True Crime Category Archive

Thanks to Liberals who decided not to listen to the people who run the party, the Suzan Pawlak story is coming to an end with little political fallout.

John Mark Karr is famous for having masterfully played the American justice system. Picked up in Thailand on charges related to sex with children, Karr immediately confessed to some ill-defined connection to the murder of JonBenet Ramsey in Colorado. Karr, who fled the United States when he was picked up on child pornography charges in California, was deported by American authorities eager to close this high profile case.

This despite growing concerns that Karr was making the entire thing up, something I suggested the very day the story broke of John Mark Karr's arrest and confession.

As it turned out, Karr was making the entire thing up. Once he was safely out of Thailand, Karr could only laugh when the Ramsey charges were dropped when the evidence clearly showed Karr had nothing to do with the murder. As for the charges in California, those were dropped too, as it was revealed that in the years that had passed, the evidence was lost.

So John Mark Karr is a free man. And with no criminal convictions or outstanding charges, he can apply for any job he likes.

In August, York Regional Police Constable Robert Plunkett was killed while trying to arrest Nadeem Jiwa and Baseer Mohammed Yousafzai, who were allegedly removing airbags from a stolen car. Jiwa is alleged to have killed Plunkett by pinning him against a tree with the car while trying to make a getaway.

Nadeem Jiwa has been charged with first-degree murder, and he is supposed to make a court appearance today.

Thorarinn Ingi Jonsson is out on bail, facing charges related to an art project in which he planted a fake bomb in the Royal Ontario Museum. Unfortunately for Jonnson, he seems to be surrounded by "friends" who seem to want Jonnson to think he did nothing wrong.

Compared to Thorarinn Ingi Jonsson and his art project, involving putting a pipe bomb facsimile in the Royal Ontario Musem in order for it to be recontextualized, the story of Clint Westwood seems tame.

This Missoula, Montana college student filmed himself assaulting a mall Santa to include in a film he was making.

Police caught him as he waited to convince Santa to sign a release form.

The story of the fake bomb at the Royal Ontario Museum has got me to thinking about modern or conceptual art.

Not surprisingly, my conclusion is that it is without redeeming value, but I'm going to try and go a bit deeper than that.

And in particular, I'm going to avoid simply calling Thorarinn Ingi Jonsson an idiot. Plenty of people are doing that already.

I don't write about the weird. I should do more. The stories always make me laugh. Call it a guilty pleasure. But I figure my readers like a certain kind of story -- serious attempts at moderately deep political analysis. Well, not this time. Dammit, this story just needs to be told.

It's got transvestites and tire irons and violence -- Quentin Tarantino will be turning this into a move soon.

The former Liberal Party treasurer who is facing charges after over $13,000 was stolen from a riding association failed to make a court appearance last week. Last night Suzan Pawlak was arrested in Toronto.

Suzan Pawlak, the former Liberal Elgin-Middlesex-London riding association treasurer who has been charged with fraud, has failed to appear in court. This is a strange story that refuses to die.

The notorious scofflaw Cliff Tang is in prison right now, a third of the way through a three-month sentence for driving (again) without a license. I am not optimistic that Cliff Tang will abide by the driving ban that will be imposed when he is released. Though he is fortunate that a three-year ban was imposed by the court instead of the ten-year ban requested by the Crown, Cliff Tang's past behaviour suggests that, in his view, a ban on driving is more akin to a guideline.

We live in interesting times in southern Ontario. Yesterday, a major highway was shut down to allow police to safely transport three explosive devices discovered during the arrest of Adel Arnaout, the suspect in three letter bombings in Toronto and nearby Guelph.

Now that the excitement is over, and the dust, literally and figuratively, has settled, many are eager to learn the details of the case built up by the police. What little we know reads like a crime mystery.

I fully expect a Law & Order episode to be based on these events next season.

A stunning development in the case of the murder of Shemina Hirji. The prime suspect in the case, husband Paul Cheema, has been found dead in the family home. Police have the house cordoned off and little else is being reported.

The good news is that an American pedophile, on the run from the law, was picked up by police.

The bad news is that Richard Jones is from Texas, he was picked up in Toronto, and he got from there to here by walking off a cruise ship in Halifax.

It should simply not have happened.

In the case of Raymond Lavigne, the Liberal Senator charged with fraud, breach of trust, and obstruction of justice, there was no stone to be left unturned in investigating the allegations.

Indeed, the shining light of justice was cast into the darkest cracks in order to find the truth.

News out of China about the suicide death of Zhang Shuhong, the CEO of Lee Der Industrial, the company that supplied Mattel with toys covered in lead paint, prompting a massive recall.

I found one particular aspect of the story -- the question of just how common these sorts of suicides are in China -- particularly fascinating.

Cliff Tang has made an appearance in court. If you are following the case of this serial scofflaw with a penchant for reckless driving and responsible for one death (so far), this will be the end of the line.

A publication ban has been imposed.

A publication ban? For a case of driving while suspended?

The hunt is on for the restaurant assassins in Vancouver. I'm not holding out much hope that the killers will be found.

I wonder if the case of Nadeem Jiwa, the man accused in the first degree murder of Constable Robert Plunkett, is turning into a prisoner's dilemma. That would be very bad news for Jiwa.

Whoever made the bogus Colgate toothpaste that was the focus of so much attention last month was a busy guy. Tubes are still being found. In this case, thousands of tubes in Mozambqiue. The spelling errors are still there, but again, they are different from the ones we found in Canada and then again from those in the United States.

The typos are real zingers.

Nadeem Jiwa is now facing first-degree murder charges in the death of Constable Robert Plunkett. Jiwa's lawyer is Azam Murji, and he has offered subtle hints as to the defence strategy. But one thing Murji demands is that his client not lie to him.

It is being reported today that Lloyd Dewitt Tiller of Shreveport, Louisiana, has been charged with sending two threatening emails to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, allegedly because Tiller was angry over the decision to tax income trusts.

Interestingly, the news brings out of the shadows a little known branch of US law enforcement, the Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service.

We know that police investigating the disappearance of nine-year-old Cedrika Provencher are interviewing registered sex-offenders in the area.

Seems like a prudent step.

But when I learned just how many registered sex-offenders are potential interview subjects, I was shocked.

I thought maybe...what...ten?

I was way off.

If Nadim Jiwa's charges on possession of break-in tools, mischief, and theft had been dealt with four months ago, Robert Plunkett would be alive today.

That seems to be the harsh truth of the matter.

On the other hand, if he is denied bail, time spent in pre-sentencing custody will reduce any sentence he might receive.

The search for missing nine-year-old Cedrika Provencher has shifted to a search for the man who was seen approaching other young girls in the area, and who is suspected of approaching Cedrika.

There has been a serious breach of trust at a Tory provincial riding association in Alberta. An arrest has been made. Thank goodness that the justice system has been allowed to do its job without interference.

The brutal death of Constable Robert Plunkett while trying to arrest alleged car thieves has brought into focus the lucrative business of auto theft for parts. In this case, the alleged thieves were trying to steal airbags. Components such as these are sold for lucrative profits to unscrupulous auto shops to sell to unsuspecting customers.

Given, therefore, that the alleged thieves weren't working alone, but quite likely had a buyer lined up for the airbags, you can be certain police will be working hard to roll up the entire operation.

Update: Both suspects were known to the criminal justice system.

Cedrika Provencher of Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, is nine-years-old and has been missing for 40 hours. We know that she was looking for a lost dog, but we don't know whose dog it was or who asked her to look. That is very disturbing.

The story of Cliff Tang is a remarkable one.

He is a scofflaw and a repeat offender, having been in and out of jail for various offenses, but mostly for street racing and other serious vehicle crimes.

Including criminal negligence causing death.

And yet despite this history, he continues to drive while under suspension, and was picked up again.

No doubt his driving suspension will be extended now.

I think that is entirely the wrong approach.

Disturbing news about a pedophilia site encouraging pedophiles to attend a Children's Festival in Montreal to "watch". Police are worried, but because the site strictly discourages approaching children, it is not illegal.

But here's the thing. This site is in Amsterdam. On a completely unrelated story, I was poking around the dark corners of the Internet looking for two books. I found those books, official German government publications which encourage sexual touching for the health of the children, at an Amsterdam site that is for pedophiles who claim to like only to look at young girls.

Well, then why are those books there?

If history is any guide, Suzan Pawlak has nothing to worry about. The story of Jesse Davidson suggests that the Liberal Party has a lot of tolerance for people who allegedly steal from them -- as long as they're Liberals.

In the end, what really mattered was avoiding any embarrassment.

I have more direct quotes from the offer LPC(O) Financial Director David Pretlove made to the London riding association to replace the money allegedly stolen by Suzan Pawlak, his staffer.

It is interesting because he offers to cut a cheque from the LPC(O) to cover half of the amount alleged to have been stolen, and seems to be challenging the other amounts.

The cheques he was willing to cover were made out to Suzan Pawlak.

Except for one...that was a hotel bill. [Update: Turns out it was for a riding event at that hotel that might or might not have actually taken place.]

The message to the riding association? Take the $7,200 I'm offering and clean up the rest of the $15,000 mess, or else you'll miss your Elections Canada deadline, and we wouldn't want that to happen.

The National Post is reporting on the case of Suzan Pawlak, who allegedly stole $15,000 from the London riding association of the federal Liberal Party, and the attempt by David Pretlove, the financial director of the Ontario wing of the party, to hide what happened.

The bombshell? David Pretlove was going to use party funds to cover up the alleged crime.

David Pretlove has been quoted (allegedly) as saying he was trying to help out Suzan Pawlak when he offered to pay back the London riding association of the federal Liberal Party the $15,000 that was missing from the bank accounts, on the condition that the police not be called.

If true, this means that he had reason to believe that she would be held responsible for the missing money. Pawlak was the riding treasurer until August 2006. At the time the money was found to be missing in January 2007, she had moved on and was working for Pretlove, the director of the federal Liberal Party's Ontario wing.

Was this a simple matter of restitution? I guess it depends on what constitutes true restitution.

The latest Health Canada warning is one of a long line of warnings targeting male potency products. Marketed as all-natural, Health Canada seems to repeatedly find that these products contain medically significant concentrations of sildenafil (Viagra), vardenafil (Levitra), and tadalafil (Cialis). These compounds are effective, but also require a prescription, since they all have serious side effects and interactions with other drugs.

Checking out a bit about this industry, I wonder if these health industry manufacturers routinely spike their male potency products in order to make they work. I say routinely, because I found a scientific paper on how to efficiently check for this problem, suggesting it is a widespread problem.

Of course, having had absolutely no reason whatsoever to have used any of these products at any time, I have had to depend on what I could find out on the internet.

Health Canada has pulled a set of sleep aids off the market because they contain a habit-forming ingredient, clonazepam, that is not listed on the labelling. These products have not even been submitted for approval by Health Canada.

The Health Canada advisory does not mention the ties to China, though. So I'll describe them.

Falsely labelled Similac, a best-selling baby formula, is being sold in Canada, sent to liquidation outlets by an unauthorized distributor. This is not the first time this sort of thing has happened. Mohamad S. Mostafa made millions in the US selling bad baby formula. When he was caught, he ran north of the border only to be caught in Alberta by the Mounties. He is serving four years in a US prison.

I wonder how harshly Canadians caught doing this sort of thing will be treated?

Just checking on the formal definitions of obstruction of justice and accessory after the fact.

I've received, third-hand, an explanation by David Pretlove of why he was involved in the London riding association missing money problem. If we accept this at face value, his explanation includes confirmation that he was specifically help Suzan Pawlak out of a jam.

The Liberal Party is trying to play down the question of David Pretlove's apparent attempt to coverup a major theft of money from the London riding association.

The twisted story of missing money, criminal charges, and what looks like an attempted coverup in London, Ontario, continues to gain momentum. Questions concerning why David Pretlove, the director for the federal Liberal Party in Ontario, would have offered to reimburse a riding association that had been the victim of a serious loss of cash on the condition that the police not be involved continue to be asked, even as the media confirms that the person who was ultimately charged with the crime, Suzan Pawlak, was working directly for him.

In my post about the weird mess in London, Ontario, I pointed out that it looks like the director of the federal Liberal Party in Ontario, David Pretlove, tried to prevent an investigation into the apparent theft of $15,000 from the London federal riding association. What was disturbing was that Pretlove attempted to suppress the investigation that ultimately resulted in charges being laid against Suzan Pawlak, the former treasurer for the London riding association, and at the time Pretlove made his offer, one of Pretlove's employees.

Given that at the time no one knew who Pawlak was or that she would be facing charges, Pretlove's prescience looked very suspicious. The obvious question to ask is whether Pretlove actually knew Pawlak was involved when he made the offer, and if so, why try to suppress the investigation.

I'm not the only one wondering. The NDP has issued a press release calling on Stephane Dion to suspend both Pretlove and Pawlak until these questions are answered.

Not every consumer warning is legitimate. Especially ones that are forwarded by email. In this case, an old standard -- that major name brand lipsticks are going to kill you because of high lead levels -- is making the rounds again.

But in this environment of heightened sensitivity to hidden dangers in consumer goods, such as with the counterfeit Colgate toothpaste, these old hoaxes are getting a new lease on life.

When $15,000 went missing from the federal Liberal Party riding association accounts for London, Ontario, David Pretlove of the Ontario wing of the federal party offered to cover the shortfall as long as the police were left out of the picture. The riding executive turned down the strange offer and called the police.

Today police have charged former riding association treasurer Suzan Pawlak with 42 counts related to fraud and forgery.

But here's the strange thing. Suzan Pawlak was working for David Pretlove when the riding association first discovered the financial irregularities. Coincidence?

Since the murder of his wife, Shemina Hirji, in an alleged home invasion, Paul Cheema has changed from devastated husband to prime suspect.

Well, for some observers, he was always the prime suspect, given the strange details of the home invasion story that he told police, and that police now believe is a fabrication.

Still, reviewing the latest news reports, you can see just how dramatically circumstances have changed for Paul Cheema.

I've written a piece about the strange advertising of mystic Peer Syed Sahib I spotted in a Toronto-area Indian-language newspaper. The ad, or what little I could understand, seemed to promise miraculous results after a mere phone call, and a wad of cash.

Plenty of people have complained about Peer Syed Sahib's tactics -- constant phone calls asking for more money (large sums) and for family information. Moreover, I'm not sure that this sort of advertising is allowed in Canada.

But in poking around, I've noticed that at least two of the largest mystics seem to share a lot in common. Too much in common, I think. And suddenly the darker rumours that surround what these people do seem more credible.

Husband of Shemina Hirji, Paul Cheema, is reported to have been arrested attempting to catch a flight to London. The Cheema family is alleged to have tried to give him cover for his getaway.

Update: Police are confirming the arrest of the "primary suspect" in the murder of Shemina Hirji.

Update: The arrested man has been released but remains a "primary suspect".

Paul Cheema, the husband of murdered school principal Shemina Hirji, is not a suspect in the murder, insist police. He was attacked in the same home invasion that saw his wife murdered, but was not seriously harmed. Some suspect that there is something else going on here, and it has been revealed that Paul Cheema has a criminal past. Twelve years ago, he threatened his fiance with death and forcibly kidnapped her after the marriage was called off.

Though there has been a lot of doubts raised about what actually happened in Burnaby, British Columbia, concerning the murder of Shemina Hirji, the home invasion reported by husband Paul Cheema is still credible. The description of one of the invaders wearing a business suit is not as far-fetched as some people might think.

Police have executed a search warrant in order to gather evidence from the home of Shemina (Hirji) Cheema, murdered during an alleged home invasion. A search warrant will prevent the admissibility of the evidence from being challenged in court. What does that say about the direction this investigation is taking?

Another report on endemic Chinese fakery. This time, in China, upwards to 80% of barrels containing "pure" water for water coolers are actually filled with tap water. With the Beijing Olympics coming up fast, I wonder if national teams will be making a show of their athletes avoiding all things Chinese.

This is a fascinating story of an abused wife who had become a liability, a husband who arranged for her murder, the help he received from his family to commit the brutal deed, and the police work that uncovered the alleged plot. It links a Sikh family in Calgary and in India.

While the investigation into the murder of newlywed Shemina Cheema (formerly Shemina Hirji) continues under utter secrecy in Burnaby, British Columbia, the question of the possible role the mixed marriage into which she entered is being asked. The fact is, though, that mixed marriages between Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims is a particularly sore point for many in their respective communities, given the history of violence in India and Pakistan where these religions meet. It did not take me long to find a story of a violent reaction in a Western nation perpetrated by those who are bringing that violence from the old country. It happened in Birmingham, England, only three weeks ago, and thankfully only resulted in property damage.

But in a post in a Sikh forum, "dire consequences" were promised if mixed marriages were allowed to be conducted.

The investigation into the murder of newlywed Shemina Cheema (formerly Shemina Hirji) continues, but the police are keeping every detail under wraps. Even the cause of death will not be discussed with anyone, not even the family. Meanwhile, the question of whether Shemina was targeted continues to be asked, with focus on the mixed marriage (Paul Cheema was Sikh, and Shemina was a Muslim). A quick perusal of message boards reveals that the majority of families angrily oppose these mixed marriages, and the news director of Vancouver-based Radio India confirms that those feelings are as prevalent in British Columbia as they are in India.

You would have hoped that with all the press on the issue of Chinese toothpaste spiked with diethylene glycol and counterfeit Colgate toothpaste teeming with bacteria normally associated with sewage, dollar stories would be much more careful concerning the health care products they put on their shelves.

I visited a dollar store (not the same one in which I found the counterfeit Colgate) and found a toothpaste, clearly not for the Canadian market, and clearly not allowed to be put on the store shelves and sold.

How do I know that this product was not fit to be sold? Trust me when I say it was so obvious.

A retrospective on the recalls of products that have happened in Canada makes a comment that speaks to the potential of blogging to tip stories and to change behaviour.

A newlywed, Shemia Hirji, was murdered during a home invasion in British Columnia. Her husband, Paul Cheema, escaped with minor injuries. Random tragic violence, it seems, according to the English language press. But the problem is that the East Indian media outlets are calling this a possible honour killing.

Test results continue to roll in. More species of bacteria are being found in the counterfeit Colgate toothpaste sold in Canada. And Health Canada says that the additional contamination poses a "serious health risk".

In South Africa, the pineapple crop has been devastated by the use of Chinese fertilizer laced with heavy metals.

Merchants in Vancouver's Chinatown have to wary of stocking goods from people who are not genuine licensed importers. What exactly is an importer who is not genuinely licensed? Isn't that the same thing as a smuggler? And smuggling large shipments of consumer goods and getting them past border officials sounds complicated -- like the sort of thing that organized crime organizations will take on.

A reader had a close encounter with an exploding battery at the workplace. The event was so violent that the Health and Safety Committee filed a report, complete with pictures. Though at the time no root cause for the event was identified, I think we can make a go at it, and what we see is consistent with what we've heard about the explosions of counterfeit batteries imported from China.

After making the local papers as an idiot extraordinaire, a Cambridge man considers what would have lead to serious bacterial contamination of counterfeit toothpaste. His conclusions are quite revolting.

The Chinese government has announced the results of an audit into corruption in a recently dismantled oral hygiene organization. These changes are not likely to do much to combat the counterfeiting problem.

Now I take a look at battery counterfeiting. So what's the difference between a real Duracell battery and the Chinese fake? Duracell batteries are designed not to explode. The cheap knockoffs will definitely explode -- it's just a matter of time.

But despite that, milions of counterfeit batteries are knowingly let into Canada, since Canadian law does not consider the import of counterfeit goods an offense.

The attack on Glasgow Airport in Scotland today was foiled in large part by bollards. Ever see a bollard in action? No? Then you've never seen a speeding transport truck ripped apart like so much tissue paper. It's quite the sight to see.

The good news is that the counterfeit Colgate toothpaste I found in an "Everything for a Dollar" store in Guelph, the tube that became national news, did not register for diethylene glycol.

The bad news is that it contains high levels of dangerous bacteria.

I have a report from Shell Chemical detailing a shocking problem discovered in Holland. Chinese-made piping for a major chemical plant was discovered to have been deliberately reworked to hide serious flaws that engineers believe could have resulted in disastrous consequences.

I keep reminding myself that the most important thing is the Canadians are now learning that they might have dangerously defective tires on their minivans and SUVs. That's what matters. But as an aside, I have to say I feel a bit cheated that the work I did to reveal that this might be the case has not been credited.

I shouldn't be this thin-skinned, but then all bloggers are cheated when this happens, so it's not just about me.

Even as an official recall of tires made by the Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Company is about to begin in the United States, here in Canada we are learning that potentially a large quantity of these suspect tires have been distributed across Canada. There are no plans for a recall, and the importer insists that the tires are "fine".

A friend at the Toronto Police Service put my attention to this particularly nasty business. At Bloor and Dufferin, there is a mural dedicated to the victims of gun violence in Toronto. Well, guess what? Vandals have already defaced it, tagging it with their signatures and symbols, including obliterating the portion of the painting that listed the names of the young people in this city who have been killed. Victims like Jane Creba who were utterly innocent bystanders. To these people, Jane was like this mural, just something that got in the way of whatever pointless thing they decided to do at that moment.

A can of spray paint or a gun -- the same attitude drives these people to ignore everyone around them, regardless of the pain and misery that their behaviours might cause. I don't know if that attitude is because of organic damage to the brain, or because of poor upbringing by parents who probably aren't much better examples of humanity, but the result sure seems like a form of mental retardation in people who are old enough to know better.

Heck, maybe it's the rap and hip-hop that dulls their wits to the point that they operate at a level only slightly better than famyard animals.

In any case, the perpetrators of this particular crime have sullied a neighbourhood and the memories of the victims to which the painting was dedicated. Watch the video, and if by some wild chance you recognize anything that could help police track down those responsible, call 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), locally at 416-222-TIPS (8477), or leave information at www.222tips.com.

If you want to see what the mural looked like before it was obliterated, you can see photos and read the explanation of the panels at www.notogangs.org.

Word from the Globe and Mail today that Transport Canada has been looking at Chinese tire problem since Monday. But until the manufacturer tells Transport Canada that there is a problem, there is little Transport Canada can do, even as in the US, they are preparing to recall nearly half-a-million tires with a potentially deadly defect.

The American importer of allegedly defective Chinese-made tires will initiate an official recall in the United States on Monday. The company expects that they will be able to replace 10% of the tires before being forced to declare bankruptcy. In the mean time, we'll wait to see if Canadians are driving on the same tires, and whether corrective action will be taken.

The NHTSA is telling American consumers who have bought tires manufactured by the Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber company of China, and sold in the US under the brand names Westlake, Telluride, YKS and Compass, to remove the tires immediately. I don't get that sense of urgency in Canada.

Two deaths are already being attributed to faulty Chinese tires. American authorities think over 450,000 faulty tires have been imported and might be on the road right now. Meanwhile, I had no problem finding a Canadian distributor of the suspect brands.

Foreign law enforcement officials will find it easier to bring their weapons into Canada in the pursuit of their duties. Of course, the same goes for Canadian law enforcement pursuing criminals in other jurisdictions. Apparently this is a threat to Canada's sovereignty, or so says Liberal MP Dan McTeague, who brings up an incident in which unarmed Canadian border officials abandoned their posts in the face of armed American criminals and the US law enforcement giving chase. That's an odd example to bring up, because the truth is that until the Conservative government started arming our border guards, Canadian border officials depended on US law enforcement to use their weapons on our side of the border.

A reporter for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle wonders if the Colgate website listed on the counterfeit toothpaste boxes is itself legitimate. It might not be a great website, but the registration information seems legitimate. And I can't see how the aliasing could have been faked.

Health Canada has released an expanded statement with regards to toothpaste safety in this country. It is interesting. For one thing, Chinese toothpaste is out!

Health Canada has stated that the counterfeit Colgate toothpaste found in Canada is not the same as the product found in the United States. Health Canada has not said how it is different, though. While we wait, I can describe one interesting detail in the toothpaste in my possession that might explain just what is going on here.

It looks like FHT Enterprises, the company that allegedly imported to the counterfeit toothpaste that is now the centre of a Health Canada probe, specializes in importing cables and DVDs and video games.

First the Globe and Mail, then several radio interviews, and now two TV spots for CTV and CBC (Radio Canada). I suppose it's fair to say that the story of the counterfeit Colgate toothpaste I bought in Guelph has been noticed.

The fake Colgate toothpaste has turned up in Ontario and Florida and Kentucky.

I don't necessarily buy into this theory, but it does explain why the counterfeit toothpaste is in tubes that look completely correct, but why the cardboard outer packaging is littered with errors.

If this theory is true, however, it strongly suggests that the Colgate toothpaste tube I have contains diethylene glycol. It also suggests that it did not start out as a counterfeit.

Within a day of my call to Colgate Canada about the tube of toothpaste I picked up at the local dollar store, all the tubes have disappeared.

After I wrote about the strage constellation of websites registered by A Bojali, I was contacted by Bojali, who was getting heat from hosting companies over the suspicious registration information.

I offered some advice, and it looks like it was taken.

A massive theft of funds from the Liberal Party riding association in London has prompted a criminal investigation. But there is a serious political side to this as well, with allegations of an offer from the Director of Finance of the Liberal Party of Canada (Ontario), David Pretlove, to cut a cheque to cover the shortfall with the promise not to take this to the police.

I just got off the phone with a very helpful customer service representative at Colgate Canada, and she confirms that this product is not theirs.

Update #1: Colgate Canada says this isn't their product and wants to get their hands on the tube.

Update #2: It looks like Colgate Canada is quietly picking up the faux toothpaste.

Update #3: The story has been picked up by the main stream media and is spreading quickly across Canada.

Colgate insists that it does not import toothpaste into the United States from South Africa. Any such products are counterfeits, and might contain diethylene glycol, a component of antifreeze known to be toxic to humans.

So I have to ask myself, why is it that Colgate imports South African toothpaste into Canada? Or is the toothpaste I am holding in my hand also a counterfeit? And is it poisonous?

Over a week ago I warned people to be suspicious of all toothpaste. The recall by the FDA covered only Chinese-made products, but I found an interview with a Chinese official in which he insisted that Colgate toothpaste was made in China. Colgate had said that this was untrue.

So was I wrong to be concerned?

It looks like I was ahead of the news by a week. A report today that contaminated Colgate toothpaste is being hunted down by American authorities. But as it turns out, it is counterfeit toothpaste. Authorities haven't determined the point of origin yet. Any guesses?

No, I mean, literally, you read below. Move your eyes down just a bit. The scam is right there.

This is Adewale Bolaji. She is trying to sell you bogus AdWords advice via my blog. For that I apologize. She might also be the face of Nigerian 419 scams. It makes for an interesting trip through the internet.

A study suggests that the death penalty deters crime. In fact, the study predicts exactly how many murders are prevented with each execution. The study raises a number of questions, especially in those cases where people have been wrongfully convicted of murder.

I've discovered I'm in a distinct minority when it comes to Paris Hilton. I just don't like what I see in the larger picture. A lot of people I've spoken to seem all too happy to watch Paris Hilton being jerked to and fro by the various elements of the justice system. I find that attitude odd. What did Paris Hilton ever do to them? I, for one, don't enjoy this at all. Not only do I think we can feel for Paris Hilton, I think the way her case is being handled suggests the machinery of justice is definitely out of kilter.

Breaking: Ersatz Colgate toothpaste in the United States might contain DEG. And I just bought a suspicious tube of toothpaste in my local dollar store in Canada.

The latest outrage from China is the export of toothpaste using a poisonous component of antifreeze, diethylene glycol, as a thickener. The FDA has blocked all imports of Chinese-made toothpaste into the United States.

The FDA also recommended that consumers with tubes of Chinese-made toothpaste dispose of the products immediately.

I use Colgate toothpaste, and I checked the label. Made in Mexico. Sounds fine, except for the fact that in this interview, an extremely senior Chinese Communist Party official, Cheng Siwei, brags about how Colgate toothpaste used by Americans is made in China.

Curious. And disturbing.

Law enforcement officials in the US have foiled a plot to ignited the fuel supply to John F Kennedy Airport in New York. But I have to say that I'm confused by just what the alleged terrorists thought they could accomplish.

When Chinese toothpaste was discovered to be thickened with radiator coolant, authorities around the globe went on alert. The FDA has now discovered this poisonous toothpaste in the USA.

A father allegedly tried to run down his daughter and her boyfriend in Toronto. Looking deeper into the story, you find out that there is a major division within the Tamil community in Toronto. I wonder if the attack was motivated in part by this division.

The Public Accounts Committee continues to investigate the RCMP Pension Scandal. During this remarkable exchange, we get to the heart of the matter. Just why would anyone have tried so hard to get around the bidding process?

Real credit goes to Mrs Angry, who has an eye for detail, as well as superb night vision. I just called it in.

Mixing plastic component melamine in pet food.

Antifreeze diethylene glycol in cough syrop and toothpaste.

Deaths suffered by both animals and humans.

Imports from China have killed, and continue to kill.

Now Chinese monkfish is contaminated. And with one of the deadlist neurotoxins known to science. Tetradotoxin is best known as active poison in the deadly pufferfish.

Breaking: Ersatz Colgate toothpaste in the United States might contain DEG. And I just bought a suspicious tube of toothpaste in my local dollar store in Canada.

Brush your teeth...and die! Thanks to Chinese quality controls. On the other hand, the toothy grin on the skull-and-crossbones has never looked so bright and shiny.

The Chinese are terrified that the pet food scandal will cause their food exports to collapse in the face of angry Western consumers.

What they don't get is that China primarily exports lies. We ought to close the doors until that changes.

Jeff Monaghan, the former Environment Canada contract employee arrested for allegedly leaking secret government documents, has written a letter to a newspaper taking issue with being labelled an anarchist. Has the media made a mistake, extrapolating from Jeff Monaghan's known associates to judge Monaghan by the company he keeps? Or is there some sort of documentary evidence in which Monaghan states that he is an anarchist?

In his own words, on his radio show.

Is Jeff Monaghan a quiet and withdrawn character driven to act by the hypocrisy of the Harper government, as some would allege? I'm not so sure, if only because quiet and withdrawn characters don't host talk radio shows.

I suppose it's one thing to be part of an anti-globalization riot, where you are lost in the mass of rock-throwing mask-wearing anonymity. But when the media focus is like a laser-beam, then anarchists get nervous.

The Suicide Pilots, the band for which Jeff Monaghan plays the drums, has issued a statement.

Just an amusing aside about how, despite their best efforts to be the human equivalent of chaos, when push comes to shove, anarchists fall back on heirarchy and order in order to save their hides.

Jeff Monaghan was arrested for leaking the government's environment plan. Is this anarchist posing as a government worker the only dirt-worshipping, granola-eating, tree-hugging druid wannabe who got by the background checks?

Yet more horror stories about Chinese exports killing hundreds, if not thousands. But this time we're talking about children being given antifreeze by parents who thought they were being given cough syrup. Why? Because this sort of antifreeze tastes sweet and is cheaper than glycerin. Too bad diethylene glycol is deadly.

Millions of people have eaten food tainted by Chinese melamine.

Millions.

The light-hearted title belies a serious escalation in the food contamination story. Chickens have been fed pet food tainted with melamine.

The use of melamine as a means of selling substandard grain glutens as high quality stuff has been standard practise in China for years. Then so has been making soya sauce out of human hair instead of soy beans. And so is bleaching noodles white by using lead.

The list goes on. Time to cut the list short, I think.

Humans have eaten food contaminated by melamine. Does everything change now?

If a grain or soy derivative says "Product of China", Canadian border officers will assume that it's contaminated until proven otherwise.

Scientists think they might be able to explain why melamine, a substance that is not known to be toxic, but that has been found to be contaminating pet food linked to the widespread kidney failures in pets, might have been responsible.

China has blinked, and though unwilling to admit to being the source of the problem that has sickened and kill thousands of pets who ate contaminated pet food, government officials are promising to fix the problem.

News that another importer got melamine-contaminated rice protein from China means that there are almost certainly more pet food recalls coming. That means more lawsuits, and that means more impetus for legislative changes to the patchwork system of food inspections currently existing in the United States.

With the pet food recall situation getting worse, not better, maybe we need to reconsider the risks inherent in the large scale importation of food. With that in mind, consider the value of a Green idea, the 100 Mile Diet.

Chinese authorities are maintaining the position that their country's food exports are safe, and not responsible for the pet food melamine contamination that has been detected on three continents. Meanwhile, the web is acting as a conduit for information, getting around Chinese censors.

More Chinese food is contaminated. More animals are getting sick. Evidence people might have been exposed. And high-level rumblings of a wide-ranging ban on Chinese agrcultural imports.

The FDA is considering the possibility that foreign substances are being added to Chinese foodstuffs in order to falsify protein content readings and other factors that would then increase the value of the product.

A vicious killer, Michel (Mikhail) Drachev, featured on America's Most Wanted, has been picked up in Toronto.

Another brand of pet food is being recalled, and again it is for melamine. But before you think that this confirms the melamine theory, there are so many differences between this situation and Menu Foods that one would think that this eliminates melamine as the culprit.

The problem with pet food continues, weeks after the main culprit, Chinese wheat gluten contaminated with melamine, was taken out of the picture. Bizarre coincidence, a sign that the wheat gluten was more widely distribured than thought, or more disturbingly, that it wasn't the feed at all, and that the problem is still out there.

Cornell scientists have found a second contaminant in pet food sample. But they don't know what it is, or how it got there. Meanwhile the Chinese refuse to help, even as we learn about the high rate of rejection of Chinese food at US ports.

Could illegal immigrants, or their advocates, be the ones behind the pet food poison crisis? Assuming this turns out to be a deliberate act, it is interesting to note that these groups have a particular rage aimed at America's population of companion animals.

An ABC affiliate is reporting that the Food and Drug Administration is considering the possibility that the contamination of the pet food was a deliberate act.

The Chinese government is weighing in on the pet food contamination that has been linked to imported wheat gluten. Not surprisingly, the Chinese are insisting they were not responsible.