Watch Out Folks

Trojan Holds Computer Files To Ransom

NewScientist.com

Security experts warned on Tuesday of a new type of threat to computer users called “ransom-ware” - malicious code which tries to extort money from users by encoding files on their machines and holding them to ransom.

The new exploit was discovered by San Diego-based company Websense when a corporate client received a demand for $200 for the digital keys to unlock their data.

The malicious code was traced back to a corrupted website. It took advantage of a vulnerability in the victim’s web browser, which allowed the code embedded in the website to run automatically on the user’s PC. - More...

Canada Gets It Wrong

Pettigrew refuses to condemn Hamas
'Wait and see' how terrorists do in election
National Post

Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew says he wants to "wait and see" how the banned terrorist group Hamas fares in upcoming Palestinian elections before condemning their political participation in the key July vote.

Mr. Pettigrew's assessment, in an interview yesterday, differed sharply from the one put forth by U.S. President George W. Bush during the visit yesterday of Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas to Washington -- one day before he arrives in Ottawa. - More...

Canada Gets It Wrong Again

Palestinian leader gets "down payment" from Canada after meeting with Martin

A six-hour visit to Canada by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday prompted the federal government to modestly improve its aid to the Middle East peace process, and to help the Palestinian Authority boost its economy and build infrastructure.

Prime Minister Paul Martin announced an additional $12.2 million in aid after meeting with Abbas, who paid a brief visit to Ottawa for the first time since being elected in January to lead his people.

Calling it a "down payment" on Canada's commitment to fostering peace in the region, Martin suggested any additional money would be conditional on Abbas following through on promised reforms.

"President Abbas must take firm measures against violence and terrorism, and should vigorously pursue the (corruption) reform program that he has launched," the prime minister said. - CP

Quebec Gets It Right

Quebec Bans Sharia
Blow to proponents of using Islamic law in Canadian society
National Post

The Quebec National Assembly yesterday unanimously adopted a resolution to oppose "the establishment of so-called Islamic tribunals in Quebec and in Canada," making the province the first to explicitly ban the use of sharia law.

"It's important to send a very clear message that there's one rule of law in Quebec," Premier Jean Charest said. "In our case, we are very much an inclusive society, but a society that will govern itself by one set of rules."

Copies of the resolution are being sent to all other legislatures across Canada.

Islamic fundamentalists have targeted Canada to introduce sharia law -- a code of conduct based on the Koran that critics say discriminates against women -- because of this country's rights guarantees and official multiculturalism, said Quebec Liberal Fatima Houda-Pepin, who proposed the private member's resolution. - More...

Related:
Ontario will make own decision about Muslim tribunals: McGuinty - CP

Giving Rules A Bad Name

Mother of Slain Soldier Denied Gold Star Membership - Fox News

Everyone agrees that Ligaya Lagman is a Gold Star mother, part of the long line of mournful women whose sons or daughters gave their lives for their country. Her 27-year-old son, Army Staff Sgt. Anthony Lagman (search), was killed last year in Afghanistan, but American Gold Star Mothers Inc., has rejected Lagman, a Filipino, for membership because — though a permanent resident and a taxpayer — she is not a U.S. citizen.

"There's nothing we can do because that's what our organization says: You have to be an American citizen," national President Ann Herd said Thursday. "We can't go changing the rules every time the wind blows." - More...

I just want to gag anytime someone uses the "rules are rules" excuse not to do the right thing. Such a shame that it will take some public humiliation to make these 12 board members do what they should. An e-mail might be in order if you are so inclined goldstarmoms@yahoo.com Be nice though, it is Memorial Day on Monday - KS

Say Its Not So

Deleting Spyware: A Criminal Act?

Mark Rasch - The Register

On my computer right now I have three anti-spyware programs, three anti-virus programs, and three anti-spam programs, together with a hardware and software firewall, an IPsec VPN, and data level encryption on certain files (and no, this is not intended to be an invitation for you to try to test my security.)

The anti-spyware, anti-virus, and anti-spam software all work in very much the same way - they have definitions of known malicious programs, and they may also have algorithms to raise flags about unknown programs which operate in an unusual way. Depending upon user preferences, the programs either automatically block or delete the suspicious mail or program, stop a running process, or quarantine a file for the user to delete.

While I hate spyware as much as the next person, I also make a good living off the removal of it from people's computers. I'd hate to see it disappear altogether. Not much chance of that. - KS

Stay Tuned

Newsweek Revamps Source Policies Following Qur'an Desecration Story


Mark Whitaker - Newsweek

Newsweek has adopted new policies for the use of anonymous sources, a week after retracting a report that claimed investigators had found evidence the Qur'an was desecrated by interrogators at the U.S. naval prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

In a letter to readers appearing in Monday's edition, Newsweek chairman and editor-in-chief Richard Smith apologized for the report and said the magazine will raise standards for anonymous sourcing.

"We got an important story wrong, and honour requires us to admit our mistake and redouble our efforts to make sure that nothing like this ever happens again," he wrote.

Two of the magazine's top editors will be assigned sole responsibility for approving the use of anonymous sources, and the magazine will stop using the phrase "sources said" to attribute information in stories, Smith said.

Newsweek retracted the May 9 report after officials at the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department criticized its publication and its use of an anonymous source. - Canadian Press

Get ready for every media outlet to try to find new evidence to support this non story. Every reporter in the world is going to try to get revenge for this one. - KS

Puzzling Silence From The Tories

Grewal Says He Wanted To Show Grits Were Dirty

A Conservative MP at the heart of a political ethics controversy says he secretly recorded conversations with high-ranking Liberals to show how low that party would sink.

But only Gurmant Grewal is speaking out about this: His party, which has told Grewal not to make some parts of the tapes public, hasn't said anything yet.

And the Conservatives haven't joined an NDP and Bloc Quebecois call for an RCMP investigation.

The Liberals deny making any offer. - CTV
- Via NealeNews

C'mon, release the tapes, don't give the Liberals any more time to squirm out of this one. - KS

Try To Get It Right For A Change

Distorting Israeli Arab Reality

AFP, LA Times and Christian Science Monitor misrepresent Israeli policy toward its minority Arab citizens

The co-existence of Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel has long been a model for the potential for democratic pluralism to take root in the Mideast. But rather than publicize this encouraging fact, the major media outlets have repeatedly distorted the status of Israel's Arab community.

When Arab players on Israel's national soccer team scored key goals in recent international matches, AFP turned a positive news story on its head with this highly editorialized line:

Israeli by nationality, Palestinians at heart, Israel's 1.2 million Arabs, descendants of those who remained on their land after the Jewish state was created in 1948, are treated as second class citizens.

And here's the latest: An op-ed column denouncing Israeli policy toward its Arab minority was published in the Los Angeles Times (May 11) and The Christian Science Monitor (May 17). The author, Aaron David Miller, laments 'the predicament of Israel's own Arab citizens', claiming:

The status of Israeli Arabs, without access to military or national service, and constantly under suspicion as a potential fifth column, is indeed nation-dividing. Israel risks becoming a preferential or ethnic democracy much as the US was in the 1950s and before, when millions of African-Americans suffered from discrimination. (emphasis added) - HonestReporting.com

I am constanly amazed at the shoddy work of college educated "journalists" in the MSM. Can't get the story right, can't check for corboration of the story, can't checked the damned facts. The MSM is in a downward spiral, the only question is how many people will die as a result, way to go Newsweek et al. - KS

Steyn On Touchy Muslims

Cricket star knows how to fire up fanatics

Watching the media circling the wagons around the beleaguered Isikoff this week, Martin Peretz of the New Republic described them as ''a profession that is complacent, self-righteous, and hopelessly in love with itself.'' The media are the message: But, hey, enough about the war, let's talk about me.

As for the wackiness of Muslim fanatics, well, up to a point. But, you know, we've been told ever since 9/11 that the allegedly seething ''Muslim street'' was about to explode, and for four years it's remained as somnolent as a suburban cul-de-sac on a weekday afternoon. Invade their countries, topple their rulers, bomb their infrastructure from the first day of Ramadan to the last, arrest their terrorists, hold them at Gitmo for half a decade, initiate reforms setting the Arab world on the first rung of the ladder to political and economic liberty, and the seething Muslim street gives one almighty shrug. - Mark Steyn - Chicago Sun Times

This Is Some Sick Shit

Wedding of Washington state teacher and student she raped shrouded in secrecy

Security leading up to the wedding of Mary Kay Letourneau and her former sixth-grade student rivalled that of a top-secret government operation - from secret instructions to a hush-hush rendezvous and identity checks.

Letourneau, 43, and Vili Fualaau, 22, have been in the spotlight since she was imprisoned in 1997 for raping Fualaau. But when she was released last August, the couple - who have two daughters together - reunited. - Canadian Press

Just Puting Off The Inevitable

Liberals survive budget vote squeaker

Prime Minister Paul Martin put his 11-month-old Liberal minority government to the test, and passed.

In a dramatic culmination of weeks of pitched demands that the government resign, members of Parliament cast their ballots twice Thursday afternoon.

In the first round, on Bill C-43, the vote went as expected -- in the government's favour.

Liberal MPs paused briefly in their voting to give a standing ovation to Finance Minister Ralph Goodale, who first introduced the budget to the House of Commons.

The final count was 250 for, 54 against.

In the second round, on the new multibillion-dollar spending package negotiated with NDP Leader Jack Layton, the result went also went the government's way.

The combined block of Liberals, NDP and Carolyn Parrish carried 151 votes, the same number as the Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois.

That left Independent MPs David Kilgour and Chuck Cadman to swing the result.

Kilgour followed through on a pledge he made publicly just hours earlier, voting for the budget, but against the additional spending package. - CTV

"News magazines don't kill people, Muslims do"

Newsweek Dissembled, Muslims Dismembered!

When ace reporter Michael Isikoff had the scoop of the decade, a thoroughly sourced story about the president of the United States having an affair with an intern and then pressuring her to lie about it under oath, Newsweek decided not to run the story. Matt Drudge scooped Newsweek, followed by The Washington Post.

When Isikoff had a detailed account of Kathleen Willey's nasty sexual encounter with the president in the Oval Office, backed up with eyewitness and documentary evidence, Newsweek decided not to run it. Again, Matt Drudge got the story.

When Isikoff was the first with detailed reporting on Paula Jones' accusations against a sitting president, Isikoff's then-employer The Washington Post — which owns Newsweek — decided not to run it. The American Spectator got the story, followed by the Los Angeles Times.

So apparently it's possible for Michael Isikoff to have a story that actually is true, but for his editors not to run it. - Ann Coulter

Mark Steyn Gets It Right - Again

A Constitutional Coup

When Cole Porter married Linda Lee Thomas, Walter Winchell wrote it up under the headline: "Boy With One Million Weds Girl With Two Million." Add a few zeroes and that pretty much sums up Canadian politics' latest whirlwind romance. The pictures on the front pages today capture the reality of our country: a “Liberal” billionaire and a “Conservative” billionaire beaming as they announce their deal to carry on wasting the money of Canadians who earn $30,000 a year - all in the interests of “national unity”. For, as Belinda Stronach said (and with a straight face!), “I feel that the interests of individuals or parties are being placed above the national interest. The country must come first.”

And for the country to come first the Liberal Party must come first, now and always. And happily the interest of this particular party coincides with the interest of this particular individual – and all in the national interest! After all, when you’re a government accused of widespread fraud, bribery and corruption, the easiest way to get off the hook is to offer someone a cabinet post in exchange for a little cooperation. Miss Stronach, the former future Mrs Peter MacKay, seemed unlikely to settle for life as the Ottawa version of the old Hollywood joke about the starlet so dumb she slept with the writer. She’s stopped sleeping with the writer and traded up to the studio chief, and a new gig as Minister for Human Resources and Skills Development. Who knew that’s all it would take? To quote Sir Thomas More from Robert Bolt’s A Man For All Seasons : “Why, Richard, it profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world... but for Wales?” - Steyn Online

Clinton's Girlfriend Defects

Former Ont. Liberal premier was lynchpin in defection

If Prime Minister Paul Martin survives Thursday's nail-biter vote of confidence, he'll owe a huge debt of gratitude to David Peterson.

The former Ontario Liberal premier was the pivotal player who made possible Belinda Stronach's surprise leap Tuesday from the Conservatives into the Liberal cabinet, a move that could ensure the precarious minority Liberal government's survival. - Canada.com

Political Suicide - KS

Sign Of The Times

I saw this interesting sign not more than a half mile from my house on the weekend. I knew the government had liberalised the marijuana laws in this country but I thought it was going to be administered by the doctor-pharmacist system. I guess that isn't libereal enough though. We should all feel safe knowing the health food industry is now in charge of the medical dope supply.

Kyoto - Scam of the Century

Kyoto Protocol--Propaganda or Censorship?

Last Thursday, I received a telephone call from Douglas Leahey, Ph.D., representing a group of Canadian scientists under the umbrella of "Friends of Science." It seems that they had been talking to Peter Worthington of the Toronto Sun, and he had mentioned to them that they should get in touch with me.

Dr. Leahey began by asking me how they could get a 27-minute documentary on television.

I have 15 years experience of fighting with federal and provincial slush funds for that very thing.

I asked some routine questions at first: Did they have a letter of licence? Had they rolled a camera before they got permission? Had they talked to the big broadcasters? Did they have a "pitch" and a budget?

Then I found out what their documentary was about. The story was incredible: it documented scientists--from Canada--speaking out against the $10-billion scam known as the Kyoto Protocol.

Yes, the very same Kyoto Accord that our government has committed Canada and Canadians to support.

I understood instinctively that getting two scientists to agree at what time the sun is coming up tomorrow is--at best--difficult.

But here were tens of thousands, from around the world, all agreeing on one issue: that there is no scientific evidence of man-made global warming.

The numbers of scientists staggered me--17,100 basic and applied American scientists, two thirds with advanced degrees, are against the Kyoto Agreement. The Heidelberg Appeal--which states that there is no scientific evidence for man-made global warming, has been signed by over 4,000 scientists from around the world since the petition’s inception. I strongly questioned these high numbers, since I’ve had benefit of the Canadian government’s public relations machine on this issue. Dr. Leahey has since sent documentation to back his figures up.

All those scientists were in total agreement: the Kyoto Protocol was complete fiction. - Excerpt from Canada Free Press
Via Little Green Footballs