No such thing...

...as a "bad boy" here, my friend... this is Canada...

"The progress on national security was given a passing mark in spite of numerous specific concerns raised in Tuesday's report."

*

Climbing down from Conficker panic

If you've used Microsoft update in the last 6 months... apparently, you're gonna be fine...

"This is the electronic equivalent of being told there is a major storm that has a 20 percent chance of hitting."

"It's not time to hide in the bunker. But it might be prudent to look out the window."

It seems Microsoft put out a patch for the Conficker Worm last October. Unless you totally ignore updating your operating system, you're already protected.

Part of the danger inherent in this threat is that it won't allow you to connect to Windows Update and various anti-virus manufacturers.

If you can connect and update... you're good to go.

More here and here.

*

Yeah, man... it was like...

...another total miscarriage of justice...

"Well... except for the eyewitness account, the DNA evidence and the testimony from the cop in his cell."

**********

RELATED: B.C. gang wars heating up again?

-- ABBOTSFORD -- Homicide investigators are on the scene of two murders here today that occurred less than nine hours apart.

Const. Casey Vinet said both victims are men in their 20s but would not say if they are known to police given that positive identifications have not yet been made.

*

Get the freakin' nets

There's a few that got away...

"Do you agree with the consensual living movement that parents and children have equal say in family life – even at bedtime?"

*

There are none so blind...

...as those who will not see...

Those who shouted the loudest for the heads of the AIG execs had the dirtiest hands. President Obama was outraged at their greed. But he alone signed their bonus provisions into law.

And during the recent presidential campaign, no one forced him to accept over $100,000 in AIG donations.

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, Connecticut Democrat, was the fieriest in his denunciations of Wall Street greed. Yet he was the very one who inserted the bonus provision into the bailout bill, despite later denying it.

And Mr. Dodd has taken more AIG money than anyone else in Congress.

So, how exactly does this work? How can anyone... right, left, drunk... schizophrenic... hell, comatose... rationalise this behaviour?

Does Obama still get to be "The One"?

Behold the deafening silence.

**********

RELATED: Compare and contrast...

"The thing that most impresses me about Shakedown is that it talks about the reality of living in Canada today. Most of what I hear in media is nonsense, carefully crafted to avoid trouble."

(via ffof)

One small point here...

...the dumbsticks that are sending away for this certificate aren't atheists... they're morons.

*

Paging Peter MacKay

I dunno... maybe it is rocket science...

The Black Thunder looks like a regular D9 bulldozer but is equipped with a number of cameras that transmit images to the operator, who controls the vehicle with a wireless remote control. The unmanned D9 participated widely in Operation Cast Lead as well as in the Second Lebanon War in 2006.

Why are we sending troops down the road without one of these bad boys pre-sweeping for unexploded ordinance?

"The unmanned version is important since if there is a concern that an area is loaded with mines it can save lives," the officer said, adding that in the event of a communications malfunction the vehicle can be turned into a manned vehicle and operated like a regular D9.

Do it.

Do it now.

*

Lemme see if I got this straight

He got the boot... after driving the Torstar bus right into the ditch... but none of that matters to Premier McSlippery?

**********

UPDATE: See, it's not really lying...

..."it's muddying"...

“This calls for some clarification. I take responsibility for muddying the waters,” Mr. McGuinty said in Question Period today. “We will honour that commitment.”

And if you catch him... he gets a mulligan.

*

Necessity is the mother...

...of invention.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Go kill a tree. You'll feel better."

From your lips... to Gore's ear.

*

Pulling the magical handle

Hey guys, how about we maybe just go with a little more straight talk... and a little less digital pixie dust?

"Liberal 360" is the name of the party's new voter database system, which was purchased from a Massachusetts-based company called the Voter Activation Network. VAN is used by the Democrats at the federal and state levels, and it developed the volunteer management tools for the massively successful ObamaForAmerica.com.

The company only sells the product to "progressive political parties," which means that it's off limits to the Republicans and the Conservatives, which both have their own voter database systems.

I sure hope they remembered to buy that special "ACORN" module...

Mr. Rossi refused to say how much the party paid for the software, adding that the cost of these types of systems vary depending on how detailed a voter profile the party wants.

Voter-targeting software can be purchased for as little as $20,000, however it's the psychographic information about voters that can cost upwards of $200,000. Mr. Rossi said that no final decisions have been made about how much data the party will buy.

Nice to know, we're all just variables to be manipulated, huh?

*

Tick-tock, tick tock

The most interesting part of this whole thing, was watching Buzz Hargrove on CTV... trying to wrap his head around what had just happened...

If a Chrysler-Fiat union cannot be completed, Washington plans to walk away, leave Chrysler destined for a complete sell-off. No other money is available.

For GM, the administration offered 60 days of operating money to restructure. A frantic top-to-bottom effort began Sunday after CEO Rick Wagoner resigned under pressure from the White House.

*

Why fix stuff for real?

When it's so much easier to just pretend you're doing something...

"If I wanted to live in North Korea..."

**********

UPDATE: "Gored" by his own Ox

As most of you know, just over two years ago, my organization, the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, found that the knuckleheaded leader of the global warming alarmism movement, Al Gore, consumes 20 times more electricity in his home than the average American household.

Since Earth Hour was recognized today, Saturday, March 28 from 8:30-9:30pm, I thought I’d see how the hypocritical, fear-mongering former Veep was celebrating at his home.

I pulled up to Al’s house, located in the posh Belle Meade section of Nashville, at 8:48pm – right in the middle of Earth Hour.

[Read it all]

**********

LAST WORD: The road to hell, is paved...

...with scented candles.

*

Lord of the Flies...

...Baghdad Edition...

The Awakening Councils, also known as Sons of Iraq, are made up of former Sunni insurgents who are now "HELPING" U.S. and Iraqi troops fight al-Qaida in Iraq.

*

From the people who brought you...

...lead-painted baby toys...

In an abstract for a second report released on Sunday by two Cambridge University researchers - entitled The Snooping Dragon: Social Malware Surveillance of the Tibetan Movement - investigators said while such attacks were not new, these particularly stood out for their ability to collect "actionable intelligence for use by the police and security services of a repressive state, with potentially fatal consequences for those exposed".

*

Oh gawd... there's another toughie

"Or You Could Go To Earth Day Festivities After You Paw Through Your Trash Like A Raccoon"

*

Yeah... that 2 for 1 "dead time"

How's that workin' for ya?

On Thursday, his son pleaded guilty to 49 charges, including mischief, criminal harassment and threatening.

In custody eight months, 17 days and given 2-for-1 time served, Justice Kathleen Caldwell yesterday sentenced Ralph Scala, 37, to three years probation and ordered him to compensate his victims and not to live in or visit his neighbourhood, Det. Michael Gurman said.

No wonder people don't have any faith in the "justice system."

In court Thursday, prosecutor Jody Milstein said the entire neighbourhood had been "terrorized."

Court heard one victim was a 3-year-old girl, but favourite targets were seniors.

Does this sort of thing make you crazy?

Here's a thought... you could get behind the folks who want to fix this.

*

Did you hear the one about...

"You have to admire the sense of humor of the folk in the refugee industry.

Their current bright idea: to resettle part of a polygamous tribe that practices female genital mutilation in Holyoke, Massachusetts--next door to the first women’s college in America."

*

I can't wait to see the MSM...

...try turn this woman into THE VICTIM...

Officers discovered the lifeless body of Jadon Bernard, who was only 18 months old, inside a silver Honda CRV parked in the garage.

Investigators allege the tot’s mom, Nadine Bernard, 34, killed her son and then attempted to end her own life.

I'm sorry... but there's a special place in hell...

**********

RELATED: Peel homicide cops on a roll...

An acquaintance of slain restaurateur George Koutroubis was taken into custody by Peel police in Toronto yesterday afternoon and charged in his murder, The Sun has learned.

After an exhaustive and detailed investigation into the mysterious slaying of the well-known and popular co-owner of Six Steps restaurant on Colbourne St., Andrew Campbell, 43, of Whitby, will be in a Brampton court room this morning to be formally charged with first-degree murder.

Court records indicate Campbell has a 2004 firearms conviction and was not a stranger to police.

**********

LAST WORD: Bend over... grab your ankles

"Call the cops, they'll show up an hour later, ask you to fill out a form."

*

How about we leave everything...

...unlocked for 24 hours... and see if that reduces crime?

*

Decisions, decisions

Yeah... that one's a real toughie...

Bystanders had mixed reactions. Nicole Brown said that she can’t condone murder but that police don’t respect residents of the area.

[*]

May result in death and/or...

"...loss of skiing privileges..."

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Christ, that's a tough ski patrol... usually, they just dump out my wineskin."

*

Just blame it on Stephen Harper

It's funny... I checked with all my neighbours... and nobody around here has noticed a sudden exodus of women for parts unknown...

Ms. Brown, meanwhile, has a ready answer for those critical of her career choice.

"I have job security," she said.

Yup... not to mention... herpes.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Her 'job security' will start to sag eventually."

**********

RELATED: It's a tough job...

...but somebody's gotta do it.

*

Where is your God now?

When you care enough to send the very best...

"We operate in many places near and far, and carry out strikes in a manner that strengthens our deterrence."

The BBC's Paul Wood in Jerusalem says Israel's response is following a traditional pattern, set when it attacked a suspected nuclear reactor in Syria in 2007, of first refusing to confirm an alleged strike and then giving a nod and a wink.

Hey Mahmoud... "Ya feelin' lucky, punk?"

**********

RELATED: Yeah... that's some "Holy War"

-- PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- A suicide bomber demolished a mosque packed with hundreds of worshippers attending prayers near the Afghan border, killing at least 48 people and injuring scores more, in the bloodiest attack in Pakistan this year.

The bomber struck at the climax of the service, as the mosque leader was starting the communal prayer, witnesses said.

“As the prayer leader said ‘God is Great,' the bomb went off with a big bang.”

Allah must be so proud.

*

I am atheist...

...because I don't believe in faith, which I believe is the common dogma shared by traditional religion and secularized religions.

This means that my atheism is somewhat foggy; because you can't prove that there isn't a God any more than you can prove that there is one, both are un-testable.

By railing against God, especially the Christian God, these authors are missing the real target, faith.

(via maggie's farm)

Revisiting the "Oracle Project"

There's been a lot of noise in the leftosphere recently... about Stephen Harper being responsible for the Canadian end of the financial crisis.

Was the Prime Minister really blindsided?

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Harper called it right a year beforehand but the media will bury that fact because they love their Iggy."

*

15 Billion Dollar Ontario Deficit

Here's the line that jumps out and pokes me in the brain...

"43 cents: The government spends 43 cents of every program dollar on health."

Yeah... I wonder how stuff like that could happen.

**********

RELATED: One foot on a banana peel...

-- OTTAWA and TORONTO -- Premier Dalton McGuinty derailed his own efforts to sell Ontarians on a politically challenging budget Friday, triggering confusion and criticism by saying he may not honour a pledge written in Thursday's budget to raise the minimum wage to $10.25.

Uh-huh... good ol' McSlippery.

*

No, Marko...

...you're in federal custody... playing "drop the soap" with a bunch of degenerate bikers... that's when you'll really be sorry...
*

Ask a "Non-Urban"...

..."Non-Two Spirited" Canadian...

The long-gun registry has been a bane in the North where hunting and sport shooting are part of the culture and popular pastimes for both residents and visitors.

The root objection to the gun registry is that it targets the wrong people. It's a rural solution to an urban problem.

Implemented as a crime-preventative measure, the long-gun registry has simply been an unwieldy and intrusive colossal waste of money that penalizes law-abiding hunters, farmers and recreational shooters and does nothing to enhance public safety.

Since its implementation in 2003, it has cost Canadians more than $2 billion but has never solved or prevented a single crime.

My feelings on the "Farmer Bob Rifle Registry" are quite well-known... so I don't need to reiterate them here.

The point to remember is that handguns in Canada have required a special "restricted registration" since the 1930s.

That, of course, didn't stop the "natural governing party" from awarding hundreds of millions of dollars in software and hardware contracts to their corporate pals... while claiming they were battling crime.

And guess what... even with the really abysmal compliance rate, the damn thing still doesn't work.

Chew on that for a minute... and unless you're a complete idiot... you're gonna be clamouring for your two billion dollars back.

Because, the simple truth is, you've been suckered by the Liberals... yet again.

*

You know you're really getting...

...under somebody's skin... when they set up multiple dedicated Blogger accounts... just so they can troll your comments.

Meet Nonny-Mouse... aka Liberal Supporter...
For the record, Nonny has already "pwned" me... cos' you know, everybody is his "beotch".

Boy... all of this just sounds so familiar.

**********

UPDATE: Nonny-Mouse throws in the towel...

Very Well neo-mouse,

I leave you to your echo chamber, sorry if ask asking tough questions politely is an offence here. Yet it is your house and your rules, although I notice that enforce of those rules isn't uniform.
Try to enjoy our life, maybe lose some of the anger.
Luv,
Nonny-Mouse
Posted by Nonny-Mouse to halls of macadamia at 9:16 AM, March 28, 2009

*

Hey, Paul... here's a thought

Maybe your, uh, clients... could stop maiming, murdering and generally preying on the rest of us...

Wouldn't that help out with this thorny jail problem?

“These are people awaiting trial, presumed innocent, and held in crowded tension-filled holding jails,” said Paul Stern, a Toronto criminal lawyer.

“The ‘two-for-one' principle attempted to recognize the ghastly conditions, mandatory delays, and to provide some balancing for the delays.

Those poor, unfortunate sociopaths.

**********

ASK JOE SIXPACK:

"Do you support the federal government's plan to limit 'two-for-one' credit for prisoners who serve time in pretrial detention?"

*

Rural Geekazoid Shout-Out

Anybody out there have any experience with the "Rogers Rocket Mobile Internet Stick" in a non-urban setting?

Issues, irritants... stumbling blocks?

*

Oh, good grief...

...no wonder post-secondary education in Ontario is so messed up.
**********

BEST COMMENT EVER:

"Now can someone describe what kind of a freak would consider themself "Other."

An Honourable Mention goes to...

I believe "Other" represents a preference for farm yard animals.

"Agrisexual" is the more common term in my neck of the woods.

*

And somewhere in a dark corner...

...of Parliament's deepest, darkest basement... Stephane Dion throws back his head and howls...

The NEW Liberal Party... they're flexible too...

Only three weeks ago, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff insisted he would never support the fund without some advance idea of how it would be spent. He was adamant despite Prime Minister Stephen Harper's warning that the fund constituted a confidence matter and that opposition parties would “find themselves in an election” if they blocked it.

“I am not writing a blank cheque on $3-billion. No Canadian would respect me if I did,” Mr. Ignatieff said at the time.

Wow... those are pretty tough words. I guess the Liberal Party means business after all.

Nah... turns out Iggy was just blowin' smoke... and it's "business as usual."

Yet Liberals supported the fund Tuesday even though the government had not provided any of the details they'd demanded.

Despite Tuesday's climb down, Mr. Ignatieff continued to insist his position hasn't changed. And he even issued a thinly veiled threat to force an election over the matter.

Is that really the kind of government Canadians want to go back to?

*

Oh, good gawd...

...somebody finally said it out loud.
**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"But... it looked so easy on "West Wing"!"

*

Say, Michael...

...you haven't seen Stephane around anywhere... have you?

[*]

Of course, totally eliminating...

...all gun crime in Toronto, has made it all worthwhile...

The City of Toronto is bleeding from a nine-month-old self-inflicted gunshot wound to the foot, and some councillors aren't shying away from salting the wound.

Yesterday, the Toronto Sportsmen's Show announced they were leaving the city-owned Exhibition Place for the province's Metro Convention Centre, where they'll be allowed to promote and sell firearms.

Way to go, Super Dave... you sure showed all those evil thugs.

The show is taking with it a cheque for $750,000 that used to go the city, and some councillors say they still need the cash.

"If there's any organization that can't afford to lose $750,000, it's the City of Toronto," Councillor Doug Holyday said.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"It was just a few years ago that the city of Toronto was going to close the skating rinks during the Christmas Break because it would cost....$750,000."

*

Day Trippin'

Just back from a run down to CFB Trenton with Neophyte's G-Dad.

G-Dad's an airplane buff and ex-pilot who trained out west with the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan during WWII. The Museum wasn't open today, but we scoped out the static display and an F-18 through the fence... and watched the Herky-birds touch and go.

It was a nice sunny day and I'm sure he was happy just to have a change of scenery. This being old and less than healthy must be a drag... but he's no whiner.

I'm happy to report he's bounced back some from his diabetes... now if we could only put a few pounds back on his very spare frame.

All in all a pleasant afternoon.

*

I say we all throw in... buy this thing...

...and have Darcey pick us out a nice bush lot somewhere in Northern Alberta.

We could call it Club Blue(s)... a convalescent home for war-weary rightwing bloggers.

*

Puffin King, Chicken Dinner

Swear an oath of eternal fealty... and I hear he'll bless your livestock...

For $1,100, you can talk to Michael Ignatieff at a cocktail reception and then sit really close to him at the dinner that follows. Pay $500 and all you get is the rubber chicken.

This latest Grit tactic is being employed for the Leader's Dinner, a major Liberal Party fundraiser being held at the swank Fairmont Royal York hotel in Toronto on April 1.

And you've just gotta love the "On Probation" website thing.

Ignatieff knuckles under on the Conservative budget... exactly like his "now disappeared" predecessor... and then tries to spin it like he's holding the government's feet to the fire.

What change are we talkin' about here? This is simply more fiberal smoke and mirrors.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Iggy is still asking Liberals to donate the maximum $1,100 to the Liberal Party AND another $1,100 to the Ignatieff leadership fund - $2,200 total."

"Wait! Ignatieff has a leadership fund? Isn’t he running uncontested?"

"Why does this fund still exist?"

*

Hang on a second

This isn't war... it's Charles Manson on steroids...

At least 25 people have been killed by a suicide bomber in the north-eastern Iraqi province of Diyala, police say.

The bomber targeted a crowd of mourners at a Kurdish funeral in the town of Jalawla, 115km (70 miles) north-east of the capital, Baghdad.

Dozens of people are reported to have been wounded in the explosion.

And you're telling me your deity is good with this?

"Baby... you'd better shop around."

*

It has been brought to my attention...

...that the Halls is not the fastest loading kid on the block.

After paring down my sidebar, with a little measurable improvement, I have come to the conclusion that I may be inadvertantly clogging up the pipes with large image files.

Since starting to blog two and a half years ago... I've been dropping jpegs into posts without really worrying about file size... from this point forward, I'm going to try going with slimmer png files.

Any and all advice, or feedback... in the comments, or by email, will be welcomed.

*

The "Just Society"...

...craps its pants... yet again...

"I sat across the aisle from Stefanie's parents and relatives and distinctly remember wincing: Their gentle, beloved and loving girl was in her grave at 14, and the administration of justice was concerning itself with whether M.T. had a cushion."

"So much is upside down it is sometimes hard to fathom."

**********

RELATED: Let's ask Joe Sixpack...

Here comes the science

Your tax dollars... their "homeless friends"...

-- TORONTO -- The city is giving $100 pre-paid Visa cards to people who agree to pretend they're homeless when Toronto conducts its needs assessment of those without shelter.

In an e-mail sent out last week to different social agencies and individuals, city employee Monica Waldman said they are looking for "tons" of people to sign up to be "decoys" on April 15, the night scheduled for the city's second homeless head count.

"As a decoy, you would need to come to a 30-minute training session and then be deployed to various sites throughout the city where you will wait to be approached by the research volunteers."

Just another brainwave from "His Blondeness" and the "skeet-shooting causes crime" department at City Hall.

Now stop stalling... just pay your tax bill and shut up.

**********

RELATED: As an added bonus, the Xbox Solution...

...will do away with War and NASCAR too...
Don't miss the comment about Klingon battle swords.

"Mentall-ill", indeed.

**********

LAST WORD: Can't resist a well-turned phrase

"I was sure that I'd have more to say on Michael Coren's show last week than I did when I agreed to do CBC Newsworld's Sunday morning current affairs program a couple of years ago, just after the death of Anna Nicole Smith, where I apparently outraged the female host by suggesting that Smith had unhappily filled a "whore-shaped hole" in the culture."

"Note to self: don't quote Pascal on national television."

(via ffof)

More ancient secret powers revealed

Ah, yes... it's "The Protocols of the Elders of Rolph's Parents Garage"...

“My Jewiness is like a forcefield!“

[*]

UPDATE: Go Ezra go

*

"Train 9 from Outer Space"

The death of someone before their time is always tragic... but, I'm sorry Jessica... the "Monster Train" theory... that just ain't gonna cut it...

Perhaps the white roses stand for the two young men rendered helpless as a GO Transit train "sucked" their friend beneath it in spite of their screams and attempts to bang on the cars as the train rumbled westward.

"He said they just got off the GO Train. It was pulling away and Jafari got put onto the tracks by the train somehow."

"Then it just kept going."

Oh my gawd... another remorseless killer.

Is this what passes for journalism nowadays? The anthropomorphic train that eats unsuspecting bystanders? Like the malignant ski hill that rises up and squashes beloved thespian royalty?

I sense a theme here.

It's like the evil handguns that rain down over Toronto's "less advantaged" neighbourhoods... indiscriminately shooting innocent bystanders.

This is a world spinning out of control. We are being victimised by forces beyond our limited understanding.

Well, all that... and evil twisted genius Stephen Harper.

Sigh.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS: Coulda been a contender...

"Oceans have been eating shoreline for a long time but they’re getting hungrier."

*

Uncommon sense

"There's virtually nothing that a Conservative immigration minister can do without eliciting charges of being anti-immigrant or xenophobic from the Liberals and the NDP and I think that's really unfortunate," said Kenney.

"One of the things we should recognize in Canada is that there's a very broad political consensus in favour of immigration. The reality is this: our record is much better than the Liberals on this issue. They imposed a $1,000 right-of-landing fee on every immigrant in 1995. We cut it in half.

"When the Liberals took power in 1993, they inherited a backlog from the Mulroney government of about 40,000 immigration applications. The Liberals drove that up to 800,000 and they drove the processing times from an average of six months to more than five years.

They froze settlement funding, whereas our government has tripled settlement funding and so I would argue theirs was a record of neglect.

Therefore, I don't take criticisms from them on this very seriously."

Read it all.

**********

RELATED: The more things "hopenchange"...

In turbulent times, it's good to know some things never change.

After a week in which President Obama thanked himself for inviting him to the White House, compared AIG executives to suicide bombers, and did the first Presidential retard joke on national TV, I was impressed to find that Slate is bravely keeping up its Bushism Of The Day feature.

Four more years!

*

What us knuckle-draggin' Neocons...

...can learn from the compassionate, intellectual left.

You wanna rebut accusations of anti-semitism... hey, just trot out another stereotype...
Geez... I hate to think what Zee's got in his back pocket... a little Amos and Andy?

(swept up @ dmb)

The Web Police "gets all Lucy"...

...on her ass... Connie Fournier has the latest...

I was just talking to an officer from the Kingston City Police. Apparently, Richard Warman has contacted them and asked them to investigate Mark and me because Edward Kennedy was not banned for comments he made about Warman.

The only way Edward Kennedy could be more open about his identity is if he had a google map to his house in his signature line.

He has been open about his involvement with the Landowner's Association, he writes letters to the editor to the local papers, and he is well-known in local political circles.

An interesting tactic by Stormin' Warman. You get cut loose by the HRC's... I guess you gotta get creative. Hard to believe though, the local cops were so easily suckered...

I find it astounding that Richard Warman would try to pull Mark and me into his dispute with Edward Kennedy, when Edward Kennedy is such an accessible public person.

Maximum Disruption reaches a new level.

Hey Connie... just watch out for those tasers.

*

Because Trudeau, Mulroney...

...Chretien and Martin just weren't enough...

"Quebecers do not deserve to be in a permanent opposition in Ottawa. Their place is in power," Ignatieff said, pausing for applause.

"The time has come for Quebecers to get their place back in Ottawa."

Thus spake the Puffin King... you know... the guy who didn't live in Canada for how many decades?

**********

FURTHER READING:

Wanna know what else the four musketeers had in common?

They were all solidly wired in... at one point or another... to Quebec's Power Corporation.

Chretien let him cool his jets for two and a half hours in the foyer before having him ushered in. The commissioner was looking like a loose cannon, but Chretien had to be extremely careful about what he said and how he said it. The Desmarais connection was as touchy a subject as there could be.

Chretien's predecessor, Brian Mulroney, was back working with the Desmarais family on Power Corp.'s international board of advisers.

Chretien did not even risk raising the family name.

A highlight of the book is Palango's take on the Maher Arar affair. It knocked me on my ass.

Pick up the book and get a look at the "sausage factory" of Canadian politics... and policing.

**********

RELATED: Sidewinder who?

*

Sonny Bono Syndrome

"If it saves just one millionaire celebrity..."

*

Oh c'mon...

You really thought their only problem was that they were a bloodthirsty, medieval theocracy?

Give yourself a shake.

*

Paging Premier McSlippery

SAFETY BREAK!!!

Nobody waxes... nobody gets hurt...

“It's huge,” she said, adding that her customers don't think their bikini lines are anyone's business but their own. “It's just not right.”

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Who gets to be the lucky fellow to inspect the ladies for illegal Brazilian wax jobs?"

*

Blaze on

"The Cat came back... the very next day"...

Funny how that works.

I guess it's all fun and games until somebody loses a secret identity.

Yeah, CC you dumbstick... come and get me.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"I was surprized that CC would comment on BCF's "outing", given that he's very protective of his own identity."

"It just gives an excuse for those who loath him (and they are legion) to determine and publish his identity."

*

Toronto "RED" Star...

...reports on "disputes" in the big city...

A 27-year-old man was taken to hospital following a shooting in Scarborough early this morning. The victim was not being cooperative at this point and no suspects have been identified, police said.

And I'm actually a little surprised they're not calling this one a "tiff."

Two teenagers were taken to hospital with stab wounds following a fight in north Toronto Friday night. No suspects have been identified but several people were seen running from the scene.

Well, at least this time they didn't try to blame it on the "racist cops."

Your daily bird cage liner.

*

LONDONISTAN CALLING

Seriously... who knew?

" -- LONDON -- Some people are attracted to donkeys but that does not mean it is right.”

Well, Anjem... I've gotta tell ya... that's way more information than I was lookin' for.

I suppose it's too much to hope you're gonna stop right there.

And he darkly hinted that Britain faces further attacks, saying: “We will keep calling for the truth until it is established or we are killed.”

But he clammed up when quizzed about the £277 a week he and his wife receive in jobless and housing benefits.

*

Four Canadians killed

...in Afghanistan...

-- KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- Two separate explosions claimed the lives of four Canadian soldiers Friday as they took part in a massive military operation aimed at disrupting the Taliban before the start of what is predicted to be a particularly deadly fighting season.

Fighting season? What fighting?

These donkeyheads simply plant explosive booby traps that kill far more of their muslim brethren... including innocent women and children... than their perceived enemy.

The fact is, every time the brave "holy warriors" stand and fight, they get shredded into applesauce.

All of the soldiers who were killed were members of the Third Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment based in Petawawa, Ont. which is due to return to Canada in the coming weeks.

The dead have been identified as Master Corporal Scott Francis Vernelli, 28, Corporal Tyler Crooks, 24, Trooper Jack Bouthillier, 20, and Trooper Corey Joseph Hayes, 22.

They will be remembered.

*

Obama Whitehouse strangely silent...

...on "pushing Israel into the sea"...

Mr Obama's message was released to coincide with the festival of Nowruz, when Iranians mark the arrival of spring.

In it, President Obama said he wanted "to speak directly to the people and leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States wants the Islamic Republic of Iran to take its rightful place in the community of nations."

And Iran, as usual, was quick to respond...

Ayatollah Khamenei said world powers had been convinced they could do nothing to halt the progress Iran was making on its nuclear programme.

Yeah... good luck with that, genius.

**********

RELATED: Making friends wherever he goes

New Whitehouse policy... "Hire the handicapped... they're fun to watch."

-- ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The Special Olympics Michigan president said Friday she'd welcome the opportunity to send the nonprofit's top bowler to the White House.

Kolan McConiughey, who is cognitively impaired, has bowled five perfect games since 2005, said Special Olympics Michigan President Lois Arnold.

*

It takes a village...

...full of idiots...

“In sum, I wasn’t the extremist radical; they were. I wasn’t the one abridging ‘human rights’, they were. I wasn’t the fringe element who needed political ‘re-education’ about our country’s values; they were.

I wasn’t a humourless crank; they were — as they proved en masse when they hit me with more than 20 vengeance lawsuits, human rights complaints and complaints to the law society to have me disbarred.

*

These are a few of her...

...favorite things...

I just can’t imagine feeling this way about Laura Bush or Hillary Clinton, can you? Neither seemed to be physically in love with herself the way Michelle is.

No wonder her body lends itself so nicely to political myth.

And who would actually commit such nonsense to paper?

Ms Quan has been hailed as “the only chick-lit writer to discuss indentured labour... and the proper purse in which to carry a dildo.”

Okay... that explains a few things.

*

Oh, c'mon... there's so much local talent

"Performers and vendors are invited to be part of the Deseronto Waterfront Family Festival June 20."

Recommended dress is "Kevlar & Tails".

**********

RELATED: Yeah right... the racist system...

A 16-year-old faces nine charges including two counts of criminal negligence causing death in relation to the drug-related deaths of two teenage girls from the Paul First Nation, Stony Plain RCMP announced Thursday.

The male youth, who cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was arrested and charged Wednesday night.

He is from the Paul First Nation west of Edmonton, police said.

*

Hoist by her own...

...niqāb...

The West Vancouver resident converted to Islam after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and runs a website, Jihad Unspun, that says it provides information “devoid of the constraints of mainstream media.”

Or "the constraints of civilisation", huh Bev?

In'shallah, baby.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"I wish her luck, maybe some of her hippy friends will come through for her."

*

Which is just about...

...as many Canadians... as have died from being tasered - EVER - *

More cheap shots...

...from the sheep seats...

Opposition MPs criticized Breitkreuz's choice to attend saying it was an insensitive decision as Toronto faces problems with guns on the streets.

On Thursday, CSSA Executive Director Tony Bernardo told CTV News that his organization was withdrawing its invitation to Breitkreuz.

Bernardo said the CSSA was sorry that the incident has caused embarrassment to Breitkreuz.

What on earth does this event have to do with urban street thuggery?

Did Gray Breitkreuz even indicate that he was aware of this raffle?

And guess what guys, even if he was... there's just a bit of a difference between legally owning a gun... and shooting someone with a gun.

"I guess if we were a camera club we'd give away a camera, if we were a car club we'd give away a car -- but we're not. We're a shooting association and we're raffling a firearm," Bernardo told CTV.ca in a phone interview.

"It's a legal firearm being raffled to legal, licensed owners. What's the problem?"

You get that right?

Good grief.

**********

RELATED: Apparently, to everyone's surprise...

...not a single Member of Parliament was involved...

The shooting occurred in a basement apartment in a house on Merritt described by neighbours as a suspected crack house.

"This area's bad," said one resident, who didn't give his name.

He said the house, owned by an older woman who rents out rooms, is notorious for suspected drug activity, with people coming and going at all hours.

And yet another murder in Lotusland...

-- VANCOUVER -- Another man has been killed in a shooting in Metro Vancouver.

The RCMP say the man was found dead in a residential area of southeast Surrey early today.

It's too early to tell if the attack was gang or drug-related, but the death brings to 17 the number of people killed in almost 40 shootings in the region since January.

I sure hope CTV is checking Gary Breitkreuz' alibi.

**********

UPDATE: Of course... it's all on "Dirty Stevie"

"I have not a shadow of a doubt that this is being directed by the Prime Minister's Office," said Mark Holland, the Liberal public safety critic.

**********

LAST WORD: The incredible dishonesty of CityTv

In Canada, you can't simply "give" a pistol away to any Tom, Dick or Omar. Handguns have been classified as restricted weapons requiring special registration since the early 1930's.

This raffle would be restricted to people who have received special training and subsequent vetting by the police. These days, your spouse or live-in partner actually has to give their approval. If all that goes well... they are then issued a special "permit to possess" which has incredibly strict conditions. You are then allowed to take this gun straight to and from a registered range.

Another shining example of left-biased "media duplicity".

*

Song sung Blue

The more I hear of Tim Hudak... the more I like the song...

"It took from Confederation to 2002 for the Ontario government to take the provincial budget to $68-billion. This year, thanks to Dalton McGuinty, government spending will skyrocket past $100-billion. And don’t forget, Ontario is already carrying a total debt burden of more than $170-billion."

"But I’m hard-pressed to find an Ontario family or business that is feeling twice as well-served or twice as well off."

*

Perhaps a little "resistance training"...

...isn't a bad thing...

The decline of traditional news media will accelerate the rise of The Daily Me, and we'll be irritated less by what we read and find our wisdom confirmed more often.

The danger is that this self-selected "news" acts as a narcotic, lulling us into a self-confident stupor through which we will perceive in blacks and whites a world that typically unfolds in grays.

So perhaps the only way forward is for each of us to struggle on our own to work out intellectually with sparring partners whose views we deplore.

Think of it as a daily mental workout analogous to a trip to the gym; if you don't work up a sweat, it doesn't count.

Of course... you still have to get past the sweating, grunting narcissist over at the weight pile by the full-length mirror.

**********

RELATED: It's something Ezra's already doing

"I take it you're from the Liberal club, you've got Warren Kinsella's talking points."

"Good for you. Send me a memo, I'll look into it."

**********

LAST WORD: Horrible Neocon makes "retard joke"

Wait a minute...

*

Sauce for the Goosesteppers

You wanna get their attention.... you've gotta speak jihadi...

Israel has detained 10 senior Hamas leaders in the West Bank two days after indirect talks between the two sides on a possible prisoner swap collapsed.

As always, in this part of the world, everything is relative.

An Israeli military spokeswomen described them as "terror operatives"; Hamas said they included four MPs, a former deputy PM and an academic.

I dunno... maybe they're gonna have to call in Clark "Hussein" Kent... "Faster than a speeding teleprompter..."

*

Despite all the cheering...

...from the leftosphere, the situation in Afghanistan is hardly as dark as you might think...

The idea that Kabul is under siege is a figment of the news media's imagination based on hyped reporting of a few isolated attacks.

ISAF officers suggested to us that the recent insurgent raids on three government buildings, which generated so much negative publicity, were actually good news, because Afghan security forces, who have assumed lead responsibility for operations in much of the capital, were able to handle the crisis on their own.

That, of course, is the real measure of progress in what so recently was a medieval theocracy.

Commandos from the Afghan National Police Crisis Response Team stormed into the Justice Ministry within hours and killed all the attackers, who had hoped to carry out a protracted Mumbai-style siege.

Other would-be suicide bombers were rounded up before they could set off their explosives.

*

The Toronto "RED" Star...

...starts stockpiling torches and pitchforks.

**********

RELATED: Apparently, the lunatic left...

...can't even stay bought.

*

Mayor Miller's office strangely silent...

...on which gun, er... fencing club they belong to...

Toronto police are looking for as many as a dozen youths involved in a series of gang swarming attacks in and around the city's Annex neighbourhood, including one stabbing that sent a man to hospital for emergency surgery.

Police said in all of the cases, a group of six to 12 young males surrounded a person and demanded cash or items such as iPods.

**********

RELATED: One for the good guys

Three Toronto men, Kush Walker-King, 20, Christopher Abbott, 33, and Lanri Watson, 25, face a laundry list of charges including attempted murder, robbery and unauthorized firearm possession.

*

The war on law-abiding citizens

"But, but, but... going after actual criminals is soooooo hard."

**********

RELATED: Well, as long as it's...

...a fair fight.

During their investigation into the shooting, officers also arrested a man in the area who was wearing a bulletproof vest. He was released from custody and no charges have been laid.

It is not illegal to wear body armour, but Toronto police Det. Derek Young told CBC News that the people officers encounter who are wearing bulletproof vests are usually involved in illegal activities such as drug dealing.

*

Perhaps "the answer"...

...isn't "blowing in the wind" after all...

-- TORONTO -- A 20-year-old man was rushed to Sunnybrook hospital with serious injuries after being shot in the stomach last night.

Police arrived to an apartment complex at 35 St. Dennis Dr. around 10:30 p.m. to find the victim suffering from a single gunshot wound to the lower abdomen.

**********

UPDATE: COMPARE AND CONTRAST

Unlike their fawning coverage of, say... Caribana...

...CTV lays this one squarely at the feet of the bogtrotting, alcoholic Irish
Funny how that works.

*