Where Corruption Rules -- The U.N. is thoroughly tainted. -- Not accountable to anyone except itself -- This is the "multilateral" body that Paul Martin wants us to heed? Canada's moral beacon?
Another shuck! This is the body that allowed Yasser Arafat armed with a pistol to address the UN peacemaking forum. He may have left the bullets at home but the symbolism of the gun was bad optics and a bad precedent. Then Kofi Annan was invited to address Canada's parliament but our government allowed threats of protest--funded by whom?--to prevent President George Bush from addressing our Parliament. Ask Romeo Dallaire what he thinks of the usefulness of the UN after Rwanda. Think AIDS in Africa and South Africa's President Mbeki's refusal to admit its existence for so long, then his pronouncements on who are responsible--and the UN's refusal to consider responses besides blaming the West and demanding Western drugs. The UN has not really explored alternate responses--such as Uganda's Christian-based-abstinence and fidelity program which, apparently is working. Remember the Durban conference on racism and xenophobia? Israelis do, I'm sure.
Thug states have secured positions of power and influence in the UN--and participants at the conference had the gall to write up a memorandum at the end that Israel is the only state that engages in racism and xenophobia. Sudan was one of the co-signers of this--think Darfur. Ask yourself whether the UN has anything useful to say to the West. Now, read the following on what appears to be a sinkhole of corruption.
Calling the UN a peacemaking body and claiming Canadians would all be better off if we followed the "multilateral" approach of the UN does not make it so.
Where Corruption Rules -- The U.N. is thoroughly tainted. Rachel Ehrenfeld, National Review. Rachel Ehrenfeld is the author of Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed — and How to Stop It, director of the Manhattan-based American Center for Democracy., and member of the Committee on the Present Danger.
[. . . . ] The U.N.'s corruption is not limited to money. Sexual exploitation and trafficking in minors have been the routine in U.N. refugee-relief programs throughout Africa, the Balkans, and southeast Asia. In 2002, U.N. aid workers distributed food or loans and scholarships throughout refugee camps in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea — in return for sexual favors. The following year, the U.N. investigated a report that a ship chartered for peacekeepers in East Timor was being used to bring in child prostitutes from Thailand. And in the Balkans , U.N. peacekeepers patronized nightclubs where girls as young as 15 were forced to have sex with them. Confronted with one of the scandals, a senior U.N. official responded — in the words of the BBC — that "ending the sexual exploitation of underage refugees would be an uphill task because gender discrimination was deeply rooted in many cultures...all over the world." So you see, it's not really the U.N.'s fault.
What makes this all even more appalling is the fact that the U.N. claims to be at the forefront of the global war against AIDS. Yet U.N. officials' behavior helps spread the disease. [. . . . ]
There is much more if you read and follow the links there.
THE United Nations is investigating a report that a ship chartered for peacekeepers in East Timor is also being used to bring child prostitutes to the island nation, the organisation said today.
The allegations surfaced over the weekend in the Portuguese weekly Expresso. The Expresso report said UN personnel were involved in bringing girls from Thailand to East Timor as prostitutes.[. . . . ]
The long-awaited meeting of the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Treaty is now underway in Buenos Aires, Argentina. More than 5,000 delegates and non-government organization representatives are there to participate in the festivities. The overwhelming sentiment among the participants is to find a way to force the United States to "get on board." French Ecology Minister Serge Lepeltier said, "I am convinced that we are going to bring the United States into Kyoto, even if it doesn't want to."
[. . . . ] The economic impact this horrendous international law could have is beyond comprehension. The only thing worse - is the knowledge that the power of this international law is in the hands of a bunch of unaccountable U.N. bureaucrats whose goal is to bring down the United States.
Do look at this one. Also, there have been a few articles in the National Post / Financial Postquestioning the science behind the claims of the Kyoto supporters -- particularly that it is the West that is going to be at a great disadvantage while others pollute as usual; think of our industries and our workers. It is not politically correct to question the science when such an honourable body as the UN gets behind it, as well as Maurice Strong, the ???-funded NGO's and environmental groups that claim to speak for the rest of us. We must discuss anything with consequences this severe to OUR economic well-being and industry. That doesn't mean we shouldn't downsize our vehicles--starting now--and become less reliant on imported oil just in case. But, let's talk openly about the science.
PARIS France's highest administrative court, the Council of State, moved decisively to ban Al Manar television on Monday, ruling that the Beirut-based channel had repeatedly violated the country's hate laws and ignored its own pledge to avoid making anti-Semitic statements. [. . . . ]
Dictatorship of the minority -- "Thus if the majority is denied the right to realize its wishes through the ballot or plebiscites, then by definition the majority does not rule"
Is this too logical for Canada? Link to this one.
Dictatorship of the minority Klaus Rohrich, Dec. 13, 04, Canada Free Press. Klaus Rohrich is President and Creative Director of Taylor/Rohrich Associates Inc.
[. . . . ] If a society guarantees every minority the right to do whatever they desire, then the term "democracy" becomes meaningless. . . . if the majority is denied the right to realize its wishes through the ballot or plebiscites, then by definition the majority does not rule[. . . . ]
Along with this, if you have not already, do read Lawrence Solomon's article on proportional representation and curbing "extremists" like my favourite political party. We wouldn't want citizens to vote on something so sacred to the left as gay marriage. The government may live to regret this one. And what about legalizing pot? Another so-called "progressive" initiative?
Speaking of "progressive"
Just when did the word "progressive" become exclusively a descriptor for Liberals--as I note on the CBC?
* Does the term "progressive" describe the patronage funnel--the corruption--the legacy of successive Liberal governments?
* Is it "progressive" to take money from two provinces under the guise of "equalization" and slush the bulk of it to one--with enough thrown at the Maritimes to buy their hope and their votes?
* Is it "progressive" to sluice taxpayers' money to chosen industries such as Bombardier and steel -- but to let other businesses and their out-of-luck employees sink?
* Was the National Energy Grab of the Trudeau years "progressive"?
* Should we use the term "progressive" to describe the endless appeals that keep some of the world's liars, passport forgers and overall violent thugs and killers supplied with enough of Canadians' money to fight deportation for years and years -- while genuine refugees sit in camps?
* Is the rising violent crime a "progressive" move in the security area? Of course, we have the "progressive" gun registry to track the law-abiding -- which will fix the problem.
While I could progress with more examples, mercifully, I won't.
"Progressive" is not exclusively a Liberal value; stop shoving this idea down my throat!
Nigerian con man runs scam from jail -- Global News reports women recruited through federal site -- "Some conversations are monitored, some aren't. . . . "You have to understand that there are privacy considerations, notwithstanding you are in jail. People have rights to do certain things."
TORONTO - A Nigerian con man serving time for sexual assault has been running a scam out of the Don jail in Toronto that involves recruiting unwitting women on the outside and taking advantage of lax security on the inside, Global News Toronto reported yesterday.
The man, who has also been convicted of bigamy and credit-card fraud and described by the Ontario Human Rights Commission as a sexual predator, hired employees for his scam by advertising for help on a Government of Canada Web site, according to the report by Global Defenders, the station's investigative unit. [. . . . ]
The "rights" industry -- again. Of course, if a refusal to answer questions in the House of Commons is clothed in privacy rights, we can't blame the prison system from learning from it . . . . . . . can we? Give me a break!
You have to read this one -- why he's in jail, considering that he applied as a "refugee" claiming to be a persecuted gay from Botswana. Gay-friendly Canada welcomed him -- and then . . . . . . . .
Minister to seek funding for 100-seat aircraft -- Emerson to ask Cabinet approval to arrange financing package for Bombardier -- "Published reports in Quebec indicated federal Cabinet agreed to provide roughly $380-million in financing for the 100-seat jet project."
Here we go again.
Why is Bombardier a government aided / taxpayer funded corporate welfare recipient -- as opposed to the mill workers at Nackawic Ste. Anne in NB? When I hear of workers who toiled 25-34 years who now have no pensions--though a few may--I just rage. Also, there were contractors who regularly worked shutting-down the mill--assuming ing they were dismantling for the yearly refit -- and then the mill was abruptly closed. Of course they never were paid--so I hear--for the job of CLOSING DOWN THE MILL.
How does our government decide who wins and loses in this game of life?
Why has Bombardier been able to feed off taxpayers while millworkers are left in the lurch? If all suffered the vagaries of the marketplace, most would consider it just rotten luck, but when we see the government prop up some, but not all, it appears decidedly unfair. Don't talk to these unfortunate Nackawic ex-employees and contractors about Brazil's government subsidizing Embraer and therefore Canadian taxpayers must subsidize Bombardier. What these workers see is the unfairness to them while a company from Quebec wins again! Remember where a disproportionate sum of sports and sponsorship dollars went?
In continuously propping up Bombardier, the Feds have sucked investors into believing that this was a viable firm. Now, their stocks have nosedived. Bombardier was not viable--except for the taxpayer funding prop, it appears. Let the market decide.
Paul Martin, get the feds out of the business of picking winners and losers and dispensing . . . . . . to the chosen few. There is no need for you to fly around the world as front man for some businessmen, but not others. Let them fly off to negotiate on their own. Stick to the few jobs which your government should be doing; start with corruption and security.
The federal Industry Minister intends to seek Cabinet approval to negotiate a financing package for Bombardier Inc.'s 100-seat regional jet project even though the company was rocked yesterday with a leadership crisis after the sudden departure of Paul Tellier as chief executive.
"You just can't look at a company that's hit a crisis point and say, 'We are going to let it die and live with the ripple effects,' " David Emerson told reporters yesterday in the House of Commons, "because those ripple effects could be profound, irreversible and I for one am not going to stand by and watch that happen to a very important sector of Canadian industry." [. . . . ]
Guite was the central bank, TV producer tells inquiry -- 'Rocket' Richard series: Agencies billed $450,000 for work they never did: Scully
Remember Robert Scully from Marketplace or was it Venture on the CBC?
The government contributed more than $4.7-million to Mr. Scully's now controversial series into the life of "Rocket" Richard and most of the $450,000 agencies billed for commissions was for work they never did, he said.[. . . . ]
Crime victims office being 'dismantled' -- Only a revamp, liberals say -- "taxpayer-funded thorn in his ministry's side"
The Ontario Liberals have all but "dismantled" Canada's first government office dedicated to victims of crime, which for seven years has represented victims in the courts and proposed a string of judicial reforms, its outgoing vice-chairman charged yesterday.
[. . . . ] One of the office's tasks was to disperse money from the province's $40-million victim justice fund, but that has already been taken over by the Attorney-General's Ministry, he said.
Ah, the power to dispense money . . . . .
"The office made recommendations that helped lead to a greatly expanded victim-assistance program in the courts, the province's sex-offender registry, key changes to the Coroner's Act and more rights for child sexual abuse victims, said Mr. Jackson."
Thinking the unthinkable in the House -- Few supporters dare to contemplate it, but there's a remote possibility same-sex marriage legislation may fail to pass
[. . . . ] Already many Grits and other MPs inclined to support the same-sex legislation are coming under fire from key constituencies, including Muslim and Sikh communities that have traditionally backed the Liberals.
Weston thinks that, by the time this issue comes to a vote in spring or afterward, Canadians will have made their feelings known to their MPs -- but it will still go the SCOC to be settled in the end.
OTTAWA (CP) - The federal deputy Immigration minister filed a complaint against the ethics commissioner Monday with the Official Languages Commission over testimony being conducted only in English.
Michel Dorais said he was "troubled" that at least one francophone employee has been forced to testify in English before lawyers hired by Bernard Shapiro to investigate allegations surrounding Immigration Minister Judy Sgro. "I learned that they didn't give people a choice - they sent them a letter in English, swore them in in English and questioned them in English," he told The Canadian Press. [. . . . ]
Active measures should be taken to consolidate and further Sino-French cooperation in aviation, spaceflight, communication and nuclear energy by transfer [sic] more technology and upgrade industrial cooperation, Hu said.
Now, who gets to pollute under Kyoto? Why given what you know of China and France, what do you think? Canada will curb pollution for it will follow the moral suasion of the UN, won't it?
Cooperation between China and France in high-tech industry, small and medium-sized enterprises, agriculture and environmental protection should also be expanded and strengthened, he said.
Thirdly, Hu said that the two countries should also enhance exchange and cooperation in culture, education and science and technology.[Ed's emphasis]
I'd watch that science and technology exchange. The last time Canada got involved in a scientific endeavour with China, . . . . . . . well, check out News Junkie Canada, Oct 24, 04, Section 5 and Section 6 for the details in various links.
The two sides could learn from the experience of holding Chinese Culture Year in France and French Year in China and then explore new methods of furthering exchange and cooperation in those fields, Hu said. [. . . . ]
Did Our Minister of Promoting French, Diane Adam, tour Beijing in her global trek to check the state of "language"--read French--in our embassies? Her services will need to be expanded so that China may be "encouraged" to provide the right mixture of French / English language service, the necessity to provide larger signage in French right from the start, and . . . . . you know, all those aspects crucial to the "survival of French" around the world -- if the world plans to do business with Canadians.
Is China on the verge of its own Enron scandal? -- "China Aviation Oil disclosed its trading losses a month after its state-owned parent - China Aviation Oil Holding - sold 196 million Singapore dollars, or $119 million, shares to investors."
[. . . . China Aviation Oil, the] Singapore-based company is being investigated for losses from speculative oil trading that it hid from investors. [. . . . ]
Yet China Aviation Oil's story may say less about Singapore than about the risks of investing in the Chinese economy. Could the affair turn out to be the Chinese equivalent of the Enron debacle?
[. . . . ] China Aviation Oil's woes show how challenges in the Chinese economy can undermine other markets. Hundreds of state-owned Chinese companies have sold shares in Hong Kong, New York and Singapore. China Aviation Oil - a foreign unit of a Beijing company - is a reminder that transparency and corporate governance at such enterprises can be inadequate.
"Complex corporate structures and unreliable accounting practices make it difficult to perform substantive analysis on some China-related companies," Standard & Poor's said last week. "On the accounting side, the problem of limited disclosure is compounded with problems of compliance."
[. . . . ] China is the national equivalent of Internet companies during the late 1990s. Investors and corporate executives seem to have little time for a discussion of the risks. 'China.com' is Asia's New Economy and anyone who doesn't see that is a fool. [. . . . ]
Spain: Data on bombings erased, Zapatero claims
He also denounced the view that "Spain surrendered to terrorism" when it voted out Jose Maria Aznar and the Popular Front three days after the bombing in Madrid.
MADRID Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero said Monday that the previous government had erased all the records documenting cabinet-level activities related to the March 11 train bombings here that killed 191 people before it left office in April[. . . . ]
