Duck and cover

Here's the 1951 film -- fascinating:

http://www.archive.org/details/DuckandC1951

James Morton

Rehabilitation of killers

Chatting with a friend about the news I thought about the rehabilitation of murderers.

My experience with murderers is they come in three types.

First are anger/impulse killers. Not great folks but they are often remorseful and can learn anger management. They can rehabilitate.

Second are commercial killers -- gang members and actual contract killers. They are, sometimes, like soldiers and in a changed environment are changed people. (This does not mean soldiers are murders -- rather, these killers are situation specific in their wrongful acts just as soldiers are situation specific and kill in combat but not in the mess tent.)

But third, killers for 'fun' who plan the killings -- they cannot change. Or at least, I have not seen them do so.

James Morton

Here's something fun

I heard about this recently at a lunch with some colleagues.  It's a moving picture archive, which includes news reels, old TV commercials, etc.  All I need is another on-line time-waster, but it's kind of addictive:
 
http://www.archive.org/details/prelinger <http://www.archive.org/details/prelinger>
James Morton

Enjoying the sunshine -- It's Spring!!!!!

Sentence as an adult?

The Rengel murder trial finished with a conviction.

As a result MT, a young person, is likely to go to jail if sentenced as a youth for up to 6 years or if sentenced as an adult for between 5 to 7 years.

So what's the difference? Probation. If sentenced as an adult MT is on probation for the rest of her life.

Should she be sentenced as an adult for this? Perhaps not. My sense is that the attempt to sentence as an adult is driven more by small "p" politics than by anything else.

This crime is horrid. It's the sort of twisted, sordid brutality that hurts then entire community. The cry for vengeance, which is not unwarranted, is very powerful. That said, justice should be blind (or here deaf), to the shifting moods of the public. I'm unsure of where I stand on the issue but it is a tough call for the Court.
James Morton

Nortel -- Senior executives get retention bonuses while laid off staff don't get severance -- am I missing something here? Doesn't this sound wrong?

I read the story below with a mixture of amusement and horror.

Nortel needs to keep its top people through its 'restructuring' and so as to keep em has to pay retention bonuses.

Nortel has fired thousands but can't pay severance. But it can pay retention bonuses to keep the 'key people' who, it would seem to an outsider, drove the company into the ground.

So the people who actually produce something don't get paid what they earned while the people who, well whatever they did did, get paid extra? It's a Canadian AIG but worse.

At least AIG could claim there was legal obligation to pay retention bonuses -- here the bonuses seem wholly unforced except to the thinking of restructuring advisors.

Where is our Parliamentary outrage???

My faith in the market weakens daily.

Legal battle looms over Nortel exec bonuses

TORONTO -- Nortel Networks Corp. has won approval to pay senior executives millions in retention bonuses as part of a plan to keep key personnel from fleeing the company as it undergoes court-protected restructuring.

However, a legal battle is looming. Courts in Canada and the U.S. granted the company the right pay a combined US$7.3-million to top-level managers Friday -- even as thousands of former employees are being denied severance payments.

"You need to keep the good people to make sure this restructuring is successful in order to preserve as many jobs as you can and in order to preserve as much value as you can in this enterprise," said Derrick Tay, Nortel's chief counsel during a break in proceedings at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

In total, three identified executives in Canada and five in the U.S. will share in the bonus pool. Another 26 employees in Canada were approved earlier this month to receive a portion of a US$23-million program designed to retain 92 senior managers worldwide.

The identities of the eight executives were filed in confidential court materials but not made public for competitive reasons, said Mr. Tay.

"If you disclose that information it's very easy for competitors to come along and say, 'Well, you're getting X dollars, I'll give you X plus Y.' You're drawing a road map for competitors to come pick your key people."
James Morton

It took longer than I thought

But it was still a Friday verdict...

First-degree murder conviction in Rengel case

A jury has convicted a Toronto teen of first-degree murder in the New Year's Day 2008 slaying of 14-year-old Stefanie Rengel -- a case driven by pathological jealousy and powered by technology.

Two muddy polar bears

Runciman named interim Ontario PC leader

Runciman is solidly rightwing and I doubt he'd win an election but he is principles, smart and experienced. A solid leader on the right

Runciman named interim Ontario PC leader

Ontario's Progressive Conservatives selected veteran MPP Bob Runciman on Friday to lead their party until members elect a successor to John Tory in the summer.

This is the second time Runciman has had to fill in for Tory, who resigned earlier this month after failing to gain a seat in the Ontario legislature. The Brockville-area MPP has served as the leader in the legislature since the 2007 election, when Tory chose to run in a Toronto riding and lost.

Circle of Harper critics wider this week

Circle of Harper critics wider this week
Toronto Star
Chantal Hebert

If credibility is the foundation of political success, then this was a week when Stephen Harper's government took a sledgehammer unto itself.

With Parliament adjourned and the government out of the daily reach of the opposition parties, this was to have been an opportunity for Harper and his ministers to show Canadians how they were on top of their files.

In hindsight, it might have been better if they had just taken the week off.

It is hard to think of a Conservative minister who is more of a francophile than James Moore. Among Harper's English-speaking ministers, only he is proficient enough in French to dare go on Radio-Canada's most watched talk show, Tout le monde en parle.

But a culturally clueless heritage minister does not come across as less ignorant for being able to exhibit that trait in a second language.

Many commentators would have cut Moore slack for failing to come up with the names of Peter Mansbridge's Radio-Canada's equivalent, Celine Galipeau, or even the iconic Felix Leclerc, but to be unable to identify Atom Egoyan, who is perhaps Canada's most celebrated English-language filmmaker, does not wear well on the minister in charge of Canada's cultural policy.

Moore set out to rebuild the government's election-battered bridges with the cultural community, but ended up consolidating some long-held prejudices about the Conservatives.

If there is one area where the government has occasion to showcase leading- edge thinking these days, it is science.

In the U.S., President Barack Obama has just reversed a decade of ideologically driven policies and signed off on a multi-billion-dollar research initiative.

On the heels of that change in the American paradigm, the stakes for Canada's knowledge economy have rarely been higher and many in the academic and scientific communities do not think the government gets that message.

In that context, the notion that Gary Goodyear, their appointed champion at the cabinet table, treats a basic tenet such as evolution as one of many possible answers on a multiple-choice religion exam could not but trouble them.

On a larger scale, the last thing Harper needs at this point is a debate about the place of creationism around his cabinet table.

To use a Beretta semi-automatic as door prize - as a gun lobby was planning to do - on the occasion of a speech by Saskatchewan MP Garry Breitkreuz next month would have been a counterproductive way to highlight Conservative efforts to abolish the long-gun registry.

The raffle draw is to be held in the GTA, a region that is struggling with gun crimes and at a time when Vancouver is plagued with an epidemic of gang warfare.

Breitkreuz was abruptly dropped as a speaker yesterday when news of the event and his association with it created a predictable furor.

Finally, as if Harper had not had a hard enough time striking a consistent tone on the economy, now that he has settled on an optimistic note, former governor of the Bank of Canada David Dodge is raining on his parade.

Unhappily for the government, Dodge has a track record that makes him harder to dismiss than an opposition critic.

When Harper first came to power, his most vocal critics were groups that were ideologically predisposed to hate the Conservatives on sight or who had irreconcilable policy differences with them. But, since then, the circle has been expanding to include academics, scientists, economists and even business leaders and, increasingly, it is the basic competence of the government that is becoming the top-of-mind issue.

James Morton

Jury deliberation in Rengel murder trial enters 3rd day

It's a sunny Friday -- the jury won't want to spend the weekend -- I predict a verdict at 11:30 today.


Jury deliberation in Rengel murder trial enters 3rd day


A Toronto jury is set to begin a third day of deliberations on Friday in the first-degree murder trial of a teen accused in the slaying of 14-year-old Stefanie Rengel.

Sunny day

Spring? Flowers popping up at Osgoode Hall, Toronto

Rule against multiple convictions applies to sexual interference and sexual assault

The rule against multiple convictions forbids more than one conviction for a single wrong.

Thus it is proper to charge someone with (1) impaired driving and (2) driver over 80 but a conviction can go for only one offence.

The application of this rule to sexual interference and sexual assault was somewhat in doubt because of some brief endorsements by the Court of Appeal.

Today's decision in R. v. S.J.M., 2009 ONCA 244 makes it clear the doctrine applies:

[9]              This court has previously held that in those circumstances one of the convictions should be stayed in accordance with the rule against multiple convictions:  R. v. M. (M.M.) (1998), 122 C.C.C. (3d) 563 (Ont. C.A. ).  We were informed by counsel that in R. v. Wing, 2008 ONCA 618 a somewhat different argument may have been made, not directly addressing the application of Kienapple to the charges of sexual assault and sexual interference. Thus, this court's very brief endorsement in Wing should not be read to be inconsistent with the well established jurisprudence in Kienapple, Prince and M. (M.M.).  We also note that courts in other provinces have applied the Kienapple doctrine to charges of sexual interference and sexual assault:  R. v. Alyea (1997), 100 B.C.A.C. 241, and  R. v. C.G.F., 2003 NSCA 136. 
James Morton
1100 - 5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4

Contract law applied in a family law case - damages in contract

It is sometimes difficult to find a case standing for a trite proposition of law. Yesterday's Court of Appeal decision sets out the basic law regarding damages in contract:

"18          The trial judge then identified the principle that where a contract has been breached, the aggrieved party is generally entitled to be put in the position in which he or she would have been had the contract been performed.  She further noted that an estate may be liable in damages for a deceased's failure to maintain an insurance policy, citing Adams (Next friend of) v. Adams Estate (2001), 289 A.R. 345 (Q.B.), at para. 14; MacLean v. MacLean Estate (1998), 195 N.B.R. (2d) 303 (Q.B.), at para. 31; Phillips v. Spooner (1980), 4 Sask. R. 103 ( C.A. ); and Shannon v. Shannon (1985), 50 O.R. (2d) 456 (H.C.J.)."

Another interesting point, from a more general standpoint, is that this is another case arising in family law where traditional contract principles is used.
James Morton
1100 - 5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4

Saturn from the Hubble

Here is a remarkable picture from the Hubble Space Telescope. In another life I was an astronomer and while you can see the rings of Saturn from Earth they are wavy and very hard to see -- photographs are even worse. Here the details are amazingly clear.

Saturn's comparatively paper-thin rings are tilted edge on to Earth every 15 years. Because the orbits of Saturn's major satellites are in the ring plane, too, this alignment gives astronomers a rare opportunity to capture a truly spectacular parade of celestial bodies crossing the face of Saturn. Leading the parade is Saturn's giant moon Titan – larger than the planet Mercury. The frigid moon’s thick nitrogen atmosphere is tinted orange with the smoggy byproducts of sunlight interacting with methane and nitrogen. Several of the much smaller icy moons that are closer in to the planet line up along the upper edge of the rings. Hubble’s exquisite sharpness also reveals Saturn's banded cloud structure.

Variation of custody orders

Today’s Court of Appeal decision in Elliott v. Turcotte, 2009 ONCA 240 provides a clear restatement of when a custody order may be varied:

[10]          In Gordon v. Goertz, [(1996), 134 D.L.R. (4^th) 321 (S.C.C.)] the Supreme Court of Canada set out a two-stage test for any application to vary a custody order.  At the first stage, the parent applying to vary must demonstrate a material change in the circumstances affecting the child that was not foreseen or reasonably foreseeable at the time of the original order.  If this threshold requirement is met, the second stage of the inquiry deals with the best interests of the child.  The court must conduct a full inquiry into all of the benefits and detriments of the proposed variation and determine whether it would be in the child’s best interests.

 

Polarbear Water Polo

Josef Fritzl's change of heart: remorse or calculation?

Interesting insights from the Times OnLine about what is motivating the Austrian monster -- and monster he is -- they seem to see the same possible "deal" I saw yesterday evening ...

Josef Fritzl's change of heart: remorse or calculation?

Josef Fritzl has capitulated in the face of the mass of evidence presented against him and confessed to murdering one of his children, fathered in an incestuous relationship with his daughter.

The admission stunned the Austrian court. The 73-year-old building engineer had confessed earlier this week to raping his daughter Elisabeth, imprisoning and beating her, and committing incest. But he had denied murdering the baby, born as a twin in 1996, and the charge of enslavement.

"What made you change your mind so suddenly?" asked the judge, Andrea Hummer.

"The video testimony of my daughter Elisabeth," Fritzl replied in a gruff voice. "I accept my guilt in all the charges presented."

Yesterday the court had heard almost all of the 11 hours of pre-recorded testimony made by Elisabeth soon after her release last year from the dungeon where she was kept for a quarter of a century.

Elisabeth chronicled the abuse and humiliations that she suffered during those years: the rapes – about 3,000, by some calculations – the birth of seven children with nothing but a pair of rusty scissors to cut the umblical cord, the damp, the deliberate power cuts, and the hunger. Fritzl may have concluded that his daughter – whom, according to the court psychiatrist, Adelheid Kastner, he considered his one true friend – actually hated him.

It was not just the family in the cellar that feared him. Elisabeth's brother, four years her senior, also testified by video tape yesterday that even the relatively privileged children upstairs could not stand their father, who regularly beat them into silence.

Intriguingly, one newspaper, Kurier, claims that Elisabeth was in the courtroom during the showing of the video testimony. She reportedly sat silently at the back watching her father and then left through a side door. If this is true – a court spokesman would not confirm or deny the story – it may have tipped the balance for Fritzl, offering proof that he had lost his family.

Until this morning Fritzl's defence strategy seemed clear. He would contest the most serious charges, and if convicted on the lesser charge of rape could expect, with good behaviour, to be free in seven and a half years, sooner if time on remand was taken into consideration.
But that would make sense only if he had a family to return to after his release.

Since his arrest after the dungeon was discovered in April last year, Fritzl has been much concerned with his finances. He owns seven properties, including the "House of Horrors" in Amstetten, which at current values could fetch about € 2.4 million (£1.7 million).

If found guilty he will have to pay all the therapy and treatment costs for his family, the 24 years of lost earnings for his daughter and legal fees. That comes to more than € 3.5 million. He and his lawyer, Rudolf Mayer, had hoped that he could plug the gap by selling his life story, but there appear to be legal problems with this too.

So, last night, Mr Fritzl's world collapsed. An early release would project him into the world as a bankrupt pariah shunned by his family.

Better, he may have calculated, to cut his losses and hope that the court refers him to a psychiatric clinic for the rest of his days – a gentle retirement for an un-gentle man.

The court was therefore treated to the theatre of regret. Symbolically, Mr Fritzl no longer hid his face while entering the courtroom. He came ready to apologise for his deeds, hoping against hope that it would make a difference.

As Jurors Turn to Web, Mistrials Are Popping Up

New York Times

As Jurors Turn to Web, Mistrials Are Popping Up

JOHN SCHWARTZ
Last week, a juror in a big federal drug trial in Florida admitted to the judge that he had been doing research on the case on the Internet, directly violating the judge’s instructions and centuries of legal rules. But when the judge questioned the rest of the jury, he got an even bigger shock.

Eight other jurors had been doing the same thing. The federal judge, William J. Zloch, had no choice but to declare a mistrial, a waste of eight weeks of work by federal prosecutors and defense lawyers.

“We were stunned,” said a defense lawyer, Peter Raben, who was told by the jury that he had been on the verge of winning the case. “It’s the first time modern technology struck us in that fashion, and it hit us right over the head.”

It might be called a Google mistrial. The use of BlackBerrys and iPhones by jurors gathering and sending out information about cases is wreaking havoc on trials around the country, upending deliberations and infuriating judges.

Last week, a building products company asked an Arkansas court to overturn a $12.6 million judgment, claiming that a juror used Twitter to send updates during the civil trial.

And on Monday, defense lawyers in the federal corruption trial of a former Pennsylvania state senator, Vincent J. Fumo, demanded before the verdict that the judge declare a mistrial because a juror posted updates on the case on Twitter and Facebook. The juror had even told his readers that a “big announcement” was coming on Monday. But the judge decided to let the deliberations continue, and the jury found Mr. Fumo guilty. His lawyers plan to use the Internet postings as grounds for appeal.

Jurors are not supposed to seek information outside of the courtroom. They are required to reach a verdict based on only the facts the judge has decided are admissible, and they are not supposed to see evidence that has been excluded as prejudicial. But now, using their cellphones, they can look up the name of a defendant on the Web or examine an intersection using Google Maps, violating the legal system’s complex rules of evidence. They can also tell their friends what is happening in the jury room, though they are supposed to keep their opinions and deliberations secret.

A juror on a lunch or bathroom break can find out many details about a case. Wikipedia can help explain the technology underlying a patent claim or medical condition, Google Maps can show how long it might take to drive from Point A to Point B, and news sites can write about a criminal defendant, his lawyers or expert witnesses.

“It’s really impossible to control it,” said Douglas L. Keene, president of the American Society of Trial Consultants.

Judges have long amended their habitual warning about seeking outside information during trials to include Internet searches. But with the Internet now as close as a juror’s pocket, the risk has grown more immediate — and instinctual. Attorneys have begun to check the blogs and Web sites of prospective jurors.

Mr. Keene said jurors might think they were helping, not hurting, by digging deeper. “There are people who feel they can’t serve justice if they don’t find the answers to certain questions,” he said.

But the rules of evidence, developed over hundreds of years of jurisprudence, are there to ensure that the facts that go before a jury have been subjected to scrutiny and challenge from both sides, said Olin Guy Wellborn III, a law professor at the University of Texas.

“That’s the beauty of the adversary system,” said Professor Wellborn, co-author of a handbook on evidence law. “You lose all that when the jurors go out on their own.”

There appears to be no official tally of cases disrupted by Internet research, but with the increasing adoption of Web technology in cellphones, the numbers are sure to grow. Some courts are beginning to restrict the use of cellphones by jurors within the courthouse, even confiscating them during the day, but a majority do not, Mr. Keene said. And computer use at home, of course, is not restricted unless a jury is sequestered.

In the Florida case that resulted in a mistrial, Mr. Raben spent nearly eight weeks fighting charges that his client had illegally sold prescription drugs through Internet pharmacies. The arguments were completed and the jury was deliberating when one juror contacted the judge to say another had admitted to her that he had done outside research on the case over the Internet.

The judge questioned the juror about his research, which included evidence that the judge had specifically excluded. Mr. Raben recalls thinking that if the juror had not broadly communicated his information with the rest of the jury, the trial could continue and the eight weeks would not be wasted. “We can just kick this juror off and go,” he said.

But then the judge found that eight other jurors had done the same thing — conducting Google searches on the lawyers and the defendant, looking up news articles about the case, checking definitions on Wikipedia and searching for evidence that had been specifically excluded by the judge. One juror, asked by the judge about the research, said, “Well, I was curious,” according to Mr. Raben.

“It was a heartbreak,” Mr. Raben added.

Information flowing out of the jury box can be nearly as much trouble as the information flowing in; jurors accustomed to posting regular updates on their day-to-day experiences and thoughts can find themselves on a collision course with the law.

In the Arkansas case, Stoam Holdings, the company trying to overturn the $12.6 million judgment, said a juror, Johnathan Powell, had sent Twitter messages during the trial. Mr. Powell’s messages included “oh and nobody buy Stoam. Its bad mojo and they’ll probably cease to Exist, now that their wallet is 12m lighter” and “So Johnathan, what did you do today? Oh nothing really, I just gave away twelve million dollars of somebody else’s money.”

Mr. Powell, 29, the manager of a one-hour photo booth at a Wal-Mart in Fayetteville, Ark., insisted in an interview that he had not sent any substantive messages about the case until the verdict had been delivered and he was released from his obligation not to discuss the case. “I was done when I mentioned the trial at all,” he said. “They’re welcome to pull my phone records.”

But juror research is a more troublesome issue than sending Twitter messages or blogging, Mr. Keene said, and it raises new issues for judges in giving instructions.

“It’s important that they don’t know what’s excluded, and it’s important that they don’t know why it’s excluded,” Mr. Keene said. The court cannot even give a full explanation to jurors about research — say, to tell them what not to look for — so instructions are usually delivered as blanket admonitions, he said.

The technological landscape has changed so much that today’s judge, Mr. Keene said, “has to explain why this is crucial, and not just go through boilerplate instructions.” And, he said, enforcement goes beyond what the judge can do, pointing out that “it’s up to Juror 11 to make sure Juror 12 stays in line.”

It does not always work out that way. Seth A. McDowell, a data support specialist who lives in Albuquerque and works for a financial advising firm, said he was serving on a jury last year when another juror admitted running a Google search on the defendant, even though she acknowledged that she was not supposed to do so. She said she did not find anything, Mr. McDowell said.

Mr. McDowell, 35, said he thought about telling the judge, but decided against it. None of the other jurors did, either. Now, he said, after a bit of soul-searching, he feels he may have made the wrong choice. But he remains somewhat torn.

“I don’t know,” he said. “If everybody did the right thing, the trial, which took two days, would have gone on for another bazillion years.”

Mr. McDowell said he planned to attend law school in the fall.

Austrian monster pleads guilty

Perhaps a change of heart or, more likely, a realization as to the futility of the fight? Also there seems to be a hint of a deal -- that Fritzl will serve his sentence in a psychiatric ward rather than prison.

Fritzl pleads guilty to all charges

VERONIKA OLEKSYN Associated Press ST. POELTEN, Austria — In a stunning turn of events, an Austrian on trial for imprisoning his daughter for 24 years and fathering her seven children pleaded guilty Wednesday to all charges against him — including negligent homicide — after hearing his daughter's heart-wrenching testimony.

Saying he had a change of heart, Josef Fritzl calmly acknowledged his guilt on the third day of a trial that has drawn media attention from around the world for its shocking allegations.

"I declare myself guilty to the charges in the indictment," Mr. Fritzl, 73, told a panel of judges, referring at one point to what he called "my sick behaviour."
James Morton
1100 - 5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4

Harmonizing Retail Sales Tax and GST

There are ongoing rumours suggesting that Finance Minister Dwight Duncan may be announcing the harmonization of the Ontario Retail Sales Tax with the federal GST upon delivery of the Ontario budget on March 26, 2009.  While nothing is certain at this time, it is worthwhile to acknowledge the issues involved with a harmonized sales tax.

Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) combines both the federal Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the Provincial Sales Tax (PST) into one single, blended, sales tax. Harmonization can help governments to simplify sales tax collection. 

Nevertheless, the reality is that there are mixed feelings on the support of such initiatives in the province of Ontario.
The Federal government, think tanks, the media and industry groups have all been suggesting that Ontario harmonize.  If it is not announced in this budget, it is highly likely that Ontario will eventually harmonize.  Therefore, the following preparations should be considered today.
Contracts and transactions straddling the harmonization implementation date could result in additional costs for either the suppliers or the purchasers.  Such contracts should provide for the possibility of negotiation to ensure that all parties are fairly treated. 

While one would expect to have a transitional period, preparation is key.  Businesses will want to make sure that their long term agreements and system changes will stand the test of time so they are not left out of pocket or with any unpleasant surprises. 
James Morton
1100 - 5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4

Tories scold Canada's top UN diplomat

When you're right you're right.

The UN is notoriously anti-Israel (and bluntly anti-Semitic) and the Feds were right to question the actions of Canada's representative at the UN.

Now, that doesn't mean that the representative was technically wrong or was anti-Semitic. But the use of points of order to restrict speech at the UN is sad. (Of course the Soviets did it from the very beginning so nothing much here is new).

Tories scold Canada's top UN diplomat

The Conservative government said on Tuesday that Canada's top diplomat in Geneva was wrong to use his position as chairman of a United Nations debate to cut short a speaker criticizing Muslim-sourced anti-Semitic material

Steven Edwards, National Post

The Conservative government said on Tuesday that Canada's top diplomat in Geneva was wrong to use his position as chairman of a United Nations debate to cut short a speaker criticizing Muslim-sourced anti-Semitic material. The statement came after it emerged an official in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office had become involved in the probe into the March 6 action by Ambassador Marius Grinius in the UN Human Rights Council.

The escalation of the inquiry, which the office of Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon launched, indicates how seriously the government considered the matter. Mr. Grinius had prevented David Littman, an accredited UN non-governmental activist, from completing a statement calling for a "universal condemnation" of defamations of Judaism.

"It is our conclusion that Mr. Littman should not have been cut off by Ambassador Grinius," Catherine Loubier, spokeswoman for Mr. Cannon, said in response to questions from Canwest News Service. She noted Mr. Grinius acted on the advice of a UN procedural official - a point she made when first asked for comment in the days following the incident - and implied the ambassador had just been trying to do the right thing.

"Ambassador Grinius acted in good faith, on the advice of the UN Secretariat and in keeping with complex rules of procedure," Ms. Loubier said. "He did not show, or intend to show, any disrespect to the speaker."

The rare public rebuke reflects the friction that often exists between internationally based members of the bureaucracy, and governments dispensing policy that certain members of the international community don't always like. Indeed, the action taken by Mr. Grinius appeared ironic because Canada is frequently a minority voice in defence of fair and balanced debate in the 47-member Council, where Arab- and Muslim-led harangues against Israel are common, and speeches questioning Islamic-world practices routinely interrupted.

"Hopefully Canada's admission will serve as an example for NGOs to enjoy full freedom of expression and not be continually stopped on points of order mainly by the member states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference," Mr. Littman said in a telephone interview, referencing the 56-member grouping of Muslim countries.

No member states had registered an objection to Mr. Littman's speech, but monitoring groups such as UN Watch and Eye on the UN, both run by Canadians, say debate chairs may now be effectively conditioned to make such rulings to avert majority criticism. "I know and respect the Canadian diplomats in Geneva, and there was no malice here - just a case of getting bad advice from UN officials who are increasingly choosing to censor human rights groups rather than risk incurring the wrath of totalitarian regimes who fear the light of our scrutiny," said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch.

"Ottawa got it right."

The UN official in question is the secretary of the UN Human Rights Council, Eric Tistounet, who can be seen advising Mr. Grinius in the debate video, which Eye on the UN began posting over the weekend.

"The council is controlled by the OIC, meaning every country that takes the chair lives in fear of points of order interruptions and shutting down of the functioning of the system," said Anne Bayefsky, group founder. "This is one more example of the way the Human Rights Council acts in contradiction to the most fundamental values of human rights."

Mr. Littman was speaking March 6 on behalf of the Association for World Education and the World Union for Progressive Judaism when Mr. Grinius, serving as acting chairman that day, at first interrupted him, then passed to the next speaker before he had finished.

He said earlier on Tuesday he had received no reply from a letter he wrote to Mr. Grinius following the incident seeking a "specific response" to his concern the Canadian "censored" him. He also said he was now referring the matter to the official council chairman, Nigerian Ambassador Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibhi, in a bid to ensure Mr. Grinius's action does not serve as a precedent for future chairs to shut down debate.

"We don't understand why he didn't take the trouble to answer," Mr. Littman said. "We now want to repeat exactly the same statement because we were cut."
James Morton

Chrysler leaving?

Maybe this is true or maybe it's spin -- either way it's not good news. The problem is there is a vast oversupply of automobiles and there is not now nor is there likely to be any time soon a need for the full levels of production possible; so some plants somewhere have to close.

Chrysler already working behind the scenes to pull out of Canada: sources


TORONTO — Sources familiar with Chrysler's plans say the automaker has already begun work behind the scenes to pull its operations out of Canada if it can't reach an agreement with the Canadian Auto Workers by the end of the month.

Chrysler Canada has said it needs to cut its labour costs by approximately $20 an hour to be competitive with foreign automakers such as Toyota.

Currently, the company estimates its all-in hourly labour costs - which include wages, benefits and legacy costs such as pensions - to be approximately $76. To be competitive with Toyota plants operating in Canada, it says it needs to reduce those costs to $57 an hour.

Canadian factoid

The longest-running Saint Patrick's Day parade in the world occurs each year in Montreal, Quebec. The parades have been held in continuity since 1824; however, St. Patrick's Day itself has been celebrated in Montreal as far back as 1759 by Irish soldiers in the Montreal Garrison following the British conquest of New France.

At the right St. Patrick's Day in Montreal

Happy Tuesday

Science minister won't confirm belief in evolution

In fairness to the Minister this may well be a case of the media looking for something that isn't there. Put otherwise, if, in the context of the interview, the question was not relevant it made perfect sense for the Minister to say "hey, what's that go to do with anything?" On the other hand, to draw the connection between belief in G-d and evolution is a bit concerning. After all, one can be a believer and still accept evolution.

Back in 2007 Pope Benedict XVI said the debate between creationism and evolution was an “absurdity,” and that evolution can coexist with faith. He said, “This clash is an absurdity because on one hand there is much scientific proof in favor of evolution, which appears as a reality that we must see and which enriches our understanding of life and being as such.”

Science minister won't confirm belief in evolution
Researchers aghast that key figure in funding controversy invokes religion in science discussion ANNE MCILROY

From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

March 17, 2009 at 2:00 AM EDT

Canada's science minister, the man at the centre of the controversy over federal funding cuts to researchers, won't say if he believes in evolution.

“I'm not going to answer that question. I am a Christian, and I don't think anybody asking a question about my religion is appropriate,” Gary Goodyear, the federal Minister of State for Science and Technology, said in an interview with The Globe and Mail.

A funding crunch, exacerbated by cuts in the January budget, has left many senior researchers across the county scrambling to find the money to continue their experiments.

Some have expressed concern that Mr. Goodyear, a chiropractor from Cambridge, Ont., is suspicious of science, perhaps because he is a creationist.

When asked about those rumours, Mr. Goodyear said such conversations are not worth having.

“Obviously, I have a background that supports the fact I have read the science on muscle physiology and neural chemistry,” said the minister, who took chemistry and physics courses as an undergraduate at the University of Waterloo.

“I do believe that just because you can't see it under a microscope doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It could mean we don't have a powerful enough microscope yet. So I'm not fussy on this business that we already know everything. … I think we need to recognize that we don't know.”

Asked to clarify if he was talking about the role of a creator, Mr. Goodyear said that the interview was getting off topic.

Brian Alters, founder and director of the Evolution Education Research Centre at McGill University in Montreal, was shocked by the minister's comments.

Evolution is a scientific fact, Dr. Alters said, and the foundation of modern biology, genetics and paleontology. It is taught at universities and accepted by many of the world's major religions, he said.

Hamilton workers protesting the closing of the Stelco mills

I still find it hard to imagine Hamilton without the Stelco mills. Growing up in Hamilton the steel mills were a constant and an absolute. I suppose times change but it is sad... (Thanks to my brother for the photograph)

I don't like Mondays

Hudniuk overruled

Hudniuk v. Warkentin, 2003 BCSC 62 has long been applied in British Columbia to mean that, in a personal injury case, a determination of tax on the amount of gross income loss must be made as if the past income had all been earned on the first day of trial. Such a ruling caused curious, and untoward, tax implications.

The very recent decision in Lines v. W & D Logging Co. Ltd.,2009 BCCA 106 reinterprets Hudniuk and, in effect, overrules the customary interpretation.

Lines is summarized below:

This appeal concerns the quantum of damages awarded to the respondent for injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident that resulted in traumatic brain injury. Liability was admitted and the respondent was awarded substantial damages. The appellants argue that the damages awarded are inordinately high and should reflect moderating contingencies, that future awards should be paid periodically, and that the awards for management and committee fees and tax gross-up are excessive. The respondent cross appeals the application of the “net income” provision of the relevant legislation for past income loss. Appeal dismissed in part and cross appeal allowed. With respect to the appeal, the trial judge’s reasons adequately reflect the breadth of the medical evidence before the court and the evidence does not raise the possibility of improvement in the respondent’s condition beyond the merely hypothetical. However, the trial judge erred in treating future events as certain and should have applied a negative contingency in his assessment of past and future pecuniary losses. The trial judge was correct in declining to order a structured judgment for the respondent’s cost of future care after finding that the structures proposed were not in the respondent’s best interests. The issue of whether a structured judgement for lost future earnings is in the respondent’s best interests is remitted to the trial court for reconsideration in light of the tax implications. The trial judge erred in awarding committee fees and management fees together in excess of the amount that would be charged by the Public Guardian and Trustee in the absence of evidence of the market value of such services. With respect to the cross appeal, the trial judge erred in his application of the “net income” provision for past income loss; notional income tax should be assessed on an annual basis.

Sleepy day

Household worth down ...

I know my RRSP's are down waaaay more than this!

OTTAWA - Tumbling stock markets stripped a record 4.4 per cent, or $252 billion, from the net worth of Canadian households in the fourth quarter of 2008, Statistics Canada said Monday.

Per capita household worth fell from $179,300 in the second quarter of 2008 to $165,300 in the fourth quarter - a drop of $14,000, the federal agency said.

``The turmoil on equity markets significantly reduced the value of shareholdings as well as that of pension and life insurance assets of households,'' it said.

``The decline in households' assets was partially offset by the increase in non-financial assets, specifically residential structures.''

By comparison, Statistics Canada said household net worth in the United States fell nine per cent in the fourth quarter - the sixth consecutive quarterly decline.

Old books, computers and lost knowledge

Much knowledge will be lost if we don't computerize old books.

I had a legal issue and went 'on-line'. I found nothing. Most cases are searchable on-line from say 1977 forward.

So I went to the main law library and went through the books. I found three cases on point, one as recent as 1946.

But for the search I'd never have known the matter was decided.

James Morton

Religion in Rome

Here's an interesting factoid that suggests how much real attention was paid to religious festivals in Roman times.

There are between 900 and 1000 surviving letters of Cicero. None suggests he ever celebrated any religious festival at all.
James Morton

New video of Flocke

Very cool video from Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maMxwaZJe6c

Obama doing too much? I think not!

Interesting post in the Post urging Obama to do less. It make some superficial sense but then think of FDR's hundred days -- Obama has an opportunity to make sensible revisions to major programs but that opportunity won't last long. He's wise to act while he still can.

Kelly McParland: Too many balls for Washington's juggler-in-chief
NP Editor, National Post

Saturday, Mar 14, 2009

While Canada's opposition parties launch daily fusillades at the Conservative government for failing to move quickly enough to reverse the recession, President Barack Obama is under fire on the opposite front. Mr. Obama -- who after two solid years of campaigning and two months of governing shows no hint of flagging -- is being told to slow down and focus on one crisis at a time: Specifically, on the economy.

It's a critical concern. By political standards, Mr. Obama has moved extraordinarily quickly to push his mammoth stimulus package through the U.S. Congress. Yet he still found time to craft a budget, order the closure of the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, organize the departure of U.S. troops from Iraq and boost the U.S. mission in Afghanistan, begin the process of reforming health care, set the stage for a cap and trade system on greenhouse gas emissions, visit Canada, entertain the Prime Minister of Great Britain, continue efforts to save the auto industry, revamp policy on stem cells, outline plans for educational reform and keep an eye on legislation easing recruiting rules for labour unions.

It's too much. Mr. Obama has far too many balls in the air, and the result could well be that they all come crashing down."It's crazy. People need a clear message," Jack Welch, the former chief executive at General Electric, complained this week.

"This guy is locked in another world and he's throwing all these initiatives into this game in the middle of a crisis. Focus on the economy! It's the economy. It's getting the banks going. It's a clear message to everybody, "All hands on deck. We have a crisis. Let's deal with this."Mr. Welch was just one of several captains of industry delivering similar advice.

Warren Buffett, the billionaire Omaha investor who is an Obama supporter and adviser, started it off when he told CNBC Mr. Obama has been confusing Americans with his simultaneous campaigns on competing fronts. He was followed by Andrew Grove, a co-founder of Intel Corp., who urged the President to "rein in the chaos."

"Our health-care system may well be ripe for a major overhaul, as are our energy and environmental policies," Mr. Grove wrote in the Washington Post. "Widespread recognition that all of these reforms are overdue contributed to Barack Obama's victory in November. But if the chaos that resulted from initiating such an overhaul were piled on top of the unresolved status of the financial system, society and government would become exhausted."

Mr. Obama made many promises during his run for the White House, and clearly feels the weight of expectation on him to deliver. His message of "change" dealt not only with economic issues, but an ambitious overhaul of social programs as well. Despite his comfortable margin of victory, and Democratic control of both houses of Congress, his window of opportunity is not infinite: Republicans have already begun to regroup, and his sway over the fractious Democrats in Congress is limited.

Thus the push to get as much done as quickly as possible. As Hillary Clinton, now Mr. Obama's secretary of state, quipped: "Never waste a good crisis."

But without a stable economy, much of the rest of Mr. Obama's agenda becomes redundant. Efforts to introduce universal health care or impose new costs on emissions will go nowhere while banks are failing, credit is frozen and people are too frightened to make the purchases necessary to lubricate the economy. The good news is that this message may be getting through. In an address Friday, Lawrence Summers, director of the National Economic Council, said economic recovery is the administration's "single most important priority."

"Without robust and sustained economic expansion, we will not achieve any other national goal. We will not be able to project strength globally or reduce poverty locally. We will not be able to expand access to higher education or affordable health care. We will not be able to raise incomes for middle class families or create opportunities for new small businesses to thrive."

That is the sort of clear, unequivocal message Americans -- and countries like Canada that benefit from American economic wellbeing -- have waited to hear. One has to hope Mr. Obama can bring himself to temporarily sideline some other priorities until much more progress has been made on this most crucial of fronts.
James Morton

Refreshing Sunday dip ...