All Purpose Politics and News Thread

[Darth Penguin]

Mugabe resigns ending 37 year rule

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has resigned, bringing an end to 37 years of rule and sparking jubilant celebrations in the nation's streets.
A letter from Mr Mugabe read out by the speaker of parliament said the decision was voluntary and he had made it to allow a smooth transfer of power.
The news abruptly halted an impeachment hearing that had begun against him.
The ruling Zanu-PF party says former vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa will succeed Mr Mugabe, in power since 1980.
Mr Mnangagwa's sacking earlier this month triggered a political crisis.
It had been seen by many as an attempt to clear the way for Grace Mugabe to succeed her husband as leader and riled the military leadership, who stepped in and put Mr Mugabe under house arrest.
After the resignation announcement, lawmakers roared in jubilation.

[Ciel]

Looks like the University of Toronto will have an academic staff strike coming up:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...e-mandate.html

[Ciel]

Quebec's Parti Quebecois voted unanimously to end the dual greeting in businesses and stores with just the usage of "bonjour" from now on: https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/...-greeting.html

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/...ge-debate.html

[GoodBoy]

All parties voted the same. Not just the PQ.

Quebec's Parti Quebecois voted unanimously to end the dual greeting in businesses and stores with just the usage of "bonjour" from now on: https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/...-greeting.html

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/...ge-debate.html

Sent from my iPhone

[Lynn49]

This just reeks of "big brother is watching you" politics. Maybe I'm not understanding the issue at all, but why is it necessary dictate how clerks address customers?

[walkonby]

sigh....I knew it was coming, knew his name was mud after another few women came forward.
Al Franken is resigning..... in a few months or sometime soon? His speech was heartfelt ( I was a fan from SNL first but then was surprised that he ran and won the Senate seat in Minnesota.

I am soooo disappointed that of all the men out there who have been obvious horndogs their whole life, Al is now stuck into that pot. No excuses, he did what he did and admitted to as much, he apologized but even pushed back a bit on certain claims that were made about him that he has flatly denied.

I couldn't help but enjoy the " swipe " he made in his statement today regarding the irony that Potus ( heard on the Access Hollywood tape bragging about his sexual assaults ) is still in the WH and GOP candidate Judge Moore ( running for Senate seat in Alabama ) who refuses to remove his name from the ballot but has 9 women accusing him of child molestation/sexual assault......basically creeper behaviour going back 40 yrs ago involving young teen girls.

It must be really tough for the Democrats to lose one of their most competent members right now but Al Franken has probably come to realize the poor judgement he used 10 or so yrs ago when working with or being close to women outweighs any good he did to fight for women's rights and any successes he can can have going forward in government.

[Lynn49]

Like you, @walkonby , I was immensely disappointed in him. He did, could still have done so much good for the party, but yep, just another SNL scumball comic who couldn't change his spots when he moved "up the hill". As to potus.....prayers for Meuller, please!

[candogrl]

It looks like he couldn't pull it off, so Trudeau leaves China empty-handed - maybe we get a better insight of what went wrong when he gets asked about it during question period in Parliament?

[Darth Penguin]

This just reeks of "big brother is watching you" politics. Maybe I'm not understanding the issue at all, but why is it necessary dictate how clerks address customers?

The same as people who cry persecution when the clerks say "Happy Holidays" to accommodate all the various festivals during the end of the year. Christianity has at least 8 major feast days between December 20th and January 10th.

[Lynn49]

I frankly don't care if clerks say, "Happy holidays" as long as it isn't store policy. I won't and didn't (when I was a clerk) replace a "Merry Christmas" greeting when I was in retail. We "Christmas shop", we sing "Christmas carols", we bake "Christmas cake".
It's CHRISTMAS. If someone says Happy Hanukkah to me, I say Happy Hanukkah back to them. Etc.
All religions should be respected and not boiled down into a tastless soup called, 'happy holidays'. Jmho.

[walkonby]

ugh......TRUMP......still!!!!

[candogrl]

ugh ... TRUMP ... still!!!!

yeh, well - that major irritant to traditional decorum and diplomacy in international relations maybe around a bit longer than desired by a lot of good meaning folks in many a land ... lol

[heartgirl99]

[Ciel]

All parties voted the same. Not just the PQ.






Sent from my iPhone

I did read in a column that the vote is just a resolution and not an actual law in Quebec.

[Ciel]

Toys R Us to close about 20% of its US stores:

Toys R US isn’t alone. About three dozen retailers sought bankruptcy protection last year due in large part to a radical shift in consumer behaviour, both in where they shop, and what they buy. Some of the retailers that have gone under have been small, but there are also big names on the list, like Payless Shoe Source, Gymboree Corp. and True Religion jeans.

http://torontosun.com/business/toys-...a-e238e0e97ca1