Um, okay; anybody have any idea just what the heck this James Bond bullcrap might be all about? I guess truth really is stranger than fiction but come on now, boys and girls; this is loopy even by my standards. While I can admit that loonies and toonies bug the hell outta me, I never thought of bugging one myself. It seems, though, that someone else out there doesn’t quite have my level of restraint:

They say money talks, and a new report suggests Canadian currency is indeed chatting, at least electronically, on behalf of shadowy spies.

Canadian coins containing tiny transmitters have mysteriously turned up in the pockets of at least three American contractors who visited Canada, says a branch of the U.S. Department of Defence.

“…and for God’s sakes, 007, do try not to break this one.”

Now I’ve heard everything. While the Yanks are keeping a tight lip on the details — not surprisingly, most of them are classified — of the little gizmos, it’s kind of hard to see what use they could be in an uncontrolled environment. I mean, come on now. The range on those things can’t be more than a few hundred metres, at most, and besides that, Chris Mathers (a security consultant and former undercover RCMP officer) manages to point out one doozy of a drawback, if you’re planning to track somebody with one of these things:

“From a technology perspective, it makes no sense,” he said. “To me it’s very strange.”

Then there’s the obvious problem: what if the coin holder plunks the device into a pop machine?

“You give the guy something with a transmitter that he’s going to spend — I mean, he might have it for an hour,” Mathers said with a chuckle.

Well, I guess it’ll be one helluva well-observed pop machine then, won’t it? 🙄

Yeesh. File this one under “why can I never be making this crap up,” if you will. Hat’s off to DMB, by the way, since that’s where I stumbled over this in the first place. What we have here is Sheik Abdullah Aal Mahmud, in a televised lecture given on the Bahrain boob toob, explaining the Religion-of-Perpetual-Outrage-approved method of slapping your missus around if she gets out of line. Because, after all, beating on women is all fine and dandy as long as it’s done the Islamic way, right?

Assholes.

Following the tragic death of Trooper Mark Wilson in Afghanistan in October of last year, one sports artist (a friend of Wilson’s family) was hit hard and decided that something should be done to show appreciation for the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform. Well, David Arrigo up and did just that in his own, very Canadian, way. Patrick Maloney had the story in today’s Freeps, which is reproduced in its entirety below:

Goalie mask soldier tribute

Mon, January 8, 2007
By PATRICK MALONEY, FREE PRESS REPORTER

Trooper Mark Wilson’s death in Afghanistan has inspired a special piece of art that’s being passed among elite NHL players and may become part of the upcoming all-star game.

Sports artist David Arrigo, a friend of one of Wilson’s relatives, was hit hard by the October death of the London soldier and inspired to design a military-themed goalie mask.

“It just sort of pushed me — this is going to be my addition to thanking the soldiers,” said Arrigo, who has done work for years for the NHL, NFL and other pro sports leagues.

“(But) I didn’t want this piece to be about any one person — it’s more about all the soldiers in Afghanistan.”

The detailed mask design, Arrigo explained, has two distinct sides: The right is called “the mission,” and features images of an Afghani girl reading and a Canadian soldier. The left side, called “the memory,” includes a bagpiper and a soldier pinning a poppy on a wreath.

What could have been a quiet tribute, however, is getting much more attention thanks to the contacts Arrigo and Wilson’s cousin, NHL photographer Dave Sandford, have throughout pro hockey.

The pair are in discussions with at least one goalie to wear the mask in Dallas on Jan. 24 during the all-star skills competition or in the all-star game.

They have also photographed the mask with hockey celebrities such as Don Cherry, who mentioned the project during Coach’s Corner on Hockey Night In Canada. Sandford was to photograph Pittsburgh star Sidney Crosby with it.

Those photos will eventually be posted at nhl.com and on Arrigo’s own website, darrigoart.com. Arrigo’s mask will then be auctioned off on the NHL’s website with the money raised going to the families of fallen troops.

“I’m looking to put a call out to corporate Canada,” Arrigo said. “If they’re not going to bid on the mask, (they could) create some other programs of awareness.”

NHL officials in the U.S. were so impressed, they have asked Arrigo to make a mask with an American theme.

Wilson, 39, was killed in an October roadside bomb attack while serving in Afghanistan. As London’s first combat casualty of the mission, his death rocked the city and sparked an outpouring of support for the family.

The attention the mask is generating is further proof that support continues, his cousin Sandford said.

“They’re not forgetting this,” said Sandford. “While everybody may not agree with why they’re there (in Afghanistan), the fact . . . is they’re there. You have to support them.

“Whether it’s in the form of a little yellow ribbon or a goalie mask, it’s one of those things that keeps (it) in the forefront.”

…That’s how the Edmonton Sun’s Mindelle Jacobs summed it up in her latest column, and I think the description is bang-on. As for me, I decided that I would bide my time and give some consideration to this whole issue — or, as a friend of mine put it, “sit back, have a beer and cool your jets for a bit” — before writing about it.

By now, everybody and their dog knows about the latest in the long line of Stupid Judge Tricks to come out of the Ontario Court of Appeal. For either of you that haven’t heard yet, here it is: thanks to three social-engineering, can’t-resist-screwing-with-it, legislating-from-the-bench, judicial-robe-wearin’ shitskulls in TO (Chief Justice Roy McMurtry, Justice Marc Rosenberg and Justice Jean-Marc Labrosse), a five-year-old London boy now has one dad … and two moms. All three legally and equally his parents in the eyes of the law.

Uncharted waters, indeed.

Homosexuality lobbyists and advocacy groups, naturally, were practically dancing in the streets at the news. Other groups however, perhaps remembering history’s lessons about monkeying with society, were not amused at all. Me? I think this is a recipe for disaster.

And before any dickheads out there even think about lobbing some of that “keeping up with the times” bullshit at me: don’t even try it. You want to know what I think of that kind of bullshit logic? Do you? Just click on the pic on the left here and tell me what you think you see. Want to know what I see? I see about ten thousand socialists, all of them keeping up with the times. That’s what I think of the “you should change with the times” argument, so shove it up your ass. Just because a thing can be done does not automatically mean that it should be done and most of the monkeying with our society that I see going on in the last few years definitely should not be done if for no other reasons than that a) no one has bothered to seriously consider the long term effects of such tinkering with the very foundations of our civilisation and b) they serve no good purpose whatsoever other than catering to the self-centered “it’s all about me” types who stand to gain from these changes with no regard at all for the possible impacts on others.

You think child custody cases are an emotional meatgrinder for kids now? Wait till you see what happens when some poor kid, or kids, find themselves as the rope in a tug-o-war between 6 moms and 4 dads. What do you think will happen then? And don’t tell me that such a thing will never happen. Every bit of judicial idiocy in this country over the past 30-35 years — and its cultural backlash — has been predicted by socially conservative “fearmongering Chicken Littles” just like me and we’ve been right every God damned time!

So please piss off, shove that red herring up your ass and answer the God damned question: WHAT WILL HAPPEN THEN? Do you think these sociological busybodies even give a damn? Don’t count on it. All they give a shit about is whatever gives them a warm fuzzy feeling right now and to hell with anything else.

Maybe I’m wrong — and I hope I am — and this kid will grow up to be a perfectly happy, productive member of society with his head screwed on nice and straight. But what if I’m not wrong? What if, as a result of this little grand experiment, this kid ends up completely screwed up? As Jacobs put it:

But there are two troubling aspects to this ruling. First, the court of appeal wielded the inherent common-law power of judges to reinterpret the law.

This may be necessary in exceptional circumstances but in this case, surely our lawmakers are best suited to rewriting the law.

Secondly, the future consequences of such a profound redefinition of parenthood are unknown.

Unknown is one hell of an understatement. But hey, what’s the future welfare, mental health, etc of a bunch of snot-nosed brats worth when we’re busy casting off the tyranny of thousands of years of basic truth? Obviously not much. Some people, however, do give a shit:

The Institute of Marriage and Family Canada has called for a royal commission on the future of the family. Considering the furious pace of social and reproductive change in recent years, it’s a wise idea.

“It’s time to hit the pause button – especially as courts redefine basic terms like parenting – to analyze what the long-term outcomes of family-related policies are,” says Dave Quist, executive director of the institute.

“Any gap in existing legislation should not be filled solely by one court. Rather, it needs to be debated in the appropriate public forum – our legislatures and parliament,” he adds.

On a whole host of social issues with potentially far-reaching implications, however, our courts have been stepping in where our legislators fear to tread.

This may be to the tactical advantage of politicians – who can then blame the judiciary for uprooting traditional norms – but it’s a terrible way to set social policy.

You’re damned right it is. To voice your objection to this reckless endangerment to the future wellbeing of an entire generation of Canadian children, call or write your local Member of Parliament.

Okay, knock off the “redundancy” jokes already. Ha, ha. I get it. For those of you that haven’t heard — and I was one, until a few minutes ago — of this silliness yet, here it is.

Politicos in Paris, the capital of France and mecca of hoitytoityness, have had their collective culottes in a bunch lately over… wait for it…
Racist soup.

Why the hell can I never be making this stuff up? :roll:  Yes, ladies and gents, it seems that in the faraway fairy kingdom of France, beggars can not only be choosers, they can take food out of the mouths of others as well.  And if they can’t have their way, well then, all those damn dhimmi sacks o’ crap can bloody well starve, for all they care:

Last week, the Paris police issued a prohibition on the distribution to the homeless of soup containing pork meat or fat. According to the police authorities – the same ones who are incapable of restoring law and order in the Paris suburbs – distributing soup containing pork or lard is a racist offence since some people in need might be Muslim and hence not allowed to eat pork.

As if things weren’t already shitheaded enough, just when a French court (of all damned things) was showing some signs of having been smacked with a brainstick, along comes none other than the mayor of gay Paris himself, head firmly in arse:

Yesterday’s court ruling, which again allowed the serving of pork soup, was criticized by Bertrand Delano‘. The Paris mayor said he was “astonished” to learn that the court tolerates an initiative which “knowingly excludes Jews and Muslims.” “Confronted with this xenophobic initiative, I want to express again that the city denounces and opposes every form of discrimination, racism and anti-Semitism,” the mayor said. He asked the police prefecture to appeal the verdict.

It’s been said that, in a democracy, the people will always get exactly the government that they deserve.  Bearing that in mind: sit back, grab a snack, and enjoy the show as these croissant-crunching, chain-smoking surrender monkey continue their mad dash for the first-ever National Dawin Award…

Dipshits.

There’s been a lot of handwringing lately on behalf of the late Iraqi tyrant, Saddam Hussein. Letters have been written to editors, Europeans — never ones to pass up an opportunity to wag their fingers at the US — tut-tutted over it (even the British, if you can believe it, had some criticisms), the usual suspects have blabbed off, and the Vatican has repeated the Church’s stance on all capital punishments, not just Saddam’s.

While my own opinions on capital punishment are neither secret (I’m Catholic and oppose it) nor absolute, it seems to me that there are being just a few too many croc tears splashing about on behalf of someone who was, after all, a murdering sonofabitch in every sense of the word. This is the guy who:

• Used chemical weapons in the Iran-Iraq war
• Gassed over 5,000 civilians in Halabja
• Killed between 50,000 and 100,000 Kurds in the “Anfal campaigns”
• Invaded Kuwait
• Killed somewhere between 30,000 and 60,000 Iraqis, most of them civilians, while suppressing the 1991 uprisings
• Cleansed ethnic “Persians” from Iraq to Iran
• Instituted a terror campaign of kidnappings, murders, torture and rape against political opponents or anyone else he found inconvenient

And these are just the ones that I can think of off the top of my head. So, before we go and twist ourselves up too much over the death of this dictator, take a moment to think of just what he did. Try and get our brains around just why some people feel this is a good thing.

Ottawa Sun columnist Earl McRae managed to find one Iraqi expatriate who has no such difficulties concerning Saddam’s fate:

“You cannot understand unless you are an Iraqi father, mother, brother, sister, and child who lived in the hell he created. If Canada went through what we did, maybe you would understand. If Canada had a dictator who tortured and murdered his own Canadian people because he was Catholic and they were Protestant, you would understand.

“It makes me sick to hear Canadians say it was cruel to hang him. There were letters in newspapers from people feeling sorry for him because the executioners insulted him to his face just before he hanged and danced around his body.”

Johnny stands up and paces. “Hanging that bastard was too kind. He should have been slowly tortured to death. They should have done to him what he did to people, they should have put him in a box with poison gas. All the people of Iraq should have been invited to watch him die. Saddam Hussein should have been executed in public like Mussolini was.”

Not everything is so black and white as some would have us think. Perhaps this really was the lesser evil. I simply don’t know. What I do know is that he was tried and he was convicted. He was sentenced to be removed from his place of confinement on the 30th day of December in the year 2006, from there to be taken to a suitable place of execution and be hanged by the neck until he were dead. This has been done. This was no innocent man.

As a Catholic, I deeply believe in the grace of God, redemption and the forgiveness of sins.

I also know that Hell is not an empty place.