Don't fool yourself

This ruling wasn't about guns. It was about personal freedoms... and the rights of law-abiding citizens.

And it's especially interesting to note where the two presidential hopefuls shake out here.

-- WASHINGTON -- John McCain welcomed a Supreme Court decision invalidating a District of Columbia handgun ban. Barack Obama sought to straddle the subject by saying he favors an individual's right to bear firearms as well as a government's right to regulate them.

McCain, to his credit, doesn't mince words.

"This ruling does not mark the end of our struggle against those who seek to limit the rights of law-abiding citizens. We must always remain vigilant in defense of our freedoms."

Obama, on the other hand, and not for the first time... tries to spin this thing both ways.

In other instances, Obama refused to articulate a position when asked whether he thought the D.C. ban was constitutional.

The campaign would not answer directly Thursday when asked whether the candidate agreed with the court that the D.C. ban was unconstitutional, simply pointing back to his statement.

I happen to believe that, in a democracy, the rights of law-abiding citizens are way up near the top of the page.

Maybe Barack Obama should stop trying to play both sides of the street... and decide whether that's important to him as well.

**********

UPDATE: CTV does it again

Just watched Lloyd and company, during a report on this very story... (a handgun ban in Washington, DC)... run a montage of images of various persons noisily firing machine guns.

How's that for journalistic integrity?

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LAST WORD: What's up with the Supremes?

The Supreme Court Second Amendment decision comes on the heels of decisions to allow enemy combatants access to the American legal system and striking down death penalties for child rapists.

The decisions exemplify the fault lines in American political opinion and how they are played out in the courts.

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Just a little off the top, huh?

Gotta say... I get queasy just thinkin' about this.

-- ZURICH, Switzerland -- A Swiss court has found the Somali-born parents of a teenage girl guilty of arranging the removal of their daughter's clitoris.

It is the first time a court in Switzerland has ruled on female circumcision.

The court in Zurich handed the parents each a two-year suspended prison sentence and ordered them to pay their daughter compensation to be determined later.

A suspended sentence.

That'll teach 'em.

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RELATED: Meanwhile, back in the GTA

"But in a collective honour-based society, if one person loses his or her honour, then the whole family, clan or village loses its honour, too."

*

While Canada...

...works on banning "hurtful words"... the United States of America reaffirms the constitutional right of the citizenry to "armed self-defense."

-- Bloomberg -- A divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution protects individual gun rights, striking down the District of Columbia's handgun ban and raising election- year questions about weapons restrictions elsewhere.

The 5-4 ruling resolves a constitutional question that had lurked for two centuries.

The majority justices said they had "no doubt, on the basis of both text and history, that the Second Amendment conferred an individual right to keep and bear arms."

Speaking as someone who has actually possessed a "concealed carry permit"... (no... of course not in Canada)... I applaud this decision.

And while the right to keep and bear arms does not currently exist in Canada... I would advise local junkies, burglars and other assorted miscreants to head for fuzzy-bunny Toronto to ply their trade.

In this neck of the woods... we fight back.

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UPDATE: Speaking of "hurtful words"

"Anyway, Kady O'Malley came up with her slim red BlackBerry in hand and told us the Canadian Human Rights Commission had dropped its complaint against Maclean's for the excerpt from Mark's book America Alone."

"Mark said he was disappointed, and joked that maybe he should appeal the decision."

*

Gotta watch that bias, huh Max?

I don't know if I can subscribe to the theory that justice is... or can even pretend to be... totally blind.

-- OTTAWA -- The Federal Court has struck down Justice John Gomery's 2005 finding that former prime minister Jean Chrétien bore some responsibility for the federal sponsorship scandal that rocked the Liberal government.

Justice Max Teitelbaum ruled Thursday there were indications of bias on the part of Gomery toward Chrétien during his commission of inquiry into the scheme, which resulted in $1.1 million of government sponsorship money being diverted to the Quebec wing of the Liberal party.

But hey... isn't bias a sword that cuts both ways?

Justice Max Teitelbaum effusively welcomed the now retired political heavy-weight.

"Before you are asked to be sworn in, Mr. Chrétien, on behalf of the court, I would like to welcome you here. The court truly appreciates you taking the time and making the effort to be here," the judge said. "You may have been given a copy of my judgment as to why I requested that you be here on a motion made by Samson First Nation peoples.

It's because of all you have done for this country as minister of Finance, I think, minister of Justice and, of course, minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development."

"So thank you, sir, for coming."

The prosecution rests.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Finally , we have a Judge that confirms that Paul Martin and Jean Chretien were TOO stupid to know what went on under them during their reign of power."

*

Back to the good old days...

...of "No Irish need apply."

-- U.K. -- Equality minister Harriet Harman has set out plans to allow firms to discriminate in favour of female and ethnic minority job candidates.

She said firms should be able to choose a woman over a man of equal ability if they wanted to - or vice versa.

And, if your Granny ever harboured any fantasies about being a firefighter... there's good news there too...

The plans, which will be adopted first across England then Wales and Scotland, will also ban all age discrimination.

Setting out the plans in a Commons statement, Ms Harman said the proposed bill - due later this year - would "address the serious inequalities that still exist" in the UK.

The "serious inequalities"... unlike in, you know... the socialist paradise of Zimbabwe.

Good grief.

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Reading, writing and...

...I sure hope this place doesn't train medical lab technicians...

The owner of a local private college is facing bribery charges for allegedly attempting to pay off a public official after the college was accused of granting fraudulent diplomas.

The Ministry alleges that money was offered to an official in exchange for a report that would have stated the college was in compliance with provincial standards.

Zhenxiang "Gordon" Yi, 45, was taken into custody on Friday, and has been charged with two counts of bribery. He is scheduled to appear in court on July 4.

*

Well... nice website and all...

...but is anybody actually keepin' an eye on those other... cough, cough... less agreeable guys?

*

Bernier begs to differ

In his 11-minute speech to a crowd of about 400, Mr. Bernier contradicted Ms. Couillard's claims that Mr. Bernier had known all along that in the 1990s she had a boyfriend and ex-husband tied to Quebec's Hells Angels.

“Did Ms. Couillard inform me of her past ties with people involved in organized crime? The answer is no. She did not inform, and no one else ever informed me, at any level."

*

No compromise from Mohawks

Sorry, Deseronto... aboriginals demand the Crown clear existing owners off the land....

Mohawk officials were told the government will not buy land from non-natives to ensure the Culbertson Tract -- a 923-acre parcel of land which the government agrees was never surrendered -- is returned to native control.

Instead, the government will offer money to allow the band to purchase tract properties if their owners willingly put them up for sale. The government is prepared to offer additional money as compensation for any land that can't ultimately be returned, Strahl said.

Apparently, though... that's not good enough.

Get ready for Caledonia... Part II.

*

Paging Taliban Jack

So, Jacko... you figure you know some secret that the Pakistani government just can't figure out?

-- South Waziristan -- Residents and local officials say that those murdered were among at least 27 members of the pro-government Bhittani tribe kidnapped by Taliban militants during a raid on the town of Jandola earlier this week.

District Coordination Officer Barkatullah Marwat told VOA by telephone that Taliban militants killed most of their captives and dumped their bodies just outside the town.

The rise in the extremist activities is occurring despite Pakistani government attempts to engage militants in talks to end the violence.

We're all ears.

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Dear Mayor Miller

I was just wondering if you could tell me which skeet-shooting club... this gentleman belongs to.

-- TORONTO -- Parolee Andre Blair was on two separate bails -- one for possessing a semi-automatic handgun and another for drug-dealing -- when he committed the execution-style killing of Andrew Latouche.

In March 2006, Blair shot 28-year-old Latouche -- who was sitting in the front seat of a van -- four times from less than a foot away, striking him twice in the head and twice in the upper chest.

And it seems ol' Andre had been around the block a few times...

The jury never heard that Blair was on two different bails when he killed Latouche. In November 2004, he was sentenced to the equivalent of 45-months custody and had a weapons ban for a 2002 home invasion robbery while using a restricted or prohibited weapon.

So tell me, yer blondeness... you think taking guns away from, say... an Olympic target shooter... would'a slowed this guy down?

Myself... I'm gonna go with no.

**********

RELATED: And yet more "gangs and guns"

Four young people were shot by a gunman after an argument last night outside the Tim Hortons at Hwy. 8 and Dewitt Road. "I heard the gun six or seven times," siad Naim Morina, 22, of Ancaster.

He said one friend, Adam Rexha, was shot twice in the left arm and once in the right. Another, Agi Gashi, 21, was shot three times in the leg, he said. According to Morina, Gashi's girlfriend drove him to hospital. Marina said he did not know what the argument was about other than it was "some beef from a couple years ago."

Police say the gunman is a white man, five-foot-six to five-foot-nine. He has a slim build, crooked teeth and white hair. He was wearing a grey hoody. Police are looking for four others in the group.

Police added they were "dressed like gangsters."

Yeah... I'm shocked.

*

Make it so, Joe

Apparently... I mean, who knew... there are good guns and bad guns.

-- TORONTO -- The day after the city okayed a plan prohibiting shooting ranges, gun clubs and firearms promotion on city property, some Toronto officials were scrambling to fashion a compromise to protect the Sportsmen's Show.

Allowing the annual show, with its displays honouring the "shooting sports," to continue at city-owned Exhibition Place, argued Councillor David Shiner, would be inexcusable.

"We want to ban all guns, but the deputy mayor (Joe Pantalone) wants to support a show that highlights the sale of guns because it's at Exhibition Place?"

"We're being hypocritical here on council," Shiner said yesterday.

The deputy-mayor was quick to, er... return fire...

Pantalone insists the five-day show will go ahead in March 2009.

"In our opinion, anything we do to control guns locally will not compromise them because their show is basically kosher.

"There's no handguns, no rifles on the premises, no ammunition for either one of those. Those are facts," Pantalone said.

Of course, that's total horseshit.

In fact, there are rifles at the annual show.

Ray Sriubiskis of Canadian National Sportsmen's Shows, which runs the Toronto event, confirmed rifles are on display and for sale to qualified buyers.

Maybe they should reconsider banning stupidity within city limits.

**********

RELATED: They obviously don't read their own polls

"We asked whether cancelling the leases of two gun clubs that rent city-owned property would have an impact on gun violence. Here’s what you had to say...

*

So it looks as though...

...this years woodcutting, or as I like to think of it... chainsaw therapy... can finally begin in earnest.

This last week, for the first time since fall 07, I was able to get the truck all the way through the waterlogged spots out back... and enter the woods proper.

I've cleared the trees that have fallen across the road, thrown down grass seed on the raggedy patches and tried to figure out where I need to head next. There's another 100 meters or so to reach the back fenceline and some low spots to duke around, but I've got a pretty good idea where I need to push through.

It's always a little daunting figuring out which tree comes down next. Unless you're cutting deadwood, there's a real awareness that you're bringing an end to a living thing, that is perhaps even older than yourself. It's not a choice made lightly.

At the same time you have to keep your guard up... a man in the area was killed a couple of years back when the tree he was felling took a quicker, unexpected trajectory than he had figured. It's something to watch for... if the tree is rotten, or even cracked inside... it can shear off, windmill around and do some pretty ugly things to flesh and bone.

On a brighter note, lots of hoofprints out back, the deer have obviously not forsaken us. Mrs. Neo also found some fawn tracks on her daily constitutional. The dragonflies are out in force and there's a considerable frog population on both sides of the house.

And we still have our too-friendly solvent-sniffing groundhog... who has taken to hiding out in the engine compartments of our two vehicles.

A couple more days... and the boy is home from school for the summer.

All in all... a not unhackable existence.

*

If you're really concerned about...

...saving lives in Ontario, then tasers should be way, way down the list...

Premier Dalton McGuinty and the Liberal government are putting lives at risk by covering up the extent of the deadly C. difficile outbreak in Ontario hospitals, the province's opposition parties charged Tuesday.

There have been at least 264 deaths at seven Ontario hospitals since 2006 from C. difficile, a drug-resistant bacteria that spreads in health-care institutions.

So why are the McGuinty Liberals trying to play down this situation? Even the Ontario Ombudsman is concerned enough to want to get a piece of this.

Ombudsman Andre Marin asked for the power to investigate families' complaints about C. difficile deaths at Ontario hospitals in his annual report issued last week, and said his office "would have been all over" the outbreak much earlier on if he had the authority.

Marin, who called C. difficile a tragedy, questioned the government's hesitancy and suggested it was "trying to contain perhaps an embarrassing situation."

But that doesn't seem to concern the Premier and his political pals...

The government has rejected all calls for an inquiry, saying it learned enough from a coroner's review into C. difficile deaths in Sault Ste. Marie.

Health Minister David Caplan was not available Tuesday to comment on the C. difficile outbreak and the charges of a government cover-up.

I don't get it.

**********

RELATED: A question asked...

The father of an Ontario man who died in police custody after being hit by a stun gun says he is angry that a taser was used on his son.

"I'm mad ... Did they have to use that taser thing?" Noel Marreel asked yesterday.

And answered...

The father said his son had been in trouble with the law before. "He was not an easy child. He's been on drugs off and on since he was 16. You name it, I think he's tried them," he said.

"He'd be good for a while and the downward spiral would start. Then he'd be going to jail and I would be bailing him out."

*

Gracias, Senor Buzz

Mexico is riding a boom in small-car sales that has put the nation's vehicle production on track to pass Canada for the first time and become the second-largest vehicle manufacturer in North America this year.

There's more investment in small cars under way in Mexico. Ford Motor Co. will spend more than $3-billion (U.S.) in the biggest single automotive investment yet in the country, which will begin producing subcompact Ford Fiesta cars for North America in 2010.

GM is spending $650-million and hiring 2,000 workers to build its Chevrolet Aveo and Pontiac Wave subcompacts.

One major factor in Mexico's favour is labour costs, and the country is maintaining that edge with further wage reductions. Mexican workers agreed this month to a two-tier wage system that cuts hourly pay for newly hired workers to about half the current level of $4.50 an hour.

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Another fuzzy-bunny...

...Toronto Star poll... goes horribly awry...

"Do you think cancelling the leases of two gun clubs that rent city-owned property will have an impact on street gun violence?"

**********

RELATED: Farmers, hunters, target shooters...

...totally off the hook... again.

A 40-year-old man has been charged in connection to the death of his father, Toronto's 27th homicide this year.

Donald Cuthbertson Jr. was arrested at his home on Carlaw Ave. just after midnight today. He has been charged with second-degree murder.

*

Answering this year's...

...biggest urban fashion dilemma... what all do you wear to an execution?

-- TORONTO -- Closed-circuit videotape of events leading up to the shooting death of a Toronto teenager in Etobicoke 10 days ago suggests it was “an execution,” the lead homicide investigator said Tuesday.

Both suspects live or lived close by the crime scene, police believe. Both are black men in their 20s.

The gunman was wearing what Det. Ryan said has been described as “ugly checkered red shorts knee length in size... I am hoping someone recognizes the shorts ... you can't miss them."

Just one question, Detective... "Which Toronto gun club did these two gentlemen belong to?"

Oh.

**********

WELCOME READERS OF DR DEMENTO, uh... DAWG

I think the Dawg... needs a good worming.

*

Police Officers with guns...

In our schools... I'm not joking...

The chief will meet with Toronto District School Board to discuss the school resource officer initiative that would assign 30 officers to schools across the city starting this fall.

Blair says the consistent presence of uniformed officers will help build trust between youth and police.

You mean, like it does... in the Jane-Finch corridor?

**********

RELATED: In other "security related" news

The CHRC flushes another 75K down the shitter.

*

Salaam and "Bake 'em"

Once again... the capricious and unknowable "Will of Allah."

-- PAKTIKA -- Afghan officials say a U.S.-led coalition airstrike killed 15 militants who attacked a government building in eastern Afghanistan.

The officials say the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force bombed the militants Tuesday as they were withdrawing from an attack at government headquarters in Paktika province. Four insurgents were wounded in the attack.

Also on Monday, the U.S. military said U.S.-led forces killed 55 militants, including three Taliban leaders, during recent clashes in Paktika.

*

A flying banana over Texas?

Somebody please tell me this is a hoax...

-- MONTREAL -- A Canadian art project involving a giant banana, helium and the state of Texas was already considered bold and controversial - now there are doubts about whether the massive piece of fruit will ever fly.

Despite getting about $105,000 from Quebec and federal art-funding agencies, Canadian artist Cesar Saez's flying-banana project appears to be meeting turbulence. According to his project's webpage, the Geostationary Banana Over Texas has failed to get enough grassroots funding to ensure its planned launch date in August.

That is when Mr. Saez has said he would release a 300-metre banana, about the size of three football fields, over the Mexican desert and see it drift over the Lone Star State.

**********

RELATED: Even Snopes seems confused.

*

And that's why...

...we call him "Special" K.

*

Iran opts to stick with...

...that age-old, toddler-tested strategy of plopping down on their butt and screaming blue murder...

Iran has condemned as illegal new EU sanctions against Tehran over its uranium enrichment programme. A foreign ministry spokesman said the sanctions would make Iran more determined to obtain the technology.

The UN Security Council approved a third round of sanctions against Iran over the issue in March 2008.

Of course, if you're up against the doddering old United Nations... that just might work.

UN replies... "Hey, don't make me issue a 'sweeping condemnation'!"

**********

RELATED: In other "Religion of Peace" news...

-- JERUSALEM -- Palestinian militants on Tuesday fired three homemade rockets into southern Israel, the first such attack since a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza militants took effect last week.

Israel condemned the attack as a "gross violation" of the truce, but did not say whether it would retaliate.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the rocket attack came because of "Israeli provocation this morning" and added that Hamas was "committed to the calm." He said Hamas will talk with other factions and make sure they are committed, too.

Well, heck Sami... as long as you're going to "talk to them..."

(via reader rich)

**********

UPDATE: Guess what dickheads... "Rockets count."

Israel says it has closed its border crossings with Gaza in response to a Palestinian rocket attack on southern Israel that breached a ceasefire.

Hamas, which controls Gaza, said the closings violated the truce agreement.

*

Progress, huh?

The net could see its biggest transformation in decades if plans to open up the address system are passed.

The net's regulators will vote on Thursday to decide if the strict rules on so-called top level domain names, such as .com or .uk, can be relaxed.

The openness of the new system could pave the way for a .xxx domain name, after more than half a decade of wrangling between its backers and Icann.

**********

RELATED: And speaking of pornography.

*

Hence the term... "going postal"

Think about how much money, and more importantly, aggravation... we could save... by contracting this out to someone like Federal Express...

In May, 74-year-old David Oke discovered Canada Post was -- after 40 years -- no longer delivering mail to his bright green mailbox at the end of his driveway in rural Ontario. His service was stopped, he was told, because his name appeared on only one side of the mailbox instead of the requisite two.

His Peterborough County neighbour, Bruce Warr, 82, also stopped receiving mail a few days later. The reason: His mailbox was on a crooked post.

Forget about going after criminals... let's punish everybody's rural grandparents.

*

Oh yeah...

Let's see you prove it...

As the trial of the first man charged under Canada's Anti-Terrorism Act got under way four years after police raided his home in the Ottawa suburb of Orleans, the Crown gave a two-hour summary of its case, in which it will present dozens – perhaps hundreds – of intercepted conversations to show that the accused admitted he had a one-track mind.

**********

UPDATE: Lawrence Greenspon decides to help the prosecution

Mr. Greenspon contends that if the Crown wants to hear evidence about Mr. Khawaja's activities before the meeting, it should call any of the five terrorists jailed in London for plotting to detonate a fertilizer bomb, as their ties to the Canadian suspect date back longer.

Sure... those extremely helpful convicted terrorists.

We'll get right on that.

*

We're the Liberal Party...

...and we're just gonna "shift" all over you.

-- OTTAWA -- Stéphane Dion's cross-country tour promoting his “green shift” hit a potentially embarrassing pothole Monday as a Toronto environmentalist took legal action over what she describes as “blatantly unethical” trademark infringement.

A firm already operating as Green Shift sent a cease and desist letter Monday afternoon to the Liberal Party and the company is considering whether to sue for damages.

Ms. Wright recalls being told by the senior Liberal aide: “I just want to let you know that you're going to be getting a lot of hits on the website.”

Ms. Wright said she warned Ms. Telford the Liberals could expect a lawsuit if they went ahead and used the name.

“I said, more importantly, why would you do that to a nice, friendly, environmental organization?”

Of course, when the shoe is on the other foot...

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Dion wants to shift the green from your wallet into the Liberal's wallet."

**********

RELATED: The kindly face of Liberalism

A Liberal spokesman discounted the company's protests that the Liberals mimicked Green Shift's web domain name, by adding the article "the" before Greenshift.ca.

"We rightly own the domain name," said Dunn.

**********

LAST WORD: Craig Oliver forgets his meds...

CRAIG OLIVER: "However, they did offer us Jason Kenney, the Minister of Multiculturalism, to attack the government's green plan..."

You mean the Fiberal tax grab, right Craig?

(via sda)

Yeah, sure... we get it

The word according to CanLaw...

"Legal Aid Ontario -- Legal aid is officially available across the province, to lower-income people for a variety of legal problems, including criminal matters, family disputes, immigration and refugee hearings and poverty law issues such as landlord/tenant disputes and employment insurance."

"However in reality, it is largely reserved for women, gays and minorities."

"White men need not apply."

**********

RELATED: You might want a second opinion.

*

I gotta tell ya, Mo...

I don't think shavin' off the beard... is gonna fool anybody.

-- OTTAWA -- Mr. Khawaja, beardless and with long wet hair parted in the middle, simply pleaded “not guilty” in a soft-spoken voice to each of the seven terrorism charges he faces.

A perfectly nice, successful Canadian life... but you just had to piss it all away.

Not so "Islamic Yeehaw" now, huh buddy?

*

Who's kissin' up to "Big Corn"?

I thought Obama was touting himself as the "candidate of change"... the guy who wouldn't get sucked in by the lobbyists...

Nowadays, when Mr. Obama travels in farm country, he is sometimes accompanied by his friend Tom Daschle, the former Senate majority leader from South Dakota. Mr. Daschle now serves on the boards of three ethanol companies and works at a Washington law firm where, according to his online job description, “he spends a substantial amount of time providing strategic and policy advice to clients in renewable energy.”

Mr. Obama’s lead advisor on energy and environmental issues, Jason Grumet, came to the campaign from the National Commission on Energy Policy, a bipartisan initiative associated with Mr. Daschle and Bob Dole, the Kansas Republican who is also a former Senate majority leader and a big ethanol backer who had close ties to the agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland.

Sounds sorta like he's actually the "candidate of spare change."

Not long after arriving in the Senate, Mr. Obama himself briefly provoked a controversy by flying at subsidized rates on corporate airplanes, including twice on jets owned by Archer Daniels Midland, which is the nation’s largest ethanol producer and is based in his home state.

**********

RELATED: But no controls on ethanol... right?

U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has proposed a clampdown on energy speculation which he believes is responsible for record-high oil prices.

*

Brits decide... "enough is enough"

Sorry, Tupac... "Use a gun... you're done."

A man has been jailed for at least 20 years for the murder of a woman caught in a "Wild West" style shoot-out. Magda Pniewska, 26, was shot in the head in New Cross, south London, in October last year.

The conviction for murder of someone who was known not to have fired the fatal shot was described by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) as "unprecedented".

CPS lawyer Jane Scholefield said: "Even though the defendant did not fire the fatal round, and even though Magda Pniewska was not the intended target of either gunman, the defendant bears a joint criminal liability for her death.

"Each fired their guns with intent to kill at a time when there were bystanders present between them."

Why didn't Canada bring this hammer down on Richard Steele?

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Actually, we had a similar law here in Canada."

"Unfortunately, it was struck down as being, you guessed it, unconstitutional."

**********

RELATED: Toronto cops 'tighten the net'

Homicide investigators, meanwhile, have traced evidence from cartridge casings found near where Dylan Ellis and Oliver Martin were murdered June 13 on Richmond St. W. to records of a handgun used in a previous crime. No details have been released.

*

We're finally gonna start...

...checkin' tickets on the Gravy train...

The 19th-century Indian Act that governs most of Canada's 600 First Nations says little about fiscal transparency.

"So that's going to change and that's going to be of great benefit to First Nations individuals who say, you know, 'I want to hold the chief and council's feet to the fire, just like I would at city hall or ... with the federal government,''' Strahl said.

And even the opposition isn't gonna argue that this isn't necessary...

The policy shift echoes the failed First Nations Governance Act, a broader legislative attempt by the former Liberal government to tighten financial controls.

Former prime minister Paul Martin, as he took the Liberal helm, abandoned the bill after months of backlash from native chiefs who said they weren't fully consulted.

Well... at least we know Steffi doesn't get his intestinal fortitude from anywhere strange.

*

Apparently John Bull...

...hasn't been totally neutered...

The British government views forced marriages, often performed after beatings or threats of violence, as a human rights abuse, far different from arranged marriages to which the bride and groom consent.

It is Rawlins's job to stop them. In an age of increasingly fluid migration, and aided by instant communication, the British diplomat works 3,700 miles from London to help women from her own country.

But it wasn't always so...

Before 2000, British officials tended to view forced marriages as a foreign custom not theirs to judge. But these British-raised young women are increasingly worldly and assertive, and many now have cellphones hidden in their burqas or handbags.

From even the remotest villages, they are increasingly calling for help. And the British government has set up a special group to rescue them.

Bravo.

*

The moral and legal equivalent...

...of a judge in a criminal trial inviting the police and prosecutors over to his home for dinner -- while the trial is still going on.

*

A Tale of Two Shooters

Here's just one of the things that drives me crazy about the CBC... they're not above shilling the deaths of these two unfortunate young men... but in their blindly politically-correct madness... they won't even provide a description of the shooter.

The only possible suspect is a man seen riding away from the murder scene on a mountain bike. Police say they believe whoever was responsible for the shooting is "familiar with the area" around Niagara and Bathurst streets.

See how helpful that is? The CBC has winnowed down the pool of possible shooters to any one of the million or so males in the city of Toronto. Good work guys.

Thankfully, there are still folks in the media who are determined to provide actual details that may help apprehend the shooter.

It's expected they'll plead for information about the man who so callously took the lives of two such promising young men. Cops think he fled the scene on a mountain bike, and have only a limited description of him.

He's:

* Male,
* Black,
* Light complexion,
* Light coloured shirt,
* Dark coloured pants.

That description... and the fact that he's believed to be from the immediate area, narrows the suspect pool way down.

And with this thing beginning to look like a "thrill kill"... the cops are gonna need all the help they can get.

**********

WELCOME READERS OF DR DEMENTO, uh... DAWG

I think the Dawg... needs a good worming.

*

The Leftbot Solution

Shoot a gun, deal drugs or assault a neighbour and your days in Toronto's public housing should be over.

"The truth is, nothing can be further from the truth," Harry Fine, a former adjudicator on the provincial body that resolves disputes between landlords and tenants, tells the Sunday Sun.

In fact, Fine insists, there's a revolving door for bad tenants in this city's troubled public housing projects.

The Toronto Community Housing Corp. evicts problem residents and the province's Landlord and Tenant Board lets them back in.

"In my informed position, the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board is the most serious impediment to cleaning out the bad guys from social housing," Fine tells the Sun.

"The regulatory regime is out of control."

Yeah... let's drop another 300 million taxpayer dollars down this uber-socialist black hole.

*

Ooooh, ooooh, over here...

C'mon Pearly... I'm poisonous too.

**********

RELATED: Ezra wants a piece of this

"I'm enormously jealous of Blazing Cat Fur."

"Good heavens, what do I have to do to get notice by Eliadis? I've been charged with the hate crime of publishing cartoons."

"What has BCF, that whippersnapper, ever done?"

*

Hey, dumbass...

Here's a breaking bulletin... many Canadians don't appreciate being held hostage...

The Kelly Lake Cree Nation took down a highway blockade near the Alberta-B.C. border Saturday because of a close call with angry and dangerous drivers, band spokesman Clayton Anderson said.

Anderson said he was walking toward a vehicle at the blockade on Highway 52, about 180 kilometres southeast of Chetwynd, in northeastern B.C., when "this guy just steps on the gas and practically runs me over."

Hey, Clayhead... why don'tcha try this sorta shit over in Chechnya... I bet they'd love your lawbreakin' ass.

Better yet... just call a cop... and file a complaint.

And... oh yeah... next time you should try not to forget your spear.

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Toronto's Mayor Miller...

...renews call for city-wide "Cutlery Free Zone."

-- TORONTO -- Police were called to the rear laneway of 11 St. Joseph St. in the Yonge and Wellesley Sts. area at about 3:00 a.m. after witnesses reported a large fight.

A man had been involved in a scrap with several other people and had been stabbed 11 times and slashed in the throat during the melee.

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UPDATE: My mistake... that's 2 stabbings

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LAST WORD: And an attempted abduction

-- TORONTO -- Toronto police say a mother interrupted a man apparently trying to abduct her toddler through an open window Saturday night.

The three-year-old girl was playing alone in her bedroom when police say a man reached through an open ground floor apartment window and tried to take the child.

Just then the toddler's mother walked in and screamed.

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Blessed be his name

The capricious and unknowable "Will of Allah."

-- Diyala Province, IRAQ -- Fifteen people have been killed and 39 wounded by a female suicide bomber in the northern Iraqi city of Baquba.

The bomber detonated the device in front of a group of policemen at the entrance to a local government and law courts complex.

A number of civilians are said to be among the casualties.

C'mon now... it's all for a good cause, right?

If only we could bring back Saddam.

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McCain and O'Bama

Two Irish guys duking it out to become the next President of the United States.

With the exception of their Éire roots, no two candidates could be more different from one another - unless one of them had a vagina.

Which, to be honest, has yet to be determined.

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RELATED: Much like our own Stephane Dion...

...he's flexible.

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Yes... by all means...

Because that's what we all absolutely want to do... "cater to it."

-- TORONTO -- New public housing complex "CATERS TO SINGLES" under age 25 who have a child.

A product of more than $2 million in federal funding, the centre near Jane St. and Sheppard Ave. W. will open its doors to 27 pregnant women or single mothers who are homeless or at risk of it.

Five women live in the centre already, and it is expected all units will be full by the end of July, project manager Leslie Gash said.

Yeah... no kidding.

If you FINANCE it... THEY WILL COME.

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RELATED: of course, there's always "Plan B"

"Look out Warren Buffett. There's a new sheriff in town."

(via sda)

"THE SLIGHT STUFF"

Yeah... here's what most people are looking for in a war-time Prime Minister.

-- TORONTO -- Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion has scolded Stephen Harper over his criticism of the Liberals' so-called green shift.

“I call on the prime minister to debate with me any time on TV on this issue in a respectful, meaningful and adult way,” an angry Mr. Dion said on Toronto's Centre Island.

“It was vulgar and I don't think Canadians are impressed by that.”

Yeah... not like this... huh, Steffi?

Hey, Milquetoast... did he use "hurtful words"?

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FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Did you see Dion squirm on Prime Time Politics on CPAC when he was asked that since he was so confident in his plan would he be willing to go to the people for a vote?"

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LAST WORD: Oooooh, Steffi... that's gonna leave a mark

"Our plan will be good for the environment and good for the economy — good for the planet, good for the wallet."

Of course... that'll be Revenue Canada's wallet.

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Maybe McCain should consider...

...switching sides... and joining the Republican Party.

-- OTTAWA -- Senator John McCain says he would favour returning Toronto-born Omar Khadr to Canada from Guantanamo Bay if Prime Minister Stephen Harper requested it.

On the environment, the Arizona senator appeared to align himself more closely with Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and Quebec Premier Jean Charest than with Harper.

This is the public face of Conservatism in America?

Good grief.

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Paging Taliban Jack

Hey, Jacko... you think you can negotiate with these guys... let's start with an easy one... our putative allies...

-- RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- A Saudi newspaper says religious police have arrested 21 allegedly homosexual men and confiscated large amounts of alcohol.

Al-Medina daily says the Commission for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, which employs the religious police, was told Friday of a large gathering of young men at a rest house in Qatif, in eastern Saudi Arabia.

Homosexuality is seen as a sin in Islam and prohibited in Saudi Arabia and most other Muslim nations. In the conservative kingdom, the offence can be punished by flogging or prison.

You fix that one... AND THEN we'll talk about you negotiating with the people we're at war with, ok?

I'll be waiting for your report.

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It's not, as you might guess...

...an Elmore Leonard crime thriller...

Two men appeared in court in Windsor Thursday on attempted murder charges in connection with the weekend shooting of Lucky Suites.

Gytteau Nerestant, 29, and Yvenel Billy, 23, both of Toronto, were arraigned Thursday.

It's just another day in Dalton McSlippery's "no such thing as a bad boy" Ontario.

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From Deseronto to Beijing

I bet you never knew infamous spokes-native Shawn Brant had Olympic aspirations...

Brant jumped out of his car, grabbed a six-foot-long fishing spear from the rear seat and ran towards the altercation, Lalonde said.

"His eyes were crazy-looking ... he was in a rage," he said, adding Brant ran up to the scene yelling "'Is it on? Is it on?'" Brant, he said, held the spear only a few feet away from his face, "and at that point, I knew it was time for us to get out of there.

"There was no doubt in my mind he would have stabbed me with it ... he had a crazy look in his eye." As he retreated to his truck, Lalonde said other protesters from up the road were arriving at the scene. "I told Michael to get in his truck and leave, which we did ... we left pretty quickly, of course."

As the two trucks sped away, Brant threw the fishing spear at Lalonde's truck like a javelin thrower, he recalled.

The spear struck the rear tailgate of his vehicle, he added.

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C'mon, sheeple...

Just wake up... and smell the jihad...

You know what is the really sobering thing about that ongoing terror trial in Brampton?

It's not even the hate, chiefly for Jews and Americans, that one of the group leaders preached at the drop of a hat and the top of his lungs with almost magnificently ungrammatical, near-illiterate, Koran-ignorant hysteria.

It's that he felt so free to preach it.

It's that he felt comfortable enough to hand out jihadist CDs outside at least one Toronto mosque and to occasionally turn up in combat fatigues at another.

It's that he giddily talked to one of his alleged co-conspirators about the obligation to kill Jews whenever one finds them.

It's that the leadership of the group regularly met at a half-dozen mosques in the GTA, usually on Fridays, the day of communal prayer.

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Farmers, hunters...

And Olympic target shooters... totally off the hook... AGAIN.

"It came out of a gun shop in Chicago and it was all part of a shipment of 237. We had one and then, poof, we had another one."

From that trace was born Project Blackhawk, which ended Thursday with the arrests of 36 people -- the key members of the alleged ring -- facing a total of 443 charges, and the seizure of 83 firearms over the two-year investigation. The number of seized firearms was more than police initially reported.

Since the initial two guns appeared, others belonging to Yildiz began appearing on GTA streets, including four taken from members of the Point Blank Soldiers, a Regent Park based gang.

Another handgun from the Chicago collection was recovered during the recent Project Kryptic raids, which targeted a Crips gang in North York.

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The Gift of Fear

Speaking of weakness, how ‘bout those Liberals?

When the best news were byelection wins by Bob Rae and Martha Hall Findlay, both considered leadership contenders as soon as Stéphane Dion loses the next election, it's a grim scenario.

Having backed away from repeated government invitations to trigger an election -- the Throne Speech, budget, Afghan mission extension, crime bills, immigration amendments and even footdragging by the Senate -- the Liberals have opted to spend the summer campaigning for a carbon tax instead of their own mandate.

In doing so, they've surrendered the best scenario for gaining ground to hopes that an economic downturn in the fall will backlash against the government, a rather morbid plan.

Oh yeah... congratulations to Stephen Harper on achieving the longest minority reign since the election of 1921.

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Flat, black and glows in the dark

Israel has carried out an exercise that appears to have been a rehearsal for an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, US officials have told the New York Times.

"They wanted us to know, they wanted the Europeans to know, and they wanted the Iranians to know," a Pentagon official is quoted as saying by the newspaper. "There's a lot of signalling going on at different levels."

The helicopters and refuelling tankers flew more than 1,400km (870 miles), roughly the distance between Israel and Iran's main uranium enrichment plant at Natanz.

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RELATED: In other "kicking jihadi ass" news

Afghan government officials took reporters to see piles of rotting corpses, some that were missing limbs. Officials said 56 Taliban died in the fighting, along with two Afghan soldiers and one civilian.

You guys might wanna practice that uprising thing a little bit.

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GOOG-411

Don't know where to find the closest pizza parlour? No access to a computer or a phone book?

Just call Google. Let them figure it out.

Today Google Inc. launched a Canadian version of its voice-recognition local search phone service GOOG-411. Canada becomes the first country outside the U.S. to gain access to the service.

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It's not really a tax

Just think of it as a "pollution premium"...

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is changing his tune about federal leader Stephane Dion’s carbon tax plan.

McGuinty, who had vetoed the idea of a carbon tax in Ontario, now says he “likes the sound” of Dion’s plan, which was unveiled Thursday.

Yeah... imagine my surprise.

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RELATED: Libs blast "hurtful language"

After previously labelling Mr. Dion's plan “insane” and “crazy,” Mr. Harper continued to firebomb the Liberal proposal with indelicate language.

“The carbon tax plan is like the national energy program in the sense that the national energy program was designed to screw the West and really damage the energy sector — and this will do those things,” Harper told a small crowd in Saskatoon.

“This is different in that this will actually screw everybody across the country.”

Indelicate language!!!

Quick... call the CHRC!!!

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Uptight straights...

...spoiling everybody's fun... yet again...

-- PROVINCETOWN -- It's a slow week in the northern territory of the Cape Cod National Seashore when a man with a yellow towel flashing passers-by is the sole complaint about public sex acts.

(h/t wonderwoman)

Quick, Mayor Super Dave...

...lets go raid the nearest gunclub...

Vimos, who works as a spray-painter, said he can't help but feel angry because his car is the last place he would have expected to have to dodge bullets.

"I just have to thank God, I've been given another chance," said Vimos, surrounded by his wife, their two grown children and two young grandkids -- loved ones who just as easily could have been planning his funeral yesterday.

It's the third time this year an innocent bystander has been struck by a stray bullet, but the other two men did not survive.

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FROM THE COMMENTS:

It never ends.

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Parental Rorschach Test

So put yourself in this father's shoes and try figure out what you would do.

-- Nelson, Lancashire -- A teenager has been jailed for three years after his father told police he had found bullets in his son's bedroom.

His father discovered 11 bullets in the room and called the police - who also found a handgun under the bed.

Is it a hard decision... or is it easy?

What does that say about you?

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Or, my friend Amir...

...and I'm relying on Occam's Razor here... it could just be you're a really shitty driver...

Taxi driver Amir Ebrahimi said yesterday that cops harass cabbies because they speak English poorly and have no union.

"They don't care about us; they know we are landed immigrants," said the Iranian-born cabbie of 16 years.

"If we were Canadian, they would be nice to us. They don't like us."

Geez, buddy... that sounds pretty horrible...but if you really, really believe that... maybe you'd be better off grabbing the next flight to kindly, progressive, all-embracing Tehran.

Yeah... that's what I thought.

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RELATED: Here's a thought...

...maybe he can call a social worker.

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How much money would they save...

...if they just fired all these "analysts"?

The analysts had to also estimate how often people with disabilities play miniature golf and whether they would go more often if courses were more wheelchair-friendly.

Then they needed to determine how much time those golfers would save via the new requirements. (According to the DoJ, about 7.2 minutes per visit.)

Finally, they calculated how much the miniature-golfers would benefit—in total, about $485 million worth over 40 years. The same logic can be applied to figure the benefits of more accessible fishing piers, bowling alleys, and ATMs.

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Do they really not get it...

...or do they just not care?

"It is increasingly obvious these commissions were set up deliberately to lower the standard of proof and get around rules of natural justice, thereby ensuring people who would never be convicted in court are punished to the satisfaction of the activists and special interest groups that hover around the tribunals."

(via bcf)

Talk about chump change

I've got an idea... let's have a little debate about the two billion plus dollars the Fiberals pissed away on the "Farmer Bob Rifle Registry."

“We have been told that federal correctional officials estimate they will increase the sentenced population by 1,000 prisoners per year,” the judge said in an interview.

It costs about $80,000 a year to keep a penitentiary inmate, so the additional burden of those on mandatory minimum sentences multiplies out to $80-million.

Help me out here... what's the cost of letting a thousand extra criminals run around for a year?

You could ask the families of Dylan Ellis and Oliver Martin.

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RELATED: Or you could ask these folks...

Two suspects are in police custody after a home invasion in which an elderly Halton couple were beaten, bound and robbed at gunpoint.

The victims, both in their 80s, returned to their trailer home just west of Campbellville on Monday night to find two men inside.

The men, one of whom was armed with a .22-calibre rifle, assaulted the victims, tied them up with a rope and left them in the trailer before stealing their van and personal items including identification and credit cards, police said.

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The real reason...

Aboriginal land claims take years and years to hammer out...

Calling the federal government's policy "unacceptable to the Mohawk nation," the Chief of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte has halted negotiations into the Culbertson Tract land claim.

R. Donald Maracle told The Intelligencer Wednesday his band has arranged an emergency meeting with Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl next week to voice its displeasure over how the claim is unfolding.

Hot on the heels of the Mohawks pulling out of the Caledonia negotiations.

Oh, the wily white man.

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Speaking of "ludicrous"

So Chief... what you're saying is the first twenty-nine arrests are deductible?

-- VANCOUVER -- Saying his city is plagued by a "ludicrous" trend that sees career criminals released back onto the streets despite dozens of convictions, Vancouver's police chief is calling for a 30-strikes-and-you're-out policy for the worst chronic offenders.

Settle down there, Buford... you wanna take us back to the "dark ages"?

(h/t reader rich)

Well... at least we know...

...what side they're on.

-- HAMILTON -- Hamilton's gay pride festival says it banned the Canadian military this year over alleged human rights violations around the world.

Festival organizers say they banned the military this year because they received a complaint from a new Canadian who feared the military because of previous persecution by soldiers.

Uh, guys... wouldn't this sorta be like banning African immigrants... because you're afraid of Robert Mugabe?

Just askin'.

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RELATED: How come we're always playin' defense?

"A prime minister for our times would recognize that, while he’s saying sorry for residential schools, his entire country is being turned into a residential school."

"He’d notice the censorious state’s intrusions into contemporary life under the pretext of 'public hygiene' or 'human rights'."

"He’d apologize for the cultural arrogance of Canada’s hate - or health-police trying to tell editors what to put into their periodicals, clergymen into their sermons, or parents into their mouths."

(via shaidle)

Why is this a surprise...

...to so many folks?

Out in BC... the government helps junkies shoot heroin... and they're reportedly looking into state-subsidised whorehouses. In recent years, everything we thought we knew about the institution of marriage has been flushed down the toilet.

Why wouldn't Quebec try to take over raising your kids for you?

-- OTTAWA -- If you deny your children access to TV or withhold their allowance, can they take you to court? And win?

That implausible scenario emerged after a judge in Gatineau, Que., sided with a 12-year-old girl who challenged her father after he refused to let her go on a school trip for disobeying his orders to stay off the Internet.

If we, the people, are willing to let them get away with stuff like this... we deserve whatever happens.

Fortunately, there are still people willing to fight this insanity.

Experts in family law and child welfare say they were dumbfounded by last Friday’s ruling by Superior Court Justice Suzanne Tessier.

The father, who is appealing the decision, was “devastated” by the ruling, Beaudoin said. He is refusing to take his daughter back “because he has no authority over her.”

We need that Conservative majority government now.

Let's turn back the madness.

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RELATED: Meanwhile, the Liberal-dominated senate...

...quietly puts the icing on the cake...

A proposed law that could see parents charged for spanking their children is heading to the House of Commons after clearing a major hurdle in the Senate.

The bill, supported by the Liberal majority, quietly passed third reading in the Senate on Tuesday night despite Conservative objections to the legislation.

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Globe and Mail...

...mounts another attack on Canadian's credulity... no word yet on how many readers have died laughing...

“The insurgents are forcing NATO to respond to their agenda,” a security official in Kabul said. “People are pretty freaked out, and rightfully so.”

Well, actually... the "Taliban agenda" in these villages has so far pretty much consisted of dozens of insurgents being shredded by vastly superior Canadian and Afghani firepower... so I think we can guess who's doing most of the "freaking out."

But hey... never let the facts get in the way of a good story.

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I suppose all that jihad stuff...

Was just "whistle while you work", huh?

While Lt.-Cmdr. Kuebler often asserts that Mr. Khadr remains hopeful, he indicted on Wednesday that Mr. Khadr's outlook is not overly optimistic.

"It's tough for him to believe anything good is going to happen."

Guess what, dumbstick.

Actions have consequences.

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Kick-off... again

More loose body parts turning up in Lotus land...

Another human foot is believed to have been discovered on a B.C. shore, the sixth such grisly discovery in the last ten months.

RCMP in Campbell River on Vancouver Island said a local woman strolling a beach found an Adidas sneaker this morning, containing what appears to be a man's foot.

“It's certainly suspicious,” Sergeant Mike Tresoor said in an interview.

Well, thank you Inspector Clouseau. Any other details?

It appears to be a man's right foot, size 10. The first four were also right feet.

The mystery continues.

What's not to like?

Sure... why wouldn't you wanna give Mayor Super Dave Miller even more control over your existence?

-- TORONTO -- Miller has been aggressively lobbying the provincial government for greater mayoral powers -- including the ability to meet in private with his executive committee, much like a cabinet would.

Premier Dalton McGuinty -- who has already granted the mayor new taxing powers -- is open to the idea and city and provincial officials have been meeting to hammer out details.

Wonder what the "dynamic duo" are gonna be banning next?

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FROM THE COMMENTS:

"This is the same group of mental midgets that scream about "transparency and accountability" every time Harper's name is mentioned."

"Oh, I forgot: THEIR model of openness and fairness is a Human Rights Commission."

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Deadly Taliban fighters...

Are mostly just gonna end up dead.

-- ARGHANDAB, Afghanistan -- Afghan and Canadian forces moved into villages in the Arghandab district outside Kandahar on Wednesday to root out Taliban militants, killing at least 36 insurgents, the Afghan Defence Ministry said.

Also, 12 insurgents were killed in Maiwand, another district in Kandahar province, the ministry added.

Canadian and NATO officials disputed claims that insurgents had gained control of a number of villages. Alliance officials said Taliban strength in the area had been greatly exaggerated.

Yeah... who coulda seen that coming?

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Senseless

Talk of firearms, gun crime and senseless violence will have no place in the funerals of two young men shot to death last week in a seemingly unprovoked attack that has devastated the city.

Two Toronto ministers plan to free the services they will lead in the next two days of any political messages.

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AIRBRUSHING THE POLITBURO... HOW CANADIAN GOVERNMENT ACTUALLY WORKS...

-- "So it is not a review of the CHRC's corrupt conduct -- their hiring of corrupt staff, drummed out of real police forces; their tampering with evidence; their tampering with official transcripts; their lying under oath; corruption and interference with investigations; their rejection of complaints that would embarrass them; their own serial commission of Internet hate speech offences, etc., etc.

And it certainly doesn't deal with the current elephant in the room: the RCMP and Privacy Commissioner's investigations of the CHRC for hacking into a private citizen's Internet account.

  --  "None of that is covered in Moon's mandate. All of that is being ignored. That's no coincidence." --

“A man’s commitment to his beliefs..."

"In the past year, Gore’s home burned through 213,210 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, enough to power 232 average American households for a month."

They stab it with their steely knives... but they just can't kill the beast.

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"A planned and deliberate act"

Yeah, sure... why don't you just "show me the honour" here...

Before 16-year-old Aqsa Parvez even stepped inside her family's Mississauga home last December, Peel Regional Police now believe, there was a plan to kill her. And yesterday they went before the court to upgrade the original second-degree murder charge against her father to first-degree.

A little background.

RELATED: TDSB trots out Johnny Cochrane defense 

The Toronto District School Board has a new Urban Diversity Strategy. Apparently, they've decided to dump all the blame on those ignorant, "insensitive teachers."

But instead of recommending special programs tailored for children of various high-risk groups – Portuguese children, for example, or those from Somalia or Afghanistan – the staff suggests helping all teachers be more sensitive to the challenges diversity can bring.

Sunni Days

Once again... the capricious and unknowable Will of Allah.

-- BAGHDAD -- Explosives stowed in a minibus obliterated part of a bustling marketplace and set ablaze a crowded apartment building in the heavily Shiite Huriya district of northwest Baghdad, killing at least 51 people and wounding 75 late Tuesday afternoon, Iraqi security officials said.

And forget about the sociopaths that built, planted and triggered the bomb... we know who the real bad guys are...

“Now the Americans are bringing outsiders to secure our neighborhood, and look what happened!” screamed a man named Muhammad who said his wife and child were killed. “Maybe we should bring back the old days.”

Yeah... bring back the murderous despot... there's the solution.

The list is long. Indeed, unending. However, the solution to all our problems is always simple: return to an imagined past which, mercifully for the people of the seventh century, never existed.

(via shaidle)

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RELATED: Meanwhile... back in Afghanistan

Let the martyrdom commence...

A top provincial official in Kandahar said gun battles killed two Afghan troops and 16 Taliban. Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, also said hundreds of families had fled to the city, and that some of the villages had already been cleared of Taliban.

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