* Kaleidoscopic BrainWashing *

[Marda]

Hi Lorna,
~
I've been thinking of you ... this is for you ...
~

"THE NEGROE QUESTION

I am writing to you as one who has lived among you in America only a little more than ten years. And I am writing seriously and warningly. Many readers may ask: "What right has he to speak out about things which concern us alone, and which mo newcomer should touch?"

I do not think such a standpoint is justified. One who has grown up in an environment takes much for granted. On the other hand, one who has come to this country as a mature person may have a keen eye for everything peculiar and characteristic. I believe he should speak out freely on what he sees and feels, for by so doing he may perhaps prove himself useful.

What soon makes the new arrival devoted to this country is the democratic trait among the people. I am not thinking here so much of the democratic political constitution of this country, however highly it must be praised. I am thinking of the relationship between individual people and of the attitude they maintain toward one another.

In the United States everyone feels assured of his worth as an individual. No one humbles himself before another person or class. Even the great difference in wealth, the superior power of a few, cannot undermine this healthy self-confidence and natural respect for the dignity of one's fellow-man.

There is however, a somber point in the social outlook of Americans. There sense of equality and human dignity is mainly limited to men of white skins. Even among these there are many prejudices of which I as a Jew am clearly conscious; but they are unimportant in comparison with the attitude of the "Whites" toward their fellow-citizens of darker complexion, particularly toward Negroes. The more I feel an American, the more this situation pains me. I can escape the feeling of complicity in it only by speaking out.

Many a sincere person will answer me: "Our attitude towards Negroes is the result of unfavourable experiences which we have had by living side by side with Negroes in this country. They are not our equals in intelligence, sense of responsibility, reliability."

I am firmly convinced that whoever believes this suffers from a fatal misconception. Your ancestors dragged these people from their homes by force; and in the white man's quest for wealth and an easy life they have been ruthlessly supressed and exploited, degraded into slavery. The modern prejudice against Negroes is the result of the desire to maintain this unworthy condition.

The ancient Greeks also had slaves. They were not Negroes but white men who had been taken captive in war. There could be no talk of racial differences. And yet Aristotle, one of the great Greek Philosophers, declared slaves inferior beings who were justly subdued and deprived of their liberty. It is clear that he was enmeshed in a traditional prejudice from which, despite his extraordinary intellect, he could not free himself.

A large part of our attitude toward things is conditioned by opinions and emotions which we unconsciously absorb as children from our environment. In other words, it is tradition - besides inherited aptitudes and qualities - which makes us what we are. We but rarely reflect how relatively small as compared with the powerful influence of tradition is the influence of our conscious thought upon our conduct and our convictions.

It would be foolish to despise tradition. But with our growing self-consciousness and increasing intelligence we must begin to control tradition and assume a critical attitude toward it, if human relations are ever to change for the better. We must try to recognize what in our accepted tradition is damaging to our fate and dignity - and shape our lives accordingly.

I believe that whoever tries to think things through honestly will soon recognize how unworthy and even fatal is the traditional bias against Negroes.

What, however, can the man of good will do to combat this deeply rooted prejudice? He must have the courage to set an example by word and deed, and must watch lest his children become influenced by this racial bias.

I do not believe there is a way in which this deeply entrenched evil can be quickly healed. But until this goal is reached there is no greater satisfaction for a just and well-meaning person than the knowledge that he has devoted his best energies to the service of the good cause."

Albert Einstein
Out Of My Later Years (1946)
~

Love / Marda

[Marda]

Just serving American interests ... fighting terrorism ... lookin' out for future generations ... preserving democracy etc
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/10/02/arms.b ... index.html

/Marda

[Marda]

Hello All,
I've been rather busy lately ... I do hope you're all fine.

From CBC News - here's something to think about with Thanksgiving on the horizon in America.
~

5 killed in shootout among deer hunters
Last Updated Mon, 22 Nov 2004 09:23:56 EST

MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. - Five deer hunters died and three were injured on Sunday in an apparent shootout over who could occupy a hunting platform in a northwestern Wisconsin forest.

The exact circumstances of the deadly incident that occurred during the annual hunts opening weekend in southwestern Sawyer County remained unclear Monday morning. Police said a single male suspect was arrested Sunday afternoon.

Two hunters were returning to their rural cabin on private land, when they reportedly saw the suspect in one of their tree stands, County Chief Deputy Tim Zeigle said. A confrontation and shooting followed.

It's not known who shot first, Zeigle said.

Both men were wounded and one of them radioed to the cabin. Other hunters responded to the call and were shot, Zeigle said. Some of the victims may have shot back at the suspect, Zeigle said.

The suspect was "sniping" at the victims with a SKS semi-automatic rifle, Zeigle said. He was "chasing after them and killing them," he said.

Among the dead were four males – including a teenage boy – and a woman, Zeigle said. Some of the victims were reportedly shot more than once.

Authorities found two bodies near each other and three others scattered around the area, which is near the town of Meteor. Two people who hid in a cabin emerged safely after the shootings.

The suspect was arrested as he walked out of the woods. He was out of bullets at the time, Zeigle said.

One of the injured hunters was in critical condition at a local hospital. Another was listed in serious condition and the third was in fair condition.

Wisconsin's deer hunting season started Saturday and lasts for nine days.
~

/ Marda

[Marda]

Quoted From CNN Entertainment News
Sunday, December 12, 2004 Posted: 12:00 PM EST (1700 GMT)
Thurmond's biracial daughter writes book
Thurmond's daugther: A weight lifted

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AP) -- "I always thought I had a fairly normal childhood, until I found out my parents weren't who I thought they were."

So begins the autobiography of Essie Mae Washington Williams, the daughter of longtime U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond and a 16-year-old black maid who worked at his family's home.

Williams, now 79, came forward a year ago, after Thurmond's death, with the secret she had held for more than 70 years. Her upcoming book, "Dear Senator: A Memoir by the Daughter of Strom Thurmond," deals frankly with her relationship with the one-time segregationist who privately acknowledged her as his child but never spoke of her publicly.

Williams confronted Thurmond about his support of segregation, but watched with disappointment as his political star rose in the 1940s and '50s. "He became an outright racist, cloaked in the ancient doctrine of states' rights," she wrote.

The book, co-written with William Stadiem, is set to be released January 27 by ReganBooks, a division of HarperCollins Publishers.

Williams was raised in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, by Mary and John Washington. Her world changed at age 13 when Mary Washington's sister, Carrie Butler, told Essie Mae that she was her biological mother.

A few years later, when she returned to Edgefield for a funeral, Butler took her to a local law office where she first met Thurmond.

"He never called my mother by her first name. He didn't verbally acknowledge that I was his child. He didn't ask when I was leaving and didn't invite me to come back. It was like an audience with an important man, a job interview, but not a reunion with a father," Williams wrote.

It was the first of many visits between Thurmond and Williams. He provided for her financially, but their meetings were always formal events where Thurmond -- a health fanatic -- asked more questions about her exercise and eating habits than her personal life.

During one visit around 1946, Thurmond offered to pay her tuition at an all-black college in Orangeburg, now known as South Carolina State University.

Moving to the school in the South meant she had to adapt to a segregated culture. The black students rarely left campus and, when they did, they were forced to sit in the backs of buses and visit only certain restaurants and shops.

Many of her classmates came from prosperous black families. While they talked about their fathers' jobs, Williams held back.

"With all the family comparisons, I was tempted to brag about my father. ... But the temptation quickly passed. I wasn't crazy. And I was very grateful to my father for making it possible to come here to State. I couldn't afford to lose the opportunity in front of me. For me, it was a state of grace."

During her college years, Thurmond visited Williams a couple times, meeting privately in the school president's office.

"Our surface dealings were precisely that, all superficial and completely unemotional, despite my inner turmoil."

Williams watched her father's career from afar. She attended his gubernatorial inauguration in January 1947 with her classmates. She watched her father and his family.

"This was my family, but I didn't know them and they didn't know me. In time, in time, I prayed to myself. If my father could change this state, with its Confederate flags flying and its Confederate soldiers standing vigil atop their obelisks, I had reason to hope he could change his own house," she writes.

Thurmond said segregation laws were needed to protect the purity of the races.

"I wasn't sure if this was my father talking or the ghost of Adolf Hitler," she wrote.

When Thurmond ran for president as the State's Rights Party candidate during the 1948 election, he said: "All the laws of Washington and all the bayonets of the army cannot force the Negro race into our theaters, our swimming pools, our schools, our churches, our homes."

Nearly a decade later, he set the Senate record for filibustering when he spoke against a bill to end discrimination in housing.

On one visit, Williams asked Thurmond how he could say such things about blacks. She said blacks were treated unfairly, but he defended it as the culture and custom of the South.

Over the decades, Williams tried to reconcile the fiery politician with the man who treated her kindly, providing money for her and her family.

"It's not that Strom Thurmond ever swore me to secrecy. He never swore me to anything. He trusted me, and I respected him, and we loved each other in our deeply repressed ways, and that was our social contract," she wrote.

Thurmond eventually softened his political stance and renounced racism.

Williams, who taught in public schools for many years, said Thurmond's death in 2003 at age 100 left her unsettled. Her own daughter encouraged her to make her story public, and Thurmond's family soon acknowledged her heritage.

"In a way, my life began at 78, at least my life as who I really was, without the subterfuges of the previous 65 years," Williams wrote. "I may have called it 'closure,' but it was much more like an opening, a very grand opening."
~


/ Marda

[Marda]

~
== (incoming Email footer quotes randomly selected by Pegasus Mailer)

"Why do so many of America's young schoolchildren kill each other?
We asked Charlton Heston!"
~

"The world is a dangerous place to live. Not because of the
people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do
anything about it." - Albert Einstein

/ Marda

[Marda]

From CBC News ... it seems elections aren't yet an established tradition on the other side of Planet Earth ... maybe Kerry should take a tour bus vacation and do a few luncheons in Iraq to soften up the masses for their inevitable Bush League democracy ...

/M
~
Election workers executed, 62 killed in Iraq bombings
Last Updated Sun, 19 Dec 2004 21:02:58 EST

NAJAF, IRAQ - Car bombs exploded in the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala Sunday, killing at least 62 people and wounding more than 120.

The bomb in Najaf detonated in central Maidan Square where a large crowd had gathered to watch a funeral procession for a tribal sheik, just steps from the Iman Ali Shrine.
One of the destroyed vehicles in Karbala (AP/APTN photo)

A hospital official said 48 people were killed and 90 wounded in that blast, which also crumbled part of a two-floor building.

The city's police chief Ghalib al-Jazaari and the provincial governor, who were standing about 100 metres from the site of the explosion, escaped unhurt. Al-Jazaari believes they were the intended targets.

Less than an hour earlier, a suicide bomber blew up his vehicle at the entrance to a crowded bus station in downtown Karbala, 80 kilometres south of Baghdad.

The blast ripped through about 10 minibuses, killing at least 14 people and wounding as many as 39 others. It also destroyed five cars outside the crowded Bab bus station.
A gunman, left, shoots and kills a man lying in Baghdad's Haifa Street after being pulled from a car. The man at right on his knees was executed moments later, along with another man not shown in picture. (AP Photo)

This was Karbala's second bombing in a week. Eight died Wednesday when a bomb exploded outside the Imam Hussein Shrine, on the first day of campaigning.

In central Baghdad, about 30 armed rebels, hurled hand grenades and fired guns onto Haifa Street. Then, unmasked gunmen stopped a car carrying five employees of the Iraqi Electoral Commission. Three were dragged from the car and shot at point-blank range. The car was then set on fire.

Increased rebel attacks have convinced Adan Pachachi, an influential member of the Iraqi Governing Council, to call for a postponement of the Jan. 30 election, "in order to allow meaningful dialogue with the various groups that have opposed or are threatening to boycott the election."

Written by CBC News Online staff
~

/ Marda

[Marda]

Quote from drug dealer "Hey man - I had a really cool F****** judge - he got me off on a technicality" ...
Quote from Judge "WOW - That's Some Kickass F****** Dope Man" ...
~
From CBC News

"Calgary judge admits falling asleep during trial

Last Updated Mon, 20 Dec 2004 18:17:23 EST

CALGARY - An Alberta judge admitted in court Monday that he fell asleep during a sentencing hearing earlier this month, saying he was sorry for his actions.

Court of Queen's Bench Justice John Moore publicly apologized to the lawyers involved and to a convicted Calgary drug dealer.

Moore said he fell asleep during testimony by the accused, Raymond Chan, on Dec. 1.

The defence lawyer has said that when Chan stopped testifying, he could hear the judge snoring. Chan was found guilty of several drug offences in November.

Lawyers are now looking at whether an application for a mistrial will proceed or if a new judge will take over the sentencing.

Moore said he has consulted doctors about his sleep problems. "

Written by CBC News Online staff
~


/ Marda

[Marda]

The real villain in this story, is a neo-conservative, businessman, friend of Reagan and Bush administrations ...

as the former Premier and frontman for Ontario's now defunct "Common Sense Revolution", he abandoned ship when party backroom pollsters confirmed his possibilities for relection had evaporated ...

he escaped to golf courses, boardrooms, and right wing think tanks thereby avoiding all but a few hintful suggestions of his responsibility for budget-cutting the financial hearts out of Ontario's public service and protection infrastructures in his aggressive efforts to generate business opportunities for his free enterprise friends and a major power grab for his corporate-political globalization cronies ...
~

From CBC News

"Stan Koebel gets 1 year in jail, Frank 9 months house arrest

Last Updated Mon, 20 Dec 2004 21:58:17 EST

WALKERTON, ONT. - Stan and Frank Koebel received their sentences Monday for their role in a deadly E. coli outbreak in a small Ontario town in May 2000.

Former Walkerton, Ont. utilities manager Stan Koebel was sentenced to one year in jail, while younger brother Frank, who was water foreman, got a nine-month conditional house arrest.

Heavy rain had caused Walkerton's drinking water to become contaminated four and a half years ago, but the Koebels apparently did little despite complaints from the town's residents about vomiting and diarrhea.

Seven of the town's people died and 2,500 others fell ill in during the tainted water crisis .

Stan and Frank pleaded guilty to criminal charges last month.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Bruce Durno took more than two hours to read out and explain his ruling.

He stressed there was never any intent on the part of the Koebels to harm anyone, but found them negligent in discharging their duties.

"No sentence I could impose can assuage the enormous losses," Durno told a packed courtroom. "But, the offenders are not being sentenced for being the cause of the Walkerton water tragedy."

Durno determined that greater blame lay with Stan, whom he held responsible for delaying a boil water advisory, even though both he and Frank knew from May 17 there were unsafe levels of E. coli in Walkerton's tap water.

He found that Stan lied about this to government officials for two days.

Frank's conditional sentence will consist of six months house arrest followed by three months of night curfew.

Frank will be allowed out of his house in cases of medical emergencies, limited Saturday shopping, job interviews, Sunday church services and the like.

Stan's lawyer Bill Trudel, who did not rule out an appeal, said the judge had agreed that Koebel was "a very decent man who had made grave mistakes."

Brothers originally faced more serious charges

The Koebels had originally been charged with public endangerment, fraud and breach of trust.

But they reached a plea bargain last month after admitting they failed to monitor and treat the town's water supply properly. The news caused dismay among many of Walkerton's residents.

The offence, formally called common nuisance, carries a maximum sentence of two years in jail.

Prosecutor Dave Foulds had called for a sentence near the maximum for 51-year-old Stan, and a conditional sentence or house arrest for his 46-year-old brother.

Foulds said the sentence sent a "sharp and clear message" that those who don't perform their legal duties and are employed in an occupation of any kind where public safety is affected, "there's a real risk you can be sentenced to jail."

Defence lawyers portrayed them as upstanding, civic-minded men who meant no harm and spared victims and taxpayers a lengthy trial. They asked that the brothers be given conditional discharges, leaving them without criminal records.

They also argued the Koebels were victims of selective prosecution because Environment Ministry officials didn't do their jobs properly and the former Conservative government had slashed their budget.

Many residents consider the Koebels to have been scapegoats, while others argue they got off too lightly given the devastation the bad tap water caused.

"There's no clean end to this," said Bruce Davidson of Concerned Walkerton Citizens.

The tragedy led to an overhaul of Ontario's drinking water legislation."

Written by CBC News Online staff
~

/ Marda

[Marda]

As CJ recently noted about Canadians, sometimes we're *too* polite ... this "terrorist" gets "3 squares" a day in the "Holiday Inn" of prisons ... looks like Mr.Greenspon is up against some photos of his clients fingers in the cookiejar and holding out for a certain Calgary Judge to roll another one ...
~

From CBC News ...

"Bail review delayed for man held under anti-terrorism law

Last Updated Mon, 20 Dec 2004 15:12:37 EST

OTTAWA - An Ottawa-area man accused of involvement in an al-Qaeda plot to bomb targets in the United Kingdom had his bail review hearing postponed Monday.

Mohammad Momin Khawaja, 25, is the first person arrested under Canada's new anti-terrorism act.

The Orleans man is charged with participating in the activities of a terrorist group and facilitating a terrorist activity.

A judge denied him bail in May.

Khawaja's lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon, had asked for a bail review, but told the judge he wasn't prepared to proceed Monday because of a last-minute disclosure of evidence by the Crown.

Greenspon said he needed more time to review material given to him last Friday. The case was adjourned without a solid return date.

Khawaja has spent nine months in the segregation unit of the Ottawa-Carleton Regional Detention Centre. "

Written by CBC News Online staff
~


/ Marda

[Marda]

Looks like M.Cloutier rolled "snake eyes" ...

knowing what little I do about how things really work in Quebec, it makes a T-girl wonder who he pissed off so badly that they blew the whistle on his decades of sexcapades ...

it also makes a T-girl wonder where he found a spare heart from which to feel "sorry from the bottom of" ...
~

From CBC News ...

"Quebec TV producer sentenced for sexual abuse

Last Updated Mon, 20 Dec 2004 21:51:24 EST

MONTREAL - One of Quebec's best-known television and music producers has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison for sexually abusing two children.

Guy Cloutier pleaded guilty to five sexual assault charges for offences that took place over a number of years.

The Crown was seeking a five-year prison term - three years for the first victim and a two-year sentence, to be served consecutively, for the second one.

The defence had suggested a two-year sentence less one day, to be served in the community.

Cloutier pleaded guilty on Nov. 17, relating to incidents which date as far back as 1978. The victim involved in four of the charges was 11 years old when she was first assaulted.

After the November pleas, Cloutier apologized for his actions.

"I profoundly regret all the harm that I have done," he said outside the courtroom. "I acknowledge my crimes [and] I am sorry from the bottom of my heart."

The charges he pleaded guilty to included: Gross indecency (two counts). Sexual assault (two counts). Attempt to obstruct justice.

Some of the details of the crimes can't be made public because of a reporting ban imposed by the court. "

Written by CBC News Online staff
~

/ Marda

[Marda]

Calling all Russian Crossdressers ... Hello ??? Are you there ???
~

Putin questions Russia-U.S. relationship

Last Updated Thu, 23 Dec 2004 22:13:41 EST

MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin is winding up his year expressing doubts about his country's relationship with the United States.

Putin held his annual end-of-year news conference in Moscow on Thursday in which he commented on a variety of issues including the sale of Yukos - Russia's second-largest oil company - and the upcoming Ukrainian elections.

"We are not going to predict the result of the [Ukrainian] elections because that would not be right, although we know what the polls are saying. I'm personally acquainted with [Viktor] Yushchenko from his tenure as chairman of the Ukrainian cabinet. We had dealings with each other and we had normal, business-like relations ... we're always ready to receive any leader entrusted to Moscow by the Ukrainian people."

But Putin also says he will ask U.S. President George W. Bush when they next meet whether Washington is attempting to isolate Russia. Putin made reference to U.S. criticism of Russia's approach to the recent controversial Ukrainian election.

"I don't think [isolation] is the goal of U.S. policy. In the near future, next year, we will meet with President Bush and I will ask him the question: 'Is it true?'"

The two leaders are scheduled to meet in Slovakia in February.

Putin suggested criticism of Russian involvement in the Ukrainian election is ill-placed since, he claims, intimidation was a factor in the last two U.S. elections.

Putin also offered a subtle jab at Washington's Iraq policy, saying he doubted planned elections there would be democratic while the country is under full occupation.

Written by CBC News Online staff
~

/Marda

[Marda]

EarthQuakery or EarthQuackery ???

http://www.tldm.org/News5/EQ_Indonesia.htm


/ Marda

[Marda]

More Darwin At Play ... some people claim to keep "Rotties" for "protection" ... the doggies apparently determined the 3 yr old to be a "threat" to family security ... the kid must have been a regular little demon ... say it isn't so ...
~

From Yahoo News / Canadian Press
"Three-year-old B.C. boy dead after suffering multiple dog bites

Tue Dec 28, 7:28 PM ET

MAPLE RIDGE, B.C. (CP) - A three-year-old B.C. boy is dead after being mauled by one or more dogs, police say.

RCMP were called to a Maple Ridge residence Monday where they found the boy. He had suffered multiple dog bites to the face and head. The boy was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead. The child's distraught mother was hospitalized on Tuesday after police were called back to the residence in the Vancouver suburb.

"The family is devastated," a friend told Media on behalf of the family. "The mother is having a very difficult time as are the rest of the family."

Four dogs were in the house at the time of the incident including three Rottweilers and a collie.

Two of the Rottweilers were being cared for by the family while their owner was away.

Police said the dogs were being kept in a closed-off basement area but escaped and attacked the child.

It was then that the family called 911 at about noon, police said.

One Rottweiler and the collie have been put down. The other two Rottweillers could be euthanized on Wednesday.

The euthanizations have been done with the owners' consent, police said.

RCMP Const. Bill Dalzell told Media the death is being investigated by serious crimes investigators.

Police and the Ministry of Children and Family Development are also performing a joint investigation "to determine if there was anything negligent or criminal to blame in this tragic death," a police statement said.

The other three children who were in the house are staying with family while police conduct background checks in conjunction with the ministry to ensure the children's proper placement.

Police are expected to provide an update on Wednesday. "

~

/ Marda


~
UPDATE Quote CBC News
Thu, 30 Dec 2004 21:03:10 EST

PORT COQUITLAM, B.C. - The three surviving children of the woman whose three-year-old son was mauled to death by dogs in her own home, have been taken away by authorities in British Columbia.

Sherri Fontaine says the B.C. Ministry of Children and Family Development has decided her children cannot live with her because they are in danger.

Fontaine was sleeping in her home in Maple Ridge, at the time the dogs attacked her son Cody, on Monday morning.

She says she believes the little boy got up early and let the dogs - three Rottweilers and a collie - out of the locked basement.

In a highly emotional scene outside a Port Coquitlam courthouse on Thursday, Fontaine family members said they didn't want the children returned to their home.

Clutching a framed portrait of the smiling toddler, Cody's 18-year-old stepsister expressed her grief at the loss of the child. The teen and other members of the family have had their names protected by court order.

She said she's concerned about Cody's three young siblings.

The other children have been in the care of an older relative, since the tragedy. Another extended family member said the surviving children are trying to heal after being the ones who found their little brother dead after the attack.

Sherri Fontaine has refused to talk to media. She has a history of criminal convictions involving drug possession and drug trafficking. She's served jail time and has been barred from owning firearms.

Outside court the dead boy's grandmother said even though Sherri Fontaine loves her children dearly, she should not get them back for now.

"Until this is all over the kids are better off where they're being put now. I'm not putting blame, but to try and deal with three little ones, along with her own grief, this way the little ones are going to get the counselling that they need."

A judge has ruled the surviving children will remain where they are at least until their mother is able to hire a lawyer and make a second court appearance in January.

The RCMP says it is still investigating the mauling and has not yet made a decision on whether to lay charges.

Two of the four dogs have been put down.

Written by CBC News Online staff
~



While the world closes off 2004 facing the aftermath of what is possibly one of the greatest natural disasters in human history, a "typical", Canadian, suburban, consumer / bedroom community takes a peek at its' own soft underside - the human condition in all its' "glory" ...

God Bless Innocent Children

/ Marda

[Marda]

Quotes from CBC News reflecting the growing pains of modern Canadian teenagers ...
Thu, 30 Dec 2004 18:25:41 EST

WINNIPEG - Police in Winnipeg say a 13-year-old girl is facing charges of mischief and theft in connection with the vandalism of 50 vehicles in an underground parking garage on Boxing Day.

"She's been charged with break and enter, mischief times 50, attempted theft over $5,000 times five and attempted theft under $5,000 times three," said Const. Bob Johnson. "She is but one of a group of other people that are expected to be arrested in the very near future."

Police say three or four youths appear to have forced their way into the garage through an overhead door.

There were attempts made to steal some of the vehicles and damage is estimated at about $60,000.

Fingerprints and blood left at the scene are being used to find those responsible.

Police say more arrests are expected.

Written by CBC News Online staff
~
** Update to previous post of Thu, 30 Dec 2004 20:02:55 EST
Sun, 2 Jan 2005
Toronto — Toronto police have arrested a 17-year-old male in the stabbing death of an East York high school student earlier this month.

The youth, who cannot be named under the terms of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, is facing a first-degree murder charge for the Dec. 3 killing of Andrew Stewart.

The 16-year-old East York Collegiate student was swarmed by a group of teens and stabbed in the chest after he came to the aid of a pregnant friend at a restaurant on Coxwell Ave.

Stewart was reportedly chased from the restaurant by a group of 10 to 15 teens and then stabbed repeatedly in the chest. He later died from his injuries at St. Michael's Hospital.

Police arrested the teenaged suspect Thursday morning after receiving "significant co-operation" from friends, community members and the Toronto District School Board.

The suspect appeared in Criminal Youth court Friday where a judge put his arraignment date over until Jan. 13.

Written by CBC News Online staff
~



A) In the first case, it's possible the poor girl hadn't received all of what she wanted for Christmas ... and of course being underage, she was unable to land a job and earn money the honest way for all that she wanted to buy at the Boxing Day Sales ...

**
B) Initially I confused the Stewart case with reports on another case in Toronto in early December whereby an 18 yr old victim was murdered at his home for defending his younger brother's private house party from unwelcome and uninvited guests ... it was suggested he may have been dealing with growing pains and was still in the process of learning to manage an inherited "quick" temper ... (aka - he played "tough guy" and lost) ...

C) The Stewart case reminds me of the early 2004 death of a young lady in Vancouver who was shot to death outside a late night bar while trying to stop a fight in which one person got the better of another and was beating him mercilessly on the ground ...
~

I remember how outraged the community would be upon the discovery of another case of property damage and vandalism at the hands of the bored and boozed troublemakers of the day ...

it seems the sport of choice for many ripe and rowdy youths these days is "Death To Good Samaritans" ...

In my personal weakness, I tend to agree with the opinion of many Canadians that our Youth Criminal Justice Act is too soft and ineffective ... it's largely understood that "Young Offenders" feel confident in committing any crime with the knowledge that on declaration of a troubled domestic life they will be provided public legal aid and excused with a reprimand and a short term restriction of online shopping privileges ...

Recently, when I asked a friend who is now employed in the "Corrections" industry, "What's with the parents of these young criminals", the answer was "A lot of them are prostitutes, strippers, drug dealers ... and a lot of them are just working to make money to pay the bills and buy things and don't have time for their kids" ...



/ Marda

[Marda]

"Conny" just can't get enough attention ... of course he already knows he's smarter than everybody else, and he never misses an opportunity to say so ...

this time however, he may just be messing with some greater powers than even he, in all his self-declared "greatness" may have imagined ... having never care who he alienated, he has a very short list of friends ... he's running very low on favours due and payable ... and having bought his way into the British House of Lords, he doesn't have any blood to call on ...

Oh My: What's a once wealthy, smartass to do ???
~
Quote from CBC ...
Updated Thu, 30 Dec 2004 18:42:28 EST

TORONTO - Conrad Black has been named Canada's business newsmaker of the year for the second year in a row by the Canadian Press and Broadcast News.

The once-unassailable press baron, who spent the year embroiled in legal and boardroom battles, received 76 of the 143 votes cast in this year's poll of news editors and broadcasters.

Runner-up for the second straight year was Robert Milton, who piloted Air Canada through a successful restructuring. He received 31 votes.

Westjet Airlines chief executive Clive Beddoe and federal Finance Minister Ralph Goodale were well back in the running with nine and eight votes respectively.

While Black is no stranger to controversy, he made news in spectacular fashion following accusations in late 2003 that he and some of his close associates diverted $32.2 million US away from Hollinger International, which he controlled.

The allegations, counter-charges and courtroom battles continued through most of 2004 and ended up costing him the chief executive posts at both Hollinger International and Hollinger Inc.

Black remains the controlling shareholder of the Hollinger group, once the world's third-largest newspaper company in terms of circulation. But most of its key assets have been sold, including the Daily Telegraph, the London newspaper that propelled Black into Britain's House of Lords.

George Tombs, author of Lord Black, just one of the biographies published about him this year, says Canadians are fascinated to see "someone who had it all" lose so much money, power and prestige so quickly.

"In a way, Canadians are rubber-necking as they're driving around the wreckage of Conrad Black's business career," Tombs says.

Another biographer, Richard Siklos, who wrote Shades of Black, says: "There's a certain element of trying to figure out if this guy's for real, because he truly is larger than life."

"I would say his position has been severely weakened over the last few months in this fight," Siklos says. "And I think his focus now will be entirely on redeeming himself in court, rather than plotting a corporate comeback right away."

Written by CBC News Online staff
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As a former funeral director, two assurances I can offer "Lord Black" for all his trouble are, 1) his body will burn to its' bone fragments at the local crematorium in about the same 2 - 3 hours as anyone else's, and 2) it needn't cost any more.


/ Marda