July 2011
Mayor Ford: Lies, Stupidity and Statistics
I suppose that few people are in danger of suggesting that Rob Ford is the sharpest knife in the drawer, which makes it all the more unfortunate that he's swinging…
Hudak’s position on abortion
Responding to a request for his position on abortion: “I believe that it is the government’s role to promote the choice of life in childbearing decisions, to encourage women to…
Karzai’s Assassin – The Afghan Conundrum in a Nutshell
The guy who gunned down the brother of Afghan president Hamid Karzai is almost a metaphor for what's never going to let us 'fix' Afghanistan.Two days ago, Ahmed Karzai was…
Talisman Energy Shelves "Friendly Fracosaurus" Coloring Book After Colbert Smackdown
Screen shot 2011-07-15 at 7.05.56 PM.png Talisman Terry, the Friendly Fracosaurus, has been officially suspended from his duties as an unconventional gas mascot. The cartoon dinosaur was used to ...
SAAB Sob
Venerable Swedish car maker, SAAB, is all but officially kaput. It's all about SAAB's suspensions. First it suspended payments to its suppliers. Then it suspended production. Now it's suspended paycheques…
Rupert Murdoch shaken not stirred
Murdoch and trophy in happier timesI'm not sure I buy that the News Corp boss was 'very shaken' by his apology to the family of the girl whose voice mail…
It all began with Maggie and Ron
The modern march to free market supremacy is often thought to have begun with the ascendancy of the conservative regimes of Margaret Thatcher in the U.K. and the Ronald Reagan…
In and of itself, a cheque imposes no obligation on a drawee bank to the payee
Canada Trustco Mortgage Co. v. Canada, 2011 SCC 36, released today, is an important decision dealing with the Bills of Exchange Act and, more generally, banking. The fact that a…
Bob Newhart’s call from Walter Raleigh
This is great on a couple of levels. First of all, it makes you think about all the strange little things we take for granted around us. I’m sure a…
Hate Speech, Religious Freedoms, and Islamophobia
Competing with the concurrent LGBT Pride parade in Toronto, a local imam took it upon himself to very publicly condemn homosexuality, referencing how Islamic law instructs us to execute those…
GOP Coal Ash Bill May Be Hazardous To Your Health
poison_sign.jpg The House Energy and Commerce Committee voted this week to allow a new bill on the regulation of coal ash to be considered for a full House vote. The…
Ahmadinejad May Be On Way Out
Al Jazeera is speculating that hothead Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may be about to resign. He has clashed with his country's real power, its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but…
Sentencing judge who intends to go outside joint submission must give an opportunity to respond
R. v. Abel, 2011 NWTCA 4 is a useful source for the principle that when a sentencing judge proposes to give a sentence outside the ranges submitted by counsel she…
Rick Salutin on Rupert Murdoch
For those exulting in the ongoing misfortunes of Rupert Murdoch (and I readily and enthusiastically admit to being one of them), Rick Salutin has a thoughtful column in today's Star…
Is the Tea Party America’s Khmer Rouge?
The struggles underway between Congressional GOP leaders and the White House over America's debt ceiling have an eerie, nihilistic air to them.Some attribute it to the struggles Republican House leader…
Possible explanation for Rob Ford’s ignorant blunders
Is he running a government or making widgets? - Peace, order and good government, eh?This is Ford explaining to talk radio host John Oakley why he thinks Toronto's labour costs…
Typhoon Heading for Fukushima?
A major typhoon is barreling toward Japan. Typhoon Ma-on is expected to make landfall around noon Sunday. It's path, shown above, indicates it will hit Tokyo and, just past that…
Confirmation DSM-5’s New Autism Spectrum Disorder Will Exclude Intellectually Disabled
I have written previously that persons who presently have autistic disorder or PDD-NOS and who are also intellectually disabled will be removed from the DSM-5's New Autism Spectrum Disorder. Whereas…
Big Oil Bankrolls Meeting on Canada’s Energy Future
At least it’s clear who’s setting the agenda at this weekend’s meeting of Provincial and Federal Ministers of Energy and Mines. It turns out the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers…