"Nothing up his sleeve"...

...my knuckle-draggin, neocon patootey...

He's flying high in dazzling hubris. The American economy is not yet fixed. It may get worse. And it is in this parlous and critical context that Mr. Obama has launched history-making expenditures and a reordering of American governance.

Daring? Daring - if you believe in it. Reckless – to the point of real danger if you do not.

This is the greatest trapeze act in the history of North American politics.

*

The Wonder Years

Newly minted teenager Neophyte had a buddy "sleep over" last night. Of course, in a particularly male rite-of-passage... they actually stayed up all night playing video games.

And this morning, it is a point of pride, to not be the first one to crash and burn.

A test of manhood, not unlike jousting.

Now, I'm guessing all the moms out there are just shaking their heads at what they perceive to be male assininity, but it makes perfect sense to me.

I have told Mrs Neo that men and women are actually two different species... from two different planets... who happened, somehow, to end up on Earth together.

And when we don't see eye to eye on something like this, I simply say... "Well, that's how we do it on our planet."

It's as close to explaining things as I can get.

*

The Blagojevich Bounce...

...right into the weeds, that is...

On wiretap audio recorded by federal investigators in October, Burris is heard jockeying for the seat with Robert Blagojevich, the former governor’s brother and top fundraiser, and promising to send a personal check by the end of the month.

“Tell Rod to keep me in mind for that seat, would you?” Burris is heard saying.

[*]

Well now, that sure explains...

...the pantsuits.

*

Bright lights, big city...

...uncivil society...

A Burlington teen is dead and another man died following a street fight in Scarborough in separate deaths across the GTA overnight.

**********

UPDATE: Murdered man is identified

Kristian Thanapalan, of Vaughan, was pronounced dead at Sunnybrook hospital shortly after the midnight fight in Antrim Park, in the Kennedy Rd.-Hwy. 401 area.

"It appears that there were two groups of people," he said. "One group was playing cricket in the field. The second group, which included the deceased, was involved in a pickup volleyball game."

Kyriacou said something happened between the two groups that sparked a dispute, and some left the park only to return a short time later armed with various weapons.

**********

LAST WORD: That suckass political correctness

You have to read the ethnic press, to hear anyone actually say it...

A clash between two groups of young men, comprising mainly of members of Tamil-Canadian community, took the life of one.

The group got into fight with another group of 15, armed with baseball and cricket bats.

*

Nice friends...

...ya got there, Shawn...

An interesting element of the situation, the judge said, was the fact that two out-of-town men who aren’t aboriginal were protesting in support of native issues — only to injure two aboriginal men — the police officers — in the process.

For his part, VanHooser claimed his mother was a Mohawk and he had a Dutch father, while Kloestra said he was in a relationship with an aboriginal woman.

Given the pair’s lengthy criminal history, Burgess said both require “a significant penalty” for their actions.

[more]

*

Pretty freaky, man

Like the gawds decided to drop a house on your "bad witch ass"...

“Here we are in tornado alley and you go to Canada and have this freakish thing happen,” Mr. Kinkaid’s wife, Dayna, told The Tulsa World in a phone interview.

*

Later, babe.

And hey... thanks for the ride...

A 45-year-old woman driving her car was shot in a suspected ambush -- apparently after she was caught in an exchange of gunfire between her passenger and a gunman in another car in north Etobicoke.

The woman was hit in the left side as the gunman's car pulled up beside her at 11:58 p.m. Wednesday on Four Winds Dr., near John Garland Blvd. and Martin Grove Rd.

Her car was riddled with bullets, police said. Some residents said they heard more than a dozen shots.

Stasiak said the gunman's vehicle pulled beside the victim's car. "There were shots fired, she pulls over to the side of the road and we're not sure whether another occupant of the vehicle fires shots back at the suspect vehicle," Stasiak said.

That man then fled, abandoning the woman, he said.

The most important thing here though... I sure hope she didn't snitch this poor guy out.

There are rules ya know.

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

*

That's some really "hard" water

A mother is suing a hotel claiming her teenage daughter fell pregnant simply from using a hotel swimming pool.

Magdalena Kwiatkowska says the 13-year-old conceived after coming into contact with 'stray sperm' in the water of an Egyptian resort.

The Polish tourist board has confirmed they have received a complaint from Mrs Kwiatkowska.

(h/t reader scott)

**********

RELATED: Speaking of teenage girls...

And while we're on disturbing images...

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS: Leave my President alone!
**********

LAST WORD: Alrighty... problem solved
Coming up on "President McDreamy saves the World"... Episode XIV: Robert Mugabe gets a "stern talking to".

*

Oh, please... stop... stop...

...can't breathe... got a cramp...

"So far, none of the fine Christians upset at my use of the word 'cracker' have expressed any regret at all over my call to throw journalists from bridges."

More...

"What if Harper secretly pocketed the body of Christ with the intention of cloning it?"

"He could be building AN ARMY OF JESUSES."

I think I just peed myself.

*

Stand by for colourful reports...

...on gravity holding shit down...

Clad in white, with a red kerchief, tourists and Spaniards sprint ahead of the charging bulls, which face matadors in the bullring later in the day.

I would, of course... be the last person in the world to suggest the government step in and regulate this sort of asinine activity, but please... you run headlong into confined spaces with dozens of angry, frightened, bone-crushing, horned creatures... what did you think was gonna happen?

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"When I watch that stupidity on the tube I find myself cheering for the bulls."

**********

LAST WORD: The Running of the Idiots

*

Rock bottom... you see it, you'll know it

Never mind that heavily-armed urban drug posse... apparently, in fuzzy-bunny Canada, we can be bested by the crazy old rat lady....

-- MONTREAL -- Montreal animal welfare officials rescued 93 rats and three rabbits earlier this week from a woman the shelter described as a "hoarder," a psychiatric term for people who obsessively collect animals and keep them in squalid conditions.

But the shelter had to leave behind at least 150 other critters — lizards, hedgehogs, dogs, cats and "too many rats to count" — because the hoarder refused to surrender.

Whether it's Tamil Tiger flash mobs shutting down Toronto... or "Aboriginal warriors" taking over border crossing points... it seems we've pretty much given up really trying to maintain any sort of social cohesion.

**********

RELATED: Hmmm... not everybody's a softie...

The YWCA is evicting a tenant who complained publicly about assault, death threats, drugs and alleged prostitution in a housing residence run by the agency.

Patricia Huculak, a 39-year-old mother of two living in the YWCA's Riverdale apartment for battered women, received an eviction notice Wednesday afternoon that gives her until Aug. 31 to move out.

The Y gets how many taxpayer dollars every year?

Hey... just askin'.

**********

LAST WORD: Bright lights, big city...

..."you don't pass my kid, I'll kill ya"...

Sondergaard wouldn't say what connection the accused women have to the school, so as not to identify students. He said the issue that allegedly motivated the threats involved three staff members and was "trivial" in nature.

Police estimate at least 150 letters were mailed out in the second incident and around 200 in the third.

Rafat Parsaei, 45, and Carole Tovell, 67, both of Toronto, and Linda Pitney, 62, of Shelburne, were each charged with six counts of threatening death and four counts of intimidation. Tovell was also charged with one count of criminal harassment.

*

Toronto... body count rises

A Toronto woman who'd been missing since Tuesday was found dead Thursday evening in North Toronto, locked in the trunk of her car.

Consuelo “Connie” Valencia-Russo, 44, who is the mother of city councillor Cesar Palacio's 14-year-old son, had been missing since Tuesday morning when she left her North York home, telling her family she was headed for a hair appointment.

Professional journalist Josh Wingrove reveals...

"Foul play is suspected."

**********

UPDATE: Murder suspects are identified

First-degree murder warrants were issued for a couple illegally in Canada for the murder of a North York mom.

Toronto homicide Det.-Sgt. Terry Brown said Juan Antonio Reyes, 23, and Ana Laura Rodrigues, 19, both of Mexico, are wanted.

Mexican authorities were notified that the two flew back to that country.

*

HIGH SCHOOL -- 1957 vs. 2007

Scenario 1: Jack goes quail hunting before school and then pulls into the school parking lot with his shotgun in his truck's gun rack.

1957 - Vice Principal comes over, looks at Jack's shotgun, goes to his car and gets his shotgun to show Jack.

2007 - School goes into lock down, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers.

Scenario 2: Johnny and Mark get into a fist fight after school.

1957 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies.

2007 - Police called and SWAT team arrives -- they arrest both Johnny and Mark. They are both charged them with assault and both expelled even though Johnny started it.

Scenario 3: Jeffrey will not be still in class, he disrupts other students.

1957 - Jeffrey sent to the Principal's office and given a good paddling by the Principal. He then returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again.

2007 - Jeffrey is given huge doses of Ritalin. He becomes a zombie. He is then tested for ADD. The school gets extra money from the state because Jeffrey has a disability.

Scenario 4: Billy breaks a window in his neighbor's car and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt.

1957 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college and becomes a successful businessman.

2007 - Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy is removed to foster care and joins a gang. The state psychologist is told by Billy's sister that she remembers being abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy's mom has an affair with the psychologist.

Scenario 5: Pedro fails high school English.

1957 - Pedro goes to summer school, passes English and goes to college.

2007 - Pedro's cause is taken up by state. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against the state school system and Pedro's English teacher. English is then banned from core curriculum. Pedro is given his diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak English.

Scenario 6: Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from the Fourth of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle and blows up a red ant bed.

1957 - Ants die.

2007 - ATF, Homeland Security and the FBI are all called. Johnny is charged with domestic terrorism. The FBI investigates his parents -- and all siblings are removed from their home and all computers are confiscated. Johnny's dad is placed on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.

Scenario 7: Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his teacher, Mary. Mary hugs him to comfort him.

1957 - In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing.

2007 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison. Johnny undergoes 5 years of therapy.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS: Game on...

This is too fun.

Scenario 8: Billy gets involved in an underground domestic terrorist movement while in high school

1957: Billy is caught and does hard time.

2007: Billy becomes a professor of education and mentors the next Democratic President.

*

The capricious and unknowable...

...Will of Allah...

A bomb blast in central Afghanistan killed 25 people including 13 primary school students today, destroying shops and scattering pieces of the vehicle that carried the explosives over a huge area.

**********

RELATED: A very selective outrage...

Where were these protesters when, on Dec. 30, 2005, hundreds of Egyptian riot police stormed through a makeshift refugee camp in central Cairo to clear it of 2,500 Darfuri Muslims, beating to death 28 people, among them women and children?

Were those lives less valuable than the life of Marwa Sherbini?

*

Hundred mil here, hundred mil there...

...pretty soon you're talkin' real scratch...

The B.C. government is headed for a $100-million shortfall in its welfare budget next year suggesting that the province's deficit will be much worse than promised, the Opposition NDP says.

“What it shows is just how badly Premier Gordon Campbell has misjudged the economic situation. It puts the lie to his claims throughout the election and since the election that they are good managers.”

Here's a thought... how about we shift some resources over to people who actually care whether they live or die?

*

If you ate ANYTHING today...

...thank a farmer... before they go out of business...

The group has been lobbying since 2008 to get the provincial and federal governments to address stipulations in the Ontario Cattle Hog and Horticulture Payment (OCHHP), and Agri- Invest programs that they say have left young pork farmers in danger of losing their businesses.

"We are pretty well flat broke," said group spokesman Wayne Bartel. "I couldn't even pay my feed bill this month."

Says Ontario Minister of Agriculture Leona Dombrowksy...

"I have been in regular contact with the Ontario Pork Council," she said. "We want them to bring us a plan."

A plan, Leona?

You mean like the video game guys did?

*

"Like a fish needs a bicycle"

Yessirree... bringing a whole other element to the smack-talkin' taunt... "Who's your Daddy now?"...

"Scientists in Newcastle claim to have created human sperm in the laboratory in what they say is a world first."

*

The future of the "Intertoobs"?

Google said late Tuesday that it will launch the Google Chrome operating system, a computer operating system that initially will target netbook computers by offering a faster, better and more secure way for users to access Web-based applications.

(h/t reader bob)

[*]

RELATED: Not an auspicious start...

Reading between the lines, it appears the top three hardware vendors have little or no relationship with the search and online advertising giant.

But if Google plans to make inroads into Netbooks and eventually notebooks, that will have to change very soon.

*

Initial reports indicate insider activity...

...by secretive "Caramel Corn" lobby...

She said she was approached to star in the ad while her husband was taking classes at Oaksterdam University, an Oakland trade school that trains students to grow medical marijuana.

I don't see a problem here... it works for the CBC.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

Potheads will save the day because they're all just itching to become taxpayers, it's not like they would do anything illegal to avoid paying taxes.

*

I dunno about hope...

...but there sure could be a shitload of change...

-- WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The top U.S. military officer warned on Tuesday that time is running out for dialogue with Tehran to avoid either a nuclear-armed Iran or a possible military strike against the Islamic Republic.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it is critical for diplomatic efforts to reach a solution before Iran develops a nuclear weapon or faces an Israeli or U.S. strike to turn back its nuclear program.

"That window is a very narrow window."

*

Who says there's no death penalty...

...in fuzzy-bunny Canada?

*

The first thing we do...

...is hang all the lawyers...

"Mr. Drabinsky and his business partner Myron Gottlieb were found guilty in March of defrauding investors of millions."

*

Finding Never-ever-land

Just ask a forensic artist...
*

Left behind...

...but not forgotten...

"It's a long process," said Larry Greer, a spokesman for the Pentagon's POW/MIA Office in Washington.

Greer said the lab has identified the remains of 100 people, and still has 88,000 sets of remains, including 8,100 from the Korean War, yet to identify.

*

Rock beats paper, plastic...

...packaging, meat and vegetable scraps... behold the mighty Granite Club...

Mr. Fyvie approached the club's regular waste disposal contractor, Wasteco Group, which provides an empty, washed bin every day for the members' refuse. The company takes the garbage to a city dumpsite it is authorized to use.

**********

RELATED: Your money... his fairy tale

The City of Toronto boasts that its green bin program diverts a third of our garbage and turns it into "black gold" compost. But a Star investigation shows that the program – although nobly conceived – is a sham.

(h/t reader rich)

Two more Canadian casualties

Two Canadian soldiers have been killed along with a coalition soldier in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.

The Canadians have been identified as 38-year-old Master Cpl. Pat Audet and 25-year-old Cpl. Martin Joannette.

Military officials say the incident at an American base in Zabul province, about 80 kilometres northeast of Kandahar, was not related to insurgent activity.

They will be remembered.

*

CBC addresses core demographic...

...gets brutally bitch-slapped...

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS: Oh gawd... the ignominy...

...once again, I've been bested by the "compassionate, intellectual" left...
And...

"As far as I'm concerned, Michael Jackson died 20 years ago."

**********

LAST WORD: "Back Jack... do it again"

"The behaviour of Jackson's fans in reaction to his death may be many things, but it is not unprecedented."

*

Just something to think about...

...the next time you're stuck sitting in a hospital emergency room for 10 interminable hours...

"I'm so glad McGuinty has taxed me to the brink of starvation so he can invest my money in a guessing game of market winners."

**********

RELATED: Uh, Dalton... you forget something?

“It is manifestly absurd to imagine that any health-care system can continue to provide all possible health benefits to all people at all times no matter how small the benefit and how great the cost.”

*

"Codex Sinaiticus..."

"...is one of the most important books in the world. Handwritten well over 1600 years ago, the manuscript contains the Christian Bible in Greek, including the oldest complete copy of the New Testament.

Its heavily corrected text is of outstanding importance for the history of the Bible and the manuscript – the oldest substantial book to survive Antiquity – is of supreme importance for the history of the book."

*

The commodification continues...

As it was in life... so shall it be in death.

[*]

Why "Young Offenders" are...

...laughing their asses off at the Ontario "justice" system...

Her day in court

Bono's daughter gets the chance to tell how brutal assault left her scarred physically, emotionally -- and mentally
By MARK BONOKOSKI
Last Updated: 6th July 2009, 8:14am

Second of a three-part series

BELLEVILLE -- Youth court in the "Friendly City" is located on the fourth floor of Century Place, an office building in the town's core with first-floor retail outlets, a coffee shop, as well as a Service Ontario office.

It consists of two courtrooms, and a bank of holding cells hidden behind a windowless door off the waiting room.

No docket is ever posted, of course. Young offenders are protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

No names, therefore, can be publicly displayed.

But they are called out when their cases come up.

"(Name withheld.) Courtroom 2," says the voice on the intercom. "(Name withheld.) Courtroom 2."

A girl in the waiting room finally stands, and makes her way into the courtroom, accompanied by a social worker.

She is blond, and tallish, and looks much older than 16, although she was 15 years old at the time she led a gang of teenagers who were roaming the streets here late one April night, who swarmed my 22-year-old daughter Erin without rhyme or reason, who threw her to the ground, and who put the boots to her so severely that they dislocated her jaw, tore her skin raw, and gave her whiplash.

It was videotaped on a cellphone by one of her gang, of course, all to feed YouTube and Facebook as if the brutal assault they were carrying out were no more than a game.

She is there, as the ringleader and lead player in the unwarranted and unprovoked beating, and is scheduled to be sentenced on this day for assault causing bodily harm.

There has already been a plea-bargain arrangement made between the Crown and the accused's counsel, Peter Girard, his office one floor up -- just like there had been a plea bargain for her lesser co-accused, by now already separately dealt with without my daughter's knowledge, already sentenced to one year's probation and 40 hours of community work, and with her file now forever sealed from public purview.

Crown attorney Jodi Whyte reads out the agreed-upon statement of facts. They sound almost generic now, the graphic violence strangely diminished in the telling.

Defence counsel Peter Girard attempts to transform the multiple kicks to my daughter's head into a singular kick and, even more incredibly, into an accidental one.

"Unfortunately a kick landed on her face," he says.

Crown Whyte immediately puts him straight.

"I saw the video, and they were violent kicks to the face," she says. "The potential for harm was huge, but it was not given a moment's thought."

Judge Wendy Malcolm takes notes, and then asks my daughter if she wishes to read her victim impact statement, or simply have it placed before the court.

Erin says she will read it. She is composed, and prepared. And her voice breaks down only once.

Every word is her own. It is painful to listen to. Yet powerful.

"I believe something must be done to teach these girls a valuable lesson in life," she begins. "What happened that night was more than wrong. It was cruel, vicious, needless -- and yet, to these two girls, it was just a game.

"It would be an understatement to say that night changed me. Physically, emotionally and especially mentally, I have battled to overcome the aftermath of the attack," she says. "And I hope what you hear today will make you consider a sentencing to reflect the trauma that I have endured over the past 10 months.

"Mentally, I completely shut down. At the time of the attack, I was just beginning my final exams for my graduating year at Trent University. I literally went into lockdown.

"Besides going to the hospital, or school for my exams, I did not leave the house. Having extreme whiplash and severe facial trauma, I could not sleep at night, eat at all, or stop crying. Amid exams, finishing my thesis, and writing final papers, I did not know what to do with myself.

"I had vivid nightmares repeating the attack over and over again. It was awful. Once I finished school, that is when the shock of everything set in. I became completely withdrawn -- from my friends, family, and from my boyfriend.

"I could no longer stand being in public places. I started to sink into a depression," she says. "I could not wrap my head around why these girls decided that they wanted to cause this sort of pain. I was angry, short-tempered, emotional, irrational and defensive.

"That night I pleaded with the girls to stop kicking me in the face but they had already made up their minds. The last 10 months have been by far the most challenging of my life. I have yet to come to terms with why these girls did this. Why they thought it would be fun. How could they do this to me? No one deserves to have to go through the pain I have.

"If I did not stand before you today and call these girls out on their irresponsible behaviour I have no doubt they would continue to attack whomever, whenever, they wanted.

"I am somewhat insulted by the agreed sentencing in this case. I would like the trials and tribulations that I have faced to be considered and taken seriously. My injuries are not slight. In fact, I was this close to needing surgery.

"Your Honour, I stand before you today asking you to take into consideration my pain. I am aware that because these girls are technically juveniles that there are guidelines in place. However, I believe now is the time to set a precedent against youth violence.

"I fear that if these girls are not taught a lesson that there will be more victims -- many who may not come forward because these girls enlisted fear in them," she says.

"Please hold them accountable for their actions and my pain and suffering."

Judge Malcolm is moved by Erin's presentation.

"What you did today is a very brave thing," she says.

She then puts off the scheduled sentencing of the young defendant, and orders a full pre-sentence report on the now 16-year-old offender, including a psychological evaluation.

"Maybe this should be hanging over your head for a little longer period of time," the judge tells the accused. "Besides, I want to know a little more about you."

And with that, the case was adjourned for a month.

Tomorrow: An epiphany

MARK.BONOKOSKI@SUNMEDIA.CA OR 416-947-2445

**********

RELATED: READ PART ONE

**********

UPDATE: Belleville Police Chief responds...

...well, sort of...

“I feel that it’s unfortunate that this is the way this individual decided to deal with this situation instead of coming into the station, having his daughter — who is the victim — come in a lot sooner than now and deal with this situation."

Ah... so now it's Bonokowski who's the bad guy here.

And the less than stellar conduct by the two Belleville cops?

"As for any repercussions for the officers as a consequence of her probe into the matter will be dealt with internally and 'not through the media'.”

*

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"What's eight track?"

This month the boys of the Budokan release their new album, The Latest, not only in CD and vinyl, but in a long-departed format as fashionable as Tang, bell-bottoms and porn-star mustaches.

*

Flat, black & glows in the dark?

I'll give you a hint... it ain't gonna be Tel Aviv...

The head of Mossad, Israel’s overseas intelligence service, has assured Benjamin Netanyahu, its prime minister, that Saudi Arabia would turn a blind eye to Israeli jets flying over the kingdom during any future raid on Iran’s nuclear sites.

Earlier this year Meir Dagan, Mossad’s director since 2002, held secret talks with Saudi officials to discuss the possibility.

The Israeli press has already carried unconfirmed reports that high-ranking officials, including Ehud Olmert, the former prime minister, held meetings with Saudi colleagues. The reports were denied by Saudi officials.

“The Saudis have tacitly agreed to the Israeli air force flying through their airspace on a mission which is supposed to be in the common interests of both Israel and Saudi Arabia,” a diplomatic source said last week.

**********

RELATED: McDreamy administration's on board

Vice President Joe Biden refused to condemn a potential Israeli strike on ABC’s This Week. “We cannot dictate to a sovereign nation what it can and cannot do,” Mr. Biden said.

Pressed further, he added: “Israel has the right to determine what is in its best interests.”

*

Another brave Canadian falls

A Quebec-based soldier died Saturday after suffering critical injuries when a land mine detonated while he was on foot patrol last month in Afghanistan.

Master-Corporal Charles-Philippe Michaud, who served with the Royal 22nd Regiment based at Canadian Forces Base Valcartier, had been patrolling in Panjwayi District, southwest of Kandahar City.

He was airlifted to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Centre in Germany and arrived in Quebec City on June 28. A military spokesman said he never regained consciousness.

MCpl. Michaud is survived by his wife, parents, and brother. He was 28.

He will be remembered.

*

Bright lights, big city...

...apparently Hastings County isn't immune...

-- BELLEVILLE -- Shortly after midnight on April 6 of last year, here in the "Friendly City," a young woman was randomly attacked by a roaming pack of teenagers, thrown to the ground and kicked repeatedly about the head -- dislocating her jaw, ripping her skin raw, and giving her whiplash.

It was a planned swarming, the victim inconsequential, with the attack committed by a dozen drinking-and-drugging kids, all under 17, for no other reason than 'for kicks' -- no iPod or cell phone robbery, just 'kicks'.

One of the gang even had his cell phone at the ready, and videotaped most of the incident -- showing the young woman being grabbed from behind and thrown to the sidewalk as she walked past the group, no provocation whatsoever, capturing the young woman's pleas for mercy, and then the profane, expletive-filled response of her attackers, primarily by the two girls putting the boots to her.

The obsessive new worlds of YouTube and Facebook had to be appeased with another video feed.

A witness called 911.

No cop car ever showed.

When the attack ended, and while the victim was still lying on the ground, bruised, bloodied and being consoled, a second 911 call was placed.

This time the caller was told no police car would be showing up, since all police units that night were involved in a "serious assault" that apparently included a stabbing.

"Come to the station," they were told.

Whatever the "serious assault" was that took precedence over two 911 calls, it should be noted that it never made it into the local Belleville Intelligencer, since no press release was ever issued on a major incident that reportedly necessitated the response of every available police unit in this city of 39,000 residents.

The young woman who was attacked, by the way, was my then 22-year-old daughter, Erin.

The trauma of that night changed her life.

With the attack happening in the middle of her final exams of her final year at Trent University, she had to bear down and fight the lost confidence that had invaded her.

And she had to do this with a dislocated jaw, around trips to Ottawa to see a specialist, and enduring treatments that quickly closed in on $5,000 and necessitated her wearing a dental appliance that makes her talk with a lisp -- all the while emotionally pondering the complexities of "why her" when, throughout her young life, she has been so good and so giving.

It was not an easy journey.

After all, it had all begun so innocently. Earlier that evening, she and her Ottawa-based boyfriend, Drew Paulusse, along with another couple, had attended a charity fundraising dinner in Belleville, and had then gone to a bar along Belleville's bar-motel strip to finish off the evening.

When one of their extended party wanted to check out another bar across the street, Erin and another girlfriend went with her for company and, upon their return, that's when the assault occurred.

Erin, still dressed to the nines from the charity dinner, was the smallest of the three -- 5' 3" -- and the only one the swarmers grabbed, this after the three were taunted by the gang as "sluts" as they walked up.

As one of her assailants later said, almost nonchalantly, "If it wasn't her, it would have been the next person."

All her attackers, as it turned out, were young offenders, some "known to police," including the two girls who were her primary attackers, and so it all fell under the protection and privacy offered by the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Manning the phones at the Belleville police station on the night of the attack was Const. Gina Giouroukous, a veteran officer assigned to the duty desk.

When Erin, her face swollen and her eyes red with tears, arrived at the station with her friends, Gina Giouroukous, the constable who also happened to take the 911 calls that evening, told them to "get the fuck out of here" and come back in the morning when they were "sober."

No denials of this were ever tabled.

Four days later, following my personal involvement, a belatedly written general occurrence report appeared, penned by yet another officer with no first-hand knowledge, that claimed there was no response to the 911 call on "the alleged assault" because it "appeared to be a punchup in front of a bar with no serious injuries and, judging by the conversation, all parties involved had been drinking."

There were five people who showed up to give evidence at the police station that night, by taxi -- Erin, her boyfriend, the young woman who called 911, not once but twice, another male friend and, most importantly, the youth involved in the swarming who had taken the cell phone video and who, in a brief exhibition of remorse, had stayed back, helped Erin off the ground, and then supplied her with the names of the two girls who had been the primary assailants.

When told at the police station to "get the fuck out of here," however, he did just that -- taking the video evidence with him and vowing no more participation.

That, he said, would be the end of his involvement -- with fear of retaliation for being a snitch his prime motivation.

The following morning, Erin shows up at the Belleville police station to formally give her statement.

She is in severe pain, and on her way to the hospital for X-rays once her statement has been taken. Her jaw has now swollen to the point that she can barely open her mouth, impeding her from even brushing her teeth.

She is interviewed by a uniform cop named Bill Madden, a Belleville constable with a couple of decades on the job.

He hands her a piece of gum, noting he could still smell alcohol on her breath.

"You should not have been walking down the street that late at night," Madden tells her.

To which she replied, incredulously, "Pardon me?"

Throughout the interview, Madden continually refers to the assault as being "alleged."

As if.

Erin gives him the names of her "alleged" assailants, as well as the name of the youth from the swarming who had given her those names, who had taken the video, and who had also reluctantly come to the station the night before when he was still feeling a twinge of guilt.

Following being kicked out of the police station, however, he had gone to ground.

He would now have to be tracked down.

Days later, I accompany Erin to Belleville for her second interview with Madden who, in the meantime, has secured the video from the youth whose name Erin had given him.

First time around, he had been dismissive -- to Erin in person, and later to me on the phone.

After seeing the video, however, he is now calling the attack "brutal and obviously unprovoked."

"This happens all the time in Belleville," he says, so matter-of-factly that it caught me off guard.

"Just kids with nothing better to do," he says, shrugging.

When asked about Erin's treatment at the Belleville police station the night of the attack after experiencing no response to two 911 calls, Madden then says this.

"What did you expect when she shows up at the station with her posse in tow?" he asks.

It was an unfortunate choice of words, and out of context with the reality.

"Posse?" I reply. "Did you say posse?"

He doesn't know quite how to respond.

"By posse, do you mean Erin's boyfriend, who happens to be a law-abiding university graduate and a environment technologist in Ottawa? Is he posse?" I say.

"Or how about the female witness? Is she posse?

"Or the other young man with them, who just happened to be a police cadet at the time, and is now a full-fledged member of the OPP?"

"Is he posse? I ask.

Madden has no answer.

The file is eventually turned over to Det. Tom Sweet of the Belleville Police criminal investigation unit.

Weeks pass.

Two girls -- both 15 -- are finally charged with assault causing bodily harm, and ordered to steer clear of each other as conditions for their pre-trial release.

On the very first night, the ringleader messages the other online as if it were all a joke, and is charged with breach of her bail conditions when the other girl's mother contacts police and turns her in.

And so the justice system begins ...

mark.bonokoski@sunmedia.ca or 416-947-2445 --

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Pop Quiz

"Is it right to charge shopkeepers who fight back against thieves?"*

Mind over Mullah

Looks like somebody just pissed in Ayatollah Ali's khoresh...

-- CAIRO -- The most important group of religious leaders in Iran has called the disputed presidential election and the new government illegitimate, an act of defiance against the country’s supreme leader and the most public sign of a major split in the country’s clerical establishment.

“This crack in the clerical establishment and the fact they are siding with the people and Moussavi in my view is the most historic crack in the 30 years of the Islamic republic,” said Abbas Milani, director of the Iranian Studies Program at Stanford University.

“Remember they are going against an election verified and sanctified by Khamenei.”

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A trust betrayed

Whatever happened to honour, duty, country?

-- VANCOUVER -- For the second time in less than two years, an employee of the Canada Border Services Agency is accused of misusing his position to help international drug traffickers smuggle cocaine into B.C.

An arrest warrant for Jasbir Singh Grewal was issued in a Seattle courtroom two weeks ago, The Vancouver Sun has learned.

Grewal is accused of allowing at least 12 large shipments of cocaine concealed in motor homes to cross into B.C. from Washington state.

And it's not the first incident in recent memory...

Another CBSA border guard, Baljinder Kandola, is due back in Surrey Provincial Court Aug. 19 after being charged in a similar smuggling case.

Kandola faces counts of breach of trust and conspiracy to import cocaine and firearms after he was arrested in October 2007 along with others in B.C. and Washington.

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RELATED: How soon they forget

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"Hope, Change and..."

"...I did not have sexual relations with that woman..."

Obama is reportedly leaning toward simply issuing an executive order that would let him define the potential "dangerousness" of a suspect – based simply on secret US intelligence.

That would be the basis for indefinite detention – perhaps with court review every six months.

Funny how that works, huh?

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"All that is needed..."

"...for evil to triumph... is for greedy men to look the other way..."

Chinese authorities said the software is needed to shield children from violent and obscene material online. But experts who examined it said Green Dam also would block material the government deemed politically unacceptable.

The controversy was sensitive for global computer makers, for which China is both a major market and the production site for up to 80 per cent of the world's PCs.

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Another Canadian soldier falls

-- KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- A Canadian soldier travelling behind the senior commander in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province was killed today when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device.

Cpl. Nicholas Bulger, 30, was a member of 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton.

He will be remembered.

The victim of Friday's bombing, Cpl. Bulger, had spoken of his optimism for Afghanistan in a CBC-TV interview on Canada Day.

"There's a future here," said Cpl. Bulger, who was looking forward to a vacation in Ontario.

"When we're driving down the streets in rural areas, to look down into the eyes of the children that are there, you get a different perspective, I guess, than what I had when I first came here.

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An evening of...

...well, you know...
Interestingly, this little shindig is being touted as...

"a combination of awesome intellect, devastating logic and, sometimes, just calling people 'douchebags' when the situation calls for it."

Apparently, the recent outing of singularly compassionate, lefty intellectual "Canadian Cesspool" has merely served to propel him to greater heights of narcissism.

And speaking of rampant "wankery", I wonder whether CC will be presenting his recent theories about Prime Minister Stephen Harper being in the pocket of the all-powerful Jews...
Or, how about this stuff...
...and...
Yeah... what's a little anti-semitism among friends, huh?

And again, in the comments, the Chimp-O-Sphere defends the franchise...

"Like I said Einstein, you people were the worst of anti-Semite's before 9-11. Now you tolerate the Jews because you're hoping they'll nuke all the other brown people for you."

Us people?

The "Jew tolerators"?

I'm gonna have to chew on that one.

And let's not forget... CC and crew fancy themselves real "ladies men".

Perhaps CC's "carefully-acquired co-blogger 'Pretty Shaved Ape'" aka Lindsay Stewart will be able to expand upon his fantasy about raping noted right-wing pundit Ann Coulter.

"i'll take my beer drunk self to bed with dreams of pulling on a raw woolen condom and slipping in to the sulphurous chasm that lurks beneath her christian skirts."

"you know what they say, if you can't beat 'em, fuck 'em. i'll feel so dirty in the morning."

Or who could forget the Cynic's magnum opus... wherein he tells Wanda Watkins, the mother of a young Canadian soldier slain in Afghanistan...

"Fuck you and your grief."

Yessiree... an evening for all the uber-highbrow denizens of the sanctimonious left-o-sphere.

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FROM THE COMMENTS:

"More like uber-unibrow. Even before his greasy mug was plastered all over, I KNEW he was a tubby bitch with a shitty haircut."

And...

"I sure hope someone you-tubes tonights proceedings at the second coming of the Algonquin Round Table."

And the "awesomely intellectual, devastatingly logical" Cynic responds...
C'mon now Bobby... a fine, upstanding young man like yourself... who would ever wanna wish you ill?

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UPDATE: Some pretty tame douchebaggery...

Someone taped the show last night - not sure who - but Robert didn’t much care for the free publicity.

Whatever his reasons for wanting to suddenly stay private, he wound up chasing a guy with a camera halfway down the street back from O’Grady’s pub to tell the guy not to post the footage.

Maybe he’s Amish at heart, and doesn’t want his image captured.

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Talk about a...

...never-ending freak show.

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Seems all the "Do-Gooders"...

... do pretty damn good...

The welfare recipients in the room – outnumbered approximately 10 to 1 by representatives of social agencies, legal aid clinics, homeless shelters and charities – accused their service providers of stealing their voices.

They lashed out at the public servants who claim to be on their side. "My caseworker (who belongs to CUPE 79, the union representing Toronto's inside workers) gets $33 an hour," said Theresa Shrader.

"Imagine picketing your office for 18 days of paid sick benefits. And you want to restructure Ontario Works? Come on, please."

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Curiously... once again...

...Mayor's office strangely silent on which gun club shooters belonged to...

Three men were wounded in two separate shootings at opposite ends of the city yesterday. The first incident of gun violence was sparked by a fight that occurred around 2:45 a.m. inside the Tropical Sunset bar at Kennedy Rd. and Progress Ave., according to Toronto Police.

Meanwhile, gunfire erupted less than two hours later at an Etobicoke gas station, injuring two men.

The victims were sitting in a car at an Esso station on the southeast corner of Dixon Rd. and Islington Ave. when a gunman opened fire on them just after 4:30 a.m., police said. One man was hit in the leg, and the other in the neck and back.

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It might just be a rumour, but I hear...

...that Dr Dawg, Red Tory & Canadian Cesspool are gonna meet down at 52 Division... and taser each other until Chief Blair resigns...

-- PARIS -- A Paris activist pierced her skin with giant fishhooks and hung herself from the ceiling of a boutique Thursday in a radical protest at the threat of extinction facing the world's sharks.

Artist and animal rights activist Alice Newstead speared the skin of her shoulderblades with oversized shark fishing hooks, fitting her feet into a harness, to be hoisted up into the air.

She spent 15 minutes suspended in the window of a Lush Cosmetics store in the south of the capital, as passers-by walked along the busy boulevard, her skin stretched upward and streaked with blood.

You go girl!

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Well, I guess he won't...

...do that again...

After his capture, Saddam Hussein told the FBI that he falsely allowed the world to believe Iraq had weapons of mass destruction because he feared revealing his weakness to Iran, the hostile neighbour he considered a bigger threat than the United States.

Funny how often these sweaty-balled third world dictators think they can get by on hysterical threats and sheer bluff.

Then somebody calls them on it... and bam... the whole picture changes.

Hmmm... maybe President McDreamy should reconsider his "Mr. Rogers" policy towards the Norks.

You know... before the nukes actually start flyin'.

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RELATED: And speaking of...

A third round of talks over an embattled joint industrial zone between North and South Korea has produced no progress.

The North apparently launched several short range missiles into the ocean even as South Korean delegates were making their journey back from the North's territory.

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Why Britannia used to...

..."rule the waves"...

"Photographs of the defendant showed what looked like a car accident and photos of the scene looked more like a murder scene."

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CAF - Canada Day Edition

C'mon Omar... don't hold back... tell us how you really feel...

As the rest of Canada celebrates the nation’s 142nd birthday today, a Vice President of the Canadian Arab Federation has labelled the country a “genocidal state” and the described its national day as “F**k Canada Day.”

Omar Shaban, who lives in Vancouver, BC made these comments on his Facebook page, declaring, “It’s finally Canada Day ... Couldn't be more ashamed to be Canadian.”

Let the Canadian Arab Federation know how you feel.

Or, better yet... let this guy know.

(h/t bcf)

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RELATED: The Kwantlen Political Science Society...

...must be so proud...

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UPDATE: CAF bites the bullet

The tirade on Omar Shaban's profile stirred up a firestorm of controversy and put CAF leaders in damage-control mode as they were quick to condemn the posting on the social networking site.

Just after 8:30 last night, Shaban, 23, resigned his post as the CAF's executive vice-president for Western Canada, CAF national president Khaled Mouammar confirmed.

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FROM THE COMMENTS:

"If Mohamed Boudjenane (CAF Executive Director 416-889-6764) really wants to distance the Canadian Arab Federation from Omar Shaban, then why is Omar Shaban still on his facebook friend's list?"

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G&M - Canada Day Edition

Ah, yes... the strained peas & carrots of Canadian journalism...
I've gotta say... I've heard some pretty screwed up definitions of what it is to be Canadian... but truly folks, if we're down to "eating seal meat"... it really is time to start looking at mass emigration to Australia.

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RELATED: Sadly, in the eternal battle...

...of Penis vs Patriotism...

I know that David Miller isn’t one to provoke a union if he can at all avoid it, but it would have been nice to see at least a glimmer of citizenship from both the government and the unions.

Surely the one day of the year where we celebrate our nation could have been salvaged? I guess it goes to show you how the unions and the city officials think. We daren't offend the Pride organizers, that would be politically incorrect.

Canadians as a whole, however? Screw 'em.

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It's our money, and I, for one...

...wouldn't mind shining a bright light down those parliamentary ratholes......

Canada's 308 MPs received about $127 million in expenses last year but there are no public details into exactly how that money was spent.

On top of their $157,738 salary, MPs have a $25,500 annual expense allowance, which can be partially assigned to home costs if they have a secondary residence in Ottawa.

Who exactly, besides the members themselves, thinks keeping this stuff under wraps is a good idea?

"I don't see how the spending of taxpayers' money is a private parliamentary issue," the federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation told CTV News.

"Quite simply put, it's taxpayers who ought to be able to judge for themselves whether they get value for that money."

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Sunshine is still the best disinfectant."

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