You know, Nathaniel... I was with you...

...right up until the part where you started getting naked...

O’Brien testified he heard blood-curdling screams at his neighbours’ front door.

"People were screaming, ‘Stop,’ and ‘Help,’ so I went inside their house." He confronted one intruder on the upper landing, wrestled with him and as they tumbled together down the stairs, O’Brien’s black trousers fell to his ankles, court heard.

He said he removed his pants, left them and his shoes in the living room, and raced upstairs to discover Varughese’s body in the bedroom doorway.

Hey... you never know... it worked for O.J.

Meanwhile... in other "justice" system news...

-- TOPEKA, Kan. -- A man who held a Kansas couple hostage in their home while fleeing from authorities is suing them, claiming that they broke an oral contract made when he promised them money in exchange for hiding him from police.

The couple has asked a judge to dismiss the suit.

Aren't these the same folks...

...who didn't have a problem turning Mike Tyson (with his dozens of pre-pro career arrests) into a modern day folk hero?C'mon... does anybody really doubt that fighters are simply small interchangeable parts in a huge money-making machine?

"Women’s boxing will be an Olympic sport for the first time in 2012. Being asked to wear miniskirts is a little like saying, 'Come to the party, but use the back entrance – and dress like it’s Slutoween'."

Miniskirts, huh?

Let's face it people... these folks are basically modern day gladiators.

Frankly I'm a little surprised they haven't handed them swords & shields... or baseball bats... or put lions back into the mix.

How they dress them up is probably the least objectionable part of the industry.

I think what we really need... is a...

...24 hour archeology channel...

The Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project aims to – in three years time – map 14 square kilometres of the Stonehenge Landscape using the latest geophysical imaging techniques, 'virtually excavating' Salisbury Plain.

They'll then recreate visually the iconic prehistoric monument and its surroundings as it was in the third millennium BC.

Less "Little Mosque on the Prairie"... more "Time Team", please.

"Stop... or I'll..."

"...yell stop again..."

"The act drew a sharp rebuke from London. British Prime Minister David Cameron called it 'outrageous and indefensible' and warned the Iranian government will face 'serious consequences' for 'its unacceptable failure' to protect diplomats in line with international law."

"He said those measures would be considered in coming days."

Maybe it's time to stop yammering and actually start tightening the screws, huh?

Oh right... taking action is only something those nasty neocons would consider.

And while we're evoking the good ol' days... look at who else is making news...

"President Obama's slow ride down Gallup's daily presidential job approval index has finally passed below Jimmy Carter, earning Obama the worst job approval rating of any president at this stage of his term in modern political history."

**********

RELATED: Yet another rush to judgement

"She has been declared inadmissible four times. Three times she won another chance through a court appeal; twice more her request for an exemption by the immigration minister was turned down; and twice a court ordered a reconsideration."

Oh Canada.

Oh my gawd... obviously they're on to us

I guess that super-secret Conservative plan... to brand & banish homosexuals to Baffin Island is gonna have to be moved up...

"What matters here is the precedent being set. After the witch hunt against the CBC, who’s next? Museums, obviously. And then what?"

Your Globe & Mail... never afraid to ask the really hard questions.

L'audace, l'audace, toujours l'audace

No beatin' around the truffles here, huh?

You know what'd be really scary, Chantal...

...putting the NDP in charge of absolutely anything important...

The planned ad, provided Sunday to The Globe and Mail, pictured the wrong version of that gun, one that is already restricted and will still have to be registered after Parliament votes to scrap the registry for most long guns.

Now the NDP hastily changing the billboards in time for them to be put up in three cities this week, picturing a different gun – a Steyr HS .50 – which is a non-restricted firearm. “We are updating it,” said NDP national director Chantal Vallerand.

Now maybe that explains everything... you know... like how a non-legally blind, non-special needs adult could mistake a legitimate medical therapy outlet... for a sleazy Chinatown rub'n-tug.

Of course... it's not like we haven't seen this sort of hastily manufactured propaganda before...

"So when Hanoi Jane Taber teams up with National Liberal Fund director Adam Smith... to rage against deconstruction of the 2 billion dollar "Farmer Bob Rifle Registry"... why exactly do they lead off with a picture of a prohibited assault rifle with an illegal 30 round clip?"

Facts? We don' need no steenkin' facts!!!

**********

UPDATE: Airbrushing the Politburo

Ah, yes... the correction. This makes it all better.

What's the world coming to... when you can't even drive your armoured personnel carrier down to the local grocery store without getting sniped by your nasty Tea Party neighbours?

"The Steyr HS .50 can pierce an armoured target from a kilometre-and-a-half away."

The NDP... protecting you from, well... anything you can possibly imagine.

**********

THANK YOU COMMENT MODERATION:

From the same dumb anony-bunny who's always screeching about the "machine gun" registry...

"Thank you mein Fuehrer! Heil Harper!"

Yup, nonny... you do all the work for me.

Heading back home...

...after yet another unsettling trip to the Devil's Armpit.

Just got the post-surgical signoff on my recently repaired knee... seems all is as it should be. I'm told another 6 weeks I'll be tap-dancing my way out to the woodpile.

Really lousy sleep last night... probably should have spent another night at Mrs Neo's bro's... but I really just wanna be back in my cave, surrounded by my tribe.

Loaded up on caffeine & sugar at the highway rest stop, but may just find myself a secluded spot out by the big rigs and grab some safety zees. No sense tempting the gawds.

Must be gettin' old... time was I'd put myself on autopilot... damn the torpedoes and drive on.

Older AND wiser... I guess that's something.

So one minute... we're all being forced...

...to use food banks and sleep under bridges... and then, suddenly... nay, miraculously...
Here's a question, folks... do any of you actually know... and I mean personally... any of the self-named "99 percenters" who are camped out at these gaudy victimfests?

Do these incoherent, unwashed protestors huddled around the "sacred fire" huffing taxpayer subsidised medical marijuana truly represent your interests... or is it just the same, tired ol' demographic of "professional" loudmouths who turn up to smash windows, burn a few police cars and provide the same over-rehearsed soundbites to the same gullible "journalistas"?

It sure doesn't stop the MSM from buying into all of their specious arguments, does it?

I mean... are we all going down the financial shitter... or trampling fellow shoppers in a mad rush to satiate our evil inner-capitalist? Which is it... Tickle-Me Elmo... or pass the goddamn syringe?

I wish Peter & Lisa and David Suzuki would make up their minds... because they can't have it both ways... unless we let them.

And this is news... how?

Hmmm, gonna go out on a limb here... and hazard a guess you ain't gonna find him in his birthday suit at some sketchy Chinatown massage parlour either...BUT IT'S STILL NOT NEWS.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"I do not have a problem with legalizing all drugs: pot, cocaine, heroin PROVIDED we completely dismantle the welfare state; medicare, pharmacare, public education, social assistance including CPP and OAS."

"If one chooses to waste their life on drugs (including booze & tobacco) I should not be compelled to pay the bill."

**********

RELATED: Who's torquing your headlines?

Here's a hint... it ain't Karl Rove or the Tea Party...

Britain’s leading green activist research centre spent £15,000 on seminars for top BBC executives in an apparent bid to block climate change sceptics from the airwaves, a vast new cache of leaked ‘Climategate’ emails has revealed.

They show that University staff vetted BBC scripts, used their contacts at the Corporation to stop sceptics being interviewed and were consulted about how the broadcaster should alter its programme output.

**********

LAST WORD: Yup... that's just how...

...I remember it.

Calling all cars... calling all cars...

...let's start rounding up those farmers, duck hunters and skeet shooters... yet again...

• TORONTO • A concierge was shot in the leg after confronting an armed man in a downtown condo.

It happened at a building across from Harbourfront Centre at Queens Quay West and Lower Simcoe Street.

**********

RELATED: New mandatory "spork" regulation?

Three men were stabbed in a fight in the entertainment district overnight.

Police say they found the victims in two different locations when they arrived in the area around 2:30 a.m.

The True North... strong...

...and almost free...

• MONTREAL • The playgrounds, hallways and cafeterias of Quebec’s largest school board will soon be French-only zones as authorities move to silence other languages, even during recess.

In a bid to ensure its 110,000 students master French, the Commission scolaire de Montréal has announced a new code of conduct declaring French de rigueur at all times during the school day.

Just another step on the road to cultural fascism.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Isn't that the same thing that happened in the Residential Schools?"

FROM THE COMMENTS:

If only the greedy, wily, white men would allow an aboriginal system of governance to spread from sea to shining sea...

"If we kept control of our lands then you would never have to pay taxes."

"You would live free and be free to pursue your own way of life if we claimed this land." "We would never leave anybody starving or homeless."

"Every cent we made off of resources would be evenly distributed among those that are struggling and those that are well off would help those that are less fortunate."

(via sda)

A $200 RIM Playbook...

...deal or no deal?

**********

UPDATE: Jailbreaking the Playbook

"Mr. Wade and his partners, who wished to remain anonymous, said they will soon release the patch to Dingleberry.it, where users can download it to jailbreak their own tablets."

"'Now that it’s opened up, you’re going to see a lot more attacks on RIM,' Mr. Wade said. 'It may actually even boost RIM’s sales'."

Same Planet... Different Worlds

Scenario 1:

I had mixed feelings about hunting from the start. I like the outdoors and being alone in the bush. A summer job tree planting near White River was enjoyable as much for its solitude as anything else. I liked the idea of taking up one of my father’s pastimes.

I believe anyone who eats meat should probably confront the fact that an animal is killed so they can do so. And I know most hunted animals have a better life and death than commercially raised and slaughtered livestock.

I also like eating venison.

Scenario 2:

Occupiers gathered around the edge of the garbage truck to lambaste city officials. “That’s why we don’t like public officials, because you do stuff like this,” one man shouted.

Other protesters were arguing with police, accusing them of unjustly "destroying our home" and "propping up a corrupt system." Others were beating a drum and chanting “we occupy” and “make the rich pay.”

Protesters had been shouting at police, with a spontaneous chant erupting of “Whose park? Our park.”

Identify the 99%.

POP QUIZ

Just how long does it take... for a King Dipper wannabe... to repudiate everything Saint Jacko ever stood for? -- ANSWER -- at least 24 hours... the paperwork is incredible...

"Cullen and three other candidates said they wouldn't bring it back."

"A fourth big-city candidate, Thomas Mulcair of Montreal, said through a spokesman that he wasn't at this point taking a position on the issue."

Yet another courageous socialist stand, huh Thomas?

I guess the poll results aren't in yet.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Cullen is my MP and has opposed the gun registry from the start, or so he says. He has managed to be absent from the HOC every time it comes up for a vote."

Gotta love those flexible Dipper principles.

Ask a "professional" journalist

Property rights & self defence... oh, the horror...

"The Harper government has re-introduced legislation that expands the circumstances under which a citizen’s arrest can be made and that also aims to simplify laws related to self-defence and defence of property."

Hey, call me wacky... that sounds... especially in light of the recent David Chen fiasco... like a good thing.

I guess, though... I'm not as visionary as "professional" journalist Douglas Quan... who boldly tosses a soupçon of post-Harper, (aka post-apocalyptic) spice into the journalistic stew...

"Some [APPARENTLY UNSPECIFIED... my emphasis] legal and security experts have expressed concerns the proposed reforms could lead to vigilantism, but the government says there are enough safeguards in place."

Really, Doug... "some" people? And they have "expertise", you say?

Would you care to elaborate... or should we just picture half-starved, trans-gendered, young offender shoplifters dangling from shopping centre lamp posts?

I swear... these days it's all about vague, unsubstantiated throw-away lines.

Do papers actually employ editors anymore?

**********

RELATED: That's not journalism...

...this is journalism...

"What's so damned special about junkies that they merit the equivalent of a taxpayer funded drunk drivers' lane with rescue teams at the ready?"

Basking in their brilliance... it's Job #1

Until not a single McDreamy socialist ass... remains unkissed.

I swear, there's no one who represents that unrepentant dumbed-down bias like the Globe's Jane Taber. What's life without a dream, huh Janie? And, hey... you get a twofer here... a celebration of Juicy Justin putting yet another one of those dumb as dogshit tea-party wannabees in their place.

You go, girl... all that was missing were the dulcet tones of "Abraham, Martin & John."

Gawd... I miss actual news.

And what about Lisa Laflamme's presentation of Sidney Crosby's chiropracter's upside-downy spinny machine on CTV's national newscast?

I didn't exactly follow Doctor Boneshaker's explanation about "bees in your head"... but I'm sure it involves the same sort of rigorous double-blind testing that Breathe-Rite Nasal Strips are subject to.

How exactly does any of this promote intelligent discourse? No wonder the citizen-media is so popular these days.

**********

UPDATE: It gets better...

"We are amused, but hardly surprised, to see that the mainstream media has moved beyond writing questions for the Liberals, and is now writing their points of order too."

That secretive, controlling Stephen Harp...

...wait a minute...Alright, Poindexter... put your hands where I can see them... and step away from the Speedo...

-1611- Carter: "It seems that a few people have a very strong say, and no matter how much talking goes on beforehand, the big decisions are made at the eleventh hour by a select core group."

Hmmm... maybe we're not all gonna die after all, huh?

**********

UPDATE: Get the goodies here

Darn it all, Mr President... we're so sorry...

...but heck, now that you've spelled it out... maybe, just maybe... next time around... we'll measure up...

"Canada must first be certified as a fit place to send a convicted terrorist, a nation not likely to permit him to attack the United States, and one that has control of its prisons."

This is exactly what I heard...

...on my latest visit to the Devil's Armpit for a little day surgery...

Just this week, an opinion poll showed that new arrivals believe just as strongly as home-grown Canadians that people who come to this country should adapt and integrate.

The vast majority of immigrants don’t want separate schools or different treatment. They just want to be treated like everyone else.

Perhaps somebody oughta share that news with the TDSB.

On my cab ride back from the hospital to Mrs Neo's brother's place, I had quite a conversation with my driver. A Pakistani Muslim, who had spent 20 years working in Saudi Arabia... this man had enthusiastically embraced the Canadian Dream.

Sure, he wasn't chairing the board of a top 10 Canadian corporation... but it sounded like his two sons (one finishing up a business degree at York University, the other enrolled in a Systems Information co-op program at Waterloo) had every chance of making that a reality.

This guy was articulate & intelligent and despite being employed at a job far below his capabilities... was thankful to be here in Ontario. Like the Italian immigrants who came to Canada in the middle of the last century and built Toronto brick by brick... he was making a better life for his family.

And driving a cab was the price he was willing... nay, eager... to personally pay to make that happen.

The point is... his children were excelling within the system... and he would no more have enrolled them at Token U than poked himself in the eye with a sharp stick.

That, my friends, is the type of person who will ensure that Canada continues to be the shining beacon of democracy that it has been these last 350 years.

This man is worth a dozen Occubots. Maybe we could arrange some sort of exchange program with socially & financially disadvantaged countries to swap out some of our misfit toys.

**********

RELATED: Compare & contrast

There is, of course, two sides to every coin...

"After receiving no response to the jiggling rope, Hamed got in his car and left, driving through the night to Montreal, about three hours away."

If you took every wind turbine...

...on the face of this earth... and used that money to prop up health care... how many lives you figure you could save?

When an honest history of this period in the United States is written, it will not be kind to the corporate cronyism that preyed upon public ignorance of earth science to create a crisis — global warming — to exploit and loot the Treasury.

In the best wind spots on earth, over 14,000 turbines were simply abandoned. Spinning, post-industrial junk which generates nothing but bird kills.

So there's the dumbass Occubots...

...and people who really put their lives on the line...

“If I go home, most probably they will kill me.”

CASE CLOSED

Hey, c'mon now... he jiggled the damn rope...

Hamed was urging them to make a U-turn so they could return to the motel, when all of a sudden the car went into the water, he said. So he sounded the horn of the Lexus, then got a rope.

"I put the rope a few times in the water ... nothing happened," Hamed said. "I moved it a little bit to see if they take it."

Well, you certainly can't ask for a more heroic effort than that.

After receiving no response to the jiggling rope, Hamed got in his car and left, driving through the night to Montreal, about three hours away.

He didn't call police or tell his parents because he thought he would get in trouble for allowing Zainab to drive.

I can only hope the systemically racist Canadian justice system is getting poor Hamed counselling for his traumatic experience here.

Is it just me... or is anybody else...

...still waiting on Queen Lizzie to pony up that "Highland Clearances" abuse cheque?

FROM THE COMMENTS:

That's funny... most folks just don't seem to be as enthusiastic about segregation as the TDSB...**********

RELATED: And Martin Luther King wept...

-- NEW PALTZ -- A sign reading "Colored only" was found posted over a drinking fountain in the Humanities Building Nov. 8. The sign was removed and posted on Facebook by outraged students.

Hang on a second, apparently... in compassionate, intellectual Toronto... they would have brought out the champagne & party hats.

What's up with the troglodytes in New York state?

So, the Liberals spend 2 billion dollars...

...on the "Farmer Bob Rifle Registry"... turns out what we really need are more frontline peace officers...

-- TORONTO -- The finely-honed skills of a Canadian border guard in Vancouver have helped keep hundreds of potentially-lethal weapons from reaching the streets of Toronto.

Toronto Police on Wednesday unveiled over 200 illegal weapons that were seized from a Danforth Ave.-Dawes Rd. area apartment last Thursday.

A woman, Muna El Badri, 23, of Toronto, faces 185 weapons-related charges. Police are on the hunt for a second suspect — Keri Ellias McKnight, 30, who has past robbery, weapons and drug-related convictions.

Just something to think about... the next time you hear Bob Rae crapping on "tough on crime" legislation.

**********

THANK YOU COMMENT MODERATION:

Still getting bombarded by uber-troll nonny... his latest round of self-perceived wisdom concerns a mythical "machinegun registry".

I'll spare you the dreary details, save to say it's the same dunce who prattled...

"new harris decima poll puts support for registry at 48%, 35% against. do the math."

"ps. we don't need a coaltion(sic) to take down harpo."
Posted by Anonymous to halls of macadamia at 3:04 PM, September 07, 2010

That "take down" thing you were yippin' about, nonny... how's that workin' out for ya?

Whaddaya wanna bet...

...they skip right over that embarrassing little "shiatsu" thing?

-- TORONTO -- Chow says her husband of 22 years, who died Aug. 22 of an undisclosed cancer, was a tireless crusader who proved one person can make a difference.

“And he always went about it in Jack’s own way, which in some ways is a fascinating story.

Hope, Change and...

...can you help a brutha out?

-- WASHINGTON DC -- The Obama administration, which gave the solar company Solyndra a half-billion-dollar loan to help create jobs, asked the company to delay announcing it would lay off workers until after the hotly contested November 2010 midterm elections that imperiled Democratic control of Congress, newly released e-mails show.

But, but, but... isn't he McDreamy?

A READER WRITES:

I swear to gawd... somebody please, please, please... tell me this is bullshit.

We have the technology

Getting a bit of a surgical tuneup... blogging will be light.

And while we're talkin' about...

...double standards.

**********

RELATED: Kill the CBC...

...do it now.

That secretive, controlling Stephen Harp...

...wait a minute...
They take a billion dollar taxpayer handout every year... just something to remember... the next time you hear Peter Mansworth ranting about the Prime Minister not providing full disclosure to the Canadian people.

**********

UPDATE: Look who blinked

-- OTTAWA -- The CBC has relinquished Access to Information documents to the House of Commons ethics committee. One envelope is open while the other is sealed and the CBC hopes MPs won't open the sealed one.

The CBC is fighting the information commissioner in court.

Kill this thing... and use the annual billion dollar subsidy to prop up health care.

Do it now.

I hear the Toronto Homicide Squad...

...is rounding up farmers, deer hunters and skeet shooters as we speak...

Police are searching for two suspects after a man was shot in the neck outside a west-end grocery store Saturday afternoon. The shots rang out around 4:45 p.m. in front of the FreshCo on Eglinton Avenue West, near Caledonia.

The victim is said to be between 25 and 30 years old. He was rushed to hospital and remains in critical condition.

The suspects are described as white, about five feet, five inches tall with slim builds. They were last seen running west on Venn Crescent.

Tonight's CTV Moonbat Moment

Geez, Sandi... that really would be news... 'cos the way I heard it, she was "THE INSTIGATOR." With apologies to Crocodile Dundee... that ain't a victim.

Cynical... me?

Ever wonder how politics really works?

That flowering of democracy...

...everybody was crowing about... I'm thinkin' there may still be a few bugs in the system...

Pelland, 34, a school teacher and a soccer coach, was shot in the chest after his driver refused to stop at an illegal roadblock set up by a tribe in the village of Al-Samata.

Pelland was employed by the British Columbia Canadian International School, which according to its website teaches primary education "to the citizens and guests of Egypt."

Maybe democracy is in the eye of the beholder...

Just something to ponder, next time...

...Peace Moonbeam starts cryin' about Conservative crime bills...

What's a little contagion, homicide...

...or narcotic syncopy among friends?

-- HALIFAX NS -- Mayor Peter Kelly issued a statement saying the demonstrators' occupation of the parks simply isn't fair to other residents.

"Council and the public have respected the right to peaceful protest and free assembly, but the time has come for the encampment to end," Kelly said in a statement released Friday.

"Our parks are for all of the public, not an unregulated campground for some."

Simple yet eloquent.

My question is... where's Mayor Rob Ford on the miscreants holding Hogtown hostage?

Not any "99 percent" I'm familiar with

Oh my gawd... violent, disease-ridden Tea party demonstra... wait a minute...

The city closed half of City Hall Park and put a halt to all camping at the Occupy Burlington site Thursday night while police investigate a shooting in a tent that cost a 35-year-old man his life.

Meanwhile, down in Atlanta, contagion continues to spread...

A homeless shelter that has been housing more than 100 "Occupy Atlanta" protesters has tested positive for tuberculosis, WGCL-TV reported Thursday.

At least two people at the Atlanta shelter have contracted the air-borne disease, a highly contagious bacterial infection that affects the lungs and other organs.

"One of these persons was confirmed to have a strain of TB that is resistant to a single, standard medication."

And over in sunny Lotus Land...

The Oakland killing is further straining relations between local officials and anti-Wall Street protesters.

Yup... apparently the pestilence & death is also spreading north of the border.

An interesting contrast to solemn crowds of veterans in their late eighties standing at attention for hours in zero degree weather to pay tribute to their fallen comrades.

I know who my 99% are.

**********

UPDATE: Darwin was right

I'm beginning to rethink shutting down these protests...

-- SALT LAKE CITY -- A dead body was found in a tent at Pioneer Park Friday morning.

The body was identified as a male member of the Occupy SLC group, but Salt Lake City police officers are saying it is not suspicious, but the cause is unknown.

We just leave 'em alone over the winter... Mother Nature & Mother Malthus will thin out the herd.

Remembrance and gratitude

Do you know someone who enlisted in Canada to fight in World War I?

Search the WWI CEF database

My wife's grandfather, a member of the Canadian Cyclist Battalion, (pictured, in the kilt) was wounded by German shelling and carried around shrapnel from WWI for the rest of his life.

He was one of the lucky ones... who got to come back and have a family and live out a long, productive and rewarding life.

His son, my late father-in-law, enlisted in the Air Force right out of high school and was being streamed to Bomber Command when WWII ended.

Others, of course, weren't so fortunate. Do you know a Canadian soldier killed while serving overseas?

Search the Commonwealth War Graves

"Good sense, innocence, cripplin' mankind"

..."Dead kings, many things, I can't define"...Let the beatification begin...

"She lived an authentic life — her philosophy was that one should never judge others."

Or, apparently... anything about herself.

Ironically... a little "self-judgement" here would probably have been a lifesaver.

What a waste.

**********

RELATED: Give it a couple of days...

...and the lunatic left will have forgotten all about Ashlie Gough.

They've obviously got bigger fish, er... birds to fry...
'Cos that's just how they roll...

"It has been called unfair and heart-breaking. Others still are accusing the zoo of attempting to force the penguins into the 'patriarchal sex-trade industry'."

OH MY GAWD...

...WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!...
Uh... wait a minute...

Mr. Cassidy says the most vulnerable region is the West Coast, which has been hit with giant magnitude-9.0 quakes 13 times in the last 6,000 years, the last of them about 300 years ago.

He says B.C. is in the window in which a massive tremor might strike, but acknowledges it's a big window, spanning 200 to 850 years.

Professional journalists... your ethical & intellectual superiors.

Speaking of science, I hate winter...so where's my freakin' global warming.

You guys promised.

Speaking of journalistic hokum... this one takes the prize...

In an interview with the Star, Rae said he was struck by some of the people he met at Toronto’s Occupy demonstrations in St. James Park — middle-class people such as teachers or accountants who feel that their concerns and fears are being ignored by the polarized, political class in Ottawa.

Fortunately, there are journos out there who don't take the bait...

Accountants in the yurts? Teachers in the tents? Mr. Rae must have stumbled into the Occupy Toronto suburbs, where the tents have two-car garages and neat, carefully-kept lawns.

Or, you go with Occam's Razor... he's simply lying.

Somewhere... over the rainbow...

...Jack Layton is smiling...

-- OTTAWA -- "Now the challenge is to figure out what to do next, in consultation with the whole community," he said.

You mean... not just the 115 people who responded to the initial 1,400 surveys?

And, c'mon... shout it out... where's Bondage Parkway and Flaming Queen Street?

Maybe the question should have been...

..."Would you take any one of these smelly, semi-professional miscreants home to have dinner with your family?"

"The most significant demographic that views the Occupy movement favourably is people who are between 18 and 29 years of age, the poll found.

Most of those who viewed the Occupy protests unfavourably said it was because they believed it was pointless or lacked leadership."

Looks like they have the irrational homeless junkie vote sewed up...

“I wish there had been perhaps less shouting because I think the questions are really important, and I just hope that some of the people who were here weren’t put off.”

He said he thought he could get attention and urge people to cool it, but it did not work. Neither did repeated calls for calm from the church lectern in which he named specific activists.

At one point, he became particularly angry when one activist threatened a riot.

Yeah... I'm shocked.

**********

RELATED: Mic check?

Maybe they should have had a spike check...

Guess which image the fuzzy-bunny Canadian media is running with.

**********

LAST WORD: Definitely not the 99%...

...that I pal around with...

Alcohol and drug use are prevalent in the park, where many area homeless have taken up residence. There have also been incidents of violence and even an alleged sex assault.

I know where my child is... and surprise, surprise... it's not guzzling whiskey & sharing syringes with unwashed strangers in a makeshift junkie hellhole.

What about love?

It'd make at least as much sense as the rest of these things... Occupy Toronto Zoo...

**********

RELATED: The Christy Clark Liberals...

...they're flexible...Losing sight of alleged core values... the left cozies up to foreign cash cow...

Spencer Chandra Herbert, the B.C. New Democratic Party tourism critic, said the B.C. government still needs to explain how that passage came to be written into the guidebook. More worrisome, he added, is how far the B.C. government seems willing to go to appease China as it seeks to gain more market access to the fast-growing economy.

“From what I have seen so far, they have glossed over the human rights challenge in China and we need to address that.”

Address it... but not too closely... right?

The B.C. New Democrats have also pushed for trade with China despite its human rights record, and Mr. Chandra Herbert was careful not to criticize the government for the trade mission.

Just another confusing day in the socialist paradise that is British Columbia.

Statesmanship 101

Lesson 1... fostering "Trust & Respect"...

Behold the inevitable result...

...of putting national pride on the back burner...

Four suspects were caught on camera vandalizing a war memorial in front of a Toronto school, the principal said Monday after the cenotaph was damaged ahead of Remembrance Day for the second straight year.

Toronto District School Board officials said four young men vandalized a First World War memorial in front of Malvern Collegiate, near Gerrard Street E. & Main Street, on Sunday.

"For me there is a certain arrogant contempt for the community when these young men could come and with such casual consideration decide what they were going to do, do it and then take pictures of themselves defacing the monument."

Ah yes, Toronto... that preening bastion of Liberal values.

Hey, CTV... you forgot to show us the videotape.

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THE COMPASSIONATE, INTELLECTUAL LEFT REPLIES:

"They also don't want vigilantes like yourself executing these idiots for destroying property."

Just another nugget from the genius who sends me a dozen "Heil Harper" emails every week.

I guess he gets all those hot tips...

...straight from his buddy... the Hidden Imam...

"Ahmadinejad repeated that Iran does not own a nuclear bomb, but said Israel's end was inevitable." --

That wacky Mahmoud... always the life of the party.

FROM THE COMMENTS:

Personally, I think she should have waited to consult with Lindsay Lohan...

Whatever happened to...

"...if it only saves a single life"...

"Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson has taken a largely hands-off approach to the Occupy movement, hoping it comes to a close on its own - but he has publicly mulled over the possibility of using safety concerns as a means to call for the camp to disband."

Geez, Gregor... is it possible "mulling" & "hoping" isn't what this particular situation calls for?Well, whatever else you might say about the protesters... they're resilient.

"In spite of the investigation on site, veteran Vancouver punk band DOA played a scheduled concert at Occupy Vancouver on Saturday evening."

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UPDATE: Scratch a lefty... find a raving loon

"After a couple of frustrating social media hours last night, attempting to reach the mass of brainwashed corporate media junkies, I began to wonder if it wasn't all just a big set up."

"What if the authorities knowingly allowed tainted heroin to enter the camp? Wouldn't that be a convenient turn of events. Some idiot called me a bitch, and I logged out."

Sure, Peace Moonbeam... it must've been, what... Mayor Robertson's heroin connection?

I'm surprised you didn't try to blame Stephen Harper.

Goodbye Farmer Bob Rifle Registry

But, but, but... you're not cracking down on farmers, hunters and those dastardly skeet shooters... how on earth you gonna solve the scourge of urban handgun crime?Just another day in paradise.

You ever wonder how many front line police officers we could have hired with 2 billion taxpayer dollars?

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UPDATE: Bright lights, big city...

"Toronto Police are looking for a suspect following a shooting in the city's west end early Sunday morning."

"Police said a man in his 20s was shot twice in the leg during an altercation near Dundas Street West and Euclid Avenue at around 4:30 a.m."

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LAST WORD: Here's a thought...

...how about we start registering sociopaths?

You're worried about, what... Greece?

...pish, tosh lads... wake up and smell the geopolitical thermonuclear nightmare...

"Much of the world, of course, is anxious about the security of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, and for good reason: Pakistan is an unstable and violent country located at the epicenter of global jihadism, and it has been the foremost supplier of nuclear technology to such rogue states as Iran and North Korea."

"It is perfectly sensible to believe that Pakistan might not be the safest place on Earth to warehouse 100 or more nuclear weapons."

Actually, to be perfectly honest... it's way worse than you might think.

"The Pakistani government is willing to make its nuclear weapons more vulnerable to theft by jihadists simply to hide them from the United States, the country that funds much of its military budget,” Jeffrey Goldberg and Marc Ambinder write."

Sorry Peace Moonbeam... just because you saw Pervez Musharraf make nice on Jon Stewart's Daily Show doesn't mean everything is hunky-dory...

Public pronouncements to the contrary, very few figures in the highest ranks of the American and Pakistani governments suffer from the illusion that their countries are anything but adversaries, whose national-security interests clash radically and, it seems, permanently.

But, of course... you say Catholicism...

...the first word that comes to mind... is flexibility...

"Trudeau added that neither he nor his father saw any incongruity between enshrining the rights of gays and lesbians, for example, and the tenets of Catholicism."

"He notes that he is personally very opposed to abortion, but still believes nobody can tell a woman what she should do with her body."

Well, Justin... I know a guy named Ratzinger who might just choose to disagree.

The thing is, I couldn't actually give a rat's patootie about Justin's religious bent. I am a little concerned, however... about his profligate Liberal ways...

"The highest-spending MP with the smallest riding by area in Canada was Liberal Justin Trudeau. He represents the Montreal riding of Papineau, just 9 square kilometres with 70,115 electors. He spent $445,566.97 — or $6.35 per voter, or $49,507 per square kilometre."

Now, unless I'm mistaken, Papineau is one of Quebec's, if not Canada's... less well-off ridings.

Unless he was buying everybody snacks... I'm gonna call bullshit on Justin's supposed eligibility for sainthood.

Wake up, folks... and smell the professional political class.

Let's face it... no one really needs...

...alcohol, or tobacco, or sex toys, or comedians, or xbox, or poetry, or...

The banning instinct is never slaked. Once it has succeeded in prohibiting guns, it will turn itself to offensive speech or unhealthy food.

Who, exactly... gets to decide what constitutes "necessity?"

But above all, it always worries me when the concept of "need" enters the debate, as in (to quote one of my colleagues): "Why do farmers and hunters need sniper rifles?"

The concept of "need" is antithetic to freedom in a democracy where the citizens are sovereign. No one needs a car that goes more than 110 km/ hr, because that is the highest speed limit in the country.

So should any of us who want to drive more than a Smart Car or Fiat have to go cap in hand to a government official and explain our "need" for, say, a sports car, before we are granted the right to buy one?

The Codetalkers

Oh, those dastardly "north-enders"...

-- TORONTO -- A double shooting near a school in the city’s north end sent two teenagers to hospital this morning.

The shooting happened around 10 a.m. near Oakdale Park Middle School, in the Jane St. and Grandravine Dr. area.

Don't you worry, though... the police are following up some really solid leads...

Police say they are looking for a young, tall male suspect.

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UPDATE: Uh, Sherry... you really wanna help...

...maybe you should be handing out kevlar...

Sherry Schwartz-Maltz, spokesperson for the TDSB, said they were making social workers available to the 560 Oakdale students.

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RELATED: Violence... what youth violence?

Three teenagers have been charged in connection with the shooting death of another Toronto teenager, who was found dead in a stairway last month.

Bradley Matheson, 19, was found with gunshot wounds to his upper body at the East York apartment building where he was pronounced dead on Oct. 14.

On Thursday, police announced that three Toronto boys, two 16 and one 15, had been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the case. They can’t be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

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LAST WORD: Maybe the cupboard IS bare...

...after eco-Dalton handed a billion dollars to the windmill people.

What exactly are we talking about here?

The legislation would impose mandatory minimum sentences for some drug crimes and toughen punishments for violent young offenders, among other changes.

And some folks have a problem with that?

Seriously?

So what is the split here?

Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia have all said they are in favour of the bill, while Ontario and Quebec have joined forces to fight it.

Wow... the Ontario Liberals are against tougher sentencing for violent offenders. No wonder schoolyard shootings are constantly in the news.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said Wednesday. “If there are accompanying costs, we’re not prepared to accept those in Ontario.”

Apparently justice does have a price... for Dalton & the Liberals.

If only he was as circumspect about those other pesky little budget items...

-- Oct. 31, 2009 -- Premier Dalton McGuinty is defending an untendered, $81-million contract for an energy centre built to power a casino in Windsor.

In other "Israel doesn't bluff" news

-- JERUSALEM -- An Israeli official said Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to persuade his Cabinet to authorize a military strike against Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program — a discussion that comes as Israel successfully tests a missile believed capable of carrying a nuclear warhead to Iran.

The government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing sensitive internal deliberations, told The Associated Press that the option is now being debated at the highest levels.

It's important to understand there is a best-before date here...

"Britain's armed forces are stepping up their contingency planning for potential military action against Iran amid mounting concern about Tehran's nuclear enrichment programme, the Guardian has learned."

"'Beyond 12 months, we couldn't be sure our missiles could reach them,' the source said. 'So the window is closing, and the UK needs to do some sensible forward planning.'"

"The US could do this on their own but they won't."

I guess, before too long, we'll see where President McDreamy lands on this one.

What's a little literary criticism...

...among friends?

-- PARIS -- Charlie Hedbo's editor-in-chief, known as Charb, told France Info radio: "We no longer have a newspaper. All our equipment has been destroyed or has melted."

Okay now, everybody just settle down... just remember, in a democracy, it's important that everyone be free to express... wait a minute...

And don't you think... even for a second...

...that little Princess Snotring isn't ever-so-grateful...

-- London, ON -- "Ken Lewenza has told London CAW officials to give the occupiers, 'whatever they need,' and to help them resist any forced evacuation from the park, Tim Carrie, president of CAW Local 27, said Wednesday."

Hey, Ken... that "resisting" thing... ...that'd be, well... the forces of law & order... right? Oh, c'mon, you know... the people you run to when the "occupiers" take a shit in your front yard.

But, heck... why use words when a picture says it all?

And, what exactly does this woman claim to do... when she's not out fighting social injustice? I swear... I almost herniated myself when I found out.

But, hey... as long as everybody's having a good time, right?

Occupy Wall Street protesters are flocking to nearby health clinics for STD and HIV testing after getting their freak on in ’60s-style hookups with crusty strangers, sources told The Post yesterday.

“Last week was free love,” said a medical professional at a clinic located a short walk from Zuccotti Park, referring to the number of people who organizers have referred for sexually transmitted disease testing.

Does Ken Lewenza have any daughters?

What's the bet, if he does... they're not out sharing their idealogy AND VAGINAS with total strangers?

"Confirmation bias"...

...I love the way it just rolls off your tongue.

Yup... that's some unique cultural identity...

...you got goin' there...

Quebec's Justice Minister says his province simply won't pay the costs associated with the federal government's new crime bill.

Jean-Marc Fournier told a Commons committee that Quebec's criminal justice system is the envy of the world, and his government simply won't pay for changes that would jeopardize that.

I guess you folks in "la belle province" know all about crime & criminals...

Gotta say, Jean-Marc... you've got more nerve than Dick Tracy...

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

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RELATED: Dalton sides with Parti Québécois

The federal law-and-order agenda is out of sync with the priorities of his government.

Yeah... there's a shocker. Seems we read about the Liberal "catch & release" agenda every day.

The Premier made it clear he is prepared to wage another very public battle with Mr. Harper, with whom he has had an on-and-off relationship in recent years.

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

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THE COMPASSIONATE, INTELLECTUAL LEFT REPLIES:

"I'm getting the "Lepine special" rifle, the one he used to murder 14 women, in honour of the registry being scrapped. I can sell them to bad guys, and nobody will know."

Lepine, Lepine... that sounds so familiar.

That evil, controlling George W...

...wait a minute...

White House involvement in FOIA has also drastically increased under Obama. Under the Bush administration, release of records was controlled by the agency that possessed them, with little or no involvement from the White House.

Agencies must now consult with Obama's counsel before releasing any records involving the White House. This not only slows down the process, but gives the White House much more power in what information is made public.

Perhaps the best example of transparency under Obama is this: When the new FOIA guidelines were issued, DOJ also announced a conference addressing how the guidelines would "establish a new era of open government."

That conference was closed to the public.

From the fun folks who brought you...

...lead-painted baby toys...

When an unsuspecting recipient opens the attachment, it installs "PoisonIvy," a Remote Access Trojan (RAT) that can take control of a machine and that is easily available over the Internet.

While the hackers' behavior differed slightly in each case, they typically identified desired intellectual property, copied it and uploaded it to a remote server.

The Nitro campaign is the latest in a series of highly targeted cyber attacks that security experts say are likely the work of government-backed hackers.

Yeah, sure... it's all fun & games until somebody loses a satellite.