Summit costs hit Canada Conservative backing: poll

Yes the Conservatives are down but we are down more -- at this rate we'll have a Bloc majority government ... .

OTTAWA, June 7 (Reuters) - Public support for Canada's ruling Conservatives is dropping amid controversy over how much a pair of big international summits will cost, and the party might not win a viable minority government if an election were held now, according to a poll released on Monday.

The Nanos Research survey put backing for the Conservatives at 35.6 percent, down from 37.2 percent in a poll done by the same firm a month ago. The main opposition Liberal Party was at 29.2 percent, down from 33.2 percent.

Under Canada's electoral system, a party needs at least 40 percent public support to capture a majority of the 308 seats in the House of Commons, and around 36 percent to win a workable minority.

Pollster Nik Nanos said the dip in Conservative support followed increasingly sharp questions about why the government planned to spend C$1 billion ($945 million) on security for the summits of the Group of Eight and Group of 20 nations.

The G8 summit will take place in Huntsville, Ontario, from June 25 to 26 and the G20 will be held in Toronto June 26 and 27. The government says the security costs are reasonable.

Nanos noted that Conservative backing was down in the party's Western Canadian heartland.

"I think a lot of that is likely negative blowback from the billion dollar G8/G20 summits. The Conservative core can't be happy when they see something like this happening," he told Reuters in an interview.

"For average Canadians, this seems like a fundamental disconnect," he said.

Government ministers were grilled -- and on occasion openly laughed at -- by opposition members in the House of Commons on Monday after it emerged that Ottawa would spend C$1.9 million on a fake lake at the summit media center in Toronto.

Always read the fine print

A retailer revealed that it owns the souls of thousands of online shoppers, thanks to a clause in the terms and conditions agreed to by online shoppers.

The retailer, British firm GameStation, added the "immortal soul clause" to the contract signed before making any online purchases earlier this month. It states that customers grant the company the right to claim their soul.

"By placing an order via this Web site on the first day of the fourth month of the year 2010 Anno Domini, you agree to grant Us a non transferable option to claim, for now and for ever more, your immortal soul. Should We wish to exercise this option, you agree to surrender your immortal soul, and any claim you may have on it, within 5 (five) working days of receiving written notification from gamesation.co.uk or one of its duly authorised minions."

GameStation's form also points out that "we reserve the right to serve such notice in 6 (six) foot high letters of fire, however we can accept no liability for any loss or damage caused by such an act. If you a) do not believe you have an immortal soul, b) have already given it to another party, or c) do not wish to grant Us such a license, please click the link below to nullify this sub-clause and proceed with your transaction."
... 

While all shoppers during the test were given a simple tick box option to opt out, very few did this, which would have also rewarded them with a £5 voucher... .

The company noted that it would not be enforcing the ownership rights, and planned to e-mail customers nullifying any claim on their soul.

http://bit.ly/bOtkSo

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

Anton Chekhov

Fake lake

In many ways it’s a small thing but as a symbol this fake lake is rather deep:

OTTAWA – A fake $2-million indoor lake by the Gardiner Expressway is the latest example of the Conservative government’s summit spending spree that some say could hit $2 billion by the time world leaders fly out of Toronto on June 27.

Dogged by the worst deficit in Canadian history, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his government are throwing money around that it doesn’t have on summits in Huntsville and Toronto that are ironically devoted to coming to grips with huge government debt.

 

Two bears

Hypothetical matters not for judicial determination

NorthWest Value Partners Inc. v. Bell, 2010 ONCA 409 deals with technical issues regarding the termination of trustees – in so doing the Court of Appeal made a useful statement that the Court will not rule on hypothetical matters:

 

 

It is not the role of this court to determine questions that may or may not arise at an impending trial, depending on the findings of fact that will be made.

Bhopal sentences

Some years ago I represented a man charged with sexual assault.  I concluded he, genuinely, had not committed the acts he was charged with.  The case was weak at best.  Well, the Judge convicted but held off sentencing.  When the sentence came down my client received no jail – basically he was convicted and told to not do it again.  That struck me as a terrible sentence – it insulted the victim (because it suggested her complaint was well founded but not very serious) and it said to the accused “you did it but we’re not going to punish you for it”.  My suspicion is the judge convicted and then had second thoughts – I wonder if here the court convicted but thought the accused weren’t “really” guilty – after all, two years for negligence killing 25, 000?

 

 

 

http://tinyurl.com/28n389f

 

 

 

Campaign groups representing survivors of the Bhopal disaster expressed outrage today at the "insulting" sentences given to seven men for their roles in the tragedy.

 

The accused, several of them now in their 70s, were convicted of criminal negligence and sentenced to two years in prison but bailed pending an appeal.

 

The convictions are the only ones so far in a case that was opened the day after the tragedy, which happened 26 years ago.

 

Up to 25,000 people are thought to have died after being exposed to clouds of lethal gas that escaped from a chemical plant run by the US company Union Carbide on 2 and 3 December 1984

 

Is "Exile" legal as a sentencing term?

Yes -- but only rarely.

It is proper, as a term of probation, for a judge to order, for example, that the convicted accused stay of Pembroke. Such a term is only rarely to be imposed; for example were a convicted accused has committed a string of crimes in a small geographic area.

A fall federal election?

http://bit.ly/bckJ2u

D Day, June 6, 1944

An extraordinary Prayer for D Day. Perhaps one day it can be met -- but it looks a long way off this June 6, 2010... .

FDR's prayer:

My fellow Americans: Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest -- until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, thy heroic servants, into thy kingdom.

And for us at home -- fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas -- whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them -- help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too -- strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons where so ever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment, let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances'. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace, a peace invulnerable to the scheming of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen.

Fall seven times; stand up eight ~ Japanese proverb

Jury justice?

This piece from the New York Times is especially relevant in Ontario where questionable jury vetting by the Crown is admitted to have occurred for years:

In 1986, when the Supreme Court reached a landmark decision forbidding prosecutors from routinely excluding blacks from juries without a good explanation, Justice Thurgood Marshall warned it would not end racial exclusions. Some prosecutors, he wrote in a concurring opinion, would simply invent phony reasons.

The grim truth in Justice Marshall's prediction is illuminated in a new study by the Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit legal advocacy group. It shows how pervasive racial exclusions remain, particularly in the South.

Prosecutors routinely use peremptory challenges to remove blacks from juries, aware that all-white juries are statistically far more likely to impose the death penalty. In Jefferson Parish, La., the study says, blacks were removed from juries three times as often as whites. In Houston County, Ala., nearly 80 percent of blacks who qualified for jury service have been struck from capital cases by prosecutors.

The court's 1986 Batson v. Kentucky decision requires prosecutors to explain peremptory challenges, if defendants can show a pattern of racial exclusions. As Justice Marshall predicted, prosecutors have had no trouble coming up with an increasingly absurd list.

One Alabama prosecutor, who removed 11 of 14 blacks from the jury pool in a capital murder case, said one was "arrogant," and another was not "sophisticated." Prosecutors also routinely remove blacks for supposedly exhibiting "low intelligence" or because they live in high-crime neighborhoods. Remarkably, appellate courts rarely overturn verdicts by all-white juries, even when evidence of racial discrimination is obvious.

Justice Marshall's proposed remedy for the problem was eliminating all peremptory challenges. But that could pose its own problems for defendants who may have jurors they want to exclude. There are other ways to achieve justice. Prosecutors with a clear pattern of racial exclusions now face no penalty other than reversal. State authorities or bar associations need to more closely monitor jury selections and fine or disbar prosecutors with clear records of discrimination.

Leamington

A state of emergency has been declared in the southern Ontario town of Leamington after what was suspected to have been a tornado swept through the community Sunday morning, knocking over trees, downing power lines and destroying homes.

Ignatieff open to coalition if necessary, nixes Liberal-NDP merger

This is a sensible position. After an election a coalition, formal or informal, is prudent -- the NDP could be a partner as could other parties or independents:

http://bit.ly/aM1UPQ

Joan Bryden
Published: June 6, 2010


OTTAWA - Michael Ignatieff says coalition governments are "perfectly legitimate" and he'd be prepared to lead one if that's the hand Canadian voters deal him in the next election.

But the Liberal leader says it would be disrespectful to voters and damaging to his party to try to strike any deals with the NDP before voters have spoken.

In an exclusive interview with The Canadian Press, Ignatieff dismissed talk of a merger or any sort of election non-compete agreement with the NDP as "absurd."

Pressure has been mounting on Ignatieff in recent weeks to embrace some sort of co-operative arrangement with the NDP, a notion fuelled by tepid poll numbers for the Liberals and the example of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government installed last month in Britain.

Cuba - the way forward

It's easy to forget the sunny holiday destination is also a nasty police state:

http://bit.ly/amyfDA

"A year ago Human Rights Watch set out to answer these questions. We knew it wouldn't be easy. The Cuban government welcomes tourists to the island, but has for years denied access to international rights monitors. Foreign journalists are followed around by undercover agents: their e-mails are monitored and their phones tapped. Those who publish in-depth stories on controversial issues face expulsion. "

The sky is falling the sky is falling

If you believe some media reports the Liberal Party is about to disappear.

Odd that, especially as we are the Official Opposition and have a broad based membership across the Country. The Canada @ 150 meetings are continuing through the summer -- Ontario in the next couple of weeks. We'll have a fully costed policy platform for the fall in plenty of time for the next plausible election date.

The Liberal Party isn't going away any time soon.

So why the media uproar? Well, Canadian news is a bit slow (I wish I could say that for international news). And it's hard to be the opposition in a minority -- compromise is a continuing necessity -- and choosing the "hill to die on" is a dispiriting thing.

But the fact is and remains the Liberal Party is the viable alternative to the CPC and we reflect the broad middle that is Canada -- from blue to red Liberals.

I'm satisfied

Helen Thomas issued the following statement today:

"I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians. They do not reflect my heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon."

I'm satisfied. Who among us hasn't innocently stumbled into a statement of support for ethnic cleansing when we didn't really mean it? I mean, really!!!

Helen Thomas: Go home to Europe, Jews -- did she really say this? Is there a credible source?

A few years ago a major Canadian paper ran a story saying Jews in Iran would henceforth have to wear a Star of David in public. I remember urging caution on someone who wanted to do a major press release -- the story felt wrong.

It was wrong.

The claims made about what Helen Thomas is supposed to have said seem bizarre for a long-time journalist -- even if she is well known to dislike Israel.

I will believe this story when I have confirmation -- for now I merely note that if Jews are "home" in Europe then presumably they are not "home" in America or Canada or Australia or India or Africa or Iran.

Bears

Man killed daughter-in-law to avoid family disgrace

There is already some on-line chatter about the Crown taking a plea to second degree. I have dealt with the Crown in this case and he is very fair but very tough.

And he doesn't shy away from a trial -- quite the reverse.

If Steve Sherriff agreed to a plea to a lesser offence that's because the lesser offence was appropriate. No question.


Toronto Star
Bob Mitchell      
Staff Reporter     

A Mississauga man has admitted he murdered his daughter-in-law to uphold his family honour.

Kamikar Singh Dhillon, 48, confessed in court Friday to stabbing Amandeep Kaur Dhillon, 22, multiple times on Jan. 1, 2009 because he believed she was having an affair with another man and was about to leave her husband.

The father-in-law was given a life sentence after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in her death.

She was stabbed multiple times about her head and upper body, including a wound on her face and a slash across her throat.

"I'm just sorry," he told the court through a Punjabi interpreter. "I'm guilty."

Justice Bruce Durno will impose his parole ineligibility of between 10 to 25 years on June 9.

Dhillon admitted he murdered his daughter-in-law because he believed she was about to leave her husband, the convicted man's son, for another man the next day, Crown prosecutor Steve Sherriff said in an agreed statement read into court.

"He maintained throughout all of his interviews that her pending separation from her husband would disgrace the family name, which justified his killing her," Sherriff said.

Humanities are important not because they lead to something, even something as important as educated and engaged citizens - humanities are not a tool but an end. Humanities are valuable in and of themselves: l'art pour l'art.

Hudak on HST

The truth is the HST makes good sense. To have two different systems of sales tax based on different criteria really makes no sense. While the HST will broaden the scope of what is subject to tax the overall burden should be unaffected and costs reduced.

All that said, the PC's were on to a good thing complaining about the HST -- the trouble is they obviously realize they might win an election (I hope they don't but clearly they could) and then they'd be stuck with a commitment to repeal a tax they would not fulfil.

But if they weren't going to go the distance why did they start?

http://bit.ly/95aiJq

Elements of Contract

First year law students are usually taught there are three elements required for a valid contract:

Offer
Acceptance
Consideration.

Now the "Acceptance" implies an acknowledgement that the parties are entering into binding legal relations. That said, it is common to see "intention to enter legally binding relations" as being considered an element of a valid contract.

Hence today's decision in Salman v. 1152030 Ontario Inc., 2010 ONCA 401speaks of pre contractual discussions as being admissible into evidence to determine the parties' intentions:

[5]              The evidence of the parties' discussions concerning the import of the offer to lease was admissible with respect to the issue whether the parties intended to enter into a binding agreement upon signing the offer or whether the offer was considered part of the negotiations for the formal binding lease to be signed in the future. Without endorsing the trial judge's comments regarding the basis for the admission of the parol evidence, we conclude that he was entitled to rely upon this evidence in reaching his findings of fact about the factual matrix underlying the negotiation of the offer to lease: see Dunn v. Chubb Insurance Co. of Canada (2009), 97 O.R. (3d) 701 (C.A.), at paras. 33, 34 (footnote 4). 

No losers in a coalition

As a legal matter, or even a constitutional convention matter, there is no reason why parties who did not achieve a plurality of seats in the Commons ought not to form a coalition to forma a government. The Prime Minister's suggestion to the contrary is, at best, a reflection of his view such coalitions are imprudent. Indeed, although it is history now, Stephen Harper once considered a coalition of "losers" (to use his term) so as to displace a Liberal Government.

Put otherwise, MPs are elected on a riding basis and if they group together in any fashion to form a stable government then that is the government.

Now, just because something is legal does not mean it is sensible. On can argue that the Liberal Party and the NDP are both on the left and a coalition makes sense -- unite the Left as the Right was united. The trouble is that the Liberal Party straddles the Right and Left -- put otherwise, on some issues the Liberal Party is actually quite conservative. United the NDP and the Lberal Party would have to give up some specific policy positions and I just can't see that happening without a major leakage from both parties. I respect the NDP and support some of its policies -- but some I just could not live with and that's why I am a Liberal and not NDP.

That said, the concern I raise here is operational and not legal.

Scott Reid on coalitions

http://tinyurl.com/27w6qfw

I agree that after an election discussions of a coalition are sensible and perhaps a coalition with the NDP could work (but one could imagine an ad hoc coalition with any Party -- in effect that's how all minority governments work).

A coalition before an election just doesn't make sense.

Seat projections -- from the Globe

“A new poll by EKOS Research - a “classic feel bad” poll for the two main political parties, according to EKOS’s Frank Graves - has the Tories losing 21 seats if an election were held today.

 

Mr. Graves’ seat projections are based on his recent poll that has the Harper Conservatives falling to 31.7 per cent nationally after enjoying a 10 point lead for several weeks over the Liberals; the Ignatieff Liberals are still stuck - no matter what they do or say - at 26.2 per cent.

 

Currently, the Tories have 144 of 308 seats in the House of Commons; the Liberals have 77. Under Mr. Graves’ projections, however, the Liberals would gain nine more seats for 86 - so not bad for them but still not the 98 to 100 seats that some Liberals are saying Michael Ignatieff needs to win in the next election to hold on to his leadership.

 

The EKOS projections shows the NDP going from 36 to 42; the Bloc would increase their hold on Quebec, winning 56 seats compared to the 48 they have now. There are 75 seats in Quebec.

 

Under Mr. Graves’ scenario the Green Party would win no seats.

 

The Tories appear to be suffering the most in Quebec; Mr. Graves has them winning only five seats compared to the 11 they hold now.

 

In vote-rich Ontario, the two leading parties are virtually tied with the Tories winning 45 seats compared to 44 for the Liberals. Right now the Conservatives have 50 seats and the Liberals have 38.

 

This most recent EKOS poll shows no one even approaching majority territory; the Tories are still hovering around the 32 to 33 mark, which is far short of a majority.”

 

Canadian Art at University Club Toronto

Hazing and the law: Experts weigh in

http://tinyurl.com/29jtveg

The Mississauga duct-taping scandal has raised questions about what is and isn't acceptable conduct in the workplace. We asked two labour lawyers — Lang Michener's George Waggott, representing employers, and Risa Pancer, of the Canadian Union of Public Employees — and a couple of criminal law experts, criminal lawyer Eddie Greenspan and Osgoode Hall Law School professor James Morton, to weigh in.

Eat your greens

Review board grants Vince Li supervised time outdoors

This story isn't as dramatic as the media implies -- Li is being allowed outside but not off the grounds of the institution that is holding him -- he is just being allowed outside in the courtyard of the insitution.

http://tinyurl.com/2f6harb

A provincial review board has decided that Vince Li can be given supervised time outdoors.

Li was found not criminally responsible for beheading bus passenger Tim McLean in 2008 on a Greyhound bus. Li has been housed inside the Selkirk Mental Health Centre since the court's ruling last year.

In the review board's decision released Thursday, it said it took into consideration evidence from Li's treatment staff along with victim impact statements and consideration of the public's safety.

At a hearing on Monday, doctors treating Li asked the review board to allow him access to supervised outings to an outside courtyard to give him access to fresh air for 15 minutes every day.

Ekos poll numbers -- all Parties

¤ 31.7% CPC
¤ 26.2% LPC
¤ 17.4% NDP
¤ 11.5% Green
¤ 10.3% BQ
¤ 2.9% other

Catholic Bishop Stabbed to Death in Turkey

ROME — A Roman Catholic bishop was stabbed to death in eastern Turkey on Thursday, a day before he had planned to travel to Cyprus for the visit of Pope Benedict XVI.

 

New poll

Public backing for Canada's governing Conservatives has slipped, leaving the party short of the votes needed to win an election if one were held now, according to a poll released on Thursday.

The weekly Ekos survey put support for the Conservatives at 31.7%, down from 33.9% last week. Support for the Liberals, the biggest opposition party, dropped to 26.2% from 27.1%.

Tweets from politicians

Political twitter is usually boring.

That's because most politicians seem to use twitter to tell the world things like "Having breakfast with the Swedish-Canadian Patriots League. A fine group".

Now such tweets are fine but only in small doses and when put together with some stuff that has substance.

After all, who (other than CSIS and stalkers) really cares that politician X was at this or that location at this or that time.

Some politicians do a better job: Rocco Rossi springs to mind. Following them makes sense because the tweets actually say something.

New trust account scam -- beware!

1. Lawyer receives large unexpected deposit to trust account.

2. Someone phones lawyer. Says it was a mistake. Requests refund.

3. Lawyer sends refund.

GOTCHA!

4. Unscrupulous scammer then revokes original deposit.

Watch out for this one. Some deposits can be revoked, apparently. Even wires.

Copyright reform

New Canadian copyright legislation introduced yesterday intends to legitimize the recording of TV shows and the uploading of music, while protecting the creative works that Canadians produce.

The proposed law makes breaking a digital lock illegal, but protects consumers who record TV for later viewing, or those who copy music from a CD to their portable media device. Penalties for illegal downloading of music files remain, but have been reduced for "all infringements".
"Today Canadians buy music, go to exhibitions and do a lot of things online. They use different formats and new technologies. Unfortunately, our laws have not kept pace," commented Heritage Minister James Moore.

"The last time that the copyright act was modernized we were still talking about video cassettes... (But) times have changed and the time has come to change our legislation as well," he said.

Draft legislation here: http://tinyurl.com/2azubb6

Squirrels adopt strays, Canadian study finds

Squirrels will raise orphan pups, something once considered impossible for such fiercely territorial creatures, according to a new study by a team of Canadian researchers.

Andrew McAdam, a biology professor at the University of Guelph, and four other scientists said they found that female red squirrels will take in stray animals of the same species to raise as their own. The situation is rare but does happen, the researchers noted in a paper published in the latest edition of the journal Nature Communications.

Read more:

http://tinyurl.com/2vymt3w

An Irish law from 697 forbids women to be soldiers -- which means they had been soldiers previously

Duty to defend

Today's decision in Goodman v. AIG Commercial Insurance Company of Canada, 2010 ONCA 391 is a good source for the distinction between the duty to defend as opposed to the duty to indemnify.

This situation often arises in legal professional negligence claims where fraud is alleged -- if there is a related negligence claim the Insurer must defend but if fraud is found the Insurer is not obliged to pay the judgment. Obviously this is significant for the Insured but also for the Claimant because most Insureds have limited resources and may be judgment proof. Accordingly, in cases where there is an Insurer it may not be prudent to purse a claim in fraud or other intentional tort.

The Court writes:

[15] The duty to defend is separate from the duty to indemnify: see Nicholls v. American Home, [1990] 1 S.C.R. 801. While a duty to defend will arise where a claim is made that may possibly fall within cover, indemnity is only required when a claim is proved to fall within cover. They are separate and distinct aspects of coverage and are dealt with separately in the Lloyd's policy. It is undisputed that the AIG policy does not provide a duty to defend.

Flocke and Raspi

NY law permits judges to order treatment for seriously mentally ill people who have records of failing to take medication, and who have consequently been rehospitalized or jailed or have exhibited violent behaviour

Such laws make sense -- yes the do violate personal liberty but they are the lesser of two evils

‪ ‬‪http://tinyurl.com/32s5te7

‬‪Make Kendra's Law Permanent‬‪
By E. FULLER TORREY‬‪ ‬‪

ELEVEN years ago, when the New York Legislature passed Kendra's Law, few could have foretold what a resounding success it would be.

At the time lawmakers were searching for a useful response to the tragic death of 32-year-old Kendra Webdale, who was pushed in front of a subway train in Manhattan by a stranger who had untreated schizophrenia.

The law, initially intended for a trial period of five years, .In 2005, Kendra's Law was extended for another five years. In all, more than 8,000 people have been treated under its provisions, and the results have been striking. A 2005 study of more than 2,700 people to whom the law was applied found that, after treatment, the rate of homelessness in the population fell by 74 percent, the number who needed to be rehospitalized dropped by 77 percent and the number arrested fell by 83 percent. And a study published this year found that people receiving treatment under Kendra's Law were only one-fourth as likely to commit violent acts, had a reduced risk of suicide and were functioning better socially than members of a control group.‬ ‪ ‬

What is piracy?

Whatever can be said about the legality of the raid off Gaza, it was not, as a legal matter, piracy.

Let's go to the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, Article 101:

"Piracy consists of any of the following acts:

(a) any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed:

(i) on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft;

(ii) against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State;

(b) any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft"

The section is carefully designed to exclude acts by nation-states or politically motivated violence.

The whole concept of prison should be terminated, except for violent criminals and chronic non-violent recidivists...

I appreciate Conrad Black speaks from a position that is inevitably slanted. But he's right:

The whole concept of prison should be terminated, except for violent criminals and chronic non-violent recidivists, and replaced by closely supervised pro bono or subsistence-paid work by bonded convicts in the fields of their specialty. Swindlers and embezzlers, hackers and sleazy telemarketers are capable people and they should serve their sentences by contributing honest work to government-insured employers.

Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=3086246#ixzz0pcU2Ztko

US Supreme Court Miranda Ruling: Suspects Must Explicitly Tell Police They Want To Remain Silent

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that suspects must explicitly tell police they want to be silent to invoke Miranda protections during criminal interrogations, a decision one dissenting justice said turns defendants' rights "upside down."

A right to remain silent and a right to a lawyer are the first of the Miranda rights warnings, which police recite to suspects during arrests and interrogations. But the justices said in a 5-4 decision that suspects must tell police they are going to remain silent to stop an interrogation, just as they must tell police that they want a lawyer.

Trial judge proper person to decide admissibility of evidence

Harrop v. Harrop, 2010 ONCA 390, released today, affirms a Divisional Court decision that the trial judge ought to determine what is, or is not, proper evidence for trial. The case is limited to expert evidence but presumably has relevance for all types of evidence -- for example, whether a witness properly summoned, has relevant and material evidence to give.

The Court holds:

[1] The issue in this case is whether a motion judge can decide on the admissibility of proposed expert evidence.

[2] In our view, the policy considerations relevant to this issue all point to the trial judge determining this question. It avoids the risk of a multiplicity of proceedings in any given case. It ensures a full context in which the decision can be made. It avoids the risk of preliminary steps being taken for purely tactical reasons. And it avoids creating different appeal rights depending on whether the decision is made by a motion judge as an interlocutory order or the trial judge.

[3] Thus, even if a motion judge has such jurisdiction, it should be exercised only in the rarest of cases. Nothing has been shown to us to put this case in that category.

Breakfast time!

Eat lots of fiber!