Happy Canada Day

There Is Joy In Mudville (Leslieville) Tonight.....

Robot sex

Jun 28th, 2008 by Backseat Blogger

My youngest son is following developments in this field carefully and breathlessly reports them at the dinner table at every opportunity.

All I can see is ewwwwwwwwwww.

Forgive Them Lord....They Are Just Complying With The Red Book

Oh, you're serious. I thought you were joking. My bad.
So... apparently Harper's criticism of Mugabe's sham election has elicited all kinds of comparisons between Harper and Mugabe. Like, seriously, guys? I know you may not like Harper, but for frick's sakes, don't you think comparing him to Mugabe might be overstating your case just a tad? At what point does it become impossible to agree with a politician you don't like and say, "Well, he may.......

Media Bias? You Have Got To Be Kidding......

Sandy: Persichilli on media Chretien vs Harper double standards

I hadn't planned on writing a post for a couple of days but when I read Angelo Persichilli's column in today's Toronto Sun, I just had to share it with bloggers. It is one of the best pieces of writing I have ever read about the current situation in Ottawa. Absolutely, right on! [...more]

SCA Upholds Free Speech But HRC Doesn't

Canada: Radio host's Nazi remark deemed fair comment

ANYTHING is OK if you are criticizing conservatives:

To be fair to some of the wingnuts on the left I don't think they aren't consciously malicious but they seem to have a reading and comprehension problem and even an inkling in a posting that the poster is on the right turns on their blinders.......

"The Supreme Court of Canada has unanimously ruled that an outspoken Vancouver radio host is not liable for defamatory statements. The court upheld a previous B. C. Supreme Court decision that the right to fair comment protected "shock jock" Rafe Mair's statements in an on-air editorial about Kari Simpson, a public figure whom Mr. Mair compared to Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members...

On a Vancouver talk show in 1999, Mr. Mair criticized Ms. Simpson for having anti-gay views and said she reminded him of Adolf Hitler and prominent Ku Klux Klan members. At the time, Ms. Simpson had a reputation as a leader "of those opposed to any positive portrayal of a gay lifestyle," wrote Justice Ian Binnie....

"We live in a free country where people have as much right to express outrageous and ridiculous opinions as moderate ones," the ruling says.

Source

If the same criteria are applied, Mark Steyn should have an easy run once he gets his case into a real court.

This Story Puts A Damper On My Canada Day Celebrations

I am particularly upset about the last comment and I will bet this piece of crap supports allowing deserters/cowards to stay in Canada, legalizing pot, lowering the age of consent, etc. etc.

Window closes in Vancouver for sick child

Updated Fri. Jun. 27 2008 10:48 PM ET

ctvbc.ca

A window of opportunity appears to have closed for a five-year-old girl, who is suffering from a rare genetic disorder after Air Canada failed to allow her to board a flight to China, where she hoped to recieve an experimental stem cell treatment that may extend her life.

Seeking treatment for Batten disease, which is only available in China, Hailey and her mother Miranda Goranflo were headed to Beijing after making the trip from Louisville, Ky.

Batten disease is a rare and fatal genetic disorder for which there is as yet no cure. It begins in childhood, and people who suffer from it generally do not live past the age of 12. Patients commonly experience vision problems, seizures, clumsiness or slowed growth, among other problems.

Still, Hailey's family managed to raise nearly $100,000 for the trip to China, where the little girl was scheduled to receive the experimental stem cell treatment.

But when they went to board their Air China flight at Vancouver Airport on Monday, the airline wanted medical clearance.

That arrived the next day. But the next available flight was on Air Canada. But even with her doctor's assurances they refused to allow Hailey on board. Instead the airline demanded time to assess her situation.

But before that could happen, her condition deteriorated and she was rushed to Children's Hospital in Vancouver after suffering a seizure. On Friday the news got even worse for Hailey because no doctor in Vancouver would clear her to fly to China.

So on Friday night, she was scheduled to return to Kentucky via Medivac.

After this horrific ordeal, Miranda's mom can't help but think that if only Air Canada had bent its rules a bit, her daughter could be in Beijing now getting better, instead of going home, possibly to die.

"This was her chance to get better. This was her chance and she's missed it."

But Air Canada spokesperson Angela Mah defended the airline's decision not to allow Hailey on board the flight to China.

"Our first priority is always to ensure the safety of all of our customers and the crew onboard our flight,'' she said.

When informed that Batten disease is not contagious, she said the Airline will always err on the side of safety and caution

Hailey's three-year-old brother Carter also suffers from the illness, as Goranflo describes on the family's website at http://haileyandcarter.wordpress.com/.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Stephen Smart

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Comments are now closed for this story

jeanne
Let this mother take her small child to China where at least she may have a chance. What is wrong with these airlines? Wait till she is a little better, and give her possibly the only chance she may have.

Don't give up the fight - my prayers are with you and your little girl.

God Bless.

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Touched
Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

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FreakAlert
Be nice if Air Canada or Air China would fly them for free, out of compassion.

Hold on little one.

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W
I hope someone that can help will help becasue everyone deserves a chance - private jets with donated medical help would be a start if someone can do it.

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Nibbles1985
Come on Canada! Let's help this little girl get better and show her parents how Canadians can help. Even if it means we have to do a little fundraising and help this family. I believe the family of this girl has done enough and should let others help her. Imagine if these were your childen; would you be worrying about the cost of a plane ticket when in only a few years you would be having to deal with the grief of losing your children?
My heart goes out to this family and I hope this little girl can be treated even if it means having a treatment in Vancouver's Children's Hospital.

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Wendy
Oh Dear God - the people at the airlines should feel good and guilty if anything happens to this poor sweet innocent little girl. All they had to do was have the family sign a waiver clearing them of any responsibility. Give her a chance - I beg anyone from any airline out there to help this family and attempt to save this girl's life. Rally together and make it happen! Think how desperate you would feel if you saw time ticking on your baby.

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Go Home Yank
I hope they're insured or paying for the medical care they're receiving in our nation; I dont want my tax dollars helping one single American, I dont care if it's a child. Do they care about the children in Iraq and Afghanistan that they're killing and maiming? No. They don't.

Put them on a plane and let their own country deal with them.

Will Sanctions Be Taken Against HRC.....

.....and who is picking up the tab for those accused but found not guilty?

June 27, 2008

A victory over the speech police

Filed under: Government Idiocy, PC Idiocy, Lost Rights, Free Speech, Islam — Jerry @ 1:00 pm

Case dismissed: Canada’s Star Chamber rules for Steyn in hate-crime complaint

Creating the “new man” requires totalitarianism and violence to your rightsd.

Comments (0)

Some thoughts from Flaggman......

June 27, 2008

Free Speech News: Maclean’s dismissed, Mair vindicated, Pankiw persecuted, Lesbians vengeful

An interesting day in this Orwellian land of speech control. First came the news out of Ottawa - the third of three Human Rights compaints filed by Mohammed Elmasry’s Canadian Islamic Council was dismissed by the Canadian Human Rights Commission, leaving just the BC complaint alive. After viewing the spectacle of the BC tribunal’s hearing earlier this month, and seeing the widespread public revulsion over the kangaroo court’s actions, it seems the bureaucrats at the CHRC retreated into self-preservation mode, and decided against exposing themselves to further worldwide

Will An Apology Be Forthcoming To Us......

Probe urged in Rama payouts Casino gave $3 million to `phony' First Nation More

Reality Setting In........

Energy crisis trumps environment as top concern

Poll reveals a shift in attitudes that could prove fatal to Dion's proposed carbon tax... MORE From Gay & Right Cap & Trade; carbon taxes just won't work... Bjorn Lomborg says we should just focus on the real problem - using R&D to come up with low-carbon energy...

It Is About Frigging Time......

Drivers, trash the pot

By MARC KILCHLING, SUN MEDIA

Think twice before you get behind the wheel after lighting up a marijuana joint.

A new law coming into effect Wednesday gives police the authority to demand a blood, urine or saliva sample from drivers suspected of being under the influence of drugs. Previously, people had the right to refuse to submit to the tests.

"Increasingly, the message was getting out there that you don't need to take these tests," said Justice Minister Rob Nicholson yesterday in front of the Toronto Police marine unit headquarters.

"If you refuse now, you will be charged."

More

Two Sides........

Terrifying News: Ice Melts At North Pole May Result In Economic Miracle
According to the UK's Independent, ice may disappear entirely from the North Pole this summer. This is a doom-and-gloom story right out of the catastrophic, overheated, Earth's-on-fire, boiling planet global warming playbook. Will the planet survive? Let's continue following the Independent to see the expected calamitous impact: "If it happens, it raises the prospect of the Arctic na

The real cause of Artic ice melt? Pass it around since you won’t see much of this in the MSM

Filed under: Science, Environment — Jerry @ 1:05 pm

Volcanic eruptions reshape Arctic ocean floor: study

Playing The Wrong Card

Amazing: A black guy gets criticized for his speech!

And he wasn't even dissing homosexuals! A black is normally OK as long as he leaves homosexuals out of his talk. The race card trumps all else.

"Shaquille O'Neal will lose his special deputy's badge in Maricopa County because of language he used in a rap video that mocks former teammate Kobe Bryant. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said the Phoenix Suns center's use of a racially derogatory word and other foul language left him no choice.

Arpaio made Shaq a special deputy in 2006 and promoted him to colonel of his largely ceremonial posse later that year. "I want his two badges back," Arpaio told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "Because if any one of my deputies did something like this, they're fired. I don't condone this type of racial conduct."

Source

More On Comedy Freedome Of Expression

John Oakley: B.C.'s Human Rights Tribunal takes on comedy clubs

Posted: June 26, 2008, 6:07 PM by John Turley-Ewart
Filed under: John Oakley

These three lesbians walk into a bar, which sounds like the start of a joke, except the punch-line will ultimately be delivered by a B.C. Human Rights Tribunal.
In yet another example of our burgeoning culture of complaint, three admitted sisters of Sappho took umbrage with a Toronto comedian who answered their incessant heckling of his act in a Vancouver nightclub by tastelessly riffing on their sexual orientation. According to the complaint, the three were subjected to a “tirade of homophobic and sexist comments.” In his defence, Guy Earle says he regrets the unsavoury exchange, but insists the tribunal hearing is taking him out of context.
If, by context, he means the setting of a comedy club, he’s spot on. What part of this unbridled art form don’t these three understand? When did bad taste or a perceived slight in any idiom become enough to invoke the full weight of the state’s bureaucratic complaints department? Going into a comedy club with delicate sensibilities is like heading into the deep end with water wings. Enter at your own risk, and if you’re in over your head, just leave the pool. Don’t drag the rest of us down with your petulant assault on one of our last cherished forms of free expression.

A Great Anology.......

Is Stephane Dion boiling the frog to create a new GST?
Thursday, June 26, 2008 at 05:47 PM Comments: 11

One thing that has been puzzling more and more is the way Stephane Dion speaks of his carbon tax changing people's behavior with regards to using energy, while his actual plan seems to be predicated on no change in behavior at all.

Then, after chatting with a newspaper columnist acquaintance of mine, it hit me. Stephane Dion is boiling the frog.

Why didn't I see it before?

Read more...

He Kept His Promises.........

......and the electorate thought enough of him to give him a second majority government and can you imagine what a great province this would be if it wasn't for groups like the teacher's and civil service unions, municipal politicians who didn't implement the items that were the building blocks of success, social in-activists, etc. It would seem the public agrees with his latest overview......

A study says Toronto is in decline. Do you agree?
Yes
	3591	76%
No
	885	18%
Not sure
	194	4%

While Ontario sleeps

Livio Di Matteo
Reports that Ontario may soon qualify for equalization payments have awakened Ontarians to the fact that they no longer live in the province they...

Mike Harris to the rescue? TheStar.com - comment - Mike Harris to the rescue?

June 27, 2008

Re:Is Toronto in decline?

Business, June 26

Former Ontario premier Mike Harris is blaming Toronto City Hall for Toronto's decline? The same man who destroyed this province with city amalgamations, provincial downloading and massive cuts to all types of funding, including education and health care? The man who increased the responsibilities and costs for city council while cutting funding?

Thanks to Harris, our health-care system and the state of our schools are a disgrace, our infrastructure is crumbling, our industrial tax base and the jobs that went with those companies have disappeared and the land has been bought up by developers. The standard of living of Torontonians is spiralling downward, while the cost of living in Toronto is spiralling upward.

City council is squarely to blame for failing to tackle the problems caused by Harris, as is the province, but they are certainly not to blame for the creation of our troubles.

Janice Barton, Toronto

Stop the presses! Mike Harris (via the Fraser Institute) recognizes that there is an economic problem in Toronto as median income lags and it loses desirable jobs. Then he tells us that "part of the 12-step program for any recovery is (to) admit there is a problem." Wonderful. Let us hope he recognizes another key element of a 12-step program for recovery: taking personal responsibility.

At the conclusion of the latest Fraser Institute effort to dress up ideological musings as "urban policy" research, I look forward to reading Harris's admission: "Toronto has a problem, and I caused it."

Neil Thomlinson, Toronto

The gall of former premier Mike Harris never ceases to amaze me. To sit back, without irony, and suggest that he can discuss these issues while ignoring his complicity in them (his taxation policies, downloading, urban policy in general) is more than disingenuous.

It's a good thing he didn't offer any suggestions on dealing with this imagined decline. Like medieval doctors, Harris has shown he has only one solution: Bleed them again.

Lloyd Gray, Toronto

Groan, groan and groan again. Mike Harris and Preston Manning giving advice on how to run Toronto? Give us a break. Toronto is still feeling the negative effects of the failed policies of the Harris era – amalgamation and the school funding formula, to name but two.

The best thing Toronto City Council could do is to simply ignore any advice coming from the right-wing ideology of Harris and the Fraser Institute.

Irene Bell, Toronto

The Fraser Institute claims Toronto is in decline. It may be right, but it's wrong about the reason. If Toronto is in decline, it is because of federal government greed, which keeps it from sharing the nation's wealth with cities. Ottawa is over-financed and municipal governments are under-financed. The federal government won't even give cities a penny. That's the problem.

Max Moore, Toronto

It was Mike Harris who amalgamated Toronto into the festering glob we have today. Can anyone fail to bristle at the infuriating irony in the former premier, whose malignant rule caused Toronto's current fiscal mess, damning it for the cancer he and his fellow Tory muck-heads induced?

David Allan Stein, Toronto

He didn't ask for subsidies or free land.

Home ownership within reach
Carol Goar Jun. 27, 2008
The organization is small. It isn't well-known. It doesn't have powerful friends.

.....but it provides housing and builds self esteem for the "working poor" instead of the posturing and media promises provided by Toronto Silly Hall.

The Sad Truth About Pain At The Gas Pumps

Our gas pains are from taxes

By ALLAN PARKER

This is your lucky day--I'm going to tell you a simple secret to save 20% the next time you fill up at the pump.

Here it is: Drive an hour and a half down the QEW and buy your gas in the United States.

Now, I don't recommend doing that on a weekly basis, but a driving vacation in the U.S. this summer is substantially cheaper -- 20%, in fact -- than on this side of the border.

I just got back from a three-week road trip through the eastern U.S. I paid between $3.89 and $4.24 a gallon for gas, with the usual rate about $4.

That may seem like a lot, but only because we get confused by the conversion between litres and gallons. With the dollars at par we don't have that added conversion nightmare.

A U.S. gallon is 3.785 litres, so if you're paying $1.33 per litre, your Canadian gas is costing you a little over $5 per gallon.

Why? As I understand it, Canada is a petroleum-exporting nation and the U.S. is a net petroleum importer. Shouldn't that mean our gas is cheaper than American gas?

And the oil companies get roughly the same amount of your money on both sides of the border.

The difference is what you pay in taxes. In New York state (one of the higher-taxing states), the total tax grab on a gallon of gas is 59.6 cents, including the 18.4 cents-per-gallon federal excise tax.

By comparison, if you convert the taxes on a litre of gas in Ontario to gallonage, you're paying about $1.20 per gallon in taxes -- Ontario's 14.7 cents-per-litre gas tax, the federal excise tax of 10 cents per litre and 5% GST, which currently works out to about 6.5 cents per litre.

Our governments inhale the income from high gas taxes like crack cocaine -- or gas fumes. They're addicted and can't give it up.

Toronto Sun Money Editor Linda Leatherdale has been leading a campaign to cut the provincial and federal gas taxes in half and axe the GST altogether.

That would bring us in line with U.S. pump prices.

The response so far? Nada.

Every time you meet glad-handing politicians at a barbecue or fair this summer, ask them why they're gouging you 20% at the pump. Ask again and again.

If they try to tell you the high gas taxes pay for Canada's higher standard of living, tell them to get their facts straight.

Much of our gas tax is supposed to go to infrastructure and roads, but American roads are generally better than ours.

Health care? About 20% of federal and provincial Canadian government expenditures go to health. The U.S.? About 20% of their federal government's budget goes to Medicare and Medicaid.

Military? Another 20% of the U.S. federal budget is for national defense. Canada? Less than 5%.

Based on all that, it seems to me we should be paying lower taxes at the pump than Americans.

But we're not. We're paying $1 a gallon more than Americans for gas and a very specific group of people -- our provincial and federal politicians -- are taking that money out of our pockets.

If they aren't ashamed of themselves, they should at least be held accountable. The buck stops there

Layton On Dion

I Surrender

NDP BLASTS DION: "LEADERSHIP IS NEVER IN SEASON"

Ultimate Oxymoron - Common Sense From Silly Hall

Comrade Miller Making Decision

Save $11 million and speed up decision making process from 3 years to a couple of months. There is no way Comrade Miller and his stooges would support this.........

Another step forward in plan to tear down Gardiner

Updated: Thu Jun. 26 2008 6:27:48 PM

ctvtoronto.ca

Toronto city council's executive committee has approved a motion to conduct an $11 million environmental assessment on the east portion of the Gardiner Expressway -- moving forward a proposal to tear the section down.

But one councillor says the city can save the money by conducting a test of how much traffic would result if the portion of highway were knocked down.

Coun. Mike Del Grande suggests closing down the Gardiner east of Jarvis Street for one week to see what the traffic situation would look like.

More

I Have Never Heard Of Guy Earle.......

.....but I don't have any more right to interfere with his making a living than I do with a doctor in an operating room. That is basically what hecklers are doing and they have to accept the consequences.

Human rights complaint over comic's lesbian remarks

Updated Thu. Jun. 26 2008 5:23 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

A Toronto comedian facing a B.C. Human Rights Tribunal hearing says rude comments he made to two Vancouver lesbians were only an attempt to stop them from heckling.

"I don't hate anybody based on their sexual orientation, or whatever, but I do hate hecklers and sometimes I get a little vehement," Guy Earle says in a radio interview posted on YouTube.

Earle said he was hosting a weekly open-mic night in a restaurant on March 22, 2007 when the moved up to the front of the audience and began swearing at him.

Earle said he asked them to stop and be quiet, but they refused. That's when he responded.

"I said, 'Come on, you're fat and ugly -- you're not even lesbian,'" the comedian said, adding he then made some remarks that had to do with oral sex and the use of a sex toy.

"If anybody has seen my comedy, don't heckle me -- I get rude," Earle says in the interview.

The comedian says his comments were simply jokes, but most of the audience members left and started booing him.

Earle said when he got off the stage and walked past the women, one of them splashed a drink in his face.

He got back up on stage later to say goodnight, he said. Then when he walked past their table a second time, the same woman splashed another drink in his face and then stood in front of him as if she wanted to fight.

"I lost it for two seconds, and this is the part I do apologize for ... I pulled her sunglasses off her head, and right in front of her face, I broke them in half," says Earle, who admits he was "half-drunk" on vodka.

The comedian said when he showed up at the usual time the following week, there were picketers outside the restaurant, some holding signs that read, "Hate speech, not free speech."

Earle says Canadians are too politically correct.

"They pissed me off so I said some rude things. Does that mean I should go to court because ... they were based on some kind of minority or discrimination or something-something?"

The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal will decide whether Earle's comments, which the complainant Lorna Pardy claims were "homophobic," violated the Human Rights Code.

A preliminary decision released this week says both parties are far apart in their recollections of the incident and the amount of alcohol involved.

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Please Add Comments(9)

GK
It's all part of the risk you take when you scream out loud at a comedian. If you don't like what their saying, it's easier to leave. When you confront someone you should at least somewhat expect a response and chances are if it's a comedian at a night club, you won't like what they're going to say. Freedom of speech. Whatever happened to it, especially for a comedian whose job is to mostly make fun of and "rib" others.

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Downey
Canadians are becoming worse and worse!!! Bring a comedian to course for being offensive! Come on! These people REALLY need to get a life and stop trying to ruin others. Shameful! I really hope this is not considered by the Human Rights Tribunal. It will make them an even bigger joke.

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js
this is crazy. if you go to any comedy show and you heckle the comedians, expect the comedian to say something back and most will be rude remards. the canadian human rights should stay out of this. it happened at a club. i can if it was at work. what happened to free speech? so he called them names. big deal!! canadians have no sense of humour and run to the courts for any little thing. pathetic.

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Vince M
The things we waste money on for people with hurt feelings.

Time to shut these wasteful witchhunts down for good.

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KD
They better not waste any tax dollars on this.

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Brock
This is rediculous. If you're going to heckle, then expect the comic to say something rude in return. I've been to many comedy clubs and none of the patrons who were picked on by the comic complained. They just went along with it and laughed. These women should grow up and the Human Rights should stay out of this.

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RM
Here we go again with the Human Rights complaints. When are we going to rein in these commissions and stop punishing thought crimes.

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Jj
"...Canadians are too politically correct."

Please. Canadians are not "too politically correct". Most of us are simply about not lower themselves through using below-the-belt-type comments just because someone angers them.

It's one thing to insult in general or to scream at a person. It is, however, an entirely different thing to draw out someone's sexual orientation and insult it.

Truth be told, there isn't a topic in the world that cannot be talked about and laughed at. But real comedians know how to deal with them. Earle needs to learn from the pros.

This is like Michael Richards redux.

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Wayne
These human rights tribunals are turning into some sort of orwellian thought police and I for one think we should start getting rid of them as we have a criminal code let's start using it instead and if there is no crime involved well guess what folks there is no crime involved. Outlawing hate sppech is ridiculous I hate Human Rights Tribunals = is this legal?

It Is A Strange World When Honesty Is Attacked

A wise decision

Jared Gray is an 18-year-old high school student who works as a janitor for Southern Utah University. One day he found a bag of cash lying in the parking lot, obviously one of the school's deposit bags. The bag was labeled with the amount: $108,000. Jared didn't hesitate to return the cash, saying he was raised to be honest. To express their gratitude, SUU officials will give him a scholarship if he attends the university.

Most people would applaud Jared's honesty. Sadly, though, not everyone. A number of people, posting to the CBS News website, called the young man a "loser" or "stupid" for not keeping the dough. Apparently, they assume it's reasonable to steal whenever one is unlikely to get caught. If so, wouldn't it also be reasonable actively to pursue such opportunities - in short, to become a career criminal? That makes we who work "suckers."

If you're going to live a moral life, it's common sense to live it on principle. This means you don't become an entirely different person, a crook, when it's allegedly "easy" to do so. Easy, that is, for a person of poor character. Starting life as a crook would have blighted Jared's whole life. Instead, now he'll always be able to recall his easy good deed with pride; and, happily, people who know him will be able to trust him . . . stuff that's more valuable than money itself.

Source

See If You Can Follow The Logic Comrade Miller.......

You think that banning guns will solve the problem of street and gang violence on the streets of Toronto.

For your ban to be effective guns would have to be banned in our closet neighbor the United States.

This is not going to happen........

Ban on handguns unconstitutional: U.S. top court

Updated Thu. Jun. 26 2008 10:28 AM ET

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court says Americans have a right to own guns for self-defence and hunting, the justices' first major pronouncement on gun rights in U.S. history.

More

.....therefore you are going to have to talk to your buddy at Queen's Park and have him order his Minister Of Justice to inform his crown attornies that they ask for the maximum sentencing in crimes involving guns and that there be no concurrent sentencing for possession of an illegal handgun and judges follow those recommendations. You can also untie the hands of the police to allow them to stop and search in high crime areas and you will go to the wall for them when they are accussed of racial profiling.

Harper Has To Step Up To The Plate & Kick Ass

And he will never get a better opportunity than Dion's Green Shift.......

With numbers, he's a greenhorn

Dion can't say how far his plan would cut emissions, or what it'll cost us

By Lorrie Goldstein

Full Story

More On TCH And Landlords

Good landlords get a seal of approval New code designed to give prospective tenants peace of mind By BEN SPENCER, SUN MEDIA The fact that the headline acts were a no-show didn't seem to matter. With mint-flavoured ice-cream the odd choice to mark the occasion, Toronto yesterday became the first North American city to unveil a quality assurance program for rental properties. Billed as a significant day in the Toronto rental industry's history, both Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Jim Watson and Mayor David Miller were slated to appear. Neither showed up. Nonetheless, the Federation of Rental-housing Providers of Ontario pushed on, officially launching its "Certified Rental Building Program" for rental housing in the GTA. The landmark program will set good and bad landlords apart and give prospective tenants an easy way of working out the quality of their next home. Property owners will have to meet three requirements, including undergoing a rigorous building audit. Those buildings that win the tick of approval will bear the CRBP symbol. The program will give tenants "peace of mind," said FRPO certification director Ted Whitehead. Whitehead said it is hoped 500 rental buildings will be certified this year and another 1,000 added by the end of next year. FRPO is the largest rental housing industry association in the province. $1M and they still can't get bugs out

By ANTONELLA ARTUSO, SUN MEDIA

Toronto Community Housing spends more than $1 million a year trying to get rid of pests but admits so far the solution has escaped them.

The TCH Community Management Plan, which will be presented to the city's executive committee today, says more work needs to be done with staff, tenants and pest control contractors to stamp out the problem.

The housing provider issues 30,000 work orders a year for pest control, a service provided free to tenants.

TCH spokesman Jeffrey Ferrier said infestations remain a very common tenant complaint. "Pest control is a Toronto issue that affects everything from social housing to five-star hotels," he said. "The bugs are becoming genetically mutated to be resistant to the treatment."

UNHAPPY EXPERIENCE

The housing authority has not always been happy with the quality of the pest control services it hired, so it will pre-qualify contractors, and monitor their work.

An education program for tenants will focus on behavioural issues that contribute to infestations, include picking up used furniture from waste bins, poor housekeeping, hoarding and failing to report sightings.

Seniors, the disabled and tenants with mental health issues often find it hard to do the cleaning required to get rid of an infestation, so the pests tend to come back quickly, a report to the TCH board in December said.

The most common infestations in public housing stock are German cockroaches, house mice and bed bugs.

More Smoke & Mirrors From Comrade Miller???

A Landlord's first responsibility is to keep his property in a good state of repair, in compliance with local health and safety codes and to provide a safe environment. 75 million housing questions Is handing a blank cheque to TCH the best way to spend proceeds from hydro sale? Buried deep in the bowels of today's 8.9-cm thick executive committee agenda is the plan to hand over essentially a $75 million blank cheque to Toronto Community Housing for the "rehabilitation" of some of its decrepit housing stock. Not that one would call it much of a plan. The city report proposing the windfall from the sale of Toronto Hydro's telecom arm go to the cash-strapped TCH is a mere 4.5 pages long. It contains only a proposal to create a new TCH State of Good Repair Reserve Fund in which to plunk the money -- but no conditions attached to its use. "The contribution ... makes good financial sense for the city," the report concludes. Well duh. What else would city officials say after Mayor David Miller, practising up for his new strong mayor powers, boldly declared two Fridays ago the sale's proceeds would be used to fix up about 5,000 THC units and retrofit 10 buildings with energy-efficient systems. If this makes such good fiscal sense, why is the report "hidden in plain sight" as an addendum (numbered 16a) to another fairly innocuous report -- and not right next to the report on TCH's 2008-2010 community management plan? After all, the $75 million will impact on that plan. Short answer: The move may make good public relations sense for Miller and his complicit champions of the disenfranchised. But financial sense? I'm not convinced. BACKLOG IN REPAIRS There's no doubt TCH has a serious backlog in repairs -- some $350 million this year -- and sorely needs a cash infusion to get out of its massive debt problems. The Sun recently revealed it has 1,422 fixer-up units sitting vacant. But there are plenty of city assets desperately in need of cash as well. Parks and community centres have a $232-million repair backlog this year, the to-do list for the city's roads and bridges is $310 million. I'm not sure it's Miller's call -- however empowered he may feel as of late -- to devote all $75 million to TCH. It's actually quite cheeky, in my view, to assume city taxpayers don't deserve to drive on better roads or to enjoy better-maintained parks and community centres, or to see their trees maintained in a more timely fashion. I also have a hard time conceiving of handing over such a huge cash infusion -- carte blanche -- to a housing agency that is as much the author of its own misfortune as the provincial government its socialist taskmasters constantly blame for downloading 58,000 units and the associated mess on them in 2002. TCH's community management plan clearly states even with $350 million in operating money from the city this year and rental income, it will still experience a $101 million funding shortfall -- money to be made up by drawing from the corporation's reserves and through third-party financing (no details provided). INANE PLAN Those dire straits notwithstanding, the bright lights at Socialist Silly Hall are prepared to hand over 717 Broadview Ave. to TCH to build a new 62-unit affordable housing project for seniors. That inane plan -- which is also on today's executive committee agenda -- will cost $20 million altogether (or $325,000 per unit) and calls for TCH to contribute $5.8 million toward the project. Now I don't know what kind of fiscal priority-setting the mayor learned in his Harvard economics studies but if you can't afford to manage the portfolio you have, you shouldn't be taking on new commitments. It would also make sense to wait until the TCH has completed its strategic asset review (with an eye to possibly selling off some of its units) before committing any money at all. I'm told that review is due out at the end of July -- or maybe in September. Coun. Case Ootes bristles when he thinks of the long-list of valuable single-family homes owned by the TCH -- which are either sitting vacant or in disrepair -- and the TCH's inability to manage their assets in a "responsible way." His efforts since last November to sell some of them off and devote the money to much-needed repairs have consistently fallen on deaf ears. He also feels TCH focuses far too much on social programs -- their management report talks about anti-racism study circles for residents -- instead of much-needed repairs. "If the TCH uses the $75 million the same way they have managed their assets so far, it's going to be money down the drain," he said." It's not going to make a bit of difference."

Banning Guns Will Reduce Street Violence

The real reason Comrade Miller stopped the bridge to the island....to protect his supporters among the squatters.......

Teen Stabbed Outside Fairview Mall Store

A young man is wounded and another is on the run after one of two stabbings in the GTA Wednesday evening.

Kickass Country

Country singer Tim McGraw doesn't just dress and talk the cowboy part, he backs it up with action. Just ask a rowdy concert-goer, who found out first-hand when McGraw personally booted him from his show Tuesday night.

McGraw was singing "Indian Outlaw" in Auburn, Wash., when he noticed a large man causing a ruckus in the front row, allegedly striking a woman. McGraw said, "Get rid of this guy! Security!" and then stooped down and dragged the man onstage, where security guards took him away.

At one point, the man and McGraw seemed ready to get into a full-fledged fracas, with McGraw cocking his fist back as if to throw a punch.

"While Tim was performing at the White River Amphitheater in Auburn, Washington, last night, he watched a man rush to the front of the stage," McGraw's rep told PEOPLE. "This overly aggressive fan attacked a female fan and Tim witnessed this incident. Tim called for security, but when they could not respond quick enough, Tim and several crew members removed the fan from the audience where he was then turned over to the local authorities."

The incident was first reported on TMZ.

McGraw's had run-ins with overly aggressive fans before. Last year, a female fan grabbed the singer's crotch while he was onstage. Wife Faith Hill immediately put the woman in her place.

Pride Week In Toronto......Pride Day In Vancouver

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

No skipping homosexual classes, Canadian schools tell parents

Not every parent wants her child to learn about gays and transgender sexuality in school. However, the Vancouver board of education plans to enforce a ministry policy that prevents parents from pulling students out of classes that deal with alternative sexuality, the Vancouver Sun reports.

A staff recommendation released Friday from the board says parents can pull their children out of sensitive lessons in health classes because of religious or family beliefs, but can't opt their children out of gay-friendly lessons in any other classes:

According to ministry guidelines, students can only opt out of the health portions of Health and Career Education K to 7, Health and Career Education 8 and 9, and Planning 10.

They aren't exempt from the lessons completely and must learn the material outside the classroom setting, by home instruction or self-directed studies. They also have to prove they've learned the material.

The recommendation has the Catholic Civil Rights League, for one, to balk. The league has long fought the policies, claiming parents have the right to remove children from any classes they find objectionable:

Edward Da Vita, a spokesman for the Catholic Civil Rights League, said he would prefer parents be able to pull their children out of any class containing controversial material.

"The problem now is that controversial subject matter can be brought up any time, anywhere, and there is no reasonable alternative delivery available for that," he said.

Source

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Hitting the street

June 18, 2008 17:06

Rainbow Flag raising
June 23, 12:30pm
Join Mayor David Miller at the Toronto City Hall podium (100 Queen W.) for the annual raising of the Rainbow Flag, which signifies the launch of Pride Week.

AIDS candlelight vigil
June 26, 9pm
Light a candle to honour both those who have died from AIDS and those still fighting the disease. This annual community event is held at Cawthra Square Park, 519 Church. Go to www.the519.org for more information.
Street festival
June 27, 6pm-midnight; June 28, 11am-midnight; June 29 11am-11pm
On Pride Weekend, the Church-Wellesley Village hosts the biggest street party of the year, with 12 city blocks shut down to make room for beer tents, a marketplace and live performances ranging from the indie-pop of the Hidden Cameras (Bud Light South Stage, June 28, 10pm) to burlesque from Skin Tight Outta Sight (Via Rail Village Stage, June 28, 8pm). Check www.pridetoronto.com for full details.

Dyke March
June 28, 2pm
Women and trans folk take to the streets for a march with more political heft and less product placement than Sunday’s parade. (No vodka-sponsored floats here!) The Dyke March begins at Church and Hayden, heads north to Bloor, west to Yonge, south to Wood, then east back to Church. This year, honoured dyke and social justice activist Anna Willats leads the march, joined by honoured dyke group the Toronto Newsgirls Boxing Club.

Pride Parade
June 29, 2pm
Wrap yourself in rainbow flags, fill up your Super Soaker and prepare to party. The Pride Parade starts at Bloor E. and Church, moves west to Yonge, south to Gerrard and east to Church. At the front, you’ve got international grand marshal Gareth Henry (the former co-chair and program director of JFLAG, the Jamaican Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays); grand marshal Enza “Supermodel” Anderson; and honoured group Friends for Life Bike Rally.

Judicial System Run Amok.........

Douglas Farrow: In the new Canada, we are all wards of the state.

Posted: June 24, 2008, 12:06 PM by Marni Soupcoff
Filed under: Douglas Farrow

“Leave parenting to parents,” thunders the Post in its Saturday editorial. “The courts have no business — none — in such routine family matters.” Québec Justice Suzanne Tessier’s “galling decision” in favour of a 12-year-old girl from Gatineau, who asked the court to overturn a perfectly reasonable act of parental discipline, must itself be overturned, lest parents no longer know “where their authority over their children ends and the state’s begins.”

Vancouver? Safe Injection Sites, Crime Reduction........

......and now a new Welcome Wagon!

Vancouver police to get armour on wheels

ANNA MEHLER PAPERNY

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

June 25, 2008 at 5:37 AM EDT

The Vancouver Police Department is beefing up its fleet, and the new machine's no puny gizmo: The city has approved $345,000 for an armoured rescue vehicle that will act as a mobile ballistic shield.

The Reality Of Our Future......

.......Canada being bested by Mexico is akin to cricket replacing hockey as our national sport (which by the way is actually lacrosse.) How long before Mexico has a problem with Canadian wetbacks?

Mexico ready to eclipse Canada as continent's No. 2 auto maker37

Boom in small-car sales has put nation's vehicle production on track to pass Canada for the first time 1:00 AM 37

Good news: The border fence has been built and fortified

June 24, 2008 03:43 PM by Michelle Malkin

61 Comments | 2 Trackbacks

Good News? A matter of perspective. It isn't good news for CAW workers trying to sneak into Mexico to get those high paying jobs in the auto industry.......

It Goes On and On and On and On and On.....

Politicians don't know Kyoto

Over the past 18 months I've written scores of columns on global warming. I've read nine books on the subject so far (six by authors supporting the theory of man-made global warming and the Kyoto accord, three by skeptics). I've watched three.. MORE... Dion's plan leaves us guessing Most media reports about last week's Liberal plan for a "Green Shift" in Canadian policy mentioned, and seemed impressed by the fact, that it was a 48-page document. As an avid reader of Stéphane Dion's letters to various separatist.. MORE... Carbon cuts are just a fantasy I have bad news for Stéphane Dion. Out here in B.C., the people are revolting. Gordon Campbell's much-applauded carbon tax was pretty popular in February. But now, as people are being hammered by record gas prices, the enthusiasm.. MORE... Dion's carbon debate challenge Political gamesmanship or not, Stéphane Dion's proposal that he and Stephen Harper debate the Liberals' carbon tax proposal is a good idea. Dion called for the debate on the weekend, as he responded to Conservative attacks on the carbon.. MORE... Speak to the merits, or be silent Stephen Harper is under no obligation to engage in a formal series of debates on the merits of a carbon tax, as Stéphane Dion, the Liberal Leader, has requested. The Prime Minister would be entitled to remain silent on Mr. Dion's Green Shift.. MORE...

Liberals Made This Promise For 13 Years.....

.....and all they really did was shift more and more responsibility to the provinces without shifting the $$$$ which went to pay down the deficit so provinces had to increase tax burden on it's citizens.

Dion's green anti-poverty plan
Carol Goar

When Stéphane Dion announced last November that a Liberal government would cut poverty by 30 per cent – and child poverty by 50 per cent – within five years, his political opponents scoffed.

A Shake Your Head Day In TO

Wieners losers on Bloor St.

Hunting show's OK, says council City Council is reviewing its one-day-old gun policy to ensure it doesn't accidentally kill off the Toronto Sportsmen's Show.

School cops will be armed No golf shirts and slacks for these school cops.

Dog Hill killer tied to bizarre raccoon deaths Dozen animals found poisoned in the park, clutching flowers and in poses The tale of dog poisonings at High Park took a twisted turn yesterday.

Drop Pickled Eggs, Pork & Beans, Etc. From Your Diet.......

....and anything else that can cause farting and gawd forbid you drop one in an elevator which will bring out the fartgestapo. Buy stock in Beano?

Another Mihevic "Dream" Turning In Nightmare

He screwed the citizens of Toronto on the Wychwood Barn fiasco and it looks like the St. Clair TTC right of way is going to be another example of his ineptness......

Turning a dream into a nightmare
Why St. Clair right of way is rolling Toronto in reverse
By ROB GRANATSTEIN

The St. Clair streetcar right-of-way is a classic example of how people who want something so badly can nonetheless screw it up completely, not just for the present, but the future.

Full Column

One Of Those Shake Your Head Things

June 23, 2008

Ass-Kicking Liberal Strategist And Self-Proclaimed Internet Guru A Victim Of A Hoax?

Why, that's hard to believe!

This is a man who opens penis enlargement spam and wonders "how did they find out?"

Posted by Kate at 11:06 PM

Prime Example Of Media Satire

I feel so much safer

June 24th, 2008

Toronto will never have crime again! I’m so excited! At long last, the murders will end, the sirens will be silenced, and candy gumdrops will grow on money trees.

After a long, at times bitter and widely diverging debate, Toronto city council passed a series of measures to stamp out gun violence this afternoon by a two-thirds margin.

The 31-9 vote was a victory for Mayor David Miller, who had championed the steps in order to give the city the moral authority to push other levels of government to get tough on gun crime after council voted strongly in April to ask Ottawa to enact a national handgun ban.

We’ll all sleep soundly from now on. Those pesky target shooters and gun collectors are going DOWN!

Posted by: Right Girl

Liberals Speak Out On Carbon Tax

Carbon tax: Who wins, who loses? TheStar.com - comment - Carbon tax: Who wins, who loses?

June 23, 2008

Carol Goar

Bill Graham always had a talent for cutting through political bafflegab.

It is a shame the Liberal elder statesman – who served as interim party leader, foreign affairs minister, defence minister and five-term MP for Toronto-Centre-Rosedale – is no longer a member of Stéphane Dion's caucus.

With one simple question, he pierced the attractive packaging of the Liberal leader's carbon tax plan. "What does revenue-neutral mean? It sounds nice when you say it, but it will create winners and losers. Who's going to win, who's going to lose and who's going to pay?"

Unfortunately, Graham – who is now chancellor of Trinity College at the University of Toronto – didn't ask that question in Ottawa. He posed it at a panel discussion in Toronto, organized by the Institute for Research on Policy Public.

The influential think-tank invited the city's business leaders, bankers, economists, energy experts and political analysts to a two-hour working lunch last week to discuss the challenges of crafting a carbon tax that doesn't undermine Canada's competitiveness, doesn't exacerbate regional disparities, doesn't cause federal-provincial battles and doesn't trigger a public backlash.

It was an enlightening session. The three panellists – Mark Jaccard of Simon Fraser University, Thomas Courchene of Queen's University and Sam Boutziouvis of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives – laid out the complexities of taxing fossil fuel use in daunting detail.

It would force exporters to jack up their prices, putting them at a disadvantage in world markets. To protect Canada's share of global trade, Ottawa might have to exempt products destined for sale abroad from the tax.

It could induce energy-dependent manufacturers to move to countries with lax environmental policies. The one percentage point cut in corporate tax rates that Dion is offering, plus the incentives for investing in green technologies, may not be enough to stem the outflow.

Imposing a carbon tariff could contravene Canada's trade obligations. It is unclear how a Liberal government could penalize imports from countries with lax environmental policies without violating the World Trade Agreement.

Putting a price on pollution would hurt some regions more than others. The impact would be particularly severe in the industrial heartland, which is already reeling from high energy prices and a sputtering economy; and the western oil sands, which spew huge amounts of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere.

Finally, all the revenue from Dion's carbon tax would flow into federal coffers. Provinces that took the lead – such as British Columbia with its groundbreaking carbon tax and Quebec with its tax on oil and gas distributors – would be expected to join the federal plan, losing their right to distribute the proceeds of the tax according to provincial needs.

"This is going to be messy – really messy," Jaccard warned.

No one in the room needed much convincing. For all Dion's talk about simplicity and fairness, it is clear the "green shift" he is proposing would be one of the most complex, challenging and divisive policy initiatives in Canadian political history.

But it took Graham's plain-spoken intervention to bring the debate back to basics.

He asked the question millions of Canadians will be asking, as they ponder Dion's climate change plan: Will I be a winner or a loser?

The Liberal leader's pledge to return every dollar of his carbon tax doesn't really answer that question.

Collectively, Canadians will be no worse off. But individually, their fates will vary, depending on how much they earn, where they live, how they heat their home, what they do for a living, how many children they have and how much flexibility they have to shrink their carbon footprint.

What Dion is proposing is a massive wealth transfer, designed to clean up the atmosphere, cut poverty and transform the industrial landscape.

If more voters see themselves as winner than losers, Dion's plan will fly. If not, it will fail.

The technicalities of taxing carbon may be opaque. The political calculus is crystal clear.

Carol Goar's column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Look In The Mirror For The Source Of The Problem

Tackling the dropouts 45 min. ago

Parents of young black youth in Toronto rightly despair about how their children are faring in the school system.

This Is Not Charlottetown......

.....and do we have a deputy police chief who has nothing better to do than make decisions on parking violations? And who are going to make the phone calls?

Miller: I'll fix parking mess (Just like he fixes everything else) TheStar.com - GTA - Miller: I'll fix parking mess

June 24, 2008 Vanessa Lu

CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF

Toronto is looking at an alternative solution to catch drivers who are using a massive court backlog to escape paying $30 parking tickets.

The dispute resolution system likely will be announced on Saturday as an alternative to appearing before a justice of the peace, Mayor David Miller said yesterday.

While Miller declined to offer any details, an example of an alternative system is used in Charlottetown, where ticketed drivers can pick up a dispute form from the police department or city hall. Submitted forms are then directed to the deputy police chief for a decision.

The driver is notified by telephone within three days of a decision.

More

You Wonder Why Crime Is "Rampant" On Our Streets?

Possibly because the judicial system in Ontario is a joke and is hard pressed to handle something as simple as parking tickets........

It's come to this -- fighting a ticket will mean a day's pay

By MARK BONOKOSKI

Night court will be in session tonight at Old City Hall, arguably the last waypoint for justice for the working stiff, and the court will sit again on Thursday evening.

Then it will be lights out.

Officially, night court does not end until July 1 but since it sits only two days a week -- Tuesdays and Thursdays -- and July 1 is Canada Day this Thursday will be it.

Then anyone wishing to fight a parking ticket or a Provincial Offences Act (POA) charge such as speeding will have to book a day off work to argue the case at Old City Hall's weekday sessions.

There'll be no other option.

For many, the principle of fighting a questionable charge will now have to be weighed against losing a day's pay to challenge it in day court.

The timeline of night court's demise, with the story hitting the headlines here in May, was learned from a letter obtained by the Sun to justices of the peace -- the arbiters of night court -- from Associate Chief Justice John Andrew Payne, co-ordinator of JPs for the Ontario Court of Justice.

What the letter showed was that night court had been on the chopping block for months but, because of scheduling complications, its demise kept getting extended.

When Thursday's night court session draws to a close, however, undoubtedly after hearing its usual average of 200 cases, all will come to an end.

The working public should be outraged.

The bureaucratic explanation for night court's dismissal came via an e-mail from Tara Dier, executive co-ordinator for the Office of the Chief Justice.

"Provincial Offences Act night courts in downtown Toronto are the only regularly scheduled night court of any type in the province," she wrote. "The decision has been made to terminate them as of July 1, 2008, to make the best use of judicial and court resources.

"Two new POA first ap -pearance courts, which are able to handle a large number of attendances by the public, have been initiated on Saturdays to ensure public access."

Despite Dier's implied as -surance of unfettered "public access," the initiation of a Saturday court will not fill the bill. Saturday court, in fact, will only accept guilty pleas or those pleas known as "guilty with an explanation" which, on occasion, can get speeds reduced and fines lessened.

CASH COWS FOR CITY

Pleas of "not guilty" will not be allowed.

"Public access," despite the comments from the chief justice's office, will certainly be marginalized when night court shuts down and the only option to fight a charge is to take a day off work.

Parking tickets and POA charges are cash cows, after all, so making it easy to fight them is not profit-productive.

Not that city hall has ever made it easy.

There has never been a ca -shier's kiosk at Old City Hall, meaning fines cannot be conveniently paid. And should you attempt to go directly to Metro Hall to pay the fine, the computers there will have no record of your conviction, or your fine, for at least three working days.

When it comes to parking tickets, those who choose the Trial Option cannot set a trial date by mail. Instead they must personally attend one of four venues -- Metro Hall, North York Civic Centre, York Civic Centre, or Parking Tags Operations East on Markham Rd. -- within 15 days. None is open past 6 p.m.

According to one report over the weekend, there are thousands who have already discovered that the best way to avoid paying a parking ticket is to so burden the court with trial requests that their case gets buried.

Since 2006, for example, some 250,000 requests for trials pertaining to a parking ticket have reportedly been submitted, but only 4,300 trial dates were ever issued.

This year, some 37,000 trials for $30 parking tickets have already been requested but, according to the report, not a single court date has yet been assigned.

When the lights go out in night court in about 72 hours, however, the last chance the average worker has to fight a one-sided system also goes out the window.

Lights out; game over.