Iggy's latest "Sky is Falling" initiative

Apparently, we're all gonna die... and the Puffin King knows just who to blame...

Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff is set to accuse the Harper government of lacking leadership on swine flu pandemic preparedness.

*

Quickly Igor... bring me a brain!!!

That's a grand total of three people with pre-existing medical conditions, right?

-- In the decade from 1991-2000, there were 5,900 water-related deaths in Canada; of that total, 889 died fishing. --

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"You might be a little less cavalier. Your brat could get it this fall."

Yup... that's just about what I expect from the compassionate, intellectual and invariably anonymous left.

Wake up dumbstick and smell the manipulation.

**********

RELATED: Hey Lloyd, Lisa... hellooooooo!!!

954 — The number of deaths in Canada in 2004 as a result of accidental poisoning.

378 — The number of deaths in Canada in 2004 as a result of a fall involving stairs and steps, a building or structure, or a ladder or a tree.

130 — The number of deaths in Canada in 2004 as a result of a fall involving a bed, chair or other furniture.

"Oh... my... gawd... everybody stop eating!!!"

100 — The number of deaths in Canada in 2004 as a result of choking on food.

*

An upside-down world

What is society going to do for Stephanie Rengel's family?

-- TORONTO -- "It's almost like she hit the jackpot," said Joe Wamback, president and founder of the Canadian Crime Victim Foundation.

"She's not going into the women's pen but a youth facility. She will have her education paid for, just like Karla Homolka did, and she will have free medical and free dental -- all paid for by society. What is society going to do for the Rengel family?"

Nothing. In fact, as taxpayers they'll help pay for the salvaging of their daughter's killer.

It's a legal system... not a justice system.

**********

RELATED: Yet another teen killer

-- TORONTO -- Antriksh Singh, 19, who was finishing high school, is charged with first-degree murder and was remanded in custody for a video hearing Aug. 6. Singh, in an orange prison jumper and sporting a thin beard and a mustache, was arrested Wednesday. He is known to police and had been arrested in March for assault and robbery.

Co-accused Vikas Dahiya, 21, of Toronto, a door-to-door energy salesman who was arrested for first-degree murder Tuesday, was earlier remanded in custody until Aug. 6.

**********

LAST WORD: One for the good guys...

-- GEORGIA -- An Alpharetta man who for 12 years successfully dodged a Canadian warrant for attempted murder — despite eight arrests tied to a legal Florida driver's license — was nabbed July 29.

Thomas is now in Fulton County Jail awaiting extradition to Toronto by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

*

Where there's smoke...

...there's government...

The city of Montreal will be forced to go before Quebec Superior Court to defend its recent ban on the installation of new wood-burning stoves after a lawsuit was filed against the city last Thursday.

The lawsuit is being filed by the Association des professionnels du chauffage, which represents 225 Quebec businesses that make, distribute, sell and maintain wood-burning stoves and related products, and Montreal residents Ghyslain Bélanger and Jose Canelho, who want to install or modify wood-burning stoves in their homes.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"If Montreal bans wood stoves, what's gonna happen during the next inevitable ice storm?"

*

Kinsella threatens lawsuit...

...must be Thursday.

*

James Crowley, "Skip" Gates...

...President McDreamy and a case of beer... I can see it now...

"Yo mama so fat, she authorized a $700 billion bailout of Dairy Queen."

*

Paging Mayor Miller

Perhaps it's time "His Blondeness" took a look at that other "waste management" issue... unapologetic thuggery...

Residents of a North York housing complex say they are living in fear, convinced they are caught up in an escalating gang war, after their neighbourhood was sprayed with bullets and two young men were injured early yesterday.

It's the second time this month that gunfire has erupted at the three community housing lowrises on Neptune Dr., near Bathurst St. and Hwy. 401.

Some residents said they believe yesterday's shooting and another one on Canada Day that also left two men hurt may be connected to recent shootings in nearby Flemington Park.

**********

RELATED: One for the good guys...

A loaded handgun was recovered and two people were arrested after a traffic stop in east Toronto.

A cache of ammunition was also seized when the car was stopped by Toronto Police in the Danforth and Donlands Aves. area around 2:45 p.m. Tuesday.

Cuong Quoc Luong, 27, of Toronto, is charged with numerous firearms offences, including weapons dangerous, carrying a concealed weapon, possessing a prohibited weapon with ammunition, possessing an unauthorized firearm, careless storage, and possessing a firearm contrary to a prohibition order.

Shandale Johnson, 30, of Toronto, is charged with numerous firearms offences including possession of a firearm in a motor vehicle.

**********

LAST WORD: If you "can't make it" there...

-- NEW YORK -- New York City is buying one-way plane tickets for homeless families to leave the city.

It's part of a program by Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration to keep the homeless out of the expensive shelter system, which costs $36,000 a year per family. More than 550 families have left the city since 2007. All it takes is for a relative to agree to take them in.

The city employs a travel agency for domestic travel and the Department of Homeless Services handles international travel. City officials say there are no limits on where a family can be sent and families can reject the offer.

Families have been sent to 24 states and five continents, mostly to Puerto Rico, Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.

City officials say none of the relocated families have returned to city shelters.

*

Oh, you little flockteaser

Somewhere... Stephane Dion is pounding his head against a wall and weeping...

“I have always tried to work with the government, trying to put the country first, but it's getting tougher and tougher, and that's all I'll tell you right now,” Mr. Ignatieff told CTV News Channel.

The Liberal Leader did not say whether he would move a non-confidence motion when Parliament reconvenes in September, but he said it was “not an unreasonable extrapolation.”

C'mon Iggy... be a man.

Or is this simply all about changing the channel?
*

Comedians pile on

"What's his black anthem? We shall overeat?"

Wilmore noted that Gates had said "yo mama" during his confrontation with Crowley. "How many decades has he been holding that in?"

"Did he call him a jive turkey, too?"

[*]

RELATED: Life 101 refresher course...

As an attorney, when a police officer stops you and says, "I smell alcohol on your breath. Have you been drinking?" -- the correct response is never -- "Officer, I see powdered sugar on your chin."

"Have you been eating jelly donuts?"

*

Guess what, dumbstick...

...convicts have daughters too...

Lawyer Jean-Claude Dubé tells CJAD News he hasn't spoken to his client yet but prison authorities tell him 18-year-old Hamed Shafia was assaulted by other inmates while they were in the outdoor courtyard in the detention center in Napanee, Ontario.

It's not all bad news though, especially for fanatic adherents of Sharia Law. I hear they have "arranged marriages" in prison too.

With any luck, by this time next week, Hammy'll be hitched to the mad-dog biker with the most cigarettes.

(h/t reader scott)

*

Yeah...

...I'm shocked...**********

RELATED: Dalton McSlippery rides again

The new total of $15.3 million is spread among 26 sole-sourced contracts, meaning the agency never sought another bidder.

Approximately $13 million was paid out on the contracts.

Such contracts were issued in part because eHealth was told to get moving on its mandate. Its predecessor, the Smart Systems for Health Agency, burned through $650 million over five years with little to show for its efforts.

This burns my ass. After moving out to Hastings County it took us six years to get a family doctor.

"This is scandalous," Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak told CTV Toronto.

"At a time when you can't get a loved one into a long-term care home, when you have to wait for an MRI, to see the McGuinty government handing out untendered contracts to Liberally-connected consulting firms is absolutely outrageous."

*

Dilemma in Sudan

Women... can't live with 'em... can't flog 'em to their knees...

A Sudanese woman facing 40 lashes for wearing trousers in public made her first appearance today in a court packed with supporters, in what her lawyer described as a test case in Sudan's decency laws.

There were chaotic scenes as Lubna Hussein, a former journalist who works for the United Nations, attended the hearing wearing the same green slacks that got her arrested for immodest dress.

*

Hey, Toronto...

...just something to think about the next time you pay your municipal taxes...

“I'm not prepared to endorse a deal that Mayor David Miller's made if the strike was for naught,” said Councillor Case Ootes (Ward 29, Toronto-Danforth), leader of council's right-leaning minority. “But at this point we don't know for sure what's in there.”

*

Somewhere...

...Yassir Arafat is smiling...

An Ottawa university professor accused in the deadly terrorist bombing of a French synagogue nearly 30 years ago is expected to resume teaching at Carleton University this week.

Hassan Diab, who is accused of murdering four people in the 1980 bombing, will begin teaching a part-time introductory sociology course at Carleton two days a week between now and the middle of August.

(h/t reader rich)

**********

UPDATE: From the comments...

Carleton University today issued the following statement to media:

In the interest of providing its students with a stable, productive academic environment that is conducive to learning, Carleton University announced today that a full-time faculty member, with direct experience teaching introductory sociology (SOCI 1002), will immediately replace the current instructor, Hassan Diab.

No further comment will be made regarding this issue.

*

Maybe, just maybe...

...in fuzzy-bunny Canada, you can still get a semblance of actual justice...

Judge Nordheimer rejected defence arguments that she was less blameworthy because she wasn't present when Ms. Rengel was slain.

“A person who plans and orchestrates and directs another person to take the life of a human being is at least as morally culpable as the person who does the actual act,” the judge wrote in his 23-page decision.

“Put simply,” he said, “the puppermaster is not less blameworthy than the puppet.

Don't get me wrong here... there is no way this will ever make up for what this little freak has done to Stephanie Rengel and her family.

Unfortunately, though... this is as good as it's gonna get.

**********

RELATED: Let the psychobabble begin

As a teenager, Todorovic is too young to diagnose for personality disorders, according to psychiatrists Philip Klassen and Julian Gojer, who assessed her prior to yesterday's sentencing.

"Melissa exhibits marked anti-social tendencies in the single domain of intimate relations, while otherwise functioning normally."

"Todorovic's lack of remorse stems from her immaturity. She doesn't pose a risk to the community as long as she undergoes therapy," Gojer added.

Hey, Julian... maybe she can come and live at your place, huh?

*

Three Baptist ministers arrested in...

...huge heroin sting... er... wait a minute...

Three men from the Toronto-area have been arrested in what the RCMP call one of the largest heroin seizures in Canada. More than 100 kilograms of high-grade heroin and about $650,000 in cash were seized last weekend during several searches at Toronto-area addresses.

The RCMP says it believes the heroin originated in Afghanistan and was destined for a Toronto address.

Facing a slew of drug charges are two brothers from Brampton, Ont., Ali Murtaza, 35, and Nazma Murtaza, 34, and a Toronto man, Al Saadat, 50.

*

Even a Cyborg from the future...

...couldn't pull this fat outta the fire...

"California's share (32%) of the nation's welfare recipients has been soaring since Democrat legislators severely relaxed welfare rules and eligibility while hiking benefits around 2001. The result was as predictable for welfare as California's high taxes and heavy regulations have been for jobs and business."

But hell... that's just part of the problem...

San Francisco, to use a simple example, employs at least 100 unionized workers who earn over $200,000 annually (including a $350,000 a year "Special Nurse").

Los Angeles has nearly 300 retirees earning over $100,000 a year.

But who really cares, huh? It's just a tiny drop in the whole Democratic Party spend, spend, spend well.

California is an ominous preview into America's future.

Perhaps an enterprising progressive (or is that an oxymoron?) could explain why we should follow the Obama-Pelosi-Reid brain-trust into certain oblivion.

(h/t maggies farm)

*

Journalists -- our moral...

...and intellectual superiors...
The real headline here should be... "Local Sociopath... nobody had a clue".

**********

RELATED: Apparently J-School 101 says...

...never let facts get in the way of a good story...

What motivation was there behind torquing over three quarters of the story? Did somebody in Ottawa (or Toronto) pick up the phone and push a more interesting story to the editors instead?

Some observers will remember that “Wafergate” led CBC’s flagship newscast The National rather than the story about the Prime Minister’s participation in the G8 conference.

*

For some folks, apparently...

...even plenty is never enough...

A TTC ticket-taker who earned $125,000 last year is one of two transit employees collected by cops for allegedly stealing fares. Toronto Police told the Sun yesterday the two men were charged last week following an investigation by TTC special constables.

Station collector Kiran Sachdev, 56, of Toronto, is charged with four counts of failing to collect a fare and one charge of theft under $5,000. Anthony Alfano, 65, of Whitby, is charged with nine counts of failing to collect a fare and one count of theft under $5,000. Both men, who worked mostly at the Eglinton subway station, will be in College Park court Aug. 31.

Ontario's annual salary disclosure list of provincial and municipal civil servants who earn $100,000 or more shows Sachdev made $125,247.19 last year working for the TTC. Also known as the sunshine list, it shows he also made $2,089.33 in taxable benefits.

*

The Hah-vuhd Zone

Elite is sweet...

A female colleague from the English department recalled a recent incident along the Charles River jogging path during her regular morning run. A confused passer-by rudely interrupted her progress and requested directions, as if my colleague were some sort of lowly campus guide or untenured adjunct.

"Where does this street go to?" she demanded. Naturally, my colleague took the opportunity to correct her, noting that "at Harvard we do not end our sentences in prepositions."

"Okay, Where does this street go to, asshole?" barked the interloper. Needless to say, my colleague's daily morning runs have since been replaced with tear-filled visits to the Faculty Asshole Self Esteem Counseling Center.

**********

RELATED: Smells like nepotism to me...

Gates volunteered that the foundation's second-largest grant, for $6,000, went to his fiancée, Angela DeLeon, who was also on Inkwell's board from 2005 to 2006.

Gates said he recused himself from the vote on DeLeon's grant, which was for a project translating documents from Spanish and Dutch about the slave trade to Mexico.

Now just ask yourself... "What would a 'Community Organiser' do?"

*

Oh, that poor misunderstood boy!

CTV mourns for a murderer... and his "HEAVY sentence"...
**********

FROM THE COMMENTS: Ask a doctor...

Well I'm not a lawyer, but I worked on the medical side of forensics psychiatry for a while and saw some of Canada's worst criminals.

Every time I hear one of these guys talk about longer sentences not having an effect I have to wonder what kind of background work they are doing on their clients because I would often review the case sheets from many of the patients.

One thing I noticed was that these guys often had numerous convictions, often very violent, going back several years before they finally got referred to forensic psychiatry.

No one has yet been able to convince me that locking these guys up forever after their first or second violent offence wouldn't have prevented the third fourth, fifth, sixth rape/violence offence that they commited.

*

Well Waice... I'm thinkin'...

...unless Kabul or Karachi are actually on that court designated "wish list"... you're just dog-paddling in circles...

The lawyer for a member of a Montreal family that has been charged with killing other family members says he is "seriously considering" asking for a change of venue for the case due to the negative press surrounding the case in Kingston and in Montreal.

Ferdoussi says the media's talk of the crime as an "honour killing" has effectively poisoned the atmosphere in both in Kingston, where the crime happened, and Montreal, where the family lived in St. Leonard.

**********

RELATED: Those racist cops in Kingston, huh?

"I know what it is," Waice Ferdoussi said when asked if the incident was an honour killing.

"I don't know why they are talking about it in this case. Perhaps because they from Afghanistan, maybe."

Yeah... it's a mystery.

Rona, 50, confided to her two siblings that she overheard Mr. Shafia saying he would kill his eldest daughter over her behaviour and the relationship.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

What a surprise. This lawyer is, ahem, also involved in the immigration business.

*

In the words of the bard...

..."Bidet -- or not bidet -- that is the question."

Had to do a little more home repair here at "the Halls" the other day. Despite frantic disinfecting and cleaning, we'd been getting a really bad port-a-potty odor in the upstairs bathroom lately.

After a failed effort at isolating the smell to any one of our drains, I pulled the toilet and installed a new wax seal on the drain.

Strangely enough, the smell got worse the next day.

In a desperation move, I dumped a few pailfuls of water down the never-used bidet... thinking that sewer gas might be meandering up through the empty p-trap.

The problem is... for the moment... fixed... but I'm wondering whether it's actually the bidet, or maybe a plumbing system main vent issue?

Anybody out there ever run into this?

*

Dalton McGuinty...

...channels Warren Buffet...
...gets ass handed to him...
*

First he got spanked by Mark Steyn

Wow... talk about the very definition of "live and don't learn."

Aren't you squirming in your seat right now? Has this news not just made your entire life worth living again?? Don't lie.

Yeeeeeeehaw!!! Ezra Levant rides again...

They say there are two ways to really get to know someone: marry them, or go into business with them. I think there's a third: get into a lawsuit against them.

I know a bit about Awan now; but by the time we're through, I think I'm going to know an awful lot more about him -- and about the bigoted Canadian Islamic Congress for which he acted as their youth president.

*

Remember when you were a kid...

...and people used to spring ambushes at wedding parties?

-- Winnipeg -- At least two other people, including Ms. Robert's common-law spouse, were clipped by bullets in the brazen ambush of at least 100 wedding guests.

Investigators and witnesses said that Ms. Robert had been perusing raffle prizes with her spouse when she was shot in the head and he in the back.

Yeah... me neither.

*

In other "big city crime is down" news

A 23-year-old Toronto man is dead after he was gunned down in an alley behind a popular downtown bar early this morning.

The victim had been at The Brunswick House, at the corner of Bloor St. W. and Brunswick Ave. in the Annex, when he went to his car to get something around 1 a.m., a friend said.

There is no indication that the victim, whose friend said lives in the Scarlett Rd. and Eglinton Ave. W. area, knew his shooter, Gallant said.

**********

UPDATE: Murder victim identified

He demanded the necklace; he got the necklace. Then he shot and killed the young man who had been wearing it.

This is what Toronto cops probing the death of 23-year-old Sebastian Herrera watched unfold on surveillance video of the Annex alley where Herrera met his fate early Saturday morning, Det. Stacy Gallant said yesterday.

"He was shot for no reason," Gallant said. "I would totally agree with that."

The gunman was black, about six feet tall, 180 pounds, and dressed in dark clothes, Gallant said.

*

It ain't a pretty sight when a...

...Harvard professor gets "all medieval on yo' ass"...

Gates, 58, a world-renowned scholar and documentary filmmaker on black history, allegedly ranted to police at his Ware Street home, “This is what happens to black men in America!” and “You don’t know who you’re messing with!” in addition to verbally dragging Crowley’s mother into the fray.

Hmmm... perhaps channeling Tupac Shakur wasn't the best option here after all...
Curiously... it appears as though Mr. Gates isn't too keen to have those audio tapes made public...

"My entire academic career has been based on improving race relations, not exacerbating them," Gates said in an email, adding: "It is time for all of us to move on, and to assess what we can learn from this experience."

**********

RELATED: I guess it depends who you ask

A black president, a black governor and a black mayor all agree with a black Harvard professor that he was racially profiled by a white-Latino-black police team, headed by a cop who teaches courses in how to avoid racial profiling.

The boundless elasticity of such endemic racism suggests that the "post-racial America" will be living with blowhard grievance-mongers like professor Gates unto the end of time.

[*]

From better to diverse...

...that's funny... I guess there are still some folks out there, who aren't feeling dishonoured...

Offers of help are pouring in for an eight-year-old Liberian girl disowned by her own family in Phoenix, Arizona, after being raped by four boys.

The girl is under the care of the Arizona Child Protective Service (CPS) because her parents said she had shamed them, and they did not want her back.

Phoenix police said calls had come in from all over the US offering money, or even to adopt the young girl.

A spokesperson for the Liberian community thinks Dad & Mom should get some counselling.

Most folks outside "the community" seem ready to send them to jail.

[previously]

**********

RELATED: A little closer to home

“She [Zainab] had fallen in love, like all teenagers at a certain point,” Mr. Abdali told CTV News. “The parents didn't like that she should marry a Pakistani boy without money or wealth. They didn't want it to be seen by society, or by other Afghans.”

Rona, 50, confided to her two siblings that she overheard Mr. Shafia saying he would kill his eldest daughter over her behaviour and the relationship.

*

We're not talkin' brain surgery here

Paging David Miller... call up Waste Management and get them to give you a quote.

It's not like they'll have trouble finding people who can throw stuff onto the back of a truck for 20 bucks an hour.

-- TORONTO -- “I am a patient man, but I am close to the end of my rope,” said Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 416 president Mark Ferguson, representing outside workers.

“A few minutes ago I told the city negotiators that time is running out. We must have a settlement by midnight Sunday, or we are finished.”

Okay Mark... that could work.

*

Cops call out President McDreamy...

...and his buddy "Skip" Gates... on accusations of racial profiling...

"President Obama said that the actions of the Cambridge Police Department were stupid and linked the event to a history of racial profiling in America," Sgt. Dennis O'Connor, president of the Cambridge Police Superior Officers Association, said at a news conference.

"The facts of this case suggest that the president used the right adjective but directed it at the wrong party."

And who exactly is the police officer being slandered sight-unseen by Obama?

Well... funny you should ask...

Cambridge police Sgt. James Crowley, the cop at the center of a firestorm over the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., has taught a racial profiling class at the Lowell Police Academy for five years.

His academy class, which he teaches with a black police officer, instructs about 60 police cadets per year who spend 12 hours in the classroom, said Lowell Police Academy Director Thomas Fleming.

“He’s a very professional police officer and he’s a good role model,” Fleming said. “Former police commissioner Ronny Watson, who is a person of color, hand-picked Sgt. Crowley. ... I presume because he would be the most qualified and most professional."

**********

BREAKING: Obama "calibrates" previous accusation

-- WASHINGTON -- Trying to tamp down an uproar over race, President Barack Obama said Friday he used an unfortunate choice of words in commenting on the arrest of black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. and could have “calibrated those words differently.”

The president said he had telephoned the white policeman who arrested Gates, and he said the conversation confirmed his belief that the officer was a good man and an outstanding officer.

Funny... not a single word about his telephone conversation with his good buddy, "Skip."

Way'ta audible, Peyton.

**********

LAST WORD: Can't quite get there, huh?

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs refused to say whether Obama had apologized to Crowley.

Asked repeatedly about that, Gibbs said: "If the president doesn't want to characterize it in a conversation that he hates having with you all, I'm not going to get ahead of him."

Supporters including Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson called the arrest an outrageous act of racial profiling.

Anybody happen to get a soundbite from Reverend Jeremiah Wright?

*

The Spinal Frontier

For weeks after, we reenacted that "one small step for man" from our backyard tree house, descending the steps in Super-Slo-Mo onto the lunar crabgrass. Then we bounded out in search of our dog Buster's steaming "moon rocks" for "moon rock fights."

Eventually Dad would yell at us to get out the moon-mower, but it did little to dent our enthusiasm for space exploration.

Maybe it was just the model airplane glue talking, but for that brief moment we actually believed we were Armstrong and Aldrin and Collins.

*

Mayor's office, yet again...

...strangely silent on which gun club the shooters belonged to...

Bullets flew in Lawrence Heights again yesterday afternoon as gun-toting thugs shot up a house just steps away from where a man was badly wounded in a broad daylight shooting eight days earlier.

But Toronto Police say they don't believe the two shootings are connected.

Officers flooded the area around the home at 47 Flemington Rd. -- northeast of Dufferin St. and Lawrence Ave. W. -- after the 2 p.m. shooting and found the boulevard and street out front littered with empty shell casings.

On July 15, a gunman fired as many as 20 shots at a 38-year-old as he rode a bike through the neighbourhood.

[*]

8 YEARS OLD...

...and scarred for life...

-- PHOENIX -- The boys, ages nine to 14, face charges ranging from sexual assault to kidnapping, police said Thursday. Authorities in Phoenix say it’s one of the most horrific cases they’ve ever seen. All five children are refugees from the West African nation of Liberia.

...but wait, it gets worse...

The outrage over the allegations has intensified when police said the girl’s parents criticized her after the attack and blamed her for bringing shame on the family.

“The father told the case worker and an officer in her presence that he didn’t want her back. He said ‘Take her, I don’t want her,”’ Hill said.

Un-freakin'-believable.

Or is it?

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"The parents of the 8 year old rape victim just brought shame on our entire country. 'Take them, I don't want them'."

*

"Here is the mosaic..."

"...where, as a friend reminded me yesterday, years ago Greeks celebrated when Greece beat Canada at basketball, where this spring, protesting Tamils blocked a street full of hospitals in Toronto to criticize our country, where a couple of years ago, Toronto Police bragged of not uttering 'the M word' (Muslim) at a press conference held to announce the arrests of a group of young Muslim-Canadian men charged in a terror plot."

"'Here is the clash that the great Canadian tolerance is faced with,' my friend wrote. 'Here we tolerate a partial and some would say a negligible assimilation or even acceptance of our Canadian norms, beliefs, fundamental principles.'"

*

I'm from the government...

...I'm here to save you...

“The Australian blacklist wasn’t written by a court,” adds Levant, himself a lawyer. “There was no hearing where evidence was brought that these sites were criminal sites.”

*

And I'm gonna be wanting that...

...castle back too...

Scottish Conservative Jamie McGrigor has tabled a motion, with cross-party support, calling on the Scottish Parliament to back a petition that demands the Westminster Parliament overturn the Acts of Attainder and clear the names of Jacobite families.

*

"I had no idea what racism was..."

"...until I came to Canada."

Since the incident, Phipps said he has trouble sleeping and has lost weight, affecting his other job as a personal trainer. Medication to help him sleep has damaged his eyesight. He is "teased mercilessly" by co-workers, and his wife and parents fear repercussions from the police.

Phipps, 44, is asking for a financial award in the case; he won't say how much.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Neo, this isn't about what experiences of racism my children have or have not experienced but ensuring their rights are not violated solely because of the colour of their skin.

Hmmm, so Kate... "You had no idea what racism was until..."

"Apparently he now gets stopped by the police when he leaves the house to walk to work in the early hours of the morning. It doesn’t happen every time, but often enough, that I am now seriously considering following him with my camera."

Perhaps Mr Phipps should get his mummy to follow him around everywhere as well, huh?

I've gotta confess though Kate, you lost me at...

"The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario handed down a judgement on a case and I couldn’t be happier or more pleased."

Just a suggestion... you might wanna read "Shakedown"... by Ezra Levant.

**********

RELATED: Even President McDreamy's new BFF...

...ought to have known better.

**********

LAST WORD: Obama eats crow

*

Meanwhile... @sympatico.msn...

...another fuzzy-bunny poll goes horribly wrong...
**********

RELATED: More McGuinty "rope-a-dope"

Ontario's opposition parties were fuming Wednesday after the Liberal government quietly dropped a promised independent review of scandal-plagued eHealth Ontario.

EHealth Ontario first came under scrutiny last week for nearly $5 million doled out in untendered contracts, with more than half questioned over personal ties to company executives.

The government had said PriceWaterhouseCoopers would look into procurement practices at the provincial agency, which is working to create electronic health records for Ontario residents.

The Auditor General's report is not due until September, while the PriceWaterhouseCoopers report was supposed to be released earlier.

It's why we call him "McSlippery."

*

Kingston Ontario murders...

...make Dubai media...

The grisly discovery of the bodies of four former Dubai women at the bottom of a freshwater boating canal in Canada has led to the arrest of a former Dubai businessman, his wife and their son.

According to media reports, Mohammad Shafi, his wife, and his 18-year-old son were arrested in Montreal where they have lived after moving from Dubai.

A native of Kabul, Afhganistan, Shafi was taken into custody in connection to the unexplained deaths of his three daughters Zainab, 19, Sahar, 17 and Geeti, 13 and a fourth relative Rona Amir Mohammed, all of whom lived in Dubai for 15 years before immigrating to Canada two years ago.

It's a little different treatment that the Shafi family initially received in the Canadian papers...

"In a tearful interview at his home shortly after the car was found, Shafee said he couldn't shake the feeling that the crash may have been the result of Zainab taking the family car without permission."

Unsurprisingly, the Toronto Star, despite a slew of red flags, was quick to take sides...
They just snapped up the father's story and ran with it...

Shafi, who speaks limited English, said he has no idea who's responsible for what he called a "big mistake take car."

"Mistake Zainab? Mistake Sahab?"

A mistake... or was it a magic flying car, a la Harry Potter?

The mother's aunt, Zarmina Fazel, told the Star, "It would go around fences, I don't know. I'm in shock."

She went on, "Midnight, practice driving by the water is not normal, no? I cannot understand."

Fresh, and decidedly less uncritical details are just now starting to emerge...

The Kingston Whig Standard reported that Kingston police had received an e-mail from Diba Masoomi, a woman living in Niort, France who claims to be the older woman's sister.

In the e-mail, sent two weeks ago, she wrote: "We are convinced that this is a crime of honour."

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UPDATE: Was polygamy involved here as well?

Insp. Brian Begbie said investigators have "cause to believe" the older woman found in the car, Rona Amir Mohammed, was Mohammad Shafia's first wife.

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Junkie thugs riot... one commits suicide...

...and apparently the Warden is sad...

A massive probe into the shocking uprising and riot at Warkworth Institution that left one inmate dead and 13 others in hospital will commence immediately.

A sad Assistant Warden Ann Anderson confirmed this last night -- as well as how the inmate is believed to have died: the result of a drug overdose.

Nine of the 13 recovering in a Campbellford hospital are believed to have overdosed, too. The frightening fact that more than 200 prisoners would be able to gain access to the health-care centre and pillage its supply of narcotics will be looked at closely.

Perhaps Assistant Warden Ann Anderson should be considering a career change to something more suited to her temperament, say... a daycare centre.

A friend of mine who used to work at Warkworth offered his thoughts...

"For years there was speculation about a riot at the Pen, but it never happened. It's usually a quiet place and the shit disturbers are either 'tuned up' by the peace makers, or are shipped out to Kingston Pen or Millhaven."

"I guess the only way to stop this kind of incident is to start shooting and then ask questions after. If this had happened the riot would have been over in about 30 seconds."

"How they broke into the infirmary is a mystery. It's hard enough for staff to get in there legally during regular working hours."

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RELATED: Incarceration & Recidivism

"I agree that something should be done. I would not, however, begin with the justice system. That's a sympton, not a cause."

"It's like saying there are too many cancer patients, so we're going to cut back on chemotherapy."

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Nursing home for Liberal bagmen...

...yet again siding with career criminals...

"I have been calling on Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff to do something this summer about the holdup we have in the Canadian Senate.

I had a hard enough time getting that bill through the House of Commons and then when it got to the Senate at the beginning of June, we found it impossible to even get them to debate it," Nicholson said.

But don't try to get a soundbite from Iggy... he's M.I.A.

I have no idea what Michael Ignatieff is up to.

I note that Susan Delacourt reported the other day that he is demanding his staff work harder, which is the classic response of losers who have no idea what their staff does or is supposed to be doing, but perhaps that’s too harsh.

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If wishes were horses...

"If you know who did this murder," she said speaking in Tamil, "right away, tell the police. From now on, we don't want this to happen to anyone else."

Except, of course, that it already did...

This is the second time in a little over a week, a young Tamil man has been beaten and killed in northern Scarborough.

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RELATED: Speaking of murder...

Sources say Kingston police, accompanied by members of the Montreal force, Wednesday morning arrested three people in connection with the deaths.

Two men and a woman were reportedly taken into custody on their way to Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau airport.

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How do you say "playing chicken"...

...in Farsi...

The operation appears to be "no more risky" than the attack in June 1981 on the Osirak reactor in Iraq, which was destroyed by Israel to prevent Saddam Hussein getting nuclear weapons.

A similar attack on Iran "provides at least as much benefit in terms of delaying Iranian development of nuclear weapons," said researchers Whitney Raas and Austin Long.

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Yet again, Mayor Miller's office...

...strangely silent on which gun club they belonged to...

Around that same time, "multiple confidential sources" told Canadian police an Asian drug and gun trafficking organization had obtained a large cache of firearms from Yildiz, the memorandum says.

Ontario Provincial Police launched an investigation called Project Blackhawk that, two years later, resulted in the arrests of 36 people on more than 400 charges.

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RELATED: David Miller's "phony war"

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Okay... nobody ever said...

...these guys were geniuses...

-- BRIGHTON TOWNSHIP -- As many as one-third of the inmates at Warkworth penitentiary have taken control of a portion of the prison – including its infirmary – after an uprising overnight.

"They are burning anything they can get their hands on," a firefighter on scene said, adding he understands the inmates' recreation centre may have been torched.

Thus commences "Operation Kick Myself in the Nuts."

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Digging up the dead

The detailed service records of 250,000 medieval soldiers - including archers who served with Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt - have gone online.

The database of those who fought in the Hundred Years War reveals salaries, sickness records and who was knighted.

The full profiles of soldiers from 1369 to 1453 will allow researchers to piece together details of their lives.

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Amazing new no-fail plan...

...to revive Chrysler.
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Another deal with the devil?

After Homolka... would they dare?

-- Woodstock -- The lawyer representing the 19-year-old woman charged in the death of eight-year-old Tori Stafford said a plea bargain may be suitable in this case because she says her client, Terri-Lynne McClintic, assisted police in their investigation.

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If this isn't the final, raspy death knell...

...of the fuzzy-bunny socialist "Red Star"... then I truly do fear for my country...

This story is so pathetically Canadian and would never have been written except by someone living in a micromanaged, socialist country like this one.

"Oh, whatever will we do?? We are paralyzed by indecision and helplessness until all-knowing Big Brother tells us what to do with our kitty."

Before the ascent of Big Government, people actually used that thing between their ears to make personal decisions. Why didn't they just bury the cat and call it a day?

Submitted by mallory5 at 9:02 AM Tuesday, July 21 2009

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FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Put kitty in the fridge & invite Warren Kinsella over for supper."

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"The Al-Fauz Institute..."

"...for Islamic Thought says its purpose is to teach young Muslims how to apply Islamic ideas to Canada’s pluralistic society and 'prepare young minds that will take up the mantle of the Muslim community'.”

But Tamimi has loudly renounced democracy, explicitly praises suicide bombers, and he’s said he’d even be happy to blow himself up in Israel: “It’s the straight way to pleasing my God and I would do it if I had the opportunity.”

Tamimi distinguishes good Muslims from their adversaries this way: "We love death. They love life."

Heck... don't take this guy's word for it... go visit their website...

Al-Fauz Institute takes an activist's approach to Islamic education: where knowledge must be directly linked to activism geared towards the upliftment of the community.

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UPDATE: Had a visitor from Al-Fauz institute...

...someone with Webmaster Administrator authority. Curiously, the IP address 170.35.208.23 points to Georgia... and not Mississauga.

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RELATED: That sounds so familiar

Omar Shaban, who lives in Vancouver, BC made these comments on his Facebook page, declaring, “It’s finally Canada Day ... Couldn't be more ashamed to be Canadian.”

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"Moon in Google Earth..."

"...enables you to explore lunar imagery as well as informational content about the Apollo landing sites, panoramic images shot by the Apollo astronauts, narrated tours and much more," she explains.

"I believe that this educational tool is a critical step into the future, a way to both develop the dreams of young people globally, and inspire new audacious goals.

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"How long..."

"...has this been goin' on?"

Well your friends with their fancy persuasions...
Can't admit that it's part of the scene...
But I can't help but have my suspicions...
'Cos I ain't quite as dumb as I seem.

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RELATED: If you can't beat 'em...

Police are asking Scarborough residents to check their lawns and sidewalks for weapons investigators believe may have been dumped after a Sri Lankan male was killed in an afternoon swarming yesterday. Around 12:30 p.m., the victim, who has since been identified as 19-year-old Annushath Indrakanthan, was attacked outside a Daisy Mart in a strip plaza on Bonis Ave., near Birchmount Rd. and Sheppard Ave. E.

This is the second time in a little over a week, a young Tamil man has been beaten and killed in northern Scarborough. Less than three kilometres away from the site of yesterday's slaying, Kristian Thanapalan, 22, was beaten to death by a group of Tamil youths and men, armed with baseball or cricket bats, in the early-morning hours of July 11.

Police are still trying to determine the identity of the assailants in the first attack and whether the beating deaths are linked.

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Bright lights, big city...

...gutted like a deer...

-- SCARBOROUGH -- A man, believed to be in his 20s, was killed in a noon-hour swarming in the city's east end today.

The man was rushed to hospital around 12:30 p.m., after he was found on Bonis Ave. – in the Sheppard Ave. and Birchmount Rd. area – suffering from stab wounds, police said. He was rushed to hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

He was reportedly attacked by several people. There are unconfirmed reports one of the attackers wielded a hammer.

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RELATED: In other "crime is down" news...

The cab driver picked up a fare at around 9:30 p.m. at Cather Court and Varna Drive, located near Lawrence Avenue and the Allen Expressway. As a man got into the backseat of the vehicle, a group of men approached the car and immediately began arguing with the passenger.

One of the men standing on the street pulled out a gun and fired at the passenger.

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"Sir, I want you to..."

"...step outta the car and put your hands... eeeeeeeeeuwwwww...."

-- PORT HOPE, Ont. -- Ontario Provincial Police say a driver who was pulled over for speeding on the weekend was watching an adult film at the time.

Police say they pulled over the car on Hwy. 401 near Port Hope early Saturday morning and noticed the male driver was watching pornography on a portable DVD player sitting on the passenger seat.

Efe Osemwegie, 32, of Mississauga is charged with speeding and operating a motor vehicle with a television visible to the driver.

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RELATED: What could possibly go wrong?

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Hope, change and...

..."holy shit... how did that happen?"

-- WASHINGTON -- The White House is being forced to acknowledge the wide gap between its once-upbeat predictions about the economy and today's bleak landscape.

The release of the update — usually scheduled for mid-July — has been put off until the middle of next month, giving rise to speculation the White House is delaying the bad news at least until Congress leaves town on its August 7 summer recess.

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RELATED: Yet another Oba-mess surfaces...

That was the "winner" of a sealed bid. Yup, I want these guys "negotiating" my health care premiums.....
Posted by: RFC at July 20, 2009 2:38 PM

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LAST WORD: Mission, er... Not Accomplished...

Officials with the Obama administration say they will miss a self-imposed deadline for completing a detailed plan on dealing with terrorist suspects detained at a military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The officials said the deadline for the report by a Justice Department-led task force, set for Tuesday, has been extended for another six months.

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A stark reminder...

...of the all-too-frequent "inhumanity of man"...

The area where the remains were found has been cordoned as police working with the Ontario Chief Coroner's Office and the Centre of Forensic Sciences to try to identify the remains.

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UPDATE:

-- Mount Forest -- Human remains found in southwestern Ontario are almost certainly those of Victoria Stafford, a Woodstock schoolgirl who has been missing for three months, according to the head of the provincial police.

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A question for...

...Yankee Doodle Dalton...

Why would Ontario taxpayers want to subsidize the purchase of a car that is manufactured in the United States? What's that do for jobs in our own auto industry?

Making the batteries for electric cars will be a growth industry, but the Volt's battery pack is made in the U.S., too.

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A wrinkly, constipated future?

The transformation of developed societies - either into old folks' homes (like Japan) or semi-Islamized dystopias (like Amsterdam, Brussels, etc) - will lead, in fact, to emigration

"In 2055, people will come to work when they have time off from long-term care," said Kiyoaki Fujiwara, director of economic policy at the Japan Business Federation.

(via ghost)

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Yet another Hogtown homicide...

...must be Sunday...

-- TORONTO -- An 18-year-old man was shot and killed at a house party in the east end of Toronto early Sunday morning, police said.

Staff Sgt. Jim Mackrell confirmed that the male was shot in the stomach around 2 a.m. Sunday. He was found collapsed on a driveway in the West Rouge neighbourhood on the eastern fringe of Toronto.

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UPDATE: Latest shooting victim identified

Insp. Randy Carter said Toronto police were called to the house at around 2 a.m., where they found Tevon Mitchell, 18, suffering from gunshot wounds. He was rushed to Sunnybrook hospital, where he died.

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Wag the Dog

Give 'em an inch... they'll take the box the tape measure came in...

Mohawks on the Akwesasne reserve plan to follow up their apparent victory in a dispute over the arming of border guards by pushing for sovereignty on Cornwall Island, according to Grand Chief Mike Mitchell.

The international boundary line cutting through the reserve — straddling Ontario, Quebec and New York State — should also be moved, Mitchell told CBC News on Friday.

He said "pulling back" the Canada-U.S. border would bring "the community back as one," but he didn't say where the line should be drawn.

Hey... I say we let 'em all be sovereign... if we can save 10 billion dollars a year...

Figures from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) show that federal funding for aboriginal communities has increased about five per cent per year in the last three years, from $8.8. billion in 2004-05 to a projected $10.2 billion in 2007-08.

Pound that money back into healthcare and education... yup, I'm sold.

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