For a Thursday

Lots going on ...



So that one does not forget:

A Canadian man from Tunisia shouted in Arabic before stabbing a police officer in the neck Wednesday at a Michigan airport, and referenced people being killed overseas during the attack that's now being investigated as an act of terrorism, federal and court officials said.

Amor Ftouhi, 49, of Montreal, was immediately taken into custody. A criminal complaint charging him with committing violence at an airport says Ftouhi asked an officer who subdued him why the officer didn't kill him.

The attack at Bishop International Airport in Flint, Michigan, is being investigated as an act of terrorism, but authorities have no indication at this time that the suspect was involved in a "wider plot," said FBI Special Agent in Charge David Gelios.

"At this time we view him as a lone-wolf attacker," Gelios said. "We have no information to suggest any training."

The criminal complaint said Ftouhi stabbed airport police Lt. Jeff Neville with a large knife after yelling "Allahu akbar," the Arabic phrase for "God is great." According to the FBI, Ftouhi said something similar to "you have killed people in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and we are all going to die."

Another Canadian integration success story!


Also:

We are now in an era where terrorists on Canadian soil, and queue-jumping refugees with no documentation, are given more privacy considerations and delicacy than ordinary Canadians.

If the legislation passes, for example, counter-terrorism operatives will actually have to seek special judicial permission to give direction to an undercover source who has infiltrated an extremist cell.

In fast-moving situations, this is insane.

While communications between the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), the RCMP, and the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) have been problematic in the past, the Trudeau Liberals believe the creation of a new bureaucracy to oversee them all will be the ticket to openness.

(Sidebar: because everyone knows how smoothly government agencies run.)

Hence the creation of a new super-watchdog -- the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency -- which will supposedly lead to the free exchange of information and a collaboration of reviews.

The problem, of course, is that it’s a watchdog with a louder bark but less teeth, as many of the Harper government’s hard-line approaches to deal with terrorists will be both softened and diluted. 

This softening and watering down was evidenced between the lines of Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale’s explanation of the reasoning behind the proposed legislation.

It doesn't matter. Unions will always vote for her until the ground opens up and demons from hell drag her into a sea of molten lava:

Of all 10 premiers, the embattled Wynne has the lowest approval rating in her home province with only 19% of Ontarians expressing support for her, and a full 70% unhappy with the job she’s doing.

Across Canada, 38% approve of Wynne and 48% disapprove, the highest disapproval rating among all premiers, although Quebec’s Philippe Couillard follows closely behind with a 47% negative rating, Mainstreet Research president Quito Maggi said.

We need term limits for everyone:

Canada's Liberal government avoided a battle over its budget bill on Thursday as the Senate backed down over proposed changes, but standoffs with the unelected upper house may become the new normal.

Senators agreed to pass the budget without amendments, despite disputes over several parts of the legislation, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his finance minister said the government would not accept changes.

While the Senate has had periods when it took a more activist approach, it has been decades since the body forced a showdown with the House of Commons, whose elected members include Trudeau, his cabinet ministers and opposition leaders.

The Senate became a major irritant to Trudeau in the past few weeks, offering amendments to high-profile bills on assisted dying, terrorism, the budget and other issues, at a time when he hoped to head into the parliament's summer recess on a high note to counter a refreshed Conservative opposition.

Start with PM Hair-Boy and work one's way around. Some senators may not feel encumbered by the majority party but it doesn't mean that they will always hinder the moron.


Also - the Liberals need to import voters blocks. They can't ever have a repeat of 2011:

Even as the United States under President Donald Trump becomes more closed off - with a pending ban on visitors from several Muslim-majority countries and a crackdown on immigration violations - Canada's arms remain open.

After Trump issued a travel ban order in January, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted that his country welcomes all fleeing war and persecution.

(Sidebar: except for Yazidis.)




Horrified that his "legacy" is slipping from him, a has-been pens a desperate screed:

Former president Barack Obama posted a nearly 1,000-word critique of the Senate health-care bill Thursday on Facebook, warning, “This bill will do you harm.”

I'm sure it will.






Oh, this must burn:

A superior court in California has dismissed 14 of 15 felony charges against the video journalists who exposed alleged profiteering from the sale of body parts of aborted babies within Planned Parenthood and its partners in the biomedical procurement industry.

He might still have been wearing his KGB medals so that the Devil could recognise him:

At the helm of their organization, a secretive wing of the KGB known as Directorate S, was a balding man with the rank of major general and the name of Yuri Drozdov. A square-jawed World War II veteran who led assaults in Afghanistan and helped arrange a high-profile spy exchange in 1960s Berlin, he died June 21 at 91. ...

Yet despite spending much of his career behind the scenes, Drozdov was not afraid to involve himself in “wet affairs,” the euphemistic KGB term for assassinations, beatings, poison-tipped umbrella murders and similar acts of hand-dirtying.

3.5 kilometres away:

The Canadian Armed Forces once again hold the title of world’s longest sniper kill after a special forces soldier hit an ISIL fighter from more than three-and-a-half kilometres away.

“The Canadian Special Operations Command can confirm that a member of the Joint Task Force 2 successfully hit a target from 3,540 metres,” said the Department of National Defence in a Thursday statement.

For context, the shot is akin to standing on the peak of Montreal’s Mont Royal and shooting a ISIL fighter in Longueil, across the St. Lawrence. In Calgary, it would be the same as shooting from Nose Hill Park and hitting an insurgent in the Calgary Stampede grounds. In Toronto, it would be like hitting someone in High Park from the top of the CN Tower.

And now, winners of the dog photographer of the year. Enjoy.