A billion taxpayer dollars a year?

It's time folks...
In fact, it's way past time to derail this particular gravy train...

“Multiple, credible, well-placed sources within the TPS, including a dispatcher?”

More well placed than the chief?

**********

RELATED: That's the way we do it.

How often you find yourself thinkin'...

...there's just not enough suckass politically-correct petty bureaucracy in my life?

-- 2.2 DIDGERIDOO: --

Didgeridoo players are frequently used in Welcome ceremonies to ‘call’ speakers, special guests and the audience to begin the ceremony. A didgeridoo player may also be used as a soloist in other parts of the ceremony.

Professional didgeridoo players, registered with an agent, charge a standard industry fee. Fees may be negotiable, according to individual performers needs and the type of performance required.

The National Musicians Enterprise Agreement, certified in July 2003, contains the following minimum rates for musicians.

Category 1 performer, for a minimum 3 hour performance:

3 x $104.00 per hour + $12.43 make up and costume allowance + $ 4.00 instrument allowance + $28.37 rehearsal rate.

Total cost is $356.80 per performance.

Professional didgeridoo players... there's a civil servant for that.

He will be remembered

While the "Occupy" protesters grab up all the headlines... brave men put their lives on the line...

"Master Corporal Byron Greff of the 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry was killed in the explosion around 11:30 a.m. local time."

And... a little closer to home.

So, who exactly, is Big Bucks Bob Rae...

...sucking up to these days?

Better living...

...through chemistry.

From the Globe & Mail comments

Nah... let's just blame Stephen Harper.

**********

RELATED: Speaking of "homicide statistics"

"Since the pit bull ban was enacted in 2005, pit bulls have killed fewer Ontarians than former attorney general Michael Bryant."

Skyrocketing social services expenses...

...six hour waits in hospital ER... it's past time to start plugging cracks in the dyke...
And we could start right here...

-- TORONTO -- As many as 50 Hungarian Roma a day are filing refugee claims at Pearson airport, putting a strain on airport staff and medical services, according to border services officials.

A record 110 claimants arrived at the airport one night last week, creating a challenge for immigration and security personnel working to process them, officers say.

Just something to consider the next time you start to marvel at the deductions on your paycheque.

**********

RELATED: A haven for criminals?

But, but, but... what if I don't wanna...

...wave my penis around in public?

Liquid Gold

It's not like the United States Senate has anything else on their mind right now... right?

"Canadian syrup producers are licking their lips over news that a group of U.S. lawmakers have proposed a bill that would make it a felony to market a product as maple syrup when it’s not the real thing."

We haven't done maple syrup here at the Halls for a number of years.

I think we're about due to replenish the stock.

Welcome Back Khadr?

Coming soon to an "affordable housing" enclave near you...Yeah, you know... a new chapter... a kind of Anne of Green Gables thing...

Some lawyers believe Mr. Khadr could be out in less than a year if he takes his case again to the Canadian courts.

The perils of "feelgood" journalism

Is it just possible, Peace Moonbeam... that very publicly soliciting the assistance of an accused serial killer's mummy... might not serve the cause of objective journalism, or... more to the point... actual justice?But, but, but... it feels so good... and what could possibly go wrong?Professional journalists... your ethical & intellectual superiors.

Meanwhile... over at Canada's very own little Pravda... "What is this fact-check you speak of?"

-- TORONTO -- The CBC "misrepresented" calls embattled Mayor Rob Ford made to 911 in which he did not call the operators insulting names, the city's police chief said Friday.

"Misrepresent," huh? Is that anything like, oh... I dunno... a lie?

In a statement, Bill Blair said he had listened to the three emergency calls Ford made and felt it necessary "to set the record straight" about the calls.

I guess it could have been worse... the CBC could have asked Mary Walsh's mother for her opinion.

Let 'em eat poutine

Say... aren't these the malcontents... who want to break away from Canada?

" -- QUEBEC -- The province has always maintained it would create a replacement registry, suggesting the cost would amount to only 'a few million dollars a year'."

Yeah... wasn't that what the Federal Liberals said "once upon a time?"

“Without the data and the software I would hate to think how much it would cost to replace the current registry.”

Well... your buddy Teflon Jean pissed away 2 billion taxpayer dollars... let's see where you end up.

**********

RELATED: Two words, Warren...

...majority government.

As loyal & committed as a...

...ten dollar whore...

Just one in 10 of the tents at the Occupy London Stock Exchange camp which has closed St Paul’s Cathedral are occupied at night, it can be revealed. The camp forced St Paul’s to close for the first time since the Blitz and is costing local businesses thousands of pounds a day.

But most of the protesters are heading home to sleep in their own beds at night. Infra red images taken by a police helicopter during the early hours show that only around 20 of the 200 tents on the encampment actually have people staying in them.

The Daily Telegraph has shot its own video of the St Paul’s camp using thermal imaging equipment which appears to confirm these claims.

The answer my friend... is vacillating in the wind.

RELATED: Remember one thing, son...

...wear a condom, 'cos where there's smelly hippy chicks... there's fire...

"Patrick Maloney, a certified Massachusetts health officer and former regional vice president for the National Environmental Health Association, noted minimum campsite standards apparently are not being met: portable toilets, space between tents, water spigots, showers and emergency exits."

Yeah, that whole Arab Spring...

..."embracing democracy" thing... I've gotta confess... I'm a little less hopeful than I used to be...

Driveway interview? More like assault.

Rob Ford should've taken a page outta the Jean Chretien playbook... grabbed this dumb bunny by her ugly, unfunny face and tossed her to the ground...

"'I came out of my house and I was ambushed,' said Ford. 'It was pretty dark still and my daughter was with me, there was a black Jeep or something outside of my door, I sort of looked at it ... then two people who didn’t identify themselves came running up, they tried to get in my car and they stopped me from getting in my car'."

"The surprise "DRIVEWAY INTERVIEW" by the comedy show scared Ford’s six-year-old daughter so much she ran back into the family home. The incident prompted Ford to call Toronto Police."

Whatever your personal feelings may be about Mayor Rob Ford... this crosses a line. Funny how the CBC doesn't think to ambush Dalton McGuinty at his Rosedale mansion. Maybe because they'd have to try slip past his burly OPP bodyguard/driver.

More to the point, though... is this what you expect the CBC to be doing with your annual, involuntary billion-plus taxpayer dollar contribution?

How funny would this have been if the "warrior princess" had slipped underneath the wheels of Ford's car?

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Ford should have kicked her right in the nuts. The CBC is a cess-pool full of these vile lefty activists. What a disgrace."

Oh, Toronto... you just don't get it

How many times does Dalton McGuinty have to lie right to your face... before you figure it out?On the plus side, he's using that eco-friendly 58-wheeler, huh?

-- Mississauga, ON -- The arrival of a massive generator at a supposedly unplugged Mississauga power plant site Monday will only jack up the tab for Ontario taxpayers when the facility is finally relocated, PC Leader Tim Hudak says.

“This Mississauga power plant is supposed to have been cancelled by Dalton McGuinty during the election campaign. It’s now 18 days later and the plant is continuing to be built. In fact, this is the most expensive component of what’s probably a $300-$400-million project,” Hudak said.

The Ontario Tories released photos of the generator on route to the south Mississauga location Monday, a month to the day after McGuinty told voters in the area that he would stop it if re-elected.

Just another little fib from the folks who promised... in writing... not to raise your taxes.

The only "green" this guy cares about is the stuff he can pull outta your wallet...

"About 6,100 megawatts of coal-fired generation continues to operate in the province, or about 20% of total generating capacity -- years after Premier Dalton McGuinty's self-imposed shutdown deadline of 2007."

"McGuinty promised to end the use of coal in Ontario by 2007 during the 2003 general election but since winning that race, the target date has been pushed back several times and is now 2014."

Don't blame me... I didn't vote for him.

It's about "scary"... why not do bazookas?

Gun Control forces target statistically insignificant issue of "deer rifle" criminality...I've gotta say, right up front... these guys must be way smarter than yours truly... because, even after racking my dumb as dogshit rural brain... I can't figure out how going after Farmer Bob's varmint rifle was supposed to obliterate the deadly spectre of urban handgun crime.

And, wow... they're really bringing out the (forgive me) "big guns"...

"Jean-Guy Gagnon, a former deputy chief with the Montreal Police Service, and chair of the national firearms strategy council of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, says that unless certain particularly dangerous firearms are reclassified before the long-gun registry is abolished, it will be easy for organized crime groups to boost their arsenals with military-grade weapons without leaving a paper trail."

I've gotta confess, I learned a thing or two here.

For instance, who knew that "organized crime groups" have, to this point in time... been registering their "particularly dangerous military-grade weapons."

Of course, "registration"... it's so obvious. Maybe that's why these thugs have to use all those cheapshit, chrome-plated Saturday Night Specials they smuggle in over our porous border with the U.S.

Obviously, without a "Farmer Bob Rifle Registry" there'll be sniper nests on every Toronto street corner.

I'm also wondering, given the somewhat awkward admission that "rifles are rarely used in Canadian crimes"... how authorities pick out "particularly dangerous" ones. Maybe it's just the models with the cool black plastic pistol grips... or whatever scared Wendy Cukier on tv on the weekend?

It's about saving lives, maybe we should be restricting or prohibiting cars based on statistics about vehicle-related fatalities...

"Surprisingly, though: no calls for a Lexus registry or the closing of the locks — not even a puny “memorial” on the grounds. Weird, huh?"

Oh, right... we're not allowed to talk about that.

**********

RELATED: Go find some actual criminals...

...instead of, you know... law-abiding Canadians...

"Police seized the collection and charged him with 14 firearms-related criminal offences. All charges were dropped 10 months after the raid."

"In August, Sedge launched a lawsuit against the Toronto Police Services Board and 19 police officers from 55 Division and the Guns and Gangs task force."

Hey, everybody knows... only cops deserve scary looking guns.

**********

THE COMPASSIONATE, INTELLECTUAL LEFT REPLIES:

"Harper has suddenly realized that liberals will shoot back once his vigilantes can own 1000 rifles with nobody knowing because they won't need to be registered."

"I look forward to being heavily armed and nobody will be the wiser."

Oh, Nonny... you do all the work for me.

**********

LAST WORD: Here's a pleasant surprise...

...a political party who keeps their promises...

"Farmers and hunters, she added, are the 'strongest environmentalists in the country'."

"They’re upstanding citizens who work hard. They take their kids and grandkids out hunting and shooting and those kids, by the way, probably aren’t involved in gangs in the streets."

I've just gotta know...

...what exactly did Hillary Clinton say to Hamid Karzai the other day?

Seems to me... it's a cross between...

.."Lord of the Flies" and "Animal Farm"...I can't wait to see who comes outta this piece of cheesy, robotic street-theatre with an Escalade and a Manhattan loft...

Occupy Wall Street’s Finance Committee has nearly $500,000 in the bank, and donations continue to pour in -- but its reluctance to share the wealth with other protesters is fraying tempers.

Some drummers -- incensed they got no money to replace or safeguard their drums after a midnight vandal destroyed their instruments Wednesday -- are threatening to splinter off.

“Fuck Finance. I hope Mayor Bloomberg gets an injunction and demands to see the movement’s books. We need to know how much money we really have and where it’s going.”

The "Don't Need a Weatherman" files

That was then...This, of course, is now.

No more taxpayer subsidy

Let's stop the bleeding right here...

The non-partisan information commissioner has given the CBC a grade of “F” for its secrecy — but it still violates her order for it to disclose the truth. It’s spending millions in legal expenses to hide how it’s spending billions in other expenses.

Let’s privatize the CBC. If some private billionaire wants to use the CBC as a weapon, that’s his business. In the hands of the CBC’s unethical management, it’s everybody’s business — and it’s got to stop.

No, friend... I'm thinkin' it more or less...

...just answers them...Interesting that the post-Qaddafi future... started off with a bang...I can't wait for the encore.

Lock and load

-- EDMONTON -- The RCMP is beefing up the firepower of officers on patrol with a weapon now used by the army and police tactical squads. Starting next year, the C8 patrol carbine -- a cut-down version of a rifle similar to an M-16 -- will be made available to front-line RCMP members.

In an Oct. 19 memo obtained by CHED radio in Edmonton, departing Commissioner William Elliot tells Mounties the C8 will fill a gap in RCMP firearms capabilities.

He says based on tests, the carbine is a more accurate weapon that fires more bullets with less penetrating power, thus reducing the chance of someone else being hit.

Well... let's break that down. More accurate than what?

The C8 is certainly more accurate than a service sidearm, but, as anyone with a scoped deer gun could tell you, it's no sniper rifle. And there is a down side here... 'cos Mr. Elliot is talkin' out his ass about over-penetration.

I've seen .223 Remington punch through quarter inch mild steel plate. It'll go through standard (non-ceramic) body armour too. It's a good varmint round, but you really wanna be sure of your backstop before taking the shot.

Elliot says the C8 won't replace shotguns and other weapons the RCMP uses, but it will be made available to Mounties.

The need for the RCMP to have access to better weapons was highlighted in a report into the shooting deaths of four Mounties outside Mayerthorpe, Alta., on March 3, 2005.

Yup... access to a high capacity standoff firearm could've made the difference there. But so would taking this obvious sociopath off the street years before.
A nice piece of hardware but, let's remember, there's no substitute for using that big computer between your ears.

Anyway... here's the skinny...

F e a t u r e s :

1 - Reduced length cold hammer forged heavy barrel
2 - Flash suppressor
3 - Bayonet lug
4 - TRI-AD 1TM MIL-STD-1913 accessory mount
5 - Special carbine chamber and gas system
6 - Accepts all STANAG magazines
7 - Integrated sight rail (Weaver or Picatinny)
8 - Optional ambidextrous controls
9 - Single or double sided sling loop
10 - Standard 4 position buttstock with no slip rubber butt pad

Playing by Middle East Rules

Cause...

-- (CBS/AP) -- "Qaddafi is gone, your turn is coming, Bashar," protesters shouted on Friday in the central city of Hama, long a hotbed of resistance to the regime.

Effect...

Syrian forces fired on protesters Friday, killing up to 14 people.

And you call yourselves...

..."professional journalists?"...C'mon, now... why just rely on a single referral from Mom?

"Mark is a very loving and kind person," Hyacinth Moore said one day after the 27-year-old was charged with 56 gun-related offences.

Where's the syrupy attestations from his various "baby-mommas?" Could it be they're saving that up for the 11 o'clock tv propaganda blast?

Meanwhile... back at the ranch...

-- TORONTO -- A couple dozen police officers combed an Etobicoke neighbourhood for evidence after a shooting left one man dead and another wounded early Friday.

**********

UPDATE: Shooting victim identified...

Nigel Caine, 20, was found suffering from gunshot wounds on the front lawn of a home on Monet Avenue near Rathburn Road and Highway 427 just after midnight on Friday.

Caine died of his injuries in hospital.

That's funny... looks like the Globe didn't talk to Nigel Caine's mom. Maybe they only do one side of the street.

**********

RELATED: Serial Killer or musical genius?

Want the skinny on Prezidenteeh? You decide...
Looks like Firefox has a few reservations about rap too.

Congrats to the Fisker Karma...

"...which now joins corn ethanol in the ranks of heavily subsidized supposedly green technologies that are actually worse for the environment than current solutions."

How's everything else going in Obamaland?

Hmmm.... not so good.

Oh, c'mon... honour killing...

...that'd never happen here in... wait a minute...

“ -- KINGSTON, Ont. -- May the devil shit on their graves,” Mohammad Shafia told his second wife, Tooba Mohammad Yahya, 20 days after the bodies of the couple’s three teenage daughters and Mr. Shafia’s first wife were recovered from a car in the water at the locks. In another snippet recorded by the device police had placed in a family car, Mr. Shafia told Ms. Yahya, “They committed treason themselves. They betrayed humankind. They betrayed Islam. They betrayed our religion…they betrayed everything.”

But, but, but... Saint Pierre of Montreal swore multiculturalism was the piquant sauce our bland Canadian culture desperately needed. How far are we gonna go with this politically-correct accommmodation?

"Imagine 'Constable Duncan MacDonald' who is of Scottish heritage, waltzes into the station tomorrow decked out in a ceremonial kilt, complete with sporran. How many nanoseconds would tick by before P.C. MacDonald is hauled before a supervisor and sternly disciplined?"

I thought people came to Canada to embrace our values & lifestyle. I know that's what my parents did. 

RELATED:   I blame Prince Charles

-- KINGSTON, Ont. -- “We must be very clear in understanding that this barbaric practice occurs in many countries and cannot be traced back to Islam,” Imam Sikander Hashmi said. “In England, provocation, code word for adultery, was a legal defence for men who killed their wives until 2009, so this is only two years ago that this was changed.”

You know, Sikander... I'm thinkin' you could maybe have found a more appropriate example.

Okay, folks... false alarm, settle down

Yeah, yeah... I know how it sounds...

“You’re all going to die,” a man dressed in black screamed at passengers Tuesday afternoon.

“You’re all going to hell. Allahu Akbar.”

FBI Special Agent Mark White, based in Dallas, said the event did not appear to be an act of terrorism. He described Shahsavari as a U.S. citizen who might have experienced an episode of mental illness.

Hang on a second... I'm confused... what exactly are we dealing with here?

Amarillo police Cpl. Jerry Neufeld said there was a language barrier for investigators attempting to interview Shahsavari, who is of Iranian descent.

Turns out there was a simpler explanation all along...

Shahsavari was born in Mississippi.

Yup... just another dumb southern cracker.

It's sort of like the weather...

...you don't like the kind of "professional journalism" you're getting -- Just wait 24 hours...

Donald Stuart, a Queen’s University law professor, said that the hearing is a worthwhile nod in the direction of openness, but will amount to little more than, "a meet-and-greet" session.

Hey, Kirk... let's split the difference... and call it an "arduous nod."

Meet the Prezidenteeh

You ever wonder where stereotypes come from? Trust me, my friends... the suspense isn't the only thing that could kill you.
The weight of all that metal... I'm surprised Prezidenteeh could actually lift a gun above his waist...

-- TORONTO -- A Toronto rapper is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and the robbery of a Leaside jewelry store where a clerk was wounded.

Mark Garfield Moore, 27, is charged with the 2010 murders of Jahmeel Spence, 27, Courthney Facey, 18, Mike James, 23, and Carl Cole, 45, and the heist of Arax Jewelry.

Moore was in custody for an unrelated shooting incident in March in the Entertainment District.

Yup... another shocker.

**********

RELATED: Bright lights, big city

-- TORONTO -- It’s been two years since Christopher Skinner was brutally beaten, run over and left for dead on a downtown Toronto street.

Christopher had been out in the Entertainment District with his sister celebrating her 23rd birthday the night he was killed.

Investigators believe he was on his way home, walking along Adelaide St., possibly attempting to hail a taxi, when his hand brushed up against a black SUV that was stopped at a red light at Victoria St. around 3 a.m.

The occupants of the SUV allegedly beat him up and then drove over him as they took off.

Who says there's no death penalty in Canada?

Remember the Liberal campaign ads...

...where the little boy enthusiastically tells us about his daddy's new "solar energy" gig... well, it seems they left out a few mundane financial details...
Get out your calculators, my friends...
I'm thinking this isn't an equation you wanna try solving in your head...

"The study also says creating 50,000 new green energy jobs as promised by the governing Liberals will require ratepayer subsidies of about $200,000 a year for each position."

Now, where did I leave my chainsaw and splitting axe?

My guns have still killed fewer people...

...than Michael Bryant's car...

"Where ordinary suspected criminals correctly have the right to refuse to assist the state in building a case against them, gun owners are denied that critical freedom." --

I'm tired of being a second-class citizen.

(via ffof)

**********

BREAKING: Good news for firearms owners?

"Try, try, try... to understand..."

"...He's a Magic Man..."

Last week, Vice President Joe Biden warned that more people would likely be raped and murdered if President Obama's jobs bill is not passed.

Today, Biden reiterated his warning at an event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Behold Barack Obama's handpicked backup plan... a guy who makes Dan Quayle look like a theoretical physicist.

Technology

A force for good...

"Women are harassed and molested everywhere on buses, at metro stations, in markets ... we believe this is Asia's first phone application aimed at making women safer."

...or for evil...

So as the victim of a sexual assault, she was horrified when she encountered the contents of a Facebook page full of jokes about rape and violence toward women.

Hey, Peace Moonbeam... stop snivelling...

...and start "sharing the wealth".

(link fixed)

More "bait & switch" at the Globe & Mail

Maybe the "arduous" part of this thing will be avoiding any sort of serious or meaningful dialogue...Or maybe, they just put the headline on the wrong article...

"It promises to be a tightly scripted affair where MPs largely avoid touching on hot-button social, legal or political issues."

Somebody correct me if I'm mistaken... but my understanding of this committee is that, at this stage of the game, it is totally powerless to affect these appointments one way or another.

This is just another "dog & pony" show for the tv cameras... a fact the Globe chooses not simply to omit... but to obscure.

Anybody else getting tired of being manipulated?

Try imagine an alternate universe...

...where former Conservative Premier Mike Harris kills a guy with his car on the busiest street in Toronto... and then writes a book portraying himself as the victim...

“What really attracted me to this book was the unflinching description of one man’s descent into a kind of hell,” Turbide said. “He has been humbled by what happened, but more important, wants to rededicate himself to public service and to overhaul the justice system.

What's life without a dream, huh?

He’d also served as minister of aboriginal affairs and attorney general — where he famously banned pit bulls from the province — and was considered a serious contender to succeed Premier Dalton McGuinty.

Prosecutors dropped charges against Bryant in May 2010 after deciding there was little chance of convicting him.

That's funny... it sure didn't stop them from going after David Chen. Or Ian Thomson.

I guess you gotta go big-picture here. If Toronto was willing to give Dalton a third at-bat... why wouldn't they embrace Michael Bryant in 2015?

Let the rehabilitation begin.

Where's my "Breathe-Rite" nasal strips?

Maybe Western Civilisation... doesn't deserve to survive...

The sheer artistry that is "News at 11"

I'm sure it's nothing Peter & Lisa can't solve... with a few "creative" camera angles...Hmmm, here's a thought... let's have some more social commentary from the folks who brought you lead-painted baby toys.

-- BEIJING (AP) -- China's foreign ministry said Monday the Occupy Wall Street movement highlights issues that are worth considering, but that debates generated by the protests should promote global economic growth.

"We feel that there are issues here that are worth pondering," said Liu Weimin, a foreign ministry spokesman during a regular briefing in Beijing.

Just don't ponder them anywhere near you or the Politburo puppy-pile, right Liu?

Earlier in the year, anonymous online calls for protests in China inspired by those that have swept across the Middle East and North Africa spooked the Chinese government into launching one of its broadest campaigns of repression in years.

**********

RELATED: Special rules for special people

"Why pay for parking and risk getting a ticket on King St. when you can just park in the park? In fact one “poor” protestor’s $30,000 truck is in the middle of St. James Park and has been there for three days."

"No yellow ticket though."

**********

LAST WORD: You wanna really shake things up?

From our voluminous, unceasing...

..."If I had a Hammer" file...
Okay, folks... nothing to see here... move along...

**********

RELATED: I did not have sex...

...with that airline...

The Spark

You can choose to sit behind a desk... you can choose to skydive...

Or you can choose to roll the dice at 225 mph.

I think, for most of us... (Albert Einstein et al excepted)... a career is mostly background noise. Some of us just choose to crank up the volume more than others.

Just this summer, a newfound friend of ours... a smart, funny, multi-faceted guy... was told he had pancreatic cancer.

Three months later he was dead.

He was 40 years old.

This was a man who embraced the people around him, who made smart choices, who absolutely radiated humanity. I keep thinking... "I wish we had known him longer... known him better."

Life. Death.

So many imponderables, so little time.

Anyway, his name was Andre... and we think of him fondly and often.

Maybe that's the mark of a life well-lived.

Bright lights, big city

The aunt of Christopher Rookwood — the city’s 39th and latest murder victim — is now reliving the nightmare of grieving over another family member.

Rookwood’s cousin Nate Thompson was lured to a Jane-Sheppard townhouse complex and shot in the head in August 2010.

At the other end of the city, Toronto Police are continuing to piece together why a 19-year-old was shot in a stairwell of an east-end apartment high-rise.

Here's a little experiment you can try...

...go get a bunch of your buddies and set up blockades on the nearest highway... and, oh yeah, don't forget to bring along some guns...
Make sure you get your nose outta joint if the cops have the temerity to get involved in your "business"...

Shawn Atleo, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said he was offended to learn that native activism is considered “threatening to national safety and security” in Canada.

Native "activism"? Is that what we're calling it these days?

**********

RELATED: We're not hurting anyone

"Hydro One has been powerless to complete a $116-million transmission line upgrade for five years because Caledonia “warriors” won’t allow workers to wire the last towers."

**********

LAST WORD: The best and most lucrative defense...

Of course they do... the two organisations...

...are practically interchangeable...

“The Liberal Party of Canada recognizes the profound importance of the CBC's role in our society. We will fight to ensure our national broadcaster receives the support and resources it needs to continue to do its vital job.”

That's a billion taxpayer dollars per year. You ever wonder where all that money goes?

"In the fiscal year ending in March 2009 — a month when 61,000 Canadians lost their jobs — the top 10 executives at CBC split a performance bonus kitty worth $888,699."

"The individual bonuses ranged from $4,300 at the bottom end to $165,090 at the top end, which is almost 3.5 times greater than the average Canadian salary, according to Statistics Canada."

And guess what? They're fighting to keep those facts from folks like you and me...

This week, CBC/Radio-Canada lawyers went to court in Montreal to plead that their Crown corporation not be subject to the Access to Information Act (AIA) like all other federal institutions.

Just a little something to think about... while you're writing out that big cheque next April.

2b

Would our economic, environmental, and energy challenges best be solved by “funding a Manhattan-style project or by funding 100,000 garages across America to encourage the kind of industry and innovation that developed Silicon Valley?”

Planet Chaz

Hey, Peace Moonbeam, I'm no tyrant... you wanna turn yourself into a vague approximation of a member of the opposite sex... knock yourself out.

Heck, why stop there? The stars are, well... Krypton, to be precise... the limit.

Just don't expect me to pay for it...
Hey, Dalton... are you listening?

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS: Or maybe "KIPEEPEE"...

"Kind of a swap meet page for organ donors? Could call it Switch-Gear or some such."

**********

RELATED: More special rules for special people

Project Empowerment runs its job skills training courses on three-week cycles and helps roughly 1,000 D.C. residents per year, according to Jones. The city's first transgender-only class enrolled in mid-September and graduated 17 people last Friday.

The program is run through Project Empowerment, an $11 million-a-year program paid for with D.C. tax dollars that helps hard-to-employ city residents such as ex-convicts and ex-addicts find work.

More Community Clinics?

I dunno... what would Jack say?

"TORONTO - At least one city councillor is fuming over plans by a consultative committee for suggesting on Tuesday that permits for body rub parlours be increased tenfold or more from the existing 25 to 'several hundreds' by early next year."

"'This will make us the biggest pimps in North America,' an outraged Giorgio Mammoliti said on Wednesday. 'These clubs will be springing up in strip malls and residential areas across the city.'"

Damn... that sounds so familiar...
Chalk up another one... for the center of the compassionate, intellectual socialist universe.

More Rainbows and Unicorn Farts

“It is incumbent upon Canadian officials to investigate, arrest and prosecute former president Bush for torture when he arrives in Canada a week tomorrow,” said Alex Neve, Amnesty Canada's secretary-general.

Torture, huh?Say, Alex... is there anything else you might be leaving out of your little initiative here?

No... of course not.

**********

RELATED: Yup... there's a difference alright

"The obsessive need of this president to apologize for American exceptionalism and our defense of freedom continued recently when Barack Obama's State Department (run by Hillary Clinton) contacted the family of al-Qaida propagandist and recruiter Samir Khan to "express its condolences" to his family."

Wow... that must make for an interesting workplace environment...

"Were there any other Americans or targets on that list?"

Hey, buddy... kiss 'em or kill 'em... but, sheesh, make up your mind.

What's a life worth?

Apparently... there's some sort of sliding scale...
Middle East math... just something else I can't understand about that particular part of the world.

Tale of Two... well... you be the Judge

Door number one...

"An altercation likely escalated to gunshots, said Det. Sgt. Pauline Gray. Gray would not comment on whether he was 'known to police'."

"'He has a lovely family here in Toronto,' Gray added. 'They’re devastated. We’ve had a lot of contact with them and they’re very supportive.'"

Door number two...

"A 27-year-old gunned down in the city’s east end over the weekend — just steps away from a memorial event for another Thanksgiving murder victim — was allegedly among a group of thugs who kidnapped, tortured and held a man for ransom last year."

I swear... I'm just thankful... I don't live in Toronto.

It's one thing to flap the ol' Dorito hole...

...another entirely to take action...

"U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in an announcement today that the plan was "conceived, sponsored and was directed from Iran" by a faction of the government and called it a "flagrant" violation of U.S. and international law."

Let's see whether President McDreamy actually has "the right stuff."

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RELATED: Stacking the deck

"The bundlers — Mark Gallogy, co-founder of investment firm Centerbridge Partners, Penny Prtizker, president and CEO of Pritzker Realty Group, and Robert Wolf, chairman of UBS Americas — have raised as much as $2.7 million for Obama in 2008 and 2012 combined, according to estimates provided by the Obama campaign."

Police death squad targets seniors?

Shouldn't the headline actually read... "Professional journalist attends meticulously-scripted homage to knife-wielding mental patient?"So... seriously... what's the deal here?

You're the owner's idiot nephew... and they saved the headline job just for you?
Vex? Vex? Forsooth, I fear a touch.

I don't get it.

Fast, furious and...

...irrevocably final...

-- TORONTO -- One man is dead and another is in hospital after a street race early Monday resulted in a horrific crash that left a sedan sliced in two.

Hmmm... not exactly like you see in the theatre. Apparently that everlasting loyalty, blood-brothers meme... just evaporates at the first dead body.

Police said the passenger ran off, leaving the driver trapped in the car. When paramedics arrived the driver wasn’t breathing and didn’t have a heartbeat.

The driver of the other car in the race, believed to be a black Infiniti G35, sped off.

Police aren’t releasing the name of the deceased until his family, who don’t live in Canada, are notified.

But don't you worry Toronto... the Liberal Party will make everything alright...

Jim Karygiannis, MP for Scarborough-Agincourt, released a statement Monday saying he will introduce a federal bill on limiting speed.

Yeah, Jim... if only there was a law, huh?

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RELATED: Bright lights, big city

Scarborough... it's a happenin' place...

Police are looking for three or four suspects after a man was shot and killed near Victoria Park Ave. and O’Connor Dr.

Police and EMS responded to a call around 11:15 p.m. on Sunday night. A man in his early 20s was rushed to trauma centre in critical condition with several gunshot wounds to his chest.

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FROM THE COMMENTS: Neo bad. Toronto good.

He's baaa-aaack!

Get all the skinny from, er... Skinny.
Speaking of "fast & furious"... what's today's take?

Posted by Skinny in Toronto to halls of macadamia at 10:16 AM, October 11, 2011
Posted by Skinny in Toronto to halls of macadamia at 1:15 PM, October 11, 2011
Posted by Skinny in Toronto to halls of macadamia at 1:29 PM, October 11, 2011
Posted by Skinny in Toronto to halls of macadamia at 1:48 PM, October 11, 2011
Posted by Skinny in Toronto to halls of macadamia at 4:18 PM, October 11, 2011
Posted by Skinny in Toronto to halls of macadamia at 5:15 PM, October 11, 2011

Amazing.

Imagine the output if I actually let all of this stuff through.

It's like apples and kumquats

-- TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- An Iranian military commander said Sunday that the protests spreading from New York's Wall Street to other U.S. cities are the beginning of an "American Spring," likening them to the uprisings that toppled Arab autocrats in the Middle East.

Yes, of course, you knucklehead... it's exactly the same thing.

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RELATED: Compare & contrast

Conspicuously living among the politically active in the makeshift village in Zuccotti Park are opportunistic junkies and homeless people - making the most of the free food on offer.
Where are the protests happening?

Also present and infuriating the hard core of activists are a number of teens looking to turn the gathering into an urban rave.

Among the banners and flags are now discarded packets of condoms, cigarettes and bottles of spirits, while naked youngsters happily get together with just sleeping bags covering their modesty.

Hope, change and...

...license to thrill...Remember, it's only evil... when Bush/Cheney do it...

"So scrupulous was the by-the-book Obama OLC about targeting Americans that they gave the okay to hit Awlaki before they’d even done the research into whether it was legal."

Thinking...

...outside the XBOX...
Get folding...