Comments - Week 156 - April 21-28

I've got to be honest, dear reader.  I'm just burnt out on this stuff.  I'm not paying much attention.  I think Steve won....

It's amazing what happens when an issue hits critical mass.  I guess temporary foreign workers are something everybody can understand and everybody can complain about.  Rednecks hate that "they" are taking our jobs.  Liberals hate that everybody is getting taken advantage of.  The government kind of has to respond.  No more temporary foreign workers in the food services sector.  Shit...actually, just in the "fast food" sector.  Funny that the CEO of McDonald's Canada is impressed that the Conservatives understand what he is trying to do.  And criticism of what he is trying to do is "bullshit".

The CD Howe Institute suggests that the temporary foreign worker program is contributing to joblessness in Canada.  338,000 temporary foreign workers?  It seems that might be a cause of Canadian unemployment..."But these lazy Canadians refuse to work the night shift cleaning toilets for minimum wage" sez the business owner.

Skilled immigrants get an express pass into Canada.

The Harper Government has ensured that whales in the path of Northern Gateway tankers are no longer threatened.  Well.  They're threatened by the tankers, they're just no longer considered to be a "threatened species".  Sez a biologist: Northern Gateway tanker traffic will increase whale strikes

Here's the fact of the matter:  Nancy Greene is a total fucking idiot.  She's an expert on fish farms now?  Fuck off.

Seeing as Stephen Harper's cabinet is nothing but lawyers...how do they keep fucking all these legal decisions up?  The Supreme Court tells Steve his Senate plans won't work.

Okay, this is pretty great news.  Pierre Fancypants has given up on ramming the stupidest of stupid "Fair Elections" Reforms through.  But this comment is solid gold:
“citizens will now be able to sign an oath attesting to their local residence” What oath? Most of the damn NDP and Liberal supporters, those that strongly oppose vouching, are committed atheists. Their only “bible” is David Suzuki’s “10 commandments” of global warming radical activism.
That's some solid gold crazy, right there.

Thanks to "Zalm" commenting on this story here.  Beautiful stuff.  Decent story too:
Wot? Aren't you driving on socialized and subsidized roads with your subsidized gas guzzler made by auto companies propped up by our tax dollars? Haven't visited the doctor for your dose of socialized medical care or picked up your socialized prescription made safer by that socialist bastion of publicly-funded research, Therapeutics Initiative? Weren't educated in a socialist school by union teachers? your wealth isn't protected by socialist police forces and courts, and that grand old game of socialist umbrage, the professional army? Your property maintaining its value nicely thanks to socialist zoning and property use bylaws?

No more charges in robocalls, outside of Guelph.  I think the key here being "witnesses didn't cooperate".

I think it's funny that the PMO won't say whether or not Stephen Harper was around to participate in drunk-teen-gate.

It's Jason Kenney's job to support incumbent MP's as they wage nomination battles?  Speaking of which...Jason Kenney ignored suggestions that his job data was bunk.

Eve Adams.  Still a shitstorm.

The government has responded to Lac Megantic with new regulations.

Elizabeth May is pretty funny!

Thomas Mulcair thinks the deleted Wright/Duffy e-mails stink.

Pamela Wallin regrets paying back her expense money.  I'd imagine there's a healthy dose of "I didn't think they'd hang me out to dry once I paid the money back" in this statement.

A story on the lack of access to information from the Canadian government.

I held off commenting about this over the past few weeks, but the Heartbleed bug response by Revenue Canada has been lacking.

There hasn't been much progress on holding tax cheats accountable.

The people in the United States that are responsible for negotiating international copyright agreements - and dictating requirements to Canada - work for the companies and organizations that will reap the benefits.  It's a government/lobbyist revolving door.

Obama - Week 80 - Nov 5-12

Fucking assholes.  I didn't take a screenshot, but the National Post still had Romney in the lead 30 minutes after everybody called the election.  And the morning after...this is what their site looks like.  What a bunch of sad idiots.

And they give this fucking blowhard an avenue to spout his ridiculous shit?  Have you read any of his articles?  Oh my gosh.  I guess this must be just as frustrating for the paper, forced to print the ramblings of your mad uncle.

Does anybody know anything about this trade treaty with China?  It doesn't sound very good.  And, at Chinas insistence, we have to give them 15 years notice if we want to leave it.  Yikes.

Oh.  Great.  20 totally impartial financial forecasters don't think we're going to have a real estate crash.  Merely a 10% drop.  And get this, they think that it's because Jim Flaherty is reeling things in now that we won't have problems.  See, I don't really see it that way.  If you asked me, well, he changes the rules in 2008 and allows things to become insane over the next 3-4 years.  And then, just on the cusp of a major turn, he changes the rules back to compound the problem?

 I post this Globe link only because I accidentally followed it from Google News and I really liked the photo.  I think it's funny that India wouldn't offer up our Prime Minister a decent car.  In my mind, I picture him huddled over a rental car counter arguing with an uncaring clerk.  "But I paid for a full size sedan!  What do you mean you only have compacts?"

Stephen Harper and his "transparent government" are preventing the Parliamentary budget watchdog from doing his job through lack of information.

A Liberal Senator is suggesting that we spend some time tracking down overseas tax cheats.  Ya.  Good luck getting Steve-O motivated for that.  They're probably his biggest donors!

MP Pension reform?  Ya, not so much.

This story is pretty crazy.  I've known about some of the Sting's that the RCMP runs in Canada.  But this puts a new perspective on how...well...fucked up the whole thing is.  First off, you're not allowed to coerce a confession out of a suspect if you're a cop.  No threats.  No bargains.  Etc.  But, if they don't think you're a cop, then it's alright?  What the hell.  So, basically, the cops set up a sting where they convince you that they'll kill you if you don't confess to a murder.  And that's allowed to stand?  Crazy.

Anonymous claims to have hacked Jim Flaherty's website.

I searched for "Nancy Greene" in Google News for some reason today.  Here's an article about how great she is.  And her views as a climate change skeptic.  I hate this woman so much.  So very much.  "I got mine.  Go fuck yourself."