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* HE HASN'T THE FOGGIST IDEA WHAT TO SAYThis might be funny if it wasn't
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*Dear Friends, This comes from Danish TV. How embarrassing for the USA.
This is terrible.
You'll probably NEVER see this on American TV or on late night talk shows
like Letterman.
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*This man (Obama) cannot function without a script and/or teleprompter! And
he really needs some new speech writers.
This is what is on European TV. Click below to watch.*
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**http://www.youtube.com/v/erYpXzE9Pxs%26*<http://www.youtube.com/v/erYpXzE9Pxs%26>
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Khat In Canada

Written by Paul Fromm

Sunday, 23 September 2012 01:41

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Khat In Canada"In Canada, the U.S. and most of Europe, khat is
illegal. But, despite the ban, demand remains high among the East
African diaspora — there are an estimated 150,000 Somalis living in
Canada, mostly in Toronto, Ottawa and cities in Alberta. Canada Border
Services Agency officials confiscate khat shipments almost every day
at Toronto’s Pearson airport. In June and July alone, 1,610
kilograms were seized, with an estimated street value of up to
$800,000. ... 'Khat chewing induces a state of euphoria and elation
with feelings of increased alertness and arousal,' according to the
World Health Organization. 'This is followed by a stage of vivid
discussions, loquacity and an excited mood. Thinking is characterized
by a flight of ideas but without the ability to concentrate. However,
at the end of a khat session the user may experience depressive mood,
irritability, anorexia and difficulty to sleep.' ... The Catha edulis
plant, contains 40 organic compounds or alkaloids. Cathinone and, to a
lesser degree, cathine are what affect the nervous system, increasing
blood pressure and heart rate, eliciting feelings of euphoria.
Chemically and behaviourally, cathinone is similar to an amphetamine
but less powerful. And the moment the plant is picked, cathinone
starts to break down. Rapidly. The shipment, which will fetch as much
as $110 a bundle in Toronto, has to move fast or it will become
worthless. [Getting the stuff to Somali stoners or khat heads around
the world demands impressive organizational skills: Collection starts
before dawn in the East African hill country,] where boys and men
perch like flocks of birds in crooked branches and quickly pluck the
day’s harvest. [By 8 a.m., the twigs are in the hands of 100 women
in Maua who sort and grade the stuff. By 10 a.m., huge sacks are being
roped onto trucks that will rocket off to Nairobi at 11:00. There, it
is inspected and sorted again and] another team comes in to package
the goods into wooden crates for the night flights from Nairobi’s
international airport to London and Amsterdam. (Although the
Netherlands banned khat in January, shipments are still reportedly
exported to there). [The shipment lingers in Nairobi for some time as
locals sample the product and experience what is known as the daily
khat paralysis -- a kind of over-excited siesta. Nevertheless,] the
khat should arrive at Heathrow Airport by dawn, move through customs,
and be ready for consumption in London’s kebab shops or corner
stores about 12 hours after it left Nairobi. More than 3,000 tonnes of
khat are imported into the United Kingdom each year, according to a
2011 report by the Home Office. The price for a bag on the street in
London fluctuates but is rarely more than $10. ... And a little more
than 48 hours [after being picked], those tender branches, now
wilting, will be stuffed into the cheeks of Toronto chewers. ... After
10:30 p.m. in Rexdale, in north Toronto, the Benadir Mall parking lot
fills and men lean on their cars and lounge on plastic lawn chairs or
curbside. It looks like a Somali tailgate party, but, instead of
football, hibachis and beer, there is khat. The khat is good quality
on this summer night, so it was likely picked 48 hours earlier in the
Nyambene Hills. A bag that cost a couple of dollars in Maua goes for
$110 in Toronto. [Surely a small fortune in a community where
employment is low and welfare dependence high. Oh, the enrichment of
this diversity!] No one says how this shipment got here, but the
smugglers’ route is well known. The khat is legally bought in London
and then concealed in duffle bags, suitcases or, as one recent case
revealed, in a bulky body pack that a smuggler wore during the
seven-hour flight from Heathrow to Toronto’s Pearson Airport. ...
But aside from obvious tips such as flagging passengers who paid cash
for their flight from London, profiling a khat smuggler is nearly
impossible. They vary in age and ethnicity, from frequent flyers to
first-timers, young female British students to senior members of
Somalia’s community. ... The Benadir Mall gatherings are a little
later these days due to Ramadan. People don’t come until the sun has
set and the daily fast is broken. As many as a 100 chew some nights
and the crowd includes students, accountants, cab drivers, the rich
and the unemployed, ranging in age from early 20s to late 60s. All are
male. Police cruisers sometimes roll through but rarely stop. Policing
khat falls to the CBSA, who seizes shipments at the airport and the
RCMP, who investigate and lay charges. Arrests by local police for
consumers are unusual. Dealers aren’t often caught since it’s the
smugglers who get nabbed first. ... It is a competitive business and
it is not uncommon for a dealer to call police anonymously to alert
authorities about a rival’s shipment to drive up his own price or
for bragging rights. These stories are shared along with the khat in
the mall parking lot. There is no better place to debate khat and the
diversity of the views is surprising. 'Talk to me,' says 30-year-old
Ali. 'I think (khat is) a terrible thing and I chew.' While his
friends laugh and jostle him, he lays out his case: 'It wastes a lot
of time. Because I don’t drink, I do this after work but I wish I
didn’t. I don’t think it’s physically addictive but socially it
is. I want to be part of the buzz.' Ali says he is glad it is illegal
because it cuts down on widespread use, making it too expensive for
many to afford. He doesn’t want a younger generation to share his
habit." (Toronto Star, August 25, 2012)

Between April and June alone of this year, CBSA seized "50,000 bundles
of khat it says were worth nearly $2 million." (City TV, September 14,
2012)

[This article appears in the October issue of the CANADIAN IMMIGRATION
HOTLINE. Published monthly, the CANADIAN IMMIGRATION HOTLINE is
available by subscription for $30 per year. You can subscribe by
sending a cheque or VISA number and expiry date to CANADIAN
IMMIGRATION HOTLINE, P.O. Box 332, Rexdale, ON., M9W 5L3.]

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Hear Paul Fromm on the Don & Derek Black Show Tuesday, September 25. 2012 10: 00 a.m.

Written by Paul Fromm

Sunday, 23 September 2012 01:36

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