Mar. 13, 2007: Security, Corruption, Gangs ...

Laptop, Computer Security, Privacy

Stolen laptop sparks Order by Commissioner Cavoukian requiring encryption of identifiable data: Identity Must be Protected , TORONTO, March 8, 2007, CNW

www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2007/08/c8227.html

[....] A physician at SickKids, who also functions as a researcher there, left the hospital on January 4, 2007, taking one of the hospital's laptop computers,.... leaving the laptop under a blanket between the front seats of the van (which had no trunk). When he returned, he discovered that the front passenger window had been broken and the laptop had been stolen.

The personal health information stored on the stolen laptop ....

... very sensitive information was also included such as drug therapy and HIV status. The health information of the patients was being used in 10 different research studies. Some of the patient information had been provided to SickKids by the University Health Network (UHN), since roughly 350 of the patients had been treated at both SickKids and UHN.

All of the data on the laptop was also saved on the SickKids' main server, but the only security measure on the laptop was a login password. [....]

Corruption -- Gang Land

Meet the FBI's ‘Best Undercover Agent' , By Jerry Capeci, NY Sun, March 1, 2007 -- and List of Results for Topic: Gang Land -- Related Articles from the New York Sun

www.nysun.com/article/49571
www.nysun.com/related_re
sults.php?term=Gang+Land&topic=TRUE

At 6-foot 4-inches and more than 300 pounds, veteran FBI agent Joaquin "Jack" Garcia is a small mountain of a man who is hard to miss. That's never stopped him from being a master of disguises. In recent years, the expert undercover agent's appointment calendar must have read a bit like the script for the 1960s screwball comedy "If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium.

Mr. Garcia surfaced last year when he took the stand in a closed courtroom to describe how he had played the role of a Gambino associate for 27 months. At the same time, Mr. Garcia was also posing as a New York capo in a 36-month FBI sting against crooked Florida cops in which four police officers were nailed last week on corruption charges (thus the reason for the secret testimony). [....]

FBI officials, not to mention Mr. Garcia and 12 other agents who worked undercover in the investigation, are furious about the leak, and are likely to point to it the next time the agency gets accused of not sharing information with local police.

On the bright side, Messrs. Companion and Courtney called in sick and began to inquire about retirement benefits when they got wind of the probe. They didn't react the way New York's infamous Mafia Cops, Louis Eppolito and Steven Caracappa, often did during their careers. The dark side — that the lives of FBI agents were put at risk if the Hollywood cops had taken the same path as the murderous New York duo — doesn't sit too well with the FBI. [....]

Lengthy, detailed, fascinating -- more here: GangLandNews.com


Security, Terrorists, Charter

'Give me your tired, your poor ?and your terrorists' -- A Canadian version of the Statue of Liberty , letter, National Post, March 07, 2007

www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/editorialsletters/story.ht
ml?id=73a7c3c6-4e70-4380-b1c8-ae3af05e678e

Amid reassurances by RCMP Deputy Commissioner Gary Bass that the gutting of Canada's anti-terror legislation "won't derail" the Air India probe, the idea of a Canadian version of the Statue of Liberty -- which would serve as a re-affirmation of the universality of our beloved Charter of Rights and Freedoms --is gaining renewed strength.

... "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. We'll also take terrorists with internationally acknowledged credentials and offer them the benefits of our world-renowned judicial system, providing all comers with generous and virtually unlimited litigation support and the additional bonus of a better than even chance of acquittal in the unlikely event of criminal prosecution."

"So send these, the homeless, tempest-tost travellers to our shore, I lift my lamp beside the Charter's golden door!" ...

Memory Lane: Nuclear Security, Pakistan, Nuclear Scientists

Canada-trained Pakistani nuclear scientists 'defecting' -- or here , January 16, 2003

At least five of nine Pakistani nuclear scientists who have 'secretly' left their country to seek more money and better working conditions were trained in Canada ...

Another top scientist, Dr. A.Q. Khan, the man who made Pakistan's nuclear bomb and who has been linked to assisting Iran, Iraq and North Korea weapons programs, was also hosted by the Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd, (AECL).

... fears of the world community about the safety of Pakistan's nuclear weapons falling into wrong hands. [....]

Pakistani scientists like Dr. Khan, Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood and Chaudhry Abdul Majeed got uranium enrichment expertise courtesy of AECL which had helped build a Candu reactor near Karachi.

Some 50 other leading Pakistani nuclear engineers, including the five of nine who have 'absconded' were also trained in Ontario and New Brunswick.

The nine scientists who are said to have left Pakistan are listed in an internal CHASNUPP memo as Muhammad Zubair, Asst. Engineer, (CNS Fellow, Electrical Division, April 1997), Murad Qasin, Senior Engineer (KINPOE fellow, Mechanical Division, Maintenance, Feb 2000), Tariq Mahmood Senior Engineer, (CNS Fellow, Operation Division, May 2000), Saeed Akhther Senior Engineer, (CNS Fellow, Training Division, June 2000), Imtaz Baig, (Senior Engineer KINPOE Fellow, Operation Division July 2000), (Weheed Nasir, Senior Engineer, KINPOE Fellow, Mechanical Division Aug 2000), Munawar Ismail Senior Engineer (CNS fellow Technical Division Oct. 2000), Shaheen Fareed (Senior Engineer CNS fellow Operation Division Feb. 2002) and Khalid Mahmood (Senior Engineer, Operation Division, July 2002). [....]

Mar. 13, 2007: Security, Justice, Terrorists

Security, Canadian Embassy, visa

Warsaw embassy fraud rap -- "The arrest stemmed from a Toronto Sun article in February last year after Toronto-area Poles complained about having to pay bribes at the embassy to obtain Canadian documents." , Tom Godfrey, Mar. 10, 2007

www.torontosun.com/News/World/
2007/03/10/3725803-sun.html

A senior visa officer at the Canadian Embassy in Warsaw has been charged with 100 counts of fraud for allegedly using her position to smuggle hundreds of people -- including some criminals -- into the country without security checks.

Warsaw security police seized $175,000, jewelry and about $7,500 Cdn from a bag being carried by a suspect, who's identified in the Polish press as Michalina Hoffman, 61, a Polish citizen employed at the embassy for 30 years. [....]

Security, Crime Gangs

David Harris on Supreme Court decision on Security Certificates
On CBC's 'As It Happens', David Harris is interviewed on the Supreme Court decision on Security Certificates and the implications for preventing terrorist attacks while maintaining civil rights. Audio clip below ... , Posted by CCD on CBC Radio on 20:49:58 2007/03/03

From a series of articles in The Province, BC

SERIES:
Today: Wanted in Thailand, plus Canada's painfully-slow extradition process.
Monday: Fugitives from the Philippines find a way to stay in Canada.
Tuesday: A Mexican fugitive's fight changes the law.
Wednesday: Murder in India. A son's fight for justice.
Thursday: Chinese bankers stash their loot in B.C.
Friday: Your views on our series.
OUR TEAM
Fabian Dawson
Project Editor
Michael Roberts
Reporting

Note: Sometimes, articles have a different title. Dig around a bit.

Don't put out the welcome mat for foreign criminals , The Province, March 09, 2007

www.canada.com/theprovince/news/editorial/story.ht
ml?id=ba0e2b13-b4f7-457f-aa54-f687d9aa7df6

Part of the problem is the onerous obligation the Supreme Court of Canada has placed on those countries with which we have extradition treaties to provide comprehensive evidence in support of their extradition requests.

In the past, a simple statement of alleged facts was sufficient. Now extradition judges must insist that evidence is provided of an equivalent nature to that required in Canadian courts.

This is placing an extraordinary burden on countries ....

Charter of Rights ....

It is one thing to refuse to extradite a wanted killer to a country that applies the death penalty; quite another to afford lengthy sanctuary to an alleged multimillion-dollar bank fraudster on the sole grounds we don't approve of his or her country's court system. [....]

'Assassin' finds new life in T.O.
How accused killer found favour with our justice system , Mike Roberts, The Province, March 05, 2007

www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.ht
ml?id=93b02607-7e5e-44ae-bd3c-29f7849eb584&p=4

"You have to be smoking dope if you can't see the truth here," says Javier, 37, a Harvard-educated property developer.

"They [Canada] didn't bother to look with their own eyes, to read, to see that there was no persecution involved at all."

Gideon was 16 and living with his mother and brother in Los Angeles when his father was killed.

He had gone back to the strife-torn Philippines in 1983 for the "love of his country and people." [....]

EXTRADITION THAI OFFICIALS. What's the holdup, Canada? -- A SLOW PROCESS. For 10 years, we have provided a haven for two fugitives wanted in Thailand , Mike Roberts, The Province, March 04, 2007

www.canada.com/theprovince/news/news/unwind/story.ht
ml?id=f495b483-39b7-448b-916e-72325303087a

[....] Thailand has been battling for 10 years for the return of Rakesh Saxena, wanted for allegedly embezzling $88 million from the Bangkok Bank of Commerce, triggering the 1997 southeast Asian financial crisis.

It's also been a decade since Thailand first sought the return of Michael Karas, a Canadian national wanted for allegedly murdering his Thai common-law wife in the beach resort of Pattaya.

Both men are in the Lower Mainland, and have retained pricey lawyers to fight any step that might take them closer to extradition.

B.C. Supreme Court judges -- extradition judges -- have ruled that there is sufficient evidence to extradite both men. [....]

UK: No Charter For Terrorists , February 14, 2007, via newsbeat1

news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1251508,00.html

Human rights laws should not be used to scupper anti-terror legislation, the Lord Chancellor will warn today.

Judges and lawyers will be urged not to allow laws, which were designed to protect people, becoming a "terrorist's charter".

The comments Lord Falconer will make in his major policy speech are likely to be interpreted as a reference to human rights lawyers - and possibly judges - who have sometimes been blamed for frustrating the Government's attempts to bring in new laws on terrorism. [....]

Mar. 3, 2007: Bud Talkinghorn & Security

Re: SCOC, Security Certificates, Maher Arar, Terrorists, CBC, Politicized Media

Three strikes and security is out

Talk about synergy. We have the Supreme Court disallowing indefinite detention of high risk terrorist suspects. The biographies of these suspects makes for interesting reading. Sprinkled amongst them are connections to various al-Qaeda affiliates in North Africa (e,g, Moroccans, Algerians, Egyptians). None are Canadian citizens, while most have visted or trained in Afghanistan. Following that court decision, up almost immediately was the opposition's voting down two more security measures. Now terrorist suspects who are thought to be within days of carrying out their attacks can no longer be detained and questioned without criminal charges being brought. Nor can material suspects to these plots be hauled in for questioning.

The case of indefinite detention without evidence given to suspects is a sad occurence. It smacks of a police state, but this measure is taken in the face of a hidden enemy. Al-Qaeda has planted sleeper cells throughout the Western world. Many of these sleepers have advanced educations and are invisible to all intents and purposes. A fairly recent al-Qaeda cell broken up in Pakistan contained a cardiologist, a teacher, and two professional engineers. They were only a week away from a horrendous plot to massacre hundreds. An insidious enemy with new tactics (think 9/11) must be dealt with differently. Especially as The Charter means we can't deport these people--another Supreme Court interpretation. [Brought to you by a mainly Liberal-larded appointment process -- FHTR]

The opposition's demand that the other security provisions be stricken was nothing but political opportunism. Both the NDP and the Liberals had to "whip" their caucuses to get the right vote numbers. Still one Liberal voted for the extension, and four others by not attending the vote, while Irwin Cotler, the former Justice Minister, abstained. He later told the press, "There was no need for this revision. It has never been abused in the years the laws were implemented. It is a necessary measure." However the majority saw the gains in the ever-growing Muslim voting bloc. Without going into elaboration, let's just say that many of that community harbour paranoid conspiracy theories. Also a huge amount of denial persists about what is being perpertrated in the name of their faith. Whatever party plays to that paranoia best gets their votes.

Stephen Harper said it succinctly after the vote. "This decision will come back to haunt the Liberals." I believe that will be true; especially should a major terrorist attack occur before an election. No mealy-mouthed spin doctoring will cover up their vote mongering over security. They proved that the combined leftist parties can hobble the Conservatives, but at what cost to Canada?

© Bud Talkinghorn--If Al-Qaeda could vote in Canada it would be hard for them to decide which left-wing party represent the greatest number of "useful fools". Probably the NDP. Unfortunately, they are perpetual losers in elections, so the Liberals would get them by default.


Related post: scroll down for: Mar. 1, 2007: Security: Domestic terror wins big -- "CSIS has identified over 50 terrorist groups operating on Canadian soil and over $256 million have been identified by FINTRAC in 2005/2006 as having possible links to terrorism."

frosthitstherhubarb.blogspot.com/2007/03/
mar-1-2007-security-domestic-terror.html


Court considers strict bail conditions of terror suspect , Andrew Duffy, CanWest, Ottawa Citizen, March 01, 2007

www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=
82b6421f-365d-4659-8886-46c2290a8db8&k=29511

OTTAWA - Accused al-Qaida terrorist Mohamed Harkat says his bail conditions are so strict he fears his release has also imprisoned his wife and mother-in-law, one of whom must be with him every minute of the day - even in public washrooms. [....]

On May 23, 2006, Federal Court Judge Eleanor Dawson, citing unnecessary government delays in Harkat's security certificate case, ordered him released. But she imposed some of the strictest conditions in Canadian history.

Under terms of his release, Harkat must wear an electronic monitoring device that allows authorities to track his movements and he must be in the company of his wife, Sophie, or mother-in-law, Pierrette Brunette, at all times.

He is allowed three, four-hour excursions each week that must be approved in advance by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). He is not allowed to leave Ottawa, nor visit the airport, train station, bus depot or any car rental agency. He is not allowed to use a computer or cellphone. His mail is searched and his phone is tapped by federal authorities. [....]

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service alleges Harkat travelled to Afghanistan in the early 1990s and developed a relationship with al-Qaida lieutenant Abu Zubayda.

I'm afraid most of us experience a failure to empathize ... but that's not nice ... and we must be nice useful fools ... and we have the courts to help ... somebody. Harkat could leave Canada but he has such influential supporters here that he'll do fine right here, whatever the majority of Canadians might want.



Related to Bud's next post: Disturbing reality buried
Fear of causing offence and wilful blindness will only end the day innocent Canadians die -- or How many would Behead PM Harper? How many Canadian Muslims, that is.

calsun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Corbella_Licia/
2007/02/18/3642930-sun.html

www.forumsvibe.com/elwoodpdowd/
viewtopic.php?p=16093&highlight=
&mforum=elwoodpdowd#16093


Muslim-Canadian attitudes: A most inconvenient truth

CBC recently commissioned Environics to do a survey of Muslim-Canadian and other Canadians' attitudes. On The National, CBC doled out their predictable multicultural Pollyanna-ish conclusions. "Look", it bannered, "Fully 73% of Muslims condemn the actions of the 17 Muslim-Canadian terrorist suspects." 73%, wow! What a strong majority! On their website, they trot out the words of some Muslim sociology prof, Haideh Moghissi, to baldly state, "That figure of 12% who thought mass murder of their fellow citizens was justified doesn't warrant attention." Oh, really? And the 15% who weren't sure? What are we to make of them? Your neighbour's family is mindlessly slaughtered, but 27% of the neighbourhood either applauds or is uncertain as to their feelings about it. Reason for deep concern or not?

Licia Corbella from The Calgary Sun was concerned, nay horrified, by these numbers. She wrote a column on it (Feb. 18, 2007). That 27% of respondents can't unequivocally see the sheer wickedness of this aborted plot is chilling information indeed. Even taking the margin of error into consideration on the humanitarian side, that still means a minimum of 47,000 Muslims are sympathizers with the terrorist suspects. It makes the citizens of the fictional prairie town in "The Little Mosque on the Prairie" sound not bigoted, but prudent. Periodically we have the reports of radical mosques in Toronto and Vancouver preaching jihad, to chew on. What the combined information shows is that, like similar polls in Britain and the Netherlands, there is naked hatred of Western standards of democracy and social equality. That much of this animosity is held by second generation Muslim-Canadians is doubly frightening. They are the invisible snakes in our multicultural New Jerusalem garden.

The omission of the negative side to this poll is typical of CBC. As with the old time Marxists, the facts make no impact. Even that the CBC headquarters was one of the targets of the terrorist suspects cannot shake their blindered view of our failed immigration policy. Only their success in social engineering could explain why they released these poll statistics in the first place. Ordinarily, any poll that exposes their failed ideological stance is buried. An example was the recent poll showing the Conservatives on a steep upward movement. Maybe they did report it, but not the day it came out. I never saw it and I was looking for it that day.

As for the supposed 73% who condemned terrorism, how many simply gave the answer that wouldn't mark them as religious psychopaths? This poll wasn't asking what their favourite cereal was. One can hope that these disturbing results are being absorbed by our lenient IRB and the present government. How many kissing cousins of Ahmed Ressam can we tolerate in our midst? Canadians, wake up and smell the cordite.

© Bud Talkinghorn


Related: The Toronto Star article referencing Maher Arar is no longer available: [Frost Hits the Rhubarb Aug. 28 - Sept. 3, 2007 -- Re: Arar ... Ex-consul grilled over what he knew, when, Sep1. 1, 2005]

However, it is available here:

Ex-consul grilled over what he knew, when
Last witness to testify at inquiry
Taxpayers to foot $8 million plus bill , by MICHELLE SHEPHARD, STAFF REPORTER - Toronto Star, Sept. 1, 2005

www.ymlp.com/pubarchive_show_mess
age_iframe.php?montrealmuslimnews+4913

Original link:

www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=
thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=
1125526233255&call_pageid=968332188774&col=
968350116467&DPL=IvsNDS%2f7ChAX&tacodalogin=yes

[....] Portions of a censored government report, released at the inquiry only yesterday, make the claim that Arar told a consular official he was beaten with an electric cable while detained in Syria. That contradicts statements by the consul, Leo Martel, that he was never aware of the abuse.

The censored report was written by an unnamed government official about a conversation the official had on Feb. 8, 2004, with Martel, Canada's former consul in Damascus.

[....] Martel, the only Canadian official to meet Arar while he was in Syria, was the last witness to appear before the inquiry. Lawyers will present their public summary reports to the inquiry later this month, after which O'Connor will write an interim report. [....]

Even though the report concerned Arar's case, a government spokesperson said yesterday it had been censored on the grounds of privacy concerns, since Martel asserted the information concerned Nureddin. [....]

Search: Muayyed Nureddin