* Correction: Yesterday, I inserted a link to posts on drugs in the diamond area in Canada. I made two errors -- corrections here.
* Ecstasy: "criminals have begun importing raw materials and processing the drug in-country" -- Note: drug money funds terrorism.
* Getting too close to the truth? -- Chretien's government appointed Justice Gomery as Chair of the Copyright Board and now they want to deep six him? * Justice Gomery: "appointed part-time Chairman" of the Copyright Board Canada -- 1999-2000 ANNUAL REPORT -- ORGANIZATION OF THE BOARD * Chretien lawyers seek to oust head of federal sponsorship inquiry
* Chretien's lawyers want Gomery out of inquiry
* BLACKBERRY: Canada backs creators in patent dispute * U.S. weighs probe of IBM's China deal -- Committee on Foreign Investments * Brilliant--A citizen writes a common sense response--expresses truth!
* Was Jean Chretien "the shareholder"?
* Reality 101 for PM, JC, and the rest -- Business Reform's 2005 Top Ten Countries to Do Business In -- and those you should avoid -- China is one "of the countries where you won't want to do business"
Correction: Yesterday, I made two errors when I inserted a link to posts on drugs in the diamond area in Canada.
First, please note: search the generic term "drug"; sometimes the specific synthetic drug "Ecstasy" is not mentioned, though it may be understood or implied when an article contains information on importing the "precursor chemicals" or "manufactured" in Canada.
2. There is an error in the date of the link to an original article referenced in my June 4, 04 post; the publication date should have been Nov. 11, 1999 (not Nov. 11, 04). Organized crime targets N.W.T. diamond mines
YELLOWKNIFE - Police and a Canadian mining company are cracking down on gangs they say are targeting the country's emerging diamond industry in the North.
The Criminal Intelligence Service Canada says organized criminals based in Edmonton have been gaining a foothold in the industry, and plan to illegally divert gems from the Ekati mine.
[. . . . ] The scheme includes tactics such as supplying drugs to mine workers in exchange for diamonds.
[. . . . ] Police believe Asian gangs based in Edmonton are laying the groundwork for a network that could attempt to steal millions of dollars in gems.
[. . . . ] First, by developing a market for things such as prostitution, gambling and illegal drugs -- much of which is being supplied from Edmonton.
Obviously, I had two bad days with dates -- mea culpa.
Ecstasy: "criminals have begun importing raw materials and processing the drug in-country" -- Note: drug money funds terrorism.
"Shipments of processed ecstasy into Canada have fallen off in the past year or two, Mr. Webb said, while criminals have begun importing raw materials and processing the drug in-country."
Ottawa — Canada is now the largest single supplier of pot, speed and steroids to the United States, says a top customs official. [steroids? -- needed for Olympic training for 2010 in BC, I suppose]
American authorities are making more seizures both at and south of the border, says George Webb, head of counter-terrorism and counter-proliferation for the Canadian Border Services Agency.
At the same time, the flow of illegal drugs to Canada from the U.S. appears to have stabilized, according to the agency. Major drug busts at the Canadian border have been fairly consistent since the mid-1990s.
[. . . . ] “We are now their biggest drug supplier, whether it be B.C. bud, methamphetamines or steroids.” [steroids?]
One American seizure last year yielded the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency more than $500-million worth of methamphetamines.
[. . . . ] That's down marginally . . .
Shipments of processed ecstasy into Canada have fallen off in the past year or two, Mr. Webb said, while criminals have begun importing raw materials and processing the drug in-country.
The figures represent major drug busts; they don't include seizures below a kilogram of marijuana, 10 grams of heroine, 50 grams of cocaine, 500 grams of hashish or 100 tabs of ecstasy.
500 grams of hash? That's over a pound!
Nearly 48 per cent of all drug seizures, large and small, were made through the postal system; another 31 per cent were at land border points.
While only 15 per cent were made at airports, they represent more than half the value — 51 per cent — of drugs seized. [. . . . ]
Note that all mail to and from the Maritimes must be shipped through Canada Post Montreal. Gee, if I wanted to deal drugs in the Maritimes . . . . . . Is it politically incorrect to think? Must check on that periodically, though, given Canada's "hate crimes" legislation where truth is no excuse. We never know.
Don't forget drug money funds terrorism.
There is more information on drugs and Ecstasy here. Search for the title because the Jan. 25, 04 post is very long and this is at the bottom, after the double lines.
OTTAWA (CP) - Lawyers for former prime minister Jean Chretien are demanding that Justice John Gomery step down as head of the federal sponsorship inquiry because his fairness and objectivity are in question.
In papers filed Tuesday with the inquiry, lawyers David Scott and Peter Doody took Gomery to task for "highly inappropriate public statements" made in Media interviews just before Christmas. Gomery made personal comments at the time about former bureaucrat Chuck Guite, a key player in the sponsorship program.
He also called the program as a managerial catastrophe, said it's clear witnesses have lied to him, and observed that his report could have serious consequences for Prime Minister Paul Martin's minority Liberal government.
[. . . . ] "In the past, the Liberals shut down inquiries when they got too hot - both the Somalia inquiry and the APEC inquiry," Harper said.
[. . . . ] Observers say the most likely course would be to go to Federal Court and ask a judge to issue an order for Gomery to stand down and let someone else complete his mandate.
How many of the Supreme Court justices were appointed by Jean Chretien himself, or a Liberal PM? Let's see, now, Paul Martin chose two this year -- you check the rest. Activist, SC Justice, Beverley McLaughlin?
[. . . . Justice Gomery] also refused to take back one comment - that judges "hate being lied to."
Prospective witnesses shouldn't feel threatened by that remark, said Gomery. They need only tell the truth.
Now, an expert on copyright law, Justice Gomery, is being pushed out? What does he know that the rest of us should know/need to know about the Liberal Sponsorship / ADSCAM / Slushfund program?
Check the following on Justice Gomery.
Justice Gomery: "appointed part-time Chairman" of the Copyright Board Canada -- 1999-2000 ANNUAL REPORT -- ORGANIZATION OF THE BOARD
The Honourable John H. Gomery, a justice of the Quebec Superior Court since 1982, has been appointed part-time Chairman of the Board for a three-year term commencing in March 1999. Prior to his appointment to the Bench, Mr. Justice Gomery practised law with the firm Martineau Walker for 25 years. He obtained his B.A. in 1953 and graduated in law from McGill University in 1956. He was an active member of the Canadian Bar Association as National Secretary of the Commercial Law Section and as a member of the special committee on "Uniformity on Personal Property Security Law. [. . . . ]
Let's see, Justice Gomery knows much about Commercial Law and he was on a special committee on "Uniformity on Personal Property Security Law."? He has very specialized and needed knowledge. Read on.
Chretien lawyers seek to oust head of federal sponsorship inquiry
[. . . . ] The move to force the judge out came the same day three former Chretien ministers - Stephane Dion, Diane Marleau and Denis Coderre - appeared before the inquiry.
Chretien is scheduled to testify in another two weeks. But his lawyers insisted their aim was not to shut down the hearings.
[. . . . ] several businessmen who benefited from the program.
Among them were Claude Boulay of the ad firm Groupe Everest, Luc Lemay of the publishing house Groupe Polygone and Serge Paquette of Communications Strategies.
They also objected to Gomery's use of the words "small-town cheap" to describe the former prime minister's acceptance of golf balls embossed with his signature under the sponsorship program. [. . . . ]
Speaking of small town, but not cheap, Jean Chretien still has enough clout in the present government to get patronage money for Shawinigan. The National Post reported today that archiving of JC's papers, etc. would require millions of taxpayer dollars. An office is being opened in Shawinigan and will take -- is it two years? JC chooses never to stoop by going to Ottawa for this -- though he can travel to Russia on oil business. I'm cynical enough to ask whether this will just give him an opportunity to massage / rewrite / clear up his legacy/history. Would anyone working there lose / mislay what could be "inconvenient"? Perhaps I malign unfairly. Leave the paperwork, etc. in Ottawa, JC, until the enquiry is finished by Justice Gomery.
[. . . . ] Responding to a pre-Christmas interview in which Gomery had called the sponsorship program a management catastrophe, among other accusations, lawyer David Scott said the judge's impartiality had been called into question.
Even though Gomery has since apologized and vowed to "keep an open mind until the last witness has been heard," Scott said it appeared as though the veteran Quebec Superior Court justice had reached a conclusion prematurely.
Any normal thinking person would come to conclusions privately but that does NOT mean that this person could not base judgement on the evidence. Parents make judgements about their childrens' actions all the time based on past behaviour. They still listen to all the evidence and then base decisions on that -- not on their experience of the child. Sometimes, the child gets away with something he/she should not -- but the best parents try to be fair.
Prime Minister Paul Martin hand-picked Gomery to head the public inquiry launched in the wake of Auditor General Sheila Fraser's damning report of problems with the now-defunct federal sponsorship program.
In her 2004 report, Fraser said that more than $100 million in taxpayers' money had been spent through the program -- with little or no work to show for it. [. . . . ]
Was Gomery given this onerous job to save the guilty? I am cynical about this. I think our ex-PM is c*****t and his power connections are, to say the least, questionable. Just check this site for links to more information. My opinion is that, if the enquiry were to continue, he would be fingered as the most c*****t of Prime Ministers -- one with endless tentacles. His legacy. Ousting Justice Gomery almost assures that this will be a big fight in which the citizens of Canada will lose -- big time.
BLACKBERRY: Canada backs creators in patent dispute
The Canadian creators of the BlackBerry, the wildly successful wireless e-mail device embraced by so many Americans, say they will take their patent dispute with a Virginia company all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary. And they just got a powerful ally.
The Canadian government has stepped into the patent infringement case, determined to protect the nation's greatest high-tech success story.
Why is the government getting involved? Are the legal eagles in need of politicians' help? Civil service help? Who are involved? Who would benefit?
[. . . . ] The dispute began in 2002 when NTP Inc. of Arlington, Va., claimed that RIM infringed on 16 of its patents, including its radio communications technology.
In August 2003 a U.S. court in Virginia agreed that 11 of those 16 patents were violated and awarded NTP $54 million in damages, as well as an 8.6 percent royalty on all the revenue from U.S. Blackberry sales.
Is RIM one of the countries developing a "business partnership" with . . . . . . Justice Gomery knows copyright/patent law rather well and he is learning even more about the workings of business and . . . in Canada.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Bush administration is considering an investigation into whether the pending sale of International Business Machines Corp.'s personal computer business to a Chinese company might pose national security problems, according to members of a congressional oversight group.
Such an inquiry could disrupt or delay the $1.75 billion deal. Under the accord, Lenovo Group Ltd., China's largest computer manufacturer, would buy IBM's PC business. [. . . . ]
In the US, there is the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States; in Canada, our government is PROMOTING the partnerships with Chinese business despite the fact that the stories are legion about outright theft of intellectual property and infringement of copyright law.
Justice Gomery, get on with it!
Brilliant--A citizen writes a common sense response--expresses truth!
Re: Our Meddling Ministers, Andrew Coyne, Jan. 19.
Mr. Coyne states, "The job we elect members of Parliament to do is represent us in Parliament: to debate, deliberate, legislate, according as their constituents, their conscience or their party dictate, but always one hopes, with the national interest in mind."
Oh if it were only so. The December, 2004, report from Ruby Dhalla, MP for Brampton/Springdale, suggests otherwise. Ms. Dhalla's report includes, "What can my office help you with." Here's her list:
- congratulatory message certificates (birthday and anniversary) these include from the Prime Minister and Governor-General (or the Queen);
- assistance with immigration matters;
- assistance and follow-up with citizenship applications;
- assistance and follow-up with permanent resident cards;
- follow-up on Canada Pension Plan, Disability Plan and Revenue Canada applications;
- and assistance with federal government programs and services.
To me this sounds more like an advertisement from a lawyer's office than what I would expect from an MP.
OTTAWA (CP) - Andre Ouellet claimed to have government support - and sometimes the personal backing of Jean Chretien - for some of the projects he championed as board chairman at Canada Post, the federal sponsorship inquiry was told Monday.
Georges Clermont, former president of the Crown corporation, pointed to one initiative in particular that saw Canada Post spend $50,000 on a coffee-table book of artistic photographs in 1998. "Mr. Ouellet told me the PM (prime minister) wanted it," Clermont testified at the inquiry headed by Justice John Gomery.
He acknowledged that he never checked directly with the Prime Minister's Office, so he had no first-hand knowledge of Chretien's wishes.
But Clermont insisted it wasn't the only time Ouellet suggested to him that he had high-level backing. "He often talked about speaking to the PM."
On other occasions, Clermont said, Ouellet would tell him he had approval for projects from "the shareholder" - a euphemism for the federal government in its role as owner of Canada Post.
There is mention of the Maurice Richard TV series, and this.
[. . . . ] Clermont and Ouellet also disagreed over a decision to hire three private advertising and public relations companies to look after stamp launches for the post office.
Among the three was Tremblay Guittet Communications, owned by longtime Ouellet friend Michele Tremblay.
Reality 101 for PM, JC, and the rest -- Business Reform's 2005 Top Ten Countries to Do Business In -- and those you should avoid -- China is one "of the countries where you won't want to do business"
Link and get the article; it's free--except ads will undoubtedly follow your giving an email address. Still, don't miss the list and the reasons why, as well as the "Things You'll Probably Want to Keep in Mind ".
There is also a list of the countries where you won't want to do business. Send a copy to PM Paul Martin, Trade Minister Peterson, and the rest of the crew trolling Asia for "business" and inviting . . . . . By now, you can fill in the blanks, yourself.
1. North Korea. . . .
2. China. In sheer numbers, the world’s worst persecutor of Christians. More Christians are thought to be in prison in China than all other countries combined. Christian prisoners are known to be used for forced labor to manufacture products for export to the West.
3. Saudi Arabia. No Christian church buildings are allowed to exist in Saudi Arabia, the “guardian of Islam’s holy sites.” No Saudi citizen is allowed to follow any religion other than Islam.
4. Sudan. Conditions may be slowly getting better, but it is still know that radical Muslims give Christians in South Sudan three choices: Convert to Islam, be killed, or flee for their lives. [. . . . ]
8. Iran. Another of the State Department’s countries of particular concern, no Christian services are allowed to be held in Farsi, the national language, though Armenian churches remain open. Muslims who come to Christ face interrogation, arrest and torture. [. . . . ]
