Everybody should use the word "Realtor" - Week 149 - March 3-10

Been a while since we started with a photo.  Two thumbs up, Steve!

Hey.  Nothing to do with Canadian politics, but there is some happiness in the world.  Readit IAmA with a survivor of Mengele's medical experiments.

John Baird thinks this is an argument on the Internet...compares Putin to Hitler.

This Crimea thing is pretty crazy, no?  I kind of wish there was some large, world spectacle that Russia was holding that we could not go to in order to drive home how inappropriate it is to take over your next door neighbours country.  Oh.  Wait.  There is?  Two of them?  And we're still going?  We're just not going to send "government officials" or participate in the planning?  That seems a bit stupid.  It's kind of okay though, because nobody really cares what Canada thinks any longer.

Honestly, this "don't politicize the Olympics" thing has got to stop.  If the IOC didn't hand the Olympics over to despotic regimes looking to prove their political might then we wouldn't need to "politicize the Olympics".

Opposition to the "Fair Elections Act" is really heating up.  Marc Mayrand finally gets to speak and tears the bill a new one.

Try to make sense of this one...Conservative MP makes some shit up to justify additional voter ID laws...Conservative MP admits that he didn't actually see the shit that he made up, somebody just told him about it...Conservatives decide that the issue doesn't warrant any more investigation or discussion.  Here it is, people.  Proof that majority governments don't work.

Not only are we going to make a sex offender registry, we're going to pull funding to treatment programs that seem to be working pretty well.  Can't have people getting better on the Government dime.

So maybe Jim Prentices talks about more environmental protection weren't really what they appeared to be...as he joins up with Enbridge to foist their pipeline on the First Nations.  Sorry, to "negotiate with the First Nations".

"When the pipeline leaks/tanker sinks, we'll just clean it up."  Looks like the area around the Exxon Valdez has finally recovered.  It only took 25 years...but it recovered.  Mostly.

This guy does not think Vic Toews should have been named a judge.  He suggests that the $288,000 per year salary, plus full MP pension, should help pay for his messy, expensive divorce though.  Love the quotes of opposition MP Toews complaining about the Liberals appointing Liberals as judges.  Totally different this time.


It must suck to realize that people so thoroughly disagree with what you believe.  Peter McKay suggests that loosening of marijuana laws might be in the cards.  I thought anybody who even talked about that kind of stuff was a child hating monster?

Just so awesome.  The CREA has told Garth Turner that the use of the word "Realtor" is trademarked/copyrighted/whatever and he can't use that word in his blog posts.  He responds with a takedown of their ridiculous system.  How can you post a number last year for February sales, and then post a number this year for February sales that is lower than last years number, and claim sales have gone up? (just testing to see if you read far enough down to understand the headline)

Hey.  This is shocking.  A former Conservative is accused of improper lobbying.  Gawd.  Doesn't he know there's other ways to get on the gravy train?

Oh boo hoo.  Gun owners aren't allowed to own one specific type of gun.  Sounds like the beginnings of tyranny to me.  You know, the kind of tyranny that takes away your guns.  Not the type of tyranny that arbitrarily ends debate on issues, forces through gigantic Omnibus bills, changes election laws to suit themselves, perpetrates voter fraud, etc.

This story about the mother of a soldier who committed suicide receiving a $0.01 cheque from the government really lays bare Internet commenters true prejudices.
Conservative - Shame on the incompetent bureacrat for allowing this to happen.
Liberal - Shame on the incompetent Harper Government for allowing this to happen.

Joe Oliver thinks it's a good idea that we live up to our G8 commitment to ensure mining companies disclose money paid to foreign governments.  I think the doings with SNC Lavalin (I know...not a mining company) prove that Canada can be a world power with corporate corruption.  Time to require more of Canadian companies.

An American general points out that you need fancier, more expensive planes to protect the fancy, expensive planes we're thinking of buying from the Americans.  If not, they're kind of useless.

I've often wondered how banks can screw up, hand people's money to scammers, and not immediately be fully responsible.  This guy fought BMO for months over money they handed over during a pretty blatant scam.

Astro-Turf - Week 148 - Feb 24-March 3

Why the War on Drugs isn't a great idea.
 
I'm sure this is just correlation without causation, right?  Vicente Fox has a good point to make.  The US War on Drugs is really a war on mexicans.  He wants all drugs legalized.

Did you know the Fair Elections Act will give incumbent MP's the power to appoint key election workers?  What a terrible idea.  On a similar note, Preston Manning has even suggested that taking away Elections Canada's "get out the vote" abilities is dumb.  And another voice suggesting that bad things will happen if Elections Canada can't investigate.

Brad Butt, the MP who said he saw voter fraud taking place in the form of campaign employees pulling voter ID cards from the trash and then using them to fraudulently vote, now says that he saw no such thing.  Is this not troubling?  Is this a statement you can just back away from by saying you "misspoke".  Were new laws not drafted to prevent this from happening?

Oh.  This is fresh.  It's not enough to claim that it's American money funding the anti-pipeline coalition in BC.  It used to be the evil American hippies with no skin in the game that want to see the pipeline fail.  But now...now somehow it's worse.  It's American big oil tricking Canadians into scrapping their own pipeline because they want the oil for themselves.  The same American companies that control the majority of the Oils Sands, right?  So...they don't want this pipeline so they can sell the oil in the US rather than they sell the oil in China?  Interesting.  Note that the author of this article is pretty much a BC Liberal Government shill who seems to be the driving force behind the astro-turf "British Columbians for Prosperity".  Where do you get your money, assholes?  Looks like somebody has followed their money...straight to the long term Oil Industry folks who started this organization.

Similarly, a nice little Tyee story that highlights some of the ties between big oil, US right-wing think tanks, "grassroots" oil supporters and Canadian politicians.  Weird, scary stuff.  It also asks the question - why is the 100% political "charity" The Fraser Institute not held to the same standard as other charitable organizations participating in political work?  And points out that all these outside organizations currently "own" 70% of Canada's oil and gas production and siphon off the majority of the profits.

I love behind the scenes views of talking points for Conservative politicians.  Here we have a look at what they were all told to say with respect to Justin Trudeau and the Senate.

Not only Rex Murphy, but Peter Mansbridge has been caught taking money from the Oil Sands.

The IMF, that crazy bunch of liberals, has a report showing that increased taxes on the rich has no impact on economic growth.

I know that nobody ever said anything positive about child sex offenders and made it out alive.  But, especially since we seem more than eager to make kids that forward pictures of classmates "child sex offenders", I worry what this legislation might mean.  I just don't think that making it impossible for a certain breed of criminal to re-integrate into society might not be to the benefit of anybody.

Garth Turner shows why Justin Trudeau is correct - The StatsCan report on middle class wealth increasing is solely based on real estate values.  Yes, some people are sitting on fat (on paper) Real Estate values.  This hardly defines the return of the middle class.

The Conservatives shutting the opposition out of the trip to the Ukraine is just one of many ways the Conservatives are using foreign policy to take advantage of their position.  Poor Irwin.

Is Jim Prentice making a move to be the next Conservative PM?  He's coming out in favour of more environmental protection.

If you complain about everything, people will stop listening.  This story points out that taxpayers have paid for $130,000 in meals for Conservative staffers since 2010.  Who cares?  What kind of deadbeat employer doesn't pick up the tab for employee meals at specific work events?  $7000 for pizza for 330 people during a professional development event?  So...$21 per person?  Who cares.  This is not the sort of thing we should be worried about.  More Conservative lunch expenses, this set directly linked to the Prime Minister.

Their analysis makes almost no sense...and they were kind of dicks when I asked for clarification...But Ross Kay Consultants lays out how the MLS double counts home sales and how badly it distorts sales numbers.  Over 10% of "sales" disappear.

There seems to be some agreement between the Feds and the Provinces about the Canada Job Grant plan.  Nobody seems too sure what it is though.

I've been thinking a similar train of thought to this story over the last few days.  It comes from the question "Will NHL owners allow NHL players to compete in the next Olympics?"  It just seems absurd.  I understand that NHL owners are paying NHL players obscene amounts of money to play hockey for their team.  But the statement seems to imply some kind of ownership over the very being of the person/athlete.  It's strange to me.  Further to that, this Grantland article points out the near impossibility of athletes to protest much of anything due to their meager earnings and subservience to corporate sponsors.

An interesting Snowden/Greenwald article outlines how western intelligence agencies (the British GCHQ in this case) use dirty tricks to discredit political activists and protesters.  As somebody says somewhere, it's pretty scary that the full might of the government can arbitrarily decide that you're a bad apple and your life should be ruined.  Okay.  That's my paraphrase.

Don't Listen to Anyone - Week 147 - Feb 17-24

A steady theme with this Conservative government is that they refuse to listen to anybody.  Scientists, academics, judges, bureaucrats...these are all people who just don't know what they're talking about.  An internal document prepared by Employment and Social Development Canada has pointed out that the wages and earnings of the middle class in Canada haven't gone anywhere in decades.  Of course, the Conservatives can't abide by this.  The report reflects “the period of time under the previous Liberal government” says a spokesperson for Jason Kenney.  Nothing to worry about.

Then you have reports that Gail Shea re-opened the commercial herring roe fishery despite recommendations from DFO scientists.  What do those guys know?


In a similar vein, a judge in British Columbia has refused to adhere to the Conservatives minimum sentencing rules.  But what on earth would a judge know about what's best for sentencing a criminal?

A doctor says that a young lady is really responding to her medical marijuana treatment and her mother suggests that she won't be able to continue her treatment once she is unable to grow her own when new policies kick in.  Don't they know how dangerous it is to even think about marijuana?

Good thing we won't have to worry about scientists any more.  This post suggests that we will lose 5,064 Federal Government "science" jobs in the next few years.  Don't worry though.  I'm sure the private sector will step in and start completing all this research on behalf of Canadians.  After all, if it's important, there must be a profit somewhere.  And the greatness will trickle down.

Experts have been telling Stephen Harper for years that oil shipments by rail are going to rise dramatically.  I'm not saying it's his fault that trains are blowing up across the country...but you'd think that you might have pumped some money into rail safety, no?

A study has confirmed that Oil Sands tailings are leaching into groundwater and rivers.  Don't these scientists know that there are jobs at stake?

In similar news, an energy company in northern Alberta chased a family from their ranch with toxic gas clouds.  They'll only help them financially if they sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Rex Murphy is in a bit of trouble for accepting money from Oil Sands companies while belittling Neil Young for having an opinion, and otherwise serving as an Oil Sands mouthpiece.

Land set aside as grazing areas for Arctic Reindeer has been offered up for Oil and Gas exploration.  Reindeer don't need jobs.  And they certainly don't need subsidies like all these big oil companies do.

Federal Ministers keep visiting Kitimat, but don't meet with councillors or local government.  What's going on?

I love it.  The punishment for exceeding donation laws by over 4 times?  The campaign has to refund him his own money!  So, let's see:
1) Need a quick cash infusion for the election.
2) Throw down some fat stacks from your personal account.
3) Wait 3 years for Elections Canada to figure it out.
4) Get a full refund on the money you kicked in.
Where's the downside?

The Conservatives are angry that a Liberal former general received the (managed by a third party) moving (and legal) expenses to which he was entitled.  Note that the Auditor General reported that this was a crazy program back in 2006.  The Cons didn't seem all that concerned until this week.

It's been pointed out that the "average family" used in the Conservatives sales job for income splitting are far from average.  Huge wage gains in the last few years and a household income $50,000 more than the median in Canada?  Sounds pretty average to me.  Oh.  Wait.  Maybe they're talking about "real" Canadians.  You know?  Albertans.

Another Conservative job well done.  Prisons.  Where prisoners die due to poor health care and lack of review and follow-up.  Maybe that's part of the tough-on-crime agenda?

The Oil Sands workers laid off in favour of Temporary Foreign Workers have not been hired back yet.  They hired some different ones instead.  Maybe?

It's interesting that the ruling that a Canadian ISP has to give up user data in a copyright lawsuit is being reported as a big win for entertainment companies.  While the ISP does have to give up user data, the judge is making it fairly difficult for US style copyright trolling to take place.

"Justin Trudeau kicks off Liberal convention with partisan speech" says the headline.  Really?  I would have thought a political party convention was a perfect place to cozy up to the Conservatives.

Interesting.  The government has opened up "public consultation" on prostitution laws.

Tim Hudak essentially wants to privatize all government services?  Well that sounds like a dandy idea.  What could possibly go wrong with that?

Did the ruling party in the Ukraine pay Conservative bloggers in the US to spread their message?  Maybe.

I haven't read The Signal and the Noise (or whatever Nate Silver's book is called).  But apparently he takes global warming to task.  As did the Freakanomics guys.  This is why they got it wrong...basically...your models that apply to other things don't necessarily work with climate change.

New York State is mulling a ban on microbeads in soaps and shampoos.  Which is great.  But how are we not mulling other options?  Such as suing the shit out of companies that created an environmental disaster via a ridiculous product?

Patrick Brazeau lands job at strip club.  Sounds about right.

Government Advertising

There seems to be more and more and more talk every day about the amount of money spent on advertising by the Federal Government.  There's lots of stories, but seems to be precious little data.  I thought about a freedom of information request, but lo-and-behold, it looks like all the information back to 2002 is available here.

So you don't have to go looking, I've put together a little summary sheet here:

Which, hopefully I'm not off base with my speculation here...this...this is a series of numbers that causes you to feel terrible about this country.  In the last 10-11 years, the Federal Government has spent within sneezing distance of a billion dollars telling us about things.

Let's plunge into this a bit further though.  What have they done with that money?  Let's start by taking a look at a standard Conservative year (last year) and a standard Liberal year (let's say...2003-04).  These years have roughly the same expenditures.

2012-13
$14,891,026 - "Economic Action Plan".  Hey everybody, the economy isn't so bad!
$8,228,706 - We're going to responsibly mine and log and all that stuff.  Responsibly.
$7,020,497 - Encouraging us to take all of our tax deductions
$6,098,973 - Stay in school for better jobs, kids
$5,009,748 - I have to quote this one.  "promoted practical information...help Canadian consumers...easily access...health and safety...make informed purchase decisions."
$4,118,772 - Celebrating the war of 1812
$3,723,952 - Telling recent immigrants all about the fantastic services we have to offer them
$3,453,392 - Hey kids!  Join the army!
$3,488,181 - Don't forget about Rememberance Day, everybody.
$3,142,107 - Hey!  Old people!  Plan for your own retirement

2003-04
$7,327,000 - Hey kids, join the army!
$6,788,000 - Stop smoking.
$7,000,000 (roughly) - Services for children and families?
$527,000 - "The University of Life" - Okay.  This sounds terrible.  At least it was cheap.

So, it looks like the Liberals were capable of spending just as much as the Conservatives on advertising.  But that's where the similarities end (for me).  There's some big differences.

1) The Liberals have far fewer large, splashy campaigns with fancy logos.
2) The Liberal campaigns seem far less self-serving.

The Liberals spend money on things like encouraging us not to smoke, telling us about e-filing for our income taxes and even how to save energy.  The Conservatives have spent just an insane amount of money on things with no tangible direct impact to the average citizen.  Economic Action Plan.  Responsible Resource Development.  Tax Cuts.  Upcoming skills programs.  All this stuff that is basically "Yay!  Look at how great we are!"  It's madness.

I encourage you to take a look yourself.  I'll breakdown some of the major stuff.

2011-12
$6,705,559 - Doubling up on awesome.  Tax relief available via the Economic Action Plan
$1,326,286 - Celebrating the War of 1812.  Again.
$4,779,865 - Jobs!  Growth!
$4,778,243 - Jobs and skills again.
$4,155,337 - Oh, I remember these.  Elder abuse.
$5,561,983 - The War on Drugs
$4,610,076 - Join the Army
$5,247,758 - Home Energy Retrofit
$10,710,366 - 2011 Census (okay...I'll allow this one)

2010-11
$13,324.310 - Apparently they really, really wanted people to join the army
$4,560,101 - Do some book learnin' for better jobs, folks
$2,958,505 - Elder abuse.  Again.
$6,148,853 - War on Drugs
$7,434,858 - Protect the kids
$6,067,934 - Spending money to tell you how to pay less tax.

2009-10
$6,220,288 - Home Renovation Tax Credit
$8,168,048 - More on how much less tax you are paying
$16,498,667 - Canada's Economic Action Plan
$4,429,091 - War on Drugs
$11,401,978 - "Helping Canadian Workers"
$12,144,591 - We really, really want you to join the Army, kids. Nationally.
$2,440,917 - We want you to join so bad, we have separate regional ads.
$7,547,946 - Infrastructure Canada EAP - I have no idea what this is.
$6,953,968 - Aren't our parks great?
$23,533,280 - Holy shit.  H1N1 cost a tonne of money.
$1,621,286 - Hey kids.  Once you join the army and retire, join the RCMP!

2008-09
There isn't a very good summary.  Let's move on to the Liberals.  See if you can spot the differences.  I'm not cherry-picking here, either.

2005-06
$14,353,000 - Join the Army
$4,657,000 - Buy Canada Savings Bonds
$3,704,000 - How to save energy at home (Energuide, Energy Star, One Tonne Challenge)
$2,891,000 - E-filing your tax return

2004-05
$10,535,000 - Stop smoking, keep your baby healthy, etc.
$10,018,00 - One tonne challenge
$8,534,000 - Buy Canada Savings Bonds
$6,848,000 - Join the Army
$5,342,000 - E-file your tax return

2002-03
There's no totals, but these were their large campaigns for the year.
E-File your taxes
Stop Smoking
Hey, Canada has a website!
Canada Savings Bonds
Climate Change

Blame the Chinese - Week 146 - Feb 10-17

Even the Conservatives don't think buying your way into Canada via an $800,000 loan is a good idea.  But what about Real Estate values!  Here's a story on how this program has already been suspended (as Garth Turner points out) for two years.  But of course, it's going to have a now immediate impact on real estate?  (hint...it might already be broken)

When everybody hates you, use your wife to win the next election.  I'll tell you what, Steve.  You let Laureen run in the next election in your place and you have my vote.  Isn't it bad form to hijack another parties convention, though?  Of course, a newspaper is up to no good if they publish secret documents that make a government/party look bad via their own actions.

I think this is beautiful.  Parliament is supposed to be a negotiation, not a heavy-handed attempt to jam through legislation.  The NDP has used one of the only tools in its arsenal - approval of committee travel - to fight back against the Conservatives elections bill.  Well done.  Of course, anything the Conservatives don't do is "anti-democratic".

This story outlines the gigantic, Con friendly loophole in election financing the Conservatives are trying to create.  In essence, anybody that donated even 20 dollars to a campaign is allowed to be contacted "free of charge" during an election campaign.  This is a large portion of what a campaign does (20-25%).  I guess this will free up dollars for more attack ads?

Remember when Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway blamed the conductor for not setting the brakes and causing the Lac Megantic disaster?  Turns out they had a prior 10 years worth of Transport Canada brake related violations.

Matt Taibbi does it again.  Just crawl off into the woods and die because there's no point in trying anymore.  Here he outlines how investment banks have bought up commodities firms and are using them to manipulate prices and drive up costs.  Just way too complicated to explain.  Go read.

Just to drive home the point of how bad Justin Trudeau is and how he wants to give all the kids pot...Hey!  Federal anti-pot advertising money!

Of course...the budget.  Jim Flaherty isn't actually going to introduce income splitting.  And there's not much for anyone, except for a massive jump in seniors benefits.  Most of the budget is just vague promises with little detail.  Such as random cuts to "military procurement".  The Conservatives love the military so much that the Snowbirds have to miss shows due to not enough training time.

Kevin Pages suggests the Conservatives efforts to "balance the budget" and cut spending have hampered Canada's economic growth, jobs, etc.

Canada's spy watchdog doesn't think CSEC has done anything wrong in collecting Canadians data and tracking them.

 Quebec really is different, isn't it?  The CEO of Canada's Bridge Corporation (a government entity) is accused of taking $1.5 Million in kickbacks from SNC Lavalin for a bridge repair contract.  But don't worry.  The swiss bank account that he opened and that all the money was deposited in was for his sister-in-law.

I wish I could blame Jason Kenney for this, but I can't.  I guess I can blame his parents for raising dick children?  Anyhow, people are suing Jason Kenney's brother over his nightmare treatment facility.  He sounds like a real asshole.

Here, our good buddy Jason points to the fence and promises good jobs for Canadians.

Rex Murphy is an oilsands cheerleader.

What?  Hunting Polar Bears is unregulated?

Not so good at this social media thing - Week 145 - Feb 3-10

Sorry if I got a bit grumpy earlier in the week.  Times are difficult, you know?

Oh boy, Steve.  You really can't win these days, can you?  I'd expect this kind of stuff out of your buddy Rob Ford.  Anyhow, the drummer in Stephen Harper's band has been charged with sexual assault.  That guy is going to fast learn the definition of fair weather friend.

Of course everybody is still talking about the farce of an "election reform" bill.  I can't not put it in quotations.  Also not a fan?  The Chief Electoral Officer.  He's wondering why he's no longer allowed to encourage people to vote and what his remaining job is.  Why didn't he speak up when they didn't consult him about it?  He also speculates that up to 100,000 voters could be impacted by the voter ID law, most of them aboriginal.  And of course, this is another great opportunity to cap debate on a bill.  Gotta ram that shit through, no?  Maybe another candidate for a Senate hold-up?  Nobody seems to think this bill is good.  Except the Vernon Morning Star.

This one is new to me, but this site breaks down the arguments put forward in Parliament.  Brad Butt, who is a real Conservative MP and not a made up person, suggests that during his last campaign they just went around and collected discarded voter cards and then went in and voted on behalf of those people using the vouch system.  Oh.  Sorry.  "Some other campaigns" were doing that.  My apologies.

Another Conservative MP has settled his dispute with Elections Canada.  Funny how most of the disputes between MP's and Elections Canada involve Conservatives and now there's all these laws to take away authority from Elections Canada.

This is not new news, but seems to be new news now that the BC Civil Liberties is on board.  Think of just how insane this is.  The national spy apparatus, which is legally prohibited from spying on Canadians, not only spied on (relatively) law abiding Canadians, but did so at the behest of a corporation running a publicly reviled project.  It's totally insane.

Sticking with pipelines, a report about an explosion in a TransCanada pipeline was administratively buried.  Of course, that was never the intention.  I mean, it only showed that their entire inspection program was inadequate.

The new plan for Canadian military procurement is to create some kind of Canadian military-industrial complex.  We can't seem to buy even a trash can properly for the military, now we're going to require it to be designed and built in Canada?

Several dozen oil patch workers were laid off and replaced by Croations.  Of course, nobody is responsible.  The government has no control over Imperial Oil.  Imperial Oil has no control over its contractors.  I'm surprised any of these people were able to make it in to work today, seeing as they're not responsible for anything.

The Conservatives have decided that they don't need tougher conflict of interest rules for themselves.  But public servants certainly do.

Another example of military boostin' Steve not really giving a shit about the actual soldiers.  Veterans are being discharged for medical reasons and don't qualify for benefits.  In other news, a story about how the government ignored PTSD in Canadian soldiers.

The Conservatives have decided to target the "political activities" of charities they deem to be terrorists.  Of course It's much easier to be deemed a terrorist when you do something the government doesn't like.  I would imagine church groups are still going to be allowed to do whatever they want politically.  And if you can't get 'em that way, subject them to Revenue Canada audits.

Another Conservative attempt to solve a problem that doesn't really exist: reigning in public sector employee sick leave.  And then of course all our problems with immigrants.  What better way to weed out the riffraff than to make it more expensive for people to become citizens?  I wonder how these new rules are going to affect ministerial personnel who pretend to be new Canadians for photo ops?

This is a sad and scary story.  Tyrone Hayes is a scientist who did research into a chemical sold as a pesticide.  He started this research at the behest of the company that sold it.  When they didn't like his findings, they set about attempting to discredit his research and ruin his reputation.  They followed him and purchased advertising based on search terms related to his name.  This needs to be a new type of crime.

Justification for ending Canada Post home delivery doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

Of course, now that a few trains have blown up, the Conservatives never would have considered this plan from the rail industry to cut inspections on trains carrying dangerous goods.

CNRL continues to have a giant bitumen leak that they can't stop.

Job creator Jamie Dimon gets a fat raise after presiding over billions in fines to JP Morgan Chase for illegal activities.  As Matt Taibbi points out, the rank and file received pay freezes after the fines were announced.

There were some jobs created in January....for now.  See if there's a major correction to the stats a la November.

"Election Reform" - Week 144.5 - Feb 3-4

You know what?  Fuck these guys.  This is some real 1984 bullshit.  "Let's take something that we do all the time and people hate (cheat at elections), change the rules in our favour and trumpet it as a really great thing."  Fuck these guys.

I actually wrote this morning that the bill seemed positive, but the details needed to be understood before judgement could be passed.  Well, like 8 hours later I think we can determine that this bill sucks.

1) More money pumped into elections - The Conservatives would be able to spend all sorts of money on "fundraising" and it wouldn't count towards campaign expenses.  Bullshit.
2) Even more money pumped into elections - Not a huge deal, but the personal contribution will be raised by $300.  Corporate and Union contributions still need to be hidden as multiple donations from wealthy industrialists relatives.
3) Elections Canada can no longer advertise in order to "Get out the vote" - What the fuck?  Can you be more transparent about your intentions to suppress the vote?
4) Voter ID requirements - This is a huge deal in the US as poor people of ethnic persuasion (i.e. Democrats) tend to have less in the way of ID.  There is never, ever, ever voter fraud in Canada in the form of people voting when they shouldn't or pretending to be somebody else, so why bother?
5) Elections Canada powers are weakened - Investigations in to voter fraud are removed from Elections Canada and placed with a department that reports to the PMO.  Hmmm...Nothing sketchy about that.

And...the imbeciles talked about how they consulted with Elections Canada before making all of these decisions...only to be directly contradicted by Elections Canada.  Maybe they were talking about the Israeli Chief Electoral Officer?

This is a big bag of shit.  And it's only Tuesday.

In other terrible news.

Hey assholes!  Make up your minds!  "We didn't spy on Canadians wifi.  But if we did it wasn't an operation and we didn't use the information.  And if we did use the information, it wasn't in the way you thought we did."

Garth Turner points out that TD Bank just released a report where, under the most positive conditions, Canadian real estate is only 10% over-valued.  Worst case?  Well, maybe 20%.  Or 30%  Or 60%.  That's not a news story though.  CBC uses the best case numbers and I'm sure Global is still pumping "great time to buy" stories.

A study has linked birth defects to natural gas extraction.  I'm sure somebody in the Christy Clark government is upset that nobody mentioned all of the great jobs those babies will have when they grow up!

An awesome little article on how the Conservatives are crushing the spirit of twitter, one sanitized tweet at a time.

I love this.  In essence, "When we provide a clear cut choice for people, with one of those choices not accurately capturing what our opponent actually said, they overwhelmingly choose our view on the matter."  These guys are so out of touch on marijuana.

Corrections Canada just doesn't even bother responding to recommendations made by it's watchdog.

Haven't heard a whole lot about the F-35 lately.  This is a pretty in depth article from Vanity Fair.  What I take away from it is that you'd have to be a total imbecile to buy into the project at this point and time.

A Conservative Senator has quit the Senate.  Fed up of the doings of other Senators?  Or afraid of what's potentially coming?

Mac Harb and Patrick Brazeau are going to be formally charged.  Interesting to hear the Conservatives talk about Brazeau/Duffy/Wallin.  They deny any responsibility and stick to their "former-Conservative Senator" rhetoric.  Won't these people take accountability for appointing these assholes in the first place?  Yep.

20 Years later, the notes from Chretien's first cabinet meeting outline cuts to cabinet excess, more than anything else.

Hard to read this story and not wonder how we've created such a diabolically awful set of circumstances whereby:
1) Canadians don't get jobs.
2) Foreigners get paid less (if they're lucky) for the same work.
3) Some foreigners get swindled out of their savings by companies preying on their dreams.
As if the Canadian government can't do anything about this.  As if.

Mexico.  No fan of Canada.

"Why can't they contribute their fair share?"  According to Salon, the poorest 50% of America possesses 1.1% of the countries wealth (who's the 1% now).  What's most shocking, is that the poorest Americans own less, percentage wise, than the poorest in just about any other location on the planet.  The poorest in China have 9.6%!?  How is that possible?  But make the bums pay their "fair share".  Because chipping away 20-30% of 1.1% of the wealth is going to have a huuuuuuuuge impact, no?

A commentary on Real Estate bubbles?  The 1%?  Who knows.  But some of London's most expensive Real Estate sits rotting and empty.

A Slate article on the strange practice of Conservative politicians raffling off AR-15's in the USofA.  Maybe a "Free Healthcare for life" raffle to counter this?  The scariest thing is the in depth, crazed analysis of technical gun features and semantics that these stories always dredge up.