William Quincy Belle

I live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and I recently received the following notification from the Toronto Revenue Services.


As you can see, the property taxes on my apartment building are being reduced. As a consequence, I am eligible for a reduction in my rent. My monthly rent is currently $1,065.43. The indicated reduction of 0.58% works out to a savings of $6.18 per month, or $74.16 per year. A savings is a savings, and money's money, right?

My personal confession: I'm not happy about this. I like paying taxes. Sometimes, I would be willing to pay more.

Am I crazy?

The government makes money through taxation. We could say that taxes are the government's income. We all need income to pay for stuff, and if we need stuff but don't have the money, we have to borrow to pay for it. That produces debt. Debt isn't always bad, but we all need a plan to deal with debt and make sure we don't end up bankrupt.

Headlines this week said Ontario's deficit is estimated to be $12.3 billion. (CTV News, 2018-12-10) Note: I just said deficit, not debt. The total debt of the province for 2018-2019 is estimated at $325 billion. (Wikipedia) It was reported that the bond rating agency Moody's has downgraded the province from Aa2 to Aa3, "citing the province's $14.5-billion deficit in 2018-2019 and projections that it will continue to post deficits in the coming years". (CTV News, 2018-12-14)

My course in Macro-Economics
A requisite of my business degree was economics where I learned that people and companies can go bankrupt but a government can't. Why? Because a government has the power of taxation. Need money? Make a new tax or increase an existing tax.

While sort of being logical, there always seemed to be something odd about this to me. Never go bankrupt? Is it really never or does it just take longer?

Government debt imposes real costs on individual Canadians and their families in the form of interest payments. Governments must pay interest on their debt—it’s not a choice. And the more money governments spend on interest payments, the less money is available for the programs and services that matter to Canadians. -Fraser Institute, 2017-01-23

In 2017, the GOP passed a $1.5 trillion tax cut in the United States. Now, they realise their deficit is exploding and are considering chopping various programs like Medicaid and Social Security. Please note that this situation gives to the wealthy and takes away from the poor. It also saddles future generations with the burden of debt.

My View
I'm not rich. I don't own a mansion. I don't drive a Porsche. And I don't vacation on the French Riviera.

But I don't need $6.18. In fact, I could walk into Starbucks, go for an Espresso and a bagel, blow through six bucks in the blink of an eye, and not think twice about it. In other words, $6.18 to me is insignificant. It's meaningless. If the government had some sort of "tax donation" service to contribute to paying off debt, I would give my rent reduction immediately.

Am I a nice guy or a sucker?

Maybe a bit of both.

For every dollar of my taxes that is used to service the debt is one less dollar devoted to public parks, road maintenance, electricity, water and sewage, museums, health care, etc. I enjoy my country. My country is good to me. It supports me. I want to support it. Collectively, we all benefit by paying our taxes and working together for the common good, the good of each one of us.

I'm not rich. But I'm okay. I can afford $6.18. I can actually afford more. I know that for some, $6.18 can be significant, so I say to not give me $6.18, but give it to somebody who needs it. I don't.

And of course, give it to the country. I want to continue to enjoy the public parks, health care, and a host of other pluses living in Canada. Tax me. I want to pay it forward.


References

CBC - Feb 23/2018
Where your tax dollar goes
The federal government spent $311 billion in the fiscal year 2016-17.


Financial Post - Oct 19/2018
Ottawa's annual spending breaches $300B for first time, pushing up Canada’s debt ratio
Federal spending continued to rise over the last fiscal year, ballooning to over $300 billion for the first time and helping push up Ottawa’s net debt-to-GDP ratio, long touted by the Liberals as evidence of their controlled spending habits.

The federal debt-to-GDP ratio now stands at 31.3%, up from the 30.4% projection in the 2018 budget

Wikipedia: Canadian public debt
The Canadian government debt, commonly called the "public debt" or the "national debt", is the amount of money owed by the Government of Canada to holders of Canadian Treasury security. In 2014, this number stood at CAD$1.4 trillion across federal and provincial governments. With the total GDP somewhere around CAD$1.8 trillion, Canada's overall debt/GDP ratio is around 77%. "Gross debt" is the national debt plus intragovernmental debt obligations or debt held by trust funds. Types of securities sold by the government include treasury bills, notes, bonds, Real Return Bonds, Canada Savings Bonds, and provincial government securities.

The annual government "deficit" is the difference between government receipts and spending.

2018-12-17

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When I tweeted a previous post, “If Rob Ford was an employee, he would be fired” (May 11/2014), somebody wrote back,

Firing someone for substance abuse would be violating human rights. It would depend on the company policy and employment contract.

You wrote he would be terminated with cause because of his substance abuse? That is a direct violation of human rights law.

This person then pointed me here

Ontario Human Rights Commission
Drug or alcohol dependency and abuse as a disability

This person is right. If you were an alcoholic or you were a drug addict, you could not be terminated for having an addiction. An addiction is considered a form of disability. Also, if you previously had a problem but are currently sober, you are protected.

However, this person missed the point of my article.

Throughout the television series The West Wing, the staffers are heard to say to President Bartlet, “I serve at the pleasure of the president.” The person mentioned above, you, and even I serve at the pleasure of the president. Any one of us could be dismissed at any time. The company is under no obligation to retain our services.

However, the law protects us as individuals from frivolous dismissals: no racism, sexism, or discrimination of any kind including I don’t like the way you knot your tie. Nevertheless, a company can decide to get rid of any one of us if it follows the law which means a company can kick us out the door if it sufficiently compensates us. Such compensation is usually one year’s salary. Of course, an employee can take it to court, but he or she may have an uphill battle and is it going to be worth it?

Where did I get this?

I sat down and talked one on one with an acquaintance, the head of human resources. We talked in general terms about the real world then specifically about Rob Ford. Ford has violated so many company policies; he would have been kicked to the curb a long, long time ago. In fact, his whole history is so questionable; the company never would have hired him in the first place. This isn’t about alcoholism or drug addiction; this is about behaviour.

Being an alcoholic and not admitting it and not seeking help: you’re out.

Being a drug addict and not admitting it and not seeking help: you’re out.

Absenteeism: you’re out.

Blatant sex talk towards a female colleague = sexual harassment: you’re out.

Having alcohol and or drugs at work: you’re out.

Drunk in public, urinating in public, racist rants in public: you’re out.

Outrageous behaviour which could negatively impact the image of the company: you’re out.

There are so many witnesses to the above issues, it’s ridiculous. I haven’t even touched upon his texting while driving, driving while inebriated or stoned or both, the on-going investigation into his involvement in drugs, and the new conflict of interest allegation. I will be so interested when the documentation is released to the public as to why Ford was dropped as football coach at Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School.

As I said above, if the company gives a compensation package to the employee which matches the letter of the law, the employee has nothing to sue for, nothing to go to court for. A company would thoroughly document the transgressions of the employee and be able to prove the employee had not just violated policies, but failed to live up to his end of the bargain, that is, the satisfactory execution of their job.

The H.R. person added, “Rob Ford is a brutish lout.”

This isn’t about Rob Ford having a substance abuse problem. This is about his on-going bad behaviour. This isn’t about his private life as what he’s done and what he’s doing is very much public. Rob Ford hasn’t crossed just the line; he’s crossed the line, drawn a new line, and then crossed it.

Can you fire a mayor?
Good question. Several American comedians brought up this idea but it would seem that unlike a company, the city of Toronto has an election process, not quite the same as the hiring of an employee. It never envisaged finding itself being led by an emotionally unstable personality having a full-blown meltdown.

Alcoholic Thinking
In my December 9, 2014 posting “Rob Ford: Alcoholic Thinking and a Gullible Public”, I put forward the premise that bad thinking, rationalisation, a distorted view of reality, arrogance, egotism, etc. can persist even when a person is sober. It can persist for months, sometimes years after a person becomes sober. Rob Ford’s bombastic style, his self-absorption, his one-sided view of the issues are all indicative of a person who suffers from an addictive personality and how this man made it this far will be a topic of discussion for political analysts for years to come.

A Distorted View of Reality: $1.1 Billion
Ontario has been going just ape-s**t over the Liberal fiasco of cancelling two gas plants in order to gain votes. That cancellation has now ended up costing the taxpayers $1.1 billion.

Am I the only one who sees the similarity with Rob Ford?

Robby is running around trying to rationalize his year of stupidity by telling us how he’s saved Toronto a billion dollars. I’ve had my issues but I’m doing a good job for the hard-working people of the city.

Rob cancels the Scarborough LRT. That cancellation will cost at least $100 million but will probably be higher.

Rob votes for a subway line and that will now cost the Toronto taxpayers an extra one billion dollars.

Total cost? $1.1 billion. What a coinkydink. Now Ontarians can talk about the Liberal’s Gas Plant Fiasco and Ford’s Public Transit Fiasco.

Final Word
I think Rob Ford and his whole family may be mentally unbalanced. I wish them all the best in sorting out their lives.

But more importantly, I think Rob Ford is a lousy mayor. He never should have been elected in the first place. He being in office is the folly of the electorate. Stop the gravy train? Please, stop the insanity.

I will keep saying this until I am blue in the face. The fickle voter wants quick fixes and falls victim to the next snake oil salesman. Please, I beg of you, remember this: “If it was that easy, it would be done by now.” Rob Ford is full of s**t. He gets himself elected on a platform of all those before him were crooks, cheaters, and bad spenders of the taxpayers’ money then he turns around and railroads the collective we in a direction of ill-informed decisions lacking in true leadership. He has a poor grasp of the big picture and the long-term benefit of the city and is instead pandering to the dissatisfaction of a public who think all politicians are evil.

I remind everyone of Ford’s campaign. He publishes a video of him looking at the so-called perks of the city council by holding up the free subway passes they all get. That totals $70,000 per year. Stop the gravy train.

Hel-lo! Rob Ford has cost us as much money as the Gas Plant Fiasco. Free subway passes? Are you s**ttin’ me? Ford returns calls from constituents about getting potholes repaired? He just cost you one point one billion dollars. Never mind Ford, are you, yes you, crazy?

Trying to sort out fact from fiction is difficult. Trying to stop listening to the repeated mantra of I’m right and everybody else is wrong is nearly impossible. Toronto is being bamboozled by a brutish lout. We elected him and we are going to be paying for it for years to come. If we re-elect him in October, we are far more stupid than he is. Unfortunately, by the time we figure that out, the next guy is going to be laying the blame on his predecessors and we’ll be swallowing that line of B.S. hook, line, and sinker. If it was that easy, it would be done by now.


References

Toronto Star - Nov 28/2013
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s $100-million boondoggle: Editorial
Ford is quick to attack McGuinty for the gas plant scandal. Fair enough. We too have criticized the former premier, in this space, for that fiasco. But Ford is guilty of the same wasteful offence.

He flushed away $100 million of taxpayers’ money to please Scarborough residents expecting delivery on a reckless “subways, subways, subways” promise. That’s $100 million in sunk costs gone to buy — nothing.

The drain on taxpayers doesn’t end there. Far from it. The actual bill for Ford’s three-stop Scarborough subway extension amounts to more than $3 billion . The province is carrying most of that burden, with Ottawa kicking in $660 million, but it still leaves Toronto in need of almost $1 billion.

my blog: Rob Ford: Alcoholic Thinking and a Gullible Public - Dec 9/2013 (Updated)
I'm not going to talk about drugs and I'm not going to talk about the comedic fodder for late night talk shows. I am, however, going to talk about the hyperbolic bravado of political leaders vying for my vote who are counting on me being naive and uninformed.

Published on May 1, 2014 by The National
Rex Murphy: Toronto Mayor Rob Ford (3:11)
Point of View: Rex Murphy's take on the new Rob Ford revelations.


2014-05-21

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Published on May 2, 2014 by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Rob Ford Heading to Rehab -- Monologue (4:44)
Jimmy Fallon's monologue from Thursday, May 1. Part 1 of 3.



Published on May 2, 2014 by Late Show with David Letterman
David Letterman - Top Ten Reasons Rob Ford Is Taking a Leave of Absence (2:19)
"Top Ten Reasons Rob Ford Is Taking a Leave of Absence" from May 1, 2014.



Published on May 10, 2014 by Washington Post
Headline: Late night laughs: Rob Ford rehab edition (1:28)
When troubled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford headed to rehab, late night comedians went to the mics. Check out how Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, David Letterman, Seth Meyers and Conan take on the latest round of Rob Ford news.



Published on May 8, 2014 by Jimmy Kimmel Live
The Biggest Mayor (2:33)
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford recently put his re-election efforts on hold to enter rehab for substance abuse. He claims he's learning a lot about himself there, working out every day and eating right. He even told his brother he's planning to come back a few pounds lighter and if you don't believe it, here's proof.



Published on May 6, 2014 by LittleDragon77
Jon Stewart on Rob Ford Smoking Crack Again (May 2014) New Video (4:45)
Jon Stewart's take on the newest leaked videos of Toronto's Mayor Rob Ford, smoking crack, and in another drunken stupor. Rob Ford takes leave to get rehab.



Rex Murphy is a commentator for CBC's flagship news broadcast The National.

Published on May 1, 2014 by The National
Rex Murphy: Toronto Mayor Rob Ford (3:11)
Point of View: Rex Murphy's take on the new Rob Ford revelations.



Published on May 1, 2014 by The Young Turks
NEW Video Of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford Smoking Crack (4:42)
"A second video of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking what has been described as crack cocaine by a self-professed drug dealer was secretly filmed in his sister's basement early Saturday morning.



2014-05-12

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Drunk on the job. Stoned at work. Sociably unacceptable behaviour videotaped and delivered to media. Where does it end? When does it end? If the city of Toronto was a company and Rob Ford was an employee, he would be terminated for cause.

About.Com Terminated for Cause by Alison Doyle
Definition: When an employee is terminated for cause they are fired from their job for a specific reason.

Reasons an employee could be terminated for cause include, but are not limited to, stealing, lying, failing a drug or alcohol test, falsifying records, embezzlement, insubordination, deliberately violating company policy or rules, and other serious misconduct related to your employment. Conviction of a crime or breach of a contract you have with your employer may also be grounds for termination for cause.

When you are terminated for cause the employer does not have to give you notice.

The Toronto Star newspaper has just published the following account of the night of March 5, just two days after Rob Ford appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel Show. This is the stuff which shows up on The Jerry Springer Show. This is The Trailer Park Boys. What is so jaw-droppingly incredible about the story is that we are talking about the mayor of Toronto. Read on and discover the following points:

* Rob is drunk
* Rob is driving while intoxicated
* Rob does drugs
* Rob goes off on a racist rant
* Rob tells his friends they can f**k his wife in front of him if they want
* Rob says his wife lets him f**k girls in front of her all the time

The Toronto Star - May 9/2014
Rob Ford: One wild night in March by Kevin Donovan
Fresh from Hollywood, two months before rehab, Rob Ford and his felon pals hook up again for drink, drugs and astonishing invective

This is it
I don’t want to hear this s**t. This is the behaviour of a frat boy, a college student, an out of control first year university student who has his first taste of freedom away from Mom and Dad.

If Toronto was a company, it would terminate Rob Ford with cause. I’ve had it. I don’t want to deal with this man. I don’t want to hear his bulls**t. I no longer see him fit for office; I no longer want him running the show. His credibility has dropped off the map. I have written over and over again that from the outset, Rob Ford kept spouting numbers which didn’t make any sense and this behaviour is the conclusive proof this man does not have a firm grip on reality. He is lying. He has a distorted view of the world. He is making stuff up to compensate for his bad behaviour, no his outrageous behaviour, and he can’t be trusted with his own life, never mind the lives of the people of the fourth largest city in North America. This isn’t a politician I respect; this is an idiot. This isn’t a leader I’d follow; this is a lout I want to move away from as quickly as possible.

We all have a private life?
Give me a break. What any of us do behind closed doors is one thing, but our elected official has every one of his egregious offences splashed over the front page of every newspaper in the city, heck in the world. After the first revelation of crack-smoking, he claimed he was turning himself around and was quoted as saying, "I’ve had a Jesus moment." Yes, as in I pick up the newspaper and say, “Gee-sus H. K. Rist.”

As I wrote back in December, Rob Ford demonstrates all the classic signs of alcoholic thinking: an exaggerated sense of self-importance, bad judgement and ridiculous rationalisation, and a bombastic approach to everything. (my blog: Rob Ford: Alcoholic Thinking and a Gullible Public - Dec 9/2013) Rob knows deep in his heart that he is f**king up and f**king up royally, but he continues to compensate in the desperate hope that he can “get away with it” one more time, that he can fool everyone around him, that he can fool the public. He wants to be the “big guy” on the block but he knows all too well that he is anything but. The emperor has no clothes.

May 11, 2014: Happy Mother’s Day. Yes, Rob, you certainly are one mother.

Postscript
my blog: Yes, Rob Ford can be fired and so can you. - May 21/2014
When I tweeted a previous post, “If Rob Ford was an employee, he would be fired” (May 11/2014), somebody wrote back, "Firing someone for substance abuse would be violating human rights. It would depend on the company policy and employment contract." Only partially right and oh so wrong.


References

my blog: Rob Ford on Jimmy Kimmel: Are we laughing with him or at him? - Mar 4/2014
Why did Rob Ford do this? Why did he agree to go on the show? If I had been videotaped doing any one of his transgressions, I would be mortified. However Ford seems to be revelling in the instant fame. What would you think if your 15 minutes of fame consisted of a clip of your drunken stupor played round the world? Wouldn't you want your moment be for something good, something substantial, something that would merit praise and admiration? VIDEO

my blog: Rob Ford inspires yet another Top Ten - Feb 8/2014
David Letterman: Top Ten Things Rob Ford Might Be Saying In This Video VIDEO

my blog: Hitler and Rob Ford - Jan 31/2014
The Internet has a number of parodies based on the 2004 German/Italian/Austrian war film Downfall. (See info in References) VIDEOS

my blog: Rob Ford: a new high, a new low, and a new word - Jan 26/2014
Bumbaclot? All spoken in a Jamaican accent? In defence of Rob Ford, my displays of public intoxication took place a long time ago before the Internet. Then again, I wasn't holding public office which one normally associates with a higher standard of decorum. VIDEOS

my blog: Rob Ford and His Legacy: Okay, now I'm scared. - Dec 12/2013
What's the right answer? Now I'm sure your immediate response would be, "What's the question?" And therein lies our collective problem. People keep spouting off about their right answer when subsequent analysis concludes those people didn't understand the question. Understand it? Heck, you could say they were answering a completely different question.

my blog: Rob Ford: Alcoholic Thinking and a Gullible Public - Dec 9/2013 (Updated)
I'm not going to talk about drugs and I'm not going to talk about the comedic fodder for late night talk shows. I am, however, going to talk about the hyperbolic bravado of political leaders vying for my vote who are counting on me being naive and uninformed.

2014-05-11

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Postscript below

As the entire world probably knows by now, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford was a guest on the American television show Jimmy Kimmel Live on Monday, March 3, 2014. I would remind you that while this show is a talk show, it is really a comedy talk show. Yes, comedy is its staple.

Mr. Kimmel spared no punches and whether brutally or comically, laid out a comprehensive list of faux pas committed by the mayor. As I sit and watch bit after bit presented by the host, I am asking myself if this most egregious of behaviour is actually funny. Jon Stewart of The Daily Show has said on more than one occasion in presenting Ford's latest antic that this man is in need of help. Am I truly laughing or is my laugh one of embarrassment?

Why did Rob Ford do this? Why did he agree to go on the show? If I had been videotaped doing any one of his transgressions, I would be mortified. However Ford seems to be revelling in the instant fame. What would you think if your 15 minutes of fame consisted of a clip of your drunken stupor played round the world? Wouldn't you want your moment be for something good, something substantial, something that would merit praise and admiration?


Published on Mar 4, 2014 by Jimmy Kimmel Live
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford on Jimmy Kimmel Live PART 1
Mayor Ford explains why he agreed to being a guest on the show and tells us why he hands his phone number out to everyone. Jimmy reads some negative internet comments he received about having Mayor Ford on the show.



Published on Mar 4, 2014 by Jimmy Kimmel Live
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford on Jimmy Kimmel Live PART 2
Jimmy compares photos of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti with photos of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford.



Published on Mar 4, 2014 by Jimmy Kimmel Live
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford on Jimmy Kimmel Live PART 3
Jimmy plays some classic clips of Mayor Ford and asks him to explain each of them.



Published on Mar 4, 2014 by Jimmy Kimmel Live
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford on Jimmy Kimmel Live PART 4
Mayor Ford talks about his reelection campaign and touts his record of saving money for the city of Toronto. Jimmy offers some suggestions on how the Mayor could deal with some of his problems.



Final Word
Were we laughing with Rob Ford or were we laughing at Rob Ford? I would contend the latter. When you're in the hot seat; there is usually nothing you can do but roll with the punches and while I will give Rob marks for taking his licks, I can't help thinking the man doesn't understand how bad this has all become. If technically he can't be charged with a crime or misdemeanour (buying drugs, using drugs, public intoxication, driving while texting), this is certainly not the behaviour of a leader. We all make mistakes? Mr. Ford, I don't think you understand this crossed the line a while back. As I mentioned in a previous posting, Mr. Ford displays classic "alcoholic thinking". While he may be sober at this moment, his mind has gone into overdrive rationalising and justifying his behaviour with bombastic pronouncements and muddled thinking. He may be enjoying the spotlight, the Jimmy Kimmel spotlight, but he doesn't seem to realise the comedy show host saw Ford's entertainment value. We all love to laugh at the clown and some of us enjoy sadistically laughing at the clown meltdown. Personally, I don't think this is funny anymore. I would like to see a stable, sober personality at the helm of the good ship Toronto. Come October 27, 2014, the date of the next mayoral election, I will not be voting for Rob Ford. The sooner we put his four year term behind us the better.

Postscript - Mar 5/2014
News outlets are reporting that Jimmy Kimmel said the following night Rob Ford got upset after the taping of the show. Did Ford not realise what he was getting himself in for? Even if Kimmel wasn't malicious per se, the facts of the Rob Ford story are anything but pretty. As Jon Stewart ofttimes says to the camera, he doesn't have to make stuff up or crack a joke because the story itself is so crazy. And let's not forget that the book about Rob Ford written by the Toronto Star reporter Robin Doolittle is aptly named "Crazy Town".

Published on Mar 5, 2014 by Jimmy Kimmel Live
YouTube: Jimmy and Guillermo Tour Toronto
After Jimmy's interview with Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, the Mayor said that he wished he'd had more time to promote the city of Toronto. Jimmy loves Toronto and has been plenty of times, including one trip with his tour guide Guillermo. As a sign of international goodwill he decided to show video of all the wonderful sights they saw on their trip together.

Published on Mar 2, 2014 by YouPoliticsNews
YouTube: Jimmy Kimmel Show? Reporter Goes After Rob Ford: Don't You Think You're Here to Be Made Fun Of?
Mayor Rob Ford Grilled about L.A. trip: 'Is Kimmel laughing at you or with you?'


References

"Ford Nation", the supporters of Rob Ford, like to make the distinction between the man and the politician. While Ford's private life is his own business, there is no denying his personal life is affecting his political life. Nobody can ignore how one influences the other. See my posting about alcoholic thinking. I repeat that from the get-go, Rob Ford's numbers didn't add up. His "Stop The Gravy Train" slogan was nothing more than a slogan and his muddled interpretation of budgets and savings remains unsubstantiated by independent third parties.

my blog: Rob Ford inspires yet another Top Ten - Feb 8/2014
David Letterman: Top Ten Things Rob Ford Might Be Saying In This Video VIDEO

my blog: Hitler and Rob Ford - Jan 31/2014
The Internet has a number of parodies based on the 2004 German/Italian/Austrian war film Downfall. (See info in References) VIDEOS

my blog: Rob Ford: a new high, a new low, and a new word - Jan 26/2014
Bumbaclot? All spoken in a Jamaican accent? In defence of Rob Ford, my displays of public intoxication took place a long time ago before the Internet. Then again, I wasn't holding public office which one normally associates with a higher standard of decorum. VIDEOS

my blog: Rob Ford and His Legacy: Okay, now I'm scared. - Dec 12/2013
What's the right answer? Now I'm sure your immediate response would be, "What's the question?" And therein lies our collective problem. People keep spouting off about their right answer when subsequent analysis concludes those people didn't understand the question. Understand it? Heck, you could say they were answering a completely different question.

my blog: Rob Ford: Alcoholic Thinking and a Gullible Public - Dec 9/2013 (Updated)
I'm not going to talk about drugs and I'm not going to talk about the comedic fodder for late night talk shows. I am, however, going to talk about the hyperbolic bravado of political leaders vying for my vote who are counting on me being naive and uninformed.

Published on Mar 3, 2014 by Jimmy Kimmel Live
YouTube: Rob Ford Shows Up Early to Jimmy Kimmel Live
Jimmy's favorite Canadian mayor got confused about what day he was on the show.

2014-03-04

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Published on Jan 24, 2014 by Dx Flash

David Letterman: Top Ten Things Rob Ford Might Be Saying In This Video

(Wednesday, January 22, 2014)

10. "Welcome to my office"

9. "This is one of those 'drunken stupors' I referred to"

8. "Which way is the counter?"

7. "This is my final cry for help"

6. "I've been hanging out in the blimp hangar with Shimul"

5. "Damn right, I want that super-sized"

4. "I'm more wasted than the 'Wolf of Wall Street'"

3. "Where's Bieber with my weed?"

2. "How am I not in prison?"

1. "Where's your crack-smoking section?"


References

my blog: Hitler and Rob Ford - Jan 26/2014
The Internet has a number of parodies based on the 2004 German/Italian/Austrian war film Downfall. (See info in References) VIDEOS

my blog: Rob Ford: a new high, a new low, and a new word - Jan 26/2014
Bumbaclot? All spoken in a Jamaican accent? In defence of Rob Ford, my displays of public intoxication took place a long time ago before the Internet. Then again, I wasn't holding public office which one normally associates with a higher standard of decorum. VIDEOS

my blog: Rob Ford: Alcoholic Thinking and a Gullible Public - Dec 9/2013 (Updated)
I'm not going to talk about drugs and I'm not going to talk about the comedic fodder for late night talk shows. I am, however, going to talk about the hyperbolic bravado of political leaders vying for my vote who are counting on me being naive and uninformed.

2014-02-08

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Updated: Sept 1/2014: see last video below: Ford returns from rehab

Blankety-blank YouTube. I keep posting videos then somebody takes them down. Copyright infringement? Bad conscious? I keep having to check postings to verify whether or not my embedded videos are still functioning. Ha, ha. Geesh, how hard is it to break the law?

On a previous posting of videos about Rob Ford, I wanted to include one of the following but the video I had selected disappeared. I couldn't find a copy so I removed the reference completely from the posting. I have now found something else so I'm going to try again. Keep in mind these videos may disappear too. With YouTube, one never knows.

The Internet has a number of parodies based on the 2004 German/Italian/Austrian war film Downfall. (See info in References.) It has been used for all sorts of things and is just hilarious. When I saw this parody about Rob Ford, I was laughing so hard I was in tears.

Published on Nov 17, 2013 by Crapola
Hitler rant on Rob Ford fiasco



Published on Nov 17, 2013 by Bryan K
Rob Ford is creating headaches for Hitler



Published on Nov 8, 2013 by Fegel Antics
Hitler phones Toronto Mayor Rob Ford about Crack Cocaine



And, of course, I couldn't resist.

Published on Nov 15, 2013 by Andy N.
Mayor Rob Ford: The Colbert Report Toronto "I've got more than enough to eat at home."
"It kind of makes you kind of nostalgic for the crack now, doesn't it Toronto?"



Published on Jul 25, 2014 by Nathan Ng
Hitler learns of Rob Ford's return from rehab



References

Huffington Post - Dec 3/2013
Rob Ford Now Cover Too Similar To Time's Hitler Cover?
Toronto's NOW Magazine is under fire for a Rob Ford cover that many are comparing to a Time Magazine cover featuring Hitler.

my blog: Rob Ford inspires yet another Top Ten - Feb 8/2014
David Letterman: Top Ten Things Rob Ford Might Be Saying In This Video

my blog: Rob Ford: a new high, a new low, and a new word - Jan 26/2014
Bumbaclot? All spoken in a Jamaican accent? In defence of Rob Ford, my displays of public intoxication took place a long time ago before the Internet. Then again, I wasn't holding public office which one normally associates with a higher standard of decorum. VIDEOS

my blog: Rob Ford: Alcoholic Thinking and a Gullible Public - Dec 9/2013 (Updated)
I'm not going to talk about drugs and I'm not going to talk about the comedic fodder for late night talk shows. I am, however, going to talk about the hyperbolic bravado of political leaders vying for my vote who are counting on me being naive and uninformed.

Google video search: Hitler and Rob Ford

Wikipedia: Downfall (film)
Downfall (German: Der Untergang) is a 2004 German/Italian/Austrian epic war film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, depicting the final ten days of Adolf Hitler's life in his Berlin bunker and Nazi Germany in 1945.

Parodies
One scene in the film, in which Hitler launches into a furious tirade upon finally realizing that the war is truly lost, has become a staple of internet videos. In these videos, the original audio of Ganz's voice is retained, but new subtitles are added so that he now seems to be reacting instead to some setback in present-day politics, sports, popular culture, or everyday life. Other scenes from various portions of the film have been parodied in the same manner, notably the scenes where Hitler orders Otto Günsche to find Gruppenfuhrer Hermann Fegelein, and where Hitler discusses a counterattack against advancing Soviet forces with his generals. By 2010, there were thousands of such parodies, including many in which a self-aware Hitler is incensed that people keep making Downfall parodies.

Make your own Hitler video: http://downfall.jfedor.org/

Know Your Meme: Downfall / Hitler Reacts
Example Hitler parodies

Published on Mar 22, 2012 by Spire Skyscraper
The Downfall of Rob Ford's Subway Vision
A fan of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford takes the news of his failure to extend the Sheppard Subway rather poorly.


2014-01-31

Site Map - William Quincy Belle

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Bumbaclot? All spoken in a Jamaican accent? In defence of Rob Ford, my displays of public intoxication took place a long time ago before the Internet. Then again, I wasn't holding public office which one normally associates with a higher standard of decorum. While in some ways, I feel sorry for Rob (it is embarrassing having a meltdown in public) I consider this to exemplify the incorrect thinking of his far right politics. I didn't vote for Rob because I never felt his numbers added up. He kept saying that two plus two equals five. It didn't make sense. I can see why a naive public would jump on the "Stop The Gravy Train" bandwagon (it is catchy slogan) but reality hasn't proven to be even remotely like that and his bombastic hyperbolic politics have completely muddied the waters as to the real issues.

Urban Dictionary: bumbaclot
A cloth or rag used to wipe ones anal region. However, most Jamaicans use it as a substitute for the word f*ck to express anger or surprise.

Toronto Life - Jan 21/2014
Bizarre new Rob Ford video appears to show the mayor mumbling incoherently in Jamaican patois by Steve Kupferman
The extremely weird video above appeared on YouTube earlier today. Obviously recorded on a cell phone, it appears to show Rob Ford standing in a fast-food restaurant—some on Twitter are speculating that it’s Steak Queen, an Etobicoke eatery that’s a known favourite of the mayor’s—and mumbling incoherently to a group of men. What he’s saying isn’t entirely clear, but he seems to be attempting Jamaican patois.

Here’s an attempted transcript of the video... It seems like the substance of Ford’s spiel is a complaint about his treatment by Toronto Police, and particularly by chief Bill Blair, who presided over a months-long investigation of the mayor and his associates.

FORD: Cocksucker. Fucking Chief Blair […] Ciao, bonhomme. That mother chase me around for five months, brother. Bumbaclot, man. Hi sir. Well, me and him, we’re, uh, ba ba ba, […] Leave me alone. Five months, man. And him try to tell me, bro, we’re countersurveilling the guy, you know what I mean? He’s hiding here, I’m going to hide here. I’m going to […] Fuck off. You know how much money that cost them? I said bro, just cut some. “No! No money, no money, no money.” Ciao! Ah, bumbaclot, man. I said, “You know what? You’re […]” I swear to God, man. Then, honestly, man—

UNIDENTIFIED MALE VOICE 1: Sir, that’s to go, man.

FORD: Seriously shit, man. Serious shit, bro.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE VOICE 2: All we know, all we know, all we know is that [...]

FORD: No, seriously, you know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE VOICE 2: This guy deserves to be even better than Prime Minister Harper.

FORD: No no no! I don’t pull shit. I’m a straight-up guy, you know? Who—who was in THC? Who go to James Town, and Jane and Finch, and then Malvern on the […] Then, fuck. […]

Published on Jan 21, 2014 by Toronto TheCity
New Video of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford Drunk, Swearing in Jamaican Patois? Bumbaclot



Is the fodder for late night talk show hosts back?

Published on Jan 24, 2014 by Elyas News Tv
Jimmy Kimmel happy to have Rob Ford back



Is there anything else which could demonstrate how Toronto's mayor is now truly on the world stage? Yes, he is now a question on the television game show Jeopardy.

Alex Trebek: "In 2013, Rob Ford, mayor of this 4th-largest city in North America first said he smoked weed, not crack...then, yes, ok, crack, too."

Contestant: "What is Toronto?"

Published on Jan 25, 2014 by GEEK TECHNOLOGY NEWS
Rob Ford 'Jeopardy!' Question Pokes Fun At Mayor's Crack Use
Rob Ford's behaviour has raised a lot of questions over the years, but now he's actually become the question. Toronto's controversial mayor was the subject of a Jeopardy! question on Thursday night. "What is Toronto?" said everybody.



References

my blog: Hitler and Rob Ford - Jan 31/2014
Parody videos based on Downfall, a 2004 German/Italian/Austrian epic war film.

my blog: Rob Ford: Alcoholic Thinking and a Gullible Public - Dec 9/2013 (Updated)
I'm not going to talk about drugs and I'm not going to talk about the comedic fodder for late night talk shows. I am, however, going to talk about the hyperbolic bravado of political leaders vying for my vote who are counting on me being naive and uninformed.

my blog: Rob Ford and His Legacy: Okay, now I'm scared. - Dec 12/2013
What's the right answer? Now I'm sure your immediate response would be, "What's the question?" And therein lies our collective problem. People keep spouting off about their right answer when subsequent analysis concludes those people didn't understand the question. Understand it? Heck, you could say they were answering a completely different question.

Wikipedia: Rob Ford
Robert Bruce "Rob" Ford (born May 28, 1969) is a Canadian politician and businessman. He is the sixty-fourth and current Mayor of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

2014-01-26

Site Map - William Quincy Belle

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What's the right answer? Now I'm sure your immediate response would be, "What's the question?" And therein lies our collective problem. People keep spouting off about their right answer when subsequent analysis concludes those people didn't understand the question. Understand it? Heck, you could say they were answering a completely different question.

On the front page of Wednesday's Toronto Star (December 11, 2013), you find the lead article "Transit plan flaws exposed" by Royson James. A report by the Neptis Foundation, a think-tank on Canadian urban issues has raised red flags and sounded the alarm bells on the $50 billion makeover proposed by Metrolinx. (both reports, Neptis and Metrolinx, given below in References)

It's the first real independent review of Metrolinx's big plans. It serves as a wakeup call for the agency to assert itself instead of being overly influenced by transit politics, which have ramped up since Rob Ford became mayor.

Worried about the zombie apocalypse? You should be worried about a bombastic, uniformed and distorted view of realty that could see us all doing facepalms years from now about how we were collectively so gullible to let ourselves to be sucked into the vortex of an altered consciousness. I'm not talking about Metrolinx. They need to tighten up their plan but they're headed in the right direction. No, I'm talking about Rob Ford and his financially unviable plans.

Rob Ford cancelled the Scarborough LRT which leaves the city on the hook for $100 million in penalties. That LRT was completely funded by the province. In other words, it was free. While Rob runs around telling us all how he's saved the City of Toronto one billion dollars, all the major newspapers have discounted his claims and offered analysis to back up their stance. I note that nowhere in Rob's own inflated estimate of how good he is does he ever mention the $100 million penalty.

Rob sticks to his guns with his overriding transit plan of "subways, subways, subways." The Neptis report states that the Scarborough subway is an inefficient use of funds. It will be underutilised and not worth the money. It also mentions this startling fact: the Scarborough subway as proposed by Rob Ford will cost the City of Toronto $1 billion. Wait. What? The LRT was free, now we all are paying $1 billion? What the heck?

Need I remind the reader that right from the start, Rob Ford kept making statements which didn't make sense? The numbers didn't add up. He campaigned saying he would find $2 billion in savings in Toronto's $9 billion budget. Imagine that, $2 billion. 22% of the budget was a waste. Just over a fifth of the city's budget was fluff. In a year, he is back to the public to ask for cuts as the city is short $750 million. How the heck did we get from $2 billion in the black to $750 million in the red?

Trying to discern the truth in the myriad of reports, analysis, and the bombastic statements made by the mayor is almost next to impossible. But to me, the takeaway from all of this is that we need a timeout and a level-headed objective assessment of the situation. We are collectively in the very dangerous position of making the wrong decision then having to live with the consequences for years if not decades to come.

We cannot properly address an issue if misinformation prevents us from properly assessing the issue.

As I stated in my last posting "Rob Ford: Alcoholic Thinking and a Gullible Public," Rob has been a bad boy and he knows it. He's gotten caught with his pants down under the most egregious of circumstances and he is desperately trying to worm his way out. Let's not forget that desperate people do desperate things. He's denies saying he wanted to eat former policy adviser Olivia Gondek's pussy by saying he's got more than enough to eat to home. He tries to smear the media covering his antics by insinuating that Toronto Star reporter Daniel Dale is a pedophile. He admits to being involved in a number of illegal activities then suggests police chief Bill Blair is unfairly targeting him. This man is definitely not thinking clearly. He needs help. And he needs to resign immediately. I can't trust him to tell the truth any more than I can trust him to run the fourth largest city in North America. The numbers have never added up properly and his behaviour is a clear indication of a mind befuddled by personal issues. Rob Ford never should have been elected. It is a testimony of how in politics, the public is more times than not ignorant of the issues. If it was that easy, it would be done by now. Why oh why do we continue to believe the snake oil salesman?

Facts are not decided by how many people believe them. Truth is not determined by how loudly it is shouted.
- sign at the Rally to Restore Sanity, October 30, 2010, Washington DC

Final Word
The Neptis report is just another red light, another warning bell that we are in trouble. If we collectively make the wrong decision now, the consequences will be costly not only for us, but for the next generation. It is hard to believe we are collectively in this situation. If Rob Ford was an employee, he would have been let go a long time ago. Any organisation has the right to protect its name and its reputation and unacceptable behaviour including criminal activity is grounds for dismissal. It is hard to fathom how the highest elected official of Toronto can brazenly get away with this. Obviously, the founding fathers in crafting legislation for the municipality did not imagine a situation like this. They certainly never imagined the likes of Rob Ford.

But ignoring all the personal stuff about Rob, I would want to return to the numbers. While Rob portrays himself as a man of the people, returning phone calls and investigating potholes, I have never felt this was a man who had a great vision of the big picture. Yes, we have problems. Yes, Toronto is not perfect. But Rob is so bogged down in the details, going out of his way to respect the wishes of the voters he talks to, he can't stand back and look at the city as a whole and what its future could be or should be. The greatest danger of Rob Ford is not what he is doing at the moment; it's the danger of the legacy he will leave behind.


References

Neptis Foundation - December 2013
Review of Metrolinx's Big Move by Michael Schabas (PDF)
Key Conclusions: The report shows that while some projects represent good value for money, several can be modified to improve cost-effectiveness. A few projects should be reconsidered in their entirety (see Figure E1). The advice to Metrolinx is to consider a “course correction” to ensure that the Big Move reaches its important goals, and makes the best use of its available funds.

Metrolinx - November 2008
The Big Move: Transforming Transportation in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (PDF)
This document — the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), which includes the Investment Strategy — provides a vision, goals and objectives for the future in which transportation within the GTHA is seamless, coordinated, efficient, equitable and user-centred. It also contains Strategies, Priority Actions and Supporting Policies that are needed to achieve the future vision, as well as an Investment Strategy to finance the transportation system over the short- and long-terms.

2013-12-12

Site Map - William Quincy Belle

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First written on Dec 9/2013. Updates and videos below: Letterman, Kimmel, and Hitler. Yes, Hitler.

I go on vacation for the month of November and all hell breaks loose. This story is so ridiculous, I'm not even sure of where to begin. We shouldn't be here. We shouldn't be talking about this. This is so patently absurd, it's as if we have collectively been transported into the middle of Orwell's dystopian novel 1984 where the protagonist Winston Smith is taught to accept and believe the doublethink of two plus two equals five.

I'm not going to talk about drugs and I'm not going to talk about the comedic fodder for late night talk shows. I am, however, going to talk about the hyperbolic bravado of political leaders vying for my vote who are counting on me being naive and uninformed.

If it was that easy, it would be done by now.

A guy (or gal) stands up on a soapbox and tells me that yesterday was bad, today is worse, but tomorrow can be better if I only vote for him (or her). When I investigate, I find out that yesterday was not that bad; today isn't worse and it is very doubtful the plan for tomorrow will make things better. In other words, this person doesn't understand the current situation and as a consequence, their ideas are wholly inadequate for addressing the issues.

Right from the start, Rob Ford's campaign platform didn't make sense. In 2010, Toronto had a budget of around $9 billion. Ford said he could find two billion dollars of savings. Within one year, he was going to the public to ask for $750 million in cuts to services because there wasn't enough money to pay for them. How did we get from $2 billion in the black to $750 million in the red?

Now this is where I hold up my hand to stop you or Rob or Doug (Ford, the brother) or some other supporter from launching into a long-winded explanation to justify this extraordinary turn of events. I'm sorry, there is no explanation. That's what Rob said and he was wrong. He was wrong, wrong, wrong.

Ford's campaign slogan "Stop The Gravy Train" was based on the idea those running Toronto were lining their own pockets and spending the city into a hole. Journalist after journalist at the Toronto Star, the National Post, and the Globe and Mail has proved unequivocally over and over again that this entire slogan was pure, unadulterated uninformed Conservative B.S. The sky is not falling. The sky was never falling. Oh, but it certainly is falling now.

The Gullible Public
A guy promises to deliver sunshine, lollipops and rainbows and you believe him. Are you sh*ttin' me? I can't figure out what's worse: a politician saying things which clearly proves he doesn't know what he's talking about or a public who votes in a manner which clearly indicates they don't know what they're talking about. If it was that easy, it would be done by now.

Alcoholic Thinking
This term comes from Alcoholics Anonymous and in a nutshell, means this. Even though a person can be cold stone sober, at the moment, for days, for a week, whatever, their overall addictive behaviour can be a mindset that affects how they think, how they act, and how they make decisions and conduct their life. Being dry, being sober doesn't mean you've kicked the habit, it just means that right now, at this very moment, you are not under the influence. Getting rid of alcoholic thinking can take weeks, months, even years.

What is alcoholic thinking? You've been a bad boy or girl. You are embarrassed. You are ashamed. You are desperately clinging to the belief or the hope that people are not aware how bad you've been. You are sober but you are still rationalising like hell. In your own mind, you are trying to justify your actions with a million excuses which are, when you get down to it if you're totally honest, just a bunch of crap.

Rob Ford is on the hot seat. He admits to being drunk. He admits to using drugs. His response? Everybody has their moments. He says that the entire city council should take tests for drugs and alcohol to prove his point. This is classic alcoholic thinking. Rob is going to lessen the gravity of his crime by trying to drag everybody else down to his level. I'm sorry Rob, but the majority of people in the world do not drink. The vast majority of people who do drink do not end up in a drunken stupor. The vast majority of people do not do drugs. Everybody has their moments? The majority, no the vast majority of people do not have their moments. (According to WHO, the World Health Organisation, less than 4% of all imbibers in the world have a problem with alcohol.)

Maclean's - Nov 8/2013
Rob Ford’s wild ride by Charlie Gillis: Inside the greatest political train wreck of our time
The term “Purple Jesus” never appears, but police surveillance reports offer compelling evidence as to Rob Ford’s go-to beverage in times of emergency. Officers had watched one evening last August as Toronto’s large, imperfect mayor stole down the footpath of a leafy park just a stone’s throw from his mom’s home in the western Toronto suburb of Etobicoke. There, away from prying eyes and apparently unburdened by mayoral duties, Rob Ford whiled away the better part of an hour, and officers who whisked to the scene afterward didn’t have to look hard for clues as to what he’d been up to: one spent bottle of Iceberg Vodka lay on the ground. With it was an empty container of Tropicana grape juice.

Rob to Conrad: I'm willing to take a urine test
Who "has" to take a test? Not the vast majority of people. More bad thinking.

Save $1 Billion
Rob Ford rationalises; he compensates. Hyperbole becomes the tactic of choice. Rob says he's saved the City of Toronto one billion dollars. Bullsh*t. So say the pundits who have investigated this claim. In fact, while Rob has made the claim he was taking over from a financial catastrophe, David Miller the former mayor, those same pundits have revealed that Miller did, in fact, save Toronto $1.8 billion during his time in office.

Economic Powerhouse
As with every political brouhaha, it is difficult for Joe and Josephine Public to sort out fact from fiction. On the one hand you have Mr. Rob Ford and familial doppelgänger brother Doug Ford pulling more and more fantastic statements out of their ass to somehow overshadow or negate the most egregious of behaviour on the part of an elected official. On November 21, 2013, Rob stands up at a gathering of business leaders at Casa Loma and boasts that during his three years in office, he has turned Toronto into an economic powerhouse. (NOW Magazine) Really? All by his little old self? Toronto is the 4th largest city in North America. (Wikipedia) It is ranked 11th in the world as a financial centre. (Wikipedia) The Toronto Stock Exchange is 8th in the world. (Wikipedia) Toronto was an economic powerhouse before Rob Ford; it will continue to be one in spite of Rob Ford; and it will remain one after Rob Ford. Rob's arrogance is classic alcoholic thinking. He completely overestimates his contribution and clearly shows his lack of knowledge of how things truly work.

Rob Ford's private life is none of my business
Yes it is I'm afraid. When that private life has an impact on the performance of his duties, yes it is my concern. His alcoholic thinking has been up front and centre from the beginning; heck, before the election dating back a decade. He spends little time at the office. He does not have a grasp of the issues. He throws around supposed facts and figures which turn out to be misinformation due to a fundamental grasp of reality. Examples?

Rob claims to "return every phone call." (Financial Post) That may have been a good thing when he was a counsillor but not as a mayor. He's the leader; he's the chief. He can't be running around doing what he did before: investigating pot holes in streets, talking to individual constituents, etc. He's supposed to be the mayor in charge of the whole city. This is bad management. This is a waste of his time. Instead of paying attention to a pothole, he should be paying attention to nine billion dollars.

But, I would put forward that this approach to the political office has further distorted his view of the issues. As I said, he started out by claiming he could find $2 billion in savings and within one year was asking for $750 million in cuts. He unwisely cancelled the vehicle registration tax and froze property taxes. You can't cut your income and still have the money to pay for things.

My pet peeve: the plastic bag tax
Thank goodness, Rob has not managed to get this repealed... yet. For those not in the know, Toronto stores charge you five cents for a plastic bag with the laudable goal of making everyone reuse their bags. (my blog: Rob Ford drops the bag... er, ball - Dec 30/2010) The CBC reported that major grocery store chains like Metro and Sobey's were reporting an 80% drop in plastic bag distribution. 80%!!! I know for a fact, yes, a fact, that this tax has drastically altered my own behaviour. I always carry a cloth bag around with me. And this is a very, very good thing for all of us.

I'm doing what the people want
If a constituent said they wanted all lampposts to be painted purple, would Rob Ford do it? He cancels the land registry tax because he claims people told him to do so. Doesn't everybody hate taxes? I'm sorry, we all have to give something back and we should be glad to do so because we live in the wonderful city of Toronto.

Rob Ford tries to cancel the plastic bag tax because he claims people told him to do so. We have an 80% drop in bag distribution. I'm sorry, I don't care who hates the tax, it's staying. It's good for all of us. It's good for Toronto. It's good for the big picture and the big picture overrides the desires, the ofttimes self-centred uninformed desires of the few.

I didn't vote for Ford
Right from the beginning, I saw red flags. The more I delved into this candidate, the more I heard warning bells. The other people vying for the position of mayor weren't necessarily bad, but they seemed to be unable to combat this inexplicable movement of dissent, Ford Nation. As the character Howard Beale in the movie Network said, "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore."

But you're mad about what? Stop the gravy train? David Miller saved Toronto $1.8 billion. That's just for starters. Back in 2011, Rob released a video of him explaining how he was going to stop all the freebies at city hall such as free Metropasses (subway) for the members of city council. (my blog: Rob Ford or the public: Now who's dumber?) As of this writing, a Metropass costs $128.50 per month or $1,542 per year. Times 45 members, that's a cost of $69,390. To anybody who points their finger at this while saying, "Ah ha!!!" I would respectfully point out to you just how stupid this is. The budget of Toronto when Rob was elected was $9.2 billion. Did you hear me? Nine point two billion. The amount of $69,390 is 7.5 thousandths of one percent or 0.00075%. Personally I couldn't give a rat's ass about this. But I do care that Rob's cancellation of the Scarborough LRT (Light Rail Transit) will end up costing us collectively $100 million. Stop the gravy train? Are you out of your freakin' mind!?!

Facepalm
Okay, I couldn't leave this out. Sometimes, you just have to fall on the your sword. There is no excuse. There is no explanation. But the very fact that Rob Ford said these things, is further proof of his alcoholic thinking.

"Yes I have smoked crack cocaine. But no, do I, am I an addict? No. Have I tried it? Probably in one of my drunken stupors, probably approximately about a year ago."

"It [court documents] says I wanted to eat her pussy [former policy adviser Olivia Gondek] and I have never said that in my life to her. I would never do that. I’m happily married and I’ve got more than enough to eat at home."

Rob, for the love of God, shut the hell up.

Final Word
I keep seeing this over and over again. There is no rational dialogue about the issues. Ideologies are distilled down to a some catchy buzz phrase and from that point onward it's ra ra sis boom ba I ain't paying any attention to investigating the details. What is the biggest fault of a democracy? It's a democracy. Everybody gets a vote but I'm finding more and more that people are doing little or nothing to become knowledgeable about the issues so as to make an informed choice. Politicians stand up on their soapbox and spout bulls**t like it's gospel. But I'm willing to give them a break by saying they are just as uninformed as the public. I am sometimes flabbergasted to hear people repeat things with no due diligence as to the veracity of their statements. We sometimes laugh at how our ancestors believed in what we now know were superstitions but today, I'm not seeing any difference. We spread so much misinformation; it is next to impossible to discover what is fact and what is fiction.

I could go on and on about Rob Ford but others, more knowledgeable than me, have already investigated the man and done a good job about it. The problem we all face is that there are so many red flags, so many alarm bells, that everything about the mayor needs to be reviewed. Rob Ford is a man out of control in his personal life who is desperately trying to portray himself to the world as a flawed man who is the second coming. Flawed is underestimating the problem. Rob may have done an okay job as a counsillor, but he is in no way a big picture visionary with a detailed grasp of the issues. He is, at best, a dilettante. This man never should have been elected to office. Toronto will survive Rob Ford but it is a far-reaching example of our collective naivety, our collective stupidity, how we all drank the Ford kool-aid. I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore.

Dear Olivia, Please run. Pretty please?

Update: Dec 17/2013
Rob Ford has repeated numerous times to the media, then to Conrad Black in a televised interview that he saw Toronto Star reporter Daniel Dale standing on bricks at the back of Ford's house peering over the fence. He also said Dale was taking photos. While never uttering the word, Ford has suggested Dale is a pedophile. Dale denied taking pictures or peering over the fence. Metro police investigated and couldn't find any evidence that this was true. Dale starts a defamation suit against Ford. Today, Ford reads a prepared statement.

"To be clear, I never personally saw Mr. Dale peering over the fence or taking pictures."
-CBC

What!?! Whether it's the drinking or crack cocaine, Ford denies, denies, denies right up to the moment when he is caught red handed. Alcoholic thinking?

"It's unfortunate the word I did not say has been ascribed to me by the media. I certainly did not mean to suggest he is a pedophile."

Rob, give me a break. You are so full of s**t, it stinks to high heaven. That's what you inferred. That's what you suggested. There is absolutely no other interpretation of what you have repeated numerous times to the media and to Conrad Black. Admit it. Admit it to yourself.

Everything Rob Ford has said and has done or is saying and is doing needs to be objectively reviewed. Nothing is to be trusted. As I keep saying, never mind his personal life, Rob Ford's numbers do not add up.

Update: Dec 18/2013
The Globe and Mail reports that Rob Ford insulted his fellow councillors by suggesting they all are corrupt.

It was a nasty remark, even in the heat of the moment, but the most he could bring himself to say the next morning in council was, “I’ll withdraw my comments.” Deputy Speaker John Parker, one of council’s true gentlemen, rose to suggest gently that the mayor might go a little further. That prompted a Fordian tirade. “How about ‘I am so sorry’?” Mr. Ford said, his voice thick with sarcasm. “Super, super, super, super, super, super, super, sorry? So sorry?” It was a juvenile performance, more fitting for a schoolyard than a council chamber.

And like a scolded schoolboy, he had a good laugh about the whole thing with Mr. Mammoliti, who had issued his own half-hearted apology minutes before. Mr. Ford even indulged in a little pantomime. He put his hands behind his back like a handcuffed prisoner and trudged theatrically toward the exit, then turned around and went back to his desk, grinning.

Alcoholic behaviour? Is Rob Ford one of the Trailer Park Boys?

If Rob Ford was an employee, he would have been let go a long time ago. Any organisation has the right to protect its name and its reputation and unacceptable behaviour including criminal activity is grounds for dismissal. It is hard to fathom how the highest elected official of Toronto can brazenly get away with this. Obviously, the founding fathers in crafting legislation for the municipality did not imagine a situation like this. They certainly never imagined the likes of Rob Ford.
-my blog: Rob Ford and His Legacy: Okay, now I'm scared.

Update: Dec 18/2013 late in the day
According to the CBC, Rob Ford has issued a new apology in which he clearly and definitively retracts everything he has ever said about Daniel Dale. It is a stunning admission. Ford has outright lied about this from the beginning. Befuddled thinking, exaggerated retelling of events, rationalisation: Mr. Ford needs help. He may be sober now; he may be able to pass a urine test, but I'm afraid his thinking will be out of whack for years.


Videos

Videos: my blog: Rob Ford: a new high, a new low, and a new word - Jan 26/2014
The latest videos about Rob Ford including his drunken rant with a Jamaican accent using the patois "bumbaclot".

Videos: my blog: Hitler and Rob Ford - Jan 31/2014
Parody videos based on Downfall, a 2004 German/Italian/Austrian epic war film.

Videos: Rob Ford inspires yet another Top Ten - Feb 8/2014
David Letterman: Top Ten Things Rob Ford Might Be Saying In This Video

Videos: Rob Ford on Jimmy Kimmel: Are we laughing with him or at him? - Mar 4/2014
Mr. Ford visits the late night talk show where the host claims he is obsessed with the mayor.


References

I could list references until the cows come home. There is so much material; it's hard to know how to pare it down. Please note that what I list below represents the serious stuff. God only knows how many late-night talk show hosts have pointed out the absurd. In fact, the truth itself is so absurd; you don't even need to make a joke up. The facts are funny enough.

Wikipedia: Rob Ford
Robert Bruce "Rob" Ford (born May 28, 1969) is a Canadian politician and businessman. He is the sixty-fourth and current Mayor of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Ford was elected mayor in the 2010 mayoral election, and took office on December first of that year.

my blog: TTC: Essential Service vs. the Right to Strike - Dec 17/2010
Legislation requiring compulsory arbitration in labour disputes involving public employees has increased wages by about 1.2 percent per settlement. Although politicians might view strikes in such situations as politically costly, they need to consider the long-term effects of arbitrated settlements; namely, higher labour costs that are borne by the taxpayer.

my blog: Rob Ford: Where there's smoke - Mar 10/2013
A politician stands up and makes all sorts of outlandish promises and we the gullible public believe him. And even if said politician has made an enormous mistake and has to renege on a promise, we the gullible public quickly forget about it because we have the attention span of a mayfly.

The Toronto Star - Nov 28/2013
Readers' Letters
Blame no one for Rob Ford but ourselves, Opinion Nov. 24

And I could have written the same column five years ago had I been a journalist then. Rob Ford was a disaster as a councillor, and anyone who had any knowledge of municipal politics in Toronto knew that well before he was elected.

However, I think that it’s useful to consider the factors that contributed to the folly of his having been elected, since it may help the electorate avoid making such a monumental mistake in the future.

First, municipal voters usually aren’t at all familiar with municipal politicians, so when the election comes around, they have only campaign slogans to go on. In 2010, the majority of Toronto’s voters just didn’t know that Ford was not only a buffoon, but a rank liar, so they believed his ridiculous slogans.

Second, there was a curious lassitude on the part of progressive voters, and even progressive leadership, which caused a drop in “downtown” voter turnout. Many progressives chose not to fight the media construct that David Miller and his policies represented failure and wastefulness, when it is demonstrable that they did not. As the Ford steamroller gained momentum, the progressives stepped aside rather than fighting back.

Third, the field of candidates was tailor-made for a Ford win. The only true representative of the Miller years on the ballot was Joe Pantalone, who, while a decent and good man, did not have the charisma to carry the progressive banner effectively.

And then we had George Smitherman, who had amassed a reputation provincially as a thoroughly disagreeable and aggressive politician, and carried with him some of the dirty laundry of the Dalton McGuinty’s early years. Any hope that he might have had of garnering desperation votes from progressives plummeted when he moved sharply to the right to try to counter Ford’s growth in the polls.

And so a perfect storm of circumstances conceded the race to Ford, and we all know how that has turned out. The challenge now is for all Torontonians, progressives, moderates, even mainstream conservatives, to make sure that it never happens again.

David Remski, Etobicoke

The Toronto Star - Dec 6/2013
Rob Ford: Low-income supporters stand by their mayor by Laura Kane
Ford’s supporters are predominantly lower-income. People who make less than $40,000 a year are twice as likely to support the mayor than those who make $100,000 or more, a recent Ipsos Reid poll found. In his former council ward of Etobicoke North, many lower-income residents are fierce supporters of the mayor. The reasons for their loyalty have more to do with the mayor’s visibility than any of his policies.
...
Critics point out that the mayor’s 2011 property tax freeze and subsequent small tax hikes are aimed at middle- and upper-class homeowners, not lower-income renters. His vow to drop the land transfer tax is also unlikely to benefit the poor.

Further, he has restricted funding for public transit and libraries, and hiked user fees for recreation programs — all municipal services that low-income people rely on.

“He’s made life harder for folks,” says Councillor Adam Vaughan. “He has done nothing for low-income people except answer their phone calls, show up, scream at a hole in the wall and leave. . . . He doesn’t fundamentally fix the problem.”

Councillor Ana Bailao, chair of the affordable housing committee, pointed out the mayor wanted to sell off 900 publicly owned homes in 2012 to tackle the repair backlog, while 90,000 people are waiting for social housing.

The mayor has also voted against funding social programs for at-risk youth — which he called “hug-a-thug” programs — despite his own devotion to his Rob Ford Football Foundation and former job as coach of the Don Bosco Eagles.

“He says he sides with (lower-income people), but when it comes to the voting, a lot of times he’s not voting for the things that really, really have an impact on them,” says Bailao. “That’s the reality.”

The Toronto Star - Nov 8/2013
Deconstructing Mayor Rob Ford's fiscal record by Daniel Dale
The mayor’s fiscal claims are exaggerated. He has repeatedly claimed to have saved taxpayers $1 billion — a figure endorsed by the city’s senior bureaucrats but one that relies on creative definitions of “savings” and “taxpayers,” exaggerations and omissions. Many of his other fiscal claims are also suspect.

The Financial Post - Nov 13/2013
Rob Ford’s ‘return every phone call’ claims aren’t proof of strong record — it’s just bad management by Armina Ligaya
As the scandal surrounding Rob Ford deepens and makes global headlines, Toronto’s mayor refuses to resign, touting his fiscal wins and his ability to “return every phone call” personally as proof of his strong record. But management consultants and academics say Mayor Ford’s penchant for handling the fine details — such as visiting constituents’ houses to tend to problems with trees, licensing issues — often is the opposite of what an effective leader of a major enterprise, whether a city or a business, should be doing.

The Toronto Star - Nov 28/2013
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s $100-million boondoggle: Editorial
[Rob Ford] flushed away $100 million of taxpayers’ money to please Scarborough residents expecting delivery on a reckless “subways, subways, subways” promise. That’s $100 million in sunk costs gone to buy — nothing. The drain on taxpayers doesn’t end there. Far from it. The actual bill for Ford’s three-stop Scarborough subway extension amounts to more than $3 billion. The province is carrying most of that burden, with Ottawa kicking in $660 million, but it still leaves Toronto in need of almost $1 billion. Property taxes are set to rise next year, in 2015 and again in 2016 to help cover this tab. By the time Ford’s three-stop underground route is paid for, it will have cost the average Toronto household at least $1,200.
...
There’s a final irony here. There was no need for Toronto property taxpayers to shell out anything at all. We’ve said this before, but it’s worth noting again: the seven-stop, ultra-modern light-rail line Ford succeeded in killing would have cost local ratepayers nothing. Nada. Zero. It was free public transit, with Queen’s Park covering the entire bill. Why would a mayor, supposedly dedicated to respecting the taxpayer, torpedo a no-tax option in favour of loading a fresh financial burden on Toronto families? The obvious answer is politics. ...Ford killed light rail to win fans in Scarborough. They wanted a subway so he gave them one — literally at the expense of every other ratepayer in the city.

The Globe and Mail - Dec 7/2013
There’s a call for action, but the police documents don’t have the goods by Marcus Gee
The latest release of information gathered by police has many people wondering why authorities haven’t stepped in to take action against Mayor Rob Ford. Why, they demand, hasn’t he faced charges after admitting to buying and using illegal drugs?

Canada.Com: Postmedia News - Nov 16/2013
Of all of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s enablers, the most culpable are the strategists By Andrew Coyne
No one seems to know how to get Toronto out of its mayoral mess. It is the product of a flawed civic architecture that, in all fairness, never contemplated the existence of a mayor so mountainously incompetent, yet so impervious to shame, as to make his continuation in the office at once both intolerable and inescapable. He must go and yet will not, and he will not go for the same reason that he must.

The Globe and Mail - Dec 19/2013
Why Rob Ford is mad as hell by Ken Dryden
Many highly educated, politically sophisticated, well-off people voted for Rob Ford in the last Toronto mayoralty election. It was not for no reason... People everywhere are mad. Mad at their jobs, mad at the money they don’t make. Mad at others for getting the chances they don’t. Mad at seemingly getting the short end of every stick... To them, politicians are the worst.

Published on Nov 6, 2013 by Sex With Dr. Jess
Did Rob Ford Lie? A sex & relationship expert weighs in.
Sex & relationship expert, Dr. Jess (PhD) addresses Rob Ford's admission that he smoked crack-cocaine in a drunken stupor. Was he lying? And what can we learn from our mayor's mistakes? Is there a relationship lesson buried beneath his behaviour?


2013-12-09

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