#1 Emmanuelle Chriqui vs. #8 Emily VanCamp

#2 Jessica Lowndes vs. #7 Shenae Grimes

#3 Nina Dobrev vs. #6 Stana Katic

#4 Erica Durance vs. #5 Jessica Lucas

Click here for more of the 2012 Hottest Canadian showdown.

#1 Elisha Cuthbert vs. #8 Shania Twain

#2 Tricia Helfer vs. #7 Mia Kirshner

#3 Grace Park vs. #6 Carly Foulkes

#4 Evangeline Lilly vs. #5 Serinda Swan

Click here for more of the 2012 Hottest Canadian showdown.

By Steven Bull and Ron Charles
March 13, 2012

Three Canadian women filed lawsuits Tuesday alleging “sexual molestation” by American female border guards at the Canada-U.S. border near Windsor, Ont.

Two separate lawsuits were filed, one involving two women travelling together and the other by a woman travelling separately who alleged incidents at the Ambassador Bridge and the Windsor-Detroit tunnel.

Including a similar lawsuit filed by a Stratford, Ont., woman in February 2011, there are now at least four Canadian women accusing border agents of sexual assault at the Canada-U.S. crossing, according to the lawyer for all three cases, Tom Wienner.

“These were not pat-downs or limited personal searches, these were clearly in the nature of sexual molestation,” the Rochester, Mich.-based lawyer told CBC News.

‘Very degrading and humiliating’

Leslie Ingratta, of Windsor, Ont., told CBC News she was heading into Detroit for a shopping trip in January 2011 when she was taken aside for further questioning.

The female U.S. border guards ordered her into a back room, closed the door, and one proceeded to search her body so aggressively she felt violated, she said.

“They went under my bra, fondled my breasts and then began to go down. Pretty much did the same,” Ingratta said.

In between searches, Ingratta went back into the waiting area, she said.

“At one point I was crying,” Ingratta told CBC News. “I had people turning around and looking and, you know, making faces like ‘Oh my God, what did she do?’ So very degrading and humiliating, it was a horrible experience.”

Stratford, Ont.-woman files $500K lawsuit

In February 2011, Loretta Van Beek, of Stratford, Ont., filed a $500,000 lawsuit against two female border guards in Detroit. She was travelling to Savannah, Ga., where she owns a small vacation home, when she was pulled over by customs agents at the Ambassador Bridge.

Van Beek, 46, told CBC News she was sent to secondary inspection when customs officers discovered a few raspberries she had forgotten to declare.

She was questioned for more than an hour, then she was marched into a holding cell by two female agents. She was ordered to remove her shirt and stand spread-eagled against the wall.

“She was squeezing my nipples, etc., for a very long time, unnecessary attention,” Van Beek told CBC News in February last year. “It was sexual — using her fingertips, not back of hand like you would expect.”

Van Beek also claims the guard shoved her hand inside her genital area.

“It was deviant behaviour by the officer, no other explanation,” Van Beek said.

The third case also involves U.S. border agents at the Ambassador Bridge just three days before Van Beek was stopped and searched there.

Two Canadian women with visas allowing them to work and study in the U.S. say they were subjected to an invasive and unnecssary body search while crossing to attend a concert in Detroit. One of the two women was eight months pregnant at the time.

Their joint lawsuit claims a female border agent thrust her finger inside each plaintiff’s anus and vagina. The lawsuit also claims that a female border agent fondled each plaintiff’s bare breasts in a prolonged and deliberate manner.

The two women did not want to be interviewed by CBC News.

Constitutional rights violated: lawyer

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency has refused to comment.

Wienner said the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects anyone — regardless of citizenship — from unreasonable personal searches.

“In the case of the four women who have now filed lawsuits, we believe all of them have had their constitutional rights violated,” he said.

The number of allegations suggests more than a handful of rogue officers were involved, he added.

There is a clear difference between a pat-down, and a limited personal search, and the experiences these women are describing, Wienner added.

“These were not searches, these were essentially assaults … unnecessary, completely inappropriate and outrageous searches these women say they were subjected to at the border.” Source

Video is also at the Source

Welcome to the New America. What did Obama say, “We Can Do It”.

Well they are doing something and it’s not very nice.

Recent

Outrage grows over ‘Stop Kony’ campaign

“Canada”Trouble in Toryland: their Dirty Tricks catalogue Part Two

“Canada”Trouble in Toryland: their Dirty Tricks catalogue

#1 Kim Cloutier vs. #8 Avril Lavigne

#2 Andi Muise vs. #7 Anna Paquin

#3 Malin Akerman vs. #6 Missy Peregrym

#4 Misa Campo vs. #5 Trish Stratus

Click here for more of the 2012 Hottest Canadian showdown.

After the jump, we have the bracket and the list of the first round match-ups.

Shield Region: First Round (Tuesday, March 13)
#1 Kim Cloutier vs. #8 Avril Lavigne
#2 Andi Muise vs. #7 Anna Paquin
#3 Malin Akerman vs. #6 Missy Peregrym
#4 Misa Campo vs. #5 Trish Stratus

Arctic Region: First Round (Wednesday, March 14)
#1 Elisha Cuthbert vs. #8 Shania Twain
#2 Tricia Helfer vs. #7 Mia Kirshner
#3 Grace Park vs. #6 Carly Foulkes
#4 Evangeline Lilly vs. #5 Serinda Swan

Prairies Region: First Round (Thursday, March 15)
#1 Emmanuelle Chriqui vs. #8 Emily VanCamp
#2 Jessica Lowndes vs. #7 Shenae Grimes
#3 Nina Dobrev vs. #6 Stana Katic
#4 Erica Durance vs. #5 Jessica Lucas

Maritime Region: First Round (Friday, March 16)
#1 Rachel McAdams vs. #8 Ellen Page
#2 Kristin Kreuk vs. #7 Cobie Smulders
#3 Laura Vandervoort vs. #6 Daria Werbowy
#4 Jayde Nicole vs. #5 Amanda Huras

We’ll update this page with links and results as the match-ups happen. Come back on Tuesday and all next week as we kick off each day’s set of matches at 6:00 AM EDT.

That brings us to today. We’re taking charge with our own Hottest Canadian bracket. And we want help from our readers to pick our 64 woman field and rank them. Give us your top five Canadian women and we’ll have a bracket for you for March Madness.

Doris Hilda Anderson, CBC: Life and Times

Her autobiography “Rebel Daughter” was absolutely fascinating. It outlined her life growing up in Calgary, Alberta during the Great Depression and her continued fight against the status quo. Pretty much, you’re freaking lucky this lady was around, girls. Women have only really truly had their equal rights in Canada since 1981. Yeah, only thirty years have gone past and yet my own generation is completely in the dark about how it was. But I think we lost something when we gained feminism.

I think we lost an essential skill set: domestication. My own generation of women are, well, sort of useless. Oh sure, we hold down jobs and are good at things, but how many actually know how to cook? How many can cook without a recipe? How many of us bake? How many of us can sew? Yeah, not very many. And why would we have to? Dinner is a phone call away. You can have that pretty dress for the office Christmas party for $120, in all sizes and colours. This is capitalism, and this is feminism.

When we gained the freedom to pursue our own interests, we forgot how to do those things our grandmothers spent a life doing. So ladies, have we really helped ourselves? Or have we traded in our over mitts and sewing machines for computer screens and drive-thru? We have lost what made us the queens and conquerors of our homes. We have lost autonomy from mass-produced, capitalistic, shit.

So ladies, remember the women who lived through the Great Depression, who saw the fight for our freedom, and who watched us forget all about it… do them a favour, Ok? Let’s learn to do those skills that are taken for granted; that are needed, but unappreciated. Let’s learn how to do this stuff because if we don’t, we will never be able to gain back what we’ve lost.

Edit: We’ve already kicked men’s asses in the workforce, so let’s kick their asses at home again. Cool?

Amanda Huras

Andi Muise

Brooke Berry

Candace Rae

Carly Foulkes

Ellen Page

Emmanuelle Vaugier

Erin Karpluk

Estella Warren

Italia Ricci

Jamie Sale

Jayde Nicole

Jessica Lowndes

Jessica Lucas

Jillian Barberie

Laura Vandervoort

Leah Miller

Maryse Ouellet

Misa Campo

Morgan Webb

Natasha Henstridge

Sarah Mutch

Shenae Grimes

Veronika London

Zoe Duchesne

Click here for the original 25 reasons to love Canada.

Callan is very pleased with 9th. Good work, Callan!

She posted the top time for Quarter Final elimination rounds, missing the Small Final bracket by literally a fraction of a second.

In what looked similar to yesterday’s race, she was seeded into the quarter final with Dominque and Yuka Fujimori again, with Czech Republic’s Klara Koukalova as the fourth in the heat.

The Canadian women ripped it out again – Dominique and Maelle were 1 and 2. Alexandra Jekova (Bulgaria) and Susanne Moll (Austria) were 3 and 4 in the medal round.

Good racing, ladies! Telluride is next – I can’t wait to see what happens.

Dominique Maltais (CAN) red bib, Yuka Fujimori (JPN) in blue, Callan Chythlook-Sifsof (USA) in yellow and Klara Koukalova (CZE) in black

MEN

Unexpected wins here. Luca Matteotti (Italy) won the men’s race – his first World Cup podium.

Australian Alex Pullin, Paul-Henri De le Rue and Mario Fuchs finished out the final heat for medals.

Like Callan, U.S. Team buddies Jayson Hale and Jonathon Cheever took it up a notch for 7th and 9th.

Back to the United States!

The heat was so debilitating that I watched @ 45 minutes of a documentary about the life of Bill Parcells … before I came to my senses!  It’s one thing to feel a flash of compassion for Jay Cutler … but a big tuna who coached both the Giants AND the ‘boys??!!!  JordanCornblog clearly wasn’t well.

I next caught @ half an hour of Maddow’s replay of her interview with Jon Stewart.  Interesting discussion, but I came away thinking … “But what if Dubya and Dick really were/are evil?!”  Shouldn’t we stop attempting to have civil dialogue and sound the alarm?  Either I am too enmeshed in the liberal POV to have any perspective … or I wasn’t entirely getting his point.

Don’t forget that the USWNT plays Italy today in the first of two must-win games.  Apparently you can watch live on ESPN3.com (won’t work for me on dial-up) … or you can follow along on MatchTracker or Twitter.

Finally, kudos to the Canadian women for returning to the top 10 in world soccer rankings.  The US Women dropped 42 points … but remain atop the heap.  Hopefully after their games with Italy they will remain there …

Anna Paquin

Avril Lavigne

Cobie Smulders

Danielle Hilliard

Elisha Cuthbert

Erica Durance

Emmanuelle Chriqui

Evangeline Lilly

Gail Kim

Grace Park

Jill Hennessy

Kim Cloutier

Kristin Kreuk

Leyla Milani

Malin Akerman

Missy Peregrym

Nelly Furtado

Neve Campbell

Pam Anderson

Rachel McAdams

Sarah Carter

Sarah Chalke

Shania Twain

Tricia Helfer

Trish Stratus

canadian women s hockey team celebration

Canadian women’s hockey players are now a party to celebrate the victory!Apparently, long after the fans to shed all women of the Canadian Olympic hockey team is still on the ice and win the gold medal after beating Downing and some beer in the United States 2-0 on Thursday.One of the Canadian hockey player, Haley Irwin poured champagne on his lips Tessa Bonhomme, two gold medals swinging their necks. Meghan Agosto, Marie-Philip Poulin of Goofy grin.

Goalies Charline Labonté and Kim St-Pierre Poulin center ice lay on the belly of a huge bottle of champagne over the rest of the Olympic rings.A statement issued late Thursday, Canada apologized Ice Hockey Team.”The members of the team as an excuse to Canada after the ice festival fans left the building to anyone offended,” said the statement. “The excitement of the moment, the celebration was in the dressing room and what the boundaries are not allowed. The team regrets that her gold medal celebrating the IOC and COC caused some confusion.

“The players and the team’s pledge to defend the values of the Olympic Games before, and sees this situation as a learning experience.”When the Canadian men’s victory, the party’s more likely the party, but I do not know if this means, so that the National Hockey League stars make up the team. But even given a chance to celebrate trouble, and the teams of men to win today. Canada faces Slovakia, Finland and the U.S. account. Live, the NBC to 3 hours.

Sadly, on Oct. 27, 2009 while on tour in the province of Nova Scotia, she was hiking a local trail and was attacked and killed by two coyotes.

Find out more about her at her website and listen to some of her music on her myspace page. Here’s an article about what happened.

We also play songs by Lady Sovereign, Santigold, Deluka, Dragonette, The Evens, The Sounds (I have a slight obsession with them now!) and more.

CLICK HERE TO STREAM THE SHOW

In the midst of the carnage in Gaza, it defies belief that my synagogue has asked me to march in solid support of Israel.

By Brian Klug
January 9 2009

In any conflict between peoples, there is a time for balancing the books, for placing facts neatly in the debit and credit columns, for issuing measured statements about the rights and wrongs on both sides. But not in the midst of one-sided carnage. The only decent thing to feel at the present time is outrage. The only thing for decent people to do right now is to condemn, without reserve or qualification, the brutal campaign that the Israeli military is waging against the population of Gaza. Every if and but derogates from decency.

Earlier this week, my synagogue sent its members an email containing details of two rallies in support of Israel “which we would urge you to support”. No ifs and buts here, just solid support for the perpetrator in the midst of the horror, it is perpetrating. Is it possible to go further in the opposite direction to decency?

Attached was a flyer for a “Mass Rally in Support of Israel” organised by the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council, with “the support of the major organisations of UK Jewry”, to be held in London this weekend. The flyer proclaims: “End Hamas terror!” No ifs and buts here either. No hint at the unspeakable state terror being unleashed, day after day, by the Israeli military. It defies belief.

So, let me place on record the following fact: the board does not speak for all British Jews and certainly not for this one. Nor does the so-called Leadership Council, nor any of the organisations associated with this misbegotten event.

None of them represents me or the Judaism that I cherish and which leads me to say as follows: I condemn utterly the military offensive by the government of Israel against the people of Gaza. The loss of any human life, on whatever side of this conflict, is a terrible thing. At this juncture, though, my heart is with the Palestinians on the ground in the midst of their misery. And I extend my hand to those Israelis who are speaking out against their own government.

For alternative views among Britain’s Jews, see the website of Independent Jewish Voices

Source

So I took Brian’s advice and went to the Independent Jewish Voices.

This is what I found.

We are a network of Jews in Britain who share a commitment to certain principles, especially with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in mind: putting human rights first, rejecting all forms of racism, and giving equal priority to Palestinians and Israelis in their quest for a peaceful and secure future. We believe that these principles, rather than group loyalty, should determine the parameters of legitimate debate.

Read the Declaration

Sign the Declaration

List of Signatories
*************************************************
On Gaza

Please find below viewpoints and links on the tragic situation in Gaza.
Jewish Voices Against the Israeli Attacks

‘They are doing good, but they can do more’, Avi Pilchick was photographed telling reporters (Jan 5). He was just one of the Jewish Israeli bystanders on nearby hill-tops, applauding the spectacle of bombs hurtling down upon Gaza.

The official voice of Jewish opinion around the world, if less celebratory, is rallying in support of Israel.

Yet, significant numbers of Jewish people, inside and outside Israel, are devastated. Unable to halt the routine violation of human rights in Israel’s occupied territories or the prolonged and brutal siege preventing even the most urgent supplies reaching Gaza, we now face the enduring horror of military invasion.

While condemning every rocket fired on civilians from Gaza, we reject as absurd the ubiquitous Israeli propaganda that bombing and terrorizing Gaza will end them.

Despite its ideological hatred of Israel, elected Hamas officials have proved willing to negotiate. Hamas largely kept its side of the ceasefire it had agreed with Israel before the ending of the truce period, while in Gazan eyes Israel’s continued siege of their territory constantly violated it, devastating civilian life.

Few people seem able to change the lens through which they view this tragedy. Yet, like the Canadian women who occupied the Israeli embassy in Toronto, the hundreds of well-known Israeli writers, artists, musicians, academics and others, calling upon the international community to stop Israel , more Jewish voices are fighting harder than ever to force the world to pressurize Israel to accept that there is no military solution to this conflict, and to begin honest negotiations with all parties necessary for a peaceful settlement: a strategy it has rarely attempted, and never consistently pursued.

Lynne Segal (Founding Signatory IJV)

“If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink” (Proverbs 25:21)

Our tradition contains some wise words. Perhaps the Israeli government would do well to return to the sources and reflect on the ethics of its actions.

Source

Jewish Voice for Peace statement on Gaza attacks

Independent Jewish Voices (Canada) – formerly known as the Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadians – is a network of 18 Jewish groups as well as individual Jews from across Canada who are opposed to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.

December 28, 2008

Jewish Voice for Peace joins millions around the world, including the 1,000 Israelis who protested in the streets of Tel Aviv this weekend, in condemning ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza. We call for an immediate end to attacks on all civilians, whether Palestinian or Israeli.

Israel’s slow strangulation of Gaza through blockade has caused widespread suffering to the 1.5 million people of Gaza due to lack of food, electricity, water treatment supplies and medical equipment. It is a violation of humanitarian law and has been widely condemned around the world.

In resisting this strangulation, Hamas resumed launching rockets and mortars from Gaza into southern Israel, directly targeting civilians, which is also a war crime. Over the years, these poorly made rockets have been responsible for the deaths of 15 Israelis since 2004.

Every country, Israel included, has the right and obligation to protect its citizens. The recent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza shows that diplomatic agreements are the best protection for civilian life.

Moreover, massive Israeli air strikes have proven an indiscriminate and brutal weapon. In just two days, the known death toll is close to 300, and the attacks are continuing. By targeting the infrastructure of a poor and densely populated area, Israel has ensured widespread civilian casualties among this already suffering and vulnerable population.

This massive destruction of Palestinian life will not protect the citizens of Israel. It is illegal and immoral and should be condemned in the strongest possible terms. And it threatens to ignite the West Bank and add flames to the other fires burning in the Middle East and beyond for years to come.

The timing of this attack, during the waning days of a US administration that has undertaken a catastrophic policy toward the Middle East and during the run-up to an Israeli election, suggests an opportunistic agenda for short-term political gain at an immense cost in Palestinian lives. In the long run this policy will benefit no-one except those who always profit from war and exploitation. Only a just and lasting peace, achieved through a negotiated agreement, can provide both Palestinians and Israelis the security they want and deserve.

Source

Independent Jewish Voices Condemns Israel’s Gaza Massacre
By Independent Jewish Voices in  Canada

December 28 2009
Occupied Palestine

December 28, 2008
The Israeli military has unleashed its most vicious air assault against the people of Gaza in decades, killing over 280 Gazans and wounding over 700. Despite claims by the Israeli leadership that they are trying to avoid civilians the attacks have been concentrated on Gaza City and the towns of Khan Younis and Rafah. Israeli television reports that Israeli troops are massing on the border “in preparation for a supplementary ground offensive.”

Independent Jewish Voices (Canada) condemns this murderous escalation of violence by the Israeli government. Diana Ralph, IJV Coordinator calls this assault “completely disproportionate to the unsupportable firing of Qassam rockets by Hamas fighters which killed one Israeli. It’s important to put this into the context of the deadly siege of Gaza by the Israeli forces, which continued in violation of the terms of the recent six month truce between Israel and Gaza. In the ethics of violent conflicts, it is the responsibility of the force wielding power – the Israeli government in this case – to create the conditions for a just peace.”

Dr. Judy Deutsch, IJV representative, added: “This massacre will only intensify the cycle of violence in the region and heighten the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The aim of these attacks is not to bring about peace but to strengthen the position of the Israeli government as it heads into elections next February.”

Independent Jewish Voices (Canada) calls for an immediate halt to all violence in the conflict, the cessation of the Israeli government’s blockade against Gaza, a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Occupied West Bank and the dismantling of settlements.

We also call on the Canadian government to recall its ambassador to Israel and strongly condemn Israel’s assault.

Independent Jewish Voices (Canada) – formerly known as the Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadians – is a network of 18 Jewish groups as well as individual Jews from across Canada who are opposed to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.

Source

January 10 2008

In San Francisco, Jewish protesters joined pro-Palestinian forces this week as hundreds gathered outside the Israeli consulate to make their voices heard, some carrying signs saying “Gaza = Warsaw Ghetto.” Among them was Jack Fertig – known to many in town as performance artist Sister Boom Boom – who said, “I’m descended from Holocaust victims, and we need to identify with the oppressed, not imitate the oppressors.

Source

An Open Letter From Jewish Youth in Canada – Support of Gaza -all Jewish youth can sign

In Toronto Jan 7: Canadian Jewish women protesting against Gaza War, Arrested after occupying the Israeli Consulate

Gaza (1): A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

Actions we can take to help Palestinians in Gaza Petitions

Indexed List of all Stories in Archives

Meanwhile, here’s an article from Team Canada’s site. This is the first Olympics for the Canadian women … meaning that Charmaine Hooper never made it to that venue … a fact that I found quite surprising.  Here’s to a good tourney (but not TOO good) for our northern neighbors!