Rob Ford: The Mirror...er...Cracked...

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Wed, 2013-12-04 18:25

cco

Gang members targeted mayor in blackmail plot

Quote:

Mayor Rob Ford’s habit of doing drugs with gang members led to him being targeted in an apparent extortion plot related to the crack cocaine video and possibly a series of photographs of him in compromising situations, newly released police documents say.

At one point earlier this year, Ford offered $5,000 and a car to a gang member in exchange for the embarrassing video, an offer that was rejected. The same gang member planned to ask for $150,000 from Ford in return for the video of him smoking crack cocaine and making homophobic and racially charged remarks.

Meanwhile, the series of wiretap recordings of gang members reveals there were more images of the mayor doing drugs and according to one man being in “a lot of f---ed up situations.” Crack cocaine and [b]possibly heroin[/b] are the drugs involved, along with marijuana, according to the police documents.

Two gang members are heard discussing a “kidnapping.” According to the wiretaps, they kidnapped Siad for an hour and talked to him about “the video.”

“Siad was crying, saying he destroyed the video and his family is in trouble,” according to the wiretapped call. One of the men discussing said he warned Siad that if he “saw him in Dixon he would kill him.”

Wed, 2013-12-04 21:54

#353

bekayne

A helpful timeline:

http://o.canada.com/news/ford-wire-taps-a-timeline-of-cash-drugs-and-deception/

Wed, 2013-12-04 21:55

#354

bekayne

cco wrote:
Gang members targeted mayor in blackmail plot
Quote:

Mayor Rob Ford’s habit of doing drugs with gang members led to him being targeted in an apparent extortion plot related to the crack cocaine video and possibly a series of photographs of him in compromising situations, newly released police documents say.

At one point earlier this year, Ford offered $5,000 and a car to a gang member in exchange for the embarrassing video, an offer that was rejected. The same gang member planned to ask for $150,000 from Ford in return for the video of him smoking crack cocaine and making homophobic and racially charged remarks.

Meanwhile, the series of wiretap recordings of gang members reveals there were more images of the mayor doing drugs and according to one man being in “a lot of f---ed up situations.” Crack cocaine and [b]possibly heroin[/b] are the drugs involved, along with marijuana, according to the police documents.

Two gang members are heard discussing a “kidnapping.” According to the wiretaps, they kidnapped Siad for an hour and talked to him about “the video.”

“Siad was crying, saying he destroyed the video and his family is in trouble,” according to the wiretapped call. One of the men discussing said he warned Siad that if he “saw him in Dixon he would kill him.”

"We love and respect Rob Ford"

Tue, 2013-12-10 15:40

#355

quizzical

was just reading BC news and found this....

Quote:
Mayor Rob Ford has sparked yet another controversy and the threat of legal action when he appeared to accuse a newspaper reporter of having pedophilic tendencies in a televised interview.

..."It's amazing. I don't know what to say about it," Dale said in an interview Tuesday.

"In the calmest terms possible, it is unpleasant when the mayor of the biggest city in Canada essentially accuses you, or suggests, you are a pedophile."

The scandal-plagued mayor, who has lost most of his mayoral powers, made the comment in a Vision TV interview Monday night with former media baron and convicted felon, Conrad Black.

At one point in the interview, Black asked Ford about media intrusion on his family's privacy, and Ford singled out Dale for an incident that happened in May 2012.

Ford had confronted Dale outside the mayor's west-end home in an adjacent park the mayor was looking to buy.

"Daniel Dale is in my backyard taking pictures. I have little kids. He's taking pictures of little kids," Ford said.

"I don't want to say that word but you start thinking what this guy is all about."

Tue, 2013-12-10 23:32

#356

bekayne

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/rob-ford-conrad-black-and-the-death-of-decency/article15839236/

Sun, 2013-12-15 12:13

#357

quizzical

Someone is looking to raise $50,000 to help Toronto Mayor Rob Ford pay his legal bills.

A campaign on the crowdfunding website Indiegogo alleges the mayor has been unfairly targeted by “special interests and big media organizations” with “nuisance lawsuits.”

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/rob-ford-supporters-donating-to-help-pay-legal-bills-1.2464515

Sun, 2013-12-15 13:29

#358

Ken Burch

quizzical wrote:

was just reading BC news and found this....

Quote:
Mayor Rob Ford has sparked yet another controversy and the threat of legal action when he appeared to accuse a newspaper reporter of having pedophilic tendencies in a televised interview.

..."It's amazing. I don't know what to say about it," Dale said in an interview Tuesday.

"In the calmest terms possible, it is unpleasant when the mayor of the biggest city in Canada essentially accuses you, or suggests, you are a pedophile."

The scandal-plagued mayor, who has lost most of his mayoral powers, made the comment in a Vision TV interview Monday night with former media baron and convicted felon, Conrad Black.

At one point in the interview, Black asked Ford about media intrusion on his family's privacy, and Ford singled out Dale for an incident that happened in May 2012.

Ford had confronted Dale outside the mayor's west-end home in an adjacent park the mayor was looking to buy.

"Daniel Dale is in my backyard taking pictures. I have little kids. He's taking pictures of little kids," Ford said.

"I don't want to say that word but you start thinking what this guy is all about."

Does Dale have grounds for a defamation suit about this, under either federal or Ontario provincial law?

Sun, 2013-12-15 13:44

#359

addictedtomyipod

quizzical wrote:

Someone is looking to raise $50,000 to help Toronto Mayor Rob Ford pay his legal bills.

A campaign on the crowdfunding website Indiegogo alleges the mayor has been unfairly targeted by “special interests and big media organizations” with “nuisance lawsuits.”

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/rob-ford-supporters-donating-to-help-pay-legal-bills-1.2464515

There is nothing to stop Ford himself to donate a large amount of money to this campaign. There is about $2150 there now.

If it fails he can just rescue it himself and say that he has lots of support. Watch for a big jump in the total.

Sun, 2013-12-15 15:09

#360

NorthReport

Why is this convicted felon being given the time of day to spout off in Canada's mainstream media!

http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/conrad-black-rips-into-rob-ford-s-detractors-a...

Tue, 2013-12-17 20:35

#361

quizzical

he is soooooooooooooo sooooooooooo sorry!!!!

Wed, 2013-12-18 19:41

#362

1weasel

With the Ford "apology", the fundraiser is looking to save face by shutting the campaign down. The possible legal ramifications for him and the Mayor, I am sure, had nothing to do with the decision.

Thu, 2013-12-19 15:47

#363

DaveW

Ken Dryden's analysis of the anger behind Ford Nation :

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/why-rob-ford-is-mad-as-hell/article16032659/#dashboard/follows/

People everywhere are mad. Mad at their jobs, mad at the money they don’t make. Mad at others for getting the chances they don’t. Mad at seemingly getting the short end of every stick. Mad at the mess around them: crime, litter, traffic. In stores, on phones, mad at being treated as if they don’t matter. Mad that others get away with everything they don’t, mad at not being able to stop them. Mad that life isn’t what they thought it would be. Even those who have done well – mad that others’ stick is longer.

And together, mad at all those people who have the power, or believe they do. People who think they’re so smart. Who know everything. Who study and analyze. Who have all the facts. Who sound so smug, so superior. Who make everyone else feel so stupid.

To them, politicians are the worst. They’re so sure of themselves. They’re going to do this and that, and yet when they get elected, nothing changes. Then, they promise more change and everyone is expected to believe them, as if there’s no cause for embarrassment or apology. Mr. Ford, in his own mind, is the anti-politician politician; his opponents are the know-everythings. To these know-everythings, Mr. Ford and his supporters are the know-nothings.

Thu, 2013-12-19 19:04

#364

Ken Burch

Of course, Dryden insists on equating Occupy with the Tea Party and Ford Nation as an embodiment of ignorant anger.

Thu, 2013-12-19 19:13

#365

DaveW

Just anger, I think

Thu, 2013-12-19 19:16

#366

Aristotleded24

Ken Burch wrote:
Of course, Dryden insists on equating Occupy with the Tea Party and Ford Nation as an embodiment of ignorant anger.

I don't think Dryden did anything inappropriate at all. Both Occupy and the Tea Party were motivated, in part, by legitimate anger and frustration over what is going on in the state of the US government. They just came at it from different vantage points and offered different solutions. It's also the case that the Tea Party lost some steam when Occupy was at its peak.

Thu, 2013-12-19 21:12

#367

cco

Ford: "Women love money"

Fri, 2013-12-20 05:23

#368

nicky

The Star carried an Ipsos poll yesterday that sheds light on the Ford electoral appeal.

First 62% approve the "Ford Agenda" but 64% approve the limitation on his powers as mayor, which seems somewhat paradoxical.

61% disapprove of Ford but an imposing 39% still approves. This seems astonishing until you look deeper at the numbers. Of those who disapprove 48% do so strongly and 13 % less so. Of those who approve of Ford only 18% approve strongly and 21% less so.

So among those with strong opinions about Ford the negative prevails by 48 to 18.

This indicates that "Ford Nayshun" really only constitutes about a fifth of the electorate. More than half of his support is soft and likely to desert him depending on the alternative.,

Fri, 2013-12-20 17:44

#369

scott

nicky wrote:
First 62% approve the "Ford Agenda" but 64% approve the limitation on his powers as mayor, which seems somewhat paradoxical.

I think what many citizens of "Ford Nation" would like is "Fordism without Ford" so the result is not really paradoxical. Although several on the right have declared, only Ford is campaigning so far, so we may see some bleeding of support to another credible candidate when the campaign begins in earnest.

Fri, 2013-12-20 17:47

#370

Sineed

Many of the Fordists would jump ship to John Tory if he ran. And I'm hopeful that he does so that it splits the right-wing vote.

Sat, 2013-12-21 08:05

#371

Skinny Dipper

I do hope that the people of Toronto can organize in key wards to get candidates to campaign against the enablers of Rob Ford. The first one to be defeated must be Doug Ford, Rob's brother.

Sat, 2013-12-21 08:14

#372

Skinny Dipper

It is likely that John Tory will have Nick Kouvalis (sp?) as his campaign manager. From what I have heard, Kouvalis is very feisty. In my opinion, he will likely get John Tory to become focused in order to lose his dithering image. Expect concise campaign promises to come from Tory. Kouvalis will do what he can to get Tory to neutralize Rob Ford as soon as possible.

I do expect that the other centre and right mayoral candidates will eventually drop out or not run once John Tory makes his announcement to run for mayor. I think he will announce in February.

Olivia Chow could be a strong candidate. However, she will need to gain support in parts of suburban Toronto. She will not win if she is just seen as the downtown candidate.

Sat, 2013-12-21 08:40

#373

Skinny Dipper

When I suggest that Nick Kouvalis will see that Rob Ford is neutralized as soon as possible, don't expect John Tory to go negative on Ford. The candidate should always be held in a positive light. Instead, I expect Kouvalis to get former Rob Ford supporters do to the media-spin on how they had high expectations of Rob Ford, but that Ford is not the fiscally responsible man that they thought he would be.

As for John Tory himself, I do expect a mix of campaign promises that will demonstrate that he is pragmatic but also "fiscally responsible." That means having some promises that doesn't make Tory look ideological but also attracts current Ford supporters.

Sat, 2013-12-21 12:58

#374

Sineed

John Tory could be a political force to be reckoned with if he found an advisor that curbed Tory's intrinsic flakiness. His political career has been marked by missteps that seem puzzling for someone so intelligent, like his career-ending bid to fund all religious schools in Ontario, or his mockery of Jean Chretien's facial deformity. I personally find him annoying, the way he incessantly talks and talks like the most boring person at the party. But a lot of people find him credible, and he's an affable guy.

I'm calling it: Tory + Kouvalis = record majority.

SKinny Dipper wrote:
The first one to be defeated must be Doug Ford, Rob's brother.

Doug has said he's not running in municipal politics again, though that's contingent upon whether or not the Etobicoke North PC riding association still considers him a viable candidate...

Sun, 2013-12-22 12:19

#375

CanadaOrangeCat

John Tory will not run if his polling numbers put him behind Rob Ford, as they did last time. Unless Rob Ford is sitting in stir, he will run again. The 20% Rob Ford Core will screw up any faux right-winger's chances of getting elected with conservative support.

To understand what has been going on in Toronto in the last decade you have to understand the mentality of the Liberal voter. You also have to know the difference between a Partisan Conservative (who always votes for the Conservative candidate) and the Real Conservative (who only votes for conservative candidates). Rob Ford came across like a Real Conservative, but he has turned out to be some words which are not allowed on this forum. So, Ford got the Partisan conservatives (snickering National Post Starbucks smart car types) and the Real Conservatives (don't tread on me). Now the Real Conservatives are going to desert Ford. Everyone in Etobicoke is going to go blah blah blah he is the man of the people and then they are not going to bother on election day.

The Partisan Conservatives are going to have a number of choices.

But the real people with egg on their face in this scenario are the Liberal voters of Toronto, who decide who wins. Partisan Liberals have no respect for people who are not 'life long Liberals'. If you are not baptized Liberal, you are not trusted. These partisan Liberals have elephantine memories, sitting with their knitting and remeniscing over when Pierre Eliot Trudeau kissed them on the cheek when they were a teenager. They do not forget that John Tory ran the ads against Chretien's Bell's palsy when he was the hapless campaign manager for the equally hapless Kim Campbell, P.C.

The Liberals stopped John Tory by voting for David Miller, and they stopped John Tory by voting for Rob Ford. They will stop John Tory again. If this sounds outrageous, Ford was a regular attendee at a well-known Liberal picnic in Downsview. He would go there and rail against communists and make everyone laugh.

Tory's political problem is not only his bad blood with Liberals, but also that the Real Conservatives do not consider him to be a right wing candidate. Elections are a binary thing for Real Conservatives, who can be the tail of the Liberal dog. Either they vote for a candidate they feel is a real Conservative (and he could be a Liberal like Tom Wappel or a Trudeau) or they DO NOT VOTE AT ALL.

If the Real Conservative sees a progressive board talking up a Partisan Political Conservative, they will see another socialist trojan horse, and they will let the left win the election. A real conservative would rather see an authentic socialist than a socialist in conservative clothing. Or a real McGuinty vs. a faux-Liberal Ernie Eves.

If you are a progressive, you want the Liberals to come back to someone like David Miller. The way to do that is keep talking up John Tory. That should cause the Real Conservatives to stay at home.

Mon, 2013-12-30 13:45

#376

infracaninophile $infracaninophile's picture$

Christopher Hume has a devastating column about Ford (et alia) in today's Star:

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/12/30/2013_was_torontos_year_of_living_disastrously_hume.html

(note: to bypass the paywall, just right click in your browser and select open in private/incognito window)

Mon, 2013-12-30 15:39

#377

NorthReport

Looks like Rob Ford may have redeemed himself with his ice storm press conferences.

At least he was better thsn his replacement, the deputy mayor of Toronto clown, who instead of staying with his challenged flock, took off for a Florida Christmas vacation instead. Jeesh!

Mon, 2013-12-30 16:12

#378

NorthReport

Condolences to all involved. How sad. This should not have happened. Drunks are acceptable in our society but not those with depression.

Christopher Peloso, husband of George Smitherman, found dead'

He has found peace from the depression that has wreaked havoc on his mind,' ex-deputy premier says

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/christopher-peloso-husband-of-geor...

Wed, 2014-01-01 21:43

#379

arielc

NorthReport wrote:

Looks like Rob Ford may have redeemed himself with his ice storm press conferences.

At least he was better thsn his replacement, the deputy mayor of Toronto clown, who instead of staying with his challenged flock, took off for a Florida Christmas vacation instead. Jeesh!

I'm not convinced the criticism is warranted. He went for 24 hrs to visit his sister who is ill, and they lost their two other siblings this year.

Wed, 2014-01-01 22:19

#380

onlinediscountanvils

arielc wrote:

NorthReport wrote:

Looks like Rob Ford may have redeemed himself with his ice storm press conferences.

At least he was better thsn his replacement, the deputy mayor of Toronto clown, who instead of staying with his challenged flock, took off for a Florida Christmas vacation instead. Jeesh!

I'm not convinced the criticism is warranted. He went for 24 hrs to visit his sister who is ill, and they lost their two other siblings this year.

Facts, schmacts.

Thu, 2014-01-02 15:58

#381

Sineed

I don't think RF has redeemed himself. He avoided calling a state of emergency, which would have pushed him to the sidelines. To be fair, it's not yet clear that a state of emergency needed to be called. But his continued protestations that a state of emergency wasn't needed while people were freezing in their dark houses, all their food spoiling, didn't exactly make for a Rudy Guilliani moment for our mayor.

Broken trees are all over; apparently, 20% of Toronto's tree canopy suffered serious damage. Near my house, two huge branches dangled on a power line for 7 days before being removed. This here:

Fri, 2014-01-03 13:03

#382

Skinny Dipper

Who will I vote for the next mayor of Toronto? I will take a look at the candidates during the next seven to eight months. On July 30, 2014, I will create a single-member ranked ballot poll on Demochoice and list all the mayoral candidates to date. I will also place limits on voting to once per hour so that no one person can greatly tamper with the survey. On September 12, I will likely create another single-member ranked ballot poll which will give a fresh update on which candidates are leading. If Rob Ford is in first or second place in the poll, I will likely select the person who achieves first or second place status against Rob Ford on the final ranked-ballot count. One week before (October 20) the actual election day (October 27), I will let everyone know whom I will be voting for mayor. It may be Olivia Chow; it may be another candidate. If she is ranking in first or second place, I will likely vote for her. If she is somehow in fifth or sixth place (if she runs), I will consider other options. There is no way I want to see Rob Ford elected as mayor again.

Wed, 2014-01-15 14:32

#383

terrytowel

New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath suggested Kathleen Wynne should meet with Mr. Ford for “courtesy” reasons.

“I understand very clearly that city council made a decision in regards to specific leadership issues, but when a municipal mayor is requesting a meeting with the Premier, I think it’s common courtesy,” she said at Queen’s Park.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/wynne-rebuffs-mayor-rob-ford...

Wed, 2014-01-15 18:49

#384

Unionist

Ooooo, she's so proper! Love it! Definitely not my grandfather's NDP!

Tue, 2014-01-21 21:16

#385

mark_alfred

Another video, this time a drunken Ford speaking in mock Patois. Interestingly, he did not apologize for this, choosing instead to declare it an activity within his own personal time that should not concern anyone.

ETA: Another video of Ford hanging out with Lisi.

Tue, 2014-01-21 21:55

#386

Timebandit Timebandit's picture

Lather, rinse, repeat. ;)

Tue, 2014-01-21 22:05

#387

cco

I see he's gone from "never drinking again" back to "it's none of your damn business how much I drink".

Tue, 2014-01-21 22:45

#388

Unionist

mark_alfred wrote:

Another video, this time a drunken Ford speaking in mock Patois. Interestingly, he did not apologize for this, choosing instead to declare it an activity within his own personal time that should not concern anyone.

Imagine that.

Thu, 2014-01-23 01:16

#389

fortunate

mark_alfred wrote:

Another video, this time a drunken Ford speaking in mock Patois. Interestingly, he did not apologize for this, choosing instead to declare it an activity within his own personal time that should not concern anyone.

ETA: Another video of Ford hanging out with Lisi.

I just saw this video, it is just so bizarre. By this time he has to know everyone is going to start recording him the minute he goes out in public.

Thu, 2014-01-23 07:18

#390

lagatta

The meltdown isn't even funny any more.

Thu, 2014-01-23 09:25

#391

MegB

None of anyone's business? Last I heard, public drunkenness was an illegal offense. As is drunk driving and smoking crack. Anyone else from, say, one of Toronto's marginalized communities, would either have their ass handed to them in jail or be beaten to death before even reaching a police station. But rich, white Rob Ford gets to be mayor. He gets to continue to behave irresponsibly and negligently in public with impunity. I only hope he is stopped before he kills someone in one of his "drunken stupors".

Thu, 2014-01-23 10:00

#392

mark_alfred

Indeed. Likely he was driving.

Thu, 2014-01-23 10:09

#393

mark_alfred

Some comments from the parody accounts on Twitter:

Rob Ford‏ @SlobFord wrote:

Justin Bieber arrested for drunk driving in Florida? Kids these days have no respect.

80s Doug Ford @80sDougFord wrote:

OK, Caribbean vote's in the bag. Rob's gonna be in Scarboro ramblin' incoherently in Tamil this weekend. Multicultural strategy.

Thu, 2014-01-23 14:05

#394

mark_alfred

Interesting. Ford is supposed to be giving a speech to the Economic Club in Toronto, and he's not shown up yet (he's over an hour late). No one's heard anything from his office. A lot of attendees, who paid a large sum to see him, have left. Robyn Doolittle tweeted, "Another weird day at Toronto city hall. Ford left his office just before noon. We're across the street. 4 minute walk max. Where'd he go??"

If he misses this, then he's not going to be running for mayor, I think.

ETA: "He arrives. Claims he was stuck in the elevator. I'm not kidding," says Steve Paikin.

Not a bad speech given that he was stuck in an elevator for 45 minutes. Tepid response from the crowd though.

Fri, 2014-01-24 11:56

#395

terrytowel

Two more dippers have come to Ford defence.

Adam Giambrone says about Ford and his private time "I think the mayor, like him or not, deserves a degree of privacy. I think his home life deserves privacy. What he does on his own time, I think, is his own business.”

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/mayor-rob-ford-how-much-personal-privacy-s...

Cheri DiNovo says that Kathleen Wynn should have met with Rob Ford (backing an earlier statement by leader Andrea Horvath)

"It's a common courtesy, doesn't mean you're enabling them and it doesn't mean you're standing with them," she said. "Meeting with them is a different matter."

"She meets with federal Conservatives," DiNovo said. "Why shouldn't she meet with municipal ones?"

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/01/23/fords-personal-problems-shouldnt-ke...

Fri, 2014-01-24 13:58

#396

mark_alfred

Ford did likewise for Giambrone back when Giambrone was running for mayor. Giambrone's personal life became public when a spurned lover made text messages public via the Toronto Star. Ford stated that Giambrone's personal life should not impact on people's perception of his professional record.

Mon, 2014-01-27 14:08

#397

onlinediscountanvils

Honor Ford-Smith: [url=http://www2.macleans.ca/2014/01/22/a-jamaican-academic-explains-the-late...‘Any Jamaican who behaved as he did in that instance would have been escorted out of the place’[/url]

Mon, 2014-01-27 14:38

#398

mark_alfred

On Thursday at the Economic Club, Rob Ford Lied Several Times Every Minute

Mon, 2014-01-27 16:10

#399

mark_alfred

Ford says he plans to put forward a budget for consideration that finds $50 million in so-called savings on Wednesday. link

Wed, 2014-01-29 17:27

#400

mark_alfred

Scott MacIntyre issued a statement of claim stating that Mayor Ford conspired with Ministry of Correction Services officers to arrange beating of MacIntyre. link

Thu, 2014-01-30 11:48

#401

infracaninophile $infracaninophile's picture$

mark_alfred wrote:

On Thursday at the Economic Club, Rob Ford Lied Several Times Every Minute

Amazing article and analysis, Mark_A. Thanks for drawing attention to it. A keeper.

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