My favourite news story for today

[Toedancer]

OTTAWA -- The NDP has asked the federal elections commissioner to investigate whether Liberal leadership hopeful Joe Volpe deliberately circumvented the law banning corporate political donations.

MP Pat Martin filed a complaint with commissioner Raymond Landry on Monday, following a weekend report that Volpe received $54,000 in separate donations from the top two executives at generic drug manufacturer Apotex Inc., their wives and six children.

http://tinyurl.com/mhl4m

This is going to be bitter.

[skdadl]

Yes, that was an eyebrows-up, wasn't it?

The more people see exposed of this culture of entitlement, the better. These people have spent their lives believing that this is business as usual, and they have the special right to play these games.

[Toedancer]

Okay, so the pressure built and Volpe gave the money back to the kids.
Holy shite, how does a kid ever have $5400 each to give to a boring, somewhat corrupt politician like Volpe? Seems to me the parents need a slap upside the head. Do really rich, upper class kids actually get lessons from their parents on how to find the loopholes like all good liberals OR do they even know what their parents are doing in their name??? These parents are shameless.

Bob Rae, the former Ontario NDP premier, has received a $100,000 loan from his brother, Power Corp. executive John Rae.

This is rather shameless as well. A loan?

http://tinyurl.com/qk3aj :shock:

[anne cameron]

I suspect the children of the rich are very carefully taught from the youngest possible age how to tip toe around and between the rules and regulations.  Such things are only for the sweaty underclass (that's us), and really shouldn't impinge in any way at all on the on-going acquisition of obscene amounts of wealth.

I think these kids learn early on that there are accountants and lawyers paid to keep the money coming in at great rate and to stay in and not wind up part of government general revenue.

And I really believe that by the time they are teens these kids have been carefully moulded to believe they are not only apart from but above the ones toiling and doing their bidding.  I have met kids who find it AMUSING that their "allowance" is more than most people make working a fulltime job.

And they seem to believe that is the way it is supposed to be.

Still, I doubt these kids knew anything at all about what was done using their names.  They should maybe check and see how much the family dog contributed, how much the polo ponies chipped in.

And I understand the point of view of the lofty a lot better than I understand the people who, even knowing this latest bit of dirt, will go out and vote for Volpe.

We had a highways minister out here who was confronted about some land his sons had bought...just happened to be along the unannounced proposed route of a new highway...just happened to be ideal sites for gas stations, food bars, etc.  When it was suggested that perhaps the minister had whispered in his son's ears and had virtually guaranteed they'd make huge profit, he laughed and asked the interviewer if he had kids.  Then laughed again and asked if the interviewer could honestly say he wouldn't have done the same thing.

People laughed, said at least the old boy was honest about being a crook, and went out and voted for him in even greater numbers the next election.

Go figure, eh?

[skdadl]

Was that "Flying Phil" Gaglardi, anne? I remember him, the old reprobate. Ah, Social Credit, party of "family values."  :roll:

[Toedancer]

There is going to a new subway extension in Toronto. Forget where. But a long stretch and I wonder if land along the route is being bought up right now in greedy anticipation? Something to keep our eye on.

[anne cameron]

You've got it, Skdadl.  The reverend Gagliardi. Or pastor or minister or some ordained thing, legend has it he accumulated more speeding tickets than anybody else in the history of cars in B.C.  I'm not entirely sure but I think his family owns the Sandman hotel chain now.

You want another example of how insider knowledge and connections can swell the family purse?

In the nine years since bird flu surfaced, maybe a hundred people have died of it.  But we're being propogandized into near hysteria about the possibility of a worldwide epidemic and massive loss of life.  However, the saviour has arrived, Tamiflu.  Governments are buying boxcar loads of it, people are stocking up on it, can hardly find it in a pharmacy...even though Tamiflu barely helps against some symptoms of ordinary flu...even though a huge part of the scientific community says Tamiflu is no help at all against bird flu...

Roche Laboratories sold the patent for Tamiflu in 1996, to GILEAD sciences, and a major shareholder in GILEAD is Donald Rumsfeld...who was at the time of the sale the president of Gilead..Roche continues to market Tamiflu, paying a royalty to Gilead...

Tamiflu is made from crushed aniseed and most of the production of the source of aniseed is controlled by Roche...

So we have a pandemic which hasn't occurred and might not, and a medicine which won't even cure common flu let alone a deadly strain of it, Rumsfeld is paid a fortune for the use of and marketing of the medicine and Roche corners the market on the main ingredient and main stream media convinces us all to run out and buy the stuff in case...and in 2005 sales of this potentially useless medicine were up over one thousand million dollars US...and God's in her heaven and all's right with the world.
It's like the three walnut shells and one pea trick...cute and very profitable.  Step right up ladies and gennulmen, Dr Fusspot's magic elixier, good for man or beast, cure what ails you and if nothing ails you it'll cure that, too...

[Toedancer]

Just wanted to let you know, my partner was given Tamiflu in December, when he almost died. It DID NOTHING to help him. In fact I demanded he be taken right off it, since they were supposed to be treating him for something other than FLU. I was absolutely furious, was he a guinea pig or what?

Meantime friendly nurse said Tamiflu is useless even for bird flu!!! And they all knew it.