Check this link that made its way down the grape vines -

National Post Commentary - Ontaraio Khalsa Darbaar looses Charitable Status

I wouldn’t have been surprised if I read this about Malton, or even New Rexdale, but I have to say that the fact it was Dixie that got its charitable status stripped did come as bit of a surprise. A while back I posted wondering where the funds were going, but I was getting the vibe that the new committee had really taken up office and really started to clean things up. Also considering Dixie’s political muscle at both Federal and Provincial levels you would think that they’d be the most immune and well protected when shit hit the proverbial fan.

All the same, when the Feds come a knocking it seems that the biggest are the first to get noticed. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is in result to the Conservatives politicking over the whole anti Khalistan up-risal that’s been front and center in the usual papers, merly using this as an opportunity to force the Liberals gambit by either having them stand with the alleged terrorists, or distancing themselves from the community when they know they’ll be looking for support the most. Either way the Liberals won’t be getting out of this one looking like the heroes that they had been in the past.

Also knowing our community, and knowing the political struggle thats been taking place at Dixie for the last little while, this may very well have been a calculated attack at the Guru Ghar and by proxy its current committee by even more internal and nefarious members in an attempt to strike there blow, when they could. Wouldn’t put it past someone to start snitching to the Feds second they got there hands on some accounting. I’m all for accountability within our Guru Ghars, but it needs to come from within and not from without.

Should be interesting to see what happens next, and what cards are played by whom. Especially with the Downtown Nagar Kirtan (a time when Dixie would usually get large donations from Sangat) being only a few days away.

I haven’t heard much about the Laibar Singh case out here on the East Coast. It hasn’t been headline news and it hasn’t been a topic of discussion on any of the popular talk radio programs that I listen to, so all I really know about the case is what I found out while checking the various news outlets and snooping around on some West Cost blogs.

Basically, Laibar Singh came into Canada on forged passports, filed a refugee claiment saying he fears being tortured and prosecuted if he returns to India because he’s been unjustly blamed for terrorism. The fed’s end up not buying his story and order him out. He then seeks refuge of the Sikh Sangat, and then suffers a stroke which has left him a quadrapalegic. The community again files for asylum on compassionate and humanitarian grounds, stating that he’s in no condition to be deported and will not recieve the care he now needs if sent back to India. The government again turns a deaf year to all the lobbying and Labair Singh was to have been flown back to India last Sunday. Fortunately for him, the Sangat stood by him and came out in the thousands to protest at the airport, blocking all traffic and making it impossible to get Singh on the plane. Left with no choice the government granted Singh an extension and so thats where things were left, last I checked.

Not having all the facts let alone most of them, I still have a hard time believing the original refugee claim. Not that it can’t be true, just seems like everyone plus their mother has been taught to use it. Same time you can’t blame the portion of society, who wants the man out, he did after all break the law and could potentially be a burden on the system, and the law is the law, so why make exceptions or pick up the tab for his misfortunes when there are others who may very well be more deserving.

All that aside though, the fact that he is in the unfortunate circumstance that he’s in; having no family, and not being able to begin help himself, it’s only fitting that society as a whole lends out a helping hand. Also, with a community willing to pick up the tab, its hard to imagine what burden he can be on the system if any, so why make a fuss over it.

The politics of the matter already have the conservatives red in the face, and having a reputation of being anti immigration you would think they of all people would want to do something to change that. Then again, if nothing else comes from this, as someone else had pointed out to me earlier, its always good to see a community known throughout the mainstream for its infighting and distention amongst its groups, to have come together and put up a united front.

Maybe it’s just me, but I wonder why they get to be ”ultra-Orthodox” when most others get labeled as being fanatics or extremists, when in most cases, (neglecting suicide bombers and those out for the blood of the innocent), the words simply try to describe those who practice or at least attempt to practice their faith in as much of an un-adultered form as possible.

Yet the difference in connotation is often simply ignored.

So here we are almost two weeks later and the situation in Punjab with the dera is still volatile as ever. Although calm has taken its course over the last week, the whole drama still has many anxiously sitting at the edge’s of their seats, waiting to see what the next move is. Like a game of chess every one’s eyes are now on the board and it’s the Panths turn to make its play, after the Baba released his devious “apology” in the last turn. The idleness keeps the minds searching, keeping it analyzing every possible move, keeping a look out for those nefarious angles the whole time trying to grip and make sense of what’s happening, the reason and logic behind the madness.

As always I continue to see this as less of a religious or panthic situation, rather a political tango between India’s Capulet’s and the Montague’s with the Panth being held captive in between. This has little to do with ones own faith rather the manipulation of that faith for something of its ones own desires. If nothing else a glaring result as to why the Panth should remain independent of any political party and remain independent as the permanent opposition of Punjab, for its only in its own independence can it remain objective.

The last angle focused completely on Badal, him being the puppet master, the ring leader of this fiasco, but as Harp notably pointed out that their are inherit flaws with that frame of logic, after all it takes two to tango, and that being the case one needs to consider an angle with more then just one ring leader. So lets do just that, lets add in more angles more actors and check the path it leads.

Quick Review:

• The Akali’s blame the Dera for his strong hold and clout on the Malwa region, which saw them loose some top seats in the past elections.
• The Dera put its weight behind the Congress the long sworn enemies of the Akali Dal.
• The Dera is centered in Sirsa located in Haryana and thus out of the Akali’s jurisdiction.
• Haryana’s government is Congress, and being boys with the Dera got his back.
• SGPC and Sri Akal Takhat are greatly influenced by Akali’s and Badal.

There should be little doubt as to what Badal and them want to gain from this, by raising up hell against the Dera there is the plausible chance that his grip over the Malwa region will slip, giving the Akalis a better chance in the region next time around. But see a war against the Dera naturally ensues a war against Congress after all what type of friend lets another go at it alone. There are inherit questions that one needs to ask: who fed the news to the media to get it pushed and make it “news”. See the Dera released the ad’s, but why?  There’s no doubt that the Akali’s wanted to deal with the Dera, but I doubt that this was the way they had in mind. So where did the dera gain the fortitude to be so bold in its actions, which I accredit to the older cousin theory; that when one knows that they got older cousins behind them who are down for ruckus, then by virtue that younger cousin gets a little ballsy.

There’s no question about the Indian media’s loyalties and its history to take a story and sensationalize it, twist it, manipulate it, without any shame when it comes to the regard of spearheading a campaign of propaganda and the news reports that have been coming out of this fiasco prove this point. The news is both hook and bait, on one end its saying, “so what you going do about it”, taunting the Sikhs to take action against the dera, and on the other “look at what you did”, as if the reaction was out of the blue and totally unforeseen. This plays well to the congress since it now agitates a community within Punjab that everyone has tried to keep dormant for so long, what the media has come to dub, “Sikh militancy groups”.

The thing with Sikh Nationalists that’s worth keeping in mind is that at least seemingly, they despise Badal and the current Akali’s, they also despise Congress and for them it’s not a matter of power as much as it is of Independence and the freedom of the Akal Takhat and the Sikh faith. To this regard, pushing them only knows one end, and that’s to be pushed back, which of course is what Congress would love to see happen. Once you push this group then the Congress has only but to slip back into Haryana and seeing how this is a Punjab problem leaves Badal to deal with an agitated group who is willing to go at it. Now Badal’s left to deal and take charge against the same people who he is supposed to represent, if not directly then at least through the SGPC and the voice of the Akal Takhat.

Now look at the past events, taking the Dera and the Congress to be one and the same, we see how both have helped to agitate this situation. Same time Badal and his BJP cronies have done what they can to reveal a sound level of diplomacy, (the Swami was from the pockets of the BJP). So it leaves the problematic play in the hands of Badal yet again. If the Akal Takhat rejects the apology then we can assume chaos will ensue with riots similar to that of the weeks past, leaving Badal to quell the situation, which could hurt him politically. Accepting the apology leaves Badal vulnerable to attack by the Nationalists as it would see Badal siding with the Dera, which again brings the potential to have riots start up all over Punjab. Therefore leaving the only real play Badal can make is to get the SGPC and Akal Takhat to reject the apology yet grant an extension to the dera so that diplomacy can ensue, which could show a weakness on the part of the Sikhs, yet would buy Badal and group, more time to deal with the situation.

Now Congress’s angle in this would be that getting riots to ensue and by putting Badal in the hot seat, they could then react on a federal level, where congress reigns supreme, and voice that presidents rule be implemented in Punjab, effectively throwing out the Akalis and putting power and Punjab into the hands of the Congress party. They could then continue to feed and ride the Punjab situation for as long as they need effectively kicking Badal and company to the curb.

Of course this is all speculation, but lets face it nothing about this situation adds up. End of the day, both parties Congress and the Akali’s are merely separate sides to the same coin, but it remains that neither truley have the Panths welfare at the heart of any of there decisions, so it’s up to the Panth to dictate and exert there own level of leadership to find a way out of this situation.

Seems like Pakistan’s Gun trade industry is going good, supplying the worlds mobs, Gurilla units, militias and whoever else needs a gun without papers just what they need.

I’ve always held that as we grow older, we grow dumber. I know that it sounds ironic, considering we’re always learning new things and constantly evolving our understanding of the world around us, but at the same time we continuously throw out the very fundamentals that our knowledge and education is based upon. A prime example and proof of this is the newest game show to flood the air waves,Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, which has educated individuals (graduates of various majors) answering questions that span from grades 1 to 5, in a Jeopardy meets Who Wants to be a Millionaire type cross over. For instance, in one episode a UCLA American History Major lost with the question, “Who was the first American President to be impeached?”, his answer isn’t important but its suffice to say that he got it wrong, and was embarrassed on national TV. Or for instance the time that I was able to convince one of my boys, (a third year bio chem student), to write my first year intro to chem exam only for him to to go in and completely bomb it.

Point being, as we grow older we tend to gain a sense of false pride with what we really don’t know, that we overlook and realize that we really didn’t understand things all that well to begin with, rather we temporarily knew enough to get by on. Now this makes perfect sense for school after all why stress, as long as it gets your name on a diploma or degree, after all that’s what really counts, isn’t it? But our growth of stupidity goes well beyond school and extends far into the real world, especially when it comes down to our privacy and security.

For instance it’s hammered into our heads as kids to never talk with strangers, since we never really know their intentions or if they even are who they say they are, but at the same time, how many times have we read or heard about fraudsters posing as someone who they aren’t and scamming some poor couple out of their entire life savings, leaving them broke and on the streets. Or the one about never taking gifts from strangers or how about the one that one that really inspired this post, what about the whole never revealing your personal info in public chat rooms since it may lead to pedophiles, stalkers or even thieves to use information they gain to potentially cause you grief. Off course it makes perfect sense when we’re teaching these lessons to to the little ones, come on now with all the pedophiles and stalkers out their its only logical to not give away your personal details, but then why is that the second most people grow into their teens and into adults they feel these rules no longer apply to them?

Social networking sites such as facebook, hi5, myspace and the lot have people revealing not only their names, but their numbers, addresses, schedules and even who they know and how they know them, and revealing nothing short of their past history. After all it’s that sense of community which drives these sites to be successful in the fist place. But what if someone wants to use this info against you? You’re basically giving away personal security information, leaving anyone inept enough in social hacking to go out and pretend to be you to someone else, getting information about you that you would be alarmed to find out they could. Then again how one can go about using information on these sites to hack is worthy of its own post.

So it isn’t that far of a stretch of ones imagination to think about ‘what if‘ this information was used as a voluntary means to watch over or to learn everything about you and to basically know you so well that they could predict your behaviour. That idea alone is enough to send shivers down the spines of most civil libertarians and drive many to put on tin foil hats. What if there was that proverbial man in the black coat lurking in the shadows, using such sites to watch over and monitor you? Having you voluntarily hand over your life history, in the guise of a social networking site, while selling your soul [or at least all the info they have] to the big corporations who then use the said information to continue to drive the capitalistic engine using you as nothing more then fuel for the fire. Agreed that such conspiracy theories are often far fetched over whelming and nothing more then fear mongering against the king of the hill, but at the same what if there was some truth to all the above?

To that end I found this video that may act as an eye opener for many of you, and may make you realize how much closer we are to the above then you would want to think.

Seeing the above it should be obvious if not a bit amazing all at the same time as to how much more we know,the more we really seem to forget.

Was sent this link courtesy of Umpa and also found it on Garth Turners blog as being the official, “We want Stephen Harper to apologize to Navdeep Bains” petition.

Last time Navdeep asked for an apology the PM basically danced around the issue saying all he did was quote an article from a newspaper, and if Nav’s got any beef he should take it up with Kim Bolan and the Vancouver Sun, in other words, “don’t shoot the messenger.”

Even though I don’t see or believe that the petition will get the PM to change his mind anytime soon, but the fact that you’re reading this means you have nothing better to do anyways so just sign the damn thing!

Petition for Harper to apologize