New York state senator calls for secession

New York state senator Liz Kreuger is calling for New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to secede from the United States and ask to join Canada. 

NY Official Proposes New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, And Vermont Join Canada As New Province | International Business Times | Sarah Ian:

November 28, 2024 - "As tensions rise over President-elect Donald Trump's impending second term, a Democratic state senator from New York has suggested a drastic solution: secession. Liz Krueger, chair of the New York State Senate Finance Committee, has proposed that New York leave the United States and join Canada, arguing that Trump's policies threaten the state's progressive values and federal funding, according to Washington Examiner.

Liz Krueger in 2019. Photo by New York Senate.

CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons.

"Krueger, a prominent Democrat from Manhattan, has gained attention for her unconventional proposals to counter Trump's administration. Among these are withholding federal taxes and a call for New York, along with other liberal states like Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont, to secede and become a province of Canada....

"'It's not unreasonable to think outside of the box,' Krueger stated during an interview with Politico. She cited Trump's planned mass deportations and his threats to withhold federal funding from sanctuary states as reasons for her proposals.

"Krueger highlighted the financial stakes involved. New York contributes approximately $362 billion annually in tax revenue to the federal government but relies on $85 billion in federal aid, much of it earmarked for Medicaid. She argued that withholding tax payments could serve as leverage if Trump follows through on his threats to cut funding....

"Krueger's vision of New York joining Canada stems from her frustration with federal policies she perceives as harmful. She first proposed the idea in September, before Trump's election victory.

"'Why do I have to leave this country? I love this country,' she said. 'But if Trump wins a second term, it's not actually my fault or the fault of people in New York. I thought I'd suggest to Canada that, instead of us all trying to illegally cross the border at night, they let us become a new southeast province.' According to Krueger, New York's progressive values align more closely with Canada's political philosophy than with Trump's America. 

Read more: https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ny-official-proposes-new-york-connecticut-massachusetts-vermont-join-canada-new-province-1729071

Canadian jailed in Dubai for medical cannabis

Canadian Maurice Kevin O'Rourke has been sentenced to life in prison for possession of medical cannabis and CBD oil, after his luggage was searched during a flight layover in Dubai. 

Canadian man, 64, sentenced to life in Dubai prison for medical marijuana possession | Western Standard | Jen Hodgson:

November 27, 2024 - "Maurice Kevin O'Rourke, a 64-year-old carpenter from Mississauga, ON, with Addison’s disease, was caught with CBD oil and medical cannabis in Dubai and sentenced to life in prison. O'Rourke was prescribed the CBD oil and cannabis, which are legal in Canada, to manage chronic pain from the disease. While travelling from Canada to South Africa, he had a layover in Dubai — where the CBD and cannabis were discovered in his luggage.

"O’Rourke was detained and taken to prison in Al Awir, United Arab Emirates on July 3, where he was handed down a life sentence. He is appealing the sentence and has a trial scheduled to start on Christmas Day.

O'Rourke before and after arrest. Western Standard.

“'Our world fell apart. Our daughter Maegan and I are shattered. We're in disbelief,” said his wife Pamela O'Rourke after the ruling, according to the Daily Mail. 'Kevin accepts that he shouldn't have travelled while on medication but he doesn't deserve to spend the rest of his life in prison'.... 

"Mrs. O'Rourke said her husband developed an 'open wound' in prison. 'In three months he went from being strong and healthy to being in a wheelchair. It's been incredibly distressing and life threatening for him,' she said.

"The O’Rourke family has some help from Radha Stirling, crisis manager and CEO of human rights organization Detained in Dubai, but she worries 'Kevin will not survive.... Dubai's prison system will not provide adequate medical care and he will be deprived of necessary medication and care,' Stirling told the Mail. 'The suffering of prisoners is not of concern to authorities in the UAE'....

"Stirling called on the Canadian government and Mississauga MP Peter Fonseca to help get O’Rourke home, noting neither country would want a foreign death while in custody. 'We have seen rapists and murderers sentenced to just a few years in jail. How can the courts sentence an older man to life in prison for possessing medication for personal use?'...

'“Dubai needs to be sensible here. He was just in transit and did not intentionally put himself in harm's way. He is ill and in need of ongoing and constant medical care.... [W]e hope the government of Dubai will understand and allow him to come home.'”

Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/news/canadian-man-64-sentenced-to-life-in-dubai-prison-for-medical-marijuana-possession/59896

Minnesota gov't sends trans rapists to women's prisons

The office of Minnesota governor Tim Walz gave nearly $500,000 to a lobby suing the state to have trans-identified convicts sent to women's prisons.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, 2024. Office of Gov. Tim Walz / Wikimedia Commons.

At Least FIVE Male Inmates Transferred To Minnesota Women’s Prison, Including Two Convicted Pedophiles | Reduxx | Genevieve Gluck:

September 11, 2024 - "A total of five male convicts were transferred to a Minnesota’s women-only prison following the adoption of a gender identity policy by the Department of Corrections in January of 2023. Two of the men who are now being held at MCF-Shakopee, a female correctional center, are sexual predators serving sentences related to the abuse of children.

"Among them are Elijah Thomas Berryman, 26, who was first arrested in April 2022 and accused of sexually abusing a minor multiple times. He pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in March of this year, and according to the Minnesota DOC website, is currently serving his 25-year sentence at the women’s prison.

"Another, Sean Windingland, 35, sexually assaulted two 6-year-old relatives and posted videos of the abuse and grooming on pornography and pro-pedophile websites. Windingland admitted to engaging in sexual contact with the young girls when questioned by investigators, but claimed that the children had consented. He pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in 2019. Windingland is now serving his 36-year prison sentence among women at MCF-Shakopee.

"[A] third, Bradley Richard Sirvio, is a convicted murderer who is serving a life sentence. Sirvio, 52, beat a man to death with a hammer before setting his house on fire in November of 1995. A repeat offender, Sirvio... was quietly transferred to MCF-Shakopee in November 2023, a full five months ahead of the date that a newly-drafted gender identity policy was set to take effect.

"The two remaining men confirmed by Reduxx to have been transferred into the women’s prison are Nathan Charles Johnson, ... and a trans-identified male who uses the name Christina Suzanne Lusk, but was born Craig Lusk. In June 2022, Lusk launched a discrimination lawsuit against the Minnesota Department of Corrections which ultimately resulted in the implementation of measures permitting male convicts to be housed in the female estate. 

"Lusk ... was backed by the trans activist non-profit organization Gender Justice – which was recently revealed to have received nearly $500,000 in taxpayer funds from the administration of Governor Tim Walz. The Democratic vice presidential nominee’s office handed out $448,904 to Gender Justice just one year after the organization filed the sex discrimination complaint against Minnesota’s DOC on behalf of Lusk, according to a review of public records published by the taxpayer watchdog group OpenTheBooks.com.""

Read more: https://reduxx.info/exclusive-five-male-inmates-transferred-to-minnesota-womens-prison-including-two-convicted-pedophiles/

Lessons from Canada's Randy Scandal

Canada's Randy Scandal illustrates why DEI politics and government contracting should be kept separate. 

The Randy Boissonnault saga shows why identity politics and federal contracts shouldn’t mix | The Hub | Sabrina Maddeaux:

Randy Boissonnault in 2018. Photo by

Mack Male. CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikipedia Commons.

November 22, 2024 - "It takes more than your average scandal to get a cabinet minister removed from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government.... But Randy Boissonnault, the now-former Employment minister, finally managed this practically unheard-of feat. On Wednesday, Trudeau announced Boissonnault would 'step away from cabinet effective immediately.' This comes after months of scrutiny on his former business Global Health Imports (GHI), which claimed to be 'Indigenous-owned' in bids for federal contracts even as Boissonnault’s Indigenous heritage claims shifted wildly.

"The saga and its fallout should extend far beyond Boissonnault and GHI, which are merely the most publicly recognizable tips of the iceberg that is the government’s Indigenous business procurement targets. These affirmative action style mandates should be scrapped, along with the very idea that government contracts should be awarded to favour certain identities.

"In 2021, Trudeau’s Liberals announced that a minimum of 5 percent of all federal department and agency contracts must go to Indigenous businesses. Even prior to these targets, a business’ inclusion in the government’s Indigenous Business Directory meant favourable treatment and limited competition for some contracts. However, like many well-intentioned, poorly executed diversity initiatives, ... such programs create perverse incentives to cheat the system, are practically impossible to audit at scale, and often fail to help the communities they claim to serve. Moreover, they fail to guarantee top value for taxpayer dollars....

"There have been other high-profile reports of alleged fraud and misrepresentations of Indigenous ownership that did result in major federal contracts. The most notable is the ArriveCan app, which saw a $7.9 million contract go to Dalian Enterprises Inc, self-described as 'Aboriginally owned, veteran operated.' The company has received more than $200 million in federal contracts since 2015, although it’s now suspended from working on existing contracts or bidding for new ones.... {I]t’s alleged Dalian, after securing a government contract, would [disburse] government funds and the work to other, non-Indigenous contractors. Indeed, when questioned by MPs about his firm’s work on ArriveCan, Dalian’s president and founder could barely articulate what his company did on the project and admitted to typically subcontracting out federal work to other companies. There have also been questions about the validity of his [indigenous] heritage claims.... 

"In 2016, it was discovered that Canadian Health Care Agency (CHCA), a major nursing contractor for remote and Indigenous communities, got itself listed on the federal Indigenous Business Directory by entering into a partnership with a one-person foot-care company owned by a First Nations nurse. However, the nurse had next to no say in the company and, worse, was eventually pinned with a $500,000 tax bill when the arrangement was audited. While CHCA was removed from the Indigenous Business Directory as of 2019, ... [i]t has since received at least 30 contracts from Indigenous Services Canada, totalling $131.7 million....

"Indigenous leaders themselves are ringing the alarm that the federal government’s Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business (PSIB) is deeply flawed. In September, Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Regional Chief Joanna Bernard told a House committee, 'There is currently no consistent way of verifying the legitimacy of Indigenous businesses, which creates a risk of false claims, tokenism … [and] exploitation [by] bad actors.'

"While some may argue for increased auditing or different methods of identity verification, the reality is neither are realistic solutions. The federal government simply doesn’t have the capacity to  —nor should it dedicate mass resources to — successfully audit a program that incentivizes fraud by being based on difficult-to-verify identity claims and ownership percentages.... We simply don’t know how much of the massive amount of public money earmarked for Indigenous contracts actually flows to Indigenous entrepreneurs.... The government isn’t able to assure the public their taxes aren’t going to frauds and frontmen, let alone that we get the best value and outcomes from the best companies for our money....

"Boissonnault’s time in cabinet didn’t end with the legacy he hoped, but it would be a shame for such a scandal to go to waste, used only for partisan barbs rather than a push for much-needed, common-sense reform. Procurement may be a typically wonkish topic, but it couldn’t be more vital to how Canadians experience government and access services. Federal policy must abandon its misguided adventures in identity politics to laser-focus on results."

Read more: https://thehub.ca/2024/11/22/sabrina-maddeaux-the-randy-boissonnault-saga-shows-why-identity-politics-and-federal-contracts-shouldnt-mix/

Trudeau gov't loses bid for absolute immunity

Canada's Supreme Court has rejected the Trudeau government's claim that it enjoys absolute immunity from being sued for damages caused by its unconstitutional laws.

CCF pleased by SCC ruling no absolute immunity from damages for Charter-violating laws | Canadian Constitution Foundation (news release):

July 19, 2024 - "The Canadian Constitution Foundation [CCF] is pleased that the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that the state is not entitled to absolute immunity from damages when it enacts unconstitutional legislation that infringes Charter rights. In a 5-4 decision released Friday [July 19] in Attorney General of Canada v Joseph Power, Chief Justice Wagner and Justice Karakatsanis for a majority of the court decided that the state may be required to pay damages for passing legislation that meets the very high threshold of being clearly unconstitutional, passed in bad faith or that amounts to an abuse of power.

"The Trudeau government had argued that it had absolute immunity from paying damages for its enactments based on the constitutional principles of the separation of powers, parliamentary sovereignty and parliamentary privilege. 

"The government claimed that damages for enactments of even clearly unconstitutional legislation would open the floodgates to claims and chill them from passing constitutional laws out of concern they would later be on the hook for payments.

"The applicant, Joseph Power, had argued that there was no absolute immunity, and that he should receive damages to compensate him for the harm cause by the enactment of laws that retroactively removed access to pardons, which were passed despite being in clear violation of the protections in section 11 of the Charter against being punished twice for the same crime.

"The CCF intervened in the case to argue that the government is not entitled to absolute immunity. Section 24(1) of the Charter states that damages are available where 'appropriate and just in the circumstances.' The CCF said damages must be available in some exceptional circumstances. The majority agreed.'By shielding the government from liability in even the most egregious circumstances, absolute immunity would subvert the principles that demand government accountability,' Chief Justice Wagner and Justice Karakatsanis wrote.

"The majority also agreed with the CCF on when damages should be available. The Court agreed that there ought not be damages available for merely negligent enactments, but they should be available where the legislation is unconstitutional on its face, where the state was reckless or wilfully blind as to a law’s unconstitutionality and where there was evidence of bad faith or an abuse of power including where the state acted dishonestly or with an improper purpose.

"CCF Executive Director Joanna Baron said she was pleased by the outcome. 'The CCF is relieved that the Supreme Court has recognized that important constitutional principles like parliamentary sovereignty and the separation of powers cannot justify an absolute immunity from damages where the government passes laws that are flagrantly or knowingly unconstitutional,' Baron said. 'Today’s decision gets it right by clarifying that although claimants who seek damages will have a high test to meet, they will still be able to hold governments to account where the Constitution requires damages to vindicate their rights and compensate them,' she added.

"CCF Litigation Director Christine Van Geyn said she believes the threat of having to pay damages will help to deter future governments from passing laws that they know violate the Constitution. 'From banning Indigenous potlatch ceremonies to interning innocent Japanese-Canadians during the Second World War, Canada’s pre-Charter history is sadly full of examples of Parliaments that passed laws that were clearly unconstitutional,' Van Geyn said. 'If the freezing of bank accounts during the freedom convoy is any indication, we still can’t trust Parliament to never enact unconstitutional laws,' she added. 'Today’s decision recognizes that.'

"The CCF was represented in this case by George Avraam, Jennifer Bernardo and Rono Khan of Baker McKenzie."

Read more: https://theccf.ca/ccf-pleased-by-scc-ruling-no-absolute-immunity-from-damages-for-charter-violating-laws/

Trudeau's government wanted ABSOLUTE IMMUNITY from being sued for unconstitutional laws... THEY LOST | Canadian Constitution Foundation | July 30, 2024:

Did modern monetary theory elect Trump?

Modern monetary theory (MMT) argues that the federal government, as the sole issuer of legal tender, can issue virtually limitless amounts of new money to fund itself. The years 2020-2024 in the USA provided an unambiguous test of this theory.

Did modern monetary theory elect Donald Trump? | Hill Times | Phillip Magness and Alexander William Salter:

November 19, 2024 - "[M]odern monetary theory is a fringe school of economic thought arguing that the federal government, as the sole issuer of legal tender, can issue virtually limitless amounts of new money to fund itself. Bucking thousands of years of evidence that such reckless policies lead to currency devaluation, advocates shirk all blame when inflation occurs, insisting instead that prices increased due to 'corporate greed' and 'price gouging.' Perhaps some of that sounds familiar....

"The Biden-Harris administration began its term assuming it could 'run the economy hot' while also avoiding inflation. They added another multi-trillion-dollar stimulus to Trump-era COVID relief spending, believing they could escape the repercussions of its price tag..... On the fiscal side, extravagant spending greatly increased government indebtedness. On the monetary side, running the printing press to keep interest rates low flooded financial markets with liquidity. The predictable result was too much money chasing too few goods — the classic recipe for dollar depreciation, better known as inflation.

"When the first signs of an inflationary spiral appeared in summer 2021, the White House responded with an official stance of denialism. Price level increases were only 'transitory,' they assured us, adopting a talking point from modern monetary theory theorist Stephanie Kelton. 

"As the problem lingered ... the White House doubled down on fringe theories, such as blaming 'corporate greed' instead of its own spending habits. As recently as July 2024, Council of Economic Advisors chair Jared Bernstein adopted the modern monetary theory-aligned inflation narrative of economist Isabella Weber, who contends that producers made an 'implicit agreement' to exploit a price shock during the pandemic and extract profits from the public.... Kamala Harris attempted to turn this conspiratorial reasoning into policy by proposing price controls at the grocery store — a scheme rejected by most economists, but championed by Weber, Kelton and other modern monetary theory advocates.... 

"Modern monetary theory fooled Washington’s elite because its message was seductive: If there’s any slack in the economy and the government prints and spends in its own currency, policymakers don’t need to worry about price hikes. The years 2020-2024 provided an unambiguous test of this theory. The answer: It’s bunk. 

"Consumer price inflation peaked at 9 percent during the summer of 2022. Central bankers were late to the game to tighten, even adopting the modern monetary theory talking point about “transitory” inflation for a brief but critical moment in early 2021. Elected Democrats scrambled to minimize the role their profligacy had played in forcibly raising the cost of living, culminating in Harris’s grocery store price control proposal as the centerpiece of her economic platform....

"Fed officials should have predicted the consequences of keeping money growth above economic growth for so long. President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris should have recognized that continued fiscal follies would pressure the Fed to embrace money mischief, and that price controls simply made the administration look economically illiterate and out of touch. This rhetoric began as a convenient political argument for stimulus spending, then morphed into an act of self-deception on the part of the Harris campaign.

"As election day exit polling revealed, the electorate repudiated the modern monetary theory narrative. Americans are fed up with over-credentialed experts inventing new reasons to ignore basic economics. The laptop class has only itself to blame for elevating these fringe theories, thereby facilitating Trump’s electoral comeback."

Read more: https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/4996296-modern-monetary-theory-inflation/ 

Modern Monetary Theory explained | Economics Understood | April 25, 2021:

McDonald's gets right to fix its ice cream machines

McDonald's gets legal right to fix its ice cream machines

More McFlurrys: US Copyright Office allows McDonald's to fix broken ice cream machines | USA Today | Max Hauptman:

October 29, 2024 - "A broken ice cream machine is a familiar inconvenience to McDonald's customers. Franchise owners have complained about difficulties fixing the machines, McDonald's itself has poked fun at how often the machines are seemingly broken, and there is even a dedicated independent site for customers to see when and where they might be denied a McFlurry.

"Those worries may soon be a thing of the past, after the U.S. Copyright Office issued a new set of exemptions last week that allows restaurants to repair equipment used in 'retail-level commercial food preparation,' which includes those soft-serve ice cream machines used to make McFlurrys. Public Knowledge, a consumer advocacy group, and e-commerce website iFixit petitioned the U.S. Copyright Office for the exemption, which went into effect Monday....

"Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act makes it illegal for third parties to bypass digital locks on any copyrighted materiel, including software used in commercial devices like those McDonald's ice cream machines, even for repairs. What that has meant for McFlurry fans until Monday is that every time an ice cream machine in a McDonald's location breaks or has any kind of technical problem, it can only be repaired by the manufacturer and copyright holder.

"Since 1956, McDonald's has partnered with the Taylor Company, an Illinois-based manufacturer, for its ice cream machines, leaving only the Taylor Company with the 'right to repair' them. According to iFixit, which looked inside a McDonald's ice cream machine last year, the devices contain "lots of easily replaceable parts.'

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2024/10/29/mcdonalds-mcflurry-ice-cream-machine/75914325007/

Food Theory: McDonald's FINALLY Fixed Its Ice Cream Machines! | Food Theorists | November 19, 2024: