Official Opposition critic for the Treasury Board, Alexandre Boulerice (Rosemont--La Petite-Patrie), wrote today to the President of the Treasury Board Tony Clement to ask him to explain the latest example of flawed accounting practices in his department and the possible misappropriation of funds.
New Democrats are asking Clement to explain the error involving the apparent mismanagement of hundreds of millions of dollars by Industry Canada and to take steps to review the estimates for other problems as well as implement a review of internal accounting procedures.
[...]men told her that she had to get up. Move to the back, they insisted.They were Orthodox Jews with full beards, sidecurls and long black coats, who told her that she was riding a “private bus” and a “Jewish bus.” When she asked why she had to move, a man scolded her.
“If God makes a rule, you don’t ask ‘Why make the rule?’” he told Franchy, who rode the bus at the invitation of a New York World reporter. She then moved to the back where the other women were sitting. The driver did not intervene in the incident.
The B110 bus travels between Williamsburg and Borough Park in Brooklyn. It is open to the public, and has a route number and tall blue bus stop signs like any other city bus. But the B110 operates according to its own distinct rules. The bus line is run by a private company and serves the Hasidic communities of the two neighborhoods. To avoid physical contact between members of opposite sexes that is prohibited by Hasidic tradition, men sit in the front of the bus and women sit in the back.
Left-wing councillor Joe Mihevc said “it's absolutely important for the tapes to be released to clear the air,” adding Torontonians should know how their elected officials treat city staff.
“If the tapes are not released, the absence of them basically verifies CBC’s version of events. If it turns out he behaved in the way CBC says he did, an apology is in order and people can question the appropriateness of his actions and his ability to serve as mayor.”
Compared to this crimson tub of vulgar, stupid ineptitude, Mel Lastman and even Ottawa’s clownish ex-mayor Larry O’Brien look like statesmen. How in the name of whatever gods that be could anyone have voted for this moron?
Comedian Mary Walsh recalls her Monday morning visit to Mayor Rob Ford’s house much differently than he does.
Walsh said the mayor’s daughter wasn’t there when she showed up in his driveway in character as the outlandish, loudmouthed Marg Delahunty.
“There was no child at all,” she told the Star. “I mean, was she inside his suit jacket? We never saw any children.”
Ford’s daughter was with him but fled back in the house crying and “freaking out,” the mayor told Newstalk 1010 Tuesday evening.
In the clip that aired on CBC’s This Hour has 22 Minutes on Tuesday night there were no children in sight outside Ford’s home.
Walsh, dressed in the red “warrior princess” garb her Delahunty character sometimes wears, ambushed Ford around 8 a.m. on Monday with a crew from the comedy show.
She said the mayor retreated inside his house and later emerged with a phone in hand as he was calling 911. That decision baffled Walsh, who said she wasn’t trying to alarm or upset him.
“I’m a 60-year-old woman with a plastic sword,” she said. “I was just going to give him a bit of friendly advice.”
Walsh said she called out to him: “Oh, a big husky guy like you, trying to call the police. Come on.”
The Toronto Police website says 911 should only be called in emergencies. They consider an emergency to be any situation where there are people or property at risk.
Spokesman Mark Pugash said police don’t comment on specific calls.
Ford’s office didn’t respond to requests for comment.
. . .
The CBC received less than a dozen complaints about the incident with the mayor, spokesperson Chris Ball said. The segment aired at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Oddly, wingnuts who claim that all those Anders Breivik socialist brat victims had it coming furious about comedians in someone's driveway.
In the video of the encounter, Ford seems at first to be playing along, but becomes increasingly agitated, asking, “Can I go to my car please?”
Ford eventually walked back inside his home and called 911 — not once, but twice.
Several police sources tell CBC News that Ford asked for police assistance but became agitated as he waited, and called back to ask when officers would arrive.
Sources say Ford turned on the dispatcher, yelling: “You … bitches! Don’t you f--king know? I’m Rob f--king Ford, the mayor of this city!”
Recordings of the call have spread like wildfire throughout the police service — even though officially Toronto police spokesman Mark Pugash tells CBC News they can't discuss a private call to the 911 service.
Dispatchers sent a crew on high priority, arriving at his Etobicoke home 10 minutes after the call.
The majority of guns owned by Canadians are non-restricted long guns. Should new legislation be passed as the Conservative government has pledged, there will be no requirement to register this class of weapon.The day when ReformaTory Attack Parrots™© - with their constant prevarications and obfuscations - become political dead ducks can't arrive too soon.
Once a gun is bought, it can be modified to make it more agile and functional. Common tactical additions include pistol grips, folding or collapsible buttstocks, sophisticated sights, flash hiders, and lightweight synthetic bodies.
When purchased, a Ruger Mini 14 or "Ranch Rifle" is a fairly standard semi-automatic rifle, shooting the same 5.56-calibre ammunition used by NATO militaries. But when modified with specialized parts, it becomes considerably more combat-ready, accurate and intimidating.
A heavily modified Ruger Mini 14 was the weapon of choice for Anders Breivik in the recent Norway shootings, as well as the weapon favoured by [the killer] in the École Polytechnique shootings in 1989.
The Mini 14 - and its big brother, the Mini 30 - are widely available in Canada for around $1,000 and are classified non-restricted.
Ratigan won the Gerald Loeb Award for 2004 coverage of the Enron scandal.
In Ratigan's final CNBC broadcast from the floor of the NYSE he reported on what he called "an important story developing" that Goldman Sachs and "a variety of European banks," in his assessment and that of his guests, essentially "perpetrated securities fraud" and an "insurance fraud scam" against AIG — and, by extension, the government and taxpayers funding that insurance company's "bailout" — by insuring their questionable investment vehicles and, upon their devaluation, making claims on them to be paid by AIG "at 100 cents on the dollar" despite all of the markdowns "being forced upon every other" entity including the government, banks, shareholders, bond holders, taxpayers and homeowners.
"I think that it should be a bigger political issue than whether somebody bought an airplane ... Forget the private jets, forget who got a million dollar bonus. Fifty billion dollars," he said, minimizing what he saw as populist side issues to "the real question" of how "government policy makers" are to deal with the "problems of contract law" inherent in the agreements of businesses receiving government assistance during the financial crisis.
"The banks are being asked to take 'haircuts' on their toxic assets, why are the Goldmans and the Deutsche Banks of the world not being asked to take haircuts on their toxic credit default swaps? It's a real question. I will continue to pursue it for sure, I hope others will as well." Ratigan praised New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's subpoena of AIG to determine the bank payouts as "legitimate inquiry" and looked forward to "a body of lawmakers in Washington D.C. who are going to ask, it appears, some of the same questions that I'm asking."
The takeaway: we’re pretty lucky to live in a city where, when people are suddenly rushed by a horde of sword-carrying ninjas, they assume it must be part of a harmless flash-mob stunt.
So Clement's defence is that the mayors made the recommendations, which they didn't, and that Baird made the decision, which he didn't.
We need to know why there was no paperwork for the auditor general, because we are up Muskoka River without a paddle if politicians are able to hide their files from the auditor general, the only official with the power to pierce the veil of secrecy in Ottawa.
Clement's explanations are gibberish, and he does not appear to have the judgment necessary for his current job as president of Treasury Board, the minister in charge of enforcing spending rules.
Prime ministers need loyal servants, so even though Clement's G8 shenanigans show that he is farcically ill-equipped to carry out his job, Harper is unlikely to move him or to force him to fully account for the rule-breaking porkfest in Muskoka.
From here.For more than three years, Quebecor has been using its newspapers, and more recently, its SunNews Network TV license to pursue a campaign against CBC/Radio-Canada. But there are some things Quebecor won’t tell you:
- Quebecor has received more than half a billion dollars in direct and indirect subsidies and benefits from Canadian taxpayers over the past three years, yet it is not accountable to them.
- Quebecor uses this public subsidy and its dominant position in protected industries to make record profits yet complains that its TVA television network "competes” against Radio-Canada.
- Quebecor boss Pierre Karl Péladeau has sent over a dozen letters to the Prime Minister and others in government to complain that Radio-Canada does not spend enough money advertising in his newspapers.
Anti-choice Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) just filed an anti-choice amendment to a bill related to agriculture, transportation, housing, and other programs. The DeMint amendment could bar discussion of abortion over the Internet and through videoconferencing, even if a woman’s health is at risk and if this kind of communication with her doctor is her best option to receive care.
Under this amendment, women would need a separate, segregated Internet just for talking about abortion care with their doctors.
Both the activist and political behavior of anti-choicers lately has made one thing excruciatingly clear: shame is the name of the their game. The vague principle of “life” has always been a farcical cover story for anti-choice sentiment, of course, and much of this website lately has been dedicated to drawing a line between recent anti-choice antics and how little relationship they have to this cover story about “life”. If anything, however, the response to being so exposed hasn’t caused anti-choicers to retreat and look for new ways to convince people that they aren’t the anti-sex misogynist obsessives that they are. They’ve just been doubling down lately, as two recent news stories show.
Start: Oct 22 2011 - 1:00pm
End: Oct 22 2011 - 3:00pm
Location: North-east corner of College St. and University Avenue Toronto, ON, Canada
From here.Caps Lock had its uses back in the olden days. [...]
By the 21st century, Caps Lock had become an outdated scourge. Modern-day personal computing—surfing the Web, writing school papers, chatting online—doesn't require nearly as much capitalization. As of 2010, the most-common Caps Lock users are enraged Internet commenters and the computer-illiterate elderly. The key's location makes it a frequent target for an aCCIDENTAL STRIKE when your pinky reaches for the "a." Worst of all, Caps Lock occupies prime real estate that could be deeded to a more useful key, like Control or even a second Enter button. In 2006, Belgian computer programmer Pieter Hintjen launched the "Caps Off" campaign to persuade hardware manufacturers to abandon the key. Their slogan: "STOP SHOUTING!" Many online publications ban comments that are typed in all caps. Some people pry the offending key right off their keyboards in protest.
So why has Caps Lock stuck around so long? The simplest explanation is technological inertia.
Today the GOP-led House of Representatives, with the blessings and encouragement of the United States Council of Catholic Bishops and extremist religious groups such as the Family Research Council, passed a bill in a vote of 251 to 172 that would, among other things, allow doctors and hospitals to "exercise their conscience" by letting pregnant women facing emergency medical conditions die.
Yes. Die.
This is what the Republicans called the "Protect Life Act." And no, I am not kidding.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called it what it is... "a savage assault on women's health."
In its short but feisty life, Sun News Network has emerged as the finest of comedy sources. I’ve said that before. But now it’s even funnier.
I thought few instances of rip-roaring satire in the history of Canadian comedy could match the time Sun News host Ezra Levant marked Earth Day by assaulting a potted plant with a chainsaw. Levant, wearing a lumberjack shirt and a hard hat, began by making a lengthy speech at a pulpit. [...]
Then an assistant fired up the chainsaw and, after some small difficulty getting a grip on the instrument, Levant committed an assault on the unfortunate plant.
Sheer genius. Earth Day, Soviet communism and a chainsaw wielded by a guy not too familiar with the instrument.
"Hold on to your cowboy hats kids because there is a big surprise coming up on The A-List Dallas — an appearance from none other than Ms. Ann Coulter. While Ms. Coulter’s political viewpoints are a frequent source of debate, she has always been somewhat supportive of the gay community."
How can someone always be somewhat something? And Coulter supportive of the gays? Like when she endorsed Don’t Ask Don’t Tell? Or when she spoke in support of reparative therapy?
The majority of Ontarians oppose taxpayer funding of abortion according to a poll commissioned by Campaign Life Coalition, LifeSiteNews.com, and The Interim. More than six in ten Ontarians oppose the status quo of paying for all abortions in the province while just three in ten support subsidizing this unnecessary, elective surgery.
According to an Abacus Data poll, 40 per cent of respondents think abortion should be available but only funded in medical emergencies, while 11 per cent think abortion should be available but never funded, and 10 per cent do not think abortion should be available at all. In contrast, 30% think abortion should be available and always funded. Another 8 per cent said none of those positions match their view.
While overall a significant majority (81%) of Ontarians feel that abortions should be available to those who choose to have one, a majority (61%) also oppose government funding of all abortions, including many of those who support access to abortion.
Statistical Evidence:
Abortions in Ontario per year: 32,000 (Canadian Institute for Health Information) to 51,000 (Source: Project for an Ontario Women’s Health Evidence-Based Report (POWER)
Average cost of an abortion: $1000 (Joyce Arthur, Pro-Choice Action Network)
Annual cost of abortions (excluding complications): 32,000 x 1,000 = <$32 M to $51M
“The poll results show that a clear majority opposes the status quo of taxpayer funding for all abortions, proving that politicians should not be afraid to address abortion defunding.” said Jim Hughes, President of Campaign Life Coalition. “What politician or political party will have the guts to stand up for taxpayers and accountability to resist paying for the personal choice to destroy an unborn human being?” asked Hughes.
From here.John Baird brought Canadian funding for efforts to build democracy and control weapons in Libya, but it was the guest list for his trip to Tripoli that pointed to another priority: Executives from big Canadian companies travelled with him.
The foreign minister flew to the Libyan capital with heavy security and secrecy, but also executives from Montreal engineering giant SNC-Lavalin, Alberta oil giant Suncor and Calgary-based pipeline-technology firm Pure Technologies.
There is a picture, drawn by Polish cartoonist Marek Raczkowski: a crowd of people demonstrating in the street, carrying aloft a big banner that simply reads "FUUUCK!''. This is exactly how many young, well-educated, open-minded people felt on their way to the polling booth last Sunday. And these Poles voted for Janusz Palikot, whose recently created Movement party ended up coming third, with 10% of votes. His success is without a doubt the most thrilling story to come out of these elections. So who is this man, and why did 10% of Polish voters back him?
Palikot's Movement is the first political party in our country that has not been afraid to open up a debate about such sensitive subjects as a secular state, civil unions for heterosexual and homosexual couples, in-vitro fertilisation reimbursed by national health insurance, or a modern drug policy.
Thanks to Palikot's Movement, we now have the first openly homosexual politician in our parliament, Robert Biedron, and the first transsexual woman, Anna Grodzka. It almost feels like the day when the first black president of the United States was elected. One of the first things Biedron said after hearing the election results was: "A few years ago neighbours from my town used to throw rocks at me when I went jogging, because I was gay. And now Poles have chosen me to be their deputy. This is unbelievable. Our country is changing!"
The eccentric Palikot first conquered our hearts when he was Civic Platform's deputy a couple of years ago: during a now infamous press conference, he waved a plastic vibrator and a toy pistol around in order to call attention to a cover-up about a young woman who had been raped at a police station. Another time, he brought the bleeding stump of a bull's head onto a popular TV show, as a "mafia gift". Palikot has imagination and courage, and has earned enough from his previous career so that him and his family do not depend on the deputy's salary.
In my opinion, there is one conclusion we can draw from Palikot's victory: 10% of Poland's voters are willing to wave their metaphorical pink vibrators at the political establishment. Their vote was Poland's equivalent of camping on Madrid's Puerta del Sol or occupying Wall Street. Next, they want to hear some serious political solutions.
On October 15, our crack team of well dressed artists, designers, and wardrobers will deliver racks and racks of business attire, free of charge to anyone at Liberty Square. We'll be joined by progressive tailors, radical barbers, and folks who want everyone to look great.
The way you say it matters as much as what you say. So say it in style. Say it in a suit.
What We Need and What You Get
You can help us realize this vision with your donations. Twenty dollars will put a protester in a crisp thrift store suit.
Or mail us a nice suit you're not using anymore. It’s free if you mail it from work. Here's our address:
Proper Business Attire Working Group
C/O The House of Yes
342 Maujer Street
Brooklyn, NY
11206
Extra suits and late deliveries will be donated to Threads for Success, an innovative New York City program that dresses young people in the justice system for court appearances and job interviews.
Let's get organized.
Look sharp. The whole world is watching.
Other Ways You Can Help
Post our campaign to anyone who needs to see it.
And straighten your tie.
Just to put things in perspective, 0.492 x 0.3762 = 18.5% of Ontarians voting for McGimpy, and 81.5% choosing to do "other".
so what, that would mean Hudak got around 17% .. 83% chose "other"
In short, conservatives in this country, at least of the partisan, capital-C variety, have lost their nerve. They do not believe in themselves, yet somehow hope the public will. They reek of flop-sweat, calculation and guile, yet ask the public to trust in their leadership. They offer no alternative, yet campaign on “change.” It is a formula guaranteed to fail, as it has done, over and over again. Yet it is the one they return to, over and over again.
BTW, I love this: "They reek of flop-sweat, calculation and guile." Impossible to read that without seeing Hudak.
Reporters were never told, for good reason. The replacement bus formerly belonged to Wayne Newton, party insiders said, and featured a stage complete with a stripper pole in the back.
[...]domestic violence advocates in Topeka say it’s already putting vulnerable people at increased risk. Since the county stopped prosecuting the crimes on September 8th, it has turned back 30 domestic violence cases. Sixteen people have been arrested for misdemeanor domestic battery and then released from the county jail after charges weren’t filed. “Letting abusive partners out of jail with no consequences puts victims in incredibly dangerous positions,” said Becky Dickinson of the YWCA. “The abuser will often become more violent in an attempt to regain control.” The YMCA also said that some survivors associated with their Center for Safety and Empowerment were afraid for their safety if the dispute wasn’t resolved soon.
The Conservatives say their massive new crime bill, which includes nine separate pieces of legislation, will cost $78.5 million over five years, part of bigger justice agenda the government says will cost $2.7 billion.
But Page, who has been asked by the Opposition parties to cost out the bill by mid-November, told The Canadian Press the government estimate includes no methodology, no supporting information and no provincial costs. Nor can Page find the $2.7 billion expenditure listed in any federal budget of the past two years.
From here, where Kady O'Malley eviscerates the truthiness of the above agit-prop produced by the Contempt Party's propaganda machine, aka Stevie's Politburo.
Today our government introduced the Budget Implementation Act II which includes measures to eliminate the Per Vote Party Subsidy. In November 2008, our government committed to ending this tax on voting that will save the Government of Canada around $30 million per year. This move is being heavily criticized by the NDP, who receive most of their funding from large unions and have come to rely on this subsidy for a portion of their annual funding. This disrespect for taxpayers' money is yet another reason why the NDP are not fit to govern.
"In our country the lie has become not just a moral category but a pillar of the State - Alexander Solzhenitsyn."
Robin Denselow writes: Bert Jansch was that rarity, a musician who really did deserve to be regarded as a legend, and who retained that status throughout his career. He was an extraordinary guitarist and a thoughtful songwriter, and generations of would-be pickers sat at his concerts watching his fingerwork with envy and astonishment.
He was influenced by traditional songs, blues and the "folk-baroque" of Davy Graham, but his distinctive style always allowed him to take chances and work with different musicians. When I first met him, as a student journalist in the 1960s, he was outselling Bob Dylan in the folk shops along the Charing Cross Road, and told me: "I'm not recording for anyone, just myself."
Years later, visiting him at his garden flat in Kilburn, it always struck me how little he had changed – he was still a tousled-haired figure with a slight mumble and quiet sense of humour, happiest when picking up a guitar and discussing music. One of the most memorable of Bert's shows was his 60th birthday celebration at London's South Bank, when he ran through the full gamut of his work, joined by younger fans including Johnny Marr, Bernard Butler and Hope Sandoval. He was a unique performer.
It was described by evangelical pastor Jerry Falwell as "obscene trash."
High schools and public libraries banned it, while teenagers -- male and female -- hid it under their beds like a dirty magazine.
Women across the country passed it to their friends, their sisters, their neighbors. They read chapters about rape in closets with flashlights. They gaped in dorm rooms at the photos of childbirth.
The landmark women's health handbook was filled with sometimes graphic information about the most intimate aspects of women's lives. It was revolutionary in its candid discussions -- and depictions -- of the specifics of sex, birth control, childbirth, lesbianism and other formerly taboo topics.
In 1971, the first "Our Bodies, Ourselves" book sold 250,000 copies. Today, it is available in 25 languages and has sold more than 4 million copies.
It's hard to believe it all began in Boston with just 12 women.
“My little girl Miller – it’s her birthday today – is just four and she has started JK,” he said. “The notion that Dalton McGuinty thinks a priority in education is sex-education curriculum starting at Grade 1 when they should be learning their ABCs and how to tie their shoes is another example of how Dalton McGuinty has lost touch with mainstream Ontario.”
Kainat Soomro is a 17-year-old Pakistani girl who has become a local celebrity of sorts in her battle for justice in the Pakistani courts, a daring move for a woman of any age in this country, let alone a teenager.She is fighting to get justice for a gang rape that she insists happened four years ago in Mehar, a small town in Pakistan.
We first met her in the office of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. A colorful traditional Pakistani shawl covered her head. Her father sat next to her as she recounted the 2007 incident.
"I was walking home from my school and I went to the store to buy a toy for my niece," she said, staring at the floor of the office. "While I was looking at things a guy pressed a handkerchief on my nose. I fainted and was kidnapped. Then four men gang raped me."
As she shared details of her days in captivity and multiple rapes, she kept repeating, "I want justice, I will not stop until I get justice."
