Pte. Josh Klukie, a member of the 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, which is based at CFB Petawawa near Ottawa, died Friday after triggering what may have been an improvised explosive device (IED) on a road in Afghanistan's Panjwaii district.He will be remembered.
Technorati Tags: Josh Klukie, Afghanistan, Vimy Ridge
Veteran Liberal MP Joe Volpe's leadership campaign has been fined $20,000 by the party for improperly recruiting members in the race to become party leader.I'm not sure signing up dead people is altogether properly covered by the benign phrase, "improperly recruiting members".
Volpe's bid for leader initially sparked controversy this spring after it was revealed that his campaign received donations from minors. A total of $27,000 in donations was subsequently returned.Which begs the question... just what do you have to do to get booted from this scandal ridden organisation?
Technorati Tags: Joe Volpe, Liberal Party, fraud
The Liberal government is being accused of being weak by paying for hydro and water into the Caledonia housing site occupied by natives.This is nuts.
The charge was levelled yesterday in the Ontario legislature by Conservative MPP Bob Runciman after Aboriginal Affairs Minister David Ramsay confirmed it has been footing the power bill for about 10 half-built homes on Douglas Creek Estates since the province bought the site off the developers for $16.5 million.
"It is my understanding the power is still on," Ramsay said during Question Period.
The minister also noted the power was kept on into the houses after natives took over the site at the end of February.
Technorati Tags: Dalton McGuinty, Liberal Party, Caledonia
Addressed to the CPG, or Campaign Planning Group, the memo assesses the Liberal leadership race from a Conservative campaign perspective to determine "which leadership candidate would be most formidible."So what's their take on Rae?
Rae has "real problems" with potential Liberal-to-Conservative switchers, 35 and over. People think he's a "nice guy" but always come back to his record as Ontario premier.It seems the Conservatives have Iggy on their minds.
Finley, a key Tory war-room strategist in the last federal election, says Ignatieff "worries me most." However, a hand-written margin note by an unknown person adds: "Puts his foot in his mouth too much. Will be problematic (for Ignatieff)."What do the Libs themselves think?
"Ignatieff represents the greater potential but also the greater risk," said one Liberal strategist.SIDENOTE: Paul Wells thinks CPG leak is disinformation
There's a really good book about Canadian politics coming out this Halloween, and one of the points it will make is that when Doug Finley writes something down, his goal is to have it leaked. When he actually means something, he does it on the phone or face to face.
Technorati Tags: Michael Ignatieff, Bob Rae, Liberal Party
OTTAWA -- Canada's auditor general came to the defence of the Stephen Harper government's centrepiece accountability bill yesterday as it undergoes the slow scrutiny of a Liberal-dominated Senate.Geez, who would be interested in blocking a bill that makes government more accountable?
Sheila Fraser countered the criticism of information commissioner John Reid that the proposed Federal Accountability Act is regressive by blocking public access to draft internal audit reports and audit working papers.
"With respect, his position reflects a fundamental lack of understanding of the audit function," Fraser told the Senate committee on legal and constitutional affairs.
The committee has spent 70 hours and interviewed 100 witnesses while examining the bill, prompting the government to accuse the Grits of deliberately stalling the bill in Senate.Oh, right... those guys.
Technorati Tags: Auditor General, Liberal Party, Accountability Act
"I think that's a very legitimate point for us to make, and I don't think that's appropriate to come back and say we're moaning," Mr. Graham said.Oh, you're so right Billy, that Musharraf is really a meanie.
Liberals were far more likely to have sexual dreams about strangers and a variety of partners, while liberal women showed a greater tendency towards same-sex fantasies than their conservative counterparts (24 versus four per cent).
"Especially for liberal women, there was a far greater variety in sexual partners and incidents of homosexuality," Mr. Bulkeley said. "Liberals tended to show a greater willingness to experiment with different things."
Technorati Tags: Bill Graham, Liberal Party, Belinda Stronach
"The fact Mr. Martin is incapable of sticking by his decisions explains why he is no longer the prime minister of Canada," Mr. Harper said."Oh man... that's gonna leave a mark.
Technorati Tags: Stephen Harper, Conservative Party, Paul Martin
Asked bluntly about her sex life, Stronach responded: "Let's face it. I don't sit at home and knit on Friday nights."Belinda sweetie... unless you're looking for your own tv show, that's way too much information.
Domi's got the last laugh,, so many treating him like a big ape,, and meanwhile his real job is merger and acquisitions
Technorati Tags: Belinda Stronach, Liberal Party, Tie Domi
This 13.2 Billion paydown at a modest 4% interest rate means that our interest will drop by about a half billion a year. That means 500 Million more dollars to put towards social programs, tax cuts, new equipment for the military or paying down the debt even further next year...I hear people call Stephen Harper a policy wonk (like it's a bad thing to be smart) but most people forget he also has a Master's degree in Economics.
This guy has accomplished more in mere months, with a minority government no less, than Teflon Jean did in a decade.Technorati Tags: Stephen Harper, Conservative Party, national debt
This is a version of the infamous Canary Trap used by the CIA. I love it!
The Liberal leadership contest is now a Tom Clancy novel.
Technorati Tags: Joe Volpe, Liberal Party, fraud
On September 25 TVO launches its new flagship current affairs program, The Agenda with Steve Paikin. The show will practise what Paikin calls "long-form" journalism. Each program will tackle no more than two topics, and often no more than one.Anyone who has seen Steve Paikin on TVO's Diplomatic Immunity has great expectations for this show.
"We are going to be out there giving people what they've been telling us they want: more intelligent analysis, and more robust, thought-provoking debate and discussion among newsmakers and experts," Paikin says.
Technorati Tags: Steve Paikin, The Agenda, TVO
Joe Volpe has always been a dirty fighter. And he doesn't just play hardball with the other parties.More than 4,000 people packed a hall in a Toronto airport hotel to settle one of the year's biggest local Liberal disputes. Mr. Volpe addressed the meeting first. His supporters went to the voting booth en masse as Mr. de Corneille headed to the podium.Even his own staff are a little bit wary of his insatiable ambition. He's not known as much of a team player... it's all about Joe.
"He cued everybody. He organized everybody to get up and block the voting booths, so only his people could get in there," George Berger, who was then Mr. de Corneille's constituency assistant, said of Mr. Volpe in an interview. "If you have 2,500 people waiting in line before you, you're going to say 'the hell with it, I'm going home.' "
"Joe's a bit of an 'I fought for this my whole life, and I want to keep it to myself' kind of guy," said one former aide. "But the way to build power in politics is to share it."
Technorati Tags: Joe Volpe, Liberal Party, fraud
Bob Rae has emerged as the leading candidate in the Liberal leadership race, according to a poll of party members in Ontario and Quebec released today by the Toronto Star and La Presse.Officials in the PMO were quick to talk the Prime Minister back onto solid ground, now that falling and breaking his neck appears to be the only impediment to a future landslide Harper majority government.
"The race is far from over, but Rae has a significant edge over the other candidates at the moment," said Graves, adding Rae has "a non-trivial advantage."
Technorati Tags: Bob Rae, Liberal Party, Stephen Harper
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Two gunmen on a motorbike killed the provincial director of Afghanistan's Ministry of Women's Affairs outside her home Monday in apparent retribution for her efforts to help educate women, officials said.Her crime against the Islamofascists?
In Kandahar alone, she had opened six schools where almost 1,000 women learned how to bake and sell their goods at market. She had also opened tailoring schools for women, and clothes made there found their way to Western markets, Mr. Khan said.Hey Jack, I thought you were against capital punishment.
Technorati Tags: NDP, Jack Layton, Afghanistan
Ann McLellan, former minister in charge of the RCMP, said she is surprised and disappointed that Zaccardelli hasn't made any public statements and says she can't imagine that he's chosen to muzzle himself.Apparently "Landslide Annie" is not surprised and disappointed enough, though... as Zaccardelli's former boss, to offer any explanations herself. She's just disappointed enough to demand explanations from the Conservative government four years after Mr. Arar was deported to his native Syria, where incidentally, he also holds citizenship.
By July 2003, Chrétien's office sent a letter to Syria demanding Arar's release. But that was 10 months after his arrest and 3 1/2 months after officials first proposed a letter. That was a long delay for a man facing torture.In October 2003, former Foreign Affairs Minister and present Liberal Party Leader Bill Graham didn't seem too perturbed about the time it took to get Mr. Arar released.
The foreign ministry also bungled. In 2002, ministry officials passed a statement the Syrians had extracted from Arar on to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the RCMP which "heightened suspicion" that he was linked to terror. The ministry did not warn that the statement was likely obtained by torture, and hence unreliable.
And before and after Arar's return to Canada in 2003, unidentified officials leaked information to smear Arar and protect their own interests.
Talking to reporters in Ottawa that Sunday, Graham brushed off criticism that the federal government failed to put enough pressure on Syria. "I don't think it would have been done any more quickly by screaming and yelling," he said.There is no doubt in my mind that Mr. Arar suffered as a result of all this.
My reputation has been tarnished, I've suffered tremendously, my family has suffered tremendously over the last couple of years, I expected him to apologize without delay. I'm still waiting. And every day I wait I'm suffering more and more."Of course, an apology is not all Mr. Arar is looking for.
There is speculation the Tories want to hold off while they try to settle a lawsuit Arar has filed claiming millions in damages against Ottawa.Despite all of this, I'm hard pressed to see any reason why Stephen Harper and the Conservatives, who were not in power when Mr. Arar was arrested (hell, they weren't even in power when he was released almost a year later) should be made to apologise for this matter.
RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli publicly apologized Thursday to Maher Arar, calling his deportation by U.S. authorities and subsequent torture a "terrible injustice" and vowing to do everything in his power to ensure such an event never happens again.So when will the Liberals "man up" and take their share of the blame?
Technorati Tags: Maher Arar, Bill Graham, Ann McLellan
"He understands that an inclusive society has to look past small differences.UPDATE: Alfie Gags cries foul
Differences like whether you have a heartbeat or not", he continued, "It's not just about race or religion or language, you know."
MONTREAL - Continuing to fight his life-time ban from the Liberal Party, Alfonso Gagliano said Toronto MP Joe Volpe should stay in the party's leadership race since he is the victim of the same kind of anti-Italian sentiment that brought down the former public works minister.
Technorati Tags: Joe Volpe, Liberal Party, fraud
Gathering in the dead center of town.Not a single respondent chose Fry. "There were over 3,000 opportunities for people to pick her (as first, second or third choice)," said Graves. "She literally got zero. I have never seen that in over 20 years of polling."
Technorati Tags: Joe Volpe, Liberal Party, fraud
Here's a statistic guaranteed to set your teeth on edge: Of the 15,000 Lebanese citizens evacuated from Beirut by Canadian Forces during last month's war -- the largest such operation this country has mounted since the Second World War, at a cost of $85-million -- some 7,000 are reported to have returned home. Home, as in Lebanon.h/t to nat newswatch
Technorati Tags: dual citizenship, Lebanon, political correctness
OTTAWA -- A Conservative MP has blasted the "total disrespect" shown by Liberal and NDP MPs who skipped yesterday's address in Parliament by Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai.Seems the loony left were afraid to show up and hear that Afghanistan both needed and appreciated our involvement in Afghanistan.
At least 40 Grits were no-shows for the speech, in which Karzai expressed gratitude for sacrifices and contributions Canada has made to his country. Many Grit and NDP seats were filled with political staffers.
Technorati Tags: NDP, Liberal Party, Hamid Karzai
The Liberal association in Montreal's Papineau riding filed a complaint after they surveyed new members recruited by Mr. Volpe's campaign and found a significant number said that they had not paid their own membership fees, according to riding president Luc Cousineau.Note that it's the Libs themselves who are targetting Volpe. And it's not the first time that his campaign has come under scrutiny.
In some cases, the members said they had not filled out a membership form, he said in an interview. "We noted that there were people who said that they had not paid and there were people who did not know they were members."
Mr. Volpe's campaign surprised competitors at the July deadline for recruiting members eligible to vote for leadership-convention delegates when they submitted a larger number in Quebec than any other campaign.UPDATE: Liberal Party can raise the dead.
Mr. Cousineau said Mr. Volpe's campaign submitted about 550 completed membership forms for Papineau -- three times more than any other candidate.
The membership lists also included problems with:
Sebastiano Sperduti, who has been dead for 17 years and was unlikely to have been a Liberal party member. He had a stroke the day after he arrived in Canada in 1979 and died in 1989, at 67.
Marcello Palmieri's parents, Michele and Antonia, received cards in the mail recently, telling them they were members in good standing in Ahuntsic riding. He didn't know whether his mother wanted to join, but his father died last December.
Technorati Tags: Joe Volpe, Liberal Party, fraud
PARIS, France (CNN) -- French President Jacques Chirac said on Saturday he would investigate the leak of confidential French defense ministry documents containing a report that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is dead, and said that report has been in no way confirmed.
The leaked information was first published in a French regional newspaper Saturday. The article said that a French foreign intelligence document dated September 21 quoted a "usually reliable source" as saying that Saudi Arabian authorities were trying to confirm reports that bin Laden died of an acute case of typhoid in Pakistan August 23.
Technorati Tags: Osama Bin-Laden, War on Terror, Pakistan
TORONTO -- Six Nations protesters are calling on the province to stop a rally they say could spark a “volatile situation” on the former housing development aboriginals have occupied in Caledonia, Ont., since February.Sure, maybe David Peterson can work some of that old black magic that, well... accomplished bupkis. That underwhelming result was due no doubt, in no small part, to Mr. Petersons reputation for fairness and impartiality.
David Peterson, who the province appointed to begin negotiations in the dispute, said he doubts anyone will take the rally seriously. “There are a lot of wackos in society,” he said. “It’s important not to give them too much credibility.”Meanwhile, back at the disputed land, cultural dissonance is the undisputed king. Apparently white society's concept of irony has no aboriginal equivalent.
Hazel Hill, spokesperson for the aboriginal occupiers, said the governing Liberals need to step in and stop the rally before it creates a “volatile situation.”Oh Hazel... stop please, yer killin' me.
“They have to deal with it,” she said. “This isn’t public land . . . It’s not optional to have rallies.”
Technorati Tags: Caledonia, Hazel Hill, Six Nations
Afghan President Hamid Karzai spoke directly to the Canadian people Friday, thanking those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in his country and assuring Canadians that their efforts have made a dramatic difference.President Karzai goes on to state that Canada's presence in Afghanistan has been a watershed event in it's often violent history.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr. Karzai – who was greeted with standing ovations before and after his remarks – also praised Canada as a model to the rest of the world and extended his condolences to the family and friends of troops who have died working to ensure the security of his nation.
“Thanks to Canada's contributions, Afghanistan today is profoundly different from the terrified and exhausted country it was five years ago,” he said.Funny, this seems to be a fairly positive reaction to Prime Minister Harper's decision to hold the line in Afghanistan.
“Today Afghanistan has the most progressive constitution in our region, which enables the Afghan people to choose their leadership for the first time in their history through democratic elections.”
Karzai says: “Bombings in Afghanistan are no solution to the Taliban. You do not destroy terrorism by bombing villages. You do not destroy terrorism by launching military operations in areas where only the symptoms have emerged.”—Afghan President Hamid Karzai, speaking at the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, CBC Newsworld, 21 September 2006Now the blurb above intimates that President Karzai is really upset with Canada... akin to the NDP motion calling Canadian soldiers "terrorists". That got me wondering, "Is the President of Afghanistan schizophrenic, or is this quote twisted out of context."
Karzai stressed the importance of tackling the root sources of terrorism—the madrassas [Muslim religious schools] and training camps, many of which lie outside Afghanistan’s borders in Pakistan and other neighboring states—rather than simply targeting young Taliban fighters. “Bombings are not the solution,” he says. “You do not destroy terrorism by destroying villages.”
“Terrorism,” he continued, “has only enemies and knows no boundaries. The only course is to kill it. You cannot train a snake to bite someone else.” His comments appeared to be directed at Musharraf, with whom he has exchanged veiled barbs all week over the growing violence in Afghanistan.
Anyway, it seems to me Jack Layton accomplished more during his brief conversation with President Karzai than PMS has over the past 8 months. It’s also clear that both men have quite a few ideas in common when it comes to what Canada should be doing for Afghanistan.Yep, it's just incredible. Idealogically they're like identical twins.
The BBC's Lee Carter in Toronto says Mr Karzai will not be meeting the leader of the New Democratic opposition party, Jack Layton, who has called for Canadian troops to be withdrawn from their combat role in Afghanistan.Layton pleading finally pays off.
Mr Layton said that despite repeated attempts to set up a meeting with the Afghan president, none was scheduled.
Earlier in the day, Karzai skipped a speaking engagement to sit down with Layton, who has been calling for Canadian troops to be withdrawn from southern Afghanistan.
Technorati Tags: myblahg.com, Hamid Karzai, deceit
According to the right whingers, by calling for our withdrawel from the mission in Afghanistan Jack Layton is endangering the troops and getting more of them killed. So if this is true it must mean he’s just a patriotic Canadian who is helping to build a better military.Here my fellow blogger, let me help you understand this apparently much too complicated statement.
“At the same time, I can tell you it’s certainly engaged our military. It’s, I think, making them a better military, notwithstanding, or maybe in some way because of, the casualties.”–[PMS]This quote by Stephen Harper… again not too hard to understand if you really concentrate. The Prime Minister isn’t saying that having your soldiers killed makes your military a more formidable fighting force (obviously less soldiers in any unit diminishes overall combat effectiveness), but that, despite grieving for their comrades, it makes the remaining soldiers more determined than ever to meet the enemy and defeat them. This is what I hear and read and see whenever the soldiers themselves and not, for instance, members of the NDP, are questioned.
But Carolyn Stewart-Olsen, a spokeswoman for the Prime Minister, said she thought the remarks were clear. The military gets stronger when casualties occur, she said, because it means more money is put into equipment and recruiting.I have no idea who this Carolyn is and this isn’t the first interpretation I would have made for the Prime Minister. Nonetheless, it is a fact that the Harper government, after seeing previous casualties (like with the Iltis jeep, for example) have reinforced our troops, first with better armoured patrol vehicles and again just recently with a squadron of tanks. We learn from our mistakes.
This also must mean that anyone who does not support Layton’s call for withdrawel is weakening our military. So why do right whingers want to weaken our military?You may want to take another look at this sort of circular reasoning. It's sloppy and embarrassing.
Technorati Tags: Mr. Anonymous, circular reasoning, spelling
I have a problem debating with right wingers more so then debating with left wingers. Left wingers actually are intelligent, they're just mis-guided. Right wingers are actually not that well educated and lack Honest Moral Values.OH SCORCH, buddy, did you show me! I have just a couple of suggestions for your next screaming flamer.
Technorati Tags: Mr. Anonymous, spelling, grammar
Mr. Domi has recently brushed aside questions about the persistent rumours he was romantically linked to Ms. Stronach. But it was confirmed yesterday that he is indeed in a relationship with the Liberal Member of Parliament.Belinda's no lightweight, she's been around the ring a few times.
Ms. Stronach has been married twice and has two children from the first marriage. She also had what appeared to be a serious relationship with Peter MacKay, now Minister of Foreign Affairs, which ended abruptly when she quit the Tories. The tabloids have tried to link her to former U.S. president Bill Clinton, but the two insist they are just friends.UPDATE: 23 Sep 2006 Tie gets whistled down.
Ms. Domi, who has been married to the hockey player for 13 years, says in the 20-page document filed in court this week that she believes her husband and Ms. Stronach have been involved in an "intimate sexual relationship" since he "began working with her on her political campaign in January, 2006."UPDATE: 26 Sep 2006 BENCHED!
In the document filed last week, Leanne Domi alleges her husband offered her a $2.5 million home and cash offer if she would keep Stronach's name out of the proceedings.
The 20-page filing alleges Tie Domi's affair with Stronach may have begun in January when he began working on her political campaign. Leanne Domi wrote that she found his involvement unusual since the ex-NHL enforcer had "little to no interest in politics."
She also alleged that her husband threatened her with "financial extinction because I did not buy into his agenda. It is reprehensible and wrong."
The allegations have not been proven in court. Tie Domi and Belinda Stronach have refused to comment.
Technorati Tags: Belinda Stronach, Tie Domi, Liberal Party
Hasibullah Sadiqi, 20, brother of slain Khatera Sadiqi, entered the police station at 474 Elgin St. at around 8:50 a.m. and was arrested without incident.**************
A 20-year-old Ottawa man is wanted in connection with the shooting at an east-end mall parking lot early Tuesday that left a woman dead and another man seriously wounded.Hasibullah Sadiqi is the alleged shooter and the dead woman is his sister.
Police are looking for Hasibullah Sadiqi, of Ottawa, who is considered armed and dangerous. He drives a grey two-door, 1992 Mazda 323.
Khatera Sadiqi, 20, who was in the driver's seat suffered a gunshot to her head and was pronounced dead at the scene. Feroz Mangal, 23, who was in the passenger seat was shot about four times and was virtually lifeless, but paramedics were able to bring back his pulse en route to hospital. Family members said the pair were engaged to be married.CJOH is reporting that the shooter was apparently upset that his sister was engaged to Feroz Mangal, who is currently in hospital in critical condition.
Hameed Mangal said he heard Hasibullah Sadiqi had issues with the relationship. "He wasn't happy because they were engaged," Hameed, 24, said.CFRA reports Thursday morning.
The possibility of Khatera Sadiqi's death being related to an honour killing baffled Hameed as he tried to relax in the hospital's emergency room last night.
Major Crime Investigators have been unable to determine a motive for the shooting.CBC zips up tight.
They are not commenting on the possible motive for the crime.The Ottawa Citizen is similarly discreet.
Ottawa police Const. Steven Desjourdy said a motive for the shooting is not known. Police say the suspect is to be considered armed and dangerous.Ottawa Citizen now talking motive...
A brother's anger about his sister moving in with her fiance and his family is believed by police to be the motive behind a shopping mall shooting that left Khatera Sadiqi dead and her future husband, Feroz Mangal, critically injured.Family of critically injured fiancee snubbed by shooter's family...
Mangal's family was absent from the funeral because they didn't know about it. "She was like my sister," Hameed Mangal said, noting his family learned about the funeral later in the afternoon. "I don't know why we were not informed."
"I was quite upset," he said. "Everyone's upset in the family."
Technorati Tags: honour killing, political correctness, murder
OTTAWA -- The federal government is preparing three-strikes-you’re-out legislation that would make it easier to label criminals as dangerous offenders after a third serious conviction.I can't wait for the howls of outrage from the Libs & the Dippers. This is why I vote Conservative.
The bill — part of the Conservative anti-crime package — will be tabled this fall, says Justice Minister Vic Toews. He says that after three convictions for violent crimes, people would have to prove to a judge why they’re not dangerous — which is a reversal of the traditional innocent-until-proven-guilty principle.Anyone who has committed THREE VIOLENT CRIMES is a menace to society. I have no problem with tax dollars being used to make the country a safer place.
Toews says criminals should be presumed guilty — not innocent — after three such convictions.
Technorati Tags: three strikes, political correctness, violent offender
Lab tests have confirmed the authenticity of the letter purportedly written by kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit and sent last week to his father, Israeli officials said Wednesday.Israel is quietly working on a deal to get him back.
The officials also confirmed that Egypt was mediating a swap in which Israel would release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners for Shalit, who is being held by Hamas terrorists.
Technorati Tags: Gilad Shalit, Hamas, Lebanon
Tactical nuclear weapons would be required to penetrate the defenses Iran has constructed around its nuclear facilities, according to Col. Shlomo Mofaz.What's really significant is that it ain't just the Great Satan Bush and the Israelis sounding the alarm. Even the usually over the top, blustering Egyptians are crapping their pants.
The Post has further learned that in high-level talks with Israeli officials, senior Egyptian officials close to President Hosni Mubarak have given their discreet support for international efforts to stop Iran's race to obtain nuclear capability.How far are the Israelis prepared to go to stop the threat? Well, knock me over with a feather, it sounds like, "all the way."
The Egyptian officials told their Israeli counterparts that according to their estimates, Iran will obtain a nuclear bomb within five years and must be stopped.
"The Iranians have invested a lot of money to hide their weapons and infrastructure underground. The most sensitive items are below the surface," he said.
"American experts have said they are not sure that conventional weapons would be able to infiltrate these sites," he said. "Based on information from public sources, any attack should use tactical nuclear weapons."
Technorati Tags: tactical nuclear weapons, Hosni Mubarak, Iran
TIME: You recently invited President Bush to a televised debate. If he were sitting where I am sitting, what would you say, man to man?Wow! Who knew the president of Iran was such a John Lennon fan? And he's also a student of history... mind you, with a bit of a Stalinist bent.
Ahmadinejad: I gave some recommendations to President Bush in my personal letter, and I hope that he will take note of them. I would ask him, are rationalism, spirituality and humanitarianism and logic; are they bad things for human beings? Why more conflict? Why should we go for hostilities? Why should we develop weapons of mass destruction? Everybody can love one another.
TIME: Have you considered that Iranian Jews are hurt by your comments denying that 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust?Oooh, oooh, over here, I know that one! Ok, there's Auschwitz-Birkenau, Bergen-Belsen, Buchenwald, Dachau... hey, Mahmoud, where you going?
Ahmadinejad: As to the Holocaust, I just raised a few questions. And I didn’t receive any answers to my questions. I said that during World War II, around 60 million were killed. All were human beings and had their own dignities. Why only 6 million? And if it had happened, then it is a historical event. Then why do they not allow independent research?
TIME: But massive research has been done.
Ahmadinejad: They put in prison those who try to do research. About historical events everybody should be free to conduct research. Let’s assume that it has taken place. Where did it take place? So what is the fault of the Palestinian people? These questions are quite clear. We are waiting for answers.
Technorati Tags: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, holocaust, Iran
San Francisco, New York, Washington and other big cities are using bluegills – also known as sunfish or bream – as a sort of canary in a coal mine to safeguard their drinking water.They're so sensitive to contamination they beat the other sensors hands down.
New York City has been testing its system since 2002 and is seeking to expand it. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection reported at least one instance in which the system caught a toxin before it made it into the water supply: The fish noticed a diesel spill two hours earlier than any of the agency's other detection devices.
Technorati Tags: war on terror, bluegill, drinking water
MJ.com: Apart from Russia, where else might terrorists get nuclear materials?h/t to David Frum.
GA: First, Pakistan. We know that they have 50 nuclear weapons, approximately, and they’ve made material for another 50. Many people in the Pakistani military and intelligence services are very sympathetic to bin Laden. There’ve been two attempts within a second or second and a half, of killing Musharraf, the president, just in the past year. So Pakistan is a ticking nuclear time bomb.
Then there's North Korea, which has been producing plutonium every day now for the last year and a half. The U.S. has done nothing about it, hardly even noticed it. And then there are risky research reactors in about twenty developing and transitional countries like Uzbekistan and Belarus.
Technorati Tags: nuclear bomb, Islamofascist, Pakistan
I demand an apology from all of Islam for all the people who have been murdered in the name of the Religion of Peace.The rest at Tim's place.
I say Mohammed was a violent, thieving warlord out to consolidate political power with a made-up cult, and that’s how Islam was born.
There, I’ve insulted Islam and Mohammed. Come and get me, jihadi trash.
Cowardly bastards.
Posted by RebeccaH on 2006 09 17 at 10:50 AM
Technorati Tags: murder, Islamofascist, Pope Benedict
The Pope’s actual quotation is not just a medieval point of view. It is a common modern view; even if it seldom reaches print; it can certainly be found on the internet. “Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and then you shall find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”Of course, there's every chance he'll be murdered for saying this stuff.
Is it true that the Koran contains such a command, and has it influenced modern terrorists? The answers, unfortunately, are “yes” and “yes”.
As a faithful Muslim, I do not believe the pope should have apologized. I've read what’s been described as his inflammatory speech. Actually, he called for dialogue with the Muslim world. To ignore that larger context and to focus on a mere few words of the speech is like reducing the Koran, Islam's holy book, to its most bloodthirsty passages.
Technorati Tags: murder, Islamofascist, Pope Benedict
An Afghan official said the bomber targeted Canadian troops handing out candy and other gifts to children. Reports said the explosive device was attached to a bicycle.That's some religion.
"These governments tend to be reluctant to send their forces out into the field to confront the Taliban and control warlords and their militias. The result, in this view, has been that British and Canadian ... and U.S. forces ... bear a disproportionate share of the most dangerous tasks."UPDATE: DND releases names of four Canadian Soldiers killed by suicide bomber.
Corporal Shane Keating, Private David Byers and Corporal Keith Morley of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry based in Shilo, Manitoba, and Corporal Glen Arnold from 2 Field Ambulance based in Petawawa, Ont.
Technorati Tags: murder, Islamofascist, Canadian soldiers
“I call on all of you to participate in this victory rally,” he said in a brief, televised speech broadcast on Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV station.Unfortunately, Nasrullah himself, who has been cowering in a bunker at a secret location for a couple of months, may be unable to attend.
Mr. Nasrallah went into hiding on July 12, the start of the 34-day war, and has not been seen publicly since. He did not say whether he would take part personally in the rally.This likely the same bunker where the leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah group spent his 46th birthday recently.
Technorati Tags: Lebanon, Islamofascist, Sheikh Nasrullah
One had taken a gun blast in the head, others had gaping abdomen wounds, some oozed blood from their chest, and a number had limbs punctured by bullets. As of Saturday, none of the wounded had died but two remained in comas and were in critical condition in the hospital's intensive care unit.
From the time Level III Paramedics scoop the victims, stabilise them and race for the ER, until specially trained trauma teams of doctors and nurses split open and repair the damaged bodies, these people get the best medical attention available in the entire world.Technorati Tags: Montreal shooting, paramedic, trauma centre
The New York Times:Via Tim Blair
He needs to offer a deep and persuasive apology, demonstrating that words can also heal.
It’s unclear how many people the Times will kill if their demand isn’t met.
The nun, whose identify was not released, was shot in the back four times at the entrance to the Austrian-run S.O.S. Hospital in northern Mogadishu, said Dr. Mohamed Yusuf, a physician at the facility, which serves mothers and children.Chalk up another kill for the religion of peace.
Technorati Tags: murder, Islamofascist, Pope Benedict
If I believed any numbers I wouldn't be prime minister today. You do what's right. And then the public will decide what the numbers actually are.They're breaking it down over at the Broom.
As security was beefed up around Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday night, the Mujahideen's Army movement in Iraq threatened to carry out a suicide attack against the Pope in revenge for his comments about Islam and jihad.I'm guessing Dale Carnegie hasn't been translated into Arabic.
On a website used by rebel movements in Iraq, a message posted by the Mujahideen's Army said members of the organization would "smash the crosses in the house of the dog from Rome."
Technorati Tags: Stephen Harper, Islamofascist, Pope Benedict
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan's parliament on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution condemning Pope Benedict XVI for making what it called "derogatory" comments about Islam, and seeking an apology from him for hurting Muslims' feelings.Of course, they also just voted to keep on giving rapists a get out of jail free card.
In Pakistan, rape is dealt with under Islamic laws known as the Hudood Ordinances. These criminalise all sex outside marriage.So, as long as the rape is only witnessed by three or fewer witnesses friendly to the victim, the perpetrator skates. Please note witnesses must be male, sharia law does not consider the word of a worthless woman.
So, under Hudood, if a rape victim fails to present four male witnesses to the crime, she herself could face punishment.
Technorati Tags: Pakistan, Hudood Ordinances, Pope Benedict
The stock market reacted positively to the centre-right win. The Stockholm stock exchange rose 1 per cent, led by companies with large state holdings such as travel group SAS, telecom operator TeliaSonera and Nordea, the Nordic region’s biggest bank.**********
WILL this weekend mark the end of the Swedish dream?
Astonishing as it seems, it is just possible that on Sunday Swedes will throw out the centre-left Social Democrats who have governed them for all but nine of the past 74 years.
Technorati Tags: Sweden, unemployment, immigration
Perhaps all those pictures of guns and a 10 inch bowie knife should have been a clue.
That, and well... his online journal.
Now that police have identified the latest Montreal spree shooter, the MSM will be jamming the media sideshow into high gear. I can see it now... "Oprah talks to school custodian" and "Montreal madman never breastfed, film at 11."
In the background, I can also hear the shrill chorus from Kooky Wendy and her friends, "What if all the guns in the universe were melted down and turned into tractors to feed the third world?"
Unfortunately real life doesn't work that way.
Clifford Olsen managed to rape, torture and kill a dozen of our children just fine without a gun. Not having an assault rifle didn't slow up Karla and Paul for even a millisecond.
Just this week there was some nutbag in Vancouver, running around slicing up homeless people like an amped up sushi chef, but hey... lets all just freak out about rifles.
Come to think of it, no firearms for whatsisname either... oh yeah, Mohammed Atta and his merry band of islamo-murderers. The one thing that Kimveer Gill and all of the sociopaths mentioned above had in common... was that every last one of them was as crazy as a shithouse mouse.
My burning question, what I really wanna know, is why none of the people on the website where he posted his homicidal rants and pictures of himself with guns... reported him to the police.
There was plenty of warning from Mr. Gill himself... not too different from the signals loudly broadcast by the 9/11 hijackers. He's talking about dying and killing... and demonstrating he had the capability to carry out his demented fantasies.
So if you're looking to lay blame here, instead of pointing to an inanimate object like a gun... look to all the aptly self-described freakazoids who visit, post on, or maintain the website "Vampirefreaks.com" This isn't the first murderer who posted here... or even the second.
The site has been associated with violence before, according to Jesse Hirsh, president of technology services firm Openflows Networks Ltd. in Toronto.
In a Toronto trial last year, the girlfriend of a youth accused of killing his younger brother and attempting to kill his stepfather was revealed to have had a profile and pictures on the site.
A 23-year old man and his 12-year-old girlfriend, accused of killing a family of three son in Medicine Hat, Alberta, last April, were also reported to have had profiles on the site.
I see this place as a safe-injection site for social outcasts... and they're the ones who should've seen this coming.
UPDATE: Goth website denies any responsibility
"The Goth scene is a very friendly, nurturing, non-violent community and we are very supportive of our users and do not condone any illegal activities," he added.Of course, the next sentence reads...
The Montreal gunman, 25-year-old Kimveer Gill, had posted graphic photographs and comments on the Web site, including one where the barrel of a gun points straight at the camera, and he said loved guns and hated people.
That gunman is now dead, with police confirming they have no other suspects in what appears to have been a random incident.I'm willing to wait for the facts, Officer... please don't start revving up the PC spin machine and pretend you're telling me something.
"There is no racist connotation or no terrorist link as far as we know, we have no information that would allow us to believe that this is anything more than what we saw happen."
Technorati Tags: Montreal shooting, political correctness, murder
Who's that, you say? Gamil who? It's not surprising that name doesn't ring a bell... the politically correct mainstream media in Canada wouldn't touch this fact with somebody elses ten-foot pole.Marc Lépine (October 26, 1964 – December 6, 1989) was a Canadian mass murderer who killed 14 women in what is known as the École Polytechnique massacre.Let's not forget the now cancelled "Farmer Bob Rifle Registry" was a 2 billion dollar Liberal publicity stunt created solely to surf the tidal wave of outrage caused by this sociopath.
Born Gamil Gharbi, the son of an Algerian Muslim immigrant Liess Gharbi and Québécoise Monique Lépine, he grew up in a poor and extremely dysfunctional household in Montreal.
Retired Montreal Police Det.-Sgt. Roger Granger said Gill's pursuit of legally registered weapons followed a similar pattern used by Marc Lepine, who killed 14 women at the city's polytechnic school in 1989.SIDENOTE: Mark Steyn reprises Gamil Gharbi
Granger, who investigated that slaughter, said the federal gun registry, created by the Liberals under former prime minister Jean Chretien, is "totally ineffective."
M. Lepine was born Gamil Gharbi, the son of an Algerian Muslim wife-beater, whose brutalized spouse told the court at their divorce hearing that her husband "had a total disdain for women and believed they were intended only to serve men." At 18, young Gamil took his mother's maiden name. The Gazette in Montreal mentioned this in its immediate reports of the massacre. The name "Gamil Gharbi" has not sullied its pages in the 12 years since.
A Montreal political scientist said if there are casualties from Quebec, Stephen Harper and his Conservatives could pay a heavy price in political support in a province already deeply opposed to the war.So, we're ok with having an army, maybe even sending them places... just as long as nobody gets hurt. Got it.
In addition, the grim appearance and destructive power of up to 15 Leopard tanks has the potential to further alienate Afghans already suspicious of foreign troops.Ok, deep breaths, deep breaths, calm, calm.
Technorati Tags: Afghanistan, political correctness, Canadian Forces
Nearly everyone is in favor of critical thinking. This is evidence that the term is in danger of becoming meaningless. Skeptics should spearhead the effort to clarify what critical thinking is-and what it is not. The stakes are high.I mean, look at Bill Gates. It's the thinkers (or the brutal, driven sociopaths) that change the world. So, put down the remote control and the cheezies and put on your thinking cap.
I suggest that one of our major responsibilities as skeptics is to maintain a continuous exploration of fundamental questions involving critical thinking, including:Oh crap, I'm getting dizzy.
1. What are the essential components of critical thinking?
2. Are those who claim to be promoting critical thinking doing justice to the concept or corrupting it?
3. What is the value of critical thinking, and how do the benefits justify the undeniable costs of studying, teaching, and practicing it?
Technorati Tags: critical thinking, studying, thinking
"Every day we are subject to what I consider a kind of sadistic pornography. Now I know it sells papers but every day we pick up the Star or the National Post or the Globe and we see the picture of Karla Homolka on the front cover," the release quotes DiNovo. "... it allows us to create a scapegoat, remember Jesus was a scapegoat, and just pour all our hatred and frustration on this one woman. How sick is that?"So, does this mean we can look forward to seeing Karla running for the Dippers?
"I shared how I had first experienced the United Church because I was fed for free at Fred Victor Mission, and that I used to make my living selling drugs."And she's connecting with kids, huh?
There was this silence and then one kid put his hand up and asked, "What drugs did you sell?" And I answered, "LSD that I imported in hollowed out Bibles (the first introduction I had to the Bible) and back then it was the good stuff, not the kind of crap you kids do."The good stuff?
She's telling kids she only sold the "good stuff"? I guess that's no wackier than her post-grad work.Her doctoral thesis was entitled "Queer Theology, Queer Evangelism".Good grief.
"It's an attack on my faith," DiNovo said yesterday. "The message in that sermon was a message of regret for all victims of any abuse," DiNovo said. "Obviously (Homolka is) a serious predator who has preyed on innocent people."UPDATE: Dinovo wins
The loss of the riding marks a stunning defeat for the Liberals, who won just under 58 per cent of the votes there in the 2003 election. The NDP and Progressive Conservatives each won about 16 per cent.
Technorati Tags: Karla Homolka, NDP, Cheri DiNovo
