The Guardian has an opinion about our recently announced greenhouse gas emissions targets. "Canada reneges on emissions targets as tar sands production takes its toll".
Oh oh. "Extremists" are opposed to the Oil Sands. You know they're "extremists" because they're opposed to the Oil Sands.
There is a new push from Government scientists to curb government meddling and muzzling of their affairs. You can get a real sense of what is going on from talking to retired scientists, no longer afraid of speaking out.
Shockingly, Pierre Poilievre doesn't think he's done anything wrong by using government funds to shoot propaganda videos in the run up to the election. The CBC digs into the overall Conservative ad scheme a bit more.
The Israel hate speech story is blowing up. The Intercept here. Claims that the original story was false. And support for the original story.
Another Stephen Harper loss in the Supreme Court. Omar Khadr should have served his sentence as a youth, not an adult offender.
The Senate is making news again. First, former Liberal Senators won't vote for C-51. Can they force meaningful change upon it? We will see. Next, Conservative Senators don't seem like they will allow the Reform Act through. This could get interesting. Lots of chances for people to jump up and down and complain about non elected politicians dictating policy. Even a chance for both sides to use it against the other, if we're lucky.
A report suggests we have no real plan for what we are doing with our fight against ISIS.
And you thought Alberta oil royalties were bad...Ontario collected a little over $200 in diamond royalties last year. The industry was probably outraged to pay even that much. Jobs!
The RCMP may have broken the law when they destroyed gun registry records. No worries though. The Cons just retroactively changed the law so it was legal.
Interesting. The Cons have decided to blow up the existing debate format and not accept the status quo. This seems to go together with the suggestion a few months ago that they were going to pursue more debates in an effort to beat up on Trudeau.
In public, the Military claims they will act on sexual misconduct. In practice, they are issuing orders to ignore key report recommendations they promised to follow.
The new Veterans Affairs minister thinks that medical marijuana has no place in PTSD treatment for soldiers. "No proof" he says. Of course, we haven't studied it, so there is "no proof" either way.
Tony Clement has gotten involved in the sick day fracas. Says they will negotiate...but claims they won't be able to touch the $900 Million in savings. Which seems like a difficult position for the unions.
The Cons are blocking an investigation into several NDP MP's being denied access to Parliament.
Showing posts with label The Long Gun Registry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Long Gun Registry. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Monday, October 20, 2014
Threats to Society - Week 181 - Oct 14-20
It always takes a farcical story to drive a point home. A group of Ontario birdwatchers have been threatened by Revenue Canada over "political activity". They wrote a letter to several cabinet ministers expressing concern over bee deaths.
Stephen Harper fears that the people he's in charge of are trying to bring back the Long Gun Registry. And all he needs is your money to stop it.
He also seems to be researching privatization of Canada Post and writing secret reports about it.
It's easy to form an argument that CSIS needs more power to track "terrorists". (It might not be credible, but it's easy) It's harder to understand how they decide who a "terrorist" is.
Fraser Institute economist thinks that he has solved science and proven global warming is a farce. Science points out that he is an idiot.
Kinder Morgan pro-pipeline ads come at a time that can be seen as influencing upcoming municipal elections.
There are a truly insane number of foreign caregivers waiting for Permanent Resident status in Canada.
This might be getting complicated. Sun News dug up some documents that suggest the major media companies (most of them) in Canada came to an agreement not to air attack ads that used copyrighted information originating from any of their broadcasts...Which may have lead to the Conservative political copyright law...and may be illegal...and Sun News views as collusion to put Trudeau into power.
Jason Kenney took it upon himself to decide that a niqab can't be worn during a citizenship ceremony.
One Russian cargo ship loses power on the coast of BC and exposes our "World Class" ship safety plans as a farce.
Canada's Indian status system seems insane. And one lady is challenging it, as her status was revoked as she does not know the identity of her grandfather.
The Canada Food Guide kind of sucks. And it's been put together by people closely attached to the food industry.
Stephen Harper fears that the people he's in charge of are trying to bring back the Long Gun Registry. And all he needs is your money to stop it.
He also seems to be researching privatization of Canada Post and writing secret reports about it.
It's easy to form an argument that CSIS needs more power to track "terrorists". (It might not be credible, but it's easy) It's harder to understand how they decide who a "terrorist" is.
Fraser Institute economist thinks that he has solved science and proven global warming is a farce. Science points out that he is an idiot.
Kinder Morgan pro-pipeline ads come at a time that can be seen as influencing upcoming municipal elections.
There are a truly insane number of foreign caregivers waiting for Permanent Resident status in Canada.
This might be getting complicated. Sun News dug up some documents that suggest the major media companies (most of them) in Canada came to an agreement not to air attack ads that used copyrighted information originating from any of their broadcasts...Which may have lead to the Conservative political copyright law...and may be illegal...and Sun News views as collusion to put Trudeau into power.
Jason Kenney took it upon himself to decide that a niqab can't be worn during a citizenship ceremony.
One Russian cargo ship loses power on the coast of BC and exposes our "World Class" ship safety plans as a farce.
Canada's Indian status system seems insane. And one lady is challenging it, as her status was revoked as she does not know the identity of her grandfather.
The Canada Food Guide kind of sucks. And it's been put together by people closely attached to the food industry.
Monday, September 23, 2013
Home - Week 125 - Sept 16-23
I've been away for the last week and haven't looked at the news much. But doesn't this seem like it should be a bigger story? Scientists are standing up to Stephen Harper. Protests! The key to good decision making is good data. Doesn't a goverment that seems uninterested in data (science, the census) scare the shit out of you?
The Stephen Harper pre-election charm offensive starts. All of a sudden, he's concerned with consumer rights.
Why can't/won't the RCMP tell us how much it will/has cost to destroy the gun registry?
What is Stephen Harper hoping to gain by continually shunning the UN? Is he trying to diminish his failures within the UN environment by diminishing their import in the eyes of Canadians?
Oooooh Steve.....stickin it to the bad guys. Sex offenders may have to report in before leaving the country.
Huge surprise. Economic action plan ads don't work.
Vancouver's Insite program has been a crazy success by many, many standards. No deaths through 2,000,000 injections over 10 years? Yes, that much heroin is not good, but I'd rather have that much heroin and no deaths than the alternative. And here's the crazy part. I'll bet if you did a survey you would find that zero percent of people have found that Insite encouraged them to try heroin.
National Post is turning into nothing more than a Trudeau attack machine.
I think the NRA needs some training in public relations, crisis management...heck, in logic too. Wayne Lapierre responds to another incident of gun violence by blaming it on everything other than an excess of guns in American society.
The Stephen Harper pre-election charm offensive starts. All of a sudden, he's concerned with consumer rights.
Why can't/won't the RCMP tell us how much it will/has cost to destroy the gun registry?
What is Stephen Harper hoping to gain by continually shunning the UN? Is he trying to diminish his failures within the UN environment by diminishing their import in the eyes of Canadians?
Oooooh Steve.....stickin it to the bad guys. Sex offenders may have to report in before leaving the country.
Huge surprise. Economic action plan ads don't work.
Vancouver's Insite program has been a crazy success by many, many standards. No deaths through 2,000,000 injections over 10 years? Yes, that much heroin is not good, but I'd rather have that much heroin and no deaths than the alternative. And here's the crazy part. I'll bet if you did a survey you would find that zero percent of people have found that Insite encouraged them to try heroin.
National Post is turning into nothing more than a Trudeau attack machine.
I think the NRA needs some training in public relations, crisis management...heck, in logic too. Wayne Lapierre responds to another incident of gun violence by blaming it on everything other than an excess of guns in American society.
Monday, September 9, 2013
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.
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.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Back into it - Week 79 - Oct 29 - Nov 5
A Conservative Senator has come out to suggest that the Government doesn't need to act to protect Canadian's online security. Let's see...
1 - Increased regulation to limit the use of technology by consumers in the name of "copyright protection" - No problem.
2 - Increased government monitoring of technology in the name of "crime prevention" - Sounds good.
3 - Increased regulation to prevent fraud and hacking on citizens - Not the governments concern.
Remember when Stephen Harper decided that the Long Form Census was a silly, bad thing? Well, Statistics Canada is starting to see some problems with data.
Oh man. They're really grasping at straws. Real Estate sales in the Fraser Valley jump 23% in October! Oh. Wait. They're down 8% compared to last October? But they jumped? 23%? Right?
I'm always looking for new and novel ways to explain what is wrong with Real Estate in Vancouver. This link is a bit old (from the summer) but there is a gem buried inside it. In April of 2012, there were 7,000 homes in the entire United States sold for over 1 Million Dollars. Around the same time period, there were 5,000 homes in Greater Vancouver on the market for more than 1 Million Dollars. Yes, yes, sold vs. listed, etc. It's just very interesting. And there's some fantastic graphs buried in this story.
The changes tot he Navigable Waters Act are confusing. At face value...it almost makes sense. Cut everything that doesn't have to do with navigation out of it. Of course, the act has always done more than that. And it's interesting that the majority of waterways that remain protected are in Conservative ridings. Regardless, this shouldn't be in an Omnibus bill.
The report in to the collapse of Sockeye Salmon runs has been released. Great, a whole bunch of new recommendations that can be ignored.
The man who would probably have the largest part to play in all of this is Peter Kent, our Minister of the Environment. Problem is, he seems to have a habit of skipping out on media questions by providing incorrect and misleading estimates of his schedule. He shows up early, does his thing and then leaves before the media shows up.
The guy that the Conservatives are blaming for the entire robo-call scandal - you know, the junior guy that had no authority or access to information? - has spoken out and suggested that he's been a convenient scapegoat.
Supposedly Jim Flaherty has cut 8 Billion in spending. And some Conservatives fear that this might cost votes.
Wait. MP pension reforms haven't amounted to much of anything?
Somehow, I was thinking about prorogation. The whole "Jean Chretien did it to avoid the sponsorship scandal" thing came up. And it's funny because I don't really remember that happening. This guy dug into it a bit and it all seems to be a myth to support Steve-O doing whatever he wants. So, the fact is, Stephen Harper appears to be the only Prime Minister in recent memory to prorogue Parliament to avoid accountability. Prorogue is a legitimate tool of Parliament. Just not that way.
The Long Gun Registry has been destroyed. Except in Quebec.
Parliament Hill renovations have slowly but surely ballooned to ridiculous levels. I love that a part of the renovations is to get rid of asbestos.
1 - Increased regulation to limit the use of technology by consumers in the name of "copyright protection" - No problem.
2 - Increased government monitoring of technology in the name of "crime prevention" - Sounds good.
3 - Increased regulation to prevent fraud and hacking on citizens - Not the governments concern.
Remember when Stephen Harper decided that the Long Form Census was a silly, bad thing? Well, Statistics Canada is starting to see some problems with data.
Oh man. They're really grasping at straws. Real Estate sales in the Fraser Valley jump 23% in October! Oh. Wait. They're down 8% compared to last October? But they jumped? 23%? Right?
I'm always looking for new and novel ways to explain what is wrong with Real Estate in Vancouver. This link is a bit old (from the summer) but there is a gem buried inside it. In April of 2012, there were 7,000 homes in the entire United States sold for over 1 Million Dollars. Around the same time period, there were 5,000 homes in Greater Vancouver on the market for more than 1 Million Dollars. Yes, yes, sold vs. listed, etc. It's just very interesting. And there's some fantastic graphs buried in this story.
The changes tot he Navigable Waters Act are confusing. At face value...it almost makes sense. Cut everything that doesn't have to do with navigation out of it. Of course, the act has always done more than that. And it's interesting that the majority of waterways that remain protected are in Conservative ridings. Regardless, this shouldn't be in an Omnibus bill.
The report in to the collapse of Sockeye Salmon runs has been released. Great, a whole bunch of new recommendations that can be ignored.
The man who would probably have the largest part to play in all of this is Peter Kent, our Minister of the Environment. Problem is, he seems to have a habit of skipping out on media questions by providing incorrect and misleading estimates of his schedule. He shows up early, does his thing and then leaves before the media shows up.
The guy that the Conservatives are blaming for the entire robo-call scandal - you know, the junior guy that had no authority or access to information? - has spoken out and suggested that he's been a convenient scapegoat.
Supposedly Jim Flaherty has cut 8 Billion in spending. And some Conservatives fear that this might cost votes.
Wait. MP pension reforms haven't amounted to much of anything?
Somehow, I was thinking about prorogation. The whole "Jean Chretien did it to avoid the sponsorship scandal" thing came up. And it's funny because I don't really remember that happening. This guy dug into it a bit and it all seems to be a myth to support Steve-O doing whatever he wants. So, the fact is, Stephen Harper appears to be the only Prime Minister in recent memory to prorogue Parliament to avoid accountability. Prorogue is a legitimate tool of Parliament. Just not that way.
The Long Gun Registry has been destroyed. Except in Quebec.
Parliament Hill renovations have slowly but surely ballooned to ridiculous levels. I love that a part of the renovations is to get rid of asbestos.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Dealing with Absolutes - Week 42 - Feb 13-20
It's a busy week. Angry John Baird gets our photo of the week. I've been waiting a while to see this guy again.
One thing I've learned in life is a healthy respect for absolutes. Right or wrong. Black or white. Ham or cheese. There are no middle grounds in anything and anybody that thinks so is delusional. It's a digital world, people need to accept that. That's why I think this new statement about either being for child pornography is great. I mean, what bad things could come from the government having complete visibility of everything that we do on our computers? I mean...this certainly couldn't have anything to do with all of these new copyright laws. That's child pornographer talk.
Righteous indignation is awesome when somebody else has done something and you have no proof. Kind of overshadows your own dirty tricks...push polling ridings to make them think their recently voted in MP is going to quit comes to mind. I kind of hope the NDP is behind Vikileaks. I would respect their nefariousnous.
And, apparently, the police and government have been working pretty hard to fabricate justification for this law, as none appears to be readily apparent. And...and...apparently they want to not just give access to police, but to government appointed inspectors as well.
Oh, it gets better. Apparently Vic Toews was surprised when the CBC asked him about the provision that "any" police officer could ask for data from an ISP. "This is the first time that I'm hearing this somehow extends ordinary police emergency powers." So, who exactly drafted this bill?
Now, as I trolled through comments on a variety of stories on the above, I came across the oddest rumour...It's just so strange...but appears to be all over the place.
Some specifics around the environmental/animal rights groups targeted as "extremists" by the Harper Government. The list includes Greenpeace and PETA.
More bad news on fighter jets. It seems pretty silly to stick with this program. It's like when you pre-order your Benz 4 years ahead of time and they keep jacking up the price and deleting options. I hate it when that happens.
A study just came out claiming the oil sands aren't as bad as coal. I've got a problem with this study. They took the total reserves of different types of fuel and projected what the effect would be if they were burned in their entirety. In essence, if we burn all of our coal, we're in big trouble. If we burn all of our tar sands sourced oil, it's not a big deal. But there's got to be a lot more coal throughout the world than tar sands, no? This study doesn't help us understand the difference between heating out house (for example) with one over the other. It just seems a bit confusing to me and I see this as Stephen Harper's get out of jail free card on the oil sands.
You know what I'm really sick of? All these well educated foreign doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc. that come to Canada and take all of our cab driving jobs. And security guard jobs. Somebody needs to put a stop to that sort of thing. Some of them even claim that somebody is trying to kill them back home, which most likely is nonsense.
A study just came out claiming the oil sands aren't as bad as coal. I've got a scientific problem with this study. They took the total reserves of different types of fuel and projected what the effect would be if they were burned in their entirety. In essence, if we burn all of our coal, we're in big trouble. If we burn all of our tar sands sourced oil, it's not a big deal. But there's got to be a lot more coal throughout the world than tar sands, no? This study doesn't help us understand the difference between heating out house (for example) with one over the other. It just seems a bit confusing to me and I see this as Stephen Harper's get out of jail free card on the oil sands.
Oh. Ya. Another study about downloading. Bittorrent? Not so bad.
Way to stir up trouble with a headline, Globe and Mail. A Catholic couple sued the Province for teaching a mandatory course that taught students about the multitude of religions out there...as this somehow infringed on their religious right to believe that their beliefs are the only ones out there. Somehow "Mandatory religion course doesn't infringe on freedoms" sounds a bit more scandalous.
Gun Registry legislation is done.
A member of the Harper Government wants to change the way Parliament is filmed on Friday's because there are lots of people missing and it looks bad. There's no comment necessary for this one.
Apparently, you can bring your baby to work if you're an MP.
One thing I've learned in life is a healthy respect for absolutes. Right or wrong. Black or white. Ham or cheese. There are no middle grounds in anything and anybody that thinks so is delusional. It's a digital world, people need to accept that. That's why I think this new statement about either being for child pornography is great. I mean, what bad things could come from the government having complete visibility of everything that we do on our computers? I mean...this certainly couldn't have anything to do with all of these new copyright laws. That's child pornographer talk.
Righteous indignation is awesome when somebody else has done something and you have no proof. Kind of overshadows your own dirty tricks...push polling ridings to make them think their recently voted in MP is going to quit comes to mind. I kind of hope the NDP is behind Vikileaks. I would respect their nefariousnous.
And, apparently, the police and government have been working pretty hard to fabricate justification for this law, as none appears to be readily apparent. And...and...apparently they want to not just give access to police, but to government appointed inspectors as well.
Oh, it gets better. Apparently Vic Toews was surprised when the CBC asked him about the provision that "any" police officer could ask for data from an ISP. "This is the first time that I'm hearing this somehow extends ordinary police emergency powers." So, who exactly drafted this bill?
Now, as I trolled through comments on a variety of stories on the above, I came across the oddest rumour...It's just so strange...but appears to be all over the place.
Some specifics around the environmental/animal rights groups targeted as "extremists" by the Harper Government. The list includes Greenpeace and PETA.
More bad news on fighter jets. It seems pretty silly to stick with this program. It's like when you pre-order your Benz 4 years ahead of time and they keep jacking up the price and deleting options. I hate it when that happens.
A study just came out claiming the oil sands aren't as bad as coal. I've got a problem with this study. They took the total reserves of different types of fuel and projected what the effect would be if they were burned in their entirety. In essence, if we burn all of our coal, we're in big trouble. If we burn all of our tar sands sourced oil, it's not a big deal. But there's got to be a lot more coal throughout the world than tar sands, no? This study doesn't help us understand the difference between heating out house (for example) with one over the other. It just seems a bit confusing to me and I see this as Stephen Harper's get out of jail free card on the oil sands.
You know what I'm really sick of? All these well educated foreign doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc. that come to Canada and take all of our cab driving jobs. And security guard jobs. Somebody needs to put a stop to that sort of thing. Some of them even claim that somebody is trying to kill them back home, which most likely is nonsense.
A study just came out claiming the oil sands aren't as bad as coal. I've got a scientific problem with this study. They took the total reserves of different types of fuel and projected what the effect would be if they were burned in their entirety. In essence, if we burn all of our coal, we're in big trouble. If we burn all of our tar sands sourced oil, it's not a big deal. But there's got to be a lot more coal throughout the world than tar sands, no? This study doesn't help us understand the difference between heating out house (for example) with one over the other. It just seems a bit confusing to me and I see this as Stephen Harper's get out of jail free card on the oil sands.
Oh. Ya. Another study about downloading. Bittorrent? Not so bad.
Way to stir up trouble with a headline, Globe and Mail. A Catholic couple sued the Province for teaching a mandatory course that taught students about the multitude of religions out there...as this somehow infringed on their religious right to believe that their beliefs are the only ones out there. Somehow "Mandatory religion course doesn't infringe on freedoms" sounds a bit more scandalous.
Gun Registry legislation is done.
A member of the Harper Government wants to change the way Parliament is filmed on Friday's because there are lots of people missing and it looks bad. There's no comment necessary for this one.
Apparently, you can bring your baby to work if you're an MP.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Under the Rug - Week 41 - Feb 6-13
Is Canada going to SOPA up? Well, they shut down debate on the issue. But it doesn't matter because there has been "widespread consultation". Widespread consultation that suggests the bill is flawed and will therefore be ignored (the consultation, that is), but consultation nonetheless.
Way to go Canada! Winning the war on terror! This Quebec Muslim man was arrested for sending a text to his workmates that they should "blow away" the competition at an upcoming trade show. Not surprisingly, reddit has already created this meme.
There's a new strategy for getting pipelines approved - call opponents terrorists! Money quote “I find it offensive that there is a list that puts people trying to protect the environment on the same list as white supremacists”.
In Canada, we don't torture people. Unless it's really necessary.
Some Quebec MP's have decided not to accept their Queen's Jubilee medals. I think the story should be about why the other 302 are given one in the first place.
In Canada, we don't torture people. Unless it's really necessary.
No more talking about the long gun registry. What do you guys think Parliament is for, anyhow? This isn't even the first shutdown of debate THIS WEEK! See ite m 1.
Alberta starts laying the groundwork for succession as the 1% Province. They're just so fabulously wealthy they want assurances that other Provinces aren't wasting their charity. How nice of them!
And Stephen Harper spends some time in China. Basically promising them everything that they want. Don't worry though. He used the phrase "human rights" in a speech. Showing them who the boss is.
Harper's office racks up travel costs. Some of them paying $6,000+ for flights to London. There's also some $10-15,000 multi-leg airfares. Somebody should tell them that there are websites for this sort of thing.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Lack of Recognition - Week 32 - Dec 5-12
I've been working on my year end "best of" list. Reading through the past, this stupid blog has gotten out of hand. What started out as 4-5 posts with a whole lot of snark has turned into an information dump. Honestly, these jackasses are just overwhelming me with terrible deeds that need to be discussed. I don't have the time to craft decent snark about any of them. I don't really know what to do.
What the hell is wrong with these guys? Now they want to replace Kyoto with some other form of binding climate treaty? They're like the Brett Favre of climate treaties. It's just a complete embarrassment and a disaster and I'm not buying real estate in Richmond any time soon. They're actually bragging about avoiding the $14 Billion in penalty charges that we'd have to pay if we actually agreed to follow through on Kyoto. I can see the next Conservative ad campaign - "We avoided hundreds of years in jail time by no longer recongnizing the Geneva Conventions."
I always love cheap political outrages. Who wouldn't get angry about people "cheating the immigration system". All 2,100 of them. As well, the ass-hats announce that you can't wear any form of veil during the swearing in ceremony. Because you "may not actually be reciting the oath" if you're wearing one. Because it's like you're joining the Night's Watch and if you don't actually say the words, it never happens. And this is a super important thing that Canada should be worrying about right now. Not that it matters...as you're more likely to end up on a terrorist watch list than a Canadian citizen if you insist on wearing a burqa.
Steve-O seems to be about doing whatever he wants because he happened to mention it once on the campaign trail. I think the Canada-US security perimeter is him moving up to just doing what he wants regardless of never mentioning it at all on the campaign trail and negotiating in secret. There's not much substance to what they are saying, but I can't help but fear what this means. I don't think that fast-tracking food shipments is the end goal of what they're trying to accomplish her. Even the RCMP seems a little concerned.
I think the Conservatives have lost Quebec. Perhaps they've learned that it doesn't matter. But, the fact that they're being shut out of commeration for L'Ecole Polytechnique massacre doesn't sound very positive. Any other rational person would probably feel some sort of shame.
The Irwin Cotler affair gets worse. Irwin says the Conservatives are basically paying their defeated candidate, with taxpayer money, to work as a shadow Parliamentarian. Poor Irwin. This whole thing reminds me of car salesmen. You know the technique. Talk to the person like they've already bought the car and you're just going through the motions.
Tough on Crime passes, and still no real indication of the costs. I'm just waiting for their justification to be "well, we don't know how much the fighter jets are going to cost either, and we're moving ahead with that."
The Conservatives dig up a story about Bob Rae flying on a helicopter in 1992 to try to bail Peter McKay out of the doghouse. It's pretty funny, actually. I can just see them sitting around their computer (Mac or PC?), high-fiving and yelling "gotcha". And he continues to get piled on. Apparently, he took a similar flight a year before to "familiarize himself with search and rescue operations". Like...almost the exact same area. And just like this Seinfeld episode, he's going to put a stop to things by threatening to sue.
What the hell is wrong with these guys? Now they want to replace Kyoto with some other form of binding climate treaty? They're like the Brett Favre of climate treaties. It's just a complete embarrassment and a disaster and I'm not buying real estate in Richmond any time soon. They're actually bragging about avoiding the $14 Billion in penalty charges that we'd have to pay if we actually agreed to follow through on Kyoto. I can see the next Conservative ad campaign - "We avoided hundreds of years in jail time by no longer recongnizing the Geneva Conventions."
I always love cheap political outrages. Who wouldn't get angry about people "cheating the immigration system". All 2,100 of them. As well, the ass-hats announce that you can't wear any form of veil during the swearing in ceremony. Because you "may not actually be reciting the oath" if you're wearing one. Because it's like you're joining the Night's Watch and if you don't actually say the words, it never happens. And this is a super important thing that Canada should be worrying about right now. Not that it matters...as you're more likely to end up on a terrorist watch list than a Canadian citizen if you insist on wearing a burqa.
Steve-O seems to be about doing whatever he wants because he happened to mention it once on the campaign trail. I think the Canada-US security perimeter is him moving up to just doing what he wants regardless of never mentioning it at all on the campaign trail and negotiating in secret. There's not much substance to what they are saying, but I can't help but fear what this means. I don't think that fast-tracking food shipments is the end goal of what they're trying to accomplish her. Even the RCMP seems a little concerned.
I think the Conservatives have lost Quebec. Perhaps they've learned that it doesn't matter. But, the fact that they're being shut out of commeration for L'Ecole Polytechnique massacre doesn't sound very positive. Any other rational person would probably feel some sort of shame.
The Irwin Cotler affair gets worse. Irwin says the Conservatives are basically paying their defeated candidate, with taxpayer money, to work as a shadow Parliamentarian. Poor Irwin. This whole thing reminds me of car salesmen. You know the technique. Talk to the person like they've already bought the car and you're just going through the motions.
Tough on Crime passes, and still no real indication of the costs. I'm just waiting for their justification to be "well, we don't know how much the fighter jets are going to cost either, and we're moving ahead with that."
The Conservatives dig up a story about Bob Rae flying on a helicopter in 1992 to try to bail Peter McKay out of the doghouse. It's pretty funny, actually. I can just see them sitting around their computer (Mac or PC?), high-fiving and yelling "gotcha". And he continues to get piled on. Apparently, he took a similar flight a year before to "familiarize himself with search and rescue operations". Like...almost the exact same area. And just like this Seinfeld episode, he's going to put a stop to things by threatening to sue.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Inadvertant Assistance - Week 29 - Nov 14-21
This didn't get much play, but I think that this is a perfect little representation of this Government. The Conservatives are upset because Quebec is benefitting from a bill that BC, Alberta and Ontario are supposed to benefit from. Are they going to yell at Stephen Harper for bringing Quebec along on the trip to Dairy Queen as well? Don't worry though, Cons. There's a provision to take the ice cream away if their population doesn't keep up.
A memo has circulated within government suggesting that scrapping the gun registry could lead to an increase in illegal weapons crossing the border. Of course, the Conservatives disagree. Stupid "experts" getting in the way of positive change. Who cares about assault rifles coming over the border anyhow. I mean...if we try to put a lid on that I'm going to have to fill out a form and pay a one-time fee of $60. What? The fee is waived if I'm a hunter? And I don't have to pay it when I renew?
Noted progressive activists (South Africa) are taking Canada to task for not supporting extending the Kyoto protocol. Damn pinko bastards, making it hard for an honest country to make a living.
Hey. Why not? It worked in Guantanamo. Part of the Omnibus crime legislation would eliminate visitation rights to inmates in segregation. That, right there is going to cut back on serious amounts of crime. Just last week, I was getting ready to steal some mangoes. I stopped and I thought about it for a minute. But then I was all like "I'll still get visitors if I end up in segregation." So I pocketed those mangoes, shot the storekeeper and made a nice mango pudding for dessert.
An NDP MP says what we're all thinking. Why is the story about an NDP MLA swearing? Why isn't it about the Conservatives cutting off discussion on the budget? I actually just took the trouble to log in to Twitter and follow him. That brings my total for number of people that I follow to 7. And my lone tweet is for an ICBC drivesmart contest to win a Fiat 500. I'm so modern. Further analysis from the Globe and Mail seems to get it right.
The Conservatives are planning to use a Wheat Board contingency fund, essentially money that belongs to the members of the wheat board, to pay for the dismantling of the Wheat Board. Sorry. Pay for the "shift to a free market". That's sort of like the Indian charter company holding its passengers hostage in a foreign country for fuel money. Actually. No. It's worse than that.
Even some of Steve-O's little buddies are starting to think that this support for asbestos mining doesn't make much sense. Although, if abstaining from a vote counts as backbone these days, it's kind of sad.
Not about Canada...but a terrific Salon piece about Americaland and how the root of many of its problems can be traced back to a "blame the victim" mentality. It is truly stunning.
As well, the story links to a great page highlighting the actual numbers paid in taxes by the various classes in the US. I'm actually most shocked that a $100,000 per year income puts you in the top 20% of American earners. $140,000 in the top 10%. The top 20% earn 60% of all American income. This compares to 51% (by my calculations) for Canada.
Fighter Jets! Now even the US is not 100% sure of their decision to purchase F-35's. The key line in this article? "Ottawa estimates its jets will cost between $70-million and $80-million each, even while acknowledging the current unit cost is well over $100-million (U.S.)." Are they expecting a dramatic rise in the Canadian dollar? I know everybody will find this to be an incredible surprise...but the Conservatives dismiss this criticism and assure us that everything is fine.
Next up for free trade? Jordan and Panama!
This is a funny story. Some Conservatives were late to a committee, a vote was held, the Conservatives lost. Later on they re-voted and won. And one of the late Conservatives may or may not be dating Dimitri Soudas. I'm not sure why that matters. But this story is funny.
And...never as simple as it sounds, but spending is up 22% since the Conservatives came to power.
A memo has circulated within government suggesting that scrapping the gun registry could lead to an increase in illegal weapons crossing the border. Of course, the Conservatives disagree. Stupid "experts" getting in the way of positive change. Who cares about assault rifles coming over the border anyhow. I mean...if we try to put a lid on that I'm going to have to fill out a form and pay a one-time fee of $60. What? The fee is waived if I'm a hunter? And I don't have to pay it when I renew?
Noted progressive activists (South Africa) are taking Canada to task for not supporting extending the Kyoto protocol. Damn pinko bastards, making it hard for an honest country to make a living.
Hey. Why not? It worked in Guantanamo. Part of the Omnibus crime legislation would eliminate visitation rights to inmates in segregation. That, right there is going to cut back on serious amounts of crime. Just last week, I was getting ready to steal some mangoes. I stopped and I thought about it for a minute. But then I was all like "I'll still get visitors if I end up in segregation." So I pocketed those mangoes, shot the storekeeper and made a nice mango pudding for dessert.
An NDP MP says what we're all thinking. Why is the story about an NDP MLA swearing? Why isn't it about the Conservatives cutting off discussion on the budget? I actually just took the trouble to log in to Twitter and follow him. That brings my total for number of people that I follow to 7. And my lone tweet is for an ICBC drivesmart contest to win a Fiat 500. I'm so modern. Further analysis from the Globe and Mail seems to get it right.
The Conservatives are planning to use a Wheat Board contingency fund, essentially money that belongs to the members of the wheat board, to pay for the dismantling of the Wheat Board. Sorry. Pay for the "shift to a free market". That's sort of like the Indian charter company holding its passengers hostage in a foreign country for fuel money. Actually. No. It's worse than that.
Even some of Steve-O's little buddies are starting to think that this support for asbestos mining doesn't make much sense. Although, if abstaining from a vote counts as backbone these days, it's kind of sad.
Not about Canada...but a terrific Salon piece about Americaland and how the root of many of its problems can be traced back to a "blame the victim" mentality. It is truly stunning.
As well, the story links to a great page highlighting the actual numbers paid in taxes by the various classes in the US. I'm actually most shocked that a $100,000 per year income puts you in the top 20% of American earners. $140,000 in the top 10%. The top 20% earn 60% of all American income. This compares to 51% (by my calculations) for Canada.
Fighter Jets! Now even the US is not 100% sure of their decision to purchase F-35's. The key line in this article? "Ottawa estimates its jets will cost between $70-million and $80-million each, even while acknowledging the current unit cost is well over $100-million (U.S.)." Are they expecting a dramatic rise in the Canadian dollar? I know everybody will find this to be an incredible surprise...but the Conservatives dismiss this criticism and assure us that everything is fine.
Next up for free trade? Jordan and Panama!
This is a funny story. Some Conservatives were late to a committee, a vote was held, the Conservatives lost. Later on they re-voted and won. And one of the late Conservatives may or may not be dating Dimitri Soudas. I'm not sure why that matters. But this story is funny.
And...never as simple as it sounds, but spending is up 22% since the Conservatives came to power.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Tom Haverford is the 1% - Week 27 - Oct 31 - Nov 7
Tom Haverford said the greatest thing the other day. I'm not exactly sure how it relates to the current financial climate, but it feels about right. "They say you gotta spend money to make money. I don't know what went wrong. We spent all our money."
First up, Steve-O's privacy justification for destroying everything and anything to do with the gun registry is shot down. It's amazing when people use things that they absolutely hate as an excuse for doing something, itsn't it? Just wait until he decides to ban freedom because of "the environment". And once again those crazy "experts" are contradicting the Conservatives.
The Iraqi Information Minister (John Baird) sez "There's no problem with the 54,000 jobs lost last month. Everything is fine."
Quebec tells the federal government to pound sand on costs associated with the new crime bill. Which is right up there with Poutine on the list of awesome things that Quebec has done.
So, Canada has decided that it will punish UNESCO for recognizing Palestine by not providing them with any additional funding. This is kind of why the UN is a bit of a joke. There's just too many political statements. Too many vetoes. Too much deciding to just go along with the stuff that you agree with.
Wow. It sounds like John Baird is actually taking responsibility for the G8 slush fund. I'm not exactly sure what that means though. Maybe he just wants to collect the air miles or something?
Tough on Crime splits the Provinces. BC, Alberta and New Brunswick on board. Ontario and Quebec opposed. Wonder how they'll vote in the next election?
The Conservatives have decided to ban loans to political parties. On the surface, this seems like a good thing. More news on how much the Conservatives are ahead with fundraising as well.
And getting down to the serious business of governing, a Conservative MP decides to single out a Justin Trudeau speaking engagement at a Catholic High School (the big leagues) with taunts and name-calling. I think "Bad Catholic" would be a great name for a hair metal band. Wow...there's actually a "big beat/techno/christian" duo based on Vancouver called "To Bad Catholics". My hair metal project will need a new name.
Lots more copyright stuff. The Conservatives have admitted that their legislation probably isn't in the best interest of the average Canadian, but re-assure sceptics that most of the rules are unenforcable, so they shouldn't worry too much about it. Oh, and all that doom-and-gloom about piracy destroying the entertainment industry? Ya, not so much.
The Conservatives are going their own way with a non-french speaking auditor general, even though bilingualism is a prerequisite of the job. He promises to learn french over the next year. Why don't they wait until he does until they give him a job? In other job appointment news, the next supreme court nominee promises to apply for law school once his post is confirmed.
It's a moratorium! The Conservatives announce a 2-year moratorium on family reunification immigration applications as they attempt to clear the backlog. At least they have a contingency plan (10 year visas for those affected). Other moratoriums announced today:
- A two year moratorium on cancer treatments - The contingency pack includes a container of sunblock and a large hat.
- A two year moratorium on drivers licenses - The contingency pack includes a bus pass and a new pair of shoes.
First up, Steve-O's privacy justification for destroying everything and anything to do with the gun registry is shot down. It's amazing when people use things that they absolutely hate as an excuse for doing something, itsn't it? Just wait until he decides to ban freedom because of "the environment". And once again those crazy "experts" are contradicting the Conservatives.
The Iraqi Information Minister (John Baird) sez "There's no problem with the 54,000 jobs lost last month. Everything is fine."
Quebec tells the federal government to pound sand on costs associated with the new crime bill. Which is right up there with Poutine on the list of awesome things that Quebec has done.
So, Canada has decided that it will punish UNESCO for recognizing Palestine by not providing them with any additional funding. This is kind of why the UN is a bit of a joke. There's just too many political statements. Too many vetoes. Too much deciding to just go along with the stuff that you agree with.
Wow. It sounds like John Baird is actually taking responsibility for the G8 slush fund. I'm not exactly sure what that means though. Maybe he just wants to collect the air miles or something?
Tough on Crime splits the Provinces. BC, Alberta and New Brunswick on board. Ontario and Quebec opposed. Wonder how they'll vote in the next election?
The Conservatives have decided to ban loans to political parties. On the surface, this seems like a good thing. More news on how much the Conservatives are ahead with fundraising as well.
And getting down to the serious business of governing, a Conservative MP decides to single out a Justin Trudeau speaking engagement at a Catholic High School (the big leagues) with taunts and name-calling. I think "Bad Catholic" would be a great name for a hair metal band. Wow...there's actually a "big beat/techno/christian" duo based on Vancouver called "To Bad Catholics". My hair metal project will need a new name.
Lots more copyright stuff. The Conservatives have admitted that their legislation probably isn't in the best interest of the average Canadian, but re-assure sceptics that most of the rules are unenforcable, so they shouldn't worry too much about it. Oh, and all that doom-and-gloom about piracy destroying the entertainment industry? Ya, not so much.
The Conservatives are going their own way with a non-french speaking auditor general, even though bilingualism is a prerequisite of the job. He promises to learn french over the next year. Why don't they wait until he does until they give him a job? In other job appointment news, the next supreme court nominee promises to apply for law school once his post is confirmed.
It's a moratorium! The Conservatives announce a 2-year moratorium on family reunification immigration applications as they attempt to clear the backlog. At least they have a contingency plan (10 year visas for those affected). Other moratoriums announced today:
- A two year moratorium on cancer treatments - The contingency pack includes a container of sunblock and a large hat.
- A two year moratorium on drivers licenses - The contingency pack includes a bus pass and a new pair of shoes.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Stampede of Ridiculousnous - Week 10 - July 4-11
We start this week with an "Oh my god! They're talking about us!" article from Salon. It talks about Canada's experience with the recession as a rebuttal to an incorrect (surprisingly!) statement made by Michelle Bachmann about our fantastic unemployment numbers even though we lacked a stimulus plan. And this really got me thinking. It's hard to argue against this article. It's an unbiased viewpoint of how our country weathered the recession. It's sober and honest and could probably only be written by somebody far removed from all the yelling and anger and, quite frankly, by somebody that doesn't care all that much about what is going on here.
So here's my new theory for fixing democracy. Rather than voting for our own government, we allow our neighbours to vote for our government. Washington State can vote on behalf of British Columbia. Montana or somebody else handles the prairies. New York can do Ontario. Or Michigan maybe? Maine handles the Maritimes. We could tell them what our problems are, show them who we have to pick from and they can calmly and rationally decide who would be best to fix it. It makes nothing but sense.
With that, we move on to broken campaign promises. The Conservatives are starting to indicate that user fees are about to rise in a number of areas. But it's okay. They didn't break the promise. They aren't raising user fees as part of the "Strategic and Operating Review Process". They're raising user fees because 13 completely different government departments have just all of a sudden decided that they need to be raised. See. Promise kept. You're all a bunch of idiots for even asking a question about this.
A new round of government job cuts are announced, but not necessarily campaigned upon.
A BC Native Band accuses the Conservative Government of holding up the treaty that they (the Conservatives) negotiated. Sorry. Awkward sentence.
Early reports on the non-mandatory long form census don't sound very positive. Interestingly, The Huffington Post has the exact same article. Word for word. Globe & Mail cites "The Canadian Press". Huffington Post cites...absolutely nobody.
I really have to break away from the Globe & Mail. Nobody else really has anything of substance to add though, over and above what they provide. But take a look at this article. It makes no sense. None at all. It seems to be complaining about a loan provided to a small donut maker to expand their business. It brings up past ralings against "corporations" receiving government loans and handouts. This is the example that you can come up with as a strory about "corporate welfare bums"? A small donut maker in New Brunswick? I realize that a headline like Stephen Harper's Conservatives to pony up $190,000 for doughnuts is supposed to grab some attention. But isn't that precisely the kind of small business expansion loan that everybody and their grandma has been encouraging for the last 400 years? Maybe do a story on the massive tax breaks for Oil Companies? Banks? Etc? It's not even coherent in it's wrongness.
And this article...well...this is why people think Stephen Harper is a dick. He heads out to Alberta. He says stupid things to his rabid base of Conservatives. But it doesn't really matter because nobody really pays much attention. Except other politicians. And they just get all angry and sad.
Jason Kenney complains about the entrepreneurs immigration system being broken and of having "huge backlogs that we inherited." Well Mr. Kenney...you've had a few years to get that sorted out, haven't you?
If/When the long gun registry gets scrapped, the Conservatives have vowed to not offer any help to Provincial governments looking to create their own plan. They won't even turn over their records. Seeing as, if memory serves me correctly, one of the prime Conservative problems with the whole thing was the cost...why wouldn't they help a Provincial Government save some money in setting up their own registry? Their "re-purposing" and "privacy concerns" argument is a bit weak.
And this article...well...this is why people think Stephen Harper is a dick. He heads out to Alberta. He says stupid things to his rabid base of Conservatives. But it doesn't really matter because nobody really pays much attention. Except other politicians. And they just get all angry and sad.
Jason Kenney complains about the entrepreneurs immigration system being broken and of having "huge backlogs that we inherited." Well Mr. Kenney...you've had a few years to get that sorted out, haven't you?
If/When the long gun registry gets scrapped, the Conservatives have vowed to not offer any help to Provincial governments looking to create their own plan. They won't even turn over their records. Seeing as, if memory serves me correctly, one of the prime Conservative problems with the whole thing was the cost...why wouldn't they help a Provincial Government save some money in setting up their own registry? Their "re-purposing" and "privacy concerns" argument is a bit weak.
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