Man Murdered in London, England While One of His Assailants Screams "Allahu Akbar"; Police Speculate That "Terrorism" May Have Been Involved

Brilliant deduction, Sherlocks.



Update: "Suspected jihadis hack man to death on busy London street"

"Suspected"?!?

Khan's Con: Globe and Mail Opiner Claims Peace Could Have Come to Pass in Afghanistan Had Canada's (Infidel) Government Not "Branded" the Taliban "Terrorists"

One can only marvel at the mindset of an individual who thinks like this:

For anyone who has followed the Afghan war over the past twelve-odd years, the recent addition of the Afghan Taliban to Canada’s list of terrorist entities came as a surprise. More than a surprise, it was disheartening. After more than a decade of engagement in Afghanistan, the Harper government has indicated it is no longer interested in finding a path to peace.

This is the problem with “terrorist lists” in general: they evoke a sense of evil and gloss over the details of complex conflicts like the one in Afghanistan. To simply label the Taliban a terrorist group without taking into account the matrix of alliances and interests that govern Afghanistan indicates a juvenile understanding of that war-ravaged nation. It reduces Afghanistan to Bush-era terms of good and evil.

But terrorism, particularly terrorism in Afghanistan, has never been so simple. Why, it must be asked, did it take the Canadian government more than ten years to add the Taliban to the terrorist list? 

Better late than never?

Update: A G&M reader comments:

Okay, we get it. They're not terrorists. They're simply a group that uses or threatens to use force or violence against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments for ideological and/or political reasons.

Sarcasm off.

Heh.

The Truth About Trudeau the Father

As the nation prepares to go gaga for Trudeau fils, a new book details the wretched truth about Papa Pierre:

The reality is Trudeau's accomplishments are tarnished by the damage he inflicted on the country that haunts us to this day. On almost all major issues-national unity, the economy, government finances, the environment, poverty, immigration, national defence, international relations, poverty, foreign aid-Trudeau's record falls well short of the mark.

Rather than embrace immigration, Trudeau slashed it. Rather than defend Canadian industry, he undermined it. Rather than draw the country together, he antagonized the west and weakened federalist leaders working on the ground for the hearts and minds of Quebecers. Rather than respect liberty, he mislead Canadians when invoking the War Measures Act. Rather than make Canada more secure, he emasculated our military and cozied up to communist dictators. And rather than build a Just Society, he racked up debt, hobbling government's ability to care for the disadvantaged for decades to come.

Trudeau left deep divisions and scars that remain to be healed. Any progress Trudeau made on bilingualism, individual rights, and multiculturalism was dwarfed by his legacy of economic mismanagement, regional alienation and international isolation. While no one disputes Trudeau's intelligence, toughness, charisma, and the flashes of glamour he brought Canada, in the end the pirouettes were not worth the price...

Charisma being entirely in the eye (and emotions) of the beholder, try telling that to those avid for his son (more than a few of whom, alas, are Jews).

Beware of Control Freaks Who Want to Shut You Up in the Name of "Human Rights"

Michael Rubin nails it re their true intentions and their cynical appropriation of the human rights file:

The assault on free speech is not simply an Islamist problem, but now goes much deeper. It is simply the latest tactic for autocrats to achieve their desired result of muzzling speech and individual liberty. The fact that the erosion of rights is conducted in the name of tolerance and other buzzwords of the human rights community shows both how cynical autocrats have become and how politicized the human rights community is today. The tyranny of political correctness is far from defeated.

Silly Kerry's Very Bad Timing

He wants to restart that confounded "peace process" as the Arab world is imploding.

Chicks in Karzai's Afghanistan (HOW Much Is the CIA Paying This Kleptocrat?) Being Subjected to "Virginity Tests"

Which aren't tests so much as they are sexual assaults:

"Four years after the adoption of a law on violence against women and 12 years after Taliban rule, women are still imprisoned for being victims of forced marriage, domestic violence, and rape," Brad Adams, HRW Asia director, was quoted as saying. 

It said many of those detained for so-called moral crimes had attempted to report rapes to police only to be arrested for adultery, while others fleeing forced marriages or abuse were jailed for running away from home - even though that is not a crime according to the Afghan criminal code. 

And it said that many of those accused of "moral crimes" were subjected to "virginity tests" with no medical basis which contravened international law. 

"Coerced 'virginity' examinations are a form of sexual assault," Mr Adams said. "Afghan police, without any scientific basis, are routinely forcing these unspeakable examinations on women and girls."

Nice people. Let's send 'em loads more jizya, 'kay?

Iran, Hezbo Support for Syria Complicates Peace-Talk Strategy

No kidding. Time to come up with another "strategy," no?

Ryerson U's "Socially Sensitive" Social Work Program--for Aboriginals Only

It functions in a way that considers the Aboriginal culture and mindset, since, according to this Toronto Star article, these students have a hard time coping in the regular course:

At a time when 95 per cent of aboriginal young people don’t go to university — and many of those who start fall away — the program Ryerson and FNTI have developed is worth heeding. It offers the youth of First Nations — the fastest-growing segment of Canada’s population — an opportunity to learn the skills they need without sacrificing their identity. 

“I’ve heard students say ‘I’ve got my BA, I’ve got my BMW,’” Lomax said. “Our courses aren’t like that.” 

There are no lecture halls, no passive listening and no jockeying for dominance. “We are all teachers and learners,” explained Suzanne Brant, academic vice-president of FNTI.  

“We all bring our knowledge to the sharing circle.”

Gee, I wonder what'll happen when Canada is forced to find ways to "accommodate" the youth of Canada's fastest-growing religion and the youth of "the fastest-growing segment of Canada's population." Which groups' needs will, do you suppose, take precedence over the others'?

Huma's Hubby Announces Mayoralty Bid

Well, that's one way to get that 9/11 mosque idea up and running again.

How, Um, Generous: Chechnya Funds Construction of Massive Mosque in Israel

It's all very "peace-y," though:

If all goes according to plan, by the end of the year a mega mosque — second in size only to the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount — will open in the Arab village of Abu Ghosh outside Jerusalem, largely funded by the Islamic Republic of Chechnya.  

Located 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) west of Jerusalem on the main highway to Tel Aviv and with a population of just over 6,000, Abu Ghosh — renowned for its hummus restaurants, classical music festival and ancient picturesque churches — boasts close relations with its predominantly Jewish surroundings. Somehow, Islam was always a footnote in the village’s public image. But that may change soon.

Construction on the mosque, tentatively referred to as “the Mosque of Peace,” began two years ago, is currently in full swing, and is expected to end by October, Abu Ghosh Mayor Salim Jaber told The Times of Israel. He said the municipality decided to construct a new mosque to accommodate local worshipers, who have been forced to pray on the sidewalks on Fridays and holidays for lack of current prayer space in the town...

Hate to be such a Devorah downer, but I'm pretty sure "peace" means something quite different to Islamist Chechens than it does to Israeli Jews. 

Israel Cancels UNESCO "Fact-Finding" Mission Re Israel's Jewishness (or Lack Thereof) When Abbas "Politicizes" It

Seems to me UNESCO's support of "Palestine" was always "political," but Israel finally figured it out/came to its sense yesterday:

Israel canceled on Monday a planned visit by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) to the Old City in Jerusalem after it became clear that the Palestinian Authority was trying to politicize the mission and turn it into an anti-Israeli event. 

The Israeli government last April assented to the UNESCO mission as part of an agreement with the Palestinian Authority that promised to postpone bringing up anti-Israeli resolutions in the United Nations General Assembly. 

Israel announced in April that it would allow a mission from UNESCO to visit the Old City in May, in exchange for an agreement from the Palestinians to postpone a UN debate on five resolutions condemning Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. 

UNESCO has been trying to carry out a plan to protect the walls around the Old City, over which the Palestinian Authority demands sovereignty. 

The planned visit by the United Nations agency was seen as a step towards making UNESCO less political following its acceptance of the Palestinian Authority as a member last year, even though the PA is not a member state of the United Nations.
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas managed to violate another agreement by trying to turn the UNESCO mission into a “fact-finding” tour of the Jewish presence in the Old City. 

“The Palestinians violated all the agreements we had with UNESCO that this was to be a purely professional, not a political visit,” according to a Foreign Ministry spokesman. 

Sound familiar? Remember Oslo? Bush’s Roadmap? The building freeze in return for “negotiations”?...

Remember UNRWA? The UN's "human rights" body? UN special rapporteur Richard Falk? Israel expecting to get a fair shake from the OIC-dominated UN is like a hen expecting a sane response from the fox who's guarding the chicken coop.