Friday, October 31, 2008

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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Thursday, October 30, 2008

"Joe The Biden"

A new lexicon emerges from Senator McCain...


- Garry The Wise, Toronto

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Tuesday, October 28, 2008

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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Monday, October 27, 2008

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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Sunday, October 26, 2008

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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October Surprise - The Sarah Palin Halloween Mask

For anyone hoping to scare the 'puck' out of some peewee hockey players this Halloween, Amazon.com may have just the thing you're looking for...

How about the Deluxe Sarah Palin Halloween Mask? It's a steal at $25.98.

Yes, it's true. The world's most polarizing "hockey mom" is indeed making a big splash in the novelties market.

(Say it ain't so, Joe...)

If, however, the Palin look isn't quite what you had in mind (or if you just can't afford the authentic, $150,000.00 wardrobe needed to accessorize), take a look at these alternate, political dress-up options.

And for more on this year's Alaskan costume craze, see:

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Video: "A Dr. Seuss-Style Cautionary Tale"

The Vet Who Did Not Vet:


(h/t: AMERICABlog)

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Obama, Japan

Welcome to Obama, Japan



- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Palin v. McCain: "She is a Diva..." "Every Man for Himself..."

According to various reports, a fierce battle between the camps of the two Republican nominees is very publicly rising to the surface:

Kevin Drum:

LET THE DEFENESTRATIONS BEGIN....Politico reports on what's going on behind the scenes in Republican circles:

With despair rising even among many of John McCain’s own advisers, influential Republicans inside and outside his campaign are engaged in an intense round of blame-casting and rear-covering — much of it virtually conceding that an Election Day rout is likely.

....“If you really want to see what ‘going negative’ is in politics, just watch the back-stabbing and blame game that we’re starting to see,” said Mark McKinnon, the ad man who left the campaign after McCain wrapped up the GOP primary. “And there’s one common theme: Everyone who wasn’t part of the campaign could have done better.”

“The cake is baked,” agreed a former McCain strategist. “We’re entering the finger-pointing and positioning-for-history part of the campaign. It’s every man for himself now.”

The Politico report establishes the theme - senior Republicans "echoing" opposition attacks while blaming other senior Republicans for "echoing" opposition attacks:

A senior Republican strategist, speaking with authority about the view of the party’s establishment, issued a wide-ranging critique of the McCain high command: “Lashing out at past Republican Congresses, … echoing your opponent's attacks on you instead of attacking your opponent, and spending 150,000 hard dollars on designer clothes when congressional Republicans are struggling for money, and when your senior campaign staff are blaming each other for the loss in The New York Times [Magazine] 10 days before the election, you’re not doing much to energize your supporters.

Think Progress:

The Politico reports that tensions between the Palin and McCain camps are increasing in the waning days of the campaign. Palin reportedly “has decided increasingly to disregard the advice of the former Bush aides tasked to handle her,” blaming “her handlers for a botched rollout and a tarnished public image.” A McCain campaign source unloads on Palin in an interview with CNN:

“She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone,” said this McCain adviser, “she does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else. Also she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party. Remember: divas trust only unto themselves as they see themselves as the beginning and end of all wisdom.”

“I think she’d like to go more rogue,” a Republican source said of Palin.

Huffington Post via TPM:

Now one of John McCain's actual advisers has switched sides:Charles Fried, a professor at Harvard Law School, has long been one of the most important conservative thinkers in the United States. Under President Reagan, he served, with great distinction, as Solicitor General of the United States. Since then, he has been prominently associated with several Republican leaders and candidates, most recently John McCain, for whom he expressed his enthusiastic support in January.

This week, Fried announced that he has voted for Obama-Biden by absentee ballot. In his letter to Trevor Potter, the General Counsel to the McCain-Palin campaign, he asked that his name be removed from the several campaign-related committees on which he serves. In that letter, he said that chief among the reasons for his decision "is the choice of Sarah Palin at a time of deep national crisis."

You might have expected they'd wait at least until November 4th to point fingers and air their dirty political laundry.

They haven't lost yet, after all.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Joe the...

Congressman...?

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Friday, October 24, 2008

Ontario Cell Phone Driving Ban Ahead?

City News reports that legislation will be introduced in Ontario's Provincial Legislature next week to ban cell phone use while driving in Ontario:

It's not clear yet what will be in the legislation, expected to be brought out for first reading by Transport Minister Jim Bradley, but there are reports it will prohibit all use of phones by drivers in this province, with the possible excepttion of hand's-free devices.

The legislation, which will fall under the Highway Traffic Act, comes after the Premier issued a major reveral on the issue. In November 2007, the suggestion of a cell phone ban for those behind the wheel had beencompletely rejected by Dalton McGuinty. But he suddenly changed his mind in a public pronouncement last May, admitting he was mulling over the idea.

"I know what they've done in other provinces and other states: they've just dealt with one item, the cellphone," he mused back then. "I talk to the police and they say you could deal with one item, but there's more than just one item (distracting drivers). I've asked Bradley to take a look to see if there's something we might do, which deals with distractors generally, and I think in particular, electronic distractors."


(h/t - Tamara E.)

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Missouri 6th Graders Disciplined for "Hit A Jew Day"

This story from USA Today simply defies all rational commentary:

Several sixth-graders from suburban St. Louis are being disciplined for creating "Hit a Jew Day" and then hitting Jewish classmates.

Four or five students at Parkway West Middle School in Chesterfield could be suspended and undergo counseling for last week's incident, school officials told the Associated Press. Others who taunted Jewish students or encouraged others to participate face lesser punishment.

Officials said fewer than 10 of the school's 35 Jewish students were hit. One was slapped in the face and the others were hit mostly on the back of their shoulders. "There is a mix of sadness and outrage," said district spokesman Paul Tandy. "The concern is a lot of kids knew about it and they didn't take action or say anything."

AP explains:

It began with an unofficial "Spirit Week" among sixth-graders that started harmlessly enough with a "Hug a Friend Day." Then there was "High Five Day." Soon, though, the days moved from friendly to silly. Next there was "Hit a Tall Person Day" and, finally, "Hit a Jew Day."

This sort of conduct might be amusing on South Park. It is not when it comes to real-life American schoolyards.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Thursday, October 23, 2008

NY Times Endorses Obama for President

The New York Times endorsement of Barack Obama is no surprise, but as far as such editorial endorsements go, it is particularly well-argued and comprehensive.

See: Barack Obama for President

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Ex-Bushers Lining Up To Vote for for Obama

Last weekend, it was General Colin Powell.

Today, Scott McLellan, former White House Press Secretary, announced he will be voting for Senator Barack Obama in the November 4 U.S. election.

McLellan told CNN:

"...I will be voting for Barack Obama and clapping."

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Tuesday, October 21, 2008

McCain Video: The Funniest Political Gaffe You Will Ever See

I am still laughing....


- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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1000 Humble Opinions...

We've reached a milestone, of sorts.

This, apparently, is our 1,000th post at Wise Law Blog.

That's worth noting, I think.

'Nuff said. Now - back to work...

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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AP: Sarah Palin Charged Alaska for Kids' Expenses

I'm not too sure what to make of this Associated Press story:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Gov. Sarah Palin charged the state for her children to travel with her, including to events where they were not invited, and later amended expense reports to specify that they were on official business.

The charges included costs for hotel and commercial flights for three daughters to join Palin to watch their father in a snowmobile race, and a trip to New York, where the governor attended a five-hour conference and stayed with 17-year-old Bristol for five days and four nights in a luxury hotel.

In all, Palin has charged the state $21,012 for her three daughters' 64 one-way and 12 round-trip commercial flights since she took office in December 2006. In some other cases, she has charged the state for hotel rooms for the girls.

Alaska law does not specifically address expenses for a governor's children. The law allows for payment of expenses for anyone conducting official state business.

Is this just good, old-fashioned investigative journalism?

Or yet another chapter in one of the messiest, meanest, attack-laden elections I can recall?

And by the way, I'm getting really weary of hearing Republicans spouting the political theories of Joe the Plumber, as if he was the leader of their party.

The gimmicky, unrelenting reliance on the colourful Mr. Wurzelbacher as the McCain-Palin mascot does little to bring dignity or depth to a campaign sorely lacking in both.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Quote of the Day

Boris Johnson, the new Conservative mayor of London:

Democracy and capitalism are the two great pillars of the American idea.To have rocked one of those pillars may be regarded as a misfortune.

To have damaged the reputation of both, at home and abroad, is a pretty stunning achievement for an American president.

Via TPM and Andrew Sullivan

More on Boris Johnson here.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Mark Steyn Rallies the GOP Troops

Mark Steyn ralles MIA bloggers at The Corner:

I feel a bit like Comical Ali going ahead with the morning press conference to announce categorically there are no Americans in Baghdad, unaware that everyone in the presidential palace scrammed to Tikrit an hour before dawn.

Almost good enough for a quote of the day.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Sunday, October 19, 2008

Sarah Palin and Tina Fey on SNL

Video is here.

Video: Colin Powell On His Endorsement of Obama


AP has additional comments from General Powell:

"It isn't easy for me to disappoint Sen. McCain in the way that I have this morning, and I regret that," Powell, interviewed on NBC's "Meet the Press," said of his longtime friend, the Arizona senator.

"But I firmly believe that at this point in America's history, we need a president that will not just continue, even with a new face and with the changes and with some maverick aspects, who will not just continue basically the policies that we have been following in recent years," Powell said.

"I think we need a transformational figure. I think we need a president who is a generational change and that's why I'm supporting Barack Obama, not out of any lack of respect or admiration for Sen. John McCain."

See: Colin Powell endorses Barack Obama for president - AP

Also see: Powell Backs Obama and Criticizes McCain Tactics - N.Y. Times

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Friday, October 17, 2008

Video: Anti Obama Racism Spills Over

More of the ugly underbelly, in this video from a Sarah Palin rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania:

(h/t: TPM)

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Thursday, October 16, 2008

Phrase of the Day: "Air Quotes"

As in: McCain Mocks Women's "Health" in debate using "air quotes".

Judy Muller at Huffington Post comments:

When it comes to dismissive finger gestures, there is nothing quite like the two-handed "air quote." For pure sarcastic appeal, it beats the much more obvious middle finger every time. But beware what words you put inside those little air quotes. John McCain used the gesture twice during his final debate with Barack Obama and each time it misfired. Actually, you can put "misfired" in air quotes. What I really mean is it blew up in his face.

Time's Jim Poniewozik summed it up:

"Um, Sen. McCain, women don't like it when you put 'health of the mother' in air quotes."

There you have it.

Air Quotes.

Our Phrase of the Day.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Leave 'Joe the Plumber' Alone...

I don't really care much about, or for, 'Joe the Plumber.'

John McCain's repeated references to him in last night's debate were grating, to say the very least.

Nonetheless, today's media assault on this individual's privacy is offensive and dangerous.

We have learned that he is unlicensed as a plumber and has owed back taxes. His political party registration has been publicized. Racism has been intimated. His family tree has been connected to Charles Keating (of Keating Five fame). We have even heard charges of inaccuracies on his Facebook page.

I am sure there will be more to come.

For goodness sake - all this average, Ohio man did was ask one tough question of Barack Obama. He is a private citizen who was entitled to do so - without any fear of reprisal or harm.

Instead, he's getting the Valerie Plame treatment.

Talk about a chilling effect on freedom of speech.

(Not that Joe has figured this out, mind you - he's happily riding his fifteen minutes of fame, so it seems)

Thumbs down to the various media sources and leading blogs who have run with this ill-conceived story.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

Visit our Toronto Law Firm website: www.wiselaw.net

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Facebook in the Workplace

I haven't written about Facebook for a while, probably because the novelty largely wore off quite some time ago.

Nonetheless, Facebook's place in the workplace remains a recurring theme in employment law circles.

A comprehensive article from Australian lawyer Nick Abrahams considers the risks of permissive workplace social networking policies, but nonethless, argues against Facebook bans.

He prefers "reasonable use" policies that emphasize employee responsibility:

  • Note that the general HR policies (such as no harassment etc.) apply when the employee is using a social networking site
  • Inform employees that they should only use such sites "reasonably", perhaps giving examples of what reasonable use might be
  • Reinforce the employee's obligation to keep the organisation's information confidential
  • Note that the employer may monitor the employee's use of the sites
  • Importantly set out the potential consequences of failure to comply with the policy, which might include termination.

As you'll note from our previous entries on the topic, I largely agree with this approach.

Another snippet from the article touches on a surprising finding that many recruiters might find interesting:

Recruiting: 46 per cent of social network site users said that if faced with two competing job offers that were roughly equivalent but one organisation blocked Facebook, the employee would go for the organisation that did not block.

See the entire Abrahams article: The pain and potential of Facebook in the office

.......

'Friending' the Police

Another sign of the times.

A U.K. police force has set up its own Facebook page, in an outreach effort purportedly aimed at giving young people a way to help fight crime.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

Visit our Toronto Law Firm website: www.wiselaw.net

EMPLOYMENT LAWCIVIL LITIGATIONWILLS AND ESTATESFAMILY LAW & DIVORCE

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