Let the healing begin

Yessirree... that's some "Religion of Peace"...

-- JERUSALEM (AP) -- Palestinian gunmen opened fire Tuesday on an Israeli car in the West Bank and killed four passengers on the eve of a new round of Mideast peace talks in Washington. The Islamic militant group Hamas claimed responsibility.

One of the victims was pregnant, said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.

**********

RELATED: In other Obama victory news

The withdrawal of US combat troops from Iraq's urban centers just over a year ago was welcomed euphorically. Fireworks lit up the sky, honking motorcades drove through the streets and men danced with joy.

No one expects much dancing in the streets of Baghdad this Wednesday. The streets are deserted these days.

Last week, at least 56 Iraqis died at the hands of suicide bombers and snipers in around two dozen terrorist attacks.

Another Jane Taber tongue-bath

...must be Tuesday...

The prospect of a fall election doesn't scare Michael Ignatieff. He's ready and so is the Liberal Party.

“I’m not afraid of an election. I’ll fight an election,” he said.

Hmmm... just spitballin' here... but isn't that the absolute minimum expectation you might have of the purported leader of a political party?

Plus, Janie... I doubt it.

Man... you can almost smell the journalism.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Iggy's not afraid of an election, he's terrified."

The all new & vastly more compassionate...

...Canuckistani Criminal Code...

Charges have been laid in connection with Saturday's disturbing shooting in the parking lot of Surrey's Guru Nanak temple.

Radio India managing director Maninder Gill has now been charged with a series of firearms offences, including two counts of discharging with intent.

Hmmm... kinda sounds like a plating factory dumping effluent out the back door. Come to think of it... that'd probably get way more ink these days.

Call me wacky... but you tag somebody with a gun... isn't that "attempted murder", or "assault causing bodily harm"?

Apparently... not in Canada anymore.

You show up at your local "place of worship" and bust a cap in somebody's ass... it's about "discharging"?

But, hey... don't you dare try to defend your own life.

Well, I guess "major attitude" IS a strategy

Faisal Shahabuddin, a member of the mosque's board when asked to explain how two members of the congregation had allegedly gotten themselves involved in the terror plot, stated, "Why should I explain if we don't know it's true?"

Let the healing begin.

Oh, c'mon now... you're tellin' me you've...

...never heard of a duct tape fetish?

-- CHICAGO -- NBC News reported that US concern about the incident was "low", but the authorities wanted to make sure that this was not an attempt to test airline security prior to a future attack.

Another Canadian falls

Cpl. Brian Pinksen, a member of 2nd Battalion, Royal Newfoundland Regiment, based in Corner Brook, Nfld., was wounded by an IED while on patrol in the Panjwaii district of Kandahar on Aug. 22.

Cpl. Pinksen was treated and flown to a military hospital in Germany, where he died earlier Monday from his wounds.

He will be remembered.

Airbrushing the Politburo

“Not convicted” is very different from “acquitted”.

In fact the Mickster got his facts dead wrong in the direct quote. Charges were not pursued against seven of the 18–but the 11 who went to trial were all convicted.

There have been no acquittals.

One finds it hard to escape the conclusion that Postmedia News rewrote their story to remove Mickey I.’s glaring error of fact–at the request of his handlers?

What kind of journalism might that be?

It must be eating him up inside...

...but Jack Layton is gonna let the chips fall where they may...

His refusal to whip his caucus, as Michael Ignatieff has done with the Liberals, virtually assures the motion will fail and Bill C-391, which was introduced by Tory MP Candice Hoeppner to end the long-gun registry, will succeed.

Gotta confess, I didn't think ol' Jacko had it in him.

Of course, the decision isn't entirely based on principle... the NDP stood to lose a whack of rural MPs.

**********

RELATED: Iggy gets out the whip

THE FARMER BOB RIFLE REGISTRY REVEALED:

Me: “Hello, I’m not a criminal so I have to report to you that I’ve moved.”

Constable on duty: “Huh?”

Me: “I legally own a rifle so I have to report to you that I’ve moved.”

Constable on duty: “Who said you have to do this?”

Me: “Your boss Chief Jack Ewatsky and Prime Minister Chretien.”

Constable on duty: “Well, I… uh are you sure?”

Can we have our 2 billion dollars back now?

(via ffof)

**********

LAST WORD: The Dipper Dilemma

Charlie Angus, a New Democrat from Northern Ontario, has voted in favour of Ms. Hoeppner’s bill – and he is no fan of the gun registry.

He tells the story of an 84-year-old widow who wanted to register her dead husband’s firearm and was told she would first have to get a licence, after taking a course in how to use it, even though she never planned to fire the weapon.

Rossi lands Constantly Carping Kinsella?

Rumours are swirling that the Rocco Rossi team will announce, as early as its Monday morning policy announcement, that it has landed a big political fish for its campaign team.

Uh, Rocco... you have gone over his resume... right?

**********

UPDATE: Rossi gets "Shit from Hell"

Yeah... that'll fix everything.

Bright lights, big city...

...I guess it's all relative, huh?

-- TORONTO -- A witness told CP24 that police officers approached the man as he got off a bus. An officer reportedly fired several shots as the man turned.

One witness said THE VICTIM HAD A KNIFE on board the bus.

The victim? THE VICTIM!!!?

Are you nuts? The actual victims here would be the bus driver and the terrified passengers on the bus.

The guy with the knife... he's known as the perpetrator. Or... in this particular case... the late perpetrator...

25-year-old Reyal Jensen Jardine-Douglas of Pickering died after being shot by police following an altercation on a TTC bus Sunday afternoon.

Again, folks... "an altercation" is when somebody gets upset because the driver won't accept their transfer.

You pull a knife... don't be too surprised somebody punches your ticket.

Even the fuzzy-bunny Red Star acknowledges this was a justifiable shooting...

Barry, who lives in a Victoria Park Ave. building, watched as officers approached a man who had come off the No. 24 bus. Barry said police cars had the bus boxed in front and back.

Barry said the man would not drop a knife he had in his hand, then police shot him three times. He described the victim as brown or black, stocky and 5-foot-7 and with a red tattoo on his upper right arm.

Barry said he thought the shooting was justified. “That police officer did his job,” he said.

Of course, to balance out any statement supporting the police... the Star also has to get the obligatory outrageous soundbite from an enthusiastic, but anonymous bystander who swears ol' Reyal was very publicly executed...

Another witness, who did not wish to be identified, said she heard the incident take place behind her apartment, and rushed outside when she heard police scream, “Get on the ground!”

She said three shots rang out after police shouted another warning to a man running off a Victoria Park bus. The woman, who saw the incident unfold, described how the man hit the ground and was shot two more times when he was told to put his hands on his head.

“The cops shot him five times, I’m 1,000 per cent positive on that,” she said.

I hope her memory is better than her math skills.

And, of course... you can always count on CBC to toss a little cop-bashing hearsay into the mix...

Jason Brown and his girlfriend live in a building minutes away from where the shooting happened. He said she saw the whole thing unfold.

"She was in the alleyway in front of the guy and the cops shot the guy once. He dropped on the ground. The next partner came and gave three more to the guy," Brown said.

Yeah, sure... they were taking turns... because, for cops, murder is just a game.

It sounds like the same mysterious witness above... but now it's four shots, not five.

Funny how the story seems to evolve.

**********

UPDATE: Pump the brakes, Peace Moonbeam

It was his family who called the cops.

**********

RELATED: Hey... what's the big deal?

It's only a knife...

-- TORONTO -- A 19-year-old has been charged in connection with a double stabbing in the city's west over the weekend end that claimed the life of one man and left another wounded.

Joseph Blandon, 19, of Toronto, faces one count of second-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

Mr Iggy Roboto digs deep

The real joke here is... they all like to say that Ignatieff is... "the smart one"...

On the final day of his cross-country tour, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff thundered over a quip Prime Minister Stephen Harper made at the end of an ATV joyride last week in the Arctic.

Harper, in Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T., on Thursday raced up and down an airport runway on a borrowed all-terrain vehicle. One reporter asked him if he needed a licence and he replied, “I think I make the rules.”

The Liberals are now working that event into Ignatieff’s stump speech.

No personality AND no sense of humour.

I think it's time for an oil, lube & filter.

**********

IGGYMANIA UPDATE: Come back Stephane...

...all is forgiven...

Michael Ignatieff's summer-long, cross-country bus tour has given a modest boost to Liberal fortunes but done little to improve the Opposition Leader's popularity, a new poll suggests.

However, 54 per cent of respondents still registered an unfavourable view of Mr. Ignatieff, compared to only 29 per cent who had a positive view of the leader.

He is by far the least-popular federal leader.

Maybe I'm just overly... what's the word?

Why exactly is it... that "sensitivity" always turns out to be a one way street?

-- Des Moines, IOWA -- "We could see that the victims were white. And we could see that the offenders were African-American, but we could not see what provoked or caused the assaults.

"Without that, we were not in a position as a police organization to leap to that conclusion without the victims telling us that, and they weren't in the initial reports."

"My concern is that we were calling it something beyond what it was."

Uh-huh.

(h/t reader mike)

**********

RELATED: Where exactly... are all those...

...moderate Muslims we've been hearing about?

"There will be some letters circulated asking to ensure the case is fair and transparent – you can act up on these letters."

See, Mo... it's the "acting up" that we're actually worried about.

Just something else to think about...

...you're writing that increasingly outrageous "municipal taxes" cheque to Mayor Miller & friends...

-- TORONTO -- The stench of this deal hits one’s nostrils from miles away because every part of the purchase of the circa 1899 Harris House heritage home at 450 Pape Ave. to create subsidized rental work and living spaces for artists stinks to high heaven.

Despite staff originally not recommending it, and saying there was no money for it, council in a suspect-move decided to go ahead and borrow from another department’s budget about $2.2-million — $1.9-million of which is to purchase the Salvation Army property, once known as Bethany Home for pregnant teenagers, at the corner of Pape and Riverdale and an additional $275,000 for closing costs.

They are making it up as they go — at your expense.

It looks like a sweet deal for so-called artists who don’t seem to want to survive on the market economy like the rest of us have to. Others who want to live in this neighbourhood have to come up with $600,000.

**********

RELATED: No real surprise, I guess...

...it's just how the socialists roll...

-- (Reuters) -- The Muslim center planned near the site of the World Trade Center attack could qualify for tax-free financing, a spokesman for City Comptroller John Liu said on Friday, and Liu is willing to consider approving the public subsidy.

Bright lights, big city...

...cotton candy... and sucking chest wounds...

-- TORONTO -- A 22-year-old man is in hospital after he was shot in the chest near King and Dufferin streets – mere blocks away from revellers at the Canadian National Exhibition.

Police received reports of a shooting outside 100 Tyndall Ave. at 7 p.m. Friday evening.

No word yet, from Mayor Millers office... which gun club the shooter belonged to.

**********

UPDATE: Paging Mayor Miller

Hey buddy... how's that "Steak-knife Registry" coming along?

Two men are in custody following a fatal stabbing overnight, as Toronto police continue to hunt for a suspect in a separate shooting incident.

In the first incident, a 40-year-old man was stabbed to death outside of a bar on Lansdowne Avenue, north of College Street at about 11:30 p.m. Friday.

Okay... let's be honest

You've blown into Amsterdam, cruised the red-light district... and kicked back at the hashish cafe... it'd just be a waste if you simply went back to your hotel...

The opera took three years to write and the project is spearheaded by the Klingon Terran Research Ensemble, a group that actively researches Klingon culture and historic documents.

Of course they do.

You can almost smell the multi-culturalism

Another day, another fuzzy-bunny Globe & Mail poll goes horribly wrong...


UPDATE: Apparently, it does take a village

Looks like somebody... and their commmunity... sprang into action... poll suddenly jumps to 43 to 57 percent.

Well... as long as they stay off the highways.

Hey, Paul... try to imagine...

...how we feel...

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which endorsed Obama in 2008, gave the president an “F” for his first year in office.

Paul Helmke, president of the group, said, “We’re disappointed in Obama.”

**********

UPDATE: Of course, to be fair...

...it's not all hisses & boos.

Bright lights, big city...

...gimme more of those good ol' "family values"...

Toronto Police said they raided the York Mills Rd. home and found the loaded Beretta Parabellum handgun in the diaper box.

Kaino Wright, 25, and Chantel Hamilton, 25, both of Toronto, each face eight firearms-related offences.

No word yet from Mayor Miller's office... on which gun club they belonged to.

**********

UPDATE: Relax everybody...

...the moonbats at CTV are gonna throw a party...

"The total number of homicides in Toronto so far this year is 36, which is two fewer than 2009 -- a five-per-cent decline."

Yee-haw!!!

See that's weird... they had me back at...

...that video of Omar & his jihadi-buddies making improvised explosive devices...

-- NEW YORK -- Omar Khadr’s defence faces an uphill battle when his trial resumes, now that the prosecution appears to have demolished the theory that a particular battlefield photo disproves the charge of murder against the Canadian-born terror suspect.

Bright lights, big city...

Hey -- is that firecrackers?

-- TORONTO -- Two people were injured in a shooting which took place just south of Kensington Market on Thursday evening.

Multiple gunshots rang out near Grange and Augusta Avenues around 7 p.m., Toronto police Staff Sgt. Mark Barkley told ctvtoronto.ca.

The shooting took place nearby the Atkinson Housing Co-op, which borders Dundas Street on its north side.

On today's edition of...

...Canadian Idolator...

Mounties seized 50 electronic circuit boards during raids on Wednesday which they say could be used as remote-control triggers for bombs. Police also say one of the men was trained overseas to make explosive booby traps.

Hiva Alizadeh, 30, appeared in an Ottawa court today following police raids and arrests on Wednesday. Mr. Alizadeh is charged with terror conspiracy, having terrorist explosive devices, and terrorist fundraising.

Misbahuddin Ahmed, 26, an Ottawa X-ray technician, and Khurram Syed Sher, 28, of London and a medical graduate from Montreal's McGill University, are charged with being part of a terrorist conspiracy.

Police allege all three conspired with an additional three named individuals to “knowingly facilitate terrorist activities” -- named yesterday as James Lara, Rizgar Alizadeh and Zakaria Mamosta -- and other persons at home and “in Iran, Afghanistan, Dubai and Pakistan”.

Mr. Alizadeh is also charged with making or having “an explosive substance” with the intent to endanger life or cause serious damage to property.

Bright lights, big city... more "codetalkers"

Oh no, don't tell me... it's that "inner north-west" area... again...

-- TORONTO -- Four men were shot Wednesday night in a gun fight in the city’s inner north-west, less than two kilometres from the site of another gun battle that injured a man earlier this summer.

Reports of the incident stated that one group of young men had approached another at the townhouse complex, then shots rang out. But police spokeswoman Constable Isabelle Cotton could not confirm those details on Thursday morning.

“I don’t know if it’s gang related,” she said.

Yeah... maybe a dozen guys were just cleaning their guns... out there on the stoop.

What exactly was your last assignment, Isabelle... patrolling Sesame Street?

**********

POSTSCRIPT: Don't miss the Globe comments

"Thank God for the gun registry. They should catch the shooters in NO time."

**********

FUZZY-BUNNY JUSTICE SYSTEM UPDATE:

Two men convicted of manslaughter in the fatal Boxing Day shooting of 15-year-old Jane Creba were sentenced today to 12 years in prison. But, with a credit of eight years and five months, Louis Woodcock, 23, and Tyshaun Barnett, 22, will only serve three years and seven months.

No wonder these dickhead thugs aren't afraid of "the system."

Those Conservative Party tough on crime measures can't be implemented soon enough for me.

Remember, friends don't let friends vote liberal.

Well, Ferruk... I'm guessin' that'd be...

...because they were planning a terrorist attack...

Prominent members of Ottawa’s Muslim community will meet with a team that specializes in defusing police-community tensions to allay fears and explain why the RCMP arrested two men suspected of planning a terrorist attack on Canada.

Uh, you guys are aware that we kinda frown on that whole "bloody jihad" deal, right?

Of course, Ms. Faraqui speaks for all of us Canadians when she asks the big questions...

Ferruk Faraqui, a member of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, and a board member of the Ottawa Muslim Women’s Organization, said, "You can only wait and hope that when the details emerge, that the arrests were justified.”

Maybe I have lower expectations, Ferruk... I'm just happy this story doesn't involve mass casualties.

**********

UPDATE: Guess they don't quite trust...

...all us infidels...

Salma Siddiqui, the Muslim Canadian Congress's vice-president commended the RCMP. “But we hope that the accused will be tried with due process, the presumption of innocence, and with full guarantees that their constitutional rights will be protected.”

You hope, Salma?

As opposed to what... the Saudi Justice system?

Darwin was right

-- WAINFLEET, Ont. -- An alleged attempt to steal copper wiring from a Wainfleet transformer turned deadly early Wednesday morning for a 33-year-old Welland man.

Alleged, huh? You mean he wasn't on one of those midnight hydro-substation tours?

Man, you can just smell the journalism.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"His two accomplices were 'CHARGED'."

Ah, Toronto... you weenies wonder why...

...we mock you...

“I am from Scarborough-Rouge River,” Scarborough Councillor Raymond Cho said. “We have a lot of natural areas. So many properties are right up against the forest. They are invaded by snakes and snails."

"Women are afraid to go into their back gardens.”

Yeah, Raymond... snakes & snails... that's Hogtown's biggest problem.

Hey, maybe you could call in the army... again.

In other homegrown "broad strata" news...

Scary, right-wing Christian fundamentalist... wait a minute...

-- OTTAWA -- The RCMP dismantled an alleged Ottawa terrorist cell with suspected links to al-Qaeda on Wednesday morning, making two arrests in the nation’s capital without incident.

The men are suspected of preparing a terrorist attack targeting Canada. The ringleader allegedly attended training camps in the Pakistan and Afghanistan region.

Bright lights, big city...

No word yet from Mayor Miller's office... which gun club the shooters belonged to...

A 24-year-old North York man is clinging to life after being shot in the face late Monday.

The victim was rushed to Sunnybrook hospital after he and another man, 36, were hit by gunfire outside a townhouse complex on Trafford Lane in Flemington.

A "townhouse complex"... is that what we're calling the Flemingdon Park combat zone these days?

**********

UPDATE: "Trauma" victim, uh... passes

Toronto's 37th homicide victim of the year was identified Thursday as a 24-year-old local man.

Randy Anthony Malcolm was found at the back of 41 Cather Cres., "suffering from obvious trauma".

Translation from Canuckistanese... some gangbanger blew this guy's brains out. Wake up Toronto... and smell the thuggery.

**********

But wait... there's more...

Two men were injured in a double shooting at Lawrence Heights, near the Allen Expressway and Highway 401.

The shooting occurred at around 8 p.m. on Cather Crescent, where a number of families were out enjoying the summer evening.

Hang on... isn't there some sort of nickname the locals have for this area?

I guess CBC couldn't remember it either.

**********

UPDATE2: Hogtown thuggery's "code of silence"

A 27-year-old man shot at least three times while sitting on an Etobicoke stoop isn't cooperating with detectives.

Yeah... I'm shocked.

**********

RELATED: Has Toronto finally had enough?

Wright said what’s happening in Toronto and across Ontario isn’t a Conservative revolution. Rather, it’s a revolt against the status quo, with voters feeling those in charge of Toronto City Hall and the Ontario government are out of touch with their day-to-day concerns.

Liberal MP goes with bold, new strategy...

...looks constituents right in the face... calls them morons...

Liberal Wayne Easter from P.E.I. said he happily changed his mind and will now vote to keep the registry. In fact, he never wanted to scrap the registry in the first place, and only voted to do so to, "provoke debate" about the needs of rural Canadians.

I guess that's why the Liberal Party has been supporting all those Conservative budgets, huh.

To provoke debate?

Seriously?

Unfortunately, Wayne... the debate isn't gonna be about rural values... it'll be about what a lying, condescending wiener you are.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

I saw the Attorney General for Ontario, Chris Bentley, defending the Gun Registry on the Mother Corpse yesterday.

His compelling arguments: the Police Chiefs say it is good so it must be good and it protects women and children. How or why he clearly didn't know.

A dummy's dummy.

Well, maybe he could try asking a veteran frontline copper.

Whaddaya know... I guess a bird in hand...

...really is worth three homicidal maniacs in the bush...

-- PORT COLBORNE, Ont. -- A Port Colborne, Ont., man whose home was attacked has ended up facing charges himself.

Small point of clarification here... first of all, his house wasn't "attacked"... it was fire-bombed... in short, they were trying to obliterate the building.

With this man in it.

Call me a little anal-retentive, but that's attempted murder in my book.

Niagara Regional Police say a man emerged from his home with a handgun and fired it after several Molotov cocktails were thrown at the home.

Police say three suspects wearing dark clothes got away in a car after the cocktails were thrown early Sunday morning.

So the police arrrived and arrested the homicidal maniacs, right?

Well, not exactly.

It was just a whole lot easier to arrest the guy who was defending his home and his life.

Ian Thomson, 53, is charged with careless use of a firearm.

I dunno, regardless of who or what, this guy may turn out to be... it sounded pretty deliberate and necessary to me.

Here's a thought... let's ask some Niagara Regional Police officers how they would react if someone tried to burn down their homes while they were in it.

Job Call -- Clarington, Ontario

The good news is... apparently "people skills" are optional...

Be sure to mention how many tattoos you have, any history of animal torture and arson, and your score on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist.

Tell them you're applying because you read about how Clarington employees get to harrass harmless local taxpayers like the Jaworski family...

Yet another example of today's extremely "uncivil" service.

Honestly, Sheila... we'd really like to...

...help you out here... but the Fiberals already spent that 2 billion dollars tracking down farmers, duck hunters & skeet shooters...

Auditor General Ms. Fraser says the full implementation of electronic health records by doctors and hospitals would provide better data for assessing how well the health-care system is performing.

She says such information is critical to help federal, provincial and territorial governments improve health-care planning and show whether tax dollars are being spent wisely.

Fraser says economic projections suggest health care will continue to take an ever-bigger slice of government budgets as the proportion of Canadians over 65 continues to grow.

Thank you, once again, Allan Rock.

Gotta have priorities, right?

Hey... now that England is pretty much crime-free... why not?

-- COVENTRY -- Police in England have been dispatched to a Coventry woman's home after a security camera recorded her throwing a cat into a trash bin. Police are concerned for the woman's safety and posted two officers at her house. They also defended the fact she hasn't been arrested.

Of course... things are a little different here in fuzzy-bunny Canuckistan.

-- ROSE VALLEY -- A justice worker from his reserve says the community is standing behind Christopher Pauchay, the father of two toddlers found frozen to death on the Yellow Quill First Nation in January.

You know what... maybe Darwin was onto something.

Uh, Feisal... context, buddy, context

Meet the go-to guy for the infamous Ground Zero Mosque...

"We tend to forget, in the West, that the United States has more Muslim blood on its hands than al Qaida has on its hands of innocent non Muslims."

Yup... that's Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf.

Let the healing begin.

Too many Chiefs... not enough...

...common sense...

Delegates at the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police conference have voted resoundingly to support the long-gun registry, and now plan to lobby to save it from being scrapped.

Bill Blair, Toronto's police chief and the association's president, said Monday police now hope to wage a public relations campaign in the coming weeks to boost public support for the registry.

Amazingly, this item, which also made the CTV National News tonight... presented the flip side of the usual propaganda piece...

Not all frontline officers agree with the registry. Randy Kuntz, an Edmonton police officer for 22 years, surveyed 2,600 officers on the issue, and found about 2,400 want to scrap the registry.

"With the boots-meets-the-pavement type of policeman who's going to be dealing with the public every day, overwhelmingly there's no support for this registry," he told CTV's Kevin Armstrong in Edmonton. "It hasn't saved anybody."

I'll tell ya... I just about fell outta my chair.

My guess is... whoever snuck in the second part of this story is gonna be lookin' for a new job.

"Ozzie and Harriet were spared"

Simply more proof that... there sure are a lot of messed up people in the world...

People were doing crazy things, like they do in wartime," Simmons says. "People were having a lot of sex with people they didn't know. It was just such a crazy time."

Yeah, dumbo... just wait'll the HIV & AIDS numbers start to climb the charts... you don't know from crazy.

But heck, broken families be damned... let's just put a happy face on this one...

The pastor has no doubt that the hurricane was a blessing in disguise. "If Katrina hadn't happened, they would have limped forward for years and years, without [things] coming to a head."

"The storm sped things up."

Yeah... let's blame it on the weather.

Good grief.

Here comes the science

Additionally, while technology plays a major role in the DEA’s efforts, much of its success is increasingly dependent upon rapid and meticulous understanding of foreign languages used in conversations by speakers of languages other than English.

Peace, love... the whole damn thing

“I pray, I beg your pardon, that Mr. Sarkozy has a heart attack,” said the 71 year-old priest.

And he's not the only one who's beseeching a higher power...

“I wish my classes were more supportive instead of being so difficult.”

Yeah... let's just wish upon a star.

That'll fix everything.

I dunno folks... it sure seems to me...

...Pakistan's already hoovering up billions of dollars in western aid...

Now, seven months later, Pakistani officials are telling a very different story. They say they set out to capture Mr. Baradar, and used the C.I.A. to help them do it, because they wanted to shut down secret peace talks that Mr. Baradar had been conducting with the Afghan government that excluded Pakistan, the Taliban’s longtime backer.

In the weeks after Mr. Baradar’s capture, Pakistani security officials detained as many as 23 Taliban leaders, many of whom had been enjoying the protection of the Pakistani government for years. The talks came to an end.

“We picked up Baradar and the others because they were trying to make a deal without us,” said a Pakistani security official, who, like numerous people interviewed about the operation, spoke anonymously because of the delicacy of relations between Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States.

“We protect the Taliban. They are dependent on us. We are not going to allow them to make a deal with Karzai and the Indians.”

As for Mr. Baradar, he is now living comfortably in a safe house of Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the Pakistani official said. “He’s relaxing,” the official said.

Many of the other Taliban leaders, after receiving lectures against freelancing peace deals, have been released to fight again.

So, to recap... the Pakistani government is actively supporting the Taliban... the same folks who are blowing up Canadian troops. They are receiving billions of dollars in financial aid from the U.S. government... and now we should pony up billions more?

Hey... just send more money... that'll solve all the worlds problems.

**********

RELATED: Let's visit that magical place...

"Where the World Trade Center 'collapsed'"

**********

LAST WORD: At least we know...

...where the Greenies stand.

Rewarding bad behaviour

You sure don't need a Ph.d to figure out what a bad idea that is...

The persistence of corruption in grantee nations has drawn concern to a program generally hailed as innovative, which has forged a total of $7.2 billion in multiyear aid agreements with MCC in 20 countries.

Yet MCC has not suspended or terminated aid to any country solely because of corruption issues.

I just don't get it.

The Obama Doctrine

It's easy... all you have to do is declare victory... and bug out...

An American soldier was killed by a rocket strike near Basra today, in the first US fatality since the last combat troops left Iraq.

The announcement came amid growing concern that the withdrawal of combat forces will allow security in Iraq to further deteriorate.

Bright lights, big city...

...yet another crime not prevented... by the "Farmer Bob Rifle Registry"...

A 23-year-old Brampton man was gunned down in his home late Saturday. And while few details were immediately released, neighbours suspect the slaying was drug-related.

Neighbours said they believed McLean lived in the modest house with his mother, grandmother and sister. “He was always outside at the front of the house,” said one woman, who lives nearby and was afraid to give her name.

The neighbour claims a steady stream of high-end vehicles stopped by at all hours of the day and night.

And back in the center of the universe...

Bullets were flying on Danforth Ave. early Sunday as a robbery ended with one man suffering a minor wound to the leg.

If only there was a law.

How about we spend the next...

...2 billion taxpayer dollars... chasing after the urban thugs who are actually pulling the triggers?...

Are Canadians who live in rural areas and small towns second-class citizens? That's the question we should ask our MPs as they gear up for yet another effort to kill the long-gun registry.

Will they do the right thing and abolish it?

Here's what it boils down to: Will big-city folk, the vast majority of whom do not use guns and don't understand their use, continue to impose their will on farmers and small landowners?

Or will the 308 members of the House of Commons show rural people some respect?

Like what, Lizzie...

...your strident & unapologetic cheerleading... for folks who are blowing up our soldiers?

-- TORONTO -- “This is not the same country that I've known. We are seeing changes that are so deeply dangerous and they are fundamental to the very fabric of our democracy, and we must not let that happen,” May said.

Un-freakin'-believable.

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UPDATE: What exactly are the Greenies proposing...

...to return us to "the Canada that Lizzie knew"?

The motion called for the party to push to decriminalize “polyamorous” relationships where people are intimately involved and living with more than one partner.

Party members in a workshop session on Saturday voted to send the idea to the full party plenary where everyone could debate and vote on it.

Those who spoke in favour said the party should treat it as a human rights issue, just as they did with same-sex marriage rights.

PS -- Apparently the delegates came to their senses... and voted this one down.

But tell me... honestly... could the Green Party really speak for you?

Remember when you were a kid...

...somebody pissed you off... you put a cap in their sorry ass?

...Yeah... me neither...

Toronto Police suspect the city’s latest gunshot victim, a 15-year-old boy, was the intended target of a weekend shooting at a townhouse complex in the High Park area.

I dunno, Officer... have we ruled out some ol' farmer trying to keep coyotes off his sheep?

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FROM THE COMMENTS:

A townhouse complex called Swansea Mews, in other words Toronto Housing. Maybe Mayor Dave should be a little more selective in tenant choice or send Chief Bill to Swansea instead of Edmonton to defend the Long Gun Registry.

I'm in agreement, Junior was shot at by an irate farmer. Who else in Toronto has guns?

NO SALE

Sorry, Peace Moonbeam... why don't you try floggin' that nonsense down on Queen Street?

Common sense suggests...

...the ship didn’t materialize out of the goodness of someone’s heart. It was paid for, and whoever forked over the money clearly expects a hefty return. Happily admitting the exploited folks on board would clearly seem to be encouraging that trade.

Is it also possible that, among the 500, a few hardened Tiger sympathizers are hiding, hoping to implant themselves in Canada’s Tamil community so they can continue to promote hatred and division?

You know, it just might be.

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RELATED: Now for an opposing viewpoint

The Canadian Tamil Congress believes the poll results are a reflection of feelings towards the immigration system, not Tamils themselves.

“I think there is a growing frustration,” said spokesperson Manjula Selvarajah.

Nah, Manjula... this is about people being pissed at this boatload of queue-jumpers taking advantage of our good nature.

You'll just have to trust me on this one.

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LAST WORD: Let's ask an actual Tamil...

What about actual Tamil refugees here in Canada? How bad do they think life is back home?

As QMI’s investigative report shows, 71% of Tamil refugees here in Canada think things back in Sri Lanka are good enough that they’ve gone back home for a vacation.

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

I'll give you a hint... it ain't gonna be Tel Aviv...

What is more likely, then, is that one day next spring, the Israeli national-security adviser, Uzi Arad, and the Israeli defense minister, Ehud Barak, will simultaneously telephone their counterparts at the White House and the Pentagon, to inform them that their prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has just ordered roughly one hundred F-15Es, F-16Is, F-16Cs, and other aircraft of the Israeli air force to fly east toward Iran.

Think Osirak.

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RELATED: Sure thing, Peace Moonbeam...

“It's scary because you are going to find out what could actually happen. You might not want to know,” she said. “You may not want to ride the ‘T’ [the Boston subway] ever again.”

Sigh.

They forgot they had a baby?

-- HOUSTON -- A two-year-old Toronto boy has died after being left in a blistering hot car for two hours in a suburb of Houston, Texas.

I got nuthin'.

Reconsidering Islamic Justice

They vote to convict... we could drop a live grenade down Omar Khadr's skivvies...

A Saudi judge has asked several hospitals in the country whether they could damage a man's spinal cord as punishment after he was convicted of attacking another man with a cleaver and paralyzing him, local newspapers reported on Thursday.

Those guys at Gitmo... I'm guessing half of them will have to be pushed out the door.

Just something to think about, Ontario...

...the next time you're sitting waiting for seven hours in your local hospital emergency room...
The thing I don't get... I heard these destitute folks paid $50,000 apiece to get on that boat.

So why exactly is all this coming out of my taxes?

It would end up costing taxpayers more than $300,000 a month in welfare payments if all 492 Tamil migrants who landed in British Columbia last week settled in Ontario.

In addition to welfare, Tamil refugee claimants will be able to apply for federal benefits that include a Universal Child Care Benefit of $100 a month for each child under 6, according to the federal government. They are also eligible for a federal Child Tax Benefit and the National Child Benefit Supplement so a couple with one child can get $327.66 per month, on top of $1,058 they receive under Ontario’s welfare system.

It will also cost about $22 million for Ontario Legal Aid Plan lawyers to help the migrants with their cases.

Oh yeah... fyi... apparently there are two more boatloads on the way.

C'mon... what's all the fuss about?

It's not like she tried to... whoa... just hold up a freakin' minute...

A woman charged with attempting to murder her 19-year-old daughter has been released under conditions. The 38-year-old was accused by police in June of a so-called honour crime when her daughter arrived home late one night.

The Afghan-born Kaleki is charged with attempted murder, assault with a weapon and aggravated assault.

Three cheers for uber-enlightened Canuckistan... where your first whack at homicide gets treated like vandalism.

You think I'm joking? Think again...

Justice Sal LoVecchio gave Magomadova a suspended sentence Thursday with three years of probation, for killing Aminat, 14, on Feb. 26, 2007.

Oh Canada.

Hope, change and...

...my beads are holier than your beads...

A substantial and growing number of Americans say that Barack Obama is a Muslim, while the proportion saying he is a Christian has declined.

More than a year and a half into his presidency, a plurality of the public says they do not know what religion Obama follows.

Oh, c'mon... it's not like he's gonna lie about it.

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RELATED: Damned if you do...

...stoned if you don't...

In Islam, however, there is no such thing as a half-Muslim. Like all monotheistic religions, Islam is an exclusive faith. As the son of the Muslim father, Senator Obama was born a Muslim under Muslim law as it is universally understood.

It makes no difference that, as Senator Obama has written, his father said he renounced his religion. Likewise, under Muslim law based on the Koran his mother’s Christian background is irrelevant.

His conversion, however, was a crime in Muslim eyes; it is “irtidad” or “ridda,” usually translated from the Arabic as “apostasy,” but with connotations of rebellion and treason.

Indeed, it is the worst of all crimes that a Muslim can commit, worse than murder (which the victim’s family may choose to forgive).

Yikes.

Pay me now... or pay me later

The government says the camps are "sources of illegal trafficking, of profoundly shocking living standards, of exploitation of children for begging, of prostitution and crime".

The operation has been condemned by human rights groups, who say it is deliberately stigmatising a generally law-abiding section of society to win support among right-wing voters.

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RELATED: In other "multi-culti" news

An Australian Muslim woman who sought permission to keep her face and head covered while she gives evidence at an upcoming trial was told by a judge Thursday she would have to remove her veil.

From the folks who brought you...

...Mohamed Atta...

Pressed on whether the developers were willng to rule out accepting donations from the governments of Saudi Arabia or Iran, he repeated, "I can't comment on that."

Yessirree... let the healing begin.

What's Judy Sgro been up to lately?

Well... the good news is she isn't pushing that "stripper agenda" so hard...

Two independent sources have told QMI Agency that Sgro has paid back $100,000 to the federal treasury, another MP whose identity has not been revealed is reported to have paid back $60,000.

Despite calls made over several days to Sgro’s Ottawa and Toronto offices asking for comment and clarification, the longtime MP remains silent on the details.

Just more nasty news from the party of... "if you catch me... I'll pay it back."

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

In other "more basketball courts" news...

Another crack CBC investigation reveals... "Mike Harris is killing our kids!!!"...

It's not surprising to see higher rates of youth homicide in recent years, she believes, given the cuts to social programs instituted in the '90s by the Harris government.

"These are, as many people would argue, the children of the so-called Common Sense Revolution," she said, referring to the political platform devised by the Ontario Conservatives in 1995.

Wait a sec... Mike Harris has magical powers that turn otherwise compassionate, intelligent human beings into homicidal maniacs?

Seriously?

'Cos, to be honest... I haven't actually seen any evidence of that around here.

See... I'm thinkin' it's more like "the children of the proverbial single welfare mom"... but I guess we're not allowed to talk about that.

And Aqsa Parvez wept

Seriously... kites... that's where the cultural battlelines are being drawn?

-- TORONTO -- The city has summarily banned all kites from Milliken Park, a 32-hectare green space and unofficial home of a game that sees skilled kite-masters manoeuvre their flying contraptions to slice their opponents' strings. Every weekend, dozens of mostly Afghan-Canadian families flood the park to barbecue, picnic and watch the thrust and parry of the kites, a sight that reminds them of home.

It's not like the center of the universe has any bigger cultural fish to fry, huh? 

 You can't work out a compromise over flying kites... then Hogtown is well and truly f@cked. 

COMPASSIONATE INTELLECTUAL LEFT RESPONDS:

"The more time I can time(sic?) you responding to my every word, the less chance there is you'll be driving the sideroads of the Belleville area in a drunken stupor."

Yeah... maybe you wanna try that again with smaller words, huh?

From the comments:

The Obama Whitehouse is... yet again... engaging in what my Brit friends would call "playing silly buggars"...

C'mon Barry... man-up and release the birth certificate... take your lumps... and end this thing.

Ground Zero Mosque moving?

Maybe... maybe not...

"Sources tell CBS 2’s Kramer that Gov. Paterson is concerned that Mayor Mike Bloomberg, a staunch supporter of putting the mosque at ground zero, and President Barack Obama, might be advising mosque leaders to dig in their heels and insist on the present location."

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RELATED: Let the "healing" begin

Contacted at his New York office El Gamal initially didn’t have much to say. “I’m confused by your phone call,” he said before hanging up.

Contacted a second time El Gamal said “There was no phone call made by anybody” before again hanging up the phone to abruptly end the call.

(via bcf)

In other "coals to Newcastle" news...

The second largest oil-exporting nation in OPEC is so technologically challenged, it has to import fully one third of its domestic gasoline supplies...

"It seems that people are panicking, and also despite the fact that the government tries to reassure them, the reality is that access to petroleum is not the same as before."

And President McDreamy's not worried about them fooling around with splitting the atom?

"More importantly, by means of this action, Tehran is moving its conflict with the international community into high gear, and [in this case] some may consider the military option to be the best solution."

"Delaying recourse to this option may lead to a point where it is impossible to implement it – if Tehran manages to produce a nuclear bomb of its own."

It's shit or go blind time.

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RELATED: Cradle of civilisation...

...not so civilised after all...

Crowds of Egyptians angered by daily power outages at the height of a scorching summer blocked a major highway south of Cairo Wednesday with barricades of burning tires.

The electricity cuts affected Egyptians from the Nile Delta in the north to the ancient temple city of Luxor in the south during a month of daytime fasting for Muslims.

Yeah... not keeping the lights on... that's a dealbreaker for me.

Sharpening stones to be regulated

Mayor Miller's office set to announce "new & improved" draconian regulations... regarding use and ownershop of swords, spears and various other edged implements...

-- TORONTO -- Three women were stabbed in the back with a machete during an apparent domestic dispute late Monday.

The suspect was last seen fleeing west on Riverdale Ave.

Honest Ed's anticipating massive run on plastic cutlery.

Here's the thing, dumbass...

...there's a reason it's called "prison"... and not "circle of friends"...
Of course... let's not forget... this is Canada...

"A man serving a life sentence for raping, killing and torching a 15-year-old Ontario girl while he was on mandatory supervision for one of Manitoba's most shocking sex crimes has won damages from the Canadian government after a prison official laughed at him for cutting his thumb."

Truly... I fear for my country.

Mexico ain't the only place...

...you don't drink the water...

"The controversial new method is said to be less expensive and more environmentally friendly than running highly polluting crematoria or using up valuable land for graves."

Wait a minute... THE SEWAGE SYSTEM?

You flush Grampie & Grammie down the toilet?

Red Star caught red-handed

Professional journalists... your ethical and intellectual superiors...
Yeah... I'm shocked.

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UPDATE: The "Red Star" replies...

“We’re trying to track it down to which computer it came from, which may be impossible to do,” said Mr. Hepburn.

Wait... the Toronto Star is the only organisation in the world that doesn't have server logs?

Hope, change and special rules...

...for special people...

"How else can you explain why a small Greek Orthodox church congregation in the same neighborhood--which existed prior to 9.11 -- still doesn't have clearance or permission to reestablish it's presence in lower Manhattan?"

Eeney-meeny-miney-mo-hammed

Talk about having your goat and eating it too...

-- KABUL -- The Taliban waging a vicious insurgency in Afghanistan have signalled a willingness to cooperate with international forces, the United Nations and rights groups to investigate civilian deaths.

A committee "should be formed to assess the very issue and conduct investigations into the civilian casualties across the country", the Taliban said in a statement late Sunday.

Uh... yoohoo, guys... over here...

-- KABUL, Afghanistan -- Taliban militants stoned a young couple to death for adultery after they ran away from their families in northern Afghanistan, officials said Monday.

Oh, right... that's different.

The capricious and unknowable "Will of Allah."

Hang on Haydat... does that include...

...all those wonderful folks from the PFLP?...

“What people don’t understand is that it’s impossible for anyone with a questionable background to get into Canada. If they are not genuine refugees, they will go back. But we have to give them a chance.” --
Haydat Nazami --

"They will go back?"... that's certainly not what the historical record reflects. Maybe ol' Haydat should take a little drive down to Brantford, Ontario...

James Bissett, former head of the Canadian Immigration Service, referred to the Mohammad case as "atrocious … a powerful example of the fact that we've completely lost control of who can enter Canada."

In fact, Mohammad is just one of several alien terrorists the Canadian legal system renders un-deportable. It's a devastating indication of how the country does not yet take the terrorist menace seriously.

Oh Canada.