While one may have profoundly disagreed with his pork-barrel politics, he was still a human, and a good servant to his fellow Alaskans. Ted Stevens, former Republican Senator from the last frontier, died in a plane crash Monday night along with four others. RIP.
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Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
Farrow KOs Campbell
So actress Mia Farrow has now contradicted what Naomi Campbell said last Thursday at Charles Taylor's war crimes trial -- Campbell knew exactly what she got. One huge, shiny diamond ... not the rough diamonds Campbell claimed.
Maybe Campbell was mistaken. Or maybe she decided, to protect her "reputation" as a model, she had to pull a Bill Clinton. Rough or polished, a blood diamond is still a blood diamond. And more and more women actually do care about where that magic stone comes from. As should the men who buy them.
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Maybe Campbell was mistaken. Or maybe she decided, to protect her "reputation" as a model, she had to pull a Bill Clinton. Rough or polished, a blood diamond is still a blood diamond. And more and more women actually do care about where that magic stone comes from. As should the men who buy them.
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Saturday, August 7, 2010
West Harbour Out
It looks like the fix was in even before the debate started. Word broke late yesterday that the West Harbour, next to the CN railyards and the bayfront parks, is off the list of sites for the Pan-Am Stadium. Now up front is the East Mountain, a greenfield that will become the start of a public sewer when 30,000 people flush and the waste goes down the Red Hill Parkway. This sudden turn of events is no thanks to inteference from, you guessed it, Stephen Harper. Even the city's mayor, a Conservative no less, is pissed.
If people wanted the arena on a park, then why did the city take Confederation Park off the list in the first place? It's not like anything's going to happen to the campground, in fact it's being abandoned. And at least it'd be within some walking distance of public transit.
Message to Bob Young: You wanted the East Mountain, and it looks like you won. Fine. Now, reach into your billions and pay for a spur line for the forthcoming Hamilton LRT. With your own money. Not all of us care for or want the "driveway to driveway" experience. If you don't want to do that, you don't get a stadium. Period.
We may lose the Ti-Cats in the process, but we should get something that benefits everyone and not a greedy computer geek for eight or nine home games while the place sits empty the rest of the year. It's a fair quid pro quo. A stadium and an LRT.
At this rate, the Pan-Am committee will look at the mess we've gotten into and say screw it, Hamilton gets no facilities at all. We already lost track and field. Now it looks like we'll lose soccer and cycling as well. For shame. Then again, it's Toronto that's the host city in 2015, not Hamilton.
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If people wanted the arena on a park, then why did the city take Confederation Park off the list in the first place? It's not like anything's going to happen to the campground, in fact it's being abandoned. And at least it'd be within some walking distance of public transit.
Message to Bob Young: You wanted the East Mountain, and it looks like you won. Fine. Now, reach into your billions and pay for a spur line for the forthcoming Hamilton LRT. With your own money. Not all of us care for or want the "driveway to driveway" experience. If you don't want to do that, you don't get a stadium. Period.
We may lose the Ti-Cats in the process, but we should get something that benefits everyone and not a greedy computer geek for eight or nine home games while the place sits empty the rest of the year. It's a fair quid pro quo. A stadium and an LRT.
At this rate, the Pan-Am committee will look at the mess we've gotten into and say screw it, Hamilton gets no facilities at all. We already lost track and field. Now it looks like we'll lose soccer and cycling as well. For shame. Then again, it's Toronto that's the host city in 2015, not Hamilton.
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Friday, August 6, 2010
How could she NOT know?
Call me a skeptic on this one, but does anyone seriously believe that Naomi Campbell didn't know what she was receiving from Charles Taylor were in fact rough "conflict diamonds"? Or her claim she didn't even know what the term meant until she ran it through a search engine?
Entertainment have some of the smartest people -- like Mia Farrow, who's been battling blood diamonds even before it became vogue to do so.
And the business also has some of the stupidest, or the most naϊve. Especially in the fashion business.
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Entertainment have some of the smartest people -- like Mia Farrow, who's been battling blood diamonds even before it became vogue to do so.
And the business also has some of the stupidest, or the most naϊve. Especially in the fashion business.
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Wednesday, August 4, 2010
District court strikes down Prop 8
I suspected all along that this was the way the ruling was going to go on Proposition 8, and that's exactly what Judge Vaughn Walker did today in Perry v. Schwarzenegger (although "Ahnold" actually is personally opposed to Prop 8 as he himself pointed out in his filing and repeated publicly today, he was legally bound as California's governor to defend the law hence his being listed as the main defendant; Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown, the state AG, was also co-listed as a defendant although his position is the same).
The co-counsels, David Boies and Ted Olson (who represented Gore and Bush respectively in the infamous 2000 Florida recount), teamed up for this one and argued that Prop 8 violates due process and equal protection; and that is precisely what Walker said today. Walker, however, has also stayed his ruling temporarily knowing that there will be an appeal.
No doubt that this is going to go next to the Ninth Circuit and onward to the Supreme Court in Washington.
The decision today goes into great detail about the history of marriage and the evolving roles of men and women within marriage, same-sex relationships, the changing nature of divorce laws and common-law partnerships, and the nature of family throughout history. This background will, I think, be necessary when SCOTUS finally takes up the case.
When it does, the key vote will undoubtedly be that of Anthony Kennedy. Either he will be the deciding vote as he has been on so many close 5-4 decisions (mostly on the side of law and order but also in favour of civil rights and environmental protection); or if Walker's ruling is upheld, Kennedy may actually manage to put together an even greater majority to underscore that this, like desegregation and banning sexual harrassment in the workplace, is a matter of civil rights.
Whatever happens down the line, this today is an important step forward. There is no question about it. But it's worth remembering too that many in California who voted for President Obama in 2008 also supported Proposition 8. Just because one is economically progressive doesn't always mean he or she is the same on social issues, and this could become an issue in the extremely close race between "Moonbeam" and eBay founder Meg Whitman who supports Prop 8 but also says (or so she says) that she favours "civil unions," which was the status quo before the measure was passed.
But personal kudos from me to Olson especially. The conservative icon, whose wife Barbara was killed when American 77 flew into the Pentagon on 9/11, has made a dramatic conversion and recognizes that equal rights mean equal rights for all and not for some. No doubt he has burned some bridges with long time allies but he has made new ones, and gained new respect from many. He's on the short list of 100 finalists for this year's Time "Person of the Year" and he deserves to be.
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The co-counsels, David Boies and Ted Olson (who represented Gore and Bush respectively in the infamous 2000 Florida recount), teamed up for this one and argued that Prop 8 violates due process and equal protection; and that is precisely what Walker said today. Walker, however, has also stayed his ruling temporarily knowing that there will be an appeal.
No doubt that this is going to go next to the Ninth Circuit and onward to the Supreme Court in Washington.
The decision today goes into great detail about the history of marriage and the evolving roles of men and women within marriage, same-sex relationships, the changing nature of divorce laws and common-law partnerships, and the nature of family throughout history. This background will, I think, be necessary when SCOTUS finally takes up the case.
When it does, the key vote will undoubtedly be that of Anthony Kennedy. Either he will be the deciding vote as he has been on so many close 5-4 decisions (mostly on the side of law and order but also in favour of civil rights and environmental protection); or if Walker's ruling is upheld, Kennedy may actually manage to put together an even greater majority to underscore that this, like desegregation and banning sexual harrassment in the workplace, is a matter of civil rights.
Whatever happens down the line, this today is an important step forward. There is no question about it. But it's worth remembering too that many in California who voted for President Obama in 2008 also supported Proposition 8. Just because one is economically progressive doesn't always mean he or she is the same on social issues, and this could become an issue in the extremely close race between "Moonbeam" and eBay founder Meg Whitman who supports Prop 8 but also says (or so she says) that she favours "civil unions," which was the status quo before the measure was passed.
But personal kudos from me to Olson especially. The conservative icon, whose wife Barbara was killed when American 77 flew into the Pentagon on 9/11, has made a dramatic conversion and recognizes that equal rights mean equal rights for all and not for some. No doubt he has burned some bridges with long time allies but he has made new ones, and gained new respect from many. He's on the short list of 100 finalists for this year's Time "Person of the Year" and he deserves to be.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Massacre in Connecticut
Sure it could happen anywhere in the world, and it does. But the vast majority of incidents of disgruntled workers "going postal" seem to be in the US, no thanks to the "right" to bear arms.
Is getting fired really worth killing eight people, then oneself?
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Is getting fired really worth killing eight people, then oneself?
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Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Who's the extremist here?
It says so much about America these days that there would be so much opposition to a building two blocks away from "Ground Zero" in Manhattan of which only a part would be a mosque -- the proposed Cordoba Center would be a community centre open to all. Opposition that is coming even from Sarah Barracuda urging the project to be "refudiated". But this is America today, and it's really sad.
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Saturday, July 31, 2010
Catholic bishops say keep long census
Another group has weighed in on the long-form census debate. This time, it's the Catholic Bishops. Maybe not exactly the most popular group right now as some in the grouping are accused of continuing obstructing justice in the never-ending sex abuse cases. But setting that aside, the bishops say the data is needed to help them plot out where new parishes need to be built and which ones ought to be closed or merged ... as well as helping faith-based social service agencies plan out strategies to deliver services.
One of the justifications used to not have a long form census is that it allows people to put in joke answers -- over 21,000 Canadians in 2001 said they were "Jedi". Alternately, since there is a near complete separation of church and state it's not appropriate to ask about one's religion, and in many countries -- the US and some EU member states, for instance -- it's actually illegal to ask.
I disagree on the "inappropriateness" point. Yes, there is room for mischief. But having information about religion patterns across the regions is important. In 2001, for instance, 42.6% of Canadians self-identified as Roman Catholic. 23.3% said they were Protestant, 4.4.% Eastern Orthodox and 1.9% Muslim. "Others" made up 11.8% while 16% said they have no religion whatsoever. (Source: CIA).
How can this be applied practically?
The fact is, whether we like it or not, certain patterns of violence do tend to spike in certain ethnic or religious communities. "Honour killings" -- if we can call them that, for there is no honour in murder -- do happen across all communities but they do concentrate in those from the Middle East or South Asia. Sexual assaults also happen all over, but patterns emerge that they can be often more frequent in some minority communities as well as less affluent areas in "white majority" areas. If we can identify problem areas then we can fight crime before it begins -- in a sense, prevent a broken window from even being broken.
Another example.
Not that long ago, the local daily newspaper here, the Hamilton Spectator, did an extensive series that tied health outcomes to incomes as well as ethnic and religious background -- and that one neighbourhood could be wildly different from the next. This was by no means racial profiling. It was meant to demonstrate that there is a link and that equal rights can only be achieved by equal opportunities as well as truly equal access to health care. The newspaper relied on census tract information and cross-referenced that to health information obtained through Freedom of Information (with personal information stripped, of course). The paper has made it clear such a series could not be done without the mandatory long form information.
The government claimed they received "thousands" of e-mails objecting to the intrusiveness of the census, but this past week the Privacy Commissioner, Jennifer Stoddart -- an agent of Parliament and therefore independent -- says she only received three formal objections related to the census in the last five years, and merely 50 in the last 20 years. Who are these "thousands"? People watching the religious channels who just click a form letter on a website and send a mass and duplicating e-mail (the same tactic the Parents Television Council uses in the States to bombard the FCC with "indecency" complaints)?
As for the claims made by the government new Canadians are fearful of being deported if they don't fill in the census, this is something that comes up every cycle.
And the solution remains the same -- go to the ethnic communities, the churches, the multilingual media and put in ads assuring people that their information remains private. That this census is not an enumeration as in other countries (which here is updated by tax returns and "motor voter" laws). That this does not relate to taxes, pensions, or any other entitlements. That the information helps them in the long run, is a duty of citizenship and actually helps protect our freedoms. That while, yes, it is mandatory, it's only a few minutes to a couple hours of time and that for the next five years they don't have to worry about it.
Social service agencies get it. The police get it. Members of the First Estate -- the clergy, from many denominations -- get it. So why won't those at the top of the Second Estate -- the elected officials?
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
One of the justifications used to not have a long form census is that it allows people to put in joke answers -- over 21,000 Canadians in 2001 said they were "Jedi". Alternately, since there is a near complete separation of church and state it's not appropriate to ask about one's religion, and in many countries -- the US and some EU member states, for instance -- it's actually illegal to ask.
I disagree on the "inappropriateness" point. Yes, there is room for mischief. But having information about religion patterns across the regions is important. In 2001, for instance, 42.6% of Canadians self-identified as Roman Catholic. 23.3% said they were Protestant, 4.4.% Eastern Orthodox and 1.9% Muslim. "Others" made up 11.8% while 16% said they have no religion whatsoever. (Source: CIA).
How can this be applied practically?
The fact is, whether we like it or not, certain patterns of violence do tend to spike in certain ethnic or religious communities. "Honour killings" -- if we can call them that, for there is no honour in murder -- do happen across all communities but they do concentrate in those from the Middle East or South Asia. Sexual assaults also happen all over, but patterns emerge that they can be often more frequent in some minority communities as well as less affluent areas in "white majority" areas. If we can identify problem areas then we can fight crime before it begins -- in a sense, prevent a broken window from even being broken.
Another example.
Not that long ago, the local daily newspaper here, the Hamilton Spectator, did an extensive series that tied health outcomes to incomes as well as ethnic and religious background -- and that one neighbourhood could be wildly different from the next. This was by no means racial profiling. It was meant to demonstrate that there is a link and that equal rights can only be achieved by equal opportunities as well as truly equal access to health care. The newspaper relied on census tract information and cross-referenced that to health information obtained through Freedom of Information (with personal information stripped, of course). The paper has made it clear such a series could not be done without the mandatory long form information.
The government claimed they received "thousands" of e-mails objecting to the intrusiveness of the census, but this past week the Privacy Commissioner, Jennifer Stoddart -- an agent of Parliament and therefore independent -- says she only received three formal objections related to the census in the last five years, and merely 50 in the last 20 years. Who are these "thousands"? People watching the religious channels who just click a form letter on a website and send a mass and duplicating e-mail (the same tactic the Parents Television Council uses in the States to bombard the FCC with "indecency" complaints)?
As for the claims made by the government new Canadians are fearful of being deported if they don't fill in the census, this is something that comes up every cycle.
And the solution remains the same -- go to the ethnic communities, the churches, the multilingual media and put in ads assuring people that their information remains private. That this census is not an enumeration as in other countries (which here is updated by tax returns and "motor voter" laws). That this does not relate to taxes, pensions, or any other entitlements. That the information helps them in the long run, is a duty of citizenship and actually helps protect our freedoms. That while, yes, it is mandatory, it's only a few minutes to a couple hours of time and that for the next five years they don't have to worry about it.
Social service agencies get it. The police get it. Members of the First Estate -- the clergy, from many denominations -- get it. So why won't those at the top of the Second Estate -- the elected officials?
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Thursday, July 29, 2010
When all else fails, send in ... Mike Duffy
From respected journalist to on-air Con shill to Senator, the downfall of Mike Duffy has been slow and steady. Now it's just about complete with Duffy being sent in as the point-man to represent the government on-air regarding the current turmoil in the Mounties' top management.
The Red Serge may have a lot of problems right now, but is The Duff the best Harper can send in?
Moreover, if a civilian was needed to clean up the mess in the first place, why didn't Harper appoint someone who actually had prior civilian police oversight? Bill Elliott was at Indian Affairs, the Coast Guard, Transport and then National Security Advisor. Not exactly my first choice for a job this massive. And there probably wouldn't be this uproar in the ranks of the RCMP right now.
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The Red Serge may have a lot of problems right now, but is The Duff the best Harper can send in?
Moreover, if a civilian was needed to clean up the mess in the first place, why didn't Harper appoint someone who actually had prior civilian police oversight? Bill Elliott was at Indian Affairs, the Coast Guard, Transport and then National Security Advisor. Not exactly my first choice for a job this massive. And there probably wouldn't be this uproar in the ranks of the RCMP right now.
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Tuesday, July 27, 2010
RIP Maury Chaykin
A truly versatile actor, appearing in numerous TV and film roles, far too many to count. While many will remember him in such films as Whale Music, Dances With Wolves, The Sweet Hereafter, and Where the Truth Lies -- my personal favourite was where he played the first witness that Joe Pesci demolishes in My Cousin Vinny. The line "No self-respecting Southerner would ever use instant grits ..." had me cackling.
Maury Chaykin was only 61 -- actually he turned 61 today when he died. Gone way too soon.
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Maury Chaykin was only 61 -- actually he turned 61 today when he died. Gone way too soon.
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Monday, July 26, 2010
Pakistan supports Taliban -- like we knew that
Whoever leaked the Afghanistan documents that proves that Pakistan has stabbed us in the back and supports the Taliban -- as most of us has suspected all along -- is as much a hero as Daniel Ellsberg who produced the Pentagon Papers nearly forty years ago. The real danger is not to the troops, as Harper and Obama are claiming today, but to NATO's credibility in the allies we choose.
Bring the troops home, now. With friends like these ...
It was never about the Taliban, folks. It's about the disputed territory of Kashmir. And the nuclear weapons that Pakistan and India both possess.
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Bring the troops home, now. With friends like these ...
It was never about the Taliban, folks. It's about the disputed territory of Kashmir. And the nuclear weapons that Pakistan and India both possess.
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Saturday, July 24, 2010
Iran: Was right war then but not now
I still think it's Iran, not Iraq, the West should have gone after first -- there would have been much wider support from Canada and the EU to join the US in such an effort. But now such a campaign would be an even worse quagmire than Operation Baghdad Civil War, and rather then getting rid of Mad Mad would only consolidate his power. I'll defer to Steve Clemons at TWN for his thoughts about Obama and Iraq.
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Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Black out on bail
So it looks like His Lordship, Conrad Black, has gotten bail. The federal judge at the original trial -- Amy St. Eve -- who had the case remanded back to her by the Supremes in Washington -- has released Black on $2 million bail but ordered that he stay within the US while she considers how he should be resentenced.
This may not be the end of his problems. The IRS is claiming he owes $72 million income taxes although he says that doesn't have to pay as he was not a resident of the States at the time. Interesting argument if he earned even one dollar of American income. And of course, he renounced his Canadian citizenship and now wants back into Canada -- and it was suggested last night on The National that there are some movers and shakers who want to expedite the process.
While thousands of others wait months, even years, to get into here? No way. Get to the back of the line, sir, just like my father did.
If Harper even thinks about giving Black a free pass, let alone giving him one, that could be the end of his career in any line of work, let along politics.
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This may not be the end of his problems. The IRS is claiming he owes $72 million income taxes although he says that doesn't have to pay as he was not a resident of the States at the time. Interesting argument if he earned even one dollar of American income. And of course, he renounced his Canadian citizenship and now wants back into Canada -- and it was suggested last night on The National that there are some movers and shakers who want to expedite the process.
While thousands of others wait months, even years, to get into here? No way. Get to the back of the line, sir, just like my father did.
If Harper even thinks about giving Black a free pass, let alone giving him one, that could be the end of his career in any line of work, let along politics.
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Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Eco fees go bye-bye for now
It seemed like a good idea at the time ... Ontario imposing a mandatory levy on many of the items we use to help fund safe waste disposal. Ranging from a few cents for a bottle of liquid dishwash soap to over $6.50 for a fire extinguisher. While a number of retailers had been doing it voluntarily -- Walmart had been for over a year for hazardous products like motor oil and solvents -- the product range became much larger and the fees mandatory from July 1st.
But like the health tax, the Greenbelt and the HST, it's not the concept but how it was implemented by the Ontario Liberals. Coming on the same day as the introduction of the combined tax, the eco fees were seen by many, rightly or wrongly, as a "tax grab" -- except that the money wasn't going to the government but a pro-business entity calling itself "Stewardship Ontario." Outsourcing the collection of this money -- which was expected to raise over $200 million per year -- was just as boneheaded as when the BBC several years ago hired a private firm to do the dirty work of ensuring TV license compliance. Worse even biodegradable and other "safe" products were being charged the fee, wrongly. Othe retailers just were totally caught by surprise -- some drug store chains hadn't updated their cash registers for this contingency.
Yesterday, after Canadian Tire ™ said it was no longer going to charge the levy, Dalton McGuinty did a complete about face and said the eco fees are suspended, until they figure out better how to impose it -- or even if a third party outlet should even have the authority to be able to do this. I don't recall this being voted on in the legislature -- I thought revenue raising of any kind is done by the government and that this can't or should not be outsourced
What would be a better way?
Oh let's see ... clear labelling on the price cards on shelves (either saying the amount that is included in the price, or what fee will be added at checkout)? Giving people the option of either having the fee directed to industry or to local environment projects? Actually having a public debate rather than burying it on page 300 of a little-read briefing book?
Can we use the word "Schmuck" here? We should of course be making responsible choices at stores large and small. But isn't it also the responsibility of business to give us more choices and to clean up their own messes rather than pass a steath tax onto us?
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
But like the health tax, the Greenbelt and the HST, it's not the concept but how it was implemented by the Ontario Liberals. Coming on the same day as the introduction of the combined tax, the eco fees were seen by many, rightly or wrongly, as a "tax grab" -- except that the money wasn't going to the government but a pro-business entity calling itself "Stewardship Ontario." Outsourcing the collection of this money -- which was expected to raise over $200 million per year -- was just as boneheaded as when the BBC several years ago hired a private firm to do the dirty work of ensuring TV license compliance. Worse even biodegradable and other "safe" products were being charged the fee, wrongly. Othe retailers just were totally caught by surprise -- some drug store chains hadn't updated their cash registers for this contingency.
Yesterday, after Canadian Tire ™ said it was no longer going to charge the levy, Dalton McGuinty did a complete about face and said the eco fees are suspended, until they figure out better how to impose it -- or even if a third party outlet should even have the authority to be able to do this. I don't recall this being voted on in the legislature -- I thought revenue raising of any kind is done by the government and that this can't or should not be outsourced
What would be a better way?
Oh let's see ... clear labelling on the price cards on shelves (either saying the amount that is included in the price, or what fee will be added at checkout)? Giving people the option of either having the fee directed to industry or to local environment projects? Actually having a public debate rather than burying it on page 300 of a little-read briefing book?
Can we use the word "Schmuck" here? We should of course be making responsible choices at stores large and small. But isn't it also the responsibility of business to give us more choices and to clean up their own messes rather than pass a steath tax onto us?
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
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