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Tuesday, July 18, 2006
The Neighbourhood Bully
The Globe and Mail's front-page headline today is really quite precious: "Harper refuses to budge." What's that you say? Harper stood by Israel right to defend itself a few days ago and now . . . he still does? Even after innocents were inadvertently killed in the crossfire? Wow. You'd think the man had principles, or something.
Alas, gone are the days of Mr. Dithers, when the Globe's editors could actually influence policy by bringing to bear enough pressure on the PM to make him waiver, say, by trying to centre the blame for this conflict on Israel. Of course, in the world of elite Eastern quasi-intellectual opinion, it's always at least partly Israel's fault. Murray Soupcoff (dad of Western Standard contributor, and National Postie, Marni Soupcoff) reminded us of this great 80's tune by Bob Dylan—The Neighborhood Bully—which pretty well sums up the way the Globe and the Star and the CBC interpret these conflicts—a view, thankfully, our prime minister is smart enough to reject:
Well, he knocked out a lynch mob, he was criticized,
Old women condemned him, said he should apologize.
Then he destroyed a bomb factory, nobody was glad.
The bombs were meant for him.
He was supposed to feel bad.
He's the neighborhood bully.
Posted by Kevin Libin on July 18, 2006 | Permalink
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Comments
Oh good point about Dithers and the media. It explains why they don't like Harper one bit - he refuses to listen to them and follow his instincts.
Could Harper actually be a good leader?
That said, even by following Bush closely, he's still a more decisive leader than Chretien/Martin ever could be.
Posted by: Scott | 2006-07-18 4:09:09 PM
QUESTION IS WAS THAT CANADIAN LEBANESE WOMAN PREGNANT? WHY DID SHE HAVE 5 KIDS IN 7 YEARS TO THAT POINT?
JUST HOW MANY CANADIAN LEBANESE ARE THERE? THEY SAY 50,000 NOE IN LEBANON? WELL WHAT PERCENTAGE IS THAT OF THE TOTAL CANADIAN LEBANES POPULATION? 100%? ALL ARE NOW TAKING THEIR VACATION AND IN LEBANON? 10%? WHICH WOULD MEAN THERE ARE A HALF MILLION LEBANESE CANADIANS ALONE? OR WHAT PER CENT? WHAT PERCENT IS THIS GROUP OF THE NTIRE MUSLIM POPULATION OF CANADA?
AT THIS BREEDING RATE WITHIN 20 YEARS THEYLL HAVE THE VOTES TO DESTROY OUR DEMOCRACY JUST AS THEY DO IN LEBANON, PALESTINE, IRAQ, ETC . AND THEYLL HAVE THE VOTES TO FORCE SHARIA ONTO THIS COUNTRY
WE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO STAND UP AND FIGHT NOW AND FOR STARTERS END ALL MUSLIM IMMIGRATION TO CANADA OR IT WONT BE LONG THAT REAL CANADIANS WHO CANT GET GREEN CARDS WILL BE CROSSING THE BORDER LIKE THE MEXICANS DO. IN OUR CASE TO GET AWAY FROM THIS ISLAMIC DISEASE.
Posted by: woodbridge | 2006-07-18 5:23:05 PM
You know WHY he refuses to budge, don't you? It's all explained on the CBC website: The PM, you see, is a "genuine fan" of "Canadian Jewry". His "Zionism" will help him win votes, because Canada's Jews are "influential in Canadian media and business circles."
This according to Larry Zolf, man of all CBC trades.
The CBC's Chief Political Correspondent Keith Boag continues to do dirty work for our former ruling party in the manner of someone paying off an underworld debt by rote, but CBC has actually been outdone in the create-a-spurious-crisis for Harper sweepstakes by CTV. Various Liberals, who could easily be mistaken for government cabinet ministers, considering the airtime they are getting and the respect shown for their expertise, have another explanation, one that's Boagsian in its stubborn stupidity: Harper is merely "parroting Bush's talking points."
Gee, Ivan Fecan isn't connected to the Liberals in any way, is he?
Posted by: EBD | 2006-07-18 5:23:40 PM
Terror arrests show need to remain vigilant in face of security threats: FBI head
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
TORONTO -- The recent arrests of 17 terror suspects accused of plotting attacks in Ontario reinforce the need to remain vigilant in the face of terrorist threats, the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation said Tuesday.
"The fact that we're almost five years from Sept. 11 should not delude anyone into thinking (that) . . . we are totally safe,'' FBI director Robert Mueller said at a news conference Tuesday.
"There are individuals who will come together, often without any ties to al-Qaida overseas . . . espousing the philosophy of al-Qaida to undertake terrorist attacks in our homelands, whether it be Canada or the United States.
"Certainly, the arrests here . . . are indicative of that.''
Mueller is in Toronto for the annual training conference held by the FBI's national academy, which is being held outside the United States for the first time. The conference wraps up Wednesday.
Mueller also paid a visit to FBI officials stationed in Toronto, as well as representatives from Canadian law enforcement and intelligence agencies including the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
Mueller said the ongoing development of relations between Canada and the U.S. and sharing of information is vital to having success in counterterrorism.
The inability to do so was one of the areas of weakness that emerged in the report and hearings into the 9-11 response, Mueller said.
"It's absolutely essential in this day and age that we have the ability to exchange information on threats swiftly,'' he said.
"If we do not, then we will see another such attack and that's the last thing that any of us want.''
Mueller said that despite the incident involving Ottawa resident Maher Arar, who was imprisoned and tortured in his native Syria, it shouldn't change the way in which the two countries share information.
The RCMP has admitted they shared information with U.S. officials about Arar, who was arrested at New York's JFK International Airport in 2002 on allegations he was an al-Qaida operative.
"One should not utilize that case or other cases to in any way curb the exchange of information that is the currency of success in addressing counterterrorism,'' Mueller said.
Mueller said Canada would be "well-enhanced'' to follow in the footsteps of U.S. lawmakers in establishing a Classified Information Procedures Act, which allows authorities to take classified information while ensuring the sources and methods are hidden.
Mueller also called for tougher sentences for those participating in terrorism.
Mueller said the image of Canadian law enforcement is "exceptionally high'' and the forces are emulated by others around the world.
Posted by: woodbridge | 2006-07-18 5:27:12 PM
CTV IS BELL
AND CTV IS MORE ANTI ISRAEL THAN CBC
fair and balanced is a phrase neither 2nd rate canadian leech tv network ever heard of
Posted by: woodbridge | 2006-07-18 5:31:30 PM
EBD
so jews have more votes than muslims in canada
you are dumber than a bag of hammers
and jews own all the media in the world because they have more money than all in the world
yes youre right again
those saudis and kuwaitis etc are just trying to make ends meet
did you hear about the big meeting at the new york synagogue last friday night? it was announced by the speaker "good news again men, for 74,945th week in a row we have all the money in the world"
did you know that queen elizabeth is jewish? so were all the other european monarchs so was jesus until the italians kille him
Posted by: woodbridge | 2006-07-18 5:39:05 PM
The post about 40,000 or 50,000 "Canadians" being trapped in Lebanon is surely something the current government needs to address.Naturalized immigrants who don't live in Canada should have their Canadian citizenship revoked. I personally detest having my tax money used to evacuate and then look after all these people who have a Canadian passport of convenience
Posted by: No Spin Zone | 2006-07-18 6:11:46 PM
It's actually an outrage to allow these people to retain Canadian citizenship for convenience and safe haven while being permanent residents of Lebanon or anywhere else. What our government must do is make absolutely certain they are not partaking of our services such as health care while living in another country. They should be forced to decide, it's not possible to be full and fair citizens of two countries. We've been used and abused far too long due to lenient, gutless policies by Liberal governments trading common sense and fairness for votes.
Posted by: Liz J | 2006-07-18 6:40:06 PM
Didn't take this lot much time to get around to their favourite topic(s): CBC/Liberal/Ethnic-bashing.
The CBC and LPC are fair game for criticism, but at least there are alternatives.
As for immigrants, we need them more than they need us. They are contributing to Canada and deserve credit for their efforts.
However, they will eventually become just as self-indulgent as old-stock Canadians. So just relax and count on the "BREEDING RATE" to drop.
Posted by: govard | 2006-07-18 7:11:28 PM
govard wrote: As for immigrants, we need them more than they need us. They are contributing to Canada and deserve credit for their efforts.
You mean the Liberals need them. The point about the situation in Lebanon is that a significant number of these "Canadians" haven't lived here for years nor had they any intention of living here. A Canadian passport was simply a device that allowed them to demand the Canadian government rescue them if anything happened there.
Posted by: No Spin Zone | 2006-07-18 7:49:30 PM
govard,
Immigrants are ok as long as they share our values and assimilate. Most immigrants are ok except the MUSLIMS.
Muslims are only loyal to the Ummah (nations of Islam). They love and caring is for their Ummah not Canada. They only care about their interests and they breed like rabbits. At this rate, their population in Canada will be a majority and then their votes will count and Canada will be Hell like where they come from. A civil war in Canada will eventually happen.
RESTRICT MUSLIM IMMIGRATION IMMEDIATELY BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.
Posted by: Canadian | 2006-07-18 7:59:09 PM
"So just relax and count on the "BREEDING RATE" to drop."
no way
why is the press refusing to ever discuss muslim birthrates both here band worldwide?
they all blame bush an big business for global warmiong ie - caused because of increased production but there would be no increased production if there was not increased number of consumption and there is increased consumption only because of the huge increase of people on the planet
it is the increased breeding by those SPECIFIC people that is the cause of global warming
BUT we never hear that discussed either
Posted by: woodbridge | 2006-07-18 8:09:50 PM
Woodbridge, I think EBD was just repeating some of the silliness that Zolf was perpetuating. She knows better than to believe it.
Posted by: Kevin Libin | 2006-07-18 8:25:51 PM
govard wrote "So just relax and count on the "BREEDING RATE" to drop."
You should check your facts before making a statement that you have little or no knowledge of. The Brookings Institute wrote in 2003, " Today, the Muslim birth rate in Europe is three times higher than the non-Muslim one. If current trends continue, the Muslim population of Europe will nearly double by 2015, while the non-Muslim population will shrink by 3.5 percent." And this population increase is from 2nd and 3rd generation muslims. Here is the URL for the whole article. Read it and learn something. http://www.brookings.edu/views/op-ed/fellows/taspinar20030301.htm
Posted by: No Spin Zone | 2006-07-18 8:26:11 PM
The future of Canada is in the hands of knowledgeable Canadians who love freedom, security and reject the Islamic threat
We have to educate and inform the public: emails, blogs, talk to as many people as possible about the Islamic threat. But be careful so you're not mistaken for bigots or racists.
Posted by: Canadian | 2006-07-18 9:55:31 PM
Oh I get it now, Google something and you're a scholar. You can find a published point of view from any angle on the web.
About the birth rate, a group hardly has to breed like rabbits to keep pace with 'average' families having only 1.5 children.
However, I'm sure their interests include a better life and future for their families. They'll figure out a smaller family will give them a leg-up towards those goals.
BTW this is Canada and people were never required to assimilate like the collective Borg or whatever. It wasn't an issue for most people until the newcomers started to look really different from us.
It's a difficult adjustment having to share my
country with those not having much in common with myself. However, I think I'll get over it a lot sooner than some other contributors to this blog.
Posted by: govard | 2006-07-18 10:32:44 PM
Canadian,
I think anyone reading the various comments would be quite clear on where this group sits on the bigotry scale.
Posted by: govard | 2006-07-18 10:47:42 PM
I am against all forms of racism, however, nobody is born a muslim. It is taught to them. I thought the internet would enlighten the muslim world in the way it is weakening dictators and spreading science around the world. The radical muslims adapted faster, adopting the net to spread their message of hate. It's too late, there can be no reconciliation with them. Radical Islam, supported by our own spending habits (whether it is buying gas and helping the arab states, or buying from WAL-Mart and supporting communist china, who in turn supports Iran and others), is spreading too quickly to stop. Newt Gingrich recently said (based on his knowledge, as a historian, of the past World Wars) that we are right now living through the opening battles of the Third World War. I am inclined to agree. So, what's next?
Posted by: Big Makk | 2006-07-18 11:54:21 PM
govard wrote:
Canadian,
I think anyone reading the various comments would be quite clear on where this group sits on the bigotry scale.
----------------------------------------------
Oh dear, I was wondering how long it would take for govard to start labeling people as bigots.
Posted by: No Spin Zone | 2006-07-19 7:43:50 AM
"Harper refuses to budge"
It's not often that a Globe headline elicits a grunt of satisfaction from me, but that one did it.
And who wants to be viewed as an "honest broker" -- by a terrorist organization?
I'm enjoying some of the defences of Hezbollah based on their delivery of social programs. Hitler ended inflation and Mussolini made the trains run on time, too.
Posted by: Joan Tintor | 2006-07-19 9:24:25 AM
Joan,
And Hitler ran social programs as well.
And Hamas and Hisbollah also have seats in government. But, just because they hold seats in government, does not mean their organization is legitimate. There is no such thing as a legitimate political party, whose aim is the wanton destruction and murder of millions of people. That is the antithesis of democracy. These freaks, like the Nazis, as from the exact same movement of the Nazis, with the same hoocaust denial and Jew-hatred, anti-Semitism, and anti-Zionism, USE and ABUSE democratic institutions, for the mere purpose of meeting their aim.
And after going for the Jews, we know, their intent will be to gain more power, and go after all the infidels and apostates. It is in their Charters, written in their writings, and spoken in the their speaches, all around the world.
It is nothing short of SICK!
Unlike other deseases, there is no treatment or cure for this sickness.
Posted by: Lady | 2006-07-19 12:15:48 PM
No Spinner Zone,
If the shorts fit, wear em!
I'll make myself clearer since I also strayed from the point of the original post.
Harper was being praised for sticking to principles. Good on him, I also say!
However for some people, a blog on gardening or whatever, leads to unrelated purgings of the blow-hole.
Dasvidanya
Posted by: govard | 2006-07-19 2:13:05 PM
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