Way to go World! - Week 88 - Jan 2-7

Updated - I had this finished off on Sunday.  But I had a couple of Monday morning updates to sneak in.

First, and most importantly, the lockout.  Yes, hockey is back.  There's lots of comments from people claiming they will "never watch a hockey game again", which is ridiculous.  This story sums my feelings up nicely.  I think the best thing an angry hockey fan can do is not give any money directly to the NHL.  No ticket purchases.  No jerseys or other merchandise.  Nothing.  Watch all the "free" hockey you want on TV.

Second update.  The audit on the Attawapiskat finances was released.  It is damning.  You can blame the government for the timing and talk about conspiracies.  But Theresa Spence has lost a lot of credibility.  There's no justifiable argument for having absolutely no documentation or explanation for spending that was supposed to help your people.  I realize that this has absolutely nothing to do with the Idle No More movement, but her association is going to take away from their message.  On to the original post.

This story is depressing.  If the world had signed on to Kyoto way back when, we would have committed to reducing our current greenhouse gas output by 5% relative to 1990 numbers.  Instead, they've gone up 58%.  And wow!  Look at all those trolls in the comments.  They really mobilized

Let's look at the ThreeHundredEight December poll summary.  Not much has changed.  The Conservatives and NDP are down a bit from their election numbers and the Liberals have gained a bit of ground.  Which roughly corresponds with this poll, where more people are saying that they aren't happy with the direction of the country.  It's crazy that 1/3 of the country can hold the rest hostage, isn't it?  And oddly, this Angus Reid survey is way, way off from the ThreeHundredEight poll summary.  Looking at BC only, 43% vs. 32.8%?  There is a note at the bottom of the article that the poll was conducted among "1,012 randomly selected Angus Reid Forum panellist."  Doesn't sound very random.

The Idle No More movement really gained traction this week.  Judging by the comments and tone of this article, they must be on to something.  It seems like they are making some progress.

The government announced the extension of its "innovation fund", and is planning to spend another $250 Million to help the auto industry with R&D.  Harper claims that the last round of funding was paid back to Canadians six times over, but there's no facts or numbers to back this up.  I'm a bit confused and I wish there was more information here.  How does R&D spending ensure Canadian jobs?  Is it R&D spending specific to Canadian plants?  How have they measured the benefits?  Are they attributing the entire rebound of the Canadian auto industry to this funding?  The official government website doesn't tell us much.  What I would really love to see would be some details on the projects funded with the initial round of money.  I can't find that anywhere.

This is a long but fascinating read on the changes to mortgage and CMHC policy that have lead to the potential problems in real estate.  Over the last few years I've heard from many people a comment along the lines of "We'll never have the problems the US had with Real Estate.  We don't have the sub-prime mess that they did."  No, our sub-prime mess is backed by the government.  And as David Dodge points out in this article, it's entirely because of Conservative Government meddling that all of this happened.

I saw two interesting about-face articles today.  The first was from Salon, about "Jane Roe" and her move to become pro life.  The second is about a "prominent environmentalist" who has come to accept genetically modified foods.  That article also mentions a "scientist" who disavowed an article that he wrote linking autism to vaccination.  I think the important thing here is that we just shouldn't jump to conclusions about anything, and that we shouldn't put too much meaning into the opinions or actions of any one person.

A Surrey judge has determined that a mandatory sentence for gun possession is unconstitutional.  I think that's why you're supposed to talk about laws before you throw them into a giant pile and force them through Parliament.

Federal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver seems to still think the Northern Gateway Pipeline is A-OK.  And he suggests that we only need to be "open to the facts" to make it happen.  What facts are these?  The dishonest sales pitches?  The inadequate safety planning?  The pipeline company with a history of leaky pipelines?

The general public will not be allowed to attend the public hearings for the Northern Gateway Pipeline when they roll around through Vancouver and Victoria.  They'll have to watch in a hotel a few kilometers away.

Two former Liberal MP's are proposing some changes to improve the atmosphere in the House of Commons.  I like the Australian idea, where the speaker can send MP's to the penalty box if they get too out of hand.

It's been over two years, but anti-spam regulation passed by the Conservatives is still not enforced.

What could possibly go wrong, drilling for oil in the Arctic?