From The Department Of The Bleeding Obvious Department

"If streets named after Confederate Generals inspire violence, what's causing all the crime on MLK Boulevard?"

Meet Rob Ford

Mayor of Toronto.

Getting strife for spending his holiday weekend with his family.

Bite him.

He was a City Councillor before he was Mayor. And the left did everything they could to destroy him then, as witnessed by this crap!

As of 2007, councillors are allowed a maximum office budget of $53,100. In November, 2007, Ford was investigated by the city's integrity commissioner over his spending habits. In a report to the Executive Committee, the commissioner concluded that Ford had failed to report office expenses that he had paid for out of his own pocket. He also printed flyers at his family's printing business for distribution to his constituents, again at his own expense. City policy requires that these expenses must be paid through the councillor's budget rather than with personal funds even though this would likely entail Rob Ford paying himself for the use of his own printing facility.[9] As of November 27, Ford refused to comply with the city's policy.[10]

Friday Night Music

This has been such a horrible week for Vancouver. I am grateful to my friend in Ontario who posted a video on Facebook of local Vancouver musician Doug Bennett performing in the early 80s with his band Doug and The Slugs. Doug died way too young in 2004 at the age of 52. I used to live in the same apartment buiding as him in downtown Vancouver and would pass him in the entrance way as we came and went, always nodding a polite hello.

The videos are cheesey but the music is great. Doug had one of those distinctive voices that you would recognise every time he came on the radio.

Tuscaloosa Devastated By Massive Twister

It was only a matter of time before a well-populated city got hit. Here's one video. There are more.



The governor of Alabama has called out 1,400 National Guard troops to help with search and rescue operations. The death toll climbs every time I check; at least 159 173 are dead across the South, most of them in Tuscaloosa.

This Too is London

Amateur photographer Alex Saberi has captured some amazing photos of wilds of England - in the middle of London!

(Richmond Park really does seem to be pretty close in!)

HT: Instapundit.

Activist Sheriff In The Hot Seat

Disgruntled Pima County residents are organizing to mount a recall election against their wildly unprofessional sheriff.

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik has never lost an election, but that was before his remarks assigning blame for the deadly Tucson, Ariz., shooting to political "vitriol" and calling Arizona "a mecca for prejudice and bigotry."

Now it's Sheriff Dupnik who finds himself on the public-opinion hot seat. A group opposed to illegal immigration has begun an effort to recall the sheriff in a special election. Meanwhile, a Pima County tea party group is planning on holding a "Dump Dupnik" rally next week outside his office.

"I haven't been a fan of Dupnik's for a long time, but this really was the straw that broke the camel's back," said Tom Rompel, co-owner of Black Weapons Armory in Tucson. "He's law enforcement. We expect 'the facts, ma'am,' not his opinion. He leans far left, always has, and frankly, people have had enough."

I don't blame them for being angry. Americans expect their local sheriff to uphold the law, and not rush to judgment in ANY criminal matter. Dupnik's drama-queen grab for the spotlight was unprofessional, and his vocal personal prejudices have no place in an investigation. I can't imagine his deputies have much faith in his leadership abilities after the Giffords media spectacle, and Pima County needs a strong and cohesive sheriff's department. Organizers of the recall should strive to keep politics out of the equation, and approach the recall from a bi-partisan community safety viewpoint.

I doubt they will. This recall attempt, mounted on a purely political platform, AGAINST a purely political platform, will only serve to increase tensions. We're one match-strike from a conflagration, and I'm hoping that cooler, smarter heads will prevail.

The Lord Mayor's Coach

It glints with more gold than a prize-fighter's teeth, while simply easing it out of its home at the Museum of London takes enough toilers to man a satanic mill.

Ain't it luvverly?

Vancouver

If you've never been here, you should.