Friday, November 20, 2009

A Letter to the Minister of National Defence

The Honourable Peter Gordon MacKay
Minister of National Defence
509s Center Block
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
MackaP@parl.gc.ca

Response to Piracy

Dear Mr. MacKay,

I think we are all concerned about the threat posed to world commerce and maritime safety by pirates operating near the Horn of Africa.

Recently I became aware of the fact the International Law of the Sea Convention requires naval vessels to board suspected pirate vessels and inspect their papers, then, when these prove not to be in order, to arrest the pirates and transport them to the nearest functioning jurisdiction (Kenya).

Since this has proved to be ineffective in combating their lawless activities, and since such restrictions pose unnecessary dangers to our service personnel, I am asking you to, a) withdraw Canada from the International Law of the Sea Convention and b) issue instructions to our naval units to fire upon and sink any pirate vessels they encounter.

Such a response to pirate activity, if pursued by all nations, would end it forthwith, as it did in the past.

Sincerely,
Frank Hilliard

Box 218
Grand Forks, BC
V0H 1H0

(250) 442-5629

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Why Going to University is a Mistake

Especially to McGill. The McGill Daily prints an editorial criticizing Canada's new immigration guide and calls it incomprehensible, racist and showing contempt for immigrants.

Feel free to read the dreadful thing by Daily's Editorial Bord to see what they're teaching in university these days. I'd say McGill is pretty incomprehensible, but others have said it better in the comments:

John wrote:

Garbage like this from 19 year old students who take themselves too seriously is why I try not to read The Daily...

Nov 19, 2009 at 05:15 PM

Adam C. Sieracki wrote:

"This section smacks of racist contempt for specific societies..."

Huh?! After the Aqsa Parvez tragedy, 'Womyn's groups' practically tripped over themselves, trying to deny that things like honour killings, bride burnings, female genital mutillation and other atrocities are NOT culturally-specific. Equivocate and deny all you want, but the fact remains that these horrors are only endemic to Islamic, African and South Asian cultures. Apparently, gender rights are secondary to cultural sensitivity. And yes, "the fear that these immigrants will bring this practice with them" is a valid one, considering incidents of honour killings that have occured, since large numbers of Muslim immigrants entered Canada--unheard of here, thirty years ago. And if serial killing and child molestation bothers you, have a look at the femicidal Muslim culture in Afghanistan, and their 'Man Love Thursdays' activities.

Nov 19, 2009 at 06:45 PM

Right on John and Adam. The editors; idiots.

Piracy and the Decline of Empire

There is a relationship between the decline of empire and the rise of piracy; one precedes the other. There were no pirates off the horn of Africa when British gunboats bobbed at anchor in Aden and carabinieri lounged on the verandas of the better hotels in Mogadishu.

Lieutenant Stephen Decatur Boarding a Tripolitan Gunboat
during the bombardment of Tripoli, 3 August 1804

Nor were there any in the Mediterranean after the newly formed U.S. Navy finished off the pirates there in the early 19th Century. The BBC (of all people) have an excellent review of how Britain and the United States successfully used gunboat diplomacy to get rid of pirates around the world. But then the article goes on:

No such action against the "wasps' nests" along the Somali coast is possible today, even though the UN Security Council has authorised the use of the "necessary means" to stop pirates on the high seas and hot pursuit into Somali territorial waters. However, the resolutions that made these actions permissible (1838 and 1846) also contain restrictions.

Everything has to be done in accordance with "international law" and this is interpreted as complying with the conditions of the International Law of the Sea Convention.

This convention, in article 105, does permit the seizure of a pirate ship, but article 110 lays down that, in order to establish that a ship is indeed a pirate vessel, the warship - and it may only be a warship - has to send a boat to the suspected ship first and ask for its papers.

Got that? In the past when a pirate vessel was spotted, it was attacked and sunk. Now? Well, now we ask politely for their papers. Or to put that another way; the restrictions of international law make ending the scourge of international piracy a practical impossibility. International law is really international lawlessness.

I'm going to quote again from Modern Times by Paul Johnson, my bible on all things historical. He's talking about piracy in the Mediterranean on page 687:
Pompey had ended piracy in the first century BC, and it was a sinister sign of Rome's fading power when the pirates returned in force in the middle of the third century AD.
A different empire, the same pirates. Indeed, the Arabs were pirates before they were Muslims! The important thing here is that they returned when Rome began to decline. Just as the Somali pirates have returned as British and American power has declined in the Indian ocean.

It makes no difference what the reason: a lack of warships or a lack of will to use the warships available. Either results in the same outcome, pirate attacks.

America and West are in steep decline because we don't use the power we have, because we have bowed low to 'international law' and because we lack moral fiber.

One more thing; the original expansion of Islam was a kind of land-based-piracy; pillaging, raping and looting and then dividing the spoils and cowing the invaded. There is no difference really between that and what's happening today.

Our leaders are wimps and our enemies are sharpening their swords for the time when they will be at their throats, and ours.

 

Bye, Bye, Swine Flu

H1N1 going away

Here's some good news for a change, H1N1 has peaked in Canada, especially in BC. Just as well; I figure I'll get a shot for it sometime next week.

Illegal Immigrant Accused of Murder?

I mentioned the murder of George Kalogerakis, 38, on Nov. 15 because he was killed in his own home during a home invasion. Police now have three young black men in custody; one of whom, Shevon Bailey, 21, was supposed to be under house arrest.

That is appalling but commonplace; what's of more concern is the 15-year old youth who is charged with the 'execution' of Kalogerakis. According to the Sun, 'Immigration officials have been called in to assist with the case of the youth.'

'Immigration officials?' Does that mean we now have an illegal immigrant accused of killing a Canadian in his home in front of his mother in Brampton, Ontario?

That's what it looks like.