Something Worth Fighting For from Celestial Junk
Without security, humanitarian work in Afghanistan is impossible. Without democracy, even the crude Afghan kind, freedom is just a dream. Without our troops taking the fight aggressively to the Taliban, Afghanistan will fail. [Read More]

Tracked on April 22, 2006 10:27 PM

SUNDAY LINKS from Michelle Malkin
For all your latest Mary McCarthy updates, hit Flopping Aces, AJ Strata, The Belmont Club, Tom Maguire, Rick Moran, Riehl World View, and Ace. Ace points to an AP story on McCarthy getting fired...with a photograph of Lewis Libby: Crikey.... [Read More]

Tracked on April 23, 2006 9:06 AM

WOW. Excellent post. Thanks for the insight.

This is a very informative and inspiring post.

Thank you Kate.

I want to say thank you for your service and I pray for Gods blessings for all Canadian soldiers.

Also, the part about these soldiers following the old "Evil Empire" around puts my back up.

Nice photos. Looks a bit like Oman.
I'm always amazed at the flocks of kids being raised in such desolate countryside.

Good luck and thanks, guys.

"A kid who was around 12 years old looked like he was back-talking one of the elders..... the old guy .... grabbed the kid and gave him a couple of smacks to the head. ... the old guy just grabbed a couple of rocks and chucked them at him as he was running away."

Do you think that this old guy would be willing to adopt BCL?

The post is clearly reflective of a crusader nation with neo imperialist ambitions along with being a zionist lackey and haliburton puppet....

.........Not......

Makes me proud to read.

Four more dead kids today, people, in an apparently safe area North of Kandahar. You might take a moment from flag-waving to contact your nearest Tory MP and ask again the terms and duration of the mission: how long will we be here? what will "victory" look like? And so on. You know the drill. Remember, you claim to be Canadians, so think, don't just wave the flag.

BCL
You are an idiot beyond parallel.
We already had that debate in parliament, remember?
And how many showed up again?

Wonderful post.

Worthy of what we can find at CENTCOM's site.

Wish the MSM would have the fairness and honesty to report on the good things that come from the Coalition being in Afghanistan and elsewhere. The people have a right to know the positive as well as the not-positive, but are largely being deprived of this right by the ignorant MSM.

Also I wish that the Free World understood that these children in the pictures may be the lucky ones, for it's a fact that there are many evil Muslim clerics who actually program people from birth to know nothing but the Koran in its unsanitized form and the twisted, hateful, murderous, imperialistic interpretations forced upon them by their slavemasters. It is these many, absolutely powerful, evil clerics from which jihadism sprouts.

And we the Free World are currently doing what we can to rid the Middle East of these evil clerics, one by one, and their minions. In Afghanistan it's the Taliban. There's much more work to be done.

If Islam doesn't modernize and adapt to today's progressively free and democratic world, then they'll end up attacking the Free World and consequently finding themselves getting what Imperial Japan got due to Pearl Harbor. And the United States successfully transformed Japan into the thriving, economically powerful, democratic, lawful and human-rights-respecting nation it today remains. Something the left doesn't want to acknowledge. I would recommend that any Islamic nation that dares to use WMDs against the Free World be treated as was Japan.

Same goes for China and North Korea. If they attack the Free World, then we must forcibly democratize them. It's better than the Free World being forcibly Islamified or communified.

Big city lib,

Always good to ask questions so before anyone answers yours why dont you answer the following

1) Should the afghani people be left to fend for themsleves and be forced to "retalibanize"
2) Should Canada not fulfill a Nato and other alliance obligations to assist an ally who was attacked ultimately from afghanistan
3)Define failure, as opposed to demanding a definition of "victory" by the way what did "victory" in all of the peacekeeping missions look like (siani, cyprus, bosnia, etc etc etc)
4)Should armies always avoid casualites? is a casuality a sign of failure?
5) should our army ever be deployed outside our borders?

Answer those questions and then perhaps it might be worth having a discussion with you.

As for unthinking flag waving....can you not admire the work of these people, clearly they are acquitting themselves well on a mission that they have been ordered to do. I may not particulalry think curling is an appropriate Olympic sport but I can be proud when the Canadian team does it well and wins a gold medal. So one doesnt have to agree with the ultimate mission wholly to appreciate a job being well done, especially by those with maple leaf's on their arms.

I'm a Canadian, and very proud of it...now that the socialist horde of thieves has been turfed out. We Canadians can think quite a bit more profoundly than the self-centered, shallow libs and recognize that freedom does NOT mean appeasement or yielding to the terrorist cause.

Libs received votes from terrorists such as the Tamil Tigers of Eelam & Hamas, attended their functions, and gave them Canadian taxpayer dollars to pursue spreading terrorism, allowed known terrorists to enter & settle in Canada, and generally did everything but formally espouse terrorism as liberal policy. Thank God we had the sense to wake up, and elect a good man as PM, one who almost immediately cut off funding for Hamas & the Tamils.

You see, bigcitylib, we conservatives wouldn't sell our principles for votes. And we actually have principles, unlike most libs such as yourself. So give your head a shake, or better yet, go pound it against the nearest brick wall, like you've been doing since Jan 23rd.

bcl- You have an interesting perspective.

Your view of the world is that people who need help, should not be helped. What if you needed help?

Your view of the world is that if people are being run over by criminal gangs and mobs, then, no-one should come to their aid and get rid of those criminals. What if you needed help?

Stephen- what's your point? Are you, as usual, trying to define Canada only by setting up a fallacious image of the US, and then, defining Canada as Not-That-Fallacious-Image?
The US is not a neo-imperialist, zionist driven, blah blah.
And, one can find stories such as told by these Canadian soldiers, on US soldiers' blogs too.

The point is - these people need help. If one is like bcl, you refuse to help. I'm not sure why, but - you refuse.
The problem is - when people stand by, and watch other people being enslaved - as the world also watched in Rwanda, in Darfur, in the Third Reich - how does that help the world? I wonder if bcl can answer that.

Excellent post! Facinating and touching.

BCL, remember, guys like the soldiers in the post died by the millions in WWII for your freedom to talk out of your ass. I'd be a bit more grateful...

Well, more to the point, Lee, BCL's calling them "kids" infantilizes everyone who's joined the Canadian Forces, regardless of reason, and is disingenuous and manipulative to boot.  Everyone's somebody's "kid," but in reality, these are all self-aware adults who made conscious and informed decisions to join a Force that could put them in harm's way.  Labeling them as children dishonours those decisions, and the people who made them.

I get really tired of this old "our children are dying!" mantra from the naysayers.  Reminds me of the semi-hysterical refrain of the pastor's wife on "The Simpson's": "Will somebody please think of the children!?!"

Oh, and on a tangential point: what would failure look like?  (To me, it would look like the cities formerly known as Toronto or Montreal just after some madrassah-"educated" nitwit walks his backpack nuke into the centre of said cities, screams "Allahu Akhbar!" and presses a button.)

I must say that the left is very myopic in its view if it only focuses on Coalition casualities. After all, more Canadians have been gunned down in Toronto in the last number of months than have Canadians in Afghanistan since they first went there. Within the Free World, many, many people are murdered by scumbags who leftist judges let go to acquire more weapons on the black market and go shoot more innocent people on the streets of urban, suburban and in rural Canada. So Canada needn't listen to any myopic, narrow-worldview big city so-called "liberals" who are the cause of the nation's problems. And who would allow the problems in the Nonfree World to reach such a saturation point that the Free World would be attacked... likely with nuclear weapons.

Those who valorously and honorably gave their lives so as to defend freedom, democracy, the rule of law, human rights and country as well as innocents abroad deserve to be honored to the maximum. And this is what I will always do.

Hey Stephen, you've must not know much about curling, at least in olympic curling there's more than three teams that are going to win a medal, unlike womens hockey. They shuold be asking themselves if the rest of the world is ready for womens hockey yet, besides Canada, USA, and Swedens goalie. The rest of your post was awesome. BCL you're like a bad case of Herpes.

Stephen,

As to 1), we have merely replaced the Taliban with the warlords they replaced, and added a puppet head of state on the earlier Soviet model. When we do leave that puppet government will fall and the Afghans will have to sort things out for themselves.

2) Our NATO obligations have an expiry date (sometime next year) when they can be renewed or discharged. If Harper allows a vote on this in parliament next year, I will probably tell my MP to vote for leaving. Frankly, the States have bungled too many wars lately, and we are not obliged to clean up this one for them.

3) Failure in Afghanistan is what we are doing now, slowly. Victory would involve decisively quelling the insurgency, but that would involve moving into Pakistan, and that will not happen.

As to "admiring their work", that doesn't do them any good does it? Might make you feel better. ALl the flagwaving, all the apple pie baking, all the prayers in the world...you might as well fart in the general direction of Afghanistan for all the good it does. You want to set up some kind of private fund to help them buy body armor, fine. The rest is bullshit.

So, do you start answering questions now, or is that permanently up to me?

bcl:

1. The LIBERALS sent our troops to Afghanistan, so we should be asking our LIBERAL MP's. True, the Tories are keeping them there, but that is what responsibility is all about...we were asked to help, we agreed and we're gonna stick it out until someone else is ready to take over. Responsibility is NOT running away from your post when you get a bloody nose (not to demean the sacrifice of our gallant soldiers by the "bloody nose" analogy). Were you the type of kid who taunted and then hid behind mommy's apron when someone stood up to you?

2. You cried for a debate in parliament (despite the fact that the time for debate was long over) and you got one...but your cowardly, irresponsible and selfish "side" lost the debate. Deal with it.

3. Part of the Canadian identity is bravery in conflict (from our gallant efforts in WW1 and WW2)...so instead of suggesting that WE may not be true Canadians, I suggest that it may in fact be YOU who is not the true "Canadian".

YOU are the type of person that makes "most Canadians" ashamed. Shame on you, coward. God bless our troops!

Inner City Metrosexual said: "Four more dead kids today..."

Kids? Girlfriend, members of our armed forces and their families find calling our brave men and women "kids" or "boys" insulting. So do I. They are men and women we have serving in Jean Chretien's war. Canada does not send children to war, contrary to your sicko fantasies. Can't really blame you for being ignorant of that, though; I'll bet you don't even know anyone in the military, do you? But you know many, many homosexuals, right?

In other news, holy crap:

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran’s envoy to the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said Saturday the Islamic republic had reached a “basic deal” with the Kremlin to form a joint uranium enrichment venture on Russian territory, state-run television reported.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12435189/

And one:

As Iran faces international pressure over developing the raw material for nuclear weapons, Brazil is quietly preparing to open its own uranium enrichment center, capable of producing exactly the same fuel.

Brazil - like Iran - has signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and Brazil's constitution bans the military use of nuclear energy.

Also like Iran, Brazil has cloaked key aspects of its nuclear technology in secrecy while insisting the program is for peaceful purposes.

While Brazil is more cooperative than Iran on international inspections, some worry its new enrichment capability - which eventually will create more fuel than is needed for its two nuclear plants - suggests that South America's biggest nation may be rethinking its commitment to nonproliferation.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/world/story/0B8D4922BF5954F586257157000D2FA6?OpenDocument&highlight=2,%22brazil%22

The enemy within: Treason of the Intellectuals;

Islamist terrorists; and,

bigcitylib. +

Terrorists Plotted in Toronto: FBI

Two Atlanta-area men met with Islamic extremists in Toronto, where they discussed "strategic locations in the United States suitable for a terrorist strike," according to an FBI affidavit made public Friday. +

Queen's University: ' We're Too White'

Queen's University, one of Canada's most academically elite schools, admits it has allowed a "culture of whiteness" to take root that fails to welcome visible minority students and professors. +
via nealenews.com

Leftists make me infuriatingly sick to my stomach because they don't want to understand that they are free and have human rights and democracy and all because others have died to ensure that they would have these gifts.

Leftists are so stupid, arrogant, selfish, greedy and would gamble away EVERYONE'S freedom, democracy, rule of law, human rights and country.

Hey, leftists: your "rights" are actually gifts which were paid for by many altruistic souls with their lives. Don't you bloody understand that? If not, then please shut up, because rational people, like most of us here on SDA, will not pay any more attention to you.

Just understand: there are many in the Nonfree World who will definitely try someday to put an end to "rights". But you'd rather live the high, decadent, hedonistic, devil-may-care lifestyle on the belief that this is highly improbable.

Many others don't share your crazy, gambling-with-freedom philosophy. It's time you came to realize this. We don't owe you anything. It's enough that we want you to be free, able to vote, be protected by enforceable laws, and have human rights. It's not our problem that you abuse these gifts, waste them and gamble them away.

Leftists... *spit*

The underlying deceit of leftists like bigcitylib extends beyond their anonymity on blogs - it goes to their ideological core.

BCL isn't concerned about "defeat" - quite the opposite. She craves it. It is what she yearns for. Beneath all the empty electrons of protest, BCL subscribes to an ideology of self-loathing. It would be a thing to be pitied, if there wasn't such a concerted effort on her part and that of her kind to inflict it on the rest of us.

BCL said," You want to set up some kind of private fund to help them buy body armor, fine. The rest is bullshit."

Look at the pics in the post, Those men ain't wearing down vests, thats ARMOR. Combined with the kevlar helmet, they are well protected.

"we have merely replaced the Taliban with the warlords they replaced, and added a puppet head of state on the earlier Soviet model."

Wow, the soviets had democratic elections? Amazing that the rest of the WORLD didn't know that...

Kate's right. I've for some time now also held this analysis.

It's part, also, of the apparent "culture of death" of leftists. Their love of abortion, assisted suicide, near-ignorance of the gun violence in big cities, acceptance of the Intifada, apologism for jihadism and the refusal to stand up for the great gifts we enjoy which were paid for in many, many unselfish lives cannot be ignored.

Then there's the adamant atheism that actually seems to have become a religion in and of itself and their culture of self-harm, drug-induced stupidity and apathy, serial fornication in the face of AIDS and other STDs, their apparent nihilism...

It all adds up to the analysis that leftism is indubitably a mental disorder. A mass psychosis, if you will.

History is littered with great societies that fell due to their devil-may-care, hedonistic decadence and laziness and sitting-duck position with respect to their enemies...

One is reminded of the paintings from over the centuries of fat, pale people lazing away, pigging out, fornicating, while demons gather nearby, waiting for the right moment to take them...

Mary McCarthy meet bcl from Canada's Taliban.

"2001: McCarthy and Richard Clarke work on a plan to counter the Taliban in Afghanistan."

BTW, Mary do not leak on bcl! +

All about Mary McCarthy

Flopping Aces has a very large backgrounder on Mary McCarthy, the CIA operative who is being accused of passing classified information to the Washington Post. Nearly all of it is circumstantial, but startling nevertheless. Here are some snippets.

1998: Washington — National Security Advisor Samuel R. Berger announced June 16 the appointment of Mary O’Neil McCarthy as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Intelligence Programs.

2001: McCarthy joins the CSIS think tank. Three of her fellow experts are Zbigniew Brzezinski, General Wesley Clark, General Anthony Zinni

2001: McCarthy and Richard Clarke work on a plan to counter the Taliban in Afghanistan.

There's much more.

Since McCarthy had reached a fairly senior level it was only natural that she should interact with these individuals. Still, it looks like the start of a pretty interesting week. +
http://www.fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com/

The Democrat Mole in the CIA fired
http://www.floppingaces.net/?p=1551

bcl - you haven't answered any questions. In fact, you never do. You simply post illogical and ungrounded, nonfactual opinions. You expect others to accept these opinions as 'truth', and when you are asked to provide objective evidence and logical correlations - you simply remain silent.

Now:
1. The people in Afghanistan (and elsewhere) need help to free them from dictatorial and repressive regimes. You seem to reject helping them. Is this true - and why?

2. You state that all that has been accomplished is the replacement of the Taliban with the Warlords. Please provide proof of this - and an explanation why you are ignoring their constitution (2004) and their elections (2004, 2005) and their democratically elected president.
Please provide some kind of probability evidence that this regime is a 'puppet regime' (wasn't it elected by the Afghan people?) and some kind of probability proof that it will fall. What stats are you using and what is your data base?

3)The fact that you will 'tell' your MP not to renew the NATO committment is quite minor. Wouldn't it be more politically accurate to say that you will 'suggest' to your MP, rather than 'tell' him. He's not your lackey.

4)Please provide proof that 'the States'have bungled too many wars lately'. Which ones are you referring to? Wouldn't it be more accurate and honest to preface your statement with "I think that..." The problem, bcl, is that you seem to consider that YOUR OPINION is the Truth. It isn't; it's simply one small opinion, and, sadly, is most often just subjective, unsubtantiated and illogical.

5) ARe you seriously suggesting that the Taliban and Warlord situation in Afghanistan is due to the US???????????????

6)Please provide proof of our 'failure' in Afghanistan - other than your subjective opinion. Do you know the difference between a tribal political and a civic political system and how one doesn't just hop from one to the next as if going through a sliding door?

Quelling the insurgency? That will never, completely, happen.
After all, can one quell the mindlessness of the postmodernists - i.e., the big city liberals and their sophistry? No, postmodern relativism and their ignorance of the realities of different economic and political modes - will always be around. And, these types will always think that the Best Solution is a top-down socialist welfare state gov't.

So- how about answering some questions bcl. So far, you have never, ever, answered any of mine, or of others.

BCL,

Thanks, most opponents of the involvement hide behind the questions. So I will say thanks for your answers...I wouldnt say that they are the answers but they are answers, and I dont know if they were answers to the questions asked.

Lets take #1 for example

1) Should the afghani people be allowed to fend for themselves so thay can be retalibaized...your answer is we have only replaced them with warlords and a puppet...So are you saying that Karzai wasnt elected? I dont remember their being anything near a free election for naji bulla (sp?) the soviet strong man. Would Karzai survive without their being US, Canadian and other military power on the ground...no....does that make him the equivalent of a soviet installed dictator??? Missing something there.

What has happened is the Taliban have been overthrown (do you have any issue with that?) and the country IS in a power struggle. This starts to cut to what does "victory" look like.

Victory for who...Canada...I dont think canada is in there for victory, our participation is tactical toward a startegic goal. We are there for a time frame to contribute to the larger goal of Afghani stability and self reliance in a democratic form. That is the home run...Failure, well failure is retalibanization and/or afghanistan becoming a narco criminal state that becomes a home for organizations that do do harm to us and our allies.

Is Canada supposed to have 2,500 troops on the ground at all times to gain the victory or avoid failure...no....but we will likely be involved in this mission on and off till it is done, i.e. victory. Please highlight the alternative.

I believe this addresses 2) as well.

You really didnt define victory in other circumstances....what did victory look like in Bosnia....did we "win" there? Or per my last question, which you did not answer, should Canada never deploy troops abroad?

re Pakistan, are you saying we should go into Pakistan? or are you saying it is a childrens crusade because we cant do what is required therefore we shouldnt be there at all? Just looking for clarification.

So we are failing their now? Try reading stuff from Peter Bergen, an experienced observer of iraq and afghanistan. He doesnt like what is going on in Iraq but calls afghanistan a qualified success to date, still far to go.

So I think I defined Victory of the mission and our contribution to it, being a part of the mission. I agree, we may not be able to sustain our presence past our current committment. All that means is the nature of the committment changes not the our participation.

The last two questions remain unanswered...are any casulaties considered failure? And once again should we ever deploy outside our border?

I believe we were correct not to participate in the Iraq mission..quite frankly the US didnt need our help to overthrow Saddam. Afghanistan was and is a different story. They housed and provided succor to the group that attacked an ally, along with being a repressive regime. The regime got what they deserved and it would be irresponsible of Canada, the US and all those who DID participate in that war (un sanctioned etc etc etc etc) to let it slip back into what it was. For our own sake and for the sake of the Afghani people.

BCL I belive you mean well, and the issue should be clearly understood. The last government tried to keep it hidden. The current government is at least standing in full and clear support of the 2500 Canadian citizens that are in harms way.

If you choose to oppose the mission fine but state it clearly rather than relying on process questions like those you asked.

ET...read my post again, major sarcasm involved. So to be clear I am not setting this up as a sanctimonious comparison to the US. IT is more that criticizers, Mooreites, generally make the argument as I jokingly did. Of course those stories exist on the US soldiers blogs. Lots of good people involved. I hope that clarifies things.

Butcher re curling. Enjoy the game, just probably doesnt belong in the olympics....but hey while it is there, go canada go.

Canadian Sentinel - I agree with a lot, but not all of what you've said against the leftist relativism and sophistry.

But you wrote: - Then there's the adamant atheism that actually seems to have become a religion in and of itself and their culture of self-harm, drug-induced stupidity and apathy, serial fornication in the face of AIDS and other STDs, their apparent nihilism..."

I'm an atheist. All of the above is simply untrue. Atheism is NOT a religion (which is faith based). Atheism is a rejection of faith-based ideologies. And most certainly, your attempt to link atheism, which is a rejection of metaphysical causality - with 'self-harm', with 'drugs', with stupidity, with apathy, with 'serial fornication', with nihilism' - is not merely a total fabrication but is really ignorant.

I'm an atheist. Again, atheism means a rejection of metaphysical causality. I don't accept that some metaphysical force caused/causes the universe. I'm a scientist; I deal with empirical, observable facts, with hypotheses that are open to experiment and question, and with the search for physical, biological and social causality. Not meta-physical causes.

And, I most certainly don't have any of the 'attributes' which you define as indicative of atheism (drugs, serial sexuality, stupidity, apathy and so on). Sorry - but there is absolutely no way that you can define atheism as also having those values/attributes.

No offence intended, ET. I should apparently have put them into separate paragraphs.

But I meant that some atheists are so adamant about their atheism that they seem to believe that atheism is "better than" theism, almost sounding like religious fanatics themselves. I wasn't referring to yourself. I was referring to leftists who go nuts with the anti-religion thing.

As for the other stuff, I never meant to link atheism to it. At all.

I guess it's an error of writing I made there. A miscommunication that led to a misunderstanding.

Sorry I caused you to think I was doing that.

Thanks, Stephen. I didn't catch the sarcasm - my apologies. I wondered, because you other posts were so good...that I couldn't understand the point of 'that post'.

The 'answers' that bcl gave, weren't answers, just more unsubstantiated opinions. I'd be interested to see if he/she? can answer questions, or is it always and only, subjective and unsubstantiated opinions.

Canadian Sentinel & Theodore Dalrymple have it right.

The barbarians are at the gates.

The trojan horses of multiculturalism, political correctness, feminism, enviromentalism, Islamist terrorists, and their left liberal allies are within the city.

The battle for civilization is joined.

Civilization or barbarism? That is the choice.

Paganism or enlightenment? That is the choice. +

The Barbarians at the Gates of Paris
Theodore Dalrymple

Intro:

Everyone knows la douce France: the France of wonderful food and wine, beautiful landscapes, splendid châteaux and cathedrals. More tourists (60 million a year) visit France than any country in the world by far. Indeed, the Germans have a saying, not altogether reassuring for the French: “to live as God in France.” Half a million Britons have bought second homes there; many of them bore their friends back home with how they order these things better in France.

But there is another growing, and much less reassuring, side to France. I go to Paris about four times a year and thus have a sense of the evolving preoccupations of the French middle classes. A few years ago it was schools: the much vaunted French educational system was falling apart; illiteracy was rising; children were leaving school as ignorant as they entered, and much worse-behaved. For the last couple of years, though, it has been crime: l’insécurité, les violences urbaines, les incivilités. Everyone has a tale to tell, and no dinner party is complete without a horrifying story. Every crime, one senses, means a vote for Le Pen or whoever replaces him.

I first saw l’insécurité for myself about eight months ago. It was just off the Boulevard Saint-Germain, in a neighborhood where a tolerably spacious apartment would cost $1 million. Three youths—Rumanians—were attempting quite openly to break into a parking meter with large screwdrivers to steal the coins. It was four o’clock in the afternoon; the sidewalks were crowded, and ... +
http://www.city-journal.org/html/12_4_the_barbarians.html

I have not been on for awhile & i see things have not changed.
--BCL.. people like you make me sick, your nothing but a Hypocryt, your Liberal government made that decission, not the current gov't.
and as usual when they cry wolf where are they.
Did you complain about Bosnia,Cyprus, Korea....
you show no respect at all to our men & woman in uniform, you just sit in your little cozy world.
Just remember on the 11th day 11month do a favor for all veteran's, Just stay the hell at home & remember your freedom..
They do not need disrepectfull %^***#$(**$0 like you there..

.... Look at the faces, the kids are smiling, most likely the first time in years... that's what it is all about.. Freedom..

I think it's about the stuff they're getting, actually. Heh. They're kids, after all.

Still waiting for bcl to answer some questions. I've posed specific questions; so has Stephen.

Well, bcl - can you handle specifics, or are you someone who lives in a Platonic Fictional Cave and has no grasp of reality whatsoever, who lives only within his/her own self-made images and is unable to deal with reality?

I'm a big city person; and I'm a real liberal, in the classic sense of pro-individual, against big government, pro-reason, pro-objective reality and pro-personal responsibility.
So, bcl - are you real or only a shadow in a Platonic Cave? How about answering some questions.

I wouldn't hold my breath wrt BCL, ET. BCL is, after all, one of those leftists who only utters what they've been told and cannot respond to rational inquiries as have been made above.

Often, leftists demonstrate little human intelligence and just sound like a computer application responding to keywords, often providing irrelevant garbage.

I suspect that bcl is just a poser...a parrot...a contrarian. Poses for the camera, talks without substance to hear "itself" (I always assumed bcl was a he, but Kate says she), and immediately and without thought takes exactly the opposite point of view or opinion of that posed by anyone "it" doesn't like.

I suspect if a Conservative were to say "the sky is blue", bcl would retort that "most Canadians KNOW that the sky actually has no colour". Mindless contrarian drivel. So, ET, Sentinel, Stephen, et al, I suspect your wait will be a long, unfulfilled one.

Yo Kate, I guess a google search of "Canada Kandahar" turns up your blog topspot. You should be sending me money.

Since BCL is now a "she" I guess that rules out a swift kick in the nuts ever serving any purpose.
Although the wise Old Squid did have a real common sense solution a few months back.
I'd have to let Squid post that one himself cause I'm pretty sure I couldnt do it justice.

BCL, as a Canadian soldier who just lost another 4 brothers in arms, I cordially invite you out for a drink. Lets discuss politics and patriotism, and how you get to live in a great country safe and free because of the actions of other brave patriotic individuals who give their lives so sleezeball left wing moonbat liberals like you can armchair quarterback our nation policy. When was the last time (if ever) you out your sorry ass on the line for this country you piece of crap? Sorry folks, but I have had enough of this piece of shite!

BCL:

I'm not going to call you names; frankly, if one believes in free speech, which I do, then it follows that one is going to hear things that are disagreeable. But I don't agree with what you said about our presence in Afstan.

Quite apart from providing safety and security, and the mission of going after the taliban/terrorists, the mere fact that our soldiers are interracting with the afgans, especially the children, just has to be sowing some positive results. I have a friend who was a child in Holland when the Canadian troops liberated her town. It left a lasting impression on her, even though she was so young at the time. In a region filled with so much ignorance and hate, that alone has to be a postive development for the future. Another positive aspect of our mission there is the increasing number of Afgan exiles who are leaving Canada to return, at least temporarily, to Afstan.

That said, I'm glad that there were few persons in Canada with your views during WWII; had that been the case, I'm sure the world would look quite a bit different than it does today, and that would not be a good thing.

What would happen if we just igored what bcl has to say? I don't like excluding people--in fact, I've always befriended underdogs and people at the margins of any group--but methinks bcl needs to be marginalized...

If the posters at SDA stop feeding her, maybe she'll look somewhere else for food.

It is good to see photos of our soldiers going about their business in Kandahar. They must be very uncomfortable in all that gear in those temperatures. I'm very sad that four Canadian soldiers died today. "Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord; And may light perpetual shine upon them."

There is always a cost to freedom and if we are unwilling to die for anything, if there is nothing worth dying for, then what are we living for? If it's just for our own comfort and gratification, then we're going to die anyway, because when you lose your soul, when you lose any sense of being your brother's/sister's keeper, then you're engaged in a living death, whether you are aware of it or not.

I agree with posts above, that casualties do not equal failure. The equivalent of failure is to do nothing in the face of Evil, to stand by and watch those who need help fend for themselves without the resources to do so. I am very happy that Canada has opted not to do this--and I'm even happier that we now have a government in place which is principled and courageous and, along with many of us, is saying to the narcissistic, nihilistic, hedonistic lovers-of-themselves-and-that's-all: "Enough is enough."

To stand on guard for the freedom of one's own country by standing on guard for the freedoms of others is a costly enterprise. But it's one that if not engaged in, has a higher price: serfdom and Dhimmitude.

bcl -
No, you can't get out of being responsible, even if the responsibility is only to justify and corroborate what YOU, yourself, wrote.

You can't get out of responsibility by now, trying to praise yourself as having 'brought more readers/posters' to Kate's blog.

That's due to her, her selection of topics, and her writing.

You aren't responsible for bringing bloggers to Kate's blog. Your self-praise is empty - and notice, again, all you focus on is your own self-defined image.

That's like saying that we should praise the 9/11 bombers because they brought a huge audience to the TV news channels that day.

Again, be responsible for what you say. Answer the questions about what you wrote.

NKOTB: Yours is probably the best approach, however, I suspect that she (?) will just continue to get shriller and shriller demanding attention. I'm not sure we could hold back on commenting.

As the saying goes (although the sentiment is not really appropriate) "children should be seen but not heard". In a blog, seeing is equivalent to hearing...unless her(?) comments are just posted as blanks. I take it you can't do that, can you, Kate? Otherwise, banishment would be the most practical (though not most democratic) solution.

I am making a commitment to never respond to another of bcl's posts. What's the point in trying to have a conversation with someone who won't honourably enter into a debate? So, she gets shrill? Plug your ears and hold your nose.

Below, a statement from the PMO about the death of four Canadian soldiers in Kandahar:

http://www.pm.gc.ca/

April 22, 2006
Ottawa, Ontario

Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued the following statement today, upon learning four Canadian soldiers were killed when their armoured G-Wagon was struck by a roadside bomb near the Gumbad platoon house at about 7:30 a.m. Kandahar time this morning.

“This morning, I learned that four Canadian soldiers had made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan. They were Corporal Matthew Dinning, Bombardier Myles Mansell, Lieutenant William Turner and a forth soldier whose family has requested he not yet be named. All died serving their country.

“These men were working to bring security, democracy, self-sufficiency and prosperity to the Afghan people and to protect Canadians' national and collective security. We will not forget their selfless contribution to Canada.

“On behalf of all Canadians, I extend our deepest condolences to the families, friends, and co-workers of these four brave men. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.

“Canada’s mission in Afghanistan faces significant risks such as this daily. I am proud of the work that is being done there, and the men and women who put their lives on the line every day to do it.”

Quoting from the official history of the Canadian Expeditionary Force

http://www.forces.gc.ca/hr/dhh/downloads/Official_Histories/CEF_e.PDF

"Official post-war calculations of Canadian killed,wounded and missing, including casualties from gas, show a total of 18 officers and 262 other ranks for the final two days of operations."

That's right. Almost three hundred casualties in the final 48 hours of a brutal war, from a Canada that had one third of it's present day population. This is not to belittle the sacrifice of those that have fallen, in that war or in Afghanistan; it is merely to say that Canadians today need to get a little perspective when the CBC blithers about "mounting casualties".

Pond life like BigCityGlib have the nerve to make war into a partisan issue, supporting it when the Liberals commit to it, and opposing it when the Conservatives continue the EXISTING commitment. War should NEVER be a political football; it's just too serious for that. I for one am truly proud to see Canadians back on the international stage, standing up for what is right. I hope BigCityGlib and the CBC will take the time to research the Canadian led missions to Rwanda and Congo in the nineties, and consider what a totally unacceptable job the Liberals did, putting Canadian troops in harms way for the sake of optics and then wriggling through the backrooms of the UN to ensure that the missions would fail, but with zero Canadian casualties. These are the antics that have cost Canada dearly on the world stage. It is refreshing to see that we have a government that appreciates that sending troops to a war zone is inherently dangerous. To do so with the intent of hamstringing the mission to limit casualties would be a dissservice to everyone involved.

Sometimes, sanctimoneous carping from the sidelines isn't enough. Sometimes you have to take some risks.

Canadian Sentinel (CS) and ET: I've appreciated both your posts over the long run. However, CS, I'm dismayed by your total capitulation to ET's fallacious reasoning re the negative fallout of what has become, in effect, in Canada, state-sponsored atheism.

CS, you wrote," Then there's the adamant atheism that actually seems to have become a religion in and of itself and their [sic] culture of self-harm, drug-induced stupidity and apathy, serial fornication in the face of AIDS and other STDs, their apparent nihilism..." Then ET, a confessed atheist, claimed--and I believe him--that he doesn't subscribe to this kind of behaviour. Then, CS, you said, in effect, "OK, I didn't mean it".

As far as I'm concerned, you're both right and wrong. There is, indeed, a culture of atheism--scientist ET, we can both play this card: Like the existence of God, there'e no proof, either, of His non-existence. The idea that no religion (or no religion at all) trumps any individual's idea of what they are or not, de facto, diminishes religion to meaning all and nothing, which is, of course, a complete contradiction. This sophistry has allowed multiculturalism (egalitarianism) and political correctness to become the new "religion" of the West.

Believe me, as a self-censoring Christian--which I didn't have to be ten years ago in order to keep friends and my job--the coerciveness of this ideology has become oppressive. Tell me and others like me that Canada's still a free country. ET, as a "classical liberal", you should be very concerned about the state's heavy handedness re non-conformists--usually Christians, e.g., Bishop Henry, Scott Brockie, Chris Kempling, Ezra Levant (not) et al.--who have been hauled before Canada's version of the kangaroo court, e.g., the Human Rights (sic) Commissions. CS, the culture you describe has been coined--by Pope John Paul II--the "Culture of Death" It is indeed.

This "Culture of Death", which sees hedonism-- putting oneself and one's pleasures--before all other imperatives, is alive and well in Canada. The truncated and juvenile thinking of individuals spawned by this culture--and they are becoming a critical mass of the population--do not understand sacrifice or deferred gratification. (I hand it to our Muslim enemies: They understand both these concepts, which, if we don't wake up and smarten up, may very well be our downfall.)

The "white feather" crowd, populated by the likes of bcl--not ET, though the philosophy that he (and liberal Christianity) subscribe to incubates such types--are constitutionally unable to understand Canada's investment in the Middle East. They can't perceive--has one noticed how atrophied their imaginations are?--that some losses now will prevent far greater ones--such as living in dhimmitude--later on. ("What's 'later on' and why should I worry about it?" I can hear them saying.) This lack of imagination renders it impossible for them to spare any compassion or concern for future generations--or even for themselves a decade or two down the line. Supporting our troops through thick and thin just isn't a concept these navel gazers are capable of wrapping their myopic little brains around. How sad, and possibly tragic, this is for all of us.

Thanks, CS and ET, for your thoughtful posts. God bless Canada and our brave troops.

Kate, Once again I really appreciate your sharing the news from Afghanistan. My son is there still and I appreciate any info on the situation that is as personalized as the author of this one sent. Please share my thanks with him.

lookout - just a few points on your post. Thanks for your comments.

1) The assertion that there is no proof of god's existence, and also, no proof of his non-existence, might mean as a result, that 'god DOES exist'. This is an ancient argument but is without substance.

After all, I can't claim that 'unicorns exist' - and base my proof not on the fact that there is no proof that unicorns exist, but that there is no proof that they don't exist' (in some hidden Harry Potter style rainforest).

2) You said: "The idea that no religion (or no religion at all) trumps any individual's idea of what they are or not, de facto, diminishes religion to meaning all and nothing, which is, of course, a complete contradiction."

Sorry- but I simply can't figure out what the above means.

3) I confine the definition of atheism to mean only a rejection of a belief in metaphysical causality. Period. Therefore, it has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with multiculuralism, with relativism.

Atheism, which is a rejection of metaphysical causality, doesn't lead one to consider that 'all that lives is equal to each other'. There is NO way that the first axiom (no metaphysical causality) leads to the second axiom (full equality of all physical actualities). I certainly don't think that a single cell paramecium is functionally equal to a complex biological organism. I don't equate the information content and adaptive capacities of a 3,000 member clan, operating within a sustenance economy, to that of an industrial society. etc, etc.

You seem to be implying that a belief in a metaphysical causality ensures that one doesn't come to these relatavist and false conclusions. I don't think there is any such link. A belief in a metaphysical causality CAN, however, lead you to other types of false beliefs, such as racism, such as 'aliens having populated the earth' and so on.

4) As a classical liberal, I am indeed very concerned about Canada's multicultural policy, which I consider is an outrage, which acts against freedom, because it not merely balkanizes groups into isolate, self-identifying modes, but, it refuses to evaluate them. And, lifestyles are NOT equal. I am also against our Charter of Rights, which I consider a deeply flawed instrument - and which supports this multiculturalism.

5) And I've posted elsewhere against the HRC, which have nothing to do with human rights, which have far exceeded their original mandate - which only had to do with equal treatment in housing, employment and services. Now, HRC have moved into the totally subjective zone of political correctness; now, they deal with subjective feelings, and are all about privileging special interest group agendas. They should be completely outlawed; there is no longer any need for their original mandate, and their current actions are repressive.

6)I very much agree with your description of a 'lack of imagination'. Perfect. You know, humans have this very special quality- of reasoning, which includes that ability to 'imagine', to 'hypothesize'...about WHat IF... People like bcl don't hypothesize or imagine about 'what if'...and, as you say, they live simply within themselves. That's why I define them as trapped within the false self-defined images of Plato's Cave.

Thanks for your post.

Lookout wrote: " Then, CS, you said, in effect, "OK, I didn't mean it".

Actually, Lookout, it was a *writing error* I had made, and I pointed it out, rather than capitulated.

Anyone can make an error in the construction of a sentence and then overlook it in the proofreading preview. It's a brainfart.

May I try again: although I did have the word "atheism" and the other things within the same sentence, and separated by an "and", it wasn't my intention to imply that atheists necessarily are about any of the other things. I really meant to refer to leftists, who often display many of the mentioned characteristics, although the characteristics must be understood as being independent rather than mutually inclusive. Though a leftist who practices some weird, harmful stuff can be an atheist, it doesn't follow that an atheist will be a practitioner of any of the weird stuff any more than would a Christian. And I'm sure there are some stupid leftists who nevertheless live clean lives and take care of themselves. Ah, well, I think you'll get my meaning ok by now.

And I actually don't have a problem with folks who don't believe in a deity. Far from it... I only have a problem with those of them who wish to actually impose their atheism upon others as the way things must be. These atheist-supremacist folks are intolerant of people of faith and that is a problem in a "tolerant" society.

This aside, I think we're (myself, ET, Lookout and others) in concurrence that the leftists don't understand why we're in Afghanistan and how we came to be free in the first place.

Posted by: "lefties lose again"

And you can include the media in that group of lefties too. Even this article trashes Afghanistan as "controversial", and uses bogus statistic to hype up the body count figures upon which they're so fixated.

---------------------------------------

Recruits flock to join military
Seeking good pay, adventure

Published: Saturday, April 22, 2006

Despite a controversial mission in Afghanistan and the highly publicized loss of Canadian lives, Canada's Armed Forces are exceeding recruitment targets as people come in search of high pay and big adventure, according to recruiters.

Capt. Holly Brown of the Canadian Forces Recruitment Group, headquartered at CFB Borden, said that success has come in the face of advertising embargoes on government agencies during the Gomery inquiry and federal election.

"We exceeded our targets this year and that was without being able to advertise," she said. "I think Canadians are patriotic people. The young people we're seeing come in have that patriotism and want to get there and change the world."

As of April 1, the Armed Forces had 63,000 regular forces and 23,000 people in primary reserves.

In the fiscal year that ended March 31, 2006 - the first of a five-year recruitment drive - Brown said more than 5,800 people signed up for full time regular service in Canada, surpassing the target of 5,500. + more
http://www.voy.com/178771/1508.html

new kid on the block said:

"There is always a cost to freedom and if we are unwilling to die for anything, if there is nothing worth dying for, then what are we living for? If it's just for our own comfort and gratification, then we're going to die anyway, because when you lose your soul, when you lose any sense of being your brother's/sister's keeper, then you're engaged in a living death, whether you are aware of it or not." +

Afghan orphan,[Mohammad] 10, determined to be police officer despite carnage

Murray Brewster, Canadian Press
Published: Friday, April 21, 2006
...
Conclusion:

"I am not afraid," he said.

RCMP officers, who are mentoring the ill-equipped and ill-trained Afghans, thought it appropriate to induct Mohammad into the brotherhood of policing. During a recent tour of substations, they gave him a pin - a Mountie on horseback - which he proudly wears as a badge." +
http://www.paulding.net/bin/url.cgi/13260.12

Remember the "better red than dead" BS the left used to spout?Well look at their socialist heavan that Reagan rightly "called the evil empire". A country that was and is a third world country where the ordinary citizen was exploited by the academics and politicians and held in place with the secret police.

StatsCan shows the majority of Canadians still claim to be Christian, yet today, I don't think it's paranoid to say that there exists a culture of resentment towards them.

I recall the ceremony over the Swiss plane crash a few years ago - all religious groups were represented, however, only the Christian minister wasn't asked, or I believe allowed to say a prayer. This order coming from Chretien, one who claims to be Catholic.

Martin and SSM is another example of a very public figure claiming to be Christian, yet rejecting the teachings.

It wasn't long ago when everybody accepted that Canada was a Christian nation.

Like the ACLU in the US, atheist activists on the radical left are to thank for this current state of 'human rights' bigotry and hate.

Just another example of the tail wagging the dog I suppose. Something this country is very good at.

God bless you Kate for sharing this.

O,by the way ET, atheism is a religion.It is based on your faith in what you believe.Communism,socialism and facism were the trendy religions started in the 19th and 20th centuries.Why do you think Marx and Lenin said that religion was the opiate of the people? They knew if they wanted to introduce their religion,they had to destoy the ones in place.

Sad news:

4 Cdn soldiers killed in a roadside blast.

Apparently, Gen. Hillier has suggested the magnitude of the blast was such that the G-Wagon the troops were driving was immaterial in providing protection.

The vipers club is alive and well. Hopefully we won't have too many repeat misadventures.

My condolences to all the families involved who have lost a loved. May God Bless, you will be missed.

No, spike 1 - your statement that 'atheism is a religion' is merely your opinion. It isn't truth.

I disagree with you. In my opinion, atheism is NOT a religion. Religion is a set of beliefs affirming metaphysical causality. Atheism is the rejection of any and all metaphysical causality.

You seem to be implying that a belief system is a religion. I wouldn't agree with that, for that would mean that a belief in the basic axioms of algebra, transforms algebra into a religion. That would mean that a belief in the basic principles of the chemical composition of molecules, transforms chemistry into a religion. No, it doesn't.

Atheism is most certainly not based on 'my faith in what I believe'. Why - that would make a belief that 'Vitamin C prevents colds' - a religious belief! It is nothing of the sort.

Communism, socialism and fascism are not religions; they do not deal with metaphysical causality. And they certainly have been around for a lot longer than the 18th, 19th centuries. They are collectivist ideologies. Indeed, the most basic and 'primitive' form of social organization, the hunting/gathering, has often been defined by researchers as a basic communism (no private property, no ownership, all is shared). The problem is, and the 19th century communist/socialists didn't realize this in their utopian dreams - that such an economic and political mode can't support large populations.
Fascism is also a collectivist mode; it adds a type of biological essentialism, where a group is deemed to have an innate biological force that empowers it.

With your assertion that a belief system is a faith system...is a religion, then, naturally, to you, any belief is a religion. No. And the Marx-Lenin definition of religion as opiate refers to the fact that their political regime was not open to dissent, discussion, debate. Religious axioms (in fundamentalist religions) are also not open to dissent, discussion, debate.
But, because the communists set up their political ideology as beyond dissent and debate, does not make it also a religion (it doesn't deal with metaphysical causality). It simply makes it a totalitarian ideology.

As another atheist, I support stores closing on major holidays, I don't crumble over school kids singing Christmas songs and I'm not outraged over nativity scenes in public locations.

I would say, that for those on the left, secular humanism, environmentalism and mindless devotion to Kyoto have formed into a religion.

The comment(s) about BCL self-loathing and the "culture of death" are bang-on.

Crocodile tears/comfort for the enemy, & etc., from CP, aka MSM. Down with CP/MSM. +

Family, friends struggle with loss

Grief and anguish rippled through Canada's military community Saturday as family and friends tried to deal with the deaths of four soldiers killed in a roadside bomb explosion in southern Afghanistan. +
http://www.paulding.net/bin/url.cgi/13260.16

Yes, Hans. God bless our fallen brothers and all their loved ones. Their supreme sacrifice is not in vain.

Thanks to ET and Canadian Sentinel (CS) for their responses.

ET: 1) I'm no philosopher. But, if the prints of the unicorn exist, though no one's actually seen one, there's the possibility of the unicorn's existence. Now, this only works for those who discern the prints. But who can deny that they do?

2) Yes. That was very wordy. What I meant is: Subjectivism has completely replaced the idea of any objective Truth--the basis of all religion. Which is why atheism is, indeed, a religion: It posits a Truth--there is no God--on which reality, for the atheist, rests.

It seems, unfortunately, and "eating the hand that feeds it", that official post-modern Canada is much more receptive to the idea of atheism than it is to Christianity, though, in my opinion, it's precisely BECAUSE of the Judeo-Christian concept of justice, equality, and freedom that Canada used to be the great country it was, is the somewhat free country it is, and why atheists are able to believe what they wish without reprisal. (Living in a Muslim theocracy would be a distinctly unpleasant experience for an atheist who dared to admit it or live by his/her beliefs. I think, ET, you'd agree with me here.)

Ironically, it's Christians, not atheists or Muslims--who didn't build this country--who are generally being targeted by the HRCs. ET, we're altogether on the same wavelength re this travesty. Thanks for your comments. My sentiments re the Charter--of "Fights and Fiefdoms" as one person coined it--are identical to yours.

3) Re "metaphysical causality": I think one needs to look at the good bequeathed to the World via the Judeo-Christian dispensation--educational facilities, hospitals, democracy, capitalism (yes, all being human, they're far from perfect),and the willingness to defer instant gratification for a greater good, etc. (These might be some of those "unicorns' prints" I mentioned earlier.) If one's honest, I believe one has to admit that the Judeo-Christian heritage is responsible for a far greater good than the atheistic ones, e.g., Communism. (Also, even today, please check out who donates more money and time to others: I think the evidence conclusively shows that the lion's share is not given by atheists. Also, to which countries has there been mass immigration? The democratic ones: all built on the Judeo-Christian foundation.)

In the same vein, CS, I believe you're incorrect when you suggest that "Though a leftist who practices some weird, harmful stuff can be an atheist, it doesn't follow that an atheist will be a practitioner of any of the weird stuff any more than would a Christian." This is illogical.

Christians have a belief system--"Love the Lord thy God . . . and love thy neighbour as thyself"--that puts God and others before the self. (Obviously, all Christians fall short. However, many try very hard to align their actions with these beliefs.) However, as atheists have no, intrinsic, similar loyalties and restrictions, it's possible, and maybe even plausible, that, on average, their consciences may be less well formed. Of course, there are good atheists--ET seems to be one of them!--and very bad Christians. However, looking at the broad picture, I believe that the credit side of Christianity outweighs the debit. (I think the opposite of atheism.)

Back to the military and what's happening in our society: When Canada was an openly Christian country, in the day of my two grandfathers and my father, volunteers in WW I and WW II, there was little question as to who the enemy was and that the enemy needed to be fiercely fought and soundly defeated. There was virtually no question about who would take on this daunting, but necessry task. Things are very different today.

The soft, self-serving moral relativism of our day--far more likely to be aligned with atheism than muscular Christianity (not the wimpy "Jesus as bearded lady" variety)--has changed all that. "Hell no, we won't go!" was not the cry of earlier Canadians. Indifference or even outright denigration of our fighting forces was barely countenanced.

I'll end there: I believe that ET, CS and I are united in honouring our brave troops and praying/wishing(?) for their protection, success, and safe return to a (not) grateful (enough) country and those who love them.

P.S. I always appreciate the interesting, well written posts of new kid on the block and usually agree. However, re bcl: She's a great foil! Her outlandish remarks elicit some wonderful posts. And it's such fun to drive Mack trucks through her thin as gossamer ramblings. Court jesters serve their purpose. I say, don't get rid of her!

The only sane conclusion is that Socialism is a mental illness.
A cult that worships death in all its forms . With few exceptions being, serial killers & other predators.

Any type of self defense ,including War, for the purpose of self preservation. Babies , like the Carthaginians of old. They have to make a human sacrifice of there first born. The gods , choice, & birth control are hungry for young lives.

Law abiding citizens must perish in accordance to ideology. Health care comes to mind. Dogma comes before lives. Than theirs good old euthanasia & "mercy killing". More wood on the alter of the god choice. Assisted suicide. Mind warping concepts like “quality of life” that by there very definition are not quantifiable except by some other individuals fiat.

No normal system of thought would go too such lengths of effort to cause there own peoples extinction. Excite so much self loathing. Unless it was formed in the crucible of madness.
Liberalism & its Socialist variants except, possibly, Classical liberalism. Is an offshoot of totalitarian millennial thinking. A heaven on Earth driven fairyland fantasy. Whole faculties taken up teaching about a system of totalitarianism (communism) like it’s a viable system. The most murderous regimes in history. I always ask why not nazism as well? They where mad as well. It’s the link to Socialism that communism shares in all its perfidy. Only there killing us quietly.

Human nature deemed of no account. Commonsense avoided because it conflicts with everyday experience& there cherished fantasies. Ideology is all. Reality nothing. Moral law held in contempt. Criminals looked upon as victims. Victims as the trouble makers. Obscene stupidity like proclaiming gay marriage more natural than Heterosexual marriage .

All this has led to its ultimate logical conclusion. Low birth rates. Uncalculating males to be cowardly & docile In order for more political control. As a sop to feminist groups, who’s aspiration where forged in eugenics.. A lower reading rate than at the beginning of the 20th century. Dumbed down purposely, while those in control accrue benefits, Kings would have been beheaded for. All in the name of the people there fleecing. Social programs designed to create chattel out of certain groups. Hardwired to rely on handouts. Than cursed for being inferior. Always nice to have an underclass to look down on, than they don‘t look at the instigators actions. It will take years to mend. For the Nation to come off the lithium.

Now we need Men & Women of real valor to die to keep there soft minds & bodies from the cook pot of these barbarians. The insanity continues as these ingrates even bad mouth those who’s deaths have allowed them there era. Lets call it : The Decadence .

Just my opinion.

Ask yourselves. Is this sane behavior, In any age of mankind?

Kate
P.S.

Thanks for the information you are providing. The stories & pics are excellent.
I know a lot of my American friends online appreciate this. The MSM media is as bad, I am told by folks there, as here. Information of this Quality is hard to come by.

More white feathers from CP/MSM.

CP/MSM: The enemy within.

Down with CP/MSM.

Long live free Afghanistan. +

Wake-up call to 24 Sussex underscores political hazards of military mission
By ALEXANDER PANETTA +
via cnews

lookout,

When you credit everything good in this world to Christians - you also open the door to Christian "not so good" things.

BTW: In all the years I coached youth baseball or my wife volunteered in school roles - we were never asked our religion ... does this mean we didn't contribute anything?

Two Army reservists among the four soldiers killed in action.

CP, aka MSM, derogates their sacrifices, by labelling them "part-time soldiers" and saying their sacrifices are "grim reminders". +

EDMONTON (CP) - A carpenter and a postal worker were among the four Canadian troops killed in a bomb explosion in southern Afghanistan on Saturday - grim reminders of the growing role of part-time soldiers in Canada's military operations around the world. +
cnews

Lest We Forget.

John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row

That mark our place; ...

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. ... +

Greater Love
There men often hear His voice: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life-for a friend." John 15:13: +

Having done 5 tours over seas it was always nice to know that people back home cared. Canadian Soldiers have always represented their country very well including the Somolia mission. The four missions I did in Bosnia have forever changed the way I view the World and life in general. Most of my views have been for the positive with the exception of the UN tour in 94. We were ougunned and extremely exposed. Lots have been said about the ROE'S ( Rules Of Engagement) of that era but it would have made little difference if they were more agressive due to the stuation we were in. The UN had set up so called SAFE ZONES which we could not realistically protect. Thousands of Refugees poured into those areas so that the Serbs could find them easier. Of course massacres happened in my estimation courtesy of the UN. Keep in mind also it was not just Serbs commiting Atrocities as the Media would have you believe. When NATO finally entered armed to the teeth all those Pricks were sorted out in 10 minutes. I might mention the hated Americans ended that war. In other words go hard or not at all. If a NATO force had surged into Rwanda a million people would be alive today. Yeh I know about the Political crap, no oil there yada yada. People are far to Political these days. Go walk the dog or chop some wood or something. I would also like to change some terminology. Canadian Soldiers dispise 'Peacekeeper'. So please as concerned Citizens omit that ridicules word from your vocabulary. It should not be that difficult with the stupid PC culture as we all had to change a thousand or more words so far. Also stop calling left wing granola crunchers "Do Gooders". They must be called "No Gooders". The only Do Gooders are in Afghanistan.

Lookout, that was a good point re. Christians being, on average, if they're more or less devout and observant, less likely than atheists (with apologies to atheists) to engage in strange, unnecessary practices which only provide momentary good feelings. It is obvious that religion can indeed compel people to do or not do things that they otherwise would or wouldn't do. But that's the nature of religion and I see its value. Many don't, however, and prefer to live by many of the same values even while not being "of faith". It differs individual by individual, but faith does have a certain psychological effect, in my view.

And I see the value of having faith in something good, regardless of the debate as to the existence of a supreme being. Nothing wrong with believing in a god. It gives many folks a sense of raison d'etre whereas they might otherwise not have any. It provides focus.

Unfortunately, the Islamic faith has been horribly twisted by evil clerics all over the world, particularly since the last century, into something effectively harmful, claims that it's about peace notwithstanding. Islam is used to turn human life from birth into weapons of jihad against the "unbelievers", who are regarded in the Koran with utter contempt, which isn't lost on those being forcibly indoctrinated by the evil, corrupt, murder-bent clerics of the Muslim world.

I fear the Islamic world will be the architect of its own undoing, for once they make a large, deadly enough attack on the Free World, there's no getting away with it. Pearl Harbor was the undoing, after all, of Imperial Japan, after whose unconditional surrender, the United States proceeded to impose freedom, democracy, the rule of law and human rights on that nation, making sure they rebuilt and still allowed them to be sovereign to this day. This is what is going to have to happen with the Islamic world in the long run, else they'll only remain stuck in the Dark Ages, barbarians screwing around with high technology... including nuclear weapons... and they are right this very moment a grave threat to the Free World. We must treat this threat with the utmost of seriousness and be prepared for the worst.

ural, you misconstrue my argument. First of all, my defence of Christianity and the Judeo-Christian heritage is in the context of the moral relativism that now saturates our society and actively DISCRIMINATES AGAINST Christians. (ET seems to confirm this in his condemnation of the HRCs.) In most places these days, I deliberately leave out any references to my faith. (You'll notice that I write here using a pseudonym.)

In case you didn't notice, I wrote, "Obviously, all Christians fall short [of living up to their obligations]. . . Of course, there are good atheists--ET seems to be one of them!--and very bad Christians." You and your wife sound like good people. (But I never suggested you weren't!)

Re atheism (and this is a general query): I'm interested in knowing on what principles it operates.

In the Western democracies, which, more or less, offer freedom and security to their citizens, I posit that the atheistic belief systems's a bit like a magpie, a bird which takes over the nests of other birds: all the enjoyment and security of the earlier commitment and hard work of someone else (some other bird!) without, over the long run, putting in the commitment and hard work!

This doesn't mean that individual atheists can't be very fine people. I'm sure that many of them are. But what, of substance, has their BELIEF SYSTEM contributed to society as a whole, e.g., magnificent buildings, sublime music, world-renowned universities, volunteer organizations, etc.?

Canadian Sentinel: Well said! Thanks for your comments.

And it's too bad that the barbarians aren't only "over there". Incrementally, as Christianity's been relegated to the dungeon, our schools are full of self-centred, ill-mannered "barbarians" (who don't even mean to be). They're already inside the gates--well protected by "Charter rights" (right, Paul Martin), the Young Offenders Act, and adults too intimidated by the former to "go hard" to deal with the insurgency.

Rick, many thanks for your eloquent words, as well as your fine service for our country so that Canadians can live in freedom. Like you, I'm sick to death of the PC conceits of this country. Sure, "peacekeeping" will protect us from fanatics with nuclear weapons. What utter poppycock! Lew McKenzie said it like it is on CBC radio news yesterday. (A credible source on CBC? I nearly swerved off the road!)

Rick, I am deeply grateful to you and all our fighting men and women, who are putting their lives on the line for the rest of us. From a medieval carol: "The knees of my heart s'all (shall) I bow" to all who perform this difficult and dangerous service on our behalf. You're all heroes to me.

Another indication we are getting through to them is this story about two boy from Afghanistan who spent time at GITMO and LUVED IT. They can now read their own language as well as English and one boy wants more schooling and to become a doctor. The meme put out that GITMO is a torture camp is another of the leftist disinformations. In fact, what has them so excercised is that some of the tactics of re-educating these kids or teaching them their own language and to read for the first time in their lives has opened their minds and they loved it! Read all about it here, and from the Gruaniad, no less:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1163436,00.html

Thank God that this ideological navel gazing is confined to the blogosphere and has nothing to do with the real world!

agitfact: "this ideological navel gazing"'s a pretty broad term to describe the vast quantity of facts and opinions in 70 posts. Could you be a little more specific?

Lookout - you are making, I suggest, a serious logical fallacy. You are assuming that architecture, music, universities, volunteer work - are due only to religious causality.

There is no proof, either empirical or logical, of such a connection. The axiom of atheism is only that there is no metaphysical cause of the universe - only physical causality. Therefore, the atheist, observing this complex adaptive network of our universe, can indeed, using REASON and EMOTION - neither of which are dependent on a metaphysical source for their existence - produce great universities, great works of art, music and thought.

ET - With all due respect, I didn't suggest "that architecture, music, universities, volunteer work - are due ONLY to religious causality" (emphasis mine) To suggest that would certainly be a logical fallacy.

I do suggest, however, that a much greater number and quality of such endeavours--let's include medical care as well--can be attributed to Christianity versus atheism. From the facts of the last 2000 or so years, I believe that's a fair deduction.

Have a good day!

Well,ET,I believe that atheism is a religion;as well as communism and socialism.They are not the same as believing that water runs down hill or water turns to ice when it freezes or any other belief that can be proved.Atheism,communism and socialism are faith based beliefs.Communism had the teachings of Marx,Lenin and others to spread the gospel to the masses.They then ,like the vatican,in the kremlin,had their pope and cardinals(the central committee) to interpret these messages and had the power to enforce them.Not with persuasion,but with torture and the threat of death.Atheist believe,but cant prove, that there is no supreme power and no life after death.I've met some of these people that were smart as Hell until either they had a near death experience or received a message from a departed spouse and not at some side show.Try spending some time in a haunted house sometime and see if you come out thinking the same.

The concept of no life after death requires faith - the faith of the one who believes it to be there in order to observe it. Otherwise nothing cannot exist.

A crass term American soldiers used after killing a Viet Cong (athiest) enemy - 'Now he's a believer.'

lookout - because you conclude that

"a much greater number and quality of such endeavours--let's include medical care as well--can be attributed to Christianity versus atheism" is a 'fair deduction' is neither fair nor a deduction.

I'm removing religion as causal to the development of 'universities, art, music, volunteer work' - and 'medical care'. The only thing that is causal to these is reason. In many cases, religion is hostile to these endeavours - for universities can be viewed as the site of 'doubt' rather than faith; and art and music as peripheral unless devoted to acclaiming the virtues of god, etc.

You haven't provided any proof that religion, and Christianity in particular, are largely causal of these results and that they stem from Christianity.

I think that you assume that Christianity provides an incentive, while, according to you, atheism does not provide an incentive. Would that be an accurate reading of your view?

My view is that reason and emotion, alone, lead to these results - both as basic cause and proximate (incentive) cause. There is no need to set up a Faith-Based Incentive; reason and emotion alone can do it.

Again, spike, we are going to simply have to 'agree to disagree'. You say that atheism is a religion. I say it isn't. Your reason for saying that it is a religion is because of what I consider your fallacious definition of religion.

You define a religion as any system whose axioms must be believed in as a matter of faith rather than proof. I completely disagree and consider that an impoverished definition of religion, for it ignores the requirement for a metaphysical causality, and instead, focuses only on the psyche of the individual. Do you, an individual, believe in these axioms? If yes, as a matter of faith rather than proof, then..your conclusion is - that person is 'religious'.

Completely wrong, in my view, to define religion as a psychological phenomenon.

Therefore, following your transformation of religion from a requirement for a metaphysical causality to a psychological experience, this would mean that any set of logical axioms can be considered a religion. After all, they operate as a set of axioms, which you either accept or do not accept.

This would include all political systems. Democracy is, after all, a set of axioms, which you either believe or don't believe in.
Same with your other sociopolitical systems.

And, that would include economic systems. Mercantilism, structuralism, free-market, Keynsian, whatever. These are also religions, according to your theory.

And, it would include psychological systems. So, behaviourism, cognitive, ecological, etc, etc...all religions, because their axioms are 'faith-based'.

And so on. My point is, that you have defined religion strictly within the psyche of the individual; if they believe axioms as a matter of faith - then, those axioms are 'a religion' and the individual is 'religious'.

Sorry- but I disagree. By such an expansive generalization, you've distored religion and missed out its key function - that requirement for a metaphysical causality.

And your anecdotal reports of 'smart people' with near death experiences..or haunted houses..etc..remain, not merely anecdotal, but have nothing to do with religion, either within my, or your, definition.

Irwin Daisy - sorry, but I don't understand your post.

...wow, that is one empty looking countryside.

God bless you guys and gals, and don't forget to keep your heads down.

ET, I've just lost my response--some computer error--to your post. (Damn!) I'll try to remember what I said and get back to you. I've run out of time. Cheers.

Polish, Danish, German troops to go to Afghanistan.

http://www.army.mil.pl/strona_en/facts/facts.htm

Three Ministers of Defence of: Germany Franz Josef Jung, Denmark H. E. Soren Gade and Poland Radosław Sikorski signed an agreement on participation of the Multinational Corps Northeast in the mission in Afghanistan next year. The tripartite meeting was held in the Baltic barracks in Szczecin on 21 February 2006. As Radosław Sikorski informed NATO needs as to using the Corps in Afghanistan next year were changing, therefore you should verify earlier arrangements concerning participation of the Corps in it. – In the future the Multinational Corps will play as important role as so far, especially in the matter of integration of new partners within NATO – said Franz Josef. – To start with Romania and end with Baltic states. We agree on the fact that the Corps Headquarters should play the same role in the mission in Afghanistan, although we already know that the composite headquarters will be probably established. Chiefs of NATO states' general staffs entered the stage of specifying this concept, therefore there is still no decision on the number and date of Polish soldiers' departure for Afghanistan. – Cooperation between soldiers from my country and Poland and Germany has been very good for a long time, therefore I am sure that we all will make efforts to perform our duties in Afghanistan in the best way possible – stressed H. E. Soren Gade. – We all want to meet our responsibility concerning the situation there and to stabilize lives of people.
A. Szkoda +

After years of Marxist oppression, the Polish Army proudly returns to its Christian roots (pictures)
A website of the Polish Army ^ | April 23, 2006 | A website of the Polish Army

Posted on 04/23/2006 12:05:26 PM PDT by vox_PL

There have been many significant dates and decisive events in 1,000 year old history of the Polish Armed Forces. There have been horrible defeats against hordes of Jingis Khan that plundered the whole of Europe in early medieval ages, but there have also been powerful victories over the Teutons in the biggest medieval Battle of Tannenberg (Grunwald) July 15, 1410 and over the Ottoman invasion in the Battle of Vienna, Sep.12, 1683 where Polish king John III Sobieski and his Hussars saved Europe from Islam crushing, until then, the invincible army of Kara Mustafa.

However, it seems that for the past 100 years there has been no more significant date for the Polish Army than August 15.

Firstly, this is the Day of Assumption of the Virgin Mary into Heaven, while the Mother of God had been worshiped as the Spiritual Supreme Commander of the Polish Knighthood for centuries.

Secondly, on August 15, 1920 retreating and almost beaten freshly reborn Polish Army miraculously crushed until then unstoppable offensive of the Soviet Army just 10 miles East of Warsaw. +
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1620073/posts

ET,

As you say, there's no scientific proof of Gods existence, the same goes for the athiest idea of 'nothing' after death. Without it being observed, there's no scientific proof of its existence - therefore it requires faith.

Irwin Daisy - thanks for your clarification.

But, atheism is not about 'something' versus 'nothing' after death. It is a rejection of metaphysical causality. So- your definition of atheism is invalid. Atheism says nothing about 'after death'. All it affirms is the rejection of metaphysical causality.

You are giving also a different interpretation of religion. You are, as is spike, defining religion as 'beliefs that require faith' rather than 'observation'. But - that has nothing to do with religion! After all, accepting basic axioms without sensory observation is a 'given' in logical analysis. For example, to assert that
All men have the capacity for reason.
This individual is a man.
Therefore, he has the capacity for reason.

---is not a matter of empirical observation but is a logical conclusion, based on accepting the syllogistic set of axioms. This acceptance doesn't make logical forms - a religion!

As I pointed out in my answer to spike, it is an error, I feel, to define religion within the psyche, within the psychological nature. It is an error to say that if one accepts an axiom 'on faith' (or as a logical format)..then, this means that one is 'being religious'.

Your definition of religion as operating within faith-based beliefs is, I suggest, so general and ambiguous, that it ends up by asserting that ALL forms of reasoning, are religions.

Posted by ET at April 23, 2006 02:27 PM:

You wrote in response to lookout's assertion that Christianity had a great deal to do with the establishment of universities, musical and artistic 'culcha, hospitals, etc.: "I'm removing religion as causal to the development of 'universities, art, music, volunteer work' - and 'medical care'. The only thing that is causal to these is reason. In many cases, religion is hostile to these endeavours - for universities can be viewed as the site of 'doubt' rather than faith; and art and music as peripheral unless devoted to acclaiming the virtues of god, etc."

With all due respect to your professorship, ET, do your homework: Check out the origins, for instance, of all of Toronto's hospitals and universities:
U. of T.: Trinity College: Anglican
Wycliffe College: Anglican
St. Michael's: Catholic
Knox: Presbyterian
University: Methodist or Presbyterian, I think, etc.

Hospitals: Sick Children's: Presbyterian missionaries
St. Michaels: Catholic
Toronto Western: Anglican nuns who started on Major Street
Mount Sinai: Jewish

Schools: Jarvis Collegiate: Anglican
etc., etc.

The list goes on and on. Each of these institutions was begun by those in a belief in the Judeo-Christian ethos. You will notice, in each case, that they were not established for those who either adhered to belief in, or practised, these faiths but for anyone who was in need of healing or an education (unlike similar institutions established by other faiths). All were/are welcome. That is the Judeo-Christian credo: "love your neighbour as yourself." Period.

Queen's University did a survey about 8 or 9 years ago on volunteerism and on givings to charitible causes. They discovered--and, remember, this is a university survey, the universities largely having ignored their "religious" origins--that a full 65% of volunteers in secular charities--e.g., the United Way--were individuals who went to church or synagogue on a regular basis. They found the same thing with those who contribute monetarily: over 65% of those who gave financial contributions to secular charities went to synagogue or church on a regular basis.

So, it's not just wishful thinking and who contributes to the greater good of society is not based solely on "reason," as you allege. Faith-based contributions are generous contributions to the greater good of society.

Correction; You will notice, in each case, that they were not established SOLELY for those who either adhered to belief in, or practised, these faiths...etc.

See link.

Laying th egroundwork to oppose the mission they started

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060416/afghanistan_debate_060423/20060423?hub=Canada

You know they, the Liberals,dont really support the policy. It was done for cynical calculations vis a vis the Americans, as opposed to true belief.

So which is worse or better, committing soldiers to the battlefield as a sacrifice and removing them at the first sign of trouble or keeping them there while they take fire because you believe in the mission even though it means more casualties?

nw kid on the block - I have done my homework on the development of universities, hospitals and etc.
Your claim that they are linked to specific religions as causal is not enough to validate religion as the basis for care of others. I claim that the basic cause is reason and emotion. Those two qualities, are basic to our species, and far more general than 'religion'.

You can posit that religion is an expression of reason and emotion - but- my point is that the basic cause of 'All men desire to know' (Aristotle) - is reason and emotion. Not religion.

Religion, like the other 'social systems' (economy, political, legal, family, education) is a human construct. But, deeper than these human constructs, is the basis for them. Reason and emotion. That - is the real causality.

Helping others is not necessarily carried out under the rubric of 'volunteerism'. It can be a daily action of helping people in stores, at crosswalks and so on - and not an organized activity. Volunteerism is an organized activity of helping - and therefore, would indeed be linked with other organized systems - such as religious organizations. But, we cannot conclude that helping others is confined to these organizations.

I cannot, logically or empirically, conclude that religion leads to universities, hospitals, music, art, medical care. To suggest that mankind will not do these actions unless and until there is a religion, puzzles me - for since the religion is a human construct, then, the catalyst for the action of helping others, is basic to humans, and need not wait for the construction of a religion to be expressed.

Et,

An argument for metaphysical causality.

Einsteins general theory, proven by Hubble, caused Einsteins acceptance to 'the necessity of a beginning" and to "the presence of a "Superior reasoning power."

Later, it was Hawking and others that established that space and time must also have a beginning - a beginning coincident with matter and energy.

Given the above it's reasonable to say that the common origin of matter, energy, space and time proves that the act(s) of creation must transcend the dimension and substance of the universe. And therefore a pretty good reason to believe in the biblical God - or as Einstein put it "A superior reasoning power."

Also Zipf's language law as it applies to the (97%) uncharted human DNA. , or 'junk' DNA, as they like to call it.

Harvard, Notre Dame, Stanford, Yale, etc - all founded by Christian churches/organisations.

While others philosophize about metaphysics and refer to the musings of Einstein and Hawking, I'd like to remind y'all that the issue at hand relates to the threat environment right here on earth.

For me, it's far more useful to closely examine what happens here on earth and identify patterns which allow one to make better and better predictions as to what will happen (keeping in mind the nature of the enemy, the jihadists) and to prepare for it or prevent it or preempt it.

That's the important thing here, and may I respectfully suggest we concentrate our intellectual efforts on the enemy and how to defeat them? After all, we're definitely on the same side and now's the time to pull together and... let's roll!

Irwin Daisy -

1)the necessity of a beginning does not mean a metaphysical causality. It just means a beginning to spatiotemporal bonding.

2) a 'superior reasoning power' does not mean a metaphysical reasoning power, but a general, or universal, or symmetry inducing force. That's found in all self-organized systems and is most certainly not metaphysical.

3)No, the fact that energy exists as matter, i.e., within spatiotemporal relations of measurement, most certainly does not lead to any notion of a metaphysical creator.

4) I don't get your point about 'junk DNA', which is actually not junk but more accurately called 'introns' and is being shown to be vital to the process of self-organized decision-making within complex organisms. (Root-Bernstein and Dillon had a nice article on this in 1997 Journal of Theoretical Biology..and of course, there's lots more since then.)

But-what do introns and power-laws have to do with the notion of a metaphysical causality? The power-laws related to distributive functions - and explain, e.g., unequal energy levels. So?

The fact that the universities were started by religious groups - what's your point? My point is that religion is a human construct - and the basic foundation of the human species, is reason and emotion. Religion is a secondary development, not primary. And again - religion posits a metaphysical causality.

Your argument that god exists because matter/energy exists and began at a specific time..is an old theological argument..that asserts that matter/energy must therefore have had an agent that 'started it all up'. Sorry, I disagree. There's no requirement for an external agent -and since the universe is isolate, it's impossible.

The concept of organization, i.e., the necessity for 'general or distributed patterns-of-organization' is due to the requirement of energy/matter for symmetry (which enables continuity). Nothing to do with a god.

Canadian Sentinel: Your opinion(s), please. You have contributed to this; as has SDA, & etc.

Bin-Laden: He dead.

The agit-prop is coming from/through Al Jazeera, et al.

Here is Wretchard re the role of the blogosphere re cartoons which are mentioned in the latest video from "Bin-Laden". Wretchard & others note that there is no mention of Iraq.

The MSM & academia excluded themselves (cowards) from the cartoon stuff; the MSM & academia are irrelevant.

Bloggers carried the day. Power to the bloggers. Onward. Destroy the Islamist terrorists. +

Emanations from a Cave

But if Tigerhawk was surprised by the omission of Iraq, I was doubly surprised by the inclusion of the Danish cartoons in Osama's list of vital fronts. The Danish cartoon battle has been largely fought by the blogosphere and a handful of European newspapers; that is to say fought by the no-account, podunk, non-Pulitzer Prize winners of the world. The decision by the great flagships of modern Western thought -- the newspapers, networks and towers of academia -- to stay out of it has inadvertently but fortunately eliminated them from the reckoning. Their self-exclusion means that a bunch of guys with computers on TV carts, kitchens, basements, attics and in the garages have actually left a mark on Osama Bin Laden. This calls for ... (glance into non-existent wine cellar) ... another cup of coffee. + more...
http://www.fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com/

ET, not to belabour a point (nod to Canadian Sentinel) but in response to your comment that "we cannot conclude that helping others is confined to these [religious/Christian] organizations": I NEVER SAID THAT!!

Just because one makes the point that Christian organizations happen--HISTORICAL FACT--to have founded most of the hospitals and academic institutions not only in Toronto but nearly everywhere else (if they were allowed to), and because more Christians give $$$ to secular charities than any other group, does not mean that non-Christians can't/don't also contribute to doing good in our communities.

Of course they do.

But I'd appreciate your at least acknowledging historical fact and not being a revisionist of our history by side-stepping the indisputable contribution that religion/Christianity--not just "emotion" and "reason," as you put it--has made to Canadian culture. Too many moonbats in academia and the MSM (the CBC being one of the worst) seem to be in the business of debunking, downplaying, and denigrating faith.

I'm just getting tired of it. That's all.

Get 'em. Put the bfghtdfs outta business.

Deport the "friends/paypals" of AdScam Chretien/ex-PM Paul Who?.

Kick ass, Mr. Day.

Faster & harder, please. +

RCMP Raids Toronto Tamil Offices
Toronto Star ^ | April 23, 2006 | Surya Bhattacharya and Michelle Shephard

Posted on 04/23/2006 5:08:22 PM PDT by NorthOf45

RCMP raids Toronto Tamil offices Tigers outlawed as a terrorist group

Toronto Star Surya Bhattacharya and Michelle Shephard April 23, 2006

Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers raided the Scarborough and Toronto offices of the World Tamil Movement yesterday, sealing off the building with yellow police tape and carting off boxes of documents.

Police hit offices at 39 Consentino Dr. in Scarborough, and later yesterday the community Tamil radio station reported a similar raid on the Toronto office on Eaton Ave., near Wellesley and Parliament Sts. in downtown Toronto.