Leave it to Al Jazeerato profile the Republican base:
As the US presidential campaign enters its final weeks, both the Republican and Democratic candidates are hitting the swing states. But misconceptions and rumours abound and many voters have their facts about the candidates all wrong. Some believe that Democrat Barack Obama is a Muslim, for instance.Casey Kauffman talked to some Republican supporters after a rally by Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, in Ohio.
I don't think anyone could reasonably suggest the human caricatures presented in this video are remotely representative of Republican party supporters (or even the Republican base) as a whole.
So don't go there...
It is nonetheless quite shocking to observe the nonchalance of these individuals as they embellish and expound upon outrageous talking points and, in the process, demonstrate an underbelly of the electorate that is all-too-regularly pandered to.
A few random thoughts on yesterday's Canadian election, which returned Stephen Harper's Conservatives to Ottawa with another minority government:
Canada is by and large a centre-progressive country according to the popular vote. The nation's centre-left, however, now finds itself in the same electoral predicament that daunted the fractured right during the Chrétien era. During that time, vote splitting between the Reform/Alliance and old Tory party (along with the Bloc in Quebec) virtually locked the Liberals into power.
As the NDP and Greens have now done well at the polls, and the Liberals less well, the sole beneficiary has been the Harper Tories. This is likely to continue until such time as one of the parties implodes (as did the old PC's previously), and merger fever is thus ignited. Until then, absent a defining and polarizing election issue (such as free trade in 1988), the centre-left may find itself permanently sidelined.
Canadians seem to like minority government. While a Harper majority might scare many, if not most, popular sentiment seems to be that a minority will keep the Prime Minister mostly in check. If not, another election may happen sooner than later.
In that event, the Prime Minister will have to hope his sense of timing has improved. This election call proved to be a massive misfire for Mr. Harper.
For me, the headline of this election is Voters Deny Harper Majority. Given the numbers at the outset and the trend until about ten days ago, this was quite an accomplishment by opposition parties.
The demands for Stephane Dion's head will nonetheless continue, which is unfortunate. I think he hit a good stride in the last weeks of the election, and could continue to mature into quite a formidable leader, given adequate time to grow into the job (which he might not get). I personally am quite a bit more impressed with him after this election than I was before it.
The Canadian election had a great deal of trouble getting noticed in a non-stop news cycle dominated by Presidential debates, crashing markets and pit bulls with lipstick. This was for the most part Canada's invisible election, featuring very little that was compelling. In fact, the only issue that seemed to create any durable water-cooler talk was Green Party leader Elizabeth May's ultimately-successful quest to be included in the leadership debates. Beyond that, yawn.
On balance, very little has changed. Politically, Canada is in a stable, holding pattern. According to the popular vote, most Canadians would have preferred a different outcome, but in the absence of any truly inspiring leadership option, the country as a whole has opted for business as usual.
The net result? Stephen Harper is still Prime Minister. Soon there will be snow. And, it is now hockey season.*
(* One eye, of course, will remain firmly fixed on that other election that's still ongoing and rapidly moving toward its own November 4 crescendo).
The offending graphic has been removed for "objectionable content" from its original post location, but has been reproduced and preserved here (at the same weblog) along with an "explanation" for its "removal."
(Even though it hasn't really been removed)
The "explanation," it should be noted, includes a demand that those who objected to the graphic "talk about... Obama’s long-standing ties to terrorists and political extremists."
Isn't it reassuring to know that the nuts are now policing the nuts for excessive nuttiness?
I've been making the case the last couple of weeks that we can't just focus on winning in November, but that we have an imperative to take advantage of a historic opportunity to break the conservative movement's backs and crush their spirits. In the White House, that means getting Obama a broad popular and geographic mandate for change. In the House, that means annihilating the Republican caucus and working toward a 100-seat Democratic majority. In the Senate it means getting to a 60-seat filibuster proof majority.
Republicans will claim that McCain wasn't one of them, hence rationalizing away their loss. But if we decimate their ranks, including their conservative icons, it'll make it harder for them to justify their spin. Remember, we want them broken, their ranks thinned, their treasury in heavy debt, their morale in the gutter, void of any leadership, discredited in the eyes of the public.
Hence our need this year to take advantage of this perfect Democratic storm to not just win, but to utterly wipe the board clear of as many Republicans as we can catch in this wave.
Markos Moulitsas is the founder and flagship author at leading progressive blog, Daily Kos
Wall Street had its worst tumble ever - barely a week after U.S. taxpayers poured a trillion dollars into propping it up.
Stephen Harper's long-awaited dive in the polls materialized from thin air as Stephane Dion finally found his voice - and Canada began to listen.
Canada's loonie was down 4.5 cents to $82.78 US Friday - its biggest one day drop ever
The McCain campaign came almost completely unravelled after another debate victory by Barack Obama and the "Sarahcuda" was slapped down by an Alaskan bipartisan panel for ethics violations.
And in the perhaps biggest surprise of all, the Leafs beat the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings in their season opener in Motown.
Well, with all this behind us, maybe next week, we won't get fooled again...
TORONTO -- Legislation that would allow people to offer apologies without fear of having that used against them in court, making it easier to say sorry when a wrong has been committed, will be introduced in Ontario, the province said Tuesday.
"It's an issue that speaks to our wish, when something goes wrong, when we might be responsible for causing harm, our wish to say, 'I'm sorry, didn't mean it, and I'll try and make amends,' " said Attorney General Chris Bentley.
The Apology Act, if passed, will mean those apologies can't later be used against people, Bentley said.
But to be fair to Palin, her fundraiser host was only at the helm of a company that was fined $75 million by the SEC for questionable trading practices.
It's been a veritable cacaphony of Democratic fight-back today.
For those of us in Toronto Maple Leaf - land, the music had better be good, because what we're seeing on the ice probably won't be getting us on our feet very much....
It is starting to look like another year of cheering for ABM.*
The political nasty season has arrived in America.
In a climate in which Barack Obama has been taunted as "pallin' around with terrorists" by the Republican Party's Vice-Presidential nominee, a well-organized Democratic counter-assault appears to be materializing.
And in a stark contrast to the ill-fated John Kerry campaign of 2004, the Democrats have immediately moved to the offense at the first indication of concerted Republican attacks.
I'll highlight a couple of examples of the current themes, beginning with excerpts from Make-Believe Maverick, a brutally hard-hitting piece on John McCain by Tim Dickinson in the current Rolling Stone:
The myth of John McCain hinges on two transformations — from pampered flyboy to selfless patriot, and from Keating crony to incorruptible reformer — that simply never happened. But there is one serious conversion that has taken root in McCain: his transformation from a cautious realist on foreign policy into a reckless cheerleader of neoconservatism.
...Indeed, McCain's neocon makeover is so extreme that Republican generals like Colin Powell and Brent Scowcroft have refused to endorse their party's nominee. "The fact of the matter is his judgment about what to do in Iraq was wrong," says Richard Clarke, who served as Bush's counterterrorism czar until 2003. "He hung out with people like Ahmad Chalabi. He said Iraq was going to be easy, and he said we were going to war because of terrorism. We should have been fighting in Afghanistan with more troops to go after Al Qaeda. Instead we're at risk because of the mistaken judgment of people like John McCain."
In the end, the essential facts of John McCain's life and career — the pivotal experiences in which he demonstrated his true character — are important because of what they tell us about how he would govern as president. Far from the portrayal he presents of himself as an unflinching maverick with a consistent and reliable record, McCain has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to taking whatever position will advance his own career. He "is the classic opportunist," according to Ross Perot, who worked closely with McCain on POW issues. "He's always reaching for attention and glory."
...Throughout the campaign this year, McCain has tried to make the contest about honor and character. His own writing gives us the standard by which he should be judged. "Always telling the truth in a political campaign," he writes in Worth the Fighting For, "is a great test of character." He adds: "Patriotism that only serves and never risks one's self-interest isn't patriotism at all. It's selfishness. That's a lesson worth relearning from time to time." It's a lesson, it would appear, that the candidate himself could stand to relearn.
Similarly, a Monday L.A. Times article, Mishaps mark John McCain's record as naval aviator, casts doubt on the Republican nominee's vaunted military prowess, noting "McCain's commanders sarcastically dubbed him Ace McCain,'" after a series of pre-Vietnam accidents:
The 23-year-old junior lieutenant wasn't paying attention and erred in using "a power setting too low to maintain level flight in a turn," investigators concluded.The crash was one of three early in McCain's aviation career in which his flying skills and judgment were faulted or questioned by Navy officials.
In his most serious lapse, McCain was "clowning" around in a Skyraider over southern Spain about December 1961 and flew into electrical wires, causing a blackout, according to McCain's own account as well as those of naval officers and enlistees aboard the carrier Intrepid. In another incident, in 1965, McCain crashed a T-2 trainer jet in Virginia.
After McCain was sent to Vietnam, his plane was destroyed in an explosion on the deck of an aircraft carrier in 1967. Three months later, he was shot down during a bombing mission over Hanoi and taken prisoner. He was not faulted in either of those cases and was later lauded for his heroism as a prisoner of war.
As a presidential candidate, McCain has cited his military service -- particularly his 5 1/2 years as a POW. But he has been less forthcoming about his mistakes in the cockpit.
The Times interviewed men who served with McCain and located once-confidential 1960s-era accident reports and formerly classified evaluations of his squadrons during the Vietnam War. This examination of his record revealed a pilot who early in his career was cocky, occasionally cavalier and prone to testing limits.
In today's military, a lapse in judgment that causes a crash can end a pilot's career.
WASHINGTON - GOP presidential nominee John McCain has past connections to a private group that supplied aid to guerrillas seeking to overthrow the leftist government of Nicaragua in the Iran-Contra affair.
McCain's ties are facing renewed scrutiny after his campaign criticized Barack Obama for his link to a former radical who engaged in violent acts 40 years ago.
The U.S. Council for World Freedom was part of an international organization linked to former Nazi collaborators and ultra-right-wing death squads in Central America. The group was dedicated to stamping out communism around the globe.
The council's founder, retired Army Maj. Gen. John Singlaub, said McCain became associated with the organization in the early 1980s as McCain was launching his political career in Arizona. Singlaub said McCain was a supporter but not an active member in the group.
"McCain was a new guy on the block learning the ropes," Singlaub told The Associated Press in an interview. "I think I met him in the Washington area when he was just a new congressman. We had McCain on the board to make him feel like he wasn't left out. It looks good to have names on a letterhead who are well-known and appreciated.
The traffic camera automatically recorded the license plate of the vehicle going too fast, so the owner (in Plettenberg Bay, South Africa) was automatically mailed a ticket. The only problem: the vehicle was being towed by a tow truck at the time. (Stumblng Tumblr, Aug. 5).
More from commenter Cathy Gellis: “I know someone who canceled her Fastrak/EZ Pass automatic toll account and was charged when the device passed through a toll while being mailed back.”
Sometimes, I wonder whether 'deregulation' is just a nicely-spun euphemism for negligence-in-waiting.
I'm not just talking about Wall Street, here.
A report today from CBCsuggests that deregulation of Canada's food safety inspection procedures my have precluded early detection of the deadly listeria outbreak that has now taken the lives of at least 20 Canadians.
Months before the tainted meat from the Maple Leaf Plant in the Toronto area began claiming lives, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency adopted a new policy that meat inspectors now say removed clear language that required companies to report any positive listeria tests directly to inspectors.CFIA inspectors have told the CBC and the Toronto Star that on April 1, they essentially became auditors of the companies' paperwork, which is part of the compliance verification system. CVS details the measures the country's 198 meat processing plants must adopt to ensure they're operating safely."Prior to April 1, [any positive listeria tests] would have had to have been, not only brought to the inspector's attention, but the inspector would have been involved in overseeing the cleanup," said Bob Kingston, head of the union representing CFIA inspectors.
Disappointingly, the CBC's report fails to delve more deeply into how, and why, this policy change ocurred.
OTTAWA - A government plan to transfer key parts of food inspection to industry so companies can police themselves will put the health of Canadians at risk, according to leading food safety experts who have reviewed the confidential blueprint. The plan, drafted by Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and approved by the Treasury Board details sweeping changes coming to food inspection in Canada.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is also ending funding to producers to test cattle for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE, or Mad Cow Disease) as part of a surveillance program, the document indicates, a move that is expected to save the agency about $24 million over the next three years.
The new system, part of a push to trim the agency's budget by five per cent, was approved last November, but a public announcement "has been deferred owing to significant communications risks," according to the confidential Treasury Board document obtained by Canwest News Service.
The document, addressed to the president of the agency, details how the inspection of meat and meat products will downgrade agency inspectors to an "oversight role, allowing industry to implement food safety control programs and to manage key risks.
At election time, Canadians need to better understand the root causes of these disturbing events that have seriously undermined national confidence in the safety of our food.
To what extent are these increasingly-regular food crises being enabled by deregulatory, Conservative government policies?
The Conservatives are losing steam in key swing ridings in Ontario, B.C. and Quebec, a development that could put a majority government out of arm's reach for Stephen Harper.
And given this finding about Simpson's past conduct and therefore his moral character, the judge would be legally allowed to impose a higher sentence than he would on a typical robber, burglar, or what have you. I'm not sure whether the judge in this case would indeed act this way; but the federal Constitution would let him act this way if he so chose.
The post's comments are particularly enlightening - about readers' attitudes and the law.
And forgive one small note on the quote above - the presiding judge, Judge Jackie Glass, is a she, not a he.
The dollar took its steepest one-day drop in years as the financial crisis eroded the nation's basic measure of value, helping to drive U.S. stocks sharply lower and the dollar-based prices of oil and gold sharply higher ...
"This is a revaluation of the U.S.," said C. Fred Bergsten, director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics and a top Treasury Department official during the Carter administration. "Growth is going to be slower, the budget deficit higher, but mostly, the whole U.S. financial system has been thrown into question. People around the world are looking at this and saying, 'Holy Toledo.' "
From The Guardian'sinterview with Richard Bitner, "co-founder and president of Kellner Mortgage Investments, a firm which specialised in providing high-risk loans:"
As a sub-prime mortgage lender, Richard Bitner has not done too badly. He lives in a huge mock Tudor house in a wooded suburb on the edge of Dallas, complete with miniature turrets, an oversize fireplace and wood-panelling... Now out of the game, he compares himself to a drug dealer, acknowledging that his trade has achieved pariah status in the public eye.
... Dishonesty became endemic in loan applications. By the end, Bitner reckons that 70% of submissions to the company from brokers were deceptive. Properties, supposedly objectively appraised, were spectacularly overvalued. He estimates that half of loans were on homes over-egged by up to 10%, a quarter had prices exaggerated by 11% to 20% and the rest were "so overvalued they defied all logic".
"The industry lost its mind," says Bitner. "It went from borderline stupid to downright insane." The notion of "acceptable risk" simply went out of the window: "I watched the margins compress in the industry and I realised no one was providing for the risks."
In his book, Bitner recounts a seemingly endless list of tricks used by brokers to push dubious loans. Many simply withheld information, such as the fact that a homebuyer was getting an additional loan to pay for a deposit or that a couple, buying on the basis of joint income, were actually planning to divorce. Others would manipulate figures by knocking up ersatz payslips using desktop publishing programs.
...As a sub-prime lender, Bitner accepts that he was far from blameless. He was, at times, knowingly marketing unrealistic loans. Bitner viewed one common product, providing 95% finance to people with ultra-low credit scores, as "absurd". But he defends the principle of sub-prime lending and maintains that in his five years he did more good than harm.
Associated press reporter Terence Hunt brings us these fighting words (at long last) from BarackObama:
Obama also heaped criticism and sarcasm on Republican rival John McCain and mocked his promise to fire the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission if elected president.
"I think that's all fine and good but here's what I think," Obama said. "In the next 47 days you can fire the whole trickle-down, on-your-own, look-the-other way crowd in Washington who has led us down this disastrous path.
"Don't just get rid of one guy. Get rid of this administration," he said. "Get rid of this philosophy. Get rid of the do-nothing approach to our economic problem and put somebody in there who's going to fight for you."
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil prices zig-zagged Friday, briefly dipping below $100 a barrel for the first time in 5 months, as the the fury of a massive hurricane blowing toward refineries on the Texas coast countered .concerns about a global economic slowdown.
U.S. crude for October delivery briefly traded at $99.99 a barrel on the floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the first time oil has fallen below the $100 a barrel mark in more than five months.
The last time oil traded below $100 during a session was April 2, when it hit $99.84.
Motorists got a rude shock this morning when they pulled into gas stations to fill 'e up: a massive overnight hike sent the average price at GTA pumps to $1.36.6.
The increase – 12.9 cents a litre, and more outside the GTA – is one of the highest single-step price hikes in recent memory, blamed by oil refiners on supply uncertainties posed by Hurricane Ike as it rampages across the Gulf of Mexico.
After watching that interview, can anyone honestly say that they think that Sarah Palin, the person who would take over the country in the event something happens to McCain, has more knowledge of policy than Charlie Gibson, the person giving the interview?
Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced his nomination of the Honourable Mr. Justice Thomas A. Cromwell of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal to fill the existing judicial vacancy at the Supreme Court of Canada.
“Thomas Cromwell’s candidacy was highly recommended by judges, lawyers and other Atlantic Canadians,” said Prime Minister Harper. “He is well qualified to serve on the country’s highest court.”
Mr. Justice Cromwell is an eminently qualified jurist.. In 1997 the government of former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien appointed him directly to the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal.
CBC also provides its coverage here, and adds the following background:
Cromwell is expected to appear before a parliamentary committee that will interview the nominee before the government appoints him.
Cromwell, 56, from Kingston, Ont., initially studied music but got his law degree in Ontario in 1976. He practised and taught law, including two stints at the Dalhousie Law School in Halifax. He was the executive legal officer in the chambers of the Supreme Court's chief justice for three years.
He first became a Nova Scotia appeals judge in 1997.
Today, we are very pleased to be launching the Wise Law Office Quarterly Journal, our firm and blog's long-planned newsletter.
Q.J. will be published four times a year, and will feature a compilation of articles on each season's most significant and interesting legal developments, as published here at Wise Law Blog, at Bar-ex, and other locations online and elsewhere.
As I indicated in our inaugural issue, we are glad for the opportunity this publication brings us to stay in better touch with our clients, colleagues and Wise Law Blog readers.
Sign-up is easy. Click on the photo above, or click here to subscribe securely and confidentially.
We're looking forward to reaching you each quarter with Q.J.
Many thanks to Sandra Bekhor and Sarah Halliday for their guidance and direction in this project.
And who knows - we may even be able to do an election special edition soon.
The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal has ordered National Money Mart Company to pay $30,000 in compensation to a former, one-year employee of the company who had been subjected to ongoing, serious sexual harassment by her workplace supervisor.
Workplace bullying is a serious problem for thousands of Canadians at work. It can degrade one’s self worth and create serious health problems for workers and their families.
There has often been very little that could be done to stop the workplace bully in his or her tracks. But, in Ontario, there is now hope around the corner.
With the Ontario Court of Appeal's June 25, 2009 ruling in Slepenkova v. Ivanov, it is now clear that the nearly-universal pronouncements by management lawyers as to the death of Wallace damages after Honda and Keays may have been a bit premature.
In Slepenkova, the Ontario appellate court upheld a two-month notice extension for an employer's bad faith termination, even though no evidence was led at trial as to the specific damages the employee directly incurred as a result of the bad faith. This appeared to place the trial Judge's decision at odds with the new Wallace test set out in Honda.
Should access visitation with children via Skpe be considered an acceptable substitute where a custodial parent wants to move far away with the family's children?
Canada's family courts have reached conflicting decisions on this challenging new issue of the digital age.
Canada's press has had a field day with four sensational cases that have been winding their way through the nation's courts.
Dealing with fundamental questions at the very root of our values around marriage, children and family, these cases have captured the public's collective imagination - and ire -for very good reason.
Wise Law Blogfeatures timely articles on legal developments in Canada and the United States, along with commentary on Canadian politics, American politics, technology and noteworthy current affairs.
Launched on April 5, 2005, Wise Law Blog also highlights key decisions of Canadian courts, with focus on Ontario Family Law, Ontario Employment Law and other areas of interest.
Garry J. Wise is primary contributor to Wise Law Blog. He is a Canadian litigation lawyer who practices with Wise Law Office,Toronto. He is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1986.
Garry's colleagues at Wise Law, as well as occasional guest bloggers, also contribute to Wise Law Blog.
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