OT: American Politics

[Habsy]

Probably the first time in history that people have been apologized to for being given something superior to what they had, for cheaper than they were paying for it. But such is the state of politics in the US today. Promise to shit on someone's plate and they'll give you a standing ovation (leave me to die if I can't afford insurance?? Where do I sign???) But force insurance companies to, you know, actually cover people who are paying them money for "coverage", and replace that shite coverage with real coverage for cheaper...you have to go on TV and apologize.

Apologizing for something that was supposed to occur by design? Next week's polls should indicate whether or not the herd bought it.

A few months is all it should take, long enough for a good amount of people to have used the new plan.

The state of Sex Education in Texas:


Katie Gustainis Vela @katie_gus
Canyon TX #sexed: students should be like a "wrapped up & unused" piece of gum. @AdvocatesTweets

Repost

 

[Habsy]

Probably the first time in history that people have been apologized to for being given something superior to what they had, for cheaper than they were paying for it. But such is the state of politics in the US today. Promise to shit on someone's plate and they'll give you a standing ovation (leave me to die if I can't afford insurance?? Where do I sign???) But force insurance companies to, you know, actually cover people who are paying them money for "coverage", and replace that shite coverage with real coverage for cheaper...you have to go on TV and apologize.

Apologizing for something that was supposed to occur by design? Next week's polls should indicate whether or not the herd bought it.

A few months is all it should take, long enough for a good amount of people to have used the new plan.

The state of Sex Education in Texas:


Katie Gustainis Vela @katie_gus
Canyon TX #sexed: students should be like a "wrapped up & unused" piece of gum. @AdvocatesTweets

Repost

 

[Habsy]

Re: OT: Canadian Politics

Yeah, there's a lot of shady shit here. The two guys in the video with Ford, Anthony Smith & Muhammad Khattack...well, Smith is already dead via gunshot and Khattack was a survivor of a gunshot wound from the same incident that Smith was killed at.

We have learned a lot the past 10 days but we've only just begun.

Just wait till all the information from the police report comes out and the trial of his friend begins. Plus, I am sure now that there is blood in the water a lot of other information will start coming in.

Also, I am still waiting for Ford to comment on his friend who is now up on extortion charges and his complete relationship with him. What about all the gas station drop offs and pick ups. WTF was that?

Can you explain all that Cork? Or is that still high school/teenage behavior?

Well, other than the crack, it's the type of behaviour that I undertook in highschool. I don't know if we really want that from our 44 yr old mayor.

So you and your friends made what look like drug drop offs and pick ups?

Repost

 

[Habsy]

Re: OT: Canadian Politics

Yeah, there's a lot of shady shit here. The two guys in the video with Ford, Anthony Smith & Muhammad Khattack...well, Smith is already dead via gunshot and Khattack was a survivor of a gunshot wound from the same incident that Smith was killed at.

We have learned a lot the past 10 days but we've only just begun.

Just wait till all the information from the police report comes out and the trial of his friend begins. Plus, I am sure now that there is blood in the water a lot of other information will start coming in.

Also, I am still waiting for Ford to comment on his friend who is now up on extortion charges and his complete relationship with him. What about all the gas station drop offs and pick ups. WTF was that?

Can you explain all that Cork? Or is that still high school/teenage behavior?

Well, other than the crack, it's the type of behaviour that I undertook in highschool. I don't know if we really want that from our 44 yr old mayor.

So you and your friends made what look like drug drop offs and pick ups?

Repost

 

[Leafovic]

Re: OT: Canadian Politics

Trudeau is such an imbecile.

I'm def not voting for him.

 

[Leafovic]

Re: OT: Canadian Politics

Based on the NDP's good provincial record in more recent history, their progression towards being more centrist, and Mulcair's leadership, I'm voting for the NDP.

 

[MapleLeafBlueJayBoy]

Re: OT: Canadian Politics

Watch CBC News right now, Fifth Estate is on and doing an entire show on the Ford and Ford family saga.

 

[blacksheep]

Re: OT: Canadian Politics

But Sun News can now report that I prefer China.

You mean they haven't yet? lol!

 

[BeLeafer]

Re: OT: Canadian Politics

The interesting thing, newsworthy even, is that he sees party-less government as the best kind of administration. Put your money where your mouth is, bub.

 

[BeLeafer]

Re: OT: Canadian Politics

Law and order for everyone else ...

Law-and-order Harper careful not to alienate Ford Nation
There is a jarring disconnect between the Conservatives’ punitive judicial agenda and the way they are steering clear of Mayor Rob Ford’s troubles.

Chantal Hébert National Affairs, Published on Fri Nov 08 2013

Superimpose a 2011 federal election map over that of Metro Toronto and what you get is a picture of how the so-called Ford Nation brought a sizeable section of Canada’s metropolis into Harperland.

As seen from the distance of the Conservative Parliament Hill backrooms, Ford’s upset mayoral victory in 2010 was a beacon shining brightly in the night of Stephen Harper’s second minority mandate.

Here was tangible evidence that deep in a media capital that Harper saw as the stronghold of the liberal forces aligned against his party, there were the elements of a winning Conservative electoral coalition.

As a bonus Ford had pulled those elements together just in time for Harper’s third and possibly last bid for a majority.

The prime minister embraced the new mayor in a way that he has yet to embrace any past or present premier. More than just an inspiration for the federal Conservatives as they campaigned for re-election in 2011, Ford became a mascot.

After the votes were counted there were large patches of Conservative blue in sections of the Metro map where only red had been seen for almost two decades and a Harper majority was headed for Parliament.

One of those patches spread out from the mayor’s heartland of Etobicoke. Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff’s Etobicoke-Lakeshore riding was among those painted blue.

This week, it is the symbiosis between Ford’s base and Harper’s coalition that has the federal Conservatives tiptoeing across the ethical minefield upon which the crack-smoking admission of the mayor has landed them.

A party that has never been known to err on the side of mercy suddenly seems to be tapping into an inexhaustible supply of compassion for Ford’s predicament.

Some of that compassion is heartfelt as in the case of Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, a personal friend of the Ford family, who is visibly touched by the human drama that has been unfolding at Toronto City Hall.

But much of it stems from the strategic calculation that past and present Ford supporters are as central to Harper’s next majority bid as they were to the last and that the populist glue that held them together back then has all but evaporated.

There is a jarring disconnect between the Conservatives’ punitive judicial agenda, their much proclaimed law-and-order principles and their efforts to look away from the public transgressions of the man who runs Canada’s biggest city and the disruptions to Toronto’s municipal life that result from them.

... http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/...areful_not_to_alienate_ford_nation_hbert.html

 

[BeLeafer]

Re: OT: Canadian Politics

If you haven't seen the Fifth Estate episode from last night on Ford, it's a must see.

http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/episodes/

They do a very good job of putting this in context and throwing some tough questions at the police, who have managed to (so far) come out of this unscathed, if not getting a PR boost.

 

[MindzEye]

Re: OT: Canadian Politics

Law and order for everyone else ...

Yep, surely this is some of that "unreported crime" going on that we were forced to swallow a pig of a crime bill for, right? Right?

 

[CH1]

Re: OT: Canadian Politics

If you haven't seen the Fifth Estate episode from last night on Ford, it's a must see.

http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/episodes/

They do a very good job of putting this in context and throwing some tough questions at the police, who have managed to (so far) come out of this unscathed, if not getting a PR boost.

You watch it and realize that the crack pipe is just another example of a horrible decision followed by denial, accusing the media of fabrication and finally begging for forgiveness. Rinse and repeat. Arrested in Miami (drugs, DUI), getting escorted out of Leafs game, forced to leave a charity ball. It's always "It wasn't me", "The media is lying" followed by "I'm only human. Sorry" Meanwhile his family only worries about him getting too fat.

I wish the episode had examined how does someone like that advance through the political filters and become mayor? And how does he stay mayor?

 

[JackBurton]

Re: OT: Canadian Politics

Jamie Strashin @StrashinCBC
1010 cuts ties with Fords, The City will no longer air.

What a stupid move. Ford is a worldwide media superstar.

 

[BeLeafer]

Re: OT: Canadian Politics

I wish the episode had examined how does someone like that advance through the political filters and become mayor?

Interesting question. There aren't any real filters in municipal politics. The important question isn't how he gets through non-existent filters, but who decides to back him and throw their heft behind him. He was a running joke in local politics until the Conservative party machinery decided he was their boy.

 

[BeLeafer]

Re: OT: Canadian Politics

Someone needs to do a documentary ... The Making of Ford Nation.

 

[zeke]

Re: OT: Canadian Politics

Jamie Strashin @StrashinCBC
On sale tomorrow at City Hall. Proceeds to United Way.

 

[JaysCyYoung]

Re: OT: Canadian Politics

Definitely getting up early to go and grab one before they sell out.

 

[blacksheep]

Re: OT: Canadian Politics

Today's the PERFECT day to make this point about our PM:

"Today the Americans are our great friends and our strongest allies and have been for many decades through thick and thin," said Harper, next a memorial on the shore of the St. Lawrence River that marks the site of the battle. "Two hundred years ago, however...Canadians - English, French and Aboriginal, stood here with their British allies against an American invasion.

"The very existence of their communities...was at stake. They were outnumbered by an invading force almost three to one, yet they won here a great and decisive victory."

"These Canadians were ordinary men who did extraordinary things," Harper said. "Their gift to us is a separate and distinct country on this continent."

A good speech and a nice photo op for today, but the words are quite empty (as usual).
Because in March of this year, this happened:

District offices slated to close, according to the Union of Veterans Affairs Employees (UVAE) include those in: Sydney, Charlottetown, Corner Brook, Thunder Bay, Windsor, Brandon, Saskatoon, Prince George and Kelowna.

A spokesperson for Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino said the department is “adjusting the footprint” of its offices to reflect the changing demographics of Canadian veterans.

"Our government is dedicated to ensuring veterans and their families have the support they need, when they need it," Janice Summerby said in a statement on Thursday.

She said Ottawa will continue to "meet or exceed" their service standard of one case manager for every 40 case-managed veterans.

"Service standards will not change and we remain dedicated to providing veterans with the same high-quality service to which they are accustomed regardless of their geographic location," Summerby said.

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/vetera...trict-office-closures-1.1481790#ixzz2kNRlhOnL

A nice thanks from your federal government. Sorry, your local Veteran's Affairs office is closing so that we may better serve you.
And let's talk about that point, for a second.
The Windsor office had four Case Managers for 2,600 cases.
The Sydney, NS office had 13 Case Managers for 4,200 cases.
Let's review the above quote again:

She said Ottawa will continue to "meet or exceed" their service standard of one case manager for every 40 case-managed veterans.

The offices they are closing are ALREADY well beyond their stated "service standard."
Windsor vets will now have to drive half the way to Toronto to go to the London office. A two-hour drive, barring traffic.
Sydney vets now have to drive five hours to Halifax.
I wonder what their caseloads are?

"These Canadians were ordinary men who did extraordinary things," Harper said. "Their gift to us is a separate and distinct country on this continent."

Ya, right...
Good job, Harper. Thumbs up to all those pennies you saved by closing nine offices. Lest we forget.

 

[blacksheep]

Re: OT: Canadian Politics

Mayor Rob Ford a big hit at Rememberance Day ceremonies in Toronto...

As the mayor mingled with veterans at a lunch-time reception at City Hall, one expressed displeasure at Mr. Ford’s participation in the event. “I definitely do not think it’s appropriate,” said Ronald Hill, 91, who served as a code breaker during the Second World War. “I put my life on the line, that son-of-a-bitch was boozing and cracking.”

Mr. Hill refused to shake Ford's hand. heh