I've been tarred a conspiracy theorist lowest of low which is Canadian way of shooting messenger

[seemslikeadream]

http://www.straight.com/article-173196/democracy-and-accountability-are-illusion


I have been tarred as a conspiracy theorist—the lowest of the low—which is the Canadian way of shooting the messenger.




Democracy and accountability are an illusion
By Paul Palango
“Aren’t you afraid?”

That is a question I’ve been asked hundreds of times over the past two years as I researched, wrote, and published my latest book, Dispersing the Fog: Inside the Secret World of Ottawa and the RCMP.

The question has been asked of me by curious politicians, bureaucrats, police officers, a judge and an ex-judge, my friends and acquaintances, and members of my own family.

The very fact that it is asked suggests that Canadians are not entirely comfortable in their own country. We think we live in a safe, open society, but at the same time so many Canadians seem to believe that it is dangerous to ask questions or raise issues that might strike at the heart of something darker going on within the country.

Am I afraid?

No and yes.

In my career as a journalist and author, I’ve seen how power is wielded in the shadows.

In the early 1980s, as a reporter at the Globe and Mail, I undertook an investigation into the Urban Transportation Development Corp., an Ontario Crown corporation. The UTDC, as it was known, was the baby of then-premier William Davis, who had received international recognition for promoting the company’s linear-induction train technology. I found that the technology was extremely expensive and would not likely sell in a competitive market without enormous government subsidies.

The UTDC never sold another train after that article.

Back then, Davis took aim at me both personally and professionally. He called me a traitor to Ontario and complained privately to the publisher of the Globe and Mail about my “biased” reporting.

A few weeks later, while I was stopped at a traffic light on University Avenue in Toronto, a reporter for the Toronto Star pulled up beside me, rolled down his window, and said: “I hear you’re going to sports.”

And so it happened. Three weeks later, I was a sports reporter, but the sidetracking did not deter me. A year later I was the sports editor, then city editor and, finally, national editor at the Globe and Mail.

Nevertheless, I continued fighting to the end, driven by the belief that journalism was a calling, not a profession.

Over the years, I witnessed the gradual transformation of newsrooms. New reporters had better and more elaborate pedigrees. I remember one time when then–Globe editor William Thorsell posted the biography of a new young reporter on the bulletin board as an example of what we should all aspire to be. The reporter, Mark Kingwell, had multiple degrees and was an accomplished pianist. As it turned out, he wasn’t much of a reporter, but he turned out to be a notable pop philosopher and author.








http://www.straight.com/article-168992/was-maher-arar-linked-fbi

In 1999, Arar went to Boston to work for a company called MathWorks, which Palango said was a contractor for the CIA and the U.S. defence department. Palango said that Arar appeared to have no difficulty obtaining work permits for the U.S., adding that it’s unlikely Arar was ever linked to terrorism.

“You can only infer from this that there is a special relationship between the U.S. government and Arar that had to be protected,” Palango maintained. “So what is that relationship? And why I lean towards the American angle is because of his access into the States. He can renew his work permits. He goes to work for MathWorks. You know, it seems all orchestrated to me.”

In a 2005 article citing unnamed CIA sources, the Washington Post reported that of 39 people who were sent to jails overseas through a process known as rendition, about 10 were later found to be innocent. Palango said that they all shared similar stories, which increased his suspicions about the true nature of the Arar case. As well, he claimed, all later got involved in left-wing politics. Arar’s wife, Monia Mazigh, the sister of Mourad Mazigh, ran for the federal NDP in the 2004 election. “So where does the FBI or CIA or U.S. intelligence want to be?” Palango said. “Where do they want information? It’s from the left wing.”

The Straight left a message for Arar through his publicist; Arar did not return the call by deadline.

[wildbilln864]

1. Thank you SLaD. nt

:hi:

[sarcasmo]

2. Thanks for posting this, but I do need to know

Are you an Insomniac?

[seemslikeadream]

3. hey there sarcasmo

I'm not around as much and I miss my friends here a great deal, thanks for asking, yes I have problems sleeping these days, don't you?

[wildbilln864]

4. Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome....

Had it all my life and just the other day(thank you StumbleUpon), I found a web page that gave it a name.