Stickin' it to Democracy - Week 131 - Oct 28 - Nov 4

I think this pamphlet from the Conservative Convention says all that we really need to know about our current electoral system/government.

I've been thinking about Duffy and Wallin a bit today.  And I think there is danger in lumping these two in together.  I think what one did was much more terrible on a personal level, and what the other did was much worse with respect to what it says about the party.  Duffy essentially spent Senate money as a cheerleader for the Conservative Party of Canada (and claiming a living allowance when he shouldn't have).  Wallin used her travel allowance to go about her own private business.  I think Wallin probably belongs in jail.  I think Duffy is a victim of the Conservative Parties arrogance and deceipt.  He did what dozens and dozens of people told him to do, and what dozens and dozens of people told him would be okay.  Now they're hanging him out to dry and of course he's confused.  I think that says worse things about the party than it does about Duffy.  But at the rate this is going, I don't even know if this opinion will stand for another day before new evidence changes it.  Doesn't look good for Harper though.  At all.  In the meantime...Duffy lays down the hammer!  PM didn't know?  Fuck you!  Here's a cheque from a Conservative Party lawyer for all the legal fees related to this nonsense.  And Jim Flaherty is dismissive of the Senate scandal because it's getting in the way of all of his precious work.

Here's the fucked up logic that Rob Ford is working on.  Release the Crack video because it won't prove that I smoked crack.  Ergo, I should remain mayor because there's nothing at all wrong with any of this.  But the fine folks of Toronto seem to think this is all great.  I feel like this bozo could murder somebody on his radio program and it would be deemed to be a media witchhunt by his supporters.

Interesting that the Federal Environmental Review of the "New Prosperity" Mine (hot name guys!) is so scathing.  Will they build it anyway?  Is it just "environment be damned" on projects that help the Oil Sands?

Fucking hell.  Face scrub micro beads are polluting the Great Lakes in serious numbers.  See...teenagers are awful.

Friends of Michael sona are intimidating witnesses? How does this guy have friends?

Rafe Mair speculates that the fix is in on the Northern Gateway pipeline (obviously) and that it should go to a referendum (not likely).  Probably a good time to pick up some Enbridge shares.

Bloody activist bureaucrats!  Always pointing out the shortcomings of government!  Don't they know that if they point out that Revenue Canada has terrible data security, the terrorists win?

These guys aren't stupid.  There's a proposal to build a bike path along the length of the Keystone XL pipeline.  Now the oil industry can say things like "You're voting against the longest bike path in world history."

Japans hunting of whales and dolphins is messed up.

More on the European Trade Deal - mostly why we didn't get a good deal.

So some drone strike survivors from Pakistan were invited to speak to Congress.  And 5 Congressmen showed up.

Just waiting for the "More guns would have stopped this shooting" argument in the LAX shooting.  Obviously, this shooting only happened because airports are a gun free zone, right?

Looks like the US gets shafted by Free Trade as well.  This time Lobster fishermen in Maine.  I smell a lawsuit.

So this doesn't have anything to do with politics, but I have to talk about it.  Whenever I say to people "Do you remember in the 80's when there were all those plastic costumes that had a picture on it of the thing you were trying to be?" people have no recollection.  Well.  Slate does.