February 7 update: Greg has retracted.
I was watching the National last night [Friday – ed]and was dumbfounded by one member of the “Citizens Panel” (roughly 27:30 minutes in) of “undecided” voters, as she effortlessly mouthed Liberal talking points. I thought it was kind of odd and even Mansbridge seemed a little uncomfortable. I googled the panelist’s name and in her bio were these little nuggets…
Devin Baines says he got a call from the government.
On behalf of an NDP candidate.
A number of MP’s in India have resigned after a sting operation by bloggers who offered bribes to ask questions in parliament. Among them;
“Is the Union Government of India planning to make automatic the long procedure of permission for SSIs to import new technologies such as Trackbacks, Pingbacks, Blogrolls, Splogs and Hitcounters?”
My latest article, “Does Criticism of the War Undermine Troop Morale?” is up at Tech Central Station. The conclusion:
Soldiers ultimately decide for themselves whether their mission is “worth it.” To the extent that they are concerned with political debates in Washington, it is mostly about the small picture: ensuring they get the tools and equipment they need to survive and get the job done. While they may be interested in grand strategy, it seldom motivates them to risk life and limb. They may agree or disagree with establishing a foothold for democracy in the Middle East but they fight for their comrades-in-arms, out of genuine concern for locale villagers whose situations they empathize with, and for hundreds of other reasons unique to each soldier.
Read the rest at the link.
crosspost from OTB
I posted this earlier at OTB but thought sda readers might get a kick out of this, too.
A Nebraska judge ruled last week that driving 128 miles per hour [206 kph] on one’s motorcycle while fleeing from state troopers does not necessarily constitute “reckless driving.”
Nebraska Judge Says 128 mph Not ‘Reckless’ (AP)
Speeding is not necessarily reckless, even at 128 mph, a judge ruled in the case of a motorcyclist who tried to flee from state troopers. With some reluctance, County Judge John Steinheider ruled last week that Jacob H. Carman, 20, was not guilty of reckless driving on Sept. 5, when he was spotted by a trooper who then chased him at the top speed of his cruiser’s odometer � 128 mph. “As much as it pains me to do it, speed and speed alone is not sufficient to establish reckless driving,” the judge told Carman on Friday. “If you had had a passenger, there would be no question of conviction. If there had been other cars on the roadway, if you would’ve went into the wrong lane or anything, I would have convicted you.”
Otoe County prosecutor David Partsch acknowledged that Carman could have been charged with speeding but, “We felt that the manner in which he was operating the motorcycle was reckless.” Carman didn’t get off entirely. He was fined $300 for expired tags and other violations.
Steinheider is right. Recklessness has to be weighed against the totality of circumstances rather than the posted speed limit. In some states, driving 15 miles per hour over the speed limit is automatically deemed “reckless.” Considering that people routinely drive at that speed in heavy traffic, that’s absurd on its face.
On the other hand, driving 128 mph to evade chasing police officers is not the same as doing it for the thrill of speed. One would think felony charges for resisting arrest or the like would be brought rather that issuance of a traffic citation.
Click here and scroll down to the video to see what happens when an impromptu interview goes a bit sideways.
h/t Stephen Taylor
***link fixed***
I’m sitting here waiting for basecoat to dry, which seems a perfect time to direct you to this dissection of the reasoning in the Knights of Columbus BC Human Rights Tribunal complaint, by Bob Tarantino.
I’ve now read the decision and it’s a freakin’ travesty. If anything, I was too kind in my initial reaction. The three panelists furrowed their brows, quoted a whole bunch of irrelevant caselaw, contradicted themselves about a jillion times and then, when not even that mash-up could get them to the result they wanted, they just made it up.
H/T to maz2 for spotting this Don Martin item in the National Post.
Via Canadianna, a Toronto Sun item that raised my hackles. Abuse ruins life of girl, 7
– An Oshawa trucker was sentenced to 17 months in jail yesterday for ruining a young girl’s life with “despicable” sexual abuse….
How dare they?
When is society going to stand up and demand an end to this reprehensible behavior?
When are we going to demand that people stop declaring to young victims of sexually based crime that their lives are ruined before they begin?
“So sorry dear – you’re spoiled goods. Going to be a long 80 years….”
A few years ago a friend revealed, almost matter-of-factly, that as a young teenager she had been the victim of a gang rape. She jumped through the counselling hoops of conventional psychological wisdom until the day she realized that she was still wallowing in the event, stretching a brief trauma into an extended one. She decided instead to accept what happened, put it behind her and get on with her life. She never looked back.
While not everyone has that type of strength, her story does tell us something. If we want to help victims of sexual crimes regain normalcy, it’s time that society and the justice system stop sending mixed messages. We claim there is no shame in being a victim of sexually based crime, then try the cases in courts that “protect” identities and ban publication of testimony. We applaud their courage, then use “fate worse than” hyperbole equating rape with murder, as though the truly couragous victim would have choosen death over submission.
We tell small children that the crime is “not their fault” – but that their lives are ruined and childhoods at an end, placing before them the additional hurdle of self-fulfilling prophecy.
Sexual assault is a heinous, traumatic crime that deserves the full force of the law – additionally so, because of the predatory nature of offenders and the threat they pose to others.
It often requires a good deal of medical and emotional support for survivors to recover their health and their lives – but this is also true of drunk driving victims, those who survive beatings or robbery, survivors of spousal abuse – all of whom we expect to pick up the pieces and move on. Elevating the victim of sex crime to special status as the ruined perpetual “survivor” may be as damaging a societal response – perhaps more so – than that of 50 years ago, when they were told to shut up and get on with their lives in silence.
If you’ve never taken a pillion before, and want a few tips;
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You know, it seems to me that if you set out to protest the views of a couple dozen left-wing white supremacists, you might choose a means of expression that doesn’t reinforce their position?
Update: ABC news caught in a misleading headline.
What must I do to get a link from “Small Dead Animals” to one of my posts?
Answer here!
But are they testing the stuff for lead content?
h/t Lost Budgie.
Darcey Jerrom spotted this amusing item;
Premier Gary Doer’s speech at the Manitoba Metis Federation’s general assembly this morning might be a bit awkward. Doer was supposed to receive the Manitoba Order of the Sash, the federation’s highest honour, at its 37th annual meeting in Brandon.”
The Manitoba Metis Federation rescinded the honour at a meeting this past weekend but were unable to get ahold of Doer to tell him
I’d link to the original post, but there’s so much good stuff at Dust My Broom lately I suggest you just go over and start at the top.
The Indian Posse is not a “youth gang”. It’s full-fledged organized crime that recruits aboriginal youth to exploit a youth justice system that grants virtual immunity from prosecution and incarceration. In turn, the Canadian justice system affords more lenient sentences for aboriginals by dictate of the Supreme Court. It’s no wonder that so many destroy their lives and others in the conviction that crime pays.
19-year-old Elizabeth Halkett was a crown witness in a case involving the murder of her brother. On March of 2004 her body was discovered in her burned out home. She was already dead when the fire was set. Yesterday, charges were finally laid.
Twenty-two-year-old James Slippery, who was already charged with arson in the case, appeared in a Saskatoon court today to face charges of being an accessory after the slaying and committing an offence for a criminal organization. Two other men, Elwood Poorman and Gerald Littlecrow, were also in court to face similar charges.
All have been remanded in custody until their next court appearance October 7th.
Halkett was to testify against a 16-year-old alleged member of the Indian Posse in the stabbing death of her brother, Joel, last year. Police say she was slain before she could testify at a preliminary hearing.
The three were also charged with committing an indictable offense in association with a criminal organization.
Hugh Hewitt is watching the fun;
The Annan gang hopes to kill real reform in a swamp of small stiches and minor adjustments, with the objective being the release of a statement hailing some bogus “comprehensive reform package” of more than 500 specific steps that will be implemented by 40 committees over the next 24 months, at which point a self-congratulatory release will issue noting that of the 512 specific reform proposals set forth in the fall of 2005, Secretary General Annan announced that 493 had been adopted, 8 tabled, and 11 still under review. Blah blah blah.
Ambassador Bolton –and the Bush Adminsitration– wants a few, big, significant bright-line changes (starting with Annan’s resignation, I hope) and if we can’t have a real reform agenda, then we don’t do the deal. No papering over the deep criminality of the organization. No cover-up for the posers.
Let’s hope so – a housecleaning of the Euro-Canadian Desmarais cartel could have nearly as much impact on addressing the duplicity, corruption and hypocrisy of Canadian foreign policy as it would that of the United Nations.
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* ^From:.*vkushner@spam.ru
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Top 10 murder rates by city (per 100,000 population):
Regina: 5.0;
Billy Jack Bird pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the vicious beating death of 71- year-old Selina Nellie McIntosh and aggravated assault for the attack that left George Alexander McIntosh, 74, in a coma. He has never regained consciousness.
“It is incomprehensible how such violence could be directed to these kind and gentle people,” Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Ellen Gunn said, in accepting the joint recommendation of life in prison with no chance for parole for 20 years on the second-degree murder conviction. Bird will serve a 10-year concurrent sentence for aggravated assault.
Recounting the facts of the case in court, Crown prosecutor Kim Jones said George had been giving money to people in the couple’s North Central neighbourhood for about two years, “out of kindness or attempts not to be bothered,” and had given Bird $800 a few days before the attack.
On July 1, 2004, Bird went to the couple’s Princess Street house to ask for more money and became enraged when George refused to give it to him. Court heard that Bird “snapped,” ripped the phone out of the wall and hit the elderly man until he was unconscious.
When Selina entered the room, Bird began a vicious beating that continued in almost every room in the house, the court was told. Bird then removed the woman’s pants and underwear and masturbated above her body in what Jones called “an act of utter disrespect.”
Selina was able to put on a pair of sweat pants before she died.
Police later found Bird’s bloody shirt and jewellery he’d stolen from the house inside a nearby dumpster.
He was interviewed by police and ultimately confessed to the crime.
Court heard George and Selina McIntosh had been married 37 years, and had two children and three grandchildren. Both had survived cancer and Selina had Alzheimer’s disease. Their son discovered the couple’s bodies on July 2, 2004, after being unable to reach them by phone all day.
Court heard the house was found ransacked and in complete disarray, with blood throughout the home and the bedroom door ripped off its hinges.
Selina McIntosh was dead at the scene and had facial injuries, a broken nose and cuts around her lips, mouth, cheeks and chin. Her larynx was fractured and many of her ribs were broken, puncturing her lung. She died from severe trauma to her head, chest and extremities.
George McIntosh was taken to hospital in critical condition, having received a broken jaw, facial injuries and a severe head injury that has left him in a persistent vegetative state.
“This home invasion was an act of unspeakable horror,” Jones told court, calling the attack “a brutal and senseless crime.” In a victim impact statement read aloud in court, the couple’s son said few people could understand the experience of finding their parent’s “murdered, lifeless bodies” inside the family home.
