The most insightful quote I've read from Stephan Dion in a long time:

"The Conservatives, they have difficulty in seeing social programs otherwise than as a burden on the economy. We Liberals, we think that social programs that are well-designed will help people be better trained, better-educated, healthier, more confident in life and because of that, they will be better equipped to be competitive in the market... And then the market economy will be stronger and provide more room for social programs."

It's all about social programs leading to bigger, stronger, faster social programs. Stephan Dion's ideal world is one where everybody is taken care of by some form of government program. And that is a sad vision for Canada.

Labels: Liberal Party, politics, Stephane Dion, Winnipeg Free Press

Every once in a blue moon the Winnipeg Free Press prints something worth reading. An editorial in todays paper takes Gary Doer and the NDP to task for their antiquated business sense.

When the Winnipeg Free Press wants an honest debate on the future of Manitoba Hydro, it should be pretty clear that the public would be willing to entertain the idea. When Gary Doer uses the privatization of MTS to portray the PC's as scary, he's being dishonest and eventually voters will figure it out.

Labels: Gary Doer, Manitoba, NDP, Winnipeg Free Press

On Monday, the Black Rod posted an excellent piece, Free Press Fairy Tales and Fish Stories. He details a few of the errors that they've made in the recent past with headlines and facts. Which is why this piece in the Winnipeg Free Press today is hilarious.

The headline reads "Manitoba winning war with Alberta", with the byline "Many who headed west returning home". Talk about an attention-getting headline, I didn't even know we were at war with Alberta!

Here's a summary of the statistics backing up the headline:

Alberta's net gain from other provinces is still big, 11,813 in the last three months of 2006 alone. But the rate of growth appears to be slowing. In the last three months of 2005, Alberta had a net gain of 17,059.

Manitoba, on the other hand, lost 24,548 people to other provinces in 2006, and only gained 16,718, posting a net loss of 7,830.

No more mention of Alberta vs Manitoba stats, that's it. Can somebody PLEASE, PLEASE explain to me how a net LOSS of 7,830 OVER A YEAR is better than a net GAIN of over 17,000 in THREE MONTHS?

Labels: Fun With Polls, Manitoba, Winnipeg Free Press

Last week, three Winnipeg police officers were shot while executing a drug warrant. The suspect is Daniel Anderson, who police believe to be a "loose associate" of the Zig-Zag Crew.

Yesterdays Winnipeg Free Press, the defender of scumbags nationwide, printed a stunning story penned by Gordon Sinclair portraying Daniel Anderson as the victim. It's behind the subscription wall, so I'll copy the "best parts" here.

Danny -- the son his father calls the most caring and considerate of his three boys -- faces attempted murder charges following a drug raid late Thursday night at the Anderson's Fort Rouge home. Three police officers were shot in the incident and hospitalized.
(snip)
It would be 24 hours before his family would hear from Danny again. He called from the Remand Centre about 11 p.m. Friday night.

Danny was crying, his father said.

"The first thing he was saying was, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't know.'... He was concerned about his mother and myself and his girlfriend and he kept repeating, 'I didn't know, I didn't know.' "

What he "didn't know," according to his father, was that the people who rushed into the Andersons' house while Danny was there with his girlfriend and his mother were police officers executing a drug search warrant.

Poor kid, he was just trying to defend his mother and girlfriend - while he was blindly firing shots into their home.

But it's conceivable, given the suddenness of the event -- the pounding at the door and Bonnie Anderson's screaming as police burst in -- that Danny didn't hear them identify themselves before hiding in the main floor bathroom, from where he allegedly shot blindly from behind the door.
"He thought it was a home invasion or something," Monty Anderson said.

That could be understandable, given Danny's personal history in the same home.

Danny was at home, three or four years ago, his father said, when a group of men broke in reportedly looking for drugs and money.

The brothers and a friend managed to fight them off, his father said.

"You just don't forget stuff like that," Monty said.

But the 12 police officers involved in the raid Thursday would have no record of that event.

Monty said it wasn't reported.

According to Monty, he had three long rifles locked in the basement that are registered. If police had checked the registry, they presumably would have known about them.

One would think that should prompt the calling out of the better-armed and more experienced Emergency Response Unit.

But there's more to Danny's being victimized by violent people in large numbers.

About two years ago, the former Grant Park Pirates linebacker -- who stands over six feet and weighs more than 200 pounds -- was swarmed outside a Pembina Highway bar.

"They stabbed on his neck, on his face. They stabbed him in the chest."

Monty said his son was "in serious shape" after the attack.

"He was in the hospital for a week or two or three."

Those two incidents, Monty suggested, would be enough to spook anybody about large numbers of people suddenly breaking through one's door late at night.

Those two incidents also raise the question; Who doesn't report a home invasion to police? People with something to hide, thats who. I could understand, possibly, that the kids wouldn't want to call in the police, but what kind of mother and father would just let it slide by, when it was their own children who were attacked?

The answer to why police don't politely knock during drug raids, has to do with the element of surprise, and having a better chance of finding evidence before it is "flushed."

"Whatever they were looking for," Monty said, "it wasn't there."
Police asked Monty early Friday morning at the Public Safety Building if his son dealt marijuana from the house.

Monty said he told them not to his knowledge.

Coincidental that they found him in the bathroom then, is it not? You would also think that a father would deny the drug-dealing charges a little more vehemently, if he thought his denials had a chance of standing up under investigation. Update: Police have confirmed that drugs were found during the raid.

But, it should be mentioned, at least one of the Anderson sons is well known as a member of the drug underworld by young adults in affluent south Winnipeg neighbourhoods such as Tuxedo.

The Andersons' middle son, Darren, who turned 23 on the day of the raid, was arrested last January on drug and related charges and is expected to be released from jail at the end of the month.

Danny has no criminal convictions.

The reason his father contacted the Free Press was to stress that last fact.

"He isn't a gang affiliate or anything. He had some assorted friends who have gotten in trouble."

"People who know Danny know this isn't him," his dad said.

"He isn't a monster like everyone thinks," said his girlfriend of five years, Ashley Cochrane. "Anyone who knows Daniel knows this is not him."
His father echoes that: "Anybody who has ever met him has nothing but good things to say about him."

Now riddle me this; if the guns were locked up securely in the basement, as Daddy Dearest says, how did Danny have time to get to the basement, unlock the cabinet, grab a gun, load the gun, and still manage to get up to the bathroom and lock himself in? Or are we to believe that Daniel carries a rifle with him to the shitter?



A quick examination of the map of the house, raises some interesting questions. As the story goes, Danny was in his bedroom when he heard his mother screaming in the kitchen. He then promptly dashed across the hall, and locked himself in the bathroom.

Daddy Dearest says the guns were in the basement. As you can see from the map, to get to the basement, you'd have to go through the kitchen. The same kitchen where the cops entered the house. So clearly, Danny didn't fire the shots with any of the guns that were in the basement.

The other question that I'm just begging to hear an answer to is: Why run to the bathroom? If he truly thought it was a home invasion, his bedroom would have been a much safer place. I'll bet the gun was in his closet. And while his bedroom does have a window to escape from, the bathroom does not have a window. Why the bathroom?!

Even though Daddy Dearest is quick to point out that Danny has no prior convictions, his neighbors had their own suspicions (again, behind the Freep's subscription wall).

Numerous neighbours of the family said the back lane behind the house has received frequent vehicle traffic for the brothers throughout the day and night for the last decade.

Some said they had complained to police about the activity, but their complaints went unheeded.

One neighbour said Daniel Anderson simply stared at her when they encountered one another after she expressed displeasure with the nighttime traffic.

Since big brother was in jail on drug charges at the time of the shooting, I don't think it would be a stretch to think that Daniel had taken over Big Brothers operations while he was away.

Gordon Sinclair is at it again today, defending Danny's lifestyle. One neighbor recalled the house saying, "There was nice cars always coming there, Jaguars and other fancy cars that I admired. They had nice, beautiful girlfriends there at all times. I used to think how lucky they are. Tall, good looking. They have everything. You just never know what's cooking in your neighbor's home."

Sinclair defends this, by once again quoting Danny's father Monty, who seems to be Sinclair's only source on the story.

According to father Monty Anderson, 54, Daniel earned his living through online betting.

"He was into gambling," the elder Anderson told the Free Press. "He played on the Internet. Hold 'Em tournaments. Pro-Line."

In today's Freep article, Gordon Sinclair extensively quotes Daniel's defense lawyers (two of them), friends, and his father. Thats far from balanced reporting.

Also of note, today the Winnipeg Sun said Monty Anderson was unavailable for comment, yet Sinclair got an exclusive interview with him the day before. I find that a little too much to be coincidental. Especially after seeing how much blatant bullshit Sinclair has published on this subject in the last three days.

Labels: Canadian Justice, Daniel Anderson, Winnipeg Crime, Winnipeg Free Press, Winnipeg Police