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Today: 55 articles and 164 comments as of 13:17.
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Imambargah attacks leave three dead, spark outrage
Today's Headlines
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Page 6: Politix
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 4: Opinion
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Great White North
Our illustrious mayor
Toronto, or “Toto” for short, is once again in world news, thanks to our beloved mayor, Rob Ford. It is nearly a year since I mentioned him in a post I should have deleted by now, for being merely topical. I explained why every left-thinking person in the Greater Parkdale Area had been teased to apoplexy by the contemplation of this gentleman. This because he was: 1. fat, 2. colourful, 3. rightwing &, 4. freely elected by a large margin over some gay leftwing establishment darling. (Some other reasons have accumulated since then.)

Turns out, the police have recovered some video in which — it is alleged — our peerless mayor is shown doing crack with local low-life. Whether smoking or snorting or otherwise ingesting, we do not know, & neither apparently does our splendid mayor, who now says he was actually too drunk to remember the occasion. Dear Mayor Ford: among our living national treasures.

I am in receipt of several emails querying the judgement of the fine people of Toronto for having elected this giant of a man. And as, despite my distaste for democracy, I voted for him myself, I feel some sort of reply may be indicated.

Quite frankly, we tried mayors who were not crackheads. They didn’t work out. Also, the last one didn’t drink enough. That’s why we elected Ford. He’s doing great: slashing through the city bureaucracy & privatizing everything he can. He even holds the civic unions in subjection: not one has dared to strike. And ho, he’s trying to build subways. Anyone who has attempted to ride a trolley across this town will understand our need to tunnel. So what is the problem?

As our good, excellent mayor told his Police Chief: bring on your video! Ford says he’s curious to see it himself, & that the rest of Toronto would surely also like a chance to catch it on YouTube.

Gentle reader knows I am a traditionalist in most things, & a loyal Canadian. Our very first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, was a magnificent drunkard, who managed to hold office for nearly twenty years. There is an Arabian Nights of anecdotes that our primly officious historians have been too shy to tell. Verily, half of Macdonald’s Cabinet were awash most evenings, & the debates in Parliament were enlivened thereby. Almost all the damage ever done to this country was by sobersides.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/10/2013 12:33 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  How do the books look?
Posted by: newc || 11/10/2013 21:55 Comments || Top||

#2  He’s doing great: slashing through the city bureaucracy & privatizing everything he can. He even holds the civic unions in subjection: not one has dared to strike. And ho, he’s trying to build subways.

Mr. Wife was in Toronto last week, and his colleagues there said much the same: Mr. Ford is a successful businessman who ran on putting Toronto on a businesslike footing. He is doing so without fear or favour, much to the dismay of the various local power brokers, whose usual cumshaw has failed to appear. There is some suspicion the videos are a set-up.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/10/2013 23:31 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
White guy wins after leading voters to believe he's black
h/t Instapundit, Althouse
Dave Wilson chuckles as he talks about his unorthodox political campaign.

"I'd always said it was a long shot," Wilson says. "No, I didn't expect to win."

Still, he figured he'd have fun running, because he was fed up with what he called "all the shenanigans" at the Houston Community College System. As a conservative white Republican running in a district whose voters are overwhelmingly black Democrats, the odds seemed overwhelmingly against him.

Then he came up with an idea, an advertising strategy that his opponent found "disgusting." If a white guy didn't have a chance in a mostly African-American district, Wilson would lead voters to think he's black.

And it apparently worked. In one of the biggest political upsets in Houston politics this election season, Wilson -- an anti-gay activist and former fringe candidate for mayor -- emerged as the surprise winner over 24-year incumbent Bruce Austin. His razor thin margin of victory, only 26 votes, was almost certainly influenced by his racially tinged campaign.

"Every time a politician talks, he's out there deceiving voters," he says.

Wilson, a gleeful political troublemaker, printed direct mail pieces strongly implying that he's black. His fliers were decorated with photographs of smiling African-American faces -- which he readily admits he just lifted off websites -- and captioned with the words "Please vote for our friend and neighbor Dave Wilson."
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/10/2013 03:04 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The elimination of literacy testing, and the unintended consequences.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/10/2013 6:58 Comments || Top||

#2  "Every time a politician talks, he's out there deceiving voters," he says. YUP! YUP! and another YUP!
Posted by: JohnQC || 11/10/2013 8:40 Comments || Top||

#3  Fair play. A neo-communist redistributionist won after leading voters to believe he was a 'liberal'.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/10/2013 8:45 Comments || Top||

#4  Sounds like he violated someone's civil rights and AG Holder will be checking him out personally. As will the IRS and the election rules people. And the EPA, and the Post Office, and DEA, and so on. But none of them will notice the mob of his melanin-rich neighbors with the firebombs in his front yard..
Posted by: Glenmore || 11/10/2013 9:31 Comments || Top||

#5  Serves his constituents right. If they voted for nothing more than the man's skin color then they deserve whatever they get.
Posted by: Iblis || 11/10/2013 11:06 Comments || Top||

#6  A simple name change (seems popular with pols these days) from Dave Wilson to 'Davon' Wilson.... should keep him in office until the day he dies.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/10/2013 11:18 Comments || Top||

#7  Reading this, I'm not so sure this is an accurate recount of the interview.

If all he did was not show a picture of himself on the direct mail then whats the deal? If he put his name directly underneath a picture of Marshan Lynch then yeah, but at the box there would still be the olde d and r signage. Sounds like enough educated or pissed off voters wanted to kick out the 4 time elected Austin.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 11/10/2013 12:22 Comments || Top||

#8  Clever, clean campaign brochure
Posted by: Clomotch Tholuger || 11/10/2013 12:28 Comments || Top||

#9  You were warned.

Dumbass.
Posted by: Jerk || 11/10/2013 13:26 Comments || Top||

#10  and stupidity in KKKanada? See? I can do your dumb schtick just as poorly as you
Posted by: Frank G || 11/10/2013 13:29 Comments || Top||

#11  It's come full term... passing for black is the new passing for white...
Posted by: Winky Bourbon6466 || 11/10/2013 13:35 Comments || Top||

#12  Nice to see racism is alive and well in Amerika.

You mean people voting only for their own race.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/10/2013 13:46 Comments || Top||

#13  Dunno if it's just race-preference in voting. One can look at the Irish community in the Northeast as having been another sterling example.

The tendency now is to vote for the ethnicity or skin color as well as the leftist political leaning, just to prove that one is not racist/biased. I'm sure the reader (outside of our insipid and tiresome Canadian Godwin's Law-violator,) can come up with a few examples on their own.

Posted by: Pappy || 11/10/2013 14:15 Comments || Top||

#14  ...at the box there would still be the olde d and r signage.

Nope. These races are "non-partisan" -- no parties listed.
Posted by: Angie Schultz || 11/10/2013 16:38 Comments || Top||

#15  Love, the reaper
Badanov was a step quicker than me today, JFK. We're watching you.

AoS
Posted by: Jerkface || 11/10/2013 17:04 Comments || Top||

#16  That looks like it was badanov, Jerk. He has a low tolerance for ... what is a good term for it... purposeful slow learning. I missed whatever idiocy it was that triggered him, but have little doubt it was deserved.
Posted by: Glenmore || 11/10/2013 17:11 Comments || Top||

#17  they know you, dickhead Jerk
Posted by: Frank G || 11/10/2013 17:23 Comments || Top||

#18  Why not a fake Indian pulled the hi info voters in Mass
Posted by: regular joe || 11/10/2013 17:34 Comments || Top||

#19  Thank you Angie, that does add to the story.

4 term Austin did not win on his name or lose on account of party affiliation.

Lot of loaded words in this story - fringe, anti, tinged. I see nothing overtly deceiving on that brochure. It tastes of sour grape tears.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 11/10/2013 17:38 Comments || Top||

#20  Just how much a role Wilson's mailers played in the campaign is unclear. Other incumbents running for re-election were forced into runoffs, perhaps because the community college system has come under intense criticism for insider business deals and spending money on overseas initiatives. And after 24 years in office, Austin's name should have been somewhat familiar to his constituents.

The unasked questions are:

Was there another African-American running for the same office?

If not, what would be the likelihood of Mr. Austin becoming a 30-year incumbent?

How about a Hispanic candidate -would that change the odds?

Or an African American, but one known for Christian fundamentalist, political conservative, or libertarian views - would Mr. Austin still get elected to another 6-year term?
Posted by: Pappy || 11/10/2013 21:47 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2013-11-10
  Imambargah attacks leave three dead, spark outrage
Sat 2013-11-09
  Zawahiri Disbands Main Qaida Faction in Syria
Fri 2013-11-08
  'Mullah Radio' takes overTTP, terms talks 'waste of time'
Thu 2013-11-07
  Nigeria president seeks state of emergency extension
Wed 2013-11-06
  Mortar round hits Vatican embassy in Damascus
Tue 2013-11-05
  152 soldiers sentenced to die for mutiny in Bangladesh
Mon 2013-11-04
  Blast inside Quetta seminary leaves two injured
Sun 2013-11-03
  Gunmen kill 30 in suspected Islamist attack on Nigerian wedding convoy
Sat 2013-11-02
  Egypt army arrests head of Sinai radical militant group, dozens others
Fri 2013-11-01
  Pakistani Taliban chief killed in drone strike: sources
Thu 2013-10-31
  Israeli warplanes strike shipment of Russian missiles at Syrian port: officials
Wed 2013-10-30
  Suicide blast in Tunisian resort of Sousse
Tue 2013-10-29
  Somalia's al-Shabab commanders 'killed' in strike
Mon 2013-10-28
  Bomb blast kills 18 wedding guests in Afghanistan
Sun 2013-10-27
  Bombings in Baghdad, Mosul kill at least 49

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