And Tommy Chong wept

So, you're saying what, bro... dope & hookers are only part of the solution?

-- AMSTERDAM -- If the idea ever becomes reality — it would be legally complicated and politically divisive — it would be the latest of the country's liberal policies to be scrapped or curtailed as the Dutch rethink the limits of their famed tolerance.

Amsterdam has resisted enforcing some of the conservative trends. For instance, it rejected a 2008 ban on marijuana cafes near schools that would have led to the closure of nearly all the bars, commonly known as "coffee shops."

But it has accepted others. In 2006, the city shut down a third of its legal brothels, saying they were a magnet for criminals.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS: The Socratic method...

"people fornicating and shooting people in the streets"

Yeah... thanks for that, nonny.

Take a pill, Ontario... and just remember...

...if you don't like what the McSlippery government is telling you today...

-- Wednesday November 17 -- Education Minister Leona Dombrowsky is steering clear of the debate and repeatedly refused Wednesday to say what she thought about the proposal.

It's up to the board to make a decision about whether it wants to pay kids for good grades, she said.

...just wait 24 hours...

-- Thursday November 18 -- Ontario's governing Liberals will do whatever it takes to stop Canada's largest school board from paying poor students to do well in class, Education Minister Leona Dombrowsky said Thursday.

Outside the chamber, the minister insisted that she always opposed the idea and wasn't swayed by critics who compare it to bribery.

Meanwhile, out in La-La land... it's the usual complement of idiots, explosives & falling anvils...

What all these shenanigans mean, however, is quite possibly a death knell to the hopes of those in the cabinet contemplating a run to replace Mr. Campbell, who seems to have gone from lame-duck to dead-as-a-dodo Premier in very short order.

Remember... friends don't let friends vote Liberal.

I miss Canada

Something is very wrong with Canadian campuses these days.

Left-wing students and outside agitators get away with shouting down speakers they disagree with, smashing windows to prevent lecturers they don’t want to hear, even chaining themselves to a stage and screaming “racist, racist, racist” at the University of Waterloo to prevent Christie Blatchford from talking about her new book.

Student unions routinely decertify pro-life clubs, and administrators frequently cater to the demands of a handful of vocal socialist anarchists.

But when right-of-centre student groups attempt to protest the censorship they face, or demonstrate against leftist speakers and those they believe are hateful, they are met with threats of lawsuits or expulsion by administrators or student unions.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"As Kissinger once said, the reason why university politics are so vicious is because the stakes are so small."

In other "affordable housing" news

While detectives have not established what motivated the teen’s slaying, tenants of the complex said local youth, calling themselves the “Goons,” have been locked in a battle with gangsters from the Lawrence Heights “Jungle” to the south-west.

One resident said the boy’s name was Troy, and that he had moved there with his family after being displaced from Regent Park by construction last year.

**********

UPDATE: Shooting victim identified

And the media has their angle...

Tyrone Bracken was a boy who always helped carry his neighbours' groceries and occasionally took time to read the bible.

Bracken, 16, was found shot to death around 4 p.m. Wednesday in a Toronto Community Housing Corp. lowrise at 135 Neptune Dr.

"I gave him a bible earlier this year," said Andy Osazuwa. "When I see them outside, I preach to them. They'd be playing sports and he was the only one who actually responded to me and said, 'Can you give me a bible?'"

Hmmm... the bible. Not a single mention of that "known to police" thing they had on the 6 o'clock news.

Maybe... just to be thorough... we should ask people who actually knew this kid?

"Students who knew Bracken were tight-lipped about why they thought he was targeted."

Curiouser & curiouser.

**********

RELATED: One for the good guys

Police have charged a Markham man with first degree murder after a fatal shooting in the summer of 2004. Gaurav Bazaz, 31, died on June 19, 2004, after suffering a gunshot wound. His body was located at 2610 Weston Rd.

Vinjay Singh, 30, was arrested on October 6, 2010. He is charged with first degree murder.

Too big to fail... my hairy, pimpled arse

GOING, GOING...

Thursday, Sep. 30, 2010 -- Although he scrupulously avoided the word “default,” Mayor Gregor Robertson said on Thursday that Millennium Development Corp. paid only $192-million of the first payment due on Aug. 31.

...GONE...

Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2010 -- After several weeks of tense negotiations that nearly led to an all-out legal battle, the troubled Olympic village has been put into receivership at the request of the city and the private developer.

City manager Penny Ballem and Mayor Gregor Robertson said the settlement was good news for the project and provided stability for the future.

You hear that Vancouver?

More "good news".

Yippee.

University Prez threatens legal action...

...against local Imam... wait a minute...

**********

RELATED: Ask a Liberal...

...for all the good it'll do ya.

Education Minister Leona Dombrowsky is steering clear of the debate and repeatedly refused Wednesday to say what she thought about the proposal.

It's up to the board to make a decision about whether it wants to pay kids for good grades, she said.

Yeah... that payoff thing.

It worked out so well in Caledonia.

Just keepin' it real, yo

Aye Jay has put together 48 pages of the biggest names in hip-hop, everyone from Biggie to 2pac, and placed them right at the tip of your Crayola. Thick black outlines of 50 Cent, DMX and many more await your stylistic eye.

Toss it on your coffee table before pouring gin and tonics and cracking the 40’s at your next house party or just indulge in some childish fun.

Ex-movie star & ex-Ignatieff BFF...

...takes aim at federal Cabinet Ministers...

Dhalla said she also took offence to the defence department advertising on websites that promote violence, such as hockeyfights.com.

"The buck stops obviously with the ministers, whether they have contracted those (the advertising) out, the buck stops with the…government."

“I don’t think that any Canadian out there wants to have these types of keywords or websites identified which are objectifying and insulting and demeaning to women.”

So, Ruby.... you're all about respecting women?

'Cos I'm thinkin' there's a "Hooters" out there that had to go on a manic hiring spree.

Why? And for Whom? -- is a six-year-old Hindi film that tells of a man poisoning his wife to collect insurance.

Let's not even get started on "Canadian values"... like, say... pensions for recent immigrants or indentured servitude.

It's like they're sitting around thinking...

...okay... food & water shortages, no order, no shelter... now... how could we possibly make things worse?

-- Port-au-Prince, HAITI -- There was turmoil on Monday in two cities in the north of Haiti, Cap-Haitien and Hinche, with protesters setting cars and a police station on fire, as well as throwing rocks and bottles at UN troops. One protester was shot to death by a UN soldier.

In Cap-Haitien, the country’s second city, the operations of Oxfam remain suspended on Tuesday because of the violence.

Okay... I think I see part of the problem here...

Although cholera is relatively simple to prevent, this relies on the population being educated in how to respond and practising good hygiene.

You don't fully appreciate the importance of "don't shit where you eat"... maybe burning cities to the ground is your inevitable destination.

Unbelievable.

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"One thing you can say for Kellar, he's certainly no grammar Nazi."

"Have a Holly-Jolly..."

...wait a minute...

"A whole corridor of the mall was cordoned off with police tape. Tristan Cox and Francis Koroma face charges, including robbery while armed with a firearm, unauthorized possession of a firearm and aggravated assault."

Oh, man... if only there was some sort of giant magical database.

**********

RELATED: David Miller's legacy

Regent Park is reeling after a string of shootings left three dead in as many weeks. Parents say they are afraid to let their children out after dark, even for the area’s free tutoring programs.

Police in the area started noticing an uptick in calls over the past year, but won’t say what might be driving it. “Radio calls, for sure,” are up, said Constable Joe Jaksa. “For everything.”

**********

LAST WORD: Oops, there goes another...

A shooting at an apartment complex at 135 Neptune Drive has reportedly claimed the life of a young man.

The victim, believed to be a teen male, was pronounced dead at the scene near Bathurst and Wilson.

You can almost smell the rainbows...

...and candied unicorns...

-- OTTAWA -- He led two rebellions against the government of Canada, set up a provisional government for Manitoba and took part in the execution of Thomas Scott, but the NDP's Pat Martin says Louis Riel has been wronged by the history books and it's time to set things right.

“Louis Riel is a hero, not a traitor,” Martin told a news conference in Ottawa Tuesday.

Apparently, in Canada, there's no such thing as a bad boy anymore.

Remember... friends don't let friends vote NDP.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here...

...and guess that's more money than we spend on "victim services" for a whole year...

B.C. spent more than $102-million dollars to put serial killer Robert Pickton behind bars for life.

Seventy-million dollars was spent on the RCMP investigation, including the meticulous sifting of dirt and debris on Mr. Pickton's farm – where the DNA of 26 victims was found.

Yeah... here's the thing... you had me, back at... "severed head in a bucket."

Say... how's that "Hopey-changey" thing...

...workin' for ya...

Thirteen demonstrators organized by the GetEQUAL campaign for gay rights -- including nine veterans, a Catholic priest and other advocates -- were arrested after shouting they were "proud to serve" and vowing: "We will not disappear."

Oh, Barry.

**********

RELATED: That racist Stephen Harp...

...wait a minute...

Once again, does anyone know what Mr. Ignatieff is talking about? Is he really suggesting that the Conservatives should have fielded a non-Filipino candidate to make it a fair fight for the Liberal contender?

From the very same Liberal Eco-crats...

...who brought you... "We're gonna shut down all those nasty coal-fired generating plants... in 2007...

Environment Minister John Wilkinson says he won’t even consider banning TV and computer trash from landfills until the province’s electronic waste diversion program is in stronger shape.

Ontario Electronic Stewardship (OES) is improving but it would be premature to expect that all provincial residents have access to its diversion programs, he said.

OES, which levied $45 million in Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) fees in its first year, missed its collection and recycling targets by as much as 59%, its annual performance report revealed.

Yeah... let's have three cheers for Dalton McSlippery's bright, shining socialist paradise.

How ya likin' it so far?

**********

RELATED: Back at the Mother Corpse

Mrs Neo is listening to a CBC interview of Australian "activist" Helen Caldicott... who, apparently wants to tear down the entire town of Port Hope... and rebuild it somewhere else.

And you can just smell the science...

"This town sort of represents the world nuclear problem. I've heard remarkable stories of animals being born with congenital defects."

Hey Dalton... are you listening? Helen's heard some spooky stories.

You wanna get your eco-crazy on... Helen's at the Best Western in Oshawa tonight.

**********

LAST WORD: Advocating for sorcery

Good grief... the Ceeb is now exploring the role of witchcraft in our lives... according to the host...

"We don't allow enough room for the inexplicable in our lives."

Holy crap... it appears as though the CBC switchboard has lit up.

Good grief. We pay for this nonsense?

In other Eco-Fraud news...

The Climate Exchange was created by a professor named Richard Sandor. In 2002, Time magazine called him a “Hero of the Planet” for that act.

But as the exchange’s own website suggests, companies bought and sold carbon as a public-relations exercise — to greenwash their operations in the eyes of the gullible media.

Don’t worry about poor Prof. Sandor, though. The Investors Business Daily reports he managed to sell his stake in the exchange for $98.5 million.

Coming soon... to a neighbourhood...

...near you...

-- TORONTO -- A newly released intelligence report says hardline Islamist groups want to build a “parallel society” in Canada, which could undermine the country’s social cohesion and foster violence.

The de-classified Intelligence Assessment obtained by the National Post says extremists have been encouraging Muslims in the West to reject Western society and to live in “self-imposed isolation.”

The report was written by the Integrated Threat Assessment Centre, which monitors threats to Canada’s national security and is composed of representatives of CSIS, the RCMP, Foreign Affairs, National Defence and other agencies.

It was circulated internally last year after Hizb-ut-Tahrir invited Muslims to a conference in Mississauga, Ont., to discuss the establishment of an Islamic caliphate.

Brave new world

"By buying your ticket you gave up a lot of rights," countered the TSA supervisor.

**********

RELATED: It gets better...

-- HARTFORD, Conn. -- A driver who's serving a manslaughter sentence for striking and killing a 14-year-old boy is suing the victim's parents, blaming them for their son's death because they allowed him to ride his bike in the street without a helmet.

**********

LAST WORD: From the comments

"Christie writes a book about a police force paralyzed by gutlessness and political correctness and her speech is hijacked by protesters who are allowed to disrupt it because of the university's gutlessness and political correctness."

Live and don't learn...

...the enduring legacy of Mark "The Mouth" Holland.

-- OTTAWA -- A Liberal MP is continuing a lawsuit against former OPP commissioner turned federal Conservative candidate Julian Fantino even though a good part of this lawsuit is based on another lawsuit and criminal trial now long over.

Mark Holland, the Liberal MP for Ajax-Pickering, launched his suit against Fantino in August 2008 seeking $350,000 in damages plus legal expenses.

That lawsuit ended in October with an out of court settlement and Holland apologizing.

Who is Mark Holland?

Well... he's at least as classy as... Marlene Jennings.

Just another tiny bit of fallout...

...from the McDreamy administration's "War on Islamophobia"...

“The Christian people should leave their beloved land of our ancestors and escape the premeditated ethnic cleansing,” he said in a statement to CNN. “This is better than having them killed one by one.”

Many Christians have already left Iraq; almost 150 were recently granted asylum by the French government. Those who cannot afford to do so have found some measure of refuge in the Kurdish north.

Bright lights, big city...

...maybe "priority" isn't really the word you're looking for...

“The victim has not co-operated with police at this point, but we’re hoping that will change,” said a police spokesman.

Lawrence Heights has been deemed a “priority neighbourhood” by the City of Toronto for projects including affordable housing.

"Affordable housing", huh?

Isn't that what Toronto gives to the whole Khadr klan?

Hang on a second... Libya?

Seriously... the folks who brought us the Lockerbie bombing... that Libya?

Antiques Roadshow, my ass

Christies believe the machine will sell for between £100,000 and £150,000.

It cost $666.66 when it was bought in 1976.

Homicide cops have been crazy busy...

...chasing after local farmers, deer hunters & skeet shooters...

[...]

"Help me if you can, I've got to get back..."

"...to the House At Pooh Corner by one..."

Prof. Carasco, a one-time NDP candidate who teaches family and immigration law at Windsor, has asked the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario to stop the search for a new Dean, appoint her to the position and award her compensation for “injury to dignity” of $60,000 from the school, and $15,000 from her colleague, hate-speech expert Richard Moon.

Oh my gawd... all those poor creatures...

...being driven into extinc... wait a minute...

-- KENORA, Ont. -- Rose Allin has had enough. It's one thing for the deer to scrounge around in her yard, eating all her flowers.

It's quite another for them to come up to the front step and ring her doorbell.

“I just wish they'd stop," she said, looking very cross.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"She should build them a basketball court."

**********

LAST WORD: "Paging Timothy Treadwell..."

I'm gonna go out on a limb here...

...and guess that Bob and Iggy are... despite the pretty words... gonna have a hard time settling for a "yes"...

“Look, I do note that the Liberal party, Mr. Ignatieff, Mr. Rae have indicated for the past several months that they favour a training mission,” he said. “If they have any specific ideas they want to share, I’m not resistant to having debates on that matter in the House of Commons."

**********

UPDATE: It doesn't matter what you say...

...we're the NDP... we have to scream and stamp our feet...

A deal between the Conservatives and Liberals allows Stephen Harper to break his promise and extend the mission in Afghanistan without approval from Parliament, New Democrats charged Friday.

“That’s really deplorable,” NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar said.

Hang on a sec... what do the Dippers actually want?

The NDP supports the option of supporting transitional justice, aid, development and governance, which Mr. Dewar says would cost about $500-million over three years.

Geez, I'm just not seein' the big hairy-ball problem here.

Maybe Stephen Harper IS a diabolical chess-master.

**********

LAST WORD: Or... using Occam's political razor...

Michael Ignatieff has proven to be the Wile E. Coyote of political strategy when it comes to boxing in Stephen Harper – forever being burnt to a crisp atop his own pile of Acme Corporation dynamite.

Less Powerpoint... more hollow-point

Looks like, yet again... we're dealing with the not-so-invisible hand of the market...

“What I can say is that in the organized crime division, for several months, there have been several multidisciplinary teams on the ground in different locations.”

Sure thing, Clouseau... how's that working out for you? Better than for the Rizzuto gang, I guess.

And despite CTV's efforts to pump up the story... the fact is... this is simply the end of a savage thug.

Ottawa's Million Dollar Babies

Hmmm... I'm thinking that's roughly the combined salaries of about 20 auto workers... and, bear in mind, that doesn't include "their excellencies" regular paycheques...

Last year, Chow claimed $530,000 in expenses, Layton claimed $629,000.

Chow's sensitive, caring-for-the-average-working-stiff response when asked about her above-average expenses? "It's within the law," she told the Toronto Star curtly.

So, Olivia... what you're telling us is... you're "entitled to your entitlements?"

That sounds so familiar.

Parliamentarians -- especially those such as Chow and Layton who make such a big deal about being the voice of ordinary working Canadians -- should not be shielding their expenses behind the letter of the law. They should be leading by example by offering full disclosure of their expense records.

The Layton-Chows act more like the Duke and Duchess of Downtown Toronto.

**********

RELATED: I'm sorry, I've just gotta ask...

...why exactly do we call them "Honourable Members"?

Not only did Liberal MPs Raymonde Folco, Carolyn Bennet, Rob Oliphant, Andrew Telegdi and Tom Wappel meet with the designated terrorist group Mojahedin e Khalq, their travel costs to France was included.

Friends don't let friends vote Liberal.

Lest We Forget

Do you know someone who enlisted in World War I in Canada?

-- Search the WWI CEF database --

Do you know a Canadian killed while serving his country?

-- Search the Commonwealth War Graves database --

My wife's grandfather, a member of the Canadian Cyclist Battalion, (pictured, in the kilt) was wounded by German shelling and carried around shrapnel from WWI for the rest of his life.

And he was one of the lucky ones... who got to come back and have a family and live out a long, productive and rewarding life.

**********

BY THE NUMBERS:

Math, physics, all that boring school stuff...

...sometimes, it's more important than you might think...

Judging by the panicked screams in this video, the folks demolishing a 275-foot smoke stack in Springfield, Ohio didn't expect it to snap power lines, destroy power equipment, or terrify children when it collapsed into the wrong direction.

There were no injuries resulting from this incident, but 8,000 people did lose their electricity due to the power equipment being crushed.

**********

BONUS LINK: The world's cutest bomb squad

Like a fish needs a bicycle

From today's Bono-endorsed... "Journal of the Blatantly Obvious"...

Operation Bite My Own Testicles

Compassionate, intellectual left...yet again... forgets to ask...

"Where are the "Queers Against Saudi Arabian Apartheid?"

**********

RELATED: In other "Oh Canada" news...

This is Toronto? Seriously?

Sibel, the Turk: She actually says, "I'm not racist. I hate everyone equally — especially Jewish people."

Downtown D, the Albanian: I don't know that I've ever met an Albanian, but now I don't want to.

No aboriginals... no Newfies... just dim-bulb Eurotrash?

C'mon... that's just phonin' it in.

**********

LAST WORD: And no one was beheaded

The grand imam told Mr. Obama that there was a church next door and that during Christmas parishioners use the mosque’s parking lot because the church does not have enough space.

Mr. Obama turned to reporters and said, “That is an example of the kind of cooperation” between religions in Indonesia.

Good grief... I can see why he brings his teleprompter everywhere he goes.

From the wonderful folks who brought us...

...lead-painted baby toys...

His sentence appears to be part of a trend of growing intolerance for government critics and independent social activists.

Environmentalists, AIDS activists and lawyers who took on sensitive cases have disappeared, been locked up, or otherwise harassed, while this year's Nobel Peace Prize recipient, dissident writer Liu Xiaobo, is serving an 11-year prison sentence for subversion handed down after he co-authored a call for widespread reform of the authoritarian, one-party political system.

And don't think all us Ontarians don't appreciate it.

When Michael Ignatieff talks about...

...bringing the boys back home... he isn't necessarily talking about soldiers...

Figures from the Correctional Service of Canada show that the previous Liberal government approved all applications. In comparison, 27 per cent of requests were rejected during the first year of Conservative government, followed by 30 per cent in 2007-2008 and 20 per cent in 2008-2009. Figures for 2009-2010 are not available.

"The previous Liberal government put criminals first. We put public safety first," said Chris McCluskey, a spokesman for Public Safety Minister Vic Toews.

The fact is... it ain't Stephen Harper who wants to bring Ronald Smith back to Canada.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

I'll spare you (thank you comment moderation) this morning's dozen angry, rambling diatribes full of lol'ing & hahaha'ing from my own personal anonymous troll.

Apparently, Nonny feels I am devoid of the milk of human kindness. The fact that he, like Professor Zinfandel, would kiss up to the likes of Ronald Smith or Omar Khadr... speaks to the rising tide of anger that resulted, for instance, in the election of Rob Ford as Mayor of the Centre of the Universe.

I believe the candied unicorns & rainbow tide is turning. It'll be interesting to see how the left-blinded Coalition of the Swilling reacts as we turn the idealogical corner.

If Nonny is any indication... it ain't gonna be pretty.

Well... that certainly explains PETA

Results from a McGill University study, released yesterday, suggest that people... (men, anyways)... become less aggressive at the sight of meat.

Boys will be, uh...never mind

"When I saw the blood, I completely panicked. The bowl was full of it, and I screamed for my mother. She practically knocked the door down trying to get to me."

"I was standing there with my pants around my ankles, pointing at the bowl, hyperventilating."

If you ignore it...

..they will come...

In a sign of the odd ingenuity that has grown from the real estate collapse, he is banking on an 1869 Florida statute that says the bundle of properties he has seized will be his if the owners do not claim them within seven years.

A version of the same law was used in the 1850s to claim possession of runaway slaves, though Mr. Guerette, 47, a clean-cut mortgage broker, sees his efforts as heroic.

Ooh, ooh... I know this one...

...it was Ironman.

Just something to think about...

...while you're sitting waiting for 6 hours in your local hospital emergency room...

Since Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced 75 new scholarships for foreign PhD students in China last week, paying their way has turned into a provincial battleground.

The initiative will cost the province $20-million over the next four years, supplemented by $10-million more from universities.

It is Mr. McGuinty’s latest attempt at a precarious political balancing act: driving an outward-looking innovation agenda while trying to soothe rattled voters ahead of an election next year.

Well, heck... why not, huh?

As long as we've got all those excess taxpayer monies lying aroun... wait a minute...

RELATED: Oh, stop fretting...

...I'm sure there's a rigorous selection process...

The exposure of Mr. Zhang’s faked credentials provoked a fresh round of hand-wringing over what many scholars and Chinese complain are the dishonest practices that permeate society, including students who cheat on college entrance exams, scholars who promote fake or unoriginal research, and dairy companies that sell poisoned milk to infants.

Sophisticated political analysis...

...just ask an old Dipper turned Fiberal...

"It's kind of a tit-for-tat thing that's going on," Rae said Monday during an interview airing on CBC's Power and Politics with Evan Solomon. --

Interesting, though... that Bob doesn't have any trouble picking sides.

I dunno... maybe people are finally wising up to all the uber-rehearsed slicksters who think they know what's best for us...

"He is exactly the fuck we are always picturing ourselves not giving."

Not sure I'm really following here

How is this guy a "Yemeni cleric"... but Omar Khadr is a Canadian? --

A U.S.-born radical Yemeni cleric has called for the killing of Americans in a new video posted on a radical Muslim website.

Anwar al-Awlaki referred to Americans as "the devil," adding that killing them does not require special religious permission known as a fatwa.

Hey, Anwar... you maybe wanna point me towards those "special" killing rules? I'm especially interested in that "Americans are deductible" clause.

'Cos it's just not something my religion ever taught me.

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Geez - you think these people are secretly admirers of Mark Steyn and are intentionally giving him more material for his next book?"

**********

UPDATE: Apparently, you still can have...

...too much suckass political correctness...

-- EDMONTON -- Following a maelstrom of complaints, the contentious material contained in a city-sponsored anti-racism campaign has been pulled.

"It just sent the wrong message," said John Reilly, a diversity and inclusion consultant with the city.

The site called on caucasians to recognize their "white privilege."

Police forces in the GTA are frantically...

...rounding up farmers, duck hunters & skeet shooters as we speak...

Police said Donald Richard Grant, 27, was gunned down at the entrance to the Holiday Inn Express near Hwy. 401 and Dixie Rd. around 9:30 p.m. Sunday.

"He's one of my rap kids," Omololu-Olunloyo said in an interview from Ottawa. "He was a promising artist. "He was a good kid ... very determined."

Rivalry in the industry is often intense.

Ya think?

Omololu-Olunloyo said Grant, who started as a songwriter for several musicians, was the third young rapper she represented to be killed in the GTA in recent years.

**********

RELATED: Remember, you were a kid...

...and all those gangs were just breaking down people's front doors... and killing them?

Yeah... me neither.

Police are on the hunt for three suspects after a woman was shot to death during a home invasion in Markham Monday night.

The woman’s husband was also shot after the thugs made their way into the home on Helen Ave., near Kennedy Rd. and Hwy. 407. His wounds are not believed to be life-threatening.

**********

LAST WORD: A celebration of Iggy

Because spending 2 billion taxpayer dollars to chase after farmers, duck hunters and skeet shooters is really gonna take a bite out of urban handgun mayhem.

Yup... Grandad's old single shot .22... that's the real problem.

War on Poverty started in 1964

Musings on the not-so-invisible hand of the market...

You have had 45 years to get it right; $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor."

We still have the poor, and they only demand more. Still waiting for the "Thank you's."

**********

RELATED: If you build it...

...they will come...

-- POVIRNITUK, Que. -- Here's what $588,000 will buy you in Nunavik: a no-frills home with two small bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room and a bathroom. No basement, no second storey.

The province now pays about $3,094 a month for each unit to cover maintenance, utilities and other expenses. Eligible Nunivak families get the semi-furnished homes with heat and electricity for a maximum rent of $358 a month.

Some of the new social housing units, built just two years ago, already need major repairs. They have broken windows, damaged walls and are in general disrepair.

The province recently also started eviction procedures against 80 Inuit renters who owe on average $30,000 in unpaid rent.

For anybody who's interested... at maximum rent that works out to 7 years of arrears... apiece.

No Tea Party for you!

So much for the overpowering, right-wing juggernaut of Fox News North...

"But this story is far bigger than me. I’m a footnote in a larger, more important drama. The bold, irreverent, alternative voice that SunTV once promised to deliver to Canadian television viewers has vanished."

"A left-wing American lobby group, together with novelist Margaret Atwood, slew the unicorn before it even found its feet."

**********

RELATED: Toe-may-toe, Tah-mah-to...

In other "you can't get there from here" news...

Obama and his wife, Michelle, paid quiet tribute to the 31 people slain at the hotel, looking over their names inscribed in a memorial before meeting with victims' families and survivors of the shootings.

Indian commentators seized on the president's failure to mention Pakistan, India's neighbor and bitter rival. Pakistan was home to the 10 assailants.

Which doesn't stop the Globe from slathering lipstick on the pig...

Barack Obama has risked upsetting his hosts in India by pushing the country toward peace talks with Pakistan that would encompass several issues, rather than focusing on the single problem of terrorism.

Hope and... change the subject... quick!

From our voluminous, overflowing...

..."but, that would make too much sense" file...

I don’t understand why some movie studio doesn’t decide to become the Good Guys of the industry. Get rid of all those annoyances, all the lawyer-driven absurdities, and market the heck out of it.

C'mon guys... he's a really good reader...

...that must count for something...

"We thought Obama is a trained orator and skilled in the art of mass address with his continuous eye contact," an official, who did not wish to be identified because of security restrictions, said.

Obama is known to captivate audiences with his one-liners that sound like extempore and his deep gaze. But few in India know that the US president always carries the teleprompter with him wherever he speaks.

Poorest country in the world?

It sure doesn't sound like it...

"That means Canadian taxpayers are shelling out an average of about $244,000 for each diplomat getting new digs in Haiti — and that is just for the land." --

Looks like the "gravy train" isn't just a Toronto phenomena.

A junkie... is a junkie...

...is a junkie.

More sage advice from the guy who...

...brought you Rae Days...

"You’ve got a Minister of Foreign Affairs who refuses to pick up the phone, refuses to talk to ambassadors, refuses to deal with people who are interested in settling the dispute,” Mr. Rae told reporters.

Brave words Bobbo... but, in the end, you couldn't even get along with the Teacher's & Civil Service unions... and they were the people who put you in power.

I'm sure the UAE would've loved bending your smarmy socialist ass over the negotiating table.

**********

RELATED: I say we appoint Boob Rae...

...travelling spokespinko... and he can start right here...

Pakistani officials say a suicide bomb has ripped through a mosque in northwest Pakistan, killing at least 70 people and critically wounding more than 80 people. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Let's see him "settle the disputes" in person.

Dear Citizen... the next time somebody...

...plunges a screwdriver into your chest... try calling the Toronto Star...

They had come for Bariali at an Oshawa rooming house after they learned the 29-year-old schizophrenic allegedly stabbed a local man with a screwdriver earlier that morning.

I blame George Bush

In what has become one of the stranger twists in an already bizarre Governor's race, a bag of uncounted ballots was found in Bridgeport Thursday night.

Republican officials were approached by Democratic operatives and told about the surprise ballot bag. The GOP asked police to take custody of the bag of ballots until the matter could be sorted out.

The votes could be pivotal in the race for Governor, in which neither candidate has conceded defeat.

Tonight's CTV Moonbat Moment

Just watched Craig Oliver's take on Conservative Cabinet Minister Jim Prentice leaving government service for a plum job at one of Canada's chartered banks.

Oliver did his best to spin yet another yarn about Prentice being forced out by that evil chess-master Stephen Harper... who apparently coerced Prentice into... and I quote... a "dead end job" as Minister of the Environment. Sure, Craig... Prentice just sat around on his ass all day, because Stephen Harper wants to poison the planet.

You nailed it, boyo... this had absolutely nothing to do with a ten-fold increase in remuneration, stock options... and the opportunity to escape the silly-arse scrutiny of, say... Craig Oliver and pals.

Good grief.

**********

UPDATE: No big surprise I guess...

...look where CTV got their talking points...

Deputy Liberal leader Ralph Goodale said Prentice was a well-regarded MP and his departure raises questions about whether the Harper government is "essentially hostile to the environment."

And let's not forget Commie Jack...

"I have no doubt that he must have had some frustrations dealing as minster of the environment with Mr. Harper who has never put the environment as a top priority at all."

Hey... who wouldn't wanna work in a classy place like Parliament Hill?

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LAST WORD: The Lunatic Left

The good news is... you always know where they stand.

Altruism versus Exigent Circumstances

Apparently... Gordo "Good of the Party" Campbell... ate a bullet just before the rest of the zombies would have torn him to pieces...

An extraordinary caucus meeting was scheduled for Thursday and it could have been brutal, had the B.C. premier decided to keep toughing it out.

The purported letter was rumoured to have been prepared for delivery at Thursday’s caucus meeting.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS: My new buddy "Colon"...

...chases me all the way home from SDA.

Elf & Safety

A Police Federation spokesman said: "During stressful situations there is a tendency to use hurtful or insensitive language, especially if you're trapped in a massive, highly flammable corn dolly while an entire village gambols around it with lit branches singing folk songs about 'ye offerings'.

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RELATED: At some point aren't we...

...obligated to ask... what exactly is this guy's deal?

This is the second time in slighly more than six months that the older Mr. Makhniashvili has been linked to a stabbing. In May, he was charged with stabbing a neighbour.

The real reason Rob Ford got elected

"Over the summer, retiring city councillor Kyle Rae charged his office budget $421.18 to pay the city's own parks department for a permit to hold 'Leatherball in the Park'."

And, hey... how about 3 grand for French lessons for TTC chairman Adam "Romeo" Giambrone.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Ford is an idiot if he actually thinks that he can balance the books by "ending the gravy train", but that doesn't mean the gravy train shouldn't be ended."

Sure... let's bring Omar Khadr home...

...so he can train for a spectacularly rewarding career in electronics...

France's interior minister says that one of two mail bombs sent from Yemen last week was defused just 17 minutes before it was set to explode.

A counterterrorism source confirms to CBS News it was the bomb found on a plane at East Midlands airport, in England, that was defused just minutes before it was set to explode.

What she lacks in smarts...

...she makes up for in humility...

Asked to assess her tenure, Pelosi quickly answered, "Job well done."

See, the thing is... we weed out all those...

...dorky dumbasses who think wearing their bluetooth gadget 20 hours a day is the epitome of cool... we're actually toughening the gene.

Bright lights, big city...

...where the heck is "northwest Toronto?"

-- Some northwest Toronto schools were placed in "hold-and-secure" mode as a precaution following a shooting at a bus stop late Wednesday morning.

The incident occurred at about 11:30 a.m. near the intersection of Finch Avenue West and Sentinel Road, which is several blocks west of Keele Street. --

Oh, right... that "northwest Toronto."

Pass the cheezies

Dave's really not here, man...

"Seriously dude... I just can't shake this feeling I was, like... supposed to be doing something... like... somewhere else."

**********

RELATED: Please save us...

...oh wonderful Cheech & Chong...

"Potheads will save the day because they're all just itching to become taxpayers, it's not like they would do anything illegal to avoid paying taxes."

Let's see the CBC put some lipstick...

...on this pig...

Put aside the sound bites and the spin: The Democrats got whipped yesterday.

The Republican takeover of the House is no less dramatic for having been predicted by every two-bit pundit on the planet. A pickup of nearly 60 seats is a toss-the-bums-out election by any standard.

And while the Dems managed to hang onto control of the Senate, that was always the most likely outcome unless every single domino fell in the GOP’s direction.

The media chatter the day after will center on whether the Democrats averted a tsunami and were merely struck by a strong hurricane. But the coulda-been-worse argument is pointless at the moment.

When a Russ Feingold loses, you know that public sentiment has turned against you.

The WSJ weighs in...

Republicans took control of governors' mansions across the country Tuesday, including a close contest in swing state Ohio and a victory by a tea-party favorite in South Carolina.

The GOP flipped at least a half-dozen states that had been governed by Democrats, racking up wins across the Midwest, notably in Michigan, Wisconsin, Kansas, Oklahoma and, in the West, Wyoming. Republicans also took over governors' seats in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Florida, New Mexico and Iowa.

**********

RELATED: Cheer up Ontario...

...there's always hope...

-- VANCOUVER -- Calling politics a “very nasty business at times” British Columbia’s scandal-plagued premier, Gordon Campbell, announced his resignation at a hastily called news conference Wednesday morning.

An Angus Reid Public Opinion found Campbell’s approval rating hit an all-time low of 9% in October.

Campbell did not take any questions and abruptly left the news conference after thanking his wife Nancy and sons Jeffrey and Nicholas.

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LAST WORD: I'll spare you all the...

...virulent lol'ing & hahaha'ing about the "Democratic victory" by my own personal troll... (thank you once again comment moderation)... and instead present the mea culpa of the "Car Salesman in Chief" himself...

President Obama offered a fair critique of his own administration on Wednesday: "We were in such a hurry to get things done that we didn't change how things got done. I think that frustrated people." Calling the Democratic defeat a "shellacking," he congratulated his Republican opponents on their victory on Tuesday.

He made no mention of his campaign-long insistence that tax cuts be permitted to expire on upper-income families, a position he said would avoid swelling the deficit but put him in conflict with Republicans.

He also virtually abandoned his legislation — hopelessly stalled in the Senate — featuring economic incentives to reduce carbon emissions from power plants, vehicles and other sources.

P.S. Nonny... wouldn't a "stupid dumbfuck" actually be kinda redundant?

Question Period

"Mr. Ignatieff, which is the travesty of justice in your view? The detention, trial, conviction and incarceration of Omar Khadr?"

"Or that Omar Khadr will only serve what is projected by some to be two years of a 40 year sentence for murder that was handed down by a jury in a US military tribunal today?"

I'm thinkin'... why bring Omar back to Canada at all?

Looks like there's an entry level position available in North Waziristan.

And, to be perfectly honest... just about...

...everybody else too...

The Wall Street Journal reported exit polls showed discontent with the Democrats among women, middle-income workers, whites, seniors and independent voters.

Oh my gawd, Al... you're so right

It's as obvious as that, er... snazzy, uh... medal around your neck...*********

RELATED: Hope, Change and...

...vote with us, or you'll be sorry...

Last week, in an interview with Univision radio, Obama urged Hispanic votes for Democrats, and said: "If Latinos sit out the election instead of, 'we're going to punish our enemies and we're going to reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us'...

Enemies? What enemies?

'Cos I know he's not talkin' about the Taliban here.

**********

LAST WORD: A little prognostication

"Out of Washington, West Virginia, and Colorado, if one of the three goes Republican, they'll have a solid night."

"Two out of three signals a Republicans bloodbath."

"And three out of three means Armageddon."

Airbrushing the Politburo

There was absolutely nothing remarkable or special about the way this downsizing happened ... but it would have been covered in The Star as if it was the Rape of Nanking if any other local employer had done it.

When The Star does something it's "standard operating procedure" for all companies ... but when other companies do it, it's evil, wicked, capitalist greed.

I hate to admit this but I am happy to see The Star being eaten up piece by piece, as if by leprosy ... it looks great on them.

Michael Ignatieff and Jack Layton...

...still searching for the pulse of the nation...

More than two-thirds of respondents in the survey or 69% said that “Khadr probably is guilty and this plea bargain is too generous, and that the Canadian government was right not to have offered him any assistance up to this point.”

The opposition parties have all been calling for Khadr’s repatriation, noting that he was a child soldier at the time of the crimes.

**********

UPDATE: Undermined by the bureaucracy?

The deal appears to have been sealed while Prime Minister Stephen Harper was travelling in Europe and there is the suggestion that foreign affairs officials used this time to offer and accept more than Harper was willing to.

Diplomatic notes were exchanged with the Americans on October 23rd in the middle of Harper’s trip to Switzerland and the Ukraine.

**********

(NOT) FROM THE COMMENTS:

You won't actually have to wade through the dozen hysterical, fulminating rants... (thank you comment moderation)... but my own personal troll has gone absolutely apeshit about the Khadr decision. Surprisingly... he's not celebrating the fact that Khadr is apparently returning to Canada at some point... but that Stephen Harper has betrayed Canadians by not blocking the transfer.

I would have thought that Nonny would be dancing a jig that things have gone his (and Iggy's & Jacko's) way... but apparently this is not the case. It's simply... as per his previous modus operandi... all about the devil-spawn neo-cons... and, what's this... a plug for Canadian Cynic's twitter feed.

And despite the fact that none of his frothing moonbattery has been published here for the last couple of months... he apparently just can't shut off the tap.

I can't wait to see what happens when President McDreamy gets his spanking tonight.

**********

LAST WORD: So when Omar Khadr...

...gets out of jail next year... will he be going to college with your kids?

-- BAGHDAD -- Sixteen bombs went off across Iraq's capital on Tuesday, many at restaurants and coffee shops full of civilians. The death toll climbed to 76 in the first hours following the blasts, but that number could keep rising as rescuers comb through the debris.

No word yet... on which gun club...

...these fine young men belonged to...

A loaded “Dirty Harry” .44-Magnum revolver was seized when Toronto Police raided a west-end Toronto home for drugs.

Police also seized more than a kilo of cocaine, 40 grams of crack, cutting agents, empty kilo packages with cocaine residue and about $24,000 in cash at a Dupont St. home in the Sunday night arrests of three men, said Sgt. Jeff Pearson with the Toronto Anti-Violence Initiative Strategy (TAVIS).

Michael Costa, 32, Andrew Costa, 28, and Brian Alves, 26, face gun and drug charges.

**********

RELATED: The New Entrepreneurs

Montreal police say the head of a Montreal technical school has vanished in what may possibly be a kidnapping.

Witnesses told police that Reza Mohammad Tehrani-Cohen was grabbed in front of his business in Town of Mount Royal, a Montreal suburb.

Police say he was forced into a stolen beige Jeep Liberty by two or three men.

Remember when you were a kid... and people were always getting snatched right off the street?

Yeah... me neither.

It's way past time we decide to...

...do something about the ongoing, worldwide scourge of Islamophob... wait a minute...

Sunday's bloodbath began at dusk, when a car bomb went off in the area and militants wearing suicide vests and armed with grenades attacked the Iraqi stock exchange.

The car bombing and the attack on the stock exchange, in which only two guards were injured, may have been an attempt by the militants to divert attention from their real target — the nearby church in an upscale Baghdad neighborhood.

Just wondering... how many innocent civilians do you have to kill, before you make the leap from "militant" to bloodthirsty terrorist?

**********

UPDATE: Death toll rises to 57

From the Globe comments:

You ever wonder where all those uber-liberal artsies who couldn't get into Teachers College end up?
**********

UPDATE: The Globe reacts...

...or, more to the point... overreacts...

Hammer Time

"Well, I see more Alinsky than Escalade in the dude, but I might be wrong."

**********

IN OTHER "FOUR HORSEMEN" NEWS:

"A struggling mom who wrote to President Obama about her financial hardship and received a handwritten response from him saying, 'Things will get better!,' has had to sell the letter to an autograph dealer to help pay for a house."

Nothing says "Brotherly Love" or...

..."Religion of Peace"... like a sh@tload of high explosives...

Security officials believe the bombmaker was Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, who is considered to be one of the organisation's most radical adherents after sending his own brother on a failed suicide mission with a bomb in his body cavity.

Yeah, call me wacky... but somehow... "radical adherent" just doesn't quite cover it.

**********

RELATED: Speaking of "cultural relativism"

"Converted to Canadian that works out to an 'Order of Canada'."

A trifecta of inconceivable foolhardiness

Drinking AND trespassing ON railway property AT 3 o'clock in the morning... more like community of dumbasses...

"Police would not release the name of the youths, but they were known in Montreal’s tight-knit community of graffiti artists." --

Yeah, I know I'm dating myself here... but I remember when this sort of thing was called vandalism...

Charles F. Seaton, a spokesman for New York City Transit, described such incursions as “trespassing, punishable by law,” and said “anyone caught defacing M.T.A. property is subject to arrest and fine.”

Or apparently, being turned into applesauce.

“If you go in there and break your neck, nobody’s going to hear you scream,” he said — at least assuming there are no track workers around. “You’re just going to have to hope that someone is going to find you before you die.”

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"If only we had a passenger train registry."

Bright lights, big city... never bring fists...

...to a knifefight...

A Toronto man was arrested in Indiana Saturday in connection with the stabbing death of another Toronto man.

Maritza Velazquez, 45 was arrested in South Bend, Ind. At 2:30am Saturday morning and is now facing a charge of second-degree murder.

Velazquez is being charged in the death of a man police have now identified as Dennis Brown, 56.