Three Ex-Terrorists (dot com)
I'll get to the former terrorists in a minute.
First, a weather report.
The last time I did the paper route was back in the balmy days of November. This morning, two hours after coming in from the cold, my frozen feet and burning cheeks are still complaining. There is an Arctic chill covering most of Canada, even down here at the southernmost tip.
Of all weekends Luc and Beth chose this one to help Matt tear down his old cottage off Lake Huron, leaving Dan to take charge of the family business. So once again I was recruited to serve as a minion for the mainstream press.
The last time I did the paper route was back in the balmy days of November. This morning, two hours after coming in from the cold, my frozen feet and burning cheeks are still complaining. There is an Arctic chill covering most of Canada, even down here at the southernmost tip.
Of all weekends Luc and Beth chose this one to help Matt tear down his old cottage off Lake Huron, leaving Dan to take charge of the family business. So once again I was recruited to serve as a minion for the mainstream press.
Filling in for Luc I mostly drive and bag. Dan
delivered about 130 papers to my 30 and did it bare handed. I had two pairs of
gloves and as a result he had to help with the bagging as
well.
The lead story above the fold on the front page promised that killer heat waves are going to bake Windsor and Essex County in coming years. I tried to keep this in mind as I slipped and fell on the icy tracks left by last night's snow mobilers.
When I finally got a chance to look at the inside of the paper I started with the editorial page. The Star's official voice issued a reminder that the politicians mustn't forget about air pollution, from diesel trucks in particular, while they debate the best ways to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
Over on the op-ed page my attention was drawn to a letter entitled: Public outcry over Islam lecture series healthy. It was from Barbara Hall, chief commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission. The former mayor of Toronto congratulated the current mayor of Windsor and other community leaders for condemning the "hate-provoking lectures" against Islam at the Campbell Baptist Church. She also praised the Muslim community for running their own public lectures in response, defending Islam as a religion of peace.
Although Zacariah Anani has not returned to the podium at Campbell Baptist the lectures have continued. Last Thursday the speaker was Kamal Saleem, who says he was a child soldier for the Palestine Liberation Organization before he converted to Christianity. His topic was "the threat of radical Islam to Canadian society" and "whether radical Islam is in fact rooted in Qur'anic teaching."
Anani and Saleem also spoke on Tuesday evening at the University of Michigan, along with Walid Shoebat, who claims as well to be a former terrorist for the PLO. The three were invited by the conservative student group Young Americans for Freedom. According to the Detroit News more than a 1,000 attended the forum "amid hecklers, an apparent death threat and a staged walkout." Radhika Upadhyaya seems to have captured the spirit of the evening with her first person account for the Michigan Daily.
The three speakers have their own web site: www.3xterrorists.com, where they "campaign for freedom and expose the agenda of Radical Islamism, which permeates the Muslim world and Western societies."
I don't know what to make of these guys. Brave, wacky, possibly fake, politically incorrect to be sure. Anani thinks the apocalypse is only two years away. I wish it weren't so but the backlash they have generated has got me thinking Sam Harris may have been right when he made this statement:
Of all the many comments made about Anani and his friends the one I most agree with came from the Star's columnist Gord Henderson, himself no stranger to controversy.
That's all I've got for now. Gonna go to Tim Horton's for some hot chocolate. And to talk about the weather.
The lead story above the fold on the front page promised that killer heat waves are going to bake Windsor and Essex County in coming years. I tried to keep this in mind as I slipped and fell on the icy tracks left by last night's snow mobilers.
When I finally got a chance to look at the inside of the paper I started with the editorial page. The Star's official voice issued a reminder that the politicians mustn't forget about air pollution, from diesel trucks in particular, while they debate the best ways to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
Over on the op-ed page my attention was drawn to a letter entitled: Public outcry over Islam lecture series healthy. It was from Barbara Hall, chief commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission. The former mayor of Toronto congratulated the current mayor of Windsor and other community leaders for condemning the "hate-provoking lectures" against Islam at the Campbell Baptist Church. She also praised the Muslim community for running their own public lectures in response, defending Islam as a religion of peace.
Although Zacariah Anani has not returned to the podium at Campbell Baptist the lectures have continued. Last Thursday the speaker was Kamal Saleem, who says he was a child soldier for the Palestine Liberation Organization before he converted to Christianity. His topic was "the threat of radical Islam to Canadian society" and "whether radical Islam is in fact rooted in Qur'anic teaching."
Anani and Saleem also spoke on Tuesday evening at the University of Michigan, along with Walid Shoebat, who claims as well to be a former terrorist for the PLO. The three were invited by the conservative student group Young Americans for Freedom. According to the Detroit News more than a 1,000 attended the forum "amid hecklers, an apparent death threat and a staged walkout." Radhika Upadhyaya seems to have captured the spirit of the evening with her first person account for the Michigan Daily.
The three speakers have their own web site: www.3xterrorists.com, where they "campaign for freedom and expose the agenda of Radical Islamism, which permeates the Muslim world and Western societies."
I don't know what to make of these guys. Brave, wacky, possibly fake, politically incorrect to be sure. Anani thinks the apocalypse is only two years away. I wish it weren't so but the backlash they have generated has got me thinking Sam Harris may have been right when he made this statement:
Increasingly, Americans will come to believe that the only people hard-headed enough to fight the religious lunatics of the Muslim world are the religious lunatics of the West. Indeed, it is telling that the people who speak with the greatest moral clarity about the current wars in the Middle East are members of the Christian right, whose infatuation with biblical prophecy is nearly as troubling as the ideology of our enemies. Religious dogmatism is now playing both sides of the board in a very dangerous game.
Of all the many comments made about Anani and his friends the one I most agree with came from the Star's columnist Gord Henderson, himself no stranger to controversy.
I can admire those who showed up at Campbell Baptist prepared to match wits with Anani and punch holes in his hostile assessment of Islam. But it's deeply disturbing to see people demanding criminal charges and a pandering Windsor New Democratic MP, Brian Masse, organizing a witch-hunt to have Anani deported because he killed people during Lebanon's civil war.
If everyone who killed in civil conflicts around the globe, and didn't cough up all the gory details to immigration officials, is to be evicted from Canada, there won't be enough planes and ships to convey them all. Wars are fought. Losers flee. And refuge is sought.
By the way, does this mean Masse will be turning up the heat on immigration authorities to find the 40,000 individuals under Canadian deportation orders who've simply faded into the woodwork? Don't hold your breath.
Is freedom of speech just a platitude spouted by political hypocrites who choose authoritarian action over dialogue and education? So it appears.
That's all I've got for now. Gonna go to Tim Horton's for some hot chocolate. And to talk about the weather.
Posted: Sat - February 3, 2007 at 02:21 PM
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Published On: Sep 12, 2007 03:13 PM
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Published On: Sep 12, 2007 03:13 PM