I feel like a few months from now, a psychiatrist will be able to look back on this blog and track my slow descent into madness. Or apathy. Slow descent into apathy. As each post gets shorter and posted later. Oh well.
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.
Should I just end it there? One post about hockey and we're done?
Steve and his Australian buddy have decided to double down on their anti climate change agenda. Their distant relatives held a similar press conference years ago about refusing to kill jobs with a response to the nay-sayers and their made up asteroid impact.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association makes a fatal assumption when they say things like "Back to the drawing board" with respect to privacy legislation. That assumption being that the Conservatives give even one fuck about what anybody thinks or whether or not something is legal.
Justin Trudeau is setting a bit of an odd precedent. He suggests that male legislators shouldn't be making decisions on a females right to abortion. Which I kind of agree with. But what other responsibilities is he going to try to shirk off next? Is he just going to sit in an office with a giant stamp that says something like "Sorry, I can't deal with this because I'm white and male"? Shit. If only Steve had a similar attitude.
Click through on this sucker and listen to the full interview. Chris Alexander is a master of not answering questions. And he sounds so hard done by. And then he hangs up the phone. Jason Kenney is also a master at not answering questions (about Temporary Foreign Workers).
The Robo-calls trial has given an insight into how political campaigns act in Canada. Like children. I'm surprised they aren't ordering dozens of pizzas to show up at the opponents campaign office. Actually, that would be a bit of a morale booster, wouldn't it?
I feel like I'm slowly descending into madness with respect to Vancouver real estate. It's easy to feel stupid for not buying a shitty house as values continue to rise into the stratosphere and an entire industry works to convince us that we're incompetent humans for not over-paying for a house already. So, the 2013 breakdown of incomes in Canada is very interesting. If you make more than $191,000 per year, you're in the top 1% of all income earners in Canada. So....if you are just barely in the top 1% of all Canadian income earners, you can barely afford the average Vancouver detached house (at $1,000,000+)? What's considered affordable? 5 times annual earnings, right? Less? It gets way, way worse when you look at median individual income ($27,600) and median family income ($76,000). Of course, you're thinking the median Vancouver income is higher than the median Canadian, right? Sorry.
MacLean's points out that we're really, really terrible at protecting our marine habitat. Like worse than Russia and China bad. Worse than the US, even.
Showing posts with label Climate Change. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Climate Change. Show all posts
Monday, June 16, 2014
Monday, March 31, 2014
If the Conservatives love mailing things so much, why the hate for Canada Post? - Week 152 - Mar 24-31
We'll start with a joke. What is a Conservative? Somebody that cares a lot about taxpayers money until they get elected. Eve Adams uses taxpayer funded mailouts to ease her transition into a new riding.
Oh my goodness. "Sleepy Time" Rod Anders...If he's not making misleading phone calls, he's banking on a non-endorsement from the PM and threatening to sue his opponent. And seems to be unaware that more than one person can have the same name. His own party has told him to cut it out.
Of course we have Russia. Now that Russia has responded with travel bans for our politicians, it's all a giant joke. So let me ask this question: If we think Russia's travel bans are a joke, than why do we expect people to take ours seriously? That, and Irwin Cotler claims Russia poisoned him.
10,853 of 10,855 scientific papers published last year (that dealt with global warming type topics) concluded that global warming is very real. So...it sounds like science has made up its mind, no? Or are they just making things up to get at those fat stacks of research grants worth thousands?
Somebody else isn't buying into the governments labour shortage argument. The Parliamentary Budget Officer calls bunk. Which leads to my favourite headline of the week. "Tories defend use of Kijiji data in face of opposition ridicule". Because of course they cherrypick data to suit their policies.
There's a plebiscite in Kitimat on the Northern Gateway Pipeline? How is that not bigger news? Enbridge certainly thinks this is big news. They've sent all kinds of people in to make sure the vote goes their way. Gizmodo reminds us how terrible oil spills are and how we're not really ready for the next one.
The Conservatives are once again moving to cut off debate on a piece of legislation. This one contains elements of added Internet surveillance.
Joe Oliver is promising "tax relief". Great. Took us years to get back to a "balanced budget", better start cuttin'. I wonder when his "You're either for these tax cuts or you're a radical tax terrorist" speech is scheduled?
Stephen Harper has a crew of roughly 4 employees working on 24-7 videos highlighting his amazing accomplishments. For the Jan 23-39 episode, 100 people watched it in English and 19 watched it in French. Man...I don't feel so badly about nobody reading this blog.
We have a second MP who all of a sudden realized that there was all kinds of election fraud going on a few years ago. Elections Canada doesn't think much of Laurie Hawn's voter registration fraud story.
Another Conservative spending scandal. How thick do you have to be to break spending rules the way things are going right now? Don Meredith expensed a trip to Washington for some kind of prayer meeting. After it was specifically not approved. Business Class. With his wife. Yeezus H. Chris. Three MP's went along as well. Elizabeth May did the whole trip for $980 though...less than what Don Meredith claimed for hotel and food.
The F-35 is delayed again. This time due to software. I'd imagine this means costs will go up as well. Time to jump aboard the gravy train!
It's odd how far out of their way the Conservatives go to block harm reduction strategies, scientific drug use, etc. Not only here, but on the world stage. They can't stop harm reduction here, so why not stop it elsewhere? Insane.
The modus operandi of the Conservatives seems to be push as hard as you can until people freak out enough. I guess the freak out was enough...they've backed away from their gag order requirements for House of Commons staff.
Seems to be some appetite for a crackdown on temporary foreign worker abuse, in the way of fines. How did this take so long?
Peter McKay seems to be ready to double down on stupidity, defending the Marc Nadon appointment and thinking about trying it again.
Be interesting to see what happens with the Conservative private members bill on assisted suicide.
This New Yorker/Malcolm Gladwell essay will change the way you think of the FBI and the Branch Davidians. Crazy, sad stuff.
Oh my goodness. "Sleepy Time" Rod Anders...If he's not making misleading phone calls, he's banking on a non-endorsement from the PM and threatening to sue his opponent. And seems to be unaware that more than one person can have the same name. His own party has told him to cut it out.
Of course we have Russia. Now that Russia has responded with travel bans for our politicians, it's all a giant joke. So let me ask this question: If we think Russia's travel bans are a joke, than why do we expect people to take ours seriously? That, and Irwin Cotler claims Russia poisoned him.
10,853 of 10,855 scientific papers published last year (that dealt with global warming type topics) concluded that global warming is very real. So...it sounds like science has made up its mind, no? Or are they just making things up to get at those fat stacks of research grants worth thousands?
Somebody else isn't buying into the governments labour shortage argument. The Parliamentary Budget Officer calls bunk. Which leads to my favourite headline of the week. "Tories defend use of Kijiji data in face of opposition ridicule". Because of course they cherrypick data to suit their policies.
There's a plebiscite in Kitimat on the Northern Gateway Pipeline? How is that not bigger news? Enbridge certainly thinks this is big news. They've sent all kinds of people in to make sure the vote goes their way. Gizmodo reminds us how terrible oil spills are and how we're not really ready for the next one.
The Conservatives are once again moving to cut off debate on a piece of legislation. This one contains elements of added Internet surveillance.
Joe Oliver is promising "tax relief". Great. Took us years to get back to a "balanced budget", better start cuttin'. I wonder when his "You're either for these tax cuts or you're a radical tax terrorist" speech is scheduled?
Stephen Harper has a crew of roughly 4 employees working on 24-7 videos highlighting his amazing accomplishments. For the Jan 23-39 episode, 100 people watched it in English and 19 watched it in French. Man...I don't feel so badly about nobody reading this blog.
We have a second MP who all of a sudden realized that there was all kinds of election fraud going on a few years ago. Elections Canada doesn't think much of Laurie Hawn's voter registration fraud story.
Another Conservative spending scandal. How thick do you have to be to break spending rules the way things are going right now? Don Meredith expensed a trip to Washington for some kind of prayer meeting. After it was specifically not approved. Business Class. With his wife. Yeezus H. Chris. Three MP's went along as well. Elizabeth May did the whole trip for $980 though...less than what Don Meredith claimed for hotel and food.
The F-35 is delayed again. This time due to software. I'd imagine this means costs will go up as well. Time to jump aboard the gravy train!
It's odd how far out of their way the Conservatives go to block harm reduction strategies, scientific drug use, etc. Not only here, but on the world stage. They can't stop harm reduction here, so why not stop it elsewhere? Insane.
The modus operandi of the Conservatives seems to be push as hard as you can until people freak out enough. I guess the freak out was enough...they've backed away from their gag order requirements for House of Commons staff.
Seems to be some appetite for a crackdown on temporary foreign worker abuse, in the way of fines. How did this take so long?
Peter McKay seems to be ready to double down on stupidity, defending the Marc Nadon appointment and thinking about trying it again.
Be interesting to see what happens with the Conservative private members bill on assisted suicide.
This New Yorker/Malcolm Gladwell essay will change the way you think of the FBI and the Branch Davidians. Crazy, sad stuff.
Monday, December 30, 2013
Getting Lazy over Christmas - Week 139 - Dec 23-30
I wasn't going to...but I did it anyway. A Christmas post!
You know all those greedy scientists making tens of thousands of dollars researching climate change and how it's all just a plot to keep the gravy train rolling? Lucky we have the fighters for the truth on the other side of the story who are only in it for the good of humanity. And billions of dollars in donations from billionaires with oil interests.
Christ, this pope is awesome. His new thing? Atheists are a-okay, as long as they "do good".
I thought this UK porn filter was one of those crazy right wing dreams that will just go away. But it's real! That's insane!
CSIS lied to get warrants.
In Japan, they've recruited homeless people to clean up the Fukishima disaster. And they're stealing their wages (and paying them less in the first place).
Once again it is winter time. Time to demand that lost skiers pay for their own rescue.
This is a tremendous Slate story that tracks the life of Ronald Reagan's "Welfare Queen" scapegoat that he used to demonize poor people and push through welfare reform. Why doesn't somebody do this with the most egregious of Wall Street criminals and push through some sort of Finance Reform? Matt Taibbi, I'm looking at you.
This is one of those non stories....I mean, of course the NSA has more data than they can possibly analyze.
Iron Maiden apparently used music piracy data to target where they should go on tour...except they didn't. They just happen to sell out lots and lots of concerts in those places.
South Dakota has supposedly created a tax loophole (on purpose) for rich people to get out of the obligation to pay inheritance taxes in the hopes that it will "create business". Which it does...to the tune of hundreds of jobs. So they've given up millions and millions and millions of potential USA wide tax revenue to create hundreds of jobs.
They polled Brits (In England, just in case you were wondering) about why they don't vote. Well, it's not because they don't care. It's because they hate politicians.
A lady in Texas is fighting the loss of her land to the Keystone XL pipeline.
Music publishers are still using bots to claim ownership to music that they don't own.
You know all those greedy scientists making tens of thousands of dollars researching climate change and how it's all just a plot to keep the gravy train rolling? Lucky we have the fighters for the truth on the other side of the story who are only in it for the good of humanity. And billions of dollars in donations from billionaires with oil interests.
Christ, this pope is awesome. His new thing? Atheists are a-okay, as long as they "do good".
I thought this UK porn filter was one of those crazy right wing dreams that will just go away. But it's real! That's insane!
CSIS lied to get warrants.
In Japan, they've recruited homeless people to clean up the Fukishima disaster. And they're stealing their wages (and paying them less in the first place).
Once again it is winter time. Time to demand that lost skiers pay for their own rescue.
This is a tremendous Slate story that tracks the life of Ronald Reagan's "Welfare Queen" scapegoat that he used to demonize poor people and push through welfare reform. Why doesn't somebody do this with the most egregious of Wall Street criminals and push through some sort of Finance Reform? Matt Taibbi, I'm looking at you.
This is one of those non stories....I mean, of course the NSA has more data than they can possibly analyze.
Iron Maiden apparently used music piracy data to target where they should go on tour...except they didn't. They just happen to sell out lots and lots of concerts in those places.
South Dakota has supposedly created a tax loophole (on purpose) for rich people to get out of the obligation to pay inheritance taxes in the hopes that it will "create business". Which it does...to the tune of hundreds of jobs. So they've given up millions and millions and millions of potential USA wide tax revenue to create hundreds of jobs.
They polled Brits (In England, just in case you were wondering) about why they don't vote. Well, it's not because they don't care. It's because they hate politicians.
A lady in Texas is fighting the loss of her land to the Keystone XL pipeline.
Music publishers are still using bots to claim ownership to music that they don't own.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Take Some Responsibility - Week 98 - March 11-19
Sorry for the delay, folks. I was away for a long weekend and lost touch a bit.
Starting off…This article from the Financial Post about the amount of tax money created by the 1% was forwarded to me by a friend. It also prompted a lengthy discussion about income tax, entitlements, racism and on and on and on. I have two points that I took away from this:
1) I tracked down where the Financial Post got their numbers. I don't think any analysis of this was done. I think it is ridiculous to publish a story like this without citation or links to the data. It's easy to pull scandalous numbers from something like this without really understanding what it means. I hope to follow up with a more thorough analysis of this later this week, because I think it is very important.
2) I think that what politics is really lacking right now is well-reasoned explanations on the impacts and reasoning behind government expenses and government programs. My friend suggested that things would be "more fair" with a flat tax. But what would be the impact of that? What would that mean to society? Nobody bothers to dig in or explain the impacts of policy proposals. We're left to make up our minds using emotion rather than logic.
On a similar note, this NP article questions the payback of corporate income tax cuts. Based on my preliminary analysis (mentioned above) I think they are on to something here.
Stephen Harper is expressing support for Peter Penashue. “Best MP ever”. Once again, it's all somebody else's fault. "It was an inexperienced agent that did it! Not me!" Well why did you have an inexperienced agent running this portion of your campaign?
One would tend to look at the chart in this article and think that something is wrong. The rate of temperature was relatively stable for thousands of years and then, bang-o, starts going crazy. I can see the climate denialists figuring out some reason this isn’t valid.
Harper wants all government associated librarians to sign a loyalty pact, where they will promise not to criticize the government.
A strip mall owner is trying to prevent protests in front of Stephen Harper's constituency office.
Some more details on the HD Mining debacle. Whose mine is this? Canada’s or China’s? Why are we allowing a company to hire miners...in Canada...using the chief requirement being that they speak Mandarin?
Remember the report from the US State Department suggesting that Keystone XL is A-OK? Yes, much of the research was conducted by firms attached to the oil and gas industry. Well, I guess if you're looking for expertise on pipelines, there's only a few places to go. But still. Maybe this is an argument for a government having it's own un-biased scientists.
Alison Redford accuses Thomas Mulcair of "trying to push his own agenda". Nice. Apparently it's okay to fly down to the US and state a position as long as it agrees with your own.
Great information on Bitumen here.
Investment required to create 1 Million Barrels of oil in the Middle East - $8 Billion
Investment required to create 1 Million Barrels of tar sands oil - $45 Billion. + Refining costs
Barrels of oil used to create 1 barrel of oil in the Middle East - 0.05
Barrels of oil used to create 1 barrel of oil in the Tar Sands - 0.2
This Salon piece is incredible, and explains how Lockheed Martin forces the US Military to buy planes that it doesn't really want. Could this explain why Harper and his buddies are so gung-ho on the F-35?
Peter McKay is expressing frustration at the inability of Government to purchase new fixed wing search and rescue aircraft. Not his fault though. Somebody else’s.
This Tyee article paints a very rosy picture of where Real Estate is heading and why. I've been a doomsayer on Vancouver Real Estate the whole way through this boom cycle. Every time I run numbers and compare renting vs. buying, it makes no sense to me. People call me crazy (or worse), but it's coming. Oh man, it's coming.
Speaking of doomsayers, Garth Turner used to be a Conservative MP. He doesn't feel very good about things either.
A great visual on Canadian Housing Prices. Boom times everywhere!
A soccer team in Israel signed a pair of muslim players. Bad things happened. An interesting insight into Israel via sports reporting. No matter how often the Harper Government says it, this is not a simple and one sided issue.
Tackling yet another serious issue, the Conservatives are re-inserting the word "armed" into "Canadian Armed Forces".
Starting off…This article from the Financial Post about the amount of tax money created by the 1% was forwarded to me by a friend. It also prompted a lengthy discussion about income tax, entitlements, racism and on and on and on. I have two points that I took away from this:
1) I tracked down where the Financial Post got their numbers. I don't think any analysis of this was done. I think it is ridiculous to publish a story like this without citation or links to the data. It's easy to pull scandalous numbers from something like this without really understanding what it means. I hope to follow up with a more thorough analysis of this later this week, because I think it is very important.
2) I think that what politics is really lacking right now is well-reasoned explanations on the impacts and reasoning behind government expenses and government programs. My friend suggested that things would be "more fair" with a flat tax. But what would be the impact of that? What would that mean to society? Nobody bothers to dig in or explain the impacts of policy proposals. We're left to make up our minds using emotion rather than logic.
On a similar note, this NP article questions the payback of corporate income tax cuts. Based on my preliminary analysis (mentioned above) I think they are on to something here.
Stephen Harper is expressing support for Peter Penashue. “Best MP ever”. Once again, it's all somebody else's fault. "It was an inexperienced agent that did it! Not me!" Well why did you have an inexperienced agent running this portion of your campaign?
One would tend to look at the chart in this article and think that something is wrong. The rate of temperature was relatively stable for thousands of years and then, bang-o, starts going crazy. I can see the climate denialists figuring out some reason this isn’t valid.
Harper wants all government associated librarians to sign a loyalty pact, where they will promise not to criticize the government.
A strip mall owner is trying to prevent protests in front of Stephen Harper's constituency office.
Some more details on the HD Mining debacle. Whose mine is this? Canada’s or China’s? Why are we allowing a company to hire miners...in Canada...using the chief requirement being that they speak Mandarin?
Remember the report from the US State Department suggesting that Keystone XL is A-OK? Yes, much of the research was conducted by firms attached to the oil and gas industry. Well, I guess if you're looking for expertise on pipelines, there's only a few places to go. But still. Maybe this is an argument for a government having it's own un-biased scientists.
Alison Redford accuses Thomas Mulcair of "trying to push his own agenda". Nice. Apparently it's okay to fly down to the US and state a position as long as it agrees with your own.
Great information on Bitumen here.
Investment required to create 1 Million Barrels of oil in the Middle East - $8 Billion
Investment required to create 1 Million Barrels of tar sands oil - $45 Billion. + Refining costs
Barrels of oil used to create 1 barrel of oil in the Middle East - 0.05
Barrels of oil used to create 1 barrel of oil in the Tar Sands - 0.2
This Salon piece is incredible, and explains how Lockheed Martin forces the US Military to buy planes that it doesn't really want. Could this explain why Harper and his buddies are so gung-ho on the F-35?
Peter McKay is expressing frustration at the inability of Government to purchase new fixed wing search and rescue aircraft. Not his fault though. Somebody else’s.
This Tyee article paints a very rosy picture of where Real Estate is heading and why. I've been a doomsayer on Vancouver Real Estate the whole way through this boom cycle. Every time I run numbers and compare renting vs. buying, it makes no sense to me. People call me crazy (or worse), but it's coming. Oh man, it's coming.
Speaking of doomsayers, Garth Turner used to be a Conservative MP. He doesn't feel very good about things either.
A great visual on Canadian Housing Prices. Boom times everywhere!
A soccer team in Israel signed a pair of muslim players. Bad things happened. An interesting insight into Israel via sports reporting. No matter how often the Harper Government says it, this is not a simple and one sided issue.
Tackling yet another serious issue, the Conservatives are re-inserting the word "armed" into "Canadian Armed Forces".
Monday, June 27, 2011
Government Mandated Truth - Week 8 - June 20-27
I'm sure nothing will come of it, but it's been announced that the RCMP is looking in to complaints on G8 spending. Which probably means that somebody at the RCMP read something about it on the Internet. What bothers me the most is John Baird's outright dismissal here, calling it a "public relations stunt". I'm sick and tired of these yabbos blaming everything on the person asking the question. That's actually the opposite of accountibility.
Next, the Conservatives target climate scientists at Environment Canada with job cuts. Well. Climate Change doesn't exist. Why would you waste money studying it?
Canada continues to embarrass itself by officially denying a UN declaration of asbestos as hazardous. And since the declaration has to be unanimous, there will therefore be no declaration of Asbestos as hazardous by the UN. And we complain when China or Russia step in and derail things with their Security Council vote. Even India, Vietnam, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan came around to changing their stance on this item. Actually, this probably opens up some Harper spin. "Canada Valiantly Opposes Baltic/Near East Asbestos Denial Axis at UN Summit". (In the end, the axis joined up with Canada. But I'm not writing a whole new paragraph just for that.) Add this to the lengthening list of "Strange Stephen Harper Obsessions."
And another case of "this is the truth because I say so." The Conservatives call the investigation of detainee abuse in Afghanistan closed because nothing in their redacted documents indicates that anything happened. Missing from the records...anything deemed legal advice or related to cabinet confidence. It would seem to me that any important discussion would probably be related to one of these two things.
Oh man. This is like...our two favourite things combined into one topic of awesomeness. Christy Clark...encourages Senate reform...and the addition of 10 Senate seats for British Columbia. Actually...she encourages abolition of the Senate, but if that doesn't work, then she wants to make it bigger. Ya...that doesn't make any sense at all.
And then...What the hell? Gordon Campbell is going to be the Canadian Ambassador to England? Sorry. "High Commissioner". Ya. We should probably reward criminally convicted premieres run out of office on a rail.
After an NDP filibuster (I didn't even know that was possible in Canada), the Conservatives passed back to work legislation for Canada Post employees. This article points out that this is the sort of thing that's supposed to happen in Parliament. I think the Conservatives were probably upset that they might once again miss a chance to stick it to striking workers.
And finally, John Baird begins his new role as International Courier with a quick trip to Libya.
Next, the Conservatives target climate scientists at Environment Canada with job cuts. Well. Climate Change doesn't exist. Why would you waste money studying it?
Canada continues to embarrass itself by officially denying a UN declaration of asbestos as hazardous. And since the declaration has to be unanimous, there will therefore be no declaration of Asbestos as hazardous by the UN. And we complain when China or Russia step in and derail things with their Security Council vote. Even India, Vietnam, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan came around to changing their stance on this item. Actually, this probably opens up some Harper spin. "Canada Valiantly Opposes Baltic/Near East Asbestos Denial Axis at UN Summit". (In the end, the axis joined up with Canada. But I'm not writing a whole new paragraph just for that.) Add this to the lengthening list of "Strange Stephen Harper Obsessions."
And another case of "this is the truth because I say so." The Conservatives call the investigation of detainee abuse in Afghanistan closed because nothing in their redacted documents indicates that anything happened. Missing from the records...anything deemed legal advice or related to cabinet confidence. It would seem to me that any important discussion would probably be related to one of these two things.
Oh man. This is like...our two favourite things combined into one topic of awesomeness. Christy Clark...encourages Senate reform...and the addition of 10 Senate seats for British Columbia. Actually...she encourages abolition of the Senate, but if that doesn't work, then she wants to make it bigger. Ya...that doesn't make any sense at all.
And then...What the hell? Gordon Campbell is going to be the Canadian Ambassador to England? Sorry. "High Commissioner". Ya. We should probably reward criminally convicted premieres run out of office on a rail.
After an NDP filibuster (I didn't even know that was possible in Canada), the Conservatives passed back to work legislation for Canada Post employees. This article points out that this is the sort of thing that's supposed to happen in Parliament. I think the Conservatives were probably upset that they might once again miss a chance to stick it to striking workers.
And finally, John Baird begins his new role as International Courier with a quick trip to Libya.
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