They're a whiz at collecting and creating statistics... actually doing something - not so much...
Israeli aircraft bombed Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip for the fourth day straight on Tuesday. Gaza officials said that, as of Monday, 364 Palestinians have been killed, and the United Nations noted that at least 62 were civilians.**********
How did the U.N. determine which of the victims were combatants?
...a god, er... dog in this fight... but what's fascinating here, is the larger issue here of ad hoc censorship.
The casual elimination of information that interests scores of internet users by anonymous individuals confirms the worst about Wikipedia and explains why most university professors strongly discourage their students from relying on a source which can be altered at whim by anyone with a modem.(via sda)
A small handful of anonymous internet users have made an editorial decision, leading to the deletion of key information about Canada’s past on one of the world’s most frequented websites.
To make matters worse, they have done so based on spurious logic that the religious views of politicians have never been at the centre of Canadian political discourse.
"When you bring a camera, people change," said Spence, who lost his right eye as a young teen in a shooting accident on his grandfather's farm.*
"I wouldn't be disarming at all. I would just be some dude. It's a much truer conversation."
He hopes to have a prototype eye cam by February.
That's why it's called "war"... and not "circle of friends"...
The IAF continued its assault on Gaza terrorist targets on Wednesday afternoon, bombing a Gaza City mosque and destroying a large number of rockets hidden inside.**********
Channel 10 reported that the IAF had received high-level orders to hit the mosque after Hamas terror operatives had run there with several rockets and Grad-type missiles.
Sheikh Nizar Rayyan, 52, a senior Hamas leader and cleric, was killed along with several others on Thursday when an IAF aircraft dropped a bomb on the eight-story Jabalya apartment building he lived in, the IDF said.Oh yeah... that kind.
Palestinian medics said that nine people were killed, including two of Rayyan's four wives and four of his 12 children, and around 30 were wounded in the air strike.
According to Palestinian sources, his family was warned before the attack but did not leave the building.
...Pakistan looks for a little redemption...
Pakistani forces have arrested 40 people and destroyed suspected militant houses and camps in a key operation in the Khyber region, officials say.At some point, Pakistan will have to decide which way they're really gonna fall.
The section of the Khyber Pass that passes through the Jamrud sub-district is the most insecure stretch of the road.
Witnesses told the BBC that the security forces were using artillery fire and helicopter gunships to pound suspected militant positions in the Ghundai and Shahkas areas of Jamrud.
...but I'm gonna go with the guys... who DON'T turn their kids into improvised explosive devices...
FROM THE COMMENTS:
"As Golda Meir (allegedly) said decades ago: Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us."**********
-- KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- The Afghan National Army says its soldiers destroyed three suspected bomb-making compounds and killed a person believed to be planting roadside bombs during a recent operation.*
Col. Ahmad Habibi told reporters at Kandahar Airfield the mission was planned and executed by the Afghan army under the tutelage of Canadian military mentors.
...is the least of their worries...
When Austin Fuller joined the military shortly before the Second World War, he knew what he signed up for. In a Belleville courtroom earlier this month, however, someone signed the 87-year-old veteran and his wife Catherine up for a fight neither want to be a part of.So what kind of person would drop an elderly couple into the middle of this mess?
According to court documents, the elderly Mohawk couple are named among those who have launched a $3.3-million civil action lawsuit that levels accusations of nepotism, abuse of power and various other conspiracies purported to have been carried out by the Mohawk band council and senior levels of government.
Speaking to The Intelligencer Monday, the couple claim they were never consulted by anyone about joining the lawsuit -- and only found out through the media that they were named as plaintiffs.
"We didn't know a darn thing about it and we never gave anyone permission to use our names in this," said Austin Fuller, who was one of 11 Second World War veterans from the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment to travel to Italy three years ago to pay homage to fallen comrades.
As for the current fight, Austin simply called it "ridiculous."
The most well-known protester of the group, Shawn Michael Brant, has yet to be taken into custody by police on the reserve -- despite an arrest warrant being issued more than a month ago for his alleged role in the incident.Of course... Shawn Brant.
So Brenda... you're unhappy with the outcome here... when do we get our money back?
-- via ORATO -- The Canadian woman who threatened suicide to get out of a Mexican jail says she misses the beach and would happily return to Mexico if she could. "I could say right now that if the Mexican government was to give me a pardon, I would go back,"*
The Correctional Service of Canada then chartered a private plane to bring her home — at a reported cost of $82,000.
Shockingly, Martin wrote, after being repatriated to Canada by federal authorities, her short stay at the Grand Valley Institution for Women, near Kitchener, Ont., made her long for a return to her Mexican jail cell.
Martin is currently on parole, living at her mother's home in Trenton, Ont.
...about halfway down... before "Juice"... is "Zionist"...
**********
EQUAL TIME:
...be that far behind...
Speed-limiting devices should be fitted to cars on a voluntary basis to help save lives and cut carbon emissions, according to a new report.Of course, if preventing injuries is the name of the game, there are all kinds of things we could do... like wearing helmets in the shower and introducing a "National Ladder Registry."
The speed-limiting devices will then use satellite positioning to check a vehicle's location and when its speed exceeds the limit, power will be reduced and the brakes applied if necessary.I look forward to government mandated breakfast "fibre levels".
"I'm here to save you."
...that's what we figured you'd say...
Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas official, countered: “We are not begging for calm and there is no room to talk about calm amid the continued aggression and siege.”Of course, he's saying it while cowering in some dark little spider hole... far away from the fighting.
Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction in fighting in June 2007.**********
It has rejected international demands to recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept existing interim peace deals.
"It's as if they can't see the difference between stealing a handbag and setting off a car bomb outside a nightclub."**********
-- GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Palestinian militants, armed with deadlier missiles than ever before, kept up rocket assaults on Israeli border communities on Tuesday, despite relentless Israeli air attacks against Gaza’s Hamas rulers and unwelcome word from Egypt that it would not bail them out.*
Totally missing the point that "competitive sports" are all about, well... "competing"... tonight reporter Roger Smith spent five minutes lamenting the fact that Team Canada refused to back off at some point in their 15-0 blowout over Kazakhstan.
When exactly, did hurt feelings take precedence over excelling and winning?
The Oprah-fication of North America continues apace.
**********
FROM THE COMMENTS:
"I'm waiting for some moonbat to say it was a disproportionate number of goals."**********
"Evgeni Bolyakin, player of the game for Kazakhstan, feels it's better for his team's development to play and lose in Division 1 than return to Division 2."*
"It's better to play in the more prestigious group," Bolyakin said through an interpreter. 'We're learning, especially against teams like Canada'."
What magical, infallible President-Elect said...
"If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I would do everything to stop that, and would expect Israel to do the same thing."*
The Canadian Senate, or as it's better known... the "Cash for Life" lottery...
-- OTTAWA -- As the youngest of Canada's 18 new senators, 34-year-old Patrick Brazeau will be eligible for pension benefits that most Canadians can only dream of, as soon as he hits 55.I've got an idea... let's be totally fair and equitable and turn Senate appointments into an actual lottery. I mean... let's face it... it's not like there's any actual "qualifications" for the position.
If the current National Chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples remains in the Red Chamber until 2029, he will walk away with a pension worth 63 per cent of his indexed annual salary, which currently stands at $130,400. In today's dollars, that's an annual pension of $82,000 – indexed for life – starting in his middle age.
"Iamkhong told an immigration hearing she did not believe she had HIV despite a positive test."*
No... not by Israel...
At least 300 Egyptian border guards were rushed to the area to reseal the border, the official added on condition on anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.Yet another example of that infamous Arab brotherly love.
A witness on the Gaza side of the border, Fida Kishta, said residents detonated a land mine along the border and commandeered a bulldozer to create more breaches.
Palestinians reported that they received phone calls to their cellular phones and landlines from the IDF. The phone call, the Palestinians said, conveyed a recorded message ordering the immediate evacuation of homes that were next to Hamas infrastructure or being used by the terrorist organization.*
SCENE: CTV webmaster's office...
"Okay... we've got the number of confirmed dead in Gaza straight from our HAMAS press liason."*
"NOW... what are those lyin' Yankees trying to sell us?"
The capricious and unknowable "Will of Allah"...
"Dr. Abdul Rahman, a doctor at a hospital near the blast, said the children were aged 8 to 10."***********
Of course, it's his standard "canned response"...
What this dumbstick lacks in intellectual rigour... he certainly makes up for in consistency...
Yup... this boy's a genius... in a Hedy Fry sorta way.I don't wanna shatter any more of your delusions...
"I am concerned about the number of shooting crimes, because that is the one type of criminal activity that we have seen go up," Bill Blair told CTV Toronto in a year-end interview.And, sad to say, we're not talking about jaywalking or shoplifting.
"Although there's been fewer murders in the city, what we've seen is there's been more shooting occurrences."**********
Toronto police maintain a web page that shows year-to-date shootings. As of Dec. 15, there have been 236 shooting incidents in the city, an increase of 18 percent over 2007. The number of victims is up to 336, about a 42 percent increase over 2007.
A woman managed to take a cab to an east Toronto hospital after being shot early Sunday morning.And...
The 12:30 a.m. shooting happened outside a Gabby's Kingston Road, located at 980 Kingston Rd., which is just west of Victoria Park Avenue.
A 28-year-old man was rushed to the trauma unit of St. Michael's Hospital last night after being shot in the chest.*
Shortly after the shooting just after 8 p.m. in a Pape Ave. home south of Gerrard St. E., a dog-walker reported seeing two men running north.
-- KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Another roadside bomb attack in southern Afghanistan killed two more Canadian soldiers Saturday, along with an Afghan police officer and a local interpreter.They will be remembered.
Warrant Officer Gaetan Roberge and Sgt. Gregory John Kruse were killed during a security patrol in the Panjway district, in the western part of Kandahar province.
The explosion wounded three other Canadian soldiers and another Afghan interpreter.
"They’re like teenaged girls gossiping about some dreamy guy. Except that they’re paid six-figure salaries by taxpayers."*
"And they have police powers behind them."
...winkie, winkie...
The CIA tackles the problem by aiming low — or getting people high — depending on your understanding of the word.(h/t sda)
It’s secret weapon: viagra. After all, when a man has matrimonial obligations to a harem of women he may need all the help he can get.
The Afghan chieftain looked older than his 60-odd years, and his bearded face bore the creases of a man burdened with duties as tribal patriarch and husband to four younger women. His visitor, a CIA officer, saw an opportunity, and reached into his bag for a small gift.
Four blue pills. Viagra. “Take one of these. You’ll love it,” the officer said. Compliments of Uncle Sam.
..."Stop... or we'll shoot"... do these morons just not understand...
Asked if an escalation of the assault could include targeted strikes against Hamas leaders, army spokeswoman Avital Leibovitch said: “Anything belonging to Hamas could be a target."**********
"You can interpret that as you like.”
The latest blast killed Private Michael Bruce Freeman, who was was serving with N Company, 3rd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment from CFB Petawawa, Ont.He will be remembered.
Sure you do...
He started chain gangs to use the inmates to do free work on county and city projects and save taxpayer's money. Then he started chain gangs for women so he wouldn't get sued for discrimination.Well... looks like he's movin' on up...
A cross between "Punk'd" and "Cops," the program sets up elaborate sting operations to snare people wanted on outstanding warrants.I love it.
Actors and undercover deputies play along in faux scenarios where scofflaws are enticed to have a good time; the drama comes when cast members reveal the prank and waiting deputies slap on handcuffs.
"Yeah, I saw him interviewed on Fox the other night about it. I think he said they cleared 1200 warrants just doing the preliminaries before ever filming an episode."**********
Yes, yes, CC... we all know how kind & compassionate you are. Say, while we're at it... let's revisit your pet theory about those dastardly, evil Jews."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."Of course, CC's too intimidated to use his own moniker here, so he has created a bunch of alter egos to do his dirty work for him... bombarding my comment threads with dozens of stupid trolls...
Well, CC... we can see you're "alive"... but I do have to question the "well."
BOO!!!
...upstages puny Mark Steyn...
"From witch burnings to the Montreal massacre by Roman Catholic Marc Lepine to abortion clinic bombers, Christianity’s legacy of violence strikes down yet more victims."Catholic, you say?
M. Lepine was born Gamil Gharbi, the son of an Algerian Muslim wife-beater, whose brutalized spouse told the court at their divorce hearing that her husband "had a total disdain for women and believed they were intended only to serve men."I hadn't heard that young Gamil, oops... "young Marc"... was particularly religious, never mind Catholic... but hey... don't let that get in the way of a barnburner of a rant, huh?
At 18, young Gamil took his mother's maiden name. The Gazette in Montreal mentioned this in its immediate reports of the massacre.Hey Stooge... that bringin' down the shithammer on the Catholics was pretty entertaining.
The name "Gamil Gharbi" has not sullied its pages in the 12 years since.
Hang on Stooger... if Wikipedia is so unreliable (your words, right?)... then why is your source a cut & paste of a Wikipedia footnote?
*
And there are those who are willing to step up and possibly pay it.
It's what they do.
-- KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- A Canadian soldier was killed and three others injured this afternoon when a bomb exploded under their armoured vehicle west of Kandahar city.And, of course, there is the same demented moonbat commentary that accompanies every single loss...
The slain soldier's family has been informed of his death, but requested his identity withheld temporarily. This death marks the 104th Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan since 2001.
"So what's the endgame here? A Starbucks on every street corner and gay marriage in Afghanistan?"Yes, you freakin' genius... that's what it's all about.
"Improvements in medical care since the Taliban fell five years ago have led to a marked decrease in Afghanistan's infant mortality rates - 40,000 fewer infant deaths a year."**********
A night of heavy drinking ended with a savage murder in a Scarborough apartment early Christmas Day when one of three friends allegedly snapped, stomped out the life of his pal and then brutally beat a second man who tried to stop the assault.*
...I'm ashamed that you're a Canadian AND a dumbass...
Misty Morning from Canada writes: What a sad story. Our government should feel that family's pain and feel ashamed that they have proved, again, to be totally inept in all matters.**********
As a Canadian, I feel ashamed. How can we say Merry Christmas to each other when another Canadian family is hurting as the Kohail's must be?
* Posted 25/12/08 at 11:17 PM EST | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
"The victim's family has angrily denounced Canadian interference in the case and has said they will not entertain any possibility of forgiveness until the two accused admit their guilt."*
Funny how there's never a Human Rights Commissioner around... when you really need one.
**********
RELATED: Sure... let's talk "apocalyptic crazies"
-- JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert appealed to Gazans to stop attacks on Israel or face a violent response as rockets rained down from Gaza at levels not seen since before a now-expired truce.Who's actually boarding the crazy train here?
“I am telling them now, it may be the last minute, I'm telling them stop it,” Mr. Olmert told the Arabic-language Al-Arabiya TV. “We are stronger.”
Apparently... somehow... the rocket-firing terrorists are the aggrieved party here...."Audacity of audacity"...
"Obama was not under oath, but he was represented in the FBI interview — as well as throughout the internal review — by Bob Bauer, the shrewdly pugnacious Washington super lawyer who represented Obama’s campaign."**********
"Each of the four Obama associates referenced in the internal report also retained attorneys, although only Emanuel and Jarrett sat for interviews with U.S. attorneys and FBI agents."
“Rezko paid the asking price on the same day Obama paid $300,000 less than the asking price to the same seller for his adjacent mansion," he said.*
"This begs the question of payoff, bribe, kickback."
...or Time magazine's story of the year for 2009?
"A terrorist doesn't need to go to the DIYbio community. They can just enroll in their local community college."*
Sounds like it's only a matter of time before somebody gets their chestnuts roasted...
"As we approach a critical time in international relations, we are offering our viewers an insight into an alternative world view."**********
"In December of 2006, this rights commission was asked to investigate claims of discrimination based on physical disability with regards to a reindeer, Rudolph."*
"...Rudolph suffers from a facial disfigurement."
I mean... Allah's got this one covered... right?
**********
RELATED: Relax folks... they're all about "the justice"
Major Saudi newspapers have refused to publish the advertisement, apparently because for them, it was too shocking.*
The director general of the Saudi advertising agency, behind the campaign, Qaswara al-Khateeb, defended the media drive. "We sometimes forget that those who we deal with - "helpers" - are actually human beings."
...but seeing as it's Paul@Celestial Junk... I'll play along...
In my lifetime I have driven big rigs & subway trains... wrangled jackhammers, industrial chemicals and, most recently, mainframe computers... and that, my friend, is all I'm prepared to admit to.
And relax folks... I'm not gonna lash this beast onward.
The madness dies right here.
*
"Michael has been involved in the Liberal Party for over forty years."
Of course, it was a bit of a long distance relationship..."Ignatieff lived in the United Kingdom from 1978 to 2000 and in the United States from 2000 to August 2005."Nudge, nudge... wink, wink
...as raging, mindless Catholic mobs fan out through cities worldwide... seeking to brutalise homosexuals...
The comments by the Pope were "totally irresponsible and unacceptable" and could provide some with a justification for "gay bashing," said Rev. Sharon Ferguson, the chief executive of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, in an interview with the BBC.*
...visit Belleville, Ontario...
A Toronto couple who left behind $269,000 in dirty money in a clean baby’s diaper two years ago were officially relieved of the cash in court last week.Thank goodness for dumbass criminals...
Hashani and Suada Bojaxhi, a husband and wife from Toronto were ordered to forfeit the money after Mr. Bojaxhi pleaded guilty to possession of property obtained by crime while before Superior Court Justice Richard Byers last week.
On Apr. 4 2006, Hashani Bojaxhi walked into an unidentified quick loan shop in Belleville and attempted to convert $700 in U.S. currency into Canadian money, court was told.**********
Staff at the location became suspicious of Hashani Bojaxhi’s identity and called police. Before police arrived he and a passenger in his vehicle fled the scene on foot, leaving behind a rented Jeep Grand Cherokee.
A search of the vehicle uncovered $269,000 stuffed into diapers — money that RCMP experts determined was the proceeds of illegal activity.
An Etobicoke man is under arrest after police on the east coast seized almost 300 kgs of cocaine, police said today.**********
The illicit drugs had an estimated street value of about $40 million, Durham Regional Police said.
The coke was shipped in boxes of hot sauce and destined for the Carribean International Food Distributors in west-end Toronto.
Mahendrapaul Doodnauth, 45, of Seguin Ct. in Etobicoke was arrested and charged with importing, conspiracy to import and possession with the purpose of trafficking.
"Way back when, my grandpa smuggled in seed wheat...guess a fella has to keep up with the times... yeeesh."*
Pop Quiz -- The United Nations is best known for...
-(a)- Preventing despots from pursuing ethnic cleansing & genocide*
-(b)- Staring down violent, immoral dictators who harbour terrorists
-(c)- Controlling nuclear proliferation by rogue nations
-(d)- Providing international diplomatic cover for all of the above
"You're willing to sacrifice... our love."**********
"Nice title. Wasn't Dion a Foreigner himself?"*
"Come to think of it Ignatieff has spent so much time out of the country that he might qualify for that title too."
"I guess Mr. Morrison doesn't have as many 'friends' as he thought."*
"...Puff the Magic Dragon..."
Pakistani security officials say at least eight people have been killed in a suspected U.S. missile strike in northwest Pakistan.*
Officials say the latest missile attack targeted militants in the volatile South Waziristan tribal region.
The pre-dawn strikes by suspected U.S drones hit two vehicles at different locations and killed most of those onboard the vehicles.
...Emperor Gilles I... make all the decisions...
"We're now faced with a very simple choice," Harper said after that furor.Don't miss CTV national news tonight... I mean, how often do you get to see Lloyd Robertson bleeding from his ears?
"Does the government Canadians elected appoint those senators or are they going to be appointed by a coalition that nobody elected?"
What's it gonna take folks...... a plague of locusts?
**********
RELATED: Yeah, sure... now you want tasers...
What the MSM doesn't care to emphasize... is that this guy was "battling mental illness"... with a couple of knives.
**********
LAST WORD: Asked... AND ANSWERED...
Outraged friends and family continued to question why police resorted to lethal force in their confrontation with Moynagh, who had A HISTORY OF VIOLENT OUTBURSTS and had SEVERAL RUN-INS WITH THE POLICE in the past.Oh yeah... did I mention the knives?
"The area resident, who refused to give her name, said such scenes were not uncommon in the area..."*
"At first I thought they blocked off the funeral home again," she said. "When gang members have services there, the police usually block it off."
More deep thoughts from ace reporter Tom Clark... "How could you say no to the daughter of JFK?"
[*]
And how about the Annointed One's star endorsement?
Two words, Fairy Princess... Tawana Brawley.
**********
RELATED: Obviously... it's the Second Coming
"Today, the audacity of hope had its rendezvous with destiny....Obama is now an adopted son of Camelot. His candidacy blessed not just by the Lion of the Senate, patriarch of the clan, but by JFK’s daughter." — David Wright on ABC’s Nightline January 28.*
Wake up folks... and smell the sales pitch...
This isn't about providing information, it's about peddling newspapers, 'cos... lemme see... my kid is outside playing in the "death storm"... taxpayers just handed the Big Three automakers 20 billion taxpayer dollars... and, last and absolutely least, Caspar Milquetoast and his "Green Shaft" have been ignominiously and eternally consigned to the compost pile of history.
You get it, yet?
*
"...on earth than militant feminism."**********
"Not quite on topic, but, during the thought police episode, I had a chat with my daughter who went to Queens in the early 90s. She told me that one of the best essays she ever wrote came back with every single 'he' circled in red ink."
"Every single one."
"She was scolded by the marxist-feminist prof and told to use the gender-neutral, but ugly and unpronouncable, s/he."
"Fair enough, I suppose, except .... the essay was about Gulliver's Travels."
"I remember strolling the campus of Queens, my alma mater as well as your daughter's. I was approached by some well meaning yet naive folks with a clip board who told me they were doing a survey for the University and asked me if I had ever witnessed racism or discrimination on campus."*
"'Indeed,' I replied."
"Their happy young faces beamed at the news."
"I continued. 'There is a disturbing amount of discrimination practiced by the University itself as well as the government of Canada. It is against men, especially caucasian ones'."
If you thought these guys would be grateful for a multi-billion dollar taxpayer-funded bailout, well... you'd be wrong...
And everybody except the union is acknowledging that reality...
“Our governments would be crazy to not force the same condition on the D3 in Canada,” Dennis DesRosiers, president of DesRosiers Auto Consultants, said in an e-mail Friday.The times... they are a' changin'.
Currently in Canada, workers at the Detroit Three plants earn wages and benefits totalling $70 an hour, while their counterparts at the Japanese auto makers earn between $40 and $45.
**********
...cutting-edge, world-shaking news events...
Participants are encouraged to bring extra footwear for tossing, but organizers say shoes will be provided at the rally.What is actually dumber here... being a participant... or reporting on this like it's a life-altering event?
At bottom, the Blagojevich episode -- whether it involves Obama himself or people close to him such as Emanuel or Axelrod -- demonstrates the disconnect between Obama's deeds and his high-sounding words.*
He talks tirelessly about reform but was an unobjecting beneficiary of the machine who did not reform it.
...ruptured organs...
An Egyptian mathematics teacher has gone on trial accused of beating an 11-year-old pupil to death because he did not do his homework.*
After using a ruler, Haitham Nabeel Abdelhamid, 23, allegedly took the boy outside the classroom and hit him violently in his stomach. Islam Amr Badr fainted and later died in hospital of heart failure.
The Egyptian government says it is bringing in education reforms - including new teacher testing.
More media kid-glove treatment... for anybody on the left side of the aisle...
"The authorities said Mr. Monserrate drove Ms. Giraldo to Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park in Nassau County, near the Queens border."It's unclear?
"It was unclear why he chose a hospital outside the city and 12 miles from his apartment, on 83rd Street in Jackson Heights. There are at least three hospitals closer, including Elmhurst Hospital Center, five blocks away. "
It's not the first year that the children of Canadian soldiers have asked Santa to bring their moms and dads home safely so they can spend Christmas together, but “there do seem to be more of them this year.”You estimate? -- 0.001 percent?
Mr. Danells estimates that only “0.001 per cent” of Santa letters ask those tearjerker questions, but he is noticing that children everywhere are becoming more aware of the world around them.
CAW says... "Well... it's a start"...
Based on one-fifth share of vehicle production, a Canadian package would translate into $4.16-billion (Canadian) in short-term, emergency loans.**********
Canadian Auto Workers president Ken Lewenza applauded the package, but described the attached concessions as “pretty tough.”
Mr. Lewenza said the money promised by the Bush administration is enough to get General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC through the first quarter of 2009, but the industry still needs “some long-term stability.”
"The Detroit three UAW/CAW must be desperate for new cash donors, they were hovering like vultures as we were going home to our families after work Thursday."*
"I said to the Vulture as he attempted to hand me his propaganda, 'Your union has sure helped you out ... helped you right out of a job'."
...so little time...
And in the Canadian city of Montreal, Block the Empire, an anti-war protest group that regularly criticises Bush's foreign policy, invited Canadians to hurl their footwear at the US consulate in the city on Saturday in solidarity with al-Zaidi.Honestly... who are these freaks?
Taser nutjobs find new cause célèbre.*
...on Iggy's face... but what if it turns into "pay me now, AND pay me later"...
Mr. Harper didn't say how big a deficit Ottawa would run, but a stimulus package of the kind he's planning would push the federal government deep into the red next year – likely by more than $30-billion.*
...and not "Circle of Friends".
The real question here is... "How badly do you want to win?"
*
I guess this is just nature's way of thinning the herd...
The truck was making a routine collection at a TD Canada Trust bank on Southdown Rd., near Royal Windsor Dr., around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday when the suspects approached the two guards, brandishing what appeared to be a pellet gun.*
Before the suspects could nab any cash, the guards reportedly fired several shots, forcing the three to flee empty handed.
It's not a question of experience. You often get inexperienced candidates who come out of nowhere. You get rich businessmen and the occasional actor or sports star.*
It's a question of entitlement. The only thing she has that makes her somebody to even be considered for this office is pedigree. I mean, I hate to be a good government scold, but I would think that one of the reasons for the American experiment is to abolish the idea of government by pedigree.
Look, Caroline Kennedy is a worthy socialite. But if she wants it, she should run and not accept an appointment. It is OK to run on pedigree, but do it in an election and not in an appointment.
The McSlippery government actually fulfills an election promise...
Starting in January, the prostate-specific antigen test will be covered under the province's public health insurance, costing the government $30 million annually.*
Previously, residents in Ontario have had to have the tests done in hospitals; now the tests will be covered in much more numerous community labs.
Despite the fact prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer to strike Canadian men, Ontarians currently pay out of pocket for the $30 diagnostic test.
...how much we don't know...
"It's always impressive to see these sorts of things but it's not as unsual as you would think," said Dr. Rich Gustafson, with Cherry Creek Pediatrics.*
"Teratomas can be found in abdomens or other parts of the body ... what made this case so unusual is how perfectly formed the foot was and being in the skull as well."
...we're all gonna die!!!
“In a nutshell we went from a 20-centimetre base to over 100 centimetres now,” Mr. Rideout said. “That perked everybody up because there wasn't much snow around.”*
-- KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN and VANCOUVER -- An agricultural expert from British Columbia is now the leading candidate in the urgent search for a new governor of Kandahar, The Globe and Mail has learned.**********
The post is a key political seat in southern Afghanistan but a dangerous task with little chance of glory.
...from Premier "I won't raise your taxes" McSlippery...
-- TORONTO -- Municipal property assessments that were mailed to homes across Ontario this fall are “unrealistic” given the dramatic drops in the real estate market, Premier Dalton McGuinty admitted Wednesday.And what will the "Slippery One" do about this issue?
Despite that, the province will not direct Ontario's Municipal Property Assessment Corporation to scrap the 2008 assessments, the first in several years, and do fresh ones in 2009.Don't look at me... I didn't vote for him.
What nobody is talking about here is "data integrity"...
It's unclear when the markets will reopen, and the exchange hasn't responded to any interview requests. It's believed the backup system also failed, preventing an easy fix.Most large financial institutions, like banks and insurance companies are tied into large mainframe computers which usually employ a duplicate set of hard drives... known in the trade as "mirroring."
The average daily volume on the TSX through the end of November was 451 million shares.The TSX computer-monkeys must be going ape.
Mr. Bertrand and company representatives declined to comment on the exact nature of the computer problem. “The important thing now is to get things going again,” Mr. Bertrand said.Perhaps the earlier reference to a failure of "backup systems" was just unfounded rumour.
In a statement, the exchange, which is owned by the TMX Group, said that the computer systems that execute trades were not affected. The problem appeared to be with the computers that delivered trading information to brokerage houses and news organizations.
In an interview with BNN, a Canadian business news television channel, Luc Bertrand, the deputy chief executive at TMX, said that the exchange decided to suspend trading after it discovered that only some users were able to track trades.
-- December 17, 2008 (TORONTO) -- Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange will not resume trading today due to continuing technical issues with its data feeds.*
The market will be put into a Pre-Open state from 3:00PM to 5:00PM to allow participants the option of cancelling, adding or changing orders.
The company intends to open the exchanges tomorrow morning.
Additional information on the nature of the problem will be provided when the investigation is complete.
...is expanding.
**********
RELATED: Hey Ontario... got too much money?
Hopalong Howie & Premier "I won't raise your taxes" McSlippery have got a plan to fix that...
-- TORONTO -- A proposed $3.4-billion rescue package for struggling automakers is likely just the beginning of the money Ottawa and Ontario must provide to keep the sector afloat, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said Wednesday.*
NDP Leader Howard Hampton said he believes Ontario's share of the current auto aid will be about $1 billion to $1.5 billion, but that more overall economic aid is needed.
"We should invest a further $2 billion in an economic stimulus package," Hampton said.
Except, of course... where it isn't...
"The glaring exception is the tally of gun incidents."Oh yeah, that... those pesky little "incidents" and "occurrences".
As of Monday morning there had been at least 236 occurrences, an 18-per-cent increase over last year. Still more striking is the number of people shot: 336, compared with 237, a rise of almost 42 per cent.But, but, but... Mayor Super Dave is chasing all of the gun clubs out of Toronto... how can this be?
"There's something wrong with my gun. Everytime I unlock the safe and tell it to go get me some venison for the freezer, all it does is sit there."**********
"Am I doing something wrong?"
..."more social workers".**********
...would have trouble running a lemonade stand...
An official in the speaker's office said he was unsure about the seriousness of al-Mashhadani's announcement, but said it may have been made because he was nervous.*
"It costs us an average $3,500 to return somebody. Am I not worth $3,500 if I'm the victim?"*
"There should be no place in Canada you can hide from charges like kidnapping or sexual assault."
Anybody who actually buys into the premise that the Big Three auto companies are just gonna suddenly disappear... isn't smart enough to leave home and work unsupervised... never mind hand out stupid-ass soundbites to the credulous socialist media.
Just don't try tell that to fiberal Economic Development Minister Michael Bryant.
Unfortunately, this sort of shameless manipulation... which deserves instant and unrelenting derision... is instead elevated to the level of serious discourse.
Hey, Michael... can I play?
"If your mother had wheels... she'd be a truck."
**********
RELATED: The one-liner genius of Michael B.
**********
FROM THE COMMENTS:
"Bryant is one of the biggest sideshows in McGuinty's government - and that takes some doing."*
"I wonder where he'll be demoted to next?"
...for Blago-Obama camps, as Rezko decides to drop a dime...
-- CHICAGO (AP) -- Jailed political fundraiser Tony Rezko's attorneys sent a strong signal today that he has resumed cooperation with federal prosecutors in the criminal case against Gov. Rod Blagojevich.*
Today, both sides agreed to postpone Rezko's sentencing indefinitely. That's a sign prosecutors think Rezko has more to tell them.
Apparently even Islam's best & brightest sons aren't immune to the siren call of bloody jihad...
His devotion to al Qaeda was clear when his will - which he spent eight hours writing, according to records on the laptop on which it was discovered - was read to court.*
Addressed to Osama bin Laden, Abdulla made clear he wanted to kill British and American soldiers and said he was willing to target women and children.
In the document, he declared his thirst to “lick the blood” of Westerners and attack the “Kingdom of Evil”. He wrote that a population “busy with alcoholic drinking and with their intimate friends” could only be awoken “by the sound of booby trapped vehicles”.
Just another reason... besides all those open-source extensions and add-ons... to use Firefox...
-- NEW YORK - (Dow Jones) -- Users of Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) Internet Explorer Web browser could be open to attacks from criminals hoping to glean passwords and financial information as the software giant works to fix a security flaw.*
"This type of attack has been happening for a while, what's new is the unpatched IE tips off and draws attention that this sort of attack is working," said Cross Research analyst Richard Williams.
"Ordinarily, by the time the news hits, the flaw has been fixed."
...while Joe Lunchbucket weeps...
Ontario's falling house prices may exacerbate unfairness in the province's four-year property tax assessment process and the province may want to cap or cancel its 2008 assessment, the head of a ratepayer group says.**********
Bob Topp, chairman of Coalition After Property Tax Reform (CAPTR), said almost one million property owners in Ontario saw increases of more than 30% in their 2008 assessments.
However, homes are beginning to fall in price and properties aren't scheduled to be re-assessed for four years.
...the Ignatieff camp continues its stringent vetting process....which houses 668 convicts, said he was not surprised by the decision to ‘drop Jesus’ from show. He added: ‘This is typical. On one side of the room there are heated foot baths for the Muslim inmates, but on the other side there is this silly little movable alter that can be hidden away at a moment’s notice.**********
‘And there is just a wooden cross, not a crucifix showing the suffering Jesus went through, because those in power thought it might offend the Muslims.’
‘I don’t think the Muslim prisoners would give a monkeys to be honest, it’s just the normal PC brigade poking its nose in when it isn’t needed.’
"Sadly, these days the minorities don't even have to squeak. The PC police come along and add preemptive grease."*
...after all...
A crucial Atomic Energy of Canada reactor at Chalk River, Ont., has restarted after a routine maintenance shutdown ran a couple of days longer than expected.Despite all the hysteria on CTV news the last three or four days... it seems there is, well... no crisis after all.
Dr. Christopher O'Brien of the Ontario Association of Nuclear Medicine says the isotope supply should be completely restored by Thursday.
Meanwhile, he says, there are enough doses available for emergency treatments, so no patients will be affected.
Ontario's medical community has "dodged the bullet," learning today that cancer treatments that depend on nuclear isotopes will be back to full strength by the end of the week.Oh no... what are Lloyd & Lisa gonna have to freak out about tonight?
It seems to have escaped everyone's notice that, under the previous regime, this would have been, at minimum, a firing squad offense...
Al Baghdadiya in turn has called for the reporter's release. The network said that freeing al-Zaidi would be in line with what it called the "freedom of expression" the U.S. has promised all Iraqis.Of course, this being Iraq, there has to be further ironic icing on this particular "clown cake"...
Saddam Hussein's former chief lawyer told al Jazeera network that he would defend al-Zaidi in court.Oh gawd... stop it... yer killin' me.
...we're Canadian.
Today... the Globe & Mail leads with their contention that the Taliban "controls" the main roads in Afghanistan... conveniently ignoring the fact that everytime we catch these donkeyheads out in the open... or, on the rare occasions they actually stand and fight... they get their raggedy-asses blown to kingdom come...
-- KABUL, Afghanistan (AP -- A joint Afghan-NATO operation in a volatile region in the country's dangerous south has killed 40 militants, including the Taliban's leader in that region, a government official said Monday.See... sneaking out in the middle of the night and setting booby-traps is not winning. Nor is strapping explosives to 13 year-old kids and using them as human bombs.
The operation in the Nad Ali and Murja districts of Helmand province began on Thursday and continued through Monday, said Dawood Ahmadi, spokesman for Helmand's governor.
Among the dead was a Mullah Salim, a Taliban leader who was the head of the militant's council in the two districts, Ahmadi said.
I dunno... maybe these folks are on to something...
-- TEHRAN -- Ameneh Bahrami once enjoyed photography and mountain vistas. Her work for a medical equipment company gave her financial independence. Several men had asked for her hand in marriage, but the hazel-eyed electrical technician had refused them all. "I wanted to get married, but only to the man I really loved," she said.*
Four years ago, a spurned suitor poured a bucket of sulfuric acid over her head, leaving her blind and disfigured.
Late last month, an Iranian court ordered that five drops of the same chemical be placed in each of her attacker's eyes, acceding to Bahrami's demand that he be punished according to a principle in Islamic jurisprudence that allows a victim to seek retribution for a crime.
You want my advice... get out... before it's too late...
After Theresa Bascombe heard several loud bangs near her home Saturday night, she didn’t expect to see her 12-year-old son standing at the front door with a bullet hole in his right thigh and blood streaming down his leg.Shooting pre-adolescent kids... for sport.
His mother said she was shocked when she saw him. “I was very terrified,” she said. “His other friend said after they ran, the men ran away laughing, before driving away in a car.”
A young woman was stabbed this afternoon at the Kennedy subway station. The woman, who is believed to be about 16 years old, was slashed across the forehead and in the neck at around 4 p.m. She has been transported to the Hospital for Sick Children for treatment. She is in stable condition.*
Police are looking for a 17-year-old female suspect. The platform was busy at the time and police say they are looking for eyewitnesses."
...for every CTV pinko-poll that went sideways...
"If the White House decides against a bailout of the auto industry, should Ottawa follow suit?"
Not to take anything away from our brave soldiers... but statistically... four times as many Canadians are killed in the GTA every year... than in battle in Afghanistan...
Mayhem erupted at a Pickering nightclub's parking lot where four people were mowed down by vehicles in two separate incidents and police fired a shot trying to stop one driver.I fear for my country.
A Scarborough man is fighting for his life after a dark metallic blue Caravan hit him and at least two pals in the first incident outside Tropix at Liverpool and Kingston Rds. at around 2 a.m. yesterday.
As Durham cops and medics were tending to the injured in the first incident, a car dragging a body came screeching at them, hitting two ambulances, and the driver in a bid to escape drove at police officers trying to stop him.
Kumar Singh said the wild night began when his 28-year-old son and two buddies left the nightclub and found themselves in a dispute involving the four or five men in the van and bouncers.
His son, who he didn't want to be identified, was treated at hospital and released. But pal Hardat Deyal, 35, who owns his own trucking service, is reportedly in a coma at Sunnybrook hospital. The injuries are life threatening.
...for Toronto's black community.The TDSB thinks segregation is the answer to their problem?
It may not be fair, but such is the reality of the future of Toronto's first and embryonic Africentric school.
Within two months the Toronto District School Board will have to pull the plug on the controversial but absolutely essential pilot project – unless parents start enrolling their children.
But understand that no matter who is responsible for the slow enrolment so far – fewer than 20 kids have signed up – it is black folks who will wear the stigma of failure.
With the unmasking of Gov. Rod Blagojevich as a kleptocrat of Paraguayan proportion, Illinois now has a real chance—its first in more than a generation—to defeat Louisiana in the NCAA finals of American political corruption.*
Illinois boasts some impressive stats. According to data collected by Dick Simpson, a political scientist at the University of Illinois, more than 1,000 public officials and business people from Illinois have been convicted in federal corruption cases since 1971.
...please, please... gimme some of that global warming right now...
"Extreme wind chill values between -45 C and -50 C are expected across many parts of southern Manitoba tonight and Sunday," said a weather warning posted on the Environment Canada website Saturday.*
There are similar warnings for Alberta and Saskatchewan.
On Saturday evening, Calgary, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Saskatoon were all experiencing temperatures below -20 C.
According to Environment Canada, the temperatures in Calgary should be -1 C at this time of year.
...why didn't I figure that one out sooner?
-- ZIMBABWE -- The Herald quoted the information minister, Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, as blaming cholera on "serious biological chemical war … a genocidal onslaught on the people of Zimbabwe by the British."*
"Cholera is a calculated racist terrorist attack on Zimbabwe by the unrepentant former colonial power which has enlisted support from its American and Western allies so that they invade the country," Ndlovu was quoted as saying.
-- KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Three Canadian soldiers were killed in an explosion this morning on a notoriously dangerous stretch of road west of Kandahar city.**********
Another soldier was injured in the blast and is recovering in fair condition. The military has not yet released the soldiers' names, although their immediate family members have been notified.
The dead were named as Corporal Thomas James Hamilton, Private John Michael Roy Curwin, Private Justin Peter Jones, all part of Golf Company, of the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment, based at Camp Nathan Smith, home of Canada's provincial reconstruction team.*
...right down the shitter...
-- OTTAWA -- Canada's border cops began a sweep of northern Ontario earlier this year to catch some of the 1,973 criminals who've apparently gone underground to avoid being kicked out of the country.And the 2000 criminals are just the tip of the iceberg.
Newly disclosed documents show the pilot project was launched last April as the Canada Border Services Agency came under pressure from a cabinet minister to root out more unwanted visitors and send them packing.
The agency already removes about 12,000 people from Canada a year, the vast majority of whom are failed refugee claimants, at an annual cost of about $36.3-million. About 1,700 are criminals or people considered a security threat.Oh Canada.
But another 40,000 people subject to removal warrants have simply disappeared — including 1,973 who are criminals or threats to security, says an internal agency report from March.
“Raghu said he needed to raise a million for Rod to make sure Jesse got the seat,” an unidentified source who attended the meeting told the Tribune. Mr. Blagojevich also attended the meeting, which was sponsored by Mr. Nayak, an Oak Brook businessman.*
...behind all those recent "Predator" strikes...
The sole gunman captured in last month's attacks in Mumbai has written to Pakistani officials to ask for legal help after Indian lawyers refused to take his criminal case, police said Saturday.With friends like Pakistan... who needs Osama?
Mohammed Ajmal Kasab wrote a letter Thursday to the Pakistani consulate to request "legal aid," said Rakesh Maria, Mumbai's chief investigator. He also asked to meet with a representative from the consulate.
According to police, Kasab said he was a Pakistani national and member of the banned militant organization Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Islamabad has refused to acknowledge Kasab's nationality, complaining that India has yet to furnish any evidence.*
Listing numerous blue chip companies and Ontario universities as employers and clients on his curriculum vitae, Cook also claimed to have an Executive MBA from the very real Heriot-Watts University in Edinburgh, Scotland.*
He does not.
What he does have is two bogus degrees, an MBA and a Ph.D., purchased from the St. Regis diploma mill in 2004.
Cook, who ran for the Ontario Liberals in Beaches-Woodbine in 1981 and Toronto City Council in 1997, losing both times, paid $1,133 for a Ph.D. and an MBA in Human Resources Management.
Just hours after being contacted by the Star, Cook's online bios underwent radical changes. His Executive MBA from Heriot-Watts is now "expected" in 2010.
All references to his MBA and PhD were deleted.
A New Mexico company is building all-wood human coffins in a partnership with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. They bear painted slogans, such as "Lifetime PETA Member" or "I saved 500 animals."
Another serves up a last laugh that plays on a long-running PETA advertisement: "Told You I Wouldn't Be Caught Dead in Fur!"
...goes horribly wrong...
Don't you worry though... CTV is gonna swing the other way and balance things out.
**********
FROM THE COMMENTS:
"People are suffering and dying from lack of medical facilities, doctors and staff. Where's the 3 billion for that? Cars are a higher priority it seems."*
...and Hanoi Jane Taber pontificating on the demise of the magic coalition. The best moment had to be when Duffy said... "The liberals are so screwed up, they're stabbing each other in the front."
This week, the once explosive notion of a coalition is a shimmer in some phantom zone of yesterday's politics. No one who had anything to do with it wants to admit it's dead. They want it to fade away all on its own.*
If it wasn't for that signing ceremony and the wonderfully retentive powers of videotape, I'd almost bet some of its backers would deny it ever existed.
There won't be any more rallies for the coalition. It was the fevered product of a moment's opportunism, a political house of cards.
Five years from now, it'll be a good question for Trivial Pursuit.
More capricious and unknowable "Will of Allah"...
The explosion happened when an Afghan boy pushing a wheelbarrow approached a company of British marines. It is not clear whether the boy was a suicide bomber or the device was remotely detonated.Yessirree, Timmy... that's some "holy war" ya got there.
...that ain't gonna sell any newspapers.
**********
UPDATE: Globe & Mail says... "No, no, no..."
"...it's that evil Stephen Harper."
Sure... let's just stick with the 40 calibre Glock... and take all the uncertainty out of the equation.
*
...maybe drugs aren't your most pressing issue after all...
-- VICTORIA -- The B.C. government is warning the public about tainted cocaine after 10 people fell seriously ill.**********
"here's the thing... you're willing to ingest dangerous, unknown substances you bought off scuzzy biker bob in the shitter of the local booze can... you just failed the big iq test anyway."*
Nothing a little sweat lodge won't wash away...
Today, he said, he's coping with the help of elders.*
"It just makes you feel so much better. Your spirit is high. It's a good feeling."
"I don't believe in punishment. Punishment doesn't do nothing."
-- VANCOUVER/TORONTO -- Four Mounties who used a taser to subdue Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski moments before he died of undisclosed injuries at Vancouver International Airport last year will not face criminal charges for their conduct, B.C.'s criminal justice branch will announce Friday.**********
CTV News is reporting that the Crown concluded there is insufficient evidence to warrant a prosecution in the case, which raised a furious debate over the police use of tasers that still continues.
The Crown's decision caps a far-flung investigation by members of B.C.'s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team that took officers as far away as Poland.
Autopsy results outlined for the first time Friday suggest various factors could have led to the heart attack that killed the 40-year-old Polish immigrant, including heart disease associated with chronic alcohol abuse, an agitated state of delirium and an inability to breathe while being restrained.**********
It's time to stop treating the police as criminals.*
Treat criminals as criminals. That means the police have to be given the benefit of the doubt when confrontations turn violent or fatal unless there's strong reason to think otherwise.
Criminals like Matthew Dumas aren't innocent people walking down the street minding their own business. Their business is preying on innocent people. We want people like this to be scared of police. We want them to sweat when they see police officers.
Nearly 40 countries have been over-reporting the number of children receiving a basic vaccination in order to gain cash rewards by showing an artificial increase in their immunization rates, a new study suggests.*
The GAVI immunization services support program, which pays $20 (U.S.) for every child immunization above an established baseline, has dished out $290-million – nearly double what it should have paid – to eligible countries because vaccination numbers were exaggerated, according to the study from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.
According to the data analyzed, of the 51 countries eligible for GAVI's immunization support, 39 over-reported the number of children actually vaccinated.
In one extreme example, Niger was found to have officially reported a 100-per-cent child vaccination rate when surveys found the immunization level to be 40 per cent.
...another perfidious Harper conspiracy...
"Each new senator "WILL BE A CONSERVATIVE" and is likely to share the prime minister's views on Senate reform, a senior government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity."Yeah, you know... unlike all those non-partisan Liberal hacks that... even after these appointments... still make up the "thug-hugging" majority in the upper house.
First, he tells China to piss up a rope and meets with the Dalai-Lama... and now this...
Nicolas Sarkozy said earlier this week that he would not be able to shake hands with someone who said Israel had to be wiped off the map. "How is it that a people such as the Iranian people have the misfortune of being represented as they are today by some of their leaders?"It's past time to deal with Iran.
Ambassador Bernard Poletti was told of Iran's strong objections.
He was told there would be repercussions for relations if such remarks were repeated.
...the fiberals can screw Canadians just fine... all on their own...
OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada says the federal government broke the law in financing the employment insurance system by transforming premiums paid by workers and employers into an unconstitutional tax.Yeah... I'm shocked.
In a 7-0 judgment, the court ruled the former Liberal governments of Jean Chretien and Paul Martin collected EI contributions illegally in 2002, 2003 and 2005.
That violated the ancient constitutional principle of no taxation without representation.
..without the healing, soothing guidance of the Toronto "Red" Star?
-- DETROIT -- The topless club in the suburb of Warren – where General Motors and Chrysler employ upwards of 20,000 people – cut the cost of a table dance in half, from $20 to $10, in mid-November.Oh gawd, just stop... I can't take any more.
"The regulars still come in but they don't stay as long. We do what we have to do keep going."
"Ahh, the peelers won't have to sweat it much longer, what with the coalition ready to launch their economic "stimulus package."*
...maybe Emperor Gilles I gets to call the shots...
-- OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper will fill up to 18 vacant seats in the Senate before Christmas, Sun Media has learned.**********
The senior Conservative said while Harper has signalled his intention to fill the Senate seats if legislation was stalled or blocked, recent speculation about putting appointees like Green Party Leader Elizabeth May or separatist selections from Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe into the red chamber have triggered the urgency.
“It would be even more undemocratic to have an unelected coalition government fill Senate vacancies so we will proceed prior to Christmas.”
Hey, dumbstick... are you lonely tonight?
And he's back again today. Stand by for another dozen simple-minded trolls...
Thank you, Eleanor Rigby.
...about to boil over?
That's curious... link and website both now down
Now you see it... now you don't.
**********
UPDATE: It's getting really interesting...
A former Illinois bank official, now claiming whistleblower status, says bank officials replaced a loan reappraisal that he prepared for a Chicago property that was purchased by the wife of now-convicted felon Tony Rezko, part of which was later sold to next-door neighbor Barack Obama.(h/t reader rich)
In a complaint filed Thursday in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Kenneth J. Connor said that his reappraisal of Rita Rezko's property was replaced with a higher one and that he was fired when he questioned the document.
"Why did 66 million Americans bestow the presidency on an untested politician who hadn't even completed a full term in the U.S. Senate?"*
"The answer boils down to a single word, social psychologists say. The president-elect tapped into a powerful human emotion called 'elevation'."
I will bring down down the Conservatives... except if I don't...
"He's leaving all options open for himself."And that, apparently, includes screwing over his coalition partners...
Fife also said senior Liberals have told him that they may not need a coalition to form a new government.Yeah... who could have seen that coming, huh?
"If they do defeat the Conservative government... Ignatieff will go to the Governor General and say 'We think we can form the government but we don't have to do it with a coalition,'" Fife said.
"In other words we don't have to give the NDP any seats in a Liberal government."
...I'm not kidding...
Marking the 19th annual commemoration of the Ecole Polytechnique massacre, Mr. Ignatieff issued a statement commiserating with the 14 female victims' families. Well and good.I guess what we're supposed to take away from this bald-faced assertion is that Iggy is a sensitive new-age guy, you know... unlike the troglodyte tories.
Not well and good was the lily-gilding statement, "Even today, nearly one in three Canadian women are victims of spousal abuse."
This oft-cited figure is a myth, fabricated from whole ideological cloth. If true, the epidemic social pathology it represents would render Canada as dysfunctional as Darfur.And so it begins anew.
Millions of Canadian women would be roaming the streets with broken bones.
"Wow, one out of three? So which one out of three women in Iggy's family are being abused?"*
"...in the Meadowvale Cemetery in Brampton, to be precise. No name, no date of birth, no date of death."*
"No nothing."
Was Obama purposefully trying to be unclear? It's hard to say.**********
It's a little hard to believe that he didn't know anything that was happening relating to his old seat. Maybe he's just really, really focused—though he did say on Meet the Press, when ducking a question about Caroline Kennedy being appointed senator from New York, "The last thing I want to do is get involved in New York politics.
"I've got enough trouble in terms of Illinois politics."
There's evidence that Obama wanted Valerie Jarrett to take his seat—the governor sure seemed to think the president-elect wanted that.
Suddenly, in the middle of the process, Obama stopped wanting that. Why?
"...chastened by their mistake? Pshaw. They're selling it as an example of the government listening to the youth of today. The Facebook revolution, and such."*
It's been a long hard road... but His Royal Highness Iggy I... is finally about to be crowned...
Unfortunately, the climb to the throne is littered with the broken bodies of his former foes...
Sadly, Dion, who began his political career honourably as the Liberals' point-man fighting separatists after the near-disastrous 1995 Quebec referendum, ended his time as leader making a backroom deal with separatists in a failed bid for a few measly months as PM.(h/t Jeremy Swanson)
...and wait to see if... "defendant Blagojevich"... dimes out his buddy... the president-elect.
[more here]
*
"No other democratic party would do it this way."**********
Describing Mr. Ignatieff as a person of wisdom and generosity, Mr. Rae urged his supporters to embrace the former Harvard professor as the only remaining candidate in the race.Oh, Bob...
"He will make a great prime minister," Mr. Rae said.
"I would expect that Rae should now resign from caucus and sit as an independant. After all, how could he possibly continue to be part of a party that is undemocratic and all decisions are done by the insider elites?"*
...most Canadians were thinking as well...
I never thought Stephen Harper was out of line in trying to revoke the relatively new (in Canada) public financing of political parties, perhaps because I hated the idea when it was first floated and was furious a few years ago when then-prime minister Jean Chrétien steered it unto law.Well, apparently... not all of us.
In my simple mind it went like this: If this was something Mr. Harper believed in doing, then why was doing it so wrong? Wasn't that why he wanted to win, to try stuff he wanted to try?
And didn't we all sort of understand that the guy who won the election probably would try to bring in his ideas?
"An even simpler way to skewer the Opposition ... put the issue of public financing of political parties to the public in a referendum ... it could not be more democratic than that!"*
So, Daud... just one question... what's all that bombing, shooting and beheading actually about then?
"If a Christian says ‘Jesus is the light' or ‘God is the light,' it doesn't offend the Muslims."*
"...make me write hot cheques..."
"Which potential Liberal leader would be a stronger opponent for Stephen Harper in an election?"
Sorry, Boob... I'm thinkin' the Iggy train has already left the station...
"We need more of them to join us – especially in the places where our support has been declining. I favour a 308-riding strategy, not a 76-person vote. I have spoken out for using our race as a chance to grow this party; a closed caucus vote would take it in the opposite direction."So, Bob... it's okay to disenfranchise all the people who voted for the Conservatives... but you're somehow exempt when your buddy Iggy tries to pull the same dark deal on you?
"Let's urge everyone in a position to influence this to put a stop to this hasty, ill-considered idea before it goes any further. I urge you to contact your nearest Liberal Member of Parliament, and any of the following, to let them know how you feel about this attempt to take away your vote."
"Bob Rae is pushing hard for an online/phone voting scheme to select the next Liberal Party leader before the end of January. Such a scheme would not cost the Liberal Party all that much."(h/t reader rich)
"On the other hand, it is not likely that the Liberals could successfully pull it off."
So long Caspar Milquetoast... we Conservatives are gonna miss ya...
Stéphane Dion announced his departure as Liberal Leader today, paving the way for Michael Ignatieff to take over as interim chief on Wednesday.Okay, Iggy... you're on deck.
"As the Governor General has granted a prorogation, IT IS A LOGICAL TIME for us Liberals to assess how we can best prepare our party to carry this fight forward," Mr. Dion says in his resignation letter.
"Rae press conference 3 pm today. Will it be 'I'm toast' or 'I will fight'?"Hey, Bob... I've got a question... "Just how long does it take for a politician to abandon everthing he's ever believed in... and jump to another party?"
...seems a little strange... there has to be something else going on here...
The self-described mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks and his four co-defendants have asked a judge at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to curtail efforts by defense attorneys and allow them to make immediate confessions, the judge revealed Monday.If St Barack is about to cut all these guys loose... why on earth would they be planning to give it all up?
U.S. Army Col. Steven Henley said he received a written letter from the five men saying they planned to discontinue filing motions to the court and wanted, instead, to be allowed to make full confessions.
Henley proceeded to speak to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who has said he planned the Sept. 11 attacks, and the other defendants to see if they understand the potential impact of their request. Each defendant is facing the death penalty.This'll be interesting.
Mohammed and three of his co-defendants said they agreed with the letter. The last defendant was awaiting questioning by the judge.
I have often entertained the theory that men and women originated from parallel universes. When Mrs Neo shakes me loose of some previously long-held male neurosis, I often observe... "So that's how they do it on your world."
Thus I am not surprised by the results of this study.
Men who live with a woman are 40 per cent more likely to be screened for prostate cancer than men who live alone, even if they have a family history of the disease, according to a new study.And guess what guys... this is no trivial matter...
"In terms of motivating people to get screened, there may be a benefit to targeting wives or significant others as well as men," Ms. Wallner said.
"Men growing up learn to not pay attention to health issues. It's part of traditional masculinity that paying too much attention to health is kind of unmanly. It's not so much that they're looking to rely on women. Men don't go there themselves pro-actively."
Prostate cancer is the No. 1 cancer threat to Canadian men. It will afflict one in seven men in their lifetimes - about 24,700 men this year alone, according to the foundation.*
...there are no "good old days"...
The body of first Afghan President Mohammad Daud Khan has been identified three decades after he was killed in a Communist coup, officials say. The discovery was made by members of a government-appointed commission during excavation at a military base outside the capital, Kabul.And I'm guessing there is no Afghan equivalent for the phrase "happily ever after"...
Correspondents say that many Afghans see Mr Khan's murder as one of their country's darkest days, because it was followed by 10 years of Soviet occupation, civil war and the rise of the Taleban, who themselves were toppled by US-led troops in 2001.
It is estimated that about two million people have been killed since the 1978 coup and more than six million have fled the country.You think they'd be more than ready for a little break... but, for whatever reason, apparently that's not the case.
Iggy grabs for the ring...
Insiders in rival camps said Ignatieff and his supporters were lobbying hard to have Ignatieff chosen as interim leader by a vote of Liberal MPs and senators at the Wednesday caucus meeting, with the decision to be ratified formally at the May convention.Not too surprisingly, ol' Commie Bob Rae suddenly thinks a caucus-only vote is a travesty...
A caucus vote would give Ignatieff a decided edge. Indeed, rival camps said some Ignatieff supporters were arguing that the matter should be settled strictly by the 77 elected Liberal MPs, which would likely guarantee an Ignatieff victory.
He said allowing caucus alone to decide the leadership would be elitist, undemocratic and illegitimate.So Bob... it's different when it's just Liberals?
“One suggestion that I've heard — that the caucus or even just MPs, for which there's no constitutional basis, but just MPs would decide — is to me unacceptable and just plain wrong,” Rae said. “People have to understand there has to be a process and it has to be seen to be a democratic and legitimate one.”
Rae said a vote by caucus alone would disenfranchise Liberals in the 231 ridings not represented by a Liberal MP.
“The people have to be heard,” he said. “At a time of party renewal, it's inconceivable to me that people would be even contemplating the disenfranchisement of tens of thousands of Liberals.”
Two party sources said well-known Liberal and former Paul Martin adviser Mike Robinson has left the Rae camp over disagreements with Mr. Rae's embracing of the coalition. Mr. Robinson could not be reached for comment on Sunday.**********
"Please pass the beer & popcorn. I want the DVD when it comes out."*
...than declaring all of these magical... "National Unlimited Hugs & Kisses Days"...
Zdenka was killed on the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. Established by Parliament in 1991, it marks the anniversary of the murders of 14 women at l'École Polytechnique de Montréal in 1989.**********
...does that include blowing human beings... men, women and children... into bloody hamburger-sized pieces?
**********
RELATED: "Ma-ma-ma-my religion!"
"Hmm. Greater Mumbai forms one of the world's five biggest cities. It has a population of nearly 20 million. But only one Jewish center, located in a building that gives no external clue as to the bounty waiting therein."**********
"An "accidental hostage scene" that one of the "practitioners" just happened to stumble upon?"
"I must be the luckiest jihadist in town."
Yessiree... he's one class act.
He just can't help himself.
A Toronto jury has found the first person to face trial in the Boxing Day shooting death of Jane Creba guilty of second degree murder.This, of course, is still... "too little, too late"... a direct result of Dalton McSlippery's... "no such thing as a bad boy"... socialist paradise.
JSR has also been found guilty of three counts of aggravated assault and five weapons charges. He was found not guilty of an additional three counts of aggravated assault.
Routinely now, the kinds of things that are still being shown to jurors in courtrooms outside the country's biggest city - autopsy pictures, for instance - are kept from Toronto jurors on the grounds that they are inherently inflammatory.Find these thugs... and burn them to the ground.
Other items, such as defendants' criminal records and evidence deemed prejudicial - in this instance surveillance video that showed JSR and his friends robbing people shortly before the shootout, with JSR seen punching a young man in the face and emerging triumphant with his cellphone thrust high into the air - are generally scrubbed cleaner for city jurors than for their country cousins
Canada truly is... a land of opportunity...
For the $4,000 Sun also provided two copies of grade transcripts in sealed York University envelopes ready to hand to prospective employers.And this little business isn't just about padding your resume...
"Once you crack the watermark you can forge anything," Sun boasted to one of two operatives the Star used during a two-month investigation. "You can print money."
University of Toronto and York University degrees are the most sought after by his clients, mainly students who don't want to study, or immigrants returning to China who need a diploma to land a well-paying job. Sun said the price for a bachelor's degree, MBA or PhD is the same. For him, it's the same amount of work, paper and ink.
"I have friends from China who spend three years here, didn't want to go to school, but got York and U of T degree (from him) then got a job," Sun boasted. "There are many of them. It's funny."
"My quality is the best. You can't even distinguish. The paper, its weight, quality, pattern, colour, fonts, layout, logo design, stamp, seal are the same as the real thing."
As he drove the Star's operative back to the Shoppers' lot, Sun sought to involve our operative in another of his scams, asking Calvin (who was posing as a banker) if he could put him in contact with someone at the bank who deals with mortgages and loans.I fear for my country... as does amazingly, even the Toronto "Red" Star.
"Some people want to return to China, sell their passports, SIN cards, and we can use their names to go to the bank and get loans," Sun explained. "Once you get the money in hand ..."
...but apparently... lack the political will...
British police will be issued handheld fingerprint scanning devices as early as 2010, a U.K. police agency said Monday.So, where does Canada stand on this issue?
The technology, which has already been tested by 20 forces in England and Wales using mobile-phone sized devices, will be rolled out to the rest of the country within the next 18 months, the National Policing Improvement Agency announced Monday.
According to the office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Canadian law has tended to view fingerprints as personal information and taken a more restrained approach to their collection.Yup... coddle the criminals... screw the victims.
...and up pops BT co-founder Stephen Taylor from the "Rally for Canada" in Ottawa.
Kudos to all who took the time to express their support for the Conservatives... you can share your take over at Stephen's website.
**********
FROM THE COMMENTS:
"I've gathered a collection of photo & video links from today's rallies and posted them here."**********
The president-elect's address never once used the word “spend,” relying instead on “invest” or “investments,” and pledging wise stewardship of taxpayer money in upgrading roads and schools, and making public buildings more energy-efficient.*
...but from the polling I've seen... isn't this sort of like being a traveling cholera salesman?
"Rae wants to get out there and show caucus that he's the guy that can sell this coalition and hold it together, and that sets him up as a contrast to Michael Ignatieff, who is lukewarm to the deal at best."I guess I'm beginning to see why these guys all think Iggy's the smart one.
Where, I wondered, was Michaëlle Jean? Perhaps Mr. Harper had left her hog-tied in the basement of Rideau Hall while he forged her signature on official documents.*
Mr. Rae went on to swear that, no matter what's in next month's stimulus budget, his coalition will never, never, never be stimulated to co-operate with Mr. Harper, because Mr. Harper is a lying liar who can't be trusted.
So much for the spirit of compromise and conciliation in a time of national crisis.
That's a new one on me... I mean... I've heard of "deaf culture" and "gay culture"... but who would want to have this on their C.V.?
Two more men with alleged ties to a Nova Scotia gang notorious for its "PIMPING CULTURE" have been charged with human trafficking west of Toronto.Who says Canadians have lost that ol' entrepreneurial spirit? These guys are apparently a going, growing concern.
Guns and gangs cops in Burlington identified a waterfront townhouse about a year ago as having ties to North Preston's Finest, a Nova Scotia street gang that has been linked to two of Peel Region's human trafficking cases since expanding west.
The Lakeshore Rd. townhouse, just east of Skyway Arena, was raided this week after a 17-year-old girl told police she had been held there between her forced shifts as an exotic dancer in Mississauga.Good grief.
Stefano Jemile Dixon, 19, originally from Nova Scotia, and Jordan Isaiah Cromwell, 21, of Burlington, were each charged with human trafficking, material benefit from human trafficking, withholding documents for human trafficking, forcible confinement and possession of marijuana.
Dixon was charged also with assault and sexual exploitation.
-- HALIFAX -- Police are trying to control what they say is a bloody rivalry in Halifax between drug gangs that has seen shots ring out in front of a children's hospital and another hospital's emergency department forced into lockdown twice in two weeks.*
“We have seen violence in the drug trade before,” said Const. Jeff Carr. “The difference this time is that they've brought their dispute into very public places, which is alarming.”
...some of their third world subsidiaries... then we'll talk bailout here at home...
General Motors of Canada Ltd. is seeking a rescue package totalling $3.2-billion from Ottawa and Ontario, including $800-million in emergency loans, according to a source familiar with the company's restructuring plan submitted to the federal and provincial governments on Friday.*
In all, the Canadian subsidiaries are asking for government loans or lines of credit totalling $6.8-billion to help them weather the crisis in the auto sector.
...and Iggy seems to be channeling Sgt Shultz from Hogan's Heroes... so it's up to former Liberal cabinet minister John Manley to inject a little reality into the debate...
"As a Liberal, I believe the first step for my party is to replace Stephane Dion as leader with someone whose first job is to rebuild the Liberal Party, rather than leading a coalition with the NDP," Manley writes in an opinion piece due to be published in Saturday's Globe and Mail.Yeeeouch... that's gonna leave a mark.
"The notion that the public would accept Stephane Dion as prime minister, after having resoundingly rejected that possibility a few weeks earlier, was delusional at best."
"Mr. Dion had seemed to accept responsibility for the defeat (although somewhat reluctantly), and should have left his post immediately," writes Manley.
...besides sucking up to Stephane Dion, I mean... to deserve "cash for life"...
Has Elizabeth May got any credibility left? After abandoning her own party in the dying days of the election, and ticking off party members further by complaining about the indequate support they gave her, the Green leader stirred the pot some more this week, telling reporters she’d had discussions about a Senate seat, and a role in the coalition government.*
Maybe she did, maybe she didn’t -- no one in the coalition seemed eager to confirm it.
In any case, she once again looked far more interested in finding a place in Ottawa for the one-woman Elizabeth May Party, rather than the Greens she is supposed to represent. Why doesn’t she just join the Liberals if she is so enamoured of them?
"Ron is always gone. What we have is satisfaction that this monster is where he belongs: behind bars."
*
-- KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- Three Canadian soldiers were killed by a bomb Friday morning, marking the 100th military death in the Afghan mission.**********
Corporal Mark Robert McLaren and Private Demetrios Diplaros and a third soldier, whose name has not been released pending notification of his family, were killed instantly, said Brigadier-General Denis Thompson, Commander of Task Force Kandahar Friday. ( - The third soldier has now been identified as Warrant Officer Robert Wilson. -)
The deaths mark the first fatalities for the new rotation of soldiers in the battle group commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Roger Barrett, from the 3rd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment, based in Petawawa, Ont.
A large explosion rocked the northern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Friday, killing at least six people and wounding 75. The bomb exploded Friday evening in a busy shopping area of the city, police official Amanullah Khan said.That's some "religion of peace."
Six people were killed in a separate suicide car bombing in the country's northwest earlier Friday.
The answer, of course, is more troops. That means a larger army. Our proficiency in Afghanistan will increase the demand for Canadian soldiers in future missions.*
Our 60,000 soldiers (maybe 6,000 of them “combat”) are insufficient for what we are asking of them. Ours should be an army of at least 100,000, which would guarantee more reasonable rotation.
Historically, 100 killed in six years of war isn’t excessive. Canada had more than 100 killed during 35 years of conventional UN peacekeeping — deaths that got mentioned (if at all) as an item on page 38 of newspapers.
...singing the praises of the Fiberals taxpayer-funded 2 billion plus dollar "Farmer Bob Rifle Registry"... try bringing up Duane Gregory Brown.
**********
FROM THE COMMENTS:
"Why not just have everyone stick their hand in a fingerprint scanner as they come into the country. We already have the fingerprints of all the criminals and deportees."Well... the short answer is... you'd be handing the Socialist/Separatiste Coalition their next "non-confidence" vote.
A youth punched and robbed the son of a prominent community activist and was party to a scuffle at the Eaton Centre minutes before he is alleged to have murdered schoolgirl Jane Creba.And again.
But these incidents were never divulged to the jury, which retired yesterday to consider its verdict, because the trial judge ruled they would be prejudicial while throwing little light on his guilt or innocence.
Another explosion of Muslim outrage -- you mean... condemning the horror in Mumbai?
Well, no... not exactly.
*
...and Iggy flails... looks like they're back to business as usual...
"He's going to carry the can,” said one of his chief strategists. “He's going to stand up and let his voice be heard and encourage Liberals to hang in and we can take down Harper and put in a good government that will do the right thing."Sweet, sweet music... all we're missing are the duelling banjos.
"The question for the Liberal Party now is, in a world where we're not likely to have Dion in the deal, do we get rid of the deal along with Dion or do we keep the deal?"
No idea how many other folks were affected... but from about mid-day on yesterday, until this morning... I was unable to access "the halls."
It's a little disturbing... how disturbing that was. I've been doing this now for a little over two years and it has become a regular part of my daily routine.
I'm under no illusion that I'm actually putting a dent in the everyday madness I see all around me... but I've come, for the most part, to enjoy sticking my oar in... and hearing from the people who regularly drop by.
It occurs to me... it would be hard to give it up.
Anyway... it appears as though I'm coming down with some nasty chest cold... Mrs. Neo tells me it's only the third time I've been sick since she's known me... so I may decide to take a bit of a rest today anyway.
Funny how that works.
*
Iggy was smart enough not to venture outside the airlock... but now... what's gonna happen to Spaceboy Bob?
-- OTTAWA -- Liberal resolve to bring down the Conservative government is already starting to crumble.Well... that took a little longer than most of us expected...
Within an hour of Prime Minister Stephen Harper winning a two-month reprieve, some Grit MPs were pulling back from the idea of trying to replace the Tory regime with a Liberal-NDP coalition propped up by the Bloc Quebecois.
Toronto MP Jim Karygiannis says the coalition idea is finished and is calling on Stephane Dion to resign the Liberal leadership sooner rather than later.Baby it's cold outside.
Dion is scheduled to step aside as Liberal leader once a successor is chosen May 2 but many Liberals remain uneasy about the prospect of ensconcing him in the prime minister's office even temporarily.
Newfoundland MP Scott Simms says all MPs need to give their heads' a collective shake and get back in touch with what their constituents want them to do: fix the faltering economy.
Victoria MP Keith Martin says the two-month suspension of Parliament gives opposition parties a chance to open lines of communication with the government and work out a way to avert another crisis in the new year.
...where people would crack open a tub of margarine... and it would blurt out the word "butter"? It never really made any kind of sense at all... but I guess that's not what matters. Apparently, for a commercial to be effective, it merely requires repetition. The more times you hear the thing, no matter how inane, the more it inevitably affects the decision-making process.
I guess that's also the reasoning behind the unrelenting and unashamed media bias at CTV and the CBC.
Anyway... I just finished listening to CBC radio bemoaning the Governor General's decision to agree to proroguing the current session of Parliament. It was not a reasoned discussion, but rather a tedious litany of socialist approbation, featuring ex-dipper and current liberal leadership hopeful Bob Rae and the ancient pinko mariner of the NDP himself... Ed "Imagine All The People" Broadbent.
The icing on the cake though, had to be the Globe & Mail's Lawrence Martin... who while characterising Steffi and his newest, bestest buddy Gilles Duceppe as merely "angry"... in the next breath, excoriated the Prime Minister as being "venomous."
It's just another example of the Oprah-fication of our everyday lives.
And don't discount it as a minor matter.
It just elected the most powerful man in the entire world.
*
"Did you vote in the Oct. 14 federal election? Would you vote if another election were held now?"
**********
...the coalition does have its share of supporters... not to mention unabashed cheerleaders.
*
