A Spark Away From Disaster

On Christmas Day 2009, an Airbus 330 carrying 279 passengers exploded over the city of Detroit during its descent. Flaming debris showered down across city blocks and neighbourhoods many more people on the ground were killed as the wreckage fell. This is the scenario terrorists had in mind when Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to ignite explosives he had snuck onto the plane. Many people do not seem to understand the gravity of this attack. And that's what it was, an attempted terrorist attack. It was not a botched plan, or an uncovered plot, or a threat. This was an attack that would have, but for the chance failure of Abdulmutallub to ignite, killed hundreds, terrorized millions, bankrupt the aviation industry and likely plunged the US deeper into recession. For some reason, because this was a failed attack, many people are brushing it off and are moving on to complaining about the full body scanners and the country of origin profiling that is being implemented in its wake. Those people need to wake up and realize that this was an attempt organized by Islamic terrorists that was a spark away from fruition. I'm glad to see Canada taking the lead in installing the full body scanners that would have thwarted this kind of attack. Privacy concerns are legitimate, but largely overemphasized. The images are not as detailed as many imagine and aren't downloaded to some pervert's USB for fun time back at home. In fact, the person screening the images can't even see you--they're kept behind the scenes in a separate room. Also implemented is a list of countries from which travellers heading to the US will be doubly screened. Coming to New York from Libya, for example, will garner extra scrutiny. This kind of profiling should have been enacted years ago and it should be expanded to include all past trips as well. Check everyone's passport and if they've visited a "terror-prone" area-- recently been on a jaunt to the Swat region of Pakistan?--flag them for extra security. Almost all recent terrorists have been connected to these terror-prone states: the London bombers travelled to Pakistan prior to their attacks, the 9/11 hijackers visited and trained in Afghanistan, the mastermind of the Madrid bombings trained in Afghanistan and the Christmas Day bomber visited terrorist cells in Yemen. It's time the countries that foster this kind of extremism are flagged and those people travelling to, from and through them get the most rigorous security screening available.

Canada relies on US for Justice

Today in the United States, Clay Roueche, leader of the Canadian based "UN Gang" was sentenced to 30 years in prison. This violent gang leader, who made millions smuggling drugs into both Canada and the United States got the kind of sentence that is the stuff of dreams here in Canada. Considering these were only drug and money laundering charges, there is no doubt in my mind that if Mr. Roueche had been tried in the true north strong and free, he'd be walking free in far fewer years than 3 decades, assuming he got any sentence at all. Canada has long taken such a soft approach to crime that many big American cities are safer than their Canadian counterparts and now we are relying on the Americans to dole out the justice we seem incapable of dishing out ourselves. How pitiful is this? We send our pregnant women to the US because we run out of hospital rooms, we send our criminals to the US because we can't deliver justice, we send out troops into combat on American planes and boats because we won't fund our own military adequately, and the list goes on. Let's hope Canadian prosecutors and politicians wake up and try to deal with our problems ourselves.

Bill Vander Zalm should have stayed out to pasture.

Now he's raising money for a constiutional challenge to the HST? After asking the Governor General to step in, which is laughable, he's now going to fight the HST in the courts. Why? If you could decipher his foaming-at-the-mouth tirade on CKNW last week, its because the HST is being forced upon BC by the federal government without BC's approval. Sorry, but he's wrong. A democratically elected provincial government is pursuing this shift. What'sundemocratic is a political dinosaur un-extincting himself to undermine the government. Get over it HST zealots. There's no conspiracy or scheme here. Its a policy you don't agree with. I get it. But enough with the rallies and court cases already. If you're still angry in 3 1/2 years when we are out of recession, the HST having done nothing but create jobs and increase efficiency, and the province humming along, then you can voice that anger at the polls. And maybe there will even be a washed-up flower magnate on the ballot for you all to rally around.

Posts for Copenhagen - #2

You've got to admire the idea Ecuador is peddling at the climate conference in Copenhagen. The Ecuadorians are suggesting that "rich" countries pay it $3.5 billion to NOT drill its crude oil reserves, which unfortunately are located beneath parts of the Amazon rain forest. This "novel idea" (as the Wall Street Journal puts it) sounds like blackmail to me. If Ecuador is passionate about reducing greenhouse emissions, then it should simply not cut down the Amazon and drill for oil. What it certainly should not do is hold a hacksaw up against a tree and try to extort other countries for money. Where will that end? Do we pay Japan to stop whaling? Let's cough up billions and bribe Brazil from clear-cutting tacks of its forests too! And since the world is in such a giving mood, will Canada get a fat cheque if it scales back the oil-sands? I won't be holding my breath for that one. Countries should adopt environmental policies because they believe in the cause or want to increase their efficiency or cut oil imports or for myriad other reasons; they should not be looking to Copenhagen for a big, fat payday.

Posts for Copenhagen

The UN Conference on Climate Change began today with a "Cultural Opening Ceremony" which involved a 4 minute video featuring a young girl dreaming that climate change is going to:
1) change her lush playground into a desert
2) cause earthquakes to split the earth swallowing up her stuffed polar bear friend
3) create black swirling skies that shoot funnels of wind down from the heavens to devour her city
Quite alarming. But the actual conference won't be filled with such alarmist talk will it? If we want to lower carbon emissions, go ahead. But did I miss the evidence that if we do not start this month, we're hooped?