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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (57232)	7/31/2004 6:07:53 AM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793926

Not all Canadians hate the US: >>God bless America - Enough U.S. bashing, says Michael Coren -- for all of its faults, our great southern neighbour still deserves our heartfelt gratitude and support By MICHAEL COREN Shortly after the mass murder of September 11, 2001, I wrote a column about the United States. I said then that I'd never been a particular fan of many of the foreign and domestic policies of the U.S., and I have no reason to change my mind now. But I have now written an updated version of that column because, frankly, I am sick of the smugness, the hypocrisy and the sheer hatred evinced by so many people towards the United States. I've had enough of certain risible Canadians inflating themselves by claiming superiority over their southern neighbours. I'm tired of the America-bashing from mediocrities the world over, and the blaming of every conceivable problem on Washington. The last straw was, in itself, not particularly significant. It was when cyclist Lance Armstrong was spat at during the Tour de France. Spat at because he is an American. Politics didn't matter We do not know his politics, but his girlfriend, Sheryl Crow, is an opponent of George Bush. That didn't matter. The man was American and thus worthy of disdain. So, almost three years later, I say it again: God bless America. For leaving half a million men on the battlefields of Africa, Asia and Europe during the Second World War, a conflict the United States could easily have sat out. For effectively forcing Japan to declare war and thus joining the alliance of light against the gang of darkness. God bless America. For that farm boy from Nebraska who had never even heard of Normandy or Sicily, who wanted so much to walk back from the hill but continued on, the bullets flying over and around him. For his not turning back. For his determination to do his duty and for his dedication to freedom. God bless America. For being prepared to rip the country apart in a bloody spasm of civil war because, however delayed and reluctant in some quarters, the leaders and people knew that slavery was wrong. For seeing the future dawn when others could only see the enveloping night. God Bless America. For Lincoln and Roosevelt, Eisenhower and Truman, Kennedy and Franklin, Jefferson and Adams. For Mark Twain and John Steinbeck, Henry James and Scott Fitzgerald, Melville and Whitman. God bless America. For the legion of Nobel Prizes won with grace, for the medical breakthroughs celebrated with decorum, for the sporting records, the intellectual triumphs, the moral victories, the glory. For embracing "yes" rather than hiding behind "no." God bless America. For the vibrant pastures and forests, for the mountains and valleys that startle, for the cities and the towns, the highways and back roads. God bless America. For jazz and pluralism, baseball and religious tolerance, burgers and equality. For inventing and pursuing an ideal that, though not always achieved, is still glorious in the making and pristine in the chasing. God bless America. For the billions in foreign aid, greater per capita than any other country in the world. For the food, clean water, medicine, machinery given to every continent on Earth. For the Marshall Plan and Marshall Dillon, for Tom Sawyer and Tom Hanks, for New York and for the New Deal. God bless America. Melting pot For inviting Irish, Jew, Italian, Pole, German, Hispanic, black, Asian, man and woman, all and every into the highest levels of government. For being the first nation in the world to treat the outsider as a guest rather than a problem. For being a melting pot rather than a melting society. God bless America. For allowing God and prayer and faith to enter public life and for not running scared of gratitude to the Almighty for all that He has given us. For not lauding the religion of secularism whilst lambasting the religions of the church and synagogue. God bless America. For being right more often than being wrong. For being the nation that still leads the way in so many ways, still lights the path on so many days. For being you. For being. God bless America. canoe.ca Leg cramps, can't sleep.

To: LindyBill who wrote (57232)	7/31/2004 6:08:54 AM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793926

Second passenger saw suspicious behavior By Audrey Hudson THE WASHINGTON TIMES Published July 30, 2004 Government officials are questioning a passenger's account of alarming and suspicious behavior by Syrian musicians aboard a recent flight to Los Angeles, although a second passenger has corroborated the events. The second passenger, a frequent business traveler who asked not to be identified, provided a copy of her itinerary confirming she was on the June 29 Northwest Airlines Detroit-to-Los Angeles Flight 327, which was disrupted by 14 Syrian passengers later identified as musicians. The passenger, who was riding in first class, said the constant foot traffic and strange behavior she witnessed in the front cabin frightened her as much as it did Annie Jacobsen, the first passenger who publicly reported the incident. "I thought I was going to die," the second passenger told The Washington Times. "And that makes me furious because that's the whole point of terrorism, to make people afraid. It makes me mad that they achieved that. But I'm not letting it stop me from taking other trips." The incident on Flight 327 highlighted concerns that terrorists have been making "dry runs" on commercial jets in preparation for attacks. Homeland Security and FBI officials briefed Senate Judiciary Committee staffers Wednesday. The House Judiciary Committee also is conducting an oversight review of what happened on the flight. Federal officials agreed the activity was suspicious but doubted the account by Mrs. Jacobsen and her husband, said one staffer who attended the briefing. "They emphasized repeatedly there were material discrepancies between what the two [passengers] reported and what the flight attendants and federal air marshals observed," the staffer said. Air marshals, pilots and flight attendants, however, back the passenger's account because they say such events are happening regularly. "Flight attendants see these dry runs and are very concerned," one attendant who praised Mrs. Jacobsen for going public said yesterday. "We, as employees, do not have as much freedom as passengers when it comes to speaking out." The Homeland Security Department did not return a call for comment, but has said it has no intelligence on such activities. The 14 passengers on Flight 327 were detained by the FBI's Terrorism Task Force after the flight and were determined to be a Syrian band booked to play a gig near San Diego with singer Nour Mehana. Homeland Security officials described the 14 as "just musicians," but freelance writer Heather Wilhelm discovered that Mr. Mehana had recorded a song, "Um El Shaheed," ("Mother of a Martyr") in which he sang the "glorious" praise of a suicide bomber. The second passenger on Flight 327 said the men were "up and down the aisles of the plane the entire time," and that one of the men pushed other passengers as he rushed toward the front lavatory. She said the man did not appear to be ill, and remained in the lavatory during her entire meal. Mrs. Jacobsen said the Syrians consecutively filed in and out of restrooms, and stood during most of the flight. Just before landing, seven of the men jumped up in unison and left their seats. Upon returning to his seat, one man mouthed the word "no" as he ran his finger across his throat. "There was more activity up and down the aisle through first class than I have ever experienced on any flight, including international flights," the second passenger said. "The most unusual part was that the flight attendants seemed to ignore what was going on." The second passenger said she did not share her concerns with the flight attendants because "I thought I was just crazy, and I didn't want to be the crazy person on the flight that stands up and says something is wrong, but I will now in the future. I praise Annie for what she did, because I didn't have the guts to."