Canada wins men's hockey gold to cap off a successful Sochi Olympics

By Michael J.W. Stickings

It was a dominating performance, a 3-0 masterpiece. Sweden got off to a good start, outshooting Canada early on in the first period and generating a few good scoring chances, but after that the outcome was really never in doubt.

Sure, it was tight. The Swedes are good, even without some of their top forwards (Zetterberg, Henrik Sedin, Backstrom). And it's not like the Canadians ran away with it. At any moment a sudden turn of events could have meant Sweden tying it up at one or drawing to within a goal when it was 2-0.

But it really came together for Canada in this one, as if this collection of superstars finally found its identity as a fully cohesive unit, not just the goaltending (Carey Price was excellent again, as he was against the U.S. in the semis) and the defence (outstanding, as always, including on the penalty kill) but the offence as well. It's like the forwards were finally clicking together, like the lines finally made sense, and while it was tight Canada was generating enough offence to score much more than it did. It took some solid Swedish goaltending to complement the typically mistake-free Swedish style of play to keep the game close. And even then, it was abundantly clear throughout which was the better team, and once it was 2-0 it's like the game was out of reach for the Swedes, and they seemed to know it.

The fact is, Canada has an incredible men's hockey team (and of course an incredible women's one as well). Even a second Canada team would be a strong medal contender and might have beaten Sweden today. They had trouble scoring against Finland, Latvia, and the U.S., but it was always just a matter of time before they figured it out, before not even a world-class goalie could stop them. No, this isn't the best hockey team ever assembled or as good a hockey team as you're ever going to see, as some are suggesting. I still think Subban should have been playing, and there are a couple of picks up front I would have changed, but even then I don't think this team matches, say, the '87 Canada Cup team led by Gretzky and Lemieux that beat the Soviets 2-1 in a best-of-three final, each game 6-5, Canada winning the third on a Lemieux goal set up by Gretzky. But who knows? If this team had some more time to gel, if maybe Stamkos were able to play... look, Price and Luongo are great in net, the defence may be as good as a unit as Canada's ever seen, and the offence... well, it's hard to argue with Crosby, Toews, and some of the other finest players of their generation.

Anyway, today the whole country got up early to tune in to what was a brilliant gold-medal-winning effort, and now the whole country is celebrating this great victory. It was difficult to watch Sochi, at times, given what was going on both internally in Russia (Putin's tyranny, with ongoing brutality and oppression of dissidents and those otherwise unwelcome) and next door in the Ukraine (where Putin saw his ally/minion booted from power, but not before many died in protests), and the whole thing dragged on too long for TV purposes, but there were some stellar athletic performances nonetheless and in the end it turned out to be a great Olympics for Canada. Maybe our medal total was a few less than hoped for, but we did well, and of course we won the "double-double" (partly in reference to a popular order at Tim Horton's: coffee with two cream/milk and two sugar), men's and women's golds in both hockey and curling, our two national sports.

Here are some some photos, starting with my favourite single moment of the Sochi Games, Jennifer Jones making her last shot to win the women's curling gold. I just found it intensely emotional. Her team went undefeated, she overcame a lot to get to the Olympics, she's one of the best ever, and the very personal way curling is broadcast meant that her win was a very personal one for many of us.

From the CBC, here's Sidney Crosby celebrating after making it 2-0 in the second period today:

And, from CTV, here's the winning team, gold medals in hand:

Upstart Finland squad crushes globally hegemonic American Empire at obscure Russian outpost called Sochi

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Yes, it was a thorough drubbing, 5-0, with the Finns led by veteran future Hall of Famer Teemu Selanne, who had two goals, and goalie Tuukka Rask, one of the best around, who recorded the shutout.

Thanks for coming out, America. Some effort might have been nice.

Teemu Selanne and the Finns win the bronze medal game against the U.S.

Actually, the Finns were solid all tournament, taking Canada to overtime in the preliminary round (making few mistakes and playing a great defensive game) before losing 2-1, beating Russia 3-1 in the quarterfinals, and losing 2-1 to Sweden in a close semifinal match (though they didn't play all that well) before today's blowout of the U.S. (And, yes, that's two straight shutouts for the U.S.)

They're a good team that was under the radar heading into Sochi and they might have done even better had it not been for injuries to some key forwards, like center Mikko Koivu.

Indeed, given their inability to generate much offence against Canada and Sweden, putting up five goals against the Americans was quite something, even if the fast-paced, free-wheeling style of the U.S. tends to allow lots of goals by the opposition when the goaltending isn't in absolute top form, and of course the U.S. performance was rather lackluster in any event following yesterday's loss to Canada in the semis.

Anyway, well done, Finland.

Ecuador grants asylum to Assange

By Michael J.W. Stickings

You may have heard the news already, but let's recap:

Ecuador has granted asylum to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange two months after he took refuge in its London embassy while fighting extradition from the UK.

It said his human rights might be violated if he is sent to Sweden to be questioned over sex assault claims.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said the UK would not allow Mr Assange safe passage out of the country and the move was also criticised by Stockholm.

Ecuador said it would seek to negotiate arrangements for Mr Assange to leave.

"We don't think it is reasonable that, after a sovereign government has made the decision of granting political asylum, a citizen is forced to live in an embassy for a long period," Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said.

Let me just say that I'm completely behind Ecuador on this. There's no way Assange would ever get a fair trail in any country that he has exposed, and embarrassed, with his truth-telling, including the U.S., and it's good to see that at least one country deemed it important enough to protect him.

It should come as no surprise to you that for the most part I support Assange and Wikileaks and their efforts to enlighten us about the illiberal, undemocratic actions of our Machiavellian, Kafkaesque, and in many ways Orwellian states and corporations.

Assange does far more good than harm, and it should similarly come as no surprise that those states and their corporate cronies are trying to shut him up for good. If the future is anything other than the sort of totalitarian dystopia these states and corporations embody, history will ultimately vindicate him as one of the greatest freedom fighters of our time.

Let's hope Ecuador finds a way to get him out safely -- and to safety.

What the hell is going on???

By Carl 

First it was Arkansas. Next, Louisiana, Kentucky, and Maryland -- and now Sweden????

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) -- Just four days after thousands of dead blackbirds are found in Arkansas, residents in Sweden are cleaning up their own version of the unusual happening.

Officials in Sweden say about 50 birds were found in the southern Sweden city of Falkoping Wednesday morning.

Earlier in the week, another case of dead birds hit Louisiana, leaving those residents just as confused as others. 

Now, the accepted wisdom is that somehow fireworks are responsible for the bird deaths, and that the fish are dying of unusually cold water. (Possible effect of global climate change and the shift of the Atlantic conveyor in Sweden? Stay tuned.)

Except... it's summer in Brazil. And in New Zealand, which is also reporting tons of dead fish washing up on shores.

And fireworks would explain birds dropping out of the sky, ohhhhhh, sayyyyyy, one minute past midnight on the first, but many of these events are happening days after the last fizzles.

There are plenty of conventional, prosaic explanations for any one of these events, to be sure, but that all of them are happening about the same time in the same mysterious manner leads one to suspect there's something greater at work here.

So what the hell IS going on???

(Cross-posted to Simply Left Behind.)

Taking a leak

By Carl 

Al Capone committed all sorts of nefarious and dastardly crimes during his reign in Chicago. He was nailed on tax evasion.

Any number of criminals have been arrested and jailed on minor charges from littering to jaywalking, nuisance infractions that are enforced only in the most extreme circumstances, or when they really need to hold someone, but have no real charges to post. 

This, however, smacks of illegality: 

PARIS — Interpol has placed Julian Assange, the founder of the WikiLeaks whistle-blowing organization, on a so-called red notice wanted list following allegations of sexual misbehavior by a Swedish prosecutor, according to the police organization’s Web site on Wednesday.

The notice said Mr. Assange, 39, was wanted for "sex crimes" on an arrest warrant brought by the international public prosecution office in Gothenburg, Sweden. Interpol is based in Lyon, France. Mr. Assange's whereabouts were not immediately known.

Now, I don't really want to get into the merits of the charge -- and if you feel strongly about them, comments are open -- although that does play a part in my analysis.

You may recall that over the summer (on August 20) an investigation was opened in Sweden, accusing him with one rape and another case of sexual harassment. The rape charge was dropped almost immediately, then re-instated a week later. Assange admits to having sex twice during the period in question, alluding to the possibility that it was with both women. He also says it was consensual, if unprotected (which might under Swedish law be an issue).

In other words, this really becomes a "he said, she said" matter (although I'm sure there must be some physical evidence tying him to the events), and consequently the purview of local authorities. A criminal investigation was handed up in November, and an arrest warrant handed down. This has ballooned into the current Interpol order.

There seems, however, to be some conflicting details about Assange's cooperation. His lawyer claims he's offered to meet on neutral territory (including a Swedish embassy), but the Swedish prosecutor has insisted he return to Sweden to face the charges. Of course, the prosecutor denies this.

Now, a Red Notice is Napoleonic in nature. The fugitive has to prove his innocence before it's lifted, and he is presumed guilty of the charges until he's tried and exonerated. There are actually two Red Notices: one is an arrest warrant, the other is for a fugitive who has been tried, convicted, and sentenced. Interpol claims that there is no arrest warrant on Assange, meaning he's wanted for fleeing a sentence.

Um, excuse me? He hasn't even been tried yet. Effectively, he's being chased down across the globe to be arrested, but yet, there's no international arrest warrant other than the Swedes own BOLO.

This disturbs me. Here we have two events that involve no physical evidence of a crime being committed, only evidence that the events happened. Yet, Assange is being equated to Osama bin Laden in criminality.

That's simply not right. Whatever you think of the leaks (the Libertarian in me thinks he did signal service, but the American in me wishes he had been a little more cautious in what he leaked), for a state, or group of states, to hunt down a person internationally on the word of two women, neither of whom has to come forward to reveal their identities is a New World Order writ small.

The timing of all this is a little suspect, as well. Who has ever heard of an international probe launched for sexual misbehavior within months of the event? It's not like Assange killed women he slept with and would be an imminent danger to be around. In July of this year, Assange released the Afghan war documents, internal Pentagon documents that detail secret conversations and discussions of the war in Afghanistan. In August, he's accused of rape. By December, he's on what amounts to an international terror watch and presumably could be assassinated by a trigger-happy cop in whatever country he lands in.

All because he spoke the truth.

Like it or not, support him or not, this has to send a chill down your spine.

(Cross-posted to Simply Left Behind.)

Swedish pop music blogging

By Michael J.W. Stickings

(Maybe I'm running out of ideas. Maybe I'm lazy. Maybe I'm just taking a short break from politics. Whatever the case -- and it's a lovely Saturday evening here in Toronto, with many more pressing things to do than blog -- it's time once again here at The Reaction for some music. Enjoy.)

So... Swedish pop music...

No, not ABBA. I despise ABBA.

And not Roxette, although I actually like them quite a bit. Remember "Listen to Your Heart" (of which there are a couple of really good covers -- one pop, one dance -- by the Belgian "dance-house-trance" group DHT)? Remember Joyride -- their third (and best) album?

No, I'm talking about Anna Ternheim (official site) and Lisa Miskovsky (official site).

I discovered Ternheim at Radio Paradise a while back and have become a big fan. While searching YouTube for some videos, I came across Miskovsky -- thanks to Gr8Muzik (who has a fine collection of videos from all sorts of interesting artists).

Here, below, are:

-- Ternheim's "Lovers Dream" (feat. Fyfe Dangerfield), from her first U.S. release, Halfway to Fivepoints (2008), which is more or less Separation Road (2006), her excellent second album.

-- Miskovsky's "Sweet Misery," from her third album, Changes (2006).

Carbon-free Sweden

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Presumably the Swedish people are still full of carbon, but Brad Plumer has a post up on how Sweden is "aiming to end its oil dependency by 2020".

Yes, yes, I know, Sweden is Sweden, an exceptional Scandinavian case, and we can't all be like the Swedes, and we don't want to be exactly like them -- but still. It's an example of how to address the most pressing issue of our time, and what they've done and are doing ought to be taken seriously and to be considered seriously even in less "Swedish" countries like the U.S.

Or does it all make way too much sense for a country with a moron like James Inhofe in the upper chamber of its legislature and a similar moron down the road in the White House?