Defining Terrorism

There will always be those who defend the CBC not matter what idiocies escape from it. The latest defense concerns the CBC’s new stated policy to replace the word “terrorist” with “bomber,” apparently with the intention of equating those who perpetrated the murderous London attacks with teenagers who drop cherry bombs down high school toilets.

The policy conforms to the much more sinister, leftist view of terrorism. Take, for example, this leftist’s use of the term:

“I regard terrorism as violence carried out by non-state groups seeking to achieve political aims through fear.”

It’s all about politics to leftists. Take Iraq: The American occupation of Iraq if immoral and unethical. Therefore, terrorism is just another legitimate means of achieving political ends (the end of the American “occupation”), along with writing letters to the editor or participating in a civil protest.

Not only does this definition ascribe legitimacy to terrorism, it completely mischaracterizes the nature of the Al Queda cells. When suicide bombers head out to murder indiscriminately for the express purpose of acquiring a harem of virgins upon their deaths, politics does not factor into the equation. And yet these people would not be considered terrorists?

Shutting Down Debate

Bryan West, the Students Union president at the University of Calgary, is apparently a western separatist:

“I agree with those in favour of Alberta separation. I think it is my democratic right if the people I vote for don’t get into office, or a policy I don’t approve of becomes law, that my friends and I should be able to pick up and start our own nation.”

Fair enough. But now, federal Liberals in Alberta, not the most mainstream of folk, are reacting. Werner Patels (the Calgary Observer), a typical Liberal twit, had the following to say:

And Bryan West, the moronic president of the University of Calgary Students’ Union has written a letter to the editor singing the praises of separation. People like West need to be silenced (look at his picture in the Calgary Herald: he looks like a goose-stepper)

Liberal response #1: Silence those who disagree. #2: Jump-start the ‘ol character asassionation machine. Funny, I never thought I’d hear someone named “Werner” accuse someone else of being a nazi. Oy! [If, incidentally, you want the full story on this nut-bar, check out Craig Smith's summary.]

I’m looking forward to the coming debate over Alberta’s future in confederation. Hopefully kooky twits like Werner will be left out in the cold where they belong.

Crossposted here.

Flipping The Bird at Tragedy

The Calgary Sun has come under fire for publishing a photo of an Ontario man accused of raping and assaulting a Banff woman while leaving his preliminary hearing. The photo was jarring. Albert Muckle, who recently arrived in Alberta from Ontario, was pictured flipping the bird at photographers and apparently laughing. Or, as Licia Corbella describes it:

The photo itself shows a handcuffed Muckle laughing, his tattooed hands up near his face level with both middle fingers sticking up telling all of us where to go.

Like Corbella, I’m not interested in convicting him before his trial. But these actions show that Ontarian Muckle has little regard for either the fact that an entirely innocent woman is currently in a coma after a traumatic assault or that he is facing accusations of a horrific rape and assault.

The Sun was entirely in the right when it published that photo.

Dressing like an Albertan

Rule #1: Every male who has ever tried on a cowboy hat thinks he looks great in it. Rule #2: Unless you’re Clint Eastwood or Larry Hagman, you probably look stupid in it.

And so Stephen Harper looked stupid in his cowboy hat during the Calgary Stampede. So did Joe Clark when he participated in the parade. So did Scott Brison, who donned a sheer white outfit and hat (apparently Boss Hogg was his fashion inspiration, although I can’t imagine Brison and his partner sitting down to enjoy an episode of The Dukes of Hazzard together). And yet Harper seemed to be the only public figure who came up for criticism over his dress. This was suprising, since Harper was taken to task for not dressing like a cowboy in last year’s parade.

The Toronto Sun published an editorial critical of Harper’s manner of dress. While generally symapthetic, the editorial was written from an unmistakably Torontonian point of view. To bring Harper up for ridicule was to apply the same haughtiness to every Calgarian who dressed in a similar fashion during the Stampede (including, I add with genuine delight, someone I spotted who combined a western outfit, including an enormous gaudy belt buckle, with a turban).

And so Link Byfield’s rebuttal of that article came as a great relief:

Apparently cowboy hats turn off Ontarians in droves.

If true (and we have no reason to doubt it) we can hardly fault the Toronto Sun for telling us. But what does that say about Ontarians?

It tells us they expect us to conform to their tastes because they find ours ridiculous.

It tells us we may not celebrate our history and traditions if we want to be taken seriously on a national level.

Cowboy garb may be a way to celebrate Alberta’s history; it may just be the prerequisite uniform to party during Stampede week. But in assailing this important component of contemporary Albertan culture, the Toronto Sun managed to argue only that Harper should separate himself from his provincial roots.

I doubt that this is an argument that the primary author of the Alberta Agenda will accept. And, if you believe the polls, Canadians’ continued rejection of Harper may result in his returning to those roots faster than the editorialists at the Toronto Sun would believe possible. But that’s fine by me; Canada’s loss would be, in this case, very much Alberta’s gain.

Idi0tic Ideas on Religious Freedom in Canada

Via Joe Knippenberg at No Left Turns, a former Royal Military College prof says the state should take a Leviathan regulatory stance toward religion. See the post for commentary and posts. It’s too idiotic – and typically eastern Canadian – to take seriously.

Knippenberg says it’s yet another reason for Alberta to secede.

Conservatives Great Hope: Bob Rae

“I’d shoot him if I saw him,” a lifelong Ottawa native told me when I informed him the federal Liberals were eyeing Bob Rae as a possible leadership candidate to replace Paul Martin.

Bob Rae was NDP Premier of Ontario during the early 90s, and nearly bankrupt the province, along with nearly destroying it under the weight of politically correct ideology. The Mike Harris government had to clean the place up after him. Rae has since seen the error of his ways.

However, Ontarians, like most voters, have long memories when it comes to politicians they hate. And they hate Bob Rae.

This is why Bob Rae would be a wonderful leader for the federal Liberals. Those of us in the West could have a lot of fun watching them convulse over whether they’d vote for an Albertan, Stephen Harper, or the man who once nearly destroyed them.

I think I know how, stupidly, they’d vote in the end. But it would be fun to watch.

On a related note, see Link Byfield’s reflections on the Globe and Mail’s recent idiocies telling Stephen Harper not to celebrate Stampede.

It’s Not About Iraq, Afghanistan: Islamist Expert

Olivier Roy is the author of noted books, including Globalized Islam.

In today’s NY Times, he explodes the argument that the 3/11 attacks in Madrid and the 7/7 attacks in London (and yesterday’s attacks) were “punishment” for Spain’s and England’s participation in Iraq:

From the beginning, Al Qaeda’s fighters were global jihadists, and their favored battlegrounds have been outside the Middle East: Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya and Kashmir. For them, every conflict is simply a part of the Western encroachment on the Muslim ummah, the worldwide community of believers.

Second, if the conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine are at the core of the radicalization, why are there virtually no Afghans, Iraqis or Palestinians among the terrorists? Rather, the bombers are mostly from the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, Egypt and Pakistan – or they are Western-born converts to Islam. Why would a Pakistani or a Spaniard be more angry than an Afghan about American troops in Afghanistan? It is precisely because they do not care about Afghanistan as such, but see the United States involvement there as part of a global phenomenon of cultural domination.

“Born again” or converts, they are rebels looking for a cause. They find it in the dream of a virtual, universal ummah, the same way the ultraleftists of the 1970′s (the Baader-Meinhof Gang, the Italian Red Brigades) cast their terrorist actions in the name of the “world proletariat” and “Revolution” without really caring about what would happen after.

It is also interesting to note that none of the Islamic terrorists captured so far had been active in any legitimate antiwar movements or even in organized political support for the people they claim to be fighting for. They don’t distribute leaflets or collect money for hospitals and schools. They do not have a rational strategy to push for the interests of the Iraqi or Palestinian people.

The Western-based Islamic terrorists are not the militant vanguard of the Muslim community; they are a lost generation, unmoored from traditional societies and cultures, frustrated by a Western society that does not meet their expectations. And their vision of a global ummah is both a mirror of and a form of revenge against the globalization that has made them what they are.

In short, these “globalized” jihadists have no constituency, no community, and seek worldwide revolution for the sake of revolution.

There’s no possibility of “understanding” them.

Miss Universe Not Welcome but, Naked Gays… Yes Please!

Get this, Toronto city hall doesn’t want Miss Universe Natalie Glebova to wear her sash or tiara in Nathan Phillips Square because,

“Activities which degrade men or women through sexual stereotyping, or exploit the bodies of men, women, boys or girls solely for the purpose of attracting attention, are not permitted on Nathan Phillips Square.”

However, they’ve got no problem with topless / nude gays (WARNING: nudity) and lesbians from flaunting their stuff during their gay pride parade which just happens to start in, you guessed it, Nathan Philips Square in front of the Toronto City Hall.

Perhaps if Miss Glebova was topless and openly gay (or atleast promoting the gay lifestyle), the city of Toronto would approve. [via smalldeadanimals.com>]

Another Helprin Review

The Globe and Mail (of all places) has a glowing review of Mark Helprin’s Freddy and Fredricka, with lots of great quotes.

Here are some more reviews and links on Helprin.

Crossposted: Civitatensis

Dame Cicely Saunders, Founder of Modern Hospice Movement, Has Died

Via Wesley J. Smith, the Telegraph reports that Dame Cicely Saunders has died. She founded the modern hospice movement that sought to integrate principles of faith in managing pain for the dying:

Cicely Saunders believed in the importance of allowing patients to control their own treatment, and recognised the need to work closely with families of the terminally ill. The wards of St Christopher’s were light and airy and often teeming with children and pets.
…
Again there was a short, passionate relationship restricted to brief meetings in the ward and ending with his death: “I loved him very much,” she recalled. “He taught me what it was like to be dying and to be bereaved; he showed me the achievement of a good death, that as the body becomes weaker, so the spirit becomes stronger.”
…
Though the philosophy underlying St Christopher’s was Christian, it welcomed patients of any persuasion or none. Cicely Saunders noticed that those who coped best always had a shining faith, but that atheists often died as peacefully as Christians. The people with the most problems were those who had not sorted out their ideas. Clergymen, oddly, and the affluent, often turned out to have the most difficulty.

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