"The broadcast of remarks that could expose individuals or groups to hatred or contempt can attract individuals to its cause and in the process create serious discord between various groups in Canadian society, to the detriment of all of Canadian society," the decision reads.

"This harm undermines the cultural, political and social fabric of Canada which the Canadian broadcasting system is expressly meant to safeguard, enrich and strengthen. It also undermines the multicultural and multiracial nature of Canadian society, which the programming of the Canadian broadcasting system should reflect."

[. . . . ] Mr. Arthur came under fire for a 2003 rant against Universite ******'s boast that it welcomes a high number of ******* students. He claimed that in the case of ******* students, "the ones who are sent abroad to study are the sons of people who are **********, the sons of people who own the country so they can govern it better. They're the sons of **********, ********* who control certain T**** W**** countries and can afford to send their children to Quebec to go to school."

The CRTC disregarded evidence presented by the radio station, in the form of an assertion by a ***** professor that he taught the sons of ********* in his courses: "In the Commission's view, it is not a question of determining whether the remarks had any basis in fact, but of determining whether they were abusive and whether, taken in context, they tended or were likely to expose ***** or ****** students at Laval University to hatred or contempt on the basis of race, ethnic origin, religion or colour, regardless of their country of origin." [They forgot to add "contempt on the basis of truth" so I have amended this -- in a spirit of helpfulness.]

In other words, even factual statements are not permissible if they are abusive and could expose a group to hatred or contempt.

Then there is the case of the **** host recently arrested on ************ charges, convicted of paying for *** with a ******, which he/she is now appealing.

"The comments were disrespectful, insulting and ridiculing," the CRTC concluded, and motivated by Mr. ******'s "desire for vengeance" against his former employer. [. . . . ]

Reached by phone yesterday shortly after the decision was announced, Mr. Fillion called it a "black day" for Quebec radio. "We did not kill anyone. We did not hurt anyone, as far as I can tell. We did not eliminate any politician. Meanwhile there are politicians with both hands in the cookie jar, scandals one after another, and they are still there. And they are the ones who talk of good taste and what we should and shouldn't say. That's pretty serious."

[. . . . ] CHOI was one of two Quebec City stations whose hosts attacked rival morning man ****** ****** following his arrest in connection with an investigation into a teen ************ ring.

****** - who was later found guilty of paying for sex with a 17-year-old prostitute, but is appealing - has sued ******* and ****** for defamation of character.

****** filed a complaint with the CRTC following his arrest in December 2002. Among the remarks cited by the CRTC were comments that said ****** travelled to Thailand and the Czech Republic.
"Look, is there someone at FM ** (******'s station) who didn't know that ****** ****** made, and still makes, regular trips to two of the most popular places for child prostitution in the world?" the CRTC quoted CHOI as saying. [. . . . ]

WELCOME TO the summer murder season in Toronto.

And this season, instead of guns, the weapon of choice is the knife. Stabbings are in, folks.
This past week, a rash of lethal stabbings took place in the Toronto area -- with five murdered in separate attacks.

In another case, a police officer was wounded in a shoot-out. Police sources said the gunman was wounded and stopped by a second officer just before the downed, wounded lawman was about to be executed.

[. . . . The] federal Liberal government has squandered more than $1 billion on a long-gun registry system that was supposed to cost only $2 million. The cost keeps rising -- heading towards $2 billion -- but the system has been criticized as inefficient and nearly useless in preventing crime.

Meanwhile, licensing of handguns has always been required. But the handguns used by criminals are almost never registered. They are illegal weapons in the first place.

[. . . . ] Meanwhile, Toronto's police are hobbled by charges against some of their own members and a socialist mayor -- David Miller -- who seems hell-bent to dump Chief Julian Fantino.

And, as one resident of the neighbourhood where the police officer was wounded in the gun fight asked: "Who runs this town anyway, the cops or the drug dealers?"

The city employed up to 9,711 staff in 2003, up from 9,238 in 2002, according to the city's Compensation Disclosure report for 2003, obtained by The Winnipeg Sun.

[. . . . ] What the report shows, in fact, is that there were more city staff on the payroll -- including casual, part-time and full-time staff -- last year than there were the year before.

[. . . . ] And here's the proof to back it up.

Top 10 highest paid at City Hall 2003: . . . .

[. . . . ] And now the province has been ordered to rehire six employees of the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) who were fired three years ago for sending pornographic e-mails at work. In all, 66 employees were disciplined, and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union fought the penalties.

According to a report by arbitrator Ken Petryshen, the content included degrading and violent sexual activity, bestiality as well as a sexually explicit cartoon image of Britney Spears, which offers viewers a "snuff" option whereby they can choose where to shoot the animated pop star. All this at taxpayer expense.

[. . . . ] Two of the fired employees are already back at their desks. Look, let's not be cute about this. Surfing porn sites is not a victimless crime. In the best-case scenario it is degrading to employees who work nearby. And in the worst case, it's dangerous. Just look at the graphic testimony of Michael Briere, who pleaded guilty to murdering little Holly Jones. He abducted and murdered the little girl after becoming sexually aroused watching child porn on the Net.

The UN's top envoy to the Middle East delivered a fierce denunciation of the Palestinian Authority yesterday, telling the Security Council the Authority is in danger of collapse and that Yasser Arafat is mostly to blame.

In a scathing condemnation of the Palestinian leader, Terje Roed-Larsen said that, despite repeated promises, Mr. Arafat's government "has made no progress on its core obligation to take immediate action on the ground to end violence and combat terror and to reform and reorganize.

"The Palestinian Authority is in deep distress and in real danger of collapse," Mr. Roed-Larsen said at a regular quarterly update on the Middle East situation.

"This is basically what we have been saying all along," Arye Mekel, Israel's deputy ambassador to the UN, said.

The report drew an angry response from Nasser al-Kidwa, the Palestinian representative at the world body, who called it "strange" and "completely distorted."

Palestinians are generally accustomed to sympathetic treatment at the UN thanks to a large bloc of Arab countries and their allies, which regularly excoriate Israel while downplaying terrorist attacks launched against it from Palestinian zones. [. . . . ]

The Palestinian Authority called accusations of money laundering by Yasser Arafat's wife, Suha, "scandalous" yesterday, after French prosecutors confirmed they are investigating the origin of £6 million allegedly deposited in Mrs Arafat's bank accounts in Paris.

The Bank of France alerted prosecutors last September to regular alleged deposits of up to £670,000 between July 2002 and July 2003 from Switzerland into Mrs Arafat's accounts at Arab Bank and the French bank BNP. [. . . . ]

More than $300 million (£176 million) of Palestinian Authority funds were diverted by Yasser Arafat into a previously undisclosed Swiss bank account and the money can no longer be traced, according to a damning American television report to be broadcast today.

Suha Arafat converted to Islam 11 years ago when she married the Palestinian leader but many question her commitment to the Moslem faith. Mrs Arafat, who is widely reviled for her lavish spending habits at a time when many Palestinians are suffering economic hardship, attends church services regularly, including Christmas midnight Mass in Bethlehem, and has had her daughter, Zahawa, baptised. [. . . . ]

Mrs Arafat spends much of her time in Paris, where she is said to enjoy shopping with her friends, who include the wife of the Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, and the sister of the King of Morocco. She is often to be seen in suits by Louis Feraud, her favourite designer. Last year it was reported that she bought a new multimillion-pound flat on the Champs Elysees.

[. . . .] "The Canadian government must cut off aid funding to the Palestinian regime until its terror networks, which operate under Arafat?s nose, are finally shut down," Day added.

Day noted that since 1993, the Palestinian Authority has received over $215 million in Canadian taxpayer support.

The Government's rhetoric could scarcely have been more resolute four years ago when a gang hijacked an internal Afghan flight and, after refuelling in Moscow, brought the plane and 164 passengers and crew to Stansted airport in Essex.

At the time, it was suspected that many of the passengers were complicit in the hijack and were seeking political asylum in Britain. Other passengers, oblivious to the hijacking conspiracy, went through a terrifying ordeal, including three days' captivity inside the plane at Stansted.

[. . . . ] The nine hijackers were originally sentenced to up to seven years in prison for a variety of offences during their trial in 2001, but the convictions were ruled unsafe by the Court of Appeal two years later, on technical legal grounds. Most of the hijackers and their families have been living on benefits ever since, while the Home Office has sought to have them sent back to Afghanistan.

[. . . . ] However, it has now leaked out that the hijackers can stay in Britain on the grounds, apparently, that they might be at risk from "Taliban elements" who remain active in Afghanistan, even if the Taliban regime itself was rooted out after September 11. [. . . . ]

The most powerful warlords in the country call her a communist and in Afghanistan that is enough to seal a death warrant.

But Malalai Joya, 25, who runs an orphanage and health clinic, refuses to give up her crusade to rid the country of what she calls "warlords and criminals" involved in drug trafficking, land seizures, rape, and looting of houses.

"Our government can't recognise that we have people with dark backgrounds," she said in Kabul where she has been in hiding after her home in the western province of Farah was ransacked by soldiers.

[. . . . ] This week, armed with petitions and video testimony of ordinary Afghans documenting human rights abuses in her province, she and a delegation of 50 tribal elders managed to persuade Mr Karzai to dismiss the governor of Farah, a former Taliban commander. "I am so happy he is finally gone," she said.

Miss Joya became famous during the constitutional loya jirga last January when, as an elected delegate, she gave a speech in front of the gathering of tribal elders against the warlords. Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, an influential mujahideen leader, called her a communist and infidel. [. . . . ]

[. . . . ] Mahadad, 38, is one of the 12 survivors of last week's bomb attack by Taliban on a bus that was carrying women election workers and a child near Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan. Two of the women and the child were killed in the explosion.

They had been on their way to a registration site to hand out identification cards to women which would allow them to vote in the coming autumn elections. Despite the Taliban claiming responsibility, questions are still being asked about how such an atrocity could have happened. [. . . . ]