3:30 AM, As Usual.

Anne McLellan, deputy PM and Public Safety Minister, is agitating for more and tougher enforcement against marijuana users. Like many others, she has tried to link pot and violence in the wake of the murder of four mounties in Alberta.

She's wrong. Pot doesn't kill people. People with guns kill people. James Roszko was, by all accounts, a "police incident" waiting to happen. To tie in the actions of a lone gun-toting loony with marijuana culture is disingenuous to say the least.

There is rightful concern about grow-ops, in that they tend to be linked to various gangs. But the violence those gangs bring goes hand-in-hand with large-scale grow ops, and is endemic to gang culture.

Once we enact a simple law such as that in force in Western and South Australia, which effectively legalizes posession and cultivation of small amounts of weed, people won't need to get their cannabis from gangsters.

But nutjobs will continue to attack and kill cops. There's little we can do about that except learn from experience.

It Ain't Justice, But It'll Have to Do

Ripudaman SIngh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri were found not guilty. Listening to the judge's remarks on radio, I was struck by what he said, and by the reaction:

In short, Justice Josephson said that the Crown failed to prove its case, and that the witnesses weren't credible.

Relatives of the 329 murder victims varied in their reactions on the theme of "I'm disappointed". One widow called the verdict "A victory for terrorism in Canada", and one lawyer echoed this idea.

I'm disappointed at the verdict too. That they got off in itself is disturbing. But what really bothers me is that the Crown lost evidence (inevitable in a 20-year investigation), and so wound up bringing a case so weak that the only people to be charged in the case walked free. The judge choked up while reading his decision, and he had a right to.

Then Anne McLellan said there would be no public inquiry. After 20 years, well over $45 million in court costs alone, and the heartache that goes with justice delayed and denied, there will be no review, although the RCMP are apparently continuing to investigate the bombing.

I believe the two men are most likely guilty. At the very least I feel sure they had a hand in the bombing, that they directly or indirectly participated in the mass murder of over 300 men, women, and (at least 80) children. My feelings largely derive from the "He's bound to be guilty or he wouldn't be here" school. Twenty years and many, many pieces of evidence were required to bring even the feeble case the Crown presented.

But my feelings aren't proof. The testimony of liars isn't proof. And the wishes of the families aren't proof.

And our justice system is supposed to defend the innocent by requiring that a person be convicted by proof of their guilt.

Canada may be playing host to up to 1000 "possible terror suspects"--well, 999. But this isn't a victory for terrorism.

It's a victory (albeit a sad, phyrric one) for justice.

Two men were arraingned on serious charges. The state failed to prove its case. The men were set free.

That's what the system's for.