Category: Roadkill

Last Known Whereabouts

Gregory Djerejian at Belgravia Dispatch goes on the search for Bin Laden.

Folks, bottom line: we have to go all the way back to December 26th 2001 to see a video of UBL that really seems to get close to passing a smell test evidencing that’s he actually, you know, alive in it (and he didn’t look too smashing in this one either).

And if not dead, well, there’s a certain inconsistancy to his “appearances”.
Via Instapundit.

The People’s Champion

Why, look everyone! CBC is airing a George Chuvalo documentary!
How many is that now? 80?

“The People’s Champion.”
Translation: “Got the crap beaten out of him for a lot of years, twice by someone very famous. The Canadian role model template does not require achievement. One need only stand up in stubborn contrast to successful Americans.”

Sadly, it seems no one told Chuvalo that boxing is a sport. George – it’s ok to fall down when you’re rendered unconscious by blows to the head. You can even fall down before that. The world will go on. That guy in the blue trunks is not going to move past your bloody corpse to destroy the Peace Tower should you fail. He’s going to get a stinking belt and go back to the dressing room for interviews.
Take a look around at other sports – tennis, for example. Tennis is a sport, too. Beginning, end, referees, points, winners, losers. Some tennis players feel quite passionately about winning their matches. Tennis players hate losing as much as boxers do, I’ll wager. But damn it, George – they don’t impale themselves on the opponants racket in a pathetic attempt to pretend they’re somehow better at losing than the other guy is at winning. And if they did, what do you suppose it would gain them? (Well, maybe the interviews.)
I cannot help but wish that Chuvalo had been knocked out by some potbellied trainer before he ever set foot in a pro ring – hung up his gloves at the age of 15, gone to trade school, remained in blissful anonymity, got a real job. Saved his family.
But in Canada we pervert extraordinary failure into miserable virtue – and thus, George Chuvalo is a beacon of inspiration, a flag bearer for serial losers. He fought Ali and lost. He battled the evils of drug abuse and depression and lost – three sons and his wife.
Now, he’s a sad old man doing high school drug lecture tours, looking battered. And lost.
Perennial documentary fodder.
George, I don’t mean to be cruel. But this has to stop. Tell the vultures who keep propping you up in front of the camera and microphones to get the hell out of your life. I think you probably still know how to throw a punch.
Win one for yourself.

Chinese “Care For Girls”

WSJ Opinion Journal;

China’s one-child policy has many odious dimensions, but the most gruesome aspect of this type of “family planning” is the murder of millions of infant girls.
As a result, the ratio of males to females in China is unnaturally high, hovering between 117 to 119 boys for every 100 girls in 2000, according to China Daily and People’s Daily. There are one-fifth more boys than girls because girls are so often aborted or killed after delivery.
Chinese officials have in the past boasted about preventing 300 million births since the one-child policy was implemented in the late 1970s, and for this they have often received the accolades of Western “family planning” supporters–including, sadly, feminists–who see “overpopulation” as a threat right up there with global warming. The Bush Administration has been the target of bien-pensants from Brussels to Hollywood for withholding support from the United Nations Population Fund, an agency that operates in China despite the coercive nature of the one-child policy.
But now even Chinese officials are starting to admit that the vast majority of these 300 million were girls. So bad have things become that the government has finally started to worry, and earlier this month announced a raft of new programs to reverse the trend. The National Population and Family Planning Commission launched a pilot project called “Care for Girls,” which will experiment with incentives in some parts of the country.
[…]
China seems to have learned the hard way what the one-child program can produce. Because it was first imposed in the late 1970s, men in their 20s are having to deal with the harsh reality of six bachelors for every five potential brides. There are numerous reports of kidnappings of women across the country as frustrated men try any means to procure wives. As a new generation of (mostly male) Chinese move into positions of authority, they have an incentive to correct the gender imbalance.

A penny short and a day late, wouldn’t you say?

More On Swift Boats

Re: the continuing/not-so-continuing Kerry – Cambodia contraversy, commentor “Dan” writes (scroll down);

“I was with River Division 514 (PBR’s) in Dec.68. We were patrolling the canals around Rach Soi and Rach Gia area. We came under attack Christmas eve(’68) during the “cease-fire” period , while patrolling a canal. I think we called it “echo” canal. To my knowledge, no Swift boats were in the rivers at that time.They all were coastal patrol units. I think they did start patrolling the rivers some months after I returned home (July’69). Our last station was aboard YRBM-16 in the Chau Doc area patrolling the Vinh Tay canal.I still don’t remember any Swift boats there. This area was on the Cambodia border.
I honestly feel that Mr. Kerry is full of himself or maybe something from the pasture lands.

And this, via Instapundit, who is rubbing the media nose in this mess of their own making;

Heh.

“All Guilty, Your Honour”

Circular firing squad, Nigerian style.

The group is believed to practice a ritual in which parties involved in a personal dispute – often over business deals – are made to drink a potion they are told will kill only the guilty one.
Police discovered “well over 50 bodies” and were searching for more, the police spokesman said. Some of the bodies were in caskets and others were headless.

Survivors get a free lottery ticket.

9/11 Subway Sandwiches

Anti-Americanism as marketing ploy.

Last week, the Center for Individual Freedom launched a grassroots campaign against anti-American tray-liners at German subway stores.

The tray-liners — a promotion for the film “Super Size Me” — showed an obese Statue of Liberty holding a burger and fries in her hands, under a headline asking, “Why are Americans so fat?”
According to the Center for Individual Freedom, the headline used the word “Amis,” which is considered a derogatory term for Americans. The Center says complaints from Americans prompted German Subway shops to pull the tray-liners. But the cheeseburger-crashing-into-buildings image apparently is still out there — distributed in German subway stores over the past few days. (The food diary also promotes the film “Super Size Me,” and German Subway shops are distributing the diary.)

Unbelievable.
I just bought my last Subway product.
hat tip – Inoperable Terran

Christophers Law

From a reader, this ruling on Ontario’s sex offender registry. Relevant section is at the bottom, which you might want to skip right along to, unless you have a law degree and a glutton for punishment. (I skimmed, but not so quickly as to have missed this sober passage; “…but the words of McKinlay J.A. in Cuddy Chicks [1989]”.)
On to the money quote.

[130] As noted previously, the objectives of Christopher’s Law are admirable but I find that in fostering these objectives Christopher’s Law is overbroad. The legislation incorporates means which limit and violate Mr. Dyck’s right to liberty and security for no reasons. The objective of Christopher’s Law could be accomplished without infringing on the life, liberty and security interests of Mr. Dyck or others in the manner it has which I find is arbitrary or disproportionate. The provisions of Christopher’s Law impair the rights of Mr. Dyck under section 7 more than is reasonably necessary in order to achieve its legislative objectives.
[131] I find, therefore, that Christopher’s Law violates Mr. Dyck’s rights under section 7 of the Charter and the legislation cannot be justified under section 1 of the Charter.

Mr. Dyck (his real name or fun lovin’ psuedonym ? … the mind boggles) is a convicted sex offender who objected to being added to the Ontario sex offender registry and his objections are upheld.
So there you have it. Law abiding Canadian citizens are mandated by federal law to register their firearms (or face criminal prosecution) ; mandated by federal law to register all purebred animals (under threat of a $50,000 fine); by provincial law, to register all motor vehicles and trailers. They must register their intent to serve alcohol at a public gathering. They must register their intent to hold a charity raffle. They must register their newborns and their dead.
But it’s unconstitutional to mandate the errant Dyck to register his errant dick.

Zahra Kazemi Still Dead

Court TV, Tehran;

“Counsel for the defense most strenuously objects to the charges, your Honour.”
“We have rock solid evidence that my client had no part in the misfortune that befell this woman. He had no knowledge of her detainment, took no part in her interrogation, did not lift a hand in the beating, promptly delivered her to medical authorities upon the first that her hunger strike had resulted in low blood pressure and death by old age.”
“In her sleep, I hasten to add.”

Canadian officlals responded by threatening to hold breath until blue in the face.
The Belmont Club weighs in. His verdict on the Canadian response …. (I know the suspense is killing you.)

The Right Balance

Sometimes, one has to stand back in awe at the eloquence that defines statesmanship.

Yes, I think there should be less violence and less sex. And when I talked about the heart and soul, I’m talking about the artistic expression. I’m talking about sort of the, I mean, I believe in the arts. I think that there’s a great expression in it, and there’s always this struggle. You know, does life imitate art or art imitate life? Which comes first? It’s a little of both.
I do think we have a responsibility, as leaders, to stand up. I think there were people at that, at that concert we had in New York who stepped over the line. I’ve said that. They don’t speak for me. They speak for themselves. I will stand up and struggle, as others have, to try to get that right balance between violence, and sex, and things.

Crossposted at Shotgun

My Name Is Joe


(clears throat)
Hey.
I’m not a lumberjack,
or a fur trader…
and I don’t live in an igloo
or eat blubber, or own a dogsled…
and I don’t know Jimmy, Sally or Suzy from Canada,
although I’m certain they’re really, really nice.
I have a Prime Minister,
not a President.
I speak English and French,
NOT American.
and I pronouce it ABOUT,
NOT A BOOT.
I can proudly sew my country’s flag on my backpack.
I believe in peace keeping, NOT policing.
DIVERSITY, NOT assimilation,
AND THAT THE BEAVER IS A TRULY PROUD AND NOBLE ANIMAL.
A TOQUE IS A HAT,
A CHESTERFIELD IS A COUCH,
AND IT IS PRONOUCED ‘ZED’ NOT ‘ZEE’, ‘ZED’!
CANADA IS THE SECOND LARGEST LANDMASS!
THE FIRST NATION OF HOCKEY!
AND THE BEST PART OF NORTH AMERICA!
MY NAME IS JOE!
AND I AM CANADIAN!
Molson, Coors talk union
Molson Canadian may soon become a dual citizen. Molson Inc. and Denver-based Adolph Coors Co. have confirmed they are in “advanced” talks to combine the two firms. Prompted by swirling rumours, the two beer makers announced yesterday they are working on a “merger of equals.”
Though nothing has been finalized or approved, the terms of the deal include retaining Eric Molson as chairman and Coors’ Leo Kiely as chief executive. Yesterday’s announcement wasn’t much of a surprise, noted Keith Howlett, an analyst with Desjardins Securities. “Molson has been pretty open that it is reviewing strategic alliances and alternatives,” he said. “Coors is the first one that comes to people’s minds because they have so many business relationships already.”
[…]
In addition to being roughly the same size, Molson and Coors share a similar history and share structure. John Molson started his company in 1786, and his family still controls the voting stock. Adolph Coors started making beer 87 years later. His relatives own about a third of the voting stock. Peter H. Coors, the fourth generation chairman, had decided to run for the U.S. senate, raising doubts about his succession plans. At Molson, Eric stepped down as chairman last year. However, he prevented his cousin Ian from taking over, hence the feud.

The Yellowcake Made Him Do It

You remember Joe Wilson, don’t you?


“If they were referring to Niger
when they were referring to uranium sales from Africa to Iraq, … that information was erroneous and … they knew about it well ahead of both the publication of the British white paper and the president’s State of the Union address,”

In the same report of CIA failures over WMD intelligence in Iraq monopolizing the airwaves in the past few hours, there exists this virtually unreported tidbit. Via Instapundit;

WASHINGTON – A Senate report criticizing false CIA claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction at the same time provides support for an assertion the White House repudiated: that Iraq sought to buy uranium in Africa.
A Friday report from the Senate Intelligence Committee offers new details supporting the claim.
French and British intelligence separately told the United States about possible Iraqi attempts to buy uranium in the African nation of Niger, the report said. The report from France is significant not only because Paris opposed the Iraq war but also because Niger is a former French colony and French companies control uranium production there.
Joseph Wilson, a retired U.S. diplomat the CIA sent to investigate the Niger story, also found evidence of Iraqi contacts with Nigerien officials, the report said.[emphasis mine – ed]

WaPo

Former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, dispatched by the CIA in February 2002 to investigate reports that Iraq sought to reconstitute its nuclear weapons program with uranium from Africa, was specifically recommended for the mission by his wife, a CIA employee, contrary to what he has said publicly.

The same Joe Wilson who was just a few months ago, cruising the talk show circuit, gracing the cover of Vanity Fair and penning op-eds, after Robert Novak publicized his wife’s name in what has become known as the “Plame Affair”.

Next?

When a reporter noted that Edwards was being described as “charming, engaging, a nimble campaigner, a populist and even sexy” and then asked “How does he stack up against Dick Cheney?” the president immediately responded, “Dick Cheney�can be president. Next?”

Now, check out how Associated Press reporter Tom Raum spins the exchange;

President Bush on Wednesday curtly dismissed freshman Sen. John Edwards’ credentials to be vice president while Democratic challenger John Kerry and his running mate rallied voters in battleground states. “Dick Cheney can be president,” Bush declared, and Kerry suggested that was part of the problem.

hat tip- Vodkapundit

Crime And Punishment, Canadian Style

Globe and Mail, June 17th;

A mother who pleaded guilty to locking her two adopted sons in cages for 13 years when they were not in school and forcing them to wear diapers as teenagers begged for leniency yesterday.
“Please have mercy on us,” she asked in a letter to the judge who is to sentence her and her husband.
“I’m so very sorry, as is my husband,” says the letter, read out in court by her lawyer, Alexander Sosna.
[…]
The horrors they endured at the couple’s farmhouse in Blackstock, near Port Perry, were uncovered when three family members contacted the children’s aid society. Police and child-welfare workers descended on the family home on June 4, 2001.
They found a 15-year-old boy curled up in a cage fashioned from a baby’s crib. The cage was strapped to the wall and padlocked.
His brother, then 14, walked out from a room that contained a second cage.
The boys told a horrific story of being beaten, forced to sleep in the cages, often given only buttered bread for dinner, of eating their feces to avoid being punished for having an accident and of drinking their urine when deprived of water.

This morning they were sentenced to 9 months. Under Canada’s system, convicted serve no more than two thirds, so they’ll be out in six.
BobTarantino:

Nine months. Lock children in cages, beat them, subject them to anal probes, instill them with such terror that they need to eat their own discharge and the worst that will happen to you is a nine month sentence. Oh, and the judge will admonish you for having “failed” as parents; sort of like not having signed them up for, I don’t know, piano lessons.

Connecting The Dots

Theresa Zolner, at Heart of Canada is rethinking Miram Bedard;

CTV – Police in Nova Scotia have discovered 83 kilograms of cocaine on a ship that is owned by Prime Minister Paul Martin’s sons and named after Martin’s wife. […]

Michel Proulx of the Canada Border Services Agency says the drug seizure is a remarkable find and adds that organized crime groups often exploit legitimate companies to transport illegal goods.

This has Michael Moore documentary written all over it, don’t you think? I mean, I’m just asking the question.
Parked at OTB.

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