Aug. 21, 2006: #1

How tacky can they get? -- "Grit paparrazi stalking Tory MPs", NatPost, Aug. 20, 06, Mike Desouza
www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=
285688d2-f617-475c-9112-4631e3d84d11&k=79773

[....] The Liberals will give an iPod as a prize for the person who can offer the best picture of one of the seven Conservative MPs on their list -- Rob Anders, Cheryl Gallant, Rahim Jaffer, Collin Mayes, Bob Mills, Pierre Poilievre, and David Sweet. The contest runs until Sept. 4.

[....] "It sounds like young Liberals are angry that they don't see Conservative MPs schmoozing around with downtown lobbyists," said [MP] Poilievre. "But that's because Conservative MPs are busy working hard in their ridings, supporting their local hospitals, and their local legions and other local community groups to make their communities better." [....]

AIDS conference short on rational talk: Clement
www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060813
/aids_conference_060819/20060819?hub=Health

[....] During a visit to Nova Scotia on Friday, Tony Clement said that activists and "so-called experts" had started to skew the dialogue towards grandstanding political demands during the weeklong gathering in Toronto.

"That conference in our view was becoming a place where you couldn't have a rational discussion," he said during an interview.

"It wasn't only the Canadian context. There was a delegate who demanded the resignation of the South African health minister. It was really becoming a very politicized conference. It became a point where it wasn't an appropriate venue." [....]

Ted Byfield: Aids conference clouded by politics , Aug. 20, 06
calsun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Byfield_Ted
/2006/08/20/1766560.html

[....] the conference, judging from the front-page headlines it generated, was maybe 15% about AIDS and 85% about politics.

The real objective was not actually the extermination of AIDS, but the extermination of one George W. Bush, at the mention of whose name jeers, boos, catcalls and abuse resounded through the conference.

The U.S. president was targeted because his five-year $15-billion US "Pepfar" program (President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief) advocates an "ABC" battle against AIDS -- first, Abstinence from sex outside marriage; second, Be faithful to your spouse; third, use Condoms if A and B fail. What was really galling is the program's requirement that at least 33% of the spending be used to advocate abstinence.

[....] Ex-president Bill Clinton, another speaker, set out the kind of program he thought the U.S. should be running.

There should be needle-exchanges, mandatory testing, massive circumcision of males... [....]

Ex-Democratic Pres. Clinton advocates interference in Africa--mandatory testing--but that drew nary a word of protest from the assembled leftists ... yet, abstinence programs might suggest interference in private lives?



Michael Coren -- re: AIDS, Aug. 20, 06, TorSun
www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists
/Coren_Michael/2006/08/19/1764549.html

While sexual and chemical addiction are powerful habits, both place cause and effect squarely on the individual. Not so Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, most cancer and heart disease, leukemia or malaria.

The latter, by the way, still kills three million people a year in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet none of these or dozens of other illnesses receive anything like the publicity or funding given to AIDS. [....]

Chanting the mantra of harm reduction -- 'Abstinence does not work: people lie,' scientist says , Tom Blackwell, National Post, August 19, 2006
www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.ht
ml?id=e40ff96e-489b-4d07-863b-fd48cc8958ac

[....] Abstinence is a dirty word and human rights take precedence over quarantine.

To some outsiders it might seem like political correctness run amok. But as the largest-ever AIDS conference ended yesterday, researchers and agency leaders said the science is irrefutable that judgmental approaches to the groups most at risk of getting HIV do not work; trying non-coercively to change that behaviour or make it less likely to spread HIV -- something called harm reduction -- is the best hope.

"Yes, a number of people can get emotional about the issues ... but the fact is that it ought to be scientific agendas that drive what we do," Dr. Wainberg said in an interview. [....]

Why do their human rights to make dumb choices always depend on somebody else paying for the consequences of those choices? We are not supposed to compel people to change their behaviour but we are supposed to pay? Doesn't make sense for the future; it will just allow more of the same stupidity.

We've had leftists running things for much too long. People actually think they're entitled ... to their entitlements as mandated by ... the UN? The Charter? What?




Middle East

Note the tone of this article, in fact most articles on the Middle East. It was Hezbollah which attacked first ... and the UN will not stop them. The Lebanese government cannot and Hezbollah is shoring up support among the south Lebanese Shi-ites by giving money to those affected ... Who provided money to Arafat's martyr families? Who is providing it to Hezbollah now? Anyone see a pincer movement around Israel? Kofi Annan criticizes Israelis but not Hezbollah. The UN is run by a number of thug states; they have achieved their objectives.


Playing favourites -- Kofi Annan again takes sides, Lorne Gunter, National Post, August 21, 2006
www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/issuesideas/story.ht
ml?id=b41ee28f-bc28-4869-8c62-dd35ec5682f3

[....] Israel sent highly trained soldiers into the region to stop Tehran and Damascus from rearming terrorists. Iran and Syria have been shipping Katushyas, AK-47s, mortars, anti-tank guns and RPGs to southern Lebanon for use against the civilians of northern Israel.

Yet the Lebanese army will not disarm the terrorists and the UN itself has no troops in position to do so. [....]

If the UN were doing its job enforcing 1701, Israel would not have to violate 1701.

Put another way, Mr. Annan is really criticizing Israel for taking the actions his organization should be taking, but for which it lacks the troops or the nerve, or both.

[....] Hezbollah's ability to run a state-within-a-state south of the Litani River, funded and armed by Iran and Syria and maintained by Lebanese acquiescence and fecklessness, is the reason this whole mess began in the first place. They are the reason it simmers still. [....]

Canadian MPs visit destruction in southern Lebanon " to witness firsthand the aftermath of Israel's war against Hezbollah.", Updated Sun. Aug. 20 2006 10:14 PM ET, CTV.ca News Staff

www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060819
/mideast_mps_visit_060820/20060820?hub=TopStories

[....] The visit was organized by the National Council on Canada Arab-Relations. But at the last moment, one MP backed out for security reasons: Conservative member Dean Del Mastro. [so what spin do you expect from those who went?]

"The Canadian government did not allow their representative to come here," said the association's Mazen Chouaib. "We had a member of parliament from (Ontario) who was coming with us but they pulled him the night the delegation was to leave."

The Conservative government pledged a further $25 million in aid to Lebanon this week, making Canada the top contributor, according to Minister of International Cooperation Josee Verner. [....]

If I torch someone else's home and he retaliates, destroying mine, will the taxpayers of another country give me money to rebuild? So why is Canada giving anything? Am I missing something here?



Take Hezbollah off list -- MPs: Liberal, NDP politicians in Lebanon say terrorist label discourages negotiations , Matthew Fisher; with files from Melissa Leong, CanWest News Service; National Post, August 21, 2006
www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=
2070b678-e6b4-49e2-93df-32b29e719a31

New Democrat Peggy Nash .... Etobicoke Liberal Borys Wrzesnewskyj .... Maria Moureni [of Lebanese descent], the Bloc Quebecois MP for Ahuntsic, is also a member of the Canadian delegation on a week-long tour of Syria, Lebanon and Egypt organized by the National Council on Canada-Arab Relations. [....]

Search: car bombings, hijackings and kidnappings




Terrorist hand that feeds , Sonia Varma, Aug. 19, 06

[....] There were two signs on the wall by the interior paint department, "Damaged" and "Destroyed." So Mr. Shamone, a 43-year-old truck driver whose apartment is a total wreck, lined up under the second.

He left an hour later with a cheque from the Party of God to the tune of US$10,000.

The money will rent a furnished apartment for the next few months while Hezbollah's construction company, Holy War for Construction, rebuilds his home.

"Nasrallah says he will rebuild everything the same as before and better. I have no problem because I have Nasrallah," Mr. Shamone said with a smile, referring to the group's charismatic leader, Hassan Nasrallah. [....]

The group is so territorial, its fighters will not allow other aid groups access to some of the more remote villages along the border. [....]

Peacekeeping

Unfit to keep the peace , National Post, August 19, 2006
www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/editorialsletters/
story.html?id=c6d391e9-736b-49bf-aa09-876b958df82f

France has not stepped up as hoped to man the UN's ceasefire force in Lebanon, pledging on Friday to send just 200 soldiers, rather than the 2,000 or more expected. [....]

Muslim countries, however, have been only too eager to step up to the plate. [....] all have blamed the recent war on "Israeli aggression."

[....] The UN resolution that led to the cessation of fighting -- 1701 --calls for a complete disarmament of Hezbollah, including its remaining 9,000 rockets, its automatic rifles, mortars and grenades. The motion also requires the Lebanese army, and the UN peacekeeping force that is expected to be on-site in the next two weeks, to push the terrorists almost 20 kilometres north of the Israeli border to keep them from launching attacks on northern Israel. [....]

Media Intimidation , Joel Mowbray, FrontPageMag.com
frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=23933

[....] As any veteran of Middle East media coverage knows, many Arab stringers and free-lancers—hired on the cheap by Western outlets, ostensibly because of their superior knowledge for local leaders and events—see it as their duty to demonize Israel, while exalting fellow Arabs or Muslims. [....]

Nowhere is the use of Arab “fixers” (as they are known) more common than in the Palestinian territories. And yet despite the extensive reliance on locals who presumably enjoy greater familiarity with the terrain and key players, negative press coverage of the Palestinian Authority or various Islamic terrorist organizations operating in the territories has long been scant.

This void in coverage is not because such evidence does not exist. The Palestinian Media Watch, a nonprofit that operates on a tight budget, has easily reported more on PA incitement and indoctrination, for example, than all Western media outlets combined. [....]

Photo -- Scroll to "Notice a few things" , Powerline, July 24, 06





Mutiny as passengers refuse to fly until Asians are removed -- Passengers refuse to allow holiday jet to take off until two Asian men are thrown off plane , Christopher Leake and Andrew Chapman, Daily Mail, Aug. 20, 06
www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news
/news.html?in_article_id=401419&in_page_id=1770&ico=
Homepage&icl=TabModule&icc=NEWS&ct=5

[....] The extraordinary scenes happened after some of the 150 passengers on a Malaga-Manchester flight overheard two men of Asian appearance apparently talking Arabic.

Passengers told cabin crew they feared for their safety and demanded police action. Some stormed off the Monarch Airlines Airbus A320 minutes before it was due to leave the Costa del Sol at 3am. Others waiting for Flight ZB 613 in the departure lounge refused to board it. [....]

Passengers noticed that, despite the heat, the pair were wearing leather jackets and thick jumpers and were regularly checking their watches. [....]

Let's see, passengers (some with children) note the (inappropriate for the climate) clothing combined with the language (which they think is Arabic) and watch-checking. Their self-preservation kicks in. What are passengers allowed to note ... so as not to be termed racists?

Check this Profiling, racism, flying, business opportunity, CNEWS Forum, Aug. 20, 06




Why is government paying for abortions ... and importing people?

Quebec to pay out $13M for abortion , by Olivier Bourque, posted by SeanMcElroy, 8/20/2006 10:52:37
www.canoe.ca/mb2/messages/cnewsf/12009.html

MONTREAL (CP) - A court judgment that orders the Quebec government to give more than $13 million to nearly 45,000 women who had to pay for abortions is a victory for women, a Quebec doctor said Friday.

Justice Nicole Benard (Quelle surprise!!!) of Quebec Superior Court ruled the province misinterpreted its own medicare law by paying only a portion of the cost of abortions performed in certain women's health centres and private clinics. The judgment in the class-action lawsuit covers abortions performed between 1999 and 2005. [....]

Why do you suppose that justice was elevated to the bench? Women's quota? Right thought? Good Liberal?



Forces query citizenship policy -- may drop Canadian citizenship as a prerequisite for military service
www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.ht
ml?id=c4db382f-d22e-47dc-ac20-044a0f1bebc4

[....] Enlisting landed immigrants is just one idea being looked at by the Forces, Captain Helene Tremblay said. "If we want to meet our recruitment targets, it might be necessary," said Capt. Tremblay, a military-career counsellor at Montreal's Canadian Forces recruiting centre. [....]

72 Taliban killed in Canadian-set military trap -- Nine-hour battle. No Canadian, few Afghan casualties .
www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=
7732196d-f1b4-4ca8-a540-3fe03bacb336

It began about 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Afghanistan's Independence Day, when insurgents picked a fight with Afghan security forces and were met and routed by a NATO aerial and artillery assault that left the bodies of dozens of insurgents in the streets and orchards of Panjwaii -- a Taliban hotbed coalition forces now claim to control.

Peter Shoniker
www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/toronto/story.ht
ml?id=50d2db24-cdbb-4739-b1fa-a32a7c24c84e

[....] During those expletive-laced calls between September and December, 2003, Shoniker insisted the officer pretend he was acting as his lawyer because there wasn't a "f---ing judge" who would authorize a wiretap on conversations between a lawyer and his client.

[....] Shoniker boasted that he could move $1-million a week out of the country and told his criminal associate that he would pay off Canada Revenue Agency officials to avoid detection. [....]

Toronto jeweller Babak (Bobby) Adeli Tabrizi, who was also arrested on July 14, 2004, and is the co-accused in the case was not in court yesterday because he could not return in time from Iran, where he was visiting his ill mother-in-law, according to lawyer Stewart Rosenthal. [....]

And of course, Tabrizi will return for his trial ...



Canadian arrested in Indian drug bust , with files from Mary Vallis, Agence France Presse; National Post, August 21, 2006
www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.ht
ml?id=dcae35fa-34c8-41a3-8c6b-de895430d9c6

About 100 kilograms of ephedrine, hashish and other illegal drugs were seized overnight from Girdish Singh Toor, 29, while he was leading a convoy of vehicles in New Delhi, police deputy commissioner Ravindra Yadav said.

Search: framed paintings , contacted by Canadian and Chinese drug cartels



George Jonas: Armed and not so dangerous, Aug. 19, 06, NatPost

[....] Civilization isn't about regulating conduct. Tyranny is about regulating conduct. Civilization is about regulating misconduct -- that is, criminally injurious or anti-social conduct. Murder is a misconduct; gun ownership isn't. Murder is anti-social by definition; gun ownership is anti-social only if you arbitrarily define it as anti-social (or your advisor, Prof. Wendy Cukier does). Murder is apples; gun ownership is oranges. Added up they amount to twaddle.

If anything, there may be a social benefit in law-abiding people owning guns. [....]

The study found that in states where carrying concealed weapons was legal for people with no criminal record or mental illness, homicide had been reduced by 8.5%. Rape went down by 5%, and aggravated assault by 7%. [....]