I guess it's true... information just yearns...

...to be free...

Julian Assange has his own embarrassing e-mails. The lovesick WikiLeaks founder sent a 19-year-old girl a series of gross-out messages for 10 days until he finally heeded her pleas to go away.

"You pulled a tiny petal off my world just when I thought you were to add one but all around is the meadow, where I shall again dance and skip and sing till some fool girl should brush my wing. Julian."

C'mon, you knew it was only a...

...matter of time...**********

BREAKING: It's beginning to look a...

...lot like Christmas...

Ontario's highest court has come down hard on convicted terrorists, dramatically hiking prison sentences for the first Canadians convicted of violent jihadist activities.

Iggy Pops

There it is... a ruler in one hand... the other on his zipper...

"Barring a total climb-down by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on all of his major priorities, the Liberal Party will oppose the Conservative government’s budget." --

There you have it... no wiggle room here... the Puffin King demands "a total climb-down" on, well... everything.

Let's get this show on the road.

**********

THE COMPASSIONATE, INTELLECTUAL LEFT RESPONDS:

"Thanks to Julian Fantino, we can all show up at CPC rallies and say "Heil Harper". Hahahahahahahaha!"
Posted by liberal supporter to halls of macadamia at 7:44 PM, December 17, 2010

Karma... she's a pitiless bitch

Yessirree, I do love a good... "If only I had a magical time machine" story...

-- OTTAWA -- A former Ottawa gang member, deported to Somalia last week, says he would rather be serving a life sentence in a Canadian prison than suffering the trauma of his return.

Geez, Ahmed... maybe that's something you should have considered before going down that glittery, violent, drug-dealing narcissist career path?

How government really works

Just something to think about... the next time you're wading through your income tax forms...

-- (CNSNews.com) -- Sen. Jeff Session (R.-Ala.) told CNSNews.com on Wednesday that there is “no way” someone could master the full 1,924-page, $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill before Congress votes on it later this week.

“There’s no way you can really thoroughly master that bill in two or three days time, to tell you the truth.”

Other senators said they were working through the bill with their staff, and one remarked he would be “lucky” if he was able to read all of it.

Is Canada really that much better?

Just think 2 billion taxpayer dollars... to construct a database of farmers, duck hunters & skeet shooters.

And then, try to imagine all the other items that never make the front page.

**********

UPDATE: The pot starts to boil

-- WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democrats controlling the Senate have abandoned a 1,924-page catchall spending measure that's laced with homestate pet projects known as earmarks and that would have provided another $158 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

I thought "earmark" was how Jean Chretien used to summon Marc Lalonde.

**********

LAST WORD: What, exactly... is an "earmark"?

Less safe injection... more introspection

Apparently... information age be damned... stuff like this still needs to be said...

"If you're stupid, start smoking," he quips. Quintessential Ralph. He laughs. He wheezes.

**********

RELATED: I'm okay with "safe injection" sites...

...as long as they put them on Baffin Island.

If the end-game here in Canada is to eliminate addiction to illegal drugs... how does a "safe injection" site make any sense at all.

Alcoholics Anonymous doesn't hand out cases of beer.

CLICK HERE to do a Google Search on the terms "methadone" & "accidental death". I got 25,100 hits back in 2006.

Each day that passes will increase that number.

Well, whaddaya know...

...a little humanity...

Judge MacPherson deliberately scanned the small courtroom, his eyes seeking out the clutch of people – Stefanie’s parents and stepfather, grandparents, an aunt, her baby brother Ian – in the back row.

“We know there are family members present,” Judge MacPherson said. “You sit here to listen to legal arguments and you have to …[but] we know there’s a personal side of this.

“We are just very sorry you have to relive this again, very sorry something like this has come your way.

Tales of beer, bus trips, bbqs & song

"Backed by a local band, Harper played keyboards and belted out tunes by The Rolling Stones, The Who and The Proclaimers, among others." --

Oh my gawd... he's not gonna... somebody stop him... too late...

"Ignatieff kept his debut as a soloist short and sweet: one chorus of 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas' at the opening of his party's annual Christmas bash." --

But he did it en Francais... right?
**********

RELATED: Yeah... I bet he does...

Ignatieff stops short of saying Liberals will attempt to pull the plug on the government over the next budget in February or March.

Brag, brag, brag... mumble.

Bend over & grab your ankles Canada...

...it's gonna be alright... because they say so...

The Senate’s internal economy and budget committee however rebuffed the call for more oversight.

“We still have to submit to a whole bunch of rules we established for ourselves.”

Somebody help me out here.

If we abolished the Canadian Senate... right now, right this minute... how, excepting these $130,000 babies... would it affect any of our lives?

That heartless, controlling Mike Harr...

...wait a minute...

-- Dec. 15, 2010 -- Finance Minister Dwight Duncan said the austerity measures aimed at eliminating waste and finding savings are necessary to help the province manage through hard times and erase its record $18.7-billion deficit.

Hard times, huh?

-- Oct. 31, 2009 -- Premier Dalton McGuinty is defending an untendered, $81-million contract for an energy centre built to power a casino in Windsor.

Hmmm... whose riding it that, anyway?

Oh Dwight.

Today's "listen to your mom" moment

If Jacko and Iggy really wanted to save lives... maybe they could start a national "Wash Your Filthy Hands" registry...

"We found that they kill nearly 5,000 Ontarians every year, representing about six per cent of all deaths."

Meanwhile, in other startling, "gravity holding shit down" news... unfortunately, no... they're not talking about the human brain...

"Size is extremely important to the effectiveness. The larger the size, the greater the impact. Health Canada has done some excellent research, it's a matter of public record."

**********

MY PERSONAL OPINION: Thinning the herd

It's a free country, it's not illegal... but if I were supreme dictator and for as long as we have publicly financed healthcare... every smoker in the land would be forced to wear a "Darwin was Right" t-shirt to purchase these things.

And I bet it still wouldn't stop them.

Those darned Christian Crusaders...

...defiling everything in their wake...

The remains of a Turkish diplomat buried in Canada were reportedly forcibly removed from a local cemetery after a prominent Christian family said they weren’t comfortable praying next to a Muslim grave.

Arthur MacDonald, described by the paper as a businessman belonging to “one of Toronto’s leading families,” said he objected to the fact that Mr. Dayioglu had been buried next to his mother and his cousin.

**********

THE COMPASSIONATE, INTELLECTUAL LEFT REPLIES:

"My Irish Catholic grandmother wouldn't be buried anywhere besides a "Catholics Only" cemetery...right here in Toronto."

Hmmm, there's an equivalence... your grandmother... modern day Turkey.

I think that's my point, you dumb bunny.

Accountability from Canadian institutions...

...who could possibly be against that?

-- OTTAWA -- MPs will investigate the CBC and how the state broadcaster releases -- and sometimes refuses -- to reveal information to the public.

Conservative, Bloc and New Democrat MPs all voted Tuesday in favour of having the Commons access to information committee study the CBC in the New Year.

The CBC eats up a billion plus taxpayer dollars each and every year. Who could possibly be against greater accountability?

Liberal MPs abstained from the vote.

Wake up Canada.

**********

RELATED: Well... who'da thunk?

-- OTTAWA -- CBC is fending off allegations it is violating its own polling rules by using Frank Graves and EKOS Research to perform their political polling.

It stalled? It broke down? Seriously?

'Cos if we're going with analogies... it kinda looks to me like Iggy & friends poured some sugar in the tank...

"Bill C-23B would take away the ability of someone convicted of three indictable offences to get a pardon, or in the new government terminology, have their record suspended."

Hang on... three indictable offences? Who could possibly object to that?

Of course... Mark the Mouth.

Not that there's anything...

...wrong with that...

King’s quest for a healthier eating option while behind bars ended with a county lawyer forced to research the origin of Festivus and its traditions and a Superior Court judge recognizing the holiday – which lodged its place in pop culture on an episode of Seinfeld – as a legitimate religion.

Hell's bells, that's nothing... how about state-subsidised Festivus... in the nude?

In Praise of Serial Killers

"Abdulwahab, O beloved, I do not know him, yet when I saw his picture I adored him ... Get ready for punishment, woe to the debauched countries, from the curse of Taymour, and the anger of his companions who are brave as tigers."

Hang on, that looks like fun... lemme give it a whirl...

"There was a shaheed from Nantucket..."

**********

UPDATE: More capricious & unknowable...

..."Will of Allah"...

-- TEHRAN -- Two suicide bombers blew themselves up near a mosque in southeastern Iran on Wednesday, killing at least 38 people at a Shiite ceremony, state media reported.

One of the attackers detonated a bomb outside the mosque and the other struck from inside a crowd of worshippers, state TV reported.

Hey... where's my murder poem?

Sauce for the Goose?

Remember the (cough... cough) apparent difficulty the MSM had... finding pictures of Colonel Russell Williams... that didn't include Defense Minister Peter MacKay?

It'll be interesting to see how diligent the CBC & CTV are about exploring this guys political connections...

-- VANCOUVER -- A 42-year-old former political staffer with Vancouver's COPE party has been arrested and charged in connection with three terrifying child rapes over the past 15 years — one involving a six-year-old victim.

Irrelevant, you say?

Hmmm, as I recall... it seemed to be pretty much front and center... when a serial killer was being tenuously linked to the Conservative Party of Canada.

Or how about last weeks nonsensical stories about "once upon a time" Harper advisor Professor Tom Flanagan being a one-man assassination squad?

What the heck is COPE, anyway?

After graduating from UBC Theatre in 2002, Ibata went on a political detour and worked as a personal assistant to lawyer and Vancouver City Councillor Tim Louis, as well as Councillors Ellen Woodsworth, Tim Stevenson, and Dr. Fred Bass.

In 2005, Ibata was hired by the Coalition of Progressive Electors as a political organizer, and helped lead the organization into the November 2005 Civic Election. Ibata also worked on the 2005/2006 Federal election campaign as the Database Manager for the NDP in Vancouver Centre.

Ibata currently runs RhythmNation.ca, a local event production and DJ company, and has now returned to COPE – just in time for the 2008 election!

**********

THANK YOU COMMENT MODERATION:

"I can now call you a nazi because of your use of Big Lie techniques. Hahahahahahahahaahhaha!"
Posted by liberal supporter to halls of macadamia at 7:02 PM, December 14, 2010

C'mon now, Sven... don't take it personally...

...apparently these guys aren't too fond of Muslims either...

-- BAGHDAD -- A suicide bomber blew up his car Sunday outside government offices in a province west of the Iraqi capital, killing 17 people, including women and elderly people waiting to collect welfare checks, officials said.

At least 23 people also were wounded in Sunday's blast, according to the officials.

**********

UPDATE: Maybe there is a gawd, huh?

The theory of an accidental detonation appeared to have gained some traction with the police.

The two explosions set off by the Stockholm bomber occurred on side streets crossing the pedestrian mall called Drottninggatan, the city’s principal shopping street, and suggested that a catastrophic outcome had been narrowly averted.

Once again... the capricious & unknowable "Will of Allah."

**********

THANK YOU COMMENT MODERATION:

"you're a chickenshit taking potshots and(sic) the scary Muslims from the safety of your 60 acre bunker."

And thank you... Mr Anonymous irony-deprived troll.

**********

LAST WORD: No Sharia Law in Canada?

I guess it depends on who... or more to the point... what deity you talk to.

Might also be a timely idea to start up "Kevlar Vest Fund"... to help out anyone who finds themselves on the wrong end of a fatwa.

And, no... I'm not joking.

It ain't rocket science

You wanna discourage bad behaviour... you bring down the full weight of the law...

A Thai official told the National Post that Thailand had arrested a Canadian citizen, who was then “handed over” to Canadian authorities. The official did not want to be named and said the case was considered classified and active.

Beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia...

...where festive candles aren't the only things that get blown away...

VANCOUVER — Deputy Chief Warren Lemcke said “no innocent people” were struck by bullets during the early Sunday morning shooting.

**********

UPDATE: Payback... it's a bitch

Vancouver police Chief Jim Chu said Monday this explosion of violence may have been triggered by several factors, but “started” with Gurmit Dhak.

Dhak, a 32-year-old longtime gangster, was executed point-blank just before 6 p.m. at Burnaby’s busy Metrotown mall on Oct. 16.

**********

RELATED: Back in Toronto the Good

No word yet, on which gun club the shooter belonged to.

In other "big city crime is down" news...

-- TORONTO -- A woman is being treated in hospital after being stabbed in the face or neck in the Yonge-Eglinton neighbourhood during the Monday morning rush hour.

The victim, in her late 50s, was rushed to Sunnybrook hospital.

**********

UPDATE: Stabber arrested

A dramatic and near-deadly scene outside a midtown Tim Hortons has ended with the arrest of the victim's husband.

Adrian Tidd, 57, was charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, forcible confinement and weapons dangerous.

**********

THANK YOU COMMENT MODERATION:

Lots of LOL'ing & PWN'ing and "you're just a hater" from the usual trolls.

Yeah, you dumb bunnies... this is all about me... who cares about the victims?

Akiel Eubank and Gregory Sappleton have been acquitted of killing 11-year-old Ephraim Brown.

Both men embraced each other in tears as Ephraim's mother quietly wept in her seat. Eubank and Sappleton, both 24, were accused of opening fire on each other during a gang shootout.

None of my detractors disputes that all these horrendous things are happening... instead they simply say I'm a monster for pointing them out.

Heads firmly up their asses... there's a solution.

Another Jane Taber tongue-bath...

...must be Monday...

"Bob Rae thinks he’s figured out the Conservative’s strategy about a proposed North American perimeter arrangement with the United States." --

Yeah... I remember when ol' Boob thought he'd figured out what was ailing Ontario... never mind, for instance... Canada... or perhaps Sweden...

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

Toronto... a place to realise your dreams

“In all our lives, we’re trying to be in a place where we can have more comfort, and that takes a bit of financial stability,” he said.

“So, I’ve been trying my best to get things up and running.”

Teach your children well

"For years, I’ve been hearing tales of political correctness gone amok at OISE, including radical anti-Israeli events. But it took the Peto case to really get me probing around to see what else is going on at OISE."

**********

RELATED: And Marshall McLuhan wept...

Lee came from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he spent nearly five years researching the lives of rappers in South Central Los Angeles. He is under contract with the University of Chicago Press to turn his thesis, "Rap Dreams," into a book.

Lee is what could be called a hot ticket. The day before we met, he had just agreed to an assistant professorship at the University of Toronto. Toronto has agreed to let him stay in Philadelphia for another year so he can stick with the gunshot victims he is tracking.

Meet Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly

Stockholm bomber identified... but Swedish Prime Minister apparently not convinced...

"We know that a man is dead. We know that a car exploded. We know that some threats has been given to the secret police and media," Reinfeldt said.

"But we are not sure they are connected. And I think it's very important not to give final answers based on speculation."

Well, you know Fredrik... he did have a bag of nails strapped to his body.

Maybe he was a carpenter... like Jesus.

**********

UPDATE: Every terrorist's nightmare...

...premature emasculation.

**********

RELATED: That good ol' time religion

A bomb blast has hit a school bus in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing the driver and a 13-year-old boy.

The roadside bomb, of the type used against Nato troops in Afghanistan, was planted in a bin.

A 13-year-old girl is among four people seriously injured after Monday's explosion, police say.

Yet again... the capricious and unknowable "Will of Allah."

If only there was a Long Gun Registry

Interestingly... no word yet on how many of those involved were actually... farmers, duck hunters or skeet shooters...

Ten people were injured and several others were taken into custody after what Vancouver police are calling “an outrageous display of gang violence”.

Six men and three women were treated for gunshot wounds and two of the victims were in critical condition. A tenth victim refused treatment and was taken to police headquarters for questioning.

**********

RELATED: Meanwhile, back in Hogtown...

A Toronto cop’s gun was fired during a struggle with a man in North York early Sunday morning, police said.

There was a struggle, the suspect did try to disarm the officer,” Toronto Police Const. Everett Chan said. “As a result of the struggle, the firearm was discharged.”

Yordan Grigorov, 21, was charged with assaulting a peace officer with a weapon, attempted murder while using firearm, escaping lawful custody and other offences.

Buffalove

“It’s pretty amazing to see such a wild animal in this sort of an unusual setting, really,” he said, pointing at Bailey and Jim Sautner in the bar. “Bailey is a little frisky at times, but it’s amazing how tame he is.”

So... are you listening now?

Two nearly simultaneous explosions rocked central Stockholm on Saturday evening, killing one person and injuring two others. Police believe the man who died may have blown himself up.

The fatal blast occurred just minutes after a car exploded on another nearby street sending two people to hospital.

Roughly ten minutes before the explosions, Swedish news agency TT received an email telling Muslims in Sweden and Europe it was "time to take action".

Geez... that kinda sounds like a clue.

**********

FROM THE CBC COMMENTS: Traveling hopefully, as always...

"Its a little early to surmise what really happened. It may have been a terrorist attack or not."

Hey, Sunny from Surrey... read slower...

From the CBC article...

Swedish media also reported that a suicide bomber blew himself up about 200 metres from the car. The man apparently had canisters on him and shouted in Arabic before the blast.

Swedish media were also reportedly sent a threatening email before the blast, criticizing the role of Swedish soldiers in Afghanistan and urging Muslims to take action.

[video here]

**********

UPDATE: Paging CBC's Sunny from Surrey, BC

Sweden's SVT television later reported that the man who died in the attack was the bomber. A bag filled with nails was found near the body, SVT said.

Hey, Sunny... maybe he was a carpenter, huh? Or, how about a plumber?

The Aftonbladet newspaper quoted a source as saying that the man was carrying six pipebombs, of which only one exploded.

Turn your back for just a second...

-- MCKEES ROCKS, Pa. -- Authorities say a 2-year-old girl spent 15 minutes stuck inside a toy crane vending machine in a Pittsburgh-area mall.

Moon Run Fire Chief Paul Kashmer tells WPXI-TV that the girl didn't seem upset by the ordeal Wednesday night in the food court at the Mall of Robinson, in Robinson Township. Kashmer says firefighters arrived to find "the cutest little girl in a pink outfit sucking her binky inside with the other toys."

The girl apparently climbed up the chute into which the coin-operated crane drops prizes. Kashmer used a tool to pry open a door on the machine to reach the girl.

The vending company hasn't been identified.

Oh, c'mon... it's not like she's gonna be...

...working in a hostile environment with some of the most dangerous men in Canada... wait...

"As a correctional officer, she will be permitted to wear gloves and long sleeves to avoid skin-to-skin contact with male offenders in accordance with her religious and cultural practices."

"But she is fully aware that in an institutional environment, there may come a time when she does have to have skin-to-skin contact with males."

May come a time?

Seriously?

Tonight's CTV Moonbat moment

CTV's Gallery Talk & uber-analyst Bob Fife expounding on a poll that was favorable to the Conservatives...

"I wouldn't read too much into it... the Prime Minister has a knack to screw it all up." --

And he doesn't stop there...

"I don't know what he's been smoking... it's not the Stephen Harper we're used to." --

So Bob... is the Prime Minister a doper... or just incompetent?

Bias... what media bias?

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Frankly my dear - I don't give a Fife."

In other "crime is down" news...

...it looks like incoming Mayor Rob Ford has his work cut out for him...

Serious crime spiked in the last three months on Toronto Community Housing property while arrears rose over $4 million and evictions dropped.

And, apparently... "affordable housing" just doesn't begin to describe it...

Meanwhile, compared to 2009, evictions from TCHC property are down 51% while the number of households in arrears climbed to 5,755, up 11% from the same three months a year earlier.

**********

RELATED: Unlike the Liberals & NDP...

..."the community" knows that harassing farmers, duck hunters & skeet shooters... just ain't gonna get the job done...

Pastors and other leaders of the black community are appealing to young men to put their weapons down and stop killing each other following gunplay in which two men were shot in Whitby.

Twenty-six of 29 men killed by guns in Toronto were young blacks and they left behind families and friends who suffer, members of the group pointed out.

**********

LAST WORD: And the struggle continues...

Two men were hurt, one critically, when officers from York Region opened fire on a mini van in the west end of Toronto early Friday.

Police say the officers involved in the shooting were members of the Hold-up Squad working undercover to track down suspects behind a recent rash of armed gas station heists that began last month across the GTA.

Health care, the economy... crime?

Nope... obviously the Natural Governing Party has other pressing priorities...
**********

RELATED: Mirror, mirror, on the wall

And hey... how about that Chinese guy, too?

"One year ago, I was humbled to receive the Nobel Peace Prize -- an award that speaks to our highest aspirations, and that has been claimed by giants of history and courageous advocates who have sacrificed for freedom and justice."

You don't tug on Superman's cape...

...and you don't mess around with, uhm... Alice...

“I think I am a real nice person. If he had come and knocked on my door, I probably would have opened it. That’s the kind of person I am. I like to laugh. I like to joke. I am a soft-hearted person.”

She dialed 911. Two days later the RCMP made an arrest.

[via reader jo]

FROM THE NATPO COMMENTS:

"Call for a cop, call for an ambulance, call for a pizza -- see which shows up first. When is she going to be charged with assault?"

**********

RELATED: The first thing we do...

...is hang all the lawyers...

-- VANCOUVER -- Eric Kirkpatrick was “highly compromised” by his epilepsy medication and not thinking clearly when he shot his boss several times with a shotgun, the accused killer’s lawyer told a jury Thursday.

“He had no plan to kill Ben Banky. He liked Ben Banky a lot. He respected him. They shared the same values.”

Hang on a second... who did Ben Banky murder?

And why do we let lawyers say stuff like this?

And Marcus Welby wept

The gastroenterologist had told the man if he pursued this course of treatment, he would refuse to be his doctor anymore. "You'll be on your own," the man remembers the doctor telling him.

Indeed, he was on his own, standing in the office of a Thai doctor, asking her to pick the worm eggs out of an 11-year-old girl's stool.

If you build it... they will come... and come...

...and come...

This is what happens when government rings the dinner bell, and it's an indication of just how loose the rules are for vetting past injustices, real or not.

Throw in the cult of victimology permeating modern liberalism and you have a cash cow ready to be milked. Victims will come out of the woodwork.

**********

RELATED: Somebody remind me again...

...why is it, we give the United Nations a single red cent?

Hang on a sec... probation? Seriously?

In other "live & don't learn" news...

-- WINNIPEG -- During an interview with his school guidance counsellor, the boy repeated references to the Columbine and Virginia Tech massacres and threatened to kill a male classmate.

"The student involved was so scared he stopped going to school," Baragar said.

Another classmate claimed the teen told him he wanted to "blow up the school," Baragar said. School officials seized bomb diagrams from the teen and found gunpowder in his pockets.

Gembey said the teen is learning how to control his anger and has distanced himself from gang-affiliated friends.

Yeah... maybe he got scared straight, huh?

Judge Tracey Lord told the teen to choose his words more carefully in the future.

"I appreciate you don't censor yourself ... but sometimes these kinds of words can really scare people," she said.

Thank you Judge Yoko.

Jumping the... well... you know

Seriously?**********

RELATED: Yup... business as usual

An extensive search of the WikiLeaks database by the Guardian by date, name and keyword failed to locate any of the incendiary allegations. It suggests this is the first case of WikiLeaks being exploited for propaganda purposes.

And despite this decision...

...whaddaya wanna bet... he never gets deported?

“I find that [Mohamed] Harkat has engaged in terrorism, that he is a danger to the security of Canada and that he is a member of the Bin Laden Network,” Justice Simon Noel writes in a decision released Thursday.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Remember when Mr. Harkat made a show of cutting off his GPS ankle monitor? The male part of his crowd of supporters screamed "Allahu Akbar" while Mr. Harkat snipped away."

**********

RELATED: Live & don't learn

The CSIS agents wanted to know how the Khadrs managed to travel between Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Yemen, Syria and Canada during the late 1990s, with no apparent means of support other than their work for Islamic charities.

Mr. Khadr replied his father lived off a Canadian disability pension.

Oh Canada.

Sure it's a modest start, but at least...

...the meter's spinnin' in the right direction...

Mayor Rob Ford’s campaign to stop the “gravy train” scored a small but tasty $48,000 victory.

Toronto city council voted Wednesday to scrap snacks and beverages for councillors during all meetings for the next four years.

And, heck... let's put this "victory" in the context of what usually happens in the center of the universe...

Three councillors tried and failed to get council to add them to their committees of choice.

Mihevc wanted to add himself to the TTC by creating a new commissioner position. Coun. Glenn De Baeremaeker wanted to create an extra seat on the Toronto Zoo board for himself while Counc. John Filion failed in his bid to create an extra seat on the planning committee so he could serve there.

**********

THANK YOU COMMENT MODERATION:

"he want spend untold BILLIONS and BILLIONS on a subway up where much less even need it."
Posted by Anonymous to halls of macadamia at 2:15 PM, December 09, 2010

"Haper and crew decided to fuck toronto up the ass. You're quite simply, an asshole."
Posted by Anonymous to halls of macadamia at 2:19 PM, December 09, 2010

Hahahahahahahahaha!
Posted by liberal supporter to halls of macadamia at 8:20 PM, December 10, 2010

Hahahahahahahahaa!
Posted by liberal supporter to halls of macadamia at 9:08 PM, December 10, 2010

By the Numbers

The state of Wisconsin has gone an entire deer hunting season without someone getting killed. That’s great. There were over 600,000 hunters.

Allow me to restate that number. Over the last two months, the eighth largest army in the world – more men under arms than Iran; more than France and Germany combined – deployed to the woods of a single American state to help keep the deer menace at bay.

But that pales in comparison to the 750,000 who are in the woods of Pennsylvania this week. Michigan’s 700,000 hunters have now returned home.

Toss in a quarter million hunters in West Virginia, and it is literally the case that the hunters of those four states alone would comprise the largest army in the world.

**********

COMPARE & CONTRAST: The other Toronto bluesfest

“It appears to be a self-inflicted wound that entered his middle thigh and exited his knee,” Staff Sgt. Ron Boyce said. “It’s kind of odd, that downward pattern.”

Police said the man ditched his gun and isn’t cooperating with the investigation. He refuses to admit he shot himself. But Boyce is confident they have their man and that the two men who shot him don’t actually exist.

“It’s two phantom people,” Boyce said. “We’re not looking for anyone.”

Helpless... by Christie Blatchford

I thought I knew all about the fiasco surrounding the aboriginal occupation of Caledonia, Ontario. I was wrong.

Just finished reading Christie Blatchford's book and it's full of interesting stuff that never hit the mainstream news.

She also talks about getting on Julian Fantino's bad side...

"I had also committed what counts as a cardinal sin in the Fantino book of rules. I had mentioned in a column - it was about a court case involving McHale and Fantino and the appearance of fairness - that Fantino's son Gregory had recently been appointed by the McGuinty government as a justice of the peace, a job that pays $114,000 a year."

You think we live in a country of clear-cut rules & laws.

Think again.

This book is a must read for any political junkie. I went through it in one sitting.

Buy it... and better yet... ask your local library to buy a few copies too.

Because... as we all know...

...running a soup kitchen trumps sitting at the foot of your sacred deity any day of the week.

"Canada should help Muslim youths perform volunteer work in Afghanistan and Iraq as an alternative to joining violent extremist groups, says a government-funded study."

Charity work... wasn't that what Papa Khadr was supposed to be doing?

**********

RELATED: Betcha "Meals on Wheels"...

...is startin' to look pretty good right now.

-- BALTIMORE -- A 21-year-old construction worker has been accused of plotting to use a vehicle bomb to blow up a military recruitment center in Catonsville, Baltimore County.

The suspect has been identified as Antonio Martinez, aka Muhammed Hussain.

That evil, dictatorial Stephen Harp...

...wait a minute...

The Ontario government acted in haste and should never have passed the infamous G20 Regulation 233 without at least alerting the public, Premier Dalton McGuinty says.

Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin has sharply criticized the decision of the Community Safety Minister to invoke an obscure war measures bill that gave police extraordinary powers to bring a state of what he described as virtual Martial Law to the downtown streets of Toronto last June.

The government made a decision not to advertise the new police powers, aware that there could be concerns about their scope, he said.

Regulation 233 stems from the 1939 Public Works Protection Act which gives police the right to stop, search and even arrest people if they don't identify themselves as they approach public works sites such as a water treatment plant.

It was used to designate the G20 security perimeter as a public works.

Of course... acceptance & accommodation

That's Job #1...

"You couldn't get much worse timing on that internally," he said, referring to the juxtaposition of the transsexual document and the ombudsman's report.

"It's so removed from what the guys are facing over in Afghanistan ... That doesn't really relate to dress codes of the transgendered."

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RELATED: More leveling the playing field news

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Holding someone responsible for a hyperlink to another site is akin to holding them responsible for everything inside a building that they give you an address for."

In other big city "crime is down" news

-- OTTAWA -- Detective work that lasted well into early Tuesday morning has led to the arrest of three young men in the death of 16-year-old Yazden Ghiasvand Ghiasi, who was shot and dumped from a car Monday morning.

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UPDATE: Who's zoomin' who?

An aspiring police officer and two other young men have been charged in the Monday morning slaying of 16-year-old Yazden Ghiasvand Ghiani, who was dumped out of a car and left for dead on a street near Chinatown.

The young men are 20-year-old Abdulhamid Wehbe, 19-year-old Khaled Wehbe and 18-year-old Zakaria Dourhnou.

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THE COMPASSIONATE INTELLECTUAL LEFT REPLIES:

Hahahahahahahahaha!
Posted by liberal supporter to halls of macadamia at 8:23 PM, December 08, 2010

Hahahahahahaha!
Posted by liberal supporter to halls of macadamia at 11:26 PM, December 08, 2010

A 16 year-old is brutally murdered... and libby laughs.

Thank you, once again, comment moderation

F*** it... I think I'll just...

...be a stripper.

Surprise!!! It's how things have worked...

...over there for centuries... and it ain't gonna change overnight...

The Examiner reported that numerous insurgents captured in Pakistan, including some members of al Qaeda, were returned to Afghanistan upon the request of the Karzai government, and then, according to a senior Pakistani official, "released back to the Taliban as bargaining chips in negotiations."

Uh, folks... their entire stone-age economy is based on selling heroin to the rest of the infidel world. It's what they do best. And, oh yeah... for the most part, they hate us.

You're either for it... or you're against it.

Choose.

**********

RELATED: I've said it before...

The fact is, if Canada pulled back financial aid from every country that was riddled with graft, corruption & human rights abuses... we'd be well on our way to reducing our own national debt.

That, of course, is not how we operate.

We, as Canadians, do what we can to effect positive change and swallow back the bile... knowing that the governments of most, if not all of these countries use most, if not all of our aid money to line their own pockets.

That secretive, controlling Stephen Harp...

...wait a minute...

-- OTTAWA -- You pay the rent but CBC says you have no right to know how much that rent is. The state broadcaster responded to a pair of access to information requests for the cost of leases on CBC buildings by removing all costs.

Hey... it gets better...

Last week CBC released an open letter boasting about how much information they release to the public.

Not a week goes by, I don't receive...

...at least one angry, foaming denunciation, demanding to know what I have against Toronto...and, well, not to belabour the point... it's stuff like this...

The Vaughan Rd. and Oakwood Ave.-area house was hit by Molotov cocktails early Monday morning, less than three days after bullets were fired at the house during a drive-by shooting, Toronto Police said.

Cops were called to the home, which sits in an area plagued by gang violence in recent years, just after 11:30 p.m. on Friday after two shots were fired at the front of the house.

I was born in Toronto... and lived there for the first 10 years of my life. I later worked there, for the better part of another decade... most of that right downtown. Thing is... I just don't remember all the mayhem. Now, it's what... a body a week?

And firebombing a home in a residential neighbourhood? What's next... somebody lobs a frag into a high school cafeteria?

The burgeoning violence was no small part of why we chose to pick up stakes 10 years ago and head for the sticks. And it's turned out to be one of the smartest moves of my adult life.

My son is now in high school. I don't think he's ever seen, never mind been involved in, a fist-fight. We can walk out back and come across all kinds of wildlife. The infrequent traffic problems we run up against mostly involve ungulates. And the only cocktails we encounter here... are either fruit or vegetable.

Oh yeah... I used to live on Winona Drive.

Toronto... you can have it.

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RELATED: Hogtown... by the numbers

See... it ain't just the people who die...

Speaking of that, in a year when Toronto has had 300 shooting victims, are we getting our millions' worth on the other programs set up to help them?

In the beginning...

And while non-believers likely try to pass critical thinking on to their children they don’t send them to weekly lectures about atheism and tell them they are bad if they don’t learn to parrot their parents’ beliefs.

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FROM THE COMMENTS:

"If you want to believe your grandfather is a rock then have at it! Enjoy! Feel Free!"

Got another 2 billion dollars?

What's next... a National Fiber Registry?

-- OTTAWA -- Canada needs a national vaccination registry so no child misses out on being immunized, a public health group says.

Yup... you just don't wanna mess with Tex...

...wait a minute...

Since the death sentence was inserted in 1986, the number has soared to 962 — including 340 members of the Ahmadi Muslim sect, 119 Christians, and 14 Hindus.

Another magical Toronto moment...

...where, apparently... there's no such thing as a bad boy...

Once written off as a “dead fish”, ex-con Mario Gentile is poised to make a back-door return to civic politics.

And the white knight who’s giving the former convict a helping hand is his former rival, Coun. Frank Di Giorgio, who represents York South-Weston.

Just something else to consider, while you're writing out that outrageous cheque for municipal taxes.

Gentile was convicted of breach of trust and accepting secret commissions in 1994 for taking money and benefits from developer Lou Charles while a Metro Toronto councillor.

He was also found guilty of tax evasion and pleaded guilty to breach of trust in a separate incident involving a U.S. firm that wanted to sell garbage trucks to North York.

Is it just me... or can anybody else...

...smell the magic?

Follow the money

Hidden behind the save-the-world rhetoric of the global climate change negotiations lies the mucky realpolitik: money and threats buy political support; spying and cyberwarfare are used to seek out leverage.

Negotiating a climate treaty is a high-stakes game, not just because of the danger warming poses to civilisation but also because re-engineering the global economy to a low-carbon model will see the flow of billions of dollars redirected.

Oh, sweet arsenal of my youth

Mixing Bangsite with water made an explosive gas. Some kids had Bangsite cannons, heavy cast iron things that were relatively safe to use.

Normal kids took a metal baking soda can and punched a nail hole through the bottom. This turned the can into a three-man, crew-served weapon.

Never a Taser around...

...when you really, really need one...

A man was shot by police after stabbing his father and then confronting officers with a knife in Scarborough Friday.

Officers encountered a knife-wielding man while responding to a stabbing just after 4 p.m. at a house on Laurel Ave., near Midland and Danforth Aves., Toronto Police said.

Neighbours claimed the man lunged at officers and three shots were fired. The younger man was rushed to the trauma centre Sunnybrook hospital with life-threatening injuries.

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THE COMPASSIONATE INTELLECTUAL LEFT REPLIES:

"yeah that polish guy really fucked things up didn't he"

**********

RELATED: Yup... let's blame the cops...

-- SCARBOROUGH -- A man was shot three times in front of a "large group" outside an east-end bar Saturday, but police were hard pressed to get any information about the shooter or shooters.

"The large group were reluctant and unwilling to provide police with any suspect information," Reed said of the witnesses.

And...

Cops were called to Lot 332 at Richmond and Peter Sts. just as the clubs were letting out about a man who was stabbed in his side and back just before 3 a.m., Toronto Police Staff-Sgt. John Boyce said.

After ambulance workers took the man to St. Michael's Hospital, two more men showed up at the downtown hospital with stab wounds to their backs, Boyce said.

While the pair said they, too, had been at Lot 332, "information was less than forthcoming from the victims" about what led to their non life-threatening injuries, Boyce said.

I'm with NDP MP Paul Dewar...

I just don't think... he's going far enough.

Live and don't learn... that's the solution

Sure, Kelly... we're right there with you...

"OK, so Pope Benedict, er... Justin Trottier has nothing better to do with his time. Here’s the question: Why do Catholics, er... atheists care what other people believe?"

Too many Chiefs...

...not enough outside auditing...

As chief in 2008-09, Ms. Clarke received a total tax-free compensation of about $243,000. Her councillors, some of whom filled more than one job, got a total of between $210,000 and $260,000 each.

Ms. Clarke runs a reserve of 87 people.

[...]

**********

UPDATE: Chief Shirley replies...

"I'll be honest, I don't do the numbers", Shirley says. "And I think we can get back to you on this if that's what you'd like."

Seriously... we actually pay these people?

I must've missed the CTV special showing all the people in Wilkie, Saskatchewan running around screaming... "Quick, hide the children"...

-- VANCOUVER -- Getting involved in making decisions for "significantly" disabled people would elevate Robert Latimer’s risk to re-offend, the National Parole Board said as it agreed to give full parole to the man convicted of murdering his severely disabled daughter.

This latest happy horseshit brought to you... not surprisingly... by the folks who get together every couple of years, to discuss releasing the likes of Clifford Olsen & Paul Bernardo back into the larger field of folk.

The solution is obvious... isn't it?

Full-body scanners, patdowns and a National Bibliophile Registry...Yes, of course... if only we banned crossbows... that'd fix everything.

**********

UPDATE: Shooter arrested

An Ottawa man Zhou Fang, 24, is due in court today to face a first-degree murder charge.

Police say the two men knew each other.

**********

UPDATE2:

The man shot to death with a crossbow in a Toronto library Thursday was the father of the man accused of killing him, police have confirmed.

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THANK YOU COMMENT MODERATION:

"You simply account (???) for being a dumb fuck can you. Nice work of being(sic) a complete douche."

Uh, yeah nonny... ya got me.

Why exactly, is it... you never hear about...

...laid-off politicians?

-- Newark, NJ -- 167 Newark police officers got pink slips, effective at midnight Tuesday, after negotiations between the city and the union broke down.

That means that one out of every six police officers who had been on the force in Newark on Monday -- when most of those crimes took place -- are now unemployed.

But, don't worry... it's not like... wait...

According to neighborhoodscout.com, 49.6 crimes committed per square mile is the median figure in the United States. Newark has 626 crimes committed per square mile, or 1262 percent more than the national median.

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RELATED: Speaking of saving money...

City staff ran roughshod over a woman with dementia, chopping down her tree for no good reason and slapping her with the bill, Toronto ombudsman Fiona Crean says.

"The inspector was cavalier and dismissive throughout," Crean wrote in a report on the case released Thursday.

Crean said the city inspector didn't ensure the homeowner understood, or was capable of understanding, what she had been ordered to do, nor did he make any effort to contact her son, who left messages that were never returned.

The city does not dispute Crean's findings and has accepted the recommendations, the report says.

That's funny... absolutely no word about disciplinary action.

The good news though, is... there's a new sheriff in town.

**********

UPDATE: Ask Rob Ford...

The city staffers who stonewalled and bullied an Alzheimer’s patient and her son over a silver maple should be fired, Mayor Rob Ford said Thursday.

“They should be dismissed,” the mayor said, after Toronto Ombudsman Fiona Crean released a scathing report on the case. “I can’t tolerate behaviour like that,” he said.

Ford made customer service his first priority and says he’s going to insist on staff returning citizens’ calls and e-mails promptly.

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THE COMPASSIONATE, INTELLECTUAL LEFT REPLIES:

"You(sic) ideas are in use south of the border. But you're just too fucking stupid or stubborn to admit it."

Thank you, comment moderation.

From the folks who brought you...

...let's bring home poor little Omar Khadr...
Meanwhile... south of the border...

Gutiérrez was suggesting that Obama bypass piecemeal reform like the DREAM Act and go for the whole enchilada — a path to citizenship for the country’s 11 million illegal immigrants.

According to Gutiérrez, Obama agreed then to push a comprehensive plan in the lame duck.

Truly a gift for the man...

...who has everything...

"As Lee Harvey Oswald's coffin was lifted, evidence of extensive water damage to the casket was apparent," said the company.

**********

UPDATE: The suspense is over

It sold Thursday evening for $87,469, which includes a 20 per cent buyers' fee.

“Anything connected to the JFK assassination sells for really high,” said Nate D. Sanders of Nate D. Sanders Auctions in Santa Monica.

He declined to provide details on the winning bidder, but said the bidder might speak publicly Friday.

**********

RELATED: "The childrens is are futcher"

Stand by for breaking news, on gravity...

...holding shit down...

“He wouldn’t listen to me; he knew better and I didn’t know what I was talking about,” recalled the father of the city’s 58th murder victim.

He added his son associated with the worst kind of thugs. Yombo said they would come to the house, threaten and even assault him.

He said his son also hung out with Jermaine Derby, Sealand White and Albert Kiwubeyi — all executed during the last seven weeks.

Of course, that didn't stop "the community" from trying to gussy things up...

“He was a nice boy. A good boy,” said Lol Mohammed, who met Yombo and his father when they moved into their townhouse about eight years ago from Montreal.

“I couldn’t believe when I heard what happened. I feel very sorry for his family,” she added.

Which didn't seem to sit too well with ol' Frenchie's dad.

Yombo’s father, though, didn’t seem to want the sympathy.

“I feel good,” he told reporters.

How about we get a second opinion...

...from Benazir Bhut... wait a minute...

A senior Pakistani government official familiar with his country’s nuclear weapons programme waved off Western handwringing.

“They (the weapons) are secured. That’s it. No matter whatever point of view anybody else has,” he said.

More nonsensical yip-yap... from the folks who gave the world the entirely lawless state of Waziristan.

And, hey Bullwinkle... nothing up your sleeve, right?

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

Hey, buddy... say hi to Osama for us.

In other "needs of the many" news

Imagine if... in 1938... somebody had managed to put a bullet in Adolf Hitler's brain...

Typically, a team of agents reconnoiters the target and his routines over a period of months, assessing vulnerabilities and opportunities to escape afterward.

"It's like a suit," says the intelligence expert. "An assassination must be custom-made."

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RELATED: Hey Mo, better start stockpiling virgins now

If, for example, an enemy combatant pops up from behind a wall to fire at US troops and then ducks behind it, an XM25 gunner can aim the laser range finder at the top of the wall, then program the shell to detonate one meter beyond it, showering lethal fragmentation where the insurgent is seeking cover.

[video at cjunk]

The Imaginarium...

...of Mark "The Mouth" Holland...

“They were bragging that they were going to crush us in Vaughan with their star candidate,” Liberal MP Mark Holland told reporters. “Conservatives should be worried” that they took the riding by only a thousand votes, he said.

So in a by-election – which voters typically use to punish the government – the Liberals lose a riding they have held by large margins for 22 years in a region where they absolutely must make gains to have any hope of forming a government, but it’s the Conservatives who should be worried.

Ah, yes... the hoary old... "because I say so"... gambit.

How's that workin' out for you?

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RELATED: Mark Holland's bad day

Maximum security, huh?

Which raises the question... whaddaya suppose the guys at ordinary jails are up to?

-- Kingston, ON -- A pimp convicted of forcing teenage girls into prostitution has been charged Monday for a third time for continuing to run a sex business from behind bars.

Police allege Melando Yaphet Streety, 27, and another inmate have been using a prison telephone at Ontario's maximum-security Kingston Penitentiary to command prostitutes on the street.

Just par for the course... in Dalton McGuinty's socialist paradise.