Wednesday, August 23, 2023
"The Constitution of Liberty" by Friedrich Hayek
Sunday, August 6, 2023
In a Democracy Should Politicians Appoint Judges or We The People Elect them?
Ultimately, the debate surrounding the appointment or election of judges
involves balancing the principles of democracy, independence of the judiciary,
and the need for qualified and impartial judges.
Different legal systems and societies may adopt different methods based
on their specific values and goals.
Yet what is the fairest, most honest and for the people in a democracy
that constantly sermonizes "A Just Society"?
Keeping in mind that A "Just Society" is a term frequently
used by politicians and their respective political party affiliates to describe
an ideal state of affairs where fairness, equality, and social justice are
prioritized and upheld.
Thus the specific interpretation of a Just Society may vary depending on
the political ideology and the context in which it is discussed.
For example, in Canada’s supreme court judges are appointed by the
political party in power at any given time and thus in reality are beholding
NOT to the electorate yet rather to the political party that appointed
them.
So, it is conceivable that some become political activist judges on
behalf of a political party’s ideology and NOT the law or the constitution.
When laws are changed, many diverse, and sometimes unexpected, interests
are affected.
Those who are responsible for the change must be alive to these
ramifications. Since the interests in question are best understood and
explained by those who are affected or would be affected themselves.
Thus, in my view, would it not be desirable that courts involved in the
reform of the law permit the representatives of affected interests to
participate in the litigation.
For example, most Canadian courts, at least those of civil jurisdiction,
are empowered to permit such participation, whether as a party, intervenor, or
amicus curiae. For the most part, however, the procedural rules that grant this
power do so in discretionary terms.
There are many examples, especially in the constitutional context, of
the generous exercise of this discretion. There have been, on the other hand,
some disturbing recent instances of courts refusing to allow important
interests to be represented in cases involving novel matters.
Judges are not, for the most part, the initiators of legal ideas. Unless
of course, they espouse the ideologies of the political masters that appointed
them as Judges! Most judicial innovations are conceived in barristers' craniums
(often after intercourse with academic publications).
Procedural practices which deprive the courts of exposure to the ideas
of counsel representing all significant points of view with respect to a
proposed legal change create a risk of ill-advised reform.
Would it not then be prudent to minimize this risk, by ensuring that the
rules of standing should ALWAYS be generous, both as to their terms and as to
their application of the laws, not ideologies or opinions.
Directly electing federal and state judges has both pros and cons.
Here are some points to consider:
Pros:
Accountability to the public: Elected judges are directly accountable to
the voters. This can promote transparency and responsiveness to public
interests since judges may be more inclined to rule in accordance with the will
of the people to maintain their positions.
Representation and diversity: Direct elections may lead to more diverse
benches, as candidates from different backgrounds and perspectives can campaign
for judgeships. This could improve the representation of the broader population
within the judiciary.
Reduced political bias: Since judges are not appointed by politicians,
there may be a lower risk of political bias influencing the selection process.
This could potentially lead to fairer decisions and reduced partisanship in the
judiciary.
Greater public engagement: Judicial elections can increase public
engagement with the legal system, as voters become more invested in
understanding the qualifications and positions of the candidates.
Checks on judicial power: Elected judges may be less insulated from
public scrutiny, which could serve as a check on the judiciary's power,
preventing potential abuses.
Cons:
Competence and qualifications: Judicial elections may prioritize
popularity over qualifications, leading to less experienced or unqualified
candidates winning elections. This could result in less competent judges on the
bench.
Influence of money and special interests: Judicial campaigns can be
expensive, and candidates may rely on donations from individuals or groups with
vested interests in the legal system. This may raise concerns about undue
influence and corruption.
The politicization of the judiciary: Elections can lead to judicial
candidates making campaign promises or catering to popular opinions, which
could compromise the impartiality and independence of the judiciary.
Short-term focus: Elected judges may be inclined to make decisions to
please their base and secure re-election, potentially sacrificing long-term
justice and the protection of minority rights.
Lack of public awareness: Many voters may not be well-informed about
judicial candidates and their qualifications, leading to decisions based on
name recognition or other superficial factors.
Implications for unpopular decisions: Judges might be reluctant to make
unpopular but necessary decisions if they fear losing their position in the
next election.
You decide!
Saturday, July 29, 2023
Individual Freedom and Security
Individual freedom and Security are not so much the objective security
of a Country's Constitution, or even the justice system but rather a sense of
confidence in our ability to take care of ourselves.
While constitutions and justice systems play crucial roles in
safeguarding rights and maintaining order, as prescripted by governments and
then interpreted by the courts, the true sense of confidence in one's ability
to take care of oneself and feel secure often goes beyond legal frameworks
alone.
The concept of individual freedom involves the absence of coercion or
undue constraints on personal choices and actions. When people feel free to
make decisions that align with their values and beliefs without fear of
oppression or discrimination, they have and thus experience a greater sense of
freedom.
On the other hand, security encompasses protection from harm, both
physical and psychological. It is not just limited to protection from external
threats, such as crime or invasion, but also extends to economic security,
social security, and a sense of overall well-being.
The sense of confidence in taking care of oneself is a crucial aspect of
freedom and security. It goes beyond relying solely on the formal institutions
and systems established by the constitution or justice system of governments be
they a Democracy, Monarchy, Oligarchy, Totalitarian, Theocracy, Aristocracy or
Dictatorship.
All peoples of the world, as individuals, have lives, relationships,
families, and the inherent right to reject or accept social trends and have
that right and freedom to free speech and make choices without being bullied,
coerced, intimidated, or cancelled or censored by either side of an issue?
Nor censored and silenced by social media or mainstream media outlets of
any kind.
As a true democracy doesn’t need fact-blockers or politically biased
fact-checkers, no matter if they are from the government, agencies of the
government or private corporations like Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
etc. We need more freedom to speak and discuss opinions on all sides of any
issue, not less.
Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, and Yahoo are the next few Teck corporations
that require new owners who support open and free dialogue NOT censorship based
on a particular political ideology.
Every individual has the right to define oneself and should others agree
with your self-definition or not is another matter entirely.
Unfortunately, it seems obvious that the goal of the mainstream gay, lesbian, bisexual transgender community is to force its ideals onto all citizens in their attempt to reduce individual rights by creating a society that must conform to only one viewpoint?
And when one does not conform you are instantly labelled a homophobic or a Trans phobia person!
Also, we have permitted non-elected bureaucrats and technocrats to be appointed
into positions of setting policy based, on their reasons and speech, without
any directly elected accountability or authority from the citizens at large.
Their policies have revolved around deciding for us the cradle-to-grave
decisions that once were democratically reserved solely for families and
individuals, NOT the ideologies of only one political party.
Throughout the world, we witness progressive liberal socialists deeply involved emotionally in attacks on truth, reality, free speech, banking, and property rights while ignoring the laws of the land, through the weaponization of the legal systems, the courts etc. in my opinion.
“Freedom” means the opportunity to go through life, with real goals not
the artificial goals of surrogate activities, like the media, and without
interference, manipulation, or supervision from anyone, especially from any
large organization or government.
Freedom means being in control (either as an individual or as a member
of a SMALL group) of the life-and-death issues of one’s existence; food,
clothing, shelter, and defence against whatever threats, real or conceived
there may be in one’s environment.
Freedom means having power; not the power to control, or mandate other
people but the power to control the circumstances of one’s own life.
One does not have judicial freedom if anyone else (especially the government or a large organization or media) has power over one, no matter how benevolently, tolerantly, and permissively that power may be exercised.
It is important not to confuse freedom or justice with mere
permissiveness and inducement by uncontrolled media reporters or
journalists. As Constitutional rights are useful up to a point, yet they do not
serve to guarantee much more than what might be called the bourgeois conception
of judicial freedom.
Freedom of the press is of very little use to the average citizen as an individual. The mass media are mostly under the control of large organizations that are integrated into the system. Anyone who has a little money can have something printed or can distribute it on the Internet or in some such way, but what he/she has to say will be swamped by the vast volume of material put out by the media or have it un-ceremonially cancelled by the social media Teck giants, hence it will have no practical effect.
To make an impression on society with words is therefore almost
impossible for most individuals and small groups in today's so-called
democracies worldwide.
Freedom without the individual being in a legal position to protect oneself, then there is no security for the individual or the security of a family.
Politicians say,
"Public safety is our top priority.”
Yet, why is it that they do not enforce all the laws and bylaws
currently on the books?
Further, why do they not demand that prosecutors, judges, the laws, and
sentencing be used to protect public safety as a top priority and for the
victims and innocent citizens who pay the price for crimes committed by
criminal elements within society?
To solve the problem of crime the laws must be enforced, prosecutors
must demand the maximum sentencing and judges must sentence all criminals,
regardless of age, based on the laws for crimes of adults under the criminal
code NOT under The Youth Criminal Justice Act.
Further, our laws must be updated relating to sentencing i.e., crimes
committee on public transit of any kind must be considered as a domestic
terrorist act and upon conviction of the first offence, with or without a
weapon, the minimum sentence must be one of 15 years without parole of any kind
and the first ten years of the sentence must be served in a jail NOT any other
institution like a halfway house etc.
And prosecutors or judges all of whom are not elected officials who do
not adhere to these new regulations must be FIRED and prohibited from ever
holding or working for any government position or within any government agency
for life. Plus receive a fine, a minimum fine of $1 MILLION dollars for not
protecting the victims and innocent citizens worldwide.
Sunday, July 23, 2023
Grassley Obtains & Releases FBI Record Alleging VP Biden Foreign Bribery Scheme
WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today released an unclassified FBI-generated record describing an alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Joe Biden and a Ukrainian business executive. Grassley acquired the record, an FD-1023, via legally protected disclosures by Justice Department whistleblowers.
“For the better part of a year, I’ve been pushing the Justice Department and FBI to provide details on its handling of very significant allegations from a trusted FBI informant implicating then-Vice President Biden in a criminal bribery scheme. While the FBI sought to obfuscate and redact, the American people can now read this document for themselves, without the filter of politicians or bureaucrats, thanks to brave and heroic whistleblowers. What did the Justice Department and FBI do with the detailed information in the document? And why have they tried to conceal it from Congress and the American people for so long? The Justice Department and FBI have failed to come clean, but Chairman Comer and I intend to find out,” Grassley said.
“The FBI’s Biden Bribery Record tracks closely with the evidence uncovered by the Oversight Committee’s Biden family influence-peddling investigation. In the FBI’s record, the Burisma executive claims that he didn’t pay the ‘big guy’ directly but that he used several bank accounts to conceal the money. That sounds an awful lot like how the Bidens conduct business: using multiple bank accounts to hide the source and total amount of the money,” House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer said. “At our hearing with IRS whistleblowers, they testified that they had never seen or heard of this record during the Biden criminal investigation, despite having potentially corroborating evidence. Given the misconduct and politicization at the Department of Justice, the American people must be able to read this record for themselves. I thank Senator Grassley for providing much-needed transparency to the American people. We must hold the Department of Justice accountable for seeking to bury this record to protect the Bidens.”
Grassley first disclosed the FBI’s possession of significant and voluminous evidence of potential criminality involving the Biden family last year. He has since worked to unearth the FBI record, eventually partnering with Comer on a subpoena to compel its public disclosure. After delays, the FBI provided a highly redacted version of the document to select members of the House of Representatives, but it remained shielded from the public and omitted key details, including references to recordings. Following the FBI’s failure to fully comply with the congressional subpoena, Grassley received the legally protected disclosure with limited redactions to protect a trusted FBI source, handling agents, department whistleblowers and identifiers related to other ongoing investigations.
‘Poluchili’
According to the FBI’s confidential human source, executives for Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company, brought Hunter Biden on the board to “protect us through his dad, from all kinds of problems.” At the time, Burisma was seeking to do business in the United States, but was facing a corruption investigation in Ukraine, led by then-Ukraine Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin. Regarding that investigation’s impact on its ambitions in North America, Burisma CEO Mykola Zlochevsky reportedly said, “Don't worry Hunter will take care of all of those issues through his dad.” Zlochevsky reportedly stated that he had to pay $5 million to Hunter Biden and $5 million to Joe Biden, an arrangement he described as ‘poluchili,’ which is Russian crime slang for being “forced or coerced to pay,” according to the document.
“Back-up”
Zlochevsky claimed to have many text messages and recordings that show that he was coerced into paying the Bidens to ensure Shokin was fired. Specifically, he claimed to have two recordings with Joe Biden and 15 recordings with Hunter Biden. Zlochevsky also retained two documents, presumably financial records, as evidence of the arrangement, but said he didn’t send any funds directly to the “Big Guy,” a term understood to be a reference to Joe Biden. References to the “Big Guy” surfaced in communications involving other Biden family business arrangements independent of the Burisma arrangement. Zlochevsky claimed it would take investigators 10 years to uncover the illicit payments to the Bidens, according to the document.
Authorized for public release by Ranking Member Grassley/Chairman Com
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/fd_1023_obtained_by_senator_grassley_-_biden.pdf
Related:
10.17.2022 | FBI Possesses Significant, Impactful, Voluminous Evidence of Potential Criminality in Biden Family Business Arrangements
05.03.2023 | Grassley, Comer Demand FBI Record Alleging Criminal Scheme Involving Then-VP Biden
05.10.2023 | Comer and Grassley on FBI Failing to Comply with Subpoena Deadline
05.24.2023 | Comer & Grassley Blast FBI for Refusing to Provide Subpoenaed Record Alleging Then-VP Biden Engaged in a Bribery Scheme
05.31.2023 | Grassley & Comer to Wray: Provide the Unclassified Documents or Face Contempt
06.06.2023 | Grassley's Message to the Biden DOJ and FBI: Quit Playing Games with the American People
06.12.2023 | Grassley: FBI Redacted References to Recordings in Biden Allegation Shared with Congress
06.21.2023 | Grassley, Graham Lead Senate Judiciary Committee GOP in Seeking Unredacted FBI Record at Center of Biden Allegations
07.18.2023 | Grassley, Johnson, Senate Republicans Demand DOJ and FBI Protect Whistleblowers Alleging Biden Bribery Scheme
Thursday, March 23, 2023
Unified Eastern Ontario Regional Homelessness Authority and Action Plan
The issue of homelessness, mental health, and substance abuse is a complex and ever-increasing problem affecting various regions of Ontario, including the cities within the Eastern Regions. While individual cities and regions have attempted to address the issue, they have not been successful in finding a long-lasting solution. In this regard, a collective effort under a unified Regional Homelessness Authority (RHA) and Plan is the way forward.
The RHA
should be designed to unify and coordinate the existing funding, policies, and
programs of the regions and cities within the Eastern Regions. It should
combine the goals, funding, and resources of the existing networks for
permanent housing, health care, child welfare, mental health, education, and
employment through collaboration and sufficient resources from service
providers, low-barrier shelters, shelter programs, and temporary housing
services. By doing so, the RHA can effectively and economically solve these
complex problems.
It is also
important for the RHA to engage and collaborate with systems and partners
outside of existing homelessness financing, plans, and systems response. This
includes regional local industries, developers, and employers to assist in
solving these complex problems and to show these communities that homelessness
is solvable together as opposed to a fragmentation of the homeless, mental
health, and substance abuse systems currently in place.
To
accomplish such goals, the RHA must have accurate, reliable accounting data on
the number of people experiencing homelessness in the regions and cities within
the regions and what services and support might be most helpful for them. The
RHA should be aware that statistics worldwide suggest that approximately 26% of
homeless individuals have a severe mental illness, 34% have a substance use
disorder, leaving perhaps 40% who have simply decided to drop out of society to
live off the handouts from others by seeking this itinerant way of life at the
direct expense of Cities and Municipal governments and their electorate.
The RHA
should also understand the various types and scales of emergency, temporary,
shelter/barrier-shelters, and permanent housing solutions necessary to meet the
needs of people who are honestly and truly experiencing homelessness.
Therefore, the RHA must resource and scale on evidence-based policies,
programs, and practices that will increase the permanent capacity and
effectiveness of the existing and non-existing overall service systems already
in place or contemplated.
Once the
RHA has accurate, reliable accounting data on the number of people experiencing
homelessness, it should prioritize the individuals' most impactful needs and
requirements first. The RHA should then connect these individuals to supportive
services to address medical, mental health, substance use, employment, and
education needs in an effort toward individualized self-sufficiency and
reintegration into the community.
The RHA
must be conscious of the fact that continued handouts from well-intended
government programs and citizens that endlessly give handouts of tents, food,
clothing etc. have proven over the past decade not to be the solution to
solving this problem of homelessness for the numerous individuals seeking an
itinerant way of life removed from society and its rules, regulations, and
laws.
The RHA
must be conscious of the fact that continued handouts
from well-intended government programs and citizens that endlessly give
handouts of tents, food, clothing etc. have proven over the past decade not to
be the solution to solving this problem of homelessness for the numerous
individuals seeking an itinerant way of life removed from
society and its rules, regulations and laws.
Finally, the jurisdiction of the RHA must not be limited to existing
low-barrier shelters, shelter programs, temporary/permanent housing, or housing
services. To dramatically reduce homelessness combined with drug addiction and
mental illness low barrier shelters, shelter programs, and temporary housing
services. The new RHA must work with and include a network of builders,
developers, local industries, permanent housing, health care, child welfare,
mental health, education, and employment through collaboration from and with
federal and provincial governments and sufficient resources from, and for all
such service providers by improving the behavioural health systems through
restructuring the existing service systems to improve capacity, supports, and
efficiencies on a factual evidence-based approach.
In
conclusion, the formation of a Regional Homelessness Authority and Plan, with a
unified regional approach that includes the cities within the Eastern Regions,
is the best way to tackle the ever-increasing homelessness, mental health, and
substance abuse problems affecting these regions. Through this unified
approach, it will be possible to combine the resources and collaborate with the
existing networks for permanent housing, health care, child welfare, mental
health, education, and employment to solve these complex problems effectively
and economically.
Monday, January 2, 2023
Socialism, World's Oldest Pyramid Scam
KEY TAKEAWAYS
· Socialist pyramid
scams (Schemes) are a utopian fraud on voters promising easy money, forgiving
loans, by less work or no work
· Socialist pyramid
schemes (Scams) depend on other people’s money and then taxation, more taxation
and plus more taxation
· Socialist pyramid
schemes (SPS) represent a structure of price, labour, property, and corporate controls
on society
· SPS offers easy
money and income through the redistribution of wealth and nationalization of
industry and corporations
· SPS funnels
earnings, profits and property from the richest nonparticipants and
corporations on the upper levels of society to governments to be transferred
and distributed to the lower and lowest levels of participants and society.
· It is a felony
in the U.S. to recruit participants into pyramid schemes, yet academia
throughout the world preaches the theory of the socialist pyramid schemes
(Scams) yet never the failures and disaster results of socialism are preached.
· Yet, SPS requires
the buy-in and support through voter participation and propagandized by media, academia
and the courts that remain unchallenged by politicians and their legal system
· All SPS rely on individuals'
and corporations’ income for redistribution of wealth, property and profits from
participants and nonparticipants alike.
· Like all socialist
pyramid scams (SPS) once all corporations and industry have been confiscated and
nationalized by the government the scams death by ecocide has been accomplished as
detailed throughout history
History, it seems, once passed remains forgotten by the voters, that
is until once again we are fooled by the liberal socialist progressive's
rebranding of the socialist pyramid scams for political power purposes
The conception of many was that socialism in North America had been “vanquished” after the collapse of Soviet Communism 32 years ago in 1991.
We all must be reminded of the words of T. S. Eliot who stated,
“There is no such thing as a Lost Cause because there is no such thing as a
Gained Cause.”
Socialism in whatever name or form that academia, politicians, and the media continue to support and propagandize for the masses and their comrades by such rebranding we all must continually be reminded that “There is no sense in which socialism can be made compatible with democracy anywhere in the world as socialism eat democracy and is swiftly transmuted into tyranny.”
At best, socialism “stamps out individualism, places civil society into a straitjacket of uniform size and turns representative government into an illusion.”
Throughout
Canada; North and South America and indeed the world; after more than 6,000 years
of civilization the rights to free speech, the rights to free conscience, and
the rights to freedom of religion along with the right to bear arms and the
right to a jury trial are continually under attack by liberal socialist
progressive politicians