Just because I haven’t been around for a couple o’ days doesn’t mean that I haven’t got anything to say.

It seems that the HypoGrits have dropped a big ol’ brick o’ fudge in their collective longjohns over Harper’s intentions to take the first steps to follow through on his commitment to actually introduce a little bit of democracy into their precious little Red Chamber.

Is it just me, or does anyone else find that monicker — “Red Chamber” — to be more than just a little ironic? For years, the Librano$ have used the Senate as their personal porkbarrel for favoured stooges and little political failsafe against any legislation that they might not like. Hey, just because the public boots you from office doesn’t mean you can’t still gum up the works with your appointed/annointed Senate flunkies; right? To listen to the Fiberals, you’d think that ol’ Steve was raping the very soul of Canadian traditions. Newly-minted UberGrit Stephane Dion cacked up this lovely little hairball for the rest of us to have a look at:

“…completely irresponsible… The very moment the two chambers would be elected, they would have (the) same behaviour, a greater likelihood that you would have a stalemate without some kind of dispute mechanism.”

Like the kind of stalemates that we have now, whenever the Grits don’t like something? Smirkin’ Jack! wasn’t any better:

“It will give the Senate more dysfunctionality and they’ll be able to monkey with the business of the House of Commons even more then they have up to now.”

And you just know that you can’t possibly have something like this on the table without hearing of doom, gloom and general asshattery from the lollygagging Librano$ of the Upper House:

“We’ve had it since Confederation and it does very good work,” said Sen. Art Eggleton, a former Liberal cabinet minister.

“This is silliness quite frankly. Mr. Harper should be focused on the environment, on Afghanistan,” added Sen. Terry Mercer.

Of course. Anything that might curtail the Librano$’ ability to monkey with the wishes of the people, as expressed through their choice of representation, must be silly. I mean, come on now, we can’t have the unwashed masses sticking their noses into the business of choosing who gets to play in the high-an’-mighty Fiberals’ personal little sandbox now, can we? How silly would that be??

This one though, has just got to be my favourite:

“We don’t want to start a new constitutional round,” added Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe.

Hey, Gillesigan, listen up: When Quebec actually signs the Constitution, then Quebec can bitch about it. Until then, kindly stick a croisant in it and shut the f#*% up!

Then, there are the proposed changes to the Human Rights Act, which have essensially left the Liberals — the “natural guardians” of all human rights in Canada 🙄 — shrieking “HE STOLE MY BALLOONS!!” at the top of their lungs:

Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice wants to repeal a 30-year-old section of the Human Rights Act that has blocked complaints against Ottawa and band councils acting under the archaic Indian Act.

“First Nations citizens don’t have the same rights and remedies as other Canadians,” Prentice said. “We think that’s unacceptable and we’re prepared to move on it.”

Very interesting that they should be bothered by this. Even more interesting that so many band councils should have their panties in a bunch over it:

National native leaders rejected the bill, however, saying they can’t support what they called a rushed and unilateral move that would sow dissent and tension on reserves.

Is that so? Gee whiz, guys, what the heck makes you say that? Just what is it about giving natives, particularly native women, the same rights to avenues of redress that every honky in the land has enjoyed for … well, for as long as I can remember, anyway?

Already cash-strapped band councils could be peppered with claims. Allegations of unfair treatment would likely range from housing disputes to fights over how higher education funds are shared.

Ottawa is also expected to be targeted for various despised policies. Those include Indian Act rules governing status.

For years, the Indian Act stripped thousands of native women of their Indian status along with rights and benefits when they married non-native men.

So let me see if I’ve got this straight: You think this act is a bad thing because, if it goes through, you guys might find yourselves suddenly accountable to the very folks that you’ve shafted. Have I got that right?

Well, the feds are going to be in the crosshairs too, but you don’t hear them complaining. Sounds like they’re actually willing to stand up and take responsibility for past screwups that they didn’t even do (maybe because they know that the Fiberals never will).

Once again, the Tories are making good on promises that they made — and that other parties made too, but nevered fulfilled them — and once again, the predictable suspects are howling that the sky is falling.

Nope. Nothing new here.

If you’re anything like me, you probably have quite a few fond memories of playing hockey with friends, or even just skating around in the waning light, on a frozen pond somewhere.  I think most of us — or at least those of us that grew up in the country or small towns — have such recollections.  For us it was a pond in the middle of a farmer’s field on the northeast edge of town.

Most folks my age will tell you that the winters were quite a bit colder back then, and they were.  I can remember a time in my life when storms like the one that dumped about 3 feet of white stuff on London recently were expected at least once or twice a year.  So, to make a long story short, skating on frozen ponds was just something that we did, every chance we got.

But along with all that fun came constant warnings from the grownups, delivered with the kind of tone that made it damn clear that any screwing around would be dealt with immediately, and harshly:

• Stay away from ponds if there had been any kind of a thaw, no matter how brief, within the last week.
• “Thick and blue is tried and true; thin or crispy, way too risky.”
• Don’t trust ice that has a milky colour to it.
• Don’t go out on any ice until somebody — or, more likely, somebody’s dad — has augered it to make sure exactly how thick it is.
• Don’t trust ice that’s covered in a layer of snow.  Snow doesn’t just obscure ice, it also has an insulating effect and inhibits good ice formation.
• Never trust the ice on a river or a stream; it can be a foot thick in one spot but paper thin just a few yards away.
• Always have a lifeline nearby, just in case the worst happens.
• Finally, no matter how well you think you know the ice: never, never, EVER go out on the ice alone.

I was reminded of all this today as I heard the news of the tragic death of 11-year Brunthan Nadarajah in Scarborough, who died trying to rescue a friend who had fallen through the ice on a drainage pond.  The other kid, a 15-year old, is currently in critical condition at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children.

Winter in Canada is a wonderful time, and peppered with innumerable traditions but, for God’s sake, make sure your children know what to do, and what not to do, to keep themselves safe.  No parent ever wants to read something like this about their own children:

The older boy plunged through the thin ice that covered the pond. The younger boy tried to pull his friend from the water, only to break through himself.

“He was the only person who went and tried to rescue him,” Nadarah said of his son, adding that the sixth-grade student was trying to save a high-school student.

“I miss him so much. We miss him so much.”

Rescue attempts

One man rushed to the scene with a long electrical cord and tried to throw it to the boys. His rescue attempt was almost successful.

“I threw it out again (and) he finally got a hold of it,” Phil Hall said.

“I tried pulling him up and he couldn’t hold on to it. I guess his hands were freezing, he couldn’t hold on to it.”

Hall then crawled out on the thin ice, inching his way towards the boys in an effort to get closer.

“As I got close towards them, the ice gave way,” he said.

Hall, who cannot swim, and a police officer still had the extension cord and were able to get back to safety.

Four police officers in total attempted to rescue the boys, but were not successful.

For those of you that haven’t heard yet, the cops in London, Ontario have released a photo from the city’s downtown surveillance cameras taken the night of this week’s early morning shooting. It’s not the best pic in the world, but it is clear enough that the distinctive jacket that the suspect was wearing can be recognised by someone that may have seen it before. London police now believe that there was, in fact only one shooter that night. The following has been taken from the London Police Services website:

Public Assistance Key

The London Police Service is issuing another public appeal for assistance in identifying a suspect in the shooting that occurred early Monday morning on Dundas Street. The public has been of great assistance in providing witness accounts of the event. Surveillance images have also been extremely useful in identifying persons of interest that were present when the crime was committed. The London Police Service now believes that it is possible a lone shooter was responsible for all of the shots fired that morning.

Attached is a surveillance image that captured an individual now identified as a suspect. The image is clear and shows an isolated male standing in a parking lot. Note the distinct jacket that the man is wearing. The jacket has a white or light-coloured body and red sleeves.

Although police are not linking this shooting to the downtown shooting committed on October 7^th, there is one key similarity. Both people believed to be responsible for the respective shootings are currently fleeing from the police.

The man accused in October’s shooting, Ahmed Moalin-Mohamed, has been wanted since November 9^th when he failed to attend for a required court appearance. Moalin-Mohamed has been charged with attempt murder in connection with that incident, where 4 men where shot while walking in the parking lot located at 431 Richmond Street.

The London Police Service is working closely with several other police services pursuing a variety of investigative leads as to the whereabouts of Moalin-Mohamed- investigative leads generated in large part by the public.

Also attached is an image of Moalin-Mohamed for dissemination.

Anyone with information as to the whereabouts and identity of the shooter from Monday morning is asked to contact the London Police Service at (519)661-5670 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

Anyone with information as to the whereabouts of Moalin-Mohamed is asked to contact the London Police Service at (519)661-5670 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

I was reading in the Freeps today about the annual National Never Hear The End Of It Day Montreal Massacre Memorial Antipenis Rally in Victoria Park yesterday and I got to thinking — which, my ex-wife will tell you, is always a rocky road for me — about the evolution (or should I say, devolution) of the male role in our society. Every sixth of December, women all over the country gather together to read out the names of 14 women, bemoan the “epidemic” of male violence against women and generally dump the sins of Marc Lepine and all the world’s other ills at the door of each and every Canadian that happened to win the Y chromosome lottery and end up born with a pecker. And, to be blunt, I’m getting God damned sick and tired of listening to my whole gender get badmouthed every year.

After reading the names of the 14 Montreal women, members of the vigil’s organizing committee also listed the names of women and children who have been killed by their intimate partners in Ontario.

I can’t help but wonder if Rebbecca Haney’s name ever got read out? You remember little Rebbecca, right? She was murdered by her mother’s abusive (what the hell’s the latest newspeak again?) “live-in partner,” on Christmas Eve almost three years ago. Did any of the “Take Back the Night” crowd howl their outrage and wail their grief over her? Of course not.

And do you know just why not? It’s because these little shindigs and the “women’s groups” that drive them have precious little to do with violence against women or children and a great deal to do with the anti-male animosity that has been so carefully cultivated by the rabid acolytes of the feminist Left for decades and now seemingly permeates everything from our courts to popular culture. Don’t believe me? Well, then, just why are these events surrounded by so many misconceptions, omissions and even outright lies?

Let’s start with the omissions. Why was there so little feminist outrage over the death of little Rebbecca? You’d think it would be a no-brainer: innocent child killed by her mother’s vicious “live-in partner;” classic feminazi propaganda ammo. There’s just one little fly in the ointment of outrage: Rebecca wasn’t killed by a man. She was killed by her mother’s lesbian lover, Melissa Babineau, not a man. Oops. Babineau, it is interesting to note, didn’t even spend two years in max for killing Rebbecca. But the important thing is that the bad guy isn’t, well, a guy — so move along, folks; nothing to see here.

Then there’s the sack of crap that set off this annual December 6 propaganda extravaganza in the first place: Gamil Gharbi. What do you mean, you’ve never heard of him?? Of course you have; he killed 14 young women and wounded 13 more with a Ruger Mini-14 at L’Ecole Polytechnic in Montreal in 1989. But you never hear that, do you? After all, a name like “Gamil Gharbi” might make it sound like the Montreal Massacre was done by the Algerian-born son of a Muslim wife-beater; and that would be very politically incorrect to point out, not to mention rather unwieldy as a PR tool. No, a much better name is the one that he took in 1977: Marc Lepine.

With a pur laine moniker like that, Lepine could be held up as the epitome of everything that was evil about the Canadian male. Besides not rolling off the tongue particularly easily, flinging the name “Gamil Gharbi” around might raise questions about Islam, Algerian culture, his ancestry and upbringing, etc etc etc, and all kinds of other potentially politically incorrect implications that could prove pretty problematic for the malingering malcontents in the man-hater menagerie.

But “Marc Lepine?” Aaahh, that’s perfect: it just sounds soooo… so Canadian; so white; so safe to demonize. And for ten long years, that was the only name that we knew him by. It wasn’t until the TO Star published it that anybody knew. And so, every year, the sixth of December becomes a day not so much about honouring the dead as dishonouring the living, as Marc Lepine is held up as the symbol of the murderous misogyny that lurks within all men. He was held up as the perfect example of the evil — and, we were told, typical — Canadian male.

Hardly. After decades of grinding criticism and condemnation of all things masculine (you’re too aggressive; you’re not sensitive enough; you should get in touch with your feminine side; ad nauseum), the men at L’Ecole Polytechnic showed themselves to me the masterpieces of feminazi craftsmanship that day. As Mark Steyn put it:

[Lepine] shouldn’t be representative of anything — least of all, the best efforts of women’s groups and the convenient gloss of that pur laine name notwithstanding, Canadian manhood. If anything, the defining image of contemporary maleness is not M Lepine/Gharbi but the professors and the men in that classroom, who, ordered to leave by the lone gunman, meekly did so, and abandoned their female classmates to their fate — an act of abdication that would have been unthinkable in almost any other culture throughout human history. The “men” stood outside in the corridor and, even as they heard the first shots, they did nothing. And, when it was over and Gharbi walked out the room and past them, they still did nothing. Whatever its other defects, Canadian manhood does not suffer from an excess of testosterone…

We do have something to be ashamed of, but it’s not what we’ve been told it is. Too many of us have spent too many years trying to warp ourselves into something that we’re not. We’ve been handed a bill of goods that says that there is somehow something definitely wrong with our natural maleness…

and we bought it.

Some people don’t need to be told some things. Some people just already know things like: water is wet; fire is hot; if you run nekkid through a blizzard, you’re going to freeze your twig and berries off… stuff like that. Other folks, though, need to blow a buttload of taxpayers’ money to figure out whether or not a bear craps in the woods. And that‘s just what they got in Nova Scotia, following the 11-month inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the tragic death of Theresa McEvoy (right), who was killed by 16-year old Archie Billard as he was fleeing, stoned, at high speeds from police through the streets of Halifax in October of 2004. Billard was already facing 27 charges related to a string of car thefts.

And guess what the conclusion they reached was? That the YCJA is TOO DAMNED LENIENT!

HALIFAX (CP) – Canada’s youth justice system must be tightened to protect the public from dangerous teens whose lives are “spiralling out of control,” a Nova Scotia inquiry has concluded.

Well, DUUUHHH!!! Figured that out all by themselves, did they? The rest of us have known that since the damn thing was passed. Some of the recommendations in retired judge Merlin Nunn’s 381-page report are [all emphasis mine]:

• make it easier for judges across Canada to detain teenagers before trial
• changes to the definition of “violent offence” in the Act to include conduct that endangers or is likely to endanger the lives and safety of others
• staff at the Windsor courthouse should be provided with “adequate and working telephone, facsimile, printing, computer equipment, and e-mail communication,” along with access to the province’s online justice information system
• allow judges to detain youths if they show “a pattern of offences”
• slash the time lag between when a youth is arrested and they first appear in court [average 175 days in NS] to “within one week of arrest“
• more Crown attorneys and a fully staffed attendance centre where youth who are released on bail will be forced to regularly meet with probation officers before their trial

In a prepared statement, the former judge said the title of his report – Spiralling Out of Control: Lessons Learned from a Boy in Trouble – was chosen to reflect the fact that Billard’s life was headed into a “remarkable crime spree.”

“None of our responses seemed to be effective in stopping him,” Nunn wrote. “They should have.”

Personally, I think we need a hell of a lot more than that but I suppose this is as good a start as any. Now look for the usual handwringing suspects to start popping out of the woodwork to bemoan that those advocating stronger measures “just don’t understand the real nature of the problem” and all the other usual pap.

Dundas Street is closed yesterday between Clarence and Richmond streets while police investigate a mysterious shooting spree. (MORRIS LAMONT, The London Free Press)

Well, it’s been a day now and cops in London are still fiddling with the jigsaw puzzle of what the hell happened on Dundas between Richmond and Clarence on Sunday night. About the only thing that’s known for sure so far is that two guns likely means two shooters. Onc source tells me that cops found two types of casings at the scene: .45 ACP and 9mm Parabellum; two of the most popular calibres from the top 10 of the scumbags’ hit parade.

While it’s bad enough that these malcontents seem to think that it’s fine and dandy to turn the middle of the city into the damned OK Corral, but the local citizenry doesn’t seem to be more interested in being part of the problem than in being part of the solution:

None of the street-level witnesses contacted police.

“It takes more than police to make a community safe,” Chief Murray Faulkner said. “Absolutely no one has come forward to tell us why this thing started. Nobody.”

[…]

Officers arriving at the scene arrested five people at gunpoint on Clarence. Investigators later determined they weren’t involved in the shooting and were released.

Four of them, however, were charged with obstructing an officer. “There was a big skirmish,” Pfeffer said.

Gee whiz, isn’t that just jolly? Cops haven’t even had any luck finding a victim (if there is one) yet. For those keeping count, this is the second shooting in downtown London in as many months. The sooner the Harper government passes its “reverse onus” legislation the better. Maybe then we can finally get these buggers off the streets and keep them there… 🙄

[UPDATE]
It seems that the cops have finally hit paydirt, after a fashion.