[golodhendil]

Nope, it almost certainly is.

Which is fine, as it does provide a sort of dissident voice. But for the majority (at least until recent years) of Chinese Canadians who originated not from Mainland China but instead from HK, Taiwan or SE Asia, Falun Gong and their associates are treated more with sympathetic indifference than anything and kept at a respectful distance, and it's doubtful that their (perceived or actual) media outlets would have any significant impact on the Chinese community's political opinion, especially on local matters.

/off-topic

 

[evvabeing]

Sorry, "no contest" is "no exist" in Ontario court:

http://www.lawyersweekly.ca/index.php?section=article&articleid=1602

that's right...

Where an accused refuses to make a plea or otherwise does not answer the question of plea, the presumption is that a plea of not guilty will be entered into the record (s. 606(2)).

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Canadian_Criminal_Procedure_and_Practice/Pleas

 

[newearthling]

Well here is more fodder to add to the 'out partying with hotties all night' debate.
BlogTO
Rob Ford shows he's still the life of the party
Posted by Staff / January 12, 2014

It was Rob Ford night in Toronto last night, at least if the Toronto Star has anything to say about it. Our jovial mayor, always up for posing for photos with people he doesn't know in places he can't recall, made the rounds at the opening gala of the Theatre Centre before checking out Orient Express at Muzik Nightclub. And that's where social media took over. The Muzik Twitter account announced his arrival and #RobFord on Instagram got a flurry of activity.

It was all just a night's work for our mayor who, despite his daily workout regimen and booze-free lifestyle, still can't stop those sweat stains from spoiling his spiffy blue shirts.

Lots of pro-Ford comments too.

 

[JWBF]

No, if Lisi pleads guilty, there will be no trial. Lisi would only plead guilty if Ford and his lawyers told him to take the fall and do the time. Rob Ford does NOT want this to go to trial because he WILL be subpoenaed as a witness. We all know how Ford does on the stand. It would be his worst nightmare -- specially during the campaign.

Unless pleading guilty also implicates one or both the brothers.

The Muzik Twitter account announced his arrival and #RobFord on Instagram got a flurry of activity.

Might be a diversion for Ford Nation or plain stupidity on Musik's account. It does look interesting with Mammo's bit about Ford getting his powers back. "Hey! Look! I'm able to control my urges! It's not a danger for me to have my powers!"

The City of Toronto has been getting the job done, which shows how much Robbie was actually doing while playing Mayor.

 

[MetroMan]

Sorry, "no contest" is "no exist" in Ontario court:

http://www.lawyersweekly.ca/index.php?section=article&articleid=1602

That's news to me. Thanks for looking it up.

So that removes the only good scenario for Ford because Lisi can't avoid a trial without incriminating Ford and Ford doesn't want this to go to trial. In both scenarios, Ford loses.

 

[Kat_YYZ]

have we ever learned how the crack video went from the group shown in red (in the graphic below) to the ones shown in yellow? those 2 groups aren't friends, right?

http://globalnews.ca/news/1012557/whos-who-in-the-rob-ford-documents/

the Red group is labelled "photo" while the Yellow group is labelled "video". The photo and the video were not made on the same day. There's no evidence that they were made by the same person or even in the same place.

I guess what I'm saying is we don't know that the Red group ever had the video.

 

[TJ O'Pootertoot]

But there's the alternative, that this is a campaign move by Doug. Take Rob to a club to have a little bit of fun without falling apart and then say that he's fully recovered.

That's how I read it. As soon as everyone hears he's at a club, they want to know if he was caught drinking.
If nobody saw him drink (and I haven't heard anybody who did), he and Doug can say, "Look, he's cured!" I thought Jim Coyle's amazing essay about alcoholism a couple of weeks ago in The Star did a good job addressing how an addict can (as Ford has), quit cold turkey for a while without actually solving anything. But people looking for an excuse to support him will definitely point to Saturday night as proof he's totally on the wagon. And losing weight, too!

EDITED: Because I should have read this first...
http://www.torontosun.com/2014/01/12/mayor-rob-ford-sets-social-media-abuzz-with-nightclub-stop

Councillor Doug Ford, the mayor’s brother, said Sunday that the mayor’s appearance generated excitement at the club.

“As for Rob, he stopped drinking in November and he went there, met the people,” said Doug Ford, the mayor’s campaign manager. “There have been rock stars, there have been sports heroes, there’s been the Bieber there and no one got a response like Rob did. The place went upside down ballistic.”

Ford said the mayor consumed only a sugar-free energy drink and was at the club for about an hour. He added, “All he did was take pictures.”

There you go. Also, "The Bieber"?

 

[SecretSquirrel]

He paid a $664.75 fine, was barred from driving in Florida for one year and ordered to complete 50 hours of community service, which his campaign said he served by volunteering with the Toronto Express, the private summer football team he had been coaching since 1997.

Hang on - I didn't know that! What the hell kind of judge lets someone off with a kiss on the ass... err, slap on the wrist like that?

Coaching football is surely Ford's favourite thing that isn't crack, hezza, booze or whatever it is that he has enough to eat of.

What kind of punishment or lesson is that? You're ordering the man to do something he enjoys and that he would have done anyway! That's the equivalent of ordering me to perform 300 hours of getting cosy on my couch with a beer and a PS3 controller while eating sushi.

 

[SecretSquirrel]

A married man with children isn't allowed to go to a club? I was unaware of that rule...

Agreed. This in and of itself should not excite comment, and I'm a bit disappointed that people seek to proscribe such an eventuality.

However, the fact that it's Rob 'sober as a judge' Ford at a nightclub which supplies him with mass amounts of free booze and bar service while lobbying for the lengthy extension of their no-competition contract over which he has influence... that should excite comment.

 

[Pickles]

Unless pleading guilty also implicates one or both the brothers.

....

So that removes the only good scenario for Ford because Lisi can't avoid a trial without incriminating Ford and Ford doesn't want this to go to trial. In both scenarios, Ford loses.

How so? Lisi is not on trial for meeting with Ford and exchanging packages. Or drinking in a park. He's on trial for selling drugs to a drycleaner. Ford was not involved in this at all. If Lisi pleads guilty, there is no "evidence" because there is no trial. A guilty plea does not somehow give a stamp of authenticity to the police surveillance document. Lisi might be required to admit he sold the drugs or used extortion to get the video but that's all.

And if Lisi goes to trial, how would he "incriminate" Ford? His interaction with Ford has nothing to do with the current charges against him. It is irrelevant to the trial. It simply was used to get a search warrant (and, quite likely, expose some of the mayor's erratic and possibly criminal behaviour to public scrutiny).

ISTM that there is a lot of wild speculation going on (understandably, given the wild events of the past 8 months) and people are mistakenly assuming that a trial would bring up evidence about Ford and that a non-trial would change the status of the police document from allegations to fact. Neither is true. This is Lisi's trial on narrow charges. He has NOT been charged with drunk driving, peeing in a parking lot, taking drugs, selling drugs to the mayor, showing up drunk in public, etc., etc. The allegations by the police respecting these matters will not be "proven in court" because they will not be brought up as part of the evidence against Lisi's drug dealing in the strip mall nor the extortion respecting the video.

The video may not even be made public at the trial. That's a call for the prosecutor. He/she must prove only that Lisi used extortion/threats to attempt to recovery "a video". The content of the video may not be particularly necessary to reveal to prove extortion. And even if the video is shown, hasn't it already done whatever damage to Ford's repuatation that it's going to do? The video of Ford ranting came and went pretty quickly from the public eye. The sorry truth of the Ford saga is that there are so many shameful, volatile, stupid things he's done that the shock value has worn off.

Unless Lisi helps the police in its investigation of Ford or the police finally uncover sufficient evidence to charge Ford, Lisi's trial/guilty plea will be a big yawn.

 

[sno man]

How so? Lisi is not on trial for meeting with Ford and exchanging packages. Or drinking in a park. He's on trial for selling drugs to a drycleaner. Ford was not involved in this at all. If Lisi pleads guilty, there is no "evidence" because there is no trial. A guilty plea does not somehow give a stamp of authenticity to the police surveillance document. Lisi might be required to admit he sold the drugs or used extortion to get the video but that's all.

And if Lisi goes to trial, how would he "incriminate" Ford? His interaction with Ford has nothing to do with the current charges against him. It is irrelevant to the trial. It simply was used to get a search warrant (and, quite likely, expose some of the mayor's erratic and possibly criminal behaviour to public scrutiny).

ISTM that there is a lot of wild speculation going on (understandably, given the wild events of the past 8 months) and people are mistakenly assuming that a trial would bring up evidence about Ford and that a non-trial would change the status of the police document from allegations to fact. Neither is true. This is Lisi's trial on narrow charges. He has NOT been charged with drunk driving, peeing in a parking lot, taking drugs, selling drugs to the mayor, showing up drunk in public, etc., etc. The allegations by the police respecting these matters will not be "proven in court" because they will not be brought up as part of the evidence against Lisi's drug dealing in the strip mall nor the extortion respecting the video.

The video may not even be made public at the trial. That's a call for the prosecutor. He/she must prove only that Lisi used extortion/threats to attempt to recovery "a video". The content of the video may not be particularly necessary to reveal to prove extortion. And even if the video is shown, hasn't it already done whatever damage to Ford's repuatation that it's going to do? The video of Ford ranting came and went pretty quickly from the public eye. The sorry truth of the Ford saga is that there are so many shameful, volatile, stupid things he's done that the shock value has worn off.

Unless Lisi helps the police in its investigation of Ford or the police finally uncover sufficient evidence to charge Ford, Lisi's trial/guilty plea will be a big yawn.

Other than it was an extortion charge, relating to the crack video clip, and threatening violence. Which decidedly has to do with RoFo.

 

[SecretSquirrel]

If Lisi pleads Not Guilty then it'll demonstrate that Lisi is loyal to Ford to a degree but isn't willing to go away for serious time and will take his chances fighting it off in court at the expense of putting Ford through a trial that will destroy him politically.

Emphasis mine. Because Ford's stated goal is the destruction of the city I love, I want to believe this so much, and yet everything we thought we knew about political scandal suggests Ford should have been destroyed politically a long, long time ago.

For a while now, I've been of the opinion that nothing other than a lengthy stay at a government hotel will keep Ford out of politics. Perhaps October 27th will take care of him also, but I won't believe it until I see the papers on October 28th.

 

[tiffer24]

I'm sure Doug is fine-tuning a "drunken stupor" defence that will easily acquit Rob of any wrongdoing in this "minor" Lisi incident.

 

[sno man]

I'm beginning to think anything much less than 'conspiracy to commit murder' charge for Rob will bounce off him with Ford Nation and set off a backlash against the TPS. Even then I bet there will still be some core support.

 

[the lemur]

When I asked him if he knows the cost difference in building subways, LRT and streetcar, he said the cost was about the same for all three. (which of course, we all know is wrong) He wants to see subways built in Scarborough and not downtown, which he thinks has too many subways already. Here is the kicker, when I asked him, when do you use public transit, he replied, NEVER! SO why does he want subways? Because Ford says streetcars will get in the way of his huge car and slow down traffic. Subways run underground, so he can avoid them. It's like this guy was brainwashed at the Rob Ford training camp.

It is so hilarious, and sad, when Fordites reveal their near-complete lack of familiarity with existing transit. I've seen his supporters insist on points regarding where subways should be built and how they should be funded, but when they're pressed on details of where transit is currently congested or asked whether they would ride the subway they're advocating, they'll say things like 'I never take transit' or (I'm not making this one up) 'I do not ride with the unwashed'. So basically they feel entitled to dictate where and how others should get around even if they themselves know nothing of the experience

What I'm curious about is how does a well educated person get so badly informed? He does not watch Sun TV or read the Toronto Sun. He does not listen to talk radio. In fact he does not watch or listen to any English language media. All the media he watches, hears and reads is Chinese. He hates Olivia Chow and David Miller yet he does not know why but he tells me, everybody at his Chinese church, hates them too. Was he brainwashed at church? How does somebody who watches no English media get these views and so badly informed about the issues? Are there Chinese right wing media outlets spewing Ford's toxic views and misinformation?

I have talked to 4 friends/acquaintances, who all seem to be rational, intelligent people, yet they support Ford. After discussing the issues it was clearly apparent that all of them were badly informed. Is that just coincidence? It amazes me to see what hoops people will jump through, to justify voting for Ford. In the end, when you present a credible argument about something one would think is indefensible, like Ford buying drugs from thugs or driving drunk, they just say, "I don't care". If these people were high school drop outs working at McDonald's, I could understand but these people are all well educated, very well paid professionals. Seriously, it's just mind blowing and frustrating to see that people like this, still support Ford and think he's a "nice guy".

I think a lot of people avoid exposure to the media, especially print media, because reading opinion pieces and editorials actually confuses them. As in, news, sports, entertainment and weather are factual information ... but what's this other stuff? Why are there two or more articles in which people say different things about the same subject? Aren't newspapers supposed to write what I expect to see and what confirms my bias?

Many people also lack the curiosity to find out what is actually happening in politics and what different politicians stand for. It's much easier to go along with opinions you pick up from friends and never question them. Then when you've picked up your off-the-rack opinion, don't worry about defending it when you're being challenged on it, because that's too much mental effort.

People like this are actually living in the world of Orwell's 1984, with its 'rubbishy newspapers containing almost nothing except sport, crime and astrology'.