Tonnes of stuff - Week 201 & 202 - Mar 2-16

Stepping away from a computer for a few weeks is illuminating.  You come back, and the same people are talking about the exact same things.  And the majority of people don't care at all.  I was out at trivia the other night, and a question came up about Bill C-51.  The question being, "A recent anti-terror bill has been announced.  The name of that bill is Bill C *blank*."  Please name the bill.  And people were shocked when I got it!  Like...what the fuck?

Onwards we roll.

Ha ha ha.  Refugees are claiming more Canadian income than millionaire, line jumping, investor immigrants.

Another oil train derailment.  And no, this is no an argument for pipelines.  This is an argument for rail safety.

Brian Williams gets some stories wrong 15 years ago.  Total shitstorm.  Canadian government makes up confrontations in the Black Sea with Russia.  Nothing.  Jason Kenney said the Russian jets "buzzed" the Canadian frigate..  NATO officials say it was 128 kilometers away.  He's also a bit confused about viral images on the Internet though, too.

More TFW awfulness.  Facebook, who are supposedly in Vancouver because of all of our computer talent, ended up hiring a bunch of TFW's to fill Software Engineer positions.  So, it seems like their office here is really just about skirting US labour law.  Ant the Parliamentary Budget Officer suggests that there is no accurate information on TFW's, that the numbers have gone up substantially and we really have no idea what this means for Canadian workers.

And then...fuck...and then...a Conservative MP says it makes no sense to pay "whities" to stay home while giving their jobs to "brown people".  This has somehow not generated a massive controversy.

A Canadian soldier has been killed...but we're somehow still not in a combat mission in Iraq.

For some reason, a bunch of white dudes hell bent on creating race war aren't as scary as Muslim terrorists.  CSIS internally highlights the threat of white supremacists over Muslim terrorism, but that's not what we end up hearing about, is it?  Meanwhile, Conservatives are definitely trying to stoke up fear of Muslims, doing lots of work publicizing threats by terrorists (and perhaps violating their own law in the process?).  And another MP is creating some "with us or against us" type rhetoric in his mailouts.

Michael Geist talks Bill C-51.  Surprisingly, not a fan.

Trudeau admits that they're supporting C-51 so that the Cons won't yell at them.  This is pretty terrible.

Even Christy thinks C-51 might be a bad idea.  But she's more of a "give money to corporations" kind of Conservative than a "control your citizens" kind of Conservative.

Our Privacy Watchdog won't be allowed to speak during the C-51 hearings.  Because it's about terror, not privacy, right?  I guess they already know he's not a fan.

The former Security Information Review Committee chair suggests we're in for a Constitutional mess with C-51.

A Conservative MP ignores the facts during a C-51 hearing, throws out a lot of general Muslim fear mongering and guilt by (perhaps non-existent) association.

Meanwhile, 300 criminal investigations have been sidetracked by terror investigations, according to the RCMP.

We're going to have police guard the soldiers at the National War Memorial.  But who is going to guard them?

We're letting FBI agents testify under pseudonyms in terror trials.

Our good buddy Vic Toews is back in the news.  He's been accused of inappropriately lobbying, and his wife may have received a huge chunk of money from a First Nation in the deal as well.

Another Conservative Minister, Diane Finley, committed a conflict of interest, awarding her own riding $1 Million in funding that she shouldn't have.  Brazeau suggests she's been up to other things too, pulling funding from ridings after NDP wins.

Stephen Harper thinks that guns in the hands of citizens play an important role in keeping people safe in rural communities.  Because....well...just because.

Maclean's looked at the potential impact on greenhouse gas reduction policies on Oil Sands profitability.  Surprisingly...the impact would be fairly low.  Meanwhile, Obama hasn't bought in to the Oil Sands greenwashing.

Several people have pointed out that forcing women to not wear a niqab is hardly a form of liberation.  And then he runs around claiming he has the support of moderate muslims?  Based on?  And he claims the overwhelming majority are with him too.

After years of battling it, the Cons are going to provide a bit more support for disabled veterans, just in time for the eleciton!

Conservative MP thinks he's a member of the tea party.  Argues against the "theory of evolution" with the time worn "It's just a theory" argument.

We're cutting funding to a program to treat sex criminals and prevent them from re-offending.  Because somehow, cutting off your sexual predator to spite your citizens makes sense.

The Mike Duffy trial witness list is pretty juicy.

Pamela Wallin's expenses are going to receive even more scrutiny.