Sorry for the lack of posts. I've been on vacation. It's been tough to stay positive the last few weeks, hasn't it?
I'm going to start by talking about the tailings pond spill in Northern BC. Just because it's a nice little reminder that bad things happen. Can you believe the response from the BC Government was anything but "We're going to do everything possible to hold this company accountable to clean up this mess"? It's especially troubling seeing as there were a number of red flags pointing to trouble in the past. Is it a coincidence that the company was a heavy donor to the BC Libs? And their maximum fine might only be $1 Million? If that.
And then we have Israel. Apparently unflinching support includes not getting too bent out of shape if a school is bombed. Just figure out a way to blame the other guys. "Well I wouldn't have to do all these terrible things if you'd just do exactly what I want you to." Lucky for us, a Jewish group has flown 5 MP's to Israel...to visit Israeli soldiers in the hospital...and to better understand the "Jewish perspective"...and then they'll return home and enlighten us with their "facts". No meetings are planned with the Palestinians.
Good news. More government money to advertise the Oil Sands in the US. Some info on the increased budget for "communications" as well. But I guess we need them to run around like crazy sending sexist e-mails for Peter McKay, and then dealing with the repercussions. And millions for public opinion surveys.
We've decided that fracking chemicals are not pollutants.
An interesting window into the CRA and their audits on charities. They effectively admit that they look at political leanings and listen to gripes from cabinet ministers.
I kind of love it. We talk about how tough our sanctions are on Russia...and then call them "short sighted" when Russia responds in kind..and belittle them as ineffective.
Steve lost another legal challenge. The whole "Victim Surcharge" has been exposed as the sham that it is.
I will admit that transparency is a good thing. But why is it always "transparency for others" with the Conservatives? It's very hard to justify a chief taking away a million dollars on a land deal (worth 8 million...), but we have no context. And no other side of the story. Just Conservatives jumping up and down screaming about how correct they are. As well, this is one of 600 bands that reported. So...one bad apple (perhaps) used to shame everybody.
Garth points out that our entire economy seems to be based on building condos for one another (which we then rent out at a loss and call an investment), which is troubling. And the jobs that we do create are not good ones.
Jason Kenney is really angry that Justin Trudeau visited a mosque a few years ago. Is Jason Kenney the new Angry John Baird?
Marc Emery is vowing revenge on Stephen Harper.
It's been ruled that Mr. Big operations can still take place, but with more rules. Hard to find what those rules are.
Even the Government can't even decide if Omar Khadr is a horrible terrorist. But nobody is allowed to talk to him about it.
Somebody finally listened to Dean Del Mastro...An investigation into Wikipedia edits from Parliament computers is launched.
Monday, August 11, 2014
Monday, July 28, 2014
Honest and Fair - Week 169 - July 21-28
Here at the 24 Percent Majority, we try to keep a level head. I mean, we hate Conservatives. But it's not just because they're "Conservative". It's because they're jerks with terrible ideas.
But I...sorry...we hate it when people get sucked into the narrative. Take the "Fair Elections Act" for example. All of a sudden, Conservatives everywhere were talking about voter ID with furious passion. Two weeks before, nothing. But all of a sudden, it was the hugest issue in the world and thank goodness Steve was man enough to tackle it. It was crazy.
The flip side to that would be hating things that you never hated for no reason. I'm going to try not to do that.
And somewhat related...it's easy to get sidetracked and think something along the lines of "THAT is what these guys think is importan? What a waste of time? Why don't they focus on serious issues?" So to start the week, we have two examples:
- The CRA focusing resources on auditing charities over political participation (mostly Conservative critical charities)..as well as outlawing poverty prevention as a charitable act
- Drafting a bill to make it easier for gun owners to purchase and transport weapons
To both of these things, I say "Really? THAT's what you think is important?" Well. I understand why silencing your critics with heavy-handed audits might be worth your time.
Speaking of charities. A government memo talked about how effective a non profit was. And then their funding was cut. And then the memo was censored.
Back to the gun ownership bill. Sorry...the The Common Sense Firearms Licensing Act....Thanks to MacLeans for writing the article about how ridiculous these names are so that I don't have to. I just figured they had some kind of automated name generator filled with phrase like "Patriotism" and "Common Sense" and "Excellence".
Elilzabeth May suggests that everybody cooperate for the next election, defeat the Conservatives, implement (real) election reform and call it a day. This makes total sense. I'm sure nobody is listening to her.
We all know that Harpre is very pro-Israel. Doesn't it kind of blemish this message when you use this message to drum up votes and support via online advertisements? I mean...you should at least try to appear impartial on this right? Like you're doing it for the right reasons?
And then you have Leona Aglukkaq speaking out against Greepeace. Which...man...I mean as Minister of Environment you'd think that maybe that wouldn't be the thing to do? No? Oh, and...Stupid Global Warming Fearmongers. COME BACK WITH SOME PROOF!!! Job killers.
Man. This war on crime is so awesome? Did you see how much crime went down? Stephen Harper is doing such a great job. Or should I thank Vic Toews? Oddly, because we didn't allow Vic to see everything that we do on the Internet, child sex crimes went up. He was right! Yes. Sarcasm.
Doesn't it seem weird that the Lac Megantic locomotive is up for sale?
An interesting take on the Ukraine incident. The Russian theory on the incident is impossible. But why would they forward a theory which is more or less impossible?
Ya ya. Mike Duffy is a terrible human being. Attending personal funerals and charging it to the Senate. And a love child! And, surprisingly, Stephen Harper doesn't think he has any relevant information for the trial.
Rafe Mair has an interesting article on the historical divisions between Canadian provinces.
Ha ha ha ha! Anti Obamacare ads convinced people they should sign up for it! That's so awesome. Wait...does that mean anti-Northern Gateway ads would convince people to hop on board with the project?
But I...sorry...we hate it when people get sucked into the narrative. Take the "Fair Elections Act" for example. All of a sudden, Conservatives everywhere were talking about voter ID with furious passion. Two weeks before, nothing. But all of a sudden, it was the hugest issue in the world and thank goodness Steve was man enough to tackle it. It was crazy.
The flip side to that would be hating things that you never hated for no reason. I'm going to try not to do that.
And somewhat related...it's easy to get sidetracked and think something along the lines of "THAT is what these guys think is importan? What a waste of time? Why don't they focus on serious issues?" So to start the week, we have two examples:
- The CRA focusing resources on auditing charities over political participation (mostly Conservative critical charities)..as well as outlawing poverty prevention as a charitable act
- Drafting a bill to make it easier for gun owners to purchase and transport weapons
To both of these things, I say "Really? THAT's what you think is important?" Well. I understand why silencing your critics with heavy-handed audits might be worth your time.
Speaking of charities. A government memo talked about how effective a non profit was. And then their funding was cut. And then the memo was censored.
Back to the gun ownership bill. Sorry...the The Common Sense Firearms Licensing Act....Thanks to MacLeans for writing the article about how ridiculous these names are so that I don't have to. I just figured they had some kind of automated name generator filled with phrase like "Patriotism" and "Common Sense" and "Excellence".
Elilzabeth May suggests that everybody cooperate for the next election, defeat the Conservatives, implement (real) election reform and call it a day. This makes total sense. I'm sure nobody is listening to her.
We all know that Harpre is very pro-Israel. Doesn't it kind of blemish this message when you use this message to drum up votes and support via online advertisements? I mean...you should at least try to appear impartial on this right? Like you're doing it for the right reasons?
And then you have Leona Aglukkaq speaking out against Greepeace. Which...man...I mean as Minister of Environment you'd think that maybe that wouldn't be the thing to do? No? Oh, and...Stupid Global Warming Fearmongers. COME BACK WITH SOME PROOF!!! Job killers.
Man. This war on crime is so awesome? Did you see how much crime went down? Stephen Harper is doing such a great job. Or should I thank Vic Toews? Oddly, because we didn't allow Vic to see everything that we do on the Internet, child sex crimes went up. He was right! Yes. Sarcasm.
Doesn't it seem weird that the Lac Megantic locomotive is up for sale?
An interesting take on the Ukraine incident. The Russian theory on the incident is impossible. But why would they forward a theory which is more or less impossible?
Ya ya. Mike Duffy is a terrible human being. Attending personal funerals and charging it to the Senate. And a love child! And, surprisingly, Stephen Harper doesn't think he has any relevant information for the trial.
Rafe Mair has an interesting article on the historical divisions between Canadian provinces.
Ha ha ha ha! Anti Obamacare ads convinced people they should sign up for it! That's so awesome. Wait...does that mean anti-Northern Gateway ads would convince people to hop on board with the project?
Monday, July 21, 2014
Duffman. Up on Charges. Oh Yeah! - Week 168 - July 14-21
Sorry for the Simpson's reference in the title. Let's have a cheer for Mike Duffy.
31 charges is going to be a tough one to conquer. How did Nigel Wright skate through this?
To me, this is a new low for taxpayer funded mailouts. The Cons are actually using it to collect data on voters. With patriotism!
Some soon-to-be jobless moron in the Finance Dept. initiated a focus group about Steve's policies. Turns out Canadians don't really agree with what he is doing. Probably bad data though, right Steve? Speaking of bad data...The PBO has determined that current sick leave policies for civil servants don't really cost the government much, despite the Cons insistence that it does and it needs to be changed.
Steve finally won a court case! And he'll probably lose this one (on native constitutional claims related to Northern Gateway).
Apparently somebody has proof (proof I tell ya!) that Steve plans on privatizing Canada Post.
Dean Del Mastro is really upset that somebody in the House of Commons keeps changing his Wikipedia page. Which is kind of funny in the "taste of their own medicine" sort of way. As the Conservatives are notorious for bad Wikipedia editing.
This article points out why using EI premiums to balance the budget is an unfair policy. TLDR - rich people don't end up paying very much.
John Baird continues blaming everybody but Israel. I mean, why wouldn't Hamas want to sign on to an agreement that all the other parties negotiated without them? I'll admit that firing rockets at the exact time the agreement was supposed to start was a bit much...But I don't think the very public John Baird Yelling and unconditional support for Israel really helps anything.
The Tyee points out that we've done almost nothing with respect to Syrian refugees.
I had no idea that New Brunswick was such a strange little place. Where you can't get an abortion, apparently. And where one of the guys tasked with investigating the impacts of fracking holds a fracking specific patent...so he's totally unbiased in the outcome.
Boingboing highlights that Ontario police share all sorts of data about individuals with all sorts of people. Employers. Border Services. Etc. It doesn't help people sort things out and it doesn't necessarily even come about due to any sort of "guilt". Similar things might be happening in BC.
The DFO seems to not have great control over BC clam fisheries, and is looking to expand them.
This article is a bit tough to follow, but it makes fun of Joe Oliver so it's all good. It suggests that not providing information and then criticizing people for not having that information is bad form.
British spies are able to manipulate online polls, among other things.
To me, this is a new low for taxpayer funded mailouts. The Cons are actually using it to collect data on voters. With patriotism!
Some soon-to-be jobless moron in the Finance Dept. initiated a focus group about Steve's policies. Turns out Canadians don't really agree with what he is doing. Probably bad data though, right Steve? Speaking of bad data...The PBO has determined that current sick leave policies for civil servants don't really cost the government much, despite the Cons insistence that it does and it needs to be changed.
Steve finally won a court case! And he'll probably lose this one (on native constitutional claims related to Northern Gateway).
Apparently somebody has proof (proof I tell ya!) that Steve plans on privatizing Canada Post.
Dean Del Mastro is really upset that somebody in the House of Commons keeps changing his Wikipedia page. Which is kind of funny in the "taste of their own medicine" sort of way. As the Conservatives are notorious for bad Wikipedia editing.
This article points out why using EI premiums to balance the budget is an unfair policy. TLDR - rich people don't end up paying very much.
John Baird continues blaming everybody but Israel. I mean, why wouldn't Hamas want to sign on to an agreement that all the other parties negotiated without them? I'll admit that firing rockets at the exact time the agreement was supposed to start was a bit much...But I don't think the very public John Baird Yelling and unconditional support for Israel really helps anything.
The Tyee points out that we've done almost nothing with respect to Syrian refugees.
I had no idea that New Brunswick was such a strange little place. Where you can't get an abortion, apparently. And where one of the guys tasked with investigating the impacts of fracking holds a fracking specific patent...so he's totally unbiased in the outcome.
Boingboing highlights that Ontario police share all sorts of data about individuals with all sorts of people. Employers. Border Services. Etc. It doesn't help people sort things out and it doesn't necessarily even come about due to any sort of "guilt". Similar things might be happening in BC.
The DFO seems to not have great control over BC clam fisheries, and is looking to expand them.
This article is a bit tough to follow, but it makes fun of Joe Oliver so it's all good. It suggests that not providing information and then criticizing people for not having that information is bad form.
British spies are able to manipulate online polls, among other things.
Monday, July 14, 2014
Get yer guns - Week 167 - July 7-14
Well this is frightening. The OECD predicts the fall of the Western World. Recommends austerity and worker flexibility.
Peter MacKay rushed an unveiling of an Afghan war memorial so that it would take place while he was still minister. This was deemed more important than giving the families of those memorialized notice and time to attend the opening. Because Peter MacKay is turning into one of the biggest dicks in the Conservative party.
Morningstar, via Macleans, has bad news about Canadian Real Estate.
Omar Khadr wins the right to be transferred to a Provincial prison.
A "flood" of calls to the Revenue Canada offshore snitch line has resulted in 80 new leads...Call Noah, I guess. Since March, 800 people have called. And 251 were "actual" calls. And only 100 of those were actual, actual calls.
I guess you have to argue something...Dean Del Mastro's attorney suggests a power surge may be the reason for why he looks guilty as hell. That could possibly explain the data trail. Maybe the same power surge altered the memory of the guy who said Del Mastro told him to change it?
An organization has put together a report suggesting Canada does a terrible job of managing its parks. "Short sighted" is the description, I believe.
More court cases. Remember the end to the Navigable Waters Protection Act? Yep. Lawsuit.
Religious groups in Alberta are responsible for teaching some of the sex ed programs in High Schools.
CNRL admits that they caused the strange bitumen seeping issues in Northern Alberta. Will they have to fix it?
This meathead makes a lot of strange claims about Canada's greatest scourge: foreign mothers giving birth in Canada! Hundreds of them!
The NSA targets innocent vs. "guilty" people at a ratio of 9:1...
Peter MacKay rushed an unveiling of an Afghan war memorial so that it would take place while he was still minister. This was deemed more important than giving the families of those memorialized notice and time to attend the opening. Because Peter MacKay is turning into one of the biggest dicks in the Conservative party.
Morningstar, via Macleans, has bad news about Canadian Real Estate.
Omar Khadr wins the right to be transferred to a Provincial prison.
A "flood" of calls to the Revenue Canada offshore snitch line has resulted in 80 new leads...Call Noah, I guess. Since March, 800 people have called. And 251 were "actual" calls. And only 100 of those were actual, actual calls.
I guess you have to argue something...Dean Del Mastro's attorney suggests a power surge may be the reason for why he looks guilty as hell. That could possibly explain the data trail. Maybe the same power surge altered the memory of the guy who said Del Mastro told him to change it?
An organization has put together a report suggesting Canada does a terrible job of managing its parks. "Short sighted" is the description, I believe.
More court cases. Remember the end to the Navigable Waters Protection Act? Yep. Lawsuit.
Religious groups in Alberta are responsible for teaching some of the sex ed programs in High Schools.
CNRL admits that they caused the strange bitumen seeping issues in Northern Alberta. Will they have to fix it?
This meathead makes a lot of strange claims about Canada's greatest scourge: foreign mothers giving birth in Canada! Hundreds of them!
The NSA targets innocent vs. "guilty" people at a ratio of 9:1...
Monday, July 7, 2014
A relatively short one - Week 166 - July 2-7
Is it "hoisted on your own petard" or "foisted on your own petard"? Something else? Anyhow, the US has justified killing the shit out of people with drones and insists that they have the legal right to do so. And in doing so have made a legal argument for Omar Khadr not being a war criminal.
Peter MacKay and his band of merry yes men are probably facing a(nother) court challenge over their prostitution legislation. After losing a court case over refugee healthcare. And will probably be added to the giant pile of laws the Conservatives have passed that have been overturned by the courts - thanks to the CBC for saving us all the time of tracking them down. I'm sure the argument will be something like "When yer busy doin' stuff you step on a few toes."
It's not looking very good for Dean Del Mastro. Testimony has been made that it was his request to backdate all of those invoices. It really makes you wonder where the hubris came from to get up on his soapbox for so long?
This sounds a bit like nothing more than fancy bookkeeping. But it's more than that. Kinder Morgan is allowed to charge a surcharge on its pipeline traffic in order to lobby the government for a larger pipeline. Said charges are somehow tax deductible. So Canadian taxpayers are essentially paying for Kinder Morgan to lobby and develop a bigger pipeline.
Conservatives: Man...we sure are awesome! Look at how many women we've appointed to senior positions! (they actually use the phrase "outstandingly well")
Reality: Actually...you're doing worse than the Liberals before you. 16% worse. (Liberals - 36%, Conservatives - 30%, that's a 16% drop)
Another anti-science decision by the Conservatives. The DFO is going to allow up to triple the amount of Coho to be caught unintentionally to allow for a larger Sockeye catch. There's no scientific evidence to back up their decisions. Just "Coho stocks are getting better". Scientists disagree.
A round of meetings on the TPP are taking place in Canada next week (well...this week, I guess). And everything has been moved from Vancouver to Ottawa at the last minute. And there's basically no information on what will be happening or where. It's all a giant secret. That will totally impact us for eternity.
This is kind of funny. The 2010 Olympics are officially "in the black". Meaning "we took enough money from the government to pay for everything. and forget about all those security costs. Those don't count."
Seems like a good program for Canada to get involved with...All of the F-35's have been grounded again. Engine fires.
Oh fuck the hell off. A doctor in Calgary is refusing to prescribe the pill. Personal beliefs. Doesn't your professional obligation as a doctor trump your personal beliefs?
Peter MacKay and his band of merry yes men are probably facing a(nother) court challenge over their prostitution legislation. After losing a court case over refugee healthcare. And will probably be added to the giant pile of laws the Conservatives have passed that have been overturned by the courts - thanks to the CBC for saving us all the time of tracking them down. I'm sure the argument will be something like "When yer busy doin' stuff you step on a few toes."
It's not looking very good for Dean Del Mastro. Testimony has been made that it was his request to backdate all of those invoices. It really makes you wonder where the hubris came from to get up on his soapbox for so long?
This sounds a bit like nothing more than fancy bookkeeping. But it's more than that. Kinder Morgan is allowed to charge a surcharge on its pipeline traffic in order to lobby the government for a larger pipeline. Said charges are somehow tax deductible. So Canadian taxpayers are essentially paying for Kinder Morgan to lobby and develop a bigger pipeline.
Conservatives: Man...we sure are awesome! Look at how many women we've appointed to senior positions! (they actually use the phrase "outstandingly well")
Reality: Actually...you're doing worse than the Liberals before you. 16% worse. (Liberals - 36%, Conservatives - 30%, that's a 16% drop)
Another anti-science decision by the Conservatives. The DFO is going to allow up to triple the amount of Coho to be caught unintentionally to allow for a larger Sockeye catch. There's no scientific evidence to back up their decisions. Just "Coho stocks are getting better". Scientists disagree.
A round of meetings on the TPP are taking place in Canada next week (well...this week, I guess). And everything has been moved from Vancouver to Ottawa at the last minute. And there's basically no information on what will be happening or where. It's all a giant secret. That will totally impact us for eternity.
This is kind of funny. The 2010 Olympics are officially "in the black". Meaning "we took enough money from the government to pay for everything. and forget about all those security costs. Those don't count."
Seems like a good program for Canada to get involved with...All of the F-35's have been grounded again. Engine fires.
Oh fuck the hell off. A doctor in Calgary is refusing to prescribe the pill. Personal beliefs. Doesn't your professional obligation as a doctor trump your personal beliefs?
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Super Late - Week 165 - June 23 - July 2
It's funny how by-elections are always pumped up as some huge deal. But then nothing dramatic every really happens. Except for only 12% (or something like that) of eligible voters showing up in Fort McMurray. Don't make me open the link again.
Some details have come out in the Dean Del Mastro trial. He backdated cheques (allegedly) so that expenses incurred during the election didn't look like they had occurred during the election. This seems like it will be fairly easy to prove/disprove. And this guy was a Minister!
Government departments are starting to point out that climate change is happening. That's a pretty good way to get branded a radical bureaucrat and have your funding cut. Meanwhile, rising sea levels. Dropping lake levels. Lack of water in the Great Lakes could become exceedingly expensive. I wish they'd finally get some scientists to prove this global warming shit. Gawd.
Washington State is concerned that our pipelines and tanker traffic might impact them negatively. Especially their otters. I've seen one of these little guys. They're pretty awesome.
Peter MacKay never does anything wrong. It wasn't his fault that he sent out sexist e-mails for Mother's Day. It was a female staffer. He just signed them without reading them. His actual excuse...which is supposed to make it okay. "I'm not sexist...I just don't give a shit about these things and I'm going to blame some poor staffer."
The Conservatives have always been up in arms about the Temporary Foreign Workers program. I mean, until recently they were up in arms that it was too difficult to bring them in to the country...Meanwhile, Complaints about the Temporary Foreign Workers program date back to 2006. Quick action, I tell you! More details on how decisions about Temporary Foreign Workers are made using terribly awful data.
The Egyptian journalist jailing lays bare the absurdity of the Conservatives citizenship stripping bill (not to mention their terrible response to the whole thing). By the letter, this guy should be a non-Canadian according to the Conservatives. But don't worry, in their infinite wisdom and judgement he will remain a Canadian. But this should be left to the governments judgement?
A Conservative Senator hired his girlfriend. Twice. But it's somehow not a conflict of interest. She looks just his type, no? There's some info on him bilking for expenses buried in the story as well.
Tough Talkin' Stephen Harper has inspired Putin to start flying bombers towards Canada.
Why are there so many sketchy "loans" to Conservative MP's and why is Nigel Wright in the shadows in dealing with all of them? details on Mark Adler and his court case/"loan" repayment.
So it begins. The CBC starts cutting back.
Come on Vice, this is weeks old news (about the request for information on any and all protests by the government).
Is this still a good thing? Turns out Starbucks isn't actually contributing any money towards employees educations as they suggested in their employee scholarship announcement of a few weeks ago. It looks like they just negotiated with the University to drop the prices a bit for Starbucks employees.
Monday, June 23, 2014
Nice Shirt - Week 164 - June 16-23
I'm not even going to talk about the elephant in the room.
This picture is fabulous! From here.
Let's start with a boatload of Cons who like to just make shit up.
The Conservatives seem to attract the sickest of weirdos to run in the Vancouver suburbs. This isn't the first time Wai Young has made shit up about another candidate. Her anti-marijuana attacks on Justin Trudeau are seriously over the top. And done via taxpayer funded mailouts to all her constituents.
Julian Fantino claims injured veterans receive $10,000 per month. Which is true...for four injured veterans. The rest receive far, far less.
Chris Alexander continues to come up with creative ways to not answer questions. Turns out he has a reason to hope nobody finds out how many government sponsored Syrian refugees have made it into Canada.
Mark Adler decided to invite several lobbyists to his fundraising dinner. Nothing wrong with that. Oh, sorry...Conservative MP Mark Adler.
The Conservatives have created a doozy of attack ads, and it seems to suggest that it came from a former Liberal MP.
The Conservatives have finally done something about temporary foreign workers. It's taken a few years, but it's something.
Who knew that government cuts could have repercussions? DFO cuts mean that it's really, really easy to poach fish in BC. And I'm not talking about slowly cooking them in liquid.
Why is our government so terrible at military procurement? There's a Sea King replacement contract, finally. But the winning bid doesn't meet a key safety requirement. Speaking of bad decisions...This guy was involved in the design of the f-16. He rips the f-35 a new one. Too many things for too many people. Good at nothing. Fifth generation is a scam. Stealth doesn't really work.
It has cost Canada $4.5 Million dollars to return to the old style of ranks and insignia. Which isn't a whole lot of money in the grand scheme of things, I will admit. But seeing as there's no plausible benefit to this change, it's a bit of a waste, and a nice reminder that even the smallest of decisions cost a lot of money.
The CBC figures the Cons are trying to get the drop on the other parties for an early election call.
A study suggests that the more you pay your CEO, the worse he will probably do.
Another oil comparison to Norway. Norway built pipelines in order to haul their offshore crude onshore, to be refined in Norway. Not the opposite.
A look at Enbridge's donations to BC political parties.
I thought that major music labels were dieing? But no. They're getting propped up by Google, of all things. Youtube is promising to cut off independent label music videos from Youtube if they don't pay for a licensing agreement with Youtubes new service. I sense a business opportunity for somebody.
I think that this story perfectly shows how Steve goes about his business. Quietly make shit difficult for people until they reach a point where they can't compete/complete and laugh as an enemy is quietly defeated. It's no secret that Conservatives hate the CBC. And you can spend a lot of time talking about privatizing the whole thing. Or you can just slowly turn back their funding, until they can't compete for important show contracts and just slowly disappear. Maybe the end of Hockey Night in Canada isn't a big deal? Maybe Don Cherry will finally just disappear into a basement to yell at his TV? But I think this is a turning point. And a montage. I feel Steve must be at lest the tiniest bit torn about this one.
This picture is fabulous! From here.
The Conservatives seem to attract the sickest of weirdos to run in the Vancouver suburbs. This isn't the first time Wai Young has made shit up about another candidate. Her anti-marijuana attacks on Justin Trudeau are seriously over the top. And done via taxpayer funded mailouts to all her constituents.
Julian Fantino claims injured veterans receive $10,000 per month. Which is true...for four injured veterans. The rest receive far, far less.
Chris Alexander continues to come up with creative ways to not answer questions. Turns out he has a reason to hope nobody finds out how many government sponsored Syrian refugees have made it into Canada.
Mark Adler decided to invite several lobbyists to his fundraising dinner. Nothing wrong with that. Oh, sorry...Conservative MP Mark Adler.
The Conservatives have created a doozy of attack ads, and it seems to suggest that it came from a former Liberal MP.
The Conservatives have finally done something about temporary foreign workers. It's taken a few years, but it's something.
Who knew that government cuts could have repercussions? DFO cuts mean that it's really, really easy to poach fish in BC. And I'm not talking about slowly cooking them in liquid.
Why is our government so terrible at military procurement? There's a Sea King replacement contract, finally. But the winning bid doesn't meet a key safety requirement. Speaking of bad decisions...This guy was involved in the design of the f-16. He rips the f-35 a new one. Too many things for too many people. Good at nothing. Fifth generation is a scam. Stealth doesn't really work.
It has cost Canada $4.5 Million dollars to return to the old style of ranks and insignia. Which isn't a whole lot of money in the grand scheme of things, I will admit. But seeing as there's no plausible benefit to this change, it's a bit of a waste, and a nice reminder that even the smallest of decisions cost a lot of money.
The CBC figures the Cons are trying to get the drop on the other parties for an early election call.
A study suggests that the more you pay your CEO, the worse he will probably do.
Another oil comparison to Norway. Norway built pipelines in order to haul their offshore crude onshore, to be refined in Norway. Not the opposite.
A look at Enbridge's donations to BC political parties.
I thought that major music labels were dieing? But no. They're getting propped up by Google, of all things. Youtube is promising to cut off independent label music videos from Youtube if they don't pay for a licensing agreement with Youtubes new service. I sense a business opportunity for somebody.
I think that this story perfectly shows how Steve goes about his business. Quietly make shit difficult for people until they reach a point where they can't compete/complete and laugh as an enemy is quietly defeated. It's no secret that Conservatives hate the CBC. And you can spend a lot of time talking about privatizing the whole thing. Or you can just slowly turn back their funding, until they can't compete for important show contracts and just slowly disappear. Maybe the end of Hockey Night in Canada isn't a big deal? Maybe Don Cherry will finally just disappear into a basement to yell at his TV? But I think this is a turning point. And a montage. I feel Steve must be at lest the tiniest bit torn about this one.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)