Harper is following up on the attack on poverty by the Martin/Chretein government and then we had Live Aid, etc. so the question is when will poverty disappear and what will we use as a benchmark....poverty in Ontario, poverty in Africa, etc.
Friday, November 30, 2007
McGinty "Promises" To Attack Poverty In Ontario
Harper is following up on the attack on poverty by the Martin/Chretein government and then we had Live Aid, etc. so the question is when will poverty disappear and what will we use as a benchmark....poverty in Ontario, poverty in Africa, etc.
Equal Justice For All - What a load of bullshit
Social in-activists are constantly bleating about the justice system favors the rich but you never hear about this travesty.....
"In the past five years, Beausoleil had 10 charges, one for a weapons offence, diverted because of his native ancestry, said his lawyer Anthony DeMarco. Under the native diversion program, the accused acknowledges responsibility for his actions, but doesn't plead guilty and no criminal conviction is registered"
21-1 court record, now 21-2
Murderer has no chance of parole for 10 years
A man who murdered his best friend while serving a conditional sentence for a robbery bragged to police that he was "21-1 in court" because of the native diversion program, a judge heard yesterday.
And let's not forget Caledonia, Oka, etc.
"In the past five years, Beausoleil had 10 charges, one for a weapons offence, diverted because of his native ancestry, said his lawyer Anthony DeMarco. Under the native diversion program, the accused acknowledges responsibility for his actions, but doesn't plead guilty and no criminal conviction is registered"
21-1 court record, now 21-2
Murderer has no chance of parole for 10 years
A man who murdered his best friend while serving a conditional sentence for a robbery bragged to police that he was "21-1 in court" because of the native diversion program, a judge heard yesterday.
And let's not forget Caledonia, Oka, etc.
The Fish Always Stinks At The Head
Mammoliti at his best......trying to outdo the rest of councilors who spend their entire office budget.By Sue Ann Levy
For a so-called seasoned political veteran, Mayor David Miller has shown incredibly poor judgment on the whole councillor expense account issue.
A true leader would have put a quick end -- months ago -- to the petty review, initiated by council's top spender Giorgio Mammoliti, of two of his colleagues for using too little of their $53,100 office budgets.
After all, it's clear to all but His Blondness and his complicit minions this is one issue they cannot win. In fact, it appears to be turning the two councillors at the centre of the witch hunt -- Doug Holyday and Rob Ford -- into cult heroes and has put Mammoliti all the more under the microscope.
Yet at executive committee earlier this week, the mayor proposed that Ford and Holyday be forced to comply with council policy that decrees they pay for office expenses like postage, printing of newsletters, promotion and photocopying out of their $53,100 office budgets, and submit receipts for items they pay for with their own money.
The rest of the story.......
Buying Votes At Taxpayer Expense
Sold a bill of goods?
Councillor Rob Ford says: 'It's not an office budget, it's an expense account'
By ZEN RURYK, CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF
The councillor who spearheaded an attempt to make fellow council member Rob Ford stop using his own money to buy office supplies has hit up taxpayers for a limo service, hefty restaurant bills and constituency office renovations.
A review of Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti's 2007 office expenses reveals that he paid $660 for a limo service for his New Year's levee.
He dished out $1,286 to host a delegation of business- women from Puebla, Mexico, at restaurants on two consecutive days.
On May 20, those at Mammoliti's table dined on grilled organic salmon, seared scallops, petit beef tenderloin and other menu items offered at the Miller Tavern on Yonge St. The following day, the same delegation was treated to smoked salmon, calamari, steak, spaghetti and other dishes at Prego Della Piazza on Bloor St. E.
While alcohol was consumed during the meals, Mammoliti did not rely on his office budget to pay for the drinks.
His list of expenditures includes $7,995 for carpeting and drywall work at his constituency office, located at Weston Rd. and Sheppard Ave. W. He spent $600 to sponsor a minor hockey team and $1,575 for invitations and brochure printing done to support his 2005 golf tournament.
Ford yesterday argued that office budget expenditures should be subject to an audit by the appropriate city officials.
"They're just abusing taxpayers' money. It's not an office budget, it's an expense account," he insisted.
Each of Toronto's 44 city councillors is provided with an annual office budget of $53,100. As of Sept. 30, Mammoliti had used up $50,499 of this year's total.
While the city billed Ford $1,123 for the use of office space at the taxpayer-owned Etobicoke Civic Centre, the councillor had not submitted any expense claims as of Sept. 30. He also did not file any expenses last year.
City council directed Integrity Commissioner David Mullan and Auditor General Jeff Griffiths to conduct a review of the spending by Ford and fellow penny pincher Councillor Doug Holyday.
The two senior officials determined that Ford violated city policy in 2006 by using his own money to pay certain office expenses and by failing to report personal expenses he incurred.
They also found that Holyday, who filed expenses of $1,471 last year, violated city policy by failing to claim business mileage.
Toronto's influential executive committee -- made up of Mayor David Miller and his hand-picked councillors, including Mammoliti -- this week directed Ford to disclose the source of funding for his council activities. Ford maintains he won't provide city officials with receipts if taxpayers are going to have to shell out to cover them.
BRING SENIORS TO LEVEE
Mammoliti, meanwhile, yesterday defended his expenditures, saying the limo service was used to bring seniors -- some disabled -- to his New Year's levee, which took place at the community centre where his constituency office is located.
As for the 2005 golf tournament claims, Mammoliti said he had work for the event done by the city and the bills didn't come in until this year.
"When you use the in-house service, they bill you sometimes a year or two later," he added.
Mammoliti said he decided to fix up his constituency office after hearing from people during the last election campaign that he was spending too much time downtown and not enough in his ward, located in the northwestern part of Toronto.
"One of the things that we quickly realized was there was a bit of a health and safety issue here," said Mammoliti "People were tripping all over the old carpet. It was horrible."
He added the walls were bare concrete prior to the renovation.
As for the two restaurant meals, Mammoliti said he has always taken an "international interest" while serving as Toronto councillor.
'WE HOST THEM'
"I've done work in China; I've done work in Mexico. I've done work all over the world and this is no different," said Mammoliti. "When people come to town, they often call politicians that they've heard about or know -- and we host them. We don't say 'no.' "
Councillors have a wide latitude when it comes to using their office budget.
For example, Councillor Sandra Bussin bought her executive assistant, David McCully, a blazer and a pair of shoes for $369, following a severe storm on May 17, 2006.
According to a memo in Bussin's file of 2006 expense documents, McCully dropped by homes on Kew Beach Ave. which had fallen prey to storm-related flooding, while going to work at City Hall.
McCully's shoes and blazer were ruined when he observed the damage first-hand, striding through ankle- deep water in basements. His blazer was damaged by drips from pipes and ceilings in the older homes, according to Bussin, who represents the Beach area.
Bussin's memo says she authorized the purchase of the new blazer and shoes to replace the ones that were damaged while McCully performed his duties.
Councillor Rob Ford says: 'It's not an office budget, it's an expense account'
By ZEN RURYK, CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF
The councillor who spearheaded an attempt to make fellow council member Rob Ford stop using his own money to buy office supplies has hit up taxpayers for a limo service, hefty restaurant bills and constituency office renovations.
A review of Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti's 2007 office expenses reveals that he paid $660 for a limo service for his New Year's levee.
He dished out $1,286 to host a delegation of business- women from Puebla, Mexico, at restaurants on two consecutive days.
On May 20, those at Mammoliti's table dined on grilled organic salmon, seared scallops, petit beef tenderloin and other menu items offered at the Miller Tavern on Yonge St. The following day, the same delegation was treated to smoked salmon, calamari, steak, spaghetti and other dishes at Prego Della Piazza on Bloor St. E.
While alcohol was consumed during the meals, Mammoliti did not rely on his office budget to pay for the drinks.
His list of expenditures includes $7,995 for carpeting and drywall work at his constituency office, located at Weston Rd. and Sheppard Ave. W. He spent $600 to sponsor a minor hockey team and $1,575 for invitations and brochure printing done to support his 2005 golf tournament.
Ford yesterday argued that office budget expenditures should be subject to an audit by the appropriate city officials.
"They're just abusing taxpayers' money. It's not an office budget, it's an expense account," he insisted.
Each of Toronto's 44 city councillors is provided with an annual office budget of $53,100. As of Sept. 30, Mammoliti had used up $50,499 of this year's total.
While the city billed Ford $1,123 for the use of office space at the taxpayer-owned Etobicoke Civic Centre, the councillor had not submitted any expense claims as of Sept. 30. He also did not file any expenses last year.
City council directed Integrity Commissioner David Mullan and Auditor General Jeff Griffiths to conduct a review of the spending by Ford and fellow penny pincher Councillor Doug Holyday.
The two senior officials determined that Ford violated city policy in 2006 by using his own money to pay certain office expenses and by failing to report personal expenses he incurred.
They also found that Holyday, who filed expenses of $1,471 last year, violated city policy by failing to claim business mileage.
Toronto's influential executive committee -- made up of Mayor David Miller and his hand-picked councillors, including Mammoliti -- this week directed Ford to disclose the source of funding for his council activities. Ford maintains he won't provide city officials with receipts if taxpayers are going to have to shell out to cover them.
BRING SENIORS TO LEVEE
Mammoliti, meanwhile, yesterday defended his expenditures, saying the limo service was used to bring seniors -- some disabled -- to his New Year's levee, which took place at the community centre where his constituency office is located.
As for the 2005 golf tournament claims, Mammoliti said he had work for the event done by the city and the bills didn't come in until this year.
"When you use the in-house service, they bill you sometimes a year or two later," he added.
Mammoliti said he decided to fix up his constituency office after hearing from people during the last election campaign that he was spending too much time downtown and not enough in his ward, located in the northwestern part of Toronto.
"One of the things that we quickly realized was there was a bit of a health and safety issue here," said Mammoliti "People were tripping all over the old carpet. It was horrible."
He added the walls were bare concrete prior to the renovation.
As for the two restaurant meals, Mammoliti said he has always taken an "international interest" while serving as Toronto councillor.
'WE HOST THEM'
"I've done work in China; I've done work in Mexico. I've done work all over the world and this is no different," said Mammoliti. "When people come to town, they often call politicians that they've heard about or know -- and we host them. We don't say 'no.' "
Councillors have a wide latitude when it comes to using their office budget.
For example, Councillor Sandra Bussin bought her executive assistant, David McCully, a blazer and a pair of shoes for $369, following a severe storm on May 17, 2006.
According to a memo in Bussin's file of 2006 expense documents, McCully dropped by homes on Kew Beach Ave. which had fallen prey to storm-related flooding, while going to work at City Hall.
McCully's shoes and blazer were ruined when he observed the damage first-hand, striding through ankle- deep water in basements. His blazer was damaged by drips from pipes and ceilings in the older homes, according to Bussin, who represents the Beach area.
Bussin's memo says she authorized the purchase of the new blazer and shoes to replace the ones that were damaged while McCully performed his duties.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Hmmmm......Not In My Circle Of Friends
I look forward to getting educated..........
Explaining Jews
I got a question about why Jews are liberal from A Little Revolution, and I thought I would pass on this great series by Dennis Prager to my readers that are interested:
Wednesday Jan 4, 2006
Explaining Jews, Part I: What is a Jew?
Tuesday Jan 24, 2006
Explaining Jews, Part II: Why are most Jews secular?
Tuesday Feb 21, 2006
Explaining Jews, Part III: A very insecure people
Tuesday Mar 14, 2006
Explaining Jews, Part IV: All the types of Jews
Tuesday Apr 25, 2006
Explaining Jews, part V: Why are Jews liberal?
Tuesday May 16, 2006
Explaining Jews, Part VI: Jews who aid those who hate Jews (and America)
Tuesday May 30, 2006
Explaining Jews Part VII: Why anti-Zionism is anti-semitism
Labels: Politics, Religion
posted by Your Jewish Master
Explaining Jews
I got a question about why Jews are liberal from A Little Revolution, and I thought I would pass on this great series by Dennis Prager to my readers that are interested:
Wednesday Jan 4, 2006
Explaining Jews, Part I: What is a Jew?
Tuesday Jan 24, 2006
Explaining Jews, Part II: Why are most Jews secular?
Tuesday Feb 21, 2006
Explaining Jews, Part III: A very insecure people
Tuesday Mar 14, 2006
Explaining Jews, Part IV: All the types of Jews
Tuesday Apr 25, 2006
Explaining Jews, part V: Why are Jews liberal?
Tuesday May 16, 2006
Explaining Jews, Part VI: Jews who aid those who hate Jews (and America)
Tuesday May 30, 2006
Explaining Jews Part VII: Why anti-Zionism is anti-semitism
Labels: Politics, Religion
posted by Your Jewish Master
Is The Homosexual So Insecure.....
.....that even the slightest public criticism will bring a person before a human rights tribunal.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Intolerant Canada again: Christian Political Party Before Human Rights Commission for Speaking Against Homosexuality
Leader says: "I'm willing to go to jail over this"
The Christian Heritage Party of Canada (CHP) and its Leader Ron Gray are being investigated by the Canadian Human Rights Commission after a homosexual activist complained of material published on the Party's website he claims is offensive to homosexuals. Homosexual activist Rob Wells of Edmonton, has previously launched human rights complaints against Christian activist Craig Chandler in Alberta and has now made formal complaints against the CHP and Gray. Wells took issue with a 2002 WorldNetDaily news story republished on the CHP webpage as well as three Christian Heritage Party communiqu,s written by Gray.
The World Net Daily article in question concerned a study which found "Pedophilia more common among 'gays'". (see the item here: http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=27431 )
Of the three communiques, one was issued in 2004 and two in 2005. The first of these condemned the actions of the self-styled "gay militia" who disrupted a Christian meeting by shouting down the speaker. Gray used strong language to condemn the actions citing the gay militia, the "militant secularists and homosexuals" as the true "hate criminals." He noted that homosexual activists work to "normalize sexual perversion" in schools because they "want to recruit our children into their debauched lifestyle." (See it here: http://www.chp.ca/arc-CHP-Communique/communique_11_17.htm )
The second took issue with Canada's bill to legalize same-sex 'marriage', saying, "Why would anyone even contemplate putting the nation's children at risk to pander to the sexual appetites of a tiny minority of mentally-ill adults?" Gray added: "Yes, I said 'mentally ill'", noting that many psychiatrists still consider homosexuality a treatable disorder. (See it here: http://www.chp.ca/arc-CHP-Communique/communique_12_21.htm )
The third item dealt with Canada's "cone of silence" around all discussion related to homosexuality. The facts on homosexuality he stated are: "homosexuality is a treatable illness; homosexuality is abnormal; homosexuality is extremely unhealthy, shortening life expectancy by decades." (see it here: http://www.chp.ca/arc-CHP-Communique/communique_12_13.htm )
In an interview with LifeSiteNews.com, Gray maintained he does not harbour any ill will toward persons with same-sex attractions, in fact just the opposite. "Christians are probably the best friends homosexuals have in the world because we want to see them delivered from an addiction that will shorten their lives in this world and condemn them in the next, said Gray. "I'm not motivated by hate at all. I would guess that very few if any real Christians are motivated by hate in their response to these issues. It's a question of compassion."
Gray added: "Who truly loves you, someone who tells you the truth even when it hurts, or someone who will tell you you're okay even when you're headed down the wrong road. The Scripture says 'Faithful are the wounds of a friend, and deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.'"
The CHP Leader believes that the case is of highest importance also for the Conservative Government in Canada. "I really think this is a crucial case because if an agency of the government, which the CHRC is, can tell a political party what it may and may not include in its political statements we have gone way down the road to totalitarianism," he said.
Gray says he wants to win the case but not by compromise but in a way which affirms freedom of religion, thought and political rights in Canada. Rather than arguing before the human rights tribunals, Gray would prefer the case moves to the courts where the burden of proof is more stringent.
Moreover, says Gray, if Wells "truly believes I'm motivated by hate, he should charge me with a hate crime" under the existing Canadian hate crime law. "I'm willing to go to jail over this," Gray told LifeSiteNews.com.
Costs for the initial defense before the tribunal are expected to come to $20,000. Canadian Human Rights procedures give overwhelming advantage to plaintiffs. Defendents are liable not only for their own costs but also for those of the plaintiff plus fines should the complaint be upheld.
Source
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/nov/07112706.html
Friday, November 30, 2007
Intolerant Canada again: Christian Political Party Before Human Rights Commission for Speaking Against Homosexuality
Leader says: "I'm willing to go to jail over this"
The Christian Heritage Party of Canada (CHP) and its Leader Ron Gray are being investigated by the Canadian Human Rights Commission after a homosexual activist complained of material published on the Party's website he claims is offensive to homosexuals. Homosexual activist Rob Wells of Edmonton, has previously launched human rights complaints against Christian activist Craig Chandler in Alberta and has now made formal complaints against the CHP and Gray. Wells took issue with a 2002 WorldNetDaily news story republished on the CHP webpage as well as three Christian Heritage Party communiqu,s written by Gray.
The World Net Daily article in question concerned a study which found "Pedophilia more common among 'gays'". (see the item here: http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=27431 )
Of the three communiques, one was issued in 2004 and two in 2005. The first of these condemned the actions of the self-styled "gay militia" who disrupted a Christian meeting by shouting down the speaker. Gray used strong language to condemn the actions citing the gay militia, the "militant secularists and homosexuals" as the true "hate criminals." He noted that homosexual activists work to "normalize sexual perversion" in schools because they "want to recruit our children into their debauched lifestyle." (See it here: http://www.chp.ca/arc-CHP-Communique/communique_11_17.htm )
The second took issue with Canada's bill to legalize same-sex 'marriage', saying, "Why would anyone even contemplate putting the nation's children at risk to pander to the sexual appetites of a tiny minority of mentally-ill adults?" Gray added: "Yes, I said 'mentally ill'", noting that many psychiatrists still consider homosexuality a treatable disorder. (See it here: http://www.chp.ca/arc-CHP-Communique/communique_12_21.htm )
The third item dealt with Canada's "cone of silence" around all discussion related to homosexuality. The facts on homosexuality he stated are: "homosexuality is a treatable illness; homosexuality is abnormal; homosexuality is extremely unhealthy, shortening life expectancy by decades." (see it here: http://www.chp.ca/arc-CHP-Communique/communique_12_13.htm )
In an interview with LifeSiteNews.com, Gray maintained he does not harbour any ill will toward persons with same-sex attractions, in fact just the opposite. "Christians are probably the best friends homosexuals have in the world because we want to see them delivered from an addiction that will shorten their lives in this world and condemn them in the next, said Gray. "I'm not motivated by hate at all. I would guess that very few if any real Christians are motivated by hate in their response to these issues. It's a question of compassion."
Gray added: "Who truly loves you, someone who tells you the truth even when it hurts, or someone who will tell you you're okay even when you're headed down the wrong road. The Scripture says 'Faithful are the wounds of a friend, and deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.'"
The CHP Leader believes that the case is of highest importance also for the Conservative Government in Canada. "I really think this is a crucial case because if an agency of the government, which the CHRC is, can tell a political party what it may and may not include in its political statements we have gone way down the road to totalitarianism," he said.
Gray says he wants to win the case but not by compromise but in a way which affirms freedom of religion, thought and political rights in Canada. Rather than arguing before the human rights tribunals, Gray would prefer the case moves to the courts where the burden of proof is more stringent.
Moreover, says Gray, if Wells "truly believes I'm motivated by hate, he should charge me with a hate crime" under the existing Canadian hate crime law. "I'm willing to go to jail over this," Gray told LifeSiteNews.com.
Costs for the initial defense before the tribunal are expected to come to $20,000. Canadian Human Rights procedures give overwhelming advantage to plaintiffs. Defendents are liable not only for their own costs but also for those of the plaintiff plus fines should the complaint be upheld.
Source
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/nov/07112706.html
Welcome Back Don.......
.......now if we just find a place for Michael Richards!
Imus Bashers Face Vengeance
ALL those politically correct types who piled on last April when Don Imus went down for making his bad "nappy-headed ho's" joke had better duck and cover on Monday, when the I-Man goes back to work on WABC Radio.
Imus Bashers Face Vengeance
ALL those politically correct types who piled on last April when Don Imus went down for making his bad "nappy-headed ho's" joke had better duck and cover on Monday, when the I-Man goes back to work on WABC Radio.
Go Get Them Ann.........
I don't quote and publish a lot of Ann's comments mainly becauseof the impact it has on self esteem and manhood of the left wing l"male" losers....Miss Ann is talking
That means that YOU are listening!
Last week, in an article titled "Walking a Tightrope on Immigration," The New York Times made the fact-defying claim that the illegal immigration issue poses a risk for Republicans who appeal to voters "angry" about illegal immigration. (This is as opposed to voters "angry" that they spent good money buying a copy of The New York Times.)
In support of this assertion, the Times was required not only to ignore the stunning defeat of this year's amnesty bill, but also to proffer provably absurd evidence. I dearly hope Democratic politicians continue to look to the Times as an accurate barometer of voter sentiment.
In addition to secret polls showing that "the majority of Americans" support "a path to citizenship for immigrants here illegally," the Times cited election results from 1994 and 2006 that directly contradict this thesis.
First, the Times raised former California Gov. Pete Wilson's "precipitous slide" in the polls after he supported Proposition 187 in 1994, which denied most taxpayer-supported services to illegal immigrants.
The problem with this example is that Proposition 187 was wildly popular with California voters.
Times reporter Michael Luo seems to be referring to the Times' own prediction of catastrophe for Proposition 187 -- not actual election results.
Thanks to Hillbilly White Trash
I Didn't Notice But I Am Not Surprised........
it is par for our No Plan B Comrade Miller. The part that I can't fathom how he makes any comments when he is is in his normal position........Sunday, November 25, 2007
Did anyone else notice?
I caught a few minutes of the tree-lighting ceremony lat night from Nathan Phillips Square while surfing channels. I happened to see the part where our erstwhile Mayor Miller came out to say a few words (and thank the sponsors). Did anyone else notice that he never once said the word Christmas, even with a gospel choir standing behind him?
Labels: Christmas, Mayor David Miller, Toronto
Congrats To Kate-Small Dead Animals
For coming in second in the Kinsella ravings.......
"2. Kate McMillan – Truly, she is a Small Dead Animal. Saskatchewan-based anti-native bigot who makes Anne Coulter look like a member of the NDP Waffle; hurts conservative causes every time she opens her yap. Soon to feature in a Liberal ad campaign near you. December 2004: advocates building new residential schools “if that’s what it takes.” Same month: “We need institutions to lock up the Indian activists and apologists.” January 2005: promotes The Minute Man Project, a group that “patrols” the US border to keep out foreigners, but permits neo-Nazis and white supremacists to become members. April 2005: after the Marburg virus breaks out in Angola, killing scores of people, McMillan seems to advocate genocide, writing: “Is there a point where we are allowed to stop feeling sympathy for these people, seal off the borders and just let nature take its course?" May 2005: defends calling the Japanese the racist term “Japs.” The one I will never forget: she angrily defends a Calgary supporter who suggests on Small Dead Animals that one of my children be raped. She has never apologized for that, or any of it."
"2. Kate McMillan – Truly, she is a Small Dead Animal. Saskatchewan-based anti-native bigot who makes Anne Coulter look like a member of the NDP Waffle; hurts conservative causes every time she opens her yap. Soon to feature in a Liberal ad campaign near you. December 2004: advocates building new residential schools “if that’s what it takes.” Same month: “We need institutions to lock up the Indian activists and apologists.” January 2005: promotes The Minute Man Project, a group that “patrols” the US border to keep out foreigners, but permits neo-Nazis and white supremacists to become members. April 2005: after the Marburg virus breaks out in Angola, killing scores of people, McMillan seems to advocate genocide, writing: “Is there a point where we are allowed to stop feeling sympathy for these people, seal off the borders and just let nature take its course?" May 2005: defends calling the Japanese the racist term “Japs.” The one I will never forget: she angrily defends a Calgary supporter who suggests on Small Dead Animals that one of my children be raped. She has never apologized for that, or any of it."
The Sky Is Falling/Cry Wolf
This is a tactic we see playing out at Toronto City Hall in order not to have to take small but simple steps back to fiscal healthiness. Maybe McGinty is including Toronto in his poverty initiatives ......he certainly didn't do anything positive during his last term.
Experts Fear Outbreak of 'Cry Wolf Syndrome'
This devastating psychological disorder could soon become an emotional plague eating away at the fabric of America's families. Learn how anyone can become a victim - including you.
Full Story »
Experts Fear Outbreak of 'Cry Wolf Syndrome'
This devastating psychological disorder could soon become an emotional plague eating away at the fabric of America's families. Learn how anyone can become a victim - including you.
Full Story »
Gomery, Justice & Flaggman
November 27, 2007
Judicial Arrogance: Gomery Whines about Mandatory Minimums
The man who Paul Martin hand-picked to bring down his own government, Justice John Gomery, has chosen to become the voice of the Judiciary in Canada against PM Stephen Harper’s new crime bill. Retired since August, Gomery obviously feels free to speak his mind - and, in his opinion, the mind of most of Canada’s judges - regarding the increased use of mandatory minimum sentences in Conservative legislation. From Richard Foot, CanWest News Service, “Judges resent ‘implied criticism’ of minimum sentences: Gomery” :
“This legislation basically shows a mistrust of the judiciary to impose proper sentences when people come before them,” says Gomery.
Yes, sir, that would be correct. Judges have been shown time-and-time-again to go out of their way to avoid penalizing criminals - particularly the louses involved in the despicable Restorative Justice movement.
“Judges view this kind of legislation as a slap in the face.”
And a well-deserved one, at that.
Gomery, who retired from the Quebec Superior Court after wrapping up the sponsorship inquiry in 2006, says judges are unhappy about this and other legislation that suggest a failure on their part to impose proper sentences.
“Judges find that it’s an implied criticism when Parliament imposes mandatory sentences,” Gomery says. “It leaves the impression that judges aren’t using their discretion wisely or in accordance with the wishes of the legislature. And judges are resentful about that.”
How, exactly, does a man with such a weak grasp of elementary logic become a respected Judge? Sir: laws are made by the legislature. Judges must implement those laws. If judges won’t implement those laws by applying reasonable penalties, then the legislature MUST mandate specific sentences.
But wait…a speck of logic creeps in…
Gomery admits that mandatory sentences will relieve judges from what he calls the “agonizing” task of choosing an appropriate sentence.
“Most judges who sit on criminal matters would say sentencing is the hardest part of their job,” he says. “But if Parliament has said, ‘You’ve got to give this guy five years,’ then you shrug your shoulders and obey the law and sentence them, even if you feel it’s unnecessarily harsh.
Now we’ve gotten somewhere. Way to go, Gomery, you’re absolutely right! IT’S NOT FOR YOU TO DECIDE WHETHER A LEGISLATED PENALTY IS TOO HARSH! Congratulations, John. Uh oh…he concludes:
“Still, my own personal view is that it’s a mistake to take away discretion from judges,” says Gomery.
In other words: Judges know it’s wrong, but want to retain the right to override legislation at their every whim anyway.
You don't say?
So now he's the subject of a dangerous offender hearing.
That, took, let's see, one assault with a frying pan coupled with stabbing avec kitchen knives, one sexual assault coupled with attempted murder, and one aggravated assault which rendered the victim (a single mother of two) paralyzed from the neck down. Tally that all up, and now, finally, maybe, he'll actually be put away for meaningful time. But only if a judge agrees with the application (of course, don't worry, every seven years Dangerous Offenders get to argue that they should be paroled). Seeing how the judiciary has acted in the past in regards to this offender, would you be willing to bet the house on a successful DO application?
I'm actually on the side of Gomery in this argument. We don't need mandatory minimum sentences.
We simply need to relocate every halfway house in the country to inside the security gated confines of luxury housing developments and high-end apartment buildings - and let the problem of lax sentences solve itself.
Posted by Kate
Judicial Arrogance: Gomery Whines about Mandatory Minimums
The man who Paul Martin hand-picked to bring down his own government, Justice John Gomery, has chosen to become the voice of the Judiciary in Canada against PM Stephen Harper’s new crime bill. Retired since August, Gomery obviously feels free to speak his mind - and, in his opinion, the mind of most of Canada’s judges - regarding the increased use of mandatory minimum sentences in Conservative legislation. From Richard Foot, CanWest News Service, “Judges resent ‘implied criticism’ of minimum sentences: Gomery” :
“This legislation basically shows a mistrust of the judiciary to impose proper sentences when people come before them,” says Gomery.
Yes, sir, that would be correct. Judges have been shown time-and-time-again to go out of their way to avoid penalizing criminals - particularly the louses involved in the despicable Restorative Justice movement.
“Judges view this kind of legislation as a slap in the face.”
And a well-deserved one, at that.
Gomery, who retired from the Quebec Superior Court after wrapping up the sponsorship inquiry in 2006, says judges are unhappy about this and other legislation that suggest a failure on their part to impose proper sentences.
“Judges find that it’s an implied criticism when Parliament imposes mandatory sentences,” Gomery says. “It leaves the impression that judges aren’t using their discretion wisely or in accordance with the wishes of the legislature. And judges are resentful about that.”
How, exactly, does a man with such a weak grasp of elementary logic become a respected Judge? Sir: laws are made by the legislature. Judges must implement those laws. If judges won’t implement those laws by applying reasonable penalties, then the legislature MUST mandate specific sentences.
But wait…a speck of logic creeps in…
Gomery admits that mandatory sentences will relieve judges from what he calls the “agonizing” task of choosing an appropriate sentence.
“Most judges who sit on criminal matters would say sentencing is the hardest part of their job,” he says. “But if Parliament has said, ‘You’ve got to give this guy five years,’ then you shrug your shoulders and obey the law and sentence them, even if you feel it’s unnecessarily harsh.
Now we’ve gotten somewhere. Way to go, Gomery, you’re absolutely right! IT’S NOT FOR YOU TO DECIDE WHETHER A LEGISLATED PENALTY IS TOO HARSH! Congratulations, John. Uh oh…he concludes:
“Still, my own personal view is that it’s a mistake to take away discretion from judges,” says Gomery.
In other words: Judges know it’s wrong, but want to retain the right to override legislation at their every whim anyway.
You don't say?
So now he's the subject of a dangerous offender hearing.
That, took, let's see, one assault with a frying pan coupled with stabbing avec kitchen knives, one sexual assault coupled with attempted murder, and one aggravated assault which rendered the victim (a single mother of two) paralyzed from the neck down. Tally that all up, and now, finally, maybe, he'll actually be put away for meaningful time. But only if a judge agrees with the application (of course, don't worry, every seven years Dangerous Offenders get to argue that they should be paroled). Seeing how the judiciary has acted in the past in regards to this offender, would you be willing to bet the house on a successful DO application?
I'm actually on the side of Gomery in this argument. We don't need mandatory minimum sentences.
We simply need to relocate every halfway house in the country to inside the security gated confines of luxury housing developments and high-end apartment buildings - and let the problem of lax sentences solve itself.
Posted by Kate
It Is A Miserable, Damp, Chilly Day But.......
......for us Miller Bashers it is bright and sunny and I will probably give some of my spare change to those who hang around Nathan Phillips Square and hail Miller as their saviour and comrade.
Miller Throws Hissy Fit
In response to a column almost all Torontonians would agree with.
Editor - Toronto Star
As the elected leader of Toronto City Council, I must respond to Royson James's column. It is an utterly despicable piece of supposed journalism and unworthy of your publication.
I will ignore for the moment that many of James's facts are wrong and go directly to the last paragraph of his column where he states: "Councillors should be hanged, one a day, at noon, in Nathan Phillips Square. Charge admission. We'll net enough money to pay off most of our civic bills."
Such a statement is beneath contempt and shows absolutely no respect for democracy, for the families of elected officials or for those in this country who fought to preserve our freedom.
In a democracy, people can choose to disagree about issues like the future of Union Station, the purchase of food vending carts and the disconnection of downspouts. That's what our political system is all about. But I cannot believe a veteran columnist like James would stoop so low as to think that city councillors should be lynched in the public square, never mind put such outrageous thoughts in writing. And it is beyond belief that a newspaper of the Toronto Star's stature – a publication that proclaims itself as the Voice of the GTA – would actually print such hateful ruminations. I find this absolutely offensive.
Many Torontonians came to this city from countries where public officials and other innocent people have been hanged or otherwise murdered and where such atrocities continue to this day. They came to Toronto to be free from such terror and callous disregard for human life. Perhaps James should have asked them – and others, like my Uncle Jim, who fought for the right to debate and discuss public policy – their thoughts on his loathsome advocacy for public lynching.
The Toronto Star owes every Torontonian, every elected official and the families of those elected officials an immediate apology and retraction. Even that is not enough. But, sadly it is all you can do.
Mayor David Miller, Toronto
Royson today reports that the Star editors and management are supporting him.
This could be the beginning of the end of any editorial support of Miller in the City.
A figurative hanging inNathan Phillips Square.
Posted by Lemon
Miller Throws Hissy Fit
In response to a column almost all Torontonians would agree with.
Editor - Toronto Star
As the elected leader of Toronto City Council, I must respond to Royson James's column. It is an utterly despicable piece of supposed journalism and unworthy of your publication.
I will ignore for the moment that many of James's facts are wrong and go directly to the last paragraph of his column where he states: "Councillors should be hanged, one a day, at noon, in Nathan Phillips Square. Charge admission. We'll net enough money to pay off most of our civic bills."
Such a statement is beneath contempt and shows absolutely no respect for democracy, for the families of elected officials or for those in this country who fought to preserve our freedom.
In a democracy, people can choose to disagree about issues like the future of Union Station, the purchase of food vending carts and the disconnection of downspouts. That's what our political system is all about. But I cannot believe a veteran columnist like James would stoop so low as to think that city councillors should be lynched in the public square, never mind put such outrageous thoughts in writing. And it is beyond belief that a newspaper of the Toronto Star's stature – a publication that proclaims itself as the Voice of the GTA – would actually print such hateful ruminations. I find this absolutely offensive.
Many Torontonians came to this city from countries where public officials and other innocent people have been hanged or otherwise murdered and where such atrocities continue to this day. They came to Toronto to be free from such terror and callous disregard for human life. Perhaps James should have asked them – and others, like my Uncle Jim, who fought for the right to debate and discuss public policy – their thoughts on his loathsome advocacy for public lynching.
The Toronto Star owes every Torontonian, every elected official and the families of those elected officials an immediate apology and retraction. Even that is not enough. But, sadly it is all you can do.
Mayor David Miller, Toronto
Royson today reports that the Star editors and management are supporting him.
This could be the beginning of the end of any editorial support of Miller in the City.
A figurative hanging inNathan Phillips Square.
Posted by Lemon
This Is A Government Who You Elected And.......
.....promises to end poverty, keep the lights on, reduce gun crime, make sure senior's diapers are changed at least daily, who won't give Comrade Miller a handout, etc. etc. and while they seem to have a problem delivering on these promises they are able to spend time dealing with this serious threat to society.
Licence to stifle plate expression
November 29, 2007
Jim CoyleIf there's any cosmic justice, the devil himself will be firing up a special ring in hell for the Ministry of Transportation.
Only a body called the Personalized Licence Plate Review Committee, after all, could have so lost touch with goodness and decency as to object to a United Church minister from Whitby – Rev. Joanne Sorrill by name – having the vanity plates REV JO on her car.
That the objection has been made almost 20 years after Sorrill got the plates as a 50th birthday present, shortly after her ordination, takes matters from the merely absurd to the utterly bizarre.
As the Star's Carola Vyhnak so delightfully reported yesterday, satire is rarely a match for reality.
Evidently, the ministry refused Sorrill's recent request for fresh REV JO plates to replace her rusted ones on the grounds that (a) the term REV might be taken as an incitement to dangerous driving or (b) could incite road rage among those construing it as government bias toward Christianity.
For starters, let's consider the inequality of the decision.
Why should Sorrill be barred from showcasing her occupation any more than, say, the folks who have "I OBJCT" or "ICUB4DK" or "IBLD4U" on their plates?
Most of us probably have more reason to harbour grudges against lawyers or dentists or contractors who've billed us to within an inch of insolvency than we would person of the cloth.
And not to get political, but a car bearing the plates "MAYOR MEL" was spotted rolling up Yonge St. not long ago. Does the ministry think that any less likely to get some citizens cross-eyed with fury?
As a matter of principle, shifting the onus of temper control from potential ragers and religious bigots to anyone who might inadvertently tick them off is unjust on the face of it.
But if such fears are warranted, why has the province allowed so much else on licence plates that could provoke conflict?
Thousands are adorned with the logos of sports teams. And if you think things could get ugly if some religious nut got their holy book in a knot, what about this?
What if (and it does happen once a season or so) the Leafs beat the Senators and, say, a Sens fan had lost a bundle on the game and, on his way to work next day, had an old Pinto with Leaf plates cut him off, so he ran the offender off the road, then reached through the windshield and bashed the driver on the head with the Darcy Tucker bobble-head doll sitting on the dash?
And what about those university logos on plates. What if you'd applied to Queen's and been turned down and saw some cocky commerce sort speeding past in his mum's Lexus with logoed plates?
Or what if U of T (far-fetched though it be) had just beat Wilfrid Laurier in a football game and some Blues fan got lost driving in a dangerous section of Waterloo?
It's a motoring minefield. "4U BUBI" might outrage anti-Semites. "DE RIEN" could offend francophobes. And the potential for class war is also rife.
The other day an acquaintance found himself behind a Rolls-Royce (which by itself had the blood pressure rising) with the vanity plate "8DAYWEEK."
What was the Rolls dude saying? That he worked more than the rest of us? That he had more leisure time? Who wouldn't have had the middle digit twitching at the sight of it?
But enough of that.
Just honk if you think REV JO —– hide not your calling under a bushel, girl! – should keep her plates.
Freedom Of Speech - Comrade Miller Style
Mayoral words to gripe by
November 26, 2007
Royson JamesI had planned to append an apology to the end of this column, which was supposed to be about city councillors forcing one of their own, Councillor Rob Ford, to spend more of taxpayers' money.
It would have read, "Sorry for the rhetorical excess at the end of my column last Friday. Obviously, the suggestion to hang our councillors in Nathan Phillips Square was an attempt at satire, a statement made in jest. While the majority of readers took it that way, my apologies to those who felt hurt by it."
But then Mayor David Miller inserted his hectoring presence into the debate – and before you know it, a rhetorical hanging became a "public lynching," the memory of his "Uncle Jim" is exhumed and he has concluded that the very foundation of democracy is being threatened by one columnist raging against city hall spending.
As they say in basketball, no harm no foul. At issue is not whether Toronto councillors deserve to be hanged (I'm against capital punishment, banned in Canada), subjected to public flogging (opposed wherever it's practised), or run out of office (we've just elected them, they're in until 2010). At issue is how do we register our disgust – sorry, our displeasure – at their fiscal indiscretions.
A number of readers have emailed concern about the mayor's "over the top" rhetoric. Some, mine. Others fear I'll be beaten (metaphorically?) into submission, afraid to utter a single contrarian view in future. My bosses, far from moving to censure me, are more concerned that I might be "chilled" into overlooking wasteful habits as council embarks on this crucial 2008 budget cycle.
No worries. Let's just use the mayor's letter to the editor Saturday as the template for all further analysis and critique of city hall. Surely, an ink-stained wretch is allowed to borrow the mayor's own carefully crafted words.
A cursory glance at the mayor's letter, dripping with bile and bluster, reveals no cause for concern that one's criticism must now be facile, gracious or temperate. The mayor provides a list of choice adjectives and phrases that might now be at a columnist's disposal.
Appropriating the title of ombudsman, editor and publisher – in addition to chief magistrate and monarch – in an attempt to control all propaganda, er, communications in Hogtown, the official list of approved words and phrases include: "Beneath contempt," "Shows absolutely no respect for democracy," "stoop so low," "outrageous thoughts," "beyond belief," "hateful ruminations," "absolutely offensive," "loathsome advocacy."
With the mayor's imprimatur, one can safely use such words without incurring his "hateful ruminations."
Today, his hand-picked executive committee is to consider a report from the integrity commissioner slapping Ford on the wrist for not listing how much of his own money the councillor spends in lieu of using city funds. Ford should comply and file with the clerk every penny of his own money he spends on city business. The reasons are too lengthy to list here. Then, he should ask his colleagues to have the auditor and integrity commissioner investigate what exactly council members spend their $53,100 office budget on.
Go to robford.ca and ask yourself: Is the spending on liquor, wine, food, sports teams, etc. appropriate for a city that is hurting for cash?
Or would you describe what you see, using only the mayor's words, as: a) "Beneath contempt," b) "Shows absolutely no respect for democracy," c) "Outrageous", d) "Beyond belief," e) "Absolutely offensive," f) "Loathsome advocacy."
Knock yourself out. We're allowed to use these words. Publisher Miller says so.
Same Premier Who Supports Helping Autistic Kids?
Isn't this the same government that was supposed to improve the conditions in nursing homes and are being sued by one of the unions...........
Poor to get dental plan
Fighting poverty will be a cornerstone of today's throne speech and Premier Dalton McGuinty has conscripted his most powerful ministers to ensure the poor are championed at Queen's Park.
How much dental care does one need if they brush regularly and subsist on mac & cheese?
Unions turn screws on Liberals
Jobs leave, poverty arrives
November 29, 2007
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Premier targets city poverty
Nov. 27
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Up here in the riding of York South-Weston, the poorest riding in Toronto, the root cause of poverty is very clear. Over the past 30 years, successive provincial governments have allowed the industrial base of the area to flee and sell their land holdings to be redeveloped as retail or dense housing.
CCM, Moffat Stoves, Dominion Bridge, Admiral, Massey Harris, Fruehauf, MacMillan Bloedel and others have all left the neighbourhood. Thus, minimum wage, part-time, temporary work has replaced full-time, good-paying, permanent industrial jobs. Those who do find employment aren't much better off than being on welfare.
The next big conversion is planned for the 20-hectare former Kodak Canada site. Kodak Canada was a fixture here for more than 100 years and had more than 4,000 good jobs in its heyday. The developers who bought the land from Kodak advised the city that they want to put in a 600,000-square-foot "power centre" retail complex on these lands. It will cause a huge influx of car traffic on already strained arteries and do nothing to raise the standard of living of the poor residents nearby.
The province and the city have the tools to prevent this conversion and to tell the developer to keep the land industrial. A local community network has suggested that the lands be set aside as a "centre of excellence" for "green" industrial research and manufacturing.
Let's hope Premier Dalton McGuinty and Mayor David Miller can see that some of the solutions don't require any further study. They are obvious to the folks living in poverty.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mike Sullivan, Chair, Weston
Community Coalition, Toronto
Poor know why they're poor
November 29, 2007
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Premier targets city poverty
Nov. 27
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deb Matthews, chair of the provincial government's cabinet committee on poverty reduction, was quoted about the United Way report on poverty in Toronto as saying, "The question the United Way report asks but doesn't really answer is why. ... What is it that's driving that and, more importantly, what do we need to do to help people move beyond poverty? It's complicated. It's very complicated."
I disagree. There are many obvious reasons why there is poverty in Toronto.
Half the population are tenants who lost the protection of rent control in 1998; the repeal of anti-demolition/conversion laws led to a loss of affordable private rentals; provincial affordable housing programs were abolished in 1995; welfare rates were cut by 22 per cent in 1995; the minimum wage is low; there's marginal employment with no job security and no benefits; there's a lack of enforcement by the province against employers who don't pay the miserable minimum wage; and only 22 per cent of people are eligible for employment insurance benefits, the lowest rate in the country.
It's not complicated at all – not to me anyway.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Barbara Hurd, Toronto
Poor to get dental plan
Fighting poverty will be a cornerstone of today's throne speech and Premier Dalton McGuinty has conscripted his most powerful ministers to ensure the poor are championed at Queen's Park.
How much dental care does one need if they brush regularly and subsist on mac & cheese?
Unions turn screws on Liberals
Jobs leave, poverty arrives
November 29, 2007
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Premier targets city poverty
Nov. 27
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Up here in the riding of York South-Weston, the poorest riding in Toronto, the root cause of poverty is very clear. Over the past 30 years, successive provincial governments have allowed the industrial base of the area to flee and sell their land holdings to be redeveloped as retail or dense housing.
CCM, Moffat Stoves, Dominion Bridge, Admiral, Massey Harris, Fruehauf, MacMillan Bloedel and others have all left the neighbourhood. Thus, minimum wage, part-time, temporary work has replaced full-time, good-paying, permanent industrial jobs. Those who do find employment aren't much better off than being on welfare.
The next big conversion is planned for the 20-hectare former Kodak Canada site. Kodak Canada was a fixture here for more than 100 years and had more than 4,000 good jobs in its heyday. The developers who bought the land from Kodak advised the city that they want to put in a 600,000-square-foot "power centre" retail complex on these lands. It will cause a huge influx of car traffic on already strained arteries and do nothing to raise the standard of living of the poor residents nearby.
The province and the city have the tools to prevent this conversion and to tell the developer to keep the land industrial. A local community network has suggested that the lands be set aside as a "centre of excellence" for "green" industrial research and manufacturing.
Let's hope Premier Dalton McGuinty and Mayor David Miller can see that some of the solutions don't require any further study. They are obvious to the folks living in poverty.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mike Sullivan, Chair, Weston
Community Coalition, Toronto
Poor know why they're poor
November 29, 2007
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Premier targets city poverty
Nov. 27
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deb Matthews, chair of the provincial government's cabinet committee on poverty reduction, was quoted about the United Way report on poverty in Toronto as saying, "The question the United Way report asks but doesn't really answer is why. ... What is it that's driving that and, more importantly, what do we need to do to help people move beyond poverty? It's complicated. It's very complicated."
I disagree. There are many obvious reasons why there is poverty in Toronto.
Half the population are tenants who lost the protection of rent control in 1998; the repeal of anti-demolition/conversion laws led to a loss of affordable private rentals; provincial affordable housing programs were abolished in 1995; welfare rates were cut by 22 per cent in 1995; the minimum wage is low; there's marginal employment with no job security and no benefits; there's a lack of enforcement by the province against employers who don't pay the miserable minimum wage; and only 22 per cent of people are eligible for employment insurance benefits, the lowest rate in the country.
It's not complicated at all – not to me anyway.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Barbara Hurd, Toronto
Bring Our Troops Home Will Solve Problem
If our troops were not in the middle east then the intensity of the MSM would lessen and we wouldn't be aware of the cultural diversity in these areas. What I find strange is that many of those that oppose us being in the middle east are right now trying to get an apology for "comfort" women.
Shaira Shame
Wed, November 28, 2007
What is there to say about a woman in Saudi Arabia sentenced to 200 lashes and six months in prison after being abducted and gang-raped by seven men?
Full Column
House passes motion recognizing 'comfort' women
Ms. Taliban Jack leads the fight.........
Shaira Shame
Wed, November 28, 2007
What is there to say about a woman in Saudi Arabia sentenced to 200 lashes and six months in prison after being abducted and gang-raped by seven men?
Full Column
House passes motion recognizing 'comfort' women
Ms. Taliban Jack leads the fight.........
Ho Hum!
Homicide count hits 79 after east-end shooting
With the strength of our dollar this isn't surprising....it costs less now to buy a gun in the States.
School board to review black-only school survey
Teach them to read and write, do some basic math, learn some basic science, etc. and then then can go to libraries and cultural centers where they can learn and practice their culture.
Pre-school training for future Driftwood residents
Last night, Mikey took me out to see Hitman. A cheesy, blood-soaked, ass-kicking shoot 'em up, filled with senseless violence and a few scenes of naked girl-skin.
It was awesome.
As we settled into our seats, I noticed Hip Hop Momma arrive, dressed to the nines in the latest gansta-style and quite shockingly with babies 8? and 4? years of age, in tow.
It must have been family movie night.
I guess I should be glad she didn't just opt to leave them home alone, instead.
The Restricted rating sure doesn't mean what it used to.
Posted by Wonder Woman
Plower" To The People: Your Reaction To Toronto's New Snow Clearing Plan
Another Comrade Miller "The Sky Is Falling" tactic to divert peoples attention from the daily level of incompotence at city hall.
Plower" To The People: Your Reaction To Toronto's New Snow Clearing Plan
The rights of the "artiste" and the gentry more important than a street vendor's attempt to put bread on their table.
With the strength of our dollar this isn't surprising....it costs less now to buy a gun in the States.
School board to review black-only school survey
Teach them to read and write, do some basic math, learn some basic science, etc. and then then can go to libraries and cultural centers where they can learn and practice their culture.
Pre-school training for future Driftwood residents
Last night, Mikey took me out to see Hitman. A cheesy, blood-soaked, ass-kicking shoot 'em up, filled with senseless violence and a few scenes of naked girl-skin.
It was awesome.
As we settled into our seats, I noticed Hip Hop Momma arrive, dressed to the nines in the latest gansta-style and quite shockingly with babies 8? and 4? years of age, in tow.
It must have been family movie night.
I guess I should be glad she didn't just opt to leave them home alone, instead.
The Restricted rating sure doesn't mean what it used to.
Posted by Wonder Woman
Plower" To The People: Your Reaction To Toronto's New Snow Clearing Plan
Another Comrade Miller "The Sky Is Falling" tactic to divert peoples attention from the daily level of incompotence at city hall.
Plower" To The People: Your Reaction To Toronto's New Snow Clearing Plan
The rights of the "artiste" and the gentry more important than a street vendor's attempt to put bread on their table.
Possibly An Urban Legend Tale But It Is Right On The Money
Bringing reality to the peaceniks and those who support sanctuary for deserters, etc.
There were protesters on the train platform handing out pamphlets on the evils ofAmerica
An elderly woman was behind me getting off the escalator and a young female protester offered her a pamphlet, which she politely declined. The young protester put her hand on the old woman's shoulder as a gesture of friendship and in a very soft voice said, "Lady, don't you care about the children ofIraq France during World War II, I lost my husband in Korea , and a son in Vietnam
random notes on the empire
There were protesters on the train platform handing out pamphlets on the evils of
An elderly woman was behind me getting off the escalator and a young female protester offered her a pamphlet, which she politely declined. The young protester put her hand on the old woman's shoulder as a gesture of friendship and in a very soft voice said, "Lady, don't you care about the children of
random notes on the empire
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
A Charles Dicken's Xmas Tale........
Harper and Flanagan have a $30 billion surplus in Ottawa. People across the country are living in poverty. The answer would seem to be to take that surplus and give it to the people. It would average out to about $970.40 per person which would certainly brighten up Xmas for a lot of people but would their Boxing Day be any different than today. I don't think so.........
November 28, 2007
Nov. 26
`Poor' residents on `rich' street?
Toronto Community Housing Corp. CEO Derek Ballantyne's comment – that by selling off its real estate assets and reinvesting that money in housing stock, the housing authority is letting the province and Ottawa off the hook for their responsibilities – reveals TCHC's true pervasive modus operandi: Do not do anything to actually improve our own wretched financial state that would allow our senior governments to even think about not giving us more money.
It would appear that Ballantyne cares little that by properly managing its balance sheet, TCHC may get one or two more families off the huge list of folks waiting for affordable housing.
I also suspect that Ottawa and Queen's Park are on to this overused ploy and are looking for signs of life in TCHC's ability to help itself out of this quagmire.
I suggest that Ballantyne stop using low-income families as political pawns to leverage the federal and provincial governments, and get on with truly managing TCHC's vast $6 billion worth of assets.
Howard Bortenstein, Toronto
Councillor Case Ootes's plan reads something like this: Let's remove three families from their homes, and relocate them to a highrise building in a troubled and isolated neighbourhood so we can keep social-housing residents together.
His logic reads like this: Poor people do not deserve to live in $500,000 homes in nice neighbourhoods, where they are taking up wasted space that could be better utilized to make substantial profits from wealthy homebuyers.
This sort of mindset reinforces the notion that the poor are undeserving and a burden on taxpayers. The class and income discrimination clearly evident in Ootes's proposal has no place in this city at a time when we should be developing innovative strategies that have in mind, first and foremost, the needs and best interests of the poor and low-income families.
Deanna Campbell, Toronto
Does Councillor Case Ootes not understand that the residents of these homes can vote? Are they not constituents in his area? Does he think their votes are less significant than those of their neighbours?
Do the children who live in these homes rate somewhere below children who live in neighbouring homes and deserve to be stigmatized?
Michael Sullivan, Toronto
Canada's poverty capital
Nov. 26
It is not only families and single parents who live at or below the poverty line. Many pensioners are in that same predicament. My and my wife's pensions (CPP and OAS) amount to about half of the $40,000-plus that our premier got as a raise. We wouldn't be able to survive on that if it weren't for our modest retirement savings.
I hope our politicians will think of solutions to this growing problem. It would be too much to hope that they will also hang their heads in shame for their own selfishness and greed.
Augusto Ribeiro, Toronto
Elderly women and men living on fixed incomes are among the poorest people in Toronto. They just don't happen to show up hungry at school, nor are they able to walk far enough to shop at Goodwill. They're likely not cashing cheques at those payday loan joints either.
They're more likely to be stuck unnoticed in rental apartments, often unable to get out and buy food. They are socially isolated and often have no voice to speak for them.
I didn't notice anything about them among all of the alarming news on poverty.
Janet L. Seabrook, Mississauga
Thank Gawd For Our Dysfunctional City Council
What would we have to bitch about if it wasn't for their foolish antics and their self serving comments.......'Evil people on the take'
It's not that bad, but council's nasty debate over private donations didn't look good
By SUE-ANN LEVY
Coun. Giorgio Mammoliti was feeling most sorry for himself yesterday during one of those petty, petulant interchanges we've come to witness far too often from the mayor's "mature and responsible" regime.
"The last three or four years in my 18 years as a councillor have probably been the worst as far as the shots I've taken," said council's notorious big spender who used up $50,499 of his $53,100 office budget to Sept. 30.
He claimed because of the noble work (my words, not his) he'd done to expose those on council who spend their own money (Rob Ford) or who've spent too little to do their job (Doug Holyday), he's taken "blows like you wouldn't believe" from the media and the two councillors involved.
"I've got thick skin ... and I'll continue taking blows after 18 years from the Sue-Ann Levys and everyone else," he said, proving yet again how much those who dare criticize his silly actions have gotten under his thin, transparent skin.
But the real irritant for the northwest Toronto ward boss was any suggestion by some of his council colleagues that it might be a potential conflict of interest for councillors to accept cash donations from private businesses or developers to help subsidize their community events.
Following a council request in September, Integrity Commissioner David Mullan yesterday agreed to lift the ban in the council Code of Conduct on accepting such donations. Mammoliti's remarks came during a debate on what "interim" amount of money councillors should be allowed to accept from private donors per community event until Mullan is able to provide clear rules sometime next March.
They settled on $5,000 per event, scaled down from the original outrageous amount of $20,000 per event!
Mammoliti, who made no bones about taking donations from businesses for everything from bocce tourneys to Christmas parties and New Year's levees in his ward, contended that even after Mullan has addressed this issue, he'll still be under fire.
"I'm sure Sue-Ann Levy will have a couple more shots for Mammoliti over the next little while ... God bless her if she continues on that track," he said.
I'll keep religion out of this, thank you very much. Nevertheless, council has no business even considering such a practice.
I have no trouble with councillors taking donations in kind of food like hamburgers and drinks or even party favours for barbecues, picnics and other community gatherings.
Mullan told me the practice is already rampant and councillors are not reporting those donations to him at the moment.
A CAN OF WORMS
But accepting cash donations from private businesses opens up a whole can of worms, not the least of which is the "danger" of putting a councillor in a compromising position with those seeking to do business or wanting to gain some advantage with the city.
Isn't it enough that a councillor has a $53,100 expense account to use -- an office budget Mammoliti spends quite voraciously.
Actually I found it a delicious irony that the socialists on the executive committee -- who consider partnerships with the private sector bordering on evil -- are so willing to take "donations" from the same private interests when it suits their purposes.
As Mullan pointed out in his report, there are also questions of whether such donations will qualify for a charitable receipt, whether the monies will go into a separate account, how surpluses are dealt with and whether more staff will be required to deal with a new regulatory protocol.
As is his typical pattern, Mayor David Miller -- transparent and accountable City Hall's feckless leader -- was missing in action during the explosive debate.
The practical considerations? Well they were lost in the petty grandstanding and plethora of insults.
RESENTS IMPLICATION
Coun. Howard Moscoe -- proving yet again he's outlived his useful shelf life and grows more out of touch by the day -- said he "really takes exception" to the implication all members of council are "evil people on the take.
"Some members of council can find cockroaches under every rock," he said.
Kevin Gaudet, Ontario director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said there should be no debate and at other levels of government zero donations are allowed, period.
"They act like a bunch of high school students with their hands on very large budgets," he said of the debate. "It is definitely not a mature, responsible government."
How Much More Will McGinty Give In To Terrorists?
He already caved into extortion demands and gave them a couple of million dollars and I don't see anything changing............Comrade Miller is missing a golden opportunity for getting extra funding from the province by not working one of his back room deals with the indians to occupy city hall.
First stop: Caledonia
New aboriginal affairs minister vows to end 2-year-old crisis
New Aboriginal Affairs Minister Michael Bryant made a beeline to Caledonia where he has agreed to consider an economic revitalization plan for the community, which is struggling through a protracted and difficult native land claim.
First stop: Caledonia
New aboriginal affairs minister vows to end 2-year-old crisis
New Aboriginal Affairs Minister Michael Bryant made a beeline to Caledonia where he has agreed to consider an economic revitalization plan for the community, which is struggling through a protracted and difficult native land claim.
Another Day In Toronto
Bodies pile up in bloody weekend
Murder rate nears Year of the Gun
It was the bloodiest weekend of the year.
Bullets fly in road rage
Driver shoots out rear windows of cab in unprovoked attack in residential area
Road rage reached a new level when a city cab driver was shot at twice by another driver yesterday.
Food cart plan cooked
City won't spend $700Gs on vendors
A controversial city plan to dish out $700,000 to buy food carts to broaden the menu of street food was deep-sixed yesterday by Toronto's executive committee.
Bottled water tax deep-sixed
A bottled water tax was torpedoed yesterday.
Disclose your donors, Ford told
Councillor Rob Ford yesterday offered to show receipts for his office expenses but insisted he doesn't want to be reimbursed by taxpayers.
Murder rate nears Year of the Gun
It was the bloodiest weekend of the year.
Bullets fly in road rage
Driver shoots out rear windows of cab in unprovoked attack in residential area
Road rage reached a new level when a city cab driver was shot at twice by another driver yesterday.
Food cart plan cooked
City won't spend $700Gs on vendors
A controversial city plan to dish out $700,000 to buy food carts to broaden the menu of street food was deep-sixed yesterday by Toronto's executive committee.
Bottled water tax deep-sixed
A bottled water tax was torpedoed yesterday.
Disclose your donors, Ford told
Councillor Rob Ford yesterday offered to show receipts for his office expenses but insisted he doesn't want to be reimbursed by taxpayers.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Personally Not A Record I Wanted Broken
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Yahoo!! - Toronto Breaks Record
Police are hunting for two suspects after a man was shot to death Sunday night at a townhouse complex in the northwest part of Toronto.
We beat the Year of the Gun. We beat the Year of the Gun!
Remember 2005, when we reached this landmark record when a 15 year old innocent was murdered by gangbangers on Boxing Day outside of the Eaton Centre?
We did it. We beat it!
Even though David Miller implemented all kinds of rec pregrams and hired 250 new cops (against his better judgement) and got homes for all the poor people and all. Remember him and McGuinty and Martin all gathering at the scene of the crime promising this would never happen again and making all those empty promises?
And we still got 36 days to establish a record that will never ever be broken.
This is terrific. And proof of what an incompetent Mayor Toronto has and how bereft of common sense and compassion those Liberals and NDPers who oppose tough laws against violent criminals are.
Posted by Lemon at 9:16 PM
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Reid: Opposition is emerging to the Government's Crime Bill
Some members of the opposition parties are backtracking on their support of the Government's crime bill because they say it violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and will fail a Charter challenge. It warms the cockles of my heart to know that there are members of the opposition parties that want to protect the rights of habitual violent offenders over the rights of society.
If this turns into a serious opposition, I think that the Government should put the Notwithstanding clause (I am so thankfull that Martin didn't win the last election and axe this provision) into the bill and make it a confidence vote. It would be difficult for both the Liberals and NDP to campaign on the issue of favouring the rights of criminals over the rights of society in an election. This is exactly the type of circumstance that clause 33 was designed for.
I believe that the majority of Canadians are in favour of this crime bill and it would be political suicide to try to campaign against it.
Posted by Reid at 11:26 AM
Instilling The Olympic Spirit In Our Athletes
It would seem that some of our athletes have the same mindset as the professionals so maybe paying them is not a bad idea.....
How Many People Enter Our Country Each Day...
.....and do so without incident. There is no question that the experience might not be pleasant but it is no better or worse than you would experience at your local supermarket or big box store. It would be a real experience if border guards could be goodwill ambassadors as well as our protectors. The fact that some of they might fail in both areas is something we have to live with.......
Muddying Canada's reputation
Our political leaders are leading us in a direction we don't want to go
By ANGELO PERSICHILLI
Canada is not "the best country in the world" as our politicians like to repeat like parrots in their weekend banquet hall cliche speeches. However, there is no doubt we are among the best.
Unfortunately, it's the politicians who are destroying the image of this country in the eyes of Canadians, and worse, worldwide.
Few Canadians would be surprised to see images of a Polish immigrant being killed at an airport in a third-world country run by a dictator, but not at the allegedly civilized Vancouver airport.
Another immigrant from Italy died in the hands of Quebec police on Sept. 23 and still, despite pressure from the family and the Italian embassy, we don't know how or why he died.
Former KGB agents had a better public relations department.
MORE
Muddying Canada's reputation
Our political leaders are leading us in a direction we don't want to go
By ANGELO PERSICHILLI
Canada is not "the best country in the world" as our politicians like to repeat like parrots in their weekend banquet hall cliche speeches. However, there is no doubt we are among the best.
Unfortunately, it's the politicians who are destroying the image of this country in the eyes of Canadians, and worse, worldwide.
Few Canadians would be surprised to see images of a Polish immigrant being killed at an airport in a third-world country run by a dictator, but not at the allegedly civilized Vancouver airport.
Another immigrant from Italy died in the hands of Quebec police on Sept. 23 and still, despite pressure from the family and the Italian embassy, we don't know how or why he died.
Former KGB agents had a better public relations department.
MORE
Revisiting The Ineptness Of Toronto City Council....
......and their glorious leader Comrade Miller.
Councillors need lesson on economy
November 23, 2007
Royson JamesToronto city councillors do seem tragically hooked on spending needlessly and foolishly – despite constantly crying poor.
The mismanagement of the Union Station file being a recent example.
The private sector wanted to fix up the place, pay the city an annual fee and make some money off the venture. That deal fell apart. GO Transit wants to buy it, but the city isn't willing to deal. So now a city-inspired fix-up plan has hit $388 million and counting – and hopelessly dependent on cash from the federal government.
Another example. Budget committee voted Wednesday to borrow $700,000 to purchase food carts so the city can then rent them out to food vendors. Why not let the vendors get their own carts? Because the city wants to control the trade, keep entrepreneurs (conglomerates, John Filion says) from cornering the market.
Why the city has created this business to compete against restaurants is another question. But let's say it's good to be selling a variety of food from the sidewalks. Why must city hall get involved in the purchase, maintenance and distribution of the carts?
But the worst example of mis-spending is the downspout program, which council has managed to turn into a costly blunder.
Toronto wants people to disconnect the downspouts from their eavestroughs so rain is diverted to the lawn instead of into the sewer system. Relatively clean water is being funnelled into sanitary sewers along with the dirty stuff from your bathroom, and the water treatment plants have to clean up a lot more than is necessary. So the idea to disconnect the downspouts is good.
But then the city lost its way.
As an incentive to voluntarily do the right thing, the city offered to pay for the disconnect, and has done so since 1998, at a cost of $2.6 million a year. One homeowner wrote a letter to the editor last September complaining about backlogs, stretching to a year's delay.
The cost per house, at a rate of about $1,300 each, in itself is an outrageous expenditure. Any klutz can do this job at the majority of homes for $100 or less. More complex situations should cost about $400, maybe even $1,000 in extraordinary circumstances. In some cases, there is no solution so you just let them be.
Clearly, a better solution would have been to offer homeowners a rebate, a cheque, cash, $500 each in loonies, whatever – anything short of the $1,300 it costs for inspections, administration and the work done by contractors who must follow costly and uncompetitive city guidelines and policies.
There are 120,000 such homes in the older sections of the city facing a ban on the downspouts. Simple math would have told councillors that if everyone complied the cost would be prohibitive, at $156 million. But councillors then made a bad situation worse.
Staff recommended the city put a deadline of 2010 for homeowners to comply. (Good so far). And a deadline to take advantage of the city's free offer. (Also good). And end the free offer "immediately," meaning Oct. 31. (Great idea. After all, residents had 10 years to take advantage of the free offer.)
Enter councillors. They extended the deadline to Nov. 20. Several sent out mass emails encouraging residents to sign up. Some 55,000 did, almost overnight. The estimated cost has skyrocketed to $65 million. And staff's wondering where to find the money.
Councillors should be hanged, one a day, at noon, in Nathan Phillips Square. Charge admission. We'll net enough money to pay off most of our civic bills.
Royson James usually appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Which Is The Greater National Embarassment
#1
A national embarrassment
November 26, 2007
Canada isolated on climate
#2
Fighting for a lost cause
35 min. ago
Human rights complaint filed
Personally my vote and $$$ would go to resolving #2.
A national embarrassment
November 26, 2007
Canada isolated on climate
#2
Fighting for a lost cause
35 min. ago
Human rights complaint filed
Personally my vote and $$$ would go to resolving #2.
Of Course All Of This Happened In The Last Two Years....
.....during Stephen Harper's watch! How much have the feds allocated to infra-structure improvements over the last ten years? How much have the provinces allocated to infra-structure improvements over the last ten years? How much have the municipalities allocated to infra-structure improvements over the last ten years? And where they the high priority items........
Flaherty shrugs as urban fabric frays
Nov. 25, 2007
A shocking report showing that municipal roads, bridges, water systems and...
Flaherty shrugs as urban fabric frays
Nov. 25, 2007
A shocking report showing that municipal roads, bridges, water systems and...
Don Quiote Miller Is Not.........
If this is such a good plan why is the private sector not investing their own money? Simple question! If we have $240 million to play with why aren't we putting it into infra-structure, affordable housing, transit, etc.
City's tilting at windmills
Lots of green for a green plan, while city crumbles
By SUE-ANN LEVY
Tomorrow councillors will be asked to approve an absurd plan that will see this deficit-plagued city handing out millions of dollars in interest-free loans to entice not-for-profit groups to jump on the green bandwagon.
The loans will come from two sustainable energy funds that, all told, have $62 million up for grabs over the next five years -- starting with $9 million in 2008.
Given that the two funds are a key facet of Mayor David Miller's highly hyped Climate Change Plan (and the executive committee that will decide is stacked with the mayor's socialist seals) I have no doubt the plan will be rubber-stamped with barely a whimper of protest.
Not that it should be, mind you. Look, in a perfect world, such a plan probably makes sense -- even if our Robert Kennedy Jr.-wannabe of a mayor tends to go overboard with claims he has a green mandate from Toronto voters.
But I can't understand how the magnanimous Millerites can even consider giving out green loans when the city slips each day further into the red -- and has no money to tackle basic needs or its crumbling infrastructure.
The money for the two funds will come from a $245-million Toronto Hydro note due to the city on Dec. 31.
More
What Are Dion/Doucette/Layton Doing
They seem to have time to plead for some thrill murderer in the USA but are silent about increasing street violence. One thing that they always seem to support is the theory that society is at fault not the perp.Police Probe Fatal Shooting On Driftwood Ave.
Sunday November 25, 2007
CityNews.ca Staff
In the final hours of a weekend that already saw three homicides in the Greater Toronto Area, more gunfire rang out, this time claiming the life of an unidentified victim on Driftwood Ave. near Jane and Finch.
Police say the male, believed to be in his teens, was shot in the head inside a townhouse complex and found on the sidewalk in front of 402 Driftwood suffering from at least one gunshot wound when they arrived around 8pm in response to reports of shots fired.
The victim had no vital signs when emergency crews arrived and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Four suspects were spotted fleeing the area, but no arrests have been made.
If saw or know anything that can help in the investigation contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
Murder Victim Shot And Killed A Man Hours Before His Own Death
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Death Penalty
Favour
Oppose
South Korea
72%
28%
Mexico
71%
26%
United States
69%
29%
Britain
50%
45%
France
45%
52%
Canada
44%
52%
Germany
35%
62%
Italy
31%
64%
Spain
28%
69%
Source: Ipsos-Public Affairs / Associated Press
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 9,146 adults in Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain, South Korea and the United States, conducted from Feb. 9 to Apr. 5, 2007. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.
Oppose
South Korea
72%
28%
Mexico
71%
26%
United States
69%
29%
Britain
50%
45%
France
45%
52%
Canada
44%
52%
Germany
35%
62%
Italy
31%
64%
Spain
28%
69%
Source: Ipsos-Public Affairs / Associated Press
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 9,146 adults in Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain, South Korea and the United States, conducted from Feb. 9 to Apr. 5, 2007. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.
Thank Gawd For People Like Girl On The Right, et al
Saturday, November 24, 2007
When we are silenced, will the men speak up?
So they finally admitted it. The Canadian Human Rights Commission finally admitted what they are really about: Censorship.
From the horse's mouth. So can we now, in good conscience, allow it to continue? We've basically been told that - like under communist regimes - our speech and opinions are being silenced to the whims of political correctness.
Kathy wrote about this issue yesterday:
It's true. The likes of the Blogging Tories and their ilk are more interested in preparing graphs and poll numbers, visions of party wonk jobs dancing in their uninspired heads, to bother to stand up and shout for the very things the party is supposed to represent.
Kathy, Kate and I can be out there shouting like Canadian Coulters, drawing attention to issues that affect us all and getting people talking, and all the while the men write us off as "too controversial" and kick us out of their clubhouses. When one of us gets a death threat, we only have each other to depend on - Stephen Taylor et al are too busy agreeing with those who seek to silence us, so that maybe they'll be seen as progressive enough score a policy job.
To be clear, we don't expect every conservative in Canada to agree with us - heck, we don't even agree with each other half the time - but when we're out there stirring up the bigger issues that affect not only this country but civilization as we know it, we would very much appreciate it if you would quit slagging dead-horse Stephane Dion long enough to defend our right to say the things we're saying, instead of just knee-jerking us in the balls you are oh so jealous we possess.
And, he says, when he had a conversation with a Commission employee, mediator Bob Fagan, about the specifics of the allegation, he was astonished at what he heard.
"I told him that it seemed to be an abuse of the Human Rights Act for someone to try and use it as an instrument of censorship. And when I said that, on the phone, there was a pause and then he said, in a somewhat astonished tone: 'But the Human Rights Act is about censorship'. Then it was my turn to be silent on my end, because I found that breath-taking. For the Human Rights Commission's own mediator to acknowledge that censorship was the purpose of their Act."
From the horse's mouth. So can we now, in good conscience, allow it to continue? We've basically been told that - like under communist regimes - our speech and opinions are being silenced to the whims of political correctness.
Kathy wrote about this issue yesterday:
I hope Emmanuel isn't counting on getting support from the cowardly, careerist "conservative" male bloggers in this nation, who time and again have revealed themselves to be more interested in watching Family Guy than fighting for what's right.
It's true. The likes of the Blogging Tories and their ilk are more interested in preparing graphs and poll numbers, visions of party wonk jobs dancing in their uninspired heads, to bother to stand up and shout for the very things the party is supposed to represent.
Kathy, Kate and I can be out there shouting like Canadian Coulters, drawing attention to issues that affect us all and getting people talking, and all the while the men write us off as "too controversial" and kick us out of their clubhouses. When one of us gets a death threat, we only have each other to depend on - Stephen Taylor et al are too busy agreeing with those who seek to silence us, so that maybe they'll be seen as progressive enough score a policy job.
To be clear, we don't expect every conservative in Canada to agree with us - heck, we don't even agree with each other half the time - but when we're out there stirring up the bigger issues that affect not only this country but civilization as we know it, we would very much appreciate it if you would quit slagging dead-horse Stephane Dion long enough to defend our right to say the things we're saying, instead of just knee-jerking us in the balls you are oh so jealous we possess.
Labels: Communism, Freedom of Speech, Human Rights, Human Weakness
Choose!
How can we resist?
We can't call ourselves peacekeepers if we reject the ultimate soldiers of peace. >by Michael Hollett >NOW Magazine
Beheaded for wearing “western-style trousers”
November 23, 2007 06:37 PM by Michelle Malkin
We can't call ourselves peacekeepers if we reject the ultimate soldiers of peace. >by Michael Hollett >NOW Magazine
Beheaded for wearing “western-style trousers”
November 23, 2007 06:37 PM by Michelle Malkin
Just Like Statuatory Holidays
We hear of complaints, which are usually well justified, of abuse of seniors in nursing homes at least once a year and the liberals in Queens Park will issue a statement on their action plan.....how many years has Dullton been in power at Queens Park?
Human rights complaint filed over seniors left in old diapers
The Ontario Federation of Labour is filing a formal complaint with the province's Human Rights Commission on behalf of nursing home residents forced to sit or lie for hours at a time in urine-soaked diapers. MORE...
Human rights complaint filed over seniors left in old diapers
The Ontario Federation of Labour is filing a formal complaint with the province's Human Rights Commission on behalf of nursing home residents forced to sit or lie for hours at a time in urine-soaked diapers. MORE...
Don't Try To Second Guess SCC
Pass the bill now.....it is a little ludicrouse for the ndp to second guess anyone based on their overall performance.
Opposition moves to delete dangerous offender clause in crime bill
Liberal and NDP MPs whose parties agreed unanimously three weeks ago to rush the government's omnibus crime bill through a Commons committee are...
Opposition moves to delete dangerous offender clause in crime bill
Liberal and NDP MPs whose parties agreed unanimously three weeks ago to rush the government's omnibus crime bill through a Commons committee are...
Living In The Real World
Trailer Park Boys
Getting the straight dope on the Grey Cup festivities from party hosts the Trailer Park Boys turns into a few drunk-and-on-drugs happy fun time hours
Halifax, NS – Hanging out with the Trailer Park Boys should come with a label like the ones on rap albums. "WARNING: Contains explicit fuckin' language. You will probably be offended. You will definitely laugh.... [full story]
Trailer Park Boys : CFL vs NFL
Call us homers if you want, but here are eight reasons why we’d choose the CFL over the NFL game. 1 We try harder It's more difficult to get a first down in Canadian football... [full story]
Trailer Park Boys : CFL Q&A
CFL or NFL? Ricky: One has a C in it and one has an N, and they both have FL, so they must be close to being the same thing. Julian: The CFL is better.... [full story]
Getting the straight dope on the Grey Cup festivities from party hosts the Trailer Park Boys turns into a few drunk-and-on-drugs happy fun time hours
Halifax, NS – Hanging out with the Trailer Park Boys should come with a label like the ones on rap albums. "WARNING: Contains explicit fuckin' language. You will probably be offended. You will definitely laugh.... [full story]
Trailer Park Boys : CFL vs NFL
Call us homers if you want, but here are eight reasons why we’d choose the CFL over the NFL game. 1 We try harder It's more difficult to get a first down in Canadian football... [full story]
Trailer Park Boys : CFL Q&A
CFL or NFL? Ricky: One has a C in it and one has an N, and they both have FL, so they must be close to being the same thing. Julian: The CFL is better.... [full story]
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Friday, November 23, 2007
Let's Give Comrade Miller And His Band Of Clowns A Pass Because......
.....they are not as bad as some other government bodies; ie: the Germans!
Think Our Governments Waste Money? Wait Till You Read This
Friday November 23, 2007
They buy a theatre for $1 million, while raising your taxes.
They ponder putting a levy on bottled water, even though there's no way to implement it.
And they probe two councillors for not spending any taxpayer money on their office supplies.
You may think there are some spending problems at Toronto City Hall. But what an ombudsman found in Germany may make you feel a little better about the workings of our government. The officials employed to trace where taxpayer money goes have found an almost unbelievable amount of waste you may find laughable. But it's likely those who voted for the politicians in that county won't. The report says the German government wasted a staggering Cdn$2 billion last year.
Where did all that cash go? Check out some of these examples: (all amounts converted to Canadian dollars)
-The country's national railroad system received $277 million for a stretch of track it never built.
-The army spent $1.4 million to buy special brushes made with the inner ear hair of South American cattle so they could clean a specially-made dirty projection screen. But the brushes didn't work, and it still costs $2.1 million a year to maintain the system. It now sits unused in a $23 million emergency simulation centre.
-The government employs twice as many people as it needs for the vitally important task of looking after police uniforms.
-Shades of MFP! Their patent office doled out $11 million over three years to rent computers that should have cost millions less.
-And the army spent a fortune designing new seats for old personnel transporters that had already been deemed so unsafe, they can't be put back on the roads. The same defenders also spent millions maintaining an underground surveillance bunker that doesn't serve any military purpose whatsoever.
So the next time you think about waste at Toronto City Hall or on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, you can take some small comfort in the knowledge that our big spenders aren't quite as bad as their big spenders. At least not yet.
Parliament Banned The Death Penalty
But it would appear that some of our citizenry have decided not to abide by the act parliament......reports like the following appear almost on a daily basis.
Man shot in chest outside College Street lounge
Police seek witnesses in two North York shootings
Murder charges laid in house party shooting
Police identify victim in Moss Park shooting
Three schools locked down after east-end shooting
Possibly Dion/Layton/Doucette should be writing letters to these individuals.......
Man shot in chest outside College Street lounge
Police seek witnesses in two North York shootings
Murder charges laid in house party shooting
Police identify victim in Moss Park shooting
Three schools locked down after east-end shooting
Possibly Dion/Layton/Doucette should be writing letters to these individuals.......
TTC - Toronto Transit Commission
Don't we have elected respresentatives sitting on the TTC Commission? Aren't they there to look after the interests of the property owners and riders? Why wouldn't they have stopped this idiocy? Which city councillors have and do sit on the commission?
David Lepofsky is a Toronto lawyer and activist for reforms to protect the rights of persons with disabilities.
Waste of public funds to oppose accessibility
November 22, 2007
David LepofskyUsing the Freedom of Information Act, I've unearthed how much of your money the TTC spent on lawyers, opposing my effort to get crews to announce subway, bus and streetcar stops. We blind people need stops announced to know when we reach our destinations. In 2005, I won a human rights ruling ordering TTC crews to announce all subway stops. Despite this, the TTC refused to direct bus drivers to announce all stops. I had to sue again.
Most can't believe the TTC fought the subway case. Once I won it, no one can believe the TTC then fought the bus case. If the Human Rights Code requires the TTC to announce all subway stops for blind passengers, the TTC obviously must also announce all bus stops.
The TTC's law firm bills total $450,000. Of that amount, $268,000 was spent fighting the subway case, even though internal documents revealed the TTC knew the Human Rights Code required announcing all subway stops, and new crews weren't consistently doing this. Another $182,000 went to fight the legally simple bus stops case at a shorter six-day hearing.
This huge waste of public money has important implications. First, the TTC boasts it is gradually instituting automated subway and bus stop announcements. I never asked for automated announcements. The costless option of drivers announcing each stop is sufficient. Each driver has a mouth and should know their stops.
Second, after recent city tax and TTC fare hikes due to budget woes, city council should hold accountable whoever condoned this waste of almost half a million dollars. Last year, then TTC chair Howard Moscoe told the CBC he didn't know how much the TTC spent fighting my subway case. He admitted it was scandalous I had to fight for a decade for that accommodation. Yet he defended the TTC opposing my bus stops request.
Third, city council should institute a vigorous policy to stop its agencies from using public funds to oppose disability accessibility. If they won't spend more to advance accessibility, they must stop using our money to oppose it.
This incident isn't unique. Recently, city heritage officials wasted public resources generating a report to city council obstructing and delaying efforts to make Ontario's highest courthouse at Osgoode Hall more accessible. That report misstates and dilutes the duty to make such places fully accessible. It describes as sufficiently accessible the long, labyrinthine routes that mobility-impaired people must endure to access this courthouse. Installing a ramp to the front door won't deface Osgoode Hall. A courthouse isn't just a pretty building to gaze at. It's an important institution that constitutionally must be fully accessible to all.
Wasting public funds hurts everyone. The TTC's route stop announcements help sighted and blind passengers. Osgoode Hall's inaccessible main door impedes persons with disabilities and lawyers without disabilities hauling heavy bags filled with law books.
Fourth, it will soon be even harder for discrimination victims to battle organizations that spend huge sums opposing human rights. Dalton McGuinty's Liberals recently enacted Human Rights Code changes many of us opposed. These largely privatized human rights enforcement. When I fought the TTC, the Human Rights Commission was public investigator and prosecutor. Starting next July, discrimination victims must investigate their individual cases and find lawyers to prosecute. McGuinty's new legal clinic to help discrimination victims with this will only get a paltry quarter of the budget he now gives the underfunded Human Rights Commission. If that legal clinic matched dollar for dollar what the TTC spent against me (an unrealistic dream), it could only fight six such issues annually.
Fifth, the Human Rights Commission should promptly launch complaints and vigorously enforce the law against each Ontario transit authority disobeying Lepofsky v. TTC. It should conduct proceedings and settlement discussions in close consultation with the blindness community, whose rights are in jeopardy. The Liberals pledged the Human Rights Commission would be freed up to aggressively bring such public interest proceedings.
Finally, transit accessibility recalcitrance isn't limited to the TTC or to announcing stops. While they've made some progress on accessibility over the years, Ontario transit providers opposed strong new transit accessibility standards under the new Disabilities Act that I and others campaigned hard for. They cry poor despite federal and provincial announcements lavishing billions on them. Governments must rein in these transit providers, whose obstinacy hurts those of us with disabilities, and the rest of you who'll get one later. No one should suffer what the TTC unapologetically spent $450,000 putting me through twice.
David Lepofsky is a Toronto lawyer and activist for reforms to protect the rights of persons with disabilities.
I Am Supported By The CMHC/Riversides In The Downspout Debacle
And as I pointed out doing the work if a low skill job although some artists might find it difficult and/or dangerous........
Big spending on easy job
The Star
The Star
November 22, 2007
Disconnecting a downspout from a municipal sewer system and installing an extension pipe is one of the easiest – and cheapest – renovations that a homeowner can undertake. Yet it costs the city of Toronto an astonishing $1,300 to get that done at an average property.
According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., other municipalities give homeowners a subsidy to accomplish this work, with $100 being a "high-end" payout covering labour and materials.
And labour costs can be avoided. Anyone with a modicum of skill can cut a drainpipe, add an elbow and an extension line, diverting water away from a house, and then close the sewer pipe with a plug or cap. Necessary materials are available at most hardware stores. RiverSides, a Toronto non-profit group dedicated to protecting water resources, estimates such a project costs less than $25 per downspout.
The city's outrageously high cost includes the price of inspections and paperwork as well as this contracted-out work. For whatever reason, when Toronto spends $1,300 on such simple jobs it cannot help but sap people's confidence in the value of public services. Taxpayers have every right to wonder what other savings are being missed.
Everyone Should Take A First Aid Training Course
And I have to commend The Red Cross, particularly the International Red Cross for offering these courses........
First aid lessons, Gaza style
First aid lessons, Gaza style
Leftwing Rationalization- Thanks To Hillbilly White Trash
I found this over on Wow! A Conservative Jew!!. His remark was "Still pretty relevant today, isn't it?".
He is correct.
Posted by Lemuel Calhoon at 12:22 PM
John Turley-Ewart: Toronto doesn't need street food socialism
A measure of a great city is its street food. Stroll the Saturday morning outdoor markets in Paris, Frankfurt, Munich or Rome and you will find farmers hocking their produce alongside the kitchens of mobile gourmets that whip up tasty dishes for passersby who wash down a quick snack with their favourite Chablis.
On the streets of New York the famished will find not just hot dogs, but gyros, South Indian food with da shells and spicy veggies, chunky Texas chili, falafel, tacos, goat stew, jerk chicken and more. In Toronto, Canada’s largest city, you can buy a pre-cooked, reheated hot dog and, if you want to get all fancy, wash it down with a ginger ale. Visitors to Toronto can be forgiven for thinking the city’s street food is, for a lack of a better word, pedestrian.
In June some at Toronto City Hall realized that provincial regulations prohibiting street vendors from selling anything but pre-cooked dogs was a tad 1950s and should be changed. Spearheaded by city councillor Joe Filion, the denizens of Hog Town were led to believe a wider selection of street food choices was on the way; that enterprising chefs who don’t have the financial resources to start a restaurant, just the talent and know-how to prepare great tasting food, would find new opportunities to generate a livelihood and add to Toronto’s foodie culture.
But on Wednesday Toronto revealed it’s hand. Variety will come at a price. Toronto wants to introduce street food socialism.
In what is being spun as a bid to keep Big Food from taking over Toronto’s streets, Mr. Filion and his City Hall supporters are using Big Government to try and manage what is best left to the free market.
Toronto’s budget committee wants to buy 35 specially designed street food carts at a total cost of $700,000 that will be leased only to owner-operators who must fork-over $450 a month until the $20,000 cost of the cart is paid off. Moreover, Toronto will sell space on the carts to advertisers retailing electronics, cars and other consumers items. Who will repair the carts and what will be done if vendors don’t make their payments are “details we don’t have all worked out yet,” according to Mr. Filion.
If you are an enterprising vendor who wants to sell empanadas, can buy a cart for $4,500, and who simply wants to advertise your own company brand, you are out of luck. Toronto wants to dictate how you do business, who you do business with and the cost of doing business. Such is a recipe for failure.
Great cities are not in the food business. They encourage its growth by creating environments where entrepreneurs, regardless of their means, can flourish while ensuring public health standards are met. That Toronto’s municipal government thinks it needs to get into the street food business, says a lot about why Toronto is a long way from being the great city it should be.
On the streets of New York the famished will find not just hot dogs, but gyros, South Indian food with da shells and spicy veggies, chunky Texas chili, falafel, tacos, goat stew, jerk chicken and more. In Toronto, Canada’s largest city, you can buy a pre-cooked, reheated hot dog and, if you want to get all fancy, wash it down with a ginger ale. Visitors to Toronto can be forgiven for thinking the city’s street food is, for a lack of a better word, pedestrian.
In June some at Toronto City Hall realized that provincial regulations prohibiting street vendors from selling anything but pre-cooked dogs was a tad 1950s and should be changed. Spearheaded by city councillor Joe Filion, the denizens of Hog Town were led to believe a wider selection of street food choices was on the way; that enterprising chefs who don’t have the financial resources to start a restaurant, just the talent and know-how to prepare great tasting food, would find new opportunities to generate a livelihood and add to Toronto’s foodie culture.
But on Wednesday Toronto revealed it’s hand. Variety will come at a price. Toronto wants to introduce street food socialism.
In what is being spun as a bid to keep Big Food from taking over Toronto’s streets, Mr. Filion and his City Hall supporters are using Big Government to try and manage what is best left to the free market.
Toronto’s budget committee wants to buy 35 specially designed street food carts at a total cost of $700,000 that will be leased only to owner-operators who must fork-over $450 a month until the $20,000 cost of the cart is paid off. Moreover, Toronto will sell space on the carts to advertisers retailing electronics, cars and other consumers items. Who will repair the carts and what will be done if vendors don’t make their payments are “details we don’t have all worked out yet,” according to Mr. Filion.
If you are an enterprising vendor who wants to sell empanadas, can buy a cart for $4,500, and who simply wants to advertise your own company brand, you are out of luck. Toronto wants to dictate how you do business, who you do business with and the cost of doing business. Such is a recipe for failure.
Great cities are not in the food business. They encourage its growth by creating environments where entrepreneurs, regardless of their means, can flourish while ensuring public health standards are met. That Toronto’s municipal government thinks it needs to get into the street food business, says a lot about why Toronto is a long way from being the great city it should be.
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About Me
- Unhypentated Canadian
- I lean to the right but I still have a heart and if I have a mission it is to respond to attacks on people not available to protect themselves and to point out the hypocrisy of the left at every opportunity.MY MAJOR GOAL IS HIGHLIGHT THE HYPOCRISY AND STUPIDITY OF THE LEFTISTS ON TORONTO CITY COUNCIL. Last word: In the final analysis this blog is a relief valve for my rants/raves.