April 21, 2006: Various

Cops raid native protest camp and related articles:

Critics question crackdown on protesters
Politicians point fingers as native frustration builds
Quebec Mohawks support Ontario natives
Aboriginal standoffs in Canada

CALEDONIA, Ont. (CP) - A native group is holding up train traffic in eastern Ontario to show support for native protesters maintaining barricades in Caledonia, south of Hamilton.

Tyendinaga Mohawk protesters lit bonfires around midnight beside CN Rail tracks on their territory about 20 kilometres east of Belleville, Ont. [. . . . ]

Geoff Matthews: When protest crosses the line -- "My beef is with people who, when they feel legal means have failed them, resort to lawlessness to get their own way. Apr. 21, 06

[. . . . ] And when the strike -- or the protest or the occupation -- is over, well we're just expected to shrug and forget about it, because if we dare to lay charges and hold the instigators accountable to the law, the whole process will start all over again. Why is it that the very people who insist on flexing their own rights have so little regard for the rest of us?

As a point of interest, why are there no consequences?



Apartheid, Quebec-style -- The Dream Is Indeed Dead Letter to the editor of the National Post, Apr. 20, 06

[....] The cleansing of Quebec and the application of draconian social laws has been studiously ignored by my government in Ottawa. Worse, the mildest protesting reference creates frenzied knee-jerk reactions from the huddled tribe, most certainly from its media. If one serenely opines that the laws and the situation are fundamentally racist and that the English-speaking community is treated with a genteel but real Canadian brand of apartheid, one is greeted with embarrassed silence, or worse.

No one wants to be reminded. Ottawa prefers to tutor Afghans on democracy rather than consider its own elephant in the corner, quietly hoping that the problem -- via death and migration -- will just go away.

Separatism is neither dead nor out of fashion. It has muted into the de facto status quo. This is to the clear relief of our government and intelligentsia, who blithely ignore a state of affairs that in any other province would be considered tragic and unacceptable.

Roman Jarymowycz, Beaconsfield, Que.

Decadence -- a must read

Oh to be in England -- It’s This Bad Theodore Dalrymple via newsbeat1

Returning briefly to England from France for a speaking engagement, I bought three of the major dailies to catch up on the latest developments in my native land. The impression they gave was of a country in the grip of a thoroughgoing moral frivolity. In a strange inversion of proper priorities, important matters are taken lightly and trivial ones taken seriously.

This is not the charming or uplifting frivolity of Feydeau’s farces or Oscar Wilde’s comedies; it is the frivolity of real decadence, bespeaking a profound failure of nerve bound to have disastrous consequences for the country’s quality of life. The newspapers portrayed frivolity without gaiety and earnestness without seriousness—a most unattractive combination. [. . . . ]

Check television after 7pm at night for the concern with celebrities. Utterly mindless ..... decadent.



Medical Marijuana -- "FDA Statement" April 20, 2006, posted by Tinsnips

Inter-Agency Advisory Regarding Claims That Smoked Marijuana Is a Medicine

Claims have been advanced asserting smoked marijuana has a value in treating various medical conditions. Some have argued that herbal marijuana is a safe and effective medication and that it should be made available to people who suffer from a number of ailments upon a doctor's recommendation, even though it is not an approved drug [. . . . ]

And another view on the same webpage: Medical Marijuana -- "A Brief Summary of the Uses of Hemp

Our Challenge to the World: Try to Prove Us Wrong!" From "The Emperor Wears No Clothes" by Jack Herer posted by Uplink, Apr. 20, 06 -- here for the original



Sylvan Laroque: Harper promises Quebec autonomy -- New respect for Harper in Quebec NatPost, Apr. 21, 06

Quebec complains of a fiscal imbalance that gives Ottawa too much spending power at the provinces' expense? The Conservatives feel its pain and will tackle the problem. "Fiscal imbalance impacts almost all Canadian provinces and municipalities, and it is a threat to the proper functioning of the Canadian federation," Mr. Harper said. At a news conference, he specified that he expects to make progress on fiscal imbalance before the end of the year.

Quebec feels its interests are not being adequately defended in international forums? Mr. Harper said "common sense" dictates that Quebec should have an enhanced role in UNESCO, "an organization where its unique linguistic and cultural concerns may be at stake."

"That is what open federalism is all about -- a stronger Quebec in a better Canada, and that is what this new national government intends to deliver."

My problem with Quebec and UNESCO involves the ties I delineated in January on this site. Note the Arab world and Muslim input and influence in Canada through UNESCO, the UN, and France via Quebec.

For another example, listen to the Stephen Lewis audio, particularly how students should get active and how -- toward the end of the audio. (Link below)



Harper helping separatists reach their goal: Duceppe Jennifer Ditchburn, CP, March 15, 2006

[. . . . ] "If he delivers and Quebec has a voice at UNESCO, that would be good for a sovereign Quebec in the future,'' Duceppe said outside a caucus meeting Wednesday.

He also applauded Quebec's role as co-host and co-organizer of the Francophonie summit in Quebec City in 2008.

"All sovereigntists are supporting the fact Quebec is having an international presence at the francophone summit,'' he said.

"It's a plus. ... It's preparing us for the day when we'll be a sovereign country and be present everywhere.'' [. . . . ]

Duceppe says Harper is effectively doing the opposite of fixing the fiscal imbalance. Scrapping the national child-care program could cost Quebec $806 million, he said. [. . . . ]

"Jay Epworth, Emerson's [Liberal] legislative assistant when he was industry minister in the Paul Martin government, told the Toronto Star that Emerson's main complaints are that the government is too partisan and tightly controlled under Harper." -- "PM rejects claims Emerson frustrated with Tories"

CTV.ca, Apr. 20, 06

Prime Minister Stephen Harper dismissed claims from David Emerson's former aide that the trade minister is privately complaining he is frustrated as a member of the Conservative government.

"Minister Emerson said no such thing, this was said by the Liberal party," Harper told reporters in Montreal on Thursday.[. . . . ]

Colby cosh: Making a mockery of legal equality Apr. 19, 06, NatPost

It's time for provincial legislatures to re-examine the scope of human rights laws that were introduced primarily on the promise that they would redress difficulties faced by minorities in seeking housing and employment. Few if any of the premiers who pioneered these laws could have foreseen that they would be used in attempts to [. . . . ]

Terence Corcoran: Review the science Financial Post, April 20, 2006

[....] The Skeptic 60 letter can be found at www.canada.com/nationalpost/ financialpost/story.html?id=3711460 e-bd5a-475d-a6be-4db87559d605. [The Skeptic 60 letter]

We have clear evidence of scientific disagreement, and that's just in Canada. Internationally, the debate over climate-change theory intensifies daily. Two major conferences, one in Europe and the other in New Mexico, will explore the growing scientific conflict over climate change as it moves to new levels of understanding.

In London in June, the HOLIVAR 2006 Open Science Meeting will examine natural climate variability and global warming. The conference program says "not everyone accepts that the observed warming of the last few decades is caused by increased concentrations of greenhouse gasses associated with human activity." Sponsored by the European Science Foundation, the HOLIVAR conference will look at non-human causes of climate variation over the last 11,500 years.

Climate change solutions for Canada and the world -- I found this on the way to something else. It comes from 2003 but it has a list of several companies and government involved in the past.

Is fear of a pandemic realistic? Overblown? thread -- "Stupid Polls (no - not Poles!)" -- more information

Bird Flu "Pandemic" Antidote: Wash Hands -- Bird Flu scare is overblown. The disease is too fast and deadly to grow pandemically. Government and pharmaceutical opportunism a greater threat. by Paul Noel, RN, Greater Things News Service, 2005

Skeptics warn bird flu fears are overblown

Chicken Little alert? Hysteria could sap money from worse health threats



Iranian group seeks British suicide bombers Robert Tait in Tehran and Ewen MacAskill, April 19, 2006, The Guardian

Relations between the west and the hardline Iranian regime are set to worsen after a Tehran-based group claimed yesterday it was trying to recruit Iranians and other Muslims in Britain to carry out suicide bombings against Israel.

The Committee for the Commemoration of Martyrs of the Global Islamic Campaign, which claims to be independent but has the backing of the regime, said it is targeting potential recruits in Britain because of the relative ease with which UK passport-holders can enter Israel.

[....] "Britain and other European countries have a lot of disaffected Muslims who are ready. We understand the suspicion with which Britain, America and other western countries regard their Muslim populations. We don't condemn them for this because we believe every Muslim has the potential to turn into a bomb against the west."

Mr Samadi said recruits would not be told to attack British cities. "With the exception of Israel, we do not target civilians," he said. "They would definitely not be sent to carry out an attack on London unless it was to kill Salman Rushdie." [. . . . ]

Oh, selected killing only ..... Then everything is fine ...........



Telephoning the Enemy by Daniel Pipes, New York Sun, April 18, 2006

[....] the Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS).

A bit of background on GETS: In times of extreme telecommunications congestion, such as during a national emergency, it offers a calling card that permits those "responsible for the command and control functions critical to management of and response to national security and emergency situations," including members of Congress, law enforcement, and the military, to benefit from priority status when making calls. Private organizations with roles to play in emergency response also may receive cards.

[....] This month, the group [CAIR] applied for GETS status, claiming to serve as an important point of contact with Muslims following September 11, 2001.

CAIR's request was denied in less than three hours.

GETS reportedly turned down CAIR because it did not qualify for the status. But it would have been on solid ground denying the request based on CAIR's telephonic connections to persons suspected of links to terrorists, as CAIR helpfully has detailed in its own court filings. [. . . . ]

Unbelievable gall -- and its ilk brought to Canada by ........ Fill it in for yourself.


Background: CAIR had sued Andrew Whitehead of Anti-CAIR

http://www.danielpipes.org/article/3511
CAIR Backs Down from Anti-CAIR
by Daniel Pipes
FrontPageMagazine.com
April 21, 2006

In March 2006, shortly before a scheduled court hearing to decide on several of Whitehead's requests (compelling CAIR to disclose its financial data, to answer questions about its relationship with Hamas and other Islamists, and to provide information regarding its leaders' activities and intentions), the case was settled and then dismissed with prejudice by stipulation (meaning, the plaintiff has agreed to forever drop all of the claims that were in, or could have been in, the complaint).