasion of Iraq was to boost morale. An easy win against a foe who had previously threatened. This plan has backfired. Now the US is drawn too thin, if another foe, or it's original one, El-Qaeda presents itself, it will be unable to face the enemy. It has no troops left to dispatch. Barring compulsory military service, which it knows will not have any popular support The US has committed itself to a civil war, and doesn't even know which side to support.

The world moves on a woman's hips

The scrupulous and the just, the noble, humane, and devoted natures; the unselfish and the intelligent may begin a movement - but it passes away from them. They are not the leaders of a revolution. They are its victims.
Joseph Conrad

Another wind warning. The breath of God is going to make another attempt to blow confusion into the world this evening, this is getting tiresome.

As I strap things down in the bunker, the feeds cast their ominous shadows on the wall.

A new nuclear power has emerged in the middle east, this can't be good for anyone. Regardless of the country, this is a part of the world that's very unstable, and any government in control of nuclear weapons has to tread very carefully.

Some weird pieces of paper have made their way across my desk in the past few days, still trying to determine their importance.

Hobbes clearly proves, that every creature lives in a state of war by nature.
~Jonathan Swift

Another day of grey. This cocoon of absent colour is wearing on me. Pondering the feeds this morning, something occurs to me. There's a new trend developing amongst the chattering heads, "Blame the Iraqis". For 12 years the US bombed the bejeezus out of Iraq, killing, best guess, 500,000 children between 1990 and 2003, then a full scale invasion which dissembled their government, now the US is saying that the civil war in Iraq is the fault of the Iraqi people.

Sigh....

This magnificent butterfly finds a little heap of dirt and sits still on it; but man will never on his heap of mud keep still.
Joseph Conrad


The gremlins in my skull are dancing a weird jig this morning. As the feeds burn into the bunker, a weird sense of calm is wrapped around the bunker, almost a numbness. rain for the foreseeable future according to the weather wizards. This time of year always beats me up, we have little to no exposure to the sun for months on end. The gray that envelopes the sky, seems to eventually make it's way into my bloodstream. My life becomes gray.


It's difficult to remain motivated when everything is a battleship gray. The absence of direct light causes weird shadows on the wall, difficult to interpret, to understand. The flicker of the magic box beaming inhumanity into my living room is dulled by this weird blanket of gray, the lights are not falling the way they're supposed to.

The art, curve, line and swerve

Words, as is well known, are the great foes of reality.
Joseph Conrad

The feeds are humming this morning, a quiet day evidently. The heavens are an ominous grey which doesn't bode well for the day.

Attempting to escape my reality last night, I watched an old movie, THX 1138. A nihilist post apocalyptic view of the future made in the early 70's. 'Twas scary just how close to our world it was.

I'm an optimist by nature, but the feeds seem intent on ruining that part of my personality.

A wild storm ripped through last week, causing your correspondent to cower in fear in the corner of the bunker. Trees, supermodels, kittens, all flew past the window at terrific speeds.

Hold me down, I'm a wounded man

It is not the clear-sighted who rule the world. Great achievements are accomplished in a blessed, warm fog.
Joseph Conrad

As the feeds burn into the bunker this morning, I'm wracked with confusion about what the future holds for Iraq. On the one hand you have a great hew and cry for a staggered withdrawal of troops. In a distant corner you have a hawkish cry for more troops. There seems to be a movement to not only increase the occupational force, but to become more aggressive.

Occupations, historically, almost always fail. This is a historic truth. Provocative action will be received with even more violence.

Facing it, always facing it, that's the way to get through. Face it.
Joseph Conrad





Apparently the wind and rains are over, replaced by cold and snow. A good day to return to work I suppose. It would seem as if this cold weather will be a brief spell, only lasting a day or so.

The bunker is well fitted for the cold, not so much for the wet and wind. Alas the jabbering, floating heads were disappointed, no corpses washing down the streets for them to film.

As in political so in literary action a man wins friends for himself mostly by the passion of his prejudices and the consistent narrowness of his outlook.
Joseph Conrad

The wind was blowing like the breath of an angry god last night. Trying to get a fitful sleep last night was near impossible with a raging blow of air blasting past the bunker. Even more disturbing was the news coverage of the wind. You got the sense that small children and puppies were going to be blown off by this wind and carried to the nether world. "Prepare for the apocalypse!" the ordinarily staid news anchors screamed into the cameras.

Alas, here in the bunker, all was calm. I huddled by the window with a weapon prepared for the worst. Peering through the drapes, I'm not sure but I think I may have seen supermodel wisp past the window at 2:30 AM.

Any work that aspires, however humbly, to the condition of art should carry its justification in every line.
Joseph Conrad

I woke up, in the words of 13 engines, dreaming of Cocaine and Clowns. An odd duality of the tragic and the comic. Having been told by the weather wizards that I should be prepared for a storm of biblical proportions last night, I was battened down in the bunker last night peering through the mattresses stacked near the windows, prepared to see small children being swept away by the winds. However, it never happened. All we have is this damn blanket of grey that continues to depress.

The magic box is flickering strange shadows on the wall this morning. David Duke is in the news again, why do we keep putting this man in front of cameras? He is a small horrible little man, who needs to be pushed to the fringe, he's not dangerous, he's just a loon.

I'm braced for some ugliness this coming week, as the yule season approaches with a dizzying pace, the horrible songs have started piping over the speakers at all available opportunities, I'm not sure if the sugar plum fairies dancing in my head are a result of low blood sugar or a subliminal suggestion planted by the grocery store.

An artist is a man of action, whether he creates a personality, invents an expedient, or finds the issue of a complicated situation.
Joseph Conrad

I'm constantly on the lookout for new authors. New forms of provocative narrative, textured exposition, there is so little of it out there. Ondaatje is good, Eco even Better, I don't mind Douglas Coupland, but he's starting to wear on me.

Conrad was a giant, Orwell was too, Thompson, until he swallowed the pistol was a hero. Who is out there who can compare to them. Who are the modern giants?

I'm tempted to think of Umberto Eco, but he writes a book once every ten years.

The bunker is a cold place these days, huddled against the window, trying to find a light in the darkness caused by fog and clouds, I peer onto the horizon trying to find an end to the interminable. That's where the hunt for the new giant takes hold, an escape. Turning on the magic box is terrifying at best, poisoned writers, exploding cars, idolized killers. Hate as a form of comedy, this is what passes for fun these days.

To make matters worse, I look to the CBC for solace, and whose ugly mug is facing me? Mulroney's, I thought we finally got rid of him years ago, why does he keep coming back, like a poorly healed boil?

All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind.
Joseph Conrad


I've been writing about my difficulties in finding my voice since my return to the bunker. I've realized my problem, it's my lack of a muse. Despite my protestations of complete independence, I've come to realize I do need someone to get this muscle under my ribs "a-pumpin".

This dearth of passion is good for my emotional base line, days are free of ups and downs, but the ups and downs are what get me excited. Funny, when you have them, you want them to stop, when you don't have them, their absence affects you in ways you didn't expect.

Action is consolatory. It is the enemy of thought and the friend of flattering illusions.
Joseph Conrad

Flu is a terrible, terrible thing. Been lying in bed for the past 48 hours sweating and feeling sorry for myself. I'm not even enjoying the coffee. As I add up the tragedies I'm forced to take stock. The bunker is not a warm comfortable place to be, its a safe place. I'm reminded of the name of Superman's home, "The Fortress of Solitude".

I'm finding solace in escapism the past few days. Detaching myself from reality, reading the classics of science fiction. I've just finished reading Heinlein's "starship troopers" which I don't think I've read since my pre teen years.

This is a tough time of year for your correspondent. The weather is oppressive, an annoying holiday is on the horizon. Illness is around every corner, and my slippers are much to small for my feet.

The magic box is casting strange shadows, almost, almost filled with hope that the days of lying about the middle east are over, and perhaps the western world will confront honestly the reasons why so many people are willing to kill themselves in order to hurt the west.

A man's most open actions have a secret side to them.
Joseph Conrad

The ironically named "institute for peace" releases it's Iraq study group report today. Whether or not Bush heeds it's advice, only he and time can tell.

One has to beg the question, why has Bush set up these elaborate groups, with gravitas and budgets, only to ignore their collected wisdom? Did he hope in his heart of hearts that these groups would affirm that he's doing the right thing? Perhaps he hoped that "loyalty" which is so important to him, would override common sense. Loyalty is important to me, I wouldn't put myself in a position to criticize someone I was loyal to.

Methinks Bush has a niggling demon on his shoulder whispering into his ear. He knows he's doing the wrong thing, but his ego won't let him back down.

A caricature is putting the face of a joke on the body of a truth.
Joseph Conrad

The days are increasingly shorter, the darkness wrapping us like a shroud. November and December are cruel months, cold, damp and dark. They're not the cruelest, Eliot has reserved that distinction for April.

The shadows on the magic box are telling me that apparently the Liberals have taken a turn to the left. The new leader Dion, chose to harangue our honourable prime minister on his stand regarding gay marriage. Why in 2006 we are still debating a fundamental issue of human rights, I don't know.

The fallout from the pandering Rumsfeld memo continues to rain down on Bush. More and more, with each passing day it's evident that Bush is not only disconnected from reality, he has no interest in becoming part of reality. Wednesday brings the release of the baker commission on Iraq, with an expected call for troop withdrawal. Bush has already discounted that possibility.

I'm having a problem finding my voice with this journal, it's there, I just need to find it, I need a muse, an inspiration.

My choice of reading material of late hasn't been helpful in finding that voice, a lot of depressing material about the dark days in Baghdad, putting emotional strain on an already tortured heart. As I lean back in the chair, I listen to rags by Scott Joplin these days, in an attempt to cheer myself up. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not.

In fact as I write this, I'm listening to “the entertainer” which makes me smile, just a bit.

A golden age of film, pops into my head, the early mid 70's. The Sting was part of a movement that came out of the sixties, that led to Scorcese, Coppola, De Palma and Ridley Scott. Alas, another part of that movement was Star Wars, one of my fondest memories of youth, but a movie that may have forever damaged the art of film making.

You can't, in sound morals, condemn a man for taking care of his own integrity. It is his clear duty.
Joseph Conrad

Rumsfeld's memo, which became public yesterday, has to be one of the most pandering missive's I've ever seen from a civil servant.

Publicly announce a set of benchmarks agreed to by the Iraqi Government and the U.S. — political, economic and security goals — to chart a path ahead for the Iraqi government and Iraqi people (to get them moving) and for the U.S. public (to reassure them that progress can and is being made).

That's all they need a little motivation, maybe we should think about drafting gym teachers to head over to yell at them.

Stop rewarding bad behavior, as was done in Fallujah when they pushed in reconstruction funds, and start rewarding good behavior. Put our reconstruction efforts in those parts of Iraq that are behaving, and invest and create havens of opportunity to reward them for their good behavior. As the old saying goes, “If you want more of something, reward it; if you want less of something, penalize it.” No more reconstruction assistance in areas where there is violence.

Why don't we just give them shortbread cookies every time they do something right, like good little children?

Begin modest withdrawals of U.S. and Coalition forces (start “taking our hand off the bicycle seat”), so Iraqis know they have to pull up their socks, step up and take responsibility for their country.

Wow, I don't even know where to start with that one.

Last week I said that the argle bargle in Iraq was akin to a revolution, the attitude shown in this memo is very similar to attitudes shown by the English towards the colonies in the 18th century which led to the US revolution.

It is the dull man who is always sure, and the sure man who is always dull.

H. L. Mencken

Speaking of things impossible. Yesterday the liberals elected a new leader. It occurs to one that this is the first liberal in nearly 40 years that comes to the post having fought for it at a convention, and didn't come to the post by way of obligation.

How does the bode for the Liberal's chances in the next election? Who knows? Dion is a bit of a mystery on all issues except Quebec nationalism.

The morning brings a return of the damn fog, with vicious hounds, and wailing children the morning is full of ill omens.

“Music expresses that which can not be said and on which it is impossible to be silent”

Victor Hugo

Often, to clear my head from my troubles, I think of the impossible. Pondering things that have no solution or no conclusion can be incredibly relaxing.

Having said that, I imagine Bush has his own imponderable to think about. How does he get out of Iraq, and maintain US credibility or honour. Alas, unlike me, this imponderable does not seem to be relaxing Bush, but rather is stressing him out.

The sun shines today, a welcome respite from the gray gloom which has hung over the city for the past few weeks.

The whiz bang of the magic box is booming out loud this morning, with the sounds of the liberal convention in Ottawa. Not sure who the leader is going to be, but the maneuvering is gearing towards a Stephan Dion victory on the 4th ballot.

Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.

H. L. Mencken

Well. the morning brings warmer air and dripping walls. Spent the night in the bunker escaping from the planet earth and soaring into outer space. An amazing thing the imagination. Now matter how bad things get, I can always escape by closing my eyes.

Sadly, reality has a way of crashing back through the walls of the bunker.

the strobing of the magic box is casting weird shadows on the wall this morning. Images of planes crashing, bombs exploding, and radioactive planes. When did the world become an Ian Fleming novel?

Sitting here drinking the coffee, pondering the clouds and wondering what surprises they bring today. We truly are slaves to the elements.

People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.
George Orwell





After giving some thought to what I said yesterday about the violence in Iraq being a coup, I've reconsidered. I think it can be more accurately called a revolution. A coup is a battle for control of an existing government, a revolution is the removal of an existing government and replacing it with an entirely different structure.

The terms have come to be used interchangeably through the ongoing bastardization of the english language by politicians and news hacks.

Could Americans though come to refer to the people committing the acts of violence against their soldiers, as revolutionaries? The term revolutionary has a lot of historic cache in the US lexicon, conjuring images of George Washington, and other heroes.

However, one could argue that the United States represents a tyrannical force that has pressed a boot to the throat of the Iraqi people.The people advocating, through force of arms and explosives that the americans should leave are the same as Washington's minutemen at Valley Forge. Attacking from the shadows at an oppressive infrastructure, that's how the American Revolution started.

“Life is one long process of getting tired.”
Samuel Butler

The bunker serves as a strong barrier to the elements outside. Sometimes, however, it's not strong enough. The outside world has a way of conspiring to sneak up and attack me.

As I huddle in the corner, awaiting what tragedy will befall me next, I'm gripped by the images that scream from the magic box. Much wrist wringing and wailing about whether on not to call the horror in Iraq a "civil war" or not. When assorted groups are isolated by religion, location, or ideology and are all seeking control of the government, it's a civil war.

As I pull my slippers tighter onto my feet, I have to wonder why it's taken 3 and a half years to summon up the truth to call this civil war, what it is.

I'm blind with a furious anger this morning. After a shift from hell, I get stuck at work for another 8 and a half, when some idiot decides that his inability to manage his personal life is reason enough to fuck with my life, and my health.

If an individual chooses a free wheeling lifestyle, in which they abuse their own body in ways they see fit, fine, I don't care. When your abusive lifestyle affects me, then you have a problem that is no longer your own business.

My libertarian bent prevents me from doing any more than just shaking my head when I hear about people putting chemicals into their bodies as long as they have "eyes wide open" I'm hardly one to complain. However, when that choice means you miss a shift, which is unable to be filled requiring that I, who has made a choice to live a reasonably healthy lifestyle (coffee and cigarettes notwithstanding)then you empower me to complain. When you make a decision to remove tools that will assist me in doing that job, out of spite, creating work for at least 4 other individuals, then you have a problem which is no longer your own. Your choices, as I see them, leave, or suck it up and just do your job with respect to your co-workers. You have a problem with your employer, fine, take it up with them, but don't fuck with the people who just want to come in, do their jobs and go home. Your mood swings, which I suspect are exacerbated by chemical abuse, should not be the barometer by which other people enjoy their shifts.

A professional would come in every day, do their job to their best of their ability with the resources they have available. A professional, would only complain upwards in the management chain about problems with the tools they have available. A professional would address problems with their co-workers with their co-workers and not immediately go running to management to report problems. A professional does not "investigate" short comings by co-workers and report those to management, ESPECIALLY, in a unionized workplace. A professional does not attempt to shock his co-workers by sharing his chemical and sexual exploits in graphic detail with his co-workers.

A professional does not do the things above, and then complain about the resources not provided by his employer. You want to be treated like a professional, act like one.

Interesting Boo Hoo from Cherie Blair, Tony Blair's wife this morning. She has said there is "no professional morality in journalism" to a group of English University students.

One can make a few arguments about this. First, I would hardly say that a woman who's husband was an architect of an invasion, based on false evidence and lies that has arguably killed 655,000 Iraqi civilians is in no position of lecture anyone on morality.

Second, ultimately what they do, and how they do it is determined by a free market. The issue of morality lies with the people who buy their product. Arguably, all they do is interpret an event.

I'm waking up this morning to snow. This can't be good for anyone. Especially not me. I moved away from snow years ago, and aside from a lapse in judgment which led to a 4 year stint in Whistler. I've lived in Vancouver for two reasons, one, I love it, and two, it's the city in Canada with the least amount of snow.

This snow has put me on uncertain footing, I need to relax light another cigarette and take a nap.

"Conscience is the inner voice that warns us somebody may be looking."
H. L. Mencken

Another day of lousy coffee.

Things are getting nasty in the bunker. This water situation is getting worse before it gets any better. I'm led to believe that it will take several clear days before this interminable water advisory will be lifted. Looking at the weather on the magic box, I'm seeing that there is nothing but rain for the foreseeable future.

This bad news is making my already irritable, unstable mood even more agitated. Without the bare necessities of life, your faithful (well, technically sporadic) correspondent is being left with very little recourse, than an all out temper tantrum.

As I peer out the windows at the clouds, somewhere above the din of the city a little tiny voice can be heard from my window "curse you, rain fairies" as a little tiny fist waves out my window.

A home is not a mere transient shelter: its essence lies in the personalities of the people who live in it.

H. L. Mencken

Things are grim in the bunker. Dirty water, bad coffee, OJ Simpson is back in the news, and I couldn't be feeling any worse than I am. Ordinarily, I'm in agreement with TS Eliot, however I have to digress, November is indeed the cruelest month, not April. This vicious, unpleasant weather is taking it's toll on my psyche.

My erratic sleep patterns, the unsatisfying coffee in the morning, and all this damn talk about banning smoking on the patios is causing a severe twitch in my left eye which is starting to frighten small children and dogs on the street.

"The older I grow the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom."

H. L. Mencken

Another week of boiling water evidently, the coffee still tastes like shit, and I'm starting to get grumpy about it. If there is only one thing that is necessary for the bunker to run without things degenerating into complete chaos, it's coffee.

More rain coming down today tells me that it's going to get worse before it gets any better. The wind is screaming like a banshee, and the hatches are battened down. The ionizer is whirring full air, for the chain smoked cigarettes have filled the bunker with an impenetrable haze.

A fist fight broke out at the library last night, there's a certain poetic justice to that. A group of people were upset that a community meeting was being held as an information sharing session, and wasn't publicized. The City of Vancouver wants to share information, it just doesn't want to tell them where it's being shared.

Beaten up

I'm feeling like I've been through the wringer this morning. Things are reasonably quiet here in the bunker, and the weather is reasonably cooperative.

The coffee still tastes horrible, and we're supposed to keep boiling our water until the end of the week. It's amazing how sensitive we are to these things, evidently at a cost-co or some such store, people were hoarding water, as soon as it was being put on the shelves, it was being taken off by the caseload.

Alas, the only people who should be panicking about this are the immune impaired. I take reasonable precautions, I do boil my water, and I filter it, but, and this is a large but, I'm not going to freak out about this.

I have come to a realization about how much water I use on a given day, which I hadn't come to appreciate before this. Every time I cook, 3 times a day, I'm using litres of water. I'm using another few litres when I was the dishes, another few pailfulls when I shower, shave, and brush my teeth. I had always considered myself a bit of a water miser, but the reality is, I'm just as bad.

It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office.
H. L. Mencken

Hiding in the bunker this morning, things are pretty grim. The coffee tastes horrible, the water even worse, and the rain is still coming down.

A thought occurred yesterday, that I think needs fleshing out. It's been pondered a lot in the past few days as to why the republicans lost so many seats in the mid term elections 12 days ago. Putting aside strategies and short term policy differences, I think the failure on the part of the "right wing" is more fundamental. The republicans have walked away from their base conservative values.

A "true" conservative is an advocate for smaller, lesser intrusive government. It let's me look out for me, and if I can't do that, the government will not be there to help me out.Conservatism has been hijacked by a christian minority that seeks to do the opposite, interfere in the private lives of all citizens, and create administrative infrastructure that will meddle in the most personal of personal matters, think about sexuality, reproductive rights, and privacy laws.

The conservatives in the states have walked away from their traditional libertarian beliefs, and wandered into totalitarian territory. Freedom of movement, speech, and thought have all been encroached in the past 5 years.

"Any man who afflicts the human race with ideas must be prepared to see them misunderstood."

H. L. Mencken

I've been told that perhaps this blog is a little bit of a downer. Surely there must be something more interesting to write about, rather than just griping about George Bush et al.

That criticism is probably true. As I ponder the future from the bunker, I'm not sure if I'm an optimist or a pessimist. I try, believe it or not, to be an optimist. I do have a lot of faith in the human spirit, I don't believe people are inherently evil.

I do think people try, and get in over their heads. Somewhere along the way the compass goes awry. There is no re-do button in human lives, trust me if there were, mine would have worn out a long time ago.

I do think some people are needlessly cruel, not out of a sense of elitism, but out of a sense of weakness in themselves. There is a need to justify one's existence, one's need that they are better at something than someone else. Sometimes when that reason is not evident to themselves it manifests itself in a deprecation of another.

I was thinking the other day about how many crime dramas appear on the TV every night. On a given night, between 8 and 11 PM there are at least 5 police dramas appearing on television, CSI, Law & Order, Criminal Minds, Numb3rs etc.

I like these shows as much as the next person, but one has to wonder why one profession in particular is the focus of so many shows. Is it because crime is truly the most primal form of human behavior, that murder is the simplest human act in which to distill drama?

The formulas for these show are essentially the same, A body is found, a witty comment is made, a passing character we meet in the first 10 minutes is introduced, and dismissed, only to return in the final act to be named the murderer after 35 minutes of red herrings in which we learn assorted life lessons from the characters on the show, mixed in with a healthy dash of character development and exposition on series long story arcs that may or may not be concluded.

Why are there so many police shows on? Perhaps it's a need to justify to ourselves that we give police an extraordinary amount of power and we need to justify the abuses we sometimes read about in the paper or watch on the 6:00 news.

Just the other day I saw footage of man being tased, repeatedly in California because he did not have proper identification at a library. There is also footage of a policeman punching a man repeatedly in the face after he has been pinned down. Here in Vancouver, we have a case of several Vancouver Police Officers apparently beating a man then re-enacting one the photos from Abu Ghraib prison.

The individuals who did this are not going to appearing as poster children for any police departments in the near future.

The libertarian in me resents any police presence in society, the property owner in me is grateful that they are there to protect me. My downstairs neighbour is a police office, and I can't imagine him doing anything cruel or unjustified. However, slap that uniform on someone and a transformation occurs. This is a theme that has been studied in literature for centuries. Most actively, it was examined in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, starting with Zorro, going through to Batman, and James Bond, who is better known by a number.

boiling over

"No one has ever succeeded in keeping nations at war except by lies." : by: Salvador de Madariaga - )

Vancouver has had a boil water advisory posted for the next few days.  Yeah Gods, this is not how the day is supposed to go.  I'm sitting here with the kettle boiling so I can brush my teeth, trying to avoid a gastrointestinal disease that might be caused if I brush my teeth.

Makes us realize just how important water is to us on a daily basis, as I measure out the jugs of water.  Makes us wonder what other things we take for granted.  How about electricity, how about a reasonably safe roadway system?  We now have peanut free sections on airplanes.  We become accustomed to being taken care of how do we ensure our safety at all times?

“Lack of loyalty is one of the major causes of failure in every walk of life”

Napoleon Hill


A vicious and unpleasant storm whipped past the bunker last night, a perfect companion for my mood.

Sitting on the couch, staring at the window as the tempest tore past, I thought of issues of loyalty, solidarity, and faith. I wondered why it is, loyalty has become such a rare thing that it is to be treasured like a rare diamond, why is it so difficult for people to remain loyal to each other?

I have learned in the past few years to hold those people, who are loyal, very close. I have come to learn that those people are rare. 'Tis better to have a few people around who do know of loyalty, and practice it, than a lot of people in my life who would betray me at the drop of a hat.

This lesson I learned during my salad days in the political game. I heard a phrase, at a meeting, that stuck with me. "Dance with the one that brung ya". In the short term, loyalty has cost me, it's cost me jobs, it's cost me a career, and I'm not sure how many thousands of dollars. It has however rewarded me more than any amount of money, I've got a circle of people around myself whom I trust with my life.

As I shuffle into different environments I meet new people, and I foolishly head into friendships and companionships expecting the same loyalty and honour among these new people. Alas, most of the time it's not meant to be.

0nce more unto the breech

“…..if by a liberal they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, their civil liberties.. if that is what they mean by a “liberal” then I am proud to be a liberal. “: John F. Kennedy

The past 9 months have been very trying ones for this damaged soul. The web of lies being spread south of the border have infected the governing party in this part of the world.

Our military presence has escalated in a part of the world notorious for being unkind to foreigners. While the rest of the world has come to the determination that they should stay out of Iraq and Afghanistan, our shiny new prime minister has rushed headlong into Afghanistan, using the spectre of 9/11 as justification. For the first time since WW2 Canadian kids are coming home in boxes.

As I sit here, the magic box is glowing with the shiny face of Bush Jr. sharing his hopes and dreams for the future. It makes me sad, this is a man is obviously way out of his depth, and but for the intelligent people with nefarious motives surrounding him, he would have curled up into a little ball ages ago and started crying.

the prodigal blogger returns

Well,
An unfortunate series of events in February conspired to render your faithful correspondents computer inert.

A shower of sparks, a loud bang, a puff of smoke led to your correspondent squealing like a schoolgirl at a museum display of giant cockroaches.

Suffice to say, I've now returned, and we'll refer to my missing posts as my "lost months".

"Few are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of the colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change. Each time a person stands up for an idea, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, (s)he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." -- Robert F. Kennedy


I've used the analogy of the Roman Empire to describe the United States, and truly that analogy becomes more and more prescient with each passing week.

Bush is now Nero, on the weekend his chief consul, Dick Cheney accidentally shot a hunting companion in the face, spraying him with shotgun pellets. Noone bothered to tell the Imperial President until nearly 24 hours later.

It's been said that the worst thing about evil is it's banality, it's easy to sneak up on you. We can all spot the villain with the twirling moustache and sinister laugh, it's harder to spot the villain who comes to us with good intentions.

The nature of politics in the western world has been dictated by a history of civil discourse, we've had politicians who have disagreed with each other, some have indeed been corrupt and out for personal gain. We've had others who have manipulated the process in order to serve a personal agenda.

However, up until 2000, I don't think we've seen in the western world a leader who was truly evil.

I'm so tired lately, and I think it's because the battle against evil is being lost. Preparations for war are being made on a daily basis, and it barely registers on the news. The political pundits are discussing it during the graveyard hours, but it's not part of the normal conversation. Not that long ago, preparations for war would have dominated the news, but we've become so numb to war, to the idea of invading another country that we don't even talk about it, the murder of a con man's wife and child is much more important.

This is not a matter of a disagreement over intentions, this is true world domination. The man who sits in the White House has surrounded himself with a praetorian guard bent on bending the world to it's will. Countries that differ with the intentions of the white house are to be toppled and their governments replaced.

It's not just countries that have come under scrutiny either, it's individuals. The NSA spying scandal has shown that not even citizenship in the republic guarantees freedom from suspicion.

These are strange times, embassies are burning in the middle east and cartoonists are fearing for their lives.

I'm listening to the stax/volt collection from 1958, trying to get my feet hopping again, all the while, apparently Aretha Franklin is singing the American National Anthem at the orgy bowl taking place this afternoon in Detroit.

Weird times are upon us my friends, 2006 is going to be a watershed year, a year that determines the course of the next 100 years. We can either roll over and accept being sodomized by the government or we can stand up and say enough is enough. At least with the tax cuts being dispersed willy nilly, at least proving we're only whores, and not just easy.

As long as we get our 95 dollar per quarter tax rebate, we're willing to accept a totalitarian government, free to collect information on us at will, as long as we're not "doing anything" we've got nothing to worry about right?

I'm so very tired.

You can't put your arms around a memory

Thursday started out with a bang: a gunshot to the chest on a drug deal gone bad. Heat, humidity, moonlight--all the elements in place for a long weekend. I was good at my job: there were periods when my hands moved with a speed and skill beyond me and my mind worked with a cool authority I had never known. But in the last year I had started to lose that control. Things had turned bad. I hadn't saved anyone for months. I just needed a few slow nights, a week without tragedy followed by a couple of days off.Paul Schrader "Bringing out the dead"

I'm haunted by a lot of ghosts lately. That's why I haven't written, I'm spiritually, intellectually, and physically tired. Tired of the fight, I just want to lay in a forest and sleep.

I'm tired of swinging punches for an audience that doesn't see the swinging. An audience with a ringside seat unaware of the fight going on for their benefit.

I'm tired of the sacrifices I've made in my life for people unaware of it, I'm tired of the stress I've put my body and heart through. I look into my eyes in the mirror and I see the ghosts of lives that could have been.

I sit in my chair and I see the ghosts of friends past walking by, friends who no longer shuffle to and fro on this globe.

"It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt." -- John Philpot Curran: Speech upon the Right of Election, 1790

A rare sight, a big glowing disc in the sky that seems to be generating warmth, some people are calling this object a "sun" a homonym of "son". This glowy bright disc seems to warming the land as it rises in the sky.

I came home from work last night, popped some popcorn and sat down to watch a taped copy of the State Of The Union last night. As I sat back, my gag reflex kicked in every once in awhile causing popcorn kernels to fly across the room.

An improvement over other years should be noted, he only invoked 9/11 twice during his speech. However, his words about protecting liberties around the world, made me practically scream in despair, the hypocricy of this man in particular talking about defending liberty is beyond the pale.

An interesting quote,

The Palestinian people have voted in elections. And now the leaders of Hamas must recognize Israel, disarm, reject terrorism and work for lasting peace.

This is everything Hamas has stood for, I'm not defending Hamas, but this is their platform. Essentially, what Bush is saying, "we're all for democratically elections as long as the results please us".

Haven't written for a couple of days, I'm still fighting off the effects of the enthusiasm vampires.

I'm not sure when or how the effects will wear off, it might have something to do with the sun, or rather the lack of a visible sun in Vancouver. We truly are slaves to the climate. Not having seen any extended amount of sun since well before Christmas, I'm sure my vitamin E intake is down dramatically. Listening to the weather wizards now, it looks like theres no sun for the foreseeable future either.

I do like the rain, I truly do, however, it's the unchanging rain that's boring me, only a few glimpses of the sun in the past two months are starting to wear on me.

No man is justified in doing evil on the ground of expediency.

Theodore Roosevelt





I'm deep in the grip of the Fear, the NASCAR fan in the oval office had a press conference this morning and I've rarely if ever seen such a flippant display in my life. That man's arrogance is beyond confidence, it's verging on zealotry. Watching him duck and weave questions, he had the gaul to say that spying on citizens was actually protecting civil liberties.

"The program's legal, it's designed to protect civil liberties, and it's necessary,"

If you can wrap your brain around that logic, write to me because it makes absolutely no sense. I can usually grasp some circular logic, but this to me is beyond the pale. Here's my take on it "we're violating civil liberties in order to protect them". Apparently Bush is practicing oncological politics, destroy the organ in order to preserve it.

Years ago, after the Bush inauguration (I hesitate to call it a victory) I heard the bush team referred to as "true believers". I'm beginning to understand what that truly meant now. These people along with the hangers on, Robertson, Dobson, Reed, etc honestly believe that they are on the side of good and right and can do no wrong.

Below is a bill introduced by a republican in 2002 that would have streamlined the process for getting a warrant under FISA. Shortly after this bill was introduced the white house rejected it, saying it was unconstitutional. Keep in mind that this is 7 months after the white house decided to bypass the FISA court altogether and to start spying on americans without warrants.

Sigh...

Congressional Record: June 20, 2002 (Senate)
Page S5852-S5859



By Mr. DeWINE:
S. 2659. A bill to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of
1978 to modify the standard of proof for issuance of orders regarding
non-United States persons from probable cause to reasonable suspicion;
to the Select Committee on Intelligence.
Mr. DeWine. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of
the bill be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the
Record, as follows:

S. 2659

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. MODIFICATION OF BURDEN OF PROOF FOR ISSUANCE OF
ORDERS ON NON-UNITED STATES PERSONS UNDER
FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE ACT OF 1978.

(a) Orders of Electronic Surveillance.--Section 105 of the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C.
1805) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by striking paragraph (3) and
inserting the following new paragraph (3):
"(3) on the basis of facts submitted by the applicant--
"(A) in the case of a target of electronic surveillance
that is a United States person, there is probable cause to
believe that--
"(i) the target is a foreign power or an agent of a
foreign power, provided that no United States person may be
considered a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power
solely upon the basis of activities protected by the first
amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and
"(ii) each of the facilities or places at which the
electronic surveillance is directed is being used, or is
about to be used, by a foreign power or an agent of a foreign
power; or
"(B) in the case of a target of electronic surveillance
that is a non-United States person, there is reasonable
suspicion to believe that--
"(i) the target is a foreign power or an agent of a
foreign power; and
"(ii) each of the facilities or places at which the
electronic surveillance is directed is being used, or is
about to be used, by a foreign power or an agent of a foreign
power;";
(2) in subsection (b), by inserting "or reasonable
suspicion" after "probable cause"; and
(3) in subsection (e)(2), by inserting ", or reasonable
suspicion in the case of a non-United States person," after
"probable cause".
(b) Physical Searches.--Section 304 of that Act (50 U.S.C.
1824) is amended--
(1) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following
new paragraph (3):
"(3) on the basis of facts submitted by the applicant--
"(A) in the case of a target of a physical search that is
a United States person, there is probable cause to believe
that--
"(i) the target is a foreign power or an agent of a
foreign power, except that no United States person may be
considered a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power
solely upon the basis of activities protected by the first
amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and
"(ii) the premises or property to be searched is owned,
used, possessed by, or is

[[Page S5858]]

in transit to or from an agent of a foreign power or foreign
power; or
"(B) in the case of a target of a physical search that is
a non-United States person, there is reasonable suspicion to
believe that--
"(i) the target is a foreign power or an agent of a
foreign power; and
"(ii) the premises or property to be searched is owned,
used, possessed by, or is in transit to or from an agent of a
foreign power or foreign power;";
(2) in subsection (b), by inserting "or reasonable
suspicion" after "probable cause"; and
(3) in subsection (d)(2), by inserting ", or reasonable
suspicion in the case of a non-United States person," after
"probable cause".
______

Alcohol and Razor Blades

Love is the difficult realization that something other than oneself is real.

Iris Murdoch (1919 - 1999)

Haven't done a lot of self exploration recently, I think I've been afraid to. Peeling back the covers and dealing with what's going on in my heart and soul is always a disturbing experience.


Perhaps it's because I've been ill, and unable to concentrate on either books, movies, or the television, I've been forced to look under the ribcage and into what's going on in my heart.

The past few months have been an exploration for some kind of sensation, some sort of emotional stimulation. I need something to fire the passions again. This thing in my chest has been thumping with all the vim and vigour of a damp tissue.

A rejection awhile ago, while necessary, was a deep wounding. It's made me realize that perhaps this difficult personality of mine is destined to walk alone.

I realize how maudlin that sounds. Truly however, I have tragic taste in women. The women who are right for me, the ones who compliment this personality are put off by my cynicism, the ones who are attracted to this curmudgeon of a soul, are uniquely unpleasant.

Most people want security in this world, not liberty.
H. L. Mencken



I'm fighting the flu, and I'm losing. Intermittently I'm overcome by a sensation that someone is standing behind me and squeezing my stomach with both hands, a very unpleasant sensation.

Self-respect: the secure feeling that no one, as yet, is suspicious.
H. L. Mencken




One of the most common arguements, and one that irritates me the most, in favour of increased surveillance is that "if you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about". It's recently been made public knowledge that not only has the NSA provided tens of thousands of "leads" to the FBI regarding "terrorist activities" in the states. In essence, anyone who did anything the least bit suspicious was suddenly being investigated. Given the scope of the Patriot Act, suspicious activities can include purchasing habits, reading materials, or people you work with.

For years, one of the mainstays of spy dramas set in the states portrayed the US intelligence community as brutally ruthless, efficient, and precise in it's data collection. As the curtains are pulled back on the NSA spying scandal it would seem that rather, the intelligence community works on a grand scale, scooping as much information as possible and then sorting it out later.

The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.
H. L. Mencken






Gore came out today cannons blaring, calling for a special counsel. It's sad when the only person saying what has to be said is someone whose political days are finished, and his attack will be seen as sour grapes. Regardless of whether or not I agree with Gore, and I do, his attack will be seen as having little or no political value.

there are 45 senators sitting in the house, surely one of them has the gumption to say what has to be said, that what Bush did was illegal. Surely one of them has the cajones to say that Bush needs to be impeached. The man literally stood up and admitted breaking the law more than 3 dozen times. For the love of God, Clinton gets a blowjob in his office, then tries to cover it up, and all government business is stalled for 2 1/12 years.

The republicans have no qualms about attacking their opponents, Dick Dornan openly called for the assasination of Clinton, why can't the democrats show even half of that committment to their ideology?

Conscience is the inner voice that warns us that someone might be looking.
H. L. Mencken

I haven't felt much like writing the past couple of days, enthusiasm vampires have sucked the will out of me.

Every day the paper brings more and more depressing news, unlike most people, corruption and greed don't depress me, I expect that. What depresses me is apathy. People stand back and let politicians get away with diminishing civil liberties.

Interesting thoughts the past few days about Presidents of the United States and truth. We've come to expect that our leaders will lie to us now. When we do find out we've been lied to, we're not surprised. It's become such a natural part of the job that the discovery of a lie is treated with a shrug.

December 29, 2005
Damning documentary evidence unveiled. Dissident bloggers in coordinated exposé of UK government lies over torture.

Help us beat the British government's gagging order by mirroring this information on your own site or blog!

Constituent: "This question is for Mr Straw; Have you ever read any
documents where the intelligence has been procured through torturous means?"

Jack Straw: "Not to the best of my knowledge... let me make this clear... the British government does not support torture in any circumstances. Full stop. We do not support the obtaining of intelligence by torture, or its use." - Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, election hustings, Blackburn, April 2005

I was summoned to the UK for a meeting on 8 March 2003. Michael Wood gave his legal opinion that it was not illegal to obtain and to use intelligence acquired by torture... On behalf of the intelligence services, Matthew Kydd said that they found some of the material very useful indeed with a direct bearing on the war on terror. Linda Duffield said that she had been asked to assure me that my qualms of conscience were respected and understood. - Ambassador Craig Murray, memo to the Foreign Office, July 2004

With Tony Blair and Jack Straw cornered on extraordinary rendition, the UK government is particularly anxious to suppress all evidence of our complicity in obtaining intelligence extracted by foreign torturers.

The British Foreign Office is now seeking to block publication of Craig Murray's forthcoming book, which documents his time as Ambassador to Uzbekistan. The Foreign Office has demanded that Craig Murray remove all references to two especially damning British government documents, indicating that our government was knowingly receiving information extracted by the Uzbeks through torture, and return every copy that he has in his possession.

Craig Murray is refusing to do this. Instead, the documents are today being published simultaneously on blogs all around the world.

The first document contains the text of several telegrams that Craig Murray sent back to London from 2002 to 2004, warning that the information being passed on by the Uzbek security services was torture-tainted, and challenging MI6 claims that the information was nonetheless "useful".

The second document is the text of a legal opinion from the Foreign Office's Michael Wood, arguing that the use by intelligence services of information extracted through torture does not constitute a violation of the UN Convention Against Torture.

Craig Murray says:

In March 2003 I was summoned back to London from Tashkent specifically for a meeting at which I was told to stop protesting. I was told specifically that it was perfectly legal for us to obtain and to use intelligence from the Uzbek torture chambers.

After this meeting Sir Michael Wood, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's legal adviser, wrote to confirm this position. This minute from Michael Wood is perhaps the most important document that has become public about extraordinary rendition. It is irrefutable evidence of the government's use of torture material, and that I was attempting to stop it. It is no wonder that the government is trying to suppress this.

First document: Confidential letters from Uzbekistan

Letter #1
Confidential
FM Tashkent
TO FCO, Cabinet Office, DFID, MODUK, OSCE Posts, Security Council Posts

16 September 02

SUBJECT: US/Uzbekistan: Promoting Terrorism
SUMMARY

US plays down human rights situation in Uzbekistan. A dangerous policy: increasing repression combined with poverty will promote Islamic terrorism. Support to Karimov regime a bankrupt and cynical policy.

DETAIL

The Economist of 7 September states: "Uzbekistan, in particular, has jailed many thousands of moderate Islamists, an excellent way of converting their families and friends to extremism." The Economist also spoke of "the growing despotism of Mr Karimov" and judged that "the past year has seen a further deterioration of an already grim human rights record". I agree.

Between 7,000 and 10,000 political and religious prisoners are currently detained, many after trials before kangaroo courts with no representation. Terrible torture is commonplace: the EU is currently considering a demarche over the terrible case of two Muslims tortured to death in jail apparently with boiling water. Two leading dissidents, Elena Urlaeva and Larissa Vdovna, were two weeks ago committed to a lunatic asylum, where they are being drugged, for demonstrating on human rights. Opposition political parties remain banned. There is no doubt that September 11 gave the pretext to crack down still harder on dissent under the guise of counter-terrorism.

Yet on 8 September the US State Department certified that Uzbekistan was improving in both human rights and democracy, thus fulfilling a constitutional requirement and allowing the continuing disbursement of $140 million of US aid to Uzbekistan this year. Human Rights Watch immediately published a commendably sober and balanced rebuttal of the State Department claim.

Again we are back in the area of the US accepting sham reform [a reference to my previous telegram on the economy]. In August media censorship was abolished, and theoretically there are independent media outlets, but in practice there is absolutely no criticism of President Karimov or the central government in any Uzbek media. State Department call this self-censorship: I am not sure that is a fair way to describe an unwillingness to experience the brutal methods of the security services.

Similarly, following US pressure when Karimov visited Washington, a human rights NGO has been permitted to register. This is an advance, but they have little impact given that no media are prepared to cover any of their activities or carry any of their statements.
The final improvement State quote is that in one case of murder of a prisoner the police involved have been prosecuted. That is an improvement, but again related to the Karimov visit and does not appear to presage a general change of policy. On the latest cases of torture deaths the Uzbeks have given the OSCE an incredible explanation, given the nature of the injuries, that the victims died in a fight between prisoners.

But allowing a single NGO, a token prosecution of police officers and a fake press freedom cannot possibly outweigh the huge scale of detentions, the torture and the secret executions. President Karimov has admitted to 100 executions a year but human rights groups believe there are more. Added to this, all opposition parties remain banned (the President got a 98% vote) and the Internet is strictly controlled. All Internet providers must go through a single government server and access is barred to many sites including all dissident and opposition sites and much international media (including, ironically, waronterrorism.com). This is in essence still a totalitarian state: there is far less freedom than still prevails, for example, in Mugabe's Zimbabwe. A Movement for Democratic Change or any judicial independence would be impossible here.

Karimov is a dictator who is committed to neither political nor economic reform. The purpose of his regime is not the development of his country but the diversion of economic rent to his oligarchic supporters through government controls. As a senior Uzbek academic told me privately, there is more repression here now than in Brezhnev's time. The US are trying to prop up Karimov economically and to justify this support they need to claim that a process of economic and political reform is underway. That they do so claim is either cynicism or self-delusion.

This policy is doomed to failure. Karimov is driving this resource-rich country towards economic ruin like an Abacha. And the policy of increasing repression aimed indiscriminately at pious Muslims, combined with a deepening poverty, is the most certain way to ensure continuing support for the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. They have certainly been decimated and disorganised in Afghanistan, and Karimov's repression may keep the lid on for years -- but pressure is building and could ultimately explode.

I quite understand the interest of the US in strategic airbases and why they back Karimov, but I believe US policy is misconceived. In the short term it may help fight terrorism but in the medium term it will promote it, as the Economist points out. And it can never be right to lower our standards on human rights. There is a complex situation in Central Asia and it is wrong to look at it only through a prism picked up on September 12. Worst of all is what appears to be the philosophy underlying the current US view of Uzbekistan: that September 11 divided the World into two camps in the "War against Terrorism" and that Karimov is on "our" side.

If Karimov is on "our" side, then this war cannot be simply between the forces of good and evil. It must be about more complex things, like securing the long-term US military presence in Uzbekistan. I silently wept at the 11 September commemoration here. The right words on New York have all been said. But last week was also another anniversary -- the US-led overthrow of Salvador Allende in Chile. The subsequent dictatorship killed, dare I say it, rather more people than died on September 11. Should we not remember then also, and learn from that too? I fear that we are heading down the same path of US-sponsored dictatorship here. It is ironic that the beneficiary is perhaps the most unreformed of the World's old communist leaders.
We need to think much more deeply about Central Asia. It is easy to place Uzbekistan in the "too difficult" tray and let the US run with it, but I think they are running in the wrong direction. We should tell them of the dangers we see. Our policy is theoretically one of engagement, but in practice this has not meant much. Engagement makes sense, but it must mean grappling with the problems, not mute collaboration. We need to start actively to state a distinctive position on democracy and human rights, and press for a realistic view to be taken in the IMF. We should continue to resist pressures to start a bilateral DFID programme, unless channelled non-governmentally, and not restore ECGD cover despite the constant lobbying. We should not invite Karimov to the UK. We should step up our public diplomacy effort, stressing democratic values, including more resources from the British Council. We should increase support to human rights activists, and strive for contact with non-official Islamic groups.

Above all we need to care about the 22 million Uzbek people, suffering from poverty and lack of freedom. They are not just pawns in the new Great Game.

MURRAY

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Letter #2
Confidential
Fm Tashkent
To FCO

18 March 2003

SUBJECT: US FOREIGN POLICY
SUMMARY

1. As seen from Tashkent, US policy is not much focussed on democracy or freedom. It is about oil, gas and hegemony. In Uzbekistan the US pursues those ends through supporting a ruthless dictatorship. We must not close our eyes to uncomfortable truth.

DETAIL

2. Last year the US gave half a billion dollars in aid to Uzbekistan, about a quarter of it military aid. Bush and Powell repeatedly hail Karimov as a friend and ally. Yet this regime has at least seven thousand prisoners of conscience; it is a one party state without freedom of speech, without freedom of media, without freedom of movement, without freedom of assembly, without freedom of religion. It practices, systematically, the most hideous tortures on thousands. Most of the population live in conditions precisely analogous with medieval serfdom.

3. Uzbekistan's geo-strategic position is crucial. It has half the population of the whole of Central Asia. It alone borders all the other states in a region which is important to future Western oil and gas supplies. It is the regional military power. That is why the US is here, and here to stay. Contractors at the US military bases are extending the design life of the buildings from ten to twenty five years.

4. Democracy and human rights are, despite their protestations to the contrary, in practice a long way down the US agenda here. Aid this year will be slightly less, but there is no intention to introduce any meaningful conditionality. Nobody can believe this level of aid -- more than US aid to all of West Africa – is related to comparative developmental need as opposed to political support for Karimov. While the US makes token and low-level references to human rights to appease domestic opinion, they view Karimov's vicious regime as a bastion against fundamentalism. He -- and they -- are in fact creating fundamentalism. When the US gives this much support to a regime that tortures people to death for having a beard or praying five times a day, is it any surprise that Muslims come to hate the West?

5. I was stunned to hear that the US had pressured the EU to withdraw a motion on Human Rights in Uzbekistan which the EU was tabling at the UN Commission for Human Rights in Geneva. I was most unhappy to find that we are helping the US in what I can only call this cover-up. I am saddened when the US constantly quote fake improvements in human rights in Uzbekistan, such as the abolition of censorship and Internet freedom, which quite simply have not happened (I see these are quoted in the draft EBRD strategy for Uzbekistan, again I understand at American urging).

6. From Tashkent it is difficult to agree that we and the US are activated by shared values. Here we have a brutal US sponsored dictatorship reminiscent of Central and South American policy under previous US Republican administrations. I watched George Bush talk today of Iraq and "dismantling the apparatus of terror… removing the torture chambers and the rape rooms". Yet when it comes to the Karimov regime, systematic torture and rape appear to be treated as peccadilloes, not to affect the relationship and to be downplayed in international fora. Double standards? Yes.

7. I hope that once the present crisis is over we will make plain to the US, at senior level, our serious concern over their policy in Uzbekistan.
MURRAY

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Letter #3

CONFIDENTIAL
FM TASHKENT
TO IMMEDIATE FCO

TELNO 63
OF 220939 JULY 04

INFO IMMEDIATE DFID, ISLAMIC POSTS, MOD, OSCE POSTS UKDEL EBRD LONDON, UKMIS GENEVA, UKMIS MEW YORK

SUBJECT: RECEIPT OF INTELLIGENCE OBTAINED UNDER TORTURE

SUMMARY

1. We receive intelligence obtained under torture from the Uzbek intelligence services, via the US. We should stop. It is bad information anyway. Tortured dupes are forced to sign up to confessions showing what the Uzbek government wants the US and UK to believe, that they and we are fighting the same war against terror.

2. I gather a recent London interdepartmental meeting considered the question and decided to continue to receive the material. This is morally, legally and practically wrong. It exposes as hypocritical our post Abu Ghraib pronouncements and fatally undermines our moral standing. It obviates my efforts to get the Uzbek government to stop torture they are fully aware our intelligence community laps up the results.

3. We should cease all co-operation with the Uzbek Security Services they are beyond the pale. We indeed need to establish an SIS presence here, but not as in a friendly state.

DETAIL

4. In the period December 2002 to March 2003 I raised several times the issue of intelligence material from the Uzbek security services which was obtained under torture and passed to us via the CIA. I queried the legality, efficacy and morality of the practice.

5. I was summoned to the UK for a meeting on 8 March 2003. Michael Wood gave his legal opinion that it was not illegal to obtain and to use intelligence acquired by torture. He said the only legal limitation on its use was that it could not be used in legal proceedings, under Article 15 of the UN Convention on Torture.

6. On behalf of the intelligence services, Matthew Kydd said that they found some of the material very useful indeed with a direct bearing on the war on terror. Linda Duffield said that she had been asked to assure me that my qualms of conscience were respected and understood.

7. Sir Michael Jay's circular of 26 May stated that there was a reporting obligation on us to report torture by allies (and I have been instructed to refer to Uzbekistan as such in the context of the war on terror). You, Sir, have made a number of striking, and I believe heartfelt, condemnations of torture in the last few weeks. I had in the light of this decided to return to this question and to highlight an apparent contradiction in our policy. I had intimated as much to the Head of Eastern Department.

8. I was therefore somewhat surprised to hear that without informing me of the meeting, or since informing me of the result of the meeting, a meeting was convened in the FCO at the level of Heads of Department and above, precisely to consider the question of the receipt of Uzbek intelligence material obtained under torture. As the office knew, I was in London at the time and perfectly able to attend the meeting. I still have only gleaned that it happened.

9. I understand that the meeting decided to continue to obtain the Uzbek torture material. I understand that the principal argument deployed was that the intelligence material disguises the precise source, ie it does not ordinarily reveal the name of the individual who is tortured. Indeed this is true – the material is marked with a euphemism such as "From detainee debriefing." The argument runs that if the individual is not named, we cannot prove that he was tortured.

10. I will not attempt to hide my utter contempt for such casuistry, nor my shame that I work in and organisation where colleagues would resort to it to justify torture. I have dealt with hundreds of individual cases of political or religious prisoners in Uzbekistan, and I have met with very few where torture, as defined in the UN convention, was not employed. When my then DHM raised the question with the CIA head of station 15 months ago, he readily acknowledged torture was deployed in obtaining intelligence. I do not think there is any doubt as to the fact

11. The torture record of the Uzbek security services could hardly be more widely known. Plainly there are, at the very least, reasonable grounds for believing the material is obtained under torture. There is helpful guidance at Article 3 of the UN Convention;
"The competent authorities shall take into account all relevant considerations including, where applicable, the existence in the state concerned of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights."

While this article forbids extradition or deportation to Uzbekistan, it is the right test for the present question also.

12. On the usefulness of the material obtained, this is irrelevant. Article 2 of the Convention, to which we are a party, could not be plainer:
"No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture."

13. Nonetheless, I repeat that this material is useless -- we are selling our souls for dross. It is in fact positively harmful. It is designed to give the message the Uzbeks want the West to hear. It exaggerates the role, size, organisation and activity of the IMU and its links with Al Qaida. The aim is to convince the West that the Uzbeks are a vital cog against a common foe, that they should keep the assistance, especially military assistance, coming, and that they should mute the international criticism on human rights and economic reform.

14. I was taken aback when Matthew Kydd said this stuff was valuable. Sixteen months ago it was difficult to argue with SIS in the area of intelligence assessment. But post Butler we know, not only that they can get it wrong on even the most vital and high profile issues, but that they have a particular yen for highly coloured material which exaggerates the threat. That is precisely what the Uzbeks give them. Furthermore MI6 have no operative within a thousand miles of me and certainly no expertise that can come close to my own in making this assessment.

15. At the Khuderbegainov trial I met an old man from Andizhan. Two of his children had been tortured in front of him until he signed a confession on the family's links with Bin Laden. Tears were streaming down his face. I have no doubt they had as much connection with Bin Laden as I do. This is the standard of the Uzbek intelligence services.

16. I have been considering Michael Wood's legal view, which he kindly gave in writing. I cannot understand why Michael concentrated only on Article 15 of the Convention. This certainly bans the use of material obtained under torture as evidence in proceedings, but it does not state that this is the sole exclusion of the use of such material.

17. The relevant article seems to me Article 4, which talks of complicity in torture. Knowingly to receive its results appears to be at least arguable as complicity. It does not appear that being in a different country to the actual torture would preclude complicity. I talked this over in a hypothetical sense with my old friend Prof Francois Hampson, I believe an acknowledged World authority on the Convention, who said that the complicity argument and the spirit of the Convention would be likely to be winning points. I should be grateful to hear Michael's views on this.

18. It seems to me that there are degrees of complicity and guilt, but being at one or two removes does not make us blameless. There are other factors. Plainly it was a breach of Article 3 of the Convention for the coalition to deport detainees back here from Baghram, but it has been done. That seems plainly complicit.

19. This is a difficult and dangerous part of the World. Dire and increasing poverty and harsh repression are undoubtedly turning young people here towards radical Islam. The Uzbek government are thus creating this threat, and perceived US support for Karimov strengthens anti-Western feeling. SIS ought to establish a presence here, but not as partners of the Uzbek Security Services, whose sheer brutality puts them beyond the pale.

MURRAY

Second Document - summary of legal opinion from Michael Wood arguing that it is legal to use information extracted under torture:

From: Michael Wood, Legal Advisor

Date: 13 March 2003

CC: PS/PUS; Matthew Kidd, WLD

Linda Duffield

UZBEKISTAN: INTELLIGENCE POSSIBLY OBTAINED UNDER TORTURE

1. Your record of our meeting with HMA Tashkent recorded that Craig had said that his understanding was that it was also an offence under the UN Convention on Torture to receive or possess information under torture. I said that I did not believe that this was the case, but undertook to re-read the Convention.

2. I have done so. There is nothing in the Convention to this effect. The nearest thing is article 15 which provides:

"Each State Party shall ensure that any statement which is established to have been made as a result of torture shall not be invoked as evidence in any proceedings, except against a person accused of torture as evidence that the statement was made."

3. This does not create any offence. I would expect that under UK law any statement established to have been made as a result of torture would not be admissible as evidence.

[signed]

M C Wood
Legal Adviser