Bobbies bang up bombers

"I can confirm that we believe the incident at Glasgow airport is linked to the events in London yesterday," Constable Rae said at a news conference. "There are clearly similarities and we can confirm that this is being treated as a terrorist incident."

A British government security official said the methods used in the airport attack and Friday's thwarted plots were similar, with all three vehicles carrying large quantities of flammable materials.

Police later arrested two more suspects in the London and Glasgow plots in Cheshire county in northern England, Scotland Yard said early Sunday.

As crackdown continues... watch for heightened "M.O.L."

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RELATED: Beating bomber bingo

And the decision to raise the threat level to "critical" - which means an attack is imminent - reflected concern that those responsible have the capability and intent to carry out further bombings.

All flights to and from Glasgow Airport were suspended on Saturday.

Call me paranoid, but you might wanna take a pass on the London Gay Pride parade, or any other large public gathering in the UK this weekend.

The smart money's at home watching telly.

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UPDATE: Band on the run

Maybe house arrest wasn't the answer, huh?

A key member of the Crevice gang was Anthony Garcia. During his trial, an Al-Qaeda supergrass revealed that Garcia’s brother, Lamine Adam, had allegedly wanted to bomb a nightclub and was seeking a formula for explosives.

The supergrass’s testimony was not considered strong enough for prosecution. However, Adam, 26, and his younger brother, Ibrahim, 20, were placed on control orders in February 2006 on the grounds that they planned to kill British soldiers serving abroad.

The two brothers and a friend, Cerie Bullivant, 24, who was put on a control order last July, went on the run six weeks ago. Police think they may have slipped abroad, but they cannot rule out that the trio could still pose a threat within the UK.

Find these guys and send them on to Allah.

Technorati Tags: Glasgow Airport, London bombing, Cobra

In other Aboriginal news...

No good deed... goes unpunished.

-- PINE RIDGE, South Dakota (AP) -- Tribal police Thursday shut down a volunteer blockade aimed at keeping beer out of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where alcoholism is rampant, and arrested three organizers who refused to leave.

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RELATED: It's like that time travel paradox

Facts don't matter to the lunatic left... you're always gonna end up being a racist, a whatever-o-phobe or a nazi...

Brainwashed by years of Little Big Man propaganda, their eyes blinded by New Age sweetgrass, the average Canadian lefty's tiny conscience -- a wizened chunk of white guilt, junk science and bad history at the best of times -- bursts like the Grinch's heart when you say anything bad about natives.

Even when they can't explain why.

Technorati Tags: noble savage, lunatic left, suckass political correctness

Whatever you do...

In Dalton McGuinty's politically correct nanny-state... don't actually call a thing by it's proper name...

Native protesters swept in at 9 p.m. Thursday night and protest leader, Mohawk Shawn Brant, said they were armed and willing to use force if police intervened.

"We've made no secret that we have guns within this camp."

While the media continues to soft pedal Shawn Brant's domestic blackmail and terrorism as a "protest" or "an inconvenience..." one politician, and one only, has the integrity to call it like it is...

"You can't have people walking around with balaclavas and carrying guns," Tory said. "We have to restore and maintain respect for the law.

McGuinty has got to use the courts and every other means available to say that we just can't have the law being disrespected."

Or we're no different than the Gaza Strip.

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RELATED: OPP continue to refuse...

To enforce the law of the land... when it involves aboriginals.

CN Rail expressed frustration with police for refusing to stop an illegal blockade in Eastern Ontario that disrupted the key train system that transports $100-million worth of goods along the crucial Montreal-Toronto corridor yesterday.

For the third time in 15 months, a blockade forced CN Rail to leave 25 trains sitting idle, while transport trucks were slowed on the highway and nearly 5,000 Via Rail passengers had to change their long-weekend travel plans.

Will Brant walk away unscathed again?

Presumably the OPP figured it was best to wait for Brant to surrender, which he has done in the past, rather than inflame a potentially volatile situation. But they refused to explain the decision.

"All we can say right now is that we'll execute the warrant when it's appropriate," Const. Angie Atkinson said.

Initially it was thought Brant would surrender once the blockades came down. But Brant had no plans to spend the long weekend in jail. Instead, he said he would enjoy Canada Day with his family and then turn himself in mid-week.

Who's running the OPP anyway... Julian Fantino, or Shawn Brant?

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

Anonymous said...
Did you feel as angry when the farmers blocked the 401 with their tractors?

Grandad said...
I was enraged... Then I ate.

Technorati Tags: Shawn Brant, law of the land, suckass political correctness

Iraq : Big on capital punishment...

AND cutting out the middleman...

The Iraqi Aid Association (IAA), a Baghdad-based non-governmental organisation working with displacement, children and youth issues, says dozens of Iraqis have been killed after using the internet to access erotic sites.

Fatah Ahmed, spokesperson for the IAA, said: "We have received information from many sources that militants are operating spies inside internet cafes just to find out who is browsing sites they have deemed offensive to Islam."

Ahmed said most of the killings or abductions happen directly after the victims leave the internet cafes.

Breaking stuff and killing people

Canadian SpecOps gets a new commander.

A formal transfer of command at Ottawa's Cartier Drill Hall placed the 44-year-old Col. Day in charge of the Forces' tactical and anti-terrorism units, which are in the midst of a 10-year expansion that will see their size doubled.

The Special Operations Forces command, or CANSOFCOM, includes the JTF2 commando unit, a special helicopter squadron, a chemical- and nuclear-weapons unit, and a broader Special Operations Regiment now being built up to a battalion size of about 700 soldiers.

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RELATED: JTF2 - Their business is killing...

And business prospects around the world are looking good.

This just in...

-- GLASGOW, Scotland, June 30 (Reuters) -- A four-wheel-drive vehicle crashed into the main terminal at Glasgow airport on Saturday and exploded in flames, a day after police foiled a possible al Qaeda plot to detonate two car bombs in London.

"It raced across the central reservation and went straight into the building," said taxi driver Ian Crosby outside the terminal.

Crosby said a stocky Asian man had got out of the car and was quickly wrestled to the ground by bystanders.

"It would appear to me to have been a deliberate attack. I think this was a terrorist attack," Crosby said.

**********

LAST WORD: All doubt gone...

Mr. Leeson said bollards — security posts outside the entrance — stopped the driver from barreling into the bustling terminal at Glasgow's airport.

“He's trying to get through the main door frame but the bollards have stopped him from going through. If he'd got through, he'd have killed hundreds, obviously,” he said.

Technorati Tags: CANSOFCOM, JTF2, domestic terrorism

Gonna get all "root causes"...

On yo' ass...

Fallout from Jordan Manners shooting takes down administrators at Toronto's C.W. Jefferys C.I.

The school's principal, Charis Newton-Thompson, and vice-principals Stan Gordon and Silvio Tallevi, were given changed duties earlier this week after Julian Falconer, chairman of an independent safety panel examining the school, reported findings to the director of education for the TDSB.

Because we can't just blame the kid who pulled the trigger.

Technorati Tags: Jordan Manners, C.W. Jefferys, Julian Falconer

On the road to Shariah

A Manchester magistrate who refused to deal with a defendant because she was wearing a full Muslim face veil could face disciplinary action.

Zoobia Hussain, 32, of Crumpsall, who is charged with criminal damage, plans to write and complain, her lawyer said.

A statement from the Judiciary of England and Wales said: "Mr Murray is concerned about questions of identity when the full veil is worn in court.

Algonquians now claim Parliament Hill

"We're going to bring some people to Parliament Hill, put a camp there and stay there until we get an answer to resolve the problems that we have in our community," Chief Matchewan said.

The fact that thousands of Canadians will descend on the proposed campsite for this weekend's Canada Day festivities will not deter the chief.

"That's our land there; they have to know that. Those thousands of people are going to know that Parliament Hill is on unceded Algonquian title," he said.

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UPDATE: CTV aboriginal spinfest

Just finished watching the two lead stories on CTV news. Both stories were about the blockade of the railway lines and the 401 at Deseronto.

As expected, absolutely no mention of Shawn Brant's threats of armed insurrection... merely a softball interview, where Brant, just like Arafat and company, got to speak out of the other side of his mouth.

In both stories, aboriginal law-breaking was characterised solely as an "inconvenience."

I think I'll stick with the actual story.

Funny, CTV missed this stuff too...

CN Rail spokesman Mark Hallman would not discuss revenues the company might have lost when it cancelled its freight trains for the day, but said the company operates 25 trains carrying about $100-million worth of commodities between Montreal and Toronto every day.

At a demonstration outside Queen's Park in Toronto, aboriginal protester Doreen Silversmith slammed the federal government's offer of $125-million to end the 15-month standoff with native protesters in Caledonia, Ont.

“The government can goddamn shove it up their asses,” she said to the cheers of about 400 natives and University of Toronto students.

Technorati Tags: homegrown terrorist, Shawn Brant, Deseronto

Double your fun

Looks like somebody was playing for keeps...

The discovery of the second bomb, about 20 hours after the first, suggested a co-ordinated and more sophisticated plot than was initially thought — similar to the July 7, 2005 suicide bombings where four bombs exploded within an hour of one another on London's busy transit system.

Hopefully, because police they have these vehicles and devices intact, there will be enough forensic evidence to nail the perpetrators.

This may be a very long summer in the U.K.

**********

UPDATE: Iraqi suspect in double bomb incident...

Was under house arrest.

Police say they are looking for an Iraqi who went on the run from a control order only 11 days before yesterday's failed bombing attempts. The man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, is part of a six-strong cell linked to al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Instead of charging the men in open court and exposing sensitive intelligence, the government imposed control orders, effectively confining them to their homes for 18 hours a day.

He went missing on 18 June in north-west England, and his whereabouts are unknown. He was the second of his group to abscond from a control order.

Technorati Tags: London bombing, al-Qaeda, Islamic extremist

Chugging that Liberal Kool-Aid

Sure... everything's just hunky-dory, until suddenly you're lying in a crumpled heap, staring at raw, bloody stumps... where your legs used to be.

"Sure, it's disturbing, and obviously it reminds everyone of 7/7," said Ian Hiskos, 32, eating at a cafe across the block from the police cordon on Haymarket.

"I try not to think about these things."

Every knowledgeable security expert in the world agrees it's a question of when... not if.

Wake up and smell the species.

Slicing and dicing

It's a beautiful day... to celebrate diversity.

-- CAIRO, Egypt -- The death of a 12-year-old Egyptian girl at the hands of a doctor performing female circumcision in the country's south has sparked a public outcry and prompted health and religious authorities this week to ban the practice.

The case sparked widespread condemnation and was closely followed in Egyptian papers, which also reported that Shaker had passed out sweets to pupils in her class earlier on the day of her death, to celebrate her good grades.

It also evoked memories of a 1995 CNN television documentary depicting a barber circumcising a 10-year-old girl in a Cairo slum.

Sorry... some aspects of our culture are inarguably superior to the third world.

Maybe that's why so many people want to live here.

**********

RELATED: Do the right thing

Norway steps up...

-- OSLO, June 29 (Reuters) -- Norway took steps on Friday to crack down on circumcision of girls by barring families from travelling abroad if officials suspect they plan to have the procedure done outside the country.

The intervention followed reports in Norwegian media that at least 185 girls from Norway -- daughters of immigrants -- had their genitals cut in just one village in Somalia.

The government said it would refuse passports to families suspected of sending girls abroad to have the procedure carried out. Authorities can also forbid a family from travelling if they suspect the purpose is female circumcision, officials said.

Technorati Tags: female genital mutilation, Egypt, Badour Shaker

The majesty of the law

TORONTO AND DESERONTO, ONT. — Ontario Provincial Police, who shut down Canada's busiest highway early Friday morning west of Kingston due to native protesters in the area, have decided to reopen Highway 401.

So what sort of penalty is there for shutting down the busiest transit corridor in the country and threatening an armed battle against the provincial police...

Hours later the OPP issued an arrest warrant for protest leader Shawn Brant on a charge of mischief.

It's like these thugs went out and egged somebody's house.

Mr. Brant told reporters Friday morning that he would be willing to turn himself in later in the day but not before he ”gets to give his kids a hug.”

Good grief.

**********

LEGAL INTERJECTION: Ah, your honour... a small point

Not to step on anybody's toes here, but...

Section 83.01(1)(b) defines terrorist activity as:

(E) causes serious interference with or serious disruption of an essential service, facility or system, whether public or private, other than as a result of advocacy, protest, dissent or stoppage of work that is not intended to result in the conduct or harm referred to in any of clauses (A) to (C)

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RELATED: It's only a matter of time...

Before the aboriginals reach critical mass. If you can threaten to shoot cops and get away with it... upping the ante is the next "logical" step.

A car bomb planted in central London would have caused "carnage" if it had exploded, police sources have said.

A controlled explosion was carried out on the car, packed with 60 litres of petrol, gas cylinders and nails, in Haymarket, near Piccadilly Circus.

Technorati Tags: homegrown terrorist, Shawn Brant, Deseronto

It's just like Osama said...

**********
UPDATE: An experiment for my Stageleft socialist friends...

Try this yourself some time... get a bunch of your buddies AND their deer rifles and TRY blockade a four lane highway for a couple of days.

One caveat though... if you're a middle aged white guy with a regular job and a family... the local SWAT Team is gonna drop you like a crazy girlfriend if you don't immediately disarm and assume the position.

**********

When there's a strong horse and a weak horse... insurgents park their loyalty with the one who looks like a winner.

And that's what the aboriginal community is doing right here.

-- TORONTO AND DESERONTO, ONT. -- Ontario Provincial Police shut down Canada's busiest highway early Friday morning west of Kingston due to native protesters in the area, who had earlier blockaded a section of secondary highway and a stretch of nearby railway track on the eve of the National Day of Action.

Friday morning, the Ontario Provincial Police closed Highway 401 both ways between Napanee and Belleville and were diverting traffic north onto Hwy 7 due to native protesters "being in the direct area, for safety reasons," said Sergeant Kristine Rae of the Smith Falls detachment.

I'm sure that's not the way Shawn Brant and his merry band of aboriginal thugs are gonna see it.

This is a coup for the terrorists. They just cut Canada's busiest transportation route and if the OPP are working from the same old playbook... we're gonna have to beg to get it back.

Thursday night, Mr. Brant's protesters lit two bonfires in the middle of the highway near Marysville, Ont., and had also parked pickups trucks, a van and school bus there.

Let's not forget Fidel Brant also claims his troops are armed and ready to shoot.

Time to call in "OUR" army.

**********

RELATED: Where's Waldo?

A statement from Dalton "You can't get there from here" McGuinty...

Friday is about grievances aboriginal communities have with the federal government, not the province, he said.

"I remain hopeful that this national day of action will proceed in a peaceful and respectful way," McGuinty said, adding it will be up to provincial police to deal with any blockades or illegal activity.

Yup... not his problem... no surprise there

Technorati Tags: homegrown terrorist, Shawn Brant, Deseronto

Armed Terrorists threaten OPP

Try doing this with a bunch of your buddies... and see how long it takes the local SWAT team to knock your dick in the dirt.

-- DESERONTO -- Mohawk protesters, who said they had guns and wouldn't back down, began preparations for blockades of the main CN line and Highway 401 near this eastern Ontario town late Thursday, despite widespread calls that an aboriginal day of action be peaceful.

Once again though, being aboriginal confers extra-legal status on these guys.

To no one's surprise, professional agitator and spokes-native Shawn Brant is front and centre...

Mr. Brant said he intended to lead blockades of one or both of the main traffic and rail corridors between Toronto and Montreal starting at midnight Thursday night, or before.

He wouldn't disclose the actual sites, but confirmed that he and others were prepared to “meet force with force” if police got in their way.

“We've made no secret that we have guns within this camp,” he told The Canadian Press in an interview.

This sociopath has apparently got some sort of Billy Jack looptape constantly running through his fevered brain.

Mr. Brant says the time to educate Canadians through peaceful rallies has passed.

By his own very public admission, Shawn Brant is screaming out that he is "armed and dangerous".

What more do police need to shut this asshole down?

**********

UPDATE: OPP Commissioner Fantino responds

"We're certainly in a position where we want to demonstrate goodwill," he said. "We certainly do not want to become the cause of conflict.

But having said all of that, we also have to be mindful of other people's rights and entitlements as well."

Boy, was I ever wrong about Fantino.

**********

UPDATE2: CPR jumps in...

Is this worshipping at the altar of political correctness...

-- OTTAWA -- Trains across the country will grind to a halt today in a show of support for the Assembly of First Nations call for a national day of action.

In a show of solidarity, Canadian Pacific Railways has ordered all of its freight trains to stop for one minute at 2 p.m. ET.

Or simply a shrewd business tactic?

Technorati Tags: homegrown terrorist, Shawn Brant, armed and dangerous

National Day of Action, my ass...

It's the other 364 days of "business as usual" we really ought to be worried about.

-- NAPANEE -- Provincial police seized a $40,000 load of what they have termed illegal cigarettes just a few kilometres outside the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory earlier this week.

If convicted, the minimum fine the man will face for possessing 23 cases of unstamped tobacco is $37,950, police report.

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*** BREAKING: VIA folds ***

-- TORONTO -- Via Rail is suspending service on Friday on the highly travelled Montreal-Toronto and Ottawa-Toronto corridors in anticipation of an aboriginal day of action.

“While we recognize the impact this may have on individual travel plans, the decision was taken after careful consideration of the uncertainty of the situation and the potential risks involved in attempting to operate under such unpredictable conditions.”

If the McGuinty Liberals and the OPP are gonna run for cover as per usual, there's no percentage in VIA trying to go it alone.

Abandoned by the government... yet again.

Technorati Tags: National Day of Action, homegrown terror, aboriginal blackmail

It's safe to say...

Thomas Walkom has never walked down Driftwood Avenue...

"Few things are more crucial to a nation's sovereignty than its control over legalized violence."

Is this guy for real?

Uh, Tom... I'm gonna go out on a limb here... but I'm guessing that it ain't the U.S. Secret Service that's murdering all those black kids in Toronto.

Maybe we could just focus on "illegal" violence for a bit.

If that's ok with you.

Who's sicko now?

What does the President of the Canadian Medical Association have to say...

"This is a country," Dr. Day said by way of explanation, "in which dogs can get a hip replacement in under a week and in which humans can wait two to three years."

I don't know where Michael Moore gets his "once upon a time" information from... I'd love to tell him about the 7 hour wait I had in the local ER with a sick fevered child.

It's not simply that Mr. Moore is wrong.

His grand tour of public health care systems misses the big story: While he prescribes socialism, market-oriented reforms are percolating in cities from Stockholm to Saskatoon.

(via Kathy)

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UPDATE: And then, once you get in

In Canada, it is estimated that there are up to 12,000 deaths annually due to drug-related adverse events.

These include administering the wrong drug, the wrong dosage, drug interactions and reactions.

Technorati Tags: Sicko, Michael Moore, liar, liar

There's standing on principle...

And there's stepping on your own johnson.

-- CANBERRA, Australia -- A boxer who cited his Muslim beliefs in refusing a doping test because he didn't want to expose himself to drug testers was given a two-year ban Thursday by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority.

ASADA said Omar Al-Shaick failed to provide a urine sample during an unannounced, out-of-competition test in Brisbane on June 13, 2006.

McMullen said Al-Shaick, who now works as an apprentice carpenter, was a deeply religious man but was open to discussing how he might deal with anti-doping tests in the future.

That's a pretty flexible religious stand if you ask me.

Is it possible, just possible... he couldn't afford to take the test, at that moment, for some other reason?

Nah.

**********

RELATED: Speaking of elasticity of principles

What about St David of the Church of the Environment

Mr. Suzuki was this year caught running his cross-country climate-change tour from a diesel-powered "rock-star" bus, built for 54, for an eight-man entourage.

And the CBC host has two sizeable homes, despite calling it "disgusting" that the average Canadian's home (most have just one) is larger than that of our grandparents.

And let's not forget that famous McGuinty disregard for the, ah... what's that thing called... oh yeah, the truth.

Calculations using the "terrapass" carbon calculator show that during the last three years of his eight-year tenure as president and CEO of the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy, Mr. McGuinty was responsible, through work affairs alone, for more than double the carbon emissions than the average Canadian emits at home and work combined. (All records before 2000 were, according to the NRTEE, destroyed.)

Technorati Tags: Australia, Anti-Doping, Omar Al-Shaick

You must be dreamin', honey...

"Just go back to sleep."

-- PORT ST. LUCIE -- A woman was arrested Tuesday after her husband woke up in the middle of the night with a terrible headache and later learned he had a bullet lodged in his head.

His wife drove him to the hospital where doctors said a bullet had lodged behind his right ear.

You've gotta wonder what was going through her mind when he got up and started to bitch about his headache.

She probably started looking for some kryptonite.

Un... Freakin'... Believable

Some days I just think the world is upside down...

"The findings are disturbing and indicate that the Correctional Service has not rigorously fulfilled its mandate to keep all inmates safe and act on recommendations related to inmate deaths," said correctional investigator Howard Sapers.

Call me wacky... but how about, we move the safety of the general law-abiding citizenry to the top of this list? Isn't that really the primary function of a prison... to lock up the dangerous predators?

If Clifford Olsen and Paul Bernardo and the rest of the murderers, rapists and thieves choose to off themselves or guzzle each other up... well, that's just fine by me.

While we're at it, let's take away their computers, televisions and nautilus machines... prison isn't supposed to be entertaining.

It's time get back to bottom-line basics... 'cos coddling these assholes is just a one way street to more heartbreak.

And let's get Howard Sapers a real job.

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UPDATE: Where the CBC's head is at

"Inmate deaths could have been prevented"

Not a peep, mind you... about the 600 odd Canadians who were murdered by these assholes last year.

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RELATED: It's official... Dalton delivers dick all

The Ontario government is rife with “puffery” as government departments promise the world, then fail to deliver, according to the second annual report of the provincial ombudsman.

Ontario Ombudsman André Marin on Wednesday lamented the “puffery” exposed by his scrutiny of the government, saying the litany of organizations make grandiose promises but don't follow through.

“I was tempted to label this one ‘The Year of Over-promising and Under-delivering',” Mr. Marin said as he released his report.

Technorati Tags: Correctional Services Canada, Howard Sapers, Canada

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

I wonder if Liberal Environment Minister Laurel Broten is familiar with those words...

Robbie Robinson, a retired architect whose backyard abuts Broten's Etobicoke home, says in a submission to the OMB that he fears the construction of the garage, which will include an auto lift, will be higher than a neighbouring home and jeopardize a 14-metre tree that sits between those two properties.

Robinson told Sun Media that Broten and her husband routinely have four vehicles parked at their home -- a hybrid SUV, a station wagon, a sports car and an older car

In a letter to the OMB, Robinson says that the proposed garage would have walls that are 14 feet high and a ridge that is 19 feet high, almost twice what the bylaw allows.

Minister Broten is apparently not available for comment, but an underling was quick to attempt to put a warm, fuzzy face on the massive automotive edifice.

Anne O'Hagan, a spokesman for Broten, said the minister was not available for an interview yesterday, but she told Sun Media that the complainant is not privy to the plan.

"It's a one-car garage; it's actually for the (babies') strollers," O'Hagan said.

Geez... it's for the babies.

That's even better than saving the whales.

**********

UPDATE: Broten claims she's really green...

As she throws her husband under the bus.

Broten said she has a hybrid SUV but her husband has three vehicles -- two sports cars and a Volvo SUV.

Oh yeah... she loves trees too.

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JUST DESSERTS: OMB lays Broten beatdown

Broten and her husband sent a letter to the Ontario Municipal Board on Friday saying they no longer wanted a variance from height restrictions in their west-end neighbourhood.

But the letter was too late to stop a board hearing Tuesday into neighbours' complaints that the tall garage would dwarf their properties and might damage a large tree.

The board ruled in favour of Broten's neighbours and said she could not have the variance to build the two-storey garage.

Technorati Tags: Laurel Broten, OMB, Liberal hypocrisy

G.I. Sirjana

A sign of the times... the Brigade of Gurkhas going co-ed.

-- KATMANDU, Nepal -- More than 1,500 Nepalese women have signed up with private firms to train for a possible career with the British army after it allowed them to join the Brigade of Gurkhas for the first time in nearly two centuries.

Twenty-year-old undergraduate Sirjana Rana said she would barely get $150 a month in Nepal after completing her studies. But if she joined the British army now, her wages could be 10 times higher.

Gurkha soldiers, a tribe from Nepal's Himalayan foothills known for their fierce combat abilities, have been serving in the British army since 1815.

Technorati Tags: Nepal, Brigade of Gurkhas, British army

Rebel without a brain

Canada's own version of Ismail Haniyeh is still making vague threats about disrupting "something or other" this holiday weekend.

-- DESERONTO, ONT. -- Mohawk protester Shawn Brant has emerged as a lonesome voice of hard-line native militancy, plotting major economic disruption as his way of making Canada sit up and listen.

Any move Friday to block thousands of commuters on Highway 401 or the CN rail line will depend on last-minute circumstances, police presence and safety issues, Mr. Brant said.

"We're going to have that expression of strength and solidarity across this country," he said in an interview at the quarry he occupied on disputed land last March near Deseronto, west of Kingston.

"Then we'll step back and say: 'You absorb this.' Because the next time we come out, it's going to be harder, it's going to be longer and it's going to have an impact on this economy that Canada can't imagine at this point.

"We've had enough."

Well Shawn, apart from the sexual imagery... you took the words right out of my mouth.

My guess is though, that Dalton McGuinty will let this one, whatever it turns out to be, slide too.

Which can only help the Conservative's chances in the coming Ontario elections.

So bring it on, baby.

A little short term pain will be worth the gain.

**********

UPDATE: Kingston Mohawks want in

We encourage the participation of as many people as possible, in as many ways as possible.

Some people may choose set up lawn chairs and “relax on the tracks,” while others may choose to stand by the side of the road and pass out pamphlets and refreshments to motorists.

Technorati Tags: Shawn Brant, homegrown terror, Deseronto

Land of Misfit Toys

Iran, one of the largest oil exporters in the world, has started to ration gasoline in response to a possible blockade of the country in retaliation for it's hardline stance on developing nuclear weapons.

And unlike here in Canada, citizens aren't shy about showing their displeasure.

At least one petrol station has been set on fire in the Iranian capital, Tehran, after the government announced fuel rationing for private motorists.

Iranians were given only two hours' notice of the move that limits private drivers to 100 litres of fuel a month.

Despite its huge energy reserves Iran lacks refining capacity, forcing it to import about 40% of its petrol.

I'm thinking... if you're awash in oil billions and you still can't manage to refine enough gasoline to keep your own citizens on the road... maybe you really shouldn't be foolin' around with nuclear fission.

Technorati Tags: Iran, nuclear weapons, fuel rationing

China responds...

To recalls of poisonous and counterfeit products, not with shame and apologies... but with a counter-attack.

-- BEIJING, June 27 (Reuters) -- China has seized two fruit shipments from the United States and warned it would apply greater scrutiny to U.S. cargoes, even as it tightens the screws on manufacturers of unsafe food at home.

The country's quarantine bureau said in a statement on its Web site that quality inspectors had detained U.S. shipments of orange pulp, produced by Modern Skill Co. Ltd, and of preserved apricot from Mariani Packing because they contained high levels of bacteria, mildew and sulphur dioxide.

"When dealing with food from America, local quarantine bureaux should tighten their procedures," said the statement seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

What have these people been smoking?

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RELATED: All talk... no rock

Chinese President Hu Jintao has put clean government and a more even distribution of wealth at the top of his political agenda.

Mr Hu said the fight against corruption was a prominent part of his plans, and he added that an anti-poverty target must be met by 2020.

But he added that "our country's political reforms must adhere to a correct political direction... and adhere to the party's leadership".

Technorati Tags: China, poison, Merchant of Death

Read 'em and weep...

Isn't it funny, how simply bringing unpleasant facts to light... also calls out the yappy little dogs of the loony left.

I guess I don't understand how the Liberals longtime policy of sweeping this stuff under the politically correct carpet... was ever supposed to help resolve any of these issues.

In the province's 2005 Report on the Health Status of Aboriginal People, Dr. Chandrakant Shah reported that 50 per cent of aboriginal people living off-reserve smoke, with rates as high as 70 per cent in the late 1990s.

Forty-three per cent engage in binge drinking and 28 per cent use illegal drugs. Sixty-three per cent are considered overweight or obese, compared to 39 per cent of Canadians. Cancers in both sexes are on the rise, and in 1999, 10.7 per cent of all HIV/AIDS cases in Canada were aboriginal.

The truth is that nothing will ever turn around, without aboriginals first, admitting there is a problem and second, admitting they bear responsibility for properly raising their own children.

Obviously, this also entails not hiding behind the Aboriginals are Victims industry.

"Governments really can't do anything," he said. "They can't go in and change things. The change has to come from within, a desire to do something for the community, followed by more of a collaborative working arrangement between governments and First Nations communities. We can't just throw money at it."

The suicide rate in aboriginal communities is three to four times greater, as are the rates of most mental illnesses. At least 75 per cent of aboriginal women have experienced family violence, and an estimated 20,697 aboriginals in Ontario are currently suffering from a major mental disorder, most commonly depression, anxiety and substance abuse.

Source: Report on the Health Status of Aboriginal People in Ontario, 2005, by Dr. Chandrakant P. Shah.

Technorati Tags: First Nations, political correctness, HIV/AIDS

The wheels on the bus...

Could kill you... just something to think about if someone offers you a deal on cheap Chinese-made tires...

Federal officials have told a small New Jersey importer to recall 450,000 radial tires for pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles and vans after the company disclosed that its Chinese manufacturer had stopped including a safety feature that prevented the tires from separating.

Wait, it gets better...

Ms. Hopkins said the agency’s top officials were “outraged” that Foreign Tire Sales’ executives waited more than two years to pass on their suspicions about problems with the tires.

The company first suspected problems in October 2005. Almost a year later, in September 2006, the Chinese manufacturer, Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber, a former state-owned company based in eastern China, acknowledged that a gum strip that prevents the tread from separating was left out of the manufacturing process.

Technorati Tags: China, Foreign Tire Sales, Merchant of Death

Circus Jerkus

My wife, who is a much more tolerant person than I could ever hope to be, just said to me "Isn't it ironic that an event that was originally designed to promote acceptance of the gay community, has turned into such a freak show."

As per usual, she nailed it.

Now, unless I'm mistaken, that seems to be the message our own Blogging Tory Diogenes Borealis is sending out as well...

Another Gay Pride weekend has come and gone, and once more I cringe with embarrassment when I see the images of the various pride parades on TV and in print.

In the National Post today, the only coverage of Toronto's event was a photo of a semi-naked man wearing a studded leather jock strap (and not much else) entertaining a crowd with his package.

It must be difficult for any gay person who doesn't aspire to participate in this uber-public celebration of sexual buffoonery... to be tarred yearly with this very sticky brush.

That, unfortunately, is how contemporary media shapes our perceptions.

My problem with the gay community isn't a religious thing. I don't believe people choose to be gay.

What I object to is the politicising of the whole thing, the political correctness and the insistence that I must accept whatever propaganda the community chooses to spray around.

I don't wanna hear about any of my neighbours' sex lives.

And I sure don't wanna hear about theirs.

Check out Diogenes... he's worth a read.

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RELATED: With Red Rosie on your side...

Who needs enemies?

Technorati Tags: gay pride parade, Toronto: As gay as it gets, political correctness

Where profit stomps on history

Heritage... the homegrown variety anyway... is a dirty word in David Miller's Toronto...

A group of CPR pensioners protested yesterday plans to allow furniture giant Leon’s to move into the historic CPR roundhouse instead of establishing a large railway museum.

The city’s Culture Division hired a developer to look for tenants for the building, which is on the city’s waterfront by the CN Tower, and Leon’s has signed on the dotted line to move in by the fall of 2008.

How much unaudited money d'ya figure Toronto City Council has showered on Caribana over the years? And why is this railway museum initiative deemed unworthy?

Our railroads may just be the single most important logistical factor in turning Canada into the amazing country that it is today.

But don't tell that to David Miller.

He has other plans for Toronto.

**********

UPDATE: Hurray... more taxes

Plans to clobber home buyers in Toronto with a hefty land-transfer tax won approval from Mayor David Miller and members of his hand-picked executive committee yesterday.

In voting unanimously, Miller and 10 committee members also targeted Toronto motorists with a $60 vehicle registration fee.

Technorati Tags: Toronto, CPR roundhouse, Culture Division

Creationism my ass...

Ya just gotta love science...

-- WASHINGTON -- Researchers studying Neanderthal DNA say it should be possible to construct a complete genome of the ancient hominid despite the degradation of DNA over time.

Debate has raged for years about whether there is any relationship between Neanderthals and modern humans. Some researchers believe that Neanderthals were simply replaced by early modern humans, while others argue the two groups may have interbred.

Sequencing the genome of Neanderthals, who lived in Europe until about 30,000 years ago, could shed some light on that question.

Now I've probably pissed off my more religious BT brethren here... and that got me thinking.

You piss off a devout Muslim and he wants to kill your lousy infidel ass... you piss off a North American Evangelical Christian... he just wants to pray for your soul.

Just a thought.

Technorati Tags: Neanderthal, genome, DNA decay

Stand by for cars that top out...

At five miles per hour, whiskey bottles with lockable caps and tobacco that needs special matches to catch fire...

Is there any end to ass-backwards solutions that allow people to not take responsibility for their lives, their children and their future?

Aboriginals in Labrador are hoping a new fuel that doesn't intoxicate gas sniffers could help solve a persistent problem among young people in their communities.

In 2002, the entire community of Davis Inlet was relocated after footage of gas-sniffing children, screaming they wanted to die, was broadcast worldwide.

Just three years later, and after $160-million in moving costs, the chief of the new community Natuashish was forced to admit that the problem was again out of control.

It ain't the gasoline that's the problem here, you dopey assholes... it's inadequate or totally absent parenting.

Why are you having children if you refuse to take care of them?

God help us if this entire community isn't using plastic cutlery.

**********

RELATED: Numbers don't lie

One in 10 aboriginal children now lands in foster care, compared to one in 200 for non-aboriginal children, the AFN said. There are currently three times as many children in foster care as there were in residential schools.

While some figures show First Nations youngsters account for as much as 40 per cent of the children in Canada's foster care system, the number of Mohawk children in care here is proportionate to communities off the reserve.

**********

UPDATE: Jeff "Ladybug" Davidson has linked to this post...

So he could call me naughty names.

I think he's still pissed about this and this and this.

Hey Jeffy... I have to ask, yet again... if that's the way you really feel... why would you waste your time constantly coming back here, instead of the healing circle over at rabble.ca?

Technorati Tags: Davis Inlet, Nunatsiavut, Labrador Inuit

Gallbladders, penises tied up...

With string... these are a few of my favourite things...

"I noticed this thing, and so I pulled it out and these five fingers come out, this arm comes up, and then you see the jaw bone and teeth, and nose and eyes," said Ed Filman.

"What it turned out to be was a skinned monkey, and from my understanding, they were going to eat it."

I want my Manimal

Well, hang on to your chromosomes baby... looks like we're in for a wild ride...

So far, our mixtures are modest. To make humanized animals really creepy, you'd have to do several things.

You'd increase the ratio of human to animal DNA.

You'd transplant human cells that spread throughout the body.

You'd do it early in embryonic development, so the human cells would shape the animals' architecture, not just blend in.

You'd grow the embryos to maturity.

And you'd start messing with the brain.

We're doing all of those things.

**********

RELATED: From related previous comments...

This DNA shit makes people crazy.

I'm with you future-boy... I can't wait for an ape-human hybrid that can wash cars, fetch beers and run a lawn tractor.

Technorati Tags: transgenic animals, stem-cell research, recombinant dna

Youth crime wave...

In Hastings County, Ontario...

Police were called to the area of Humewood and Crestview just after midnight Friday, where youths were egging houses in the area.

Officers found four youths, who were forced to apologize to the home owners. They were then cautioned with regards to mischief and returned to their parents.

No murders... no stabbings.

Hmm... what could be so different about Toronto?

**********

UPDATE: Speaking of David Miller's subsidised social paradise...

In the same time period...

An innocent bystander was shot in the leg by a stray bullet when gunfire broke out Sunday evening in the Jane-Finch neighbourhood, in the first of three shootings reported in Toronto that evening.

Technorati Tags: Hastings Cty., Toronto, Jane-Finch

Great news for junkies...

And the implacably promiscuous.

-- TORONTO -- Ontario has become the first jurisdiction in North America to offer HIV tests that provide results in just 60 seconds and will double the number of sites across the province where anonymous tests are available, Health Minister George Smitherman announced yesterday.

Not so great... for the rest of us.

Like the old saying goes, "The squeaky hedonist gets the lubrication."

The Bombay Trots

When people tell you not to drink the water while traveling in foreign countries, trust me... they're not kidding.

-- NEW DELHI, June 25 (Reuters) -- Within sight of Delhi's gleaming new metro train, Nawal Kishore slips the body of a baby into the waters of the Yamuna, one of the world's filthiest rivers.

It's just another day at work for the 40-year-old man, who has been disposing of the bodies of three or four children, rich and poor, in the polluted waters of the Yamuna or in the equally dirty river bank every day for the last decade.

Most Hindus cremate their dead, but crematoria across India usually turn away the corpses of babies and children under three, citing a tradition which says they should either be buried or submerged in "holy" rivers.

Maybe somebody should tell Al Gore... there's more than one problem facing humanity in this big, bad world.

Anglicans... two thumbs up

**********
UPDATE: The story has been changed

Same G & M link, without any explanation, now goes to this Michael Valpy article that says the vote went the other way...

A razor-thin majority of Canada's Anglican bishops on Sunday overrode the wishes of their laity and clergy and vetoed a resolution that would have allowed for blessings in church settings of committed homosexual unions.

It needed a triple majority of bishops, clergy and laity to pass. The laity voted 79 to 59 in favour and clergy voted 63 to 53, but bishops voted 21 to 19 against.

**********

-- WINNIPEG -- Canadian Anglicans have taken the first step towards blessing gay and lesbian unions.

Delegates meeting in Winnipeg for the General Synod have agreed that the blessing of same sex unions does not conflict with the core doctrine of the Anglican Church of Canada.

Widely approved by clergy and laity, the vote was tight among the Anglican bishops, narrowly passing by two votes.

Lutherans... two thumbs down.

Canada's Evangelical Lutheran church, which is also meeting in Winnipeg this weekend, rejected same sex blessings in a vote held Saturday.

And the beat goes on.

**********

LAST WORD: Let's ask the Anglicans

Canadian Anglicans, meeting at their General Synod governing convention, voted by the slimmest of margins to defeat a proposal that would have permitted church blessing rites for gay couples.

However, on the same day, the synod – also by a narrow margin – agreed that such blessings are “not in conflict with the core doctrine” of the church. Much of the sixth day of the synod was taken up with debate on the two questions, with dozens of people approaching microphones in the plenary hall to voice emotional opinions.

Technorati Tags: ssm, Evangelical Lutheran, Anglican Church of Canada

Scotland's Sporran Registry

Not even the wild-ass Scots can escape the wrath of political correctness...

Kilt wearers could face prosecution if they do not have a licence for their sporran under new legislation which has been introduced in Scotland.

The laws are designed to protect endangered species like badgers and otters, whose fur used to be favoured by sporran makers.

Can draconian no-underwear penalties be far behind?

**********

RELATED: What the hell is a sporran?

Technorati Tags: sporran, kilt, Scotland

Another angle

"Advertising works on me," he continued. "I overeat. I love to drink. I have very base, petty, vengeful thoughts. I’m not just saying, ‘Here’s what’s wrong with the world.’"

"I’m saying, Here’s what’s wrong with me."

Necktie party for Chemical Ali

Jack Layton's probably frothing at the mouth, but let's face it... if you weren't going to give this guy the big jump... then who would actually swing?

-- BAGHDAD -- Two decades after Iraq's military laid waste to Kurdish villages, the Iraqi High Tribunal on Sunday sentenced Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as “Chemical Ali,” and two others to death for their roles in the bloody campaign against the restive ethnic minority.

He's certainly received more due process than anyone would have while Saddam was in power.

Real "justice" would have been handing him over to the Kurds.

Hey Ali... say hi to yer cuz for us, okay?

Technorati Tags: Chemical Ali, Iraq, Ali Hassan al-Majid

A little bit of toilet training...

And she'll be off to university...

A two-year-old girl from Hampshire has become the youngest ever female member of British Mensa.

Georgia Brown, from Aldershot, Hampshire, astounded experts by scoring 152 in an IQ test - putting her in the top 2% of the population for her age.

Psychologist Joan Freeman, who tested Georgia, said she thought the toddler could have scored even higher but needed a nap after 45 minutes of work.

Technorati Tags: Mensa, Stanford-Binet, IQ test

Go big... or go home

Nobody can say the Tyendinaga Mohawks aren't dreamin' in colour...

It starts at the northern border of Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory and spans northward to the upper one-third of the township, covering 33,280 acres or 52 square miles.

This tract of land, Bardy believes, was alienated in 1820 when the government built a road to Toronto through the area.

Technorati Tags: aboriginal, land claim, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory

Gangbangers are so cool

But where are my people... where do the, uh... Honky Bonkers or the Anglo-Saxon Assassins hang out?

-- Toronto -- A 13-year-old boy was rushed to Hospital for Sick Children after he was stabbed in the neck in a gang attack outside the Christie TTC station last night.

Toronto Det. Reg Wright of 14 Division said the boy was among four who were stabbed in an attack launched by the Latin Kings gang, based in the Eglinton Ave.-Weston Rd. area.

The Latin Kings, a Latino street gang, frequent Christie Pits but are based in the old City of York, Wright said.

Relax, I found it... there is a gang that will take white guys.

**********

UPDATE: Latin Kings can take pride...

In a job well done.

"It's not good, he's a quadriplegic and it's permanent, that's what I'm advised," Toronto Police Det. Reg Wright of 14 Division said yesterday, adding the teen was hanging out with some older friends and was "in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Hey homie, let's go stomp some kittens, huh?

**********

LAST WORD: Brits are seeing it too

A 16-year-old boy has been stabbed to death in a fight between two gangs in south-east London.

The boy was found by officers at about 2326 BST on Saturday suffering from serious injuries in a street in Southend Road, Beckenham.

Technorati Tags: Toronto, gang violence, Latin Kings

This idiotic fascination with celebrity...

It's a shame that Belinda Stronach has breast cancer... it's not something I would wish upon my worst enemy... but I know 324,486 people, in this particular instance, who aren't going to be all that impressed.

Let's see what Statistics Canada has to say...

There were 324,486 cancer deaths over the five-year period. Of this total, 171,655 were males and 152,831 were females. Female deaths from cancer increased at a slightly faster rate, 8.5%, than did male deaths, which rose 5.4%.

In 2004, 66,947 people died from cancer, up 6.8% from 2000.

My guess is the statistics for 2007 are gonna come in somewhere near 70,000 people... not one of them any less special than Belinda.

Now maybe... just maybe... if the Fiberals had taken the 2 billion dollars, that's 2,000 bags of 1 million dollars apiece... and used it to fund cancer research... instead of the asinine Farmer Bob Rifle Registry... Belinda and some of the non-glitterati citizens in Canada would have been way better off in the here and now.

Do you know personally somebody who died of cancer?

Of course you do.

Do you know somebody who was murdered with a deer rifle?

Where should this money have been spent?

**********

RELATED: I've said it before.

Technorati Tags: cancer, Belinda Stronach, Farmer Bob Rifle Registry

Read it here...

Because it isn't gonna make it onto Canadian television news.

-- KABUL, Afghanistan -- Dozens of militants were killed in southern and eastern Afghanistan overnight in clashes with U.S.-led foreign troops and Afghan forces, officials said on Saturday.

Little pouty-faced Bob Fife only does the leftbot two-step.

**********

UPDATE: The Captain has more

So far, the operation has resulted in 55 dead terrorists and 23 captured, while the citizens of Baqubah have increased their assistance to the Coalition. They want AQI out of Diyala, thanks to the brutality of the foreign fighters. The Iraqis have no more use for al-Qaeda than anyone else but terrorists and their sympathizers do.

**********

LAST WORD: Those noble, warlike jihadis...

Just turned tail and ran. I guess not everybody's ready to give it up for "the big guy" just yet.

Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the second-ranking American commander in Iraq, told reporters that leaders of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia had been alerted to the Baquba offensive by widespread public discussion of the American plan to clear the city before the attack began.

He portrayed the Qaeda leaders’ escape as cowardice, saying that “when the fight comes, they leave,” abandoning “midlevel” Qaeda leaders and fighters to face the might of American troops — just, he said, as they did in Falluja.

Driving Miss Crazy

If you think this isn't happening in Canada, you must be crazy.

Tens of thousands of people are paying fraudsters to sit their driving test for them, the BBC has learned.

The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) says imposters charge up to £500 and can have taken more than 200 tests each.

There are already cases reaching the courts.

On Monday, two men from Oldham, Greater Manchester, were convicted of obtaining driving licences by deception.

Shazad Akhtar, 34, was sentenced to 200 hours community service and ordered to pay £500 costs after pleading guilty to 22 counts of obtaining and attempting to obtain driving licences by deception.

The DSA, which gathers evidence before handing it on to police, has run 1,200 investigations into the activity so far.

Funny, CTV completely missed this

They went instead, with the video closeups of soldiers grieving family members slumped over their loved one's caskets.

So what actually happened today?

NATO's International Security Assistance Force said about 60 insurgents attempted to attack Afghan and ISAF forces Friday in the Bermel district of Paktika province, near the Pakistan border.

The insurgents fired on aircraft, and NATO and U.S.-led coalition forces returned fire, killing about 60 fighters, an ISAF statement said.

On CTV, it's all Canadians dying and families mourning, all the time... the implication being that we are being beaten senseless by the noble warlike Taliban.

That's sure not how the military sees the situation.

Suicide attacks in the eastern part of Afghanistan where the U.S. military operates increased some 230 per cent in the first half of 2007 compared with the same period in 2006, U.S. spokesman Major Chris Belcher said.

Col. Schweitzer said the increase shows the Taliban is less able to launch large-scale attacks.

“That to me is not the barometer that it's getting bad,” he said of the rise. “What would be the barometer to me that it's getting bad is if they do large scale attacks everywhere and they're being effective.”

But don't try tell that to CTV.

They got their closeups of grieving mothers... again.

One last note... resident spin doctor/reporter Bob Fife, commenting on Prime Minister Harper's statement that no extension of the mission would be granted without the support of Parliament... was portrayed as some scheming Machiavellian ploy by Harper.

Even when you give the leftbots what they want, they try to twist it into something horrible.

It's what they do.

**********

LAST WORD: An eloquent requiem

The Afghan story isn't exclusively and proprietarily about Canadian soldiers who have died.

It's about why the troops are there, what they're hoping to accomplish, their efforts to secure a benighted country and extend the rule of law, the urgency of denying Al Qaeda the strategic foothold they once enjoyed.

It's about promises made at the very top of international leadership, by the United Nations and NATO, by custodians of redevelopment who said to Afghanistan: We won't abandon you again.

(via BCF)

Technorati Tags: ISAF, Afghanistan, media propaganda

Pakistani clerics rush to...

Bestow new honours... on Osama bin Laden...

A group of Pakistani religious leaders led by a pro-Taliban figure has said it will bestow a title on Osama bin Laden in response to Britain's decision to grant a knighthood to Salman Rushdie.

Hey guys... if there's some sort of problem here... how exactly does holding an impromptu "Academy Awards of Jihad" set things right? This silly piece of tit-for-tat theatre has all the social dynamics of a nursery school recess, without, I might add, any of the mostly good intentions.

Allama Tahir Ashrafi, head of the Pakistan Ulema Council, said on Thursday that the group would give bin Laden the title Saifullah.

The name means "Sword of God" and would be given to the al-Qaeda leader for "serving Muslims by waging jihad against infidels".

So this is essentially an award for "Best Mass Murderer", right?

The Religion of Peace... wind 'em up and watch 'em go.

**********

UPDATE: Islamo-Brits pile on...

Amid renewed calls for Rushdie assassination.

British Muslims on Friday joined in protests against Britain's decision to honour Salman Rushdie with a knighthood, while a hardline Islamic cleric in Iran declared that the 1989 religious edict calling for the author to be killed remained in place.

Technorati Tags: Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda, Pakistan

The difference here is...

In Canada... the Tigers get to party with their favourite Liberal Members of Parliament...

Media reports in Sri Lanka say that two men arrested in London under Britain's anti-terror laws have suspected connections to the rebel Tamil Tigers.

What's that... surely these arrests are anomalous events?

Well, not really.

In April, police in Paris arrested more than 16 men for alleged involvement with the Tigers.

Similar arrests were made in the United States last year, when at least five Tamil Tiger sympathisers were arrested and charged in New York with conspiring to buy surface-to-air missiles.

Only in Canada, you say?

Technorati Tags: Tamil Tigers, terrorism, Liberal Party

And that, my friends...

Is the most important consideration here...

"Obviously it sends a very positive message about diversity," Simon Fraser University criminologist Neil Boyd said of the police board's decision.

Well, maybe the chief can jazz up all their technology... cos' it doesn't sound like he's much of a street cop.

Much of the officer's career has been spent on the technical side of policing. Among other achievements, he created the VPD's first website in 1997, and oversaw the force's transition to a new radio system in 1998.

Of course, maybe I shouldn't be so critical... apparently he's the most qualified and sought after leader in Canadian law enforcement.

"The police board has gone through an exhaustive process, we've searched the whole country for the best person for the job," Mr. Sullivan said.

I wonder how Toronto missed hiring him.

Technorati Tags: diversity, Vancouver, politically correct

So what have they been doing...

Up until now... just butting into the landing pattern?

-- BEIJING - Tough new rules on English language standards could ground thousands of Chinese commercial airline pilots, state media reported Friday.

Xinhua news agency said the rules, approved by the International Civil Aviation Organization in 2006, require all airline pilots who fly overseas to pass an English-language competency test by March 2008.

As in most things coming out of China these days, there is a marked lack of concern and quality control.

It quoted senior CAAC official Chen Guangcheng as saying that of the over 700 pilots who took the test in the first half of 2007, more than 600 passed.

But that leaves close to 8,000 pilots still grappling with “The Test of English for Aviation.”

It's the Dollar Store mentality yet again.

Technorati Tags: China, quality control, International Civil Aviation Organization

Subsidising the Driftwood Crips

It's not enough that the government pays their rent... now we get to pay their lawyers...

A Superior Court judge rebuked the Crown and ordered it to pay $27,000 in legal costs to alleged gang members for failing to have timely bail hearings after the massive Project Kryptic bust last week.

Nordheimer dismissed an application to release the nine suspects "because it's not responsible or reasonable" to do so. But he criticized the lack of financial and personnel resources for bail hearings after massive police operations such as Project Kryptic that targeted the Driftwood Crips in the Jane-Finch area.

The nine will receive $3,000 apiece from the order.

Technorati Tags: Driftwood Crips, Jane-Finch, Project Kryptic

We have the technology

And it won't break the bank...

Digital S.L.R.’s turn on instantly, can take three shots per second, offer optional manual controls, go for weeks on a battery charge and have zero shutter lag. In short, they’re awesome.

In the last few months, Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Olympus and Sony have each started selling new advanced S.L.R.’s in the $700 to $800 range.

Gearing up down under

You wanna play... you gotta pay...

Australia has announced plans to buy five new warships at a cost of more than A$11bn ($9bn; £4.5bn). The three destroyers and two amphibious troop carriers will be Australia's most advanced and expensive warships.

Prime Minister John Howard said they would greatly enhance the country's ability to send forces at strength.

And as anyone who has watched Aussie Rules Football can testify... these guys play hard.

The BBC reported earlier today that Iranian naval forces tried to capture the boarding team, but were repelled in the face of machine guns and "highly colourful language".

Quoting a "military source", BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner reported Iranian forces made a concerted attempt to seize a boarding party from the Royal Australian Navy and that the Australians "were having none of it".

"The BBC has been told the Australians re-boarded the vessel they had just searched," Gardner reports, "aimed their machine guns at the approaching Iranians, and warned them to back off, using what was said to be 'highly colourful language'.

"The Iranians withdrew, and the Australians were reportedly lifted off the ship by one of their own helicopters."

I love these guys.

Technorati Tags: Aussie Rules, Prime Minister John Howard, Royal Australian Navy

Quick... somebody call Wendy Cukier

Just ask a Liberal... guns only have one purpose.

-- TORONTO (CP) -- Veteran shooter Susan Nattrass will carry Canada's flag at next month's Pan American Games.

The five-time Olympian and seven-time world champion will be competing in her fourth straight Pan Am Games.

Nattrass is seen as the pioneer of women's shooting. She broke the gender barrier at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, where she competed with men.

Technorati Tags: Susan Nattrass, Olympics, suckass political correctness

Oh good... more bureaucracy

That'll fix everything.

-- TORONTO -- The Ontario government is creating the first-ever Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, following a recommendation of the commissioner of a public inquiry into the shooting death of unarmed native protester Dudley George in 1995.

When they discovered tossing buckets full of cash at ex-Liberals Jane Stewart and David Peterson didn't wake up the sheeple... the Liberals figured they could create whole new layer of patronage plums for their friends.

It's how they work.

Thank you, oh wise and wonderful Dalton McGuinty.

Technorati Tags: Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, Ontario, Dalton McGuinty

Paid back... with interest

Funny... you never see CTV celebrating Canadian soldiers... even when they deal Timmy Taliban a five to one battlefield payback.

-- MA’SUM GHAR, Afghanistan (CP) -- Canadian and Afghan government troops fought the Taliban in a four-hour running battle in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday and killed at least 15 insurgents, military officials said.

These are troopers from the same unit that took three casualties the other day... but they just climbed back into the saddle and handed Timmy his ass, yet again.

"We’re pretty blunt in this company and we don’t sugar coat very much," said Maj. Dave Quick, the officer commanding India Company. "And certainly the loss of another soldier in the battle group, regardless of company,is very important to the soldiers because we are a collective team here."

Maybe Lloyd should figure out what side he's on.

Technorati Tags: Canadian Forces, MA’SUM GHAR, payback is a bitch

"As enraged as it gets"

They don't call it the Holy Land for nothin'...

A controversial Gay Pride parade is due to march through Jerusalem with an expected 5,000 participants.

More than 7,000 police will secure the parade and prevent possible clashes between the two sides.

The event, held in Jerusalem since 2001, has been denounced in the past by conservative Jewish, Christian and Muslim groups which share a view that homosexuality is an abomination.

Call me crazy, but I'm thinkin' this may not be the best place in the world to shove a celebration of "alternate lifestyles" down peoples throats.

Maybe we could send them David Miller... he'd fix it.

**********

UPDATE: Gay Simon strokes out...

In the comments.

"Those Orthodox are just traitors to the state of Israel. Parasites and kooky freaks who should all be shot...The marchers who take on those black hatted nazis are braver than you could ever be."

From Simon's blogger profile...

I seek Truth...Freedom... Justice... and a kinder gentler world.

For everyone who agrees with him, that is.

**********

LAST WORD: Hey Simon, this guy...

Wants to kill people... just like you do.

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man was arrested for planning to bomb the parade, Israeli police said.

Technorati Tags: Gay Pride, Jerusalem, "should all be shot"

Words fail me

Sorry, I just... I don't know... I got nothin'.

-- CHENNAI -- Parental dotage climbed new heights recently when a doctor couple here got their 15-year-old son to perform a caesarean section operation to deliver a baby, ostensibly to see the name of their little 'prodigy', Dhileepan Raj, in the Guinness Book of World Records as the “youngest surgeon in the world".

Lock these people up. Do it now.

A fat-headed decision

I'm extremely disappointed with the Conservatives here... this one just seemed to be a no-brainer.

-- OTTAWA -- Health Canada will delay regulation of trans fats in Canadian food products for at least two years, calling instead for industry to voluntarily limit use of the heart-clogging compounds.

Critics blame the delay on opposition from the U.S. government, whose food industry would face complications exporting to Canada if Ottawa introduced binding limits.

Our over-burdened health care system is already struggling under the weight of an epidemic of complications from obesity. It's becoming a problem among small children.

This problem needed a strong, decisive hand... and obviously Tony Clement is not that guy.

Bill Jeffery, national co-ordinator of the Centre for Science in the Public Interest, which monitors food health issues, said he was disappointed in the government's decision.

Mr. Jeffery cited estimates that trans fats cause 2,000 heart attacks in Canada annually, suggesting that the delay in regulations could cause many deaths.

Next time you're out and about... take a minute to survey the folk around you and note what percentage of them are obese.

It's scary.

**********

UPDATE: Universal disagreement in the comments

Trust me... this is an issue that will end up costing all of us.

A study last year in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that the number of morbidly obese people in Canada has quadrupled since 1985, while the number of obese Canadians has doubled and those deemed to be overweight has increased 20 per cent.

According to Statistics Canada, close to 39 per cent of adult Canadians were of normal weight in 2005. Almost 35 per cent of adults were overweight and more than 24 per cent were considered obese.

More than 14 million adults in this country were either overweight or obese.

Technorati Tags: health care, trans fats, Tony Clement

The new Battle of Britain

More socialist insanity...

The leaders of two major Canadian universities have added their voices to growing international opposition to a boycott of Israeli universities being considered by a British academic union.

Yeah... maybe we can take a page from that bright, shining, uber-democratic Palestinian model, huh?

Let's fight this "creeping sharia" before it's too late.

"We can't be complacent about challenges to freedom of speech, freedom of collaboration. Why would you sit back passively and wait until it is a fait accompli?"

Spineless Marxist Miller...

And his coterie of politically correct ass-kissers... back down on not supporting the troops...

Toronto councillors voted unanimously on Wednesday to extend the use of 'Support Our Troops' decals on fire and emergency medical service vehicles.

In the end, this guy's about as principled as a feral cat.

Although Mr. Miller had indicated he wouldn't support the motion, he said today the death of three more soldiers in Afghanistan brought the issue home for him.

Well, that... and the likelihood of being tarred & feathered in front of Nathan Phillips Square.

I'm guessin' it's gonna take more than a couple of gin fizzes to get that taste out of his lyin', hypocritical mouth.

**********

UPDATE: This shouldn't end here

Email David Miller and let him know how you feel.

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LAST WORD: They will be remembered

Canadian military officials released the names the fallen soldiers. Corporal Stephen Frederick Bouzane, 26, Private Joel Vincent Wiebe, 22, and Sergeant Christos Karigiannis, all with the 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry perished in the bombing.

Technorati Tags: Mayor David Miller, Support Our Troops, Afghanistan

Unelected Liberal Senators...

Once again cover their corrupt, freeloading fiberal asses.

-- OTTAWA -- Liberal Senators have used their majority in the upper chamber to shelve indefinitely a government bill that would limit their terms to eight years.

The proposed legislation would limit Senate terms to eight years...

Once again, the retirement home for political bagmen and wired in business cronies protects their "cash for life" payout.

C'mon sheeple... wake up.

Before Taliban Jack starts screaming...

About the latest casualties in Afghanistan... consider this.

Every year in Canada... we lose the same number of children to drowning... as the total number of battle casualties to date, since 2001.

Each year an average of 58 children drown and at least 140 others are hospitalized after being saved from drowning in Canada.

Drowning is the second cause of traumatic death in Canadian children under 14.

But that won't stop Jack and his mindless leftbot horde from making political hay out of the deaths of these brave soldiers.

Why is that?

**********

PERSPECTIVE: It's dangerous here too

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS: No good deed...

"Improvements in medical care since the Taliban fell five years ago have led to a marked decrease in Afghanistan's infant mortality rates - 40,000 fewer infant deaths a year."

Technorati Tags: Religion of indiscrimate slaughter, Afghanistan, Jack Layton

Does new street-racing law...

Have any teeth?

The family of 48-year-old David Virgoe will have to wait to find out.

Wearing handcuffs and looking confused, Nauman Nusrat, 20 and Prabhjit Multani, 20, both of Etobicoke, are faced with several charges including criminal negligence causing death by street racing, criminal negligence causing bodily harm by street racing, dangerous operation causing death, criminal negligence causing death, and causing a common nuisance.

Const. Dave Woodford, with the OPP Highway Safety Division, said the two suspects, who remain in jail, were charged under the relatively new section of the Criminal Code that deals with street racing.

Convictions can carry a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

**********

RELATED: Friends saw this coming

A friend of 19-year-old Nauman Nusrat, one of the men charged, said Mr. Nusrat was known to go at speeds of up to 180 kilometres an hour in his Pontiac Grand Am.

"He was into racing. It was just like for fun," said the 21-year-old, who did not want his name published.

Technorati Tags: David Virgoe, Nauman Nusrat, Prabhjit Multani

Chemistry set of the Gods

Returning adult cells to their embryonic state offers an alternative to therapeutic cloning, which involves taking an egg, sucking out the nucleus, and putting in the nucleus from a patient.

Smoking Toy Gun

You like statistics... then check this out.

-- WASHINGTON, June 18 -- China manufactured every one of the 24 kinds of toys recalled for safety reasons in the United States so far this year, including the enormously popular Thomas & Friends wooden train sets, a record that is causing alarm among consumer advocates, parents and regulators.

And lead paint on toy trains may not even be the most outrageous transgression.

Just in the last month, a ghoulish fake eyeball toy made in China was recalled after it was found to be filled with kerosene.

The problem is not just confined to childrens toys. Poisoned medicines and toiletries have recently been discovered as well.

Last year, China also was the source of 81 percent of the counterfeit goods seized by Customs officials at ports of entry in the United States — products that typically are not made according to the standards on the labels they are copying.

Go ahead... buy Chinese products.

I dare you.

Technorati Tags: China, diethylene glycol, Merchant of Death

Too much money? Live in Toronto?

Don't worry... David Miller & Dalton McGuinty are gonna fix that right up.

**********

RELATED: In David Miller's Toronto-stan...

It's okay to spit on Canadian troops...

"By putting messages on our vehicles it sends the message that the city of Toronto supports the mission in Afghanistan and I don't believe we should be sending that message."

**********

BREAKING: Good timing... you spineless leftbot

-- KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) -- Three more Canadian soldiers have been killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan.

Military officials say the powerful blast hit the vehicle carrying the soldiers.

Technorati Tags: Toronto, Mayor David Miller, Dalton McGuinty

I'm sure his wife...

Is looking forward to having him home all the time now.

He previously said he would continue to sit in the House of Commons until the next election, but Tuesday called upon Prime Minister Stephen Harper to call a by-election.

**********

RELATED: Ahoy, Billy

Technorati Tags: Bill Graham, Liberal Party, honesty and integrity

Have gun, will travel

In all likelihood, this target was "laser painted" by a special forces team just over the brow of the nearest hill... and vapourised by Hellfire missiles from a Predator UAV.

Then they just swept on in and swabbed up some DNA.

-- MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, June 19 (Reuters) -- A missile attack, probably launched by U.S. forces in Afghanistan, killed at least 32 pro-Taliban militants in a Pakistani tribal region near the border on Tuesday, Pakistani officials said.

The missiles targeted a suspected training base in a village near the mountainous Datta Khel district, 60 km (40 miles) west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.

Intelligence officials said some foreigners were among those killed in Mamy Rogha, raising the possibility that al Qaeda fighters might have also been present.

North Waziristan is a known refuge for remnants of Osama bin Laden's network.

These guys call themselves terrorists... but I'm guessin' raggedy arseholes were snappin' shut all over Waziristan today.

Hey Osama... we're comin' for ya.

**********

NUDGE-NUDGE, WINK, WINK: Yeah... that's what happened

A spokesman for the Pakistani military, Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad, denied that United States or NATO forces operating in Afghanistan were involved in the attack. He said the explosion occurred when a bomb the militants were making went off.

Technorati Tags: Osama bin Laden, Taliban, Waziristan

The business of government

Much like the Pope, members of the EU are not allowing silly distractions from the Middle East, or ongoing genocide in Africa... to get in the way of important business...

The European Parliament has voted down a bid by MEPs from Poland, Finland, the Baltic states, Sweden and Denmark to tighten the legal definition of vodka.

The so-called "vodka belt" countries wanted to restrict the term to spirits made only from potatoes or grain. But a majority of MEPs voted in favour of a looser definition.

Vodka made from anything other than potatoes or grain will have to say so on the label - but no minimum size for the declaration will be stipulated.

Whew... thank goodness we got that crisis resolved.

Technorati Tags: vodka, European Parliament, gotta have priorities

What about the separation...

Of Church and State Trooper?

-- Vatican City -- THOU shall not drive under the influence of alcohol. Thou shall respect speed limits. Thou shall not consider a car an object of personal glorification or use it as a place of sin.

The Vatican took a break from strictly theological matters today to issue its own rules of the road, a compendium of dos and don'ts on the moral aspects of driving and motoring.

Praying while driving was encouraged.

I'm a little surprised, with stuff like genocide in Darfur, the insane violence in Gaza and the rest of the middle east... the Pope was so focused on vehicular trespasses.

Vatican City, the world's smallest sovereign state, doesn't have many of the problems listed in the document.

It has about 1000 cars, the speed limit is 30km/h and one Vatican official said the last accident inside Vatican City's walls was about a year and a half ago, resulting in minor damage.

I guess he's thinking globally.

Technorati Tags: Vatican, Pope Benedict, sin

The hits just keep on coming

Bullets flying again at Jane and Finch...

Despite last week's high-profile police raids, two men were treated for gunshot wounds last night after a shooting near Jane and Finch.

Shell casings littered the pavement of a basketball court outside 298 Grandravine Dr. where bullets flew just after 4:30 p.m.

Geez... where were the cops?

Police were able to respond quickly to the shooting because officers were already in the area probing a hit and run about half a kilometre away.

A 10-year-old girl was taken to hospital with two broken legs after a car jumped a curb, plowed through a fence and a bush before striking the victim.

The driver got out of the car after striking the girl then jumped behind the wheel and sped away. The car was found abandoned a short distance away. The girl's injuries were not life-threatening.

Yup... Jane and Finch.

**********

RELATED: Criminal masterminds they're not

Some, not all, hide their faces with bandanas as they wave guns and mug for the camera. Once again they appear to have handed police evidence to be used against them.

At least two of the 95 people arrested appeared in a digital recording posted on YouTube.com called "The Real Toronto – Jnf (Jane and Finch) Driftwood," a police source says.

Technorati Tags: Jordan Manners, Jane-Finch, politically correct

I swear on Pierre Trudeau's grave...

This time, I really, really will keep my promise...

"Did you seek out the premier or did he seek out you?" I asked.

"His people got in touch with my people," Lucy said. "When this project was brought to me I was very excited about it. I want to get the message out that Dalton's really serious this time about keeping his promises."

We noticed there were some words on the football. Lucy stopped tossing it and displayed for the cameras what was written on the side: "No more taxes!"

Technorati Tags: Dalton McGuinty, Liberal Party, liar, liar

I confess... I've got no trouble...

With the somewhat dubious political status quo in Pakistan... in fact, I'll go further than that.

If you're a religious person, you might want to say some prayers tonight for the continued good health of President Pervez Musharraf... because if Religious Affairs Minister Ejaz-ul-Haq or his Islamobuddies get their fervent, sweaty fingers on Pakistan's nuclear button... we are truly in deep cous-cous.

Britain's knighthood to the author Salman Rushdie contributes to insulting Islam and may lead to terrorism, a Pakistani minister has said.

Such actions are the root cause of terrorism, Religious Affairs Minister Ejaz-ul-Haq told parliament.

"If someone commits suicide bombing to protect the honour of the Prophet Mohammad, his act is justified," he said, according to the translation by the Reuters news agency.

I'm wondering if Musharraf is familiar with the old joke about the US Secret Service having orders, that if George Bush is assassinated, their first response should be to shoot Dan Quayle.

Let's hope so.

**********

RELATED: Who is Pervez Musharraf?

**********

UPDATE: After the first bomb goes off...

Dion and Layton won't be able to show their faces in public...

Large teams of newly trained suicide bombers are being sent to the United States and Europe, according to evidence contained on a new videotape obtained by the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

Teams assigned to carry out attacks in the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Germany were introduced at an al Qaeda/Taliban training camp graduation ceremony held June 9.

The tape shows Taliban military commander Mansoor Dadullah, whose brother was killed by the U.S. last month, introducing and congratulating each team as they stood.

Coming soon to a public venue near you.

(via Natnews)

**********

LAST WORD: Title: Muslim world inflamed by Rushdie knighthood.

Other titles they could have used:

Muslim world inflamed by Sun being center of Solar System
Muslim world inflamed by women who smile
Muslim world inflamed by Earth being on a 23 degree axis tilt

(via BCF)

Technorati Tags: Minister Ejaz-ul-Haq, suicide bombing, Salman Rushdie

Unnatural Selection

For every woman who's ever thought... "Men, who needs them anyway?"

Theoretically, it would enable two lesbians to create a child—not a clone, but a mixture of genes from each parent, just like you or me.

We're not there yet, but we're on the way. Two years ago, British officials authorized human procreation using sperm, nuclear DNA from one woman, and mitochondrial DNA from a second woman.

The categories we've taken for granted—mommy, daddy, people, animals—are blurring.

We're losing our innocence.

Technorati Tags: parthenogenesis, chromosomes, procreation

McGuinty calls for Feds to ban...

Fuel-efficient Japanese sedans...

A barbecue with family and friends ended in an apparent murder early yesterday when a man allegedly used his car to run down the 20-year-old he had been fighting with just steps from victim's home.

Mayor David Miller was quick to join the campaign against these "automotive assassins"...

"If this saves only one life..."

Recommended by 4 out of 5...

Holy Prophets.

In mostly Muslim Senegal, people say there is religious precedent for the use of the chewing sticks.

In holy Islamic writings known as the Hadith, the Prophet Mohammed recommends their use as part of cleaning rituals that are an essential element of daily prayers.

You just never know when the Koran might come in handy.

Mostly, you pull the trigger...

You don't get to call the shot back.

But once again... in steps Mr. Science.

-- BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Kelly Brannigan was suffering from a case of tattoo remorse.

For help, she turned to Dr. Tattoff, a chain of tattoo removal stores where nurses use lasers in a series of treatments to break down tattoo pigments.

Most of Dr. Tattoff’s clients are women ages 25 to 35, said James Morel, the chief executive of the company, which has given more than 13,000 tattoo laser treatments since opening here in 2004.

That little bird in flight, inked in the small of your back at nineteen, looks a little less attractive with each passing migration.

We have the technology.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS: It's kinda sad... he tries so hard

Uber-troll Jeff "Ladybug" Davidson gives it everything he's got...

"i'm sure it's been many years since a 19 yr old woman cared much about your opinion."

Zounds, you varlet... your arrow strikes thunderously home.

Technorati Tags: tattoo, tattoo remorse, Dr. Tattoff

Everything you need to know...

About the Gaza Strip...

"If things get worse we will get closer to God by killing this journalist."

**********

RELATED: Good Lord... I mean Allah

"It wasn't about intellect," she said. "All I know is the calling of my heart to Islam was very much something about my identity and who I am supposed to be."

(via SDA)

**********

IRAQ UPDATE: No cookie for Mookie

-- BAGHDAD, June 18 (Reuters) -- U.S.-led coalition forces killed at least 20 militants after coming under heavy attack from Shi'ite gunmen during raids in southern Iraq's Maysan province early on Monday, the U.S. military said.

An official in the office of anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the Maysan capital Amara said 17 members of the firebrand's Mehdi Army had been killed and 45 wounded.

If Jack Layton would just...

Start negotiating with his pals... maybe some of this carnage could be avoided.

-- KABUL, Afghanistan -- At least 35 people were killed, including 22 policemen, said Ahmed Zia Aftali, head of Kabul's military hospital. A victim said the bus had been filled with police instructors.

At least 307 Afghan police, army or intelligence personnel have been killed in violence so far this year through June 15, according to an AP tally of figures from the U.S., U.N., NATO and Afghan authorities.

C'mon Jack... man up and get on the plane.

**********

RELATED: Gimme some more socialist boo-hoo

Cos' that's what really wins wars.

**********

UPDATE: Sleeping with the enemy

Canada's top doctor singled out New Democrat leader Jack Layton yesterday for "hypocrisy" for undergoing hernia treatment at a private Toronto medical clinic.

But Brian Day, president-elect of the Canadian Medical Association, was quick to note Layton is in good company.

Former prime ministers Paul Martin, Jean Chretien and Joe Clark also have been treated at private medical clinics, Day told the annual meeting of the Canadian Science Writers' Association.

(via Natnews)

Technorati Tags: Afghanistan, Jack Layton, politically correct

Globe tries to blame Harper...

For refugee claim backlog.

-- OTTAWA -- Canada's backlog of refugee claims is growing by almost 1,000 cases a month as the Harper government continues to dawdle on filling vacancies at the Immigration and Refugee Board.

Backlog statistics are drawn from the IRB's data on pending claims. Currently, there are about 28,000 such claims at various stages of the refugee determination process.

While, surprisingly, over at the Red Star... they're exposing the immigration consultants who are taking money for showing people how to falsify their entry into Canada...

Filing a claim based on lies, as Arora has suggested, is an abuse of Canada's compassion, the refugee system and, in the long run, the client.

Trouble is, it's also attractively effective.

It's a pretty interesting expose of the "refugee claimant" industry.

But that's not what the sheeple want to hear.

**********

RELATED: Save us... oh compassionate Liberal Party

Technorati Tags: Liberal Party, IRB, smoke and mirrors

Doesn't that cheapen it a little...

If winning this prize is contingent on who you sleep with?

Michael V. Smith has been named the inaugural winner of an award for emerging gay writers.

See... I don't get it. Shouldn't a prize for writing be about what you do with words... not what you do with your genitals?

Damn... I keep forgetting.

A meritocracy isn't politically correct.

Healing the world...

One set of hooters at a time.

It isn't curing cancer... or saving the world's starving children... but providing unemployed single moms with bargain basement breasts... has to be on the list somewhere...

For the first time in her life Lucy Wingate feels she has a shape she is happy with. "My body is more womanly and I have my curves in all the right places," she said.

Last week the 26-year-old single mother of two had a breast enhancement, thanks to a new service - mybreast.org - which makes the UK's top plastic surgeons available at prices women like unemployed Lucy can afford.

"Bad news kids... it's beans again and an early bedtime... mommy's special friend is coming over tonight."

Cue music... "Imagine all the people..."

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BONUS: Creepy breast surgery animation

Technorati Tags: UK, breast enhancement, plastic surgery

It was a very good year

I guess I'm just a sucker for a good time capsule story...

A muddy, rusty 1957 Plymouth Belvedere was lifted out of the Oklahoma earth yesterday, 50 years after the citizens of Tulsa deposited the coupe in an underground vault near the county courthouse to commemorate the state’s 50th anniversary.

The car was interred with 10 gallons of gasoline, in case fuel would be obsolete in 2007, and a time capsule containing civic records, a prayer and a history of Tulsa churches.

Technorati Tags: Oklahoma, time capsule, 1957 Plymouth Belvedere

Bribe-O-Rama

Lemme see if I understand this... Dalton fibs about raising taxes and fleeces us on OHIP to the tune of a thousand bucks a household... to "save the healthcare system"... but suddenly discovers 17 billion dollars in his back pocket?!?!

It must be an election year.

Premier Dalton McGuinty unveiled yesterday a sweeping $17.5-billion transit vision for the GTA and Golden Horseshoe that would see construction of 52 projects in what would be the largest transit build in Canadian history.

Hey, piss on the rest of the province... let's dump all that filthy lucre in McGuinty's Metrosexual Mecca.

Just how stupid does he think we are?

**********

RELATED: Toronto... center of the Universe

Tourism Toronto announced plans yesterday to woo gay travellers in the U.S. -- by letting them know this city is "as gay as it gets."

Tourism Toronto has been working with the Gay Marketing Advisory Group, led by Councillor Kyle Rae, who said people will finally see the city as more than just friendly.

The tag line "Toronto: As gay as it gets" comes out of people talking about their cities as being gay-friendly.

"Toronto's not gay-friendly -- it's gay," Rae said.

The good news is... maybe they'll feel the need for a straight white guy pavilion at the Caravan Festival this year.

**********

Note to Kyle Rae... you may have just flushed 300,000 dollars down the toilet. Go to any farm auction within 50 miles of here and you'll hear numerous variations of the phrase... "Toronto... As gay as it gets"... and that's before they even start talkin' politics.

Technorati Tags: Toronto, As gay as it gets, Dalton McGuinty

Bad Moon Rising

The bad guys are gonna be cryin' for their mommies when this shithammer falls.

-- BAGHDAD, June 16 (Reuters) -- U.S. troops found the identity cards of two U.S. soldiers missing for nearly a month in a raid on an al Qaeda safe house north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said on Saturday.

The body of the third kidnapped soldier, Private First Class Joseph Anzack Jr., was pulled from the Euphrates River 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad on May 23.

Iraqi police said the body, wearing U.S. Army-issue pants and boots, had bullet wounds and bore signs of torture.

Payback is a bitch.

Technorati Tags: Iraq, war crimes, payback

The Big Chill

Free speech meets legal screech...

University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist says Canadian bloggers need to be aware that by effectively becoming publishers, they are subject to the laws on defamation and libel.

Those laws "apply online as well as off-line," he says. "Just because bloggers have the ability to write whatever they want doesn't give them licence to defame anyone."

Warren Kinsella, a prominent blogger and newspaper columnist, sued another blogger for libel last year, but settled the case after the blogger apologized for his remarks and paid Kinsella's legal costs.

While Hamas beats Gaza...

With the big freakin' stick... it looks like the West Bank is gonna get some major carrot...

Among Middle East experts, the possibility of trying to establish a diplomatic separation between Gaza and the West Bank and lavishing benefits on the West Bank — an idea that seemed remote a week ago — is now being discussed.

“This is as close they can come to taking a sow’s ear and trying to turn it into a silk purse,” said Martin S. Indyk, former American ambassador to Israel and director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution.

Imagine Gaza and the West Bank as the political equivalent of Aboriginal reservations in North America. While they like to think of themselves as autonomous players, in reality they are helpless little babies that must be constantly fed and washed to survive.

Don't look now... but it looks like Gaza is about to be suddenly and brutally weaned.

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IRONY ALERT: A shoulder to the Karmic Wheel...

"Fatah planning Iraq-style insurgency against Hamas"

Technorati Tags: West Bank, Hamas, Survivor: Gaza Strip

Chalk up 5 more dead kids...

For that good ole' Religion of Peace...

-- KABUL -- A suicide car bomber targeting a NATO convoy Friday in southern Afghanistan killed 10 people, including five children and a Dutch soldier, amid a fresh wave of violence that also left more than 24 militants dead, officials said.

Yessir... that's some Spring Offensive.

Technorati Tags: Afghanistan, suicide bombers, Taliban

Ismail Haniya shows off his...

Tender side...

Hamas political leaders moved to impose calm in the conquered Gaza Strip on Friday after days of factional fighting left more than 90 people dead and Palestinians fearful for the future.

Well, Ismail... call me a jack-booted reactionary... but if you're really looking to "calm things down"... all you guys might want to rethink tactics like kidnapping children and pitching political rivals from the tops of highrise buildings.

Maybe it's different over there in Gaza... but around here, nothin' makes people more nervous... than bodies raining from the heavens and splattering all over their doorsteps.

I mean, what's up with that anyway?

And don't bother tryin' the old, "Well, he started it" defense. That hasn't worked for me since kindergarten.

We know you guys aren't runnin' short of ammo... so the only conceivable reason to do this... is to see the look on people's faces as they plummet to their "martyrdom."

It's a little over the top... even for a sociopath.

Technorati Tags: Ismail Haniya, Hamas, Survivor: Gaza Strip

Whew... thank goodness that's fixed

Quebec makes yet another useless, nonsensical gesture...

The proposed legislation, known formally as Bill 9, prohibits the possession of all firearms on the grounds and inside teaching institutions.

I have just one question...

"Which provinces do, or more to the point, ever did... allow firearms in the classroom?"

I'm still waiting for a law prohibiting "sacrificing virgins to the volcano god."

Another silly sop to the mindless loony left.

All in the family

It might have been easier to just list the people from "the community"... who weren't arrested.

Details emerged about the 95 accused after Toronto police released the lengthy list of 700 charges laid late Thursday.

Among those arrested in Wednesday's massive raids targeting the Driftwood Crips street gang are the sister of the 15-year-old boy fatally shot inside a school and several alleged gang lieutenants.

Necole Small, 25, is one of 21 women arrested and faces a charge of possession of a prohibited firearm with ammunition.

Also among those arrested was a man charged in a shooting that took place near the Manners' family home in the hours after the boy's funeral.

(via SDA)

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UPDATE: Fruit of the poisoned tree?

One of the suspected gang members targeted in the massive law enforcement takedown of the Driftwood Crips was apparently tipped off by a family member on the force, a Toronto Police source said yesterday.

The suspect was able to avoid the raids early Wednesday morning but was later arrested and may have removed guns and drugs from his home, the source said.

Technorati Tags: Jane-Finch, Driftwood Crips, crime and punishment

Egads... foiled again

Another criminal mastermind... in beautiful Hastings County...

An attempt to smuggle drugs into a local detention centre by way of "a bodily cavity" didn't pan out well for a 27-year-old, Thursday.

Police say the Belleville man was a little too eager to have himself arrested and transported to the Quinte Regional Detention Centre near Napanee.

How lazy do the drug dealers have to be... that rather than flog their wares on the street, they get themselves arrested... so they can peddle the stuff in the hoosegow?

Wonder if he's related to this guy?

Technorati Tags: Belleville, Ontario, crime and punishment, up shit creek

Shut down the reservations

It's past time to shut down these hellholes and end the culture of dependency...

The Eenchokay Birchstick School functioned as a second home for many young people in the community.

It was destroyed by arson when two boys, both under 12, set a shed outside the woodworking classroom on fire, an Ontario Provincial Police spokeswoman confirmed.

Two weeks ago, a 12-year-old took her own life. Last Sunday, the girl's 14-year-old brother and his 12-year-old girlfriend also committed suicide.

A major arson and three suicides by teen and preteen children in the last two weeks.

What are we waiting for... a plague of locusts?

Subsidising this bankrupt culture leads, all too predictably, to crime, violence and misery. Time to wipe the slate clean and start over.

One law, one people... it's that simple.

**********

RELATED: Hmmm... that sounds familiar

A high-profile inquiry into child sex abuse in remote northern Australia says it found cases in every Aborigine community researchers visited.

Investigators said high levels of alcohol and poverty were to blame.

Australia's Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough described the findings as a "national disgrace".

Technorati Tags: aboriginal, Pikangikum, suckass political correctness

Over here it's safe injection sites

In Britain... they're calling for "safe houses"... for gang-bangers.

MP John Denham, chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said: "We think there needs to be a closer attention on the way we can enable young people to escape from involvement in criminal groups and criminal activities.

Young black gang members wanting to escape criminal life should have access to "safe houses", MPs have suggested. In a report into young black people and the criminal justice system, MPs said living at a secret address could protect them from reprisals.

Strangely... nobody's thinking about victims of crime.

Technorati Tags: gang violence, safe houses, victims of crime

See, that's funny...

I was thinking "firing squad" works out way better for everybody.

-- OTTAWA -- A coalition of parliamentarians, academics and human-rights groups on Thursday called on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to intervene in the case of Omar Khadr, the accused Canadian terrorist detained in the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay.

Check out the advantages of Plan B.

One less mouth to feed at Gitmo.

Nobody else gets the holy hand grenade.

Won't need to hunt down his terrorist ass yet again.

Omar gets to see his old dad and Allah... a twofer.

We do it my way, everybody's happy.

Technorati Tags: Omar Khadr, Amnesty International, homegrown terrorism

The Global Warming Myth explained...

In just one sentence...

The dictates of political correctness are strict and only one permitted truth, not for the first time in human history, is imposed on us.

(via Flaggman)

I'm in favour of anything...

That produces a bigger internet/ new media pipe.

Telesat, which has seven satellites in orbit and two under construction, scooped up five licences.

Especially if it helps with stuff like this.

Out-of-date maps can throw a wrench into your driving plans, but TomTom’s new Map Share software combines cartography with community to allow users to update maps on the go — and later share the results with others.

For example, a driver who comes across a closed road or detour can enter changes to the route on the TomTom navigation device’s screen right there.

Live and don't learn

Ah yes... crime and punishment, rural style... you can run, but you can't hide.

One of the disadvantages of not living in the big city... if you're a repeat dickhead... chances are the local cops will be only too happy to fill your dance card.

-- Belleville, ON -- After being convicted of impaired driving and having his licence suspended, police say a 39-year-old Gilmour man decided to drive home from the courthouse earlier this week.

However, shortly after his appearance and sentencing before the judge, the man was observed by officers driving away from the courthouse.

He was stopped a short distance away and charged with driving while prohibited. The vehicle he was driving was impounded for 45 days, police report.

I've previously touched on the dynamics of living in a smaller community. Unlike say, Toronto, where you may not know the people next door... the neighbours in smaller venues all know a surprising amount of everybody else's business, especially the, uh... human failings.

And that includes the local constabulary.

If you're foolin' around on your spouse, if you have a problem with booze or drugs... trust me, it's out there somewhere.

This dope got what he deserved.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

This story reminds me of Brent Butt's old joke about small town crime. He says there's actually almost as much crime in small towns as in the city, but the difference is that there's much less unsolved crime in a small town.

The typical small town crime investigation goes, "Can you describe the man who did this?"

"Yes, he was Wayne."

**********

RELATED: Not so sure about this brainwave

Those partial to low-slung jean are no longer welcome in Delcambre, a Louisiana shrimping town west of New Orleans and the latest place to try to criminalize an old standard of hip-hop fashion.

For exposing their underwear as they waddle around town, they could face six months in jail and a $500 fine.

It's not like there's a shortage of actual criminals... why go after the idiots who just wanna look like thugs?

Technorati Tags: Belleville, Ontario, crime and punishment, up shit creek

Made in China

It was only a matter of time.

-- NEW YORK -- Colgate-Palmolive Co. [CL-N] said Thursday counterfeit "Colgate" toothpaste that may contain a toxic chemical had been found in discount stores in four U.S. states.

"There are indications that this product does not contain fluoride and may contain diethylene glycol," the company said in a statement.

The FDA has issued an alert...

Goldcredit International Enterprises is a unit of JiangsuXingda Stationery Group, a manufacturer of glue and office supplies.

Suzhou City Jinmao Daily Chemicals also makes soap and pet products.

This was all too predictable.

**********

CONSUMER ALERT: Suspect toothpaste here in Canada?

So I have to ask myself, why is it that Colgate imports South African toothpaste into Canada?

Or is the toothpaste I am holding in my hand also a counterfeit?

And is it poisonous?

**********

UPDATE: Lead paint... childrens toys

The Consumer Product Safety Commission recalls 1.5 million Thomas and Friends products — as in Thomas the Tank Engine — because a Chinese factory used lead paint.

I think we've crossed a line here.

Technorati Tags: China, diethylene glycol, Merchant of Death

Hey, Benny... over here

While the Pope's busy takin' out a fatwa on Amnesty International... Mexico decides to see if they can slip one past him.

-- MEXICO CITY, June 13 (Reuters) -- Mexico City's leftist lawmakers plan to legalize prostitution, the latest step toward making the sprawling capital the most liberal in Latin America, following laws allowing abortion and same-sex unions.

The changes have outraged the Roman Catholic Church and conservative sectors of society and provoked Pope Benedict to threaten politicians with excommunication if they supported abortion.

The abortion law has been challenged by the federal government in Mexico's Supreme Court.

Like I was saying just below... how'd Paul Martin manage to fly in under the Vatican radar?

**********

RELATED: Are Canadian clerics just way laid back?

Or is it simply the Anglicans?

While the archbishops said that blessing the unions of same-sex couples does not touch on the church's “core doctrine,” last month the national House of Bishops issued a pastoral statement saying that the “doctrine and discipline of our church does not clearly permit same-sex blessings.”

The archbishops' statement is signed by John Bothwell, Terence Finlay and Percy O'Driscoll, all former metropolitans, or chief bishops, of Ontario; David Crawley and David Somerville, former metropolitans of British Columbia; and Arthur Peters, former metropolitan of Quebec and the Atlantic provinces.

Technorati Tags: prostitution, homosexuality, abortion

Pope puts his money...

Where his mouth is...

The Vatican has urged all Catholics to stop donating money to Amnesty International, accusing the human rights group of promoting abortion.

To be honest, I don't understand why this is only happening now.

When I was a kid at Catholic primary school... the nuns made us understand there was absolutely no wiggle room on stuff like this. Shit... I got strapped for throwin' snowballs at recess.

We were terrified of mortal sins... which probably explains why I'm a lapsed Catholic and have chosen to raise my boy without it.

I guess I've never understood why Paul Martin, who is nominally RC... was never taken to task over supporting SSM. I mean, you either drop the rule against the whole (and let's remember there were more than a few RC homo clergy messes) can of homosexual worms... or you clobber people when they cross the line.

Nobody respects a wishy-washy leader, secular or otherwise.

**********

RELATED: And if that's not enough...

-- OTTAWA (CP) -- Amnesty International is calling on Ottawa to demand the return of a Canadian terror suspect being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Amnesty International spokesman Alex Neve says it's time for Canada to demand that Khadr be transferred to Canadian custody.

Technorati Tags: Vatican, Amnesty International, abortion

The Court of Sober Second Thought

Or... why are we warehousing Paul Bernardo?

What gets little notice, however, is a series of academic studies over the last half-dozen years that claim to settle a once hotly debated argument — whether the death penalty acts as a deterrent to murder.

The analyses say yes. They count between three and 18 lives that would be saved by the execution of each convicted killer.

(via SDA)

Technorati Tags: death penalty, saving lives, deterrent effect

Meanwhile, in local news...

Man gets house arrest for baby beatdown...

A Madoc man who attacked a four-week-old girl, crushing eight of the infant's ribs and breaking an arm and a leg was sentenced to 18 months in community custody earlier this week.

Darren Wadforth, 23, was found guilty Monday of aggravated assault in Picton court in connection to an incident at a Picton home in June 2005.

He will spend the first half of his sentence under house arrest with electronic monitoring.

You can email Premier Dalton McGuinty and Attorney General Michael Bryant to let them know how you feel about this miscarriage of justice.

Or you can simply turn the other cheek.

Technorati Tags: liberal justice, Dalton McGuinty, Darren Wadforth

Crush, kill, destroy

Everything you need to know about Africa.

Poachers have shot the last two white rhinos in Zambia, killing one and wounding the other, in a night operation at the Mosi-Oa-Tunya national park in Livingstone, an official said Tuesday.

Zambia's white rhinos were all killed by poachers but the government managed to acquire six from South Africa in 1993, of which the injured male is the last to survive.

The dead rhino’s horn was apparently removed.

Tempest in a turban

Sikhs have gone to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg to challenge a French law banning the wearing of turbans for ID documents.

The United Sikhs organisation filed a complaint on behalf of French national Shingara Mann Singh, 52, who was refused a replacement driver's licence.

By law applicants have to remove all headgear for security reasons.

The quick and the stupid

Initially portrayed in the media as "a good kid" with a future, it turns out this guy had a date with destiny all along.

Jose Hierro Saez traded punches with the two men police believe killed him in a drive-by shooting but he never traded gunfire with them -- he was shot before he had a chance to pull a loaded gun from his waistband.

It turns out his posse were just as smart and loyal...

Leaving their friend dead on the pavement, the other four men ran off into the townhouse complex, where an ambulance picked them up and took them to hospital.

"Let me make this clear -- there were people riding in that car who were shot at, people who were with the person who is now deceased, who are not assisting this investigation...," Raybould said.

So tell me Mr. McGuinty... what sort of gun control nonsense would have prevented this senseless tragedy?

Here's a thought... how about proper parenting?

**********

UPDATE: Or we could go with "tough love"

Seven hundred officers from Toronto and other parts of the southern Ontario were involved in the raids, which police are calling Project Kryptic.

Police say they have arrested leaders and members of the Driftwood Crips gang and seized 30 Kg of cocaine, hash oil and marijuana with an estimated sreet value of $1-million. Dozens of firearms were also found.

"We know that this strategy works. We know that this work must continue," Chief Blair said.

Betcha that got their attention.

**********

LAST WORD: The quick, the stupid & the whiner

"How am I supposed to clean this?" she demands. "This is what happened when they raid your house. Look at the mess in the house! How am I supposed to clean that? You should see the bedroom upstairs. I can't clean it!"

(via reader Alistair)

Technorati Tags: mayhem & murder, David Miller's Toronto, Jose Hierro Saez

Where there's smoke...

Pikangikum First Nation must be the unluckiest folks around. In addition to living like people just out of the stone age... somehow... their school just burned to the ground.

Dean Peters, a spokesman with the Pikangikum Education Authority, said he was devastated. He said he returned from chaperoning a Grade 8 class in Edmonton to “nothing but rubble.”

“Everything was lost,” he said, listing files, exams and mountains of staff and student paperwork. Even student files in fire-proof containers were damaged, Peters said.

But hey, who really cares? They were gonna get a shiny new taxpayer funded school anyway.

Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice announced in April that his department would spend $18.2 million to build a new school.

The project falls under a $40-million allocation to address infrastructure problems in the remote community of 2,000 people.

**********

RELATED: Why not just move the community here?

I'm sure their aboriginal brothers-in-arms won't mind... and it's not like we're using it for anything important anyway.

Algonquin First Nations communities say they must be consulted before the Commons tries to assume jurisdiction of Parliament Hill's manicured lawns because the area is considered traditional Native territory.

**********

LAST WORD: The never-ending story

-- VANCOUVER -- One of the most prime pieces of real estate in the country, home to one of the oldest public golf courses in the city, is expected to be handed over to the Musqueam Indian band as part of a controversial land-claims agreement.

The Musqueam claim has been the great elephant in the room on the land-claims front. Reaching agreements with bands in remote areas of the province is one thing, coming to terms with one laying claim to large chunks of one of the most expensive cities in the world is quite another.

(via Natnews)

Technorati Tags: Pikangikum, Assembly of First Nations, suckass political correctness

Time to rethink...

Bubble-wrapping the baby...

"We need to ask ourselves whether it is better for a child to break a wrist falling out of a tree, or to get a repetitive strain wrist injury at a young age from using a computer or video games console," RoSPA said.

"When children spend time in the great outdoors, getting muddy, getting wet, getting stung by nettles, they learn important lessons -- what hurts, what is slippery, what you can trip over or fall from," he said.

I know when I was young, especially during summer vacations, we would all disappear after eating breakfast and our mothers would be lucky to see us back for dinner.

We climbed trees, prowled construction sites, climbed on top of the school roof and generally made our own adventures.

I remember getting together with a couple of buddies, with flashlights and tape (to mark our way back) and exploring a long passage of storm drain that ran from a drainage ditch towards the general vicinity of the local hospital.

We waged small wars on each other with our air rifles and spent hours down by the shores of Lake Ontario. We cooked hotdogs and (egads... e.coli) hamburger meat over fires we started with driftwood.

And strangely enough... nobody died.

That doesn't seem to be how it works any more... and our over-scheduled, technologically savvy but too often overweight kids may be the worse for it.

Technorati Tags: bubble-wrapping the baby, suckass political correctness, innocence lost

Another Chretien appointee...

With her hand in our pockets...

Former Quebec lieutenant-governor Lise Thibault is battling back against allegations that she misspent about $700,000 of public money.

Furthermore, $129,000 was claimed from the federal government for accommodation and meal expenses that were already compensated by the province, says the report.

With the Fiberals... the fun never ends.

So you think you can rap

Lemme see... you make a living yellin' out nonsense about violence and death and beatin' on you ho's... and then somebody comes along and shoots your ass dead...

Holy Tupac Batman... who coulda seen that comin?

“He was just getting big,” said Davida Wooten, Mr. Elliot’s aunt.

She added that he had recently asked her to help him find another place to live because he felt threatened by residents at his public housing complex who were jealous of his show business success.

“He said they was hating on him, but he didn’t get out fast enough,” Ms. Wooten said.

Ah yes, Righteous Rapper Rule #1...

"They hatin' on you... get out."

Two words bro... social Darwinism.

Technorati Tags: rap music, just desserts, social Darwinism

Another reason to avoid Vista

Apart from needing 4 gig of memory...

-- SAN FRANCISCO -- Internet search leader Google Inc. is trying to convince federal and state authorities that Microsoft Corp.'s Vista operating system is stifling competition as the high-tech heavyweights wrestle for the allegiance of personal computer users.

Calling Jack Layton...

Negotiate this you turncoat...

Two gunmen on a motorbike have killed two school girls and wounded six others as they left their school south of the Afghan capital, Kabul, officials say.

Officials say the gunmen waited for the girls before spraying bullets into the all-girl school and escaping. It is not clear who carried out the attack.

**********

What say somebody reads ole' Jack the riot act.

Makes a hole so big...

You can toss a cat through it...

"Hi," says the little old lady. "I'm a little old lady and I'm charged with second-degree murder for shooting this strapping young man, but the nice judge gave me bail and told me to come and see you."

"Goodness, Granny," says the lawyer, "what happened?"

(via Kathy)

You wake up in the middle of the night and you hear somebody breaking into your house... what's the first thing to do after calling 911?

In this neck of the woods, you break out the pump-gun.

**********

TOOL TIP: I know... double ought buck sounds sexy

But Mr. Science confirms... number 1 buckshot is what you really need.

Number 1 buck is the smallest diameter shot that reliably and consistently penetrates more than 12 inches of standard ordnance gelatin when fired at typical shotgun engagement distances.

**********

RELATED: Or, if you're a wuss...

You can use the "treehugger round".

Technorati Tags: self defense, shotgun, dead or alive

If they'll do this to each other...

Why should we expect to be exempt?

-- BEIJING -- In a new twist on a widening scandal, China admitted Monday that unscrupulous dealers had sold fake blood protein to dozens of hospitals and pharmacies, threatening the lives of patients and reportedly killing at least one person.

More than 2,000 bottles of the product with forged labels were discovered at 18 hospitals and 39 drug suppliers in Jilin province in northeastern China, and more than three-quarters of the false blood protein produced had already been given to patients, officials said.

Slam the door shut... do it now.

**********

RELATED: They can buy Al Gore's carbon credits...

And live happily ever after, right?

-- BEIJING, June 12 (Reuters) -- Nearly two-thirds of Chinese cities suffered from air pollution last year and had no centralised sewage treatment facilities, state media reported on Tuesday.

"The report also found that the ratio of quality water in the major urban areas, either for drinking or industrial use, had dropped by 7.24 percent," the paper said.

Two hundred cities had no "centralised sewage management system" and 187 had no garbage disposal plants, it said.

On Monday night, an index measuring air pollution from Beijing's southern Daxing county read over 850 particles of "particulate matter" per square metre, which was eight times the norm, the Beijing News said.

Technorati Tags: China, counterfeit, poisoning the world

John Henry Foster Babcock

World War I was a long time ago.

He looks up, suddenly confused. Someone reminds him that he is Canada's last surviving veteran from the First World War.

“I guess I'm the last,” he says. A pause. Then, he adds, “Am I?” turning to his wife for confirmation. She nods and puts a hand on his.

“It takes a while for it to sink in,” she explains.

See his attestation papers here.

In the 1901 Addington Cty. census.

In the 1911 Frontenac Cty. census

Technorati Tags: World War I, John Henry Foster Babcock, last surviving veteran

Hey Dalton... what about this?

What say we go after the actual criminals... instead of the inanimate chunk of steel they have in their hands?

-- Ottawa -- Criminals who have committed a crime with a firearm may soon have to prove why they should be released on bail.

Bill C-35, an act to amend the Criminal Code and place a reverse onus clause in bail hearings for firearm related offences, passed in the House of Commons on Friday. The bill will now move to the Senate.

Currently, an individual who has been charged with a serious offence involving a firearm can be granted bail. Under the new bill those people would have to demonstrate why they should be released from custody.

**********

RELATED: That scary Stephen Harper

It's true, Stephen Harper should scare you stupid... if you're a violent, unrepentant thug.

Technorati Tags: Bill C-35, reverse onus, House of Commons

So to put things in context...

**********
UPDATE: Canadian soldier killed

Trooper Darryl Caswell of the RCD Reconnaissance Squadron, 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment (2RCR) Battle Group, died in a roadside bombing Monday, Colonel Mike Cessford said.

He was the 57th Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan. Master Corporal Darrell Priede, a military photographer based at CFB Gagetown, N.B., died on May 30 when the helicopter he was flying in went down in Helmand province.

He will be remembered.

**********

It's small consolation to the family and friends of Trooper Darryl Caswell, but let's remember, the Lebanese Army has lost this many men just trying to control this one Palestinian refugee camp over the last four weeks... and Canada has been in Afghanistan since 2001.

The military official said 57 soldiers have been killed in the Nahr el-Bared fighting, while another two soldiers were killed in last week's clashes with Jund al-Sham militants in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh in southern Lebanon.

We must be doing something right.

**********

RELATED: Kill 'em all...

Let Allah sort them out.

-- NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon -- Two relief workers were killed and a Palestinian mediator was wounded in fierce fighting on Monday between Lebanese troops and al Qaeda-inspired militants at a Palestinian refugee camp.

Rah, rah... Religion of Peace!!!

Technorati Tags: Lebanon, Nahr el-Bared, Canadian Forces

Who says Palestinians aren't...

Thoughtful and courteous?

The latest ceasefire was called to allow pupils to take final school exams.

Militants pulled back from flashpoint junctions on Monday although shooting still punctuated the morning.

Matriculation exams are expected to go ahead for tens of thousands of 12th grade students, although many reportedly had to take long detours to avoid gunmen still on the streets.

Of course, there is the occasional lapse...

Just before midnight, a Hamas activist was thrown off the 12th floor of a building, security officials said.

**********

UPDATE: The ceasefire continues...

In all, 12 Palestinians were killed Monday, including three shot dead in Beit Hanoun Hospital in northern Gaza. At Gaza's largest hospital, Shifa in Gaza City, combatants fired mortars, grenades and assault rifles.

One small correction here... regarding previous reports of a man tossed off a 12th floor building...

The battles came a day after two men were thrown to their deaths from high-rise rooftops, signalling a rapid descent into all-out confrontation.

As always, Allah is in the details.

Technorati Tags: Hamas, Fatah, Gaza City

Show me the honour

You can take the bushman out of the bush...

Banaz Mahmod was 21 years old, and very much in love, when she was strangled with a bootlace and her body stuffed into a suitcase.

According to the prosecution, Banaz had to pay the "ultimate price" for bringing shame on her Kurdish family.

Of course, this sort of thing only comes to light when someone actually speaks up. How many other "missing woman" are actually the victims of this sort of "tribal justice"?

The Chief Investigating Officer in this case, Caroline Goode, told the BBC: "I do think that we are only scratching the surface of this.

One of the difficulties is that these things aren't often reported.

"In Banaz's case, if her boyfriend hadn't reported it, we would never have known that she was missing".

Coming soon to a neighbourhood near you.

POSTSCRIPT: Did I mention...

Her father and her uncle were behind the whole thing.

Technorati Tags: honour killing, Banaz Mahmod, Surrey

Prime Minister involved in murder

Cherniak's Liblogs have lately topped Rabble as the twistiest delusional hotspot in the political blogosphere.

Need an example?

Meet Geoff. Geoff has a theory.

You know the mentally unbalanced policewoman in London, Ontario who shot a colleague/lover last week and then killed herself?

Apparently it's Stephen Harper's fault.

Sounds like someone's been leanin' on the online Mexican pharmacy button a little too heavily of late. Or maybe... when you're this cool, sanity is an option.

Whaddaya say, Jason... time for an intervention?

**********

RELATED: Sadly... Jason's got some issues too

Dress this up any way you want...

He still killed two teenage girls...

"When Chevon started school, it was clear to see it would be a challenge," the pair said in the eulogy. "Chevon was very strong-willed and following rules was not necessarily his best trait at all times."

That's a nice, polite way of sayin'... sooner or later, this kid was bound to kill somebody.

And he did.

Like they say, you can put lipstick on a pig... but you're only foolin' yourself... and pissin' off the pig.

Oh lordy... if only Dalton McGuinty had banned stealing cars.

Technorati Tags: Aleisha Ashley, Monique McKnight, Chevon Josephs

Gitmo my ass

Extremist bloggers have been writing about the need to 'lock these people up with their caviar and champagne'.

It seems there are very few willing to come to the aid of these helpless prisoners in Ottawa.

More nanny-state nonsense

We're from the government... we're here to help you.

-- MONTPELIER, Vt. -- Everyone agrees that the bronze cannon, cast in 1863 and used by a Vermont artillery unit in the Civil War, is a valuable piece of the state’s military history. But the accord stops there.

A group of Civil War re-enactors that has used the cannon for 30 years is fighting to keep the state, which owns the cannon, from taking it back.

The re-enactors say they have been good stewards of the cannon, repairing it and firing it around the state and country, and should be able to keep it.

The state says the cannon is most likely unsafe for firing and wants to put it on display in the Vermont Veterans Militia Museum and Library.

Of course, this couldn't have anything to do with taking a living, breathing part of history and shoving it into a small, dark room... because it's a big bad gun... could it?

“It shouldn’t be fired any more for safety and liability issues,” said Mr. Crisman, who has been working with the state to get the cannon back. “We’ve got a great history with this cannon, and we really think it’s time this thing is returned and given a decent home.”

Of course not.

Technorati Tags: Montpelier, Civil War, suckass political correctness

Just don't say anything...

About the shooters... or who got shot...

"My brother's the one who got killed," the man said after surveying the scene of a wild shootout on John Garland Blvd. around 3 p.m. yesterday that left one dead and three injured.

The shooting happened just east of the intersection of John Garland and Jamestown Cr., and the townhouse complex nearby has been the scene of numerous murders and shootings over the past few years.

Because in David Miller's Toronto, there are no bad guys.

**********

UPDATE: C'mon Dalton, what's the holdup?

All you have to do is ban murder.

“That would take into account what we've all done, what's working, where could we still do more and how do we ensure that — here in Ontario — we don't become captive to an apparently inexorable trend in the U.S. in terms of the development of crime in large urban centres,” Mr. McGuinty said before participating in the annual Portuguese Parade in Toronto.

I've got it!!! More parades... more festivals!!! Bring me the head of Conrad Black!!!

**********

BACKROUNDER: Someone has to say it

How about this guy?

Only a few minutes before that, I was a regular guy on my way to work at a warehouse in North York.

The bus was packed, but around Wilson, I found a seat in the back near three kids who were bragging loudly. One seemed about 16, the other two looked to be in their early 20s.

They were talking about killing people who they were upset with, saying garbage like, "I'm gonna kill that bitch!"

They were trying to intimidate passengers and it was working: The front half of the bus was full because other passengers didn't want to hear them, so they had moved.

Then one of the loudmouths said, "We gangsta niggas."

**********

RELATED: You see, I have nothing up my sleeves...

The challenge for those of us who live in the present is resistance to propaganda.

Of course, when the Astounded rise up to stop the wasting of resources on the Cunning, you can expect the Cunning to defend their livelihood.

Taking a bone from a Wolf never was easy.

Technorati Tags: mayhem & murder, David Miller's Toronto, resistance to propaganda

Dumbing down the world

One of the scarier parts of the "progressive agenda"...

The national exams sat by under-16s in England's schools should be scrapped, a teaching standards watchdog has urged.

The General Teaching Council (GTC) believes the tests are failing to raise standards and placing "added stress" on pupils, teachers and parents.

Every child in England takes a total of eight national curriculum tests, often known as standard assessment tests (Sats), at the ages of seven, 11 and 14, before GCSE and A-Level examinations.

Because we're all, well, you know... the same.

**********

UPDATE: Canada's already on board

The recognition, coupled with a burgeoning body of research concluding that repeating grades is harmful and doesn't help children catch up, led the board to largely stop failing children in elementary and junior high schools.

At the Toronto District School Board, "very, very few" pupils repeat grades, said Tracy Hayhurst, central co-ordinating principal for elementary curriculum.

**********

RELATED: And what's behind door number two?

# UNICEF this year ranked Britain bottom in the league of industrialized nations in terms of the well-being of children. This is a startling fact, given that child welfare has been one of Gordon Brown's chief preoccupations throughout his 10 years at the Treasury.

# Labour has also failed to meet its own targets on the reduction of child poverty, and this despite the extra billions in welfare targeted at parents and carers.

# Britain also has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in Europe, the highest proportion of single mothers, and one of the highest divorce rates.

# Britain ranks top, with France, in western Europe in terms of sexually transmitted disease. It has the highest obesity rate in Europe, with nearly a quarter of inhabitants classified as obese.

# Britain has one of the highest rates of alcohol abuse in Europe, with a quarter of Britons indulging in the sort of binge drinking that every weekend transforms cities and market towns into Hogarthian hellholes.

# Britain also heads Europe in terms of drug abuse. Cocaine use is highest in the United Kingdom, and use among secondary school pupils has doubled in the last year.

# Along with Ireland and Holland, Britain has the highest crime rate in Europe. London has a higher violent crime rate than any other city in the European Union, higher than in Istanbul and New York City.

Technorati Tags: Britain, standard assessment tests, General Teaching Council

Bye-bye Buh-linda

Ms. Stronach noted it's an interdependent world, and asked rhetorically if Canada won't lead the world in helping to eradicate poverty, “who will?”

Well... not some high school educated pampered princess... who's looking at a 9 million dollar a year soft-landing at her daddy's international auto parts empire.

Severe weather watch in effect

Apparently hell is about to freeze over.

-- PARIS -- The Communists may have to sell their headquarters to stay afloat. The Socialists are in denial about their decay. Paris' lefty Left Bank is plastered with posters for the ruling right.

The question isn't whether the once-governing Socialists will fare poorly, but how badly they will do and what lessons they will draw from their defeat.

Calling all moral relativists

So what you're saying is... there's no such thing as superior or inferior cultures... just unfamiliar customs & behaviour?

I've got just one question...

Tell me, in what alternate reality, is something like this ok?

When girls dedicated to Yellama reach puberty they are forced to sacrifice their virginity to an older man. What follows is a life of sexual slavery, they become sanctified prostitutes.

The money devadasis earn goes straight to their parents who often act as pimps for their daughters.

Don't get me started on female genital mutilation.

Technorati Tags: Yellama, devadasis, female genital mutilation

Battle of Fromelles

A century later, a sad legacy...

Archaeologists believe they have found a mass grave of British and Australian troops killed in World War I.

They say there is "compelling" evidence that the bodies of up to 400 soldiers remain near the site of the Battle of Fromelles in northern France.

The discovery by Glasgow University's Centre for Battlefield Archaeology is the largest of its kind.

An interesting note...

Hitler, then aged 27, served as a corporal with the 6th Bavarian reserve regiment in the battle.

Dr Pollard said: "It makes you think how the course of history could have changed if one bullet had gone astray."

Technorati Tags: Battle of Fromelles, mass grave, Adolf Hitler

Yeah... it pretty much is

Sorry, it just won't wash...

"This is a not a fight isolated to the black community exclusively," Stokes said in a press release yesterday promoting a march on Sunday.

"Rather this effects all community across Canada."

"I mean all."

Now, I won't presume to speak for anyone else in Hastings & Prince Edward County... but in my neighbourhood, there is absolutely no evidence of an epidemic of Mongol-like hordes of disaffected youth running around shooting their peers.

This is clearly a question of what to do about the "culture of neglect and violence" that is endemic to the largely immigrant inner city "urban jungles."

And you can march til the last silly leftbot drops dead from dehydration and it won't change a damn thing.

Technorati Tags: Jordan Manners, Jane-Finch, politically correct

Why we call it the War on Terror...

And not "Circle of Friends."

Gunmen in Iraq have attacked the house of a senior police officer, killing his wife and 13 other people and taking away three of his children.

Where's your "Religion of Peace" now?

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RELATED: A little closer to home

'Montreal man killed for being a "bad Muslim"'

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LAST WORD: I'm flabbergasted...

Dumbing down security is a Liberal solution.

Under the new rules, it will no longer be necessary to have a guarantor or to provide proof of citizenship to renew a passport.

For first-time applicants, the guarantor process will be simplified so that most citizens can act as guarantors.

Not to worry, Taliban Jack is is on board.

Technorati Tags: war on terror, Canadian passport, Religion of Peace

Could it be that easy?

-- TORONTO -- The Canadian Cancer Society plans to announce Friday that all adults should start taking vitamin D, coinciding with the release of a groundbreaking U.S. study indicating the supplement cuts the risk of cancer by an astounding 60 per cent.

There are about 200 different kinds of cells with receptors for vitamin D, which plays a strong role in boosting immune function and repairing damaged cells. These factors may explain its anti-cancer properties.

I guess there's nothing wrong...

With his heart...

A wheelchair user has been taken for a high-speed ride along a US highway after his handlebars became tangled up in the front grille of a lorry.

Passing motorists told police, who found the man unhurt - but still attached to the front of the truck.

Police in the town of Paw Paw, Michigan, said the unidentified man told them "it was quite a ride", but complained only that he had spilled his soda.

Emulating the sexual behaviour...

Of a pack of stray dogs... may not be that helpful either...

But what the heck, let's start lopping bits off everybody...

South African Aids experts have called for a mass circumcision programme after studies showed it reduced the rate of HIV infection by up to 60%.

Some 5.5m South Africans have HIV - second only to India - and one person in nine is infected.

Meanwhile, organisers of the conference have denied reports that they snubbed controversial Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang.

Dr Tshabalala-Msimang has often told people with HIV to eat garlic, lemons and beetroot, while casting doubt on anti-retroviral drugs.

I'm not so sure I'm gonna be following the good doctor's diet plan...

She has just returned to official duties this week after having a liver transplant.

Technorati Tags: South Africa, pandemic, Tshabalala-Msimang

A junkie will...

Crawl over a mile of broken glass to get a fix.

-- VICTORIA -- A drug-fuelled series of crimes is costing the City of Victoria thousands of dollars in repairs and lost revenue, and fixing the situation could cost much more.

In the past year, drug addicts have damaged or stolen nearly 500 parking meters in the downtown core, forcing the city to look at a costly remedy.

Some of the meter heads are simply pried or cut off, with a crowbar or hacksaw. In other cases, the meter head is dislodged, and a magnet affixed to copper wire is used to extract the coins a few at a time.

At a cost of $630 for fixing damaged meters and $730 for replacing stolen ones, it has forked over $125,000 just to keep them up and running. All together, the city is out $265,000, and the losses mount every day.

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RELATED: I'm okay with "safe injection" sites

As long as they put them on Baffin Island.

Technorati Tags: junkie, safe injection site, Victoria

UPDATE: Shutting down free speech...

In Deseronto.

I haven't had a chance to post this on VoiceofCanada yet, so you're first to know: an outside consultant hired by the Minister of Community Safety & Corrections has met with us regarding our complaints against Fantino, and we are waiting for his recommendations to the Minister.

Mark Vandermaas
VoiceofCanada

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RELATED: The original post

Technorati Tags: Deseronto, homegrown terror, suckass political correctness

Cold Case

Finally solved 5000 years later...

Massive blood loss from a ruptured artery killed the 5,300-year-old Alpine "Iceman" known as Oetzi, tests confirm.

Oetzi probably died as the result of a fight: he may either have fled the attacker - who then shot him in the back - or fell victim to an ambush.

The remains of the Neolithic man were discovered in 1991 emerging from a melting glacier.

Hey Dalton, if it doesn't work...

Do we get our 4 million dollars back?

-- Toronto -- The government of Ontario is handing over $4-million in additional funding to the Toronto School Board so that public schools in some of the city's poorer and more dangerous neighbourhoods can stay open throughout the summer.

The strangely illiberal premise here seems to be... the more we can keep "disadvantaged youth" away from their family, friends and neighbourhood... the safer we'll all be.

I'm just spitballin' here, but my guess is, the most significant benefit of this program will be... up-and-coming pharmaceutical entrepreneurs appreciating having a well populated, air conditioned place of business.

No surprise here... going after crime and criminals just isn't on the Liberal Party radar.

Because Quality is Job #2

You know... right after executive stock options...

Vehicles assembled in Canada scored highly in an annual quality survey released Wednesday, while a General Motors of Canada Ltd. factory grabbed second spot in assembly plant rankings.

GM's Oshawa no. 2 assembly plant, which is scheduled to close next year, ranked second in factory quality behind only a Ford Motor Co. plant in Michigan that shut its doors permanently last week.

I've never been on the same page as Buzz Hargrove in my entire life, but... I'm travelling in a 2 ton metallic container at 70 miles per hour... I'm not sure I want it built by an illiterate, under-nourished, sub-minimum wage, freshly minted corporate vassal... whose last job was watering the family livestock.

Technorati Tags: General Motors, Ford Motor Co., third world outsourcing

Hey Jack... negotiate this

The next time Taliban Jack starts to think about cozying up to the Afghan insurgents, maybe he could consider this courageous woman...

A female owner of a radio station in Afghanistan has been shot dead. Zakia Zaki was shot seven times, including in the chest and head, as she slept with her 20-month-old son at her home north of Kabul, officials say.

The BBC's Charles Haviland in Kabul says that at times Ms Zaki criticised the former mujahideen, some of who have been implicated in war crimes.

Or is that too much to ask?

Technorati Tags: Religion of indiscrimate slaughter, Afghanistan, Jack Layton

You don't want an ass-kickin'...

Go pick a fight with France...

Of course I was angry and frustrated because I was unable to shoot down that Mirage. There was a switch in the cockpit that changed the armament from rockets to guns, but I had not been trained for that particular modification.

Yup... I can see the Russian flight instructors not wanting to get into any weapons training with these mopes. Let's remember we're talking about people who think automatic weapons should be fired straight up into the air at family celebrations.

The air force felt very angry and humiliated by this war. Once, during the war, two of my fellow officers had to stop me banging my head repeatedly against a pair of concrete pillars at our air base.

And that's pretty much everything you need to know about Arabs and the military.

The only surprise here is that they don't call it the "Six Minute War."

Technorati Tags: Israel, Egypt, Six Day War

These guys must have...

Sunnybrook Trauma on speed dial...

For the second time in two weeks a Toronto school was locked down because of gunfire.

Although he was shot in the leg and his SUV was also hit, the wounded man drove himself to Sunnybrook and properly parked outside the hospital's main entrance.

A dozen police cruisers responded to the hospital soon after and cordoned off the luxury SUV before towing it away. "As far as I know, no, he is not cooperating in any manner with the investigation," Harker said of the injured man.

I wonder if the hospital admission forms will say, "work-related injury."

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UPDATE: Three strikes, yer out...

A man shot in an apparent ambush near a Toronto middle school was also wounded about three years ago, police say.

Toronto Police are looking for a gold Lincoln Navigator and a Taurus in connection with the shooting.

Wow, talk about unlucky... this poor guy was apparently shot before.

Sorta like sometime shooter and three time shootee Omar Christian.

As the ship neared the dock, about a dozen revellers jumped into the water. Then a woman on the dock pulled a baseball bat out of her fur coat and started clubbing another woman. Moments later, gunfire broke out.

A dozen shots were fired. One man was wounded in the hip. The crowd scattered before police arrived. Word spread quickly that Omar Christian, known as Face, was the shooter. There was talk of revenge.

The next night, Christian, a member of the Versace Boys gang, was at a Rexdale nightclub called the Base, on Carlingview Dr. He was standing by his car when a man emerged from the darkness, shot him dead, then vanished in a waiting car.

These guys say, "jump up", they mean it.

Technorati Tags: crime and punishment, Omar Christian, Caribana