April 29, 2005

Western Standard: Should, could, and "wood" Apr. 28, 06, Burkean Canuck, via newsbeat1

Note commentary about how much money in lawyers' fees this file used up over the years while the Libs couldn't get a deal .....



Proposed information law reforms are dangerous, commissioner says James Gordon, CanWest, April 29, 2006

Canada's information czar unleashed yesterday a scathing attack on proposed access to information reforms, calling them dangerous and a surprising disappointment........ would weaken the commissioner [. . . . ]

Related comments cnews forum comment

Scroll for "John Reid and I have been friends for over 40 years. He used to play fastball for me years ago before he got into politics. He really didn't slam the PM BUT he was really upset with Chretien and Martin because .... all information that is not classified belongs to the public simply because we paid for that information."

I have no idea of the veracity of this; judge for yourself.


Right Wing News: "detainee who was caught while trying to sneak across the Mexican border." John Hawkins

Search: Pakistan , $25,000 , priorities that are out of whack



G&M: U.S. blasts Canada on terrorism -- "Islamic terrorist cells continue to operate in Canada, according to a Bush administration report released yesterday that fingers a “liberal” immigration system for allowing terrorists to infiltrate the country." -- "Largely prepared before the Conservative government took office in Ottawa, the report, entitled The Country Reports on Terrorism 2005" Apr. 29, 06


Canada a 'haven' for terrorists -- Washington

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration said yesterday Canada has become a "safe haven" for Islamic terrorists who exploit lax immigration laws and weak counterterrorism enforcement to raise money and plan attacks.

In its annual Country Report on Terrorism, the State Department expressed growing concern about the presence of "numerous" terror plotters in the country and said political fallout from the Maher Arar case continues to hamper information-sharing between Canadian and U.S. intelligence agencies. "Terrorists have capitalized on liberal Canadian immigration and asylum policies to enjoy safe haven, raise funds, arrange logistical support and plan terrorist attacks," the report said. [. . . . ]

Country Reports on Terrorism 2005: pdf to download via newsbeat1

Special Briefing releasing the reports.
Background Information: Country Reports on Terrorism and Patterns of Global Terrorism

-- Table of Contents
-- Chapter 1 -- Legislative Requirements and Key Terms
-- Chapter 2 -- Strategic Assessment
-- Chapter 3 -- Terrorist Safe Havens
-- Chapter 4 -- Building International Will and Capacity to Counter Terrorism
-- Chapter 5 -- Country Reports: Africa Overview
-- Chapter 5 -- Country Reports: East Asia and Pacific Overview
-- Chapter 5 -- Country Reports: Europe and Eurasia Overview
-- Chapter 5 -- Country Reports: Middle East and North Africa Overview
-- Chapter 5 -- Country Reports: South Asia Overview
-- Chapter 5 -- Country Reports: Western Hemisphere Overview
-- Chapter 6 -- State Sponsors of Terror Overview
-- Chapter 7 -- The Global Challenge of WMD Terrorism
-- Chapter 8 -- Foreign Terrorist Organizations
-- National Counterterrorism Center: Country Reports on Terrorism 2005, Statistical Annex
-- Supplement on Terrorism Deaths, Injuries, Kidnappings of Private U.S. Citizens

Western Standard: Pakistan: Death for Mohammed cartoon publishers Apr. 27, 06, Darcey/DustMyBroom



The Early Days of Coal Research -- Wartime Needs Spur Interest in Coal-to-Oil Processes via http://www.canoe.ca/mb2/messages/cnewsf/9592.html
TruerAlberta, 4/27/2006 20:54:32

[....] The same year, the nation's first privately built and operated coal hydrogenation plant began operating at Institute, West Virginia. Constructed by the Carbide and Carbon Chemical Company (later to become Union Carbide), the Institute plant could process 300 tons of coal daily. From 1952 to 1956, the plant produced chemicals from coal, and hence its hydrogenation conditions were milder than those used in the Bureau's plants. Nonetheless, the Institute plant was a symbol to many in the Eisenhower Administration and the Congress that large-scale synthetic fuels plants should now become the responsibility of the private sector.

In March 1953 when the Republican-led House Appropriations Committee opened its budget hearings, its first official act was to kill funds for the Louisiana, MO, synthetic fuel plants. The cost of synthetic fuels was too high for the government to bear, the Committee stated. Estes Kefauver, then out of Congress but later elected to the U.S. Senate, claimed that the nation's oil companies had been behind the Committee's action because they did not want the competition from coal. A short time later, the Committee voted to cease funding for all the programs authorized under the Synthetic Fuels Act.

Within 90 days, the Missouri plants were closed and turned back to the Department of the Army. The coal hydrogenation plant returned to making ammonia. [....]

Are we creating monsters?

Christie Blatchford in the Globe and Mail today has an excellent article: "A juvenile response ...... or was it?"

Another one, a different 12 year old .....

12-year old girl arrested in burning of Sask. woman -- "upper half was torched" CP, LaRonge, Sask. Apr. 28, 06

A 12-year-old girl was charged with aggravated assault Friday, several days after a badly burned woman was found behind a video store.

[. . . . ] This arrest comes only days after another 12-year-old girl was arrested in Leader, Sask., after a triple murder in Medicine Hat, Alta. [. . . . ]

Three-year sentence for machete attacker -- Will serve 14 months Eliza Barlow, Apr. 28, 06, CNEWS -- link and comment: Oneida "What kind of culture produces a monster like this" 4/29/2006

Slicing a teenage boy’s arm to the bone with a machete at a city transit centre over a simple case of dislike has earned a 19-year-old man a three-year prison sentence, reports The Edmonton Sun.

Leslie Okeynan pleaded guilty in provincial court yesterday to aggravated assault in the June 4, 2005, machete attack at the Coliseum transit station.

[....] Court heard that when police asked Okeynan why he slashed the victim, he told cops, “I slashed him because I don’t get along with him ... because I don’t like him.” [. . . . ]

Oh, so now we understand ........


Progress ....... Star Choice catering to to the 65% of Canadians who watch porn are offering a 3rd porn channel,and free this weekend.



Doug Fisher: Like father, not so much like son -- "For example: Paul Martin Sr./Paul Martin Jr.; Pierre Trudeau/Justin Trudeau; Elmer MacKay/Peter MacKay; Ernest Manning/Preston Manning; David Lewis/Stephen Lewis/Avi Lewis; Romeo LeBlanc/Dominic LeBlanc; Frank Stronach/Belinda Stronach." Apr. 16, 06



Agent for the people -- The media are the public's eyes and ears. Let us do our job John Moore, NatPost, Apr. 29, 06

John Moore is the host of The John Moore Show on NewsTalk 1010 CFRB in Toronto.

[....] The media's participation at such ceremonies is not in the form of an ill-mannered scrum: It consists of a few cameras discreetly capturing the traditions of the slow march, the pipers, and official expressions of grief to the families. No journalist would reject the pleas of any family that asked for privacy. Yet the government itself is thwarting the wishes of those families that do want the media to be present.

If the government's concern is that Canadians will sour on the Afghanistan mission as we watch more and more caskets come home, then it's Stephen Harper's job to continue emphasizing its vital importance. But it is not the government's job to tell Canadians what they can and cannot witness through their agents in the media.

Activist condemns Canada's native rights Michel Mandel

Doreen Silversmith will travel from the Caledonia standoff to the United Nations this week not to praise Canada, but to shame her. Fresh from the aboriginal blockade, she will leave this country for the first time in her life and fly to Geneva to slam Canada's record on native rights and homelessness before the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR).

Which would-be Liberal leader? CanWest, Apr. 29, 06

[....] We must also get on with taking on climate change. The well-reported extent of environmental degradation, collapsing ecosystems, loss of species and the melting of our polar ice cap has dwarfed any claim that we could make of having achieved a state of sustainable development. The science of global-warming is sufficiently certain that delay is no longer an option. We must commit the resources necessary to address the causes and consequences of climate change.

[....] I believe that the protection of our health, natural resources and the environment should be grounded first and foremost in science. It is the starting point for meaningfully confronting our challenges in these areas.

Rudy's rules: Former New York City mayor reveals the six principles that helped him through the Sept. 11 crisis



"Too posh to push" -- "24% of Canadian babies"

C-section popularity pushes up expense -- Report finds babies needing neonatal care also rising -- "C-sections cost 60% more than vaginal births, according to the report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information released yesterday. It pegs the cost of a Caesarean at $4,600 and a vaginal birth at $2,800." Margaret Munro, CanWest, April 27, 2006



China's President continues African quest, signs oil exploration deal with Kenya Apr. 29, 06, FinPost

The China National Offshore Oil Corp. said the agreements covered production-sharing contracts for six blocks off Kenya's Indian Ocean coast covering 115,343 square kilometres. [. . . . ]

Time to pull plug on port authority Peter Kent Commentary, National Post, April 29, 2006

an anachronistic political confection foisted on a reluctant city and its taxpayers by Toronto members of Jean Chretien's pork-barrelling Liberal caucus.

[....] Almost 150 million taxpayer dollars later, the renamed Port Authority has achieved virtually none of its objectives.

[....] commuter aircraft such as Toronto's homegrown Bombardier Q400 turboprop

Cheaper Gas via cnews forum

Eagles, Hornby Island, BC

I could never view the video but the still photos are wonderful.

Webcam lets millions watch eaglets hatch CBC, Apr. 28, 06

An eaglet on British Columbia's Hornby Island pecked through its shell Friday afternoon in an event eagerly anticipated by millions of webcam watchers around the world.

Doug Carrick, who set up a webcam to observe the nest, said at exactly 1:35 local time one of the chicks started to poke its head out of the egg. [. . . . ]

Photos of eagles Hornsby Island, BC -- There are several.

Eaglet-photo by kitkat225.jpg

April 28, 2006: #1

His Excellency

'Lafond: An embarrassment to Canadians, who continue to pay his way'

[....] this film is no youthful indiscretion. Rather, it is a post-911, anti-American, conspiracy-theory rant. Had His Excellency been truly sensitized to his new role, he could have pulled his film from this year's Hot Docs film festival. [. . . . ]

Bingo! -- letter from Prince George, BC -- city memorialized by MP Hedy Fry



Supreme Court upholds acquittal of woman who killed husband in trance state -- battered-wife syndrome -- automatism -- self defence CNEWS, Apr. 28, 06

Maybe the feminist lobby could teach girls how to walk away? would it be possible for a battered / nagged / belittled, etc. male to beat the rap with automatism? Of course not!



Tories open to foreign airwaves -- Radio, TV ownership Graeme Hamilton, NatPost, Apr. 28, 06

OTTAWA - The Conservative government is opening a door for more foreign companies to buy Canadian radio and television stations.

Industry Minister Maxime Bernier has been reviewing recent recommendations of a government-appointed panel that suggested regulators should back away from the telecommunications sector and allow market forces to prevail. [....]

Search: an advocacy group on broadcasting issues , Friends of Canadian Broadcasting , Ian Morrison , The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television, and Radio Artists


Would the "Friends" be considered an NGO? Where do they get funding?

The mainstream media wanted something from the PMO / MP's. Well, this should give them fodder for the forseeable future. Anything to protect ......... the system in place.

The "Friends" might want to read this: THE AMERICANS -- written by Gordon Sinclair and recorded and made famous by CKLW, Windsor, Radio announcer Byron MacGregor posted by tweetypie, 4/27/2006 -- or this: "The press, especially the CBC and the Toronto Star are all that is propping up the federal liberals", posted by 71717


More scope for protest here: CRTC's nemesis now one of its bosses -- "radio shock jock turned Independent MP Andre Arthur" Elizabeth Thompson, Apr. 28, 06



Television Canadian content an issue for pay TV Barbara Schecter, FinPost, Apr. 27, 06

[. . . . ] In a letter to the CRTC, Charlotte Bell, vice-president of regulatory affairs at CanWest MediaWorks Inc., said the problems facing Discovery Health are "endemic to the entire category" of channels launched in 2001.

The so-called Category 1 digital channels were given the perks of "genre" protection from competition and guaranteed carriage by cable and satellite operators, but faced escalating Canadian-content obligations.[. . . . ]

I hope the History Channel survives.



Perhaps a job for "Friends"? They could take up a collection.

Tories refuse to pay AdScam bills -- Treasury Board won't pay for legal challenges -- re: Justice Gomery report / AdScam Stephanie Rubec, CNEWS, Apr. 28, 06

Baird took a hard line against Liberals looking to challenge Justice John Gomery's AdScam report, slamming the former Liberal government's decision to sign off on $40,000 for the legal fees of a longtime Grit on Jan. 23, hours before losing the federal election.

$40Gs for Chretien pal -- "In its final hours, Paul Martin's Liberal government secretly cut a $40,000 cheque to cover the costs of a Grit's challenge of the Adscam report" Stephanie Rubec, Apr. 27, 06

Just hours before losing his seat to the Tories Jan. 23, former Treasury Board president Reg Alcock signed off on a $40,000 payment to help Pelletier cover some of his legal fees.

[....] The payment is in addition to the $600,000 in legal fees taxpayers have already picked up for Pelletier's lawyers.

Not amused: comments from WesternCoyote (Search "zoo") and Ne0_North



Thane Burnett: Secret agent blues -- spy agencies recruiting



CIBC to pay $27M for overcharging CNEWS, Apr. 28, 06



From the PMO

Prime Minister announces Canada and U.S. reach softwood deal

April 27, 2006
Ottawa, Ontario

NO QUOTAS AND TARIFFS AT CURRENT PRICES

$4 BILLION IN DUTIES TO BE RE-PAID TO CANADA

PROVINCIAL AND REGIONAL FLEXIBILITY

7-YEAR ARRANGEMENT

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced today that Canada and the United States have reached a long-term agreement that resolves the longstanding softwood lumber dispute between the two countries.

The United States has agreed to Canada’s key conditions including:

Stable and predictable access to the U.S. market: there will be no quotas and no tariffs at current prices;

Repayment of duties: at least four billion dollars will be paid out to Canadian producers;

Provincial flexibility: there will be different compliance options in response to varying operating conditions across Canada; and

Certainty: the deal runs for a minimum of seven years with options for renewal at a later date.

“Canada’s bargaining position was strong; our conditions were clear; and this agreement delivers,” said the Prime Minister. “It’s a good deal that resolves this long-standing dispute and allows us to move on.”

The Prime Minister said today’s agreement was the product of intense engagement on the part of the Canada and noted the agreement is supported by British Columbia, Quebec and Ontario, Canada’s three main softwood-producing provinces.

“We have a deal that defends Canada’s national interests and helps Canadian communities and workers,” said the Prime Minister. “I commend Premiers Campbell, Charest and McGuinty for their support.”

Softwood deal reached Jason Kirby, Peter Morton and Paul Vieira, National Post / CanWest News Services, April 28, 2006

[. . . . ] Aside from surrendering 20% of the $5-billion that Washington has collected from Canadian lumber producers in the past four years, the agreement would also see Canadian exports limited to 34% of the $10-billion U.S. market.

The agreement also includes an export tax linked to both the value of the Canadian currency and the U.S. market price for construction lumber. [. . . . ]

Editorial with a negative viewpoint: Gone soft on softwood -- NAFTA, WTO, stability and predictability


Why quotas are an inferior system -- An export tax lets markets work and is easier to remove Ronald Wonnacott, NatPost, Apr. 27, 06

[....] Under a quota system, Canada would get a fixed share (its historical one-third?) of the U.S. market, with this in turn divided up as quotas among Canadian exporting firms. The benefits would go to Canadian exporting firms holding the valuable quota rights; they would be able to sell in the United States at the higher price resulting from the scarcity generated by the export limits. [....]

This article makes some points worth reading. The Liberals had years to get this in place ... but didn't. If a deal were so easy to get, why not?



Quebec proposes making history less anti-English

MONTREAL - A provincial government proposal to play down French-English conflict and pay more attention to non-francophone Quebecers in the teaching of high-school history is angering Quebec nationalists.

[....] "We will have to take to the street to protest this aberration," said one contributor to an Internet forum on the sovereigntist Web site vigile.net. [. . . . ]

Merger?

In praise of the four-party system Adam Radwanski, NatPost, Apr. 28, 06

New Democrats hate Liberals. More than Conservatives.

World report China on track to launch its first lunar satellite next April



Opposition MPs question government's power over Peace Tower flag protocol -- want Parliament to decide -- however ......

[....] Rob Nicholson, the Conservative House leader, brushed off the arguments.

He said the protocol for the Peace Tower flag, which is lowered for the death of senators, former parliamentarians, privy councillors and other VIPs, has been in place almost since Confederation - with the last four years of the Afghan mission the exception. [....]

Publication Ban on name of accused? In Okotoks, however, family and friends grieved the loss of Debra and Marc Richardson and their preteen son, Jacob.



China gives BlackBerry maker a raspberry -- In example of wild market, state-run companies offer ‘Redberry’ devices
AP, April 26, 2006

The Redberry is not a new version of the BlackBerry that's been designed by Research in Motion Ltd. for the Chinese market. It's the name being used by two unaffiliated Chinese companies selling a BlackBerry-like service on a non-BlackBerry mobile device.

[....] of the two companies involved. One, not so surprisingly, is a pugnacious start-up. But the other is China Unicom Ltd., whose majority owner is none other than the Chinese government.

There's another odd wrinkle. There are only two big cell phone companies serving China, both of them state-controlled but publicly traded. China Unicom is the wireless carrier offering "Uni PushMail," the new BlackBerry-like mobile e-mail service. The other carrier, China Mobile Ltd., just happens to be RIM's partner in bringing the BlackBerry to China.

[....] Facio Software Inc., founded by a Microsoft Corp. veteran named Tony Chan, boasts on its Web site that "We are the Redberry!" and that its service is available "before RIMM's BlackBerry." In a press release, Chan was quoted as saying, "The Redberry is not afraid, neither did David fear Goliath!"

There was a reason for helping curb mention of democracy online in China -- for helping the Chinese government to suppress dissent. Business.



Upheaval in the Congo

[. . . . ] Anvil and Banro are among a dozen or so Canadian firms hoping to revive the fortunes of the Congo, a mineral-rich nation that two decades ago supplied 6% of the world's copper. Years of civil war and controversial mineral policies have lowered the Congo's copper output to a trickle, currently less than 0.5% of global supply.

The Congo is trying to hold its first democratic elections in four decades but is struggling with several outbreaks of violence. [. . . . ]

Mentioned: Robert La Valliere, Anvil's Montreal-based vice-president of investor relations ....



Memory Lane

Sex scandal in Congo threatens to engulf UN's peacekeepers -- They should be rebuilding the country, but foreign workers face serious accusations NewsJunkie Canada, Dec. 24, 04

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1413501,00.html

Sex scandal in Congo threatens to engulf UN's peacekeepers Jonathan Clayton and James Bone, Dec. 23, 04, Times

HOME-MADE pornographic videos shot by a United Nations logistics expert in the Democratic Republic of Congo have sparked a sex scandal that threatens to become the UN’s Abu Ghraib.

The expert was a Frenchman who worked at Goma airport as part of the UN’s $700 million-a-year effort to rebuild the war-shattered country. When police raided his home they discovered that he had turned his bedroom into a studio for videotaping and photographing sex sessions with young girls. [. . . . ]

Bud Talkinghorn

Shy? Maybe you're just crazy

It used to be that we accepted conditions like shyness as simply a personality trait, part of the great diversity that made life interesting. Now it is defined as a genuine mental disorder by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual--the DSM. This manual is the Bible for who qualifies as certifiably loony tunes. The DSM boys have been expanding the range of traits that are a symptom of mental illness. Too boisterous? Too retiring? Both conditions allow you to take the insanity route as your justification for a double murder.

Now all of this is disturbing enough. Don't we have enough "victims" whining away for special treatment based on their social pathologies? Recently a column in The Globe and Mail (April, 21 A-18), by Benedict Carey shows how joined at the navel are the DSM psychiatrists and the drug companies. For instance, "A research study done by Tufts University and the University of Massachusetts showed that 95--or 56%--of 170 experts on the DSM were receiving money from pharmaceutical companies. In the serious mental disease category, it sometimes approached 100%. The conflict of interest is apparent. The DSM doesn't even acknowledge that most of their staff are receiving funds. However, if they keep inventing new mental diseases, this gives the drug companies new avenues to "medicate" us. Look at what a wonderous success they have had with the "hyperactive" kid. Millions of children in North America are routinely given Ritalin--speed--under a fancier name. Maybe we can dope up our passive kids too. This "you got a problem, we've got a pill for you" mentality has to end before we are all considered crazy and are popping pills by the handful.

© Bud Talkinghorn




Them ole Canadian TV blues

I realize that it's almost sacriligious to criticize Canadian television. After all, it is supposed to be "telling our stories". In the case of "DiVinci--City Hall", it is the story that Abby Hoffman would have written. The mayor and his underlings are devious pols, while the businessmen and cops are corrupt. Abby would have labelled the show, "Smash the State", which wouldn't go down well with the CRTC. We pride ourselves on being more subtle. However, we rarely fail to ape some other American script. If American Idol is a success down south, we reproduce it up here. If we do try to be original it rarely goes beyond enough Canadian references to qualify for a federal film grant.

There are exceptions of course. The first and last seasons of "Wonderland" were often delightfully creative, although they badly fumbled the second season. Everybody who hits the courts is not mentally disturbed, as that season seemed to suggest. "DiVinci's Inquest" worked because there was a balance between the police perspective and the coroner's office. Once DiVinci became mayor, the bloom went off the rose. Small wonder the CBC cancelled it. I won't even get too far into the sad state of Canadian TV news. If it isn't pushing some left-wing political slant, it regards the rest of the world's news as important only if some political or natural catastrophe visits it. CBC simply imported BBC World News to tell us about the next Afghanistan to erupt. Likewise, "Coronation Street" for a good soap opera.

Occasionally, we get a "Traders", "Red Green", or "Cold Squad" to remind us that good Canadian programing can exist. Still, for the money that we direct to FIlm Canada and the CBC we should expect a more consistent quality. Unfortunately what we will probably get is "Survivor" knock-off, set in the Muskokas.

I almost forgot to mention "North of Sixty" which was the best Canadian and aboriginal show to appear. Of course, then we had to have a lame (totally racist) program called "The Rez" -- so bad that the natives should have demonstrated about their portrayal. The only reservation winners were the pimps and drug dealers.

© Bud Talkinghorn

Updated Contributions to Mankind: #2

#1: Ananda, Pagan, Burma / Myanmar
#2: Borobodur, Central Java, Indonesia
#3: Craftsman, Pagan, Burma / Myanmar
#4: Thatbyinnu, Pagan, Burma / Myanmar





















































Borobodur, Central Java

Borobodur

Borobudur: Pathway to Enlightenment





Thatbyinnyu Temple - Pagan, Burma

BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE AT BAGAN (PAGAN), MYANMAR (formerly BURMA). Bob Hudson, University of Sydney, Australia, Updated January 2006

Hudson's website is full of information (see menu at left) such as HOW DO THEY MAKE THOSE BRONZE BUDDHA STATUES? some photographs from Mandalay of the "lost wax" process of making bronze artifacts.


Dictators "Defacing" Famed Burma Temples, Editor Says TravelWatch, Jonathan B. Tourtellot, National Geographic Traveler, Updated September 3, 2004

The military dictators of Burma (Myanmar) are defacing Pagan's dreamy field of timeworn medieval Buddhist temples (Traveler, January/February 2004) with a trumped-up "restoration" and improvements more suited in ways to a recreation center than to one of Southeast Asia's greatest archaeological heritage sites.

Within the 20 or so square miles (50 square kilometers) known as Pagan (also spelled Bagan) stand the ruins of more than 2,000 buildings—domed pagodas, spires, ziggurats—mostly built between the 11th and 14th centuries. [. . . . ]

Contributions to Mankind: #1

Yad Vashem Slideshow

Then consider the following (Put them together) from this source:

April 26, 2006: #2

Palestinians authors of their own misery Re: Don't Blame Hamas, letter to the editor, April 24.

[....] Before Yasser Arafat returned in 1993 to take over the business of their daily lives, the Palestinian population was free to come and go, to work in Israel and to prosper. Their GNP was higher than any other in the Arab world except the oil-rich Gulf states and Lebanon. The number of schools and universities had grown dramatically, infant mortality was down, and life expectancy was way up. It was terrorism that caused the repeated closure of border crossings, that built the barrier and that impoverished the people. [....]

Pakistani refugee to go free, no longer seen as terror threat

He had been refused by the US, a safe country, then came to Canada to try refugee shopping ......... in a pushover nation.

[Raja Ghulam Murtaza] fled Pakistan for the United States in 1997. Mr. Murtaza has also said that he lived in Houston with his wife, from whom he is now separated, and children, but headed to Canada three years ago to make an asylum claim here after his U.S. claim failed.

His Toronto girlfriend attended a hearing yesterday and urged reporters to rehabilitate Mr. Murtaza's reputation. "We need help in clearing his name," said Rose Bertuman, who has dated the cabbie for nearly two years. [....]

I suppose his being turfed out of Canada would be considered a hardship for his significant other so ..... Didn't he come from a safe third country?



Newsbeat1

Hansard Question Period: April 24 and Hansard Question Period: April 24

Hon. Stockwell Day (Minister of Public Safety, CPC): Mr. Speaker, under the former Liberal government the number of RCMP detachments was cut in the province of Quebec. We are going to change that.

The Prime Minister was very clear: we will increase resources for the RCMP and we can assure the citizens of Quebec that their streets and communities will be safer. We will make sure of it.

Gordon O'Connor-Minister of National Defence- Hansard - April 24,2006

This Conservative government will put Canada first by strengthening our national sovereignty and security. We will enhance our presence on land and sea and in the air. We will enhance the security of Canada and its citizens both at home and abroad by acquiring the means to act wherever and whenever required. We will become more reliable and effective international security and humanitarian partners with the means to respond to natural and man-made disasters.

Great endeavours come at a great cost. With the support of Canadians, the will of the government, this great nation's resources, the outstanding service members and the support of their families, we will achieve our vision. Canadians need this and Canada can do it.

Flag Protocol

General Lewis MacKenzie Globe and Mail Update, Apr. 25, 06

Gen. Lewis MacKenzie: I certainly see the argument, appreciate the concern and respect the intent. However, as the veterans organizations have pointed out, it is important to treat the deaths of all those who voluntarily accept unlimited liability when they join the Armed Forces equally and that is done eloquently on the 11th of November. In fact, I'm pleased to see that the attention paid to Remembrance Day is expanding every year.

I don't believe you are quite accurate regarding the flag protocol regarding federal buildings — for MPs and Senators the flags are only lowered in the riding of an MP and the residence of a Senator.

In the case of fallen soldiers, the flag is lowered at National Defence Headquarters and at the Canadian Forces Bases where the soldiers were stationed prior to deployment and in the villages, towns and cities where the soldiers had an association at the discretion of the local political leadership. [. . . . ]

George W. Strawman Apr. 25, 06

If George W. Bush is an unpopular figure in Canada, does the media's invocation of the U.S. President when commenting on Stephen Harper's government's policy on not lowering the flag after every military death (and the restriction of media on Canadian bases when fallen soldiers arrive home) merely allow them to offer negative commentary when they are supposed to be filing so-called unbiased reports?

Do not miss the comments and the dialogue with EdtheHun -- more than one entry. He is in Kandahar.


Well, Technically ...

... it was the previous Liberal government that returned to the old tradition of not lowering the flag on the Peace Tower for war fallen [CBC, When to lower the flag for Canada's war dead]: [T]he Peace Tower flag was not lowered when Pte. Braun Woodfield was killed in November in Afghanistan, when his armoured vehicle rolled over, and the practice has not been picked up since the Conservatives ca...

Mounties confirm criminal probe into donations to former MP -- "We're investigating the handling of the campaign contributions and donations" Canadian Press, April 25, 2006

So is it the ex-MP or someone who worked for him being investigated or something else?

[....] Grewal has been battered a series of controversies, including going public with secretly recorded audio tapes of then-Liberal health minister Ujjal Dosanjh.

Grewal said he was trying to catch Dosanjh offering him a job in exchange for his vote in the House of Commons.

[....] Just after the January election, the federal ethics commissioner cleared Dosanjh of allegations that he offered a reward to the Conservative MP in exchange for support during a crucial budget vote.

Bernard Shapiro instead took Grewal to task, calling his conduct "extremely inappropriate."

April 26, 2006 #1

Don't miss. What a compilation!

Dust My Broom: THE CALEDONIA OPEN THREAD -- trackback

Non-Aboriginal Canadians are thankfully not as gutless as their law enforcement officials and politicians. Someone has to stand up against the Mohawk criminals, and it’s obviously not going to be the local rent-a-cops or pussy-ass politicians:

You have to wonder where all the progs are and why they aren’t supporting these protesters? I thought they loved a good cop car swarm? [. . . . ]

Over at Six Nations Solidarity, this is the headline. Note the loaded language then remember the Indian complaint that the MSM was being biased and painting a negative pic of the Mohawks: [....]

Amazingly, G&M’s Margaret Wente sums it up perfectly:

Wente: Globe and Mail

[....] Today the opportunities for young aboriginals in Canada have never been better. And yet, it’s hard to see the opportunity all around you when you’ve been nurtured on so much grievance and injustice. The protesters were raised on an endless diet of stolen land, discrimination, evil residential schools and broken promises. Many of the injustices were real. But how do you move on? How do you make peace with the modern world when you are haunted by ancient wrongs and obsessed with a romantic version of an idealized past? Who will teach these kids that there are other ways to be a warrior?

Some of them know. There was another story on the weekend, an inspiring one, about a Mohawk girl named Skawenniio Barnes. She comes from the Kahnawake Reserve near Montreal. Through sheer grit and determination, she got a library built there. Her parents never finished high school. Now, at 17, she’s destined for Princeton or Yale, on full scholarship. Somehow, she changed the script. And that is worth all the land-claims settlements in the world.

Skawenniio Barnes changed the script. Perfect. Read her story about the difficulties she faced trying to be a good student on the rez, and the pathetic hoops she had to jump through to get a library on her rez.

Sad isn’t it, how difficult it was to get a library, yet how easy it was to start burning tires and bridges?

[....] Amid the “coast-to-coast” solidarity for the Mohawks, on behalf of various Indian groups in Canada, one must ask…where the hell is our leader? Not a peep in four days. Has Mr Fontaine ever appeared more useless? This probably has to do with the Mohawks no doubt seeing Fontaine as the joke that he is, and not anything close to their leader. Of course, no one will say that. This man is so sad; he is too gutless to even pick a side. Either chastise the Mohawks for their invasion of a foreign country, or join them on the barricades. Instead he does nothing. How fitting. How typical. [....]

It has been open to comments ... and oh, do people comment.

Mention is made of a White Privilege Checklist [http://www.unh.edu/residential-life/diversity/aw_article17.pdf]



Police probe weeds out drug ring -- Project Concert Tobi Cohen, Apr. 20, 06

Police in Quebec are confident they've dismantled a drug smuggling operation that's had a bad influence on the youth of a fragile Native community near Maniwaki.

Yesterday, members of the Aboriginal Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (A-CFSEU) arrested 26 people -- nearly half of them from the Kitigan Zibi reserve where the operation was based -- for a series of drug trafficking and firearms offences. [. . . . ]

With the money to be made dealing in drugs, I'm guessing it's a losing battle ... but what is the alternative?




The Gift that Keeps on Giving

Paul Martin's hand-picked conspiracy theorist -- Lafond's embarrassing film is a parting Liberal gift to Canadians John Geiger, NatPost, Apr. 26, 06

The controversy and embarrassment that has erupted again over a film by Jean-Daniel Lafond, the husband of Governor-General Michaelle Jean, is a parting gift to Canadians from former prime minister Paul Martin.

[....] Contrary to the assertion made in the film's title, there is no "truth" here. The hostage deal claim was the subject of two U.S. Congressional investigations and has been refuted, a fact the film ignores. Lafond defends his work by saying it is not intended to be investigative journalism. He told Maclean's that he's "someone who treats discourse in an artistic manner." He said the film "represents reality, but it's not reality." [....]

It reminds me of SCOC Justice MacLachlan defending judicial activism as interpreting the law ... or is it extending the law now? Either way, explain your terms, both of you.


Lafond's film presents conspiracy theories -- Debunked stories portrayed as real in documentary Graeme Hamilton, NatPost, Apr. 26, 06

MONTREAL - Jean-Daniel Lafond, whose association with former FLQ terrorists sparked criticism of the appointment of his wife, Michaelle Jean, as Governor-General, is courting controversy again in a new documentary.

American Fugitive: The Truth about Hassan lends credence to a number of anti-American conspiracy theories and offers a generally sympathetic view of its subject, David Belfield [Hassan Abdulrahman/David Belfield], an admitted assassin wanted in the United States for the 1980 murder of an Iranian diplomat. [. . . . ]

Search: Toronto's Hot Docs festival , Ali Akbar Tabatabai, a former press attache of the Shah , curry favour with Ayatollah Khomeini , Martin Luther King and Malcolm X , In a book he published , "So, a sovereign Quebec? An independent Quebec? Yes, .......



Ottawa wants to reclaim $40,000 in legal aid offered on election day to Pelletier



All the news that's fit to print Burkean Canuck, Comment from Calgary Clipper

I expressed my concern that a City of Calgary alderman is presently sitting on the AB Human Rights & Citizenship Commission. How can this not be a conflict of intereest if this person has to adjudicate something approaching freedom of speech. [....]

Court challenge -- Gay/Les Book Store Wants Public Money Apr16, 06

[. . . . ](Lawyers for) Canada Customs argues that the case simply isn't important enough to justify spending public money. It also says that the court has to consider the issue of subsidizing a private, for-profit body. [. . . . ]

The latest case has drawn a flock of intervenors, including the Canadian Bar Association, Egale Canada, the Sierra Legal Defence Fund ...



Starving the activist propaganda machine NatPost, Apr. 26, 06

[....] Every year, the federal government spends between $6-billion and $8-billion underwriting the activities of special interest groups, non-government organizations (NGOs) and advocacy groups. Much of this sum is knowingly given for the purpose of lobbying the public and government on behalf of these organizations' pet causes.

The model is one of the most enduring legacies of the Trudeau era. In the 1960s, the government of Pierre Trudeau hit on the idea of funding activist groups to "speak for the voiceless in society," to tell government what it was doing wrong and how it might create new programs to rectify it.

Welfare coalitions, therefore, are funded to do research that shows the need for more welfare, health-care advocates for more public funding for health care, gun-control supporters for stricter registration of firearms and so on. [....]

Search: the highest profile feminist and multicultural organizations , Court Challenges program

The feminists and multicultural organizations do NOT speak for a large segment of Canadian society. I can speak for myself; I don't need them. Besides, I consider that both do more harm to our society than good; these groups curb discussion and enforce Liberal values, whatever they are at a given moment. It became politically incorrect to question what they were pushing. Multiculturalism used to be a fact of Canadian life and all immigrants concentrated on becoming Canadian. Not any more; now they try to force their values onto Canadian society, whether they fit in or not. [Changed error: It should have been "incorrect", not "correct" in this paragraph. Apr. 28, 06]

Let these groups work for funding for themselves, as do the less favoured groups. Then we'll see what support they have, as well as how much political clout.




Substance abuse costing economy about $40-billion a year, new study finds Norma Greenaway, NatPost, Apr. 26, 06

[.... Besides costs associated with alcohol and tobacco, now there is a growing problem ] a dramatic increase in illegal drug use is cause for special concern. It says there was more than a doubling of drug-related deaths between 1992 and 2002, largely because of overdoses and the spread of previously unmeasured hepatitis C. [. . . . ]

Miss DownHome is a low maintenance kind of woman TorSun, Apr. 26, 06

Delightful.




'Go outside and play,'

Ian Gillespie: Think outside the tube -- "You want statistics? Try this:" -- re: the television tube -- London Free Press, Apr. 26, 06



Family Values

The price we pay for porn Pamela Paul, NatPost, Apr. 26, 06

Pamela Paul is the author of Pornified: How Pornography is Transforming Our Lives, Our Relationships, and Our Families.

In these porn-friendly times, to even question pornography's effect on society is considered proof of one's prudery, intolerance and reactionary politics. But dare we seriously ask what effect porn has on people's sex lives? [....]

Particularly on the Internet, where much of pornography today is consumed, the type of sexuality depicted often has more to do with violence, extreme fetishes and mutual degradation than with sexual or emotional connection. [....]

Sex sells and now that we're so diverse, any kind of sex sells, particularly, it seems, degrading sex. A part of this is a sad indictment of women who try to please bored husbands, to say nothing of what it says about men and pornography.

Worth reading.




Cheesemakers on bended knee -- Danish cartoon update -- The lesson? Give in and give up free speech; it wins them over every time. Andrew Apostolou

Next step?

The beauty of the deal for supposed men of religion like Qaradawi is that the victim, Arla, is shaken down for the privilege of no longer being unfairly targeted. [....]

If extortion is not resisted, it is repeated. The Danes have a word for such regular payments: Danegeld.

A world gone ADD -- A psychiatrist finds symptoms of disorder just come with our busy existence Anne Marie Owens, NatPost, Apr. 26, 06



Think outside the tube You want statistics? Try this: The average Canadian child watches about 25 hours of TV a week. Ian Gillespie, CNEWS, Apr. 26, 06



She's only 12 Rick Bell, CalgarySun, Apr. 21, 06

Mention is made of "her 23-year-old so-called boyfriend" -- How can a 12 year old have a 23 year old boyfriend ... other than the kid in class who teases her and so she thinks that means he likes her ... and he probably does?



Fitzgerald: Islam compatible with democracy? April 24, 2006

Jihad Watch Board Vice President Hugh Fitzgerald discusses the dhimmi Dutch report asserting the compatibility of traditional Islam with Western notions of democracy: [. . . . ]

As for the statement from the Dutch Scientific Council for Government Policy, notice that there appear to be only two alternatives: either we, the Western world, continue "exporting democracy to Muslim countries" OR we try to encourage "democratic attempts" (what is a "democratic attempt," exactly?) "harmonious" with "their own traditions and cultures." And of course we will be treated to all manner of assurances that Islam is fully compatible with Western principles of human rights -- despite all the evidence marshaled by Professor Afshari, and despite the clear evidence of the systematic rewriting and gutting by Muslim legal experts of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and what that tells us about the Muslim view of such things. We will continue to be assured, always in the abstract of course, never in any deigning to dwell on detail, that Islam is "compatible" with "democracy." [. . . . ]

In response to the following, mentioned in the article, there is plenty of discussion.

"When you say "leave the Muslim countries to their own devices" and "Buy what oil you must, but limit all other contacts" would you include the charitable works in that? I'm thinking of basic medical aid and clean drinking water together with measures we might have to take to stop the spread of diseases which could harm us. I'm also thinking of the basic Christian call to be charitable, say in the matter of food for example."

I tend to agree with the succinct Carolyn2.



Video worth watching: the "peaceful" ones at "peace"

Re: Display of Palestinian terror 'does not promote diversity'

Check out this short video filmed of the Islamic Thinker's Society in New York April 20/06 threatening that the real Holocaust is coming.

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/video/20060420IslamicThinkers.wmv

Shouldn't these guys be charged? Listen carefully to what they say.



Russian bombers flew undetected across Arctic - AF commander
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060422/46792049.html ^
Posted on 04/22/2006 8:10:10 AM EDT by RusIvan



The truth on crime (in Canada)
The Ottawa Sun ^ Mon, April 24, 2006 Editorial Board
Posted on 04/24/2006 8:00:38 AM EDT by fanfan

[. . . . ] Well, what liberal politicians, academics and pundits have been doing is quoting the statistics very selectively. It’s true that after peaking in 1991, violent crime has been dropping, slowly. Today it’s down 10% from a decade ago.

But those who want to coddle criminals don’t tell you that this very slight decline has in no way matched the explosion in violent crime that started in the 1960s and continued for 30 years. The real story is that violent crime today is at levels that would have been considered appallingly high only two decades ago.[. . . . ]

I agree with this comment: "Perhaps we should ask ourselves how much crime is no longer reported."

It may have been always been thus, but now we have access to so much more information, enough to be more fearful. I've had a new lawnmower stolen but I suspect that it would take much time and good luck to find the culprit(s). Storage shed, timing, night, a crime of opportunity ...... and there goes something within me. I got dead bolts ... so far okay ...... but I still double check.

What has been more pervasive is the psychological effect, the feeling of trepidation if I come home late at night, the rush to get the key in the lock to get inside, the fact that people will sometimes phone to see that I got home okay. It changes your life in small ways. You may not walk in the dark the way you did, nor walk forest trails, even designated walking paths. You know too much.



Publius Pundit: Thank you, America Apr. 25, 06 via newsbeat1/PajamasMedia

[. . . . ]Sadly, the Left is once again refusing to pay tribute to the Allies; to add insult to injury, some radicals almost surely are gonna burn the US and Israeli flags, while waving the Palestinian one, as occurred last year.

Well, exactly the other half of the Italian population, those who didn’t vote for this immature and anti-reformist Left, today will pay homage to those American, British and Jewish soldiers who died for our freedom. [. . . . ]

Updates April 25, 2006

Canada: DND -- write to our troops

We feel sadness at loss of young lives but I believe that the media is going overboard with the controversy over whether or not to have the flag at half-mast with every military death. Why do I feel the media concern with the flag issue is less concern for the troops and their families than it is anti-American and politicking anew for the left, using overblown grief mongering, wallowing in the story and making utterly foolish and harmful statements. A quote heard today:

Why is this government trying to "hide" the return [of the dead troops]?

[overheard on CBC perhaps from Don Newman, but check.]

Maybe the families would like to grieve in peace, not be badgered by reporters with their dumb question, "How did you feel when ...?"

In actual fact, under the Liberals, the flag was lowered very selectively. Was it lowered for those who died in Bosnia? I believe not.

The Liberals use this kind of situation for emotional impact to drive their own political agenda, IMHO. The MSM who were fed the slant or what to write by the Libs/PMO find it so much easier to go along with this ........ what? Maudlin playing to the lowest common denominator emotions? Is that too harsh?

The kind of appeal to the emotions that a Liberal PM would have made ........while playing politics over equipment ... promising and not delivering ....cancelling a helicopter contract out of pique with the Conservative PM Mulroney's order ... and then choosing equipment that did not come from the same company / companies so as not to have to admit his error, over the advice of members of the military ... buying subs, not when they were needed, which would have involved taking some political heat, but buying old subs that had sat rusting for five years later, much later ... and it goes on ..........politicizing of equipping the very men Canadians look upon to serve and protect .... young men who deserve our support.

Additionally, it is bad for troop morale to over-hype, to use for non-military motives the emotional impact of deaths in a combat zone.


Russ Lord: East Coast Reporter embedded with the troops NatPost, Apr. 25, 06

[. . . . ] For us -- a couple of guys from the supposedly "economically-challenged" Maritimes -- this trip is already changing our perception of poverty and struggle-- in a big way.

And, it's deepening our appreciation for members of the Canadian Forces -- laying it on the line for the chance to make a difference in a place that desperately needs help. [. . . . ]

Mr. Harper decided that the flags would not be lowered each time a soldier was killed; instead, the government would return to a protocol dating back almost a century -- the Maple Leaf atop the Peace Tower would be lowered only on Nov. 11, the day Canada honours all of its war dead. Mike Blanchfield, NatPost, Apr. 25, 06




We must keep our grief in perspective NatPost, Apr. 25, 06

[. . . . ] Time for a change of reporting. Perhaps a decent "Remembering" section in the paper would be a special way to honour the fallen. That would be sufficient, also.

Raymond J. Lefebvre, Edmonton.

Leadership

Robert Rae - Federal Liberal Leadership candidate CNEWS, Apr. 25, 06.

Various people comment or include links on the topic.

silver_paladin -- See also Globe&Mail paper, April 18, page B17, titled "Dowdy mall REIT best left off résumé of a potential PM"
BCNU2 -- on socialists running an economy
uplink -- I do believe he sees a positive aspect to Bob ... if Ashley (MacIsaac) isn't running ... and I concur.
Gemini -- the following quote

[. . . . ] Who did he have standing front and center on the stage? None other than disgraced Liberal MPP Greg Sorbara. He of the RCMP charges in an investigation of his family's Royal Group Technologies and recently an investigation into the leak of the Ontario budget information to the Mayor of Vaughan prior to the official release. [. . . . ]

Rae makes run at federal Liberal leadership -- "he would stake out the political centre" -- Would that be the same as the leftist 'centre'? Tara Brautigam, Apr. 25, 06

[. . . . Carolyn] Bennett

a family physician by trade, attacked Stephen Harper's approach to politics as divisive and accused the Conservative prime minister of promoting policies that are turning Canadians against each other.

She cited the Tory child-care plan, which offers $1,200 a year to parents for each eligible child under six, as an example.

"It offends me that Mr. Harper's idea of choice in child care pits those parents that have been able to stay at home to raise their children against those who have chosen to return to the workforce in the best interest of their children." [my italics . . . . ]

Not all parents nor scientists agree with Bennett: related FHTR
April 24, 2006: #1 -- Daycare / Childcare articles

More than once I have read that it is not the poor but the more affluent who want more daycare; the women have an education fitting them for careers while most of the poor do not. They also use a neighbour or a relative for child care often or they live in the rural areas where the money would help them more than a new urban daycare center.




The ultimate conformist -- Why, Pierre hardly knew ye. John Robson, Ottawa Citizen, April 25, 2006

As the federal Liberals search for the next Trudeau, an embarrassing revelation has emerged about the last one: He was not deep but silly. [....]

"I knew that, like many of his contemporaries, Mr. Trudeau had been appallingly indifferent to the horrors of the Nazi regime ... the reality is much worse than I thought ... as late as 1944 (he was 25), he admired the writings of notorious French anti-Semite Charles Maurras." [....]

But the worst was his failure to "escape the dominant ideology ... far from being the free-minded spirit he appeared to be later on, he was a conformist."

[....] his major legacy, the 1982 Constitution, was a hideous hybrid of parliamentary and constitutional sovereignty that threatens both self-government and the individual liberties he professed to cherish. [....]

He followed the zeitgeist ... but with a degree of panache.




Girl charged in murders -- 12 year old accused of killing her family -- "She -- and her family members -- cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act"

.... her mother, father and younger brother in the family home on a quiet street in Medicine Hat, Alta

[....] Jeremy Allan Steinke, 23, of Medicine Hat is charged with three counts of first-degree murder.

Evil at any age ..... Should she be named if he is .... or do we assume a female that young could not be filled with evil?



The World's Best Roast Chicken Recipe -- Butterflied Roast Chicken Lesley Chesterman, NatPost, Apr. 24, 06



Mothers need milk for unborn babies
study: Deficiency nearly as bad as smoking Sharon Kirkey, CanWest, Apr. 25, 06

[. . . . ] The babies of the women who drank less milk weighed about four ounces less, on average, than babies born to women who drank the three cups of milk per day that Canada's Food Guide for Healthy Eating recommends. [. . . . ]

"Unto Every Person There Is A Name"

Bumped up. Other posts are below.

The Human Spirit in the Shadow of Death: Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day, Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah in Hebrew) is a national day of commemoration in Israel, on which the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust are memorialized....

Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day begins this year on Monday evening, April 24, 2006 and continues Tuesday April 25, 2006 ....

10:30-12:30 “Unto Every Person There Is A Name” - recitation of Holocaust Victims’ names by members of the public, Hall of Remembrance

Yad Vashem.org

architecture and small photos

New Cartoon Controversy

Islamic Law at Belmont U -- re: "Bill Hobbs, a Republican political advisor, blogger, and news writer for Belmont" by Daniel Pipes, FrontPageMagazine.com, April 24, 2006

Who would have thought that Belmont University of Nashville, Tennessee, would apply the Islamic law to its staff? But just that happened earlier this month.[. . . . ]

Belmont's action here—assuming this was a forced resignation, and I think everyone believes it is—is cowardly. I mean, Hobbs' political views haven't been a secret. Why is the school suddenly putting stock in what we have to say about one action by one individual? The school shouldn't sacrifice him just because we happen to think that something he did was pretty tacky.

"Pretty tacky" is putting it mildly; Belmont's actions have real consequences. Like the Danish corporation Arla Foods denouncing the cartoons or the Swedish foreign minister forcing the cartoons off a website, this firing in Tennessee amounts to a capitulation to Islamic law. Each surrender means the Shari‘a will move inexorably forward.

Coming to a university near you ..........



For some reason, this post is garnering interest: FHTR July 12, 2005: Commencement Address, Immigration, Trade & Aid, China, Socialists / Leftists, Gaming Etc.

April 25, 2006

Re: Siddiqui attacks Harper & Bush / Sharansky's reply! Posted by HenryW on 07:33:26 2006/04/24
In Reply to: Re: Siddiqui attacks Harper & Bush posted by Al Gordon

This article is a great reply to Siddiqui - i.e. Bush stands up for what he believes - even though the polls are against him. And, it is fantastic to imagine that we have someone in Canada willing to stand up for what he believes, i.e. Harper and the new government.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110008281

THE SECOND TERM
Dissident President
George W. Bush has the courage to speak out for freedom.

BY NATAN SHARANSKY
Monday, April 24, 2006 12:01 a.m.

There are two distinct marks of a dissident. First, dissidents are fired by ideas and stay true to them no matter the consequences. Second, they generally believe that betraying those ideas would constitute the greatest of moral failures. Give up, they say to themselves, and evil will triumph. Stand firm, and they can give hope to others and help change the world.

Political leaders make the rarest of dissidents. In a democracy, a leader's lifeline is the electorate's pulse. Failure to be in tune with public sentiment can cripple any administration and undermine any political agenda. Moreover, democratic leaders, for whom compromise is critical to effective governance, hardly ever see any issue in Manichaean terms. In their world, nearly everything is colored in shades of gray.[. . . . ]

Plea for RCMP independence -- "a new Fraser Institute study by University of Calgary academic Barry Cooper" The Leader-Post, April 24, 2006

The title of this monograph is Bureaucrats In Uniform, subtitled "the politicization and decline of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police". Cooper argues the federal government has come to see the RCMP as just another government branch that is there to carry out the policy of the government -- or make it look good. [. . . . ]

Cooper uses his study to make another important point about the RCMP: like the armed forces, it is taking on too many "corporate" trappings like cost-recovery, commercial partnerships and marketing, and is being forced to downplay its true purpose: fighting crime. He argues convincingly that it should get back to basics and, in an interesting tangent, wonders aloud if the RCMP should get out of provincial policing and become a much smaller force that would focus solely on the enforcement of federal laws, like threats to national security and major fraud. [....]

Global wealth redistribution

From another member of the global guilt gang.

"His plan would compel each developed country to contribute a fixed 0.7 percent of its GNP (Gross National Product, a measure of a nation’s total wealth) towards global funding of the Millennium Development Goals."

Jeffrey Sachs–the director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute and Special Advisor to Secretary General Kofi Annan .... Sachs has been selling since early last year perhaps the largest global wealth redistribution program ever conceived to finance what are known as the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals. His Millennium Development Project Report, entitled "Investing in Development –a Practical Plan to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals", called for hundreds of billions of dollars of development aid to be transferred from the world’s most developed countries to the undeveloped countries of the world, with the lofty goal of ending poverty, disease, environmental degradation, malnutrition and illiteracy in one fell swoop. [Think globally ..... and plan a conference .... a splashy talkfest ..... on other people's money?]

[. . . . ] Professor Sachs is cut out of the same mold as Maurice Strong, who has been a highly influential presence at the United Nations for years until his recent alleged entanglement in the oil-for-food scandal. Both men are arrogant enough to believe that they have the true path to solving the world’s problems and are using the United Nations as their vehicle. [. . . . ]

Hence the tours and talk fests of the UN champagne socialists such as Stephen Lewis ... coming to a university near you. Teach them guilt when they're young and they won't look at any other reasons for poverty -- at home or abroad.

Why does the UN not address the corruption at the heart of Third World poverty? Oh, that might impact negatively on our fellows at the UN and on the next UN gabfest in one of the world's poorer nations ... held at a 5-star hotel and spa?



Time up for atomic clocks The Register 24 April 2006, Chris Williams, Posted by ShadowAce, 04/24/2006 on Free Republic

Scientists are plotting a new era of hyper-exact timekeeping, spelling the end of the atomic clock in its current form. Very accurate clocks are vital in telecommunications, GPS, and other modern technological applications. Traditional Caesium-based atomic clocks have been around since the mid-50s. They work by detecting microwave emissions from the Caesium atom, which occur at a very steady rate. Since 1967 that rate has been the fundamental frequency on which the international definition of a second is based. Prior to that, seconds had been defined in terms of the Earth's rotation, which is relatively variable. The new clocks will...

France's Sarkozy in new storm over immigration reuters, Apr. 24 2006, Posted on Free Republic by george wythe On 04/24/2006

French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy faced charges of xenophobia on Monday over his weekend comments on immigrants, thrusting the sensitive issue to the fore as rivals manoeuvre ahead of 2007 presidential polls. Sarkozy, who presents a tough new immigration bill to parliament on May 2, told new members of his Union for a Popular Movement he was sick of having to apologise for being French and said a small minority could not dictate French laws or customs. "If it bothers some people being in France, they shouldn't worry about leaving a country they don't like," Sarkozy said at the weekend,...

China 'Coal Man' Maurice Strong back on radar screen By Judi McLeod, Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Disgraced for his alleged ties in the Oil-for-Food scandal in the West, environmental expert Maurice Strong is prime PR for the Peoples Republic of China in the environmental protection spin department.

[....] The five-year plan stipulated that discharges of sulphur dioxide should be cut by 10 per cent, but compared with discharge levels from 2000, levels of the pollutant increased by 27% in 2005. [....]

There are other Canadian names mentioned, involved in power generation in China.


Background/update to item posted yesterday on Chinese spying in Canada:

More claims of Chinese spying emerge Australian Broadcasting Corporation,
TV PROGRAM TRANSCRIPT LOCATION: http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2005/s1408571.htm
Broadcast: 06/07/2005
Reporter: Tony Jones

TONY JONES: We can take you back now to our story on the defecting Chinese spies that have been popping up in Belgium and in Canada and we are joined now by Michel Juneau-Katsuya, a former senior intelligence officer with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. He ran the Asia/Pacific Bureau which covered China on both counter-intelligence and counter-terrorist issues and he's currently the chief executive of the Northgate Group, a private security intelligence firm. He joins us now from Ottawa. Thanks for being there, Michel Juneau-Katsuya.

[....] TONY JONES: Canada is no stranger to reports of intensive spying networks and I believe you were in fact the author of a report into Operation Sidewinder, which I understand suggested that China in fact is one of the biggest security threats that Canada faces. Can you tell us more about Operation Sidewinder?

MICHAEL JUNEAU-KATSUYA: Well, what we were looking at specifically, we were looking at the relationship of the Chinese intelligence service with the organised crime, the Chinese organised crime, the Triads, and also the participation and the help of some tycoon and to try to see how China was trying to gain influence. One other thing we've noticed as well, which was quite important, is the process of acquiring Canadian companies - and this exercise took place also in England, Canada and Australia - where Chinese companies state-controlled Chinese companies are acquiring national companies, Canadian companies or Australian companies, and the danger in this exercise is that they gain quite a tremendous amount of influence. It's not necessarily control of the country, but, you though, when you start having billions of dollars you definitely go through the secretary and are not put on hold when you try to reach the premier or some state officials and that was one of our concerns, that the control - the economy control that they were starting to gain under total legitimate acquisition process was starting to be quite important. Why is it so concernful for us is that contrary to other foreign companies that would come and acquire another Canadian company, these companies were state controlled. So basically it's a foreign government acquiring influence and will eventually influence sort of national policies or regional economic policies that would definitely benefit them eventually. [....]

Wicked humor from the Guardian

The Guardian can sometimes be very funny, sometimes intentionally, but I never expected to see vicious satire at the expense of a left winger. Dea Birkett writes about the joys of having a nanny.

For E, who got a nanny this year ......... Is this a parody?



PandemicFlu.gov -- Avian flu via newsbeat1

See the menu for more.
Search: See a checklist of items to have on hand for an extended stay at home.

Topics on this page
* Overview
* Checklist, Guide, and Information Sheets
* Social Disruption May Be Widespread
* Being Able to Work May Be Difficult or Impossible
* Schools May Be Closed for an Extended Period of Time
* Transportation Services May Be Disrupted
* People Will Need Advice and Help at Work and Home
* Be Prepared
* Stay Healthy
* Get Informed

The Military

The average age of the military man is 19 years.
He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who,
under normal circumstances is considered by society
as half man, half boy.
Not yet dry behind the ears,
not old enough to buy a beer,
but old enough to die for his country.
He never really cared much for
work and he would rather wax his own car
than wash his father's; but he has
never collected unemployment either.

He's a recent High School graduate;
he was probably an average student,
pursued some form of sport activities,
drives a ten year old jalopy,
and has a steady girlfriend
who either broke up with him when he left,
or swears to be waiting when he returns from
half a world away.

He listens to rock and roll or hip-hop,
rap, jazz, country, swing and 155mm howitzer.

He is 10 or 15 pounds lighter now
than when he was at home
because he is working or fighting
from before dawn to well after dusk.
He has some trouble spelling,
thus letter writing is a pain for him,
but he can field strip a rifle in 30 seconds
and reassemble it in less time in the dark.
He can recite to you the nomenclature
of a machine gun or grenade launcher
and use either one effectively if he must.

He digs foxholes and latrines
and can apply first aid like a professional.
He can march until he is told to stop
or stop until he is told to march.
He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation,
but he is not without spirit or individual dignity.
He is self-sufficient.
He has two sets of fatigues:
he washes one and wears the other.
He keeps his canteens full and his feet dry.
he sometimes forgets to brush his teeth,
but never to clean his rifle.

He can cook his own meals,
mend his own clothes, and fix his own hurts.
If you're thirsty, he'll share his water with you;
if you are hungry, his food.
He'll even split his ammunition with you
in the midst of battle when you run low.
He has learned to use his hands like weapons
and weapons like they were his hands.
He can save your life - or take it,
because that is his job.
He will often do twice the work of a civilian ,
draw half the pay
and still find ironic humor in it all.
He has seen more suffering
and death then he should have
in his short lifetime.

He has stood among dead bodies,
and helped to bury them.
He has wept in public and in private,
for friends who have fallen in combat
and is unashamed.

He feels every note of the National Anthem
vibrate through his body while at rigid attention,
while tempering the burning desire to
'square-away' those around him
who haven't bothered to stand,
remove their hat, or even stop talking.

In an odd twist, day in and day out,
far from home,
he defends their right to be disrespectful.
Just as did his Father, Grandfather,
and Great-grandfather,
he is paying the price for our freedom.
Beardless or not, he is not a boy.
He is the Canadian Fighting Man
that has kept this country free
for over 200 years.
He has asked nothing in return,
except our friendship and understanding.
Remember him always,
for he has earned our respect
and admiration with his blood.
And now we have placed women over there,
in danger, doing their part in this tradition
of fighting for Peace or going to War
when our nation calls us to do so.

As you go to bed tonight,
remember the following snapshot...
A short lull, a little shade
and a picture of loved ones in their helmets
Prayer wheel for our military ...
please don't break it. Please send this
on after a short prayer.

Prayer Wheel
"Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands.
Protect them as they protect us.
Bless them and their families
for the selfless acts they perform for us
in our time of need. Amen."

When you receive this,
please stop for a moment and say a prayer
for our ground troops in Afghanistan,
our sailors on ships, and airman in the air,
and for those on Peacekeeping
missions in other volitile
areas of our world.

Of all the gifts you could give a Soldier,
Sailor, or Airman, prayer is the very best one.

I can't break this one, sorry
This is a ribbon for soldiers fighting in Afghanistan.

This was forwarded to me; please copy and forward it to others.