Sportsmanship! A Poor Tribute For The Canucks...

Brian Hutchinson: Blood on the streets after Vancouver loss

VANCOUVER — The season ends, and the worst does come to pass. Vancouver, you have lost. Twice. But the game hardly matters now, does it? The score? Who cares? As I write this, my eyes are stinging, my is throat sore, having breathed in some sort of dispersal chemical that police deployed — in desperation, and perhaps too late. There could be some residual effect from having inhaled acrid, toxic smoke from burning cars, exploding cars, destroyed by lunatics still running crazy on the city’s downtown streets.

Blood in our streets. I saw people on the ground, bleeding. Shattered glass everywhere. Police cars set alight. Major bridges are now closed, preventing public access into the downtown core. Transit is plugged up, there’s no way out. More police and fire crews are arriving, from the suburbs, but again, it seems too late.

And as I write this, the sun has just set. Vancouver, what a disgrace.

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They Might Be "NOT HAVE" Provinces But

...one thing they have lots of is the milk of human kindness and caring.

Halifax airport offers gift-wrapping


By QMI Agency

Travellers in Halifax worried about airport security dismantling their ribbons need not fret — the airport is offering post-security gift-wrapping throughout the the holidays.

Brown Bag, Street Vendor...

 U.S. street-food successes inspire mixed results in Canada

The street food tradition has thrived in big American cities for years, from Portland to New York to L.A. In Canada, efforts to expand the street-vending scene appear less organic — and less successful.

...another bureaucracy, in concert with city politicians, added to the recipe for failure by creating a system that is expensive for vendors,   locations that have to be moved because of construction, etc. and

My Week: Breakfast of curmudgeons

Sunday. Gregor comes over for breakfast. “What’s with the cutlery wrapped in a napkin?” he asks. “You running a Greek diner?” “I thought it would be fun,” I say, no longer having fun. “Fun? What do you know about fun? Let me guess:

Where Is The Honor In A Religion That Allows Whipping, Stoning..

...etc. for something as mundane as adultery and men are cheered for the same thing? 

Barbara Kay: Action on honour killings

Barbara Kay  July 12, 2010 – 4:20 pm

 

Nathan Denette / National Post

Muhammad Shan Parvez, left, and Waqas Parvez — brothers of murderer teenager Aqsa Parvez — leave a Brampton, Ont., courthouse on Dec. 14, 2007.

The Minister for Status of Women, Rona Ambrose, gave a press conference today on “culturally-driven violence and so-called ‘honour crimes.’ ” The occasion prompting her remarks was the official release of a position paper on the growing problem of culturally driven violence in Canada’s immigrant communities by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, the subject of my July 7th column.

The report, Culturally-Driven Violence Against Women: A growing problem in Canada’s immigrant communities, was written by Aruna Papp, a counsellor to immigrant men and women caught up in domestic conflicts. Ms Papp, an immigrant from India who herself suffered a great deal of culturally-related abuse, has emerged as an expert on South Asian cultural gender roles and honour/shame-related behaviours. Ms Papp has written about the subject of culturally-driven violence in the National Post.

Reflecting opinions expressed in the report, the minister endorsed Ms Papp’s most important points, emphasizing, with regard to honour killings, “These heinous acts cannot be justified by cultural relativism or excused under the guise of political correctness.”

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• Support: Muslim youth helpline looks at ‘pull between worlds’

Not A Proud Day For Policing...

...but a banner day for human nature. 

James Morton: A thug goes free, thanks to police

National Post  July 5, 2010 – 2:00 pm

 

In 2002 a series of particularly brutal home invasions took place in Mississauga, Ont. A gang of thugs, wearing masks and armed with guns and knives, forced their way into homes in the early hours of the morning. They used plastic tie wraps to bind the half-asleep residents by their wrists and ankles.
The gang inflicted dreadful abuse upon their victims, including:

• confining an elderly woman and telling her she would be shot if something went wrong;
• using a knife to carve a dollar sign into a man’s back and trying to cut off his finger;
• grabbing an eight-year-old girl, pushing her down, telling her to say goodbye to her parents and telling the child’s parents that they would take her unless all their money was handed over; and
• sexually assaulting a woman by placing a gun in her mouth while digitally penetrating her vagina, and by placing a gun in her vagina.

It is hard to find any sympathy for those committing such horrific crimes. And it is easy to understand why investigating police and prosecutors felt righteous indignation against those they believed to be guilty.

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A Sad Testament Of How Many People Judge Other People...

Anti-Semitic comments marred achievements of native leader
He was a sergeant in the Canadian Forces, a longtime native rights activist and was even inducted into the Order of Canada -- the highest honour a Canadian can receive.

We Elect People To Represent Us...

...but when they react like we might in a similar situation we heat up the tar and get out the feathers. Dick recognizes this human failing.

I Would've Been Angry, Too
Posted 3/8/2010 7:29:00 AM

I don’t excuse conservative MP  Helena Guergis for going ape-poop over security at the Charlottetown airport last week. She had a major meltdown when asked to remove her shoes.

But I do sympathize. I’ve come close to it myself.  And I wonder how often it happens to air travelers with lower profiles.

Indeed one of my new year predictions was that there would be an ugly passenger revolt at a major airport over ever more absurd security.

And now, on the eve of a federal budget that promises no tax increases, the feds have increased the airport security fee that will tack about eight bucks on to your ticket.

We human beings have a knack of creating wonderful things then screwing them up. We invented television but use it for Survivor and Wheel of Fortune. We invented the internet but clutter it with spam, viruses and ...

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More Much Ado About Little...Stoked By The Media...

I am not a regular transit user but when I do use TTC I always acknowledge the driver (except on the subway of course), ie: Good morning, Good afternoon, Hi, How are you doing, etc. and I get a response 99% of the time...when was the last time you recognized the driver?  I use Wheel-Trans frequently and these driver are always courteous and helpful. Look in the mirror...are you part of the problem or part of the solution?

Fiorito: Many riders abusive, insulting, TTC worker says

Wed Jan 27 2010 (123)

The picture of the TTC ticket-taker sleeping in his booth has provoked much lively discussion from readers and transit commision employees. 
Related:

• Tell TTC what you think

• Does TTC need new name?

• Hume: TTC needs wake-up call