Olympics: Dodged a Bullet, Set a Precedent?

Mayor Dad announced yesterday that Toronto is not going to bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Good.

As observant readers have noted, this blog was opposed to the greed-corruption-anti-democracy festival that the Olympics bring to town.

What galled me the most was the total needlessness of this kabuki.

Some points:
• We had already decided against this idiocy until John Tory got a bee in his bonnet and decided to drag us all through his dithering for more than a month.

• An Olympic bid was not on anyone's agenda. No one campaigned on it. It had zero interest, let alone support. (See link above. Not one person appeared at the economic development committee meeting to speak in favour of a bid.)

• One man, John Tory, all jacked up on Pan Am juice -- a third-rate sports event, amounting to a "high school track meet" in comparison to the Olympics -- decided to revisit an issue that no one gave a shit about. Why? Who knows? Maybe because he's an elite former executive who wants to run a one-man show.

• Speaking of which, Tory completely ignored elected representatives on city council, while lying his ass off about consulting them.

• Speaking of which, look how many council members refused to disclose where they stood on the matter, despite being repeatedly asked by constituents and media. (And kudos to those who did.)

• And finally the total lack of transparency. Which, one gathers, is typical for this sort of elite takeover of civic processes, but which, none the less, is infuriating.

In short, I was deeply offended and mightily pissed off by the sheer gall of elites deciding that we peons were going to pay BILLIONS for a big-ass party, while having no bloody say in it at all.

Then, as the topper, Mayor Dad calls a press conference to gather on the roof of a snack shop -- and doesn't that just scream World Class City? -- to blather on and on about how carefully HE considered everything (someone really should count the number of first-person pronouns in that speech; it's embarrassing) only to decide HE couldn't look people in the eye …

The truth is, I can’t look people in the eye at this point in our city’s development and tell them that an Olympic bid is the best use of our time, our energy, or our investment.

John Tory, the very embodiment of the Olympic Spirit -- in all its entitlement and noblesse oblige.

Toronto is entering dangerous territory here that I and Cityslikr thought we had faced and (barely) survived in the Rob Ford era.

But even if the mayor declines to proceed, city council needs to make it clear, in the strongest way possible, that this was never a mayor’s decision to make alone, that all the behind-the-scenes, Freedom of Information access only deliberations were unacceptable and undemocratic. If Mayor Tory’s doing all that on an Olympic bid, what else is going on back there?

City council needs to nip this mayor’s imperious inclinations in the bud now. It needs to show the mayor exactly who the boss is here. Like Rob Ford before him, Mayor Tory seems to have claimed a mayoral mandate as some sort of executive fiat. He’ll keep thinking that until city council shows him otherwise.

Wakey, wakey, city council.

And citizens of Toronto.


UPDATE: Janice Forsyth, who was a strong voice for reason and facts, still has questions too.

Had It With the Fords?

Do something.

Jude MacDonald (twitter) has been doing heroic work in trying to stop the fucking Fords' abuse of City Hall property and resources for political campaigning.

Such activity is verboten.

And it's pretty clear.

VII. ELECTION CAMPAIGN WORK

Members are required to follow the provisions of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996. No member shall use the facilities, equipment, supplies, services or other resources of the City (including Councillor newsletters and websites linked through the City’s website) for any election campaign or campaign-related activities. No member shall undertake campaign-related activities on City property during regular working hours unless permitted by City policy (e.g., all candidates meetings). No member shall use the services of persons for election-related purposes during hours in which those persons receive any compensation from the City.

According to Jude, the person responsible for maintaining proper conduct is the City Manager. Email: talktocitymanager@toronto.ca

I wrote to both my councillor and the City Manager.

You can too.

Find your councillor's contact information.

Here's what I wrote.

Dear City Manager/Councillor:

Mainly from Twitter -- the mainstream media does not seem to think this is worth reporting -- I have been watching for months the Fords misuse City Hall property and resources for political campaigning.

I realize that there is some leeway possible in interpreting what is campaigning and what is communicating but yesterday I believe there was an unequivocal case of blatantly illegal use of City resources.

Jeff Silverstein, former campaign staffer for Rob Ford and now apparently in the employ of Doug Ford, was seen entering the Mayor's office yesterday and spending some considerable time there with Doug and others. CP24 confirmed the sighting, along with many ordinary individuals.

The Mayor is in hospital and has withdrawn his candidacy for mayor.

Mr. Silverstein is not an employee of the City. There is zero possible justification for this action.

Doug Ford is continuing to abuse his position as brother of the mayor. Now that he is a candidate himself, it is time -- finally -- to take him to task and force him to stop.

City Hall staff must be instructed to follow protocol and inform the necessary officials when there are similar breaches of security.

I don't know what other measures can be taken, but they should bloody well be taken.

Thank you for your time.

And here's how a concerned citizen responded to my report on Twitter that I had done it.

.@TerryTowel1 At least I sent in a pissed-off dust-catcher. Not much we can do but I'm fucking well going to do it. #topoli

— Fern Hill (@fernhilldammit) September 16, 2014

The fucking Fords will continue to get away with egregious behaviour unless they're stopped.

And apparently, nobody but us citizens is willing to at least try.


UPDATE (Sept. 17/14): Action!

Toronto’s rules are clear: incumbents can’t use their city-funded offices for election purposes. After complaints from residents, some of them affiliated with the Rob Ford Must Go/Doug Ford Must Go sit-in outside the mayor’s office, city manager Joe Pennachetti is planning to send a “reminder regarding the policy to all members of council” this week, city spokeswoman Wynna Brown said.

Brown would not say whether the reminder was prompted by complaints about the mayor’s office in particular.

Oh, rilly?

Toronto the Good

Well, this is some shitty mayoral campaign we've got going here in Toronto.

Rob Fucking Ford is all lies all the time. David Sockacki has ideas and position papers but is dull as dishwater. And the other supposedly front-runners are depressingly namby-pamby.

For a great and recent example, read Matt Elliott on what the candidates have to say about finances and inflation.

Even worse, all (except Soknacki and Ari Goldkind) are running on the current understanding and practice of populism.

The biggest disappointment is Olivia Chow. I endorsed her back on March 13.

I still like her and think she'd be a good mayor, but her campaign is driving me -- and all the progressives I know -- nuts.

Yesterday, a tweeter named Karen Geier grabbed my attention and that of a bunch of others with her criticisms of Chow's campaign.

Here's the first tweet that arrested me.

.@oliviachow consider that you're being beaten in the polls by a corporate shill who was a fundraiser for the mayor. It's inconceivable.

— Karen Geier (@karengeier) August 15, 2014

She continued to point out the many deficiencies in the campaign, including this one.

.@oliviachow the fact remains that Kinsella was LEGITIMATELY SURPRISED when Horwath lost. You can't afford a delusional campaign

— Karen Geier (@karengeier) August 15, 2014

She, like many of us, really doesn't want to vote for another middle-/upper-classs white male, but Olivia is not making it easy for us.

Geier put her tweets together in a Storify titled Dear Olivia Chow. It's had more than 6500 views since yesterday, and going by Geier's (do follow her by the way) tweets today, she's taking some crap for it.

Toronto under the Fucking Fords has lost a ton of ground. Toronto used to be a leader in things like transit, inclusiveness, and the environment.

So many of us are longing not just to get rid of the bloated, lying, criminal fool we have as mayor but to return to Toronto the Good.

Toronto the Good
• on transit and transportation in general
• on affordable and innovative housing
• on parks and public spaces
• on libraries and community centres and programmes
• on the environment
• on the arts and creativity.

And on prudence and planning and the acceptance of the really rather simple idea that THINGS COST MONEY.

Olivia could be a leader if she'd set her own narrative, be her own person, and boot all the delusional advisors who are telling her to play the Populist Game.

Olivia would have my vote if she could pull it off.

There's still time for her to do it.

But not much.

My vote, like Geier's, is up for grabs.

UPDATE (August 20/14): Today's Kinsella idiocy. Note non-apology and Chow camp's attempt to distance themselves. Kinsella is "just" a volunteer. Yeah, right. A volunteer whose company has been hired to do media work.

Forget the Gong Show, Let's Concentrate on City Council

Well, Matt Galloway on MetroMorning did the best job (so far) of any interviewer's attempt to hold Rob Fucking Ford to account.

Given this, at least:

No interviewer can possibly keep up with the volume velocity of Rob Ford's lies.

— Ryan Day (@lizzhatesme) March 28, 2014

But there are still seven months to go for interviewers and opponents to learn how better to deal with RFF's bullshit. We live in hope.

If RFF's tenure has taught us anything, it's that while a mayor can embarrass the hell out of us, under a weak mayor system, she or he needs collaborators on council to get things done.

I propose turning our attention away from the giant gong show that is the mayoral race to wannabe city councillors.

We need to rid Council of the morons, the toadies, and the mindlessly ambitious, which of course puts Mammo at the top of the heap, overlapping all categories as he does so effectively.

OK, then. Here is an immensely useful graphic (more about its provenance below*). I'm sorry it's kind of hard to read.

It's arranged in rings by year, innermost being 2011, when RFF had max influence. Note how much support he had then.

By 2012, less support, more opposition. Even more so by 2013.

For an overview, this is very handy. For my money, no one with a preponderance of blue and green should be returned to office.

Here is the list of current councillors. Find yours.

Next step, follow @GraphicMatt who has been doing heroic work in tracking how each councillor voted, presented in colour-coded tables.

Some examples here and here. You can also find his work at
MetroNews.

Decide whether your incumbent deserves your support. If so, get your butt out for him or her.

If not, check out who else is running. Here is the current list of contenders. The list will no doubt grow. Some incumbents have not yet registered. And some contenders are probabaly still testing the waters.

Check them out. Find someone with ideas, integrity, and a lively sense of civic responsibility.

For example, Dan Fox is contesting Ward 24, now held by blue/green Ford-supporter David Shiner. Dan could use some volunteers.

Remember that the mayor, while potentially possessed of great persuasive power, has only one vote.

There are 44 others that -- collectively -- matter more.

*Provenance of graphic: It was tweeted by cinemaven. I asked and looked but couldn't find an original, even though it says "thegridto.com" in the corner. I tweeted a couple of times asking for help and got no joy. In particular, I complained about how hard it was to read, how it needed embiggening.

Well. In my email last night was a message from Ace Blogger and Photoshopper Extraordinaire Alison @ Creekside, with an improved and slightly embiggened version of the chart. Yes, that Alison, who to the dismay of the masses does NOT have a Twitter account. So, how did she get my bat signal Alison signal?

She's not saying, is she? Me, I think she has an alter ego on Twitter. Maybe @80sDougFord. Feel free to speculate in the comments.


ADDED: Of course there are municipal elections across Ontario this year. All of us need to do our duty and vote good people in.

A Few Facts (ahem) about John Tory

Most people who've been around for a while know this one.



Watch for young sprog Tory starting about 2:19. Ending with Kim Campbell and we know how her campaign went.

Here's Wiki:

The decision to launch the ads was taken mainly by PC campaign director John Tory along with Allan Gregg. . .

Arguably, the modern age of vicious attack ads was launched with that beaut.

Now, courtesy of a John Tory parody account, two stories you may not know (I didn't).

The Missing Years in John Tory's Resume, aka The Cable Guy.

From 2001 until 2009 John Tory was a director of Charter Communications, at the time it was America's 3rd largest cable and internet company. He was also a member of Charter's audit committee. It looked as though he was going to do the right thing and resign when he became PC leader and an MPP.
. . .
Long story short, Charter Communications filed for Chapter 11  bankruptcy protection on April 1, 2009. Under John's watchful eye as a director and member of the audit committee, Charter which was then America's 4th largest Cable TV company had amassed $20 billion of debt that it couldn't repay.
. . .
Charter had collapsed under a huge debt, but it also never made a penny of profit in all of the years John was there. 
. . .
John Tory's run with Charter Communications came to sad ending in 2009.  John takes credit for successfully leading, managing and obtaining results from large, complex organizations.
. . .
He may have stabilized the CFL, and he still is intimately involved in the Oligopoly that is Rogers, but in the real world of business he presided over one of the largest bankruptcies in America, #14 on Forbes list link

So why is this significant?

It is omitted from his resume (and only mentioned in arcane references buried deep inside corporate filings) even though Charter Communications was 3 times the size of Rogers' cable and internet businesses.
. . .
Pretty much all of John's business life he has been in companies his dad either owned or had great influence over.  Charter Communications was different. It was an American company and it was big. When John closed the door behind him at Charter, the company was unable to pay its debt and its shareholders were wiped out.

No wonder he excluded Charter from his resume.

Some business man, eh?

And now for some very recent prevarications. Watch Tory make shit up.



And now for my fave photo (so far). Anyone for cricket?

ADDED: More extensive fact-checking of the bogus humble beginnings fable.
Just a regular guy. Much like Rob Ford, in fact, with a bit of gloss.

Who ya gonna call?

Super Nanny!

On Twitter just now:

Hey, d'you think SuperNanny would help us out with our mayor? Anyone have her contact details?

— Laura (@LauraCEStewart) February 25, 2014

I've actually seen Super Nanny. I don't have children, but the show is fascinating in a train-wreck kinda way.

Have a look at this audition, aka plea, from this family, called "When your child's the school bully."





Too bad Super Nanny wasn't around when the Fords were children.

Not that Diane (The Enabler In Chief) Ford would have called.

Doug and Rob Ford, the morality police and patriotism.

Yes, you read that correctly.

For three days in a row, the political horror show known as Doug and Rob Ford has been exploiting homophobia in all its multiple hate-mongering facets to further ingratiate themselves with their bigoted fans and followers.

On Wednesday at the first mayoral candidates' forum of the 2014 Toronto municipal election, Mayor Mascot made a point of disclosing that his non-attendance at Toronto Pride is a personal and political boycott.

“I’m not going to go to Pride Parade. I’ve never gone to a Pride Parade so I’m not going to change the way I am,” Ford said.

On Thursday at City Hall, his brother Doug defended his brother's position by attacking the Pride Parade. In a four minute tirade about the event, he said five times that seeing "buck naked men" was disturbing.

In response to Ford's putative not-homophobic screed, Kristyn Wong-Tam who represents the ward that includes Church-Wellesley, and a blatant non-heterosexual councillor said:

Doug Ford [seems] to be doing “a bit of baiting,” possibly to “appeal to a homophobic base within his supporters.”

She said Pride is “so much more than just a handful of people who decide to express themselves in ways that not everyone would understand.” Referring to the mayor’s own controversial behaviour, she said his administration is not in a position to criticize the morality of others.

“Should the morality police descend on the mayor’s office or the mayor’s home, they may have something to say about public drunken stupors and behaviour, crack cocaine use, the allegations of domestic assault (a charge against Rob Ford was dropped in 2008), marijuana and hash dealing (Doug Ford has denied a Globe report that he was a dealer in the 1980s), improper use of city resources, drunken outrage, public urination, cultural appropriation of a Jamaican accent. I would imagine that it’s best not to judge,” Wong-Tam said.

Doug Ford has used such rhetoric before. In opposing a city hall bike station with public showers, he said the facility would turn into a “bathhouse” involving “hanky-panky” and “a towel boy handing out towels.”

On Friday this happened.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford appears to have lost a fight to remove a rainbow flag flying at city hall.

The flag, an international symbol of gay rights, went up on one of the many flagpoles outside city hall on Friday, just as the opening ceremonies of the Winter Games were underway in Russia.

The flag-raising was meant as a response to Olympic host country Russia's anti-gay laws. Several other municipalities around Canada have done the same.

Ford wanted it taken down as soon as he saw it.
The Olympics, "is about being patriotic to your country, this is not about someone's sexual preference," he told reporters.

But it's not his decision to have the flag taken down. The city's protocol officer is the only one who decides what flags fly from the city hall`s "courtesy" pole. That pole hosts all sorts of flags during the year — for autism week, fair trade, and to honour the national days of dozens of countries, from Azerbaijan to Israel. The Canadian flag is always flying on several other poles around city hall.

My co-blogger Fern Hill went looking for news items about rainbow flags flying in other Canadian cities; she also discovered what hisser means in French.  Which led her to craft these bilingual bon mots:

Check out the LOVESOCHi campaign in support of gay rights — and its magnificent photos — on Twitter. 

Should Doug Ford be told by an adult to shut up?

Last week we wrote this, about Doug Ford and his histrionics.

The more bullies like him and Rob bellow their loathsome discourse, the quicker it become evident how mendacious they truly are.

Today Doug Ford described Karen Stintz in disparaging terms, at a Toronto council meeting about how the city might handle future natural disasters like the ice storm. The Fordzilla brothers reacted to her criticism about Rob Ford's activities with their well-honed two-fer tactics: temper tantrums and name-calling.

From here: “You saw for the first time Karen Stintz going unglued. I’ve seen it numerous times,..." Doug Ford said.

Norm Wilner is a seasoned observer of the Toronto political and cultural environment.  He also tweeted this:

Before the council meeting, Mayor Ford was asked by reporters about his campaigning activities on the weekend.  A female journalist had the temerity to ask him if he had been drinking. His response was to suggest she was jealous - yes jealous - of the prurient attention that he draws when he appears in public.

Wilmer's observation about Rob Ford's attitudes towards women was not pulled out of thin air.  

In December, Ford said: "Women love money," [...] Ford added that while he planned to get his wife "some treats on the side," his big gift to her would be "a nice cheque." "I get a basket and flowers and a little bit of this and that, but at the end of the day, she wants her cash," he said. "So I give her a nice cheque and we're all happy." 

From here.  

The Sun reported recently that Ford bragged about what he did give his spouse Renata at Christmas. 

Since Ford doesn't let his wife talk to reporters, we'll have to take his word that "she's really really happy".

At this point, Diane, the Ford matriarch, may be the only one who might be able to get Doug and Rob to shut up.  Though it's unlikely she would do so; she gets gratification from her boys attacking women who are councillors and journalists and professionals; they are paid to speak their mind.  That's not why women get "a nice cheque" in the Ford family.  

My co-blogger fernhill has written quite a bit about the dysfunctional Fords. 

When men are "silenced"...

by women, no less!!! HOW DARE THEY?!?!?!

TORONTO - Councillor Janet Davis told Councillor Doug Ford to shut his “f---ing mouth” Wednesday.
Davis walked over and whispered the comment directly to Mayor Rob Ford’s brother during a budget committee meeting.
She dropped the f-bomb shortly after the committee rejected a motion to spend $409,000 for an eight-site expansion of the After-school Recreation and Care (ARC) Program. Ford had argued against the spending and accused councillors of wanting to “waste taxpayers’ money.”
The private R-rated remark prompted Ford to jump to his feet and announce Davis had told him to “keep my f---ing mouth shut” and called the comment “disgusting.”
“I don’t need that talk up here. Why don’t you just leave? You call yourself a lady, give me a break,” Ford shouted at Davis.

From here.

Some years ago, when I volunteered at the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre and then, at the Ottawa Sexual Assault Support Centre, I fielded requests to staff an information table or represent the organization at an educational event.

This occasion sticks in my memory.  It was held at a public high school. One of the teachers had determined it was a good idea for the students to learn more about acquaintance and date rape.

The impetus for this activity was the experience of one young woman who was "allegedly" assaulted by young men that she knew. The circumstances were very similar to what was inflicted upon Rehtaeh Parsons. When she reported the incident to the local police and tried to have charges filed, she and her mother were treated with derision and contempt.

After the noon-time information fair, where CHEO, the Ottawa police, Planned Parenthood, SASC and other community groups were present, students in grades 11, 12 and 13 filed into the assembly hall.

There was a panel of speakers, assembled to speak on the topic. Two participants stand out in my mind: the young woman whose experience was germane to the event, and a cop from the division where she tried to report her assault.

Yes. Both these individuals were on the panel, separated by other folks whose "expertise" on the matter I forget.  There was nobody from ORCC or SASC sitting there.

Clearly someone, probably a vice-principal, thought it was a good idea to give the police an opportunity to respond to the young woman's damning story.

Which she recounted haltingly, with no tears but with a quiet assurance.

Unfortunately, the next person on the panel to speak was .... yes, you guessed it ... the cop.

Rather than explaining in neutral terms the legal procedure for reporting crimes of sexual assault and providing legal definitions, he started justifying why the cops at his station determined that the complainant's report was "unfounded" — by recounting his version of the story, intently and intentionally attacking her credibility.

The sight and sound of a fifty-something cop re-assaulting this young woman without any challenges from the teachers or other people on the panel infuriated me.

You know how these days, people post TW - trigger warning - in front of links to articles or testimonies about traumatic events, usually child abuse, intimate violence, sexual assault, and so on?

Well.  That cop's malicious and unimpeded verbal aggression upon this young woman triggered something in me.

I was standing at the back of the hall; I had followed the students in and there were no seats left. 

I felt it before it actually exploded out of me.  A rumble, starting at the bottom of my torso moved upwards and was propelled out of my mouth.

SHUT UP!  JUST SHUT UP!

It was very, very loud.

The audience members, whose sympathies clearly lay with their peer, and who had been rustling uncomfortably during the cop's screed, broke into applause.  Some teachers craned their necks, trying to establish where the explosion had originated.

The cop's mouth was open. He closed it, he looked at the person who had made a mess of moderating this so-called panel. She looked away. He sat down.

Someone else hastily rose to address the assembly, a guidance teacher I think.  I was stunned, actually, by the force of what had just happened.  It had occurred reflexively, like an arm raised to ward off a blow.

Here's the thing.  Bullies like Doug Ford and the cop at this event are not used to being told to shut up.  Doug, a crafty political strategist, nimbly reacted to his colleague's quiet remonstrance by cranking up the volume and histrionically exploiting the incident to his advantage, playing to his Ford Nation following. He claimed victimhood.

That happens a lot.  In the House of Commons' Question Period and elsewhere.  Many have documented how bellowing men effectively silence their female critics with ad hominem tactics 

Research about the verbal space occupied by women and men is also revealing.

Paul Simon sang, years ago:

These are the days of miracle and wonder This is the long distance call The way the camera follows us in slo-mo The way we look to us all...

It behooves us to find a way to disarm this "live grenade" tactic, to move on to more compassionate and (dare I use this word, especially as I suggested to impolitical that Rob Ford has made it radioactive, in Ontario at least) authentic  forms of communication.

iSlamming Rob Ford!

Unintended outcome ... for the win!

Cue the shrieeeking from Ford Nation and other rightwing nut jobs.

Has Ezra Levant seen this?

The above is probably a consequence of Rob's incoherent rant at Toronto City council on Monday.

Bigger fish...

Through all the mind-numbing histrionics of the Rob Ford saga, the large pachyderm in the room is not the Mayor himself but THE question: what could be the target of Toronto police investigations?

It was StunTV Ezra Levant who indirectly raised the edge of the rug, with his habitual shrieeking excesses on the Ford Nation premiere* yesterday. His flamboyant misdirection might have backfired, in this case.

At DJ! we started wondering about the Fords' agenda, back when Rob tried so desperately to bring a casino to Toronto.

Gambling and organized crime are long-time associates. It's worth noting that Sheldon Adelson is a huge supporter of the Republican party, and is currently under investigation.

And now, the Fords have retained the counsel of George Rust-d'Eye** to defend Rob's interests. Some say he's an over-rated, over-priced, way past his best-before-date shill. Will taxpayers have to pay for Crack Mayor's legal bills?

Rust-D'Eye is known for spectacular invoices that he believes reflect every penny's worth of his *expertise*, and his overbearing manner of delivery.

A carefully cultivated façade of punctilious and unctuous civility... The man has a history of advancing semi-truth, under the cover of legal advice and 'integrity'... though eventually facts do surface.

But back to Levant. The overweening excuse for his trademark trashy and flashy infotainment glurge: that he has a civic duty to speculate about the underbelly of his ideological and political opponents.

So, let's speculate about the Fords, shall we?  Are investigations also probing the possible existence of organized crime schemes? 

Is the family business involved with wise guys?  Did the illegal adolescent antics of Doug, Kathy and Rob provide leverage to pressure Doug Senior into mutually beneficial business arrangements?

There are historical precedents.  The Kennedy dynasty and wealth was founded on criminal entrepreneurship.  And the stench never left that cursed, tragic family, in spite of patriarch Joe's obssessive drive for respectability and political power.

Consider the range of resources dedicated to Ford surveillance.  It only makes sense to use a plane and that level of staff deployment if there's much, much more involved than only Rob scoring dope. Are there many Canadian and US law-enforcement agencies conducting forensic analysis to follow financial transactions and shipment of goods? 

Project Traveller looked at guns and gangs. Project Brazen dealt with drug dealers.

What else could there be... Money-laundering? Drug-smuggling? Contracted murders?

What other factual dots remain to be connected?

Here's a link to a brilliant compilation of Ford Bros shenanigans from Alison at Creekside. The picture at the top is her work.

My co-blogger fern hill has done much heavy lifting to date, in blogposts after blogposts about dodgy and bizarre Ford clan machinations, as well as documents linking them to criminal elements.

If TPS investigators have diligently and scrupulously gathered evidence required so that charges can be filed, and prosecutors can make their case, it will be an EPIC take-down.  No wonder Police Chief Blair was so circumspect during his media conference.

Unfortunately, the Fords (and their silent business partners?) have deep, deep pockets.  

As with Michael Bryant, lawyers will use all the legal tactics and loopholes available to get their clients off the hook, if the TPS investigation even gets to trial.

It was clearly said here, you can bully and bluff your way out of anything, when you're a wealthy, christian, well-CONnected, privileged, heterosexual and cis white man.

*Just when I was about to publish this blogpost, we heard that StunTV has aborted Ford Nation.  Darn.  And I was about to launch the hashtag #FORdNicATION, too!

** Thanks to our Vaughn insiders who steered me towards more info about Rust-D'Eye.

What's Missing from The Star's Latest on Ford's Felonious Friends?

The first sentence from The Star's latest story on Rob Fucking Ford and his criminal associates:

Toronto police are investigating attempts by associates of Mayor Rob Ford to retrieve the crack cocaine video.

Notice anything missing there?

No?

Compare to this poll being run by NewsTalk 1010 at the moment, which, by the way is running 84% 'yes'.

The Toronto Star reports that police are looking into Rob Ford's buddies' attempts to get their hands on an alleged video of the mayor smoking from a crack pipe. Do you believe the footage exists?

The Star has abandoned the use of the word 'alleged'.

The crack cocaine video.

No one, not The Star, not the cops, not a significant majority of NewsTalk's audience doubts.

Most significantly, The Star's lawyers do not doubt its existence.

I might blog on the story itself, with its plethora of sketchy characters, most of whom live in their parents' basements while driving pricey cars, later.

But for now, I just wanted to point this omission out.

Is that a politician in your pocket?

So, Jabba the Mayor got wasted last night and wandered around Taste of the Danforth, where he was caught on video. NOW has the story with links to videos here. I may blog on this later, but for now I want to focus on another story about Ford that broke yesterday.

First, though, consider this photo that Edward Keenan wrote about last week under the title, 'The photo that gets more incriminating all the time'.

Anyhow, forget the video for at least a moment. Think about the photograph. In the picture above, there are four men. One is dead, two are under arrest, and one is the mayor of Toronto.

Keenan details all the links the photo has to 'brutal violence and the gun and drug trades, or both', and winds up with:

One murder, two shootings, one stabbing, one home invasion and beating with a pipe, four arrests, many search warrants, and the mayor of Canada’s largest city.

Forget the video. The photo provides enough troubling questions on its own.

Indeed. Many, many troubling questions.

And now there are more.

Late yesterday, the Toronto Sun (the Toronto Sun!) ran this exclusive.

“You owe me money,” a convicted drug peddler screamed at Rob Ford after bursting into the mayor’s home and later threatening to kill him.

Court documents recently obtained by the Toronto Sun reveal stunning new details about the mayor’s frightening run-in with a man who once had close ties to the Ford family — an incident that occurred in Rob Ford’s Etobicoke home and raises more questions in the wake of the crack cocaine allegations that have been dogging him.

A strung out Scott MacIntyre, the ex-boyfriend of Ford’s sister Kathy, entered uninvited through the unlocked front door of the Edenbridge Dr. house around 7:30 a.m. on Jan. 11, 2012, and began screaming about debts that needed to be paid, according to the documents.

“You owe me money, your sister owes me money, if I don’t get it, they will kill me,” MacIntyre, then 45, yelled at the mayor, who rushed to confront his sister’s longtime common law partner.

The documents — a transcript from MacIntyre’s court appearance at 2201 Finch Ave. W. on Apr. 23, 2012 — include an agreed statement of facts submitted during his guilty plea.

Scribd version of the transcript here. And here is The Star's report at the time on January 11, 2012.

'An agreed statement of facts'. That's what MacIntyre admits he said.

Here at DJ! we've written about Jabba's strange family, including the sad-case sister who attracts violent drug users, before.

And we've written about Jabba's own possible substance abuse.

Last night on Twitter some semi-professional do-gooders were wringing hands and tut-tutting at those of us who were demanding WHAT THE FUCK NOW? 'Not kosher to go after his family', we were told. 'Substance abuse is complicated', we were admonished.

This has gone waaaay beyond one over-fed dumb-ass bully with a troubled family and maybe addiction problems of his own.

Toronto's Chief Magistrate surrounds himself with criminals, criminal activities, and violence.

There is a reason that politicians and wielders of power and influence (used to) eschew criminals and criminal activities.

Because criminals like nothing better than to have a pol in their pocket.

We need to know: what does Rob Ford owe? To whom? And for what?

Who owns Rob Ford? Or rents him on a regular basis?

We need an investigation. Or several.

Smoking Crack with DRUG DEALERS

OK, so Ford Nation is apparently standing by their asshat guy.

Mostly they're in denial that the video exists.

On Twitter today Ezra LeRant aired a different theory.

It's not just class. It's race. Rob Ford is the 1st black mayor. At least brown. Ask any cabbie or corner store owner maisonneuve.org/post/2013/05/2…

— Ezra Levant (@ezralevant) May 28, 2013

Leaving aside the incredible racism of that, I decided to take the challenge (and I needed cigarettes).

My local convenience store is owned by a bunch of brown guys. Not related as far as I can tell. Some, judging by accent, born here or got here really early, some born elsewhere. I think Pakistan, that part of the world, but I've never asked.

Sometimes, there's a woman in a head-scarf hanging around. She never serves customers and for quite a while seemed to disapprove of me. She's warmed up a little and occasionally smiles at me now.

So, brown Muslim people.

I have a good relationship with the two main guys. One in particular really likes me. I have no idea why but he always gives me a big smile and a free lighter.

My fave guy was behind the counter today. I decided not to ask him if he thought Rob Ford was black, lest he think me nuts and cut off my free lighters.

But I did ask him what he thought about Ford smoking crack.

At first he shrugged, clearly not wanting to answer. But I figure all those lighters put me in a special category so I pushed and he said something interesting.

'In this country, everybody does that.'

Me: 'What? No. Not everybody smokes crack. I don't know anyone who has smoked crack.'

Him: 'Well, maybe not crack, but something. Marijuana. . .'

Me: 'OK, yes, lots of people do or have tried soft drugs. But not a lot do hard drugs like cocaine or crack.'

He shrugged again, trying to dodge. I pushed some more.

Me: 'What do you think of him doing drugs with drug dealers?'

Him: 'OK. That's bad.'

Of course I have no idea how representative his view is, but think about it.

You come from a very conservative society. And land in Toronto, which at the moment has the 'least photogenic human being in the history of the species' as mayor.

This mayor not only looks weird, he does weird shit, but then, in your view, most of your new neighbours do weird shit.

Maybe they all do weird shit like smoke crack. Even the mayor.

This doesn't bear thinking about, so when a pushy customer asks you about it, you try to dodge the question.

In talking to our neighbours about this, maybe we should lean more heavily on the questionable/criminal company Ford keeps.

And, of course, when the video comes out -- and it will -- lean very heavily on the comment FatFuck made about 'f---ing minorities'.

By the way, I still got a lighter even after I was pushy.

Image that inspired 'least photogenic human being' comment.




Hm, image is too small. Go to the source to get the full effect. Also, a pretty good article.

Our Long Municipal Nightmare Continues

The latest RobFuckingFordFiasco is still developing, so maybe I should hold off.

But what the hell? Lookit that picture!

After a bunfest last night sponsored by Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee (whatever that is), Sarah Thomson, former mayoral candidate and no fave here at DJ!, posted that photo to her Facebook page with some allegations.

Former mayoral candidate Sarah Thomson says she wants an apology from Mayor Rob Ford for allegedly touching her inappropriately and making a suggestive remark to her at a party on Thursday night.

“He told me he was in Florida and I should have been with him because his wife wasn’t there,” Thomson told the Star on Friday. “I didn’t expect that. Rob doesn’t normally act that way towards women, so I was a little bit shocked and then we posed to get our picture taken and he grabbed my ass during the pose.”

Starting last night and ramping up as I type, all kinds of claims of lies and set-ups and drunkenness and substance abuse are flying around.

Ford's defenders are very LOUD. They're saying Thomson's story changed, she was drinking, Ford was NOT drinking (lookit that picture again), Thomson's out to get Ford etfuckingcetera.

She's being criticized for taking it to Facebook, for not being more discrete, again etfuckingcetera.

In short, she's being trashed.

However this turns out, on International Women's Day, we have yet another example of two seemingly eternal features of the patriarchy.

1. However a woman handles a sexual assault, it's the wrong way.

2. Women lie and can't be believed over men. No matter the circumstances.

Here's Neville Park's tidy summation.

She's well-connected, moneyed, with every privilege; he's widely disliked, history of lying—what chance do any of *us* have? #TOpoli #IWD
— Neville Park (@neville_park) March 8, 2013

Happy International Women's Day. Ford's timing is, as always, impeccable.

Bonus: Right now, Thomson and Daniel Dale of the Star are doing a live online interview. I assume it will remain available at that link when it's over. If not, I'll come back and update.

Added by deBeauxOs - Since Rob Fucking Ford's credibility is at issue, just thought I'd stick this in here, too.

Mayor Rob Ford has angered teachers and parents at the Etobicoke high school where he coaches football — and prompted an investigation by the Catholic school board — with comments the teachers say depicted the school in a “demeaning way that was filled with untruths.”

Read the whole story.


UPDATE (12:45 p.m.) Team Ford is going with Total Mystified Denial. Not She Misinterpreted. Not I Apologize Not That I Did Anything Wrong.

And not only denial. He calls her a liar. As in this gob-smacking sentence.

What is more surprising is that a woman who has aspired to be a civic leader would cry wolf on a day where we should be celebrating women across the globe.

I believe that wolf will come back to bite him on his MASSIVE ass.

Torontonians Wimpy about Snow? Not This Guy

This made me happy.

We all cheered as the streetcar inched forwards, shearing the side mirror off one, then two, then three cars in its path. The end.

— Jon Robson (@Robsonian) February 9, 2013

@missbromstein the driver was ringing his bell and laughing with us: <crump> 'oops!' <crump> jerks!' etc.

— Jon Robson (@Robsonian) February 9, 2013

Better than towing and fining. Faster, too.

As a public service, we offer this.

Rob Ford Gets Bad Lip Reading Treatment

Because I can. And because this made me giggle uncontrollably. And because I will probably want to see it again.




BONUS: If you liked that, you'll like Jackpot Fishy Poopypants


h/t Torontoist

Of Hijabs, Burkas and Haircuts ...

At DJ! we have approached the question of women wearing religious coverings in the same manner that we consider the sexual violation of women and children, femicide, access to abortion, and the eradication of female genital mutilation.

How does it affect women facing these situations, what have women with knowledge and experience said and how can we support leurs revendications?

We have also pointed out Islamophobia in all its overt and covert forms.

Thus, we're perplexed that this complaint has not been challenged by other women.

Could it be that there's a fear of being slagged for being un-progressive, sexist and homophobic for not supporting Faith McGregor's grievance?

[...] a woman with a penchant for men’s hairdos walked into the Bay St. Terminal Barbershop. Faith McGregor asked the male barbers if they offer the “businessman cut” and, of course, they do but when it became clear she wanted the cut for herself the men demurred, saying their Muslim religion forbids them from touching women who are not their relatives.

Almost immediately, McGregor filed a human rights complaint with the tribunal, saying she felt like a “second class citizen.” Later, on a point of principle, McGregor declined the barbershop’s offer of a haircut from a different barber.

Life in Toronto is already complicated, with gridlock, unaffordable housing and Rob Ford’s football schedule, and now we have to contend with this?

In the barbershop case, a wise coach, or adjudicator, would say that both rights must be accommodated. So here’s a solution that won’t require months of testimony before a quasi-judicial hearing: In the future, barbershops whose staff have particular religious restrictions must ensure they can serve all clients by hiring a person with different beliefs or by offering an appointment with a fill-in barber willing to do the job.

Even better, here’s another way out: Let market forces prevail by giving your $20 polymer bill to a welcoming barbershop down the block.

How would an Ontario Human Rights Commission resolution - in favour of McGregor's demand - advance in principle or improve in practice the status of women in Toronto or anywhere, whether they're lesbians, muslim, or struggling to survive in a misogynist world?

There are many battles worth fighting but I don't see how this one is valid.

Like knee-jerk legislation here and elsewhere that forbids niqab face coverings, I sense that this complaint veils a deliberate expression of islamophobia.

UPDATE: Information about the business in question. Mixed reviews from the male clientele, it would seem.

Part-Time Mayor Stupid

Mayor Stupid ducked out on an executive committee meeting to coach highschool football, prompting Adam Vaughan to roll out the 'part-time mayor' meme again.

“The executive committee is the mayor’s committee and he has responsibilities to it,” he said Tuesday. “He’s not being paid to coach football, he’s not being paid to do anything other than being mayor by taxpayers.”

. . .

“People who come to address committee expect to have an audience with the mayor,” Mr. Vaughan pointed out.

Mr. Ford dismissed accusations that he is not doing his job. “I work harder than any mayor ever has,” he said. He added that citizens who missed him at Monday’s meeting can always give him a call.

“I return all my phone calls,” he said. “Everyone has my number. Anyone who wants to call me I’d be more than happy to talk to them.”

Two years before the next election, Mr. Vaughan speculated that Mr. Ford is using his role as a football coach to raise his profile.

“I guess he sees that coaching football gives him a big publicity boost,” he said. “Being a folk hero is not his job. Being the mayor is and if he is not showing up for work he is not respecting taxpayers.”

Seriously. He thinks his job is to return phone calls.

On the other hand, as evidenced by his testimony at the conflict of interest thingy -- the best account of which is Edward Keenan's -- who knows what he thinks his job is?

Ford Nation responds to all criticism with: He won a majority, so STFU.

All Torontonians will remember the 2010 municipal election as having, IMO, the worst roster of mayoral candidates evah.

That said, Mayor Stupid did win. But strictly speaking, he did not win a majority.

Here are the numbers.

Ford: 47.1%
Smitherman: 35.6%
Pantelone: 11.7%

There were about 814,000 votes cast, or 53% of eligible voters.

I just did the math. Mayor Stupid actually had the support of about 25% of eligible voters.

That makes me feel better.

I am going to make it my personal Mission from Gawd to help get the other 47% of Torontonians off their butts next time.

But please Gawd, give us at least one credible -- ah hell, I'll settle for half-decent -- candidate.


Image source.

Are we in the 21st century?

Everything *old* is new again.

In a political climate where the ideological dogma & lies of christian Sharia influence public policy and legislation, this casual display of racism should come as no surprise.

Who would believe that items on the menu from Toronto's Holy Chuck Burgers called "The Half-breed" and "The Dirty Drunken Half-Breed" are appetizing?

What, no "Lard Black Beef Pucky" dusted with gold flakes?

via a tweet from Lynda Kitchikeesic.

ADDED by fh: Check out twitter timeline. Seems Holy Chuck Burger got larned a lesson.

UPDATE, August 28/12: Confirmed by enterprising tweep. Lesson learned.

@fernhilldammit @ladysnarksalot @holychuckburger and items are removed from menu now. Thank you.

— LeCorbusier (@DavisvilleHabit) August 28, 2012