| An update on injured interpreter Niaz Mohammed Hussaini, first brought to our attention by The Black Rod. He’s back at work! |
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The Taliban gunmen who murdered two teachers in eastern Afghanistan early Saturday were only following their rules: Teachers receive a warning, then a beating, and if they continue to teach must be killed.
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The 30 Taliban rules also spell out opposition to development projects from aid organizations, including clinics, roads and schools.
If a school fails a warning to close, it must be burned. But all religious books must be secured beforehand,” rule No. 26 says.
Surprisingly, there is no rule allowing for an NDP brokered negotiation of the rules.
And bookmark Media Right – dedicated to collecting mainstream news and opinion on the Afghanistan campaign. Plus, “Canuck Combat Video!
Overthrowing the Taliban: poll results.
… it seems that the average Afghan doesn’t see the situation outside his own front door as unfavourably as the average Torontonian sees it from over 10,000 kms away.
Well, that’s what happens when you can’t get the CBC!
Add your own Afghanistan related links or commentary below.
Just for laughs…
http://www.ndp.ca/page/4119
I am reading The Force of Reason by Oriana Fallaci. It is absolutely scary when she writes on the history of muslims attacking and slaughtering Europeans over the centuries and now doing it by shear demographics. We are seeing it now in Lebanon where a formerly Christian country, as were most of countries in the middle east until they were converted by the sword, is being overwhelmed by Palestinian muslims. Remember when the Pope mentioned this and was forced to back down for speaking the truth. In the last 50 years their numbers have increased 235% in Europe. She notes that in the Italian schools muslim children are challenging history facts by what they are taught in their mosques. Forcing the separation of girls and boys and changing the curriculm to meet their culture not Italy’s. As Blair has belatedly realized muslims don’t want to integrate they want to take over. Really frightening read.
David Hand: Perhaps you could send a copy of that book to Taliban Jack and coward Dion for Christmas, or perhaps to a Conservative MP, so he/she could read parts of it in the HofC, to be recorded forever in Hansard. We should all flood their in box with copies of the 10 Taliban rules and stories of teachers being killed and schools burned. So much for their idea of reconstruction. But then, isn’t that the librano way, waste money over and over again. Any contractors over their with ties to Taliban Jack, so he gets a kickback.
Yes, neocon love is enveloping the world. Muslims in particular are enthralled. Freedom, especially under Muslim law-based constitutions are allowing people to throw off one yoke of oppression for a better one, or so I am told. In the past five years neocons the world over following Washington’s lead have won the hearts and minds of the Arab world and in so doing have made the world a safer place. They did say it would be a long struggle and now we know why.
Freedom and democracy supported by guns, bombs, torture, lies and broken promises makes the struggle just about endless. Either Western leadership is not too bright or want this outcome, take your pick. Either way it is nauseating to read the consequences of their actions and the reactions from the other side.
Niaz Mohammed Hussaini. I sure hope he hets some sort of pension out of this.
I am tired of the Government quibbling about the small pittances given out to our own soldiers for service to the Nation . Let alone those who go into danger with them.
I ask. How would they treat an outgoing politician or government employee or a defeated official or even a disgraced one? Especially if they screwed the pooch. Its million dollar hand baby! To them no matter how crooked. To those who put their lives in the line of fire. They just get platitudes or lies. Perhaps a free pass to the food bank.
Same goes for these incompetent CEO’s & there golden handshakes.
When did we abandon merit, success, & courage to failure, irresponsibility, & quitters?
Nothing is too good for these fellows, but not a pittance for the maimed in our service!
Shame on Canada’s establishment, for its miserliness to those who have given limb or life to defend its interests !
Oh look the neolib is back.
steve(duh),
So, according to your version of history, Algerian fanatics slaughtering 150,000 other Algerian Muslims for not being fanatical enough is because of the neocons, right?
Or, Muslims slaughtering up to 2 million Hindus in East Pak, in the early 70’s was, I guessed it, because of the neocons.
Or, Arab Muslims slaughtering lesser Black Muslims in Darfur is a result of the neocons.
Or, or, or….
You are a retard. I thought you were banned, but like a recurring STD, you’re back along with your plebeian nano brain.
You should join French Citizen Dion’s surrender monkey party, you’d fit right in.
Uppity Muslims in Canada are demanding that the banks give them interest free mortgages, because Islam doesn’t allow usury. They are of course positioning it as ‘human rights.’
David Hand,
You should also read Melanie Phillips, Londonistan.
I meant Islam doesn’t allow usury, unless you’re a dhimmi.
Sending this to the n.d.p. would be an absolute waste of time. The cynics who run that group count on the indifference of Canadians to get their support.
Without tragedy and suffering the n.d.p. would have no reason to exist. It’s their industry and guiding light. One should not be surprised that they have such a vested interest seeing the suffering continue.
Every problem in this world is everyone else’s fault and responsibility, just not theirs.
“You are a retard”
You could have left it at that Irwin, although I did have a chuckle about the std’s.
Installing high speed internet in Edmonton, I’ve met numerous people. Now and then, I’d meet some idiot (aka steve type), who would spout off anything anti American. I would remain polite and mumble something like, ” I don’t know…”
Not anymore. I met one the other day while I was running cat5. He blabbed on about how the US set up the arabs with the twin towers.
I had to stop working and say ” you really don’t believe that moonbat shit do ya”?
He let me finish the job in peace after that.
Stephan Dion on CBC radio today….still not sure what his Afganistan policy would be , but he’ll make an issue for the sake of bringing down the the government…because the Conservatives policy isn’t ‘helping’ the people of Afganistan.
Guess he doesn’t read this blog…yet.
…and steve d doesn’t read.
steve d…??? Stephan Dion???…
Usury, interest on loans, is a terrible Islamic sin. I was in Dubai a year ago and read with interest, in the local English language newspaper, the way the banks dealt with this. They would sell the loans, at a fixed price for a fixed term, to Muslim borrowers. That way, the evil concept of interest was avoided. If the borrower was unable to pay at the end of the fixed term, a new price would be negotiated at a meeting, again without introducing interest rates or calculations based on interest. Immam watchdogs monitoring the whole process along the way to ensure religious correctness, of course. If I know my banks, such an arrangement would probably be designed to cost a little bit more than if it was strictly based on interest rates 🙂
multirec: “Installing high speed internet in Edmonton”
Wow, is that right after you folks got TV and radio, and rotary telephones?
hehehehehehehe…
…but I’m glad they helped the interpreter. I’d be one mighty po’d if Canada didn’t. And like a poster here said, the CEO’s and MLA an other hob-nob’s get thousands, if not millions for screwing up as a parting gift.
Priorities. What are we teaching not just our kids, but the rest of the world?
Don’t laugh about rotary phones. My entrance onto the net was via a 1986 IBM XT, using rotary dialup.
“…1986 IBM XT, using rotary dialup.”
Erg, dont’ remind me…same here but in ’91.
I think you misunderstood.
That was in 1999. The XT was an 86 model. I don’t think I got off rotary until later in 2001 or thereabouts.
“Wow, is that right after you folks got TV and radio, and rotary telephones?”
Heh.
Actually, the technology is pretty new. I install high speed on acreages via line of site to towers. It sure makes rural Albertans happy!
Where can I get me one of them rotary phones? (It would be nice to get a computer that I don’t have to wind-up, too!)
oh ya, the fee to switch over from ‘rotary’ to ‘touch tone’ was another excuse for ma bell to rip off millions of customers.
it made no difference !!! pulse (ie rotary) STILL WORKS AND ALWAYS HAS.
I have decided to drop my xpressvu coverage due to numerous redundant channels and the ones I do want disappear far too often, aroundabouts at least once a month for up to an entire day. unacceptable. watch ma bell try to collect the cancellation fee.
Fallaci writes about why Islam is growing so fast in the west and she believes it is because the Left supports its growth. The Left/Liberal is pro-Third World, anti-American and anti-Zionist as Islam is. Sounds to me just like Trudeau and his followers. Like Islam the Left considers itself the custodian of truth, never acknowledges its faults and errors, considers itself infallible and never apologizes. Autocratic, totalitarion, even when it plays the game of democracy. It does not accept different opinions and despises you if you think differently.
Her most critical thought on Western Civilization is our concept of individualism whereas socialism and Islam is based on collectivism. Anyone who denies individualism denies Western Civilization.
Powerful stuff from this brilliant writer. We see the left doing this all the time, judges getting rid of Christmas trees, courts protecting terrorists by not deporting them, and politicians changing our laws and traditions to accomodate immigrants. Palestinians good, Israelis bad. When is the last time we saw the left protesting and parading against the deplorable human rights, like killing Afghan teachers, of the Muslims.
Irwin
You’ve got “banned” on the brain. Is that the only way the Right can deal with dissent? It looks to me like your response reveals a stunted outlook. I know a certain president who is also stuck. This is not a good sign.
David Hand
The Left condemns those that are wrong, brutal, sociopathic. Notice they are not condemned before they act. However, there are some neocons who judge to know premptively how other countries are going to act. Only to discover later they were blinded by ideology instead of reality. Now however, their ideology is of no use while stuck in both Iraq and Afghanistan while Palistine and Lebanon begin to ignite yet again. It gets more complicated and dangerous daily. Nothing has been fixed. Everything has been broken. Give a neocon a weapon and it will be used every time. It is an extension of the only brain fragment they have.. the most primitive part. The Left will have to clean up their mess yet again.
…have not fear, in 2120 we will still be using rotary phones, the MATRIX proved it.
And here I thought the blue pill was Exlax(r), no wonder I felt disconnected when I took it…
“watch ma bell try to collect the cancellation fee.”
Good luck, it’s your credit rating you’re playing with.
Steve D. that is absolute crap, the left contain the biggest butchers in history, Lenin, Stalin, Hitler. I have never seen any large protest parade by the left critizing Islamic terrorists or regimes like Cuba or Russia only the US. Only Harper had the balls to call China on their human rights record unlike the Liberals and NDP.
Dear News from Afghanistan:
The economic diplomacy paper I’ve sent is only one page. Here is what people you will recognize have had to say. I hope you will be the next to share your views. This one page relates to reducing terror, the success of Afghanistan, and the national security interests of many nations. Thank you!
Praise for the paper: ECONOMIC DIPLOMACY–AFGHANISTAN
I liked the piece you sent me on Afghanistan. I agree that we are being penny wise and pound foolish…we should be spending much more for reconstruction, development and substitutes for poppy cultivation. –Joseph S. Nye Jr.–Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics
…a very interesting idea! –Tim Harford–The Undercover Economist
…this is an interesting idea. Our efforts at dealing with drugs have caused lots of harm in poor countries. It would be a big improvement if we could find a workable approach that helped them instead. –Paul M. Romer–Increasing Returns and Long-Run Growth, Macroeconomics
Politically very difficult. But not impossible. Good luck!–David Warsh—Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations: A Story of Economic Discovery
Thanks for this. It is very interesting and I’m sharing it with some colleagues who have a special interest in Afghanistan. –Peter David, Foreign Editor—The Economist
I read your proposal with great interest and am strongly sympathetic to your suggestion.
Niall Ferguson—The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West
With my thanks for your efforts. –Robert B. Charles, Former Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.
…your tightly reasoned case is one of those exceptional instances. The failure of the wealthier states to do their part and the risks attached to the global money flows arising from the drug economies should galvanize international action.–Harm de Blij—Why Geography Mattters
Your proposal is fascinating. There is a serious problem though: it’s quite sensible…Foreign policies of the US and other global powers seem to be detached from such sensibilities. If the common people of Afghanistan had compelling economic reasons, they themselves would not only switch from poppy production to more Shariah-compliant productions, but also they themselves would have vested interest in a country with stability and free from destabilizing forces, such as al-Qaeda. Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq–Professor of Economics & Finance
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Algorithm for Economic Diplomacy: A not so ‘dismal’ Economics idea!
Economics writer David Warsh said that individual non-rival goods are well described as ideas. Ideas can used over and over and by more than one person (or nation) at a time. A non-rival good, in essence, is a design, a recipe, formula, blueprint, procedure, technique, arrangement or text. You catch the drift. Think of ideas as bits—ideas that can be written down and encoded in a computer to be used simultaneously by any number of persons. Lots of these bits added together make up what we call knowledge. And it is the non-rivalry of knowledge that is the engine of globalization, so that when nations educate their citizens, they also allow them to participate in global markets, an asset previously denied before their willingness to learn. With so many people and nations now eager to learn and compete, that is what globalization is all about.
One new application of a non-rival good aids both learning and globalization, particularly in the poorest of nations, specifically nations that cultivate narcotics producing plants, like Afghanistan and Colombia. Concurrently, implementing this plan devastates narcotics supply–and terrorist, insurgency and criminal revenues, all added and desirable security benefits.
The non-rival idea is this: Rich nations that are narcotics users can profit from paying poor nations ‘not to cultivate narcotics producing plants.’ allowing both rich and poor to benefit from the vast price gap between rich and poor nation cost structures. Here’s how that can work.
Everything costs more in rich nations. Everyone is paid more in rich nations. Take rich nations and Afghanistan as a comparison. Afghanistan produces 92% of the worlds’ opiates. For opiates derived from Afghan poppies the 30 richest nations of OECD pay a ‘societal cost’ of $217 billion dollars annually. Afghan farmers, according to President Hamid Karzai, get $700 million dollars. This huge gap represents a rich nation opportunity to end opiates cultivation at no cost!
How?
When the cost of a societal problem (be it cancer, energy costs, education or narcotics) is substantially reduced, or better yet, eliminated, the costs previously spent are saved in the degree to which the problem is eliminated. If Afghanistan has an incentive to end poppy cultivation, all rich nation savings are available to donors for alternate uses. Price gap differentials allow donors to realize a huge profit, in this instance $211 billion annually!
Therefore, in the case of Afghanistan, one third, $2.8 billion of their GDP, is represented by poppy cultivation. If rich nations replaced that GDP income, paid former poppy farmers, and added another $2.8 billion for education, etc., and did it for a long enough period, let’s say ten years for a measured adjustment to take place, grantors would gain a net savings of $211 billion annually, or $2.1 trillion dollars in ten years. That is an example of how a non-rival good can be utilized. That also means the same idea can be used in places like Colombia, the source of almost 100% of US consumed ‘hard drugs,’ an additional savings of $117 billion—annually. Add them together: a combined total of $3.28 trillion in just ten years!
Detailed proposal is available on request at waltoncook@publicpolicypress.com Thank you!
steve d,
I may hate what you say, but I will defend your right to be a buffoon.
Look, I don’t agree with evolution. I can’t comprehend swamp life building Chartres Cathedral. But despite this difference, I respect a proponent of evolution, (for example ET’s) ability to reason.
Islam, on the other hand, pre-dates the so-called neo-con movement by some 1400 years. For you to state that the root of Islamic imperialism and hatred is caused by neocons is not only false, it says all anybody needs to know about your retarded faculty for reason.
So, please, continue to speak on behalf of the left, so that we can all understand.
Walton Cook,
I’ve read about this idea before, and would like to believe in it. However, there is a social/political/religious elephant in the room. It is resurgent Islam. Can Islam be defeated by the benefits brought about by open criticism, rational thought and knowledge? 1400 years of history and trends amongst recent immigrants into the west would say no.
I’m off to make my annual batch of 25 jars of Christmas Cranberry, so don’t have time to read everything posted here. Forgive me if I overlap.
‘Just to let people know that Canada Post is sending parcels to soldiers in Af’stan for free. I’ve adopted a soldier through http://www.canadianangels.org–Wendy Sullivan put this organization together; check out the site. Canada Post is allowing parcels to be sent free until the middle of January.
Check with the Armed Forces or Wendy first, before putting a package together, because you may need a specific name and rank in order to send things. But it’s probably not too late to put Merry back in Christmas for a lonely soldier.