The Ontario Special Investigations Unit has taken over the investigation of the Stacy Bonds case. The Ottawa police "internal investigation" is now history. And so is the likelihood of any quick resolution of the matter.The SIU is notorious for finding in favour of the police 97% of the time. It also takes months, even years, for it to complete its dubious work. And even in the exceedingly rare cases when it does support the victims of police brutality, it cannot penetrate the Blue Wall, in good part because the fix is inevitably in.So the Ottawa police are off the hook for now.Chief Vern …
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The Ontario Special Investigations Unit has taken over the investigation of the Stacy Bonds case. The Ottawa police "internal investigation" is now history. And so is the likelihood of any quick resolution of the matter.The SIU is notorious for finding in favour of the police 97% of the time. It also takes months, even years, for it to complete its dubious work. And even in the exceedingly rare cases when it does support the victims of police brutality, it cannot penetrate the Blue Wall, in good part because the fix is inevitably in.So the Ottawa police are off the hook for now.Chief Vern …
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The clowns at Rights and Democracy, hoping that their quarter-million-dollar "forensic audit" would prove that the place had been horribly mismanaged until they showed up with their red noses, noisemakers and big floppy shoes, are now in a bind.The report, due last Spring, and seen by the R&D Board several days ago, has still not been released to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs.It's pretty obvious that the audit has revealed nothing except their own vindictive foolishness.Nobody can sum up this continuing travesty better than Paul Wells, who, like …
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The clowns at Rights and Democracy, hoping that their quarter-million-dollar "forensic audit" would prove that the place had been horribly mismanaged until they showed up with their red noses, noisemakers and big floppy shoes, are now in a bind.The report, due last Spring, and seen by the R&D Board several days ago, has still not been released to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs.It's pretty obvious that the audit has revealed nothing except their own vindictive foolishness.Nobody can sum up this continuing travesty better than Paul Wells, who, like myself, is …
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My brother emailed me in some concern about the hideous new look of Dawg's Blawg. I assume he's not alone.Readers, be reassured: the pastels will be gone soon, and we'll be back to the old look and feel. The transition--no mean task--is continuing, through a veritable minefield of glitches.Wish us luck, and mind your eyes. …
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My brother emailed me in some concern about the hideous new look of Dawg's Blawg. I assume he's not alone.Readers, be reassured: the pastels will be gone soon, and we'll be back to the old look and feel. The transition--no mean task--is continuing, through a veritable minefield of glitches.Wish us luck, and mind your eyes. …
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A few headlines from you-know-who's place. No links, given the particulars of yesterday's judgement.28 April 2008 Good grief. Now Giacomo Vigna is threatening to sue me! 22 July 2008 CHRC lawyer threatens me with another lawsuit. (I'm still "serene")1 August 2008 My defence in Vigna v. Levant: Vigna beclowned himself15 March 2010 The trial of Vigna v. Levant begins in Ottawa23 June 2010 The trial of Vigna v. Levant continues in Ottawa tomorrow18 November 2010 Whoops! …
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A few headlines from you-know-who's place. No links, given the particulars of yesterday's judgement.28 April 2008 Good grief. Now Giacomo Vigna is threatening to sue me! 22 July 2008 CHRC lawyer threatens me with another lawsuit. (I'm still "serene")1 August 2008 My defence in Vigna v. Levant: Vigna beclowned himself15 March 2010 The trial of Vigna v. Levant begins in Ottawa23 June 2010 The trial of Vigna v. Levant continues in Ottawa tomorrow18 November 2010 Whoops! …
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After Don Bayne's masterful deconstruction of the French Record of Case and the multiple misrepresentations therein, what was left to the prosecution?Mudslinging and personal insults.If the facts are against you, argue the law. If the law is against you, argue the facts. If the law and the facts are against you, pound the table and yell like hell.Way to go, Claude LeFrançois. What a confession of defeat. …
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After Don Bayne's masterful deconstruction of the French Record of Case and the multiple misrepresentations therein, what was left to the prosecution?Mudslinging and personal insults.If the facts are against you, argue the law. If the law is against you, argue the facts. If the law and the facts are against you, pound the table and yell like hell.Way to go, Claude LeFrançois. What a confession of defeat. …
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The mighty Ezra has struck out.Defamation--as others of Levant's politics are on the way to learning--is not a matter of free speech. He'll be shelling out $25,000, and costs, to Canadian Human Rights Commission officer Giacomo Vigna for repeated defamation.Big City Lib scooped me on this. Go read.And here's the whole decision for your additional reading pleasure. …
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The mighty Ezra has struck out.Defamation--as others of Levant's politics are on the way to learning--is not a matter of free speech. He'll be shelling out $25,000, and costs, to Canadian Human Rights Commission officer Giacomo Vigna for repeated defamation.Big City Lib scooped me on this. Go read.And here's the whole decision for your additional reading pleasure. …
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...er, the Pentagon. …
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...er, the Pentagon. …
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Tried! Mind you, I don't object to trying him, if it's got to be done to give satisfaction; and I'll be there, and chip in and help, too; but put it off till afternoon--put it off till afternoon, for I'll have my hands middling full till after the burying--""Why, what do you mean? Are you going to hang him any how--and try him afterward?""Didn't I say I was going to hang him? I never saw such people as you. What's the difference? You ask a favor, and then you ain't satisfied when you get it. Before or after's all one--you know how the trial will go. --Mark Twain, Roughing ItBut of course you …
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Tried! Mind you, I don't object to trying him, if it's got to be done to give satisfaction; and I'll be there, and chip in and help, too; but put it off till afternoon--put it off till afternoon, for I'll have my hands middling full till after the burying--""Why, what do you mean? Are you going to hang him any how--and try him afterward?""Didn't I say I was going to hang him? I never saw such people as you. What's the difference? You ask a favor, and then you ain't satisfied when you get it. Before or after's all one--you know how the trial will go. --Mark Twain, Roughing ItBut of course you …
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Ottawa Police Chief Vern White's limp response to a judge's ruling that four of his officers unlawfully detained, violently assaulted and strip-searched a young Black woman:Ottawa Police Sgt. Steve Desjourdy, the officer caught on videotape cutting a young female prisoner's shirt and bra off with a pair of scissors, will be forbidden from dealing with the public until the conclusion of an internal police investigation.What does this tell us? Far from firing this thug, or at the very least suspending him without pay until the conclusion of his two-years-late "internal investigation," …
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Ottawa Police Chief Vern White's limp response to a judge's ruling that four of his officers unlawfully detained, violently assaulted and strip-searched a young Black woman:Ottawa Police Sgt. Steve Desjourdy, the officer caught on videotape cutting a young female prisoner's shirt and bra off with a pair of scissors, will be forbidden from dealing with the public until the conclusion of an internal police investigation.What does this tell us? Far from firing this thug, or at the very least suspending him without pay until the conclusion of his two-years-late "internal investigation," …
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It could have been Mississippi, ca. 1950.A woman of colour, returning home after a party. A false arrest, a sadistic police sergeant, a trumped-up charge, a prosecutor attempting to jail the victim.But this is Ottawa, 2010. A judge called a halt to what he rightly called a "travesty." He couldn't ignore the videotape that showed a sustained assault on an unresisting prisoner by police officers, and the sexual and emotional humiliation of their victim.Stacy Bonds, a 27-year old theatrical makeup artist, was simply walking on the street. As reported, she was stopped by Ottawa police for no …
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It could have been Mississippi, ca. 1950.A woman of colour, returning home after a party. A false arrest, a sadistic police sergeant, a trumped-up charge, a prosecutor attempting to jail the victim.But this is Ottawa, 2010. A judge called a halt to what he rightly called a "travesty." He couldn't ignore the videotape that showed a sustained assault on an unresisting prisoner by police officers, and the sexual and emotional humiliation of their victim.Stacy Bonds, a 27-year old theatrical makeup artist, was simply walking on the street. As reported, she was stopped by Ottawa police for no …
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Please contact me. I can suggest legal counsel, and we can talk about setting up a fund to underwrite the costs of your lawsuit. …
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Please contact me. I can suggest legal counsel, and we can talk about setting up a fund to underwrite the costs of your lawsuit. …
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No, no, not my hometown hockey team. That bunch of unelected so-and-sos in what we laughingly call the Upper House, now stacked with assorted Tory cronies, bagpersons and hacks.These catspaws just killed a bill on climate change that had been passed by the elected House of Commons. And once again, the Liberals helped:Without any debate in the Red Chamber, Conservative senators caught their Liberal and unelected counterparts off-guard on Tuesday by calling a snap vote on Bill C-311, the Climate Change Accountability Act introduced by Bruce Hyer, a New Democrat who represents Thunder …
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No, no, not my hometown hockey team. That bunch of unelected so-and-sos in what we laughingly call the Upper House, now stacked with assorted Tory cronies, bagpersons and hacks.These catspaws just killed a bill on climate change that had been passed by the elected House of Commons. And once again, the Liberals helped:Without any debate in the Red Chamber, Conservative senators caught their Liberal and unelected counterparts off-guard on Tuesday by calling a snap vote on Bill C-311, the Climate Change Accountability Act introduced by Bruce Hyer, a New Democrat who represents Thunder …
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Professor Amir Attaran has been kind enough to pass on his thoughts on the Librocon decision to extend the Afghanistan mission. Rather than paraphrase and editorialize, I thought I should just reproduce his own words:Please allow me to share something about the necessity (or lack thereof) of the Canadian Forces remaining deployed until 2014 to train Afghanistan’s army. In pesky professor fashion I have compiled some useful statistics on the training of the Afghan army. Rather than write an op-ed, I am sending the facts to my journalist friends to use. I don’t care whether or not you …
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Professor Amir Attaran has been kind enough to pass on his thoughts on the Librocon decision to extend the Afghanistan mission. Rather than paraphrase and editorialize, I thought I should just reproduce his own words:Please allow me to share something about the necessity (or lack thereof) of the Canadian Forces remaining deployed until 2014 to train Afghanistan’s army. In pesky professor fashion I have compiled some useful statistics on the training of the Afghan army. Rather than write an op-ed, I am sending the facts to my journalist friends to use. I don’t care whether or not you …
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In which the temperature in Hell drops precipitously, and I agree with Ezra Levant. …
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In which the temperature in Hell drops precipitously, and I agree with Ezra Levant. …
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Man cannot live by beard alone. And, would you like fires with that? …
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Man cannot live by beard alone. And, would you like fires with that? …
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An articulate 14-year-old gay youth stands up to school board officials in Howell, Michigan.Classic double-think: opposing open homophobia, according to these bigots, is intolerant. The kid blew them out of the water. Watch, listen and applaud.UPDATE: (November 15) Reader Jim suggests writing a polite note to the school authorities. See his in the comments. …
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An articulate 14-year-old gay youth stands up to school board officials in Howell, Michigan.Classic double-think: opposing open homophobia, according to these bigots, is intolerant. The kid blew them out of the water. Watch, listen and applaud.UPDATE: (November 15) Reader Jim suggests writing a polite note to the school authorities. See his in the comments. …
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I guess I'm suddenly in a law and order mood, but what the heck--I believe in sharing.A man with more than 30 criminal convictions was granted a day pass while serving a five-year sentence for forcible confinement, sexual assault and fraud. He had taken staff hostage in a restaurant after refusing to pay for his meal.He walked away. Surprised?So now there's a national alert out for Mohammed Shaleem Gafoor. And then the story veers into surrealism: Gafoor is described as non-white, five-foot-eight, 130 pounds, with short black hair, brown eyes and glasses. He has a tracheotomy scar on his neck …
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I guess I'm suddenly in a law and order mood, but what the heck--I believe in sharing.A man with more than 30 criminal convictions was granted a day pass while serving a five-year sentence for forcible confinement, sexual assault and fraud. He had taken staff hostage in a restaurant after refusing to pay for his meal.He walked away. Surprised?So now there's a national alert out for Mohammed Shaleem Gafoor. And then the story veers into surrealism: Gafoor is described as non-white, five-foot-eight, 130 pounds, with short black hair, brown eyes and glasses. He has a tracheotomy scar on his neck …
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Those bloggers who signed on to the JS-Kit commenting system and were frogmarched into Echo are discovering what it's like to be over a barrel and righteously hosed.When Echo took over, we had to pay $10US for the coming year, after enjoying a previously free service. Now we're being notified that the cost has gone up--by 1200%. We will now be charged $10US per month. Presumably if we fail to pay, our comments will be disappeared.So I knuckled under. My renewal date is December 14. But just as I was about to hit the "pay" button, I noticed that the li'l darlings were starting the clock at …
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Those bloggers who signed on to the JS-Kit commenting system and were frogmarched into Echo are discovering what it's like to be over a barrel and righteously hosed.When Echo took over, we had to pay $10US for the coming year, after enjoying a previously free service. Now we're being notified that the cost has gone up--by 1200%. We will now be charged $10US per month. Presumably if we fail to pay, our comments will be disappeared.So I knuckled under. My renewal date is December 14. But just as I was about to hit the "pay" button, I noticed that the li'l darlings were starting the clock at …
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A few bits and snippets to depress and inform readers on another fair November day.Item: The Librocons cut an extra-Parliamentary deal on Afghanistan, and don't be fooled by all the "non-combat" malarkey. Warren the K has a good piece up on this, and buried in the comments is a reference that may (as it does in the case of the bloodstained Colombian free trade agreement) explain pretty much everything.Item: The Harper government makes more aboriginal women disappear. Now, from the excellent Alison, we have an update on the story behind the Tory blacklisting of Sisters in Spirit. As for the …
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A few bits and snippets to depress and inform readers on another fair November day.Item: The Librocons cut an extra-Parliamentary deal on Afghanistan, and don't be fooled by all the "non-combat" malarkey. Warren the K has a good piece up on this, and buried in the comments is a reference that may (as it does in the case of the bloodstained Colombian free trade agreement) explain pretty much everything.Item: The Harper government makes more aboriginal women disappear. Now, from the excellent Alison, we have an update on the story behind the Tory blacklisting of Sisters in Spirit. As for the …
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A few bits and snippets to depress and inform readers on another fair November day.Item: The Librocons cut an extra-Parliamentary deal on Afghanistan, and don't be fooled by all the "non-combat" malarkey. Warren the K has a good piece up on this, and buried in the comments is a reference that may (as it does in the case of the bloodstained Colombian free trade agreement) explain pretty much everything.Item: The Harper government makes more aboriginal women disappear. Now, from the excellent Alison, we have an update on the story behind the Tory blacklisting of Sisters in Spirit. As for the …
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To serve and protect: the G20 police riot revisited.There will be no punishment. And most people, in their ignorance, will support their local police with their eyes wide shut.No matter what. No matter the laws they break. No matter whom they assault. No matter whom they kill.In Canada, 2010, the beasts are running the zoo.[H/t Stageleft] …
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