31 May 2009

No wonder nobody wants to engage...

...these dishonest little wankers...

There is, apparently... no limit to how low they will go.

And the forged comments continue...

[*]

RELATED: Ah yes... Alexander Pannetta

(via sda)

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LAST WORD: A little more selective outrage...
It is shameful, however, that Obama did not take a moment Monday to issue an equivalent statement of moderation to elements within the American Muslim community who might claim solidarity with the Little Rock shooter.
*

That's odd, the terrorists don't usually...

...give you advance warning like this... but let's take them at their word and start bringing up reinforcements...
-- AKWESASNE, Ont. -- Mohawk Warriors from the Akwesasne reserve near Cornwall, Ont. say they will storm a Canada Border Services Agency post on Monday and shut down the international border crossing unless their political leaders receive a commitment from the federal government not to arm border guards at the post, which stands on reserve territory.

“We are going to clear them out,” said Thomas Stacy, a middle-aged former professional wrestler who stood across from the border post with a small group of young men carrying large Mohawk Warrior flags on Saturday.

After Monday, he said, it will be “in the hands of the community.”
Of course... it's all about community.

(h/t reader Jason)

**********

UPDATE: Try this one day yourself...

...and see how long it takes the local SWAT Team to drop you like a crazy girlfriend.

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RELATED: That's my Prime Minister...
*

Yeah... you can just "feel the honour"

Looks like there's a bit of a speedbump in the road to... implementing Sharia Law... in Ontario...
Minutes earlier, the jury returned a verdict of guilty on two counts of first-degree murder against 23-year-old Sadiqi, who gunned down his 20-year-old sister, Khatera, and her fiancé, Feroz Mangal, 23, in the early hours of Sept. 19, 2006 while the couple was sitting in her parked car.

Prosecutor Mark Moors said Sadiqi was motivated by a “perverted notion of honour and respect … for the sole purpose of restoring the family’s reputation and respect in the Afghan community.”
**********

RELATED: A little background

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LAST WORD: The heart of the matter
“Your crimes have shocked and bewildered the people of 'almost every community' in the nation’s capital,” said Ontario Superior Court Justice Douglas Rutherford.
That, of course, prompts the logical follow-up...
"Only 'almost' every community?"

"Does this imply that somewhere out there exists a community that more or less approves of this barbaric murder?"
That's the $64,000 question isn't it?

*

30 May 2009

Justice delayed...

...is justice denied...Anyway... I guess it wasn't the CIA after all.

**********

RELATED: Yeah... who needs democracy anyway?
President Barack Obama will offer his personal commitment to “change the conversation” with the Muslim world in a long-awaited speech in Cairo this week.
It's not like a robust medieval theocracy can't keep the trains running on time.
Obama has put President George W Bush’s democracy agenda on the back burner in an attempt to strengthen the alliance between America and moderate Arab states against Iran and radical Islamic groups and to revive the Middle East peace process.
*

A criminal lawyer's...

...rainbow-filled, unicorn-inhabited world......versus, you know... stark, unbending scumsucking reality...
"Terri-Lynne McClintic turned Michael Rafferty in to police -- telling officers about the abduction and murder of Victoria 'Tori' Stafford -- only after she learned he was dating another woman while she was in jail, said the dead girl's mother."
*

29 May 2009

Thank gawd he didn't say...

..."black hole"...
tar baby - n. - "A situation or problem from which it is virtually impossible to disentangle oneself."

[After “Bre'r Rabbit and the Tar Baby,” an Uncle Remus story by Joel Chandler Harris.]
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FROM THE COMMENTS:
"When the opposition parties refer to Alberta Oil Sands as Tar Sands are they attacking the "people of color" that work in the Oil Sands?"
**********

UPDATE: Actually, it sounds like Ms. Jennings...

...is the "female equivalent" of Rainman...
Liberal MP Marlene Jennings, who is black, also denounced Mr. Poilievre's remark as offensive and insensitive, adding it was “the equivalent of the n-word.”
You know what's demeaning, Marlene?

Letting yourself be used for cheap political points... especially when it doesn't make sense.

*

"It's an Obamination," says Iran

Oh, in that case... it looks like those brave "holy warriors" are totally off the hook...
A provincial official in Iran has accused the United States of being behind Thursday's bombing of a mosque that killed at least 19 people.

Jalal Sayah, deputy governor of Sistan-Baluchestan province, said three people had been arrested following the attack. "According to the information we obtained they were hired by America and the agents of arrogance," he said.

Jalal Sayah, in comments to the semi-official Fars news agency, accused the attackers of being mercenaries hired by the US.
And, apparently the BBC is good with that contention...
It is a common accusation from the Iranians, the BBC's Jon Leyne in Tehran says, and the facts of this case may never be known.

But it is an open secret that former US President George W Bush directed large amounts of money to try to destabilise Iran and there is no sign the policy is any different under President Barack Obama, our correspondent adds.
Oh, man... this is so confusing.

I thought President Hope'n Change was sucking up to the Mad Mullahs... but apparently, he's got the CIA vapourising mosques. Who knew?

Yeah... I bet he's using some of that alien technology they've got hidden away at Area 51.

*

Hey.... this is fuzzy-bunny Canada

It's worth a shot...
Convicted killer Richard Raymond Babinski -- claiming that Ojibway blood somehow courses through his mother's family tree, this sudden revelation coming only after spending years in prison -- sat at his parole hearing in Kingston, his long hair in a braided ponytail, a Native elder at his side, and called himself a "concrete Indian."

Some 300 km away in Toronto, in a second-floor Correctional Service of Canada office on Dundas St. W., Jeremy Mead, the 27-year-old man who Babinski turned into a six-year-old orphan when he raped and then strangled his mother, scoffs at the theatre he is witnessing -- all coming to him via video conference.

"The Indian act is bogus," he later says. "All I saw on that screen was a coward, a rapist and a murderer.
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RELATED: Aboriginal... it's a state of mind

Just ask convicted Toronto cop-killer Craig Munro...
Thursday's hearing will take place at his minimum-security prison, Kwikwexwelhp Healing Village, which puts aboriginal spirituality at the centre of its rehabilitation program.

Munro is not aboriginal but has converted to native teachings.
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FROM THE COMMENTS:
"Why is it that fundamentalist Christian crap like "creationism", etc., is readily made fun of by the left, but fundamentalist native crap like "Turtle Island" and "Great Spirit" is sacrosanct?"
*

"I'm from the Government..."

"...I'm here to save you..."
For Mr. Milke, the auto bailouts are typical of political decisions that benefit relatively few people at the expense of millions.

But because the risk of a cross-Canada taxpayer revolt is small compared to the potential payback from voters in hard-up communities in Southern Ontario, the decision to bail out the auto companies is an easy one for politicians.
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RELATED: Damn we're good!
-- OTTAWA -- Four top executives of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board pocketed nearly $7 million in bonuses this year despite losing $24 billion of taxpayers' money in bad investments, according to the board's annual report released yesterday.
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LAST WORD: More government... yes, please!!!

*

28 May 2009

Live and don't learn...

...that's us...
-- WOODSTOCK -- The spectre of Karla Homolka’s “deal with the devil” has arisen in the Victoria (Tori) Stafford case because the two people accused of the girl’s slaying will now get separate trials.

Under the Criminal Code, abduction carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison while kidnapping carries a maximum of life.
No.

No way. Not again.

**********

RELATED: The first thing we do...

...is hang all the lawyers...
Taxi driver Hassan Nagi should not receive a harsh sentence for raping three women as he suffered a condition called “Don Juanism” which made him addicted to sex, his barrister said yesterday.
*

"And if you can't be..."

"In Jer-u-sa-lem... bomb the one you're with."
-- TEHRAN, May 28 (Reuters) -- An explosion at a prominent Shi'ite Muslim mosque in the southeast Iranian city of Zahedan on Thursday killed 30 people and wounded 60, the semi-official news agency ILNA reported.

The attack was carried out on a public holiday honouring the first Shi'ite Imam, Ali Ebne-Abitaleb, after whom the mosque is named. Zahedan is a mostly Sunni city.
*

They'll just slip it in, and hope...

...the sheeple don't notice...
McGuinty confirmed yesterday that the change is on his radar. That's something that's been talked about," the premier said. "It's not something that's been actively considered at this point in time."

"It wasn't part of our original proposal," he said before pointedly leaving open the possibility of just such a move. "It might end up being there."

"But what ... I certainly made clear that, whatever we do, we'd want transparency to be there."
Gee, Dalt... what part of hiding this tax increase is transparent?

And that's why we call him McSlippery.

*

Be it ever so humble

"Lost in the liberal tumult of ecstasy over her nomination is the simple fact that Judge Sotomayor had the undoubted blessing of attending private schools."

"All her life."
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RELATED: Hit me with your empathy stick
"Her most high-profile case involved New Haven’s decision to toss out tests used to evaluate candidates for promotion in the fire department because there were no minority candidates at the top of the list."

"She was part of a panel that rejected the challenge brought by white firefighters who scored high but were denied promotion."
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LAST WORD: Don't ask me how... he just knows

*

Did you hear the one about...

...the judge from Planet Crazy?
-- EDMONTON -- Hart told court a security official at the remand centre called MacDonald the "most difficult inmate" among the 860 housed at the downtown facility. Court heard MacDonald has used illegal drugs, assaulted virtually every inmate bunked with him, "feces-bombed" other inmates, flooded his cell, urinated on the floor, set fires and assaulted and spat on guards regularly.

Court heard MacDonald allegedly started a fire in his cell on Dec. 3 and was then combative with guards and had to be pepper sprayed to get him under control.

On March 3, MacDonald got upset after being told he was being transferred due to his "unacceptable behaviour" and then punched two guards in the face when they went into his cell after he barricaded the door.
And the punch line?
The judge ruled he would only consider bail if there is a treatment facility or other suitable place for MacDonald, 27, to live. Malin adjourned the matter to next week.
I fear for my country.

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RELATED: Yeah... that's the solution here...
"Last night was horrible – waiting to see if she would live," he said, stroking her back. "I'm so angry, "I want to find a lawyer."
*

Norks v. World

This oughta be interesting...
On Thursday, the South Korea-U.S. combined forces command increased the surveillance to level 2 from the present level 3, Defense Ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae said.

He said that was the highest level since 2006, when the North conducted its first-ever nuclear test.

The North has long warned it would consider the South's participation in the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative as a declaration of war against North Korea.
*

If there was no Joe Biden...

...you'd just have to invent him...
He received spontaneous applause just three times, once for making fun of his boss, President Barack Obama, after wind knocked over a teleprompter screen.

"What am I going to tell the president when I tell him his teleprompter is broken," Biden joked, hitting a theme that has been fodder for conservative talk shows.

"What will he do then?"
[*]

27 May 2009

I'm so confused, wasn't it just last week...

...that the Puffin King was screeching about loosening the government purse strings?
And wasn't Iggy also demanding more action on the auto bailout?
Canada's contribution to the bailout of two Detroit auto makers could soar to more than $13-billion with the increasing need for cash by General Motors Corp., which has moved a giant step closer to filing for bankruptcy protection.

The numbers are viewed as still in flux.
The Liberals... they're flexible.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:
"The Liberals voted to support this budget. So I also could care less about hypocritical Liberals screeching. Its what they do."
And look what happens when the socialists get pouty...
Oh, Libby... you gonna challenge me to another duel?

**********

LAST WORD:
Well, yeah... let's talk budgeting.

*

I know there are people...

...who get absolutely insane, every time I mention Toronto's burgeoning crime problems. They start screaming about racism... or calling me a nazi. Of course, the fact is, I don't make any of this stuff up.

It's all taken directly from local news sources, word for scary word.

I guess some folks feel it's best to just avert their gaze... to pretend there is no problem. Unfortunately, shooting the messenger really isn't any sort of a strategy.

Or, how about the lunatics who believe that the problem is... lord love a duck... the horrible, racist police? Or that legalising drugs, or setting up government-subsidised whorehouses will magically fix everything?

The simple truth is, the crime problem in Toronto... is criminals.

Case in point...
Toronto Police were called to the Zellers department store at Sheridan Mall in the Wilson Ave. and Jane St. area around 6 p.m. after receiving reports a 43-year-old woman had been stabbed.

"Six months ago, a customer at the mall got stabbed," he said. "It's very scary. The management here doesn't invest much money in security because business is down from the economy."
And this isn't, as some folks would like you to believe, an isolated incident.
Last October, three men were shot in the mall's parking lot. Two days later, Burrell Bennett, 26, died leaving his daughter, 3, without a father.

In 2005, four days before the Boxing Day gunbattle that claimed Jane Creba's life, a man was injured by a shotgun blast outside Sheridan Mall.

And in August of 2004 a mall security guard was stabbed in the head during a confrontation at a Pizza Pizza in the mall.
Now this isn't really my fight anymore... we moved out to Hastings County in 2001.

The thing is, I once lived in this area... as well as putting in a year at the now troubled highrise towers on the northeast corner of Jane and Finch. Every time I hear another one of these stories, I just shake my head.

Once upon a time, you could walk those streets, those neighbourhoods, without a second thought. And now... they are war zones.

And guess what folks, the war isn't going all that well.

Witness Mayor "Super Dave" Miller declaring war on legitimate gun clubs within Toronto city limits. He's targeting, among others, some of Canada's Olympic shooters... instead of, you know... actual criminals... but there's a warm fuzzy illusion of actually doing something.

And a lot of people, hearing the socialist party line from CTV and CBC every night... start to believe that the problem is being fixed.

Sorry my friends, it simply doesn't work that way.

But I've done what I could... it ain't my kid in the firing line.

Wake up folks and smell the species. This swamp isn't gonna dry up all by itself.

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UPDATE: Stabber nabbed
A 19-year-old man was arrested yesterday in connection with a stabbing that nearly claimed the life of an undercover security guard at a North York mall less than 24 hours earlier.

Duong Nguyen was taken into custody around 2:30 p.m. at a bus stop not far from Sheridan Mall, Toronto Police say. He is charged with aggravated assault and numerous weapons, theft and other offences.
*

I'm from the Government...

...I'm here to save you...
After catching him, Mr. Chen said he and his employees tied the man up and put him in a delivery truck, intending to hold him until police arrived. But someone else called 911 first.

Mr. Chen said he spent 24 hours in a holding cell at 52 Division, paid $7,500 bail, and that the suspected shoplifter – also charged – got out of custody before he did.
So where do you draw the line here? Obviously the cops can't be everywhere.

Is this kidnapping... or simply protecting you and yours?

Sounds like the local merchants have made their decision...
Nearby shopkeepers fed up with thieves are rallying to his defence, saying police are too slow to respond when called about shoplifters and often let them off with a warning.

“We hope police can protect us and keep out businesses running,” Mr. Chen said in an interview. “Now, they are … on the criminals' side, not our side.”
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RELATED: Toronto... the fun just never stops
Toronto police have released a photo of a man wanted for allegedly shooting a gun in a Scarborough strip mall in the middle of the day.

Police have issued an arrest warrant for Timothy White, 19, of Toronto. He is wanted for discharging a firearm endangering life, careless use of a firearm, using a weapon dangerous threatening public peace and possession of a restricted firearm with ammunition.
*

Yet another "Act of God?"

-- LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) -- A large bomb has exploded in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore and an official says it has caused a large number of casualties.

The blast mid-morning Wednesday was powerful enough to shear walls off buildings in the main business district of Lahore.

Khoro Pervaiz, the commissioner of Lahore, cited "a large number of casualties" though a tally was not exactly known.
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UPDATE: Allah must be so proud...
-- ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, May 27 -- At least 30 people were killed and more than 250 injured Wednesday when an explosives-ridden car blew up outside a police building in the Pakistani city of Lahore, government officials said.

The attack also involved unknown gunmen who fired shots at and around the targeted police office, known as Rescue 15, just before the car detonated.
*

26 May 2009

Sometimes it's better to be lucky...

...than good...
The proprietor of a Caribbean restaurant on Morningside Ave. near Lawrence had just finished preparing some jerk chicken outside in anticipation of the dinner rush. He came back into his diner when the hair on the back of his neck stood up.

He heard a clicking sound, like the one made when someone cocks a gun.

As he turned around, he got the shock of his life - a man was standing behind him pointing a weapon straight at him. Without waiting for him to pull the trigger, the owner raced out of the building and into the convenience store next door.
And this one gets better... the shooter chases the guy into the store next door and throws a shot. Said master criminal then jumps into his nearby car.
But this drama was far from over. An observant witness got the licence plate of the fleeing car and cops quickly traced it to an apartment building at 90 Mornelle Ct. After a waiting game of several hours, they finally took their suspect into custody.

Reports from the scene indicate he didn't go quietly.
Thank goodness most of these guys are such morons.

One for the good guys.

*

Help me out here, Michaelle...

...is hunting only inhumane when the rest of us do it?

When it was over, the Governor General wiped her bloody fingers with a tissue, saying it is difficult to believe anyone would characterize the traditional hunting practices as inhumane.
Or... is hunting still a bloody, unnecessary ritual... but we're giving these folks a cultural "get out of jail free" card?

And people, let's not forget that, in our not so distant past... "French missionary au jus"... was also traditional, if infrequent aboriginal fare.

I'm guessing we're not gonna let that one slide.

**********

POSTSCRIPT:
I've received a couple of emails splitting hairs about using the term aboriginal here. I respond thusly...

aboriginal - characteristic of or relating to people inhabiting a region from the beginning; "native Americans"; ie. "the aboriginal peoples of Australia"
And hey, as soon as the GG comes out and enthusiastically endorses hunting for the non-aboriginal population... I'll kiss her ass too.

*

You don't mess around with Keith

-- JOHNSTOWN, N.Y. -- A New York toddler still in diapers has a growing reputation as a pool shark with a mean bank shot - even though he has to stand on a chair to reach the table.

Two-year-old Keith O'Dell Jr. from upstate New York has pool shooting videos posted on YouTube, has his own website and is the youngest member of the American Pool Association.

His parents say his learning hasn't been limited to billiard games.

Pool is also teaching him colours and how to count.
*

What part of...

...40 billion dollar deficit does Michael Ignatieff not understand?
It’s a generous nanny-state concept. Work just eight weeks anywhere in Canada and, if terminated, the Liberals want you to collect unemployment benefits for up to 50 weeks.

Graduating students with a summer job that contributes to Employment Insurance, rejoice. Start work after exams, finish in the spring and by Labour Day, 360 work hours later, you qualify for pogey.
**********

RELATED: There's hope for them yet
"Brit public rebels against EU taxes and control. Yo, Cousins. Been there, done that."

"We can tell you how, but it involves firearms."
(via maggie's farm)

**********

LAST WORD: More Fiberal faux outrage
The big problem for the Liberals is that the Tory ads, while exaggerated, are largely true: Mr. Ignatieff left the country, more or less permanently, in the 1970s, lived away most of his adult life and showed no intention of returning until he was seduced back by the idea of becoming Liberal leader in 2005.

Here's where the Liberals are their most hypocritical about the Tories' ads: Imagine their reaction if it were Mr. Harper who had spent 34 years outside the country, moved back only to take a shot at being PM, said the only thing he missed while away was a provincial park and referred to himself as an American many times.
*

25 May 2009

Bright lights, big city...

...fatal beating...
Three teenagers were charged Monday with second-degree murder in connection with the death of 67-year-old Kim Ngu Lieu, who was attacked in Montreal North last weekend.

Ngu Lieu was at a bus stop at the corner of St. Vital and Henri Bourassa Blvds. late in the evening on May 17 when police allege the three youths surrounded her, brutally beat her, and tried to steal her purse.
Who are these animals?

Simply unbelievable.

*

Remember when you were a kid...

...and you could rent teenage girls by the hour?

Yeah... me neither.
A 40-year-old man is under arrest and a 15-year-old girl is in protective custody after York Regional police infiltrated a prostitution ring.

Members of the police Drugs and Vice Unit were told Friday that the teen was allegedly working as a prostitute under the direction of the male suspect. Their investigation led them to a condominium in Toronto where they found the girl and the suspect.

Renan Gazzali Esahak, a Richmond Hill resident has been charged.
Pimping a minor? How about a mandatory ten-year minimum?

**********

RELATED: Of course they didn't show...

...now let's vindicate the cops and move on.
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LAST WORD: Bullets fly in Brampton
One man is in hospital and nearby Brampton schools were locked down after shots were fired at a nearby community centre.

Peel Regional Police found an injured man behind the Cassie Campbell Community Centre after responding to reports of gunshots just after 2 p.m.
*

UPDATE: That controlling, dictatorial...

...Stephen Harp... uh... wait a minute...
As his government grapples with the ailing economy, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has lost his economic development minister, Michael Bryant, in a move blamed both on a notorious speech Mr. Bryant gave espousing “reverse Reaganomics” and on his leadership ambitions.

A source close to the Premier's Office said that Mr. Bryant's wave-making speech given to at least two audiences earlier this month played a major role in his departure, clearly upsetting a Premier who prefers his ministers take "a more subdued role"
.
Looks like Michael Bryant got his ass "subdued" right out the door.

No media spin here, huh?

*

Okay, Mr President...

...your move...
"North Korea had been expecting the new U.S. administration to mark a shift from the previous administration's stance, but is realizing that there are no changes."

"It may have decided that a second test was necessary."
**********

UPDATE: Two words, Barry... Chinese Veto

CBC, yet again, celebrates the wordiness of "The One"...
Uh-huh... enough posturing & bullshit... call us when you're actually prepared to do something.

**********

LAST WORD: Iran has it all figured out

They'll only negotiate through the United Nations... that'll fix everybody's wagon.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran will not hold any further talks with world powers on its controversial nuclear program.

Mr. Ahmadinejad told a news conference in Tehran Monday Iran will only agree to discussions with major powers about cooperating in managing global problems.

He said Iran will not participate in talks about nuclear issues outside the framework of the U.N. nuclear agency.
*

Tonight's CTV Moonbat Moment

In yet another shameless and incredibly hypocritical defense of Canada's first wannabe American Prime Minister... CTV featured a soundbite from Warren "Special K" Kinsella... the man one Liberal organiser recently described as "Human Shrapnel."

Apparently the Puffin King is the political equivalent of, and I quote... "Wayne Gretzky" or "Celine Dion."

Yet another journalistic coup for Sandi Rinaldo and CTV.

**********

RELATED: Canada... it's for "the little people"
"We should just all be grateful for the little time that he is able to spend with us on our humble Canadian soil."
**********

LAST WORD: Yup... "just visiting"
Ignatieff’s future with the Kennedy School remains dependent on whether he is elected.

“If I am not elected, I imagine that I will ask Harvard to let me back,” Ignatieff said. “I love teaching here, and I hope I’ll be back in some shape or form.”

“He is still affiliated with the Carr Center and will remain so,” said Executive Director Fernande Raine. “We hope he will come back at some point depending on how long this run in politics actually takes.”
*

24 May 2009

Well, that's one mystery solved

I guess we know what Dalton and company needed that new health care premium for.
Ontario's auditor is probing spending at the delay-plagued provincial agency responsible for developing electronic health records. eHealth Ontario has spent $146 million on consultants since 2003, despite commitments to reign in billings for outside expertise.

And overall agency spending has ballooned to $839 million while the delivery date for province-wide, electronic patient health records has been pushed back to 2015.

This province continues to lag behind other Canadian jurisdictions that have spent far less money and made more progress on electronic health card systems that have reduced medical errors, prescription overdoses and health-care costs.
*

The "Human Right" to have...

...whatever your little heart desires...
The human rights case launched by a federal scientist who claimed his former boss hired Chinese researchers because of their willingness to tolerate abuse has been dropped quietly.

The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal had been scheduled to hear this month the case of Ming Zhou, 46, a Chinese-born scientist who alleged Chander Grover and the National Research Council of Canada had discriminated against him.

The case promised to spotlight the deeply dysfunctional relationship between the NRC and Grover, an Indian-born research physicist who became a senior manager after winning a landmark discrimination case against the federal research agency in 1992.

Those events have outraged Grover, who believes the case against him had been "trumped up" by the NRC as part of its campaign to oust him.

"I am disappointed and upset, yes, because I have been deprived of the opportunity to tell my side of the story," said Grover, who has repeatedly battled the agency in human rights tribunals and courtrooms since 1987.
Yup... the guy who won a landmark "human rights" decision against his employer, the NRC... is being taken to the same tribunal by an underling. The CHRC snake is apparently now eating its own tail.

Only in Canada, you say?

*

Iron Men, Wooden Ships

I once had a friend... a computer programmer, who married a farmer's daughter (no, this isn't the start of a joke).

These two had been together for a decade... had a nice new house and a couple of lovely kids... but my friend's father-in-law just couldn't wrap his head around a man who sat and typed all day for a living.

The fact that my buddy likely grossed at least four times the farmers annual income did not seem to come into play.
This identification of masculinity with hard physical work (no empathy required) is deeply embedded in the history of the human race. For eons, it has been the most common way to be a man.
It seems, in today's rapidly evolving world, there's a sort of intellectual snobbery burbling not too far beneath the surface. We somehow imagine that white collar jobs are always much more valuable and difficult than manual labour. (Try assembling your own car, or growing all your own vegetables for just one year.)

Margaret Wente has a pretty interesting take on this whole deal.
People are pretty adaptable, and education can work wonders. But no matter how much education and retraining we offer, we are not going to transform factory workers and high-school dropouts into customer-care representatives or nurses' aides any time soon.
And don't get me wrong, this isn't about slagging farmers, or steamfitters, or autoworkers... or about a disparity in intelligence.

To even survive as a farmer, you have to be a part-time biologist, meteorologist, accountant, ditchdigger and mechanic.

Your average denizen of Cubeville wouldn't last a day.

And that's a fact.

*

23 May 2009

"No support, no minister"

I guess Michael Bryant finally got tired of Dalton crappin' all over him...
-- TORONTO -- Premier Dalton McGuinty says he will take over as Ontario's economic development minister once Michael Bryant steps down from the post.

McGuinty says Bryant told him Friday that he will be leaving politics to become CEO of the new Invest Toronto corporation, chaired by Mayor David Miller.

The colourful minister has been Ontario's point man in negotiations to save the domestic auto industry, and his departure would be a blow to the provincial government.

He had also been considered a top contender to succeed McGuinty, despite his sometimes frosty relations with the premier.
**********

RELATED: Michael "Unconditional Surrender" Bryant

Yup... I can see why Mayor Miller loves this guy.

**********

LAST WORD: First blood...
"McGuinty doesn't appreciate dissent in his ranks. We see that in the backbenchers on a regular basis -- preferring to sing from the premier's hymn book than listen to what their constituents are saying about this (harmonized sales) tax."
*

In other "Tales of Transformative Justice"

Mayor's office, yet again, strangely silent... on which scout troop, er... gun club... he belonged to.
-- TORONTO -- A 13-year-old boy was found with a loaded handgun in Toronto's northwest end, police said this morning. The boy was being investigated as part of a shooting investigation in the Jane St. and Falstaff Ave. area, south of Wilson Ave., when cops found the gun around 6:45 p.m. yesterday, Toronto Police said in a news release.

He was charged with unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm knowing its possession is unauthorized, possession of a prohibitedfirearm with ammunition and carrying a concealed weapon.
Of course, under the Young Offenders Act... he was home before bedtime.

**********

RELATED: A disturbing culture of violence

Inside the low-income building and on surrounding streets, police continued to probe the latest, and perhaps most disturbing, blast of gun violence in the 12 Division patrol area.

So far this year, eight of Toronto's 20 homicides, including four shooting deaths in the past month, have taken place there.
*

Yet another celebration of diversity

Whatever happened to... "One People, One Law"?
One inmate named Darcy, who murdered his in-laws and his wife, says, “I'm not going to let their deaths be in vain.”

Murderers, rapists and contract killers, they have spent much of their adult lives behind bars. But this place, known as Kwikwexwelhp, has no bars. It barely has fences.
And while a typical Canadian would likely be angered and appalled by this taxpayer funded adventure in social engineering... English film-maker Hugh Brody is simply thrilled to pieces.
An author, anthropologist and filmmaker who has been shuttling between England, his birthplace, and Canada for 30 years, Brody initially asked permission to visit Kwikwexwelhp and talk to some of the younger inmates.

What he found when he arrived startled him: “I was immediately surprised by the openness,” he recalls. “Not just the beauty of the setting, but the way you couldn't tell who was on staff and who was imprisoned.”
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RELATED: You too... can be aboriginal

Just ask convicted Toronto cop-killer Craig Munro...
Thursday's hearing will take place at his minimum-security prison, Kwikwexwelhp Healing Village, which puts aboriginal spirituality at the centre of its rehabilitation program.

Munro is not aboriginal but has converted to native teachings.
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22 May 2009

Henry VI, 4.2.59

"The first thing we do... is hang all the lawyers."
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UPDATE: Bias, what media bias?
It was fortuitous that I included the full text of the original article here in the comments. Apparently the Red Star has disappeared the original article that refers to McClintic's lawyer's comments about "helping Tori's family."
Funny how that works, huh?

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RELATED: Hillbilly heroin in friendly Woodstock

Why is it, the fuzzy-bunny socialists always calling for legalisation of drugs?

You've got drugs... you've got scummers.

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Student Services...

...sure aren't what they used to be...
"It is not a moral standpoint but a fiscal one," an official said. "Prostitution is not an illegal act in Germany, but not paying tax on earned money is.

"Consequently we are assessing her case and it looks likely she will have to pay around half of the sum she gained."

It also emerged she will most probably be liable for a hefty VAT bill too, even if not registered for VAT, because sold "goods or service" with a 19 per cent VAT rate.
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21 May 2009

Toronto City Council announces...

...draconian "gas and matches" prohibition within city limits.

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UPDATE: Bullets fly at Scarlett & Weston

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LAST WORD: No one steps up... shooter walks
The shooter was chased by a Toronto Housing security guard before he disappeared into a ravine bordering Humber River.

About 30 minutes later, a 34-year-old man was cornered when he became stranded on a dirt mound in the middle of the river. He was wearing the same clothing described by numerous witnesses but did not have any weapons.

He has since been released without charges.
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Paging "His Blondeness"...

Hey, Mayor Super Dave... maybe we should be working up a "National Crazy People Registry"...
"He seemed a little off," said one man, who lives nearby and didn't want his name used. "I think he might be mentally ill."

"I'm scared of him," said another neighbour, who also didn't want her name used.
Unfortunately, Mayor Miller is too busy chasing after Olympic target shooters to focus on doing something about mentally-ill killers...
After removing the woman from her home, paramedics worked feverishly to save her as residents watched in shock. The woman was rushed to hospital, where she was pronounced dead, becoming the city's 19th murder victim of the year.

Police didn't immediately release the slain woman's name.
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UPDATE: Another one bites the dust...
A 43-year-old man is Toronto's latest murder victim.

Toronto Police found the body of Tony Colantonio inside a home on Westglen Cres., in an upscale Martin Grove and Burhamthorpe Rds. neighbourhood, yesterday just after 11 a.m.
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RELATED: Revving up the fuzzy-bunny spin machine...
Rafferty's co-accused, 18-year old Terri-Lynne McClintic was abandoned at a young age by her biological mother, who worked as stripper, and moved around Ontario before coming to Woodstock a few years ago.
No. Just stop.

There is no justifying this monstrous behavior.

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Under current Canadian law...

...GE foods do not need to be labelled...
It would be a watershed moment - there are currently no genetically engineered animals approved for sale as food anywhere in the world - and opponents are predicting a wave of consumer outrage.
In other "we have the technology... almost" news...
"If all households were stocked with the more efficient equipment, Canadians would cut five of the 6.3 terawatt-hours of standby power they consume each year, which is enough to power all the homes in New Brunswick."
Well, it would if... like the heavily touted electric car from General Motors... actually existed.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:
"Not sure what you are talking about Neo, but General Motors did make and produce the EV1 back in the 1990's."
Hmmm... that sounds so familiar...
In 2006 Sony Pictures produced a Michael Moore-type “documentary” film entitled, “Who Killed the Electric Car”. Among the “villains” in the EV1’s death were GM, the U.S. federal government and even CARB.

But the real killer was the apathy of a public that was not interested in electric cars with the limited driving range provided by the available battery technology.
And...
"Let me see if I get this straight: they want me to wait until 9PM to put on my dishwasher, but everything would be hunky-dory if 100,000 commuters plugged in their electric cars at the same time?"
And...
"Or as I like to call it, the coal fired car."
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What part of...

...they want to kill your infidel ass... are you just not getting?
-- NEW YORK CITY -- The men ordered and accepted delivery of materials they believed were bomb-making ingredients, authorities said. But investigators said they made sure the materials the suspects received were inert.

The four men are in custody and are expected to be arraigned Thursday in White Plains federal court on terrorism-related counts.
Another attack foiled, but guess what folks... this is a question of when... not if.
Since the 9/11 attacks, authorities have arrested suspects in a number of alleged plots against area targets including the Fort Dix New Jersey military base, John F. Kennedy Airport, the Herald Square subway station in Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge.
And, of course... there's the usual colouful noms des guerre...
The suspects were identified as James Cromitie, also known as Abdul Rahman; David Williams, also known as Daoud or simply DL; Onta Williams, also known as Hamza; and Laguerre Payen, also known as Amin and Almondo.
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RELATED: Looks like the Senate gets it...
In a strange almost anti-Obama bipartisan moment the U.S. senate voted 90-6 to block the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the United States and also denied the Obama administration the funding to close the place down.
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LAST WORD: Hope, Change and...

...maybe Cheney got to him...
"Even when this process is complete, there may be a number of people who cannot be prosecuted for past crimes, but who nonetheless pose a threat to the security of the United States."

Some human rights advocates criticized Obama for adopting the idea that some detainees are not entitled to a trial.

The president stopped short of saying he would institutionalize indefinite detention for future captives.
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20 May 2009

I guess Christine Elliott...

...hasn't actually read Ezra's new book...
"Why on earth would we want to expose ourselves by plunging recklessly into such a controversial issue?" said the 53-year-old Whitby lawyer, who is married to federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.
Hey Christine, how about... because it's the right thing to do?
Ezra Levant's Shakedown, and his three-year advocacy, have been the "blast of the trumpet" against this trespass. And we should be grateful for his effort. Support him, too. Buy the book.

Rex Murphy speaks freely as a commentator with CBC-TV's The National and host of CBC Radio's Cross-Country Checkup.
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FROM THE COMMENTS:
"Does Christine Elliott support the tribunal or is she playing politics to distort Randy Hillier's and Tim Hudak's positions. Christine tell us if you support the tribunal and paying the salary of Barbara Hall."
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Those popping noises you hear...


...are hysterical, conflicted heads... exploding all over the leftosphere...
-- "Aboriginals on the west coast of Vancouver Island are planning to kill one per cent of sea otters per year for ceremonial reasons." --
Aboriginal cultural needs... or protect an endangered species... oh Gaia... hear our prayers!.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:
"Yeah this is just totally different, because when the aboriginals kill animals they do it with... respect, or something. It's all very mystical and cultural and wonderful."
And...
"I wonder what those things taste like."
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Yet another running gunbattle...

...in Toronto... must be Wednesday...
Two men are in hospital following a shooting in North York Tuesday night.

Police were called to the north end of Wendell Ave., just south of Highway 401 near Weston Rd., around 10:30 p.m.
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RELATED: The new entrepreneurs...
A 15-year-old girl lured from her group home, provided with fake identification and forced to serve up sex in a Mississauga strip club is likely one of several girls victimized by area pimps, say Peel Regional Police.
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LAST WORD: Crispy critters - must be Thursday...
A man is in hospital with severe burns after being set on fire during a dispute at a home in the city's west end yesterday.

The victim was involved in a "disagreement" with another man around 8 p.m. at 20 Jasper Ave., near Weston Rd. and Black Creek Dr., Toronto Police said.

The other man allegedly doused the victim with gasoline and then lit him on fire.
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Stranger and stranger

Two people have been arrested in connection with the case of missing 8-year-old Victoria "Tori" Stafford, according to reports.

The Woodstock, Ont., girl went missing on April 8 and was last seen walking away from her school with an unidentified woman.

Police sources close to the case confirmed a man and woman were arrested last night but released few details about the charges they are facing -- or the identities of the suspects.
**********

UPDATE: Two arrested are named...
Michael Thomas Rafferty, 28, and Terri-Lynne McClintic, 18, were arraigned on the charges and abduction charges in a Woodstock, Ont., court.

The relationship between the two accused was unclear, but there are reports the pair is known to one or both of Tori’s parents.
More details at the 3pm presser.

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LAST WORD: Another unanswered question...
"I believe McClintic may be familiar with Tara McDonald," OPP Det.-Insp. William Renton said. "I believe they're familiar with one another."

The news conference was stopped abruptly after Renton made the statement, leaving questions about the nature of the relationship unanswered.
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19 May 2009

BREAKING NEWS: Hastings County...

...absolutely no raging gun-battles in progress this sunny Tuesday... yet again...
Toronto police are investigating a late-night shooting in north Scarborough that left one man in hospital with serious injuries and another in police custody. Shots rang out just before midnight Monday in a parking lot of a shopping plaza located on Finch Avenue, just east of Kennedy Road.

Authorities say they are investigating whether the gun battle that erupted between a two groups of men was caught on a surveillance camera that was set up in the plaza. Investigators say they found numerous shell casings in the parking lot.

The plaza remained closed throughout Tuesday morning while police examined evidence at the scene.
Curiously, once more, Mayor Miller's office strangely silent on which gun club the shooters belonged to.

RELATED: In other Hogtown happenings...
-- TORONTO -- Toronto police have identified a 19-year-old man accused of firing shots toward officers just after midnight on Sunday.

Abshir Abdirashid of Toronto faces nine charges, including two counts of attempted murder, and is scheduled to appear in court today.
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"We're not very good at dying"

Herein lies the dichotomy, the decision to focus on reducing suffering is made only after life-prolonging treatment has been ineffectual and death is imminent. It's very hard to switch gears - to let go of the rope.

It's a lot easier when you have a clear sense that this is what the person would have wanted.
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The good news is...

...they stimulated the economy by selling a sh!tload of newspapers...
Alfie Patten, the boy who was reported to have fathered a child when he was 12 years old, is not the baby's father, DNA tests have shown.

Alfie, now 13, from Eastbourne, in East Sussex, told a national newspaper in February that he believed he had made his 15-year-old girlfriend pregnant.

But the tests established in March that a 15-year-old boy from Eastbourne is the father of Chantelle Stedman's baby.
Unfortunately, on the flip side, the girl in question is now revealed as an infamous country-wide liar and tramp.

Our modern world.

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SPIN

...who says it's just for politicians?
-- VANCOUVER, B.C. -- Vancouver sex trade workers need to know their rights when dealing with cameras and reporters and will be offered media training leading up to the 2010 Olympic Games, an advocacy group said.
Hang on a sec... hooker journalism is gonna be an integral part of the Olympic television coverage? What's up with that? Is this some new marketing plan to reverse the CBC's failing fortunes?
"We find sometimes that media attention to the area can be a little less than compassionate and we don't want them to feel like animals in a zoo during that time."
Yeah, that makes perfect sense.

Because, inevitably, it's the shy, sensitive types giving ten dollar blowjobs to unwashed strangers in dark alleys to help pay for their next fix.

Meanwhile, in other hooker-related news...

Oh Canada.

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18 May 2009

Stockholm Religion

It is a harsh, but necessary thing to point out that, in reality, children are hostages to their parents. They are vulnerable, both physically and psychically.

If parents teach their children that the world is flat, the children will not only uncritically take that on as a personal belief, but they will fight others psychologically, even physically, who disagree, because disagreement is an indirect attack against their parents on whom they are one hundred percent dependent.

The correlation is nearly total: If parents believe in a particular religion, their children, as adults, will as well.
**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:
"Bless my folks: one agnostic, the other atheist, but saw that I got to catechism and church until I made up my own mind that, as has been said, "Its not that I don't believe in god. Its just that I don't trust his ground crew".
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