A force for good in our time - A new spiritual hero of the moment

Louise Arbour, former Canadian Supreme Court Justice, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, is now running a private NGO, the International Crisis Group.

While the International Crisis Group is not a boots-on-the-ground aid group in terms of directly delivering food or medical aid to crisis-stricken areas, it is instrumental is getting governments to do the right thing by providing impartial analysis and sound advice to those in the corridors of power.
In the recent Maple Syrup Revolution podcast, Lindsay Stewart and I talked briefly about the damage done to Canada international reputation over the last few years by Harper Government. It is thanks to the fine work of people like Louise Arbour and Steven Lewis and our past dedication to international peacekeeping missions that give Canada any international credibility at all. 
In a recent inteview with the Toronto Star she claims that of her many public incarnations this will be the last. I think that is unfortunate because there is one more incarnation I'd like to see her in, that of leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Prime Minister of Canada  -- since she doesn't seem anymore impressed with the current government than I am:

“Is Canada punching below its weight?” she says. “Is it punching at all?”

Ottawa, Arbour argues, is “largely absent on the international scene. It’s very difficult to capture any kind of message, position or form of engagement these days.”

And she adds, “when I was prosecutor in 1996, it mattered what Canada thought. On issues of justice and ethics, it mattered what the Canadian position was. There was a sense that you would get an honest, well-thought-out approach. Not just a raw pursuit of ideological or national interest.”

Check out this 2008 interview from CBC radio's As It Happens.
And a tip of the hat to Estaban in Olde Berlin for the suggestion.

A new spiritual hero of the moment

Dr. Strangelove has long been one of my favorite films and I always like Sterling Hayden as Gen. Jack T. Ripper, but there was a lot more to Hayden than I ever suspected.



Driftglass posted a few bit of an amazing conversation between Tom Snyder and Sterling Hayden and it piqued my interest in a guy I've always thought was a good actor. I looked into his biography and damn, what an interesting guy. He ran away to the sea at 15, sailed and eventually skippered square-riggers and eventually ended up in Hollywood before the war, joined the marines and ended up running guns into Yugoslavia with the OSS in the war, joined and quit the commmunist party, named names for McCarthy and considers it the most shameful thing he ever did, became both a writer and fan of marijuana late in life. Say what you like about him, the guy was definitely an original. Having listened to these interviews, I now have a fantasy of traveling across the United States in Hayden's train car with him, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Huston, Stanley Kubrick, Ruth Gordon, Ingrid Bergman, Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, Thomas Pynchon, Hunter Thompson and a couple of cases of good scotch.

Check out the first series of interviews on the Tomorrow Show here, the second one here and the third one here.

"This machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender"

Happy 90th birthday Pete Seeger - our Spiritual Leader of the Moment.

Seeger has long been one of my heroes and he was the first Spiritual Leader of the Moment back when I had my first webpage on Geocites over a dozen years ago.

This 1967 performance was Seeger's first appearance on television in years following his blacklisting in the 50's -- and they still censored him, chopping out his mid-set rendition of "Waistdeep in the Big Muddy" and sparking a controversy. He was invited back to perform the song, which did finally air, but the show was cancelled soon afterward, despite high ratings, and replaced with HeeHaw.






I've had the privilege of seeing Pete Seeger perform twice and as I've often said, I'm glad he's on our side. Give him five minutes in front of a crowd and he can make them do just about anything he wants. Thankfully, he has always used this power for good. While Woody Guthrie was a rambling, gambling, hard-travelling, hard-drinking guy who collected a handful of wives in his time and whose guitar "killed fascists", his travelling partner, Pete Seeger was a teetotalling, pacifist who married a Japanese girl during World War Two and did time briefly for refusing to name names to Joe McCarthy. The insigna on his banjo said "this machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender."
As I reckon these things, he's probably one of the greatest living Americans. Happy Birthday Pete!






More interviews here, and knowing all his history, if this latest work of his doesn't bring a tear to your eye, then the problem is with you, not Seeger. For more music, tune into Radio Woodshed, where I'll be playing Pete Seeger stuff all day long.

The smell test and a new SLOTM

They say that quitters never win, but sometimes the best thing you can do is quit (listen up Norm Coleman) - in fact, sometimes its the only ethical thing you can do. Just ask ethicist John Jones, former technical advisor to the ethics committee of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police.

The short version: Ethics committee warns board of directors of police chiefs association that it is unethical to accept sponsorship money and gifts as it could constitute a conflict of interest or create the impression of conflict of interest. Board tell ethics committee to mind its own business and pass the doughnuts. Ethics advisor does the right thing and resigns on the spot.

From Christie Blatchford's well-detailed story in the Globe:

The technical adviser to the ethics committee of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police has resigned over corporate sponsorship - including that of Taser International - of the group's annual conference.
John Jones, an expert on police ethics who has advised the committee for three years, quit Thursday after the committee's efforts to stop the practice was rebuffed by the board of directors.
"I said in that case, I can't remain a member," a saddened Dr. Jones, the author of Reputable Conduct: Ethical Issues in Policing and Corrections, told The Globe and Mail in a phone interview yesterday from his Ottawa home. "[Such sponsorship] doesn't pass the smell test."

The fine folks at CBC Radio's As It Happens were on the story like a cop on a donut. Listen here to their interview with the soft-spoken ethicist who walks the walk and the executive director of the Association who merely talks the talk.

Jones and the rest of the ethics committee were concerned by the fact that the police chiefs - who charged with ensuring their own officers don't accept so much as a free cup of coffee - were availing themselves of free concert tickets and sponsorships from the Canadian Bankers Association, Loto-Quebec, Microsoft, Bell Mobility and Taser International.

"Generally, commercial enterprises do not operate altruistically. When they donate money, they expect there is something in return." Jones told the Toronto Star, which points out that the Association issued a position paper supporting the use of "conducted energy weapons" last year. Taser International is just about the only maker of "conducted energy weapons" - to the extent that the term is synonmous with their brand name.

The Association doesn't see any conflict of interest - I guess justice really is blind.

The editors down at the Mop&Pail agree.

And so, for having the courage to bite the hand that feeds him and quitting rather than going along with unethical behavior to get along with his employer, Dr. John Jones is our newest Spiritual Leader of the Moment.

The end of an comedic era and a new SLOTM

"Oh, somewhere in this favored land Alberta,

the sun is shiningwhere the crooks are not too bright;

the band is the moronic miscreants are playing somewhere,

and somewhere hearts are light boneheads fight

And somewhere men are laughing drunks are driving,

and somewhere children shout beef jerky thieves are unperturbed

But there is no joy in Mudville  It could be in Ponoka

- mighty Casey Constable Enns has stuck out been transferred"

Despite the taser troopers now being rightfully pilloried in the press and blogosphere, The Woodshed salutes our newest Spiritual Leader of the Moment: The Mountie behind the what has been the most reliable nonpolitical entertainment on the internets the past few years - RCMP Constable Douglas Enns, late of the Ponoka, Alberta RCMP detachment and author of the best written, funniest small town police blotter ever (and I speak as someone who covered cops in small towns for small newspapers for way too many years). For those looking for a primer on snark as it is writ, look no further than back issues of the Ponoka News. Literature and Ponoka's loss is law enforcement and St. Albert's gain. 

with a special tip of the Smoky-the-Bear Stetson to Cowboys for Social Responsibility for bring the good Constable's work to us for these last few years.

Freeping the Mothercorp

a new Spiritual Leader of the Moment

Heather Mallick uses her CBC column to makes fun of conservative men's teeny weenies and go up one side and down the other of Caribou Barbie with the iron rod of snark. Predictably, the National Post and Fox News, paragons of rectitude where n'er is heard a discouraging word of hyperbolic invective, cannot let such a grievious, base slander stand unchalleged and unleash their knuckledragging hordes. The CBC, creaking under the load of cheetos-stained missives, caves in , takes the column off its site and begs the indignant troglodytes to holster their crayolas. Alison is among the many majorly ticked off and RossK and I have suggestions. Get those cards and letter sent people.

Heather has often gotten under conservatives skins and is likely to continue to do so. That is why she is our new Spiritual Leader of the Moment.

A new spiritual leader of the moment

Half-staff? I got your half-staff right here!

They say it is wrong to speak ill of the dead and that if you can't say something nice you shouldn't say anything at all ( or alternatively, you should go and sit next to Dorothy Parker). Like many others, I was torn this week when Sen. Jesse Helms shuffled off this mortal coil. Should I pile on the facts about how he was one of the most noxious racists of the twentieth century? How he conspired to keep the United Nations from running family planning programs in the third world by blocking the United States from paying over a billion dollars in UN dues? How as head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee he kept the U.S. out of the World Criminal Court and the Kyoto Protocol, blocked ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and other arms control treaties?  How he blocked access to and information about abortion worldwide?  How he helped the spread of AIDS? How he managed to make things worse in Cuba by trying to force other nations to boycott the benighted island through his "Helm-Burton Act"?  Should I point out that he was the main supporter of  Central American death squad czar Roberto d'Aubuisson ?

Should I take the low road, like Tbogg? Or the high road like Clif?

Then David from over at JimDandy Goodness pointed out this story to me. 

"I don't see how anybody could celebrate his career," the 51-year-old said in an interview, noting Helms opposition tothe 1964 Civil Rights Act and the filibuster to stall the effort to make Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a national holiday. "Everything he did was such a disservice to this state"

Eason, who had worked for 29 years at the Department of Agriculture, requested the option to retire Monday after his superiors overruled his decision and ordered the flags be lowered. Eason wrote an e-mail tothe governor and other supervisors saying he could not in good conscience honor Helms.

This man, L.F. Eason III is no shrill liberal blogger or ideologue, he's just a guy who was willing to chuck his nearly 30-year career rather than honor an evil man. Call him inflexible, call him unreasonable if you will --We here at the woodshed call him our Spiritual Leader of the Moment.

Brass with balls

New spiritual leader of the moment

Retired Major-General Antonio Taguba was the first American officer to investigate claims of prisoner mistreatment at Abu Ghraib. He has not backed off, despite being "encouraged to retire" and is still insisting the emperor is bare-ass nekkid.

"There is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes. The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account.”
-Anthonio Taguba, writing in the preface to a new report released by Physicians for Human Rights that uses medical evidence to confirm first-hand accounts of torture at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and Baghram.

Go watch the whole Democracy Now program from last week on Torture and then repeat after me: Impeach, Indict, Imprison.

Take me out to the ball game

New Spiritual leader of the Moment - Paul Grewal

Unless you or your kids attend Carlton Village Public School in Toronto, you might never have heard of Paul Grewal. I heard about him on CBC radio's consistently excellent As It Happens program back in April, but try as I might, I haven't been able to find any supporting stories to link to for more information about him, so all of the following is drawn from his April 22 radio interview.

Mr. Grewal is a well regarded French teacher at the school of about 400 students. Last year, he took 77 students on an outing to a Toronto Blue Jays Game. A group of students from another school sang the national anthems at the game and Grewal thought this would a great thrill for the kids from his school, so this season he worked to make that happen. In order to give the kids the opportunity to sing out on the diamond, the Toronto Blues Jays front office asked for a group customer account of at least $7,000. So Grewal stepped up to the plate and plunked down his VISA card and paid for 300 $25 tickets.

Teachers were encouraged to get all their students to sign up for the April 21 trip to see Toronto Blue Jays take on the Detroit Tigers in an afternoon game. Buses were laid on and money was collected for the buses and tickets sold to the students. According to Grewal, the school choir sang well and the proverbial good time was had by all, even though the Jays lost 5-1 to the Tigers.

The Jays weren't the only ones to lose out. The total bill for the day was $8,500 - all of it paid for up front by Grewal out of his own pocket. Selling 300 tickets to 400 students didn't work out quite as well as Grewal had hoped, in fact he fell about $4,000 short of getting his money back. The Blue Jays organization was sympathetic and the following day arranged to give him 120 ticket vouchers he could sell or use, but even if he manages to sell all of them he is still left holding a $1,000 bag.

Asked if he would do it again, Grewal said he probably wouldn't do it next year, but possibly the following year. The school will be doing some fundraising activities and he will probabaly be paid back eventually.

Teachers in Toronto are paid between $37,440 for a rookie and $77,576 for a very well qualified veteran nearing retirement, so $8,500 is a pretty big chance to take to put a smile on some students' faces. Grewal and his friends may be going to a lot of Jays games this summer, but a $4,000 VISA bill on what I'm guessing is a junior teacher's salary is not chump change.

For actions above and beyond the call of duty, Paul "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" Grewal is the Woodshed's Spiritual Leader of the Moment.

Tom Kostopoulos (No.6) is congratulated by his teammates after scoring his first-ever playoff goal in the Canadiens' win over the Boston Bruins on Thursday.

Real Hockey and a new Spiritual leader of the Moment!

Forget the nonsense about him getting into a scrap with the cops down in Florida at the Habs rookie dinner while defending a team mate in a misunderstanding with the cops. Tom the Bomb Nonstopoulos is our new Spiritual Leader of the Moment because of this story.

Prior to yesterday's first round win against the Boston Bruins (One down, 15 to go), in which No. 6 scored his first playoff goal and got his first playoff point with a assist on the Canadiens right winger and all around grinder got invited to a different kind of warm up for the opening game of this year's playoffs. Some kids rang his doorbell Monday and invited him out play some street hockey. Now this is guy making a pile of money to play a sport and who obviously has to take his game seriously. He got his sneakers and stick and got out the door as fast as he could and spent the day playing with a crowd of 30-40 kids in Nuns Island where he lives.

Kostopoulos is not a star,  he's a fourth line grinder who in 68 games this season, only managed 13 points.  Last night he had a goal, an assist, five hits and was generally a menace to the Bruins all night long. That's why the Canadiens are going all the way this year, guys like him. He is basically the team's muscle along the boards - lead the team in hits in March and tops the list in penalty minutes- but he lead the offense last night. His first goal with the Canadiens back in November was a shorthanded goal against Philly.  He had two other short handed goals in a season where he only scored seven times on 98 shots. The last time the Habs played Boston he got a Gordie Howe hat-trick (A goal, an assist, and a fight) This is a guy who steps up when he's needed. He's got heart. 

If  bunch of kids knocked on Barry Bonds' door a couple of days before the World's Series looking for a game of sandlot sweep and scrub, do you think he would go along? Hockey is different and Kostopoulos is a hockey guy. Here's a song for him.

It takes a noble man to win a Nobel Prize
Al Gore and Canada's own Sheila Watt-Cloutier are being touted as possible winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, but if it were up to me, it would go to Pete Seeger. Click here to sign the petition.