Aboriginal entrepreneurial spirit...

Is alive and well.

I wish I could truthfully say the same for their customer base...

Cheap native-made cigarettes can contain dirt, metal filings and other unsavoury ingredients mixed in with the chemical stew of 4,200 chemicals found in all smokes, according to an analysis done by the federal Ministry of Revenue.

"They are pretty dangerous already," said Emily Hall of the Hastings and Prince Edward Counties Health Unit, adding the cheap smokes are often made with tobacco swept from the floor of cigarette manufacturing plants and sold illegally at clandestine auctions.

Hall said the revenue ministry analysed the cheap smokes and found metal filings, along with dirt and wooden-like pieces of tobacco plant stems.

Funny, the "poisoned pet food" scandal has been getting screaming headlines for weeks... but the first I hear of this is from our small local paper. What's up with that?

Any idea how much federal funding, aka "taxpayer dollars", have been funnelled into this elaborate "bait and switch" scheme ? Me neither.

Will Health Canada be suing these sub-standard manufacturers, to recoup the cost of treating the people who have been poisoned?

All good questions, but don't hold your breath.

RELATED: In the comments, stopthedrugwar said...

And when you said "who else would have thought of it" makes you racist.

You know what, STDW?

Here's a far better example of splitting people up, on the basis of... say -- race...

-- DALHOUSIE, N.B. -- Liberal defence critic Denis Coderre is calling on the federal government to build a Canadian Forces base for native soldiers.

"I think that we have to show sensitivity since Canada is also composed of first nations," Mr. Coderre said yesterday.

Stand by for Dummy Coderre's latest strokes of genius... the first completely segregated Tamil, Paraplegic and Gay, Lesbian & Transgendered Bases in the Canadian military establishment.

Because it's all about showing sensitivity.

Technorati Tags: aboriginal capitalism, Assembly of First Nations, bait and switch

Two Billion Dollar...

Farmer Bob Rifle Registry on ice... for another year.

Britannia Waives the Rules

Turning Pippie into Popeye, isn't the only thing that's changed in the UK... over the last two or three decades.

-- The Office for National Statistics said children in Great Britain are three times more likely to live in one-parent households than they were in 1972.

-- Second marriages made up two-fifths of all marriages in 2005.

-- In the same year, the average age at first marriage in England and Wales was 32 for men and 29 for women - up from 25 and 23 respectively in 1971.

They're not getting older, they're getting sadder.

DNA - the double-edged sword

The almost magical science of DNA testing... can cut your heart out.

I posted something just a little while ago, about the use of "DNA testing" in genealogy. The same science that's being applied so successfully to "criminal forensics", is now also being used to re-establish distant family relationships that have become hazy over the passage of time.

It has also become a tool to verify familial relationships for immigration purposes.

Sometimes though, you don't get the results you're looking for.

-- When the DNA results landed on Isaac Owusu’s dinner table here last year, they showed that only one of the four boys — the oldest — was his biological child.

Federal officials are increasingly turning to genetic testing to verify the biological bonds between new citizens and the overseas relatives they hope to bring here, particularly those from war-torn or developing countries where identity documents can be scarce or doctored.

Which got my "science in genealogy" wheels spinning...

Six years ago now, I left Toronto and moved to a small rural community... where oft-times the name on the family farm hasn't changed for close to 200 years. It's been a thoroughly positive experience, but there have been a few minor adjustments... like how inter-connected most people are out here.

Obviously, back in pioneer days, there were less, shall we say -- matrimonial options -- out in the sticks, which led to a somewhat initially restricted gene pool. This social circumstance lasted well into the 20th century.

Human nature being what it is... and now that home "DNA test kits" are out there... I've always thought it would be interesting for all the longterm residents of the community to "get typed". I think the results would be fascinating.

That said, there would probably be some fallout, from the... uh, unexpected connections and more significantly... the lack of any connection at all.

Science may have changed, but human nature itself is immutable.

So, what is the bigger picture here?

Mary K. Mount, a DNA testing expert for the A.A.B.B. — formerly known as the American Association of Blood Banks — estimates that about 75,000 of the 390,000 DNA cases that involved families in 2004 were immigration cases.

Of those, she estimates, 15 percent to 20 percent do not produce a match.

Hmmm... maybe we'll put that one on the back burner.

Technorati Tags: DNA, immigration, the ties that bind

Supporting the Troops...

In Hastings County, Ontario...

To get things started, Dominion Command has donated $6,000 to buy the first round of coffee and doughnut certificates and, with the help of legion branches across Canada, they are hoping to be able to do this on a weekly basis.

It is not so much the coffee and doughnut, but the message behind it to the troops, to show them we care.

Please help make this program a success by coming in and making your donation at Branch 99.

You don't have to be a legion member to donate, everyone's money is appreciated.

Technorati Tags: Afghanistan, Canadian Forces, Royal Canadian Legion

Media vultures barred from...

Feeding on soldiers' families' grief...

Media will not be allowed into CFB Trenton to cover this week's repatriation of six Canadian soldiers killed Sunday in Afghanistan, The Intelligencer has learned.

"Some of the family members of the fallen soldiers have requested that no media be allowed on the tarmac and we are accommodating that request," Second Lt. Jennifer Jones of the base's public affairs office told The Intelligencer Tuesday morning.

Thank goodness for this.

If I lost a child, under any circumstances, the last thing I would welcome is someone looking to make a buck off my misery.

I'm sure the media can report this sad event without having to wrench a ten second sound-bite out of some grieving mother's soul.

Technorati Tags: Afghanistan, honouring the dead, fallen soldiers

You'll know it's true...

When you see the big smokin' hole in the ground.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says his country has no evidence Iran has made the advances needed to produce nuclear fuel on an industrial scale.

On Monday, Iran said it could produce nuclear fuel on such a scale.

Of course, Madman Ahmadinejad has also claimed the apocalypse is just around the corner.

"O mighty Lord," Mr. Ahmadinejad intoned to his surprised audience, "I pray to you to hasten the emergence of your last repository, the promised one, that perfect and pure human being, the one that will fill this world with justice and peace."

You know, when all the infidels are swept away.

Technorati Tags: Iran, flat, black, glows in the dark

$40 million in new federal funding...

"Not enough", says Assembly of First Nations...

-- OTTAWA (CP) -- Angus Toulouse, Ontario vice-chief for the national Assembly of First Nations, is cautiously optimistic that the $40 million may help take the edge off some of Pikangikum's most pressing infrastructure needs.

But he said it won't be enough to keep pace with long neglected repairs, maintenance and the burgeoning demands of a growing population.

That works out to almost $20,000.00 over and above existing taxpayer subsidies for every man, woman and child... and it still just scratches the surface?

Oh yeah, that's in addition to the $5,400,000.00 they already got for fiscal 2006-2007.

This place is apparently a near iron age ghetto, with one of the world's highest suicide rates. The people who live here have just stopped caring.

This isn't a problem you can solve by throwing up some infrastructure, but the tap just flows regardless...

Former Indian Affairs Minister Bob Nault announced $7 million in funding for the power grid project seven years ago, but the project fell apart about a year later.

The band was forced into third party management in 2001, as social problems mounted.

Even though there is a water treatment plant, none of the community’s 387 homes are hooked up to the system, the health unit study noted.

Prentice announced $12.8 million in financing for water treatment plant upgrades in Treaty 9 communities this morning.

It's subsidising a culture of defeat.

RELATED: It's about getting off your ass...

And doing something.

I hope that we are no longer considered a social problem that costs all governments an extra $3.5 billion, and costs the economy $5 billion in lost productivity.

I hope my children do not go cap in hand to another government for clean water, safe roads and good schools.

Instead of constantly begging for more money.

UPDATE: The Aboriginal Healthcare System?

I guess I shouldn't be surprised... there's already a separate Aboriginal Justice System.

-- VANCOUVER -- British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell said the province is giving $9.5 million to the First Nations leadership council to improve First Nations health.

Technorati Tags: Pikangikum, Assembly of First Nations, culture of defeat

Please check your detonators...

At the door.

Apparently modeling themselves on American gangsters from the "Dirty Thirties", forty prominent Iraqi Sunni religious scholars... have organised a Baghdad branch of Murder Incorporated.

And there's gonna be a strict code of conduct...

"Our scholars will meet and issue fatwas and I am full of hope the proper resistance that does not kill fellow Iraqis will heed the views of these scholars," he told Reuters.

"The authentic resistance considers the blood of Iraqis as sacrosanct. But those who masquerade as resistance and for whom the lives of Iraqis are cheap -- this is not resistance against the occupier, this is terror...," he added.

I can't wait for the first meeting of this Iraqi Pseudo-Rotary Club.

Their motto... "Death to Everyone else."

Technorati Tags: sunni, Iraq, up shi'ite creek

Racial Profiling

*** It pisses people off... because it works ***

Never mind that more black men in the USA are currently behind bars than enrolled in college or university... the New York Civil Rights Coalition wants to kill a special mentoring program that directly addresses the issue.

“I think this is a form of racial profiling in the public school system,” said the coalition’s executive director, Michael Meyers.

“What they’re doing here, under the guise of helping more boys, is they’re singling them out and making them feel inferior or different simply because of their race and gender.”

Well, actually... it's improving grades and aiming to keep a generation of "high risk" individuals out of jail. Just as importantly, it's giving them a shot at a college education... but don't let that stop you from trying to kill it, you politically correct naysayer.

I am not a fan of quotas, or so-called "affirmative action", but this issue is threatening to become an epidemic that will swamp civil society in North America.

An important difference here is that the target demographic, young black men, is not simply being handed jobs despite lack of qualification... they are being given the means to achieve those qualifications themselves.

Note to the leftbot alliance -- before calling me a racist... try actually reading the article.

It's past time to find a solution. This works.

Technorati Tags: New York Civil Rights Coalition, Ossining, racial profiling

Selling out. Again.

Leading Seaman Faye Turney has told how she "felt like a traitor" when she was forced to write "confession" letters shown on Iranian television. The only woman among the 15-strong Royal Navy crew has also defended her decision to sell her story to ITV1's Trevor Macdonald and the Sun newspaper.

I'm guessing the £100,000 she's reportedly taking for her story, eases the sting somewhat. Who is going to be genuinely surprised if Ms. Turney is also invalided out of the Navy on grounds of some kind of pensionable disability? By doing this, "Topsy Turney" dishonours the memory of someone else's daughter.

Sally Veck, whose 19-year-old daughter Eleanor Dlugosz was killed in Iraq, criticised the MoD for letting the sailors and marines profit from their ordeal. She told the Times: "If you are a member of the military, it is your duty to serve your country. "You should do your duty and not expect to make money by selling stories."

RELATED:   The price of appeasement

-- KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- The Taliban on Monday threatened to kill four Afghan medical personnel and their driver unless the government releases two Taliban commanders, seeking a deal similar to the prisoner swap that won an Italian journalist's freedom last month.

We're teaching them how to win. 

LAST WORD:   ICEBERG! DEAD AHEAD!!! 

Could this media spectacle possibly get any more embarrassing? The British Naval establishment was already being regarded as the "Romper Room" of international military forces...

Military personnel have been banned from selling their stories to the media amid a growing row over the returned captives from Iran. The government made the move after captured sailor Faye Turney and her fellow hostages were accused of "behaving like reality TV stars" after being given permission to cash in on their ordeal.

That's it, I'm officially vegetarian

The dish in front of me is grey and shiny. "Russian dog," says my waitress Nancy. "Big dog," I reply.

"Yes," she says. "Big dog's penis..."

No Manimal today

So I guess a dishwashing, lawn-mowing chimp is out of the question?

Government plans to ban the creation of human-animal hybrid embryos could potentially harm UK science, say MPs.

The science and technology select committee called for regulation of such work instead of an "unnecessary" ban.

I have to confess I hesitated a little, before posting once again on the taboo topic of "genetic manipulation".

It seems to bring out the worst in people.

Technorati Tags: human-animal hybrid, gene therapy, god of science

Harper on casualties...

In France and in Afghanistan.

“Sadly, today has been a difficult day in Afghanistan. We have learned that an incident has claimed the lives of six Canadian soldiers and injured a number of others,” Mr. Harper said on Sunday.

“Our hearts ache for them and their families. I know that as we gather here on Easter Sunday our hearts and prayers are with them.”

“We still live in a dangerous world and as Prime Minister, my thoughts these days are never far from Afghanistan where a new generation of Canadian soldiers” carry the torch of Colonel John McCrae, the Canadian officer who penned the poem In Flanders Field.

They will be remembered.

RELATED: Cowardly backstabbing thugs

They're getting pretty good at setting booby traps and running away, but every time these death-donkeys go head to head against actual soldiers... they get their asses handed to them.

LAST WORD: Killing free speech

Killing women, children and unarmed civilians is their speciality.

The Taleban in Afghanistan have killed an Afghan reporter abducted last month with an Italian journalist.

The group said it had killed Ajmal Naqshbandi as the government had refused to meet its demands to release senior figures from prison.

Allah must be so proud.

Technorati Tags: Afghanistan, cowardly backstabbing thugs, Taliban

Do the Math

"If you think that $90 is a lot to spend for the fuel required to move three tons of pickup truck down the highway for 300 miles - try mailing the sonofabitch sometime."

Hey Mookie...

Don't be lockin' in that "long term" mortgage...

BBC world affairs correspondent Jonathan Charles in Baghdad says the US now believes Moqtada al-Sadr is a bigger threat to the stability of Iraq than Sunni insurgents.

Our correspondent says Moqtada al-Sadr's men are accused of terrorising residents in Diwaniya, killing many, including women who are said to have offended their interpretation of Islamic morality.

You might be taking an "all-expenses paid" Cuban vacation.

UPDATE: Mookie's Million Muslim March

Thousands of Iraqis have begun converging in the southern city of Najaf to protest against the United States on the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad.

Muqtada al-Sadr, an influential Shia cleric and head of the al-Mahdi Army, urged Iraqis to come out in full force on Monday to mark the day US forces took Baghdad in 2003.

Apparently things aren't dangerous enough in Iraq as it is. But don't worry, ole Muqtada's gonna fix that... it's like having some friends over for a barbeque.

Except, over here, people aren't on the menu.

Technorati Tags: Moqtada al-Sadr, Iraq, up shit creek

You can have his pornography...

When you pry it from his cold dead laptop...

Because "Canadian Cynic" is smarter than your average perv...

"I can encrypt them. Or misname them. Or put them in hidden folders. Or just not bring them at all, and get them later via e-mail or from a web site. I mean, Jesus Christ, the possibilities are endless. Really, you'd have to pretty stupid to get caught smuggling porn on your computer."

I thought I was finished with little CC for a while... but he just keeps on comin' back and linking to me, like a yappy little dog.

I have to say, boasting about how easy it is to get pornography past Customs has confirmed my opinion of this putz.

I shouldn't be surprised... CC has previously posted such gems as...

"If you Google on "pay to fuck," what do you get coming up as the very first hit? Just curious."

How old is this guy... fifteen?

Instead of obsessing about variants of online pornography, CC might be better off trying to get a date with a an actual flesh-and-blood (whatever his gender preference) human being.

One thing's for sure... I'm never gonna shake his slimy, sticky hand.

Technorati Tags: slimy little wanker, pornography, myblahg 101

I say, "Let 'em keep digging"

Just back from visiting Peter Loewen over at "A Shrewdness of Apes", where he's speculating about another Liberal mis-step...

Now, the Liberals think this is unfair. Gerard Kennedy is calling it the subsidy of private schools or something like that. And Ted over at Cerberus, who in my mind is the best Liberal blogger, is also all over this.

Is this really a battle the Liberals want to fight?

They want to stand for taking more money from parents who want the best education for their kids and are willing to pay for it in addition to paying taxes for schools they don't use?

Peter's a really nice guy and an infuriatingly logical thinker, but I'm not happy about pointing out all these Fiberal screwups... they might just start thinking twice about some of this dreck.

Yeah, on second thought, you're right.

It'd probably be easier to change their DNA.

Technorati Tags: bag of hammers, Liberal Party, more taxes

Pop Quiz: What city in Colorado...

Has apparently been infiltrated by the Taliban?

-- LITTLETON, Colo. -- A planned statue depicting a local hero, a Navy SEAL killed in Afghanistan, has drawn opposition from some parents, who say the image and location are inappropriate for children.

A group of parents wants the city to recast the statue or place it elsewhere, arguing that the site, near three elementary schools and two parks, is a hub for young children who could find the weapon disturbing.

I have to laugh at these mindless leftbots.

They'll let their pre-teen daughters overdose on... or worse yet, emulate... pantyless, substance abusing sybarite Britney Spears... but are convinced the mere depiction of a firearm will instantly transform their sons into some doppleganger Charlie Manson.

So far the town has been able to push back the mindless forces of political correctness.

Littleton spokesman Chris Harguth said there were no plans to modify the statue or location. "The statue is at the foundry now, so it's basically done," he said.

"Our plans are to unveil the statue on July 4."

Thank God someone's pushing back.

GUN TRIVIA: Courtesy of SDA

What do you think is more dangerous, a house with a pool or a house with a gun? When, for "20/20," I asked some kids, all said the house with the gun is more dangerous. I'm sure their parents would agree.

Yet a child is 100 times more likely to die in a swimming pool than in a gun accident.

Parents don't know that partly because the media hate guns and gun accidents make bigger headlines. Ask yourself which incident would be more likely to be covered on TV.

Technorati Tags: political correctness, Navy SEAL, Petty Officer 2nd Class Danny Dietz Jr

Of course, it seems so obvious...

"British values" fuel racism...

The first ethnic minority president of the National Union of Teachers has said ministers fuel racism by ordering schools to teach "British values".

London assistant head teacher Baljeet Ghale told the union's annual conference Britain did not have a monopoly on free speech and tolerance.

Well, actually... in a stunning display of ignorance about the current state of world affairs, old Baljeet went a whole lot further than that...

At the NUT conference, in Harrogate, Ms Ghale said Education Secretary Alan Johnson had described the "values we hold very dear in Britain" as "free speech, tolerance, respect for the rule of law".

"Well, in what way, I'd like to know, are these values that are not held by the peoples of other countries?" she said.

Oh please, you silly socialist ostrich... let me count the countries and tot up the innumerable ways... starting with virtually every thieving, bloodthirsty, ethnocentric dictatorship on your birth continent of Africa.

We could move on to the Middle-East, where the only country with a history of democracy is, wait for it... Israel.

This latest outburst is just another instance of the creeping political correctness besetting countries like Britain and sadly, Canada.

The "NUT conference", indeed.

Fresh off its abject humiliation at the hands of Iran and in a rare display of not knuckling under to mindless leftbot idealogy...

A government spokesman dismissed her claims as "nonsense".

Technorati Tags: political correctness, Great Britain, up shit creek

Genealogy Friday

The Battle of Vimy Ridge has been popping up in the news lately... encouraging Canadians to remember the huge contribution their grandfathers made to winning the "Great War."

If you have a relative who enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force to fight in WWI, you can search online for their "Attestation Papers" here.

Follow the links to get to the actual GIF images which can be saved, or printed. You can also obtain copies of your relatives WWI records.

They will be remembered.

Technorati Tags: Battle of Vimy Ridge, Canadian Expeditionary Force, genealogy

One of the concessions...

Tony Blair swears he didn't give the Iranians...

Iran's state news agency says an envoy is being given access to five Iranians detained by US forces in Iraq.

Tehran maintains the five, seized from the consulate in Irbil, northern Iraq, are diplomats, but the US accused them of providing support to insurgents.

You know... just like the "Iranian diplomat" suddenly freed by a mysterious group in Iraq.

No wonder people don't trust politicians.

Not that journalists are much better.

UPDATE: When the going gets tough...

Watching Tottenham Hotspur fans taking on the Spanish constabulary at a European soccer match the other night, I found myself idly speculating on what might have happened had those Iranian kidnappers made the mistake of seizing 15 hard-boiled football yobs who hadn't got the Blair memo about not escalating the situation.

LAST WORD: Sleeping with the enemy

Hey Tony, where's your diplomacy now?

In the deep south of the country, the Basra police commander said the type of roadside bomb used in an attack that killed four British soldiers on Thursday had not been seen in the region previously.

Maj. Gen. Mohammed al-Moussawi's description of the deadly weapon indicated it was a feared Iranian-designed explosively formed penetrator.

Weeks earlier, the American military had claimed Iran was supplying Shiite militia fighters in Iraq with the powerful weapons, known as EFPs. The bombs hurl a molten, fist-sized copper slug capable of piercing armored vehicles.

Technorati Tags: Iran, flat, black, glows in the dark

Mephistopheles rides again...

-- In Texas --

“Everybody kind of went, ‘Oh my God, what’s the A.C.L.U. doing here with the gun people?’ ”

We're talkin' major irony alert here...

In a report issued in February, the Texas affiliate of the National Rifle Association joined the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition “to spotlight unlawful, unnecessary governmental encroachment on average law-abiding citizens.”

Whoa... hang on a second!!! That can't be right.

But it goes even further than that...

Will Harrell, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, said that even before the current dispute, his group and the N.R.A. had been collaborating on racial profiling issues, particularly on what he called a “Bubba profile” that made certain white men the focus of gun checks by the police.

Sweet Carlos Hathcock in heaven... I may just have to join the ACLU.

RELATED: Reach out and touch somebody

Mentioning Carlos got me thinking about snipers.

The round pictured above is the .50 calibre Browning Machine Gun, the "Valentine of Choice" of professional distance shooters.

Using this round, Canadian Sniper Corporal Rob Furlong made a 2,430 meter (2657 yards/1.51 miles) confirmed kill in Afghanistan using a McMillan "Big Mac" TAC-50 rifle.

It is the world's longest confirmed killshot.

These guys were heroes...

"These guys -- regardless of what country they were from, what flag they fought under -- they were just excellent military professionals," says Capt. Justin Overbaugh, the commander of a U.S. scout platoon that worked alongside one of the sniper teams.

"We didn't want to give them up. I would have brought them home with me if I could."

So why did a Liberal government allow them to be chewed up and spit out?

Technorati Tags: NRA, ACLU, Texas

Got too much money?

Don't worry... Dalton McGuinty and the Ontario Liberal Party have got that covered.

-- TORONTO -- The Ontario government has agreed to pay 44 per cent above market rates to buy electricity from idled nuclear reactors on Lake Huron that will be refurbished, the provincial auditor says in a report unveiled today.

At the time, then-Energy Minister Donna Cansfield pledged that Bruce Power would bear the entire $4.25 billion capital cost of upgrading the reactors.

Promise made... promise broken.

She made no mention of the fact that electricity consumers will be responsible for a portion of any cost overruns, raising questions from Day One about the extent to which consumers could be on the hook.

Hell... it's only money.

What's another 4.25 billion... to a Fiberal.

RELATED: Hmmm... that sounds awfully familiar.

Technorati Tags: willful self-deception, Liberal Party, Ontario Hydro

First... you need some cops

Who are willing to arrest people... who break the law.

-- The Intelligencer -- Deseronto's mayor and deputy mayor headed to Caledonia this week, where they met four members of Haldimand County council to discuss what went right and what went wrong with the municipal handling of Caledonia.

The local politicians were looking for general knowledge of "what could happen and what did happen," said Deseronto Mayor Norm Clark. "Some of the things they experienced in the beginning are things we're experiencing now," he said of Monday's meeting.

"We wanted to know if there were any pitfalls we could avoid."

Pitfalls... you mean like turning a blind eye to criminal trespass and extortion?

UPDATE: Another eloquent aboriginal proposal

In Deseronto...

“We wanted them to see this,” Brant said. "It was today or it was nothing."

"I think it is clear enough and they should just revoke the licence and fuck off."

Technorati Tags: Caledonia, homegrown terrorists, Deseronto

Iran: Balancing the equation

Much like the Iranian supplied missile used in the Lebanese conflict to kill Israeli sailors, it's an open secret that Iran is providing money, equipment, personnel and expertise to Iraqi insurgents.

So it is sadly ironic that, as British hostages return to their families, there is news of 4 more British casualties.

Four British soldiers have been killed by a roadside bomb near Basra, southern Iraq, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.

Prime Minister Tony Blair contrasted the safe return of 15 British sailors and marines held captive in Iran with the soldiers' deaths.

He said: "Just as we rejoice at the return of our 15 personnel, so today we also grieve and mourn for the loss of our soldiers in Basra who were killed as a result of a terrorist act."

Prime Minister Tony Blair's shameful knuckling-under to Iranian perfidy, has only encouraged Iran to redouble its back-door participation in the Iraqi insurrection.

Sleep well, Mr. Blair.

Technorati Tags: Iran, flat, black, glows in the dark

ADSCAM

The Liberal gift that keeps on giving...

Mr. Lafleur and his family earned $13-million from federal contracts during that period, a substantial part of it through dubious invoicing, hearings of the Gomery inquiry showed in 2005.

The inquiry also showed that Mr. Lafleur had contacts with key confidants of former prime minister Jean Chrétien, such as his former chief of staff Jean Pelletier and director of operations Jean Carle and former Canada Post president André Ouellet.

I'm actually surprised this fugitive came back to face the music.

Mr. Lafleur had not been seen in Montreal in recent years and only made headlines after people living near his new home in San José, Costa Rica, complained about his noisy behaviour.

My suggestion for a new Liberal campaign slogan...

Take the money and run.

UPDATE: 7 Apr 2007 - Another Fiberal behind bars

Mr. Lafleur will be adjusting to prison food for a while. On Friday, the executive who grew rich during the federal sponsorship program learned he would be spending at least a week behind bars.

Technorati Tags: ADSCAM, Liberal Party, Jean Lafleur

How corrupt is China?

As much as I complain about CTV spin-twins Lloyd Robertson and Craig Oliver, I suppose things could be worse.

How much worse, you ask?

China's national press regulator has banned journalists and newspapers from accepting and extorting money in return for favourable news coverage.

"In China, it is not uncommon for journalists to openly accept envelopes stuffed with cash at press conferences from companies seeking positive or prominent coverage," Reuters news agency reported from Beijing.

And it's not just the mainstream newsies you have to worry about. There appears to be an organised subculture of extortionists who use journalism as a cover.

"Fake" journalism by people who pretend to be reporters for the purpose of extorting money from corrupt officials and businessmen has been a feature of China's media scene for many years.

It's just one more brick in the massive wall that separates life in China from life as we know it in North America.

And it's a barrier that may never be surmounted.

Technorati Tags: China, corruption, politics

The Liberal Shell Game

In the aftermath of digging himself a mammoth hole with another of his childish rants, you'd think Jason Cherniak might be feeling a little sheepish.

Instead, he's back in full flight, flogging Dion's tired old talking points like it was the coming of the Hidden Imam. A prime example would be his rhapsodic praise of Steffi's attack on the Conservative budget.

Dion then got into the budget. Never before has a Canadian government done so little for so much. A government has a responsibility to prepare a long-term plan and Harper has failed to do that.

Which was particularly amusing because the budget was so enthusiastically received by the general populace.

The poll, conducted exclusively by Ipsos-Reid for CanWest News Service and Global Television after the Harper government delivered its new budget, shows the Tories have opened up an 11-point lead nationally over Stéphane Dion's Liberals.

I guess I just don't understand that sort of willful self-deception.

Maybe if you're so eager to practice this type of trickery in a public forum, it's only a matter of time before you start to believe what you're selling.

It almost makes you feel sorry for him.

RELATED: Q & A at TDPC

Q: What do you think about Stephen Harper's announcement of a Bill of Rights for Canada's veterans, and an ombudsman to ensure they are fairly treated?

A: He's an asshole, mean, a bully and unfair. This is just another example.

Technorati Tags: willful self-deception, Liberal Party, Jason Cherniak

Cherniak steps on own dick...

-- Yet AGAIN --

**********
RANDOM MUSING: Remember how Cherniak just about wet himself, when he posted about the NDP officially disavowing any connection with "Myblahg McClelland".

Wouldn't it be especially ironic if the Fiberals now decide to throw old Jason under the bus?

**********

Fresh off his post calling the Prime Minister of Canada "an asshole", Liberal spokes-blogger Jason Cherniak has now suggested that Stephen Harper wants to harm Canadian soldiers.

Cherniak Suggests Harper Wants Troops To Suffer Casualties?

Perhaps I went a too far with this one. With no training in media, I didn't realize how strong an emotional reaction I was creating...

Geez Jason, that's not what your website says...

Jason Cherniak is a 27-year old lawyer and new media consultant working in Toronto.

In case you're wondering, this is the same Liberal blogger who, without any evidence, also accused NDP member Olivia Chow of election fraud.

Yup... another bullseye for Jason "J'accuse" Cherniak.

UPDATE: Cherniak deletes latest Harper libel


(Screen capture courtesy National Newswatch)

2nd LAST WORD: As usual, SDA was ahead of the pitch

LAST WORD: Post reworked and reposted

Now, it's the fault of National Newswatch whom Cherniak accuses of being a partisan Conservative stooge.

I would also argue that this is beginning to prove my theory that anonymous people who claim to be "non-partisan", like National Newswatch, should not be given the benefit of the doubt.

Technorati Tags: Mount Cherniak blows again, Liberal Party, silly little boy

WORK, WORK, WORK...

Where's your Union steward when you really need one...

But the blood-covered, machete-wielding Hutu militiamen who stopped them at a roadblock were exhausted from slaying people all night and sent them away.

You might wonder why this horrendous story is back in the Canadian news.

All too predictably, it's because Desire Munyaneza, another of the world's "scum of the earth" has chosen Canada as his new base of operations.

One Rwandan woman testified to the horrific events...

Hour after hour, she spoke of mass rapes, of people clubbed or hacked to death, of desperate refugees driven to suicide.

Known as C-15, she was the first of two witnesses who have spoken at the trial of Rwanda-born Toronto resident Désiré Munyaneza.

Mr. Munyaneza had a small smile when the witness identified him in court. His relatives snickered when she described him as a killer.

Another legacy of the Liberal dominated leftbot justice system. What are we gonna do with this guy... send him to Club Fed for two years less a day?

Put this murdering piece on shit on a plane back home.

Do it now.

RELATED: Swept up by the Broom

A RADICAL Muslim cleric has been refused entry to Australia, and another has been asked to show cause why he should not also be banned, just days before they were due to attend an Islamic conference in Melbourne.

Sheik Bilal Philips, a Canadian citizen who lives in Qatar, was banned at the last minute by Department of Immigration officials, believed to have been acting on national security agency advice, the Herald Sun reported today.

Technorati Tags: Rwanda, Desire Munyaneza, immigration insanity

British bulldog neutered

Iranian President Madman Ahmadinejad couldn't resist taking that very last shot at British Prime Minister Tony Blair, as he claimed he would finally free the 15 British hostages.

"I'm asking Mr Blair to not put these 15 personnel on trial because they admitted they came to Iranian territorial water," he said, referring to taped "confessions" made by the British sailors and marines.

"I ask Mr Blair: Instead of occupying the other countries, I ask Mr Blair to think about the justice, to think about the truth and work for the British people not for himself."

In return, a spokeman for Mr. Blair meekly replyed...

"We welcome what the president has said about the release of our 15 personnel. We are now establishing exactly what this means in terms of the method and timing of their release."

Game, set and match... Iran.

RELATED: The Captain concurs...

Ahmadinejad makes the most out of the reversal. Facing the threat of a blockade if Iran pressed this any further, he gets to look magnanimous while still maintaining the notion that he could have tried the sailors for espionage, even while dressed in uniform.

It's a net win, allowing the Iranians to feel as though they won a tactical victory while avoiding having to back up their rhetoric with action.

LAST WORD: I never thought... I'd see this

The ass-kissing is now complete...

An unidentified crew member said: "I'd like to say that myself and my whole team are very grateful for your forgiveness.

I'd like to thank yourself and the Iranian people... Thank you very much, sir."

Mr Ahmadinejad responded in Farsi: "You are welcome."

Technorati Tags: Iran, flat, black, glows in the dark

SPEAKING OF ABORIGINAL RIGHTS...

There are two people in this story... Darnell Pratt and Grant DePatie, but before you read any further, I want you to think of a number. It's not a magic trick, so don't be worried that I'm gonna give you the number right up front. The number is seven. Remember that... number seven. So here we go...

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - The family of Grant DePatie is outraged that the 17 year old convicted of dragging DePatie to his death may now be released from jail as early as next year. Pratt killed DePatie by dragging the gas station attendant under a stolen car after a gas and dash, worth just $12.30, in Maple Ridge two years ago.

Darnell Pratt already caught a break by falling under Canada's laughably lax Young Offenders Act. Now he gets his cake iced by having his sentence reduced again. I don't know about you, but in my world that makes no sense. It's absurd. It's beyond absurd. So what the hell is going on here? Turns out it's the usual politically correct leftbot jibber-jabber. And until someone decides to apply some common-sense to the backed up, left-leaning "criminals are the real victims" judicial system, we will see it happen time and time again. Ask Karla Homolka... she's the reigning poster-child for homicidal criminals. So here's the punch-line to this sick joke...

The B.C. Court of Appeal ruled the judge at Darnell Pratt's trial didn't properly take into account his young age and his aboriginal background.

Oh that. And that number I asked you to remember? Oh yeah. That's the number of kilometres that 24 year old Grant DePatie's torn, naked body was dragged that night before it was spit out lifeless... from underneath Darnell Pratt's car. Lucky number seven. ********** RELATED: Young Offender, my ass Need another example? Don't worry, there are plenty more where that came from.

In Feb. 2003, Laurel Price, 17, was beaten to death after she broke off a relationship with the inmate. In Dec. 2004, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to an additional three years in jail. For the last two years he has lived in a dorm-style facility equipped with a television and Sony Playstation. He is scheduled for release in December but was trying to get out now so that he could work this summer and go to college in the fall.

Hey... maybe he'll be taking college classes with your teenage daughter later this year.

Technorati Tags: Grant DePatie, Darnell Pratt, mockery of justice

Another unfortunate youth

The Jane-Finch killing field claims another victim.

It's unclear if the young man was shot, stabbed or suffered both types of wounds, Sgt. Peter Stehouwer said last night.

"I couldn't say" whether there was any gang involvement in the murder, he said.

The victim was wearing a red ball cap and the Grassway is known as Bloods turf.

Fiberals fiddle while civil society burns.

Just keep on stalling those crime bills guys.

RELATED: Got a cottage up north?

To be fair, there's crime out in "the sticks" as well. You might wanna tread carefully around Bancroft, Ontario these days.

Charged with production of a controlled substance, trafficking a controlled substance, conspiracy to commit an indictable offence and a number of other charges are: Xu Heng Cai, 44; Yu Xuan Cai, 40; Yee Wai Ma, 36; Niwen Cai, 48; You Zi Chen, 44; Yi Qing Lai, 49; Shu Zhen Ma, 66 and Shu Fang Zhang, 65 all of the Markham area.

Technorati Tags: Jane-Finch, Liberal Party, tough on crime

No brainer here...

Unless you're some kinda freak for plastic surgery.

UPDATE: Domi drops the gloves

Tie Domi served notice yesterday on his son's coach that he will seek damages for slandering and libelling the ex-Maple Leafs enforcer with accusations of rink rage.

UPDATE 2: Going to the replay

The Greater Toronto Hockey League has done a flip-flop on the Tie Domi controversy.

“The issue is closed as far as the league is concerned,” Gardner had said earlier yesterday. “No disrespect but it is turning into a (media) circus and they are waiting for the league to ban him for a year. It just isn’t going to happen.

So where are we now?

“The league has taken ownership of the whole thing now,” Marlboro president Jim Nicoletti said late last night. “The next (communication) will come from the league.”

While we're on Domi related media feeding frenzies, I got to talking with the baby brother about M.I.A. pseudo-celeb, cum one-hit political wonder "Buhlinda"... which prompted him to say...

I read this somewhere,,,,,, "put her in a Tim Horton's uniform,,,,,you'd never look twice".......

Hmmmmmmm...

Technorati Tags: Tie Domi, rink rage, intimidation

Mount Cherniak blows again

And it ain't pretty... or coherent.

Why would a 27-year old "lawyer and new media consultant" who, oh my goodness, "graduated from Dalhousie Law School" and wow... look at that, "studied Ethics, Society and Law and History..." want to come off like a spoiled, dopey four year old who just got his ass kicked by the little girl next door...

It's a shoddily reasoned, badly written hissy fit.

"Did I call Stephen Harper an "asshole"? Yes I did."

"I cannot describe how absolutely outraged I am. This is more than a low blow. This is like skipping a fight to beat up the opposing boxer's mother."

Jeeezus, Jason... to be effective - simile, analogy or metaphor require a rapier touch, not a clumsy glancing blow with the nearest heavy object. Oh yeah, it also helps if it makes some kind of sense.

Perhaps you could also explain how the ad in question, which ran back in February, is any more topical or offensive than your own own recent baseless accusations that a sitting Member of Parliament used a voter fraud scheme to win an election?

C'mon Jason, you remember...

The rumour around TO (Let me be very clear; I am not suggesting that the rumour is true. I am only stating that it is out there.) is that Olivia Chow won because NDP supporters from across the city voted early and often at different polling stations in Trinity-Spadina.

And what's with this last bit?

If you don't think it is proper to call the Prime Minister an "asshole" out of respect for the office, then surely you also agree that an asshole shouldn't be in the office in the first place.

Good Lord... is that meant to be an argument?

I sure hope your court pleadings are more coherent than your blogging.

If not... somebody's sure goin' to jail.

Technorati Tags: Mount Cherniak blows again, Liberal Party, silly little boy

Aboriginal Anarchy: The Poll

To cut to the chase, we're against it...

Federal Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice has written leaders warning of forensic audits of native organizations involved in "blockade & civil obedience to ensure monies intended for children were not used to plan these activities".

I'd call 93 percent a resounding mandate.

On to the next problem.

Technorati Tags: Caledonia, homegrown terrorists, Oka

The most cost-effective way...

To break stuff and kill people...

It's probably not what you think.

Today, the United States has just 183 bombers in its entire arsenal, versus more than 75,000 at the peak of World War II.

The heavy bomber is obviously being phased out of the United States military menu... but not because it can't do the job.

Some 80 percent of the bombs dropped during the U.S. seizure of Afghanistan fell from bombers; the share dropped on Iraq since March 2003 is nearly as high.

Pork-barrel politics spell the end of a not-so-gentle giant.

Technorati Tags: B-52, heavy bomber, Pork-barrel politics

Think of it as a probe

When a military scenario hits an impasse, one side or the other will often send a small unit out to probe the other guys defenses... not to win ground, mind you, but simply to see how the adversary will react.

If your enemy panics, or starts to retreat, it strengthens your position. You know that if you come at them again in strength, they are likely to turn tail or surrender.

It does wonders for morale.

Omar Fadhil from Baghdad thinks that's what's happening with the British sailors being held hostage in Iran.

Think the current Iranian crisis has to do with the 1979 American Embassy take-over? Think again. In 1990 Saddam Hussein, to mollify the Iraqi people arrested, tried and hung Farzad Bazoft, an innocent reporter for The Observer.

PJM Baghdad editor Omar Fadhil looks at that incident and sees how the capture of the British sailors may just be the mullahs stealing from Hussein’s playbook.

The Iranian regime wants to tell the Iranian people that ‘See, we arrested their sailors and there’s nothing they can do about it. The west is too scared to attack Iran and that’s why all they can do is to negotiate the problem.’

And it looks like they've got Tony Blair's number.

UPDATE: Argentina smells blood in the water

Awwwwww... Tony, now look what you've started.

Argentina has renewed its claim over the Falkland Islands on the 25th anniversary of invading them - and losing a subsequent war with Britain.

"The Malvinas are Argentine, they always were, they always will be," said Argentine Vice-President Daniel Scioli, using the Spanish name for the islands.

LAST WORD: Rewarding bad behaviour

"We're against it", says US.

Asked about reports that Iraq was pushing for the United States to release the five Iranians in Baghdad in the hope of encouraging Iran to free the 15 British sailors and Marines held by Iran, McCormack said the cases were not linked.

"We reject out of hand any attempt to link the two," he said. "To do so only creates a set of incentives that would encourage more such behavior either by the Iranian government or others in unjustly seizing individuals."

Technorati Tags: Iran, Tony Blair, folds like a cheap suit

Pestering the living...

To dig up the dead.

As someone who has a hobby interest in genealogy, the potential of this type of research fascinates me.

After testing his own DNA at the request of a distant cousin, Mr. Grieve was shaken to discover that he did not match any of his extended family, including his first cousin, the son of his father’s brother.

That could only mean an occurrence of what genetic genealogists call a “nonpaternal event.”

Either his father was not his father, or his grandfather was not his father’s father. But the elder Mr. Grieve has refused to surrender to the swab.

As anyone interested in genealogy knows, too often the "paper record" is sketchy, or downright inaccurate.

Right into the latter part of the last century, an illegitimate birth was a scandal, to be officially obfuscated whenever possible. Marriage dates or birth dates were adjusted to cover such events.

In census records, women often lied about their ages. If it was Dad who answered the door when the enumerator came around... children's ages were often wildly inaccurate. If ole' Dad had been drinking... it was worse.

If the person being enumerated had any sort of foreign accent, they could be listed as "Irish" because in the 1800's, the epithet "bogtrotting Irish" could encompass all foreigners and persons of low birth.

No one -- the O.J Simpson jury excepted -- questions the validity of DNA.

Which raises the issue... do you really want to know?

Technorati Tags: DNA, genealogy, where's poppa

Pte. Herbert Peterson - 808723

Rest in peace.

One of the discovered bodies was identified as Private Herbert Peterson, a soldier from Alberta born in 1895.

On his attestation papers, Herbert Peterson lists his place of birth as Kansas, but notes that he has lived in Canada for five years.

On Saturday, Pte. Peterson will be laid to rest in La Chaudiere Military Cemetery, during ceremonies to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

He will be laid to rest by soldiers from the Loyal Edmonton Regiment; Pte. Peterson's Canadian 49th Battalion was the unit's predecessor.

A timely reminder that war is serious business.

He will be remembered.

UPDATE: 7 Apr 2007 - Buried with military honours

-- PAS-DE-CALAIS, France -- Private Herbert Peterson, his remains in a flag-draped coffin, was carried in solemn procession by Canadian soldiers through a large crowd gathered at La Chaudière military cemetery.

Technorati Tags: World War I, Canadian Forces, duty, honour, country

Fiberals "Cry Havoc"

And let loose the "squirrels of war."

"Do you think it is easy... to make priorities"?

GRRRRR UPDATE: The Nerf Ads

The Liberal Party is preparing to unleash attack ads aimed at Stephen Harper and the Conservatives.

Call them Nerf ads, because it's hard to see just how they will hurt.

2nd LAST WORD: Speaking of Ad(s)cam)

Is it another Fiberal Felon?

An arrest warrant is out for former advertising executive Jean Lafleur after he was charged Monday with fraud in relation to his involvement in the sponsorship program in the 1990s.

"What we do know is that Jean Lafleur billed the federal government for incredible amounts of money -- about $60 million in government business between 1994 and 2001," CTV's Jed Kahane reported Monday, counting 35 charges against Lafleur.

"During that period, his own salary went from about $100,000 a year to $2.5 million a year."

Kahane said Lafleur's wife, daughter and son were also on the payroll -- wages that added up to about $3 million a year.

LAST WORD: On the run

-- MONTREAL -- Canadian and international police forces are scouring the globe for adman Jean Lafleur, who is facing 35 charges of fraud in relation to $1.58-million in sponsorship contracts.

The Sûreté du Québec, the provincial police, sought the assistance of Interpol when it obtained an international arrest warrant last Friday for Mr. Lafleur, who is believed to be in Latin America.

Technorati Tags: Stephane Dion, Liberal Party, up shit creek

Who cares what happened...

We'll just let the diplomats weave their magic tapestry...

This is what drives ordinary people crazy about "diplomacy."

It's just like the ever weaselly-words that constantly emanate from the UN.

-- LONDON, March 31 -- After more than a week of mounting confrontation over its 15 captured sailors and marines held in Iran, Britain sounded a more conciliatory tone on Saturday, saying it had responded to a diplomatic message from Tehran and was ready to peacefully resolve the issue.

Craig Murray, a former British diplomat and Foreign Office specialist on maritime affairs, said, "There is no agreed maritime boundary between Iraq and Iran in the Persian Gulf.

Until the current mad propaganda exercise of the last week, nobody would have found that in the least a controversial statement."

So, in effect, both parties are looking for a plateau that gives each of them the semblance of a diplomatic "reach-around", while each party also seems to, but actually doesn't, climb down from the impasse.

It's a solution that satisfies no one but the diplomats themselves.

As I commented previously elsewhere...

Maggie Thatcher would have rounded up some Iranian spies and personally shoved bamboo shards up their dicks and sent the video to Tehran... all in the first 48 hours of this charade.

Kidnapping British citizens is certainly grounds for going to war and the Israelis are at hair trigger alert... and would no doubt level Natanz and the other nuclear facilities they have targeted in the first blush of British retaliation.

Two words baby... Falkland Islands.

Whatever happened to bold deeds and straight talk?

UPDATE: Mesowest comes up with one...

It now turns out Iran tried to capture and abduct a group of American soldiers before succeeding with the 15 Britons. A report in Time magazine says the attempt was made last September 7 on the border between Iraq and Iran.

Technorati Tags: Iran, flat, black, glows in the dark