August 24, 2006

Aug. 24, 2006: #1




Retroactivity undecided in Tory plan to get rid of faint-hope clause
www.canada.com/theprovince/story.html?id=
e6419ce-f2ac-44af-8bd1-c364ef9bcb59&k=86886

About 1,700 murderers who are currently serving life sentences may end up being exempt from a Conservative government promise to abolish the faint-hope clause, which gives lifers a chance at early parole.




Canada: Home of the free..., posted by David_Leslie, 8/24/2006 08:22:35

SAULT STE. MARIE -- A teen who terrorized his younger sister and photographed his sexual assaults on her won't do time in a custodial institution.

The boy, now 15, was sentenced Tuesday to six months deferred custody.

The teen pleaded guilty to sexual assault, making child porn, invitation to sexual touching and threatening. He had forced the girl to pose for pornographic pictures, which his mother later found.

[.... Below is a different example.]

"They've let him go," a detective at the door tells Nicolas' mom Elsa Ferraro, 45, last week. "He's home."

Sure enough, there he is, across the street from a kid he knifed nearly to death barely three months before.

A shrink says he's okay so long as he takes his meds for paranoia-schizophrenia.

Last Monday a judge agrees and finds him "not criminally responsible" for the attack. And turns him loose. [....]



There is more. A must read.




Time for SoW to go?

It is Time to Eliminate Status of Women [SoW] , Aug. 22, 06, Big Blue Wave
bluewavecanada.blogspot.com/2006/08
/it-is-time-to-eliminate-status-of.html

Feminists who claim to speak for me irritate me. When they use taxpayer money to do it, it sends me through the roof.

Status of Women is a government agency that does precisely that. The agency's name is somewhat of a misnomer, it should be called the Radical Feminist agency, because that's exactly what it is.

What Status of Women does is fund radical feminist groups and gives out money for radical feminist research. The Agency's budget is about $23 million.

[....] Like typical radical feminists, they have decided that they speak for all women, and they only consult those groups and women that agree with their agenda. So it's a bunch of radical feminist bureaucrats consulting radical feminist to hear what they want to hear to promote more radical feminism on my dime. [....]



Ontario Catholic Teachers Run Far Left Conference Promoting Gay Activism -- More of same that has characterized OECTA ideology for years , By Hilary White

TORONTO, August 22, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The most prominent dissident Catholic academic in the country, former priest Gregory Baum, will be the star attraction at a conference scheduled August 24-26 by the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA). The conference features a line-up of speakers and workshops promoting feminism, “eco-theology,” courses in turning students into political agitators and economic ideas from the hard left of the political spectrum.

Although there is in fact a wide range of political opinions among Catholic teachers and the union’s own statement of principles includes promotion of “Catholic values”, the line-up of speakers and workshops emphasizes a notably one-sided socialist, anti-Catholic perspective. That of course alarms parents who realize this agenda is what their children are being indoctrinated in by many teachers in their “Catholic” schools.

Conference workshops and speakers include a full roster of favourite socialist issues from key concepts in the new globalist agenda, to eco-theology. One workshop will give teachers tips on how to inculcate students into activism in the labour movement and for “issues of race, class, gender, ability/disability and sexual orientation.” [....]





No point in playing nice with Hezbollah
www.edmontonsun.com/News/Columnists
/Jacobs_Mindelle/2006/08/22/1768909.html

Neither military strategists nor academics have been able to pinpoint how best to fight terrorist groups who hide amid civilian populations while slaughtering innocents. These two MPs have joined the hordes of well-meaning but naive onlookers around the world who think it's possible to make peace with terrorists.



Terrorism charges -- UK , Metropolitan Police via newsbeat1
cms.met.police.uk/news/
arrests_and_charges/terrorism_charges

[....] What I can give is an indication of the type of evidence that will be presented in support of the prosecution.

"First, there is evidence from surveillance carried out before 10 August. This includes important, indeed, highly significant video and audio recordings.

"I can also tell you that since 10 August we have found bomb making equipment. There are chemicals, including hydrogen peroxide, electrical components, documents and other items.

"We have also found a number of video recordings - these are sometimes referred to as martyrdom videos.
This has all given us a clearer picture of the alleged plot.

"However, the investigation is far from complete. The scale is immense. Enquiries will span the globe. [....]




Mohammed Elmasry on one of Christie Blatchford's best columns, Aug. 11, 06
www.canadianislamiccongress.com/fb
/friday_bulletin.php?fbdate=2006-08-11#1

[....] Now it is no secret to those who monitor her periodic outbursts that Christie Blatchford has a big problem hiding her hatred for those who are Others, not like Us. She doesn't come right out and say things like; Canada should detain, deport, or otherwise limit its entire Muslim population (or at least all those she most hates), but she comes so close that the intention behind her words is only too clear.

She begins her article on a typically colorful note of ugly cynicism: "I drove back from yesterday's news conference at the Islamic Foundation of Toronto [.... See just below for more.]


Blatch cuts through the usual fog to the heart of the statements emanating from news conferences. I loved her article; naturally, Mohammed Elmasry, the self-appointed head of his own "congress", the CIC, who claims to represent ... whoever ... in the Muslim community, does not like what Christy sees through. When Elmasry is upset, you can bet that she has scored a few points.



Ignoring the biggest elephant in the room , Christy Blatchford, June 5, 2006, Page A1
littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=20911#comments

Christy's article is behind a firewall at the Globe and Mail:
www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v4
/sub/MarketingPage?user_URL=http://www.theglobe
andmail.com%2Fservlet%2Fstory%2FLAC.20060605.
BLATCH05%2FTPStory%2FTPComment%2F&ord=1156298289427&brand=theglobeandmail&force_login=true


news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=%22ignoring+the+
biggest+elephant+in+the+room%22&btnG=Search+News

I drove back from yesterday’s news conference at the Islamic Foundation of Toronto in the northeastern part of the city, but honestly, I could have just as easily floated home in the sea of horse manure emanating from the building.

So frequent were the bald reassurances that faith and religion had nothing — nothing, you understand — to do with the alleged homegrown terrorist plot recently busted open by Canadian police and security forces
, that for a few minutes afterward, I wondered if perhaps it was a vile lie of the mainstream press or a fiction of my own demented brain that the 17 accused young men are all, well, Muslims.

But no. I have checked. They are all Muslims.

Barely two days after the nighttime raids that saw 15 of the accused arrested (the remaining two, in Kingston, conveniently were already in the joint on gun charges), the great Canadian self-delusion machine was up and running at full throttle. [....]





Opinion — Terrorists rely on propaganda , Leo Adler, Aug. 23, 06
thesuburban.com/content.jsp?sid=3557621151996
9062071853334401&ctid=1000002&cnid=1008543

The headlines over the past month have been dominated with pictures and words depicting the plight of babies and other children. One does not have to be a public relations guru to know that such photos attract immediate attention and sympathy."Terrorist groups, knowing of the West’s sensitivities towards children, are quick to exploit any tragedies by exhibiting bodies (witness the photo-ops staged by Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza of “mass funerals”)." [....]

On the other hand, the recruitment and training of children and the glorification of suicide bombings in schools, mosques and public forums by these and other Islamist terrorist organizations, goes largely unreported or, even worse, ignored by many governments, NGOs, social agencies and others supposedly dedicated to protecting children. [....]




Updates to a post yesterday:

Liberal MP Boris Wrzesnewskyj resigns as foreign affairs over Hezbollah comments, CTV.ca News Staff, posted by eliza99, 8/23/2006 16:35:57
www.canoe.ca/mb2/messages/cnewsf/12058.html

Embattled Liberal MP Boris Wrzesnewskyj has resigned as deputy foreign affairs critic following the uproar over his comments suggesting Canada should negotiate with Hezbollah.

Wrzesnewskyj found himself distanced from his own party when he made the statement during a fact-finding mission to Lebanon last week.

CTV's Graham Richardson told Newsnet that Wrzesnewskyj tendered his resignation on Wednesday and that his resignation was accepted. [more at www.ctv.ca ]




Liberal foreign affairs critic quits -- "after saying Hezbollah should be taken off Canada's list of terrorist organizations" , Joan Bryden, Aug. 23, 06
cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Politics
/2006/08/23/1771811-cp.html

[.... Boris] Wrzesnewskyj (pronounced Rez-NEV-skee) is not the only Liberal to generate controversy over the Middle East. Former cabinet minister Denis Coderre marched recently in a peace rally in Montreal that included Hezbollah supporters hoisting the organization's flag. [....]

Thomas Hubert, the [Liberal] party's youth leader in British Columbia, recently wrote on an Internet blog that Israel was the "most vile nation in human history," and suggested Hezbollah might be considered freedom fighters.

He now has resigned his post on the youth wing executive.
[....]




Corruption of the Media: Part 8 - Discussion and conclusions, August 14, 2006, EU Referendum
eureferendum.blogspot.com/2006/08
/part-8-discussion-and-conclusions.html

For whole sections of the international media, the "Qana massacre" at Khuraybah was a godsend. It provided tangible support for the narrative they had been running ever since the re-opening of hostilities in Lebanon - and before - that Israel was the pitiless aggressor which would stop at nothing to get its way, including "murdering" innocent women and children.

Thus did newspapers like the British left-wing Independent revel in the pictures produced so obligingly by the agencies and staff photographers, this newspaper devoting its whole front page (left) to "White Tee-shirt's" iconic expression of agony. The only problem for it, and the hundreds if not thousands of newspapers and TV channels that reproduced this and many other images, was that they were fake. Not fake in the sense that they had been doctored - as in the infamous photographs taken by Reuters' Adnan Hajj - but in the very real sense that the scenes has been staged. They were artificial, devised entirely to create shots that the media would lap up - a grisly exercise in propaganda by a terrorist organisation which had its own agenda. And the media lapped it up. [....]


A must read




Written to fail, Fred Kaplan, slate.com, August 23, 2006
www.canada.com/nationalpost/news
/issuesideas/story.html?id=56c43242-
d1a6-4d3d-a4c8-8266ab0ccf45

[....] At his Aug. 14 press conference, President Bush was asked about the distinction. He replied:

"If somebody shoots at an Israeli soldier, tries to kill a soldier from Israel, then Israel has the right to defend herself. She has a right to try to suppress that kind of fire. And that's how I read the resolution."

The Israelis, however, read the resolution differently. In their interpretation, an attack on Hezbollah weapons is, by definition, a defensive operation. Or, even if it's not, Paragraph Eight of the resolution requires "the full disarmament" of Hezbollah and bans the "sales or supply of arms and related materiel to Lebanon except as authorized by its government." As long as Hezbollah and its regional allies continue to violate the resolution, Israeli officials refuse to be bound by its terms unilaterally.

One problem, though, is that the resolution lacks a mechanism --or even clear language -- for enforcing these restrictions. Paragraph one's ambiguous language favours Israel's interest. Several other paragraphs favour Hezbollah's. [....]




Death row bomber plotted new attack on smuggled laptop -- Bali , By Richard Lloyd Parry, Aug.

ONE of the plotters of the deadly Bali bombings in 2002 raised funds for a second attack on the island via an internet connection from his cell on death row, a senior Indonesian policeman admitted yesterday.

Imam Samudra [....]

Last year Mr Setyadi, an information technology lecturer who was conniving with a prison warden, smuggled the computer into the jail in Bali where Samudra was being held after being sentenced to death for the first bomb attacks.

Over the course of several months the two remained in touch until Samudra was moved to a high-security prison an island off Java after the second Bali attack in October last year which killed 23 people.

“Imam Samudra . . . directed the fundraising for the second Bali bombing,” Colonel Golose said in Jakarta yesterday. “The laptop allowed Imam Samudra to chat without restrictions in Ahlussunnah and CafeIslam chat rooms [both internet chat rooms with Islamic themes]. This took place before the second Bali bombing.” [....]



The Many Faces of Belgian Fascism , Aug. 22, 06
www.brusselsjournal.com/node/1270

A quote from Bret Stephens in The Wall Street Journal, 22 August 2006
There is also the amazing case of journalist Paul Belien, who edits the Brussels Journal, a pro-American, Euroskeptic, anti-Islamist blog. [....]

Two weeks after the article appeared, Mr. Belien received a letter from the Center for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism, a government-mandated body whose mission is to "assist victims of discrimination" and "sensitize the general public on anti-discrimination." [....]


Crying racism and hate crime -- the tools of the Islamo-fascists to close down deserved criticism.



The facts about AIDS , wagccan, 8/22/2006 12:04:34
www.canoe.ca/mb2/messages/cnewsf/12033.html

I watched a documentary about AIDS in Africa. Did you know that the high priestesses in some places say to the people with AIDS that to cure it “you need the blood of a virgin” So what are these intuitive people doing? They rape kids even their own daughters in one case it was a 6 month old baby.

If they want money to go to this cause then they should get rid of the high priestesses or at least educate them so they can stop saying that drivel.


I have read this concerning South Africa elsewhere.



Heroin is never 'safe' , Rachel Marsden, Aug. 24, 06
www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists
/Marsden_Rachel/2006/08/24/1772687.html

[....] The leftists -- including three former Vancouver mayors -- are all out in full force. Some of these people are against junk food in schools, but if little Johnny wants to pump some junk into his arm, they'll gladly use mom and dad's tax money to help him find a vein. I'm starting to think that the only way to get lefties to stop pushing for legalization of hardcore drugs is to get big corporations like Halliburton or Pepsi to start making crack and heroin.

The mayors say that "scientific data" proves the clinic is a success. Of course it does. Aren't the people doing the research the same ones who will be out of work if the clinic shuts down? It's like saying, "a survey of McDonald's employees proves that McDonald's makes the best cheeseburgers in the world."

We keep hearing that the clinic "saves lives." This injection site is so "safe" that hundreds of addicts have overdosed right inside the clinic since it opened in 2003. They then head out into the tourist district to shoot up some more and score drug money. [....]




Saving our sovereignty , Ken Coates and Bill Morrison, National Post, August 23, 2006
www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/issuesideas
/story.html?id=6179abd0-fe07-4d41-be67-fd92a15a43f7

Ken Coates is Professor of History at the University of Waterloo. Bill Morrison is Professor of History at the University of Northern British Columbia.

In its Monday editorial, "Polar Opposites," the National Post struck an important chord: Canada's neglect of its northern regions has been shameful. In calling for support for scientific research in the territories, the Post made a crucial connection between the country's military obligations in the North and broader issues relating to the development of the region.

Happily, the North appears to have a new champion in Stephen Harper. The Prime Minister has sketched out a high-cost, high-risk plan for bringing the region into the national mainstream. After generations being viewed with the political equivalent of strobe lights -- periods of brilliant, intense concern separated by long stretches of studied neglect -- the North seems poised for a brighter future. [....]


Much more if you check ... worth reading.



Soldier ordered to stop blogging -- not clear why , Melinda Dalton, Aug. 23, 06
www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=
thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=
1156284610693&call_pageid=968332188774
&col=968350116467

KITCHENER, Ont.—A Kitchener soldier who has been blogging in Afghanistan for friends and family back home has been ordered to stop.

The military told Matt Austin, 21, to remove all of the blog's entries, the soldier said in a text message to his mother, Rose Anstett. [....]





Gomery fights release of sponsorship commission e-mails
www.canada.com/theprovince/story.html?id=
ae6419ce-f2ac-44af-8bd1-c364ef9bcb59&k=86886

Justice John Gomery is fighting a recent Federal Court judge's order to turn over all the e-mails he received regarding former prime minister Jean Chretien during his commission's hearings into the sponsorship scandal, as well as any memos in connection with his press secretary and the controversial media interviews the judge gave in 2004.




Three Canadians charged in Tamil arms plan , Beth Gorham, Aug. 21, 06
cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/
2006/08/21/1768655-cp.html

[....] An FBI affidavit says one of the Canadians, Sathajhan Sarachandran, told the agents he was taking direction from Pottu Amman, the man alleged to have masterminded the 1991 assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, India's former prime minister.

The other two Canadians charged are Sahilal Sabaratnam and Thiruthanikan Thanigasalam.

The three men travelled to Long Island on Aug. 19 to try to buy black market weapons for an estimated $900,000 US, court documents allege.

They were looking for missiles to attack fighter jets and ships, officials say.

One of the men charged told agents that more money for the rebel cause is raised in Canada than the United States.





Academics are warned about burying their heads in the sand, Anna Fazackerley and Jessica Shepherd. Published: 18 August 2006, Chronbicle of Higher Education Supplement, via newsbeat1
www.thes.co.uk/current_edition/
story.aspx?story_id=2031867

[....] Universities have been warned this week that Islamist extremists are likely to target freshers fairs looking for recruits, fuelling accusations that politically correct academics are burying their heads in the sand about terrorism.

Shiraz Maher, who joined the radical group Hizb ut-Tahrir while studying at Leeds University but later renounced his membership, told The Times Higher that universities were "bread-and-butter" recruiting grounds for extremist groups.


He said: "If you go to freshers fairs at University College London, the School of Oriental and African Studies and the London School of Economics next month, you will find Hizb ut-Tahrir undercover. [....]


Search: residence early in the morning , Hizb ut-Tahrir, Al-Muhajiroun and the Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK




What is the solution to homegrown terrorism?
www.ottawasun.com/News/poll_results.html

Stricter immigration policies 80%
More police and enhanced intelligence 12%
Multiculturalism and more dialogue with various cultural communities 9%
Total Votes for this Question: 1646




NDP Beliefs, SeanMcElroy, 8/21/2006 04:56:03
www.canoe.ca/mb2/messages/cnewsf/12018.html

That every government program is essential and under-funded;

That the failure of any government program is proof it needs more funding
; [....]


There is much more ... than a grain of truth.



Diversion: Photos: Rio Carnival

August 23, 2006

Aug. 23, 2006: #1 Liquid explosive

I have other commitments -- no time for posting. However, this is too important not to note.

Flammable Liquid Found Aboard U.S. Domestic Flight , By Douglas J. Hagmann, Northeast Intelligence Network, Judi McLeod, Editor, CanadaFreePress.com, Wednesday, August 23, 2006
www.canadafreepress.com/2006/hagmann082306.htm

Douglas J. Hagmann, founder & director of the Northeast Intelligence Network, and a multi-state licensed private investigative agency. Hagmann began using his investigative skills and training to fight terrorism and increase public awareness through his website. Doug can be reached at: director@homelandsecurityus.com


23 August 2006: An investigation conducted jointly between investigators from the Northeast Intelligence Network and CanadaFreePress.com, acting on information provided by a well placed source within the airline industry, has found that the threat to our airlines – even those originating within the United States and Canada – does not appear to be over. The recently discovered UK based plot to detonate explosives on international flights into the US might have a greater reach and pose a greater threat than originally reported. [....]

See Canada Free Press for the details -- scary. Via Not in the Media...Yet , bisbee, 8/23/2006 12:31:14
www.canoe.ca/mb2/messages/cnewsf/12056.html

What is even more disturbing is that the MSM will play down this story. The Elmasry's and Ali Hindi's will claim, whatever is found out, that it is racism against the usual suspects and CAIR or the spokesmen groups in Canada, Elmasry's CIC, the National Council on Canada Arab-Relation [see article Aug. 21, 2006: #1] or some other group will do the same ... maybe even arrange a fact finding trip somewhere to prove how peace loving their co-religionists are. All go to the mosque and pray. So it must have been George Bush or Israel who are targetting airlines?

One MP among this group (below) has resigned. I don't know the details, nor which one.

Posted Aug. 21, 2006:

Take Hezbollah off list -- MPs: Liberal, NDP politicians in Lebanon say terrorist label discourages negotiations , Matthew Fisher; with files from Melissa Leong, CanWest News Service; National Post, August 21, 2006
www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=
2070b678-e6b4-49e2-93df-32b29e719a31

New Democrat Peggy Nash .... Etobicoke Liberal Borys Wrzesnewskyj .... Maria Moureni [of Lebanese descent], the Bloc Quebecois MP for Ahuntsic, is also a member of the Canadian delegation on a week-long tour of Syria, Lebanon and Egypt organized by the National Council on Canada-Arab Relations. [....]

August 21, 2006

Aug. 21, 2006: #1

How tacky can they get? -- "Grit paparrazi stalking Tory MPs", NatPost, Aug. 20, 06, Mike Desouza
www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=
285688d2-f617-475c-9112-4631e3d84d11&k=79773


[....] The Liberals will give an iPod as a prize for the person who can offer the best picture of one of the seven Conservative MPs on their list -- Rob Anders, Cheryl Gallant, Rahim Jaffer, Collin Mayes, Bob Mills, Pierre Poilievre, and David Sweet. The contest runs until Sept. 4.

[....] "It sounds like young Liberals are angry that they don't see Conservative MPs schmoozing around with downtown lobbyists," said [MP] Poilievre. "But that's because Conservative MPs are busy working hard in their ridings, supporting their local hospitals, and their local legions and other local community groups to make their communities better." [....]



AIDS conference short on rational talk: Clement
www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060813
/aids_conference_060819/20060819?hub=Health


[....] During a visit to Nova Scotia on Friday, Tony Clement said that activists and "so-called experts" had started to skew the dialogue towards grandstanding political demands during the weeklong gathering in Toronto.

"That conference in our view was becoming a place where you couldn't have a rational discussion," he said during an interview.

"It wasn't only the Canadian context. There was a delegate who demanded the resignation of the South African health minister. It was really becoming a very politicized conference. It became a point where it wasn't an appropriate venue." [....]


Ted Byfield: Aids conference clouded by politics , Aug. 20, 06
calsun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Byfield_Ted
/2006/08/20/1766560.html


[....] the conference, judging from the front-page headlines it generated, was maybe 15% about AIDS and 85% about politics.

The real objective was not actually the extermination of AIDS, but the extermination of one George W. Bush, at the mention of whose name jeers, boos, catcalls and abuse resounded through the conference.

The U.S. president was targeted because his five-year $15-billion US "Pepfar" program (President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief) advocates an "ABC" battle against AIDS -- first, Abstinence from sex outside marriage; second, Be faithful to your spouse; third, use Condoms if A and B fail. What was really galling is the program's requirement that at least 33% of the spending be used to advocate abstinence.

[....] Ex-president Bill Clinton, another speaker, set out the kind of program he thought the U.S. should be running.

There should be needle-exchanges, mandatory testing, massive circumcision of males... [....]



Ex-Democratic Pres. Clinton advocates interference in Africa--mandatory testing--but that drew nary a word of protest from the assembled leftists ... yet, abstinence programs might suggest interference in private lives?



Michael Coren -- re: AIDS, Aug. 20, 06, TorSun
www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists
/Coren_Michael/2006/08/19/1764549.html


While sexual and chemical addiction are powerful habits, both place cause and effect squarely on the individual. Not so Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, most cancer and heart disease, leukemia or malaria.

The latter, by the way, still kills three million people a year in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet none of these or dozens of other illnesses receive anything like the publicity or funding given to AIDS. [....]




Chanting the mantra of harm reduction -- 'Abstinence does not work: people lie,' scientist says , Tom Blackwell, National Post, August 19, 2006
www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.ht
ml?id=e40ff96e-489b-4d07-863b-fd48cc8958ac


[....] Abstinence is a dirty word and human rights take precedence over quarantine.

To some outsiders it might seem like political correctness run amok. But as the largest-ever AIDS conference ended yesterday, researchers and agency leaders said the science is irrefutable that judgmental approaches to the groups most at risk of getting HIV do not work; trying non-coercively to change that behaviour or make it less likely to spread HIV -- something called harm reduction -- is the best hope.

"Yes, a number of people can get emotional about the issues ... but the fact is that it ought to be scientific agendas that drive what we do," Dr. Wainberg said in an interview. [....]


Why do their human rights to make dumb choices always depend on somebody else paying for the consequences of those choices? We are not supposed to compel people to change their behaviour but we are supposed to pay? Doesn't make sense for the future; it will just allow more of the same stupidity.

We've had leftists running things for much too long. People actually think they're entitled ... to their entitlements as mandated by ... the UN? The Charter? What?




Middle East

Note the tone of this article, in fact most articles on the Middle East. It was Hezbollah which attacked first ... and the UN will not stop them. The Lebanese government cannot and Hezbollah is shoring up support among the south Lebanese Shi-ites by giving money to those affected ... Who provided money to Arafat's martyr families? Who is providing it to Hezbollah now? Anyone see a pincer movement around Israel? Kofi Annan criticizes Israelis but not Hezbollah. The UN is run by a number of thug states; they have achieved their objectives.


Playing favourites -- Kofi Annan again takes sides, Lorne Gunter, National Post, August 21, 2006
www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/issuesideas/story.ht
ml?id=b41ee28f-bc28-4869-8c62-dd35ec5682f3


[....] Israel sent highly trained soldiers into the region to stop Tehran and Damascus from rearming terrorists. Iran and Syria have been shipping Katushyas, AK-47s, mortars, anti-tank guns and RPGs to southern Lebanon for use against the civilians of northern Israel.

Yet the Lebanese army will not disarm the terrorists and the UN itself has no troops in position to do so. [....]

If the UN were doing its job enforcing 1701, Israel would not have to violate 1701.

Put another way, Mr. Annan is really criticizing Israel for taking the actions his organization should be taking, but for which it lacks the troops or the nerve, or both.


[....] Hezbollah's ability to run a state-within-a-state south of the Litani River, funded and armed by Iran and Syria and maintained by Lebanese acquiescence and fecklessness, is the reason this whole mess began in the first place. They are the reason it simmers still. [....]




Canadian MPs visit destruction in southern Lebanon " to witness firsthand the aftermath of Israel's war against Hezbollah.", Updated Sun. Aug. 20 2006 10:14 PM ET, CTV.ca News Staff

www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060819
/mideast_mps_visit_060820/20060820?hub=TopStories


[....] The visit was organized by the National Council on Canada Arab-Relations. But at the last moment, one MP backed out for security reasons: Conservative member Dean Del Mastro. [so what spin do you expect from those who went?]

"The Canadian government did not allow their representative to come here," said the association's Mazen Chouaib. "We had a member of parliament from (Ontario) who was coming with us but they pulled him the night the delegation was to leave."

The Conservative government pledged a further $25 million in aid to Lebanon this week, making Canada the top contributor, according to Minister of International Cooperation Josee Verner. [....]


If I torch someone else's home and he retaliates, destroying mine, will the taxpayers of another country give me money to rebuild? So why is Canada giving anything? Am I missing something here?



Take Hezbollah off list -- MPs: Liberal, NDP politicians in Lebanon say terrorist label discourages negotiations , Matthew Fisher; with files from Melissa Leong, CanWest News Service; National Post, August 21, 2006
www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=
2070b678-e6b4-49e2-93df-32b29e719a31


New Democrat Peggy Nash .... Etobicoke Liberal Borys Wrzesnewskyj .... Maria Moureni [of Lebanese descent], the Bloc Quebecois MP for Ahuntsic, is also a member of the Canadian delegation on a week-long tour of Syria, Lebanon and Egypt organized by the National Council on Canada-Arab Relations. [....]


Search: car bombings, hijackings and kidnappings




Terrorist hand that feeds , Sonia Varma, Aug. 19, 06


[....] There were two signs on the wall by the interior paint department, "Damaged" and "Destroyed." So Mr. Shamone, a 43-year-old truck driver whose apartment is a total wreck, lined up under the second.

He left an hour later with a cheque from the Party of God to the tune of US$10,000.

The money will rent a furnished apartment for the next few months while Hezbollah's construction company, Holy War for Construction, rebuilds his home.


"Nasrallah says he will rebuild everything the same as before and better. I have no problem because I have Nasrallah," Mr. Shamone said with a smile, referring to the group's charismatic leader, Hassan Nasrallah. [....]

The group is so territorial, its fighters will not allow other aid groups access to some of the more remote villages along the border. [....]



Peacekeeping

Unfit to keep the peace , National Post, August 19, 2006
www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/editorialsletters/
story.html?id=c6d391e9-736b-49bf-aa09-876b958df82f


France has not stepped up as hoped to man the UN's ceasefire force in Lebanon, pledging on Friday to send just 200 soldiers, rather than the 2,000 or more expected. [....]

Muslim countries, however, have been only too eager to step up to the plate. [....] all have blamed the recent war on "Israeli aggression."

[....] The UN resolution that led to the cessation of fighting -- 1701 --calls for a complete disarmament of Hezbollah, including its remaining 9,000 rockets, its automatic rifles, mortars and grenades. The motion also requires the Lebanese army, and the UN peacekeeping force that is expected to be on-site in the next two weeks, to push the terrorists almost 20 kilometres north of the Israeli border to keep them from launching attacks on northern Israel. [....]





Media Intimidation , Joel Mowbray, FrontPageMag.com
frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=23933


[....] As any veteran of Middle East media coverage knows, many Arab stringers and free-lancers—hired on the cheap by Western outlets, ostensibly because of their superior knowledge for local leaders and events—see it as their duty to demonize Israel, while exalting fellow Arabs or Muslims. [....]

Nowhere is the use of Arab “fixers” (as they are known) more common than in the Palestinian territories. And yet despite the extensive reliance on locals who presumably enjoy greater familiarity with the terrain and key players, negative press coverage of the Palestinian Authority or various Islamic terrorist organizations operating in the territories has long been scant.

This void in coverage is not because such evidence does not exist. The Palestinian Media Watch, a nonprofit that operates on a tight budget, has easily reported more on PA incitement and indoctrination, for example, than all Western media outlets combined. [....]


Photo -- Scroll to "Notice a few things" , Powerline, July 24, 06





Mutiny as passengers refuse to fly until Asians are removed -- Passengers refuse to allow holiday jet to take off until two Asian men are thrown off plane , Christopher Leake and Andrew Chapman, Daily Mail, Aug. 20, 06
www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news
/news.html?in_article_id=401419&in_page_id=1770&ico=
Homepage&icl=TabModule&icc=NEWS&ct=5


[....] The extraordinary scenes happened after some of the 150 passengers on a Malaga-Manchester flight overheard two men of Asian appearance apparently talking Arabic.

Passengers told cabin crew they feared for their safety and demanded police action. Some stormed off the Monarch Airlines Airbus A320 minutes before it was due to leave the Costa del Sol at 3am. Others waiting for Flight ZB 613 in the departure lounge refused to board it. [....]

Passengers noticed that, despite the heat, the pair were wearing leather jackets and thick jumpers and were regularly checking their watches. [....]


Let's see, passengers (some with children) note the (inappropriate for the climate) clothing combined with the language (which they think is Arabic) and watch-checking. Their self-preservation kicks in. What are passengers allowed to note ... so as not to be termed racists?

Check this Profiling, racism, flying, business opportunity, CNEWS Forum, Aug. 20, 06




Why is government paying for abortions ... and importing people?

Quebec to pay out $13M for abortion , by Olivier Bourque, posted by SeanMcElroy, 8/20/2006 10:52:37
www.canoe.ca/mb2/messages/cnewsf/12009.html


MONTREAL (CP) - A court judgment that orders the Quebec government to give more than $13 million to nearly 45,000 women who had to pay for abortions is a victory for women, a Quebec doctor said Friday.

Justice Nicole Benard (Quelle surprise!!!) of Quebec Superior Court ruled the province misinterpreted its own medicare law by paying only a portion of the cost of abortions performed in certain women's health centres and private clinics. The judgment in the class-action lawsuit covers abortions performed between 1999 and 2005. [....]
Why do you suppose that justice was elevated to the bench? Women's quota? Right thought? Good Liberal?



Forces query citizenship policy -- may drop Canadian citizenship as a prerequisite for military service
www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.ht
ml?id=c4db382f-d22e-47dc-ac20-044a0f1bebc4


[....] Enlisting landed immigrants is just one idea being looked at by the Forces, Captain Helene Tremblay said. "If we want to meet our recruitment targets, it might be necessary," said Capt. Tremblay, a military-career counsellor at Montreal's Canadian Forces recruiting centre. [....]




72 Taliban killed in Canadian-set military trap -- Nine-hour battle. No Canadian, few Afghan casualties .
www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=
7732196d-f1b4-4ca8-a540-3fe03bacb336


It began about 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Afghanistan's Independence Day, when insurgents picked a fight with Afghan security forces and were met and routed by a NATO aerial and artillery assault that left the bodies of dozens of insurgents in the streets and orchards of Panjwaii -- a Taliban hotbed coalition forces now claim to control.



Peter Shoniker
www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/toronto/story.ht
ml?id=50d2db24-cdbb-4739-b1fa-a32a7c24c84e


[....] During those expletive-laced calls between September and December, 2003, Shoniker insisted the officer pretend he was acting as his lawyer because there wasn't a "f---ing judge" who would authorize a wiretap on conversations between a lawyer and his client.

[....] Shoniker boasted that he could move $1-million a week out of the country and told his criminal associate that he would pay off Canada Revenue Agency officials to avoid detection. [....]

Toronto jeweller Babak (Bobby) Adeli Tabrizi, who was also arrested on July 14, 2004, and is the co-accused in the case was not in court yesterday because he could not return in time from Iran
, where he was visiting his ill mother-in-law, according to lawyer Stewart Rosenthal. [....]


And of course, Tabrizi will return for his trial ...



Canadian arrested in Indian drug bust , with files from Mary Vallis, Agence France Presse; National Post, August 21, 2006
www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.ht
ml?id=dcae35fa-34c8-41a3-8c6b-de895430d9c6


About 100 kilograms of ephedrine, hashish and other illegal drugs were seized overnight from Girdish Singh Toor, 29, while he was leading a convoy of vehicles in New Delhi, police deputy commissioner Ravindra Yadav said.


Search: framed paintings , contacted by Canadian and Chinese drug cartels



George Jonas: Armed and not so dangerous, Aug. 19, 06, NatPost


[....] Civilization isn't about regulating conduct. Tyranny is about regulating conduct. Civilization is about regulating misconduct -- that is, criminally injurious or anti-social conduct. Murder is a misconduct; gun ownership isn't. Murder is anti-social by definition; gun ownership is anti-social only if you arbitrarily define it as anti-social (or your advisor, Prof. Wendy Cukier does). Murder is apples; gun ownership is oranges. Added up they amount to twaddle.

If anything, there may be a social benefit in law-abiding people owning guns. [....]

The study found that in states where carrying concealed weapons was legal for people with no criminal record or mental illness, homicide had been reduced by 8.5%. Rape went down by 5%, and aggravated assault by 7%. [....]

August 20, 2006

Aug. 20, 2006: #1

German bombs 'mass murder' bid, 18 August 2006
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/5263930.stm

German police have ruled out blackmail as the reason why two bombs were left on trains on 31 July - and now believe it was a failed terror attack.

The bombs were in identical black cases on trains in Dortmund and Koblenz.

They had been timed to explode 10 minutes before the trains arrived, said federal crime chief Joerg Ziercke.

"We are now working on the basis that this was the work of a terrorist group... and was an attempt to kill a large number of people," he said.

Police want to trace two men seen on CCTV wheeling cases at Cologne station. [....]




Theodore Dalrymple: When educated idealists -- think bomb plot -- go bad , Print Edition 19/08/06 Page A15
www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story
/LAC.20060819.COPLOT19/TPStory/?query=Dalrymple

Our minds are full of cliches, such as that idealism is admirable, youth is a time of generosity, and that education is an answer to social problems.Recently, the British police arrested a number of youthful, educated idealists. With nothing but the ultimate good of humanity in their hearts, they proposed (at least if the official version is to be believed) to kill at least 3,000 complete strangers as a prelude to further and wider humanitarian action. What further vindication of educated youthful idealism could we need? [....]

Dalrymple is always worth reading.



Pakistanis arrest al Qaeda commander -- or here
today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=
newsOne&storyID=2006-08-19T020905Z_01_N
18422185_RTRUKOC_0_US-SECURITY-
BRITAIN-REPORT.xml&WTmodLoc=Home-C2-TopNews-newsOne-2

www.forumsvibe.com/elwoodpdowd/
viewtopic.php?t=63&mforum=elwoodpdowd

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - ABC News reported on Friday that Pakistani officials have arrested a top al Qaeda commander and that he could provide clues on the whereabouts of Islamic militant cells worldwide and Osama bin Laden.

The television network said Pakistani police arrested Matiur Rehman based on leads in the investigation of a foiled plot to bomb U.S.-bound airplanes from London. [....]




A grand existence among Muslims on-line, Aug. 19, 06, G & M
www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.2006
0819.wterrorahmad0818/BNStory/National/home

At home, Sarfaraz Jamal seems to lead a humble life, but on the Internet, he has founded some of the most controversial Islamic websites in North America [....]




Margaret Wente: The many faces of profiling , Aug. 19, 06, G & M
www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story
/RTGAM.20060818.wxcowent19/BNStory/Front/home



Rex Murphy: Mr. Harper wasn't the rude one , Rex Murphy, G & M, Aug. 19, 06
www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/
RTGAM.20060818.wxcomurphy19/BNStory/National/home


Peter Shoniker Christie Blatchford: One broken man, many friends, Aug. 19, 06, G & M

www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story
/RTGAM.20060818.wxcoblatch19/BNStory/National/home

Blaming alcohol, lawyer admits to theft -- Friends rally around Peter Shoniker in $750,000 laundering scheme, Aug. 19, 06, G & M

www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story
/RTGAM.20060819.wxshoniker19/BNStory/National/home



Why is AIDS so special?, Michael Coren, Aug. 19, 06
http://tinyurl.com/j8798

www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Coren_Michael
/2006/08/19/1764549.html

[....] Movie stars, rock singers, authors and activists demand that we pump billions of dollars into their cause. The irony is that AIDS is one of the few diseases where personal behavior rather than medical research could save millions of lives.

At its most simple, stop fornicating.

There, I've said it. One of the things that can end a career in North American media. Yet it's true. AIDS in the West is still overwhelmingly a threat to male homosexuals and intravenous drug users. [....]


Related: HIV, syphilis soaring -- Sex diseases rise nearly 50% in T.O. , June 15, 04, Rob Granatstein, Toronto Sun -- or here
newsjunkiecanada.blogspot.com/
2004_06_16_newsjunkiecanada_archive.html

www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/TorontoSun/
News/2004/06/15/499882.html

SAFE SEX is a little out of practice in Toronto. Since 1998, the number of sexually transmitted diseases in the city, including HIV, syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhea have soared.

HIV infections are up 49% in Toronto since 1998, hitting 608 cases in 2002, primarily in gay men, and women from countries where the diseases are widespread.

Chlamydia and gonorrhea cases have been on the rise since 1997, increasing more than 50% in the last five years, especially in heterosexual teens and those in their early 20s. [....]




Khadr alleges abuse from all sides -- Abdullah claims CSIS, RCMP facilitated his torture in Pakistan , Adrian Humphreys, National Post, August 18, 2006

www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/editorialsletters/
story.html?id=fb6808f2-b788-45c2-a072-97593bd21664&k=78062

[....] TORONTO - Abdullah Khadr, a Canadian man accused by the United States of being an al-Qaeda weapons supplier, says he faced a revolving door of abuse from police and security agents from three countries -- including Canada -- during 14 months of imprisonment in Pakistan.

In a sworn affidavit filed in a Toronto court, Mr. Khadr claims his Pakistani jailers raped him with a stick and beat him; American "spies" slapped him and threatened him and his sister; CSIS agents steered him away from seeking legal advice; an RCMP officer threatened him and screamed abuse; and Canadian diplomatic officials virtually ignored his plight. [....]


Why am I not bursting with outrage and sympathy ... perhaps because he may be lying? He doesn't want to be extradited to the US ... reason enough, says the tabby cat. Turf the whole blinkin' family. Remember Papa Khadr's "charity"?



Charity watchdog looks into Pakistan aid group , Beth Gardiner, Aug. 19, 06

cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2006/08/19/1765394-ap.html

[....] All the High Wycombe suspects had been involved with Crescent Relief's earthquake aid efforts last year, the newspaper reported. [....]

The British Broadcasting Corp., citing an unofficial police source, said several videos of the type that suicide bombers sometimes leave had been found as part of the investigation. [....]




The real story without the spin, Israel News Wire, posted by AnnieO
www.israelnewswire.com/

HERE IS WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT - THE BIG ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM IS : TERROR IS WINNING !!! . [....]




Trans-national "libel chill", By Gary Reid, August 18, 2006
www.canadafreepress.com/2006/reid081806.htm

This column is probably more interesting for CFP's American readers than its Canadian ones, yet it affects us all equally, at least in one regard; the war against Islamic jihadists.

It concerns an Israeli-born, American citizen, Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, who is the director of the [....]

For the complete rundown, go to this website, American Center for Democracy , and you will see why her work is important to our understanding of the enemy. [....]






Saudi Money Attacking Free Speech in America, July 13, 2006

www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/012228.php

Robert Locke was educated at Columbia University and lives in New York City. His archive is at robertlockearchive.com. This article is a Jihad Watch exclusive:

The laws of Saudi Arabia, based upon the sharia law mandated by the Koran, do not recognize the rights and freedoms guaranteed Americans by the Constitution. The Saudi government makes no secret of its ambition to export Islamic tyranny worldwide, as the Koran commands. What most Americans don’t realize, is that American courts are helping it in a number of ways. For example, they are collaborating with Saudi attempts to squash the free-speech rights of Americans with abusive libel lawsuits. [....]

But why tolerate scrutiny, when you have the money to abuse the legal system into silencing your critics? Bin Mahfouz has sued Dr. Ehrenfeld in a British court – despite the fact that her book was not published there, nor are he or Dr. Ehrenfeld British – solely in order to take advantage of the fact that Britain has different standards on libel than the US. [....]


This is a must read article -- to the end.




Tax collector accused of rigging hefty refunds , Peter Brieger, National Post, August 18, 2006

www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/toronto
/story.html?id=ef63b47b-f1e8-4e2c-9279-e271b10c1733

A former Canada Revenue Agency employee has been charged with fraud after she allegedly masterminded a scheme to make off with $270,000 in fake income tax refunds, police said yesterday.

The RCMP laid 15 charges -- including fraud over $5,000 and breach of trust -- against Diane Speranza, who worked for the federal tax collector between 1998 and 2005. [....]




Arab Nationalism Run Rampant at Middlebury , Franck Salameh, August 18, 2006 -- or here
www.campus-watch.org/article/id/2704

www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/
2006/08/arab_nationalism_run_rampant_a.html

At Middlebury College's Arabic Summer School, where I recently taught Arabic, students were exposed to more than intensive language instruction. Inside the classroom and across campus, administrators and language teachers adhered to a restrictive Arab-nationalist view of what is generically referred to as the "Arab world." In practice, this meant that the Middle East was presented as a mono-cultural, exclusively Arab region. The time-honored presence and deep-rooted histories of tens of millions of Kurds, Assyrians, Copts, Jews, Maronites, and Armenians--all of whom are indigenous Middle Easterners who object to an imputed "supra-Arab" identity--were dismissed in favor of a reductionist, ahistorical Arabist narrative. [....]



And while other language groups partied with alcoholic drinks, not the Arabic class. A barbeque with tea or with a beer? How many students will want to live under Islamic restrictions at another summer school? I'll bet the class won't be oversubscribed next summer.