Rob Ford

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Sunday Link-Off: Cracking the Case

alex-morgan-health16-02Good news! The Donald Trump link (singular) is buried below the fold. Instead, you can read all about Rob Ford. No, don’t compare the two and Jimmy Kimmel explains why Ford is the better person in a link after the jump.

Anyway, it’s Sunday which means we’re doing the links. Since she missed a critical penalty kick at the Olympics, here’s American soccer star Alex Morgan.

The moment the world was waiting for has finally arrived. The Rob Ford crack video has finally been released. (CBC News)

Kevin Donovan talks about his time working on the crack video story. (Toronto Star)

Three years after the scandal first broke, people still care. Did the Toronto press care? (Torontoist)

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Sunday Link-Off: The Family Legacy

melanie-iglesias-newyorkpost14-02Well, if you’re a fan of Toronto or Canadian politics, you’ve picked the right week to check out the Sunday links. All Canadians are talking about is Rob Ford. Even the Oscar Pistorius news is tertiary to the municipal politics of Toronto. I guess that’s what happens when said municipal politics features an admitted crack user as the mayor and an alleged drug dealer as his brother’s replacement in the election.

But before we get into that and all the other Sunday links, here’s American model Melanie Iglesias.

It’s a rare look inside a dying mayoral campaign with now-former Toronto mayoral candidate David Soknacki. One of his campaign staff went on the record to say that Toronto voters elected Rob Ford in 2010 because they were “very superficial.” And you wonder why his campaign was going so badly that he withdrew. (Torontoist)

And given that Mayor Ford is in hospital with an abdominal tumour, his brother Doug is carrying the family name in the mayoral race while Rob will run for Ward 2 council. While Rob was in with a shot at being re-elected, pundits aren’t holding out hope for Doug. (MacLean’s)

Mayor Ford’s former chief of staff, Mark Towhey, is working on a “tell-all” book about his time with the Ford administration. Conveniently, it’s coming out six days before the election. (Canada.com)

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Sunday Link-Off: Fireworks

arianny-celeste-fitnessgurls14-02There are two weeks that are an absolute curse to a blogger. One is that stretch between Christmas and New Year’s when the internet basically shuts down. The other is the Canada Day / Independence Day stretch where you want to shut down at the start and the American blogosphere shuts down at the other end and nobody gets anything done. It makes for some short linkdumps is what I’m trying to say.

We do have some links though. If you’re interested in the return of Rob Ford or what the WWE is banking its stock price on, this is a good post for you. First, since this is a post-Independence Day post, let’s start with Arianny Celeste.

Rob Ford is back running the show at City Hall. Is he the new man that he claims to be? (Toronto Sun)

And Ford is only 10 points behind Olivia Chow in the latest poll despite two months in rehab. Despite being closer than any other politician would be, he’s probably not close enough to pull off the comeback. (ThreeHundredEight)

The Grid magazine, Toronto’s free weekly news magazine, is closing its doors after three years due to poor finances. Now who will profile the lovely and talented Robyn Doolittle? (The Globe and Mail)

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Sunday Link-Off: They Actually Made Me Go to Rehab

kim-cloutier-soma14-01If you’re not here in Canada, you might not know that this is a holiday weekend. It’s our version of the May long weekend coinciding with the third Monday of the month while America’s Memorial Day is on the fourth Monday. The more you know… not that you needed to know that. I like to educate every now and then.

And since this is a Canadian holiday weekend, we should start this post with a Canadian model. Here’s Kim Cloutier. Really, no one else could kick off this post.

New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson was fired because she demanded equal pay to her male predecessor. That’s a sad state of affairs when that happens. (The New Yorker)

How far behind male colleagues was Abramson? Only about $100,000. (Politico)

It’s not just the Fair Elections Act that the Harper Government is missing the mark with. Everyone from lawyers to NGOs to the victims of cyberbullying are opposed to the Canadian Government’s cyberbullying bill. And you want to elect Harper’s Ontario lieutenant. (Vice)

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Wednesday Link-Off: They Tried to Make Me Go to Rehab

camille-rowe-victoriassecret14-71Hi folks. I’m back after a couple of days off to hit you with the links. I should probably have Jackie do more link-offs since you guys actually like what he’s selling but you’re stuck with me today instead.

In today’s linkdump, we have more on Rob Ford, a look at the situation in Russia and Ukraine and Rand Paul’s push for the presidency. First, we start it all off with Camille Rowe.

Rob Ford might be off to rehab but it doesn’t look like it’s in Chicago. Reportedly, he didn’t attempt to enter the US. (The Globe and Mail) Also, shame, Globe & Mail. A headline that reads “Rob Ford Turned Back From United States” reads like he was denied entry. You should know better than to try tabloid/clickbait headlines.

The latest reports put Ford at a rehab facility in Guelph. (Canoe)

And the media’s treatment of Rob Ford might be driving voters who the media also look down on to Ford. It’s not a case of who is best for Toronto but a case of people sticking together to spite the media. (Medium)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Going Back to Cali

kristen-bell-oscars14-01Usually I do a little preamble at the start of the link-off but I’m going to cut it short because your attention should not be at the top of the post but the bottom. All the Rob Ford stuff is at the very end. There are recaps of his Jimmy Kimmel appearance, a TMZ story and the whole Kimmel interview. Just click through and go scroll down.

With that out of the way, let’s get the rest of the links going. Here’s Kristen Bell who certainly attracted some attention at the Oscars.

Things in the Ukraine keep deteriorating as Vlad Putin says one thing and does the complete opposite. The world is dealing with a dangerous man who is still in the Cold War mindset. Has he lost touch with reality? (The New Republic)

Bitcoin might be an interesting idea but there are still bugs to work out. Like when a major exchange goes down and causes chaos in the market. (Venture Beat)

Disney has cut funding from the Boy Scouts of America over their anti-gay policies. If only companies did that with the Olympics over Russia’s anti-gay policies. (Associated Press)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Gone but Not Forgotten

Even though the 2014 Sochi LOLympics are gone, I’m not done reinforcing the fact that they’re an absolutely farce. However, since there are other things happening in the world, it’s not a solely LOLympic edition of the Wednesday links.

So let’s get this show on the road by starting with likely SI Swimsuit rookie of the year Samantha Hoopes.

A Duke University freshman became a porn actress to help her pay tuition. She learned some things about herself and society in doing so. (XO Jane)

Arizona’s Republican Governor says that she will veto the state’s anti-gay bill. Granted, she cites economic reasons for planning to veto but it’s still a win for people who aren’t assholes. (Business Insider)

Bonnie Ford examines the dichotomy of these LOLympics. Everything was fine on the surface but terrible when you looked away from sports. (espnW)

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Wednesday Link-Off: The Best of Times, The Blurst of Times

anais-pouliot-victoriassecret14-04Before any accuses me of breaking my Olympic boycott, I insist that stories embarrassing to the IOC and the Sochi Organizing Committee are in keeping in the spirit of the boycott. I am not supporting them with the Olympic links in this post.

Alright, it’s Wednesday which means that it’s time for the links. Since it’s the run up to Valentine’s Day, here’s a Valentine’s Day themed shoot from Canadian Victoria’s Secret model Anais Pouliot.

Occupy Wall Street protester Cecily McMillan is facing seven years in prison for being beaten unconscious by the NYPD. You can’t call it “the American justice system” because clearly there is no justice. (The Sparrow Project)

Michael Sam has a very good chance of being the first openly gay athlete in a major American team sport after coming out this weekend. Hopefully that doesn’t drop him right out of the upcoming NFL draft. (Outsports)

While we’ve been focusing on Russia’s domestic issues that have made these games morally unbearable, Putin’s backing of the Syrian government has allowed for them to slaughter thousands of innocent civilians. Why is Russia allowed to host these Olympics despite their near cartoonish villainy. (The New Yorker)

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The Lowdown BlogCast: December 24, 2013

It’s only been 18 months since the last episode of the podcast but the boys are back for the annual Lowdown Podcast Christmas Special.

On tonight’s return episode, the boys talk about embattled Toronto mayor Rob Ford and the crack video scandal. They move on to entertainment in which they break down the best and worst new shows of the current TV season. For the first time in a Christmas special, the boys talk about their favourite Christmas movies and debate which Christmas movies are so bad that they’re actually good. And the show wraps up with a discussion of the upcoming NHL Stadium Series and some recent NHL suspensions.

It may have been almost 18 months since the last Lowdown podcast but the boys are back in vintage form with a two-hour cast for you.

A quick note before you listen: Due to a software glitch, the guys are out of sync. Therefore, rather than one of them talking and the other answer, it’s recorded as the two often talking over each other. We apologize for the issue but it’s either live with it or scrap the whole thing and forego the podcast.

Click here to download The Lowdown BlogCast.
Click here to download the podcast quality version.

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Wednesday Link-Off: Downfall

alejandra-alonso-womenssecret13-01It’s one week until Christmas and I still have Christmas shopping to do. Okay, the shopping is actually done but five business day shipping has turned into 10+ now. What a ripoff. Fortunately for me, Amazon has overnight shipping just in case and I’m confident they won’t screw it up.

Anyway, it’s time for the links. Let’s kick things off with Alejandra Alonso.

The Boston Globe examines the lives of Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bombers. (Boston Globe)

A former Boston assistant district attorney got himself arrested so he could see what the American justice system was actually like. The results may surprise you but probably shouldn’t. (The Atlantic)

No, Kanye, you’re nothing like a police officer or military personnel. An Ohio police chief sets the rapper straight. (Clash Daily)

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