2212...Are You A Fattist?

From the Charleston Post-Courier, South Carolina that is, a cut and paste number:

Are you becoming a fattist?
By Ken Burger
The Post and Courier
Thursday, April 29, 2010


Some people are racists, some are elitists. Some people are fattists.

While you've never considered yourself a person who discriminates against others, you might be in danger of becoming a "fattist."

A fattist is a term coined to describe people who are prejudiced against overweight people.

You know, people who complain about obese people taking up too much room on airplanes, lapping over from their seat into yours.

They also roll their eyes when they see overweight people in line at the grocery store with a basket full of Twinkies and powdered doughnuts.

If you are a fattist, you might be the type who always points out fat people in the mall, or wonders out loud how they poured themselves into those jeans.

Target-rich environment

According to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control, almost 30 percent of South Carolinians are overweight or obese.

Obesity is defined as having a body mass index of 25 or higher. In layman's terms, that means if you're about 25 pounds overweight, you're officially obese.

That means the Lowcountry is a target-rich environment for fattists.

Consider that in the tri-county area, 70 percent of the population in Dorchester County is considered overweight; more than 60 percent in Berkeley County; and at least half of the people in Charleston County are carrying a heavy load.

That, sadly, includes more than 30 percent of high school students in our state and nearly 48 percent of rural black children.

All this helps make the Palmetto State fifth in the nation when it comes to adult obesity.

Fortunately, Mississippi ranked first, furthering our unofficial state motto, "Thank God for Mississippi!"

All you can eat

As a result, nutritionists are sounding the alarm about what all this extra weight can do to the health of our state.

There are plans afoot to teach people to eat better, exercise more and take better care of themselves.

The one thing that's not mentioned in all these plans and studies is the embarrassment factor of being fat. That's where fattists come in.

Here's a simple test to see if you might be a fattist:

If you won't sit by a fat person on a bus, you might be a fattist.
Read more columns by Ken Burger


If you avoid all-you-can-eat restaurants, you might be a fattist.

So fattists make fat people feel bad about their extra weight by pointing, snickering, sneering and laughing about other people's appearance.

Unfortunately, it's counterproductive. It only makes overweight people feel worse about themselves and they instinctively do what fat people do best -- eat.

Reach Ken Burger at kburger@postandcourier.com or 937-5598.

WFDS

2211...Richard Patten Was Right

My buddy Rick Patten was the longtime Liberal MPP for Ottawa Centre and Richard was not in favour of the newish Ontario law that banned pit bulls coz, and I am doing this from memory, he did not think the dogs were evil beings, it was their owners.

Case in point: MIchael Vick.

As ctvtoronto.ca reports "Ontario's controversial pit bull ban has not resulted in a significant decrease in the number of dog bites in the province, the Toronto Humane Society claims in a study. The pit bull ban, passed as an amendment to the Ontario Dog Owners Liability Act in 2005, banned the breeding, sale and ownership of pit bulls."

It is the owners that are dummies and violent not the dogs.

WFDS

2210...More On Jaffer

The man does have to make a living, especially with the Missus' job looking, uh, weak.

Elizabeth Thompson in this morning's Toronto Sun leads with this:

Days after his drunk driving and cocaine possession charges were dropped, former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer was back using his political connections to contact the federal government, according to internal government documents.

The documents show that only eight days after Jaffer pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of careless driving March 9 as part of a controversial deal, Jaffer used the parliamentary e-mail account belonging to his wife, former Conservative cabinet minister Helena Guergis, to contact Industry Minister Tony Clement's office.

Dude has to eat, eh?

WFDS

2209...Culling The Herd

From the Independence/Blue Springs/Grain Valley Examiner comes the story about the maroon who decided to celebrate his 21st birthday the old fashioned way by downing 21 shots of Whiskey.

His birthday was April 7th; his deathday was April 8th.

Culling the herd.

WFDS

2208...Swimming In Germany Can Be Dangerous

A pensioner from the state of Rhineland-Palatinate has reportedly been fined €14,000 for repeatedly doing Arschbomben, or “ass bombs,” the German equivalent of cannonballs, at a public swimming pool.

The Daily Bildsays that the retired 74-year-old teacher, identified as Axel G, was accused of scaring guests at the Wartberg Freibad with his splash-happy antics, hitting a woman over the head, sticking his tongue out, spitting in the water, and even dunking a 12-year-old girl underwater in 2006, causing her mortal fear.

Bully. Axel G is a bully. That is so unlike teachers to bully.

WFDS

2207...MMMM Chinese Food

Man eats 1,500 lightbulbs
A Chinese man has eaten more than 1,500 light bulbs since he was aged 12.

Metro.co.uk reports that "Wang Xianjun, 54, of Sichuan Province, started to snack on broken glass because he says it is 'crispy and delicious.' He recalls: 'I accidentally swallowed a piece of thick fish bone, but nothing happened. With curiosity, I tried several pieces of broken glasses secretly and nothing happened also.'"

Everything in moderation though: he limits himself to one light bulb per glass munching session.

WFDS

2206...Getting Closer To An Elected Senate

I sincerely believe that the Prime Minister of Our Home And Native Land, Stephen Harper, nominated mediocre broadcaster Mike, call me Michael, Duffy to the the Senate so he could prove what a pile of horsesh*t an elected Senate is.

Today's National Post indicates that we are getting a bit closer to an elected Senate.

This week, the Conservative government introduced Bill S-8, otherwise known as the Senatorial Selection Act. Modelled on an eponymous Alberta law, the bill would allow provinces to hold elections for nominees to the federal upper chamber, who would then be recommended for appointment to the governor-general by the prime minister. The legislation complements Bill C-10, introduced a month ago, which proposes to set a non-renewable eight-year term for senators, who currently serve until the age of 75.

For this to really happen we need a strong PM, someone like Brian Mulroney was, a man with vision who will, in a majority government, ram this through.

Fact of the matter is the US style Senate, equal, elected and effective, is very cool and will stop the tail, Quebec and/or Ontario, from wagging the dog.

WFDS

2205...Re WFDS 2199...Open Letter To Ontario Citizens

Seven comments, six from my old friend Anonymous, hating on Health Minister Deb Matthews re her normalizing the pharmacy industry.

If you read the comments you would come to the conclusion that if this dictate from the Ontario guv is to pass the welfare rolls will be crowded with pharmacists.

According to the Living In Canada website the wages for pharmacists in Ontario are as follows:

Toronto - Ontario 39.05 43.65 48.70 2007
Ottawa - Ontario 37.00 46.00 55.00 2007
Windsor-Essex County - Ontario 42.35 47.95 52.90 2007

Waterloo Region / Huron / Perth / Wellington / Dufferin - Ontario 43.75 46.88 52.30 2007

Quite a fall from making between 60,000.00 and 100,000.00 plus CanuckBucks to welfare.

Methinks these haters be exaggerating.

WFDS

2204...I See The Future And The Future Is Plain

Plain white.

With graphic warnings.

And gross photos.

The Associated Press reports that tobacco companies will be forced to use plain, logo-free packaging on their cigarettes in a bid to make them less attractive to smokers under legislation introduced Thursday by Australia's government, which dubbed the move a world-first.

The rules, which would take effect July 1, 2012, would ban tobacco companies from including logos, promotional text or colorful images on cigarette packages. A government health warning would be prominently displayed instead, with the brand name relegated to tiny, generic font at the bottom.

The tobacco companies are freaking out a bit, no, a lot. Sixteen per cent of adults in Oz puff and the tobacco companies say that the immediate 25 per cent boost in taxes, driving up the price of a pack of 30 cigarettes by to around 15 Australian dollars ($13.91 Canuckbucks), coupled with the no logo thing equals the end of the world as we know it.

And I feel fine.

WFDS

2203...Get Your Hand Off My

Ass.

Said the female police officer to Allen Lewis Pattison of Ottawa.

Get your hand off my ass and sit your ass down over there.

It was a nice noon time in October when Mr. Pattison saw something he liked and touched it.

As the Ottawa Citizen reported, bad idea to touch women's bums if they don't want their bums to be touched. Double bad if the bum is attached to an Ottawa copper.

The 50 year old admitted being sooooooo drunk when he groped the cop, who was leaning into another car, fully uniformed, cruiser, gun, the whole nine, writing a ticket.

For being stupid in a public place Mr. Pattison was handed a conditional discharge after pleading guilty to sexual assault Monday. He also has to write a mea culpa letter to the wrong police officer.

WFDS

2202...Looking For Your Prime Minister Friday?

He is going to be about an hour north of Ottawa in Val-des-Monts, Quebec. It has been announced that the pride of Calgary, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, will visit the cabane à sucre Beauregard. For those of you outside of the area: Maple sugar cabin. He will be joined by Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon who is the MP for the area.

Show time is 1 30 and the address is 1884 Montée Paiement.

Look for me in my red [Liberal] sombrero.

WFDS

2201...Oxymoron/Smart Conservative

My sources tell me that he still allows his cheques to be direct deposited but new Conservative Senator Bob Runciman of Ontario was featured as the quote of the day in yesterday's Ottawa Sun:

"It boggles the mind that one of the world's great democracies appoints people to a House of Parliament."

You and me both, brother, you and me both.

WFDS

2200...Job Interview Question

ESPN reports that Jeff Ireland of Miami's Dolphins, the National Football League team, had the best/worst interview question in history when he asked a potential employee, Dez Bryant, a sure fire first round choice out of Oklahoma State if his mom was a prostitute.

Smooth.

Like Ex Lax.

Mr. Bryant, a wide out, was not around when Miami got their pick; Dallas took a chance on him [and his mom] at the 24th spot in the draft.

WFDS

2199...Open Letter To Ontario Citizens

Fair Drug Prices for Ontarians
April 29, 2010

Dear Friends,

As you are likely aware, our government recently announced improvements to Ontario’s drug system that will lower the cost of generic drugs for our seniors, patients, employers, unions and those who pay out of pocket for prescription medicines. I want to tell you a little bit about why this initiative is so important to you.

Ontarians pay too much for generic drugs, plain and simple. In certain cases, we pay more than five times what some US states pay for the same drug.

Our government believes that is unfair and we’re moving to change the system by cutting the cost of generic drugs by at least 50%, expanding the number of medicines available to those on the Ontario Drug Benefit Plan, increasing direct payments to pharmacists and boosting support for rural pharmacies with $250 million in new funding.

The improvements are going to make a real difference for Ontarians. For example, someone who pays for Gabapentin (a generic drug used to manage pain and epilepsy), out of their own pocket could save more than $400 every year when our reforms take full effect. These are meaningful savings.

Nevertheless, big pharmacy chains have mounted a widespread campaign to oppose our improvements. Many of you have probably already encountered this campaign in your communities.

We know big pharmacy is going to continue fighting these much-needed reforms. And that’s why, over the coming days, weeks and months, we need your help to remind Ontarians that their government is doing the right thing by reducing the cost of generic drugs and making the province’s drug system more accountable.

So please forward this email along and help us spread the word. For more information about the improvements we’re making, you can go online and visit the ministry’s website at ontario.ca/fairdrugprices. You can also take a stand by writing a letter to your local paper or joining the "Fair Drug Prices for Ontarians!" Facebook group.

As Liberals, we must uphold our basic values and support those who need us to be their voice. With your help, the people in your ridings will understand that these improvements are the right thing to do.

Thanks so much for your continued support.

Sincerely,

Deb Matthews

Facts Ontario Liberals need to know about changes to the drug system:

1. Ontarians pay too much for generic drugs – in certain cases, we pay more than five times what some US states pay.
2. There are currently more pharmacies in Ontario than there are Tim Hortons locations in Canada.
3. Our plan allows us to reinvest millions of dollars back into our health care system and makes it possible for us to continue funding new drugs.
4. Our plan supports rural pharmacies — after the changes, dispensing fees paid by the Ontario government would increase by up to $4 for every Ontario Drug Benefit prescription filled in rural or underserviced areas of the province.
5. Through our plan, we will pay pharmacies directly for the services they provide to patients.

Who thinks Ontario's Drug Reform is the right thing to do?

For

CARP (Canadian Association of Retired Persons)
Canadian Cancer Society, Ontario Division
Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario
Ontario Teachers Insurance Plan
Canadian Health and Life Insurance Association
Ontario Federation of Labour
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1 Canada
Ontario Nurses’ Association
Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association
Canadian Treatment Action Council
and the list keeps growing...

Against:

Chain Drug Stores
Tim Hudak

WFDS

2198...Tiger Woods Sets Record

Of sorts.

I guess.

The National Enquirer, who, scoff if you will, broke the story about the world's greatest golfer being a dog, reports that Mr. Woods has confessed to cheating with as many as 120 women behind his wife's back during their five-year marriage, it was claimed today.

One hundred and twenty. After the wedding.

But a one-night stand with the 21-year-old daughter of a neighbour in Florida was the final straw for Elin Nordegren, according to The National Enquirer.

The Enquirer claimed the distraught mother-of-two decided to sign divorce papers after learning it was investigating Woods’ alleged fling with Raychel Coudriet, whom he had reportedly known since she was just 14.

Just do it.

WFDS

2197...See You At Your Funeral Uncle Sam

No Stanley Cup; sh*tty cable and; cold f*cking winters but, on the plus side we out live them.

Them of course is the Americans and we are the Canucks. We can claim bragging rights on our neighbours to the south when it comes to life expectancy and health-related quality of life.

A new analysis of a joint Canada-US population health survey reported by Josh Pringle on CFRA finds Canadians on average enjoy an extra 2.7 years of perfect health compared to the US and live an extra 29 months.

Lead author David Freeny says rates of premature death are lower and quality of life measures are higher in Canada than the US.

Mr. Freeny says there are two potential explanations for the gap: access to health care is wider in Soviet Canuckistan and the prevalence of poverty is greater in America.

I think, and I am not a health professional, hell I have never even watched ER, another contributor is our crap cable: gives us more free time to exercise.

WFDS

2196...Death Penalty Is Irresponsible

For real. Check out the last paragraph of article Dahlia Lithwick wrote for Slate and Newsweek.

In his compelling new book, The Autobiography of an Execution, Texas death-penalty lawyer David Dow condemns a system of capital punishment built on evading responsibility at every stage of litigation: Jurors duck behind other jurors. Judges take refuge behind jury verdicts. The appeals courts wordlessly affirm the trial judge. Then the Supreme Court hangs out a sign that says GONE FISHIN'. Since everyone is fairly certain the accused probably killed someone, the fact that along the line an injustice may have occurred just doesn't matter. But if you believe that a one-sentence disposition of his case is more justice than a Charles Hood deserves, you're still asking the wrong question. Hood may be sentenced to die in a justice system where outrageous judicial bias merits only a sentence. The rest of us have to go on living in it.

Argument closed.

WFDS

2195...By The Way

You may want to take a look at the Brit election.

Nick Clegg, from the 3rd party, the Liberal something or others, is upsetting the applecart.

Jack Layton, take notes.

WFDS

2194...The Jaffer Affair Will Be Resolved Today

Jane Taber reported in yesterday's Globe and Mail that "Toronto businessman Nazim Gillani will tell a Commons committee tomorrow about his 'lack of criminal ties' and 'his lack of involvement with cocaine,' according to his spokesman. Brian Kilgore told The Globe and Mail today that Mr. Gillani will take nine minutes and 20 seconds for his opening remarks, in which he will address what he believes are some of the 'common misconceptions' in his story."

Well that will solve everything.

Whew.

WFDS

2193...Law And Order Is Expensive

And profitable for a few.

Heather Scoffield of Canadian Press writes that "A price tag for part of the Conservatives' law-and-order agenda is about to be made public - and the number is in the billions, far higher than any previous estimates. The Parliamentary Budget Officer forecasts the cost of implementing just one of the Tories' many tough-on-crime bills is between $7-billion and $10-billion over the next five years."

That is with a "B".

This of course is not a crime agenda, it is a punishment agenda.

It looks good to the people who would never think of breaking a law; tons of folks who are lawbreakers are not smart enough to know that the laws have even changed.

WFDS

2192...More Sex Please

Honourable Leona Aglukkaq is the Minister of Health in the Stephen Harper cabinet.

I am sure that she is working hard; as best I can figure no one I know died of the flu thingy so one point for her.

But.

She could take a tip from Brazil's health minister, Minister Jose Temporao. MSNBC reports he has a remedy for the nation's high-blood-pressure problem: More sex.

Minister Temporao says adults should be exercising more to help keep their blood pressure down — and he says a good cardiovascular workout includes sex.

He reminds you that sex is always better with a partner.

WFDS

2191...Canada Beats United States Contribution

A zillion to one.

Well, actually 19,500,000.00 million Canuckbucks to 5000 greenbacks.

The category is War of 1812 bicentennial rememberance and The Buffalo News reports that we are outspending the Yanks like motherf*ckers.

May be that is coz we won that war? Our only war with the Yanks? And we beat them for Gold at the 2010 Olympics in Hockey too. Twice for Gold actually.

WFDS

2190...A Tale To Warm Stephen Harper's Heart

Don't know how I missed this one from February of this year but I did.

Global News and the National Post had the story of 74-year-old Homenella Cole from Hamilton, Ontario who attempted to cross the U.S./Canadian border into New York and was arrested when a officials discovered a marijuana charge. From 1980. Three decades.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents said Homenella Cole advised officers at the Lewiston-Queenston border crossing Monday that she had previous criminal convictions in Canada, reports the National Post.

"She said she wanted a waiver to enter the U.S., which is not uncommon," CBP spokesman Kevin Corsaro said.

When officers then ran a routine criminal record check, they learned Cole had an active felony warrant issued on April 1, 1980 by the New York City Police Department.

Cole was arrested on the outstanding warrant and was extradited to New York City.

The senior citizen will face the charge of possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute.

I feel safer now that Ms. Cole is off the street.

WFDS

2189...But Can They Understand Stephen Harper?

A New Zealand study, reported in News.Com.Au, has found that man's best friend can understand man.

Researchers at the University of Otago, in the South Island, put 90 Dunedin dogs through their paces - showing some recorded images of babies laughing, crying and babbling and giving others verbal instructions from human's displaying happy or stern expressions.

What they found was what those of us who have dogs know: they can pick up on our emotions.

WFDS

2188...Waffle Please

WFDS Post 2180...Mary Jane In The House parsed stuff from an Ottawa Citizen article yesterday that indicated that police chief Vern White, the number one dude with the Ottawa Police Service, was in fave of the decriminalization of the evil weed.

He must have had his fingers crossed during that interview coz he told CFRA later that he wasn't.

Perfect.

Police Chief Stops short of supporting the Decriminalizing of Marijuana

Melanie Adams
Monday, April 26, 2010

Despite a headline in the Ottawa Citizen Monday morning, Ottawa Police Chief Vern White says anyone looking for an ally in helping to push for decriminalization of marijuana should not look to him.

Chief White tells CFRA he is not in favour decriminalizing possession of the drug, though he would prefer police try other things first before laying criminal charges against marijuana smokers.

There you go.

WFDS

2187...Domestic Violence Crosses All Classlines

The biggest porn star in history and one of the shrewdest marketers in history aussi, Jenna Jameson, allegedly got punched out by her live in boyfriend, according to a report on TMZ.

The incident happened yesterday morning; the 911 call to the Huntington Beach police was at 9:53 am. Bottom line is former Ultimate Fighting Championship light-heavyweight title holder Tito Ortiz was arrested for felony domestic violence in connection with an incident at the home he shares with longtime girlfriend Jenna Jameson.

In a video posted on TMZ's website, Jameson said "I'm gonna be all right...my babies are all right ... everything's OK ... he's in jail."

If you are getting hit by your man, your woman, anyone, call 911. Now.

WFDS

2186...Do Gooders Do Bad

Again.

You PETA types, politically correct types and nosey motherf*cker types have to get this throw your heads: Dogs are not people; cats are not people; cows are not people and; chickens are not people.

Let's look at chickens.

The tasty egg laying critters are generally kept in close quarters, pens. This is not good enough for your tree hugging types. They want the birdies to be free. Or freeish.

Problem is the birds are bred to be solitary creatures. To reduce fights, they are kept in dim lighting in cages where each bird has an average 67 square inches of space, or two-thirds of a sheet of notebook paper.

Free range them and they fight. A lot.

Mother Nature Network says that "...decades of breeding to make the white leghorn hens that lay most of the nation's eggs more productive have also boosted the birds' territorial instincts, making them prone to pecking attacks so fierce they're often called 'cannibalism.' Scientists and egg producers warn that deadly skirmishes that start with feather-plucking and turn into bloody frenzies when a bird's pecking breaks a flockmate's skin will increase if those same aggressive hens are moved from small cages with five to 10 birds to open pens that can hold dozens."

FYI.

WFDS

2185...Other Than That How Was Your Euro Trip?

Perhaps April of 2010 was not the best time to hit Europe.

That Icelandic volcano blew traveller's budgets all out of whack. An extra few days of hotel stays, enterprising European business thieves adjusting their prices and then when you get back home airport parking rates that are through the roof.

And a lot of "I'm sorry, wish I could do something bullsh*t."

The USA Today reports that their is some relief at forward thinking airports "But several major U.S. airports are offering some relief. New York JFK, Newark Liberty, Las Vegas and Denver all say they plan to waive additional charges accrued by travelers who parked their cars at those airports before departing for Europe."

No news from Pearson, Trudeau or Uplands on this file.

Of course not.

Welcome home.

WFDS

WFDS

2184...I Never Did That

And by no I mean yes.

Perhaps.

It was widely reported last week that disgraced former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer told a Parliamentary committee last week he never used Ms. Guergis’s parliamentary resources for business purposes.

That seems to have been a nose stretcher.

CFRA reports that "Environment Minister Jim Prentice now says a meeting between one of his senior aides and Rahim Jaffer took place in the Parliament Hill offices of Helena Guergis."

Ah, crazy little thing called the truth gets in the way.

WFDS

2183...Calgary. Did I Say Calgary?

Calgary. Ottawa.

Ottawa. Calgary.

People be getting them mixed up all the time.

For example, as CFRA reports, Environment Minister Jim Prentice now says a meeting between one of his senior aides and Rahim Jaffer took place in the Parliament Hill offices of Helena Guergis. Friday last he told the world that the April 2009 meeting occurred in Prentice’s ministerial office in Calgary, adding that Mr. Jaffer was acting on behalf of a green technology company.

Yesterday, in response to a question from Liberal David McGuinty, Mr. Prentice told the House of Commons that “My understanding is that the meeting in question did in fact happen in that particular office.”

Ah, only off by 3553 kms give or take.

WFDS

2182...I Smell A Cash Action Lawsuit Here

I mean class action. Only in Indiana would this happen. The Indianapolis Star reports that "An Indianapolis man is suing a convenience store chain for the $11.5 million lottery jackpot he says he would have won if a clerk had sold him a ticket.
Charles Andrews, 70, says he had picked the winning numbers for the February 2008 drawing, but workers at the Speedway store refused to sell him a ticket with a few minutes left before the sales cutoff."

Buddy says there wasn't enough time to go to another store but that he signed his play slip and left it with the store so he would have proof in case they were the winning numbers. They hit.

The store's parent company, Speedway SuperAmerica LLC, has denied in court filings any responsibility for Andrews not winning.

Lawyers are, of course, to profit from this brouhaha.

WFDS

2181...Mike, Er, Senator Duffy Update

Cut and paste from the Niagara Falls Review:

Duff' to speak at Nicholson dinner
Posted By JOHN ROBBINS / Review Staff Writer
Posted 16 hours ago


Senator Mike Duffy will be the special guest during a fundraising event sponsored by Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and the Niagara Falls Conservative Electoral District Association.

Duffy, the former host of CTV's Mike Duffy Live, was appointed a senator in January 2009, where he represents his home province of Prince Edward Island.


Duffy is a an active member of the standing committee on agriculture and forestry and the standing committee on rules, procedures and the rights of parliament.

The event, which includes dinner, will be held May 13 beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Sheraton on the Falls hotel, located at 5875 Falls Ave.

Tickets cost $150.

For more information or to purchase a ticket call 905-371-2987.

Two things are for sure at a Senator Duffy affair: lotsa carbs, lotsa booze.

WFDS

2180...Mary Jane In The House

The police chief of Ottawa, Vern White, no Liberal or liberal he, has come out with the rational view that marijuana should be decriminalized. He tells the Ottawa Citizen this morning that "...he isn’t interested in giving marijuana users criminal records, and would support discussing decriminalization..."

But he has a condition and it is a reasonable one: “My only concern about the word ‘decriminalizing’ is the suggestion to the public that (marijuana) is not a
dangerous drug.”

Fact is, and the pro pot lobby doesn't want to admit this, smoking weed is not good for you if you are chronic.

Ditto booze and tobacco.

Everything in moderation.

WFDS

2179...Pretty And Smart

Jennifer Forbes Walker:

So, Larry King is getting his 8th divorce, Elizabeth Taylor is possibly getting married for a 9th time, Jesse James and Tiger Woods are screwing EVERYTHING, yet the idea of same-sex marriage is what is going to destroy the institution of marriage?? REALLY??...

WFDS

2178...I Hope Alex Cullen Doesn't Get The Sun

The Ottawa Sun that is.

Mr. Cullen is a long time city councillor, former MPP, who got it in his head that he could just snap his pretty little fingers and become mayor of your capital.

A poll published in today's Sun, an unscientific one, an online poll, has former mayor Jim Watson in first place with 64 per cent; Mr. Cullen has 8 per cent.

To add insult to injury Mr. Cullen is a full two points behind the confused Jane Scharf who polled 0.49 per cent of the vote [that is less than one vote per two hundred cast] in the mayoralty race in 2006.

Bye, bye Mr. Cullen.

WFDS

2177...Last Stanley Cup Winning Coach In Canada

Is Jacques Demers.

Senator Demers to you.

The former Habs coach and present Cash-For-Lifer was on his friend Michael Landsberg's long running TSN Off The Record program. Bruce Dowbiggin in the Globe and Mail reports that at the end of the show, normally based in Toronto but in Montreal for a series of tapings, the newly minted Senator said something that could be construed by the politically correct and uptight as being anti jewish.

In the final moments of the show, Landsberg and Demers were kibitzing about where the TV host should go to dinner. The exuberant Demers suggested Moishe's, 'a nice Jewish place.' Demers then suggests that when the folks at Moishe's see Landsberg's nose, they will give him a table right away. As the show faded to black, Landsberg was laughing at the remark from Demers...

Surely there are bigger battles to be fought.

But these days, human-rights commissions feel it is their sacred duty to prosecute standup comedians for hate speech, or parse magazine articles for cultural insensitivity. In their mind, the compass has moved. It doesn't matter if neither party to the actual event is offended. Demers, a senator, would make an impressive trophy for their vigilance. Landsberg hopes not.

Let's hope not.

And one more thing: Go Habs Go.

WFDS

2176...Death Penalty Advocates Read This

California has over 700 inmates on death row and has executed only 13 since 1977 costing more than $1 billion. Maybe it's time to leave the Dark Ages and kill capital punishment?

Or start killing convicted inmates in bunches.

The Stephen Harpers want to bring in draconian laws, laws that have been proven to be wieldy, ineffective and expensive, to our country and the ultimate in stupid is the death penalty.

Cali hasn't iced someone since Clarence Ray Allen was put to death Jan. 17, 2006, primarily because of lawsuits [cruel and unusual punishment, uh, doh, yeah] and Associated Press quotes San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis as saying "Most of us realize a death sentence at this time is a hollow promise in California."

And it is not just in California; Utah is planning on executing a dude,
Ronnie Lee Gardner, who has been on death row for a quarter century. He is due to get shot in June but you just know something will f'it up. And there are dozens more Ronnie Lee Gardner's in the mix.

These appeals cost beaucoup d'argent, more, much more than keeping someone in jail, even on the Paul Bernardo program.

Next time one of your Tory friends starts talking death penalty show them this.

WFDS

2175...Warren Kinsella's Fave MP Does It Again

Garry Breitkreuz gets a dart Saturday from The Toronto Star for sticking his foot in it again.

The MP from Saskatchewan issued a press release this week denouncing Liberal Leader
Michael Ignatieff for proposing to "whip" his caucus against the Conservatives'
move to scrap the long-gun registry. The attack on Ignatieff was silly,
although sadly routine in Ottawa politics. But it was what the press release
said about Canadian police chiefs that raised eyebrows. Breitkreuz suggested
that the chiefs, who support the gun registry, are a "cult," are "politically
motivated" and that "their endorsement can be bought." Worse, when it became
clear that the press release was an embarrassment, Breitkreuz disowned it, and
one of his aides paid the price with his job.

When challenged on all this in Parliament, our beloved Prime Minister Stephen Harper responded that "...no sensible Canadian..." supports the long-gun registry. Except, apparently, the chiefs of police.

WFDS

2174...Stop With This Bullsh*t And Get On With It

Montreal, which is one of the biggest Italian communities in the world that is not in the boot, is home to A Liberal MP wants Parliament to issue an official apology and pay restitution for the internment of Italian-Canadians during World War II.

Front section of the Toronto Star Saturday, The Saturday Star, reports that Liberal Member of Parliament Massimo Pacetti from St. Leonard has sponsored a private member's bill that would require the government to issue a formal apology in the House of Commons.

Sixty years ago dude. About time someone stepped up to the plate.

If the bill passes it would also require the government to set up a commemoration and education fund, worth about $2.5 million and it would require Canada Post to issue a commemorative stamp.

Mr. Pacetti's bill, which passed second reading last June, is to be put to a
final vote next week.

Better late than not.

WFDS

2173...Dream Weaver Gary Wright Is 67 Today

Either you are A: old or B: you have never heard of him.

I will take the fifth on this one.

WFDS

2172...Canadian Forces Base Trenton Hero

Moose.

He's three and he is the newest hero in a town that is full of heroes.

Canoe.ca reports that the one "...year-old brown whippet's insistent barking alerted Jolene Sararas Tuesday when her daughter, Alexis, became caught in a backyard gate."

Mrs. Sararas, who's husband Master Corporal Terry works on base, noticed that her dog was freaking out a bit and then she found out why: her little girl was in peril.

She couldn't free the girl; called her hubby; he called 911 and all is well that ends well.

And ending well it did for all including Moose who got a big Porterhouse out of the deal.

WFDS

2171...Maxime Bernier On The House

I am sure this is podcast somewhere or on Surf or your cousin taped it but the gist is that he is back.

The deal in politics, as in life, is those or forget their mistakes tend to repeat them.

Maxime Bernier is determined not to make the same mistakes he made in the past.

He told Kathleen Petty of CBC One's The House that "...when you're in politics, I think, personally, you don't have a private life. Second, I learned that I have to be more prudent in life, and since that time, I'm more prudent. I don't have any documents and I'm not... But, jokes apart, you know, in life, when you have an event like that, I think it's because you're able to pass through that. And, at that time, I thought maybe I will resign as an MP, and I decided 'Okay, what I did, it's a big mistake, but life is not finished; go ahead.'"

This guy is becoming scary good.

Bear in mind that the Conservative MP for the Beauce is acting a lot like American elected officials; he is showing a level of prudent independence rarely seen in the heavily disciplined world of Canuck politics and that is both admirable and refreshing.

WFDS

2170...May Be Guergis And Rahim Could

Form their own party?

Coz they be done with the Tories and the Liberals don't want them.

They could go Green of course; that would give what's her name one seat in the House and y'all gots to start somewhere. Rahim claims his non lobbying was for a green initative so the verve is there.

WFDS

2169...Ottawa The Quiet

For those of you who are fans/stalkers of the WFDS you are aware that I live on Elgin Street in the heart of your nation's capital Ottawa.

Now Ottawa is not exactly the most exciting city on the planet or the continent or the country.

Think of Omaha with more glitter and brighter lights and you have Ottawa.

Now last night there was a wee hockey game and my street is the epicenter of fandom in the Nation's Capital. Elgin Street, Sens Mile, really was party central all day yesterday and then they dropped the puck at 7 05 Saturday evening.

Ottawa scored once.

Ottawa scored twice.

Ottawa scored three times.

Three zip Senators and the street was alive.

Then Pitt scored once.

Twice.

Thrice.

Overtime.

A third into the overtime the Pittsburghs score to eliminate Ottawa and the town went silent.

No kidding.

I left my apartment 45 minutes after the winning goal and there was no one, as in nobody on the Sens Mile.

It was like someone took the air out of a balloon.

This morning on Elgin Street the mood is funereal.

WFDS

2168...One Child Rule May Be Eliminated In China

Reason of course is China wants to boost the labor force and since they don't have those pesky child labour laws they will be able to boost the force in five years, six max if this law goes through.

The fly in the ointment, according to the USA Today, is that the hotness of China's economy has not trickled down to the working class and the working class is having enough trouble with one child let alone two.

Think of the probs we have with our relatively small pop of 33 mill; China has like a zillion people and that causes a zillion problems.

So eliminated or not, the one child policy seems to be engrained in the culture of China.

WFDS

2167...Maybe He Could Fix Maytags

Rahim Jaffer: The loneliest man in Ottawa

Is the headline in this morning's Toronto Star.

Since he is now getting used to being lonely and since this lobbying thing is not working out so very well for our man perhaps they have an opening at the Maytag repair shop?

Thinking of you, sir.

WFDS

2166...Tips For The Criminally Inane

Tip number one:

If your license plate lights are out, you should probably think twice about driving around with marijuana, heroin, 249 Effexor pills, a digital scale, and drug-packaging materials. Especially after midnight in a quiet Pennsylvania suburb.

The Morning Call, a fish wrap from William Penn's forest, tells us that Saturday morning at a quarter past twelve failed drug dealers Mina E. Hanna and Nandy L. Arias got to meet the South Whitehall Township police. The reason for the pull over was coz our heroes license plate lights were out.

When 50 looked in their ride they spotted a gun; guns make people nervous especially police people.

A search ensued and, well, the story does not end well for Mr. Hanna and Mr. Arias.

WFDS

2165...You Knew It Was Going To Come To This

Pick a colour.

Every colour.

Brit fish wrap The Daily Mail reports that new laws in Merry Olde may force families to use up to nine separate bins for recycling. Because nine non degradeable plastic bins per family, per week is better for the environment. Never mind the £100 on-the-spot fines for breaches, it's for the environment.

"The containers include a silver slopbucket for food waste, which is then tipped in to a larger, green outdoor food bin, a pink bag for plastic bottles, a green bag for cardboard, and a white bag for clothing and textiles.

Paper and magazines go in blue bags, garden waste in a wheelie bin with a brown lid, while glass, foil, tins and empty aerosols should go in a blue box, with a grey wheelie bin for non-recyclable waste."

Of course this is not crazy, is it?

WFDS

2164...Saturday In Your Capital

Ottawa is rife with trappings of the Senators, Ottawa's NHL hockey team.

Waiters are dressed like them, cars are flying their flags and the local media is full of Sens fever.

Tomorrow your capital could be the sprained ankle capital of the world.

If the Sens lose that is.

It hurts to get off a fast moving band wagon.

WFDS

2163...Apparently Canucks Like The Letter "C"

No matter what.

Results of a poll, provided exclusively to Canwest News Service and
Global National, show that while the gap between the Conservatives
and the Liberals has narrowed somewhat over the last two weeks, the
Conservatives are maintaining a healthy lead.

The poll finds that the Conservatives enjoy the support of 35% of
voters; Liberals are the pick of 29% and the NDP is at 16%. In
Quebec, the Bloc Quebecois is on top with 35%, followed by the
Liberals at 24%, Conservatives at 20% and NDP at 11%.

WTF do the Tories have to do to lose favour with Canucks?

And wither the Green Party?

WFDS

2162...Sidney Has A Fan

Associated Press reports that South Fayette, Pennsylvania's very own Robert Abrams got in an argument with his wife Friday morning coz he had hung in for all three periods of overtime in the Thursday game between the Senators of Ottawa and his Pittsburgh Penguins. Bad enough that his squad went down in flames in triple overtime; so did Mr. Abrams and his wife.

He won the fight by killing the missus and then tried to cover up his dastardly deed by setting the suburban Steel City house on fire.

Did not work.

Badly burned, he was charged with arson, homicide and abuse of a corpse; hope his roommate in jail likes hockey.

WFDS

2161...Welcome To The Archie Bunker

You may recall WFDS Post 2141...Can You Say Prime Minister Bernier? . In that piece I talked about how he stepped up to the plate back a week or so ago.

This is not resonate well in La Belle.

Graeme Hamilton in the National Post saves you a trip back to Post 2141 "A week ago Mr. Bernier, the Conservative MP for Beauce, delivered a speech to party members in Mont-St-Gregoire, Que. The title, 'For a proud, responsible, autonomous Quebec,' sounded innocuous enough.
But the pride, responsibility and autonomy that Mr. Bernier was advocating involved a break with what he considers Quebec's debilitating dependence on federal transfer payments."

" 'Let's be frank: Many people in the rest of the country perceive
Quebecers as a bunch of spoiled children who are never satisfied and
always ask for more...This perception has some basis in
reality.'"

Did not resonate well in the bunkers of Quebec.

"The speech led Quebec's Finance Minister, Raymond Bachand, to
accuse Mr. Bernier this week of 'Quebec-bashing.' The Parti
Quebecois called the comments 'contemptuous,' while the newspaper Le Devoir reported that Mr. Bernier has taken to 'flaying' Quebec as he travels the country. One columnist has suggested Mr. Bernier should
buy a one-way ticket to Alberta. Jean-Francois Lisee, an influential
sovereigntist commentator, delivered the ultimate insult, writing that Mr. Bernier has taken over the late Pierre Trudeau's role as 'the Quebecer who speaks badly of Quebec.'"

It is germane to note that Mr. Bernier comes from La Beauce which is to Quebec as Quebec is to Canada. It is also germane to note that he is ridiculously popular, garnering a plurality of over 20,000 votes in the last run for the roses.

He is safe at home and unlike a lot of provincial Quebec politicians who are provincial he seems to see the bigger picture.

If the Tories eat him, as they are want to do with their young, he could make a great Liberal Prime Minister.

WFDS

2160...This Governor General Thing Is Getting

Stupid.

As in dumb.

Ridiculous.

William Shatner? A man who loves Canada so much that he left Our Home And Native Land five decades ago?

Sure he is quite the thespian, no question but puhleaze.

I think Stephen Harper should step up to the plate, put everyone's SIN number into the hopper and pull one out at random. Call that person King/Queen Whatever I and start the world's newest monarchy.

WFDS

2159...Kids Today

I pods, I phones, X boxes, STFU.

One of those doesn't fit by the way.

A third of U.S. teenagers with cellphones send more than 100 texts a day as texting has exploded to become the most popular means of communication for young people, according to new research.

The Montreal Gazette story says that the study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that texting has risen dramatically even since 2008, eclipsing cell phone calls, instant messaging, social networks. It has even beat out talking face-to-face.

Kids today.

WFDS

2158...Israeli Security Chief B*tch Slaps Tories

Remember when the Ottawa MP and Stephen Harper's fave safe escort for the Missus, Transport Minister John Baird announced the accelerated rollout of those full body scanners just days after a Nigerian man attempted to blow up a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day aboard a transatlantic flight?

Rafi Sela, a leading Israeli airport security expert, yesterday told parliamentarians probing the state of aviation safety in Canada that the federal government has wasted millions of dollars to install "useless" imaging machines at airports across the country.

Imagine, the Tories doing something stupid thinking that they are doing something right.

I am not hating on them; their hearts are in the right place. Problem is their brain has swapped places with their colon.

Metaphorically that is.

Mr. Sela said, in an article distributed by QMI, that he could defeat those machines easily and their was a reason that they weren't in Israeli airports. The reason being they suck.

WFDS

2157...All Politics Is Local; All Culture Is Local

And it is on the latter issue that we fail miserably in Our Home And Native Land.

Earlier this year two stations, two AM stations, 940News and Nouvelles690, went dark in Montreal. Refer to WFDS Post 1690...Corus AM Montreal Ghandi. And they are cock blocking anyone who wants to set up shop and make a go of it on those two frequencies. 690 is an amazing blowtorch, covering huge swatches of Quebec, Ontario, New England and the Northeast and the fact that they couldn't figure out how to make money at that spot is retarded. In a window licking way. This has happened all across our country; there are many markets, 100,000 plus markets, that have no voice.

Things be different down south. In a similar sized market, D.C., $3.1 million is the price Salem is paying Red Zebra for Washington, D.C.’s WWRC (1260), to obtain a platform for its conservative talk lineup in the opinion capital of the Republic. Details of the transaction that T-R-I wrote about on Monday are finally available, as the deal’s filed at the FCC. Salem takes over operation of the 5-kw fulltime station on May 15, with an LMA that will produce a format change from Red Zebra’s “Money 1260” business talk format to conservative talk. Red Zebra, which has ties to the Washington Redskins franchise led by Daniel Snyder, still has the other two stations it bought from Clear Channel in 2008 (“ESPN 980” WTEM and talk WTNT/570). Plus the two FMs (WWXX, Buckland at 94.3, WWXT, Prince Frederick at 92.7) and one AM (WXTR, Alexandria at 730) that it acquired previous to that. Salem’s got the Christian teaching combo of WAVA-AM/FM (780/105.1). Broker on WWRC (1260) .

It just strikes me as a big pile of bullsh*t that we need quotas and good hearted/wrong minded people like Ian Morrison to impose cultural quotas [that ignore the smaller centres btw] and the most dominant culture, the USA, lets the market decide.

Oy vey.

WFDS

2156...Criminal Masterminds In Ottawa

Are not all on the Hill.

Check out this lad, big stones he has, CFRA reports that Ottawa Police are searching for a suspect after an armed robbery at a Bells Corners Tim Horton's.

I don't know if you have ever been to a Tim's in Ottawa, in Ontario, in Canada, but they are rife with coppers, none more so than the one's in Ottawa coz Ottawa has lotsa police services. Soooooooooooo one would think if one was an armed robber one would be less than keen on robbing a Tim's.

Not so.

Police say a lone male entered the Richmond Road store around 9:30 last night and threatened the clerk with a knife.

The suspect fled the scene with an undisclosed amount of cash.

WFDS

2155...Ben & Jerry's Meet Jack Daniels

Ben and Jerry's ice cream has a new flavor. Bonnaroo Buzz!

This new flavor contains light coffee and malt ice creams with whiskey caramel swirls and English toffee pieces.

Jack, CC, Johnny Walker, its all the same: whiskey and ice cream equals a deep brain freeze.

WFDS

2154...You've Gotta Urn

KVAL, the CBS affiliate in Eugene, Oregon, has an interesting life's end story.

The man's name is Aaron Jamison and he lives in Springfield, Oregon. In nine months or less he will die in Springfield, Oregon. The lad is 37 and works as a comic and a musician has terminal cancer; hands out purple bracelets that read "Cancer Sucks... Life is Good...Choose Joy" to people he meets. He also wants to sell you advertising space on two urns that will hold his ashes - one for his wife and one for his parents.

He hopes to raise 800 dollars to pay for the cremation and the urns. He has sold two spots already, one to a restaurant, Terese's Place and one to a tat parlour, Cry Baby Inc.

If you're interested in buying an ad e-mail Mr. Jamison at aaron@judasforgiven.com.

WFDS

2153...South Park Is In Trouble Deep

Some folks have no sense of humour.

CNN drops the news that a radical Muslim group has warned the creators of South Park following an episode last week that depicted the Prophet Muhammad in a bear suit. A cached version from the website RevolutionMuslim.com shows the message to South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

The posting warns they could face the same fate as Theo Van Gogh, the Dutch filmmaker who was murdered in 2004 after directing a film written by a Muslim woman who rejects the Prophet Muhammad as a guide for today’s morality.

CNN reports the website is known for postings in support of Osama Bin Laden and jihad against the West.

WFDS

2152...What Are You Doing After The Paralympics?

CFRA reports that Jim Armstrong, the skip of the Canuck curling rink that won Paralympic gold allegedly went into biz for his own bad self. His new business has got him charged in the United States with trafficking counterfeit goods.

Documents filed in the US District Court in Seattle accuse the 59-year-old of trying to smuggle thousands of counterfeit Viagra and Cialis pills into Canada. Mr.Armstrong was taken into custody in Washington State on April 15th.

Counterfeit Viagra and Cialis; that's cold man.

WFDS

2151...Happy 40th Earth Day

Today's excuse to drink.

WFDS

2150...On The Subject Of Bilingualism

A cut and paste from the National Post that makes some good points. I have always said that Western Canada starts at Carlingwood [a mall in the west end of Ottawa]; Lorne Gunther has some facts to back that up.

Official bilingualism: from failure to farce
Lorne Gunter, National Post
Published: Wednesday, April 21, 2010


It used to be called the "bilingual belt," a narrow strip of Canada with its western anchor in Ottawa, following the St. Lawrence River through Montreal and Quebec City and ending in northern and eastern New Brunswick.

When the first Trudeau government passed the Official Languages Act in 1969, nearly all fluently bilingual Canadians lived along this ribbon of land. They still do. Four decades of linguistic tinkering by the federal government at a cost of several billion dollars has accomplished very little in terms of turning Canadians into two-language communicators.

Official bilingualism may have succeeded in getting more federal services provided in both French and English, but it has not moved the needle more than a few notches in making individual Canadians personally bilingual. Thirty-five percent of Canadians may speak two languages, but more than half of these speak French or English and another non-official language, such as Mandarin or Punjabi.

Just 17% of Canadians claim to be bilingual French-English, and that percentage is widely believed to be inflated since language skills are self-reported on the census. No one comes to your home to test your competence. Statistics Canada merely takes your word for it.

To illustrate how little personal bilingualism has penetrated ordinary Canadian society, consider that in Ontario 97% of workers claim to use English nearly all the time at work. That is down from 98% when the Official Languages Act (OLA) was passed and that includes the tens of thousands of federal workers in the nation's capital whose jobs demand two-language proficiency.

Even in Manitoba, which has the largest francophone population outside the bilingual belt, the rate is 97.2%.

The biggest change in the past 40 years has been in Quebec, where the percentage of employees using English "most often" at work has dropped from nearly one-quarter to just over 17%. But even those numbers mask the fact that 23.2% of Quebec workers still admit to using English "regularly."

Nearly 95% of Quebecers speak French, but only 42% speak English.

That's considerable though, compared with the rest of Canada, where 97.6% speak English, but only about 10% speak French.

The point of all of this is twofold. First, it tells us that all of the effort and all of the money spent by Ottawa over the past four decades -- the court fights to win minority-language schools, the erection of bilingual signs on every patronage project, the regulation of consumer products, the subsidization of culture -- has accomplished nothing except the production of a bilingual federal workforce (something that could have been created more simply, and at far smaller expense, merely by altering existing hiring guidelines).

All other advances in personal bilingualism can probably be attributed to social evolution. We travel more and technology brings us into contact with people who used to be too distant to communicate with. Beyond the public service, most gains in personal bilingualism likely would have occurred without the OLA.

The other reason for reciting all these facts is to despair for the future of our democracy if a private member's bill that already has cleared the House of Commons also manages to pass the Senate.

Bill C-232, introduced by New Brunswick NDP MP Yvon Godin, would require all future Supreme Court nominees to be able to hear cases in French or English without the aid of official translators. All three opposition parties voted in favour of this distortion of reason, democracy and unity; only the Tories opposed it.

If Mr. Godin's bill becomes Canadian law, in future very few justices will come from anywhere other than the bilingual belt. While the object of the bill may be some symbolic embodiment of our two-language principle, the practical impact will be to give bilingual francophones an influence over the Charter and courts out of all proportion to their percentage of the national population.

The bill would also rank language above legal knowledge as a criterion for the court. A brilliant civil law expert who spoke only French? No chance. A human rights specialist who was only unilingual English? Nope.

Our legal fates will be in the hands of people whose first qualification for their job is their ability to interpret legalese in both official languages.

And just wait for the happy reaction of Westerners when their next constitutional challenge is rejected by a Quebec-majority court because no British Columbian or Albertan qualified.

This is a disastrous bill. And it's shocking that it is so close to becoming law.

When I read stuff like the above I think of what someone, perhaps Rene Levesque, once said: "The rest of Canada needs French like a hole in the head."

WFDS

2149...Good Linguistic Skills More Important

Than good legal skills. That is the jist of what John Carpay, the executive director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation, wrote in today's Globe and Mail.

He opines that "For a position as important and influential as that held by a Supreme Court justice, the stakes are too high to drain the talent pool of most of its water for the sake of symbolism and sentimentality."

The crux of the matter is Bill C-232 which, if passed by the Senate, will close the six anglo seats on the nine seat Supreme Court to those of us who only speak one language. "Introduced in the House of Commons by bilingual New Democrat Yvon Godin of New Brunswick, this bill makes fluency in French and English mandatory for all future Supreme Court justices. The Bloc Québécois joined the Liberals and the NDP to create majority support for the bill, which passed the House in March."

Insane in the membrane.

Not to mention unfair to the country as a whole; we should want the best jurists on the Supreme Court. The best of the best. A barrier like this is nuts.

WFDS

2147...I Want A New Car

And I need your help.

The new car I want is the Ferrari F458 Italia.

Saturday's Toronto Star announced that it is going to be introduced in Canuckistan at the end of this year and will cost about 260,000$.

Here is where you come in.

I am a bit short.

259,823.24 $ short.

Cash is appreciated but I will accept money orders, certified cheques and gold.

Best thing about the ride is it is an automatic and easy to park.

WFDS

2146...Another Reason To Love Canada

Liquor moves quicker: alcohol sales up in Canada.

That was the headline in yesterday's National Post.

Bit of a cheat though coz part of the rise in alcohol consumption was the fact that booze is measured by how much we buy, cashola wise, and if, for example, you are buying beer anywhere but La Belle you are paying beaucoup too much for it.

Still "Beer and liquor stores sold $19.4-billion worth of alcohol by the end of March 2009, 3% more than the previous year."

Lo and behold "Beer remains by far the most popular alcoholic beverage in Canada -- by both volume and dollar value...In 1993, beer peaked at 53% of dollar sales compared to wine which accounted for 18 per cent. Last year, the market share of beer had dropped to 46%, while wine jumped to 29%, figures show."

I like beer.

WFDS

2145...That Settles That

The boss responds to the fifth estate:

OPP did not 'bugger up' Rahim Jaffer case
National Post
Sat Apr 17 2010
Page: A25
Section: Letters
Byline: Julian Fantino
Source: National Post

Re: The Case Against Helena Guergis, Kelly McParland; The Stupidest Show In Town, Chris Selley, Both April 16.
I take exception to the editorial comments directed at the investigation involving Rahim Jaffer. Attributing the decision by the Crown to withdraw and/or reduces charges to a police mix-up or that "the OPP buggered up the case" unfairly maligns the integrity of all of the men and women of the OPP and officers serving with the OPP Caledon Detachment.
I am confident that the OPP conducted a thorough and detailed investigation in this case and obtained the necessary grounds to lay the charges. Our officers acted in good faith, professionally, and in the best interest of public and officer safety during all aspects of this investigation.
Julian Fantino, Commissioner, Ontario Provincial Police, Orillia, Ont.

So, apparently, it was no one's fault that Mr. Jaffer skated.

Way to step up to the plate no one.

WFDS

2144...Dumb Dancing

That Winnipeg high school teacher who simulated oral sex on a fellow teacher during a school dance competition might want to pursue that skill professionally now that they're both officially out of job.

You recall the YouTube hit of earlier this year where two teachers at Churchill High School in Winnipeg simulated oral sex at a school assembly and played themselves off the team. CBC Winnipeg reports that the two "...teachers are out of work after performing a simulated lap dance during a school-sanctioned event. The man and woman learned their fate following a meeting of trustees with the Winnipeg School Division on Monday. In a statement, a division spokesperson said the female teacher involved resigned Monday, with the resignation to take effect at the end of June." The man was on contract and his contract ended Friday last.

Off to Korea I suppose.

WFDS

2143...Speaking Of National Political Leaders

Whither What's Her Name from the Green Party?

Did she take the bus to the funeral in Poland?

Just asking.

WFDS

2142...More Dumb Stuff

As you know Poland was rocked when their President's plane crashed killing him and all on aboard.

What exacerbated this tragedy was the fact that the head of the Polish Navy, Army, a pile of MPs and Senators were also on board at the time.

Like, what were they thinking?

Flash forward to the funeral. The Ottawa Citizen reported last week that "In a sign of political unanimity, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the three opposition leaders prepared Friday evening to travel by plane together to Poland to attend the state funeral of the Polish president who died in a plane crash..."

Together. The leaders of the four major political parties in Canada.

Those who forget history...

WFDS

2141...Can You SayPrimeMinister Maxime Bernier?

Seriously.

Dude stepped up to the plate late last week in his home province of La Belle. CCanwest News Service quotes him as saying: "Let's be frank: many people in the rest of the country perceive Quebecers as a bunch of spoiled children and always ask for more."

Uh huh.

"This perception has some basis in reality."

Uh huh.

"Since the 1970s we've talked about independence...constitution...referendum...built a system of dependence...if we don't change direction we will soon hit a brick wall."

Wow, what a powerful series of words.

Not today, not this year but may be: Prime Minister Maxime Bernier.

WFDS

2140...Dumb And Dumb

I honestly don't know who is dumber, renegade British Catholic Bishop Richard Williamson or the German Courts.

The not so good Reverend Williamson is a holocaust denier. In January of 2009 he was interviewed on TV and Agence France-Presse reports that he said that only [only?] "two hundred to three hundred thousand Jews had perished in Nazi concentration camps" and he also disputed the existence of the gas chambers. He had made the statement to a Swede TV crew in Regensburg, Germany so the Germans ruled that Germany's strict laws against denying the slaughter of the Jews applied to the Bishop.

Denying history is dumb.

But denying free speech is just as bad.

Free speech, like cancer and pregnancy, is a black and white issue. Either you is or you ain't. And the fact is that free speech laws should not be there to protect those who speak reasonably and follow consensus; they are there to protect morons like Bishop Williamson, idiots who deny the Holocaust.

Free speech should be free.

Dumb and dumber.

WFDS

2139...Leaving On A Jet Plane

Wait, no, coz of the Icelandy thingymuhbob not so much.

It was widely reported that John Cleese, the Monty Python lad, had to get from here to there so he took a cab ride.

Here was Oslo, Norway.

There was Brussels, Belgium.

The lad took a cab.

1,500 dollars, six countries and more than a half a day and he was in Brussels.

WFDS

2138...Taser Update From The Queen's Cowboys

CFRA reports that Hundreds of Tasers were destroyed or retired by the RCMP after laboratory tests found some stun guns were not performing properly.

What brought this on?

An internal RCMP note shows 15 per cent of the older M26 model Tasers and one per cent of the newer models did not test within technical tolerances.

A briefing note for RCMP Commissioner William Elliott says the Tasers that did not meet tolerances “were destroyed and replaced by divisions.”

Elliott ordered all Tasers in the RCMP inventory to be tested last June.

Wonder who they tested them on.

WFDS

2137...On The Other Hand I Bet His Warcraft Score

Is phenomenal.

Takayuki Iwase, 30, living at home with his parents [not that there is anything wrong with that]loves going on the Internet [not that there is anything wrong with that]so much so that when his dad cut off the 'net [not that there is anything wrong with that]he stabbed his entire family and set the house on fire [there is a lot wrong with that].

The Japan Times reports that he killed two out of five family members: daddy dearest and a one year old nephew. This is a faux pas in Japan.

WFDS

2136...Today's Meaningless Stat

The Daily Mail, a Brit bird cage liner, reports that India's mobile subscribers totalled 563.73 million at the last count, enough to serve nearly half of the country's 1.2 billion population.

But just 366 million people - around a third of the population - had access to proper sanitation in 2008, said the study published by the United Nations University, a UN think-tank.

This is one of those stats that are made to alarm you of course but, seriously, wtf eh?

WFDS

2135...Yeah But Besides ThatHowWas The Prom?

Tuxedo rental: $125. Limosine rental: $200/hr. Having to call your mom for a ride home because your rented limo was repossessed while you were inside at prom? Priceless.

Oklahoma's Channel 8 reports that "Students attending their prom at the Oklahoma Aquarium got quite a scare Friday, as an auto repossession company took their limos. According to Jenks Police, the limos belonged to Galaxy Limousine and Executive Charter. Initially, the limos were reported stolen. Further investigation proved the vehicles were being repossessed."

Galaxy Limousine and Executive Charter [a division of Fly By Night Enterprises] owner Jim Nicolotti says it was all a big misunderstanding. The kids still had to call their mom's though; not his problem.

WFDS

2134...Alcohol: Bad For You?

Whodda thunk it.

Flipping through The Daily Orange, Syracuse University's daily paper, I came across a story that claims that alcohol use is bad for you.

I know, hard to believe.

It is especially bad for you if you are a young woman who has plans to get older.

Claire McFarland writes that "Regularly consuming alcohol may put teenage girls at a higher risk for developing benign breast disease in their 20s, according to a recent study conducted by Harvard researchers."

Quoting from Harvard's Growing Up Today study: " 'Our main finding was that adolescent girls in high school and college who typically had seven drinks total each week were 50 percent more likely to develop benign breast disease in their late 20s. Also, drinking three or more days per week greatly increased their risk,' said Catherine Berkey, lead researcher and biostatistician at Harvard Medical School."

Miss McFarland continues with these sobering words: "The Harvard University School of Public Health defines binge drinking as five drinks in one sitting for men and four drinks in one sitting for women. Recent data have also shown an increase in the number of young female binge drinkers in the United States. Girls today are four times more likely than their mothers were to begin drinking by age 16, Time magazine reported in its April 1 issue."

WFDS

2133...I Thought Hockey Was Our National Sport

So, I am in the captial of, Ottawa, a city that is about a third francophone by the way, it is Saturday night and I decide to twofer it.

May be even fourfer it.

I decide to visit my dear mom, she's 81 you know, and show her some love by doing my laundry there and eating her food.

While she is watching Daniel O'Donnell on the telly upstairs I repair to the LCD in the basement to watch a little HNIC on CBC. It's Saturday night, it is Canada and the Habs are playing the Capitals in the playoffs.

And the CBC is showing...curling.

Curling.

Oy freaking vey.

And coz mom has ghetto cable, doesn't get as high as the sports channels no hockey.

Still, no worry, on the way home I will check out the scores on our local Senators station, The Team 1200.

No such luck.

The bean counters at CHUM have decided that instead of paying some local chucklehead twelve bucks an hour to talk hockey they will bring in an NBA themed talkshow from FOX Sports.

Would someone please tell Ian Morrison that this is why local TV and Radio is failing in this country.

Curling over hockey; NBA talk over hockey talk.

Oy vey, oy very vey.

WFDS

2132...Bernie Carbo, Hall Of Famer

Unless you are a baseball freak the name Bernie Carbo probably doesn't resonate.

Nonetheless he did play eleven years in the bigs and he came off the bench to hit one of the most amazing homers in World Series history, a three run pinch-hit shot in the eighth inning of game six of the 1975 World Series, the greatest game in the history of the Fall Classic.

Last week he told The Boston Globe that he had smoked two joints, drunk three or four beers and swallow some amphetamines and a pain pill that day before being summoned from the bench.

He also told The Globe that that was the norm for Mr. Carbo: "I don't think I ever missed a day of being high. I played the outfield sometimes where it looked like the stars were falling from the sky."

This is why the career .264 hitter, 96 dingers, deserves not only to be in the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame [he is] he also deserves to be in Cooperstown.

WFDS

2131...Enough Already

On the front page of one of the papers I read this morning, honestly forget which one, they had the earth shattering news that when the former Miss Huronia, the current Honourable Helena Guergis, was in her late teens and early twenties she used to go to nightclubs.

With boys.

OMG.

WFDS

2130...Gluttony Is Delicious

A record has been set, I presume, in Corporal Klinger's hometown of Toledo, Ohio.

Sports Illustrated reports that the International League Triple A Mud Hens are serving up a 3800 calorie treat [the average adult male needs about 2000 cals a day]. The treat, served inside a regulation size helmet [think plastic hat] has 15 scoops of ice cream and is called the Fantastic Freeze Sundae.

Twenty five bucks.

WFDS

2129...Nice Work If You Can Get It

SportingIntelligence.com reports that the average salary of the New Yankees baseball team's starting players is seven million.

Each.

For a summer job.

The highest salary of any sports team on the green planet.

WFDS

2128...Job Opening

From the weekend Metro in Ottawa comes this fantastic work opportunity.

Zimbabwe's government is in desperate need of a hangman. They have fifty inmates on death row at the big house outside of the capital of Harare and their last executioner packed it in, guilty conscience apparently, back in '04.

Work is steady but spotty. Some days he would drop up to four prisoners to their maker at dawn, other days one and then would have a gap of months between gigs.

No mention of what the money is like. One should apply through the normal channels.

WFDS

2128...Riders For The Stars

Editorial that appeared earlier this week in the London Times [I done thought it was the Times of London] exposed riders of the stars, newly minted and old school.

Elton John needs 74 towels. jennifer Lopez wants white flowers, curtains and sofas and needs to have her coffee to be stirred anti-clockwise. Sarah Palin and Mariah Carey need an ample supply of bendy strawa. Ms. Carey refuses to descend staircases, telling an organizer at an award show that "I don't do stairs."

Mrs. Palin, who, career highlight, was in Hamilton this week, demands first class flights from Alaska or a private jet, Lear 600 or larger. Questions must be both pre selected and pre screened.

But as long as the Governor has hands, no teleprompter required.

WFDS

2127...Things Not To Do While Drunk In Nfoundland

Drive.

Drive a stolen car.

Yell insults at a cop driving by.

Coppers in Newfoundland told the St. John's Telegraph that a 47 year man, behind the wheel of a parked stolen car, was pulled over to the side of the road when he decided to let 50 on the Rock know how he felt about them. A drunk 47 year old man.

He has been charged with car theft, two counts of impared driving, three counts of breaching his probation and three counts of breeching a recognizance.

Translation: He is in trouble deep.

WFDS

2126...We Have A Winner

The Category: Losers.

The Winner: Laura Hall.

The hot twenty year old blonde has become the first person in the history of history to get banned from every pub, every club, every liquor store, every, every, everything to do with booze across the entire England and Wales.

West Mercia Police applied to magistrates after Hall was convicted of breaching an Asbo imposed for drink-related anti-social behaviour.

The Daily Mail has the simple yet tough order in its article about the twenty year old party animal. To wit: "It bans Laura Hall from drinking or buying alcohol in any licensed premises across England and Wales. The conditions will also help to protect the public from the anti-social effects of Laura's behaviour."

Or not.

I did mention she was a hot blonde, did I not?

WFDS

2125...Damned If U Do Damned If You Are Guergis

Either she did not do enough as a Minister or she did too much. Bad enough her desk has been put out in the hall and, because she had her bathroom key taken away, she has to walk to the Zeller's on Sparks Street to go to the loo.

Now this.

Libby Davis, MP, Député
Vancouver - East
House Leader, New Democratic Party
Leader à la Chmabre, Nouveau Parti Démocratique


April 16, 2010


Mary Dawson
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
Parliament of Canada
66 Slater Street, 22nd Floor
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6

Ms. Dawson,

I write to you today to formally request that you investigate the conduct of the Honourable Helena Guergis, former
Minister of State (Status of Women). It appears that Ms. Guergis, while a cabinet minister and Member of
Parliament, may have violated Article 9 of the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of Parliament, Section 4 of the
Conflict of Interest Act and perhaps other applicable statutes.

Article 9 of the Code. A Member shall not use his or her position as a Member to influence a decision
of another person so as to further the Member's private interests or those of a member of his or her
family, or to improperly further another person's or entity's private interests.

Section 4 of the Act. For the purposes of this Act, a public office holder is in a conflict of interest
when he or she exercises an official power, duty or function that provides an opportunity to further his
or her private interests or those of his or her relatives or friends or to improperly further another
person's private interests.

On April 16 2008, an article by Kevin Donovan in The Toronto Star newspaper reported that Ms. Guergis wrote in
September 2009 to a municipal official on behalf of Wright Tech Systems, in her words to "encourage [him] to
consider [Wright's] presentation about alternative waste management technology."

The Star has reported on the business relationship between Ms. Guergis' spouse, former Member of Parliament and
Conservative Caucus Chair Rahim Jaffer, Toronto area businessman Nizam Gillani, and Wright Tech Systems. It
appears that Ms. Guergis and her family had a private interest in Wright Tech Systems and that Ms. Guergis'
promotion of the company could have furthered the interests of her and her family.

This would appear to be in direct conflict with the Code, and I formally request that you investigate.

I am at your disposal to provide any further information, as required.

Sincerely,

[original signed by]
Libby Davies, MP

Attached: Toronto Star article of 16 April 2010, page A1

Of course take this with both a grain of salt and a bit of jealous. Right letters all you want Dipper Davies [Davis, Davis, it is D A V I S] but you ain't influencing squat.

WFDS

2124...Canada Keeps Getting Meaner And Meaner

Take a look at this my peeps. Angela Hall at Canwest News Service tells that our only rectangular shaped province, Saskatchewan, "...may scrap its Human Rights Tribunal in favour of having rights cases heard by the courts, the province's justice minister said yesterday."

NDP MLA Frank Quennell made a good point in the capital of Saskatchewan, one of the most racist and dangerous cities in North America, Regina when he said that he felt that politics were at play. "'I think there are supporters of the [governing] Saskatchewan Party who aren't happy with decisions of human rights tribunals over the years and that is part of the motivation here,' Mr. Quennell said, pointing to a particular tribunal decision that found a Regina marriage commissioner had discriminated against a same-sex couple by declining to marry them."

For sure, as Miss Hall writes, "Human rights bodies across the country have been accused in recent years of attempting to limit free speech or overstep their authority. The latest controversy involves a case before the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, in which a lesbian claims she was discriminated against by a stand-up comedian.

Other notable cases have included free speech campaigner Ezra Levant, co-founder of the Western Standard magazine. Mr. Levant had a complaint registered against him with the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission after the Western Standard published cartoons depicting Muhammad. The complaint was withdrawn."

But, especially in a province that has many cleavages such as Saskatchewan, they are a necessary evil.

WFDS

2123...Egg On My Face/He Didn't Mention That

In WFDS Post 2121 I rambled eloquently about the coach of the University of Ottawa Gee Gee's men's basketball team quitting and wondering where Coach DeAveiro would end up.

Apparently he forgot to include that in his note. Neate Seager's CIS Blog tells that Coach DeAveiro is going to be prowling the sidelines at McGill University in Montreal from now on.

The Athletic Director at McGill is Drew Love, the man who was smart enough to give an unknown coach a chance to lead the Ravens when he was at Carleton, has hired the University of Ottawa's ex coach.

Mr. Seager writes that "...he transformed from one of the worst teams in the country to a contender which earned CIS tournament berths in 2005, '07 and '09. One has to wonder how Ottawa athletic director Luc Gélineau can rationalize letting DeAveiro, who presided over a perennial Top 10 men's basketball team, walk away weeks after Denis Piché stepped down from a perennial Top 10 football team." He also mentions that the U of Zero's women's hockey coach, Shelley Coolidge, crossed town to coach the women's team at Carleton. Losing three young coaches; all these coaches are around 40, running programs that are wining games, lots of them, is symtomatic of culture problem at the University of Ottawa.

WFDS

2122...MoreOnThe Former Minister Of Trainwrecks

Court records reveal that Derrick Snowdy has filed for bankruptcy, with total liabilities of $13,313,976.

CBC reports that Mr. Snowdy is the Private Investigator who dropped a dime on the Honourable Helena Guergis and her husband Rahim Jaffer.

The Honourable Guergis has decried the "...innuendo from anonymous sources..." that derailed her political career. She said she contacted the Mounties and the ethics commissioner to offer her full co-operation once she heard the prime minister had referred the case to them.

Source is not anonymous anymore. Furthermore I like the streak of spunk that the former minister is showing.

Stephen Harper may have moved her desk out into the hall but he hasn't taken away her chutzpah.


WFDS

2121...WTF At The U Of Zero

I have written previously about the coach of the University of Ottawa Gee Gees, David Deaveiro. Specifically I have written about how I loved watching him snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, especially when playing against cross town rivals Carleton.

I am a pure fan and I had a love/hate relationship with the coach: I loved to hate him. Still I am a big enough man to give credit where credit is due. When Coach Deaveiro took over the Gee Gees they were a mess; even though he could not get them over the hump he has turned them into a perennial top ten team in Canada and kudos for that for true.

Therefore it is sad to have to inform that Coach Deaveiro sent out an email to his contacts yesterday announcing his resignation. The dude is pretty young, like forty years old, and still has a lot of miles on the odometer and, my love of hating him aside, was not too shabby coaching the Gee Gees.

He doesn't say in his missive where he is going; rumours earlier in the year were that he was going to York University but that job was filled last week. Nonetheless one may be rest assured that where ever Coach D goes winning will follow.

Best wishes.

WFDS

2120...Are You In Hamilton Tonight?

Coz if you are you may go see America's Sweetheart, Sarah Palin. She is speaking at Carmen Hall in the Steel City tonight.

Money raised at the $200-a-plate dinner will go to Hamilton's Charity of Hope, a non-profit group benefiting Hamilton children in need that was founded about 10 years ago and features celebrity dinners, with speakers as diverse as Justin Trudeau and Canadian Idol alumnus Ryan Melpo.

For the Palin event the Toronto Star reports that some of the 900 guests paid $1,000 a ticket for the opportunity to have their picture taken with the star and receive an autographed copy of her book.

It is rumoured that the Governor is getting 100 K for the night, USD, about 99 K Canuckistanian, so the return on the money is a good one for the Charity of Hope.

Look for me, right up front, in my star spangled sombrero.

WFDS

2119...Keith Martin Un Fear Mongers

If their goal, they being the Stephen Harpers, is to put everyone in jail, well, not everyone but more people, ala Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and the other anti progressive states, districts and territories in the United States of.

Keith Martin has a better idea. From The Mark:

Decriminalize Marijuana
By only charging a fine for the simple possession of marijuana, we could reduce harm, cost, and criminal activity.
Keith Martin
Member of Parliament, Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca, B.C., Liberal Party of Canada; MD.


By This Author
Decriminalize Marijuana

By only charging a fine for the simple possession of marijuana, we could reduce harm, cost, and criminal activity....

Decriminalize Marijuana Possession

The Conservative government's draconian drug policies miss the point: Substance abuse is a medical problem, not a judicial one; and casual pot users don't belong in jail. ...Follow The Mark First published Apr 15, 2010Email to a friendShare 3The lethal gun battles on the streets of Vancouver, the astounding number of murders in Mexico, and the insurgency that continues to grow in Afghanistan (which results in our soldiers being killed) all have one thing in common: the trafficking of illegal drugs.

The U.S.-style war on drugs that is being pursued by Canada's Conservative government has proven to be an utter failure. It has not reduced crime, harm or even drug use. The only groups benefitting from the status quo are organized crime gangs, insurgent groups, and terrorist organizations. Who pays a heavy price? Society, our soldiers, some of the world's poorest countries, and the most vulnerable people in our communities.

So how do we deal with this? First, our government needs to change its perspective and see substance abuse as a medical problem, not a judicial one. In order to reduce the supply of illegal drugs flowing into our communities and, by extension, the funding of organized criminal groups and insurgents, we must get our own house in order and reduce the demand for these drugs.

One initiative that is needed to modernize our drug laws is to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana, including the possession of up to two plants. This will cut the connection between the gangs involved in commercial grow ops and casual pot users.

Bill C-359 was introduced last spring to accomplish these goals. Under this bill, a person who is caught with less than 30 grams of marijuana or less than two plants would receive a fine instead of going through the expensive court system and receiving a criminal record, or even incarceration if found guilty. The money saved could be invested in prevention programs like the Head Start/Early Learning Program for children or drug treatment programs like NAOMI.

Many studies, including those done by House of Commons committees, have found that current federal drug policies have not been effective at reducing drug use, trafficking, crime, and harm. In 2002, the Senate Report on Illegal Drugs called for the decriminalization of the simple possession of marijuana. Respected organizations like the Canadian Medical Association have also echoed this position.

The medical profession has a principle: do no harm. We are actually doing terrible harm and will do so for as long as we continue to address substance abuse as a criminal issue. Decriminalizing the simple possession of marijuana would be a start at reducing harm, cost, and criminal activity in Canada. Several states in the U.S. have done this with positive results, as have many countries in Europe. Canada can and should do it too.

Of course they, the Stephen Harpers, don't wish to cloud the issue with facts.

WFDS

2118...Happy Birthday McDicks

Twas on this day back in '55 that Ray Kroc opened the first Mickey Dees in suburban Chicago, Des Plaines, Illinois to be precise.

Got make a visit.

WFDS

2117...Tom Flanagan Fear Mongers

The University of Calgary professor and personal friend of Stephen Harper is trying to scare the bejeezus out of you. Tom Flanagan doesn't subscribe to group think; he creates it.

Tom Flanagan

From Thursday's Globe and Mail

It has become fashionable among the commentariat to say Canada doesn't need to spend more money on law enforcement and prison construction because crime rates are falling. There is a grain of truth in this, but it is far from the whole story.

According to Statistics Canada, rates for both violent crimes and property crimes have been going down since they peaked in the early 1990s. Overall rates are now comparable to what they were in the late 1970s. That might sound pretty good, but should we be satisfied? Hardly.

In fact, rates for all crimes went up dramatically for 30 years starting in the early 1960s until they began to decline in the 1990s. The causes for both increase and decrease are much debated, but the facts are hardly in question. Even after recent declines, property crimes are still half again as common as reported in 1962, the beginning of Statistics Canada's modern data series. The rate of violent crime is still four times greater than in 1962. And, contrary to other, more encouraging trends, the rate of violent crime for young people 12 to 17 years old remains at a historic high. We are still living in times of abnormally and unnecessarily high crime rates that undermine trust in civil society.

I'm not delighted about getting older, but it does have the advantage of conferring a longer memory. I can remember what it was like to be a boy in the 1950s, when crime was virtually unknown in the lives of ordinary people. My father drove all over the county in his work but never locked his car. We didn't lock our house unless we went away overnight. I could ride my bike downtown to the Saturday-afternoon movie and leave it unlocked on the curbside. I never saw a bike lock until the 1970s.

The explosion of crime has changed all that. Today, we lock up our bicycles, cars and houses. Parents are afraid to let their children walk to school or play in the park alone. I can't even imagine what my childhood would have been like if we had been so obsessed with security.

Not only are our crime rates still far too high in chronological perspective, they are not as good as we imagine in geographical comparison. We like to think of ourselves as a far more law-abiding society than the Great Satan to the south, but the truth is more complex.

The American reputation for lawlessness derives primarily from its murder rate, which is indeed abnormally high among modern liberal democracies and about three times the Canadian rate. But the elevated murder rate is primarily found among geographically concentrated ethnic minorities. Elsewhere in the United States, murder rates are comparable to or even lower than that in Canada. For example, the murder rate in Lincoln, Neb., and Grand Forks, N.D., is lower than in Regina.

Comparisons of other violent crimes are difficult to make because of differing legal definitions in the two countries (e.g., rape in the United States vs. sexual assault in Canada). But in the field of property crime, where these legal differences are less significant, American and Canadian rates are broadly similar, with the United States sometimes having the advantage. For example, car theft is relatively more common north than south of the border.

This is not to say the United States is a paradise; there is still far too much crime there. But there is also far too much crime in Canada. Both societies still have a lot of work to do to reconstruct the peaceful social order that once existed.

Incapacitation of criminals through imprisonment is a crucial part of the equation. People who can't control their urges have to be restrained to prevent harm to others. Yes, it costs a lot of money. But so what if it costs more to keep a criminal in prison for a year than it does to maintain a soldier in the Canadian Forces or a student at university? The relevant comparison is between the cost of incarceration and the savings to society generated by crime prevention. The cost of crime is so high (estimated at $70-billion annually by Statistics Canada in 2003) that imprisonment of serious and repeat offenders is an excellent investment in purely economic terms - to say nothing of the value of restoring people's faith in justice.

Tom Flanagan is a professor of political science at the University of Calgary and a former Conservative campaign manager.

Yeah, building jails will work. Or, wait, we could rationalize our laws for our people, f*ck what the Yanks say. Start with the evil and pointless war on drugs pal; regulate it and you mostly keep it out of the hands of children and knock the criminal element on their ass.