Harper Bids to be Bush's "Poodle"
Support for missile defence shield contrary to official policy.

By Linda Mcquaig
From Linda Mcquaig.com
2007

Perhaps the most notable thing Stephen Harper did at the G8 gathering last week was signal his intention to take over retiring British Prime Minister Tony Blair's role as George W. Bush's most helpful foreign ally.

The implications of this go far beyond whatever embarrassment Canadians may come to feel about our prime minister assuming the role of what has sometimes been referred to as Bush's "poodle". Members of our corporate and academic elite have long pushed for Canada's prime minister to adopt the "poodle" role (without of course calling it that), arguing that closer ties with the White House will bring us more influence in U.S. corridors of power.

But as Tony Blair's experience illustrated, the influence tends to go the other way - with the lesser power helping to advance Washington's agenda, rather than Washington advancing the agenda of its finely-furred friend.

Harper gave us a good example of this last week when he spoke out in favour of Bush's controversial plan to install a missile defence shield in Eastern Europe, and dismissed Russian concerns about the scheme.

Harper's intervention – coming from a country with a peaceful reputation - was extremely helpful to Bush, who has had trouble convincing the world that his missile shield won't just set off a new arms race.

So Harper helped Bush sell his missile shield to a skeptical world – even though Canada has refused to participate in the project.

While Harper himself has expressed support for the shield, he promised in the last federal election campaign that he wouldn't reverse Canada's opposition to it without a vote in the House of Commons, which he knows he could not win.

So, in prominently supporting Bush on the missile defence shield last week, Harper in effect did an end-run around Parliament and the Canadian public, and helped advance a position that is at odds with Canada's own official policy.

The significance of this goes beyond Harper's thumbing his nose at Canadian democracy, which is bad enough. Even more seriously, Harper lent Canadian credibility to a reckless scheme that threatens to increase the risk of nuclear war.

If this sounds far-fetched, it's only because of the confusion created by the word "defence" in "missile defence shield". In reality, the scheme isn't about defence at all, but rather about making it possible for the U.S. to initiate a nuclear war without fear of retaliation.

This was set out clearly by two U.S. military analysts in a major article called "The Rise of U.S. Nuclear Supremacy", which appeared last year in the prestigious U.S. journal Foreign Affairs. The analysts, Keir Lieber and Daryl Press, explained: "[T]he sort of missile defenses that the United States might plausibly deploy would be valuable primarily in an offensive context, not a defensive one – as an adjunct to a U.S. first-strike capability, not as a standalone shield."

The analysts noted that while a missile shield wouldn't be effective in an all-out war, it could prove useful if Washington were to initiate a nuclear attack against, for example, Russia or China, leaving the targeted country with only a tiny surviving arsenal: "At that point, even a relatively modest or inefficient missile-defense scheme might well be enough to protect against any retaliatory strikes."

So, as Bush goes about creating the capacity to initiate nuclear war – just in case he decides to eliminate some of the "evil" in the world – it seems he can count on support from his new best friend to the north.



It's Hard Out There for a Gay Gangsta
Queer Rap Challenges Hip-Hop Homophobia

By Mary O'Regan
From Utne.com

Forget about the homophobic right. Anti-gay messages have been rampant in the hip-hop world for years. Artists like Eminem and 50 Cent pepper their lyrics with homophobic slurs and openly admit to disapproving of same-sex relationships. According to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Eminem's third album, Marshall Mathers LP contained the word "faggot" 18 times. Similarly, AlterNet reported in 2004 that in an interview with Playboy, 50 Cent declared, "I ain't into faggots."

Despite harsh words from prominent MCs, queer rappers around the world are taking center stage. "Times are changing and if openly gay rappers aren't invited then we are kicking the door in," the Los Angeles-based queer rapper Deadlee tells Britain's Gay.com. Deadlee is the headliner for Homorevolution Tour 2007, what Gay.com calls "the first ever organized regional tour of gay, lesbian, and bisexual Hip Hop artists." The tour will stop in ten US cities this spring and has nearly two-dozen queer artists on the bill.

Another gay rapper taking part in Homorevolution is using his lyrical prowess to spread the word about prejudice. British MC QBoy is featured in Coming Out to Class, a documentary about dealing with homosexuality as a student. PinkNews.co.uk reports that the television broadcast of the film has inspired seven members of parliament to sign a motion "to introduce legislation to require schools to protect gay and lesbian children from the emotional harm and impaired educational attainment that results from bullying."

Some gay rappers argue that the menacing words thrown around by Eminem, 50 Cent, and bullying schoolchildren no longer hold any weight. "There are more homophobic lyrics in recent days, even as there has been more of a gay presence in the media," Tori Fixx, a queer rapper and producer from Minneapolis, told City Pages last year, but "calling somebody a fag is different than literally saying all batty boys need to be destroyed."


D'oh Canada!

By CP
From The Winnipeg Sun

If we forget our history tests, are we doomed to repeat them?

Oh, Canada, shame on you!

Most Canadians know so little about their country that they would flunk the basic test that new immigrants are required to take before becoming citizens, according to a poll released yesterday.

The survey commissioned by the Dominion Institute found 60% of Canadians don't have the basic knowledge to pass the test given to newcomers. Ten years ago, 45% of those polled failed an identical test.

"Canadians appear to be losing knowledge when it comes to the most basic questions about Canadian history, politics, culture and geography ... (they) performed abysmally on some questions," Ipsos-Reid said in a statement while releasing the results of its survey of 1,005 adults.

While 96% of Canadians correctly identified the national anthem as O Canada, just six in 10 of them could recall its first two lines.

Only 4% could name four federal political parties represented in the House of Commons and just 4% knew the three requirements a citizen had to meet to be able to vote.

Only one-third could identify the number of Canadian provinces and territories. Only 8% knew that Queen Elizabeth is the head of state.

The Dominion Institute, which aims to boost knowledge of Canadian history and values, said all high school students should have to pass a special citizenship exam before they can graduate.

"It is frankly disheartening to see the lack of progress made by our group and the countless other organizations working to improve civic literary of Canadians over the last 10 years," institute co-founder Rudyard Griffiths said.

The Ipsos-Reid survey of 1,005 adults was done June 5 -7 and is accurate to within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.