CBC unleashes inner Jihadi...

...with screaming headline...

"Afghan father wants revenge for children's deaths."

"If I ever get the chance, I will kill the Canadians," Mohammed said.

Well, revenge... and a pile of cash...

Mohammed described himself as a poor man who only had enough money to pay for the taxi ride to Kandahar and said Canadians should help him out.

No word yet from the CEEB... on whether a payout will preclude ol' Mo following through on his threat.

**********

RELATED: What it's all about

*

We're gonna have a party

Steffi must be so pleased... what with all his recent bravado about bringing down the government...

Mr. Harper says the Tories will be pushing ahead with their legislative agenda – and, he says, “you can bet some of these will be confidence motions.”

**********

RELATED: And while we're on "vote of confidence"

Stephen Taylor gets mail...

"It should be troubling for Dion to learn that there are members of his own political staff that are actively undermining the man at this critical time by leaking strategic communications that have landed right in my inbox."

Yeeeeouch... that's gonna leave a mark.

*

Remember...

...friends don't let friends... vote Liberal...

-- MONTREAL -- Chuck Guite has failed in his bid to get the Quebec Court of Appeal to overturn his conviction on fraud charges related to the sponsorship scandal.

Mr. Guite, a former bureaucrat, was in charge of the federal sponsorship program where friends of the federal Liberals were paid in the 1990s for little or no work.

*

Apparently, it's Chinese for...

"Screw you and your dangerous, irresponsible democracies."

Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee spokesman Sun Weide says journalists will have what he called "sufficient and convenient" Internet access.

Sun told reporters Chinese authorities will - with the exception of websites the Chinese deem illegal - provide full access to the Internet to facilitate their reporting during the Olympic games.

*

It's a start...

...as Fiberals try to firm up their non-existent "tough on crime" credentials...

Kicking trouble-making tenants out of public housing could get a lot easier if the province embraces landmark private member's legislation coming this fall, but whether Toronto Community Housing will embrace the measure isn't clear.

Under the proposed legislation, tenants tired of neighbours dealing crack, hiding guns or prostituting could complain to a provincial investigator, who could evict the tenant or close the property -- faster than current provincial legislation allows.

And how does Toronto Community Housing respond?

"(SCAN) legislation may lead to further stigmatization of Toronto Community Housing as a consequence of the potential for an increase in negative media coverage."

You do have to ask who exactly is being stigmatized...

Councillor Michael Thompson said more than 50% of all murders in Toronto over the past several years have happened on or near TCH property.

Over the last five years, TCH has initiated 50-gun related eviction proceedings. Six of those tenants have been evicted; 12 left voluntarily; 14 were settlements; five were appealed; six are pending; one was dismissed, and six were withdrawn or not filed.

Sorry, folks... a little difficult to sympathise here.

Use a gun, you're done.

*

Sure, I was just thinking...

...the crime rate drops any lower... we'll have to start laying off cops...

"I was just reading a book and all of a sudden I heard a guy screaming. I turned around and the guy sitting right beside me was standing up and stabbing another guy with a big Rambo knife."

"Right in the throat. Repeatedly."

And then it got worse.

**********

RELATED: The horror doesn't stop there

“There are signs of violence on her body,” Sergeant Marc Butz, a spokesman with the Sûreté du Québec, said in an interview. “But no weapons were used, no firearm, no knife.”

What kind of freak beats a 17 year-old girl to death?

**********

LAST WORD: Owen Sound on the map...

...as mob attacks innocent bystander.

In what police are calling a case of mistaken identity, a Toronto man was stabbed and savagely beaten late Tuesday by a group of strangers in Owen Sound.

Investigators say a drunken woman apparently sparked the attack by physically and verbally assaulting the 42-year-old man as he was walking near 2nd Ave. E. and 10th St., just after 11:30 p.m.

With no other option, they say the man held on to the woman with one arm and called the police with his cellphone.

**********

WELCOME, YET AGAIN, READERS OF CANADIAN CYNIC

This time CC wants to know... "Who to call if I need a babysitter on short notice?"

I'm thinkin'... probably not this guy.

A little background on my biggest fan.

*

Has anybody else...

...heard about "demographic inversion"?

In the past three decades, Chicago has undergone changes that are routinely described as gentrification, but are in fact more complicated and more profound than the process that term suggests.

A better description would be "demographic inversion." Chicago is gradually coming to resemble a traditional European city--Vienna or Paris in the nineteenth century, or, for that matter, Paris today.

The poor and the newcomers are living on the outskirts. The people who live near the center--some of them black or Hispanic but most of them white--are those who can afford to do so.

And Canada gets a star turn here as well.

If you want to see this sort of thing writ large, you can venture just across the Canadian border to Vancouver, a city roughly the size of Washington, D.C.

What makes it unusual--indeed, at this point unique in all of North America--is that roughly 20 percent of its residents live within a couple of square miles of each other in the city's center.

This seems to be the opposite of what has been happening to large metropolitan cities in recent memory.

Anybody remember, for instance, Buffalo in the eighties?

An interesting development.

**********

RELATED: Of course, there's the obvious benefits

-- VANCOUVER -- When a guy dressed in a beaver suit can arrive on a Vancouver street corner and score some heroin within minutes, it highlights a serious problem in the city. So says the program director of a local radio station whose morning show performed the bit live on the air.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"It's not just a demographic shift, it's a family/non-family shift. Very dangerous for the future of liberal western democracies."

Curiouser and curiouser.

*

Carbon-credit...

...where credit is due...

-- EARTH -- "They called me foolish and laughed at my predictions. Yet even now, the Midwest is flooded, the ice caps are melting, and the cities are rocked with tremors, just as I foretold."

"Fools! Why didn't they heed me before it was too late?"

Al Gore—or, as he is known in his own language, Gore-Al—placed his son, Kal-Al, gently in the one-passenger rocket ship, his brow furrowed by the great weight he carried in preserving the sole survivor of humanity's hubristic folly.

*

I'm guessin' he'll just have to fish...

...'cos there's no way his handlers are lettin' him anywhere near... any kind of sharp objects...

“Mr. Dion must decide to fish or cut bait. He must either let the current Parliament work and let us go on with our mandate, or the voters themselves will decide.”

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Funny how the 33 comments at the Globe don't exist anymore."

*

Okay... so I was wrong

The sorta thriving metropolis of Belleville, Ontario... does have a hooker problem...

Less than a block away, another well-known prostitute trolled up Front Street wearing a black miniskirt, red suede cowboy boots and hair pulled back in pigtails. As she slowly made her way up the Front Street sidewalk, the woman worked theatrically to make flirting eye contact with any men who came across her path.

Of course... there's a bit of a difference in the way your average non-GTA citizen reacts to it.

However, her provocative antics drew jeers from several people waiting for a bus outside a department store. “Get lost,” said one man, sneering. “No one wants you down here.” The woman smiled and kept walking.

Now, I confess I don't get down to the "Big Smoke" as often as I used to... but I had no idea this was going on.

There's one especially sleazy bar/hotel in the city core... but I guess I just assumed all the raggedy ass people hanging around... were just the usual complement of professional losers you accumulate anywhere.

Glaring at her from across the street was a 43-year-old woman finishing a morning coffee break from her shift at a downtown business.

“I saw her talking to some greaseball earlier this morning,” said the woman, asking her name not be used. “She’s been working this street all morning long.”

I'll try get some pictures the next time I'm downtown.

*

As Kate is wont to say...

"I'm praying for an asteroid."

*

More international arse-kissing

Somebody explain it to me again... why does the international community quietly put up with this sort of assault on personal freedoms?

-- BEIJING -- Some International Olympic Committee officials cut a deal to let China block sensitive Web sites despite promises of unrestricted access, a senior IOC official admitted today.

And the most galling thing is... they look you right in the face and lie.

China had committed to providing media with the same freedom to report on the Games as they enjoyed at previous Olympics, but journalists have this week complained of finding access to sites deemed sensitive to its communist leadership blocked.

Once again... the Great Firewall of China.

Are Western companies engaging in censorship in China?

Yes. Products such as yahoo.cn and google.cn adhere to the rules of official Chinese censorship. In other words, not everything you search for with google.cn is available.

These companies argue that if you wish to do business in a particular country, you must obey its rules.

**********

RELATED: A long history of Western complicity...

U.S.-based Cisco Systems and Canadian-based Nortel Networks are working closely with the People's Armed Police developing oppressive and intrusive computer systems to monitor, track and prosecute illegal Internet web browsers.

Nortel has contracts with Datang Telecom, a Chinese firm that works closely with the Chinese Ministry of State Security. Nortel has provided its "Personal Internet" suite to the MSS, allowing authorities to monitor and track nearly half of China's individual Internet users.

Nortel is currently working with the communist authorities in Shanghai to build a "Shasta 5000" firewall. The firewall allows the red thought police to monitor and track subscribers who access Internet web sites judged inappropriate by the communist government.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Seriously, this is like Lucy and Charlie Brown and the football. Every time..."

*

"Lucy... joo got some 'splaining..."

I've also looked at Warman's reputation and said, essentially: "You're suing me because I reported that you wrote an anti-Black comment on a website, using a false name?"

"But you've already admitted, under oath, to writing hundreds of anti-Black, anti-Semitic and anti-gay comments on neo-Nazi websites under false names!"

*

Land of Billionaires

-- HARARE, Zimbabwe -- On Wednesday, central bank governor Gideon Gono announced he was dropping 10 zeros from the currency, to turn 10 billion dollars into one, effective Friday.

That comes a week after he introduced a 100 billion-dollar note that was not enough to buy a loaf of bread.

But, hey... it's not all bad news.

*

Not the 'angle of the dangle'

Organizers of the Beijing Olympics have set up a sex-determination laboratory to evaluate “suspect” female athletes, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported Sunday.

Although only athletes whose gender has been questioned will be tested in Beijing, the lab is a relic of an earlier Olympic era, when every female athlete was required to submit to a sex-verification test before competing in the Games.

At first, women were asked to parade nude before a panel of doctors to verify their sex. At the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, officials switched to a chromosomal test.

You've come a long way, baby.

*

Respected Community Leader?

Looks like that's about to change.

-- TORONTO -- "The police are liars Dudley. You think they're nice? They're wicked," she said. "That's why some of them will die a bad death you know."

"People are going to put bullets in their heads."

Steele was once in serious consideration for appointment to the Toronto Police Services Board.

People, Valerie?

Not anyone you know, surely?

*

So who's watching the CBC?

If we actually have a similar oversight authority here in Canada... I sure haven't seen any evidence of it...

The BBC has been fined £400,000 by media watchdog Ofcom for misleading its audiences by "faking" phone-ins. The Comic Relief, Children in Need and Sport Relief TV shows were caught up in the scandal, along with Liz Kershaw on 6 Music and Jo Whiley's Radio 1 show.

In July 2007, Ofcom fined the BBC £50,000 after children's programme Blue Peter falsified the results of a contest during a live show. The BBC later suspended all competitions after an inquiry unearthed a fresh batch of faked phone-ins the same month.

And please don't tell me it's all up to the the CBC Ombudsman...

The BBC's own watchdog, the BBC Trust, said it regretted the loss of licence-fee payers' money as a result of the fine, which followed rule-breaches which were "serious, deliberate and, in some cases, repeated".

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Well, since nobody is watching the CBC, and I mean NOBODY, who cares?"

*

The good news, I suppose, is...

...it could always be worse....

ONE of Hugo Chávez’s lesser-known feats since taking over as Venezuela’s leader in 1999 is to have presided over a tripling of the annual homicide rate—and that’s according to the official statistics.

Last year more than 13,000 people were killed in a country of 27m, producing a murder rate of 48 per 100,000, the second highest in the world (after El Salvador).

In neighbouring Colombia, a country plagued by guerrilla war and drug violence, the rate was 40 per 100,000.

*

More Gangs and Guns

The bodies just keep on piling up.

-- VANCOUVER -- Hung Van Bui survived the hail of bullets that killed two and wounded six a year ago at the Fortune Happiness Restaurant, described as one of the worst shootings in city history.

But he did not survive what police called a targeted hit in South Vancouver on Monday night.

Mr. Bui was known to police, and was believed to be involved in the drug trade, police spokesman Tim Fanning said.

*

Just you wait...

...until Mayor Miller shuts down all the target ranges... and sends those nasty Olympic hopefuls packing...

Toronto Police appear to have yet another gun murder on their hands, after the victim of a weekend shooting succumbed to his wounds in hospital Tuesday.

Twenty-year-old Dominic Shearer-Hanomansingh was found lying in a pool of blood near Eglinton and Black Creek Drive late Saturday night.

He'd been shot in the face and cops also believed he may have also been stabbed.

This isn't the Toronto I once knew.

But don't just take my word for it.

**********

UPDATE: Gonna get biblical on his ass

**********

WELCOME, ONCE AGAIN, READERS OF CANADIAN CYNIC

"Hey, CC... you gonna start censoring the MSM as well?"

I mean, we all know what "delicate sensibilities" you have.

**********

WELCOME READERS OF DR DEMENTO, uh... DAWG

I think the Dawg... needs a good worming.

*

Talk about delicious irony...

...everybody's favourite pottymouth screwball, the loudly self-celebrated Canadian Cynic... once again confusing clumsy sarcasm for wit... calls for Stephen Taylor to start censoring the Blogging Tories...

"But I'm sure I'm overreacting here, Stephen. I'm sure there's nothing to be concerned over."

Well CC... you obnoxious dumbstick... you're certainly over-reacting here...

Now, I do have to state very clearly, that replying to the Cynic... who is by the way, my most frequent linker... is done solely of my own volition.

And also, for the record, despite the spew of paranoia above... there is no shadowy, Blogging Tories cabal... that travels down to Waterloo to take notes on poor, benighted CC's every move.

The fact is, I have actually been over this very thing with Stephen... who has told me, in no uncertain terms, that he feels the personal to-and-fro, rather than general, all-round political discourse... actually detracts from the overall purpose of BT.

And, on one level, I agree with that. In a perfect world, no one would allow personal animosity to cloud the oratorical waters.

Unfortunately, being a less than perfect human being and lacking Stephen's enormous reserve of forebearance for the similarly flawed... I reserve the right to fire back whenever the Cynic starts to blat his puerile, profane nonsense in my direction.

For example... lately CC's been leaving anonymous comments here... which he then posts about back at his blog. I mean, how sad is that?And have you ever noticed how often CC decides to go after women... or as they're known in cynic-speak... "utter douchebags" and perennial favourite... "cunts."

Need an example?

Funnily enough, there's alway one at hand...
Behold the demented misogynist who, incredibly, now proposes censoring the Blogging Tories.

CC has pathetically, in addition... gone as far as inventing a female alter-ego, "Lulu"... to try take the edge off his blatant sociopathy towards women.

The feedback I receive from many of you... some of whom are on the receiving end of CC's profane and extremely personal attacks... suggests that no one is losing sleep over the Cynic receiving a dose of his own salts.

And that, my friends, is why I continue to fire back.

Because actions should have consequences.

**********

RELATED: For newcomers... a little background

**********

LAST WORD: Say, CC... what makes you think...

...Stephen needs your advice anyway?

"Stephen Taylor, the co-founder of the Blogging Tories, has helped me out since January without any compensation -- or even any public thanks. His knowledge and expertise have helped immensely with taking this content and using the social media tools of the Internet to find a huge audience."

"I’m sure he'd make a killing if he ever went into the PR business – I just hope he keeps doing his work for 'the cause', too!"

*

Yeah... the bloodthirsty military

Which hasn't used the death penalty in almost fifty years...

-- WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Monday approved the first execution by the military since 1961, upholding the death penalty of an Army private convicted of a series of rapes and murders more than two decades ago.

Although the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the death penalty in the military in 1996, no one has been executed since President Ronald Reagan reinstated capital punishment in 1984 for military crimes.

And guess what... that's further back than Canada's last execution...

On December 11, 1962, Arthur Lucas and Robert Turpin were hanged at the Don Jail in Toronto.

**********

RELATED: That's not what they were thinkin'...

...when they set off those bombs.

Lawyer Mahendradatta said during executions in Indonesia sometimes condemned prisoners do not die immediately and must be shot a second time, causing them to feel pain.

"We find that yes; of course, we admit that Mr. Amrozi and his friends was sentenced to death, but not torture," he said. "According to the constitution of the Republic of Indonesia - the right not to be tortured is something like a strong right."

"We seek the execution without pain."

Unlike, of course, the hundreds of people they killed and maimed.

*

Just another reason...

...the French get so little respect...

The French couple said it was because they had children but no jobs and no cash that they turned to the Internet to sell pictures and videos of their sexual hijinks at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in northern France.

Apparently, they had enough welfare money from the socialist nanny-state for digital cameras and computers to set up "Exhibitionists-R-Us."

Funny how that works.

*

That's it... I'm buying a doberman

Apparently, nowadays... all the kids are doin' it...

Breaking into locks once reeked of criminality; if you dared to try it, you did so in secret, because if you were spotted, folks would assume you were up to no good. Now, picking locks has gone legit.

Recreational lock pickers meet regularly in community centers around the country, challenging each other to break new locks as casually as others nearby work to break the Queen's Gambit.

On Web culture blogs, fans of locksport enjoy a place besides cryptography enthusiasts and DRM hackers as practitioners of a morally defensible, geeky dark art.

**********

RELATED: Maybe at the next Olympics...

It's 20 hours before the third annual Dutch Open lock-picking competition will begin, but the room is already packed with 50 or so men and women wielding burglar tools and representing the international steel bolt-hacker diaspora.

*

Searing Toronto Star article...

...reveals the sorry state of child-rearing in Canada...

Children in some poorer areas of Mexico are farther ahead in kindergarten than the average Canadian kid, says new research led by renowned expert Dr. Fraser Mustard.

Well, that would certainly explain the thousands of refugees from Canada trying to sneak across the Mexican border.

Need a further testimonial?

“It’s a lot of good experiences in the first few years of life,” said Alfredo Tinajero, who helped implement a similar program in his native Ecuador.

Of course, the next sentence reads..."He now lives in Toronto."

And the solution to this horrific national disgrace?

Of course... more social workers.

Once a baby is born, families receive home visits twice a week for two years from parenting educators, social workers, nurses or physicians.

Pardon me for being just a little skeptical here... but my last visit to the local hospital emergency room had me sitting there for seven and a half hours with a sick, fevered child in my lap.

Now, call me wacky... but maybe before we actually replace mom and dad with newly minted sociology majors... we could do something about the imploding health-care system?

Just my two cents.

**********

RELATED: When Mother-Love goes bad...

"She would tell anyone she was speaking to, including Richard, his girlfriend and friends about Richard's blatant and constant breach of his curfew and refusal to listen to her," the judge observed in his ruling issued Tuesday.

How many social workers would have fixed this one?

*

The Leftosphere loses it's mind...

...but what this comes down to, in a mere matter of seconds, is... "Would you bet your life?"

The incident illustrates the predicament facing soldiers confronted by an erratic driver on the chaotic roads of Kandahar -- either they open fire and risk killing an innocent Afghan or hold their fire and risk being killed by a suicide bomber.

And actually... it's even more complex than that.

Would you bet your life... and that of everybody else in the immediate area?

Times's up. Choose.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Maybe the left wants the army to be equipped with tasers. No, wait..."

**********

LAST WORD: Walk a mile... in my combat boots

"In fall 06 I was a LAV gunner involved in a convoy op in southern Afghanistan. At one point a vehicle pulled out and began speeding towards us, and I fired my COAX in accordance with ROEs."

"When the dust cleared the battle aiming mark on my daysight was sitting right in the middle of some kid's head as I looked through the windshield at him sitting on the driver's lap."

Try second-guessing that.

*

The Loony Leftbot Challenge

Offer made...
And accepted...

From your lips...

...to my severed ear...

Link at Jagwire has more.

*

Please, Mayor Miller...

...you have to hurry up... and shut down all those evil target ranges.

-- TORONTO -- A 20-year-old man was fighting for his life last night after he was shot in the head in front of hundreds of people while handing out flyers at Jamaica Day celebrations.

Jamaica Day organizer Karen Jenkins said the 18-year-old festival can't be responsible for what happens outside the park.

"This happened outside our gates and on the street," Jenkins said. "We are sorry that this has happened but we can't be accountable for what goes on outside."

And... just down the road a ways...

A suspected gang member was shot in the leg yesterday for apparently walking on turf frequented by a rival gang in the city's west end.

Detectives said the 25-year-old man was also shot in the hand by a gunman around 12:34 a.m. in the Stewart Smith Dr.-Hearst Circle area near the Jane St. and Trethewey Dr.

*

First, we kill all the pilgrims

There must be some sort of... however twisted... logic here -- but I've gotta say, I sure don't get it...

Reuters television showed police, firemen and other workers washing blood and clearing debris from the street at the scene of one of blasts. A Reuters witness saw workers collecting pieces of flesh and body parts.

The blasts occurred near the Karrada district in central Baghdad, an area many pilgrims would pass through on their way to the shrine. Gunmen killed seven pilgrims in southern Baghdad on Sunday as they made their way to the shrine on foot.

If you're willing to slaughter "the faithful"... what exactly are your plans for the unbelievers?

You guys got a new level of horrific on tap?

**********

RELATED: A long, long way, baby...

...yeah... we're talking about the splatter...

Police say three female suicide bombers blew themselves up during the pilgrimage in Baghdad killing at least 28 people, including children, and wounding more than 90 others.

Feminism... Iraqi style.

**********

UPDATE: Looks like four female bombers

Such attacks are becoming increasingly common, even as overall violence is at the lowest level in four years.

Women are more easily able to hide explosives under their all-encompassing black Islamic robes, or abayas, and often are not searched at checkpoints because of sensitivities.

That sensitivity... "it's a killer."

They Shoot Babies... Don't They?

I don't understand it... violent criminal gangs usually respond so well to community initiatives.

-- HOBBEMA, Alta. -- A 16-year-old boy is dead following a pair of gun complaints at an aboriginal reserve south of Edmonton that has been plagued by gang violence.

Investigators said they believe both incidents were gang related, and that they’ve detained two men for questioning.

In April, 23-month-old Asia Saddleback was wounded in a drive-by shooting involving gangs engaged in a turf war in the area.

Just last week, leaders from the four reserves announced a gun amnesty which they hoped would help reduce violence.

*

A Few Good Moment...

...is all he have ask for...

When reminded that he said last week that more and more Canadians want an election, Mr. Dion said that was because of a number of recent provincial votes.

“It's a responsibility on my shoulders that I feel, and I will choose the good moment.”

BLINK.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"That would actually be damn funny, if Dion finally did grow a spine and introduce a no-confidence motion, only for both the NDP and Bloc to refuse to support it."

"Neither party has any reason to want to be seen doing Dion's bidding."

*

10,000 chimps, 10,000 typewriters

I think I've discovered the geniuses... behind Britain's latest enigmatic wave of social engineering...

British prisoners have two ways to earn video game privileges: they can either earn credit for good behavior or, barring that, they can be suicidal.

Only inmates on the highest level of Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP) and those at risk of suicide will be allowed to play computer games.

*

Cold-blooded bombers...

...kill 15 in Turkey.

-- ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) -- Two bombs exploded minutes apart in a packed Istanbul square Sunday night, killing 15 and injuring more than 150 in what the city governor said was a terror attack.

"We know it is a terrorist attack, but which organization is responsible — we don't yet have that information," Deputy Prime Minister Hayati Yazici told journalists at the scene of the attacks.

This attack was especially heinous... as it appears the first explosion was a smaller event, designed to lure onlookers and good samaritans into a second, larger "killing zone."

The first explosion was in a telephone booth," said Huseyin Senturk, who owns a shoe shop yards away from where the blasts occurred. "The second explosion was some 40 meters (yards) away."

"The first explosion was not very strong," Senturk added. "Several people came to see what was going on. That's when the second explosion occurred and it injured many onlookers."

The second explosion could be heard a mile away.

**********

RELATED: They've been hit like this before

The double bombing appeared to be the most serious terrorism attack here since twin truck bombings at two Istanbul synagogues killed 23 people and wounded more than 300 on Nov. 15, 2003.

An obscure group linked to Al Qaeda took responsibility for the synagogue blasts, which were the worst in a series of explosions blamed on Islamic extremist groups that year that killed more than 60 people.

*

That's the problem...

...with tryin' to steal home... you gotta watch out for the squeeze play...

Israeli commandos killed 25-year-old Shihab al-Natsheh, a top commander of the Islamic militant group Hamas, in the West Bank town of Hebron. There was a shootout, and when he refused to surrender, troops bulldozed the house he was hiding in.

"We are forcing the terrorists to play defense and preventing them, crippling their ability, to wage terrorist war against our civilians."

The Israeli military said there were explosions inside the house during the exchange of fire, presumably from bombs stored inside.

*

You're hitting close to 90%...

...I'd say the people have spoken...
That "protest" at the US Embassy on Sussex Drive to free poor Omar from the evil Americans... the Ottawa Citizen estimates attendance at about 30 people.

*

Going for the Gold

It ain't just athletes who are looking for Olympic glory...

A MILITANT Islamic group has threatened to attack the Beijing Olympics with suicide bombers and biological weapons and has claimed responsibility for a string of fatal bombings and explosions in China over recent weeks.

“Commander Seyfullah” said the group was responsible for three bombs last week on buses in the city of Kunming, which killed two people, and for two bus bombings on May 21 in Shanghai, which killed three.

(h/t reader rich)

Room and boardio...

...for poor old Cordio...

Police reported Saturday that 25-year-old Cordio Williams has been charged with first degree murder in the violent act, which occurred on July 17th and was Toronto's 31st homicide of 2008.

It was the 16th death by gunfire.

Alas... if only we'd listened to Mayor Miller and hired a few more social workers.

**********

CORRECTION FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Thats not even the accused u dumfucks
thats the victim
Take the picture off because people think that is the murderer"

Nice to see a caring citizen pitching in like this.

I trust you'll be testifying in court.

*

Now, that's odd

The CBC webpost appears to have left out the part where the girl admits... (I saw the television interview)... she jumped onto the cop's back when she attacked him.

Now, I know it's a little churlish to point this out, but she leaps onto this cop's back... doesn't that, you know... put her arms around his windpipe?

Hey... just askin'.

**********

RELATED: Well, statistically speaking...

...we should actually be talking about banning swimming.

"Two more bodies were discovered in Ontario lakes yesterday, bringing the number of fatal drownings on the weekend to at least five."

To recap... more people drowned this weekend in Ontario alone... than have died annually from Tasers all across Canada.

*

Mayor Miller's office strangely silent...

...on which city of Toronto shooting range is responsible...

A man was shot to death and two others injured in a shooting at a church in the northwest end of the city early this morning.

Police said roughly 500 people were in attendance at the late-night bash at a hall owned by the Disciples Revival Church on Gordon MacKay Rd. in the Jane St. and Hwy. 401 area when gunfire erupted.

**********

UPDATE: Latest shooting vic id'd

Devon Wynter, 40, was rushed to Sunnybrook hospital where he was pronounced dead. Wynter lived in Toronto and also went by the names of Yuggi and Yogi.

Grinton said a second 35-year-old man, who had "just arrived" at the dance, was across the room when he was struck by a stray bullet.

**********

UPDATE2: Of course... we're not done yet

Sunday morning got off to a bloody start just before midnight, when a terrible attack left a man fighting for his life.

The victim, believed to be in his 30s, was shot in the face on Eglinton near Black Creek Drive. Miraculously, he was conscious and breathing when emergency crews arrived on scene.

Not far from that assault, just two kilometres away and about an hour later, another man took several bullets to his leg.

**********

WELCOME READERS OF DR DEMENTO, uh... DAWG

I think the Dawg... needs a good worming.

*

In homegrown terrorist news...

Yeah... I'm shocked.

-- KANESATAKE, Que. -- Kanesatake Mohawks barricaded a Quebec highway early Saturday following an intervention by the Quebec provincial police.

Police say 12 to 15 individuals blocked Highway 344 near the town of Oka by dragging trees into the road and setting them on fire.

Funnily enough, on the very same spot some noble mohawk warrior shot Corporal Marcel Lemay in the face... ending his life.

Good times, huh fellas?

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RELATED: Not just another blockade

-- MONTREAL -- Police cars were rammed by Mohawks on Friday night in events leading up to the barricade of a highway near Oka, Que., Journal de Montreal reports.

Kanesatake has been in the news since 1990 when a land dispute over native burial grounds sparked the 78-day Oka Crisis.

And these thugs don't just target cops...

In 2004 and 2005, violence erupted over a dispute related to local policing during which former Chief James Gabriel's house was burned down.

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The China card

So much for engaging the "sleeping giant"...

When the last gold medal has been awarded and the athletes have left, this network of informers – along with an estimated 300,000 surveillance cameras and a strengthened security apparatus – will remain as perhaps the biggest legacy of the historic Beijing Olympics.

So far, it seems clear that the Beijing Olympics have led to a deterioration of human rights and freedom in China.

*

Or maybe... you guys are just nuts

"We have information that some elements are planning to carry out bombings against the interests and leaders of Hamas in order to sow anarchy."

**********

RELATED: Iran, meanwhile, pumps up "the crazy"

A total of 3,000 centrifuges is the commonly accepted figure for a nuclear enrichment program that is past the experimental stage and can be used as a platform for a full industrial-scale program that could churn out enough enriched material for dozens of nuclear weapons.

Iran says it plans to move toward large-scale uranium enrichment that will ultimately involve 54,000 centrifuges.

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LAST WORD: The capricious and unknowable...

..."Will of Allah"

At least 29 people have been killed and more than 100 wounded after a series of explosions struck the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, officials have said.

More than a dozen blasts to have hit residential areas, crowded markets, a train station and a bus in Gujarat state's commercial capital.

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They can run...

...but they can't hide.

-- OTTAWA -- A Superior Court judge has ordered a court-supervised analysis of a controversial audio tape at the centre of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's $3.5-million defamation suit against the Liberal party.

Zytaruk will have to give Clemens the original tape and the recorder he used to interview Harper. And he will be examined under oath by Clemens about the process he used to record the interview in September 2005, as well as "the chain of possession" of the tape from the time it was recorded to the time he surrenders it.

Zytaruk and his lawyer, Barry Gibson of Vancouver, did not respond to telephone calls Friday.

*

Nah, we don't need...

...to actually say the "inflammatory" word... you can just fill in the blanks...

"What do you think Burny's press release would have said if the violent thug had been a neo-Nazi skinhead? Do you think that fact would have been omitted by the CJC?"

"Of course not -- because that would fit nicely with the CJC's bold strategy of avenging the last Holocaust, instead of preventing the next one."

After all, the important thing here... is not to hurt anybody's feelings.

Right?

*

A little bit of Toronto...

...comes to the sleepy burg of Belleville...

A case involving a violent home invasion and shooting at a social housing complex more than two years ago continued its sluggish journey through the criminal justice system, Friday.

Since early spring 2006, Christopher Chevers has faced charges of attempted murder, aggravated assault, robbery and a number of other firearms-related charges stemming from the January 2006 incident.

Around 7:45 p.m. January 13, police say a violent, drug-fuelled home invasion at 120 N. Park Street went awry, leaving a 23-year-old man suffering from a gunshot wound

Oh well... it was bound to get here sooner or later.

There isn't... in my personal experience anyway... a lot of serious, "bust a cap in yo' ass" crime in this part of Hastings County.

I mean, we have our share of stupid-ass... and to use a generic term... "trailer-park-trash" type offenses.

My perception is, it's mostly crime-of-opportunity thievin'... like tools and unattended four-wheelers and the typical, wasted "smash shit up" behaviour by the aforementioned demographic. And hey... in the last year or so, we've actually had a couple of gals busted for "less-than-high-class" hookin'... in fact, probably for their next case of beer.

This, however, is the first home invasion I've heard about that didn't involve some drunken loser trying to get back into the home he was recently thrown out of.

And it's a sad development indeed.

*

"post-algia"

"A time when you had to go out of your way -- say, to the carnival -- to see a 300lb woman with a tattoo."

*

Toronto "Red" Star...

...to no ones surprise... discovers massive and ongoing racist police conspiracy...

Larry Hay, 51, was fired earlier this year from the band's eight-member force after telling Belleville's Loyalist College student newspaper the OPP, RCMP and Sûreté du Québec are racist organizations.

**********

RELATED: The Star's continuing series...

...celebrating Aboriginal heroes.

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LAST WORD: Meanwhile... in this corner...

...CITY-TV decides they're still on the side of law and order...

Suspect Photos Released In Nightclub Shooting

Nearly a week later, cops released these 10 photos of suspects wanted in the case. They're not great pictures, but cops think they could help - and crimes have been solved with less.

*

It's way past time...

...someone taught those evil Olympians a lesson...

It was quite a blow for Chao to get the email with the bad news after an upbeat news conference Wednesday, when the Canadian Olympic Committee presented her as part of the Beijing team.

"We were all very happy from the COC launch and then we get home and, bam, this thing just slaps you in the face," said Chao yesterday.

"I really didn't know how to take it. Either the city really hates me or it's the city council or is just David Miller. It was extremely disappointing."

I'm sorry, Avianna... we just can't tolerate that continual reign of terror... that you and the rest of the Olympic shooting team have imposed on Toronto the Good.

Somebody just had to put their foot down.

The lease on the club ran until the end of the year, but Mayor David Miller pushed through a plan to address gun violence in Toronto last month that, among other things, cancelled the lease and permit for the CNRA and another range in a Scarborough community centre.

I thank all that is good and holy for the bravery and wisdom of Mayor "Super Dave" Miller.

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That's why it's called war...

...and not "circle of friends".

-- KABUL, Afghanistan -- NATO says a NATO soldier was killed and two were wounded during a clash with militants in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province. The nation's Interior Ministry, meanwhile, said three Taliban militants died in a fight on Friday with police in a separate district of the same province.

The NATO statement did not release the name or nationalities of the casualties, leaving it to the relevant country to do so, but said the clash in Helmand occurred Thursday.

**********

UPDATE: NATO casualty is a Brit

A British Army dog handler has been killed in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.

The soldier, from the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, died on Thursday after coming under fire while on routine patrol, the MoD said.

*

Nevertheless...

...even without the participation of the mainstream media... it looks like we may have a contender...

It's hard to top Jackson for hypocrisy. In late 1998, while Karin Stanford was carrying the reverend's child, the two visited President Bill Clinton in the White House.

Bill was "recovering" from the Lewinsky scandal, and Jesse was there to "counsel" him.

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For all the pretty press he's getting...

...you'd think he'd be way further ahead...

-- PRINCETON, NJ -- U.S. registered voters are closely divided in their presidential preferences, with 45% favoring Barack Obama in Gallup Poll Daily tracking from July 19-21, and 42% backing John McCain.

*

Is CTV a Canadian company?

I just listened to parts of Barack Obama's speech in Germany... and was especially incensed when Obama urged the Germans to step up and do more in Afghanistan.

"We can't do it alone," he thunders... completely ignoring Canada's contribution to the war.

Strangely enough... that seems to be the one part CTV doesn't include in their report on the speech.

I guess it didn't exactly fit in with their canonisation of St. Barack.

Funny how that works.

**********

RELATED: Stale bread, predictable circus

On Thursday evening in a glittering Berlin, Mr. Obama delivered a tone poem to American and European ideals and shared history.

But he was vague on crucial issues of trade, defense and foreign policy that currently divide Washington from Europe and are likely to continue to do so even if he becomes president.

Mr. Obama indulged in “some pro-German demagogy on nuclear weapons to get applause,” Mr. Védrine said. But he said Mr. Obama’s call for more European engagement in Afghanistan would not go over so well.

*

Now you see it... now you don't

It's a Liberal thing...

-- OTTAWA -- When disgraced ad man Jean Lafleur sold his home for $1.5-million in 2005, he gave the money to his lawyer, who shipped it to a financial institution in the tax haven of Liechtenstein.

Mr. Lafleur said he then invested a portion of the funds in China, Costa Rica and Belize, and used the rest to live for two years in Central America.

If these guys were any oilier... they'd be able to slip under the door.

Now, filing for bankruptcy in Montreal this week, Mr. Lafleur says his investments have dried up and he has nothing left to give back to defrauded taxpayers.

In his court filing, Mr. Lafleur argued he cannot discharge the $1.5-million fine that followed his guilty plea last year to 28 charges of fraud, after paying off only $235,000 of the amount.

Yeah... we're shocked.

*

France bears to the right...

To avoid the approaching iceberg...

France's parliament has passed a law which effectively ends the country's compulsory 35-hour working week. The new law will allow companies to strike individual deals with unions on working hours and overtime.

Since coming into office last year, President Nicolas Sarkozy has blamed the 35-hour week for damaging France's economic competitiveness.

Of course, it isn't all clear sailing...

The bill was supported by the Senate's centre-right majority but opposed by the opposition Socialists.

The Senate also adopted other key measures reforming rules on strikes and unemployment benefits, tightening up the criteria for receiving them.

But you do what you can.

**********

RELATED: SUMMER in France...

...is usually just a lull between the strikes of spring and those of the autumn rentrée. But this year ministers are heading off on their holidays amid an unsettling calm.

It is not just that the government won a perilous vote on constitutional reform by a margin of one this week.

It is also that the union-led protest movement against President Nicolas Sarkozy's reforms has lost its edge.

*

Another sterling endorsement

-- (CNN) -- Support for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama extended to death row Wednesday.

According to The Jackson Clarion Ledger, a Mississippi newspaper, death row inmate Dale Leo Bishop's final words before being executed Wednesday night included an appeal to Americans to vote for the Illinois senator.

"For those who oppose the death penalty and want to see it end, our best bet is to vote for Barack Obama because his supporters have been working behind the scenes to end this practice," Bishop said, according to the paper.

**********

RELATED: Dumping Daddy dearest?

"As the battle between John McCain and Barack Obama for Hispanic votes heats up, it raises the question of what relates better, an immigrant father or an absentee father?"

*

I'm not crazy...

And so am I.

-- VIENNA, Austria -- Iran will no longer co-operate with the International Atomic Energy Agency in its investigation of allegations that its government has tried to make nuclear arms, Iran's vice-president said Thursday.

Investigating such allegations “is outside the domain of the agency,” Vice-President Gholam Reza Aghazadeh told reporters.

But wait a minute, he's not quite finished.

What's that you say, Gholam?

"Both sides are carefully studying the concerns and expectations of both sides.”

He added: “I am very hopeful that the diverging standpoints will merge, allowing the start of substantial negotiations."

Without, of course, Iran's co-operation.

Yeah... that'll work.

*

One for the Good Guys

An Ontario Superior Court judge has ruled the Criminal Code emergency provision allowing police wiretapping without a judge's authorization, while not perfect, is constitutionally valid in relation to a major case underway in a Toronto court.

**********

RELATED: Does this mean...

...we don't have to listen to any more of Shawn Brant's tin-foil hat conspiracy theories?

**********

LAST WORD: In other racist killer cop news...

"'Why does it seem to be aboriginal people that seem to fall prey to this extra force against us?' asked David Chartrand, the president of the Manitoba Métis Federation."

Lemme take a whack at this Dave.

How about... in this case anyway... the kid pulled a knife?

And apparently... the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree...

He said he doesn't have many memories of his son, but will always cherish the thought of the day they spent together when the Grey Cup was last in Winnipeg.

Mr. Minchin scalped half a dozen tickets and then went into the stadium to watch the game with his son. They smoked joints and drank beers at halftime, he said.

*

Geez, Steffi...

You mind if we get a second opinion?

-- OTTAWA -- Trade expert Michael Hart of Carleton University's Centre for Trade Policy and Law dismissed Mr. Dion's carbon tariff comments as “bafflegab.”

He predicted other nations would be furious with Canada.

“They'd quickly come to Ottawa and say ‘What the hell are you doing? Who came up with this crazy scheme?'” Prof. Hart said.

“The environmentalists would all scream 'the environment uber alles' but that's not enshrined in any trade agreement.”

*

You mean the complacency...

...that got you elected... after you lied to us about not raising taxes?

-- LONDON, ONT. -- The rallying call to all Ontarians to shed their complacency is a new tactic in a campaign that began three years ago for Mr. McGuinty and comes as oil prices threaten to transform the province into one of the poor cousins of Confederation.

***********

RELATED: Yeah, Dalton... thanks for the tip

*

What's not to like?

"Either we will have a private industry whose profits depend on creating and maintaining addicts, or we will have a public bureaucracy whose revenues depend on creating and maintaining addicts."

**********

RELATED: The emerging entrepreneurial class

*

Well, okay...

...that's a whole different kettle of fish... I had no freakin' idea they were using the cluster-bomb model...

Thank you... oh wonderful, unbiased CBC.

*

What's flat, black...

...and glows in the dark?

-- Tehran -- "The Iranian people are steadfast," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said.

They "will not retreat one iota in the face of oppressing powers," he said in the televised speech made to thousands of supporters in the southern town of Yasouj.

*

In other...

..."you know, statistically, crime is down" news...

A 22-year-old man has been charged in the slaying of a developmentally-delayed Mississauga woman. Homicide investigators quickly took over the investigation into Peel Region's 16th murder victim of the year.

Jason Osborne of Mississauga was charged with first-degree murder. He was scheduled for a brief court appearance today where he was expected to be remanded into custody.

**********

RELATED: Hey, Mayor Miller...

...where's that knife registry?

York police are investigating after a teenager was stabbed in the chest early this morning.

The teen, about 18 years old, was stabbed in Aldergrove Park, near Kennedy Rd. and Steeles Ave. E., around 1 a.m., but his friends took him to Scarborough Grace Hospital in Toronto’s 42 Division, said Markham Staff Sgt. John Southwell.

*

Jane-Finch etiquette

Shaking slightly as she talked, Small said she could feel the neighbourhood talking about the shooting and was concerned that police issued warrants for two men when only one of them shot at her.

Nearby residents cautioned Small not to speak to the media and she soon left, saying she was going to meet with her lawyer.

**********

UPDATE: One down, one to go

One of the men wanted in connection with the attempted murder of Jordan Manners' mother and her two daughters turned himself in yesterday.

*

So it looks like it's "go time"

-- OTTAWA -- Three federal by-elections in early September promise to stir up Canada's stagnant political waters, serving as a litmus test for a possible general election this autumn.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to call the by-elections this week in the Montreal-area ridings of Westmount-Ville Marie and St. Lambert and the southwestern Ontario riding of Guelph.

“They are all opposition-held ridings and anything less than two Liberal victories will be a huge defeat for Stéphane Dion's Liberals,” said Tory spokesman Ryan Sparrow.

Okay, Steffi... let's see what you've got.

*

What percentage of Ontarians...

...have actually read the Fantino/Brant transcripts... as opposed to all the deadheads who settle for a 30 second soundbite... from someone like talking head Lisa LaFlamme?

Do yourself a favour... and just plow through this one article... and try tell me Julian Fantino did anything wrong...

In quotes taken from OPP transcripts (posted on The Intelligencer's website at www.intelligencer.ca), Fantino warns even natives are turning away from Brant and his theatrics and headline-grabbing protests that do little to advance the legitimate concerns of First Nations people.

Fantino was blunt in his assessment of Brant's activities:

"So, whatever message you've been putting out about children's suicides and poverty and the water," Fantino said in the cellphone exchange, "all that's all gonna be lost in the rhetoric where people are just gonna absolutely despise you and hate you that they're not gonna hear anything you've said about all those wonderful causes you're talking about.

"So, I've talked to enough people now, including a lot of people in the First Nations community ... they are running for the hills because you're bringing them down ... bringing down all the gains that you've made over the years and now (that) the struggle is starting to have some effect, you're destroying that because the message now is gone from a cause to a vengeance -- a vindictive ... Shawn Brant is going to bring Canada to its knees. Well, you're not gonna do it and your cause ... you can speak about children committing suicide all you want because nobody is going to listen to you.

"And, you know I don't wanna get on your bad side, but you're gonna force me to do everything I can within your community and everywhere else to destroy your reputation. I don't wanna do that, I wanna help you deal with the suicides ... I've travelled to reserves ... I know exactly what you're talkin about.

"I've been to Kashechewan and some of those other places there, I've been involved in... so you're talking to someone that's sympathetic here so I'm imploring upon you to call it quits."

"Let's do it now."

Yup... that's some villain.

*

Calling all socialist cry-babies

You know what... you're right... I don't think cops should have used a taser here either...

A man died Tuesday after police used a Taser to subdue him, in what is believed to be the first such case in Winnipeg.

Witnesses told CTV Winnipeg the unidentified man, reportedly in his 20s, had been wielding a knife.

This guy had a knife... they should have played it safe and put a couple of 9 mils center-mass.

You call a play like this... just don't be too surprised when someone "Lawrence Taylors" your dim-witted criminal ass.

**********

RELATED: Never saw it this coming, huh?

“He would carry a little knife, because you know what?"

"That's what kids do."

Well, Mom... I don't know how to break this to you... but that's not what kids do around here.

I didn't approve of it, but how are you going to stop that? Especially in this rotten city.”

Uh, here's a thought... you could been somehow involved in his life.

She hadn't seen him for two weeks, she said, because he had been staying with his father, who lives in a rooming house and gets his money panhandling on Main Street.

She was told her son had once been to hospital and said he had used crack, but Ms. Shymko doesn't know whether that's true.

If only there were more social workers.

*

But, but, but...

The Toronto Star promised me I was gonna be safe...

Two teens are expected to survive after a stabbing in the city's north end yesterday.

Emergency crews were called to Wilmington and Overbrook Aves., near Dufferin St. and Finch Ave. W., where two 16-year-old boys were stabbed around 7:30 p.m., Toronto Police said.

**********

RELATED: Introducing the Jane-Finch debating team

Three women are lucky to be alive after a man opened fire on them at close range Friday.

The women -- a mother and her two daughters who are both in their 20s -- were sitting in their front yard in the Jane St.-Shoreham Dr. area around 4:30 a.m. Friday, when they got into what police described as "a minor dispute" with two men.

One of the men allegedly pulled out a handgun and fired seven shots at the three women, but missed.

*

A message for the loony leftosphere

The next time a bunch of homegrown terrorists threatening violence... start blockading the busiest traffic pipeline in the entire country... try calling Peter Kormos.

**********

RELATED: The "Red" Star decides...

...to no one's surprise... to go with an aboriginal hero.

Of course... it's Brant's own lawyer who'd doing the "hailing"... but never let it be said the Star misses a single opportunity to kiss aboriginal ass.

Shawn Brant's cool head – not OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino's heated rhetoric – brought a peaceful end to a native standoff last summer, insists the Mohawk activist's lawyer.

**********

UPDATE: More on "Shawn Brant's 'cool head'"

Brant jumped out of his car, grabbed a six-foot-long fishing spear from the rear seat and ran towards the altercation, Lalonde said.

"His eyes were crazy-looking ... he was in a rage," he said, adding Brant ran up to the scene yelling "'Is it on? Is it on?'"

**********

LAST WORD: We shouldn't feel slighted

Apparently Shawn Brant doesn't give a crap for Mohawk rules and regulations either.

*

You say TO-MAY-TO...

...I say "tomato sauce"...

The militant group said the man died while on "a holy mission" - a term often used when a member dies accidentally while handling explosives.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"A new drink in the bars, a 'bloody martyr'."

*

Sounds a little like...

...old age homes in Dalton McSlippery's socialist paradise...

Some inmates are living and sleeping in toilets because of jail overcrowding, a report says.

HM Inspectorate of Prisons found Doncaster jail's two-man cells had been turned into three-man cells by putting an extra bed in the toilet area.

But, surprise, surprise... the government isn't reacting by immediately throwing open the jail doors and releasing thousands of cons...

Justice Minister David Hanson said: "Thanks to the policies of this government since 1997, crime has fallen dramatically.

"This is the only post-war government to have overseen a cut in crime rather than an increase."

"We are unapologetic about our approach to law and order: it has made our communities safer and there is no greater priority for government."

*

Don't sweat it, bro...

CTV swears this is just another arithmetical anomaly...

One of the suspects pulled out a dark-coloured, semi-automatic handgun while "several citizens came to the aid of the male being assaulted and attempted to intervene during the altercation," police said.

The victim managed to break free and, along with the citizens, ran towards the lobby.

One of the suspects fired off several rounds toward the group before fleeing the building on foot, police said.

*

Divine Right of Kings

If someone hasn't yet been charged with a crime, how does the president know what to pardon them for?

As in Nixon's case, President Bush could issue a pardon that applies generally to any crimes that may have been committed within a certain range of dates.

More likely, a pardon could apply only to actions surrounding a single policy or place—say, the detention or interrogation of suspected al-Qaida members.

*

I'll take all the help...

...I can get.

*

Congratulations to Mohamed Elmasry...

...on his recent promotion...Now, if the Toronto Star could only straighten out that tired old "College of Cardinals."

*

Perennially tone-deaf NDP...

...in the person of hysterical little Rumpelstiltskin Kormos... commences "Operation Shoot Myself in the Face."

-- TORONTO -- Ontario's New Democrats demanded the removal of Julian Fantino as commissioner of the provincial police force Monday over “inflammatory” comments he made to aboriginal protester Shawn Brant during a native highway blockade last summer.

"Mummy, mummy... he was rude to the terrorists."

Yeah sure, Petey... that sounds like a plan.

*

Live by the sword...

...sooner or later... you're gonna be shish-kabob...

Two of the dead are described by Toronto Police as 10th Street Boys gang members and the third was said to be an associate.

*

FREE SPEECH

Apparently, some folks are still more than a little unclear... on the concept...

"I have communicated with Rogers in some detail, as well as with two police forces -- one out there, and one over here."

Now, I'm not sure how this works in your neck of the woods... but out here in Hastings County... threatening to kill someone "with your own hands" is still considered pretty serious business.

It seems though, in Waterloo, Ontario... Canadian Cynic's stomping ground... it's just fodder for a sick sense of humour...
But I guess we shouldn't be surprised... when he's not pissing all over the mother of a dead Canadian soldier... it seems threatening violence against public figures, is just how CC rolls...
Hey, CC... you bring that tire iron on your weekend trip to Ottawa?

Funny, you'd think that... as a victim of the vast right-wing conspiracy... the Cynic might be a little bit more understanding about stuff like this.

Apparently, that's not how it works.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"CC is a SHE, I've never met a male that acts like she does. Honestly how many men write prose that positively shrieks PMS?"

**********

LAST WORD: I guess the death threats to Ezra...

...got Canadian Cynic all juiced up...Hey, CC... is that your... "final"... solution?

And CC... you're not being chastised... the word you're looking for is "exposed."

(h/t rg)

The 100-mile diet

Interesting idea... very cool map...

My own view is that if we’re not going to be able to import asparagus from Peru in February in the future because of peak oil, we might as well enjoy it now. But then again, I’m a Bad Person, at least now and then.

Many people are Better People, particularly the advocates of the 100-mile diet, in which (as you probably already know) all your food has to be produced no more than 100 miles from your plate.

Whatever the merits of the concept itself, their implementation of the API is excellent: enter any postal code or U.S. zip code and have your personal 100-mile map automatically generated.

I know there is a "buy locally-owned" campaign down in Belleville.

An idea that makes a lot of sense.

*

"I personally am opposed..."

"...to the death penalty,” said H. Naci Mocan, an economist at Louisiana State University and an author of a study finding that each execution saves five lives.

“But my research shows that there is a deterrent effect.”

According to roughly a dozen recent studies, executions save lives. For each inmate put to death, the studies say, 3 to 18 murders are prevented.

*

Lead, follow, or...

...get your ass blown outta the water.

Ms. Rice said that instead of a coherent answer, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili delivered a “meandering” monologue full of irrelevant “small talk about culture” that appeared to annoy many of the others present at the table in Geneva.

“It's time for the Iranians to give a serious answer.”

“They can't go and stall and make small talk about culture, they have to make a decision,” she said. “People are tired of the Iranians and their stalling tactics.”

Hey, Mahmoud... the clock's tickin'.

*

Mr. Dithers finally weighs in

I guess it took him a while... to make up his mind...

Mr. Martin didn't specify Sunday what exactly he knows now that he didn't know before, but his remarks are consistent with those made by other members of the former Liberal government, including Mr. Graham.

Anne McLellan, Irwin Cotler and current Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion all now say either that they were unaware of the extent of the abuse allegations involving Mr. Khadr or that it is time he was tried in a Canadian court.

Hmmmm, that's funny... that's not what the paper trail says.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Paul Martin? Huh. That name sounds strangely familiar."

"Was he anybody important?"

**********

RELATED: Mohamed the "codetalker"

He's smart enough to realise he won't actually get away with using the word "racist"... but watch Mohamed Elmasry dance around it... like a man on fire...

-- TORONTO — The leader of one of Canada's largest Islamic groups says Prime Minister Stephen Harper is indifferent to Omar Khadr's plight because he's "brown-skinned" and a Muslim.

Canadian Islamic Congress president Mohamed Elmasry says Harper is "callously" unconcerned about Khadr. Khadr's lawyers and others want Ottawa to repatriate Khadr from Guantanamo Bay.

In an opinion piece released to the media, Elmasry says Harper has shown a "shocking indifference" to those calls.

(via bcf)

**********

LAST WORD: Sure, let's bring him back...

...and he can get a job at McDonalds...

-- OTTAWA -- Omar Khadr would likely never face conviction in Canada even if there was a way to charge him with an offence under Canadian law, legal experts who advocate his repatriation acknowledge.

University of British Columbia law professor Michael Byers, a noted international law expert and would-be federal NDP candidate, is one of many who want the Toronto-born Khadr released from the U.S. military prison in Cuba.

The real balancing act, he said, is the "challenge to rehabilitate him and to reintegrate him into Canadian society in a way that is respectful of both his rights and also the rights of Canadians to be protected against people who may constitute something of a danger."

No, my friend... the real challenge is to figure out why so many professors at Canadian universities have their heads so far up their collective socialist ass... they seem to have lost touch with reality.

*

Obamic Infallibility

DAVID BROOKS: I would also say, I mean, he will confront the effects of the surge.

And, you know, Obama went on TV when the surge was being debated. And he said, "The surge will not reduce violence. The troops just won't do it."

Now he says, you know, "I always believed that we would reduce violence with the surge."
*
And this is my pet peeve with all politicians. Admit a mistake. Just once say, oh, I had this judgment.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Does that hurt him not to do that, do you think?

DAVID BROOKS: Well, political consultants are all geniuses. They must know what they are doing.

But I think most people see the surge as having at least a significant success, if not a total success. Acknowledge that fact.

Why not be a normal human being?

**********

UPDATE: Now he's changing the U.S. contitution?

"But, why is it that Tapper is seemingly the only denizen of the MSM ever willing to bring out these stories? Why does the MSM so constantly give the Obamessiah a pass?"

"I’ll bet you can say why."

(via sda)

A further update...

To the voluminous, well... you know... "statistically, crime is down" file...

Police in Toronto encountered a gruesome murder scene in the city's west end early Sunday.

They found three people shot dead in a vehicle. Police released few details after they were called to the vehicle, which was located at Valermo and Lunness roads at 3:40 a.m.

Wanna know what makes a murder gruesome?

A killer drove an SUV containing the bullet-ridden bodies of three men from a murder scene to a quiet street in Etobicoke.

Det.-Sgt. Dean Burks, of the Toronto Police homicide unit, said Sunday that it appears the victims were killed at an unknown location before being driven to Lunness Rd, in the Browns Line-Evans Ave. area.

**********

UPDATE: Three dead have been id'd

Adrian Inglis Bannerman, 29, Aaron Brendan Macdonald, 20, and Kurt Atiba Charles, 27, all of Toronto, were found inside a gold-coloured SUV...

**********

RELATED: Thank goodness things are getting better

Police are wondering if the gunman who killed Michael Watson in a Scarborough nightclub early yesterday later opened fire on cops responding to the shooting.

In a further twist, two loaded handguns were seized after police raided a Jane St. apartment which sources said may be related to the slaying.

No word yet from Mayor Miller's office on which gun club... the two brothers arrested, aged 18 and 14... belonged to.

*

From the people who brought you...

...lead-painted baby toys...

Half of Beijing's 3.3 million vehicles will be pulled off the roads and many polluting factories will be shuttered. Chemical plants, power stations and foundries left open have to cut emissions by 30 per cent – and dust-spewing construction in the capital will be halted.

Striking venues and $40-billion spent to improve infrastructure cannot mask Beijing's dirty air. A World Bank study found China is home to 16 of the 20 worst cities for air quality.

Three-quarters of the water flowing through urban areas is unsuitable for drinking or fishing.

Tell me again... why do we all play along with this farce?

Oh yeah... the money.

*

Confirming everything we suspected...

...about their various bankrupt, medieval cultures...

-- CAIRO -- The Arab League on Saturday said that the genocide charges brought against Sudan's president by the prosecutor of the International Court are not acceptable and undermine that country's sovereignty.

**********

RELATED: Oh you bad, bad British...

...look what you've done now.

"This procrastination and foot-dragging and lack of seriousness on the part of the British government has prolonged their psychological deterioration, pushing one of them, Jason, to commit suicide on 25/5/2008," the statement ran.

"He surprised our brethren, who were taking care of him, with his suicide."

*

Taliban Giacomo...

...better rally the troops... as another socialist fantasy threatens to bite the dust...**********

RELATED: The Globe has the icing on the cake...

"Can the NDP remake itself and socialism into an attractive political option for Canadians?"

**********

LAST WORD: Did you hear the one...

...about the federal cabinet minister who said... "You can kiss my politically-incorrect ass"?

"I just received an e-mail from the Guy Earle comedy benefit, on right now in Toronto."

"Jason Kenney, the federal cabinet minister and Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity, is there, along with his Director of Communications, Alykhan Velshi."

**********

WELCOME, YET AGAIN, READERS OF CANADIAN CYNIC

It's a real shame about CC. He hasn't been the same since all the confusion about his relationship with that other Waterloo blogger... who also, strangely enough... was calling himself Canadian Cynic.

In fact, it seems to have caused the Cynic to have some sort of nervous breakdown.

Get well soon, CC.

*

Gimme my monkey meds

-- SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A southwest Missouri woman sued Wal-Mart, local health officials and Cox Health Systems, claiming they discriminated against her and her monkey named Richard.

Debby Rose of Springfield said in the lawsuit that the 10-year-old bonnet macaque helps curb a social anxiety disorder that can cause her to have panic attacks in public.

*

For all the loony leftbots...

...who think all we need to do is hire more social workers.

-- (CNN) -- The body of a woman, found at the apartment of a Pennsylvania woman who arrived at a hospital with a newborn infant this week, had been partially eviscerated, and her uterus had been cut open, an autopsy found.

The body was found Friday at an apartment in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, belonging to Andrea Curry-Demus, 38, according to CNN affiliate WTAE.

Now, I've gotta confess... I just can't imagine what sort of therapy could ever wash all the bugs outta this freak's head.

According to a criminal complaint, Curry-Demus was taken by ambulance to a local hospital Wednesday with the baby, claiming it was hers. Tests at the hospital proved that she was not the mother, and police were notified.

Being led out of the Wilkinsburg Police Department, Curry-Demus told reporters, "I didn't do nothing," according to WTAE.

Authorities had all kinds of previous warning on this one... and nobody put this madwoman away.

And someone had to pay the ultimate price.

*

From the people who brought you...

...the hostage crisis in Caledonia...

On Friday, natives at the Fen Ridge construction site were joined by Dawn Smith who, along with Janie Jamieson, started the protest more than two years ago that took over Caledonia's Douglas Creek Estates.

They set up a large teepee at the edge of the Hampton Inn hotel site on Fen Ridge Court after successfully halting construction of the nearby Kingspan Insulation warehouse and headquarters.

Meanwhile, there are rumbles of concern among city councillors that Kingspan officials are re-examining plans to build in the city. There's talk the Irish firm plans to pull out if the protesters are still around the site on Monday.

Both projects are included in a temporary injunction granted to city to stop native protests from holding up development.

Time to bring in Julian Fantino and the Public Order Unit.

*

The thing is...

I don't even bet five bucks on the Stanley Cup... how could I roll the dice on my child's life?

So, I'm thinkin'... if you know the bullets are flyin' all over the neighbourhood... why don'cha get the hell outta Dodge? That's one of the bigger reasons we left Toronto for the country charms of Hastings County.

I know, I know... I'm just waiting for the mindless barrage of flaming comments about blaming ol' dad... but if it was my son... I know I'd be blaming myself.

So I just don't get it.

And I guess... this guy didn't either.

"He wanted to be a lawyer," his father said. "He was a good student. Ninety [per cent] plus."

"He was good friends with everybody."

Well, forgive me for being a little indelicate here... but, the fact that he was targeted for murder... would seem to suggest otherwise.

And, of course, there's always at least two sides to every story...

But some in the building said Mr. Khawaja had a confrontational side and was quick to talk big in defence of his friends.

"This guy that got killed [Thursday] was a previous instigator, man," said one 28-year-old woman, an area resident who wouldn't give her name.

"They're innocent because they're dead, but they're not that innocent. Trust me."

Regardless of what the actual facts are here... the moral of the story isn't that anyone "deserves" to die. It's that you, as a parent... do whatever... WHATEVER... you can to protect your children.

And that includes, to a certain point in their lives, protecting them from themselves.

Because the price of not doing that... is too horrific to bear.

**********

RELATED: Live... and don't learn

While investigators didn't have an exact motive for the attack, they said the victim had survived being shot in the head in the past.

*

From the voluminous...

...you know, "statistically, crime is down" file...

Toronto Police and Emergency Task Force officers have swarmed a plaza after gunfire erupted at an east-end club leaving one man dead.

Shots rang out at a club called Inner Circle Restaurant & Lounge, which police say used to be known as Rondyvoo, on Rylander Blvd. in the Sheppard Ave. East and Kingston Rd. area around 1 a.m.

Hundreds of clubgoers were fleeing the scene as police arrived and shut down the club.

And then there's this...

The SUV's driver left the scene but was found at a nearby hospital, where he said the truck's driver had stabbed him in the arm.

The man will not be charged for leaving the scene of the accident because police confirmed he had been stabbed and was in legitimate need of medical help, said York Region police Const. Blair McQuillan.

And, of course...

Some 50 paces – or, more literally, stairwell steps – separate the spot where two young men were shot five days apart at a Scarborough housing complex.

The earlier victim, Andre Williams, 22, survived but is reportedly paralyzed from the neck down.

The second victim was declared dead at the scene early Thursday evening. Shazad Khawaja, only 17, had returned minutes earlier from running an errand for his mother – picking up a litre of milk.

And we finish it up with...

At 11 p.m. on Thursday night two people were shot and wounded in this busy, vibrant neighbourhood close to the University of Toronto.

A 21-year-old woman and a 20-year-old man identified by witnesses as "Junior," an employee of Native Child and Family Services, were treated in hospital for injuries that police say were not life threatening.

Oh yeah... did I mention this was all off the Saturday morning web page... at the Toronto "Red" Star?

You know... the paper that keeps printing screaming headlines about crime stats being way down.

*

Everything you need to know...

...about "negotiating" with Iran.

-- GENEVA -- Tehran on Saturday ruled out freezing its enrichment program, casting doubt over the sense of key nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers less than an hour after they began.

**********

UPDATE: Enough with the "soft power" bullshit

State department spokesman Sean McCormack issued a strongly-worded statement in Washington.

"We hope the Iranian people understand that their leaders need to make a choice between co-operation, which would bring benefits to all, and confrontation, which can only lead to further isolation."

How about a new exit strategy for U.S. forces in Iraq... maybe they can leave by way of Tehran.

*

The price of democracy

-- KABUL -- A Canadian soldier killed at an undisclosed location southwest of Kandahar city was an "utterly fearless" corporal who volunteered for another tour in Afghanistan, his commander says.

An improvised mine exploded underneath Corporal James Hayward Arnal during a foot patrol shortly before midnight on Friday. The blast also injured another soldier, who is expected to return to work.

Corporal Arnal was involved in a Canadian operation against the makers of home-made landmines, or improvised explosive devices, at the time of his death, Brig-Gen. Thompson said.

Another IED blast in Zhari district killed four police and injured four others on Saturday morning, according to Ustad Abdul Halim, a security advisor to the provincial governor.

He will be remembered.

*

So maybe...

..."suckass political correctness" hasn't totally carried the day after all...

Fantino testified at the preliminary hearing that he gave Brant a deadline, and was prepared to move in if the protesters didn't lift the blockades. He said he believed the public interest demanded that the highway be reopened.

"There were in fact plans underway at that time for a forced removal of the blockade, were there?" Rosenthal asked him during his testimony.

"Yes, there was," Fantino replied.

"There comes a time when the balance of the greater public good shifts, and the feeling was that under the circumstances, this situation could no longer continue, and we were, in fact, preparing to move on the blockades."

There's a breath of fresh air.

*

Yeah, don't worry you weasel...

We get it... you're a Liberal.

-- QUEBEC -- B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell said he was expressing compassion for RCMP officers involved in the taser death of a Polish man at Vancouver Airport, not support for their actions, when he spoke to a deputy RCMP commissioner about the incident a month later.

*

Toddler logic

Why start from scratch... when you can just change all the freakin' rules on the fly?

Very cool... a beginners guide to hijacking an established religion.

-- BOSTON -- Three Catholic women will be ordained as priests in a Back Bay neighborhood church this weekend, despite the Vatican's admonition that the trio will be excommunicated if they do so.

"Excommunication or not, I will still be a validly ordained priest and still will be able to serve the people of God," said Gabriella Velardi Ward, 61, a Staten Island architect and mother of two.

Because she says so.

You've gotta love it.

*

Reading, writing and...

...rip your infidel head off...

Despite a promise to remove attacks on other faiths from the public school curriculum, Saudi Arabia's state-produced textbooks still refer to Jews and Christians as apes and swine, insist that Jews conspire to take over the world and on Judgment Day "the rocks or the trees" will call out to Muslims to kill the Jews, says the Washington-based Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank.

Now, if these are our Muslim allies... how exactly do "our enemies" feel?

*

Yeah sure, Ujjal

Let's just save time and assume these guys are cold-blooded killers.

Newly released RCMP e-mails (which were obtained by the CBC) show that the police force's leader, Commissioner William Elliott, made supportive calls to four RCMP officers just after a video of the incident was made public.

And Ujjal Dosanjh, the people's champion.... is horrified.

So I guess now, at the first whiff of trouble... the cops are supposed to toss their fellow officers overboard, huh?

Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh said it was inappropriate given the possibility of disciplinary action or a police investigation in relation to the death of Robert Dziekanski.

"Given that potential, I believe that Mr. Elliott's conduct is entirely inappropriate," Mr. Dosanjh said.

Or, Mr. Dosanjh... perhaps you should be working for Daniel Ortega.

Choose wisely, my friend.

*

Those crime statistics...

...keep on improving, we can start disbanding police forces...

Two police officers are on sick leave after being attacked by a mob in south London after they asked a 15-year-old girl to pick up her litter.

One officer was dragged to the ground and kicked while the other was bitten by a girl who jumped on his back.

Up to 30 people took part in the attack, which happened in North End, Croydon, on Wednesday afternoon.

**********

RELATED: Did your hear the one about...

...the statistician who drowned in a lake that averaged only three feet deep?

*

What the "Red" Star lacks...

...in coherent analysis... it more than makes up for... in dumb-tronic consistency...

Please, please, please...

...read me some more reassuring statistics...

Café onlookers were horrified to watch a shooting unfold on the sidewalk in the midst of a busy bar scene in Toronto's Annex on Thursday night.

Sergeant Darren Worth said two people, a man and a woman, were shot at about 11 p.m. outside the By the Way Café at Brunswick Avenue and Bloor Street West: the man in the hand and the chest, the woman in the leg.

Marc Bijinelli, 21, was on his cellphone when he watched one person pull out a gun and fire four shots at a crowd of four to five walking south on Brunswick.

**********

UPDATE: Oops... looks like I missed one

-- SCARBOROUGH -- Toronto police are investigating the homicide of a young man outside the same apartment building where another young man was shot and left paralyzed last weekend in Scarborough, an eastern suburb of Toronto.

Police do not have a suspect yet in the case but said the victim, believed to be in his late teens, was known to police. The man's name is being withheld pending notification of family.

*

Whaddaya mean... hypocrisy?

This is absolutely all about the green...

British Columbia has raked in a record-breaking $610-million in an oil and gas rights sale, the latest in a series of windfalls driven by a rush of natural gas producers looking to lock up land in the northeastern part of the province.

*

Too many questions...

...not nearly enough answers...

In ancient Sparta parents used to toss their substandard children off a cliff called the Taigetos. Some may have done so with regret, but Spartan society had no use for physically infirm children.

We find this shocking.

The year we conferred a medal on Dr. Morgentaler for aborting unwanted fetuses was the year we released Robert Latimer after making him spend nearly a decade in jail for having killed his disabled daughter.

Imagine Spartan tourists discovering that in this country we jail parents for killing incurably sick children, but give medals to doctors who kill perfectly healthy children by the thousands at their parents' behest.

*

I think I just figured out...

...that really abysmal voter turnout rate in Toronto.

A somewhat sombre day...

...here at "the halls."

Our house rabbit, a wild cottontail that Mrs. Neo rescued after his mom got flattened by a car a year ago April... has finally made his way into the wider, wilder world.

She found him on one of her walks... just sitting there by the path, a tiny fist-sized ball of quivering fur. It was glaringly obvious he was dehydrated and on his last legs... when he started crawling towards her.

Mrs. Neo even left him there at first, hoping beyond hope that his mother would find him. Of course, that didn't happen... and we later found out why.

So we brought him into our lives and fed him soya milk from a syringe, until he was old enough to eat solid food. Mrs. N was delighted to discover that the local grocery stores sold dandelion greens all winter... so our bunny had fresh greens while his wild cousins had to gnaw on the less appetizing sumac bushes that surround the house.

Our son named him "Braveheart"... because he was a survivor.

And while he was never really a typical pet... he wouldn't, for instance, sit and be petted... he would stand up and take his daily slice of apple from Mrs. N's hand... and he would throw his plastic bowl around when his dandelions weren't fast enough appearing.

I actually saw this coming, as Mr. B has been getting ever more frantic as the summer wears on. We could have beefed up security and made sure the doors were always closed, but that just seemed too cruel... not to let him push up against the screens and smell the great beyond.

Anyway... now there's a bunny-sized hole in the kitchen screen door.

So, he's out there somewhere right now... as sad as it is for all of us here... doing what rabbits are supposed to do.

And we wish him a long life and many offspring.

*

From the "sometimes a cigar..."

"...is just a cigar" files...

We of the psychotherapeutic and medical professions feel kindly and respectful towards our clients/patients, and genuinely care about their well-being. Occasionally, however, we will have an impatient or non-therapeutic thought, because we are human, not machines.

These are often best kept to ourselves, of course, but sometimes such thoughts help lead us towards useful comments - when presented constructively. Here are a few client comments (CC) and the unspoken responses (UR) accumulated over the years:

CC: "Do you think I should follow my heart?"

UR: "Yes, I think leaving your wife and kids and running off with the 18 year-old Swedish au pair is an excellent life plan."

More here...

*

When social engineering goes wrong

The crack-whores start to balk... you know it's really time to call it a day.

-- SEATTLE -- After spending $5 million on its five automated public toilets, Seattle is calling it quits.

In the end, the restrooms, installed in early 2004, had become so filthy, so overrun with drug abusers and prostitutes, that although use was free of charge, even some of the city’s most destitute people refused to step inside them.

“I’m not going to lie: I used to smoke crack in there,” said one homeless woman, Veronyka Cordner, nodding toward the toilet behind Pike Place Market. “But I won’t even go inside that thing now."

"It’s disgusting.”

**********

RELATED: Here we go again

You wanna poison yourself and die, that's your choice... but c'mon... a human rights complaint?

In particular, the groups complain the guards order people sitting or laying on the sidewalk to move and try to prevent people from looking for recyclables in dumpsters.

*

Please, oh wonderful government...

...you have to protect me... from myself...

"For what is political correctness except an attempt to purify the human heart by making unworthy thoughts literally inexpressible?"

**********

RELATED: "Shhhhsh... I'm hunting wabbits"

**********

LAST WORD: "Now Daddy, Bugger Off!"

*

So, if you have any sort...

...of mental illness, this guy just put a huge target on your back...

Kicking a student suffering mental illness out of medical school should cost the University of Calgary $5 million, a lawsuit claims.

Matthew Lowry says he was unlawfully booted from the medical program in his final year of studying for his doctorate.

Whatever else this guy accomplishes... I'm guessing everybody... employers, business partners, whomever... is gonna be way more wary of anybody with any psychiatric condition.

It claims he was treated differently because of his medical condition, which was not disclosed in his court documents.

"The defendants engaged in discriminatory behaviour against the plaintiff because (he) was known to have a mental illness," the lawsuit alleges.

*

Live and don't learn

The Jesse Jackson story....

"A simple apology does not deal with the depth of the trauma."

"The first step is to acknowledge you're wrong. The second step is to be contrite about it, not arrogant. The third is, it takes time to regain or earn trust, and that's where the healing process begins."

*

This is the type of freak...

...the phrase... "shot and pissed on"... was invented for.

He killed 43 people and got a chance to redeem himself, but he squandered it and went back to jail under the double stigma of being a snitch and a child molester.

The inmates truly are running the asylum.

Now terminally ill, Yves (Apache) Trudeau has received parole again, in perhaps the last chapter in the life of one of Canada's most cold-blooded killers.

The former Hells Angels hit man is dying from bone-marrow cancer and receiving palliative care.

Only in Canada.

**********

RELATED: And while we're on surreal...

...guess who could get charged with "war crimes."

-- BOGOTA, Colombia (CNN) -- Colombian military intelligence used the Red Cross emblem in a rescue operation in which leftist guerrillas were duped into handing over 15 hostages, according to unpublished photographs and video viewed by CNN.

(h/t tim blair)

The next time Taliban Jack...

...starts screaming about all the senseless Canadian deaths in Afghanistan, try to remember that in 2004... the same number of people were killed in traffic accidents every 11 days... as have died fighting in this conflict... since 2001.

And I sure don't hear anyone talking about banning automobiles.

Yet.

**********

POSTSCRIPT: According to Statistics Canada...

...there were 594 homicides in Canada in 2007. That's 50 times the average number of yearly Canadian combat fatalities in Af'stan the last 7 years.

Small comfort to family and friends of our brave troopers... but an interesting relative view of the barrage of socialist hysteria that erupts every time someone is killed.

**********

RELATED: Omar Who?

Mike Harris, my ass!

Everything that comes out of Dalton McGuinty's mouth should start with... "Once upon a time..."

-- TORONTO -- Ontario's Ministry of Agriculture is slashing its budget for food safety, public health and environmental programs while increasing spending on administration.

Figures show the Agriculture Ministry budget for public health and the environment is down 27 per cent this year over last, while spending for bio-products and rural communities is down 18.4 per cent.

But don't worry, it's not all "slash and burn"...

However, the ministry's spending on administration will jump 16.6 per cent this year.

*

I don't care what Steffi...

...and the socialist cabal are bleating... it's time to bring back capital punishment.

-- QUEBEC -- A Quebec man in his 50s has been arrested by police after a bizarre kidnapping involving an eight-year-old boy who was found alive inside an old heating oil tank.

Gagne says the boy was discovered bound and gagged in an old heating oil tank in the basement. He says the child had been tossed into the three-metre-long cylinder, which had been bolted shut.

We can do a couple of test runs on Clifford Olsen and Paul Bernardo first... to make sure we get all the bugs out.

**********

UPDATE: Child predator gets bail hearing

Did I mention he lives on the same street as the boy he kidnapped?

-- QUEBEC -- A 50-year-old Quebec man is facing several charges after the abduction of a young boy who was found alive inside an old heating-oil tank.

Provincial police say Pierre Defoy was charged with kidnapping, kidnapping a child under 14 and illegal confinement.

The accused will remain behind bars until a bail hearing tomorrow.

**********

RELATED: Makin' a list... checkin' it twice

"You think it is easy... to make priorities?"

*

Today Caledonia...

Tomorrow, the Holy See...

“First we must determine the meaning of reconciliation,” Mr. Fontaine said. “But an apology from the Holy Father would give meaning to our efforts.”

And while we're dreamin' in colour... when is that evil Neo-con Stephen Harper gonna start implementing the "sort-of promised" (by Mr. Dithers, of course) Opposition party gravy train?

He hopes to have the support of the premiers as he attempts to unblock some of the federal dollars earmarked as part of the $5-billion Kelowna Accord.

Because billions more taxpayer dollars are obviously the answer here.

*

A curious silence

I'm still waiting for the leftosphere to start screaming about racial profiling...

Two "German" men have been charged after a senior couple was assaulted, tied up and robbed, police say.

Yesterday, Halton Regional Police laid charges against Konstantin Bruck, 32, and Willy Barbje, 31.

No word yet on whether these nefarious Teutons were carrying around any "Zyklon-B."

"No big deal", you say?

Try substituting the word "Jamaican" for German... and watch the entire Canadian journo/leftlib political fellowship suddenly start to bleed from their ears.

*

The Mayor's office...

...has yet to confirm which Toronto gun club is responsible for the shooting.

Toronto police are looking for gunmen after shots were fired into an apartment in a downtown community housing complex.

The Denison Avenue housing complex, located southwest of Dundas and Spadina, has seen its share of gun violence in the past, said Drummond. There have been no recent shootings reported in the neighbourhood, she said.

*

If this is what passes for heroism...

...in Lebanon... no wonder the whole country is burning itself to the ground...

The exchange was a sombre occasion in Israel, which planned no ceremonies. In Lebanon, however, a hero's welcome was prepared for Mr. Kantar, a Lebanese Druze who was working for a militant Palestinian faction.

How can these people acknowledge this piece of shit as human... never mind "a hero"?

There, in a hail of gunfire and exploding grenades, they killed a policeman who stumbled upon them, then burst into the apartment of Danny Haran, herding him and his four-year-old daughter outside at gunpoint to the beach below, where they were killed.

An Israeli court found that Mr. Kantar shot Danny Haran in front of his child, then smashed her head with his rifle butt.

Of course, the CBC doesn't think he's such a bad guy.

I fear for my country.

**********

RELATED: More outstanding "Canuckistanian journalism"

Let us now praise Robert Mugabe.

*

Of course they laugh at the law

A native protester accused of blocking a development site in Brantford and elbowing a police officer in the face has been granted bail.

Dwayne Maracle was released yesterday on a $1,000 surety, and is required to maintain a particular residence and keep the peace.

He can return to the development site where he was protesting.

Protesting?

You mean waging war... right?

*

Justice

She deserves exactly the same amount of compassion she showed to Sharon Tate.

*

Calling on the press...

...to protect the common man from the potential corruptions of satire is a strange, paternalistic assignment for any journalist to give his peers, but that appears to be what The New Yorker's detractors desire.

I don't know whether to be crushed by that realization or elated by the notion that one of the most elite journals in the land has faith that Joe Sixpack can figure out a damned picture for himself.

**********

RELATED: But seriously, folks...

*

For all the screamin' the Khadr clan...

...is doin' about our screwed-up western values... you'll notice they didn't try fleeing to an Islamic country...

The verdict cannot be appealed. However, it does require the approval of PA President Mahmoud Abbas, who, under pressure from human rights organizations, has never authorized any of the death penalties.

Nonethless, some have been carried out.

At least 65 Palestinians have been sentenced to death by various PA courts since 1995.

**********

RELATED: Some things never change

The CSIS agents wanted to know how the Khadrs managed to travel between Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Yemen, Syria and Canada during the late 1990s, with no apparent means of support other than their work for Islamic charities.

Mr. Khadr replied his father lived off a Canadian disability pension.

**********

LAST WORD: Yeah... let's bring Omar back

Maybe he can live with this guy.

-- BRANTFORD -- A convicted terrorist ordered deported from Canada two decades ago is still living with his family in a modest semi-detached bungalow in Brantford.

Under orders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the then-25-year-old guerrilla fighter and another man hurled grenades and sprayed the plane with machine-gun fire.

*

"Don't let the screen door hit you..."

"...on your way out."

-- VANCOUVER -- U.S. army deserter Robin Long was quietly deported from Canada Tuesday morning, while protesters unaware of his whereabouts picketed the Canada-U.S. border crossing south of Vancouver.

*

Shout it from the rooftops

"Political correctness operates by shutting down non-politically-correct people's freedom of speech. Anyone who challenges the politically correct stance is, thereby, automatically labelled as intolerant, a bigot or a hatemonger."

"The substance of their arguments against a politically correct stance is not addressed; rather people labelled as politically incorrect are, themselves, attacked as being intolerant and hateful simply for making those arguments."

**********

RELATED: More Margaret Somerville

*

I know... call me wacky...

...but before we rush out and fly in even more third world labour... what say we try hiring some of the folks who are already clogging up the welfare rolls?

*

So, according to the Globe...

...this young man can first be characterised as a vigilante... then ridiculed as a parody of a comic book character.

-- VANCOUVER -- An eye-gouging fistfight between a good Samaritan and a purse snatcher has prompted Vancouver police to offer qualified support for "vigilante action", suggesting citizens should feel free to "indulge their inner Batman" if they have the martial and physical skills to prevail against bad guys.

Well... at least there's no confusion about where they stand.

I couldn't initially get my head around the apparent role-reversal in this so-called reporting. Apparently, according the Globe & Mail, the man who committed the criminal act is suddenly, magically... the victim of a vigilante.

To my mind, it's no different from the Canadian media using the ubiquitous image of 13 year-old Omar Khadr (what... they couldn't find a baby picture?) every time they go to bat for his jihadi ass... or mindlessly celebrating aboriginal thugs like Shawn Brant and Steve Powless.

What is happening to Canada?

I fear for my country.

*

Mayor Miller reportedly mulling...

...ban on cutlery sales in Greater Toronto area.

-- TORONTO -- Police are looking for two suspects after a man was stabbed to death in a midtown apartment last night.

Officers were called to a building on 40 Delisle Ave. in the Yonge St. and St. Clair Ave. area around 10:45 p.m.

And, dammit Mr. Mayor... it's way past time.

*

Reader revolt at Moonbat Central

Despite the "Red" Star's best efforts... there is a distinct lack of tears for poor Mama Khadr...

"I remember the chilling interview where this woman and her daughter rejoiced in what her spawn had done. Well, I hope they can take pride in some further humiliation because they are an insult to Islam, Canada and the ability to reproduce!"

For those who need it... a little background.

**********

RELATED: The Star takes another shot

"Statements from the Khadr family, all along, have been horrendous. No one would sympathize with what the Khadr family has said," said University of Toronto law professor Ed Morgan.

But ol' Ed still wants to bring Omar back.

**********

UPDATE: You're right, you jihadi jerkwad...

...we don't.

Sobbing uncontrollably, Mr Khadr tells the officials several times: "You don't care about me."

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LAST WORD: CTV sure has it's fingers...

...on the pulse of the nation.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's failure to push for Omar Khadr's release from Guantanamo Bay is "beyond comprehension," a lawyer for the detainee said Tuesday.

Khadr's Canadian lawyers, Dennis Edney and Nathan Whitling, blasted the Conservatives just hours after releasing footage of Khadr being interrogated in 2003 by Canadian spy service agents.

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Spokes-native Steve Powless...

...declares war on Brantford.

-- BRANTFORD -- Six Nations protesters promised a full-fledged land occupation in Brantford after city police arrested a protester Monday morning. "They’re going to have one hell of a fight now," said Steve Powless, speaking for the protesters.

"This is going to be Caledonia Part 2."

"They don’t understand what they’re in for."

Well, I dunno about that Stevie... it seems pretty clear to me...

Donal Curtin, Kingspan's general manager, said police told him to lock the door on his construction trailer and remain inside. He said in a response to e-mailed questions Monday that workers trying to enter the area received death threats.

"On multiple occasions today, contractors working on the site or delivering material to the site, had their lives threatened," he wrote. "These events have been reported to the Brantford Police. The people who made the threats were not arrested as far as I know."

And, of course, our aboriginal brethren are getting the usual politically correct kid-glove treatment.

Police spokesman Kent Pottruff said he did not have specific details of those allegations, but that potential criminal activity would be investigated.

Funny how that works.

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FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Time for McGuinty to buy up the City of Brantford."

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It's good enough for Iran...

...it's good enough for me...

The radio described the convicts as "wicked" people but did not say what crimes they had been convicted of nor when they were put to death.

*

Coming soon...

...to a Canadian city near you.

-- VANCOUVER -- BC Hydro says it could be several hours before power is restored to a large swath of the downtown core that lost power around 9:30 Monday morning.

Ms. Danard said BC Hydro is still trying to figure out how may customers have been affected by the outage.

BC Hydro's own downtown corporate office building is one of those without power.

**********

RELATED: Think it couldn't happen here?

Ontario remains extremely vulnerable to brownouts, and desperately in need of new and reliable electricity sources to power Canada's industrial heartland (we're talking about 40 per cent of the Canadian economy here).

Ontario's neighbouring states, notably New York, Ohio and Michigan, are looking at many of the same challenges of capacity and sustainable development.

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Remember when you were young...

...and cars left unattended in parking lots... were regularly stripped clean like dead animals at the side of the road?

Yeah, me neither.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"I hope social services can help the poor souls who feel they are forced to make a living by stealing, it's no surprise they have to get their frustrations out through vandalism.

Voters should vote for exactly the same Liberals and NDP'ers they are voting for now, eventually enough social workers will make a difference."

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If Mayor Miller really wants...

...to put a dent in gun crime... maybe instead of harrassing law-abiding citizens... he should have a word with some of these folks...

Detectives investigating the near-fatal shooting of a young man in a “densely populated” east Toronto neighbourhood say they met with apathy, and even hostility, when they tried to interview witnesses. Such reactions are a growing problem for police, said Det. Shawn Mahoney, the lead investigator of the Saturday evening shooting on Mornelle Court in northeastern Toronto.

So, what's the deal here, Scarberia? You either want this kind of thing stopped and the perpetrators put away... or you're good with it.

And guess what... there's no middle ground here.

“There were lots of people in front of the building, and no one would co-operate,” said Mahoney.

Without witness statements, police cannot solve the crime. “Unless something happens, this is going nowhere fast.”

Police estimate there are up to 150 potential witnesses to the shooting.

So there it is, people.

Problem... or solution.

You choose.

**********

RELATED: Speaking of shootings...

...third one in how many days?

-- TORONTO -- A 28-year old man is in hospital after being shot near the harbour early this morning. The victim was shot just after midnight as a large crowd was leaving a cruise boat at Harbour Square, near Queens Quay.

What... you missed the other two?

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A principled stand

Stephen Harper has decided not to play footsie with bloody, repressive China...

After a botched response to bloody riots in Tibet in March, the Chinese authorities have ruthlessly restored order. But anti-Chinese resentment is deep-seated.

As Beijing prepares to host the Olympic games in August, the authorities are trying, unconvincingly, to reassure the world that calm has returned to Tibet and ethnic-Tibetan parts of neighbouring provinces...

But hey, China... don't be shakin' in your jackboots... Commie Bob is on board.

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Harsha Walia...

...is all about tradition...

Spokeswoman Harsha Walia said the unannounced visits are making the tradition of religious sanctuary meaningless.

“It's just told to them that they really shouldn't be doing that,” Ms. Walia said. “They haven't attempted a removal because they know he's in sanctuary but it is a little bit alarming.”

She just doesn't much give a crap about the law of the land...

Mr. Singh came to Canada on a false passport in 2003.

You remember Laibar Singh, don't you?

**********

RELATED: In other BC follies...

...CHRC reinforces caste system in Canada.

The tribunal dismissed the complaint for two reasons: First, it found it does not have jurisdiction over temple membership; and, second, citing a prior decision regarding the United Native Nations, it agreed that the temple should be allowed to restrict membership to a minority group in order to promote the group's welfare.

(h/t dwe)

2008 Darwin Awards

And the nominees in the Petty Criminal Division are...

Police believe the 38-year-old man was using a battery-powered pump to siphon fuel from one of the U-Haul trucks into his own gas tank when a spark started a blaze.

He tried to drive away, but with the rubber hose still attached, the flames spread to his own fuel tank.

(h/t reader rich)

Giddy leftwing media reports...

...nine American soldiers killed in Afghanistan attack...

In a statement earlier, Nato reported that a small American Combat Outpost in Dara-I-Pech district of Kunar province, came under heavy fire at around 0430 local time (0900 GMT).

It said insurgents had fired "with small arms, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars using homes, shops and the mosque in the village of Wanat for cover."

Of course, this isn't the one-sided rout the media would have you believe... but they're not gonna play that up, are they?

Reports say that dozens of Taleban militants were also killed in the attack. There has been no confirmation of this.

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The Sad Truth

Ordinary Canadians only care about Timbits, lottery tickets and big screen tvs.

If they don't already know about the HRCs, that's because they don't want to know or care and never will, so any developments in the campaign (such as American support) won't matter anyway.

Like Meech Lake and so forth, the campaign for and against the HRCs will be conducted by about 1% of the population while the rest are swatting black flies at the cottage or running the office hockey pool.

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Once again...

The capricious and unknowable "Will of Allah."

-- KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- A bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up next to a police patrol in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing 24 people, including 19 civilians, a provincial police chief said.

Most of those killed and wounded were shopkeepers and young boys selling cigarettes and other goods in the street, Mr. Himat said.

Yeah... that'll teach those Crusaders a lesson.

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Taking truth in advertising...

...to a (w)hole other level.

*

Pay no attention...

...to that man behind the curtain...

An "epidemic" of high-profile knife attacks involving youth in the U.K. has police and government authorities perplexed as to the cause -- and what can be done.

The statistics seem grim as 20 teenagers have died violently in London alone this year, with knives often being involved.

And in one 24-hour period this week, five people were killed nationwide after being stabbed with a knife.

The death rate from knife crimes is nearly double what it was at this time last year and hospitals say the number of children under 16-year-old being treated for stab wounds is up nearly two thirds.

But don't you fret... everything's obviously under control.

The government notes that violent crime is at its lowest level in two decades.

That sounds so familiar.

**********

RELATED: Here's a real brainwave...

Maybe they can make murderers send flowers to funerals, too.

Young people who carry knives will be made to visit hospitals where stabbing victims are treated, in a bid to shock them into changing their behaviour.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said seeing "gruesome" injuries would be a tougher deterrent than sending all knife carriers in England and Wales to jail.

The Tories said more knife carriers should go to prison and the Lib Dems called Ms Smith's plans "half-baked".

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TORONTO

Come for the hip-hop... stay for the surgery...

The 21-year-old victim and several friends had just left Polson Pier on Polson St., near Cherry St. and Lake Shore Blvd. E., when shots rang out around 3:40 a.m., Toronto Police said in a news release.

Police found the young man laying on the pavement just up the street from the club, suffering from gunshot wounds to his chest, pelvis area and right wrist.

"The victim's friends and other patrons who had exited the night club at the time of the shooting were uncooperative with police," police said.

Why... that's... that's... shocking.

**********

RELATED: Scarberia gets on the board

A man is in hospital after being shot in the city’s east end. The shooting occurred just after 7 p.m. in the Mornelle Crt. and Morningside Ave. area, police said.

Upon arrival, police found between 20-30 people standing at the shooting site, an outdoor area in between two apartment complexes.

“They weren’t cooperating with the officers. We don't have any forthcoming witnesses,” said Staff Sgt. Chris Suongas.

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The fuzzy-bunny left...

...doesn't believe in tough-love... they'd rather just kill 'em with kindness...

Vancouver's needle exchange, the first in North America, opened in 1989. That first year, about 128,000 needles were handed out. Today, the streets are flooded with more than three million free needles each year.

The sick and malnourished, many of them with open sores, freely inject drugs. Between 5,000 and 10,000 addicts live within these eight square blocks.

The HIV rate hovers around 40 per cent; hepatitis-C rate is 85 per cent. There are more than 150 social services located in the area, offering everything from counselling and shelter to free lunch and art supplies.

But there are virtually no treatment beds.

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Our modern world

"Open the pod bay doors, HAL..."

The Oyster system on London's public transport network has suffered a fault, rendering the electronic cards inoperable for about four hours.

A fault lasting from about 0530 BST to 0930 BST on Saturday meant card readers did not work and some passengers could be charged a maximum fare by mistake.

On a similar note... the BT aggregator has been in a coma now... for 16 hours.

**********

UPDATE: Sun. Jul 13 - 14:45 - BT is back

Just heard from world traveller and BT admin Stephen Taylor... there was some sort of kink in the code on the Blogging Tories aggregator.

All fixed up now.

*

You've just gotta love...

...how this guy's utter incompetence is being soft-pedaled as "confusion."

-- OTTAWA -- A claim by former diplomat James Bartleman that Ottawa had advance warning of the 1985 Air India bombing was initially troubling, but ultimately confused and wrong, say government lawyers.

The federal Justice Department , in a written brief made public Thursday, berates Bartleman for "some of the most surprising and, it is submitted, inaccurate testimony at the inquiry."

But why on earth would he get such a soft ride in the media?

Bartleman, who was head of intelligence analysis at Foreign Affairs at the time of the bombing, went on to serve as an adviser to Jean Chretien during his term as prime minister and later as lieutenant-governor of Ontario.

Okay... that explains a few things... a Liberal political appointee.

**********

RELATED: Where do they get this shit?

Globe and Mail grandly pronounces...

"It's impossible to conquer the Afghans"

Apparently, Stephen Harper is now coveting the Afghan throne.

Who are the hippie freaks who come up with this drivel?

*

Liar, liar... shares on fire

Apparently there's more than one way to skin an infidel...

The missile firings on Wednesday and Thursday shook the oil markets, helping drive up the price of crude to a record of more than $147 a barrel on Friday from $136 on Wednesday.

That rise, if sustained, would mean billions of added dollars for Iran, one of the world’s top oil exporters.

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So, somebody help me out here

"The driver in a cottage country crash that killed himself and two friends was remembered today as a smiley, happy-go-lucky young man who left a trail of laughter wherever he went."

I just don't understand the whole "turn this kid into a media hero" thing. This entire event revolves around lethal criminal behaviour.

"Police confirmed today speed and alcohol were factors in the crash."

While this is undeniably a tragedy for this boy's family and friends... let's remember he also ended up snuffing out two other young lives. Does that fact register with anybody but me?

If, for instance... as a result of too much speed and alcohol, he had mowed three people down with his car and killed them... we, the larger field of folk, would be, at this very moment, vilifying him for his actions. Indeed, we would be looking to toss his ass in jail.

It seems though, if you kill yourself in the bargain... you get some sort of instant, automatic ethical pass. And that's just wrong.

I don't get it.

**********

RELATED: In Dalton McSlippery's socialist Ontario...

...apparently, there's no such thing as a bad boy.

Two teens whose racing resulted in the death of a cabbie should have been imprisoned for three years, not "grounded" at their parents' upscale homes, the Court of Appeal heard yesterday.

**********

LAST WORD: Well, whaddaya know...

...the Globe decides to take a more "discriminating stance."

Mr. Mulcahy, it was discovered, had previously been convicted for speeding - driving 127 kilometres an hour in an 80-km/h zone - and on Canada Day was charged with public drunkenness.

One of his passengers, Cory Mintz, had been charged with traffic offences six times since 2005, including driving 150 km/h in a 100-km/h zone.

Kourosh Totonchian, the other passenger, had also been cited for public drunkenness as well as being twice convicted of speeding, once for doing 91 km/h in a 50-km/h zone.

Now... do any of these offences deserve the death penalty?

Of course not.

But let's not pretend that anybody who really knew these guys, couldn't imagine them starring in this sort of horrific, nightmarish scenario.

*

Noted Canadian defense attorney...

Launches "Operation Kick Myself in the Balls."

Mr. Greenspon has repeatedly insisted that, despite a mass of evidence presented so far, the Crown has not proved the legal elements necessary to obtain a conviction.

He has argued, among other things, that although Mr. Khawaja believed in jihad his efforts were directed against western forces in Afghanistan, not at bombing sites in Britain.

Hang on... you mean like Canadian troops?

Now, I'm no lawyer... but isn't that what's commonly known in legal circles... as high treason?

*

Green Shift sweeps the land

Even Mohawk warriors are suddenly turning into Eco-warriors.

-- BRANTFORD, Ont. -- A construction company moved its heavy equipment off a Brantford work site Friday after about 50 aboriginal protesters showed up.

Mr. Powless said the land belongs to the people of the Six Nations who have a duty to protect it. He said there has been too much development and it's moving too fast.

“Everyone, including you, should be worried about what is happening to the land,” Mr. Powless said. “We can't drink the water or eat the fish."

"We have to protect the land for us and future generations.”

*

Starting from today...

I'd be surprised if Dion's handlers let him go the bathroom by himself.

(via dmb)

Scarberia...

Again...

A 13-year-old boy is in hospital and another is in custody after an apparent stabbing today at a school in Toronto's east end. The incident occurred at Henry Hudson Senior Public School on Orton Park Rd., near Ellesmere and Markham Rds., around 11 a.m.

The boys, both 13, were outside in the yard during recess at the time, according to Kelly Baker, TDSB communications coordinator.

*

C'mon, who's headin' to China...

...just to scarf down another Big Mac?

-- BEIJING -- Canine cuisine is being sent to the doghouse during next month's Beijing Olympic Games. The Xinhua News Agency reports dog meat has been struck from the menus of officially designated Olympic restaurants.

Beijing tourism officials are telling other outlets to discourage consumers from ordering dishes made from dogs.

Where's that hometown pride?

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Posting a pic of a chocolate lab? Are you trying to drive some Chinese culinary enthusiasts insane?"

"It's the best of both worlds... chocolate and dog!"

**********

WELCOME, YET AGAIN, READERS OF CANADIAN CYNIC

Sorry to disappoint everybody, folks... but you won't actually find the phrase... "hilariously barbaric little Chinks"... anywhere on this blog.

Of course, the Cynic does love his word play.

It's a real shame about CC. He hasn't been the same since all the confusion about his relationship with that other Waterloo blogger... who also, strangely enough... was calling himself Canadian Cynic.

In fact, it seems to have caused the Cynic to have some sort of nervous breakdown.

Get well soon, CC.

We're all worried about you.

*

Yes, yes... that poor Omar Khadr

If only we were as compassionate and wise as the Islamic insurgents...

The bodies of two US soldiers missing in Iraq for more than a year have been found, their families have told the Associated Press news agency.

The Islamic State of Iraq, a group that includes al-Qaeda in Iraq, had released a video saying it killed all three men.

**********

RELATED: A wonderful day in the neighbourhood

The following was posted yesterday at Fullcomment.com, the blog of the National Post editorial board.

The Canadian Islamic Congress gets all the press. But the Canadian Arab Federation (CAF) is making a strong case that it is every bit as radical and unhinged.

First came its recent sponsorship of an essay contest on "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine," in which it urged high school students to channel the group's own fervid hatred of Israel for prizes.

And hey, folks... that's not all... watch these folks really turn up the crazy...

Now, the group is promoting Sept. 11 conspiracy theories by announcing a July 14 Toronto speaking event entitled "The 9/11 deception continues."

Good grief.

*

"Who's sorry now? Who's sorry now?"

"Who's heart is achin, for breakin' each vow?"

Mr. Gibson confirmed Mr. Zytaruk is aware of the possibility, and also confirmed Mr. Zytaruk has refused to furnish Mr. Dearden with an original copy of the recording for verification by audio and computer experts.

“For obvious reasons, Mr. Zytaruk doesn't want to give up the originals, especially to Dearden.”

Yup... obvious reasons.

Mostly involving his wallet and his reputation.

**********

UPDATE: Welcome Bell Canada

"By the power of Greyskull..."

Nobody ever told me Kathy Shaidle had a little sister...

"May the vortex of Hell's own fiery Willamette River suck your putrid soul to its murky depths and belch you up to enjoy the ride over and over and over again for all Eternity."

"And may sweet Mary Jo finally rest in peace."

*

There would have been...

...an unceasing media shitstorm, the likes of which we've never seen before... if this had been John McCain... instead of (cough,cough) the Reverend??? Jesse Jackson...

"I want to cut his nuts off," Rev. Jackson whispered to a fellow interviewee on the Fox News Channel set.

**********

UPDATE: Obama responds... "Castration no biggie."

*

From the fuzzy-bunny province...

That gave you polygamous communities, safe-injection sites and Robert "Willie" Pickton...

Police revealed Thursday that DNA analysis has determined two of the feet, in men's blue-and-white size 11 Nikes, belonged to the same man.

But coroners and forensic anthropologists have said that's just about all the information they're going to get without more leads from relatives of missing persons.

And, get this, we aren't talking just a dozen or so candidates...

Police have narrowed efforts to match the feet with missing persons to 113 men and 159 women, most of them from B.C.

*

Some serious wood

One man, one chain saw, one tank of gas... and the fight still isn't over.

Just taking a short R&R... that's "Refuel and Rehydrate" to all you city slickers... from my ongoing one-man skirmish with Mother Nature.

Lest you imagine this is a lopsided contest, my current opponent is a huge half-dead aspen that's been looming over the access road we've cut through the woods out back. It's gotta be close to 18 inches in diameter at 4 feet off the ground, and if I don't take it down myself, it could come down at a less opportune moment... like on Mrs. Neo on her daily constitutional.

It's just ice-cream that we heat with wood.

I thought I was gonna be able to drop the sucker cleanly across the road... and have it limbed and bucked into lengths in about an hour, but Mr. Murphy has reared his ugly head and dictated otherwise.

First, it didn't fall as cleanly as I expected and snagged on another tree across the road about eighty feet off the ground. I tried hooking up to it with the snatch strap and yanking with the truck, but only succeeded in swinging the back of the vehicle over, gently kissing another tree.

After cutting into it another 4 feet up the trunk, the bottom once again dropped to the ground and now has an even more acute lean. And, of course, upon going for another 4 feet... I ran out of gas.

As a bonus... with all the extra jumpin' around in 80 degree heat... I got a little sloppy and grazed my leg with the saw. Fortunately, it was an oblique swipe and I was wearing double layer work pants... so the whirling shark teeth didn't blaze all the way through to meat and bone.

So the score right now is tied at zero... if you don't count the cracked tail-light and the ripped pants.

But don't you worry Mr. Aspen... I'll be back to kick your recalcitrant cellulose ass.

And that cold beer will taste all the sweeter.

**********

ROUND TWO: Goes to my opponent

The picture above shows where I got back into it.

I started in again with one four foot section already off the bottom of the tree. Two more cuts and I had another eight feet off 'er, which, unfortunately, very nearly stood the tree back up vertical. That, of course, makes the physics a tad more interesting.

Anyway... I ended up dancing around the trunk, trying to finesse things... and got the bar pinched when the cut snapped closed. The moral of this story is to always make sure you've got your wedges handy. I didn't, so that one's on me.

Anyway, that was it for tonight. Unbolted the saw from the stuck bar and headed for the castle. I'll have to throw on my spare to finish the job tomorrow morning. On the plus side, in all my back and forth from the house, I spotted a big doe coming out of the forest to feed.

All in all, despite the complications... a singularly satisfying afternoon.

Stand by for Round Three... "Revenge of the Two Ton Come-along."

**********

LAST WORD: Round three... and victory is mine

Once I had the rig in place... my arboreal friend didn't last 10 seconds.

Lesson learned... "Use your brain, not your back."

*

And that's a condemnation...

...on you and you and you.

**********

RELATED: As P.J. O'Rourke once said...

"I wanna see the logic and the lab equipment."

*

All light... no heat

More Liberal yip-yap... instead of, you know... actually doing anything...

"We're moving in the direction of change," Bradley said in an interview six days after a Muskoka accident killed three people age 20 or younger and renewed debate about the effectiveness of Ontario's graduated licensing system.

Bradley did not say what specific changes the Liberals might make, nor when they might make them.

Yup... sounds a lot like the years-log aboriginal standoff in Caledonia... and their famous "No Gun, No Funeral" initiative.

Oh yeah, they promise not to raise your taxes.

**********

RELATED: Oh, good grief... I give up

"That's 'African-American hole' to you, pal."

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