Denis G. Rancourt

U OF O WATCH: St. Lewis v. Rancourt - In A Nutshell

This is an appeal to donate to my legal fund (the Denis Rancourt Legal Fund) in order to provide a moderately fair trial in what some observers have characterized as a SLAPP (strategic litigation against public participation) against me.

I am committed to obtaining justice but justice is illusive when there is a large asymmetry of means between the opposing parties. At this point I will have exhausted all my financial savings within a month or so.

I was wrongly fired in 2009 from my tenured full professorship in physics at the University of Ottawa by a president, Allan Rock, who had a personal mission to get me. He instructed his executives and hired lawyers to fire me, and this was executed without due process.

Under false pretence, in November 2008, my students and I were locked out of our laboratory and offices without warning.

My research associate of 12 years was summarily fired (she sued and won a settlement).

The laboratory was dismantled before I was even informed of the mock procedure to fire me that was initiated in December 2008 when I was banned from campus, again without notice, under police escort.

More »

Stephen Lendman

London Olympics 2012: Blood donor appeal ahead of Games

America's "war on terror" never ends. Neither does Britain's. After London was named host for this year's summer games, terrorist fears were stoked.

Former Australian/UK British civil servant Peter Ryan performs security consulting services. He's advising the International Olympic Committee on London preparations. His consultancy thrives on hyped threats, real or otherwise.

After the city was named host in 2005, he told organizers to "think the unthinkable." Besides other advice, he said:

"You are not just thinking about football hooligans, getting drunk in a pub and causing trouble." "You are dealing with a different animal, completely new threats - suicide bombers and protecting the critical infrastructure. You cannot have a power station going down and all the lights going out." [He said athletes' food and water supplies must be protected. Check for poisons, he advised.] "Specialist teams" have to "supervise bomb management, hazardous materials, athlete and VIP protection, and aviation security."

Public spaces around venues are most vulnerable, he added. Ryan's well paid for making London sound more like a war zone than host for Olympic sporting events. Terrorist threats are more hype than real. No evidence whatever suggests dangers. Secretary of State for Defense Philip Hammond said "there is no specific threat to the Games."

More »