Wednesday, June 30, 2010

NAZIS JUST FOLLOWING ORDERS - AND NOW, IN CANADA

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Following World War II, the worst Nazi butchers were brought to trial at Nuremberg, Germany.
 
One after another, those monsters pleaded "Nicht Sholdig" - Not guilty. Why?
 
Because, they said, they were "just following orders.."
 
The world did not buy that excuse back then. Why do we accept that same excuse from our own governments and our own courts? The parliamentarians make bad laws - often for political reasons, and the courts let the worst criminals walk free.
 
The police refuse to take reports, investigate reported crimes or help crime victims And they all say that they are "just following orders" - just obeying the laws made by the people we elect to protect us.
 
It is unacceptable, and we, the ordinary people, are responsible - because we accept that excuse instead of holding members of government, the police and the courts responsible for what they do.
 
I copy the following article for the edification of crime victims, their suffering families and concerned citizens across Canada, and not for personal gain.

SURREY – After a trial, an appeal, and yet another trial, it's case closed.

The Crown has decided not to appeal Katherine Quinn's acquittal of second-degree murder in the beating death of 16-year-old Matthew Martins.

"There's just no grounds for it," Crown spokesman Robin Baird told the Now on Wednesday. "There's not going to be an appeal."

The Surrey mother of three was accused of urging her boyfriend Robert Forslund to kill the boy at the Surrey Central SkyTrain station on July 2, 2005 but was found not guilty of the charge last month following an emotionally charged trial at B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster.

Forslund is serving a life sentence for slashing the teen's throat with a beer bottle and stomping him to death. He hunted the boy down after Martins cut Quinn, 27, with a penknife to escape from her after she'd mugged him for his gold chain while he was walking by the couple's house in Whalley.

This was Quinn's second trial on the matter. She had been convicted of second-degree after the first trial, but the B.C. Court of Appeal overturned that verdict in 2007, finding no evidence to support the Crown's allegation she supplied Forslund with the beer bottle used to slash Martins' throat.

Justice Wendy Baker delivered the final verdict on May 31 after reading her 59-page reasons for judgment.

The Crown's case had centred on the testimony of witnesses who said they heard Quinn tell Forslund, "If you love me, you'll kill him," and other similar statements. But Baker said she had a reasonable doubt as to Quinn's guilt because she could not rely on the accuracy and reliability of the witnesses' recollections because of inconsistencies in their testimony.

Sandra Martins-Toner, Matthew's mom, said she is "a little discouraged" and "very, very sad" with the decision not to appeal Quinn's acquittal, but she seemed to be accepting it with grace.

"There was just no error in law," she conceded. "There's nothing we can do.

"We're trying to move forward with Mattie in our hearts," she said. "Nothing's every going to bring Mattie back – nothing's going to bring Matthew back to me."

Friday marks the fifth anniversary of his murder.

tzytaruk@thenownewspaper.com

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

CANADIAN CRIME VICTIMS GAINING STRENGTH - FACEBOOK

CANADIAN CRIME VICTIMS GAINING STRENGTH

FACEBOOK

June 29, 2010

Sandie Martins-Toner

Sandie Martins-Toner is hoping to get all of Matthew's personal belonging back from IHIT this week. I can't wait to hold his things. I've waited years for this day.....

Don-Nancy Curry
 
Sandie, this is one more thing I had no idea that you had to suffer through. I had no idea that his possessions were withheld from you this long. What on earth is the reasoning behind that?
about an hour ago ·
 
Sandie Martins-Toner
 
I have always been told that I could not have any of it until the end of the first trial as everything on his body was entered as evidence as Forslund had robbed him, and had all of Matthew's things in his possession when he was arrested, including Matty's little shoes. the I was told that I couldn't have them back because of the appeal, and the ... See Moresecond trial. Now that we know that there will be no more trials, or appeals, we can finally get those things back. I have dreamed of the day that I could hold my sons jewelery, his wallet etc...It's all he had left.
about an hour ago ·
 
Lynn Roberts
 
I was awhile getting my son's personal belongings also, and it felt so good to hold his things and even if there wasn't any smells, I could imagine them. I now wear one of his shirts when I need to be really close to him. It is such a bittersweet moment !
My thoughts are with you ♥
about an hour ago ·
 
Jan Bell
 
Sandie, I sure hope that by getting Matty's stuff back that it will bring you some closure finally. Chin up sweet thing.
about an hour ago ·
 
Mariposa Navarro
 
Sandie. I always have you, Matthew and your family in m prayers.
about an hour ago ·
 
Don-Nancy Curry
 
Sandie and Lynn...this is heartbreaking and I am so sorry. Maybe to the "system" this makes sense, but as mothers, I honestly do not know how you cope. Still so much for me to learn so that I can walk more closely with people like you who have experienced an ultimate nightmare.
about an hour ago ·
 
Sandie Martins-Toner
 
Thank you everyone..Yes! it is hard to understand these things especially when all that you want is a little reminder of your child through his most personal belongings. I have just been told that half of his things are with the detachment, and half with the courts. I will be meeting the officers this afternoon to get back his keys and wallet, and now I wait to hear back from the courts to get his chain and crucifix, his phone and watch back. I pray I can get them before this Friday!!
about an hour ago ·
 
Phyllis Carter
 
Sandie Martins-Toner is hoping to get all of Matthew's personal belonging back from IHIT this week. I can't wait to hold his things. I've waited years for this day....

Oh! I know what you mean , Sandie. As you know, Dawn McSweeney stole all my valuables - including Cliff's trademark Stetson fedora, his deputy sheriff's badge, his rings, our wedding portrait. She stole jewellery - like any other thief - but she also stole personal things because she knew how much it would hurt me. But I am fighting to see her tried in criminal court. Fighting night and day. And I know that you will find hope and strength in fighting for what belongs to you.

My heart is with you.
about an hour ago · 
·
Sheila Anne Williams
 
I pray you get it all back.
55 minutes ago ·
 
Maria Jose Ubico
 
big hug Sandy! all my love
41 minutes ago ·
 
Cassandra Moyles
 
Stay Strong Sandie!!! Love from Newfoundland!
17 minutes ago ·
 
Nancy Curry
 
In tears again at the assaults against the very fibre of Sandie, Lynn and Phyllis. Lord have mercy on you, and all of us as we seek to pray and support and understand the terrible wounds that have been inflicted on each of you. I am so sorry.
16 minutes ago ·
 
Phyllis Carter
 
I so appreciate your support. I have been so alone fighting these injustices for thirteen years. It has torn my life - my family's lives - apart. And the worst part is that the people we elect and pay to protect us don't give a damn. But now that crime victims are coming together, I see the first rays of hope. The more victims who speak out, the more powerful we will become.

Monday, June 28, 2010

CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE FOR CRIME VICTIMS LIKE THESE

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Canadian law protects criminals. Who protects their victims? In the name of justice, I copy the following article that is self explanatory, in the fervent hope that readers around the world will take notice of how the Canadian injustice system fails crime victims and their families.
 
If your heart aches because of this, please check out FAMILIES AGAINST CRIME AND TRAUMA at www.familiesagainstcrime.org., and see how you might help to bring justice to Canadian crime victims.
 
Ordinary people have the power to change our sick political - police - court system that gives joy to criminals and breaks the hearts of victims and their families. You have the power. But do you care?
 
Silence implies consent. If you do nothing, you are part of the problem.
 
Phyllis Carter
 
************************************

'Justice Has Failed My Child'

 

Quinn acquitted of murder in the death of Matthew Martins

Tom Zytaruk, Surrey Now

Published: Tuesday, June 01, 2010

A Surrey mother who was accused of urging her boyfriend to kill a teenaged boy at the Surrey Central SkyTrain station has been acquitted of second-degree murder.

Gasps of elation from the accused's side, and horror from the victim's, filled the packed courtroom in New Westminister as B.C. Supreme Court Justice Wendy Baker delivered her verdict Monday after reading her 59-page reasons for judgment.

 

The accused, 27-year-old Katherine Quinn, gasped, put her hand to her mouth and burst out in tears. She then hugged her friends and family while Sandra Martins-Toner, the mother of the victim, appeared emotionally demolished on the other side of the room.

 

The judge was met with scoffs and "yeah right" when she said she hopes the victim's family will see "justice had prevailed."

 

Asked if his client will make a statement, Quinn's defence lawyer Jim Millar replied "I hope not." Outside court, a small sea of reporters swamped Martins-Toner.

 

"I feel as though we failed our son," she sobbed. "Justice has failed my child and it will fail many more children."

The Crown's case centred on the testimony of witnesses, some of whom cannot be identified because of a publication ban, who'd testified they'd heard Katherine Quinn, 27, tell her boyfriend Robert Forslund, "If you love me, you'll kill him," among other recollections.

 

Baker took two hours to explain her decision, which essentially boiled down to her finding a reasonable doubt as to Quinn's guilt because she could not rely on the accuracy and reliability of the witnesses' recollections because of inconsistencies in their testimony.

"I must be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt," Baker said.

 

This is Quinn's second trial on the matter. She had been convicted of second-degree murder in the stomping death of 16-year-old

Matthew Martins but the B.C. Court of Appeal overturned that in 2007, after finding no evidence to support the Crown's allegation Quinn had supplied Forslund with the beer bottle he used to slash Martins' throat. Forslund was convicted of second-degree murder in the case in 2007 and is serving a life sentence.

 

The murder happened on July 2, 2005. Martins, a smallish teen nicknamed "little man" by his friends, had been walking by the couple's Whalley house when Quinn -- a mother of three -- decided she'd mug the boy for his gold chain. Martins cut her under her arm with a small knife, leaving a two-millimetre-deep slice, to escape. Seeking revenge, Forslund, described as a large man, hunted the boy down and punched, kicked and stomped the teen before cutting his throat with a Budweiser beer bottle.

 

Baker noted that only one bystander -- a young woman -- attempted to stop the savage beating. She said it's a "sad commentary" so many people failed to save the young man. If anyone had the power to do so, she said, it was Quinn, but there was no evidence she did anything to stop it. Indeed, Quinn had started the sequence of events that led to Martins' death. The judge called Quinn's behaviour in the matter "reprehensible."

 

Outside the courthouse, Sandra Martins-Toner, being comforted by her husband David, lashed out at the witnesses who didn't try to stop Forslund. "Your apathy is unbelievable, to see a child killed like that," she said.

 

Her younger son Braydan, 13, tried to put on a brave face for reporters. "I miss my brothers a lot," he told them.

 

Martins-Toner has been through the wringer. Her father died during the first trial, and her mother during the second. After her son was murdered, she formed a victims' advocacy group called F.A.C.T., or Families Against Crime and Trauma, and wrote a book about the case entitled The Last Six Minutes.

 

A second book is in the works, she said. She called the process "therapeutic."

Meantime, David Toner said the verdict confirms that "change is needed" to the justice system.

"We will continue to be advocates for the rest of our days," he said.

 

 

tzytaruk@thenownewspaper.com



 

 
 
 
"Fear not your enemies, for they can only kill you; fear not your friends, for they can only betray you. Fear only the indifferent, who permit the killers and betrayers to walk safely on the earth."  --Edward Yashinsky
 
David Toner
President of F.A.C.T.
www.familiesagainstcrime.org
david@familiesagainstcrime.org
(778)-885-4357

Saturday, June 26, 2010

A PORTRAIT OF ASGAR AND THE PLIGHT OF KASHMIR

 
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FEATURING THE ELOQUENT LETTERS OF SAYED ASGAR ALI RAZWY
 
By
Phyllis Mass
 
"When Asgar telephoned my home for the first time in October, 1965, I was suspicious. As a writer, I receive a fair share of crank calls and, as a result, whenever a stranger calls, I'm on my guard."
 
So I began writing "A PORTRAIT OF ASGAR AND THE PLIGHT OF KASHMIR", a biography about Sayed Asgar Ali Razwy and a history of his beloved homeland, Kashmir.
 
I continued:
 
I listened to my caller for a few moments without comment, I just "ahummed" a couple of times so that he'd know I was there. But it wasn't very long before I realized that this call was not one of the usual nuisance variety. This man was quite apparently sincere, placid, honest and highly intelligent. I decided that if my assessment of him was wrong, I deserved to make a fool of myself. So I opened up and began asking questions.
 
First, what had prompted him to call me?
 
Asgar told me that he had just read an article about me in The Montreal Star. In the interview, I had stated my view that adults in a free country must be prepared to become involved in life. I had expressed my deep conviction that each human being should commit himself to contributing something to the world around him in whatever way he - or she - can.
 
Asgar told me that my story had moved and inspired him and that, as a refugee from Kashmir, he now felt compelled to do something to help his enslaved compatriots.
 
People often come to me for advice, but I told Asgar that I knew absolutely nothing about Kashmir - not even where it was . How could I be of any help? He invited me to meet with some of his fellow ex patriots at the Islamic Institute in downtown Montreal the following Sunday.
 
On Sunday I arrived at the Islamic Institute, a modest, aging building on Sherbrooke Street not far from McGill University. I entered the foyer along with a companion, and when I looked up the dark, spiralling staircase, I saw a fragile looking man with bushy eyebrows and glasses coming down to greet us.
 
"You are Phyllis Mass?" he said with a lilting accent. "You're Asgar," I declared with a feeling that I was greeting an old acquaintance. He welcomed us warmly and then guided us upstairs to a very small, dimly-lit room where four other men were waiting. Asgar introduced Dr. Hyder, Dr. Malik, Dr. Khalifa and the fourth man, also a physician, whose name escapes me. Like Asgar, these doctors were all refugees from Kashmir.
 
Thus I was introduced to Kashmir, a land of exquisite beauty that has suffered for centuries, like a precious porcelain doll being torn apart by ravenous dogs. Because of its strategic geographical location, its two main religious faiths, and its riches, Kashmir, like a beautiful woman, has been coveted by greedy men and has known no freedom or peace.
 
This small group soon formed the Kashmir Plebiscite Committee of Montreal and we did all we could to draw attention to the plight of the Kashmiri people. Our purpose was not to choose sides between the interests of Pakistan and India, but to promote the right of the People of Kashmir themselves to have a free plebiscite to decide their own destiny as had been promised by both India and the United Nations. A promise that has been was denied again and again as the people of Kashmir continue to suffer in chains. 
 
But we were a small group and we kept running into brick walls. We did not make any significant inroads into the problems but, out of our coming together, the little study called, "A Portrait of Asgar and the Plight of Kashmir" was born.
 
I published  A Portrait of Asgar and The Plight of Kashmir in 1968 after exchanging letters with the great but modest Islamic scholar Sayed Asgar Ali Razwy for years until his untimely death, and after dedicating myself to learning all I could about the history and the politics of Kashmir and its hungry neighbours.
 
At the time, information about Kashmir was scant and hard to come by. I did a lot of research and gathered everything I could find into this small book which I have shared with interested parties all over the world.
 
A Portrait of Asgar and the Plight of Kashmir is not available in stores, but copies were placed at the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, the Library of the British Museum in London, at the University of Honolulu, Hawaii, and were deposited, as required by copyright law, in the Library of Parliament in Ottawa where they must still be available to the public. Copies were also donated to the Fraser Hickson Library in Montreal, but were reported "stolen" one after another by the librarian of the day, Ms. Trenholme.
 
After moving to New York, Asgar wrote of his longing for the Fraser Hickson Library:
" I hope you will not indict me for my cynicism if I tell you that I do not like the New York Public Library. It's a reference library, and it's dismal and somber. How I long to be in the Fraser-Hickson Library !"
 
Asgar's life was devoted to his quiet faith, his family and his people. He was hard working, devoted to his friend and employer, Mr. Keene, a manufacturer of carpet backing. But he denied himself everything. He hardly ate. His usual meal consisted of fruit, cheese and grape juice and his fragile frame reflected this. He loved to walk. His passion was Kashmir. My enduring respect for Asgar Razwy moves me to deny myself sleep to write to the world about Asgar and his people.
 
Asgar was a highly esteemed Islamic scholar and translator, but he was so modest that I did not find out about his accomplishments until years later. He spoke only about the people of Kashmir. Some time later, through a friend of a friend in California, I acquired a copy of a book entitled, "Salman El Farsi - Salman the Persian, Friend of Muhammad" - A short story of his life by Sayed A.A. Razwy. This small book, no larger than my own in volume, but also laden with information, was published in New York in 1983. Just reading the brief introduction, I am reminded of Asgar's eloquence.
 
" SALMAN THE PERSIAN WAS ONE of the greatest companions of Muhammad Mustafa, the Messenger of Allah. But the story of his life, unlike the story of the lives of most of the other companions of Muhammad (may Allah bless him and his family), is hidden in mystery since so little is known of it. This is especially strange considering his high rank in the sight of his master, benefactor and friend, Muhammad, the blessed one. The events of his life, it appears, are still awaiting some future seeker of truth to come and uncover them ...."
 
In one of letters to me, Asgar writes: "Perhaps you know that 225 classified languages and 850 dialects are spoken in the Indo-Pakistani sub-continent. I can speak only Urdu, Kashmiri, Punjabi and Hindi. Among the non-Indian languages I can speak only Persian and Turki (not Turkish). Persian was the court language of India for 800 years and it strongly influenced the Indian cultures. I owe my knowledge of Turki to my sojourn in Srinigar (Kashmir), from 1940 to 1944."
 
Asgar also spoke French, well enough to translate books from French to English for a friend in Montreal. He writes: " My oldest friends are books, and my hobby is the study of languages. Since I came here (to New York) three months ago, I have not been able to read any book (because he was working day and night to send money home to his family in Kashmir), and I have made no progress in  learning Spanish. ... I find myself caught up in a race against the clock..."
 
This is not the place to recount the story of Asgar's exemplary life, as much as a platform upon which I call caring people of the world to take an interest in the plight of Kashmir.
 
Here, as a basis for your consideration of the plight of the people of Kashmir, I present the salient points. Let no one confuse the situation of Kashmir with divided Korea or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and certainly not with Quebec where some people desire a separate state when we already live in a great and free country.
 
The struggles over Kashmir are complex and hinge largely on the conflicts resulting from early conquests, the interests of Sikhs, Sheiks, Dogra Hindus, the involvement of Great Britain, the interests of the majority who are Muslims vs.the Hindu population, and the failure of the United Nations and India to honour their promises that the People of Kashmir would decide their own destiny through a free plebiscite. Since 1846 when the British defeated the Sikhs in the First Punjab War and imposed a war indemnity on the Lahore Court, the troubles have continued.
 
Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru pledged a plebiscite for Kashmir. On November 21, 1947, he said,
 
"I have repeatedly stated that as soon as the raiders have been forced out of Kashmir or have withdrawn and peace has been established the people of Kashmir should decide the question of accession by plebiscite or referendum under international auspices such as those of the United Nations"
 
Lord Mountbatten, on July 25, 1947, told the princes of the Indian States that, "the Indian Independence Act releases the States from all their obligations to the Crown. The States have complete freedom - technically and legally are independent."
 
But, for sixty years, India has repeatedly found excuses to prevent the plebiscite  and the United Nations has repeatedly found reasons not to discuss Kashmir.
 
It is now the 21st Century and the world is involved in many troubles, wars, natural disasters, man-made disasters, political chicanery, and many other distractions. Who thinks of Kashmir?
 
I do. I remember my brilliant and gentle friend, Sayed Asgar Ali Razwy, and I honour his memory by reminding the world to look to Kashmir. Do not forget the People of Kashmir.
 
Let the People of Kashmir decide their own destiny. India and the United Nations must honour their promises to allow the People of Kashmir a free plebiscite. It is time !
 
 
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NO PEACE WITHOUT JUSTICE  !
                        Luke  18
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Phyllis Mass Carter
 
 
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=41573&id=100000343040806
 
 
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?profile=1&id=100000343040806
 
PHYLLIS MASS CARTER
           
A Portrait of Asgar
          And
The Plight of Kashmir

 

Friday, June 25, 2010

HARD SELL, HATE SELL - A TRIP TO NOWHERE IN QUEBEC

 
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A day in the country, a steak and potatoes dinner, and a free camera to boot. My husband and I couldn't resist the free coupon offered at a booth at some public show we were attending in downtown Montreal in the mid-1960's.
 
I was really suspicious. No one gives you anything for nothing. Why would someone be giving strangers free coupons for a bus trip to "Nowhere" in the Laurentian Mountains? 
 
The salesman said that a developer wanted to show a new construction project in the country to the public and that, as a young married couple, we were ideal candidates. We were not expected to buy anything. They were not selling anything. It was a public relations effort to promote their building project and we could enjoy a day in the country and a lovely meal gratis.
 
Daring to take a chance, we accepted the free coupon, and in a few days, we found ourselves on a fully loaded bus heading up into the Laurentians. Gift camera in hand, we wondered what was ahead.
 
The bus rattled along for miles on the highway north of Montreal and after a long tedious drive, veered off the highway onto a very narrow forest road. It had been raining and the windows were fogged over. I suffer from motion sickness, so the trip was becoming very uncomfortable for me. The bus trudged along the muddy path for a long time, deeper and deeper into the forest. I felt sick and closed-in. But there was nothing to be done, nowhere to go.
 
At last, we came to a clearing. The bus stopped. Men who looked like wrestlers in business suits "helped" the passengers off the bus. In the clearing there was one building that looked like a very large cabin. The wrestlers escorted us inside.
 
We were advised that we should not attempt to leave the building on our own as there was nowhere to go in the forest except by bus and they didn't want us to risk getting hurt.
 
Inside, a large open room was filled with small tables. Each couple was escorted to and placed at one of the tables. There were three chairs at each table. All the couples seemed uneasy, confused. Clearly, everyone was wondering what was going on.
 
At the front of the room there was a large movie screen. A man who seemed to be the master of ceremonies stood near the screen. Looking back even now, it seems we were in some kind of nightmare orchestrated by Alfred Hitchcock. 
 
Then one of those men in business suits approached each table and took the third chair. It was beyond weird. The third person at our table asked us some apparently innocuous questions about ourselves as one might expect from a stranger at a public luncheon. Very soon, waiters brought out plates of sumptuous steak and potatoes and served each table.
 
When the meal had been consumed in this strange, tense atmosphere, the master of ceremonies started to talk - about Quebec. How we all love Quebec, and how it is Our land, the land our fathers bled for and died for, and how precious Our Quebec land is to us, and how we must be committed to the land of Quebec. 
 
This went on for some time as he segued into the "construction project". I can't recall what was shown on the screen during this lecture, but this company was being promoted by a famous Quebec personality named Frenchy Jerraud. I never found out if he was just an icon for the company or an owner.
 
The master of ceremonies continued talking about our love for the land in Quebec and how it was vital that the People of Quebec own that land to ensure that it could never again be taken by outsiders.
 
And there it was. The object of the entire production was for the "guests" to buy land from this company.
 
My husband and I were probably the only English speaking people in the room. The master of ceremonies spoke in English only once to say that most of the guests were French so he would speak only in French.
 
But the third person at our table told us that, since we were not really Quebecois, we were the exception, and we were definitely not expected to buy any of the land.
 
I needed to get out of there. I asked if I might use the ladies' room.
 
One of the wrestlers took my arm and escorted me out of the building to a wooden outhouse. I was relieved.
 
Meanwhile, the couples at all the other tables were signing contracts to buy their portions of Quebec land.
 
As for us, a hundred years of roots in Quebec did not qualify us to be among those who were ripped off that day. A bizarre blessing.
 
All these decades later, I must admit, I am grateful that the bus brought us back to Montreal. For a while there, I was so scared. I really didn't know if my husband and I would be allowed to return home.
 
My report entitled  HARD SELL, HATE SELL was originally published in the Montreal magazine called TOTAL LIVING.
 
Phyllis Mass Carter
 
#30
 
 

MICHAEL STEELER TOOK ON THE VATICAN

 
***********************************
I am too small and weak to take on the Vatican, but I am not too small or weak to tell the truth. My friend, the noble gentleman, Michael Steeler, took on the Vatican single-handedly and fought until his last days on earth to expose the Vatican's support of the Nazi Galicia SS. Even through his final illness, Michael used all his time, his last bit of money, probably his last postage stamp, to expose a terrible wrong - the blessing of the Galicia SS Nazis by the Vatican. 
 
I met Michael through his appearance on CBC Television's THE FIFTH ESTATE. With personal connections in the palaces of Europe, he had important facts to reveal in 
the interview produced by Howard Goldenthal. Michael presented the inside story of his one-man struggle for justice against the Goliath Vatican. 
 
Michael Steeler had two intense grievances against the Vatican: One, Michael was a homosexual fighting the hypocrisy of the Church that professes to love all God's children while rejecting and humiliating Catholics like himself. The other was the Roman Church's long denied but undeniable dance with the Nazis in World War II. Michael devoted the last days, nights, weeks and years of his life to exposing the Vatican's crimes.
 
I came to know Michael Steeler well through many letters and telephone calls until the end of his life. I had the privilege of meeting him only once, on a day trip I made to Toronto by train especially for the purpose of spending a little time with him face to face. I admired him greatly. He was an elegant, brilliant and courageous man, a noble gentleman.
 
Michael took pains to prepare a small gourmet lunch for me even though he was so thin and frail, I feared he was too weak to stand. And then he showed me ancient documents embellished with red wax seals and red ribbons, documents that showed his historical royal lineage and recognition by the Crown of England. It was an experience I will savour all my days.
 
It was a privilege to have spent those precious few hours with a man of such character, an education to learn so much from one who had personally experienced life in the palaces of Europe since his childhood during World War II.
 
Michael told me about his meeting with Adolph Hitler. A distant relative was very friendly with Hitler. Michael was a small boy at the time. Hitler didn't like him. Michael didn't like Hitler either. There were so many more stories Michael might have told me if there had been more time. But our letters and phone calls continued until the end.
 
Before I left his apartment, Michael gave me a book on heraldry and he signed it "To Scrapper". With that, he encouraged me to "stand on his shoulders" and continue fighting for justice. I took Mike Steeler's charge to heart.  And as frail as he was, the gentleman walked me to the train station.
 
Now, in the year 2010, after hearing more of the Vatican's cover up for the disgusting, abusive priests and bishops - and for the Pope himself - I cannot remain a mere curious bystander. I promised Michael I would carry on being the "Scrapper" for justice, as he dubbed me.
 
There are priests who would direct our attention to the future. Let's listen to the people. We are no longer a church of priests but a church for the people, one priest said on Global TV News in Montreal. Spin, diversion, excuses, distraction, apologies, smoke and mirrors, good intentions, but never the whole truth.
 
The Church is so powerful that someone like me is less than a mosquito in this matter. But a splinter in the side of injustice, that I am, only that, but at least that.
 
Lest we forget, let's not obliterate the meaning of the lives of so many people who have been severely damaged by the Roman Catholic Church. Do those who have died matter less ? Gone and forgotten ? Tsk-tsk !
 
Under Pope John XXIII, a ray of light shone on the Vatican and on the Catholic people. Now we see the shadow of the Dark Ages returning.
 
Just about everyone knows the truth, but only a few dare to acknowledge it. Most leave it to a few still-living victims of some of the abuses to carry the burden of speaking out. When they have died, the Church can obliterate their memory too.
 
Most Catholics continue to sin by their silence as so many did during the Holocaust. After all, how can you expect millions of people to let go of something they have depended on so totally for so long?
 
In memory of Michael Steeler, and millions of Jewish people, and the innocent children hurt by Roman Catholic priests, and brushed aside and buried by bishops for decades, if not centuries, my conscience demands that I speak the truth openly.
 
The corruption of God's Word is a tragedy for the believing Catholics of the world, and for their friends.
 
Scrub away the sins. I pray that honourable priests will speak out and hold the guilty - all of them - responsible. Only then can the Roman Church claim to have clean hands and go forward into a blessed future. Then, and only then.
 
I am,
Phyllis Carter
 
THE BLESSING OF THE GALICIA SS BY THE VATICAN
 
" Between 1918 and 1939, Uniats in Galicia also gradually began to return to Orthodoxy, despite ferocious Polish repression,. By 1928, there were 40 Orthodox parishes there and eventually some 50,00 returned to Orthodoxy. However, repression continued there until the Second World War. Sadly, under instructions from the Vatican, after 1939 the latinized Uniat episcopate showed enthusiastic loyalty to the new Nazi regime. Indeed, the head of the Uniats in Galicia, 'Metropolitan' Andrei Sheptitsky, actually 'blessed' the 14th SS Division, recruited in Galicia, and their genocidal massacres. Senior Uniat clergy in Galicia also supported nationalist Ukrainian organizations. These were notorious for their murders of Communists, Jews, Poles and Orthodox clergy and they continued their terrorist activities into the early 1950s. As a result, after World War II, Sheptitsky's successor, Joseph Slipy, and four other Uniat bishops were arrested by the new Soviet regime for collaboration with the Nazis, as were quislings throughout liberated Europe. "
 

Thursday, June 24, 2010

LANGUAGE IS NOT THE PROBLEM IN QUEBEC - BIGOTRY IS

 
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The endless debates about language rights in Quebec will probably go on forever. 
 
"Free Man Chokes on Force-Fed Language" - That was what my poster read decades ago when I joined the throng on Parliament Hill to protest Quebec's oppressive language laws. A photograph of that demonstration showing my sign appeared in The Montreal Star in 1971.
 
Pauline Marois, Parti Quebecois leader now dares to say, " It is not acceptable to send this message, that it is possible to have free choice. "  June 7, 2010. She says this without hesitation or shame. The people who are paying her salary don't have the right to free choice! In Canada in the 21st Century! I can just see all the intelligent, wealthy, young and healthy people - English and French - heading for the airport and the highway west. Where have we seen this before?
 
In the mid-1960's Dr. Henry Morgenthaler appointed me a director of The Committee for Neutral Schools. I served with him for two years. We were promoting the very simple, logical, democratic, civilized plan that all children in Canada be taught English and French together in a secular school system.
 
School subjects would be divided up and taught in either English or French, or English could be taught in the morning and French in the afternoon. So simple really. Everyone would come out of school completely bilingual. Young people of all backgrounds would make friends throughout their school years. A recipe for peace and respect and progress.
 
As a delegate to a Quebec Liberal Convention at the Chateau Frontenac in 1971, I promoted the idea of bilingual education for all Canadians. At the plenary session, the secretary at the table on the stage declared before all the delegates that her children would learn English "over (her) dead body". Then she declared the convention closed before the scheduled discussion on Education in Quebec could be brought to the floor. All this was reported in the newspapers and on television, in spite of the fact that the Liberal whips seized the reporters' tape recordings.
 
At that point I destroyed my membership card. This scene was captured by the CBC camera under the supervision of producer, Stephen Phizicky, and it was seen from Vancouver to Prince Edward Island, in spite of the efforts of the Liberal whips to confiscate all the tapes that other reporters had made of my actions.
 
The associate editor of The North Shore News, Evelyn St. Pierre, was the one who told me later about the whips taking the tapes away from the reporters. But the CBC report went through because, even though the whips had pulled the plug on their camera, it continued to record on batteries without their knowledge and was broadcast across Canada on the CBC TV National News.
 
Those with strong separatist interests would not allow the concept of equal education to be considered. They were hell bent on ensuring that "pure laine" children not learn English. Yes, English speaking children would learn both French and English, but French speaking children would be denied. Guess who lost out.
 
And now, in the 21st Century, here we go again ! Plus ca change.
 
You may learn to speak French skillfully, even beautifully, but Quebec extremists will never accept you as their equals. Your family may be citizens for a hundred years, but you will never be accepted by separatist extremists as anything but an outsider.
 
The neverendums will occur and reoccur ad infinitum, and those who are able and have the resources will continue to leave Quebec until the separatists succeed in creating the closed, pure laine society they really want.
 
See WHAT IS A DISTINCT SOCIETY ? at http://phylliscartersjournal.blogspot.com
 
#30

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

FREE KASHMIR - IT IS LONG OVERDUE

 
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In 1947, India, Great Britain and the United Nations promised Kashmir a free plebiscite to determine her own destiny.
 
Lord Mountbatten, on July 25, 1947, told the princes of the Indian States that, "the Indian Independence Act releases the States from all their obligations to the Crown. The States have complete freedom - technically and legally are independent."
 
Mr. Nehru pledged a plebiscite for Kashmir on November 21, 1947. He said, "I have repeatedly stated that as soon as the raiders have been forced out of Kashmir or have withdrawn and peace has been established the people of Kashmir should decide the question of accession by plebiscite or referendum under international auspices such as those of the United Nations"
 
For sixty years, India has repeatedly found excuses to prevent the plebiscite and the United Nations has repeatedly found reasons not to discuss Kashmir.
 
On June 21, 2010, we are once again hearing about "rebels" in "Indian Kashmir". Kashmir is not Indian. When I did my research on Kashmir in the 1960's, ninety percent of Kashmiris were Muslim, and it was reported that Hindus who lived there were getting along well with their Muslim neighbours.
 
The Turks and Mongols of Central Asia ruled India for 800 years. Their culture and influence have left their effects on the people of the region. Eight centuries of foreign rule inevitably led to the diffusion of foreign cultures in India.
 
Kashmir's geographical location - like Israel's - is of strategic interest to her neighbours - India, Pakistan, Russia and Afghanistan. Jammu and Kashmir borders on Tibet and Sinkiang Province of China. Anyone can see how vulnerable and how valuable Kashmir is to other nations.
 
The two main rivers of Kashmir, the Chenab and the Jhelum flow to Pakistan. Those rivers are a great potential source of hydro electric power, and the mountains of Kashmir are rich with precious minerals. No wonder India will not let go.
 
THE PROMISE OF PLEBISCITE
 
The Kashmir Question; A.G. Noorani, 1964, P.C. Manaktalas and Sons,. Private Ltd., Bombay, India
 
Mr. A.G. Noorani was a practising lawyer at the Bombay High Court and a well know political commentator and author. In his introduction to this book, Shri V.B. Karnik writes:
 
"There is no attempt (on the part of the Government of India) even today, to tell the people the truth. They are still being fed slogans, half truths and lies ."
 
"The fact of the situation, however, is that what Sheikh Abdullah is stating happens to be largely the truth. The truth is that the problem of Kashmir is not solved. The truth is that the people of Kashmir never had the opportunity to express their views on the issue of accession. And the truth is that there will never be peace and stability in Kashmir as long as India and Pakistan continue to quarrel over the issue."
 
Unlike Quebec, where separatists continue to agitate for a state of their own, Kashmir does not exist in the midst of a free and democratic country. Kashmir is a captive land that has been torn apart by marauding hordes and covetous neighbours for hundreds of years and kept in chains by India since 1947.
 
The indifference of the western world is Kashmir's enemy. We should be promoting their right to choose their own destiny.
 
India, Great Britain and the United Nations have promised Kashmir a free plebiscite for sixty years. Free Kashmir. It is time.
 
See - A PORTRAIT OF ASGAR AND THE PLIGHT OF KASHMIR
on  PHYLLIS CARTER'S JOURNAL  at http://phylliscartersjournal.blogspot.com
 
 

Thursday, June 17, 2010

EVERYONE LIES - IT'S "NORMAL" NOW

 
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Everyone lies. It's tragic. It's disgusting, It's sickening - because it's true. Everyone lies sometime and so many people lie for a living. Everyone knows that politicians lie. Advertisers lie constantly. Sales people lie for increased profits. Soap operas keep the viewers coming back day after day, year after year, because all the characters keep you hooked by lying.
 
Most movie plots and characters operate on the principle of lies and deception - Who done it? Smoke and mirrors. We are entertained and enjoy the game and, in the context of entertainment, the satisfaction is legitimate. It answers some need deep inside us to play this game.
 
But in real life, we really suffer because we live with lies all the time.
 
Spouses lie to each other - and to their lovers. Children lie to their parents, especially when they reach the teenage years. The police lie to cover up for each other's misdeeds. Lawyers' lies are the substance of their trade.
 
Little children learn to lie as soon as they learn to speak - to cover up for their mishaps and mistakes, to avoid anticipated punishment and to get what they want.
 
Everyone lies. Where can we turn for hope ?
 
You would think that you could trust a respected physician, especially at a major Montreal hospital's emergency department. You would think that if the physician did anything wrong, abusive, the hospital authorities would take appropriate action against him. Think again. Read about the cover-up, the smoke and mirrors, the polishing of the truth, the verbal slap on the wrist, when this doctor threw my life away on April 1, 2009. Read about Dr. Jerome Stasiak at http://phylliscartersjournal.blogspot.com.
 
Where do we turn for hope? Millions of people have turned to the churches, to their priests and ministers. The news is full of the truth about that these days. We all know now that, for decades, if not for centuries, the worst, most malicious liars have been the priests that people turned to for comfort and protection and truth.
 
In my own experience, I was attacked by my own mother because my niece, Dawn McSweeney, lied to her. My mother was persuaded to believe that I was a villain because I had become a Christian. Our family was torn apart by Dawn McSweeney's lies and crimes.
 
Read the reports of this catastrophe at
http://dawnmcsweeney.blogspot,.com     
and 
 
And for anyone who questions if I am telling the truth, I have offered the Montreal Police more than once to take a polygraph test at any time. But they refused me saying that they believe me. Still, the police continue to cover for their officer who helped Dawn McSweeney rob me at 4995 Prince of Wales, NDG, Montreal, on October 7, 1996..
 
I wish that when someone is lying their nose would grow like Pinocchio's or their faces would turn a sickly shade of puce, so that everyone could see clearly what only those who are awake can detect most of the time.
 
Or we could have a swearing in ceremony when a child enters first grade. The future liar would be fitted with a small, unobtrusive device that would send out a loud alarm of bells and whistles as soon as the delinquent started to tell a lie.
 
What a world this would be if people told the truth ! Just spend a little time tonight imagining what it would be like not to lie, and to know that no one is lying to you - or to your children. Imagine how you would manage your day if you had to tell the truth all the time. Imagine how well you might sleep at night if you had not lied at all.
 
I hardly ever sleep, not because I lie, but because I spend my nights and my days reporting the truth. When I am not writing, I am thinking about ways I might finally persuade the authorities to take appropriate action against Dawn McSweeney and her self-proclaimed "partners in crime"-  the criminals who destroyed my family. It is easier to drag my tired body to the computer and write what I am thinking, than it is to just lie there in the dark and think about what Dawn McSweeney's lies, greed, jealousy and hatred have done to my family and how the injustice system has failed to care about the crimes she and her "partners in crime" - including the Montreal Police - have committed.
 
But I am never kept awake because of lying. I was raised in a family where I could never know if my mother was lying or just kidding. She did all of that all the time. There came a time after Dawn McSweeney robbed me that I told my father that I would never again keep any family secrets or bend the truth to protect the family. Dawn McSweeney's lies destroyed our family and now I insist on telling the truth.
 
So if you have any secrets, don't tell me, because I refuse to keep secrets or to lie. The burden of lying is just too much to bear. The consequences of lying, or being lied to, leave wounds on our lives and scars on our souls.
 
Only the truth can set us free.
 
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NO PEACE WITHOUT JUSTICE  !
                        Luke  18
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#30
 

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

WHEN THE LAW IS AN ASS

 
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NO PEACE WITHOUT JUSTICE  !
                        Luke  18
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The law is human.  Justice just is.
 
The law is made by flawed human beings for reasons that include control, order, regulation, profit, expediency and career benefits for politicians, judges, lawyers and for other reasons that have nothing to do with justice.
 
Marlene Jennings, Liberal Member of Canada's Parliament, twice acknowledged publicly that my rights have been violated three times. Russell Copeman, Member of Quebec's Legislature acknowledged that my rights were violated. But the Montreal Police continue to refuse to investigate these crimes.
 
Even when our aged mother was removed from her home and held in total isolation by the boastful "partners in crime" for almost a decade, the Montreal Police refused to investigate.
 
Even when the self-professed "partners in crime" sent me hate mail and obtained a court order declaring that I was insane and dangerous, the Montreal Police refused to investigate. I was condemned in absentia in four minutes with no medical evidence and no witnesses except my accusers. In Canada in the 21st Century. (See the reports in The Suburban weekly newspaper - September 5 and September 12, 2007)
 
I am fighting for my life and for justice. Quebec's Human Rights Commission 
says I am "too late" for justice.
 
NO POLICE REPORT - NO JUSTICE.
 
Montreal Police dodge, stifle and bury vital reports - even if it is a matter of life or death.
 
Police officers are very reluctant to write reports. If there is any way they can avoid doing so, they will. It is just too much bother for them. If they take the trouble to write a report, they will be expected to follow through. That means spending time on paper work and time-consuming court appearances. When things finally do get to court - if they ever do,  there are usually delays and postponements and the officers may be subjected to cross-examination and have to answer for any mistakes they might have made. So police officers avoid filing a report whenever possible. This is the dilemma the poor victim has to face.
 
The victim can do absolutely nothing about it. If the officers refuse to take a report, it is up to the already beleaguered victim to try to figure out the injustice system and find help.
 
You find yourself in a dispute. You call 911 for help. Did you know that the Montreal Police are not obligated to take a citizens' complaint and make a report?
 
Furthermore, the police have the right to make a report of one party's version of a dispute and to refuse to record the information offered by the second party. I know of more than one case where this has occurred and caused serious prejudice to the persons whose reports were refused.
 
It is ridiculous therefore to say "the police are not judges" as a police woman told one crime victim I know. (See "Quebec Courts - Let's Make a Deal" )
 
This very common practice makes the police judges. The police decide what version of an event should be reported and filed and they are free to refuse the version of any of the other parties.
 
That this is an accepted practice in a democratic society is shocking. It leaves a wide pitfall for an individual officer or a team to place at a disadvantage one or more of the parties to a dispute.
 
It means that a police officer - who may favour one party's race, religion, status, language, appearance of anything else, more than the characteristics of another party - is free to record and file a one-sided, even prejudicial report, leaving the other party or parties to defend themselves as " the accused" in court. Furthermore, I was told that, if you don't have a lawyer, you do not even have the right to see the police report and you cannot obtain a copy of it,
 
This leaves the second party in a conflict at a serious disadvantage, obliged to hire a lawyer and go to court to defend himself/herself. Only then, months - or even years - down the line, do they get to have their version of the case heard, acknowledged and recorded.
 
Immediately, the impression is that the second party is counter-suing, merely to defend himself or herself. This individual's testimony is bound to be less credible than the testimony given in the official police report. Judges are strongly inclined to accept the police reports as gospel, leaving the second party to defend him or herself, not only against the original accusations, but also against the "written word" of the authorities.
 
All conscientious citizens must press their MP's and MNA's to change this unjust law, by-law or practice. It is blatantly prejudicial. It is the antithesis of democracy and it makes a mockery of Pierre Elliott Trudeau's dream of a "Just Society".
 
This report was first published in Phyllis Carter's Victims' Voices in 2003.
See "Montreal Police Dodge, Stifle and Bury Vital Reports", and
"Quebec Courts - Let's Make a Deal"  in Phyllis Carter's Journal
at  http://phylliscartersjournal.blogspot.com
 

I Am Too Late For Justice - Quebec Human Rights Commission

I am fighting for my life and for justice. Quebec's Human Rights Commission says I am "too late" for justice.

It is not only young members of minority communities that suffer abuse at the hands of the Montreal Police. On October 7, 1996, I was sixty years old, living with my elderly parents while fighting breast cancer when I was attacked and robbed in my home at 4995 Prince of Wales, Montreal. I called 911.

The Montreal Police I called to rescue me - helped the thief instead.

The Montreal Police officer "helped" me out of my home, physically, and left me out in the street alone and destitute without as much as a coat.

I have been pleading for justice day and night for thirteen years.

At the time I was robbed, I begged the police for help. I begged my MNA. Russell Copeman for help,. I begged Marlene Jennings for help. I begged the people in charge of Legal Aid for help. I have folders full of letters and rejections and excuses. It is not in our jurisdiction. Everyone says, "It is not in our jurisdiction."

I have been ignored, delayed, diverted and rejected by those in authority for thirteen years. And now I am told I am too late for justice.

I am 74 years old, widowed, and last year, I learned I have bone cancer.

Like the Nazis, Dawn McSweeney stole personal treasures and destroyed lives.

The fact that I had become a Christian gave Dawn McSweeney an excuse to pin a target on me. I never knew what hit me until years later when the pieces started to fall into place.

Once I was out of my home, the thief had free and total access to all my most precious belongings day and night for five months. Dawn McSweeney stole everything of value that I had worked for all my life.

This crime shattered my family. But it didn't end there. In 2007, the self-proclaimed "partners in crime" were still free to take everything that belonged to my parents and their heirs - their children and grandchildren.

Canadian Member of Parliament, Marlene Jennings, twice acknowledged publicly that my rights were violated three times by the injustice system but no one will help me.

The Montreal Police who turned over all my precious belongings and the lives and property of my parents to the thief did not file a report and the Montreal Police have refused repeatedly ever since to take any action against the thief and her accomplices.

Even when these criminals took my widowed mother from her home and kept her in total isolation for almost a decade, the Montreal Police refused to investigate.

It was only days after my mother's death in 2007 when I was taken from my apartment by the police again.

Even when these criminals created a bizarre and malicious application for a court order to have me declared insane and dangerous, the Montreal Police would not investigate.

A judge issued the court order in four minutes without any medical evidence, without any witnesses but the criminals themselves and without ever speaking to me.

The CLSC Pierrefonds apologized in writing for their part in these crimes.

Russell Copeman, MNA, appealed for justice - to no avail.

I have appealed to every member of government, every authority, every agency I could think of. I am told "It is not our jurisdiction," "No one did anything wrong". "Get a lawyer."

These criminals are still free to enjoy everything they stole.

I do not want money or compensation.

I can't afford a lawyer.

I am not eligible for legal aid.

What I want is justice. I want the criminals tried in criminal court.

I want the authorities to return everything Dawn McSweeney and her "partners in crime" have stolen from me and from my family and I want them to return to the family - not to me - my parents' property and money.

Thanks to the Internet, I can tell the world about these devastating crimes in the hope of finding a hero - one honourable person who will read about what was done to me and to my family and care enough to take the necessary steps to bring Dawn McSweeney and her accomplices before an honest judge in criminal court and return everything they stole.

WHAT TO DO WHEN JUSTICE FAILS

Friends tell me that, when the statute of limitations runs out there is nothing you can do.  

I have been begging for justice since the moment I was attacked. I have been rejected, refused, stalled, diverted and threatened. I have received hate mail and the self-proclaimed "partners in crime" have mocked me and even obtained a court order declaring that I am insane and dangerous.
 
The legal system saw fit to try me in absentia in four minutes without any evidence or any witness except the ":partners in crime" themselves, and sent police to my door to take me to hospital for a mental evaluation. Just what you might expect in China, Serbia or 
Russia. But this was Canada, in the year 2007.
 
All the while, the Montreal Police have refused to take any action against the "partners in crime".
 
Friends keep telling me how futile is my struggle for justice, how hopeless. Does anyone who knows me think that, because the legal system is unjust, I will just give up and die?
 
I am looking for alternatives. When the law is an ass and fails to protect the innocent, there may be other ways to get justice. 
 
I am looking and listening.
 
NOW THAT YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT ?
 
Quebec politicians, lawyers, judges and the court system conspires against justice for the sake of expediency and sometimes for personal gain. If innocent people suffer, who cares? The voices crying out in the wilderness are muted by the din of indifference, incompetence and corruption.
 
There is one thing we can do. Through the World Wide Web, we can tell the world that Canada is not a just society. It is a dream. It is a lie. And we can take our destiny into our own hands and change it. Where are the heroes?

For all reports and details, see archives at

http://phylliscartersjournal.blogspot.com  and ttp://dawnmcsweeney.blogspot.com