ramble through the bronx

Tuesday, February 10, 2004

The Joint Terrorism Task Force strikes again!

I'll assume y'all have heard of this, but if not, here and here and here is some information about how the FBI has subpoenaed Drake University in Des Moines for information on anti-war protestors for the purposes of a Grand Jury investigation.

To quote Brian Terrell, Executive Director of the Catholic Peace Ministry, Des Moines, Iowa, one of the groups with members served with a subpoena, 'The Grand Jury process is shrouded in secrecy. We do not know who or what the object of this investigation may be, beyond "possible violations of federal criminal law in the Southern District of Iowa."' (from Isebrand Dot Com, but also reprinted in other locations, including Tom Tomorrow's This Modern World blog, above which is a beautiful picture of "The Amazing Shrinking President").

Don't we all feel very safe now? The peaceniks won't get us! ho ho!

Meanwhile, Abdulkareem Khadr, a 14 year old Canadian boy whose family moved with him to Pakistan about five years ago, who was paralyzed from the waist down by a bullet, and whose three brothers are suspected Al Qaida members (he has a 17 year old brother in Gitmo), is probably not eligible for OHIP benefits ("it's doubtful"). The Canadian government says that it's up to the family to get him back to Canada, and they'll only consider assistance when sources of private funding are exhausted. (See Yahoo news -- "No help for 14-year old son of Al-Qaida suspect paralysed in firefight").

Still meanwhile, we got a paragraph of Can-con in a US report on terrorism! woo hoo! All I can say is, compare the Globe & Mail's version, which makes Ottawa sound dangerous! and sketchy! and a veritable web of intrigue! to the CBC's version, which wryly notes that the Ottawa references are all in one paragraph of a 90 page report, and points out that "There are no details of what the alleged "landmark" targets in Ottawa were or how the plot was foiled." So basically, Ottawa's more or less still the same old place. (Unless it's now suddenly located in South America, as the title of the report -- "Terrorist and Organized Crime Groups in the Tri-Border Area (TBA) of South America" -- seems to indicate. yay warm!)

Don't they know Montreal is where the action is?

and for those who keep losing track

The CBC has a beautiful online explanation of the whole NHL - NHLPA labour dispute, here.

My future husband, Bryan McCabe, of course has put his foot in his mouth by saying (as quoted right on the main page of aforementioned site), "The bottom line is, if they want a hard [salary] cap, we'll sit out for the rest of our lives." I don't know, Bryan, that's hardly fair. Or at least you could have said it better. Why don't you fly out to New York and we can discuss this over a beer?

(of course, alas, the closest the Leafs are coming to NYC for the rest of the season is bloody Philadelphia, a whole 3 hours drive away... and if the next season gets cancelled due to labour issues, I'll be quite unhappy. Damnitall.)

jane 10:57 AM [+]