Watching the Detectives: Mike Brock Edition

Who’s Mike Brock, and who cares? Questions of absolutely no importance or interest to anyone, but for the fact he’s the central player in a droll little tale of sleazy political intrigue and hypocrisy…

You see, Mike is a member of “The Blogging Tories” (a group he amusingly describes as “Other Nutty People”), who generously invites commenters at his site to “Sign in to comment on this entry, or comment anonymously”… [Update: This invitation has since been retracted.] Surely, a fair enough proposition, one would think. Ah, but as marketing pros like me know, appearances can be deceiving. As indeed it turns out in this case, because when someone actually took advantage of the offer and commented anonymously to wonder “… how Brock can bear to seperate [sic] Harper’s dick from his mouth long enough to eat?” Mike got his knickers in a bunch about the remark. Galvanized with righteous indignation, he promptly sprung into action, determined to strike back with vengeful fury at the wickedly false suggestion he was unremittingly fellating the Dear Leader.

And who did Mike turn to for technical assistance in helping track down the identity of this villainous cad? Why, none-other than über-blogger Kate McMillan, that gallant freedom-fighter who last year shamelessly defended the rights of a self-proclaimed “full-time Nazi” inciting people to murder homosexuals in the name of God. A small dog breeder and vermin hunter of some renown in the backwaters of rural Saskatchewan, Kate recently teamed up with another would-be champion of “freedom” Richard Evans, a failed municipal politician in Calgary who, when he’s not barbecuing and preparing tasty stir fries, enjoys maliciously hijacking domain names and directing them to the websites of homosexual paedophiles. Together, this dynamic duo of douchebaggery, totally punked that awful Liberal meanie Warren Kinsella using the Holocaust as their blunt instrument of choice. But I digress…

Anyway, through a bit of no-brainer cyber-sleuthing, Kate helped Mike to quickly ascertain the identity of the “anonymous” commenter in question as being one Don Beemer, who… this is the juicy part, boys and girls… turns out to be an executive with the Liberal Party of Canada in Manitoba. Shock! Horror! Well, at least I guess that was supposed to be the intended reaction. Personally, I thought it was pretty yawn-inducing revelation. I mean, so what? First of all, while the comment was vulgar, it was hardly all that shocking or reprehensible. I’ve been checking out some of my newly discovered Bill Hicks videos of late and let me tell you this is pretty tame stuff by comparison. Don’t make me tell you about Barbara Bush’s labia…

Now where was I? Oh yes… So maybe Beemer’s snarky quip was uncalled for, but who knows… perhaps there was a good deal of truth to the suggestion, at least in a figurative sense; I really don’t know enough about Brock’s opinions to say one way or the other. It certainly seems like fair comment to me — something you can take or leave as you please, or in the case of Mr. Brock, simply have deleted, or here’s a stellar idea… blown off with some wittier come-back of his own.

But no… The compulsive urge to “expose” or “out” Beemer with the imagined result of causing deep and possibly harmful embarrassment to the Liberal Party was simply too tempting for Mike to resist, I guess. Well, that’s politics for you; after all, it’s a sleazy, cut-throat business at times. But where Brock really stepped over the line here in my opinion, was in providing details of Beemer’s employment. Disclosing that bit of private information quite unsurprisingly gave other partisan fuckwits (who, ironically go around Liberal blogs trashing site owners using assumed names like “Kai Wolf”) the opportunity to pile on and suggest contacting Beemer’s employer directly to complain bitterly about his extracurricular blogging activities. Look, I don’t care what your political affiliation is, but that really seems beyond the pale. You don’t start undermining someone’s livelihood just because of some petulant, insulting or vulgar thing they wrote anonymously on a blog. Geez. Get some sense of perspective here, folks.

Anyway, that’s my two cents on that matter. But here’s the really ironic gem that prompted this little diatribe in the first place. Keep in mind that in his exposé post, Brock graciously thanked Kate McMillan for her invaluable “research assistance” in tracking down Beemer’s IP number so that he could vengefully excoriate and publicly humiliate him, as well as create all sorts of personal difficulties for Beemer along the way as spiteful payback for his insulting and “demeaning” remark. Well, it turns out that just a few days prior to this incident, Brock had written the following:

“…you know what also pisses me off? People who use their computer skills as weapons.”

Yeah, you know what Mike… that really pisses me off too. Almost as much as deceitfulness, doublethink and flagrant hypocrisy. Maybe your moral compass needs a little adjustment there, bub. Perhaps a “self-awareness” upgrade might be in order too.

End of the Grand Fleet

With the production of “mega yachts” having doubled in the past five years, it’s interesting to learn that the Royal Navy views training the skippers and yacht crews of the world’s ultra-rich tycoons in partnership with a private defense contractor, Flagship Training, as a “commercial opportunity too sweet to pass up.” I’m sure Lords Rodney and Nelson must be spinning in their graves.

The Big Picture: A Discussion About Religion

Here you can see Charles McVety in action, being an obnoxious buffoon and generally pissing off everybody of all religious persuasions.

CFAC Doesn’t Speak For Me!

I can’t possibly add anything to this fulsome diatribe other than to agree that the government has no place making moralistic determinations vis-à-vis its cultural funding decisions in accordance with some imagined “family friendly” standards that will undoubtedly wind up being arbitrary, non-transparent, unaccountable and thoroughly Kafkaesque in nature.

For example, one of the so-called “crackdowns” its sponsor is so delighted with includes “significant sexual content that lacks an educational purpose.” Huh? Since when did sex in films need to have an “educational purpose” and by what metric is “significant content” going to be determined? Any self-respecting conservative should find this prudish, sort of state-sponsored “nannyism” to be offensive in the extreme. Under this proposed new regime, a film such as David Cronenberg’s “Crash” (produced with funding in part from Téléfilm Canada) most certainly wouldn’t have qualified for backing due to its controversial subject matter and “significant” sexual content.

To get an idea of the absurd direction where this type of censorship leads, please go watch an earlier post called “This film is not yet rated” that investigates the MPAA rating system. It’s bad enough that the movie industry in America already feels so pressured by the religious Right to voluntarily repress itself in this way without having to formalize and legitimize such censorship through government controls.

Oh, and if you think that the crusading wingnuts at the Canada Family Action Coalition are going to stop at films when it comes to imposing their so-called “conservative values” on government funding for the arts community… well, think again. Thin edge of the wedge, my friends…

Bill Hicks: On Marketing

How did I live this long and miss this guy? Sometimes my ignorance amazes me.

First Citiwide Change Bank

Just for you Southern Quebec! Cheers.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes...

I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
So the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations...

Afghanistan: Now Safe for Buzkashi!

Yes, it seems that when not smoking opium, mutilating women, or enjoying a good old fashioned dog fight, our liberated Afghan friends love nothing more than the national sport Burzkashi, in which teams of horsemen compete to throw a decapitated goat into a scoring circle. And you thought polo was a bit silly...

h/t: Gus Khouri

Spoiler Alert

Heh. I just saw this on Bill Moyers Journal. Too funny.

Bay Buchanan: “Obama has Muslim in his blood”

Why does the right-wing have an almost limitless supply of vicious, batshit crazy termagants at their disposal? It’s really quite a phenomenal thing.

And hey, maybe Wolf should have suggested there was perhaps another reason that John Sidney McCain III is quite happy to eschew the use of middle names…

Clinton’s New “Terra!” Advertisement

This is such a cringe-worthy ad. Perish the thought that the ultimate fate of your otherwise safely slumbering kiddy-winks might actually depend on the instantaneous, split-second reaction of someone being rudely awakened in a frenzied panic at 3:00 AM. Whoever it was, their most likely first response would: “Fuck off!” (Imagine if it was McCain!)

Haven’t we had quite enough of sham terra alerts and needless fear-mongering over the last eight years? “The politics of change”… Yeah, right.

Interesting...

How curious... Now it seems that the secret documents at the heart of the “Shawinigate” conflict-of-interest allegations involving former prime minister Jean Chrétien might be... wait for it: forgeries! Now who on earth do you think might have been behind such wicked malfeasance, fakery and unscrupulous character-assassination? Why, I simply can’t possibly imagine, can you?

Pants O’Fire!

So, at least according to accounts here and here, it seems that the Conservative House Leader lied yesterday when he said there were “no other offers” made to Chuck Cadman.

A Dumb Question... (Updated)

At the risk of posing a question that’s maybe as dumb as it is obvious, is it actually possible to purchase a generous life insurance policy in the case of man on the verge of certain death? It’s difficult to see any insurance company going in for such a thing, regardless of how hefty the premium might be (unless it was $1 million, of course). Have any of the papers explored this with insurers to verify what their policies are in this regard?

Update: I mentioned the “not for publication” conversation between Harper and author/journalist Tom Zytaruk reported by the CBC in the comments, so I won’t repeat them again, but Steve V. has them along with some amusing hypothetical responses from Harper.

Clearly Harper was aware of the offer, although he might not have bothered to familiarize himself with the details… Yeah sure, that’s credible. I mean it’s not like he’s a wonk or a control freak, or anything. But let’s suspend our disbelief for a moment and consider the absurdity of tacitly authorizing “legitimate representatives of the Conservative Party” to make some sort of vague offer that he later contended he knew wouldn’t be accepted. “They wanted to do it, but I told them they were wasting their time,” Harper told Zytaruk. Well then what the hell was the point? Moreover, what if Cadman had accepted the offer “to replace financial considerations”? Are we to believe that Harper’s “legitimate representatives” were negotiating an offer, the details of which Harper was unfamiliar with? Sorry, but it doesn’t pass the smell test on any account.

Matt Drudge: Asshole Extraordinaire

Hardly a newsflash, but this abominable little hack has no sense of decency whatsoever. That he would endanger Prince Harry’s life and ruin his military career in the process, all for the sake of some pathetic “World Exclusive” (which ironically it wasn’t, the story had quietly appeared the other month in an Australian women’s magazine, but nobody paid any attention to it) is utterly pathetic.

Afghanistan Close to Failing

From The Guardian: After six years of US-led military support and billions of pounds in aid, security in Afghanistan is “deteriorating” and President Hamid Karzai's government controls less than a third of the country, America's top intelligence official has admitted.

Mike McConnell testified in Washington that Karzai controls about 30% of Afghanistan and the Taliban 10%, and the remainder is under tribal control.

Gee, sure couldn’t see that coming. By the way, did you know that Hamad Karzai’s brother Ahmed Wali Karzai is one of the biggest heroin dealers in Afghanistan? Amazing.

Update: In semi-related news, the Conservative government is going to resume transfer of “detainees” to Afghan authorities. “Both military and government officials in Kandahar say they are satisfied that conditions in Afghan prisons have improved since allegations of abuse were reported in the fall.”

Amnesty International begs to differ: “To think that somehow that’s all been remedied almost overnight ... defies belief and is simply not something that should have happened.”

Archbishop Peter Akinola: “A Man of Peace”

Wayne Bessen writing about a disturbing piece in Atlantic Magazine on religion in Nigeria:

“The article discusses his prominent role in the slaughter of Muslims. Not only did his thugs shoot children, according to the article, they burned mosques, raped pregnant women, burned corpses in the streets and forced Muslims to eat pork and drink booze. Akinola incited the mass violence with a speech in which he proclaimed: "May we at this stage remind our Muslim brothers that they do not have the monopoly of violence in this nation.’”

Amazingly, Rick Warren (author of The Purpose Driven Life) has said this about Akinola: “I believe he, like Mandela, is a man of peace and his leadership is a model for Christians around the world.” Uh-huh.

George Galloway on Conrad Black

Too bad, so sad. Not.

Prison Town USA

The “free world”: For the first time in the nation’s history, more than one in 100 American adults is behind bars, according to a new report.

When Wingnuts Attack … Each Other!

Apologies to Dave Neiwert for lifting his title.

So Battlin’ Bill Donohue, easily one of the most obnoxious and belligerent religious fatheads in America, has blasted John McCain for accepting the endorsement of Texas evangelist John Hagee.

This is almost too funny for words. Now, if you don’t happen to know who Rev. Hagee is, well allow me to edify you with the following:



Once upon a time, John McCain appeared to be a man of principle, a self-styled “maverick” as his swooning admirers amongst the powdered class would have had us believe (never mind all that messy business about graft with the “Keating Five”) who eschewed the religious Right and ripped into Christian televangelists like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, calling them “agents of intolerance” who “shame our faith, our party and our country.”

But alas, no more... As if it wasn’t bad enough that he’s since turned his back on his life-long Episcopalian roots to conveniently disclose in South Carolina (of all places!) that he’s actually a Baptist, and has made sycophantic public amends with Falwell and Pat Robertson… now he’s actually “pleased” about receiving the endorsement of an apocalyptic, Zionist nutter like Hagee… Scary.