One Of Those Stories That Make You Shake Your Head

I certainly don't want the campaign to honor our troops turn into a circus but it appears the firefighter's honor was sanctioned so why was it pulled at the last moment?

T.O. firefighters' part in soldiers tribute snuffed

By JOE WARMINGTON

Patti Tait, wife of a Toronto firefighter, stands yesterday on the Conlons Rd. overpass in Scarborough, where the firefighter tribute was supposed to happen on Sunday. (Mark O'Neill, Sun Media)

Our local heroes just wanted to say thank you to Canada's latest war heroes.

In fact, Toronto firefighters had something special planned for the fallen troops along the Highway of Heroes until water was thrown on the plans at the last minute -- leaving some firefighters hotter than a four-alarm blaze.

They were all set to salute the three returning hearses when the call rang out.

"Stand down," came across their radios. "Return to your stations." They were stunned.

Five minutes more and they would have shown the soldiers' families how much they appreciated their loved ones' sacrifice. "We wanted those families to know we care," said the veteran firefighter who spearheaded the idea and insists every vehicle was within its five-minute response time mandate.

Arrests Up, Violent Crime Down

Little solace to the victims in three shootings this weekend....

Police hunt suspects after 3 separate shootings

toronto.ctv.ca

A 40-year-old father is recovering after being shot by a stray bullet while in his backyard with his two-year-old son near Jane and Finch streets.

Davey Gill and his family told CTV's Jim Junkin they fear the gunmen will return.

Gill was shot in the leg while outside his home at 294 Grandravine Dr. at about 7 p.m. on Sunday night.

Police believe two groups of people opened fire on each other after a suspected drug deal went bad.

A nearby courtyard was packed with children when shots rang out.

Gill's mother-in-law was also in the backyard at the time of the shooting. She said she was horrified by what unfolded.

"If just one more bullet was fired, that little one would have been gone," said Shirley Singh, wiping away tears. "I don't know where they get these guns and why they come to this neighbourhood."

Singh is still shaken because her young grandson was so close to the violence.

"He said 'gunshots, grandma, gunshots,'" she said. "I want to move by the end of the week ... I have to get out of here."

Several suspects were arrested after the shooting, but they were released without being charged. Gill was released from hospital on Monday.

Police were investigating two other shootings in the city Sunday night.

A man was found sin the parking lot of Keelesdale Park, near Black Creek Drive and Eglinton Avenue West, suffering from a gunshot wound at about 11:30 p.m.

The victim's femur was shattered after he was shot in the leg, police said.

Douglas Moreira, 26, is wanted on aggravated assault and firearms charges in connection with the incident.

Moreira is described as white, 5-foot-2, 161 pounds, olive complexion, clean-shaven, brown eyes, with a tattoo of "Adrian" on the left side of his neck.

He is considered armed and dangerous.

Anyone with information is asked not to approach the suspect, but to contact police at 416-808-1200, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), or online at www.222tips.com.

Another shooting Sunday night left a 24-year-old man suffering from a bullet wound to the foot.

The victim was hit in the Jane Street and Eglinton Avenue area at about 10:30 pm., police said.

Violent crime decreasing

Meanwhile, Toronto police released its annual crime report, which concluded violent crime decreased significantly in 2006.

Shooting deaths dropped 44 per cent, shooting incidents declined 15 per cent and the number of shooting victims decreased by 14 per cent.

The number of arrests increased seven per cent in 2006, and more suspects were apprehended than in any other year in the force's history, the report states.

With a report from CTV's Jim Junkin

Adler & Duffy....The Media Serving Of Ham & Eggs

Decal Debate
CTV News and Current Affairs
Wed 20 Jun 2007

MIKE DUFFY: Welcome back in to the Wednesday edition of "Mike Duffy Live". Our MPs had to flee for the big vote which they hope will clear the way so that they can head home to their ridings where undoubtedly they'll be met by parades, bands, and all of that. People say, oh, we're so lucky to have you representing us in Ottawa. Well one man who keeps his finger on the pulse of the nation from the thought control centre at CJOB in Winnipeg, I'm going in to my radio voice because he's got a big set of pipes, he's got a big brain and a huge audience. His name is Charles Adler. He's the leader of the Adler nation. What do you call it, you're a vehicle of mass, how does that go?

CHARLES ADLER (Talk Radio Host): Well some people to the left of me think of me as a vehicle of mass disinformation. But, Mike, I've got to tell you, it's wonderful to be back. I really missed your warm and fuzzy demeanour.

DUFFY: Well, we have fun and you can be the brisk guy. Your meeting of mass, instead of destruction, mass instruction, as you tell people what to think. What were audience members telling you today about this whole David Miller yellow ribbons, etcetera?

ADLER: Well, unfortunately, when it comes to the telephones, Mike, and you know enough about talk radio, from all the different talk masters you speak with, you tend to attract at least people on the phone, people who agree with you. Then on e-mail of course you get people who disagree. But we did get one person who did call in disagreeing with my position that we should all be wearing those yellow ribbons, put them on the fire trucks, put them on the ambulances, put them on the pizza wagons, put them on everything. But the thing is that this individual said that only those people who are on the right are for that. Now I tend to believe that if only people who are right wingers were for the yellow ribbons, David Miller and the other councillors wouldn't have chickened out today because we know what the real position was, but in face of all the media attention that they got they had to back down, especially on a day where we lost three of our own. This would not be a good day to come out against the troops.

DUFFY: So what do you think happened there in Toronto? I mean all three papers in the biggest city in the country, big stories today about we're going to take these decals off. Are these guys drinking their own bath water, or what's going on? All of a sudden the big reversal, 38-0, all of the great heroes of principle suddenly hiding in their caves?

ADLER: Well the radio station that we're on in Toronto, AM 640 Toronto radio, they got hundreds of calls. No doubt other radio stations got many, many calls. The newspapers got calls. But most important, as far as the city councillors are concerned, they got calls, and my guess is that some of these people got more calls than they've ever gotten in the past and they weren't coming from Stephen Harper acolytes, or right wingers, or pro Bush people or whatever the left wants to dismiss those of us who like these yellow ribbons, they were getting them from the masses. It was mass appeal, mind of like NASCAR, and they backed down.

DUFFY: Chuck, let me just read what David Miller had to say about this. "ItÆs a controversy on both sides. There are people who see it as support for the troops. There are people who see it as support for a war". That was before the deluge, before the phone calls, before the e-mails, etcetera. So all of a sudden now he's gone silent.

ADLER: Well the overwhelming majority of people in this country are for the troops, they're for the yellow ribbons. It may be controversial in the sense that there's a small minority, clearly based on what Miller did today in backing down as well as some of his councillors backing down, clearly a very, very tiny minority that is against the ribbons. Most people are for it because the thing is that regardless of whether or not you're for a particular policy position, once our men and women are in harm's way, we have to support them. And if we don't support them when they're in harm's way, what does that make us as a people?

DUFFY: Finally, let me ask you the question about equalization. We had the Finance Minister on earlier. They're still doing the dance among Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador. I asked Pat Atkinson what effect the brouhaha was going to have on the provincial election there. The last numbers I saw showed the Conservative Saskatchewan party running ahead of the NDP. Is Lorne Calvert going to have his hide saved by this issue?

ADLER: Well for those people who are just voting for the first time in Saskatchewan, they've just turned old enough to vote, all they remember is an NDP government, NDP for as far as the memory can see. So finally the Saskatchewan party is about to take over and I suppose this is a hail Mary that many politicians go through whether they're down east or out west, bash the feds and hope some people come to your ballot box.

DUFFY: Charles Adler, always great to have you with us. Thanks very much for giving us an update from the heartland in Winnipeg.

ADLER: You're welcome. You bet.

Summer Soltice On Parliament Hill

I've got a bad case of the MP blues TheStar.com - comment - I've got a bad case of the MP blues

June 25, 2007

Jeffery Ewener

Canada's MPs have finally finished one of the most gruelling parliamentary sessions in years. This has taken its toll. Mental and physical exhaustion can lead to serious psychological and physical complications. In the interest of better diagnosis and treatment, we publish the following brief definitions, excerpted from the Manual of Political Disorders and Diseases.

Fortunately for them, our politicians will be getting a good, long rest over the summer. Unfortunately for the rest of us, they'll be back in the fall.

Harperger's Syndrome: A high-functioning communication disorder, characterized by a complete inability to connect emotionally with others. The patient is often highly intelligent, but so self-absorbed and unable to understand anyone else's needs that he is often misdiagnosed as mentally deficient.

Patients often get trapped in vicious circles of their own making. For instance, the patient may introduce an environmental plan that does nothing at all to reduce carbon emissions. When the public fails to express approval, the patient reacts with confusion, anger and panic. He quickly withdraws the plan, feverishly rewrites it and, a few months later, introduces a brand new plan that does nothing at all to reduce carbon emissions.

Patients constantly change their minds while insisting they haven't, and even threaten to sue those who say they did.

Self-Ducepption: Formerly known as Don Quixote's Disease, this is a mental aberration marked by a tendency to charge wildly into new undertakings before, moments later, running away again screaming, especially at the sight of unfavourable poll results.

These patients occasionally exhibit bizarre phobias, such as a morbid fear of being photographed in cheese factories.

Patients are typically unable to recognize irrational contradictions in their own behaviour, such as lolling about for years in a cushy featherbed, all the while insisting that the featherbed be declared illegitimate and thrown away.

Dion Prion: A previously little-known entity, which some researchers have attempted to blame for numerous pathological events, ranging from Mad Cow Disease to Kyoto Failure, though it has never been convincingly proven responsible for anything.

This may be due to its incredibly long gestation period, since it can take up to 20 years to have any discernible effect on the body politic, by which time it has turned the whole brain to mush.

Other researchers remain skeptical, however, claiming that any effect at all from the Dion Prion is unlikely, and that you could probably swallow a quart of the stuff without any result, except for a feeling of extreme boredom and a desire to lie down and never get up.

Laytoncy Period: This is the name given to the period in the life cycle of a condition when it remains merely potential, the faintest possibility, or in extreme cases, completely imaginary.

At such times, it may exhibit all the characteristics of a real and effective condition except that it doesn't, in any real sense, actually exist. It's possible for the condition to appear vigorously active, generating a lot of heat and apparently working away furiously, without ever turning into anything serious.

The best treatment is to wait quietly until it gives up and goes away. In some cases, it may suddenly turn a loud green colour. This may be a sign of something big developing or, then again, it may not.

---

Jeffery Ewener is a Toronto writer.

Why Are We There?

Questioning why we are there

Letters, June 23

---

It is stated that the oppression of the Afghans is "none of our business." Apparently, oppressed people have in the past used "revolution to rid themselves of tyrants." I think the Rwandans and the Sudanese of Darfur would disagree.

Anyway, the United Nations-sanctioned, U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan was accomplished with the majority of troops coming from our Afghan allies, known as the Northern Alliance. So, the change did not come from outside the country but from within. As for the Soviet invasion, Soviet troops were fighting against the Afghans to impose a foreign "godless" system on a Muslim population.

Canadian troops are fighting with the Afghans to rid their country of a foreign "Arab" presence represented by the Taliban and Al Qaeda. We are not trying to make the Afghans just "like us." But I do think stability, good government, education for all, electricity and clean water are universal values.

Finally, it is also stated that we should fear no invasion from Afghanistan, so fighting to secure that country makes no sense. Unfortunately, 9/11 showed there is much to fear from a failed state that harbours terrorists. An invasion can be accomplished with a box cutter and an airline ticket.

---

Brian Cybulski, Toronto

If Ian Sees This As A Headache For Tories

Then some of the shenigans played by the liberals would be assesed as a migraine.

Nomination headaches dog Tories TheStar.com - comment - Nomination headaches dog Tories

June 25, 2007

Ian Urquhart

The Progressive Conservatives continue to run into controversy over the nomination of candidates for the upcoming provincial election.

The nomination process, with prospective candidates scrambling to sign up new members and get them out to vote, can often be messy. But this election year the Conservatives are experiencing more than their share of nomination headaches, including fights in these 905 ridings:

Thornhill. The party hierarchy wanted CFRB talk show host Peter Shurman as the candidate in Thornhill, a winnable riding now held by the Liberals' Mario Racco. The problem for the party was that Norm Gardner, a former Metro Toronto councillor and former chair of the Toronto police services board, had been working the riding for the past year and had the nomination sewn up.

To clear the way for Shurman, the party leaned on Gardner to step aside. No reason was given, but it is safe to assume that the party was worried about his political baggage. (Gardner was kicked off the police services board for unethical conduct, although the courts subsequently overturned the decision and reinstated him.)

Gardner agreed to withdraw from the nomination race, with the party picking up his out-of-pocket expenses (about $5,000), and Shurman is to be acclaimed as the candidate at a meeting tonight.

Calling himself "a team player," Gardner says he will back Shurman, although his disappointment is evident. "I'm not jumping for joy," he says. "Let's put it that way."

Oak Ridges-Markham. Phil Bannon, a Whitchurch-Stouffville councillor and a former Toronto cop, won a four-person race for the Conservative nomination in this open riding earlier this month. But hard feelings linger over some of his tactics, including the signing up of several dozen residents of a long-term care facility that looks after Alzheimer's sufferers.

Bannon managed to win the nomination without the seniors' support, as they showed up at the meeting too late to register to vote. But two of the losing candidates, former Whitchurch-Stouffville mayor Sue Sherban and former riding association president D'Arcy Pigott, have refused to endorse Bannon's candidacy in protest.

Mississauga South. Tim Peterson, the incumbent MPP who quit the Liberal caucus earlier this year, was acclaimed as the Conservative candidate earlier this month after the party hierarchy leaned on three other candidates to get out of the race.

But Peterson did not even get to deliver a speech at his nomination meeting as supporters of the other candidates voted to cut the proceedings short in protest over being forced to accept a former Liberal as their standard-bearer.

Prior to the adjournment vote, the dissidents tried unsuccessfully to use procedural tactics to derail the nomination of Peterson. Feelings ran high with Margaret Marland, the former Conservative MPP whom Peterson defeated in 2003, reportedly calling the nomination process "despicable."

"Politics can be an emotional business," explains Blair McCreadie, president of the provincial Conservatives, when asked to comment on these examples of party turmoil.

But he notes that the party has nominated candidates in 86 ridings (of 107), almost all of them without incident.

"I'm not terribly concerned at all," he says.

Perhaps he needn't be concerned. But in these three 905 ridings – all of them winnable for the Conservatives – the party machine may not be running on all cylinders in the fall election campaign.

---

Ian Urquhart's provincial affairs column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Contact him at iurquha@thestar.ca

I Wish The Democratic Process Was That Simple

We have to wait four years, thanks to Dullton McGoonty, to dump your mistakes in the garbage.........

If You Voted For Miller Or Didn't Vote

Suck up these new taxes......you deserve them. I don't have a problem paying taxes but this is a case of double dipping and I don't see anything happening a city hall to bring our house in order. City unions have virtually jobs for life with no competition, there is no hiring freeze, no sign of cut backs in councilors budgets, no contacting out savings, nada, nada, nada..........

Life is taxing in Mayor David Miller's Toronto

By SUE-ANN LEVY, TORONTO SUN

A report slated to be debated at today's executive committee states outright that "with very few exceptions" the public is "vehemently opposed" to the city's proposed new taxation measures.

The report notes that not even the tales of woe (my words, not those of city staff) regarding Toronto's "difficult fiscal situation" moved the 600 people who turned up at four consultation sessions last month to give feedback on the roster of eight new taxes Mayor David Miller proposes to introduce under the City of Toronto Act.

"There was general opposition which stemmed from a lack of trust that the new taxes were justified and concerns that potential economic impacts and hardships (for the city and its residents) would result from the taxes," the report says.

That's an understatement! I sat through two of those sessions -- two more than Miller found time to attend -- and heard nothing but anger and frustration from ordinary citizens who feel City Hall is grossly mismanaged, the city is slowly but surely heading towards bankruptcy and councillors care only about their own perks. The opposition to all eight taxes was loud and clear.

What A Pompous, Self Effacing Little Asshole

A message to Joe Pantaloons....we don't always buy things because we can afford them but rather because of necessity. Doesn't he think having a roof over your head a necessity? Doesn't he think that having a car to get to work a necessity.

Get ready! City set to hit cars, homesLand transfer and vehicle fees could soarBy ZEN RURYK, CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF

Toronto's municipal politicians will have homebuyers and drivers in their sights today as they look at new taxes.

Mayor David Miller and the councillors he appointed to Toronto's influential executive committee will consider a hefty land transfer tax and tacking on $60 to the price of the annual vehicle registration fee that drivers now pay. The city is proposing a $30 fee for motorcycle owners.

Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone said there's no doubt the cash-strapped city needs money. The only question, he added, is how Toronto council should boost the amount it collects from city residents.

"I'm in favour of the City of Toronto -- which is Canada's largest city -- becoming even better. In order to that, you need money," said Pantalone.

He said that if someone can afford to buy a $500,000 home, the city's proposed landtransfer tax will not prevent that person from making the purchase.

'WORTH IT'

"Secondly, the vehicle registration -- if you can afford the insurance, can afford the car, can afford the high price of gas -- getting the $60 a year, which is $5 a month, in order to go towards environmental initiatives ... then it's also well worth it."

The city's proposed land transfer tax would be applied on a sliding scale: The more you pay for your home, the higher the tax.

A buyer would pay $2,225 on a home that sold for $250,000, $4,475 at $400,000, $8,200 at $600,000, and $12,000 on a property purchased for $1 million.

City finance officials estimate the city would rake in $300 million annually from the land transfer tax and an additional $56 million a year from the vehicle registration levy.

Von Palmer, director of government relations for the Toronto Real Estate Board, said that the city's proposal amounts to a 100% increase in the current land transfer tax. The provincial government already imposes such a levy.

He said that if the city approves the tax, it will add $4,200 to the cost of buying an average house in Toronto -- one that sold for $380,000 last year.

"What you do is you impact young home buyers, first-time homebuyers -- those that can least afford to pay the tax," Palmer said. "As you know, $400,000 barely gets you a decent property in Toronto."

He described the proposed levy as a "back-breaking tax" that must be paid up front.

Faye Lyons, of the Canadian Automobile Association, said she opposed the proposal for the city to impose a vehicle registration fee. She said motorists feel "overtaxed and overburdened."

City council will have final say on whether to impose the new taxes next month.

Clothing Makes More Than Just A Fashion Statement

I have to assume Susan is new to the peace movement or she would know that camouflage clothing has been the uniform of the anarchists, peaceniks, Castro supporters, squatters, social in-activists etc. for years. At the same time I agree with her basic premise but it will pass......it is just another example of Basking Robbins approach to life.

No escaping camouflage fashions TheStar.com - comment - No escaping camouflage fashions

June 22, 2007

Susan Whelehan

Do they really think I can't see them? I can. The camouflage doesn't work on a city street, at the grocery store, in the classroom or even in the park. I wish it did. Then I wouldn't have to spend so much time wondering why parents would dress their precious children like soldiers ready for combat.

Now, I could be completely wrong. There is the outside chance they are dressing them as tiny duck hunters. If that is the case, I apologize and will pray for the tiny ducks.

Camouflage shorts, shirts and hats. Camouflage parkas and backpacks. And, especially for girls, the fabric is now available in pink. Pink camouflage. Pink camouflage capri pants, shorts, tank tops and crop tops. Bikinis are available in pink or the traditional green. Do our women serving overseas have these fashion options? Do they know about the fashion choices that await them?

I would think that wearing camouflage assumes an enemy. What a terrible assumption to make every morning getting dressed.

Support For Porter Airlines

A breath of fresh air supporting the need for the island airport instead of the constant bleating from Comrade Miller and his supporters; waterfront condo owners, island squatters, etc.

Porter gets U.S. flight clearance

Business, June 21

---

The news that Porter Airlines will now be able to fly from downtown Toronto to New York is good news for anyone who has had to use Air Canada's service (and I use that term loosely) from Toronto to LaGuardia and Newark. In the six flights my husband has taken to and from New York in the past 12 days, three flights were cancelled and three were delayed for more than two hours. Basically, half of the product Air Canada sold was unavailable and the other half of the time it was inferior.

Is there any other service or product provider out there that could survive in the marketplace with such an abysmal record? I can certainly understand why Air Canada lobbied strongly against Porter's application: An airline providing reliable, timely service from Toronto to New York would be a formidable competitor.

---

Margaret Everly, Toronto

Contrary To The Star's Editorial Position

The City Of Toronto's politicians have to held to account also for not being 100% up front on what goes on behind closed doors..........

Openness gets shut out by tax grabs
by Royson James

A new day is dawning in Hazelville
by Royson James

Keep city business in full public view TheStar.com - comment - Keep city business in full public view

June 24, 2007

The Supreme Court of Canada has issued a useful reminder for municipal politicians who sometimes forget that city business is best done openly and in full view of the public.

Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion, in particular, could have used that lesson last week when she unfairly criticized Councillor Carolyn Parrish for asking questions at an open council meeting. The mayor insisted the process traditionally followed in Mississauga involves seeking answers from staff in private, before council meets. "I got the answers (in advance), therefore I don't have to ask ... at council," McCallion said. But that is not necessarily the best approach.

Support For Hazel's Position

City councils are not private clubs, and the principle of open government is not some inconvenience to be readily set aside. People have a right to see how their city is run, including hearing the questions of their elected representatives and the official response to them.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court reinforced the principle of municipal openness with a welcome 7-0 decision last week against the City of London. The court found that London council had breached Ontario's Municipal Act by conducting discussions on a land development bylaw behind closed doors. Once the debate was over and a decision reached, councillors emerged for a quick open vote. With the Municipal Act clearly giving residents the right to see the workings of their local government, Supreme Court judges ruled against London and quashed the bylaw. Unfortunately, this southwest Ontario municipality is hardly alone in breaching the rules.

To its credit, Toronto City Council has generally had a good record on openness. But there is a sense that some smaller councils routinely flout people's right to know and needlessly conduct important business in camera. There is a troubling hint of that attitude in McCallion's objection to having questions raised at an open meeting.

AT KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, WHEN LAYTON'S FACE APPEARS ON THE TV SCREEN, SOLDIERS JEER

Rosie's column forces me to ask the question; "What can I really do to support our troops?" There has to be more than just a yellow ribbon! Over the next week I will be researching what can be done......appreciate hearing of any ideas.

A fashion statement isn't enough

Of yellow ribbons, soldiers, baby-killers TheStar.com - columnists - Of yellow ribbons, soldiers, baby-killers

This week's domestic squabbles over support for Canadian troops hinted at Vietnam

June 23, 2007

Rosie DiManno
City Columnist

Every Canadian fatality in Afghanistan has an addendum, a pro forma epitaph:

"We mourn the loss ...''

"The deaths of these brave men will not be in vain ...''

"They died doing what they believed in ...''

All of which is true. And if the statements issued by the International Security Assistance Force press office often read shallow and interchangeable, it's because dying is a fact of living in an active military, with soldiers in combat.

What's equally predictable is how casualties – of troops and civilians – have been, will continue to be, manipulated in the battle for hearts and minds and political agendas at home.

The modern anti-war movement – coalescing around Afghanistan and Iraq – was careful, in its earlier days, to refrain from criticizing soldiers. Indeed, they portrayed themselves as activists on behalf of soldiers, concerned for lives put at risk by war-mongering government. The administrations were the enemy, in Washington and London and Ottawa.

But that pretence, never accepted by most military personnel, has been abandoned and soldiers are no longer left outside the loop of protest.

We've returned to something approaching the baby-killer denunciation of Vietnam.

The Truth Be Known

It is really sad that the following is believed by many people to be true but then these are the same people who believe that the ills of the world can be put at the feet of our ancestors and society as a whole.

Disclaimer: Coren is being facetious so take the time to read the complete column before you start quoting him at your local anarchist coffee shop.

Watch the fault line

By MICHAEL COREN

They drag families out of homes and force wives and children to watch as the men are murdered. They shoot a rival 40 times in the head until there is only mush and muck left. They bind innocent people hand and foot and throw them from the top of apartment buildings.

Whom to blame? Israel and the U.S.A. of course.

They raid the hospitals, caring nothing if the sick and dying are thrown to the floor and trampled. They always seem to go for the hospitals. In Lebanon militia members dragged wounded men, from the same sub-sect of Islam, from their sickbeds and killed them with knives and blades as they moaned for pity.

Whom to blame? Israel and the U.S.A. of course.

They round up their Palestinian brothers as helpless prisoners and then machine-gun them to death. They drag the body of a commander of another faction through the streets from the back of a car, laughing as they do so.

They firebomb and shoot bullets into a United Nations' school that is immensely sympathetic to their cause but is, they claim, teaching children Christianity. It is not. They round up enemies they claim to be informers when they are nothing of the kind. They kill them like animals while crowds of onlookers cheer.

Whom to blame? Israel and the U.S.A.

A mother of eight children who is pregnant with her ninth plans to be a suicide bomber and kill innocent Israelis -- Muslims and Christians as well as Jews. She is allowed to enter the country because Israel makes exceptions to its closed border on compassionate grounds and gives first class medical treatment to people sworn to destroy it. She is captured, but is unrepentant, as apparently indifferent to the fate of Israeli children as she is to her unborn baby.

Whom to blame? Israel and the U.S.A. of course.

When Israel leaves Gaza, the Palestinians are left businesses and industries. They immediately destroy them. Within days they have assembled mobile rocket launchers and are shelling Israeli border towns. They do this every day until Israel responds.

The rockets and launchers require time and money, both of which could be used to build houses and hospitals and schools. But no. They complain that western countries have cut off aid after they elected a government dedicated to murdering Jews and exterminating a member of the UN.

But when North America and Europe was giving billions of dollars, they still launched rockets and failed to use the money properly. And what of the billion dollars recently given by Iran, or the countless amounts of cash possessed by Saudi Arabia and the Arab world?

They refuse to deal with this because, yes, it is far easier to blame Israel and the U.S.A.

The world says so little. So few words compared to what was said when Israel defended itself against holy fascist murder gangs in Lebanon or Fatah child-killers in the West Bank. The world lied about the numbers or blindly accepted everything the notoriously dishonest Palestinian spokespeople had to say. The world called for boycotts and motions and condemnation.

Because it's so easy to blame Israel and the U.S.A. But finally good and fair people are turning. Enough of your lies, enough of your animalistic behaviour, enough of your cause. You, they are saying, and only you are to blame.

Much More Needs To Be Done To Curb Gangs

Youth allegedly stabbed after trying to leave gang

toronto.ctv.ca

A 14-year old remained in hospital Saturday after allegedly being stabbed in the neck for attempting to cut ties with a gang.

Police say they are still hunting for one person after a multiple stabbing at Christie subway station Friday night.

Three other teens also suffered minor stab wounds to the back and shoulders.

Police and paramedics were called to the Christie TTC station at Bloor St. W. at around 7:30 p.m. Friday after reports of a stabbing outside, the Toronto Star reported.

Upon arrival, emergency crews found the four young people, believed to be teenagers, all suffering from serious but not life-threatening stab wounds, said acting Staff Sgt. Stacey Davis.

Police believe the gang responsible is known as the 'Latin Kings.'

Police are interviewing witnesses and investigating a vehicle which may or may not have been involved in the alleged attack.

With a report from the Globe and Mail

What Happened To The $9 Billion.......

.....that was allocated to Indian Affairs this year and the billions that have been allocated yearly? What happens to the profits from casinos or to the profits generated from various enterprises, cigarettes, smuggling, etc. on the reserves? I wonder how much non-indian groups get to deal with similar problems?

Aboriginal women's summit calls for funding

Updated Fri. Jun. 22 2007 6:25 PM ET

Canadian Press

CORNER BROOK, N.L. -- Ottawa and the provinces need to stop their jurisdictional bickering and take a more proactive stance on resolving the litany of social and economic problems facing native women, aboriginal leaders said as the first national aboriginal women's summit concluded Friday.

But that plea didn't immediately dismantle any barriers between premiers and federal officials over native affairs.

"At all costs, at every turn, stop the game of jurisdictional hot potato with the federal government,'' said Lillian George of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples.

"Walk the walk. Invest in us and in our families. Say what you mean and mean what you say.''

About 300 delegates who attended the conference issued dozens of recommendations that called for an increase in funding for a wide range of initiatives aimed at preventing physical, sexual and drug abuse on and off reserves.

"Please do not let us down,'' George said.

Moments later, Bev Oda, federal minister for the status of women, announced that Ottawa would invest $56 million over five years for family violence prevention programs. The funding will go to 35 existing shelters and to the construction of up to five new ones, Oda said.

The Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, a national Inuit organization, criticized the $56-million program, saying it excludes Inuit.

Mary Simon, president of the group, said it is inconceivable that equivalent funding on the issue of violence against Inuit woman wasn't provided.

You Voted For McGinty & Change

Well along with the fiberal's broken promises you got the change but it is coming out of the pocket's of City of Toronto taxpayers who face double dipping........

TTC workers don't have to pay Ontario health tax

toronto.ctv.ca

Unionized TTC workers will not have to pay Ontario's annual health tax because of wording in its 35-year-old contract.

The Supreme Court of Canada on Thursday ruled it would not hear the TTC's appeal of a lower court ruling.

The decision by the high court, which did not give a reason for not hearing the case, puts Toronto taxpayers on the hook for $6 million a year.

TTC Chairman Adam Giambrone also said the cash-strapped city expects to pay $15 million in back pay to workers. He was disappointed by the ruling.

"Well $6 million is a lot of service and we would have much rather have invested it in more drivers and more buses out there on the street moving people," Giambrone told CTV's Paul Bliss.

Give Us The Tools & We Will Do The Job

Looking To Start A Cottage Industry

And save the world from global warming at the same time?

Two Point Of View

Peel beneath decals to find true message

Not since Bill Clinton tried to wriggle out of extramarital hanky-panky by referring the whole matter to the meaning of a verb has a single phrase received such close scrutiny. The great "Support Our Troops" debate gave Toronto a pretty good shake and burned up the lines at CFRA. MORE... Edmonton councillors, MP push for show of support Yellow "Support Our Troops" decals may soon appear on Edmonton's emergency vehicles as a show of moral support for the soldiers fighting in Afghanistan.