Progressive Conservative Liberal Senators, Tainted Cocaine, Premeditated Murder & Injustice, Muslims-West, Daycare-Family, Honest Reporting on CBC

Nota Bene:

Program Note: Don't miss -- Fighting terrrorism -- "The Air India bombing: could it happen again?" -- Sunday March 27 -- See menu at left for more information.



Progressive Conservative Liberal Senators

Martin's Senate appointees problematic for opposition parties March 24, 2005, Alexander Panetta

"I just think this is incredibly intellectually dishonest and insulting to people," said Tory Leader Stephen Harper.

"There is no federal Progressive Conservative Party. This is usually a euphemism now for people who support the Liberal party federally." [. . . . ]

2 killed by bad cocaine, cops feel March 25, 2005, Jonathan Jenkiins, Toronto Sun

COCAINE TAINTED with a household cleanser has hit the streets of Durham and cops suspect it may have killed two local drug users. "We are interested in getting this stuff off the streets," Durham police spokesman Dave Selby said. "If people have information about that that can help us, we'd like to talk to them." [. . . . ]

Cocaine is often mixed with any number of powdery substances to increase volume and profitability. Cornstarch, sugar, talcum powder and sugar can be used, as well as other drugs. [. . . . ]

Leniency intolerable March 25, 2005, Tom Brodbeck, Winnipeg Sun

A guy plans and conspires with several buddies to kill someone, meets the victim in a remote place, tries several ways to murder him -- including stabbing him in the neck -- and ultimately kills him.

The murder is planned and deliberate and it's organized by two or more people. It's a heinous crime.

And there is no other way to describe the killing than saying it was a cold-blooded, pre-meditated and clear-thinking murder.

Life in prison without eligibility for parole for 25 years, you would think. Not in Canada.

And not with our judges, who sometimes don't take murder that seriously.[. . . . ]

Search: Queen's Bench Justice Perry Schulman, Eight-Ball Award, Anthony Pulsifer, 13 years





Comment: Raskolnikov March 24, 2005

What I find instructive about this story is that it endorses much of what many have long suspected ... namely that the benign face of mainstream Islam isn't as terror-averse as they lead us to believe.

[. . . . ] This underbelly of hate and violence damages the credibility of mainstream Islam. In saying this, I don't doubt for a second that there are many decent muslims in Canada who don't traffic in hatred and who support legitimate political solutions to the problems of the Middle East. A more pressing problem than solutions overseas are the bigots and haters right here in Canada who clearly need to be exposed and removed from positions of responsibility ... most especially if they are instrumental in distorting the minds of impressionable kids by promoting hatred and violence toward jews.

What bothers me about the various situations involving Muslims and expressions of hatred in Canada is what it does to the thinking of ordinary Canadians like me. I have and have had Muslim acquaintances, maybe even friends. I hate it that now I am questioning my own judgement. Have I missed something? Do these seemingly benign citizens really hate the freedoms I cherish so much? Do they hate me? Do they consider me simply immmoral and a threat to the purity of their women -- as they seem to consider all in the West, even other women?

Mostly, it has been Muslim women I have had as acquaintances and friends because the men were too controlling of their women for my taste and they did not listen to me nor treat me as equal to a man; nevertheless, now . . . I tend to wonder. I hate a religion which taints what decent people should be able to see, think about, then judge for themselves -- that we all are a mixture of good and bad and none of us deserve to be hated simply because we do not share the same religious beliefs. I think Islam needs to modernize, particularly to stop hating and starting learning about the rest of the world and developing tolerance.

By the same token, since women support and pass on the religious beliefs in all societies, Muslim women must re-think what they are passing on. Muslim women must decide whether they want to be able to think for themselves or to always be subject to men. No contest there for me -- but they must make that choice. It is a choice. A determined woman cannot be controlled forever, and particularly if she lives in Canada.

Thank God, I was born in the West!





Universal day care. 14 March 2005, Ted Byfield

[. . . . T]he Liberal gay-marriage legislation and the Liberal aspiration for Ottawa-directed day care both derive from the same rarely stated but ever more evident Liberal tenet. It is an opposition to, which at times rises to contempt for and even a hatred of, the traditional family. The ultimate purpose of both programs is to undermine that institution.

To suggest that people like Paul Martin, or Dave Kilgour, the Liberal MP for Edmonton, are somehow in a conspiracy to destroy an institution that is very dear to them and to most other party members is nonsense. What they don’t know, or won’t face, however, is the fact that the legislation their government consistently advances is in response to the pressure of anti-family lobby groups, which they endorse and lavishly fund, and like-minded bureaucrats, whom they harbour within the federal administration. The same sentiment is reflected in the presuppositions of the judges with whom they have been diligently packing our courts since the Chrétien government took office.

All these people have fundamentally written off the family as it has existed for countless generations. [. . . . Ed's emphasis.]

Before you dismiss that last statement, read the whole article. In the last many years and particularly with Liberal governments, there have been strident efforts and movements to remove from the family that which is the province of the family. I believe it is intended in the end to form young minds by the state -- the Liberal state -- before the family is able to teach them differently. Big Brother is winning if we do not stop this -- now! What are you going to do about it?





CBC WEB SITE: ONE YEAR LATER March 23, 2005

Dear HonestReporting Canada subscriber:

One year ago today, HonestReporting Canada

critiqued the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Web site. CBC.ca’s special section on the Middle East is mostly a collection of documents about Israel and the Palestinians. With the look and feel of an educational primer, it contains descriptions of key issues, biographies of key players, and archived news stories.

Last year, in the very first sentence on its IN DEPTH: Middle East section, CBC introduced Canadians to a one-sided version of history:

"Since May of 1948 when the modern state of Israel was proclaimed, the land has had two parallel histories, one for the Jews who control the state and one for the Palestinians who say the nation was built on their homeland." (Emphasis added)

(This version ignores [. . . . ]

Search: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words, How You Can Make a Difference

Program Note: Don't miss -- Fighting terrrorism -- "The Air India bombing: could it happen again?" -- CSIS & Gov Policy? Background Information Links

Rex Murphy's Cross Canada Checkup, Sunday, March 27, 2005

Broadcast time: Sundays at 1:00 p.m. PT, 2:00 p.m. MT, 3:00 p.m. CT, 4:00 p.m. ET, 5:00 p.m. AT and 5:30 p.m. NT on CBC Radio One

Cross Country Checkup. . . open-line radio program, broadcast live across Canada every Sunday afternoon on CBC Radio One and on the CBC Country Canada TV channel.

[] . . . Rex Murphy . . . discussion. . . invites listeners to call in with their opinions and thoughts.

[. . . . ] Toll-free number (during the broadcast only): 1-888-416-8333

[. . . . ]e-mail to checkup(at symbol)cbc.ca

[. . . . ] Rex will read several messsages throughout the show . . . . Please put the topic in the subject line of your message, and include your name and location at the end.

[. . . . ]One week after a long awaited resolution to the Air India bombing fell flat, the leaders of North America meet to tighten security and loosen trade. They say North America is in much better shape than before. Families of the Air India victims are not so sure.

What do you think? What went wrong ...and could it happen again?

[. . . . ] Links [Background information]

* Indepth: Air India The Bombing of Flight 182

* CBC Archives: The Air India Investigation

* Two acquitted in Air India bombings

* McLellan fields calls for Air India inquiry

Is this government policy?

It seems most strange to the layman or woman. I understand the need to protect privacy but surely, when you hear / read of /listen to plans to kill, then . . .

Why does CSIS destroy its wiretap tapes? -- Spy agency doesn't collect evidence says spokesperson March 22, 2005, John Geddes

Two decades after the Canadian Security Intelligence Service erased wiretap recordings that might have been key evid ence in the Air-India case, CSIS's standard procedure is still to destroy what it calls "intercepted" conversations. CSIS files only summary reports from its electronic eavesdropping -- then gets rid of tapes or transcripts within 30 days. Why not save the raw data that might some day help police or prosecutors? "We don't collect evidence," CSIS spokeswoman Barbara Campion told Maclean's. "The goal of the service is not to bring people to court. Our goal is to advise the government of threats to the security of Canada, and ultimately to neutralize those threats."

[. . . . ] But when it comes to wiretaps, she says CSIS policy remains essentially the same as in the mid-1980s [. . . . ]

Search: CSIS's mandate, its relationship with police, strictly necessary, University of Toronto's Munk Centre for International Studies, might agree to a request



Air-India

We can't handle the truth -- Canada should realize it's 'not exempt from contamination by the rest of the world' March 22, 2005, Ken MacQueen

There is a suggestion of racism -- but that term is bandied about so often that it has lost any emotive power for me -- and I suspect, for others.

Even after the deaths of 331 people in the Air-India bombings, the notion that Canada was a breeding ground for Sikh extremism

remained a largely unexplored topic. The government's failure to see this as a made-in-Canada disaster was in part what prompted authors Clark Blaise and his Indian-born wife, Bharati Mukherjee, to write The Sorrow and the Terror. . . .

[. . . . ] What were the motivations behind the Air-India attacks?

This kind of terrorism is about money, vanity, and it's about power. It's not about principled idealism or resistance. It's just like the IRA. It becomes a generational thing that makes money and gives you a kind of swagger.

What is your assessment of the strength of the Crown's case?

It was an incredible mess. The CSIS agent who erased all those tapes, was he or she acting alone or did they go to superiors to ask permission? CSIS was totally out of control, a totally undisciplined body that gathered information promiscuously and then decided whether it was going to use it or destroy it. The material couldn't stand the test of the rules of evidence and so, of course, the RCMP had to build a parallel case that would stand up. By that time, too much of the evidence had been destroyed, compromised and tainted. [. . . . ]

PBS Transcript: Bill Moyers Interviews Bharati Mukherjee, co-author with her husband Clark Blaise of THE SORROW AND THE TERROR: THE HAUNTING LEGACY OF AIR INDIA TRAGEDY -- Publisher: Viking Pr (June 1, 1987) ISBN: 0670812048 at Amazon

Any governments which fund differences instead of togetherness are foolhardy -- but this has been going on for years. We need to create Canadians, not fund separateness -- though it was not separateness in Canada which caused this disaster. More likely, it was ancient hatreds. Still, the politicians' need for identifiable voting blocs must not continue. We are Canadians, not hyphenated Canadians.



Air India bombing, racism and multiculturalism Arthur Weinreb, Associate Editor, March 22, 2005. Weinreb's work is worth reading. In fact, get in the habit of checking Canada Free Press.

All that Canadians need to know about Paul Martin's two new Alberta Senators & Intolerant Land

All that Canadians need to know about Paul Martin's two new Alberta Senators:

1. "vice-chair of Climate Change Central" and

2. "promoter of bilingualism" and former dean of the Faculte St-Jean at the University of Alberta.

Giving us the finger Mar. 25, 05, Paul Stanway, Edmonton Sun

[. . . . ] The Alberta appointments are bad news because the champion of democracy and crusader against western alienation ignored the candidates for the Senate who were elected by Albertans as part of last November's provincial election. The PM chose instead two blasts from the political past and a francophone educator with Liberal connections. [. . . . ]

Paul Martin has just given Canadians the bird. He is as as "small" as JC, if not smaller and pettier, and ANTI-DEMOCRATIC, as well as dictatorial -- truly a "little" man. I sense his almost daring us to do anything about it. Well, what are you going to do?

Did you catch Paul Martin attempt to place his hand on Pres. George Bush's back -- a warm, friendly gesture for the cameras? Naturally, that is the picture we were fed. I saw that his hand never touched Pres. Bush's back and that he quickly put it down. (Nobody seems to have noticed JC's shaking hands during his Gomery joke, either. )




Eggs among 9 sent to Senate March 25, 2005, Stephanie Rubec, Senior Political Reporter




Intolerant land March 25, 2005, Link Byfield, Calgary Sun

It would be fascinating to ask a large random sample of Canadians what their highest civic ideal is.

I suspect most would say: "To me, Canada is about tolerance."

And they would be kidding themselves. This country believes no more in "tolerance" than it does in freedom. [. . . . ]

Search: because they are too young, too black, or too Jewish, University of Calgary, Prohibited political posters?

Abraar Islamic School, Child Trafficking Yemen to Saudi, Mountie Killer - Injustice System, "Blow the whistle" & Whistleblower Protection

'There is no room for hatred' March 25, 2005, Earl McRae, Ottawa Sun

Rashid Nasim arrives at Abraar Islamic elementary school to pick up his young daughter, and he's upset, he wants answers.

"I want to speak to the principal, I want to speak to teachers. This is not what I want from this school. We didn't have our daughter go here for this. . . .

[. . . . ] For a story by a child who could have been in only Grade 8 at the most, the political knowledge, writing style, and language seemed suspiciously sophisticated.

[. . . . ] I've had people report to me about Muslim kids in Ottawa as young as three spouting anti-Semitism with information you'd think they wouldn't know.
"They get it from their parents, or they see it with their parents on Al-Jazeera via satellite. Vicious, hate rhetoric is not something you're born with. You're taught it."

Islamic school probed March 25, 2005, Alan Findlay, Queen's Park Bureau

[. . . . ] Because the school is private, it's not clear what a supervisor can do. But Kennedy said a complaint of an alleged hate crime could be reported to police if necessary.

Scroll down for posts on CCD which include the Canadian Islamic Congress founder and head, Mohammed Elmasry's statements. How many Muslim Canadians does he represent, by the way? He seems to be doing his best to blacken the reputation of the University of Waterloo with his statements on Jews.




Slavery -- “Even when traffickers are caught, they are released, because it is not illegal,” he said, calling for legal amendments.

Poverty encourages child trafficking from Yemen to Saudi Web posted at: 3/24/2005 2:2:39, Source: AFP

SANAA: Misery in Yemen continues to encourage child trafficking into Saudi Arabia, with widespread cases of parents paying smugglers to take on their offspring to work as beggars on the streets of the oil-rich neighbor.

Thousands of children, as young as seven and including girls, continue to be entrusted by their parents to traffickers who help the youngsters cross the desert borders illegally into Saudi Arabia, UN officials said.

The children, who mostly come from large and poor families, sweat to earn money through small, menial jobs or most often by begging on the streets. Thousands of them are regularly caught by Saudi police and sent back home. [. . . . ]

Search: UNICEF, government officials as witnesses, Yemeni authorities officially admitted, "150,000 Yemenis, including 9,815 children", boys aged between 10 and 16

Please search Google for "I Abolish" slavery. Is this situation worsening? Just in the past week I have watched a film on slavery, seen a documentary, and received this. To enslave another human being is sick.





Mountie killer's charges far outweigh convictions

When it comes to the criminal justice system, the wheels are off the car; it's not just the bearings gone. Threats to witnesses don't show up in statistics.

Note the revolving door justice system. People are trying to downplay everything that has happened as if it were a freak accident or something; however. . .

1. Roszko had an HK91 308 calbre assault rifle while Canada had a $1.2 billion gun registry system -- crooks don't register weapons

2. The court had said he was not allowed to have any guns and he should have been behind bars already

3. There were about 280 Marijuana plants on the premises.

Despite a record of violence that included a series of charges involving firearms and death threats, Roszko was convicted only eight times.

Most of those offences date back to the 46-year-old farmer's teen years and involved property offences that resulted in small fines or short jail terms of a few days. [. . . . ]

Police charged Roszko with breaching his release conditions by contacting witnesses and with obstruction of justice, but none of those charges stuck either. [. . . . ]

The brother is convinced the Canadian criminal justice system is deeply flawed and must be tightened in the wake of the tragedy. [. . . . ]

Search: Examinations of his criminal court records, [Read how Roszko] terrorized witnesses. Red Deer Conservative MP Bob Mills, "Rod Gregory, president of the Criminal Trial Lawyers Association"

Do read what his lawyers have to say.





Blow the whistle while you work -- U.S. EXPERT URGES MPS TO PROTECT EMPLOYEES WHO SPEAK OUT March 25, 2005, Kathleen Harris, Ottawa Bureau

FEDERAL workers who handle sensitive national security files are in greatest need of whistleblowing protection, a U.S. expert said yesterday. Louis Clark, president and founding member of the Washington-based Government Accountability Project, said spies, intelligence officers and federal cops must have the confidence to report bureaucratic corruption, theft and wrongdoing without reprisal.

Speaking to a committee of MPs studying proposed whistleblower legislation, Clark recommended ensuring a forum that is "covered in secrecy" where those employees can freely speak out.

His program, which began in 1977 after the Watergate corruption scandal, now recovers about $1 billion in fraud each year. [. . . . ]

Search: "Whistleblower Protection", "Whistleblowers, Check out Qui Tam", "Update: Does the Slush Fund Government Really Want Effective Whistleblower Legislation?"

They are on this webpage. While you are at it, look at "Book -- Cold Terror: How Canada Nurtures and Exports Terrorism to the World" concerning Stewart Bell's book

News Junkie Canada, March 23, 05 -- There is more about Canada's pretend whistleblower protection legislation -- a scam to protect the government -- on other dates.




The news hit home -- A GRIEVING FATHER SPILLS HIS HEART TO MARK BONOKOSKI March 25, 2005

[. . . . ] "I did B-and-Es. I did drugs," he says. "Between the ages of 16 and 20, I was a handful. But at 20, I smartened up."

Bruno Dumanski says it is different now. There was no Youth Criminal Justice Act back in his day. The young offenders of his era didn't carry their lawyer's business card in their wallets, and they weren't coddled by the system.

"There were no youth facilities back then," he says. "You went to the Don Jail. I went to the Don. And once you went to the Don, you didn't want to ever go back.
"Pick up the newspaper today and it is obvious that kids have no respect -- no respect for the police, no respect for the justice system, no respect for human life. Now they'll kill someone and not think twice about it." [. . . . ]

Search: Jason Hodge, Damien Muirhead, LOW-LEVEL DRUG DEALER

Free Speech -- Pewgate: The Battle of the Blogosphere -- Note parallels to Canada, if any

Pewgate: The Battle of the Blogosphere Richard Poe, FrontPageMagazine.com, March 25, 2005

Richard Poe is a New York Times-bestselling author and journalist whose blog appears at RichardPoe.com. He is managing editor of David Horowitz’s group blog Moonbat Central. Poe’s latest book is Hillary’s Secret War: The Clinton Conspiracy to Muzzle Internet Journalists.

The blogosphere is under attack. For three weeks, bloggers have battled the Federal Election Commission, seeking exemption from campaign finance laws that would effectively regulate political speech on the Web.

How did it come to this?

The answer lies in a burgeoning scandal which we might call Pewgate. [. . . . ]

You should read this one and check all the links.

Blogger Tom Smith at Right Coast declared, "[T]hey can stop us from blogging … when they pry our keyboards from our cold, dead fingers." [. . . . ]

Blog on By Tom Smith Mar. 5, 05

[. . . . ] I am not really kidding here. As I said, I think/hope the fears are exaggerated. But I do think political bloggers, left and right, should just prepare themselves psychologically for the possibility of having to take a concrete stand for free speech. Or maybe just prepare to prepare themselves. Free speech is one of those important things. If it does come to that, sticking together will be the important thing. The swarm. United. Will never be defeated.

How did such a crazy law get through Congress in the first place? That’s where Pewgate comes in.

Beginning in 1994, a group of non-profit foundations began bankrolling "experts" and front groups whose purpose was to bamboozle Congress into thinking that millions of Americans were clamoring for "campaign finance reform" – even though they were not. [. . . . ]

Optics & High Flyers, UNSCAM: Credibility-Sevan-Annan, AB: Parental Power, Gomery Inquiry in Quebec Justifies its Cost, Press Release Economy

I know someone who has been picked up by a Crown Corp. or government helicopter--I forget which--for urgent business reasons, quite legitimate reasons, so this may not really be as profligate as it sounds to those of us whose work is not important enough to warrant such transportation. To the great unwashed (me), of course, the optics are very bad. Additionally, do you think our PM, for example, warrants a Bombardier jet? Did JC? Ever? You get the point.

Hydro One chief took helicopter to cottage -- Liberals defend use of aircraft for 'business' April Lindgren, Mar. 24, 05, CanWest

Hydro One chief executive Tom Parkinson had good reasons to use a company helicopter for trips that included twice ferrying him to his Lake Muskoka cottage last year, Energy Minister Dwight Duncan says.

[. . . . ] "Optically, obviously these sorts of things are always difficult to explain to people," acknowledged Mr. Duncan, who this month gave his blessing to a 35% raise for Mr. Parkinson.

Search: pay will be $1,475,923, Eleanor Clitheroe, Hydro One's board, The helicopters are used to, Last July 23, could not provide the names, hypocrisy, hydro rates are increasing





Un takes new heat on oil-for-food, congo -- 'Impotence and cowardice' Steven Edwards, March 24, 2005, CanWest

UNITED NATIONS - The credibility of the United Nations took knocks from New York to the heart of Africa yesterday as officials at Manhattan headquarters defended against embarrassing new revelations in the Iraq oil-for-food scandal and a leaked internal report accused UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo of apparent cowardice.

Days after Canada backed Secretary-General Kofi Annan's bid to have the UN lead the world towards international peace and prosperity, the organization is looking more beleaguered than ever.

At headquarters, the UN admitted it will pay the legal bills that its top oil-for-food official, Benon Sevan, incurred to defend himself in the UN's investigation of corruption in the multi-billion-dollar aid program for Iraqis.

The payment will be made even though initial results of the probe, led by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, found Mr. Sevan guilty of wrongdoing. What's more, Mr. Sevan's legal bills will be paid from the same Iraqi oil money that is being used to finance the Volcker inquiry. [Does this sound like Canada? Think of whose expenses were paid for in coming before the Gomery Inquiry.]

[. . . . ] Votes on various solutions are scheduled to begin today, but the United States and France are at odds over what type of war crimes court should be established to try those accused of the killing, while China and Russia are not keen on imposing sanctions on the Khartoum government, with whom they have business deals. [. . . . ]

Search: Iraq's ambassador to the UN, "Mark Malloch Brown, Mr. Annan's chief of staff", "Mr. Annan's son, Kojo", Swiss-based Cotecna, next Tuesday, an investigation by Britain's Financial Times, policing in the eastern Kivu region, sexual abuse, Canada has backed Mr. Annan's




Treating addicted teens -- The View From Calgary March 24, 2005, Calgary Herald

When you're under 18, adults reserve the right to make decisions for you -- especially when your life is spinning out of control. If a long overdue and most welcome private member's bill passes the Alberta legislature, then parents will have the legal power to force their drug-addicted children into treatment and rehabilitation.

[. . . . ] If the promise of a young life is being destroyed by drugs, this bill allows for the calling of assistance.
As with a similar Alberta law that allows for the mandatory detainment of child prostitutes, Jablonski's bill is intended to help children get their lives turned around. [. . . . ]

The talk of Quebec L. Ian MacDonald, Mar. 24, 05, National Post

MONTREAL - John Gomery has the monkey off his back. No one is talking any more about the cost of his inquiry into Adscam, or his ill-advised interviews with the media, which served as the pretext for Jean Chretien's bid to have him removed.

Just three of the revelations produced in recent days serve to justify the Gomery commission's existence, [. . . . ]

Search: Jacques Corriveau, a senior Quebec organizer for Chretien in the 1984 and 1990 Liberal leadership campaigns, $10,000 each to the Quebec wing of, to individual Liberal organizers, The Lafleurs, 200,000 viewers daily, petty and sleazy





Ottawa attacks racism. Racism needn't worry William Watson, Mar. 24, 05, Financial Post

[. . . . ] Markets may not give us universal love. They may not change the hearts of men, just so long as they change men's behaviour. By that standard, what are we to make of the federal government's new anti-racism "action plan," A Canada for All, which will cost $56-million over the next five years?

How do you suppose they decided on $56-million? After a careful cost-benefit analysis? "We'll put 1000 man-years in the field (at $56,000 per) doing such-and-such and such-and-such, and that will give us such-and-such a reduction in racist incidents. Failing which we'll try something else."

More likely they debated what would look right. [. . . . ]

Search: the first thing they did with the new money, stakeholders, 12 specific actions, Equality of outcome

Frankly, it's a hoot. Watson captures it.




Hydrogen bomb Terence Corcoran, Mar. 24, 05, Financial Post

It's here! The energy miracle of the millennium, an amazing technological advance that will transform the way we live and the way the world works. When there is no more oil and all the gas is gone, we will get our power from press releases issued by government, oil companies and carmakers -- the Press Release Economy. Entire nations will be able to generate all the energy they need to keep their economies buzzing along in the fast lane by filling up on media announcements and marketing campaigns.

This is no pie-in-the-sky scheme based on pipe dreams. It's here today in the energizing flood of reports on hydrogen fuel for cars. There is no functioning hydrogen-vehicle industry, and due to unfortunate laws of thermodynamics, no known way to make it work on a large scale. But who needs the reality when we have a press release industry that creates the industry without there actually being one.

Just yesterday I pulled into the Press Release Economy station right at my desk and filled up on the following: [. . . . ]

Muslim Schools, Saudi-Mosques-Report, UN: "Kofi's little lapdog", CCD, Soros, Drug Cartels & Acid Baths, Public School, US-Canada Relationship & More

Update to an earlier post on the Ottawa Islamic School:

Follow this thread on the public forums and discussion groups on the Canadian Coalition for Democracies

CIC urges Hebrew schoos not to teach reality Canadian Islamic Congress on 17:03:51 2005/03/24

As a reminder, Mohammed Elmasry is the Mulsim leader who said on Canadian television that all Israelis over the age of 18 are legitimate targets for suicide bombers. The police and the university where he teaches deemed this incitement to be acceptable. Having learned that Canada's hate laws don't apply to Muslims inciting the killing of Jews he is emboldened now to go one step further.

[. . . . ] [It goes on to quote a Media Communique March 23 from the University of Waterloo's Mohammed Elmasry and the CIC which he formed.]

Brian Lemon's comments

Re: Lies and hatred are the norm in Muslim schools posted by Al Gordon. There is more. Do check this thread.
Center for Religious Freedom, Mar. 24, 05

NEW REPORT ON SAUDI GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS IN U.S.

WASHINGTON, DC, January 28, 2005- Freedom House's Center for Religious Freedom released today a new report exposing the dissemination of hate propaganda in America by the government of Saudi Arabia.

[. . . . ] Among the key findings of the report:

* Various Saudi government publications gathered for this study, most of which are in Arabic, assert that it is a religious obligation for Muslims to hate Christians and Jews and warn against imitating, befriending, or helping them in any way, or taking part in their festivities and celebrations;

* The documents promote contempt for the United States because it is ruled by legislated civil law rather than by totalitarian Wahhabi-style Islamic law. They condemn democracy as un-Islamic;

* The documents stress that when Muslims are in the lands of the unbelievers, they must behave as if on a mission behind enemy lines. Either they are there to acquire new knowledge and make money to be later employed in the jihad against the infidels, or they are there to proselytize the infidels until at least some convert to Islam. [. . . . ]

There is much more.

You may download the 89 page report, SAUDI PUBLICATIONS ONHATE IDEOLOGY INVADE AMERICAN MOSQUES





Paris court upholds Soros conviction -- Appeal fails, billionaire to pay $2.9 million fine which leads to French court upholds Soros conviction Floyd Norris, International Herald Tribune, Mar. 25, 05

PARIS The conviction of George Soros, the billionaire investor and former fund manager, on insider trading charges was upheld on Thursday by a French appeals court, which rejected his argument that his investment in a French bank in 1988 was not based on confidential information. [. . . . ]

Search: European Court of Justice, Jacques Chirac, Pebereau, Suez, CGI, Paribas





Mexican Hit Men Dissolved Foes in Acid -Police

TIJUANA, Mexico (Reuters) - Mexican police said on Thursday they had arrested four drug cartel hit men who used acid-filled tubs to dissolve their victims' remains.

Police, who made the arrests in Tijuana, south of San Diego, California, late on Tuesday, said the men confessed to carrying out at least 15 murders for the Arellano Felix drug cartel and to using acid to dissolve some of their victims' bodies. [. . . . ]

Search: Drug-related kidnappings and slayings, rival Gulf cartel


Note: They traffic in the benign product, by the way, which our PM and his Liberal government want to decriminalize, albeit in small amounts. As long as men will commit unspeakable crimes to traffic in marijuana which came to prominence in the decade(s) of free love and smoking what must have seemed then a relatively harmless joint, this is one initiative which deserves re-thinking.

These drug cartels traffic in other drugs but I think this falls into Rudy Giuliani's theory of fixing the first broken windows and destroying the first graffitti in order to stave off more and even worse. As long as marijuana is illegal in the US, Canada will have drug gangs trying to make money growing powerful pot here and trekking it into the US.

Perhaps, I am wrong. At least, decriminalization of even small amounts of marijuana deserves sober and factual discussion in the House and respect for the views of all, not votes forced upon MP's via the PMO, which, undoubtedly, will be the case. Then the Liberal government would gain all those pot heads' votes. How base!




U.N. plans to reimburse discredited ex-employee Betsy Pisik, Mar. 24, 05 via World Net Daily

NEW YORK -- The United Nations yesterday struggled to explain why it will reimburse about $300,000 in legal fees accrued by Benon Sevan, the discredited former administrator of the U.N. oil-for-food program. [. . . . ]

New anti-U.N. TV ad debuts -- Charges Annan coddles terrorists, tyrants

[. . . . ] The new ad, "U.N. Photo Album," was produced by the group leading the effort to "Get the U.N. out of the U.S.," Move America Forward , and is expected to begin running on national cable news networks during the first week of April. It can be seen online at the group's website. [. . . . ]

You may form your own views about this but this paragraph, in particular, rang a definitely Canadian bell.

Parents: On the 'sin' of sending kids to public school -- Author shares harsh campus realities, urges parents to pull children

In the book, Shortt documents the pitfalls of public schools, saying the anti-Christian thrust of the governmental school system produces inevitable results: "moral relativism (no fixed standards), academic dumbing down, far-left programs, near absence of discipline and the persistent but pitiable rationalizations offered by government education professionals." [. . . . ]

Kofi Annan's eager little lapdog

Follow the discussion thread and you will come to this article: Re: Martin's faith in UN is sadly misplaced: Despot-dominated General Assembly doesn't deserve power Steven Edwards, National Post, March 23, 2005

The General Assembly count of 103 "not-free" or "partly free" countries comes from Freedom House, a respected human rights organization. But Mr. Annan bristled when I cited the figure in a question about the legitimacy of majority rule by Assembly members. [. . . . ]

Seriously, I am beginning, to question Paul Martin's ability -- his intelligence. Is he mad? A fool? Desperate? Deluded? Just read it.

In fact, there are so many articles and comments worth reading on the CCD webstie that I think you should just link and follow several threads such as the one listed below.

Conservatives join Liberals in moral equivalency game CCD Press Release, Mar. 25, 05




Is America going broke? -- Record deficits, colossal debt and no clear plan for digging itself out. If the U.S. sinks, it will take Canada down with it. March 02, 2005, Steve Maich

David Walker can see the future, and it scares the hell out of him.

That wouldn't be terribly unusual if he were one of the thousands of lobbyists, legislators and activists crawling all over Washington on any given day, pontificating about the urgency of their pet issues. There is a thriving industry here built on pushing policy prescriptions for every ailment, real or imagined. But Walker isn't a lobbyist or an activist, he's an accountant. His title is comptroller general of the United States, which makes him the head auditor for the most important and powerful government in the world. And he's desperately trying to get a message out to anyone who'll listen: the United States of America's public finances are a shambles. They're getting rapidly worse. And if something major isn't done soon to solve the country's intractable budget problems, the world will face an economic shakeup unlike anything ever seen before. [. . . . ]

Those of you who know more about big money than I do should at least investigate further. I have read the exact opposite opinion bruited about.




Bed the elephant -- We need much closer integration with the United States -- before it's too late March 23, 2005, Allan Gotlieb, Wendy Dobson, Michael Hart

Allan Gotlieb was Canada's ambassador to the U.S. from 1981 to 1988; Wendy Dobson is a professor at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management; and Michael Hart is the Simon Reisman chair in trade policy at Carleton University.

For more than 70 years, Canadians have profited from a close and mutually beneficial economic and security relationship with the United States, to the point that we assume it will never end. To make such an assumption is a grave mistake. In present global circumstances, nothing can be taken for granted.

Canada has much to learn from the European experience. The now 25 members of the European Union have worked assiduously to create the kind of beneficial interdependence that serves as a model of statecraft. They have done this by writing rules and building institutions to underwrite their great project and provide their citizens with the confidence that it will continue. Co-operation, shared experience and acceptance of common rules have become the basis of both European sovereignty and unity.

Canadians and Americans, on the other hand, have shied away from rules and institutions. For many years, we relied on a "special" relationship, shorthand for Americans being receptive to Canadian requests for special treatment. That disposition was conditioned by [. . . . ]

Deputy Prime Minister McLellan Asked to Resign Over Broken Promise on Marriage

EDMONTON, AB March 23, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan's flip flop on homosexual 'marriage' is captured on video for all the world wide web to see. A website has been established by DefendMarriage.ca which asks the question "Can you trust Anne McLellan".

The website contains video footage of Anne McLellan in Parliament in June of 1999
during which she discusses the government's position on changing the definition of marriage. During her speech Ms. McLellan said: "Let me state again for the record that the government has no intention of changing the definition of marriage or of legislating same sex marriage."

The National Post carried an ad, calling for the resignation of Anne McLellan, on Saturday, March 19, 2005. The ad, in part, demanded that Ms. McLellan follow in the footsteps of Sheila Copps and resign her seat. Ms. Copps resigned her seat when it was made evident to her that she promised in an election campaign that the Liberals, if elected, would scrap the GST, and subsequently went back on their word.

To see the video and the National Post ad:

Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan on TV -- misspeaking herself?

Bud Talkinghorn: Abortion as birth control & NJC's Point of View -- My Case in Photos

Abortion as birth control

There will always be a few women who can't take the pill, or forget to do so. However, in this age of advanced protection, I cannot fathom the high numbers of abortions performed. In Soviet Russia, women had an average of seven abortions. Birth control information and effective birth control products were scarce. Having mutiple abortions in the West is sheer neglect of available preventions.

Just how divorced from religion we are is seen in the absence of any talk about killing a soul. The feminist movement (in all its guises) has declared that abortions are practically a Charter Right. The fact that the cheerleader for on-demand abortion is Dr. Henry Morgentaler, a former concentration camp survivor, is rarely analyzed for its inherent contradictions . This amazes me. I'm sure that his camp's commandant was equally indifferent to the Jewish lives he "aborted".

© Bud Talkinghorn--I don't want to come across as sanctimonious here. I believe that once a foetus resembles a tiny human, it is a person. But would I still have it aborted if it were going to ruin my woman's life--and mine? Murder with extenuating circumstances, or murder in self-defense of a lifestyle, should be the charge.




My Very Personal Commentary on Bud's Post

First, I do not believe that a pregnant young woman who does not want her baby will be influenced much by what I have to say. Nevertheless, I wish any young woman, pregnant or not, would understand how much wonder and love a new baby can bring with it, even to those for whom it is inconvenient. At least, give consideration to the alternatives to abortion.

Bud, I have two arguments against abortion -- both personal -- but we all look at the world from our personal perspectives. I am so excited because another baby is about to be born into my family -- to a loving young couple, who married and wanted children. What more could a child ask? We should all be so fortunate. Now, to abortion --

1. A child was born to an older mother in my family -- older in that, undoubtedly, she had thought she would have no more children. Yet, I suspect it never crossed her mind to kill a baby / foetus/ her child for her own convenience -- so he was born. He turned out to be my special toy baby and after that, I no longer would bother with dolls. Why would I -- when I had a real live baby to put in my (extra-large and built by Dad) doll carriage? I could parade about the neighbourhood with a real baby not some fake doll baby? I was so proud when someone saw the doll carriage and asked if that were a doll or a baby. I was delighted with him and I still am. He has become a decent adult and an excellent father. He married well and they have produced their own fine children. No woman knows how much joy a late baby may bring to her, to her husband and especially to the other children and the rest of the extended family -- and it lasts for years and grows as more babies join the family.

2. This is the clinching argument against abortion for me, a blessing for a family who love her -- and best of all, she is my Godchild.






My Godchild






Yogurt Gal






The Heart of My Mother's Garden



These may not help a pregnant young woman who does not really want a baby -- but they are my best argument.

To any young woman in this situation, may you stop and think. Then talk with people who care about you. Babies melt our hearts. Thanks to the woman who bore my unexpected brother. Thanks to this baby's mother for giving us another little one soon. NJC

Hansard March 23/2005 Question Period: Border Security, Sponsorship Program, Terrorism

I have inserted a line after each section; note that there is more than one entry for each heading. I have also inserted some comments.



Hansard March 23/2005 Question Period

Border Security

Hon. Stephen Harper (Leader of the Opposition, CPC): Mr. Speaker, just to clarify it for the minister, the government is giving away the store and letting it all go down the sink.

[Translation]

Since September 11, the United States has added 1,000 border patrol officers to protect their borders. However, the Liberals are closing nine RCMP detachments that help protect the border between Quebec and the United States.

How can the government be improving our security when thousands of vehicles are crossing the Quebec border undetected?

[English]

Hon. Roy Cullen (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, if we put this in context, first of all the government is totally committed to safe borders and smart borders. In fact in Texas today the governments of Mexico, the United States and Canada announced the establishment of the security and prosperity partnership of North America.

Last year 71 million people were processed by the Canada Border Services Agency at our ports of entry. Our government continues to invest in the Canada Border Services Agency. In fact in the last budget there is close to half a billion dollars that is going to the CBSA to increase our security capacity at our borders.

---

Sponsorship Program

Mr. Gilles Duceppe (Laurier—Sainte-Marie, BQ): Mr. Speaker, on March 3, 2004, the Minister of Transport stated, and I quote, “We have no intention of campaigning with tainted money”. However, the Liberal Party did exactly that. In fact, even though the Gomery commission's revelations are disturbing, as that same minister admits, to date, not one cent has been repaid.

To prevent the Liberal Party from running a fourth campaign with dirty money, could the Liberal government at least have the foresight to ask its party to establish a dirty money trust fund?

Hon. Scott Brison (Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has been clear, as have the minister, the government and the party: if the party received funds from agencies or individuals your found guilty, the party has volunteered to repay taxpayers.

However, this is not possible until all the facts are known. Therefore, we must wait for Justice Gomery's report.

Mr. Gilles Duceppe (Laurier—Sainte-Marie, BQ): Mr. Speaker, what is clear is that they continue to live with this dirty money. Agencies stuffed their pockets with it; there is ample evidence of this. In fact, the government is taking them to court. The Liberal Party lined its coffers with it. There is just as much evidence of this too, but the Liberal government is protecting its party.

Could the government at least have the decency to ask the Liberal Party to put the dirty money into a special account, as the Minister of Transport said in March 2004. Instead of doing nothing, could it not create a trust fund to ensure that the money is there and that another campaign will not be run using dirty money?

(1430)

Hon. Scott Brison (Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, civil proceedings have already been launched to recover funds. However, the courts have not yet ruled, and Justice Gomery has not yet tabled his report. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that the party will act, but only in full knowledge of all the facts.

Mr. Michel Guimond (Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, BQ): Mr. Speaker, the matter of the numerous individuals who received cheques from Commando Communication Marketing is so serious that one of these individuals had to resign from the cabinet of Jean Charest, in Quebec City, and others did not deny anything. That does not appear to be enough for the Liberal Party.

If these revelations are troubling, as he said, what is the Minister of Transport waiting for to put the sponsorship money received by the Liberal Party of Canada into a trust?
[English]

Hon. Scott Brison (Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, once again the transport minister has been clear, the Prime Minister has been clear, the government has been clear, and the party has been clear that in fact, any funds will be returned to the treasury, if they are proven to have been received inappropriately. However, we cannot do that unless we have all the facts.

The fact is that the Prime Minister deserves tremendous credit for having established Justice Gomery's inquiry to do exactly that, to get the facts and to make a difference so that we can make the proper decisions on a go forward basis.

[Translation]

Mr. Michel Guimond (Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, BQ): Mr. Speaker, let us look at some cold, hard numbers. The Liberal Party of Canada received $270,000 from Groupaction and Gosselin Communication, plus $100,000 from Lafleur, $43,000 from Jacques Corriveau, $173,000 from IDA-Everest and $30,000 from Coffin. To date, in excess of $600,000 has been identified and has ended up in the coffers of the Liberal Party.

Does the minister not find this troubling enough—troubling was his word—to put this money into a trust?

[English]

Hon. Scott Brison (Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, allow me to quote from today's National Post editorial in reference to the party paying the treasury funds deemed inappropriate:

That may not require a separate lawsuit, as the opposition called for this week, if the party willingly returns however much money it obtained inappropriately

That is exactly what we have been saying all along. The party has said clearly that it will voluntarily return any funds deemed inappropriate, once we have all the facts and once Justice Gomery has submitted his report.

* * *

---

Border Security

Mr. Kevin Sorenson (Crowfoot, CPC): Mr. Speaker, in 2004 thousands of vehicles entered Canada without reporting to customs. In one three-week period, 17 vehicles blew through a major border crossing in Quebec. Quite obviously, law-abiding citizens were not behind the wheels of those vehicles.

Despite these statistics the Liberal government insists on shutting down border RCMP detachments in Quebec. My question is for the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. Why?

Hon. Roy Cullen (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the answer is very clear. Commissioner Zaccardelli of the RCMP said again very clearly at committee that this will improve and enhance the safety and security of Quebeckers and Canadians.

The reason is that the RCMP is able to get a critical mass of its officers so it can target terrorism and the enforcement of drug violations. This is an operational decision of the RCMP. It is a very wise one, we were told again yesterday.

Our government is investing in our borders. We are going to build capacity as we go forward.

Mr. Kevin Sorenson (Crowfoot, CPC): Mr. Speaker, concerned front line RCMP officers, in direct contradiction of the commissioner of the RCMP, insist that the closure of these detachments will result in more criminals crossing the border into Canada illegally.

Will the minister prevent the closure of the nine RCMP detachments along the U.S. border in Quebec as recommended by the justice committee and front line officers and allow the RCMP to simply do its job?

(1440)

Hon. Roy Cullen (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the member opposite must have been at a different committee meeting than I was yesterday. The commissioner of the RCMP, Commissioner Zaccardelli, said very clearly that this consolidation of RCMP resources in the province of Quebec is going to increase the security and safety of Canadians and Quebeckers.

I should point out that the commissioner is obliged under the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act for the effective and efficient enforcement of the laws and the administration of the force. This is an operational decision of the RCMP that will enhance the security of Quebeckers and Canadians.

[Translation]

Mr. Richard Marceau (Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, BQ): Mr. Speaker, it is rather ironic to learn that the Canadian border has become a real sieve, as the Prime Minister is this very day meeting with presidents Bush and Fox and this matter will be at the heart of their discussions.

How will the Prime Minister be able to justify to his counterparts that the best decision to ensure a safe border is to cut manpower by closing down nine RCMP detachments?

Hon. Roy Cullen (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I have already said this on a number of occasions in this House.

[English]

This is not a reduction of the capability of the RCMP in Quebec. In fact, there is no reduction in the head count whatsoever. To put it in context, 71 million people were processed by the Canada Border Services Agency at land border ports of entry last year.

Since 9/11 this government has invested $9 billion for the security and safety of Canadians. As I said earlier, in budget 2005 close to half a billion dollars has been invested in the Canada Border Services Agency.

[Translation]

Mr. Richard Marceau (Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, BQ): Mr. Speaker, not only have they closed down nine detachments, but the customs officers themselves are saying that they lack the resources to do their job and as a result thousands of cars cross the border illegally and unquestioned.

How will the Prime Minister justify to his counterparts the contribution these decisions have made to turning the border into a veritable sieve?

Hon. Roy Cullen (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, a thorough examination of RCMP resources in Quebec has revealed a need to restructure and redeploy RCMP personnel in order to more effectively fulfill the RCMP's mandate as the federal law enforcement agency in that province. Resource allocation is an operational matter, and the commissioner needs to be able to deploy his available resources so as to fulfil the RCMP's mandate as effectively as possible.

---

My Comment on the above:

The government's attitude is -- nothing to see here folks, move along.

There is obviously a discrepancy between what senior police officers--RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency--are saying and what those on the front lines are experiencing, along with those citizens who live in the areas affected by border insecurity and by the closing of RCMP border detachments. It apparently is a situation, such as with the Sponsorship Slush Fund Scandal, where senior bureaucrats and politicians will deny there is a problem until the truth explodes all around them -- because to admit a problem means they would have to fix it. Unfortunately, border insecurity and Canadian citizens' safety is potentially a much more explosive--literally and figuratively--issue than dirty money sluiced to the Liberal Party of Canada by corrupt officials, whoever is finally blamed. Meanwhile, the government wants us to close our eyes to this pressing issue. We will not! On our behalf, our MP's have determination! They are doing a good job -- but how does one get past lies and corruption? Change the government, obviously -- my humble suggestion. NJC

---

Sponsorship Program

Mrs. Diane Ablonczy (Calgary—Nose Hill, CPC): Mr. Speaker, Canadians are watching closely how this government is handling confessions of cronyism and corruption in the sponsorship program. They see the government now talking tough about going after ad agencies for improper billing. That is something that it allowed and encouraged, but the government becomes evasive when it comes to going after ill-gotten gains from its own Liberal Party.

Why is the government so eager to go after ad firms that did some of the dirty work instead of its own Liberal Party that got some of the dirty money?

(1445)

Hon. Scott Brison (Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, once again I will bring to the hon. member's attention today's National Post editorial, which says that in terms of any inappropriate funds, retrieving these funds from the Liberal Party “may not require a separate lawsuit, as the opposition called for this week, if the party willingly returns however much money it obtained inappropriately”.


[My emphasis. Re-read that. The government is outrageously arrogant -- and corrupt, in my opinion. They will bulldoze through in any way, in order not to "sully the name of the Liberal Party". It has already been sullied. What would really gain respect is if those who were not involved--are there any?--were to go after their own party organization for its corrupt activities. NJC ]


The fact is that the party has voluntarily said that it will return any funds that were inappropriately gained once we have all the facts and Justice Gomery has presented his report.

Mrs. Diane Ablonczy (Calgary—Nose Hill, CPC): Mr. Speaker, Justice Gomery now has a growing list of confessions about money kicked back to the Liberal Party. Just days before the 2000 election, thousands flowed to the Liberal Party from one agency alone. The political minister for Quebec over there pledged that the Liberal Party would never campaign with tainted money, but that is exactly what it did.

Now, facing public outrage, the government's weak response is that the party will pay the money back if Gomery tells it to. Why would Canadians trust an IOU from a morally bankrupt Liberal Party?

Hon. Scott Brison (Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I would also draw her attention to the National Post editorial today which stated:

It is to [the Prime Minister's] credit not only that he called the sponsorship inquiry, but that he has stuck with it....We trust that, once its work is finished, he will show the same integrity in acting upon its findings

That is a promise made. That will be a promise kept by a Prime Minister who keeps his promises to Canadians. [The Senatorial appointments -- doing politics as the Liberals usually do -- NOT a promise kept. Surely, Scott must be embarrassed at having to defend his chosen party? NJC ]

[Translation]

Mr. Peter Van Loan (York—Simcoe, CPC): Mr. Speaker, in its handling of the sponsorship racket, the Liberal government is applying a double standard: it rushes to lay criminal charges to retrieve the sponsorship money, but, curiously, exonerates the Liberal Party.

Has it got a licence to print money? Is the Minister of Transport going to tell us that the Liberal Party is vaccinated against prosecution or will he simply agree to clean out the Liberal stables?

Hon. Scott Brison (Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, we do not need to prosecute the Liberal Party because the party has been clear. If, in fact, it has received funds from agencies or individuals who are found guilty, it will voluntarily reimburse the taxpayers.

[English]

I assume that perhaps the hon. members opposite have been cut off from the National Post. Perhaps the National Post has cut off their subscriptions for lack of payment, because usually they read the National Post and they quote from the National Post editorials. Today we have a National Post editorial that gives the Prime Minister fair credit for his courage in appointing Justice Gomery and supporting Justice Gomery's work.

Mr. Peter Van Loan (York—Simcoe, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the new Liberal slogan should be money taken, money kept.

This government has double standards in the sponsorship scandal. Government members say to let Justice Gomery do his work and then they turn around and launch lawsuits. They launch lawsuits to recover stolen money, but not against the Liberal Party, which apparently has been granted some kind of special immunity despite receiving illegal contributions. This government is serving only its own interests by shielding the Liberal Party from lawsuits.

Can the minister tell us who, other than the Liberal Party, qualifies for special immunity from sponsorship lawsuits? Why does it continue to put its own interests ahead of the interests of Canadian taxpayers?

Hon. Scott Brison (Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I guess it has been a while since the hon. member, who once was a lawyer, actually practised law, but the fact is that while the party has pursued civil action against these firms and individuals to retrieve funds on behalf of the Canadian taxpayer, there is no verdict. As such, it would be inappropriate for the party to act without having some sort of verdict, or at least the result of Justice Gomery's work, to give us the facts so that we can act on the facts.

The hon. member is citing allegations. No responsible government acts based on allegations. We act based on the facts.

* * *

---

Terrorism

Mr. Stockwell Day (Okanagan—Coquihalla, CPC): Mr. Speaker, according to Unicef and other international groups, the Tamil Tigers forcibly recruit children and train them to become suicide bombers. Unicef has recorded over 3,500 cases like this.

In Canada the Tamil Tigers raise funds. Our allies, many other governments, have made it a matter of their foreign policy to ban the Tamil Tigers. The recruitment of children has continued even after the tsunami. Why will our government not ban this group?

Hon. Dan McTeague (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the LTTE has been listed in Canada pursuant, as the hon. member knows, to Canada's United Nations suppression of terrorism regulations since 2001.

I want to point out to the hon. member that this listing makes it an offence for persons in Canada or Canadians outside of Canada to provide funds to the Tamil Tigers, as well as fundraising on its behalf. The hon. member clearly knows this. We will continue on that assumption because it is the right thing to do.

Mr. Stockwell Day (Okanagan—Coquihalla, CPC): Mr. Speaker, that is a separate list and the member well knows that. That is not the list we are talking about in terms of banning the Tamil Tigers.

I will refer to comments made by a former director of Canada's intelligence service. He said that our government's policy of not banning the Tamil Tigers, and they are not banned under the classification that the member just mentioned, even puts the good people of the Tamil community in Canada here at risk. The Tamil Tigers as a group are not banned in Canada.

What does a terrorist group have to do that is more horrific than train children to become suicide bombers in order to be banned in this country?

Hon. Dan McTeague (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, to state the question is to answer it.

The hon. member knows full well that the government is concerned about terrorism. It is one of the reasons we have spent a considerable amount of money toward ensuring that we have safe and secure borders.

The hon. member also understands that there are, in essence, certain considerations that he is taking into account, including the concern we all have to ensure that the people of Tamil origin in this country are not treated as if they are all terrorists.

The hon. member has the same objective that we do, which is to ensure that we keep a safe country and to work hard to ensure that in Canada we keep security as the number one issue.

Hate Alive and Well in Abraar Islamic school in Ottawa -- in Canada!

Islamic school suspends teachers over student's hate-filled tale -- 'God bless you, your efforts are good,' instructor wrote on Ottawa boy's story celebrating violence, hatred against Jews Juliet O'Neill, Ottawa Citizen, Mar. 24, 05

Two teachers at the Abraar Islamic school in Ottawa were suspended yesterday pending an investigation into the encouragement or incitement of hatred against Jews expressed in a young student's violence-laden writing project.

[. . . . ] One teacher was apparently involved in the artistic production of the eight-page story of killing and martyrdom. Handwritten in Arabic and titled The Long Road, the cover page was illustrated by a drawing of a burning Star of David beside a machine-gun and Palestinian flag atop the Dome of the Rock, an ancient Muslim shrine in Jerusalem.

[. . . . ] The Abraar school, established in 2000, teaches students full time from junior kindergarten up to Grade 8. About 260 students are enrolled at the school, which is located on Grenon Avenue, near Bayshore. The school web page says it is designed to provide "a proper Islamic environment for growing and learning" and to help preserve Islamic culture in Ottawa. [. . . . ]

Search: Ahmed Yassin, privacy reasons, does not speak or read Arabic, two translations, Encouraging or inciting hatred, Mary Schoones, translated from Arabic, Killing of 10 Zionist soldiers, the retaliation is coming, a machine gun and bombs, The award: US $1.000.000.000.000


When it does not want to answer Opposition questions that should be answered, our government hides behind "privacy reasons" and so do people promoting hatred in Islamic schools. Obviously, they must be looked at more closely. I would get rid of Islamic schools entirely for I believe they present a danger to democracy and to women in a democracy and in Canada. Most, if not all, are Saudi-financed and Wahhabi with instruction in Arabic. If the administration--as is claimed in this article--does not understand what is being taught under the guise of the "peaceful" religion, what else do you think is going on? Wahhabi / Saudi schools in Canada should not be allowed. They simply perpetuate the hatreds of extremist Islam.

Obviously, there should be no teaching in Arabic. It cannot be policed in this society -- and this is only the tip of the iceberg, I suspect, despite what one teacher who does not speak Arabic had to say. If this continues, we are fools. There have been enough indications of extremism in the mosques. I have written of these schools before -- that we do not know what is being taught. They cannot be supervised by the education systems we have when their studies are in Arabic.




Pupil's call to destroy Jews praised by teacher -- Ottawa private school March 24, 2005, CanWest / National Post

[. . . . ] One teacher was involved in the artistic production of the work, which was illustrated by a drawing of a burning Israeli flag beside a machine gun and Palestinian flag atop the Dome of the Rock, an ancient Muslim shrine in Jerusalem. The text beside it said: "With the call of God is the Greatest, the flag of Zionism will fall and will be destroyed."

The other teacher had written comments on the student's paper, praising the boy's story of revenge for the assassination in an Israeli attack a year ago of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, a co-founder of Hamas.[. . . . ]

These schools would bear much more investigation.

Conservative Policy Convention: The Youth Wing, David Warrren, Ezra Levant

Young Tories plan to defect -- Take up Liberal taunt to join party -- Anger over vote against youth wing Mar. 23, 2005, Andrew Mills, Toronto Star via Jack's Newswatch

[. . . . ] "The Conservative Party of Canada has just denied you a voice," it reads. "Do not despair. You can join a party that allows you the right to BE HEARD."

Yes, they can be HEARD, but when it comes time to vote, the PM and the PMO will TELL THEM HOW TO VOTE. If that is what they can accept, then they are better off as Liberals. NJC

[. . . . ] And what the party said — in the closest vote of the convention — was that Conservatives will continue the Reform and Alliance parties' practice of not giving special status to young delegates at conventions.

Unlike the former Progressive Conservatives, the Liberals and just about every mainstream political party in the Western world, this Conservative party won't have an active contingent of young delegates at conventions.

Young members won't become powerful political pawns, advocates who shape the party's agenda and voting blocs just waiting to be mobilized by crafty candidates trying to get elected by the party. [. . . . ]

So many of our youth are not too used to the word "no" for many reasons, not the least of which is the parenting where the little darlings have been used to getting their own way too much and getting what they want too often. First, the young need to be part of a political party which is devoted to all age groups where they will hear points of view not their own. Then, if they listen they may learn something -- or they may choose not to. Anyway, they need the experience. I am rather surprised at how badly they take a disappointment. I see both pro and con for a youth wing. More for the inability to accept the decision of the majority of approximately 3000 members than because I am against a youth wing, I do believe the vote not to have a youth wing was the correct one. The young need to stop and think before stomping out in a huff over one vote. There will be others.




David Warren: "Strategizing Tory" Mar. 23, 05

[. . . . ] The differences among delegates, as expected, were on the social, legal, moral questions. Faced with an implacably hostile bureaucratic, media, and academic establishment, who are in love with their latest project to redesign the traditional family, the party is timid. Overwhelmed by the "culture of death" (of nihilism and narcissism) in our Canadian elites, they do not even dream of opposing late-term abortions.

This is where the Conservative Party fails Canadians at large. For unless an articulate and courageous fight is waged, to maintain or restore the key moral values in our society, the people at large begin to give up on them. The moral values of the people themselves require leadership and vindication in politics, for a society to hold together. [. . . . ]

Party poopers -- Stronach and MacKay need to be taken down a peg Ezra Levant, March 21, 2005

How odd that it is the Conservatives who the media tag with the conspiratorial accusation of harbouring a "hidden agenda." It is possible to know where Conservatives stand on moral issues -- just ask them.

Liberals who swear allegiance to the weathervane of opinion polls or a dithering prime minister are the ones to be wary of. We can respect someone with whom we disagree. It is harder to respect a Liberal cabinet that voted against same-sex marriage in 1999, but that now calls such a position immoral and a gross violation of human rights and the Charter. [. . . . ]

I agree totally with the above comments. Check the article for Ezra's comments on Stronach and MacKay.

Bud Talkinghorn: Foundations Funds, Bombardier's 'Success', Media-Conservative Policy Convention

The 'foundations funds' are exposed

Give the Liberals this; they never play the piker when it comes to billions they can secretly manipulate, either financially or politically. Of the $9 billion they have set aside for indusrial technology, nearly $7.6 billion has never been given out and sits in government accounts collecting interest. And with that kind of money they are not getting the crummy interest rate you get. These research foundations are supposed to be used for cutting edge technological advancements; instead they are fattening the Liberal coffers. They always need emergency money should they have to pay-off some voters' bloc. This is one honey pot for conniving politicians or bureaucrats. Since practically no money has been paid out (has Bombarier been starved?), to increase our trade position, what justification is there for the funds? It's about the cash cow, stupid. Foundations are the ultimate money laundering dodge. Only a man like Paul Martin could have seen its possibilities. Paul, with his Barbados tax haven knows all about how to diddle the system--big time.

The sooner Sheila Fraser can get her nose into this honeypot, the sooner the next scandal will undoubtedly emerge. God, the thought is almost enough to make me weep. The headlines: "Liberals found to have wasted billions more." It could dwarf the sponsorship scandals. Now they are raiding our national productivity so they can have this nafarious slush fund. Let all Conservatives kneel down and pray this can of worms is exposed to scrutiny -- and this scandal will only re-enforce the power of past scandals. Let a Biblical flood of scandal wash over them, wiping away any credibility left. This fund was set up with Paul Martin, as Finance Minister, so he knew all about it. This one he can not walk away from so easily.

Harper was right to not try to defeat the Liberals too early. There are other hidden, dark corners of the financial empire they've built. Slowly, the truth will be forced into the light. Then the bogus protestations of "correcting the democratic deficit" or "ending the financial sleaze of Chretien's regime" will be exposed for the blatant lies they are.

© Bud Talkinghorn--I'm folding my hands in prayer right now.




Bombardier's Success story?

Bombardier is the one company name synonymous with corporate welfare. By dribs and drabs we have learned how long this business has been on the government tit. Hundreds of millions in government loans, grants, contributions--plus all the other hidden pipelines--have turned Bombardier into an eternally unweaned crybaby. When Zev Rosenzweig, the company's vice-president of aviation training, said that "Canadians hate sucess", he was either being ironic, or he actually believes that a near-bankrupt company that is on government crutches is "successful". Mr. Rosenzweig is obviously not speaking for the shareholders, who know that their share price depends on a minority government's largesse.

What Canadians really hate is that Bombardier has been extremely sucessful at scooping up vast sums of tax dollars to keep afloat. One has only to look at the close familial nexus between Bombardier and Jean Chretien to see why this company is endlessly suckled. Definitely, it is part of Chretien's tawdry legacy of cronyism and corruption. Martin shrewdly decided to prop up Bombardier and yet claim he is doing it for the good of the West. I'm sure that Bombardier will be thankful enough to make a sizable "donation" to the Liberal Party. And there is still lots of time to slip the Quebec division a few grants.

© Bud Talkinghorn




How the media wanted the Conservative convention to go

Big boy Myron Thompson would get into a debate with some metrosexual over same sex marriage. The debate would grow heated, with Thompson comparing his opponent to a lump of that stuff that his cowboy boots could easily squish.

Scenario two: Harper would admit that he finds most people little more than sheep -- that the decay of moral values is complete, so why fight the tide. Stockwell Day would rise and lead the congregation in "Will the Circle be Unbroken". The homosexual contingent would then attack Thompson, who would scream, "All you faggots will burn in Hell; in fact, most of you are already flaming." The media would cut to a woman saying, "We are for diversity, but we still hold marriage sacred." Then, the media would close in on a stricken Susan Bonner and an arched eyebrow from Mansbridge.

Meanwhile, Don Newman would be interviewing MacKay and Scott Reid. The entire interview would be nothing but a name-calling session between Mackay and Reid. Each would be accusing the other of being the bigger backstabber. It would end with Reid being another Joe Clark, except with a foxier lady on his arm. Newman would be looking on, bemused, while congratulating himself for sparking this political firefight.

© Bud Talkinghorn

Bud, we can be thankful the Conservative policy convention did NOT turn out like that. Compromises and the desire to do better for Canada held sway. Canadian Conservatives are definitely ready to govern. NJC

RCMP, Pot - Marijuana, Border Service, Firearms, Grow-ops, Jury System, Two Way Mirrors

RCMP Killings: There were 280 marijuana plants, not 20 plants

That sounds like a grow-op to me. The product must have been saleable through some organized criminal gang. The confusion come in with mention of 20 "mature" plants which this item details.

PolSpy: "More Than Twenty Plants" -- Check his details about how the mainstream media got it wrong, as well as the other comments.

Media Release: Shooting death of Four Mayerthorpe / Whitecourt RCMP Members - March 3, 2005 Mayerthorpe, Alberta March 21, 2005

[. . . . ] 3:30-4:00 am
Cpl. MARTIN and the Green Team departed the property having seized approximately 280 marihuana plants.

There is another interesting idea on the PolSpy site (Mar. 24, 05) for a weighted vote based on how much you contribute to the system. Each According to Their Worth This is worth reading. Sean McCormick makes good points. I found it novel and worth considering. At least, he is thinking for himself. I have to check further what else he writes.





Customs up in arms: Grit -- POLICE BACKUP AT BORDER CROSSINGS 'INADEQUATE' Maria McClintock, Ottawa Bureau, Mar. 24, 05

CANADA'S customs agents should be armed with guns because they can no longer depend on reliable police backup at border crossings, according to the chairman of an influential Senate committee. "We're moving closer (to recommending that) as we're examining this issue, simply because we see inadequate police response to the concerns that are being expressed," said Liberal Sen. Colin Kenny, head of the national defence and security committee. [. . . . ]

Search: JOB HAZARDS, U.S. COUNTERPARTS

Bear in mind that any committee set up by the government in power will have as its chair someone who will follow the government line and the committee will be overweighted with those from the government as the majority--in this case, Liberal. No matter the dissenting voices, the fact that the governing majority appoints committee members determines the outcome of the committee report -- as far as I can see. Unless the committee members are truly independent of the PM/PMO . . . . and you can fill in the rest for yourself.




Stealthy growers -- MARIJUANA HOUSES HIDING THE CLUES March 24, 2005, Kevin Connor, Toronto Sun

MARIJUANA GROW-OPS are becoming so sophisticated that police are having trouble getting grounds for search warrants, says a York region drug officer. "They are masking their signs better," said Sgt. Don Cardwell, with the York police drug unit.

[. . . . ] "They have learned to read our warrants and adapted their operations, which makes things more time-consuming," Cardwell said.

"They have started having families live in the grow-ops and use carbon filters to hide the smell." [. . . . ]

Search: paying for the electricity, explosives, trip-wired firearms and false floors



Customs releases firearms report Maria McClintock, Ottawa Bureau, Sun Media, Mar. 23, 05

More than 25,000 prohibited weapons -- including 5,446 guns -- were seized by Canada Customs officers at the Canada- U.S. border over a five-year period, a government report shows. The Canada Border Service report obtained by Sun Media shows that of the guns seized, 2,010 were prohibited firearms.

Another 20,129 prohibited weapons, such as Mace and switchblades, were also seized.

Over the past five years, customs officers seized 1,313 guns at border points in southern Ontario, along with 9,932 other prohibited weapons.

Liberal Sen. Colin Kenny, who chairs the Senate national defence and security committee that has been studying border security, said Canadians should be concerned about the stats.

[. . . . ] He also agreed Canada Customs is understaffed and is not getting sufficient back-up from the RCMP to deal with high-risk cases. [. . . . ]

Search: Customs and Excise Union vice-president Jean-Pierre Fortin, more and more violent, 1,600 cars blowing by




Trial casts doubt on our jury system March 23, 2005, Tom Brodbeck, Winnipeg Sun

Anthony Pulsifer will be sentenced today for killing, and conspiring to murder, a 20-year-old Winnipeg man more than two years ago.

But no matter what Queen's Bench Justice Perry Schulman rules today, justice will not be done in the case of Trevor (T.J.) Wiebe.

Justice will not be done for several reasons, not the least of which is a jury in the case that didn't seem to understand the law. [. . . . ]

Is that a Two-Way Mirror? Here's a Test

This is not to scare you, but to make you aware. A policewoman who travels all over the US and gives seminars and techniques for businesswomen passed this on.

There have been many cases of people installing 2-way mirrors in female changing rooms. It is very difficult to positively identify the surface by just looking at it.

So, how do we determine with any amount of certainty what type of mirror we are looking at?

Just conduct this simple test: Place the tip of your fingernail against the reflective surface and if there is a GAP between your fingernail and the image of the nail, then it is a GENUINE mirror.

However, if your fingernail DIRECTLY TOUCHES the image of your nail, then BEWARE, FOR IT IS a 2-WAY MIRROR!

"No Space, Leave the Place" So remember, every time you see a Mirror, do the "fingernail test." It doesn't cost you anything.

Remember: "No Space, Leave the Place"


This came from a friend. Thanks, JK for this.

I still envy you your sunny California weather. Never mind; our neck of the boonies has blueberries, cranberries and other wonderful produce, along with grapes for homemade wine. Besides, for our winters, I have found a new blue plastic kitty (substitute) which I fill with hot water every night . . . . . Laugh if you will. It's the best $5 I have spent in years. I'm still looking for the perfect Siamese cat to replace mine and when I find one which will sleep at my feet I'll get rid of my substitute. Cheers, NJC