Musings of Babalas

No Fly List

Today is the day that the Canadian No Fly List goes into use. The government says that it is there to protect us. I have some questions for the government in respect to that.

1. If the people on No Fly List are 'threats' as the government likes to say and the government knows who they are - they have a list with their names on it - then why does the government not put these people in custody and charge them with a crime?

2. Do they only become threats when they try to travel?

3. If they detain a person wrongly, will there be any sort of compensation for these people?

These are just a few questions I have. More will likely come into my head.

The Canadian Government and Omar Khadr

Below is a letter that I have written to our Prime Minister. I don't think that I will get a response but hey - what the heck. It is just my way of ranting and getting it out of my system.

Mr. Harper

I would like to get a response from you - the prime minister of Canada - as to what is being done to free Canadian citizen Omar Khadr from his detention at Guantanamo Bay now that the US has thrown out his case. Prior to this, nothing has been done and I would like to get an explanation from the prime minister as to why exactly nothing has been done. He is a Canadian citizen who is being held illegally by the US administration. How can this be tolerated by our government? Are we not a sovereign country which abides by the rule of law and stands up for our citizens when an injustice is done to them? Apparently being in George Bush's good book is worth  much more to our prime minister then the civil liberties of a brown, Muslim Canadian citizen. If the prime minister can explain to me what exactly the Canadian government has done on Omar Khadr's behalf since his detainment 5 years ago then I would be happy to listen. But for myself and an increasing number of moderate Muslims, it seems that the Canadian government will not protect it's citizens rights if they are non-white. There are many examples of this - Maher Arar being the most noticeable. I would like the prime minister to prove me wrong. I don't expect to hear back from the prime minister as he has nothing to back up any assertions that the most that could be done, has been done, in the case of Omar Khadr. If that were truly the case, then Omar Khadr would have been back here in Canada when he was still a child and not still in custody as an adult. This not only speaks volumes to the Canadian governments attitudes to the rights of Canadian citizens of colour  but also gives an insight into the utter disregard of our government when it comes to the rights of a child which should be sacrosanct not only as Canadians but as citizens of the world. It is with a heavy heart that I write this letter. As I grew up in this country, I always thought that it was the greatest country in the world where people of all colours and nationalities could come together peacefully  and forget about any nationalistic  disagreements that may have been in effect in our original countries. With the indefinite detainment of numerous Muslims without cause since 9/11, I am beginning to have second thoughts about Canada being the greatest country in the world. I am very disappointed in our so-called leaders who continually bow down to the US without any regard for the rights of Canada as a sovereign country. I am waiting for a real leader to take our country out of the darkness that surrounds us after having followed the US into the abyss for far too long. Where are you?

Chirvan Edross

UN Charter

Does the UN Charter mean anything?

How many rules of the UN Charter would a country have to break in order to get kicked out?

Why have rules if there are no consequences for disobeying those rules?

Just some random questions drifing through my head....

Terrorism

What is a terrorist?  I know this has been discussed many times before, but I would like some feedback to see if my line of thinking is in sync with other people.

If a country is occupied by a foreign countries soldiers, and the native people of that land want them out, and use any means at their disposal to fight these foreign occupiers - are they terrorists?

Here is the definition of terrorism from the American Heritage Dictionary:

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source

ter·ror·ism       (těr'ə-rĭz'əm)  Pronunciation Key  n.  The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons. Why is the definition above always applied to the native people who are occupied and not to the occupiers?  As far as the definition goes, to me, it applies more to the occupiers then to the native people who are occupied. Why are members of the Taliban in Afghanistan called terrorists?  All media - even here is Canada calls them a terrorist organization but yet give no details as to what they have done to deserve this label. A country - the U.S - invaded their country to set up a puppet government and they are fighting the occupiers of their land? How does that make them terrorists? Someone please enlighten me.

Accident or Intentional

I live in the greater Toronto area, and the Toronto Star is my newspaper of choice. I especially like the articles written by Haroon Siddiqui who I admire greatly.  I was on the Common Dreams website yesterday and noticed that one of his articles was posted there on Sunday. Went I went to read the story again today, from it's original source, which was the Toronto Star, it was conveniently missing from Haroon Siddiqui's list of recent articles. The subject of the article, is one which is sadly overlooked by most of the main stream media, so I am wondering if the Toronto Star has bowed to some external pressure by removing any  trace of the article in question? Some of the things that make you go mmmm...

Update:
I have sent an email to Haroon Siddiqui regarding the missing article and he has assured me that it is being fixed.

Update:

It is now a day later and although being assured by Haroon Siddiqui that it would be fixed, the links to the missing article are still not corrected.  One other thing which is interesting, I can understand one mistake regarding this article, but there is actually another area which links to Haroon Siddiqui's latest articles and the mysterious article is also missing from there.  Could I be reading too much into this?

New Liberal Leader

So the Liberal party has finally decided on a leader. I am glad that they chose Stephan Dion as their leader instead of the apparent front runners Michael Ignatieff and Bob Rae.  Michael Ignatieff  has not been a resident in this country  in over 30 years so this was an absolute horrible choice as leader. Having been out of the country for so long, how could he possibly hope to know the wants and needs of the average Canadian. His pro Iraq war and pro torture sentiments are completely out of touch with the majority of Canadians mindset. Bob Rae was also a terrible choice to lead as he cannot ever hope to shake the monkey of his back. That monkey being his disastrous stint as Premier of Ontario as head of the New Democratic Party. I have renewed faith in the Liberal party after having elected a life long Liberal as their leader. Now forward to the elections, although I think that we will still get a minority government. But a Liberal minority is still much better then the Conservative minority we have now.

Palestinian/Israeli Conflict - Question to ponder

Why is it that Israel,with reputedly the fourth strongest army in the world and equipped with the latest in military hardware is so scared of homemade Palestinian rockets. Saying these rockets are crude is an understatement and yet they are blamed for all Israeli attacks on Palestinians - even though they rarely  inflict casualties. Am I the only one who sees through this ancient Israeli - we are the victims - charade?

Our Prime Minister has unequivocably stated his stand that Israel has a right to defend itself but what about the Palestinians right to defend themselves? I have never heard anyone in the Canadian media question him on that. Why not? And what is his stand on that issue?

Opinion of Canada's role in Afghanistan conflict

I would like to hear from people in regards to their views of Canada's role in the current Afghanistan conflict. I myself believe that we should not be there. My view does not come from the recent increase in Canadian casualities. I have always thought that Canada should not get involved in America's conflicts.

Where are the real Liberal leaders?

What I would like to know is this - where are real leaders in the Liberal party? The leadership contenders that they currently have don't seem to me to be very - how do I say it - leader like. I may be  waiting for a while but I keep expecting Justin Trudeau to come out  and save the Liberal pary. As far as I can see he is the only one who can save the Liberal pary.