Now, it isn't the aftermath of the train crash....
"Python that killed 2 in Toronto fell through ceiling; Canadian boys were in apartment above pet store" by Rob Gillies | Associated Press, August 07, 2013
TORONTO — A 100-pound python blamed in the strangling deaths of two Canadian boys apparently escaped from its enclosure, slithered through a ventilation system, and fell through the ceiling into the room where the young brothers were sleeping, authorities said Tuesday.
A snake expert said it was possible that the python was spooked and simply clung to whatever it landed on. Police are treating the deaths in Campbellton, New Brunswick, as a criminal investigation....
The brothers had been visiting the apartment of a friend whose father owned an exotic pet store on the floor below, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sergeant Alain Tremblay said at a news conference in Campbellton. Tremblay said the African rock python was being kept inside the second floor apartment, not inside the pet store as authorities had previously stated.
Steve Benteau, a spokesman for the provincial Natural Resources Department, said no permit was issued for an African rock python and the province wasn’t aware it was being kept at the apartment. The department said the snake is generally only permitted in accredited zoos, unless there is a special permit.
Tremblay said the snake was housed in a large glass enclosure that reached the ceiling of the apartment and escaped through a small hole in the ceiling connected to the ventilation system. He said the snake made its way through the ventilation system and moved toward the living room, where the boys were sleeping. The pipe collapsed and the snake fell.
The friend of the boys was sleeping in another room and was unharmed.
The pet store owner, Jean-Claude Savoie, told the Global News television station that he didn’t hear a sound and discovered the ‘‘horrific scene’’ when he went into his living room on Monday morning.
‘‘I can’t believe this is real,’’ Savoie said.
He said the boys were the children of his best friend and were often at his apartment to visit his son. Savoie said the python, which he has had for at least 10 years, had been kept alone in its enclosure and was not handled by anyone else.
Police said the snake was killed by a veterinarian. It was sent for a necropsy to confirm the type of snake and help understand what may have caused it to attack.
Family spokesman Dave Rose said the brothers had spent Monday at Savoie’s family farm and played with different animals before staying over at the apartment. Rose thanked the community for their support and asked for privacy....
Snake specialist John Kendrick, a manager at the Reptile Store in Hamilton, Ontario, said it sounds like the python was not enclosed properly and might have been spooked. He called the strangling deaths ‘‘very unusual’’ but said African rock pythons tend to be a little more high-strung.
Pythons can sense heat, and if they are startled they can grab something, Kendrick said. He said snakes are very long and their muscles run lengthwise through their body, so they are not very stable unless they are holding on to something.
‘‘A snake that size that was just trying to hold on securely enough to make sure he felt like he wasn’t falling or going anywhere; he has enough muscle power to cut off circulation,’’ he said.
It’s possible that the python was just holding on to what it landed on, Kendrick said.
‘‘Once they are in constricting mode, any part of their body that is touching something that moves, they’ll wrap it,’’ he said. ‘‘I’ve seen snakes with two different prey items at the same time.”
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Related: Florida's Python Hunt
It's like looking for terrorists.
"Canada’s high court upholds anti-terror law" AP, December 15, 2012
TORONTO — The Supreme Court of Canada unanimously ruled Friday that the nation’s antiterrorism law is constitutional in a series of decisions that affirm how terrorism is defined in the criminal code.
The court in a 7-to-0 ruling rejected constitutional challenges brought by three men, including Momin Khawaja, the first person charged under the law passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.
Khawaja was convicted of collaborating with a group of Britons in a thwarted 2004 London plot. All three men are Canadians.
The rulings also upheld the extradition orders against Suresh Sriskandarajah and Piratheepan Nadarajah. Both men can now be sent to the United States to face charges of supporting the Tamil Tigers, a Sri Lanka group trying to set up an independent ethnic Tamil state, which many have called a terrorist group. US prosecutors say the two men tried to buy $1 million in guns and rockets for the group.
Related: Slow Saturday Special: Canada's Terrorist Sanctuary
The court rejected arguments that the antiterrorism law was too broad, criminalized harmless activity, and violated freedom of expression.
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Related: Canadian "CIA-Duh" Overflows
Canada as bad as us now.
