More Canadian Than A...

Time for a little vacation, and since I won't be anywhere near a computer on or leading up to Canada Day, here is he most stereotypical, yet timely, thing I could find. (Wendy Tancock via National Post)

Previously on Popped Culture...

Canadian Stereotype Comics

Happy Birthday Canada!

With Influences That Range From A To Zed

THE QUEEN AND MISSING KIDS

This is Queen Elizabeth with Anthony Blunt who reportedly ran a paedophile ring which included a lot of top people (aangirfan: Sexpionage).

"It was long rumoured that the unusual resemblance between Blunt and Edward VIII was because they were half brothers." (Sir Anthony Blunt)

This is William Combes.

He said he witnessed "the abduction of ten fellow residential school children by the Queen of England and her husband in October, 1964 at the Catholic school in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada."

According to Anonymous:

In Canada, "government and church run 'residential' schools were used to systematically break down native communities over decades.

"Sexual abuse was normal, and murders also happened.

"Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip have been directly accused of being present at such a school when 10 kids went missing...

"An official inquiry was due to hear testimony in a few months from the last surviving witness to see the Queen with those kids.

"That last witness died this week in mysterious circumstances."

Website for this image

At Adamite.com we read "Kevin Annett Reacts To Death"

March 2011.

The man who claimed to witness "the abduction of ten fellow residential school children by the Queen of England and her husband in October, 1964 at the Catholic school in Kamloops, B.C. has died suddenly...

"William Combes, age 59 and in good health, was scheduled to be a primary witness at the opening session of the International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State (ITCCS) on September 12 in London...

"William was the sole survivor of a group of three aboriginal boys who claim to have witnessed the abduction of ten children during a royal visit to the Kamloops residential school in mid October, 1964, when both the Queen and Prince Philip were in Canada.

"'They took away those ten kids and nobody ever saw them again' described William...

According to William Coombes' signed and witnessed declaration made on February 3, 2010:

"I am ... 58 years old. I live in Vancouver, Canada.

"I am a survivor of the Kamloops and Mission Indian residential schools, both run by the Roman Catholic church.

"I suffered terrible tortures there at the hands especially of Brother Murphy, who killed at least two children.

"I witnessed him throw a child off a three story balcony to her death.

"He put me on a rack and broke some of my bones, in the Kamloop school basement, after I tried running away.

"I also saw him and another priest burying a child in the school orchard one night.

"In October, 1964 when I was 12 years old, I was an inmate at the Kamloops school and we were visited by the Queen of England and Prince Phillip...

"The day the Queen got to the school, I was part of a group of kids that went on a picnic with her and her husband and some of the priests, down to a meadow near Dead Man’s Creek.

"I remember it was weird because we all had to bend down and kiss her foot, a white laced boot.

"After awhile, I saw the Queen leave the picnic with ten children from the school, and those kids never returned.

"We never heard anything more about them and never met them again even when we were older. They were all from around there but they all vanished.

"The group that disappeared was seven boys and three girls, in age from six to fourteen years old..."

Photo from: www.nativeamericans.com/Photos.htm

Thousands of girls and boys were raped and tortured, and many were murdered, in Canada's aboriginal boarding schools. (CANADA )In Canada, up until 1985, Christian churches ran around 100 boarding schools for aboriginal children.

Between 100,000 and 200,000 children were forced to attend these boarding schools. (Canada probes TB 'genocide' in church-run schools - health - 05 ...)

Reportedly, around 50,000 aboriginal children died in these schools.

Documents show a death rate of 50%. ( Protesters demand PM, churches reveal fates of residential school ... )

"A 2001 report by the Truth Commission into Genocide in Canada documents the responsibility of the Roman Catholic Church, the United Church of Canada, the Anglican Church of Canada, and the federal government in the deaths of more than 50,000 Native children in the Canadian residential school system.

"The report says church officials killed children by beating, poisoning, electric shock, starvation, prolonged exposure to sub-zero cold while naked, and medical experimentation, including the removal of organs and radiation exposure." - CANADA



On 1 January 2008, the Canadian government's 'Truth and Reconciliation Commission' head, Bob Watts, stated that criminal acts had gone on in the schools, accounting for the deaths of 'unknown' numbers of children. (Epoch Times Move to Investigate Residential School Deaths ...)

Reportedly (Film: Horror in Canada):

Children suffered 'beatings, electric shocks, forced sterilization, medical experimentation, starvation, rape as well as various other forms of sexual abuse, and murder..... Some spoke of young girls becoming pregnant as a result of rape, or nuns becoming pregnant after sexually abusing boys...'

Reportedly ( Genocide in Canada ):

1. The United Church provided aboriginal children from its schools for drug-testing, radiation experiments and CIA mind control programs.

2. The United Church may have knowledge of a pedophile ring, associated with The Vancouver Club, which involves United Church clergy, lawyers and judges.

Documentary filmmaker Kevin Annett estimates there are at least six burial sites at former British Columbia residential schools run by the Catholic Church. (Natives want children's remains returned)

According to Annett: "We know that there's mass graves behind the school in Port Alberni, in Alert Bay, in Mission, right next to the grounds of the Mission Folk Fest."

Annett said he has heard many stories of children who simply disappeared from the more than 100 residential schools for aboriginal children that operated in Canada from the 1870s to the early 1980s.

Former students have told Annett they helped with burials.

Many died from tuberculosis, violence and abuse.

According to Annett: "It's about genocide. It's about murder.... If you do a conservative estimate, then you are talking at least 50,000 children across Canada over a century."

“The priests dug up the secret gravesite in a real hurry around 1972, when the school closed. No-one was allowed to watch them dig up those remains.

"I think it’s because that was a specially secret graveyard where the bodies of the pregnant girls were buried.

"Some of the girls who got pregnant from the priests were actually killed because they threatened to talk.

"They were sometimes shipped out and sometimes just disappeared. We weren’t allowed to talk about this.” (Testimony of Arnold Sylvester to Kevin Annett, Duncan, BC, August 13, 1998). ( CANADA )

~~~

BYRON PRIOR : CLASSIC CHILD ABUSE CASE

~~~

An organized system of exploitation of women and children appears to exist on Canada's west coast, according to sources.

This system is decades-old and has been supplied for many years with women and children from aboriginal (Indian) reserves and children's homes (residential schools).

This system is international.

Reportedly, Vancouver is one spoke in a wheel of pedophilia, sex slavery, human organ black markets, snuff films and violent child pornography that has outlets throughout the Pacific Rim world, particularly in China and Thailand.

CENSORED NEWS: Kevin Annett: Eye Witnesses of Murder and Torture.

Censored News Page 2: Kevin Annett: Eye Witnesses of Murder.

An A To Z 2010 Encyclopitcionary

National Post cartoonist Gary Clement wraps up the year that was. Look it up in yer encyclopitcionary! Happy New Year, everyone!

Previously on Popped Culture...

Schoolhouse Rock: I'm Kind Of A Big F*cking Deal

Have You Tried Throwing Rocks At Her?

A Bad Month for Cartoon Characters

THE INFLUENCE OF MOSSAD

When asked who was behind 9 11, most people, quite correctly, blame the US government, al Qaeda and Israel.



(Most likely, 9 11 was run by the same sort of people who ran Operation Gladio - Michael Ledeen, Gladio and 9 11.)



In Germany, 23% blame the US government and 1% blame Israel. In Britain, 57% blame al Qaeda. (Who Was Behind 9/11?)



Of course, the US government, al Qaeda and Israel all work together. Al Qaeda was set up by the US government, which many people say is increasingly manipulated by Israel. (Al Qaeda – The Database)



Former Italian President Francesco Cossiga, who revealed the existence of Operation Gladio, "told an Italian newspaper that the 9-11 terrorist attacks were run by the CIA and Mossad, and that this was common knowledge among global intelligence agencies." (thewe.cc/mossad.htm)



Mossad pulls the strings in many countries and organisations.



The German government is suspected of involvement in the decision to grant bail to Uri Brodsky, the suspected Israeli intelligence agent wanted for alleged involvement in the killing of a Hamas leader in Dubai. (Israeli 'agent' freed in Germany / Angela Merkel?)



Reportedly, four members of the United Nations weapons inspection team in Iraq were Israeli spies. ('Undercover Mossad agents' in UN team)



Zev Barkan aka Bruckenstein was at one time a Mossad agent in Brussels. Reportedly, Barkan got Bernard Weinstein involved with Marc Dutroux's organisation, so that blackmail could be applied to Dutroux's customers. Dutroux was at the centre of an international child abuse and murder ring.- MOSSAD'S MURDEROUS ACTIVITIES IN AUSTRIA, DUBAI, MUMBAI ... Reportedly, Mossad operative Zev Barkan and his accomplices ran a studio making snuff and porno movies in the Mekong River town of Pen Yauin in Cambodia. (aangirfan: AUSTRALIAN JEWS UNDER SURVEILLANCE)

According to Wayne Madsen, (24 August 2010 Israeli Intelligence Throughout Lebanese Government):



Mossad has infiltrated all the political groups in Lebanon (Christian, Druze, Sunni and Shia.)



The UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) is expected to charge Lebanon's Hezbollah with the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.



The STL has, as its chief prosecutor, Daniel Bellemare of Canada.



Bellemare is suspected by Lebanese intelligence of having close previous contacts with agents of both the CIA and Mossad.



Bellemare is suspected of using doctored cell phone intercepts pointing the "smoking gun" at Hezbollah.



Mossad operations in Lebanon are being supported by Saudi Arabia.



Mossad and the CIA are said to work with a Sunni group in Lebanon which includes a member of the family of Ziad al-Jarrah, one of the alleged 9 11 hijackers.



Former Syrian Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam, who accused Syria's President Assad of ordering Rafik Harir's assassination, is tactically backed by Israel and the United States.



Khaddam's group receives support from Mossad and the CIA.

Mohammad Atta who reportedly spoke Hebrew and who reportedly had links to Jack Abramoff (cannonfire.blogspot.com/2005/08/was-abramoff-linked-to-terrorists.html / Mohamed Atta loved pork chops, and 49 other things you may not ... )



There is Canadian Intelligence Collaboration with Israel n



According to Yves Engler, at Dissident Voice:



Canadian Stefan Christoff supports the Palestinians..



In the past eight months at least seven of Christoff’s friends have been visited by Canadian spooks (CSIS agents).



The pro-Israel Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper has equated support for Palestinian rights with extremism.



The Conservatives have strengthened Canadian intelligence cooperation with Israel.



In his 1990 book Official Secrets: The story behind the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Richard Cléroux noted that "Mossad agents are located in every major [Canadian] city, working closely with CSIS."



Mossad agents have used Canadian passports to carry out numerous foreign assassinations.



According to former CIA officer Philip Giraldi, 'Mossad is spying in the US with impunity'



In 1985, the FBI arrested Jonathan Pollard on charges of selling classified material to Israel, which was later sold to the Soviets.



Adam Pearlman, Jewish spokesman for al Qaeda.



In the American Conservative , PHILIP GIRALDI relates the following about Israeli Mossad Spying in America:



1. Israel's intelligence agencies target the United States intensively.



Israel leads all others in its active espionage directed against American companies and the Defense Department.



It also dominates two commercial sectors that enable it to extend its reach inside America’s domestic infrastructure: airline and telecommunications security.



Israel is believed to have the ability to monitor nearly all phone records originating in the United States, while numerous Israeli air-travel security companies are known to act as the local Mossad stations.



2. Ben-Ami Kadish, who admitted to providing defense secrets to Israel while working as an engineer at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey, walked out of a Manhattan court after paying a fine.



And what about Pakistan, Iran, China and Russia?



General Aslam Beg, Pakistan's former army chief, notes in an article that the Strategic Partnership Deal between India and the United States has led to the creation of a joint espionage network comprising the CIA, Israel’s Mossad, Britain’s MI6, India’s Research and Analysis Wing, and others in Afghanistan engaged in destabilizing Pakistan and Iran, China, Russia and other Central Asian states. (aangirfan: Pakistan and China versus Mossad, CIA, RAW and MI6)



aangirfan: WIKILEAKS WORKS FOR THE CIA AND MOSSAD?



aangirfan: MOSSAD AND CIA IN GREECE



aangirfan: CIA AND MOSSAD TERRORISTS IN TURKEY?



aangirfan: KILLING KIDS ON A FIELD TRIP; ERGENEKON AND 9 11



aangirfan: CLASSIC MOSSAD BLACKMAIL



aangirfan: AUSTRALIA'S JULIA GILLARD, THE CIA AND MOSSAD



aangirfan: CIA AND MOSSAD IN PUNE?



aangirfan: MOSSAD'S MURDEROUS ACTIVITIES IN AUSTRIA, DUBAI, MUMBAI ...



aangirfan: MOSSAD BUSY IN MALAYSIA?



aangirfan: MOSSAD IN THE SINAI



aangirfan: Lockerbie links to Franklin, Dutroux, Mossad, McKee



aangirfan: MOSSAD AND MURDER IN CYPRUS



aangirfan: THE CONVENT SCHOOL GIRL AND CERTAIN JEWISH FOLKS



aangirfan: MOSSAD and THE CIA TURN UP THE HEAT.



aangirfan: Con Coughlin and MI6-Mossad propaganda?



aangirfan: THE CIA AND MOSSAD IN BANGLADESH



aangirfan: Rahm Emanuel - FBI file - MOSSAD



aangirfan: Mumbai and the Anglo-American-Mossad-RSS Nexus



aangirfan: Mumbai, the Hoax Phone Call, La Belle Disco



aangirfan: MOSSAD, CIA, RAW and terrorism in Bangladesh



aangirfan: Abu Nidal reportedly worked for the CIA and MOSSAD



aangirfan: "Mossad killed Hariri" - German criminologist



aangirfan: Torture to Continue; Mossad in Turkey; Holbrooke and ...



aangirfan: MOSSAD AND DAVID CAMERON'S CONSERVATIVE PARTY



aangirfan: MOSSAD DISINFORMATION ON DUBAI ASSASSINATION?

Canadian band Ohbijou - Wildfires live

http://www.myspace.com/ohbijou

Chroniqué dans L'instant pop (France Musique) par Vincent Théval

Scent Of A Politician

This will only make sense to Canadians or those who are disturbingly well informed about our political party leaders. Of course some of these scents might be easily applicable to any politician and not just those who suggest they "can smell the whiff of sulphur" on the other. (Graphic via Steve Murray)

Previously on Popped Culture...
Fantastic Forefathers
Star Trek: Smells Like Certain Death
Private Eyes, They're Watching You...

Canadian Stereotype Comics

Man, I remember when I got my first canoe. Good times. And I hope nobody was offended. I'm sorry. (Hark, a vagrant via The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century)

Previously on Popped Culture...
Happy Birthday Canada
With Influences That Range From A To Zed
Canadian History: The Video Game

Happy Birthday Canada!

I made this a couple of years ago, but I still like it, so let's have another go. And really, who was I going to add, Justin Bieber? Have a great day everyone!

Previously on Popped Culture...
With Influences That Range From A To Zed 
This Book Decapitated Michael Ondaatje
Canadian History: The Video Game 

CANADA'S POLITICIANS ARE AGENTS OF FOREIGN POWERS?

Canadian Omar Khadr, who, since the age of 15, has been illegally imprisoned at Guantanamo (Omar Khadr - Wikipedia). Does the CIA control, Canada?

Canada's spy boss, Richard Fadden, says that some of Canada's politicians are agents of foreign powers. (Warning over Canada politicians)

Richard Fadden did not tell us whether or not he is an agent of a foreign power.

And what about Stephen Harper?

Deux garçons du quartier Rosemont à Montréal portent des vieux pneus de voiture et des chaussures à un centre de récupération du caoutchouc pour les forces armées.

Akram Zatmeh has described how 'Canadians' recruited him as a spy.

"Akram Zatmeh, 22, claims he supplied information to agents posing as Canadians that helped Israel pinpoint the whereabouts of a senior Hamas leader.

"The leader was later assassinated by Israeli forces in a July 23 missile attack that also killed 14 others, including nine children.

"The informant claimed he was recruited by three agents who said they were Canadians and took him to the Canadian embassy in Tel Aviv before coercing him with promises of travel to Canada and threats to distribute fake photos showing him in sexual encounters...

"Martin Rudner, director of the Canadian Centre of Intelligence and Security Studies at Carleton University's Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, said the tactics described by Mr. Zatmeh were common." (Israeli Mossad Spies Accused Of Posing As Canadians)

Igor Gouzenko.

In 1945, Igor Gouzenko defected from the KGB, walked into an Ottawa newsroom and announced that he had details of Soviet spy rings operating in Canada and in the UK.

Gouzenko's case was passed on to MI6's Kim Philby who was secretly on the side of Russia and Israel.

Russia and Israel shared intelligence.

Philby suggested Gouzenko should be interviewed by Roger Hollis of MI5, who was allegedly a Soviet agent.

According to The Times, 9 March 2010, Serge Serykh claimed to have been a member of the Russia secret service. (Suicide refugee, Serge Serykh, 'was member of Russia secret service' )

Serge Serykh also claimed that he had uncovered a plot by the Canadian Government to assassinate the Queen.

Serge Serykh, along with his wife and stepson, were living on the 15th floor of a tower block in Glasgow.

On 7 March 2010, all three were found dead, roped together, at the foot of the tower block.
Serge Serykh had been given refugee status in Canada in 2000.

Reportedly he had offered his skills as an alleged former member of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) to the Canadian Government.

He claimed he had evidence of a foreign spy network across Canada.

In 2007 Canada rejected his application for citizenship.

He accused the Canadian authorities of having used mind-altering psychotronic techniques against him.

He left Canada in late 2007 and eventually ended up in the UK where he applied for asylum.

He moved to Glasgow in autumn 2009.

His case for asylum in the UK was based on his belief that because of an alleged deal between Stephen Harper, the Canadian Prime Minister, and former President Putin of Russia, he would be killed by Canadian security agents if he was returned to Canada.

In 2009, the UK authorities rejected Serykh's application for asylum, on the ground that he still had refugee status in Canada.

Blair and Berezovsky (mosnews.com/2006/03/22/zhirinblair.l). Reportedly, Sergey Serykh knew who killed Alexander Litvinenko, whose name has been linked to the Russian-Israeli mafia.

The dead Alexander Litvinenko has been linked to the dead Sergey Serykh, whose body was found at the foot of a tower block in Glasgow, on 7 March 2010.

Ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko may have had links to the Russian-Israeli Mafia and to the smuggling of radioactive materials. (New wrinkle in Litvinenko's death )

Litvinenko and exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky may have been working for the British security services. (Litvinenko suspect: MI5 'tried to recruit me')

"The role of Boris Berezovsky in the Beslan massacre has never been made clear - but there is a growing belief that Litvinenko's silence was sought by people other than Putin..." (Matrioshka - The Russian enigma._)

Berezovsky reportedly poured millions into the Orange Revolution in the Ukraine. (scotsman.2374152005)

Russian politician Mr Zhirinovsky has said "he was convinced that Blair was personally interested in keeping Berezovsky on British soil, claiming that the Blairs were receiving financial support from 'criminal elements'.

"Cherie Blair, Zhirinovsky continued, works in a law firm 'which is servicing our Russian thugs, Berezovsky included.' Those are dozens of 'extremists' including Berezovsky and Akhmed Zakayev, as well as 'nearly all of the Yukos top executives', he added." (www.mosnews.com/2006/03/22/l)

Image from Mail on Sunday (Daughter of asylum-seeker.)

Sergey Serykh was found dead at the foot of a tower block in Glasgow.

According to Vitali Alexandrovich, Sergey Serykh's landlord in London, Sergey "said that since he defected from the Ukrainian secret services they were trying to assassinate him.

"He said he knew who had killed Alexander Litvinenko (the Russian dissident poisoned in London in 2006)." (Daughter of asylum-seeker.)

Sergey's step-daughter Karina lives in Moscow.

Asked about Sergey's spy plot claims, she said: 'I don't want to talk about this.

"Some of it is true."

She did not deny any of Sergey's claims. (Daughter of asylum-seeker.)

Sergey had said that Russia's security services would also try to kill him and his family if they returned to his native Ukraine.

The Mail on Sunday (Daughter of asylum-seeker.) has discovered that when Sergey arrived in Britain in 2007 he was well off.

He was born in Zaporozhe in the Ukraine.

Apparently, he was in the Russian army from at least 1994 to 1996.

He and his family moved to Canada in 2000.

They were described as being vegetarian and Hindu. They ran a health business.

In 2005, the family was given 'protected person' status. This means it was believed that, if they returned 'to their country of nationality or former habitual residence they would be subject to the possibility of torture, risk of life, or risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment'.

The family was given permanent residency in Canada.

Then suddenly they fled from Canada to contionental Europe and eventually to London and then Glasgow. He claimed he had uncovered a government plot, involving Stephen Harper, to assassinate the Queen.

For 18 months Sergey and family rented a comfortable apartment in Wembley Park in London.

They "never struggled to meet the £1,250 monthly rent."

Vitali Alexandrovich, Serykh's landlord said: "He seemed to have plenty of money...

"He said the Russian secret service were also after him, which is why he had fled to Canada in the first place."

Sergey Serykh claimed that a deal existed between Stephen Harper, the Canadian prime minister, and former Russian president Vladimir Putin that meant he would be killed by Canadian security agents if he returned there.

According to Wayne Madsen ("james bond" plot to down putin behind litvinenko):

"The London offices of ISC Global, now known as RISC Management, were visited in November 2006 by Litvinenko and Russian businessmen Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun and traces of polonium-210 were discovered there.

"According to the Sunday Times of London, Russian police are also investigating whether the poisoning of Litvinenko and the attempted poisoning of Globuvich are connected to the radiation poisoning death two years ago of Roman Tsepov, a former bodyguard of Putin when he was deputy Mayor of St. Petersburg.

"Tsepov was involved in the Russian government's tracking of Yukos assets. Also of interest are connections to the June 2004 assassination of Forbes Russian edition editor-in-chief Paul Klebnikov, a U.S. citizen who wrote a damaging expose of Berezovsky.

"Three Chechen contract killers were charged in Klebnikov's murder. The same Russian-Israeli mob ring is also being looked at in the investigation of the assassination of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya of Novaya Gazeta as a way to embarrass Putin...

"In March 2004, British attorney Stephen Curtis, the chairman of ISC Global, died, along with his pilot, in a helicopter crash near Bournemouth Airport. The two were on their way to Dublin. The Times reported a James Bond-like secret project by ISC Global, jailed Yukos tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and Nevzlin to launch an international smear campaign to discredit Putin and other members of the Russian government...

"Britain's government has been co-opted by the Russian-Israeli mobsters, much in the same way that their American colleagues, acting through neo-con proxies, ... captured control of the Bush administration."

Ewen Cameron, who worked in Canada for the CIA. Children were 'tortured' in Nazi style experiments.

Dr. D. Ewen Cameron was the former head of the Canadian, American and World Psychiatric Associations. (http://www.aches-mc.org/monarch.html)

The CIA’s Allen Dulles gave millions of dollars to organizations headed by Cameron.

Experimentations were conducted at several locations in Montreal, mostly at McGill University, St Mary’s Hospital and Allan Memorial Institute.

Cameron used technique of “psychic driving,” by which unsuspecting patients were kept in a drug induced coma for several weeks and given electroshocks, while electronic helmets were strapped to their heads and repetitive auditory messages were transmitted at variable speeds.

Many of those exploited were abused children from the Roman Catholic orphanage system.

~~~~

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3696920.stm

According to the BBC:

"He was a Scottish doctor whose burning ambition was to be a scientific legend. Dr Ewen Cameron, a graduate of Glasgow University, became one of the most eminent psychiatrists in the world.

"His work in Canada in the 1950s was radical and groundbreaking but now some of his patients are finally receiving compensation...

"Cameron subjected his unsuspecting patients to massive electric shocks and a cocktail of powerful drugs in a 'brainwashing' programme funded by the CIA."

~~~

http://www.outpost-of-freedom.com/operatio.htm
http://j_kidd.tripod.com/b/104.html

Monarch Program mind-control survivors claim to have been used as slaves by certain intelligence agencies and top-ranking politicians.

Project Monarch is part of the CIA's Project MK Ultra which is about mind control.

The original idea for this project came from research carried out by top SS German Nazi scientists (1927-1941) .The leader of this research was Himmler.

Project MK Ultra was exposed in 1970 due to law suits filed by Canadian survivors and/or their surviving families.

These survivors received the cooperation of Canadian Intelligence individuals and others who uncovered one of the CIA's original mind control research mental health facilities based in Montreal. The CIA and Canadian government settled the lawsuits out of court.

Josef Mengele, known as "the Angel of Death", was one of the approximately 900 military scientists and medical researchers secretly smuggled into the United States after World War II.

~~~~

http://www.cchr.org/ect/eng/page18.htm

Dr Ewen Cameron's “depatterning” and “psychic driving” destroyed a patient’s personality by repeated shocks up to forty times the intensity considered safe.

In the 1950s, the CIA paid Cameron $69,000 to do this as part of their mind control operation code-named MK-ULTRA.

John Marks, author of The Search For The Manchurian Candidate, tells us: “The frequent screams of patients (usually women) that echoed through the hospital did not deter Cameron or most of his associates in their attempts to ‘depattern’ their subjects completely.

With Influences That Range From A To Zed

In terms of pop culture, the opening ceremonies for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics was a showcase of Canada's most mainstream entertainment — Nelly Furtado, Sarah McLachlan and Bryan Adams — but it was the performance of We Are More by slam poet Shane Koyczan that captured the energy in the room.
An excerpt:

we do more than sit around and say "eh?"
and yes
we are the home of the Rocket and the Great One
who inspired little number nines
and little number ninety-nines
but we're more than just hockey and fishing lines
off of the rocky coast of the Maritimes
and some say what defines us
is something as simple as please and thank you
and as for you're welcome
well we say that too
but we are more
than genteel or civilized
we are an idea in the process
of being realized
we are young
we are cultures strung together
then woven into a tapestry
and the design
is what makes us more
than the sum total of our history

I can't find the performance anywhere as the International Olympic Committee, in its wisdom, is clamping down on anyone doing something ridiculous like positively promoting the games (nor is it available on the official sites either) but there is an earlier version available.




We Are More - Shane Koyczan

Update: I still can't find the ceremony version, but I did come across an interview with Koyczan.

Previously on Popped Culture...
Attention Vancouver Iceholes: Stephen Colbert Is Coming!
This Book Decapitated Michael Ondaatje
Canadian History: The Video Game

A Star Is Born, Kinda... Not Really

So "my" episode of Being Erica ("What Goes Up Must Come Down") aired last night and my blink-and-you-miss-it scene as an extra went by so quickly I figured I should screen cap it for you. Ego? I don't know what you're talking about.

Anyway, did you see how star Erin Karpluk walked by me without batting an eye? Yeah, that's good acting. We had a scene where we totally made out, but it was such an instantaneous regret on her part that she couldn't get to her time-travelling psychologist fast enough, so they left it on the cutting room floor.


I managed the above bit of scene-stealing by being the sucker having the privilege of updating the National Post site at such an ungodly hour that they just filmed around me. So that's our newsroom, except better-dressed and with too many people. Nobody wears suspenders. Ok, one guy does.

But that is not the end of my national fame today. It appears I have been nominated for Best Pop Culture Blog at the Canadian Blog Awards, alongside my colleague Boy Reporter and friends at Scandal Sheet, Nik at Nite and culture kills. Keen! So vote for everyone, but mostly me.

Previously on Popped Culture...
Being (An) Erica Extra
My So Called Life... Truly
Fourth Is The New First

Being (An) Erica Extra

The National Post's newsroom was transformed into a set of CBC's Being Erica this morning, shooting a scene from later this season. The lead character Erica Strange (Erin Karpluk) has edited a book which was lambasted by our fictional critic (he was wearing suspenders, of course), so Erica comes to the Post to discuss the review.

While the newsroom is usually deserted in the early morning, as first in on the online desk I became an involuntary background extra. Nothing like an 18,000-watt Klieg light aimed at your desk to shake off the cobwebs.

While the crew busied themselves snaking cables between cubicles, one set decorator marveled at the chaotic desk clutter. "If you dressed a set like this, they'd never believe you."

Extras were dispersed to fill up the desks, making their faux newsroom much busier than our real one. They were, for most part, overdressed. Ties and jackets are the exception at work, not the norm. The extras were also given pretend tasks to mime in the background, making for a lot of studious staring at proofs in-between conversations about their previous credits and making up back stories for their characters. "My guy used to be from Owen Sound and his favourite hockey team is the Montreal Canadiens."

It was soon discovered that I was a "real" and actually working (somewhat unsuccessfully) during the shoot. A makeup artist scooted over to touch up a "blemish" — can't have real fake people looking blotchy — and after a joking warning from a friend behind the camera not to stare into the lens, rehearsals and filming began.

Over and over and over again.

A few things overheard during the shoot...

Erin Karpluk chatting with her co-star between takes:

"Did you watch the Emmy's?"
"No."
"... well, that's the end of that conversation."
(laughter)

Then, in the middle of a conversation about the seasons, Ms. Karpluk mentioned she just got her Green Card, and is heading to L.A. soon. Are we breaking news here? New U.S. job opportunities for Erica Strange?

More from the crew, on the state of the news business:

"A lot of empty desks here, maybe they are hiring?"
"It's too bad newspapers are dying."
"Do you read all your news on the Internet?"
"Some, I get news alerts ...
"You know what they gotta stop doing, giving away information for free on the internet."

And despite admonitions to not touch anything on newsroom desks, a couple of extras were spotted rifling through CDs, expressing excitement at the discovery of Aqualung. When it was suggested that they should not peruse the contents of our co-workers desks this defence was offered: "We're just big music fans."

Then the shoot wrapped and all the equipment was quickly torn down and spirited away, leaving behind only two boxes of craft services croissants for the straggling journalists to fight over.

Look for the National Post's (and my) star turn later this year. I'll be the the stiff-looking, acting-natural guy.

Previously on Popped Culture...
My So Called Life... Truly
Ventriloquist Pulls A Billy Bob Thornton
Tragedy: Snow In Toronto

United Breaks Guitars

Dave Carroll of the Halifax band Sons of Maxwell had his guitar broken by United Airlines baggage handlers in Chicago. They gave him the runaround and ignored him for nine months, so he wrote a hutin' song and put it up on YouTube, where it is now on its way to going viral. Beware of pissed of customers.

United, United, you broke my Taylor guitar
United, United, some big help you are
You broke it, you should fix it
You're liable, just admit it
I should have flown with someone else or gone by car
‘Cause United breaks guitars'

Link via all over, but initially Steve Pratt

Previously on Popped Culture...
Swamp Stomp Country
All Your Memes Are Belong To Us
The Customer Is Always Wrong

Norma Shearer

Morgan Doctor

Cette musicienne vivant au Canada a sorti deux albums : "Is this home" et le récent "Other life".

Quatre magnifiques morceaux sont à découvrir sur son Myspace
Je vous recommande tout particulièrement "Montreal" interprété par Tamara Williamson.

Voici une interprétation live de "Silver light", titre extrait de son dernier album.

_QLP9833 copy
Mise en ligne par Robert Ciolfi Photography

Happy Canada Day, Eh?

Wee, time to celebrate the birth of our great nation with a holiday in the middle of the week. WTF?! Stupid calendar. Anyway, to you non-Canadians, this is downtown Toronto. Yep, it's all wilderness up here.

Ok, maybe four hours north of the city it looks like this. I want to go there, but it will have to wait a couple of weeks. Have a great day, everyone.

Previously on Popped Culture...
A Popped Culture Canada Day
This Book Decapitated Michael Ondaatje
Canadian History: The Video Game

Canadian History: The Video Game

If Canadian history looked like this, I think I could get into it. Can Mario (Sir John A. McDonald) crush King "Louis Riel" and his rebellion? I want to play!

"Through gaming, we intend to challenge students to see if they can be as successful as Sir John A. Macdonald in creating a new country," wrote Thomas S. Axworthy, chair of the Centre for the Study of Democracy at Queen's University in the National Post.

Of course it would probably be more like a dull(er) version of Railroad Tycoon. But I love Steve Murray's graphic, so I suppose that will suffice.

Previously on Popped Culture...
What Would Pac-Man Eat?
Invaders! Possibly From Space!
Che's Big Adventure

The Necessities of Life

The nominations for the 2009 Gennie Awards came out today and I was impressed to see that I had seen three of the nominated films, including two up for Best Picture. Seeing as I've only seen five of the Oscar nominated films this year, I think that's pretty good.

For those who don't know (and that would be most people), the Genies are the awards for Oscars for Canadian films, which gets about as much attention as, well, Canadian films.

The Necessities of Life (Ce qu'il faut pour vivre) picked up eight nominations, including best picture and best actor for Natal Ungalaaq, an Inuit actor who I last saw in Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (ain't I cultured?) The Necessities of Life was the Canadian entry for best foreign film for this year's Oscars, and made it to the semi-finals but did not make the final list. Oddly enough, I saw it four days ago as part of the Canada's Top Ten program.

It was a beautiful film and follows an Inuit man in the '50s who, after being diagnosed with tuberculosis, is taken from a remote island in the far North to a sanatorium in Quebec City, where he is separated from his family and unable to communicate with those around him. It is in French and Inukitut and the trailer is above, but I could only find it in French, thought the official site has an English version.

Though it may be hard to find it, keep an eye out for this film. It's supposed to be having a limited release in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver later this month.

The Cat Came Back

The National Film Board of Canada put over 700 films, clips and trailers online last week as a way to mark its 70th anniversary and, frankly, join this century.

The archive is searchable and, even better, the films can be embeded. Cool! So I immediately searched out Cordell Barker's 1998, Oscar-nominated short film, The Cat Came Back.

What a great idea. This should open up a lot of great art to a whole new audience. Bravo, NFB.

My So Called Life...Truly...

Back in the day when Sex and the City was all the rage, I would always get “Hey, you’re a single writer and you live in a big city – you must relate to Carrie sooo much!” At which point I’d do a mental eye roll and calmly yet non-condescendingly explain that, not having Carrie’s fabulous career, salary, body and ability to purchase untold number of Manolos, Carrie’s character really didn’t “speak” to me. Not that it was an evil show – it’s just that Carrie’s character was practically my polar opposite. I’d rather be shot than caught sipping Cosmos at the latest Zagat-rated Manhattan hot spot. Which is poopy cause from SATC to Desperate Housewives to Cashmere Mafia to Lipstick Jungle, there’s been a dearth of shows that speak to gals like me. That is to say, thirty-something single, cat-owning women who have found themselves in dead-end careers being pitied by their married friends and asking themselves “What the hell happened to my life?” Until Being Erica. And for that I say hallelujah.

Debuting Monday night on CBC, Being Erica focuses on the life – or lack thereof – of Erica Strange, a 32-year old, under-achieving Torontonian who’s found herself in the midst of a mid-life crisis. The opening voice over sets the tone perfectly: “You know that woman who seems to have it all together? The career, the solid relationship, the family? Yeah, well. That’s not me.” Definitely a sentiment I can relate to. More than just a lamentation of singledom and cube life, Being Erica proves to be a quirky cross between My So Called Life and Joan of Arcadia while attempting to answer the question “If you could do it all over again, what would you change?” With the help of a mysterious therapist, Erica, played by Erin Karpluk, investigates her regrets and is given the opportunity for the ultimate ‘do over’, something I find rather tantalizing…starting with…oh…last Saturday night...but, as with MSCL and Joan, going back isn’t as clear cut and easy as it seems. Even as a 32 year old in a 17 year old body. Emotional and poignant, Erica humourously revisits her past and finds herself with more questions than answers. I know. Very existential, but I guess that’s the point.

Beyond the philosophical, Being Erica is solidly written and the timing of Karpluk is excellent. Karpluk can at once make hair removal hilarious (thank god I never used an Epilady!) and desperation accessible (“So pretty and such a disappointment”) thus making her character utterly relatable. Well, at least for me the disappointment part is. Ultimately, I wonder how limited the possibilities are, but I hope, like with MSCL and Joan, Being Erica holds up to its premiere and proves to have staying power. We – and by ‘we’ I mean us single thirty-something ladies pecking away in cubes – need more shows heralding imperfect beings and imperfect lives because, let’s face it, it could really be called Being Pam…which is I guess why Jer asked me to guest tonight…flattery will get you everywhere…

Single ladies tune in - Being Erica airs on CBC on Monday nights at 9pm.



About me...and, yes, I am perfectly comfortable speaking in the third person...actually I'm just lazy and copied an existing bio...

A Toronto-based writer and photographer, Pamela Westoby was raised abroad by corporate gypsies and lured back to Canada by the smell of poutine and a scholarship to the University of Western Ontario. A Girl Friday by day and student of pop culture by night, Pamela has sought to capture the glitz, glam, and grit of the metropolis and to truthfully document the kitsch and camp of Americana. A lover of Heineken and all things Hello Kitty, Pamela aspires to become a pageant judge and professional bowler.

Oh, and if you like Being Erica, you’ll love Pamela’s book, Hoyden!