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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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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Boris Johnson, the new Conservative mayor of London:
Via TPM and Andrew SullivanDemocracy 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.
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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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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Video is here.
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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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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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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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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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
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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:
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
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A good collection of commentaries here.
More here, including this gem from David Von Drehle of Time:
"McCain Threw the Sink — and Plumber — But Obama Doesn't Falter" The problem for McCain is that no matter how hard or how crisply he punched, it could not last. In the end, the gravity of the debate returned to Barack Obama. The turning point was when McCain finally brought up the issue of Obama's ties to former the anti-Vietnam War terrorist William Ayers. All he accomplished was to swing the spotlight from himself back to the engaging newcomer. Predictably, Obama had a mild answer ready-as straightforward and uncontroversial as it was soothing… Mostly he tried to say that Obama-change is dangerous. Across the table, there sat Obama, looking not very dangerous.
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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Leave it to Al Jazeera to 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.
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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A few random thoughts on yesterday's Canadian election, which returned Stephen Harper's Conservatives to Ottawa with another minority government:
(* 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).
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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For information on where you will be able to vote, go to this Elections Canada voter information site and input your postal code.
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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See the evidence here. It is appalling.
Beyond that, I have no interest in describing it.
(Source: Seeing the Forest)
.......
UPDATE:
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?
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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O.K., so maybe Markos does get a bit carried away with himself sometimes...
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
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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... still alive and well:
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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And what a week it was....
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...
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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"My fellow prisoners...?"
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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From CTV:
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.
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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Update:
... and this, too:
Palin held fundraiser at home of troubled financial services exec
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.
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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The submissions of CBC's five Hockey Anthem Challenge finalists are now online.
Check them out. Numbers 1 and 4 get my nod.
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.*
*Anyone but Montreal
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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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.
The Associated Press contribution to the theme is McCain linked to group in Iran-Contra case - Organization had ties to former Nazi collaborators, right-wing death squads:
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.
Finally, the Obama campaign, in its own right, yesterday released Keating Economics: John McCain and the Making of a Financial Crisis, a video documentary on Mr. McCain's role in the notorious 1989 "Keating Five" savings and loan scandals:
Isn't it interesting how all these stories have appeared simultaneously, on the eve of tonight's second Presidential debate?
Not a coincidence, I am sure.
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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Here's a gem from Overlawyered:
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.”
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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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 CBC suggests 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.
See: Policy change delayed alarm signal over listeria, inspectors say:
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.
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.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.
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An annoyed Ifill tells Meet the Press: "The understanding was that we were going to have a debate..."
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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According to at least one new poll, Canada's October 14th federal election may well be turning into a horse race, after all.
Scott Tribe points to a current CPAC-Nanos Daily Election Tracking poll with the numbers for the period ending October 4:Conservative Party: 34 %
Liberal Party: 30 %
NDP: 19 %
Bloc Quebecois: 10 %
Green Party: 7 %
And, over at Macleans, even Andrew Coyne says The Tories are in Trouble.
UPDATED:
In the same vein, CTV reports tonight:
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.See: Conservatives losing support in key ridings: poll
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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The Republican nominee does his best Burgess Meredith imitation yet, as the Penguin goes to Washington...
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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A fascinating discussion at Volokh: Could O.J.'s Sentence for Robbery Take Into Account His Killings?
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.
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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More photos and video here, here, and here.
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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