Leonna Aglukkaq describes why we don't need to do as much as China and the US on climate change. "Canada accounts for less than 2 per cent" of global GHG emissions.
Oh Fuck. This isn't going to end well. Two men wore Burkas to rob a Toronto jewelry store. How haven't the Cons banned that shit already? Crime furthering otherworldly religious garb? Please.
The Cons have devised a neat new trick. They haven't actually cut the budget for Veteran's services...they're just not spending all of the money in that budget.
The Cons are telling civil servants to use partisan hashtags in their tweets in support of income tax proposals.
Michael Sona has been sentenced. Everybody seems to think others were involved, yet nothing else seems to be happening. The Cons have decided to cross their fingers and hope that it just goes away. Nobody is commenting.
Joe Oliver's economic update speech last week was a fundraising dinner.
Which is odd. You have to pay the candidate $800 per table to get an
update on the Canadian economy? No wonder they take in so much money in
donations.
A long screed from MacLean's on the ridiculous "anti honour killing" law. And how it could change the definition of "provocation" for
everyone.
A document from the Immigration and Citizenship department suggests that
media inquiries be handled with large, international organizations receiving top priority, then major Canadian organizations, then, maybe, smaller independents. The ministry shoots back that this is just a
"draft". Having worked in government, I know that every single document
is called a draft. There must only be a handful of documents every
year that aren't considered as such.
Stupid Privacy Commissioner. Asking for checks and balances to go with all the new police powers the Cons are dishing up?
Interesting insight into who the lobbyists are and who they represent.
Do you know what the average windfall was for Canada/BC/Alberta last 5
years due to Trans Mountain Pipeline income tax payments? $1.5 Million.
Less than peanuts. I bet that doesn't pay for the costs to regulate
them.
The National Post thinks that Stephen Harper being an asshole to Putin at a diplomatic function ranks up there with other famous asshole Canadian politician moments. In Russia, Canada is the confused guy down the street shouting about things nobody understands.
They've already decided to destroy the homes of the two synagogue attackers in Israel. Same day service. Can you imagine if we dispatched police to knock
over people's homes the same day they've accused of committing a terror
attack? What if they get the address wrong?
I guess the heat is on Trudeau. And furthers the shitstorm. An NDP MP who is a lawyer may have suggested that the offences reached the level of "assault". And that may have prompted Trudeau's response. And this
extra helping of leak is for sure pissing the NDP off further.
The Conservatives are burying changes to refugee social assistance in an Omnibus bill.
Well that's just fucking great. The Cons are going to start studying privatization of certain police tasks.
A Conservative candidate in a by-election has had her expenses in her previous job as mayor questioned. Well that's a smear!
This seems weird to me. Go and fight for the Taliban and you're an "enemy combatant" who should be thrown into Guantanamo without trial. Go fight for the Kurds and... Don't get me wrong, I need to know a whole lot more about the Kurds to effectively comment on this. It just seems like we have a double standard depending on which irregular army you join up with. (seems like the government might be a bit confused about this as well)
A journalist testifies on the police response to the G20 protests. He didn't like what he saw.
Hey. There's a 1% for musicians now. The top 1% of recording artists make 77% of the revenue. For their labels.
Everbody agrees that NHL players are 1 percenters, right? Making way
too much money for too little work? Well, looks like 1 percenters have
it pretty sweet in good old Communist British Columbia. New Canucks are paying far less in taxes than they used to in such Capitalist tax havens as New York.
Monday, November 24, 2014
Monday, November 17, 2014
The Internet will break you - Nov 12-17 - Week 185
I did a stupid thing the other day. But I was honestly confused. Momentarily. So I typed into the Google machine "Why do Republicans want Keystone XL". I had momentarily forgotten that oil money bankrolls half their campaigns and was honestly curious as to why they were killing themselves to allow Canadian oil production to expand. And it took me here. This is a terrible place that makes me fear for the United States. Pretty much every comment contains a reference to "American Exceptionalism, suggestion that Obama is a secret muslim or born in Kenya, and support for the idea that Obama hates America and is trying to destroy it. There is no hope for these people.
Steve continues to be a hard man against Russia. With tough talk in the handshake line of a summit.
Somebody better than me has taken a plunge into the ridiculous Conservative bill names. Great stuff. Man. So pumped on this!
Canada's reputation is terrible in countries where our mining companies are destroying things.
The US and China seem to have agreed to some real emissions targets. Will Canada follow suit?
CSEC gets a $385 Million budget increase. The watchdog gets a budget cut.
This is interesting. A detailed evaluation with a simple money shot. $1 Billion in public spending cuts eliminates 18,000 direct and indirect jobs and sucks $2 Billion out of the economy. $1 Billion in corporate tax cuts generates 6,000 jobs and adds $1.3 Billion to the economy. Which is a net loss, if you need to do the math. I would imagine that this analysis breaks down at some point, but it is telling. Right now, every time we cut corporate taxes to starve the public sector we're harming the economy. i.e. Stimulus spending works. Throw declining oil revenues into the mix, and we might be fucked.
The Americans insist that we've made a secret deal to purchase 4 F-35's in a fighter jet trojan horse deal. The Cons insist that we haven't.
Interesting take. According to Conservatives, the science is crystal clear that marijuana is harmful. But there isn't enough science to support medical marijuana. I guess you could have different science. Nobody seems to be fans of the new anti-pot ads.
An American story on Rehtaeh Parsons and how Canadian journalists can no longer speak her name. This is so fucked up, all the way around.
The Cons are going to erect monuments of Light Armoured Vehicles across the country as tribute to Afghan war veterans. This is the funniest thing. How can you ignore a group of people while erecting a monument to celebrate them? Angry Veterans against Harper is gaining some momentum.
The Cons seem to be trumpeting their "surplus" loud and hard. Even though it hasn't happened yet. And has been seriously eroded.
The Parliament Hill shooter did reconn the week before his attack. Which seems like some pretty great information to rile people up about shutting down Parliament Hill to the public.
Access to Information is out of reach of the average Canadian. Thousands of dollars. Weeks of effort.
The Cons promised to follow the court ruling to offer health care to all refugees. But they might not actually be doing so?
Steve continues to be a hard man against Russia. With tough talk in the handshake line of a summit.
Somebody better than me has taken a plunge into the ridiculous Conservative bill names. Great stuff. Man. So pumped on this!
Canada's reputation is terrible in countries where our mining companies are destroying things.
The US and China seem to have agreed to some real emissions targets. Will Canada follow suit?
CSEC gets a $385 Million budget increase. The watchdog gets a budget cut.
This is interesting. A detailed evaluation with a simple money shot. $1 Billion in public spending cuts eliminates 18,000 direct and indirect jobs and sucks $2 Billion out of the economy. $1 Billion in corporate tax cuts generates 6,000 jobs and adds $1.3 Billion to the economy. Which is a net loss, if you need to do the math. I would imagine that this analysis breaks down at some point, but it is telling. Right now, every time we cut corporate taxes to starve the public sector we're harming the economy. i.e. Stimulus spending works. Throw declining oil revenues into the mix, and we might be fucked.
The Americans insist that we've made a secret deal to purchase 4 F-35's in a fighter jet trojan horse deal. The Cons insist that we haven't.
Interesting take. According to Conservatives, the science is crystal clear that marijuana is harmful. But there isn't enough science to support medical marijuana. I guess you could have different science. Nobody seems to be fans of the new anti-pot ads.
An American story on Rehtaeh Parsons and how Canadian journalists can no longer speak her name. This is so fucked up, all the way around.
The Cons are going to erect monuments of Light Armoured Vehicles across the country as tribute to Afghan war veterans. This is the funniest thing. How can you ignore a group of people while erecting a monument to celebrate them? Angry Veterans against Harper is gaining some momentum.
The Cons seem to be trumpeting their "surplus" loud and hard. Even though it hasn't happened yet. And has been seriously eroded.
The Parliament Hill shooter did reconn the week before his attack. Which seems like some pretty great information to rile people up about shutting down Parliament Hill to the public.
Access to Information is out of reach of the average Canadian. Thousands of dollars. Weeks of effort.
The Cons promised to follow the court ruling to offer health care to all refugees. But they might not actually be doing so?
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Late again - Week 184 - Nov 3-12
The BC Government has come out hard and fast to protect it's citizens from danger. Strong language. Talk of increased fines. Government resources to investigate and hold people to account. Mine safety? Pipelines? No, no, silly human. Uber. Of course, it's all in the citizens interest. Nothing to do with complaints from the Taxi and Limousine industry.
This story is titled "Less Money to Help Veterans, More to Remember Them". Seems fitting.
It's kind of embarrassing how excited everybody is getting about bombing ISIS. "ISIS dump truck may have been target of first Canadian air strikes in Iraq" reads the headline. The rest of the world is embarrassed for us.
Del Mastro took the high road! Holy shit.
Unfortunately, the Cons have not. This is a video link, which sucks. But Thomas Mulcair is pointing out that the Conservatives have quietly amended a bill to remove the pensions of MP's convicted of crimes to not include MP's convicted of crimes under the Elections Act. So basically, Del Mastro gets to keep his pension due to the Conservatives changing the law.
An intervenor in the Trans Mountain/Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion approval process has withdrawn and blasted the process as ridiculous and too heavily in favour of Trans Mountain/Kinder Morgan. No big deal. Except that he's a former government minister and oil company board member. More people are speaking out about the Kinder Morgan/NEB hearings being a farce.
The NDP is upset that Trudeau made public statements about the MP harassment issue. I don't understand was he was supposed to do. Suspend the MP's with no justification? Not suspend them? I guess that was an option. The complaint seems to be that the victims privacy has been violated. But they haven't been named. I don't know though - Maybe this isn't right, but it seems like you can have privacy or you can have justice. You might not be able to have both? Question mark.
The Cons are on a rampage against things that are already illegal in our country. Honour killings. Polygamy. These are problems for Steve.
We've decided to pay Roma refugees money to abandon their refugee claims. I guess one could argue that if you're willing to accept cash to go away, your refugee claim is suspect. But what the fuck?
We're resorting to hiring smugglers to deport people to Somalia, because it's so fucking dangerous there government officials aren't allowed to travel there themselves. This is insane.
Other refugees...well, we just throw them in prison with no charges until we can sort things out.
How noble. The Conservatives are going to comply with the court ruling that requires them to provide health care to refugees.
John Baird isn't just making Canadians angry now. Russia isn't too pleased with his comments about the Ukraine.
The Governor of the Bank of Canada suggests that unemployed, basement dwelling kids, should work for free. You know, for experience. I'm not sure if he went on to give other advice from his childhood...pound the streets...hand out resumes...Why it only took me a couple of days to find a great job, why can't these kids manage it? What a fucking asshole.
Two new spy watchdogs have been named. One, a former Conservative MP with no intelligence experience. Two, a former security consultant who might have a conflict of interest. Mulcair doesn't like either.
Another report on the insane amount of subsidies for oil companies from rich, western governments. $88 Billion a year, apparently. Similarly, BC Natural Gas subsidies are insane.
I'm sure that this was the result of a direct question...but if I'm Peter McKay, I find a better answer when somebody asks me if I've seen harassment on Parliament Hill. This could be part of the reason why the Conservatives very recently decided to do nothing about workplace harassment on Parliament Hill.
More detail on why it's terrible to ban travelers from Ebola ravaged countries.
Trudeau lays out his case against income splitting. Interesting how supporters are sticking to their argument that income tax splitting is somehow more fair. Global News is on the case and has proven that 87% of Canadians won't benefit from income splitting. MacLean's shows that even with the $2000 limit, it's primarily benefiting people with higher incomes.
Way to go RCMP. You lost a "high risk traveller". If you can't manage the resources that you have, why should we give you more? Failing at things should not be an argument for more power.
The Cons lost in court a few months ago with respect to CSIS and their actions overseas.
A pension board appointed by the Cons to oversee federal employee pensions has been accused of utilizing offshore tax loopholes. The same loopholes the Cons are apparently really upset about.
America thinks we're getting four F-35's in 2017?
The Federal Information Watchdog is nearly out of money. I'm sure Steve will tell her to manage her budget better.
Use of foodbanks in Canada is accelerating.
I'm not saying that this is a result of cuts to Statscan or hating science...but it's funny that the Conservatives aren't able to give numbers to support their policies.
UBC is building a pricey international students only college? That seems like a terrible idea.
Kinder Morgan is really upset that protesters are giving them dirty looks. Seriously.
The Q Billy Bob Thornton interview is pretty humourous in hindsight. Billy Bob comes off looking kind of amazing rather than kind of crazy. There's some amazing leaps in the comments.
A few more states decide to legalize marijuana. Pretty much the whole west coast (come on...California with it's medicinal marijuana culture is pretty much legal) except for BC is now legal.
I'm not going to pretend to know what this guy is talking about. But he's suggesting that the munitions we are sending our fighter jets into battle with are less than ideal. "Own a powerful gun but buy no ammo to shoot with it' mentality" is what he calls it.
This story is titled "Less Money to Help Veterans, More to Remember Them". Seems fitting.
It's kind of embarrassing how excited everybody is getting about bombing ISIS. "ISIS dump truck may have been target of first Canadian air strikes in Iraq" reads the headline. The rest of the world is embarrassed for us.
Del Mastro took the high road! Holy shit.
Unfortunately, the Cons have not. This is a video link, which sucks. But Thomas Mulcair is pointing out that the Conservatives have quietly amended a bill to remove the pensions of MP's convicted of crimes to not include MP's convicted of crimes under the Elections Act. So basically, Del Mastro gets to keep his pension due to the Conservatives changing the law.
An intervenor in the Trans Mountain/Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion approval process has withdrawn and blasted the process as ridiculous and too heavily in favour of Trans Mountain/Kinder Morgan. No big deal. Except that he's a former government minister and oil company board member. More people are speaking out about the Kinder Morgan/NEB hearings being a farce.
The NDP is upset that Trudeau made public statements about the MP harassment issue. I don't understand was he was supposed to do. Suspend the MP's with no justification? Not suspend them? I guess that was an option. The complaint seems to be that the victims privacy has been violated. But they haven't been named. I don't know though - Maybe this isn't right, but it seems like you can have privacy or you can have justice. You might not be able to have both? Question mark.
The Cons are on a rampage against things that are already illegal in our country. Honour killings. Polygamy. These are problems for Steve.
We've decided to pay Roma refugees money to abandon their refugee claims. I guess one could argue that if you're willing to accept cash to go away, your refugee claim is suspect. But what the fuck?
We're resorting to hiring smugglers to deport people to Somalia, because it's so fucking dangerous there government officials aren't allowed to travel there themselves. This is insane.
Other refugees...well, we just throw them in prison with no charges until we can sort things out.
How noble. The Conservatives are going to comply with the court ruling that requires them to provide health care to refugees.
John Baird isn't just making Canadians angry now. Russia isn't too pleased with his comments about the Ukraine.
The Governor of the Bank of Canada suggests that unemployed, basement dwelling kids, should work for free. You know, for experience. I'm not sure if he went on to give other advice from his childhood...pound the streets...hand out resumes...Why it only took me a couple of days to find a great job, why can't these kids manage it? What a fucking asshole.
Two new spy watchdogs have been named. One, a former Conservative MP with no intelligence experience. Two, a former security consultant who might have a conflict of interest. Mulcair doesn't like either.
Another report on the insane amount of subsidies for oil companies from rich, western governments. $88 Billion a year, apparently. Similarly, BC Natural Gas subsidies are insane.
I'm sure that this was the result of a direct question...but if I'm Peter McKay, I find a better answer when somebody asks me if I've seen harassment on Parliament Hill. This could be part of the reason why the Conservatives very recently decided to do nothing about workplace harassment on Parliament Hill.
More detail on why it's terrible to ban travelers from Ebola ravaged countries.
Trudeau lays out his case against income splitting. Interesting how supporters are sticking to their argument that income tax splitting is somehow more fair. Global News is on the case and has proven that 87% of Canadians won't benefit from income splitting. MacLean's shows that even with the $2000 limit, it's primarily benefiting people with higher incomes.
Way to go RCMP. You lost a "high risk traveller". If you can't manage the resources that you have, why should we give you more? Failing at things should not be an argument for more power.
The Cons lost in court a few months ago with respect to CSIS and their actions overseas.
A pension board appointed by the Cons to oversee federal employee pensions has been accused of utilizing offshore tax loopholes. The same loopholes the Cons are apparently really upset about.
America thinks we're getting four F-35's in 2017?
The Federal Information Watchdog is nearly out of money. I'm sure Steve will tell her to manage her budget better.
Use of foodbanks in Canada is accelerating.
I'm not saying that this is a result of cuts to Statscan or hating science...but it's funny that the Conservatives aren't able to give numbers to support their policies.
UBC is building a pricey international students only college? That seems like a terrible idea.
Kinder Morgan is really upset that protesters are giving them dirty looks. Seriously.
The Q Billy Bob Thornton interview is pretty humourous in hindsight. Billy Bob comes off looking kind of amazing rather than kind of crazy. There's some amazing leaps in the comments.
A few more states decide to legalize marijuana. Pretty much the whole west coast (come on...California with it's medicinal marijuana culture is pretty much legal) except for BC is now legal.
I'm not going to pretend to know what this guy is talking about. But he's suggesting that the munitions we are sending our fighter jets into battle with are less than ideal. "Own a powerful gun but buy no ammo to shoot with it' mentality" is what he calls it.
Monday, November 3, 2014
Trapped in the Closet - Week 183 - Oct 27 - Nov 3
Stephen Harper feels bad that he hid in the closet. I actually don't blame him for that.
We're officially arguing over the semantics of the word "terrorism". Mulcair thinks that because the man was mentally ill, it might not be terrorism. Russell Brand points out that when a white guy shoots 3 cops, that's not terrorism. Which makes me a bit sad. This isn't even his country. How does he come up with these amazingly relevant things to say?
The Information and Privacy Commissioners are encouraging us to not over-react with draconian laws in the wake of last weeks incidents.
I love that we're using domestic attacks by Canadian citizens who never left the country to justify a global spying enterprise. Among other things.
I always root for the underdog. I have no idea why. I can't remember the last time that a team that I cheered for won a major championship. Hell, half the time I'll switch allegiances if my underdog team starts winning. So,today we'll talk about Dean Del Mastro. Don't get me wrong, this man deserves no sympathy. But I can't help but feel a bit sorry for him as all his buddies skitter away and leave him holding the bag. How does Steve not get tarnished by all the buffoons that he has surrounded himself with?
How badly does the RCMP suck? In Stephen Harper's Canada, the RCMP thinks that environmentalists are a greater threat than "religiously inspired terrorists". That must have been some argument, trying to sort out which Boogieman is scarier. As well, the RCMP have kept no records of their warrantless requests to snoop on Canadians, so have no idea how often it happened or if it breached privacy. Lastly, it looks like up to 4 RCMP officers slept with witnesses over the course of the Surrey Six investigation and trial, throwing the verdict into question. Four!
Canada won't be granting visas to people from "Ebola ridden countries". Many people point out that this won't stop the disease from spreading.
Because it's nearly impossible to achieve one legally, women in New Brunswick are inducing their own abortions.
We don't have the budget to build all the arctic ships we are expecting to.
Income Tax Splitting could be really, really messy. A dream for accountants. We know that income splitting favours people that have high incomes. So limiting the tax credit to $2000 is a step in the right direction. But why is it limited to people with kids?
This is really embarrassing. We've started photoshopping logos onto the Canadarm.
The overall best selling car. In all of Norway. Is the Tesla Model S. Some people point out that it is hypocritical of Norway to make buying a Tesla cheap through funding provided by their Oil industry. But I think that's awesome. If Canada decided to jack oil and gas royalties and use it to fund clean energy programs, that would be a good thing, no?
An opposition Commander in Syria points out that 6 fighter jets isn't going to accomplish much against ISIS. Biased opinion? Sure. Mysterious source? Of course.
You know who doesn't have confusion about whether or not to buy in to an overly expensive, unproven fighter jet program? Russia. That's who.
Buried way, way in the back of an already long bill are some provisions to control working conditions within the CBC.
Hooray for Canada? A student staged a fake act of racism and filmed it as a social experiment. Somebody sucker punched the fake racist. Somebody else pointed out that Islam isn't a race.
It's official. Communication from Revenue Canada makes no sense.
This is a really great cartoon that explains Obamacare and what is wrong with US Healthcare.
Every once in a while, an issue comes along that is so confusing, you're not even sure which side you are on. #Gamergate is just such a thing. If you use that hashtag are you a sexist? Against sexism? What if you're criticizing #Gamergate? Are you allowed to use the hashtag then? Who the fuck knows. Anyhow, this post is beautiful. Not just for #Gamergate, for life. Read it.
We're officially arguing over the semantics of the word "terrorism". Mulcair thinks that because the man was mentally ill, it might not be terrorism. Russell Brand points out that when a white guy shoots 3 cops, that's not terrorism. Which makes me a bit sad. This isn't even his country. How does he come up with these amazingly relevant things to say?
The Information and Privacy Commissioners are encouraging us to not over-react with draconian laws in the wake of last weeks incidents.
I love that we're using domestic attacks by Canadian citizens who never left the country to justify a global spying enterprise. Among other things.
I always root for the underdog. I have no idea why. I can't remember the last time that a team that I cheered for won a major championship. Hell, half the time I'll switch allegiances if my underdog team starts winning. So,today we'll talk about Dean Del Mastro. Don't get me wrong, this man deserves no sympathy. But I can't help but feel a bit sorry for him as all his buddies skitter away and leave him holding the bag. How does Steve not get tarnished by all the buffoons that he has surrounded himself with?
How badly does the RCMP suck? In Stephen Harper's Canada, the RCMP thinks that environmentalists are a greater threat than "religiously inspired terrorists". That must have been some argument, trying to sort out which Boogieman is scarier. As well, the RCMP have kept no records of their warrantless requests to snoop on Canadians, so have no idea how often it happened or if it breached privacy. Lastly, it looks like up to 4 RCMP officers slept with witnesses over the course of the Surrey Six investigation and trial, throwing the verdict into question. Four!
Canada won't be granting visas to people from "Ebola ridden countries". Many people point out that this won't stop the disease from spreading.
Because it's nearly impossible to achieve one legally, women in New Brunswick are inducing their own abortions.
We don't have the budget to build all the arctic ships we are expecting to.
Income Tax Splitting could be really, really messy. A dream for accountants. We know that income splitting favours people that have high incomes. So limiting the tax credit to $2000 is a step in the right direction. But why is it limited to people with kids?
This is really embarrassing. We've started photoshopping logos onto the Canadarm.
The overall best selling car. In all of Norway. Is the Tesla Model S. Some people point out that it is hypocritical of Norway to make buying a Tesla cheap through funding provided by their Oil industry. But I think that's awesome. If Canada decided to jack oil and gas royalties and use it to fund clean energy programs, that would be a good thing, no?
An opposition Commander in Syria points out that 6 fighter jets isn't going to accomplish much against ISIS. Biased opinion? Sure. Mysterious source? Of course.
You know who doesn't have confusion about whether or not to buy in to an overly expensive, unproven fighter jet program? Russia. That's who.
Buried way, way in the back of an already long bill are some provisions to control working conditions within the CBC.
Hooray for Canada? A student staged a fake act of racism and filmed it as a social experiment. Somebody sucker punched the fake racist. Somebody else pointed out that Islam isn't a race.
It's official. Communication from Revenue Canada makes no sense.
This is a really great cartoon that explains Obamacare and what is wrong with US Healthcare.
Every once in a while, an issue comes along that is so confusing, you're not even sure which side you are on. #Gamergate is just such a thing. If you use that hashtag are you a sexist? Against sexism? What if you're criticizing #Gamergate? Are you allowed to use the hashtag then? Who the fuck knows. Anyhow, this post is beautiful. Not just for #Gamergate, for life. Read it.
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