Although I don't want to be too harsh on the blazing furry fanatic, because HOURS before we knew that the killer was a Christianist right-wing scumbag.
He kinda....um... hit the nail on the head...
So if Shittle rolls her turds into some rancid pastry, and bakes it between her buttocks or her armpits, they can STILL share some humble pie.
Which is more than we can say about Coren eh?
Because he can't tell a sewer from the trickle between his ears legs. So he's still banging that nail. Into his own head.
Fear not, we are winning.
Golly. Has the Gollum lost his ring.... or his marbles?
Gawd. I KNEW this was going to happen. That old homophobe is going to Sun TV and he is determined to show Ezra Levant who is the top guy, the biggest asshole.
And the sleaziest Gollum...
Oh well. If they clutch and grab at themselves in loin cloths, and Levant becomes Coren's bitch, or vice versa, I suppose it could be funny. In a gross sort of way.
Although what's not funny is how after the MSM realized that it wasn't the work of Islamic terrorists, the killer morphed from a right-wing terrorist, into just another madman.
Anyone who claims therefore, that the perpetrator's "right-wing traits" and "anti-Muslim views", or even links with "Christian fundamentalist" websites are irrelevant is trying to draw a veil over the unacceptable truths of such "traits" and expecting us to believe that right-wing ideology is incapable of prompting someone towards such criminality.
Of course, that idea is nonsensical.
But that's Right Wing Derangement Syndrome eh?
Those ghastly right-wingers don't realize how ugly they are.
And they don't know when they're BEATEN.
Simon...Simon....you're not going to use this horrible tragedy against them are you?
If you sail a boat in a straight line off this Scottish beach where I played when I was a boy, it won't be too long before you'll find yourself in Norway.
Which is why I know them so well, why this hurts so much.
A lone political extremist bombed the government center here on Friday, killing 7 people, the police said, before heading to an island summer camp for young members of the governing Labor Party and killing at least 80 people.
Why this makes me so angry.
After the shooting the police seized a 32-year-old Norwegian man on the island, according to the police and Justice Minister Knut Storberget. He was later identified as Anders Behring Breivik and characterized by officials as a right-wing extremist, citing previous writings including on his Facebook page.
A Facebook page matching his name and the photo given out by the police was set up just a few days ago. It listed his religion as Christian, politics as conservative.
And why I'm so proud of my Norwegian friends tonight.
“I have a message to the person who attacked us and the people who are behind it: You’re not going to destroy us,” Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference shortly after the attacks. “You’re not destroying our democracy and our work for a better world. We’re a small country but a very proud country. No one can bomb us to be quiet. No one can shoot us to be quiet. No one can ever scare us from being Norway.”
The evil right wingers are always trying to kill the future, because they know it won't belong to them.
But they will not succeed. Norway will keep on being the decent little nation of peacemakers it has been for so long. And the young WILL change the world.
As I told you last night, two weeks ago I attended the big Scottish music festival T in the Park. There was the usual contingent of kids from Norway. And they were as sweet and as funny as I remember them.
So tonight I can't help thinking of them, and this song...
Here's to the bloodied youth of Norway, and all the other suffering people in that beautiful little nation.
May they continue to be a progressive beacon of light in a dark world.
Every now and then he betrays himself. Every now and then the mask falls off and exposes the monster behind it.
Like when he woke up one morning and decided to gut the census. For no sane reason.
Or when he plans to jail even more Canadians, especially young ones, even though the crime rate is going down.
New statistics show the national crime rate is continuing its 20-year decline – reaching levels not seen since 1973 even as the federal Conservative government prepares legislation that would put more Canadians behind bars for longer periods of time.
Because this is not only unadulterated bullshit:
“Unlike the Opposition, we do not use statistics as an excuse not to get tough on criminals. As far as our Government is concerned, one victim of crime is still one too many,” Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said in an e-mail Thursday evening.
It's eerily similar to the reason the idiot Tony Clement gave for killing the census. Because a thousand complaints one complaint was too many.
So why is Stephen Harper doing it? I like to think it's because punishment turns him on. He enjoys inflicting it, just like he enjoys humiliating women. But it's probably mostly politics.
Like every demented right-winger, or tin pot tyrant, he knows he can't fool people into supporting his fascist law and order agenda, unless he scares them first.
And convinces them that young Canadians are a dangerous threat. Even though they're not, and they are already treated harshly.
The harsh treatment of youths is even more apparent when the handling of youthful offenders is compared to that of adult offenders. For example, in 1997 the rate of detention for adults in Canada was 151 per 100,000; for youth, 209 per 100,000 were incarcerated
An adult will typically be released somewhere between the one third and the two thirds point in the sentence. A youth sentenced to a long period of custody can have that custodial sentence reviewed in youth court but this is relatively rare.
So how does Great Twisted Leader get away with this monstrous fraud? Answer: with the enthusiastic help of our idiot media.
The specific types of youth crime stories that are deemed newsworthy tend to be those which can evoke feelings of anger and retribution in members of the public. These feelings inevitably lead to movements toward harsher youth justice measures. The media's continued favoring of recent events of youthful offending serves to reinforce and provide added momentum for the "get tough" movement.
And why does the media portray young offenders as a mortal threat to society? Answer: because it sells papers, and boosts ratings in an aging country that hates its young.
Great eh?
You know two weeks ago Seb and I went to the big Scottish music festival T in the Park. We got a really good look at the under twenty generation...with their "new" Beatle haircuts.
And although we argued over the relative merits of the Arctic Monkeys.
We both had to agree that the kids were MAGIC...
And at the end of the day this is the harsh no-bullshit truth.
A Prime Minister who would declare war on young Canadians for no good reason, is a twisted and evil man.
And a country that would allow him to get away with it, is one so old and broken it can scarcely be repaired...
One of the things you notice right away when you return from almost any modern country in the world, is the crumbling state of our infrastructure.
In Toronto, giant pieces of concrete regularly fall off this elevated expressway, not too far from where I live.
And not long ago a 100-year-old pipe burst, and you practically had to swim across it.
In Montreal, you take your life in your hands everytime you cross the Champlain Bridge, Canada's busiest.
Even if the Harper government tried to cover that up that scary situation.
Federal Transport Minister Denis Lebel said Tuesday he didn't want people to worry unnecessarily.
"If we made the report public, it might be misinterpreted by people who don't understand the subject," said Lebel. "It might create unnecessary fears. It's not time to create public insecurity."
But of course, that's easy for him to say eh?
Because even if you make it on to the island of Montreal, and all the way downtown without breaking an axle in one of the city's gaping pot holes.
You still have to be very careful where you park your car...
And it's the same situation all over the country.
The Cons had a chance to tackle this infrastructure problem with their Porky Action Plan.
But they preferred to spend our tax dollars building such things as gazebos in Con ridings...
So now the money is gone, we're going to have to live with this situation for the next twenty years.
Oh boy. Welcome to Harperland. Don't forget to carry a hard hat, a life jacket, and a parachute wherever you go.
Because you never know when you might need them...
Well I must admit that I was a bit disappointed by yesterday's episode of The Rupert, James, and Rebekah show.
All of them blamed everybody but themselves, and the old man ate so much humble pie I thought he was going to shit himself.
Murdoch admitted that testifying before a parliamentary committee was the "most humble day of my life."
But asked if he accepted that he was "ultimately responsible for this whole fiasco," Murdoch replied: "Nope."
And that was before that idiot threw the shaving cream pie, and turned the hearing into a ghastly episode of that third-rate wrestling sitcom Nobody Messes With Wendi.
The hero of Tuesday’s hearings will not be found among the tired political figures trying to score points at Murdoch’s expense, or the journalist competitors to his media empire who salaciously report on every twist in this story of media misbehavior, in part out of self-interest.
The hero of Tuesday’s hearing is a woman who did not wait for some rent-a-cop to come to her aid or who trembled in horror at the malicious prank. Wendi was woman; hear her roar.
Gawd. Those Fox News flunkies must be desperate. But that's NOT the ending I wanted.
I was hoping for something better...
But then Rosebud has tried to play Mr Nice Guy before.
Back in the early Eighties, when Rupert Murdoch had his back up against the wall, he went on a charm offensive to silence his critics. Harry Evans, the great journalist and then Sunday Times editor, recalled one cynical peer observing: “The wolf has started sucking lozenges to sweeten its breath.”
Even though he's far more convincing when he plays himself...
(Click pics to enlarge)
Modda Fokka.
And so is Rebekah...
But then she has a lot on her mind eh? She has to make sure she tells everyone the same story she told the police. And hope that the cops believe her AND her husband.
Police are examining a computer, paperwork and a phone found in a bin near the home of the former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks, it was reported last night.
A bag containing the objects was found yesterday in a car park underneath a shopping centre close to her London home. According to a reports last night, Ms Brooks' husband, Charlie, tried to reclaim the bag from security, but a guard refused to release it when Mr Brooks could not prove it was his.
And of course NOBODY is more embarrassed than the Con Prime Minister David Cameron. He has to explain why he was always having drinkies with Rebekah and Charlie. Why some of his closest advisers worked for Murdoch, and are now being arrested.
And why after his election victory, he invited Rupert to 10 Downing Street to kiss his ass thank him for his support. But asked him to slip in quietly through the BACK door.
Golly. Maybe I was a bit too harsh. Yesterday's episode may have ended badly eh?
But I'm quite confident it's going to get WORSE...
Monday was the 93rd birthday of my greatest living hero, Nelson Mandela.
Tributes poured in from all over the world, and South Africans celebrated by singing songs for him, and performing small acts of kindness.
It's a day when people in South Africa try a little kindness — 67 minutes' worth — in honor of the 67 years that Mandela worked for equality in the African nation, from 1942 until his retirement from public life in 2009.
They are all good ideas, but 67 minutes, or even a whole day, seem to me far too puny to honour a giant like Mandela.
I admire him for so many reasons. But it's for helping an angry, sometimes violent, bullied teenager understand that seeking revenge for what others might have done to you is not the way to go, that I am most grateful.
As Sebastien said: "He could have hanged a racist from every tree in South Africa. He had every reason to demand revenge for all the years his enemies stole from him. But he was better than them so he didn't."
So now I try to fight injustice in different, better, more peaceful ways, to help keep his legacy alive.
And try to become a better person.
One way to carry on his legacy is to live by his example. Take a few minutes to examine prejudices you may have. Make a personal resolution to let go of them. Encourage the people in your life do the same.
Speak out against injustice when you see it. Don't accept prejudice. Learn to recognize bullying and harassment.
Today I set out to hand out some chilled bottles of water to the homeless in my neighbourhood, because it was brutally hot. The mission was a complete failure. The homeless weren't there, thank goodness. And I had to drink half the water to keep from passing out myself. Duh.
But it doesn't matter. It's the thought action that counts. Tomorrow is another day.
They say it's a hard city to love. When I moved here a few years ago my friends in Montreal said I'd absolutely hate it. That they didn't call it Hogtown for nothing eh? And that I'd probably die of boredom.
But actually I've become rather fond of this big old town on the lake, and some of the people who call it home. So I really hate to see how Rob Ford and his right-wing hogs are trying to rip its guts out.
I still can't believe that a grubby homophobe could be mayor of the most diverse city in the world. I can't believe how a crass millionaire could have the indecency to deny help to some of the city's most vulnerable people.
Once again, Mayor Rob Ford was the lone member on City Council to vote against grant money earmarked to HIV/AIDS related programs.
The vote capped two days at council that saw Ford vote against six other community development grants programs that improve the lives of the city’s seniors, immigrants, the poor and the disabled.
I can't believe that in the 21st Century a mayor of a modern city is encouraging people to use cars instead of public transit, and declaring war on bikes. When Toronto is choking in its own fumes. And has the highest rate of car/bike collisions in Canada.
I can't believe that so many people were suckered by the Fordzilla's gaseous emissions about stopping the "Gravy Train." And how he was just the man to do it...
When in fact there is no "Gravy Train." And he doesn't know what he's doing.
But that isn't stopping him from trying to change Toronto beyond recognition.
This week’s dizzying blitz of proposed service cuts sets up another round of daily offerings, starting Monday — an orchestrated raid with one main goal: the sacking of Toronto the Good, Toronto the Beautiful, Toronto the Caring, Toronto the Livable.
I can't believe that it has come to that. I can't believe it has come to this.
Chaleff-Freudenthaler wrote in the complaint that Ford “accosted” him outside the council chamber. Speaking in an “aggressive tone,” Chaleff-Freudenthaler wrote, Ford told him to be “prepared” for something Ford didn't identify.
Chaleff-Freudenthaler wrote that he sought to “de-escalate the situation” by declining to “engage” with Ford, but that Ford continued to speak threateningly. Eventually, Chaleff-Freudenthaler wrote, Ford told him that he “should be careful because ‘what goes around comes around.’”
And this from the gang that didn't hesitate to use dirty tricks during the last election. Remember?
Oh boy. As I said before I'm a Montrealer eh? I'm just visiting. But if the good people of Toronto want to save their city they better get cracking.
Take to the streets. March on City Hall. Call in the cops. Sign a petition. Do what they have to do to drive the Fordzilla and his right-wing goons from office.
And if they do I'll be there to help them. Because it's a horrible thing to see a great city dying. This is a Canadian tragedy, and enough is ENOUGH.
David Cameron's Cons are getting hammered in the polls.
And some columnists in Britain are finally asking the question that can be avoided no longer. The one I've been dying to ask.
Why was the bully Murdoch allowed to get away with it for so long?
Whether in the schoolyard or the boardroom, bullies are powerful, invariably surrounded by a loyal clique, and ruthless in maintaining their dominance over others.
The collapse of the power of the greatest bully of our times, Rupert Murdoch, is thus profoundly refreshing and enabling.
Bullies are only vulnerable when they are openly and comprehensively defied. And in this, Westminster has singularly and overwhelmingly failed. Who can doubt that Murdoch could have been taken on and defeated many years ago, if we, together with the politicians and the police, had seen the scrawny nakedness behind the Emperor's New Clothes and called his bluff?
But of course our corporate media can't ask that question, because they have totally failed to call our own mad Emperor's bluff...
Which leads me to my last question. Can Rupert Murdoch rehabilitate his image stay out of jail?
Perhaps it is too much to hope for that Rupert Murdoch might follow in the path of Conrad Black. However, if Andy Coulson should find himself in the cells, and James Murdoch is under investigation, who knows where it might end?
For the last two weeks I was lucky to have been in Britain as the Rupert Murdoch / News International scandal hit that country like a massive meteorite, rocking its very foundations.
It was an awesome spectacle. The torrent of outrage, the angry debates in Parliament, the unrelenting media coverage, the sight of the Con Prime Minister trying to explain why his former media advisor, and close friend, was arrested.
Or trying to dodge questions about his cozy relationship with Murdoch's dragon lady Rebekah Brooks, whose enormous country estate is only a mile away from where the Camerons live. And who frequently came over for drinkies.
Or the police chief trying to explain why Murdoch's minions had been able to hack so many phones, bribe police officers, and get away with it for so long.
And needless to say I found the whole sordid show hugely entertaining...
Mr Murdoch arrived in London yesterday, wearing a Panama hat and clutching a final copy of the News of the World, in a bid to save his crumbling organisation after the phone-hacking scandal saw the 168-year-old paper axed.
But he flew straight into another storm as it was claimed 9/11 victims may have had their mobiles tapped by News of the World reporters.
Because NOTHING could hurt Fox News as much as being associated with the defilement of those victims.
And the Fox News Gang knows that this story is bad news. So they're not touching it with a "ten foot turban."
Which just about says it all about what kind of "journalists" and people work at Murdoch's Krazy Con network.
My only regret ? Last Sunday in Scotland, my brother bought me a copy of the News of the World's last edition. He said it might be worth something in about fifty years. But after glancing at that hideous tabloid wanking away about its "proud" record of filth, sexism, and scandal, I tossed it into the recycling bin.
Only to think later that I should have tossed it onto the barbeque and made a YouTube of it burning. I'm sure it would have been my most popular video ever eh?
Especially if I had roasted a pig that looked like Stephen Harper Rupert Murdoch over its smouldering embers.
But sadly others beat me to the idea.
And they did it better...
Now imagine Fox News roasting over that sewer grate.
Or better still our own Con media getting grilled for polishing Stephen Harper's ample arse with their noses.
What about the Murdochian impulse to control politics along a right-wing axis? Well, the National Post was clearly created in 1998 to push Canadian journalism rightward and has had smashing success. In last May’s election, every daily in Canada, except the Star and the smallish Le Devoir, endorsed Stephen Harper. Even in the last U.K. election you didn’t get such uniformity.
Mmmmm....slurp....drool.
What did somebody say about Stephen Harper the other day?
Well I have to say that as I lay on those grassy dunes, staring up at the clouds, listening to the roar of the waves, drinking in the fresh North Sea air, it was really easy to forget the horrible sights, the grunting sounds, and the foul stench of Harperland.
Especially since the only Canadian news I saw on Scottish TV was a few seconds of Great Majority Leader and the royal couple, wearing cowboy hats at the Redneck Stampede.
Which was just as well eh?
Because if I'd known that the Great Harpony didn't just look ridiculous, but was also sounding like a man possessed.
“Conservative values are Canadian values.”
Thus spoke Stephen Harper in front of 900 hootin’ and hollerin’ supporters at the Calgary Stampede. The Liberal era was basically over, he claimed, gone like “disco balls and bell bottoms.” The citizens of this great land have moved into the Tory temple and “Canada is more united than ever.”
A lost cause is only a lost cause if you don't believe in it enough.
More than 250 years later Scotland is still here. And while the Con government in London is planning to slash medicare, raise tuition fees, and privatize schools and hospitals.
The Scots are expanding their medicare system, delivering more and better services for seniors, and providing their kids with free university educations.
Which only goes to prove that you can have the country you want, if you are prepared to fight for it.
And that sooner or later all tyrants bite the dust.
All things considered, Mr. Harper must feel he has the golden touch. He must feel that he can get away with anything. But when you’re the man on the mountaintop, as he is right now, that sense of invincibility can be destructive. Hubris takes over when what is most necessary – given that from the pinnacle, the only remaining route is down – is humility.
But of course now I'm home, and staring at this horror show...
So now I don't know what to say eh?
Except does that sinister Con drag queen have a costume for EVERY voice in his head?
When he gets tired of playing a cop, or a hockey "expert", will he play Margaret Thatcher or Mussolini ?
And if so when can I get my money country back?
And of course, holidays are wonderful, and a great escape from Harperland.
But as we say in Scottish...Och aye the noo broon coo.
