Reading, writing and...

...rippin' you a new one... asshole, that is...

Toronto police responded to a report of gunfire at around 1 p.m. at Central Technical School, located at the intersection of Bathurst Street and Harbord Street.

At around 2:30 p.m., Toronto police confirmed two "persons of interest" are in custody, and that they are searching for a third person in the incident.

Sadly... at this time... Mayor Miller's office was unable to confirm which gun club the shooter belonged to.

Spin Cycle

Seriously... that's what you're gonna go with...the "respect"?...

"Rutgers is a community that is extraordinarily proud of its diversity and the respect its members have for one another."

No matter how hard and creatively the University tries to torque this story... the fact is... the two students involved in this... might as well have put a gun to Tyler Clementi's head.

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FROM TLP COMMENTS: Irony, what irony?

"It could be that much of this increased diversity comes from recent immigrants from places with less tolerant attitudes toward homosexuality."

"If so, it would be a case of liberal multiculturalism biting itself in the ass."

But, of course...

...the hoary old "impregnated by semen in the swimming pool" defense...

It ain't...

...braggin', er... slander... if you can do it, er... it's the truth...

British Columbia has thrown up the odd chiselling premier, Atlantic Canada is famously steeped in patronage, but there is no comparison to the kind of octopussal industry-union-mob-party configuration lurking just below the surface of politics in Quebec.

[...]

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RELATED: Oh Canada

"You can measure the state of Her Majesty's northern dominion by asking yourself this: Who's more likely to wind up in the Order of Canada -- Ezra Levant or Imam Zijad Delic?"

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LAST WORD: Macleans climbs down...

"Step away from the Snowman!!!"

If only there was a law

Yet another firefight in the center of the universe... must be Wednesday...

-- TORONTO -- A shooting in the city's northwest end left at least one dead and another in serious condition Wednesday night.

Two male victims were rushed to Sunnybrook hospital after shots rang out in front of a highrise apartment complex at 1765 Weston Rd., south of Lawrence Ave., shortly before 10:30 p.m.

Geez... I coulda sworn Jack & Iggy fixed this one the other day.

**********

UPDATE: Make that two dead

Never a Long Gun Registry around...

...when you really need one...

The hunt is on for two men, one of whom is believed to be armed and dangerous, after a shooting late Tuesday in the city's west end.

A 28-year-old man was walking in the area of Swansea Mews — a townhouse complex on the southwestern edge of High Park — around 10:45 p.m, Toronto Police said Wednesday.

Two men approached him, police said, and one pulled out a gun and opened fire.

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

Hang on a sec... Swansea Mews... that sounds so familiar...

"A townhouse complex called Swansea Mews, in other words Toronto Housing."

Oh right... that's the taxpayer-subsidised gun club.

And, hells bells... if they can run Metropolitan Toronto according to EU dictates... what's up with France?

The ultimatum from Brussels, in a letter to the French government from the European commission, upped the ante in the ferocious row over France's treatment of immigrant Gypsies, a dispute that hijacked a recent EU summit and saw insults traded over the second world war.

"France is not applying European law as it should," said Viviane Reding, the commissioner for justice and fundamental rights who sparked one of the worst rows in the EU for years this month.

And we'll be seeing the white flags in three... two... one...

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RELATED: In other "Police Death Squad" news

The CBC spins yet another sad tale...

The victim was rushed to St. Michael's Hospital but died of his injuries. He was later identified by his friend Antonius Clarke as 26-year-old Eric Osawe. Osawe had spent some time in jail after high school, but was trying to clean up his act.

Geez... from the sounds of things... he wasn't trying all that hard...

Court records show Osawe was convicted of assault in 2004, for which he was given a suspended sentence and one-year probation. Last September, he was convicted of possession of a controlled substance and possession of stolen property. He spent a short time in jail and again, was given one-year probation.

Another man was seen being led from the building in handcuffs after the shooting. Police later identified the man as Ebony Osawe, 23 — Eric's younger brother. Ebony Osawe has been charged with possession of a restricted firearm with ammunition.

I gotta say, if that's "cleaning up your act"... I'd sure hate to see these two when they're out on a tear.

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UPDATE: Cop now facing charges

A Toronto cop is now charged with manslaughter in the shooting death of a 26-year-old man during a raid in Etobicoke two months ago.

Const. David Cavanagh faces a manslaughter charge and is expected to appear in a College Park courtroom on Jan. 6, 2011.

The best defense...

...is blowing the other guy's sh!t up... before he does yours...

The CIA has launched at least 20 drone strikes so far this month in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas, a lawless region neighboring Afghanistan. That is the highest monthly total in the past six years, according to a tally by the New America Foundation think tank.

Separately, Pakistan on Monday protested NATO helicopter strikes that killed more than 70 militants, saying the attacks breached its air space. NATO said it attacked in self defense.

Meanwhile... Europe sits and holds it's breath.

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TODAY'S POP QUIZ: Finish this phrase...

"Those who do not learn from history"... are what?

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LAST WORD: Unraveling Stuxnet

Ask a sophisticated, metrosexual...

...Globe & Mail reader...Yikers... all I have to say is... "Be careful what you wish for."
**********

RELATED: In other "where's the Viagra" news

Michael Ignatieff is reversing his support for a wide range of enhancements to Employment Insurance benefits, saying they are too expensive and are no longer required.

The Liberal Leader attempted to provoke a federal election around this time last year over some of the very reforms that are coming to a vote Wednesday in the House of Commons, but he now says he no longer supports them.

Yeah... floppy... that's what I look for in a leader.

Coming soon... to a neighbourhood...

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

In other "my beads are holier..."

..."than your beads" news...

-- Atheists, agnostics most knowledgeable about religion, survey says -- Report says nonbelievers know more, on average, about religion than most faithful. Jews and Mormons also score high on the U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey.

Stephen Prothero, a professor of religion at Boston University and author of "Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know — And Doesn't," served as an advisor on the survey.

"I think in general the survey confirms what I argued in the book, which is that we know almost nothing about our own religions and even less about the religions of other people."

When you hear the word moonshine...

...it probably brings to mind a bygone era of Prohibition-thwarting, bathtub mixing, car chasing yokels, brewing up batches of questionable alcohol. Or Irish songs.

But according to writer Michelle Locke, writing for AP and featured on the Mother Nature Network, moonshine is having something of a renaissance as of late.

And it's got quite a following among the maker geeks.

Shine a little light

Google reports that the service has been blocked in at least 17 countries since 2007. China, for example, has blocked YouTube since March of last year after a video appeared on the site showing Chinese police beating Tibetans in Lhasa in 2008.

Once researchers start poring through the data, they will be able to track more precisely governments’ efforts to clamp down on information.

You lookin' at Bobby's garden gnomes?

"We have seen an increase in celebs seeking their own permits. They can get their own security, but with the internet, it is much easier to find people. They don't want to find someone on their lawn at five in the morning."

To serve and...

...what the f@ckin' f@ck!!!

-- SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. -- Ten people nabbed last summer in a drug sweep in this northern Ontario city walked free Monday on the first day of what was to be a two-week trial.

Judge Andrew Buttazzoni dismissed trafficking charges against the nine men and one woman after he refused to grant the Crown an adjournment., requested because an out-of-town undercover police officer wasn't available to testify because he's getting married.

And is Hogtown any better?

The mother of Bailey Zaveda rushed from court Monday, overcome with emotion as an eyewitness described discovering her daughter wounded after being shot outside the Duke of York tavern.

Helen Deir was listening to Derek Hall recall the hail of bullets that killed the 23-year-old Zaveda on Oct. 25, 2008. Zaveda was re-entering the Queen St. E. bar in front of Hall when she was killed.

Hall said he felt so threatened by the shooting and events afterward that he fled Toronto. He moved to a city three hours away, leaving behind his girlfriend and a good job, because he feared reprisals for speaking to police.

Only in Canada, you say?

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UPDATE: In other "crime is falling" news

-- OTTAWA -- More than one-quarter of Canadians over the age of 15 have been victims of crime, according to a new report from Statistics Canada.

According the 2009 General Social Survey, 27 per cent of Canadians aged 15 and over reported being victimized by crime in the previous 12 months, the federal agency reported Tuesday.

About six per cent of the population at least 15 years of age — or about 1.6 million people — reported being subjected to violent crime.

Victim rates also varied among specific groups in the country, the report said, noting that Aboriginal residents were twice as likely to report being victimized than non-Aboriginal Canadians.

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LAST WORD: Yeah... I'm shocked

A judge has granted bail to one off the three Ontario suspects charged with terrorism offences during last month's RCMP busts.

The Forgotten Man

Wait a minute... who?



**********

RELATED: The ol' "Johnny Cochrane" gambit

Release Barry Obama... so he can find the "real destructors"...

Obama was asked in the Rolling Stone interview whether Fox was a good institution for America and democracy.

It's a point of view that I think is ultimately destructive for the long-term growth of a country that has a vibrant middle class and is competitive in the world.

Hey Dalton...

...ya hearin' footsteps?

-- Woodstock, N.B -- "People had lost confidence in Mr. Graham. The fact that he had broken promises, he had mismanaged the finances of New Brunswick, he had made risky decisions."

"That certainly, I believe, was a referendum tonight on his leadership."

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RELATED: The numbers tell the story

An Angus-Reid survey conducted for the Toronto Star shows the Liberal leader has taken a significant slide, with the majority of decided voters saying they want him out of office.

The poll, released Tuesday, shows 76 per cent of decided voters would like to see another party in power at Queen’s Park.

Of course he is...

...it's a "Liberal" thing...

In presenting his full financial blueprint Monday, the former deputy premier said he was “confident” his old colleagues at the province would come through with a long-term funding deal for the Toronto Transit Commission.

There's a brainwave, Georgie... 'cos if there's anything Ontarians love to do... it's pay down Toronto's burgeoning bar tab.

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UPDATE: Eject, eject, eject

Thomson - whose name will still appear on the ballot on Oct. 25 - said she is urging her supporters to back Smitherman to stop frontrunner Rob Ford.

She said she hopes her announcement will make a "positive impact" on the rest of the race.

Really, really, really minimising...

...your carbon footprint...

Paging President McDreamy

Or maybe, Barry... you could just skip the middleman entirely... and put cameras in our bedrooms...

Might this help explain the Obama administration's weak support for net neutrality? Next year, Obama plans to submit a bill to Congress that will seek to make it legal for the government to wiretap online communications — including encrypted BlackBerry email, Facebook, and Skype.

Hope, change and... "Come home Lavrenti Beria... all is forgiven."

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RELATED: Just another ordinary Joe

President Obama said Monday that his daughters could not get the same level of education from D.C. public schools that they receive at the elite private school they attend.

Tuition at Sidwell is more than $31,000 a year, according to the school's Web site.

Some of Obama's critics say it is hypocritical of him to spend that kind of money on private school while allowing a federal voucher program in the District to lapse.

Well... no wonder Quebec is going apeshit

It's like somebody published pornographic pictures of Elmer the Safety Elephant...

Veteran Quebec secessionist Gilles Rhéaume says that the Maclean’s article is only the latest chapter in the “history of francophobia in Canada.”

And he says likens the use of the image of Bonhomme Carnaval in this way to bannering the image of “the Queen of England made up as a prostitute” across the front page of all newspapers and television news bulletins.

Uh, Gilles... nobody but you and your fellow Quebeckers is losing their minds over an "alleged" insult to a "pretend" snowman. What... you're worried that your team mascot is gonna go put his head in an oven?

Just spitballin' here... but maybe somebody would like to actually address the stuff about corruption?

Time Machine

A treasure trove of First World War photographs was discovered recently in France.

Published here for the first time, they show British soldiers on their way to the Somme. But who took them? And who were these Tommies marching off to die?

Bright lights, big city...

...never a gun registry around when you need one...

Police are looking for a suspect in an early morning shooting that sent one man to hospital in critical condition on Sunday.

Police say a Canada-wide warrant has been issued for the arrest of Tsegai Ghebreiziabiher. He is wanted for attempted murder, robbery with a firearm and discharge of a firearm to endanger life.

No word yet from mayor Miller's office... on which gun club Mr. Ghebreiziabiher belongs to.

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UPDATE: When it rains, it pours...

From Bloor & Shaw... to Scarlett Rd. & Eglinton...

Toronto’s 41st homicide victim of 2010 was identified Sunday as a young Etobicoke resident.

Homicide detectives said the lifeless body of Dori Sanaj, 21, was found Saturday in an apartment building garage stairwell at 500 Scarlett Rd., near Eglinton Ave., around 6:20 p.m.

Police are seeking public help in locating a suspect who was reported leaving the building through the front lobby.

He was described as a 5-foot-10 black man, with a medium build. The suspect had a short Afro hair style and was dressed in black, including a hoody and jeans.

No doubt Toronto Police are busily consulting the Long Gun Registry... looking to round up local farmers, duck hunters and skeet shooters for questioning.

When asked by reporters...

...why he robbed so many banks, er... locked up so many aboriginals... Willie Sutton, er... the Justice Minister replied... "Because that's where the money is, er... who's committing the crimes."

[...] [link fixed]

I'M WITH CHRIS ROCK

"I pray that this event ends global warming, er... the Israeli-Palestine conflict... the same way that Live Aid ended world hunger." -- Well, of course, it's so obvious... why didn't anyone think of this one before... the healing power of comic books...

"The superhero's appearance hasn't been finalized, but he definitely will be a Muslim boy in a wheelchair. An early sketch shows a boy who lost his legs in a landmine accident and later becomes the Silver Scorpion after discovering he has the power to control metal with his mind."

Holy Hamas... if this guy can control metal... maybe he help build a few water treatment plants...

The sea around Gaza is heavily polluted with at least 60 million litres of raw and partially treated sewage being pumped into it every day.

Yeah, I know... I guess that's not as exciting as saving the world, huh?

The Open Hands Initiative was launched last November to respond to Obama's offer to the Muslim world in his inaugural address to “extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.”

Geez... I dunno, Barry. Just spitballin' here... but I'm thinkin', it actually might be more important to... "unclench your mind". 

UPDATE:   In other "comic book" news...

"An event occurred, and under the pretext of that event, two countries were invaded and up to now, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed as a result."

Oh... my... gawd... where was Ironman on September 11, 2001?

A reader writes...

"Meanwhile on this blog NOT ONE WORD is written about the staggering over ONE BILLION spent on the G20."

"You're all fine with that, you see no need to hold our current government feet to the fire."

Nope... not true. There are any number of things that many Conservatives are really unhappy about. Go read Small Dead Animals or Jay Currie... or Kathy Shaidle.

You'll get an earful.

For myself, I'm way less concerned about a one-off deal designed to show off Canada to the G20 and G8 contingents... than, say... the 12 billion dollars that we pound down the black hole of the aboriginal reservation system every single freakin' year... to absolutely no effect, I might add.

Or the fact that the left-leaning factions in this great country are willing to piss away 2 billion taxpayer dollars pretending that making life difficult for perfectly law-abiding farmers, duck hunters and skeet shooters... will in any way, shape or form affect inner-city urban handgun crime.

Whatever happened to "One People, One Law?"

You wanna know what really pisses me off? Warehousing irredeemable scumbags like Clifford Olson or Paul Bernardo for the rest of their natural lives. My Conservative Party would bring back the noose.

In any case, my friend... you really think Stephen Harper was running around choosing fabrics and individual projects for this shindig? You think he personally told the various police forces how to set up security?

I think it's way more complicated than that.

Let's not forget there is a vast, securely entrenched bureaucracy in this country that pulls many of the levers that incinerate our tax dollars.

Don't even get me started on the Senate... a completely partisan payoff for political cronies of the ruling faction. You might as well call it "Bagman U". But hey... which party is actually talking about Senate reform? I'll give you a hint... it doesn't start with "L".

The Conservative Party, like any other political organisation, has it's own problems... but it's certainly disingenuous to equate Jean Charest's "alleged" tampering with the judicial process to money spent on the G20 & G8 summits.

Anyway... in the interest of fairness... please forward me the link to your blog or website and I will post it right here. Why just be an anonymous troll when you can strike a blow for the revolution?

I await your reply.

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UPDATE: A reader replies... 27/09/10

Of course, not to supply the link to his blog or website... but to whinge about what a meanie (I've toned down his actual rant) I am.

Gotta say... I should've started moderating comments years ago.

**********

In the meantime, I leave you with the words of the immortal sage O'Rourke...

Most government abuse of power is practiced openly, and much of it is heartily approved by The Washington Post editorial board and other such proponents of the good and the fair.

But any time the government treats one person differently than another because of the group to which that person belongs - whether it's a group of rich, special-interest tax dodgers or a group of impoverished, minority job-seekers - individual equality is lessened and freedom is diminished.

Any time the government gives away goods and services - even if it gives them away to all people equally - individual dependence is increased and freedom is diminished.

Any time the government makes rules about people's behavior when that behavior does not occasion real and provable harm to others - telling you to buckle your seat belt or forbidding you to publish pornography on the Internet - respect for the individual is reduced and freedom is diminished.

Amen.

The public is captivated with the idea...

...of changing their lives in a fundamental way right now. It's inchoate, mostly, this urge, and is demonstrated mostly by threatening to hoard gold, Spam, and bullets on Internet message boards at two AM, or by watching Ice Road Truckers on The History Channel, then falling asleep in your recliner and going to work the next morning.

(via maggie's farm)

He used to give us the old rope-a-dope...

...now he just says "get over it"...

Hmmm... I guess it's a "Liberal" thing

How big do your balls have to be... to walk into a court of law and start quoting the "unwritten rules"...
Of course, we're talking about a guy who is so Gumby-like flexible... he could comfortably spiral from one side of the political spectrum to it's distant & diametrically opposed ass-end.

And now... here comes boring old Bellemare actually dragging out those pesky "written" rules & precedents...

According to the lawyer of former justice minister Marc Bellemare, whose allegations of judge-rigging by Liberal Party fundraisers led to the inquiry, the Premier’s involvement constituted a breach of the confidential process that must be followed in nominating a judge.

“The rules clearly say that the names of the candidates, their resumes and personal information must remain confidential. The information is kept by the co-ordinator of the selection committee,” Jean-François Bertrand said.

Well, slap me with a shovel... what sounds more plausible here?

Yeah, yeah, I know... we're talking about Quebec. I'm not gonna get my hopes up.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Apparently Macleans has a cover story that is really making Quebec mad. Says Quebec is the most corrupt province in Canada."

Airbrushing the Politburo...

...it's what the CBC does best...

"I am in touch with the Canadian athletes across all sport and I have to tell you I am so amazed at their professionalism, optimism, attitude," Deacon said.

"They have put the trust in their coaches and their Canadian sports federations and the Commonwealth Games to ensure that we are working on their best behalf."

Hang on a second, Martha... is it the coaches and the sports federations who are cleaning up the piles of steaming crap found scattered throughout the athletes accommodations?

I mean, call me a pessimist but you've gotta ask yourself... you don't know how to use a toilet... how safe is the electrical wiring gonna be?

And Marty... you just might be overplaying the "optimism" card...

Rice heard the athletes village is situated beside a dump and downstream from a large river dam that could apparently burst and flood the village if water levels rise.

"Knowing October is the rainy season," said Rice, "I can't help but ask which urban engineer thought placing the village in this location was a smart choice.

Hey, no worries... in case of emergency, you just run across the bridge... wait a minute...

Bright lights, big city...

...do you know where your children are? --
And, no... that's not a rhetorical question...

A Toronto woman is charged with trying to abduct a three-year-old boy at the Eaton Centre.

Police said the boy was in the huge mall with his mother and siblings but when mom turned her attention to deal with the other kids, the suspect approached the boy.

She allegedly grabbed his hand and started walking away, police said. But the boy's mom spotted the woman and confronted her immediately in the crowded mall.

Thi Luu, 34, is charged with attempt abduction of a person under 14, obstructing police and fail to appear in court.

And a cry rang out across the land...

.."If it saves just one life"...
For the love of gawd... when are Jack and Iggy gonna bring in more stringent controls on those dastardly Blackberries -- and I'm not just talking about a stupid ticket...

“Distracted deaths as a share of all road fatalities increased from 10.9 per cent to 15.8 per cent from 1999 to 2008, and much of the increase occurred after 2005,” they wrote.

“In 2008, approximately 1 in 6 fatal vehicle collisions resulted from a driver being distracted while driving,” the report said. It found 5,870 people died in accidents attributed to distracted driving.

Obviously, folks... cell phones have killed way more people than my rifles ever will... but I haven't heard a peep outta the Opposition Coalition about dealing with this deadly epidemic.

Let's start with a Cellphone Safety Course... and an ironclad rule that after you get your Telephone Acquisition Certificate these dangerous devices only be transported in the locked trunk of your vehicle.

And again, obviously... we must have a National Communications Devices Registry... to ensure that our Police Forces know what they're walking into every time they do a traffic stop.

Time to beef up the punishments too. In future, anyone caught texting while driving will face a lifetime ban on phone ownership.

C'mon Iggy... Jack... stop the senseless slaughter.

Do it now.

Just another "Field of Dreams"

If you ban it... they will come...

"Why are there so many fans of pornography in Indonesia?" asks Juniwati Masjchun Sofwan, head of the Indonesian Commission to Eradicate Pornography. "Because there has been a lack of control since the press and society found new freedom in the 10 years since Reformasi."

"There is no sex education in the public schools or the Muslim boarding schools known as pesantren," explains Guntur Romli, who writes on sexuality and Islam and studied at Al Azhar in Cairo. "All that is taught is what is halal or haram, and that is the end of the discussion."

Be careful what you wish for

So Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been running around hysterically screaming "byte me!!!" -- Looks like somebody may have taken him up on it...

A geographical distribution of computers hit by Stuxnet, which Microsoft produced in July, found Iran to be the apparent epicenter of the Stuxnet infections.

"This will all eventually come out and Stuxnet's target will be known," Langner says. "If Bushehr wasn't the target and it starts up in a few months, well, I was wrong.

But somewhere out there, Stuxnet has found its target. We can be fairly certain of that."

A "Blazing Cat" among the Pigeons

"u are the most rascal man in the world" -- asadriaz223

**********

UPDATE: What? What media bias?

Remember when newspapers didn't didn't try to create the news?

**********

LAST WORD: That ol' one-two punch

"I'm partial to 'Give Heather Mallick Another Wet Dream' -- but if you think you can do better, click here."

What's a little cultural relativism...

...between friends?...

"There was also 'excrement in places it shouldn't be', thought to be a result of labourers relieving themselves in the homes, while Scottish officials are reported to have photographed a stray dog defecating on a bed."

**********

UPDATE: Send in the clowns...

...er... the untouchables...

New Zealand became the latest country to defer travel for its team, which was scheduled to reach Delhi on Sunday. Like Scotland and Canada, which have also postponed travel, New Zealand cited hygiene and safety concerns.

Meanwhile... back at the ranch...

"One Toke over Benign, Sweet Jesus..."

..."One Toke over Benign"...

"If the United States can put a man on the moon... why can't they do something about those poor people on Gilligan's Island?"

Hope, change and...

...where is the love?

-- NYC -- "Who would have thought that six weeks before a cliffhanger election, President Obama would have to reach down to the D list to fill a room to listen to him?" she writes.

Yes, many thought it was a joke when they were sent an email that tickets to Obama's general reception at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York were on "fire sale" for only $100, down from the original $500 asking price.

Perhaps the Obama Whitehouse needs to bring in some real fundraising pros...

Singer Bono’s Aids charity is under fire for spending more on its staff’s wages than it does on its own cause.

According to a report in the US the global charity took in £9.6 million in public donations in 2008, the latest year for which US public tax records are available.

A meagre £118,000 was split between three charities – while more than £5 million was spent on executive and employee salaries.

Hey... you think those private jets fly on Evian?

The audacity of, well... audacity.

With apologies to Roy Scheider...

..."We're gonna need a bigger boat."...

“Yes, this is not normal for you,” Mrs. Rafaat said in sometimes imperfect English. “And I know it’s very hard for you to believe why one mother is doing these things to their youngest daughter.

But I want to say for you, that some things are happening in Afghanistan that are really not imaginable for you as a Western people.”

Uh, lady... the scary thing here is... this playing dress-up thing is actually one of the least abnormal things you folks do.

If she is not repentant, he should beat her, but there are rules to the beating. It is forbidden to beat her in the face or make her ugly. When you beat her, you must not curse her. Islam forbids this.

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RELATED: Oh, c'mon Robespierre...

...what part of... "cut off their freakin' infidel heads"... are you just not getting?

How the Liberals define "victory"

Their leader didn't get tarred & feathered...

"That all of his MPs were in their seats and stood with him on issue of the gun registry – a Liberal legacy – marked an important turning point for Mr. Ignatieff who has had to contend with divided loyalties among those who sit in the benches behind him."

Seriously... that's the new standard for party unity & loyalty?

You show up for a whipped vote?

Yikers.

**********

RELATED: Professor Iggy's "big win"

Yeah... because spending 2 billion taxpayer dollars to chase after farmers, duck hunters and skeet shooters is really gonna take a bite out of urban handgun mayhem...

On the plus side... after you've ripped off a half-dozen hand-punishing rounds that tear chunks of masonry out of surrounding buildings, you can beat your intended target to death with it.

Good grief.

One step forward, two steps back

"The people of the regions of this country are never going to accept being treated like criminals and we will continue our efforts until this registry is finally abolished."

**********

RELATED: The thing is, Peace Moonbeam...

...the "magical thinking" thing is total & unadulterated bullshit.

You wanna actually save lives and not just sell newspapers, or commercial minutes... try registering alcoholics.

Freedom is a two-faced bitch

Yet another "be careful what you wish for" moment...

On July 26, 1847, the Liberian Declaration of Independence was adopted and signed.

In it, Liberians charged their mother country, the United States, with injustices that made it necessary for them to leave and make new lives for themselves in Africa.

They called upon the international community to recognize the independence and sovereignty of Liberia.

Liberia... which ironically... translates literally as... "the free land."

You know what? I'm thinking I'll just...

...head down to Buffalo and catch the Bills...

-- NEW DELHI -- Skepticism about India’s preparedness for the Commonwealth Games deepened Tuesday after a partly constructed footbridge collapsed outside the main arena for competition, injuring dozens.

“This will not affect the games,” said Raj Kumar Chauhan, a Delhi minister for development, who spoke at the scene. “We can put the bridge up again, or make a new one.”

Right Raj... no biggie. Or maybe you could ferry people across the river on bullocks... and call it a cross-cultural adventure.

Unfortunately, that's not the only problem here...

The village is “uninhabitable,” the Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive, Mike Hooper, told the local television channel CNN-IBN on Tuesday. “There is dust everywhere,” he said. “The flats are dirty and filthy. Toilets are unclean.”

Hmmm, what's Raj's next brainwave gonna be... Ganges brand bottled water?

Oh, yeah... there's just that one other little fly in the ointment...

Security at the games has also become a major concern after two tourists were shot outside the Jama Masjid, a mosque that is one of Delhi’s major attractions, on Sunday.

Buffalo... here I come.

Man... that's just so weird...

...one measly little life sentence... everybody suddenly seems to see the light...

The mastermind of the Toronto 18 no longer believes in extremist Islamic ideology so his life sentence should be reduced, an appeals court has heard.

Zakaria Amara, 24, was the ringleader of a terrorist group with plans to set off bombs in downtown Toronto, police stations, military bases and at Parliament Hill.

In other "don't mess with me, I'm a lawyer" news...

"If Giacomo Vigna really did send me the above email, my response would be points 1, 2, and 3 above, plus 'Go fuck yourself'."

The new Liberal Party of Canada

another breath of fresh... wait a minute...

"He is the fourth high-level bureaucrat who has joined the Ignatieff OLO."

ICEBERG... DEAD AHEAD!!!

Looks like the S.S Hope & Change is heading to the bottom of the political ocean...

“I'm exhausted of defending you, defending your administration, defending the mantle of change that I voted for, and deeply disappointed with where we are right now,” said Velma Hart at President Obama's economic town hall in Washington D.C. Monday.

Oh, c'mon... she's just some rabble-rousing tea-partier... right?

Hart is the chief financial officer of AMVETS, a veterans’ organization, and her husband is a facilities administrator at the Verizon Center in Washington.

With friends like this... who needs Joe Biden?

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RELATED: More trouble in Camelot?

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LAST WORD: Paging Michael Ignatieff...

The Dems lose Jesse Jackson... they may as well park their unicorns...

Asked if Summers represents a disconnect with the president’s base, Jackson replied, “The core of them—Summers, Geithner — these guys come out of the Wall Street, Harvard community, and their point of view is conditioned by their privileges and their point of view is conditioned by their experiences."

"Their point of view is from the top down. They see the world differently.”

Hmmm... that sounds so familiar.

So after 4 years and a million visitors...

...there'll be a few changes here at the Halls.

As regular readers may have noticed of late, there has been an exponential increase in troll activity. It's something that anyone who blogs has to deal with... part of the job description if you will... but I think it's time to implement comment moderation.

I came to this decision reluctantly... and only after running some of the recent erratic... and increasingly pornographic commentary past a psychologist friend.

This shouldn't really effect regular readers & commenters... the 5 to 6 thousand folks who visit here weekly.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. A special thanks to all the folks who wrote to share their thoughts about the "Nonny" situation.

I look forward to the next 4 years.

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POSTSCRIPT: Seven, er... one stages... of troll grief

So it's been a while since I initiated comment moderation and... not surprisingly... Nonny hasn't given up the ghost. Every night, without fail, he shows up to breathlessly share his innermost desires.

These, unfortunately... consist largely of nonsensical suggestions involving sexual relations with various members of the animal kingdom, or homicidal fantasies...

"If it was me firebombing you, you would not have a chance at a second thought, because as soon as you exited the building, well, the whole idea of the firebomb was to flush the skunk (you) out and get you into um, range."
Posted by liberal supporter to halls of macadamia at 10:18 PM, January 24, 2011

Apparently, comment moderation has been a freeing experience for Nonny as well...

"Someone living in obscurity in butt fuck nowhere, has a lot to tell all the folks living in butt fuck nowhere too."
Posted by Anonymous to halls of macadamia at 9:00 PM, February 25, 2011

Yup... an endless supply of postcards from the compassionate, intellectual left.

And, hey... look who showed up yet again...

...it's the same despicable asshole who pissed all over a dead Canadian soldier's mother...
Live and don't learn... the world is full of them. Sigh.

Bright lights, big city...

...oh my goodness, are you allowed to say that?

-- TORONTO -- A North York cell phone store remained closed Tuesday after a robbery Monday night that left a 24-year-old storekeeper with gunshot wounds to the upper chest.

Mohammad Sarwar, who owns the Butt East and West Indian Food store next door, said he's been robbed twice in the past six months and he's decided to close his shop.

"It's not a safe neighbourhood," he said. "There's a lot of guys in the social housing nearby and they come here and they rob the place."

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

Hey, Sami... there's this game they play...

...in federal lockup... it's called "Drop the Soap"...

A 22-year-old Lebanese medical student who regards Sept. 11 as a "beautiful day" is in custody after placing a backpack containing what he thought was an explosive device into a Wrigleyville trash can, federal authorities said Monday.

Sami Samir Hassoun, of the 4700 block of North Kedzie, has been charged with one count each of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted use of an explosive device, the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Chicago office said.

"I will f*** Chicago. I will shake Chicago," the criminal complaint quotes Hassoun as saying.

Oh, baby... I sure hope you don't like being on top.

Never a Russian aristocrat around...

...when you really need one...

Michael Ignatieff first offended Ukrainians around the world in his 1994 book Blood and Belonging, where he talked in derogatory terms about that country’s independence “conjuring up images of embroidered peasant shirts, the nasal whine of ethnic instruments, phony cossacks in cloaks and boots, nasty anti-Semites.”

Calling himself a “Great Russian” he remarked on his disdain for “these little Russians”.

But, but, but... he rides the bus... AND he drank a beer!!!

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RELATED: Compassionate, intellectual Mickey I...

...in his own words...

"I don't want to litter the slopes with bodies. There may be people who I've left behind who feel that I was ruthless, and if they feel that, then all I can say is — I wouldn't apologize — all I could say is, I don't want to hurt people."

You mean like the wife and two kids you ditched back in England?

Nice.

Stuff that makes you go... hmmm

From the comments at the Globe & Mail...

"One simple question. Why can't the truly bad teachers be fired? And there are truly bad teachers - why do they have jobs until they retire?"

I'm guessing that most of us had at least one totally unsuitable teacher over the course of our primary, secondary or post-secondary education.

And no... I'm not talking about the hardass from South Africa who threw chalkboard erasers and lifted misbehaving students up by their sideburns.

That sonuvabitch could teach.

I'm talking about the high school history geek who came back from sabbatical after getting his Ph.D... who could be distracted for the entire duration of the class simply by asking questions about his pet obsessions.

Why are there no periodic competency examinations for teachers?

I saw the pictures and I thought...

...these guys just missed a really, really powerful campaign slogan...
I like that ol' Rocco has a sense of humour and is "incredibly proud of his Italian heritage"... I just think he didn't take it far enough, 'cos with a mug like that, he could've gone with...

"Rocco Rossi: he'll make sure the trains run on time"...

I'm not so sure though... he's sending the right message about fiscal responsibility...

"His campaign said they would spend at least $100,000 on the ad campaign." --

I'm just afraid to actually bring it up with him... in case he sends "Walnuts" Kinsella to make me an offer I can't refuse.

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FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Appealing to the Italian demographic by making an ad featuring the strongest negative stereotype about Italian people and applying it to the candidate."

"Good job, idiots."

I understand Warren Kinsella is currently trumpeting the ads as a stroke of genius.

Hmmm, here's a thought... try imagine the furore & outrage in the left-o-sphere if someone from the Ford campaign had made even the slightest inference about Rossi being associated with the mob.

Yeah... I know.

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LAST WORD: Moody loners with laptops

Much of the column is composed of a sort of reverie in which Mallick describes this hypothetical drunken episode.

She gets back to Ford in the last few paragraphs, but it feels tacked on.

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Why is there a need for a 'Congressional Black Caucus'?

I was under the assumption that we are all Americans. Be an American first, uphold the Constitution, and no more doublespeak."

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RELATED: Funny that... it seems...

...we don't always get all the news that's out there.

The long "War on Drugs" is finally over...

..and guess who won...

"We ask you to explain what you want from us, what we should try to publish or not publish, so we know what to expect."

Just something to think about on your next flight down to Cancun.

The way the world really works

I don't get it... why exactly are Canadians so quick to just "duck & cover"?

-- ffof -- Look at Canadian Indians or whatever they're called this week. One dead guy in Oka, a few imaginary smallpox blankets, and they get to take over whole towns at gunpoint.

And then we have Quebeckers: blow up a few mailboxes, kidnap one guy and kill one other, and you get French on every cereal box, and billions in ransom money transfer payments until the end of time.

But, sadly... it's not just Canadians...

So Obama and Breyer are now the “good cop” to the crazies’ "bad cop". Ooh, no, you can’t say anything about Islam, because my friend here gets a little excitable, and you really don’t want to get him worked up.

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RELATED: But is the worm turning?

"All they seem to care about is their visceral conviction that Toronto has been wrecked by the sort of big-spending, union-coddling lefties whom Ford rails against."

Well... something sure appears to have struck a nerve.

Never a Taser around, when you...

...really need one...

The family of a schizophrenic man hopes a coroner's inquest beginning Monday will shed light on why Toronto police fatally shot him more than two years ago. --

Uhm... that's a trick question... right?

Two words, folks... armed AND dangerous.

Officers found Debassige in the park drunk, singing and wielding a knife. Debassige refused repeated calls to drop the weapon and came toward the officers "while wielding the knife in a threatening posture," said the SIU news release.

Sorry, Peace Moonbeam... you call the tune... don't be too surprised somebody punches your dance card.

I'd also be interested in knowing where Byron Debassige's family was... two years ago. Funny how everybody saves up their concern for the inevitable inquest...

"Let's put the onus for seeking treatment on the guy who's obviously crazier than a shithouse mouse... that sounds like a plan."

If it was my son who was suffering from mental illness... he sure as shit wouldn't be wandering around Toronto armed & intoxicated.

You do whatever you have to do.

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RELATED: If shooting this guy...

...could bring back a little girl... would you do it?

“It was the voice that started it,” Richard Wilde recalled of Oct. 18, 2007, the day he killed his daughter, Megan.

Our Modern World

WedLock, as it's coyly named, is a new type of casualty insurance that gives the unhappily married policyholder a payout after he or she is unhitched.

It ain't the dog in the fight... it's the fight...

...in the dog...

Mr. Flynn, the son-in-law, had a suggestion. “Barry said, ‘cut it in half, maybe he’ll quit farming,’” Mr. Comeau recalled, laughing.

Be careful...

...what you wish for.

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FROM THE COMMENTS: I'm so not a troll...

...the compassionate, intellectual left replies...

And I'm sure he's not finished yet.

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UPDATE: It's not obsession...

...it's dedication to the greater good...