kelownabomberfan

I think you know what my opinion is on that...though he probably was thinking "what is Derek Zoolander doing talking to me about the Ukraine right now? Doesn't he watch the news?"

More than 1,200 Europeans who joined Islamic extremists in Syria and Iraq have returned home in the past two years, an Associated Press count shows. Many have been jailed but others — absorbed into the underbelly of some of the continent's biggest cities — have thrived with impunity. All five Frenchmen linked to Friday's attacks in Paris — four strapped with suicide vests and the fifth on the run — are among them, according to officials linked to the investigation, redoubling fears that the returnees form a pool of potential terror attackers. Many remain off the radar, and France's Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve acknowledged Tuesday that "the majority of those who were involved in this attack were unknown to our services." The Belgian believed to have masterminded the Paris attacks bragged about his ability to return home from Syria, saying an ID check by police raised no flags. Two of the Frenchman responsible for the rock concert bloodbath had apparently done the same back and forth unnoticed, despite having files linking them to terrorism and Islamic radicalism. France has the uncomfortable distinction of being Europe's leading exporter of jihadis — nearly 1,600 out of a continental total of over 5,000, according to government figures. And despite the government's promises after the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January to block and prevent citizens from leaving for the war zone, the pace of departures has remained essentially unchanged. An Associated Press analysis of government figures puts it at about 13 a month in the first 10 months of the year compared to an average of 12 a month in 2014. Neighbouring Belgium has sent more young men and women per capita than anywhere in the West. And the two groups of foreign fighters are bound together by a common tongue and nearly as often a common background, often living in the same compounds and entering the same combat units. Both countries have paid the price in blood: last week's attacks in central Paris left at least 129 people dead; the co-ordinated assaults in January on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper and a kosher supermarket killed 17; the attack against a Jewish museum in Brussels that killed four last year. All the attacks were carried out by Frenchmen with close links to extremists abroad and all too often Brussels, and neighbouring Molenbeek, on their itinerary. "With the conflicts in Syria and Iraq in particular, there has been a radicalization that we have never seen before," said Molenbeek Mayor Francoise Schepmans in her office Monday. And the government knows the neighbourhood has long had trouble to contain it, as too many terror cases show. "I see there is nearly always a Molenbeek link. There is a gigantic problem," said Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel. The French government's most recent figures put the number of returnees to that country at 250, but the number is clearly far higher. With the attacks on Paris and the co-ordinated assaults in January, French citizens have become both the leading killers among European extremists and its primary victims. French officials estimate about 520 citizens are currently with extremists in Iraq and Syria, a number that has climbed steadily despite government promises to make blocking departures a priority. The numbers of departures exploded by 2014 — young people spurred in part by the chemical weapons attack that killed as many as 1,400 Syrians in August 2013 who said they wanted to help Syrian civilians and fight President Bashar Assad. The vast majority ended up with the Islamic State group. Look beyond France, and there is a sense of the scale of the problem, and of the rising alarm of European intelligence officials. And because of Europe's open borders, returns appear to be nearly as fluid as departures. "Syria has become the biggest factory of terrorists that the world has ever seen," French President Francois Hollande said Monday. According to an AP count, Britain has an estimated 350 returnees. Germany has documented about 250 returnees while Belgium puts its figure at about 130. Sweden has a total of 115 as the only other European Union nation with triple digits. Most ex-jihadis who return to France are arrested and charged with terrorism. With justice system moving at a snail's pace, people who left in 2013 and returned quickly are only just going on trial next month, according to Xavier Nogueras, a lawyer who represents more than two dozen of them. He spoke with the AP in an interview before Friday's attacks. "The justice system is trying to make the effort to figure out who is dangerous and who is not, but because they don't have the manpower, they put them all in prison, and that can make them dangerous," he said. "There are so many of these people who now wait in prison, without knowing their fate They are going to get more frustrated, ask 'why are you leaving me in prison to rot?'" He estimates that two of his 25 cases are truly dangerous, and he said he has no interest in defending committed terrorists: "There's going to come a time when I'm going to have to stop this." In Britain, 114 are awaiting trial while 21 have been convicted. Petter Nesser, a senior researcher at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, said those who commit terror attacks in Europe are both former foreign fighters and others who are simply inspired by the radical rhetoric. But the deadliest attackers, he said, have a background in jihadi warfare. Nesser said that there are many ways of tackling returnees, and one way "is to combine prosecution and preventive moves." "Right now, we do not know what actions really help," he said. http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-story-152019-5-.htm#152019

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-russia-trudeau-putin-ukraine-1.3321069 Looks like JT had his face to face with Putin. We'll see if it makes a difference.

The EU has opened the door to Britain sending troops or other specialists to France after an emergency mechanism was triggered for the first time in the bloc's history. France activated Article 42, a distress call that compels other EU states to send military and other support. It is akin to Article 5, the Nato mutual defence pact. States have already pledged support, which could be military or civil. France will specify the support it needs to each state in the coming days.

To answer your question, I think that this definitely would have affected the election. Harper would have won a majority, no question. I also have to wonder if these attacks are going to cause the cancelation of Justin's climate change party in Paris next week?

http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/german-stadium-evacuated-after-concrete-evidence-of-explosive-plot-1.2662737 Soccer game cancelled today in Germany on short notice due to explosive device plot. Merkel was supposed to be at the game.

There's a good reason that the winner of that "free" (cough cough) election is in jail. He and the MB's were trying to start a war with Israel. The Muslim Brotherhood is not a party you want running your country.

I don't see how any democracy can function in the Middle East, other than Israel. If you keep half your population enslaved through not providing any sort of public education, meaning that they are doomed to menial labour for their entire lives, how do you teach them that their vote has value, or which candidate is even worth voting for? A strong man with a strong secret police has to be in place, or radical Islam will over take and destroy the entire country. Look at how fast the military acted in Egypt to over-throw the "democratically elected" Muslim Brotherhood government. The reason they acted fast was that the MB's started shipping arms and rockets into Gaza almost the same day they were elected, and the Egyptian military does NOT want another war with Israel.

No question, the Iraq war launched by Bush was so incredibly stupid and created a vacuum in Iraq that is to blame for a lot of the unrest currently in that region, and the formation of ISIS. The Arab Spring probably wouldn't have happened either, and Gaddafi and Hussein would still have iron grips on the crazies in those regions. Would that be better?

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/even-syrian-refugees-agree-it-is-not-easy-to-identify-the-fakes

The NDP and the rest of the vociferous anti-Harper crowd would have accused the Conservatives of master-minding the attacks to create a "wedge" issue.

Right. Because they actually had a battle to win with an achievable end game, the reunification of Vietnam. Their goal was political, not religious. The "battle" you describe that radical Islam is engaging in won't be won until the entire earth is one giant Caliphate. So that's why the bombings will never stop.

No, what I am saying is that you seem to be looking for someone else to blame for these attacks other than radical Islam. I'm sorry, but I'm not buying that it was just "mistreatment" that lead these people in Paris to self-detonate, just like it wasn't mistreatment that is causing Boko Haram to wipe out whole villages in Nigeria or Al Quada to blow up Christian churches in Pakistan. Mistreatment of the Middle East isn't the reason that Philippine muslims on Mindanao are kidnapping, torturing and head-hacking infidels. Mistreatment of the Middle East isn't what is causing massive unrest in Myanmar. Mistreatment of the Middle East didn't cause 400,000 Bengalis to be slaughtered in 1971. Mistreatment of the Middle East didn't cause 1,000,000 Armenians to be slaughtered in Turkey in 1915. There is a lot more to this than "our countries mistreated them so it's our fault that thousands of people are being killed every month in terrorist attacks". It's radical Islam that is to blame. Every other excuse isn't even in the same galaxy. And make no mistake, in no way am I blaming all Muslims, or the religion itself.

Anonymous already declared war on ISIS after the Hebdo attacks. Good job on that war there Anonymous. ISIS is quaking in their sandals and explosive vests.

Good thing there is no more football left to play in Winnipeg this year....oh wait...

The Norman Bethune of Islamic extremism?

Brad Wall asking the Shiny Pony to rethink his campaign promise regarding allowing the Syrian flood of unvetted refugees into Canada. Will the Shiny Pony do that and look uncool to all of his selfie admirers at the G20 conference? http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/sask-premier-brad-wall-asks-ottawa-to-suspend-syrian-refugee-plan-1.3321159

Wait - no fire is allowed on the sidelines. Only slow patient pats on the back and smiles for the players, no matter how mind-numbingly dumb the penalty or screw-up.

That's what I told everyone in 2001, including my Vegas bookie. Man that broken leg took a long time to heal. Still working on the heart though, 14 years later...

Sorry Mark, but I'm not buying this apologist argument. As I said in a previous post, this is just too easy. Why aren't the Vietnamese self-detonating and murdering people in cold blood in restaurants and theaters in Paris right now? They have every reason to hate the French. They were mistreated by "our" countries (I'm not sure who you are lumping into this catch-all) including France and the USA, for well over 100 years. Over a million of their citizens were murdered. And yet, the Vietnamese are peaceful and are moving on with their lives. This isn't about mistreatment (or at least, that's just a small factor) of the Middle East (once again, not sure who you are lumping in to that category). It's about a religion that seems to be unable to co-exist with anyone else in many parts of the world. Try going to parts of Myanmar. Guess which parts you can't travel in. Try going to the Philippines. Guess which area you can't travel in. Were the people of Mindanao in the Philippines "mistreated" by "our" countries? Of course not. Yet they are kidnapping and beheading "infidels" too. I just don't buy it Mark.

Stamkos for Ladd - straight up - how could Tampa say no to that one?

Looks like Washington DC has been named as the next target. http://dailysignal.com/2015/11/16/isis-just-named-d-c-as-possible-target-for-terrorist-attacks-has-the-risk-increased/ one relevant segment to Canadians, in light of the Liberal campaign promise re Syrian refugees: Q: Should the U.S. be concerned about foreign-fighters coming to our shores hidden among Middle Eastern refugees? A: The government needs to focus on “terrorist travel,” finding and disrupting how groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda attempt to move assets rather than particular groups. The U.S. has seen it all—homegrown terrorists, refugees, and legal international travel. What we need from Washington is due diligence in how they process all of these. When it comes to refugees, the administration has an obligation to conduct a substantive risk assessment, fully consult with Congress and follow the law, and thoroughly vet refugee applicants.

Dat would be the record completion percentage in 2005, Bob! That and his stupid ******* facial hair choices and his giant dumbo ears... he just looks like someone you'd want to punch right in the face. I don't care if he looks like the hunchback of Notre Dame. If he can get our offence firing on all cylinders. He's my guy! If we reject an OC with a winning track record purely because of his dumbo ears then we deserve to be 25 years without a Cup.

Yikes! 100 porn stars?

Connect the dots to get to the root of terrorism RAHEEL RAZA First posted: Sunday, November 15, 2015 03:16 PM EST Once again terrorists have struck at the heart of Europe. My cousin who lives in Paris writes: “Paris, my City of Lights is in darkness — but this, too, shall pass.” Will it pass? Our reaction is deep sadness at the loss of innocent lives but also anger at the fact that this attack is not unexpected, knowing the track record of ISIS and their ilk. Reaction across Europe is that this madness is now a reality, hitting close to home. For some leaders in the West, the discussion is whether ISIS should be called Daesh, ISIL or something else? Let’s not deflect the real issue. For some Muslims on social media and those I have spoken to over the past two days, the victim card is already being played out. I met a young newly-elected Muslim MP who said: “I hate the word ‘terrorist’ because we don’t know who they [the perpetrators] are.” Seriously? Across mainstream media, self-appointed analysts are spouting their expertise to conclude that the culprit turned out to be none other than ISIS — surprise! We fully agree that the perpetrator this time is ISIS. But the same type of cowardly terrorist attacks have taken place even before ISIS was in existence. Why can’t we connect the dots to the heart of where the violence is emanating from? Former prime minister Stephen Harper was one of the first western leaders to point out that Islamism is the biggest threat facing Canada. U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron called radical ideology “the struggle of our generation.” (http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-britain-cameron-islam-20150720-story.html). French President François Hollande says this is a declaration of war. We agree. However this declaration of war from radical Islamists happened at 9/11 when planes crashed into the twin towers in New York. What other well articulated argument do we need to understand the enormity of the threat? Since 9/11, the West has been waffling in the quicksand of political correctness and refuse to call a spade a spade. Until they do, attacks like those in Paris, New York, Mumbai, Boston and Ottawa will keep happening again and again until they engulf all of us. Just connect the dots: • The export of Wahabi ideology has been taking place successfully for more than three decades. • Trillions of dollars have been used to support this program. • The inability of democratic western nations to challenge Saudi Arabia and Iran on their human rights record. • Non-integration of Muslims into countries where they migrate or seek refuge. • The push for unreasonable accommodation that white liberal guilt offers these immigrants. • No challenge to messages of hate being spouted from Mosques — especially against Christians, Jews and Hindus. • The ability of notorious Muslim organizations who say they represent all Muslims to work with impunity with government bodies. • Finally the refusal of western democracies to brand terrorist organizations as terrorists. Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan just said that Canadians should not fear ISIS. With due respect, Canadians while not being afraid, should be very concerned. The perpetrators are within us and unless law enforcement takes drastic action on the issues mentioned above, terrorists will strike again. There is no need to pray for Paris unless we connect the dots, understand the players and their motives and take action accordingly. — Raza is President of The Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow and author of Their Jihad is not my Jihad and international activist for women’s rights http://www.torontosun.com/2015/11/15/connect-the-dots-to-get-to-the-root-of-terrorism