30 November 2008

"The only other question is..."

"...will it be a green... or an orange shaft?"

A deal has been negotiated between NDP Leader Jack Layton and Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion that would see them form a coalition government for two and a half years, the CBC's Keith Boag reported, citing sources.

The NDP would be invited into cabinet and get 25 per cent of seats, Boag said, adding that the party wouldn't get the position of the finance chair or the deputy prime minister's post.

"That's the big step forward tonight," Boag reported.

"The most difficult question is who'll be the leader," Boag said, adding that Dion, who negotiated the deal, believes he has the right to be prime minister.
In other breaking news... Liberal leadership candidate Michael Ignatieff was found bleeding heavily from every bodily orifice... after suffering what is being described as a "thermonuclear stroke"...

**********

UPDATE: It's a medical miracle...
Mr. Ignatieff met with lame duck Liberal leader, Stéphane Dion, and leadership candidates Bob Rae and Dominic LeBlanc in Toronto last night and hammered out a deal that would see Mr. Dion and Mr. Rae step aside, with the latter named to a senior post, likely Foreign Affairs Minister.

It is understood that Mr. Ignatieff was reluctant to sign on unless he was named interim leader because it would leave Mr. Dion, who was recently rejected by the Canadian electorate, as leader.
*

Curly, Larry and Jack

Apparently the Dippers... you know, the guys who imagine they're qualified to displace the elected government of this country... pulled an electronic boner of epic proportions...

-- OTTAWA -- The NDP says it may pursue criminal charges after the Conservatives covertly listened in, taped and distributed audio of a closed-door NDP strategy session.

NDP Leader Jack Layton can be heard on the tapes boasting to his caucus that he had prepared scenarios to bring down the government with the help of the Bloc Quebecois before the Conservatives issued their recent economic statement.
Holy crap... what's the deal here? Is this another Watergate break-in kinda deal?

Well... not exactly...
An unidentified Tory was “invited” to participate in the call, said PMO spokesman Dimitri Soudas.

“Maybe the invitation was meant for the Bloc, and they accidentally invited us. We were invited.

When you get invited somewhere you have the opportunity to choose to participate or not participate.”
Yeah sure, Jacko... we're gonna let you drive the bus.

In your dreams.

**********

RELATED: The Iggy factor

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"Though this be madness..."

"...yet there is method in't."

The New Democrats and Bloc Quebecois held talks to form a coalition party well before the opposition's uproar over the government's fiscal update, CTV News has learned.

NDP Leader Jack Layton was in talks with Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe for a "considerable period of time," reported CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife on Sunday.
Well... isn't that special... looks like Taliban Jack has been plotting with the Separatistes for some time now...
According to the audio tape, Layton appears to take credit for the possibility of a coalition.

"Let's just say we have strategies. This whole thing would not have happened if the moves hadn't been made with the Bloc a long time ago and locked them in early," Layton says.

"Because, you couldn't put three people together in one or three hours. The first part was done a long time ago."
So much for looking out for the interests of Canadians.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:
"If people thought too much of their money was going to Quebec before..."
And...
"I'd like to know how Layton is ever going to be able to live down the fact that he conspired to bring down the elected gov't (of all 6 weeks or so) BEFORE it had any chance to introduce substantive legislation proposals."
**********

RELATED: Stephen Taylor has the transcript

*

Pakistan, huh?

I'm shocked, I tell you...

-- MUMBAI, India -- The only gunman captured by police after a string of attacks on Mumbai told authorities he belonged to the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, a senior police officer said Sunday.

The group has long been seen as a creation of the Pakistani intelligence service to help wage its clandestine war against India in disputed Kashmir.

Police arrested the lone surviving militant, Ajmal Qasab, and Mr. Maria said he confessed his links to Lashkar during interrogation. “Ajmal Qasab has received training in a L-e-T training camp in Pakistan,” he said.

“Our interrogation indicates that the terrorists had other places that they also intended to target.”
**********

UPDATE: Second murdered Canadian identified
-- MONTREAL -- The second Canadian who died in the Mumbai attacks has been identified as Elizabeth Russell, the partner of the Montreal physician who was also killed.
*

Gimme less Mr Rogers...

...and way more cops...

Two people are believed to be dead and four others injured, including a toddler who is fighting for his life and a police officer, after a man went on a rampage at a birthday party in Oshawa today.

The assailant is believed to have been killed by a police officer who was forced to fire on the man after being stabbed.
**********

UPDATE: Crazy, violent people... lock them up
A crazed man who stabbed a woman to death at a party and then -- according to neighbours -- slit her three-year-old son's throat was shot dead by police yesterday.

The relative and neighbours at the scene outside 1010 Glen St. unit 155 said a fight erupted at a party in the house yesterday and identified the dead man as Gino Petrolia, though the spelling of his last name couldn't immediately be confirmed.

Neighbour Lindsay Demers, 20, said Gino fatally stabbed Leslie Kelly. Demers said she had spoken with relatives of the Kellys. Demers said Gino had been angered that his son Steven was in the custody of Rick and Kelly, apparently because of Gino's mental issues.
He was dangerous enough they wouldn't let him have custody of his child... he should have been in lockdown.

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LAST WORD: How long will we tolerate the madness?
A Winnipeg man has been sentenced for the second time to eight years in prison for killing someone while he was drunk.

Trevor Park, 39, pleaded guilty earlier this week to impaired driving causing death and driving while disqualified in connection with a May 24 crash that killed passenger Lorne Alvin Sayer.

In 1993, Park was sentenced to eight years in prison for manslaughter. Court heard that crime was also fuelled by alcohol.
I fear for my country.

*

INCOMING!!!

"Culture is not destiny, especially when that culture is frozen in time."

"This is the argument of 'Disrobing the Aboriginal Industry', a newly-released book by two academics that is making waves within the academic world."

"In the work, Frances Widdowson, a political scientist, and Albert Howard, a former government and aboriginal group consultant, suggest that indigenous peoples did not exist at the same level of social and cultural development as Europeans when they first encountered each other."

"Even more controversially, they suggest many pre-modern characteristics of indigenous societies still exist in First Nation communities today and prevent them from integrating into modern society and succeeding."

"This, they argue, is the problem confronting First Nations today: they need to catch up culturally."

How is this any different...

...than putting a loaded gun to another person's head?

"It's beyond sense," says Peter. His own doctor, after diagnosis, read him the riot act about disclosure.

"These people are being given the easy way out, because the leaders are saying, 'Hey, we don't want you to be sad.'"
*

My gut feeling is to go with...

..."Coalition Of The Swilling"...


UPDATE: Here's an interesting rumour...

"I’m at the Parliamentary Press Gallery dinner right now and a quiet rumour among a small number of of the gathered people here is that Prime Minister Stephen Harper may prorogue Parliament until the new year."
**********

FROM THE COMMENTS: What gentle, compassionate man said...
"This becomes relevant because suddenly, he is weak. In fact, at this particular moment, he is almost unable to defend himself. Owing to a ridiculously ill-considered act of hubris, he has laid himself vulnerable to his opponents."

"Their imperative could not be more clear: kill him. Kill him dead."
*

29 November 2008

I think I'll just wait...

...for the other shoe to drop...

-- Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper today backtracked on a proposal to cut funding for political parties after the opposition sought to topple his minority government.

“We wanted to lead by example and we’re disappointed they’re not following us,” Baird said in an interview on CTV television. "We thought it would be fairly slam-dunk."

"It’s not worth going into an election over."
**********

RELATED: Meanwhile... back at Dipper Central...

...plans for the Brave New Socialist World are taking shape...
Separately, coalition talks between the Liberals, NDP and Bloc continued Saturday. The NDP held an emergency caucus to discuss the details of a possible fiscal stimulus package to be introduced by the coalition government shortly after it would take power.

The NDP is asking for senior cabinet posts in any coalition government, including positions in charge of economic and social portfolios.
*

Maybe they're actually on to something

An eye for an eye... a face for a face...

A court in Iran has ruled that a man who blinded a woman with acid after she spurned his marriage proposals will also be blinded with acid. The court also ordered the attacker, 27-year-old Majid Movahedi, to pay compensation to the victim.

Ms Bahrami also said that Movahedi had also threatened to kill her.
Hey, here's a thought.. How about, in the spirit of Islamic... cough, cough... justice... we let the family of SFC Christopher Speer decide what to do with homegrown terrorist Omar Khadr?

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:
"Great idea, but we had better hurry the arrangements. Bets are that the the liberal coalition will have Khadr as guest of honour at the next Santa Claus parade."
*

Prove it, prove it!!!

Almost 200 confirmed dead... and compassionate, cooperative Pakistan continues to circle the wagons...

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said today the Indian government should provide evidence to support any claims the attacks were linked to groups in Pakistan.

Pakistan’s government turned down India’s request to send the chief of the military intelligence agency to investigate the attacks.
Hmmmm... what possible reason could the Pakistani government have... for wanting all this to just go away?

Might be time for India to start stocking up on Predator drones.

*

Remember when you were a kid...

...and newspapers just used to... you know... report the news...

"Mr. Harper's determination to destroy the Liberals borders on the pathological."
**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:
"I can't speak for Prime Minister Harper but my desire to destroy the liberals has been pathological since they stole all that taxpayers money."
**********

LAST WORD: So Iggy... what exactly do you call...

...letting the Separatistes drive the bus?

That's one bloodthirsty deity

Mumbai police inspector Ashok Patil told Reuters at least 155 people had been killed and “we are still counting”.

Newspapers said the toll was likely to rise as bodies were collected from the luxury Taj and nearby Trident-Oberoi hotels, scene of another siege.
**********

UPDATE: Second Canadian confirmed murdered

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28 November 2008

I have just one question

How quickly will newly appointed Defence Minister "Taliban Jack" Layton move... to open up negotiations with the jihadis in Afghanistan?

"NDP Leader Jack Layton and Stephane Dion have discussed 'roles and responsibilities' in a new coalition, an NDP official confirmed. It is expected that Layton would have a place in the new cabinet, and 'various players would play different roles'.”
**********

RELATED: Jack and Gilles sell out "the hill"...

...and Iggy comes tumbling after...
Nothing galvanizes politicians like a threat to their own interests, and while the Liberals might have grumbled a bit and approved Mr. Flaherty’s plans for the economy, they’re willing to throw the country into chaos to preserve their access to the public purse.
**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:
"My question is why do my tax dollars have to go to a political party?"
And...
"If the Governor General accepted the Bloc Quebecois as part of the governing coalition, then hopefully the Queen would step in and fire her for dereliction of duty."
**********

LAST WORD: Join the fun... name that tune
"The Coalition of the Swilling"
*

NDP refusing to confirm rumours...

...that, as part of the deal... Gilles Duceppe will be crowned Lord High Emperor of Quebec...

That rumour must have come from the camps of one of the Liberal leadership contenders, not from the NDP, the source said, adding that everything is on the table — including bringing in Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale to be prime minister.

The co-operation of the Bloc Québécois would be required for any Liberal-NDP coalition to function.
**********

FROM THE COMMENTS: Visions of sugarplums...
"...Canadians grabbing their chests at the thought of a Dipper Minister of Finance..."
And...
"If the opposition wants to go to the polls on the issue of taxpayer funding of political parties I say bring it on."

"Political suicide... 100% Conservative Parliament."
**********

RELATED: Even the Commie-bots at the CBC...
"Should public subsidies that Canada's five major political parties receive be scrapped?"

Reality Bites

"For me, real freedom means living life in each moment, as it unfolds, without concepts or conditions."
*

Roll-back, my ass...

...more like ROLL-OVER...

A worker died after being trampled and a woman miscarried when hundreds of shoppers smashed through the doors of a Long Island Wal-Mart Friday morning, witnesses said.

Witnesses said the surging throngs of shoppers knocked the man down. He fell and was stepped on. As he gasped for air, shoppers ran over and around him.

"He was bum-rushed by 200 people," said Jimmy Overby, 43, a co-worker. "They took the doors off the hinges. He was trampled and killed in front of me."
(h/t reader rich)

**********

UPDATED: How on earth could this happen?

It's all over

Britain officially throws in the towel.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Why not throw in free cab fare to the next pub?"
*

If only we could have had...

...more social workers...

"I could be anybody. They don't know who I am."
**********

RELATED: In Dalton McSlippery's Ontario...

...there's no such thing as a bad boy...
The family of murder victim Jordan Ormonde wants a public inquiry into why killer Benny Krasniqi was free on three peace bonds after earlier knifing incidents.

A month before he killed Jordan Ormonde by slashing his throat, Krasniqi punched a parking control officer and bolted. It was alleged that during his escape that Krasniqi dropped a knife -- which was recovered during the pursuit.
*

Caught between a rock...

...and a fractious, squabbling place...

Their options are to fight another election mere weeks after the last one with a lame duck leader, or join forces with the New Democratic Party in an attempt to form a coalition government.
Of course, as... cough, cough...appealing as that must sound... there may be a few small flies in the opposition ointment...
However, sources say that NDP Leader Jack Layton would not participate in a coalition government with Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion as prime minister.

Similarly, the Liberal caucus does not want to fight an election with Mr. Dion at the helm.
**********

RELATED: One solution... lower your expectations

**********

LAST WORD: Or, if you're really getting desperate...

...you can "shake hands with the devil"...
The official says NDP Leader Jack Layton asked Broadbent to call Chretien with the idea that the two elder statesmen could finesse a deal between the two parties to defeat the minority Conservative government and form a coalition with support from the Bloc Quebecois.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, says the two former leaders spoke at least four times.
Yeah... that'd really fix things.

*

27 November 2008

"First they came..."

"...for the idiots."

*

"Entitled to their entitlements"

Liberal party wigs out... as Harper government announces proposal to end taxpayer subsidies to political parties...

Opposition parties denounced the proposal to end per-vote subsidies in the name of economic restraint as a partisan power play.

Liberal finance critic Scott Brison said his party was still deliberating on whether to oppose the proposal, but said it marks an early return to political gamesmanship by the Tories after the election.
Hey, Scotty... how about we get a little crazy... and, you know... ask the people who have to actually pay the freight here...

Well... I'd say that settles that.

**********

UPDATE: Oh Gawd, stop... yer killin' me

Ooooh, noooo... crampin' up... can't... stop... laughing...
"The Liberals, NDP and Bloc Quebecois say they can’t support the plan because it offers no stimulus package to deal with the economic crisis."
Please, please.... no more.

*

TORONTO

...is for lovers...

A man has been taken to hospital in critical condition after being shot in the city's east end. Toronto police say they were called to a highrise apartment at 1840 Victoria Park Ave., north of Lawrence Ave. E., just before midnight.

Meanwhile, police in the city's Weston-area are also searching for suspects after a man was found shot in the abdomen outside a home on Lindy Lou Rd., south of Finch Ave. W.
*

Islam Unplugged

Another in our series of little known Islamic facts... #17: Allah hates garbagemen...

"'Prior to reaching the convoy, the bomber who was sitting in a small vehicle, detonated the bombs that were in the car and as a result of that unfortunately, a number of civilians were killed and a number were injured,' said Bashary."

"One bystander said most of the victims were city sanitation workers."
*

The capricious and unknowable...

..."Will of Allah"...

Among those held captive were said to be Americans, British, Canadians, Italians, Swedes, Yemenis, New Zealanders, a Singaporean and Israelis.

CTV News, citing Indian media reports, said that 10 Canadians were among those held hostage.
Contrary to what you're gonna hear from Dawg and company... there's only one way to deal with these psychotics... no dialogue, no concessions... no Guantanamo... you find these guys and you find where they came from... and you LIGHT THEM UP.

**********

RELATED: Or, if you're a skeptical journalist...

...you can bend over and grab your politically-correct ankles.

*

Rae jubilant...

...Ignatieff campaign in tatters... after receiving leftosphere's infamous "kiss of death"...

"Personally, I think Michael Ignatieff is the person for the job, and I hope you do as well."
*

26 November 2008

UPDATE MUMBAI: Very specific targets

Looks like this is all about going after foreigners rather than native-born Indians...

Two British men working in Mumbai described how the gunmen burst into the Kandahar restaurant at another hotel, the Oberoi, and rounded up diners who appeared to be tourists.

Alex Chamberlain, who is in Mumbai working for the Indian Premier League website said: "A guy burst into the Kandahar with a machine gun. He was in western dress wearing jeans and he asked for British and American tourists."

"They told everybody to stop and put their hands up and asked if there were any British or Americans. My friend said to me, don't be a hero, don't say you are British."

"I am sure that is what this is all about. They were talking about British and Americans specifically."
*

Getting "The Message."

"Thirty-nine hours later, the siege was over -- a reporter was dead and dozens of hostages had been stabbed, beaten or shot."

"Now THAT would be a good movie."
**********

RELATED: In other non-movie developments...
-- Mumbai, Nov 27 (IANS) -- Two top police officials were killed while the chief of Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) was grievously injured as security forces took on terrorists in Mumbai following terror attacks late Wednesday night.

Additional: Police Commissioner Ashok Kamte and Mumbai Police “encounter specialist” Vijay Salaskar were killed in gun battles following series of attacks in India’s financial capital, police officials said.
**********

LAST WORD: It's only a matter of time
-- MUMBAI -- At least 80 people were killed and 250 wounded in a series of shootings around India's financial capital Mumbai on Wednesday night, with two five-star hotels among the targets in what police called a terror attack.

India has suffered a wave of bomb attacks in recent years. Most have been blamed on Islamist militants, although police have also arrested suspected Hindu extremists thought to be behind some of the attacks.
*

Hey, Johnson...

...how's your johnson?...

The jurors have heard from public-health officials and clinic nurses and doctors, Mr. Aziga's name then began popping up as a "contact" of newly diagnosed women.

At one point, he had been named as a contact by as many as 20 women throughout Southern Ontario, and ultimately was arrested in August, 2003.

We're here for a good time...
Not a long time...
So have a good time...
The sun can't shine every day.
*

Like Rick Mercer says...

...they're flexible.

*

Oh Dalton... if only we had...

...more social workers...

The victim, 16, was robbed of his Apple iPhone and stabbed before being taken to hospital with what are considered non life-threatening injuries, Drummond said.

Moise Bear, 18, was charged with forcible entry, assault with a weapon, weapons dangerous, robbery, aggravated assault and possession of property obtained by crime.

A 16-year-old, who can't be named because of his age, was charged with forcible entry, assault with a weapon, robbery, aggravated assault, possession of property obtained by crime, threatening death and fail to comply.
Save us... oh wonderful Liberals.

*

Does this mean he's gonna...

...call off the Barack attack?

**********

LAST WORD: The Man from Hope & Crawford

"Leaving the Bush tax cuts alone. Putting Iraq-war supporters in as Vice President and Secretary of State. And now keeping Bush’s Defense Secretary on."

"I’m beginning to feel like I won this election!"
*

25 November 2008

Sometimes a cigar is just a...

...OH... MY... GAWD...

Please tell me this is some kind of colossal hoax.

*

You have got to be...

...shittin' me...Does this mean "tay-sachs" and "sickle cell anemia" are off the list too?

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"What about breast cancer?"
**********

ASK AN ACTUAL DOCTOR: Our newest feature at "the halls"
"You know the more I think of this the angrier it makes me. I personally think that the Alumni should seriously punish these little "socialists" by holding out all donations until they agree to go out and spend a day with a few teens with Cystic Fibrosis."
**********

LAST WORD: Behold... an academic Jonestown

Fortunately, not everybody drank the diversity kool-ade...
Two people voted against his motion, including third-year student Nick Bergamini.

“They're trying to score cheap points by playing politics with a disease,” Mr. Bergamini said Tuesday night. “What's important to note that this does not represent what Carleton students are about. If it's going to be a black mark on anybody, it should be the student union.”
*

Why we should disband the U.N.

...Reason #42...

Somali pirates have hijacked a Yemeni cargo ship, reported to be the 39th successful hijacking by pirates off the Horn of Africa this year. Head of the East African Seafarers' Association Andrew Mwangura said the MV Amani was taken in the Gulf of Aden.

Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said on Monday that the alliance was not considering any naval blockade.

He said that such action has not been endorsed by the UN Security Council.
Geez... isn't that sorta the same kind of reasoning that allowed Rwanda to spiral into madness and genocide. I guess the last straw for me was when the various U.N. member nations decided that Libya (I shit you not) should get to be a member of the... cough, cough... Security Council.
The last thing the world needs right now is disruption of one of its busiest shipping lanes and a spike in insurance premiums. But the cause of the present surge of piracy is no less worrying than its consequences.

What has made the pirates’ audacity possible is the collapse of Somalia.

The existence of a vast ungoverned space in Africa’s Horn does not just provide a useful haven from which pirates can hunt their prey at sea.

It also threatens to transmit shockwaves through a seam of fragile and strife-torn African states from Sudan to the Congo.
There's a really simple solution here... LIGHT. THEM. UP.

*

In the 1980s and 1990s...

"...it became a familiar critique of government industrial strategy that the state couldn't tell who the winners were and the market didn't need to be told."

"And the policy elite all learned to mouth the words that "picking winners and losers" was a bad idea. But evidently they never believed or understood it."

"All these bailout plans seem to involve giving money to companies governments have identified as key to economic vitality on the basis that they're about to go bust."

"So politicians are cluelessly unteachable here too. And they have our wallets."

24 November 2008

Tonight's CTV Moonbat Moment

Just watched Lloyd Robertson almost pee himself... over Saint Barack's latest "swift and bold action"... reappointing a Clinton advisor as head of the White House National Economic Council.

Ol' Lloyd was similarly excited about the President-elect telling the U.S. Congress what measures he expected them to have in place by his inauguration.

He's finishing up with some argle-bargle about "bad bosses" driving people to an early grave.

Seriously.

I fear for my country.

*

Hey-diddle-diddle... political fiddle...

...the Commissar jumped over the Moon...

Lynch has become a gross embarrassment to the government. Hand-picking Moon to do a very narrow and selective review – in the face of Parliament’s own reviews – was an act of insubordination, and an act of political usurpation.

She’s a bureaucrat, not a lawmaker. But she was acting like an MP. She’s not. She’s a second-rate appointee, who presides over a corrupt agency. She prefers damage control and PR to actually fixing the problem in her rotting agency.
So what is the next move here?

Ezra's got an idea...
It’s the Prime Minister’s move now. He was too tolerant with Lynch, letting her upstage Parliament. Now she proposes to have hearings and consultations – clearly Parliament’s function.

How much longer will Lynch continue to give her bosses orders? How much longer will they allow her to play MP?
**********

RELATED: And we owe it all to Elmo

The campaign against Maclean's that was born that night has now failed in three jurisdictions, and the public outcry at its perceived frivolity has drawn Canada's entire human rights bureaucracy, fairly or unfairly, into scandal and disrepute.

"I don't use, actually, the word 'failed,' " Prof. Elmasry said. "The first point that I did learn from this exercise is that Islamophobia is alive and well in Canada, in the media and also in politics," he said.

"In all of this, WE'VE been victimized."
Hang on a second... who exactly is we?
Prof. Elmasry said he represents more than 70% of Canada's Muslim population, which he pegs at one million.
Over to you, Bernie Farber.

**********

LAST WORD: Remember this proud Elmasry moment?
-- CANADIAN PRESS -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper is “playing politics” and remains indifferent to Omar Khadr’s plight because the Guantanamo Bay prisoner is “brown-skinned” and a Muslim, says the leader of one of Canada’s largest Islamic groups.
*

Yet another stunning triumph...

...in the ongoing glorification of the prophet...

Iraqi police say at least a dozen employees of the Iraqi Trade Ministry were killed when a roadside bomb exploded near a passenger bus transporting them to work.

A second explosion took place less than an hour later, when a female suicide bomber blew herself up at a checkpoint leading into Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone. Five people, including two members of the Iraqi army, were killed in the blast. Officials say at least 12 people were wounded.

In a third explosion, a roadside bomb apparently targeting an Iraqi police patrol reportedly killed one person and wounded five others.
Yessirree... they'll be dancing in the streets of ol' Baghdad tonight.

**********

RELATED: Sure, the brave jhadis know how to...

...blow up innocent civilians... but what happens when they run up against actual soldiers?
-- FARAH PROVINCE, Afghanistan -- In the city of Shewan, approximately 250 insurgents ambushed 30 Marines and paid a heavy price for it. “I didn’t realize how many bad guys there were until we had broken through the enemies’ lines and forced them to retreat. It was roughly 250 insurgents against 30 of us.”
Yeah... that's what I thought.

**********

LAST WORD: Scratch a holy warrior...

...find a raving lunatic.

*

So, despite all the technology...

...the numbers continue to rise...

The UK saw 749 Down's births in 2006, up from 717 in 1989 when tests came in. The Down's Syndrome Association surveyed 1,000 parents to find out why they had pressed ahead with a pregnancy despite a positive test result.
Hmmm... I guess it's not just Sarah Palin, huh?
A fifth said they had known somebody with Down's, a third cited religious or anti-abortion beliefs and 30% felt life had improved for people with Down's.
And, of course, there's the ever-present 20% "dumbstick rule." Unfortunately, a sense of unreality isn't a terribly useful stance.
Almost one in five said they simply did not believe the results of the test.
*

Unconfirmed sources report ...

...in three, two, one...

**********

RELATED: Ezra has a little more...

Prof. Moon is an obscure professor specifically chosen by the CHRC for one reason: he is one of the few Canadian academics who has written in favour of government violation of freedom of the press.

In other words, he’s the perfect man to whitewash the CHRC’s own violations of freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of religion.
Amazingly... despite his pedigree... Professor Moon has recommended that section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act be repealed.

One for the good guys.

**********

LAST WORD: Just another reason

*

So the bullets were flying...

...at Dundas and University over the weekend... and then there was...

-- TORONTO -- Paramedics rushed the victim, about 18 years old, to Sunnybrook hospital after he was found bleeding by a school on Driftwood Ct. at 4:20 p.m., police said. Toronto medics treated the teen at the scene before taking him to hospital.

Police said there appeared to be evidence that at least two people shot at each other. The victim was found beside a schoolyard basketball court, but investigators suspect the shooting may have occurred in a nearby field.
**********

RELATED: Wonderful day in the neighbourhood
A young man walked into a Toronto hospital Monday afternoon after someone shot him in the jaw, say police.

Officers were called to a Driftwood Ave. housing complex, near Jane St. and Finch Ave. W., to investigate reports of gunshots around 2:45 p.m., said Toronto Police Const. Tonyo Vella.
*

Yeah... it's unfair all right...

...to the taxpayers who have been paying to support this guy AND his family since the 1990's... when his refugee claim was denied.
*

Screw it...

...break out the bread and water.

*

Suddenly...

...all the peaceniks have gone mute...

The leadership change from President George W. Bush could present Karzai with new challenges in his relationship with the U.S.

Obama has chided Karzai and his government in the past, saying it had "not gotten out of the bunker" and helped to organize the country or its political and security institutions.

Fighting terrorism and the insurgency "in Afghanistan, the region and the world is a top priority," Karzai's office quoted Obama as saying.
Funny how that works.

*

23 November 2008

Never mind the wasted money...

When did we decide that children were a disposable commodity...

A July 2008 letter from Ms. Turpel-Lafond to the ministry, obtained by Vancouver newspaper 24 Hours through a freedom of information request, cited four cases involving children left in homes that had been judged unsafe.

After the letter became public in September, B.C. Child and Family minister Tom Christensen said those cases had been investigated and that the children in question were safe.

Aboriginal children account for fewer than one in 10 people in the province, but represent more than half the children in care.
Wanna know how government actually works?
Bureaucrat 1: "Hey, the newspapers are sniffin' around all those battered children we shifted around to foster homes."

Bureaucrat 2: "Damn... I guess we're gonna have to start vetting these people... BEFORE we place the kids. What a pain."
Unbelievable.

*

Okay... now I see how this works

First you give them a little "Hope"...

Mr. Obama's radio address talked about the goal of job creation and said his economic plan “will mean 2.5 million "MORE" jobs by January of 2011.”
Then... while everybody's celebrating... you throw in a little "Change"...
The Obama website on Saturday said his plan will “SAVE OR CREATE” 2.5 million jobs. Mr. Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs confirmed later Saturday that the plan “WILL SAVE AND CREATE” the 2.5 million jobs.
Well... witness the wonderful socialist shell game in action... that certainly didn't take too long.

Of course, CBC somehow misses the erratum.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:
"Americans will be demanding to eat the Unicorn he rode in on a couple of years from now."
**********

RELATED: A lightbulb moment...
Jesus Hussein Christ.

Obviously.
*

Remember when you were a kid...

...and you used to settle arguments with guns, knives and pickaxes?

Accused killer Marko Miljevic two-handed a pickaxe all the way into his teen victim's head, a witness told court yesterday.

Nick Hodgson, a close friend of Matt McKay who was killed at a Queensland party Sept. 29, 2007, said he clearly saw Miljevic direct the large pickaxe into the 17-year-old's skull.

"Marko ... brought it over his left shoulder and back over his head," testified Hodgson, 18. "After it impaled Matt McKay, I saw both arms flailing off it."
Yeah... me neither.

**********

RELATED: No such thing as a bad boy...

...in Dalton McSlippery's socialist paradise...
A man "banned for life" by a court from possessing firearms is wanted for shooting a man in the leg during a botched drug deal in Brampton.

Charles Agbajoh, 20, who uses an alias of Jason Hilton, is wanted by Peel Region detectives for the Nov. 2 shooting of a 31-year-old man in the leg during a drug deal in a stairwell at a Hanson Rd. building, near Hurontario Rd. north of Dundas St.
Just another graduate of fiberal "catch and release" justice...
Agbajoh was convicted in Brampton court of a number of firearm offences last Dec. 5. He was sentenced to 14 months in jail, but was released on two years probation after being credited for 10 months in pre-trial custody. He was also handed a lifetime prohibition from possessing firearms.

Agbajoh is described as being 5-foot-11, about 170 pounds with a thin build, has black hair in cornrows and wears a metal teeth grill.
**********

LAST WORD: More empty Liberal promises...
The deaths of Saramma Varughese, 75, and Susan John, 43, in their home should be the tragedy that rewrites the law, a Queen's Park rally heard yesterday.

Their neighbour, Nathaniel O'Brien, 31, who is charged with first-degree murder, was out on bail at the time.

"While they are out on bail it is imperative the government monitors actions so that you won't have the (opportunity) to commit a crime," Rev. Manoj Zachia told the crowd, advocating electronic monitoring of violent offenders.

"They have our commitment to do whatever we must to ensure the dangerous are not endangering our communities," Attorney General Chris Bentley said.
Well, Chris... call me wacky... how about we start with keeping dangerous criminals in jail?

*

I guess they won't be able...

...to blame this one on Mike Harris.

*

22 November 2008

Now, if there was only some way...

...to call back the Inquisition..

“The remark by John Lennon, which triggered deep indignation mainly in the United States, after many years sounds only like a ‘boast' by a young working-class Englishman faced with unexpected success, after growing up in the legend of Elvis and rock and roll,” Vatican daily Osservatore Romano said.
*

We must be getting close to...

...Darwin Award Season...

-- WOODSTOCK -- Drivers have heard it's dangerous to drive while using a cellphone. But now police are warning about the hazards of grabbing breakfast behind the wheel.

Ontario Provincial Police responded yesterday to a single-vehicle crash and found a young woman covered in milk and cereal.

Police say the 21-year-old woman was trying to eat cereal with a bowl and spoon while driving in icy conditions on Highway 7 in Wellington County when she lost control and crashed into guide posts.

Louise Light is charged with careless driving. Police say the woman was not hurt, but she was embarrassed.
(h/t reader rich)

The lesson of the black swan...

...is that the world is governed not by ordinary and predictable events but by extraordinary and unpredictable ones.

The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs is an example of a black swan. The Internet is a good black swan, the crash of '08 a bad one. Except for one or two eccentric cranks, no one saw it coming.

Another lesson of the black swan is that expertise is useless. No one has a clue why the markets have gone down so far, or whether they'll go down more, or how long it will really take for the world to absorb China's three-year backlog of refrigerators.

You might as well ask the nearest cab driver. And if he tells you, "God only knows," he's giving you a more honest answer than the well-paid people in good suits who have devoted their careers to analyzing these matters.

Yogi Berra was right when he said it's tough to make predictions, especially about the future.
*

Asked if Tehran now had...

...sufficient material to build a bomb, he suggested that there were different opinions.

“Some said it was enough; others said it was not enough, but close,” said Mr McCormack.

“In any case, you don’t want Iran to get close.”
**********

RELATED: KARMA DEBT... paid in full
A fugitive British militant linked to an alleged UK plot to use liquid bombs to blow up transatlantic airliners has been killed in Pakistan, reports say.

Pakistani media said Rashid Rauf, born in Birmingham, was killed in a US air strike in North Waziristan, a haven for militants and the Taleban.
You can run, baby... but we have the technology.

*

What's all the fuss about?

It's one of those universal truths... "Only a fool brings a bike to a car-fight."

*

21 November 2008

Seriously?

-- WASILLA, Alaska -- Ms. Palin didn't comment about the slaughter.
*

No wonder it's being cancelled

Watched the Canwest/Global morning news show today... and boy, does that explain a few things.

Today's episode featured a couple of firefighters who yammered on about resuscitating people's pets at fire scenes. At one point the valiant "smoke-eaters" fruitlessly tried to put a special oxygen mask on somebody's poor pooch... and all I can say is... I hope these guys are more proficient with ladders and hoses than they were with the pet-o-mask.

The point here is... while it's certainly nice that Fido gets the full court press too... there's no way this fluff qualifies as actual news.

Ditto for the intrepid "reporter on the street" who was sent out before dawn to get the scoop on the international financial upset. Seems she was reduced to corralling some poor woman on her way to work and obtaining her opinion on yesterday's stock market meltdown.

Now, one would hope that the woman in question was actually a stockbroker... but there was no name and no mention of her credentials or her occupation... and from her simplistic financial prognostication... (apparently we're all doomed)... I suspect she actually works in the brokerage cafeteria.

If they dumb this stuff down any further, I'm afraid people's IQ's are gonna start plummeting.

Or maybe it's just too late already.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Last night we watched the local Toronto CTV news."

"Nine minutes in, after about 5 minutes of the triple murder suicide, about three of the economic situation, and one on the 'blizzard', the next story was about 'a SHOCKING result' on some dumb dance show."
*

The "New Inclusive Racism"

Apparently, it's no longer just for "honkies"...

-- TORONTO -- All but one board member -- Hamlin Grange -- voted in support of board chairman Dr. Alok Mukherjee's report, which recommended leaving Toronto Police's current "Don't Ask" policy as is.

That was despite the pleas of countless legal groups and immigration advocates who earlier made their case for a change in policy. They were demanding Police Chief Bill Blair instruct his officers not to inform authorities when they learn of a person's illegal status.

Outside the meeting, Scott told reporters the fight is far from over and accused the board of "blatant racism".
*

Okay... I'll say it again

Once again, I'm gonna ask that anonymous commenters to the blog take on some sort of pseudonym... (for example, a gmail account)... to distinguish themselves from the increasingly mindless, race-baiting, one-trick pony herd.
Like a lot of fellow conservative travellers... I've been getting all kinds of obscene, threatening trolls... and it's just getting to the point where it interferes with the flow and enjoyment of actual conversations. Verbal sparring is one thing... simply spouting anonymous obscenities and silly threats is totally another.

It's not like this dim bulb even has a point... or perhaps being an obnoxious troll IS THE POINT... so I've simply been deleting some of the stupidest stuff as it comes in.

I could always go to "full moderation" like so many other bloggers... or no comments at all... like Kathy Shaidle... but the truth is, I usually enjoy the interplay in the comments even more than any editorialising I do in the posts themselves.

I guess I'd just never really anticipated having the internet equivalent of obscene phone hangups constantly muddying up the comment threads.

I actually don't know what's more pathetic... this guy's apparent need to constantly spew sexual references... or the fact that he just can't ever seem to get enough of my attention.

Yup, that's mighty impressive, nonny... in a moody adolescent sorta way. I hate to think what you do when you're not hissing & spitting in the comments here.

I should mention this is only one of the half dozen comment threads "my own personal troll" decided to bombard last night. I can't even begin to imagine what sort of nonsense the female Blogging Tories have to put up with.

And for the life of me... I just can't figure out what the payoff is here... especially, since I've decided I'm just gonna zap this silliness as it shows up. Maybe it's a lefty thing.

Anyway, folks... if you wanna insure your comments won't be summarily deleted... I suggest you pick a pseudonym and take some responsibility for your words.

**********

UPDATE: Received an email from a reader...

Looks like CC was so pleased with himself, he used his alter-ego drive-by troll profile to crow about his latest triumph in his own comments. And he's certainly impressing noted CC-licker... Kevron.

And what exactly is the Cynic doing with this extra identity?

Amazing. Totally and completely oblivious.

**********

UPDATE2: Like I said... oblivious

No troll like an old troll...

**********

UPDATE3: The list continues to grow...

Zorpheus and Balbulican don't wanna be left out.

**********

RELATED: I hate commercials, but what we have here...

...is a larger issue...

"The bigger question is this: Should the vocal minority always be the one to control the debate?"

"One of the spinoff effects of Web 2.0 and social-media tools such as blogs, Twitter and Facebook is that they make it even easier for relatively small groups or niche markets to seem larger and more influential than they actually are."
I think of this sort of thing as "Michael Moore" syndrome.

Grab hold of some small aspect of an issue... turn on the uber-obnoxious... and spin, spin, spin.

*

Geez, Jennifer...

...whaddaya gonna do now?

I shall now republish the Rev. Boissoin's words again.

I'm not publishing them to further any debate. I'm publishing them as a personal insult to Jennifer Lynch. And why not? Her continued employment on the taxpayers' dime is an insult to every Canadian who believes in equality before the law.

Here's the text again. It's legal for a Jew like me to publish it. It's illegal for a Christian like Rev. Boissoin to publish it.

That's sick.
**********

UPDATE: The whitewash continues...
The Ottawa Police had asked the RCMP to investigate, when Bell Canada testified that the CHRC hacked into the Internet account of a private citizen. You can see the sworn testimony of Bell Canada's officer, Alain Monfette, describing the exact details of the hacking in this transcript, at pages 5645 and 5646.

This was the Warman v. Lemire hearing that the CHRC desperately tried have a publication ban on the proceedings.

No wonder.
*

20 November 2008

Good news guys!

I hear the hooker lobby is already "hard at work"... on a government funded "fellatio coupon" initiative...

Should we be giving free heroin to addicts? Don't choke. Researchers in Vancouver say yes.

And they've just spent $8-million in public money to prove their case. Last month, after concluding a landmark clinical trial, they announced that the best way to treat hard-core heroin addicts is: Give them more heroin!

They argue that methadone, a much safer treatment, doesn't work with this crowd. But free heroin makes them happier, healthier and less inclined to steal so they can get their next fix.
Call me crazy... but how about we spend taxpayer dollars on folks who actually care if they live or die.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:
"Personally I think if we are going to go this way we may as well have an island where we send any drug addict, and drop drugs by plane. It would probably reduce crime to a greater extent and harm addicts as much as any other government program proposed."
*

What momentous, life-changing issue...

...could possibly pull in 17,000 "uniques" in one day?

"Perhaps Mr. Sit could file a human rights complaint against Ms. Ouwroulis. He could accuse her of racism (if 'Asian' is a race), and she could accuse him of ageism. I wonder which ism would trump the other, in this game of politically correct poker."
But of course... there's no comparable "man bites dog" story, like the sad, sad tale... of an aging stripper.
"She's an ageing woman; he's just an Asian man. I think he'd lose -- Asians don't do well in the grievance business. As a group, they're too successful to be 'victims'."

"But Ms. Ouwroulis? If she can just avoid trash talking blacks, gays or Jews or a little bit longer, I think she could be in the money."

"She sure thinks so."
A little background.

*

"I look forward to seeing..."

"...how the Chinese deal with the UAW."
*

Hung like a hummingbird

So Steffi, lemme get this straight... are we talking about the same Throne Speech that Jack and Gilles are voting against... to try bring down the Government?
You pathetic little hypocrite.

C'mon Steffi... put your money where your mouth is. Oh... that's right... you guys are broke.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Someone should ask him what he would do if he was PM."
**********

RELATED: Oh, please, please, please... make it Bob
-- OTTAWA -- Former Ontario premier Bob Rae formally declared his candidacy for the leadership of the federal Liberal party on Thursday, saying he won't hide from the legacy of his recession-ravaged government of the 1990s.

Mr. Rae said he's proud of his performance as Ontario's NDP premier from 1990 to 1995, when he faced large deficits and labour unrest.
Oh, Boob... keep digging!

*

A Reader writes...

After numerous rounds of... "We don't even know if Osama is still alive"... Barack Obama is now telling everyone he will capture Osama Bin Laden when he takes office.

So, Osama himself decided to send Barack Obama a letter in his own handwriting, to let him know he was still in the game. Obama opened the letter and it contained a single line of coded message:

370H-SSV-0773H

Obama was baffled, so he e-mailed it to Howard Dean. Dean and the DNC and his aides had no clue either, so they sent it to Joe Biden . Joe Biden could not solve so it was sent to the FBI and the CIA .

Eventually they asked John McCain and his staff to look at it.

And within a few minutes McCain's Staff e-mailed Obama with this reply: "Tell Obama he's holding the message upside down."

(h/t reader d&v)

Dear Mayor Super Dave...

...not to rain on your parade or anything... but maybe, just maybe... you want to start thinking about Plan B...

Toronto is no stranger to murder. But even in a city that endured 84 homicides last year, anything more than a double killing is rare.

Here's a list of some of the multiple killings in the GTA and southwestern Ontario...
*

Today's smokin' hot stock tip

Sure, there's been one little setback...

...but it's still a bull market.

*

No biggie, Mary...

...just tell us where to drop off the cheque...

"Chrysler Canada spokeswoman Mary Gauthier would not comment on the company's $1-billion request to the Canadian governments."
*

I guess the good news is...

...they're not all... hardcore commie pinkos... over at the Mother Corps...

Canada's new heritage minister has ordered CBC executives to put a lid on their spending after revelations that a senior executive claimed $80,000 in a single year for theatre tickets, meals and travel.

"I am sure that you are sensitive to the fact that, at a time of fiscal restraint when Canadians are struggling to maintain their jobs and savings, this sort of reported excess does not sit well with them," James Moore wrote in a blunt letter to Timothy Casgrain, chairman of the board of directors of CBC.

Moore's public scolding yesterday followed revelations by Sun Media that Sylvain Lafrance, executive vice-president for French services at the CBC, expensed more than $28,000 on hotels, travel and meals in 2006.

That included almost $6,000 for lunches and dinners with other CBC managers. He also spent $7,500 on two business trips to Paris. And his in-office catering bill that year topped $15,000 and included beer, wine, pretzels and nachos for staff.

The spending was contained in documents released under the federal Access to Information law. The records also revealed Lafrance had signed off on $33,000 worth of benefit dinners and theatre tickets for Quebec-based cultural organizations.

A CBC spokesman told Sun Media this week the spending was "fully compliant with CBC corporate policy."
Wait a minute... that's OUR point.

*

19 November 2008

"Al Qaeda used to be..."

...the kings of propaganda, outmaneuvering the American media machine at every turn. Now, it's clear the terror group's information operators have stumbled, big time.

The latest misstep: calling President-elect Barack Obama a 'house Negro.'

That's right. The guys who used to kill people, just to get their death on tape, have been reduced to name-calling.
*

Apparently, the next step here...

...is to pour gasoline on the Criminal Code of Canada... and throw a big party...

"If we can make sure, and assure the community, that the Don't Ask policy that exists is being implemented and uniformly enforced, then that itself provides a great deal of protection."

The board is set to receive a report on the petitions tomorrow and a report from the Don't Ask, Don't Tell working group.

In March 2007, the board gave the green light to police Chief Bill Blair to begin implementing a "Don't Ask" policy that would allow people without "legal status" to report crimes without fear of deportation.

The policy, an issue that was first raised three years ago, prevents cops from asking people about citizenship status, unless there are "bona fide" reasons to do so.
So long "rule of law"... it was nice to know you.

**********

RELATED: Meanwhile, halfway round the world, India says...
"That's it bucko... we're through pissin' around."
**********

UPDATE: Indian Navy clarifies...
In New Delhi, Indian navy spokesman Commander Nirad Sinha admitted Wednesday it was possible the ship was hijacked but defended the INS Tabar's action, saying it was responding to pirates' threat to attack it.

"In so far as we are concerned, both its description and its intent were that of a pirate ship," he said. "Only after we were fired upon did we fire. We fired in self defence."

"There were gun-toting guys with RPGs on it."
*

See... I think the word you're actually...

...looking for here... is terrorists...

-- GRAND-REMOUS, Que. -- Algonquin "ACTIVISTS" say they have set up a new blockade on a western Quebec highway near their Barriere Lake reserve.

The blockade on Highway 117 is designed to pressure the federal government to appoint an observer to oversee the selection of a new chief.
**********

RELATED: Yeah... no double-standard here, huh?
"Try this experiment some time yourself... occupy someone else's property by force... and then point a rifle at some cops... see if the local SWAT Team doesn't drop you like a crazy ex-girlfriend."
*

Just another reason

-- TORONTO -- Toronto police have sealed off a street in the east end of the city where four bodies have been found inside a house.

Police, however, have not yet indicated if they are dealing with a quadruple homicide or if a suicide might be involved.
A quadruple suicide? Seriously?

My advice... get out while you can.

**********

UPDATE: Looks like a family affair
Several neighbours said they saw police question and then arrest a man who they believe to be the common-law husband of Elizabeth, the couple's daughter – shortly after 8 a.m.

"He was standing across the street, leaning on the mailbox," said Rogers. "Then when the officers put him in handcuffs, he put his head down and broke down crying."

Elizabeth and her common-law husband lived together in Whitby, neighbours said.
**********

UPDATE2: The mystery continues...
-- TORONTO -- A man detained and questioned by police after four bodies were found in a Toronto home has been released without charges.

Constable Tony Vella would not release the name of the man, who was led away from the scene in handcuffs on Wednesday.
And the latest...
The sister of the man who was arrested says he was the one who discovered the note on the door Wednesday morning.

The woman says her brother went to the house to check on his wife, who went to visit her parents the night before and didn't return phone calls.
*

It'll be a quiet morning...

...here at "the halls".

This morning we've got another another little side trip in our ongoing medical odyssey with Neophyte's stubborn ol' G-Dad.

This'll be our third trip out to faraway doctor-land in three days... but I think he's finally decided to stop fighting and just go with the flow. I figured it was gonna get ugly when I told him he was stuck out at our place at least into December... but things are starting to settle down.

It started out last Sunday when we got G-Dad to agree to come out here (we're a couple of hours down the road) and see the E.R. doc. Unfortunately, by the next morning, he had changed his octogenarian mind and requested that we just take him home. After frantically rooting around, we found someone with a glucometer... and he finally agreed to just do that.

The glucometer test was a tipping point... turns out the drug company blood sugar charts only go as high as 23... and "Mr I'm Just Fine"... was cresting 32. The fact that he's also skinny enough to blend in with all those pictures of starving African refugees and weak as a kitten was the icing on the cake. He can't even comfortably sit on an unpadded chair any more... it was that bad.

The cold, hard truth is, if we hadn't gone into Toronto this past weekend to check on him, he likely wouldn't have made it through the week. Thank goodness for Mrs N's intuition.

The sunny side, if there is such a thing here, about things being so far gone... was that the horrified look on the technician's face after taking the glucometer reading and his unequivocal recommendation of immediate medical intervention... was enough to break the logjam.

Of course, all that didn't stop G-Dad from grousing about the stupid hospital gown and fantasizing about fleeing the examining room when we were waiting for the tests to come back... but hell, I'm a "hate hospitals" kinda guy myself. Regardless... I stuck my sympathy in my back pocket... and told him Mrs N had his personal power of attorney and, like it or not, we were pulling rank on this one.

From that point on, we've had a much smoother ride... from the gratis glucometer session to the E.R. doc who got us in to see an internal medicine specialist on 18 hours notice. The specialist was just great (he was obviously booking us in on his lunch hour)... and we're back in the first week of December to discuss test results and progress.

So we're off early today for supplementary tests... meanwhile G-Dad's already on blood sugar meds and an iron supplement. Mrs N's also working on a proper diet. We've picked up our own glucometer and we'll start tracking the readings to make sure the meds are working.

Maybe we're gonna get a happy ending outta this after all.

*

18 November 2008

Sad news for screamin' socialists

The Moonbat Express is runnin' right off the rails...

"After careful and thoughtful consideration, we have concluded that it is no longer possible to maintain the current 'status quo' of our company's operations," Fecan said in the memo.

In addition to a freeze on hiring across the network and on travel and entertainment spending, Fecan said there will be "some layoffs," though details were not included in the memo.
Hey... maybe Dalton's gonna have to come up with a couple thousand more "social worker" gigs... but even then, competitions gonna be tight.
CTV's plans come after its competitor, Canwest Global Communications, last week said it is cutting 560 jobs from its television and newspaper operations, including axing its Toronto-based morning news show.
**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:
"Will the CBC be the only one to tell me what I need to think?"
*

Tragic legal rollover...

...on the road to Shariah law...

-- DOUAI, France -- A French appeals court yesterday reinstated the marriage of a Muslim man who had sought an annulment because his bride lied about being a virgin.

The controversial case pitted France's secular values against the traditions of its growing immigrant communities.
*

The fairy tale world of Dr Dawg

Not to worry... it's nothing that a good deworming wouldn't fix.

*

Why they hate us

These researchers determined that "there are five psychological foundations of morality, which we label as harm/care, fairness/reciprocity, ingroup/loyalty, authority/respect, and purity/sanctity."

Conservative morality is based on some combination of all five of these moral foundations. There may not be an exact 20% input from each one, but they are all present.

Liberal morality is based on only the harm/care and fairness/reciprocity foundations.
(via ace of spades)

**********

WELCOME, YET AGAIN, READERS OF CANADIAN CYNIC

Sitemeter is tellin' me... he's baaa-aaack.

Apparently Censorious Cynic objects to anyone hearing about the recent rash of homicides in urban Ontario. Or maybe... since I have yet to see him freak out about the television and newspaper coverage... it's just me he objects to.

I suspect he's still just kinda touchy about this little gem.

You've also gotta love this guy's total lack of self-awareness as he tries to pin the "neo-nazi" tail... on another prominent conservative blogger.

Good grief.

*

"Tips for Deluded Pinkos"

You're gonna piss in anybody's cornflakes... you might not wanna start with Mark Steyn... or Ezra Levant...

"I skimmed the rest of Miller's CV, and I had to laugh out loud. I think it's great that he listed every damn lunch talk he's ever given, including to the Rotary Club. They're good people."

"It's just a little, uh, light for someone pretending to be a 'doctor'."

"I did learn one more useful thing from Miller's CV: he's part of the taxpayer subsidized grievance industry."
*

The New Entrepreneurs

This one is eerily reminiscent of the world-famous Nigerian 419 scam...

Police and tax officials are warning about a letter and e-mail fraud scheme that attempts to pry confidential banking information and passport numbers from Canadians.

The scam is designed to prey on taxpayers worried about their records. It comes in the form of an official-looking letter or e-mail claiming to be from the Canada Revenue Agency and requiring taxpayers to complete a T2 form and bring CRA's records up to date.

In some instances the fraudulent demand for personal information has arrived via postal delivery. The letter asks taxpayers to complete the phoney T2 form and either fax it or send it to an address with a post office box number. Police found mail at that address was being forwarded overseas.
Of course... you can always fight back... like scambaiter "Shiver Metimbers."
But Metimbers and crew turn the tables on scammers one by one, boomeranging the tricksters' own tactics to entice them into performing outlandish tasks in desperate pursuit of cash -- then trumpeting evidence of the con artists' naivete for the online world's amusement.

A 43-year-old, self-employed computer engineer from Manchester, England, Metimbers has most recently spun counter-yarns that have compelled 419ers to make elaborate wood carvings, pose for comical photos and fly from London to Scotland.

In one episode, which concluded in March after a five-month exchange, he succeeded in having a Nigerian fraudster tattoo "Baited by Shiver" on his body in order to claim a fictional $46,000 prize.
*

17 November 2008

I'm from the government...

I'm here to beef up your gonads...

MONTREAL — Already rich with a history of policy-makers encouraging baby-makers, Quebec could become the first province to pay entirely for in-vitro fertilization treatment under a Liberal election promise made yesterday.

The Liberals estimated that 1,500 births annually would be generated by the plan, with costs estimated at about $35-million per year.

The plan is a reversal from a stand taken by Philippe Couillard when he was health minister last year. Mr. Couillard opposed covering the cost of treatments because he said infertility isn't an illness. He isn't running this time.
**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:
"Hell, for 35 million I'll offer my services on a per pregnancy diem."
*

Option One... wait for them...

...to hole a supertanker... or Option Two... follow them back to their base of operations and burn it to the ground...

The US Navy says pirates have hijacked a Saudi-owned oil tanker off the coast of Kenya.

A spokesman for the Navy's Fifth Fleet, Lieutenant Nathan Christensen, says pirates seized control of the tanker Sirius Star on Saturday.
After two or three little lessons... I bet they'd start to come around.

*

Michael Ignatieff...

...the Hulk Hogan of Canadian politics... open, inclusive and worldly wise.

...FRICK...

Although party organizers got the okay from both Rae and LeBlanc to open up the debate, Ignatieff's camp held out.

Ignatieff maintained the media blackout was up to the party.
...FRACK...
"The Conservatives better look out because we are coming back," Ignatieff said. "If Stephen Harper had a spy in that room, he would be a worried man tonight."
Sure thing Mikey... now show us those big pythons.

*

The unfortunate truth is...

...as the situation now stands... Hamid Karzai can't even guarantee he'll be able to provide hot lunches for his staff every day... but there's no doubting he's got really, really big balls...

President Karzai says he will guarantee Omar's safety - despite possible objections by the international community - if he sincerely wants to negotiate peace.

"If I say I want protection for Mullah Omar - the international community has a choice - remove me or leave if they disagree."
**********

RELATED: Once upon a fuzzy-bunny time...

It's true... when it gets down to it... you're actually fighting for the guy standing next to you...
These wars, we are told, were fought to defend tolerance, civil rights and equality. Not only is this insultingly dumb and anachronistic, it also obscures the authentic guts and flesh reality of the Canadian soldier throughout the last century.

He ran up beaches in France and hills in Belgium not for government grants to the transgendered or tax-funded courses in multiculturalism, but because it would have been cowardly, wrong and un-Canadian not to do so.
*

Mission of Mercy

Earlier Sunday, we travelled into the "belly of the beast"... (for the uninitiated, that's Toronto)... on a rescue mission. Mrs Neo's octogenarian father has been having some health issues... so we swooped in, scooped him up... and brought him back to our place.

We're gonna try and get him some medical advice, and if necessary... medical intervention... over the next week. As a result, blogging will almost certainly be lighter than usual.

I'd also like to request that anonymous commenters to the blog consider taking on some sort of pseudonym... (maybe just a google account)... to distinguish themselves from the mindless, one-trick pony trolling herd.

Lately I've been getting all kinds of obscene, threatening trolls... mostly from my "special" friend cc-nonymous... and it's just getting to the point where it interferes with the flow and enjoyment of actual conversations. Verbal sparring is one thing... simply spouting anonymous obscenities and silly threats is totally another.

When I've actually dealt with cc-nonymous head on and he feels he's been bested... he always claims some other anonymous is responsible for the original remarks. In short, cc-nonymous is a coward AND a dickhead of the dullest order... and this week I just don't have the patience to stop and constantly wipe him off my shoe.

I could always go to "full moderation" like so many other bloggers... or no comments at all, like Kathy Shaidle... but the truth is, I enjoy the interplay in the comments even more than any editorialising I do in the posts themselves.

I'm just a little tired of having the internet equivalent of obscene phone hangups constantly muddying up the comment threads.

So folks... if you wanna insure your comments won't be summarily deleted... I suggest you pick a pseudonym and take some responsibility for your words.

Otherwise... fair warning... you takes your chances.

**********

UPDATE: Okay... it's diabetes

Not totally unexpected and eminently treatable.

Got scrips for the blood sugar and low iron and we've got a sonogram and an appointment with an internist later this week.

That's about as good as it gets.

*

16 November 2008

There is often a price to be paid...

...for standing up for what you believe in.

*

I can't wait for Mayor Miller...

... to announce the implementation of the city-wide... "meat tenderiser" registry...

-- TORONTO -- The incidents occurred between approximately 10:30 p.m. Friday and 1 a.m. Saturday, Staff Sgt. Greg Payne of 13 Division told ctvtoronto.ca.

In one incident, an 18-year-old was reportedly beaten with a meat tenderizer (earlier reports said a steel bar) and kicked as a group demanded his money, cellphone and iPod. The victim received serious injuries to his head and face.

In another incident, an assailant struck one of two men in the head with a blunt object. That victim was hospitalized. A third victim suffered serious injuries to the face and head after being repeatedly struck with a blunt object while being robbed of his cellphone.

Police say there have been five other iPod-related robberies in the city in the past two weeks.
Just another reason, my friends. The wolf pack guzzles your child... you'll never forgive yourself.

Get out while you can.

**********

RELATED: Why take my word for it?

Good point... let's ask Statistics Canada...
"The latest tabulations by StatsCan, focusing on research compiled in 2006, shows that violent crime among young people aged 12 to 17 has increased 12% in the last decade, and 30% since 1991."
**********

LAST WORD: Lorrie Goldstein has a plan
Finally, as a symbolic gesture, I would divert all money now spent by councillors on foreign travel, save for the mayor, to these programs, as well as $10,000 each from their office budgets.

That's because real leaders should lead by example. And because it's time we fixed this mess instead of just talking about it.
*

It doesn't get much better than that

The man at the center of the storm enthuses...

"Yesterday, I said that the impact of the party's vote would be salutary, in that party activists would telegraph their intentions to MPs."

"Who knew that one of those activists would have been the minister himself!"
**********

RELATED: Maybe Special K should rename his blog...

...after his uber-cutting-edge band...
"The Commission has had the Moon Report for several weeks - it is off being translated into French at the moment. Speculatively, do you think the Jackal and Burney might have had a heads up on the contents of that report?"
*

15 November 2008

I think I'm gonna go with...

...sweet eff-eh...



RELATED: Apparently she was looking for...

...a life-changing experience...

Although she adopted a Muslim name after converting to Islam, she still uses her Christian name in business listings. On her website Ms. Giesbrecht said converting to Islam cost her a lot of friendships and changed her life in other ways.

“Gone is my mountain paradise,” she said, referring to the home she had in West Vancouver, “....gone are the dinner parties, the toys and the frills.”
So... the once infidel Beverly... in a stunning moment of clarity, decided to take up the cause of holy jihad... and put her life in the beneficent hands of Allah.

I think the lesson here has to be... "Be careful what you wish for."

*

Lemme see if I understand this...

In Dalton McSlippery's fuzzy-bunny socialist paradise... the first woman you shoot is deductible...

A plea bargain which dropped gun charges against a man now charged with a shooting death at the Duke of York pub resulted from glaring "frailties" in the prosecution case, the Sun has learned.

Kyle Weese admitted he shot and wounded Hanna Hudson when he pleaded guilty in 2006 to discharging a firearm with intent to wound.
I'm probably dating myself here... but does anybody else remember the good ol' days... when this was known as "attempted homicide"?

*

So, if you were a plumber...

...and you only were able to fix 20% of the toilets you worked on... how long do you figure you'd stay in business?

Over 80% of children killed or seriously hurt through neglect or abuse were not on England's child protection registers, it has been reported.

Only 33 of the 189 children whose death or injury in 2005 to 2007 led to a review were on the registers, according to figures obtained by the Guardian.
And, the truth is, that's actually less appalling than what's happening here in Canada... where we do know which children are most at risk.

*

Vitamin Wars

I'm just afraid the Vitamin E people are gonna get dragged into this... and then things will really get ugly...

A group of prominent vitamin D researchers has issued a commentary that cautions against consuming large amounts of the supplement because it may lead to excessive exposure to vitamin A.

he recommendation appears in the current edition of the Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology, and is based on concerns that the high amount of vitamin A in cod liver oil undermines the effectiveness of vitamin D, which is also found in the supplement.
*

Where no sane man...

...has gone before...

When politicians get into big trouble, they all seem to offer the same type of apology: "If I could go back and not set my opponent's car on fire, would I? Absolutely. But I can't change the past."

This is known in legal circles as the no-time-machine-handy defence. This bow to the awesome power of Father Time is usually followed by a plea to forgive and forget.

But the federal Liberal party seems intent on actually travelling backwards along the space-time continuum, specifically to the morning of Dec. 2, 2006.
*

Big smoke... in the Big Smoke

How pissed off you have to be with somebody... it's not enough... just to kill them?

-- Essa Township -- Arrest warrants have been issued for three Toronto men after a burned out body was found in a ditch north of the city.

Emergency crews found the remains of 47-year-old Ali Garakan, of Thornhill, who was identified by dental records. A post-mortem examination showed Garakan had died from a stab wound to his chest, police said.

Arrest warrants have been issued for Mohammed Al Kazragy, 23, Payam Khastou, 25, and Arash Arashvand, 22, all of Toronto and all wanted on charges of second-degree murder.
**********

WELCOME, YET AGAIN, READERS OF CANADIAN CYNIC

Sitemeter is tellin' me... he's baaa-aaack.

Apparently Censorious Cynic objects to anyone hearing about the recent rash of homicides in urban Ontario. Or maybe... since I have yet to see him freak out about the television and newspaper coverage... it's just me he objects to.

I suspect he's still just kinda touchy about this little gem.

You've also gotta love this guy's total lack of self-awareness as he tries to pin the "neo-nazi" tail... on another prominent conservative blogger.

Good grief.

**********

LAST WORD: Remember Toronto's Ambassador Cab program?

I guess there's still a few bugs in the system...
"Witnesses report hearing some sort of altercation. They heard a voice or voices. The next thing that's heard is a crash, then the first sight is a Beck taxi southbound on Dovercourt Rd.," he said.

The man, 36, was found next to a bicycle on the sidewalk with his leg nearly severed. His leg was amputated later in hospital, where he remained in critical condition, Burrows said.

Into the afternoon, investigators were still trying to figure out "the root of the altercation," but Burrows said it was clear the cabbie "knew he hit the cyclist."
*

14 November 2008

"Maybe I don't wanna know..."

"...the reason why... but lately you don't talk to me... and darlin' I can't see me in your eyes."
*

The McGuinty Report...

..confirms all of the Liberals pre-conceived suspicions... Ontario IS a snake's den of racism...

”We were taken aback by the extent to which racism is alive and well and wreaking its deeply harmful effects on Ontarians and on the very fabric of this province,” stated the report released this morning by Roy McMurtry and Alvin Curling.
And it only cost Ontario taxpayers 2 million dollars... to unearth the horrible truth.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:
From the "Ways to Save $2 million" pamplet:

1) dust off the report the NDP created after the Yonge Street "riots"
2) dust off Ken Dryden's files as "Youth Commissioner"

Cost: free if you use your hand, a few bucks from petty cash if you want a duster. Jesus, does ANYONE read the crap these commissions put out?
**********

UPDATE: The 100 million dollar question...

...will Premier McSlippery pony up?
Creation of a special youth commissioner, an enhanced role for schools and a $100-million allocation of funds will head the recommendations of a long-awaited provincial report on youth violence to be released today.

Some of the requested $100-million would be new money, but more would be redirected from current government budgets, and, in all, at least a dozen different ministries would be affected.
I mean, c'mon... it's not like we need that money for anything else.

**********

LAST WORD: Oh... my... gawd...

*

RAHMBO - First Blood

Hot on the heels of his new "shoot from the lip" boss...

President-elect Barack Obama's White House chief-of-staff Rahm Emanuel has apologised to the US-Arab community for remarks made by his father.

Benjamin Emanuel told an Israeli newspaper that his son, who is Jewish, would "obviously influence the president to be pro-Israel".

He also referred to Arabs in a way which a leading Arab-American group called an "unacceptable smear".
I dunno... whatever happened to "let the healing begin"?
"Obviously he'll influence the president to be pro-Israel. Why wouldn't he? What is he, an Arab? He's not going to be mopping floors at the White House."
Oops.

**********

RELATED: Scratch a socialist... find a warmonger

What prominent leftnik said...
"The discovery that Hussein didn't have weapons after all surprises me, but it doesn't change my view of the essential issue."

"I never thought the key question was what weapons he actually possessed but rather what intentions he had."
P.S. -- I guess he changed his mind, huh?

*

Coming soon...

...to a neighbourhood near you...

Morton, now 20, was the first teen in Canada to be convicted for first-degree murder under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. On April 1, 2003, at the age of 14, Morton strangled schoolmate Eric Levack, also 14, near their Brampton school .

Morton was diagnosed as having homicidal fantasies and told psychologists that killing Levack gave him the same thrill as opening Christmas presents and he thought of pursuing mass murders now that he knows how to kill.

Morton had led Levack into a wooded area near Heart Lake Secondary School in Brampton where he strangled the teen with his belt and coolly walked back to art class afterwards to brag to classmates about what he had done.

Under the Act, the maximum sentence for first-degree murder is seven years, but Levack's parents feel the laws need to change.

Morton is eligible for day parole and full parole in two years.
**********

RELATED: Why worry about slap on the wrist justice?
A 17-year-old youth has been charged with aggravated assault in the Tuesday stabbing at C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute.

The male youth, who can't be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, turned himself in at 31 Division in the city's northeast end last night.
*

They'd like to buy...

...the world a coke...

*

13 November 2008

The only surprise here is...

...with these sort of "great struggle" credentials... he isn't the department head...

-- OTTAWA -- A part-time sociology instructor at the University of Ottawa has been arrested and could face extradition to France in connection with the fatal bombing of a Paris synagogue in 1980.

Hassan Diab was taken into custody Thursday on a provisional extradition warrant issued at the request of French authorities, said Christian Girouard, a spokesman for the federal Justice Department.
*

Torontonians breathe a sigh of relief...

...as problem of nasty, criminal gun violence solved once and for all...

Ward 30 (Toronto-Danforth) Councillor Paula Fletcher said she's happy that the bar's owners decided to remove the mural. "I asked them to consider just painting over the gun or painting over the whole mural," said Fletcher, adding that a new one would likely be painted by the spring.

"I was very pleased that they reacted so quickly. People in the neighbourhood don't really want a big, swaggering John Wayne mural with a gun when there's a gun shootout in the community."
Congratulations, Paula... I just wanna know why someone didn't think of this in time to prevent this terrible crime.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS: More timeless wisdom...

...from the "Rainman School of Social Justice."

Yeah... that really showed him, huh? Let's go dig up Yonge St. where Jane Creba was murdered too.

And...
"As long as we are in the spirit of using govt oversite to rid us of distasteful items from bars... I want them to force every bar owner in Toronto to remove Heineken advertising because the red star reminds me of the horrors of communism."
*

"One hesitates to say..."

..."'Journalism physician, heal thyself'... but that strange leaking coming from your ass is your credibility."
*

It's a McSlippery world

Yeah, yeah, I know... I'm just a knuckle-draggin' neocon... but what we obviously need here is MORE COPS... and less Casey & Finnegan...

Speaking of that, in a year when Toronto has had 300 shooting victims, are we getting our millions' worth on the other programs set up to help them?

"Anybody know what happened to the youth and violence secretariat set up by the premier, which had former chief justice Roy McMurtry on it and former MPP Alvin Curling?" Toronto school board trustee Josh Matlow asked yesterday.

It was called the Review of the Roots of Youth Violence and was commissioned in 2007. "I tried to find any recommendations but have not actually been able to find an office," Matlow said. He even travelled to Queen's Park but couldn't find a desk or an employee.
Oh yeah... one more thing...
"Cost of McMurtry/Curling report so far -- $2 million."
**********

UPDATE: All you need is love...

...and 40 million dollars for more social workers...
Education Minister Kathleen Wynne described the recent stabbing as a "very distressing setback," but said the province has already provided $43-million in additional funding to the school board to hire these professionals, and noted that a new child-and-youth worker will be assigned to C.W. Jefferys next week.
No wonder the health-care system is falling to pieces.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:
"Well, what do you expect? They are dealing with more important issues in the GTA - like whether or not to allow Tim Horton's to use paper coffee cups."
**********

LAST WORD: Hey, Dr Dawg... try "root causes" this
"He put the knife to Michael Oatway, said, 'Give me that iPod. Michael, frightened, outnumbered, said, 'I can't do that.'"

"It was his girlfriend's iPod," Mr. McDermott said, as if by way of explanation. "He'd borrowed it."

S.M. then upped the ante, the prosecutor said: "Give me that iPod or you're going to get cut."

Mr. Oatway died of a stab wound to the heart.
And remember... don't call these guys criminals... they're just "rough and tumble" kids.

*

When camels go bad

I guess that's what we get...

...for forcing this poor guy to shovel down the chili cheese dogs and Krispy Kremes... until he was the size of two normal people...

-- MONTREAL -- An obese inmate known as Big Mike is heading home early from a Montreal jail, as it appears that size does matter behind bars.

Michel Lapointe, who was imprisoned on drug-trafficking and conspiracy charges, walked out of Bordeaux Jail on Tuesday night after winning early parole – granted in part due to the health difficulties caused by his 400-plus-pound girth.

Normally, he would have had to go to a halfway house. But Mr. Lapointe was rejected by two such institutions because they said they couldn't accommodate someone his size.

So he got to go home.
**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:
"And Lapointe is obviously working hard to correct his health problems...

'On Tuesday night, after his release from jail, Mr. Lapointe was photographed by a Montreal newspaper outside the prison gate, a cigarette in hand.'"
*

12 November 2008

Ask a Rexdale Imam

Call me wacky... but isn't this sort of thing actually illegal in Canada?

"In this matter, it is wise to follow the interests of the female: if the clitoris is large, then part of it should be removed, otherwise it should be left alone. This size of the clitoris will vary from woman to woman, and there may be differences between those from hot climates and those from cold climates."

"The scholars’ opinions cited above should be sufficient explanation."

"And Allah knows best."
This seems to be a sort of Islamic "Miss Manners"... many other burning questions answered.

Not to be missed.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:
"Also, if they cut off what I think they cut off, how does it affect a woman's sexual response?"
— Lauren G., Chicago

Dear Lauren:

The same way having your feet sawed off affects your ability to polka, as any of the estimated 30 to 75 million victims of this barbaric ritual can testify.
**********

RELATED: Speaking of women's issues
-- KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Two schoolgirls are in hospital with serious facial burns as doctors work to save their sight, after men on motorcycles sprayed acid in the faces of six teenage girls walking to school Wednesday morning.

A family member of one of the burned schools said there had been no warnings to stop sending their daughters to school.
*

In other non-sectarian "good news"

The "holy city" dodges another bullet...

Israeli secular politician Nir Barkat has defeated an ultra-orthodox rabbi to become the new mayor of Jerusalem.

Mr Barkat won outright with 52% of the vote while Meir Porush received 43%, according to final results released by Israel's interior ministry.

The hard-fought campaign has raised tensions between Israel's religious and secular Jews.
Separation of Church and State... never a bad thing.

*

Blaring headline notwithstanding...

...what this incident... actually highlights... is Toronto District School Board trustee Stephanie Payne's utter lack of comprehension & common sense.

Just don't expect anyone in the uber-cowed, politically-correct mainstream media... to even touch this one with anybody else's 10 foot pole.

Officers were placed in 27 schools this year as part of a safety program in response to the shooting of 15-year-old Jordan Manners in a hallway of that school in May, 2007.

C.W. Jefferys, however, was not one of them, as school board trustee Stephnie Payne asked for more time to consult community members.
**********

UPDATE: Hey Audley, can you hear the blood drops?
Principal Audley Salmon declared the school "unequivocally" safe less than three hours after the latest incident.

Salmon said such violence occurs in many schools across Ontario and Canada. "The halls in this school, without a doubt, unequivocally, are an extremely safe place," he said. "When you walk my halls during the day, you can hear a pin drop."

"That's how safe it is."
**********

LAST WORD: Ixnay on the afesay

No Audley... this is how safe it is...
Trustee Stephanie Payne says she will allow a police officer in C.W. Jefferys Secondary School, after a stabbing in the cafeteria yesterday.

The troubled school is also where 15-year-old Jordon Manners was shot and killed.
[*]

I think I'm just gonna stick...

...with the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster...

But why go to the trouble of reproducing hell?

Perhaps it was to demonstrate power,” Prof. de Anda speculates, or to give the living an idea of the terrors they would meet en route to paradise.
*

Stop the Free Speech Police

halls of macadamia/

"At this week’s CPC convention, the modification of section 13 of the CHRA is contained in Resolution P-203. We encourage you to review the issue if you have not already done so, and join us in a Declaration of Support."
You can find the code for this link button in the sidebar.

*

11 November 2008

I fear for my country

Here's a perfect example of everything that's wrong with spoiled, whiney... generation dumbstick...

Most university students believe that if they're "trying hard," a professor should reconsider their grade.

One-third say that if they attend most of the classes for a course, they deserve at least a B, while almost one-quarter "think poorly" of professors who don't reply to e-mails the same day they're sent.
That, unfortunately, is what comes of spouting meaningless pap like... "no child left behind."

The fact is... whether you chose to blame it on nature or nurture... we are not all equally constituted or qualified. It's why not everybody gets to be a theoretical physicist. It's why some people choose to be paratroopers and some choose to enter a convent. It's why we have prisons.

There are kids with organic, or social disabilities. There are kids who, for whatever reason, are emerging sociopaths. And there are kids who, are... yes, just not especially motivated, or intelligent.

But we seem to have convinced these kids that hard work, that earned merit... somehow doesn't matter.
Those are among the revelations in a newly published study examining students' sense of academic entitlement, or the mentality that enrolling in post-secondary education is akin to shopping in a store where the customer is always right.
The sad truth is, there will always be individuals who are left behind. Trying to convince kids that they are all, regardless of ability... equally entitled... is a dangerous and fated game.

Wake up and smell the species.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:
"As a professor at the University of Toronto medical school, I can tell you that this is exactly how it is. We have been conditioned to grade everyone average as "very good", and someone who is mediocre and barely competent as 'good'."

"Only the absolute basket cases are graded as 'fails to meet expectations'."

"There are many reasons for this, but the foremost among them is that there is a huge disincentive in terms of hassle and even harassment to grade anyone negatively. Some failed students, and even some who did not pass with a high enough mark for their liking, have threatened legal action and made baseless accusations of harassment or discrimination."

"Failing someone is tantamount to accepting that you will be spending hours in meetings, forced remediation of the student, and possibly be accused of god-knows-what. No one can handle that grief unless they are a masochist."
**********

LAST WORD: The fuzzy-bunny "self-esteem" movement
The self-esteem movement began in the 1970s, when ideology-inspired social engineering — the aim to “construct” a happy, confident person — replaced knowledge-based learning as an educators’ mandate.

The idea was to reduce the supposedly bad stress caused by competition and objective standards, whose disparate consequences were thought to undermine less successful children’s fragile self-esteem. Instead of linking reward to achievement, children were rewarded for completing tasks, basically just for showing up.
*

Remember when you were a kid...

...and the only way to settle a beef was with knives and guns?

-- Yeah... me neither. --

-- TORONTO -- A Toronto high school where a teen was fatally shot last year is in lockdown after a student was stabbed.

Toronto police Constable Tony Vella told CP24 that a 16-year-old student was stabbed at C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute.
*

Hope, Change...

...and another big hit on the bong...

-- JERUSALEM -- Advisers to Barack Obama held a secret meeting in Gaza with a leading member of Hamas during the last few weeks of the U.S. election campaign, according to the senior political adviser to Hamas's "prime minister" in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh.

Ahmed Yousef told the al Hayat newspaper in London in an article published today that the meeting, was between himself and a small number of Obama foreign policy advisers. Mr. Yousef is quoted as saying the emissaries asked him not to say anything about the meetings lest it give support to Mr. Obama's rival for president, Senator John McCain.

Speaking from Gaza, today, Ayman abu Leilah, aspokesman for Mr. Yousef, confirmed these statements as true, adding that the most recent meeting took place in early October "one month before the election." He said Mr. Yousef had first met the Obama people some years ago when he was studying in the United States.
Obama's people say it never happened.

**********

UPDATE: He apparently didn't meet with the ACLU
“We have to hold president-elect Obama's feet to the fire if we're going to turn hope into reality,” Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said Monday.

“I will close Guantanamo,” Mr. Obama said in 2007.

In the weeks before his election, he ducked questions about when he might deliver.

“As quickly as we can do so prudently,” he said when pressed on a timetable.
Better just keep hoping, huh?

*

Lest we forget

Do you know someone who enlisted in World War I?

-- Search the WWI CEF database --

Do you know a Canadian killed while serving his country?

-- Search the Commonwealth War Graves database --

My wife's grandfather (in the kilt) was wounded by German shelling and carried around shrapnel from WWI the rest of his life.

And he was one of the lucky ones... who got to come back and have a family and live out a long, productive life.

It's important to remember... "Freedom isn't Free."

"ps. what's with the piece pic on yr profile? Guns kill people man."

-- Posted by Rob Budde to halls of macadamia at 11:14 AM, May 09, 2008 --
Rob... thank you for asking that particular question.

The picture you refer to... is of a Colt Government Model 1911 pistol that was given to my son's great-grandfather by his father... right before the former took a few years unscheduled vacation in bloody, muddy France... shortly after the turn of the 20th century.

It does indeed have a couple of bodies on it... the result of a trench raid by its intrepid owner.

Perhaps you could also take a moment Rob, to reflect upon the fact that... were it not for soldiers and horrible, evil guns... you might not be sitting around at your computer trolling Conservative websites.

You might instead be chained to a workbench in a concentration camp making industrial products for the Greater German Reich.

But again... thanks for asking.

*

November 11th is a special day...

...for some of us...

When the mother of Lane Watkins, a young Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan, commented on her terrible loss... "They deserve your respect. In supporting them, you'll make our loss much easier to bear"... guess which Canadian Blogger had to go out of his way to spit in her face.

"With all due respect, Wanda, fuck you and your grief. It's not the job of the rest of Canada to continue to let its soldiers die just so you can sleep better at night.

At this point, I don't give a rat's ass about making you feel better for your loss now that I know that the price is other peoples' lives.

Fuck you and the politically-motivated, neo-con propaganda train you rode in on.
Rise up lefties... and celebrate your shining Prophet.

Technorati Tags: , ,

Dishonourable Discharge

Making a mockery of Remembrance Day.

[*]

10 November 2008

Not to be a killjoy here, Lizzie...

...but how do you do worse than... NOT A SINGLE FREAKIN' SEAT?

“ -- HALIFAX -- Given the reality that this was our first major national campaign, and my first as leader, we did a remarkable job.”
Well, I'm thinkin' it must have something to do with her humble, winning personality...
"I intend to remain as leader of the Green party. My personal popularity with the Canadian electorate is something, speaking as objectively as possible, that the Green party needs."
*

Is it just me...

...or does Iggy look like he's just been pulled outta the cryo-tube on a really early Star Trek episode?

Either that, or Hymie the robot from the original "Get Smart".

Boy... that'd sure explain a few things.

*

Now... the real education begins

What wouldn't you have given, to be a fly on the wall at President-elect Obama's very first visit to the Oval Office?

-- WASHINGTON -- President-elect Obama spent just under two hours at the White House Monday as he and President Bush gathered for their first face-to-face meeting.

Neither the incoming nor the current president spoke to reporters at Mr. Obama's arrival or departure Monday afternoon.
Whaddaya figure happens when airy-fairy "hope & change"... runs into real world "smash & kill"?

Betcha it'd wipe the smile off Oprah's face.

*

Gotta go loggin'

It's gonna be a working day here at the halls... got a big oak I wanna turn into British thermal units.

Had a dying leaner just off the new bush road that started calling out to me the other day. If I don't drop and split it now... it'll likely fall on its own over winter and start composting in very short order.

Took the better part of an hour to get it dropped all the way to the ground... the crown got hung up in the neighbouring trees... but it'll be a big part of next years wood supply.

Gotta buck her into lengths and fire up the splitter.

Later amigos.

**********

UPDATE: Forget about Pilates... get a chainsaw

Just back from the back... and it was a pretty good day.

Mr. Oak has been completely felled and bucked into 20 inch rounds. I also policed up the entire area, getting rid of the slash and the less desirable scrub. It's incredibly tedious to do the cleanup as I go... but I figure it's an investment that'll pay off in spades someday. Taking out the less worthy stuff allows the best trees to have the best possible growing conditions.

It occurs to me here... I always seem to overestimate how far I'm gonna get... there's invariably a bit of tricky business I didn't seem to anticipate.

Today it was a 35 foot aspen trunk that had been sheared off by the arc of the falling oak. This severed section was leaning precariously, almost perfectly vertical, right beside my project du jour. I ended up blowing away about 40 minutes on this one piece alone, alternately cutting and pulling with my come-along before it gave over and crashed to the ground. Better safe than sorry.

Speaking of safety.. I've also started wearing a helmet when I get into the trickier stuff... it'd just be too stupid to have my skull fractured by a falling branch.

Mrs Neo's also been after me about safety chaps... which would, I suppose, be a good idea.

Tomorrow will be a splittin' day.

*

I guess it's true what they say...

...you can't pick your family...

One of Osama Bin Laden's sons is in Qatar after being deported from Egypt and Spain following failed asylum bids.

Omar Bin Laden, 27, has said he does not share his father's views and has not seen him since 2000.

His British wife, Zaina Alsabah Bin Laden (formerly Jane Felix-Browne) said their condemnation of al-Qaeda had put their lives in danger in the Mid-East.
*

09 November 2008

Is that anything like...

...redistributing the wealth?

" -- DUBAI -- We have to balance the market. Recent indications are that demand could have fallen by 2 to 3 million barrels per day."
*

If you build it...

...and publicly flog the hell out of it... maybe, just maybe... they will come...

One Toronto public trustee won't stop ringing alarm bells over the city's first Africentric school. Trustee Josh Matlow told the Sun yesterday that nothing good can come of the fact that Toronto District School Board officials continue to downgrade enrolment forecasts for the proposed school that is supposed to open next fall.
Alarm bells, huh? What exactly is this guy Josh Matlow... well, according to the Toronto Sun anyway... getting so hysterical about?
"When they first initiated this project, they implied that students from across the system would be knocking on our door, that this is something that was of such great need for our system," Matlow said. "Now they have to push an aggressive marketing campaign to see if they can get the minimum of 40 students. They've said that they'd be able to maintain an Africentric school if they have the minimum of two classes, roughly 40 kids."
The thing is... however "aggressive" this marketing campaign may be... it sounds like pretty thin gruel to me.
Matlow said not enough information about the school's curriculum has been released. "They weren't able to tell us what the curriculum will be although they're asking parents to enrol their kids there."
I guess that's what's called the "hard, but shallow sell."

Whaddaya think, Dawg?

You gonna start calling Josh Matlow a racist?


*

Growing old gracefully

Just don't count on it...

Ontario has a serious problem: health care consumes $40.4 billion of the province's $96-billion budget. Its 157 hospitals receive $18.4 billion.

Despite massive spending, the system is overburdened with wait lists, emergency rooms clogged with old people and "bed blockers" – seniors stuck in hospital, at a cost of $200 million a year, because home care is inadequate and nursing homes are full.
Now, the Toronto "Red" Star has to give "Furious George" Smitherman the obligatory socialist fist-bump... but curiously, they leave a few things out of their reportage.

Funny how that works.


*

Not a trick question... I said "bail"

Pop Quiz... "What do you think the bail should be for smuggling 28 pounds of heroin into Canada?"

*

Whaddaya mean "dark horse"...

...how about anybody with a room temperature I.Q.?

The high entrance fee — $90,000 compared to $50,000 in 2006 — could deter some dark horse candidates from entering the fray.
*

08 November 2008

Two out of three... ain't bad

So far, he's pissed off the Iranians AND the Russians as well as crapping on Nancy Reagan... not bad for a guy who doesn't even take office for another two months...

US President-elect Barack Obama has not given a commitment to go ahead with plans to build part of a US missile defence system in Poland, an aide says.

He was speaking after Polish President Lech Kaczynski's office said a pledge had been made during a phone conversation between the two men. But Mr Obama's foreign policy adviser, Denis McDonough, denied this.

Russia opposes the US scheme and has announced plans to deploy missiles on Poland's border as a counter-measure.
**********

UPDATE: Honeymoon with Iran is over
Iranian state radio said Mr. Obama's position was a replay of Mr. Bush's hard-line stance toward Tehran. It said this will dampen Iranian expectations for changes in U.S. foreign policy with the new administration.

The radio warned Mr. Obama “will betray the vote of the American people if he fails to bring back rationalism to the White House.”
*

So that's why...

...they call it crack...

Police took the man to a local hospital, where medical staff persuaded him to remove from his rectum a bag allegedly containing 2.4 grams of crack cocaine.

"Any time you can seize a loaded .357 Magnum, 58 grams of coke, 38 grams of crack and $52,000 in cash, that's good police work," Selby said.

O'Neil Grant, 24, is charged with eight drug- and weapons-related offences.
*

I just about fell off my chair

Mrs Neo... to my undying chagrin... tunes in to the CBC Radio programme "The Debaters" every Saturday morning. She and young Neophyte groove on the mostly uber-cheesy humour... despite the incredibly overwhelmingly left-wing bias.

Imagine my surprise when I overhear that todays topic is whether the CHRC should be abolished.

One of the comics actually makes reference to Richard "Lucy" Warman hacking into people's email accounts and, get this, his subconscious desire to impress his uncle... "Jimmy Hitler."

Stand by for a major taxpayer-funded lawsuit.

**********

RELATED: Wow... never saw this coming either...

-- WASHINGTON -- Tehran's ruling mullahs must be denied nuclear weapons and their backing for Islamic terrorists must stop, president-elect Barack Obama warned yesterday, sounding every bit as tough as the man he will succeed in the Oval Office, U.S. President George W. Bush.

“Iran's development of a nuclear weapon, I believe, is unacceptable. We have to mount an international effort to prevent that from happening.”

“Iran's support of terrorist organizations is something that has to cease.”
*

Sack up, man!

There's no maybe about it.

-- REGINA -- Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall is weighing in on a National Parole Board decision that will see convicted Calgary child killer and multiple rapist Harold David Smeltzer released on day parole to a Regina halfway house.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Wall said some changes may be in order and he'll raise his concerns when the nation's premiers meet Monday in Ottawa with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

"Maybe it's time that our parole system -- maybe the parole board itself -- needs to be reviewed, the processes that are used. Maybe its structure needs to be reviewed."

"Maybe there ought to be a permanent victim's representation on that board."
Of course, not everybody agrees with that sentiment...
-- OTTAWA -- Opposition MPs, including Liberals who have worked on justice issues, say they would plunge the country into another federal election before agreeing to a slate of Conservative proposals that would see convicted criminals treated more harshly.
Yeah... those guys.

*

You've gotta ask yourself...

"Who else is flying under the radar?"

-- METRO VANCOUVER -- A Sikh terrorist living in Surrey despite an eight-year-old deportation order claims he has survived all this time on payments from people at the Guru Nanak Sikh temple, according to documents obtained by the The Vancouver Sun.

Border services enforcement officer Joe Carlson interviewed Ram at Royal Columbian Hospital where he was taken for treatment, the documents say.

"Subject says he only worked at the temple. He told me that he has not left Canada since he arrived," Carlson wrote. "He told me he has not been in contact with Immigration for years and years. He remembers his hearing in 1998, but has not seen Immigration since."

"I told him there was a warrant for his arrest for removal and told him that I was arresting him."

"NO YOU CAN'T!!!"

Obama Nation breaks out into extremely Uncivil War...

Looks like the honeymoon is over...

“The Obama people were thrilled to turn out high percentages of African Americans, but (Proposition 8) literally wouldn’t have passed without those voters,” said Gary Dietrich, president of Citizen Voice, a nonpartisan voter awareness organization.
So much for Bamalot.
(h/t james from jagwire)

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:
"The left think having Obama in as president was like voting in a pot smoking Santa Claus."
*

07 November 2008

It must be Friday night... in Toronto

Again, no word yet from Mayor Miller... on which gun club is responsible...

Chaos followed as the six men dodged what witnesses say were about eight shots, running into the lobby of the 13-storey building and marking their paths with dripping blood.

Police said that when they arrived they found four men in their late teens and early 20s who had all been shot. Two were in surgery Friday night, but said to be in stable condition. Two others suffered minor wounds.
*

War of the Puffins

Looks like Iggy Nation has fired the opening shot in what promises to be a "fight for the finished."

-- OTTAWA -- The Quebec wing of the federal Liberal party is proposing leadership rules that would prohibit prominent MPs from joining the race to succeed Stéphane Dion.

Quebec officials are recommending that anyone with outstanding debt from the 2006 leadership race be disqualified — a rule that would hit Gerard Kennedy and Martha Hall Findlay, who each owe just under $200,000 from their unsuccessful bids.
Unlike bumbling Caspar Milquetoast... it looks like Iggy has a pretty good left hook.
Privately, supporters of Mr. Kennedy, Ms. Hall Findlay and other camps are furious with Michael Ignatieff, the perceived front-runner whose supporters dominate the Quebec wing's board of directors.

The board unanimously approved the submission, which rival camps contend is aimed at erecting barriers to potential candidates through a variety of measures.
Can't wait for round II.

*

The age of Obama-ness

"Hope and Change"... apparently everybody wants a piece of this puppy...

The Fourth Druk Gyalpo, who himself was given the Raven Crown at the age of 17, came to international prominence for envisioning the development concept of "Gross National Happiness" for the former feudal and isolated state.

From that "Let the healing begin" file

Noted compassionate, progressive, politically-correct sparrow-fart Dainty Dawg channels Vlad the Impaler...

"Frankly, if I'd been one of those yellow folks who dragged him from the lake where he'd landed, I'd have shot him on the spot."
C'mon Dawg, 'fess up... you'd have tortured him a little first.

*

"IMAGINE"

Yessirree... an anthem for our troubled times...

" -- GAZA -- 'All the Palestinian people were created to fight in God's name. If we just throw stones at the Jews they get scared.'

'Imagine what happens when body parts fly at them.'"
*

Remember thalidomide?

We're so used to being at the top of the food chain, we sometimes forget... "You don't know... what you don't know"...

At the U of A, a team lead by Dr. Holt made their discovery while conducting experiments on a human enzyme that is the target for drugs to treat Parkinson's disease.

The researchers were trying to inhibit the activity of the enzyme with ammonium chloride. They were surprised to find that even when they only added one part per million of the ammonium chloride, an amount that is so minute it was expected to have little effect, some mystery substance was still blocking the enzyme function.

The team initially suspected contaminants in the chemicals they were using, but eventually they determined that biologically active substances were leaking from the plastic tubes they used to transfer liquids in the experiment.
Remember... it wasn't all that long ago, we were using lead pipes to transport drinking water.

*

Moral of the story?

How about... maybe Montreal's not such a shitty place to live after all.

And hey, whatever happened... to that whole "Will of Allah" thing... these folks are always on about?

*

More CTV Moonbat moments

Watched what was, no doubt, one of the proudest moments of Lloyd Robertson's journalistic, er... teleprompter reading career... apparently there are "curious stories" circulating about Sarah Palin. Apparently CTV no longer even needs actual facts.

The apogee of last night's CTV's coverage though, had to be this unbelievable example of Bush Derangement Syndrome... a slam on the first dog...

It seems President George W. Bush's dog Barney wasn't much in the mood for friendly attention during his walk outside the White House on Thursday.

So when Reuters reporter Jon Decker reached down to pet the Scottish terrier, the seemingly docile dog snapped at him and bit Decker's right index finger.
Yup... even the Bush family pet is an evil, twisted freak.

Thank you, once again, CTV.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:
"Oprabama just spent more on his campaign than any politician in the history of the world."

"His spending included 30 minute info-mercials in prime-time and Ben-Hur style movie sets. Yet our media wants us to be aghast at the fact that the other campaign spent money on clothes."
And...
"Broadcast journalism will go the way of newspapers, they are just a little (very little) behind the death spiral."

"People aren't willing to wait until 11PM for Lloyd to be activated (he does seem more android than human these days) to spew the news 99% of the viewers have already seen on Youtube or read on the blogs or news aggregators."
*

Canada...

Land of endless opportunity...

A young Markham couple charged with faking hundreds of passports, university degrees and government documents was acquitted yesterday after a judge ruled York Regional Police officers violated their rights when they entered their house without a warrant, and arrested them.

Calling it the toughest decision of his four years on the bench, Justice Richard Blouin said the breach of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms by the officers was "so serious" he had no choice but to suppress all the evidence against Yan Shen, 26, and his wife, Ruiqiong Zhong, 27.

That evidence included hundreds of forged government documents, including Chinese passports, Ontario drivers' licences, marriage certificates and diplomas for prestigious universities in Canada.
**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:
"I'm surprised the cops didn't say they had received an anonymous tip that there was an unregistered firearm in the house. With that "information", the police don't need a warrant to enter, search, and seize anything they want."
*

06 November 2008

About face... forward... march!!!

So, I'm about 80 meters into the woods with my new bush road... and discover I'm actually doing a buttonhook south of my intended destination... Mrs Neo's newly discovered "Oakhenge."

It actually doesn't work out badly as I now have a road into the approximate middle of our 15 acres of bush. I've pulled up on a hilltop (soon to be) clearing. It's right on the juncture of two ponds... which might be a nice spot to drop an old trailer... or set up some sort of blind for Mrs N to observe the animal comings & goings.

Anyway... gotta pull out of this last little 25 meter dogleg and start heading north again, around the top of the pond. I've been bringing down the hung-up deadfall as I go... some of it will make acceptable firewood. I figure we'll use the lesser quality stuff to fire up this years batch of maple syrup.

Couldn't have asked for anything better than the last two days. Clear and sunny... but cool enough to avoid wearing myself out. The bugs are all long gone... and with no leaves on the trees you can see and hear for hundreds of feet.

I've been piling the slash at regular intervals along the road... it'll make good shelter for smaller animals. We've got a porcupine returned to his favourite wintering tree, a family of beavers who return every year to the swamp... and a bear that likely dens up in the round bales and tree trunks discarded by our farmer neighbour right at the northeast back corner.

It's a wonderful life.

*

Caspar Milquetoast rides again

"Dis time... I am 'ave really, really seriously!!!"

*

The compassionate, progressive dilemma

What to do, when you're caught between a myth and a hard place... do you side with Mother Nature... or go with the age-old and indisputable cultural wisdom of aboriginal peoples?

*

How about we all pony up...

...to send Taliban Jack to the Middle East... so he can lay the ground for those peace negotiations?

-- Khar, BAJAUR -- Pakistani officials say a bomb exploded Thursday in the country's northwest at a meeting of tribal leaders who oppose al-Qaida and Taliban extremists, killing at least nine people and wounding more than 40 others.

Authorities said it appeared to have been a suicide bombing, while tribal leaders were drawing up a plan to force militants out of their area.
I'm good for 50 bucks.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:
"Jack Layton is the only one who knows what to say to these people, nobody else has been able to talk them out of slaughtering women and children, yet Jack Layton refuses to help. What a Bastard."
*

Creature from the Red Lagoon

"They stab it with their steely knives... but they just can't kill the beast."

*

There's hope and change...

...and there's reality...

Despite Barack Obama's pledge to close the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Omar Khadr is not likely to be sent home any time soon unless Ottawa lobbies for his release, says a former top Pentagon official.
**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:
"I'm going to love the heartbreak of the Obamaniacs as they realize their guy is an empty suit."

"It will be delicious."
*

It was only...

halls of macadamia/...a matter of time.

**********

RELATED: Let the CC-nonymous healing being

I'll spare you the dozen intervening diatribes... you get the idea.

*

05 November 2008

Hey, this is fuzzy-bunny Canada...

...it's worth a shot...

-- OTTAWA -- Accused terrorist Mohamed Harkat says he needs his stringent bail conditions relaxed -- and he promises he can be trusted to behave himself if Ottawa will agree to ease the rules.
I dunno Mohamed... can you say "pretty please"?

Don't laugh... it worked out pretty good for Jeremiah.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:
"Why haven't we given this guy ten million dollars yet? Are we a bunch of racists or what?"
**********

LAST WORD: Paging Mayor "Super Dave" Miller...

So, yer blondeness... which gun club did this guy belong to?
Police said the victim approached the door of his 11th-floor apartment near Shuter and Parliament Sts. when the gunman fired three shots through the door, one striking the man in the abdomen.
*

Yeah, sure... tasers

That's what we should all be freakin' out about...

-- TORONTO -- Ontario has recorded its highest number of superbug MRSA cases - a troubling sign that the pernicious invader has made significant inroads in hospitals.

Specifically, the number of cases of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus has increased by more than 50 per cent over a three-year period, with 16,498 patients infected or colonized with MRSA in 2007, according to figures provided by Ontario's Quality Management Program-Laboratory Services.

Also worrisome were figures released on vancomycin-resistant enterocci (VRE), a strain of bacteria that has developed resistance to many commonly used antibiotics, specifically vancomycin.

Figures from Ontario's Quality Management Program-Laboratory Services showed the number of VRE cases climbed from 1,031 in 2004 to 3,900 cases in 2007, according to Dr. McGeer.
Let's try a little... admittedly unscientific... experiment here.

Ready...

Part one... When's the last time you, or anybody you know, got tasered? Total up all the instances.

Write that number down.

Part Two... When's the last time you, or anybody you know, was in a hospital? Again, add 'em up and write that number down too.

Part Three... divide the larger number by the smaller one.

Oh, that's right... you can't divide by zero.

Damn.

**********

RELATED: Maybe it scared him to death

File this one under... "We don' need no steenkin' science"
Police said the 30-year-old B.C. man was acting irrationally in the 500 block of 42 St. S.E., before he jumped through a window into a basement of a vacant duplex and a Taser was used to try and subdue him.

A police union official said Bowe, who appeared be under the influence of drugs, was hit by a Taser but only one probe struck him. And such a scenario would render a Taser entirely ineffective, said Tuttle, explaining both a positive and negative probe on the device must make contact with an individual for it to work.

"It's an all-or-nothing scenario," he said. "Either you get a circuit or you don't ... the bottom line is, you need two probes for a five-second application."
*

Ready for another federal election?

Looks like the Libs and Dippers are prepared to die on Hug-a-thug Hill...

-- OTTAWA -- Opposition MPs, including Liberals who have worked on justice issues, say they would plunge the country into another federal election before agreeing to a slate of Conservative proposals that would see convicted criminals treated more harshly.

The measures, including tougher penalties for young offenders and the reduced use of conditional sentences that allow criminals to serve their time at home, are likely to be among the first tests of Liberal willingness to challenge Stephen Harper's new minority government.
Of course, we all know how well the Prime Minister responds to threats...
"I don't think there has been any change in our position around that," Kory Teneycke, spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, told The Globe and Mail.

"We are prepared to make them [justice issues] confidence matters if necessary."
So, lemme see... if I was Stephen Harper, I'd be pushing this one to the top of the legislative agenda... just so I could... once again... go head to head with that formidable eco-warrior Stephane Dion.

That's only fair... right?

*

You'd think farmers...

...and folks out in rural Hastings County would be able to smell the McSlippery bullshit... but apparently that's just not the case...

A nurse practitioner-led clinic for Belleville has been vetoed by the province.
The irony here, of course, is that our MPP is Leona Dombrowsky, the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs...
"No matter where you look or how you measure it, we appear to have a very high number of people in Ontario with no nurse practitioner or doctor and Belleville is certainly one of the worst hit areas," said nurse practitioner Samantha Dalby, one of the prime movers behind the clinic.

"Belleville and Hastings County compete with Northern Ontario and only three other counties in southern Ontario for the worst access in the province."
Funny... the way the Fiberals were promoting these clinics, when they were initially loudly trumpeted in the local media... you'd