Video: Springsteen 'Working on A Dream' in Cleveland for Obama

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Change With a Capital "O"

Outside America, that is what the world wants....

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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McCain and Fey on SNL

NBC.com has Saturday Night Live video of John McCain and Tina Fey (as Sarah Palin) online here:

Truly funny.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Inside Proposition 8 - California's Same-Sex Marriage Debate

Dubbed Proposition Hate by its progressive opponents, an initiative on Tuesday's California's ballot seeks to roll back a May, 2008 decision of the California Supreme Court overturning the State's ban on same-sex marriage.

The ballot initiative calls for an amendment to the State Constitution to outlaw same-sex marriage and to provide that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."

The full text of the proposed law is as follows:

PROPOSITION 8

This initiative measure is submitted to the people in accordance with the provisions of Article II, Section 8, of the California Constitution.

This initiative measure expressly amends the California Constitution by adding a section thereto; therefore, new provisions proposed to be added are printed in italic type to indicate that they are new.

SECTION 1. Title

This measure shall be known and may be cited as the "California Marriage Protection Act."

SECTION 2. Section 7.5 is added to Article I of the California Constitution, to read:

SEC. 7.5. Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.

Current polls show the initiative is likely heading for a narrow, (but in our view, welcome) defeat.

For some in California, however, the success of this referendum is an imperative of nearly Biblical proportion:

More information is available at No on Prop Hate.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Video: Obama Congratulates McCain on Cheney Endorsement - "He Earned it"

(h/t - AMERICABlog)

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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The YouVote

Digby reports that the much ballyhooed surge in youth voting, long-anticipated as providing a decisive advantage to Barack Obama in this week's Presidential election, has not yet materialized in early voting.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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"This is an Illusion"

This TPM post on comments tonight by Senator John McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis:

From McCain campaign manager Rick Davis's campaign memo just out this evening, discussing why Obama's decision to run ads in Georgia, Arizona and North Dakota is a sign the McCain camp has him on the ropes ...

Expanding the Field: Obama is running out of states if you follow out a traditional model. Today, he expanded his buy into North Dakota, Georgia and Arizona in an attempt to widen the playing field and find his 270 Electoral Votes. This is a very tall order and trying to expand into new states in the final hours shows he doesn't have the votes to win.

Translation: The fact that Arizona has moved into the toss-up column is a devastating development for Obama.

... reminded me of this guy.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Greenwald on Palin on Free Speech

Salon's Glenn Greewald, on the Republican V.P. nominee's recent musings about the First Amendment:

...so dumb that it hurts.

Mr. Greenwald is, perhaps, the leading legal voice of the U.S. progressive movement.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Palin - Plumber 2012

Three words that must never again be spoken...

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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"Joe The Biden"

A new lexicon emerges from Senator McCain...

- Garry The Wise, Toronto

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Ontario Bill Proposes Drivers' Cell-Phone Ban

City News provides the details on legislation introduced today:

What would not be allowed while driving, unless the vehicle is pulled off the roadway or lawfully parked

• Hand-held wireless communications devices such as cell phones, smartphones and-held electronic entertainment devices such as iPods, or other portable MP3 players, or portable games
• Texting and emailing
• Viewing display screens on devices not required for driving such as a laptop or DVD player

What would be allowed while driving

• Hands-free wireless communications devices with an earpiece or Bluetooth device
• 911 calls
• Pressing the button of a hand-held device to activate hands-free mode for incoming or outbound calls
• GPS units mounted on dashboards
• Collision avoidance systems
  Use by emergency services personnel such as police, fire and ambulance
• Logistical transportation tracking devices used for commercial vehicles

Under the proposed legislation, drivers who break the new rules could face fines of up to $500. And those who place others at risk as a result of using a hands-free device can be charged with Careless Driving and fines of up to $1,000, six demerit points, a driver's licence suspension and possible jail time.

I'm not sure this legislation will be terribly popular, but it is difficult to disagree with it.

For the full text of Bill 118 see: Countering Distracted Driving and Promoting Green Transportation Act, 2008.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Palin As President?

The website, that is.

Have fun.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Video: Closing Argument - Obama's Unity Message

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Are Canada's Child Support Guidelines Unfair to "Second" Families?

A raging debate has been brewing among our readers at Wise Law Blog.

Should Canada's Child Support Guidelines consider the expenses of raising children of subsequent relationships in determining child support obligations for first families?

The extensive comments at our post, Supreme Court of Canada to Child Support Payors: Income Increases Must be Disclosed will illustrate the competing arguments in this highly charged discussion:

Maybe before bashing your husband's ex wife for receiving payments for her child as per the law, you should have thought of that before having more children with this man who seems to have a problem with supporting his first child, secondly his 1st child should have the lifestyle she had before his or her parents split up because it was not her fault at all in any of this, so why should she suffer because you decided to hook up with a man and bear more of his children, you should have thought of that before marrying him or having more children if you are complaining about the amount he is paying.

.....

I can't tell you how sick I am of people saying "well maybe your husband shouldn't have had more kids if he couldn't afford them" I am mad as %^%$ about this. These people are obviously NOT in the system, or on the receiving end of the money, for whom it is NEVER enough. When I married my husband and had kids with him, he paid 500/month in child support. He now pays 1300/month. Was I to look into a glass ball and predict the future? Did I know the Custodial mother would quit her job and make us pay 100% of extra-ordinary expenses? Did I know she would move across the country and make us pay 3600/year in flights? Did I ever see my husbands taxes and see that this money is actually AFTER TAX money and he gets no tax breaks for having sent her all that money? You people should be ashamed of yourselves, REAL children are growing up in POVERTY....

In my view, there are compelling reasons to call for additional legislative flexibility as to the quantum of support payable under the Guidelines in clear circumstances where the financial well-being of the children of a later relationship is genuinely compromised by a parent's onerous child support obligations to a first family.

The law of child support should be predictable and standardized, to the extent possible. This was, and remains, the great strength of the Guideline system.

The financial resources of support-payors, however, are often limited, if not entirely strapped. The pie must be shared more fairly.

Support-paying parents have a legal and moral obligation to provide financially for the children of their "second" families.

The Guidelines should not be blind to these responsibilities.

Too often, they are.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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MSNBC: "ATF says it disrupted skinhead plot in Tenn., Ark. to assassinate Obama"

Only minimal details are available on this shocking headline from MSNBC.

Plans to secure firearms were apparently involved. It is not clear that any actual steps were taken in furtherance of a "plot" that was in planning stages. Criminal charges are apparently pending.

An Associated Press report indicates:

WASHINGTON – Federal agents have broken up a plot to assassinateDemocratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and shoot or decapitate 102 black people in a Tennessee murder spree, the ATF said Monday.

In court records unsealed Monday, federal agents said they disrupted plans to rob a gun store and target a predominantly African-American high school by two neo-Nazi skinheads. Agents said the skinheads did not identify the school by name.

CBC News has a similar report:

"They said that would be their last, final act — that they would attempt to kill Sen. Obama... They didn't believe they would be able to do it, but that they would get killed trying."

The Democratic candidate, meanwhile, delivered what he called his "closing argument" in Ohio today.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Mr. Justice Charles Dubin, 87

CTV News reports the passing today of Charles Dubin, former Chief Justice of Ontario:

Dubin was well-known in the legal world for his keen intellect and a no-nonsense manner.

However, he was perhaps best known to the public for a high profile commission he headed in 1989.

Known as the Dubin inquiry, the commission was formed after sprinter Ben Johnson lost his gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics because a banned drug was detected in his urine samples.

In a groundbreaking report, Dubin exposed doping secrets that had been unknown outside the secretive world of track and field, and he recommended a broad range of anti-doping measures.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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The Unravelling U.S. Economy - A Case Study

Pilgrim's Pride, America's largest poultry producer, is in financial trouble.

Why?

It carries a large debt, due to its $1.3 billion acquisition of a competitor in 2007. Prices have increased for commodities like corn and oil.

Credit availability is tight. It is at the end of its temporary credit line.

And there is a glut of chicken on the market because restaurant patronage is down.

An Associated Press article today discussed the company's woes:

Chicken producers can't pass through price increases due to an oversupply on the market and weakening demand. Much of that is from a loss of key business in restaurants as consumers opt to eat at home more often to save money.

Mike Cockrell, chief financial officer for Sanderson Farms Inc., said business is tough. It's prime wing eating season, he points out -- with fans watching football and the World Series -- but the down economy is keeping people from going out. Normally the company can't keep up with demand. Now they have truckloads of extras.

"Our whole industry is challenged right now," he said. "We got high corn and soybean meal prices and very, very weak domestic demand for chicken, particularly from the consumer who eats away from home."

Pilgrim's stock prices are down 93% from its 52 week high and there is serious discussion of pending bankruptcy, buyout or liquidation.

We may be entering the next stage of an economy in deepening, spiralling crisis.

I fear we will be hearing many, similar stories in the months ahead of previously vibrant companies being swallowed whole by unyeilding market conditions.

Fasten your seatbelts.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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More on Ontario's Pending Driver's Cell Phone Ban

The available information is still pretty thin on the Ontario legislation that may be introduced this week, but the Globe and Mail does offers these tidbits:

The Ontario government may table a bill to ban drivers from using electronic devices as early as Tuesday, a move that would see the province follow Quebec, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, which have all banned drivers from chatting and texting on handheld devices while on the road.

...the Ontario Medical Association has concluded that driving and talking on a cellphone creates the same risk for the driver as being at the legal limit for alcohol consumption. OMA research, conducted in September, found that talking on cellphones impaired drivers' visual concentration, the speed at which they process information and their reaction time. Some drivers also abandoned checking their mirrors entirely while on the phone.

Premier Dalton McGuinty announced in May that he was considering legislation that would ban all hand-held devices, not just cellphones, forcing drivers to use headsets or speaker systems instead. Police officials had advised Mr. McGuinty to ban all gadgets that have the potential to distract multitasking drivers, and that would include GPS navigation systems that see drivers typing in street addresses on screens mounted in their cars. The Premier had also asked Mr. Bradley to look at “next generation” legislation that would take into account electronic devices that are still on the drawing board.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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ACLU's Hundred Day Plan: Stop U.S. Torture, Abuse

From the ACLU's Actions for Restoring America, here is Day 1:

DAY ONE: STOP TORTURE, CLOSE GUANTANAMO, END EXTRAORDINARY RENDITIONS

The next president will have a historic opportunity -- on day one -- to take very important steps to restore the rule of law in the interrogation and detention of detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, Afghanistan, and in secret prisons around the globe. Every action taken pursuant to an executive order of President Bush can be reversed by executive order of the next president.

Therefore, on the first day in office, the next president should issue an executive order directing all agencies to modify their policies and practices immediately to:
Cease and prohibit the use of torture and abuse, without exception, and direct the Attorney General immediately after his or her confirmation to appoint an outside special counsel to investigate and, if warranted, prosecute any violations of federal criminal laws prohibiting torture and abuse;

Close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and either charge and try detainees under criminal law in federal criminal courts or before military courts-martial or transfer them to countries where they will not be tortured or detained without charge;

Cease and prohibit the practice of extraordinary rendition, which is the transfer of persons, outside of the judicial process, to other countries, including countries that torture or abuse prisoners.

I agree with the focus of this plan of action.

The Bush administration's legacy of torture and human rights abuses will be the most difficult and ugly blemish on America's credibility to address in the long and short-term.

The next President must take immediate, remedial action.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Anchorage Newspaper Endorses Obama Candidacy

AP has the update on the endorsement of Anchorage, Alaska's largest newspaper, the Anchorage Daily News:

"Gov. Palin's nomination clearly alters the landscape for Alaskans as we survey this race for the presidency — but it does not overwhelm all other judgment. The election, after all is said and down, is not about Sarah Palin, and our sober view is that her running mate, Sen. John McCain, is the wrong choice for president at this critical time for our nation," the paper said.

The full editorial is here: Obama for president - Palin's rise captivates us but nation needs a steady hand.

The newspaper's views couldn't be more clear:

Sen. McCain describes himself as a maverick, by which he seems to mean that he spent 25 years trying unsuccessfully to persuade his own party to follow his bipartisan, centrist lead. Sadly, maverick John McCain didn't show up for the campaign. Instead we have candidate McCain, who embraces the extreme Republican orthodoxy he once resisted and cynically asks Americans to buy for another four years.

...Gov. Palin has shown the country why she has been so successful in her young political career. Passionate, charismatic and indefatigable, she draws huge crowds and sows excitement in her wake. She has made it clear she's a force to be reckoned with, and you can be sure politicians and political professionals across the country have taken note. Her future, in Alaska and on the national stage, seems certain to be played out in the limelight.

Yet despite her formidable gifts, few who have worked closely with the governor would argue she is truly ready to assume command of the most important, powerful nation on earth. To step in and juggle the demands of an economic meltdown, two deadly wars and a deteriorating climate crisis would stretch the governor beyond her range. Like picking Sen. McCain for president, putting her one 72-year-old heartbeat from the leadership of the free world is just too risky at this time.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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