Toronto Mayor Rob Ford reacts to Coun. Mammoliti's loans

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford said he would not pass judgment on loans city Coun. Giorgio Mammoliti received from a pair of Toronto real estate investors until he speaks with him ? but says he would not have taken such loans himself.

The mayor's comments come after a CBC News investigation first revealed that Mammoliti received at least $275,000 in mortgage loans from a pair of real estate investors who owned billboards along Highway 401.

When Ford was asked Friday whether he would have done the same thing, he said: "Ridiculous."

"I don't work that way," he told reporters. "You guys know that."

Earlier Friday, Mammoliti issued a statement saying the loans were "of a personal business matter" involving his ex-wife.

He claimed the billboard applications were in relation to upgrades to "already existing signs which were in need of repair and would contribute to the revitalization of my community of which I remain greatly focused on."

Mammoliti's sworn financial statements, submitted to court, indicate that he was a 50 per cent shareholder of two companies that received the mortgage loans. (CBC)

However, minutes from meetings of his community council show that of those five sign applications Mammoliti backed between 2004 and 2009, three were for entirely new billboards. The other two were to upgrade existing poster billboards into "tri-vision" types where the image rotates between three advertisements.

The businessman who brought the first two billboard applications, in 2004 and 2006, later loaned Mammoliti $200,000 in late 2007. A second businessman who brought the other three applications, in 2009, had loaned Mammoliti $75,000 by mid-2011, court and property records show.

Mammoliti also claimed Friday that the loans involved "a company owned and operated by my now ex-wife."

In fact, the loans were granted to two companies, according to property records: Aribella Property Management and 1195407 Ontario Inc. Mammoliti's sworn financial statements submitted to court in October list him as a 50 per cent shareholder in both corporations.

Loans from individuals to councillors are not prohibited by the conduct rules or laws governing Toronto politicians, and whether they must be disclosed is a grey area, according to experts in the field.

'Optics aren't right,' Holyday says

When the billboards in question came up for debate at the Etobicoke York community council in 2009, Coun. Doug Holyday, now Toronto's deputy mayor, wanted more information about the applications and said he would ask the city's integrity commissioner to look into the matter.

At the time, the commissioner said it was not an integrity matter, Holyday told CBC News on Friday.

"The integrity commissioner told me that councillors were elected to make decisions. And some you like, and some you don't like. So it's not an integrity matter if you think they've made a dumb choice," he said.

Holyday said he did not plan to go to the integrity commissioner regarding Mammoliti's loans, but he said the "optics aren't right."

"I would personally not seek loans from anybody we're doing business with here at the city," he said. "And maybe there's nothing wrong with it, but I guess, it just doesn't look as good as it could."

But Coun. Adam Vaughan said he didn't think the loans were appropriate, under his interpretation of the city's Code of Conduct.

He said he hasn't filed a formal complaint, but it is "something the integrity commissioner will have to take a look at."

Mammoliti should also "make a full disclosure of his financial dealings with people who have had applications in front of the city," Vaughan added.

"When it's a private relationship like this with public business on the line, if it's not a clear conflict of interest, it's certainly an apparent conflict of interest," he said. "And it should be avoided."

Mammoliti was critical in his statement of CBC and the Toronto Star, which published a story about the loans in its Friday edition.

"To blatantly issue a story that has no relevance to my job and involves my family and personal relationships I find to be in very poor taste," the statement reads.

Mammoliti did not respond to interview requests made by the CBC prior to airing the story.

Mammoliti's complete statement

The complete text of Coun. Mammoliti's statement issued Friday is here:

"I have supported hundreds of first and third party signs throughout my career both in my community and throughout the City of Toronto and will continue to do so.

The sign applications the CBC and Toronto Star refer to were for upgrading already existing signs, which were in need of repair and would contribute to the revitalization of my community of which I remain greatly focused on.

The CBC and Toronto Star have reported that there was clearly no conflict in my dealings on this matter as a Councillor. The loans issued were of a personal business matter involving a company owned and operated by my now ex-wife and the repayment of such loans have been dealt with as part of our divorce, which is still ongoing.

To the best of my knowledge the Tradesea International loan has been paid out in full with interest. While I accept challenges about my decision making as a Councillor, to blatantly issue a story that has no relevance to my job and involves my family and personal relationships I find to be in very poor taste. I respectfully request to leave my personal dealings and my family out of the media."

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2013/02/15/toronto-mammoliti-statement.html?cmp=rss

university of louisville louisville ky final four lotto winners mega ball winning numbers baltimore county current tv

Van Zyl leads Africa Open

Gallo Images

Jaco van Zyl defied winds that reached 30 kilometres an hour to take a two-stroke clubhouse lead in the first round of the Africa Open. Photo by Luke Walker

East London ? South African Jaco van Zyl defied winds that reached 30 kilometres an hour and temporarily halted play to take a two-stroke clubhouse lead Thursday in the first round of the Africa Open.

Seeking his first European Tour victory, 33-year-old Pretoria-born Van Zyl carded halves of 35 and 31 on the tight par-72, 6066-metre course overlooking the Indian Ocean.

Englishman John Parry shot a 68 for second place with his round including seven birdies and three bogeys.

South African Oliver Bekker occupied third place a shot further back after six birdies, one bogey and one double bogey.

A group on 70 included Bjorn Akesson of Sweden, Gregory Bourdy of France, Andy Sullivan of England and South Africans Daniel Greene and Tjaart van der Walt.

Play was suspended for almost three hours when the wind started moving balls on the greens of more exposed holes -- particularly the third -- before conditions improved later on the opening day of the one-million-euro event.

Van Zyl, who has had 12 top-10 European Tour finishes, began his round at the ninth hole and after the interruption, drove the fifth and sixth to claim two-putt birdies and move into the lead.

?I am hitting the ball nicely this week. I was battling a bit with my swing at the Joburg Open last week and it is nice that I carried the short game over,? Van Zyl told reporters.

?It was really tough. A couple of hours before they called us off, and right up until the time they did, it was blowing. When we got to the top of the hill on the fifth I could almost not stand up straight.

?There is talk of rain during the weekend, which will make the course play a little bit longer. Hopefully the wind can die down a little bit -- it is pretty much the only defence this course has.?

European Tour winners who battled included South African Thomas Aiken (74), Englishman Robert Rock (75) and Indian Shiv Chowrasia (78) while the 81 posted by South African Pieter Moolman included a 10 at the par-five third.? AFP

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/van-zyl-leads-africa-open-1.1470627

jenelle evans jenelle evans mlb 12 the show sabu franchise tag lesotho a wrinkle in time

AU's new Recreation and Wellness Center will feature a 50-foot rock ...

Well, Well, Wellness Center: New student facility could be the best of its kind in the country.

When it?s finished, Auburn should start letting couples reserve the new Student Recreation and Wellness Center for honeymoons or vacations or whatever like they let them reserve Samford Lawn for weddings and Auburn Arena for receptions. Because apparently it?s basically an amusement park.

According to the Plainsman, the facility will feature ?a 50-foot rock climbing wall with an auto-belaying system, four bordering caves for lateral climbing, a a 20-foot wet rock climbing wall in the 20,000 gallon leisure activity pool, a 45-person hot tub in the shape of a tiger paw and a third of a mile indoor track with a corkscrew formation and 10 feet of altitude.?

According to Adam Sardinha, Auburn?s Assistant Director of Marketing for Campus Recreation, that third of a mile indoor track will be the longest indoor track in the country.

And we haven?t even talked about the five-story fitness tower. The whole thing should be open for business this spring. You can read more about it here.

?

Keep Reading:

* That time a cow won Miss Auburn
* Kate Upton and Katherine Webb, BFF
* One of the Wiggles is an Auburn fan
* The sexy Auburn grad student in ?House?
* Wall Street Journal says Auburn football worth millions more than Alabama football
* Auburn professor 4th hottest in the country
* Katherine Webb in an Auburn bikini?
* Auburn students vandalize Jacks restaurant ?cause it looked too Bama
* Katherine Webb and Conan O?Brien

Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. Want to advertise?

?

Source: http://www.thewareaglereader.com/2013/02/aus-new-recreation-and-wellness-center-will-feature-a-50-foot-rock-wall-giant-tiger-paw-shaped-hot-tub-largest-indoor-track-in-u-s/

W S B H c mitt romney mark zuckerberg

We're emotionally distant and that's just fine by me: Closer relationships aren't necessarily better relationships

Feb. 13, 2013 ? When it comes to having a lasting and fulfilling relationship, common wisdom says that feeling close to your romantic partner is paramount. But a new study finds that it's not how close you feel that matters most, it's whether you are as close as you want to be, even if that's really not close at all.

"Our study found that people who yearn for a more intimate partnership and people who crave more distance are equally at risk for having a problematic relationship," says the study's lead author, David M. Frost, PhD, of Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. "If you want to experience your relationship as healthy and rewarding, it's important that you find a way to attain your idealized level of closeness with your partner."

Results will be published in the April issue of the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, and will also appear ahead of print online on February 13.

A sample of 732 men and women, living across the U.S. and Canada, completed three yearly surveys online. They answered questions about relationship closeness, relationship satisfaction, commitment, break-up thoughts, and symptoms of depression. Current and ideal closeness were assessed by choosing from six sets of overlapping circles; varying degrees of overlap signified degrees of closeness. This well-established psychological measure of closeness is known as Inclusion of Other in Self and indicates a couple's "we-ness" or shared identity, values, viewpoints, resources, and personality traits.

More than half of respondents (57%) reported feeling too much distance between themselves and their partner; 37% were content with the level of closeness in their relationship; and a small minority (5%) reported feeling too close. The degree of difference between a respondent's actual and ideal -- their "closeness discrepancy" -- correlated with poorer relationship quality and more frequent symptoms of depression. The effect was the same whether the respondent reported feeling "too close for comfort" or "not close enough." Surprisingly, the negative effects of closeness discrepancies were evident regardless of how close people felt to their partners; what mattered was the discrepancy, not the closeness.

Over the two-year study period, some respondents' experiences of closeness became aligned with their ideals. In such cases, their relationship quality and mental health improved. The inverse was also true. Those who increasingly felt "too close" or "not close enough" over time were more likely to grow unhappy in their relationships and ultimately break up with their partners.

Closeness discrepancies could shape new approaches to psychotherapy, both for couples and individuals, because it takes seriously real differences in the amount of closeness people want in their relationships, says Dr. Frost, a psychologist and professor of Population and Family Health at the Mailman School.

"It's best not to make too many assumptions about what constitutes a healthy relationship," he says. "Rather, we need to hear from people about how close they are in their relationships and how that compares to how close they'd ideally like to be."

Ongoing studies are looking at the issue of closeness discrepancies from both sides of a relationship to see how someone's sense of relationship closeness might differ from their partners, whether someone's closeness discrepancy affects their partners, and how it affects their sex life. The concept could also be extended to non-romantic relationships such as co-workers, parent-child, and patient-provider interactions.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/depression/~3/-grqXXK5HiE/130213105011.htm

hayden panettiere raul ibanez completely wrong mila kunis stacey dash christopher columbus columbus day

Let Yourself Splurge a Little for Hitting Savings Goals

Saving money requires a lot of discipline and delayed gratification. However, as the folks at finance blog Wise Bread have written, it's important to make sure that gratification does come.

If you've recently implemented a savings plan in order to be more responsible with your finances, then rewarding yourself for sticking to it isn't a bad idea.

When you are already cutting down debt and meeting your savings goals, you should give yourself some positive reinforcement. Being responsible with your money should be fun, too. When you let yourself have that massage or video game you wanted, you may become even more motivated to earn and save more. If saving money becomes hard labor for you, then you are probably less happy than you might otherwise be, but that does not have to be how you live.

However, don't neglect your debts. If you owe a reasonable amount of money, paying it off and being debt-free is a far more rewarding course of action in the long run.

And if you do splurge, it doesn't have to be wasteful. Some splurges have long term benefits?like higher quality shoes that will outlast a few pairs of cheaper ones. Plus, it breaks up your routine and keeps life interesting. Hit the link for more.

Why You Should Allow Yourself Splurges | Wise Bread

Photo by 401(K) 2013 .

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/tuiHen5NPH4/let-yourself-splurge-a-little-for-hitting-savings-goals

role models ferdinand porsche gregg williams theraflu masters leaderboard frozen four joe avezzano

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing: 'We won't give up on our city'

Detroit ? Mayor Dave Bing in his State of the City speech on Wednesday reiterated the city is facing a financial emergency, but insisted his administration has made progress in fixing its cash flow crisis.

The mayor did not directly address the looming threat of an emergency financial manager, other than to say the city has avoided one so far and will continue to work urgently to stave off insolvency. He outlined the steps the city has taken to restructure itself in the face of a shrinking population and dwindling tax base.

"Despite the naysayers' predictions, there have not been any payless paydays," Bing said. "No emergency manager to date. And no declaration of bankruptcy for the City of Detroit."

Bing painted a picture of hope for the state's largest city and told a few hundred people at the Detroit School of Arts that he's not giving up just yet. A packed house is expected for the 30-minute speech inside the auditorium of the High School for the Arts in midtown.

"Despite our much-publicized financial issues, there is progress to report in Detroit," Bing said. "The picture is not all 'gloom and doom'. Every day there are more signs of hope and possibilities.

"Like many Detroiters, I too am a fighter," he said. "We can't - and won't give up on our city."

Pressure is continuing to mount on city leaders to work through an ongoing cash crisis. The city, which is under a consent agreement, is working to reshape its finances and operations to avoid insolvency. Officials said this week a review team that's looking into the city's issues is set to finish this weekend

Detroit is facing an estimated accumulated deficit of nearly $326 million. It borrowed $137 million that is now being used to cover city expenses late last year.

In his speech, Bing said the city's financial woes stem in part from a reduction in state revenue-sharing over the past decade. He pointed to ways the city is seeking to generate savings and address its revenue shortfall, including:

Reducing city spending from $1.4 billion from fiscal year 2009 to a projected $1.1 billion for fiscal 2013.

Reducing the city workforce from 13,420 to 9,696, and cutting payroll and benefit costs.

Outsourcing three city departments to outside organizations.

To increase operating efficiency, the city also has created a public lighting authority to address lighting problems, improved public transportation and outsourced payroll and benefits functions, he said.

The first-term mayor also touted his vision for Detroit's future. The Detroit Strategic Framework, the city's 50-year vision for the future, was unveiled in December.

The plan, which received $150 million from the Kresge Foundation, seeks to regenerate and transform the city through economic development, neighborhood reinvestment and infrastructure improvements. The goal is to help spur Detroit back to a level of national prominence over a period of five decades.

The plan envisions stable, revitalized neighborhoods in which vacant land is put to creative use and residents have incentives to move to more populated areas. For decades, Detroit has been plagued by population losses, largely driven by concerns about crime.

"The blueprint for the city will live for years to come," Bing said.

Still, Bing said the city cannot turn itself around without doing something about escalating crime. The city is in the midst of a massive restructuring of the department, which includes the elimination of several units. They include the violent crimes task force, tactical mobile unit and crime scene analysis unit.

Officers are to be redeployed to street patrols to bolster the force, whose uniformed ranks have decreased to 2,000 from about 3,000 in 2000. Last year, Detroit suffered through one of the most violent years in recent memory. Homicides increased 12 percent in 2012 to 386. That's a rate of 54.1 homicides per 100,000 residents. Data shows 88 percent of the homicides were committed in residential areas.

"We are all fighting the same battle - trying to reduce crime throughout our city," Bing said. "As I have said repeatedly, the fight against crime must involve everyone. Our elected officials. Our churches. Our schools. Our community groups. Our businesses. We all have a role and stake in the outcome."

Bing also announced a partnership with Pulte Homes to create a private non-profit group called the Detroit Blight Authority, which will work with community stakeholders such as the Kresge Foundation and DTE Energy to fight neighborhood blight. The authority's pilot project, which was first reported by The Detroit News last week, includes demolition of a 10-block area on Detroit's east side near Eastern Market.

Bing said he plans to reach his goal of tearing down 10,000 abandoned structures this year. The city has knocked down nearly 6,700 vacant structures throughout Detroit to date, he said.

"While we can proudly point to all of these successes, my job is not done," Bing said.

dnichols@detnews.com

(313) 222-2072

Source: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130213/METRO01/302130373/1408/LOCAL

matt ryan att wireless Mother Jones cars Bacon Number Kate Middleton photos Chi Magazine

Tycoons Slim, Gates open Mexico agricultural research center

TEXCOCO (Reuters) - Carlos Slim and Bill Gates, the two richest men on the planet, inaugurated a new agricultural research center outside Mexico's capital, touting the millions they have donated to bolster global food security.

The two tycoons participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for new laboratories at the headquarters of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, known by its Spanish acronym CIMMYT.

The new complex will double the center's capacity to develop better seeds and more productive farmers in the developing world, officials said.

"These laboratories will help attract the best talent in the world to come and work here," said Gates, founder of Microsoft and co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Slim's charitable foundation donated $25 million to build the new complex, while the Gates foundation has given more than $90 million for ongoing CIMMYT projects, including an $18 million grant also announced Wednesday to help boost small-farm yields in South Asia.

"We have climate change but we also have significant volatility in raw materials, and that makes improved efficiency and farm productivity indispensable," said Slim, who controls a business empire that includes Latin America's biggest telecommunications company, America Movil.

Mexico's agriculture minister, Enrique Martinez, told the assembled dignitaries that new advances in seeds developed by CIMMYT will help Mexico lessen its reliance on imported grains, especially corn.

Mexico currently imports about a third of the corn it needs each year.

More than two years ago, Mexico's government began pumping resources into CIMMYT's sustainable agriculture program known as MasAgro - $49 million since 2011, and another $138 million pledged over the next decade, according to data from the agriculture ministry.

The government says MasAgro, which has won plaudits from the G-20, boosts farmer profits by a third and yields by half.

Slim and Gates are worth a combined $130 billion according to the ranking maintained by Forbes magazine.

(Additional reporting by Armando Tovar; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tycoons-slim-gates-open-mexico-agricultural-research-center-025204575--finance.html

How long to cook a turkey green bean casserole green bean casserole recipe red dawn sweet potato pie sweet potato pie Turkey Cooking Time