The trial for Rajinder Singh Atwal, 48, has begun in BC Supreme Court in Vancouver. Atwal is charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his daughter Amandeep, 17 at the time of her July 30, 2003 demise. The Atwal’s were from Kitimat, and had moved to Langley in 2003. Amandeep had a boyfriend living in Prince George, whom she dated for three years, and whom she was planning to move in with. At around 3pm, Rajinder Singh Atwal drove into Langley Memorial Hospital with his daughter slumped over in the front seat. He told nurses and a paramedic that she had stabbed herself repeatedly— perhaps tired of living a life where she could freely choose who to love. Her last supposedly self-inflict- ed stab wound was to her remarkably beautiful face. A Supreme Court jury heard late last week from a retired RCMP forensic expert that whoever killed Amandeep was sitting in the driver’s seat. Blood splatter indicates that her car door was closed when she received the multiple wounds, and inspections of Rajinder’s clothing at the time are consistent with those worn by anyone close to the attack. Rajinder Singh Atwal has pled not guilty. Amandeep had run away at least once before, an incident for which Rajinder called the Kitimat police in 2002, claiming his daughter had fled after a verbal argument. Prosecutors plan to show that a noticeable change in Rajinder’s attitude took place when he heard of Amandeep’s relationship with her boyfriend. This kind of antiquated adherence to religious zealotry makes me more sad than angry. The poor boyfriend must be traumatized for life, and of course, the poor girl is freaking dead. Just as we shouldn’t send our pointlessly advanced Play Station 2 asses out to the global boondocks, the global boonies should avail themselves to the ways of spiti- tual freedom when they come here. That may be both the most ignorant and smartest thing I’ve ever said. 6 | www.theotherpress.ca News Wears Short Shorts Brandon Ferguson, News Editor When in Rome As you read in CF Miley’s always- sensitive and sometimes-intriguing column “The Way Things Sometimes Are” two weeks ago (or is that sometimes-sensitive and always-intriguing?), Jabba the Pope’s health has been failing. Hospitalized last month for the flu, Pope John- Paul II is back at it again, this time going under the knife for a tra- cheotomy that inserted a small tube through his neck and into his wind- pipe, easing the respiration problems PJII has been suffering from for the past month. The Pope is said to be in “serene” condition— if serene means perfect for parody and a meeting with Ned on South Park. “Mmmmm...hey Jimbo. Meet the Pope.” “Goddamnit it’s good to meet you, Pope.” “Mmmmm...I bless child.” Already blessed by Parkinson’s, the pontiff has been relying on you my divine intervention and borrowed time for years, consistently crushing other popes-in-waiting’s dreams and forever thwarting my chances of winning this year’s death pool. This guy’s harder to kill than Keith Richards. The Pope was taken to Rome’s Gemelli General Hospital, where he stayed for ten days in early February. The consecutive health problems have worried Catholics the world We here at the Other Press love our irascible Mr. Ferguson, but that doesn't mean that everyone out there will (especially Keith Richards fans). So please be advised that Mr. Ferguson speaks for Mr. Ferguson, and not necessarily for all of the Other Press. (Editor) overt, who love this plucky Polish pontiff. Although atheists like me see his life-clinging courageousness as just another example of how hard it is to move up the union ladder, his fans love him for his ability to lis- ten—no pope has ever made as many far-reaching decisions, nor as many that run counter to staunchly held Catholic beliefs, as Jabba the Pope. Dubliner Brigid Nolan, 73, who also suffers from Parkinson’s, went down to the local church to light a candle for the recovering pope. “I do draw inspiration from his own fight for life,’ she said. “He is suf- fering, but he’s surviving, and more power to him. I get angry when peo- ple say he should quit. He should keep going for every minute God gives him.” Both he and Keith Richards should. And when he’s feeling bet- ter, maybe PJII can call in a favour Richards attempting a solo project again. to prevent from ever Taking on Rogue Nations can be Fun Canada has said no to the US Missile Defense shield initiative, telling the Americans in the strongest terms possible that no Yankee missile silos will be allowed asylum in our fair land. I mean, if that’s okay with you, of course. Announced by Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew to a nearly empty House of Commons last Thursday, but told to fashionable US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last Tuesday at a NATO meeting in Brussels, Canada has finally made official what was the most con- tentious issue in Canada-US relations since the Iraq War. “After careful consideration of the issue, we have decided that Canada will not participate in the US ballistic-missile defense system,” Pettigrew told the House, surround- ed by less than a dozen Liberal MPs. Unsurprisingly, the announce- ment that Canada will not take part in the contentious issue has only made it more contentious. Long-time detractors of the mis- sile defense shield, such as NDP foreign affairs critic Alexa McDonough, criticized Martin for pretending “that the government had not yet made a decision on Canada’s participation in missile defense when that was clearly not the truth.” US Ambassador to Canada Paul Cellucci, whose been a prime-time asshole in all his dealings with Canada (he stated that Canada had no say whatsoever in the deportation and subsequent torture of Canadian citizen Maher Arar), said the deci- sion nullifies our sovereignty. “T personally don’t think it’s in Canada’s sovereign interest to be airspace outside the room when a decision is made about a missile that might be coming toward Canada.” Well, maybe stop picking fights with missile-wielding rogue nations, jackasses. Can you imagine how insane it would be if Canada were to continu- ally thumb its nose at a powerful nation with the military capacity to overrun us at the drop of a hat, or push of a button? Twice? Crazy Americans.... March 2/2005