The committee charged with reviewing Ontario's payday loans law recommends a hard usury cap of sixty percent. Were it any lower, payday loan companies would have to shut down and go get real jobs and make their mothers proud of them. Were it any higher, payday loan companies would be dancing in the streets and shouting "hooray!" So sixty percent is apparently the fair number. A judge will decide today whether a videotaped interview......

Robert William Pickton's murder trial begins today. Now, Torontoist believes firmly in every man's right to be deemed inoocent before proven guilty and hopes Pickton gets a fair and impartial trial. That having been said...doesn't the guy look like a serial killer? If you were casting a movie and had a role named "Mangy Serial Killer," would this guy not instantly get a callback after his audition based on looks alone? The Tories have announced......

Sunday. Usually, a quiet, contemplative day in the Blogosphere. But not here in the Ist-a-Verse. Nonono! Just look below and see all of the wild and crazy stuff our staffs are up to. In Austin, bands are beginning to confirm for SXSW and the rumor mill is up and running. Good thing, too, because we all know how much Austinites love live performances. Austin also found itself in the national spotlight, with Longhorn Legend......

So you're stuck at home with the kids. Or you're feeling under the weather. Or you're tired of scrambling around at 11:58 looking for someone to make out with. There are many, many reasons why you might be staying in this New Year's Eve. But there is no reason why you can't be a party of one in front of the tube! There are offerings for any taste Sunday night for those who don't make......

Photograph of Rick Santorum conceding defeat with his family by Gene J. Puskar/AP The -ists this week had politics on the brain. And what goes better with politics? Partying-- that's two great tastes in one. Oh, and Kevin Federline...can't forget about Kevin Federline. That's three great tastes in one. -Bostonist discussed two big state issues-- what sort of math constitutes a marriage and what kind of alcohol can be sold in most grocery stores.......

Let's take a look back at a week that raised this Zen koan: if Kevin Federline got into a wrestling ring with a wrestler, who would you root for? Austinist was in an entertainment state of mind as they covered the dickens out of the Austin Film Festival, depicted all the Big 12 football coaches as South Park characters, and interviewed Jose Gonzalez. Chicagoist talked about the passion as they bid adieu to Bell......

Coffee: Bull Dog ...

Torontoist likes to make our own rules, so when it comes to year end lists and such, there are no rules. Along the lines of Torontoist's kinda-sorta-best-of's for 2004, while out and about we've noticed some good stuff, some bad stuff, and some damn near ugly stuff: The Good: Rediscovering Cheap - it's out there, you just have to find it--on Queen West of course. $2.50 beers at The Queenshead, $3.99 Breakfasts at Still......

While David Miller, the Mayor, cannot have passed his finest week, given the scorn with which the mainstream press approached the bureaucratic reorganization he rammed through council yesterday, the world's other David Millers made sure to pick up the slack. David Millers, like Jason Chows, like to get each others' backs. To wit: Deputy David Miller of Tullahoma, Tennessee was totally on last week, having done his part to uphold the Volunteer State's peace on......