Proudly Canadian - Week 214 - May 25 - June 1

Reddit tricked me with an old link.  Oh well, I'm sticking with it because we haven't had a photo in a while.  Hey guys!  I got me a panderin' license!

6,000 aboriginal children may have died under the Residential School system.  That's a shocking, shocking number.

We plunged in to a war against ISIS a year ago with little thought or planning.  And amazingly, we're worse off now than when we started.

The RCMP thinks you might be at terrorist if you're protesting the Big Brother act.

This article is titled "Have the Tories' electoral changes remade our democracy for the better?".  And then goes on to list all the things they've done to make democracy worse.  So I don't really get it.

The PMO feels the need to approve any request for a public meeting.  Any public meeting with Federal Government involvement.  Or at least a Federal Government logo.

I guess when you put out this many promotional videos, some things are liable to slip through the cracks.  Including highlighting an assembly line that will be moved to the US.

 

Lovely.  An educator attempts to educate a group of military cadets about sexual assault.  Is catcalled and harassed.  Reports it.  And is harassed via e-mail for reporting it.

The Victoria terror trial descends further into sideshow.  The Judge declares there was nearly a mistrial due to the absurd closing argument from the prosecution.

Vice explains how the transparency watchdog is being starved and ignored.

I think it is awesome that a First Nation took the time and money to do their own detailed study on the Kinder Morgan expansion.  Surprisingly...they don't exactly agree with what Kinder Morgan or the government have been selling.

U-S-A!  U-S-A!  When there's sports scandals to prosecute, we know who to call!  Lance Armstrong.  Barry Bonds.  Now FIFA.  Don't worry about those guys who almost ruined the world in 2008 though.

Political ploy, yes.  But kind of awesome.  Liberal bill to unmuzzle scientists.

Conservatives don't want it.  The City of Ottawa doesn't want it.  But the Victims of Communism Memorial will probably go ahead anyhow.

Canada blocks a UN plan to ride the world of nukes.  Because Israel needs them.  Won't admit to having them...but needs them.

Joe Oliver wants us to voluntarily put more money into our government run pension plan that he doesn't want to fund.  Ya.  Okay.

Temporary Foreign Workers.  Also unable to do anything when sexually harassed at work.

Omar Khadr finally speaks.

I used to think Peter McKay was one of the good ones.  Long ago.  I no longer think that.  Good riddance.

Keeping Busy in our Free Time - Week 123 - Sep 2-9

I can't believe this is a thing.  Stephen Harper's hockey book is out soon.  Obama's book on basketball to follow.  Then Americans heads will explode and the government will fall in a revolution.  Because that's what would generally happen if a population found out that their leader had written a book about a sport.  In his "free time".

Because nothing is more important than some Albertans guns getting temporarily taken away during a flood...I can't believe this is still a story.  Do these people think this is America?  We don't give a shit about your right to own a shotgun.

And here's what's wrong with North American drug laws.  What percentage of Canadians have admitted to marijuana use?  50, 60%?  More?  And that's just those who have admitted it.  So this lawyer is pointing out that under US law, 50-60% of Canadians (and probably more) are barred from entry into the US.  I have to go look this up.  Ahhhh...can't find anything.  10% active users though.

An interesting article in the Tyee about Republicans coming around to climate change, and some that are even proposing a carbon tax.  Interesting tidbit: "Heartland ran a billboard in Chicago comparing believers in global warming to Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber... called off future billboards featuring Osama bin Laden, Charles Manson and Fidel Castro"  Reminded me of a discussion the CBC had a few months ago with Bob Inglis - former Conservative Congressman who considers a carbon tax.

A sad article on the state of BC Hydro.  I don't know much about IPP producers.  But I have dealt with BC Hydro through Powersmart, where they pay industry millions of dollars to implement projects that will save them money.  By them, I mean the companies that take Hydro's money.  Not Hydro.

This article on life expectancy in Slate was very interesting.  But what I really took from it was this.  People are stupid.  Always have been.  Seems like we always will be.

I thought it was a rule that University students were required to march around campus doing stupid shit?  Fuck, we would have all been expelled had we actually been held accountable for what was coming out of our mouths back then.

Senate Redemption - Week 113 - June 24 - July 2

I'm reminded of Dumb & Dumber right now.  "Just when I thought you couldn't possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this...and totally redeem yourself!"  The Senate votes to send the union finances bill back to the House of Commons.

If you constantly have to spend a lot of money telling everybody how great you are, how great everything is and how great of a job you are doing...chances are it might not be so.

Is it common for elected officials to issue politicized talking points to bureaucrats?  About another bureaucrat?  Man.  What a bunch of assholes.  The Conservative encouraged diplomats and bureaucrats to talk shit about the Auditor Generals report on fighter jet procurement.  What a bunch of stupid assholes.

Too bad.  I had hoped Vic Toews leaving politics would have been the result of pitchfork wielding farmers.  Not retirement.

A new report on drug use in Vancouver suggests some not-all-that-surprising conclusions:  One, Vancouver's "harm reduction" strategy seems to be resulting in more treatment and less jail time.  Two, federal drug supply strategies (i.e. the "war on drugs") seems to be having little to no impact on drug pricing or availability.

The Conservatives are seeking a shitpile of money from the Council of Canadians to pay for the robocalls trial.  Didn't they basically lose this trial, but it was found there was no proof that the election outcome was affected?

What a pandering asshole...can't have a gun lover angry at the Prime Minister.  How is this deserve comment from the PM?  The RCMP in High River picked up some unsecured, out-in-plain-view guns when they were searching houses for flood victims and this is some sort of tragedy for the PM and his gun lobby buddies.

This Tyee article blames Calgary flooding on climate change and hopes that the oil industry will see the error of their ways.

Quebec seems to have lost their court case to try to hold on to Quebec long gun registry data.

Convenient.  The trial of a former Harper aide has been delayed due to health concerns.

An interesting Slate article linking up statistics and studies into gun violence.  In the US.

Flying High - Week 97 - March 4-11

The F-35?  Great plane.  It won't fly at night though.  And you might suffer an "increased risk of being shot down".  It won't fly through clouds either.

Nanos suggests the Conservatives support is dwindling.

In other poll news, the National Post conducted a doozie about immigration.  It's hard to know what it all means, as what exactly does "limits" to immigration mean?  Sure brought the racists out of the woodwork in the comments section though.

Compared to the official remarks from the US, it actually sounds like our statement on Hugo Chavez wasn't too bad.

In the last 10 years, there has been a huge spike in the aboriginal prison population.  Jesus.  Aboriginals account for:
- 25% of all males in prison
- 1/3 of all females in prison
- Up to 65% of the total prison population in some Western Canadian prisons


Sooooo....the richest Province in Canada has no money?  They keep pulling oil out of the ground but there is no revenue in it?  So why keep pulling it out of the ground?  I know, I know.  Jobs.  So, we essentially have a subsidized oil industy in Alberta now then, right (charging them next to nothing to profit off of pulling our oil out of the ground)?  I mean...the government isn't making the money that they should off of the extraction of the oil.  Sounds like a subsidy to me.  But the government (and government employees) in Alberta are lazy bloodsuckers.  And the oil patch workers are hard working "wealth creators".

Stephen Harper likes to bring along his own personal gun lobbyist to international arms control discussions.


The Feds are going to pay a shipbuilder $288 million to design out next batch of Northern Patrol Boats.  Two things.  First, no actual boats are included for the 288 million.  Second, the shipyard doesn't actually have the design capability, so they are subcontracting to a European design firm.  Seems a bit fishy.

A former journalist and Harper PR flunky has been appointed as a "Citizenship Judge".  I don't know what that is.  He doesn't sound qualified though.  I love it when people retire from jobs to "take it easy" and then take government appointments.  "Don't worry.  This job is eeeeeeeaaaaaaasssssssyyyyyyyy."

Guns for the New Year - Week 86 - Dec 17-24

Great timing Steve!  The Government announces that they won't adopt laws aimed at making gun shows safer.  The proposed requirements?  Gun show sponsors would have to notify police and provincial firearms officers that they are hosting a gun show, and they would have to "ensure the security and safety of the location and the firearms".  Boy, those sound like tremendous burdens.  The reason why these won't be adopted (other than "because a committee full of gun advocates decided it's unnecessary"?  "The vast majority of gun show hosts and exhibitors already follow the rules."  Shit.  That's totally logical!  I mean, we could do away with all sorts of laws now.  The "vast majority" of Canadians don't drink and drive.  Let's get rid of those laws too.  The "vast majority" of Canadians don't murder one another.  Don't really need those ones either.

I like this idea that boingboing is following...essentially trying to understand if gun control laws actually have some effect.  This first story speculates that they might...or might not.  It's hard to say as it's difficult to study the issue without passing actual laws.

But then this link points out that gun lobbyists have actively worked against the very studies that might shed some light on this issue.  So, I guess it is convenient to point out that there is no science to support gun control while you work to stifle any science that might support gun control.

On a similar note, Slate points out that gun control laws in Australia have been very effective at stopping mass shootings.  Different country, yes.  But enlightening.

And can you even believe these NRA shitheads?  Holy fuck.  Announce a major coming announcement as everybody anticipates you changing your insane stance on guns and then just double down on fucking crazy and announce that every school needs armed police officers!


These Vancouver Sun "Top 10 Photos" articles are usually the worst thing ever.  This one is kind of interesting.  The top 10 Countries in per capita gun ownership:
USA! USA! - #1 at 88.8 guns per 100 Citizens
Yemen - #2 with 54.8 guns per 100
Switzerland - Surprisingly #3 at 45.7
Finland - #4 at 45.3
Serbia - #5 at 37.8
Cyprus - #6 at 36.4
Saudi Arabia - #7 at 35.0
Iraq - #8 at 34.2
Uruguay - #9 at 31.8
Sweden - #10 at 31.6
Yes.  The USA has more guns per capita that recently war torn Iraq and Serbia.  Within smelling distance of 3 times as many guns.  Crazy.

Once again, Matt Taibbi gets the rage going.  This time combining two awesome themes:  Too Big to Fail and the War on Drugs.  This post highlights the settlement that HSBC made after being caught laundering Billions of dollars in cartel money.  No jail time, just a (relatively speaking) small fine.  He points out the discrepancy between being a white collar banking executive committing monstrous crimes vs. the average bloke caught with a joint in his pocket.  Pretty fucked up.

A troubling article about our dealings with China RE CNOOC, Chinese Mine Workers, Etc.

Those pesky opposition parties with all of their questions!  Don't they realize all of this "democracy" and "accountability" costs money?  We could save a fortune if we could just do what we want.

I think this guy misses the point a little bit.  First, is this a news piece?  Opinion?  Anyhow, he points out that all fighter jets are expensive.  And they all cost money to service and operate.  Which is true.  But he loses the point of the hullabaloo.  All of this was done without a rigorous evaluation of options.  And it was done with figures that didn't really represent the reality of the situation.  Yes, we may end up with the F-35 in the end.  But we need to make an informed decision and not just buy something because it's awesome.  And "stealth".

Surprisingly, most Canadians aren't willing to give up their rights in the name of "stopping terrorism".  Bloody communists!  Don't they know that government intrusion is okay when it's done for "security" reasons?

Vacation Time - Week 67 - July 6-13

Sorry.  I've been on vacation this week, so things are a bit light.  No photo either.  Let's keep the poll data theme going.

You know you're in trouble when Danny Williams is the only person on your side.  Danny Williams decides that Christy Clark is correct when it comes to pipelines.

The NDP has accused the Conservatives of impropriety with the approval of a new ethanol plant on port lands.  What?  Ports aren't meant to hold ethanol plants?  Are you a communist?  And how dare you point out that the Port Authority that approved this and the company that are building this are stacked with Conservative insiders (former riding association executives, etc.)?

You have to love the Internet.  First, a police officer from Michigan visits Calgary and tells this frightening tale of a couple of guys asking him if he and his wife has been to the Stampede.  His conclusion "I wish I'd had my gun".  To the Internets!  A boingboing poster discovers that he also wrote in to another newspaper and complained that Obama had invited Common (the rapper) to the White House.  Awesome.

Real Estate difficulties?  Wha?  Oh.  Wait.  Ya, that might happen.  But don't worry, they're just going to stay the same until all the rest of those crazy numbers catch up to these ridiculous prices.