Quick Tour

We must make room in science for those who didn't ask for a chemistry set at age five. (Joseph? Unger)

Consider this: "Manitoba facing shortage of RCMP officers" -- It isn't as if governments haven't been warned, repeatedly. The chickens have come home to roost.



London police nab 7 more in bomb probe -- Brighton




Suspected London bombers 'dopey,' former Scotland Yard officer says -- The four suspected bombers arrested by British and Italian police are "dopey" and "not very bright" and will prove to be an intelligence gold mine, a former senior Scotland Yard officer said Saturday.



Bigger / worse than thought

China deploys 50,000 to fight pig illness -- Some 50,000 health workers are being deployed in China's Sichuan province as the human death toll continues to climb from a mystery epidemic involving bacteria spread among pigs.


Check Newsbeat1 for several links today.



"proof is da proof is da proof"

I googled: "what did Paul Martin tell the imams in his meeting?" but there is nothing specific I could find in the time available; however, check this CNEWS Forum: Martin Muslim Meeting Meek Zoomie54, 7/29/2005 15:22:54

Discussing and planning against terrorism would be excellent given the right time, place, agenda and people but Pathetic Paulie manages to turn opportunity into: Photo Op, Photo Op, Photo Op. See how fast the Martin Moron jumps to meet with various imams. No advance research, planning or agenda. Just a "lets sit down with a cross section from the Muslim faith and CONVINCE Canadians that I am really interested in what they have to say" attitude. Great plan Paulie...you have no anti-terrorist plan, you have no clue as to whom you are supposedly talking and you have no clue as to what various sects, factions or radicals these imams might represent. Purely a PR move.....a photo op. When well known and respected leaders of the Canadian Muslim community are NOT present and state that you are sitting down with radicals and outcasts you SHOULD listen. NOPE!!! Great photo op can't be wasted. What an absolute moron and incompetant!!!! UNBELIEVABLE gullibility and opportunism!!!!!!!

Check this forum. The writers can be pithy . . . or rude, crude, the usual (Youu will quickly note which), but certain ones who post know what they are talking about. They're not mediated by the LPO/CBC/PMO.




Breaking: Guardian Editor Quits over Sassygate


Background to the above: 'Sassy' Suicide Bombers July 13, 05

Today's Guardian gives space to Dilpazier Aslam, a "Guardian trainee journalist" who suggests that one shouldn't be shocked by Thursday's suicide bombings - such a reaction would be inappropriate because, among other reasons:

"Shocked would be to suggest that the bombings happened through no responsibility of our own."

Yes, ladies and gentlemen - we bear responsibility for the murderous actions of maniacal members of a religious cult. [. . . . ]

'Sassy' Organisation: "Kill Jews Everywhere" The Daily Ablution, July 15, 05

From the BBC, 27 August, 2003 (emphasis added):

"An influential British Muslim has told Newsnight that unless action is taken against an extreme Muslim group operating in the United Kingdom then we could soon be experiencing terrorist attacks along the lines of those in Baghdad and Jerusalem. [. . . . ]

The Failed States Index Foreign Policy & the Fund for Peace, July/Aug. 2005

[. . . . ] What are the clearest early warning signs of a failing state? Among the 12 indicators we use, two consistently rank near the top. Uneven development is high in almost all the states in the index, suggesting that inequality within states—and not merely poverty—increases instability.

Criminalization or delegitimization of the state, which occurs when state institutions are regarded as corrupt, illegal, or ineffective, also figured prominently. Facing this condition, people often shift their allegiances to other leaders—opposition parties, warlords, ethnic nationalists, clergy, or rebel forces. Demographic factors, especially population pressures stemming from refugees, internally displaced populations, and environmental degradation, are also found in most at-risk countries, as are consistent human rights violations. Identifying the signs of state failure is easier than crafting solutions, but pinpointing where state collapse is likely is a necessary first step.

Re-awaking The Black Kettle, July 13, 2005

David Warren talks common sense - a rare attribute among our pc-tude politicians and ruling elite

[. . . . ] We cannot afford to pull punches in war. The power of the Islamists is not great enough to defeat us, or come even close; but our ability to defeat ourselves, with their help, is profoundly worrying.

This came home to me yet again in reading a secret Whitehall cabinet briefing, about Islamist recruitment in Britain, exposed on the weekend by the London Sunday Times. It gave little information that could not be inferred from an extensive Internet search. So what struck me was the over-cautious tone, as if the worst thing imaginable were to give offence to any member of Britain’s Muslim minority.

That is not the worst that can happen. Being aboard an exploding omnibus is much worse. Britain and the West are in serious trouble when senior Home Office staff feel the need to pretend, and weave fairytales, when writing confidentially on a matter of life and death.

Turn from that document to another: the transcript of remarks by Dr. Hani Al-Sibai [. . . . ]

One Person -- appeal for a liver transplant donor Friday, July 29, 2005

Scroll down for: Back of Beyond 2, July 27, 05

Sgt Stryker links to Foreign Policy's Failed State Index. For most of the 20th century, rivalries between the Great Powers constituted the major threats to peace. But suddenly, as Foreign policy notes, today's greatest threats come from the weakest states in the world. [. . . . ]

Future historians will argue long and hard about how this massive danger so suddenly appeared -- like an asteroid falling from the sky -- after fifty years of continuous political progress. Colonial empires were liquidated; hundreds of flags blossomed in the halls of the United Nations; borders were declared obsolete; armies were described as redundant. There were problems, it's true, but banners proclaimed, "Welcome to the UN. It's your world". The End of History was actually announced. And all of a sudden the danger of Failed States materialized, like a T-Rex, into the circle of light of a General Assembly risen in applause.

[. . . . ] The Belmont Club's last post, Back of Beyond, described the efforts of the one remaining great power which did not decommission its freedom of action to address the problems in Central Asia, a reaction which some commenters have criticized as "imperial". What is most striking is that action itself in the face of the threat of Failed States has become discredited. The great debate in the West today isn't over what to do, but whether it isn't better to do nothing.

Just read the Belmont Club -- mentions Waziristan, Karakorum mountains, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyz Base



Time for Canada and the US to have some frank talks on marijuana and sovereignty. I think it is time to have several frank talks in Canada and a few referenda.

Demonstrators protest prince of pot's arrest -- Marc Emory July 30, 05, CTV.ca News Staff

[. . . . ] The RCMP arrested Emery on Friday, after police in Vancouver raided his marijuana seed and paraphernalia store.

U.S. authorities requested the raid.

Along with Emery, Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek, financial agent for the party, and Greg Williams, an employee of Pot-TV, face American charges of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana, distribute seeds and engage in money laundering.

Neil Boyd, a Simon Fraser University criminologist, thought the case raised some sovereignty questions. [. . . . ]

MEMRI: Special Dispatch Series - No. 946 -- Lebanese Mufti Dr. Muhammad Ali Al-Jozo: Support for Killing Americans; Suicide Attacks "100% Good"; 9/11, London Attacks by U.S. or Zionists - Not Bin Laden; I "Made Fun" of U.S. Border Patrol July 29, 2005

Al-Jozo: "We all rejected what happened in London and America [9/11], but who is the real perpetrator? Who is behind these operations? We must ask ourselves these important questions. For the sake of argument, we agreed that 9/11 was carried out by a group belonging to Al-Qaeda, however, reality says otherwise. I could never accept such a thing, because many experts have told us that this operation could have only been carried out by professionals..."

Garaudy Proved the U.S. was Behind 9/11

Host: "So you don't think Al-Qaeda is responsible?"

Muhammad Ali Al-Jozo: "I don't think so, and I cannot believe that Al-Qaeda has the ability to fly four planes simultaneously over Washington without any military plane budging. I am holding a book by French author Roger Garaudy called Western Terrorism. He brings proof from the Americans themselves. He says: 'The Bin Laden theory seems very weak, even technically speaking. An in-depth discussion among many civilian and military American pilots has made it clear that such a large-scale and precise operation could only be carried out by professional and highly-trained pilots who can hit with precision a target that looks like a pole from the altitude of a huge passenger jet..." [. . . . ]

The Zionists Are Involved in the London Bombings; Martyrdom Operations Are "100% Good"

Al-Jozo: "America and Israel... There is no doubt that Israel plays a major role in distorting the image of Islam. Even in London – I said that Zionists are involved in that operation – they want to distort the image of Islam in Britain and Europe, and to drive a wedge between Muslims and the West. This is obvious. [. . . . ]

Pig headed? Stupid? Educated at madrassas?




Is this one of our "refugees"?

'Honest detainee' admits to jihad against Soviets -- Former resident of Canada has no problem with U.S. -- Is that supposed to be all right? James Gordon, Ottawa Citizen, July 31, 05

[. . . . ] Mohamedou Ould Slahi, who lived at a Montreal mosque in 1999, is one of three terrorism suspects with Canadian links jailed as "enemy combatants" at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

[. . . . ] Mr. Slahi also detailed his arrival in Canada in late 1999 and subsequent run-ins with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, which was investigating an alleged Algerian terrorist sleeper cell based in Montreal at the time. [. . . . ]

Search: Ahmed Ressam , Mahfouz ould Walid, also known as "Abu Hafs the Mauritanian." , several Montreal residents , requested protection in America




Canadian homebuyer beware -- "Over the past 10 years, CMHC has reaped $3.2 billion in profits from mortgage insurance - representing more than 90% of its retained earnings. Canadian Business magazine asks: Are Canadian homebuyers about to fill federal coffers?" Peter Shawn Taylor. He also authored an editorial in the Financial Post this week on this (July 29 or 30, 05) -- very good information

Because banks and other lenders shy away from borrowers with less than a 25% down payment as higher-risk clients, mortgage insurance gives people with smaller down payments a better risk profile. If the homeowner defaults on his or her payments and the lender faces a loss following foreclosure, mortgage insurance covers the difference and turns a high-risk customer into a zero-risk customer. Thus, potential homebuyers with a steady income but little in the way of savings can own a house much earlier.

[. . . . ] Because insurance is typically rolled into the principal of a mortgage, perhaps people don't even notice they are paying it. And since it is required by law, perhaps no one sees the point of complaining.

But hard questions need to be asked. [. . . . ]

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