Stowing the Cross

Maybe it’s because I live in a very secular community. Or maybe it’s because I am a Canadian, and therefore, being or making nice means coupling it with accommodation for anyone’s values or feelings. This is probably the closest we come to a defining national characteristic. Or maybe it’s because I am so use to reform rabbis leading the interfaith dialogue but I find myself standing in awe of Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, the rabbi who is currently in charge of the Kotel. Jerusalem Post:

Ahead of Pope Benedict XVI's May visit to Israel, the rabbi of the Western Wall, Shmuel Rabinovitch, has said that it is not proper to come to the site wearing a cross. The pope wears a cross in all public appearances and is slated to visit the Western Wall on May 12 after a meeting with Muslim religious leaders at the Dome of the Rock. After the visit, which will include a meeting with Rabinovitch, the pope is slated to meet with Israel's two chief rabbis, Yona Metzger and Shlomo Amar.

"My position is that it is not fitting to enter the Western Wall area with religious symbols, including a cross," said Rabinovitch in a telephone interview with The Jerusalem Post Monday. "I feel the same way about a Jew putting on a tallit and phylacteries and going into a church."

I realize when Ann Coulter suggested that Christians were ‘perfected Jews’ most Christians objected to her choice of language and the chutzpah with which she was put forth the idea. But really people – Coulter had a point and she was standing on much firmer Christian theological ground than many of her Christian critics lead on. There was a lot of fuzzy theological wishy-washy mumbo-jumbo criticizing Ann Coulter’s position and thrown into the mix was a great lot of fast talkin’ from Christians who were trying to assure Jews it was okay for them to be Jews - in-the-Jesus-loves-you-anyway-kind-of-vein-even-if-you-are-wrong-about-the-whole-covenant-deal. Just forget about the nearly 2,000 years of forced conversions and prosecutions – m’okay?

I found it embarrassing to watch and read. My position is simply this; if you are a Christian and you follow the tenets of your beliefs – so be it. Skip with the apologies. One only need apologize if one is wrong and not for what believes is right. It goes without saying I believe you are wrong, but again, I won’t apologize for believing I am right. Although, I admit I find it embarrassing and enormously frustrating watching rabbis trying to reconcile and accommodate Christianity with Judaism in the public domain. To date, I have not read, met or heard one rabbi who can do it with any degree of intellectual honesty.

What I don’t fully comprehend is the rationale or purpose of the leader of a Christian church to come to one of the holiest sites in Judaism to pray. I can understand why a Jew does it, and I can understand why a Noahide would do it, and I can even understand why a Christian would be curious to visit and see the Kotel – if only for its historical significance. I readily admit the thought of a Christian praying at the Kotel brings out the same reaction in me that running into the Jews for Jesus crowd does – it sets my teeth to grate. You have to understand that bringing a set of beliefs which are in direct contradiction to the Torah and the Talmud and praying with those beliefs in your heart while literally standing at the bastion of Zion isn’t just insulting but offensive. It does no honour to either of us. So as to the cross – keep it for the Vatican and the throne of St. Peter’s. And to Rabbi Rabinovitch – Kol hakavod!

No interest in naming villians or taking sides

I realize this won’t make me any friends among Catholics and according to their belief, the heaven's gate is shut to me anyway. Oh well. In their own words - The Catholic Register.

TORONTO - Chants of "Palestine is ours/The Jews are dogs" and "Burn, burn Israel" had nothing to do with the vast majority of protesters at an event organized by the archdiocese of Montreal 's social action committee, said the director of the archdiocese of Montreal's social action office.

"To claim that this peaceful demonstration was pro-Hamas is to grossly misrepresent the views of the overwhelming majority of persons who marched on a cold Saturday afternoon," Brian McDonough told The Catholic Register.

McDonough did not publicly distance his office from slogans such as "There is no God but Allah and the jihadist is the beloved of Allah" and "O Nasrallah, o beloved, strike, strike Tel Aviv" before media reports and video of the demonstration went across Canada. He said he and the demonstration's other organizers didn't want to bring undue attention to "an extremely marginal, fringe group."
(…)
Organizers of the Jan. 10 event specifically condemned both the Israeli blockade of Gaza and Hamas rocket attacks against Israeli civilians in their appeal for people to support the protest, McDonough said. The organizers did not ask the pro-Hamas demonstrators to leave or to stop their violent chants because they regarded these protesters as irrelevant and did not want a confrontation.

"You don't chant or you don't accept statements that in any way are incompatible with your values or your vision," said McDonough. "But you're not in a position to go in there with force and tear down slogans or kind of push people away from the demonstration." The Catholic peace movement is , said Fr. Richard Renshaw of the Montreal Pax Christi International affiliate Antennes de Paix.

"not interested in naming villains or taking sides in the conflict between Hamas and the government of Israel", Oh gee, what a relief. I swear I have heard this slimey bit of moral bankruptcy somewhere before….of course, G-d forbid, a Catholic priest would object or confront anyone inciting against the Jews or saying anything derogatory about a Jew….


h/t BCF

The Homegrown ‘Maher Arar’

When the prosecuting Crown Attorney turns on its star witness/paid informer and accuses him of lying in Canada's top terrorism trial - the smell of acquittal becomes overwhelming in the air. The Toronto Star:

In a stunning turn of events, a Crown prosecutor yesterday accused his star witness in the Toronto 18 terror case of fabricating some of the evidence about a so-called terrorist training camp. Police mole Mubin Shaikh was caught off guard by prosecutor John Neander's suggestion that he had lied when he said the youth on trial did not know the true purpose of the camp. Neander called some of Shaikh's testimony "an invention" designed to protect the defendant. Although Shaikh agreed that he considered himself "a protector of the vulnerable" – a reference to the youths who attended the December 2005 camp – he rejected any notion that he had been untruthful on the witness stand.
(…)
One of the crucial discrepancies involved why the teens were told they had to clean up the campsite when leaving. During a preliminary hearing, Shaikh testified "we did a sweep to conceal" and cover up "anything that would give away the nature of our activities."

But during this trial, he testified the youths were given a cover story and told to clean up the camp to protect the "chipmunks and squirrels" from choking on what they'd left behind. Neander reminded Shaikh that he had described the nature of the camp as "nefarious" and questioned why they would've needed a cover story when its true purpose was evident since they had participated in firearms training and listened to terrorist rhetoric.

"Every fibre of your being as a loyal Canadian and a devout Muslim recoiled at what (the alleged ringleader) was doing to corrupt them, isn't that correct?" Neander charged. "Yes," Shaikh replied. "That's why now you maintain this incorrect pretext that there was some effort ... to mislead the youths as to the purpose of the cleaning up the camp," shouted Neander. But Shaikh remained steadfast yesterday that alleged ringleaders had concocted an innocent explanation for the camp and that the teens had no idea its intended purpose was to prepare jihadi warriors. Defence lawyer Mitchell Chernovsky pointed out to Shaikh that the Crown had suggested he lied under oath. "I seek refuge with Allah for such an implication," said Shaikh, denying the charge.

Another area of dispute revolved around who was present during a speech by the alleged ringleader in which he said "we're not officially part of Al Qaeda but we share their principles and methods."

Initially, Shaikh testified that everyone at the camp was present during the Al Qaeda comment, yet later said he wasn't sure who was listening. Yesterday he changed his tune again, saying the Al Qaeda comment may not even have been part of the inflammatory speech and said he didn't know who heard it.

I am going to say this once more for the willfully obtuse. The entire case against the Toronto 18 has stunk since the first SWAT sniper was positioned on the roof of the courthouse at the defendants’ first court appearance. If you have not been able to smell it – it could be because you were either too busy reading fear-mongers or you have been too busy slinging the fear yourself. Christie Blatchford called the defendants the Clown Princes of Canadian Terrorism. She had it wrong - it's the RCMP who are the real Clown Princes of Canadian Terrorism.

Limiting the number of RCMP paid informants really is win-win scenario

Uhm, well, on the behalf and as one of the poor beleaguered Canadian taxpayer, I would respond by saying –

No, I do not think we can really afford too many more Mubin Shaikh's and I would suggest it was completely arguable whether he saved any lives which is why the Toronto 11 (nee 18) are not convicted on just the say-so of Mubin Shaikh.

Ooops. Mea Culpa or looking for Jihad in all the wrong places

Tuesday, I posted that the charges against 3 of so-called Toronto Jihadists were to be stayed. Turns out I was misinformed in the Ottawa Citizen story. It was not 3 alleged Toronto Jihadists but 4. And the fourth just happens to be the alleged Imam ringleader of the Toronto 18…I mean Toronto 11. The Toronto Star

Nearly two years ago, when police busted an alleged homegrown terror cell, Qayyum Abdul Jamal was portrayed as the firebrand ringleader seeking recruits for jihad.

Today, he says, he hopes to piece together a reputation left in tatters after being accused of belonging to the so-called Toronto 18, a group of men and teens who allegedly plotted to bomb sites around Toronto. And he hopes to repair a life changed forever when he spent 17 months in jail, 13 of them in solitary confinement.That's why the Crown's surprise move yesterday to stay terrorism-related charges against Jamal and three of his co-accused is somewhat bittersweet for the 45-year-old.

Actually, I suspect the Crown’s case, despite the much hyped rhetoric, is much worse than the public can possibly begin to imagine. Of course, how would any of us (in the public) realistically know? After all there is a general publication ban which the Crown demanded citing 'national security’ concerns (which sounds more like job security issues if you ask me). Although, little tidbits do seem to sip thorough the media now and then….like this one taken from a Thomas Walkom column in the Toronto Star:

Other elements of the government's case did not stand up well under scrutiny. The alleged terror training camp turned out to be a hapless adventure in the rain, one where participants spent much of their time in a local doughnut shop and where the ammunition for target practice was apparently provided by one of two paid RCMP informers.

Ah, perhaps we are to believe Tim Horton’s are now Canadian recruitment centres for Al Qaeda? And ammo provided courtesy of the RCMP paid informant…okay-dokey. An unintended consequence of this keystone cops adventure is; if an Al Qaeda or some other like-minded group like Hezbollah, ever does decide to blow up anything in Canada - it would now be damned near impossible to ever shut up a Canadian version of 9/11 Truthers and I suspect a great deal of the general public will just put it down to RCMP/CSIS hi-jinx or a work accident.

When this case is resolved, one way or another, I truly hope there is a huge public outcry demanding a public inquiry as to how & why the RCMP and CSIS got it all so, so, very wrong.

Homegrown Jihad or The Saga of Smoke, Mirrors and General Incompetence.

First, the Crown alleged there were 18 homegrown jihadists and Canadians were shocked. Then we learned about the rather unwholesome backgrounds of the ‘informers’.

Then, next thing we knew – three of the alleged 18 jihadists had their charges stayed, so then there was 15.

And today, my oh my, the Ottawa Citizen is reporting the Crown will be seeking to stay the charges of 3 more alleged homegrown terrorists.

BRAMPTON, Ont. - Prosecutors are expected to move to stay charges Tuesday against three men accused of participating in a homegrown terror cell after they agreed to abide by certain court-ordered conditions for one year.

Qayyum Abdul Jamal, the eldest of 18 accused in Canada's largest terrorist sweep, Ahmad Mustafa Ghany and Ibrahim Alkhalel Mohammed Aboud signed peace bonds, finalizing their cases in a Brampton court this morning.

Now we are down to 12 and I still smell acquittal in the air for majority – unless one of them loses their nerve and cops a plea. And it is not because I am Psychics 'R' Amazons but I worked long enough in criminal law to have a feel for the alleged skill set of our top policing agencies and a nose which can smell ‘unsavory’ in an informer/mole. Originally, I wrote this and it still applies:

If anything, the CSIS and the RCMP appear to have managed to do what no other international law enforcement agency has done before; which is to shut down a Jihad cell of this size. Who would have thought it possible? Certainly not I, and I bet that Maher Arar wouldn’t either. If my memory is not entirely on the fritz, the US’s department of Homeland Security largest single capture was a grand total of 6 in a single swoop in Buffalo.

Another thing that nags at me is the diverse backgrounds with these pre-dominantly young men. Jihad as it is practiced out in the wider world tends to operate in cells based on a similarity of ethnic/tribal background. These young men do not share a common ethnic heritage and the bond that ties seems to be strictly their religion. But where Jihad is a way of life in such places as Bosnia, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Iraq or even Egypt; groups of Jihadists tend to co-operate in cells based on ethnic/tribal lines. It’s a trust issue. Saudis trust other Saudis before they will trust Syrians, Iranians or Palestinians etc. Who knows, maybe it is just another first for Canadian multiculturalism – our Jihadists cross ethnic/tribal lines.

And my gut tells me - this will not be a first for Canadian multiculturalism.

This is why I am no fun at parties…part xxxx

As startling as it might be to believe, I was once a rebellious 16 year old daughter. In fact, looking back, I was the daughter from hell. I would lay a bet that killing me crossed a few family minds at the time. My mother’s favourite curse line use to be “I hope you grow up and have a daughter just like you.” Everyone is much relieved that I didn’t grow-up to have a daughter who was just like me. So why didn’t they kill me? I certainly shamed them but at heart I come from a culture which placed supreme value in two distinct values. No person can be owned and wives and daughters are not property to be disposed as one sees fit or even wishes.

What brings this up? A sixteen year old girl has been murdered and her father has been charged with her murder. According to her school chums in this article from the Toronto Star she was killed by her refusal to wear the Hajib.

Friends at the victim’s school said she feared her father and had argued over her desire to shun the hijab, a traditional shoulder-length head scarf worn by females in devout Muslim families.
(…)
School chums say Aqsa had been arguing with her family for months over whether she should wear the hijab. Pal Ebonie Mitchell, 16, and other friends said Aqsa still wore the hijab to school last year, but rebelled against dressing in it this fall. They said she would leave home wearing the traditional garment and loose clothing, but would often change into tighter garments at school. She would change back for the bus trip home. "Sometimes she even changed her whole outfit in the washroom at school," Mitchell said.

The teen was known to her classmates and Facebook friends as Axa. She posted several pictures of herself on the website in colourful clothes and accessories. At Aqsa's high school, friends gathered in groups yesterday, struggling to come to grips with what happened and lamenting how she had quarrelled with her father to the point that she recently moved out to live with a friend.

"She said she was always scared of her dad, she was always scared of her brother ... and she's not scared of nobody," said classmate Ashley Garbutt, 16. "She didn't want to go home ... to the point where she actually wanted to go to shelters."

Friends said the root of her problems was a desire to blend in with friends at school, to wear the fashionable clothes she liked to buy on trips to Toronto's garment district, where she went with friends just last month.

I suspect there is more to this murder than just a daughter’s refusal to wear the hajib and dress modestly. A rebellious daughter tries the patience of all who love her.

In a world fraught with honour killings it is easy to lay the blame on Islam but it is not Islam which is at fault in Mississauga but a cultural ethos which perceives wives and daughters as mere property and holds the individual female subject to the whims of their rightful male owner. Every year in this country women are killed by their husbands and lovers because another believes they are their property to do with as they will. Every year in this country, there are literally thousands of women and daughters who are beaten by another who believes they are property - chattel. And the vast majority - are not even Muslim.

I may personally believe Islam is a false religion but I have yet to meet anyone who is a false “individual”. I believe individuals have the right to whatever they want to believe as long as it does not subjugate the personal rights of another. I don’t even have a problem with Muslim women who wear the hajib or dress modestly. Frankly, as a conservative living in Canada, I can see great value in all of us dressing more modestly. And what woman hasn’t had a bad hair day? Barring a wig or a hat, the Hajib is the cure-all for bad hair days.

I remember a time in the not so distant past when Christian men and women believed that fathers and husbands had a god-given right to beat their rebellious wives or daughters in this country. The neighbors would no more call the police or interfere with a man’s right to “discipline” his “rebellious” wife or daughter. And sometimes those same Christian men went to jail for murdering those rebellious wives and daughters. They would even quote Christian scripture in their defense.

In these times, it is easy to lash out and blame Islam or Muslims for the death of a rebellious daughter but we live in perilous times. We are in a cultural battle for the hearts and minds of Muslims every where against the religious extremists who seek the submission of our culture or our death. Every time we lash out and blame “Islam” for the sins of culture we drive moderate Muslims away from our common cause. We need to look to our own roots for solutions.

A neighbor of mine runs a pizza parlour down the street. He is a religious Muslim man. I have known him for almost 13 years. I know his wife, son and all four daughters too. Actually, he was once a refugee from Iran. After the Mullah’s came to power and he saw what was being done in the name of religion, he feared for the lives of his wife and daughter so he fled Iran with his family, and was eventually granted refuge in Canada. He loves his family and he loves living in Canada. He has even had a rebellious daughter to try his heart. He took great comfort in the fact I was once a rebellious daughter so he has hope in this country for her future - even if her long green hair makes him cringe every time he watches her going out the door.

He believes Canada is the greatest country in the world and his world includes America. And just why is he such a great Canadian patriot? Because, he found a country which allowed him to make a home, gave him the freedom to be and practice his religious beliefs according to the dictates of his own conscience. He did not flee persecution from religious tyranny by Muslim theocrats to come to another country to be persecuted for his religious beliefs. We could all do with remembering, in this country, his case is not the exception.

The crown is falling, the crown is falling.

Well, well, the Toronto 18 have now been stayed down to 15 and the clock is still running. I was extraordinary suspicious of the Crown’s charges against the 18 Toronto residents who where charged with terror related offences and blogged my doubts from the beginning of the Crown media frenzy at their arrest.

Nothing from the little bits and pieces I have learned since has convinced me that my initial gut instinct was in error. Yesterday, a provincial court justice stayed the charges for two more suspects in what was the single largest cell terror arrest within the international community. The Toronto Star:

Terror-related charges against two more of the youths arrested last summer in a massive police sweep were stayed in court today, after each signed a peace bond agreeing to abide by various restrictions for up to one year.

“It’s finally done,” said one of the teens after signing the peace bond at the Brampton courthouse. “I can’t describe in words how (the past year) was,” said the 18-year-old who’s been under house arrest for nearly a year and says he has suffered from anxiety, depression and insomnia. “But what counts is (the Crown) realized their mistake. They arrested too many people at the same time … This shows they cared. They looked into the case properly.”

The stay in proceedings against the youths, now aged 18 and 19, marks another setback in the government's landmark case. The Crown refused to comment after the court proceedings. At stake is the reputation of Canada's spy service and federal police force, particularly since news of the alleged home-grown terrorism cell garnered international headlines when 14 adults and four youths were charged. The alleged cell was accused of plotting to bomb various targets in Ontario. The youths were charged with participating in a terrorist group for the purpose of carrying out terrorist acts.

Today marks the first time anyone has signed a peace bond for a terrorist-related offence.

A peace bond allows the court to impose strict conditions on an individual because it deems there are reasonable grounds to believe a terror-related offence will be committed. It has been lauded by some as a necessary tool in fighting terrorism and lambasted by others who argue it restrains civil liberties on mere suspicion. Peace bonds are routinely agreed to by accused as a means of convincing the Crown to withdraw or stay charges, which avoids the risks of a trial.

Here’s the real deal. A preliminary hearing was held wherein the Crown presented its case. It was extraordinary weak and agreed to stay the charges providing the youths promised to keep the peace for one year. The odds were better than ever fifty-fifty, if the matter was brought to trial, the Crown would loose lock, stock and barrel. Oh, and peace bonds are used all the time in dubious criminal matters. If they haven't been used before in terror related charges it probably has more to do with how infrequently anyone in Canada is charged with a terrorism offence.

At this point, if the Crown actually manages to bring in a conviction against anyone of the remaining Toronto 15, I think I will be surprised. I suspect the only way a conviction will be had in this matter - is if anyone of the Toronto 15 lose their nerve and agrees to plea just to end the uncertainty of living under charges.

One of the real shames of the proceedings is that the Crown has insisted both the youth and adult hearings and trials for the Toronto 18 be conducted under a publication ban. Canadians deserve to see for themselves how badly the public interest is being served.

this is why I am no fun at parties

The Pathways tutoring program may be a win-win for Regent Park I remain rather skeptical of its impact on Canada’s most infamous housing project. The Toronto Star leads with the claims:

An unusual program that has all but eliminated high school dropouts in one of Toronto's poorest neighbourhoods appears to have helped reduce violent crime by one-third and teen pregnancies by a staggering 75 per cent – all in six short years, a new study shows.

Pathways to Education, the grass-roots mentoring and tutoring program that has cut the dropout rate in Regent Park to about one in 10 from more than one in two, now sends four times as many teens on to higher learning, while property crimes in the neighbourhood plunged by 56 per cent, said a report released yesterday by the Boston Consulting Group of Toronto, led by senior partner David Pecaut.

"Pathways to Education is one of the most successful programs we have found anywhere in North America in enabling youth from low-income neighbourhoods to graduate high school and attend college and university," said Pecaut, "and the payback to society as a whole is tremendous. "Our study calculated that every charitable dollar invested in Pathways will return $25 in future benefit to society."

Violent crime reduced by one-third, and teen pregnancies down 75% who would have thought it? But before we all get gung-ho, let me point out as one who lives in the immediate vicinity; demolishing North Regent Park and resettling those families in other housing projects scattered across the city might have had a much larger impact on teen pregnancies or reducing violent and property crimes in the neighborhood than a mentoring/tutoring program for youth. And while I think of it – didn’t the provincial McGinty government pass the compulsory stay-in-school until you reach your 18th birthday in 2006?

Interview Me Meme – the Questions and Answers

As promised, here is the list of 5 interview questions Ocean Guy sent me with requisite answers.

1. If you could travel back through time and live another life, when and where would you choose to live?

This is actually a very tricky question. In fact, so tricky that I put the question to the tribe at dinner for feedback. The Last Amazon immediately thought the golden age of ancient Sparta. She has this bizarre idea I would fit right in – what with women having multiple husbands and child-bearing mandates. Furthermore, she really could not see how managing a few hundred Helots would pose any special problems to my unique talents considering how well I manage modern day slaves (she is on kitchen mess duty).

Montana immediately suggested being part of the Viking horde which raided and invaded the shores of Britain. The upside is that I get to fight in a shield wall and kill lots of Saxons…he’s currently reading his way through Bernard Cornwell’s the Last Kingdom series and I suspect he has taken it too much to heart.

I also discovered how relative the concept of “ancient” was to a 12 year old mind. Isaiah Sender’s choice was to go “really far back in time” and take part in the original Apollo missions to the moon. I decided not to comment on having watched the original Apollo landing on television as a child.

The problem is there are just so many interesting periods and places…where to choose? Off the top of my head I thought I wouldn’t mind being a patrician Roman under Gaius Marius but before the break came under Sulla. I am a really big fan of running water and regular baths….then I thought, oh no, how could I miss my chance to sail around the world when Britannia ruled the waves????

Don’t ask me why but sailing made me think of the Russian Steppes and I asked myself; how could I miss one chance of being a real bronze age Amazon? Possessing nothing more than my horses, weapons and furs. Doing nothing better than spending each day raiding in the steppes and terrorizing the locals into submission. Living my entire life free and under an endless sky? Okay, maybe the smell might put me off.

Then I came up with the ultimate time and place to be alive. Being at the Sinai and hearing the voice of G-d with one’s own ears. Think about it; you have lived through the miraculous, all doubts are laid to rest and your time in bondage is over.

2. What are your three favorite movies and 3 favorite books?

The problem with having three favourite movies is I rarely manage to stay awake long enough to watch a whole movie from beginning to end in one sitting. Also I rarely choose to watch a movie more than once so it is hard to play flavourites. Though I did watch Conan the Barbarian five times in the movie theatres when it was first released. I swear the impression the men in that movie made on me were initially responsible for my attraction to one of my husbands. Can’t say I harbour any burning desire to watch the movie again.

The closest I come to having a favourite movie would be Master & Commander and for the life of me I can’t understand why Hollywood never made any sequels. The second and third place for favourite movies; aren’t even movies but television series. I adore Horatio Hornblower and own the DVD collection. Once a year, Montana, and I hunker down for a HH fest. Then there is the BBC produced series of Robert Graves’ "I, Claudius". I don’t own the DVD but I do have a birthday coming up and I have high hopes.

Books - how can I pick? There are just so many great ones to choose. Besides it really depends on my mood, but there is one book which stands out clearly from the literally thousands of books I have read. It’s called Chantilly Lace. It's out of print and rightly so. It wasn’t a particular well written book or a book with any redeeming qualities but it was the book I learned to read from.

3. What song is associated with your happiest memory?

Erotic City by Prince. It’s not the greatest song or even my favourite song, but I did fall madly in love for the first time dancing with a man when that song was playing.

4. Sunrise - Sunset. Which do you prefer and why?

Twenty years ago, I would have said sunsets because I loved watching the sun go down over the ocean and the stars flicker into existence in the night sky. It reminded me of how small I was and how the large the world was. Sunset represented a time filled with endless possibilities in which to dream in. Now I would say Sunrise because it reminds me that every day is both a great blessing and a promise of a new beginning.

5. Who are the five people, living or dead you'd invite to a dinner party.

Two points of about this dinner party. I have yet to give a dinner party where only 5 attended. Even my small dinner parties don’t stay small by the time the table is set. I have a strange habit of attracting stray guests and even my strays seem to bring strays. I am not sure why that is, but there you have it.

One of my major rules of motherhood is literally everything can be turned into a life lesson. So in keeping that in that vein here’s my guest list:

Ehud Olmert, the current Israeli Prime Minister, because he’s an idiot for escalating a military offfensive which he had no intention of winning. Plus, there is a good chance he will be still Prime Minister this summer, and if the winds of war blow (as it is widely rumoured), I figure he needs all the help he can get.

Menachem Begin. I like feisty little Poles with nerve, and at heart I believe Begin was a simple man. Everyone one needs at least one relatively humble man at a table. Besides, I would get real pleasure listening and watching Olmert explain his adventures in Lebanon to Begin. After dessert, I could take bets on how long it takes Begin to thump Olmert into the floor.

Carl von Clausewitz because he’s one of my favourite Prussians and is the great-grandfather of modern war theory. He would also look pretty snazzy in his uniform sitting at my table.

US Air Force Colonel John R. Boyd because he is the Daddy of OODA loop and I think he think would be able to get inside Clausewitz’s centre of gravity and keep him intellectually engaged. I know I would be, and it is my party.

Sun Tzu, author of the ancient Chinese bible of military strategy. And if he was resurrected from the dead to sit at my table; it would finally put an end to all those exceedingly tiresome debates revolving around his existence.

Julius Caesar. He made tremendous strategic mistakes but he had a habit of landing on his feet - at least until the very end. He was rumoured to be literate, cultivated and charming. Besides it’s always fun to have a man to flirt with over dinner and I would be curious to hear what he thought about modern war theory.

Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson because I am a big fan - even if he wasn’t particularly known for his conversational brilliance at the dinning table. And the uniform is to die for.

Chris Taylor. If Chris learned I had a dinner party and brought Nelson back from the dead and never invited him (and of course–the lovely Wanda) to my table, I might never be safe walking down the street again – let alone get another bottle of wine. Besides, I would rather defer to Chris and let him be the one to explain to Nelson just how low Britannia has sunk.

I am not big on arbitrarily passing around a meme (which is also why I liked this one) and I am going to paste in Ocean Guy’s directives and call it my own. If you want to participate in this meme do the following:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."

2. I will send you an email asking my five questions. My choice and don’t say you weren’t warned that I can be; petty, vengeful and mean.

3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.

4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.

5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

The sky is falling, the sky is falling!

I suspect this will be the first of many stays. Possibly even the first of 18. The Globe and Mail reports:

Terror-related charges against one of 18 suspects arrested in police raids last summer have been stayed, indicating that the accusations levied against at least some of those charged in connection with Canada's most high-profile anti-terror sweep are not nearly as strong as they first appeared.

A youth suspect, whose name cannot be identified, essentially avoided prosecution after the Crown stayed charges against him related to participating in an alleged terrorist training camp. Prosecutors could decide to reactivate the charges within the next year, but lawyers say this rarely happens without the introduction of new evidence. The decision was made public in a Brampton courtroom on Friday morning.

Charges against two other youth suspects have been reduced to one count from two. Because trials have not begun for any of the suspects, the evidence already presented in court during the preliminary hearing remains under a publication ban.

On June 2 of last year, hundreds of police officers converged on 17 suspects in the Toronto area (an 18th was arrested two months later). Members of the group face several charges in connection with an alleged plot to, among other things, storm parliament hill, behead MPs and blow up several Canadian landmarks using truck bombs.

Nobody can say I didn’t try to raise a flag last June when the arrests were originally made and even more recently.

And can I do gloat now?

Perhaps, I would take these arrests far more seriously if anyone had serious connections to the any known terror groups currently operating, but these Al-Qaeda wannabe’s might never have gotten around past the talking the walk if not for the efforts of our own law enforcement officials. Jihad is real, and the consequences are terrifying and tragic for all who have the misfortune to cross the Jihadists’ path. I just am not feeling it here which is no doubt probably a good thing.

If anything, the CSIS and the RCMP appear to have managed to do what no other international law enforcement agency has done before; which is to shut down a Jihad cell of this size. Who would have thought it possible? Certainly not I, and I bet that Maher Arar wouldn’t either. If my memory is not entirely on the fritz, the US’s department of Homeland Security largest single capture was a grand total of 6 in a single swoop in Buffalo.

Another thing that nags at me is the diverse backgrounds with these pre-dominantly young men. Jihad as it is practiced out in the wider world tends to operate in cells based on a similarity of ethnic background. These young men do not share a common ethnic heritage and the bond that ties seems to be strictly their religion. But where Jihad is a way of life in such places as Bosnia, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Iraq or even Egypt; groups of Jihadists tend to co-operate in cells based on ethnic/tribal lines. It’s a trust issue. Saudis trust other Saudis before they will trust Syrians, Iranians or Palestinians etc. Who knows, maybe it is just another first for Canadian multiculturalism – our Jihadists cross ethnic/tribal lines.

Don’t get me wrong. Jihad is real and religious hatreds run deep and often explode with brutal but casual violence. Nor do I think there is very little that humans are not capable of doing to each other in the name of anything. After all, I’m the woman who has had to live with a Star of David craved in her door inscribed with the immortal phrase “Kill the Jew”.

I try to do really good gloat when I can, because often when I am right, the circumstances are so horrendous, that I cannot possibly live with myself if I were to wallow in the misery and suffering of others.

Who knew fighting homegrown jihad would be so lucrative?

When the Toronto Homegrown Jihadi plot was originally revealed to the general public last June, I went on record with numerous misgivings over it. And I quote moi:

Perhaps, it’s nothing more than the corrupting influence of spending a few years of my life as a criminal law clerk for two truly outstanding criminal defense lawyers. Call it the result of an occupational hazard but I seem to be a tad more suspicious than most of my contemporaries on the workings of law enforcement officials. I don’t doubt their sincerity, but a nudge or a shove to push someone over a line or two wouldn’t be unheard of either.

The authorities watched this alleged cell for approximately two years and when this group finally began to get their Jihadie act on the road - the authorities apprehended them in a rather extraordinarily timely fashion. Pity, they can't do for organized crime what they so obviously can do for Jihad in Canada. Frankly, it just seems a little too pat. I don’t think it would be entirely out of line to ask exactly who supplied the alleged Jihadists with the name of the fertilizer supplier or who helped draw up the plans.

I am reserving full judgment until the crown’s case is fully laid out and until that day; I cannot speculate accurately as to the how serious the intentions of the alleged perpetrators were nor can I realistically judge their commitment to Jihad in Canada. Let me direct – there is nothing like having an allegedly neutral undercover party cheering you on to higher highs or giving you a shove over the edge when you have been content to sit around with your buddies discussing how much Canadians/Christians/Jews suck while playing extreme camper now and then. Really, it seems more like Boys club than Jihad.

Chris at Taylor & Company sent me this link from a CTV report thinking it might make go uhuh, uhuh, uhuh:

A key informant in the arrests of 18 Toronto-area terror suspects was reportedly paid at least $500,000 for his role in the sting, according to The Globe and Mail.

Citing multiple unnamed sources, the newspaper said the man had initially asked police to pay him more than $14 million. The mole and his family are believed to be in a witness relocation program. Sources have said total payment could equal some $4 million when relocation costs are added up. The Globe, which knows the identity of the police agent, is banned from revealing it. The newspaper reports that the unidentified informant was struggling financially before he became a police agent.

Shortly after police made the arrests, he and his immediate family went missing. Members of the man's extended family have also relocated, The Globe reports, leading some to suggest they have also been moved by the state. Mubin Shaikh -- another police agent who went public with his role in the anti-terror sting -- is on the record as saying the RCMP paid him $300,000.

Shaikh, a prominent activist in Toronto's Muslim community, has revealed that he was moved to go undercover to protect Canada and that he worked for the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service and the RCMP for more than two years.

Last June, hundreds of police officers swept across the Greater Toronto Area to round up the suspects, mostly in their teens and 20s. The suspects were arrested last June in sweeping raids across the Greater Toronto Area. The suspects, who are predominantly young, Canadian-born Muslims, are accused of participating in a terrorist group, receiving training in a terrorist group and planning to use three tonnes of ammonium nitrate to detonate a series of bombs in Toronto.

I can’t wait for the trial to start so all of us can get a good hard look at the police disclosure. The more time which goes by the weaker the Crown’s case appears. My gut tells me that by the time the disclosure is finally introduced into evidence it will reflect very badly on all the government agencies involved. There are credible threats out there but I really don't believe this wasn't one of them despite the hype.

Update: The Globe and Mail offers more details into the financial backgrounds of the "moles".

I wrote about my gut instincts on Toronto’s own homegrown jihadies shortly after their arrest in June 2006:

I am reserving full judgment until the crown’s case is fully laid out and until that day; I cannot speculate accurately as to the how serious the intentions of the alleged perpetrators were, nor can I realistically judge their commitment to Jihad in Canada. Let me direct – there is nothing like having an allegedly neutral undercover party cheering you on to higher highs or giving you a shove over the edge when you have been content to sit around with your buddies discussing how much Canadians/Christians/Jews sucks while playing extreme camper now and then. Really, it seems more like Boys club than Jihad.

So what do I read in the Toronto Star this morning? Nothing more than our intelligence agencies were running moles in the all-Canadian Jihad Boys club:

Although his identity is now known within the community and also to some of the 17 terrorism suspects arrested June 2, his name cannot be published due to Canadian laws. Sources say the man worked for the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service, and then became a paid RCMP agent once a criminal investigation was launched. It's an offence under the Witness Protection Program Act to disclose the name of an RCMP agent.

While the names of sources in national security cases are often protected, this witness has agreed to testify in open court when his identity will be made public, sources say. His name has not been revealed during court proceedings now underway to determine if any of the 17 accused will be released on bail. A publication ban prevents the reporting of any evidence heard during the bail hearings.

When contacted by the Star, the police agent said he did not want to talk about the case, saying that "justice should be served," and he looked forward to testifying in court. Last month the Star revealed the involvement of a second police agent in the case, who allegedly took part in the delivery of three tonnes of ammonium nitrate. Police claim seven of the suspects were involved in the alleged plot to use the fertilizer to create truck bombs destined for targets in southern Ontario. Since police were aware of the alleged purchase, they arranged for the switch of ammonium nitrate for a harmless substance before delivery, sources said.

I won’t be surprised if the case against the 17 accused falls apart at trial, nor would it be the first time in the history of either the CSIS or the RCMP for a case to do so at trial. Actually - coloured me shocked if the Crown actually presents a compelling case for conviction.

Homegrown

I’m going to go out on a limb and stake out the ground with a few comments that are not usually to be found on the Last Amazon. No doubt it will put me in situation where I find that my politics are in opposition to most of the people I am politically comfortable around and enjoy associating with socially.

I haven’t gone and gotten hung up on this weekend’s arrest of the 17 “homegrown” terrorists. Homegrown seems to be the operative word here and then there is a nagging keystone cops quality to the whole affair that is giving me the feeling that reality has gone slightly surreal. Maybe it was the snipers on the courthouse roof that put me over the edge. For 17 allegedly homegrown terrorists; who were the authorities expecting to ride into Dodge to rescue these guys – the Taliban? Or maybe its today’s revelation that one of the possible targets was the CBC building – I mean the CBC! Other than the Summer of Love media hacks and their families - who would have noticed? And frankly, a significant portion of Canadian taxpayers might have been relieved to be relieved of that tax burden.

Perhaps, it's nothing more than the corrupting influence of spending a few years of my life as a criminal law clerk for two truly outstanding criminal defense lawyers. Call it the result of an occupational hazard but I seem to be a tad more suspicious than most of my contemporaries on the workings of law enforcement officials. I don’t doubt their sincerity, but a nudge or a shove to push someone over a line or two wouldn’t be unheard of either.

The authorities watched this alleged cell for approximately two years and when this group finally began to get their Jihadie act on the road - the authorities apprehended them in a rather extraordinarily timely fashion. Pity, they can't do for organized crime what they so obviously can do for Jihad in Canada. Frankly, it just seems a little too pat. I don’t think it would be entirely out of line to ask exactly who supplied the alleged Jihadists with the name of the fertilizer supplier or who helped draw up the plans.

I am reserving full judgment until the crown’s case is fully laid out, and until that day, I cannot speculate accurately as to the how serious the intentions of the alleged perpetrators were, nor can I realistically judge their commitment to Jihad in Canada. Let me direct – there is nothing like having an allegedly neutral undercover party cheering you on to higher highs or giving you a shove over the edge when you have been content to sit around with your buddies discussing how much Canadians/Christians/Jews sucks while playing extreme camper now and then. Really, it seems more like Boys club than Jihad.

Here’s another issue. They appear to be relatively nobodies. They have no ties to any known terrorist networks or even the Khadr family. I will concede that even Italy’s Red Brigade had to start somewhere and probably with a single cell, but I just don’t see it with our extreme camping homeboys here. Where’s the funding and how are they funding themselves?

I know the PLO are in Toronto and I had the misfortune of meeting one of their operatives in the mid-80’s in Riverdale of all places (for those not in the know, Riverdale is a relatively upscale gentrified neighborhood of Toronto). He had been sent to oversee business interests of his uncle’s and scout out new money making opportunities. He also had a booming business supplying the local hashish market. In the course of my life, I have run into many former members of the Lebanese Phalange militia, and it would not be unrealistic in Toronto’s Lebanese community to find that Hezbollah is operating here as well. Also, our homegrown homeboys seem to have extremely clean criminal records. I have yet to hear of a terrorist network that did not require their members to finance themselves with the proceeds of crime.

Perhaps, I would take these arrests far more seriously if anyone had serious connections to the any known terror groups currently operating, but these Al-Qaeda wannabe’s might never have gotten around past the talking the walk if not for the efforts of our own law enforcement officials. Jihad is real, and the consequences are terrifying and tragic for all who have the misfortune to cross the Jihadists’ path. I just am not feeling it here which is no doubt probably a good thing.

If anything, the CSIS and the RCMP appear to have managed to do what no other international law enforcement agency has done before which is to shut down a Jihad cell of this size. Who would have thought it possible? Certainly not I, and I bet that Maher Arar wouldn’t either. If my memory is not entirely on the fritz, the US’s department of Homeland Security largest single capture was a grand total of 6 in a single swoop in Buffalo.

Another thing that nags at me is the diverse backgrounds with these pre-dominantly young men. Jihad as it is practiced out in the wider world tends to operate cells based on a similarity of ethnic background. These young men do not share a common ethnic heritage and the bond that ties seems to be strictly their religion. But where Jihad is a way of life in such places as Bosnia, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Iraq or even Egypt; groups of Jihadists tend to co-operate in cells based on ethnic lines. It’s a trust issue. Saudis trust other Saudis before they will trust Syrians, Iranians or Palestinians etc. Who knows, maybe it is just another first for Canadian multiculturalism – our Jihadists cross ethnic/tribal lines.

Don’t get me wrong. Jihad is real and religious hatreds run deep and often explode with brutal but casual violence. Nor do I think there is very little that humans are not capable of doing to each other in the name of anything. After all, I’m the woman who has had to live with a Star of David craved in her door inscribed with the immortal phrase “Kill the Jew”.