Reading, writing and...

...rippin' you a new one... asshole, that is...Toronto police responded to a report of gunfire at around 1 p.m. at Central Technical School, located at the intersection of Bathurst Street and Harbord Street.At around 2:30 p.m., Toronto police confirmed two "persons of interest" are in custody, and that they are searching for a third person in the incident.Sadly... at this time... Mayor Miller's office...

Spin Cycle

Seriously... that's what you're gonna go with...the "respect"?..."Rutgers is a community that is extraordinarily proud of its diversity and the respect its members have for one another."No matter how hard and creatively the University tries to torque this story... the fact is... the two students involved...

But, of course...

...the hoary old "impregnated by semen in the swimming pool" defense...

It ain't...

...braggin', er... slander... if you can do it, er... it's the truth...British Columbia has thrown up the odd chiselling premier, Atlantic Canada is famously steeped in patronage, but there is no comparison to the kind of octopussal industry-union-mob-party configuration lurking just below the surface...

If only there was a law

Yet another firefight in the center of the universe... must be Wednesday... -- TORONTO -- A shooting in the city's northwest end left at least one dead and another in serious condition Wednesday night.Two male victims were rushed to Sunnybrook hospital after shots rang out in front of a highrise apartment complex at 1765 Weston Rd., south of Lawrence Ave., shortly before 10:30 p.m.Geez... I coulda...

Never a Long Gun Registry around...

...when you really need one...The hunt is on for two men, one of whom is believed to be armed and dangerous, after a shooting late Tuesday in the city's west end.A 28-year-old man was walking in the area of Swansea Mews — a townhouse complex on the southwestern edge of High Park — around 10:45 p.m,...

The best defense...

...is blowing the other guy's sh!t up... before he does yours...The CIA has launched at least 20 drone strikes so far this month in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas, a lawless region neighboring Afghanistan. That is the highest monthly total in the past six years, according to a tally by the New America Foundation think tank.Separately, Pakistan on Monday protested NATO helicopter strikes...

Ask a sophisticated, metrosexual...

...Globe & Mail reader...Yikers... all I have to say is... "Be careful what you wish for."**********RELATED: In other "where's the Viagra" newsMichael Ignatieff is reversing his support for a wide range of enhancements to Employment Insurance benefits, saying they are too expensive and are no longer...

Coming soon... to a neighbourhood...

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In other "my beads are holier..."

..."than your beads" news... -- Atheists, agnostics most knowledgeable about religion, survey says -- Report says nonbelievers know more, on average, about religion than most faithful. Jews and Mormons also score high on the U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey.Stephen Prothero, a professor of religion at Boston University and author of "Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know — And Doesn't,"...

When you hear the word moonshine...

...it probably brings to mind a bygone era of Prohibition-thwarting, bathtub mixing, car chasing yokels, brewing up batches of questionable alcohol. Or Irish songs. But according to writer Michelle Locke, writing for AP and featured on the Mother Nature Network, moonshine is having something of a renaissance as of late. And it's got quite a following among the maker gee...

Shine a little light

Google reports that the service has been blocked in at least 17 countries since 2007. China, for example, has blocked YouTube since March of last year after a video appeared on the site showing Chinese police beating Tibetans in Lhasa in 2008.Once researchers start poring through the data, they will be able to track more precisely governments’ efforts to clamp down on informati...

You lookin' at Bobby's garden gnomes?

"We have seen an increase in celebs seeking their own permits. They can get their own security, but with the internet, it is much easier to find people. They don't want to find someone on their lawn at five in the mornin...

To serve and...

...what the f@ckin' f@ck!!! -- SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. -- Ten people nabbed last summer in a drug sweep in this northern Ontario city walked free Monday on the first day of what was to be a two-week trial.Judge Andrew Buttazzoni dismissed trafficking charges against the nine men and one woman after he refused to grant the Crown an adjournment., requested because an out-of-town undercover police...

The Forgotten Man

Wait a minute... who?**********RELATED: The ol' "Johnny Cochrane" gambitRelease Barry Obama... so he can find the "real destructors"...Obama was asked in the Rolling Stone interview whether Fox was a good institution for America and democracy.It's a point of view that I think is ultimately destructive...

Hey Dalton...

...ya hearin' footsteps? -- Woodstock, N.B -- "People had lost confidence in Mr. Graham. The fact that he had broken promises, he had mismanaged the finances of New Brunswick, he had made risky decisions.""That certainly, I believe, was a referendum tonight on his leadership."**********RELATED: The numbers tell the storyAn Angus-Reid survey conducted for the Toronto Star shows the Liberal leader...

Of course he is...

...it's a "Liberal" thing...In presenting his full financial blueprint Monday, the former deputy premier said he was “confident” his old colleagues at the province would come through with a long-term funding deal for the Toronto Transit Commission.There's a brainwave, Georgie... 'cos if there's anything...

Really, really, really minimising...

...your carbon footprint...

Paging President McDreamy

Or maybe, Barry... you could just skip the middleman entirely... and put cameras in our bedrooms...Might this help explain the Obama administration's weak support for net neutrality? Next year, Obama plans to submit a bill to Congress that will seek to make it legal for the government to wiretap online...

Well... no wonder Quebec is going apeshit

It's like somebody published pornographic pictures of Elmer the Safety Elephant...Veteran Quebec secessionist Gilles Rhéaume says that the Maclean’s article is only the latest chapter in the “history of francophobia in Canada.” And he says likens the use of the image of Bonhomme Carnaval in this way to bannering the image of “the Queen of England made up as a prostitute” across the front page of all...

Time Machine

A treasure trove of First World War photographs was discovered recently in France. Published here for the first time, they show British soldiers on their way to the Somme. But who took them? And who were these Tommies marching off to d...

Bright lights, big city...

...never a gun registry around when you need one...Police are looking for a suspect in an early morning shooting that sent one man to hospital in critical condition on Sunday.Police say a Canada-wide warrant has been issued for the arrest of Tsegai Ghebreiziabiher. He is wanted for attempted murder, robbery with a firearm and discharge of a firearm to endanger life.No word yet from mayor Miller's...

When asked by reporters...

...why he robbed so many banks, er... locked up so many aboriginals... Willie Sutton, er... the Justice Minister replied... "Because that's where the money is, er... who's committing the crimes."[...] [link fix...

I'M WITH CHRIS ROCK

"I pray that this event ends global warming, er... the Israeli-Palestine conflict... the same way that Live Aid ended world hunger." -- Well, of course, it's so obvious... why didn't anyone think of this one before... the healing power of comic books..."The superhero's appearance hasn't been finalized,...

A reader writes...

"Meanwhile on this blog NOT ONE WORD is written about the staggering over ONE BILLION spent on the G20.""You're all fine with that, you see no need to hold our current government feet to the fire."Nope... not true. There are any number of things that many Conservatives are really unhappy about. Go...

The public is captivated with the idea...

...of changing their lives in a fundamental way right now. It's inchoate, mostly, this urge, and is demonstrated mostly by threatening to hoard gold, Spam, and bullets on Internet message boards at two AM, or by watching Ice Road Truckers on The History Channel, then falling asleep in your recliner and going to work the next morning.(via maggie's fa...

He used to give us the old rope-a-dope...

...now he just says "get over it"...

Hmmm... I guess it's a "Liberal" thing

How big do your balls have to be... to walk into a court of law and start quoting the "unwritten rules"...Of course, we're talking about a guy who is so Gumby-like flexible... he could comfortably spiral from one side of the political spectrum to it's distant & diametrically opposed ass-end.And...

Airbrushing the Politburo...

...it's what the CBC does best..."I am in touch with the Canadian athletes across all sport and I have to tell you I am so amazed at their professionalism, optimism, attitude," Deacon said. "They have put the trust in their coaches and their Canadian sports federations and the Commonwealth Games to ensure that we are working on their best behalf."Hang on a second, Martha... is it the coaches and the...

Bright lights, big city...

...do you know where your children are? -- And, no... that's not a rhetorical question...A Toronto woman is charged with trying to abduct a three-year-old boy at the Eaton Centre.Police said the boy was in the huge mall with his mother and siblings but when mom turned her attention to deal with the...

And a cry rang out across the land...

.."If it saves just one life"...For the love of gawd... when are Jack and Iggy gonna bring in more stringent controls on those dastardly Blackberries -- and I'm not just talking about a stupid ticket...“Distracted deaths as a share of all road fatalities increased from 10.9 per cent to 15.8 per cent...

Just another "Field of Dreams"

If you ban it... they will come..."Why are there so many fans of pornography in Indonesia?" asks Juniwati Masjchun Sofwan, head of the Indonesian Commission to Eradicate Pornography. "Because there has been a lack of control since the press and society found new freedom in the 10 years since Reformasi." "There is no sex education in the public schools or the Muslim boarding schools known as pesantren,"...

Be careful what you wish for

So Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been running around hysterically screaming "byte me!!!" -- Looks like somebody may have taken him up on it...A geographical distribution of computers hit by Stuxnet, which Microsoft produced in July, found Iran to be the apparent epicenter of the Stuxnet infections. "This...

A "Blazing Cat" among the Pigeons

"u are the most rascal man in the world" -- asadriaz223**********UPDATE: What? What media bias?Remember when newspapers didn't didn't try to create the news?**********LAST WORD: That ol' one-two punch"I'm partial to 'Give Heather Mallick Another Wet Dream' -- but if you think you can do better,...

What's a little cultural relativism...

...between friends?..."There was also 'excrement in places it shouldn't be', thought to be a result of labourers relieving themselves in the homes, while Scottish officials are reported to have photographed a stray dog defecating on a bed."**********UPDATE: Send in the clowns......er... the untouchables...New...

"One Toke over Benign, Sweet Jesus..."

..."One Toke over Benign"..."If the United States can put a man on the moon... why can't they do something about those poor people on Gilligan's Islan...

Hope, change and...

...where is the love? -- NYC -- "Who would have thought that six weeks before a cliffhanger election, President Obama would have to reach down to the D list to fill a room to listen to him?" she writes. Yes, many thought it was a joke when they were sent an email that tickets to Obama's general reception at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York were on "fire sale" for only $100, down from the original...

With apologies to Roy Scheider...

..."We're gonna need a bigger boat."...“Yes, this is not normal for you,” Mrs. Rafaat said in sometimes imperfect English. “And I know it’s very hard for you to believe why one mother is doing these things to their youngest daughter. But I want to say for you, that some things are happening in Afghanistan...

How the Liberals define "victory"

Their leader didn't get tarred & feathered..."That all of his MPs were in their seats and stood with him on issue of the gun registry – a Liberal legacy – marked an important turning point for Mr. Ignatieff who has had to contend with divided loyalties among those who sit in the benches behind him."Seriously... that's the new standard for party unity & loyalty? You show up for a whipped vote?Yikers.**********RELATED:...

One step forward, two steps back

"The people of the regions of this country are never going to accept being treated like criminals and we will continue our efforts until this registry is finally abolished."**********RELATED: The thing is, Peace Moonbeam......the "magical thinking" thing is total & unadulterated bullshit. You wanna actually save lives and not just sell newspapers, or commercial minutes... try registering al...

Freedom is a two-faced bitch

Yet another "be careful what you wish for" moment...On July 26, 1847, the Liberian Declaration of Independence was adopted and signed. In it, Liberians charged their mother country, the United States, with injustices that made it necessary for them to leave and make new lives for themselves in Africa. They called upon the international community to recognize the independence and sovereignty of Liberia.Liberia......

You know what? I'm thinking I'll just...

...head down to Buffalo and catch the Bills... -- NEW DELHI -- Skepticism about India’s preparedness for the Commonwealth Games deepened Tuesday after a partly constructed footbridge collapsed outside the main arena for competition, injuring dozens. “This will not affect the games,” said Raj Kumar Chauhan, a Delhi minister for development, who spoke at the scene. “We can put the bridge up again,...

Man... that's just so weird...

...one measly little life sentence... everybody suddenly seems to see the light...The mastermind of the Toronto 18 no longer believes in extremist Islamic ideology so his life sentence should be reduced, an appeals court has heard.Zakaria Amara, 24, was the ringleader of a terrorist group with plans to set off bombs in downtown Toronto, police stations, military bases and at Parliament Hill.In other...

The new Liberal Party of Canada

another breath of fresh... wait a minute..."He is the fourth high-level bureaucrat who has joined the Ignatieff OL...

ICEBERG... DEAD AHEAD!!!

Looks like the S.S Hope & Change is heading to the bottom of the political ocean...“I'm exhausted of defending you, defending your administration, defending the mantle of change that I voted for, and deeply disappointed with where we are right now,” said Velma Hart at President Obama's economic town hall in Washington D.C. Monday.Oh, c'mon... she's just some rabble-rousing tea-partier... right?Hart...

So after 4 years and a million visitors...

...there'll be a few changes here at the Halls. As regular readers may have noticed of late, there has been an exponential increase in troll activity. It's something that anyone who blogs has to deal with... part of the job description if you will... but I think it's time to implement comment moderation.I...

Bright lights, big city...

...oh my goodness, are you allowed to say that? -- TORONTO -- A North York cell phone store remained closed Tuesday after a robbery Monday night that left a 24-year-old storekeeper with gunshot wounds to the upper chest.Mohammad Sarwar, who owns the Butt East and West Indian Food store next door, said he's been robbed twice in the past six months and he's decided to close his shop."It's not a...

Hey, Sami... there's this game they play...

...in federal lockup... it's called "Drop the Soap"...A 22-year-old Lebanese medical student who regards Sept. 11 as a "beautiful day" is in custody after placing a backpack containing what he thought was an explosive device into a Wrigleyville trash can, federal authorities said Monday.Sami Samir Hassoun,...

Never a Russian aristocrat around...

...when you really need one...Michael Ignatieff first offended Ukrainians around the world in his 1994 book Blood and Belonging, where he talked in derogatory terms about that country’s independence “conjuring up images of embroidered peasant shirts, the nasal whine of ethnic instruments, phony cossacks...

Stuff that makes you go... hmmm

From the comments at the Globe & Mail..."One simple question. Why can't the truly bad teachers be fired? And there are truly bad teachers - why do they have jobs until they retire?"I'm guessing that most of us had at least one totally unsuitable teacher over the course of our primary, secondary or post-secondary education.And no... I'm not talking about the hardass from South Africa who threw...

I saw the pictures and I thought...

...these guys just missed a really, really powerful campaign slogan... I like that ol' Rocco has a sense of humour and is "incredibly proud of his Italian heritage"... I just think he didn't take it far enough, 'cos with a mug like that, he could've gone with..."Rocco Rossi: he'll make sure the trains...

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Why is there a need for a 'Congressional Black Caucus'?I was under the assumption that we are all Americans. Be an American first, uphold the Constitution, and no more doublespeak."**********RELATED: Funny that... it seems......we don't always get all the news that's out the...

The long "War on Drugs" is finally over...

..and guess who won..."We ask you to explain what you want from us, what we should try to publish or not publish, so we know what to expect."Just something to think about on your next flight down to Canc...

The way the world really works

I don't get it... why exactly are Canadians so quick to just "duck & cover"? -- ffof -- Look at Canadian Indians or whatever they're called this week. One dead guy in Oka, a few imaginary smallpox blankets, and they get to take over whole towns at gunpoint.And then we have Quebeckers: blow up a few mailboxes, kidnap one guy and kill one other, and you get French on every cereal box, and billions...

Never a Taser around, when you...

...really need one...The family of a schizophrenic man hopes a coroner's inquest beginning Monday will shed light on why Toronto police fatally shot him more than two years ago. -- Uhm... that's a trick question... right?Two words, folks... armed AND dangerous.Officers found Debassige in the park drunk, singing and wielding a knife. Debassige refused repeated calls to drop the weapon and came toward...

Our Modern World

WedLock, as it's coyly named, is a new type of casualty insurance that gives the unhappily married policyholder a payout after he or she is unhitch...

It ain't the dog in the fight... it's the fight...

...in the dog...Mr. Flynn, the son-in-law, had a suggestion. “Barry said, ‘cut it in half, maybe he’ll quit farming,’” Mr. Comeau recalled, laughi...

Be careful...

...what you wish for.**********FROM THE COMMENTS: I'm so not a troll......the compassionate, intellectual left replies...And I'm sure he's not finished yet.*********UPDATE: It's not obsession......it's dedication to the greater good...