Rob Ford's Toronto

[John_Dee]

My personal speculation is that in addition to the already-known issues (his disparaging remarks about the student population at Don Bosco, embarrassment of the school by the scandal of using City staff and paid work time to "volunteer" , commandeering the TTC bus for his team, etc.) there will be at least one private complaint in the school's records made by a football player about unfair or rough treatment by Ford. Nothing like sexual abuse -- simply name-calling, bullying, pushing too hard or making him play while injured.

Ford rigourously objected when the Toronto Star wrote about the alleged altercation between him and a player from another school and he fought to clear his name about this. Sure, he left work to coach, took his staff, got City favours for his team, yadda, yadda, and actually BOASTED about that. But the report of that one alleged incident with a player got under his skin and he squelched it just the way he's trying to smother the Board's report now.

I realize the football player from that previous school claimed nothing happened, but as we all know from the numerous Catholic church scandals of recent years, young people are fairly easy to manipulate, especially when it's by "beloved" authority figures that they want to trust. And I can't help wondering if that kid was (a.) paid off, (b.) threatened in some way to keep his mouth shut, or (c.) was simply too embarrassed by the whole incident to admit to it. Young dudes poisoned by testosterone don't much enjoy looking weak in the eyes of others, and it wouldn't surprise me if the boy simply wanted to put this hypothetical unpleasantness between himself and Ford behind him and just forget about it. Creeps like Ford tend to count on such attitudes when it comes to choosing which victims to pick on. Pam MacConnell elected not to press charges against him after he physically body-slammed her, and he took it as an open invitation to continue menacing her whenever the mood struck him.

I forgot where I read this, but it was in some website comments' section (possibly Gawker). Somebody claimed there was an incident where Ford slammed a student's head against a toilet seat at one of the schools he coached at. I don't know if this was the episode under discussion, or if it occured at yet another school. How many has Ford volunteered at?

And yes, I know: Anonymous internet claim and all that, so I have no idea how true we can consider the alleged toilet seat incident. But unfortunately - and rather horribly - it's not exactly out of character for Mayor Assclown, is it?

 

[Forty Fs]

He doesn't need any actual support - just the appearance. If you think you've seen a real Ford bender it won't be anything compared to what RoFo vacuums up his nose if he thinks Jones is about to screw him out of re-election.

Ford Nation loves Rob and will see no reason to switch to Doug. People who hate Rob (or hate having him as mayor) hate Doug as much, or more.

It would take some kind of massive, organized trolling campaign. But it's awfully fun to think about.

ETA:

I realize the football player from that previous school claimed nothing happened, but as we all know from the numerous Catholic church scandals of recent years, young people are fairly easy to manipulate, especially when it's by "beloved" authority figures that they want to trust. And I can't help wondering if that kid was (a.) paid off, (b.) threatened in some way to keep his mouth shut, or (c.) was simply too embarrassed by the whole incident to admit to it.

I'm guessing (c). It doesn't take being young, etc. to not want to be in the papers. For example, I'm pretty sure Ford did tell Olivia Gondek he was going to "eat her box" and I'm pretty sure she heard him. But who wants to be known for that?

 

[pud99]

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

As an aside, Twittersphere is lit up with news that Robyn Doolittle is now working for the Globe.

AoD

 

[requiem]

As an aside, Twittersphere is lit up with news that Robyn Doolittle is now working for the Globe.

AoD

Damn it all to heck. At least we've still got Dale.

 

[tiffer24]

Voters' questions are irrelevant:

GraphicMatt 9:55am via Echofon
At @metrotoronto: the reader questions Rob Ford couldn't be bothered to answer. bit.ly/1gAGG1X

 

[Jude]

"If I read Jude's post correctly, Ford talks to a contact at the school board to find out what equipment is needed and roughly how much it will cost. He promises to cover the cost after the purchase is made and the actual cost is known (they probably fax him the invoice). He then asks the TCF to issue a cheque for that amount to Don Bosco."

Rob Ford talks with the school. He promises to cover a portion of the cost, once a school submits an invoice produced by a supplier (this according to his testimony). There is absolutely no evidence that Don Bosco has ever received such a cheque, or entered into any kind of formal arrangement with Ford's Foundation.

To confirm, yes the payment is made on behalf of the Foundation by TCF.

 

[rightwingSUVdriver]

Damn it all to heck. At least we've still got Dale.

I guess globe, being a national, is more prestigious and pays more?

 

[faceattack]

#BoycottMuzik is trending on Twitter.

hate to break it to twitter activists, but the overlap between people who pay attention to political hashtags and muzik's clientele is precisely zero.

 

[TOBorn]

I feel somewhat betrayed by Robyn Doolittle jumping ship. It really has been the Star's story since the Garrison Ball.

On a lighter note, here are the results, thus far, from an informal poll re Mayoral support of Metro readers:

 

[JWBF]

I realize the football player from that previous school claimed nothing happened, but as we all know from the numerous Catholic church scandals of recent years, young people are fairly easy to manipulate, especially when it's by "beloved" authority figures that they want to trust. And I can't help wondering if that kid was (a.) paid off, (b.) threatened in some way to keep his mouth shut, or (c.) was simply too embarrassed by the whole incident to admit to it. Young dudes poisoned by testosterone don't much enjoy looking weak in the eyes of others, and it wouldn't surprise me if the boy simply wanted to put this hypothetical unpleasantness between himself and Ford behind him and just forget about it. Creeps like Ford tend to count on such attitudes when it comes to choosing which victims to pick on. Pam MacConnell elected not to press charges against him after he physically body-slammed her, and he took it as an open invitation to continue menacing her whenever the mood struck him.

I forgot where I read this, but it was in some website comments' section (possibly Gawker). Somebody claimed there was an incident where Ford slammed a student's head against a toilet seat at one of the schools he coached at. I don't know if this was the episode under discussion, or if it occured at yet another school. How many has Ford volunteered at?

And yes, I know: Anonymous internet claim and all that, so I have no idea how true we can consider the alleged toilet seat incident. But unfortunately - and rather horribly - it's not exactly out of character for Mayor Assclown, is it?

That's the part that disgusts me, abusing the position of authority when it comes to youths.

 

[TOBorn]

hate to break it to twitter activists, but the overlap between people who pay attention to political hashtags and muzik's clientele is precisely zero.

So Muzik's clientele live in a bubble, protected from the evil OZ of the WWW? That's a little difficult to digest. I would think Muzik's clientele are precisely the demographic who tweet incessantly - we're just out of the loop 'cause we don't know the password (hashtag) to get into their conversation threads.


My apologies, just reread your post and I misunderstood your meaning initially, but I still maintain that the clientele of Muzik would still be exposed to the #BoycottMuzik thread.

 

[mrtinfoilsocket]

I feel somewhat betrayed by Robyn Doolittle jumping ship. It really has been the Star's story since the Garrison Ball.
View attachment 25064

I understand that feeling completely and I've been struggling with it myself. On balance though I also realize that people need to do what's best for their own careers at the end of the day. This is a huge story for us but it's Robyn's life.

I've changed jobs during my career and in the process put an employer I respected in a difficult position. It bothered me but I had to choose what was more important - my financial well being or the convenience of a faceless corporation.

I'm somewhat surprised though that reporters don't have some kind of non-compete clause. I have one and they're pretty common in my industry

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

re: Muzik:

Actually your best bet might be making sure the Ex get a new Board after the upcoming election and kill the 10 year lease extension.

AoD

 

[mrtinfoilsocket]

A non-compete can't prevent someone from changing jobs to work for a competitor. It can restrict their abilities to poach clients or colleagues from the former employer but it can't prevent someone from earning a living. What's more interesting is if Robyn's full load of sources and knowledge earned from her work at the Star now becomes the immediate property of the Globe's news organization. What if the Globe is prepared to push Rob stories out more quickly?

Actually mine does say I can't work for a competitor for a period of time but I'd been advised casually that it's likely unenforceable for the very reason you mention "can't prevent someone from earning a living".

What about intellectual property though? It's pretty common in the tech world to sign away any intellectual property rights to work you perform during your period of employment. Wouldn't the same kind of thing apply to the work reporters do during an investigation?