Resident Cleanup Could Set A New Standard For Clean Streets

Striking Union Gets Angry When Windsor Residents Clean Up The Mess
Photograph by: Dan Janisse, The Windsor Star The powerful public service union, CUPE, has been on strike for seven weeks in the city of Windsor, Ontario, leaving many taxpayers there feeling abandoned by city services. 400 workers who maintain roads, parks, garbage and recycling walked off the job on April 15, followed by 1,400 daycare, social services, bylaw enforcement and clerical workers a
Unambiguously Ambidextrous |

Why Does It Always Have To Be About IGGY

"Offensive" American Flag
I know Iggy thinks our flag looks like a beer label, guess he was out of the country when the Liberals changed our flag. Oops Iggy. Unfortunately, Canada isn't the only country with flag haters. Even in America you get people complaining about their flag. Texas Woman Told to Remove 'Offensive' American Flag From Office. I got into work, I was met by my supervisor and told that there had been
Climbing Out Of The Dark |

I Can Relate Shlemazl But I Am Glad It Wasn't Me

How I Said a Bad Word
I often rollerblade to downtown X. Takes about 20 minutes one way, so I take the boys, the dogs and take off to enjoy the wind and pedestrian dodging. Once we get downtown skates are swapped for trainers and we visit one of the local cafes to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate with cream in the central square while the dog enjoys a drink of water from a bowl placed their by the cafe owners.The other day
shlemazl |

I Would Expect Members Of Anti-Smoking Groups To Be On The Battle Lines

Warning 1: Smoking shortens your cigarettes

Warning 2: Smoking is one of the leading causes of statistics.
Fletcher Knebel

Mohawks Should be Very Careful
There are some pretty serious threats coming out of the AkwesasneMohawk reserve. They demand a firm response from the Canadian government. The Ottawa Citizen reports: Mohawk Warriors from the Akwesasne Mohawk reserve near Cornwall say they will storm a Canada Border Services Agency post on Monday and shut down the international border crossing, unless their political leaders receive a commitment from...
Patrick O'Neil's Pointed Pen

That's odd, the terrorists don't usually...
...give you advance warning like this... but let's take them at their word and start bringing up reinforcements... -- AKWESASNE, Ont. -- Mohawk Warriors from the Akwesasne reserve near Cornwall, Ont. say they will storm a Canada Border Services Agency post on Monday and shut down the international border crossing unless their political leaders receive a commitment from the federal government
halls of macadamia |

Bob Who.......

Bob Rae-"Employment Insurance has now become an issue of national unity," Dink of the Day, Week, Month, Year.
CAW Workers Voice Of Reason

I Have Voiced My Concerns About This Happening........

Special protection for pedophiles? Monday, June 01, 2009

When I wrote on May 24 "Will discrimination against pedophiles be outlawed next?", I was being satirical. I didn't know that reality has nearly beaten me to it. The report below is from May 13 and concerns a bill that is already through the Reps and is now with the Senate:

"The US Senate Judiciary committee is now considering the so-called Hate Crimes Prevention Act passed by the House April 29, under the sponsorship of Rep John Conyers (D-MI) and 120 other Representatives. Dubbed the ”Thought Crimes Prevention Act” by some House Republicans, HB1913 includes pedophilia as a protected sexual orientation.

Prior to approval by the whole House, a party-line 10-13 vote of Conyers’ House Judiciary Committee April 23 rejected a proposal by Republican Rep Steve King (R-IA) “to define the term `sexual orientation’ as used in the bill to explicitly exclude pedophilia.” Wisconsin Democrat Tammy Baldwin, an open lesbian, called the amendment, “unnecessary and inflammatory.”

When judges are required to interpret any Act resulting from passage of HB1913, they will refer to this vote and see that the intent of the lawmakers was to protect pedophiles. This could lead to federal felony prosecutions against anyone who acts to expel a pedophile from his neighborhood. Federal felony convictions require a minimum one year incarceration in a federal penitentiary.

Source

Many reports on conservative sites have interpreted this bill as prohibiting speech. But that is a stretch. It refers to violent assaults or physical attacks. The current text of the bill is here. The definitions it refers to are from H.R.3355 (Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994) and can be found here. Earlier versions of the bill did explicitly include a statment that speech was not targeted but that has now gone. At the end of the bill there is simply a pointless assertion that the bill does not attack any constitutional protections (such as the 1st Amendment).

A point to note is that H.R.3355 ALREADY adds extra punishment for "hate" in crimes prosecuted in Federal jurisdictions. The new bill aims to extend that to all jurisdictions. Since H.R.3355 has not led to prosecutions of speech alone and since HB1913 uses the same definition of "hate crime" as H.R.3355, concerns about it affecting speech may be over-cautious.

It is clear, however, that under the new law, attacking a pedophile would attract a more severe sentence than attacking a normal heterosexual person. The law puts pedophiles into an especially protected class. How that is compatible with the 14th ("equal protection") amendment escapes me.

Posted by jonjayray

If The Reforms Don't Happen You Can't Fire The MPs

Labour takes EI fight to the streets May 29, 2009 |A series of town hall meetings have been held across the GTA and a petition campaign is now underway to demand action from all MPs in the Toronto region.

New York, New York,,,,,,,,,

• Cycling experts create innovative on-street bicycle network in New York City

  May 30, 2009| ByJohn Bonnar

  Creating a 5 foot bike lane - with a 3 foot buffer - in between a 9 foot parking lane and an 11 foot moving lane keeps cyclists from getting “doored” by drivers getting out of their parked cars.
  

“There are different kinds of streets and the design guidelines don’t give you any help,” said Joshua Benson, Acting Director of Bicycle & Pedestrian Programs for the NYCDOT at the Toronto Bike Summit last Thursday in Toronto.

“In Manhattan, where there are a lot of one way streets with five or six lanes of intense traffic levels, it’s not possible to bike safely with a striped roadway, especially with high demand for curbside access for deliveries, loading and parking.”

Quebec Get's Tough On Crime

More soft Fascism from Canada Sunday, May 31, 2009

Woman to fight fine for not holding Montreal subway handrail

The Montreal woman who was handcuffed and fined $420 for not holding a subway station escalator handrail is planning to fight the tickets, saying she was treated like a "criminal" for trying to avoid germs. "They are dirty!" said Bela Kosoian about the rubber handrails. "How many people touch them every day? Thousands!

"I cannot believe I was handcuffed - like a prisoner. Like I committed a crime." Kosoian, 38, a Chess Federation of Canada co-ordinator, was fined on May 13 for having "disobeyed a directive or pictogram" showing that the handrails in Montreal subway stations must be held by all escalator users.

Laval police said Tuesday they issued three separate warnings to Kosoian before handcuffing her. "The third time, she crossed her arms," said Lt. Daniel Guerin of Laval police. "The two officers acted appropriately and within the procedures."

The officers first issued a ticket totalling $100, followed by another "for obstructing an inspector in the exercise of his duties," to the tune of $320. Kosoian at first refused to provide identification papers "because I did not do anything wrong," she said. As a citizen of France who lived in Eastern Europe, Kosoian never expected this kind of encounter with authority when she came to Canada in 2003. I lived through the collapse of the Soviet Union. Civil war in Georgia. And famine, where you had to fight for a piece of bread."

She won't let this incident go, Kosoian vowed: "I have nothing to hide. I want everybody to know what happened."

Guerin refused to release a complete video record of the incident - which lasted about 14 minutes, both on the escalator and in a holding room at the station. But he said it will be provided to the Police Ethics Commission if Kosoian issues a complaint to that body.

Isabelle Tremblay of the Societe de transport de Montreal said that if Kosoian wants a copy of the video, she will have to file a formal access-to-information request with STM lawyers.

SOURCE

There was music, food, information tables, an art area where people were painting, and signs galore.....

bush protest in t.o.: brief report and links to video

There was music, food, information tables, an art area where people were painting, and signs galore.......

Posted by L-girl

Like Superman without Lex Luthor May 30th, 2009

My account of yesterday’s pathetic anti-Bush protest in downtown Toronto. They have lost their fighting spirit, now that their arch-nemesis is a civilian just like you and I.I don’t know who the Marxists, Socialists, Khadr’s, Stop the War etc have left to live for, now that they have no one to hate.

Posted by: Right Girl

This Is NOY A Conservative ATTACK AD But A Warning.....

....jehovah witnesses not the only one hammering on your door today! Sunday's Something To Think About May 31 2009

Written by Krazy

Saturday, 30 May 2009 00:00

The other day I received an email from my Liberal friends signed by Michael himself (of course). I just scanned over it but instead of filing it in the trash I moved it to my "misc" file. Why I did that I don't know but today I gave it another read. Dear Frank, You and I have an opportunity to put Canada back on the right path. It's a big task but we Liberals have a great track record of accomplishing remarkable things, and the job is made easier with each new pair of hands. The first step is to have as many Liberals as possible ready to fight for their vision of Canada in the next election. Let's start by doubling our current membership - one new member at a time. Each of us knows at least one person who shares our Liberal values, but may not yet be a member of our Party. Please ask them to join us in the work we have ahead of us. If someone you refer joins the party on-line before Canada Day, your riding or theirs - or both - could become special stops being planned as part of my summer tour - visits that would include opportunities for us to sit down together in a private meeting to discuss your ideas for the future of our party and our country. The Liberal Party of Canada is more than just a collection of individuals with Liberal values. Our members are part of a proud tradition of public service that reaches beyond our differences towards what unites us. Together, we are moving toward a new kind of politics, where all Canadians can play a part in shaping our future. Help me build this movement and lead our party and our country. Visit the new membership section of the Liberal website and use the built-in referral tool to invite a new member today. Yours sincerely, Michael Ignatieff Now its the usual hype given out by political parties, except this email had something that caught my attention; "If someone you refer joins the party on-line before Canada Day, your riding or theirs - or both - could become special stops being planned as part of my summer tour - visits that would include opportunities for us to sit down together in a private meeting to discuss your ideas for the future of our party and our country." How many here on the broom would like to "sit down together in a private meeting to discuss your ideas" with Michael? I'm sure a few would like to do that - anyone think its worth a shot to have "Krazy" here sign you up as a member of the Liberal party for a chance to discuss our ideas with Michael? Maybe I'm just drinking too much of this tainted vodka from Igor's home still!

Any Different At Your House......

Why Does This Not Make We Shout With Joy?

U.S. against poverty gap Canadians feel the country is worse off than it was five years ago but our economy is in much better shape than that of the Americans, according to a new Leger Marketing poll.

Canada's tax system is looking better than the U.S.'s Yaffe: At this point in the year, most of us feel relieved to have our annual brush with Canada's revenue agency behind us. But taxation is a year-round preoccupation, one that last year swallowed 44 per cent of the average Canadian family's income. MORE...

Much Ado.......

• Poilievre's comments offend opposition
  Montreal Liberal MP Marlene Jennings felt sick to her stomach when she heard the prime minister’s parliamentary secretary use the term “tar baby”in the House of Commons Friday.
• 
  

• Adler: Bear Babies and Tar Babies
• Tory MP defends use of term 'tar baby'
• Was white MP Pierre Poilievre wrong to use the phrase 'tar baby'?
• Opposition demands Pierre Poilievre apologize for 'tar baby' remark

Jim Is Doing His Job.........

The burden might not be as heavy if we eliminated those expenditures wanted by Iggy, Layton and the other guy......

Dodge Says Canadian Deficit Is Appropriate, Must Be Cut Later
Former Bank of Canada Governor David Dodge said today that the Canadian government’s deficit, which will exceed C$50 billion this year, is right given the recession, though lawmakers must commit to cut it later.

Michael Ignatieff's questionable fury about the deficit Saturday, May 30, 2009 at 05:56 PM Comments: 26

Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff is mad about the $50 billion deficit. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty must resign, or so says Ignatieff. Like his patriotism, Michael Ignatieff's anger seems fake.(like that of his supporters.....) Former Bank of Canada Governor David Dodge said that the level of the deficit is appropriate under the circumstances. And David Dodge had a secret meeting with Michael Ignatieff just last week, lending his wisdom to Michael Ignatieff on questions about the economy.The Liberals (presumably) leaked the details of this meeting, but it wasn't reported that Michael Ignatieff gave David Dodge a hard time about what Dodge would have told Ignatieff was an appropriate level of deficit.

Click the title to read the whole story...

Pt On The Coffee...Another Poll

Harper's a Tims man, but Ignatieff inspires Poll finds the Grit chief isn't seen as very patriotic, suggesting that ‘nasty' PM's attack ads hit his weak spot

More

Today: Vancouver. Tomorrow??????

Canada's Slum: The Fix

Vancouver Featured on The Economist
Vancouver’s violent streets compared to Colombia Vancouver, BCs largest city, has gained notoriety for gun crime, especially among drug gangs. Since 1997 nearly 450 gangsters have been killed there. The surge in shootings is €œdirectly related to a crackdown on gangs in Mexico and the United States, says Pat Fogarty, a senior officer in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Recent ......
Vancouver Secrets

..........Isn't Vancouver the home of government sanctioned drug dens?

Battle Seems To Have Moved To The Aisles Of WalMart

Dead in one generation"> The Tiananmen dream: Dead in one generationTwenty years after Tiananmen Square, the protesters' mission appears to have faded away. Students today have little desire to pursue their forebears' goals and mixed views about the massacre.....

May 29, 2009 10:46PM EDT

• Online: Discussion with Mark MacKinnon
• PDF: How the massacre unfolded
• Timeline: The battle for Tiananmen Square

Gulags For Drug Dealers

Is Canada doing enough to fight gang violence fueled by the drug trade?
Yes
	184	10%
No
	1496	82%
Don't know
	125	6%

Clown Council

Council's on wrong road By ROB GRANATSTEIN, EDITOR In the world according to Coun. Gord Perks, you can't have a great city without a great traffic jam.

Walking all over drivers By SUE-ANN LEVY One had to laugh when during the dying hours of council last week Coun. Howard Moscoe proclaimed how proud he was that Toronto now has a comprehensive strategy for the "movement of people and goods throughout the city."

Breaking the car addiction: so right but so hard Colin Ellard 22 min. ago This week, I drove into Toronto from my home in Kitchener to participate in a radio interview about the psychology of cities. Because of a sparse intercity rail schedule, I had no other choice but to drive in and to take my chances with a journey that can ...

Have your say: Walking all over drivers One had to laugh when during the dying hours of council last week Coun. Howard Moscoe proclaimed how proud he was that Toronto now has a comprehensive strategy for the "movement of people and goods throughout the city."

No $$$ For Pools, Breakfast Clubs, Etc. But......

City plans aboriginal strategy By DON PEAT, SUN MEDIA The City of Toronto is poised to have an urban aboriginal strategy in place by next year.

CEREAL KILLER: Too many mouths to feed By SHARON LEM, SUN MEDIA For the past decade, Francoise Naraine has sent her children to school early for breakfast.

McGinty/Smithermum on Game

eHealthy spenders By JONATHAN JENKINS AND ANTONELLA ARTUSO, QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU Taxpayers paid consultants to prepare planted questions for eHealth CEO Sarah Kramer to answer after delivering her inaugural speech to the Ontario Hospitals Association, Sun Media has learned.

Leftist Adopt A New Label -eco-OCD

William Watson: The uses of eco-OCD

Posted: May 29, 2009, 10:36 PM by NP Editor

When Mrs. Goode accidentally buys two-ply toilet paper, Mr. Goode spends a very ecological hour separating the plies (Using this criteria my 4 ply spouse would be branded a terrorist but at the same time she could , if she wished, bite her fingernails)

W

hen I stumbled over this term, “eco-OCD,” in a brilliant article called “Green Bubbles” in a recent issue of The New Republic, I had to stop and figure out that it meant “eco obsessive-compulsive disorder.”

Exactly! The whole world, at least in the parts I’m familiar with, has become completely and compulsively obsessed with green-ness. The leader of the federal Green Party is accorded a sort of semi-saintly status by the media. Companies that used to advertise their products with beautiful women presenters now instead try to tell us how green their goods are. Even big fossil-fuel companies, not that I or anyone on this page has anything against them, are all touchy-feely-green: Their ads give you the impression they sell blue skies, high style and universal one-ness, not gasoline.

In private conversations, people practise obsessive greensmanship, green-upping each other by showing off their latest green habit, acquisition or nostrum. In the early 21st century, people spend non-neglible amounts of time considering the implications for green of their choice of light bulb or toilet tissue or cleaning product or mode of transportation or vacation destination — or perhaps we should just stay home this summer, paint the roof white and breathe as shallowly as possible.

Click here to read more...

No Surprise To Any Intelligent Person

National Post editorial board: The UN's double standard on Israel and Sri Lanka

Posted: May 30, 2009, 11:00 AM by NP Editor
Filed under: Editorial,Full Comment

If more proof were needed that the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is a feckless, biased, intellectually corrupt haven for dictators and Islamofascists, the evidence was clearly on display this week. The UNHRC voted to affirm Sri Lanka’s right to self-defence from terror attacks launched against its citizens and territory by the Tamil Tigers. Indeed, the council went further, “condemning all attacks that the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) launched on the civilian population and its practice of using civilians as human shields.” Sri Lanka had every right to protect itself, the council concluded, even at the cost of an estimated 20,000 civilian Tamil lives since the beginning of May alone.

Why, then, when Israel seeks to do the same — protect its citizens and territory from rocket and terror attacks launched from Gaza — does the very same council accuse Israel of being a “genocidal empire?” No quarter is given for the way Hamas — every bit as much a terror organization as the LTTE — hides its rocket bases and ammunition caches in schools, apartments and hospitals and launches its attacks on Israel from behind innocent human targets so that if the Israel Defense Forces wish to retaliate it is impossible for them to do so without taking civilian lives.

Click here to read more...

If You Voted For Change You Are As Guilty As Dulltoon

Letters to the Editor

CASH FOR GNOMES? Re "Sir Elton has him Starz struck" (May 27): It's nice to see my hard earned tax dollars going to help Sir Elton John finish his movie about garden gnomes. Garden gnomes? Are you kidding me? Kids are learning in buildings that are falling down around them, people are lying on hospital beds in hallways for hours waiting to get treatment or see a doctor, we seem to have a shootout somewhere at least once a week in Toronto and the police are stretched to the limit -- yet we have $23 million for Sir Elton to finish a movie about garden gnomes. Yikes.STEVE INGHAM OSHAWA

Actress/director Catherine Hernandez and photographer Alex Felipe tell me there is an event tomorrow at 1:30 p.m., Kapisanan Philippine Centre, 167 Augusta Ave., to raise awareness for under appreciated Filipina nannies in a province where we don't have enough money to ensure they receive minimum wage but do have $23 million handed out by a gushing Premier McGuinty to Elton John and his partner David Furnish for their movie project. Yes, when the left's bender is over, it's going to be some hangover folks. But forget about that today and enjoy your weekend.

Scrawler out! JOE.WARMINGTON@SUNMEDIA.CA

Fair Question

Governor General full of heart By MICHAEL DEN TANDT Ah, Michaelle. Thou art fairer than the evening air and clad in the beauty of a thousand stars. If you could run for office you'd do nothing but win.

Lack Of Leadership

Councillors' axle of evil By JOE WARMINGTON

Drunk with power -- and flaunting it.

How else do you explain the scheduling of a low-end bicycle race that closed off four major streets in downtown Toronto during Friday night rush hour? What kind of city council would allow such a thing?

Toronto's, of course. It's not a war on cars. It's a war on sanity. And they seem to be winning.

"It's absolutely insane," says Councillor Rob Ford, who adds his new job is "fighting communism."

Veteran Councillor Case Ootes doesn't go that far but says he's never seen anything like this. "It's no longer what we can do for the public but how can we promote our agenda?"

For example did they really have to have that silly race at that time?

Lance Armstrong wasn't there so have it on Sunday morning. But that wouldn't make the same anti-car point.

In the meantime seven members of council are packing their bags to leave Monday for Vienna for a transit conference. They are not travelling on their bikes.

"There would be eight going but one is part of the 12 councillors going to Whistler, B.C. and can't make both," said Ford sarcastically. "It's an appalling waste of money."

Ootes agrees. "We have $350 million worth of potholes that need repair and we are going to spend $6 million to remove a lane on Jarvis St. for a few bicycles? "

And never mind the bike lane to nowhere on Eastern Ave. We're neglecting the basics of municipal government. We have billions of dollars worth of sewers and water pipes that need to be replaced and we are screwing around with all this other stuff!"

Perhaps while in Vienna they will come up with some more brilliant ideas of how to retrofit transit vehicles to accommodate bikes.

Taxpayers spent $9 million to put those racks on the front of the TTC buses and I have never seen a bike on one. Nor have I once seen an $85 ticket handed out to a cyclist riding on a sidewalk.

"Wonder what would happen if I drove my car up on the sidewalk?" AM 640's Mike Stafford wisely asked this week.

One thing we do see a lot of is the parking assassins nailing people like secure courier professional Sean Callacott who gets five tickets a day -- usually from the same one.

Hey, somebody has to pay for the trips to Vienna and Whistler. Maybe one day those talented parking officers could be retrained to police bad cyclists who should be made to have licences and registration if they are going to be on the roads.

Think of the cash that would bring in that the city could waste.

Reader Bill McDonald makes a good point -- if there is a $127.09 city permit needed to pave your driveway, these bikers can pay their share, too.

Earmarks

In US politics, an earmark is a congressional provision that directs approved funds to be spent on specific projects or that directs specific exemptions from taxes or mandated fees. Earmarks can be found both in legislation (also called "Hard earmarks" or "Hardmarks") and in the text of Congressional committee reports (also called "Soft earmarks" or "Softmarks"). Hard earmarks are binding and have the effect of law, while soft earmarks do not have the effect of law but by custom are acted on as if they were binding.^[1] Typically, a legislator seeks to insert earmarks that direct a specified amount of money to a particular organization or project in his/her home state or district.

Obama Consulted?

Israeli PM Debuts New Road Map For Continued Strife 1 hour ago JERUSALEM—In a historic speech before the U.N. Tuesday, newly elected Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu unveiled a comprehensive......more»

Obama Definews Change

Obama Revises Campaign Promise Of 'Change' To 'Relatively Minor Readjustments In Certain Favorable Policy Areas'

We Survived The Tamils So We Can Survive......

Will the Grand Marshall of Gay Pride Toronto once again slam Israel???

El-Farouk Khaki is a member of Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, and last year used his position to attack Israel...

“Anti-Israel advocacy has no relevance to Pride’s LGBT [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual and Transgender] human rights mandate,” asserted Toronto lawyer and gay rights advocate Martin Gladstone.

The annual gay-pride parade, scheduled this year for June 28, has grown into the largest tourist event in Toronto, now attracting more than a million people a year. Stretching over 23 blocks, it receives $300,000 from the Ontario ministry of tourism, about $145,000 from the City of Toronto and $35,000 from Heritage Canada, as well as significant funding from corporate sponsorships.

Nevertheless, “in the last couple of years, I’m just horrified that in the middle of this party and celebration, there is this anti-Israel political advocacy going on,” Gladstone said, adding that this year some people have decided not to participate because they are nervous about their security.

“It’s supposed to be a celebration of diversity, inclusion and tolerance.” he said. “But it’s a microcosm of the antisemitism that’s happening globally.

“It’s a very uncomfortable environment because it vilifies Jews by extension. It has very eerie parallels to Nazi Germany. I don’t consider myself an activist, but I just can’t be silent anymore.”

Gladstone told the Jewish Tribune that he first met with the pride committee to address his concerns in April 2008, before last year’s parade.

“They listened and sympathized, but it was essentially ignored,” he explained, pointing to the anti-Israel atmosphere that prevailed, according to many participants.

This year, however, the committee has formally responded in a positive manner with a policy to put a stop to the situation, Gladstone said.

“They said these are rogue groups that act without authority.” Still, “we’re concerned, because the grand marshall [El-Farouk Khaki] is a featured speaker of Queers Against Israeli Apartheid.”

Queers Against Israeli Apartheid are banned from this year's march - but will they try to sneak in? Will Mr. Khaki attack Israel? Shouldn't Gay Pride celebrate the only outpost in the Middle East that accepts gays and lesbians???

posted by GayandRight

Update: Anti-Israel banners are OK.....

It looks like Queers Against Israeli Apartheid will be marching....

Pride Toronto will permit groups to march in next month's parade with banners reading "End Israeli Apartheid," as long as they are officially registered.

Last year, a group called Queers Against Israeli Apartheid joined the march from the sidelines with similar banners, causing discomfort to organizers, according to Pride executive Tracey Sandilands. This week, she issued a statement clarifying that no unauthorized marchers would be permitted and political messages would be vetted.

She also said El-Farouk Khaki, the parade's grand marshall who drew condemnation from a Jewish group by speaking at a QuAIA event last weekend, is not an official spokesman and has promised not to speak about Israel in his official capacity.

Ms. Sandilands' approval of "Israeli apartheid" banners comes after Pride Toronto said all participants must carry messages "supportive of the LGBTTIQQ2S community," and that it would refuse permits to any group that violates its discrimination policy.

posted by GayandRight

Obama And Michelle

Why is the Obama Justice Department protecting New Black Panthers?

May 28, 2009 11:24 AM by Michelle Malkin

84 Comments | 19 Trackbacks

Thug thizzle.

Were You?

Lefty blogs punked by Mancow “torture” stunt(?); Updated May 29, 2009 01:34 PM by Michelle Malkin68 Comments | 4 Trackbacks

All wet.

Right In Character

Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff on the Liberal economic record

Written by Darcey

Friday, 29 May 2009 04:38

My party has an unimpeachable record in fiscal responsibility (Even the Toronto star has a giggle)

Come On Steve....Would You Expect A Liberal/Leftist To Go Toe To Toe

Michael Ignatieff messes Stephen Harper up...by snitching on him...with lawyersThursday, May 28, 2009 at 05:55 PM Comments: 46

Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff. Tough guy.Don't mess with him or he'll mess with you.And how does the Hound of Harvard mess with you? He'll send his lawyers out to snitch on you, hoping that someone will do his messing for him.Yeah. So there. Consider yourself messed.

Click the title to read the whole story...

Only From The NDP

Raphael Alexander: If there's a war, the military protects everyone but NDP MPs, (deserters, war resisters, etc.)

Posted: May 28, 2009, 1:30 PM by NP Editor

A bill that has been introduced over and over again since it first appeared in 1983, has been proposed by Burnaby-Douglas New Democrat MP Bill Siksay in British Columbia. The private member’s bill, which hasn’t a Toronto Maple Leafs hope of winning the Stanley Cup chance of passing, would see income tax paid by Canadians who “oppose war” be put into a special account that cannot be used by our military:

Burnaby-Douglas New Democrat MP Bill Siksay said he wants conscientious objectors to be able to register with the Canada Revenue Agency so their taxes can be diverted to a special peace tax account.

If Bill C-390 passes, the government would be able to access the account for anything except military spending.

“The reality is this would be a symbolic measure because the government still collects tax dollars from everybody and the government will still decide how they are spent,” Siksay said.

“But it makes a point about some people who believe that the government shouldn’t be spending money on making war or buying armament.”

I love it. Perhaps I can get a private members bill passed that says the government would be able to access the account for anything except giving it to the NDP. In fact it’s really a kind of Pandora’s Box of self-serving interests, isn’t it? If we began to pass bills which allowed taxpayers to reserve the right not to have their taxes go toward things they don’t like, we’d probably never have enough money for anything. Because let’s be honest here: how much of what the government spends your money on, do you actually approve of? Right about now I’d say they’re batting a Michael Jordan attempt to play Triple-A baseball.

Click here to read more...

Shouldn't Be "the Ruall regime?'

John Ivison: Canada walks a fine line on Cuba

Posted: May 28, 2009, 6:19 PM by NP Editor

Peter Kent has spent much of the past six months in places like Bogota, Port of Spain and San Salvador but he’s not yet been our man in Havana.

The newly-minted Minister of State for the Americas’ recent visit to the Cuban capital was cancelled after he angered the Castro regime by meeting with a political dissident.

But the former TV news journalist may yet find himself persona grata in Havana, depending on how he handles a tricky diplomatic mission next week in Honduras - the re-integration of Cuba into the family of American states.

Mr. Kent is scheduled to attend the General Assembly of the Organization of American States in San Pedro Sula next Tuesday. The hot ticket on the agenda is a move by a number of Latin American countries to have the suspension of Cuba’s OAS membership lifted - a proposal that threatens to cause Mr. Kent no end of headaches as he attempts to extend Canada’s influence in the Western Hemisphere.

Click here to read more...

Possibly People Envision Obamaism Coming To Iggy

Stephen Harper and Israel: Not crass political calculation Ezra Levant May 29, 2009 At its convention this Sunday, the Canadian Jewish Congress will honour Prime Minister Stephen Harper with its Saul Hayes Award. It's unusual for the CJC, many of whose members have long favoured the Liberals, to give an award to a Conservative ...

Re: Peace activists barred from Gaza, May 26 Nine Canadian peace activists, carrying children's toys and medical supplies, were denied entry into Gaza Strip at the Rafah entry point by the Egyptian border guards. They were held up for almost four days. It is hard to understand how putting a smile on a child's face or providing relief to a sick person is a security risk for the state of Egypt or Israel.The "civilized world" is expressing outrage at the nuclear and missile tests by North Korea, but where is similar indignation at this blatant injustice inflicted upon 1.5 million Palestinians who have been living in blockaded Gaza Strip for more than two years? Anis Zuberi, Mississauga

....today it is a gift battery operated toy which tomorrow could be used to activate a suicide bomb. Bit of a stretch but......

I Brought This Up Yesterday

Daycare vs. NIMBY

May 29, 2009
Even daycare, it seems, is vulnerable to NIMBY pressure.

Cap And Trade

More EI. More Stimulus. More Child Care. ETC but don't efecit?

Grit twits and rhetorical fits By PAUL BERTON It's just politics as usual, of course, but isn't calling for the resignation of the federal finance minister getting a bit tired, or worse, doesn't it sound like crying wolf? Does Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff really expect Jim Flaherty to step down? How often have we heard that demand in the Commons? And is anybody even listening anymore?

Would Flaherty's foes do any better? by Chantal Hébert

Spend, spend, spend!
A $34-billion deficit was one thing, but $50 billion? Aieeeeee!

Jim Flaherty is easily the worst finance minister in Canadian history, James Travers argues in the Toronto Star, and “even the perception of such incompetence” has been more than enough to unseat several of his predecessors. Of course, he adds, the Liberals can demand Flaherty’s resignation all they want—it won’t change the fact they’ve signed off on pretty everything that got us into this $50-billion hole. What both they and the Conservatives need, therefore, is a big name economist to run the ministry (after being elected, we assume) and haul us out. The name of former Bank of Canada governor David Dodge is, apparently, rattling around the Ottawa rumour mill.

Flaherty might be the worst ever, but certainly, says Paul Wells on his Maclean’s blog, he’s “the most ineffectual … in decades,” and there’s little point replacing him with someone else who’d be just as beholden to the PMO’s every whim. “He is a funny wee leprechaun,” Wells concludes, “and as long as nobody ever listens to another word from his mouth, there is no harm in letting him continue to ride around in the fancy car.”

G&M Much what the Liberals asked for : If only the Conservatives had listened to his calls for restraint last year, Liberal Finance Critic John McCallum lamented this week, the federal deficit would not be so large as it is today. What Mr. McCallum neglected to point out is.. MORE...

He Knows How To Express Himself

Re-Election - CHECK

Was He Part Of A Compulsory Draft? NO! Send Him Home

Let Iraq war resisters stay here
Mary Jo Leddy May 28, 2009
Jeremy Hinzman was a soldier in the United States Army's elite infantry division, the 82nd Airborne. In 2002 and 2003 he served in Afghanistan in a non-combat role after applying for conscientious objector status. His application was refused and he learned that he would ...

NIMBY

High Park street gets limit on daycares

by John Spears

May 28, 2009 (12)

Toronto council has slapped an order prohibiting new day nurseries on an upscale, three-block stretch of High Park Ave. for a year, after complaints...

I'm From The Government. I'm Here To Help You!

Bag fee: 5 cents makes no sense

By SUE-ANN LEVY, TORONTO SUN

In just four days time -- on June 1 -- all retailers operating in the Socialist Republik of Toronto will be required to charge five cents for each plastic bag they provide to their customers.

Congrats Cyclists! You Have Won A Major Victory

Add this to the thousands of miles of bike lanes that council promised you and you can sit back and enjoy your micro brewer beer. Wave to me in February when you are going up Jarvis in a couple of feet of snow.

For the love of Jarvis

Yes vote for new Jarvis bike lane foreshadows a city finally daring to pedal into the future Mike Smith

Imagine if all wars were waged like the “war on cars,” the ostensible assault on automotive freedom about which conservative councillors spent all Monday, May 25, honking their horns when bike lanes were approved as part of the Jarvis Street beautification.

Before any incursion, the aggressor would commit billions in subsidies for all repairs to enemy infrastructure during the fighting. And the invasion itself would largely consist of soldiers running around in bike helmets shouting, “Thank you for not killing me.”

Despite the next day’s headlines, bike lanes are just one part of a plan to rescue the former promenade from its inner-?city highway status through sidewalk widening and streetscape improvements.

But David Miller’s opponents, thrashing about for election issues, tried to cast bike lanes as the latest and most devastating salvo in the oft-?referenced war on cars.

The debate, dominating that day’s agenda, was a study in scattershot filibustering. But when Karen Stintz held up the Bike Plan as a venerated document, arguing that Jarvis lanes weren’t in it, and Doug Holyday waxed worried about installing lanes that don’t connect to a network, even the most exhausted bike-helmet-?clad cyclists in the gallery must have taken surreal satisfaction in hearing their own arguments.

Continuing on their recent populist tip, Miller opponents also accused Councillor Kyle Rae of pedalling through democracy’s stop sign when the lanes were added partway through an environmental assessment last January.

They were added because citizens said bike lanes were a no-?brainer. This was a high point for public input, and right-?wingers tried to bury its significance only because it happened on Miller’s watch.

But some subtlety may have gone unnoticed in the arguments: right-?winger Denzil Minnan-?Wong correctly reminded downtown folks that those in the suburbs are worried about automobility for a very real reason: “If you live downtown,” he said, “it’s easy [to take transit or bike]. It’s not easy from my ward.”

That’s to say the least. But when I asked Yvonne Bambrick of the Toronto Cyclists’ Union to respond, she had some advice to offer. “The city is doing what it can to give people in the further reaches of the GTA more options, and it is taking a while. But that’s partially because of discussions that get drawn out like this one.” In other words, Councillor, you’re not wrong. Just help us to help you.

The fast and the furious

A guide to the highs and low blows of council’s seven-hour showdown on Jarvis

ON THE MONEY “Transportation is not about moving cars. It never has been and never should be. It’s about moving people.”  Mayor David Miller “Jarvis is a traffic corridor. …>> More

Re: Mandatory bicycle licensing seen as fair, May 23

By all means, test and license cyclists. And then give us all a substantial tax deduction, say about $10,000 per year, to make up for reduced air pollution, reduced number of automobile accidents, reduced use of city infrastructure and all those other resources that are now used exclusively by drivers.

Cathleen Watson White, Toronto

....do we need to do testing? Cycling is like sex,,,you learn by doing.

Isn't That What The Opposition Wants...More Money?

Your government in action: 'Where's the money? Where is it?' Posted: May 27, 2009, 5:05 PM by NP Editor

Question Period today:

ORAL QUESTIONS

Mr. Michael Ignatieff (Leader of the Opposition, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, in September the government said there would be no recession, in October no deficits, in November it promised a surplus, but in January it brought down a $34 billion deficit. Yesterday it ballooned to $50 billion, all this in a breathtaking six months, and still the money has not gotten out the door. This is incompetence on a historic scale.
How can the Prime Minister or any other Canadian still have confidence in the Minister of Finance?

Right Hon. Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, CPC): Mr. Speaker, over the last few months we are all aware that the financial situations have deteriorated in all countries due to the recession.
The fact of the matter is that our deficits in Canada are a third to a quarter the size of the deficit in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan. These deficits are affordable. What we are doing is borrowing money at historically low interest rates to help unemployed people, to build infrastructure. That is what we should be doing and what we will continue to do.

Mr. Michael Ignatieff (Leader of the Opposition, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the issue here is the credibility of the Government of Canada and the credibility of the Minister of Finance. Just five weeks ago the Minister of Finance said, and I quote, “I am comfortable with our projections... We're on track”. On track to where? The largest deficit in Canadian history. Canadians just cannot trust the government with their money.
Will the Prime Minister fire the Minister of Finance?

Right Hon. Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, CPC): Mr. Speaker, what is at issue here is the credibility of the Leader of the Opposition, who has been here week after week demanding not just that the government spend more but that it spend more permanently. Now he tries to pretend he is concerned about the deficit. I cannot fire the Leader of the Opposition and with all the tapes I have on him, I do not want to.

Click here to read more...

Can't Stand The Heat........

Liberals want more gag laws

Well the federal Liberals are once again declaring war on free election speech.

Recall in 2000 it was Prime Minister Jean Chretien who imposed the infamous election gag law on Canadians -- the law which makes it a crime for citizens to spend their own money to express their own views during federal election.

That was bad enough.

Now Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff wants to extend that gag law so that it also covers the period three months prior to the election.

This is sad but not surprising.

Once you buy into the logic that it's OK to squelch free expression you start heading down a slippery slope; you can always justify further restrictions.

First the gag law was only supposed to be in force during elections; now the Liberals also want to gag Canadians before elections.

Before you know it, it will be illegal for citizens to run political ads at any time.

A Zionist Plot?

Great news - Hamas funder sent to prison....

Thank God he wasn't charged here in Canada...he'd be out in no time...

A founding member of what was once the biggest Muslim charity in the US has been given a 65-year jail sentence.

Shukri Abu Baker, 50, was convicted of assisting the Palestinian militant group, Hamas, which the US lists as a terrorist organisation.

He is the first of five people from the Holy Land Foundation to be sentenced.

The charity was found guilty last year of sending more than $12m (£7.4m) to fund schools and social welfare programmes controlled by Hamas.

The five men were convicted in November on charges ranging from money laundering to supporting terrorism.

Social In-Activism A Cottage Industry

We're from the government and we're here to help you....

A Nation of Social Workers (and the Victims Who Need Them)
By Colleen Raezler May 27, 2009 - 12:07
Here's Matt Philbin's take on the Obamas' commencement addresses:
To a man with a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. To a community organizer, every citizen looks like a victim entitled to someone else's money.
The Obama campaign and administration has proved that again and again. But both the president and his wife put a fine point on it with commencement addresses this month. (Joe Biden also gave one, but it's a safe bet that nobody - Joe least of all - knew what he was talking about.) To the Obamas, grads should opt for the virtue of what Michelle has called "helping" careers, and eschew the vice and corruption of the private sector.

Commens From The Streets

Eww. These kids (adults living as kids) are so disconnected from reality and the rest of the world... entitled, shielded from responsibility. I don...

Posted:Monday, May, 11, 2009 - 6:29:38 PM
Article:Welcome to Your Quarterlife Crisis Category:CityFeatures

Car-free is great if your lifestyle can be shaped around that. Try playing team sports a few nights a week in Toronto (hockey, soccer, ultimate...

Posted:Friday, May, 01, 2009 - 4:51:17 PM
Article:Green to the Extreme Tip 9: get rid of your freakin' car Category:BlogGreen Living

To Whom Do You Give Credit?

Thin Edge Of The Wedge?

Canadian index allows investors to follow Shariah law

Updated Wed. May. 27 2009 1:54 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Full story and comments.....

Ho Hum

N. Korea warns of attack on South

Army spokesman says country no longer bound by armistice signed at end of 1950-53 Korean War 12:56 AM EDT 37 2

• Related: Defiant N. Korea tests more missiles
• Analysis: Obama must respond, but options limited
• Globe editorial: China holds some cards

Let's Keep Other Nutbar In Spotlight.....

Iran sends six warships to international waters...

'Historically unprecedented'...

Ahmadinejad rejects Western nuclear proposal...

Says no nuclear, missile cooperation with NKorea...

Israel claims Venezuela sending uranium to Iran...