What it's really like in CANADA

[Canadian_watcher]

^ oh yeah, we worry about it all right. Although there are a goodly handful (technically a 'majority' in CDN election terms) of people who think Stephen Harper makes a good Father to us. I think those people were all beaten as children. (erm.. I was too, come to think of it.. but instead of equating strictness and swift punishment and arbitrary meting out of justice with 'love' I reject those acts and attitudes completely)

Yesterday we bumped up against something that apparently has been going on for the last few months but I'd never head of (this is one difference between Canada and the STates - you *know* your freedoms are being curtailed - everyone talks about it. Here in Canada no one goes near it. (Well, I kind of heard one leading politician start to get in to it during an interview but the host steered him away from the topic)... what we learned was this:

When you go for a criminal record check they do this scan to see if you're a sex offender or .. get this.. POTENTIALLY a sex offender. They euphemistically call people caught in it "Vulnerable People" or something like that. The absolutely horrifying part of it is that all they look for are three things: name, gender, and birth date. If you match ANY TWO you are red flagged - and these get handed in to potential employers!!

My husband got his dream job recently but yesterday almost had a heart attack (he was so shocked and humiliated, poor man) because he was red flagged due to his gender and birth date being the same as a registered sex offender. HIS GENDER and BIRTH DATE for Chrissakes!!!

That, to me, is some kind of red-tape Orwellian crazy shit.

[Nordic]

It's getting caught in a data mine collapse.

[Jeff]

[justdrew]

http://kainagata.com/2011/07/08/why-i-quit-my-job/

[norton ash]

^^^ Drew, why not post this piece as a thread-starter in General Discussion?

Sigh. Thinking back on all those sweet drunk chicks from Winnipeg now.

[justdrew]

^^^ Drew, why not post this piece as a thread-starter in General Discussion?

Sigh. Thinking back on all those sweet drunk chicks from Winnipeg now.

I figured I'd leave that up to someone else if they felt so inspired, and I don't have much to add to it


I guess one thing it says is that in Canada apparently you can quit your job and not be in immediate fear for one's own welfare (food, home, etc).

[Jeff]

The Winnipeg Jets finally unveiled their new logo on Friday afternoon, releasing three crests for the reborn NHL franchise at 5 p.m. ET on their website.

According to the team, the new main logo of a sleek fighter jet over top of a red maple leaf "was inspired by the logo of the Royal Canadian Air Force."

“True North Sports and Entertainment felt it was important for the new Winnipeg Jets to develop a strong new identity,” Jets owner Mark Chipman said in a statement.

“We felt it was important to authenticate the name Jets and we believe the new logo does that through its connection to our country’s remarkable Air Force heritage, including the rich history and relationship that our city and province have enjoyed with the Canadian Forces.”

The design was put together by True North, the NHL and Reebok and kept the team's navy blue and red colour scheme that was used between 1972 and 1996. The circular design mimics the roundel that has appeared on Canadian planes in various forms since the First World War.

...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/h ... le2106949/

[82_28]

Oh Jesus. Are you kidding? Welcome to the USA hosers. Ugh.

[Jeff]

[Mayor Rob] Ford said the only people who showed up to speak were “all the people who were getting grants saying don’t take my free money, my grant money. All the special interest groups. Again, let’s call it for what they are, they are the left-wing NDP people who always got this money handed to them year after year after year.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nat ... le2127876/

[Doug] Ford, a rookie councillor who has quickly gained a reputation for headline-grabbing statements, said Tuesday he would close a library in his ward “in a heartbeat,” characterizing a growing movement to save branches backed by Margaret Atwood as an “over-reaction,” led by “library groups.”

“Good luck to Margaret Atwood. I don’t even know her. She could walk right by me, I wouldn’t have a clue who she is.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nat ... le2110242/

[Ford ally Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti said] "I’m going to say something that might be very controversial for the city, but it’s my view that the communist movement in Toronto is hidden, and it’s hidden through one of its major parties.... It’s very clear to me, many of the directions that the former City of Toronto took in planning was done in a very intelligent way that brought policies closer to the objectives of the Communist Party.”

And it’s because of that, Mr. Mammoliti maintains, that the Ford administration is encountering opposition to its cost-cutting agenda. He wants to “weed out the communists in this city.... I’d like to know how many more there are.”

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/08/12 ... iti-warns/

This city is not a business.... we are not shareholders in a corporation; we are members in a community who prosper or suffer by the actions of our elected officials.

I’ll try buddy, I’ll try, … I don’t know this shit, but I’ll fucking try to find it. … What does OxyContin go for on the street, so I have an idea?

Recording of Rob Ford promising to help a constituent find OxyContin, June, 2010

http://www.stoprobford.ca/whats-wrong-with-rob-ford

[Jeff]

I'd have preferred a prequel to The Goonies, myself.

[Jeff]

Because he'd been ambushed by a TV satirist.

Rob Ford accused of verbally attacking 911 dispatchers
WARNING: This story contains language some may find offensive

CBC News
Posted: Oct 27, 2011 9:18 AM NT

Toronto’s 911 dispatchers are accusing the city’s mayor, Rob Ford, of calling them "bitches" and hurling a string of profanity at them during an emergency call early Monday.

Ford called for police assistance when Mary Walsh, part of the CBC-TV comedy show This Hour Has 22 Minutes, ambushed him in his driveway dressed as the character Marg Delahunty, with cameras rolling.

In the video of the encounter, Ford seems at first to be playing along, but becomes increasingly agitated, asking, “Can I go to my car please?”

Ford eventually walked back inside his home and called 911 — not once, but twice.

Several police sources tell CBC News that Ford asked for police assistance but became agitated as he waited, and called back to ask when officers would arrive.

Sources say Ford turned on the dispatcher, yelling: “You … bitches! Don’t you f--king know? I’m Rob f--king Ford, the mayor of this city!”

Recordings of the call have spread like wildfire throughout the police service — even though officially Toronto police spokesman Mark Pugash tells CBC News they can't discuss a private call to the 911 service.

Dispatchers sent a crew on high priority, arriving at his Etobicoke home 10 minutes after the call.

Appearing on CBC News Network on Thursday morning, Seglins said dispatchers are "incensed" about the language Ford used during the 911 call and have complained to their union.

"The police force and the police brass are scrambling," Seglins reported. "This is a call the details of which are supposed to be private, but everyone within the police service, as we understand it, are talking about it."

...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundl ... -call.html

[norton ash]

^^^ I'm Rob Ford, bitches!

This is big, it offends on so many levels. Stupid assholes have a way of destroying themselves!

[Jeff]

^^^ I'm Rob Ford, bitches!

This is big, it offends on so many levels. Stupid assholes have a way of destroying themselves!

How about:

The mayor told reporters that his young daughter was with him and she fled back into the house crying.

Walsh told the Star the mayor’s daughter wasn’t there when she showed up in his driveway.

“There was no child at all,” she said. “I mean, was she inside his suit jacket? We never saw any children.”

Earlier Thursday, Councillor Doug Ford defended his brother.

“He was polite on the first two calls. The second time he gets a different dispatcher and then the third time a dispatcher called back with a little attitude, ‘We’re going to treat you like anyone else’, but Rob never asked for special treatment, and then he says, “This is f---ing ridiculous."

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/107 ... A.facebook

Some attitude!

[Jeff]

Thu Oct 27, 2011
This whole Ford fucking 911 controversy
The Ford clownshow marches on, getting less funny all the time.
BY: Edward Keenan

Sweet fuck almighty, bitches. It’s hard to know where to fucking begin with this whole Rob fucking Ford/This Hour Has 22 Fucking Minutes/9-fucking-1-fucking-1 controversy. Like so many things involving the mayor of this whole fucking town, this story has layers and layers and layers.

...

So the Twittersphere lit up with a fucking million fucking cursing jokes about the fucking mayor of this fucking whole bitch town. And mixed among the jokes was some debate about whether this reflected badly on the mayor or very badly on the mayor. Or if he’d have to resign.

Those who thought the latter case may be true might have forgotten exactly how resignation-proof Rob Ford has been throughout his political career. There was the time he drunkenly shouted at a stranger at a Leafs game:

According to public complaints, Ford was the epitome of obnoxious during a tense battle between the Leafs and rival Senators, spewing obscenities and bullheaded political jargon. When the complainant asked him to “tone it down a little,” Ford apparently responded, “Who the f*** do you think you are? Are you some kind of right wing Commie bastard? “Do you want your little wife to go over to Iran and get raped and shot?”

Initially, Ford denied he was even at the game, but soon backtracked and owned up to the less than exemplary behaviour. “I’m both embarrassed and humiliated by the whole series of events and I sincerely apologize to anyone that I’ve offended,” he said with a sheepish shrug.

There was the time he allegedly called Giorgio Mammoliti a “gino boy.” And the time he allegedly called Gloria Lindsay Luby a “waste of skin.” And the time he said “orientals” who “work like dogs” were “taking over.” There was the time he offered to score a stranger drugs on tape. There was the time he was charged with possession of pot. The same time he was charged with DUI. There was the time he was talking on his cellphone and allegedly gave a woman who scolded him the finger.

The guy, it should be clear by now, will not be shamed, and will not resign over allegations of incivil or unbecoming behaviour. For fuck’s sakes, bitches: This is Rob fucking Ford. Incivility and unbecoming behaviour are his whole brand.

In pretty much every case, the pattern is the same: he denies the allegation to some great extent, unless proof emerges, in which case he admits as little of the behaviour as he can and apologizes for it while denying anything he can still deny. So he did offer to score a guy drugs, but only because he felt scared for his life. He did talk on his phone while driving, but didn’t give anyone the finger. He did say that stuff about orientals, but he meant it as a compliment. He only lied about the marijuana because he’d forgotten about it because of his DUI, which he initially said was a refusing-to-give-a-breath sample thing, but which was just a case of having one or two glasses of wine—”I wasn’t drunk.” Oh, and that time he was drunk at the Leafs game? Well, he was having “personal problems.”

Right on cue, Ford stepped up with a statement this afternoon:

“After being attacked in my driveway, I hope I can be excused for saying the f-word,” Ford said in a written statement Thursday afternoon. “I never called anyone any names. I apologize for expressing my frustration inappropriately.”

Well, I recognize that pattern: partial admission, denial of significant damning details, insistence on personal victimization.

In this case, of course, a tape exists somewhere of the call. We could check to see what he actually said, if that tape were made public. And Rob Ford is the one with the power to make the tape public. The police won’t release it because of concerns about Rob Ford’s right to privacy. But he could waive those rights, if he wanted to. And if he is telling the truth, then he should want that tape released, because it would prove him right, humiliate the CBC and provide the possible basis for a libel lawsuit against them.

...

http://www.thegridto.com/city/politics/ ... ntroversy/

[Canadian_watcher]

sharing the planet with maniacs who have power really fucking sucks, bitches.