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Post by CentreHice on Dec 3, 2012 18:00:30 GMT -5
Deserves its own thread.
I'm sincerely interested in knowing who's doing the smearing and the specifics of their actions and untruths.
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Post by Cranky on Dec 3, 2012 19:24:23 GMT -5
NOW magazine....  AND....while we are at it, why not compare Ford to a mass murderer. Hitler comparisons anyone?  AND....here is the Star with "just another story". Nothing to see here.....move on.....  |
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Post by Cranky on Dec 3, 2012 20:10:42 GMT -5
More?
Who needs a fat whale in office....in Globe and Mail. A NATIONAL paper. In all my life, I have never seen anything like this other then radical whacko sites like Stormfront. Not national papers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rob Ford’s not popular despite being fat. He’s popular because of it
Stephen Marche
From Saturday’s Globe and Mail
Published Friday, Oct. 15, 2010 7:24PM EDT
Last updated Friday, Oct. 15, 2010 10:53PM EDT
The mounds of fat that encircle Rob Ford’s body like great deflated tires of defeat are truly unprecedented in Canadian politics.
We have had chunky political candidates before, but the front-runner in Toronto’s current contest to be mayor is so fat that his belly is invariably the first thing you notice about him.
Yet far from harming his political image, his bulk is the key to his appeal. Neither intelligent nor sympathetic, Mr. Ford offers voters fat. And we want fat. In fat, we see ourselves.
Let no one confuse Rob Ford’s obesity with jollity. Every extra pound on Mr. Ford’s frame is an extra pound of rage. His angry fat is perfectly of our time.
Fat is the physical manifestation of postindustrial life. It is no coincidence that the obesity crisis in North America has occurred simultaneously with the decline of manufacturing in our cities. The foods that we love to eat originated in a time when the lives of men and women were devoted to manual labour.
In the late 19th century, a typical steel-factory worker in the Northeastern United States poured molten steel for 12 hours a day, six days a week. In such conditions, the major problem wasn’t hypertension but consuming enough calories quickly enough to last through an entire shift without wasting break time.
Therefore doughnuts, hamburgers and steak-and-cheese sandwiches. Which we continue to eat sitting behind desks while we process paperwork.
For men trapping fur or working in a lumber camp, poutine makes sense. Not for kids heading to a bar after a hard day’s telemarketing.
Whether through the migration to white-collar jobs or through rust-belt unemployment, we have lost the physical labour but we have kept the diet that once sustained it.
Fat is the bodily equivalent of the boarded-up factories in once-industrial powerhouses like Windsor and St. Catharines and Buffalo and Cleveland. Fat in North America is work that is not being done.
Before the advent of television, fat politicians such as Mr. Ford were not such an anomaly. In the early 20th century, the enormous body of U.S. president William Taft could be taken as evidence of a humanizing self-indulgence. Gluttony, after all, is the least vicious of the seven deadly sins. A big gut signified that the president was in the end, despite his status, one of the boys.
For kings, fatness symbolized luxury, particularly the luxury of not doing any manual labour. Henry VIII weighed so much that he was constantly having new suits of armour designed to accommodate his ever-expanding gut, and his coffin broke through the supports at his funeral.
Julius Caesar, in Shakespeare’s play of the same name, dislikes Cassius because he is too thin. For Caesar, fat men in power are happy, satisfied, forgiving. Thin men are conniving. He says:
Let me have men about me that are fat/ Sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o’ nights:/ Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look;/ He thinks too much; such men are dangerous.
Television rendered Caesar’s advice moot. Once TV had entered our homes and we became preoccupied with how everyone looked, we needed our political leaders trim; it signified efficiency and self-control, which is why jogging remains one of the most widespread clichés of political advertising, for conservatives and liberals alike.
In America, Mike Huckabee, an otherwise unexceptional Republican governor from Arkansas, became a national contender only after he published his polemic against junk food and personal memoir of lifestyle modification called Quit Digging Your Grave with a Knife and Fork.
Now all of that is changing, at least in Southern Ontario. Mr. Ford doesn’t run from his fat or hide it – and why should he? His gut embodies the parts of the city and the country hardest-hit by the changing nature of our economy and the evisceration of manual labour from our society.
His fat is all he has going for him; it makes him look working-class even though he’s a drunk-driving, second-generation political dilettante, a man who has never been faced with the financial difficulties of ordinary people. Mr. Ford’s body reflects the decline around us better than any story he could tell.
Toronto’s current mayor is David Miller, as calm, generous and smart a man as you would want to meet; he achieved nothing in office. The biggest story of his six years was that he managed to lose weight. Newspapers reported on his regimen; the mayor was proud of his accomplishment.
And yet with every pound that he lost, it seemed that he became more and more separated from the reality of the city around him, separated from the lives of people who have to get to their jobs and cook meals. Who can blame voters now for wanting a fat man?
Stephen Marche is a novelist and the culture columnist for Esquire magazine. He lives in Toronto.
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Post by Cranky on Dec 3, 2012 20:12:19 GMT -5
In case anyone thinks this was an online thing.....  |
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Post by Cranky on Dec 3, 2012 20:21:27 GMT -5
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Post by Cranky on Dec 3, 2012 20:24:46 GMT -5
No one is too insignificant or off limits....
Toronto media uses Rob Ford’s niece to attack him
The Toronto media just can’t help themselves when it comes to piling-on Toronto mayor Rob Ford as this latest attack on him via his family shows.
It started with this story by the Toronto Star’s Katherine Dunn about a dumb Tweet Ford’s niece, Krista Ford sent out:
An hour after police held a news conference to warn women about a series of sex assaults in two Toronto neighbourhoods, Krista Ford, daughter of Councillor Doug Ford, offered her own advice.
“Stay alert, walk tall, carry mace, take self-defence classes & don’t dress like a whore,” Krista Ford, niece of Mayor Rob Ford, wrote on Twitter just after 6 p.m., adding “#DontBeAVictim” and “#StreetSmart.” (see here)
And when one news organization runs a story, it then ‘allows’ other media to jump all over it as well (see here, here and here). Tell me how this rates being in a news item.
Where do the media now draw the line at family members when used to go after politicians – 3rd cousins fair game?
The ‘winner’ though for the creepiest angle of ‘reporting’ on this non-story goes to City News Toronto’s anchor Roger Petersen who confronts Krista Ford on Twitter where he proudly defines himself as “daddy” (see here) in his bio.
Does Petersen follow Krista Ford on Twitter? How many other young women does he do the same with?
And how do you think he would like it if someone did this with his family? It’s far time the media stopped and thought about what it would be like having the shoe on the other foot.
Going to go out on a limb and say they probably wouldn’t like it so much.
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Post by CentreHice on Dec 3, 2012 20:44:12 GMT -5
Cherry Weighs In=============================================== The NOW Magazine boxers picture from last March is in bad taste, as it's photoshopped to target his obesity. Right up there with the PCs going after Chretien's Bell's Palsy. The Globe's "fat" editorial of 2010 explains why today's society is larger, but is ridiculous otherwise. Just an excuse to degrade the man for being obese. Childish and bullying. The Red X cover (important to know that NOW Magazine didn't publish the Hitler pic beside him) is much worse, because the parallel is defintely intended. I looked into other TIME Red X covers: the vilest of the vile....Hitler, Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein. Ford could take NOW on for defamation of character on that front, IMO. It's all freedom of the press, mind you...but still...defamation lawsuits are filed...and NOW can't say they didn't publish it. I might be wrong on that. The Toronto Sun has always been in Ford's corner, so their bias is just as heavy FOR him as the Star's is AGAINST him....but here's the Sun's look at the guy who found the opening Cherry was talking about. SunPolarizing views. The Sun also has a tendency to be more tabloid in its style...but still, the opinions are clear and must be heard and weighed. There's no doubt there are lefties who want him out. That's always the case. Just as there are righties who want lefties out. Good finds, HA. I'll keep my eyes and ears open for more unwarranted smearing. The obesity angle is truly disgusting, IMO.
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Post by Cranky on Dec 3, 2012 20:54:29 GMT -5
You have no facts? No proof? Well then, create a story from "anonymous" sources. ~~~~~~~~~~~ Mayoral candidate Rob Ford was quietly asked to stop coaching football at a Toronto high school following an incident with a student player, say officials with the Toronto District School Board. Ford was coaching at Newtonbrook Secondary School in North York in 2001 when he had a confrontation with a young player over poor performance on the field, say two witnesses who spoke with the Star on condition of anonymity. Chris Spence, director of education for the Toronto District School Board, confirmed a dispute between a student and Ford was dealt with internally, although he was not aware of the details. “Something did happen and they decided that he was no longer welcome to coach at Newtonbrook,” said Spence, himself a former pro football player who was not director of the board at the time. Witnesses interviewed by the Star disagree on whether there was a physical confrontation between Ford and the student player. Ford, one of his players and an assistant coach at the time deny any physical contact took place. But a parent and another player say Ford aggressively manhandled the student in anger. (He did. Who are the parents? Oh that's right, they are "anonymous" )Ford vigorously denied the allegations saying he’s never assaulted a player and called the claims a “political” attack on his candidacy. “I’ve never, ever once gotten into a physical altercation with a player,” he said in an interview. “I’m in first in the mayor’s race. . . They’re going to do anything to stop me from becoming mayor of the city because they know when I become mayor, the party’s over. The gravy train is gonna come to an end and the wasteful spending will stop immediately.” While he concedes a verbal dispute with a player, he says he walked away from the confrontation and later quit the team. Since his departure from Newtonbrook, Ford has been coaching football in the Catholic board where he remains today at Don Bosco. Details on the incident have remained tightly guarded despite Ford’s high profile as a city councillor and, now, mayoral candidate. (SECRET! OT'S A SECRET! Of course they are "secrets" when you have no proof. Conspiracy 101)The TDSB has never before made its concerns over the incident — or Ford’s dismissal from his coaching duties at the school — public. (They didn't because they had nothing there....until you fabricated one)Newtonbrook principal Lynne Koffman did not respond to an interview request. And school vice-principal Katherine Armstrong declined to respond to questions during a telephone interview Monday. (MORE CONSPIRACY!)Neither held their current positions when the incident occurred. Mary Walker, communications supervisor with the Toronto Catholic board, said she was not aware of any allegations against Ford who has been coaching with the board for the past eight years. “(It) is appreciated and he has continued his commitment to the students of Don Bosco who are in the football program,” she added. Ford, who runs a philanthropic foundation that funds youth football in Toronto schools, is viewed by many school officials as a generous supporter of high school athletics across the city including Newtonbrook, Danforth Tech., Sir Sanford Fleming, Forest Hill Collegiate, Lester B. Pearson and C. W. Jefferies. Ford “had shown lots of good will and was really generous,” said the TDSB’s Spence. But questions about Ford’s on-field conduct have lingered for nearly a decade. (Nice broad allegation with no substance. But who cares, It's the Toronto Star)
(Now watch as this trick......it's the same story as above but is respun as a new story from "2001".) A 2001 Star story reported that “Ford's eagerness to help his team. . . has led to some nasty verbal exchanges with some Toronto District School Board teacher-coaches.” Frustrated by his team’s performance during the game at Appleby College in Oakville in 2001, Ford allegedly approached a player with heated criticism, say two witnesses. “To my horror and that of several other Newtonbrook parents in attendance as well as a large crowd of students, Mr. Ford went berserk,” said a parent who said he was in attendance that night watching his son play. He ran out onto the field and “shook,” and “slapped” the student player, he said. The referee and others on the Newtonbrook bench quickly intervened, and the player was “led away in tears,” he said. (Are these the same "anonymous sources? They are because it's the same story as above.)The reason for the alleged outburst was clear, he said: “The young player had failed to perform up to the coach’s expectations throughout the game and had been singled out for discipline.” The fact that Ford has been allowed to continue coaching is troubling, he said. “It is outrageous that a person in a position of trust and responsibility such as a high school football coach could beat up a player in front of many witnesses and walk away with impunity.” Ford’s account of the incident is much different. He says he pulled the player in question off the field. When he arrived on the sidelines, the player threw down his helmet and told Ford to “f--- off.” “I said, ‘Pardon me. He said, ‘You heard what I said.’” “I left Newtonbrook on that day. . . because I couldn’t deal with a kid telling me off. . . I’ve never ever been dismissed.” Simon Jr. Hall, a running back on the Newtonbrook team at the time who Ford presented to the Star as an interviewee, said he didn’t see any physical confrontation that night. (Oops...someone who gives his name said he didn't see anything)But he has a different recollection of Ford’s departure from the team. “I remember him talking to us for the last time and telling us he’s sorry that (the school) didn’t want him here no more.” “He was an aggressive coach. Not every player can handle an aggressive coach. But I think he got the best out of the players.” A former Newtonbrook student who said he witnessed the incident as a Grade 10 player at the time recalled Ford grabbing another player by the throat after a disappointing play. (Name? Who needs a name when you can write wthatever you want.)The teen said something to Ford prompting the coach to go after him. Ford was allegedly restrained by several football players, and a teacher asked him to leave the game, said the Newtonbrook player who did not wish to give his name. ("allegedly restrained.....but no proof.)He recalled that Ford was often “in students’ faces,” and always “yelling and flipping out,” calling players “ass-----,” “jerks,” and “screw-ups.” (What we have is a reporter of the Star doing his best to conjure up a hack job with no direct witnesses other then "sources" who no one can ever question. Then spin it. Add some conspiracy behind it and voila. A Pulitzer grade hack piece.
Next up. There has to be something in Ford background that could, may, perhaps, well SOMETHING that might give us an insight to possible deviance! Stay tuned.......) www.thestar.com/news/gta/torontomayoralrace/article/835480--rob-ford-told-he-was-unwelcome-as-a-football-coach-at-toronto-high-school |
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Post by CentreHice on Dec 3, 2012 21:13:53 GMT -5
I wouldn't be surprised in the least if he was an aggressive and, perhaps sometimes affrontive, coach. But unless there are names involved in something like this...it's yellow journalism.
==================================================
Another story in that vein was a March 2008 911 call in which it was alleged he assaulted and verbally abused his wife. Both charges were dropped because of inconsistencies with his wife's story. Yet the story is still brought up for one reason...the same reason the football story was printed...to keep his character in question.
===================================================
Just print the facts, folks...like his alcohol-fuelled remarks to the couple at the Leafs' game. Names were named. At first, Ford denied even being there....but later admitted it, was embarrassed, and apologized. That's proper journalism.
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Dec 3, 2012 23:29:06 GMT -5
The Sun also has a tendency to be more tabloid in its style... Rob Ford seems to be perfect tabloid material. I listen to right-wing Sun News and Ford is a victim of the left-wing yuppies who actually think they should have control of the city. I listen to left-wing yuppies and Ford is a right-wing, overweight, redneck criminal. There were some rules broken, but whole thing has gotten petty and that fits well in tabloids. Is this consuming the city? Where's HFTO? Anyone else in TO? Cheers. |
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Post by Cranky on Dec 4, 2012 3:00:52 GMT -5
Is the sun going to come up? This is as evident. Here s the ultimate goal..... As long as Ford is mired in bull droppings, he has no time to deal with the big fat union contracts and outsourcing. This will continue 24/7/365 as long as Ford in Mayor. Bet on it. ANOTHER lefty hack piece by the Globe And Mail. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Richard Florida: Toronto needs a muscular mayor I’ve been anything but diffident about Rob Ford. I’ve called him the worst mayor in the modern history of cities and the most anti-urban mayor ever to preside over a large global city. Rob Ford’s downfall is stunning – and it opens up a bigger can of worms for Toronto’s future than even his contentious mayoralty did. In the short term, there are some daunting questions: Will he leave office in two weeks as ordered for violating conflict-of-interest rules? His lawyers have filed a request for a stay pending an appeal. If Mr. Ford does step down, will city council appoint his successor or will there be a by-election? If there’s an election, will Mr. Ford’s name be “the first one on the ballot”? In 2010, long before he insulted Margaret Atwood and Toronto’s gay community, before the Ferris wheel fiasco, the destruction of the city’s bike lanes, and the proposed mega-casino, back before he was even elected, I argued on this page that he was a product of the same class divides that gave birth to the Tea Party. But in the U.S., I noted, “that political divide is also a jurisdictional divide, pitting city against suburb.” Thanks to the amalgamation of 1998, Toronto’s conflict is “taking place inside the city itself.” Avatar for all that is small-bore and destructive of the urban fabric that he has been, Mr. Ford is best understood as a symptom rather than a cause of Toronto’s problems, which amount to a broader leadership vacuum. His departure – if depart he does – won’t be enough on its own to change the city’s trajectory. This might sound ironic, considering all the damage Mr. Ford was able to do in just two years, but what Toronto needs is a more powerful mayor, not a less powerful one. Cities have become the key economic, political and social organizing units of our time. It’s vital that their leadership be appropriately empowered. And more.... www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/richard-florida-toronto-needs-a-muscular-mayor/article5822048/ |
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Post by Cranky on Dec 4, 2012 3:56:11 GMT -5
Balance? Who needs stinking balanced reporting!
The Star is the most left wing pf all our major papers. Period. They have declared that they are deliberately moving to the "Atkison" left true to the papers origin. About a decade ago when their circulation started to tank.
(We received TS from 1981 to 2005. It use to be great at investigative reporting but my wife and I saw it's move further and further to the left. We were willing to put up with it because it was cheap and supplied us with weekly specials flyers/inserts. Once the local paper started bringing those, it was the end of Pravda. It took two year and I had to resort to legal threat to it's circulation department to stop harassing us. For all it's "leftism", it really, really wants well off "demographics" to sell advertising.)
The Globe and Mail use to be center to right, then through the last ten years, it has moved off it's centrist position and to the left. See below on compatition. Now, it routinely let's whacko left hack pieces (see above posts) in it's pages and occasionally says "oops" if a libel suit follows. (We use to get it on and off at the newsbox. Stopped doing that about five years ago after it lost it's luster by letting in the hacksters.)
The National Post is center to right with splurges from leftist contributors. It occupied the former position of the Globe and Mail. (Current morning paper but now getting pushed aside by a 10 inch tablet. )
The Sun is right. Period. (We use to get it because it was a buck a week. I wanted the sports page and it did a great job on any oil spills around the house. It also amused by doing the same "quality" hack jobs the Toronto Star does. The Sun is equal to the Star in "quality" of reporting.)
Nowtoronto is whacky urban left, to the left of NDP. Makes Toronto Pravda look sane. (My wife picks it up when she occasionally goes downtown. She knows that after ONE article, I'm ready to face any demons. By the second article, I'm ready to chew bricks.)
So at one time or another, all the above were routinely in our house/work. At one point, all four. by next year. None.
There is no "balance" reporting. None. I'm glad that they are ALL going to circulation hell from competition with the internet. The onslaught of internet tablets will kill them off.
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Post by CentreHice on Dec 4, 2012 10:41:48 GMT -5
Then we'll have Internet tablet bias. Important that everyone have a voice in a free society, along with unbiased education to teach the critical thinking necessary to sift through it all to form the best opinions and direction possible. Tall order.
Ford is really stressed, no doubt. At his most recent council meeting, he accused Adam Vaughan of being involved in a"shakedown" concerning a developer. He then said to the Speaker, "I'm sorry about saying shakedown. I take that back.". And his brother got up and rebuked somebody who complained about the term used. A real Ford tagteam in that council.
You'd have to agree, the guy doesn't do himself any favors in that regard. But like I said, stress is probably a factor in this instance.
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Post by franko on Dec 4, 2012 12:08:48 GMT -5
already have tablet bias, CH . . . it's called "blogs". hard to believe that some people equate "blogging" with "news reporting" . . . but it's on the internet so it must be true!
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Post by CentreHice on Dec 4, 2012 12:50:54 GMT -5
Yep. Even more reason to bring critical thinking and dialectic to the fore in education. What constitutes a logical argument, sifting through bias, etc. In other words, more Socratic...less Cherryesque.
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Post by Cranky on Dec 4, 2012 13:48:35 GMT -5
A bit off topic.....
Ford is actually right...but the public optics are wrong. Councilor routinely "shakedown" developers. They have written municipal laws in such a way that it's difficult to develop something unless you involve them. This way, they get to a say in whatever you want to build even if it meets all of their other guidelines. $ometimes other one$.
Blunt example is one I am involved with. The property is on a road just east of TO but inside the GTA. I am NOT allowed to access that road without council approval. Think about that. The property had two road accesses before, no problem, but now, it has none without me sitting down and kissing the local councilors asses and getting council approval. If they have a pet cause or wor$e, and they do to some degree, I have to satisfy or else, no building permit. Property value goe$ to 0. So basically, like something out of the Stalin playbook of power, they created legislation that made themselves the power brokers and usurped my property rights. I wouldn't believe it was possible, but it is.
Isolated? Back in early 90's, I had a property in Etobicoke. I submitted a building plan that met all the rules/codes and got a permit. Didn't need to kiss any councilors ass. About a year later, I still hadn't started the house and they changed the setback rules. Losing two feet off a house made the garage too small so in order to grandfather the old rules, I had to seek out the local counselors and ask for support. Of course, the meeting went smoothly when I showed great interest in helping with their next campaign$$$$$. In the following council meeting I got my variance, eventually sold the property and got a resounding "f@ck you" off my chest when we accidental met again.
Unless you develop property, unless you actually have the "pleasure" of dealing with local power mongers, err, I mean councilors, you wont be aware of what goes on.
Regardless of what Ford said and to whom, it's a shakedown if you really take an arms length view. But, we don't really want to call a spade a spade if unaware and uninformed John Q Public thinks otherwise. Particularly if it's big bad rich fat Ford.
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Post by BadCompany on Dec 4, 2012 14:04:35 GMT -5
A bit off topic..... Ford is actually right...but the public optics are wrong. Councilor routinely "shakedown" developers. They have written municipal laws in such a way that it's difficult to develop something unless you involve them. This way, they get to a say in whatever you want to build even if it meets all of their other guidelines. $ometimes other one$. Blunt example is one I am involved with. The property is on a road just east of TO but inside the GTA. I am NOT allowed to access that road without council approval. Think about that. The property had two road accesses before, no problem, but now, it has none without me sitting down and kissing the local councilors asses and getting council approval. If they have a pet cause or wor$e, and they do to some degree, I have to satisfy or else, no building permit. Property value goe$ to 0. So basically, like something out of the Stalin playbook of power, they created legislation that made themselves the power brokers and usurped my property rights. I wouldn't believe it was possible, but it is. Isolated? Back in early 90's, I had a property in Etobicoke. I submitted a building plan that met all the rules/codes and got a permit. Didn't need to kiss any councilors ass. About a year later, I still hadn't started the house and they changed the setback rules. Losing two feet off a house made the garage too small so in order to grandfather the old rules, I had to seek out the local counselors and ask for support. Of course, the meeting went smoothly when I showed great interest in helping with their next campaign$$$$$. In the following council meeting I got my variance, eventually sold the property and got a resounding "f@ck you" off my chest when we accidental met again. Unless you develop property, unless you actually have the "pleasure" of dealing with local power mongers, err, I mean councilors, you wont be aware of what goes on. Regardless of what Ford said and to whom, it's a shakedown if you really take an arms length view. But, we don't really want to call a spade a spade if unaware and uninformed John Q Public thinks otherwise. Particularly if it's big bad rich fat Ford. Or as we say here in Quebec, "business as usual." People have this impression that corruption only exists in Quebec, but I think you're all being extremely naive if you do. It exists everywhere, as this example shows. Most of the time it's even legal, under the guise of "lobbying". But once you open that door, once you tie money to political decisions, it's just too hard to shut it again. |
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Post by CentreHice on Dec 4, 2012 17:53:29 GMT -5
Then the brothers Ford (cause let's face it, it's a package deal right now) should be writing a book on everything they see wrong with council and publishing it. "Shakedown" practices, how to get what you want by promising to donate to campaigns, etc....even though it seems it doesn't matter who's in power. That's the system in place. It would be a best-seller....guaranteed. Maybe HA can write the forward.  I'm not kidding. I'd buy it! Sometimes, the good guys are vilified and smeared because they make life difficult for the status quo. Rob Ford's outbursts and public gaffes have made it too easy to target him....but he and his brother might be on to something.... |
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Post by Cranky on Dec 4, 2012 22:12:13 GMT -5
Or as we say here in Quebec, "business as usual." People have this impression that corruption only exists in Quebec, but I think you're all being extremely naive if you do. It exists everywhere, as this example shows. Most of the time it's even legal, under the guise of "lobbying". But once you open that door, once you tie money to political decisions, it's just too hard to shut it again. Ancient Greek saying I just invented 2 minutes ago, the foxes get elected to get their share of the hens from the wolves. A couple of years ago, the road I take to work every day got repaved. Didn't really need it but they did it anyway. Six months later, they are tearing up to put in new pipes and repair the curb. And then pave it again. Pipes had been there for decades and they didn't know they needed replacing BEFORE they paved? Or the curbs? In Greece, they built a university annex in the middle of some fields. As it happens, we own half a block only a block away. Great. So they put in a road, charged me development fees.......and a year later they were taking the road apart. Why? They "forgot" to put in storm sewers. Amazingly, the construction company who put in the road the first item also got the contract to rebuild it. Back in the late 60's, my godfather was a multimillionaire in Saint Jimmy Carters Georgia. Amazingly, through God like powers to predict the future, he knew where every new road would go through. Guided by purely devine providence, he would buy a few hundred to several thousand acres around every major intersection. Saint Jimmy and assorted foxes devine followers addressed my godfather as Sir and, shock and awe, we had lunch at a really expensive country club church. My godfather assured me that if I chose to stay down there, I too would acquire these amazing powers. I got a taste of this God powers while trying to set a new land speed record in the "extra" Mercedes godfather had hanging around. When the RayBan wearing trooper stopped me, I was dead meat just waiting to be served butt up to BillyBob at the local pen, when he came back, I was Sir Cranky. I was sternly warned to "try to slow down". Shall I go on? There is no doubt that there are plenty of developers and builder who wouldn't give a flying roach about building rules/regulations. The polticians job is to make those rules/regulation that benefit the community AND it's development. The problem is that there is so much money involved, so many different ways to interpret the rules, so many arbitrary decisions that it's impossible to keep greed at bay. Occasionally, if one of the wolves breaks away and wants to do do the Mother Teresa bit, the foxes and the wolves turn on them with a vengeance...or a bullet. Let's face it, a quarter million dollar unnecessary re-paving here or there is not important. A couple of hundred acres here and there is just luck. Storm sewers are sooo yesterdays technology. But three thousand, one hundred and fifty for charity.......GET THE WRIST SPIKES! |
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Post by Cranky on Dec 4, 2012 22:30:01 GMT -5
Then the brothers Ford (cause let's face it, it's a package deal right now) should be writing a book on everything they see wrong with council and publishing it. "Shakedown" practices, how to get what you want by promising to donate to campaigns, etc....even though it seems it doesn't matter who's in power. That's the system in place. It would be a best-seller....guaranteed. Maybe HA can write the forward. Write what? Why? So they can tear my life apart and find that I wear........grey briefs? Or that I hate the environment by flushing after every pee? Or that I have a Benz and THAT means I have dead child laborers burried SOMEWHERE on my property.....and only a matter of time before the Toronto Pravda Star reporter peeps over my fence and sees the mounds. Did you know Saint Mother Teresa had bad teeth? Obviously she didn't care about flossing, a character flaw if there ever was one. |
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Post by CentreHice on Dec 4, 2012 22:50:25 GMT -5
Yep, it doesn't matter who's elected....the controlling interests, and the real dynamics of business such as you've described, play the tune.
If politicians don't know that going in, they certainly learn it quickly. Some become "allies"....I wonder how many actually fight it.
To relate it directly to the topic, are the Ford brothers trying to fight such corruption? Any articles about that? Because if they aren't, then there would be no reason for that "element" to try and bring them down with smear tactics.
Different kettle of fish, that no one has apparently tried to take on...at least it hasn't appeared in the media.
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Post by Cranky on Dec 5, 2012 16:26:43 GMT -5
Yep, it doesn't matter who's elected....the controlling interests, and the real dynamics of business such as you've described, play the tune. If politicians don't know that going in, they certainly learn it quickly. Some become "allies"....I wonder how many actually fight it. To relate it directly to the topic, are the Ford brothers trying to fight such corruption? Any articles about that? They talk like they are but I honestly don't know because I never tested that personally. There was a law suit launched against Rob Ford for taking that kind of stance. What irony! He takes an anti-corruption stance and gets sued, at the same time, he's crucified for conflict of interest. What I do know is that people are blind to their own peccadilloes. Right now, I just got an e-mail to "donate" for my customers Christmas party. It's normal business to do that but at arms length, it's a shakedown. I'm absolutely sure that to Ford, raising money for a football team is "business as usual" rather then a shakedown or breech of conduct. Somewhat related......... About an hour ago, I accidental received a call from a non-profit center who wants to put solar panels. Talking about weird, the woman made a 1 digit mistake and got my cell number instead of another non-profit center. Anywho, we had a long conversation advising her on the enormous snake pit she was entering. Right there and then, there was two ways I could handle it and the difference was scale. Her building is too small for me to get involved. Would I be evil if my advise was skewered for me to put a project on her roof and make a profit? To me the only difference is the issue of disclosure. If I tell them all the facts and they know I'm making a profit, then my hands are clean. How would someone else see it? If it's NOW magazine, I'm an evil asshole who coned a volunteer organization and made a profit off disabled kids. |
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Post by CentreHice on Dec 5, 2012 18:10:13 GMT -5
I flipped through a NOW magazine yesterday. It was sitting on a King St. restaurant table. So slanted, I had to tilt my head to the left to read it.
Anyway, I see that Ford got his stay today. Only common sense.
Next, the appeal in January.
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