Durgan

Where there is smoke sometime there is a fire. I used some figures from the Vanity Fair article in an attempt to see if there was other information about his subject. Ths thrust of the Vanity Fair article was mostly about the pressure put onto the Recruiting Personnel to meet mission. I like that Meet Mission, sort of mysterious. As I mentioned someone sent me the chopped out article. Whether Vanity Fair is a good source, I don't know, but one has to assume that it has some veracity. I simply wanted some debate on this matter to get some clarification; hopefully, from those who know possibly with some like first hand experience. Maybe recruiters are too busy to use the internet. Durgan.

What is your point ? Two major events are taking place over the last few days. Emerson ratting to the CPC and Muslim cartoons. If one had to rely on the Press only to inform the public about these events, most would be in the dark. The stories and reaction to the events would simply not be present. In other word the press (media) has a captive audience and dispenses a canned, filtered interpretation to the public. With feedback the real mood of the public can be of some interest; in fact, of major interest. My view is the cartoons were totally innocuous, also Emerson's ratting is simply not being accepted by the public. This is only ascertained by internet comments and from the newspapers through feedback. The press without feed back could slant the story anyway they wanted to without the true feelings of the public being known. This has been the practice for years until the internet arrived on the scene. My point to some degree is to point out that Freedom of the Press nonsense meant in practice subjecting the public to what I would call an appropriate politically correct story. I can remember for years, I would read the newspaper and my immediate reaction to a story would be bullshit, and I felt I was being abused. This story telling would be caused by omission, or downright bias. When Glass in the NY Times was caught publishing phony stories for over five years, the NY Times felt nobody would believe anything they wrote again. Upon doing a survey they found it made little difference because only 37% of the people believed what they wrote anyway. Al Jazeera is believed by 67% of its readers. That my son is Freedom of the Press. Durgan. "Some men spoil a good story by sticking to the facts." Bob Edwards 1919.

I think you need more to be a Prime Minister than knowing about Islam. She's UN material not Prime Ministerial. Her site seems to be nothing but a big pitch for her book and her ego. Qualifications for the position of Prime Ministers are open for debate. I suggest most of our aspiring leaders wouldn't stand scrutiny, without some glaring deficiencies being exposed. Having an ego is a plus, open mind, logical, decisive would be a few desireable characteristics. Canada needs a fresh political approach, the suggestions offered on various posts is simply recycling of dead fish. Some people even suggested a Trudeau, noted or snowballing down mountains. Some Information and extracts of the writings of IRSHAD MANJI Manji, a tiny woman about 35 years of age(?)with a quicksilver tongue and a lightning intellect, arrived in Canada at the age of 4 as a refugee from Idi Amin's Uganda. She says that even as a child she realized Canada was a society that celebrated difference and encouraged debate. She graduated as a star student from the University of British Columbia, begun a career as a writer and broadcaster and discovered she was not, despite her childhood fantasies, a heterosexual. In 1998 she conceived, hosted and produced QueerTV, one of the world's first commercial TV programs to explore the lives of gays and lesbians. It was syndicated through the San Francisco- based Web portal Planetout.com and became one of the few programs anywhere to be streamed entirely on the Internet, circumventing state-sanctioned censorship and rapidly reaching a global audience. As Manji writes, Islam is the only major religion where extremists hold such complete sway over the mainstream. During Manji's last visit to her childhood home, her mother tucked a card into her suitcase. Her mother wrote to thank her for speaking up, for not abandoning her faith but challenging it. The letter concluded, "Bravo. You go, girl." Young Muslims and Muslim women -- have flooded my Web site with letters of relief and thanks. They are relieved that somebody is saying out loud words they have only whispered, and grateful that they're being given the permission to think for themselves. Links about his remarkable IRSHAD MANJI http://www.upi.com/inc/view.php?StoryID=20...02-032633-5233r http://www.savethemales.ca/000642.html http://www.speakers.ca/manji_irshad.aspx http://www.aspenberlin.org/interesting_art...hp?iGedminId=73 http://www.examinethetruth.com/manjism/Irs..._propaganda.htm Durgan.

She never mentions who that was. Who was it? Kim Campbell? If it was Kim Campbell, when must have been quite young. She only came to my attention over the last few weeks. I heard her on the CBC this morning 12 Feb 2006. She speaks well and has excellent delivery in substance and verbal manner. Her talking about Islam with another was clear, concise,and she was and quick on her feet. I think she would shine in debate. Anyway I am working on more deep information about her. Durgan. "A litle learning is a dangerous thing but a lot of ignorance is just as bad." Bob Edwards 1921.

The Canadian Liberal Party needs some new blood. This lady has it all. I strongly suggest, she would make a great Prime Minister. Her leadership would add much to the Canadian political scene. The old boys are bereft of ideas and time they left. This generation should take over. Discover more about this lady. http://adealmie.notlong.com Durgan. "A statesman is a dead politician. There should be more of them. Bob Edwards 1919.

If that is all you got out of my effort, I wasted my time. Durgan. "One kind of hypocrite is the man who,after thanking the Lord for his dinner, proceeds to find fault with the cook." Bob Edwards 1916.

Harper has a hell of a row to hoe. Out of his 121 or so members of the CPC he couldn't even find enough members with enough knowledge or brains to fill a 30 member cabinet. Emerson is dead meat, and the hack from Quebec in the senate won't last long. Harper just might take the CPC back to Kim Campbell days. After all this is the first real job Harper ever had. Harper won't let any member speak without permission. MacKay has babbled a bit of nonsense about ratting, and Turner is blackballed for speaking out without permission. I can hardly wait for the first enunciations by Stockwell Day, and some of the tight assed homophobic members. Yes! I feel some sympathy (slight) for poor Harper. Durgan. "The only people who don't quarrel over religion are those who don't have any." Bob Edwards 1920

Our (Western) media must must protect the people from things they shouldn't know. This is the essence of Freedom of the Press slogan. It means they who control the media will publish their agenda. You as an individual have little power to fight the media propaganda, one must join a mob and possibly produce your own media, or be overwhelmed if the mainstream media gets out of hand. The same people who don't know of, or question German excesses from 1933 to 1945 when they got slapped back into there hole by the Russians, and USA, Britain and her Colonies, and others; probably believe the world is flat. This is nice way of saying they are ignorant, and probably mind dead to reason and logic. Pass them on or if they get too pushy beat them down. There is not other way. Democracy survives on a pinhead, balanced precariously. It is a constant battle and always will be, protecting us from the onslaught of God takes effort. There will always be somebody trying to make other people see the light, their version. The mottos change daily, usually with God or his followers in the theme. What a peaceful world we would have if we the people got rid of God. We would still have our strifes, which is built into human nature, but the "religions" fighting would be worldly and more defined, and we could define the enemy. The God enemy is hard to get a grasp on, it obscures the real danger and agenda. Religion defined to my way of thinking is any group following blindly without serious questioning its tenets due to fear or ignorance. Examples would be: Communisn, National Socialism, Japanese Militarianism, Christianity, Facism, Islam, and many other not mentioned here. Democracy seems to be the best route to follow at first look. Its practice has many shades. It might offer the best future for the human race, but it must be examined and changed to suit circumstances. The method of selecting those who form the governmnet has many defects. Many people are not truly represented by our present system. Rule by the so called majority often represents in practice about 25 percent of the populace. Many of the silent majority don't vote for reasons that are varied, and first past the post system of elections creates a ruling group, particularly if they have a few seats majority, that is akin to a dictatorship for the term of their tenure. Just my thoughts. Durgan. "There never was a man as great as the average dog believes his master to be." Bob Edwards 1917.

Having an interest in military matters, a friend sent me a ripped out article from September 2005 Vanity Fair, The Recruiters' War by Michael Bronner, and other snippets. I sort of banged together some bits and pieces to see what others had to offer. This subject hasn't exactly been front page news. The subject is of some importance regarding the operation in Iraq. Durgan.

A most interesting post. I never heard of this remarkable woman. Here is the URL to her information. It is pretty hard to dispute her credentials. . http://budzhees.notlong.com Durgan.

What is your beef? It almost seems I am having a comunication with a Muslim. Your perception is so deep that you are reading information in the previous posts that simply is not there. Maybe you should go shovel some pig shit for exercise. I have heard it also helps the mind at least the cognitive process. Durgan.

Recruiters are sent out to recruit people for the Marines, Army and Reserves. There is tremendous pressure on these recruiters to fill their allotted quotas. The peasants aren't exactly flocking to the recruiting depots. There doesn't appear to be much glory in fortress duty in Iraq. To meet quotas or to use the military jargon make mission Marine recruiters are enlisting kids who don't meet basic physical, moral? and educational standards. One report suggests that of 75 kids put in the Marine Corps, 70 were fraudulent enlistments. Some kids enlisted has asthma ( a real no no),illegal-drug users, and those with criminal records. I might suggest Asthma has some connection with the Kyoto accord, which has been rejected by the US. The Recruitors are under tremendous pressure to meet their quota. Apparently there is no way to recruit within the rules and meet quota, make mission. There are about 10,000 army recruiters. There quota is about 2.5 persons per month. The Army needs about 80,000 and the Marines need about 40,000 each year of new cannon fodder. The quota would appear easy, but in practice it is not. The present conflict has no patriotic drive behind it. The drive for recruits for the week-end warriers is even worse. It is fast developing into a disfunctional force. The recritors are under the gun. Failure to meet quota can mean reprimands, demotion, threats and brutal physical punishments. Not quite as bad as the Belgians, when they ruled the Congo, and wanted rubbber. They would give a quota to a village. and if it wasn't met, a few hands would be lopped off to encourage the remainder. But you get the drift. The British had a similar system for the Royal Navy upto about 1885, where they simply send gangs out to grap anybody on the street, and took him to a sailing ship, and kept him in the brig until far out to sea. This had a pretty name for it called Press Gangs. It is stated that a recruiter's work is the most difficult in the military outside of combat. It appears to them, who are appropiate to do the fighting, simply have no interest. The Romans had a similar problem and had to recruit mercenaries, who eventually took over the empire. This is the underside of the War in Iraq. Durgan.

Freedom of the Press up to probably the arrival of the internet on the scene meant that those who controlled newspapers could broadcast selected information to a mass audience. The subject matter was almost exclusively in control of those who controlled the press. The press made the story with the appropiate bias and the public were duly informed about what was important for them to know. This system developed into a mass indocrination of the masses with few exceptions. Feedback consisted of a tightly controlled letter to the editor section of a few lines at most. Today, the newspapers have an electronic feedback to the stories printed. This at first look appears to be a sound method of getting reactions and comments on news stories. In pratice little has changed. The Globe and Mail has a feedback system which is tightly controlled as to content, with no formatting so the story appears in one big glob. This system is not too bad except it is still censored and the poor formatting probably discourages wide reading. This is not as bad as Al Jazeera where there is almost no censoring, but all the text is in small letters with no formatting. The Toronto Star is even worse. Only selected stories are allowed to be commented on, and the owners even go so far as to select which stories they will reproduce. About two line is accepted as if the peasants have nothing intelligent to dispense. Patronizing to say the least. I haven't looked at the National Post or the Sun papers. My point is Freedom of the Press only exists in the public's imagination. The press is tightly controlled by a few, and it is still the main news media for the masses, other than the entertainment of TV dispensed by a buglecaller. Radio is slighly better than TV, but there is a select number of people broadcasting their form of propaganda. My thrust is mainly about newspapers, but other media is mentioned, since they are associated somewhat. Internet forums offer a new media for dispensing information. Depending upon the forum there is sometimes a new look at a story contrary to the newspaper view. I have no real way of determining if these forums have any real effect on the thinking of the masses, or the babblings are just an outlet for the emotions of the author. The thrust of this is I feel the masses are being controlled still by a select few as to what to think to a large degree. Almost all forum threads are started from some news story in a newspaper. I will admit the new methods are slowly making the expression "Freedom of the Press" more meaningful for the masses for better or worse. There is a long way to go before it has real meaning. The purpose of bring this topic up is the term Freedom of the Press is breing spouted often in regards to the Muslim uproar over a few innocuos cartoons. The implication being that what is being seen is still tightly controlled. Most people would not have seen the cartoons except for the internet. This Freedon of the Press babble reminds me of the term the Traditions of the Royal Navy. The reply to the comment attributed to Winston Churchill was something along these lines, delivered in a shouting manner; Traditions of the Royal Navy, I will tell you what the traditions of the Royal Navy were, They were, " Press gangs, Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash." Durgan. "There never was a man as great as the average dog believes his master to be." Bob Edwards 1917.

Poor Haper couldn't find enough CPC members with enough brains to fill 30 cabinet seats. There must be a few pissed off homophobic members amongst the elected members. Dave Emerson will fit right in this party. Lack of brains I find suprising because it is hard to imagine worse than Stockwell Day and he got a cabinet seat. Actually I am suprised he didn''t get the Justice Minister portfolio, since he has has much experience when in the cabinet in Alberta. I remember his ignorance of the law cost the Alberta taxpayers almost a million bucks. Durgan.

Probably a good choice in the refusal. One never knows when a fearful Christian might be an advertiser; also, nowhere today are people blasting innocents with sucicide bombers yelling, Jesus loves me." However, with the current violence taking place in the name of Islam, the cartoons were poingnant and appropiate for the times. The internet if full of cartoons about the Christian religion, pedantic priests, confessional antics, Pope hypocrisy, Christian healers on the TV, etc. Durgan. " There never was a man as great as the average dogs believes his master to be." Bob Edwards 1917 The True God

I love it. Different strokes for different folks. When can we expect the White House prayer rooms to be converted to Islam prayer rooms? Durgan.

Canada doesn't get its manual worker immigrants (slaves) from this Muslim group. Canada uses the Caribbean for its immigrant labourers, mostly Jamaica and Mexico. They are too weak to make waves. Apparently this pool is too far away for Europe to utilize. Durgan. "There never was a man as great as the average dog believes his master to be." Bob Edwards,1917. This is the URL to a fair analysis of how Muslims prerceive themselves in Canada, the land of the free. http://zeuxinta.notlong.com Why the global rage hasn't engulfed Canada Multiculturalism and media likely muted protests MICHAEL VALPY Why haven't Muslims in Canada taken to the streets in large numbers to protest against cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed? It's not because everyone in Canada is so nice to each other, say Canadian Muslim leaders and Islamic scholars. It's because Canada's multiculturalism is complex. They say Muslim immigration into Canada has been different. So has Muslim integration into Canadian society. And so has the political action of Canadian Muslim organizations around the highly sensitive issue of Islamic religious fundamentalism. The difference is illustrated by events in France in 2004 and Canada in 2005, said Tarek Fatah, a leader of the Muslim Canadian Congress. In France, few if any representative voices within the French Muslim community were heard in the news media speaking in favour of a law banning conspicuous religious symbols, such as the traditional Muslim head scarf, in public schools. This was the case even though a significant percentage of French Muslims had no problem accepting the law within the cultural context of French secular society. The powerful Muslim opposition that was heard, Mr. Fatah said, came from "the mosque structure" but "the mobilization of moderate Muslim voices never happened." In contrast, in Canada in 2005, the news media pointedly reported that the most vociferous opposition to an Ontario law permitting Islamic religious tribunals to arbitrate family and marital disputes came from Muslim organizations themselves. In Mr. Fatah's view, the mainstream Muslim community in Canada has recognized the need to take what he calls "ownership of the word Muslim." It has become actively involved in Canadian political life and not marginalized as is the case in many Western countries. "It's a shift, for Canadian Muslims, that has not happened anywhere else." Mohamed Elmasry, president of the Canadian Islamic Congress, said violent demonstrations simply aren't a fit with the Canadian Muslim community -- which, because of Canada's immigration requirements, he said, is the most highly educated Muslim community in the world. "They would find legal and peaceful means of protest far more productive," said the imam and professor at the University of Waterloo. "With demonstrations, you cannot have full control over who does what." His organization, the largest Muslim umbrella group in Canada, has actively discouraged demonstrations over the cartoons and has spoken publicly against the violent protests -- as has the Muslim Canadian Congress. Earle Waugh, a University of Alberta Islamic scholar, said most Muslim immigrants to Canada do not feel sidelined, a factor significantly fuelling the protests in European countries. "There is no sympathy within the Canadian Muslim community for a radical approach," he said. "No sympathy for the fundamentalists." Canada has had no legacy of Muslim colonies like that of the British and French, and no history of migrant Muslim guest workers like that of Germany.

Hagiography interesting word. Function: noun 1 : biography of saints or venerated persons 2 : idealizing or idolizing biography Most poor old farm boys wouldn't know the meaning of hagiography, and might subscribe intelligence to the user of such without a definition. Durgan.

It looks pretty good from where I sit. I don't think Islam can tolerate logical indepth discussion. This probably applies to all religions. I solve the God problem by viewing my inukshuk in private. It is very comforting and bears no anomosity to anybody or anything. My God is at the top left of this post. Here are some cartoons lampooning Islam and Christianity. http://resaggie.notlong.com http://larviers.notlong.com http://ashbalim.notlong.com http://ashbalim1.notlong.com Durgan.

Who really cares who is having sex with whom? I find it of no interest, except maybe a slight prurient, maybe ttitillating flash. It reminds me of a story. A middle-aged tourist was visting a zoo in Florida and saw two hippopotamus. She asked of the guide, " Which is the female'. The guide said, " Madame that is of interest only to the male." Sexual proclivities in general are of concern to the people personally involved, only. Durgan.

I'm queer and I'm here -get used to it. I promise not to move to Alberta. If parliament is smart they will have a shout vote like the Ontario Legislature did and no record. Stephen and his philes will cover their ass, and the sun will come up in a day or two and all will be forgotten. The issue will be met in the good old wimpy Canadian way with no blame on anybody. Simple. Durgan.

All religions be off; you all have too much blood on your hands. Talk to the inukshuk as an individual and you will have peace. No books only you and your God. Simple. Durgan.

The cartoons published were innocuous. Da new Canadian foreign minister McKay is spouting the wimpy Canadian political correct line. Nothing happens in a tolalitarian Muslin country without the sanction of the authorities. The cartoons are all over the internet and these are not the cartoons that all hell is being raised about. Some Muslim Scholar ( a Lebanese Danish Citizen) took far worse cartoons in a scrapbook to Lebanon to the religious leaders, which caused the ruckus. The pot was stirred up by the leaders of Muslim countries. Some Western countries are panting like dogs seeking a bone to placate these people. Even the Moslim countries who started the ruckus are trying to put a cap on the demonstrations, after all it might lead to overthrow of some of these totalarian regimes. The genie out of the bottle is hard to get back in. Apparently the subject cartoons were really offensive in the worst way, and the religious leaders are using it to stir up anger against the Western Nations. These really offensive cartoons were not even published anywhere on the internet. Westerners are seeing something else in the published cartoons that is simply not there. The internet published cartoons were pithy and too the point about the so called terrorists blowing up innocents and the supposed claim by some radicals that the martyrs will have many delights in their heaven. This heaven bit is well documented, and is being preached by some in the radical Muslim community. The newspapers can keep their politically correct stance and act like responsible citizens, but the internet is two steps ahead of them. The Muslims creating the fuss have not even seen the real sexual with animal offending cartoons. The West is acting like idiots in my view. Lampooning religion is and always has been a norm in our society. The internet is full of cartoons about the Pope and the diddling priests, and others. Some are quite funny and express a view held by many religious or not. Here are some URL's to cartoons. Like most cartoons they tickle people in differenct ways. Usually one looks and passes on. Offended my ass. http://resaggie.notlong.com http://larviers.notlong.com http://ashbalim.notlong.com http://ashbalim1.notlong.com Durgan.

What is that stupid remark supposed to mean.? The author was recognized at the top of the article. The link was not provided because it was from some newspaper, where you had to sign up. That is why the story was posted. Proper recognizition of the author or source was presented. STupid remark! Durgan.

The Bloc is leading in the polls and will probably form the next provincial government in Quebec. English Canada sleeps and pretends separation is dead. It is very much alive and is an issue in Quebec. Our new GG needs a new speech writer. 'Vive le Québec libre!' Durgan. ** Remaining post removed due to copyright infringment **