All hands on deck

Congratulations are in order for Captain Ed who is now the first blogger to be featured on the front page of the Globe and Mail.

Scamada: Where everyone and their Momma are victims

It has now been confirmed by the Liberal Party of Canada; everyone is a victim. The Globe and Mail is headlining this story on their website:

In the wake of explosive testimony by ad executive Jean Brault before the Gomery inquiry, the Liberal Party has asked the RCMP to investigate whether the party was the victim of fraudulent activities.

The party turned to the police following damaging testimony made by Mr. Brault last week before the inquiry looking into the federal sponsorship program.

Mr. Brault's testimony before Mr. Justice John Gomery has sent a shock wave through political circles but is currently kept secret under a publication ban.

This is the equivalent of a bank robber calling the police to complain that he was conned out of the proceeds of his heist by a flim-flan man.

Pogroms for the new millennium?

That's it. I am convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt now. The more things change, the more they remain the same. This Jerusalem Report article cinched it for me. From the country that gave the world the infamous Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion brings forth this petition to outlaw Jewish groups:

Over 5,000 known public activists and members of the clergy in Russia have sent a petition to the state prosecutor's office in which they demand to outlaw Jewish groups. In the petition, the signatories use quotes from Kitzur Shulhan Aruch, which they argue prove their claim that Judaism is a fanatic and racist religion that hates gentiles.

Among those who signed the letter, according to Army Radio, are ex-generals, artists and the former world champion in chess. Israel's Ambassador to Russia, Arkadi Milman, called the new affair severe and said that Israel will contact Russian authorities in an attempt to prosecute those responsible for the petition.

The recent anti-Semitic petition comes two months after about 20 members of the lower Russian parliament house, the State Duma, asked Prosecutor- General Vladimir Ustinov to investigate their claims that Jews are fomenting ethnic hatred and provoking anti-Semitism. Arguing that Jews were to blame for anti-Semitism, the authors of the letter demanded that Jewish groups be outlawed, based on legislation against extremism and fomenting ethnic discord.

Now you know why I make the effort to keep my membership; current and in good standing.

The Tikkun Olam Pope

Haaretz carries this piece by Rabbi David Rosen, former chief rabbi of Ireland, Director of the American Jewish Committee's Interreligious Affairs Department. He formerly served as the Anti-Defamation League's co-liaison to the Vatican.

If such love does indeed exist today between Jews and Christians in general and Jews and Catholics in particular, we are grateful to Pope John Paul II for his great contribution in making this so.

Yedioth Ahronoth carries the story of Edith Zierer's encounter with the young Karol Wojtyla.

The strapping Polish seminarian gathered up into his arms the starving Jewish girl who had just been liberated from a Nazi forced labour camp. Now, Edith Zierer, 74, remembers the warm look in Karol Wojtyla's eyes and on Saturday she mourned the death of the man who became Pope John Paul II. "He was a kindred spirit in the greatest sense -- a man who could save a girl in such a state, freezing, starving and full of lice, and carry her to safety," she told Reuters. "I would not have survived had it not been for him." Polish-born Zierer was 13 when she ran away from the Nazi camp at Czestochowa in Poland after the Soviet army liberated it in January 1945, five months before World War Two ended in Europe.

Holocaust survivor Joseph Binensztok recalls his childhood friend Karol Wojtyla, the man who would be Pope John Paul II says this in Yedioth Ahronoth

I am sad today. I am sad for the death of the Pope who had respect and sympathy for the Jewish people. But mostly, I am sad for your death - Karol, my friend from the first grade."

"The silence of his absence will be very loud indeed." says this Jerusalem Post opinion piece.

Iran Canada Trade

In the interests of NO BLOOD FOR BREAD I thought it would be informative to present this information concerning Iran-Canada Trade taken from Trade International Canada Trade Commissioner Service’s website dated March 2004:

With respect to the volume of trade between Iran and Canada, Iran's imports from Canada during 2003 totaled over $230 million, representing an increase of 38.3% over 2003 and ranking Iran fifth among the countries in the region and 43rd in the world. Its exports to Canada totaled just over $63 million, ranking Iran 8th among countries in the region and 75th as a source of imports into Canada.

It is noteworthy that Iran's investment risk rating has fallen for the 5th consecutive year, according to the OECD. As a result of improvements in Iran's economic standing, Iranian letters of credit are much better received now than they were two years ago. With respect to Canada, an agreement between the Export Development Corporation and Iran's Central Bank has paved the way for new exports to Iran.

What I would like to know is; who are these Canadian companies whose business relationships with the Mullah’s of Iran the Liberal Government of Canada values so highly that the Liberal Government of Canada will not take any decisive steps to call the Mullahs of Iran to account for the rape, torture and bludgeoning to death of an innocent Canadian woman? It is long past time for ordinary for Canadians to take a good hard look at which Canadian companies have profited unhindered by this woman’s death.

No, we don’t hate Jews in Dubai; only Zionists

I found this article from the Khaleejtimes at Israellycool:

DUBAI — Education authorities here have promised to review a book taught in an international private school that features a photograph of two Jewish children sporting plaited hair and yarmulke. Dr Obaid Butti Al Mohiri, the Director of Curriculums Centre at the Ministry of Education, said he would order the withdrawal of the book for primary Class I of the Dubai International School if the complaints raised were found genuine.

Several teachers of the school telephoned Khaleej Times, complaining against the picture, captioned ‘We play together; we stick together’, featured in the book Friends Forever. The teachers said that of all the pictures in the book, the students reacted sharply to only this picture.

When approached, the Educational Zone took the stand that its role was only mediating between private schools and the Curriculum Centre. The zone receives textbooks from the schools and sends them to the centre for scrutiny. A source in the school said that these books were imported from outside the country and had not been reviewed. When contacted, Dr Mohiri expressed anger that the matter was brought to him.

“What should we do when we do not have enough staff to review textbooks in more than 400 schools countrywide?”Dr Mohiri said he had been suggesting for two years to hire adequate staff, but his plea has remained unanswered. “We lack staff to follow up these books at schools as well as compel schools to send these books before distributing them to students,” he said. “What we could only do a year ago was to ask all school managements to review and check these books and submit a written undertaking along with copies of these books to the ministry that they had done so,” he recalled.

How much to you want to bet that the 'offending' book will removed from the school curriculum and furthermore, how much to you want to bet that Dr. Mohiri finally gets the staff and a huge increase in his budget?

No Lebanon Redux 1976

Another bombing has targeted a popular shopping centre in Christian East Beirut yesterday. The Lebanese Daily Star is reporting this:

At least seven people were reported wounded in the latest blast to hit a Christian area east of Beirut in 12 days. The blast detonated in the underground car park of Broumanna's Rizk shopping center at 9:45 p.m., hitting yet another of Lebanon's commercial centers. A dozen cars were destroyed as the explosion ripped through the surrounding area, shattering windows and setting several cars on fire, reducing them to blackened hulks of twisted metal.
(…)
The bomb, the fourth in less than two weeks, has severely damaged Rizk Plaza, causing fires to rage in the clothing stores and furnished apartments above. People were being evacuated through windows and from balconies, as heavy rain fell to smother the fire, leaving behind a thick cloud of black smoke.

In the hours that followed, the blast was judged to be the least damaging of the recent explosions. But the incident indicates a shift in modus operandi, as Broumanna is the first residential area to be targeted. Broumanna is known to be a popular destination for Gulf Arabs who vacation here all year round.

Somebody really wants to replay 1976 and re-ignite the civil war that fractured civil society in Lebanon again but the innate problem lies that this time not all the players are in play, and for those who are – they are not playing by the old game book. There is no PLO presence to lay the dynamite or ignite the fuse. The democracy forces in Lebanon are no longer divided by religious or ethnic lines.

Be Not Afraid

There are many things that that Jean Paul ll accomplished during his 26 year stewardship of the Catholic Church and no doubt many will document them far more poetically than I am capable of. But I want to share one thing very specific thing about his election to the throne of St. Peter and his subsequent stewardship of the Catholic Church that many would consider it prudent (in the interest of remaining politically correct) and best to be forgotten.

“Is the Pope Polish?” was a common expression used in the twentieth century right up to Karol Wojtyla’s election to the papacy when you asked an impossible question. For those of you who cannot remember a time when the Pope was not Polish; let me assure you it was the equivalent of “when pigs fly!” It was commonly accepted wisdom that there was no way under heaven that the Poles could ever produce a Pope. Not those impossibly backward ignorant Poles who were so far down the evolutionary ladder of Western Civilization that they sent their cavalry to face the German Blitzkrieg. Don’t believe me; watch re-runs of All in the Family. Archie goes to town with Meathead’s Polish heritage.

The ascension of Cardinal Karol Wojtyla to the throne of St. Peter almost overnight accomplished what was thought impossible. It gave the Poles back their pride and dignity. It inspired them to remember where they came from and who they were so that they could reach out for their future. For it was one of their own who had stood up to the totalitarians and kept his humanity alive and intact as an example to us all when so many others had faltered and bowed under the weight of despair.

It is so easy today to catalogue the contributions of Poles to Western Civilization but those contributions would have remained shrouded in history and thought exceptions to the rule if not for his election and stewardship. I remember remarking to my father a few years after the current Pope’s election to the papacy that I no longer instinctively cringed when I encountered a Russian who asked me if I was Polish because of my colouring. Now I only cringed when I met a Pole who asks me if I am Russian because of my colouring. Oddly enough, my father concurred. So for the first time that either of us could remember; we both understood instinctively how the other felt.

"Freedom is offered to man and given to him as a task. He must not only possess it but also conquer it. He must recognize the work of his life in a good use, in an increasingly good use of his liberty. This is the truly essential, the fundamental work, on which the value and the sense of his whole life depend."

Speech given by Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, Eucharistic Congress Philadephia, 1976

Al Aqsa Marytr’s Brigade, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, = Palestinian Security Forces = Peace Partner

The more I see of Abu (Mazen) Abbas, leader of the Palestinian Authority; the more I think he bases his leadership style on our very own Mr. Dithers or at least - he has made a very serious study of Canadian liberal leadership. Think about it. If Mr. Dithers was running the PA how could you tell him apart from Abbas without a picture?

For example, yesterday Canoe News was reporting that elements of Al Aqsa Martyr’s Brigade (which is the militant wing of Fatah - which is Abbas’s very own political party) were displeased with his decision to demand that several individuals who were under his protection turn in their weapons and cease all criminal activities or leave the compound. Not liking the option, about 15 of them banned together and fired on the Ramallah offices of Abbas. Not content with shooting up the compound they carried their destruction and mayhem into the streets of Ramallah to make sure Abbas got the point.

That got under the craw of Abbas and he spewed out “the we will hunt them down and bring them to justice speech” except that in less than 24 hours the Jerusalem Post is reporting this:

Palestinian security backs down on pledge to crack down on Ramallah gunmen who attack Abbas' office. Palestinian officials on Thursday backed away from a declaration that they would go after gunmen who shot up Mahmoud Abbas' office building and rampaged through Ramallah, underlining the difficulties authorities face in restoring order in the chaotic West Bank.

Abbas, who was in the building but was not hurt in the gunfire late Wednesday, ordered a crackdown, and security officials said the renegades had "crossed a red line" by attacking the seat of government. But in the light of day, the officials adopted a conciliatory line, and one admitted they feared coming under armed attack themselves.
{…}

Abbas responded by ordering the combatants arrested, more troops deployed throughout the city and compensation paid to the businesses that were damaged, security officials said. An official fumed, "They have crossed the red line. They attacked the presidential headquarters. They are defying the Palestinian Authority and now we have to take harsh steps against them, otherwise they will control the city and spread chaos." But the security commanders quickly climbed down.

One of the insurgents, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they had reached a compromise and agreed to return to their units, though they would not serve inside Abbas' headquarters. A Palestinian security official confirmed that, adding that the rebels would be demoted one rank. Another official said they could not be arrested, because their colleagues would attack the Palestinian Authority's forces.

Feeding the crocodile in the hopes that he eats you last does nothing to change the menu.

Canadian Foreign Policy: Equal Opportunity Whores

I wrote about Zahra Kazemi’s death last summer and nothing revealed in Dr. Azam’s statement shocks me. Where I am shocked and continuously under whelmed is by the performance of the Prime Minister and the various Ministers of Foreign Affairs. The official position seems rather cavalier on the brutal state sanctioned rape, torture and eventually death by bludgeoning of a Canadian citizen by agents of the Iranian state.

According to this Toronto Star article (registration required) the government of Canadian knew all the grisly details of Kazemi’s death; witnessed briefly the travesty of the trial and acquittal of an Iranian government official but still plunged full speed ahead with the re-opening of the Canadian diplomatic mission in Iran which had only been closed temporarily when Canadian observers were barred from attending the full trial.

Prime Minister Paul Martin said Kamezi’s brutal death is "simply unacceptable" and will result in as yet undetermined actions by Canada. "It's virtually impossible not to just have your heart torn by what happened to her and by what her family, her son, must feel," Martin told reporters in Whistler, B.C., yesterday.

Foreign Minister Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew said yesterday the latest revelations confirm Ottawa's belief that Kazemi — who died of her injuries about two weeks later, on July 10, 2003 — was slain by Iranian government officials. "We know this was a murder, not an accident," Pettigrew said, speaking in Toronto. He said it's important now to have a Canadian ambassador in the country.

Zahra Kazemi died on July 10, 2003, and yet, the Prime Minister and his various Ministers of Foreign Affairs have yet to determine what action against the Iranian government would be appropriate for the Canadian government to take. Someone needs to draw Mr. Dithers and his Ministers a map with a Day-Glo connect the dots feature.

Perhaps the reluctance and failure of the Canadian government to take decisive action can be explained by the fact that certain liberals benefit from ongoing economic ties with the Iranian government.

I chose to pay for the network where "Liberal" is a cuss word

Last week I had to decide after three months of viewing Fox News Network for free whether or not I would pony up the extra cable fees and keep Fox News Network on the home dial. Two things happened in the last 24 hours that convinced me I made the right decision. Last night I caught the last 15 minutes or so of a CBC Fifth Estate episode on what I suppose was an expose on right wing media bias in American news suitably titled Stick and Stones.

My only comment concerns CBC interviewer Bob McKeown who must be either a great actor or incredibly naïve if he is moved by Al Franken’s teary tirade on his patriotism and then shocked almost into an epileptic spasms by Ann Coutler’s reaction to Big Al’s tears. I am with Ann on this one, and me thinks that maybe Bob McKeown has had a few too many sensitivity training courses. What he really needs to do is go spar a few rounds with my son in the ring or get himself a good anatomy book so he locate his balls.

Which of course leads me back to a question I have been mulling in my mind for sometime; why do we need a publicly funded CBC in this country? I may not agree with the creation of the CBC in the first place, but I have lived in some of those remote areas of Canada where the only option for television or radio news/entertainment to be had was the CBC; so I have experienced first hand a somewhat practical benefit - better than nothing. But that was a good 25 years ago. In today’s day with easy and affordable cable, internet or satellite access; the CBC has no place. If anything, the CBC has no business operating as a publicly funded business in direct competition with privately owned and operated Canadian media companies. If Canadian artists could create for the CBC - then there is nothing to stop them from creating for Canwest, Alliance Atlantis or Sun Media group and its time for the government to return my family’s forced/fleeced contribution to its rightful owners - ME.

The final incident that convinced me I made the right decision concerning Fox was while watching Fox & Friends this am. Two demonstrators/supporters of Michael Schiavo were being interviewed. No doubt the decision to interview this dynamic duo on the air was made for the sake of fairness and balance. I ask you; where else but on Fox News Network would I learn that the American Communist party is demonstrating on the behalf of Michael Schiavo and they support without reservation his right to murder his wife? Certainly, not on the CBC.

Pimping the Mac

I can comprehend the potential value of what celebrity endorsements can do for a product. No doubt sales of Trimspa soared after Anna Nicole Smith revealed less of herself. The Daily Telegraph is reporting that MacDonald’s will be paying several high profile rappers $5 a song every time the song is played on the radio if the lyrics mention the phase "Big Mac". But I just can’t get my mind around the sound of Fifty Cent rapping in rapture about a Big Mac. It certainly doesn’t make me want to eat it – I might crack out or break out in tattoos.

(tipped off by Neale News)

Red Ensign Standard XVlll

The Red Ensign Standard has been raised once again from Tipperography:

I love America and I love Americans. I believe the world owes this country and its people a tremendous debt of gratitude for incredible sacrifices they have made to give us much that is good. Instead they receive mostly sanctimonious, self-righteous carping from those who believe themselves to be above the difficult work and who also lack the resources and strength to do it. So I will return to Canada and Canada will become a more grateful country. The difference I make may be epsilon, but epsilon is greater than zero.

And this is what brings me to the Red Ensign Brigade. Before we decided to return to Toronto I had decided that should we stay in America, I would have to give up the Red Ensign bloggers. Although browsing through the blogs, reading the opinions and learning what everyone is up to is interesting, I’m afraid the reports on Canadian political issues only serve to get me a little too over-excited. The Canadian political scene can be interesting, but it is also largely inconsequential and irrelevant to anyone not living in Canada. On the other hand, it has also been incredibly refreshing to get political commentary from this group. I would have despaired greatly at the thought of going back to a place represented uniformly by the CBC and The Globe & Mail. But the Red Ensign bloggers let me know that there are other Canadians (some living in and and some, like me, living outside of Canada) along with a few citizens of other places with ties to Canada who care about this country and who have found a way to give a voice to the viewpoints that don’t come down from on high.

I cannot characterize them all as having the same perspective that I have. (Just take a look at a few of the links.) But they are all different voices and they all have a lot to say. They are the “other Canadians” and they are Canadians making a difference. I hope I have done justice to them with this week’s standard.

Tip, you have dispensed justice to us all. I am a day late and a blog short. For some mysterious reason my blogspot has been refusing my commands so I also owe Tip an apology for being late with this posting.

Chicken Little Crosses Lines

I completely missed this one in my morning perusal of the Jerusalem Post:

A thorough analysis of the Koran reveals that the US will cease to exist in the year 2007, according to research published by Palestinian scholar Ziad Silwadi. The study, which has caught the attention of millions of Muslims worldwide, is based on in-depth interpretations of various verses in the Koran. It predicts that the US will be hit by a tsunami larger than that which recently struck southeast Asia.

"The tsunami waves are a minor rehearsal in comparison with what awaits the US in 2007," the researcher concluded in his study. "The Holy Koran warns against the Omnipotent Allah's force. A great sin will cause a huge flood in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans."

Silwadi, who is from the village of Silwad near Ramallah – the home of Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal – is not a world-renowned scholar. He said he decided to publish the findings of his research "out of a sense of responsibility because what is about to happen is extremely shocking and frightening."

It is interesting to note that doomsday scenarios really do cross religious, ethnic or cultural lines and bring with them - their own special twists. Really makes me believe there might be something to this archetype business.

(tipped off by Little Green Footballs)

Schnadenfreude Moment

To all those who aligned themselves yesterday with Sponge Bob Square Pants against the combined forces of Dr. Who, Star Trek and myself. I say-- READ THIS AND WEEP!

(tipped off by James at Hammer into Anvil)

Haram Alekem

This is too rich for words. The Globe and Mail is reporting that a speech being given today by Dr. Daniel Pipes at St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto, has some student groups and faculty members in an "uproar". Over 80 professors and graduate students have banned together to protest Dr. Daniel Pipes speech at University of Toronto with an open letter pointing out that Dr. Pipes has a "long record of xenophobic, racist and sexist (speeches) that goes back to 1990"; though I personally would to love examine the evidence of the alleged record of Dr. Pipes’ racism, sexim and xenophobia.

Apparently "hate, prejudice, sexism and fear-mongering" do not have a place on campus unless you are the Arab Student Collective or the Institute for Women’s Studies & Gender Studies at University of Toronto; then you can sponsor and/or host all the "Israel = Apartheid Week's" on campus that your heart desires.

To the 80 professors and graduate students who signed that open letter of protest and to Ahmad Shokr, organizer and public bullhorn of the Arab Student’s Collective, I say "Haram Alekem" or shame on you!

(tipped off via Neale News)

Sponge Bob is a blight on Western Civilization

I have a confession to make. After being subjected to three unrelenting days of Sponge Bob Square Pants by the youngest son; I loathe Sponge Bob more than I ever loathed Barney. At his age I was watching Dr. Who and Star Trek - so why can’t he?

When everything old seems almost new again

Another day, another bombing in Beirut reports Yahoo News:

A bomb set off a raging inferno in an industrial area of a mainly Christian neighborhood of Beirut on Saturday, injuring at least three foreign workers. Antoine Gebara, mayor of the northeastern Beirut area of Bouchrieh, said the explosion was caused by a bomb placed near the buildings in an industrial area. "It appears it is an explosive charge that was placed there," Gebara told Lebanese Broadcasting Corp.

"They must love us — we got it twice in a week," he said referring to an explosion in the nearby predominantly Christian neighborhood of Jdeideh last Saturday that injured nine people. A bomb on Wednesday killed three people in a Christian commercial center. Witnesses said the blast on the eve of the Easter holiday occurred three hours before Catholics were to head to a midnight Mass.

No group is claiming responsibility for the attack and the Lebanese government has failed to date to find any culprits in any of the bombing attacks that have been carried out in the pre-dominantly Christian neighborhoods of Beirut in the last two weeks. Nor is there any evidence to suggest that the government is actively searching for those who are responsible for this attack. It certainly is starting to appear that there are those in Lebanon who simply long for the old days and will do anything to re-create the past. No doubt those responsible for these current attacks regret that this time Arafat is deader than the proverbial door nail.

The shots that broke the camel’s back in the past was a sniper attack on Phalange affiliated Christians attending mass at the Church of Notre Dame de la Deliverance in Ain El Remmaneh neighborhood of East Beirut on April 13, 1975 which resulted in 4 dead. That attack coupled with the government of Lebanon’s self-imposed impotence to take decisive action or offer protection to the Christian community of Lebanon from the PLO caused the rise of Christian paramilitary extremists groups who felt compelled to take justice into their own hands and retaliated by hijacking a bus and executing 26 Palestinians. That act sparked an open armed confrontation between Phalange and PLO supporters in the streets of Beirut. As the conflict continued and gained momentum no one was allowed to sit out the dispute as fighting erupted throughout the country. Especially vulnerable were towns with mixed sectarian populations who were forced to seek safety with their religious/ethnic groups.

Things that make me grateful to be a Canadian

Now that I seemed to have opined my way into the religious right’s lunatic fringe but I still know my limits. Even I would protest this kind of religious activity if the religious tried to institute it here. Taken from the Toronto Sun:

NINETEEN Filipino cops facing dismissal or suspension atoned for their infractions by flagellating themselves or volunteering to be crucified during yesterday's annual reenactment of Jesus Christ's final hours.

The Central Lauzon police command gave officers who had been absent without leave or who had neglected their duty a novel option: Redeem themselves -- and keep their jobs -- by joining the Lenten rites, said regional commander Chief Superintendent Rowland Albano.

Flagellation or crucifixion just seems a little over the top for taking a day or two off work or even falling asleep while on duty.

Now for something completely different

To quote Oscar Wilde, "I can resist anything but temptation" which makes me a sucker for these silly quizzes.

I am a Jack Russell Terrier.

What breed of dog are you?

(tipped off via The Corner)