Billionaire murderess wants out of jail

Posted on June 24, 2010 by Stephen Pate

She murdered her billionaire lover then said he abused her the jury agreed in halves

Cecile Brossard shot ultra rich banker Edouard Stern during rough sex

A year ago, the jury accepted Cecile’s story that she had been abused and humiliated her. While convicted, she was given a lesser sentence of 8 years, and could be out of jail in 18 months. See Lover admits to kinky sex killing.

Edouard Stern was one of the richest bankers in Europe, a billionaire friend of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. He hobnobbed around the rich and powerful until his lover shot him in a Swiss hotel room. Bound and wearing a latex suit, she sat at the trial he had humiliated her by calling her a “whore” and paying $1 million for her love.

On June 18th, 2010, Brossard’s lawyers were back in court arguing her health was suffering in jail and she should be released.
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$ 1 billion price tag for G20 security

Posted on May 27, 2010 by Stephen Pate

Are they kidding in one of the safest cities in the world?

London G20 2009 security cost $30 million why is Canada spending $1 billion

The Harper government’s $1 billion estimate for the G20 Summit has to be a joke. They can’t be serious. That is the most ridiculous waste of taxpayer’s money in recent memory.

Fresh on the heels of his $47 billion Stimulus Boondoggle, our big spending Prime Minister is out to break the bank on security. The G20 summit is mostly about politicians doing photo ops and lots of media coverage of the street protests.

At the $1 billion price tag, protesters are getting the best free advertising in history.

In comparison, the Brits only spent $30 million last year to put on the same show in a city known for terrorist bombings. The US only spent $18 million in Pittsburgh which has a murder rate 2.8 times higher than Toronto. Can we just hire them to do this job?

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CBC censoring public discussion of priest complaint

Posted on May 27, 2010 by Stephen Pate

Story on allegations against Father George Smith is closed for commenting

Father George Smith, removed from his duties at a PEI (CBC)

The buzz around Charlottetown is about Father Smith and allegations he was sexually improper with a man two decades ago.

No allegations against P.E.I. priest brought to police writes the Guardian.

Priest allegations reported years ago: bishop on the CBC site is closed to comments.

Considering the notoriety of the story and the anguish this gives many Roman Catholics, the lack of a public forum on the CBC website is wrong. It smacks of censorship.

Manipulation of the public by the media is common. In this case it’s our publicly funded CBC who want to shut down public comment.

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Toronto PI implicates everyone but Guergis

Posted on May 12, 2010 by Stephen Pate

Snowdy’s testimony was thrilling and theatrical but left you wondering if he wasn’t grandstanding

Derrick Snowdy, bankrupt PI didn't finger Guergis in scandal

Derrick Snowdy the private investigator at the centre of the Jaffer/Guergis affair said he didn’t implicate Guergis with the Prime Minister’s office. Other than that, the admitted Conservative Party member dragged everyone else he could through the mud.

The Conservatives used the occasion to drive home the point that the PM’s office didn’t help anyone get money and maybe the Liberals are crooks. The Liberals tried to show how connected the Tories were in the mess. The Bloq and NDP seemed miffed they weren’t invited to the scandal.

No busty call-girls appeared with Snowdy but he did invoke their spirit as companions of the “fraudster” Gillani.

It was riveting TV for two hours but it made me wonder – how much of what he said was true? Most of it was innuendo, hyperbole, and grandstanding by the bankrupt PI who showed up in a red Ferrari on Parliament Hill. He is a movie star apparently.

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Supreme Court rules against journalists confidential sources

Posted on May 11, 2010 by Stephen Pate

Police criminal investigation outweighs confidential press privilege in Chrétien affair

Auberge Grand-Mère subject of 10 year old Chretien scandal photo: Monquebec.net

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that the National Post must turn over evidence it received from their journalist’s confidential source in the “Grand Mere Affair.”

The Supreme Court ruled that any privilege is not constitutional and must be balanced by the need to investigate criminal activity.

“…evidence sought to be obtained measured against the public interest in respecting the journalist’s promise of confidentiality…Therefore, no journalist can give a secret source an absolute assurance of confidentiality.” Supreme Court of Canada

The case had 16 interveners including CBC, Bell Globe Media, two provinces and the Federal government, civil liberties and various journalist associations. Continue reading →

Harper to force US copyright act on Canada

Posted on May 7, 2010 by Byline

It will have a negative effect in Canada but the US labels and producers want Canada onside

Prime Minister Harper, smugly on the side of US interests

PMO Issues The Order: Canadian DMCA Bill Within Six Weeks

By Michael Geist – Months of public debate over the future of Canadian copyright law were quietly decided earlier this week, when sources say the Prime Minister’s Office reached a verdict over the direction of the next copyright bill.

The PMO was forced to make the call after Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore and Industry Minister Tony Clement were unable to reach consensus on the broad framework of a new bill. As I reported last week, Moore has argued for a virtual repeat of Bill C-61, with strong digital locks provisions similar to those found in the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act and a rejection of a flexible fair dealing approach. Consistent with earlier comments on the need for a forward-looking, flexible approach, Clement argued for changes from C-61.

With mounting pressure from the U.S. – there have repeated meetings with senior U.S. officials in recent weeks – the PMO sided squarely with Moore’s vision of a U.S.-style copyright law. The detailed provisions will be negotiated over the coming weeks by the respective departments, but they now have their marching orders of completing a bill that will satisfy the U.S. that comes complete with tough anti-circumvention rules and no flexible fair dealing provision. Continue reading →

Stripping not acceptable employment on disability

Posted on May 6, 2010 by Stephen Pate

Along with bragging on Facebook, working as a stripper can get you in trouble when you claim a disability

Christine Gamble disabled but able to strip

Pole dancing wasn’t beyond the ability of disabled waitress Christine Gamble of Quakertown, PA.

On workers compensation for a back disability that made it impossible to waitress, Gamble found no trouble pole dancing in a local strip bar. The charges are unproven but seem scandalous.

“The 43-year-old woman claimed she fell and hurt her back while working at a restaurant in 2007 and told a doctor it was difficult for her to stand or change positions.

But somehow she managed to do both while working as a stripper, even as she collected worker’s compensation payments, according to the state Attorney General’s office. Continue reading →

Pamela J Butler still missing from Washington DC

Posted on April 14, 2010 by Stephen Pate

Has the case of an eHarmony bad date gotten cold after 14 months?

Pamela J. Butler, a financially independent woman who worked at the EPA, went missing on Valentine’s Day 2009.

There were more than 80 unsolved homicides in Washington DC in 2009 reports the Metropolitan Police Department. Pamela J. Butler isn’t among them.

Without a body or evidence of foul play, Pam Butler is just a missing person. A well dressed, well employed, fastidious, cautious and careful person who disappeared off the face of the earth for no reason.

She was last seen by her boyfriend Jose Rodriguez-Cruz, an ex-service man suffering from PTSD. They had fought that evening and she kicked him out of her life. Continue reading →

$6 Billion Later Afghan Cops Aren’t Ready to Serve

Posted on March 20, 2010 by Byline

America has spent more than $6 billion since 2002 in an effort to create an effective Afghan police force but the program has been a disaster.

A DynCorp employee, in the background, overseas a rifle course for Afghan police at a military range east of Kabul. (Max Becherer/Polaris)

By by T. Christian Miller, ProPublica, Mark Hosenball and Ron Moreau, Newsweek, Pro-Publica and Newsweek – Mohammad Moqim watches in despair as his men struggle with their AK-47 automatic rifles, doing their best to hit man-size targets 50 meters away.

A few of the police trainees lying prone in the mud are decent shots, but the rest shoot clumsily, and fumble as they try to reload their weapons. The Afghan National Police (ANP) captain sighs as he dismisses one group of trainees and orders 25 more to take their places on the firing line. “We are still at zero,” says Captain Moqim, 35, an eight-year veteran of the force. “They don’t listen, are undisciplined, and will never be real policemen.”
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Social Media and age work to benefit of online theft

Posted on March 17, 2010 by Stephen Pate

Millennials age 18-24 more likely to be victims of identity theft than their parents

With story from The Washington Post

Young people age 18-24 are the big target for identity theft says a new survey. They are the most open with online information and leave themselves vulnerable. Many people are posting their birth date, sex and city of residence on Facebook. That can be enough to access credit cards, bank accounts and other online services including getting a duplicate social security number or social insurance number.

“Millennials don’t protect enough or detect enough,” said James Van Dyke, president of Javelin Strategy & Research, a California-based company that examined where identity theft threats are coming from and what effects they are having on consumers. Continue reading →

Pentagon agrees military failed to see Fort Hood suspect’s warning signs

Posted on January 16, 2010 by Stephen Pate

Army Officers To Be Disciplined for Fort Hood Shooter

Nidal Hasan, warning signs ignored

The military security failure was obvious from the early stories about Nidal Hasan, the only person charged in the killing of 12 people and wounding of 32 at Fort Hood in November 2009.

The questions asked in November were confirmed in the report. Fort Hood killing may be security failure : With billions on security why was this guy not picked up for posting sympathies with 9/11 bombers? Army missed obvious signals shooter was not loyal to US: Fort Hood suspect warned of threats within the ranks.

The Washington Post reports “A Pentagon review of the Fort Hood shootings has found that several officers failed to intervene in the career of the suspect, despite widespread signs of his religious radicalization and his shortcomings as a soldier. The review determined that supervisors of Maj. Nidal M. Hasan, the Army psychiatrist charged in the Nov. 5 attack at the Texas military post, bungled his performance reviews by excluding instances of erratic behavior in treating patients and signs that he might be growing sympathetic to suicide bombers.”
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