If you build it...

They will come.

**********

RELATED: Polar Bear Extinction - the real story

The Right Stuff

The Dutch government extends Afghanistan commitment until 2010.

-- THE HAGUE -- The Netherlands is extending its military mission in the Afghan province of Uruzgan to August 2010. After that, the mission will be wound down, with the last man to leave by 1 December 2010.

Much like Steffi and Taliban Jack, the Dutch opposition has decided to have it's own little tea party.

The Socialist Party (SP), leftwing Greens (GroenLinks) and centre-left (D66) will likely be the only parties to vote against an extension. They are holding separate hearings on 6 December with opponents of the military presence in Afghanistan.

Christian democratic (CDA) MP Karien van Gennip termed the alternative hearings "unfortunate." Conservative (VVD) MP Hans van Baalen found them "childish."

Do as I say... not as I do

Adventures in terraforming with the former head of the Y2Kyoto Party.

-- MONTREAL -- Paul Martin's attempt to turn his countryside retreat into a six-hole golf course has landed the former prime minister in an environmental sand trap.

Mr. Martin, who envisions teeing off with friends on his estate's own fairways, has run afoul of municipal authorities in the town of Lac Brome for improperly cutting down trees on his property.

Say it isn't so... I remember all the Fiberal "torque and spin" about what a regular guy ol' Paul was... you know... how he didn't even drive a flashy new car.

The former PM, who once called safeguarding the environment "a fundamental value," also had the work done before obtaining the blessing of Quebec's farmland protection authorities.

And Quebec's agricultural protection agency is chilly to the project. In a preliminary opinion in September, commissioners turned down the change in designation because they fear it could set a precedent.

The commissioners cited concerns about the impact on forests.

Maybe he could rename his dog... "Seedling"?

We interrupt today's Taser hysteria...

For a word from Ontario's deputy chief coroner...

"I am absolutely convinced tasers will save lives instead of taking lives. And I hope some day, if I am in the position, please taser me before you shoot me."

Now back to our regularly scheduled, overwhelmingly leftwing media feeding frenzy...

Repeat after me: Schreiber. Taser. Taser. Schreiber.

**********

RELATED: Enough with the Taser horseshit

Bring me a real tragedy.

Across India, as many as 10 million female fetuses may have been aborted over the past 20 years, according to a study published in the British medical journal, the Lancet, last year.

"We have found female fetuses by the sackful, floating down drains."

Pretty much a moot point

Sorry, Doc... there's just no putting the tech genie back in the bottle...

Donald L. Shifrin, a pediatrician based in Seattle and the spokesman for the academy, said tech toys cannot replace imaginative play, where children create rich narratives and interact with peers or parents.

“Are we creating media use as a default for play?” Dr. Shifrin asked. “When kids want to play, will they ask, ‘Where’s the screen?’”

My 11 year old son has been using computers since grade one. It's simply a part of his life. His latest big thing is a game called "Wildlife Zoo" and you'd best not try to get in between him and his growing colony of animal charges.

You have to wonder, though... how will a generation of tech-savvy kids differ from their parents.

Eric Jorgensen, a programmer at Microsoft, has invented PixelWhimsy, a computer program that allows toddlers to sit at a regular computer and bang away on the keys to create sounds and colors and shapes, but without damaging the computer.

Asmin Jalis, who also works at Microsoft and whose 2-year-old boy, Ibrahim, has been using PixelWhimsy, said his son liked it better than his toy computer. “We have a toy laptop for him, and he knows it’s a fake,” he said.

Big wheels keep on turnin'.

Branding gone bad

Yet another demonstration of the "Law of Unintended Consequences"...

Seriously, just look at this thing -- It looks like it should have a Honda Civic in one hand and a dozen screaming children in the other.

Every time I look at that picture, this is what I see -- He likes the heads best because they're crunchy.

Just a minute...

Let me check my notes...

In 1993, Bear Head Industries Ltd., a Schreiber company, made a $10,000 donation to which political party?

Sarkozy says "NO" to thugocracy

"I reject any form of other-worldly naivety that wants to see a victim of society in anyone who breaks the law, a social problem in any riot."

"The response to the riots isn't yet more money on the backs of the taxpayers."

"The response to the riots is to arrest the rioters."

**********

RELATED: Here's a thought...

"Maybe the response to the murders isn't to build more basketball courts. The response to the riots is to arrest the murderers."

The seventh floor of a troubled highrise in Scarborough's northeast end remained under guard yesterday as Toronto Police announced an arrest in the city's latest murder, the fifth such killing in six days.

However, homicide investigators have yet to release any details of the slaying -- Toronto's 79th of the year.

Kwabena Sarfo Duah, 19, surrendered to detectives with his lawyer yesterday, police said. He's charged with second-degree murder in the death of Shaun Williams, 27.

SCHREIBER SHOCKER

Steffi and the Fiberals, to absolutely no one's surprise, get played... yet again.

Karlheinz Schreiber says he will not testify before a parliamentary committee until after his extradition matter is dealt with.

In an opening statement before the Commons ethics committee, Mr. Schreiber said he is “unwilling at this time to testify” until he knows how long the stay on his extradition will be.

Yessirree, folks... it's yet another gripping episode of "Wag the Dog... Dion."

Not that it was a total waste of time... ol' Karl did get to share some heart-rending stories of jailhouse injustice...

"Yesterday I was taken from Toronto West Detention Centre in a van by two officers from the Ottawa Detention Centre. I was handcuffed, I was in leg irons. I wore an orange jump suit."

Maybe Steffi can rename his dog... "Gullible."

**********

UPDATE: C'mon Karl... pretty please?

Herr Schreiber coughs up a last-minute furball... to try to keep the game going.

Karlheinz Schreiber says his financial agreement with former prime minister Brian Mulroney was supposed to be worth $500,000, but he tried to dodge questions on what the money was for.

**********

LAST WORD: Hey Karl... it could be worse

-- KHARTOUM -- A British teacher in Sudan was convicted Thursday of inciting religious hatred for letting her pupils name a teddy bear Muhammed, and she was sentenced to 15 days in prison and deportation to Britain, one of her lawyers said.

Gillian Gibbons could have received 40 lashes and six months in prison in the case.

Technorati Tags: Karlheinz Schreiber, Stephane Dion, Airbust

Saudi Arabia my ass

The U.S. Energy Department said Thursday it was prepared to make oil supplies from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve available to refineries to help offset the disruption in Canadian oil imports caused by an explosion and fire at a vital Enbridge Inc. pipeline in Minnesota.

Canada is the biggest supplier of foreign crude to the United States, accounting for almost one-fifth of its over 10 million bpd of imports, government data show.

Nearly all of that is delivered via the Enbridge system.

We've all heard him moaning...

About having trouble "setting priorities"... so you should ask yourself... while Steffi and the mainstream media lose their minds over 5 taser deaths in a year... what's getting lost in all that noise?

Three years ago a major national study found prescription errors, surgical complications, infections and other medical mistakes were killing as many as 24,000 Canadians annually.

Lead the country?

I wouldn't let Stephane Dion wash my car.

**********

RELATED: Time for a little subtext

-- VANCOUVER -- Canadian police, eager to sketch a portrait of Robert Dziekanski before his fatal confrontation with taser-equipped officers at Vancouver airport last month, will head to Poland to investigate his last "hours and days."

Asked about topics of interest, Cpl. Carr cited, "the history of the individual, of Mr. Dziekanski, his medical history and any other information that may be important to the various investigations."

Let's get all the cards on the table.

**********

LAST WORD: Welcome... one more time... readers of Canadian Cecilia

Today... CC tastefully uses the tragic accidental deaths of a high school basketball team... to further his profane, obscure agenda.

Of course... it's what he does best.

Remember Canadian Cecilia's message to Wanda Watkins, whose son Lane was killed in Afghanistan?

"With all due respect, Wanda, fuck you and your grief. It's not the job of the rest of Canada to continue to let its soldiers die just so you can sleep better at night."

And, as you know... CC has always been a real lady's man.

Technorati Tags: Canadian Adverse Events Study Team., Dr. Ross Baker, Canadian Institute for Health Information

Ok, Karl... let's see what you've got

Let the games begin...

“Canadian justice,” Mr. Schreiber called out, holding his shackled hands into the air, as police officers escorted him from an unmarked police car.

Well... we're off to a promising start.

And what of the man who would be Court Jester?

Mr. Schreiber could be found in contempt of Parliament if he refuses to speak at the committee. However, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion said that the penalty for contempt - going to jail - will not likely affect Mr. Schreiber's testimony.

"He is already in prison, we can't worsen his situation. But we still ask for his full co-operation," Mr. Dion said.

Uh, Stef... you can try to reason with a cat... for all the good that will do.

Let's just see... "who's zoomin' who."

**********

UPDATE: Call it "CBC Syndrome"

"The mere fact that Schreiber sent Harper a letter has the news people going wild... But Thibault has 2 meetings with the guy, and one has to read it on a Blog."

**********

RELATED: Speaking of stupidass political theatrics

For the first time in Canadian history, the PM was grilled in Chinese in the House of Commons during the daily question period yesterday.

Technorati Tags: Karlheinz Schreiber, Brian Mulroney, Airbust

Help me out here, Doc

Are you really saying Stephen Harper is responsible for the recent explosive rise in HIV-AIDS infections?

-- CP -- Dr. Julio Montaner, president-elect of the International AIDS Society and director of the B.C. Centre of Excellence for HIV/AIDS... suggested the problem persists because of a failing of political leadership — a shortcoming he believes is also responsible for a lack of effective HIV/AIDS prevention campaigns.

Apparently, personal responsibility isn't a very big part of the equation anymore.

"The problem is that the safer-sex message wears out," he said from Vancouver.

"Coca-Cola sells because every six months they reinvent themselves," Montaner noted. "What about our safer sex campaigns? Hello! First, they are not there. Second, they are boring."

Silly me.

I thought the problem was having unprotected, promiscuous sex with people who already had the disease... but apparently all we really need to beat this thing... are amusing 60 second television jingles delivered by exquisitely dressed spokes-models.

I'm thinkin' we need a second opinion.

Technorati Tags: Dr. Julio Montaner, HIV/AIDS, suckass political correctness

Yammer all you want...

About the "futility" of mandatory minimum sentences... but the fact is... the longer these sociopaths are locked away... the less time they have, to put a bullet in somebody's brain.

"In 2006 alone, more than 70% of all people charged with murder were on some sort of judicial release."

"There's a gun culture in which young people have to prove themselves and gang members feel they have to prove themselves by shooting somebody," Toronto Police homicide Det. Ian Briggs said.

"It's hard to fight that culture."

**********

RELATED: Court of sober, second thought

I'm actually on the side of Gomery in this argument. We don't need mandatory minimum sentences.

We simply need to relocate every halfway house in the country to inside the security gated confines of luxury housing developments and high-end apartment buildings - and let the problem of lax sentences solve itself.

Technorati Tags: mandatory minimum sentences, recidivism, Gomery

No guts... no glory

Sometimes you just gotta have faith... and a strong stomach...

"It sort of tasted like toilet bowl cleaner," said Dana Shires, one of the researchers. "I guzzled it and I vomited," Cade said.

Eventually, however, the use of the sports beverage spread to the Gators, who enjoyed a winning record and were known as a "second-half team" by outlasting opponents.

The 'Punch Yourself in the Face'...

School of Politics...

Gotta love the irony here... as the Fiberals and Dippers are forced to go with Plan B...

Mr. Walsh said there are two ways that Mr. Schreiber can be in Ottawa on Thursday. The first possibility is to get the co-operation of Mr. Nicholson, who can amend the “surrender order” that was signed in 2004 by former justice minister Irwin Cotler.

Secondly, Mr. Walsh said the House can use its subpoena-like powers and obtain a House order (sometimes called a Speaker's warrant) to get Mr. Schreiber out of the Toronto West Detention Centre.

If only the former Liberal Justice Minister hadn't been so anxious to extradite ol' Karl back to Germany. Or was it the eight wasted days... the Opposition parties have pissed away on cheap, hysterical "political theatre."

I'm lovin' it.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

A sure fire way of keeping Schrieber in Canada is to charge him with offering a bribe. Then a full fledged trial will happen and all those involved with him will be exposed...

But that won't happen... will it.

Technorati Tags: Karlheinz Schreiber, Irwin Cotler, fiberal smoke and mirrors

A little counter-sniper fire...

Wouldn't be amiss here either.

VILLIERS-LE-BEL, France — Police will step up security in north Paris suburbs to prevent a third night of unrest, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Tuesday, promising a firm line against rioters who attack police.

"Those who fire on the police and who beat a police officer nearly to death, are criminals and must be treated like criminals," said Mr. Fillon.

**********

UPDATE: As long as there's no tasers, huh?

Patrick Ribeiro, the head of Synergie union, put the number of police casualties higher than the official figures. He said 77 officers were injured last night and that most rioters are under 18.

"It's much more violent than in 2005," Ribeiro said in a telephone interview. "They've shot at us with handguns and hunting rifles.

If our officers have to protect their lives, they may have to shoot and that's not what we want."

Technorati Tags: Villiers-le-Bel, Paris riots, CAR-B-Q season

Despite all the politically correct...

Hippie rhetoric... dumbing down... will never, ever be the right answer...

Initially city officials considered basing the whole grade on a peer-group comparison. But Kati Haycock, director of the Education Trust, a Washington research group, warned them off, saying that would send the message that there were different standards for children of different backgrounds.

“We argued as strongly as we could that that’s a terrible idea,” Ms. Haycock said. “In the real world, once kids grow up, they are not just compared to kids that just graduated from the barrio.”

An interesting article, especially when considered in light of the Toronto District Board's recent initiative to explore "race based" schooling.

There are, however, still a few bugs in the system.

The decision to reward schools for advancing the neediest students produced some counterintuitive results. South Bronx Academy for Applied Media, listed by the state as one of its most violent schools, is rated by the city as an A.

It fared well on the report card because while just 17 percent of its students met grade level standards on the state reading test, more than 63 percent had improved from last year.

An old song comes to mind, "When will they ever learn..."

And while we're on...

Live and don't learn...

Not often does a politician get to fix a mistake. Stephane Dion has been given a singularly unique opportunity. Seven months ago, Dion was uncomfortable with May's comments, and said that he thought the comment should have been withdrawn.

C'mon, Steffi... how often does someone float a big, lumbering softball like this, right across the plate...

Now Stephane Dion can state that he is shocked by Elizabeth May's comments, and demand that the comment be withdrawn.

Yes, Stephane Dion is a very lucky politician. Such a rare opportunity. The question is whether he will take advantage of this opportunity.

Because if he doesn't, then he's guilty of failing the same key leadership test not once, but twice.

Technorati Tags: Elizabeth May, Stephane Dion, Godwin's Law

A Tale of Two Cities

"Today, Interior Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie offered her condolences to the young woman’s relatives and friends. The latter have not gone on a rampage."

"They have not torched train carriages nor have they arsoned train stations."

"The French authorities do not fear they will turn to violence in the coming nights, either. One wonders why."

"Is there no 'anger that needs to be expressed'?"

Technorati Tags: Villiers-le-Bel, Paris riots, CAR-B-Q season

Here's why...

We need to start cracking down on crime in Canada...

Richard Steele, who served jail time after cops tapped his phone in the Jane Creba murder probe, was arrested early yesterday in Hamilton after police allegedly found a gun in the car he was travelling in.

Lawyer Selwyn Pieters last night confirmed his client Steele, 20, is in custody and facing numerous gun-related charges.

In 2006, Steele was charged with unrelated drugs and gun charges from evidence based largely on the phone taps. He served four months of a six-month sentence after pleading guilty in February 2007.

Sure... it's not like he was involved in a murder, huh?

**********

RELATED: And before the mindless screaming starts...

"It's not about race, you dopes... it's about culture."

Technorati Tags: Jane Creba, Richard Steele, tough on crime bill

At least they didn't try to say...

That Rusty and Jerome were transsexuals...

Monday, in an internal memo, the CBC communications group invited staff to “say goodbye to Rusty and Jerome in style,” at a midafternoon ceremony at the Graham Spry Theatre, where milk and cookies were served while classic episodes of Friendly Giant ran on a continuous loop.

“While you may have bid farewell to Friendly when you left your childhood behind, this afternoon, you'll have an opportunity to say goodbye to the real Rusty and Jerome,” the memo said.

“After a lengthy stay with us here in the Broadcasting Centre, these iconic creations and other Friendly artifacts, which have been on loan to the CBC museum for many years, will be going home – at the request of the family of the man who made them famous,” the memo said.

None of Mr. Homme's family attended.

In other CBC news, Casey and Finnegan have been spotted visiting a prominent Bay St. law firm.

Technorati Tags: Rusty and Jerome, Friendly Giant, CBC

Number 1... with a bullet

Following a weekend of bloodshed, with four, possibly five homicides in just three days, Toronto's murder count is nearly on par with that of the entire Year of the Gun.

The most recent blood was shed from 18-year-old Delane Daley, shot dead just before 8 p.m. yesterday on Driftwood Ave. near Jane and Finch.

**********

UPDATE: Live and don't learn

It was just three months ago that Delane Daley was riddled with gunfire and somehow managed to survive.

But the 18-year-old's refusal to stay away from the Jane and Finch neighbourhood where he grew up, despite the urgings of his mother and others who cared about him, finally caught up with him Sunday night with a bullet to the head.

He said it was too soon to know if the murder of the young man, known as "Spooks" or "Spooky" to his friends, was connected to the attempt on his life in August.

Technorati Tags: Delane Daley, Spooks, Jane and Finch

Sammy, long time bro... wassup?

“Soon, if God allows, the lion sheik Osama bin Laden, may God protect him, will give a message to the European nations.”

I'm feeling a little left out.

**********

RELATED: Another night of rioting

Sammy... France says they're kinda busy... could you maybe call back next week?

A crowd of youths set police barricades on fire and threw stones and Molotov cocktails at officers, who retaliated with tear gas and rubber bullets.

In Villiers-le-Bel and surrounding areas, youths set fire to 36 vehicles, the area's prefecture said.

It looks as though these "poor youth" were awfully well prepared...

Youths were seen firing buckshot at police and reporters.

A police union official said 38 officers were wounded, including three seriously — one of whom had a shoulder wound after a shot from a hunting rifle pierced his bullet-proof vest. One reporter also was injured.

Technorati Tags: Osama bin Laden, Paris riots, CAR-B-Q season

I post about a McGuinty Cabinet Minister

And guess who comes sniffin' round my door?

Hey Dalton... you wanna call off the dogs?

Actually, Big D, on second thought... I've seen your minions in action... no worries, we're cool.

**********

RELATED: You wanna see chutzpah?

Take a look at the brazen torque on the Liberal press release...

"New Aboriginal Affairs Minister Gains Deeper Understanding of Community"

I almost peed myself.

**********

LAST WORD: In that same bold spirit...

China also issues a press release...

"China issues glowing report on Three Gorges dam, denies geological problems"

Birds of a feather.

Technorati Tags: Michael Bryant, Caledonia, fiberal smoke and mirrors

No sense, no pain

Fresh off his disastrous "No gun, No Funeral" debacle... newly demoted ex-Attorney General Michael "Sisyphus" Bryant has now been condemned by the Emperor McSlippery, to ceaselessly roll the insurmountable rock of aboriginal demands to the top of the Caledonian mountain.

And you don't have to be a student of the classics to know that, so far... this particular boulder just keeps on rolling back down the consultant-littered hill.

"I want to hear from people," the minister told The Spectator in an exclusive interview. " I certainly don't think that the local problems are going to be solved from Queen's Park."

Yeah, no kidding, huh Mikey? I think your predecessor David Ramsay, over the last couple of years, has proved that thesis pretty thoroughly.

So what do the citizens of Caledonia have to say?

Nolda Hoekert, 52, and her son J.J., 24, were surprised when the minister joined them at their table in the Tim Hortons.

They told him the government has to resolve the dispute, and they also want him to do something about "two-tier justice" -- the belief natives and non-natives are being treated differently by the OPP.

This has been the biggest hurdle in the process to date... so we're not exactly talking startling revelation here.

The less-than-elegant McGuinty brokered solution, thus far, has consisted mostly of Liberal politicians... bending over and grabbing their ankles.

But, to his credit, Bryant at least has the balls to show up and take some of the fiberal-generated heat.

Premier Dalton McGuinty had been under fire for not visiting Caledonia. Bryant's predecessor David Ramsay also did not visit, although Conservative leader John Tory made more than half a dozen visits.

Let's see if the Liberals will actually start to do something here.

**********

RELATED: A small town being slowly strangled

Haldimand County Mayor Marie Trainer has said town residents living with the ongoing occupation won't feel safe until Six Nations protesters leave the disputed land.

Although Caledonia was one of the fastest growing towns in Ontario, Ms. Trainer said virtually no building permits have been issued in the last two years.

And Dalton McGuinty just stood and watched.

Technorati Tags: Michael Bryant, Caledonia, fiberal smoke and mirrors

Too many rules says Chretien

And what's up, with that... "making people accountable"... for their actions?

"I know some cabinet ministers are complaining today that they are not getting the type of people in their office because of these restricting rules.

You know, we should have the best people we can get to do these jobs and these rules are keeping a lot of good people away from the Hill," said Mr. Chretien in an interview with CanWest News Service.

I guess Teflon Jean wants a return to the good old days of "nudge, nudge, wink, wink" that inflicted boondoggles like ADSCAM and the 2 billion dollar Farmer Bob Rifle Registry on an unsuspecting public.

Under prime ministers Jean Chretien and Paul Martin, Liberal-friendly firms were repeatedly accused of trading on their connections to the government to win lucrative consulting work.

Well, Jean... how can I explain this? A government job isn't supposed to be on the job training for greedy, uber-ambitious would-be lobbyists and political power brokers.

It's supposed to be about public service.

But try telling that to a Liberal.

**********

RELATED: A very public servant

The Liberal leader started wildly waving to the aboriginal delegation, pointing to his own chest with both hands and arguing that Baird was trying to take credit for something he himself had done when he was environment minister.

"It was me," he shouted upward to the aboriginal leaders, who looked a bit perplexed by all the gesturing.

Sounds like a nasty outbreak of "Garth Fever."

Technorati Tags: Jean Chretien, Accountability Act, fiberal smoke and mirrors

Break out the old grievances...

And top up the molotov cocktails... it's the official start of CAR-B-Q season.

-- VILLIERS-LE-BEL, France -- Groups of youths assaulted a police station, torched cars and vandalized stores in a weekend rampage that injured 21 police officers in this rundown Paris suburb.

Sunday's night's clashes came hours after the motorcycle crashed into the patrol car. A 15-year-old and 16-year-old were killed in the accident.

Apparently though... in this neck of the woods... there's no such thing as an accident.

Police officials said the motorbike ignored traffic rules and ran into the police vehicle, and that the bike was unregistered and neither teen was wearing a helmet.

Latest reports say the motorbike wasn't just unregistered, but actually stolen... regardless, it's time to run amuck.

**********

RELATED: Well, ok... we're fine with that

A brother of one of the dead teenagers, Omar Sehhouli, said the rioting "was not violence but an expression of rage".

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"The left never learns from history, its like Ancient Rome all over again. Take away a person's responsibility to try and feed and house themselves, give them free food, and what do you get: The mob."

Technorati Tags: Villiers-le-Bel, Paris riots, CAR-B-Q season

End User License Agreement

Who knows if this stuff is enforceable? The case law is all over the place.

What if you’re under-age? Drunk? Using someone else’s computer — do you agree on your parents’ behalf when you install software at their place over the holidays?

Frankly, it’s all bullshit.

The way the system should work is, you buy something, you own it.

A trip to the zoo

My prediction here, is that Steffi will grow to rue the day he first uttered the name... Karlheinz Schreiber...

Author William Kaplan, an expert on the Brian Mulroney-Karlheinz Schreiber affair, predicts upcoming hearings by a parliamentary committee will be a "gong show."

"He's not going to tell anybody anything until the minister of justice informs the government of Germany that Karlheinz Schreiber, Canadian citizen, will not be returned to Germany", the lawyer and author of two books on the controversy told CTV's Question Period on Sunday.

Most people seem to be overlooking the fact that Schreiber has no alliances or loyalties here... only people, on both sides of the political bus... that he tried to suborn.

That fact appears to be slowly sinking in... even with the previously enthusiastic fiberal cheerleading squad.

Liberal MP Robert Thibault said his party supports a public inquiry, wants Schreiber available for it and wants it to review the Schreiber-Mulroney relationship back to 1980 plus the actions of the current Conservative government.

On "the committee", Thibault said he actually agreed with Kaplan's assessment that "the committee" might not be the best forum.

I can't wait.

**********

RELATED: Dippers don't trust Lib chairman

The committee voted to give its chairman, Liberal MP Paul Szabo, the power he needs to subpoena Mr. Schreiber.

But the NDP's Mr. Martin said he has no faith that Mr. Szabo will use that power effectively. So he is starting his own parallel process of asking for Speaker's warrants, he told CTV's Question Period

"We need to get him here prior to his deportation on the first of December. And I can tell you there are a lot of powerful people in Canada who would rather see the hind end of Mr. Schreiber," Mr. Martin said.

"His list is something like the Hollywood madam - there are a lot of people that are on that list who would rather that list is never exposed."

Technorati Tags: Karlheinz Schreiber, William Kaplan, Robert Thibault

More Catholic than the Pope

Finally... a simple voice of reason emerges from the screechy fanatical storm.

"For example, if I show up at a hospital emergency room with my wife, what should be my behaviour?"

"Well, the answer is simple."

If I want a female doctor to tend to my wife, I'll ask for that with a smile. If the answer is yes, I'll keep my smile. And if the answer is no, I will still keep my smile," he said.

"Why? Because the only effort the Koran asks me to make is to ask the question. That's all."

"You can't be more Catholic than the Pope."

(via DMB)

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Attending a party with one of my muslim friends, he inquired of the hosts if the food had pork or chicken in it..."

F16's 1 - Wagon Train 0

"Rollin', rollin', rollin'... Though the streams are swollen... Keep them dogies rollin'... Rawhide!"

-- Paktia, Afghanistan -- Afghan officials say NATO-led forces killed at least 65 Taliban rebels Saturday night in airstrikes near the country's eastern border with Pakistan.

The Afghan interior ministry said Sunday that the Taliban rebels were smuggling weapons on horses and two cars in the province of Paktia, when NATO and Afghan forces engaged them and called in air support.

Of course, there's a bit of a difference between television mythology... and the brutal reality of the modern battlefield.

Hence the timeless military adage... "Peace through Superior Firepower."

I'm bettin' they run out of illiterate zealots... before we run out of JDAM's.

**********

RELATED: Samarra smackdown

-- BAGHDAD -- U.S. troops killed 10 suspected Sunni militants and captured eight during an operation against al-Qaida fighters north of Samarra, the U.S. military said Sunday.

Hey, Timmy... where is your god now?

A nuke plant in Syria...

Would have been pretty scary stuff... but what if it was worse than that?

On the basis of an analysis of the same satellite photos, which have been published in the media and on Web sites and are accessible to everyone, he believes that the structure that was attacked and destroyed was not a nuclear reactor.

"In my estimation this was something very nasty and vicious, and even more dangerous than a reactor," says Even.

(via SDA)

**********

RELATED: You say you missed that one?

"Syria gets caught with its nuclear pants down around its ankles."

Left still cherrypicking their martyrs

While the usual suspects mount an anti-cop protest at Queens Park... this man's death just slips under the leftbot radar...

An autopsy has determined that an elderly Edmonton man was beaten to death in what police are calling a cowardly attack.

William Kapach, 65, was found lying on an inner-city sidewalk Saturday morning in a pool of blood. He was taken off life-support on Thursday.

I guess actual victims of crime just aren't sexy enough for the lunatic left.

**********

UPDATE: Celebrating voyeurism and apathy

"More than 1,000 people chanted 'Thank you, Paul,' as Paul Pritchard spoke to the rally yesterday, about how he came to record the last moments of Dziekanski's life."

You notice, of course, ol' Paul didn't actually step in and help this guy... he merely filmed his death throes.

And the left acquires yet another hero.

**********

RELATED: Just a cattle-car moment

"All sorts of demands for action are floating around, but most of them seem to have sluiced down the easiest channel, which is to blame the tasers, and talk endlessly about voltage and amps and scientific studies."

(via FFOF)

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FROM THE COMMENTS:

"On the way to their favorite Elgin Street Bistro three parliamentarians witness a brutal murder..."

and...

"I think the real reason the left doesn't like Tazers is that it identifies with criminal behaviour. They are afraid THEY will get Tazered in some anti-globalization, pro-Palestinian, Pro-Hezbollah, anti-Capitalism, pro-Chavez, anti-war, pro-environmental riot."

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LAST WORD: Once again, a very special welcome...

To readers of infantile, foul mouthed, proggie brown-noser "Canadian Cecilia"

Make sure you check out his greatest hits.

Technorati Tags: William Kapach, Robert Dziekanski, Paul Pritchard

Tag, you're it... I mean... dead

I just love how everybody and their uncle is freaking out about tasers... but just ignoring the ongoing war in their own backyard.

Toronto homicide detectives are investigating three murders that took place around the city within hours of each other Friday, each with outstanding suspects.

And the first two murders are connected, police said Saturday.

Kennado Walker, 25, died barely seven hours after and less than three kilometres away from where police say he shot dead Ryan Hyde, 19, on Friday afternoon.

Uh huh... sure... the police... that's who you should be worried about.

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UPDATE: Bad boys, bad boys... whatcha gonna do...

Two men immersed in “criminal, high-risk lifestyles” are dead in tit-for-tat slayings and cops are urging their friends to leave the body count where it stands.

Police say Ryan Hyde, 19, was waiting in the front seat of his car for a slice of pizza when Kennado Walker, 25, sneaked up and shot him from behind on Friday afternoon.

Before the evening was through, someone bent on revenge caught Walker unaware after he parked his car underground at 5600 Sheppard Ave. E. and shot him in the head.

Both men were known to cops and dealt in drugs and guns, Gallant said. Like Hyde, Walker wasn’t working or attending school when he died.

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RELATED: Herding the sheeple

Technorati Tags: Kennado Walker, Ryan Hyde, get a grip, people

What... no more murder?

Hamas stupefied by suggestion... of non-violent solution.

-- GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Hamas said Saturday it was shocked by the Arab states' decision to attend a Mideast peace conference in the U.S. on Monday and it underlined its opposition to talks by warning that it could soon launch a more lethal type of rocket into Israel than seen previously.

Who are these people... and exactly what planet did they come from?

"The announcement of the Arabs that they would participate in the Annapolis conference was a great shock for the Palestinian people," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, said in a statement.

"Participation opens doors for normalization of relations with the Israeli occupiers."

Yeah, Sami... we sure wouldn't want any of that.

Technorati Tags: HAMAS, Annapolis conference, Sami Abu Zuhri

Calling Taliban Jack

Say Jack... about that Afghan prisoner abuse thing... we could always try the Taliban solution.

-- KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Taliban militants beheaded seven policemen yesterday after overrunning their checkpoints in southern Afghanistan, officials said.

An Australian soldier and three civilians were killed in a separate clash.

And people say I'm not flexible.

Of course, Jack still hasn't got back to me from last time.

I guess he's just shy.

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RELATED: NDP fights for Canuck prisoners too

-- OTTAWA -- Some opposition MPs whose parties agreed unanimously three weeks ago to rush the government's omnibus crime bill through a Commons committee are now trying to delete a major provision that requires offenders to prove they are not dangerous to society following a third conviction for designated crimes.

Less talk, more rock

You can jet around the global lecture circuit... earning big bucks for spewing tons of hot, sainted gases... or you can get your hands dirty actually making a difference...

About a year ago, Mr. Mosley started BuyMyBrokeniPod.com and began purchasing, refurbishing and reselling used or broken iPods. Mr. Mosley, who is apparently comfortable around a soldering iron, started the company by posting an iPods-wanted ad on Craigslist.

He has since launched a Web site, hired two employees and fixed over a thousand iPods. He recently renamed his company BuyMyTronics.com as he expanded into iPhones and video game consoles.

Now there's a win-win solution... expand the economy and shrink the toxic waste.

He says his company is profitable but that the venture is not solely about that kind of green. “There’s definitely a market here, but I am keeping leads and toxic wastes out of the ground. They work hand in hand,” he said.

“I figure I’ve probably kept thousands of pounds of waste out of landfills.”

Gangbangers for God

It just seems there's no appeasing Afghanistan's bloodthirsty deity...

-- KABUL -- A suicide bomb on the outskirts of the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday killed six schoolchildren and wounded three Italians working on an aid project building a bridge, an Interior Ministry spokesman said.

"It was a suicide bomber ... six schoolchildren coming out from school were killed," said Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary.

Thank you... Religion of Peace.

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UPDATE: The Allah Channel

All death, all the time

Twin suicide car bombings have killed at least 30 people and injured many others in the Pakistani garrison city of Rawalpindi, officials have said.

Pakistan has recently seen a number of suicide bombings, including an attack in Karachi that killed at least 135 people.

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LAST WORD: Subsidising Islam in Canada

Hey, Sana... keep that stuff off my tax bill.

Upon evicting them, the university advised the Muslim students to seek an outside location for prayer.

According to Sana Saeed, a student at McGill and a member of the MSA, finding an outside location would have been costly and unnecessary.

“As Muslims, all we desired was an adequately-sized room, which would allow us to pray during the times we’d be on campus,” she said.

Remember lead water pipes?

It's looking more and more like fluoridation may be another man-made disaster...

Nearly a half-century after water fluoridation became widespread, a small but growing number of medical officials and environmentalists are again raising concerns over the practice.

Recent research is suggesting that fluoride may be connected to a number of serious conditions, including the development in teenage boys of osteosarcoma, the rare bone cancer that killed Canadian icon Terry Fox, reduced intelligence levels in children, and impaired thyroid function.

We've been on well water out here in the sticks since 2001, when my son turned five... and that turns out, statistically, to have been a pretty good thing.

Researchers found that boys aged 6 to 8 who were exposed to more fluoridated water were about four times more likely to develop the cancer than those exposed to lower levels. The researchers called their results "remarkably robust."

Fluoridation is based on research from the 1940s, and Mr. Wiles contends that it wouldn't be able to pass a modern risk assessment used for drugs or pesticides.

"We took a look at the science and it was really apparent to us that the current levels of fluoride exposure were unsafe," he said.

Funny though... it looks as though some people have been aware of this for some time.

Toronto's drinking water, after several reductions, now contains half the fluoride it did before 1999, while the province of Quebec cut the recommended amount by 42 per cent in 2004.

Karl's calculating can of worms...

Don't say you weren't warned, boys... this snake knows every trick in the book.

-- OTTAWA -- Karlheinz Schreiber appears to be negotiating some time out of the slammer to prepare for a grilling before a Commons committee next week.

But Mr. Schreiber shouldn't be allowed to “negotiate the terms under which he will testify,” says New Democrat MP Pat Martin, who sits on the Commons ethics committee.

“He's been called here and we expect the authorities to compel him to attend,” he said.

Well, Pat... you snapped up the bait... don't expect the master-angler to just let you off the hook.

This should be interesting.

Technorati Tags: Karlheinz Schreiber, Irwin Cotler, fiberal smoke and mirrors

David Miller's Dodge City

Oops, they did it again... the bullets are flyin' in Toronto the Good.

A man has died from his injuries after an east-end shootout that may have involved as many as six people.

Witnesses told police two groups of people opened fire on each other on the street near Birchmount Road and Sheppard Avenue at about 1:20 p.m. on Friday.

Latest reports are not identifying the victim... but say it was a 19 year-old male.

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RELATED: Apparently, that code of silence thing...

Makes for a pretty good defence.

A teenager accused of gunning down Jason Huxtable stood stunned and speechless while the victim’s mother wept as a jury acquitted him yesterday of second-degree murder.

The now 17-year-old - who testified he was an innocent witness - wouldn’t identify the culprit who fatally shot the 18-year-old Huxtable outside a Jane St. and Sheppard Ave. W. townhouse complex on Aug. 30, 2005.

The teen testified that he feared reprisals against his friends and family so he refused to divulge the identities of Huxtable’s killers. The teen’s best friend and his father were shot in the months after Huxtable’s death, court heard.

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UPDATE: I have to apologise here...

It was three murders... not one.

Toronto homicide detectives are investigating three murders that took place around the city within hours of each other Friday, each with outstanding suspects.

The most recent came with the stabbing death of a man found in an O'Connor Dr. apartment building around 10 p.m., Toronto police Staff-Sgt. Chuck Konkel said Saturday morning.

A 25-year-old man was found shot to death in an east-end underground parking garage around 8:15 p.m.

Latest breathtaking Liberal brainwave

We've got to stop that scary, hidden Stephen Harper... before he cuts everybody's taxes... yet again...

"We're going to go before the budget," one Quebec Liberal said.

"The budget will be full of candy for everybody. He's going to have money for seniors, for youth, for everybody."

"If you [wait and] go on the budget, then it means you're opposing tax cuts, money for all those people, and the campaign will be on that."

Once again, the Liberal Party of Canada illustrates the potential pitfalls of creating economic policy with a "ouija board."

I'm just pondering... if they have to defibrillate John McCallum every time some fiberal wunderkind comes up with one of these oinkers.

"CLEAR!!!"

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RELATED: Denis Khadr comes over to the dark side

As the Conservatives blow a "no brainer".

Since June 2000, almost half of Canada's soldiers have been receiving a bump in their monthly salary -- the posting's living differential -- for living and working in cities with a high cost of living.

However, the Tory government will put a halt to the payments for soldiers in places such as Toronto and Ottawa.

"It might have an impact on their morale," added Liberal defence critic Denis Coderre.

Sorta like those 13 years of total Liberal neglect, huh Denis?

Technorati Tags: Stephane Dion, Liberal party, fiberal smoke and mirrors

Potty training the loony left

After nine days of crippling national transportation strikes France appeared to be returning to normal Friday amid negotiations between labor unions and government officials.

From Paris, Lisa Bryant reports that while the walkout has snarled traffic, angered commuters and cost the country millions of dollars there appears to be one winner: French President Nicolas Sarkozy

Just a heads up here, Mark...

A self-proclaimed socially progressive person... might not actually want to base his "life philosophy" on the musings of Groucho Marx...

Mr. Warner said he hasn't ripped up his Conservative membership, but hinted that it's not likely he will be staying. "My philosophy in life is not to want to belong to any club that wouldn't have me as a member."

"It's just the way I approach life."

Well Mark, you deep thinker... the actual quote is, "would have me as a member"... but that's what happens when you pull a life philosophy out of the pop culture ether.

Cute mis-quotation... but remember, Marx also famously recounted...

I did a bond tour during the Second World War. We were raising money, and we played Boston and Philadelphia and most of the big cities. And we got to Minneapolis.

There wasn't any big theater to play there, so we did our show in a railroad station. Then I told the audience, that I knew a girl in Minneapolis. She was also known in St. Paul, she used to come over to visit me.

She was known as "The Tail Of Two Cities."

Try that one out at your next Fiberal or NDP fundraiser and... I daresay... Libby Davies will happily rip off your balls.

Technorati Tags: Mark Warner, Bob Rae, dumbing down

The double-edged sword

Privacy and personal freedoms are essential entitlements... for law abiding, non-sociopathic citizens.

-- WIESBADEN, Germany -- German police are unable to decipher the encryption used in the Internet telephone software Skype to monitor calls by suspected criminals and terrorists, Germany's top police officer said on Thursday.

Let's get real, folks... you really wanna give Osama and company a free (in more ways than one) ride?

What's the solution here?

C'mon... let's have another rumble.

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FROM THE COMMENTS:

"I'm not sure what wrestling has to do with anything. It sounds like you're trying to bait me into something."

Technorati Tags: Skype, right to privacy, kaboom

Law-Law Land

"Willie" Pickton gets the full court press...

“Have the strength of knowing that you are in the best position of anyone in the world to make the determination on the evidence that you have here,” Adrian Brooks said, wrapping up a three-and-a-half-day final summation.

“You have the strength of the evidence, the evidence that tells you clearly, loudly there is a reasonable doubt.”

Well... except for the eyewitness account, the DNA evidence and the testimony from the cop in his cell.

And, get this... he kept severed heads, hands and feet around... for what... to make soup?

Don't worry, Adrian... you can probably get Stephane Dion to put in a good word for your client at sentencing.

It's a Liberal thing.

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RELATED: Meanwhile, back on Planet Earth

The prosecution launched its closing arguments in Pickton's murder case, attacking defense claims that other suspects were ignored and that the forensic evidence on the property where he lived -- including skulls and victims' clothing -- were no proof that he was the killer.

"Could you accept that someone else snuck on that farm with a bunch of body parts, bones ... all without him knowing it?" Michael Petrie asked the jury.

"That was Willie Pickton's domain. That was his territory."

Technorati Tags: Robert Pickton, Adrian Brooks, poor little lamb

If this is a priority for the Dion liberals...

I'd hate to see the stuff at the bottom of their list.

-- OTTAWA -- Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion has written to the governor of Montana asking him to commute the death sentence of a convicted murderer from Canada.

Ronald Allen Smith was convicted of killing two Montana Indians in 1982.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson replies...

“Individuals who commit multiple murders and mass-murders abroad . . . cannot count on the Canadian government to claim clemency and repatriation back to this country.”

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FROM THE COMMENTS:

"we do not as Canadians support the death penalty..."

Funny...That's not what the poll says.

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LAST WORD: Speaking of polls...

Another CTV propaganda piece goes awry...

Technorati Tags: Ronald Allen Smith, Harvey Mad Man, Thomas Running Rabbit

Just one more reason...

To yank all taxpayer funding... from the Roman Catholic school system...

Halton's Catholic board has pulled The Golden Compass fantasy book – soon to be a Hollywood blockbuster starring Nicole Kidman – off school library shelves because of a complaint.

"(The complaint) came out of interviews that Philip Pullman had done, where he stated that he is an atheist and that he supports that," said Scott Millard, the board's manager of library services.

So what's the scoop on this blasphemous tome?

The award-winning tome was voted the best children's book in the past 70 years by readers across the globe.

No word yet on dates or locations for the big "book burning" parties... but we'll keep you posted.

Sponsored by the Government of Ontario.

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FROM THE COMMENTS:

"The Golden Compass is a book about the quest to kill GOD."

Which begs the question, "What kind of puny-ass deity are you people worshipping anyway?"

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UPDATE: The Censorship Inquisition widens

Two other Toronto-area Catholic boards of education are studying copies of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy after the Halton District Catholic School Board removed the children's books from its library shelves.

Both the Durham and Dufferin-Peel Catholic boards have said they will also review the popular children's fantasy series.

But, it seems, not quite everybody is on board...

In the U.K., the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams reviewed Pullman's trilogy for the Guardian newspaper in 2004.

Williams praised the books and recommended them to young readers.

"This extraordinary theatrical adventure sets a creative religious agenda in a way hard to parallel in recent literature and performance," he wrote.

Heretic!

Technorati Tags: The Golden Compass, Halton Catholic District School Board, book burning

China takes pity...

On the United States Navy...

The Chinese government has given no explanation for why it suddenly refused and then later allowed a United States naval carrier group to dock in Hong Kong as scheduled.

China made an abrupt about-face, Thursday. Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Beijing would allow the ships into Hong Kong after all.

"We have already decided to allow the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier group to stay in Hong Kong for rest and reorganization during Thanksgiving."

"It is based completely on humanitarianism."

China... sweetie-pie to the world.

One toke over the line

-- Q -- What's flat, black and glows in the dark?

-- A -- Well, if nobody puts the brakes on Madman Ahmadinejad... that'd be Tehran...

And, it seems, Iranians in high places are starting to get it.

The attack would be difficult to imagine without at least tacit support from Ayatollah Khamenei.

In a hard-hitting editorial on Wednesday, the Tehran paper said the president's treatment of his critics was immoral, illogical and illegal.

In an autocratic theocracy like Iran, where every piece of news is filtered through the ruling elite... that's a very public slap in the face.

Such a direct personal attack against President Ahmadinejad is indeed rare in official media in Iran.

It shows that the Iranian president is not only losing support among ordinary people because of economic hardship, he is also angering part of the establishment for using the nuclear issue to bolster his personal power.

This one is worth watching.

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RELATED: The dogpile gets larger

Iran's former chief nuclear negotiator sharply criticized President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, denouncing the prosecution of a former member of his negotiating team and accusing the hard-line leader of trying to eliminate rivals.

The comments by Hasan Rowhani, published Thursday, were the latest in the blow in the mounting rivalry between Ahmadinejad and former president Hashemi Rafsanjani, a powerful figure in Iran's clerical leadership.

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LAST WORD: That's gonna leave a mark

-- WASHINGTON -- Massive, devastating air strikes, a full dose of "shock and awe" with hundreds of bunker-busting bombs slicing through concrete at more than a dozen nuclear sites across Iran is no longer just the idle musing of military planners and uber-hawks.