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Even officers in place thought the situation untenable, with one describing the incident commander as “maniacal,” the report says. “Where are they going to give them a chance to disperse?” one officer asked. “They aren’t, that’s the problem,” another replied. “Well, that’s stupid.”

http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/news/blog.html?b=news.nationalpost.com/2012/05/16/police-violated-civil-rights-acted-illegally-says-scathing-report-on-g20-summit

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actually I don’t recall whether it rained… from the archives

thank you, my dear Flickr friends, for all your comments, favs and invites! you guys are the BEST!!

FOR SURE ENJOY ON BLACK!! :-) “L”

please visit my web site or Facebook

same day last year www.flickr.com/photos/shab_khos/5714350463/

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To anyone paying attention, it’s obvious that the cops are trying to intimidate him, and in effect you, from even thinking the wrong thoughts when they tell you to grovel like a dog before them. This case is a travesty and should never have been allowed in court. But while the RCMP, OPP, and Toronto police exonerate themselves, Sonne has had his life entirely destroyed for daring to question the dictatorship descending down on us.

If this sticks, don’t think for a second this insanity won’t spread like wildfire. After all, who’s keeping such abuses in check? The cops? The courts? The media?

Police found no bombs when they arrested Sonne, but they did seize an array of legal chemicals, including various acids and hexamine fuel tablets along with laboratory apparatus. They also seized potato guns from his cottage. Sonne was charged with four counts of possessing explosives, and one of counselling mischief not committed in relation to his apparent urging of others to scale the security fence set up around the summit site. Court saw hundreds of photographs Sonne took of surveillance cameras, police and the security fence set up downtown — many posted online on photo-sharing sites — along with suggestions he made on how to scale the barrier.

http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Toronto+activist+Byron+Sonne+verdict+expected+today/6623265/story.html

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Doesn’t matter that most experts believe that pesticides are not the ideal solution. Doesn’t matter that most weed varieties are not “Roundup” (a Monsanto pesticide) glyphosate-resistant – a chemical which, according to Health Canada “is acutely toxic to rats via the oral or dermal route at doses as low as 3800 mg/kg”. Doesn’t matter that researchers are already discovering 2,4-D resistant weeds growing in fields. Doesn’t matter that 2,4-D doubles the chance developing leukemia, and is linked to sterility, non-Hodgkins lymphoma, and other health effects according to the Ontario College of Physicians. Doesn’t matter that Health Canada banned the product for “aquatic” use. Doesn’t matter that prior to 1995 it was banned outright but under pressure from the US and OECD, and relying heavily on studies from the chemical’s manufacturers, and even making a reference to the very same College of Physicians report mentioned above, it’s now a-okay!

Read the rest here: http://patrickbay.ca/blog/?p=2986

…then please spread. You don’t have to link back to me, just let people know what Dow, Monsanto, and other chemical companies are trying to do to our food!

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MGMGrand representatives: “We function best in an adult oriented town.”

Still listening to deps about Casinos. In 8 yrs, I’ve never seen so many Public Affairs firms represented in this room @ 1 time. And by Public Affairs I mean Lobbyists! Generally when you create REAL JOBS & Community Benefits, you don’t need a Lobbyist.

So I’ve been presented with this glossy, done deal picture book from MGM Grand! http://pic.twitter.com/6qsAXpFH

Who could say no!?! Especially when it’s all up to the Province to wear the controversy! Sassy! http://pic.twitter.com/Gj35J4zf

So Vegas, So Glossy! http://pic.twitter.com/XY21xzFB

So would a casino in Toronto be such a bad idea? The mayor and his slimey buddies don’t seem to think so. Folks in the US would probably say otherwise. But is it really surprising considering who’s supporting this?

Jumpin Jack Mammoliti: We will transfer the funds over to TPS to break up illicit card games.

Jumpin Jack Mammoliti: “If it’s the right decision I’ll vote for it. If it’s the wrong decision I’ll vote for that as well.”

Jumpin Jack Mammoliti: This is not organized crime. This is legalized crime.

Sage words from a man who once said:

When you’re sleeping with a prostitute, you’re probably sleeping with 150 guys at the same time.

Judging by his attitude towards hookers, it only stands to reason that the arse is equally cognizant of how bad a casino would be. Makes one wonder, then, where he gets off pulling 10,000 jobs for single moms out of his ass.

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Bill Blair said, yeah, the Toronto Police gave the orders:

“I do acknowledge the operational command decisions were being made by a Toronto police superintendant who was the operational commander at the time here in Toronto,” he said.

How very interesting, considering the RCMP report claims that they were calling the shots.

 The RCMP assumed the role of security lead by authority of the G8 Summit Privileges and Immunities Order, 2010-2, and the G20 Summit Privileges and Immunities Order, 2010. These orders created the legal basis for Canada to host the Summits and, accordingly, provided the RCMP with authority pursuant to the Foreign Missions and International Organizations Act to take the lead role for security of the events.

The decision makers for the G8, in descending order, were the Executive Steering Committee, the UCC Commander, the Area Commander and the Site Commander. POUcommanders, if deployed, were given authority to make decisions with respect to the tactics and equipment to be used during time-sensitive operational situations. A similar matrix was created for the G20, but an added level of Jurisdictional Commander, e.g. the MICC Commander, appeared below Site Commander to reflect the addition of the MICC.

When asked what his [ISU's Lead] expectations were of the UCC Commander and the TACC Commander in this situation, the ISU Lead stated that he would only expect the UCC Commander to get involved if there had been a strategic need to do so (e.g. need for additional resources). The ISU Lead was clear that the kettling was a tactical decision—that is to say, it was made by the Toronto Police Service.

Even more interesting is the claim that the RCMP broke their own rules in kettling protesters:

The RCMP reluctantly participated in kettling protesters at the G20 riots in Toronto in 2010, under orders from the local police, even though the controversial crowd-control technique is not part of the Mounties’ playbook.

So right out of the gate we have the Toronto Police claiming to give orders to the RCMP while the RCMP claims it was in charge (a number of times), and then admitting to using tactics contrary to its own “playbook”. The a TPS tactical decision overrides the RCMP’s stated policies? And who’s in charge again?

Moreover, it is the RCMP stated policy “always” to give crowds a way out.

Then there’s the back-pedaling being done on Bill Blair’s secret law (suddenly and without warning applying it to half of downtown Toronto , even when many people directly asked, certainly made it “secret”):

Documentation provided to the Commission indicates that the Public Works Protection Act regulation was enacted in response to concerns expressed by the Toronto Police Service that officers would not be able to demand identification from those wishing to enter the area in which the Summit was taking place.

“Wishing to enter”? Funny, that’s not how it was either interpreted or enforced. In fact, the law says a few different things that don’t coincide:

Powers of guard or peace officer

3.A guard or peace officer,

(a) may require any person entering or attempting to enter any public work or any approach thereto to furnish his or her name and address, to identify himself or herself and to state the purpose for which he or she desires to enter the public work, in writing or otherwise;

(b) may search, without warrant, any person entering or attempting to enter a public work or a vehicle in the charge or under the control of any such person or which has recently been or is suspected of having been in the charge or under the control of any such person or in which any such person is a passenger; and

(c) may refuse permission to any person to enter a public work and use such force as is necessary to prevent any such person from so entering. R.S.O. 1990, c. P.55, s. 3.

There was no provision for arrest if you didn’t “show your papers” simply walking around the fence, even though that’s exactly what the cops did, even though it’s obvious that this really only applied to people wanting to get inside the “Public Works” area. There’s also a lesser-known tidbit from around that time:

The Integrated Security Unit, comprised of security bodies including the Toronto police, RCMP and OPP, were concerned that lawyers were advising radical activist groups that police have limited right to question, identify and detain individuals near the fenced secure area downtown, Mukherjee said.

Blair made the request after ISU members decided extending the powers in the act, which covers buildings including Union Station and Toronto police headquarters, to the G20 fence, he said.

“The decision makers felt that a clearer articulation of what those limits are would be useful. It was not chief Blair alone. It was the ISU,” said [Police Services Board chair] Alok Mukherjee.

How about that? The RCMP claims in their report it was Toronto Police Services alone that “expressed concern” (i.e. wanted to terrorize people on the street without warrant), yet articles from that time show the RCMP (and the OPP) were in on the push for the secret law right from the get-go.

One of the more blatant lies maintained in the RCMP report is that police acted in good faith by “pre-arresting” people before they had a chance to cause trouble at the G20:

During the lead up to the commencement of the [G20] Summit, intelligence led threat assessments will be prepared by the Joint Intelligence Group (JIG). These reports will document threat levels relating to terrorism threats and planned protest threats.

The ongoing intelligence from these reports will have an impact on the deployment of human and material resources, where the potential for confrontation between protestors and police personnel are likely to occur. G20 Operations personnel conducted Vulnerability Risk Assessments in Toronto in December 2009 of the proposed venue, airport and hotels.

All “targeting” will be based upon criminal predicate: Suspects will be determined based upon their proven willingness, capacity and intention to commit criminal acts and/or create situations that pose public safety concerns.

The RCMP conclusion:

Finding No. 8: The JIG appropriately identified and assessed criminal threats to the Summits.

That a fact? Of the 70 or so pre-arrests that were “appropriately identified and assessed criminal threats”, how many of the charges stuck? Literally none. In fact, this was pretty much par for the course during all police actions during the G20, yet the cops managed to completely miss actual trouble-makers, and this more than once.

These are just three examples in the report. I haven’t even read the whole thing and already I’m finding the stench of bullshit unbearable. If you’re willing to hold your nose long enough and find more “inconsistencies”, I’d love to hear from you and append them here. I’m sure it’s filled with examples of this kind of crap which the mainstream media are missing in favour of easy-to-read, highlighted admissions of failure.

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He made a proclamation, refused to talk to the press, and b-lined it for the exit. This, just days after after admitting to threatening Toronto Star reporter Daniel Dale. Keep in mind that no one asserted Dale was trespassing when walking around behind Ford’s property, no one countered Ford’s threatening behaviour, and it was obviously Ford who made a call using the then-stolen property acquired through intimidation.

Putting icing on the cake, Ford said he wouldn’t be part of any media scrum that had Dale in it, and this isn’t the first time he’s directly excluded media from City Hall. In fact, not even the second time.

This could all be described as deeply ironic, if only it weren’t Rob Ford making a mockery of it all.

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Janet is a surprisingly youthful and slim woman (for someone who listens to the bitching and moaning of the city all day), and was very cordial in welcoming us to her office — something that rarely takes place (most people just call). It wasn’t a big space, shared only with her assistant Wendy, and was filled mostly with office supplies, bulky office equipment, books, desks, and one small round table around which we sat.

She began by opening a weighty volume, the City of Toronto Code of Conduct for Members of Council and explaining that this, for the most part, was the territory that she treads. Then she drew a three-slice pie diagram explaining that, out of the three slices of a Member’s responsibility, she was responsible for interpreting complaints related to their conduct (the other two being legal / criminal responsibilities, and political responsibilities). To put it another way, the Code of Conduct is what she’s responsible for admonishing. Should the matter be criminal or a failure of political responsibility, her role would be only to advise people to take it up with others under whom these jurisdictions fall.

The role of the Integrity Commissioner is, for the most part, to smooth over relations so that, for example, when some Council member is having a tiff with another member, she can recommend that the two apologize. Her recommendations are the definitive word on whether or not the Code of Conduct has been breached and, when it’s something big, her recommendation is brought to Council for a vote for action. Janet is also a lawyer (this gig is only a part-time role for her), so she is basically the professional vetting of whether or not the Code has been breached — if she says yes, there doesn’t need to be any question about it. However, if a member of Council breaks a rule beyond simply the Code, it’s taken one step higher to the courts, precisely why Rob Ford is being tackled by Clayton Ruby.

We were told, in no uncertain terms, that we were more than welcome to contact Janet’s office any time we felt that the Code of Conduct was being breached, and even if it wasn’t specifically spelled out “in the letter” of the code, we could go by “the spirit” of the document which is spelled out in the preamble. In other words, even if the thing doesn’t mention a specific infraction, there are certain overarching elements that cover what the Code is supposed to be about. These include:

• Members of Council shall serve and be seen to serve their constituents in a conscientious and diligent manner;
• Members of Council should be committed to performing their functions with integrity and to avoiding the improper use of the influence of their office, and conflicts of interest, both apparent and real;
• Members of Council are expected to perform their duties in office and arrange their private affairs in a manner that promotes public confidence and will bear close public scrutiny; and
• Members of Council shall seek to serve the public interest by upholding both the letter and the spirit of the laws of the Federal Parliament and Ontario Legislature, and the laws and policies adopted by City Council

So let’s say you believe that the Mayor had a conflict of interest in using public money to fund his high school football team – start by having a gander of the Code of Conduct. If you can find anything specific covering such an action (or you believe the spirit of the thing has been breached), you should go right ahead and file a complaint with the Integrity Commissioner. That complaint can be private, or it can be formal (which will require an affidavit and some other paperwork), the second accusation obviously being the more serious one (and one that the Commissioner is able to discuss publicly). The Commissioner’s office will then investigate the complaint and provide a recommendation. That recommendation can be brought before Council for a vote, or she can recommend that you get a lawyer and they can take it from there.

In any event, the Office of the Integrity Commissioner is a great place to start if you think that members of Council have broken the rules. Just be sure to point out which part of the Code you think they’ve breached (she can’t actually recommend things like that, it would make her seem biased). Even if you’re not 100% sure, you can ask — that’s exactly why she’s there!

And, if I can share the one major take-away that this visit left me with: getting involved with the machinations of City Hall (or any level of government), is not at all difficult! Even if you don’t know exactly how to proceed with something like a complaint, all you have to do is ask and you will be directed to the right place. You’ll learn more about how the city works in 30 minutes than you could by reading all the newspapers around town, and along the way you’ll discover that most of these mechanisms are actually in place primarily for citizens, not just Council members, reporters, and others who would end up interpreting things for you.

And it’s exceedingly easy in most cases. I started with an email which resulted in an appointment for a phone call. We misunderstood and actually went down to the Integrity Commissioner’s office, but that’s usually way more effort than you’d have to put in.

We said our goodbyes, took the elevator down to street level, out onto University, and made our way up to discuss what we’d just learned over bevvies. While we didn’t actually do anything, the meeting emboldened us to take further steps to get our buffoon of a mayor under control. The bravado came from knowing we’re both just regular Joes off the street; we have no legal training, no lawyers, no money to back us, and no connections to support us, yet we have as much power to file a formal complaint that could oust the mayor (or any member of Council) as anyone else!

If I can recommend just one thing, if you’re frustrated with Mayor Ford or his minions, if things seem to be spinning wildly out of control, if City Hall seems to be working against you, the citizen, and not with you, don’t be afraid to get in touch with someone like the Integrity Commissioner and find out what steps to take to fix things. It’s easy, friendly, and even if you don’t get the answer you need right away, you’ll be pointed in the right direction.

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You can have a gander at the report yourself via the link above, but it’s interesting to note that Canada ranked a B- while simultaneously being put on America’s “watch list” as an IP infringer (i.e. our measures don’t go far enough).

Most notable in the category scores was a F (complete fail), in the “freedom and access to use” in public affairs category, and D grades for both “scope and duration of copyright” as well as “freedom to share and transfer”.

Read the whole post here: http://patrickbay.ca/blog/?p=2746

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“Council directed that the surplus be directed to capital purchases and specifically the new TTC streetcar order,” Milczyn said.

Except, guess what?

FORD WANTS TO USE SURPLUS TO PAY FOR STREETCARS…while some councillors are suggesting the surplus cash be used to stop other budget cuts, Ford echoed Budget Chief Mike Del Grande’s stance that the surplus should be put into the city’s cash-strapped capital budget…Mark Towhey, Ford’s director of policy, stressed Thursday that the city has to put a portion of the 2011 budget surplus towards the capital budget, particularly the TTC’s fleet of new streetcars.

So Fordo and his cadre get the surplus wrong, and then they go and point fingers at Council when in reality they themselves directly spearheaded the push for spending the money this way. At this rate, they’ll probably be blaming the insistence on subways on Miller too (because they were Ford’s priorities since day one, of course).

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Well, I got in touch with Mr. Ruby’s office and, for some reason, the conflict of interest lawsuit has been deferred to September (pretty much par for the course for all of the complaints against him now). Perhaps it’s because Justice Charles Hackland is coming in from Ottawa to hear the matter at a Toronto Superior Court (for three days starting on September 5th), but we once again have to play the waiting game while the Mayor continues to flaunt his refusal to follow the rules.

I just sent in a request to the Toronto Integrity Commissioner’s office asking why we even have rules when Ford just goes ahead and breaks them whenever he pleases. Hopefully I’ll get a response, but I have a feeling it won’t be very satisfying.

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Clearly no rush, and a thousand percent increase obviously isn’t worth reporting on. Nope.

That’s why you’d be hard-pressed to find anything on it except maybe in a few US tech blogs and publications (which astutely describe it as “insane” and “disastrous”). Students are about to be ensnared into paying through the nose for course materials, as are taxpayers who will be dragged into paying for the oppressive copyright regime sweeping the globe — and without any say or even notification. That’s right, everyone will be forced to pay, no questions asked.

This could almost be called a conspiracy theory if only it weren’t fact. And where is the illustrious mainstream media? Talking hard topics like the NHL, Harold the scumbag, erm, “Jewelry Buyer”, bullshit elections in Alberta, and Bev Oda’s continuing abuse of taxpayer money.

This is where our once great country is heading, folks; hope this helps to wake some of you up. These kinds of backroom abuses will just keep getting worse until we stand up and start fighting back — and bull-horning each other on the streets just ain’t doing the trick any more.

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But from where I’m sitting out here in left But from where I’m sitting out here in left field, the mayor’s given no quarter, and field, the mayor’s given no quarter, and shown nothing but contempt for his shown nothing but contempt for his political opponents. Seems it’s OK for Rob political opponents. Seems it’s OK for Rob Ford to throw his weight around when Ford to throw his weight around when he’s threatening people. Why should he he’s threatening people. Why should he deserve any sympathetic consideration? deserve any sympathetic consideration?

http://www.nowtoronto.com/mobile/story.cfm?c=186316

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His decision not to attend the annual Pride parade on July 1 is a reminder of the worst aspects of his mayoralty: the stubbornness, the refusal to take in other perspectives, the failure to grow in the job and become mayor of all Torontonians instead of just the champion of his own base.

http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/decision-to-skip-pride-reminds-toronto-of-mayor-fords-worst-traits/article2407065/

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“What depresses me the most about right-wing politicians is their belief that they are right and that there doesn’t seem to be any opportunity for dialogue. It’s my way or the highway. I have found that deeply disappointing.

http://www.thestar.com/iphone/news/article/1161454–how-rob-ford-s-mayoralty-has-divided-the-people-of-toronto

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“My advice to the taxpayer would be don’t send us any more activists, don’t send us any more unionists, don’t send us any more cyclists,” Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday said. “Send us some people down here with good common sense who just want to manage the city’s affairs. That’s what’s needed.”

http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/toronto-mayor-fords-drive-to-privatize-stalled-as-councillors-take-control/article2399108/

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Half journalist, half activist, they spend hours monitoring meetings of city council and its committees. Their main vehicle is Twitter, the social-media tool that is changing journalism and politics with its 140-character-or-less bursts of commentary, argument and wit. They even live-tweet the Ford brothers’ weekly radio show, or #FoBroShow, with minute-by-minute, play-by-play commentary. No mayoral gaffe or mis-statement goes unchecked.

http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/globe-to/city-hall-critics-of-a-feather-tweet-together/article2402106/

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Destroying anything and everything on a wall doesn’t actually work, and neither does calling 911 when we see someone painting on walls. I wonder what asinine stupidity Ford will follow up with this time. I’m also looking forward to seeing all the renewed vigour with which Ford will be represented in graffiti around the city. Seems like everyone but meathead and his hand-up-his-brother’s-ass brother can’t seem to see what’s happening around them. Then again, they can barely tell what’s happening in their own heads so I guess it’s not surprising.

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Still, I thought, I’d give it another try – schmooze a bit, maybe chat about SocialCastr, and just see what was happening out there in the world of Flash and AIR. After all, Adobe recently released its roadmap for the Flash runtime, and just a couple of days ago announced even more news surrounding upcoming features and new pricing models. If anything, one might think that such topics would at the very least have been brought up at some point during the evening.

Well, one would be wrong. In fact, the entire evening was dominated by topics such as Unity, and HTML5, and ending with a shameless Apple love-in with literally not one mention of Flash. At all.

The “Emerging technologies in the real world” topic was interesting enough, with Demi Kandylis describing how his company used Unity to produce an interactive shadow puppet display for Sapporo, the Japanese beer maker. Demi’s team happened to use Unity, a 3D engine that can also be used to output to Flash, which could have become an interesting launchpad to at least mention some of the interesting work being done with Flash and 3D. But no mention of Flash, of course. Not even a hint.

The next presentation was part of what I see as the ongoing, and frankly insane push to get everyone to develop in HTML5. Here, Ken Peleshok demonstrated Adobe Edge, now in its 5th version and still able to perform only basic animations of the kind that Flash was capable of 15 years ago. The demonstration was pretty much a failure as Ken couldn’t get basic animations going with his code, but there was plenty of Apple-wielding supporters standing to the side exclaiming, “just you wait!” There was certainly enough opportunity to at least draw parallels to Flash animation, but of course that was never brought up. But why would anyone want to discuss Flash at an event called FlashInTO?!

I had to walk out on the final panel discussion because it turned into one of the most disgustingly overt Apple advertisements I’d ever witnessed, not to mention the conclusions that the panelists came to. The Apple logo featured prominently in every slide along with the panelists’ children, and everyone took the opportunity to casually wave around their iPads, Macs, or whatever piece of Apple hardware they were carrying to show that, yes, they were just the coolest people ever and could be trusted to deliver unbiased and reasoned opinions. Simon Conlin, the founder of FlashInTO (and later Flash In The Can…see below), started off by saying, “This isn’t supposed to be an advertisement for Apple or anything…”, and then motioned to the front of his laptop with the glowing Apple logo just to drive the point home before starting the accompanying slide show of panelists’ kids brandishing Apple hardware, often with the company’s logo as the primary focus and the kids in the corner of the images. Most of the time the kids weren’t in the picture at all, it was just photos of iPads, iPhones, and other iDevices.

Despite this end-of-night panel being billed as “A look at apps for kids, what’s good, what’s bad and much more”, there was literally one app that was shown while the discussion centered entirely around the “brilliance” of Apple’s marketing and design. And once again, not even a passing mention of Flash, Flash Builder, Catalyst, or any of the other Flash-related products that could easily have been incorporated into the discussion. Even Adobe wasn’t mentioned…it was a complete Apple circle jerk.

Believe it or not, though, the couple of overpriced pints I had downed allowed me to stomach things up until that point; it was only when the conversation turned to, “What the youth of today can teach us” that I packed it in. Once again with all attention on how Apple was genius for doing so, the panel began discussing how we, as software developers, should be tailoring our apps towards infants. After all, kids are completely uninhibited and have no preconceived notions about interacting with hardware or software, and so we should all be striving to dumb down our own products and make them as basic and infantile as possible. That way everyone could use what we produce without any real learning curve or impediments. And wouldn’t it be a good idea to cripple device functionality through our software to ensure that people only use our software when, how, why, and where we want them to?

I was this close to standing up and reminding them how their device-weaned spawn don’t have the wherewithal to keep their hands off of hot stoves or not run out into traffic (maybe that’s why adults think for a few moments before adorably mashing $800 devices with ball-peen hammers), but it was clear that they were really only into publicly masturbating to Apple propaganda and rhetoric. When, at some point in the past I’d mentioned that Applites offer up their firstborn to Steve Jobs, I thought I was only exaggerating – clearly I was wrong.

And just to drive home the point of the evening, a draw was held for tickets to this year’s FITC. That’s Flash In The Can, if you’ve never been. I haven’t, mostly because the tickets are ridiculously priced, and partially because even when I might’ve had a chance to attend, people who had deigned to call me their friend ended up attending, on free tickets, with other “friends” who had absolutely no interest in Flash, and without even mentioning the event until I found out about it accidentally afterwards. And that the FITC was held directly across from the street where I worked at the time just helped to drive that screw in a little deeper. Then there was the childish crap they pulled and subsequently tried to cover up using threats and intimidation, that just completed the picture of what kinds of people self-avowed Applites really are. Not all, of course – you may have an iDevice right now — but be aware that going down the Apple path almost always invariably ends up leading out of the asshole of one thing or another.

But while FITC of the past was actually about Flash, look at the lineup of topics for this year’s FLASH In The Can: HTML5 • Online Video • Kinect Hacking • Javascript • OOP • WebGL • OpenFrameworks. • CSS3 • Starling • jQuery • Flash Stage 3D • Augmented Reality • Digital Art • Robotlegs 2.0 + much more!
Out of the 80 or so presentations, five mention Flash. And these are: “Deep Dive in the Flash Platform Roadmap”, “Flash and HTML5″, “Moving Forward with Flash (or Not?)”, “OpenFrameworks 101 for Flash Developers”, “Tangled: HTML5 <video> and Flash”. In effect, that’s one presentation on the Flash Platform Roadmap I’d mentioned earlier, one presentation for beginner Flash developers, and three about how you should be abandoning Flash for HTML5 hype.

And just in case you had any doubt about their dedication to Flash, the only Flash element on the FITC website is the banner, FlashInTO has no Flash elements whatsoever.

Yeah, this is what things have come to. The word “ridiculous” doesn’t even begin to cover it, and although I tried not to make this into an Apple-bashing post, it’s unavoidable considering how it’s flaunted in everyone’s face so openly and readily; exclusively, even. And I can’t help but wonder when it’ll stop. What will it take for people to notice this insanity?

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A sample of one of the misleading questions is (somewhat paraphrased…it was a long poll): “Thinking about the past two months, how often would you describe the care provided by your therapist as helpful or adequate? Always, sometimes, never?”

Sarah asked for clarification since she’s only seen the physiotherapist for all of about 7 hours, and certainly not in the last two months. In fact, her agencies are so chronically understaffed and over-scheduled that she has only really seen most of them once in the past 6 months.

“This only applies to in the last two months”, replied the pollster. Well, being honest she had to say “never”. Of course, this “never” was only to apply to the last two months, but there was no way to clarify the answer, and the pollster’s impatience was evident on the other end of the phone (like I said, long poll). There was not even a way to specify that “never” didn’t  actually mean “never” according to their own questionnaire. And the following queries continued to be within the two month period without this time frame being included in the questions, so that taken in isolation, the answers would literally be interpreted as never.

There were other questions that were equally, if not more misleading, essentially implying that the physiotherapist has been doing an awful job (“never” showing up, providing the “poorest level” of service, etc.), except that there were no options to clarify when, or even if the physiotherapist was here. “Only in the last two months”, was the constant reply, and Sarah wanted to answer as honestly as possible. I too can attest to the fact that the therapist was dedicated, caring, and a genuine helpful person, something that the Ipsos Reid poll twisted into literally the opposite thing. The options were always always or never, worst or best, etc. etc., with no way to qualify them.

Maybe if the remainder of the questionnaire was similarly misleading I might not have been so taken aback, but immediately afterward the section on the physiotherapist, a “Not Applicable” option suddenly became available in the list of possible answers. So the one service that is the least available and genuinely most useful is presented by the poll as a complete waste of time and money, and with an obvious and glaring bias when compared against the other home care services being reviewed. While Sarah could answer “not applicable” at some points, there were other questions where her answers were forced to be applicable even when they couldn’t possibly be.

To put this into context, imagine being called by a pollster and being asked, “How severe was the crime for which you were most recently arrest? Very, somewhat, not very?” What, you’ve never been arrested? Well that’s not an option (and hurry up and answer the question, we have other people to poll).

Now consider that such incredibly biased data were later used to justify new police powers, the building of mega jails, and the suspension of your civil rights. Or maybe it’s used to underpin the cutting healthcare services. Or maybe it’s being used to raise taxes, ban driving, or whatever.  It’s not not a far leap.

I’m not sure what can be done about this except to share our polling stories online to expose such bias and to take every questionnaire result with a big hunk of salt. At the very least, when being presented with the results of a poll, we should demand to see the whole question, the whole set of answers, and most importantly be critical of what (and why!) things may have been left out.

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Giorgio Mamolitti has now shown utmost contempt for the democratic process, the law, common sense, and everything else he has sworn to uphold as a Toronto Councillor and has now publicly stated that he will do everything he can, including breaking the law, in order to prevent the democratically decided-upon plan to build LRTs.

This goes way beyond the mere infantile screaming and pounding of fists of the kind that Ford is doing, and even beyond the wholesale contempt that the Ford gang are showing for democracy and any semblance of common sense. I mean, it was bad enough that Fordo voted for Transit City, then illegally cancelled it when taking power, and then got all huffy and puffy trying to have it reinstated while simultaneously slagging the original plan. What that demonstrated was that Rob Ford’s plan was all about doing things his way and his way only.

That was bad enough.

It was worse that at the eleventh hour, the idiots Ford depended on other Councillors to put forward bullshit funding proposals, no doubt because such ideas went directly against each end every election promise that His Engorgedness made, and all because they had absolutely no plan, no backers, and no clue to back up their subway plan. They couldn’t even pull some ideas of the Transit City plan that Fordo killed, presumably because he can’t read.

And despite months of lies and rhetoric, none of Ford’s imaginary backroom deals with developers and his “public-private partnership funding” ever materialized, despite His Portliness vowing to do “whatever it takes” to win over opinions. I guess “whatever it takes” means “absolutely nothing”, and certainly with no basis in reality. In fact, to this date Ford has not managed to produce a single voice of support except for his Council lapdogs and his scumbag buddies at the Toronto Taxpayers Coalition who regularly take to telling anyone with any contrary ideas to “fuck off” and not-so-subtle threats of cutting off of heads — my own personal experience and certainly not preceded with any similar abuse. All 30 or so of them, clearly a fair and accurate representation of all “Toronto taxpayers” (a designation which, according to them, no one else belongs to).

Then Fatty and his cadre of myopic morons resorted to threatening various levels of government with his non-existent “Ford Nation” (more than once), which, of course, turned out to be just more unadulterated bullshit and hot air, while always taking the time to blame everyone but the overweight master for a complete inability to get anything done at City Hall. Clearly no other mayor ever got anything done, so that’s a fair argument, and Ford’s tenure as a Councillor of 10 years means he couldn’t possibly have an idea of how anything works. Yeah, they actually believe and defend this!

If this wasn’t bad enough, Ford fired the chief general manager of the Toronto Transit Commission for, literally, telling the truth and stating that he thought, in his professional opinion and many years on the job, that LRTs were simply the better choice given all the circumstances, all in a weaselly move hastily pulled behind the back of the chair of the Toronto Transit Commission while she was on vacation.

All of this nonsense, including Ford’s insistence on removing revenue sources like the relatively tiny Vehicle Registration Tax (saving the taxpayer a whopping $0.16 per day), or removing bicycle lanes on Jarvis Street, or the firing of Gary Webster, have easily and at the very least doubled the deficit that Ford vowed with haughty huffs and fat-stifled breaths to get rid of during his election campaign which, of course, he blamed on the preceding administration but which he clearly pulled straight of his voluminous ass.

No, that’s not all bad enough; now ass-licking minion Mammoliti has vowed that despite all of this, he is not only willing to stand behind his puffy master (a dangerous place to be in any event), but has openly and publicly stated that he, like Rob Ford, doesn’t give a shit about what the democratic majority decided, and is in fact willing to break the law in order to get what he wants. Why? Because his constituents (none of which have materialized, of course), have told him this. No doubt just like Rob Ford’s multitudes of subway supporters, which numerous media outlets have substantiated (to be a complete lie).

Folks, it’s become increasingly obvious what’s going on here: we have a handful of Councillors who are attempting to illegally usurp power at City Hall and destroy the democratic process in order to push their dystopian vision of a corporate-run, Fascist (the most correct and apt adjective), city that they rule over like the bloated autocrats they believe themselves to be (do any of their actions say otherwise?). They’ve demonstrated time and time again that even when they outwardly claim to care about the opinions of citizens, they really don’t — just watch a few hours of the budget depositions of 2011 and see how many time Ford walks out and Mammoliti screams and shouts about how he’s being offended and how people need to listen to him.

We have a responsibility to keep these people in check and, should the time come, we have the power of citizens’ arrest specifically to address times when corruption has overrun our institutions, not to mention the moral responsibility to stand up and defend the highest laws of the land. I’m not suggesting braking the law or going against the authority of the police — in fact, my vehement hope is that the law applies equally to everyone and that justice is also served equally. But should that fail, we musn’t allow our democracy to be overrun by admitted criminals; that itself is a crime.

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According to the Toronto Sun, the loosely named “conservative think tank” Fraser Institute came up with the conclusion that immigrants are a big burden on the economy, mentioning that businesses are “not taking advantage” of skilled workers (clearly not in any way due to the policies of the Conservatives, both local and federal), and offer one of the most brilliant solutions I’ve heard of in years: robots

Specifically, “Faced with an elderly population in need of care and a shortage of medical staff, Japanese inventors have created robots that dispense pills and help feed and bathe seniors in hospitals.” According to the “think tank”, Canada should be investing in robots so that all of our elderly parents can spend their remaining years staring into the loving eyes of a machine while being poked and prodded and force-fed drugs.

Thankfully, the Cons don’t want anyone abusing seniors. That’s their job. They suggest that Canada could fire a bunch of nurses and maybe even doctors, and practically take humanity out of the equation altogether. These are conservatives we’re talking about, so none of this is surprising, but it does set a new bar for callousness and coldness, even by their standards. There’s no doubt what conservatives prize above everything else, even life itself: cold hard cash.

“This increases productivity of people who design robots and run robots,” said Herbert Grubel, co-author of the Fraser report. “We’re preventing all of that from taking place.”

By “we”, of course, he means Harper’s government which, when spoken out loud, is pronounced “left-wing pinkos”. And the first part of the sentence would really only make sense if the robots were pre-programmed with some sort of culling instructions a la Terminator, which would certainly make the whole process much more efficient. Not sure how this is to create more jobs, unless of course all that freshly rendered human flesh clogs up the gears, but it sure would keep the robot servicing peons busy and productive.

And after that, who knows…maybe a new food product on the market along the lines of Soylent Green? Think of how many problems that would solve!

Unfortunately, the Toronto Sun spent more time extolling the virtues of big boobs and guns than pontificating on this topic, which was of course closed to comments (thinking’s hard), so we may never know what their own in-house “think tank” thinks about such fresh ideas, but I think we can extrapolate their collective opinion: Robots. That’s it.

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In case you hadn’t heard, fatty Ford and his gang of five Yes Men voted, in a hasty meeting thrown together while the TTC chair was on vacation, to fire Gary Webster, the TTC’s General Manager. Webster’s crime? Cutting back costs exactly as the mayor asked. Oh yeah, and providing an honest, professional report to both the mayor and Council (as reported on Goldhawk Live, Tuesday, February 21, 2012), about why Light Rail Transit makes more sense than subways in this city.

The mayor repressed this report until it was leaked to The Star, then moved to have it made “irrelevant” (revealed in the same Goldhawk episode), when presented to Council. Council voted in favour LRTs based on this advice (though I thought I heard about some subways in there too), which was obviously way too democractic and balanced for his Rotundness (by the way, it’s not “fatophobic” to call jerks like this exactly what they are, deal with it).

Well heaven forbid we should have experienced public servants give us honest and professional opinions on which direction to go in!

The little mayoral weasel, along with all of his little greasy buddies (there are only five people, six if you count his presstitute, cowardly enough to suck on Ford’s unmentionables), under the weakest premise of “subways were Rob Ford’s mandate!“, decided then that they would just do the most slimy, underhanded, dictatorial, undemocratic thing they could, called together that meeting, and fired Webster.

Webster ended up with roughly two years’ salary after decades of service. I’m not too worried about him — even Rob Ford had to concede that Webster “has served Toronto and the TTC well in his years of service.  He was an important element in the organization’s many successes to date and can proudly point to a list of accomplishments.” So, yeah, thanks for all your hard work and dedication, Webster, now fuck off because we need “change” (even though we have no replacement, i.e. a plan). Your “pal”, Rob Ford.

Well, if Webster can get fired for doing his job, why not Rob Ford and his cadre of grovelling dogs? Thankfully, I’m not the only one with that idea. And by the way, Ford and his buddies are snorting some serious white stuff if they continue the claim that subways were even a small part of his mandate. Here’s RoFo’s entire platform, as mercifully preserved on the WayBack Machine (http://web.archive.org/web/20100830155611/http://www.robfordformayor.ca/issues/). See if you can find the word “subway” anywhere in here:

Rob Ford on the Issues

Stopping the Waste and Getting Spending Under Control

Toronto has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.

The City of Toronto’s budget has ballooned from $5.9 billion in 2000 to $9.2 billion in 2010 – plus a $2.4 billion capital budget.  The City is addicted to spending and the most important job for the incoming Mayor will be to get the City’s finances in order.

Downsize Council from 44 to 22 Councillors.

Toronto has 22 MPs, 22 MPPs and 22 School Trustees.  It only needs 22 City Councilors. Reducing Toronto City Council would make meetings more productive and save taxpayers about $9 million in direct costs (salary, benefits, expense accounts and staffing budgets.) Additional savings from a reduced burden on City Hall staff would equal at least $6 million each year.  There are too many politicians and not enough accountability.

Reduce Politicians’ Expense Accounts.

In addition to their salary of about $100,000 each Councillor receives a budget of $205,000 to hire staff plus a tax-free allowance of $53,100 for “other expenses.”  This budget is what Kyle Rae famously used to throw himself a $12,000 party with your money.

When Rob Ford is Mayor, he will reduce the politicians’ expense accounts to $30,000 (saving over $1 million per year) so that tax dollars are spent only on legitimate purposes.

Limiting the Mayor’s Office Budget.

Leadership starts at the top.  When Rob Ford is Mayor, he will also limit the expense accounts for the Mayor’s Office.  Decreasing the staffing and expenses budget by 20 percent will save the taxpayers about $512,000 per year.

Making Toronto a Better Place to Live

City Hall has been too focused on the pet projects and perks of politicians and not on the fundamental services that people, families and businesses rely on every day.  These essential services are necessary to make Toronto a more livable city.  As Mayor, Rob Ford will take the following necessary steps to make Toronto a better place to live:

Protecting Our Children and Communities.

100 additional frontline police officers will be hired giving Toronto Police enough new officers to:

o    Protect Children in Schools.  30 additional School Resource Officers will double the number of schools protected by this successful program. By introducing police officers to youth in a positive environment, students are less likely to take a negative view of police and more likely to seek help for issues before they reach a violent stage.

o    Target Gangs, Guns & Violence in More Communities.  70 additional frontline officers will support an expansion of the successful Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy (TAVIS) targeting gangs and violence in priority neighborhoods year-round.  This will more than double the number of officers currently available for TAVIS Rapid Response Teams.

Funding for this initiative ($15 million per year) will not be taken from within the existing TPS budget.  It represents additional funding in two phases.  From 2014 onwards, funding will be in addition to current TPS resources and come from savings accrued through the reduction of City Council from 44 to 22 Councillors.  Until Council is reduced in size, funding will be in addition to current TPS resources and come from a 0.1 per cent reduction in other (non-policing) city spending.

Making Garbage Collection Reliable.

Garbage and other solid wastes must be collected on schedule, without fail.  The strike during the summer of 2009 put the health of people and families in Toronto at risk.

The City must put in place solutions to make waste collection reliable and affordable.  Etobicoke, for example, uses contracted providers and saves the city $2 million each year.  By adopting the same approach for the whole city, taxpayers will save about $20 million each year and can have the confidence their garbage collectors won’t go on unnecessary strikes.

When Rob Ford is Mayor, the City will invite competitive tenders from private companies as well as current unions to provide collection services that are reliable, affordable and represent the best value for Toronto taxpayers.

Making the TTC an Essential Service.

People and businesses in Toronto depend on the TTC to get them from home to work, or school.  When the TTC isn’t running, the city grinds to a halt and commuters and businesses suffer.  TTC service is essential and it must be designated this way in order to prevent costly strikes.

When Rob Ford is Mayor, the City will work with the TTC and its unions to create a reliable, affordable, convenient, rapid and customer-focused transit service that Toronto can take pride in.

Improving Customer Service at City Hall.

Poor customer service frustrates city residents and businesses.  Too often, emails are ignored, telephone calls are not returned, staff are unable to answer questions or help solve issues.

Excellent customer service doesn’t cost a thing.  All it takes is leadership and accountability, and that starts at the top.

When Rob Ford is Mayor, excellent customer service will be the standard for all City Hall employees.

Eliminating Unncessary Taxes

Abolish the Vehicle Registration Tax.

Toronto residents should not have to pay $60 every year to register their vehicle.  It’s an unfair cash grab that hits families hard.  Rob Ford will push to eliminate the Vehicle Registration Tax at the first City Council meeting after becoming Mayor.

Eliminate the Land Transfer Tax.

People who buy and sell homes in Toronto must pay a new Land Transfer Tax to City Hall on top of all the other charges associated with buying or selling a home.  This punishes people and families who live in Toronto and makes the city less affordable for many people.  This tax is driving business, families, and people away from Toronto.  Rob Ford will move to abolish the Land Transfer Tax in his first year as Mayor.

Notes for an Address by Rob Ford 26 March 2010

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Well not me. No sir. I’ve been busy, and I told myself at the outset that TCL will just have to wait. It’s not that I don’t love ranting about evil politicians or posting misty photos of a blah Toronto winter (anyone else noticed it’s been totally wimpy this year?), but as I’ve explained in earlier posts, I’m also a Flash developer and I’ve been creating a product that I really think will help to shake things up a bit (plus that day job thing).

It’s a live, social (peer to peer) broadcasting technology (not a social network!), called SocialCastr, and you can get more information here: http://www.SocialCastr.com/
Some people have reported trouble with seeing a blank front page, but since all it really has is a Google Docs presentation, you can go ahead and view that here: https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=d48tf93_8hfnctdgb
There’s also a blog that goes with the site: http://www.SocialCastr.com/blog/
And the downloads / installers are available here: http://www.SocialCastr.com/download.html

I realized that I kinda failed in my description of the software when my parents assumed you could use it to have a live, two-way chat like Skype. In fact, you can (both people run Broadcastr and Receivr at the same time) , but right now that conversation would be broadcast to the world which is really what SocialCastr is about: broadcasting content (audio and video are just the start), to the world.

But I happen to think it’s a bit more elegant than anything out there right now. For starters, you don’t broadcast through any central server as you would with any other video service. In the past this would’ve been prohibitive since anyone broadcasting would need a massively fast and powerful connection to the internet in order to broadcast to as few as 100 people — each one would need their own individual copy of the video/audio stream.

SocialCastr overcomes this by using peer to peer stream sharing; the broadcaster only sends audio / video streams to a few peers and they share with others. In this way, a simple broadcast from one person can be viewed by almost unlimited numbers of people worldwide, and at a fraction of the cost of most other technologies. I happen to think this has larger implications for business too — renting out Content Delivery Networks, high-bandwidth pipes, and servers are all costs that have made getting into video semi-professional broadcasting impossible for anyone without a wad of cash. Until now, that is.

I’ve been warning people that before version 1.0 it’s still a beta (i.e. test, unstable, etc.) product and there’s still work to be done to make the software more useful. However, even at this early stage it incorporates some features you won’t find anywhere else. So if you’re a citizen journalist, vlogger, podcaster, lecturer, teacher, trainer, or may otherwise find the software useful, I encourage you to drop by and try it out. More importantly, send me your feedback and feature requests!

My commitment to keep producing a free version of the software isn’t exclusively a product of generosity, it has very real and tangible business reasons behind it. That doesn’t mean there won’t be paid or “freemium” versions too, but the fully free option will always be available.

Thanks for hanging in there while I get this baby of the ground. Updates on TCL will probably still be slow, and I ain’t making any promises; I know better by now. But SocialCastr is really a proudly Toronto-based project so I see no reason why I can’t blog about it here, do you? Cuz I kind of already have ;)

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For you sycophant “taxpayers” out there, Webster’s departure is likely to cost you all a cool half a mill. And if Ford continues then Stintz is likely his next target, probably having had a change of heart since her stint on Undercover Boss where she interacted with real people — how much will that cost your cold pragmatic asses?

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In case you haven’t been following our majority government’s shameful and downright criminal actions, or worse, if you voted for them, please pull your head out of your ass and educate yourself on why they are, and I’m not exagrating, trying to make Canada into something like a Stasi state or like something under Stalin. That goes double for Harper’s little pruned buddy Vic Toews and other Public Safety Ministers who have had an unwavering and constant record of dictatorial, freedom-quashing pronouncements under their belts. Here’s just a smattering:

Lawful Access – The charge for this bill, lead by non other than Toews, seeks to give police access to all your online records without warrant or justification. In other words, and quite literally, if there’s a cop who wants to snoop into what you’re doing, they can do it with absolutely no reason (not even a suspicion of a crime), directly in contravention of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Along with being given unrestricted access to your online activities, Lawful Access also allows police to install snooping devices on Internet Service Provider’s hardware so they can listen in on all your online conversations, completely against the highest law of the land, and against your very fundamental Canadian Rights. The Conservatives have shot down any debate on the subject, refused repeatedly to try to explain their asinine “but it’s for child porn” explanations in person which have been proven to not only be an outright lie, but have literally not a single police case to back up the claims. To add insult to injury, fuckwad Toews used a recent child porn ring bust involving hundreds of arrests as an example of how police aren’t able to do their jobs properly, and if you argue with that, you must be a pedophile too. Shit you not.

Torture – Canada used to be a place where you could come and be free of arbitrary government arrest, torture, and intimidation. Harper’s “Canadian values”, apparently, are contrary to this. Vic Toews recently popped his ugly head up and announced that the government is reversing its position on torture, ignoring even just the simple fact that it’s proven to not be effective in exacting accurate information, saying that not only is torture a-okay, we can even do it in Canada (but only against terrorists like environmental groups, so it’s okay). Of course, this once again goes against the Charter of Rights and Freedom, demonstrating that the Tories’ real targets aren’t pedophiles, terrorists, or online scammers — it’s you and your rights.

Mandatory sentences – The Conservative so-called Tackling Violent Crime which created mandatory sentences for a variety of crimes was, in a recent show of sanity, slapped down by a Toronto judge as “abhorrent” and completely unconstitutional in a case involving some guy goofing off in front of a webcam with a gun. He would’ve gotten three years in jail for that under Harper’s rule if the judge didn’t abide by the Constitution and Charter of Rights like she’s supposed to. Yet repeatedly and brazenly going against the highest law of Canada, apparently, doesn’t make the conservative government criminals for some reason. Only you and I are subject, it seems.

Unreported crime / super prisons – This was a project started in the days of Peter van Loan and Stockwell Day, Toews’ predecessors, showing how this is a long term plan by the Conservative government to destroy Canadians’ freedoms, once again without so much as a thread of real-world evidence to back up their claims. This particular gem centered around the government’s incessant push to build massive new prisons in order to prepare for all the “unreported” crime that’s happening out there. Mainstream presstitutes have tried to placate the public by pointing to the General Social Survey as being the likely source of this asinine argument, but failed entirely to ask why people didn’t report crimes; like, maybe, they didn’t think they were important enough. The Feds disagree and want you in prison, even if the “victim” doesn’t. It’s interesting to point out that the General Social Survey also includes many quality of life questions (how your life could be better), most of which go completely ignored by the federal government. No, they’re not in the business of making life better for citizens, they’re in the business of propping up mega-corporations against all opposition, all the while ensuring common, mostly law-abiding and generally innocuous citizens like you and me are made into abject criminals under their draconian laws. Let’s not forget the bullshit of the G20 (protesting in a designated protest zone? How dare they?!), which was operated under Harper’s auspices, which to this day is actively preventing and perverting the course of justice (but at least no one really innocent was affected, so it’s okay).

Human rights — Under the Conservative government, the concept of Human Rights is more or less a joke (see above), and the office of the federal Human Rights Tribunal which is bleeding staff like a stuck pig because of harassment and derision, the very ideals they’re supposed to be defending, is the very personification of the Conservative’s attitudes on the subject. And that is, fuck you, you have no rights, now cough up all your cash so we can toss your ass in jail for whatever damn reason we like.

ACTA — While the internet and public at large have expressed their seething disgust with acts like the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), Protect IP Act (PIPA), or Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), even managing to get the US federal government to back down, our own government signed up to ACTA months ago with glee and without discussion. In the United States, ACTA (created by the private, for-profit movie and record industries), was snuck in under the noses of the American people by making it top secret so that they wouldn’t be allowed to know what laws are being imposed on them. Sure sounds like it’s in the best interest of citizens, doesn’t it?

Anti-democracy — This is something that Toronto’s Rob Ford is learning all too well: you’re not the fucking king and you don’t get to just make pronouncements and have them carried out. Someone needs to step up and slap Harper upside the head and say the same thing. In fact, someone should place him under citizens arrest and have some charges placed against him (conspiring to deprive anyone of their constitutional rights is a direct crime!) Yet the federal government continues on their merry way, telling everyone there will be no discussion on anything, and fuck you, Stephen Harper has proclaimed it so. Say what you will about democracies, but there is absolutely no doubt that the Harper government is standing directly in opposition to their very concept.

And that, without doubt, makes Conservatives and their ilk supporters, directly and publicly, of dictatorship, tyranny, and oppression. This is the very same historical narrative that Hitler used to put Germany under his thumb, and the echoes of Mao and Stalin aren’t far behind. It’s not about left or right politics, it’s about simple Canadian freedoms which we all though we had inalienably enshrined in our Constitution and Charter of Rights, and which Harper is directly attacking over and over again, and with no basis in evidence, fact, law, or even common sense.

Note that on top of being just a few example of the outrageous, egregious, illegal, dictatorial, oppressive, and audacious bullshit that the Conservatives are pushing out these days, millions have been wasted to write these things up, pass them through the proper channels, and have them enacted. Not only are your rights being stripped away wholesale, you’re paying for it!

If you’re a staunch Conservative and still manage to support your scumbag government after reading some of these tidbits, I invite you to pick up a history book on something like the Nazis to see how people who support regimes like the Harper government end up. You can’t even say “but I was just following orders” at the end of it because you’re zealously behind it, and in that case, you’re no friend of mine.

Even if you’re ambivalent about all of this (meaning you don’t think it’ll affect you), ask yourself exactly how the Conservative government has made your life better. Are your taxes lower? Are you finding it easier to find a job? Is it easier to start or run a new business? Is your old age security safe?All of the programs and rhetoric being pushed by the feds are only helping to destroy all of these assistance programs.  I mean, it’s all happening so saying that the Conservatives are not directly responsible for this (with a majority and many years in power), is a very nasty type of self-delusion. No, they’re not helping you, they’re not even leaving you alone, they are directly and purposefully making your life more difficult and miserable even if you completely ignore everything else. Or maybe you’re of the belief that your children’s lives should be worse than yours?

And if any of this disturbs you, please spread the word and let’s start to put the screws on this government. They keep passing increasingly illegal laws but because they have a majority, they don’t give a shit. But as we all know, ignorance of the law is no excuse, and being out and out criminal assholes even less.

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Read, its sooo worth it.

#the Fords and their imaginary supporters in #Agincourt mall.

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NOW CHECK OUT THIS NEW BULL!

http://www.thestar.com/iphone/news/cityhallpolitics/article/1130206–new-city-fees-shock-baseball-players

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Here are some of the ppl I met:

me and Patrick!

Jayne + me! (Sarah!)

Tom + Tony!

Tony + Andrew!

Me + Patrick!

My fave course, my fave man, my fave moments!

;-)

love,
SarahD!

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In her article berating Councillor Karen Stintz’ and her “Gang of 23″ for taking an “unprincipled stand” against Ford’s let’s shove all transit underground and out of sight philosophy. Just look at the Scarborough RT, for example, what a shambles!

Yeah, well I did my time in Scarborough and couldn’t help but notice how our crappy RT, which is above ground, compared to the rest of the TTC, large sections of which also runs above ground. Levy and Ford, though, probably wouldn’t know that. And yes, the RT is kinda famously not compatible with the rest of the subway system so making the systems link up would make sense. But that’s not what Fordo supported when he unanimously overstepped his bounds, declared Transit City dead, and pronounced that Eglinton would be getting low-floor underground trains requiring a different rail gauge — exactly like the LRT.

And besides, Sue-Ann’s got her crusties all in a bunch because it was Toronto that elected the mayor with a loud and plain voice (no doubt), of 47% of voters, while Stintz is running amok with just 23 renegade Councillors which, for some reason, is not a democratically elected, and arguably much wiser, majority (there are 44 Councillors in total).

Well, Sue-Ann, let me break it down for you: I’m sure these 24 Councillors, making up 54% of Council, collectively got way more votes than His Weightiness, and if you weren’t filled with such glaring blind spots and adoration for your rotund master, you’d realize that this is the actual voice of Toronto that this “gang” of Councillors represents. Or does the concept of representative democracy not really make sense to you?

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My source cannot be named but is very credible. They had zero reason to lie.
They also were too nervous to come to anyone else about about this. (Ex. big newspapers, television news channels).

*Tough cookies, Ford Nation.

** CORRECTION: The “source” mentioned is actually a secondary source who heard this information from the primary source around the dinner table (i.e. a close family member). The information is, as far as I know, still valid (still no reason to lie), but unsubstantiated and unproven.

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After a sleepless night in bed toiling over something I read yesterday, I figured I should blog about my new favourite subject– the Fordites!

What did they do this time you might be wondering (or why shud I care)… Well, lemme tell you! They seem to be of the belief that Mayor RoFo stands a chance in hell cuz he has the majority!

WOAH! (I can hear your thoughts! Creepy, huh?! heh).

Check out their math skills:
emergency transit vote called for by Karen Stinz — cllr for the TTC.
24/44 cllrs for her transit plan + for a proper vote.

The reason it needed to be voted upon is b/c RoFo never let council vote on much in the past!!!

Why not? Cuz he thinks he owns the entire city.

Reality: he won with 42% of the vote, meaning that the other % was split apart amongst the other campaigners.

But it all MUST BE TRUE because Rob Ford + his clan of idiots say so.

Yours truly,
~ SarahD ;)

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I’m back cuz Toronto officially has The Worst Mayor of our History.

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Become a fan of the cool Froz’n Motion Facebook page at FACEBOOK or visit www.froznmotion.com

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It’s interesting to point out that Ford’s contention was never the cost of streetcars, which would’ve been the one good reason for him to flip-flop like this (“we can do it now that we’ve magically found more money in the budget!”). Instead, it was an ideological stand against public transit and bicycles in favour of cars.

I’m glad that the mayor is reneging — this city needs way more reliable (and affordable!) transit, not cars on the road; more wheels on the pavement doesn’t solve Toronto’s gridlock, after all. But I can’t help but wonder how his supporters must be feeling watching him slowly chip away at pretty much every pledge and campaign promise he made. I wouldn’t be too pleased about it if I’d voted for him, that’s for sure.

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First off there’s the budget surplus which seems to be growing by tens of millions per day, which runs exactly opposite to the claims that Rob Ford made about a budget deficit which, if they’re to be believed, is also growing ($382 million last February, $774 at present). I use the word “believed” because only a few short months earlier, Toronto was running a healthy surplus. What happened? Rob Ford got elected, that’s what.

The astute reader may say, “but we’re talking about the operating budget here”, to which there’s a simple reply: that’s the proposed budget — the one Rob Ford pulled out of his ass with the help of his overpaid buddies at KPGM, at the start of his term to support his idiotic cuts like the Vehicle Registration Tax. Yes, idiotic, because when you crunch the numbers, the savings for a small household are so tiny compared to all the outrageous cuts that are being proposed that, frankly, anyone who believes that an extra $0.16 per day in your pocket is “respect” has much bigger issues on their plate.

It’s simple: $60 saved on the VRT comes out to $0.16 per day, or $1.12 a week. Oooooh — big money! Now, with an increase in TTC fare hikes, assuming one person in the household takes transit only a couple of times a week (-$0.20), you’re now only saving $0.13 per day. Add to that an additional $5 (on average), for a Toronto Hydro rate hike which Ford could’ve helped to offset, you’re down an additional $0.08 a day.

So, really, you have roughly $0.03 more in your pocket thanks to Rob Ford’s cuts — but only if you drive a car. In exchange, everything else is being cut. And if you’re claiming that $10.95 a year is worth it to you in light of all this austerity (let’s call it by its real name), I feel genuinely sorry for you and your situation — you must be living in the most abject poverty imaginable.

But it doesn’t end there.

It was revealed today that the cost of Ford’s anti-bicycle campaign, which resulted in the ripping up of the Jarvis Street bike lane, cost around $272,000 which for some bizarre reason is more than twice as much as it did to put in under David Miller. So much for “efficiencies”. Oh, and in case you were wondering, had Ford not put his hatred of bikes into practice, it would’ve saved each and every Toronto taxpayer about $0.05 — or just shy of half of the stupendous VRT money that only drivers pocket (I’m assuming a population of 5 million for this calculation). Add to this the cost of the KPMG report at $3 million dollars and everyone could’ve had an additional $0.06.

Put all this together and it’s plain as day that Ford is costing taxpayers money, not saving it:

Saving for drivers: $0.03
Cost to everyone: $0.11
Average gain per taxpayer: -$0.08

And, of course, this doesn’t take into account the fact that services are on the chopping block which, if they’re necessary for some residents, could add a much larger chunk to expenditures. And for the home owners out there who think Ford’s other stroke of brilliance, removing the Land Transfer Tax, think they’re going to see more money every year, are sadly mistaken as well. At an estimated $300 million per year, and assuming that only half of Toronto residents are home owners, it averages out to about $0.32 of extra cash in the pocket of each household, or $0.17 per taxpayer. Except that’s a full elimination of the tax which Ford said he wouldn’t do. Instead, he’s pledging to reduce this by about 25% per year, which makes the real number close to $0.04 per taxpayer.

The revised numbers, sadly, are still in the red:

Average gain per taxpayer: -$0.08
LRT saving: $0.04
Average gain per taxpayer: -$0.04

Even under ideal conditions — no VRT, no LRT, etc. — taxpayers will be forking over an additional $0.04 this year, not saving it. And keep in mind this only applies if you drive a car or own a home — for everyone else it’ll be worse. So when Rob Ford then pronounces that we need to cut services in order to make up the shortfall that he created, that’s not “respect for the taxpayer”, that’s a slap to the face of every hard-working citizen of the city.

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According to Ford, we can’t depend on one-time surpluses to balance the books, even though that’s exactly what he did with the money left over after Miller left office.

According to Ford, there’s way too much “gravy” at City Hall, even though after a full year of wandering around with a ladle and a forlorn expression, none has been found.

According to Ford Ford, unlike every other mayor we’ve had he just just can’t seem to find any additional funding sources (fuck events like Pride).

If you’re a Ford supporter and you can look at these four statements and claim that any of this isn’t absolute and complete bullshit, that this scumbag isn’t ripping up our city solely because he can, that he has a brain cell to share between him and his brother, that he didn’t produce one broken election promise after another, that Ford is a nice and courteous guy who’s focus is to build and support the city of Toronto, that Ford is being accountable and open like he vehemently swore he would, that most of Ford’s promises don’t sound like they were slapped together by a mildly retarded 6-year-old child (promise to cut Council in half by having Councillors vote to fire themselves, for example), well, you need serious psychiatric help, my friend.

If you live with your eyes open and even half a brain in your head then it’s time to throw some major opposition under the fat man’s train. I admit, I’ve been patient and sometimes even defensive of Ford, sometimes to the chagrin of my girl who rails against Ford on a daily basis, but with the austerity-loving politicians (criminals) forking over all taxpayers’ money to mega-banks because “we’re in debt!”, it’s clear that unless people start taking some major action globally (including here in this city), we will be raped blind by the crony capitalists and left with a shambles.

At this point, “respect for taxpayers” means tossing Ford’s sorry ass on the street and maybe re-invigorating some of those charges that the cops outright refuse to follow up on –dangerous driving, beating his wife, repeated abuse of 911 dispatch, etc. It’d be a start, at least.

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