Crack-Addicted Toronto Mayor Should Stay

Normally people here in the United States would never care about some mayor up in Toronto. But for some reason, all you can see on the news recently is Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. And that reason is that he has openly admitted to the frequent use of crack-cocaine. However, in his words, Ford is “not an addict.”

Creative Commons Photo from West Annex News
Rob Ford meets the press

I’m not here to tell you Rob Ford is okay, or by any means a good mayor. Personally, I would never want the mayor of my hometown, Manalapan, to be a crack-addicted mess. No matter how funny or quotable he may be.

But Ford was elected mayor by Toronto. He won. Now Toronto and its city council has to deal with that mistake. While some might try to argue that he has to be kicked off of city council, it seems a little harsh to me. Ford has just recently been stripped of most of his powers at a recent city council meeting. That seems perfect to me. City council should give him no further restrictions as mayor of Toronto.

Ford might not exactly be the best role model, or the best person to lead Toronto, for that matter. But he still is their mayor, and it should stay that way until his term is over. Unless, of course, he gets re-elected.

Drug-using Toronto mayor needs to go

By TYLER PALEY

It’s been the main story on the news for the past few weeks.  And it doesn’t look like it’s getting much better.

PHOTO FROM SHAUN MERRITT
Toronto mayor Rob Ford.

Toronto mayor Rob Ford admitted to using illegal narcotics on Nov. 5, saying “I have smoked crack cocaine. But I am not an addict,” according to a report by CTV News in Canada.

Originally, the mayor denied the rumors that surfaced of him being a drug user, but eventually decided that “[he had] nothing left to hide.”

Since his admittance, Ford has been scrutinized by not only international media organizations, but also the city council of Toronto.  Reports have asserted that many councilors want Ford to lose some or all of his power as mayor because he cannot be trusted to lead one of the biggest cities in the world.

This man took office in 2010 after being a city councilor for ten years, and also had a record of numerous offenses including DUI, being thrown out of a hockey game for becoming violent and belligerent and being accused of sexual harrassment, along with the charges brought against him now.

Personally, I believe Rob Ford has to be one of the biggest imbeciles on the planet.  Ford holds a seat in major public office in one of the world’s biggest countries.  He has power that I can only dream of having one day.  The best part, though, is that he ruined it all to get a little high one night in just another one of his “drunken stupors.”

To be honest, though, I blame the citizens of Toronto for electing this man to office in the first place.  He already had a record of not-so-small transgressions and the people still wanted him to be mayor.  Maybe they were all on crack when they stepped into the voting booths, too.

If the Toronto city council doesn’t strip Ford of most of his authority soon, they don’t know what’s coming to them.

 

Christie victorious; what’s next?

By TYLER PALEY and MAX RAIS

For the first time in our lives, we got the opportunity to cast our votes yesterday for the Governor of New Jersey.  It’s said that the first time is the most special and exciting opportunity because of the power and responsibility you carry.  Surely enough, that was true.

Incumbent N. J. Governor Chris Christie cruised to an easy win in yesterday’s state gubernatorial race against Democrat Barbara Buono.  So now that Christie continues to lead the Garden State, what exactly will he be focusing on — his seat in Trenton or Washington?

According to a Star Ledger article by Paul Mulshine, Gov. Christie can now be considered the front-runner for the 2016 nomination from the GOP for the presidency.  This is because of the one other gubernatorial race that took place yesterday in Virginia.  Democrat Terry McAuliffe took down Tea Party Republican Ken Cuccinelli in an extremely close race.  This continues a recurring theme of Tea Party losses in polls and elections around the country.  Christie blew Buono away by so much that there is no doubt he is the front-runner for a presidential nomination.

The New York Times was the first media outlet to break the news last night of Christie’s victory just two minutes after the polls closed.  In their breaking news article, one quote was somewhat disturbing to us.  “Still, Mr. Christie has to be governor of New Jersey, and that may complicate his plans to run for the presidency,” it read.

Christie has no interest in New Jersey anymore, other than for his own public relations.  What do we mean by that?  Mr. Christie is more concerned about his upcoming presidential campaign than he is with New Jerseyans. He put in his time for Hurricane Sandy relief, education reform (or lack thereof) and everything a governor should do…at least he thinks he has.

New Jersey officially has a governor who goes to the state house every day.  We question, though, whether Chris Christie will be there mentally — or if he’s already dreaming of sitting at his desk in the Oval Office.

 

 

 

Court Deems Stop-And-Frisk is still constitutional

By MAX RAIS

A three-judge panel for a  federal appeals court decided to block a ruling stating that the New York Police Department’s stop-and-frisk policy is unconstitutional.

The NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy, in a nutshell, states that any police officer can confront and question any citizen they deem criminally suspicious. It also has been a hot topic of controversy lately.

Creative Commons photo taken from Jackie – http://www.flickr.com/photos/abbynormy/

Why wouldn’t it? It seems a little obvious that stop-and-frisk is an easy excuse for racism. Need I remind everyone of the stand your ground law? Yeah, because we need another one of those again.

I want to be able to say I trust the NYPD to make decisions based on actual causation, and not just based on the color of the “suspicious individual’s” skin. Unfortunately that would simply be putting too much faith in New York’s police officers, who have showed us time and time again that they will profile. The vast majority of the people who are stopped are African-American or Latino.

All I want is a fair and honest decision from the courts: is this program really constitutional? I think it’s about time a change is made. Or better yet, just end it altogether.

 

Breaking down the NSA’s purpose

By TYLER PALEY

Since the emergence of the National Security Agency in 1952, the United States of America has (presumably) become a much safer place – in fact, it’s safe to say that it’s one of the most secure sovereign nations in the world.

Here’s some background just to clear up what this organization is exactly.  Think of the NSA as the sister of the CIA.  The primary differences are that the CIA has no jurisdiction on U.S. soil while the NSA does, and the NSA primarily handles more technological intelligence while the CIA does foreign field work.  If you want to learn more about these organizations, don’t hesitate to eMail me.

Anyway, here’s the problem.

The National Security Agency was established in 1952.
Photo taken under Fair Use.

The political consequences that the NSA provides are usually minimal; after all, every country has spies, both domestic and foreign.  But recently it has been revealed that the NSA has been spying on allies of the United States along with enemies.  These allies include Brazil, Germany, France, Spain and multiple others, according to a recent New York Times article.  Frankly, these countries are pissed.

These allegations come just months after Edward Snowden released classified security documents to the press, and just a few years after the infamous WikiLeaks release of classified military information.

Look, I’m not going to say that this is surprising; honestly, it’s to be assumed that in today’s day and age, every country is doing it.  My problem is not with the acquisition of this intelligence because I truly believe we should be obtaining anything and everything we can get.  My problem is with the people in the NSA who choose what is and isn’t released to the public.  Just tell us something once in a while.  It doesn’t need to be top-secret, but the smallest bit of information would put the public at ease every so often.

So I guess my ultimate question is, how long will it be before the NSA is demolished, one way or another?  Because it’s only a matter of time.

Buono Has the Stuff to Take Out Christie in Upcoming Election

By MAX RAIS

In next Tuesday’s N.J. general election, the citizens of New Jersey will have a second chance to not elect Incumbent Republican Chris Christie as our governor.

Even I can admit Christie hasn’t failed as a governor — he certainly has some redeeming qualities about him. Of course, for what Christie lacks, Buono has excelled in.

Everyone knows Christie has ignored educational reform and shied away from any educational funding. As governor, Buono intends to fund N.J.’s schools and fill the much-needed financial hole in their pockets.

Image taken from http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/

Buono also has a solid position on New Jersey economy and jobs, as she plans to fund small businesses and cut taxes for middle-class families. While it remains to be seen whether or not her plans will come to fruition, I think we should at least give her a shot.

Christie’s reign has ended, it’s about time someone else had a chance.

Christie will easily maintain control of NJ

By TYLER PALEY

Next Tuesday’s general election in New Jersey will prove once again why residents of the Garden State aren’t always idiots.

Incumbent Gov.  Chris Christie will easily maintain the leadership role for New Jersey over his competition, state senator Barbara Buono.

PHOTO BY TYLER PALEY
Gov. Chris Christie speaks at a public town hall meeting in Howell, N.J. in 2012.

Don’t get me wrong, I can appreciate a good competition when I see one.  Buono’s numbers are respectable, considering Christie is up just 26.4 points, according to RealClearPolitics.  It’s a much closer race than I ever imagined.

Personally, I like Gov. Christie – a lot.  I believe he provides the state of New Jersey, along with the entire country, with a sense of honesty and trust, which are two things that are hard to come by in this country today.  This man will be president one day – mark my words.

To Barbara Buono, I say – nice try.  Even though you had no shot.

Obamacare Website is a Negligible Mistake

That’s it. The headline says it all here.

Following a 16 day government shutdown, the critical eye of the media has shifted from the greedy Republican Party to the government website for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as “Obamacare.” The website can be found here.

Unfortunately, the website is experiencing some technical difficulties at the moment. There are two main things I want to cover here. First of all, this is not Obama’s fault, nor is it a reflection of the Democratic Party in any way, shape or form. Second, even if it was Obama’s fault, it really would not even matter.

Why this is not Obama’s fault

Anyone who blames our president for this is just plain wrong. He is not the one designing this website. The technical difficulties are out of his control. You really should be calling Obama’s tech department to give them a piece of your mind. There, that one was easy.

Why this doesn’t matter

You’re all missing the point here. So what if the website is down at the moment? It doesn’t make Obama any worse of a president, it doesn’t change anything about the Obamacare act, and it definitely doesn’t make the GOP any less greedy.

Anyway, the LAST person that should be blamed for this minor miscue is our president, Barack Obama.

Web site flaws reinforce Obama’s vulnerablility

By TYLER PALEY

After a 16 day federal government shutdown that lasted from the first of October to the sixteenth, the House republicans finally came through and approved the government spending bill that ended the shutdown.

The primary reason for the shutdown in the first place was the GOP’s refusal to accept the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as “Obamacare.”  President Obama stood his ground and eventually the republicans had no choice but to back down.

Now, though, the web site for the act (HealthCare.gov) is experiencing “serious technical issues,” according to the New York Times.

When I visited the site to explore it for myself, there are no apparent issues.  It is when someone tries to sign up for coverage online that the problem arises.

Let me say this: the president finally whined and cried enough to congress to get his way and got the republicans to approve the government funding bill and he got to keep his entire life’s work from being delayed or completely demolished.  Quite an accomplishment, if you ask me.

BUT now the website won’t work, so people can’t even sign up?!  Well, Mr. President, swell job.

Sure, this may be a minuscule technical setback that will be fixed in a few days…or maybe longer.  Regardless, it just shows that President Obama was not prepared for the next situation – what would come after the shutdown was over.

It’s ironic, in a sense.  You get what you begged for, but it seems like you don’t even want it after all.

All I can say is, the president better get that website working fast, because the republicans will waste no time ripping Obama for something like that.

What do we know, anyway?

By TYLER PALEY

You may have clicked on this blog and asked yourself, “why should I listen to these people? What do they know?” The answer to that isn’t simple.

I will truthfully say that I don’t know everything and that I can appreciate the opinions of others.  My goal on this blog is to provide our readers with my most fair and accurate views from BOTH sides – liberal and conservative.

How will I do that?

Well, one of the primary purposes of this blog is for Max and me not to take sides on a personal level. Therefore, we intend on switching the viewpoints we take on each topic so as to stay neutral in our own views, but provide the reader with both sides of the argument without bias.

And THAT is what we call, Politi-Junkie.