Better late than never ...

The message said: "Proof that marriage exists in the animal world."




I have some commitments today, one of them involving checking on and feeding a dog similar to but larger than the one pictured, and she may also be part malamute. She has a massive ruff and her eyes are brilliant blue -- a marvellous dog. That's my excuse for why this is such a hodge-podge of what I found; perhaps you won't find it that different from the usual. Have a good weekend. NJC





BCE's Telesat Canada reports annual profit up 6.6% at $88.9M -- "Highlights for the year included the launching of the Anik F1R satellite, which provides capacity for Canadian direct-to-home satellite TV and other services." Mar. 10, 06



Mark Bonokowski: Hackers' gun paradise

[....] According to an Access to Information request -- File: 03ATIP-20402 -- which was filed in late 2003 and responded to in early 2004, the federal force admitted that there were 1,495 breaches of the CPIC system reported between 1995 and 2003, and that 306 of those breaches had been confirmed, with another 121 cases categorized as still under investigation.

According to the RCMP, all these breaches of the CPIC system were considered to be inside jobs by those with security-cleared access to the database, complete with its link to information stored in the national gun registry.

The sanctions imposed were as follows: [....]

The following came from my friend J in California--the lucky sod with his warm sunny days and hummingbirds--and thanks, J. Letter -- soon come.

Mr. Bush, who do you trust running our ports?

How they vote in the United Nations:

Below are the actual voting records of various Arabic/Islamic States which are recorded in both the US State Department and United Nations records:

Kuwait votes against the United States 67% of the time
Qatar votes against the United States 67% of the time
Morocco votes against the United States 70% of the time
United Arab Emirates votes against the U. S. 70% of the time.
Jordan votes against the United States 71% of the time.
Tunisia votes against the United States 71% of the time.
Saudi Arabia votes against the United States 73% of the time.
Yemen votes against the United States 74% of the time.
Algeria votes against the United States 74% of the time.
Oman votes against the United States 74% of the time.
Sudan votes against the United States 75% of the time.
Pakistan votes against the United States 75% of the time.
Libya votes against the United States 76% of the time.
Egypt votes against the United States 79% of the time.
Lebanon votes against the United States 80% of the time.
India votes against the United States 81% of the time.
Syria votes against the United States 84% of the time.
Mauritania votes against the United States 87% of the time.

U S Foreign Aid to those that hate us:

Egypt, for example, after voting 79% of the time against the United States,
Still receives $2 billion annually in US Foreign Aid.

Jordan votes 71% against the United States
And receives $192,814,000 annually in US Foreign Aid.

Pakistan votes 75% against the United States
Receives $6,721,000 annually in US Foreign Aid.

India votes 81% against the United States
Receives $143,699,000 annually.

Disgusting, isn't it? [. . . . ]



I see the left's "hero" Castro, is getting a couple of brand new Ilyushin jets from Russia posted by robmik43, Mar. 11, 06 -- no source given



Don't put her on a pedestal -- New YWCA boss wants others to know they can move ahead, too Brian Gray, TorSun
Exactly what do you mean by "moving ahead"?

[....] a role model of what a Jamaican-born woman of colour can become in Canadian society

[....] Among the concerns the YWCA addresses on behalf of Canadian women, the three that form the cornerstone are violence against women, childcare and housing.

[....] possible re-opening of the abortion debate.

[....] a single mother by choice.

Young Women's Christian Association = YWCA

Which Christians does this organization speak for? Does it include those who are against or who would put some regulations back into abortion? I am thinking of late term abortions which are horrible from what I can read. When did the YMCA begin to speak for Canadian women? Who chose this (nominally) Christian association to speak for Canadian women? I don't remember having a choice about what associations--YWCA, NAC, etc.--speak for me. Do you?



Canada vetoes key UN motion on refugees -- Sides with U.S. on non-binding resolution to return Palestinians to their homes -- "resolutions that pose as human-rights measures but in fact single out one country, Israel, for criticism." Jeff Sallot, G&M

[....] The previous Liberal government had abstained on the identical resolution last year. But on instructions from Ottawa, the Canadian delegation at the UN joined the United States to vote against a non-binding motion calling on Israel to allow all Palestinian refugee women and children to return to their homes.

[....] Hussein Amery, the president of the National Council on Canada-Arab Relations, said that unlike the Liberals, the Conservatives did not even consult with Canadian Arab and Muslim groups before making such a significant policy shift. [....]

Why would a government consult with them? From what I read, it would simply be more demands that the government or individuals give in to their demands. Consult to bargain for votes? Leave that to the Liberals -- imho.


The Myth of Occupation

The governing document that remains at the core of any resolution of the conflict is neither the Geneva Conventions, nor The Hague Convention, nor even UN Resolution 242, but the Mandate of 1922 which encouraged “close [Jewish] settlement” of the land. Whereas the Mandate allowed the mandatory power to “postpone” or “withhold” Jewish settlement east of the Jordan River (in what is now the Kingdom of Jordan), it does not, in the words of Eugene Rostow, “permit even a temporary suspension of the Jewish right of settlement in the parts of the Mandate west of the Jordan River.”

According to Hussein Amery, "Now we [Canada] sit isolated, alone with the United States, against a resolution calling on Israel to allow displaced persons and refugees to return home." Isolation is often the result of doing what you think is right, particularly when it happens not to be what is supported by one of the (Liberally) favoured vocal groups.



Write to the Troops Message Board



Quebec preparing for a possible influenza pandemic Mar. 10 2006, CP

QUEBEC — Quebec is preparing for a worst-case scenario in which 2.6 million people in the province would be infected in the event of a human influenza pandemic, says Health Minister Philippe Couillard.

The other provinces? There are related articles on that site.



VirtualDave.ca -- Was Paul Martin ever the Liberal Prime Minister? -- AngryGWN

At the Liberal Party website, Paul Martin is still listed as the leader of the party, and so he is. But the biography, which runs over 500 words, makes no mention that he was ever the Prime Minister of this country!

A Paul Martin flashback

A few days after he was elected Prime Minister of Canada -- 83 kilograms of cocaine with a street value of between $12 to $14 million was found during a random search of Paul Martin's family vessel. [. . . . ]

Search: giving billions to China and Russia , Kyoto , Maurice Strong has promised





Federal ethics battle gets nasty Bruce Cheadle, The Canadian Press, March 10, 2006

[....] Most ethics experts, including former NDP MP Ed Broadbent, say the cabinet inducement argument is seriously misguided and doesn't fit in the conflict code.

[....] Conacher of Democracy Watch argues a merit-based appointment process and a new ethics commissioner is the only solution.

"If the opposition parties wanted to show any integrity now, they would be as interested in passing a resolution firing Shapiro as they are in passing a resolution to find the prime minister in contempt of Parliament,'' said Conacher.

Darcey: The Closing of the Indian Mind -- Search: "federally funded lobby groups....They create nothing, do nothing, solve nothing" Mar. 9, 06, which leads to Raskolnikov



Hugo Chavez threatens bloggers here


Joe Warmington: Rape defended -- Sick -- This one included use of a bottle Mar. 11, 06



Dying for Values Mar. 10, 06 -- also here: William Gairdner's website



FREE MUHAMMAD AL-ASADI Michelle Malkin, Mar. 10, 06

Muhammad al-Asadi : Marked for death for publishing the Mohammed Cartoons

The bloodthirsty Cartoon Jihadists want to execute an Arab newspaper editor in Yemen. Via BBC:

Link for the details and "Sign a petition to help free al-Asadi by sending an e-mail to moyen-orient2@rsf.org".



`Out of Canada, you have no help' -- U.S. rushes to aid of citizens abroad -- Our rules weaker, as Ianieros found Linda Diebel, TorStar, Mar. 11, 06

[....] The Canadian government's response to its citizens in crisis abroad appears informal at best and deficient at worst — at least compared to the U.S., a country that moves heaven and earth to help distressed Americans. The U.S. has a special Washington-based agency within the State Department, named the Office of American Citizens Services and Crisis Management and devoted to serving out-of-country Americans. There is a strict diplomatic protocol in which officials must be on site within 24 hours, and ready to report to Congress within 72 hours, of any crisis involving an American.

Canada has no such protocol and the Conservative government last month abolished the cabinet-level post of parliamentary secretary with special responsibility for Canadians abroad.

[....] Still, there are other reasons U.S. officials have such clout. They are backed by a powerful weapon not available to Canadians: the immense power of the U.S. media/entertainment industry.

Lengthy and worth reading.

Search: Zahra Kazemi , Luc Ethier , William Sampson



The Three T's -- a must read Editorial Cartoons, Cox and Forkum, Mar. 9, 06 via newsbeat1



The Perils We Face By Rep. Curt Weldon, FrontPageMagazine.com March 10, 2006

Rep. Curt Weldon, R-PA, delivered the following speech at Restoration Weekend, which took place at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix February 23-26, 2006. -- The Editors.

The Clinton Years: The Gathering Storm [. . . . ]

I think of Notra Trulock, a member of the Cox Committee back in 1996 and 1997, who sat for seven months behind closed doors with the CIA and the FBI, looking at all of the information about the allegations of China stealing our technology. As you all know, the Cox Commission was established because of Congress’ concern that the Chinese had been able to obtain some of our most sensitive technology. The job of the commission was to answer a simple question: was our security harmed by the transfer of American technology to China? Even though the Commission had 5-to-4 Republican/Democrat margin, the vote on our final report wasn’t 5-to-4; it wasn’t 7-to-2. It was 9-to-0 that our security had been harmed by the technology China ended up acquiring.

[....] Unbeknownst to me, that team, known as Able Danger, was doing unbelievable work on al-Qaeda cells in 1999 and 2000. Now, I knew the operation of data mining, but I didn’t know the specifics of what they were doing until last May, when I went to publish my book, Countdown to Terror , and I called them back in to give me a chart they had given me after 9/11 occurred. They said, “Congressman, let us tell you what we were doing in Able Danger.”

Now, these weren’t people off the street. These are career military intelligence officers:

* Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Schaffer, a 23-year Army veteran, bronze star recipient; letters of commendation in his file from every DIA director; deployed in Afghanistan with our troops under cover under an assumed name as an intelligence officer.

* Scott Philpot, Navy Captain, commanding one of our newest destroyers next month. An able intelligence officer working as the point person for the head of SOCOM.

* General Schoomaker, leading Able Danger.

The two of them – Schaffer and Philpot, came to me privately and said, “Congressman, our unit identified five cells of al-Qaeda a year and a half before 9/11.”

Scott Philpot said, “Congressman, I’ll stake my reputation, my career, and my family that I identified Mohammed Atta and three of the terrorists in January of 2000. We knew we had a hit of the New York cell and we knew these players were bad people. We had to transfer this information to the FBI for them to follow-up domestically, because the other four cells were overseas. We asked Lieutenant Colonel Schaffer, who had been working with the FBI on other cases to transfer the information about the Brooklyn cell. Three times, in September of 2000, on three separate occasions, Lieutenant Colonel Schaffer set up meetings with the Washington field office of the FBI.”

The woman who set up those meetings, still in the FBI, one of Tony Schaffer’s high school friends, will testify she knew the purpose of those meetings. In each case, at the 11th hour, those meetings were shut down by lawyers in the Clinton administration – perhaps because of Jamie Gorelick’s firewall, the memo that said you couldn’t share defense intelligence information, even though this was all open source. There was no reason to protect this data, and three times they were shut down. [. . . . ]

9/11: What I Saw at Ground Zero [. . . . ]

A New Heroism [. . . . ]

What I Saw, Part II: Beslan [. . . . ]

A Trip to War-Torn Iraq [. . . . ]

CAIR: Islamists Fooling the Establishment by Daniel Pipes and Sharon Chadha

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), headquartered in Washington, is perhaps the best-known and most controversial Muslim organization in North America. CAIR presents itself as an advocate for Muslims' civil rights and the spokesman for American Muslims. "We are similar to a Muslim NAACP," says its communications director, Ibrahim Hooper.[1] Its official mission—"to enhance understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding"[2]—suggests nothing problematic.

Starting with a single office in 1994, CAIR now claims thirty-one affiliates, including a branch in Canada, with more steadily being added. [....]

Steven Pomerantz, the FBI's former chief of counterterrorism, notes that "CAIR, its leaders, and its activities effectively give aid to international terrorist groups."[5] The family of John P. O'Neill, Sr., the former FBI counterterrorism chief who perished at the World Trade Center, named CAIR in a lawsuit as having "been part of the criminal conspiracy of radical Islamic terrorism"[6] responsible for the September 11 atrocities. Counterterrorism expert Steven Emerson calls it "a radical fundamentalist front group for Hamas."[7]

Of particular note are the American Muslims who reject CAIR's claim to speak on their behalf. [. . . . ]

There is much more.



Andrew C. McCarthy: Sanctimony and Silence -- For all the bluster, mum’s the word on the main question as the ports debacle ends. I have this simple question that no one seems to want to answer.

Andrew C. McCarthy, a former federal prosecutor, is a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.

So I’ll ask the same question I asked last week on NRO’s Corner. The same question a number of us have been asking for the last several weeks, with deafening silence the lone response: Does it matter that the UAE appears to be in violation of our fundamental antiterrorism law?

[....] Oops. It looks like the UAE continued to underwrite terrorists long after that [9/11]. Even to this day. The regime remains a booster of Hamas, an organization pledged to the destruction of Israel by violent jihad. An organization that has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization under American law since we began officially stigmatizing such entities in the mid-1990s. [. . . . ]

Libel Law: The Chilling Effect -- Intimidation writ large or goad to good reporting? by Mary Annecchiarico -- or here

The journalist's badge. That's how Ron Adams, host of CBC Radio's Media File, referred to getting sued. He was questioning Jock Ferguson of The Globe and Mail about libel chill. Lawsuit phobia, if you prefer-the notion that the threat of fighting legal actions, with their high costs in time and money, often inhibits aggressive reporting. For some journalists, getting sued may well be a badge, a testament to their profession. For many others, including those who make the final decisions, the possibility can be intimidating in the extreme.

Though there is nothing like a consensus on how pervasive libel chill is in Canada, it has nevertheless become the basis of a movement to liberalize our libel laws, particularly their onus on the media to prove the truth of what they publish or broadcast. American law, under which the burden of proof is on the plaintiff, is looked to as a model. [. . . . ]

A must read article BEST rebuttal to those who blame us for Islamic terror Posted by Ron on 21:36:05 2006/03/08

Serge Trifkovic received his PhD from the University of Southampton in England and pursued postdoctoral research at the Hoover Institution at Stanford. His past journalistic outlets have included the BBC World Service, the Voice of America, CNN International, MSNBC, U.S. News & World Report, The Washington Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, The Times of London, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer. He is foreign affairs editor of Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. This article was adapted for Front Page Magazine by Robert Locke.

In view of the varanasi blasts this is very relevant now. Viji

Islam's Other Victims: India
FrontPageMagazine.com November 18, 2002 Serge Trifkovic
www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=4649 [....]

Adapted from The Sword of the Prophet: A Politically-Incorrect Guide to Islam by Dr. Serge Trifkovic.

The fundamental leftist and anti-American claim about our ongoing conflict with political Islam is this: whatever has happened or does happen, it's our fault. We provoked them into it by being dirty Yankee imperialists and by unkindly refusing to allow them to destroy Israel. But two things make crystal clear that this is not so:

1. The political arm of Islam has been waging terroristic holy war on the rest of the world for centuries.

2. It has waged this war against civilizations that have nothing to do with the West, let alone America.

This is why the case of Moslem aggression against India proves so much. Let's look at the historical record.

India prior to the Moslem invasions was one of the world's great civilizations. [. . . . ]

Moslem invaders "broke and burned everything beautiful they came across in Hindustan," displaying, as an Indian commentator put it, the resentment of the less developed warriors who felt intimidated in the encounter with "a more refined culture." [. . . . ]

These massacres perpetrated by Moslems in India are unparalleled in history. [. . . . ]

Sound familiar? All I can suggest is that you read it.

My question is: Why were those Canadians who knew what to expect of certain kinds of immigration not listened to? Why were they made fun of, called racists and bigots when that had and has nothing to do with it?




Crisis at Columbia: Janaki Bakhle Hugh Fitzgerald, FrontPage Magazine, March 6, 2006 -- or here

The wife of a Columbia University administrator, Assistant Professor Janaki Bakhle shares the teaching duties for a basic course with Joseph Massad, called "Introduction to Major Topics in the Civilizations of the Middle East and India" in which students explore a "range of cultural issues, institutional forces, textual sources, and figures of authority."

Bakhle's field is Indian Music, a field that one would suspect would not lend itself to politicizing. But even here politics manages to intrude. She has just published a book called Two Men and Music: Nationalism in the Making of an Indian Classical Tradition. As one might expect it is Muslims who [. . . . ]

Film: Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West

[....] Obsession uses unique footage from Arab television to create an ‘insiders’ view of the hatred Islamic radicals are teaching in the Middle East, their incitement of global jihad, and their goal of world domination. The film features interviews with Daniel Pipes, Steve Emerson, Alan Dershowitz, a former PLO terrorist, and even a former Hitler Youth commander.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Obsession is the link the film draws between radicalized Islam, or what is sometimes called ‘Islamo-fascism,’ and Nazism proper. [....]

Dateline Hollywood: And the winner is... Oct 24, 2005, Ryan Zempel

[. . . . ] Perhaps even more chilling, however, is the 3-1/2 year old girl shown shyly remarking (when prompted) that she doesn't like the Jews because they are "apes and pigs" and that she knows that because Allah says so in the Koran.
Also disturbing during the showing of "Obsession" was something not found in the film but found in the reaction to it. There were clearly some in the audience who consider all Muslims to be terrorists. If we are to win the war on terror, this is an attitude that will have to be eradicated from the conservative movement. Besides not being terrorists, moderate Muslims are essential to winning the war on terror and alienating them is the first step to losing the war. [. . . . ]

The Current Crisis -- Better Than Oscar Night R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr, 3/9/2006

[. . . . ] "[T]here was not one word of tribute, not one breath, to our fighting men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan or to their families or their widows or orphans."

And Stein went on: "No doubt the men and women who came to the Oscars in gowns that cost more than an Army Sergeant makes in a year, in limousines with champagne in the back seat, think they are working class heroes....They would be heroes if they said that Moslem extremists are the worst threat to human decency since Hitler and Stalin." Now wait a minute, Stein, mixing Stalin in with Hitler is not going to play with the Hollywoodians. By their lights Stalin was a progressive. Hitler was a brute racist. Hollywood has always been conflicted about Stalin. About Hitler there is no ambivalence. He was a very bad fellow, notwithstanding his abhorrence of tobacco and his vegetarianism.

Perhaps we could get Hollywood on our side in this war against Islamofascism if the Hollywoodians could be apprised of the Islamofascists' enthusiasm for Hitler. [. . . . ]

Earl McRae: Peaceniks shame nation , Ottawa Sun, Mar. 7, 06

Too many decades of peace in the North strong and free have bred too many generations of spoiled, selfish, pampered, clueless, anti-military softies.

We've lost all sense of proportion. A single Canadian soldier is killed or wounded, either in combat or a vehicle accident, and you'd think a thousand had fallen, his photo and story on the front pages of the newspapers, the top of TV newscasts, flags lowered, eulogies across the land.

In the Second World War, there were instances when hundreds, even thousands, of Canadian soldiers were killed in action in a single day, and that in combat. You didn't splash a big front page photo and story of every Canadian soldier killed every single day of the war, you didn't have the room, nor would you anyway, and the public didn't expect you to.

REALITY OF WAR [. . . . ]

CBC types, might I suggest you read this or is your utter zeal to see a coalescing of the NDP/Liberals to bring down a Conservative government so intense that you can no longer reason about what you are doing to the troops? Besides, it was the Liberals who sent them to Afghanistan; now, of course, that isn't the spin you want on it. For many Canadians, hatred for the CBC grows.



This came from another friend; thanks R.

I don't know who wrote this but I fully agree....

One of my sons serves in the army. He is still here in Canada. He called me yesterday to let me know how warm and welcoming people were to him, and his fellow soldiers, everywhere he goes, telling me how people shake their hands, and thank them for being willing to serve, and fight, for not only our own freedoms but so that others may have them also. But he also told me about an incident in the grocers' shop he stopped at yesterday, on his way home from the barracks. He said that ahead of several people in front of him stood a woman dressed in a burkha.

He said when she got to the checkout she loudly remarked about the Canadian Flag lapel badge the cashier wore on her blouse. The cashier reached up and touched the badge, and said proudly," Yes, I always wear it and probably always will."

The woman in the burkha then asked the cashier when she was going to stop bombing her countrymen, explaining that she was Iraqi. A gentleman standing behind my son stepped forward, putting his arm around my son's shoulders, and nodding towards my son, said in a calm and gentle voice to the Iraqi woman: "Lady, hundreds of thousands of men and women like this young man have fought and died so that YOU could stand here, in MY country and accuse a check-out cashier of bombing YOUR countrymen. It is my belief that had you been this outspoken in YOUR own country, we wouldn't need to be there today.

But, hey, if you have now learned how to speak out so loudly and clearly, I'll gladly buy you a ticket and pay your way back to Iraq so you can straighten out the mess in YOUR country that you are obviously here, in MY country to avoid."

Everyone within hearing distance cheered!

IF YOU AGREE ------- Pass this on to all your proud
friends . . . .

Immigration fraud exposed....... via newsbeat1



If the King of Pop Converts to Islam Daniel Pipes, New York Sun, March 7, 2006

[. . . . ] These and other examples establish Islam – in both its normative and Nation variants – as a leading solace for African-Americans in need. That helps explain why the United States has by far the largest Muslim convert population in the Western world (about 750,000 adherents). Each black public figure who converts to Islam or accepts Nation of Islam support creates an added impetus for other blacks to change religions, a pattern that has also emerged in other Western countries.

Thus do the actions of an erratic celebrity in distant Bahrain have significant consequences.

Link for the list.



'Everything happened after five o'clock,' says François Perreault -- official spokesman, who just released a book on the Gomery commission Mike De Souza, The Hill Times, March 6th, 2006

Mr. Perreault described a wide range of backroom manoeuvers, drama and emotions throughout the commission's proceedings in his book, but he said nothing shocked him more, even after a 36-year career as a journalist and public relations expert, than an orchestrated attack on Feb. 1, 2005. After reporters told him that they were getting calls from the office of then-public works minister Scott Brison about the Gomery Commission being tens of millions of dollars over budget, he admitted losing his patience when he called Mr. Brison's then director of communications Susan Murray for an explanation. [....]

The Gomery Commission cost $30-million, but Mr. Kinsella claims the commission and spin-off costs were $100-million.

"Gomery has permitted Perreault to pocket the proceeds of the French and English editions, even though his PR underling had already received approximately $250,000 in public monies in a contract awarded without competition," Mr. [Warren] Kinsella wrote last week in the National Post.

Mr. Kinsella, once a top strategist in Mr. Chrétien's government, also criticized the author for writing and promoting the book while the commission was still underway. [....]

"Mr. Brison's then director of communications Susan Murray" -- Is Susan Murray not a CBC employee? Or is there constant interchange and cross-pollination between the CBC / Liberal Propaganda Organ and Liberal governments?

Quick Links

Happy Weekend
















Quebec juniors find oil in Gaspe



Terence Corcoran: Gaga over WiFi

Are tax dollars being used to fund this project? "No, they are not," says Toronto Hydro Telecom firmly in a news release. "The budget for this project is 100% funded by the operations of Toronto Hydro Telecom," which is an "affiliate" of Toronto Hydro that operates at "arm's length." Creative structures and imaginative interpretation of such structures being a house specialty at Toronto Hydro and the city, the above disclaimer can be taken to be creative and imaginative.

It is all most interesting.



Shaw rejects Vonage complaint



Africa proves profitable for Cordiant -- African fund promotes sustainable growth -- "owned by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board, SNC Lavalin Capital and its directors" Barry Critchley, Financial Post, Mar. 10, 06

The juxtaposition was almost eerie: At the same time that a column was being prepared on Banro Corp., a Canadian-based exploration development company active in the gold fields of the Democratic Republic of Congo and a speaker at this year's meeting of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, a call was made to the Montreal offices of Cordiant Capital, a one-of-a-kind money manager that was also a speaker at the same convention.

And it just so happened that Cordiant, which manages three institutional pools of capital geared to the emerging markets, was an investor in Banro.

Search: SNC Lavalin , Canada Investment Fund for Africa (CIFA) , G8 summit, the federal government -- then led by Jean Chretien , selected by the government of Canada to manage the Canada Investment Fund for Africa , private-sector businesses in Africa , promoting sustainable economic growth and social development on the African continent , eight investments for a total outlay of US$28-million , Nigeria's UAC , stake in Banque Commerciale de Rwanda , Orezone, a Canadian-based gold explorer and producer operating in Burkina Faso , Mr. Big's Fast Foods , Nigeria , Peters Papers, a South Africa-based paper merchant



Once-mighty Ontario slides further behind -- "Ontario, historically among the most attractive provinces for business investment, is now on the losing side of the competitiveness battle." -- suggestions given



Dim-bulb policy: It's one thing to help customers use energy wisely, but why is GE actively lobbying for global warming regulations?



PM Harper: News Releases

Francophone Summit in Bucharest, Romania, in September 2006

Francophone Summit, Québec City in 2008.

Prime Minister announces diplomatic nomination of former Clerk of the Privy Council

Check Alex Himmelfarb's biography. What was his contribution to what Canada has become, given the listed qualifications?

Search: Victimization Research , National Parole Board , Department of Citizenship and Immigration , "Professor, Sociology, University of New Brunswick and then Chief of Evaluation, Unified Family Courts, Department of Justice (Executive Interchange)" , Social Development Policy , "Treasury Board; Head, Social Union Task Force" , Deputy Minister of Canadian Heritage

Bud Talkinghorn

The CBC--Rant #132

Just when you think maybe, just maybe, they will stay with a show, like "Wonderland" that has potential, that maybe they will simply get rid of the worst aspect (the urination scene), they cancel it. To make room for another incomprehensible Ken Finklestein opus. The "Newsroom" was definitely funny, a wild leap into the cynicism that probably underlines the news editors' decisions. CNN devotes something like 43% of its news to the "news" of Christopher Reeves' wife dying. Not enough that they sucked old Chris dry for coverage, but now the national wail must go up for his dead widow. This was the sort of schmaltz that "The Newsroom" satirized. The next two series from Finklestein were weaker, by far. Why do I think that he has been given yet another year to drivel? Now we have "Wonderland" cancelled so this dramatic version of Ralph Benmergui's pensees can have a final shot.

It is good in that CBC has dropped their cover of "neutrality" and are back to their obvious bias, having regained its old lefty news stance. The fear that a Conservative majority government would privatize them kept them posing as fairly neutral during the election. Now that a few Canadian soldiers have been killed or injured, the CBC picks up Jack Layton's anti-war position. "Are Canadians ready for the body bags?", one CBC woman intones darkly. The fact that it was the Liberals who sent them there in the first place is being buried. The spin will be: it's those war-mongering Conservatives who created this quagmire. To rub salt into the wound, we have Saint Peter Mansbridge reporting from the Kandahar "trenches"--well, actually surrounded by giant howitzers and tanks, well inside the camp.

© Bud Talkinghorn--Perhaps Finklestein will pull it off this time.

P.S. I watched the first episode. My conclusions are mixed. There was an eerie icy glow to the hotel's atmosphere. One almost expected Norman Bates to suddenly appear, sharpening his knife at the ending. Film noir has always intrigued me. However the outbursts of song from the characters was bizarre. Was Finklestein channeling "The Singing Detective" series? It actually worked in that British one, but not here. At least we were spared Finkleman's pseudo-intellectual ramblings. His second TV outing showed promise in the first episode, and then fizzled rapidly. I watched the spotty "This is Wonderland" to see if it had run out of gas and should be replaced. Like "At the Hotel" it garnered mixed reviews. Still, it has a better track record than Finklestein.



The death of multicult

It is hard for me to pinpoint exactly when I knew that multiculturalism was fading. Still two seminal events helped drive the nails in its coffin for me. The first was multicuralism's Cabinet Minister, Hedy Fry's statement that "That KKK crosses were being burnt on the lawns of Prince George, as we speak." Totally nutsy statement with not a thread of truth to back it up -- so nutsy in fact that she had to publicly apologize. Suddenly, Canadians got to see who oversaw this program and how rabid she had become. The second shoe that dropped was when the National Association of Women (NAC) started being the National Association of Women of Colour (NAWC). Now how a Canadian organization that claimed to represent all Canadian women ended up with its president being a New Yorker was always amazing. However Judy Rebbick--an arch-lefty--was to be the nadir of pretense. Next came Ms Thobani, an East-Indian transplant, also via America. She made Rebbick sound like a neocon by comparison. The emphasis switched from Canadian women to the supposed plight of ethnic women. Thobani was replaced by a Ms. Joan Grant-Cummins (Cummings?), a Barbadian. The victimology 101 screed continued unabated. NAC's government pork was cut and because no intelligent non-ethnic woman would support it, NAC withered into irrelevance. The last president was some aboriginal woman, whose name completely escapes me--as well as most Canadian women, I suspect.

Today, with our large urban immigrant populations, we are seeing the breakdown of assimilation. Of course, under past governments this rejection of Canadian values was actually encouraged. Another of Trudeau's utopian brain farts. Europe should be a road map to the disaster of the multicultural (mosaic) policy. Some of the great cities of the enlightenment are now encircled by festering Muslim slums of benighted ignorance. The massive outbreak of arson was a blackmail letter to the French. Basically, the rioters were saying, "We are here and you can't get rid of us, so treat us with deference, or else these crazy attacks will become an annual event." The world-wide Muslim protests about the cartoons was broadcasting an even more intimidating message, "If you impugn our prophet's reputation as being a messenger of peace, we will kill you." A rather mixed message that.

Perhaps a third realization of the detrimental effects of multiculuralism could be seen in the Concordia riot, when Muslims--some not even students--stormed the university to protest a speech that Benjamin Netanyahu was giving. To my knowledge, not one of these students (on student visas) was deported. The worst was when the administration didn't re-schedule Netanyahu's speech, but rather, shunted it to another off-campus place. That, along with Gabil Gharbi's (aka Jean Lepine) rampage against Ecole Polytechnic's female engineering students stands out in multicult's growing litany of failures. The acceptance of gays and women's rights spring from an European perspective, not a Middle Eastern one.

You notice that you rarely hear from "moderate Muslim" voices. If I were a Christian, the atrocities that were being waged in my religion's name would have me writing daily to the news editorial page to condemn these apostates. Instead, we get an Islamic replay of the "phobia" accusation. Well, to be honest, we have seen most of our media cave into that "phobia". Yes, they really do fear radical Muslims. Intrinsically, they know what the radical element is capable of. Just a while back, an Iranian student tried to run over students at the University of North Carolina. He is now charged with nine counts of attempted murder. Our liberal media choose not to report this, at least I didn't see it in Canada. I saw it on CNN. His rationale: "He was avenging the death of Muslims worldwide." Perhaps, as a Shi'ite,he might have done more avenging if he had run down the Sunni student organization on campus. However, he gave us a brilliant window into the radical Islamic mind.

We in the West must stop giving in to the demands of this retrograde religion that never underwent any transformation since the 7th Century. We cannot back down from our libertarian ideals. Having won this round of censorship, there will be more Islamic demands to the West. We beat down the anti-freedom fascist and Communist crowds. We can beat down Islamofascism. It simply takes some belief in our Western values.

© Bud Talkinghorn


Two beacons of media freedom

First, I have to sing the praises of The Western Standard. It alone dared incur the wrath of both the fanatical Islamists and our cowering liberal media. We had witnessed huge riots and mindless destruction across the Muslim world, mainly because a Danish imam took the original cartoons and three created obscene ones throughout the Middle East. He had been denied a visa for his Lebanese wife--any co-incidence there? Suddenly every rent-a-mob in the Islamic world was aflame with religious indignation. The fact that many of their chants included "the Great Satan" America and the Israelis showed who had organized them. The Danish cartoons were simply an excuse to threaten the West. It was a bullying statement from an insecure, paranoid religion. A small publication like the Western Standard was the sole news organization that stood up to these religious censors.

Perhaps the funniest of the liberal press coverage was from CNN, who showed the cartoon with Mohammed's face pixilated. As Mark Styen remarked, "It was as though he was in the witness protection program. But of course, it was really CNN which was in that program. Or at least hoped it was."

While The National Post chose not to publish the cartoons, it still is one of the most unfettered newspapers. Unlike such arch-leftist papers such as The Toronto Star, it trumpets the threats to Canada of our unchecked immigration and refugee policies. The National Post and the Western Standard are the "Cassandras" of news outlets. The National Post chronicles the nauseous decisions of a flunky-ridden IRB. It was not an aberration that the Conservatives couldn't penetrate the inner city electorate. The Liberals have allowed our immigration / refugee system to be abused for decades so as to curry favour with immigrant / refugee voters. And it worked. What does that say for the government's fundamental duty to protect the nation? For these exposes alone, the paper is worth reading. It can be critical of the new Conservative government without becoming hysterical about the up-coming changes. It can actually envision a Canada that does not have the paternalistic heel of government on the citizens' necks. We have mainly lost our university youth to this leftist pernicious socialistic thinking; therefore, we need an antidote. Before The National Post, we had none. Now even Macleans magasine has seen the light and begun to present a balanced viewpoint. There is hope yet.

© Bud Talkinghorn

Updated: China, Internet, Immigration, World Bank, Shapiro, Islamists

Update Mar. 9, 06:

News Junkie Canada, Aug. 25, 2004 with information on gangs and organized crime, among other things. (Note that it is not on Frost Hits the Rhubarb). I discovered link errors but the corrected links are below

http://newsjunkiecanada.blogspot.com/2004_08_25_newsjunkiecanada_archive.html

Links correct as of Mar. 9, 06: This goes with a post below entitled "Gremlins at my links again?".

ASIAN ORGANIZED CRIME AND TERRORIST ACTIVITY IN CANADA, 1999-2002, A Report Prepared by the Federal Research Division, Library of Congress under an Interagency Agreement with the United States Government, July 2003 -- Researcher: Neil S. Helfand, Project Manager: David L. Osborne, Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/pdf-files/AsianOrgCrime_Canada.pdf

CENSORING THE OLYMPICS by Amir Taheri -- still available and worth reading

http://www.benadorassociates.com/article/6578

Ottawa to review security August 24, 2004

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/TorontoSun/News/2004/08/24/599407.html

The two that follow are no longer available:
Women are ruining the Olympics
The Muslim Olympics


End of Mar. 9, 06 update

---

Updates:

The template has changed so now older posts are listed at the bottom. This generally happens when I post about China, organized crime, and related matters--the usual shenanigans. I did not make any changes. For some reason, not only do posts get lost and links change but it is no longer possible to be assured that when we post on Blogger / Google, the posts will remain. Why do you suppose that happens? Make an educated guess. NJC

Previous Posts -- some of them, anyway

[now updated: China, Internet, Immigration, World Bank, Shapiro, Islamists]

Updated: Aboriginal Ed, Communist Dictators, Ports, Etc.
Angry in the GWN/Steve Janke--a Must Read
Jack: Citizenship Judges--a must read
Updated: Monday Morning Rain
Wash your eyes out ...
Bud Talkinghorn &
In Memoriam: RCMP Officers Mayerthorpe
The more things change ...
Book: Gomery, Global Taxes, Cuba, China-Nuclear, Etc.

Good books -- but good for whom?

Related: Excellent, reasoned, worth reading

Barbara Kay: A 'neutral' take on the Middle East? Hardly , National Post, Mar. 8, 06
Re: Jonathan Kay on the book for children 9-12, "Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak"

[....] He admits to one reservation, however: "The only thing [author Deborah] Ellis might be faulted for is not providing more detail about how Arab leaders encourage such murderous hatred."

But what he perceives as a mere shortcoming I believe corrupts the whole enterprise.
Cultural context is totally lacking in Three Wishes. Nowhere does Ellis mention the disparity in Palestinian and Israelis' treatment of each other in their educational material. Palestinian Media Watch notes that a study of 480 Israeli textbooks, including those of the ultra-religious, didn't find a single hateful reference to Palestinians, but Palestinian schoolchildren are bombarded by schoolbooks, songs ("Allah Akhbar, how sweet is self-sacrifice"), media harangues, posters and cultural activities all promoting hatred of Jews and the virtue of shahada, martyrdom. [. . . . ]

After reading this, I would have to conclude that Barbara Kay is right.



Hamas Launches Web Site Encouraging Kids to Become 'Martyrs'

Scroll to "Awww, they blow up so fast, don't they?" -- Puppage (You may disagree with what I have to say, but I shall defend to your death my right to say it)

The Palestinian Authority's ruling Hamas terror group has launched a web site for children, preaching the moral desirability of being a suicide terrorist through cartoons and children's stories.

The Hamas-run Al-Fateh.net glorifies shahada, martyrdom, and presents the deaths of terrorists attacking Israelis as a time of celebration, according to a report by Palestinian Media Watch. [. . . . ]

Mount Saint Vincent one of the few universities to ban plagiarism-detection software re: Turnitin.com

Both perspectives, "privacy" vs "guilt, fear and suspicion" can be argued. My solution in one sample instance follows: I would accept nothing written at home without demonstrating knowledge of the area of research in question in the classroom, either written or orally and extemporaneously. Essays are too easy to plagiarize and students become expert in cutting, pasting, and writing connecting phrases.

Students do all the research and reading they need to do for a particular topic outside the class. Then, in class within a three hour or more period of time, they must write an essay on one of a few particular aspects of that topic -- answering one or several questions requiring, not just knowledge gleaned from research and reading, but coming to conclusions which weren't available from the research or which must use the research to respond, along with a good dollop of common sense, critical faculty and writing ability to put it together in a personally unique way while demonstrating advance in learning. There are oral possibilities, but the idea is that the student not plagiarize -- at least not without learning.



Alex Himelfarb, Canada's ambassador to Italy, Albania and the Republic of San Marino, and High Commissioner to Malta.


138 pieces of high-tech equipment stolen from B.C. government last year


Nations race for share of North


Editorial: Shapiro must go


BCE spins off new trust


Mark Evans: BCE at crossroad to consolidation -- Market may boil down to scale and financial flexibility -- "This consolidation is a far cry from the heady days of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that aimed to foster competition and give consumers more choice." FinPost, Mar. 8, 06



Toronto Hydro joins Wi-Fi wars Mark Evans, Mar. 8, 06, FinPost

Dave Dobbin, Toronto Hydro Telecom's chief executive, said the move into the wireless market makes sense. The utility already has a fibre-optic network that is underused, it owns the light poles to install the wireless equipment, and it will help with the implementation of a smart-meter program being mandated by the province by 2010.

Anne Marie Owens: Small school sparks wireless furor NatPost, Mar. 8, 06

[. . . . ] Prof. Gilbert concedes most of the findings suggest the impact stems from what is considered chronic exposure, but he says it's still too early to tell what counts as minimal exposure, particularly with the newer WiFi technology. [. . . . ]

What interests me, besides the obvious, is the criticism of anyone who doesn't go along -- familiar to many, is it not?



Chris Cobb: Cancer-causing carcinogens all too common -- After investigating the links between common toxins and cancer rates, Wendy Mesley was shocked by her findings Ottawa Citizen, Mar. 5, 06

The greatest cause of rising cancer rates is not genetic but environmental, says Mae Burrows, a Canadian environmentalist pushing for legislation that will force companies to declare all carcinogens on consumer product labels.

"There is lots of stuff we should be avoiding," she says during an interview on the show. "But there is absolutely no requirement to label a product if it has a carcinogenic in it. I'd like to see laundry detergents labelled, I'd like to see pet supplies labelled and I'd like to see personal care products labelled. What we're saying to industry is that we know you can reformulate these products without carcinogens. Do it. Make changes and you can still make a buck."

Ms. Mesley says it's almost impossible for most consumers to decode or investigate chemicals listed on products. "I've had cancer and I've spent the last year thinking about this story," she says, "and I haven't memorized all the chemicals I have to look for.

"People are busy with jobs and families and they assume the Canadian Cancer Society and Health Canada are looking after them -- if there is something on the shelves that is harming them, it will be taken care of. [.... ]

Muslim 'student' launches jihad in North Carolina


Et tu, Fukuyama?


Turning a blind eye


Cabinet is not strong without integrity


The other riots -- "the slow-burn riots in China" -- comments and discussion of communism -- See ET, Nomdenet, JR




Globe and Mail: CSIS warned Ottawa of Beijing media plot

ahdu88.blogspot.com/2006_01_01_ahdu88_archive.html


Friday, January 13, 2006: Chinese Communist Show to Celebrate Torture on US/Canada Stage

See also Terry O'Neill: Canada-China: Where is our 'Foreign Aid' dollar going?
Between Heaven and Earth





Guy Millière: The Murder of Ilan Halimi FrontPageMagazine.com March 7, 2006

[. . . . ] In the days since the dying Halimi was discovered, some journalists have been making ugly discoveries. The gang of thugs (they called themselves "the Barbarians") had sequestered the young man in an apartment that had been rented by the doorman of the building. The doorman knew what had been happening but did nothing. Many other residents in the building had heard a man screaming, but had decided to mind their own business instead of calling for help, even anonymously. "When you live here, you think about yourself and only about yourself," one of them said.

The screams must have been loud because the torture was especially atrocious: the thugs cut bits off the flesh of the young man, they cut his fingers and ears, they burned him with acid, and in the end poured flammable liquid on him and set him on fire. [. . . . ]

Barbarism -- Now is the time to take a stand here in North America. As a first step, think about this; I have a friend who has just subscribed to the Western Standard who said: "To subscribe to and read this is a gift".

End of updates

---

A liberal is a man who leaves a room when the fight begins. Heywood Broun

Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views. William F Buckley, Jr

Liberals, it has been said, are generous with other peoples' money, except when it comes to questions of national survival when they prefer to be generous with other people's freedom and security. William F Buckley, Jr

Gremlins at my links again?

Lately, I have had many visits from the Philippines and many visitors checked this: FHTR February 24, 2005: Multiculturalism, IRB, Vietnamese Immigration via Philippines, Vietnamese Asian & Other Criminal Gangs in Canada

On checking, I found two links had been changed:

Search: Asian-based networks.

Download an Adobe Acrobat .pdf copy of the whole report (Vol64_no3_e-RCMP-BikerGangs.pdf)

Note the connections between Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs and Asian-based crime networks.

Adobe Acrobat .pdf copy of the whole report (Vol64_no3_e-RCMP-BikerGangs.pdf)

National Strategy to Combat Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs

Gazette, Vol. 64, No. 3, 2002, "Canada's Crackdown on Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs"

This is a source for information: Nathanson Center for the Study of Organized Crime and Corruption -- Menu includes Q1_2000 to Q4_2005

Note: When links are bad, it usually is worthwhile to check further. Also search for more information under this heading: "ASIAN ORGANIZED CRIME AND TERRORIST ACTIVITY IN CANADA, 1999-2002"




Cybercriminals stepping up targeted attacks Reuters, Mar 07 07

Cybercriminals are stepping up smaller, more targeted attacks as they seek to avoid detection and reap bigger profits by stealing personal and financial information, according to a report issued Monday.

Search: China

Worth reading



China and the break-up of the net -- Chinese ideas about the setting up its own domain name system could change the global nature of the internet, argues internet law professor Michael Geist.

Michael Geist holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law.

[. . . . ] The People's Daily article suggested that China was implementing several new Chinese character domains, including .China, .com, and .net.

While that alone would attract attention, the article went on to state that as a consequence of the changes, "internet users don't have to surf the web via the servers under the management of Icann of the United States." [. . . . ]

Given its continued interest in censoring certain online content, a national root that excludes large chunks of the existing global internet may ultimately emerge as an attractive option to Chinese lawmakers. [. . . . ]

Listed below are posts on China, internet, South and Southeast Asia related articles posted Monday, Mar. 6, 06: "Updated: Monday Morning Rain [map inserted Mar. 8, 06]"

Silk Road -- "The Silk Road's History, Development, Operation and Significance"

Why Handset Giants Are Dialing Up India -- Taxes have dropped, there's less red tape, and the market is booming May 9, 05

China telecom co plans R&D centre in Bangalore March 19, 2004

India, ZTE´s Promising Target Market -- "Ms Fang Rong, Vice President of ZTE Corporation, delivered a speech. "The 12th Convergence India 2004, as an international telecommunication exhibition, offers India Telecom Industry and ZTE excellent opportunity to communicate and exchange ideas and experience." ZTE Presented Its Powerful Strengths at 12th Convergence India 2004 2004-03-22 -- and there are other countries listed that might be worth checking.

'Chinese Putin' gets tough on Internet's 'dangerous ideas By Willy Lam*, World Tribune.com, March 2, 2006

Jail takes glint off £300m 'bling bling' drugs gang Andrew Worden, Mar 3 2006

TransCanada warns it must build Canadian leg of Alaska gas pipeline March 6, 2006 -- Search: China may invest in Enbridge Alberta Clipper oil pipeline to U.S. Midwest

Google, Google, Google by M.Makina, January 30, 2006

Immigration Articles

Since information disappears without warning from webpages and sites no longer exist, readers might be interested in these articles.

Several articles concerning immigration and related chicanery -- McAdam, Read, Hong Kong, RCMP, and more

Title: Further details revealed about Hong Kong `scam'
Source: Edmonton Journal, September 10, 1999, Final Edition, p.A10 ....

Title: The story so far
Byline: Fabian Dawson; Staff Reporter
Source: The Province (Vancouver), August 29, 1999, Final Edition, p.A3 ....

Title: Were our officials bribed in Hong Kong?: Mounties are investigating a night at the races and little red envelopes stuffed with dollars
Byline: Fabian Dawson; Staff Reporter
Source: The Province (Vancouver), August 29, 1999, Final Edition, p.A2 ....

Title: Mountie suspended in consulate probe
Byline: For the Calgary Herald; The Province
Source: Calgary Herald, September 3, 1999, Final Edition, p.A10 ....

Title: Mountie accuses RCMP of a coverup
Source: The Province (Vancouver), August 26, 1999, Final Edition, p.A3 ....

Title: RCMP may have `botched' Hong Kong probe
Source: Times Colonist (Victoria), September 9, 1999, Final Edition, p.A8 ....

Title: Fraud began 40 years ago at consulate, ex-official says:
Officers charge cover-up after RCMP probe
Byline: Tim Harper
Source: The Toronto Star, September 3, 1999, First Edition ....

Title: Mountie vows to keep fighting over visa frauds: Won't `go away'
despite suspension for talking to press
Byline: Tim Harper
Source: The Toronto Star, September 4, 1999, First Edition ....

Title: MPs seek probe of visa cover-up
Byline: Fabian Dawson; Staff Reporter
Source: The Province (Vancouver), December 2, 1999, Final Edition, p.A24 ....

Title: 'Whitewash': An RCMP probe into alleged improprieties at the Canadian mission in Hong Kong fails to answer key questions, critics say
Byline: Fabian Dawson; Staff Reporter
Source: The Province (Vancouver), December 23, 1999, Final Edition, p.A6 ....

CTV.ca Criminal Immigrants

And we asked for an interview with Alain Jolicoeur, president of the Canada Border ... But an Immigration Department report obtained by W-FIVE offers some ... - 6 Mar 2006

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060303/WFIVE_immigration_060303/20060304?hub=WFive

[. . . . ] Quota system

Kurland's theory is backed up by an internal Immigration report obtained by W-FIVE that states: "…removal officers also reported that they are required to meet quotas … the number of removals … comes first, not the quality of the work they do."

W-FIVE tried to find out how many criminals are at large in Canada waiting to be deported. Immigration wouldn't tell us. And we asked for an interview with Alain Jolicoeur, president of the Canada Border Services Agency and the man in charge of deporting criminals. But he refused.

But an Immigration Department report obtained by W-FIVE offers some insight: In 2003, in Toronto alone, 1,704 criminals, ordered out of the country had yet to be deported.

And nearly 1,600 of them, many serious offenders, were free to walk the streets. [. . . . ]

Yesterday I checked the Western Standard and one of Ezra Levant's posts which led to comments from maz2 which led to this. Note the date.


A letter re: appointment of Shapiro as ethics commissioner.

Gregory J. Levine
Barrister and Solicitor
London, Ontario

May 23, 2004
Hon. Jacques Saada
Parliament of Canada
Ottawa, Ontario

Sir,

Re. Appointment of Ethics Commissioner - Letter Dated May 19, 2004

[....] I am astounded and even outraged that your government could not see its way to create an open process which would enhance the visibility and reputation of this most important office as well as one which could have specified clearly and forthrightly the qualifications by which candidates= applications would be judged.

I am troubled by the following paragraph in your letter:

In selecting a candidate for the position of Ethics Commissioner, the government of Canada first consulted experts. A list of credible candidates was compiled based on these consultations. These candidates were then contacted to determine their interest in the position of Ethics Commissioner and were provided with background material pertinent to the position. Several candidates were interviewed. Based on these interviews, Dr. Bernard Shapiro was selected the government's proposed appointment for the position of Ethics Commissioner.

Surely expertise should have been sought on the criteria for selection and then the position could have been advertized. What expertise was seen as needed for this position and why. [....]

Further, to rely on suggestions of a few experts about some select candidates seems incredibly myopic. How were your experts chosen and why would their choosing of candidates be better than letting people apply? The chosen few get to choose the chosen few. [....]

There is more if you link to the webpage.




Is Wolfowitz ruining the World Bank? "Looks like Paul Wolfowitz is bringing his trademark combination of ideology and incompetence to the World Bank." Joshua Holland, Alternet, March 6, 2006

Wolfowitz in effect, forced a political appointment at the director level, which is rather unheard of, especially since directorships are lower in the administrative stratosphere and are traditionally filled following an open competitive process based on merit, not political imposition.

Another glaring example of presidential fiat came with the appointment of the Bank's new corruption czar

Joshua Holland is a staff writer at Alternet and a regular contributor to The Gadflyer.

http://alternet.org/blogs/themix/33191/#more -- for comments


Putin's war with radical Islamists By Dmitry Shlapentokh

Russia - which usually makes world news only in relation to gas and oil - has recently emerged as an important foreign-policy broker. President Vladimir Putin's government has engaged in shuttle diplomacy between Iran and the West and between Hamas and the West. [....]

Updated: Aboriginal Ed, Communist Dictators, Ports, Etc.

Updates:

Income-trust probe turns to Brison -- "Sources said Mr. Brison sent his e-mail on Nov. 22, the day before the decision." Sinclair Stewart, Steven Chase, Brian Laghi, Mar. 7, 06

[. . . . ] Sources said the former public works minister, a potential contender for the Liberal leadership, sent an e-mail to one of CIBC's employees the day before Ottawa announced its much-anticipated policy on income trusts last November, in which he suggested the recipient would likely be pleased by the decision. [. . . . ]

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is preparing to dump the ethics commissioner and is actively recruiting replacement candidates, CTV News has learned. Mar. 7 2006

Was it Weston or Worthington who wrote that Mr. Shapiro, while qualified, was simply not a good ethics commissioner? I have no time now to check. Sorry.



An ancient doctrine, wrenched out of context by Anver Emon

This commentary was first published in the National Post on February 6, 2006.

[. . . . ] What is especially ironic is that Muslims the world over protest their corrupt autocratic governments where free speech is not allowed and opposition newspapers are shut down regularly. It is hypocritical for them now to call for the closure of newspapers and issue death threats to artists.

The protestors would argue that the above-described religious prohibitions justify their demand for a restraint on free speech and press. But in doing so, they ignore history and how conceptions of tolerance and pluralism have changed. Historically, the religious prohibitions were intended to preserve Muslim identity amidst non-Muslim majorities (Christian, pagan and otherwise) in areas recently conquered by Muslim forces. It was a doctrine that focused on the integrity of the Muslim community to bolster a nascent identity in a pluralistic context.

But that same doctrine now violates contemporary conceptions of tolerance. Removed from its historical and legal context, the doctrine only foments violence, intolerance and fundamental disrespect for dissent, deliberation and religious and ideological diversity.

BCE, Aliant to form regional trust


End of updates



Excellent!

Dust My Broom: Spot the Blame Game -- "Perhaps the most amazing thing about this story is the underlying tone of condescension and insult aimed at Indians, by ........ " March 6th, 2006

[....] Aboriginal schools across Alberta won’t release their provincial Grade 3 and Grade 6 achievement test results for 2005, citing “cultural insensitivity.”

…..Mel Buffalo, head of the Indian Association of Alberta and a spokesman for the Samson Cree nation at Hobbema, said the test results were markedly below provincial averages. Releasing them would enforce stereotypes about aboriginals without providing context. [....]

This is one of those must read articles



Ezra Levant: Yoke of Communist dictators is wearing out

These mini-protests -- in some cases, full-fledged riots with 30,000 participants -- are not Tiananmen Square, which was a coherent, intellectual protest, explicitly in the name of freedom. But they're in the same spirit: A growing middle class of ordinary Chinese sick of the large and small tyrannies of a one-party state. [. . . . ]

Arab company leases Vancouver port -- P&O Ports Canada, a subsidiary of P&O Ports, which was recently taken over by Dubai Ports World. Camille Bains, Feb. 23, 06

[....] Vanessa Vermette, a spokeswoman for Transport Canada, said the political controversy brewing in the United States hasn't created any waves in this country.

"The facility in question is compliant with the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code and it needs to maintain the same standards regardless of who's operating it," Vermette said of the Vancouver port, where P&O Ports Canada leases rights to one of four container terminals.

Memory Lane

Canada Wide Open for Terrorists -- Vancouver and Halifax Ports Go Unguarded -- Canadian Liberal Government Was Warned Charles R. Smith, Wednesday, July 10, 2002

[....] According to U.S. and Canadian intelligence officials, the ports are currently "wide open" for terrorist infiltration.

[....] According to the former executive director of the Canadian Police Association, the Canadian government was warned that the unprotected seaports would become the targets of terrorist organizations and organized crime rings if the Ports Canada Police were disbanded.

"They [the Liberal-led government] received strong and clear warnings from virtually every branch of law enforcement in this country," said Scott Newark.
Newark noted that provincial attorneys general, police chiefs, Crown prosecutors and even international security organizations warned the Liberals they were preparing to open Canada's ports to uncontrollable illegal activity, including drug trafficking, human smuggling and terrorism.

"It's entirely dishonest for them to say they've suddenly discovered this problem. They created it. [....]

Search:

Links to Red Chinese and Canadian Prime Minister
Chinese Army Companies Involved in Arms Smuggling
According to the Rand Corporation, CITIC is an "investment concern under China's governmental State Council."
Poly Technologies, Ltd
Leaks in Clinton Administration Foiled Bust




Book by Jonah Goldberg: Liberal Fascism: the Totalitarian Temptation from Mussolini to Hillary Clinton Doubleday ; ISBN: 0385511841

[....] Goldberg draws striking parallels between historic fascism and contemporary liberal doctrines. He argues that “political correctness” on campuses and calls for campaign finance reform echo the Nazis' suppression of free speech; and that liberals, like their fascist forebears, dismiss the democratic process when it yields results they dislike, insist on the centralization of economic decision-making, and seek to insert the authority of the state in our private lives–from bans on smoking to gun control. Covering such hot issues as morality, anti-Semitism, science versus religion, health care, and cultural values, he boldly illustrates the resemblances between the opinions advanced by Hitler and Mussolini and the current views of the Left.

Impeccably researched and persuasively argued, LIBERAL FASCISM will elicit howls of indignation from the liberal establishment–and rousing cheers from the Right.

Darah Hanson/Jonathan Fowlie: Refugee claim files found on data tapes -- Immigration minister vows to investigate auction sale of B.C. government tapes VanSun, Mar. 6, 06



Memory Lane:

The travesty of the Hotel Godin affair -- where Belinda Stronach held her party during the Conservative policy convention in Montreal by Beryl Wajsman, Institute for Public Affairs of Montreal, Saturday, September 3, 2005

[....] Citizens cede their natural liberties to a state in return for the provision of those services that even the strongest among us need, and that are best delivered in commonweal, so that each of us as individuals can have the freedom to realize our full potential as human beings by pursuing our singular passions and poetry. Public security, food, health care, education, human welfare, these are the appropriate agenda items of governance. The state has no role to play in dictating, defining or denying our pleasures and passions.

[....] The point of a free society is to have the freedom to make mistakes. The freedom to choose what is injurious to us and what is not. Public security measures must never be allowed to mirror precisely what we seek to destroy...tyranny over our freedoms of action and assembly. [....]

The CBC’s Office of the Ombudsman deals with complaints about information programming.

Please include:
Name, address and telephone number.
Here is how you can reach us:
E-mail:
ombudsman@cbc.ca
Mail:
Vince Carlin
Ombudsman
CBC
P.O. Box 500, Station A
Toronto, Ontario M5W 1E6
Fax: 416/205-2825
Tel.: 416/205-2978
For complaints about Radio-Canada programs ... www.radio-canada/ombudsman.




That big, ugly incident -- "Nexus is the brand name of the light commercial vehicles from China to be distributed by Auto Prominence Corp. " Ray Butch Gamboa, The Philippine Star 03/04/2006

[. . . . ] Vernon wrote lengthily [sic] about the Nexus. Some of the concerns he raised included "sport designs which are hardly original."Vernon wrote "The Hover SUV, for instance, bears a striking resemblance to Isuzu’s Axiom…. The Deer looks like the last generation Toyota Hilux, the Sailor looks like the Nissan Frontier, and the Cocool looks like the Isuzu D-Max with the grille of the Mitsubishi Strada. That’s what you call ‘inspirational engineering’".

Vernon went on to say that, with our "Filipino roads", the Nexus may be a "dubious concoction that may not pass the test of durability." Vernon also singled out the distributor’s two-year/50,000 kilometer warranty, "at a time when three-year/100,000 kilometer warranty deals are already the norm" making the new vehicles’ reliability and durability suspect. But he does concede that the "extremely low price tags" of the Nexus could spell the difference for them, considering that Filipino consumers are known to be extremely price-conscious. [. . . . ]

Angry in the GWN/Steve Janke--a Must Read

Bumped up: new post below -- NJC




If you read nothing else today, do check out the full posts for these. I have posted excerpts that I hoped would indicate the scope and importance. NJC


You might "remember how the Ethics Commissioner decided that David Smith had never acted unethically? .... Moreover, that during his "investigation", the Ethics Commissioner did not uncover the fact that .........."

The Abotech Affair: It was a smokescreen! Steve Janke at 07:55 PM, March 05, 2006 -- TrackBack URL for this entry:

Three firings? Should I hazard a guess and say at least one of those firings was Bill McCann? Was another Louis Vadeboncoeur?

But what of [Frank] Brazeau?

[....] KPMG uncovered "systemic" and "egregious" rule-breaking as well as a "conflict of interest" at Brazeau's unit at CAC, the documents show.

[....] KPMG concluded there was a "referral process to (a) specific contractor." It also cited an individual or firm "used as a conduit for contracting with retired public servants." The conduit's identity was whited out because of Privacy Act considerations.

[....] Public Works Minister Scott Brison ...........

You will recognize some of these from Steve's work in the fall:

Liberal MP David Smith, who sits in Parliament for the riding of Pontiac
aboriginal, ran a company called Abotech
a KPMG audit at PWGSC.
a bureaucrat named Frank Brazeau
sole-sourcing contracts
a problem of process
breezily dismissed by Minister Brison
the emergence of another potentially explosive federal ethics controversy
"Realigning" a hotbed of borderline criminal activity that included one of the Liberal Party's own MP's?
they were cousins
How the Liberals ducked another scandal

How the Liberals ducked another scandal -- As the Martin government braced for the Gomery report on the sponsorship scandal last fall, it also was worried about another potentially explosive controversy. The Gazette, Published: Sunday, March 05, 2006 -- another source but these posts disappear quickly

I always read comments from maz2 which led to the following two articles:

[....] That situation involved contracts let improperly to a family company of Quebec Liberal MP David Smith and other "egregious" contracting irregularities by a federal agency called Consulting and Audit Canada, discovered by outside auditors.

[....] Consulting and Audit Canada was dismantled. There were two police investigations, more forensic audits, and firings of three bureaucrats. Smith was exonerated of any conflict of interest by the House of Commons ethics commissioner.

This report led to the Gazette, page six and more.




Steve Janke / Angry GWN was highly praised by Peter O'Neil for his contribution and for keeping this story alive.

PETER O'NEIL: The scandal that went away -- Fear of fallout Documents reveal the Martin government fretted last fall that another federal ethics controversy might emerge prior to first Gomery report and possible election , CanWest, March 05, 2006 -- link also posted by maz2, March 5, 2006

[. . . . ] "Contracting rules 'encourage' violations," another document noted, referring to the fact CAC could generate revenue more quickly by avoiding costly, time-consuming competitions.

The first two KPMG reviews looked at 89 Brazeau-managed contracts valued at $15 million from March 2001 to March 31, 2005.

KPMG uncovered "systemic" and "egregious" rule-breaking as well as a "conflict of interest" at Brazeau's unit at CAC, the documents show.

There was "evidence of manipulation of procurement process, including apparent manipulation of evaluations," as well as "evidence that in three cases contractors were directed to submit false or misleading invoices," according to one summary of the KPMG reports looking into contracts managed by Brazeau, a "principal consultant" at CAC. [. . . . ]

There is much more.

Search: Scott Brison.

Jack: Citizenship Judges--a must read

Jack's Newswatch -- excellent -- a must read Mar. 5, 06

That leads to these videos:

See videos listed on the right as of Mar. 6, 06

W-FIVE: Criminal Immigrants, part one 11:04
W-FIVE: Criminal Immigrants, part two 10:11
CTV Newsnet: Victor Malarek with the investigation 3:59

Then Jack went a step further and looked into these citizenship judges:

These characters who have put Canadians in danger do not speak for me nor for most Canadians; as for their Order of Canada awards, the awards simply mean these people have had excellent Liberal networking skills, I suspect. This is what these government granted awards have come to mean .......

Nada! A long line of government appointees and apparatchiks put in place to deliver the Liberal votes, I suspect, by that circle out for what they could get -- ruled by the same old tribal connections and networks -- even more disturbing than I thought. The best people I know have not received awards nor public accolades; they are simply good and decent people who would never put our country at risk for anything so crass as votes ... or money ... or power.