Category: Good Stuff

This is what I love about cartoonists. They can, if they’re good at what they do, take some of the most complex issues that you can think of and reduce them to the bare bones of what they really are; all in just a couple of panels. I have to admit that I sometimes catch myself wishing that I could do nifty stuff like that myself, but the fact of the matter is that I have all the artistic talent of a lobotomized warthog, so it’s not likely to happen. Guys like Mike Lester, on the other hand…

(you can find more of Mike’s stuff in the Rome News-Tribune, from Rome, GA)

Well, it’s about God damned time.  That’s all I can say.  Latest word has it that HMCS Corner Brook — one of the four Victoria-class submarines we bought from the Brits in ’98 — is going to be on its way to the waters off Baffin Island this summer to participate in Operation Nanook.

Finally, we can start exerting our sovereignty over our own damned waters ourselves, instead of having a bunch of damned Yank subs puttering around up there…

“Sending a sub up to northern waters has significant ramifications for our ability to know what’s going on,” said Rob Huebert of the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary.

Basing and operating a sub in North Atlantic and Arctic waters keeps Canada privy to high-level NATO information-sharing between other nations who operate submarines, he said.

“The moment you start operating in those waters, what kicks in under NATO is you have to share that information with each other, so they don’t go bumping into each other in the night.”

And how many more hundreds to go? If I start seeing this kind of thing on a regular basis, I might have to create an “Un-stupid Judge Tricks” category to file them under.

Some of you might remember the name of Angel Jones. He’s the shithouse-rat-crazy whackjob from Hogtown that munched off his girlfriend’s nose back in February of ’04…

During the dangerous offender hearing, court heard Jones bit his lover’s nose off just hours after being released from jail in February 2004.

He then beat and tortured the woman for an hour while smoking a cigar. During the vicious attack, Jones also called 911 and taunted an operator. The conversation, therefore, was recorded on tape.

The victim, whose identity is protected by a court order, was able to get to the phone and say she feared she was going to be killed.

“What’s going on there?” the dispatcher asked.

“I don’t know … he’s going to kill me. He said he’s going to hurt me,” the victim says.

The dispatcher heard the victim say “Brimley Road,” but because the call was made from a cell phone, police could not pinpoint her exact location.

Officers drove around the area blasting air horns so the operator could hear the dispatcher. The plan worked, and police found Jones and his victim.

Doctors were unable to attach the woman’s nose. She has undergone numerous reconstructive surgeries and her nose has been rebuilt, but she testified she doesn’t recognize herself now.

Yeah, he’s a real gem, alright. As the Freeps put it: “Two forensic psychiatrists concluded Jones is a narcissistic psychopath and it is highly likely he will reoffend either sexually or violently.” It’s not like he hasn’t proven a pattern of behaviour:

In 2004, a jury convicted Jones of aggravated assault, uttering death threats and sexual assault for his attack. Jones has attacked his mother, stepfather, sister, girlfriends, fellow inmates, jail guards and anyone who would provoke him in the slightest.

So what the hell was this asshole doing walking around in the first place? Well, that’s one thing that we won’t have to worry about in the future:

TORONTO (Sun Media) – A psychopathic thug who chewed off his girlfriend’s nose and permanently disfigured her has been sent to prison indefinitely.

“His conduct was evil. He destroyed her attractiveness and murdered her personality,” Superior Court Justice Eugene Ewaschuk said yesterday as he declared Angel Jones, 30, a dangerous offender.

[…]

“Jones is an extremely dangerous man and he’s precisely the kind of individual the dangerous offender legislation was aimed at,” said Crown attorney Paul Amenta.

Finally, a judge that seems to get it. The question is: what the hell took the “justice” system so long to figure out that this psycho is beyond redemption? The guy was only in his late 20s and had 35 (yes, THIRTY-FIVE) previous convictions, fer Chrissakes!  What the hell were all the other judges thinking?

At least Ewaschuk showed some balls/brains…

I’m not sure if it’s in bad taste or not, filing this post under “Good Stuff,” what with it being about the return of fallen soldiers and all. But one thing that I am sure of is that the respect shown to them as the three fallen PPCLI infantrymen were borne away from CFB Trenton along Hwy. 401. If there ever really was any doubt about whether or not John and Jane Q. Canadian actually are 100% behind our soldiers in Afghanistan, I think it can now be put to rest.

Weblinks being the prone-to-expiring things that they are, and this being so good, I’ve decided on putting the whole thing up here:

Hundreds line Hwy. 401 bridges to bid goodbye to fallen troopers
By CHRIS DOUCETTE AND PETE FISHER, SUN MEDIA

Port Hope firefighters on top of their truck join other mourners to salute the three hearses carrying Canada’s most recent fallen heroes along Hwy. 401 yesterday. (Pete Fisher, Sun Media)

In a brilliant and emotional show of support, a sea of red and white lined the overpasses east of the city last night in honour of the three soldiers to be killed in Afghanistan last week.

Hundreds of people stood on several overpasses from Northumberland County to Durham, most either wearing Canada’s colours or waving a Canadian flag, as the convoy carrying the three fallen members of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry made its way along Hwy. 401.

“I think it’s wonderful,” Linda Thomson, 50, said of the show of support for Canada’s troops as honking horns from cars below her filled the evening air.

Linda and her husband were among one of the largest groups of supporters in Durham — more than 100 — standing on the Brock St. overpass in their hometown of Whitby.

“I don’t support the war, I wish they would all come home,” Linda added. “But we have to support our soldiers.”

In Northumberland County, where people been showing their support from the overpasses since the first Canadian soldiers were killed in Afghanistan, 200 people lined one bridge in Port Hope. It was the first time Denise Sheehan and her daughter Megan, 3, attended an unofficial ceremony in Port Hope.

“They took their time to go fight for us, so I think we should take our time to come show our respect for them,” Sheehan said.

Every fire department in Northumberland County, as well as Northumberland County Paramedics and OPP, Cobourg and Port Hope Police, had bridges covered, saluting the procession as it went by.

Durham firefighters and paramedics also lined up with their vehicles.

The dead soldiers — Cpl. Stephen Bouzane, 26, a Scarborough native, Pte. Joel Wiebe, 22, and Sgt. Christos Karigiannis — arrived by plane at CFB Trenton, and after a ceremony at the base, the bodies were driven to the coroner’s office in Toronto be examined before being released to their families.

“We don’t like war, nobody does. But they are over there to help not to hurt,” said Hughy Robertshaw, 62, who drove to Whitby from his home in Milton to pay his respects.

Come to think of it, maybe filing this under “Good Stuff” wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

As you’ve likely heard, the federal Tories are once again firing one across the Grits’ bow with another series of ads designed to remind people of just who and what the Liebrals are. The latest, shown below, was originally put up at notaleader.ca, — the Tory site that gleefully sticks it to li’l ol’ Stephie Dee — but was uploaded to YouTube by Matt over at ASTTR (thanks, dude).

I don’t know about you, but I sure got a chuckle or two. So sit back, crack a cold one and enjoy the show…

A tip o’ the toque to Darkside Rants for giving me this idea. A few people, from time to time, have asked me just where all I’ve been in my life. Well, to tell the truth, I do tend to get around … a bit.

So what we have here is a graphical representation of every place that I’ve been. Ever. Some I stayed in for a while, some I was just passing through (I still tell people that I’ve never been to Africa, even though I did catch a connecting flight in Cairo once).

Damn, but I’ve got a lot to cover yet… 😯

create your own visited countries map

create your own visited states map