15 September 2009

Remember when Count Ignatieff...

  9/15/2009 11:30:00 am      
...promised to erase the deficit without raising taxes? Well... apparently he's got another trick or two up his sleeve...
Premier Dalton McGuinty says Ignatieff agreed to help Ontario implement the blended tax, which goes into effect July 1, by sending approximately $4 billion to the province.
Well... that oughta brighten up every Canadian taxpayer's day. I guess worrying about actual dollars & cents... is for little people.

**********

RELATED: Iggy's bad day gets worse
The Conservatives have the support of 39 per cent of decided voters, according to the Ipsos Reid survey, commissioned by Canwest News Service and Global National.

Meanwhile, it appears that Ignatieff, who announced this month that his party would no longer support the government, would suffer the most from any backlash.

"It's pretty clear that the guy who's going to wear the government falling is Iggy," said Bricker.
**********

LAST WORD: Ask a Liberal War-Roomer
"It is not very often that one gets to witness a "leadership frontrunner" immolate his own candidacy so blithely, so recklessly, but if you click here and you peer inside, you will see the corpse of Michael Ignatieff’s vaulting ambition."

"He is done – and if he isn’t, he should be."
That was then... this is now.

*

A man's home...

  9/15/2009 10:30:00 am      
...is his castle, er... surgical suite...
-- BALTIMORE -- Baltimore police say a Johns Hopkins University medical student armed with a samurai sword killed an intruder in his garage.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says campus police and an off-duty city officer responding to a call for a suspicious person heard screams to call police around 1:20 a.m. Tuesday.

Guglielmi says the student told the man he found in his garage to leave and the man accosted him. That’s when Guglielmi says the student defended himself, cutting off the man’s hand and causing a severe laceration to his upper body.
**********

RELATED: Here's another Canada/U.S.A. debate
First enacted in Florida in 2005, "Stand Your Ground" bills are now being considered in 21 states including Georgia, according to the National Rifle Association and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. The South Dakota senate approved one just last week.
*

The good news, cops say...

  9/15/2009 08:30:00 am      
...is that apparently we're not dealing with anybody from Mensa......

O'Keefe and Giles were garishly dressed as a stereotypical pimp and prostitute. O'Keefe was decked out in excessively snazzy flesh-peddler couture, and Giles, going by the name "Eden," wore almost nothing.

The ACORN workers were not the slightest bit judgmental or put off by the request for help in getting financing for a brothel.

The Brooklyn DA's office announced today it would be investigating the group.
*

Back at the Dipper Shura...

  9/15/2009 06:30:00 am      
...socialist heads continue to explode...
"Make no mistake about it, we have no intention of giving this government a blank cheque, like Michael Ignatieff and the Liberals did."

The usually loquacious NDP leader broke with precedent and took no questions after making his statement outside the Commons.
Yeah sure, Jacko... because you say so.

*

14 September 2009

Not ready for primetime

  9/14/2009 10:15:00 pm      
Hon. Bob Rae: Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Prime Minister a very simple question. Does the government plan to launch a significant defence of the Canadian system in light of the attack that is being made on it in the United States of America?

Right Hon. Stephen Harper: Mr. Speaker, we intend to let the United States make its own decisions on domestic debates.
I will say that the Canadian health care system will not only survive attacks by right-wing commentators in the United States but will even survive one by left-wing incompetents in Ontario.
(h/t reader rich)

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:
"In hockey terms, Harper just handed Rae his jockstrap."
*

Iggy's stringent vetting process

  9/14/2009 02:30:00 pm      
The individual one Liberal insider once described as "human shrapnel"... will be leading the Ignatieff electoral charge...
Warren Kinsella, a former senior Liberal Cabinet staffer who played a key role in the 1993, 1997 and 2000 federal election campaigns, will head the war room, but will work as a campaign volunteer.
Maybe someone should bring Iggy up to speed... he wasn't actually around for that infamous Adscam debacle.

(h/t chris-con)

**********

RELATED: The new improved Ignatieff

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McSlippery cabal finally admits...

  9/14/2009 02:00:00 pm      
...they haven't a clue where all the taxpayer moola is going...
Mr. McGuinty unveiled the new measures on Monday morning, an hour before the fall session begins in the legislature. His government is expected to be on the defensive following spending scandals at eHealth Ontario and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp.

Mr. McGuinty denied that he is attempting to distract attention from what is expected to be a lively Question Period today. But he also conceded that his government has been caught off guard by the spending scandals uncovered by the Tories.
*

Well... he's right about one thing...

  9/14/2009 11:45:00 am      
...I don't understand at all...
The son of a man who shot his estranged wife in a tragic murder-suicide in Orangeville over the weekend has come to the defence of his dead father.

"My father was a wonderful man and was not the crazy man that shot at cops during the event as you stated," wrote the couple's son Connor, 14, in an e-mail disputing an account of what occurred.

"You would never understand the full story behind the ... situation between my mother and father," the young teen wrote.
*

Canadian soldier killed

  9/14/2009 10:30:00 am      
Private Patrick Lormand, 21 of the 2nd Battalion, Royal 22nd Regiment was killed and four others were injured in a roadside IED blast approximately 13 kilometres southwest of Kandahar city.
He will be remembered.

And, of course, the Globe & Mail decides to feature a little Liberal propaganda right alongside this sad news...
An opinion column that ran in several Canadian newspapers from Colin Kenny, the chair of the Senate Committee on National Security and Defence, criticized the Afghan mission as being ‘futile' and said “It's time to retreat from Canada's Vietnam.”
Geez, Colin... that sounds awfully familiar...
"If you stop the war, then fine. Otherwise we will have no choice but to continue our war of attrition on every front. If you choose safety and stopping wars, as opinion polls show you do, then we are ready to respond to this."
**********

RELATED: Who is Colin Kenny?

This is actually something you need to know... after all, he's spending your money.

*

Bad Karma

  9/14/2009 07:00:00 am      
Guns, thuggery... hey, maybe the gawds decided to balance the equation...
A teen who ran into the path of an on-coming car on Victoria Park Ave. after robbing a North York variety store died in hospital.

Toronto Police said the 17-year-old boy died from injuries overnight.
**********

RELATED: In other Toronto teenager news
One of two 17-year-old boys stabbed behind Bloor Collegiate Institute today was rushed to St. Michael's hospital's trauma unit in critical condition, Toronto Police said.

After the attack, around 11:45 a.m., in which several suspects pulled knives from their backpacks, the most seriously hurt 17-year-old boy ran for his life down an adjoining alley, then east along Bloor St. to the clinic.
**********

LAST WORD: No word yet from Mayor's office...

...on which gun club they belonged to...
Toronto police are investigating a shooting in the city's east end early Sunday morning. A man was shot near the intersection of St. Clair Avenue East and Kennedy Road at about 2:30 a.m.

There was another shooting in the city on the weekend. A man was shot in the leg near St. Clair Avenue West and Runnymede Road, also on Sunday morning.
*

13 September 2009

The wonderful, extremely elastic world...

  9/13/2009 03:15:00 pm      
...of Taliban Jack -- see, that was then...
"The Liberal Party -- first under Dion and now under Ignatieff -- have a disgraceful track record of propping up Stephen Harper. They've rubberstamped his Conservative agenda 79 times and counting," reads an NDP press release on the party's website that's dated Aug. 28.
...this is now...
NDP leader Jack Layton is defending efforts to work with the Conservatives and avoid a fall election.
Oh man... Mrs Dear Leader Olivia is so gonna kick Jacko's wavering, hypocritical ass. And hey, that's funny... I'm not hearing any more yip-yap about how Jack & Iggy would team up to fix the economy.

C'mon guys... did you two have a fight or something?

*

The stuff CBC invariably leaves out

  9/13/2009 12:00:00 pm      
A community organiser's house in Chicago... that sounds so familiar...
-- CHICAGO -- If you've got the money, you could be President Barack Obama's neighbour in Chicago. The 17-room home next door to his house in a ritzy neighbourhood on the city's south side is on the market.

It doesn't have a price tag yet, but the listing agent said the "Obama factor" will play a role. Homes in the area usually go for between $1 million and $2.5 million.
Hmmm... is this the same house President McDreamy bought from Tony Rezko's wife? I don't think the Prez paid anywhere near that kind of coin.
Obama's ties to Rezko have become a political albatross for the presidential nominee, who has been forced to defend the convicted felon's fundraising activities for him and revelations Obama bought his South Side mansion on the same day in 2005 that Rezko purchased a vacant lot next door.
Geez... that's not the house that had it's appraisal value fudged to cover up what a great deal ol' Barry got from his friends, the Rezkos?
A former Illinois bank official, now claiming whistleblower status, says bank officials replaced a loan reappraisal that he prepared for a Chicago property that was purchased by the wife of now-convicted felon Tony Rezko, part of which was later sold to next-door neighbor Barack Obama.

In a complaint filed Thursday in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Kenneth J. Connor said that his reappraisal of Rita Rezko's property was replaced with a higher one and that he was fired when he questioned the document.
Ah, Chicago... land of endless opportunity.

*

Losing? I don't think so

  9/13/2009 10:30:00 am      
Every time these donkeyheads stand & fight... they get their asses kicked all the way to paradise...
-- KABUL -- A battle in western Afghanistan that included airstrikes killed dozens of Taliban militants after an insurgent ambush left three U.S. troops dead, an Afghan official said Sunday.

The hours-long battle took place Saturday in the western province of Farah after a complex attack that killed three Americans and seven Afghan troops, said Afghan army spokesman Maj. Abdul Basir Ghori.
*

12 September 2009

McGuinty government...

  9/12/2009 11:15:00 am      
...rumoured to be working on legislation to ban birthday parties...
A 33-year-old Brampton man is dead after he was shot at a party in his home, police say. Officers responded to calls around 4:20 a.m. yesterday for a disturbance on Castlehill Rd., near Chinguacousy Rd. and Queen St. W.

The man, identified as Devinder Singh Gill, is Peel's 15th homicide victim of the year.

One neighbour who didn't want to be identified has been living on the street for over a year and says she plans on moving because she doesn't feel safe.

"There are always cops around. Either they're confiscating something from someone's house or someone died," she said. "It's usually for domestic calls. I've also heard of a couple of shootings down the street."
**********

RELATED: Hmmm... interesting take on the GTA...

...by an Indian newspaper...
A young Sikh man was shot dead on early Friday morning in the ***Indian dominated city of Brampton*** on the outskirts of Toronto.
Domination... really?

That's an interesting... albeit culturally loaded word.

*

11 September 2009

Ashamed to be Canadian...

  9/11/2009 11:15:00 pm      
...the latest misstep from the Ignatieff party...
The partisan pamphlets — known as “10-percenters” — were greeted with outrage as they arrived in mailboxes in the Maritimes this week, including the New Brunswick riding where CFB Gagetown has sent members to fight and die in Afghanistan wearing the Canadian flag.

“It’s very upsetting,” said Tracy Marcotullio, whose husband is now on his third tour in Kandahar. “We just lost two more guys, and this is a real slap in the face to those seriously risking their lives every day.”
Now who would be stupid enough to do something like this?

How about the same simpleton who made up a story about British Columbians "burning crosses" on people's lawns.
The batch of mail-outs went out under the name of Liberal MP Hedy Fry.
Oh, Hedy... not again.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:
"On 9/11, today of all days, the Liberals pull a stunt like this."
*

Heir transparent craps all over...

  9/11/2009 02:15:00 pm      
...the Puffin King...
-- MONTREAL -- There's a surprising new star making a cameo appearance in Conservative ads attacking Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff: his name is Justin Trudeau.

"Ignatieff, he's a little all over the place sometimes," Trudeau says in the spot, in a clip drawn from a 2006 TV interview. "He says this, he says that - he contradicts himself."

Trudeau then delivers this little parting shot: "For me, he's not someone with... maybe he has the intelligence, but maybe not the wisdom required."
*

Never forget

  9/11/2009 07:45:00 am      
There was some doubt three years ago where this archive would end up. Museum officials were aware of it and appreciated it, but it wasn’t yet clear that the institution’s programing and resources could encompass such a collection.

Mr. Rosenbaum said he is grateful that the “digital flame” now has a guaranteed place at ground zero, where it belongs.

And where it began.
**********

RELATED: Yeah, sure... "low key"...

...that's one way to put it. Now that the Socialist-in-Chief got himself elected... he can skip all that patriotic stuff, huh?
In place of Mr. Obama, who spent last Sept. 11 at Ground Zero while campaigning for the presidency, Vice-President Joe Biden and his wife Jill will visit the site along with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, according to a statement from the White House Thursday.
Well... at least he didn't send Reverend Jeremiah Wright... or Van Jones.

**********

LAST WORD: They can't all be stupid... right?

*

Eight years ago today...

  9/11/2009 12:01:00 am      
...I opened up an email telling me that a plane had just flown into the World Trade Center in New York.

Wow, I thought... imagining that some inexperienced private pilot had really gone astray... that's gonna be all over the news tonight.

Little did I know.

Shortly after that, Mrs Neo & I drove into Belleville to run some errands at the mall. It was there, on the big screen TV at the Bell outlet, that I was confronted with the reality and enormity of what was happening.

Curiously, all around me... unlike in Gaza and assorted other middle eastern countries on that infamous day... there was no dancing and joyous celebration of this horrific event.

Everyone around me just couldn't seem to wrap their heads around what was undeniably mass murder.

And that made me realise just how different our culture is from so many other places in the world.

It's a lesson I will not forget.

*

10 September 2009

In other "Coalition of Weasels" news

  9/10/2009 01:00:00 pm      
With Ig having poured the blood in the water I asked (for the thirty millionth time) a Toronto area Liberal and former denizen of the Hill whether he agreed with the idea that in order for the Grits to overcome the problems inherent in vote splitting on the left they needed to explore the possibility of an entente cordiale with the NDP.

And that perhaps Bob Rae might be the right man for that job.
**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:
"I love how the media and liberals were stupid enough to release a tape of Harper being concerned about the Coalition. That's free advertising for something 75% of Canadians don't want."
And...
"When will the media challenge Iggy on his 'I turned it down' crock? Dion was in line for the PM job when the Three Stooges signed their deal."
**********

UPDATE: Count Ignatieff sets the peasants straight
“I could have been standing here as prime minister of Canada, but I turned it down.”
Oh, please, please, please... keep diggin'.

*

Remember when you were a kid...

  9/10/2009 10:45:00 am      
...some lunatic beat his mom to death... he wasn't the one who got all the sympathy?
Rayaaz Rasul, who lives on the street, said the son had a history of acting strangely. "He would say he was God and the angel Michael or something ... he was just a really confused guy," Rasul told CBC News.

Another neighbour, Francisco Barreto, said the son had a history of behaving erratically.

"He did have some mental health issues," Barreto said, adding police had been called to the house "several times."
So... this guy thought he was God... he's got frequent flyer points with the local gendarmes... and people are still surprised?

I'm thinkin'... the Muppets coulda seen this one coming.

*

I am Legend

  9/10/2009 08:45:00 am      
...unfortunately, though... not in a good way...
A 29-year-old woman is dead after falling about four storeys while trying to jump across a section of a building in downtown Toronto.

The woman was with a male friend and Vickers says police believe they were in the building because they thought it was haunted.
I guess maybe it is now.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

Guess who just showed up... to preach "respect for the dead."

**********

UPDATE: Death by Darwin?
“From what they told me, it was just urban exploration,” he said. “What they indicated to me, drunkenly, was that they had just happened upon the building.” Neither of the two are believed to be university students.

Police were treating the incident as an alcohol-fuelled death by misadventure.
*

What's flat, black and glows...

  9/10/2009 07:00:00 am      
...in the dark?
”We’re all looking at the same set of facts,” said one senior Israeli intelligence official, who, like others interviewed for this article, asked for anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the intelligence-gathering.

“We are interpreting them quite differently than the White House does.”
Looks like it ain't gonna be Tel Aviv.

*

09 September 2009

Two groups, huh?

  9/09/2009 11:45:00 am      
My money's on Baptists & Boy Scouts...
The shooting happened at around 11 p.m. in the Carr Street parkette near Queen Street and Spadina Avenue.

Two groups of people were involved in the shooting, police said, providing no further details.
**********

RELATED: In other extremely sketchy crime news...
-- TORONTO -- While only a vague description was given for the stabber, who appeared to be in his teens or early 20s, Smith said he planned to review surveillance footage in the area in hopes of identifying him.
*

Can you imagine...

  9/09/2009 10:00:00 am      
...the spittle-flecked left-o-spheric furor... (and yes, Dawg - I'm talkin' about you)... if kids at a Toronto school sang the "White National Anthem"?

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:
"Will the school have a "White History Month"... because a "Black History Month" would appear to be rather superfluous."
And the compassionate, intellectual left responds...
"What does it mean to be Canadian? Act like a white boy and shut up?"
*

08 September 2009

Explanations are for the "little people"

  9/08/2009 10:45:00 pm      
Once again, your money... his friends...
-- TORONTO -- Ontario's Liberal government has used its majority to block opposition attempts to force top brass from eHealth Ontario to appear before a legislative committee.

But the Liberals unanimously out-voted the opposition parties, without offering an explanation.
*

Sure seems pretty clear to me

  9/08/2009 03:00:00 pm      
Canadian legal history could be made this week when a Quebec man finds out whether he will become this country's first drunk driver to be declared a dangerous offender.

Roger Walsh pleaded guilty to a 19th impaired driving charge last December - this time after he mowed down Anee Khudaverdian in October.

The wheelchair-bound mother was out with her dog, on her 47th birthday.
**********

UPDATE: Where's the justice?

"Legal" system says, "Nah... he's not dangerous."

Any wagers on how much of his "life sentence" this scummer will actually serve?

*

From the people who brought you...

  9/08/2009 10:30:00 am      
...lead-painted baby toys...
-- BEIJING -- A spokeswoman for Wal-Mart in China, Vivi Mou, said in an e-mailed statement to The Associated Press that "an incident occurred" between two security associates and a female visitor on Aug. 30, but the cause of death is still being investigated.

The city police headquarters referred questions to the district police station, which referred them to the criminal department, where no one answered the phone.
**********

RELATED: Playing by "China Rules"

Shoving shit out the door... is Job #1
Adding to the difficulties: Most factory workers have little hope of ever affording the products they're assembling, and may be disciplined rather than rewarded for reporting problems on the assembly line.
**********

LAST WORD: Scratch India off vacation list too
Police said the four were members of the banned Laskkar-e-Taiba militant group and were plotting to assassinate the hardline Hindu head of the state, Narendra Modi.

But a judicial probe into the incident has found the four were killed in police custody. It has blamed top police officers for their deaths, saying they were staged to win promotions and rewards.
*

Funnily enough, Mayor's office...

  9/08/2009 09:15:00 am      
...yet again, having trouble identifying exactly which gun club he belonged to...
-- TORONTO -- A man was shot to death in a North York housing complex last night as more than 100 friends and family of another shooting victim gathered in a downtown vigil.

Toronto Police were called just before 9 p.m. to a shooting on Field Sparrow Way, northwest of Leslie St. and Finch Ave. and found a man in his mid-20s suffering from fatal gunshot wounds.
Looks like Dudley Laws might have a point.

**********

UPDATE: Latest victim identified
A man shot to death last night in the north-central part of the city has been identified as Sheldon Anthony Henry.
*

A chain is only as strong...

  9/08/2009 06:00:00 am      
...as its weakest link...
The call was made Sept. 18 and Dudley was found clinging to life four days later. She died en route to hospital Sept. 22.

Police checked out the general area on the night of the call, but left without talking to the caller or visiting Dudley’s house, where windows had been shot out.
*

07 September 2009

I guess he can always head...

  9/07/2009 10:15:00 pm      
...back to Hah-vuhd...
The survey, conducted by Strategic Counsel for CTV and The Globe and Mail, puts Conservative support at 35 per cent of voters. The Liberals are at 30 per cent. The NDP are at 14, the Greens at 9 and the Bloc Québécois at 12.
Hey Mikey... maybe the sheeple aren't so anxious to be herded this time around after all.
After three elections in five years, endless election speculation, Parliament Hill dramas, at least $750 million spent going to the polls and three consecutive minority governments, the bloom, it seems, is off the minority rose.
But c'mon now... how bad could this really be?

"Do think there should be a federal election in 2009?"
*

It was supposed to be...

  9/07/2009 11:00:00 am      
...a non-blogging day here at the Halls... but there are no statutory holidays for soldiers...

Killed in the explosion were 36-year-old Major Yannick Pepin and Corporal Jean-Francois Drouin, 31 who were hit by the IED explosion around noon local time in the Dand district, southwest of Kandahar city on Sunday.
They will be remembered.

**********

RELATED: They sure like blowin' shit up

A London jury convicted three British Muslims Monday of conspiring to blow up at least seven airliners bound for the U.S. and Canada in what was intended to be the largest such attack since Sept. 11, 2001.

If they had been successful, about 2,000 passengers would have died. If bombs were detonated over U.S. and Canadian cities, hundreds more would have been killed on the ground, officials said.
*

06 September 2009

I'm from the (Quebec) government...

  9/06/2009 02:00:00 pm      
...I'm here to save you...
As of last year, parents no longer had the right to choose between courses in Catholic, Protestant or moral instruction.

The new curriculum covers a broad range of world religions, with particular emphasis on Quebec's religious heritage -- Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism and aboriginal spirituality.
*

Nasty arch-conservative...

  9/06/2009 12:15:00 pm      
...launches personal attack ads in advance of unnecessary, unwanted election.

In other anticipated election news... unapologetic super-socialist... parachutes into distant riding and pulls rank on resident candidate...
Stuart Hertzog lodged a complaint Thursday with Elections Canada claiming a possible illegal transfer of funds to May's campaign by the party and unfair access to party resources, such as membership lists.

In a letter to Elections Canada posted on his website, Hertzog claims the party transferred $62,000 into the Saanich-Gulf Island's electoral district association's accounts on two conditions — that it selects May as its nominee and that her campaign manager, John Fryer, have complete control of the money.
*

Remember when you were a kid...

  9/06/2009 11:30:00 am      
...and people used to stab each other over loud party music?
-- TORONTO -- What started as a noise complaint ended with three people stabbed on a residential street behind North York Sheridan Mall early yesterday morning, police say.

Emergency crews were called to a home on Dallner Rd., northwest of Jane St. and Wilson Ave., where they found three people with non-life-threatening stab wounds just after midnight, Toronto Police Staff-Sgt. Gerry Cashman said.

Jermaine Gardner and Kenlyn Welcome, both 26, were jointly charged with assault, possessing a weapon, assault causing bodily harm and assault with a weapon, Kraft said.
No big deal... apparently, it could have been a lot worse.

**********

RELATED: Rides, cotton candy, penetrating trauma
The end-of-summer fun at the CNE was marred by violence Saturday night when a stabbing happened right in the centre of the midway.

Police taped off a section of the midway after the attack, which happened in front of dozens of stunned witnesses.
*

Yeah, Van... I'm thinkin' it was...

  9/06/2009 09:45:00 am      
...the CIA, or maybe the Mossad...
"On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me."

"They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide."
A viscious smear campaign, huh Van?

You mean like being caught on videotape calling the previous Commander-in-Chief an asshole... or signing a petition that puts 9/11 at his doorstep?

Those kind of lies?

I guess you'd call this guy an Uncle Tom, too...
"I don’t know where President Obama is finding all these black folk he’s putting in positions of authority, but they’re not only making us all look bad, he’s damaging race relations beyond what anyone could even imagine."
Hey... is it racist if a black man says it?

*

I guess he's feelin' lucky

  9/06/2009 07:00:00 am      
“I think Michael knew in June that he had one get-out-of-jail card and I think that most Liberals understood that there was only one way to handle the fall [take down the Tories,]” a senior Liberal strategist said.

Last Tuesday, the Liberal Leader followed the script he laid out in June, announcing to his caucus, who were meeting in Sudbury, Ont., for their annual summer retreat, that at their first opportunity they would move a motion of no-confidence.

“Mr. Harper, your time is up,” he said in his speech to caucus as MPs and senators jumped to their feet, cheering and applauding.
*

05 September 2009

No MSM defense of Hogtown shooters

  9/05/2009 11:15:00 am      
Whatever happened to... maybe they were drinking... or had written some bad cheques?
-- TORONTO -- One man is dead and another is in serious condition after separate shootings in the north and south ends of Toronto overnight.

The first began with a phone call to a 25-year-old man who was at a cafe near Yonge St. and Finch Ave. just before midnight, Toronto Police Staff-Sgt. David Vickers said.

About four hours later, a 21-year-old man was near the Rabba store at Front and Sherbourne Sts. when "somebody came up from behind and shot him several times," Vickers said.
**********

UPDATE: Front St. victim identified

*

"Michael Ignatieff mentioned other...

  9/05/2009 11:00:00 am      
...life-changing experiences. I wonder what they are. I think someone ought to ask.

One might be that amazing Stanley Cup win by the Vancouver Maple Leafs in 1981. I remember how everyone was cheering with a Molson's Blue in their hands.
**********

RELATED: President McDreamy's morality tale...

It'd carry a little more weight... if it were actually true...
Churchill ordered the firebombing of Dresden just twelve weeks before the end of World War II. No one knows for sure how many civilians were burned alive, but tens of thousands surely were, in no small part to deliver a psychological blow to the Germans.

If Churchill could have waterboarded a prisoner to avoid that - or stop the Holocaust - would one shortcut have been preferable to the other?
(via dodo can spell)

*

04 September 2009

Way too many freakin' lawyers

  9/04/2009 03:30:00 pm      
And, oh... my... gawd... then that dastardly Toronto City Council, forced him to go outside... for a walk.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:
"The government should place all Torontonians in rubber-lined rooms, they could be fed low-fat eco-friendly soft food."

"Or not."
**********

RELATED: Seriously... you're enrolled where?

I guess he isn't here on a scholarship...
A police officer on his bike chased down and fined the first-year U of T student yesterday on St. George St. after he ran a red light on his bicycle.

The visibly upset student, who wouldn't give his name, said he was from China and didn't know the rules.
Yeah... stupid fascist cops... what do they know?

*

Run Mikey, run!!!

  9/04/2009 11:15:00 am      
...allons-y, mon brave...
One of those whose enthusiasm did not wane is Ignatieff's Quebec lieutenant, Denis Coderre. But Coderre is safe in his north-end Montreal riding of Bourassa.

And since it's a French-speaking Quebecer's turn to be the next Liberal leader, a defeat for Ignatieff would bring Coderre one step closer to achieving his ambition.
**********

RELATED: In other "friends like these" news
"I don’t know where President Obama is finding all these black folk he’s putting in positions of authority, but they’re not only making us all look bad, he’s damaging race relations beyond what anyone could even imagine."
Hey... is it racist if a black man says it?

I'm so confused.

(h/t shaidle)

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Latest Toronto shooting victim...

  9/04/2009 09:45:00 am      
...is finally identified...
But Toronto Police Det.-Sgt. Terry Browne wouldn't confirm whether Jamie "J" Hull, 30, was shot in the back of the head at 12:53 a.m. Tuesday in the courtyard of a Blake St. complex.
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RELATED: In other "criminal genius" news

There's gotta be something "Darwinian" in the way these guys weed themselves out.

(h/t alberta ardvark)

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Dalton McGuinty sure...

  9/04/2009 07:00:00 am      
...loves our planet...
-- Sept. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Ontario Power Generation, the government-run owner of about 70 percent of the province’s generating capacity, will close four coal-fueled generators next year to reduce pollution.

The closures will come up to four years before a plan to shift away from coal to reduce emissions that contribute to global warming, acid rain and smog. Some units may be converted to burn biomass such as wood waste.
Oh sorry... that should have read... "loves to talk" about saving the planet...
The Liberals had originally promised Ontario would stop burning coal to generate electricity by 2007, and had to push that deadline back more than once to 2014.
I hear he won't raise your taxes either.

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03 September 2009

There's good news...

  9/03/2009 04:30:00 pm      
A member of the so-called Toronto 18 has been handed a 14-year sentence for his role in a terrorist plot to wreak havoc on Canadian targets.

Saad Khalid pleaded guilty in May to one count of participating in a terror plot with the intention of causing an explosion.
And there's fuzzy-bunny bad news...
Today, the judge sentenced Khalid to 14 years in prison but also granted him seven years credit for time already served.
Check out the "statement of facts".

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Live and don't learn...

  9/03/2009 09:15:00 am      
...that's us...
He shot a uniformed police officer in the head. He shot at two other cops with the intent to kill them. He robbed at gunpoint a convenience store and a beer store. He invaded a home with a shotgun, shooting its occupant in the leg.

He has a rap sheet so long for violent crimes in his 32 years it covers two full pages. He has been on the receiving end of break after break by the courts, which put him on probation six times.

The court laughably applied Powell's third lifetime firearms ban. He will not be eligible for parole for seven years.
Yeah, I'm sure... this time... he'll be rehabilitated.

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FROM THE COMMENTS:
Reminds me of Robin Williams' bit about unarmed British bobbies: "Stop. Or I'll say 'stop' again...".
And don't miss Canadian Cynic, yet again, forging comments under a false "Neo Conservative" blogger id.

**********

LAST WORD: "Feelin' hot, hot, hot!!!"
A Toronto man was arrested in a downtown courthouse this morning, accused of lighting a TTC bus ablaze early yesterday morning.

Steven Edwards, 28, was at Old City Hall for a bail hearing on other charges when cops from 53 Division charged him with assault, common nuisance, assault, fail to comply with recognizance, mischief interfere with property, five counts of weapons dangerous and two counts of arson — one for damage to property and the other for disregard for human life.
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If the Liberals can champion...

  9/03/2009 06:30:00 am      
...the cause of convicted death-row killer Ronald Smith... surely this guy will be a walk in the park...
-- CALGARY -- In yet another twist in the ongoing deportation case of Jackie Tran, on Wednesday afternoon an immigration division member ordered the release of the alleged gang member from custody to live in the community under conditions.
Yeah, you knuckle draggin' neocons... it's all just this "alleged stuff"... it's not like... wait a minute...
A removal order was issued for Tran in 2004 after he was convicted on two counts of trafficking cocaine. He also has a conviction for assault with a weapon.
But despite all that... the IRB decides to release this thug back onto the streets.

Man, oh man... just another reason to vote in a Harper majority government.

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02 September 2009

Apparently, it has something to do...

  9/02/2009 03:00:00 pm      
...with magic fairy dust...
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff pledged Wednesday to erase the projected $50-billion federal deficit if elected into government -- and to do so without raising taxes.
**********

RELATED: Sorry... that's classified
"We've inherited a $50-billion hole from Mr. Harper. We will clean it up without raising taxes.”

Then he left to catch a plane, with reporters left wondering how he would accomplish that task.
Now... is it just me... or does Iggy think he's already been elected King of Canada?

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What's a few more inadvertant martyrs?

  9/02/2009 12:45:00 pm      
Ah, yes... once again, the capricious and unknowable "Will of Allah"...
A suspected Taliban suicide bomber has killed Afghanistan's deputy chief of intelligence, along with at least 22 other people.

Afghan officials say the bombing occurred Wednesday morning in the middle of a crowd leaving a mosque in the city of Mehtarlam in Laghman province, about 100 kilometers east of Kabul.
The McDreamy, er... Obama administration launches an immediate reprisal.

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The first thing we do...

  9/02/2009 09:15:00 am      
...is hang all the terrorists/lawyers...
A convicted hijacker and terrorist who is facing deportation tried to convince the Law Society of Upper Canada that he's rehabilitated and should be called to practise law in Ontario.

Parminder Singh Saini testified yesterday he made a "terrible, wrong decision" when he commandeered a five-man Sikh team that hijacked an Indian Airlines jet with 265 passengers in July 1984.
And he is indeed a worthy addition to the ranks of professional truthtwisters...
"I had no legitimate right to do that ... It's not legal," said the now 46-year-old Saini, who graduated from University of Windsor law school two years ago, and was testifying at a "good character" hearing at the law society.
Of course, there is that other little, uh... indiscretion...
Saini was granted a full pardon by the Pakistani government in January 1995. He arrived shortly afterward in Canada under a false name and sought refugee status, living with his mom, brother and sister-in-law in Brampton.
Good grief... we're just everybody's breakfast aren't we?

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He'll be out in 18 months... if that

  9/02/2009 07:00:00 am      
The mockery of the Canadian (cough, cough) justice system...
A drunk driver who killed four elderly women when he slammed his minivan into their car was sentenced yesterday to four years in jail.

Wladyslaw Bilski, 49, will also be prohibited from driving for 10 years.
Call me wacky... but wasn't this irresponsible sot also "prohibited" from driving blind drunk in the first place?

Seriously... this guy killed four innocent human beings. Why wouldn't you just toss his drunken, homicidal ass in jail... if he ever attempts to drive so much as a unicycle ever again?

**********

RELATED: Hey... what's a few dead babies?

**********

UPDATE: In other "justice" related news

Globe & Mail apparently advocating "capital punishment" for cheque fraud.

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01 September 2009

The Flopsweat Chronicles

  9/01/2009 11:30:00 pm      
You're losing that core demographic over at Pinkoville... it's pucker time...
"Who would you vote for in a possible fall election?"
Meanwhile... noted media medicine-show uber-quack... briefly puts down the j-school salves & leeches... and prescribes a massive dose of "Vitamin K".

**********

RELATED: Deconstructing Ignatieff
"What if Iggy said to Jacques and Gilles, 'Hey. Let me oppose for a change and one of you guys can squeeze some kind of concession out of Harper and look like the hero. Then we all win.'"
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GMAIL down... whole world weeps

  9/01/2009 04:45:00 pm      
“We’re aware of a problem with Google Mail affecting a majority of users. The affected users are unable to access Google Mail. We will provide an update by September 1, 2009 4:53:00 PM UTC-4 detailing when we expect to resolve the problem. Please note that this resolution time is an estimate and may change.

Our team is continuing to investigate this issue. We will provide an update by September 1, 2009 5:16:00 PM UTC-4 with more information about this problem. Thank you for your patience. Users can access their email via IMAP or POP. You can find instructions for how to do this here.”
**********

UPDATE: Crisis over

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Ignatieff channels Tony Soprano

  9/01/2009 01:45:00 pm      
C'mon, Michael... enough yip-yap... prove to us that you're any different from that last guy.

**********

UPDATE: That controlling Stephen Harp... wait

Iggy I slaps down unruly subjects...
“Mr. Harper, your time is up,” the Liberal Leader told cheering MPs and Senators assembled in Sudbury for their summer retreat.

Some of those cheering MPs, however, had been reluctant to go to the polls, worried how Canadians would view another election just a year after the last one.

Mr. Ignatieff clearly pre-empted any opposition or doubts they might have had, announcing his decision before the caucus meeting.
**********

UPDATE2: CTV poll goes horribly wrong

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Welcome back Khadr... my arse

  9/01/2009 11:00:00 am      
Those who are pushing for legal action against CIA agents may talk about "upholding the law" but they are doing no such thing. Neither the Constitution of the United States nor the Geneva Convention gives rights to terrorists who operate outside the law.

There was a time when everybody understood this. German soldiers who put on American military uniforms, in order to infiltrate American lines during the Battle of the Bulge were simply lined up against a wall and shot -- and nobody wrung their hands over it.
Read it all.

Mayor's office strangely silent...

  9/01/2009 10:00:00 am      
...on which municipal administration he belonged to...
The driver was now going west in the eastbound curb lane, leaving the cyclist clinging to the curbside door of the car. The cyclist, clinging to the car as it sped away, then struck trees and a grey mailbox like a “human battering ram,” Mr. Brazeau said.

“You could hear hitting, something, bam, bam, bam,” a third worker said.

The cyclist fell off the car when he struck the mailbox, and collapsed in a heap of blood on the sidewalk in front of Sephora. The driver kept going, hanging a right at Avenue Road.

Mr. Bryant served as Ontario's attorney general and a high profile cabinet minister to Premier Dalton McGuinty. He left politics earlier this year to take control of Invest Toronto, meant to attract business investment to the Toronto area.
**********

UPDATE: Dead cyclist identified
The victim in a fatal accident involving former attorney general Michael Bryant was a 33-year-old bike courier named Darcy Allen Sheppard, The Globe and Mail has learned.
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FROM THE COMMENTS: The legacy of Michael Bryant
Rarely do we see such cases of delicious dramatic irony outside of literature.

A few dangerous pit bulls? Ban them all.

A few dangerous road racers? Seize private property.

A man in Northern Ontario trying to fight a near-bogus firearms charge? Seize his house as proceeds of crime so that he cannot pay his legal bills.
P.S. -- I am currently unable to confirm the rumour that the McGuinty government is considering emergency legislation to ban convertibles.

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LAST WORD: Hang on a minute...

...Michael Bryant has still killed more people than Bruce Montague... well, one more anyway...
After being in prison, without bail, for 11 days, Bruce was freed on Sept. 21 and will be back in court on Nov. 15 to set a preliminary trial date.
...and Bryant got bailed out the very next day.

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