Too much news for just one day

Summer is usually a slow season for news, so we reach for the silly season stuff, and occasionally go a few days without anything serious to talk about. Today is an exception... and exception-and-a-half. Walt is following three serious stories -- well, OK, one is quasi-serious -- and, while waiting for the other shoes to drop, can only manage these quick comments.

Senator Puffy charged with 31 offences under the Criminal Code of Canada
The chickens belonging to the "Honourable" Michael Dennis Duffy, erstwhile senator from Kanata [PEI, surely! Ed.] have at long last come home to roost. They say that the Mounties always get their man. In this case, they've got a man-and-a-half on 31 separate charges under Canada's Criminal Code, including bribery, fraud, breach of trust and criminal obesity. OK, just kidding about that last one. Walt can only regard this matter as semi-serious because, well, it looks good on the greedy Tory bastard! Start building the scaffold and make sure to use really stout timbers.

Israel launches ground offensive in Gaza
Damn Israelis being offensive again. But why not? Hamas and other Arabs aren't in any position to defend themselves, let alone mount a serious counter-attack, because they're too busy fighting amongst themselves. And who's going to come to the Palestinians' aid? Russia? In light of the third story, Walt doesn't think so. Iran? Already out on a limb in Iraq. Egypt? What, and risk another six-day defeat? Meanwhile, Israel can count on the support of its powerful ally Canada [Eh? Ed.], unless of course the USA tells Israel to cease and desist, which is about as likely as John Kerry saying anything meaningful.

And today's biggie...

Malaysian Airlines B-777 downed near Ukraine-Russia border
Why is it always Malaysian Airlines? Just a coincidence, surely, that it's the same plane, operated by the same airline, as the one which supposedly disappeared back in March. Already, rumours swirl around the wreckage. Was MH17 shot down? If so, by whom? It was supposedly flying at 10,000 metres (33,000 feet), at which altitude it could only have been hit by a large and sophisticated surface-to-air missile, not the dinky little handheld devices the Ukrainian (read "Russian") rebels used to shoot down two Ukrainian military aircraft this month. Alternatively, an air-to-air missile might have been used, but by whose air force? Whoever did the dirty deed must surely have made a horrible mistake, firing on a civilian airliner. Right?

But then... we don't know for certain that a missile hit was the cause of the crash. The plane might have exploded in mid-air for reasons unknown. Or it might have simply flown itself into the ground while everyone on board slept. Like MH370. Walt won't even speculate that there's some connection between the loss of the two planes -- and the lives of nearly 600 people -- but won't be all that surprised if that's how it turns out. That is, if we ever learn the truth.