tango

Ottawa lets slip secret document that reveals American request for info to help put Canadian in U.S. court “ The document shows the U.S. did not have information that warranted any charges against [Mr. Abdelrazik], nor did Canada or Sudan. Yet his life remained a nightmare for years based on suspicion alone.” Washington attempted to elicit the Harper government's help in putting Abousfian Abdelrazik behind bars, even though American anti-terrorist agents admitted they lacked sufficient evidence to charge him. Government censors – in a rare failure to black out anything incriminating – let slip a “secret” document, dated July 19, 2006, that reveals a critical set of high-level exchanges between the administration of George W. Bush and the Stephen Harper government. It was part of a trove of several hundred pages, many of them entirely blacked out, that were released by the government in response to a Privacy Act request by Mr. Abdelrazik. The document, marked “secret,” shows that the Bush administration knew Sudan was about to release Mr. Abdelrazik from prison in the summer of 2006, and wanted help from Canadian police and anti-terrorism agents to try to charge him. Dirtier and dirtier. But maybe the censors didn't make a mistake. Maybe Harper told them to leave this info exposed, to throw the guilt somewhere else?

That's an awful lot of generalizations with no supporting facts. The people of Caledonia certainly have not been "deserted" by the OPP. In fact, there is a huge contingent of OPP in town. However, the OPP have gotten to know 'the usual suspects' quite well, and after many many many false alarms, false reports and inciteful actions from this crew, have learned to ignore some of them. It's ridiculous that Merlyn and Dougie, and in the background Gary McHale, Jeff Parkinson, and Mark Vandermaas, are inciting trouble again when there is nothing at all to be upset about. There's hardly anyone on the site these days, except when some of these yokels decide to make a stink. I think they are just craving excitement. Too bad the OPP and everybody else has to put up with them. It also costs us a lot of money for policing when the ijits are out and about with their flags or their "militia" or whatever. Just let the courts do their job, I say. That's the thinking of most Canadians, I think.

Your comments are not particularly relevant to the topic, Oleg. Was that before the stalking law? Because you can get a restraining order now for that behaviour. However, please confine yourself to the topic at hand, which is policing of native protests.

You have missed one significant event - the first one: Merlyn Kinrade announced that he will be leading a 'parade' of Canadian flags down Hwy 6 past the reclamation site/DCE. Then Boots set up shop on Hwy 6. Not quite ... he didn't say "never". I expect he would have ... after Merlyn's 'parade' ... but not now with Dougie's "militia" coming after him. What you have not made clear is that Dougie supposedly is forming his "militia" (of the usual suspects, all well known to the cops by now) in response to Boots' smoke shop on Palmer's property, but Palmer wants absolutely nothing to do with Dougie or his militia! And of course, you also didn't mention the fact that Dougie and the usual suspects also set up a smoke shop on Hwy 6 a while back. In fact, the Flemings have been at the forefront of many anti-native protest actions and seem to enjoy the spotlight. It's also noteworthy that all Doug Fleming has done is suggest that a meeting be held next week to talk about the possibility of forming a "militia", and the media are ALL over it! But are they reporting on the court process in Brantford that is setting a precedent for the whole country? Of course not! The Fleming fools, and their "militia" of ijits are much more interesting to the (Hamilton) media than the truth about Canadian law and Aboriginal rights!! I agree with you that it is a complicated issue and I think it has become so mainly because the media love the silly antics of the out-of-town white supremacist-types and their minions - the 'usual suspects' among the anti-native element from Caledonia.

There is a relationship between Bush's "militant foreign policy" and the US economy. Appears to me that Obama is trying to clean up the economic mess left by Bush's Republicans.

I think they should not be allowed to use it for partisan sniping. Parliament is supposed to be for governance, not politicking.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/bureau-blog/parting-shots/article1187927/ Just a few minutes into the session, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson blew up everybody’s news agenda – including perhaps his own – by announcing in a few short words that the government would be complying with a court decision ordering the return of Abousfian Abdelrazik from Sudan. “The government will comply with the court order,” Mr. Nicholson said in response to questions from Liberal MP Irwin Cotler. ... It's reassuring to know that Harper will obey a court order.

The Palestinians have every right to defend themselves. They are under seige.

Nobody expects Israel to "take them in". We'd like Israel to stop trying to starve them to death is all. Genocide is not an admirable strategy, regardless of who is doing it.

I have no excuses for NATO in Afghanistan. But I repeat: How sad that Israelis have no greater ambitions than that.

You mean the children? Ya, those crayon bombs are really scary! Unfortunately, you represent the attitude that many Israelis have. It's increasingly difficult for me to have any sympathy for Israel. A country that dehumanizes its neighbours ... well ... there's just nothing good to be said for them. The oppressed become the oppressors. How sad that Israelis have no greater ambitions than that.

Carter says Gaza Palestinians treated like animals Tue Jun 16, 2009 11:18am EDT GAZA, June 16 (Reuters) - Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are being "treated more like animals than human beings", former U.S. president Jimmy Carter said on Tuesday. On a visit to the enclave, he condemned Israel's January bombardment of Gaza and its continuing trade blockade, which he said forbids even children's toys. "I understand that even paper and crayons are treated as a security hazard," he told Gazans at a local United Nations office. "I sought an explanation of this when I met with Israeli officials and I received none, because there is no explanation." I think Israel should stop making war on children. IMO, the blockade of Gaza must end before any progress can be made in peace efforts.

Welcome Mirax! Some information on adult literacy in Canada: http://www.nald.ca/library/research/booc/s...ry/building.pdf While Building on our Competencies concludes that Canada still faces major literacy challenges ten years after the release of the IALS in 1994, the report observes there are reasons to be optimistic about our skills future. It notes that the majority of Canadians aged 16 to 65 have average prose and document literacy scores at Level 3, the skill level established as the minimum requirement for an individual to function effectively in a modern knowledge-based society and economy. There was some good news reported in terms of international comparisons. Canadians outperformed their major North American trading partners, the United States and the Mexican State of Nuevo Leon. In fact the Yukon Territory, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia recorded quite high prose literacy scores that compare favourably with those of Norway, which had the highest average scores among countries involved in the 2003 survey. These provincial/territorial jurisdictions also scored above the Canadian average in all four skill domains, setting a standard of achievement for other Canadian jurisdictions. Overall, it's not such a bleak picture as some would paint it. And despite our anecdotal observations, overall literacy is strongly related to age, with more literate adults among successively younger Canadians.

The topic is Indigenous people.

You did say you'd like to see it 'judged', and I agree.

Flaherty says budget officer 'wrong' to predict long-term deficits By Alexander Panetta – 4 hours ago OTTAWA — Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has dismissed a prediction of deeper, longer-term deficits from Parliament's budget watchdog. He rejected analysis from Kevin Page, the parliamentary budget officer, that major spending cuts or tax hikes will be the only way to get Canada out of the red within five years. Past warnings from Page have proven accurate. But Flaherty says he's off-base this time, because the bleak prediction is based on unduly pessimistic economic-growth projections. "He's wrong," Flaherty told journalists in a conference call from a G8 finance ministers' meeting in Lecce, Italy. "Because he says growth rates likely will be slower than I had predicted. Now, if you make an assumption with respect to lower growth rates, then you get the results that he postulates. "But anybody can do that." The government says it should easily return to surpluses after five years, as the economy improves and higher federal revenues restore Ottawa's balance sheets. However, since the last election campaign, the government's projections have consistently been rosier than reality. The Tories were promising a balanced budget until the end of the year, then tabled a $34 billion deficit in January, and finally ramped up their deficit forecast last month to more than $50 billion. Over that time Page, and several private-sector analysts, have repeatedly warned that the books were in worse shape. The Toronto Dominion Bank now projects $167 billion in deficits over five years - almost double what the government forecasts - and expects a $19.4 billion deficit in 2013-14, the year Flaherty foresees a return to surplus. Page has said that he can't envision a five-year return to surplus without a government move to significantly cut spending or increase revenue. The Bank of Canada expects the economy to shrink 3 per cent this year - almost quadruple the 0.8 per cent drop forecast in Flaherty's January budget. http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianp...U-aKPnbB6z2TT_g Oh now ... let me think ... who's right ... the politicians ... or the professionals?

I don't think any of them are a problem. Picking on protests by "minority groups" is the problem. I have made a complaint to the Ontario Press Council, and there may very well be an adjudication hearing.

You be ... if you choose ... but your 'arguments' are pretty silly! But again, you miss the point: It's NOT ok for a major media outlet to be racist.

Can we handle some good news? 800 recalled at Hamilton steel plant MIKE CASSESE/REUTERS FILE PHOTO The former Stelco plant in Hamilton will fire up in coming weeks after new owner U.S. Steel recalled 800 workers. Coke ovens at mothballed Stelco mill will be restarted, new U.S. owner informs union Jun 13, 2009 04:30 AM Comments on this story (1) THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR HAMILTON – U.S. Steel is calling 800 laid-off Hamilton employees back to work, breathing some life back into its mothballed Canadian operations. The Pittsburgh steelmaker, which acquired Stelco Inc. in 2007, will restart its Hamilton coke ovens and begin recalling workers in the coming weeks, said Rolf Gerstenberger, president of Local 1005 of the United Steelworkers union. There are no plans yet to recall any workers at U.S. Steel's Lake Erie plant, according to sources with knowledge of the situation. There is also no immediate intention to restart any Canadian operations other than the Hamilton coke ovens. more ... http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/650326 Local 1005 ... back in action!

Hey Bill! Here's your chance! Get out there and protest, eh! On Friday June 12/09, in a meeting called by the OPP CANACE founders Merlyn Kinrade and Gary McHale were informed by Sgt. Phil Carter that the OPP would permit the planned rally in support of Randy Fleming to march down Argyle St. past the Douglas Creek Estates occupation site. Residents will be carrying the Canadian Flag as they march. This historic march will take place on Saturday, June 20 at 1:30. (Link) For additional information regarding Randy Fleming's arrest see Link. But I still think that some of you are totally missing the point: If the Hamilton Spectator is going to rant about protests on the highways, they should rant about it no matter who's doing it. However, they only rant about "minority groups" doing it, and that's unacceptable racism by the media. We'll see what the Ontario Press Council has to say to them this time.

I'm sure you were all as pissed off at the tobacco farmers protest then? Truckers? Vented your anger that police didn't arrest them, did you?

Contradiction: "Artsies" can read.

That's exactly my point. Race shouldn't matter. However, the Spec editorial makes it an issue. Read it again: You see? The Spec does not complain about (white) farmers, truckers, etc; They only complain about "minority groups" - Mohawks and Tamils, to be exact. In fact, the Spec wrote this story about the tobacco farmers protest, with no editorial complaints about them tying up traffic, nor about their illegal giveaway of tobacco. Nor did they write an editorial called "Protests lack consequences" and demand that the protesters be arrested. One is left to wonder ... What if the tobacco protest convoy had been going the other way? What if a Six Nations convoy had gone to Delhi to pick up the free tobacco? Would the Spectator editorial board complain about that? Food for thought!

Borg: Just to be clear about whose war this is: Somalia: Another CIA-backed coup blows up "The Ethiopian invasion, which was sanctioned by the US government, has destroyed virtually all the life-sustaining economic systems which the population has built for the last fifteen years." Abdi Samatar, professor of Global Studies at the University of Minnesota, Democracy Now. Up until a month ago, no one in the Bush administration showed the least bit of interest in the incidents of piracy off the coast of Somalia. Now that's all changed and there's talk of sending in the Navy to patrol the waters off the Horn of Africa and clean up the pirates hideouts. Why the sudden about-face? Could it have something to do with the fact that the Ethiopian army is planning to withdrawal all of its troops from Mogadishu by the end of the year, thus, ending the failed two year US-backed occupation of Somalia? The United States has lost the ground war in Somalia, but that doesn't mean its geopolitical objectives have changed one iota. The US intends to stay in the region for years to come and use its naval power to control the critical shipping lanes from the Gulf of Aden. The growing strength of the Somali national resistance is a set-back, but it doesn't change the basic game-plan. The pirates are actually a blessing in disguise. They provide an excuse for the administration to beef up it's military presence and put down roots. Every crisis is an opportunity. Should Canada not expect assistance from the US in finding and freeing Ms Lindhout? I think so.

read the rest here ... My Letter to the Editor of the Hamilton Spectator: Ms. Prokaska's point seems to be that "police forces ... don't want to be accused of racism" so they use a "conciliatory approach" to protests, an approach that Ms. Prokaska disagrees with. She wonders "why aren't arrests made"? I ask Ms. Prokaska: Why weren't arrests made when the tobacco farmers protested with a slow rolling convoy and illegally gave away their tobacco? Why weren't arrests made when (now MP) Randy Hillier and other farmers protested with a slow rolling convoy down the 401, into Toronto, and around and around Queen's Park? Why weren't arrests made when truckers protested with a slow rolling convoy on the 401? Ms. Prokaska makes it an issue of race, and the Spectator Editorial Board apparently agrees, since she speaks for them. But it isn't about "minority groups". It is about the right of protest in a free country. The police, whose responsibility it is first and foremost to uphold the Constitution of Canada, negotiate and patrol to ensure public safety. Ms. Prokaska, and Spectator Editorial Board that allowed this racist rant to be printed in their name, have become so complacent in their racism, they now don't even bother to disguise it. Hamiltonians deserve better than to be delivered constant thinly veiled racism for breakfast. A complaint has been sent to the Ontario Press Council, and I invite other readers to join me in standing up against racism in the Hamilton Spectator by contacting: THE ONTARIO PRESS COUNCIL 2 Carlton Street, Suite 1706, Toronto, Ontario M5B 1J3 Telephone: (416) 340-1981 FAX: (416) 340-8724 E-mail: [email protected] Since I have sent a complaint to the Ontario Press Council, the Spectator refuses to respond to my letter. Let's see if they have the guts to print it! ... to be continued ...