(c) @ sergiymaidukov

Quebec’s anti-corruption police have launched a criminal investigation of the provincial Liberal party, prompting some Liberals to voice doubts about the continued leadership of former federal cabinet minister Pablo Rodriguez. The Liberals are facing allegations of possible vote-buying during a leadership race earlier this year that saw Rodriguez take the reins of the party. On Wednesday, a defiant Rodriguez told reporters he is “absolutely” staying on as leader, despite multiple investigations related to the campaign he won in June. “I was duly elected by the members,” he said. “I have nothing to reproach myself for.”

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If you can’t safely contact them in person, here are some other options for contacting your Congress Critters:

Five Calls to your critters: https://5calls.org/

Here is one that will send your reps a fax: https://resist.bot/

And another: https://faxzero.com/fax_senate.php

Law Is the Same for Everyone!

From @nexta_tv

Honest officials are not just a touchy-feely do-gooder thing. They save lives.

Hatay Destroyed, Not a Single Debris in Erzin: 'We Did Not Allow Illegal Construction'

Ökkeş Elmasoğlu, the mayor of Erzin from CHP, on TV5 television Giving information about the latest situation in Hatay, he explained the reason why there was no loss of life and destruction by saying, "I did not allow illegal construction in any way."

Elmasoğlu explained the process as follows:

“Our Erzin is a town with a population of 42 thousand, 15-20 kilometers from Osmaniye and 110 kilometers from Hatay. Despite this, thankfully, we did not have any loss of life in our Erzin, caused by the earthquake itself, we were not injured, we did not have any wreckage. Apart from this, 50-60 of our citizens living outside of Erzin, living in İskenderun, Hatay and Osmaniye, died, and I wish them mercy.”

Mayor Elmasoğlu rebuffed contractors who wanted to put up unsafe buildings higher than six stories. He became unpopular with them. But since the earthquake, he’s become one of the most admired public officials in the Turkish media.

He’s a member of the opposition CHP (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi). With both presidential and parliamentary elections in a few months, the CHP will likely point to Ökkeş Elmasoğlu as the type of official who best exemplifies the party.

BONUS TRACK: This interview with Mayor Elmasoğlu is in Turkish. But in the background you see his intact and still functioning city – despite being in the middle of a major disaster zone. The only notable damage in town is shown near the end at the top of an old minaret.

December 9th is...

Christmas Card Day -  Sending a card during the holidays hasn’t always been a tradition. In Victorian England, sending Penny Post was inexpensive and frequent. It was also considered rude to ignore a written message. One particularly popular Victorian invented the holiday card out of necessity. Sir Henry Cole received frequent letters, and it left him little time for other responsibilities. In 1843, he asked his friend J.C. Horsley to illustrate a design he had in mind. Soon, Cole was off to the printer, and he mailed the first Christmas card in the Penny Post to friends, family, and many acquaintances.

International Anti-Corruption Day - Encourages the public to work on innovative solutions aimed at winning the battle against corruption. Corruption is defined as dishonest or fraudulent conduct. Others define corruption as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. Usually, those in power use corruption to achieve their goals. Corruption comes in many forms. Bribery, price-fixing, and embezzlement are just a few of the crimes associated with corruption.

Pastry Day -  The pastry is a name given to a large variety of baked goods which are made with ingredients such as flour, sugar, milk, butter, shortening, baking powder, and eggs. Pastry dough is rolled out thinly and then used as a base for different baked products. Pastries can be traced as far back as the ancient Mediterranean where they had almost paper-thin, multilayered baklava and Phyllo dough. Pastry-making began in Northern Europe after the Crusaders brought it back from the Mediterranean.

Weary Willie Day - This holiday was named for the character made famous by Emmett Kelly, who was born on this day in 1898. Weary Willie was a unique character in the art of clowning. Kelly had developed Weary Willy at a time when the white-faced, goofy clown was the norm, and selling the idea for a sad, down-on-his-luck clown did not fit the formula most circuses were seeking. Times and attitudes changed when the country was in the depths of the Great Depression. Downtrodden and world-weary was the face of the nation.  People could identify with Weary Willie like never before. Weary Willie, his frowning, whisker-shadowed face, and his dirty, torn and worn costume, went on to become an American icon.