Mid-week Post

House Speaker and resident twit Nancy Pelosi calls for an investigation of mosque opposition:

"There is no question there is a concerted effort to make this a political issue by some. And I join those who have called for looking into how is this opposition to the mosque being funded," she said. "How is this being ginned up that here we are talking about Treasure Island, something we've been working on for decades, something of great interest to our community as we go forward to an election about the future of our country and two of the first three questions are about a zoning issue in New York City." (h/t Kristinn)

Calls to investigate the funding for those proposing the $100 million "Cordoba House" have fallen on deaf ears, though, as New York's Mayor Mike Bloomberg has described such an investigation as "un-American."

Is the offensive debutante going to ask where the money to build the Cordoba House is coming from?



Fast facts:

- the Cordoba House (the proposed mosque near Ground Zero) is so named after the capital of the Ummayid Caliphate between the eighth and thirteenth centuries.


- the twin towers of the World Trade Centre were destroyed on September 11th, 2001 when ten hijackers- Muslims from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia- flew two jets into their sides. Mohamed Atta, the terrorists' ringleader from a wealthy family, wanted to die and be buried as "a good Muslim".


- founder of the Cordoba House project and Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf declared that American policies were "an accessory to the crime that happened" (referring to the September 11th attacks)


- the building for the planned mosque was purchased by a Muslim-run real estate developer


- Saudi Arabia funds many overseas mosques


- the purpose of the proposed mosque is to inspire "tolerance" and "forgiveness".


- forgiveness would require openly admitting an offending act


- according to the Koran, "Allah does not forgive idolators"


- tolerance and toleration are two different things and neither have any true substance historically or in the Koran


- Saudi Arabia does not recognise freedom of religion


- one poll suggested that sixty-one percent of New York state residents oppose the building of the controversial mosque with the chief respondents (73%) being Catholic


- not all Muslims support the building of the mosque


Moving on....


Canadians want better healthcare without the taxes. Yes, it's called private healthcare.

Canadians aren’t keen to pay more out of their own pockets to help the country cope with rising health-care costs, nor are they calling for governments to pump more money into the system. Instead, a majority of Canadians think efficiencies should be found in the existing system, with not a penny more thrown in the pot.

Those are the findings of a new Ipsos Reid poll released Wednesday that asked Canadians how governments should keep up with the growing tab for health care without raising taxes.

The majority of Canadians, 61%, said focusing on finding more efficient ways to deliver health care is their preferred option, while 28% said a bigger piece of the tax-dollar pie should be devoted to health care, which could mean cuts in other government services.

Ipsos Reid is a private poll service, not a public one, the way Stats Can is.


Premier Dalton McGuinty yesterday issued a mea culpa over the government's handling of the controversial "eco fees," just hours after Ontario's environmental watchdog released a report critical of the province's hazardous waste diversion system.


Yep.


Canadian Sikhs want to improve their public image after a few of their number killed three hundred and thirty-one people.


Australian PM Julia Gillard believes that Australia should be a republic in the event the Queen abdicates (not bloody likely) or dies. I think Canada should be a republic. I was made to understand the issue was thrown out in 1999 referendum because Australians are fond of their constitution. Hhmmmm...

A dingo ate your republic idea.

Inuit Anglicans rebuild their church in an homage to Inuit design. That's nice.

A conference on North Korea is going on in Toronto now.


Aaaaahhh.... luxuriating in a bath of total vindication:

Letter-writer Khalil Jessa claims that "Muslims should not have to apologize for or collectively condemn the acts of 9/11 any more than anyone else." Stephen Harper apologized to Native Americans and Japanese Canadians even though he was not personally responsible for any wrongdoing to either. The United States Senate last year apologized for slavery and racial segregation though no one there has owned a slave since 1865. Germany has been apologizing to Jews for over 60 years even though the majority of the population wasn't around during the Holocaust, much less responsible.

As the people closest ideologically to the 9/11 terrorists, it is most certainly the responsibility of Muslims to condemn their acts, if not outright apologize.

And:

What Canada does letter-writer Ron Brown live in? I lived in the United States and England during consecutive liberal prime ministers and at no time did our country occupy a "prideful place on the international stage." Canada was thought of as a minor player at best, a poor relation at worst -- if it was thought of at all. Not until Stephen Harper took the reins did Canada achieve any sort of "prideful place" internationally.

There's more.

SCORCH!!!

Did you know that the Battle of Shiloh was fought in Tennessee? Go there to learn more.


Did you know that the Banff Springs Hotel is alleged to be haunted? Go there and see for yourselves.