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[Off topic — in part:] Where else do we see such breathtaking credulity and willful befuddlement?

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It’s the Jihad, Stupid
By Michelle Malkin
Townhall.com | June 8, 2006

Canadian law enforcement officials should be proud of busting a reputed Islamic terrorist network that may span seven nations. Instead, our northern neighbors are trying their damnedest to whitewash the jihadi ties that bind the accused plotters and their murder-minded peers around the world.

We live on a doomed continent of ostriches.

A Royal Canadian Mounted Police official coined the baneful phrase “broad strata” to describe the segment of Canadian society from whence Qayyum Abdul Jamal and his fellow adult suspects Fahim Ahmad, Zakaria Amara, Asad Ansari, Shareef Abdelhaleen, Mohammed Dirie, Yasim Abdi Mohamed, Jahmaal James, Amin Mohamed Durrani, Abdul Shakur, Ahmad Mustafa Ghany and Saad Khalid came.

“Broad”? I suppose it is so if one defines “broad” to mean more than one spelling variation of Mohammed or Jamal. Or perhaps, as Internet humorist Jim Treacher ( jimtreacher.com) suggests, “broad” refers to the “strata” of the suspects’ beard lengths.

Undeterred by the obvious, Toronto police chief Bill Blair assured the public that the Muslim suspects “were motivated by an ideology based on politics, hatred and terrorism, and not on faith. . . . I am not aware of any mosques that these individuals were influenced by.” Well, Chief Blindspot, try the Al-Rahman Islamic Center for Islamic Education. That’s the Canadian storefront mosque where eldest jihadi suspect Qayyum Abdul Jamal is, according to his own lawyer, a prayer leader and active member — along with many of the other Muslim males arrested in the sweep.

Many clueless North Americans remain shocked, shocked, that jihadis live among them — despite the open secret of our northern neighbor’s reputation as an Islamic terrorist safe haven. A cloud of befuddlement looms. The Toronto Star reports, with jaw-dropping dim-wittedness, that “it is difficult to find a common denominator” among those who would kill us.

Pass me a clue-by-four: It’s the jihad, stupid. It’s been going on since before the Crusades. And it continues under our noses.

The Canadian plot has been tied to the arrests of two young Georgia Muslim men earlier this year. One is Ehsanul Islam Sadequee. Note to editors: please do not substitute “Islam” with the word “Peace.”

Sadequee and Syed Haris Ahmed traveled to Toronto last March and met with several other targets of a Joint Terrorism Task Force probe. They discussed terrorist strikes on oil refineries and military bases, and “plotted how to disable the Global Positioning System.” Ahmed went on to Pakistan in an effort to obtain “Islamic schooling” at a terrorist training camp, according to an FBI affidavit.

The ranks of the infidel-annihilating plotters among us are legion.

In May, Shahawar Matin Siraj was convicted of plotting to blow up the Herald Square subway station in New York City. He caught the attention of law enforcement after ranting against the United States at a local Islamic bookstore.

Also last month, Virginia Death Row inmate and Nation of Islam convert John Allen Mohammed was convicted of six Maryland murders from his fall 2002 Beltway-area criminal spree. His brainwashed Muslim protege, Lee Malvo, testified that the duo plotted to kill children, cops and pregnant women — and to recruit and train 140 homeless men at a Canadian compound who would commit mass terror in cities across America.

In April, a federal jury convicted 23-year-old Hamid Hayat, a Lodi, Calif., man, of attending a terrorist training camp in Pakistan and returning to the U.S. to commit violent jihad against his fellow citizens.

In March, Iranian-born U.S. citizen Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar drove a rented Jeep Cherokee into a mass of students on the campus of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill to avenge U.S. actions against Muslims around the world. “I live with the holy Koran as my constitution for right and wrong and definition of injustice,” the UNC engineering grad wrote.

Last summer, officials busted a terrorist plot to attack infidels at military and Jewish sites in Los Angeles on the fourth anniversary of 9/11 or the Jewish holy days. It was devised by militant Muslim converts of Jam’iyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh (Arabic for “Assembly of Authentic Islam”) who had sworn allegiance to violent jihad at California’s New Folsom State Prison.

No common denominator? Please extract your infidel heads from the blinding sands before you lose them.

Comments
Dave If I am not allowed to disagree please let me know and I won't bother you anymore. We obviously have different worldviews so I am sure this will not be the last time that we do not see eye to eye on an issue. I would like to continue to engage in discussion with people here. I reread my posts, and I do have to apologize on one count. I said: "Do you really think it is so simple." I could see where that could come off as condescending, but I assure you that was not the intent. Otherwise, I think I made valid points.ftrp11
June 13, 2006
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SCheesman, it appears we agree on much. But along with you and others on board here I'd hope we all agree the problem is a top-down issue, one of leadership, not a bottom-up problem. We can only help poor nations and poverty stricken people so much when their governments are corrupt. Without sound leaders, good governance, fiscal responsibility to its people, ethics and morals, all the money in the world will not help pull nations up and eliminate radical ideaology. The reason I bring up China is you pointed to America doing business with the Saudi's. I merely wanted to show all nations are guilty in their business practices, not just America. In fact, I'm sure Canada does business with Middle East countries. By the way, as a show of distaste and distrust, our congress just passed a foreign aid bill to cut all funding to Saudi Arabia. Since that Kingdom still allows student textbooks to preach hatred of Jews and Christians. They've had 5 years now to get rid of the hate language and have failed to do so. This shows you what we're up against. These little kings fund half the problems around the world, along with Iran, Syria, Yemen, etc. China gets more than 50, about 58% of its oil from the Middle East. Its signed a huge muli-year deal with Iran. By such logic we should point to China for the problems in the world, right? Another reason America gets hammered is our steadfast resolve to stand by the only fully standing independent democracy in the Middle East - Israel. If China and Russia would insist along with Europe and America that Israel has a right to exist and agree to stand against Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas and Fatah together, then it would not just be seen as America causing problems. But the truth is China and Russia have reasons to support Iran as a proxy rogue state in the Middle East, as well as Syria. Everyone probably forgets or might not know that Saddam's favorite dictator was Stalin. There are many communist holdovers in the Middle East. Russia has every reason for it to remain unstable to keep oil prices high and keep thugs in power. China, just does not care if people are oppressed and hatred rages against America or not. It'll do business while millions suffer and not bat an eye. You're correct, being the most highly marketed brand country in the world makes us an easy target. But that's going to start changing as China's brands enter the world market and hopefully media starts focusing on their shortfalls. Also, many issues people do not think about make a difference to, such as the disgusting porn industry eminating out of hollywood. Many nations detest this stuff coming in to their country from ours. And they think all America is like this. Our more liberal constituents refuse to recognise these issues. So, until we focus on the leadership of all nations, these problems will continue. Its very easy in our free nations to point fingers. But our media fails to shine the light enough on foreign governments responsibilities in failed states. We also need to focus internally and do a better job in supporting ethical leaders who want to free oppressed people around the world. I'm very thankful the Canadians are supporting us fully in Afghanistan. I'm thankful for all nations who stand side by side in the GWOT. Tiny little El Salvador, though not many soldiers, showed more courage and insight than many nations. Someone said 'do not fear', oh you! :) America does not fear. Michelle's post is just a wake up call, remain vigilent, be resolved to know the enemy has not relaxed. If we feared, we would not be in Afghanistan and Iraq, helping Indonesia, the Phillipines, etc., and demanding the world do more. What we are trying to say, those who are pro-offense, take it to the terrorist and demand that rogue states, like Iran, Syria, North Korea, Pakistan to lay down their proxy fights around the world. And to clean up their acts. Get rid of the madrassas, the Islamic radicals preaching hatred. And we refuse to give up support of free nations like Israel against dictators, tyrants and kings. That's not fear, that's steadfast resolve to make changes for the better.Michaels7
June 12, 2006
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DS; I thought I sent a response, but it must have been lost. Maybe ther is no point, but I'll summarize anyway. Saying that the European powers in the modern era have been guilty of crimes in the name of materialistic goals doesn't at the same time say anything about the people against whom these crimes are committed. They are neither more nor less guilty of the same types of human faults. And, you are of course correct that the reason the Europeans "succeeded" so brilliantly is because they were better at war. They were better at it because they pursued this goal with more vigor and a more progressive approach. This says nothing about the value of pusuing this goal, and it doesn't really say anything about the main point I was trying to make, which was simply that "he who moves becomes stronger". It is simple energetics: if you use a quality, it will become strengthened. If you don't, it atrophies and becomes weaker. Saying that the Christian nations are more economically successful because of their Christianity is only a half-truth: their main movement has been in the material realm, and not the spiritual. However, as I said, to the degree that the basic Christian truths have been absorbed and made the norm, the society has been uplifted. If anyone is guilty of revisionism, it is you. To pretend that the European powers pursued colonialism out of a desire to uplift the indigenous populations who were standing on the resources they wished to extract reminds me of a rapist saying he committed his crime out of "love". Violent sexual abuse is related to love in the same way that colonialization is related to spreading peace and civilization: it is a twisted, distorted version which only the perpetrator believes in, and he believes in it in order to avoid the pain of his own dying conscience. Note that again, this says nothing about the moral status of the victim. Honest self-assessment must be done in regard to an objective moral standard, not by way of comparison to people who are 'as bad or worse'.

I read an intersting biography of Gandhi in which the author explained that Gandhi felt his own life was a failure: the reason he believed this is that he was totally committed to the notion that the reason the Indians were under the colonial yoke of the British was because they had a tremendous karmic responsibility stemming from their own repressive moral attitudes ( the sectarian hatreds in India, the caste system, the treatment of women, etc.) He believed that only when Indians overthrew these inner shackles could they ever hope to have true liberation politically. This insight helps to illustrate that even a conquered people can have a degree of responsibility in their state. However, this does not in any way mitigate the responsibility of those who conquer. "Thou shalt not kill" "Thou shalt not covet..." ; these hold true, and don't include caveats like "...unless the one from whom you covet is really bad, in which case, feel free".

This says nothing about the value of pusuing this goal Only because you chose to leave that part out. Pax Britannica spread one language, parliamentary democracy, technology, the British Imperial system of weights and measures, rules for commodity markets, and English common law through much of the world. They commited no crimes but rather did the world a great service. -ds tinabrewer
June 10, 2006
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Where in my comment did I say that the rest of the world was at peace? It is not possible to comment on the situation in the entire world in a short paragraph. Therefore I chose to focus on developments in a tiny corner of it, namely Europe. There, it is clear from the history of the 1600's forward, that material and territorial gain became a central focus of European state-sponsored activity. It is revisionism to pretend that the conquest of the Americas, as well as the colonial rule of Africa and Asia was motivated by anything BUT these materialistic goals. If Europeans brought "civilization" and "peace" to the lands they conquered, it was on their terms, and certainly a by-product of their extraction needs rather than a goal. Incidentally, I think any people would have done the same, and I harbor no particular sense that Europeans are "nasty" compared to the lovely peoples in other parts of the globe. In fact, my point was to commend them for at least following the demand for movement and development, albiet in narrow, material channels. In the parts of the world which might rightly be described as "hell" today, you find attitudes and belief systems which have remained essentially unchanged for centuries: tribalism, etc. The problems in these areas cannot be ascribed completely to the past, but are the fruit of present attitudes as well. I read an interesting biography of Gandhi once, in which I learned (for the first time, since people never want to hear the ugly side of things) that Gandhi himself looked at his life as a complete failure as he approached his death. He believed that the yoke of colonial rule had come to the Indians AS A DIRECT KARMIC RESULT of their own internally repressive attitudes (religious intolerance, the caste system) and that until they liberated themselves from these inner oppressions, they could never expect to be truly liberated outwardly. I think this is a profound insight into the manner in which the inner life forms the outer circumstances. My point about the Europeans is simply that they directed an excessive amount of zeal into material development, in the form of technology, science, colonialism, and far far less zealously pursued spiritual development. That is why the "fruit" we eat today is so bizarre: in the West, we have prosperity and a standard of living even among the so-called "poor" which is absolutely unprecedented in human history. And yet, we are way past the end culturally. We have iPods, and the junk streaming out of them deafens the ears and blunts the soul. People are taking prescription (and other) mood-altering medications in ever-increasing rates to numb their existential pain and anxiety. Why?tinabrewer
June 10, 2006
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I think the link between Christianity and economic progress, etc., while containing a small element of truth, is also basically a misconception. The creation unfolds according to laws. One of those laws, both physically and spiritually, is the law of movement. Everything must MOVE or become static and die. THis applies to the tiniest particles which constitute matter, and it applies to the macro-structures of society and state. In the modern era, the European peoples, as ftrp11 points out in brief, obeyed or submitted to this law of necessary movement. The problem is, that their main focus of interest was material. So you find tremendous material development, with all of the attendant advantages and concommitant crimes. The movement is grossly one-sided, though, and the spiritual poverty of the West's cultural output is compelling testimony to the underdevelopment (the NON-movement) of the spiritual capacity. At a very particular point in historical time, the Message of Christ was intended to enter the consciousness of humanity and "move it forward", liberating it from stagnant, old systems, and introducing new life. This infusion of light had a pervasive effect especially in those areas where its basic tenets were taken seriously. The general conceptions of Christianity (Love your neighbor as yourself/the spirit of the law over the letter of the law/the unity of mankind over the particularism of the tribe) have essentially been incorporated as cultural values EVEN AMONG ATHEISTS in the Western nations. This is progress and movement. It is interesting to contemplate the beauty which might surround us if each individual would actually truly live these concepts.

What a bunch of revisionist history. You act all like the rest of the world was at peace and those nasty Europeans had to go out and conquer all the peaceful peoples ruining everything in the name of materialism. Nothing could be further from the truth. The world was an exceedingly violent place. The Europeans were just the best at waging war and they typically -brought- civilization and peace to the lands they conquered. -ds tinabrewer
June 9, 2006
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An article discussing the root causes of suicide bombing from a Christian Palestinian perspective: ArticleAtom
June 9, 2006
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Ds, you are an agnostic, yes? Maybe its time to reexamine your position.bFast
June 9, 2006
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Back in the day muslim countries were more advanced than christian countries. In a century from now it could be hindu countries. Countries with higher proportions of atheists have less crime. This proves nothing.

This now, not a thousand years ago. Christianity evolved. Islam didn't. A century from now the whole world might be converted to Christianity. If it's smart it will. Countries with higher proportions of Christians have far less crime. Countries with higher proportions of atheists have governments that are commiting crimes against their people only it's not a crime because it's not illegal when the government does it. Look at the civil rights record of China, the largest atheist nation in the world, and then tell me about crime there. -ds Raevmo
June 9, 2006
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Many Europeans (in America we hardly know that Canada exists) feel sophisticated over against the naïve American cowboy and yet are utterly ignorant of the many tens of thousands of Americans who have given their lives so that Europeans may breathe free (Canadians, by the way, were valiant in those days too). Some 90 to 95 percent of the French, for example, have no idea that it was America that delivered them from the Nazis—they think their mythical underground did it. All nations have flaws, but in case you’re not aware of it there’s an irrational hatred brewing in the secular Left that should be cause for alarm. As long as we're off topic--"in part"--let me recomend Daniel Johnson’s piece in the latest Commentary (http://www.commentarymagazine.com/), “America and the America-Haters.” And while I’m at I also highly recommend in the same issue of Commentary "The Real Iraq" by Amir Taheri.Rude
June 9, 2006
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I'm curious, Dave, what's the correlation between atheism and standards of living? As best I can see, atheism is most prevalent in Europe, and a few Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea, with some countries even having an atheism majority in some polls. The only exception I see is that Vietnam has a very high atheism rate.

I would venture a guess that the positive correlation between atheism and standard of living is as strong as, if not stronger than the correlation between Christianity and standard of living, especially considering the prevalence of Christianity in sub-saharan Africa.

Get back to me with researched numbers on dominant religion and per capita income. There are a few exceptions to the rules. Such as in Asia (note these are both countries closely allied to the United States which is no conincidence). Japan is not atheist. 84% of population practice Shinto and Buddhism. Population 127 million. pcGDP $31,000 South Korea pop. 48M, Christian 26%, Buddhist 26%, no affiliation 46%, pcGDP $20,000 Now lets look at the rules in Asia instead of the exceptions North Korea, pop 23M, Buddhist and Confucianist, pcGDP $1,400 China, pop 1,300M, officially atheist, pcGDP $6,800 India, pop 1,000M, Hindu 81%, Muslim 13%, pcGDP $3,000 So for in Asia, you mistake the religion of Japan, give me two examples of successes but both are close U.S. allies with small populations. Then I give you, in Asia alone, about one third of the world's population which perfectly support my assertions regarding living standards and religions. You are now free to provide counter examples in Asia but I ask that you use factual data and not your usual Darwinian make-crap-up-out-of-thin-air-to-support-my-case-hoping-no-one-will-check-it kind of data. Or you can slink off with your tail between your legs to lick your wounds long enough for everyone forget your screwup today. And just for grins, here are some statistics for Europe, you were wrong there too. United Kingdom, 72% Christian, pcGDP $30,000 France, 90% Christian, pcGDP $30,000 Germany, 68% Christian, pcGDP $30,000 Spain, 94% Christian, $26,000 Sweden, 87% Lutheran, pcGDP $30,000 Denmark, 95% Lutheran, 3% other Christian, pcGDP $35,000 Norway, 90% Christian, pcGDP $42,000 Finland, 84% Lutheran, pcGDP $31,000 Just for kicks lets not forget our good friends down under Austrailia, 70% Christian, pcGDP $32,000 And of course the ringleader of the free world United States of America, 78% Christian, 10% atheist, pcGDP $42,000 -ds Tiax
June 9, 2006
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ftrp11@7
What about the hundreds of millions of Muslims who do not advocate violence? Are they all simply doing a lousy job of following “true Islam”?
You tell me. The Qur'an says that a Muslim cannot have a non-Muslim has a friend. If a Muslim has non-Muslim friends, is he doing a good job or not? Just because the large majority of followers of a religion doesn't follow a certain command, doesn't mean that the command is not prescribed by the religion. We have to distinguish between the prescriptions contained in the aprooved Islamic writtings, and the deeds carried out by Muslims.
The problem is not religion; certainly Christianity has its fair share of bloodshed in the past.
For sure, Christians did many horrible things in the past, but were those things prescribed in Christian Scriptures?
The problem is prosperity or more accurately the lack of it.
A large percentage (or even the majority) of the 9-11 terrorrists were Saudis. Is Saudi Arabia a poor nation?
Radicalism is typically rampant anywhere where you find pervasive extreme poverty and a large gap between the rich and poor.
Africans and South Americans were under European dominion for centuries. When was the last time you heard of Africans flying planes into European buildings? Or even, when was the last time you saw South Americans slitting people's throats in TV, due to their "poverty"? Poverty is not the reason. The reason for such a mindset is the ideology. For example, Christians are around 10% of the Palestinian controled areas, YET the overwhelming majority of suicide killers in Israel are Muslims. If poverty is the reason, why aren't Palestinian Christians blowing themselves in Israel just as much as the Muslims? Or at least, 10% of the suicide killers should be Christians, right? No, friend, poverty is not the reason.
We happen to live in a world where, for a myriad of reasons, nations dominated by Islam have very large populations of impoverished and disadvantaged people.
Maybe their poverty is due to their belief system?
I think we are doing a fairly good job prosecuting the war on terror but it will be a long struggle indeed.
I beg to differ. In my humble opinion, we are doing a bad job because we have nto identified the enemy. The enemies are not the Arabs, the Pakistanis or the Somalis, or even the Sudanese. The enemy is the ideology that makes them act how they act. Just talk with ex-Muslim Arabs, and they will tell you what motivated them.Mats
June 9, 2006
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DS
Do you really think its that simple? Christianity + capitalism + democracy = prosperity? During the Middle Ages the Muslim world was far more advanced and prosperous than Europe. It was largely the desire to procure goods from Muslim lands that drove the search for capital. It was Europe's geographic good fortune to be the first to reach the wealth of the western hemisphere. It was fierce competition between nation states that drove a lot of the innovation in warfare, colonization, and general technology. The Reformation was invaluable in making Christianity more compatible with capitalism.
The resulting military domination held by European powers allowed global colonization and exploitation. India, China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and on and on were all dominated by Europe for centuries. You don't think that this may have something to do with our respective places in the world today?
My miniscule narrative is an absurd over simplification, but it is much more telling then your formula.

As far as Canada goes size and wealth do have a lot to do with trade. We give them x amount of dollars for their goods. We are an extremely wealthy country with a high standard of living. They can by a certain amount of goods here or they can by much more elsewhere. This is not good or bad, right or wrong it just is. People lament the disappearence of manufactueing from the US economy but the reality is that the standard of living has rose at the same time. Certainly there were losers in the deal but life and history are not too concerned with being fair.

Do you really think its that simple? Christianity + capitalism + democracy = prosperity? Yes. It really is just that simple. This isn't the middle ages. And you're wrong about trade balance. And now you're back on moderation again for making me correct you twice. -ds ftrp11
June 9, 2006
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Michaels7: "Why does the media only bash America when all the nations of the world are responsible for the mess?" I won't deny that's true. In fact, I'm much more sympathetic to the U.S. than the average Joe, and will generally be defending them. The U.S., being bigger and more powerful, has, almost by default the biggest affect, for good or evil, in the rest of the world. I've spent a good deal of my vacations the last few years all over the States... this summer we're driving from LA to Seattle. Heck, I even collect US postage stamps! "I’m curious why Canada sales oil to China, a communist nation that abuses, imprisons, tortures and has killed innocent people just because of religious beliefs(falon gong, Christian, Tibet). " I guess because they buy it. Why does the U.S. buy anything from China? I guess because its cheaper than you can get at home. People do all kinds of things based on immediate self-interest. Not all of it makes sense in a strategic sense. "By your logic, China is the problem, not America. If Russia and China stood side by side with America and Europe, these problems would solved much more rapidly and thugocracies would be a part of past history." Again, for the second sentence, no denying, especially wrt Iran; but the first... how did I imply China is that problem? I can't recall even mentioning them. After careful examination of my last couple of notes, I have detected several phrases which might have pricked the sensitive: "gas-guzzling United States". Okay, I admit that we, too are gas-guzzling, and (Lord knows) we are not without our share of dealing with despicable regimes. Of the other, possibly critical or contentious items (like porous borders or absent WMD, I get most of my news from CNN. Back to the original topic, I highly recommend the following book: "The Two Faces of Islam" by Stephen Schwartz. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400030455/sr=8-1/qid=1149875883/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-8256791-7757721?%5Fencoding=UTF8 It gives an excellent historical background to the whole issue.SCheesman
June 9, 2006
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lol, nor is my spelling... in-t-elligentMichaels7
June 9, 2006
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By the way, love Canadians. Vancouver is beautiful and the northwest and enjoyed Toronto. I'm just pointing to the obvious. This is not an Us or Them problem. A You Did It, nanner, nanner issue. Every nation is responsible. I understand your rebuttal was in respect to Michelle. But she was right that Canada was soft until recently on terrorist sympathizers. She points out the same problems here in America btw, so its not just a swipe at Canada. She's a conservative rebel with a cause. Check out hotair.com. She's equally satirical and witty against all who refuse to acknowledge the problem with terrorist and our problems with the borders on thes South as well. She's single handedly took on Congress and the President for their lackadaisial attitude on the southern borders. So do not feel she's just targeting Canadians, she's not. She's a voice saying, wake up, this war is not over. China, Russia contribute much to world instability. And yet we do not see robust condemnation from European, American, or Canadian press. They get a free pass. Precisely because they're not free, open and transparent, our media should be pounding them every single day. Why China do you support killers and thugs in Iran? I'd just about croak if someone in the media asked that question to their leader. Why Russia do you support oppression of the Belarussian people by your puppet henchman? I can think of many more questions our liberal media refuse to ask bluntly of these nations. There is a lack of independent focus. The United Nations is a complete failure as it takes money from rich nations(22% USA) and redistributes the wealth to a bunch of Thugs in most cases without any semblance of checks, balances or expectations. The UN is part of the problem right now, not the solution. One or two programs aside, the UN is a miserable failure today. Free nations must stop the free gift giving without reliable, verifiable results to lift people out of oppression and poverty, with open transparency, free media and government by the people. Otherwise, the cycle of hatred, envy and Thug propaganda continues. That propaganda mostly is at America's expense. Any American, any leader of America will tell you we want prosperity for all people of the world. Our country is the largest exporter by far of any nation in the world of charity and funds to millions around the world. Yet, a butterfly dies in the Congo and an American did it. Any free nation would be rocked by the scandal of the UN Oil for Food program and would've have demanded its leaders all step down. Yet, there's Kofi and son and leaders making millions at tax payors expense of free nations around the world for their total incompetence and the continued abuse by non-free nations, autocracies, tyrants and feifdoms of little kings. The United Nations is accounatable to no one. As tax payors whose money goes to such a corrupt organization, we should demand more of all nations who enter its hallways. Those who do not allow free press, free elections and transparency should be disqualified and removed. Otherwise, its just a perpectual money laundering scheme by thugs and potentates. Yes, its harsh.... but the warmy fuzzy's are not working. Well... enuf off-topic rant for me today ;-) One thing is for certain, there's no Inelligent Design in International Politics....Michaels7
June 9, 2006
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Another voice from the Great White North speaks, eh. I'm pretty proud of our mouties, who always get their man. As far as the mounties not pointing the finger at every muslim, or everyone with a middle-eastern name, wel, good on 'em. Do remember, the mounties got their man before BOOM! Wasn't it just a few years ago (middle ages mostly) when it was in the name of Christ that people were being indiscrimanantly killed. These guys found justification for their actions in the Bible. I don't want to be painted with their brush. I would suggest that we need to be cautious not to use too wide of brush when painting the muslims and people of middle-eastern descent either. As far as U.S. Canada relations go, well it is not Canada's mission to keep the Americans happy. When I go to my local WalMart (an American based institution) I find "made in China" labels on almost everything. The simple fact is that American goods and services are not sufficiently available and competitive in the free marketplace to produce balanced trade -- unless of course you want us to balance the trade by not selling yous (plural of you) our energy. Hey, the main reason the US has a trade deficit is becaues US companies are really good at getting their goods manufactured overseas. Oh, when it comes to one country treating another badly, well, don't get me started wrt US Canada relations. George Bush is not loved in these parts, and primarily because of the way Canada has been treated under the current administration.bFast
June 9, 2006
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SCheesman, if Canada did not have oil, who would you buy from? I'm just curious since there are so many free nations with surplus oil. Any suggestions? China imports over 15 percent of its oil from Saudi Arabia and is increasing its imports in 2007-8. Half of its current oil imports comes from the Middle East. They signed a huge deal with Iran recently and can care less about nukes there or the fact that Iran's leaders oppress its people, tortures them. America does not import one drop from Iran. I'm curious why Canada sales oil to China, a communist nation that abuses, imprisons, tortures and has killed innocent people just because of religious beliefs(falon gong, Christian, Tibet). A nation that supports Iran who is responsible for spreading terror round the world, assasinations, and bombings and contributes to the instability of the whole region thru Hezbollah and in agreements with Syria's Baathist thug regime. By your logic, China is the problem, not America. If Russia and China stood side by side with America and Europe, these problems would solved much more rapidly and thugocracies would be a part of past history. In truth, we're all at fault for ignoring these issues for to long. Yes, America needs to improve. But we're not the only nation at fault. Your nation exports gas to oppressive regimes. China imports crude from Sudan. So why isn't the entire world mad at China for supporting the massive killings in Sudan? Why does the media only bash America when all the nations of the world are responsible for the mess?Michaels7
June 9, 2006
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Mats

"But….all the deeds that the modern day Muslims are doing (that which you call “extremist Islam”) are found within Muhammad’s deeds, actions and sayings. Michelle is absolutly right.
The Jihad nature of true Islam is the threat."

What about the hundreds of millions of Muslims who do not advocate violence. Are they all simply doing a lousy job of following "true Islam"? The problem is not religion; certainly Christianity has its fair share of bloodshed in the past. The problem is prosperity or more accurately the lack of it. Radicalism is typically rampant anywhere where you find pervasive extreme poverty and a large gap between the rich and poor. In today's unprecedantly globalized world the prosperity disparity between the West and less advantaged regions is impossible to ignore. In countries like the US and Canada poverty is not rampant but the income disparity is blindingly obvious. That still gives us a few nut jubs to deal with but we are not a fertile recruiting ground like other areas of the world.

Religion creates an easy us versus them dynamic. Nationalism, ethnicity, and family ties can do the same thing but on no where near the same scale. We happen to live in a world where, for a myriad of reasons, nations dominated by Islam have very large populations of impoverished and disadvantaged people. It is only natural that feelings of resentment exist. After all, why should I and everyone I know have virtually no opportunity while people in other regions get the cakewalk simply because of our respective birth rights. That is in no way a justification, but I am only pointing out that human nature makes a situation similar to the one we face now almost inevitable. I think we are doing a fairly good job prosecuting the war on terror but it will be a long struggle indeed.

As far as the trade deficit w/ Canda is concerned I would like to add a simple observation to SCheeseman's excellent point. There are a lot more of us and we are quite a bit wealthier.

Do you think it coincidence that high living standards and Christianity are found together while low living standards and Islam are found together? I certainly don't. I'm not much of a Christian myself except in a cultural sense but I'm certainly not blind to the fact that the countries swept by the Protestant Reformation enjoy the highest living standards in the world today while those dominated by Islam, Hindu, and Buddhism have generally the lowest living standards. Christianity, democracy, and capitalism all travel hand-in-hand and together are a proven winning combination. The culture of the left in the U.S. has it all backwards. They want to punish success with high taxes and reward failure with government support. They want it okay to kill the innocent unborn and but keep alive the guilty adults convicted of heinous crimes. They want to drive all vestiges of the religion that made the U.S. the shining city on the hill out of the public sphere and replace it with the human secularism that caused the downfall of the Soviet Union. And people wonder why I hold so much contempt for the loony left... -ds

p.s. relative size and wealth means nothing in balance of trade. If I buy something you have for sale for $1 you now have exactly $1 to buy something I have for sale. There may be a case where I have nothing that you want, and that's fine, but in the case of the United States which produces a huge variety of competitively priced goods there's not much excuse for not finding something to make it an even trade. -ds ftrp11
June 9, 2006
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ds: However, Canada is #3 on the list for largest trade deficit behind China and Japan. That isn’t an endearing situation for us.

True, but take two factors into consideration; first the ratio of the deficit to the total trade, and also the fact that the exchange rate between our two currencies has changed significantly in the last five years; from 1 CAN$ = US$0.63 to the present around 1 CAN$ = US$0.90 today, a jump of over 40%! Even if we traded exactly the same items as five years ago, if you considered the relative values of the items priced in each country's currency, it is remarkable that the deficit is not higher. In fact, I believe that five years ago the trade deficit was the other way around; i.e. the U.S. maintained a surplus with Canada. It remains quite a challenge to maintain a competitive advantage when everything you produce increases in price for your biggest consumer, relative to what they can get at home, by 40%, so the deficit cuts both ways.

We often picture ourselves as the mouse beside the elephant. No matter how friendly the two can be, we worry when the elephant rolls over, and currency exchange rates are largely beyond our control (except maybe it could be partly from having a government which has run a budget surplus for the last 5 years or more).

Good point on both currency exchange rate and ratio of deficit to total trade. However, there has been a deficit every year since at least 1998 (the farthest back the data I checked went). It is approximately 40% higher for 2005 than the average for all years since 1998. That doesn't make a lot of sense on the surface. One would think you'd be buying more of our stuff given it became much less expensive in Canadian dollars but instead the deficit grew even larger. -ds SCheesman
June 9, 2006
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Scheesman@2
The true nature of the threat is rather clear to most Canadians; and it is not specifically “Jihad” as Michelle Malkin believes, it is the extremist form of Islam
But....all the deeds that the modern day Muslims are doing (that which you call "extremist Islam") are found within Muhammad's deeds, actions and sayings. Michelle is absolutly right. The Jihad nature of true Islam is the threat.Mats
June 9, 2006
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I live just outside Toronto, and can assure you that the RCMP's and Toronto Police chief Bill Blair are well aware of the true nature of the threat, but like all political officers must present a white-washed view to the public. The Toronto Star? Well, it's a well known for its support of the Liberal party of Canada (which generally considers itself the "rightful rulers of Canada", so often it is in power), and it draws much support from the newer or immigrant population around the Toronto area (which voted 100% Liberal in the last election which brought the Conservative Party to power in Canada). Toronto is, by several measures, the most multi-ethnic city in the world, so sensitivities are pretty high, and the powers of political correctness are considerable. Not everyone distinguishes between the many factions and flavours of Islam, (which they should), and there have been at least one mis-directed act of vandalism since the arrests, much the same way that Sihks sometimes found themselves targets after 9/11. Go figure.

The true nature of the threat is rather clear to most Canadians; and it is not specifically "Jihad" as Michelle Malkin believes, it is the extremist form of Islam, Wahabism or Salafi Islam, which is the official religion of Saudi Arabia, and whose spread around the world, via countless madrasahs (schools), by the way, has been supported over the last decades by the ample oil revenues coming principly from Europe and the gas-guzzling United States (of which Canada is now the number one supplier). To this joyless and austere group, even music and art is decadent and evil.

To the Wahabis, even "regular" Sunni and Shiite muslims are apostate. Imagine, if you will, Cromwell's puritanical form of Christianity taking up violence in order to bring in the Kingdom.

Read one of the two national Canadian newspapers: the Globe & Mail --http://www.theglobeandmail.com, which is generally centerist to right-of-centre, or the Nation Post http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/index.html, which is right-wing by Canadian standards (and probably more right-centre by American standards), for a more "balanced" view of things. You will find plenty of columnists with views leaning more toward Michelle Malkin's.

It is with some astonishment that we observed the U.S. invade, not Saudi Arabia where almost all the 9/11 terrorists came from, but Iraq, which had only the most distant ties with terrorists. Saddam, was, after all, maintaining a fairly secular state. Personally, I wish the American forces all success in establishing a working democracy and in extricating themselves in as expeditious a manner as possible. I do not envy the forces there now.

There is still the common, and mistaken impression, that Canada provided a base for even one of the 9/11 terrorists, when most or all were in fact happily training and legally resident in the United States.

We do worry about attempts to "tighten up" the border, beyond the reasonable scans and measures now in place. Many Americans do not realize the magnitude of trade that can be affected; the province of Ontario does more trade with the United States each year than the entire nation of Japan. It also seems strange to worry about the Canadian border when the border to the south remains a sieve. If you were a terrorist, which would you come through?

And yes, in fact, Canadian law enforcement officers are very happy about the success of their efforts - there has been a tremendous improvement in efforts and in coordination with the United States authorities since 9/11. We're all relieved that they've been successful with this latest bunch, and wish them all success in the future, both for your sake and for ours.

Don't live in fear.

I was a little surprised at your claim for US/Canada trade numbers but I checked and you're quite right. Canada is by far our largest trade partner. However, Canada is #3 on the list for largest trade deficit behind China and Japan. That isn't an endearing situation for us. We'd prefer that you buy as much from us as we do from you. Even more surprising was Canada's #1 position as supplier of energy (oil, natural gas, electricity) to the U.S. Almost double the next nearest foreign supplier (Venezuela). -ds SCheesman
June 9, 2006
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“it is difficult to find a common denominator” Yet.. “I live with the holy Koran as my constitution for right and wrong and definition of injustice,” the UNC engineering grad wrote. Denial is not only a river in Egypt.Mats
June 9, 2006
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Our western culture chock full of self-deceived, hate-filled, elitist liars. There’s a place for quiet reason—come let us reason together!—and there’s a place to lay it on the line.Rude
June 8, 2006
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Michelle Malkin is awesome. If Anne Coulter is too brash for you there's always Michelle instead.DaveScot
June 8, 2006
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