Students Await Judgment in Suit Over Fordham University Banning of Pro-Palestine Club

A court convened Wednesday afternoon to hear the case of students at Fordham University who are suing the school, which had denied them the ability to form an official student club in December 2016. The petitioning students, Ahmad Awad, Sofia Dadap, Sapphira Lurie, and Julie Norris, who are represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights and Palestine Legal, had tried to form a club on one of the most contentious political issues on campus: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Backlog in military pensions won't be cleared until end of year

It will be the end of the year before the enormous backlog of military pension payment files is cleared up, National Defence officials say, and it will likely be October before a similar stockpile of outstanding severance payment claims are rectified.

Both of these long-standing logjams have left an increasing number of newly retired military members in a financial lurch.

Go to Jail. Die From Drug Withdrawal. Welcome to the Criminal Justice System.

When Tyler Tabor was booked in a jail outside Denver on a spring afternoon in 2015, he told a screening nurse that he was a daily heroin user and had a prescription for Xanax. A friendly, outdoorsy 25-year-old with a son in kindergarten, Tabor had started using opioids after he injured his back on the job as a welder. When he was arrested on two misdemeanor warrants, his parents decided not to pay his $300 bail, thinking he would be safer in jail and away from heroin for a few days.

Profit and Abuse at Homes for the Profoundly Disabled

Three years ago, it looked like the Florida agency that oversees care for children and adults with disabilities had finally had enough.

It filed a legal complaint that outlined horrific abuse at Carlton Palms, a rambling campus of group homes and classrooms near the small town of Mount Dora.

A man called “R.G.” was punched in the stomach, kicked, and told “shut your fucking mouth,” the complaint said. “R.T.” was left with a face full of bruises after a worker hit him with a belt wrapped around his fist. A child, “D.K.,” who refused to lie face down so he could be restrained, was kicked in the face and choked until, eyes bulging, he nearly passed out.

Ontario Auditor General Worries Changes Could See Public Pay For Partisan Ads

TORONTO - Ontarians could end up paying for partisan political advertising under changes the Liberal government is proposing, the province's auditor general warned Wednesday.

The government signalled in the budget last week that it would amend legislation to require the government to submit preliminary ads for the auditor general to review, define "partisan" in relation to its advertising and restrict government ads during elections.

Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk said the proposed changes would "gut" the 10-year-old act.

Soldiers with PTSD might not get full pension, advocates warn

The mental-health struggles of Canadian soldiers have caught a lot of political attention of late, but veterans advocates remain concerned that PTSD could jeopardize a soldier's pension.

A Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) member has to serve 10 years before being eligible for a full pension.

But by coming forward with physical or psychological injuries — such as post-traumatic stress disorder — in their first decade of service, many soldiers are at risk of being medically released and losing out on a full pension, says Michael Blais, president and founder of Canadian Veterans Advocacy.

Eric Frein's Neighbors: 'We're Prisoners In Our Own Homes'

CANADENSIS, Pa. -- Jill Nobles is a single mother living in the backwoods of Pennsylvania, seven miles from the home of alleged cop killer Eric Frein. Less than two weeks ago, she felt safe -- now she clutches her pepper spray when she leaves the house, unsure if cops will block off her route back when she returns at night.

Veterans Watchdog: Half Of Badly Wounded Ex-Soldiers Not Getting Disability Cheques

OTTAWA - A new report by Canada's veterans watchdog says nearly half of the country's most severely disabled ex-soldiers are not receiving a government allowance intended to compensate them for their physical and mental wounds.

Veterans ombudsman Guy Parent also concluded that those who are receiving the permanent impairment allowance, along with a recently introduced supplement, are only awarded the lowest grade of the benefit.

Truth and Reconciliation: nearly 4 years of hearings wrap

The commission delving into the sordid legacy of Canada's Indian residential schools was wrapping up nearly four years of public hearings Sunday, where thousands of victims recounted stories of cruelty and abuse at the hands of those entrusted with their care.

The heart-breaking accounts — almost all videotaped — will now form part of a lasting record of one of the darkest chapters in the country's history.

For many, being able to tell their stories was at once cathartic and a validation.

The Loophole Big Oil Uses to Pump More Crude

When the National Energy Board Joint Review Panel recommended cabinet approve Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline project in December (with 209 conditions), it was greenlighting its "applied-for" export capacity of an average 525,000 barrels a day on the crude oil export pipeline and 193,000 barrels a day on the condensate import pipeline.

That alone raised public hackles. What wasn't discussed is the fact that Enbridge has the chance to export much more, and with less oversight, thanks to a loophole in the National Energy Board Act.

Ex-Morgan Stanley Chief Jams Foot in Mouth, Complains of CEO Abuse

There's a ton of interesting stuff going on in the Wall Street sphere of late – I'm trying to find some time to do a proper write-up of the extraordinary lawsuit just filed by the Better Markets advocacy group against Eric Holder's Justice Department, seeking to invalidate the $13 billion JP Morgan Chase settlement – but one particular thing happened this week that just can't go by without comment.

John Mack, the former CEO of Morgan Stanley and one of the more irritatingly unrepentant dickheads of the crisis era, gave an incredible interview to Bloomberg TV. In a discussion about executive pay, Mack said we're all being too rough on his fellow too-big-to-fail bank CEOs.

He would love, he said, "to see people stop beating up on Lloyd and Jamie," endearingly referring to Goldman chief Lloyd Blankfein and Chase chief Jamie Dimon by their first names (Mack must be in a bowling league with both men). He added: "I think that would make a lot of sense, and I'm in favor of that."

After an FBI Agent Checked the Wrong Box, a Woman Was Barred From US Entry for 9 Years

The US government hid an egregious clerical error that placed a Malaysian Stanford University student on the TSA’s no-fly list and prompted a nine-year effort to clear her name, according to a federal ruling released to the public Thursday.

FBI Agent Michael Kelly “misunderstood the directions” on a form, leading him to “erroneously” check boxes that flagged Rahinah Ibrahim for the no-fly list in 2004, the ruling states. Kelly made that error despite a note specifically recommending Ibrahim “NOT be entered” into the terrorist screening database. Ibrahim belonged to a professional organization (Jemaah Islah Malaysia) with a similar-sounding name to a designated terrorist group (Jemaah Islamiyah).

Police will have 'backdoor' access to health records despite opt-out, says MP

The database that will store all of England's health records has a series of "backdoors" that will allow police and government bodies to access people's medical data.

David Davis MP, a former shadow home secretary, told the Guardian he has established that police will be able to access the health records of patients when investigating serious crimes even if they had opted out of the new database, which will hold the entire population's medical data in a single repository for the first time from May.

Canadian Forces Harassment: Minorities, Women And Natives Experience It More, Survey Says

Women, aboriginals and visible minorities in the Canadian Forces say they experience higher rates of sexual and personal harassment than their peers in the military, according to a survey that found many don't bother reporting it for fear of being labelled troublemakers.

The Canadian Forces Workplace Harassment Survey found that over a 12-month period, 16 per cent of Canadian Forces members who took part in the research experienced personal harassment, which could include offensive comments relating to race, religion, sex or physical traits.

Alison Lee Says Alison Redford Not Listening To Sexual Abuse Victims

A 15-year-old teen, who was a victim of sexual abuse as a child, says she was snubbed by Premier Alison Redford when trying to talk about victims' issues.

Alison Lee says she met Redford in Lethbridge Saturday, during a stop on the premier’s Building Alberta tour.

"I was going to meet the premier and I was pretty excited about it because I had a really important question for her," said Lee in a video posted on YouTube.

The teen asked Redford if the government planned to fund the Little Warriors organization and the Be Brave Ranch-- a camp which would provide a 30-day program designed to counsel and assist victims.

Scott London, KPMG Partner Accused Of Insider Trading, Lied About Baseball Career

Scott London's bad case of tarnished credibility this week started when the partner at accounting giant KPMG was fired after federal prosecutors charged him with insider trading, alleging that he gave a golfing buddy tips about three client companies in exchange for cash and gifts.

Now, it appears London also stretched the truth about his prowess as a college baseball player.

Deliberately lax visa rules encouraged RBC outsourcing

There are three stories involved in the Royal Bank’s controversial decision to replace Canadian high-tech workers with foreigners.

The first is that Canadian companies are sending good jobs abroad where wages are low. The Royal Bank is hardly unique here. It just happened to be the company that got caught.

The second is perhaps more galling for the 45 laid-off Canadian information technology workers. It is that they are being required to train their own replacements. This is where most of furor has focused.

PQ government in Quebec does an about face on the right to protest

Montreal--During last year's student strike in Quebec, including during the election it provoked in August/September, the Parti québécois and its leader, now Quebec premier, Pauline Marois criticized the infamous Bill 78/Law 12 that obliged students and any other protesters to seek police permission to hold public demonstrations. Upon its election on September 4, her government abolished Law 12.

Now the PQ faces a new right to protest scandal, but this time it has switched sides and is on the "you don't have the right to protest" side. The scandal involves petty municipal regulations that have come to be used by police in place of Law 12 to shut down protests. In Montreal, the regulation is "P-6." It is quickly becoming as nasty a symbol of capitalist repression as were the "Bill 78" and "Law 12" symbols of the preceding Liberal government of Premier Jean Charest.

Tears flow as residential school victims share stories of abuse and heartache

EDMONTON - Crumpled tissues damp with the tears of residential school survivors were collected in a small basket Saturday as men and women recounted traumatic childhood memories that torment them.

The Indian Residential School Truth and Reconciliation Commission was in Edmonton Saturday to collect statements, both privately and during public sharing circles, at Boyle Street Community Services, at 10116 105 Ave. It’s the first time the court-ordered national commission has held such an event at an inner-city agency.

Alleged terrorism ties foil some Afghan interpreters’ U.S. visa hopes

KABUL — According to the U.S. military, Tariq is an interpreter who risked his life to aid the American mission in Afghanistan and for seven years had access to sensitive information about U.S. tactical operations.

According to the State Department, there’s a very good chance he is a terrorist who poses a threat to national security and should never be allowed on American soil.

Tariq, one of southern Afghanistan’s longest-serving interpreters, wants to know: How is it that one man can be praised as a hero and labeled a terrorist by the same government?