Dead lilies and an al-Qaeda sleeper agent

What happens if you are sitting at lunch and notice a dead canna lily languishing in a garden? Chances are good that you’d be threatened with prosecution. What happens if you are an accused al-Qaeda sleeper agent? Chances are you’d be set free.

From the Telegraph U.K.

Mother-of-two threatened with prosecution for picking dead flower

A mother-of-two, Angie Summers, was threatened with prosecution for theft and criminal damage after pulling up a dead flower from a council border in Devizes, Wiltshire.

Angie Summers from Devizes, Wiltshire next to the flower bed where she pulled up a dead plant: Mother-of-two threatened with prosecution for picking dead flower

Angie Summers from Devizes, Wiltshire next to the flower bed where she pulled up a dead plant Photo: SWNS

Mrs Summers, 43, was on her lunchbreak in a public square when she uprooted the withered canna lily.

She said the 18-inch-high flower was dead and removed it because it was spoiling the look of the display.

However, a passer-by reported her actions to the town council and Mrs Summers was stunned when a police officer later called at her home.

He threatened to ‘put her in the cells’ and warned that she could be prosecuted for theft and criminal damage – offences carrying a possible six-month prison term. Continue Reading →

Iran’s nuclear program a direct challenge to international community

From The Ottawa Citizen.

Obama says Iran nuclear plant is “direct challenge”

Iran denies uranium enrichment plant is secret

By Matt Spetalnick and Mark Heinrich, ReutersSeptember 25, 2009 12:01 PM
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addresses the 64th United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York September 23, 2009.

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addresses the 64th United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York September 23, 2009.

Photograph by: Mike Segar, Reuters

U.S. President Barack Obama and other Western leaders accused Iran on Friday of building a secret nuclear fuel plant and demanded Tehran immediately halt what he called a “direct challenge” to the international community.

Obama went public with the charge in an appearance with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy at a Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh, sharpening a standoff with Iran over its disputed nuclear program.

“It is time for Iran to act immediately to restore the confidence of the international community by fulfilling its international obligations,” Obama said, adding that Tehran had been building the plant in secret for years.

The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said earlier on Friday that Iran had just told it of a second uranium enrichment plant under construction. Continue Reading →

Canada to snub Iranian crackpot, Jew hater Ahmadinejad

From The National Post

Ahmadinejad address ‘low point’ at UN: Harper

David Akin, Canwest News Service Published: Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Protesters shout slogans against Iran's government during a demonstration in front of the United Nations in New York on Sep. 23, 2009. Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images Protesters shout slogans against Iran’s government during a demonstration in front of the United Nations in New York on Sep. 23, 2009.

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper defended his decision to pull Canadian officials out of the United Nations General Assembly when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks there Wednesday even though some of Canada’s allies, notably the United States, will keep their officials in the hall.

“That’s a decision that the United States and every other country has a right to make, but Canada makes its own decisions on these matters, and we believe strongly that given President Ahmadinejad’s . . . just disgraceful insulting declarations denying the Holocaust, there is no way I’m going to permit any official of the government of Canada to be present and give any legitimacy to remarks by a leader like that,” Mr. Harper told reporters Wednesday in Oakville, Ont.

Israel has called on world leaders to walk out on Ahmadinejad to protest his call to destroy the Jewish state. Continue Reading →

Polygamy charges tossed; Bountiful bastards get God pass

From The National Post

Why is this man smiling? I’d bet it’s because he’s just been given a free pass to go back to the ranch, resume his duties as a Christian fundamentalist and commit a fresh batch of rapes against more young ‘brides’ with a God pass in tow. Religion1, Virtue 0.

Polygamy charges thrown out against Bountiful leaders

Posted: September 23, 2009, 3:33 PM by Scott Maniquet

Criminal polygamy charges against B.C. religious leaders Winston Blackmore and Jim Oler have been thrown out.

B.C. Supreme Court Judge Sunni Stromberg-Stein made the ruling Wednesday in B.C. Supreme Court, said Neil MacKenzie, a Crown spokesman.

Both Blackmore and Oler filed separate petitions in B.C. Supreme Court seeking to quash the charges against them.

Blackmore is the leader of the fundamentalist Mormon commune in Bountiful, B.C.

Blackmore, 52, and Oler, 44, were charged in January with one count each of practising polygamy, charges that were recommended by special prosecutor Terry Robertson — the third outside counsel hired by the attorney-general’s ministry to review evidence gathered during a two-year RCMP investigation.

The two previous lawyers had recommended that the anti-polygamy section of the Criminal Code be referred to the B.C. Court of Appeal to determine whether it breaches the constitutional guarantees of religious freedom.

In September 2006, following an investigation by the RCMP, Crown counsel decided not to lay any charges.

Then-attorney-general Wally Oppal decided a review of the matter was required and special prosecutor Richard Peck was appointed to conduct a charge assessment.

Peck decided not to lay any charges and Oppal appointed Len Doust, another prominent criminal defence lawyer, to review Peck’s decision. In April 2008 Doust confirmed Peck’s finding and declined to prosecute.

In June 2008, Robertson was then appointed by the ministry and in January he approved the charges against Blackmore and Oler.

Canwest News Service

photo: Winston Blackmore (Ian Smith/Canwest News Service)

Montreal cabbie fined, ordered to remove dashboard adornment

From The Globe and Mail

Personal and public space

How a cabbie’s dashboard sparked a court battle

Arieh Perecowicz received six tickets for a total of $1,400 from the Bureau du taxi, a municipal agency whose inspectors ordered the cabbie to remove the items.John Morstad/The Globe and Mail

Arieh Perecowicz says Montreal authorities are violating his Charter rights by ordering him to remove photos, religious artifacts from his taxi

INGRID PERITZ

MONTREAL — From Tuesday’s Globe and Mail Last updated on Tuesday, Sep. 22, 2009 04:22AM EDT

Anyone entering Arieh Perecowicz’s taxi in Montreal quickly knows what’s close to the man’s heart. At various places around the dashboard, he’s posted photos of his family, religious artifacts, a couple of flags and a Remembrance Day poppy.

The items have never sparked a customer complaint or interfered with his work, the 65-year-old cabbie says. But it did provoke a series of tickets from Montreal’s taxi agency, which have resulted in a court battle that could test the line between personal and public space. Continue Reading →

Gun smuggling Toronto 18 terror thug pleads guilty

From The National Post

‘Toronto 18’ gun smuggler pleads guilty

Stewart Bell and Adrian Humphreys,

National Post Published: Monday, September 21, 2009

Ali Dirie, left, has pleaded guilty to gun smuggling charges. Dirie is one of the men involved with the Toronto 18.

Kagan McLeod/National Post

Ali Dirie, left, has pleaded guilty to gun smuggling charges.

Dirie is one of the men involved with the Toronto 18.

TORONTO — A Toronto man caught smuggling handguns into Canada pleaded guilty to terrorism charges on Monday, making him the latest of the “Toronto 18” group to admit to wrongdoing.

Ali Mohamed Dirie, 26, who was born in Somalia and raised in Syria and Toronto, was to appear in court on Wednesday for a sentencing hearing after pleading guilty to participating in the activities of a terrorist group.

Both the defence and government officials confirmed the plea. Dirie still faces a second charge that will be dealt with after he is sentenced on Oct. 2, said Dan Brien, communications director of the Public Prosecution Service of Canada. Continue Reading →

Hezbollah #1, al-Qaeda scores minor league status

From Family Security Matters.

Hezbollah may well be the most dangerous terrorist organization on the planet, pushing al-Qaeda to the minors.

September 21, 2009

Exclusive: Hizballah – ‘The Most Capable and Disciplined Terrorist Organization in the World’

W. Thomas Smith, Jr.

FOX News is reporting what we’ve been saying for at least two years – and which terrorist sympathizers and their paid cronies have tried to keep from public awareness – that is, Hizballah may well be the most dangerous terrorist organization on the planet, posing even a greater threat to the U.S. than al Qaeda.
According to the FOX segment, Friday, “Hizballah reportedly has operatives in the United States. Two years ago, a Hizballah agent was arrested after infiltrating the FBI and CIA.”
True.
Though few Americans are actually aware of this, thanks to a heavily financed counter-media, propaganda, and disinformation campaign aimed at soft-soaping the Lebanon-based, Iranian-Syrian-supported terrorist organization as simply a Lebanese political party with guns; and – as a part of that campaign – discrediting or destroying anyone who might aggressively take Hizballah to task. Continue Reading →

Arabs set fire to Israeli village during Rosh HaShanah

From Arutz Sheva/IsraelNationalNews

Holiday Arson Leaves Samaria Families Homeless

by Maayana Miskin

(IsraelNN.com) As the Jews of Havat Gilad in Samaria celebrated the second day of Rosh HaShanah on Sunday afternoon, a group of Arabs from a nearby village infiltrated the town and set fire to the area. Contrary to media reports, a house was burnt down, and the holiday ended with an emergency evacuation, several wounded residents, and two families left homeless.

Police arrested four Arab suspects near the scene of the crime. Continue Reading →

Accused Canadian terrorist Harkat allowed to roam, Federal Court Judge rules

From The Ottawa Citizen.

Court lifts some bail restrictions on accused terrorist Harkat

Canwest News ServiceSeptember 21, 2009 12:27 PM
Mohamed Harkat, a former pizza delivery man, was arrested in December 2002 on the strength of a security certificate that accused him of being a sleeper agent for al-Qaida. Harkat denies the allegations.

Mohamed Harkat, a former pizza delivery man, was arrested in December 2002 on the strength of a security certificate that accused him of being a sleeper agent for al-Qaida. Harkat denies the allegations.

Photograph by: Chris Wattie, Reuters

OTTAWA — In a surprise move, a Federal Court judge has removed most of the bail restrictions on accused terrorist Mohamed Harkat.

Monday’s ruling allows the terror suspect — who was first arrested on a security certificate almost seven years ago — to travel alone within the city and ends the constant surveillance he has been under since his release on bail.

Harkat is still not allowed to use a computer or talk on a cellphone.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service contends Harkat, 41, a former pizza delivery man, is an al-Qaida sleeper agent.

Harkat, who came to Canada in 1995 and applied for refugee status, has always denied any connection to terrorism.

Security certificate provisions allowed authorities to detain and deport non-citizens considered national security threats.

Harkat’s wife, Sophie, said in an earlier interview her husband is eager to understand what foreign agencies are involved in the case against him.

“No matter where the information comes from, we want to challenge it,” Sophie Harkat said in an interview last month.

Harkat’s defence lawyer, Norm Boxall, said his client needs to understand what allegations and evidence flows from foreign intelligence services.

“Harkat can’t respond to things he doesn’t know,” he said.

In June, Canada’s border agency engaged in an unauthorized intelligence-gathering exercise, rather than a legitimate search, when it raided Harkat’s Ottawa home, a Federal Court judge has ruled.

Judge Simon No’l said Harkat’s constitutional right to privacy was seriously breached in last month’s raid, which featured 16 law enforcement officers and three dog teams.

He ordered the agency to return all material seized in the May 12 raid and to destroy any photocopied documents.

© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

Who’s your daddy?

From the Telegraph U.K.

Muslims ‘mass producing’ babies to take over Africa, says Nigerian Anglican leader

The new leader of the Anglican church in Nigeria believes that Muslims are “mass producing” babies to take over Africa.

By John Bingham
Published: 9:42AM BST 21 Sep 2009

Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, from Nigeria

Archbishop Nicholas Okoh believes Christianity is under attack

The Most Revd Nicholas Okoh, who believes that Christianity is under attack from Islam, was elected primate of Nigeria earlier this month, making him one of the powerful figures in Anglicanism.

Nigeria, where the Anglican church has 17 million adherents, is split between Christianity and Islam.

The country has been riven with religious strife in recent years, notably in the predominantly Muslim north.

In a sermon in Beckenham, Kent, in July he spoke of African Christians being “surrounded by Islamic domination”.

In extracts quoted by The Times, he said: “They spend a lot of money, even in places where they don’t have congregations, they build mosques, they build hospitals, they build anything.

“They come to Africans and say, ‘Christianity is asking you to marry only one wife. We will give you four’.”

He went on: “That is the type of evangelism they are doing: mass-production, so if you have four wives, four children, sixteen children, very soon you will be a village.”

A former Lieutenant Colonel in the Nigerian army, Archbishop Okoh was in 1979.

As Archbishop of Nigeria’s Bendel Province, he was one of the prime movers in the Gafcon meeting of conservative Anglicans in Jerusalem last year.

Robson: there’s nothing to discuss; the medium is the message

From the Ottawa Citizen.

John Robson, Canadian writer, professor and columnist does a very nice job of illustrating the utter uselessness in the notion of pursuing any form of  ‘dialogue’ with radical Islam.

They mean what they say

By John Robson, The Ottawa Citizen, September 18, 2009

A lot of bloodthirsty maniacs out there want to blow us up. What are we meant to do about people who don’t take it seriously?

On Monday, the Israeli Embassy invited me to meet Dr. Jonathan Fine of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism in Herzliya. Claiming some knowledge of the terrorist threat, I asked him to skip the basic briefing and instead tell me how to move the discussion forward.

He said start with ideas. Talk about who our enemies are and what they want. Too often, he added, even counter-terror experts immediately turn to the adversary’s strategy and tactics. These things matter, he said, but first things first: Tell me your adversary’s image of you, and I’ll tell you his strategy and tactics.

I was immediately sympathetic.

A great paradox of the modern world is that most intellectuals do not think ideas matter. During the Cold War, the chattering classes didn’t take Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism seriously; in the 1930s they dismissed Nazi doctrine; now they brush off radical Islam. New era, old error. Continue Reading →

No eating near Ramadan fasters, Brit workers told

From The DailyMail U.K.

Don’t eat near Ramadan fasters, Home Office staff told

By Jason Lewis
Last updated at 10:00 PM on 19th September 2009

Home Office staff were officially warned not to eat in front of their fasting Muslim colleagues during Ramadan – in case it made them feel hungry.

The advice came in a taxpayer-funded internal document listing do’s and don’ts during the Muslim holy month, which ends this weekend.

But the guide is now at the centre of a row with Islamic groups who said it was more likely to incite hatred of Muslims than promote understanding.

Muslims wait to break their fast at end of holy month RamadanFasting: During the holy month, devout Muslims do not drink or eat from dawn until sunset and must avoid ‘all obscene and irreligious sights and sounds’

The Home Office Islamic Network produced the five-page information sheet which says: ‘In practical terms, please be sensitive when eating lunch near a Muslim colleague who is fasting.

This can make an individual feel hungrier and make it more challenging to observe the fast.’ Continue Reading →

Hotelier couple charged for ‘insulting’ Muslim

From The Telegraph U.K. and The Daily Mail

Christian hoteliers charged with insulting Muslim guest

A Christian couple who run a hotel have been charged with a criminal offence for allegedly insulting a female Muslim guest about her beliefs.

anti- circle cross-1

By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent
Published: 9:30PM BST 19 Sep 2009

Ben and Sharon Vogelenzang are charged with breaching Section 5 of the Public Order Act – causing harassment, alarm or distress. If convicted, they face fines of £2,500 each and a criminal record.

The Muslim woman was staying at the Bounty House Hotel in Liverpool, which is run by the Vogelenzangs, when a conversation arose between the hoteliers and their guest about her faith.

It is understood that among the topics debated was whether Jesus was a minor prophet, as Islam teaches, or whether he was the Son of God, as Christianity teaches.

Among the things Mr Vogelenzang, 53, is alleged to have said is that Mohammad was a warlord. His wife, 54, is said to have stated that Muslim dress is a form of bondage for women.

UK innkeepers Continue Reading →

‘Behind the Veil’: from Canada’s Globe and Mail- a 6 part series on the women of Afghanistan

Today Canada’s Globe and Mail introduced an in depth, six part series featuring the women of Afghanistan. Here is the first installment. Each Saturday for the next five consecutive weeks, vlad will be posting the Globe and Mail’s related mainline features, articles and interviews concluding October 24. For related videos and additional commentary and coverage, please go to the Globe and Mail”s ” Behind the Veil–An Intimate Journey Into The Lives Of Kandahar’s Women”.

——–

PART ONE

Jessica Leeder

Kandahar, Afghanistan — From Saturday’s Globe and Mail

Last updated on Saturday, Sep. 19, 2009 02:32PM ED

——–

“My dreams are gone.”

“It is already too late for me.”

“My life has been destroyed.”

At first, the words pouring from the mouth of the girl with jewel eyes hemmed in kohl sound like a typical teenage lament.

Her tone is plain and without melodrama – she believes what she says. And there are plenty of reasons she should.

In the span of about one year, the 15-year-old, named Sitara, has been yanked out of school, off a path that hinted at promise, and sold by her father for 700,000 Afghanis (about $15,000) into a marriage that, already, she has “nothing left for.”

“It seems like men take women as servants, so they can be abusive towards them,” she explained in a hushed on-camera interview conducted secretly in Kandahar while her husband was at work. “It’s not just the husband, there’s also the mother-in-law, sister-in-law and brother-in-law, and they all rule over me; … whenever I do something bad, anyone who gets angry with me beats me.”

Rather than poring over textbooks, Sitara has spent most of her sophomore year willing herself to feel love for the illiterate, middle-aged Kandahari who is now her husband, learning to look after his family’s livestock and reconfiguring her singed plans for the future into a form compatible with her new life as this wife.

“And even now, I don’t want my husband,” she said. “I come from a very open-minded family, but since I’ve come to this family, I feel that my life has been destroyed.” Continue Reading →

Canadian Islamist group against the crushing of section 13; HRC

The Canadian Islamic Congress one of Canada’s preeminent Islamist groups, fears the crushing of section 13 as legislated within the nations’ Human Rights Commission(s). Why does this outfit wring their hands in such despair? Could it be that the absence of such a provision would severely curb their ability to launch potential, future law-fare complaints against those who legitimately criticize radical Islam?

It may be worth noting that the CIC’s former boss Mohammed Elmasry has since ‘retired’ from the CIC feeling no doubt a bit quirky and f—– up at his public, national smack-down as prominent, Islamist agent provacateur. In believing ‘Canada deserves better media coverage’ than that by which ‘the Zionist controlled media’ could offer, he has since launched the Canadian Charger this past July; (tip: leg, thigh, butt and hip weighters required to muck about in the Pond of CC bullocks). Wahida Valiante now in charge of the CIC, has managed to only slightly and selectively tighten the taps on the flow of her groups’ overt, Islamist operational exercise in Canada, replacing Elmasry with a slightly friendlier, but no less menacing face.

I would be interested to know if there is anyone who could confirm any “false and inflammatory’ allegation(s) quoted from MP Ander’s distributed material found in the paragraph highlighted below. So far I can find no falsehood as 1, 2 and 3 are true. If one can do so, I will gladly buy a pulled pork sandwich and a pint on your behalf, in support of The International Free Press Society.

——

CIC latest media communique, Sept. 17, 2009.

Canadian Islamic Congress Cautions Against Legalizing Hate Speech In Canada

ALL CANADIANS COULD BE ENDANGERED BY CONSERVATIVE MOVES TO WEAKEN HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTIONS, CIC WARNS

The Canadian Islamic Congress issued a warning today about the disturbing use of discriminatory language and misleading statements in campaign pamphlets by Calgary MP Rob Anders.

The pamphlets, issued to Calgary West constituents, relate to the anti-hate powers of the Federal Human Rights Commission. The CIC finds this material to be inflammatory and factually misleading.

“When any politician targets a minority group with disinformation or misleading statements in order to score points with a perceived majority electorate, this needs to be challenged by all Canadians, not only the targeted groups,” said CIC National President Mrs. Wahida Valiante.

Mr. Anders’ pamphlets, which urge constituents to support his efforts to delete the anti-hate protections enshrined in the Canadian Human Rights Act, “cross the line of fair comment to unfairly target Canadian Muslims with inflammatory and factually false material,” continued Mrs. Valiante.

“MP Anders’ distortion of the anti-discrimination work undertaken by human rights commissions in this country highlights the efforts of some Conservative MPs to undermine institutions that protect equality rights and multiculturalism in Canada.”

The false and inflammatory allegations (quoted from MP Anders’ distributed materials) include:

1. “Under section 13 of the so-called “Human Rights” code, Canadians have been prosecuted for holding personal beliefs which offend radical Muslim Imams…” 2. Did you know … it is now illegal to hold opinions that offend radical Muslim activists.” 3. Did you know … In 2007, best selling Canadian author, Mark Steyn, was hauled before the Human Rights Commission. His crime — writing about the dangers of radical Islam. Muslim activists took offence with Mr. Steyn’s writing and lodged ‘human rights’ complaints against him.”

In response to the above excerpts, and similar sentiments voiced by Mr. Anders and his supporters, CIC National Executive Director Imam Dr. Zijad Delic continued:

“In Canada it is not illegal to publish controversial opinions or materials which are subjectively offensive. What the Canadian Human Rights Act prohibits is the publication of material that is hateful,” he explained.

Dr. Delic also emphasized that MP Anders’ singling out of complaints filed only by Muslim Canadians — in a context where all minorities have availed themselves of the same anti-hate protections — raises troubling questions about the Conservatives’ views on which Canadians deserve legal protection … and which, by inference, do not.

“The Harper government’s treatment of Mr. Abousfian Abdelraziq and Ms. Suaad Hagi Mohamud, to mention only two recent examples, has already raised concerns about two-tier citizenship,” Dr. Delic noted. “Now it seems some Conservative MPs also believe that not all communities are entitled to file human rights complaints.”

“With an election on the horizon, all Canadians must be extremely mindful of Conservative attempts to undermine equality rights in Canada and to erode the concept of official multiculturalism that made Canada what it is today,” Mrs. Valiante concluded.