Listen up, DotComrades...

It's your last chance before 2008 -- to get in on the action over at SDA...

Syncro rolls the dice...

1. Jason Cherniak announces he's transsexual and moves to the NDP... sadly this isn't a wise career move.

2. Warren Kinsella announces his own irrelevance... nobody listens and Warren becomes irrelevant squared.

3. Canadian Cynic converts to Islam and learns the Farsi term for C*nt. Hilarity ensues.

And another personal fave...

"Following his argument that the West must lead by example, David Suzuki gives up all his houses and vehicles and goes to live in a mud hut in the mountains of Columbia."

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FROM THE COMMENTS: The erudite, eloquent left...

"in 2008, try & be a little more clever than jeffy bug boy -- happy new year prick"

Oh, Jeffy... I'm actually embarrassed for you.

Maybe you should pour that last one in the sink and head for bed, huh?

*

Moderate Canadian Muslim community...

Seems to be keeping an extremely low profile this holiday season...

Ms. Bhutto had not yet received a proper burial before the attacks on her character started appearing. The vice-president of the Canadian Arab Federation circulated an article lambasting Ms. Bhutto, mocking her as stooge of the West.

If attempts by Islamic writers to disparage Benazir Bhutto were distasteful, the conspicuous silence of Canada's Islamic organizations was equally disturbing. Seventy-two hours after the news of her assassination, neither the Canadian Islamic Congress nor its cousin CAIR-Can had uttered a word on the subject.

A rather informative article by way of DMB.

**********

RELATED: Somedays... there's just no winning...

The next time the world needs saving they should call Greenpeace.

You know what Lloyd?

Call me crazy, but MAYBE ANGER IS THE MOST APPROPRIATE RESPONSE to disproportionate violence and totally senseless lifetaking...

Lloyd Johnson, a councillor and friend, hung an eagle feather, a symbol of the Creator's presence, on the entrance of Bernard's small home located just metres outside the Millbrook First Nation's boundary.

"It's one of those situations that is unexplainable. It's hard to describe ... other than hurt," Johnson said as he struggled to keep his composure.

"Anger, no. Hurt, yes."

Good grief... this is the first I've heard of this woman... and the senseless violence of this attack leaves me fuming.

Police in Truro, N.S., confirmed Monday they have charged the grandson of native rights activist Nora Bernard with first-degree murder in connection with her death last week.

Police described trauma to her face and stab wounds to the upper part of her body around the neck area.

The murder weapon is believed to have been a knife but it hasn't been found, police said.

*

The NDP always talks a good game...

So how about we send Jack bin Layton to Kenya... to negotiate some democracy?

-- NAIROBI -- Kenyan police battled thousands of opposition supporters enraged over President Mwai Kibaki's allegedly fraudulent re-election, opening fire on protesters in violence that has killed at least 103 people, officers and witnesses said.

Soon after the results were announced, the government suspended live television broadcasts and the slums, home to tens of thousands of opposition supporters, exploded into fresh violence.

Crappy New Year

A new reality demands recognition...

Traditional New year's Eve fireworks in the Belgian capital Brussels have been cancelled because of a security alert.

"We are still facing a potential threat," a spokesman for the Belgian capital said.

Todays word is aibohphobia

The irrational fear of palindromes.
*

Dude 1: Hey, what's your name?
Dude 2: Bob.
Dude 1: AAAAAAAAAAH! *Runs and hides behind sofa*
Bob: Wow.
Dude 1: AAAAAAAAAAH! *Runs away and falls down stairs*

*

Courtesy of the Urban Dictionary.

Leftosphere loses its mind...

Over hiring of conservative columnist...

The New York Times has hired one of its most virulent critics, prominent right-wing pundit William Kristol, as a columnist.

Times' editorial page editor Andy Rosenthal defended Kristol's hiring in an interview with politico.com, criticizing liberal bloggers who have been up in arms over the move.

"The idea that The New York Times is giving voice to a guy who is a serious, respected conservative intellectual — and somehow that's a bad thing … how intolerant is that?" said Rosenthal.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

My newest fan Sparky is really anxious to get his message out... so here it is...

"I just wanted you to state that you're a lying, ignorant prick with no moral certitude whatsoever. Hell, I was even meeting you 'in the middle' by changing your demonstrably false claim to a more truthful one..."

Never let it be said the Halls aren't about free speech.

**********

UPDATE: 2 Jan 2008 - Sparky's back with another essay

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The Heir Transparent

Here's how to choose the next leader of a socially fractured, nuclear armed nation -- step one... take a freshly minted high school graduate...

NAUDERO, Pakistan, Dec 30 (Reuters) -- Benazir Bhutto's party named her son and husband on Sunday to succeed the slain opposition leader but doubts grew about whether a Jan. 8 poll aiming to transform Pakistan from military rule would go ahead.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, an Oxford law student who is now heir to the country's most powerful political dynasty, said:

"While I am at university ... my father will take care of the party. When I return, I promise to lead the party as my mother wanted me to."

His father then stopped reporters from asking further questions.

And what do we know about dear old dad?

Nicknamed “Mr. Ten Percent” by Pakistanis because of allegations about kickbacks from his wife’s time in power, Asif Ali Zardari, 51, has gone from playboy to villain and now to grieving political widower.

“Zardari has a very tainted record. He may not consider himself suitable for the party leadership,” Masood said.

Yup... nothing to worry about here.

**********

RELATED: Pakistani-Canadians demand action

Liaqat Malik of the Pakistan People's Party of Canada says the Canadian government needs to do more than write statements about Benazir Bhutto's assassination.

Well, Liaqat... we do have all those troops right next door.

*(note to Dumbass Dave @ the Galloping Beaver... it's a joke, son)

Maybe he can take it...

To the Afghani Human Rights Commission...

-- KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- A key Taliban commander reportedly kicked out of the militia believes the dismissal order is a conspiracy against him and has not been signed off by Taliban leader Mullah Omar, his spokesman said Sunday.

A spokesman for Dadullah said Sunday that Dadullah has refused to accept the dismissal order, which he called a conspiracy.

*

Stand by for the wailing...

And gnashing of teeth... from the Opposition benches...

A Canadian soldier died Sunday and four others were injured when their armoured vehicle hit a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan.

The military identified the dead soldier as Jonathan Dion, 27, of Val D'Or, Que. He was based in Valcartier, Que.

He will be remembered.

**********

RELATED: Bear in mind... while Steffi goes apeshit...

In 1996, with the help of others working in the same area, they formed the Canadian Agriculture Injury Surveillance Program. (CAISP) The team's mandate was to look at the occurrence of work-related farm injuries, which resulted in death specifically between the year's 1991 and 1995.

By looking at records and statistics from a number of different agencies, CAISP reported a total of 503 deaths on the farm in that time period.

Farm injuries are the fourth leading cause of death by occupation in Canada.

*

Hooked on a feeling

Sounds like Brits may be ready for a bit of a change...

The Conservative campaign is resonating with the public and the government must adapt in order to survive, a senior Cabinet minister has warned.

The admission by Justice Secretary Jack Straw comes as Gordon Brown used his New Year message to say 2008 will see "real and serious changes" in the UK.

You know you're in a bit of trouble when you find yourself playing "catch-up."

In his message, Tory leader David Cameron pledged to set the 2008 agenda.

In a rare admission by a senior minister, Straw acknowledged Mr Cameron may have benefited from the government's recent woes and that his messages appear to be "resonating" with voters.

*

Forget about the FBI...

The Fiberals would send in their crack investigative team... from the CBC...

Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis, who also attended the ceremony in Toronto, said the various reports surrounding Ms. Bhutto's death are sufficient for Canada to push the United Nations or the Commonwealth to launch an international inquiry into the matter.

“I mean you've got the government saying one thing and you see other things in the news.”.

Oh, man... it's so confusing.

**********

RELATED: Hey, Jim... here's a few other things.

The expansion of Pakistan’s own militants, with their fortified links to Al Qaeda, presents a deeply troubling development for the Bush administration and its efforts to stabilize this volatile nuclear-armed country.

It is also one that many in Pakistan have been loath to admit, but that Ms. Bhutto had begun to acknowledge in her many public statements about the greatest threat to her country being in religious extremism and terrorism.

Of course, in fairness to the Liberal's own Sherlock Holmes... the militants have denied that they had anything to do with Bhutto's assassination...

“Neither Baitullah Mehsud nor any of his associates were involved in the assassination of Benazir, because raising your hand against women is against our tribal values and customs.”

Well... that settles that.

**********

LAST WORD: Speaking of martyrdom... and the CBC

"We accept that you are not the only, or even the first, Canadian political party to use CBC News as a whipping boy for fundraising purposes."

*

To understand how Pakistan works...

You have to get the lay of the land... from their map...

In Pakistan, the military has its own forms of graft; nonetheless, it remains the least corrupt institution in the country and the only force holding an unnatural state together.

In Pakistan back in the '90s, the only people I met who cared a whit about the common man were military officers. Americans don't like to hear that.

But it's the truth.

A little executive downsizing?

Maybe he just wasn't bloodthirsty enough... to actually make his quota...

Taleban leader Mullah Omar has dismissed one of his top military commanders, Mansoor Dadullah, accusing him of not following orders.

A Taleban statement did not say how Mansoor Dadullah had disobeyed orders. But it said his associates should carry on with their duties as usual.

Associates? Duties?

Give yourself a shake, fellas... this isn't Home Depot, it's Murder Inc.

**********

RELATED: Speaking of business as usual

-- JERUSALEM, Dec 29 (Reuters) -- Israel said on Saturday it had recently seized a truck carrying chemicals used to make explosives hidden in bags marked as European Union aid for the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

The army said 6.5 tonnes of potassium nitrate were in bags marked as sugar from the European Union for Palestinians in the coastal enclave.

"We are looking into this report," said an EU official in Israel.

"If it is found to be accurate, this is an illegal act that should be condemned."

Gotta wake up, folks...

And smell the species...

At present, a democratic Pakistan is likely to be a brief prelude to the long, dark night of a Taliban-style tyranny.

Bhutto, as it turned out, lived only as long as Musharraf's emergency measures lasted. When he lifted them under renewed American pressure, she died.

You've just gotta love the loony left.

Various leftbot bloggers are losing their minds over George Jonas suggesting that Pakistan may fall into screaming chaos without Pervez Musharraf's rigid hand on the tiller... while simultaneously crying about the United States removing bloodthirsty dictator Saddam Hussein... and plunging Iraq into chaos.

You can't have it both ways, dummies.

**********

RELATED: What about democracy... Lebanese style?

The speaker of the Lebanese parliament, Nabih Berri, has postponed for the 11th time the election of a new president.

The pro-Western ruling majority and pro-Syrian opposition have agreed on a compromise candidate, but are divided on the make-up of the new government.

They are also yet to finalise how to amend the constitution to allow the candidate, armed forces chief Gen Michel Suleiman, to be elected.

It must have been...

The principle of the thing...

"It may have started over something as stupid as an argument over a set of keys."

"It ended in a bloodbath that left two young people dead, another suffering stab wounds and a fourth man hit with new murder accusations."

Well... she sure won't do that again, huh?

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

One of my anonymous progressive friends... after perhaps a little too much to drink... decides to parade their utter lack of comprehension...

"stupid,insipid piece of shit"

Hey, dumbo... it's a very specific commentary about the homicidal sociopath who hacked two people to death... apparently over nothing.

Are you really that dense?

**********

MORE FROM THE COMMENTS:

"A heads-up neo, I've been over at the "The Right is WIA" blog having a few guffaws with Ol'Red and the Cdn. Cyntie Round Table crew and now Ol' Red has a viagra hard-on that it's you posing as a sockpuppet under various nic's."

"The above "anony crappola" may increase as Ol' Red has sworn some sort of retribution upon you."

Well... I guess it was only a matter of time before all the pinko trolls got together to try wreak a little havoc.

I can't wait to see what the ugly offspring of "Red Tory" and noted feminist "Canadian Cecilia" look like.

**********

UPDATE: My anonymous rager above is a Galloping Beaver

If you're a fan of unintentional irony... check out the picture that accompanies the Beav's post.

"Here’s the comment I posted on the site. Wanna make a bet it never sees the light of day for more than 24 hours?"

Hey, Cheryl... I'll take that bet.

*

The Globe and Mail...

Seems to think this is the story...

"Both Dustyhorn and the woman shot Thursday are aboriginal."

Now, call me wacky... but I'd probably have gone with...

"Both Dustyhorn and the woman shot Thursday were armed and dangerous."

But hey... that's just me.

*

I'm calling it... "The Dion Effect"

You know, like when... instead of actually DOING SOMETHING that will create a net positive result... you do something totally useless, or even worse... COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE... like renaming the family pet in the supposed pursuit of environmentalism.

**********

MEMORY LANE: Driving Miss Steffi

While the Liberals signed the Kyoto accord in 1998 and ratified it in 2002, not only did our emissions go up by 24.2% compared to 13.3% for the U.S. from 1990 to 2003 -- which the media did report -- but that left us with the sixth worst record among the world's key industrialized nations.

*

Just when you thought it was safe...

To get up in the morning.

*

Well, Abdullah, I hope your god...

Is pleased with all of your recent handiwork...

Iraqi officials say a car bomb in central Baghdad has killed at least 14 people and wounded at least 64 others.

They say a woman and a child are among the dead from Friday's blast in a crowded market.

I mean... what's a little murder and mutilation... as long as you're doing HIS work?

A dignified, intellectual Opposition

Meet the man who thinks he should replace Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

Mr. Sharif arrived at the hospital and sat silently next to Ms. Bhutto's body.

“Benazir Bhutto was also my sister, and I will be with you to take the revenge for her death,” he said. “Don't feel alone. I am with you. We will take the revenge on the rulers.”

He rebutted suggestions that he could gain political capital from her demise, announcing his Muslim League-N party would boycott the elections and demanding that Mr. Musharraf resign.

“The holding of fair and free elections is not possible in the presence of Pervez Musharraf,” he said.

“Musharraf is the cause of all the problems."

C'mon, Nawaz... seriously?

You don't think "taking the revenge"... figures into the equation anywhere here?

Oh well... carry on.

*

Besotted Animal Farm

"I don’t do anything that I say others shouldn’t do,” she told the daily TAZ.

“On the contrary, I’m fighting for a society in which everyone can afford to eat lobster."

Yes... please... don't stop now...

Tell me what a horrible, screwed up, systematically violent, corrupt and racist country Canada is... I dare you.

Ms. Bhutto's family is no stranger to violence.

Apart from her father's execution, both of her brothers died in mysterious circumstances and she had said al Qaeda assassins tried to kill her several times in the 1990s.

Intelligence reports have said al Qaeda, the Taliban and Pakistani jihadi groups had all sent suicide bombers after her.

**********

RELATED: Aljazeera has some background

What ever else the mind-numbing killing of Benazir Bhutto in Thursday’s suicide attack will mean for Pakistan’s future, there is little doubt that politics in this south Asian country will never be the same again.

Bhutto's death was like a chronicle foretold. She had escaped a bigger suicide attack upon her return from exile in Karachi two months ago - a manifestation of the threat to her life, which extremists had pledged to carry out before her arrival.

The extremists were annoyed with Bhutto for her unqualified support to the US 'war on terror' and her willingness to play ball with the Bush administration.

**********

UPDATE: The grieving process begins

STAGE ONE -- Take to the streets... go absolutely apeshit... set everything on fire...

-- ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan put its paramilitary forces on "red alert" across the country on Thursday after the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto sparked violent protests by her supporters.

Reports said security was deteriorating in Karachi, where thousands poured on to the streets to protest. At least three banks, a government office and a post office were set on fire, a witness said.

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LAST WORD: Apparently, the CBC is "shocked."

Mark Steyn has a somewhat different take... on the situation.

The State Department geniuses thought they had it all figured out.

They'd arranged a shotgun marriage between the Bhutto and Sharif factions as a "united" "democratic" "movement" and were pushing Musharraf to reach a deal with them.

That's what diplomats do: They find guys in suits and get 'em round a table.

But none of those representatives represents the rapidly evolving reality of Pakistan. Miss Bhutto could never have been a viable leader of a post-Musharraf settlement, and the delusion that she could have been sent her to her death.

*

Deck the Halls...

And head for cover... or, "How multiculturalism works in other countries."

"When everything is finished, the destruction is done, houses have burned, churches have burned, Christians are killed, they implement the rules and all that."

On Wednesday, the national Hindu newspaper described the area as a "virtual war zone," which is now under indefinite curfew.

**********

RELATED: Peace on Earth...

Just not so much... in Rexdale

Toronto's latest homicide victims were killed on Christmas Day but their bodies were only discovered last night after a 16-year-old boy turned up at 23 Division in Rexdale with knife wounds, police said today.

Nana Yaw, the 27-year-old common-law spouse of one of the victims, is charged with two counts of second degree murder, one count of attempt murder and one count of forcible confinement, Det. Sgt. Gary Grinton of the homicide squad told a news conference this morning.

*

Less activism... more parenting

Now, I'm no actuary, but if... in a city of 2 million people, two of your children are murdered, in totally separate incidents... you might want to take a closer look at your parenting strategy...

Regent Park gunshot victim Karim Rashid Ata-Ayi is the second son Toronto activist Patricia Wynters has lost to gun violence and police are working overtime to put his killer in handcuffs.

Police said Ata-Ayi is well known to them and was charged in connection with an August 2000 shooting at a Regent Park barbecue and in the shooting of 16-year-old youth.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Let's all calm down and wait for the Star to tell us what to think and who to blame."

and...

"it takes a village to raise a child when the parents refuse to do it - that's why we have 'corrections canada'"

**********

LAST WORD: Everybody relax... there's a proclamation

Save us... oh wise and wonderful Star.

"This day is going to help me personally start my journey of healing knowing there are other people who care and knowing that we are taking the initiatives to help to eradicate the ulcer of gun violence in our community," Wynter told the Etobicoke Guardian in 2004 after Mayor David Miller proclaimed a day of non-violence in Toronto.

Obviously we're gonna need a little more proclaiming.

Here's hoping...

This is simply more blatant, manufactured partisan CTV hogwash... because the only other explanation... is that this doofus is too stupid to be let out in public by himself...

"It was really surprising to hear Iran singled out so strongly by the defence minister as a country that is contributing to the harm of Canadian troops," Oliver told CTV Newsnet.

How is it, exactly... that all the Iran-suckers have such short memories?

Back in circulation?

If you've recently found yourself... as a friend of mine has... back on the dating circuit... you might wanna make sure you don't go skydiving without your reserve chute.

-- LONDON, ONT. -- When rapid HIV testing expands next month across Ontario, officials will be watching closely to see if the results mirror an abnormal and dramatic cluster of positive tests recorded this fall at a London clinic.

Options Clinic – the only anonymous test site in the city and the only Ontario site besides Toronto's Hassle Free Clinic doing rapid HIV testing – has seen seven positive results in 139 tests conducted since Sept. 1.

Of the seven, three are heterosexual women, two are heterosexual men and two are homosexual men.

Not reassuring at all, huh?

Based on 2005 figures, it is estimated that almost 25,000 people in Ontario are living with HIV, about 34 per cent of those undiagnosed.

London has the third-highest HIV rate in the province, behind Toronto and Ottawa.

The Spirit of Giving

Who is it exactly... that are putting their money where their mouth is?

"For too long, liberals have been claiming they are the most virtuous members of American society. Although they usually give less to charity, they have nevertheless lambasted conservatives for their callousness in the face of social injustice."

*

Look who's coming to dinner

Peter Mackay and General Rick Hillier drop in for a little Christmas cheer.

-- KANDAHAR AIR FIELD, Afghanistan -- Defence Minister Peter MacKay served up turkey and tourtière to the Canadian troops in Afghanistan on Christmas Day, but also took the opportunity to dish out a stern public warning to Iran and Pakistan to stop the flow weapons and explosives to groups targeting NATO forces.

Peace on Earth, huh?

Yeah, right... give yourself a shake.

-- BAGHDAD -- A suicide bomber exploded a pickup truck outside a residential complex belonging to a state-run oil company north of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing 22 people and wounding at least 50, local officials said.

Local authorities said that victims were still being pulled from the rubble of two destroyed buildings and that the death toll was expected to rise.

At least three children were killed in the blast, which came amid a downturn in violence in the country.

That's some Religion of Peace you've got there.

**********

UPDATE: When one bomb just isn't enough

-- BAGHDAD, Dec. 25 -- Two bombs in separate Iraqi cities ripped through crowds of people Tuesday, causing some of the worst carnage in the country in recent weeks and revealing that -- despite the relative calm of recent months -- insurgent groups remain capable of devastating attacks.

**********

LAST WORD: In other Christmas spirit news

-- NOUAKCHOTT, Dec 25 (Reuters) -- Mauritanian police have detained several suspects in the murder of four French tourists who were gunned down after refusing to hand over money when they stopped for a roadside lunch, officials said on Tuesday.

The head of the family, a man in his seventies, was shot in the leg and was taken to neighbouring Senegal for treatment. His two sons, his brother and a family friend were killed.

The use of automatic weapons in the shooting initially raised speculation that al Qaeda militants might be involved. In September, al Qaeda's second in command urged north Africa's Muslims to "cleanse" their land of Spaniards and French.

The fire is stoked...

For many years now... our son has insisted on having a treasure map... to help him find his Christmas presents. So, every year, the last thing that Mrs. Neo and I do before heading off to bed... is hide the presents around the house and make up silly, rhyming couplets that point to The Boy's loot.

We also... without fail... have chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast on Christmas Day.

Some day in the future, we hope to have some similar sort of ritual... with our grandchildren.

Merry Christmas to all... time to catch some zees.

In Toronto's Regent Park...

It's way better to give... than to receive...

Four people were in custody last night after a gunman left his victim lying in a pool of blood just steps away from a neighbourhood playground yesterday.

The murder, in broad daylight and just two days before Christmas, was the city's 82nd homicide of the year, pushing the city further past the 80 killings recorded in the Year of the Gun in 2005 and inching it closer to the 1991 record of 87 homicides.

**********

UPDATE: Where everybody knows your name

Police today identified the victim as Karim Rashid Ata-Ayi, who was shot to death outside 14 Blevins Place in an open area surrounded by highrise apartments and townhouses.

Ata-Ayi, who was known to police, did not live in Regent Park but did spend time in the area. It's been reported that Ata-Ayi was charged in 2000 with a shooting that happened at a community barbeque in Regent Park.

Tali-weenies

Both the booby-trapped corpses and the possible female bomber are being taken to reinforce the idea that the insurgents have been forced to adopt passive tactics because they can't fight NATO soldiers head-to-head.

**********

RELATED: Flee, flee... run away

-- KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- Canadian soldiers joined the renowned Royal Gurkha Rifles Sunday in a battle to eliminate the source of rocket fire that targeted two Kandahar military outposts.

But when the coalition forces showed up, insurgents hiding out at a compound near the Pashmul district shied away from a fight.

**********

LAST WORD: GUNS... in their streets

Officials have tightened security at churches, malls, and tourism sites as Christians prepare to celebrate Christmas in Indonesia, a secular nation with the world's largest population of Muslims.

The politics of smoking

Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

-- OTTAWA -- The lack of any visible concern from police or governments is causing Canadian smokers to falsely believe it's legal to buy cheap cigarettes on native reserves, a Health Canada public opinion research survey concludes.

The survey's findings leave the government with two obvious, but politically unpalatable, courses of action.

So, once again... we're more concerned about optics... than enforcing the law of the land.

Ramping up enforcement of tobacco laws on reserves raises the possibility of confrontations between police and aboriginals, for which politicians will ultimately be held responsible.

Slashing tobacco taxes – as was done in 1994 to address the previous rise in illegal cigarettes – would likely reduce demand for illegal cigarettes. However, such a move is sure to draw the ire of health groups who believe high prices are the best tool to reduce smoking, particularly among youth.

**********

RELATED: In other native news

You too, can be a member... of Canada's most exclusive club.

The world's last Huron-language speaker is a white man teaching at Humber College.

Earlier this month Steckley published an authoritative Huron-English dictionary, the first such volume in more than 250 years. Laval University also just received a $1 million federal grant to develop Huron-language teaching materials, drawing on Steckley's expertise.

Look how useful and illuminating...

It's been so far...

"We need to know exactly what happened. We need to go to the bottom line. And a public inquiry may be done properly, it doesn't need to be a mess and awfully costly."

It's the gospel... according to St. Steffi.

**********

RELATED: Compare and contrast...

"We'll keep trying to bring forward some tough-on-crime legislation, but at some point, if the opposition won't pass it, they'll have to answer to the Canadian people." -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper

What's a little Stalinism...

Between friends?

"We knew they were illiterate, arrogant twits over at 'Law Is Cool'."

"Now we know they're dishonest, too."

*

Three more lives...

Swallowed up by the Grandravine Triangle.

-- TORONTO -- While police wouldn't confirm the victims' identities pending autopsies on Monday, reports say Diane Simpson, 35, her eight-year-old daughter and four-year-old son died early Saturday in the three-alarm blaze in a townhouse in the northwest part of the city.

This was not the first tragic incident for the family. The father of the four-year-old boy who died, Leroy Whittaker, 46, was shot in the head and killed by a bullet that flew through his apartment door in a gang-style murder in July 2005. No arrests were ever made in his slaying.

This is a very unlucky place.

But don't take my word for it.

**********

UPDATE: Looking like self-inflicted injury

Who hasn't pulled the batteries out of a smoke detector after burning something in the oven? The difference here... apparently... is that this alarm was never hooked back up.

Mr. Fisher says the mounting bracket and the wiring for the smoke detector on the main floor were there but the unit itself had been removed.

He says the Toronto Housing Authority had inspected that townhouse in February 2006 and there was a working smoke alarm then.

It's not known who removed it.

Well... it's really not that much of a reach... but I guess nobody wants to speak ill of the dead.

**********

LAST WORD: Let's play Grandravine Roulette

Lotta MSM argle-bargle about proposed mandatory installation of sprinkler systems in people's homes... but very little talk about the fact that the hardwired detector on the main floor (which would have tripped the other units in the house)... had been removed.

And not just in this one unit.

Since the three-alarm blaze, fire crews checked other units in the townhouse complex to ensure their alarms were working. They found about eight units also had their alarms deactivated.

The Good Old Days

Shortly after my son was born in 1996, my wife and I spent an obscene amount of money on a high end analogue hi-8 camcorder. It has a superb picture quality... but over the years we have watched with dismay... as the price of digital video cameras, most recently those with internal harddrives... dropped to rockbottom low prices.

Strangely enough... it seems we may have inadvertently made the smart choice after all.

To begin with, the hardware and storage media — magnetic tapes, disks, whatever — on which a film is encoded are much less enduring than good old film. If not operated occasionally, a hard drive will freeze up in as little as two years.

Similarly, DVDs tend to degrade: according to the report, only half of a collection of disks can be expected to last for 15 years, not a reassuring prospect to those who think about centuries.

Funny how that works out sometimes.

**********

RELATED: A kinder, gentler time...

When we didn't poison our children.

“Every time there was a story about a toy recall, I got flooded with orders,” Mr. Voake said. “This year stacks up as preposterous. I’ve never had a year like this, and I hope I don’t have another one.”

Mr. Voake said he had made more toys this season than at any other time in his 34 years in the industry. Some holiday orders will not be ready until March.

More murder, please

I've always been curious... what exactly, do you think Jack Layton would have to say to these guys... when he drops in to negotiate his "peace settlement"?

-- CAIRO, Egypt -- The leader of al-Qaida in Iraq called on militants in a new audiotape Saturday to kill Sunnis who have joined forces with the U.S. to battle extremists in the war-torn country.

The message was posted on the Internet on the final day Eid al-Adha, a four-day religious holiday for Muslims marked by the sacrifice of cows, sheep, goats and bulls.

Religious holiday, huh?

In the 47-minute audiotape, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi called on militants in Iraq to kill members of the Awakening Councils — mostly Sunnis who once fought against the U.S. but have since turned their guns on extremists — instead of slaughtering animals to mark the holiday.

Holy day, human sacrifice... who couldn't get jiggy with that?

Hey Steffi...

The primary purpose of any military force is to break stuff and kill people... what part of that... do you not understand?

-- OTTAWA -- Canada's Afghanistan mission must dramatically scale back troop size and shift to training and other non-aggressive roles if it's to win Liberal support for an extension, says Leader Stephane Dion.

And he's not alone.

*

A warm welcome to readers of Canadian Cecilia... all three of you. Apparently, warm fuzzy-bunny 'CC' has her nose out of joint... yet again.

Anyway, let's take a look...

ar·my [ahr-mee]

1. the military forces of a nation, exclusive of the navy and in some countries the air force.
2. (in large military land forces) a unit consisting typically of two or more corps and a headquarters.
3. a large body of persons trained and armed for war.

Now, pottymouth 'CC' seems to think a standing army is some sort of Christmas ornament... you know, nice and sparkly... but please don't touch. A nice accessory when you're having a parade... but what the hell are you doing giving them guns?!?

Anyway, when CC's not pissing all over the mother of a dead Canadian soldier... she's got way more important stuff to talk about.

Good grief.

**********

UPDATE: The French step up

Nicolas Sarkozy, the first French president to visit Afghanistan, signalled that French troops would not pull out of the country any time soon. He told Mr. Karzai that France has a long term political and military interest in Afghanistan, Mr. Karzai's office said in a statement.

"We did not want to give the signal of a withdrawal, which would have been a detestable signal at a time when we see the ravages that terrorism can do to the world," Mr. Sarkozy said on France-Info radio.

And Australia's in as well...

"We will be, as I said before, in this country, Afghanistan, for the long haul, and it's important for us to be here in partnership with countries from NATO," he said. He said he would be encouraging other countries to continue or expand their commitment to Afghanistan.

Hey... better late than never

-- KABUL, Afghanistan -- Echoing pledges by the leaders of France and Australia, Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi emphasized his county's long-term commitment to Afghanistan in a meeting with President Hamid Karzai on Sunday, the presidential palace said.

One job posting I've just gotta see...

"The city is also planning to form a monkey squad that will rush to..."

*

Is nothing sacred?

Apparently... if you're a jihadi... the answer is no.

-- RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Police arrested a group of men planning to attack holy sites around Mecca during the just-completed annual Muslim pilgrimage, the Saudi Interior Ministry said Friday.

“Security forces have foiled a plot to carry out a terror attack on holy sites outside Mecca with the aim of confounding security forces,” Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour al-Turki told The Associated Press.

Capitalism 101

There are rewards and there are pitfalls...

I started a small cash business on the playground, and was doing quite well for myself until the dreaded parent-teacher conferences brought some slight discrepancies to light.

It seemed that some little assknob had decided to cut in on my action with his own red pen.

Religion of Piece(s)

Ringing in the holy day Eid al-Adha.

-- SHERPAO, Pakistan -- At least 50 people are dead in Pakistan today after a suicide attacker detonated a bomb packed with ball bearings and nails amid hundreds of holiday worshippers at the home of Pakistan's former interior minister.

The bomber was praying in a row of worshippers when he detonated the explosive, provincial police chief Sharif Virk said.

Authorities say at least 100 others were injured in the blast.

**********

RELATED: Those wacky Iraqis

Residents said the bomber parked his car outside one of the two dozen liquor stores in the area and walked away before setting it off, apparently using a timer or remote control.

A passing Chevrolet Suburban took the full impact, and its passengers were likely to be among the three dead or the 27 people wounded, according to the Iraqi

**********

LAST WORD: Europe not immune from terror

-- BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Fourteen Muslim extremists were detained Friday on allegations they sought to free an al-Qaida sympathizer imprisoned for planning a terrorist attack on U.S. air base personnel, Belgian authorities said.

Security was heightened across the capital, at airports and subway stations out of precaution, officials said.

Taliban Jack has a plan

Canadian troops have started to severely kick Taliban ass... so, of course... Jack-be-nimble thinks we should ramp up the charm offensive...

Layton said the new direction should be attaining peace through negotiating a ceasefire with all sides, and that Canada should be focusing on aid and reconstruction.

Boy Jack, there's a strategy.

These guys are settin' boobytraps to kill Canadian soldiers... and all you can come up with, is... "Why can't we be friends?"

Amazing.

**********

RELATED: Hey Jack, negotiate this...

Among cases reported in the document are:

· The "castration" of the former Afghan president, Najibullah in 1996. The Taliban "dragged his body behind a jeep for several rounds of the palace and then shot him dead".

· The 1998 massacre of 600 Uzbeks in the province of Faryab. "Western aid workers... said civilians were dragged from their homes, lined up and shot."

· After the capture of Mazar-i-Sharif in 1998 the Taliban indulged in the "frenzied killing of shop owners, cart pullers, women and children shoppers". Women and girls were raped, and 2,000-5,000 civilians, mainly ethnic Hazaras, were massacred.

· The public execution in Yakaolang of at least 170 civilians, mainly from humanitarian organisations. "According to Amnesty International, eyewitnesses reported the deliberate killing of dozens of civilians hiding in a mosque."

Other reports include accounts from refugees and human rights groups of the beating of infants, killing of children and hanging of bodies from lampposts.

I say... let's stick with what's working.

If I'da known how easy it was...

I'd have created my own religion a long time ago...

"To put that in perspective, the cultural gap between Senegal and Kenya is as dramatic as the chasm that separates, say, London and Tehran."

"Imagine singing 'God Save the Queen' in Farsi, and you grasp the enormity of the gaffe."

**********

RELATED: Hey, what about Pastafarianism?

"Let us remember that there are multiple theories of Intelligent Design. I and many others around the world are of the strong belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster."

"It was He who created all that we see and all that we feel. We feel strongly that the overwhelming scientific evidence pointing towards evolutionary processes is nothing but a coincidence, put in place by Him."

More religious booga-booga...

Which, surprisingly... has absolutely nothing to do with cartoons or soccer balls...

"Coca-Cola uses all these Orthodox symbols in a blasphemous way by placing images of Coca-Cola bottles inside the pictures," the complaint said, according to Russia's Ria Novosti news agency.

"Some images are deliberately turned upside down, including the crosses," it said. An inverted cross is considered to be one of the symbols of Satanism.

Good grief, people... could you not just say a prayer... and move on?

**********

UPDATE: In local news... a decision from on high

Alrighty... let's spark up those bonfires.

After yanking The Golden Compass from its library shelves for review, a Toronto-area Catholic school board has decided to make the removal permanent.

A committee struck to review The Golden Compass had proposed moving the book to the young adult section of school libraries, but the trustees rejected that proposition and approved a ban instead.

For those who missed the original brouhaha... a little background.

Published in 1995, Pullman's The Golden Compass has returned to the public eye because of the new blockbuster film adaptation of the fantasy tale that hit theatres this month.

The book, voted the best children's book in the last 70 years by readers around the world earlier this year, has drawn high praise and condemnation.

Technorati Tags: The Golden Compass, Halton Catholic District School Board, book burning

Paging Phil Fontaine

Every year, the United Nations ranks countries around the world using the Human Development Index, a measure that compares life expectancy, literacy, education and standard of living.

The index typically ranks Canada near the top.

But after hearing comments from aboriginal leaders that Canada's high ranking ignored the plight of their communities, Cooke and his fellow researchers decided to use the index to get a rough idea of how the gap between aboriginals and non-aboriginals has changed between 1990 and 2001 -- and how Canada compares internationally.

They found that not only did Canadian aboriginals score the highest of the four countries studied, they were virtually tied with New Zealand for making the most progress in catching up to the mainstream during the study period.

Today, meanwhile, in the never-ending race to reaffirm that... violent protest is a legitimate political solution... the Ontario fiberals bent over and grabbed their ankles, yet again.

Aboriginal Affairs Minister Michael Bryant... today summed up the Liberals entire philosophy of his government's dealings with the native community... by handing over Ipperwash Provincial Park to the Kettle and Stony Point First Nation.

Said Bryant... "We're all in the same canoe."

Geez, Michael... you really think so?

You might just wanna ask the townspeople of Caledonia how they feel about that.

**********

RELATED: Of course, let's bring race into it...

Mr. Simon, and all of his fans, would like to hear an apology, especially since it smacks of stereotyping," added the National Chief.

I love it... the guy who "kicked somebody with a skate"... has hurt feelings.

(h/t reader John)

C'mon guys...

What were you thinking?

"I was stressed from exams and looking for something to give everyone a laugh," Lee said.

"I did it in the middle of the night. It lasted a couple of days. Someone pushed it over but I rebuilt it. Then they sent a bulldozer..."

You've gotta keep this sort of thing where it belongs... in the classroom.

"Visiting lecturers will address technical aspects of flogging, restraint, and role-play."

Nice work...

If you can get it...

Police have charged a Toronto convenience store owner with fraud in connection with a $5.7-million “insider” lottery prize win.

Hafiz Zulqarnain Malik, 60, of Mississauga, Ont., is charged with two counts of fraud over $5,000 and one count of theft over $5,000.

He was released on $60,000 bail after a court appearance Wednesday, then refused comment on the case.

It looks like this sort of thing is a lot more common than you might think.

Lotteries across Canada have been under scrutiny ever since a scathing ombudsman’s report blasted the OLG for not cracking down on retailers who collected “tens of millions” of dollars in jackpots between 1999 and 2006.

And you thought...

"Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots" was a pretty cool Christmas gift...

The disc - part of an Egyptian-made series - is on sale in West Yorkshire, where three of the July 7 bombers lived, and is aimed at youngsters from the local Muslim community.

Introduced by a cute cartoon chicken, it contains three songs in Arabic which are illustrated with a video story.

But any impression of its being an innocent music DVD is immediately dispelled by a song with English subtitles about two children who lose their mother when she blows herself up in a suicide bomb attack.

(via DMB)

**********

RELATED: Israel says...

"You like it rough... yeah, sure...we can do that."

Hamas offered Israel the truce a day after 13 Palestinian militants, including two top commanders, were killed in a wave of Israeli air strikes in Gaza.

Israel launched the raids in response to daily Palestinian rocket attacks.

Short and sweet

I just received (and I'm guessing this is some sort of mass-mailing) a Merry Blogmas email (well, a strange picture) from the Honourable Garth Turner.

He obviously doesn't read my stuff.

Gonna find out...

Who's naughty or nice...

"The security officer at the mall said Santa Claus has been sexually assaulted," police Detective Lt. Thomas Michael said of the weekend complaint.

Sandrama Lamy, 33, of Danbury, was charged with sexual assault and breach of peace. She was released on a promise to appear in court on January 3. Police quickly found and identified Lamy because the woman was described as being on crutches, said Capt. Bob Myles.

(via reader Mike)

Note to Lunatic Left

Be careful what you wish for.

-- WINNIPEG -- Winnipeg police say an officer was forced to shoot and kill an armed man when efforts to subdue him with a Taser were unsuccessful.

One of the officers fired his Taser, but for some unexplained reason it did not work properly. An officer was then forced to use his service pistol.

More details from the Globe and Mail.

So far this year, Winnipeg police have pulled out tasers 160 times: 65 times the suspect complied after seeing the taser, 50 times a suspect was hit with the taser's probes, and 45 times it was touching the body and used in stun mode.

They do not keep statistics on the number of times a taser fails to work.

I'm from the government...

I'm here to save you...

It is the sort of question politicians dread but, under Japanese rules, are unable to ignore. A member of the opposition asked the government what its policy was to deal with UFOs.

The document revealed that Japan has not yet planned what to do should aliens arrive here.

**********

RELATED: Speaking of alien life forms

(via DMB)

Cops bag Xmas Card Killer

It's official... Kitchener Police have charged the suspect they arrested, for an earlier, separate assault... for the brutal murder of an elderly man.

-- KITCHENER, Ont. -- A Kitchener man has been charged with first degree murder in connection with the death of 74-year-old Hunter Brown, who was killed Saturday as he delivered his Christmas cards.

Several hours after releasing details of a similar assault Monday on a man who was shovelling snow just a few streets away, police arrested and charged a suspect in that assault.

On Tuesday evening, Waterloo Region police charged the 22-year-old with murder.

Technorati Tags: Hunter Brown, Kitchener, mental illness

Yeah, let's lock up Latimer...

For a decade... but this fruitcake's gonna get a hospital vacation... while they tune up his meds.

-- KITCHENER, Ont. -- Police in Kitchener, Ont., have arrested a suspect in an assault on a man shovelling snow, which may be linked to the killing of a 74-year-old man delivering Christmas cards.

Hunter Brown was attacked on Saturday afternoon with what police describe as an “edged weapon” and was left to die in a neighbour's driveway next to a pile of Christmas cards.

Police say a similar attack took place Monday, in which a man shoveling his driveway was approached by a man who made a "negative reference" to God.

Not too many details yet... but this is starting to sound like a very familiar story.

If you're mentally ill and you need medication to function safely in the real world, then somebody... parents, family or a social worker... should have to step up and be legally responsible for making sure you take your meds.

If someone can't guarantee that one simple fact... people who can't distinguish fantasy from reality, just shouldn't be out in the larger world.

It's not worth the life of a single Hunter Brown.

It's that simple.

**********

RELATED: Or a single Brian Smith

Ontario's Conservative opposition leader took the government to task Thursday over the release of a man found not criminally responsible in the shooting death of Ottawa sportscaster Brian Smith in 1995.

Leeds-Grenville MPP Bob Runciman called on the province to re-evaluate the release criteria of the Ontario Review Board, the panel that gave Jeffrey Arenburg an absolute discharge, citing media reports that said the board found there was a 24-per-cent chance Mr. Arenburg would reoffend.

Mr. Arenburg, a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, is under arrest for allegedly assaulting a U.S. border guard last week.

Not criminally responsible?

How about we rename this not socially capable?

Because somebody... sure as shit... has to be criminally responsible here.

Technorati Tags: Hunter Brown, Kitchener, mental illness

Somebody explain this to me

Thank you, National Parole Board...

Mr. Latimer has served seven years in jail for the second-degree murder of his severely handicapped daughter, a killing he has steadfastly described as an act of mercy.

Meanwhile, on the same day, another panel of the parole board met and agreed to release a violent offender whose random, unprovoked attack left a young woman, Ji-Won Park, permanently brain-damaged.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

One of my twin daughters is severely mentally disabled such that it is unlikely that she will progress beyond the mental age of a one month old baby.

Although only 15 months old, she is already having medical problems such as severe curvature of her spine and one hip which will likely dislocate itself over the next few years.

It isn't news anymore...

It's some sort of poorly written puppet show...

"The next time your script includes a tour stop for the Spice Girls, fire somebody."

I despair, these days, of learning anything useful from the television news cycle. Too often Lloyd, or Lisa... is dramatically laying out some tired, old dog of a story... that hit the blogosphere days, or even weeks ago.

The recent "storm of the century" nonsense was especially maddening.

While big city news anchors were repeatedly pulling out their hair over the end of the world... people around here were making sure they had gas for the car and a fresh spark plug for the snowblower.

Before the snow had stopped falling, my neighbour... who also has a 700 foot setback from the road... had blown out his driveway AND MINE.

And that whole Karlheinz Shitbag farce... good grief.

If anybody actually has the goods on Brian Mulroney... and the Fiberals are making all sorts of noises like they do... charge the man and let him have his day in court.

I knew we had indisputably reached the apogee of assininity... when both CTV and Global (and no doubt other stations I missed) also ran big stories last night on " how to shovel your driveway."

That really is a pathetic commentary on how far this once proud country has fallen.

If we actually need step-by-step instructions on how to use our shovels... and that's the message we're being bombarded with on a daily basis... it is truly time to roll over and die.

Break out the party hats...

And pour yourself another drink... and I'll turn on the Obituary Channel.

*

Oh no, Canada

What... we don't have enough real criminals in this country?

Bruce Montague is a good, honest, simple man. He is persuaded that he is right and that, therefore, he must win under the law.

He is the sort of man Henry David Thoreau was talking about in his On the Duty of Civil Disobedience: those "heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in the great sense, and men," who "serve the state with their consciences also, and so necessarily resist it for the most part."

Go here to offer your help.

**********

RELATED: Both sides now...

The double-edged immigrant dream

Police have arrested a labourer from Ecuador in the killing of a Mississauga housekeeper this fall. Figueroa is originally from Ecuador but had been living in Toronto. He was planning to leave for South America in a few days, English said.

Jocelyn Dulnuan was found dead in her living quarters at a mansion on Doulton Place on Oct. 1. Dulnuan, 27, came to Canada in November 2006, seeking work to support her fiancé and child in the Philippines.

*

Politically Correct Pablum

The gutless Globe and Mail tries to pretend the big story here... is a change to the way the votes are counted.

-- SOUTH AFRICA -- A compromise has been reached in which votes for the top six leadership positions (president and the rest of the executive) will be counted by hand and the other 54 positions on the ruling council automatically.

To find out what miniscule details the Globe chosen to omit... you have to click over to the Times Online.

From the outside it looks as if South Africa's miracle is over. Jacob Zuma, the former Deputy President who was charged with rape and may soon be charged with corruption, is about to become President of the African National Congress and is likely to be the next president of South Africa.

Thirteen years after the peaceful handover of power, the rainbow nation is threatened with a very nasty storm.

**********

RELATED: Education, education, education

-- WASHINGTON -- At an hour when most people here are sleeping or sinning, the worshipers of the Spiritual Warfare ministry gather in the cold sanctuary of a neighborhood church to battle evil.

He could always...

Make a case for it... the next time he appears on Oprah...

The actor Damon Wayans has been engaged in a 14-month fight to trademark the term "Nigga" for a clothing line and retail store, a search of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's online database reveals.

"While debate exists about in-group uses of the term, 'nigga' is almost universally understood to be derogatory," Boulton wrote to Wayans' attorney, William H. Cox, according to the application.

Cox and other representatives of the actor did not respond to interview requests about the registration.

Belleville's own answer...

To Howard Stern... CJBQ - 800am - The Lorne Brooker Show...

Poor ol' Lorne isn't having much luck stirring up public outrage over the unwillingness of doctors in the Quinte Healthcare area to perform abortions... so he's decided to go for a softer target...Brian Mulroney.

I thought I'd give Lorne a little feedback...

lorne...

where do you get off passing public judgement on brian mulroney?

not that i'm gonna defend anyone taking bags of cash for dubious purposes... but doesn't brian mulroney at least deserve the same sort of judicial process and protections as pig farmer cum homicidal maniac willie picton?

regards...

neo conservative

The answer I received over the airways was something like, "He's not guilty of anything... he's just a horrible liar"... which mostly sounds like a possible libel defense.

You've just gotta love how Lorne winds it all up...

"He's guilty of being Brian Mulroney... which some people might consider a crime in itself."

Good grief.

**********

UPDATE: Whew... that's a relief

Lorne has just announced on air that he isn't pleased with my pseudonymous communication (he's calling it a nasty email)... and by gawd, he wants names...

"It's not like I'm gonna send CSIS after him."

Geez, Lorne... you're the guy that chose to read the email out over the radio... it's not I was gonna send Luc Lavoie after you.

*

Alrighty... looks like we're back onto the deplorable lack of abortions in the Quinte Healthcare area.

LB: "What would happen if a woman came in and needed an "emergency abortion"?

Well, Lorne, call me crazy... but I'm pretty sure the answer isn't...

"A group of doctors would stand around and watch her die."

**********

RELATED: Speaking of lefty outrage...

Whatever happened to Marion Boyd?

(via FFOF)

Technorati Tags: abortion on demand, Lorne Brooker Show, Quinte Healthcare

Yet another chance...

For "the community" to step up and do the right thing... just don't hold your breath.

-- TORONTO -- Fitawrari Lunan was nervous and apprehensive in the days before he was tracked down and assassinated by two gunmen, and police need to know why if his killers are to be caught.

"He had some kind of baggage with somebody," Toronto Police homicide Det.-Sgt. Gary Giroux said.

"Obviously, if he called someone and said, 'I'm worried because of X, Y, and Z,' I need to hear from them."

Having your "yellowcake"...

And eating it too...

The delivery of the nuclear fuel has removed one of the most significant practical sanctions against Tehran, says the BBC's diplomatic correspondent, Jonathan Marcus.

Russia's foreign ministry said it had received assurances from Tehran that the fuel would not be used anywhere but at Bushehr. The foreign ministry statement urged Iran to stop enriching uranium, saying there was no longer any need.

But a senior Iranian official said his country would not halt uranium enrichment "under any circumstances".

Hey, Vlad... have you forgotten who we're dealin' with, here?

**********

RELATED: They want it all

Washington says Iran has no need to continue its own nuclear programme now that Russia has started delivering fuel to the Bushehr power plant.

But Tehran says it will not stop the uranium enrichment process despite the threat of further UN sanctions.

*

Timmy gets totalled

Where is your god now?

Canadian forces were involved in a major offensive Sunday that cleared Taliban insurgents and a weapons cache out of an area 40 kilometres west of Kandahar City.

No Canadian or coalition troops were injured during the one-day mission, called Operation Sharp Sword.

Officials confirmed that 41 Taliban insurgents were killed during the mission.

Another horrendous outbreak...

Of foot-in-mouth disease in the Canadian Muslim community...

"Presently, what Israeli forces are doing to Palestinians is worse than the Holocaust of World War II."

Oh crap... here we go again.

*

RELATED: Well... no mincing words here either...

At least 300,000 people have turned out in Gaza City for a rally to mark 20 years since Hamas was founded. Waving green flags and banners, crowds of Palestinian men, women and children filled a large square for the event.

In a defiant website statement, Hamas's leader in exile, Khaled Mashaal, vowed the group would not renounce violence.

**********

LAST WORD: Ayatollah, my ass...

Kids will be kids... if you let them.

-- TEHRAN -- Iranian police have closed down 24 Internet cafés and other coffee shops in as many hours, detaining 23 people, as part of a broad crackdown on “immoral behaviour” in the Islamic state, official media said on Sunday.

Sarkari told the official IRNA news agency that police had inspected 435 coffee shops in the past 24 hours, and 170 had been warned.

The report did not make clear whether they were all Internet cafés, which have mushroomed in Iran over the past few years and are popular especially among young people.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say... given the choice... kids would choose high speed internet over suicide bombing... 99% of the time.

Go figure.

It's my party... Part II

Shafman also said the party hosts will receive a free Taser if 10 devices are sold during their party. She hopes to get the parties going nationwide, sending out representatives and attending the parties herself when possible.

(via BSB)

**********

RELATED: Taser Party... Great White North Edition

"Stand back ladies... this is a job for professionals."

*

Another Icarus Moment

Yet more indisputable proof that humanity isn't nearly as smart as it supposes.

-- LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Two reservoirs that supply drinking water to parts of the city have been shut down and will be drained after a rare sunlight and chlorine reaction tainted the water with a cancer-causing chemical, utility officials said Friday.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power plans to drain 600 million gallons from the reservoirs, the Elysian and the Silver Lake, early next year, said a water department spokesman, Joseph Ramallo.

The reservoirs will be out of use for three to four months amid drought conditions.

The Big Chill

Now what?

If I write about censorship will the censors censor that? All in all it’s much safer to write about daisies. Such pretty flowers. Daisies. White, purple, yellow, pink. So pretty.

And freedom of speech may soon be pushing them up in this country.

**********

RELATED: Salim Mansur speaks up

Then there are Muslim organizations -- such as the Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC) -- in free societies such as Canada. Their deafening silence in condemning Muslim violence against Muslims and non-Muslims alike is revealing of their true nature.

These are front organizations for global radical Islamism making apologies for their ideological brethren, and directing polemics against the West for victimizing Muslims and undermining Islam.

Moreover, they are fraudulent in their claims of representing Muslims in general as the CIC does. The fact is, on the contrary, most Muslims in Canada and elsewhere in the West left their native lands to escape from unmitigated cruelty, heartlessness and hypocrisy of Muslim rulers and religious leaders.

(via SDA)

**********

LAST WORD: And then there's this...

"We don't hear things like, all B.C. farmers should hang their heads in shame or that this is a great day of shame for white Canadian farmers across the nation, or that perhaps if we ban farming, these tragedies would never happen."

Which unfortunately, doesn't quite pass either the sniff... or the logic... test.

Dr. Amita Handa may want to consider the obvious fact -- obvious, that is, to anyone who hasn't had their brains drycleaned by the post-modern university system -- that the reason "you don't hear anyone talking" about "banning farming" after the Robert Pickton trial is because the tenets of pig farming do not encourage one to feed human flesh to pigs.

A Sad Statistic

Statistics Canada says 100,039 Canadian women had an abortion in 2004, the last year for which statistics are available. Another 337,072 did not have an abortion.

According to the Guttmacher Institute and the World Health Organization, about 40% of pregnancies in development countries -- including Canada -- are unintended. Both organizations say 28% of all unintended pregnancies in developed countries end in abortion.

This thing goes human to human...

It'll make SARS look like a sprained ankle.

Authorities in Pakistan have announced that country's first reported cases of H5N1 avian flu in a cluster of family members which may have involved human-to-human transmission.

The WHO spokesperson said investigations are still underway to try to determine how the various people became infected, but some human-to-human spread is possible.

"We can't rule it out," WHO spokesperson Gregory Hartl said from Geneva.

**********

RELATED: Speaking of emergency measures

Blogging will be light for the rest of the day... gotta lay in some food, fuel and entertainment... just in case the weather fairies are right about this impending storm.

Too easy to get socked in when your driveway is 700 feet long.

Later.

The first thing ya know...

Ol' Jed's a millionaire...

Iraqi oil production is above the levels seen before the US-led invasion of the country in 2003, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The IEA said Iraqi crude production is now running at 2.3 million barrels per day, compared with 1.9 million barrels at the start of this year.

That's apparently about 3% of of daily global demand... restoring Iraq to being one of the world's largest oil producing states.

It's my party...

And I'll fry if I want to.

-- BRANDON, Man. -- The Brandon police department is investigating allegations that some of its officers agreed to Taser people at a party, simply because they were curious about what it would feel like.

The Brandon Sun quoted unnamed sources as saying the Taser was brought to the party by an on-duty officer who hadn't been drinking, and that it was used by an officer on at least one willing, curious civilian with no lasting effects.

According to one account, the newspaper says, more than one person was Tasered, including off-duty officers.

**********

UPDATE: Gotta say... I'm just shocked

Amid a countrywide controversy over police use of Tasers, a coroner's jury has recommended Toronto's front-line officers be equipped with the high-voltage weapons.

Yesterday's recommendation, one of 12 made at the inquest into the 2004 police shooting death of O'Brien Christopher-Reid, caught family and police by surprise.

A Muslim woman weighs in

An interesting take on the Aqsa Parvez story from an unlikely venue... the usually exquisitely politically correct CBC.

Meanwhile, the mullahs and Islamists are busy dismissing the idea that Aqsa's alleged murder had anything to do with religion. They are circulating rumours on-line that she had a black boyfriend, that she was sexually promiscuous, that she was a drug pusher.

I had no idea that this sort of thing had been going on. As a Muslim herself, the author of this article is obviously closer to the goings on within the community.

The friends and classmates of Aqsa, who aren't concerned with political correctness, have said without hesitation that Aqsa was abused and threatened at home because of the religious fanaticism of her family.

They have said she was killed because she wanted to be herself.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"In fact not one single Muslim I know agrees with what he did and we all pray that God bless this little girls soul and may God keep her in his mercy and bring her the justice she deserves after suffering through what was done to her."

**********

LAST WORD: Michael Coren has his say

Only a bigot would argue that every Muslim was violent or opposed to Western freedom. But only a coward or a liar would argue that there was not a profound and deeply worrying link between conservative Islam and myriad acts of terror, intolerance and hysterical anger.

It is not I who say this but the countless Muslims who take to the streets at the drop of a cartoon to scream for blood and war; or the Muslims who preach jihad in North America and Europe, where they enjoy open societies founded on Christian enlightenment.

They may represent a minority, but the harm they do is incalculable. This dysfunctional venom does not come from Christian, Jew, Hindu or Buddhist and fatuous relativism will only blind the foolish.

It is time for free discussion in this free country, whether it offends or not.

**********

And what... pray tell... is the deal with Turkey?

Anyone?

Technorati Tags: Aqsa Parvez, Muhammad Parvez, honour killing

Toronto the Not So Good

I have a friend who works for the Toronto Ambulance Service, so this particular factoid surprises me not at all...

Away from the glare of a media press conference, Humber River Regional Hospital, on orders from the provincial health ministry, quietly released the worst death rate of any Toronto-area hospital.

Humber's rate is the second worst in Canada. Only Kitchener's Grand River Hospital fared worse, with a rate of 142.

Global news is also reporting two home invasions today... with one victim in hospital in critical condition.

**********

UPDATE: Toronto Hit Parade

Two gunmen stormed a Scarborough townhouse and methodically searched for Fitawrari Lunan, ignoring his terrified friend and her 8-year-old son before finding their victim and shooting him, police said yesterday.

"They were aggressively hunting through the house," Toronto Police Homicide Det.-Sgt. Gary Giroux said.

Lunan, 25, remains on life support in hospital with more than a dozen family members at his side.

Nuclear Explosion

-- OTTAWA -- The head of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. has resigned in the wake of the fiasco that shut down the Chalk River nuclear reactor and prompted a worldwide medical crisis.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper accepted the resignation of Michael Burns today.

You really wanna impress me...

How about making a set of car keys that comes when they're called?

-- SEOUL -- South Korean scientists have cloned cats that glow red when exposed to ultraviolet rays.

Remember "black light" posters from the seventies? That's what this makes me think of.

Three Turkish Angora cats were born in January and February through cloning to include a gene that produces a red fluorescent protein that makes them glow in the dark.

Oh my gawd... that's brilliant

After forty years of guerilla warface... all we need to do is throw a little Gadhafi on the fire...

The son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has discussed unifying the two main Muslim rebel groups in the Philippines to help achieve a comprehensive peace between the rebels and Manila.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, or MILF, is negotiating a treaty with Manila to end four decades of conflict in the south.

Okay... everybody just settle down

It's only a ninety minute drive... to Toronto the Good.

Having an abortion in Quinte area hospitals isn't just difficult, it's impossible. "There's nowhere," said Bill Sherlock, manager of the sexual health department at the local health unit.

No doctor here will perform an abortion, said one physician, and a Quinte Health Care official said none of its four hospitals perform the procedure.

Spokespeople for Quinte Health Care and Kingston General Hospital are close-mouthed about policies on abortions. "We have had no abortions performed at QHC in the 10 years that QHC has been in existence ... as far as I know," said hospital spokeswoman Susan Rowe.

People often characterise abortion as a matter of "personal choice" but forget that physicians should be able to choose as well.

When it comes to ethics, the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons, the regulating body of doctors in this province, leaves it up to the individual doctor to decide if he or she will do the procedure, with the proper training.

"That's a matter of personal choice," said Trenton's Dr. John Bonn, a former registrar at the college in Toronto.

He said the reason why a woman could not get an abortion in this area is because doctors here simply don't want to do it.

"We don't have a physician in the community who is willing to perform therapeutic abortions," Bonn said.

Well, cry me a river.

**********

UPDATE: Canadian Cecilia calls me "misogynistic"

Wow... talk about a big... fat... softball.

*

Sure, prevention... that's easy

Let's just set up a National Crazy People Registry...

"Disabling the gun registry is a big step backward. They say it cost a lot of money. Well it's going to cost a helluva a lot more to just pull it out," he said. "They want to go after the perpetrator after the fact."

"Well, we want to see some prevention, before something happens."

Yeah, me too... but until we refine that "seeing into the future" technology, that may be a little tricky.

If only we had more of that magical two billion dollar fiberal "fairy dust".

**********

RELATED: Resolved: That "need" is the only criterion

"I agree. There is no need in today's world for a citizen to own a gun."

Having come to agreement that "need" is the threshold for a citizen's right to own a firearm, the discussion is ready to move forward.

Announce to your friend that you are ready to accompany them to their home. You will begin with an inspection of the kitchen, and from there, will work your way through their house, tagging each possession you believe they do not need in "today's world".

Don't forget the garage.

Oh yeah... just for the record... both Marc Lepine aka Gamil Gharbi and Kimveer Gill used registered firearms.

Let's address the real problem here.

Frankenfish

While Steffi freaks out about global warming half a world away... there are real problems surfacing here at home...

Fish farming as it's currently practised in Canada is destroying wild salmon stocks and threatens to completely wipe them out within four years in one area of British Columbia, according to new research.

“If there are only a couple of farms, only a couple hundred thousand fish in the water, we probably wouldn't have a problem at all. But now we've just got millions and millions of salmon in net pens that aren't supposed to be there and it's really changing the dynamics of disease.

Apart from the massive environmental impact, this enterprise is also gonna scar a lot of peoples lives.

A 2002 report from B.C.'s auditor general found that wild salmon are worth more than $600 million to the provincial economy. Recreational and commercial wild salmon fisheries provided nearly 4,600 jobs.

Now... back to your global warming booga-booga.

See, here's the part...

Too many so-called spokespeople in the Islamic community just can't seem to grasp... there is absolutely no way, not one possible way... NOT ONE, YOU FREAKS... to justify strangling a 16 year-old girl.

-- Mississauga -- Dr. Mohammad Iqbal Alnadvi, Imam director of the Al-Falah Islamic Centre in Oakville, denounced the killing and said there were other problems the teen was facing.

But Mo, you're not really talking about the problems Aqsa Parvez was facing... you're talking about... and incredibly, attempting to justify... why Daddy Dearest killed his own daughter.

"Some information that I am gathering is that the issue was bigger than the hijab. That was one of the issues. But this girl, she refused to stay at home and she was out of the home and there was the feeling that she was going in the wrong direction because she was living with other people."

Mohammad, buddy, here's what you and your friends seem to be missing... this is not some primitive village in the tribal hinterlands of Pakistan.

This is Canada. We don't even execute people like Clifford Olsen, or Paul Bernardo... never mind defiant teenage girls.

So don't even start, okay?

**********

UPDATE: El-Mo decides to start over

Mohamed Elmasry, President of the Canadian Islamic Congress... after initially stepping on his dick... by characterising the murder of Aqsa Parvez as a "teenager issue"... has hastily reissued a less inflammatory statement.

"In the sombre light of the recent tragic death of our community’s 16-year-old sister and daughter, Aqsa Parvez of Toronto, our national organization is taking immediate educational measures to ensure that such sad ending of a young life never happens again among Canadian Muslims."

Way to audible, Peyton.

(via FFOF)

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

Ahmed says... "In conclusion, I do not accept what *some* scholars are claiming, nor do I accept what *some* terrorists are doing, and in my book, that doesn't make me a bad Muslim, because after all I believe in peace and equality for all humans, and in my book I believe that makes me a better human!"

"I consider any and all mischievous actions as bad, not MUSLIM bad, not CHRISTIAN bad, not JEWISH bad, JUST BAD!"

Well, Ahmed, I think I understand the overall point you're trying to make here... but you do see that characterising strangling a teenage girl as a "mischievous action" is gonna upset a few folks, right?

That's kind of the whole point here.

Technorati Tags: Aqsa Parvez, Mohammad Iqbal Alnadvi, Al-Falah Islamic Centre

Concerned Victoria, BC mother...

Pulls young child from primary school... after discovering heinous conspiracy...

The school choir sings Christmas carols and students are learning arithmetic by counting Christmas stockings, she said.

"We found out that it was everywhere. I got the parent newsletter for December and Christmas was in everything."

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Most of the kids at my public school were Jewish, but we still did the Christmas thing."

"I don't think any of them were too traumatized, it's like they knew they were Jewish or something."

Details of the long rumoured...

And much anticipated Liberal Party merger... are just now starting to leak and much like a dirty diaper... this thing stinks to high heavens.

Not that Bill Gates is...

Gonna be eating Kraft dinner... anytime in the near future.

-- AMSTERDAM -- The Dutch government has set a soft deadline of April 2008 for its agencies to start using open-source software — freely distributed programs that anyone can modify — the Netherlands Economic Affairs Ministry said Thursday.

Looks like people are starting to realise that monopoly, like monoculture can have some pretty serious consequences down the road.

Government organizations will still be able to use proprietary software and formats but will have to justify it under the new policy, ministry spokesman Edwin van Scherrenburg said.

Linux, here we come.

From the people who brought you...

Thomas the Lead Coated Engine...

China's food and drug safety agency has revoked the licence of a company responsible for making tainted leukemia drugs blamed for causing leg pains and partial paralysis among dozens of patients.

The investigation found that the drugs were contaminated with vincristine sulfate — another cancer-fighting chemical — during production, the drug safety agency's statement said.

Investigators did not say how the contamination occurred.

Disposable?

I guess you could try thinking of it as recycling.

-- HONG KONG -- The case of a Korean girl given up by a Dutch diplomat and his wife in Hong Kong seven years after adopting her has sparked outrage among social workers and expatriate Koreans who are struggling to find a new home for her.

A South Korean consular official in Hong Kong said the couple, who adopted the child when she was four months old, had handed her over last May into the care of Hong Kong authorities.

This puts me in mind of the current Hollyweird craze... where obscenely wealthy celebrities pluck African waifs from obscurity to the regal trumpeting of the stargazing media.

The South China Morning Post reported that the couple had adopted the girl while they were based in South Korea, believing they could not have children. The wife later gave birth to two children, the report said.

Sad.

**********

RELATED: Speaking of "not so happy endings"

Seems there's a little discord in La-La Land.

-- VICTORIA -- For the first time, suicide is now the second-leading cause of death among young people in British Columbia.

Kelli Kilpatrick, director of the unit, said the majority of youth who committed suicide -- mostly by hanging -- were heading toward their 19th birthday.

So, what's up with British Columbia... that famous refuge of aging hippies?

There's a hint at the bottom of the article...

It also said too many young aboriginal people died unexpectedly, with alcohol being was a risk factor in most of those deaths.

Shsssssh... not so loud.

Dion supporters...

Excited about latest scientific breakthrough...

Using genetic engineering, scientists at Tokyo University say they have successfully switched off the rodents' instinct to cower at the smell or presence of cats - showing fear is genetically hardwired and not learned through experience, as commonly believed.

Or... just call me crazy...

You could avoid... using crack.

UPDATE: One small correction

In an earlier post, I pointed out that Mohamed Elmasry, President of the Canadian Islamic Congress, was being uncharacteristically silent on the Aqsa Parvez murder... but it turns out ol' Mo does indeed have something to say...

"I don't want the public to think that this is really an Islamic issue or an immigrant issue," said Mohamed Elmasry of the Canadian Islamic Congress.

"It is a teenager issue."

Well... thank goodness we cleared that up.

Damn teenagers... somebody should just, well... uh...

**********

UPDATE: Oops... here comes another little tweak

United Muslim Women of Canada's Anisa Ali said the public shouldn't assume that honour killings only happen in the Muslim community.

She said honour killings are not limited to Islamic countries like Pakistan, Jordan, Syria and Afghanistan.

I've gotta say, Anisa... we're a little old-fashioned around these parts.

Trotting out the venerable "all the other guys are doing it" defense... well, that just might not be your best move here.

**********

UPDATE2: CAIR-CAN weighs in

A spokesman for the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN) said he is dubious of opinions that the girl's death resulted from a clash of cultures.

"Teen rebellion is something that exists in all households in Canada and is not unique to any culture or background," CAIR-CAN's Sameer Zuberi said in an interview.

"Domestic violence is also not unique to Muslims."

**********

LAST WORD: I'll have the Spinbot Special

Who knows how many hours it took for the obviously unapologetic weasel-wordsmiths at CTV news, to come up with a way to report this story... without actually using the word "strangle."

To quote (and I wrote it down, so I wouldn't screw it up) talking-head Lloyd Robertson...

"Her neck was compressed, to the point she couldn't breathe."

Good grief.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

'neck compression' - makes it sound like some kind of yoga exercise. Nice.

Technorati Tags: Aqsa Parvez, Mohamed Elmasry, Canadian Islamic Congress

Army of the suddenly politically correct...

Refocuses attention on "Broad Strata Daughter Strangling" issue plaguing Canadian society...

"The strangulation death of Ms. Parvez was the result of domestic violence, a problem that cuts across Canadian society and is blind to color or creed."

Maybe times are changing... but I remember my sisters being grounded, not strangled... for this sort of thing.

**********

RELATED: "Broad Strata" of society...

That sounds so familiar.

We now cross live to the set of CSI Toronto, where filming is underway:

* Sgt. Warren Bollard: (staring in bewilderment at an intricate graph) "I just can’t find any common denominator!"

"It seems as though these 17 men and teens have absolutely no point of commonality at all!"

**********

UPDATE: A voice in the wilderness

Tarek Fatah... and I've said this before... is a very brave man.

"In my mind this was an honour killing," Tarek Fatah the founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress, says adamantly about what he calls a blight on Islam. Make no mistake, says Fatah: "This has happened before" and will again.

Fatah says these murders have been covered up.

"Sometimes they involve a balcony and they say it's suicide and other times they just don't find the body."

Technorati Tags: Aqsa Parvez, Tarek Fatah, honour killing

Funny, I must have missed...

All the... "Headless bodies litter London streets" stories in the British press.

-- LONDON -- The government said on Wednesday it would ban the sale of samurai swords because the weapons had been used in a number of serious, high-profile attacks.

“In the wrong hands, samurai swords are dangerous weapons,” Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker said.

Of course... "in the wrong hands"... so is a Toyota Corolla, or a cast-iron frying pan.

I can hardly wait for next week's bold... "National Length of Pipe Registry" initiative.

**********

RELATED: Speaking of legislating sanity

"You mean, taking gopher rifles away from farmers isn't gonna solve the problem?"

"Does this mean we get our 2 billion dollars back?"

Technorati Tags: samurai sword, Farmer Bob Rifle Registry, suckass political correctness

U.N. explodes into action...

On climate change.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon told reporters... "it may be too ambitious" to set targets for greenhouse-gas emissions in the draft text of an agreement aimed at replacing the Kyoto Protocol to stop global warming.

Now, how could that be possible? The United Nations has such a stellar record of solving all the world's ills.

Delegates from about 190 nations, now holding high-level meetings, are split over whether targets should be set now or later. Mr. Ban recognizes the divisions.

"Frankly speaking, realistically, it may be too ambitious if delegates would expect to be able to agree on target of greenhouse gas emission reduction," he said.

"But, as I told you, some time down the road we will have to agree on that."

I don't know... it sounds as though Steffi may have got to him.

**********

NEWSFLASH: "Act Right Now or Die" warns Moon.

Apparently Ban Ki-Moon has an evil twin...

"We are at a crossroads: one path leads to a comprehensive climate change agreement, the other one to oblivion."

I'm so confused.

Technorati Tags: Ban Ki-Moon, United Nations, Bali Conference

Speaking of civilian casualties

No, sorry.... if you looking for an endless litany of NATO "war crimes"... I'm sure you can find that over at Liblogs... I'm referring to the devout ministrations of the Taliban.

-- KARAWADDIN, Afghanistan -- The Nawa District, largely out of the Afghan government’s or the American military’s reach, lies on a transit route for insurgents who travel between Afghanistan and the tribal areas of Pakistan.

Each patrol was a foray into villages regarded as Taliban sanctuaries. Each began with tension and the possibility of violence. But the Taliban did not confront the heavily armed paratroopers, and within minutes the mood of the patrols shifted.

Once the villagers realized that the platoons were accompanied by medics, they pushed forward sick children and pleaded for help.

Not the kind of story you ever hear them discussing over at Rabble... is it?

The Taliban exist openly here.

To limit the influence of the government and prevent it from achieving even its modest development goals, the villagers and the Afghan and American authorities said, the insurgents have sacked schools, threatened teachers and students, scared off private contractors and sharply restricted medical care.

That's some Religion of Peace.

**********

RELATED: The Wacky Will of Allah

Three car bombs have exploded in the southern Iraqi city of Amara, killing at least 39 people and injuring more than 100, police say.

Two bombs exploded in a car park packed with labourers waiting to travel to work, and a third detonated as people gathered to inspect the damage.

Most of the dead and injured are said to have been caught by the third blast.

Nice.

You see how they sucked in the bystanders, who rushed over to help the wounded from the initial blasts?

There's a traffic jam at the Gates of Nirvana this morning.

Did anybody else see Iggy...

Do his fake rage thing... demanding to know where Stephen Harper got his nuclear engineering degree?

It had to be the lamest piece of political theatre I've seen in a very long time...

The Liberals had threatened to refuse to give the bill the unanimous support necessary to bypass the legislative process.

Yeah, just like they were gonna vote down the budget... in their dreams.

I can't imagine what sort of points these guys thought they were gonna score... with their threatened "let's block diagnostic tests for cancer patients" strategy.

But in an unusual sitting of the House of Commons Tuesday evening, all of the political parties agreed to fast-track the legislation through the House and Senate.

Yeah.

Another shining triumph for Steffi and the fiberals.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"I saw Ignatieff yestrday on CTV stating that HE was not going to sign off on this unless it was proven safe and passed muster."

"Then he corrected himself and stated something along the lines of the leader of the Party doing so."

and...

By the way, what did the Green Party have to say about all this and did they vote for cancer patients or protection against earthquakes?

**********

RELATED: The Dippers want in...

Nothing like screwing with a tax cut to improve your poll numbers.

-- OTTAWA -- Canadian shoppers may not get the benefit of the GST cut to 5 per cent on Jan. 1 if the implementation bill containing the measure is stalled by opposition stalling tactics, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Tuesday.

Apparently frustrated by the continuing debate over the measure, mostly headed by the NDP, the finance minister told reporters after question period that the Jan. 1 date for cutting the GST from 6 per cent to 5 per cent was in jeopardy.

I didn't even realise...

That George Carlin was still alive...

"New Rule: Just because your tattoo has Chinese characters in it doesn't make you Spiritual. It's right above the crack of your ass. And it translates to 'beef with broccoli.' The last time you did anything spiritual, you were praying to God you weren't pregnant."

"You're not spiritual. You're just high."

Gotta have priorities, I guess

Maybe these guys are just really, really busy... but as of 8:30 tonight, not a single word from the Canadian Islamic Congress on their website... about the 16 year-old Muslim girl who was apparently strangled by her father over her refusal to dress up in hijab.

You'd think somebody from an Islamic Organisation would want to try and get out ahead of this public relations nightmare... but that, seemingly... is just not the case.

The good news is... you can still get a deal on the CIC's cool, "Support Our Troops, Bring Our Kids Home" t-shirt.

Contact Dr. Mohamed Elmasry and let him know that you support all his good work.

(519) 746-4107 (O)
(519) 498-1350 (Cell)

**********

AND YET AGAIN: Once again, a very special welcome...

To readers of infantile, foul mouthed, proggie brown-noser Canadian Cecilia.

Remember Cecilia is all about "respect and support" for the downtrodden... as long as you're not the grieving mother of a dead Canadian soldier.

Make sure you check out her greatest hits.

Technorati Tags: Aqsa Parvez, Mohamed Elmasry, Canadian Islamic Congress

"I'm from the Government..."

"I'm here to help you."

New drivers with a certificate from a government-approved school in Ontario are more likely to be involved in a collision than those who don't take the training course. Unscrupulous operators are selling certificates to students not enrolled in the program, and many instructors have an unusually high number of demerit points.

See, with the Fiberals, the trick is to forget about their promises... and keep a close eye on what they actually do.

These are among the findings in Ontario Auditor-General Jim McCarter's wide-ranging annual report released Tuesday, which raises disturbing questions about the driving schools, the province's inadequate sex-offender registry, and pharmacies overcharging the government for dispensing fees on prescription drugs.

They should have called this thing, "Dalton does Dick All."

**********

RELATED: Boris bails border-buster

An Albanian mother of three who went into hiding to avoid deportation from Canada was ordered released from jail yesterday after Etobicoke MP Boris Wrzesnewskyj agreed to post $12,000 in bonds in a rare move.

Anilda Tabaj, 32, is expected to be freed on Friday from a Brampton jail.

Her husband, Arjan Tabaj, 37, an amputee who's partially paralyzed, won't be released from custody since he's held on an immigration warrant for failing to attend a hearing.

Your Liberal Party in action.

Technorati Tags: Dalton McGuinty, Auditor-General Jim McCarter, fiberal smoke and mirrors

Cutting edge investigative technique

Peel Police try out a little of that "old black magic"...

One of three men accused in a gang-related slaying led an undercover police officer posing as a black magic practitioner to the murder scene, court heard yesterday.

Once there, Peel police Const. Andrew Cooper, a.k.a. Leon the Obeah Man, broke an egg that spilled blood to show off his powers.

I wonder if I could nominate Constable Cooper for a Juno Award... he sounds way more talented than most of the pretenders you usually see on the CBC.

Cooper pretended to be an Obeah Man -- a practitioner of witchcraft and voodoo in Caribbean culture -- to get Collette Robinson and her son Evol to reveal their knowledge of the Oct. 9, 2004 slaying of Youhan Oraha, 22.

Robinson, 22, Ruben Pinnock, 24, and Jahmar Welsh, 24, have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Oraha, who was shot 14 times, mostly in his back.

Maybe they should have stuck with a curse.

Technorati Tags: Obeah Man, Youhan Oraha, voodoo

RELIGION OF DEATH

Let's see if all the people who have been losing their minds over tasers... are equally sympathetic... in this case.

"At 7:55 a.m., we received a 911 call from a man claiming that he had just killed his daughter," Constable J.P. Valade of Peel Police said.

Some of the teen's schoolmates said the Grade 11 student had rebelled against her parents recently by refusing to wear a hijab.

Funny... the Globe and Mail isn't allowing any comments on this particular article.

Perhaps that's just as well... the silence around this thing is deafening.

"Feminists had no response to this tragedy. They were last seen celebrating their victory over a popular doll's exaggerated breast size while advocating the unhindered destruction of unborn babies."

**********

RELATED: Apparently, almost everybody saw this coming

Aqsa's school chums at Applewood Heights Secondary School say she wanted to break free from the cultural restraints imposed by family.

Friend Dominiquia Holmes-Thompson, 16, said Aqsa told her something could possibly "happen."

"She was scared to go home," she said.

Aqsa had recently been staying with a friend and wanted to return home to get her belongings, friends said.

**********

COMPARE AND CONTRAST:

Meanwhile, Dalton fiddles while Ontario burns...

Premier Dalton McGuinty is considering banning smoking in a car with a child passenger, calling the behaviour "reprehensible."

McGuinty said yesterday he's "listening" to the debate generated by Liberal MPP David Orazietti's private member's bill that would empower police to pull over vehicles where a child is being exposed to second-hand smoke.

Secondhand smoke... reprehensible.

Honour killing... silence.

**********

LAST WORD: Or you can have...

Whatever's behind Door #2.

Ausma Khan, the editor-in-chief of Toronto-based Muslim Girl magazine, said research into the readership of her publication shows that the decision to wear the hijab – the traditional Muslim headscarf – is almost always a choice the girl makes on her own.

**********

AND YET AGAIN: Once again, a very special welcome...

To readers of infantile, foul mouthed, proggie brown-noser Canadian Cecilia.

Remember Cecilia is all about "respect and support" for the downtrodden... as long as you're not the grieving mother of a dead Canadian soldier.

Make sure you check out her greatest hits.

Technorati Tags: Aqsa Parvez, Muhammad Parvez, honour killing

Counterfeiters to the World

Lead poisoning... is only part of what they do...

The Canadian lawsuit is one of 15 Microsoft says is linked to a Chinese counterfeiting syndicate broken up by the FBI and Chinese authorities in July.

The Guangdong-based syndicate allegedly produced and distributed more than $2-billion worth of counterfeit Microsoft software.

**********

RELATED: U.S. tackles Chinese "dumping"

A third of the overall United States trade deficit is with China, mostly a reflection of a shift in the composition of industry around the world and the artificially low value China maintains for its currency.

But trade disputes rarely focus on the underlying trends, so China is now the object of nearly a third of the 257 American actions imposing duties on imports from 41 countries.

Apparently Allah changed his mind

There's not gonna be a "fight to the death" after all...

British troops stormed into Musa Qala yesterday as Taleban fighters fled their fortress town.

Soldiers from the 2nd Yorkshire Regiment, the Green Howards, pushed into the city with the Afghan army, as president Hamid Karzai revealed many local insurgents had swapped sides ahead of the overwhelming British assault.

"The Afghan Taleban, they met with me. They said that they wanted to swap sides, and that is what has happened."

Yeah... big surprise.

Angry Mob 1 - CBSA 0

Another quaint third world custom... rears its ugly head here in Canada.

-- RICHMOND, B.C. -- The Canada Border Services Agency has stayed the deportation of a paralyzed Indian man after a standoff at Vancouver International Airport.

“For safety and security reasons, Mr. Singh's deportation has been delayed,” Derek Mellon, a spokesman for the agency, said Monday.

Mr. Singh came to Canada on a forged passport in 2003 but suffered a massive stroke three years later that left him a quadriplegic.

Technorati Tags: Canada Border Services Agency, Laibar Singh, mob rule

YEAR OF THE...

"So what else is new?"

-- TORONTO -- When a veteran Toronto homicide detective recently told a mother her son had been shot to death, he was taken aback by her response.

"She was not shocked. It was almost as if she was expecting it," said the investigator.

"It really stuck with me."

**********

RELATED: Check out Toronto's homicide map.

Technorati Tags: Year of the Gun, Toronto, homicide map

Yup... Flying Squirrel

That sounds about right...

“Everybody wants to be the first one to do it,” Mr. Haggard said.

Which leads to an obvious and inevitable question: Why?

“Because everybody thinks that it’s not possible,” Mr. Corliss said. “The point is to show people anything can be done. If you want to do amazing things, then you have to take amazing risks.”

What's life without a dream, huh?

Gonna find out...

Who's naughty or nice.

-- KANDAHAR -- A coalition force led by Canadian soldiers captured a Taliban explosives factory and cleared insurgents operating around a highway in the Panjwai district of Kandahar province, Afghanistan.

Kandahar Police Chief Sayed Aka Fakid claims coalition forces killed 30 insurgents and wounded nine more.

Peacekeeping?

Yeah sure... we can call it whatever you want.

It's a dumbed down world

Reality TV, celebrity worship and a total lack of expectations...

"These days an expedition to Mount Everest attracts less attention than an expedition to mount Paris Hilton."

This should have taken 9 seconds

Instead, nine days and tens of millions of taxpayer dollars later, we've got what... six terrible, unfortunate accidents?

"I don't know what the jury thought except that the Crown didn't prove that these murders were planned and deliberate."

Yeah, right... let's do a little recap here...

"He kept severed heads, hands and feet around... for what... to make soup?"

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

How typically Canadian. We are nothing more than a compromise of conflicting ideologies that serve no agenda, with no purpose, that results in no integrity in our outcomes.

Bali Photo-Op

Apart from burning up thousands of tonnes of jet-fuel... I fail to see what has actually been accomplished here...

At the end of two days of talks involving officials from 32 nations, including 12 trade ministers, a final news conference descended into farce as Brazil and the United States swapped recriminations.

Maybe there weren't enough rock stars.

**********

RELATED: Canada calls for actual measurable results

Which, apparently, don't just involve the renaming of household pets.

In an interview with The Canadian Press, John Baird said Canada hopes to reach a deal within two years but only if it applies targets for the first time to all major polluters.

"Our major economic competition is with the United States," Baird said in an interview before he arrived in Bali this weekend. "You can have unilateral disarmament. Some might call it noble - but it's not very smart."

Makin' a list... checkin' it twice

Just in time for Christmas... the fundamentalist sociopaths in Musa Qala get the ass-kicking they so richly deserve...

British troops were tonight poised to smash through Taleban defences after surrounding the town of Musa Qala and pushing up almost to its outskirts.

Two senior Taleban commanders were captured today as troops advanced to within a mile of the town, the Islamists' symbolic stronghold in Helmand Province.

In an all too rare flow of "cultural transference" back up the diversity mountain, the jihadis are getting an indelible lesson in the difference between "naughty and nice."

Hundreds of rebel fighters in the area have been reported killed in air strikes and probing attacks in the last few weeks in advance of the offensive, one of the most ambitious to be launched in Afghanistan since 2001.

Hey Timmy... where is your god now?

A long way, baby

Well, maybe Canada isn't... as CBC would have you believe... the most unenlightened country in the world...

India's Supreme Court has struck down a 1914 law that prevented women from tending bar. The justices rejected the Delhi government's argument that women bartenders would find themselves in peril at the hands of unruly male patrons.

Better late than never, huh?

It has taken 93 years but India's women have finally won a spot behind the bar. The country's supreme court justices ruled that state laws barring female employees in bars and in restaurants where alcohol is served should be struck down as unconstitutional.

Tasers, my ass

Exactly how many Canadians die every year in alcohol related incidents?

"All five occupants of the car, a 41-year-old man, a 33-year-old woman, girls aged six and nine, and a 16-month-old boy, were pronounced dead at the scene."

To answer the question above... if you were thinking it was more than four or five per year... you'd be right.

About 3,000 people per year die in motor vehicle crashes in Canada. Of that total, 40 per cent (1,200 deaths) are attributed to alcohol.

Canadians are spending up to $25 billion annually in emergency care, rehabilitation and other costs resulting from traffic collisions.

There's a public enquiry I'd like to see.

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LAST WORD: Once again, a very special welcome...

To readers of infantile, foul mouthed, proggie brown-noser Canadian Cecilia.

Remember Cecilia is all about supporting the troops.

Make sure you check out her greatest hits.

Magnum Stupidity

The Toronto Sun goes for the easy, sensational headline... rather than the obvious fact of the matter.

Quan said all of the guns police seized this week were loaded when found, five in homes and one in a vehicle.

One of the firearms was a gold-coloured, .50-calibre Desert Eagle made of titanium -- a massive pistol considered by many experts to be among the most dangerous handguns ever made.

The fact that this gun would be more useful for hammering nails than shooting at (well, more to the point... actually hitting anything) has apparently gone right over this reporter's head.

"It's pretty rare," Quan said. "This is the first time I've seen one out there."

Of course, anyone at all familiar with firearms... and by that I mean someone who actually shoots... knows that this hand cannon is all show and no go.

It's rare, my learned Det.-Sgt. Quan... because it's about as useful as an arquebus.

Handguns are notoriously difficult to master and typically require long hours of practice to shoot accurately beyond 10 feet... as evidenced by all the wild shots fired off during a typical drive-by shooting.

The next time you see a police SWAT team on television... note that they are all using long guns... their pistols are simply a backup, close-quarters alternative.

Back to the Sun article... the Desert Eagle is a massive, not easily concealed chunk of metal with a punishing recoil... which makes it one of the least likely and least accurate tools of choice for a gangbanger, never mind a savvy shooter.

Of course, that doesn't matter to these budding geniuses... they just wanna look cool.

Charged are Manuel Perera, 25, Ken Yu, 25, Carlos Minero, 28, Daniel Tran, 29, Rina Okimawinew, 26, Karina Guajala, 25, all of Toronto, and Wayne Sicard, 41, and Michael Dibble, 25, both of Brockville.

Like the guy who wrote this silly article.

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LAST WORD: The King of Kitsch

With it's gold nitrided "tiger stripe" finish... this monstrosity really is the ultimate stereotypical "pimp gun."

The current Mark XIX measures almost 11 inches overall with a 6-inch barrel and 14 1⁄2 inches with a 10 incher. It's six inches high, 1 1/2 inches wide and weighs four pounds, 6.2 ounces.

It's an imposing piece of hardware--a fact that's not been lost on the motion picture industry as Desert Eagles have been used in scads of thrillers and sci-fi flicks.

I'd be embarrassed just to be in the same room with one of these things.

Another fuzzy-bunny poll goes awry

"In Canada as a whole, multiculturalism is..."

Thank you, Globe and Mail.

Stand and deliver

Despite getting their raggedy-asses severely kicked every time they have chosen to dig in and fight a set-piece battle, the Taliban have chosen to take a stand at Musa Qala...

"The morale of the Taleban is high... We will fight until the death," Taleban commander Mullah Ahmadullah told the Associated Press news agency.

NATO's response to that position was apparently "We're good with that", as British troops "kicked in the door" on Friday.

Predictably, the Taliban have organised their media strategy for maximum effect.

Taleban fighters have been given orders to carry out attacks far more widely than Musa Qala to try to deflect attention, but Nato sources say they have contingency plans to deal with that, our correspondent reports.

The rebels would not comment on a report by the chief of Helmand police that they had hanged a 12-year-old boy accused of spying for the British.

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UPDATE: One NATO soldier reported killed

-- KABUL -- A NATO soldier, two children and 12 ‘terrorists’ have been killed in the first day of an operation to retake the southern Afghan town of Musa Qala, the Afghan defence ministry said Saturday.

Two children in a vehicle in front of a Taleban patrol were also killed in a firefight, ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi told reporters.

Five other civilians in the car were wounded, he said, accusing the rebels of using the vehicle as a shield.

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RELATED: Aussies re-up troop committment

Australian troops will remain in Afghanistan until at least 2010 - doubling the original two-year commitment - in a decision that has not been formally announced or debated.

This was revealed by the Dutch Government, which is extending its Afghan deployment until August 2010, in part because it says the Australians will also extend their stay.

I think I've found...

The perfect Christmas gift for Warren Kinsella.

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FROM THE COMMENTS: The Devil's Handmaid drops in...

"Warren said... Let's have a flame war. I'm bored at the moment, and you should amount to a brief diversion."

He also calls me... how's this for clever... "NeoFascist."

A disappointing little sally from the phraseologist who gave us... "Barnum, Bailey and Schreiber."

C'mon Warren... I expect your A-Game.

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LAST WORD: Free speech meets legal screech

So Warren, lemme get this straight... you want to provoke a public cat-fight?

"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."

China Syndrome

Stop me if you've heard this one before...

One of China's best-known food companies has halted exports of all tinned food, after toxic chemicals were found in canned meat products.

Food safety officials in Hong Kong have discovered a banned antibiotic, nitrofurans, in tins of Maling brand pork luncheon meat and pork ribs.

Analysts say it is going to take concerted effort to prevent unscrupulous businessmen cutting corners, in China's prevailing get-rich-quick culture.

**********

RELATED: Stoking that economic furnace

-- BEIJING -- It's hard to get your head around a figure like $1.4-trillion. Dai Zhi Ping, who makes $500 a month selling the Beijing News from the back of his motorbike, looks perplexed when he is told that China has that much money in its foreign exchange piggy bank.

This guy oughta have...

"Live and don't learn" tattooed across his forehead.

A teen whose dad was murdered 17 years ago has surrendered to face a murder charge in a slaying near Square One Mall in Mississauga.

Tristan Palmer, 19, had been sought on a warrant in the shooting death last Sunday of Husam Dagheim, 27, in a parking lot near Rathburn Rd. and Duke of York Blvd. Palmer was also wanted for robbery, assault causing bodily harm and uttering threats in connection with a robbery of a person last month.

Palmer's father, Delroy George Wolfe, was 23 when he was killed at a house party on Eaglemount Cr. in Mississauga in 1990.

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FROM THE COMMENTS:

u think a guy who would be into drugs and all..would try to found an ice-cream business????? that's what i heard husam was doing only recently!!!!

Technorati Tags: Tristan Palmer, Husam Dagheim, Delroy George Wolfe

Salaam Dunk

Another "holy shit, he nailed it" moment...

"Could none of our nuanced, deep-thinking pundits really find their powers of concentration for the five seconds it takes to see why it's a bad idea to establish boards that throw out rules of evidence and give prizes to whoever can cry the hardest about being an oppressed victim with hurt feelings?"

(via FFOF)

**********

UPDATE: Mark Steyn weighs in

"The aim of a large swathe of the left is not to win the debate but to get it cancelled before it starts."

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LAST WORD: More nanny-state HRC fun

A group of Toronto-area children are asking the Ontario Human Rights Commission to force their school to launch mandatory lunch-bag inspections to screen out foods to which they have severe allergies, a case which could make all Ontario schools do the same.

Technorati Tags: Canadian Islamic Congress, Human Rights Commission, suckass political correctness

THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON...

Any parent can ever impress upon their wayward child... ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES.

Parents don't often tell their children what they can expect to get for Christmas, but thanks to some creative parenting, one Toronto-area teen knows exactly what he won't be getting.

That's because his dad is selling what would have been his Christmas present — the popular video game Guitar Hero III — on eBay, after he caught the 15-year-old smoking pot in the backyard of the family home.

Of course, the real kicker here... is knowing your child's currency.

"After I caught him getting high on my patio I did the typical yelling, screaming, kicking out the friends, etc..." the father writes. "But I had not decided on a suitable way to punish him ... Anyways, I am now finding it hard to justify rewarding him with this gift after he so greatly disappointed me."

"I am still considering getting him a game for his Nintendo," the seller writes.

"Maybe something like Barbie as the Island Princess or Dancing With the Stars. These games are in stock everywhere I go, and I know he will just love them."

"Merry Xmas Isaac. I hope you've learned your lesson."

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FROM THE COMMENTS:

"This is what lefties refer to as child abuse. The government should sue the father on behalf of the teenager. It's not like the kid was convicted in court etc. ad nauseum..."

Now, before I get 6 gazillion emails from aging hippies about the peerless health benefits of sparking up a breakfast doob... please note that this post is not about the morality or wisdom of embracing or rejecting dope.

It's about making choices... and the undeniable consequences of same.

Technorati Tags: Merry Xmas Isaac, Guitar Hero, The Right Stuff

The money is...

The smallest part of the problem...

Councils should be able to translate fewer documents and signs into foreign languages in future, according to new government guidelines.

Having materials converted into other tongues discourages some people in the UK from learning English, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears is due to say.

Last year, a BBC investigation suggested local authorities could be spending £100m annually on the process.

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RELATED: Meanwhile, back at the ranch

For the past decade, statistician Charles Castonguay has been predicting the demise of francophone communities outside Quebec.

Now, with census data showing a continuing slide in native French-speakers outside Quebec, he says it's time to cut off federal government life-support to the shrinking francophone outposts.

A voice in the wilderness

This the the very lonely voice that we so seldom hear... in daily discourse and the mainstream media...

It is often said that Islam has been “hijacked” by a small extremist group of radical fundamentalists. The vast majority of Muslims are said to be moderates.

But where are the moderates?

It suddenly occurs to me... you might also want to ask that same question... about the NDP.

**********

RELATED: Too many fanatics, not enough sanity

"I trust Irene Mathyssen to know about these things. She is the NDP critic on the Status of Women. Presumably she knows what is disrespectful. No doubt she believes that a woman can wear whatever she wants."

"What she doesn't want is men looking at them.

Hey, Steffi...

You're not gonna jump to this poor guy's defence?

The Supreme Court of Canada has paved the way for the extradition of a Canadian man to the U.S. where he is accused in a decades-old slaying of an aboriginal activist.

Got Swat

Say what you will about Pervez Musharraf and democracy... he's puttin' it all on the line by staying in Pakistan and fighting...

Troops in north-west Pakistan have retaken two Swat valley towns that were strongholds of pro-Taleban cleric Maulana Fazlullah. They have also captured the village of Imam Dehri, which was used by Maulana Fazlullah to broadcast radio messages in support of the militants.

The Pakistani military says nearly 250 pro-Taleban fighters have been killed since an offensive in the Swat valley was launched two weeks ago.

Gamil who?

Every time I see this annual "all men are abusers, let's melt down all the guns" argle-bargle... I have to shake my head...

Amanda Foley with Girl Guides Canada said she began researching the massacre and was stunned to learn more about how Mr. Lepine singled out women simply because of their gender.

Hey, Amanda... maybe you don't have the whole story.

Remember Gamil Gharbi?

Of course, you don't... because it's almost a crime in media circles to mention that name.

**********

UPDATE: I can't believe it...

The Globe actually accepted my comment.

Technorati Tags: Marc Lepine, Gamil Gharbi, Montreal massacre

Those Naughty Neurophysiologists...

And their quest to get inside your head...

“In these experiments we presented a large database of pictures, and discovered that we can predict what picture the subject is seeing far above chance. So, in simple words, we can read the human thought from the neuronal activity.

Dr Quian Quiroga’s latest research, which has appeared in the Journal of Neurophysiology, follows on from this.

I think we've unfairly typecast these guys... apparently they're not "all work and no play."

“For example, if the 'Jennifer Aniston neuron' increases its firing then we can predict that the subject is seeing Jennifer Aniston. If the 'Halle Berry neuron' fires, then we can predict that the subject is seeing Halle Berry, and so on.

The Abaya Monologues

Vexingly, there are no enclosed Ikea-like diagrams with cheerful balloon people, suitable for all languages. A search online turns up nothing helpful (keywords: burqa abaya hijab how to wear).

I take in the sight of me fully veiled for the first time.

To my Western eye, I look like Mrs. Darth Vader.

America's Most Wanted

Yessirreee... it's about time we went after this vile criminal organisation.

-- Philadelphia -- Municipal officials said the clash stemmed from a duty to defend civil rights and an obligation to abide by a local law that bars taxpayer support for any group that discriminates.

This week the Boy Scouts made their last stand and lost.

Thank you... City of Brotherly Love.

Dipper Mathyssen gets her prude on

Hey, Irene... does this mean you're gonna flip out at your next Gay Pride Parade too?

-- OTTAWA -- Conservatives and Liberals duelled today for the favour of women voters but it was the NDP that fired the most sensational shot.

However, it eventually turned out that Irene Mathyssen, a New Democrat MP from London, Ont., was firing blanks.

Mathyssen stunned all sides by complaining that she'd seen Tory MP James Moore checking out a "scantily clad" woman on his laptop computer in Parliament.

Turns out it was a picture of his girlfriend.

**********

WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS:

The politician who appeared the least eager to jump on the bandwagon was NDP Leader Jack Layton, even though the issue had been discussed and backed by the party's caucus.

"It's her responsibility to raise this in the House if she sees something that concerns her."

Oh, c'mon, Irene... everybody needs friends.

**********

UPDATE: Conservative MP Moore compared to killer?

Hey, Irene... you know a good lawyer?

MPs are protected from legal action for anything that they say in the House based on the principle of parliamentary privilege. But Mathyssen repeated her allegations against Moore outside of the House to reporters.

Speaking to reporters, the image of the scantily clad woman she had described to her fellow MPs turned into "soft porn, Playboy-type stuff."

"I have very good vision. I know what I saw," she said.

Noting government cuts to a number of women's programs, Mathyssen said that Moore's actions added to the impression that the Conservative government is no friend of women.

It was even worse, she said, that it was coming up to the 18th anniversary of the Montreal Massacre, in which a lone gunman killed 14 women at a city college.

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LAST WORD: Two faced Double Dipper

CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife cited a report in Friday's online version of the London Free Press, in which Mathyssen vowed to stand by her claims. The MP told the paper she would only apologize for failing to speak to Moore before raising the issue in the House, not for making the accusation.

Fife said it's clear Mathyssen's party pressured her to offer up a full apology.

"She will probably have to explain to her local newspaper why she said one thing to them and another thing in the House of Commons," Fife told CTV Newsnet.

Technorati Tags: Irene Mathyssen, James Moore, suckass political correctness

If only he'd used a gun...

Or lived in a big city like Toronto... he'd have been walking the streets years ago.

-- METCHOSIN, B.C. -- Sitting with his green prison coat bunched on his lap, Rob Latimer sat silently as the National Parole Board turned down his bid for parole in the life sentence that he his serving for killing his severely disabled daughter.

The board members said they were left with the feeling Mr. Latimer has not developed sufficient insight and understanding of his actions.

**********

RELATED: Meanwhile... real criminals roam free

"In 2006 alone, more than 70% of all people charged with murder were on some sort of judicial release."

Yup... let's concentrate on Robert Latimer.

There's the real danger to society.

**********

UPDATE: There's a poll at the Globe



FROM THE COMMENTS:

Keep Latimer locked up, let this guy out unsupervised ... what a system.

- In 1995, upset about those same voices, he waited in the CJOH parking lot and plugged two shots into the first person he recognized -- who turned out to be popular Smith, a former NHL player who left work early because he was on his way to a charity event.

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LAST WORD: Focus on the criminals...

Is that too much to ask?

A teen suffered multiple stab wounds at an Etobicoke highrise in a suspected gang attack today.

Toronto Police said the victim, around 16, was found alone and bleeding profusely in an elevator by tenants at 2777 Kipling Ave., south of Steeles Ave., at 4:23 p.m.

He suffered two stab wounds to the chest and another to the head. He was rushed to Sunnybrook for emergency surgery. His condition was not immediately known.

Technorati Tags: Robert Latimer, National Parole Board, mercy killing

I don't know about Lady Justice...

But it sure looks like the OPP is blind.

Ontario's top cop, Julian Fantino, got his job only half-right at a violent protest in Caledonia this past weekend. Which means the Ontario Provincial Police commissioner got things half-wrong -- and big time.

Now, call me naive... but I thought the police weren't allowed to cherrypick... they were supposed to ENFORCE ALL the laws of the land.

There he was, talking tough, talking blunt and promising to crack down on a protester he felt had gone too far in opposing the alleged illegal sale of cigarettes by natives.

But when it came to subject of the protest itself -- a native tobacco trade that is apparently breaking the law by depriving governments of millions of dollars in taxes -- Fantino strangely enough didn't say boo.

If Julian Fantino is not prepared to enforce the "law of the land"... he's not the right man for the job.

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RELATED: Gotta love that selective enforcement

A man hurt during a weekend confrontation in Caledonia says he will take legal action against the OPP for not stepping in when things got ugly.

The protesters encountered a group of 100 natives. About 16 uniformed OPP officers were present, McHale said. McHale and another protester were hurt.

Technorati Tags: homegrown terrorists, Julian Fantino, suckass political correctness

Well... it could be worse

They actually used to burn "the heretics" along with the books.

-- CALGARY -- The Roman Catholic school board in Calgary has followed the lead of a Catholic school board in Burlington, Ont., in pulling the children's fantasy book The Golden Compass off school shelves.

"Our children are exposed to a wide range of information," said board spokeswoman Judy Mackay. "One of our responsibilities is to help them understand how that fits with their belief system and to equip them with the skills so that they understand how they can fit that into their own belief system."

I'm not exactly clear on how "banning" this book is "equipping anyone with skills".

Coincidentally, neither is this guy...

Not everyone in Calgary's Catholic community was jumping on the book-banning bandwagon.

Calgary Bishop Fred Henry said there are more pressing issues facing Catholics than debating a children's fantasy novel.

Technorati Tags: The Golden Compass, Halton Catholic District School Board, Calgary Catholic School Board

You don't need a weatherman...

To know which way the fallout's blowin...

When is a nuclear program a nuclear weapons program?

The open secret of the nuclear age is that the line between civilian and military programs is extraordinarily thin.

Enriched to low levels, uranium can fuel a reactor that produces electrical power — which is what Tehran says it wants to do. But if uranium is purified in spinning centrifuges long enough, and becomes highly enriched, it can fuel an atom bomb.

Yup... that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad... he's just all about the electricity.

Indeed, the most difficult part of building a bomb is not doing the secret military design work but rather the part of the process that is also crucial to civilian nuclear power — producing the fuel.

This one's a no-brainer.

Standing by and doing nothing here is like letting your labrador retriever drive the kids to school.

Technorati Tags: Iran, nuclear weapons, Ahmadinejad

A pimp, not a simp

The rap world mourns the passing of yet another musical giant...

"I'm trill working the wheel. A pimp, not a simp. Keep the dope fiends higher than the Goodyear blimp. We eat so many shrimp I got iodine poisoning."

The changing face of urban Canada

However you might feel about it... it's not your parent's Toronto any more.

-- TORONTO -- One in every five Canadians is now foreign-born, the highest proportion in 75 years, a shift likely to have profound consequences for Canada's economic and cultural future.

Canada is becoming ever more diverse, Statistics Canada's 2006 census shows. The country's foreign-born population soared 13.6 per cent between 2001 and 2006 — four times higher than the Canadian-born population.

I should mention here... in the interest of heading off any more virulent, offensive comments... my parents were immigrants.

Jihadi Operating System

Seems this "suicide bomber" kept going off in the wrong neighbourhoods...

Microsoft is to withdraw an anti-piracy tool from Windows Vista, which disables the operating system when invoked, following customer complaints.

The so-called "kill switch" is designed to prevent users with illegal copies of Vista from using certain features.

But the tool has suffered from glitches since it was introduced with many Windows users claiming that legal copies of Vista had been disabled.

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RELATED: Speaking of little glitches

"This is exactly how identity theft happens," said Carlisle Adams, an Internet data security expert and professor at the University of Ottawa.

"If you want to take out a mortgage, for example, this is the type of information the bank is going to ask for to make sure you're really the person you're claiming to be. Then all of a sudden there's a mortgage in someone else's name."

Technorati Tags: Windows Vista, kill switch, Microsoft

Schreiberfest

I'm not sure this dog and pony show is turning out exactly the way Stephane Dion envisioned.

Meanwhile, the Ontario Court of Appeal has agreed to release Mr. Schreiber on $1.31-million bail. CBC News is reporting that former Liberal cabinet minister Marc Lalonde is among those posting bail, as is Mr. Schreiber and his wife, Barbel.

Liberal cabinet heavyweight André Ouellet waged an intense backroom fight in the mid-1990s to rescue the project, according to federal documents obtained by The Globe.

So that's what some Liberals were gibbering about recently... when they said they wanted "a focused inquiry."

I'm trying to imagine possible headlines later this week...

"Can we just dig up 'some' of the bodies?", pleads Dion.

**********

UPDATE: Globe and Mail's schizophrenic coverage

"Karlheinz Schreiber says he never talked to Brian Mulroney about money while the former prime minister was still in office, although the pair agreed to work together on future business, he told a parliamentary committee."

But what's this further down the page?

"Mr. Schreiber alleges that he struck a financial deal with the former prime minister while Mr. Mulroney was still in office."

Make up your mind, willya?

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LAST WORD: Steffi... keep diggin... please

Yesterday's testimony Mr. Schreiber mentioned three bank accounts yesterday - the Frankfurt account, the Britan account and the Mark account.

The Marc account, Mr. Schreiber said, was for Marc Lalonde, a former Liberal cabinet minister who is on retainer as his lawyer, dispensing friendly advice more than legal services. Mr. Lalonde helped post bail for Mr. Schreiber in 2000 and again yesterday.

Marc Lalonde, who apparently "forgot" to register as a lobbyist, replies...

In testimony before a Commons committee on Tuesday, Mr. Schreiber said that one of a Swiss bank account containing $500,000 — one of the accounts associated with Airbus "grease money" — was earmarked for Mr. Lalonde.

Mr. Lalonde said in an e-mail Tuesday that he doesn’t know why that might be.

"As to the $500,000 account you refer to, I have no knowledge what kinds of accounts he maintained and under what name," he said.

"I can only repeat that bills were sent; they were sent by my former firm under my signature and they were regularly paid to the firm. I can say, however, that the total never amounted to $500,000."

Technorati Tags: Karlheinz Schreiber, Stephane Dion, Airbust

No Suspect Left Behind

Apparently David Miller and the city of Toronto have charged into the trenches of the war on terror.

-- TORONTO -- Mahmoud Jaballah has been banned from unsupervised communications with the outside world for nearly a decade, ever since he was accused of relaying messages for al-Qaeda before the deadly 1998 African embassy bombings.

They just might want to reconsider which side they're on.

But last month, in a breach of the Egyptian's bail conditions, a City of Toronto program for needy families installed a new high-speed Internet connection in his home.

In late August, high-school student Afnan Essayyid, one of Mr. Jaballah's six children, qualified for the City of Toronto's Kids@Computers scholarship program, which gives free Internet connections to families on welfare.

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RELATED: But Mahmoud needs his DSL

-- RIYADH, Dec 4 (Reuters) -- There are now about 5,600 Web sites spreading al Qaeda's ideology worldwide, and 900 more are appearing each year, a Saudi researcher told a national security conference on Tuesday.

"The real battle with al Qaeda is no longer on the ground, but rather a media battle, and it is a real threat to national security," Faram told Reuters. "For al Qaeda media coverage is more important than the actual operations," he said.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

Jaballah's son Ahmed was one of the people behind the hoohah at the U of T Scarborough campus halal food issue.

Yeah... I remember that one.

**********

LAST WORD: Meanwhile, over at Leftbot Central...

The socialist McGuinty government is policing people's Christmas gifts.

-- SARNIA -- Political correctness has been taken to an absurd level by the people who decide what can and can't go on Ontario's personalized licence plates, a Sarnia woman says.

Technorati Tags: Mahmoud Jaballah, Ahmed Jaballah, suckass political correctness

It gets cold, or wet...

I stop changing the oil in the vehicles and let Crappy Tire do the dirty work... so this kinda thing just blows me away.

-- GREENBELT, Md. -- It’s the last roundup for the People’s Telescope.

Next August, after 20 years of hype, disappointment, blunders, triumphs and peerless glittering vistas of space and time, and four years after NASA decided to leave the Hubble Space Telescope to die in orbit, setting off public and Congressional outrage, a group of astronauts will ride to the telescope aboard the space shuttle Atlantis with wrenches in hand.

That, at least, is the plan.

Outstanding karma debt...

Repaid in full...

Recently a Taleban commander in Musa Qala told visiting journalists that they were ready for an assault, claiming they had more than 2,000 Taleban fighters in the town.

The shoot gets underway and... I'm sad to report... Mullah Sainy ain't gonna make the wrap party.

Technorati Tags: Musa Qala, Mullah Sainy, leftwing media bias

Million Dollar Babies

You didn't actually think this charade had anything to do... with holding Karlheinz Schreiber to account... did you?

" -- OTTAWA -- We're a parliamentary committee. We're not a commission of inquiry. We want to get his testimony, we don't do interrogations and we don't extort the information from a hostile or recalcitrant witness," she said.

"At the end of the day, if someone doesn't want to respond, or tells us lies, it's public opinion that will judge them."

**********

RELATED: Boy... that sure explains a lot

-- TORONTO -- A new Statistics Canada survey reveals that one out every seven people in the country is living with a disability.

An estimated 4.4 million Canadians reported having a disability in 2006, an increase of more than 750,000 people over the past five years.

Technorati Tags: Karlheinz Schreiber, Stephane Dion, Airbust

This one goes out to...

Poor, overworked, under-appreciated Uncle Mike...

"On my fourth day of telecommuting I realize that clothes are totally unnecessary."

The Teddy sounds a lot smarter

What exactly does this woman teach... fingerpainting?

-- Khartoum -- Gibbons issued a statement saying she has great respect for Islam, and apologizing for any distress she had caused to the people of Sudan. She is expected to leave the country as soon as possible.

Anybody know... what happened to the poor bear?

**********

UPDATE: Bad news on the Teddy front.

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RELATED: The smelly armpit of Africa

Thanks to the Gillian Gibbons saga, Sudan has managed to transform its public image from pariah state to something approaching a laughing stock.

Technorati Tags: Gillian Gibbons, sharia law, suckass political correctness

Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge

Hey, it's not my my fault... the local library refuses to burn all the Richard Dawkins books...

Christianity: The belief that a cosmic Jewish zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree.

Flame away... I'm certainly prepared to listen to the other side of the equation.

**********

RELATED: Need another opinion?

Email the Pope

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

For nature or the physical laws of the universe to arrange things such that one of the byproducts (me) is a being that can believe its actions are meaningful and also comprehend its own complete insignificance seems like a bad joke to me.

I think there might be a joker.

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LAST WORD: You're not gonna riot, are you?

"Suppose it's not just me. Suppose that several people of your acquaintance, including people who you're pretty sure don't know each other, all tell you that they have dragons in their garages -- but in every case the evidence is maddeningly elusive."

A strategic withdrawal

It looks like RCMI will live to fight another day.

-- TORONTO -- The stately home of the Royal Canadian Military Institute, a city landmark that has graced University Avenue for 100 years, is facing voluntary demolition to make way for a high-rise condominium.

The plan, quietly approved by the private institute's members, calls for the building's Edwardian facade--currently flanked by two 19th-century cannons -- to be saved as a nod to its rich heritage.

Given present circumstances... this appears to be the best possible solution here.

Despite the membership's love of history, the financial case was compelling, said several institute members, speaking on condition they not be named.

"It is quite a huge proposal. It is an innovative and startling idea. It was difficult to get comfortable with but there seems no other way," said one long-time member.

Another put it more bluntly: "Sad to say, there's not a hope in Hades of whipping this place into shape without help."

Often imitated... never duplicated

You bring your rose-coloured glasses over to Kathy Shaidle's house... she'll shove 'em up your ass...

Let's face it: other Africans don't care much about starving Africans, or they wouldn't steal foreign aid from the mouths of their fellow citizens.

The Great White Liberal doesn't really care, otherwise they'd never have banned DDT or fertilizer... He's just indulging in masturbatory/circle jerk moral exhibitionism.

Africa is a basketcase and that isn't my problem. Christianity was probably helping, but they seem to prefer Islam, with predictable results.

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RELATED: C'mon, some Torontonians really, really care

Sheila Ward probably did not expect her final public meeting as Toronto District School Board chair would mostly involve pounding her gavel, clearing the room and finally calling the meeting off.

But that is what happened this past Wednesday night after mother Vickie McPhee, a social rights activist, took over the floor just after the meeting started, backed by supportive shouts from some of the 100-or-so supporters of a proposal to start an Africentric school next fall.

While others obviously don't...

And over at Toronto's Catholic board? While the TDSB's meeting was being shut down, the same night Catholic trustees quietly acclaimed their new chair, Catherine Leblanc-Miller.

Riot... or quiet... the new standard of caring.

Technorati Tags: Africa, Toronto District School Board, suckass political correctness

Cirque de Stephane

No matter how many times they wheel out that tiny fiberal clown car... I never get tired of all the little bozos spilling out... and tripping all over themselves.

"I'm not a potted plant. I'm not going to go to that kind of process," said Greenspan, who didn't appear at Thursday's hearing.

"It's not a fair process ... it's a political circus."

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RELATED: Speaking of lack of due process

First, they came for the seniors...

"For the drug gangs they have to get a warrant before they go into their houses, and yet the Firearms Act allows them to come into our house when we've never committed a crime in our life."

Uh, officer... after you've finished frisking Grampa... you might wanna head on over to Scarborough.

A stabbing that critically injured a man left Christmas shoppers outside and empty-handed at Scarborough Town Centre last night, when some stores were abruptly closed. Police were called to the mall at 6:30 p.m., after a man was stabbed outside the Foot Locker.

Shoppers were forced out of parts of the mall and the Wal-Mart, many forced to abandon what they'd gathered before paying for it. Some weren't surprised by the violence.

"Every day you see that," said Ravi Subraman, 32, who was shopping for toys for his children. He said he's seen "three or four" fights in the area recently.

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UPDATE: No biggie... gotta have shoes, right?

A man was seen running from the scene through Wal-Mart. The store was shut down and an 18-year-old was arrested soon after.

A Foot Locker employee said yesterday the stabbing wasn't having much affect on holiday shopping. Facing several charges, including attempted murder, is Kareen King, 18, of Toronto.

Now, you just hang on...

One taser-pickin' minute.