April 02, 2005

The Definitive Resource List: Oil-for-Food Scandal Articles -- Claudia Rosett

U.N. Oil-for-Food Scandal -- Exposing the U.N. Oil-for-Food Scandal

FDD Journalist-in-Residence Claudia Rosett has been recognized for her groundbreaking work exposing the corruption behind the U.N.'s Oil-for-Food program. As U.S. News and World Report senior writer Michael Barone explained: "The U.N. Oil for Food program, we learn from the reporting of Claudia Rosett in The Wall Street Journal, was a rip-off on the order of $21 billion -- with money intended for hungry Iraqis going instead to Saddam Hussein and his henchmen, to bribed French and Russian businesses and, evidently, to the U.N.'s own man in charge, Benon Savan." [. . . . ]


Search: a library of Claudia's reports on the Oil-for-Food scandal

There are 40+ articles listed with dates, publication names (various, not just one media outlet), and the links -- a great resource.



FDD: Related Websites

In this section you will find background information and recommended reading on the war on terror.


Sample article: The Other "Axis of Evil" Paul Crespo, American Legion Magazine, July 1, 2003 -- I included this sample because so much has been written on the US-Mexico border lately, the Mara Salvatrucha, potential terrorists entering the US illegally from the south, et cetera. I think Canadians should become more aware.

Mark Steyn: We need professional help

Mark Steyn: We need professional help 4 April 2005

One of the striking features of the soft, seductive, remorseless, nanny-state totalitarianism-lite of Trudeaupia is the media’s coverage of bad news. When things go wrong, you can’t help noticing how reflexively our reporters lapse into their preferred portrayal of Canadians as victims.

[. . . . ] In nanny-state Canada, the dominant culture tells us don’t act, don’t think, don’t make adult judgments. Leave it to the government, they’ll show up any minute, they’ll pass a new law.


In his own inimitable manner . . . You just have to read it.

Search: RCMP officers, a fireman bearing a sooty blackened baby, the handbook, in compliance with, favourite gay infidel, Roméo Dallaire

April 01, 2005

UN, Frechette, McKenna, Marijuana, PetroKazakhstan, Chretien, CPC Art Hanger Does NOT want Brothel Tour, Rifle-Roszko, Ont-PQ Hydro Deal, ER, Kazemi

Canada's Ambassador to the US, Frank McKenna, mentioned this in his CPAC interview

Scroll down or search McKenna on this webpage.

Canada slaps rare sanctions on U.S. -- Hopes to force an end to an internationally condemned trade law





Marijuana found in 19 units of complex April 1, 05, Vancouver Sun

. . . in the 90-unit Cranberry Lanes townhouse complex in east Richmond... [. . . . ]


There is a Globe and Mail article by Petti Fong on marijuana grow ops , if you subscribe; it is on page A12

VANCOUVER -- Dark secrets lurked inside the shiny new townhouses of Richmond's Cranberry Lane complex.

Triggered by their investigation into a botched home invasion, Richmond RCMP stumbled upon a apartment complex rife with grow operations, where 19 out of 90 rental units were being used to cultivate pot. [. . . . ]


Search: Muir Drive, one-fifth of the units in the complex, the 24-hour notice gave operators time to, pot-infested complex, wrong residence, 1,350 plants, average hydro used in a grow-op, minimum sentences, The study -- based on an examination of 25,000 police files in British Columbia

What is this mention of "24-hour notice" in the article? Do police now have to give enough time for grow operators to dismantle the evidence? That doesn't sound right. If someone knows how this fits in, please comment.




Digression: I noticed a name change, "University College of the Cariboo made way for Thompson Rivers University". Why was the change made? Caribou was distinctive; I liked it -- which just goes to show . . . . .




The CPC's MP Art Hanger has already stated that this trip is unnecessary (scroll down), though this article does not mention it and lists him as one of the ones making the request.

Dirty pool! Put someone from each political party on a committee and then release/make available the names of all committee members, whether they agree or not. The rest of us read this and think, what the heck is he/she doing going . . .? Then, check further is the lesson.

Prostitution committee told travel abroad unnecessary

Controversy has swirled around the subcommittee's $200,000 request to send its members -- Liberals John Maloney and Hedy Fry, Conservative Art Hanger, New Democrat Libby Davies and Bloc Quebecois Paule Brunelle -- to European and American cities where various forms of prostitution are legal. The proposed visits to Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden and Reno, Nev., would be an extension to the cross-Canada tour that ends today in Winnipeg.



Brothel trip big cash waste: Hanger March 31, 2005, Kathleen Harris, Ottawa Bureau

THE LONE Tory MP on a special committee studying Canada's prostitution laws says a tour of European cities is a waste of time and money. Art Hanger, a former Calgary police officer, said there's no point in blowing taxpayers' cash on a proposed MPs junket to visit legal brothels and red light zones in the United Kingdom, Sweden, the Netherlands and Reno, Nev.

"We're looking at $200,000 to go and do that -- that's a lot of money," he said, adding the impact some of those systems in Europe are already widely known. [. . . . ]






"While elite Westerners may drive to their 'no blood for oil' rallies in upscale cars, in the Middle East most acknowledge that oil in not stolen, but hawked at sky-high prices. . . . "

Don’t Stop Now -- Opening Pandora’s democratic box. Victor Davis Hanson, April 1, 05

With the encouraging news of change in the air in Lebanon, Egypt, and the Gulf, coupled with a solidification of democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan, there has arisen a new generation of doubters. Not all are simply gnashing their teeth that their prognostications of doom were wrong, but rather often reflect genuine worries about the viability of emerging democracy in the Middle East. [. . . . ]





If you have not seen the HK-91 before . . .

Image hosted by TinyPic.com



H&K, HK91, Caliber 308



Later Update: I wondered about the Roszko rifle, and when I first read the third item posted below from Mar. 31 about the Roczko rifle, I thought new information had surfaced. Well, no, that's not quite right.

The moral of the story is: check. Google search for "Roszko" and "fully automatic" which has several articles listed. Note these.

'Many unanswered questions' in RCMP shootings Mar 22 2005, CBC News

[. . . . ] . . . the 42-year-old was carrying at least three guns, including a fully automatic rifle with a 20-round magazine, a semi-automatic pistol in his waistband and another long gun over his shoulder.

He was spotted by a member of the auto unit moments after shots were heard in the shed.


Note: fully automatic




Rifle that killed 4 Mounties wasn't fully automatic Apr 1 2005, CBC News

EDMONTON – The rifle used by James Roszko to kill four RCMP officers a month ago couldn't be switched to a fully automatic mode, police say. [. . . . ]


Note: it could NOT be switched, but the result was the same.



This is the article from CBC yesterday which needs the above explanation.

Rifle that killed 4 Mounties wasn't fully automatic 31 Mar 2005, CBC News

"With a fully automatic weapon, it takes one squeeze of the trigger and as long as that trigger is held, the weapon will continue to fire so long as there are rounds in the magazine," said RCMP Cpl. Wayne Oakes.

"With a semi-automatic, for each bullet that is fired, it requires a squeeze of the trigger."

Unlike a regular rifle, he said, "you don't have to cock, you don't have to action a bolt, you don't have to pump a lever, you just keep squeezing the trigger." [. . . . ]


Search: whether the weapon itself was prohibited, two other guns

The officers are still dead. I think of their families and of the poor young police officer left a quadraplegic, I believe, after chasing some character, in the Brantford area of Ontario. I wonder what has happened in the almost two years since then.




PetroKaz [Kazakhstan], Onex bosses strike gold Elizabeth Church, Mar. 31, 05

[. . . . ] Bernard Isautier, chief executive officer of oil producer PetroKazakhstan Inc., took home $92.6-million from stock options last year in addition to a base salary of $493,850 . . . $757,283 from salary only last year.


Check: Onex Corp. CEO Gerry Schwartz, "Robert Gratton, CEO of Power Financial Corp", based in Canada but has operations in Kazakhstan



Related:

The Toronto Star. Ex-PM's resumé grows longer 2004-02-04

DAVID OLIVE

Jean Chrétien
c/o PetroKazakhstan Inc.,

Calgary-Almaty

Dear Jean,

I was surprised yesterday to see the announcement of your appointment as special adviser to PetroKaz for international relations.


[. . . . ] In fact, as a political adviser to a company whose $2.4 billion market cap is entirely tied up in Kazakhstan, your task will be somewhat eased by not a few things you have in common with the Kazakh president, Nursultan Nazarbayev. [. . . . ]


Search: PetroKaz chief executive Bernie Isautier, owed some $30 million, a valuable contact in foreign capitals, Human Rights Watch




PetroKaz oil spat heats up -- Russian partner claims $100-million Wendy Stueck with files from Bloomberg, December 31, 2004

VANCOUVER -- The scrap between PetroKazakhstan Inc. and its partner OAO Lukoil escalated yesterday, with Lukoil claiming $100-million (U.S.) in damages stemming from PetroKaz's decision to cut off production from an oil field jointly owned by the two companies. [. . . . ]


Search: Turgai Petroleum, dispute hinges on, woes of OAO Yukos, not under the influence of, Kumkol South field




The Hallowed Halls of Academe

When Academia Favors Values Over Facts or here Alexander H. Joffe, April 1, 2005

[. . . . ] Such problems at Columbia, however, are anything but new. Words written nearly four decades ago, after another crisis at the university, could just as easily apply to the situation today:

"Universities, as others have said, have become knowledge factories with much wider and possibly more powerful constituencies than the students they educate. At least some branches of the university, moreover, are attracting to their faculties a new type of academician — the man of action as well as intellect whose interest is not the pursuit of truth for its own sake but to shape society from [. . . . ]






New Hydro Deal? March 31, 2005, Alan Findlay, Toronto Sun

THE Ontario government is bidding to spend billions of dollars on a Labrador power project that would supply enough electricity to power 550,000 homes. Energy Minister Dwight Duncan yesterday announced a joint proposal with Hydro-Quebec to construct a hydro-electric plant on Labrador's Lower Churchill River that could be up and running by 2011.

[. . . . ] The proposal involves Ontario footing one-third of the cost and taking out one-third of the 2,800 megawatts produced. Ontario estimates the project's cost to run somewhere between $3-6 billion but Hydro-Quebec pegs the total cost at up to $9 billion.

Newfoundland and Labrador is now considering the proposal along with other bids that would see power flow into the U.S. [. . . . ]


Read the fine print, whoever is negotiating for Ontario. Do you remember Newfoundland's atrocious deal with Hydro Quebec -- or was it the Quebec government? Either way, Newfoundland is still being taken to the cleaners on that deal and that is the reason the Premier of Newfoundland forced PM Dithers to up the ante in the recent negotiations. Check further into this deal and whether there is some talk of welching on that agreement.

Then, there is the agreement arranged between some chief(s) of the Innu and the Minister responsible for native affairs, Andy Scott. The chief went away happy, it seems.

Does this deal mentioned above happen in any of this chief's area of responsiblity? Check it out.



ER delays common and deadly, doctor says -- Ontarians are ''on a fairly regular basis dying when they don't need to die'' because of long waits Christie Blatchford, Mar. 31, 05

Ontarians are ''on a fairly regular basis dying when they don't need to die'' because of long waits in hospital emergency rooms. The bald acknowledgment came yesterday from Sean Gartner, a 37-year-old emergency physician in Guelph.

[. . . . ] For instance, he said, last month at Guelph General Hospital, where he works most of the time, about 3,400 patients came to emergency.

Between 355 and 380 of them -- or one in nine -- left without ever being
seen by a doctor. [. . . . ]





Kazemi

Doctor reveals what happened to Kazemi -- Canadian's 'body carried strange marks of violence,' Iranian doctor says Arne Ruth and Haideh Daragahi, March 31, 2005 via Jack's Newswatch

Arne Ruth, former editor-in-chief of Dagens Nyheter in Stockholm, is a writer and lecturer on politics, culture and human rights and a winner of the Swedish Grand Award for Journalistic Achievement. He is a member of the board of the Swedish Helsinki Committee and the Article 19 Freedom of Expression Centre in London.

Stockholm — Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi was savagely beaten, tortured and raped while in Iranian custody in 2003, according to an emergency-room doctor who examined her before she died.

The doctor has recently received political asylum in Canada. [. . . . ]

[. . . .] What the Iranians said

'The death of the late Kazemi was an accident due to a fall in blood pressure resulting from hunger strike and her fall on the ground while standing.'
-Iranian judicial branch, July 28, 2004


Search: What the doctor found

The doctor's story

Doctor says Kazemi raped -- Iranian physician claims photojournalist beaten when brought to hospital Mar. 31, 05, CP/Calgary Sun


There was something, somewhere I read about Canada still being willing to aid Iran. What is that all about? Aid the mullahs or the people desperate for democracy? Check further.

Burning, Banning, Books and Reviews

Now that book burning or its modern equivalent, banning, is raising its head . . . and government sanctioned hate crime legislation will allow book banning in Canada, I predict, and since truth is no excuse, it behooves all to become aware. Forbidding a book is like waving a red flag before the bullish part of some of us. Check these.

"There where books are burned, in the end prople too are burned." -- Heinrich Heine


American Library Association: book burning -- Find controversial books among: a book -- more information and comments and editor's review -- Life at the Bottom -- The Worldview That Makes the Underclass By Theodore Dalrymple and more books here and here, here and here.


Have a happy, book reading weekend.

RCMP Fundraiser, Policing-Retirements-Jails, Gomery, CPAC, Fifth Estate, UN - Frechette, TO's Ford-Sister Shot, Face Time-PM, McKenna-Security & More

Maintain The Right Wristband fundraiser

Wristbands honour Mounties -- help families of slain mounties Chris Gerritsen, Calgary Sun, Mar. 31, 05

Last week, TD Canada Trust teamed up with Alberta radio stations in the Newcap Broadcasting group to launch the Maintain The Right Wristband fundraiser.
Wristbands are black, with the RCMP's motto, Maintain The Right, impressed in bold letters. They are available at any Calgary TD Canada Trust location for two dollars apiece.

The campaign aims to increase both awareness and money for the RCMP K Division Slain Peace Officers Fund to help families of RCMP officers who lose their lives in the line of duty. [. . . . ]


It looks as though you need to be able to go to the bank for this. Perhaps an online address would be helpful.




Cops bowing out -- Homicide detectives, Mark Mendelson and Det. Sgt. Mike Davis March 31, 2005, Joe Warmington, Toronto Sun

[. . . . ] "Over the years I've seen the value of human life drop dramatically. People kill for no reason now. You try to make sense of it but you can't."

Mendelson says he's not sure if there is a solution but "I don't know if the court deterrent is where it needs to be -- two or three years for manslaughter is not a huge price to pay considering somebody died."

Perhaps the feds should be the first client [. . . . ]





Update: UN -- Nair, Sevan, Frechette

Dileep Nair, Inspector General for U.N. cites how oil probe blocked Betsy Pisik, Mar. 31, 05

[. . . . ] "I was blocked by the deputy secretary-general from putting my reports into the Security Council," said Mr. Nair, who himself is being criticized by investigators for his handling of the oil-for-food account.

"I wanted to put my reports to the Security Council so it will get visibility and accountability," Mr. Nair said. "But Benon [Sevan] turned it down. And Louise Frechette said no, I shouldn't do it." Mr. Sevan is the former administrator of the oil-for-food program. [. . . . ]


Search: did not recall, reports to


UN scandal inquiry has Frechette questions March 31, 2005, Greg Weston, Sun Ottawa Bureau

[. . . . ] Finally in frustration, the chief spending watchdog announced in late 2000 that future audits would be sent over Sevan's head, directly to the UN Security Council.

This time, it was Frechette who intervened. The Volcker inquiry reports that Frechette personally telephoned the head of audits, "denying this proposal."

"(The auditor) then abandoned the effort to report directly to the Security Council on (oil-for-food) related matters." [. . . . ]


Search: Reid Morden




Gomery Inquiry

Guite a regular guest at corel box Gomery inquiry Hubert Bauch, March 31, 2005, CanWest News Service

[. . . . ] Ms. Cumming said she was unaware that a loge at Ottawa's Corel Centre rented in the company's name and used to woo clients for the firm was paid for by the federal government for two years. The loge cost the government $130,000 in rent and thousands more for catering costs, all the money coming from the sponsorship program.

Ms. Cumming said she saw nothing wrong with the fact that Mr. Guite was a regular guest at the box, even though it is illegal for public servants to accept such favours.

[. . . . ] What she did find unusual is that her boss, agency owner Gilles-Andre Gosselin, did not tell her the rate at which he was billing the government for her work on projects, something that was done at other firms where she has worked.


Note that the luxury box was at the Corel Center in Ottawa not in Quebec where the excuse was national unity. A luxury box in Ottawa paid unknowingly by taxpayers had zip all to do with national unity. Also notice not leaving a paper trail comment at the Inquiry and the shredding of evidence on the oil for food program at the UN were similar -- getting rid of evidence.





Wendy Cumming, an executive at Gosselin didn't know how she was paid, although she knew at her previous employer's. At Gosselin she knew nothing?

Ad executive [Gilles-André Gosselin ]denies engaging in contract 'payola' CBC News, 30 Mar 2005

[. . . . ] The inquiry also heard that Gosselin Communications was charging commission fees of 25 per cent for securing sponsorship money for the Canadian Tourism Association. The firm would then charge the government another 12 per cent fee if it managed the sponsorship project.

[Wendy ] Cumming said she saw no clear conflict of interest in this.
Cumming admitted the firm overbilled for work on a sponsorship project for the Ottawa Senators. The firm charged the Public Works Department for more than 126 hours work, while Cumming said she spent no more than 35 hours on that project. [. . . . ]


Search: donate to the Liberals, "Jean-Marc Bard, the right-hand man of then public works minister Alfonso Gagliano", relationship building




INDEPTH: Sponsorship Scandal

Gomery Inquiry: Public paid exec to watch games -- Gomery inquiry Andy Riga, Mar. 30, 05, CanWest

MONTREAL - Sitting in a private box in Ottawa's Corel Centre, Mario Parent watched dozens of Ottawa Senators hockey games, three days of circus performances, Neil Diamond in concert, and professional wrestling.

Taxpayers didn't know it but they were footing the bill for Parent's time -- 414 hours at $150 per hour, for a grand total of $62,100 in 1998 and 1999, with the money coming from the federal sponsorship program, the Gomery commission heard Tuesday. [. . . . ]


Search: $133,000, catering costs, $600,000, lists, hide the fact, former federal Liberal ministers Don Boudria and Alfonso Gagliano, former Liberal minister Denis Coderre, temporary publication ban




Update -- UN Conference at U of Waterloo

Scroll down or search this page for "UN Conference at U of Waterloo" and Frechette.

Find out more about the Perimeter Institute where the UN Conference will begin with a speech from Canada's Ms. Frechette. You may download a .pdf file overview on this institute. Note that Research in Motion's founder has a connection. Perhaps he started it. He did donate money, I believe, to his alma mater.




Face Time with the PM for $5,000 -- and more soirees are planned

What benefits accrue to such expenditure?


Check (Toronto Sun? Globe and Mail?) for the story of a $5,000 a plate get together with our PM at a private home in the Toronto area. Now that the political process financing act is in place, is this kind of fund raising allowed? I assume that, if the top amount an individual may donate is $5,000, these people will not be donating any more. (I was going to add "above the table" but that might constitute a hate crime in touchy Canada. Is it thought crime?) Are occasions like this creative financing and somehow, okay? Is it big bucks for meeting the PM? Getting your wishes across? Do the little guys get face time with the Big Lad for lesser money? How do they gain power and influence? Apply for a business grant? An industry partnerships program? Ah, forget it.

Keep digging little guys and throw money at Ottawa. Keep busy and you'll never know what is going on. Should you want to find out a bit about what has gone on in the past -- and of course, nothing like this is happening with our new, squeaky clean government, check these.

Go here for rebroadcasts of some CPAC.ca Gomery Inquiry programs.

Saturday, April 2 at 12PM ET / 9AM PT
Rebroadcast of proceedings from March 29, 2005.

Witnesses:
Josée Thibeau-Carrier, former employee of Gosselin Communications
Huguette Tremblay, chief of Special Projects with Public Works & Government Services Canada
Mario Parent, coordinator of the Advertising Program with Public Works & Government Services Canada

Sunday, April 3
at 8AM ET / 5AM PT
Rebroadcast of proceedings from March 30, 2005

Witnesses:
Gilles-André Gosselin, former president of Gosselin Communications
Wendy Cumming, former employee of Gosselin Communications




Now that the Gomery Inquiry is not public for a while, check the other offerings from CPAC.

CPAC: Stephen Harper's speech at the Conservative Convention


For those of you who did not have the opportunity to see the [Conservative Party of Canada] Leader’s speech at the convention, or for those of you who would like to see it again, I would encourage you to view it at the following link courtesy of CPAC:


Thanks to the one who gave me this link.


They pull billions out of thin air -- and our security is in their hands?

McKenna backs Canada's cattle farmers, debunks terrorism myths on U.S. show -- and more Mar 30, 05, Beth Gorham

According to Hansard March 23, 05, (Scroll down.) Minister Cullen, Parliamentary Secretary (to Deputy Prime Minister and minister responsible for Canadians' security, Anne McLellan), mentioned that the government had spent $9-billion on security; yet, previously, it had been $8-billion, the accuracy of which is suspect since $3-billion went into / is slated for replacing equipment deemed functionally obsolescent. Now, Canada's newly-minted Ambassador to the US, Frank McKenna, tosses out within the week the figure of $10 billion--up $2 billion from that recorded in Hansard earlier (check), just how much is being spent on security? Will it rise to $15-billion shortly? And will the mainstream media check any of these figure? Challenge them? Have any new security officers been trained? Hired? Does anyone get a whiff of the barn here -- that cut through everything smell?

I must add that Ambassador McKenna was undercut by principals in the government he represents on whether Canada is or is not part of the US missile shield initiative (I may have that term wrong; check.) so there is the possibility he has been misinformed or left out of the loop on this funding figure. He has been vetted by those who create Prime Ministers so . . . . . . anything can happen. Is it simply public relations for the Americans? For us?

"The northern border, and it's the only one I can speak about, is not terrorist friendly at all," McKenna said Wednesday. "We've spent $10 billion Cdn ourselves as a country to make sure the border is safe."

"Don't forget, we've also shown up on al Qaida's list of countries and we
take our security seriously."

[. . . . ] Ottawa is considering retaliatory measures over the law and may announce sanctions against the United States in coming days.


Fortunately, there is Hansard.

Hansard March 23/2005 Question Period

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 eduction 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]


Do the words "over five years" fit in somewhere? Check previous Hansard excerpts on this website?





A Prof [Hamid Dabashi] Tangles the Truth -- or here Daniel Pipes, FrontPageMagazine.com, March 31, 2005

Those of us who watch Middle East studies at Columbia University differ as to which professor of that lot is the most egregious. Joseph Massad, with his malign theories and intemperate extremism? Rashid Khalidi, with his roots as a PLO flak, his funny-money chair, his strange ideas, and his false gravitas? No, my favorite is Hamid Dabashi, that paragon of purple prose, male hysteria, and – now we learn – trouble telling the truth about his own biography.

This news comes from the "Columbians for Academic Freedom" website, where a student named Aharon posted an item titled "Press Rules." In it, he notes that Dabashi told a radio interviewer on March 6, 2005, that he "stopped speaking publicly because of a rash of threatening phone calls that go way beyond academic arguments." Then Dabashi played one of those allegedly threatening calls: [. . . . ]





Maybe The UN's Problem Is Mathematical Illiteracy

Maybe The UN's Problem Is Mathematical Illiteracy Captainsquarters, posted by Captain Ed

CQ reader Marc Landers thinks he's discovered why the United Nations can't keep track of the money it gets, allowing so much of it to wind up in the pockets of its own managers, such as Benon Sevan, and tyrants like Saddam Hussein. It may not happen through maliciousness -- it might be that they just don't know how to do simple math . [. . . . ]


The above led to Marc Landers' post Iraq - Children 'starving' Thursday, March 31, 2005

"Looking for the truth in a sea of deceit" I try to go behind the headlines, soundbites, media bias and spin meisters to find the truth. . .

That's the headline from this BBC article. Whenever you see a headline like this from the BBC you can be sure it's completely false. The BBC do not even bother to check the "facts" as presented by the UN Human Rights Commission. Why should they? Well for one thing the commission has some interesting members such as China, Cuba and Saudi Arabia. [. . . .]


Search: Pravda




Lebanon and Syria -- Al Gordon has some background here.

Interview with Francois Hachem on CHQR Talk Radio

Then click on this link for the video Interview with Francois Hachem of CCD on Lebanon





Can't find major crooks but . . . . .

Montreal man fined $2,110 for putting up meeting notices CanWest, March 30, 2005

Mr. Montagano's neighbourhood association attached posters to lamp posts, telephone poles and bus shelters in late January to advertise its Feb. 2 general meeting. [. . . . ]






Fifth Estate: Sticks and Stones -- CBC and FoxNews

Last night I watched a re-run of Sticks and Stones on CBC. You may listen to it /watch the video. Do -- and form your own conclusions.

Is CBC balanced in its reporting? Is Fox as bad as it seemed? I have read that those who watch it like it.

Fifth Estate Schedule -- Check the site for re-runs. I like re-runs, contrary to most opinion. It gives me a chance to hear about programs and then watch.

CBC Television
Wednesdays, 9:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Canada

CBC Newsworld
Thursdays, 10:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. EST Canada
Fridays, 1:00 a.m. - 2:00 a.m. EST Canada
Fridays, 4:00 a.m. - 5:00 a.m. EST Canada
Sundays, 3:00 a.m. - 4:00 a.m. EST Canada

Fifth Estate: Sticks and Stones

[. . . . ] The new gladiators are commentators like Bill O'Reilly and Ann Coulter and their forum is the television studios of networks like Fox. It's loud, it's raucous, but does it have anything to do with the truth? [. . . . ]


Visit the web page to learn more and to watch this story online -- entire documentary online There is much more on the webpage.





Crime's down

Woman shot in face -- Sister of T.O. city councillor April 1, 2005, Kim Bradley and Zen Ruryk, Toronto Sun

A PROMINENT Toronto city councillor's sister was shot in the face yesterday, possibly in front of her children, by two men who police believe escaped in her mother's Jaguar. Councillor Rob Ford . . . .

[. . . . ] Ford -- now serving his second term as councillor for Etobicoke North (Ward 2) -- has earned himself a reputation as city council's penny pincher.

A critic of city council's left-wing leanings
[. . . . ]





Wake-up call coming? March 30, 2005, Peter Worthington, Toronto Sun

After seven years as ombudsman for the Canadian Armed Forces, Andre Marin is moving on to become Ontario's ombudsman, replacing Claire Lewis.

[. . . . ] Marin feels the choice of the next military ombudsman will indicate how seriously DND views the role. He suspects the brass will be relieved to see him gone, and the system may shift to automatic pilot and the activist role of the ombudsman downgraded. [. . . . ]



Military says Akbar Tried to Overpower Guard Gilbert Baez and The Associated Press

According to an Eyewitness News source close to the investigation, Akbar grabbed a pair of scissors off a desk and stabbed the MP in the neck and shoulder area. It's unclear what type of injuries Akbar received, but according to the statement, both Akbar and the MP received medical attention.

Akbar is accused of stealing grenades from a Humvee and using them and a firearm in a March 2003 attack on fellow members of the 101st Airborne Division, days after the start of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. [. . . . ]






Why Johnny can't code via Ghost of a Flea Joe Tucci, March 3, 2005

Imagine being the parent of a 15-year-old sophomore at an elite high school who comes home with a report card ranking him near the bottom of his class in math.

Knowing your child will soon enter the same job market as his classmates, would you be concerned? Would you work with him to improve? Would you begin to question the way math is taught in school?

[. . . . ] Consider what has happened over the last generation. [. . . . ]


Search: 25 percent to 30 percent who teach math or science in K-12 . . .




Complete text of the Supreme Court of Canada's rulings on minority language education in Quebec:

Okwuoki v. Lester B. Pearson School Board; Casimir v. Quebec (Attorney General); Zorilla v. Quebec (Attorney General), 2005 scc 16 2004: March 22; 2005: March 31

Gosselin (Tutor of) v. Quebec (Attorney General), 2005 scc 15 2004: March 22; 2005: March 31

Solski (Tutor of) v. Quebec (Attorney General), 2005 scc 14 2004: March 22; 2005: March 31

Quebec government must revamp its school rules, says top court Jim Brown, CP

[. . . . ] But eight francophone families, who wanted to ensure their children become bilingual by sending them to school in English, were rebuffed by the Supreme Court of Canada.[. . . . ]


The French language, particularly demands for its use to serve those who demand it and keep pushing for more, in communities with very few French speakers, but particularly the promotion of French and claim of rights, no matter how unreasonable -- these trump just about everything else in Canada. That is about all you need to know.

Read the details for yourself, the tweak here and there, the media' variations on the same story, but think . . . . . individual rights vs group rights (francophone) -- jobs for the minority who speak French -- mustn't diminish the language czar's department . . . . . you know the drill, no matter how it is spun. Rights are two-tier in Quebec; francophone parents vs anglophone parents. Look up the sorry details. Then there is TROC and . . . . . Bah! Humbug!




Longer jail terms for fraud urged March 30, 2005, Brodie Fenlon, Toronto Sun

CONVICTED scammers face only a "slap on the wrist" in a $3-billion fraud industry that hurts seniors the most, Canada's Association for the Fifty-Plus says. In a report released yesterday, CARP called for mandatory sentencing guidelines and stiff penalties as part of a series of recommendations aimed at cracking down on scams and frauds.

[. . . . ] Many seniors are too polite to disengage from fraud artists or telemarketers, who use high pressure sales tactics to bilk their targets, Morgenthau added.

The association called for wide promotion of PhoneBusters, the fraud reporting centre run by the Ontario Provincial Police.

It can be contacted anonymously and toll-free at 1-888-495-8501.


Search: WATCH OUT FOR THESE AGE-OLD SCAMS, TOP FRAUDS

There is much information there.



Updated April 1, 05 pm

Search on for guns at 2 jails March 30, 2005, Antonella Artuso, Queen's Park Bureau Chief

TWO PROVINCIAL jails were locked down and scoured for days last week after inmates alleged they'd seen weapons and drugs on the range. A source told Sun Media that the inmates claimed to have seen pen guns and substantial amounts of drugs in the institutions.

[. . . . ] Maplehurst Correctional Complex . . .

[. . . . ] Toronto West Detention Centre [. . . . ]

March 31, 2005

Daniel Pipes' Speech at U of T, Science for Peace, UN Conference at U of Waterloo, UN Oil for Food Scandal

This began as an update to Daniel Pipes' Speech at U of Toronto. Then I began looking at Science for Peace and from there I was led to other interesting information and to the UN Conference at Waterloo and more on the UN Oil for Food Scandal; it burgeoned.

Since this is rather lengthy, what follows is a list of most items, but not all links.

* KQED and The Classical Music Archives -- for enjoyment while you read

Daniel Pipes:
* About 350 heard Pipes at University of Toronto -- a well behaved audience -- no problems -- "What Are Islamic Schools Teaching?"
* U of T protests over Pipes fail to materialize -- Middle East scholar's visit preceded by letter denouncing him -- "Islam is not the enemy," [Pipes] said. "Radical Islam is the enemy."
* Campus Watch
* About Campus Watch
* Astounding Tales of Academic Governance
* Middle East Forum

Science for Peace and Links:
* Science for Peace -- has NGO status at the UN
* Canada and Ballistic Missile Defence : The Facts
* Letter: Daniel Pipes at the University of Toronto -- protest against
* Science for Peace -- University of Guelph
* Center for Peace Studies, McMaster University
* Very interesting links: Centres and Organizations & NGOs and Other Resources -- one of which led to Pugwash
* Pugwash, how it began -- "in their Private Capacity -- Pugwash Online: Conferences on science and world affairs
* Pugwash: GROUPS WITH WEBSITES
* Science for Peace: Who's Who, World Level Individual -- with excerpts on Mr. David Matas and Cambridge graduate, Prof. Eric Fawcett who started Science for Peace

UN Conference at U of Waterloo, UN Oil for Food Scandal and Links:
* UN conference in Waterloo -- with links to information on Paul Heinbecker and Louise Fréchette, who will launch the conference
* FOXnEWS.COM - U.S. & World - Annan's #2 Blocks Oil-for-Food Scrutiny
* Major UN conference slated for Canada -- at Waterloo University
* Conference attracts leading United Nations experts to discuss future reforms
* Laurier Centre for Global Relations -- with Canada's former ambassador to the U-N, Paul Heinbecker, senior distinguished fellow at CIGI and director.
* UN: President of the General Assembly Mr. Jean Ping, H.E. Ambassador Nassir Abdulaziz al-Nasser chairman of the G-77 -- speaking also for China -- with several links, for example:

"High Level Committee on South-South Cooperation 14th Session 31 May – 3 June 2005" -- "the rationalization of the network of United Nations Information Centres" -- "Geneva phase of the World Summit on the Information Society " -- "Tunis phase. . . place Information and Communications Technologies at the service of development."

* China Urges Support for Kofi Annan
* Kojo's Iraq Connections -- The former business partner of Kofi Annan's son speaks out. -- Mr. Mouselli
* Annan Says He Won't Resign
* Former U.N. Official's Shredding Probed -- Iqbal Riza -- link for .pdf report
* Canadian Coalition for Democracies -- UN Oil for Food Scandal -- link






This post is a follow up to a post on Frost Hits the Rhubarb, Mar. 29, 05 --
Daniel Pipes at University of Toronto: Radical Islam and the War on Terror


While you read, may I suggest you listen to a concert? Learn more about the program at KQED and The Classical Music Archives

To listen, click on this link or open your Windows Media Player and insert this url.

KQED: Classical Archives Virtual Concert for March and April! -- The whole program starts with start with

the Baroque era, a large period spanning roughly 1600-1750. The word "baroque" means "misshapen pearl" which suggests the generally ornate and stylized approach to works of art, architecture, and music during these years. This is the period that saw the birth of opera, as well as the rise of purely instrumental forms such as the concerto and sonata; it is also the period in which modern-day harmony (major and minor keys, modulation, etc.) was developed. [. . . . ]





Now, to Daniel Pipes. . . and then to Science for Peace and More.

About 350 heard Pipes at University of Toronto -- a well behaved audience -- no problems


What Are Islamic Schools Teaching? Daniel Pipes, CNSNews.com Commentary, March 29, 2005, posted on Cybercast News Service, Mar. 29, 05 -- also in the New York Sun, Mar. 29, 05

Daniel Pipes is director of the Middle East Forum and author of Militant Islam Reaches America. He has a Ph.D. in early Islamic history from Harvard and taught at Harvard and the University of Chicago.

"Shocked" is how Aisha Sherazi, principal of the Abraar Islamic school in Ottawa, described the reaction of the school's administration and board on learning last week that two of its teachers had incited hatred of Jews.

And "shocked" was how Mumtaz Akhtar, president of the Muslim-Community Council of Ottawa-Gatineau, described his own reaction to the front-page news about the Abraar school. [. . . . ]


There are so many details, along with items detailing the reality in this report, that I can only suggest you read the whole article. Of particular interest to Canadians will be mention of the Canadian Islamic Congress and Mohamed Elmasry of the University of Waterloo.




"Islam is not the enemy," [Pipes] said. "Radical Islam is the enemy."

U of T protests over Pipes fail to materialize -- Middle East scholar's visit preceded by letter denouncing him Scott Stinson, National Post, Mar. 30, 05

[. . . . ] About a dozen students handed out pamphlets outside Brennan Hall at St. Michael's College, where Mr. Pipes later addressed a crowd of about 400. The pamphlets accused Mr. Pipes of spreading anti-Muslim racism through his books and commentaries, and of attempting to limit freedom of speech via an organization called Campus Watch, which monitors and critiques Middle East studies at universities and colleges.

[. . . . ] Much of the attention on the visit of Mr. Pipes, the director of the Philadelphia-based think-tank Middle East Forum, was prompted by an open letter signed by more than 100 professors and students that was published this week in a student newspaper and online.

The letter, authored by a campus organization called Science for Peace, said . . . . [. . . . ]


Search: accused Mr. Pipes, ideologically driven, Science for Peace (Scroll down on this webpage for more), Campus Watch, shoddy scholarship



I have checked and found Campus Watch to be informative. You may look up the links, read and inform yourself. This is simply a shortcut to articles. Claims are supported by references.

About Campus Watch with these subheadings.

* Mission Statement
* Why Middle East Studies Matters
* The Problems in Middle East Studies

One item begins:

Analytical errors: University-based Middle East specialists have been consistently wrong in their analyses, as Martin Kramer showed in his Ivory Towers on Sand1. Some examples: [. . . . ]



Another item from Campus Watch:

Astounding Tales of Academic Governance

Former Columbia Provost Jonathan Cole has presented an intriguing theory on the American research university. In remarks to Columbia's Center for Comparative Literature and Society, he fired also in effect fired a preemptive shot back at the administration in advance of the Ad Hoc committee's report on student grievances against faculty members in the Department of Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures.

Cole's first assertion is that the university is self-regulating, completely self-regulating. "The research university was founded on the idea that professors should regulate their own affairs," Cole said. "The essence of a university lies in its multiplicity of voices ... [It] does not decide what is good or bad or what ideas are right or wrong." Indeed, he said, "the university must nurture the creation of novel and sometime unsettling ideas ... [It] must have and welcome dissenting voices and radical critics." [. . . . ]


But you had better read the rest.




Check Campus Watch for yourself. You may decide to unsubscribe later.

To check what Daniel Pipes and others write, subscribe to Daniel Pipes' Middle East Forum. Again, you may unsubscribe at any time. Here is an excerpt to give you an idea.

The Middle East Forum, a think tank, works to define and promote American interests in the Middle East. Founded in 1990 the Forum became an independent organization in 1994.

The Forum holds that the United States has vital interests in the region; in particular, it believes in strong ties with Israel, Turkey, and other democracies as they emerge; works for human rights throughout the region; seeks a stable supply and a low price of oil; and promotes the peaceful settlement of regional and international disputes. . . .


Check the list: MEF's latest releases.




Now, to Science for Peace and where that led

Science for Peace

Science for Peace is a charitable Canadian-based organization of natural scientists, engineers, social scientists, scholars in the humanities and lay people throughout the world. It brings together professors, graduate students and first degree students who are concerned about peace, justice and making an environmentally sustainable future. SfP has NGO status at the United Nations -- text version


The first thing that I noted was that this group has NGO status, which may mean Canadian taxpayers' dollars fund them, either in whole or in part. Who do they speak for? How did they achieve NGO status? Who appointed them to speak for whoever they speak for at the UN? Do they purport to speak for all Canadians and did citizens have any say in it?

In my world, they speak for themselves -- until I know more.





Check out Canada and Ballistic Missile Defence : The Facts -- an excerpt from this webpage

Peace In Outer Space (PIOS) is the Science for Peace group which is actively engaged in opposing the weaponisation of space. [. . . . ]






There was a Science for Peace letter protesting against allowing Dr. Pipes to speak at the University of Toronto.

Letter: Daniel Pipes at the University of Toronto

Scroll down the page for the list of signatories, "names are at the University of Toronto unless otherwise stated"
From there, you will find links to some of the following.



Science for Peace -- University of Guelph and I noted a branch at Pugwash, Nova Scotia, though it is listed without a link and along with McMaster. Scroll down for more information.




Center for Peace Studies, McMaster University

Very interesting links: Centres and Organizations & NGOs and Other Resources , one of which led to Pugwash.

Pugwash, listed along with McMaster University, actually does have a website; an excerpt follows.




Pugwash, how it began -- "In their Private Capacity"

Two quotations:

A basic rule is that participation is always by individuals in their private capacity (not as representatives of governments or organizations


[B]ecause of the stature of many of the Pugwash participants in their own countries (as, for example, science and arms-control advisers to governments, key figures in academies of science and universities, and former and future holders of high government office), insights from Pugwash discussions tend to penetrate quickly to the appropriate levels of official policy-making.


Pugwash Online: Conferences on science and world affairs

About Pugwash

The purpose of the Pugwash Conferences is to bring together, from around the world, influential scholars and public figures concerned with reducing the danger of armed conflict and seeking cooperative solutions for global problems. Meeting in private as individuals, rather than as representatives of governments or institutions, . . . . Yet, because of the stature of many of the Pugwash participants in their own countries (as, for example, science and arms-control advisers to governments, key figures in academies of science and universities, and former and future holders of high government office), insights from Pugwash discussions tend to penetrate quickly to the appropriate levels of official policy-making.

The Pugwash Conferences take their name from the location of the first meeting, which was held in 1957 in the village of Pugwash, Nova Scotia, Canada, birthplace of the American philanthropist Cyrus Eaton, who hosted the meeting.[I believe this is the man who maintained ties with the USSR during the Cold War, if I have remembered correctly. Research for yourself. NJC] The stimulus for that gathering was a Manifesto issued in 1955 by Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein -- and signed also by . . . which called upon scientists of all political persuasions to assemble to discuss the threat posed to civilization by the advent of thermonuclear weapons. The 1957 meeting was attended by 22 eminent scientists (seven from the United States, three each from the Soviet Union and Japan, two each from the United Kingdom and Canada, and one each from Australia, Austria, China, France, and Poland).

. . . . By late 2002, there have been over 275 Pugwash Conferences, Symposia, and Workshops, with a total attendance of over 10,000 . . . . A basic rule is that participation is always by individuals in their private capacity (not as representatives of governments or organizations). [. . . . ]


Check the site for more, such as the following.

GROUPS WITH WEBSITES

CURRENTLY, there are national Pugwash groups and loose affiliations of Pugwash members in approximately 50 countries around the world. Several have recently initiated their own web sites. Listed below are some of these national groupings with the names and email addresses of appropriate contacts. [. . . . ]





Who's Who, World Level Individual

Search: this list has much more information with each heading so assume [. . . . ] after each heading but I have excerpted only two bits. Read for yourself.

* ADVISORY COUNCIL of Science for Peace
* On International Nuclear Disarmament Initiatives: -- "Senator Douglas Roche, O.C. is the Chairperson of the Middle Powers Initiative"
* On Canadian Nuclear Weapons Policy Proposals: -- a Project Ploughshares connection
* On the Personal Experience of a Nuclear Weapon:
* On Computers in Weapon Systems:
* On International Law and Nuclear Weapons:

Mr. David Matas - Mr. Matas is a practicing lawyer from Winnipeg who specializes in human rights, immigration and refugee law. He has spent his career monitoring the development of international humanitarian law. Mr. Matas organized the human rights and nuclear weapons brief that was submitted to counsel arguing the illegality of nuclear weapons before the International Court of Justice. He has worked with the Helsinki Watch group. Mr. Matas is a member of the International Commission of Jurists and the Amnesty International (International Council). He serves as a Director of the International Human Rights Centre and Lawyers for Social Responsibility. . . .


* On the Effects of a Nuclear Bomb:

Prof. Eric Fawcett graduated with Honours and a PhD in Physics from Cambridge University, and practised research in metal physics in England and the USA, before coming to the University of Toronto in 1970, where he taught physics until retirement in 1993, still pursuing some research. Dr. Fawcett was Founding President of Science for Peace in 1971, an NGO registered at the United Nations that he has guided over many years. He has studied nuclear weapons and the dangers to humanity of their military use, including accidental war. Dr. Fawcett is prepared to provide information on the physical effects of a nuclear bomb. . . .


* On Trade Retaliation if Canada adopts an Independent Nuclear Weapons Policy:






UN conference in Waterloo March 29, 2005, 570 News staff - 11:17 am

Waterloo will host about 90 of the world's top diplomats, politicians and other experts. They'll be in town for 3 days starting on Sunday for a conference on United Nations reform. Canada's former ambassador to the U-N, Paul Heinbecker, organized the event. Among the invited guests are Louise Frechette, the U-N's deputy secretary general and Canada's U-N Ambassador Allan Rock. About 19 other ambassadors from around the world are also set to attend. The Centre for International Governance Innovation is co-sponsoring the conference.


Search / do further research: Paul Heinbecker, Allan Rock, Louise Frechette, Centre for International Governance Innovation

Two links for some information on the background of Canada's Louise Frechette:

Scroll down Frost Hits the Rhubarb, Feb. 27, 05, for "Kofi Annan’s #2 is Canada's Louise Fréchette. Louise Fréchette served under Prime Minister Paul Martin when he held the title of Canada's Minister of Finance."




FOXnEWS.COM - U.S. & World - Annan's #2 Blocks Oil-for-Food Scrutiny



Major UN conference slated for Canada -- University of Waterloo March 28, 2005, CP. Note: This is the university employing the founder and head of the Canadian Islamic Congress, Mr. Mohammed Elmasry, the one who made rather intemperate statements on jihad and Jews on the Michael Coren show.

Waterloo, Ont. — About 90 top diplomats, politicians and other international experts from around the world are expected to attend a three-day conference in this southern Ontario city to discuss United Nations reform.

[. . . . ] It will be the first major international conference on UN reform since Secretary-General Kofi Annan released his reform proposals about one week ago.

[. . . . ] Participants will also talk about the UN's much-criticized Commission on Human Rights.

Ms. Frechette will launch the conference with a public lecture at the Perimeter Institute [for Theoretical Physics] at 5 p.m. Sunday.


Search / do further research: Jean Ping, UN Commission on Human Rights

Scroll down for links and excerpts for items and people mentioned -- e.g. a speech by Mr. Jean Ping of the UN, one by H.E. Ambassador Nassir Abdulaziz al-Nasser representing G-77 and China.




Conference attracts leading United Nations experts to discuss future reforms March 30, 2005

. . . . the first major international conference on UN reform since Secretary-General Kofi Annan tabled a report, entitled In Larger Freedom, on the subject earlier this week.

The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) and Wilfrid Laurier University are co-sponsoring the conference entitled "The UN: Adapting to the 21st Century". [. . . . ]

"History leaves no doubt that the secretary general's report will not just sell itself," says Paul Heinbecker, senior distinguished fellow at CIGI and director of Laurier Centre for Global Relations [Scroll down for more information on this group.], Governance and Policy. "It is indispensable that governments come together to endorse those proposals that will produce a more effective UN."

[. . . .] Mr. Jean Ping, president of the UN General Assembly, and Lord David Hannay, a member of the High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, are among those who will participate in the closed sessions.


Why are there closed sessions? What is the problem with information getting out?

Scroll down for more information, networks and UN connections.




Laurier Centre for Global Relations -- with Canada's former ambassador to the U-N, Paul Heinbecker, senior distinguished fellow at CIGI and director.

The Laurier Centre for Global Relations, Governance and Policy was established in 2003, and is a federation of existing Laurier organizations, activities and individuals who share common research and practical interest in improving international relations and governance. These include: The Viessman Research Centre on Modern Europe, The Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies, The Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS), the Political Science Department, and the Global Studies program. It is designed to animate research and practical initiatives that can improve the governability and stability of international relations and the global community.

CIGI, which is supported by the Government of Canada as well as the private sector, is an independent centre for scholarly research and policy advocacy established in July 2002, to support improvements in multilateral governance, in particular international economic and financial governance. CIGI has formed linkages with a number of prominent organizations, including the World Economic Forum.


If a group is supported by the government of Canada, how independent is that?

Search further on the World Economic Forum.

Just what is meant by "improve the governability and stability of international relations and the global community." -- "governability" by whom? And who gets to decide?





UN: President of the General Assembly Mr. Jean Ping, H.E. Ambassador Nassir Abdulaziz al-Nasser chairman of the G-77 -- speaking also for China

High Level Committee on South-South Cooperation 14th Session 31 May – 3 June 2005 -- with links to Mr. Jean Ping and the Chairman of the G-77, H.E. Ambassador Nassir Abdulaziz al-Nasser, among others.

[. . . . ] Statement by the President of the General Assembly, H.E. Jean Ping

Statement by the Chairman of the G-77, H.E. Amb. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser
[. . . . ]

If you follow that link, you may download a copy of his speech in .pdf format.


PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE STATE OF QATAR TO THE UNITED NATIONS, CHAIRMAN OF THE GROUP OF 77, Commission on Sustainable Development




Ambassador Nassir Abdulaziz al-Nasser -- and China

Statements by the Kingdom of Morocco, Chair of the Group of 77 for ...... Statement By Ambassador Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser Permanent Representative... Statement by His Excellency Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, Ambassador

Photos of participants -- Photo gallery -- Four decades of solidarity for the South 1964-2004



... BY AMBASSADOR NASSIR ABDULAZIZ AL-NASSER, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE STATE OF QATAR TO THE UNITED NATIONS, CHAIRMAN OF THE GROUP OF 77, ... It appears to be on small islands -- check further.


What caught my interest are the following -- on the G-77 and on Ambassador Nasser' concerns for information flow and control such as information on peacekeeping, getting out the UN information and I think, changing the US influence over the internet through IANA. This needs further research; I may be incorrect about IANA. Check for yourself.

Statements on behalf of the G77 -- INTERVENTION BY His Excellency Ambassador Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nation Chairman of the G-77 and ...



On behalf of the Group of 77 and China -- Ambassador Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser

On behalf of the Group of 77 and China -- STATEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE GROUP OF 77 AND CHINA, BY AMBASSADOR NASSIR ABDULAZIZ AL-NASSER, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE STATE OF QATAR TO THE UNITED NATIONS, CHAIRMAN OF THE GROUP OF 77, BEFORE THE 26TH SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION, 26 APRIL 2004

Search: Mr. Shashi Tharoor, UnderSecretary-General for Communications and Public Information (at the UN )

[. . . . ] The Group of 77 and China strongly maintains that the challenge of the DPI [UN Department of Public Information] is not only to ensure a wider outreach of the communication strategies but also to contribute to the concretization of the UN goals and objectives as set out in the Millennium Declaration and in the Medium-Term Plan.

The work of DPI would, therefore, be guided to achieving these goals and objectives, in particular to promoting priority development issues such as poverty eradication, HIV/AIDS, dialogue among civilizations and cultures, sustainable development and the needs of African countries.

Mr. Chairman, The Group of 77 and China stresses that the UN Information Centres play a significant role in disseminating information, in promoting public awareness of and mobilizing support for the work of the United Nations.

The Group of 77 and China takes note of the Secretary-General's report on the rationalization of the network of United Nations Information Centres (A/AC.198/2004/3). In this regard, the Group believes it is premature to present proposals on further regionalization. Enough time should be given to examine the results and possible added value of the creation of the Western European hub before presenting any new proposals, which should take into account, among other factors, the existing differences in information technology and communications between Western Europe and other regions of developing countries.

[. . . . ] The Group welcomes the holding of the Geneva phase of the World Summit on the Information Society which adopted a Declaration and a Plan of Action and we look forward to the second phase in Tunis to be held from 16 to 18 November 2005. The Tunis phase should come up with concrete initiatives at all levels to bridge the digital divide and to place Information and Communications Technologies at the service of development.

[. . . . ] We attach the utmost importance to the information policies and communication strategies regarding peacekeeping operations. Many Member States, most of them from our Group, . . . . we are gravely concerned about the "information gap" that exists between the new realties and success of peacekeeping operations and the perceptions the public have, as stated in the Secretary-General's report A/58/694. The closing of this gap is one of the ways to "concretize the UN goals and objectives", and a measure of the success of DPI. [. . . . ]


Comment:

It appears to concern controlling the news that emanates, particularly from the member states of the Group of 77 and on "peacekeeping". I vaguely recall something about according the news emanating from sources (perhaps, sources such as Al Jazeera) the same weight accorded major mainstream international news sources. Check further into the UN initiative(s) to remove control of internet naming, et cetera from the US based organization which presently handles the organization of the internet, IANA, I believe. (things like .com, .info, etc.) There is much more to it than this, of course.





China Urges Support for Kofi Annan Patrick Goodenough, CNSNews.com International Editor, March 30, 2005

Pacific Rim Bureau (CNSNews.com) - China has called on United Nations member states to support Kofi Annan, after the embattled U.N. Secretary-General said Tuesday an independent inquiry into the Iraqi oil-for-food scandal had cleared him of wrongdoing.

Beijing's ambassador to the U.N., Wang Guangya, told the official Xinhua news agency it was significant Annan had been cleared, and attention should no longer all be focused on him. [. . . . ]

The inquiry also found that Annan's former chief of staff had shredded documents pertinent to the time period under investigation.


Scroll down for more on Kofi Annan and Kojo Annan, Cotecna and Iraq.

Note: Mr. Jean Ping is from China; there are networks involved here which would bear further research, I suspect.




Kojo's Iraq Connections -- The former business partner of Kofi Annan's son speaks out. -- thanks to a link on Jack's Newswatch

Mr. Mouselli, a French national . . . . Between August and November, Kojo Annan made three or four visits to the embassy. Mr. Mouselli, who speaks Arabic and acted as a kind of go-between, says their purpose was to establish a long-term relationship with the Iraqis with a view toward future business.

Oil for Food was then in full swing and Kojo Annan and Mr. Mouselli discussed plans to establish three joint partnerships registered in Nigeria: one, an inspection business; the second, a food-export business; the third, an oil-trading business. In September 1998, Mr. Mouselli and Kojo Annan had a two-hour private lunch with Kofi Annan on the sidelines of a meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Durban, South Africa. The lunch's sole purpose, says Mr. Mouselli, was to inform the Secretary General of their proposed businesses: "If we didn't have the lunch, I wouldn't continue with Kojo." [. . . . ]


Re-read that last bit.





Annan Says He Won't Resign

(CNSNews.com) - United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan Tuesday rejected the suggestion that he step down amid the controversy regarding the oil-for-food program and instead urged his son to cooperate fully with the investigation. [. . . . ]



Former U.N. Official's Shredding Probed March 30, 2005, FOXNews.com's Liza Porteus contributed to this report.

NEW YORK — One of Kofi Annan's (search) closest friends and colleagues is now in the crosshairs of Oil-for-Food investigators.

Members of Paul Volcker's Independent Inquiry Committee on Tuesday revealed that Iqbal Riza (search), the former chief of staff, shredded thousands of documents that might have shed light on Annan's involvement in the Oil-for-Food (search) scandal and that Riza acted in contravention of one of his own directives.

[. . . . ] The IIC found that Riza allowed documents of potential relevance to the Volcker investigation to be shredded by his staff, even though he was aware of the ongoing probe.


Read the full report -- (pdf) -- download it




Canadian Coalition for Democracies -- UN Oil for Food Scandal mp3

chqr radio interview with Al Gordon re Daniel Pipes, oil for food

March 30, 2005

CAIR's War on National Review, Alberta Man linked by CSIS to al-Qaeda, Diane Francis: U.S. unions create oilpatch labour pinch

CAIR's War on National Review Robert Spencer, frontpagemag.com, Mar. 30, 05

The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) has this week waged a campaign against National Review, seeking an apology and the removal of a book called The Life and Religion of Mohammed from sale by the NR Book Service. This was a bit out of focus, since National Review did not publish the book and is not the sole source for it. In fact, I wrote this ad, although I receive absolutely no remuneration from the sales of the book by NR or anyone else. CAIR’s campaign was revealing of what CAIR wants Americans to know — and not to know — about Islam and Muhammad. And CAIR did succeed in intimidating NR into withdrawing the book, along with Serge Trifkovic’s The Sword of the Prophet: History, Theology, Impact on the World

[. . . . ] Now that CAIR has succeeded in intimidating NR [National Review] into silence and getting them to drop this book, it will be a victory for those who don’t want Americans to know the uncomfortable details about Muhammad that are in the book. Unfortunately, however, jihad terrorists around the world today know these elements of the life of Muhammad quite well, and are imitating them. Ignorance of them on the part of Americans will only make us more vulnerable. [. . . . ]


Search: CAIR’s Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, Fr. J. L. Menezes, a Roman Catholic priest, If it is Islamophobic hate literature for

Search also for information on the author, Robert Spencer.





"Earlier this week, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami released a 14-page affidavit sworn out by FBI agent John T. Kavanaugh detailing what he described as the "Jayyousi-Daher-Hassoun North American Support Network" for Islamic terror."

Former Alberta man charged in plot to wage worldwide jihad -- Accused ran movie theatres in Ponoka, Leduc Randy Boswell, Mar. 30, 05, CanWest

A former Edmonton-area cinema owner [. . . ]

Kassem Daher, linked by CSIS to al-Qaeda, is a Lebanese native who came to Canada in the 1980s as a business immigrant. Daher, who once ran movie theatres in Leduc and Ponoka, left Canada in 1998.

[. . . . ] But a criminal complaint unsealed this week in Florida named Daher -- along with three other men, including a former Detroit public school administrator -- as co-conspirators in a network aimed at supporting terrorist activities around the globe. [. . . . ]


Worth reading.





Yankee unions

Diane Francis: U.S. unions create oilpatch labour pinch Financial Post, March 29, 2005

Ottawa's Employment Insurance scheme and the Province of Alberta have imposed policies that are helping American unions create artificial labour shortages in the oilpatch and preventing young Canadians from filling these jobs.

It's clear that the province's well-organized, American-based unions (all members of Washington's AFL-CIO) have targeted the oilsands construction bonanza and have hoodwinked two levels of government to help them make millions.

[. . . . ] Companies employing these three trades can only hire an apprentice if they assign three journeymen to train that person. What's significant is that all the other construction trades, both within and outside of Alberta, require only a one-to-one ratio.


Diane is excellent and she finds information that most of us miss. Good show!
Do read the impact upon taxpayers.

Gomery Inquiry -- Information and Link -- no to "a paper trail" -- Frank J. Gaffney: "A naked energy gap"

Don't forget:

CPAC: Gomery Inquiry continues in Montreal -- check this for links to the inquiry online.

Gomery grants partial publication ban Tu Thanh Ha and Allison Dunfield, Mar. 29, 05

"A publication ban is needed, as a precaution," the judge said in his decision Tuesday

He said it was unprecedented that an inquiry would be sitting so close to a related criminal trial, even though the specific contracts for which the three are charged will not be debated at the inquiry.

Judge Gomery turned down, however, their request to also have a publication ban on the evidence presented by people other than Mr. Brault, Mr. Coffin and Mr. Guité. [. . . . ]





Gagliano wanted no paper trail, Gomery hears -- Civil servant says former minister wanted no information on files about event in Italy, Tu Thanh Ha reports March 29, 2005, Globe and Mail Update

Montreal — Civil servant Huguette Tremblay testified at the Gomery inquiry Tuesday that she was ordered by those in charge of the sponsorship program not to leave a paper trail for an event.
[. . . . ]

Read the article to find out more and how Ottawa's Winterlude fits in.

There is mention of Jean Chretien, Alphonso Gagliano, Gilles-André Gosselin and others.

My word, this is sleazy. I hate the publication ban but sensible others tell me it is necessary.





Freedom in Security -- A naked energy gap. Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. March 29, 2005

— Frank J. Gaffney Jr. is president of the Center for Security Policy and a contributing editor to NRO.

The explosion of a BP oil refinery not far from Houston last week left at least 15 dead and over 100 wounded. It also served as the latest, vivid reminder of a truth we have for too long chosen to ignore: This nation is dangerously vulnerable to severe economic dislocation and possibly dire national-security threats as a result of its excessive reliance on imported oil and the infrastructure that transforms most of that oil into fuel for our transportation sector. [. . . . ]

Colleges and Universities: Representative of Political Thought? Mark Steyn: Judiciary, Libin: Stupid politician tricks

College Faculties A Most Liberal Lot, Study Finds Howard Kurtz, Washington Post Staff Writer, March 29, 2005

College faculties, long assumed to be a liberal bastion, lean further to the left than even the most conspiratorial conservatives might have imagined, a new study says.

[. . . . ] "What's most striking is how few conservatives there are in any field," said Robert Lichter, a professor at George Mason University and a co-author of the study. "There was no field we studied in which there were more conservatives than liberals or more Republicans than Democrats. It's a very homogenous environment, not just in the places you'd expect to be dominated by liberals." [. . . . ]


Is there a study of the political leanings of Canadian university teachers? Would it constitute research crime to reveal the results -- or has that been passed into hate legislation yet? Just kidding. NJC





Mark Steyn -- on the judiciary

Steyn is so enjoyable to read. I had missed this one; if you did, read it.

The ruling class 3 January 2005

[. . . . ] But then as now, “we the people” (to use a quaint, un-Canadian phrase) will have little say in the matter--until we disabuse ourselves of the notion that a man or woman can utter any fatuity and, if he or she’s wearing drapes and on the bench, it must be accorded an inviolable respect. We call those banana republics I mentioned at the beginning “rogue states.” Advanced western democracies are robed states





Stupid politician tricks Kevin Libin, 4 April 2005

[. . . . ] Here’s what the charter really says, in its very first line: “Whereas Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law . . . ” Here’s what it says immediately afterward: “The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.”

You might remember that these are the same “reasonable limits” that allow the government to limit gun ownership and ban certain types of speech that it finds offensive. Yet, somehow, whenever it comes to Liberal causes--gay marriage, voting rights for prisoners--limits are deemed unreasonable. [. . . . ]

March 29, 2005

Daniel Pipes at University of Toronto: Radical Islam and the War on Terror

Two years ago, the student-run centre at York University blocked him from speaking at its facility.


Pipes is scheduled to speak at the University of Toronto tonight. It may be a barn burner, if certain peaceful groups have their way.

While Mohammed Elmasry of Waterloo University has ben able able to express, perhaps incite, hatred against Jews (on the Michael Coren show) -- he may even have justified jihad, Ahmad Shokr, organizer of the Arab Students' Collective believes that, while Daniel Pipes, ". . . has the right to speak, we don't think he should actually have a place to speak on campus"

If not allowed free speech on campus, just where should Mr. Pipes hide to speak?


What has happened to free speech in Canada? Remember, truth is no excuse; it's the law in Canada -- if it might incite hatred--I think that is how it goes. Check for yourself.

In Canada at present, there are politically acceptable expressions of hatred--or is it expressions of hate from currently politically acceptable groups?--and then there is hate crime. It depends on whether you are from the "peaceful" religion, or from the group that speaks, writes and buttresses the discussion of issus with facts, figures and diligent research. Which one commits hate crime? In cockeyed Canada . . . . . . make a guess.

Visit by pro-Israeli prof causes uproar at UofT Caroline Alphonso, Education Reporter, March 29, 2005

A visit today to the University of Toronto by a controversial U.S. scholar of the Middle East is causing an uproar among academics and students, who say that "hate, prejudice and fear-mongering" do not have a place on campus.


Search: Campus Watch, Israel's right to exist

If you hate what I say but I am telling a truth, is that a hate crime? Just asking. NJC