The Philadelphia Experiment

Sometimes, I guess... you just do what you can...

The plan to put 10,000 men on the streets for an initial period of 90 days starting late this year is the latest effort by Philadelphia’s black community to curb violence that drove homicides to a nine-year high of 406 in 2006.

This is a brave, if somewhat naive initiative... I wonder what happens when the first volunteer is gunned down. I know I wouldn't be out there without Kevlar and a K-frame.

Groups of volunteers will be stationed on drug corners and other trouble spots in a bid to stop the shootings and other crimes that have given Philadelphia the highest homicide rate among the nation’s 10 largest cities.

They will not be armed, will not have powers of arrest, and will be identified only by armbands or hats during their three-hour shifts.

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RELATED: Something has to give

America has more than two million citizens behind bars, the highest absolute and per capita rate of incarceration in the world. Black Americans, a mere 13 percent of the population, constitute half of this country’s prisoners.

A tenth of all black men between ages 20 and 35 are in jail or prison; blacks are incarcerated at over eight times the white rate.

The effect on black communities is catastrophic: one in three male African-Americans in their 30s now has a prison record, as do nearly two-thirds of all black male high school dropouts.

Somebody better tell Hamid Karzai...

If he wants to negotiate with the Taliban... he'd better bring his kneepads...

Afghan President Hamid Karzai's offer of peace talks has been rejected by a Taliban spokesman, who on Sunday repeated a position he anounced earlier this month, saying there would be no negotiations until foreign troops withdraw from Afghanistan.

Good timing on holding out that olive branch, Hamid... straight from the school of "please don't hurt me anymore" diplomacy.

There will, no doubt, be a job waiting for Mr. Karzai at the United Nations, when he loses the rest of his nerve.

Karzai's offer came shortly after a suicide bomber disguised as an Afghan soldier killed 30 people in Kabul. The victims included 28 soldiers who were on a bus taking them to work. Two civilians near the bus explosion were also killed.

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RELATED: An incentive to negotiate

Mr. Karzai's tenuous hold on his government has been badly shaken by a widespread perception that many of his ministers and other senior officials are corrupt and by the Keystone Kops performance of his police, who are far better known for taking bribes than for maintaining order.

The Taliban has been reeling from huge losses since serious fighting between its forces and mostly U.S., British and Canadian troops started in the spring of 2006. Every time it has tried to achieve any strategic militarily gain, it has been seriously whacked.

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UPDATE: You don't need a weatherman...

Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf told Reuters from an undisclosed location that talks with Kabul were out of the question.

"Karzai government is a dummy government. It has no authority so why should we waste our time and effort," Yousuf said.

"On the one hand, America has put our leader's name on a wanted persons list and is calling us terrorists; and on the other hand, Karzai is talking about peace talks."

"It's a joke," Yousuf said.

**********

LAST WORD: Negotiating with the Religion of Peace

How's that working out for ya?

-- DURAIJ, Sudan -- A large force of rebels stormed an African Union peacekeeping base in Darfur, killing at least a dozen soldiers and wounding several others in the biggest attack on the mission so far, the AU said Sunday.

More than 50 AU peacekeepers and support personnel are missing in action since the attack on the base in northern Darfur just after sunset on Saturday. It was the worst attack on AU troops since they were deployed in Sudan's violent west in 2004.

International experts estimate some 200,000 people have died in Darfur with 2.5 million driven from their homes. Mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003 accusing central government of neglect.

Washington calls the conflict genocide, a term Khartoum rejects and European governments are reluctant to use.

Technorati Tags: Hamid Karzai, Qari Mohammad Yousuf, peace talks

In other Non-CBC news...

Two dozen terrorist sons of bitches get to meet their maker.

-- BAGHDAD -- U.S. aircraft killed more than 20 al-Qaida fighters who opened fire on an American air patrol northwest of Baghdad, the military reported on Sunday.

"The aircraft observed about 25 al-Qaida personnel carrying AK-47 assault rifles, with one of the men brandishing an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade), and walking through an area of local shops and into a palm grove.

Four vehicles were destroyed and no Iraqi civilians or U.S. soldiers were killed or wounded, the military said.

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RELATED: Caught with their pants down

Today the site near Dayr az-Zawr lies in ruins after it was pounded by Israeli F15Is on September 6. Before the Israelis issued the order to strike, the commandos had secretly seized samples of nuclear material and taken them back into Israel for examination by scientists, the sources say.

A laboratory confirmed that the unspecified material was North Korean in origin.

America approved an attack.

Technorati Tags: al-Qaida, Dayr az-Zawr, Sayeret Matkal

UPDATE: Hunting Humans

There's a wolf pack on the loose... in Brampton.

-- BRAMPTON -- Honours student Akila Badhanage was knifed to death during a random swarming by "cowardly" young men, leaving even seasoned homicide detectives seething at the senseless violence.

Akila Badhanage, a Grade 12 student with an average mark of 90, aimed to be an engineer.

Police in Peel Region are calling the murder a "random act of violence." Badhanage was swarmed by a group of men around Lord Simcoe Drive while on his way to work late Friday afternoon.

Police are on the lookout for four or five black men seen running from the scene.

You can work hard, you can do everything right... and in the blink of an eye, a pack of animals can tear your throat out.

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SIDENOTE: Brampton... the new Toronto?

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RELATED: Predatory Toronto pack continues to grow

Toronto police dog Rambo is being credited with arresting two of four teens who threatened to kill an undercover officer in a sting operation.

Two of the suspects were described by police as being members of the Five Point Generals, the same gang whose members are allegedly involved in the separate slayings of Ephraim Brown, 11, at a July 22 birthday party, and the 2005 Boxing Day shootout that claimed the life of 15-year-old Jane Creba.

One suspect spoke with the undercover officer and then turned to his cronies and told them to "shoot him," Adamson said.

The officer was vulnerable, without body armour or his service revolver, and police watching the undercover sting moved in quickly with Rambo leading the charge.

Four teens, two aged 14 and two aged 15, are charged with robbery, threatening death and resisting arrest.

Of course, under the Liberals "catch and release" programme, they'll be back on the street tomorrow.

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LAST WORD: Obviously not enough midnight basketball

Police have released the name of a young man shot and killed in the city’s north end late last week.

Richard Gyamfi, 19, was shot in the head while sitting in a car in a parking lot on Jane St. just south of Finch Ave. W. on Friday around 8 p.m.

Thank you Premier McGuinty.

Technorati Tags: Akila Badhanage, Five Point Generals, murder

And Charles Manson...

Had a thing about over-population...

"We talked about how some people have different ideas about animals," teacher Lori Peters said. "Some people don’t think they should be in cages."

A better lesson for those kids... "some people are thieves."

Denis Khadr...

Wants to visit Afghanistan... I say let the troopers give him the deluxe tour...

Mr. Coderre shrugged off any suggestion that he's about to embark on an intercontinental political stunt.

“It's not a stunt. I'm doing my job,” he said.

Many of you will remember Denis from such patriotic job-related pronouncements as, "To ask us to make a choice between the Taliban detainees and our troops I think it's infamous."

Yeah Denis... that's a hard one.

After all the support Denis and his boss have been giving our soldiers... I'm certain they'll take special care of him.

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FROM THE COMMENTS:

"As far as I'm conerned, the whole Liberal Party of Canada can go to Afghanistan. If Dion talked to the Taliban long enough, they wouldn't know who's fighting who after awhile."

"Who'd miss them?"

Technorati Tags: Denis Coderre, Afghanistan, Fiberal smoke and mirrors

Sing a song of hatred

"Battyman fi dead!/Please mark we word/Gimme tha tech-nine/Shoot dem like bird".

Kool Haus has pulled the plug last minute on the concerts of two controversial reggae and dancehall artists.

Entertainers Elephant Man and Sizzla were scheduled to perform Sept. 28 and Oct. 5 respectively, but both men have been under fire from human rights organizations who say their lyrics are homophobic.

“There are artists who are profiteering the songs about death and violence against gays and lesbians,” says Larcher. “It isn’t a black and white issue."

"It’s a human rights issue.”

Judging from his picture... I'd say the E-Man, at minimum, looks to be a little conflicted.

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RELATED: Why is it ok to "smack the ho's"?

Fact is, there's more than just the gay bashing aspect of this culture we should be looking at. Why has it taken a gay advocacy group to speak up about it.

Technorati Tags: Elephant Man, Sizzla, advocating murder

A publicly funded Mennonite school...

In Ontario...

A public school in St. Catharines that for two decades has offered chapel services and Bible classes for its Mennonite students proves Dalton McGuinty's arguments against funding religious schools are "nonsense," according to the Progressive Conservatives.

Eden High joined the public system in 1988 during the Liberal government of premier David Peterson.

So what does that have to do with the "funding proposal" on the table today?

Mr. Van Soelen noted five current Cabinet ministers -- including Greg Sorbara, the Finance Minister and Liberal campaign chairman -- were members of Mr. Peterson's caucus.

"They would have been at the Cabinet table. They must have believed in it at the time," Mr. Van Soelen said.

Apparently the Liberals had their fingers crossed when they put this one through.

Kathleen Wynne, the Liberal Education Minister, yesterday described Eden High as "an anomaly" and said its existence does not justify the fundamental changes that Mr. Tory is proposing.

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FROM THE COMMENTS:

We have a new Native spiritual school in Toronto with full funding, busing and snacks.

Also, five Ukrainian Eastern Rite schools with full funding under 3 Catholic school boards; extra 30 min of instuction per day in Ukrainian language and heritage and prayers in an old Slavic language paid for by government heritage grants and or church/parents.

Technorati Tags: Eden High, Greg Sorbara, Fiberal smoke and mirrors

If you can't trust the Syrians...

Who can you trust?

-- DAMASCUS, Sept 29 (Reuters) -- Syria accused Israel on Saturday of making excuses for war by spreading what it described as false reports that an Israeli air raid targeted a site linked to weapons of mass destruction.

Damascus says Israel launched the air raid on Sept. 6, bombing an empty area after air defence systems confronted the aircraft.

Yeah, that makes sense. I mean, what does the Israeli Airforce know about making war anyway? They're all just a bunch of poseurs who couldn't hit the broad side of a nuclear reactor.

Syrian Deputy President Farouq al-Shara said the raid also was aimed at boosting the morale of the Israeli military, which failed to crush the Lebanese movement Hezbollah, an ally of Syria, in last year's war.

You tell 'em, Farouq.

Now get back into the bunker. Just in case.

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RELATED: Back in the real world

Notice how far away Dayr az-Zawr is from Israel. An F15/16 attack there is not a tiptoe across the border, but a deep, deep penetration of Syrian airspace.

And guess what happened with the Russian super hyper sophisticated cutting edge antiaircraft missile batteries when that penetration took place on September 6th.

Nothing.

(via the last amazon)

Technorati Tags: happy horseshit, Farouq al-Shara, Osirak

Getting your moneys worth

We sometimes forget how long nuclear power generation has been around.

-- LONDON -- Explosive charges leveled four giant cooling towers at the world's first commercial nuclear power station Saturday, as engineers began the planned decommissioning of Calder Hall, a 62-building site on Britain's west coast.

Although smaller research reactors had been used previously to generate energy, Calder Hall was the first plant to generate commercial quantities of electricity.

The Shippingport Atomic Power Station, in Pennsylvania, was the first such facility built in the United States. It went into operation in 1957.

Technorati Tags: Calder Hall, Shippingport Atomic Power Station, nuclear power

Larger than life...

Larger than death...

"The American people must know we too lost a close friend and brother this day," said Iraqi Army Col. Ali Jafar, Commanding Officer of the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Iraqi Brigade, who previously spoke at Manion's memorial service.

"May his family know we too lost family, and we share their loss, our loss."

(via SDA)

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RELATED: A proud Canadian tradition

At RMC they're kicking ass and taking names

These 265 first-year cadets have spent September generally being miserable, when not stealing each others squadron colours or decorating Brucie, the parade square statue.

They have marched nonstop, worked out thrice daily, been wakened by loudspeakers before dawn. They've had to holler Billy Joel's Goodnight Saigon before bed.

It's called FYOP, first year orientation program.

Technorati Tags: Travis Manion, Military Transition Team, Royal Military College

The Sport of Kings

Straight from the mean streets of Toronto... another episode of "Hunting Humans."

-- TORONTO -- Two people are dead and three more are wounded after a spate of violence across the Toronto area.

Police found three men in their 20s with stab wounds when they arrived at an east-end house party around 1:30 a.m. Saturday.

The three men are suffering from non-life-threatening injuries, and police say they are not co-operating with the investigation.

You can also chalk up another body for the wily denizens of Jane and Finch.

Across the city Friday, a man was shot and killed around 8 p.m. in Toronto Police say they received a call from a phone booth not far from where the man was found in a car. There's no word yet on a motive or suspect.

A dead 16 year-old in Brampton rounds out the Friday night tally.

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UPDATE: Saturday night body count

Another shooting has rocked Toronto this weekend - this time an 18-year-old male on Saturday night in the city’s west end.

It occurred around 7 p.m., near East Mall and Robinglade Dr., and the teenager was hit in the lower back during a drive-by shooting, police said.

Technorati Tags: shooting, stabbing, David Miller's Toronto

Why Email is like a Gun

All guns are always loaded... never let the muzzle cover anything you're not willing to destroy...

Some CTV employees got an accidental -- and personal -- edition of eTalk Thursday night.

Employees at Canada's largest private broadcaster's building in Agincourt were sent an e-mail by Dawn Fell, CTVglobemedia's vice-president of human resources, that revealed some news about upcoming changes in the executive suite.

You've just gotta love the bloodless, "whistle while you work", Dilbert-esque human resources dynamic that's in play here.

"There are other departures in addition to (David) Kirkwood -- Ellen Baine, Paul Gratton, Peter Palframan," Fell wrote.

"Do we want to work all these in or leave out anyone who is not part of the long-term future? Neither is a great option. Your thoughts?"

The e-mail was received at 9:38 p.m. and recalled 12 minutes later -- likely in time to yank it out of the inboxes of most workers -- but not those with BlackBerrys.

It's spooky, it's like...

He's got a special gift...

Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Blogging Tories not conservative enough

This is worth noting. One of the top Tory bloggers, Bound By Gravity, has chosen to leave the Blogging Tories because they are not real conservatives.

How long will it be before conservatives start leaving the actual Conservative Party again?

Flash forward to September 2007...

The internal bickering comes following the Liberal defeat in three Quebec byelections.

The party also lost two high-profile candidates in Quebec — Paul Leduc, the former mayor of a Montreal suburb and former astronaut Marc Garneau.

That's not possible... I mean, Steffi is "the man."

Garneau announced he won't run in the next election because he wanted to get on with his life in the private sector. It's said he got tired of waiting for the party organization to choose a riding where he would run.

Jason, maybe it's time for a new crystal ball.

Technorati Tags: Paul Leduc, Marc Garneau, Jason Cherniak

Reach out and touch someone

Narrowly focused strikes continue to reap big rewards.

-- WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S.-led forces have killed one of the most important leaders of al-Qaida in Iraq, a Tunisian believed connected to the kidnapping and killings last summer of American soldiers, a top commander said Friday.

Brig. Gen. Joseph Anderson said the death of the suspected terrorist in a U.S. airstrike Tuesday south of Baghdad, and recent similar operations against al-Qaida, have left the organization in Iraq fractured.

"Abu Osama al-Tunisi was one of the most senior leaders ... the emir of foreign terrorists in Iraq and part of the inner leadership circle," Anderson said.

The U.S. Central Command said American aircraft dropped two 500-pound bombs on a terrorist safehouse, killing al-Tunisi and two others suspected terrorists who were meeting there.

Ouch... that's gonna leave a mark.

Technorati Tags: Abu Osama al-Tunisi, al-Qaida, payback is a bitch

All veneer... no hardwood

It isn't only Omar Khadr who gets to be forever young -- Note: on the left, from Michael Ignatieff's website banner.

On the right... the actual corpus.

The Liberal Party of Canada... because style is what really matters.

It's not the size...

Of the dog in the fight... it's the size of the fight in the dog that matters.

-- TAIPEI -- Faced with a threatening military buildup by China, an increasingly outgunned Taiwan is quietly pushing ahead with plans to develop missiles that could strike the mainland, defense and security experts say.

The Taiwanese are very aware that a war with mainland China could turn them all into "crispy critters"... but they're not goin' down without a fight.

Taiwan has in recent months tested a land attack cruise missile with a range of 1,000 kilometers, or 621 miles, that could carry a 400-kilogram warhead to targets as distant as Shanghai, according to military analysts.

BREAKING NEWS:

PMO Insider...Reveals... in excruciating detail... exactly how Stephen Harper views combined Dion/Layton threat.

Dalton ducks another one

Slippery, evasive and not too bright...

Play this game with a friend. Name Canadian prime ministers in reverse chronological order, starting with Stephen Harper. How far back did you get?

John Tory: Meighen (ed.'s note - Arthur Meighen was the 9th prime minister).

Dalton McGuinty: Sorry. I'm so busy on the campaign trail, I could only play this game with Terri, and if she won, I might never hear the end of it. So I'll try to play the game the next time I meet with a Grade 6 class. Still, if I were you, I'd bet on the sixth graders.

Howard Hampton: John A. Macdonald (the first prime minister)

Technorati Tags: John Tory, Dalton McGuinty, Howard Hampton

C'mon... it works for Dalton McGuinty

A little baksheesh for all the screaming protesters... and then you ran away and hide again.

-- KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Canadian officials have moved quickly to assure Afghan officials that their troops played no part in this week's shooting deaths of a local religious leader and his brother.

But military officers say they won't rush to use development projects to appease simmering public anger over the deaths, which prompted some 500 Afghans to block a highway west of here Wednesday.

It seems those darned fascists in the military have a different idea... they're gonna operate on principle.

"We don't want to be in a situation where we're seen as just bribing people who have a grudge against us," said Lieut. Derrick Farnham, a Canadian who works with the civil-military team on reconstruction.

"That's something that's been done in the past and it's been termed the great game in Afghanistan where locals play one side off the other in terms of getting treats and gifts. That's something we want to avoid," he said.

Shawn Brant's 'other' trial

Let's face it... in Shawn Brant's world, you're only as credible as your last "death threat."

Stringent security measures were in place as the trial of three men accused of confronting Canadian military personnel during a native protest last year began Thursday.

Shawn Michael Brant and Jerome J. Barnhart are facing several charges of uttering death threats stemming from the Nov. 15 incident east of Deseronto, in which a convoy of military students on a training mission happened upon a group of native protesters blocking Highway 2.

Technorati Tags: Shawn Brant, death threat, Deseronto

Let's be magnanimous...

And call it a draw...

As early preparations for the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 get underway in Canada and the United States, organizers in Canada have run into an unexpected hitch.

Their American counterparts seem to think they won.

Somebody had better stop...

Those eco-warriors... before they kill us all.

-- BEIJING, Sept 27 (Reuters) -- Most crops grown in the United States and Europe to make "green" transport fuels actually speed up global warming because of industrial farming methods, says a report by Nobel prize winning chemist Paul J. Crutzen.

The findings could spell particular concern for alternative fuels derived from rapeseed, used in Europe, which the study concluded could produce up to 70 percent more planet-warming greenhouse gases than conventional diesel.

This is a prime example of "The Law of Unintended Consequences."

There was a wonderful example of this type of thing in the book "Freakononics" where a daycare decided to institute a late fee for the few parents who were consistently late picking up their children at the end of the day.

The intent of the charge was to decrease the instance of people who were tardy... but what resulted instead, was a significant increase... now that parents felt they were justified in coming late, as long as they paid the "fine."

The obvious lesson here is... listen to the science... not Al Gore.

Technorati Tags: alternative fuels, Freakononics, Law of Unintended Consequences

Who cares about the National Debt?

Not Taliban Jack and the loony left.

-- OTTAWA -- Pumping almost all of the $14-billion surplus into debt-reduction rather than investing in Canadians is the kind of rigid conservatism that makes it likely the NDP will vote to topple the government next month, Jack Layton said Thursday.

It's true, this kind of windfall could put safe-injection sites in every city in Canada.

It could set up government inspected brothels for every sex-trade worker in East Van.

We could send every violent convict in maximum security to a fresh round of anger-management classes.

We could double up the cash-for-life to all those welfare moms who clog up the airwaves every time some kid gets smoked at an after hours club.

Is that what the majority of Canadians want?

I think not.

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RELATED: Steffi, meanwhile decides to fall back...

On the tired old "Boogie Man" defense.

When Paul Martin realized he wasn’t going to be able to waltz to a majority government in the spring of 2004, he turned to one of the Liberals’ most reliable and effective weapons: a smear campaign accusing Stephen Harper of harbouring a “secret agenda.”

It might not be surprising, then, that Stéphane Dion reached for the same weapon this week as he sought a lifeline to drag himself out of the swamp he’s stumbled into.

“This hidden agenda will be stopped,” he vowed, fresh from three disastrous byelections in his home province.

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UPDATE: Liberal largesse bled us dry

"Even Jean Chretien himself famously admitted, and I quote, 'We left the cupboard bare,'" said Mulroney, who pointed out that Chretien served as a finance minister under Trudeau and knew of what he spoke.

"That was his only understatement," added Mulroney, to much laughter.

"The day I was sworn in as Prime Minister the government was spending $1.23 on programs for every dollar it took in in taxes," he told the attentive crowd. Under Trudeau, the debt grew by 1,100% and interest rates peaked at 22.75%.

By the time Mulroney left office, program spending was reduced to 97 cents for every dollar of revenues.

In other words, the only reason there was a large deficit, was because of the huge interest payments (33 cents on every tax dollar) Canada had to pay to service the enormous debt Trudeau built up.

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LAST WORD: Speaking of bad budget skills

An urgent plea from the political party that used to accept brown envelopes stuffed with cash: "The Liberal Party's Quebec wing has warned Leader Stéphane Dion that it needs a quarter million dollar cash injection by Friday or it will have to close its Montreal office and lay off staff."

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POSTSCRIPT: Welcome readers of Canadian Cynic

CC has once again directed you here... after calling me a silly name. I will return the favour by urging you to peruse some of CC's "collected wisdom".

Technorati Tags: Taliban Jack, Stephane Dion, smoke and mirrors

Just to change things up a little

Wanna hear about a kid... who isn't ever gonna end up in the middle of a knife fight?

-- THE LAST AMAZON -- Just before I left work for the day, Montana called me to add a little more pressure to my decision.

Montana’s friend Peter would not be allowed to go to the game store unless Montana was with him. In fact, Peter would not even be allowed to leave the house unless Montana picked him up at the door.

Apparently, I now held the fate of two boys in my hands.

Technorati Tags: THE LAST AMAZON, a boy no more, life, its ownself

Balancing the equation

See... where I come from... 'gun control' is being able to hit your target.This really is a no-brainer... you're breaking into my house at four in the morning and approaching me and mine with speed and purpose... you need to know just one thing... me and my friend "Buck" are gonna change your freakin' horoscope...

There is to be an urgent review of the law protecting those who intervene in criminal situations in England and Wales, the government has said.

Mr Straw wants to reassure victims or witnesses that they can use reasonable force to stop and detain offenders.

"The justice system must not only work on the side of people who do the right thing as good citizens, but also be seen to work on their side."

Sharia Law?

Sorry folks, it's already here...

Upon arriving at the cemetery in September of last year Zakaria was shocked to see that his mother’s tombstone had been removed. As had the flowers. He found a part of it discarded in a corner of the cemetery.

Death and well, you know...

You had to know this was only a matter of time...

The Canada Revenue Agency has won a Federal Court order requiring eBay Canada Ltd. to turn over the names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses of all high-volume sellers on the popular website.

The CRA wants to find out whether those individuals or companies are reporting the income they made from online sales in 2004 and 2005.

A verb and a noun...

You never wanna see in the same sentence... amputate + woodchipper.

-- MONTREAL — A firefighter was forced to saw off the arm of a Quebec man caught in an industrial wood chipper.

The French-language television network TQS says the 23-year-old victim was working at a factory south of Montreal when his left arm became trapped in the machine.

Firefighters and ambulance technicians were the first to respond to the accident in late August, and quickly judged the man's arm had to be amputated.

The network reported that local police even went to see about renting a saw at a nearby hardware store, though firefighters eventually used one of their own.

Hey Dalton... no biggie

He probably wasn't voting Fiberal anyway.

-- OTTAWA -- On a day when the Liberals wanted to tout their plans to hire more nurses and reduce surgical wait times, Dalton McGuinty got a pointed rebuff today from a terminally ill cancer patient who upbraided the premier for refusing to fund certain new cancer drugs.

During a Liberal campaign visit to an Ottawa hospital, patient Mike Brady refused to shake McGuinty's outstretched hand, telling him he has cancer and "you're not helping any."

"That's not true," McGuinty replied, without inquiring further, before continuing his tour.

The least McGuinty could have done here was hear this guy out... but he chose to turn and run away.

"Thank you very much... oh wise and compassionate Premier."

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UPDATE: Exchange was caught on tape

The hospital encounter was one of McGuinty's few dealings this week with ordinary citizens and prompted reporters to ask why he doesn't meet the public more often.

McGuinty has attended stage-managed events, interviews and press conferences for most of the week.

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LAST WORD: Stunts R'Us

Dalton McGuinty went to great lengths yesterday to make a point.

His campaign crew flew to London, staying overnight for an early morning news conference at which he re-announced plans to hire 9,000 more nurses if re-elected.

Kudos for creativity, but the trip didn't do much for the environment. And he didn't speak to a single Londoner, other than local candidates.

Technorati Tags: Mike Brady, terminally ill, rattus liberalis

Allah not so Akbar

Where is your God now?

-- KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- U.S.-led forces used artillery and airstrikes to kill more than 165 insurgents and repel massed assaults on coalition troops in two strongholds of Taliban militants and Afghanistan's rampant drug trade, officials said Wednesday.

Better stick to booby traps and suicide bombers.

You aren't shit when it comes to the real thing.

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RELATED: Canadians deploy Huskies

No, not those huskies.

-- KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Canadian troops in Afghanistan have a new weapon against deadly roadside bombs. Military officials unveiled the first of their new RSD Husky armoured vehicles Wednesday.

"A lot of the (soldiers who were killed by IEDs)could have been saved if we had had these earlier,'' Holsworth told reporters at Kandahar Airfield. "It's extremely important."

Technorati Tags: war on terror, artillery and airstrikes, RSD Husky

A poor little lamb...

Who has lost his mind...

Stephen Harper's Conservatives must make major changes to the upcoming throne speech or the opposition Liberals will vote against it, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion warned Wednesday.

"This hidden agenda will be stopped," Dion said after a meeting with Quebec caucus members in Montreal.

Stopped??? You mean like Steffi's political career?

A CROP poll commissioned by La Presse indicated the Liberals only earned 19 per cent of Quebec voters' intentions — the lowest percentage since Dion became leader. The poll surveyed 1,001 Quebecers between Sept. 13 and 23 and has a three per cent margin of error.

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RELATED: Somebody should tell Craig Oliver...

CTV isn't really a wing of the Liberal Party... just yet.

"We just heard the Liberal leader throwing it back at the prime minister. And it seems to me, if the Prime Minister doesn't want an election he has sent him a message that will allow Harper not to have one."

"In other words those were not intolerable conditions laid out by Mr. Dion," Oliver told CTV Newsnet.

Gee Craig... you really think so?

You really think Stephen Harper is looking to a ratty old pinko mouthpiece for help here? Maybe you could just stick to "reporting" the news.

Oh wait... it's CTV.

Technorati Tags: Stéphane Dion, election fever, dazed and confused

Francisco Chimoio might wanna...

Check this one out with head office...

The head of the Catholic Church in Mozambique has told the BBC he believes some European-made condoms are infected with HIV deliberately.

Maputo Archbishop Francisco Chimoio claimed some anti-retroviral drugs were also infected "in order to finish quickly the African people".

"They want to finish with the African people. This is the programme. They want to colonise until up to now. If we are not careful we will finish in one century's time."

Technorati Tags: Francisco Chimoio, Mozambique, conspiracy theory

Growing support for NDP position...

As... coincidentally... Afghani tribesman seem to be getting their information from the same unimpeachable source as Taliban Jack.

-- KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Hundreds of protesters blocked the main highway west of Kandahar city today, claiming that foreign soldiers killed two local clerics in an overnight raid.

The Canadian military says it wasn't involved in the operation last night in Senjaray, a sprawling suburb where military convoys have often faced ambushes.

Yeah, yeah... but I'm sure somebody's brother's, uncle's, first cousin... saw something or other.

But that really doesn't matter does it? It's death to everybody, right? Wind 'em up and watch 'em go.

However, witnesses' vague descriptions of the troops who broke through doors in the middle of the night have led many residents to blame the Canadians.

“Death to Canada, death to foreigners, death to Karzai,” a protester yelled.

That's some "Religion of Peace" ya got there.

Technorati Tags: religion of peace, KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Taliban Jack

While David Miller raises taxes...

And cuts services to the citizens of Toronto... will he still be shelling out for a city subsidised nightclub?

-- TORONTO -- The City of Toronto is reviewing the leasing terms of a building it rents to a community group for 7¢ a year following a complaint from Councillor Rob Ford that the facility is not being used for its intended purpose.

Mr. Ford said the Marcus Garvey Community Centre for Leadership and Enterprise, located in the Weston Road and Sheppard Avenue area, is apparently not being used as a skills training centre, and has been sub-leased on select weekends to promoters who are using the centre as a nightclub.

Maybe this is a tempest in a teapot... I'm sure the majority of Torontonians aren't gonna mind that their property taxes are being used to promote rap music and hip-hop sensibility.

The building encompasses 22,000-square-feet and is located at 160 Rivalda Rd. Mr. Ford-- who said he was tipped off by a Rivalda Road businessman who has personally witnessed parties at the centre -- said the Marcus Garvey Centre pays no property taxes or water bills and that the city provides landscaping services.

According to the terms of the lease obtained by Mr. Ford, the city gave the Marcus Garvey Centre a 15-year lease for $1 beginning in 2002.

**********

UPDATE: Miller has to eat this one

Looks like threats and blackmail aren't gonna work after all.

Mayor David Miller, who presented the motion to reopen the centres, came under fire for agreeing to close the centres down in the first place. His peers grilled him on why he allowed that to happen without council's approval.

Miller said he's agreeing to reverse the decision because of the impact it has had on the public but warned that cuts would come and that they would probably hurt.

Hey Mr. Mayor, you need revenue... I know a lease you could renegotiate.

Technorati Tags: Mayor David Miller, Marcus Garvey Community Centre, Comrade Miller

Does the Mohawk model...

Come with steel toes?

-- BEAVERTON, Ore. -- Nike on Tuesday unveiled what it said is the first shoe designed specifically for American Indians, an effort aiming at promoting physical fitness in a population with high obesity rates.

Nike said it is the first time it has designed a shoe for a specific race or ethnicity. It said all profits from the sale of the shoe will be reinvested in health programs for tribal lands, where problems with obesity, diabetes and related conditions are near epidemic levels in some tribes.

Surprisingly, Nike has decided to swim against the politically correct current that usually insists that human beings, regardless of race, age or gender are identical to each other.

Nike designers and researchers looked at the feet of more than 200 people from more than 70 tribes nationwide and found that in general, American Indians have a much wider and taller foot than the average shoe accommodates.

And where would we be without a little cultural pandering?

The design features several “heritage call outs” as one product manager described it, including sunrise to sunset to sunrise patterns on the tongue and heel of the shoe. Feather designs adorn the inside and stars are on the sole to represent the night sky.

Technorati Tags: Nike, American Indians, cultural pandering

I'm betting Ahmadinejad wishes...

He'd stuck to his original itinerary...

Noon: To protest barbaric U.S. exploitation of women, dine at Hooters, accompanied by writer Noam Chomsky.

1 p.m.: Tour Midwestern town of Smallville. Visit meteor site where alien boy is said to possess superpowers.

2 p.m.: Meet with political prisoner O.J. Simpson. Exchange autographed sabers.

Why we're over there

Though it's relatively easy to argue that it's best for us to leave Afghanistan, it's difficult, if not impossible, to argue that our doing so would leave Afghans better off.

"Afghanistan will fall back into anarchy," Afghan President Hamid Karzai told a group of Canadian journalists recently.

"Leaving Afghanistan alone now will bring back all the evils that were here under the Taliban."

Liar, liar

While Premier Dalton McGuinty shook hands and thanked supporters during a brief stop in Belleville, there was one small boy who waited anxiously to see Ontario's leader but failed to get his attention.

Coppers wrangle Rapper Ripper

And surprise, surprise... he's another graduate of Dalton McGuinty's politically correct "catch and release" programme...

Cleavon Joseph, 31, was arrested yesterday in Mississauga.

He's charged with first-degree murder in the death of Jermaine Alexander Malcolm, 24, a rapper and self-proclaimed member of the Meadowvale Bloods gang.

Barely three months before Malcolm was found dying from stab wounds outside a townhouse on Meadowvale Town Centre Saturday morning, London cops were charging Joseph with aggravated assault.

They alleged he stabbed a man in the back three times.

**********

RELATED: Who was Jermaine Alexander Malcolm?

Technorati Tags: Cleavon Joseph, Jermaine Alexander Malcolm, No Gun, No Funeral

Another Toronto school stabbing

Eventually the code talkers just have to spit it up.

A fight between rival groups of students yesterday in a north-east neighbourhood sent three teens to hospital, one with stab wounds.

Toronto Catholic District School Board Chair Oliver Carroll said violence hasn't been a problem at Mother Teresa, but most high schools deal with some fighting.

"In any high school these days, you're going to have gangs, groups, whatever," Carroll said.

"It's a very diverse school."

**********

UPDATE: Second stabbing at same school

Police said the student at Mother Teresa Catholic School was stabbed twice in the chest area at about 4 p.m. and is in good condition at Sunnybrook hospital, where he was being interviewed by detectives.

The youth is the second student of the school to be stabbed in two days.

Residents said tensions have been escalating between Tamil and black youths. They claimed the knife attack came in retaliation for the stabbing of another teen at the school on Monday.

And surprise... it's race-related.

**********

RELATED: Wait a minute...

Didn't they just bury a 16 year-old Scarborough high school student a couple of weeks ago?

Yup.

Technorati Tags: no gun, no funeral, Michael Bryant, suckass political correctness

The Price of Freedom

A Canadian soldier has been killed and four wounded as Canada's battle group pushed into a zone of Taliban control and tried to establish a police checkpoint on Monday.

Corporal Nathan Hornburg, 24, a reservist who worked as a mechanic for the King's Own Calgary Regiment, was trying to repair a broken tread on a Leopard tank about 4:30 p.m. local time Monday when he was struck by the blast from a mortar shell, military officials say.

He will be remembered.

**********

RELATED: Doing the right thing

-- YANGON -- Chanting "democracy, democracy," 10,000 monks marched through the heart of Myanmar's main city on Tuesday in defiance of a threat by the ruling generals to send in troops to end the biggest anti-junta protests in 20 years.

That area was the scene of the worst bloodshed during a crackdown on nationwide pro-democracy protests in 1988 in which up to 3,000 people are thought to have been killed.

Technorati Tags: Corporal Nathan Hornburn, King's Own Calgary Regiment, democracy

Harm reduction my ass

In the wake of the "let's give junkies a safe, clean place to inject poison into their veins" controversy... I've been trying to imagine the next silly-ass wave of nanny-state, government sanctioned assininity...

Ms. Davis said the co-operative brothel would keep sex workers safe and give the workers access to drug treatment and other support. She said if it opens, the cooperative brothel would likely be situated in the industrial area of the Downtown Eastside.

Of course... whorehouses.

What parent wouldn't be pleased to have their child performing serial sex acts on a daily dozen misfit strangers, so they can earn money to feed their ravening heroin addiction?

It's hard to imagine what the loony left could possibly have planned for an encore to that.

How about a subsidised shooting-range for gangbangers, to reduce the number of people injured or killed by stray bullets? Or maybe we could send teenage racers to skid-school to minimise the number of idiots who kill themselves while running away from the police?

Is there an end to this insanity?

Technorati Tags: co-operative brothel, nanny-state, loony left

Welcome Back Khadr

Chalk up one for the good guys... Omar Khadr is gonna get his day in court.

-- WASHINGTON -- A military appeals court sided with the Pentagon today, overruling a judge who threw out terrorism charges against a Canadian Guantanamo Bay detainee.

The U.S. Court of Military Commission Review ruled that a military court set up by the Bush administration was the proper venue for deciding whether Omar Khadr is an "unlawful enemy combatant" and trying him on terrorism charges.

That sound you just heard is the sighing and weeping of a million deluded leftbots.

The ruling reverses a military judge's June 4 ruling that the tribunal system created by Congress did not have authority to try detainees unless they were first determined to be unlawful enemy combatants.

**********

UPDATE: In other Canuck terrorist related news

In a move that stunned defence lawyers for 14 men alleged to have participated in terrorist-related activities, the federal Crown announced this morning that it will file direct indictments against the accused.

All parties were in the midst of a preliminary hearing that was expected to last until the spring. A direct indictment would mean an end to the preliminary hearing and a stay of all the charges. The men would be re-charged and after bail hearings, they would proceed to a criminal trial.

Technorati Tags: Omar Khadr, Court of Military Commission Review, Guantanamo Bay

Bollinger 1... Ahmadinejad 0

Well, well, well... looks like Madman Ahmadinejad isn't gonna get a free ride after all.

-- New York -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took the stage at Columbia University to a blistering welcome from the president of the school, who said the hard-line leader behaved like “a petty and cruel dictator.”

Mr. Ahmadinejad smiled as Columbia President Lee Bollinger took him to task over Iran's human-rights record and foreign policy, and Mr. Ahmadinejad's statements denying the Holocaust and calling for the disappearance of Israel.

“You are either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated,” Bollinger said in reference to Ahmadinejad’s views on the Holocaust. “Will you cease this outrage?”

Ahmadinejad sputtered out a retort, but I guess none of his conversations with the "Hidden Imam" had really prepared him for this very public beatdown.

“People in Iran are very joyous, happy people,” he said when questioned about the arrests of students, journalists and women. “They're very free in expressing what they think.”

He said women in Iran were "the freest women in the world... They're active in every level of society."

The Iranian leader has previously called the Holocaust “a myth” and called for Israel to be “wiped off the map.”

You've gotta love the sheer impenetrability and arrogance of this guy... he just doesn't know when to get off the bus.

Asked about executions of homosexuals in Iran, Mr Ahmadinejad replied: "In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country."

Reacting to laughter and jeers from the audience he added: "In Iran we don't have this phenomenon, I don't know who you told this."

Sounds like someone's being awfully defensive, Mahmoud...

C'mon sweetie... you got anything else you'd like to share?

Technorati Tags: Lee Bollinger, Columbia University, Islamo-closet

Pinko Howie...

Been smokin' Maui Wowie.

-- WATERLOO, WALKERTON and OAKVILLE, Ont. -- The New Democrats will insist the ruling party take on its six key election pledges if the Liberals or the Conservatives want the party's help to form a minority government in Ontario.

NDP Leader Howard Hampton said Monday that the party's platform would need to be completely implemented in return for his support after the Oct. 10 vote.

Uh, Howie... I know you like to shoot from the hip, but apart from the Prime Minister, I honestly can't think of anyone less likely to surrender to political blackmail than John Tory.

Are you really saying your master plan is that he'll kiss your ass and turn the Conservative Party into a wing of the NDP?

You might just wanna dust off "Plan B".

Technorati Tags: Howard Hampton, John Tory, pipe dreams

It's gotta be all or nothing

Maybe a Catholic Premier, whose kids go to Catholic schools and whose wife is a teacher in the Catholic system... shouldn't be the final arbiter of this controversial matter.

The Ontario government should stop funding Catholic schools, according to the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

Ontario is the only province where taxpayers pay 100 per cent of the costs for students who attend Catholic schools and none of the costs for students attending Islamic, Jewish or other faith-based schools.

Other provincial governments either partly fund all faith-based schools that meet their guidelines, or fund none of them.

It only makes sense.

Technorati Tags: Liberal Party Hypocrisy, conflict of interest, liar, liar

Lead, follow...

Or get out of the freakin' way...

Tensions are increasing near Hollow Water First Nation after a local man used a logging machine to circumvent a roadblock, damaging the barrier in the process.

“I wanted to go for a nice quiet beer at the bar,” said Ivon Saber, who broke through the barricade Friday night with his skidder, a vehicle used to haul logs out of the bush.

You've gotta love this guy's style.

Of course, now he'll have to sleep with his skidder to stop the aboriginal thugs from setting it on fire.

The actual road was blocked by logs, a front-end loader, some vehicles and all-terrain vehicles, he said. I supposed if I was crazy I could have run over their cars and quads,” he said, declining to say how he later returned home.

If only the police had as much backbone.

**********

RELATED: It's like a homegrown Hezbollah

Tensions and hostilities are rising in the area, says Ivon Saber, owner and resident of the Ayers Cove development, also inside the blockaded area.

"They let some people out last night, but they would only allow you to get out for 15 minutes every two hours," he said.

"As far as I'm concerned, that's being held hostage. The main road to Manigotagan is blocked, and they're not allowing anybody out that way."

One small note here...

The subdivisions are part of the province's cottage lot draw and are on Crown land.

Technorati Tags: Ivon Saber, Hollow Water First Nation, homegrown terrorism

Now lemme see, what Federal party...

Is actually pushing a tough on crime agenda right now?

-- MONTREAL -- A Quebec victims' rights group is calling on federal politicians to serve tougher justice in Canada, demanding an end to concurrent sentences for offenders who commit multiple violent crimes.

Victims' rights advocate Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu says Canada should force violent criminals to serve sentences consecutively to ensure each victim gets equal justice.

Federal law now allows criminals to serve several sentences at the same time.

And what Federal party is opposing that legislation in the Senate?

No more Fiberal hug-a-thug

Technorati Tags: Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu, concurrent sentences, victims' rights

Allah denied

Seriously wounded still beats having your head sawed off.

Crazy talkin' fundamentalist freak...

Has brief moment of lucidity.

-- NEW YORK, Sept 23 (Reuters) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a U.S. television interview on Sunday that Iran did not need nuclear weapons and his country was not heading for war with the United States.

Ahmadinejad also took issue with U.S. charges that Iran supports militants in Iraq, providing weapons and training, saying: "We don't need to do that."

Of course, like most people walking that fine line between quasi-twilight sanity and schizophrenia... the Madman is a really shitty liar.

Asked whether he was denying that Iran supplied weapons to militants in Iraq, he avoided a clear answer. "It's very clear the situation. The insecurity in Iraq is detrimental to our interests," he said.

Not half as detrimental as the gps-guided cruise missile that's gonna come flyin' in your bedroom window one night, ya freakin' squirrel.

Ahmadinejad, who has called for Israel to be wiped off the map, was denied a request to visit the World Trade Center site of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The Iranian people had better think seriously about dumping ol' Mahmoud before they get too much further down the plutonium highway.

Even if Bush's exit strategy for Iraq doesn't include the USMC leaving via Tehran... there are other parties here who will burn Persia to the ground and piss on the ashes... before they let them acquire a nuclear capability.

**********

RELATED: Equal time for the courageous left

The Columbia Coalition Against the War acknowledges that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad holds some "inexcusable" views.

That doesn't mean they will, you know, confront him about it...

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

Not to rush things here...

But... when exactly Mr. Layton... will you be heading over to Afghanistan... to fire up your, uh... "peace negotiations"?

-- KABUL, Afghanistan -- Italy's defence ministry said on Sunday it believed two Italian soldiers missing in Afghanistan had been kidnapped.

The soldiers went missing while on patrol in western Afghanistan, Italian authorities said earlier on Sunday. Police in the country's west said they were searching for the pair.

It's probably not a good idea to travel alone... perhaps you could bring Sergeant Steffi along to spread some of that egghead goodwill we've been hearing about.

I'm sure these guys are willing to listen to reason.

In southern Zabul province, meanwhile, the Taliban kidnapped three Afghan men accused of spying for the U.S. and executed them, said Shamulzayi district chief Wazir Khan.

Police recovered the bodies Saturday evening. One of the victims was beheaded, and the other two were shot dead.

Uh, Jack... Jack... are you there?

Yeah... that's what I thought.

Technorati Tags: Taliban Jack, religion of peace, suckass political correctness

The reality of a Liberal Ontario

That was the day Mr. Brown, watching from his house, realized that he and his family were on their own...

“When the sun goes down behind my home, I don't live in Canada, I live in Beirut.”

**********

UPDATE: John Tory steps up

If elected Oct. 10, Tory says he would change provincial laws to broaden the definition of trespassing and double existing fines for those who defy the order.

Individuals would face a maximum fine of $2,000 for each day they occupy land illegally and organizations would face a maximum daily fine of $25,000.

(also via "joanne")

Hang on a minute... I'm confused

Everything I've seen or heard about Iran in the last couple of years... had led me to believe that surly, hormone soaked teenage boys were already "calling the shots."

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says his government is planning to reduce the minimum voting age in the country to 15 years.

“When the voting age was 15, we saw how our young people acted with fervor and helped choose the right way for the independence and greatness of Iran," he said, addressing youths on the first day of the school year.

What a stroke of genius.

No wonder he's coming to the United Nations.

This time... I'm not lying

Dalton McGuinty makes another promise.

Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty, whose 2003 campaign promise not to raise taxes dogs his Oct. 10 re-election bid, said Ontarians should read his lips.

"We will not have to raise taxes, because we're in charge. We know exactly where we are," he said yesterday on Global's Focus Ontario.

So Dalton, what you're saying is, after all the lies you've peddled to us over the last four years... you've decided to turn over a new leaf?

Until yesterday, McGuinty has tried to avoid saying "we will not have to raise taxes," instead answering reporters' questions with simple "yes" or "no" responses less likely to be used on television.

That's because he and his handlers worry it would spur TV newscasts to air the clip then re-broadcast the infamous 2003 campaign commercial, where he promised: "I won't raise your taxes and I won't cut them either."

Fool me twice... shame on me.

Technorati Tags: Dalton McGuinty, Fiberal Party, Liar, liar

No Rap... No Funeral

Anybody out there have Attorney General Michael Bryant's cellphone number?

• MISSISSAUGA • A young rapper who called himself Tactix and who rhymed about violence on the streets was killed in an apparent stabbing early yesterday at a townhouse.

The 24 year old man, whose non-street name was Jermaine Alexander Malcolm, poetically listed his hometown as SCARTOWN on his MySpace page... street slang for Scarborough.

"He was a good guy," a friend of Malcolm said near the crime scene yesterday. "He was one of my best friends, yo. He was a young guy, yo, he didn't deserve this shit."

Perhaps it would be more fitting to remember to remember the multi-talented Tactix in his own words...

"Im here to be herd(sic) and it will be DONE!!! IM A TORONTO/ SAUGA /SCARTOWN/UPTOWN/DOWNTOWN GRITTY CITY RIDA G.T.A. CANADA WIDE REPPEN U.S TO DA THE WORLD IN FULL EFFECT TACTIX BANG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" "DATS ENUFF FOR NOW PEACE YO FAM LETS GET DIS OH SEV MONEY ON LOCK N BANG THEM IN DA FACE 1 DAT ITS YA BOI T.O. LIVE WIRE AKA TACTIX AKA CLAPP DODGE IT AKA 45 AKA MISCHIEF AKA LIL THUG AKA LIGHT TOKA/ L.T. AKA CASH AKA TAX AKA STATIC FEINS CALL ME BILL/BOSSMAN N THE LADYS CALL ME BEEF HEAD ASK ABOUT ME BANG"

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Congratulations to Jermaine for living the dream."

UPDATE: Surprise!!! There's a retail pharmaceutical angle

It may have been a stab wound to the chest that killed wannabe rapper Jermaine Malcolm but it’s drugs that are behind the death, Peel police said Sunday.

“There is a drug angle to this,” Const. J.P. Valade said, adding Malcolm, who used the stage name Tactix, was “very well-known” to cops in the region. Valade would not comment on whether Malcolm had any gang ties but his MySpace website makes several references to the Meadowvale Bloods and MDV (Money, Drugs and Violence).