Interesting collection of bloggers

AQ in the Kingdom

"The spawning of so many jihadi terrorists from Saudi Arabian soil for participating in acts of jihadi terrorism, either in Saudi territory, in Iraq or elsewhere, indicates that the world has until now seen only the tip of the Saudi jihadi iceberg. There are innumerable sleeper cells in Saudi Arabia that have been keeping the international jihadi terrorist movement sustained through the injection of funds, volunteers for suicide missions and other means.

The success of these sleeper cells speaks of local support - in the general populace as well as in the intelligence agencies and the security forces. And, possibly, in some sections of the ruling family too. Without such support, it is inconceivable that there could have been an uninterrupted flow of volunteers for suicide missions in Iraq without being intercepted. "

Oil profits rise 700%

ICE arrested 60 illegal aliens working at critical infrastructure facilities

"All the individuals were employed by Brock Enterprises, a company in Beaumont, Texas, that provides contract workers to facilities nationwide associated with the petrochemical industry, the nuclear industry, and other energy sectors. Brock Enterprises is cooperating fully with ICE and is not a target of the ongoing investigation. It is believed that many of these illegal workers presented fraudulent documents to Brock Enterprises in order to gain employment."

"Deep Throat"

"I'm The Guy They Called Deep Throat"
In a V.F. exclusive, W. Mark Felt, 91 years old and formerly second-in-command at the F.B.I., says that he is the confidential Watergate source who assisted Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein—and helped bring down President Richard Nixon

Some of M.P. Grewal tapes and transcripts released

Portions of transcript and tapes released on M.P. Grewal's website and subject to further clarification .

Meeting with Mr. Ujjal Dosanjh and Mr. Tim Murphy in the Confederation Building
At 1:00 PM on Tuesday May 17, 2005

Winners Never Cheat-yet ,with Adscam, cheating was the rule

"Next time someone tells you business can't be done ethically—corners must be cut, negotiations can't be honest—hand them Jon Huntsman's new book. Who's Jon Huntsman? Just someone who started with practically nothing, and built a world-class business that carried him to Forbes' list of America's wealthiest people. Here, he presents the lessons of a lifetime: a passionate, inspirational manifesto for returning to the days when your word was your bond, a handshake was sacred, and swarms of lawyers weren't needed to back it up.

This is no mere exhortation. It's as practical as a book can get. It's about how you listen to your moral compass. It's about how you build teams with the highest values...share success...take responsibility...earn the rewards that only come with giving back. Huntsman built his career and fortune on these principles—from his refusal of the Nixon administration's corrupt demands, to his lifelong commitment to charity, to the way he approaches his biggest deals.

You don't live these principles just to "succeed": you live them because they're right. But in an age of many business scandals, Huntsman's life proves honesty is more than right: it's your biggest competitive differentiator."

Michael Ledeen-War on Terror drifting?

"Freedom is our greatest weapon against the terrorists, and we do not always need to send armies to support its spread. Syria and Iran are ripe for revolution, and the dictators know it. The revolutionaries are looking to Washington for clear and material support. They are not getting it today. Twice in the past, the president slid into a similar funk, first permitting himself to be gulled by the Saudis into believing he had to make a deal with Arafat before he was entitled to liberate Iraq, then permitting the British to drag out the run-up to Operation Iraqi Freedom with endless votes in the Security Council. Each time he realized his error, and pressed on with greater vigor. It’s time for him to do that again. He should revisit his definition of the Global War on Terror: a battle against a network of terrorists, and the countries that support them. A long battle perhaps, but a clear one, with clearly identified enemies and with a wide variety of tactics to bring them down."

"Deep throat "apparently finally comes forward

Investor Town Hall this evening

OSC Investor Town Hall

Tuesday May 31, 2005 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
CBC Building 250 Front Street West Toronto


An opportunity for dialogue between regulatory bodies and consumers of financial services.
Investors can learn how the current investor complaint and arbitration systems work together, share their own experiences and make suggestions for change.

Individuals may attend the OSC Investor Town Hall meeting in person or via audiocast. Please click here to register to attend in person. Please click here to listen to the audiocast. (You are encouraged to register in advance for the audiocast. Once you have registered for the audiocast, you should check your system requirements and test your system.)

Please note that these links take you out of the OSC web site. Any personal information that you provide will be used solely for the purpose of registration for the Investor Town Hall. The authority for collecting this information is provided by section 3.11 of the Securities Act. Any questions concerning the collection or use of this information can be directed to the OSC's Manager, Investor Communications at (416) 593-2348. For more information please see our privacy statement.

Peter Brookes- How China spies

"Chinese intelligence collection uses numerous low-level spies to painstakingly collect one small piece of information at a time until the intelligence question is answered. Kind of like building a beach one grain of sand at a time.

For instance, it took China 20 years to swipe American nuclear warhead designs from U.S. national nuclear weapons labs, according to a 1999 congressional committee

China also doesn't rely on "professional" spies stationed overseas to the extent other major intel services do. Instead, it uses low-profile civilians to collect information.

The PRC's Ministry of State Security (MSS) often co-opts Chinese travelers, especially businesspeople, scientists and academics, to gather intel or purchase technology while they're in America. "

Adman pleads guilty

Question period - 2:15pm EDT

We the (Media) People- via Instapundit

"Quite a few bloggers are moving beyond opinion journalism into firsthand reporting. On my own InstaPundit.com weblog, I feature firsthand reports, often with photos, from places like Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. My "correspondents" are correspondents in the original sense -- people who correspond -- rather than in the modern sense of people with good hair and a microphone. Other bloggers have broken stories from Iraq (involving both alleged war crimes by U.S. troops and large anti-terror marches left uncovered by American media), from the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, and from Canada's government corruption scandals."

Canadian wins Miss Universe

Louis Rene Beres.........

.."My own answer lies in his presumption of a natural reciprocity among human beings and states in the matter of killing. We are asked to believe that as greater numbers of people agree not to become executioners, still greater numbers will follow upon the same course. In time, the argument proceeds, the number of those who refuse to accept killing will become so great that there will be fewer and fewer victims. But Camus' presumed reciprocity does not exist, indeed, can never exist, especially in the jihad-centered Middle East. Here the Islamist will to kill Jews remains unimpressed by Israel's disproportionate contributions to science, industry, medicine and learning. Here there are no Arab plans for a "two-state solution," only for a final solution"

Hansard excerpts- Question Period- May 30/05

Sponsorship Program

Hon. Stephen Harper (Leader of the Opposition, CPC): Mr. Speaker, we have learned that the Prime Minister has set up a $1 million war room to deal with the fallout from the sponsorship inquiry. Now Canadians are on the hook for that money that is defending the Liberal Party.

This is a Liberal scandal, not a Canadian scandal. Canadian taxpayers have already paid enough. Will the Prime Minister direct the Liberal Party to repay this money to taxpayers?

Right Hon. Paul Martin (Prime Minister, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition knows that the inquiry is complex. It goes back over a 10 year period and involves thousands of transactions.

The mandate of the coordination in the PCO is to ensure that in fact the commission has the support it requires from the government. There are literally thousands upon thousands of documents that have to be prepared. It is the PCO that makes sure those documents are prepared and released to the commission. In fact, this is what is called cooperating with the commission to ensure that it has everything it needs from the government.

Hon. Stephen Harper (Leader of the Opposition, CPC): In fact, Mr. Speaker, the existence of this war room came to light because it was undermining the work of Justice Gomery in attacking the cost of his inquiry. That is how it was discovered by access to information.

We got the sponsorship scandal because the Liberal Party used public funds for partisan purposes. It was wrong then. It is wrong now. Will the Prime Minister direct the Liberal Party to repay this money to taxpayers?

Right Hon. Paul Martin (Prime Minister, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the work of the committee came to light because there was nothing secret about it. It came to light because the committee is doing the very job it was set up to do and that is to make sure that in fact the inquiry has all of the papers it requires and that the government is responsive to its needs.

Members of the opposition stand up daily and ask, will the government provide this and will the government cooperate. It requires a structure to do that. The answer is yes, we have cooperated, and we will continue to do so.

Hon. Stephen Harper (Leader of the Opposition, CPC): Let me ask a related question, Mr. Speaker. Before the break week, the government announced that it had set up a $750,000 trust fund for the Liberal Party to repay money to. Can the Prime Minister tell us how much money the government has directed into that fund since it was set up?

Hon. Scott Brison (Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the government has not directed anything into that trust fund, but the Liberal Party of Canada has in fact put $750,000 into that trust fund, to answer the hon. member's question.

The fact is that the Liberal Party is cooperating fully. The establishment of this trust fund demonstrates good faith. Furthermore, the Liberal Party has been clear that any funds received inappropriately will be returned to the Canadian taxpayer once we have all the facts.

¸ (1420)

Mr. Monte Solberg (Medicine Hat, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the spinning just goes on and on. Using tax dollars for the benefit of the Liberal Party is what the sponsorship scandal is all about.

Now we learn that there is a $1 million war room operating out of the PMO right now to orchestrate Gomery damage control for the benefit, once again, of the Liberal Party. So my question is, once again, why is the Liberal Party allowing this to happen? Why is the government allowing more tax dollars to go to the Liberal Party?

Hon. Scott Brison (Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, there is no war room. This is an effort to cooperate fully with the Gomery commission.

The only people who are at war are the members of the Conservative Party. They are at war with Canadians who want this Parliament to work and who want to see the continuation of a functional Parliament addressing the concerns of Canadians: investments in health care, investments in child care, investments in housing, investments in the environment and investments in strengthening Canada's role in the world. The real war is between the Conservative Party and the interests of Canadians.

Mr. Monte Solberg (Medicine Hat, CPC): Mr. Speaker, that is coming from a party that just cut a backroom deal with the leader of the NDP, one of the most undemocratic moves I have ever seen in 12 years in Parliament.

The Liberals have not learned anything at all from the sponsorship scandal. Spending public money to benefit the Liberals is the problem. Now they are doing it all over again. Will the government close down the war room and force the Liberal Party to pay back that $1 million?

Hon. Scott Brison (Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, first of all, to address the hon. member's preamble, the fact is that we are cooperating with the NDP to respect the wishes of Canadians, to make this Parliament work, to invest in child care, to invest in health care, to invest in the environment, to invest in housing and to make a difference in the lives of Canadians. I am proud that we are doing this and not siding with the separatists who want to tear the country apart, as the hon. member's party is doing.

Furthermore, the fact is that our government has cooperated and will continue to cooperate fully with the Gomery commission and has in fact provided and coordinated over 20 million pages of documents to the Gomery commission because we want Justice Gomery to succeed.

* * *

[Translation]
Member for Newton—North Delta

Mr. Gilles Duceppe (Laurier—Sainte-Marie, BQ): Mr. Speaker, Tim Murphy, the Prime Minister's chief of staff, apparently contacted the Conservative member for Newton—North Delta about a political appointment if the latter abstained from voting during the confidence vote. Part of the conversation was aired on CTV on May 18. Yet, the Prime Minister refused to say in this House if it was his chief of staff speaking.

Since the conversation has now been widely reported, can the Prime Minister now confirm that it was indeed his chief of staff on the recording?

Right Hon. Paul Martin (Prime Minister, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I have not heard the recording. The hon. member knows full well that there were discussions. I can repeat that, one, it was the hon. member for Newton—North Delta who approached the government and, two, that no offer was made.

Mr. Gilles Duceppe (Laurier—Sainte-Marie, BQ): Mr. Speaker, the transcript in The Hill Times speaks for itself. Tim Murphy appears to have said that before the Conservative member abstained there was not much point in specifically discussing Senate appointments, but afterward they would be free to talk about it. Tim Murphy appears to have tempted the hon. member for Newton—North Delta with a political appointment in exchange for his support for the government.

Does the Prime Minister realize that such behaviour is subject to prosecution under section 119 of the Criminal Code?

Right Hon. Paul Martin (Prime Minister, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I repeat: no offer was made and it was the hon. member for Newton—North Delta who approached us, period.

Gomery's mandate.........