HAPPY HOGMANAY

Now for a bit of fun
From Edinburgh Festivals website:

Hogmanay is the Scottish New Year, celebrated on 31st December every year. Never being slow to spot a good excuse for a party, the night involves a celebratory drink or two, fireworks and the kissing of complete strangers – not necessarily in that order.

Edinburgh's Hogmany is a four day free for all celebrating the new year. Visitors enjoy 4 days of fabulous events throughout the city including well loved favourites such as the Torchlight Procession and the world famous Royal Bank Street Party, as well as many new events.

The Scots do love a party.

Here's a link to a webcam so you can look in on what's left of the celebration.

Labels: Scotland

# posted by Lemuel Calhoon @ 10:55 PM

Hmm! The Reality Of New Years Eve Celebrations

Have a great time - or else

I never thought of it before but Ripley is right.....there is a protocol that you must follow and much of it is something we wouldn't normally do. Count down from 10; shout at the top of our lungs; blow children's toy musical instruments; kiss passing acquaintances or total strangers, etc. etc.

It's not like you have a choice about that New Year's Eve party. You didn't think that, did you?

By BOB RIPLEY

New Years' Eve is so intimidating.

It's not a night like other nights. You can't enjoy a sensible supper representing all four food groups, watch the news, finish the paper, check e-mail and go to bed before midnight.

On the last night of the year, it's compulsory to have fun.

In order to have fun, you may have to pay big money and go to a place you've never been before to be with people you've never met before.

You may have to put on a loud tie, a sparkling sweater and your new Christmas socks and attempt a new dance step even though it makes you look like you've lost control of your faculties.

You may have to gyrate to music you don't like, played too loud by a band you've never heard before. You may have to endure the smoke of someone else's cigar and laugh at someone's joke you don't get.

You may have to wear a paper hat and blow into a paper noisemaker. You may have to inhale chips and talk loudly.

You may have to assemble in front of someone's new flat, wide, plasma screen with surround-sound system to watch Carson Daly and thousands of revelers wearing sunglasses at night shaped like 2007, packed like screaming sardines, shivering and shaking in Times Square, in order to watch a glass and metal ball be lowered gingerly to the roof of a building in New York City.

You may have to make up some promises to yourself, even though you have absolutely no intention of keeping them. You may have to sip from a glass of champagne someone handed to you even though you can't stand bubbly. You may have to hold a stranger's hand and sway and sing a song neither of you understands.

And, finally, you may have to find your casserole dish in someone's kitchen and your coat on someone's bed. You have to find your car and your keys and your home -- safely.

Tomorrow night is not a night to be in command of your feelings, even if they are melancholy. It is not a night to stand in front of the full-length mirror of memory and thoughtfully trace the outline of the past year to spot changes for good or ill.

On such a night of compulsory fun, there is no time to look at the kids when they're sleeping, or their portraits when they've moved away.

No time to sit quietly with someone you love to reminisce and anticipate. And certainly no time to give thanks to the One who gave you life, that you've lived another year.

No, tomorrow will be a night for some serious fun -- whatever the cost.

Yahoo.

Come On Ann...Be A Little More Tolerant

Christmas might be under attack by some wingnuts but overall we got through it without any major problems so why shouldn't we let others celebrate whether it is Festivis, Kwanzaa, etc.

KWANZAA: HOLIDAY FROM THE FBI
December 27, 2006

(NOTE: This is an updated version of a column by Ann Coulter that first ran six years ago in December.)

President Bush's Kwanzaa message this year skipped the patently absurd claim of years past that: "African-Americans and people around the world reflect on African heritage during Kwanzaa." Instead, he simply said: "I send greetings to those observing Kwanzaa."

More African-Americans spent this season reflecting on the birth of Christ than some phony non-Christian holiday invented a few decades ago by an FBI stooge. Kwanzaa is a holiday for white liberals, not blacks.

It is a fact that Kwanzaa was invented in 1966 by a black radical FBI pawn, Ron Karenga, aka Dr. Maulana Karenga. Karenga was a founder of United Slaves, a violent nationalist rival to the Black Panthers and a dupe of the FBI.

In what was probably a foolish gamble, during the madness of the '60s the FBI encouraged the most extreme black nationalist organizations in order to discredit and split the left. The more preposterous the organization, the better. Karenga's United Slaves was perfect. In the annals of the American '60s, Karenga was the Father Gapon, stooge of the czarist police.

more......

I Can't Believe That $$$ Are Going To This Research

Does the name Mengle mean anything.....

Science told: hands off gay sheep

Isabel Oakeshott and Chris Gourlay

Experiments that claim to ‘cure’ homosexual rams spark anger

SCIENTISTS are conducting experiments to change the sexuality of “gay” sheep in a programme that critics fear could pave the way for breeding out homosexuality in humans.

The technique being developed by American researchers adjusts the hormonal balance in the brains of homosexual rams so that they are more inclined to mate with ewes.

It raises the prospect that pregnant women could one day be offered a treatment to reduce or eliminate the chance that their offspring will be homosexual. Experts say that, in theory, the “straightening” procedure on humans could be as simple as a hormone supplement for mothers-to-be, worn on the skin like an anti-smoking nicotine patch.

Woody Allen has to be really pissed off.......

No Free Rides On TTC

It is nice to see that the TTC is concerned about cost but they could and should provide free rides on New Year's Eve and I will tell you how. HAVE TTC WORKERS VOLUNTEER TO RUN THE SYSTEM AT NO PAY TO COMPENSATE THE TAXPAYERS FOR THE REVENUE LOST DUE TO THEIR WILDCAT STRIKE. It is obvious Miller and his union buddies are not going to recoup these losses.

No free TTC rides New Year's

Josh Wingrove
Toronto Star

There won't be any free rides on the TTC this New Year's Eve.

Many systems, including those in Vancouver, Edmonton and Halifax, offer the free service. But the TTC says the cost of opening the doors – more than $1 million for the night – is simply too high.

Rides are free in Mississauga, York Region and on GO Transit after 7 p.m., while Durham Region Transit is free after 8 p.m., thanks to sponsorship from Ontario Power Generation.

Drivers will see a heavy police presence on New Year's Eve, the final night of RIDE spot checks by both Toronto police and the Ontario Provincial Police.

So far this holiday season, Toronto police have stopped 83,584 vehicles – nearly 20,000 more than last year – and charged 59 motorists with impaired driving.

"We'll be there when the partying starts and when the partying ends," said Toronto police Sgt. Larry Bryson.

The OPP have stopped nearly 650,000 vehicles so far this season, laying 289 impaired charges, both increases from 2005.

We Have To Keep An Eye On The Politicos In 2008

If for no other reason than to see who is trying to screw us but our lives are not completely controlled by them and The Star has named some people that might have just as big an impact on our lives.

Ten to watch in 2007

Let's wait and see.......

Kyoto And Dion

December 31, 2006
Media's hot air on Kyoto
Conservatives get killed for inaction on global warming ... the Liberals got a pass
By LORRIE GOLDSTEIN

I've been doing some research into global warming and the Kyoto accord and boy, have I found some interesting stuff that the Liberal Party of Canada and its media shills don't like to talk about.

Ready? Here we go. Remember that big Kyoto conference held in Montreal last December, the one hosted by then Liberal environment minister, now Liberal leader, Stephane Dion?

Remember how the Liberals and their media shills breathlessly told us when it ended how Dion had provided the leadership that helped hold the conference together when it was in danger of falling apart, before emerging with a series of new Kyoto deals that some environmentalists proclaimed just might save the planet?

Dion's website (stephane dion.ca) boasts that "at the follow-up to the Kyoto Conference on Climate Change in Montreal in December 2005, he won international agreement to extend the Kyoto protocol beyond 2012."

Right. Well, here's a more realistic assessment of what actually went on in Montreal, written by Kyoto expert Robert Henson in his new book, The Rough Guide to Climate Change, The Symptoms, The Science, The Solutions.

Henson, no global warming sceptic -- his book has been praised as "superb ... even-handed and accessible" by the Pew Center on Global Climate Change -- assesses that meeting in this way:

Read on.......

McGinty Gave Miller The Keys To The Candy Store

And it is evident that Miller and his flunkies will take full advantage of the opportunities to stick it to the taxpayers of Toronto. Socialists look after each other.

December 31, 2006 Moscoe has a licence to tax

By SUE-ANN LEVY

Mere moments after being named chairman of the licensing and standards committee, Howard Moscoe declared which businesses he intends to crack down on with new laws.

In fact, the bombastic Toronto council warhorse issued a list of "topics" he'd be tackling this term now that the City of Toronto Act gives Mayor David Miller and his minions the power to license the world's inhabitants. (Okay, my words, not theirs).

Moscoe boasted that he plans to look at licensing landlords and their buildings, strip plazas, errant taxi drivers from "out-of-town" who scoop fares in Toronto, mobile signs, phony parking tickets, clothing drop boxes used by charities, street vendors and tow trucks -- among other things.

Moscoe preferred not to talk last week when I reached him on his cellphone at Disneyland in Florida.

And it goes on and on.......

Another Example That Proves Crime Is Down

Cameras capture shooting near Sam's record store

toronto.ctv.ca

Toronto police are investigating an early morning shooting outside the Sam The Record Man store downtown.

A 15-year-old boy was struck in the leg in front of the landmark Yonge Street shop, near Gould Street, police said.

The victim checked himself into St. Michael's Hospital at about 7:30 a.m., but police said he is refusing to co-operate.

Investigators found several bullet holes in the window of the popular music store.

"We've got several shots that were fired -- exactly how many I'm not sure, but at least four," Staff Sgt. Stan Belza told the Toronto Star.

Belza said the incident was captured on the temporary CCTV cameras installed along the stretch of Yonge that is popular with tourists and shoppers, especially during the holiday season.

The surveillance has helped investigators determine the teen was walking along the east side of Yonge with a small group of people at about 5:45 a.m. when the shots were fired from the west side of the street.

The victim lives in a foster home outside the city, police said.

"We don't know that he was an intended target or not," Belza said. "I don't know why this shooting took place. That's the part we're going to work on now."

The shooting took place near the spot where 15-year-old Jane Creba was shot and killed on Boxing Day in 2005. She was struck by a stray bullet during a shootout between rival gangs.

The CCTV cameras were installed this holiday season after complaints from local business owners who didn't want to see a similar incident happen again.

Another Best Of List.........

From mulch to urinal advertising.........

Renewal Of Concept Of Barefoot & Pregnant?

Hmmmm!

Doing housework can cut substantially a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer, according to researchers. A study comparing the beneficial effects of different types of exercise found that moderate housework had the biggest obvious effect.

More than 44,000 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in the UK every year. Last year 12,400 women died from the disease, most in their postmenopausal years.

Previous research has examined the link between exercise and breast cancer in postmenopausal women, but this is one of the first studies to include a large number of pre-menopausal women. Experts recommend that women exercise for 30 to 45 minutes five times a week to reduce their risk of breast cancer.

The study, part-funded by the charity Cancer Research UK, looked at a range of activities — including work, leisure and household occupations and chores. The pre-menopausal group doing housework spent, on average, 17.7 hours a week doing it while the post-menopausal women spent 16.1 hours. Pre-menopausal women who did housework were found to be about 30 per cent less likely to develop breast cancer than pre-menopausal women who did none. Meanwhile, post-menopausal women who did housework were found to be about 20 per cent less likely to develop the disease than post-menopausal women who did none.

The researchers analysed data from 218,169 women from nine European countries, with an age range of 20 to 80 years. They followed the women for an average of 6.4 years, during which time there were 3,423 cases of breast cancer. The average age at which the disease developed in the participants was 47.6 years for pre-menopausal women and 65.6 years for post-menopausal. All forms of activity combined was found to reduce the risk in the post-menopausal women participants, but had no obvious effect in the pre-menopausal women. But the researchers found that all women, both pre-menopausal and post-menopausal, who undertook housework had a “significantly” reduced risk of getting the disease.

The research, published in the January edition of the journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention, concluded: “In this large cohort of women , . . increased non-occupational physical activity and, in particular, increased household activity, were significantly associated with reduced breast cancer risk, independent of other potential risk factors. “Our results . . . provide additional evidence that moderate forms of physical activity, such as household activity, may be more important than less frequent but more intense recreational physical activity in reducing breast cancer risk in European women.”

The authors noted that housework was one of the “main sources of activity” for women living in these countries. Lesley Walker, Cancer Research UK’s director of cancer information, said: “We already know that women who keep a healthy weight are less likely to develop breast cancer [Rubbish! Fatties get least breast cancer]. “This study suggests that being physically active may also help reduce the risk and that something as simple and cheap as doing the housework can help. “Cancer Research UK’s Reduce the Risk Campaign recommends that men and women take regular exercise and maintain a healthy body weight to help prevent cancer.”

Source

NOW's Highs & Lows

Edited in order to make sense.........

2006 The Year In Review - The Lows

2006 The Year In Review - The Highs

Six People Who Make A Difference-Not A Politco In The Bunch

Community Builders - Six in 2006

You told us about them. We picked them - six people from the hundreds nominated by Star readers for making their community a better place

Jeff Pinchuk
Bill Moxey
Ulla Colgrass
Gail Barkic
Mohammad Atieque

Christian Cotroneo
Toronto Star

The teacher that shaped Sherece Harry's life the most was likely her worst.

He was the one who suggested she couldn't keep up with advanced studies.

And he predicted that many students would end up filling positions at the local Burger King.

For Harry, it was the anti-lesson.

"I wanted to get smarter," the 30-year-old recalls today.

And so she did, vaulting from a junior high school average of 48 to the honour roll.

Today, the unlikely lesson lingers, as Harry helps struggling children from the Jane and Finch community ... get smarter.

Harry is the Homework Club.

Since 2003, she has been running an after-school program, aimed at helping children between the ages of 6 and 13 struggling in school. The program was launched from Inner City Outreach, the local agency where Harry began volunteering as a social work student.

Olu Jagede, a youth minister at the nearby Christian Centre Church, proposed the idea of helping kids outside of the classroom, and today, he's still instrumental in finding funding to keep it alive.

But Harry's compassion lends the program its heart.

"These are kids who have really hard exteriors. Kids who aren't even really kids," she says. "They know so much about living in social housing. So much about incarceration. They know about the criminal justice system – well beyond their years.

"I'm just trying to see above and beyond their situation."

Harry distributes pamphlets at schools in the neighbourhood, liaises with their teachers, and prepares worksheets. With the help of a volunteer, she ensures the children have healthy sandwiches. Sometimes, students from a teaching program will even step into the classroom – the rooms are borrowed from local schools – to lend a hand.

Somewhere in the rush, Harry earns a living for herself. She begins her days at her Mississauga home, in the pre-dawn gloom, before commuting to her job at a Toronto call centre. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, when the club is in session, she races to the outreach centre to prepare for the children. The day often stretches to 8 p.m.

Harry was nominated by her older sister, Cordella Williams, who helps out at the Homework Club when she can.

"I nominated her because I see the hard work that she does. I see what it does for the kids. She wants to help out that community, to help the kids better their lives."

But sometimes, when Harry faces a particularly rambunctious horde, she second-guesses herself.

"I'm exhausted and I'm getting yelled at, told off," she says. "What do I get out of this?"

Harry charges $5 per child, per month for the program, so parents can preserve some dignity and say they've hired a private tutor for their child.

The reality? "I think I got like $40 for 40 kids for five months."

Growing up near Jane and Sheppard, Harry was the middle child of three daughters – part of a team that often went on camping expeditions and weekend getaways together.

But at school, she was nursing a failing average. So the 13-year-old took it upon herself to set things right. Instead of following her friends to the same middle school, she decided to attend an institution outside of her district. Harry flourished in a new environment, soon soaring to the honour roll.

"I pulled up my socks from there."

And today she's pulling up the socks of a new generation

.

Another of Those %^$*ing End Of Year Lists

It seems as a city Toronto/GTA doesn't take a backseat to anyone.....

CENTRE OF THE LOONIVERSE TheStar.com - Unassigned - Centre of the looniverse

Is loopiness our real strength?

Toronto Star

It was another year of living stupidly.

We've got a knack for it, here at the centre of the universe – even if some global destination appraisers don't share our enchanted view of ourselves.

Imagine, leaving Toronto off the list of hot North American cities.

Actually, Toronto didn't make the Canadian short list either.

Even the CN Tower came up short as a phallic monument to towering ambitions. But what do they know, them punts that don't have the privilege of living here, in the nexus of all things self-reverential and self-referential. We are sublimely confident of our pre-eminence and panache, so bugger the rest.

Okay, a bit loopy maybe, quixotically weird. And, um, chronically perverse, it must be admitted, all the time fiddling and diddling, gobs of sex and sleaze and scandal. Tie Domi went from enforcer to divorcer, trading in his skates for a game-worn Stronach. An immigration adjudicator allegedly tried coercing sex from a refugee claimant. Refuge was also the prize for scores of delegates to the International Aids Conference who came to Toronto and then wouldn't leave.

Seemed like everybody was on the game, one way or another.

More prosaically, homegrown terrorism reportedly roosted in the suburbs, briefly eclipsing our very own Al Qaeda first family in notoriety. Shootings were down but crimes against canines were up. Robbers robbed and cops copped pleas.

Herewith, one final look back at the year that was, and went.

I Did It M-y-y-y-y Way

An insurance salesman mortgages his home to rent Roy Thomson Hall for one night so he can fulfill his dream of singing on stage to 2,500 friends, at a cost of about $60,000.

Son-of-a-snitch

A mother turns in her 17-year-old son after finding a loaded AK-47 military assault rifle in his bedroom and is praised by Police Chief Bill Blair, who says she "set a standard for others to follow.''

Alien abduction

Immigration officials go to a school and threaten to take away two young sisters if their parents, illegal immigrants, don't turn themselves in within 30 minutes.

Digest item

Thanks to a hacker, the scrolling sign on a GO train from Oakville repeats this message every three seconds during morning rush hour: "Stephen Harper Eats Babies.''

Fanny packing

A Dora the Explorer backpack taken from a 14-year-old Rexdale girl is found to contain a loaded Magnum handgun and two 25-centimetre knives.

Driving while under influence

of stubbornness and old age

Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion finally agrees to get a chauffeur after making an illegal right-hand turn and slamming her car into a signpost.

Nursing your drink

An interactive exhibit at the Ontario College of Art and Design is allowed to serve pasteurized breast milk for taste-testing purposes – six flavours from six donor moms.

Home Swede Home

Rumours fly that Mats Sundin is looking for a trade after putting his Forest Hill mansion on the market over the summer.

Working for peanuts

Marquee defence lawyer Clayton Ruby is on the case after two elephants are charged with stepping foot in the city illegally.

Crew-cut

In the biggest gang sweep ever by Toronto police, targeting the notorious Jamestown Crew, nearly 100 people are charged with some 1,000 offences.

Union-jacked

TTC employees stage a wildcat strike during a hot, muggy, morning rush hour, forcing 700,000 commuters to walk, bicycle or carpool.

What did jihad in mind?

Eighteen Muslim teenagers and young men are charged as members of a suspected homegrown terrorist cell, allegedly attending a "training camp'' north of the city and trying to purchase bomb-making materials.

Academic third degree

Protestors, including faculty members, vilify Ryerson for awarding an honorary doctorate to Margaret Somerville, ethicist and outspoken opponent of same-sex marriage.

Bored of the Rings

Bad reviews and slow ticket sales shut down $28 million musical, The Lord of the Rings, after only seven months.

Locked and loaded

Security guards stumble on an arsenal of high-powered weapons and drugs stashed in lockers at Fairview Mall.

Cocked and loaded

Jerry Hall appears in Toronto to promote an anti-impotence drug, not a problem that ex-husband Mick Jagger had suffered from, apparently. "No, no, he had the opposite problem."

I can't GITMO satisfaction ...

Despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the Bush administration's war crimes tribunals violate international law, Toronto's Omar Khadr, 19-year-old terrorism suspect, remains in custody at Guantanamo Bay.

Welcome back Khadr

Abdullah Khadr, 24, is indicted by a Boston court on terrorism charges, including allegedly plotting to kill Americans overseas, but remains in Canada while fighting extradition.

Bio-terrorism

Abdurahman Khadr, black sheep of the family for renouncing violence and allegedly assisting the CIA, sells Hollywood rights to his life story for the movie Son of Al Qaeda.

Dumb and dummier

A 39-year-old Aurora woman is caught using a decoy dummy in her vehicle so she could drive in the carpool lane. "It looked like Kenny from South Park was strapped in the child seat,'' said OPP Sgt. Cam Woolley.

Cause and affectation

Christian peace activist James Loney, taken hostage in Iraq, returns home after being freed by British commandos and forgives his abductors.

Cos and defamation

Bill Cosby settles a lawsuit by a Pickering woman who alleged the comedian drugged and sexually assaulted her at his Philadelphia mansion.

Stickup-to-itiveness

The "Camouflage Bandit" – dressed in sunglasses, toque and army pants – robs his 21st bank.

In case of emergency,

learn English

The TTC commits a spelling mistake on its bilingual escape-window instructions.

Frankly, we don't give a damn

After 25 years of flipping franks outside Ryerson, Ernie the Hot Dog Vendor retires to much fanfare.

Horse's mass due to horse's ass

Twelve hundred mourners attend a lavish memorial service for Brigadier, a police horse mortally injured in a hit-and-run.

The housing market is just all so ... Complicated

Avril Lavigne can't sell her Toronto home and drops the price.

Casa nostra

According to Police Chief Armand La Barge, there are at least a dozen Mafia fugitives who either consider York Region home or visit regularly.

Avian flew victim

Big Becky, a peregrine falcon, leaves her downtown nest at King and Victoria Sts., sails into the window of an office building, and dies.

Ego-swelling dwelling

A mansion on The Bridle Path goes on the market for $15 million, the most expensive home ever listed for sale in Toronto.

Pool shark

A man who was involved in an international steroid trafficking ring, and admitted to helping a friend burn and dispose of a murder victim's butchered body, is reinstated as swim coach at an Oakville club.

Now coaching behind parallel bars

A gymnastics coach who taught at five clubs in the GTA over the past decade is charged in a child exploitation investigation, accused of using blogs to advertise his sexual interest in young girls and of stealing items – including young girls' underwear – from gyms where he worked.

Grandma-ll seizure

A 97-year-old grandmother is hospitalized after being left alone in a sweltering car for almost an hour during the worst heat wave of the summer while her family went shopping.

Shop till the cop shows up

A 26-year-old mother is charged after leaving her five children – including 19-month-old twins and a 4-month-old infant – unattended in a car while she mall-shopped.

Attack ads

Three people at Yonge and Dundas Sts. are injured by sections of a billboard sign that plummet 18 storeys.

Beer and loathing on the waterfront

In a precedent-setting move, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario revokes the liquor licence of the Docks, a waterfront nightclub and entertainment complex, over noise complaints.

Actually, most Harley knew him

More than a thousand bikers mourn at the mandatory attendance funeral for a Hells Angel sergeant-at-arms shot to death at a strip club, allegedly by a Bandidos rival.

Poop-decked

A Toronto principal is charged with two counts of assault after allegedly tossing excrement at children.

F--- you

Big wheel Tory lawyer Peter Shoniker pleads guilty after a money-laundering sting. During a meeting with an undercover officer, Shoniker boasted that "not a f---ing judge in this city" would authorize wiretaps on his phone.

Examination for discovery

The Toronto District School Board asks students as young as 14 whether they are bisexual, gay, heterosexual, lesbian, transsexual, transgendered or two-spirited (an aboriginal term).

Moo-d disorder

Canada's popular Snowbirds go ahead with their flyover of a Whitby school despite noise complaints from nearby residents, including a farmer who claims one of his cows dies every time the precision team screeches overhead.

Verbal diarrhea

CBC chair Guy Fournier resigns amid furor over his remarks about the joys of defecation and the legality of bestiality in Lebanon.

Bel-omi, she said

Tie Domi's wife, Leanne, files a combustible divorce petition, accusing her husband of having an affair with Liberal MP Belinda Stronach.

Borderline stupid

A California man attempting to join his family in Burlington is stopped by customs and cited for attempting to smuggle child pornography into the country on his cell phone – a picture of his unclothed baby son.

Bureaucratic waste-watchers

Toronto City Council restricts the number of garage sales residents can have to just two a year.

Fourth down and punt up here

Ricky Williams signs a one-year contract with the Argonauts after being suspended by the Miami Dolphins for failing an NFL drug test for the fourth time.

Bench-pressed

After missing the playoffs, Leafs coach Pat Quinn is fired.

Misguided bomb

delivery system

A man discovers a World War II-era bomb while working in the backyard of a west-end home, puts it in the back of his truck and takes it to a police station.

D-listed

Toronto is left off Travel and Leisure Magazine's list of top 10 U.S. and Canadian cities, because it lacks one main feature to make it stand out. Vancouver, Quebec City, Victoria and Montreal make the list.

Pigskin-in-a-poke

Leafs owner Larry Tanenbaum and Blue Jays owner Ted Rogers admit they want to bring an NFL team to Toronto.

Local vocal yokel

Lukas Rossi, a 29-year-old from Toronto, is chosen to front the band Supernova, ending the TV talent search on Rock Star: Supernova.

Bylaw kisses butt

Sean Penn brazenly lights up a cigarette at the Sutton Place Hotel during Toronto's film festival but isn't charged.

YouBoobs

A 13-year-old girl suffers second-degree burns when her top is set alight by two teenage boys who were allegedly videotaping the prank for posting on YouTube.

Mummyfied

A 24-year-old woman is charged with concealing the death of her baby by hiding the body in a freezer for several years. She was arrested while out on bail for a similar offence, involving another dead baby found six months earlier in Mississauga.

Beg pardon?

A retired science teacher at Upper Canada College is sentenced for a pair of sexual assaults against former students. The one-year jail terms are made conditional – served in the community – because the judge rules the assaults were misguided and not made for sexual gratification.

"High'' rise horticulture

Drug squad detectives arrive at a Jane St. apartment building and discover 6,600 marijuana plants growing in 22 separate apartments.

Hot spot flame-out

A fast-moving kitchen fire destroys Yorkville's celebrated Sassafraz restaurant.

Flushed with success

After paying $102 to enter a Caribbean poker tournament, a 22-year-old University of Waterloo student comes home $1.3 million richer.

Party animal politics

George Smitherman, the province's first openly gay cabinet minister, reveals that for five years in the `90s he fought and beat an addiction to "party drugs''.

Yoke's on them

Three youths are charged after an egg-throwing prank leaves a child with possible permanent eye damage.

Lord's hoard on ice

An Ontario judge freezes Conrad Black's assets around the world.

Pollster-heist

A Mississauga City Council candidate is charged with impersonating a police officer and trying to intimidate a rival candidate into abandoning her campaign.

Penal ejection

Given a choice between jail and exile to Canada, an American man convicted of having sex with a minor chooses Fort Erie, Ont.

Pussy

Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay refers to Newmarket Liberal MP Belinda Stronach — his ex-lover – as a dog in the House of Commons.

Rinky-dink

Councillor Rob Ford first denies and then admits he was the drunken boor who was tossed from the Air Canada Centre after a couple complained about his profanity-laced rants during a Leafs game. Ford had handed out business cards before being ejected.

Trans-sexual offence

A self-employed taxi driver on contract for Wheel-Trans is facing sexual assault charges after a 27-year-old handicapped woman is allegedly assaulted.

90% of home accidents do occur in the bathroom

A North York woman hears what sounds like a bomb going off in her two-storey brick house and is horrified to find that a Honda Accord with a dead woman inside has plowed through the side of her home and into her bathroom.

Yuck-Yuck

A Toronto comic, who plays an obnoxious Scot in beer commercials, is arrested on child pornography charges.

Slippery thieves

A pair of priceless 19th century slippers, diamond- and ruby- covered, is stolen in broad daylight from the Bata Shoe Museum.

Footnote

The slippers are found in a church.

Fridge magnate

Former mayor Mel Lastman rejoins Bad Boy, the appliance store emporia he founded in 1955.

Bow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow

A dog is shot at least six times at point-blank range with a pellet gun as he sits on his owner's veranda.

Psycho therapy

A former CAS social worker who once counselled drug-addicted teens is sentenced for trafficking a kilogram of crystal meth while on bail for gun-smuggling charges.

Executive sweets

An audit finds that senior Toronto CAS executives are driving SUVs worth up to $60,000, getting $150 luxury car washes and receiving gym memberships worth $2,000.

Poke-check

A judge imposes only a $2,000 fine on a father who choked his son's hockey coach until the man blacked out.

Khat-nip

Two teenagers, apparently recruited over an Internet dating site, are busted at Pearson for allegedly bringing 45 kilograms of khat – worth about $250,000 – into the country.

Barking mad

A Scarborough man accused of killing his 78-year-old mother through neglect – she was "bitch-slapped'', kicked and starved for days – admits to detectives that he treated his dog better. "I could communicate with the dog more.''

Wonder-struck

Toronto's CN Tower is snubbed by selectors of worldwide landmarks, surpassed by the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty, in an interactive global campaign to identify the New 7 Wonders of the World.

Air farce plot

A Vaughan man, who apparently didn't want to visit overseas relatives, is arrested after anonymous bomb threats delay an Air Canada flight to Heathrow.

Contempt of court

A Brampton judge who was named that city's "Citizen of the Year'' in 2002 faces complaints of judicial misconduct for allegedly being "rude, insulting and disrespectful'' to fellow jurists.

Token payment

A transit-fare counterfeit ring costs the TTC $5 million in lost revenue.

Tunnel vision

Most commuters remain oblivious as a woman gives birth on Wellesley subway platform.

Optical illusionist

The founder of a small eyeglass dynasty is fined an eye-popping and record $1 million for illegally dispensing glasses without a valid prescription.

Constricted access

A 1.5-metre-long poisonous cobra moves into a west-end Toronto home uninvited, evading all efforts to locate it by police, firefighters, animal services and zoo officials. By year's end, the snake is still in situ and the house declared off limits by public health officials.

Pontius Pious

A Brampton man who taught at the Mississauga Christian Academy is charged with having sexually explicit chats over the Internet with a 13-year-old female student and sexually assaulting her.

Seeking a Seoul mate

Former Toronto city councillor Steve Ellis is suspended as an immigration and refugee appeal board judge as the RCMP investigates accusations he offered to approve a South Korean woman's refugee application if she had an affair with him.

Fear of flying parts

The wing flap of a cargo jet falls out of the sky and slams into a SUV just after its owner had hopped out to attend her tap-dance class in Mississauga.

Bug-a-boo

A $2 million lawsuit alleges that former Toronto police chief Julian Fantino was involved in wiretapping the head of the police services board.

Tomb raiders

Two young men are charged after a drunken birthday party spree leaves 188 headstones toppled at Park Lawn Cemetery.

Immune efficiency

Up to 150 delegates to the International AIDS conference in Toronto stay behind after it's over and file refugee claims.

Kayak attack

Three-time Olympic canoeist Tamas Buday Jr. is cut in the face with rocks tossed by youths from a railway bridge as he trains on Mississauga's Credit River.

Fashion crime

Toronto paralegal Harry Kopyto claims he was ejected from court and his client's case adjourned after a justice of the peace complains his jacket "clashed" with his shirt and was a "breach" of court decorum.

Pot luck bust

A Durham cop going to the assistance of a man who had rolled his car off Highway 401 discovers duffel bags containing $220,000 worth of marijuana.

Kicking ass

More than 1,715 high-steppers join the Rockettes outside the Hummingbird Centre, setting a Guinness Book of World Record for longest line of dancers.

Xmas fir-or

A Toronto judge banishes a Christmas tree from her courthouse lobby. It returns, is banished again.

Happy news year

A burglar breaks into a widow's bungalow on Christmas morning and steals her husband's ashes. Fortunately, police find them in a neighbour's driveway.

Ask Yourself This Question & Answer Truthfully

Is Canada Ready for Another Jean Chrètien Era?

Just before Christmas, opposition leader Stephane Dion announced what he called, his "dream team!" Should we be surprised? No, not at all. After all, during their thirteen year tenure, the liberals did nothing but sit around and dream about gum-drops falling from heaven.

Good solid leadership is not about dredging up yokels with questionable pasts, and then polishing them up for a dreamland display. Rather good solid leadership is about vision, a plan of action, and carrying out that plan as promised. It's not about being stuck permanently in some abysmal dream.

The Story

Another Example Of Failure At City Hall

You would wonder why their is a need for The Fixer....considering the bloated beauracracy that we have at Toronto City Hall which got a lot more bloated during the three years of Miller's lacklustre performance.

Message To Jamie Chaffe

I will support your position as long as the members of your association are willing to be held legally culpable for errors in judgement which leads to additional violent acts being committed.

Everyone Agrees Homelessness Is Tragic

And they want to help solve the problem but not in TOBY.....as long as it is not in Their Own Back Yard. On a personal level I agree that homelessness is a problem and I have no objection to helping those that are down on their luck but I have to keep asking why it costs something like $16K-32K, depending on what census figure you believe, per person. IMHO homelessness has become a cottage industry for many social in-activists.

At the same time we have to applaud the efforts of those who volunteer to deal with the problem........

Some 100 Beach residents have already volunteered to help with the program at St. Aidan's. They and other supporters should attend the public meeting in full force to convince their neighbours this worthy project should open as planned.

.....and I will bet that many of them are long time residents of The Beach when it was a neighborhood and not a refuge for downtown gentry who have fled to the area over the last couple of decades.

This Is A Little Confusing

I support and admire our police force but am uneasy with the chief's public stance which seems to put forward to protect the inaction of your mayor and this is borne out by the following.......

Cops making gains on gangs
More officers key, chief says
More officers on the mean streets and extra squads targeting street gangs have paid off with increased arrests and contributed to building community trust, Toronto's top cop says.

But it seems that more building is needed......

Silence hinders murder probe'We haven't got one witness'

The Deal Might Stink But Our Garbage Doesn't

At least according to the mayor.......Welcome back Sue-Ann.

December 28, 2006
No news isn't good news
By SUE-ANN LEVY

The requisite 90 days have passed since Toronto Mayor David Miller and his socialist seals orchestrated a quick and dirty deal to purchase the Green Lane landfill near St. Thomas.

I'm not the least bit surprised to learn that the details of the $220-million purchase are as sparse as they were on September 19 -- the day council approved the deal following a lengthy closed-door meeting.

Here's what we do know, or at least what the mayor would say publicly one week ago.

He billed the landfill purchase and sale agreement as "enormous progress" towards securing a place for the city to landfill its trash for the next 10 years. He said without it the city would be at risk of huge costs should Michigan legislators make good on their threats to close the border to the 80 trucks now hauling Toronto's garbage daily to the Carleton Farms landfill site in their state.

Miller added the deal would close March 29 and until then the terms of the agreement would not be made public -- not to taxpayers, nor to the very councillors who approved the purchase in the first place.

Coun. Denzil Minnan-Wong tried to get more information last week and was turned down flat.

"It's council's obligation and our duty to be aware and informed about all aspects of a contract of this magnitude," he fumed yesterday. "This contract is going to bind the city for the next 15-20 years."

I was on holidays last week and so wasn't able to ask the mayor directly how he plans to pay for the purchase, given that the city is already carrying an enormous amount of debt -- projected to hit $2.2-billion by year's end.

The city is contractually bound to continue trucking its garbage to Michigan until 2010. Yet there's been no indication so far as to how the city will handle the combined costs of owning one landfill site while using another for the next three years. Or which one will actually be used.

(Details, mere details!)

The Deal Might Stink But Our Garbage Doesn't

At least according to the mayor.......Welcome back Sue-Ann.

December 28, 2006
No news isn't good news
By SUE-ANN LEVY

The requisite 90 days have passed since Toronto Mayor David Miller and his socialist seals orchestrated a quick and dirty deal to purchase the Green Lane landfill near St. Thomas.

I'm not the least bit surprised to learn that the details of the $220-million purchase are as sparse as they were on September 19 -- the day council approved the deal following a lengthy closed-door meeting.

Here's what we do know, or at least what the mayor would say publicly one week ago.

He billed the landfill purchase and sale agreement as "enormous progress" towards securing a place for the city to landfill its trash for the next 10 years. He said without it the city would be at risk of huge costs should Michigan legislators make good on their threats to close the border to the 80 trucks now hauling Toronto's garbage daily to the Carleton Farms landfill site in their state.

Miller added the deal would close March 29 and until then the terms of the agreement would not be made public -- not to taxpayers, nor to the very councillors who approved the purchase in the first place.

Coun. Denzil Minnan-Wong tried to get more information last week and was turned down flat.

"It's council's obligation and our duty to be aware and informed about all aspects of a contract of this magnitude," he fumed yesterday. "This contract is going to bind the city for the next 15-20 years."

I was on holidays last week and so wasn't able to ask the mayor directly how he plans to pay for the purchase, given that the city is already carrying an enormous amount of debt -- projected to hit $2.2-billion by year's end.

The city is contractually bound to continue trucking its garbage to Michigan until 2010. Yet there's been no indication so far as to how the city will handle the combined costs of owning one landfill site while using another for the next three years. Or which one will actually be used.

(Details, mere details!)

The Deal Might Stink But Our Garbage Doesn't

At least according to the mayor.......Welcome back Sue-Ann.

December 28, 2006
No news isn't good news
By SUE-ANN LEVY

The requisite 90 days have passed since Toronto Mayor David Miller and his socialist seals orchestrated a quick and dirty deal to purchase the Green Lane landfill near St. Thomas.

I'm not the least bit surprised to learn that the details of the $220-million purchase are as sparse as they were on September 19 -- the day council approved the deal following a lengthy closed-door meeting.

Here's what we do know, or at least what the mayor would say publicly one week ago.

He billed the landfill purchase and sale agreement as "enormous progress" towards securing a place for the city to landfill its trash for the next 10 years. He said without it the city would be at risk of huge costs should Michigan legislators make good on their threats to close the border to the 80 trucks now hauling Toronto's garbage daily to the Carleton Farms landfill site in their state.

Miller added the deal would close March 29 and until then the terms of the agreement would not be made public -- not to taxpayers, nor to the very councillors who approved the purchase in the first place.

Coun. Denzil Minnan-Wong tried to get more information last week and was turned down flat.

"It's council's obligation and our duty to be aware and informed about all aspects of a contract of this magnitude," he fumed yesterday. "This contract is going to bind the city for the next 15-20 years."

I was on holidays last week and so wasn't able to ask the mayor directly how he plans to pay for the purchase, given that the city is already carrying an enormous amount of debt -- projected to hit $2.2-billion by year's end.

The city is contractually bound to continue trucking its garbage to Michigan until 2010. Yet there's been no indication so far as to how the city will handle the combined costs of owning one landfill site while using another for the next three years. Or which one will actually be used.

(Details, mere details!)

The Deal Might Stink But Our Garbage Doesn't

At least according to the mayor.......Welcome back Sue-Ann.

December 28, 2006
No news isn't good news
By SUE-ANN LEVY

The requisite 90 days have passed since Toronto Mayor David Miller and his socialist seals orchestrated a quick and dirty deal to purchase the Green Lane landfill near St. Thomas.

I'm not the least bit surprised to learn that the details of the $220-million purchase are as sparse as they were on September 19 -- the day council approved the deal following a lengthy closed-door meeting.

Here's what we do know, or at least what the mayor would say publicly one week ago.

He billed the landfill purchase and sale agreement as "enormous progress" towards securing a place for the city to landfill its trash for the next 10 years. He said without it the city would be at risk of huge costs should Michigan legislators make good on their threats to close the border to the 80 trucks now hauling Toronto's garbage daily to the Carleton Farms landfill site in their state.

Miller added the deal would close March 29 and until then the terms of the agreement would not be made public -- not to taxpayers, nor to the very councillors who approved the purchase in the first place.

Coun. Denzil Minnan-Wong tried to get more information last week and was turned down flat.

"It's council's obligation and our duty to be aware and informed about all aspects of a contract of this magnitude," he fumed yesterday. "This contract is going to bind the city for the next 15-20 years."

I was on holidays last week and so wasn't able to ask the mayor directly how he plans to pay for the purchase, given that the city is already carrying an enormous amount of debt -- projected to hit $2.2-billion by year's end.

The city is contractually bound to continue trucking its garbage to Michigan until 2010. Yet there's been no indication so far as to how the city will handle the combined costs of owning one landfill site while using another for the next three years. Or which one will actually be used.

(Details, mere details!)

First Volley In 2007 Campaign

The opposition in Ottawa fight progressive improvements when it comes to law and order and Corrections Canada is a joke
so it is not surprising that the liberals at Queen's Park need to have their feet put to the fire when it comes to dealing with street violence.

We need to fight crime with resolve
Ontarians have a right to know if our bail system is working
By JOHN TORY

Most of us, at one time or another, have made a New Years Resolution.

During the final days of December, you look back on the year now ending, and resolve to make smarter decisions and do things better than you did before.

Much like Ontarians, governments could also stand to benefit from a few New Years Resolutions.

To effectively lead a government, I would argue that a Premier must treat every day like a New Years Eve. You have to be serious about doing what you said you would do and knowing there is always room to improve.

This year our Progressive Conservative caucus proposed a constructive New Years Resolution for the Dalton McGuinty government.

It was this:

Considering the number of Ontarians who are worried about the new wave of gang and gun violence;

And considering that one of the most shocking aspects of this wave of violence has been the appalling number of criminal incidents where the accused was already out on bail;

Couldn't the McGuinty government resolve to, at the very least, track and publicly release information on how many bail and sentencing deals are taking place in our province?

Couldn't the government also share comprehensive statistics on how many people charged with violent offences are already out on bail?

Unfortunately the McGuinty Liberal majority was ordered to vote this resolution down.

It mystifies me why. I don't believe any of these requests are impractical or out of line. Government already has the resources to track these incidents; I would argue they have a responsibility to give the public some peace of mind that the system is working as well as it should.

As things stand, we have reason to be concerned. Over the past year we have read stories about "catch and release" justice, where individuals were released on bail or court orders, only to be charged with further serious crimes.

Of the 46 individuals accused of homicides in Toronto as of late November, a full 70% were already out on bail, probation or court order -- and 14 of those were under multiple court orders.

Worse, the problem does not seem to be getting better.

Sad anniversary

Boxing Day marked the first anniversary of the tragic shooting of Jane Creba, who was killed in downtown Toronto while shopping with her family.

This senseless crime shocked the entire nation.

Now we have the further shock of knowing three of the individuals charged in connection with her shooting are themselves out on bail.

The media have rightly committed considerable resources to ensuring these outrageous stories come to the public's attention. Our caucus also continues to raise this issue every chance we get.

But the fact is there remains far too much we still don't know about our own justice system. And the McGuinty government appears unwilling to even try to find out.

I concede that more transparency, on its own, will not solve the problems.

That's why our call for more accountability is part of a much larger action plan proposed by our caucus last year.

It includes hiring more police officers, cracking down on bail and sentencing deals, and providing more programs for at-risk families and youth.

I will concede that in recent weeks, Premier McGuinty has undertaken some positive first steps on this file.

Most importantly, he backing the federal government in demanding "reverse onus" bail for crimes involving guns, as well as finally allocating some funds for community programs, albeit 10 months after he said he would.

But we must not content ourselves with doing "too little too late," nor with the appearance of action when we still have no transparency or accountability to help us understand whether current measures are working.

The New Years Resolution that I am calling for Dalton McGuinty to make does not involve interfering with the judicial process or singling out judges.

It is about giving people faith that their justice system is working in the interest of public safety.

It is about resolving, in this New Year, to put the principles of accountability and public safety above all else.

That, to me, is a New Years Resolution worth keeping.

Toronto Might Not Be World Class

But according to No Plan B Miller our garbage is .......

Toronto's garbage

called `very good'

When he announced last week that the city's deal to buy the Green Lane landfill site had been formalized, Mayor David Miller said a new environmental assessment wasn't needed because the site has been operating as a dump for some time.

"The EA doesn't assess where the garbage comes from. Our garbage is to very high standards from that point of view. And I don't want to make light of it, but we have very good garbage."

Makes you feel kind of proud, doesn't it?

You Can't Kiss Butt & Speak Out At The Same Time

So it is not surprising No Plan B Miller has nothing to say about MPP pay increase plus Moscoe and he maybe started a trend......

Mayor Miller keeping mum on 25% pay raise for MPPs TheStar.com - Unassigned - Mayor Miller keeping mum on 25% pay raise for MPPs

Toronto Star

The mayor isn't about to get into the debate about the 25-per-cent pay hike for members of the provincial parliament.

He has been asked several times about the issue, especially since city councillors caught a lot of flak for giving themselves a relatively modest 9-per-cent pay increase earlier this year.

"I thought what we did was appropriate," Miller said.

"We hired an independent body and they advised us. We set the level of salary for councillors and the mayor at a little bit higher than the average for the Greater Toronto Area. Not the highest; councillors and the mayor in Mississauga, for example, and Ottawa make more than councillors in Toronto, but it's a fair wage. It was an election issue. The people of Toronto returned me and I think the way we did it was appropriate. I'm not going to comment on Queen's Park."

The pay hike took a councillor's salary from $87,214 to $95,000 and the mayor's salary from $147,856 to $160,000.

You Want To Bet Who They Voted For Mayor....

It's is an odds on favorite that they voted for No Plan B Miller.....one of his flunkies is their local councillor. Both the mayor and Bussis should stand up and support the drop in center but they won't because this crew are part of cabal that support Miller; waterfront condo owners, island squatters, social in-activists, city unions, etc.

Affluent freeze out homeless TheStar.com - News - Affluent freeze out homeless

Beach residents threaten legal action to stop church's plans for a once-a-week `Out of the Cold' drop-in centre

Joseph Hall
Toronto Star

A Toronto church's plan to feed and house 12 homeless people one night a week during the worst of the winter has been put on hold after residents of a tony Beach enclave threatened it with a legal injunction.

As part of the Out of the Cold program, which is run in churches and synagogues across Toronto, the temporary shelter was to have opened Jan. 8 at St. Aidan's Anglican Church on Silver Birch Ave., at Queen St. E.

But the three-month program has been delayed until at least Jan. 16, when a community meeting will be held to discuss details and other potential sites.

Rev. Stephen Kirkegaard, a priest at St. Aidan's, invoked the Christmas story to describe the motivations behind the shelter proposal.

"There's the story of Mary, Joseph and Jesus, and there wasn't any room for them at the inn – they were homeless in Bethlehem," Kirkegaard said.

"Fortunately they were given some shelter that night. So for Christians, it's pretty clear that we're called to reach out to people who are at risk because they don't have shelter."

Kirkegaard said the program was "very modest in its scope" and was to have housed both men and women on Monday nights over a 12-week period.

"If anyone is scared, there is really nothing to be scared of," he said. "And if all we do is save the life of one person, well, that modest project made a big difference."

NIMBY

Democrats Wandering In The Desert

Looking for their "Moses" and some feel they have found him.....others, who are awake, don't seem to think so. IMO something similar is happening in our backyard with Dion.

Yawning at Obama
By Michelle Malkin · December 26, 2006 12:59 PM

Left-leaning columnist Froma Harrop is not impressed with blank-slate Barack.

Where Would Liberals/Social In-Activists Be Without A Crisis

They thrive on the "sky is falling" open your wallet philosphy and they create cottage industries on the backs of the voters, the impoverished, etc.

December 27, 2006
Liberal crisis junkies
By LORRIE GOLDSTEIN

I always look forward to having the Liberal Party of Canada tell me what this year's big crisis is.

This year, Liberal Leader Stephane Dion tells me it's global warming.

Last year, then Liberal PM Paul Martin told me it was medical wait times.

More on that in a bit, but first, back to global warming.

While the Tory government is doing nothing about it now, the Liberals did, uh, nothing, about it for 12 years.

But I know global warming is important because Dion named his dog "Kyoto" and gave out green scarves at the Liberal leadership convention.

I also know Tory MP Rona Ambrose is a terrible environment minister, who should be fired because she has done nothing about reducing greenhouse gas emissions in her 10 months on the job.

That's as opposed to Dion, who was a great environment minister because he did, uh, nothing, about reducing greenhouse gas emissions during his 17 months on the job, before the Grits were tossed out last January.

Get your umbrella here......

An Honor Well Deserved

Although I question whether it is an honor comparing him to Trudeau whose cradle to grave and multi-cultural policies are the root cause of many of the problems that Canada faces today.

EDITORIAL: An honour this PM deserves

Good on ya, Stephen.

Who would have thought about a year ago, as we headed into a federal election, that our new prime minister would be this year's Time Magazine Canadian Newsmaker of the Year.

And deservedly so. As the magazine's contributing editor Stephen Handelman writes, PM Stephen Harper, was "once dismissed as a doctrinaire backroom tactician with no experience in government," and has emerged as a "warrior in power."

We'd have to agree. After his election win, it was easy to believe Harper would be a mild, easygoing politician, shepherding his minority government away from obvious trouble spots and not stepping on too many toes along the way.

But right out the gate Harper surprised us with some in-your-face decisions on Senate and cabinet appointments, making many sit up and take a bit more notice of this new leader.

As the months went by, he stuck to his guns on several contested issues -- remember that no-show at the AIDS conference in Toronto? Where he did show up was in Afghanistan, where his personal and political commitment to the role of our troops there has created a lot of flak, but he has not wavered.

He has come through on four of his five initial campaign promises --and thrown a few zingers in to boot (income trusts, anybody?) -- proving himself to be a pragmatic, no-nonsense PM with a real agenda.

He's also shown flashes of an acute sense of political timing and savvy, beating the Bloc Quebecois at their own "Quebec as a nation" game by laying claim to the issue himself.

His record is not perfect; the environment portfolio would seem to be an Achilles heel that a revived Liberal party might be able to turn to its advantage.

And, of course, not everybody agrees with his stands on the issues. We could have done without his putting a Liberal and an unelected Tory strategist in cabinet.

But his leadership qualities shine through in the fact that he takes those stands and sticks with them, even when surrounded by controversy and doubt.

Time Magazine says, "If Harper wins the majority he craves, in the election expected sometime next year, he may yet turn out to be the most transformational leader since Trudeau." Indeed.

Closing Of Possum Lodge Creating A Vaccum

for me. While life in Dog River has it's good points; no street crime, no panhandlers, no miller/moscoe/mihevic, etc. there are times when I want just a little more excitement so I am negotiating at time share at Sunnyvale. Drop in......

Sorry Prof. Jensen-You Are 40 Years Too Late

when it comes to defining the solution to racism. During the turmoil of the civil rights movement "conservatives" recognized the effectiveness of liberal solution was relative to how close they lived to the problem. We called them Harlem Liberals. Also we have to recognize that racism is colour blind.

Hidden Racism in 'The Heart of Whiteness'

News & Notes, July 7, 2006 · Defying a decades-long push for diversity in America, Sunday mornings can be the most segregated time of the week. Mixed-race congregations are relatively rare, notes University of Texas journalism professor Robert Jensen.

The churches are a physical manifestation of a much deeper problem, says Jensen, author of The Heart of Whiteness: Confronting Race, Racism and White Privilege.

In Jensen's view, a system that denies non-whites their full humanity also keeps whites from fully realizing their own humanity. The key to a truly non-racist society, he says, is to identify and confront liberal platitudes that sometimes conceal the depths of racism.

Harlem Liberals

I Thought They Were Gifts........

The Loser Are You And I

The CBC published their Beautiful Losers List for 2006 and I feel that the following was an inappropriate inclusion........the public are the losers in their passing and including them in the same breath as Lohan, Spears, O’Donnell, Gibson, etc. is an insult to their passing.

Rest in peace:

Shelley Winters
Chris Penn
Wendy Wasserstein
Gordon Parks
Muriel Spark
Paul Gleason
June Allyson
Red Buttons
Mickey Spillane
Mike Douglas
Glenn Ford
Steve Irwin
Jane Wyatt
William Styron
Adrienne Shelly
Betty Comden
Robert Altman
Bebe Moore Campbell
Perry Henzell
Peter Boyle

Caution! Democrats At Work

Party On Dude

Xmas Gift For Lawbreakers

You Want To Elect Who As President

I Am Sorry Joe....The Anger Has Waned

And I think the best proof is that the people of Toronto returned Miller and his left wing accomplish nothing cabal back to city hall and thanks to the leftists at Queen's Park for an additional year. When was the last time you heard the mayor or his stooges speak out about crime on the streets?

December 26, 2006
Are you still angry?
By JOE WARMINGTON

Are you still as angry about this as you were one year ago?

You remember how you felt when you first heard the news about the Yonge St. shooting?

Our collective anger for this kind of cowardly act should never subside. If it does, it will happen again.

Every time I walk by where it happened I get chills and feel the horror I felt. Every time I hear of another gun battle in our city, it makes my sick and each time Toronto Police take down a gang, I applaud.

Time marches on but there are a lot of people who understand with these gangs, you don't take a day off. Stay on them and be relentless in your pursuit. It's only way to try to prevent another tragedy like the one of Jane Glenn Creba.

Let's stay on the mayor's ass......

The Mayor Doesn't Read Local Papers

Let The Games Begin..........

......the defeat of the fiberals at Queen's Park. The people of Ontario have the opportunity in 2007 to bring sanity and fiscal responsibility back to the province and hopefully, unlike Toronto voters, will not reward the left wing for broken promises and poor performance. Mr. Moerman has fired the first salvo......

Pay for performance

Once a year, I establish objectives for my department. At the end of that year, my performance is rated using my success in meeting or exceeding those objectives.

If none of my objectives have been met, I receive no increase and no bonus. If I meet the minimum requirements for each objective, my performance is unremarkable and again, there is no increase and no bonus. If however I exceed those objectives, my performance is rewarded with a base salary increase (usually 1-3%) and a one-time bonus.

From my perspective, the McGuinty government has failed to meet any of the objectives for which they were elected; despite a sizeable tax increase (dubbed a health care premium), health care is still in shambles and emergency room wait times have not decreased. The education system continues to scramble for funding, crime is on the increase, and Ontario's cities are scrounging for dollars to meet rising infrastructure costs.

The McGuinty government has not only failed to meet their objectives; at last count, they had broken over 50 promises made to the electorate prior to being sworn in on Oct. 23, 2003. Out here in the real world, they have by all accounts achieved a rating of "Improvement Required," a rating that often sees an employee facing imminent termination without immediate change.

Dalton McGuinty and his government are evidently entitled to a 25% pay increase for poor performance and missed objectives. Increases of this type should only be permitted after a detailed performance appraisal. Unfortunately, the provincial government's performance appraisal happens only once every four years, when the electorate goes to the polls.

Robert Moerman

Mississauga

There Is A Lesson To Be Learned Here

I believe people would be amazed at the number of people involved in helping the homeless on a one to one basis and the Pires are to be commended not only for their gesture but for also teaching their children an important lesson....as individuals we have to accept some responsibility for our family, neighbors, friends, co-workers, etc. and we have to step up to the plate when they need help. We have to stop thinking that the other guy or the government is going to look out for the needy. The Pires made sacrifices for others.....these three assholes could have learned something from the Pires.

Spreading Christmas warmth

Family gives clothing to homeless

By SANDY NAIMAN, TORONTO SUN

John Chesson, left, who lives on the street, receives a coat from Sandi Pires. The Pires' family gave out all sorts of winter gear. (ERNEST DOROSZUK/SUN)

Sandi Pires and her family left all their Christmas presents quietly wrapped under their tree in Oakville yesterday afternoon and went searching for Toronto's homeless people.

For three weeks, she, her two children, her mother and stepfather worked tirelessly collecting down-filled jackets and coats, sweaters, mitts, scarves, sleeping bags, blankets, pillows, boots and loose change -- $63 in all -- which they were anxious to give away to those most needy.

Pires, 40, in her sedan and her husband, Ruis, 36, in his truck, both loaded-up with this clothing, parked near Sherbourne and Queen Sts. at 3 p.m. where they spotted a few men trying to keep warm.

The instant they started handing out little plastic zip-lock bags filled with $3 worth of change for a cup of coffee, and cookies, then opening their suitcases and pulling out all the warm weather gear, they were swarmed by about 20 others.

Pires recalled struggling as a single mother after her divorce and now routinely brings her children to Toronto "to teach them about how we are so fortunate," she said. "We've always given their toys to Goodwill, but this year, we wanted to do something special for the homeless."

Yesterday was an eye-opener for all of them.

"It makes me wonder how they survive because I always know I have a house to go home to, but they have no home and sit outside with no socks and it's so cold," Pires' eldest child, Michael Whitwell, 12, said, watching men taking the coats and blankets.

Amanda, 11, whose eyes widened as she watched the whole scene, summed it up in one word, "sad."

"These people belong in heaven," Mike Pickering, who is spending his first Christmas on the street, said quietly.

Michael Grant, 36, a software programmer and salesman laid-off in 2004 when his job was outsourced to India, clutched a big, heavy-knit blue and white sweater and added, "I am very thankful for what they've done."

Ruis grew up working in the area and said, "I don't think I've ever felt this good. We may not have much, but there are always others with less."

POPOURII

BRAD HORN/Nevada Appeal Becky Jones, a resident of South Carson City, discusses the vandalism that occurred to her Christmas decorations.

Chris Lagarde and his mother, Carole, hold inflatable Christmas decorations that were cut and destroyed at their Goshen home Wednesday.Grinch Has Been Busy

White Christmas

Santa Goes Eco

The Same Old In Toronto

After All The Gifts Are Opened With Glee

Diversions

A Gift For The PM

How did Stephen Harper do as Prime Minister in 2006?

Better than expected		3761 votes	(56 %)
About average		1271 votes	(19 %)
Worse than expected		1631 votes	(24 %)
Total Votes: 6663 Even now, he's largely unknowable Contributed by: jensonj Even now, he's largely unknowable Stephen Harper has been in office for nearly a year, but for many Canadians, it is still difficult to get a fix on what makes the 22nd prime minister tick and to understand his vision for the country James Travers Toronto Star Left to Hollywood, this ambiguous year in national life would surely be titled: There's Something About Steve. Love or loathe him, there is something about the Prime Minister that's still elusive, hard to grasp. Is he the solid guy-next-door, the good neighbour to whom George W. Bush so casually gave such an ill-fitting name? Or is he a coldly calculating conservative ideologue bent on turning a traditionally centre-left country hard right? The compelling answer is the one that makes him so easy to underestimate: Stephen Harper is the politician any given moment demands. How else to explain a leader who won an election on ethics and accountability only to immediately make nonsense of both by making Liberal David Emerson trade minister and naming party bagman Michael Fortier a senator and minister responsible for public works, traditionally the most corrupt of the capital's big-spending departments? How else to explain a prime minister who for months refused to let "nation" cross his lips only to embrace overnight a fuzzy iteration of the distinct society notion that provoked serial constitutional crises? That situational flexibility is at the centre of Harper's political persona. It helps explain why his successes come with asterisks. Consider this incomplete list. His signature Accountability Act is a splinter of the platform plank, much improved U.S. relations didn't secure Canada a better softwood lumber deal, and in slicing $1 billion from the budget, Conservatives cut deep into programs as respected as the Law Reform Commission that annoy the party in power but make governments better. Still, transformational or merely transactional, the Prime Minister is almost everybody's newsmaker of the year. Simply put, he was ground zero for political events that changed 2006 and will shape 2007. For many, the most memorable was the winter election. But the significance of its timing is, at best, misleading. While the record shows otherwise, Conservatives didn't win this year, Liberals lost last year. They lost when Paul Martin couldn't impose the discipline needed to deliver even a little of his promise. All hope of a reprieve evaporated in late December when now-defrocked RCMP commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli revealed a probe into alleged Liberal leaks on income trusts that confirmed honesty as the ballot question. Harper, once seemingly destined to be an historical footnote, did what successful Tory leaders have done before: He encouraged angry voters to use Conservatives as a stick to punish Liberals, Canada's default party. http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/164569