Enough pussy-footin' around

It's time to go to Plan B.

-- GHAZNI, Afghanistan -- South Korea and relatives of 21 kidnapped Koreans appealed for U.S. help Tuesday, but Afghanistan said for the first time it will not release insurgent prisoners — the Taliban's key demand to free the captives.

Ok, Hamid... that's a good start, but here's the rest of the scenario.

You take that list of prisoners the Taliban gave you... and after drawing straws, or a round of one-potato - two potato... you, FIRST... hang two jihadis to get Timmy Terrorist's attention and, more importantly, balance out the scoreboard.

SECOND... tell Timmy to give up his hostages now... or you hang one of these terrorheads at the top of every hour until you empty out the hoosegow.

These guys don't understand Geneva Convention... they understand death... and until you start playing their game, they'll always be ahead of you.

Or you can just let the Koreans die.

It's that simple.

**********

RELATED: I've said it before

Personally... if my kid was in Afghanistan, and if it gave my child even a marginally better chance of survival - there isn't a raggedy-ass terrorist scrotum I'd hesitate to introduce to my good friend "Major Voltage".

So c'mon, let's be brutally honest. If right now, it was your kid pullin' security patrol out in the Panjwaii, what mother or father out there wouldn't be saying, "Red is negative, black is... "

Technorati Tags: Islamofascist, Afghanistan, Canadian Forces

This is Canada

We don't punish the "children", we cherish them... even when they're making plans to blow us to pieces.

Don't worry though... there are some pretty harsh "release restrictions" under their "peace bond"... you know, like...

* No communication with other suspects in the case
* They must report twice a month to police
* They must surrender their Canadian passports
* They must seek counseling from their respective imams

So what does it all really mean?

Although the charges will not proceed further, Crown attorneys have the option of re-activating the charges within the next year. After one year, the charges will be dropped.

Hey... kids will be kids, huh?

It's not like they were gonna kil... hey... hang on a sec...

**********

RELATED: You remember these guys, right?

The Toronto Star reports...

"In investigators’ offices, an intricate graph plotting the links between the 17 men and teens charged with being members of a homegrown terrorist cell covers at least one wall. And still, says a source, it is difficult to find a common denominator."

Yup... it's the stuff of television whodunnits...

-- We now cross live to the set of CSI Toronto, where filming is underway:

-- Sgt. Warren Bollard: (staring in bewilderment at an intricate graph) I just can’t find any common denominator!

It seems as though these 17 men and teens have absolutely no point of commonality at all!

Technorati Tags: Toronto, homegrown terror, suckass political correctness

House of Wax

I'm not sure I'm gonna be able to sleep tonight.

The web site's "retouched" shots of children range from slightly eerie -- cartoon-like skin tones and glassy stares -- to OH MY GOD, WHAT IS THAT THING? A doll? A robot? A zombie? A zombie robot doll, designed to kill its parents in their sleep and send all their money to an offshore bank account?

Ok... take a few deep breaths and CLICK.

Talk about a failing grade

You've just gotta love Canada's own version of La-La land.

-- VANCOUVER -- There are so many people in B.C. scamming Canada's foreign student-visa program - from bogus students to shady schools - that authorities can only investigate about five per cent of the cases, according to an internal government report obtained by CanWest News Service.

Uh, guys... I think I've found the problem here.

While immigration officers have the power to place conditions on foreign students to attend school, they often don't.

"The effect of this is that there is no requirement that a student actually attend school despite the fact that the individual is in Canada to study," the report stated.

Only in Canada.

**********

RELATED: Think of it as promoting diversity...

In the, uh... hooker community.

**********

LAST WORD: Where killers go free

It must be something in the water.

Technorati Tags: illegal immigrant, student-visa, self inflicted injury

Warm, cuddly panda...

Shite... the perfect metaphor for China's economic miracle.

-- BEIJING, July 31 (Reuters) -- A Chinese wildlife research centre has come up with a novel idea to profit from panda poo -- make Olympic souvenirs out of it.

Researchers at the centre in Chengdu, capital of mountainous Sichuan province, had sculpted photo frames, bookmarks, fans and panda statues out of the 300 tonnes of the stuff produced by 60 giant pandas each year, state media said on Tuesday.

Toronto Gangbanger murders...

Claim another innocent victim...

Concerns about the "sinister uses" of guns in society have prompted University of Toronto officials to rid the campus of its 88-year-old sport shooting range, despite its continued popularity and spotless safety record.

"In today's world, even the perception of tolerance of guns and gun violence is seen as a negative," said Catherine Riggall, the university's vice-president of business affairs, who approved the decision recently.

I dunno Catherine... given the repeated unwillingness of the various "communities" out there to cooperate with the police... there actually seems to be a demonstrated never-ending tolerance for gun violence... but don't let that stop you from shutting down a legitimate activity that hasn't harmed a single person in almost a century of it's existence.

Ms. Riggall concludes...

"This is the last university in the country to have a gun range on campus ... it's just not seen as a priority activity."

Unlike the university's renowned "Sexual Diversity" program...

"Visiting lecturers will address technical aspects of flogging, restraint, and role-play."

Good grief.

Let Ms. Riggall know how you feel.

**********

UPDATE: But how could this happen again...

They already shut down the university gun range... the problem was supposed to be fixed.

There was no word on whether this latest execution-style shooting was related to any of the city's recent gun homicides, including Sunday's murder of aspiring rapper Michael George.

I guess they didn't get the word at "Banger Central."

Technorati Tags: Catherine Riggall, University of Toronto, suckass political correctness

Just the facts ma'am

Another piece of stellar reportage by Toronto's Red Star, entitled... "Driver dies after clash with police."

The loaded headline imputes that police officers killed the woman... but that isn't what happened at all. Who, besides Toronto Mayor David Miller actually pays for a subscription to this leftbot rag?

**********

UPDATE: Let's try a real newspaper

The boyfriend called police shortly after 6 p.m. on Sunday to report that his distraught girlfriend had left in a vehicle and was reportedly armed.

Two hours later, plainclothes officers found her in a car, stopped at a traffic light at Bloor Street and Prince Edward Drive.

She had shot herself in the head.

**********

RELATED: Check out the spinbots at CTV.

Technorati Tags: leftwing media bias, Toronto Star, propaganda

Ontario Liberals ponder ban...

On birthday parties...

Police have issued a Canada-wide-warrant for a 28-year-old who is wanted for second-degree murder after a man was stabbed Saturday morning.

Police are looking for Vimalathas Mohanarajah after they found Ajiganth Mahalingam wounded in an apartment building shortly before 6:30 a.m.

The 27-year-old was allegedly stabbed after a dispute erupted at a birthday party -- and police said the victim and the accused definitely weren't strangers.

The epidemic spreads... both Kimel Foster and Ephraim Brown were murdered at birthday parties in "Toronto the Good" last week.

At the very least we should be registering candles and party hats.

C'mon Dalton... let's stop the celebratory madness.

Technorati Tags: Toronto the Good, Vimalathas Mohanarajah, National Party Hat Registry

There's bad news and there's...

Bad news.

New Canadian research shows that the presence of trans fats in the blood system can also mess with the heart's rhythm, worsening the severity of a heart attack and jacking up the likelihood of death.

"It's like a double whammy," said Peter Light, a researcher at the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute in Edmonton and lead author of the study.

The new study, published in the European Molecular Biology Journal, helps elucidate how trans fats kill. Dr. Light said the heart is essentially an electric organ, and it uses fat as an energy source. A wave of electricity passes through the heart once per second, and each time calcium is pumped in and then out again.

**********

RELATED: I'll say it again...

The Conservatives blew this one.

-- OTTAWA -- Health Canada will delay regulation of trans fats in Canadian food products for at least two years, calling instead for industry to voluntarily limit use of the heart-clogging compounds.

Technorati Tags: health care, trans fats, Tony Clement

An Islamic ruling...

I can live with...

Singapore's Muslims should be treated as willing organ donors when they die, the country's Islamic authority says. The ruling will remove their exemption from a law allowing doctors to remove the heart, kidneys or liver of a body.

As with all other Singaporeans, Muslims will be able to opt out of the donation scheme while they are alive.

This is definitely something we need to be looking at here in Canada.

**********

RELATED: Who gives a shit... about those pesky people on dialysis?

Not Dalton McGuinty.

The Liberals are quickly passing a slew of government bills over the next few days before the house rises and doesn't return until after the October election.

But left to die quietly are 107 private member's bills ranging from declaring the "apple capital of Ontario" to a bill requiring people to fill out organ donation cards before renewing their driver's licences.

Technorati Tags: organ donor, Ontario, Dalton McGuinty

Better late than never

Even terrorist cells can't keep a secret forever...

We went into the jungle (of British Columbia). There we joined a dynamite stick with a battery and triggered off a blast.

Lakhbir and Inderjit, even at that time, had in their minds a plan to blast an aeroplane. I was not too keen on this plan but agreed to arrange for the dynamite sticks.

Also interesting is the alleged targeted killing of Talwinder Singh Parmar by Indian police... apparently to cover a link to a police informer.

Sarabjit said the PHRO’s probe has shown that Parmar was killed to hide the name of Lakhbir, who was an Indian agent.

The PHRO told Canadian authorities that conclusive evidence existed of Parmar being killed in police custody and not in the "encounter" shown in FIR No 105 registered at Phillaur police station on October 15, 1992.

The PHRO report, AI Flight 182 Case, states "On October 14, 1992, a high-level decision was conveyed to the police that Parmar had to be killed..."

Police in India are denying that Parmar was murdered and have attempted to portray this version of events as a further coverup by Canada's national law enforcement agency.

Then Jalandhar SSP and now IGP, Satish K Sharma, denied the charge. “It was a clean encounter.

The RCMP is bringing this up because they botched their investigations and failed to get convictions,” he said.

Technorati Tags: Flight 182, Talwinder Singh Parmar, RCMP

Same planet, different worlds

The last known surviving British soldier to have fought in the trenches of World War I has revisited the site where he fought 90 years ago.

Harry Patch, 109, from Somerset, made the trip to Belgium to recall his part in the Battle of Passchendaele which claimed 250,000 British casualties.

And don't be deceived... Harry's no one trick pony.

Britain's last veteran of the World War I trenches, Harry Patch, has embarked on a new career as a magazine agony uncle.

At the age of 109, he has been recruited by lads' mag FHM to guide and advise the younger generations.

Technorati Tags: Harry Patch, WWI, Battle of Passchendaele

Politically Correct Silence Kills

What will it take to stop the madness?

"Why are we living like this, like animals, just shooting down one another?"

Not everybody in the black community is afraid to say it... and that's a start.

If no one is willing to admit what the problem is here... nothing will ever be done to fix things.

UPDATE: You'll never guess what happened...

AGAIN.Rapper Michael "Trick" George of the group "Lowlife" gets to live, so to speak, his art.

Homicide investigators are looking for the public's help in piecing together the details of the city's forty-sixth homicide after a man was found dead in a car early this morning.

Upon arrival, they found the body of Michael George, 25, inside his Chevrolet Malibu in the driveway of his residence on Wilcox Creek Pathway.

Police say he had been shot several times.

RELATED: Time out for an opposing viewpoint...

Marla emailed me to say she thinks there is some sort of equivalence between the fatal shooting of high school student Jane Creba and the murder of Marla's friend, 31 year-old Sean "Juice" James.

Creba was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but you do not allow the same room for Shawn.

Why, because he is black, was on a street known for late night drug deals - late at night - and dresses a certain way?

Marla... are you accusing me of being a racist?  

Let me point out a couple of  glaring inconsistencies in your thesis...

ONE:  Witnesses state a cab rolled up on Sean at two in the morning in an area of the city known for prolific drug dealing... whereupon the occupants of said cab lit your friend up like the Honest Ed's marquee..

In the Creba murder, two gangs of young, armed black men started blasting away at each other on one of the city's busiest streets during retail shopping hours. 

TWO:  Neighbours identified Mr James as a drug dealer.

Now Marla, perhaps the witnesses are, for whatever reason, lying about your friend. It doesn't seem like the simplest, or most obvious explanation... but it certainly is a possibility.

Will you, in turn... admit that it's also possible that the media coverage is correct?

As for your comments regarding the Ephraim Brown shooting...

With Ephraim's family, that is where they were celebrating a family birthday etc. It may not have been the most responsible thing in the world to do, in hindsight.

But at the time, they probably were trying to enjoy themselves and not anticipating a gang member to show up and destroy their nice evg. People the world over -and here in Toronto, live differently from you, party differently from you and exist differently from you.

Marla... all I can say here is that, cultural differences and "partying differences" aside... letting an 11 year old child out at "Banger Central" at one in the morning is not only not, "the most responsible thing in the world to do"... it borders on sheer insanity.

And whoever decided to let Ephraim out at this hour, at this place will have to live with the knowledge that they could have... and indisputably should have... made another choice.

LAST WORD:  Back to the old country

Two men wanted for first-degree murder in connection with a fatal daylight shooting in Rexdale earlier this month are believed to have fled to Jamaica, Toronto police said.

Taking aim at farmers and collectors

While these guys run amok.

Across the street, the young woman who works in her father's gas station has been robbed at gunpoint more times than she can count. Her brother has been stabbed twice.

Six years ago, a cop was shot next door.

Let's just blame the guns... cos' going after actual criminals is such hard work.

**********

RELATED: Enough fiberal smoke and mirrors

It's too late to play silly games any more. If handguns are the cause of all this we have to ask why there are so few shootings in, for example, the Dutch, Ukrainian, Irish, Portuguese, Korean, Hindu or African communities.

**********

LAST WORD: Ever wonder what Liberals do...

Instead of going after people who actually have broken the law?

Police in Canada's most populous province have the right to seize and destroy any car that has been modified for street racing, Ontario's top prosecutor claims.

“We don't need to wait until that car hits the road fully loaded,” he said, adding that modified cars are as dangerous as explosives, capable of causing catastrophic damage.

Technorati Tags: Ephraim Brown, Dalton McGuinty, suckass political correctness

Carnival of Pissed Off Pinkos...

Supports Shawn Brant's unrepentant thuggery and theft...

Buzz Hargrove, Maude Barlow and an array of academics have signed their names to a declaration in support of Mohawk land claims and the occupation of a Deseronto quarry.

Signatories include Ismail Zayid, president of the Canada Palestine Association; Paul Moist, national president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees; Amanda Aziz, national chairwoman of the Canadian Federation of Students and left-wing activist Judy Rebick.

The fact that a legitimate business owner has had his business stolen out from under him, hasn't caused too much mourning in "progressive" circles...

The CAW often puts its name behind these causes, said Raj Dhaliwal, the union's director of human rights.

The plight of the quarry owner, Terry Kimmett, is "unfortunate," Dhaliwal said. "I could sympathize with the person."

"Maybe there has to be compensation."

Thank goodness the union has a "director of human rights."

Too bad the sympathy here is so selective.

Technorati Tags: Deseronto, Buzz Hargrove, Shawn Brant

Dalton's friends playing hardball

Silly me... Ontario schools are making students flog candy bars to family and friends to raise money for school supplies... we haven't had a family doctor since we moved six years ago... and Dalton McGuinty is doling out unsolicited cash for new cricket pitches.

-- TORONTO -- The head of the Ontario Cricket Association said it should not have to return any of the $1-million grant it received from the Ontario government and, in fact, he plans to ask for more funding.

"This amount of money is barely scratching the surface of what's needed," he said. "Cricket is growing exponentially in Canada. As the sport grows we need to have infrastructure facilities in place."

Your money... their friends.

**********

RELATED: Relax... it's not what you think...

"This is the first time Yonge St. has been blocked off without a shooting for a long time," he said.

Technorati Tags: Dalton McGuinty, bribing the vote, Ontario Cricket Association

You can trust me... I'm a journalist

-- "These pilots, they are very professional. They combine the skills of pilots and skills as journalists." --

See, if that were factually correct... even just the first part... these guys wouldn't be applesauce.

Journalists, like politicians, care about ratings, not facts... and especially not about safety.

Screw academics & a work ethic

Just tell me a good story...

Antoine, who is African-American, will begin his senior year in September at his large, predominantly black and low-income high school just outside Washington.

He had come to Howard for an intense four-day workshop in the complex process he will have to master if he is to fulfill his aspirations of upward mobility: applying to college.

The workshop is intended to help them discover — and prove to college admissions officials — that their life stories can be as powerful as high SAT scores and stellar grades.

Forget all that horse-pucky about working hard to make something of your life.

It's about the entertainment value, stupid.

Technorati Tags: SAT scores, Howard University, suckass political correctness

Size does matter

Especially when this jumped-up tuna can french kisses a bridge abutment... or a gravel truck.

-- TOKYO -- Tiny, cheap and super fuel-efficient, minicars are essentially motorcycle-sized engines on four wheels. But demand for these runty runabouts is anything but petite.

Last year, minicars racked record sales in Japan and now account for more than a third of all new cars sold annually here.

But hell... who wants to live forever anyway?

Technorati Tags: mincars, Suzuki Wagon R, death wish

Calling Taliban Jack

If we cut and run in Afghanistan... dropping the shithammer on all this can be on your tiny vestige of a conscience.

**********

RELATED: Losing the propaganda war

Why is it NATO has to meticulously "investigate and prove" everything before catching the tiniest break... but the enemy simply has to hop around screaming "war crimes" and the media jumps in with both feet?

NATO and Afghan troops clashed with Taliban insurgents and called in air strikes, killing at least 50 suspected militants and dozens of civilians, including women and children, local officials and villagers said Friday.

Nobody ever seems to question why these "atrocities" always occur in remote Taliban controlled villages where you have to take illiterate, raggedy-assed Mullah Abdullah's word that all the village children were turned into crispy-critters.

Oh yeah... and don't worry about evidence... everybody's long since buried in our secret graveyard.

Wake up leftbots... it's called a propaganda war.

And you're aiding and abetting the enemy.

**********

LAST WORD: Remember Hezbollywood?

Technorati Tags: propaganda war, media bias, Afghanistan

32 million dollars doesn't go as far...

As it used to... but Dalton McGuinty takes a page out of the "Ferdinand Marcos Guide to Savvy Political Spending"... to get maximum bang for OUR TAXPAYER bucks...

Auditor-General Jim McCarter said in a report released today that the process used to hand out $32-million in grants in the past two years was "not open, transparent or accountable."

“In essence, the decisions behind ‘who got what' were often based on conversations, not applications,” Mr. McCarter said at a news conference today following the release of his 27-page report.

It can't possibly be that bad, I'm sure there was a careful vetting process...

In one example, the Ontario Cricket Assoc. applied for a grant of $150,000, but the very next day received a cheque for $1-million, Mr. McCarter said.

Surely though, there was careful thought given to ensuring maximum benefit for ALL Ontario taxpayers...

Mr. McGuinty apologized to all Ontarians and vowed on Thursday to put an end to the practice of using year-end money from the ministry to make grants to ethno-cultural groups.

A total of $32.4-million was rushed out at the end of the past two fiscal years to multicultural groups with ties to the Liberal Party.

Wow... how did that bastion of honesty and accountability, Honest Dalt, react to all this? He must have been some pissed, huh?

Mr. McGuinty called in the auditor in May following concerted efforts by his government to block attempts by opposition members for an investigation into the alleged multimillion-dollar slush fund.

Ok... I give up.

**********

RELATED: The old quid pro quo

The Epoch Times has learned that CPAC board members figured prominently in a fundraiser for Ontario Citizenship and Immigration Minister Mike Colle six weeks before Colle's office issued the first of two unadvertised grants to CPAC.

The grants totalled $275,000.

Workers with other immigrant service providers declined to be interviewed for this story, citing concerns that publicly criticizing the government over its relationship with CPAC might hurt their own efforts to win grants.

However, one said of CPAC: "To be honest, it is not that they have been doing this the longest or that they have the best track record. Somehow they have managed to get the most attention from the minister."

"That's the difference."

**********

LAST WORD: Same old, same old.

Technorati Tags: Dalton McGuinty, multicultural, buying the vote

No soup for you!!!

Reminiscent of a landmark episode of Seinfeld, here's a somewhat surrealistic moment in Canadian politics... wherein the Fiberals, Dippers and the Bloc-heads team up to piss all over our aboriginal brothers.

-- OTTAWA -- The three opposition parties have formed a united front to block the Conservative government's quest to pass a law that would make the Indian Act subject to the federal human rights code.

What's that scary Stephen Harper up to now?

Bill C-44 would remove a 30-year-old exemption of the Indian Act from the Canadian Human Rights Act and extend the reach of the Canadian Human Rights Commission over claims of discrimination that have been shielded because the Indian Act is outside the human rights code.

The Canadian Human Rights Act outlaws discrimination in employment and services on such grounds as sex, race, ethnic origin, and marital status. The exemption has been condemned time and again in Canada and at the United Nations.

Good grief... the scary neocons want to treat natives as equals. It's, well... outrageous.

Thank goodness for the enlightened left.

**********

RELATED: Ok, ok... don't rush me

An interesting point at the Broom

Reserves are largely excluded from human rights law because of a temporary 1977 exemption, designed to give First Nations time to prepare, that was never removed.

Technorati Tags: Bill C-44, Stephen Harper, Canadian Human Rights Act

Gone, but not forgotten

While 11 year-old Ephraim Brown has been getting the lion's share of the ink & symapthy... Sean "Juice" James was also murdered last weekend... and his friends have come together to immortalise him...

My personal favourite here is...

"juice and denver brothers from another mother fo real"

You get a sense of Sean's popularity from an article in the Toronto Red Star...

Shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday, police responded to a shooting at a Bleecker St. apartment called The Hamilton. They found a man who later died in hospital from gunshot wounds.

Police said a Beck cab had glided up beside the man outside the building and at least one of the cab's passengers fired shots.

Neighbours said the man sold drugs but was the "nicest person."

UPDATE: Red Star slams on the brakes...

Throws their drug dealer story into reverse.

Friends and family have set up a vigil to James, who worked in public relations.  He was a polite, well-mannered man who "had a beautiful soul," said his long-time girlfriend. "He touched so many people in so many different ways."

"He didn't have one enemy to my knowledge."

Well... maybe just one, huh?  Perhaps someone from a competing public relations firm?

LAST WORD: Bright lights, big city...

A 16-year-old boy has been shot dead after being chased by youths on bicycles, police have said.  Officers were called to reports of shots being heard on the Stockwell Gardens Estate in Stockwell, south London, just after midnight.

The Met's Operation Trident team, which investigates gun crime in London's black community, is investigating.

Wanna see a liberal master strategist...

Try to make things better?

-- M.C. -- Didn't Randy Hillier's organization threaten to kill/harm/maim (MPP) Leona Dombrowsky? So isn't any woman who stands on stage with him a self-hating misogynist?

Hey Warren... keep digging.

**********

RELATED: Speaking of plans and mice and men...

An eagerly anticipated auditor general's report into year-end government grants to ethnic groups with alleged Liberal party ties won't do anything to help the party's image when it's released Thursday, opposition critics say.

Despite the McGuinty governments best efforts to stonewall any investigation of their massive bribe-a-bloc initiative... this report is gonna surface at a very critical juncture.

The Liberals initially voted down an opposition motion to have the province's auditor examine how $32 million in grants were doled out to various multicultural organizations – some of which were said to have Liberal ties – at the end of the last fiscal year.

Instead, the Liberals passed a motion urging the grant beneficiaries to account for their spending and to report back within six months – a deadline that would have been after the Oct. 10 election – but later bowed to opposition pressure.

This is the sort of outright voter bribery that would have made Papa Doc Duvalier blush.

An Iranian community group, whose members include Ontario Liberals, received a $200,000 immigrant aid grant from the provincial government only three weeks after it was registered as a charity.

Shame on McGuinty and his shady henchmen.

Technorati Tags: Warren Kinsella, Dalton McGuinty, same old, same old

Brave jihadis strike another blow...

For Allah...

Two bomb attacks have killed at least 50 people and injured 135 in Baghdad as crowds celebrated a famous victory by the national football team.

Thousands had gathered on the streets of Baghdad, dancing and chanting in a rare moment of national unity.

Way to go guys.

What's tomorrow's objective... a children's dance recital?

For anyone who has problems with...

Our horribly unfair, draconian Canadian society, you might want to take note here...

Legislators in the Indonesian province of Papua are debating whether to approve a bill allowing microchips to be implanted in people with HIV.

The measure has been put forward as a way of preventing the spread of HIV in the Indonesian province. About 2.4% of Papuans are known to be carrying the virus, and infection rates in the province are estimated to be 15 times the national average.

And they're apparently not planning on stopping at microchips.

As well as calling for the introduction of microchips, the bill also suggests mandatory testing of every resident in Papua.

Parliamentarians are reported to have discussed tattooing those found to be carrying the virus.

It's certainly not an idea you'd hear anyone advancing around here.

A couple of years ago, after experiencing what paramedics euphemistically refer to as a "syncopal episode", I found myself in hospital for the biological equivalent of a 72 hour automobile diagnostic.

When machine science failed to turn up any foreign objects or obvious defects in the old brainbox... the neurology residents started spitballin... and one of their ideas was to test for sexually transmitted diseases, including of course, HIV/AIDS. I gather the request stirs up a good bit of resentment in these parts because of the rather tentative way they asked for my permission.

As a non-junkie and unashamedly monogamous, heterosexual husband & father, I hadn't expected this particular request... but as the recipient of a single tattoo acquired some ten years previous, from a less than surgical suite type operation, I agreed to their request.

Compared to the repeated, and less than pleasant extraction of spinal fluid... it seemed like a pretty insignificant procedure.

As it turns out, the tests came back negative and to this day, no one has the faintest idea what happened that fateful night... but the whole experience gave me an appreciation for the importance of personal health.

I'm guessing I'm also one of the few people around here who can actually prove they're not syphilitic, or HIV positive. Not that it'll ever come up in polite conversation.

No real lofty point to all this... I just figured I'd share.

I guess I'm also glad I don't live in Indonesia.

Technorati Tags: HIV/AIDS, microchip, Indonesia

Wanna see blatant media bias?

The Globe leads with a story implying the Harper government is blackmailing their own staffers to contribute money to the party... with a huge emphasis on how everyone is enraged at the allegedly coerced tithing...

Senior political staff in the Harper government say they have been asked to donate $1,000 to the Conservative Party, a move that has sparked resentment among some of the most stalwart supporters of the Prime Minister's Office.

You have to read to the end of the article to see what a non-story this piece of fluff really is...

When in government, the Liberals also encouraged their chiefs of staff to join the Laurier Club, a fundraising arm of the party that costs $1,000 to join for those over 30. Most agreed, said a former Liberal official, although some balked out of principle.

Slow news day in Ottawa, boys?

Technorati Tags: leftwing media bias, Laurier Club, liberal hypocrisy

If the Liberals really want...

To do something about gun crime... why are they stalling this legislation in the Senate?

Bill C-10, An Act to amend the Criminal Code to provide a five-year minimum sentence for crimes committed with a deadly weapon.

Bill C-35, an Act to amend the Criminal Code to require reverse onus in bail hearings for firearm-related offences.

**********

UPDATE: No more liberal hypocrisy

-- TORONTO -- The federal minority Conservative government's efforts to clamp down on the gun violence plaguing some of Canada's big-city streets are being thwarted by the Liberal-dominated Senate, the country's justice minister complained Tuesday.

"The Liberals talk out of both sides of their mouth," Nicholson told The Canadian Press from his riding in Niagara Falls, Ont.

"They say, when it's to their advantage during elections, that they're tough on crime, but where is the support when we're bringing forward these pieces of legislation?"

Email Stephane Dion and let him know how you feel.

**********

LAST WORD: What's with those Liberals...

And their scary, hidden agenda?

Best lefty post on the thread, bar none:

"To single out Jamaica is wrong. Quebec has a serious criminal problem originating in its Haitian community. Ottawa has a criminal problem originating in its Somali community."

"We must be careful with generalities..."

Technorati Tags: Bill C-10, Bill C-35, liberal lies

You mean, taking gopher rifles...

Away from farmers isn't gonna solve the problem?

Does this mean we get our two billion dollars back?

Ephraim Brown wasn't shot because someone didn't lock up his gun properly. Neither was Jordan Manners, or any other kid who's been shot lately.

And yet, we've still got politicians pandering to white middle-class sensibilities with talk of tightening the gun registry.

Better that than demonizing the people living in the afflicted neighbourhoods, I guess.

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THE NUMBERS: Who's capping who?

Of Canada's two million licensed gun owners... 0.00555%... used their firearm to murder someone.

On the other hand, in 2005, 64% of accused murderers had a prior criminal record, including 6% for homicide.

Yeah, that's what I thought.

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RELATED: Hey Dalton, when are we gonna get...

The Thinkright line... because it's way past time we actually let people use their own brains...

A new telephone number could prepare a family for a healthier meal.

The EatRight line, launched by the province, allows people to talk to a registered dietitian about what foods are good, what should be avoided, and the truth about trans fats, to name a few topics.

It's the eternal Liberal conundrum... how much "dumbing down" is enough?

Technorati Tags: Ephraim Brown, Jordan Manners, Farmer Bob Rifle Registry

If Michael Bryant put as much energy...

Into doing his job properly... as he did trying to "ban", for instance, dogs and handguns... there'd be a few less bodies littering the streets...

Witness the Ephraim Brown shooting...

The two men, just out of their teens, have a history of criminal charges. In Mr. Eubank's case, those charges include weapons offences, allegations he assaulted a police officer and, on one occasion, eight counts of failing to comply with bail conditions.

In March of last year, Mr. Eubank went to trial on multiple charges. After more than a week, the judge instructed the jury to return a not-guilty verdict.

As for the other man arrested in this case... apparently the first kid he shot was deductable.

In the summer of 2005, Mr. Sappleton was arrested and charged in connection with the notorious drive-by shooting that wounded four-year-old Shaquan Cadougan — charges that were withdrawn by prosecutors.

What law... what ban... does Michael Bryant imagine, in his wildest dreams, will stop these two predators from procuring and using guns?

So maybe before our esteemed Liberal Attorney General starts screaming about taking perfectly legal registered firearms away from law-abiding citizens... he should get his own house in order.

And get these assholes off the street for good.

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UPDATE: The Globe & Mail weighs in

But the underlying problem of large, poor, fatherless families, alienated teens and a gangster culture transplanted in part from Jamaica is sinking its roots into Toronto, and will not soon let go.

And the Red Star has a postscript...

This was not the first time gun violence has touched the family.

Four years ago, Ephraim's uncle, Matthew Osborne, was shot to death in Scarborough. "No one ever expected to go through this again," said Ingrid Osborne, as she sat beside her sister.

So, eleven year-old Ephraim gets to hang out at 1:00 am at Banger Central... despite this previous family tragedy?

Are these people insane?

**********

RELATED: A busy weekend in Toronto the Good

Let's not overlook the unfortunate demise of Sean "Juice" James, or Kimel Foster, or Amin Aafi as well.

It could happen to anyone, huh?

I don't think so.

Technorati Tags: Ephraim Brown, Akiel Eubank, Gregory Sappleton

Root causes, my pampered Ph.D ass

Sometimes you just have to let the data run free... and follow it the best that you can...

All in all, the research that professor Krueger gathers together suggests that if there is a link between poverty, education, and terrorism, it is the opposite of the one popularly assumed.

Apparently, contrary to the popular perception of the downtrodden revolutionary of humble beginnings... there is a thriving and diverse "Islamofascist freedom fighter" community out there.

Claude Berrebi and Harvard economist Efraim Benmelech studied—there's no nice way to put this—the human-resources policy of Palestinian terrorist groups.

They found that older, better-educated terrorists secured more important suicide missions and killed more people.

Now, on the face of it, that would seem to make perfect sense... but there are always exceptions to the rule.

Despite the fact that they were university educated and not "fresh off the goat" like so many of their middle-eastern brethren... the latest gang of UK terrorheads were also stunningly incompetent.

Allah certainly works in mysterious ways.

Technorati Tags: suicide bombers, Palestinian terrorist, Religion of Peace

Hold the presses...

I'm guessing Taliban Jack will be crawling out from under his rock momentarily.

-- KABUL (AP) -- NATO said six of its soldiers were killed during combat operations in Afghanistan on Monday, including four by a roadside bomb in the east where U.S. troops are based.

It's what he does best.

**********

UPDATE: Wanna see some more willfully blind?

Here's the taxpayer funded propaganda ministry... the CBC.

Four U.S. soldiers have been killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan and two other NATO troops have died in other parts of the country, NATO said Monday.

A total of 114 NATO soldiers have died in Afghanistan this year, including 22 Canadians.

Now here's a Canoe.ca story posted about the same time that also covers the NATO casualties... but throws in some context.

In Helmand province, the U.S.-led coalition and Afghan soldiers “routed” a large number of Taliban fighters in a two-day battle, killing more than 50 suspected militants, the coalition said.

Coalition aircraft dropped four bombs during the engagement, and Afghan forces counted “more than four dozen” insurgents killed, it said.

"CBC --when you only need half the story."

Technorati Tags: NATO casualties, CBC, leftwing media bias

So let's call for a ban on cars...

Every time a drunk crushes a pedestrian...

Akiel Eubank, 21, was arrested Sunday night and faces a charge of first degree murder, police said at a news conference Monday morning.

He is "extremely well known to the Toronto police as an active gang member," said Sgt. Gary Giroux, who added he is "confident" more arrests will be made.

You really think taking guns away from perfectly legal target shooters would have stopped this sociopath and his predatorial "gangsta"... uh... associates?

The actual problem here is that someone forget to raise this asshole with any sort of moral compass. Let's hear from his mom and uh, what's that word... father?

It doesn't matter what this stone cold killer had in his hand.

Why isn't anybody worried about what all these "disadvantaged" maniacs have in their heads.

It's the hard heart that kills.

**********

RELATED: See, here's one important difference...

When people in "my community" are invited to a birthday party, they bring presents... not firepower.

The victim, Kimel Foster, 21, suffered several gunshot wounds to his abdomen and was pronounced dead about 30 minutes later, police said.

There were as many as 50 people in the bar where there was a birthday party -- it's unknown if Foster and the other victim were guests -- and Browne appealed for witnesses to come forward.

**********

LAST WORD: Hey dumbass, "these people" are murderers.

It's not an episode of "Three's Company".

“They (meaning deceased 11 year olds) have nothing to do with the antics and problems these people get themselves into,” Ms. Taylor said.

Antics and problems, huh?

Is that what they call wholesale slaughter nowadays at Jane and Finch?

Technorati Tags: Ephraim Brown, Kimel Foster, Akiel Eubank

They call him "Steffi Stumbles"

Outremont, in Montreal, is considered a safe Liberal riding. Perfect for parachuting in a female or minority candidate.

So who does Dion appoint?

Pandering yet again

There have been laws against possessing unregistered handguns since the 1930's... and I'm pretty sure nobody has recently repealed the laws regarding murder... so what exactly is this idiot yammering about now?

-- TORONTO -- Toronto Mayor David Miller called Sunday for tougher gun laws after a spate of late-night shootings left an 11-year-old and two others dead in unrelated incidents.

“It's very clear that gun violence is connected to the ownership of guns,” Mr. Miller told the media.

Yeah... show me the connection here.

How exactly is going after legitimate owners of registered firearms gonna affect the overwhelmingly black-on-black gun violence that is plaguing Toronto-the-less-than-good?

If, in fact, police ever find the shooters, or the guns here... and with the less than spectacular cooperation from the "communities" involved, that's daily becoming less and less of a sure thing... they're gonna find that the guns in question were smuggled over our badly defended borders by one of Toronto's many criminal gangs.

Like the rest of Toronto's gun violence, these murders have nothing to do with legitimate owners and registered firearms.

Apparently though, no amount of factual evidence is gonna stop "Chicken Little" Miller and his progressive cheerleaders from trying to skew the responsibility here.

And where's Taliban Jack? If he really cared about saving lives maybe he could take a break from crapping on the military and hold a press conference demanding beefed up border security?

Yeah, right.

So what would actually do some good here?

How about more cops, less smoke and mirrors?

How about no more pretending the problem lies with law-abiding citizens?

Let's target the people pulling the triggers.

Don't be fooled... "Wake up and smell the socialists."

Technorati Tags: murder, smoke and mirrors, Mayor David Miller

What goes up...

I'm guessing physics isn't a big favourite in Iraqi schools...

At least two people have been killed in Baghdad by gunshots fired to celebrate the Iraqi football team's quarter-final victory in the Asian Cup, police say.

At least 15 people were wounded when football fans fired weapons in the air across the Iraqi capital after their team beat Vietnam 2-0 in Bangkok.

Apparently in Iraq, simply cheering for your team is somehow considered inadequate... true sportsmanship requires suppressive fire.

This goes a ways towards explaining why... in the middle east... strapping explosives to your kids is considered an act of patriotic and military genius.

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RELATED: So what story is CTV still milking?

You guessed it... the out of control police brutality in Toronto towards the visiting Chilean soccer team.

The cops prevent some sore-loser, third world soccer hooligans from beating up game referees... and it's another black eye for our repressive, racist system of government.

The confrontation between the Chilean soccer team and Toronto police rapidly escalated to become an international incident, with officials in Santiago laying the blame squarely on Canadian authorities.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet told local reporters she was dismayed with the use of "unjustified aggression" by Toronto police after a bloody brawl following a FIFA U-20 World Cup match late Thursday.

You get a whiff of what actually happened, near the bottom of the article...

When the final whistle blew and Chile had been shut out 3-0, the team started to go after the referees, egged on by an angry public audience. However, police ushered the refs away to the tunnels underneath the stands.

Of course, that's not how CTV chooses to spin this story.

Yup... no mindless, leftbot media bias here.

Technorati Tags: Asian Cup, media bias, FIFA U-20 World Cup

Cats are from Venus

Somebody's been eating out of the litterbox again...

More screwball logic from the woman who brought you the Top Ten List of the Smartest Canadian Female Bloggers, for which, incidentally... she nominated herself.

This time Libnip decided to get up on the porch at the Doggerel Party. Needless to say, Clive and the Corgis ate her lunch.

Relativism is a necessary tool for any left-winger, because it's the only way to avoid what psychologists call 'dissonance' - the holding of simultaneously contradictory ideas and viewpoints.

Give it up, Clive... you might as well try to reason with a, well...

Technorati Tags: moral relativism, Doggerel Party, Liberal Catnip

Reading, writing and...

Ripping people to pieces... Italian police have raided a mosque and disrupted a "school for terror."

Police in central Italy say they have uncovered a bomb school for Islamist militants after raiding a mosque in Perugia and making three arrests.

Evidence of training in explosives and poisons, and instructions on flying a Boeing 747 were reportedly found. They seized the imam and two other men, all Moroccans, and have a warrant for a fourth man believed to be abroad.

Anybody who thinks the islamofascist jihad couldn't possibly affect their lives, should pull their heads up outta the sand.

They're coming for us infidels... and sooner than you think.

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RELATED: Scenario for Aussie 9/11?

-- SYDNEY, July 22 (Reuters) -- Australian police were investigating whether an Indian doctor detained on terror charges may have been plotting to blow up a high-rise building on the Gold Coast, the Sunday Mail newspaper reported on Sunday.

Technorati Tags: Perugia, war on terror, Mohamed Haneef

Look out, it's Franken-tato!

If you're thinking of sending Igor out to find a brain anytime soon... you'd better not live in Europe.

Only 1 percent of the world's genetically modified food is grown in Europe.

There's a number that just stopped me in my tracks. Perhaps turning the world clock back to the middle ages is a more popular idea in some parts of the world than I imagined.

In contrast, 55 percent of the world's acreage in genetically modified crops is in the United States, where there is no distinction made between genetically modified and traditional varieties.

Read the article. Incredibly, the potato everybody's freaking out about, isn't even for human consumption.

It's been designed to make industrial starch.

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RELATED: Call me crazy, but...

Maybe you should worry about stuff that could actually affect your life.

Mexican cantaloupe irrigated with water from sewage-tainted rivers. Candy laced with lead.

Producers in other developing nations are notorious violators of basic food-safety standards, even as they woo consumers with a growing appetite for foods such as pickled mangoes from India and fruits and vegetables during winter from Mexico.

Most people are aware of the unbelievable messes originating in China, but the problem is much, much larger than that.

China, already under suspicion as the source of tainted toothpaste, contaminated fish and toxic medicine, logged the largest number of violations in the past 12 months, with the U.S. Food and Drug Adminstration rejecting 1,901 shipments of food and cosmetics.

But India and Mexico weren't far behind, with inspectors rejecting 1,787 and 1,560 shipments, respectively. The biggest reasons? Foods that are unapproved or contain poisons and pesticides.

Some are simply dirty, with inspectors finding that the shipment "appears to consist in whole or in part of a filthy, putrid, or decomposed substance or be otherwise unfit for food."

Or you can just learn to live with stuff like this... because there's only one way to be totally sure about food nowadays.

Grow your own.

Technorati Tags: genetically modified, poisons and pesticides, Mexico

Evidence...

We don't need no steenkin' evee-dence.
(via SDA)

Calling all CUPE dolls

No one is denying that the day to day situation in the Palestinian territories is an absolute and total mess...

With 47 per cent of the potential Palestinian labour force unemployed and a per capita income 23 times less than that of Israel, the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) has a difficult enough job.

What I don't understand, is how all the loony leftbot Hamas cheerleaders in the western world can sleep at night.

In June, the PGFTU said Hamas seized their headquarters and ordered the union's staff to discuss how they were to operate under Hamas rule. According to Shaher Saed, general secretary of the PGFTU, the union refused to negotiate.

As a result, Saed said, three assassination attempts were made by Hamas on Rasem Al Bayari, the union's deputy general secretary, which included a rocket attack on his home in January and the bombing of his office in February.

Maybe what we need to do is send an enlightened progressive like Sid Ryan to Gaza... to straighten out this misunderstanding.

Hey Sid... don't forget your kevlar.

Technorati Tags: Sid Ryan, CUPE, Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions

Unlike many of its neighbours...

India chooses to let the clock run forwards.

-- NEW DELHI (AP) -- India elected Pratibha Patil as the country's first female president Saturday in a vote seen as a victory for the hundreds of millions of Indian women who contend with widespread discrimination.

The election of a woman to the largely ceremonial post continues an Indian tradition using the presidency to bolster disadvantaged communities.

Hindu-majority India has had three Muslim presidents, including incumbent A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, since winning independence from Britain in 1947. It has also had a president from the minority Sikh community, and Kalam's predecessor, K. R. Narayanan, came from the bottom of the society's complex social hierarchy.

I'm not sure people should be breaking out the champagne and party hats just yet... India obviously has a ways to go on the road to a just society.

While India has had several women in positions of power - most notably Indira Gandhi, who was elected to the more powerful position of prime minister in 1966, and her daughter-in-law, Sonia Gandhi- many women still face rampant discrimination.

Many Indian families regard daughters as a liability due to a tradition requiring a bride's family to pay a groom's family a large dowry of cash and gifts. As a consequence their education is often neglected, and many don't get adequate medical treatment when ill.

It's obviously a long, tortured journey.

At least India isn't walking backwards.

Technorati Tags: Pratibha Patil, Sonia Gandhi, India

Taiwan...

And the 500 pound gorilla.

Taiwan has submitted its first formal application to join the United Nations, a government spokesman has said.

The Chinese foreign ministry immediately dismissed the move, saying it was "doomed to failure".

Gotta love the chutzpah here.

China, as always, never fails to rise to the occasion...

"It is the sacred responsibility of the Chinese armed forces to stop the 'Taiwan independence' forces from splitting the country," says the paper.

"Should the Taiwan authorities go so far as to make a reckless attempt that constitutes a major incident of 'Taiwan independence', the Chinese people and armed forces will resolutely and thoroughly crush it at any cost."

**********

UPDATE: David Frum has more

via (Mark from The Torch)

Technorati Tags: Taiwan, China, Tiananmen Square

Shutting down the big city...

Or, how David Miller is saving Toronto...

Transit commissioners will hold an emergency meeting today to look at shutting down the $1-billion Sheppard subway line and boosting the cost of a token by as much as a quarter.

Mayor David Miller said the cash-strapped TTC has no choice but to look at taking extreme measures because city council this week voted to put off until Oct. 22 a decision on whether to impose an unpopular land-transfer tax and a $60-a-year vehicle registration fee.

Uh, Mr Mayor... how about scrapping the limo service for city councillors to save some additional money and show solidarity with affected city commuters?

Yeah, I didn't think so.

Councillor Michael Thompson, who is also a transit commissioner, contended the call for TTC cuts was a continuation of a fear-mongering campaign launched by Miller to gain support for the two taxes.

Geez... that doesn't sound very fair.

Technorati Tags: David Miller, TTC, Toronto

Kidnapping's such a harsh word

Let's just call it "mandatory hospitality".

-- Afghanistan -- Taliban fighters have seized about 20 Koreans aboard a bus on the road from Kandahar in southern Afghanistan to capital Kabul.

A Taliban spokesman said on Friday that 18 Koreans - 15 women and three men - were being held "as guests".

Said Yousuf Ahmadi, speaking by phone, said: "They are safe with us, we are investigating them and our demands and reaction will be announced later."

Still waiting to hear when exactly Taliban Jack will be having a press conference, to discuss his comrades latest humanitarian tactics.

Of course, maybe Jack and his progressive friends are too busy condemning big, bad Israel.

Gotta love the timing here.

**********

UPDATE: Honey, I beheaded "the guests"

Oh yeah, that guest thing... they were just kidding around.

-- KABUL -- Taliban militants threatened Friday to kill at least 18 kidnapped South Korean Christians, including 15 women, within 24 hours unless the Asian nation withdraws its 200 troops from Afghanistan.

“They have got until tomorrow (Saturday) at noon to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan, or otherwise we will kill the 18 Koreans,” Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, who claims to speak for the Taliban.

**********

RELATED: Speaking of cultural dissonance

-- LONDON -- The father and uncle of a woman who was brutally murdered for falling in love with the wrong man were sentenced to life in prison Friday.

The 2006 murder of 20-year-old Banaz Mahmod, 20, who was strangled after two hours of torture and sexual abuse, was the latest in an increasing trend of so-called "honor killings" in Britain, home to some 1.8 million Muslims.

Mahmod's family accused her of shaming them by ending an abusive arranged marriage, becoming too Westernized and falling in love with a man who did not come from their village.

Technorati Tags: Taliban, Afghanistan, Said Yousuf Ahmadi