Hopey-changey enviro-witchery

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"If you bring them home from the market in one of those enviro-bags, that will make them taste a bit better."

"Another little trick is to walk or bicycle home from the store."

"This is one reason I only buy free-range eggs. Way to elicit confidence in the consumer...it's like a little reminder...'this egg may be poison'."

In other "your home, their castle" news...

...it's David Chen... all over again...

By the time police arrived — just five minutes later, according to Robert — the stabbing victim and four others allegedly involved in the home invasion — three women and one man — had sped away in a car, crossing into Ontario in the hopes that by seeking treatment at the Montfort Hospital, they would not be connected to the Gatineau incident.

And surprise, surprise... guess who gets cast as the bad guy here...

According to Gatineau police, the man alleged to have stabbed the victim, as well as the four suspects found with the stabbing victim, have all been arrested.

Unbelievable.
(h/t reader michael)

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RELATED: Speaking of poor, little victims

Get ready, Scarborough... coming soon to a neighbourhood near you...

Omar Khadr was sentenced today to 40 years in prison for murder, terrorism and spying by a military panel unaware that the confessed Canadian war criminal had agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a sentence capped at eight years and the chance to return to Canada after one more year in Guantanamo.

If these two were so smart...

...why didn't they realise that "actions have consequences?"

-- New Jersey -- Rubin Sinins said Molly Wei, 18, wrote to the university and asked to "withdraw without prejudice" after Clementi’s death.

The Home News Tribune reported that Dharun Ravi, the other Rutgers student charged in the case, has also withdrawn from the university.

Who's laughing now?

All of this, of course, could give rise to a novel explanation on November 3, after the results of the elections are in. I look forward to Stewart saying, on his show, that the Democrats lost in large numbers because "America is insane."

And then he, and others like him, can take elegant consolation in their sanity.

Hello Kitty!

The ongoing pussification of the western world...

No more Trudeaupia

“We make no apologies for saying that someone who pays a smuggler as part of a criminal enterprise tens of thousands of dollars to come to Canada illegally without identification — with hundreds of other people, flooding our system’s ability to identify them — should face more robust detention provisions.”

Yes, of course... those evil, draconian Neocons...

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.

Michael Ignatieff & Liberal stalwarts...

...demand immediate action on "National Shoulder-Fired Rocket Registry"...

Reading, Writing and Ridiculous

These multiplying programs sadly illustrate how "compassion" for the less fortunate can evolve into a powerful lobby and run unchecked since nobody dares oppose the glittering nonsense.

Providing the "college experience" to those baffled by college is a close cousin to awarding diplomas to semi-literates, defining all students as "gifted" though in different ways, or creating empty-calorie group identity majors.

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RELATED: I'm from the government...

...I'm here to equalify you!

Meanwhile... in other breaking news from...

...the worldwide fight against Islamophob... wait a minute...

Two hotel workers have been arrested after Swiss tourists renewing their wedding vows at a luxury resort in the Indian Ocean were branded "infidels" and "swine" during the ceremony, according to reports.

Amateur video of the incident in the Maldives shows the marriage officiator abusing the couple in the Dhivehi tongue — as the bride and groom smile oblivious to what is being said. The footage has been viewed by thousands of people since being posted on YouTube.

"You fornicate and make a lot of children. You drink and you eat pork. Most of the children that you have are marked with spots and blemishes. These children that you have are bastards."

According to the BBC, the celebrant also refers to sexual diseases and bestiality.

(via reader jwkozak91)

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RELATED: From Yemen, with love

"Initial examinations of those packages has determined that they do apparently contain explosive material," Obama said in a televised briefing, calling it "a credible terrorist threat against our country."

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LAST WORD: And he likes sunsets...

...and cuddling and long walks on the beach...

Jackson started and ended his arguments with a photo of Khadr as young teenager. He also talked of “Omar Khadr today,” in describing his “peaceful” demeanour over the last eight years here and showing the court some of Khadr’s pastel paintings.

One for the good guys

"Peter Lindsay, lawyer for the three men, successfully argued that Mr. Bennett - whose record of 43 convictions, many for theft, reaches back more than 30 years - was the only criminal involved in the incident, and that Mr. Chen responded reasonably each time the thief escalated his bid to evade capture."

Of course... it's a funny kind of victory... I imagine David Chen is out at least ten thousand dollars in legal fees... but that's how the cookie crumbles in Dalton McGuinty's socialist paradise.

You know, Rob... call me a little anal...

... but I'm just not sure that... this time anyway... "troubled" is gonna cover it...
Is it just possible... that giving five dollar blowjobs to unwashed strangers in dark, dirty alleys to cover your next hit on the devil's glass pipe... isn't an optimum career choice after all?

Darlene MacNeill was 35 when her body was found in Lake Ontario near the Toronto Sailing and Canoe Club on Lake Shore Blvd. on Oct. 29, 1997. The mother of five had a hard life, first losing her 10-year-old daughter, Darla Rhoda Thurrott, in March 1989 in a sex slaying by a family friend.

Virginia Lee Coote, 33, was found partially clothed in the lake about a metre offshore between the Boulevard Tennis Club and the Palais Royale on Oct. 28, 1994. Coote was working as a prostitute in the Parkdale area and was also addicted on crack.

The first victim, Julieanne Fodora Middleton, a mother and part-time prostitute, was found July 7, 1994, wearing only a bra, about 100 metres west of where Coote was located.

Yeah... let's legalise prostitution... that'd solve everything.

The Turkey Baster Chronicles

Hey, I know you... you're that messed-up chick whose mom needs a man... like a fish needs a bicycle...

"A study from the Commission on Parenthood's Future found children conceived by sperm donation are more likely to suffer from isolation and depression, and are roughly twice as likely as biological children to struggle with substance abuse."

Hmmm... there's a couple of possibilities that jump out here.

Either donor sperm is somehow inherently substandard... or people who jump through these kind of hoops to have children make crappier parents.

Who exactly said there is a human right to have children anyway?

Does creating test-tube progeny, or purchasing discarded baby girls from China solve... or simply facilitate... social injustice?

And why are untold sums of money being spent on these type of things, when Canadian children are languishing in the "care system"... unable to find permanent loving homes?

I don't get it.

In other "Your home, their castle" news

Yet again... the world appears to be upside-down...

Singleton and his wife Marilyn arrived home to discover a strange vehicle parked in the driveway May 29. The 46-year-old homeowner parked behind it, trapping it while he fetched a hatchet from his home northwest of Taber, RCMP say.

The man searched his house and found no one inside, but encountered a man in his 20s trying to escape in the blocked car. Police say Singleton struck the man twice with the blunt end of a hatchet, smashing his teeth and face.

The injured suspect ran off, getting tangled in a barbed wire fence, but police tracked him down to his home shortly after. Police arrested two other men in a pickup truck on a road near the home.

So... of course... the cops decide to arrest the homeowner.

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RELATED: Our modern world

In Dalton McGuinty's socialist paradise... there's no such thing as a bad boy... or bad girl... anymore.

On the evening before learning if he will face consequences for tying up a shoplifter, a grocer in Toronto's Chinatown apprehended a woman who, he claims, stole roughly $100 worth of various products.

The woman was charged with theft and released at the scene, Mr. Chen said. Police could not immediately confirm if anyone had been charged.

Lest you imagine this is somehow an isolated incident...

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

Don't even get me started on Caledonia.

Welcome Back Khadr?

Not bloody likely...

“I speak in the name of the Government of Canada and what I can tell you is that any plea bargain was between Mr. Khadr’s officials, his lawyers as well as the American government."

"And the Government of Canada is not involved in that.”

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RELATED: Meanwhile, across the aisle...

...the Natural Governing Party ramps up... "Operation Bite My Own Testicles"...

He went on to talk about having an “open and transparent process” to deal with CSR issues. Not surprisingly, some Liberals were scratching their heads as to where Mr. Ignatieff actually stands on this issue.

Oh, Mikey... you're losin' Hanoi Jane Taber, you're really swirling the drain.

See, here's the deal, David...

...if there's one thing I don't mind my tax dollars being spent on... it's keeping very bad people in jail for as long as humanly possible...

On the eve of his trial next week for first-degree murder, Tucker, 24, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Defence lawyer David Heath argued that a sentence of six to eight years would spare Canadians the expense of continued incarceration.

He told the judge the annual cost of maintaining a federal prisoner is about $87,000 a year, based on the most recent available estimates.

Lemme see... how's that "catch & release" thing working out for us so far?

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UPDATE: The evil among us

“Today, the Toronto Police Service cold case squad arrested a serial killer,” said Staff Inspector Mark Saunders, unit commander of the homicide squad.

It ain't all cheap plastic lawn furniture...

...and lead-painted baby toys...

The secret sauce behind the system — and the technological achievement — is the interconnect, or networking technology, developed by Chinese researchers that shuttles data back and forth across the smaller computers at breakneck rates, Mr. Dongarra said.

“That technology was built by them,” Mr. Dongarra said. “They are taking supercomputing very seriously and making a deep commitment.”

The Chinese interconnect can handle data at about twice the speed of a common interconnect called InfiniBand used in many supercomputers.

The first thing we do...

...is hang all the lawyers.

Of course, switching to Hot-Air Balloons...

...would be both more ecologically AND aesthetically pleasing...

Ignatieff says the public is questioning whether the country needs stealth fighters to defend its airspace -- especially given the huge deficit run up by the Tories.

He says Liberals will get Canadians better value for money.

Seriously, Professor Poupon... you really wanna die on this particular hill?

On his first day in office in 1993, prime minister Jean Chrétien had ripped up a signed contract to purchase 28 navy helicopters and 15 search-and-rescue versions from E.H. Industries.

Left unsaid was an uncomfortable truth. Killing the project triggered more than $1 billion in cancellation penalties, write-offs, and extra maintenance costs for the existing fleet of Sea King helicopters.

And they say Iggy is the smart one.

I'm just not seeing it.

Yet another "slow news day"...

...in the nation's capital...

"She had to be 300 pounds," says Labelle. She's lying prone on her back on top of me. ... She's totally covering me. There's nothing I can do."

"I couldn't breathe. I thought I was going to have a heart attack." --

Fortunately... it looks like there's a way VIA Rail can make up for their horrific negligence in not banning morbidly obese people from their trains & premises... it's, surprise, surprise... a free sleeper-car trip back to B.C.

Good gawd... this is journalism? Seriously?

I can't wait for tomorrow's riveting investigative tour de force on dirty gas station bathrooms.

From our voluminous...

..."Hope is cheap" file...

"If the drug were substandard, the attorneys argue, it could cause the condemned pain or suffering."

[...]

Old School

Flowery speeches & airy-fairy promises notwithstanding... most people actually do give a crap that the trains run on time...

That was always Ford's claim to fame: that even if you didn't live in his ward, he returned your call.

If you were wrapped up in red tape and called Rob Ford, an hour or maybe a day later, the tape got snipped. The Wheeltrans showed up at your elderly mother's door.

That stupid problem you'd been screaming at bureaucrats about got taken care of.

Everyone in Toronto knows a Rob Ford story like that.

More importantly... fearmongering aside... it looks as though Hogtown is ready for a fresh start...

Half a dozen incumbents, including David Miller loyalists Sandra Bussin and Adrian Heaps, were knocked out. Conservative-minded newcomers, such as Mary-Margaret McMahon, were voted in.

And the mushy middle, which tended to vote alongside Miller, was sent a message to swing right. Ford will easily have more than 23 votes on council.

Hope, Change and...

...perhaps he'd better start polishing up his resume...

Currently, two-thirds of Americans (67%) have a negative opinion of the job President Obama is doing while just over one-third (37%) have a positive opinion. This continues the president's downward trend and he is now at the lowest job approval rating of his presidency.

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 3,084 adults surveyed online between October 11 and 18.

The ties that bind...

...and enrage & inflame... McGuinty cabinet minister says Torontonians are bigots...
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THE COMPASSIONATE, INTELLECTUAL LEFT REPLIES:

"One funny part of this election is the far right shills trying to "prove" that the left of centre is having major conniptions about Ford. Like your little fabricated tweet."

"Sheesh, learn to cover your tracks, bonehead."
Posted by liberal supporter to halls of macadamia at 7:51 PM, October 26, 2010

Uh, Libby... you forget to pass the word to Glen?

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UPDATE: Glen Murray almost apologises

“I do not believe Rob Ford or Stephen Harper or Tim Hudak are bigots. I regret tweeting a message that said otherwise, and am sorry I did that,” he wrote, before quickly adding, “I do challenge Tim Hudak to condemn strongly the hateful campaigning deployed in Toronto and to root out any of those working in his ranks who would try to exploit hatred with smear tactics.”

Good grief.

The Devil is in the...

...details, er... law degree...

In a phone interview with the CBC from Guantanamo Bay, Khadr's lawyer, Dennis Edney labelled the plea deal "a piece of paper," and said his client "would have confessed to anything, including the killing of John F. Kennedy, just to get out of this hellhole."

Geez, Dennis.. I hope you're not saying you counseled your client to lie under oath...

He told the court no one had forced him to change his pleas. When asked if he had killed Speer in 2002, Khadr answered, quietly, "Yes." When asked if it was true that he conspired with Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, he also answered "Yes."

Now, I'm no lawyer... but isn't giving a false confession subverting the course of justice?

Finally, here's a question, folks... what exactly would it take, to get you to confess to... "war crimes, including murder and conspiracy."

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FROM THE GLOBE & MAIL COMMENTS:

Apparently not everybody's as into "multi-cultural glam" as the Style Editor at the Globe...

"Shame on you, G&M! This is a slap in the face to all the girls and women in Canada and worldwide who are beaten, locked up and murdered by their families for refusing to wear this symbol of opression."

Yikers... I'm beginning to see where Rob Ford got some of his support.

Coming soon... to a neighbourhood...

...near you...

Omar Khadr’s sentence will not change if he transfers to a Canadian prison cell, but he would hit the jackpot when it comes to parole.

In the United States, prisoners have little chance of being paroled until they have served 85 per cent of their prison sentence, Mr. Greenspan said.

In contrast, Mr. Greenspan said that Canadian inmates are usually eligible for some form of parole after they have served one-third of their sentences.

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HAVE YOUR SAY:**********

LAST WORD: None so blind...

Not even a guilty confession by Canada’s most notorious poster boy for child soldiering can coax his ardent supporters into accepting the now 24-year-old Omar Khadr is a terrorist and a war criminal.

They still imagine him as the baby-faced teenager splashed across the pages of newspapers, led astray by a father who also, at one time, lay rotting inside a prison for charges of terrorism.

And overnight, the sad strains...

...of "Puff the Magic Dragon" continue to haunt the lonely streets...

A race that late polls were still declaring to be neck and neck turned out to be nothing of the kind. Neck and ankle, maybe.

The tweeters were beside themselves. Goodbye bike lanes, they tweeted, time to pack the bags and flee to a more moderate, progressive, inclusive city, like … Calgary.

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FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Calgary?! We don't want them here!!"

"Go to Redmonton!"

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RELATED: Ask a screaming leftbot...

...they'll blame it on the suburban troglodytes...uh, that'd be... well, you...

“If you talk to Adam Vaughan,” she said, “he’ll say his residents have asked him for an extra tax. I don’t think you get that in the suburbs.”

I remember Canada

"All London taxpayers pay for the London Convention Centre, but the London Convention Centre apparently does not serve all London taxpayers. It won't be too long now and, like Robin Hood and his Merrie Men, we'll be having to hold our get-togethers in a clearing in the forest on the edge of town."

It's nice to know that London, Ontario still has some sort of standards of decency, huh?

Never a Liberal ballsack around...

...when you really need one...

Something odd is going on with Michael Ignatieff and China. It’s more than two weeks since dissident Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel peace prize while residing in a Chinese jail cell. If Mr. Ignatieff has had anything to say about it, he’s keeping it well hidden.

If he’s afraid to be seen lecturing the Chinese now, what’s he going to do if he ends up as Prime Minister?

Ooh, ooh... I've got this one...

"It was right for me to support the Iraq war when I was an academic, because academics live in outer space on Planet Zinfandel, and play with ideas all day."

"But now, as a politician in a country that opposed the war, I'll admit I screwed up, because politicians must deign to harness the wild mares of whimsy to the ox-cart of cold, calculated reality."

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

GUILTY

Mr. Khadr assented to knowing that he was attacking civilians, that he wanted to kill U.S. troops, that he planted mines and that he received one-on-one terrorist training from an al-Qaeda operative.

Mr. Khadr's guilty plea short circuits the trial phase but a sentencing phase will proceed. Testimony from Tabitha Speer, the widow of the special forces soldier killed by a grenade thrown during a fierce, July 2002 Afghan firefight, will be heard.

Okay... that's step one.

How about... step two... we don't repatriate his jihadi ass back to Canada?

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RELATED: That was then...

Defense lawyer Barry Coburn said any deal won’t involve Mr. Khadr admitting he killed U.S. Sergeant Christopher Speer with a grenade, the act that U.S. military prosecutors say warrants a charge of murder.

This is now.

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BREAKING: What I'm talkin' about

-- BRAMPTON, Ont. -- The ringleader of the so-called Toronto 18, who had pleaded guilty to terror charges that included attacking Parliament, has been sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Hang on... Omar actually kills people... and he only gets 8 years?

How exactly does that work?

A slice of animation history passes on

The talking cartoon animals suggested it was a kid's show; the smart humor, delivered at warp speed, clued adults that the series was really for them.

The trick that The Simpsons, South Park and Family Guy try to master 14 to 24 times a year — populate a cartoon world with indelible characters — Rocky pulled off five times a week.

Where's Waldo?

Maybe you should ask Alexa...

Never a gun registry around...

...when you really need one...

Two men were killed and the young woman was in critical condition after the shootings Saturday evening near a housing complex in Winnipeg's north end.

Police say a 13-year-old girl was shot first and seriously wounded. Fifteen minutes later, an adult male was gunned down and killed a few blocks away, followed 20 minutes later by the fatal shooting of another man in a third location.

Michalyshen said officers are looking for a person who may be male, aboriginal, in his twenties, wearing dark clothing and between 5'8 and 6'0 in height.

One witness described seeing a man riding down the street on a mountain bike "looking like a ninja."

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RELATED: If only there was a law

-- HALIFAX -- A 27-year-old Nova Scotia man was shot and killed at a city apartment building as he attempted to deliver a pizza on Saturday night, says a spokesman for the Halifax police.

The police officer said investigators are troubled by the incident, in part because they've found no evidence so far that the shooter knew the man dropping off the food.

If this turns out to be a random incident it's that much more concerning and something we'll have to put our efforts behind in an effort to solve," said the constable.

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LAST WORD: Vote Fuzzy-Bunny Smitherman...

...he'll hire way more social workers...

-- TORONTO -- A man has died near in a shooting near Shuter Street and Sackville Green. Police responded to a call about gunshots at 3 a.m. Monday morning. When they arrived at the scene they discovered a male victim lying on the sidewalk.

The shooting comes two weeks after a 15-year-old and a 19-year-old were shot and killed in Regent Park on Thanksgiving weekend.

The latest victim...

Toronto police have identified 24-year-old Albert Kiwubeyi of Toronto as the city's 51st homicide victim of 2010.

Police found his body lying on a Shuter Street sidewalk shortly after 3 a.m. Monday, "suffering from an obvious gunshot wound," they said Tuesday in a news release.

I know it's probably gilding the lily...

...but there's just a few small details the Globe & Mail (and celebrity/guest editor Bono)... left out of their recent mini-series on the "socio-economic miracle" that is modern-day Africa...

"The dismembered body of a young albino boy has been found in a river on the Burundi-Tanzania border, reports say. Albino body parts are prized in parts of Africa, with witch-doctors claiming they have special powers."

"In Tanzania, the body parts of people living with albinism are used by witch-doctors for potions which they tell clients will help make them rich or healthy. Dozens of albinos have been killed, and the killings have spread to neighbouring Burundi."

And here I've been moaning about the state of the Canadian healthcare system. Suddenly, that six hour wait in the local emergency department seems, well... kinda trivial.

Meanwhile... on the social justice front...

"Giles Muhame, editor of the two-month-old Rolling Stone paper, denied that he had been inciting violence by publishing the names next to a headline which read 'Hang them'."

"The BBC's Joshua Mmali in Kampala says a newspaper that was barely known in a country with a poor reading culture, has now grabbed international headlines."

Seriously... "a poor reading culture?" That's gonna be the focus of your article here?

How many millions of lightly-armed, blue-helmeted, politically hamstrung troops... you figure we'll need to solve little wrinkles like this?

Un-freakin'-believable.

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RELATED: Bright lights, big city...

...never an exorcist around when you need one...

A four-month-old baby is dead and 10 other people are injured in the small town of La Verriere, west of Paris, France after they jumped out of their apartment's third-storey window after believing to have seen the devil.

"Thirteen people were in an apartment (watching TV) on the second floor when, at around 3a.m., one of the occupants heard his child crying,"

"The man in question, of African origin, who was completely naked, got up to feed his child, at which point the other occupants took him for the devil."

The man, 30, was stabbed in the hand and thrown out of the apartment. When he tried to barge back into the flat, the other occupants began jumping out of the window.

BREAKING IN BC...

...stand by for massive outbreaks of Christian rioting, firebombing & looting... in three, two, one...

A Roman Catholic bishop from Kamloops in southern BC remains in serious condition after being beaten at a downtown church Friday night.

At 10:15p.m. the suspect forced his way into the rectory at the Sacred Heart Cathedral and "allegedly assaulted" 69-year-old Bishop David Monroe. A priest at the church was also injured while trying to help Monroe.

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

But, hey... a few quick fixes and we're good to go -- you know... like fewer "victim impact" statements... more lethal injection...

"Canadians can do with a little toughening up. If Ms. Comeau could fight off Mr. Williams with her hands bound behind her back, her eyes covered, her body battered, to her last breath – and she did, a finer and more valiant soldier than her killer ever could have hoped to be – surely the rest of us can suck up this week of extraordinary sadness without collapsing."

Why on earth do we want to warehouse a sick fuck like Russell Williams?

Less talk... more chopping block.

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RELATED: Darwin was right

In other "knife to a gunfight" news...

-- TORONTO -- In an altercation between the officers and a 28-year-old man at the residence, one officer was cut to the face, while the man was shot at least once. The man died from his injuries at the scene.

No word yet, from Mayor Miller's office...

...which gun club the shooters belonged to...

Police in 14 Division said the shooting could be gang-related and are appealing for witnesses to come forward.

"Nobody talks to us," Superintendent Ruth White, who commands the division, told The Globe, adding there have been six similar shootings in the past two weeks.

Hmmm, Ruthie... you think it might have anything to do with today's "pretty, pretty please" school of policing?

"It's only logical that people saw the actual murder happen and I need them to come forward."

Yeah... logical.

Tell that to Paul Bernardo, Russell Williams... or the Falstaff Crips

"Let's go harrass a sick elderly lady"

More fun & games from courtesy of the... compassionate, intellectual left.

Wake up Toronto...

...and smell the rainbows and candied unicorns...

George Smitherman wants to tap into the energy of Toronto’s diverse business community to sell the city to the world.

Good grief, I don't even understand what that means... but I do remember how Liberal Health Minister Smitherman "fixed" all of Ontario's healthcare woes. Is this his big plan to "save" Toronto?

Moreover, the last time I looked... the provincial Liberals were trying to throw a member of Toronto's diverse business community into jail for picking on a member of Toronto's junkie community.

I think I'm just gonna have to go with what's behind door number two...

“We don’t need 500 of Mr. Smitherman’s friends flying around the world to fancy junkets on the Gravy Plane,” Ford said.

“We need lower taxes and a City Hall that respects taxpayers’ money. This proves once again I’m the only candidate who understands business and can get Toronto back on track.”

Fewer social workers... more fresh water

Do people really need the United Nations to show them how to plant crops, raise goats or dig a well? Build a desalinisation plant and drop off a hundred simple tractors for goodness sake... and move on to the next disaster zone.

I mean, it's not like the U.N. is gonna do something useful... like remove a corrupt administration...

Catherine Huck, deputy country director for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the Caribbean nation's health ministry had recorded 135 deaths and more than 1,000 infected people.

“What we know is that people have diarrhea, and they are vomiting, and (they) can go quickly if they are not seen in time,” Huck said. She said doctors were still awaiting lab results to pinpoint the disease.

And the people continue to drop like flies.

Darwin was right

Where's Steve Irwin when you really, really need him?

-- DRC -- A report of the incident said: "The terrified air hostess hurried towards the cockpit, followed by the passengers."

The plane was then sent off-balance "despite the desperate efforts of the pilot."

Do the right thing thing

Once again... Canada steps up...

-- SHANGHAI -- Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon says he will call for the release of jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo when he meets the Chinese foreign minister in Beijing Friday.

Cannon said that when he meets Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, he will point to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's statement calling for Liu's release that was issued on the day the award was announced.

Or, I guess... you could be a little more direct... like this gentleman in the VOA comments...

Chen Yang (China) -- 21-10-2010
I dislike Liu Xiaobao without reasons. And I don't know why the West experts award the Nobel Peace Prize to him. I guess the only reason is because they hate China and its people.

Yeah, Chen... that's gotta be the reason.

You 'ave leesaunce for your minky?

Way to audible, Clouseau... that narrows it down to about half a million suspects...

The suspect is described as 6' with a medium build. He was last seen wearing a black hoodie and black track pants, and heading eastbound on foot on Bloor Street West.

Seriously? That's the BOLO you're tossing out there?

Apparently... there's never a Constable Twitter around... when you really need one...

“The only way we’re going to stop someone from getting shot is by convincing the person holding the gun to put it down,” said Const. Scott Mills, the force’s "Social Media Relations Officer".

Or, Scotty... you could shoot back.

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RELATED: Of course, it could be worse

At least we're not on the brink of a border war with the failing Mexican state...

Nationwide, more than 28,000 people have been killed in drug gang violence since December 2006, when President Felipe Calderon deployed soldiers to battle the cartels in their strongholds in northern Mexico and along the Pacific coast.

Handing out concrete life-jackets...

...that'll solve everything...

The projections of additional bailouts for Fannie and Freddie are in sharp contrast to recent discussions by the Obama administration about how the bank rescue known as the Troubled Assets Relief Program, originally valued a $700 billion, is expected to cost taxpayers less than a tenth of that.

Just ask yourself, if... instead of Stephen Harper... Michael Ignatieff was pulling on the levers of power... would he be following his good buddy Barack off the fiscal cliffs?

Lock your doors... wear a seatbelt and...

..."teach your children well"...

This is exactly the kind of story I make sure I show my own 14 year-old son...

A 22-year-old Western student from the faculty of science died early Sunday morning after a 15-storey fall from an apartment building on Richmond Street.

Edmondson was sitting on the edge of a balcony railing when he lost his balance and slipped off the balcony, according to several friends close to Edmondson.

I am not without sympathy here... but seriously... it's 3 o'clock in the morning and you're out on your 15th floor balcony... sitting on the edge of the freakin' railing?

Good gawd... what a stupid, senseless, needless death.

And while this young man didn't get behind the wheel of a vehicle drunk, or get into a gunfight, or stick a spike full of poison into his arm... this is, sadly... no less a self-inflicted injury.

By all accounts David Edmondson was a smart, caring, successful young man destined for greater things. And now... nothing. In fact, in a way, less than nothing... just a gaping, bottomless black hole of grief for his friends and family.

This puts me in mind of a kid from Belleville, who, a few years back, fell to his death from a balcony during an alcohol-fueled "spitting contest" while attending university in Ottawa.

This simply shatters my sense of what should be. I read this and I... mindlessly, crazily... want to stand guard over my own child 24/7. But that's not even remotely possible... never mind desirable.

In the end, all you can do, as the old song goes, is "teach your children well"... and hope for the best.

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A READER WRITES:

I wanted to personally email you my response to your blog posting regarding the passing of David Edmondson, since it said that you had disabled replies from being viewed...

I have never been one to comment on a blog, but as a good friend of David's I was heartbroken and insulted reading this post of yours after I typed his name into google hoping to see some new letters and sympathies sent from those who loved him. I agree that this loss of life was completely senseless and unnecessary in every regard, but the fact remains that it was both a tragedy and an accident.

To judge this young man's death in such a critical and mocking manner is beyond distasteful and insensitive. Obviously there is a huge lesson to be learned- as there always is when some unexpected event takes a life from us far too early- but to even dare describe his "self-inflicted injury" in the same sentence as "getting behind the wheel of a vehicle drunk, getting into a gunfight, or sticking a spike full of poison into his arm" is a disgusting and heartless manner in which to compare his unintentional passing.

David was not "sitting on the edge of the freakin' railing", which you would have known if you had had the privilege of going to school with him, living in the same apartment as him, and having a strong friendship with him, all of which I am honored to say I have had. He was sitting on the inner ledge of his balcony that had a safety railing behind him, not balancing on top of a pole asking for a deathwish (which is the attitude you insinuated he must have had).

To portray his devastating accident in such a careless manner is beyond ignorant. You go on to say that "By all accounts David Edmondson was a smart, caring, successful young man", indicating that you did not know David personally, although I figured that one out a lot earlier into your blog judging by the tone of your entire post that was clearly written from a removed and cold perspective, with absolutely no regard or sympathy for the unbelievable person we all have to now learn to live without. It goes without saying that there is something to be taken away from such an extreme ordeal, but you are in no position to criticize the actions, or mistakes, of a genuine young man in order to get the dramatics of your position across. The exact same message could have been conveyed without the condescending tone you felt necessary to drape the article in. David's parents did "teach their children well", which is why they raised an amazing man that touched so many lives in his short 22 years on earth. Hopefully your kids aren't as foolish as David was by making one error in judgement in their lives so that you do not have to endure a random person on a blog critiquing the manner in which they died and commenting on how "stupid" they thought it was. Really great insightful piece I must say.

The bigger tragedy in all of this is that people like yourself are forcing the horrific way in which he died to overshadow the amazing way in which he lived, something you would never allow for if you had known the beautiful David that I did.

Sincerely,

Fiona Shanahan

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BREAKING: In other City of London news

"On Tuesday, I received a phone call from the LCC telling us that our venue had been pulled, and that Mark Steyn would not be permitted to speak there."

"It’s interesting to note that the LCC is owned by the City of London, and is therefore a government operation."

I remember Canada... sigh.

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UPPERDATE: Geez... thanks Muhammed!!!

Apparently, it's true... there's no such thing as bad publicity...

The good news is that Steyn’s speech will still be going on as planned. Given the increasing demand, we’ve moved to an even bigger venue, and Mark will be speaking at Centennial Hall.

You can find all the details on how to register here.

The evil dumbassery of George W....

...wait a minute...

"We want to make sure that they have the tools that they need to be able to defend themselves," he said of Saudi Arabia, a key regional ally. The kingdom had no immediate comment.

Some details of the proposed sale have been known for months, but the inclusion of up to 1,000 one-ton bombs known as Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMs, and other guided bombs in the package, was revealed in notifications to Congress on Wednesday.

U.S. officials said the $60 billion figure is an estimate.

Good grief... if this had actually been a Republican move, the Dems in Congress would have been running around screaming like their heads were on fire. Instead we get one lone voice in the wilderness...

Rep. Anthony Weiner, a New York Democrat, accused the administration of trying to slip the Saudi deal through Congress while lawmakers were on recess to campaign for the November election.

Hope, change and... "bomb those fuckers back into the Stone Age."

Heck...while we're here... let's reach a little deeper into the "nasty ol' racists" mailbag...

"I mean, look, Bill, I'm not a bigot. You know the kind of books I've written about the civil rights movement in this country.

"But when I get on a plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous."

Bright lights, big city...

...never a gun registry around... when you really need it...

Toronto police are investigating a double shooting that occurred near Christie subway station Wednesday afternoon, one that has left two people wounded.

Toronto EMS said they have transported one male, estimated to be in his mid-20s, to a trauma centre for treatment of a serious gunshot wound to his arm. A second male patient had their head grazed by a bullet. He has been taken to hospital.

Bloor Street West has been closed to traffic between Christie and Shaw Streets while police investigate.

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

**********

RELATED: Meanwhile... right next door

Peel police want Nepaul McMorris, 22, is wanted for attempt murder in connection with Monday's shooting of a 19-year-old Mississauga man on Dundas St. east of Hurontario St.

McMorris is known to police, for firearm convictions.

I guess the gun registry was broke that day, huh?

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LAST WORD: The GTA... never a dull moment

Homicide detectives need help in identifying four men considered suspects in the weekend stabbing murder of a Newmarket man.

York homicide detectives released Thursday the surveillance images of the suspects wanted in the slaying of Vandin Svay and the wounding of a 24-year-old man following the fight that erupted during a Cambodian community function at a banquet hall in a Markham mall.

The World According to...

...San Francisco...
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RELATED: Pentagon tells Obama...

..."Screw you... we're enlisting gays!"...

Washington (CNN) -- The Obama administration has filed a request with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to stay a lower court injunction stopping the military policy regarding openly gay troops serving.

Apparently, Furious George can't even...

...deliver coals to Newcastle...

“He’s pretty ill informed, which is really disappointing considering he is a former health minister,” McClelland told Xtra.

“Calling them shooting galleries is really offensive. He is blatantly ignoring evidence.”

Looks like Smitherman may not be able to scoop up the junkie vote after all.

**********

RELATED: A McSlippery Slope

Geez... what kind of Health Minister would put up with this sort of malfeasance?

The auditor's report says they were told the contract was awarded due to the consultant's experiences and "political relationships."

In another case, a hospital paid a consultant $170,000 in expenses between 2007 and 2009, and then was told it would have to pay an extra $3,000 if it wanted receipts to support the expenses.

Don't blame me... I didn't vote Liberal.

No, no, you dumbass... you go right ahead

Hey, it's a free world... more sweat lodge, less hippy-dippy bunk -- it's just ice-cream that this sort of nonsense serves to toughen the gene...

Nobody is sure exactly what is keeping people away from Sedona’s four vortexes, swirling energy sources emanating from the earth, but the effects are clear: far fewer crystals are being bought, spiritual tours taken and treatments ordered, from aura cleansings to chakra balancings.

Nobody's sure, Peace Moonbeam!?!? Hey, here's a clue... three dead bodies.

Maybe you need a good Kerou-whack upside the head.

“Initially, I didn’t think it was going to affect business and, a year later, I know I was wrong,” said Deidre Madsen, who runs a New Age travel company in Sedona and a Web site devoted to inner growth.

“I’m shocked at the impact. My business is down 20 percent.”

Sorry, you dumb bunny... a childlike sense of credulity isn't actually much of a defense.

Dave's really not here, man.

Good grief.

I don't care what Vic Toews says

In a more perfect world, Russell Williams would be publicly crucified... and no... that's not a figure of speech.

Why exactly are we warehousing the likes of Williams, Paul Bernardo and Clifford Olson?

I don't get it.

**********

UPDATE: Two concurrent life sentences...

...not good enough...

No more bullshit, please. If Russell Williams can ever be released, and under Canada's "faint hope" provision... he could be out in 15 years... it's not a life sentence.

Multi-culturalism versus Melting Pot

Two words -- FIT... IN -- and you'll probably do just fine...

Mayor Naheed Nenshi will be at the helm and with the help of 14 aldermen will face Calgarians as the new council heads the city in a new direction.

Back here in the center of the universe, of course... this can only be about one thing...
That's weird... I guess I missed the part where Naheed Nenshi ran around Calgary shouting... "Elect me, I'm a Muslim."

He achieved what many observers thought impossible – a wonkish, even dorky, academic and visible minority elected to the helm of what is often called Canada's most conservative city after a campaign driven by charisma and sheer determination.

Here's a thought... maybe being a concerned Calgarian first... was enough.

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RELATED: Yeah... "shocked & outraged"

"The inverted moral order of multiculturalism is thus a case of what the late Sam Francis called 'anarcho-tyranny'."

Wake up and smell...

...the way the world really works...

"Reporters always come here demanding to see the victims," says Olga Kostyuk, deputy head of the charity Faith, Hope, Love, which provides assistance to Odessa's sex workers. "They want to see the men, the pimps, the manipulators behind all of this. But things are not so simple now."

The poverty and general hopelessness in many villages of eastern Ukraine, Moldova and Romania now run so deep — especially in the wake of the financial crisis — that the promise of a job as a prostitute abroad is enough to get the vast majority of trafficked women to sign up voluntarily.

Jihad goes glossy

Just when you thought it was safe to cross the street...

Lest Canadians think we’re somehow not on AQAP’s target list, the journal piece specifically suggests carrying out such attacks “in countries like Israel, the U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Denmark and Holland.”

(via moose & squirrel)

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FROM THE COMMENTS: But, of course...

"I blame Stephen Harper."

Too many Chiefs...

...not enough accountability...

At least 30 aboriginal band chiefs received more pay than the average after-tax income of Canada’s provincial premiers in 2008-09, according to data obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

Using federal Access to Information laws, the organization asked the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs to provide the salary information for every band chief and councillor in Canada.

The names of the chiefs and their locations were withheld and there was no information provided about money given to band councillors.

CTF Prairie director Colin Craig said he believes the number of chiefs who took home more than the average premier is actually much higher because band-owned enterprises contribute substantial amounts to their overall remuneration.

Unbelievable.

Sorry... gotta draw the line somewhere

Call me a crusty old curmudgeon... but, for myself, anyway... providing euthanasia services to grieving relatives is it...

Uh, son... I think we're just gonna...

...skip this one.

That noise you hear...

... is a thundering herd of lawyers...

A hiker in Washington's Olympic National Park was gored to death by a mountain goat while picnicking on Saturday.

The goat was notoriously aggressive, and park rangers had been "hazing" the animal for years by shooting it with bean bags.

How exactly is endlessly tormenting an animal a viable solution to this problem.

Somebody remind me... how much is a single round of 300 Winchester Magnum?

Save the Children

An American charity has paid a British man addicted to drugs 200 pounds (about $320) to get a vasectomy, the BBC reported Monday.

Hmmm... a pro-active solution... that prevents a serious social problem from spreading exponentially... makes perfect sense to me. In fact, let's get the government involved and offer these people serious cash.

Make it a years equivalent of pogey and they'd still come out way, way ahead.

Who could possibly oppose... yes... of course... social workers...

Other addiction advocacy groups have railed against the extreme nature of Harris' program, accusing her of taking advantage of people with a medically diagnosed illness.

Yeah, let's make this about crackheads rights... who gives a shit about the children who have to grow up in welfare hell?

Good grief.

**********

WE GET MAIL:

Hi,

Your blog post came up on my Google Alerts. I was wondering if you might consider tweaking your title to Save Our Children or perhaps noting that the organization that helped pay for the vasectomy is actually the Prevention Project. Your readers may think that Save the Children was somehow involved.

While I completely understand that you had no intention of suggesting our involvement, we would simply like to avoid confusion.

Thank you for considering our/my request.

Sincerely,

Cicely McWilliam

| EVERY ONE Campaign Coordinator | Save the Children Canada
300-4141 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M2P 2A8
Direct Line: (416) 218-1888 | Toll free: 1-800-668-5036 x300 | Cell: (647) 291-1683
cmcwilliam@savethechildren.ca

**********

LAST WORD: The Prevention Project?

Who's running this thing? I'm guessing it's not who you were thinking...

An American charity has paid a British drug addict and self-confessed burglar £200 to be sterilised.

The charity was set up by Barbara Harris, who adopted four children born of a crack addict mother.

There oughta be a law...

...oh, man... there's just never a gun registry around when you need one...

Toronto Police responded to reports of gunshots on Firvalley Crt. in the Warden Ave.-Danforth Rd. area around 1 a.m.

The victim was discovered short distance away — in a small parking lot next to Cataraqui Crt. — dead in the driver’s seat. He has been identified as Isba Hassan Ismeil, 29, of Toronto.

“I heard three or four shots,” said Rashid, who did not want to give his last name. “All I heard was ‘pop, pop, pop.’ But ... gunshots in Cataraqui, that’s normal.”

“What can I say? Poverty brings problems,” he said. “In a couple of days, nobody’s going to give a shit. It’s normal here.”

Or, heck... even a knife registry...

A double stabbing in Markham has left one man dead and another in hospital.

York Regional Police were called late Saturday to the Century Palace restaurant on Ferrier St. —in the Warden-Steeles Aves. area — shortly before midnight.

The two men were taken to Scarborough Grace hospital where one man is reported to have died from injuries.

There was no word on the condition of the other stabbing victim.

Good ol' Hogtown... whatever else you might say... it ain't boring.

SKYNET... it's already here

Most of the time, MDARS do random fully autonomous patrols, using RFID tags to check the status of locks and gates. If they notice something out of the ordinary, a human can take over.

If things were working out so well...

...in the old country... why would anyone ever choose to leave? --

-- Berlin -- "Many speak little or no German, work in low paying jobs or live off of government handouts at the same time the country faces an aging population and a shortage of highly skilled workers."

**********

RELATED: Yeah, truth can be scary

This is vitally important because of who has said it and where it has been said. There are four million Muslims in Germany and because of the Nazi obscenity the Germans have for sixty years been terrified of being seen as in any way racist or intolerant.

**********

My parents were immigrants who got married and promptly chose to leave Scotland for North America. And, from what I hear about the lives of many of my cousins... I am eternally grateful that they did.

My father & mother realised the immigrant dream of owning their own home and raising a large family. They did this, not by walling themselves off from the larger field of folk... but by embracing the Canadian way of life and all that it had to offer.

Trying to recreate the flawed homeland that you chose to flee... and why would you choose to leave otherwise... is an exercise in counter-productivity.

You want to live in Canada... be a Canadian. One people, one law.

**********

POSTSCRIPT: Yup, I'm repeating myself, but...

...you're not prepared to be a law-abiding citizen... we don't want you.

Local forecasters are calling for...

"...bullets... with a possibility of death..."

A spate of armed standoffs in the tiny Nunavut community of Cape Dorset began months before it was decided that the four RCMP officers stationed there had to be pulled out this week for what their commander says is “advanced health intervention.”

Gawd forbid we assign any sort of blame here. Let's just pretend it's about, uh... "lead poisoning"... yeah, that's the ticket.

Just ask Fred Schell, the local MPP...

“In general they are good kids and good people. It’s just that they made a wrong decision, something sparked it and they got into an argument or something, and this happened,” he said. “I think it would help if, definitely, the guns were locked up.”

Geez Fred... not to crap on your "no such thing as a bad boy" thesis... but maybe we could think about locking up the people who are actually pulling the triggers here?

Ah, screw it... "Chilean miners, yaaaaaayyyy!!!"

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"The problem is that they are tackling a non-existent problem. Demons don't kill people, people kill people."

"They should have been enforcing law against PEOPLE WHO BREAK THE LAW, not looking for mythical 'demons' to place the blame on so they could absolve the innocent native of any responsibility for their actions."

More rainbows & candied unicorns

As CTV & the corpse that used to be Lloyd Robertson continue their non-stop weeks long "Who wants to be a Celebrity Miner" coverage... it's important to note that the world does not stop spinning...

Last year 2,631 Chinese miners were killed, according to official statistics, but independent labour groups say the true figure is likely to be much higher as many accidents are believed to be covered up.

The government has repeatedly vowed to shut dangerous mines and strengthen safety, but the accidents continue with regularity as mines hustle to pump out the coal on which China relies for about 70 percent of its energy.

Yeah, yeah... I know... I'm such a downer.

Gawd forbid we stop the feelgood media merry-go-round.

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"This is one of the funniest stories I have come across in a long time. The solution to the country's burgeoning weight/obesity problem is to ban 'fat talk' and hide the bathroom scales?"

From the... "Can't live with 'em..."

"...can't kill 'em" files...

"He may be disciplined, and he may be made to ask forgiveness. That should be enough."

"Are you tired..."

"...of the high taxes and constant boondoggles by the Mcguinty government!"

"If you are, then please join Debbie, Shirley and Ruth on a most exciting adventure to Toronto on Oct 16th! We will all meet at 12:30 pm at Nathan Phillip Square at the Winston Churchill statue!"

"The Rally will begin at 1 pm sharp."

Splitting the difference...

...as definitive and satisfying as a pre-op transvestite...

The committee of students that picked the mascot said it hoped to avoid any racial significance in the design.

One finalist had gray-colored skin because, said Margaret Ann Morgan, 19, a committee co-chairwoman, “it is a combination of black and white.”

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RELATED: Hmmm, apparently there's no gray area...

...for President McDreamy and friends...

The president and fellow Democrats have taken a page from the Republican playbook. They’re unabashedly using racial-solidarity politics to animate voters.

As the president told an audience last week at Bowie State University, a historically black college, in Maryland: “I think the pundits are wrong. But it’s up to you to prove them wrong. Don’t make me look bad, now.”

Yeah... I'm shocked.