End of Issue #20 |

Any Questions?
Editorial and Rants
Democrats suppressing freedom of speech... I'm sure Eric Corley will be all over this!
Democrats Defeat Election-Law Aid for Bloggers
November 2, 2005 - From: news.com.com
By Declan McCullagh
Democrats on Wednesday managed to defeat a bill aimed at amending U.S. election laws to immunize bloggers from hundreds of pages of federal regulations.
In an acrimonious debate that broke largely along party lines, more than three-quarters of congressional Democrats voted to oppose the reform bill, which had enjoyed wide support from online activists and Web commentators worried about having to comply with a tangled skein of rules.
The vote tally in the House of Representatives, 225 to 182, was not enough to send the Online Freedom of Speech Act to the Senate. Under the rules that House leaders adopted to accelerate the process, a two-thirds supermajority was required.
"I'm horribly disappointed that this important measure failed to pass," said Rep. Mark Kennedy, R-Minn. "This bill was designed to protect the free-speech rights of Americans whose only alleged crime is wanting to use the Internet to express their opinions."
The Federal Election Commission is under court order to finalize rules extending a controversial 2002 campaign finance law to the Internet. Unless Congress acts, the final regulations are expected to be announced by the end of the year. (They could cover everything from regulating hyperlinks to politicians' Web sites to forcing disclosure of affiliations with campaigns.)
Opponents of the reform plan mounted a last-minute effort to derail the bill before the vote on Wednesday evening. Liberal advocacy groups circulated letters warning the measure was too broad and would invite "corrupt" activities online, and The New York Times wrote in an editorial this week that "the Internet would become a free-fire zone without any limits on spending."
Rep. Marty Meehan, a Massachusetts Democrat who opposed the bill, said during the floor debate: "We don't allow child pornography on the Internet. We don't exempt it from consumer safety laws... We don't because we think those laws are important." Campaign finance regulations should be extended as well, he said.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a Texas Democrat, said that if the bill were approved, the public would have "no idea whether Internet campaign ads are being financed by secret soft money." Soft money is a general term referring to funds not regulated by election laws.
The House reform proposal, only one page long, simply says that the portion of federal election law that deals with publications aimed at the general public "shall not include communications over the Internet." It may eventually receive another vote under a slower, normal procedure that requires only a majority.
Not every Democrat opposed the campaign finance reform proposal. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat whose district includes part of Silicon Valley, said her colleagues should not believe the editorials in The New York Times and Washington Post. "What the bill does is a lot more modest than what the rhetoric would have us believe," Lofgren said. "All of the hoo-rah-rah...is incorrect."
Are Canadians the most arrogant and incompetent people on this planet? Thankfully, a U.S. soldier will now catch him.
November 3, 2005 - From: www.alertnet.org
Al Qaeda Suspect Left Canada Voluntarily
By Randall Palmer
OTTAWA, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Canadian authorities have broken up what they considered to be a terrorist cell but let the al-Qaeda-trained ringleader go free and leave Canada voluntarily, a government spokeswoman said on Thursday.
The Toronto-area group consisted of four Algerian refugee claimants alleged to be members of the Islamist militant Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GPSC), which Canada has listed as a terrorist entity.
The central figure had studied bomb-making at two al Qaeda camps run by Osama bin Laden in eastern Afghanistan and had been an al Qaeda training camp instructor, said Barbara Campion, spokeswoman for the counter-terrorism agency Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).
Investigators confronted him and he left shortly afterward, in March 2004, she said, confirming details published in Thursday's National Post newspaper.
"It was deemed that a confrontation interview was the best way to go," Campion said.
The other three members were later arrested and deported to the United States, because they had entered from a U.S. border crossing. None of the four were named.
It was not immediately clear why the alleged bomb expert had not been arrested. But Canada's laws -- even after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States -- do not make it a crime to be a member of a terrorist group.
Canadian law is tied more to action than membership. The authorities would have to prove someone participated in an activity of a terrorist group.
However, it does criminalize entering or remaining in a country "for the benefit of, at the direction of or in association with a terrorist group."
Canadian law requires stronger evidence to convict a person of a crime, so it is conceivable that the authorities were unwilling to risk a defeat at trial and opted instead to get them out of Canada.
The office of the Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan would not comment on the specific case. "The agencies will do what's appropriate on a case-by-case basis," spokesman Alex Swann said.
Don't expect the "Freedom Downtime" crew to cover this!
Three Indonesian Girls Beheaded
October 29, 2005 - From: news.bbc.co.uk
By Tim Johnston
Three girls have been beheaded and another badly injured as they walked to a Christian school in Indonesia.
They were walking through a cocoa plantation near the city of Poso in central Sulawesi province when they were attacked.
This is an area that has a long history of religious violence between Muslims and Christians.
A government-brokered truce has only partially succeeded in reducing the number of incidents in recent years.
Police say the heads were found some distance from the bodies.
It is unclear what was behind the attack, but the girls attended a private Christian school and one of the heads was left outside a church leading to speculation that it might have had a religious motive.
Central Sulawesi and Poso in particular was the scene of bitter fighting between Muslims and Christians in 2001 and 2002.
More than 1,000 people were killed before a government-brokered truce.
Although the violence has been subdued, it has never gone away completely.
A bomb in May in the nearby town of Tentena, which is predominantly Christian, killed 22 people and injured over 30.
The fighting four years ago drew Islamic militants from all over Indonesia and many have never gone home.
Analysts say the militants have targeted central Sulawesi and believe that it could be turned into the foundation stone of an Islamic state.
The analysts have warned that the violence could resurface at any time.
LOL! But Eric Corley told me white people cause all the problems in the world!
Zimbabwe Confesses to Farm Seizure Mistakes
November 3, 2005 - From: www.smh.com.au
By Peta Thornycroft
Zimbabwe's bankrupt government has finally admitted it had run out of food because land seized from whites was given to amateurs with no "passion for farming".
As the country faces its worst agricultural season in its post-colonial history, a newcomer to the cabinet spelled out the scale of the catastrophe more plainly than any of his colleagues.
Sylvester Nguni, the deputy minister of agriculture and a former businessmen, blamed falling food production on President Robert Mugabe's "new" farmers.
"We have a few people that are really committed to production, while many others are doing nothing on the farms," he told the state-controlled Herald newspaper. "The problem is we gave land to people lacking the passion for farming and this is why every year production has been declining."
About 4000 white farmers were violently evicted from their land after a new party, the Movement for Democratic Change, came within a whisker of defeating Mr Mugabe in the 2000 election.
He accused the whites of supporting and funding the MDC and claimed the property seizures were fair because whites took the best land during the colonial era. He also blamed drought for massive reductions in agriculture over six years.
But the state Meteorological Office said the last serious drought was in 1992 when Zimbabwe still fed itself.
Zimbabwe now imports up to 80 per cent of its cereals, including wheat and the staple food, maize. Its export crops have all but disappeared, leading to a chronic shortage of foreign currency for fuel and other imports.
Bright Matonga, the deputy information minister, last week evicted one of the few surviving white farmers, Tom Beattie, from a citrus farm south west of Harare. He also has a flower farm, which he seized in 2003 and before which produced 10 million blooms for export. He and his wife, Anne, a Briton, produce neither flowers nor food.
Doug Taylor-Freeme, the president of the Commercial Farmers' Union, said: "It is refreshing to note that someone in government has finally seen the reality."
Agricultural experts say Mr Mugabe seized 9 million hectares and gave it to cronies, including judges, army officers and civil servants who use less than 10 per cent of it.
The United Nations has pressed the Government over its refusal to give aid to thousands of people made homeless after the controversial demolition of thousands of shacks and illegally built houses.
Don't expect Muslims to respect the traditions of anyone else!
Police Told to Respect Traditions
October 25, 2005 - From: www.heraldsun.news.com.au
By Liam Houlihan
POLICE are being advised to treat Muslim domestic violence cases differently out of respect for Islamic traditions and habits. Officers are also being urged to work with Muslim leaders, who will try to keep the families together.
Women's groups are concerned the politically correct policing could give comfort to wife bashers and keep their victims in a cycle of violence.
The instructions come in a religious diversity handbook given to Victorian police officers that also recommends special treatment for suspects of Aboriginal, Hindu and Buddhist background.
Some police officers have claimed the directives hinder enforcing the law equally.
Police are told: "In incidents such as domestic violence, police need to have an understanding of the traditions, ways of life and habits of Muslims."
They are told it would be appreciated in cases of domestic violence if police consult the local Muslim religious leader who will work against "fragmenting the family unit".
Islamic Women's Welfare Council head Joumanah El Matrah called the guidelines appalling and dangerous.
"The implication is one needs to be more tolerant of violence against Muslim women but they should be entitled to the same protection," Ms El Matrah said.
"Police should not be advising other officers to follow those sorts of protocols.
"It can only lead to harm."
Ms El Matrah said Muslim leaders should be brought into domestic violence investigations only if requested by the abused woman.
The guide also advises officers not to hold interviews with Aboriginal suspects or set court hearings during Aboriginal ceremonies involving "initiation, birth, death, burials, mourning periods, women's meetings and cultural ceremonies in general".
They are told to interview Baha'i suspects only after sunset in the fasting month.
And they are cautioned that when a Sikh is reading the Sikh Holy Script -- a process that normally takes 50 hours -- "he should not be disturbed".
The 50,000 handbooks instruct police to take shoes off before entering Buddhist and Hindu houses and mosques, and remove hats before entering or searching churches.
They are warned that taking photos or samples from Aboriginal suspects could raise fears they could be used for sorcery and spiritual mischief.
Australasian Police Multicultural Advisory Bureau head Gerard Daniells, who created the 82-page full-colour handbook, said common sense would prevail over the guide in an emergency.
Mr Daniells said the next edition would include Maori spiritual beliefs and practices.
The glossy guides would have cost at least $300,000 to produce, a printing industry expert said.
Police Association secretary Paul Mullet said members had an appreciation of different cultures but their overriding concern was for safety of the community.
You almost feel sorry for them... Not!
France is Not a Western Country Anymore
March 31, 2003 - From: www.frontpagemag.com
By Guy Milliere
French-bashing is everywhere in the American media. I am French, and I must say if Americans knew completely what's happening in France, the French-bashing would be far harsher.
Jacques Chirac has been a friend of Saddam Hussein for more than thirty years. He allowed the sale of nuclear facilities to Iraq that were destroyed just in time by Israel. He sold Iraq the planes that were been used to gas thousands of Kurds. And Saddam is not the only friend Chirac has. Chirac has never met a ruthless dictator he did not like. Worse, Chirac is unprincipled and greedy. It is common knowledge in France that he stole a lot of money when he was the mayor of Paris, and everyone knows that if he had not been re-elected in May 2002, he would be in jail now. To hear him speaking about morality or international law nauseates every decent Frenchman.
And Chirac is not the only politician of this stripe in France. These days, it is becoming hard to find a French politician ready to speak about human rights, freedom or democracy. All of them seem to have the same speechwriter or to belong to the same totalitarian political party; all of them are anti-American, anti-Israeli and "pacifists." They regard Western civilization as something filthy and abhorrent.
If you read the newspapers, it's the same. At times it seems the only difference between the Soviet Union twenty years ago and France today is that in Soviet Union you had only one Pravda, and in France you now have at least ten such propaganda outlets: Different titles, same content. Their party line is clear in reporting on the personalities found in the present Middle Eastern crisis. Saddam Hussein, the "President of Iraq"? Well, maybe he has been brutal, but you know, in "those" countries... George W. Bush? He's a "moron" - a former alcoholic, who has become a crazy fanatic, in fact the most dangerous man on the face of earth. Ariel Sharon? A fascist who loves to kill Arabs. Arafat? A great freedom fighter. When an American general speaks, it is merely propaganda, but when Tariq Aziz pontificates, it is pure truth. Almost everyday you hear anti-Semitic remarks, to boot.
The anti-Semitism has created a threat to the physical safety for French Jews. Almost every week, some Jews get mugged, simply for being Jews. Almost nobody pays attention to it. When an anti-Semitic act is so disgusting it is impossible to hide it, journalists will speak of "confrontation between communities." When confronted with the reality that these "confrontations" are always Muslims attacking Jews, the editorial response: "Just because there has yet to be a single documented case of a Jew attacking a Muslim yet doesn't mean it will never happen. . . ."
And Jews are not the only victims of France's new identification with radical Islam. In many French cities with a growing radical Islamist population, no teenage girl can go out in the evening, at least not without a full burqa. If she does, it will mean that "she is for everybody": in short, a whore. In the same cities, every teenage girl - regardless of religion - has to wear the Muslim veil if she does not want to be harassed or killed. Almost every month, a young woman is mugged and rape in a suburb of a big city. Gang rape has become so frequent that a new word, used by the rapists themselves to define their hideous actions, is used by everybody: tournantes (revolving). To the rapists, the woman is nothing, a mere object to be thrown away after use. The people who speak about "revolving" seem to forget a human being is involved as the victim. Policemen do nothing. Every decent person knows the problem is Islam, but no one dares to say it. It could be dangerous. The streets are not safe.
One year ago, a French Muslim decided to create a new business: he was tired of seeing people drinking Coca-Cola - all this money going to Americans! He found a factory and started to produce Mecca Cola. On the label, he put a picture of the Al Aqsa mosque, with a large part of his profits would help to support the Palestinian cause. In some suburbs of Paris, Coca-Cola has disappeared; Mecca Cola has replaced it. A few days ago, another Muslim businessman announced he will start to sell Muslim-Up. It will have the taste of Sprite or Seven-Up, but it will be a Muslim drink - and naturally the profits will go to the Palestinian jihad, as well.
Three radio stations in France are Muslim radio stations, and if you listen to them, dedicated to broadcasting the voice of hate and racism all day long. One radio station belongs to a friend of the rightist Jean-Marie Le Pen, and curiously, if you listen to it, you will hear the same voice of hate and racism. Rightists and radical Muslims have discovered they have many things in common.
If you want to understand why all this is happening, you have to understand one thing: thirty years ago, French governments started to have a new foreign policy. They called this new policy, "Arabian Policy." France became closer to Arab countries - all of them disgusting dictatorships. France "benefited" by doing business easily in these countries. In exchange, France had to push Europe to unknot its ties with Israel and the United States. In exchange too, "professors" came from the Arabian dictatorships to teach the Arabic language to the young Arabs living in France. The only book they used to teach the Arabic language was THE book, Al Kuran.
Now comes the time to pay the check: six million Muslims live in France, at least ten per cent of them are radical Islamists poised on the edge of violence. And these radical Muslims have allies on both the extreme Left and the extreme Right. France is not a Western country anymore, it is now the leader of the Arab/Muslim world. Israel has to know France is its main enemy. The United States has to understand they have nothing to expect from today's France except nastiness, treason, and cheating.