Murray Trachtenberg as Officer Dobbs!

The Public Eye (Truth To Power - www.accesstoinfo.blogspot.com; vicpopuli1@gmail.com) has left a new comment on your post, "Murray 'Trachty-Boo!' Trachtenberg"

In this case, I can't blame you (or your readers) if you cannot guess the significance of the picture accompaying the Trachtenberg post. It is Henry Rollins, sometime alternative heavy-metal banger and sometime actor, playing the role of "Officer Dobbs" in the movie THE CHASE (starring Charlie Sheen and Kristie Swanson).

I won't give all the game away, though. My advice: Watch the movie, study Dobbs' character, closely read this post, pay attention to Clare's later comments concerning Trachtenberg's opposition to Niederhoffer's motion to withdraw as solicitor of record to "Metis Mom, and you'll understand why Officer Dobbs is the ideal metaphoric representation of Murray Trachtenberg.

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Dear Public Eye:

Thank you so much for helping our readers. We did spot Officer Dobbs' cameo appearance in the video clip from The Chase.

What you're probably referring to is Murray Trachtenberg opposing Jeff Niederhoffer's request to withdraw as lawyer of record for Vanessa Everton (identified only as metis_mom@hotmail.com on CyberSmokeSignals) before Master Sharp at a February 2006 Hearing. That's beyond asinine! Why should one lawyer care who another represents? Probably explains why Mylady looked at Counselor Trachtenberg somewhat strangely.

But it just gets better. At a recent court appearance, serial "kvetcher" (Yiddish for complainer) was going on about wasting his time repeatedly having to appear in court because the Co-Defendant was unrepresented and didn't understand all the rules. Regardless, it was pointed out to Justice Simsonsen while that might indeed be true, nevertheless, he was very handsomely compensated for his time whereas the "unrep" didn't receive a penny. End of conversation.

Seasons Greetings!

Clare L. Pieuk

Walking the talk!

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post, "Too little too late?"

Terry (Belhumeur) should never have caved. He just looked weak.
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Dear Anonymous:

Thank you for writing. This is particularly true in light of the fact after several months of CyberSmokeSignals' inactivity during 2008, Mr. Belhumeur received a Pre-Trial Conference Brief from MMF lawyer Murray Trachtenberg (www.ptlaw.mb.ca; mtrachtenberg@ptlaw.mb.ca) upon which he posted a short message to the effect he hadn't realized the length to which these people would go, was sorry he hadn't kept his site current but was now ready to re-energize it. This was followed by serveral months of silence and finally CSS quietly disappeared from the internet.

Hopefully, this time will be different.

Seasons Greetings!

Clare L. Pieuk

The "9-11" affidavit!

It's good to see that Terry Bellhumuer has activated cybersmokesignals.com again. It always was a good and reliable source of news, views and information, just as your blog is. You guys certainly pay more attention to Metis issues than the Free Press or CBC who don't seem to care about the problems a few people are causing for the entire Metis community. It's just not worth their while to cover it I guess.

We need more good websites like yours to keep people informed or we'll have unaccountable leadership forever. And I have a hunch though I might be wrong that Chartrand got that order to seal some documents because he couldn't face the public and explain the information contained in them. Why else would he be so desparate to hide them. If everything was on the level the smart thing would be to come clean on the documents. Happy New Year.

Gary Thomas

P.S. Feel free to publish this letter if you want.
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Dear Mr. Thomas:

Thank you for the well written letter and the kind words. We agree Metis specific websites and blogs are sometimes better sources of detailed information, as you've suggested, than the mainstream media such as the CBC and Winnipeg Free Press because their focus is narrower. We're now living in an age where citizen journalists, bloggers or whatever the descriptive, are increasingly being recognized by the judicial system as they should be. One need only look at the recent Supreme Court decision re-writing our defamation laws for evidence.

While still on the subject, if you're not doing so already you might wish to begin monitoring Truth To Power (The Public Eye - www.accesstoinfo.blogspot.com; vicpopuli1@gmail.com) hosted by a practicing Canadian lawyer. Frequently, material not initially available on CyberSmokeBlog can be found there.

In Manitoba, and presumably other jurisdictions, when a document is ordered sealed an automatic mechanism is triggered whereby media outlets must be advised. Here the list is quite extensive encompassing about 140 news gathering organizations - large and small newspapers, television and radio stations, wire services, etc.

We have not seen MMF lawyer Murray Trachtenberg (www.ptlaw.mb.ca; mtrachtenberg@ptlaw.mb.ca) as animated arguing the media should not be contacted regarding our Affidavit of September 11, 2009 - thought he was going to blow a head valve -since the April 2007 Yvon Dumont trial where he very unwisely chose to spar twice with Justice Menzies. In a ruling with which we strongly disagreed but must respect (currently under appeal), all but 2 of the document's 42 paragraphs were expunged and a sealing order thereby avoided. Thus, the requirement to advise the media was circumvented. What's left of it is publicly available at the Queen's Bench File Registry but all you'll see are two little islands (paragraphs) surrounded by a sea of black.

Final point. When a document is ordered sealed it is our understanding the media must file a Motion arguing why it should be given access but even that offers no guarantee. While permission to view it might be granted there could be a publication ban put in place.

Unfortunately, that's as far as we can go but it does beg the question doesn't it - what are President Chartrand and the Board of Directors hiding? Of what are they afraid? So much for accountability, organizational transparency and good governance.

Seasons Greetings!
Clare L. Pieuk

Glorian Yakiwchuk?

http://metisonline.ca

Good Day Readers:

Noticed there is now one "no" vote in the internet survey being conducted on Presidential Candidate Frank Godon's campaign site to the question:

Do you believe you have the right to know the salary of the president of the Manitoba Metis Federation?

Started December 23, 2009 the current results:

Yes = 46 (97.6%)

No = 1 (2.1%)

Could the one negative be David Chartrand's wife Glorian Yakiwchuk who left the MMF as his Executive Assistant a couple years ago to open Priority Financial which bills itself as a financial planning consultant:

169 Marian Street

Winnipeg, Manitoba R2H 0T3

(204) 943-5335

For all your money planning needs just visit Priority and ask for Glorian. Tell her CyberSmokeBlog sent you you'll be glad you did!

Seasons Greetings!

Clare L. Pieuk

Bye, bye for you AT&T!

AT&T ends partnership with Tiger Woods
By David Goldman, staff writer

December 31, 2009

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Telecom giant AT&T Inc. announced Thursday that it has ended its business relationship with Tiger Woods.

"We are ending our sponsorship agreement with Tiger Woods and wish him well in the future," said Fletcher Cook, AT&T spokesman, in an e-mailed statement.

Woods had signed a multi-year sponsorship agreement with AT&T in February, but terms of the deal weren't disclosed. AT&T replaced Buick as the corporate logo on Woods' golf bag when General Motors ended its partnership with Woods earlier this year.

AT&T becomes the second of the golfer's major sponsors to terminate its business relationship with Woods since his November 27 car crash brought to light Tiger's marital infidelity that took the nation by storm. Consultancy Accenture also ended its sponsorship of Woods earlier this month.

Procter & Gamble's Gillette said it would stop airing commercials that feature Woods for awhile, but it will keep Tiger as a sponsor. Other major sponsors, like Nike and Pepsi's Gatorade have stood by Woods.

Divorce facebook style!

On the Seventh Day The Public Eye gave us the Media Bloggers Association!

Truth To Power (www.accesstoinfo.blogspot.com; vicpopuli1@gmail.com)

Good Day Readers:

By way of background, the Media Bloggers Association is dedicated to promoting, educating and representing its members while supporting "citizen journalism" as a ligitimate form of expression that under the law should be afforded the same rights, protections and considerations as the mainstream media.

We were able to find membership numbers for the MBA but estimate it to be in the thousands. To the best of knowledge nothing comparable exists in Canada or if it does is not nearly as developed.

We're sending a copy of this posting to Bob Cox who is based in New Rochelle, New York. Any response received will be published.

Seasons Greetings!

Clare L. Pieuk

rcox@mediabloggers.org

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Subject: Re. 5 faxes
From: CLARE PIEUK <pieuk@shaw.ca>
Date: Wednesday, May 7, 2008 11:58 am
To: Robert Cox <rcox@mediablogers.org>

Hi Bob,

Thank you for the email - hope you're keeping well.

As I recall, you should have received one fax totalling 27 pages - the Statement of Claim (23) plus two letters (February 9 and 24, 2004 respectively) bringing it to 27.

Our main objective at this time is to bring as much attention to this frivolous lawsuit as possible for a couple reasons:

(1) It's not about defamation - rather, the legal system is being misused in an attempt to bully, threaten and intimidate a blog which dared criticize an organization having a dictatorial regime. The Plaintiffs' hope is CyberSmokeBlog will cave in under the pressure and shut down. We have no intention of doing so

(2) To make matters worse, the Plaintiff (Manitoba Metis Federation) is a taxpayer funded public corporation

Being self-represented means I'm well within my rights to publish any and all correspondence between the MMF lawyer and me which is exactly what we've been doing on CyberSmokeBlog. Normally, protocol here is not to do that, however, since I'm self-represented there's nothing the Manitoba Law Society can do to sanction me.

We believe this is the type of case the blogging community should be made aware of which is why being a member of the Media Bloggers Association would really help us get the word out. In case you're wondering, I am non-Aboriginal.

Regards,
Clare

Too little too late?

Good Day Readers:

The following was posted on www.derrylsanderson.blogspot.com. Taking down his blog without first securing an agreement to be removed from the Manitoba Metis Federation's taxpayer financed lawsuit was a Huge, Huge mistake tantamount to surrendering your biggest bargaining chip without so much as a struggle. It was also extremely short sighted.

A solicitor has described the Plaintiffs and their lawyer Murray Trachtenberg (www.ptlaw.mb.ca; mtrachtenberg@ptlaw.mb.ca) as "pathological litigators" - a perfect descriptive. Remember, they have access to virtually unlimited public money to pursue this frivolous, vexatious and malicious action. Four (Rita Cullen, William Flett, Joyce Langan, Darryl Montgomery) ceased being Board of Directors effective June 29, 2006 the date of the last election yet still haven't withdrawn from the case. Do you really believe they'd be involved if legal fees were coming out of their pockets?

Then there are Board of Directors Ron Chartrand (current), Richard DeLaRonde (former), Darrel Deslauriers (former) Bonnie McIntyre (current) and Rosemarie McPherson (former) who are not Plaintiffs. How do defendants allegedly defame only part of a Board? The trial judge and jury should have fun with that one!

What another Blog does is raise the ante as now there's one more player besides www.accesstoinfo.blogspot.com, http://metisonline.ca, www.derrylsanderson.blogspot.com and this site for Murray Trachtenberg to monitor looking for litigious material on behalf of his "clients." Not bad being paid a minimum of $250/hour to scan blogs all day. Possibly there could be a fifth - www.metisbarefacts.blogspot operated by Metis Mama. She hasn't published since early June of this year so a few months ago we contacted her to see if she was alright but received no reply. Her address is metismama@gmail.com.

If there's one factor the Plaintiffs and Counsel abhor it's negative publicity preferring instead to perform their nasty little deeds from the darkness and shadows of the corners then scurrying back to the recesses. For those litigants planning to run in the as yet unannounced 2010 MMF election that's the last thing they need!

Finally, to correct a small error in Mr. Sanderson's article, Mr. Belhumeur has made multiple apologies to the Manitoba Metis Federation.

Seasons Greetings!
Clare L. Pieuk
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Cybersmokesignals Back On The Air


Guess who's back?

http://www.cybersmokesignals.com/

He looks kind of p....d off at something or someone. Could it be that he's ticked that the Manitoba Metis Federation didn't accept his apology? Good to see you back Terry, now to just stick to your guns.

44-0 and counting!

Good Day Readers:

Wer're monitoring the results of an online survey Presidential Candidate Frank Godon and his team began December 23 of this year http://metisonline.ca. The question:

Do you believe you have the right to know the salary of the president of the Manitoba Metis Federation?

So far it's 44-0 for the "yes" vote.

Seasons Greetings!

Clare L. Pieuk

Murray "Trachty-Boo!" Trachtenberg

Truth To Power (www.accesstoinfo.blogspot.com; vicpopuli1@gmail.com)

Good Day Readers:

On his sixth day of Christmas The Public Eye has given us no less than MMF taxpayer financed lawyer Murray Trachtenberg - some gift!

www.ptlaw.mb.ca; mtrachtenberg@ptlaw.mb.ca

Terry Belhumeur

Anyone recognize the metaphorical picture accompying Mr. Populi posting and its significance? Looks like someone from a movie we should recognize but don't.
Seasons Greetings!

Clare L. Pieuk

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30 December 2009
On the Sixth Day: Manitoba Lawyer Murray Trachtenberg

Room 217, Provincial Law Courts Building - Master A. W. Sharp Presiding!
by Clare L. Pieuk
As originally posted on: CyberSmokeBlog.blogspot.com
May 5, 2008

Monday, April 28, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. Co-Defendant Terry Belhumeur (owner, www.CyberSmokeSignals.com) appeared before Master Sharp resplendent in his MMF jacket. Earlier, Counselor Trachtenberg had filed a Notice of Motion compelling him to attend otherwise Mr. Trachtenberg would seek a Court Order to have Mr. Belhumeur's Statement of Defence struck from the record. If granted, this would place the Co-Defendant in default and, therefore, deemed to have lost the lawsuit.

It was a very short proceeding lasting no more than 10 minutes. Counselor Trachtenberg began by noting Terry Belhumeur had failed to attend a previously scheduled Examination for Discovery and on multiple occasions not provided an Affidavit of Documents as requested. The Co-Defendant, according to Mr. Trachtenberg, had also not supplied all his Undertakings (commitments to turn over material extracted during Discovery).

Mr. Belhumeur then handed Murray Trachtenberg an envelope commenting he was unable to find an item for his Affidavit of Documents but would search the internet (www.CyberSmokeBlog.blogspot.com has posted dozens and dozens of Court related documents in this case).

Co-Defendant Belhumeur offered he had consulted with a lawyer but was informed it would cost several thousands of dollars to engage their services. He also explained he was unemployed and, therefore, self-represented. Master Sharp then:

(1) Inquired of the Co-Defendant how much additional time he would require to complete the documentation transfer. It was agreed two weeks was sufficient

(2) Her Honour at one point interrupted Counselor Trachtenberg to politely inform him she was not prepared to entertain his Motion at this time. The Hearing was then adjourned to Monday, May 12, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. Although he said nothing, Murray Trachtenberg did not seem overly pleased with the delay

If Mr. Belhumeur meets the aforementioned obligations, it will be most difficult, if not impossible, for Counselor Trachtenberg to get a Court Order finding the Co-Defendant in default.

It is not the first time this case has come before Master Sharp. Murray Trachtenberg had been attempting to learn the identity of metis_mom@hotmail.com (Vanessa Everton) designated Co-ordinator for the allegedly defamatory petition calling for financial reform of the Manitoba Metis Federation's election campaign process.

In the original Statement of Claim she was listed as a Co-Defendant using only her e-mail address. To protect Ms Everton I refused to divulge her name to my then attorney Mr. Jeff Niederhoffer who had secured a sworn Affidavit from Ms Candice Penner (September 12, 2005), a secretary working at the firm where Jeff Niederhoffer was practicing (Law Offices of Peter J. Moss), that she too was unaware who "Metis Mom" was.

Attorney Niederhoffer filed a Notice of Motion (September 15, 2005) seeking:

(i) I be removed as a Co-Defendant

(ii) He be allowed to withdraw as metis_mom@hotmail.com's Counsel since he did not know her name and, therefore, was unable to contact his client to give and receive instructions. The Courts dealt with these two Motion requests separately

Subsequently, Counselor Trachtenberg (and Mr. Niederhoffer) eventually learned the third Co-Defendant's name when Counsel for the Plaintiffs issued a Notice of Examination. On January 24, 2006 I was compelled to appear before Murray Trachtenberg in the presence of a Court Recorder and under oath forced to turn over any and all e-mail correspondence between Ms Everton and I (approximately 8-9) which is how solicitor Trachtenberg was able to find out "Metis Mom's" name. Later I was informed by Kim Lavallee, a frequent David Chartrand critic, that the President was somewhat surprised to learn it was not her.

The case file turned over by Mr. Niederhoffer when he ceased representing me (March, 2006) makes for some fascinating reading (not yet posted). Immediately before and after the February 13, 2006 Hearing before Master Sharp there was a surge in correspondence between Messrs. Trachtenberg and Niederhoffer suggesting for the first time Counselor Trachtenberg was dissatisfied with Ms Penner's September 12, 2005 Affidavit and was going to contest Mr. Niederhoffer's request to withdraw as Ms Everton's attorney.

Counselor Trachtenberg's letters are laughably pretentious in the way he announces his opposition. At one point he states his concern for the integrity of the court process and was fed up with the responses he'd been receiving from Jeff Niederhoffer. He was bluntly but more diplomaticly informed if he considered Ms Penner's Affidavit to be stale it was solely because he had held up our September 15, 2005 Motion for so long.

It was an arcane and extremely technical argument on which Counselor Trachtenberg based his opposition to Jeff Niederhoffer withdrawing as Ms Everton's attorney. Essentially he claimed Candice Penner's Affidavit by the time it was Heard before Master Sharp was obsolete and must be supplanted by a revised one. His position was totally bogus! When Ms Penner's Affidavit was filed the supporting arguments were entirely true - neither Mr. Niederhoffer nor Candice Penner knew "Metis Mom's" identity. It was Counselor Trachtenberg's own titanic efforts to hold up the Motion - not only by opposing Mr. Niederhoffer's removal as the attorney representing Vanessa Evertion but also his earlier strange, strange scheme to cross-examine Jim Smith's (a lawyer with Peter J. Moss) Assistant Candice Penner to see if she knew who "Metis Mom" was that resulted in her September 12, 2005 Affidavit eventually becoming stale.

Jeffrey Niederhoffer would have likely won had the matter gone to a Contested Hearing and received court costs against Murray Trachtenberg. However, this too was overtaken by events when Ms Everton signed the Intention to Appear in Person Notice before Master Sharp (September 13, 2006).

When you think about it, what a deliberately vexatious (and ultimately futile) tactic that was on Counselor Trachtenberg's part. In a way, it's too bad the February 13, 2006 Hearing before Master Sharp didn't go to the contested list. If you think Master Sharp was giving Murray Trachtenberg strange looks for opposing Mr. Niederhoffer's request to withdraw from representing Vanessa Everton, that would have been nothing compared to the reception he would have received had he actually gone ahead and opposeed Jeff Niederhoffer's Motion.

When we appeared before Senior Master Lee (March 2, 2006) for a Contested Hearing to have me deleted as a Co-Defendant (furiously opposed by Mr. Trachtenberg), if you can believe this, Counselor Trachtenberg mentioned he wanted additional court costs assessed against me because the Plaintiffs had expended resources and filed Affidavits to "contest" Mr. Niederhoffer's original Motion to withdraw. As I recall, Senior Master Lee gave Murray Trachtenberg a look of sheer befuddlement and as I remember he had to ask Counselor Trachtenberg to repeat himself as he thought he'd mis-heard.

The Senior Master's befuddlement was completely understandable because:

(i) The issue of the Plaintiffs threatening to contest Jeff Niederhoffer's previous Motion to withdraw was not argued during the Hearing, in fact, it had never even been mentioned

(ii) You could tell the Senior Master found it odd Murray Trachtenberg would contest something as basic as a lawyer's withdrawal Motion - it's simply not done

Three events stood out during the February 13, 2006 Motion Hearing before Master Sharp:

(1) Shortly after proceedings got underway, Ms Everton began sobbing stating as a single parent she could not afford legal representation. Her Honour asked if she'd like a recess to which "Metis Mom" agreed

(2) During the recess, Ms Everton verbally berated me for allegedly not advising her of the lawsuit even though countless pages of legal documentation about it had appeared on www.CyberSmokeSignals.com. Vanessa Everton claimed after Murray Trachtenberg's defamation warning letter had been sent (February 9, 2004) she:

(i) Severed all ties to the MMF

(ii) Had no further contact with any of her Federation friends or associates

(iii) Stopped reading CyberSmokeSignals

and, therefore, was unaware of the lawsuit. However, a recent detailed search of several hundred e-mail messages uncovered these two letters (November 18, 2005 and November 22, 2005) which seriously cast doubt on her assertion during the recess she was unaware of the litigation:

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanessa Everton
To: pieuk@shaw.ca
Sent: Friday, November 18, 2005 9:10 AM
Subject: Hello! It's been a long time...

Hi CyberSmokeSignals!

It's been a while, but I have to contact you to tell you of the information passed to me recently!

I've been busy working and avoiding the controversy at the MMF - it exhausted me!

But, I've heard a rumour and would like to do some "research" to see what's happening. A past student from the Metis Chile & Family course told me that someone is auditing their class. Apparently, rumour has it that the MMF reported more stuedents then actually attended, and someone is looking into it. What I'd like to know is if anyone knows if this is true, and if so, who is it that's auditing them? They should be looking at all the MMF's books!

Please don't print my name - remember, I'm Metis Mom!

Thanks, hope you're keeping well.

Vanessa Everton

----- Original Message -----

From: "Vanessa Everton" veverton@unitedwaywinnipeg.mb.ca
To: "Clare Pieuk" pieuk@shaw.ca
Sent: November 22, 2005 11:23 AM
Subject: Hello! It's been a long time...

Thanks for the posting. I will be interesting to see what comes of it.

Am I a fugitive from Justice? Is someone looking for me? Uh on, I better be careful... don't want to be caught and "hanged."

Hopefully you are keeping well... keep in touch!

Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk

Too many damn BlackBerries?

FP Tech Desk: Wireless network congestion the first big story of 2010?
December 29, 2009 by Matt Hartley

A second major international carrier -- this time it's the United Kingdom's O2 -- is publicly admitting it has provided poor wireless services to its customers as a result of data-intensive smart phones such as the iPhone congesting its network.

“Where we haven’t met our own high standards then there’s no question, we apologise to customers for that fact,” O2 chief executive officer Ronan Dunne told The Financial Times. “But it would be wrong to say that O2 has failed its customers en masse.”

A few months back, AT&T chief technology officer John Donovan admitted that the U.S. carrier had struggled to keep up with the demand for more wireless broadband on its network and that users employing devices such as the iPhone were overloading the system.

“It’s been a challenging year for us,” Mr. Donovan told The New York Times. “Overnight we’re seeing a radical shift in how people are using their phones,” he said. “There’s just no parallel for the demand.”

As Research In Motion co-CEO Mike Lazaridis told us in our exclusive interview, there's a finite amount of electromagnetic spectrum out there, and wireless carriers will need to work with device manufacturers to figure out a way to bring innovative mobile Web experiences to users without gumming up the rest of the network.

While mobile Web usage and data fees represent a potential gold mine of new revenues for carriers, those services can't come at the expense of the user experience. If users continue to experience poor service and dropped calls when using devices such as the iPhone, they won't be willing to continue to pay those high prices for data.

But was it a Nike?

jeebas has left a new comment on your post, "Tiger Woods as Barack Obama's caddy - hardly!"

Why didn’t Golf Digest pull off its issues or change the cover? The hot scandal (http://www.jeebas.com/) surrounding Tiger was bound to have a ripple effect on the world of golf as well as sports as a whole.
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Dear Jeebas:

Thank you for contacting CyberSmokeBlog with the link. The report by Furman Bisher, one of golf's top writers, if true, is certainly interesting. At least Tiger's wife used a 9 iron and not a driver but was it a Nike?

"Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned/Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned." ..... The Morning Bride (1697) by William Congreve

Seasons Greetings!
Clare L. Pieuk

"Trachty Boo?"

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post, "Who's the loser readers?"

Jack wouldn't only stop at having the glass, he'd drink good o'l Trachty Boo under the table!
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Dear Anonymous:

Thank you for writing. Interesting observation. For our readers, "Jack" is Jack Park Manitoba Metis Federation Board of Director and Plaintiff in its taxpayer financed defamation lawsuit against a couple private citizens.

"Trachty Boo" we assume is publicly funded Federation lawyer Murray Trachtenberg.

www.ptlaw.mb.ca; mtrachtenberg@ptlaw.mb.ca

The outcome would be very hard to predict. Perhaps nolo contendere (legalese for no contest) especially if Counselor Trachtenberg is a teetotaler but we don't know that.

Seasons Greetings!
Clare L. Pieuk

How say you readers?

Frank Godon has left a new comment on your post, "Godon girl? Sanderson girl?"

I like this one better:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk_VszbZa_s&feature=related
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http://metisonline.ca

Dear Presidential Candidate Godon:

Thank you for writing. Perhaps we should let our readers be the judge and jury. How say you?

Seasons Greetings!

Clare L. Pieuk

Godon girl? Sanderson girl?

Good Day Readers:

The New York Daily News has listed the 21 most viral vidoes of the decade. Number twenty-one was Obama Girl. Could this be what candidates Godon and Sanderson need for their 2010 online MMF election campaigns - girls!

Seasons Greetings!
Clare L. Pieuk

During the 2008 election, advocates turned to YouTube to post videos supporting or railing on the candidates. Hillary Clinton was likened to a Darth Vader type figure in one video mash-up, while 23-year-old Iraqi veteran gave his heartfelt support for Senator John McCain. But one YouTube video star – or rather one hot pink bikini – garnered over 10 million viewers and as a result, Amber Lee Ettinger became a media star, appearing on "The O'Reilly Factor" and "Saturday Night Live," and part of the campaign dialogue.

That's outrageous!

Tully Vorcheux has left a new comment on your post, "Inferior, inadequate and discriminatory?" - Balls that's all you're worth!"

These Sinclair folks should pay him about what he is worth $1. That was the value of his services to the Metis National Council.
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Dear Tully Vorcheux:

Thank you for writing. That's outrageous far too much - five cents take it or leave it!

For those unfamiliar with the reference, in 2007 the Metis National Council, its Secretariat and current President Clement Chartier sued (one year's salary of about $47,000 plus court costs) Yvon Dumont for allegedly breaking a contract he had with the MNC to serve as Governor of the Metis Nation. It stipulated he not seek political office for two years after the agreement expired, however, Mr. Dumont ran against David Chartrand in the 2006 MMF election.

After losing in Court of Queen's Bench, the case was appealed where Counsel for the Plaintiffs Murray Trachtenberg was eventually awarded $1 and each side had to pay their own legal costs. Mr. Trachtenberg was able to prove a contract indeed existed problem was it couldn't be enforced.

Seasons Greetings!

Clare L. Pieuk

Very expensive sexy, little foxes Tiger!

Woods scandal cost investors US$12-billion: study
Reuters
Published: Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Since the start of the scandal, Tiger Woods has kept out of sight of the media. (Getty Images)

MIAMI -- The sex scandal that engulfed Tiger Woods may have cost shareholders of companies endorsed by the world's No. 1 golfer up to US$12-billion in losses, according to a study by two economics professors from the University of California, Davis.

The study, released on Monday by researchers Victor Stango and Christopher Knittel, gave an estimate for damage to the market value of Woods' main sponsors caused by revelations of alleged extramarital affairs that surfaced after he was involved in a minor car accident outside his Florida home on November 27.

"We estimate that shareholders of Tiger Woods' sponsors lost US$5 to 12-billion after his car accident, relative to shareholders of firms that Mr. Woods does not endorse," the researchers wrote, adding that millions of shareholders were affected.

"Our analysis makes clear that while having a celebrity of Tiger Woods' stature as an endorser has undeniable upside, the downside risk is substantial, too," Professor Stango, a professor at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management, said in a statement released along with the study.

Woods, believed to be the world's wealthiest athlete who was estimated to earn about US$100-million a year in endorsement deals before his troubles, confessed on December 11 to "infidelity" to his Swedish wife Elin Nordegren. He announced he would take an indefinite break from golf to save his marriage.

Some of the star golfer's main commercial sponsors have backed away from him as a result of the scandal. Others, while standing by him, have said they are evaluating their future relationship.

In their study, the two professors said they looked at stock market returns for the 13 trading days after November 27, the date of the car incident that ignited the Woods scandal.

They compared returns for Woods' sponsors during this period to those of both the total stock market and of each sponsor's closest competitor. They also reviewed returns for four years before the car accident to build up a comparative picture of the sponsors' market performance.

The study looked at sponsors of Tiger Woods for which stock prices were available, in several cases through quoted prices for the parent companies. Sponsors included: Accenture; AT&T ; Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf (Electronic Arts); Gillette (Proctor and Gamble); Nike; Gatorade (PepsiCo); TLC Laser Eye Centers.

The report carried a caution that this kind of statistical study might have a "particularly large" margin of error because many sponsors were subsidiaries of larger quoted companies.

Overall, Professor Knittel and Professor Stango concluded that the scandal reduced shareholder value in the sponsor companies by 2.3%, or about US$12-billion.

They called the results statistically significant and said the overall pattern of losses at the parent companies was unlikely to stem from ordinary day-to-day variation in their stock prices."

"Our findings speak to a larger question of general interest in the business and academic communities: Does celebrity sponsorship have any impact on a firm's bottom line?" Professor Stango and Prof. Knittel said in presenting the report.

The scandal saw a parade of more than a dozen women - from cocktail waitresses to porn stars - come forward to say they had affairs with the married father of two. Since the start of the scandal, Woods has kept out of sight of the media.

Saved by a badge!

On the fifth day The Public Eye gave readers .....!

Truth To Power (www.accesstoinfo.blogspot.com; vicpopuli1@gmail.com)

Good Day Readers:

Mr. Populi has given you the following article. As is his custom he has included a metaphorical image. Anyone know it's significance?

Osgoode Hall Law School at York University located in Toronto was named after the first Chief Justice of Ontario, William Osgoode established (1889) by The Law Society of Upper Canada and was the only accredited law school in Ontario until 1957.

The school was at the centre of the debates over the principles of modern legal education in the 1950s providing many of the founding members of the bar in the prairie provinces. Today it offers a professional degree in law accepted for bar admission in every province with the exception of Quebec, as well as, Massachusetts and New York.

Additionally, it has three joint degree programs and is Canada's largest graduate program in law. Also available at Osgoode is a United States JD degree in conjunction with New York University School of Law. It adopted the Juris Doctor degree designation which has replaced the previous Bachelor of Laws designation. (Wikipedia)

Osgoode Hall Law School has the largest law library in the Commonwealth

Dean Patrick J. Monahan

BA (Ottawa), MA (Carleton), LLB (Osgoode), LLM (Harvard) of the Bar of Ontario

Seasons Greetings!
Clare L. Pieuk
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29 December 2009
On the Fifth Day: The System

Subject: Au contraire Dean Monahan
From: CLARE PIEUK < pieuk@shaw.ca >
Date: Wednesday, January 9, 2008 12:37 pm
To: lawdean@osgoode.yorku.ca
cc: cchisick@osgoode.yorku.ca, jnieder@shaw.ca

Dear Dean Monahan:

Thank you for your recent e-mail to www.CyberSmokeBlog.blogspot.com suggesting one of our postings (copied to Mr. Chisick) might have been sent by mistake. Au contraire:

(1) The defamation lawsuit we are profiling (Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench File Number CI 05-01-41955) is being contested in real time on the internet. As educators, we both appreciate the veritable treasure-trove of learning it potentially offers law students particularly those interested in intellectual property jurisprudence. We were advised by an articling student (University of Manitoba) an affidavit filed in this case has already been the subject of discussion at a Robson Hall lecture

(2) The case has just about everything you could possibly ask save for a first degree murder charge:

(i) A taxpayer funded organization (Manitoba Metis Federation) suing private citizens for alleged defamation (January, 2004 article posted on www.CyberSmokeSignals.com). Ostensibly is the legal system being manipulated to harass, bully, threaten and intimidate self-represented defendants for displaying material clearly embarrassing and damaging to its current leadership? Is freedom of speech really the issue?

(ii) A Winnipeg Metis lawyer who, when asked publicly, agreed to serve pro bono as General Legal Counsel for CSS.com after it became aware it had been placed on a “defamation watch” by the Federation

(iii) Hard to believe but said lawyer not only wrote the allegedly defamatory material (a petition calling for financial reform of the organization’s election process) but encouraged its verbatim posting at no time advising/instructing it be removed. More than sufficient black print (e-mail) exists to fully document and substantiate this claim

(iv) Unbeknownst at the time, said solicitor simultaneously entered into a retainer agreement with the MMF ($2,500 monthly – subsequently saw unsigned copy of contract) yet miraculously avoided being named a co-defendant. Although the subject of a lengthy, well documented complaint before the Manitoba Law Society (not his first), he was not disciplined lending further credence to Philip Slayton’s comments in, Lawyers Gone Bad: Money, Sex and Madness in Canada’s Legal Profession referencing Law Societies in general and the MLS in particular

We ask this be kept confidential for now, however, the attorney in question is being seriously considered as the subject of a public prosecution among other reasons over a false and misleading affidavit he filed

(v) A minimum $250/hour prosecuting attorney who epitomizes everything Philip Slayton suggests is wrong with lawyers having billables in this case since 2003 well in excess of $100 thousand

One could go on ad nauseam, however, suffice it to say there is more than enough for three best selling full-length novels.

I would particularly like to thank Jeff Niederhoffer who has spent many, many countless hours showing me how to prepare, file, and present affidavits and pre-trial motions, as well as, teaching proper court procedure. But most of all for his encouragement to write you. He still talks about how much he enjoyed Mr. Chisick’s lectures while studying law at the University of Manitoba.

Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk

Transport Institute
Asper School of Business
Faculty of Management
University of Manitoba

"Inferior, inadequate and discriminatory?" - Balls, that's all you're worth!

www.ptlaw.mb.ca; mtrachtenberg@ptlaw.mb.ca

The Public Eye

The person above has asked that we send you the following URL, as it contains information that you might find useful or interesting.

http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/winnipeg/2009/
11/18/11786591-sun.html

Note that information on Winnipeg Sun is changed frequently. If you have any questions about this service, please send e-mail to:
webmaster@canoe.ca.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Sinclair kin await ruling on lawyer
By DEAN PRITCHARD, SUN MEDIA
Last Updated: 18th November 2009 4:27 a.m.

Brian Sinclair's family members will have to wait awhile longer to learn whether a judge supports their efforts to secure more funding to hire a lawyer to represent them at an upcoming inquest into Sinclair's death.

Judge Ray Wyant adjourned the matter following a half-day hearing yesterday.

"It is unfortunate that we are here ... because I'm not sure I'm comfortable it reflects well on the process or the system," Wyant said.

Sinclair died in September 2008 after waiting 34 hours for care in the emergency room at Health Sciences Centre.

A 53-day inquest into Sinclair's death is set to begin in January. The province has offered to fund the Sinclair family $43,000 for legal fees at the Legal Aid rate of $80 per hour.

The funding proposal is "inferior, inadequate and discriminatory," Sinclair family lawyer Murray Trachtenberg (emphasis ours) told Wyant.

Trachtenberg (emphasis ours) said the Sinclair family should receive funding equivalent to what the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority pays its lawyers -- $210 per hour.

Trachtenberg (emphasis ours) said the NDP government has rebuffed any effort on the part of the Sinclair family to negotiate a new agreement.

"They are frustrated by the 'take it or leave it' attitude that the government has exhibited," he said. "The government is unwilling to provide the funding necessary to participate in any meaningful way."

Trachtenberg (emphasis ours) and co-counsel Vilko Zbogar said the government funding proposal is based on an eight-hour work day and caps pre-inquest preparation funding at $10,000. Factor in overtime, they said, and lawyers who take the case will be working for $20 an hour, not even enough to cover their costs.

Lawyer Glenn McFetridge, representing the government, said the province recognizes the Sinclair family's right to be represented at the inquest but is under no obligation to pay all their legal fees.

"This funding is meant to assist the family, not to provide full compensation," McFetridge said. "The government has made what it feels is a fair and reasonable offer based on appropriate rates."

Wyant has no authority to order the government to beef up its funding offer. Instead, Zbogar called on Wyant to tell the government its offer "is not fair or reasonable."

Outside court, Sinclair's brother Robert accused the province of "stonewalling" his family's wish to fully participate in the inquest.

"It seems to us that the government does not want us ... asking tough questions about why Brian Sinclair died so terribly," he said.

dean.pritchard@sunmedia.ca
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Truth To Power (www.accesstoinfo.blogspot.com; vicpopuli1@gmail.com)

Dear Mr. Populi:

Thank you very much for the link. Wonder how many of our readers make $80/hour and would be exceedingly thankful to receive it? Never mind eighty try twenty!

Sure a far cry from the minimum $250/hour Counselor Trachtenberg was billing the taxpayer financed Manitoba Metis Federation a few years ago to litigate frivolous, vexatious, scandalous and malicious lawsuits against private citizens. It's likely even more today.

We've always admired Mr. Trachtenberg's dedication to the principle of law, justice and fair play regardless of how much he is paid.

Seasons Greeting!

Clare L. Pieuk

Who's the loser readers?

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post, "On the third day of Christmas Vic Populi gave to readers..... Jack Park!"

You watch ..... by this time next year Jack Park and good ol' Murray (Trachtenberg) will be raising a glass of beer toasting and thinking to themselves God are we lucky in our enemies.

All you losers are wasting your time with these internet posts.
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Dear Anonymous:

Thank you for writing. At least these people are attempting to bring long overdue and much needed reform to the publicly financed Manitoba Metis Federation which would ensure your taxpayer dollars are spent more judiciously. And you, what have you done lately to advance this objective? Now we ask who's the loser?

Seasons Greetings!

Clare L. Pieuk

Sorry!

Hi Bev,

On behalf of our readers thank you very much for the thought. Sorry, the greeting card attached wouldn't download so we added another. Hope you don't mind.

Seasons Greetings!
Clare L. Pieuk
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It only takes a "little light" to lead the way....

Hoping that your Christmas was filled with all you hold dear, love, family, community.

If each of us extend the Magic of the Season to others, the New Year holds the promise of Blessings untold...

All the Best to you in 2010!

Bev Weber
Vice President Metis Nation of Alberta Region 3
Minister of Children and Youth
1A 4001 19 Street N.E.
Calgary, Alberta
T2E 6X8
1-800-267-5844

Telephone: 403-569-8800
Fax: 403-569-8959
Cellular: 403-354-2007
email: bweber@metis.org
www.albertametis.com

Team Godon joins forces with The Public Eye!

Good Day Readers:

Happened to notice today Presidential Candidate Frank Godon has linked his website http://metisonline.ca/ to The Public Eye.

Truth To Power (www.accesstoinfo.blogspot.com; vicpopuli1@gmail.com) is hosted by practicing Canadian attorney Mr. Vic Populi. Strategically, a very wise move because as the 2010 Manitoba Metis Federation general vote approaches questions will undoubtedly arise concerning election by-laws and the MMF's seriously flawed constitution.

Seasons Greetings!

Clare L. Pieuk

God not another one!

Want to find yourself? Facebook will do it for you

Tool matches look-alikes and bruises some egos
Katie Daubs
Staff Reporter

Published: Monday, December 28, 2009

Chris Mejaski (centre-left), Tim Inman (centre-right) and other pairs of Facebook look-alikes. FACEBOOK

In German folklore, a doppelganger is a shadowy forecaster of death.

In corporate America, it's a fun new social experiment.

In a marketing attempt to showcase its similarity to Coca-Cola, Coke Zero is asking Facebook users to sign up to find their look-alike. The Facebook application uses the same facial-recognition software that "governments and international security agencies use" – but instead of finding criminals, it says, "you'll be able to find a person that looks just like you."

How you use that information is "up to you," the site notes.

But a University of Toronto professor is far more worried about how the site uses your information.

Andrew Clement, who researches online privacy at U of T, couldn't bring himself to use the application.

"I'm not sure that it's harmless," he said. "Once you've allowed it, it looks like it's too late. There's no indication of your privacy rights, whether you can pull out if you don't like it."

Before the application finds a match, the user has to agree to let Coke Zero pull profile information, photos, friends' information and "other content" to work.

Clement says the database would be useful for someone skilful in identity theft because they'd be able to find a good match.

But Ryerson University student Chris Mejaski was willing to forgo his privacy to find his long lost twin. He began to worry when the application selected some particularly awful photos of him from his Facebook profile to find a match.

When the big reveal happened, Mejaski began to laugh.

"Oh lord," he said. "I'm wearing glasses so they brought up a guy wearing glasses."

The man, named Tim, was a 68 per cent match.

"There's a lot of other people I've seen in the real world that I bear closer resemblance to," he said.

Mejaski, who was "saddened" by the match, said his similarities to Tim include the fact that Tim has a forehead, wears glasses and has a similar frown.

"I don't think I'll be reaching out to Tim," he said. "I don't know what else we really have to discuss over Facebook."

Graeme Steel, another Ryerson student, was matched with Caleb from Boston, "a good-looking guy," he noted.

"He looks like Jack Black. It also looks like he's a lot bigger than me," he said.

Caleb, who had a similar smile and style of glasses, was a 57 per cent match. "He's got a full beard and you've got no facial hair," said a friend in the background.

Almost 200,000 people have registered to find their match, and the majority aren't ready to re-enact the plot of The Parent Trap, in which twin girls are reunited after being separated at birth and decided to switch places. The top match is, unsurprisingly, Coke with Coke Zero, followed by a group of convincing matches, although some are so good they raise suspicions that the person may have submitted a photo twice.

One reviewer named Whitney said her doppelganger was "way hotter" than she was, which "sucked" but was also "flattering." Another reviewer named Adrianne kept getting men in her matches. One man named Michael said his match had a "blocky" and much bigger face.

The application was released in October, but people couldn't find out their results until December, when the database had enough photos to go live.

Clement says all the matches on the Facebook application point to a flaw in larger databases. People do look like each other, which can create hassles if you have the misfortune of sharing facial features with a criminal.

"If one of your doubles comes afoul of the law, and they (government or police) use facial recognition software on your face, that other person is very likely to come up," he said. "It shows a match without it being a match. This is a very big problem for large-scale databases."

ABC - Anyone But Chartrand!

Good Day Readers:

With a Manitoba Metis Federation election rapidly approaching in 2010, CyberSmokeBlog is unable to endorse the candidacy of current President David Chartrand. There are many reasons perhaps this the most poignant.

Seasons Greetings!

Clare L. Pieuk

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MMF leader linked to huge brawl
By Doug Nairne
Winnipeg Free Press Staff Reporter
December 30, 1997

POLICE ARE still sorting through the aftermath of a massive Christmas Day family feud in Duck Bay that involved as many as 50 people fighting in the street.

Among those being investigated for their role in an afternoon battle that sent two people to hospital with serious injuries and left dozens of others with scrapes and bruises is Manitoba Metis Federation president David Chartrand.

Winnipegosis RCMP Const. Marvin Gruger said the fights broke out at about 3 p.m. and seem to have been sparked by traditional rivalry between two large families in the community which is located north of Dauphin.

He said the brawl began with a small group and then grew until between 30 and 50 men were involved, some of them armed with clubs and knives.

"It's going to take another week to get this mess all sorted out, but I think there will end up being about 40 people involved," Gruger said. "Most of the parties involved were intoxicated."

The most seriously injured men included one who suffered skull injuries when he was clubbed over the head and another who was stabbed several times in the back. Both men were kept in hospital overnight and then released.

Gruner said the RCMP are investigating a complaint that Chartrand, 37, assaulted a 16-year old.

The mother of the alleged teen victim said the youth was going to his aunt's house to wish her a Merry Christmas when a van pulled up next to him and a man got out and started to punch him.

The woman said her brother was also beaten during the brawl, apparently with a pipe or piece of wood.

The 16-year old suffered a badly cut lip and bruising to the face, and had his shirt and pants ripped off in the attack, his mother said.

"I can't just let this go," she said. RCMP say the violent incident only one of several reported assaults on the reserve during the holiday period.

"It's been a bad week up there," said Gruger.

David Chartrand who was elected to the MMF post earlier this year was fishing yesterday and could not be reached for comment.

His family members in Duck Bay said the accusations are politically motivated by people who oppose Chartrand and support former MMF leader BillyJo DeLaRonde.

Both Chartrand and De La Ronde have numerous relatives living in Duck Bay.