Tonight's CTV Moonbat moment

Lloyd, yet again, gushes over the impending coronation of the Puffin King... and features Iggy's latest pronouncement on his latest adopted homeland...

"We are rebuilding the greatest national institution in Canadian life."

Not to be outdone... check out how the CTV website handles the bloody coup that unceremoniously dethroned the previous monarch...

Not long after the historic showdown, Stephane Dion quit as leader and Ignatieff took the party's helm -- a move which bypassed a potentially divisive leadership race.

Yeah... no airbrushing the Politburo here, huh?

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That's funny... nobody's talkin' about...

..bailin' out Canadian farmers... and they produce stuff we all buy on a daily basis...

Chrysler will be in default of the loans if its auto production in Canada falls below the 20-per-cent threshold, meaning the federal and Ontario governments can demand repayment.

Yeah... like that's gonna happen.

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RELATED: Obama calls it a victory

Of course... it ain't comin' out of his bottom line...

Discussions between the U.S. Treasury Department and Chrysler's lenders were designed to reduce nearly $7 billion in secured debt, and avoid bankruptcy.

But in the end, 40 hedge funds that hold roughly 30 per cent of Chrysler's debt refused to budge, said auto industry analyst Dimitry Anastakis.

"They're owed about $7 billion in total and the government is saying you should take about $2 billion of the $7 billion that you're owed, and they're refusing to do so," he told CTV's Canada AM.

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Worth every penny

The dark downside of Canada's much vaunted "free" healthcare system...

Three young Port Perry women who are Ontario's first confirmed cases of swine flu returned from Cancun on Friday with symptoms but spent the weekend at the local casino and visiting friends because their local hospital never advised them to stay home.

And even after 21-year-old Justine Stevenson was informed on Tuesday afternoon that she has the virus, no one has told her mom to close her home daycare business.

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What convention?

It's more like this guy descended from heaven on a beam of bright light...
Yeah... you can just smell the democracy.

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Hope, change and...

...deadlier than Dick Cheney...

The US is on pace to exceed last year's total of 36 airstrikes in Pakistan. Today’s strike is the fifth this month and the sixteenth inside Pakistan this year.

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More Liberal corruption... yawn

Stand by for breaking news... on gravity holding stuff down...

-- QUEBEC CITY -- Jean Charest's government was groping to explain a potential conflict of interest scandal Wednesday in which public funds were allegedly steered to companies owned by provincial Liberals.

Documents released by the official opposition showed that a regional economic development fund set up to boost the economy of the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region was being used to finance companies owned by Liberals located mainly in the Montreal region.

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When prison...

...just isn't enough...

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Oh gawd... pandemic goes international

Is it time to pull up the drawbridge and hunker down?

Government officials confirmed the first U.S. death from the new H1N1 swine flu today - a 23-month-old child who died in Texas. It is the first death from swine flu reported outside Mexico, the country hardest hit by the influenza outbreak.

Well, not quite...

-- HOUSTON -- A Mexico City toddler who travelled to Texas with family to visit relatives is the first confirmed death in the U.S. from swine flu.

Shshhhh... let's not put poor Lloyd over the edge.

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RELATED: Thank goodness there wasn't an...

...outbreak of headlice.

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One time biker chick...

...gets all philosophical on yer ass...

“What happened with this dress is just the living proof that sexism is still out there and very healthy and it’s only politically correct to just say that we have equality among the sexes — but we don’t.”

“It’s still a man’s world,” she added.

I dunno, Julie... that's not what everybody was sayin'... when you were flashin' the paparazzi.

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RELATED: More "Girl Power!!!"

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Paging Sid Ryan

Looks like CUPE's good friends in the Middle East are still pursuing that "restorative justice"...

A Palestinian military court has condemned a man to death by hanging for treason for selling land to Israelis.

Anwar Breghit, 59, was convicted by a court in the West Bank town of Hebron. He sold property near his village "that he did not own", prosecutors said.

Only two people have had death sentences against them carried out, although others have been summarily executed over suspicions that they sold land to Israelis.

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RELATED: No, not the Israelis... again

"The battles came a day after two men were thrown to their deaths from high-rise rooftops, signalling a rapid descent into all-out confrontation."

Confrontation?!?! There's some hard-hitting journalism.

There are bodies falling from the skies... and it's a confrontation?

Seriously?

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Last night's CTV Moonbat Moment

Anybody else see the graphic on CTV last night as they breathlessly reported on the... count 'em... 13 cases of "swine flu" that apparently have the capability to bring this country to a screeching halt.

For those of you that missed it... all of North America was painted blood red. The CTV website has a similar scary picture...
And you can always count on CBC to do their part...
But do we have any actual information that doesn't simply involve scary pictures? Well... a little further down the article...

"In actual fact, it may have a death rate that's similar to seasonal influenza."

Two words... no... shame.

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And scaring the crap...

...outta thousands of people... that was just ice-cream...

The flight by the VC-25, a modified Boeing Co. 747, and two F-16 fighter jets cost $328,835, Air Force spokeswoman Vicki Stein said.

That includes $300,658 for the larger plane, which flew a three-hour mission, and about $28,178 for the F-16 jets, which flew 1.8 hours each, Stein said in an e-mailed statement.

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Tell me, Dylan...

...how exactly is this about Canadian citizenship... and not Dalton McSlippery's flagrant mismanagement of the Ontario healthcare system...

"It's gone beyond frustration into absolute rage. I've been treated better by the people of Mexico than I have been by my own country," Pazzano told the Star from the intensive care unit of Hospiten Cancun in Mexico. "I am, in all honesty, disgusted to be called a Canadian citizen right now."

Of course... the Toronto Red Star is more than happy to publish any derogatory reference towards the federal Conservative government, even though this one actually falls squarely on the McGuinty Liberals...

The couple was initially told that hospitals here are full, says Pazzano, but that claim was negated by Ontario Health Minister David Caplan.

"There is ICU capacity," he told reporters, noting that the health system here should "be able to provide the care that Ontarians expect."

Well, David... perhaps this woman could have found an ICU bed in Toronto if it weren't for Dalton McGuinty's billion dollars in P2P hospital construction cost over-runs.

Funny how that works.

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RELATED: Don't miss the Star's Round 1

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See... that's how evolution works...

Big Mother says...

"It might be a good idea to avoid heading for ground zero of emerging pandemic."

Maybe this could actually work out to the good.

See... if you're not bright enough to figure this one out without government intervention... we probably don't want you passing on your genes anyway.

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UPDATE: Save us, oh wonderful government

"Do you think the Canadian government’s response to the swine flu outbreak in Mexico has been sufficient?"

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RELATED: While we're on "social darwinism"...

Police say suspects barged into a building and fired rounds through an apartment door at 9 Greentree Ct. in the Keele St. and Eglinton Ave. W. area.

Police say there was someone inside the apartment unit but he was not struck by the bullets. They also say he isn't cooperating with the investigation.

This shooting is the latest incident in a violent week for the area.

There have been four shootings in five days - and two have been fatal.

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"Yet if in one breath she appeared..."

"...to be suggesting she left before she could be given the results, in the next she said she had finished the test and said again that, 'I'm sure if I didn't pass my test, I wouldn't be standing right here with all of you now, guaranteed'."

[*]

RELATED: Yeah... weird is one word...

-- WOODSTOCK, Ont. -- The mother of Victoria Stafford is recounting her mysterious journey in a limousine to a Toronto hotel room where a stranger offered to aid with any ransom demands.

While McDonald acknowledged that the meeting might sound strange she says many weird things have happened since her daughter disappeared.

[*]

"If anyone were to write..."

"...that he thought that rapists should not be locked up because they have had a difficult childhood, have psychological problems and aberrant personalities, including a tendency to take drugs and too much alcohol, and because prison does not work as evidenced by the fact that they often commit the same sorts of crimes on release, he would be (rightly) regarded as a moral idiot."

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RELATED: And justice for all...

The legal team for the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing has told judges that the evidence against him was "wholly circumstantial".

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Give yourself a shake

This is Canada... we don't wanna hurt anybody's feelings...

"If these screening measures are considered appropriate for agriculture workers, logically they should also be used to screen all travellers from Mexico," says UFCW Canada national president.

[*]

RELATED: Sometimes, you just gotta do...

...the right thing...

The second lesson is that leading can be lonely. When Canada first pulled out of Durban II, we were alone. When Canada first cut off aid to Hamas, we were alone. But others later followed, because we were right.

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LAST WORD: So, let's get started...

In 2008 almost 37,000 asylum seekers entered Canada and so far this year the flow remains unabated. There is a backlog of more than 62,000 asylum claims before the Refugee Board which will take years to clear.

The system is out of control and yet our politicians of all parties refuse to even consider reform. To do so would offend the powerful refugee lobby and threaten the loss of ethnic voters.

Furthermore, it is not politically correct to even discuss immigration and refugee policies in connection with border or security concerns.

(via shaidle)

"He don' need..."

"...no steenkin' badges..."

The White House defended the administration's ability to respond to a crisis that is coming so early in its tenure and while it still lacks a health and human services secretary, a surgeon general and a CDC director.

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UPDATE: Look... it's Mr Golden Sunshine...

For Team Obama, it’s always 9/10.

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This, my friends, is why...

...we mock you...

-- MONTREAL -- It's a minor scrap that's opening old wounds from 160 years ago.

A Quebec sovereigntist association is demanding an apology for a tract published in 1849 by the Montreal Gazette that the group contends incited 1,500 anglophone Montrealers to burn down the city's parliament.

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"Nah, we're cool"... says Mr Ten Percent

From the oft-quoted... "I did not have sex with that woman" files...

Pakistan asserted on Monday there was no danger of the Taliban getting hold of its nuclear arsenal and said the country's "nuclear capability was in safe hands”.

“I want to assure the world that the nuclear capability of Pakistan is under safe hands,” APP quoted President Asif Ali Zardari as telling a group of international journalists here.

Safe, Asif?

You mean... like your late wife?

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RELATED: That sounds so familiar...

"When you consider all this in tandem, with the fact that A.Q. Khan, Pakistan's foremost atomic scientist, is some sort of freebooting nuclear pirate, it's a little unsettling, to say the least."

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LAST WORD: Who is Asif Ali Zardari?

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The really scary thing is...

...Saudi Arabia is often touted as being one of the more enlightened, western-friendly countries... in the entire Islamic world...

Many women-only sports clubs and gyms in Saudi Arabia face closure under a government clampdown.

Women in Saudi Arabia are banned from driving, must wear a head-to-toe cloak when out in public and must obtain permission from a male relative to work, travel, study or marry.

But the fairer sex are not totally without resources...

Saudi women were reported to have launched an online campaign in protest called "Let Her Get Fat".

You go girl.

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Who can't appreciate...

...a little Monday morning tailfeather?

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It's actually the least he could do

Apparently Iggy's picking up the cheque for all burial expenses...

Ignatieff will be formally crowned leader Saturday at the Vancouver convention, which was originally supposed to be the culmination of a vigorous leadership race.

But first, Liberals must pay ritual respects to the man they couldn't get rid of fast enough.

[*]

BAD KARMA... it ain't just...

...a way cool name for a band...

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RELATED: See... my Canada doesn't include...

...lawless mobs...

A key thoroughfare in downtown Toronto remains closed to traffic because of a demonstration by hundreds of Tamil Canadians.

The crowd began to gather outside the U.S. Consulate on University Ave. at about 7 p.m. Sunday and grew larger throughout the evening.

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The CBC...

...just another reason...[*]

RELATED: Those heartless Conservative bastards... wait...
Hang on a second... turns out she's NOT being "denied re-entry" to Canada after all...

...apparently, this is about hospital beds...

"None of the hospitals in the metropolitan area or the areas outside Toronto will accept her in the ICUs -- they are saying there are no ICU beds available," George said.

Just more despicable CTV spin.

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LAST WORD: Hey... the Red Star wants in...

Yeah, of course, let's just blame it on the evil logo...

What most people likely see when they inspect the famous green-and-white Starbucks emblem is the likeness of a long-maned mermaid wearing a crown, surrounded by several concentric circles that contain the company's brand name.

But that is not what Higazi sees.

Absolutely nothing to do with the crazy ol' Imam.

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Strengthening the Gene Pool

Remember when you were a kid... and you'd settle disputes with swords and baseball bats?

Yeah... me neither.

He admits that he and his friends lived a life of crime in the past few years.

"We always just jumped people, robbed people ... it turned into a habit," he said. "Something violent happened in my life almost every day."

Still, he's shocked and saddened by losing a friend to such violence.

I know, dude, I know... who could have possibly seen that coming, huh?

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RELATED: In other teen killer news...

A second 17-year-old has been charged with second-degree murder in connection to the fatal shooting of Toronto teen Daniel Lewis.

Lewis, 19, died in hospital after he was shot twice in a laneway near Keele St. and Rogers Rd. on April 21.

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So whatever happened to...

..."iron men and wooden ships"...

His said "our security started shooting in the air... and also we started spraying some water" to beat off the attackers.

Samantha Hendey from Durban, South Africa, told the BBC that her sister Tabitha Nicholson was on board the ship during the attack and the situation was "pretty dramatic".

"She said that there were lots of passengers on deck watching it unfold and they even took action themselves by throwing chairs overboard, trying to hit the pirates."

I guess ol' pegleg Omar won't be braggin' about this one at the next pirate party.

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UPDATE: Less swash... more buckling...

Yemeni officials say Somali pirates have seized an empty Yemeni oil tanker in a deadly clash with coast guards.

The officials said two pirates were killed in the confrontation in the Gulf of Aden Sunday. Three other pirates and two coast guards also were wounded.

[*]

PATRIOT IN-LOVE WITH MYSELF

The NDP's research team has carefully examined Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff's new book and found the personal pronoun "I" is mentioned 164 times.

Bob Rae, Jean Chrétien, Paul Martin, Stéphane Dion and the carbon tax are not mentioned.

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Bright lights, big city...

...rapacious thuggery...

It was a busy night for Toronto police and paramedics with a shooting and two stabbings. Police have three men in custody but they're still working to determine who pulled the trigger.

Further south along Bathurst Street, police are on the hunt for a pair of suspects after a stabbing outside a Dominos restaurant north of Bloor Street.

The driver was approached as he pulled into the rear parking lot at 936 Bathurst Street after 11 p.m. on Friday. The suspects stabbed him and took his money.

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RELATED: Here's a thought, yer Blondeness...

...let's go after the thugs... not law-abiding citizens...

For the City of Toronto, firing muzzle-loading reproduction black powder guns on city property is okay, but Olympic target shooters are a threat to public safety.

The hypocrisy isn't lost on some gun lobby groups, who agree musket demonstrations are completely appropriate to commemorate the Battle of York, but wonder how the city can reconcile the double standard.

Last year, city council passed a series of bylaws that prohibit the sale, display and promotion of firearms on city property, and Fort York is owned by the City of Toronto.

"Nobody is suggesting ... that demonstrations like this at Fort York shouldn't happen. They are part of our heritage, we recognize that, we celebrate that," said Greg Farrant, manager of government relations for the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, which has more than 100,000 members across the province.

"But so too is hunting part of our heritage."

Why there's a celebration of one aspect of our firearms heritage but a demonization of another part by the City of Toronto is mystifying."

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You choose to stay married...

...to the world's most infamous serial philanderer AND you expect people to take what you say seriously?

Mrs Clinton's visit comes in the wake of two days of suicide bomb attacks in Iraq which killed at least 155 people.

This isn't about the greater good... it's about getting your hands on the levers of power at any price. Hillary sold out whatever principles she might have had... a long, long time ago.

Indeed... the Shrillary shows up just in time to issue yet another "statement" condemning the sectarian killing... as "The One" prepares to cut and run.

Who actually buys into this sort of thing?

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RELATED: Hope, Change and...

..."keep your enemies closer"...

“It’s what’s wrong with politics today. Hillary Clinton will say anything to get elected,” Obama said in a January radio ad.

“Hillary Clinton. She’ll say anything and change nothing.”

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Looks like Osama might get...

...his nuclear-armed Caliphate after all...

-- ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- As the Taliban tightened their hold over newly won territory, Pakistani politicians and American officials on Thursday sharply questioned the government’s willingness to deal with the insurgents and the Pakistani military’s decision to remain on the sidelines.

“The government is too worried about its own political survival to take on the militants,” the Defense Department official said.

Here's a question... where do you figure the billion dollars in annual U.S. military aid got to?

Meanwhile... in other "brave holy warrior" news...

Yesterday 12 children were killed in Dir when a bomb hidden in a football exploded. Villagers said that the football had been left lying near the compound wall of a girls' school.

Among the dead were seven boys and five girls aged between 5 and 13.

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"Live by the sword..."

"...don't be too surprised... somebody skewers your brisket..."

-- TORONTO -- A shooting investigation has turned into a homicide probe after a man shot while waiting at a bus stop in the city's west end died, police announced this afternoon.

Omar Waite, 29, was shot at a TTC bus stop on the southwest corner of Jane St. and Eglinton Ave. W. around 6:40 p.m. Wednesday.

Seems's Toronto's celebrated street thugs are pretty well versed in the concept of "bad karma"...

His shooting came almost exactly 24 hours after the shooting death of Daniel Lewis, 19, who was killed in a laneway near Keele St. and Rogers Rd.

Lewis was a member of the Five Point Generals, while Waite was a member of a rival gang, the Gators, a police officer told the Sun.

And stand by, folks... this is where CC and company usually jump in to celebrate the lost potential of young Daniel & Omar et al.

P.S. -- No word yet from Mayor Miller's office... on which gun club these two fine young men belonged to.

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RELATED: Starting justice for Jane Creba...

-- TORONTO -- A 21-year-old Toronto man convicted of murder in the shooting death of teenager Jane Creba on Boxing Day more than three years ago will be sentenced as an adult, a judge ruled today.

Until now known only as JSR, a publication ban on the name has been lifted and he has now been identified as Jorrell Simpson-Rowe.

Mr. Simpson-Rowe was 17 at the time of the notorious gun battle that killed Ms. Creba and wounded six others.

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LAST WORD: In other "just desserts" news...

A second arrest has been made in the afternoon drive-by shooting of a young man near his Rexdale home, police announced today.

Jose Hierro-Saez, 19, was a passenger in a car that was riddled with bullets from another vehicle as it travelled along John Garland Blvd., near Albion Rd. and Kipling Ave., in June 2007.

Anthony Grant, 21, and Devon Vivian, 20, thought to have fled to Jamaica, were identified as suspects.

Grant, suspected of driving the car used in the shooting, was picked up by the Royal Jamaican Constabulary Fugitive Squad nearly three months after the fact. He was charged with first-degree murder and brought back to Toronto.

Last Friday, Vivian was arrested in Kingston, Jamaica on a charge of first-degree murder and four counts of attempt murder while armed with a firearm, Toronto Police announced today.

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Lions and tigers... and bugs...

...oh, my...

According to Agence-France Presse, Mexican authorities on Friday confirmed a swine flu outbreak and said they were probing 45 possible deaths and 943 possible cases.

Mexico's Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova urged people to avoid large crowds, shaking hands, kissing people as a greeting, or using the subway.

"This afternoon the epidemic was confirmed by Canadian and U.S. labs to be a new influenza virus," Cordova said in a televised statement late Thursday.

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Hope, Change and...

...aw, screw it...

*

"Oh my gawd, Hezbollah is..."

"...storming Queens Park... wait a minute..."

**********

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

"Hmmm... it was there a minute ago..."

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Bring Omar home...

...my ass...

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RELATED: He's got all these mad skillz

"Last night, we were able to see television footage of Mr. Khadr's alleged building and planting of explosive devices that are actually planted in Afghanistan," Cannon said.

"Those devices are the devices that basically have taken away the lives of young Canadian men and women."

He went on to remind the Commons that Karine Blais, the young Quebec soldier who died last week in Afghanistan, was killed by a roadside bomb.

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What say we just...

...do the math...
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Saving precious Mother Earth...

...9,000 gallons of fuel at a time.

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His blessed will be done

Apparently, Allah hates the homeless...

At least 48 people, among them Iranian pilgrims, died when a suicide bomber blew up a restaurant in Baquba, in the north-east, officials say.

In Baghdad, a suicide bomber killed at least 28 people - detonating a belt of explosives as police distributed aid to a crowd of homeless families.

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"Unprecedented burden on taxpayers"

Oh, baby... you had me back at "bend over and grab your ankles"...*

"Thank you for calling the RCMP..."

"If you are in fear for your life... Press 1... If you wish to report a property crime... Press 2... If you are calling to set up an appointment to be arrested..."

-- EDMONTON -- RCMP spokesman Cpl. Wayne Oakes said the Crown prosecutors' office is not going to pursue Dewald's out-of-province apprehension provided Dewald makes good on his word by turning himself in at the end of the summer.

Oh Canada.

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And yet another shooting...

A young man was rushed to hospital Wednesday, after being shot several times.

Ambulance officials told 680News that the victim is about 20-years-old, and was shot in the head and leg.

The incident happened just before 7 p.m. in the area of Jane St. and Eglinton Ave.

[*]

UPDATE: Tuesday's shooting victim identified...

A residential laneway splashed with gang insignia was the scene for Toronto's latest homicide.

Blue spray paint stained the walls that line the scene near Keele St. and Rogers Rd., showing passersby that Crips, or perhaps wannabe Crip gang members, were there long before 19-year-old Daniel Lewis was gunned down Tuesday evening.

The identity of the person shot Wednesday has not yet been released.

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UPDATE2:

The latest victim, Omar Waite, 29, of Toronto, was gunned down at a bus stop at Jane St. and Eglinton Ave. W, around 6:40 p.m. yesterday.

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UPDATE3: Edmonton gets on the board

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WELCOME, YET AGAIN, READERS OF NOTED HUMANITARIAN CANADIAN CYNIC

Oh, CC... did Lloyd Robertson tell you that criminals are on the run?

Take for example Toronto Police's own website, which indicates in its own information gathering as of April 9 Toronto's shooting occurrences are up 31.3% in 2009 over this time last year, with 63 this year compared to 48 in 2008.

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It's obvious the Tamil protesters...

...are unfamiliar with the "law of unintended consequences"...

Like Hamas in Gaza, cowardly LTTE fighters are hiding behind the women and children they claim to be protecting. (In fact, the Tigers are actually killing civilians who try to flee the combat area — something even Hamas never did on a large scale during the Gaza combat.)

The Tigers’ goal appears to be saving itself — and we would not be surprised if Pirapaharan staged his own massacre of Tamils as a means to discredit Colombo and force a ceasefire that allowed him to escape.

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RELATED: An alarming trend...

"According to research by sociologist Jeffrey Reitz and others, this trend is increasingly pronounced among the second generation of immigrant visible-minority groups."

"Compared with their parents, they feel less, not more, 'Canadian'."

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"Regrets, I've had a few..."

"Oh, c'mon guys... can't we just forget about Rwanda... and Somalia... and Darfur... and the Middle East... and start over?"

*

Maybe he should have been...

...a little more specific...

A teen was shot and killed in a west-end Toronto laneway earlier this evening.

"Don't disrespect me," witnesses heard the 19-year-old shout before a series of shots were fired at about 6:30 p.m. Police said the two fleeing suspects should be considered armed and dangerous.

One was described as a black male, about six feet tall, 16 to 18 years old and skinny with hair in corn rows, while the second was described as a black male, about six feet tall, 18 to 20 years of age and of medium build with a short afro haircut.

There have been two homicides in the neighbourhood so far this year.

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RELATED: Lies, damn lies... and statistics

Crime, unfortunately, is about real people and not just numbers.

For example the slain in Toronto in 2009 -- Michael Minott, Rajeswaren Saravanamuthu, Daniel Dasilva, Peter Bowen, Alexis Eracleous, Jahmelle Grant, Basil Bryan, Kevin Boateng, Marion Lyons, Kaser Kerry St. Louis, Evelyn Alfaro Mendez and Johnny Gewarges Youkhana -- are not statistics to their families.

Take for example Toronto Police's own website, which indicates in its own information gathering as of April 9 Toronto's shooting occurrences are up 31.3% in 2009 over this time last year, with 63 this year compared to 48 in 2008.

In actual victims, there have been 77 this year compared to 68 last year. And a lot has happened since April 9.

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LAST WORD: Ask a Police Chief

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Is the Puffin King about to...

...cut loose the tone deaf narcissist... that one Liberal apparatchik recently referred to as... "Human Shrapnel"?
[*]

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Mind you, WK could argue that he's not *doing* cheap shots. What with all those lawsuits and all, his are very *expensive* shots."

And...

"Don't you love how the interviewer thinks the Iggster is 'too decent for politics'."

"Why don't the media just call him PM and we can all do away with the unecessary vote later this year."

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The Canadian Justice System

Apparently... it's not about truth...

Frank D'Angelo was found not guilty Tuesday of sexually assaulting a longtime friend's daughter by a judge who nevertheless said the former brewery owner is "probably" guilty.

Hamilton said there was little evidence for him to consider other than the two stories.

"I am faced with one witness against another," he said in delivering his verdict. "But the issue before me is not whose version of events is true," rather whether a reasonable doubt was raised.

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FROM THE COMMENTS: The Judge might think he's guilty...

...but CC lickspittle "Liberal Supporter" knows who's really to blame...
Yeah, you despicable scumbag... blame the victim.

And don't stop there, Libby... explain to us some more, how having sex with the child of a "longtime family friend" is just fine with you.

Unbelievable.

Or is it?

Remember "Liberal Supporter's shtick" before he had the stones to use his actual drive-by trolling identity?
Good grief... who are these freaks?

*

As the world edges closer....

...to a wild-eyed, nuclear-armed theocracy...

Taliban fighters in the region have not put down their weapons. Armed militants have spread into nearby areas and the mediator of the agreement is now denouncing lawmakers and judicial officials as infidels.

This is gonna be interesting.

I keep trying to imagine Defense Minister Bin-Laden giving the new Islamic state's keynote address... at the United Nations.

Diplomatic immunity, baby... it's a bitch.

**********

RELATED: Pervez, come back... all is forgiven

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Just another reason...

...I don't really give a shite about the media-manufactured Tamil Tiger frenzy in Ottawa.

A close family member gears up for a real fight...

"I am going to just get on with it and get the treatments I can get and hope for the best. I'm scaring all sorts of people, the kids are very scared. It is cancer after all."

"My best friend put it out plain, she says, 'I don't want you to die.' She and I can say what we mean and not have to be politically correct."

"That's what people want to tell me but saying it is pretty raw."

Here's a woman who has worked her ass off her whole life... raised a family, paid taxes... and now she has to sit and wait for treatment.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people waving "terrorist flags"... have been tying up the nation's capital for three weeks now.

These folks are all on vacation? And who foots the bill for that?

**********

UPDATE: Freedom fighters, my ass...

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) footage of the Sri Lanka Air Force showing a small group of armed LTTE cadres firing indiscriminately at a group of civilians attempting to cross over to the cleared areas in North of Puthumathalan where the Army 55 division is stationed.

In the footage the vague shapes of civilians shot by the LTTE are visible upon closer inspection.

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LAST WORD: Sure... no flags, no terror...

There were no signs of the flags at Tuesday's protest, with leaders hoping that might convince politicians to address the crowd.

The Tamil Tigers have been linked to assassinations and are considered the first modern-day organization to popularize the practice of suicide bombings.

The group's followers are widely credited with designing the suicide vest, now used most commonly in the Middle East.

*

Paging Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Dear Mr "Push Israel into the Sea"... maybe you forgot a few small details...

In addition to the 32 killings mentioned above, the relatives of one suspected collaborator shot him to death "to restore the family's honor."

"Of particular concern is the widespread practice of maiming people by shooting them in the legs, which Hamas first used in June 2007, when it seized control of the Gaza Strip."

**********

RELATED: Meanwhile, in Never-never Land...

“At the United Nations we demand that conferences and debates be held in a spirit of mutual respect and dignity,” UN spokeswoman Mr. Heuze said.

*

Dick or no dick?

"Should health coverage fund sex change operations?"

*

Hope, Change and...

...stay Steffi stay...

Despite leader Michael Ignatieff's vow that his party would no longer sit on its hands during votes in Parliament, Liberal MPs have missed three times as many votes in the House of Commons so far this year as Conservative members.

Three cheers for the Puffin King... just look at how he's turning the Liberal Party around...

The Liberals posted the worst record for voting in the House, standing to be counted fewer times on average than even Bloc Quebecois MPs.

And when Liberal MPs did show up, they voted the same way as the Conservatives 79% of the time. By contrast, Bloc MPs supported the government on only 14% of votes.

**********

RELATED: Ask a lefty journalist...

“Take any story on what's happening to women in Afghanistan and switch the word ‘women’ to ‘men,’” she proposes. “See how bizarre it is?”

Whoah, that is trippy! And can you imagine if antebellum Americans had enslaved, say, chickens, instead of black people? Makes you think, don’t it?

*

Yeah, who could have possibly...

...seen that coming, huh?

"With that, the 23 European Union countries who had not yet boycotted the conference abandoned their seats and streamed out of the hall."

[*]

UPDATE: A nation of haters...

"Iranian state media described Mr Ahmadinejad as the superstar of the conference."

*

Dear Balbulican

Exactly how many whiskies does it take to get that disgusting taste outta your mouth?
[*]

RELATED: And Balbul brought a brainy friend...
The much-vaunted CC Lickspittle Brigade in action.

*

THE PITBULL CHRONICLES

“I still remember the first time I got served,” he reminisced. “I was in my first year of law school.”

*

Trust the fuzzy-bunny, socialist...

...Vancouver Sun... to make this story all about diversity...

It's just a shame she didn't O.D., huh?

They could have tossed in a couple of graphs about Insite.

*

Bright lights, big city...

...drippy plumbing...

Yet another chapter in the never-ending demise of personal responsibility.

Don't miss the various other maps.

*

From the people who brought you...

...lead-painted baby toys...

*

Dave's not here, man

The usual incoherent anonymous trolling oughta be a little lighter this afternoon...

"It's our first awakening," said Toronto Hash Mob founder Davin Christensen. "We're getting out of the house and showing everyone that the stoners haven't gone away."

And hey... I'm guessing their moms will be happy to see them off the basement couch.

**********

UPDATE: Looks like I spoke too soon...

Stoogeleft gets it on... with good buddies Dr Dawg and Canadian Cesspool.

And their call to arms brings the compassionate, intellectual leftosphere running...
You guys are just so cute.

*

"Heaven forfend..."

"...we simply shoot 'em..."

Modern pirates are creating a market for modern pirate repellents.

The owners of ships that ply the dangerous waters near Somalia are looking at options including slippery foam, lasers, electric fences, water cannons and high-intensity sound.

**********

RELATED: More "catch & release"...

The Canadian ship sent a boarding party to search the skiff and found a rocket-propelled grenade, said HMCS Winnipeg spokesman Michael McWhinnie.

Crew members interrogated, disarmed and released the pirates, he said.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"That's all the bullets we had, or we would have shot him more," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told reporters.

[*]

"ALL THOSE IN FAVOUR..."

"...raise your right stump..."

*

Hope, Change and...

...same old, same old...

Obama knows it's going to take some strong garlic to ward off the vampires on his side of the aisle and restore a sense of integrity in government.

Unfortunately, his intended reform is driving stakes through the hearts of innocent bystanders only.

The problem isn't that his rules are too strict. It's that they miss the crucial distinction between the kind of lobbying that's good for democracy and the kind that perverts it.

**********

RELATED: That whole "forgiving Bill" thing...

is suddenly becoming a lot clearer...

“I thought the cultural performance was fascinating,” Clinton said.

Asked again about the Ortega speech, Clinton said: “To have those first class Caribbean entertainers on all on one stage and to see how much was done in such a small amount of space, I was overwhelmed.”

Misdirection and outright lies... it's how the fuzzy-bunny socialists roll.

*

Funny how the compassionate leftosphere...

...just glosses over the war zone in Southern Ontario...

A 22-year-old woman is expected to survive after being shot during a wild melee at a Scarborough bar that sent six to hospital this morning.

Toronto Police said a fight erupted inside J and G Bar and. Eatery on Danforth Rd. east of Birchmount Rd. at 3 a.m.

Police said five men including the gunman were stabbed by one suspect, who is being sought by detectives.

**********

RELATED: Five stabbed, one shot in the head...

...how does fuzzy-bunny CTV play it?

Sorry, Lloyd... this is to "brawling"... what addition & subtraction is - to "double-entry accounting".

**********

LAST WORD: I guess it could be worse...

I put it to Siphiwe that there might be a Western liberal view that such inequality spawns crime.

He would have none of it. He had walked with complete safety in similarly divided parts of India, he said.

"Our problems are caused by something else," he said firmly.

"I think we have levels of greed that are probably higher and levels of immorality and people lacking a good value system."

**********

WELCOME YET AGAIN, READERS OF CANADIAN CYNIC

So, CC... now you're supporting the Canadian military? How exactly does that work?

Remember Canadian Cesspool's message to Wanda Watkins, whose son Lane was killed in Afghanistan?

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

Yeah... a patriot AND a humanitarian.

*

The Euroweenies strike back

How come there's never a Navy SEAL around... when you really need one?

-- ON BOARD CORTE-REAL -- The commandos briefly detained and questioned the seven gunmen, he told Reuters, but had no legal power to arrest them.

“NATO does not have a detainment policy. The warship must follow its national law.”

**********

RELATED: Of course, it's not like Ontario...

...has a lot to crow about...

The father of a baby girl dumped in a frigid North York stairwell last year will serve no additional jail time and mom has to pay a $300 fine, a court has ruled.

The parents of Baby Angelica-Leslie pleaded guilty in a Toronto courtroom Thursday to abandoning the year-old tot in a parking garage in Janauary 2008.

Neither parent can be named to protect the identity of the little girl found lying facedown in the stairway in -14C temperatures. She was also had cuts and bruises on her face at the time she was found.

**********

LAST WORD: But we're tough on terror, right?

-- BRAMPTON -- A youth convicted for his part in the so-called Toronto 18 terror cell will be sentenced as an adult, a Superior Court judge ruled yesterday.

But depending on the amount of pre-trial credit awarded to the man, the additional amount of jail time he'd be required to spend might amount to little, if any, more time behind bars.

*

You know you want to...

The book, Theo Gray's Mad Science: Experiments You Can Do at Home but Probably Shouldn't, is packed with things that can actually maim you, as well as projects you'd let elementary-school kids do unsupervised, with crystal-clear warnings for each along the way.

*

Is there anything you can't do...

...with that amazing miracle meat?

*

Damn that whole memory thing...

...now I'm just gonna have to walk around until I match up a license plate with my ownership...

“To confirm message I left on your voicemail, to clarify, I do not own a North American made vehicle.”

*

As Canadian as...

...Chelo kebabs...

-- Toronto -- A Toronto man is facing numerous charges after allegedly trying to send nuclear technology to Iran, a country under intense international pressure to curtail its nuclear ambitions, police said Friday.

Mahmoud Yadegari, who police said is a Toronto businessman in his mid-30s, is charged under the Customs Act and Export Import Permits Act, and is also accused of violating UN sanctions on Iran.

**********

RELATED: In other "bright lights, big city" news...

Toronto Police have made a quick arrest after a a man was found slain in the basement of a Leslieville home.

Jason Coleman, 21, of Toronto, surrendered around 8 a.m., was is facing second-degree murder charges.

**********

LAST WORD: What the fuckin' fuck!?!

“No one is allowed to have a gun on their premises for protection in the city. We have laws that govern the ownership and handling of guns. Anyone in possession of a gun has to have it safely stored in a designated place,” said Insp. Eric Grummisch.

*

It makes as least as much sense...

...as anything else I've heard...

Wombat droppings are helping an industrial town in the Australian state of Tasmania to fight the effects of the global financial crisis.

*

Marty the race-baiting troll...

..gets an ass-whupping...

Another drive-by commenter here at the halls gets his brain caught in his zipper...

"Most of the kids at this school are black".

Which, after a little disputation, quickly turns into...

"It's certainly no secret that C.W. Jeffrey's has a lot of black kids."

Which elicits any number of responses... the pithiest of which is...

"If a past history of slavery is the current cause of this problem then us Jews from eastern Germany should be the baddest mo-fos around."

It's actually pretty funny when you think about.

"Canadian Cesspool" doesn't have the stones to show up here and comment himself... but he can just wind up all his little dimbulb squirrels...

Funny how that works.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Today I'm Marty, tomorrow I'll(sic) someone else."

Yeah CC, you dumbstick... that's my point.

*

In Iraq... senseless violence is Job#1

"I think that a lot of the executions with torture had to do with trying to get people to move out of their houses," said Michael Spagat, one of the study's authors. "It had to strike fear into people's hearts."

"A lot of it is just hatred and retribution."

*

Where's Samuel L. Jackson...

...when you really motha******* need him?

*

Deal... or no deal

“It's not pleasant, it's not palatable to the union, I understand that. But we cannot have a situation where the union is resisting the reality of the situation and then expecting the Canadian taxpayers and the Ontario taxpayers to contribute.”

*

C.W. Jeffreys?

That sounds so familiar...

A 16-year-old boy was arrested at C.W. Jeffreys Collegiate Institute after officers found a loaded handgun on him this morning, police allege.

Plainclothes officers from the 31 Division street crime unit were investigating the teen inside the school, near Keele St. and Finch Ave. W., when they found the gun just before 10 a.m., Toronto Police Const. Tony Vella said.

The teen faces nine weapons-related charges in addition to charges for breaching bail and probation orders.

Whoa, whoa, whoa... that C.W. Jeffreys?

Salmon said such violence occurs in many schools across Ontario and Canada. "The halls in this school, without a doubt, unequivocally, are an extremely safe place," he said.

"When you walk my halls during the day, you can hear a pin drop."

And yes... yet again... Mayor Miller's office strangely silent, on which gun club he belonged to.

*

Ask an Artsie

Even with the constant threats, students are hesitant about the idea of adding more security on campus, “Putting too much security on campus will feel like our freedom is being constricted,” said first-year fine arts cultural studies student, Jaesel Mazana.

Well, sweetie, maybe this is just me, but I'm thinkin'... "better your freedom... than your neck".

In any case, ol' Jaesel is spouting absolute nonsense.

Nobody here is suggesting throwing up a cement wall around campus. At best, budget permitting, they might toss a few more unarmed rent-a-cops into the patrol rotation.

But hey... that'd be socially disruptive and frightening... 'cos we're Canadian.

Good grief.

*

Now, c'mon folks... settle down

It's not like they don't have some pretty stringent rules here...

Saudi Arabia says it plans to start regulating the marriage of young girls, amid controversy over a union between a 60-year-old man and a girl of eight.

A court in Unaiza upheld the marriage on condition the groom does not have sex with her until she reaches puberty.

*

Swimming against the current...

...makes you stronger...

"Ezra likes to say that the HRCs and Section 13 are “unCanadian.” I respectfully disagree. I can’t think of anything more Canadian."

"They perfectly embody the Trudeaupian, “Centennial celebration” Canada I was born into."

*

The dumbing down of America

So tell me... was it more exciting that "The One" got his kids a dog... or are the royal spouse's unquestioningly impeccable biceps still a contender?

I mean, what a freakin' zoo.

There couldn't possibly have been more media hysteria about this thing... if Obama had actually run over a dog... with a Humvee... and a big fat spliff hangin' from his lower lip.

The real question here should be... why are sober, informed individuals still turning into giggly little schoolgirls every time Obama does a public pirouette? Gawd forbid he throws somebody a kiss... there could be bloody riots.

I haven't seen anything like this since my sisters were turned into hysterical ninnies by the Bay City Rollers.

Seriously.

*

Breathe… engage your five senses...

...close your eyes and inhale deeply.

Be in the present moment, notice the color of the chocolate, the glossy shine.

Rub your thumb over the chocolate bar to release the aromas of smoked applewood bacon flirting with deep milk chocolate.

Snap off just a tiny piece and place it in your mouth, let the lust of salt and sweet coat your tongue.

(via david thompson)

The trouble with trolls

My own personal troll... who... oh-so coincidentally... happens to be Canadian Cynic's biggest cheerleader... has apparently lost his mind over this post and challenged me to a duel...

I dunno, CC... er... Libby.

It's an awfully long drive down here from Waterloo.

You sure you won't get lost?

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"I thought the first rule of the fightclub was that you didn't talk about the fightclub."

And...

Dear LS:

You are making an ass of yourself. Everyone is laughing at you. The idea of someone being tough over the internet is ludicrous.

Please, for your own sake, get your lithium prescription refilled.

**********

BREAKING UPDATE: Suddenly CC, er... Libby, decides...

...he DOES support the troops... and, I guess, snowmobilers...
My arsenal, huh? And I should bring it with me? Hmmm... bring it to this place where you're gonna show me "a real man", right?

And it's just gonna be you & me... and the OPP? Hey... there's a plan.

Well, I have to say dumbstick... you can pedal as hard as you want... but you sure ain't gettin' anywhere.

Hey, CC... which colourful wingnut have you got on deck?

Batter up!

*

Hope, Change and...

...drop trou, bend over and grab your ankles...

The New York Times reports the Obama administration is considering tolerating Iran's nuclear activities at the same time it would hold talks with Tehran.

The newspaper says the U.S. and Europe would press Iran to gradually open its nuclear program to wider inspections, but would allow Tehran to continue enriching uranium for some period during the talks.

I guess "The One" is too busy personally supervising SEAL sniper teams... to deal with those pesky Iranians.

Heck... what's a few nuclear missiles between "respectful friends" anyway?

*

So, is he lying now...

...or was he lying then?

-- OTTAWA -- Mr. Schreiber says access to Mr. Mulroney was easy and he met him formally and informally many times during his tenure as prime minister, including a memorable get-together at Mr. Harper's summer residence at Harrington Lake.

But during a 2004 court case, he testified he only met Mr. Mulroney on a couple of exceptional occasions.

He never mentioned Harrington Lake.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"It seems the Toronto Gripe and Wail has edited the story to remove any mention of Harper.

I'm curious if there were, at one time, comments to the story as now there are no comments but a note saying 'comments are now closed'."

Oh my goodness... that's shocking... isn't it?

*

You've got...

...a long way, baby...

Young women attending Kabul University expressed surprise and bewilderment at the debate raging in Canada.

She said she was familiar with the controversial legislation, which President Hamid Karzai has pledged to urgently review in the face of strong complaints from western governments. "But we do not want total freedom."

"We wanted it to be limited and to be within Islam."

(h/t reader rich)

Capital punishment or execution...

...whichever comes first...

"By delisting gender reassignment surgery, the government is performing capital punishment or execution on that person."

*

Canadian soldier killed in Af'stan

Trooper Karine Blais, who had arrived just days ago from Canada with the 12th Armoured Regiment based in Val Cartier, Que., was killed in action when her vehicle was hit by a homemade bomb.

Blais, 21, was the 117th Canadian to be killed in Afghanistan since the start of the conflict in 2002.

She will be remembered.

**********

UPDATE: Incredibly, Canadian Cynic, aka Robert Day...

...once again decides to direct his venom to this very post to sully the memory of another slain soldier...
And of course, it's not the first time.

Remember what CC had to say to the mother of slain Canadian soldier Lane Watkins?

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

You simply cannot get any lower.

You have to ask yourself... "What exactly is it about women... that sets this sicko off?"

And hey, if at first you don't succeed... link again... and again...
**********

LAST WORD: Good ol' Canadian Cesspool...

...sends in the "B team"...
Sorry, Kevvy... you're just too needy.

*

Nope, not tasers...

...yet again...

"As many as 200,000 die, and about 400,000 lose limbs."

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"We already have a snake registry. If you donate enough the LPC will give you a card."

*

Sorry Ariana... I think I'm gonna stick...

...with my Koko the Gorilla collection...

She uses a blunt knitting needle to trace her art works and the condition, dermatographia, means her skin swells up in five minutes.

The resulting pictures have gone on display in art galleries and sold for up to $4,500 (£3,070)

Now... if she ever sits down in a woven wicker chair...

*

Hope, Change and but, but, but...

...this time it's different...

"Taliban fighters have been known to coerce Afghans into falsely claiming that civilians were killed, but the U.S. has also been slow to acknowledge when its operations kill innocent Afghans."

Well, whaddaya know... Obama gets elected and SUDDENLY the Taliban might be telling a few "nose-stretchers"?

*

J-School 101

Go with the big, dramatic headline...
Even if it's patently ridiculous...

Gotta sell those papers somehow, right?

*

Not to me, it isn't...

"It's unclear why the woman entered the bear habitat."

*

Tonight's CTV Moonbat Moment

Good grief... it's the "Danny Millions" defense.

Apparently the lawlessness in Somalia is another one of those "root causes" deals...

"It's either piracy or poverty," announces yet another socialist tv talking head.

**********

RELATED: Can't you just see it?

Captured pirate to be tried in United States...

"Then some famous lawyer will take his case and say the poor guy was driven to a life of crime because he came from a broken home – his father only had TWO wives!"

(via shaidle)

Once again, cheap plastic geegaws...

...trump "human rights"...

"What should be the primary goal of Canadian policy toward China?"

*

SEALS club defenseless Sailors

Jamac Habeb, a 30-year-old pirate, said that the killing of the three pirates was “a painful experience.”

“This is unfortunate action and our friends should have done more to kill the captain before they were killed. This will be a good lesson for us.”

**********

RELATED: Live and don't learn

-- MOMBASA, Kenya -- Undeterred by American and French hostage rescues that killed seven bandits, Somali pirates brazenly hijacked three more ships today in the Gulf of Aden, the waterway that's become the focal point of the world's fight against piracy.

Hmmm... the SEALS are right there... I'm sure they brought along more than three bullets...

*

Less Vigil... More Vigilance

So the community is "stepping up"... with candles?

" -- WOODSTOCK, ONT -- 'I think what's happening with members of the public is an expression of their emotions, their concern for this child. And I think that's good, in terms of the willingness of this community to step up,' Mayor Michael Harding told CBC News on Saturday."

This accomplishes exactly what? Besides, I mean... getting your 15 minutes of fame on the CBC National news.

Unlike the folks who show up along the highway from CFB Trenton to Toronto... to express their respect for the sacrifice of our slain soldiers... these people are more like gawkers at a terrible accident.

The one instance is a sign of respect directed towards the grieving families of the dead and... just as importantly... their compatriots on the far away battlefield. The other is merely a juvenile, self-conscious and overly contrived way to pretend that they are actually doing something useful.

It's like the crowds of sobbing 14 year-old students performing for the media, after some other kid they barely knew is killed in a car accident or a stupid brawl.

I salute all the folks who actually went out there and helped with the search. Likewise all the people who manned phones or distributed fliers. You know... the people who actually performed useful activities.

Let's just be honest here. There is absolutely nothing, besides the return of their missing child, that will make these parents feel better. Even if they consent to go on this very same newscast and express appreciation for this dog and pony show... it'll just be another lie... another case of doing what, these days... we are apparently expected to do.

A sop to the public thirst for morbid thrills.

It's purposeless and, more to the point, aside from making the participants feel better about themselves, accomplishes nothing. It's the neighbourhood version of those corporate team-building exercises we've all come to despise.

You don't look out for the interests of a child after the fact.

You do it before.

**********

UPDATE: Yes, gentle soul CC... I've been expecting you

But five times on this one post? Hmmm... smells a lot like desperation.
**********

LAST WORD: Tori's mum expresses her gratitude

As for those persistent stories that the composite looks like the mom?

"Woodstock is full of rumours and stories and crap, to be quite honest with you," she replies.

*

Once upon a time...

...there was a pretty clear demarcation between "good and evil"... consequently, most people could know exactly where they stood on any particular issue.

Hitler, Stalin and Tojo were unequivocally bad people. Criminals deserved to be punished. The Dalai Lama was a force for good. Capitalism made people's lives better.

The "watering down" of any sort of claim to moral authority, though... has changed the way the world works.

“The Security Council condemns the 5 April 2009 launch by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), which is in contravention of Security Council resolution 1718,” the U.S.-drafted statement said.

“The Security Council demands that the DPRK not conduct any further launch.”

“We think this text sends a clear message,” U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice told reporters.

Yes, Ambassador... it does.

It sends exactly the same message... that my alcohol-soaked father shouted at my 17 year-old self when he was displeased with my behaviour... that he was totally powerless to affect my behaviour.

Instead of "being grounded" as he so desperately desired, I was able to simply walk out the door and go live with whichever of my friends was willing to take me in for the duration of his latest tantrum.

It's a crude analogy... but after years of ineffectual "statements" and "warnings" the fractious offspring of the United Nations do indeed have Daddy's number.

The deal on the final text of a so-called presidential statement was clinched at a two-hour meeting on Saturday that ended a weeklong deadlock on a Security Council response to North Korea's rocket launch last Sunday.

Presidential statements are formal statements of council positions read out by the president of the Security Council. They are generally considered to be weaker than resolutions.

And to top it all off... there's Mom... sitting there at the table, watering down whatever judgement ol' Dad finally manages to come up with.

Although the statement does not explicitly declare Pyongyang in “violation” of 1718, diplomats said the finding that it contravened the resolution, a compromise that was acceptable to Beijing, has the same legal meaning.

The United Nations, much like the bloated, pork-driven Canadian Senate... is simply a way to reward your friends and political backers for a job well done.

It's an anachronistic public-relations agency... that allows every tin-pot dictator in the world to sugarcoat his bloodsoaked image.

It's time for a change. It's time to get back to actually calling things by their proper names.

Yeah sure... that could happen.

*

"I'm not against gift-giving..."

"...in international relations. But it would be nice to see some reciprocity. Obama was in a giving mood throughout Europe. While Gordon Brown was trying to make his American DVDs work and the queen was rocking to her new iPod, the rest of Europe was enjoying a more fulsome Obama gift."

"Our president came bearing a basketful of mea culpas. With varying degrees of directness or obliqueness, Obama indicted his own people for arrogance, for dismissiveness and derisiveness, for genocide, for torture, for Hiroshima, for Guantanamo and for insufficient respect for the Muslim world."

"And what did he get for this obsessive denigration of his own country? He wanted more NATO combat troops in Afghanistan to match the surge of 17,000 Americans."

"He was rudely rebuffed."

**********

RELATED: The "free ride" continues...

If the incompetent management driving The New York Times from junk status to oblivion wished to decelerate their terminal decline, they might usefully amend their motto to "All The News That's Fit To Distract."

Tom Blumer of Newsbusters notes that in the past 30 days there have been some 2,500 stories featuring Obama and "distractions," as opposed to about 800 "distractions" for Bush in his entire second term.

*

So somebody refresh my memory...

How many people have died from being tasered in the last five months?

-- VALEMOUNT, B.C. -- Other snowmobilers were able to locate the man and dig him out but efforts to revive the victim were unsuccessful.

Nineteen snowmobilers have died in avalanches in B.C. and Alberta this winter.

*

Again... this one's a no-brainer...

...do you criminalize the gun... or the shooter...

Phillip Berger, one of Canada's best-known AIDS doctors, has worked tirelessly both here and in Africa for more than 30 years. He's fed up – fed up with the efforts of the HIV-AIDS establishment to evade the issue of personal responsibility.

“I think people who deliberately, deceitfully and maliciously mislead people are no different from someone taking a gun and shooting them,” he says. “They should be held accountable, not go to therapy somewhere.” He points out that the law does not criminalize HIV.

It criminalizes irresponsible behaviour.

And hey... it only took 4 taxpayer funded years.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS: You're not going to like it, Neo

Only in Canada could the police find a driver asleep at the wheel, find $2,000 worth of crack cocaine inside the car, charge the operator with trafficking, get the dope off the street and yet, still be considered the bad guys!

It happened this week here in Toronto.

*

Who says Sunnis & Shias...

...can't ever agree on anything...

Though the law only applies to the country's Shiite population — 10 per cent to 20 per cent of Afghanistan's 30 million people — Mr. Mohseni, the country's top Shiite cleric, said most of the articles could also be applied to Sunnis.

A prominent Sunni cleric, Mawlawi Habibullah Ahsam, said the rules about women submitting to sex and leaving the home would also be acceptable to Sunnis.

So... rolling back the clock to the 14th century... that works for everybody?

**********

UPDATE: Ooops... looks like I spoke too soon

There's still a little tension in the big Islamic tent...

At least 9 people were killed and more than 20 were wounded, Saturday, when a suicide bomber targeted members of U.S.-allied Sunni militiamen.

**********

RELATED: Show me the honour

This week, an article in the European Journal of Public Health estimated that “One in every five homicides in Pakistan is a so-called ‘honour killing.’”

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Let's do an experiment. For the next week the whole world is under Sharia law. Then we can settle this once and for all."

*

Trespassers will be vaporised

*

"Save us, oh wonderful Obama"

"For too long, America has been too dismissive of the proud culture and invaluable contributions of the Pirate Community. Whether it is their pioneering work with prosthetics, husbandry of tropical birds or fanciful fashion sense, America owes a deep debt to Pirates."

"Some of us wonder if our current Overseas Contingency Operation would even be needed had the last administration not been so quick to label Pirates as 'thieves,' 'terrorists' and worse."

"Such swashbucklaphobia can lead to tragic results, as we have seen this week."

(via sda)

UPDATE: Yeah... how's that workin' out for you...

Pirates operating in the Gulf of Aden have seized an Italian-flagged boat with Italian crew on board, while an American captain remains in the captivity of other pirates.

White House officials say they are working towards a peaceful solution, with the help of both FBI and U.S. Navy negotiators.

Hey, Barry... maybe you didn't bow low enough.

*

The aptly self-referenced...

..."sh!t from hell"... gets a glowing, as in radioactive... review from Macleans...

In 2007, for example, Kinsella called Mark Steyn the “best conservative writer alive.” A year and a half later, Steyn was a “country club bigot and pompous windbag.”

In 2006, Kinsella implied he couldn’t work for Ignatieff: “I simply object to too many of Michael Ignatieff’s views,” he wrote. Yet he will work in Michael Ignatieff’s war room in the next election.

Even his comrades in arms are starting to get leery...

“Bottom line is that Liberals just don’t get why we’d choose to stand next to a human shrapnel machine,” said a longtime Liberal who has worked with Kinsella frequently over the years but has since fallen out with him.

The point you don't wanna lose sight of here... is that this is the guy Michael Ignatieff wants... pulling levers in his war-room.

*

Commenters rise up & rebel...

...over fuzzy-bunny, politically-correct agenda at Toronto Red Star.

-- P.S. -- Almost forgot to mention the lovely artwork the Star commissioned for this piece.

Apparently... if we dare strike down the Liberals 2 billion dollar "Farmer Bob Rifle Registry"... our streets will be flooded with the British Army's latest fully automatic (and mysteriously equipped with a deer-hunting scope) Bullpup Assault Rifle.

Yes, once again, it's... "Machineguns in our Streets"... "We're not kidding".

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS: Here's a thought...

...a "Sociopathic Whack Job Registry"...

[*]

Britain dodges a bullet...

...this time...

Eleven of the 12 arrested in raids across the North West on Wednesday - including at Liverpool’s John Moores University - were Pakistani nationals, and 10 of them were in Britain on student visas.

"Bogus" colleges have enabled migrants from around the world to come to Britain by claiming that they are students on further education courses, or learning English.

You think the wonderful "nanny state" is gonna keep you safe and warm?

Think again.

The absence of automatic interviews for every applicant for a visa has allowed bogus students, in turn, to escape proper scrutiny by British officials who issue the travel document overseas.

There are up to 2,000 such "bogus" institutions in the UK, according to the Home Office.

**********

RELATED: Oh, Oh Canada

*

It's not just Brian Knight

Some people are just wired that way... they have to do "the right thing"...

"I told them, 'You need to get somebody out here because if I catch them I'm going to kill them.'"

[*]

RELATED: Less Mr. Rogers... more Marcus Luttrell

"Let's spend a little less time worrying about the rights of criminals... and more about the rights of law abiding citizens."

*

Parliament Hill Festival Series 2009

Anybody know if there are any tickets left for 'Hamas on the Rideau'?

"Demonstrators banged on drums, waved flags and placards and chanted 'Tamil Tigers, freedom fighters.'"

*

Scratch a "Wingnuterer"...

...find a lyin' sack-o-shite...
Well, Zorph... I can see you're feeling pretty pleased with yourself.

I just don't understand why, because...

One - creating a Blogger ID - solely for the purpose of partisan trolling is both incredibly obnoxious and blatantly dishonest.

Two - I never accused Scott Tribe of being "Liberal Supporter"... that'd be, well... you... just now.

Three - This proud declaration of deliberate duplicity isn't something to shout fom the rooftops. Where I come from, this is something to be ashamed of... .. it simply speaks to your obvious lack of integrity.

Think about it, Zee... why should anybody ever trust a single word you ever say again?

Oh, that's right... you're a proud Socialist. It's not about the means... just the end..

And Zorph... you're all about the name-calling aren't you?

You seem to be pretty fond of the term "nancy-boy". How do all your socialist buddies feel about your seemingly "homophobic" slurs?

Good grief.

**********

RELATED: You can tell a lot...

... about a person by the company he keeps...

"The other folks at 'Gidget goes Granola' included... Philip Qua of The Wingnuterer..."

Looks like the Wingnuterers are all "birds of a feather".

**********

UPDATE: The little pack of scavengers grows...
Go Balbully go...
At least, unlike Zorpheus... you're not pretending to be somebody else.

*

Igor... get me a brain!

A week later... Conficker shudders and moans...

The Conficker botnet has stirred to life, using its peer-to-peer communication system to update itself and download scareware (fake anti-virus programs) to millions of infected Windows machines.

*

It all depends, I suppose...

...on your definition of "progressive"...

I’ve always thought the term “Progressive Conservative” was like apologizing with the first breath of your introduction.

The name also implies that you want to be all things to all people rather than standing firm on your principles.

“Conservative? Oh, don’t worry, we’re ‘progressive’ too!”

*

Live and don't learn

The further capricious & unknowable "Will of Allah"...

A bomb has exploded in a mainly Shia Muslim part of Baghdad, killing seven people and injuring at least 20 others, Iraq police have said.

It exploded about 100m (100 yards) from the tomb of Imam Mousa al-Kazim, holy to Shia Muslims.

Last January, a man disguised as a woman blew himself up near the shrine, killing more than three dozen people and wounding more than 70.

**********

UPDATE: And, naturally, the Shia are enraged...

...just not at the guys setting off the bombs...

Tens of thousands of supporters of Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr have rallied against the US presence in Iraq, six years after Saddam Hussein's fall.

**********

LAST WORD: Dear President Peace Moonbeam...

That's nice that you've made up with the Islamic peoples of the world... I just hope you weren't expecting them to reciprocate...

Armed officers from the North West Counter-Terrorism Unit arrested 12 men under the Terrorism Act in Liverpool, Manchester and Clitheroe on 8 April.

Coming soon to a neighbourhood near you.

*

Here's a thought...

How about... instead of chasing after skeet shooters, duck hunters and farmers... we try throwing a couple billion taxpayer dollars at running down actual criminals?

(via reader scott)

**********

UPDATE: Maybe "Farmer Bob's" coyote rifle...

...shouldn't be at the top of that list after all...

Nanaimo RCMP seized a high-powered arsenal yesterday morning, including a .50-calibre machine gun, two automatic assault rifles, grenades, explosives and other firearms - 41 weapons in total.

Police also seized at least $50,000 in cash, half a kilogram of cocaine, and an assortment of blasting caps and detonator cords. But they were particularly concerned about the .50-calibre machine gun, powerful enough to destroy vehicles and airplanes.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Its hard to police criminals because they don't follow the laws. Those nasty criminals don't care one bit about all the rules I have to follow to get my handguns to the range and back."

*

It's baa-aaack...

Thought polio was a thing of the past? Think again...

Several years ago, northern Nigeria's reluctance to immunize its children against polio caused the wild virus to spread to neighboring countries.

Religious and political leaders suspended vaccinations claiming the polio vaccine was contaminated and could spread HIV/AIDS and sterilize girls.

In other, more hopeful, Nigerian medical news... the "child witch outbreak" appears to be well in hand.

*

Dressing down the Puffin King

The Liberals... they're flexible...

“Mr. Ignatieff and the Liberal Party, when this matter first broke, were practically demanding that I throw Mr. Mulroney in prison without a trial,” Mr. Harper said.

“Now they're out there pretending that somehow they're his best friends and they don't agree with any of this.

I think what Canadians will see is when it comes to a very difficult issue of government conduct and government ethics, this government has behaved responsibly and the other party, the other leader, has absolutely no moral compass.”

Sounds like the Liberals would have been way better off hiding this particular piece of excrement...

The element of this that's too funny for words... is that the Fiberals have been branding Iggy as "the smart one".

**********

RELATED: This isn't really about Revenue Canada

It's about a longstanding, persistent culture of corruption in Quebec.

Canada's own little Chicago.

*

Bold new 'stimulus package' initiative

Lamborghinis for law enforcement...

There is fierce competition for the world's fastest police car with the Italians and Germans vying for the title.

Up until now the police prix d'or has been held by a Lamborghini Gallardo which an Italian police patrol is using on the Salerno-Reggio Calabria highway.

It is capable of hitting a top speed of 192mph, which is probably ample to keep up with the most reckless of motorists.

*

Hope, Change and...

...a little Obama pixie-dust... makes Pakistani sovereignty magically disappear...

The suspected strike indicates the Obama administration is unlikely to give up a Bush-era tactic American officials say has killed a string of al-Qaida operatives, even if it strains the relationship with Islamabad.

Funny how that works.

**********

RELATED: "Raindrops on roses & whiskers on kittens..."

The president quixotically says that a further U.S.-Russian nuclear drawdown will give the United States "greater moral authority to say to Iran, 'Don't develop a nuclear weapon,' to say to North Korea, 'Don't proliferate nuclear weapons.' "

This is a charming notion, but it displays shocking ignorance of the strategic rationale driving countries toward creating or expanding their nuclear arsenals.

In general, the smaller and less powerful the country, the more beneficial nuclear weapons are.

North Korea, the poster child for rogue countries with nuclear weapons, is a failed totalitarian state that has rendered itself immune from attack for fear of the consequences.

*

Journalists...

...our moral and intellectual superiors...

A Toronto man has been slapped with gun and drug charges, including attempted murder, after a shooting in the city's north end, police said this morning.

Emergency crews responding to a call for a shooting at 11 Shoreham Court, near Jane St. and Steeles Ave. W., found a 20-year-old man shot in the left leg at 5 p.m. Sunday, Toronto Police said.

Kalvin Small, 28, was arrested on charges of attempted murder while using a firearm and six other gun charges.

Geez... why does that name sound so familiar?

-- TORONTO -- Multiple charges including attempted murder have been laid against the older brother of Jordan Manners, the 15-year-old Toronto high school student shot to death at C.W. Jefferys Collegiate almost two years ago.

Hoo-boy... it's a Small, Small world.

Necole Small, 25, is one of 21 women arrested and faces a charge of possession of a prohibited firearm with ammunition.

I guess some folks are just really unlucky, huh?

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

Thank goodness for those strong family values.

-- BRAMPTON -- A parolee released in June and described by police sources as a cousin of shooting victim Jordan Manners was yesterday charged in the gun murder of an East York man as a birthday party ended.

**********

RELATED: Apparently the case was re-asssigned...

...to Detective Dora the Explorer...

A detective working on the Kalvin Small case called the arrest "a sad thing for the family."

"It's an unfortunate event and I'm hoping that the family can cope with the news, in light of everything that's happened to them."

Not word one about the guy who got shot... or his family.

Funny how that works.

*

Going, going... gone

To be honest... I'm kinda surprised to see the 41%.*

Who could have seen this one coming?

Well, for starters... the parents of just about any garden variety two year old.
[*]

UPDATE: Kicking ass & taking names...

The US crew of a ship hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia has retaken control of the vessel, according to Pentagon sources.

One prisoner taken...

The status of the other pirates was unknown, but officials said they were "in the water".

Looks like "The One" just dodged another bullet.

*

Computer-controlled, huh?

Giving "blue screen of death"... a whole other meaning...

The vehicles would automatically avoid obstacles such as pedestrians and other cars and therefore never crash, Mr. Burns said.

Yeah... where have I heard that before?

*

Better late than never

Looks like another big city thug is gonna get his "just desserts" after all...

-- TORONTO -- Police in Toronto announced Tuesday the arrest of a man in London, England, on manslaughter charges stemming from the shooting death of Jane Creba in 2005.

Dorian Wallace, 27, is awaiting extradition to Canada over the shooting, which killed the 15-year-old and injured six others amid Boxing Day shoppers on a crowded downtown stretch of Yonge Street.

Seven other adults are scheduled to go trial later this year.

*

Anybody else notice...

...how the media has chosen to characterise the recent spate of gangland killings in Vancouver?
They're not "murders" or "killings"... which would presuppose a murderer, or a killer... they are now "targeted shootings"... a clumsy and blatant attempt to place the blame solely on the evil gun. Think I'm making mountains out of molehills? When's the last time you heard of a "targeted knifing", or a "targeted arson"?

A gun is an inanimate object. It has no will, nor can it form intent. Without someone to pick it up, load it, point it and pull the trigger... it is merely a chunk of metal. A gun "shoots people"... in the same way that "cars crush pedestrians". It's intellectually lazy... and more to the point, it's dishonest.

In actual fact, legally registered firearms account for a statistically insignificant number of killings in Canada.

In 2003, there were 161 gun homicides in Canada. Assuming that each shooting involved a separate gun we can calculate what percentage of Canadian guns were involved in these murders. If we take the official figure of seven million guns we get (161/7,000,000 = 0.000023 or .0023%).

Only 23 ten thousandths of 1% of the Canadian gun stock was involved in a homicide.

It's time to put the spotlight back on the actual sociopaths who use a gun, or a knife, or a hammer, or their fists... to maim and kill.

Don't be a mindless socialist sheeple.

Wake up and smell the species.

**********

RELATED: Other "stuff we can't talk about"

*

Yes Virginia, there is a...

...Saudi Human Rights Commission... in spirit anyway...

Even such a rigorously controlled event as the showing of the first Saudi feature film at two venues in Jeddah late last year has aroused the suspicions of Islamic conservatives.

They say cinemas fill people's minds with evil and pollute the purity of their souls.

*

Sorry... I couldn't help myself

*

How far would Michael Ignatieff go...

...to exploit a perceived political weakness?

-- OTTAWA -- Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff offered unexpected praise for Brian Mulroney Monday and criticized Stephen Harper for failing to show the veteran Tory due respect – comments calculated to exploit unprecedented public bickering in Conservative government ranks over the former prime minister.

Mr. Ignatieff said he even sent the former prime minister 70th birthday congratulations, noting Mr. Mulroney achieved a magnitude of victory that's so far eluded Mr. Harper.

This one obviously speaks to the Puffin King's elastic principles.

You think Iggy will be out there offering moral support to Mr Mulroney... at Barnum, Bailey and Schreiber?

Let the games begin.

[*]

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Puff piece (puffin piece?) on Iggy on CBC news last night about his courting the West. He was answering questions in a high school, the usual site when you can't draw a crowd elsewhere (no mention of that by the reporter)."

"Westerners were portrayed as irrational, visceral voters for the Conservatives. Iggy was given high marks for trying to talk to these strange people."

**********

LAST WORD: Known & loved worldwide

*

Nominations are now open...

...for the 2009 Darwin Awards...

U.S. F-16 fighter jets are tracking a single-engine plane over Missouri that was stolen from Thunder Bay, Ont.

The plane was reported stolen at about 2:30 p.m. and was spotted flying erratically.

At about 5 p.m., the state capital building in Madison, Wis., was evacuated before the plane passed near the region.

**********

UPDATE: Looks like he went to Plan B...

CNN reported the pilot was a Canadian citizen in his 20s who left a suicide note in Thunder Bay.

**********

UPDATE2: We have a name...

CNN has identified the man arrested by troopers as Yavuz Berke, 31, a native of Turkey who became a Canadian citizen last year.

**********

UPDATE3: We have another name...

The man, identified as Yavuz Burke, formerly known as Adam Leon — a Canadian citizen from Turkey — was in custody within an hour, CNN reported.

**********

UPDATE4: All corrected now...

Adam Dylan Leon, 31, from Thunder Bay, Ont., was charged with one count of unlawfully entering the U.S. after he was interrogated by F.B.I. agents in Poplar Bluff, Mo., said Sgt. Dale Moreland, with the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Damn scofflaw Canadians.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"I'm going to be watching this one as it continues to develop. Maybe the Liberals will be the first to the post to demand his immediate return."

**********

RELATED: More Canadians... in the news

*

The trouble with Psychiatry

Apparently, it's based on laws from... some other universe...

-- TORONTO -- A Toronto court is hearing the first person convicted in the killing of 15-year-old Jane Creba has a "cavalier" attitude toward her death.

"How do they know she wouldn't have been hit by a car or something?"

A cavalier attitude?!? What... he's a little insensitive?

Now, call me a hard-ass, but the phrase that immediately comes to my, admittedly layman's mind is... "Never, ever... sees the light of day again."

I guess that's not how it works in the fairy-tale world of "Corrections"... 'cos they're all enthused about this unfortunate lad's progress...

Hughes said during the first two years of J.S.R.'s incarceration, which began on Dec. 26, 2005, there were 29 behavioural incidents and eight between February 2008 and January of this year.

Bassarath said that showed better behaviour and agreed that suggested he does well in a structured environment.

"He has improved over the last year. There were fewer incidents."

So... we're willing to coddle this poor lad... while we crack down on all these troublemakers.

Good gawd... the inmates ARE running the asylum.

**********

RELATED: If only there was a database...

... wait... whaddaya mean it wasn't registered?

THAT'S NOT FAIR!!!

-- VANCOUVER -- Vancouver police are dealing with what they say is the city’s latest targeted shooting.

A man was found dead outside a south Vancouver convenience store as police responded to several reports of shots fired at about 9:40 Monday night.

This is the 20th confirmed shooting death and the 21st targeted fatal in Metro Vancouver since mid-January.

[insert meaningless platitudes from local politicians here]

*

Oh, c'mon... why not?

I mean... she's got impeccable fashion sense and those fabulous biceps...
*

2 Billion dollars... and counting

Long live the Fiberals... "Farmer Bob Rifle Registry"...

Bill S-5, the Long-Gun Registry Repeal Act, introduced by the government in the Senate, would change nothing to the "laws" that now require the arrest of at least 185,925 peaceful Canadians.

Arrest 200,000 peaceful Canadians, then? Or selectively persecute some of them, as the police have (still timidly) started to do, in order to scare the others into submission?

The whole episode shows that it is impossible to enforce a liberticidal law with means that are consistent with a free society.

One has to yield: the liberticidal law — the whole liberticidal law — or the free society.

The jury is still out.

(via nicholls)

**********

RELATED: Do you have your ex-wife's permission?

19(f) During the past two years, have you experienced a divorce, a separation, a breakdown of a significant relationship, job loss or bankruptcy?"

Which is, of course, totally beside the point...

"This conclusion acknowledges that, in the absence of criminal records, substance abuse, and previous violence, domestic homicides rarely occur."

You wanna know... statistically... who kills their spouses in Canada? Here's a hint... it isn't skeet shooters, farmers or duck hunters.

It's one... previously convicted criminals, with two... substance abuse problems.

Who could have possibly figured that one out, huh?

*

I wonder if Omar and Carolyn...

...ran this little policy gem past the "Canadian of Convenience-in-Chief"...

Huzzahs all round by the crowd when shout-outs were made to CAF and fellow travellers, Sid Ryan, CUPE and CUPW.

The crowd was also pointedly advised that the pendulum has swung and they should be sure to vote Liberal as most grit party members now favoured the Palestinian cause over Israel.

Well, spank me with a shovel... who could have seen that coming?

**********

RELATED: Speaking of the coming revolution...

"Are all the Mosques in Canada taking up a collection to pay her ransom?"

*

The first thing we do...

...is hang all the lawyers...

For almost four years, the cost of Mr. Aziga's defence was borne by Legal Aid Ontario, the independent but publicly funded agency that administers the province's legal-aid program.

But in January last year, when Mr. Aziga fired yet another lawyer and caused another delay, the agency pulled the plug on any further funding.

The Attorney-General's department reluctantly stepped in and agreed, as Judge Lofchick ordered, to foot the bill for what's called a Rowbotham order.

[*]

RELATED: Well, except for maybe this guy...

"As I said to The Tyee in my interview with them last week, in words that I shall surely regret for years, you need to draw on your 'inner asshole' to fight back against such a Kafkaesque system, knowing the other side has all the money and time in the world."

*

Get used to it...

*

Noble Pakistani Holy Warriors...

...apparently just a little unclear on the concept..

-- ISLAMABAD -- A man who goes by the name Umar Farooq and says he speaks for the shadowy militant organization Fedayeen Al-Islam told The Associated Press via telephone that the group had staged the attack on the mosque as part of a “campaign against infidels.”

**********

UPDATE: Bloody "War on Infidels"...

...takes strange detour through "Sadr City"...

Iraqi police say a series of six car bombings across Baghdad Monday killed at least 32 people and wounded more than 65.

The deadliest attack occurred in the capital's Sadr City neighborhood where officials say an explosion killed at least 10 people and wounded 28 others.

And they say our Deity 'works in mysterious ways'... sheesh.

*

"Visualise" World Peace

You'll notice it doesn't say... "U.S. takes action"...
*

And you thought...

...space debris was a problem... how about a thousand years of mis-directed prayers.

*

I see from Sitemeter... it's that time again

WELCOME, YET AGAIN, READERS OF NOTED HUMANITARIAN CANADIAN CYNICYes, yes, CC... we all know how kind & compassionate you are. Say, while we're at it... let's revisit your pet theory about those dastardly, evil Jews.

And hey... we could always get a second opinion from your "fellow cynic"... the mysterious "sjwalter".

And, of course, there's CC's magnum opus...

Remember Canadian Cynic's message to Wanda Watkins, whose son Lane was killed in Afghanistan?

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

Of course, CC's too intimidated to use his own moniker here, so he has created a bunch of alter egos to do his dirty work for him... bombarding my comment threads with dozens of stupid trolls...
Well, CC... we can see you're "alive"... but I do have to question the "well."

I'm thinkin'... you might wanna tweak those meds again.

BOO!!!

*

A Canadian "legal first"

Common sense trumps political correctness.

**********

RELATED: No Alison... we don't...

“We need to figure out why these charges have escalated from criminal negligence to assault to aggravated sexual assault and now murder without there ever having been an informed public debate.”

He poisoned them... they died.

That's murder.

*

Less talk... more Glock

Sorry, folks... this isn't a war you're gonna win with words... or more social workers.
*

Pay me now... AND...

...pay me later...

-- WASHINGTON -- In the space of a few months, the United States of America has been transformed from the most entrepreneurial society on Earth to one so state-directed that even the Europeans are raising their eyebrows.

Cynics might once have said that the head of General Motors decides who will be president. Now the president decides who will be the head of GM.

*

Kill Pill... now it's "a feature"

Here we go again...

LM Ericsson AB, the Swedish company that makes many of the modems that go into laptops, announced Tuesday that its new modem will deal with this issue by including "A FEATURE" that's virtually a wireless repo man.

If the carrier has the stomach to do so, it can send a signal that completely disables the computer, making it impossible to turn on.

“We call it a ‘kill pill',” said Mats Norin, Ericsson's vice-president of mobile broadband modules.

The module will work on AT&T Inc.'s U.S. third-generation network, and on many other 3G networks overseas.

Didn't Microsoft get their ass in a crack some years ago... for simply talking about this sort of thing?

*

In Toronto itself...

"...impaired driving is concentrated in northern Etobicoke and eastern Scarborough."

"The highest incidence is in Downsview."

Interestingly... the "Red" Star proposes that the statistics are caused by a "lack of public transit"... not a "lack of common sense"... or a "lack of respect for the law."

Funny how that works.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Hey, hey, enough with this crazy 'personal responsibility' talk."

"You're scaring the children."

**********

LAST WORD: Yeah, yeah... let's just blame "society"

"He said he tried to find a job but nobody like him," Ms. Huynh said.

"He was a nice boy. He had bad luck."

Not as "bad" as 13 other folks I can think of.

*

Kiss me, sweet prince

Just a little something... for everybody who thinks Dalton is "all suck" and "no tongue".

(via reader bob)

Two words... Jury... Nullification

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

Then they come, write a report and what? Do we see an arrest? And, if there is an arrest, do we see a vigorous prosecution or does it become some chickenpoop file to get off someone's desk?

And, if there is a vigorous prosecution, will we see a conviction? And if there is a conviction, what sentence will the guilty receive?

Don't tell me. We all know the answer.

*

Hope, Change...

...blood, hair, teeth and bone...

A suspected US missile strike in north-west Pakistan, the second drone attack in four days, has killed 13 people.

The latest incident comes only three days after a missile fired by a suspected US drone killed at least 14 people in Pakistan's Orakzai tribal area, near the Afghan border.

US President Barack Obama has pledged to make the war against the Taleban and al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan a foreign policy priority.

So when that warmonger George Bush was in charge, this was a crime against humanity, right?

And now... it's what... transformative change?

**********

RELATED: "He don' need no..."

"...steenkin' Constitution."

...'cos he's "The One."

Well... except when he doesn't have his teleprompter.

*

With friends like this... well... uh...

...I got nuthin'...

-- CHATHAM -- A 19-year-old woman who held her friend down while the image of a penis was branded on her neck will spend a year on probation.

Krystalee Yvonne Mills of London, pleaded guilty yesterday to assault in connection with the March 5, 2008 incident.

*

Don't do it, girl

"I was just so touched, when Bradley told me he wanted to be a part of things."

*

Mayor's office strangely silent...

...on which gun club SHE belongs to...

Her past includes convictions for firearms trafficking and drug importing in the United States.

Now, Toronto police allege 29-year-old Lisa Parmanand is the main gun supplier to two Scarborough street gangs headed by a 42-year-old man alleged to be a firearms and narcotics kingpin known on the street as "Whoppy King."

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Progressives should be turning cartwheels seeing this woman compete successfully in a male dominated business."

*

"Racism" is a one-way street

The further wit and wisdom of Mohamed Elmasry...

The crisis demonstrates that the rich tend to get richer not only at the expense of the poor but at the expense of their own economic system."

"The president of Brazil Luiz Inacio put it this way--the current economic mess is the fault of 'white people with blue eyes'."

Sure, you dumbstick... it's about melanocytes... NOT GREED.

Hey, Elmo... does that mean... 'white people with brown eyes'... are off the hook?

Good grief.

**********

RELATED: Gee, Mo... I wonder how your old employer...

...feels about your latest theory...

"Dr. Mohamed Elmasry is Professor Emeritus of Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo."

**********

LAST WORD: A red-letter day for conspiracy theorists

CBC uncovers yet another racist plot...

"Obviously, there's a question of racism here," Amir Attaran, a University of Ottawa law professor, told the CBC in an interview. "He has the unfortunate problem of being the same colour as the president of the United States and the Governor-General."

Yes, yes Amir... and look at how tragically that turned out for both of them.

*

Why Canada is in Afghanistan...

...Reason #44...

Relatives of the man involved in the incident told the BBC he had gone to the house of the girl in the village of Kala Kalay to do repairs as an electrician but was accused of the relationship by militants.

They dragged him from the house and flogged him before punishing the girl, the relatives said. The Taleban made her brother hold her down during the flogging, they said.

After the incident, the Taleban forced the couple to marry and instructed the man not to divorce his wife. His relatives say he has been left mentally scarred.

The incident happened weeks before the new Sharia courts approved by the provincial government were being introduced in Swat.

That's some Religion of Peace.

**********

RELATED: Hamid Karzai "on board" with Sharia?

-- Strasbourg, FRANCE -- President Hamid Karzai's move to enact new laws that would undermine women's rights in Afghanistan burst into the annual meeting of the NATO military alliance today, with Canada and other war allies expressing increasing alarm at the notion.

At a news conference upon arrival here, Canada's foreign minister, Lawrence Cannon, said he has spoken two allies involved with Canada in the Afghanistan action, both of whom are troubled by the move. He also called on Mr. Karzai to immediately explain the legislation.

Sorry, Lawrence... we shouldn't simply be "troubled" by this.

This one... like government involvement in the ongoing heroin trade... is a dealbreaker.

The Afghan government should agree to deal with this shit head on... or we walk.

**********

LAST WORD: Canada speaks up

“If I can be blunt here, I'm not sure that the Alliance is prepared to accept simply soothing reassurances,” said Mr. Harper.

“This is a serious matter that is going to be addressed.”

*

Move over Scarborough...

...Pickering wants a shot at the title...

Police were tight-lipped yesterday about the wounding of a Pickering man who was shot in the head at his home on Wednesday.

Micah Anthony Kirby, 24, was in stable condition in a Toronto hospital following emergency surgery.

Earlier Wednesday, a man, 24, was shot in the forearm and abdomen while sitting in his car in the parking lot of the Knights of Columbus Fields on Farewell St., at 2:15 a.m.

Police believe there was one gunman in the that shooting and that the victim was targeted.

And let's not forget Ajax...

Toronto police say they have arrested a fourth suspect in the May 2007 murder of philanthropist Glen Davis.

On Thursday, 24-year-old Jesse Smith of Ajax, Ont., was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.

**********

RELATED: Meanwhile, in T.O.'s other suburb...

-- MISSISSAUGA -- Three men have been arrested in connection with the death of a 29-year-old man last month following a bar fight in Mississauga.

On March 15, Jermaine Scott got into a dispute with a group of men and the fight spilled into a parking lot, where he was chased down and stabbed.

Reno Woods and Jerome Marshall, both of Hamilton, and Lani Valdes Harris of Woodbridge are scheduled to appear in court today.

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Breaking news from Cyberdyne Corp.

Now comes news of a bot that doesn't need to bother with any human thought at all, thank you very much. It's a "robot scientist" that researchers believe to be the first machine to independently come up with new scientific findings. Aptly, the bot is named Adam.

Hmmm... this all sounds terribly familiar...

Adam then devised experiments to test its prediction, ran the experiments using laboratory robotics, interpreted the results, and used those findings to revise its original hypothesis and test it out further.

Paging Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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It was only a matter of time

I guess it's only fair that everybody gets a turn.

Toronto City Councillor and former CityPulse television reporter brands local media outlets as... surprise, surprise... "racist"...

Five food businesses in Chinatown and Kensington Market were shut down in March because of rodent and insect infestation, but Councillor Adam Vaughan, who represents the ethnically diverse area, says media reports painting the area as an unsafe place to eat are unfair and even “racist”.

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FROM THE COMMENTS:

"I lived in Kensington Market for five years in the eighties... and I can tell you without a word of a lie that I have never seen an area filled with people with less concern for cleanliness or concern for food safety."

"This, coming from a former soldier who spent a third of his 23 years in the military in some of the worst hell holes on the planet."

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Former Liberal Cabinet Minister...

...turned Judge... goes down in flames.

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