Back in November and just before the attempted IED attack on a member of WEB and his then girlfriend, we discussed the anti-Semitic vandalism that took place against several Jewish centres, a mail box and at least one home. Although the surveillance pictures didn't provide us with a lot to go with, we were sent a note from a trusted source that at least one of those people was a member of the

I don't like being played with. I especially don't like being manipulated by fear mongering and hyperbole complete with bold font and exclamation points. And I especially especially don't like it when the manipulator has no business sticking their nose into my business! What this is about is something that fell into my email inbox this morning: Subject: Canada: stop "Fox News North" Prime

First of a few reposts of my better entries from the past year. Two brief catheter stories from the September 2009. In case you haven’t realized it yet, catheter-gone-wrong stories are a staple of nursing practice. The Other Classic Foley Story Below reminds me of my classic Foley catheter insertion story, which happened many years ago [...]

Barber v. Molson Sport & Entertainment Inc., 2010 ONCA 570 sets out the elements of the tort of intentional interference in economic relations: [47]          To establish the tort of intentional interference with economic relations, the plaintiff must prove that: (i) the defendant intended to injure the plaintiff; (ii) the defendant interfered with the plaintiff's economic interests by illegal or unlawful means; and (iii) as a result of that interference, the plaintiff suffered economic loss: Reach M.D. Inc. v. Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Assn. of Canada (2003), 65 O.R. (3d) 30 (C.A.), at para. 44. James Morton 1100-5255 Yonge Street Toronto, Ontario M2N 6P4 416 225 2777 www.jmortonmusings.blogspot.com

From The Guardian: Poetry rained from the skies on Saturday night in Berlin as 100,000 bookmarks printed with poems by 80 poets from Germany and Chile were dropped on the city from a helicopter…It was the fifth “poetry rain” project from Chilean art collective Casagrande, which has arranged previous poetry bombing events in Santiago de [...]

- Dr. David Schindler‘s oilsands toxins report stirred the pot this week and United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is coming to Canada to talk oilsands. - Remember the Gap boycott of the oilsands? It turns out it was all made up. - The Calgary Herald has called for Speaker Ken Kowalski‘s resignation over politically-motivated [...]

How do we make progressive ideology in Canada a viable competitor to the momentum that Conservatives have?

Well, isn't it classy?Yesterday Avaaz experienced an attack on our “Stop ‘Fox News North’” petition consisting of fraudulent sign-ups of targeted individuals.And dig this (bold mine):It's deeply disturbing that in all Avaaz's years of campaigns against US President George Bush, Burmese, Zimbabwean and Sudanese dictators, irresponsible multinational corporations and corrupt politicians, no one has ever yet stooped to this kind of tactic to undermine our members' right to express their views.Go here to see what sort of dictators and war criminals they have taken on in the past. And Fox News North supporters are the first to stoop to sabotage. Isn't that special?Sounds like Avaaz is some pissed:We do not yet have all the facts, but it appears to speak to the poisonous political climate and deeply deceptive tactics that have been bred by the radical right in Canada and its progenitor in the US. It is precisely this kind of bare-knuckled, brazenly deceptive and often hateful…

When the 9/11 bombers did their dirty work, it was highly politically incorrect to suggest American foreign policy had contributed to the atrocity. Now that the RCMP and CSIS are busily rooting out some home-grown terrorists in our fair land, we may hear similar sentiments about our foreign policy. But let's face it, we are part and parcel of Western behaviour, including that of the American empire, and the West has given the Islamic world much cause for hostility. Some examples:• We North Americans continue to unilaterally support Israel as it persists in its oppression of the Palestinians and the theft of their land. • The West generously supports dictators who oppress their Arab populations, notably the Sauds of Arabia and Mubarek of Egypt. Egypt continues to receive more foreign aid from the United States than any other country except Israel and Iraq.• The Americans and their allies claim to support democracy in the Middle East, yet when it arises they crush it,…

AllTheSelfInterestThatFitsVille....In the Gambling business is one thing. But do we really want them making decisions about prescription drugs?Sean Holman, of Public Eye has the most recent chapter of that story:....In the past, the University of British Columbia's Therapeutics Initiative was responsible for conducting the scientific work that informs the government's decisions on which drugs PharmaCare should cover. The initiative's conflict of interest guidelines state its "members and their immediate families shall have no direct or indirect financial interest in the company sponsoring an application or trial." The government has now given other groups and individuals a chance to compete for that work - which ensures taxpayer dollars aren't wasted subsidizing drugs that don't provide good value for British Columbians. But successful bidders won't necessarily have the same ethical standards as the initiative. According to the government, "individuals who declare possible…

When Smitherman gets angry, he doesn't discriminate.

In a recent interview with Examiner.com, former Etobicoke councillor Rob Ford fashioned himself a social liberal.Here's his socially liberal opinions. I excluded the ones where he was drunk.On different cultures:Go to the Orient, go to Hong Kong. You want to see workaholics? Those Oriental people work like dogs... they sleep beside their machines. The Oriental people, they're slowly taking over... they're hard, hard workers.Gino-boy [in reference to George Mammoliti].On LGBT rights:I don’t understand. No. 1, I don’t understand a transgender, I don’t understand, is it a guy dressed up like a girl or a girl dressed up like a guy? And we’re funding this for, I don’t know, what does it say here? We’re giving them $3,210?If you’re not doing needles and you’re not gay, you won't get AIDS, probably.On poverty:People do not want government housing built in the city of Toronto. They want roads fixed, more police presence, but they don't want more government housing that…

You can check if you are on the list by entering your address here (hint: Even if you normally go by Bob, they may have you as Robert).  You can still vote if you’re not on the list, just make sure you take your ID and stuff with you. For more information, please contact the town. You can add yourself (or correct information) by using this form.  Remember,you can start voting on the 11th, you don’t have to wait until the 25th of October. Fan on Facebook - Follow on twitter - Connect on Linkedin - Make a campaign donationAre you on the voter list? was first posted on September 3, 2010 at 2:02 pm.

David and Charles Koch, the billionaire brothers bankrolling the front groups behind the Tea Party and climate denial movement, have added another 'cause' to their philanthropic endeavors, donating $1 million to the Proposition 23 fight to kill California's landmark 2006 climate change legislation.Koch subsidiary Flint Hills Resources LP handled the laundry duties on this one, but the directive surely came from the heads of the Kochtopus empire - billionaires David and Charles Koch. The Kochs have found themselves under an uncomfortable spotlight lately after a thorough investigation by The New Yorker revealed the brothers' extensive funding of a network of groups that catapulted the 'grassroots' Tea Party into play, as well as their financial backing of a sprawling network of climate denier groups that makes even ExxonMobil blush.The Los Angeles Times blog 'Greenspace' first reported Flint Resources donation towards the Proposition 23 bill last night, noting that the effort was…

Perceptions can sometimes be influenced by how information is presented. Prices are an easy example.  Saying that something is $9.99 somehow gets interpreted by people as being closer to nine dollars than to $10.  Sure we understand the concept, but for some reason, people tend to round numbers down sometimes. Some bullshit artists passing themselves off as media trainers have been known to suggest using kilometres than miles for measurement if you want things to appear farther away.  Like say a potential environmental hazard from a sensitive spot. In a news conference on Thursday, the province’s largest health authority passed out some information on how many pregnant women and how man newborns wound up being sent to hospitals on the mainland because of an overload in the neonatal intensive care unit at Eastern Health. The Telegram reported on the newser.  It’s a straight-up account of the information presented by Eastern Health. In one part of the…

Off to an undisclosed location until next weekend, with little or no posting in the meantime. But first, here's...Armand Van Helden - U Don't Know Me

For a news channel that hasn't even made its first broadcast yet, the Sun TV News Channel is certainly generating a lot of buzz. If you can call it that. A number of other bloggers have already noted today's op-ed by Kory Teneycke. He seems to be quite agitated at the idea that some people aren't altogether thrilled with the prospect of what they've already dubbed "Fox News North" (and believe me, now that I know the phrase irritates Teneycke, I'm likely to use it every chance I get). The piece was apparently prompted by Margaret Atwood's public endorsement of a petition which Teneycke — proponent of "Hard News and Straight Talk" — characterized as "opposing the television licence for Sun TV News." Actually the petition makes a specific objection to pressure alleged to be applied to CRTC Chair Konrad von Finckenstein, apparently responding to reports that Prime Minister Harper might intervene to get the project a type of licence,…

Collingwood Confidential, whomever he/she/they were, has decided to call it a day, going the same way as Admiral Collingwood and Radio Free Collingwood: We’ve done our job here. no need to continue. Personal lives and careers have always pressed us from the sides. The creative juices have dried up in the drought of daily existence. [...]

Reich is right.  The fundamental economic disorder so miserably afflicting America's (and the developed world's) economy is inequality.  Income inequality to be precise.  The bottomless wealth chasm that has opened up between the richest of the rich and the now distant and reeling middle class.In today's New York Times, Reich explains how America blundered into the Great Recession and the only way it can dig itself out.  The path to ruin:This crisis began decades ago when a new wave of technology — things like satellite communications, container ships, computers and eventually the Internet — made it cheaper for American employers to use low-wage labor abroad or labor-replacing software here at home than to continue paying the typical worker a middle-class wage. Even though the American economy kept growing, hourly wages flattened. The median male worker earns less today, adjusted for inflation, than he did 30 years ago. But for years American families…

At least, that's what he's trying to tell us.Hansen insists he never read most of those documents, revealing though they were. "This is not something that was particularly important at the time. If it had been part of our plan -- when we get through the election we're going to harmonize the sales tax -- I would have read every bloody word and studied it." Didn't study his own briefing notes. Didn't pay attention to the game-changing developments in Ontario. Didn't have a clue really. Not much of a defence for his own qualifications to serve as minister of finance. But considering that the alternative explanation would be systematic lies and coverup, I guess it was the best he could do.Palmer is being rather generous there. Rafe Mair is a little less guarded and calls out both Hansen and Campbell for what they are: lying cowards. Folks, the plain truth is this: Colin Hansen asked for the briefing note more than two months before the election and the issue was…