An arrest has been made in the shooting-death of 11-year-old Ephraim Brown. This is another very tragic story of a beautiful child getting caught in the cross-fire.
I've read several accounts of this story and it has left me wondering why an 11-year-old would be outside at one in the morning with known gangs around at the party? Am I missing something here? (Quiet, Red Tory). Where were the adults?
Video report available on City ("Suspect arrested in shooting death of 11-year-old").
Update: Sandy has more with a link to Yahoo news which explains a bit more about what happened that night. Apparently Ephraim was allowed to stay up later than usual for the party, and a couple of gangs crashed the party. Things quickly got out of hand.
34 comments:
The sad part about these cases are the questions that are not asked and the information that is not reported.
It is tragic all around.
Keep on asking...
Joanne, it's sad that the usual chorus of the knee-jerk leftists (it's tempting to call them intellectually challenged but I shall restrain myself) has come out in favour of even more strict gun control. However, this time, their shrill calls may be backfiring. Take a gander from this sampling of opinions from The Toronto Star web page. Thirteen comments to date, and so far no one saying, "Yes, let's have even more gun control."
Nicol, it's disturbing how some very obvious issues seem to be too politically-incorrect to address.
Brian, thanks for pointing that out. I found it strange though that the Star poll was skewing the other way. (Should Canada ban handguns? 67% say yes at this moment in time.)
Right question Jo .....but why do the MSM not ask those questions?
The reason IMO is that the answer comes down to culture and the likelyhood of an unflattering cultural image is taboo, verbotten and just not politically correct in the Leftosphere of the MSM. The unrelenting effort to paint the immigrant cultures as faultless victims of our society goes on.
Questioning the behaviour of victims is not allowed and so we must not hear that the children are abandoned to the street by their own people.
Meanwhile it gets in the way of the story they want to promote which is that GUNS are the problem. Now shall we go on about the logic of making things which are all ready illegal to own without special permission ..... even more illegal??
Is see the McSquinty Gang wasted no time in making the argument!
Guns Must be Banned!
The black community in these neighbourhoods accept a certain number of deaths will go along with the way they choose to live. Others may find this appalling but they don't - until they see a TV camera of course, but once the media's gone they'll get right back to it. So it's no problem really.
Anon, I find that somewhat offensive. I'll have to delete it unless you can explain what you mean, other than the face value.
Just caught Ephraim's mother on City TV. She apparently had misgivings about sending him to the party. She was usually quite protective of him, but decided to let him stay since her niece was pleading that she do so.
Sad.
The black community in these neighbourhoods accept a certain number of deaths will go along with the way they choose to live.
They used to say the same thing about the Italians.
Is "accepting a certain number of deaths" the same as "supporting the troops"?
Or are you trying to claim that the black people are somehow collectively different?
Nice sideswipe, trying to link some stupid anon comments to the "support the troops" effort.
Well thought out.
The reason IMO is that the answer comes down to culture and the likelyhood of an unflattering cultural image is taboo, verbotten and just not politically correct in the Leftosphere of the MSM
So I'm on safe ground to assert that violence and crime is much more prevalent out West because they are all rednecks?
Or should I point out that there are more assaults out there because they are less likely to believe in gun control?
PGP, why are you so cowardly, noting is stopping you from saying it's because you think they are immigrants and black....
Well thought out.
Thank you, moebius. But just in case you are being sarcastic, here is my response:
Maybe you missed it, I have commented on the troops before. I support the troops. I support the mission. (But the current government's handling of it, not at all.)
The anon in question is claiming that black people accept "a certain number of deaths will go along with the way they choose to live". Anon claims this is somehow different from what everyone else does by such things as supporting a war, or even driving a car, all things that do involve a certain number of deaths.
Anon tries to imply that "those" people like it that way. That would be like implying people who support the war want as many of our soldiers killed as possible.
Instead of comparing "those" people to something like the Taliban, anon could compare them to something like the Afghan people, and like we are doing over there, we could be trying to help the people here get free of the gangs who want the community to be their own fiefdom.
Otherwise it is racist. Blaming the victim helps nobody. And just to be clear, the "victim" is the murdered boy and the community. The usual talking point is that "the left" wants us to think the gangsters are "victims".
Clear?
That's a long explanation of a short sentence in your original post, and clears up a lot.
Better is to ignore anonymous stupid comments, n'est pas?
Cherniak, is violence really more prevalent out West? Are they really all rednecks? Enquiring minds want to know. You can't be the real Cherniak or you'd be telling us what a brilliant guy Dion is.
Better is to ignore anonymous stupid comments, n'est pas?
Normally, yes.
I was wasn't as clear as could be, and I was mostly trying to encourage joanne to leave that comment there in all its stinking glory. With the current discussion of blogging etiquette and such, she should not believe anyone thinks she agrees with it, and a few rebukes ensures that.
Moebius, yes there is more crime and violence out West.
The real cherniak, no, I'm the real cherniak_wtf....
Definitely a good idea to leave that kind of stuff alone and intact. Opinions are just that, not necessarily informed.
While I may be charming, witty, and debonair, I don't even claim half of my ideas are informed.
Just back from a rousing game of minigolf here and trying to catch up.
Definitely a good idea to leave that kind of stuff alone and intact. Opinions are just that, not necessarily informed.
Yeah, I agree. I just don't want a Human Rights complaint launched in my direction.
I think Kingston is right. We need a bloggers' code of ethics.
Cherniak ... calls me cowardly.
Ha funny! Without the integrity or spine to address a comment based on it's clear intent.
Seeking as usual no doubt to draw someone into a non sequitur debate in a feeble attempt to justify some further posturings.
Should I redefine my point?
The MSM by and large and the weak minded left clearly do not want to look at the fact of cultural intransigence of minority groups as contributing to the continuation of their own and by extension Our social problems.
Indeed it is the nature of the progressive liberal to seek alternative labels and false justifications for these problems, always with a scapegoat and bogyman to lay blame on and deflect the criticism from the source who is held to be in their mind , blameless. To practice such sophistry is the mark of cowards.
Every attempt to justify or apologize for the destructive behaviour that is endemic in these communities results in some continuation of the status quo.
Every attempt to obfuscate the reality these circumstances serves to perpetuate the unacceptable.
In fact it is the apologists and sophists who are cowardly and in your cowardice can be held in some measure responsible for each new outrage that will come.
I cannot speak for others or random anonymous posters, but what he might be pointing out is more the method of coping for families and people that live in violent neighbourhoods or war-zones.
I remember reading a book "Beirut to Jerusalem" (i think) where they interviewed families of people who lived in Beirut during the civil war and asked them about how they coped with the challenges of losing loved ones on a repeated basis and literally having their lives threatened everyday.
One person commented that they saw things as a 'quota'. Things weren't really bad until 'x' number of their relatives died in a year from the violence. If only 'x-1' relatives died, then it was a good year.
So although he may be raising a complex sociological/psychological issue his racist comment makes that highly unlikely.
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joanne...
this is a tragedy, but if you dress your pre-adolescent child up like tupac shakur (and notice how all the media outlets are now going with a less, uh...colourful image) and let him stay out past 1:00 am in the heart of gangbanger central... maybe you shouldn't be surprised if he ends up in the middle of a firefight.
as for all the self justifying explanations about this kids regular bedtime... tell me the last time you let your 11 year old child go out... (never mind unsupervised, never mind two minutes from the jane & finch war zone) anywhere at one o'clock in the morning?
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Since we're sort of on the topic of racism... Here's something interesting about the "ghetto dude" controversy in Toronto:
The sender of the email referring to the man as "ghetto dude" was a young woman by the name of Aileen Siu. I mention the name only because the last name is Asian (I am pretty sure it is Chinese).
http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/238744
Then, the Chinese Canadian National Council writes to the Star and doesn't even acknowledge the fact that the sender was a minority! Instead they talk about how minorities face "systematic racism"...
http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/238698
I dunno, I just found that rather ironic.
pgp, always looking to blame someone else aren't we....
From all the shootings this weekend, you focus on one shooting that involved the Black community.
Yes, I find that you are a coward because you prefer to write in semi-hushed tones for fear of telling us what you really think.
How many shootings were there this weekend in Canada? Off hand, there was the broad daylight one in Halifax, the nigh-club incident in Winnipeg and the Toronto shootings. Calgary has had 3 shooting in 7 seven days.
I don't see your wise person focussing on those causes. No you prefer to focus on the black community with the smugness that only a sweater guy can muster...
So how about looking at the facts of the other shootings?
The only posturing I see, if from somehow who is tries to hide what he really thinks and is trying to wrap up his feculant message without the guts of clearly articulating what he's thinking.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Alberta/2007/07/23/4361054-sun.html
Is rather interesting for a few reasons
Alberta's robust economy has left the poor poorer and caused the serious crime rate to shoot up 15% in five years, according to a report from a law enforcement think-tank.
So no, it's not guns, it's poverty that is responsible ...
Between 2000 and 2005, CISA said homicides increased by 70%, attempted murder by 47%, aggravated assault by 41%, motor vehicle theft by 31% and assault with a weapon by 30%.
Those are not TO numbers (they are much lower)...
So about from being completely disgenious, you skirt the real issue. If you had more foresight, you'd be wondering about the effects of conservative policies. It does not seem to be working in Alberta.
Catching up to this late at night from my Cottage, but when hearing of the incident I assumed it was a black child...then having this confirmed makes you re-think all the previous killings...it's not about our gun laws, the rap artists and poor single-family upbringing of kids in these neighbourhoods breeds this result, and it will continue...very sad to accept this but we'll be discussing this again real soon....God Bless the Mom's of those left behind....
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"Cherniak_WTF said... From all the shootings this weekend, you focus on one shooting that involved the Black community"
cherniak... you need another one?
no problemo.
he's no 11 year-old child, so this one gets swept under the carpet, i guess.
"The victim, Kimel Foster, 21, suffered several gunshot wounds to his abdomen and was pronounced dead about 30 minutes later, police said."
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"Cherniak_WTF said... From all the shootings this weekend, you focus on one shooting that involved the Black community."
hey cherny... you gonna go after the racist globe & mail too?
"But the underlying problem of large, poor, fatherless families, alienated teens and a gangster culture transplanted in part from Jamaica is sinking its roots into Toronto, and will not soon let go."
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Neo, I'm shocked.
NeoCon, you are focusing on one shooting....
Here's the Montreal Gazette's editorial - same subject.
Bryant's speech at Dawson was delivered as Premier Jean Charest unveiled the details of Bill 9, christened Anastasia's Law in memory of Anastasia De Sousa, the 18-year-old CEGEP student murdered by a homicidal maniac (and legally registered gun owner) who wounded nine others before turning his gun on himself.
And the attorney-general's remarks were notable for two reasons: 1) they seemed to resonate with the crowd far more than anything else said that day and, 2) there's absolutely no possibility anyone in the federal government will pay any attention to them whatsoever.
There are statistical reasons for this: the national crime rate is at it's lowest rate in 25 years. As there are political reasons: rural voters, many of them legally registered gun owners, don't like to be lumped in with downtown street punks who shoot 11-year-old children.
There are also the sociological, big picture reasons that suggest so long as neighbourhoods like that where Ephraim died remain realms of poverty and dead-end expectation,
http://206.75.155.198/pwgsc/showfile.asp?Lang=E&URL=clips/070724/f00136AC.htm
So do make it very clear to you, PGP seems to prefer to focus on the Black TO community instead of looking at the bigger picture.
Could he be afraid of insulting rednecks? You, know, Harper's base...
Kind of a dumb statement. I'm (at least for the most part) in Harper's base, and no redneck. I'm one of them fiscal conservatives who don't care what or who you sleep with, hire minorities if they're qualified, etc.
Stupid labels are just that...stupid, and don't move the debate forward.
I'm one of them fiscal conservatives who don't care what or who you sleep with, hire minorities if they're qualified, etc.
Commendable.
I'm wondering, though, given that this government is spending like a drunken sailor, how can you support such big expenditures?
I'm appalled that we are not paying down the debt and spending at the federal level seems out of control.
You obviously have been reading my postings.
I don't support their spending ways, and have written pretty explicitly against them. To this point, they have betrayed their real supporters. I have compared their last budget to something that a Lib could easily have put forth.
The Libs are almost further left than the NDP, so what choices do we have now?
I voted for Chretien (twice) based on economic policy, but will not vote Liberal again due to corruption. I stopped voting for the PC's for the same reason in '93.
Some of us have principles.
Sorry...have "not" been reading my posts.
I must proofread more better. :)
I have compared their last budget to something that a Lib could easily have put forth.
That's low.... Even the libs were complaining at that one....
The Libs would not have been embarrassed at all by the last budget. There opposition to it was just the usual knee-jerk reaction. They could have voted against it, but didn't.
That's how I know it was bad. :)
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