May 10, 2006 updated

Update: I just heard this first one on TV -- a must read article

Ex-'chemist' blows the whistle on crystal meth Kathy Tomlinson, CTV News, May 10, 06

[....] "The current climate legally in Canada allows us to pretty much do whatever we want," Hanson said. "Criminals have free rein in Canada. [....]

Hanson told CTV the crystal meth business in British Columbia is huge and growing very fast. The manufacturers bring in the precursor chemicals from abroad and then produce the drug in homes no one lives in -- they are outfitted strictly as high production labs.

He told CTV the group he worked for brings in the precursor ephedrine from China in containers coming into Vancouver's port. He claims criminals can get a container of chemicals delivered for about $400,000.

"Whether it's people from China, whether it's precursors or whether it's a stackload of AK47s from the Taliban -- $400,000 will pass you right through." [....]

Note below Joel Johannesen's (proudtobecanadian.ca) "Best solution to these problems"



Jim Judd, head of CSIS: Al Qaeda attack on Canada 'probable': CSIS

[....] "The threat of further attacks by Sunni Islamic extremists and other like-minded groups continues, bringing with it elevated demands on the service's resources," says the report, which covers the year 2004-05.

[....] A declassified copy of the top secret report was obtained Tuesday by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

It was first delivered in late November to then-public safety minister Anne McLellan [....]

Globe and Mail articles worth reading:

Allan Hutchinson: There's nothing wrong with criticizing the Supreme Court

Roy MacGregor: This country -- A school teacher speaks on a distant, ailing system and her decision to leave it


Also: but I have no link -- Edward Luttwak: Signs of Hope: Iraq's civil war


End of updates




Papa Stronach praises Harper -- "A poll released yesterday pegs the Conservatives at 41%, creeping steadily into majority-government territory and opening up a 12-point lead over the Liberals." Don Martin, NatPost, May 12, 06

"He's off to a good start," he allows. "There's many things, but most of it is on the right track by the government." Magna's boss likes the sound of the armed-forces buildup, the tough-love approach to violent crime and the business-friendly tax policy.

Michael Coren: Blacklisted by the CBC NatPost, May 10, 06

It's the fault of a culture that we have allowed, by our indifference and our tax dollars, to smother what could have been a balanced public broadcaster.

People used to run away to sea. Now they run away to the CBC.

So, conservatives get cancelled--hated by the union--and all Canadians, even conservatives, are forced to pay for this?



Best solution to these problems

RCMP commissioner says organized crime and terrorists working closely

Terrorists work with gangs: RCMP -- "froce stretched thin"

Joel Johannesen has posts on both (May 9, 06) and a solution.

Terrorism is here. So is the CBC. Which would you rather have?

Possible sources of cash to defend our nation and its families who built it: the one BILLION dollars per year that funds the leftist state-run media, the CBC, which should be banned in Canada and the ban enshrined as such in our Constitution, and which makes Canadians dumber every minute they watch it.

Excellent idea since CBC has become a propaganda organ for one side of the political spectrum.



I noted there was a link missing so here it is.

FHTR Jan. 29 - Feb. 3, 06 -- with this: A vote of confidence -- MP vows to aid ailing production Tom Van Dusen, Ottawa Sun, Jan 26, 2006 [Is he related to Julie Van Dusen of the CBC Hate Harper and all Conservatives team?]

Concerns funding the arts

Search: "the failed Francoscenie production of L'echo d'un peuple" , "The Department of Foreign Affairs budgeted for international touring; the funding would keep rising."

It is this kind of situation that leaves the arts groups in Canada very unhappy when they don't get more funding (travel opportunities lost?)



Guite connects ex-PM to sponsorship scandal May 8, 06

[....] On his first day questioning Crown witnesses at his trial, Guite introduced the possibility of political influence over the sponsorship contracts that left him facing fraud charges.

Guite used his first witness to raise the name of Jacques Corriveau, a former Liberal and close associate of Chretien whose influence, according to testimony, could virtually guarantee an ad firm would win contracts.

Search: no work was done in return , federal firearms registry , contracts were phoney



Suicide bombers recruited on Web site hosted in Montreal -- Linked to Palestinian terrorist group May 10, 06

A Farsi-language Web site that glorifies suicide bombers and appears to be based out of Iran was uncovered yesterday on the server of a Montreal-based Internet provider.

Featuring photos of masked gunmen and "martyrs" wearing headbands, the site provides a link to a Web portal for the military wing of Hamas, a hardline Palestinian political party that has been classified a terrorist group in Canada. [....]

The English version of the website was not working, according to the article ( www.esteshhad.com/index.php). Why was it not working if the French language site was?



'CANOE live' will open door to public Ian Robertson, Toronto Sun

By tapping canoelive.canoe.ca, Internet users can surf a free offering of everything from traditional news, sports, showbiz and commentary to contributions from "citizen journalists."

Public recruits are invited to voluntarily transmit their videos, still photos, hot topics and comments "on everything" that interests them, Holladay said.

Champions of Human Rights? Only in the UN

New UN rights body same as the old -- critics: Abusers hold seats Steven Edwards, NatPost, May 10, 06

UNITED NATIONS - China, Cuba, Pakistan, Russia and Saudi Arabia were elected to the new Human Rights Council at the United Nations [....]

The UN created the 47-seat council to take the place of its discredited Human Rights Commission [....]

Election required 96 votes in the General Assembly, consisting of all 191 UN member governments, and was based on a geographic distribution. Africa and Asia each got 13 seats; Latin America and the Caribbean, eight; North America and Western Europe, seven, and Eastern Europe, six. [....]

You know that saying from Pres. Johnson ... something along the lines of ... I'd rather have them inside the tent ****ing out than outside ****ing in? Isn't the above taking it a bit too far? Is there a tent left?


"I do have some anxiety," said Adam, who was appointed by the previous Liberal government and whose mandate is set to expire. -- Would her biggest anxiety be losing her own appointment? -- "Tory bilingual record blasted" by Alexander Panetta, Ottawa Citizen, May 10, 06

Josee Verner points out she's already signed 13 deals guaranteeing provinces and territories $1 billion in federal funding for minority-language instruction.

"The prime minister has been crystal clear on the importance he ascribes to both official languages," Verner said in an interview. "He considers it a source of wealth for Canadian society. . . There is nothing to fear here."

Would Dyane Adam ever be satisfied? What does a languages tzar do when her appointment ends? Many Canadians have some suggestions.



CHIEF JUSTICE MAKES A GRAB FOR MORE POWER Reality, Volume XXV Issue No.1 January/February 2006

The Truth About Judicial Appointments

Judges in Canada are appointed because they or their law firms have paid large sums of money to the party in power, or, alternately, these judges have personally worked diligently to service the party. This was made clear in the Gomery hearings, which disclosed that lawyers in Quebec were handsomely rewarded with judicial appointments for supporting the Liberal party. This practice, however, is not limited to appointments in Quebec, but occurs right across the Canada. (See Reality July/August, 2005 "The Squalor of Our Judicial Appointments", p.5).

For those who believe that this analysis is too critical of the judicial appointment process, it should be noted that, in the two years that Paul Martin and his Minister of Justice, Irwin Cotler were in power, the following individuals were appointed to the Bench: [....]

Just check the list of the Cotler/Martin appointments ... and he was around a short time, comparatively.



Protecting your pc via newsbeat1



I do not have a link for this: it was sent to me by a friend.

CRYBABIES OUT IN FORCE
Ottawa Sun, May 08, 2006

[.... Carolyn] Bennett had some harsh words about Harper's child-care plan after the budget was tabled.

Calling the Conservative approach "spiteful," Bennett added: "There's actually no plan for early learning and child-care spaces. So it's a good job they're putting more money for prisons in the budget, because we're going to need them if we don't get this early childhood right."

Got that, mom and dad? If you two incompetents are left on your own to raise your kids, they're headed for prison!

[....] Former Liberal justice minister Irwin Cotler later accused Harper of fighting an imaginary crime wave by building more prison cells at the expense of the Liberal child-care plan. Funny, wasn't Cotler trying to convince Canadians that the Grits were tough on crime during the last election?