One of the guys behind Shit Harper Did was arrested at a campaign stop in Surrey for wearing a T-shirt. It's pretty fucked up when government security teams are removing people and arresting them for improper political messaging. Another article details the shitstorm surrounding Harper that day.
Steve continues to pound into us that military response is the only option. Mulcair's response to this? "No, fuck you!"
Anti-immigrant mailouts come back to haunt the Conservatives. And why do all of these have to come laced with so much logical fallacy?
The Conservatives are really starting to parse their language and statistics. And getting it wrong. No, we aren't the largest per capita receiver of immigrants. And "resettled refugees" is just a technicality.
Jason Kenney was presented with facts. Chose to respond with outrage. Jason, it does appear that we did actually let more temporary foreign workers than immigrants. He also explored not taking in any refugees with health problems, but didn't because figured the optics would be bad. Good thinking.
The mug urination incident is just so bizarre. The dude is no longer a Conservative candidate so I can now feel a bit sorry for him. It sounds like he was just trying not to pee his pants in a customers house. Could have done a better job cleaning the mug though.
Another bad revelation for the Conservatives. At times, the independent Senate refused to bend to their will and it made them very angry.
Showing posts with label The Senate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Senate. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Monday, June 15, 2015
Cracks in the Pipeline - Week 216 - June 8-15
These
fucking assholes. "Our new pipelines are totally safe! New
technology! Jobs!" The first phase of Keystone is already significantly corroded. As well...We
need this massive oil sands project because we need jobs! You approved
it? Okay. We need to cut jobs to make this economical! Driverless trucks on the way in the Oil Sands.
Folksyism. The whole "gosh darnit, why shouldn't so and so do such and such" form of politics. Usually along the lines of tough on crime. Tough on poor people. Tough on anybody that isn't me. And usually Conservatives. Small government conservatives wondering why the government doesn't intrude more on the lives of others. Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner wonders why we pay for the medical bills of shooting victims that don't cooperate with the police. Because nothing bad can happen when a City government gets to decide who gets Health Care.
A long but great read on the nuances and difficulties of current day Iraq. The conclusion...we don't really know what's going on and we certainly aren't doing a good job.
Some would call my obsession with Nancy Greene-Raine unhealthy. But in my limited interactions with her, she seems like an awful person. I like my athletes to retire with dignity and am not a fan of those that steamroll over people in pursuit of money and influence. Her climate change denial has sealed the deal for me. And this makes me very happy: Expenses related to a former Senators anniversary party. Attending ski shows. Pretty minor in comparison to others, but wouldn't be surprised if there is more. I know. This is petty of me.
Come on Senate. We can save almost $25 Million if we expand our temporary office search by a block, and the Senate won't go along?
The Conservatives have introduced a bunch of friendly, heart warming bills to the citizens of Canada. The problem? They don't stand a chance of passing before the house breaks for the summer...and the election is called.
Salon digs in to the money funding the anti-climate change movement.
The drought alarm bells are reaching Canada. It's taken far too long.
This story digs in to the flight of the automakers.
Folksyism. The whole "gosh darnit, why shouldn't so and so do such and such" form of politics. Usually along the lines of tough on crime. Tough on poor people. Tough on anybody that isn't me. And usually Conservatives. Small government conservatives wondering why the government doesn't intrude more on the lives of others. Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner wonders why we pay for the medical bills of shooting victims that don't cooperate with the police. Because nothing bad can happen when a City government gets to decide who gets Health Care.
A long but great read on the nuances and difficulties of current day Iraq. The conclusion...we don't really know what's going on and we certainly aren't doing a good job.
Some would call my obsession with Nancy Greene-Raine unhealthy. But in my limited interactions with her, she seems like an awful person. I like my athletes to retire with dignity and am not a fan of those that steamroll over people in pursuit of money and influence. Her climate change denial has sealed the deal for me. And this makes me very happy: Expenses related to a former Senators anniversary party. Attending ski shows. Pretty minor in comparison to others, but wouldn't be surprised if there is more. I know. This is petty of me.
Come on Senate. We can save almost $25 Million if we expand our temporary office search by a block, and the Senate won't go along?
The Conservatives have introduced a bunch of friendly, heart warming bills to the citizens of Canada. The problem? They don't stand a chance of passing before the house breaks for the summer...and the election is called.
Salon digs in to the money funding the anti-climate change movement.
The drought alarm bells are reaching Canada. It's taken far too long.
This story digs in to the flight of the automakers.
Monday, March 16, 2015
Tonnes of stuff - Week 201 & 202 - Mar 2-16
Stepping away from a computer for a few weeks is illuminating. You come back, and the same people are talking about the exact same things. And the majority of people don't care at all. I was out at trivia the other night, and a question came up about Bill C-51. The question being, "A recent anti-terror bill has been announced. The name of that bill is Bill C *blank*." Please name the bill. And people were shocked when I got it! Like...what the fuck?
Onwards we roll.
Ha ha ha. Refugees are claiming more Canadian income than millionaire, line jumping, investor immigrants.
Another oil train derailment. And no, this is no an argument for pipelines. This is an argument for rail safety.
Brian Williams gets some stories wrong 15 years ago. Total shitstorm. Canadian government makes up confrontations in the Black Sea with Russia. Nothing. Jason Kenney said the Russian jets "buzzed" the Canadian frigate.. NATO officials say it was 128 kilometers away. He's also a bit confused about viral images on the Internet though, too.
More TFW awfulness. Facebook, who are supposedly in Vancouver because of all of our computer talent, ended up hiring a bunch of TFW's to fill Software Engineer positions. So, it seems like their office here is really just about skirting US labour law. Ant the Parliamentary Budget Officer suggests that there is no accurate information on TFW's, that the numbers have gone up substantially and we really have no idea what this means for Canadian workers.
And then...fuck...and then...a Conservative MP says it makes no sense to pay "whities" to stay home while giving their jobs to "brown people". This has somehow not generated a massive controversy.
A Canadian soldier has been killed...but we're somehow still not in a combat mission in Iraq.
For some reason, a bunch of white dudes hell bent on creating race war aren't as scary as Muslim terrorists. CSIS internally highlights the threat of white supremacists over Muslim terrorism, but that's not what we end up hearing about, is it? Meanwhile, Conservatives are definitely trying to stoke up fear of Muslims, doing lots of work publicizing threats by terrorists (and perhaps violating their own law in the process?). And another MP is creating some "with us or against us" type rhetoric in his mailouts.
Michael Geist talks Bill C-51. Surprisingly, not a fan.
Trudeau admits that they're supporting C-51 so that the Cons won't yell at them. This is pretty terrible.
Even Christy thinks C-51 might be a bad idea. But she's more of a "give money to corporations" kind of Conservative than a "control your citizens" kind of Conservative.
Our Privacy Watchdog won't be allowed to speak during the C-51 hearings. Because it's about terror, not privacy, right? I guess they already know he's not a fan.
The former Security Information Review Committee chair suggests we're in for a Constitutional mess with C-51.
A Conservative MP ignores the facts during a C-51 hearing, throws out a lot of general Muslim fear mongering and guilt by (perhaps non-existent) association.
Meanwhile, 300 criminal investigations have been sidetracked by terror investigations, according to the RCMP.
We're going to have police guard the soldiers at the National War Memorial. But who is going to guard them?
We're letting FBI agents testify under pseudonyms in terror trials.
Our good buddy Vic Toews is back in the news. He's been accused of inappropriately lobbying, and his wife may have received a huge chunk of money from a First Nation in the deal as well.
Another Conservative Minister, Diane Finley, committed a conflict of interest, awarding her own riding $1 Million in funding that she shouldn't have. Brazeau suggests she's been up to other things too, pulling funding from ridings after NDP wins.
Stephen Harper thinks that guns in the hands of citizens play an important role in keeping people safe in rural communities. Because....well...just because.
Maclean's looked at the potential impact on greenhouse gas reduction policies on Oil Sands profitability. Surprisingly...the impact would be fairly low. Meanwhile, Obama hasn't bought in to the Oil Sands greenwashing.
Several people have pointed out that forcing women to not wear a niqab is hardly a form of liberation. And then he runs around claiming he has the support of moderate muslims? Based on? And he claims the overwhelming majority are with him too.
After years of battling it, the Cons are going to provide a bit more support for disabled veterans, just in time for the eleciton!
Conservative MP thinks he's a member of the tea party. Argues against the "theory of evolution" with the time worn "It's just a theory" argument.
Onwards we roll.
Ha ha ha. Refugees are claiming more Canadian income than millionaire, line jumping, investor immigrants.
Another oil train derailment. And no, this is no an argument for pipelines. This is an argument for rail safety.
Brian Williams gets some stories wrong 15 years ago. Total shitstorm. Canadian government makes up confrontations in the Black Sea with Russia. Nothing. Jason Kenney said the Russian jets "buzzed" the Canadian frigate.. NATO officials say it was 128 kilometers away. He's also a bit confused about viral images on the Internet though, too.
More TFW awfulness. Facebook, who are supposedly in Vancouver because of all of our computer talent, ended up hiring a bunch of TFW's to fill Software Engineer positions. So, it seems like their office here is really just about skirting US labour law. Ant the Parliamentary Budget Officer suggests that there is no accurate information on TFW's, that the numbers have gone up substantially and we really have no idea what this means for Canadian workers.
And then...fuck...and then...a Conservative MP says it makes no sense to pay "whities" to stay home while giving their jobs to "brown people". This has somehow not generated a massive controversy.
A Canadian soldier has been killed...but we're somehow still not in a combat mission in Iraq.
For some reason, a bunch of white dudes hell bent on creating race war aren't as scary as Muslim terrorists. CSIS internally highlights the threat of white supremacists over Muslim terrorism, but that's not what we end up hearing about, is it? Meanwhile, Conservatives are definitely trying to stoke up fear of Muslims, doing lots of work publicizing threats by terrorists (and perhaps violating their own law in the process?). And another MP is creating some "with us or against us" type rhetoric in his mailouts.
Michael Geist talks Bill C-51. Surprisingly, not a fan.
Trudeau admits that they're supporting C-51 so that the Cons won't yell at them. This is pretty terrible.
Even Christy thinks C-51 might be a bad idea. But she's more of a "give money to corporations" kind of Conservative than a "control your citizens" kind of Conservative.
Our Privacy Watchdog won't be allowed to speak during the C-51 hearings. Because it's about terror, not privacy, right? I guess they already know he's not a fan.
The former Security Information Review Committee chair suggests we're in for a Constitutional mess with C-51.
A Conservative MP ignores the facts during a C-51 hearing, throws out a lot of general Muslim fear mongering and guilt by (perhaps non-existent) association.
Meanwhile, 300 criminal investigations have been sidetracked by terror investigations, according to the RCMP.
We're going to have police guard the soldiers at the National War Memorial. But who is going to guard them?
We're letting FBI agents testify under pseudonyms in terror trials.
Our good buddy Vic Toews is back in the news. He's been accused of inappropriately lobbying, and his wife may have received a huge chunk of money from a First Nation in the deal as well.
Another Conservative Minister, Diane Finley, committed a conflict of interest, awarding her own riding $1 Million in funding that she shouldn't have. Brazeau suggests she's been up to other things too, pulling funding from ridings after NDP wins.
Stephen Harper thinks that guns in the hands of citizens play an important role in keeping people safe in rural communities. Because....well...just because.
Maclean's looked at the potential impact on greenhouse gas reduction policies on Oil Sands profitability. Surprisingly...the impact would be fairly low. Meanwhile, Obama hasn't bought in to the Oil Sands greenwashing.
Several people have pointed out that forcing women to not wear a niqab is hardly a form of liberation. And then he runs around claiming he has the support of moderate muslims? Based on? And he claims the overwhelming majority are with him too.
After years of battling it, the Cons are going to provide a bit more support for disabled veterans, just in time for the eleciton!
Conservative MP thinks he's a member of the tea party. Argues against the "theory of evolution" with the time worn "It's just a theory" argument.
We're cutting funding to a program to treat sex criminals and prevent them from re-offending. Because somehow, cutting off your sexual predator to spite your citizens makes sense.
Monday, February 3, 2014
The Senate Shocker - Week 144 - Jan 27-Feb 3
The story of the week is, of course, Justin Trudeau's "Senate Shocker".
It's amazing how many people who know absolutely nothing about what
this means are able to jump to some stupendous conclusions.
Liberals - This will solve all our problems with the Senate and proves that Trudeau is a political genius.
Conservatives - This is a disingenuous move that will never work.
NDP - This was our idea.
Preston Manning - Oh...who really cares what Preston Manning thinks these days?
The Harper Government has decided that Canada doesn't really need to know the truth about CSEC spying on Canadians (via airport Wifi), and crafted a rambling, information-less, wrong on many accounts, non-denial of the CBC story.
Let's talk about conflict of interest, because the Conservatives seem unaware of what this means. Leona Aglukkaq held a fundraiser where she took money from the people that receive funding from her Ministry. And, this one is a bit murkier...Mark Strahl's wife is an investor in her father-in-laws (or, Mark Stahl's Dad) consulting company which is engaged in lobbying on behalf of Enbridge? Or something like that. These people are dirty.
The Conservative Government has declined half of the Parliamentary Budget Officers requests for information. Which is an interesting interpretation of "open and transparent".
Keystone XL moves one step closer to reality, as the US State Department gives it the environmental okay. With temporary foreign workers hauling the oil out of the earth and foreign companies shipping it to the USA to be processed, this doesn't seem like a big win for Canada.
Not only are the Conservatives destroying libraries, they're spending money to make it happen. Not a lot of money...but it still seems crazy to spend $22,000 to get rid of a bunch of resources. Elizabeth May thinks the whole thing might be illegal under the Library and Archives Act of Canada. And as we dig deeper and deeper in to this sordid mess, we find out that over 12 ministries are having their libraries cut/destroyed/culled.
How do you explain an MP proposing a simple, rationale bill to give Canadians some kind of idea as to whether or not mining companies are propping up despotic governments or supporting foreign wars...only to have it laughed out of Parliament? Even though many mining companies are on board with the plan. And even though similar regulations already exist in the US and many Canadians already report this under their regulations. And even though PM Harper promised that Canada would introduce a law to this effect.
Garth Turner, whose blog you should read if you are in to investing or thinking about buying Real Estate, points out that Canada didn't create 21,000 jobs in November. It lost 27,000 jobs. Which is a bit of a swing.
A study has determined that income splitting will help the rich more than the poor. I think they're going to study the effect of yacht and luxury car prices on the poor next. Perhaps the same people behind that study are behind this one? It's just as useless. If you project out the last elections voting patterns, the Conservatives majority would grow. No shit. Of course the Conservatives created more ridings to benefit themselves. And...who cares, because the voting landscape is totally different.
The Conservatives foreign University student dream doesn't seem all that well thought out.
Stephen Harper linked a Canadian Muslim group to Hamas and "terrorism". Sounds like without proof. They're kind of pissed about it.
Oil fumes around tanks in Alberta are causing families to move out of their homes. But I'll bet they have jobs!
An Oil Lobbyist was hired to oversee the transfer of the Experimental Lakes Area?
Dean Del Mastro has decided to start criticizing the Conservatives on monetary policy. Which is pretty interesting.
Speculation that Stephen Harper's trip to Israel could help the Conservatives in 10 tight ridings come the next election.
You'd probably think this one should be higher up...but I'm not sure what to think. The Conservatives have started closing Veterans Services Offices, but claim they aren't cutting services. There was reference to some offices only seeing a handful of veterans every month. If it is true that they can actually up services by closing offices and investing the funds in other ways, then I'm okay with that. But is that the truth? I don't trust these guys. And neither do veterans. And they certainly aren't fans of Julian Fantino, who skipped out on a meeting with key veterans to discuss these plans.
This sounds like a pretty lame way to make a point, but I know protesters in the Ukraine have asked governments to do so...Canada has decided to ban certain high level Ukrainians from traveling to Canada.
More Americaland links. First, if you've ever flown through the USofA, this story will make you hate the airport pornoscanners even more. TSA agents gawking at your junk? Yes. Making fun of fat people? Yes. Afraid of all the "safe" radiation? Yes. A very interesting read. Make sure you click through to the main article.
And then there's this guy. Just a meth-addicted White Supremacist with a large cache of automatic weapons who likes to fire them in the Baker National Forest. Fuck...I'm going to Whistler instead.
Liberals - This will solve all our problems with the Senate and proves that Trudeau is a political genius.
Conservatives - This is a disingenuous move that will never work.
NDP - This was our idea.
Preston Manning - Oh...who really cares what Preston Manning thinks these days?
The Harper Government has decided that Canada doesn't really need to know the truth about CSEC spying on Canadians (via airport Wifi), and crafted a rambling, information-less, wrong on many accounts, non-denial of the CBC story.
Let's talk about conflict of interest, because the Conservatives seem unaware of what this means. Leona Aglukkaq held a fundraiser where she took money from the people that receive funding from her Ministry. And, this one is a bit murkier...Mark Strahl's wife is an investor in her father-in-laws (or, Mark Stahl's Dad) consulting company which is engaged in lobbying on behalf of Enbridge? Or something like that. These people are dirty.
The Conservative Government has declined half of the Parliamentary Budget Officers requests for information. Which is an interesting interpretation of "open and transparent".
Keystone XL moves one step closer to reality, as the US State Department gives it the environmental okay. With temporary foreign workers hauling the oil out of the earth and foreign companies shipping it to the USA to be processed, this doesn't seem like a big win for Canada.
Not only are the Conservatives destroying libraries, they're spending money to make it happen. Not a lot of money...but it still seems crazy to spend $22,000 to get rid of a bunch of resources. Elizabeth May thinks the whole thing might be illegal under the Library and Archives Act of Canada. And as we dig deeper and deeper in to this sordid mess, we find out that over 12 ministries are having their libraries cut/destroyed/culled.
How do you explain an MP proposing a simple, rationale bill to give Canadians some kind of idea as to whether or not mining companies are propping up despotic governments or supporting foreign wars...only to have it laughed out of Parliament? Even though many mining companies are on board with the plan. And even though similar regulations already exist in the US and many Canadians already report this under their regulations. And even though PM Harper promised that Canada would introduce a law to this effect.
Garth Turner, whose blog you should read if you are in to investing or thinking about buying Real Estate, points out that Canada didn't create 21,000 jobs in November. It lost 27,000 jobs. Which is a bit of a swing.
A study has determined that income splitting will help the rich more than the poor. I think they're going to study the effect of yacht and luxury car prices on the poor next. Perhaps the same people behind that study are behind this one? It's just as useless. If you project out the last elections voting patterns, the Conservatives majority would grow. No shit. Of course the Conservatives created more ridings to benefit themselves. And...who cares, because the voting landscape is totally different.
The Conservatives foreign University student dream doesn't seem all that well thought out.
Stephen Harper linked a Canadian Muslim group to Hamas and "terrorism". Sounds like without proof. They're kind of pissed about it.
Oil fumes around tanks in Alberta are causing families to move out of their homes. But I'll bet they have jobs!
An Oil Lobbyist was hired to oversee the transfer of the Experimental Lakes Area?
Dean Del Mastro has decided to start criticizing the Conservatives on monetary policy. Which is pretty interesting.
Speculation that Stephen Harper's trip to Israel could help the Conservatives in 10 tight ridings come the next election.
You'd probably think this one should be higher up...but I'm not sure what to think. The Conservatives have started closing Veterans Services Offices, but claim they aren't cutting services. There was reference to some offices only seeing a handful of veterans every month. If it is true that they can actually up services by closing offices and investing the funds in other ways, then I'm okay with that. But is that the truth? I don't trust these guys. And neither do veterans. And they certainly aren't fans of Julian Fantino, who skipped out on a meeting with key veterans to discuss these plans.
This sounds like a pretty lame way to make a point, but I know protesters in the Ukraine have asked governments to do so...Canada has decided to ban certain high level Ukrainians from traveling to Canada.
More Americaland links. First, if you've ever flown through the USofA, this story will make you hate the airport pornoscanners even more. TSA agents gawking at your junk? Yes. Making fun of fat people? Yes. Afraid of all the "safe" radiation? Yes. A very interesting read. Make sure you click through to the main article.
And then there's this guy. Just a meth-addicted White Supremacist with a large cache of automatic weapons who likes to fire them in the Baker National Forest. Fuck...I'm going to Whistler instead.
Monday, January 20, 2014
Shameless Self Promotion - Week 142 - Jan 13-20
Alright people. I don't ask for much from you. But if you're reading this thing...man...I need some Facebook likes. This is just downright embarrassing. I'll make you a deal. Like me on Facebook and I'll buy you a beer the next time I'm in your town. Promise. God I hate Facebook. It makes me so needy.
And this people...this is Conservative insanity. A Conservative MP is raising money to fight against the totally over-reaching, borderline fascist, big brother (Conservative) law to ban incandescent light bulbs. And funneling the money directly into the Conservative Riding Association. I wonder though...how many people voted Conservative, will vote Conservative and can't wait for the Conservatives to stick it to those arrogant fat cats that keep screwing us over with all these terrible laws?
Didn't we end up in this predicament largely because the Liberals were funneling advertising money to "Liberal" ad companies? Yet nothing when ad money is funneled to a Conservative Senators family?
Hold on a minute. I thought pipelines were safe and Enbridge was a great company? Then how is it possible that one of their pipelines is leaking? This is the point I will continue to make. Even if you really, really, really like pipelines...why would you trust Enbridge to build it for you?
Another "loyalty pledge" from Harper. In this one, any government watchdog or employee of would be subject to disclosure of any previous political activity. This is just staggeringly obtuse. This is some 1930's Germany type shit.
Holy shitballs! Stephen Harper's entourage in Israel is going to be in the neighbourhood of 150-200 people! All paid for by the government! Why would so many people need to go? Is he flying his limos over as well? As well, in the lead up to the trip, they're really laying it on thick these days. Anything less than total support for Israel makes you an anti-Semite in Harperland, it seems. Don't worry though. We just have an insane policy for the Middle East because of Stephen Harper's father. The Conservatives have launched an extra special website to announce Stephen Harper's first official visit to Israel. My question, if Israel is so special...why has it taken so long to get to the "First Official Visit"?
Some more detail on Chuck Strahl as CSIS Watchdog/Enbridge Lobbyist.
One of the (potentially) key players in the Robocall saga has been granted immunity. Will we finally find out what happened?
People seem to be lumping in Justin Trudeau's expense issues with a larger "Expenses Scandal". Because accidentally claiming $600 worth of travel, immediately paying it back and telling everybody about it is pretty much exactly what Mike Duffy did, right?
Shelly Glover, the Heritage Minister, has started shaking down artists for donations. It's all good though...because...well...because she said so.
This seems to be a new Conservative meme. "Just end this excruciating hell and make a decision!" I call it the Del Mastro. Here, John Baird demands that his personal Keystone XL hell be put out of its misery. I like that John Kerry basically told him to fuck off.
Stephen Harper holds ethnic specific media briefings where he:
a) Answers questions.
b) Turns somewhat charming.
What a strange world we live in.
Ah, Capitalism...ain't it grand? Spill a bunch of chemicals, poison a town, declare bankruptcy!
I kind of hesitate to link to this...basically...Canada hasn't contributed "much" to global warming. What it doesn't account for:
- per capita contribution
- supplying the worst offenders with the means to offend (i.e. oil sands oil, lumber, etc.)
At least Canadians seem to understand that the Conservatives haven't done anything to help the situation.
Conservative plans to celebrate Canada 150 seem to be out of step with what people want. Their celebration plans tend to focus on war and pre-1950's Canada, while people are more interested in celebrating our multiculturalism and inclusive society.
I think it's pretty funny every time a High School makes a student take off a shirt with a message that they don't appreciate. Especially since "Got Land? Thank an Indian." is relatively innocuous.
We've all heard this story to death. But...Security theater at its best. An 18 year old kid boards a plane in Edmonton for Mexico. Forgets that he'd built a pipe bomb with his buddy and left it in his camera bag. It gets found at the airport, where they try to give it back to him. Then they let him go on vacation to Mexico, and respond in force with a SWAT team and bomb dogs when he arrives back in the country. Amazing. Oh. He got a $100 fine. Now imagine if a non-white-guy had done this? Well, he would have been renditioned somewhere and we'd have never heard the story, I guess.
The Federal Government has agreed to turn over police reports to residential school victims. It took some work.
Some details on how the secret TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership) will allow corporations to sue governments if they pass environmental laws that are "bad for business". This seems like a really, really terrible thing.
Jason Kenney has collapsed on his requirement to have Province's match job grant money.
Some more on Norweigan oil revenues and why Canada's oil extraction policies are so insanely stupid. As well, this article points out how much less money is collected on oil revenues, even than in the United States.
I hadn't really been following this Marc Nadon Supreme Court nomination. Seems to be a bit of a cluster. I had no idea that this guy didn't really "qualify" in the traditional sense of the word and that the Conservatives changed the law to accommodate him. This government really loves sticking it to Quebec.
This is kind of funny. Not one, but two stories about improper Conservative business cards. Tony Clement ordered gold leaf on his. And John Baird only has English on his.
Dean Del Mastro's entire family seems to have gotten in on his electoral fraud act. His cousin was raided last year by Elections Canada.
And this people...this is Conservative insanity. A Conservative MP is raising money to fight against the totally over-reaching, borderline fascist, big brother (Conservative) law to ban incandescent light bulbs. And funneling the money directly into the Conservative Riding Association. I wonder though...how many people voted Conservative, will vote Conservative and can't wait for the Conservatives to stick it to those arrogant fat cats that keep screwing us over with all these terrible laws?
Didn't we end up in this predicament largely because the Liberals were funneling advertising money to "Liberal" ad companies? Yet nothing when ad money is funneled to a Conservative Senators family?
Hold on a minute. I thought pipelines were safe and Enbridge was a great company? Then how is it possible that one of their pipelines is leaking? This is the point I will continue to make. Even if you really, really, really like pipelines...why would you trust Enbridge to build it for you?
Another "loyalty pledge" from Harper. In this one, any government watchdog or employee of would be subject to disclosure of any previous political activity. This is just staggeringly obtuse. This is some 1930's Germany type shit.
Holy shitballs! Stephen Harper's entourage in Israel is going to be in the neighbourhood of 150-200 people! All paid for by the government! Why would so many people need to go? Is he flying his limos over as well? As well, in the lead up to the trip, they're really laying it on thick these days. Anything less than total support for Israel makes you an anti-Semite in Harperland, it seems. Don't worry though. We just have an insane policy for the Middle East because of Stephen Harper's father. The Conservatives have launched an extra special website to announce Stephen Harper's first official visit to Israel. My question, if Israel is so special...why has it taken so long to get to the "First Official Visit"?
Some more detail on Chuck Strahl as CSIS Watchdog/Enbridge Lobbyist.
One of the (potentially) key players in the Robocall saga has been granted immunity. Will we finally find out what happened?
People seem to be lumping in Justin Trudeau's expense issues with a larger "Expenses Scandal". Because accidentally claiming $600 worth of travel, immediately paying it back and telling everybody about it is pretty much exactly what Mike Duffy did, right?
Shelly Glover, the Heritage Minister, has started shaking down artists for donations. It's all good though...because...well...because she said so.
This seems to be a new Conservative meme. "Just end this excruciating hell and make a decision!" I call it the Del Mastro. Here, John Baird demands that his personal Keystone XL hell be put out of its misery. I like that John Kerry basically told him to fuck off.
Stephen Harper holds ethnic specific media briefings where he:
a) Answers questions.
b) Turns somewhat charming.
What a strange world we live in.
Ah, Capitalism...ain't it grand? Spill a bunch of chemicals, poison a town, declare bankruptcy!
I kind of hesitate to link to this...basically...Canada hasn't contributed "much" to global warming. What it doesn't account for:
- per capita contribution
- supplying the worst offenders with the means to offend (i.e. oil sands oil, lumber, etc.)
At least Canadians seem to understand that the Conservatives haven't done anything to help the situation.
Conservative plans to celebrate Canada 150 seem to be out of step with what people want. Their celebration plans tend to focus on war and pre-1950's Canada, while people are more interested in celebrating our multiculturalism and inclusive society.
I think it's pretty funny every time a High School makes a student take off a shirt with a message that they don't appreciate. Especially since "Got Land? Thank an Indian." is relatively innocuous.
We've all heard this story to death. But...Security theater at its best. An 18 year old kid boards a plane in Edmonton for Mexico. Forgets that he'd built a pipe bomb with his buddy and left it in his camera bag. It gets found at the airport, where they try to give it back to him. Then they let him go on vacation to Mexico, and respond in force with a SWAT team and bomb dogs when he arrives back in the country. Amazing. Oh. He got a $100 fine. Now imagine if a non-white-guy had done this? Well, he would have been renditioned somewhere and we'd have never heard the story, I guess.
The Federal Government has agreed to turn over police reports to residential school victims. It took some work.
Some details on how the secret TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership) will allow corporations to sue governments if they pass environmental laws that are "bad for business". This seems like a really, really terrible thing.
Jason Kenney has collapsed on his requirement to have Province's match job grant money.
Some more on Norweigan oil revenues and why Canada's oil extraction policies are so insanely stupid. As well, this article points out how much less money is collected on oil revenues, even than in the United States.
I hadn't really been following this Marc Nadon Supreme Court nomination. Seems to be a bit of a cluster. I had no idea that this guy didn't really "qualify" in the traditional sense of the word and that the Conservatives changed the law to accommodate him. This government really loves sticking it to Quebec.
This is kind of funny. Not one, but two stories about improper Conservative business cards. Tony Clement ordered gold leaf on his. And John Baird only has English on his.
Dean Del Mastro's entire family seems to have gotten in on his electoral fraud act. His cousin was raided last year by Elections Canada.
Monday, January 6, 2014
2013 Best Of Canadian Federal Politics
Seeing
as 98% of you are new readers and you have no idea who I am or what this is,
I’ll give a brief introduction. This
little blog here is my attempt to keep track of all the wonderful things that the Harper Government is doing to this fine country.
I update it once a week and this is my summary of all the terribly awesome things that have happened in the past year.
And
who
can keep track? Looking back, this
has been a staggeringly awful year for Canadian politics. Or perhaps
it’s been an amazing year? Who even knows anymore? Let’s plunge in.
We’ll start with a photo of our dear leader
with Justin Bieber, because who doesn't want to see that?
The Senate
Of
course you couldn’t read a fortune cookie this year without a mention of the
Senate. Who can make sense of this
crazy, crazy debacle?
- You have Senators who don’t actually live in the province which they represent, which should (perhaps) disqualify them from being a Senator in the first place
- You have Senators fraudulently claiming living expenses
- You have Senators claiming travel expenses while they fly around the country doing work for Corporate boards and the Conservative Party of Canada
- You have a key member of Stephen Harper’s inner circle paying for the expenses of a Senator out-of-pocket in the hopes the whole thing will just go away. Illegally paying.
- You have Senators actively campaigning to disrupt a 3rd Party audit, in the hopes that it will all just go away
- You have Conservative Senators whitewashing an audit report so that their own Senators get off lightly and don't look too bad
- You have the Prime Minister, a notorious micro-manager, disavowing any knowledge or responsibility for the wrongdoings of all these people who he more-or-less directly appointed (and even though he had previously claimed that some of these things were a-ok)
Canada – Stephen Harper’s personal Advertising Agency
One of the perks of getting elected is that you get to spend millions and millions and millions of dollars advertising how great you are in hopes that people vote for you the next time around. First off, "The Harper Government" has really blown up. That phrase has shown up on 522 government news releases. That was back in May though, so I'm sure it's much more than that by now.
Not only that, but Harper has gotten the PMO (an organization which was originally just supposed to plan his day out) to get involved in political mud-sligging. The Conservatives also pretty consistently use taxpayer funded mailouts to do their partisan dirtywork and seem to routinely place criticism of the opposition on government websites.
Then there's the little annoying ones. The splashy event, cancelled at the last minute, to celebrate the end of the Long Gun Registry. Yes, nothing screams "prudent fiscal managers" more than spending a lot of money to cancel an expensive program and then spending more money on a party to celebrate all the waste. They also decided to scrub references to "Environment Canada" from the Environment Canada website (I think to make room for more Economic Action Plan ads, by the look of it).
Then there's the little annoying ones. The splashy event, cancelled at the last minute, to celebrate the end of the Long Gun Registry. Yes, nothing screams "prudent fiscal managers" more than spending a lot of money to cancel an expensive program and then spending more money on a party to celebrate all the waste. They also decided to scrub references to "Environment Canada" from the Environment Canada website (I think to make room for more Economic Action Plan ads, by the look of it).
But that's just a tiny little amuse bouche leading up to the double fisting, strap on the fat pants, all-you-can-eat buffet of wasteful awfulness. It's probably impossible to figure out exactly how much this government has spent on totally useless advertising since coming to power. $548 Million is the best guess here. Think about that for a minute. The "fiscally conservative" government in the midst of cutting programs and benefits and environmental protection to "save money", has spent a half billion dollars telling the country how great they are. I guess you need to do something to keep the 4,000 communications related employees busy.
These ad campaigns are so unbelievably insane. Honestly, how desensitized are we to these things?
These ad campaigns are so unbelievably insane. Honestly, how desensitized are we to these things?
- The "Economic Action Plan", where a tonne of money is spent to convince everybody that the economy is great (and the ads don't really work)
- Advertising campaigns to convince the USA that we're not a bunch of oil burning knuckle draggers (so that they'll let a private corporation plow a pipeline down the center of their country). They've spent approx. $40 Million on this
- Ads to encourage "Resource Development"...lots and lots of it
- Planning to spend a shit-tonne of money on history propaganda leading up to Canada's 150th birthday
- A $9 Million dollar campaign justifying opening up Canada's cell phone industry to competition from the United States
- Advertised a great job training/creation program...that hasn't been signed off on by the Provinces (as they'll have to pony up most of the cash) and doesn't actually exist yet
Government
Spying
Oh sure, America, you have the NSA. Turns out we’re just as bad. Not only are we your muckraking minions ,
like some sort of ill-conceived Hells Angels puppet club, setting up spy-posts in places the USA can't get to. But we're also helping the USA spy on our friends
that we invited to our great big G8/G20 gazebo blowout/Summit. And it
seems like we really learned some things, because then we turned around
and started spying on foreign countries (friendly ones) on behalf of Canadian industries. You have to credit the Harpoids for creating
a new way to discredit Glenn Greenwald though – did you know that he’s actually
taking money to write these articles?
Gasp.
And more good news. They're actually looking to fund an organization to continually monitor your social media. I mean, I'm sure they're already monitoring your social media, but this will be more involved.
And more good news. They're actually looking to fund an organization to continually monitor your social media. I mean, I'm sure they're already monitoring your social media, but this will be more involved.
Treating
People Like Assholes
Did you know that 40% of Canada’s native children live in poverty? No worries though,
because we’re probably just going to throw them in jail when they grow up. We’re equal opportunity child haters though,
as James Moore points out, it’s not his job (or the Federal Government's) to feed his neighbours hungry children. I mean, who expects help from
the government, right? Speaking of James Moore, I mean...what the Jerry Gergich is going on here?
But it’s not just children and natives that Stephen
Harper hates. He’d also like all the
employees of Members of Parliament to sign ongoing, life long, forever inperpetuity, non disclosure agreements. I
mean, nothing screams “transparency” more than ensuring the (taxpayer paid)
employees that act out your terrible, terrible plans can never speak to anybody
ever about anything. This isn’t without
precedent though. He tried to get
librarians to sign a loyalty pact as well.
This year also saw a cabinet shuffle. Fresh starts and all that. Except...our great leader asked the outgoing
Ministers to draw up lists of enemies as he hurried out the door. Nixon would be proud.
We Blew up a Town
Okay, we can't entirely blame the Lac Megantic train explosion on Stephen Harper. But after that train exploded, we sure talked a lot about preventing exploding trains. And then another train exploded while we continued to talk about it.
What's awesome is that the amount of oil shipped by rail has gone up by 28,000% since 2009, yet we deregulate, and train companies do things like lobby to use obsolete rail cars.
But why shouldn't we let these companies haul more oil with fewer and
fewer regulations. I mean, the company responsible for Lac Megantic has
really stepped up to the plate. By going bankrupt and by having their license pulled for inadequate 3rd party liability insurance. Real princes of private enterprise.
Winning the War on Crime
If
there is one thing Conservatives are good for, it's being tough on
crime. In fact, this government has been so tough on crime lately that
crime has steadily been going down since 1991,
a full 15 years before they came to power. If I've learned anything in
my career as an Engineer though it's this: If you see a really positive
trend and things are heading in the right direction, start messing with
stuff! Let's look at some graphs (and this is from the National Post! Who knows what fancy statistics the left wing can dig up)
But of course it's only radicals and criminals that are opposed to this stuff. People like judges, who are refusing to honor minimum sentencing laws. Or pointing out that mandatory sentencing laws are unconstitutional. Or charge criminals the "victims services surcharge".
The judges aren't the only radicals though. Look at this crazy guy, the Ombudsman for Federal Inmates. "More
crowded and violent." "Less successful at rehabilitation."
Yes, the Conservatives war on crime is creating less rehabilitated, more
violent criminals. Who can trust somebody that says things like "You cannot reasonably claim
to have a just society with incarceration rates like these. And most troubling,
the growth in the custody population appears to be policy, not crime, driven.
After all, crime rates are down while incarceration rates grow,"
Another crazy radical not on board: The Parliamentary Budget Officer. Here, he shows how radical he is
by pointing out that most of the costs of all this new legislation will
fall to the Provinces (and that crime rates are falling and these
expenditures don't make sense).
But what pisses me off the most is just how red-meat-for-the-base all of this stuff is. Is our countries top priority really stripping terrorists of their citizenship? Should we focus on keeping the mentally ill in prison for longer, or should we put some money into getting them help?
Dominating the War
on Science
This is becoming such a thing, there are actually several roundups (and a book) on all the damage Stephen Harper has done to science in this country. You may cry a little.
It's getting so bad that scientists are actually starting to march in protest. Prompting our "Science Minister" to send out fundraising letters to combat "radical ideologue" scientist.
Not all science is bad though. When you can re-purpose a Federal Research Organization (The NRC) to do science on behalf of industry, that's good science! When you can just sort of make some shit up about polar bears to forward your climate change denying ideals, that's good science! When you can use "science" to determine when life begins, that's good science!
Unfortunately, most science in Canada is bad science, and needs to be scrapped. Research into the effect of lead bullets and shot? Scrap it! Fisheries libraries with irreplaceable documents (many fisheries libraries...and apparently not just libraries but budgets and jobs at the DFO as well...and perhaps proof that it's been done to "cull materials" rather than "save money")? Scrap them! Protection for endangered freshwater fish? Scrap it! A program that has greatly reduced heroin overdoses on the Downtown East Side? Better try to scrap that! Doctors trying to reduce heroin dependency using prescription heroin? Scrap it! The UN Drought Convention? Scrap it!
And this is how crazy it has gotten. Can you believe that Statscan is actually putting disclaimers on it's data due to scrapping of the mandatory long form census? Our Environment Minister has doubts about climate change! Gee, can't imagine why they are so afraid of admitting that climate change is real?
Hiring everybody but Canadians
(It's
tough to talk about this stuff without sounding like a xenophobe.
Really, I'm pro immigration. I'm just not pro
bring-people-in-from-outside-the-country-at-lower-wages-and-then-send-them-home)
I’ve got
to admit, this is just a stroke of genius.
John Le Carre couldn’t dream up a plot this thick with cunning and
irony. Imagine selling Canadian people
on all sorts of environmentally harmful mega projects with the promise of long
term, well paying jobs. And you have to
cut all those pesky environmental reviews because they take too long and gosh
darnit, Canada needs job. Except. Man, we need these projects done so quickly we don’t actually have enough
people to do these jobs so we’re just going to hire all sorts of people from outside of the country (even if there's lots of unemployed people with the requisite skillset) and pay them a lot less and steal their money and not really bother with creating all these Canadian jobs in the first place. It’s beautiful. Not only that, but we’re also going to:
So we're going to have some sort of hand-picked, corporately acceptable society of welders? Just so that we can harvest oil really cheaply? Not that there's anything wrong with welders.
We Only Help Countries that Have Something to Offer Us in Return
You’ve
heard of foreign aid? That’s
where you help out countries that are less fortunate than your own. You’d think you’d decide on who needs help
based on who needs it the most, right?
No. Canada decides based on who can offer something in return. I think
all charities should function like this. I think I'll only give to the food bank if they can send somebody over to mow my lawn.
We've also started telling our diplomats to worry more about developing trade than on...well...whatever they'd normally be doing. Spying on friendly countries, I guess. And anybody that has a problem with any of this is an "extremist fear monger". Is there like one old lady in Mississauga that isn't an extremist fear monger according to the Conservatives?
The Stephen Harper 2013 List of All-Stars
Let's end this list by focusing on our Great Leaders best performers.
"Sleepy Time" Rob Anders - First, I'd like to congratulate Rob Anders on a fantastic 2013. I don't think he was caught sleeping on the job at all this year. Well done. Unfortunately, it seems this left him more time to talk and express himself. He did such things like rail against that terrorist Nelson Mandela (in his defense, Stephen Harper probably used to agree with him). Unfortunately, this was not his only windbag moment. Thanks for sending this great Canadian to Parliament, Calgary West. Sorry. Can't resist posting this photo.
Peter Goldring - I missed this guy last year. He somehow managed to beat his drunk driving charges for refusing to blow (honestly, read through this story and try to figure out how this came to pass) and has been welcomed back to the Conservative fold with open arms.
Jim Flaherty - I used to think Jim Flaherty was one of the okay guys. He didn't do or say anything terrible. He just hacked and slashed budgets. And then...well...I can't even believe I'm writing this. He's started confronting other Conservatives who have spoken out against Rob Ford. I think he might be on the wrong side of this issue. As well, he had some difficulties filling out expense claims this year, which is a bit troubling considering he's the Minister of Finance. We're also going to celebrate the only mention of Rob Ford in this article by showing a picture of Rob Ford with the Hamburgler.
Vic Toews - I was almost sad to see this guy go. I feel like nobody brought Canadians together quite like Vic Toews. He actually blamed the opposition
for the Conservatives fiercely enough when they appointed a now
disgraced former CSIS watchdog. It was their fault that they didn't
question them hard enough about what they were doing. Not only that
though, but after creating a bunch of laws that will put a bunch more
people in jail, he complained that policing costs have gotten too high. For a Minister of Justice, he seemed to have a tremendously poor understanding of crime statistics.
Peter "Helicopter Captain" McKay - Peter McKay freaked out when Justin Trudeau talked about marijuana legalization in front of "school children"...after some high school kids directly asked Justin Trudeau about it and he answered their question. I've heard politicians talking about marijuana is one of the #1 causes of drug addiction. I think Peter might just be confused because most Conservatives aren't used to the concept of directly answering people's questions.
Tony Clement - Good old Tony was actually following me on Twitter for a while this year. Which is odd. He had the unenviable task of explaining to Canada that the government hadn't actually lost $3.1 Billion dollars, they just didn't know where it was. These things are different, apparently.
Peter "Helicopter Captain" McKay - Peter McKay freaked out when Justin Trudeau talked about marijuana legalization in front of "school children"...after some high school kids directly asked Justin Trudeau about it and he answered their question. I've heard politicians talking about marijuana is one of the #1 causes of drug addiction. I think Peter might just be confused because most Conservatives aren't used to the concept of directly answering people's questions.
Tony Clement - Good old Tony was actually following me on Twitter for a while this year. Which is odd. He had the unenviable task of explaining to Canada that the government hadn't actually lost $3.1 Billion dollars, they just didn't know where it was. These things are different, apparently.
Jean-Guy Degenais - Jean-Guy Degenais
is a Conservative Senator. An unelected Conservative Senator. He's
upset because the MP for his region is "useless and powerless",
by his estimation. If only the good people of Quebec would be smart
enough to vote Conservative and hop on board the gravy train.
Conclusions
In
the end though, what can we do about this? Who is going to make it all
better? That's what I keep asking myself. And I think I found the
solution. Anything the Conservatives are this strongly against is
probably worth looking into.
Monday, December 16, 2013
Canada is the USA's crap weasel - Week 137 - Dec 9-16
Canada has been acting as the NSA's bitch, setting up outposts in countries where the USA can't.
I think that you really need to be questioned when you start asking your employees to sign lifelong confidentiality agreements. Especially when those employees are paid for by the public.
James Moore points out, in a really terrible way, that the Federal Government has no interest in helping out the Provinces with child poverty. “Is it my job to feed my neighbour’s child? I don’t think so.” Yikes.
Speaking of the BC Provincial Government screwing things up. Christy Clark. Jobs Plan. Not working.
Think we hunt too many grizzly bears? Fuck you. How about we hunt more grizzly bears, then?
This seems like it will end poorly. Canada lays claim to the North Pole. Russia is not happy.
Another Conservative MP is trying to re-open the abortion debate in new and interesting ways. For me, this is an interesting thought exercise in acceptance. At what point do you accept that a decision has been made and move on? At what point do you accept that your minority point of view is being over-ruled by the majority? On one hand, I admire their tenacity. On the other hand, this is what I hate about Conservatives. Raise contentious issue. Get beat down. Raise same issue again with a slight twist. Get beat down again. And over and over and over again. Does the same thing happen from the left?
The Conservative War on Science continues. This time, they closed some libraries belonging to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. This included hundred year old reports as well as more modern information.
A breakdown of income earnings in Canada for 2011.
Bit of a probe going on into the missing Wright-Duffy e-mails. And the Conservatives are not cooperating with attempts to change their e-mail deleting policy.
Seems fitting that Canada Post is announcing massive cuts in service on the Conservatives watch. I mean, who expects Canada Post to continue delivering mail, really?
Jim Flaherty is getting angry at other Conservatives who have publicly called out Rob Ford. Man. I used to think he was one of the more reasonable ones.
Somehow Montreal has managed to get approval for some safe injection sites.
Is this another dispute over Conservative election expenses? An old one? I don't even know any more.
The "Pot Smoking Mountie" has been arrested for "Assaulting a Police Officer".
A funny story about PM staffers trying to boss around South African media.
I think that you really need to be questioned when you start asking your employees to sign lifelong confidentiality agreements. Especially when those employees are paid for by the public.
James Moore points out, in a really terrible way, that the Federal Government has no interest in helping out the Provinces with child poverty. “Is it my job to feed my neighbour’s child? I don’t think so.” Yikes.
Speaking of the BC Provincial Government screwing things up. Christy Clark. Jobs Plan. Not working.
Think we hunt too many grizzly bears? Fuck you. How about we hunt more grizzly bears, then?
This seems like it will end poorly. Canada lays claim to the North Pole. Russia is not happy.
Another Conservative MP is trying to re-open the abortion debate in new and interesting ways. For me, this is an interesting thought exercise in acceptance. At what point do you accept that a decision has been made and move on? At what point do you accept that your minority point of view is being over-ruled by the majority? On one hand, I admire their tenacity. On the other hand, this is what I hate about Conservatives. Raise contentious issue. Get beat down. Raise same issue again with a slight twist. Get beat down again. And over and over and over again. Does the same thing happen from the left?
The Conservative War on Science continues. This time, they closed some libraries belonging to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. This included hundred year old reports as well as more modern information.
A breakdown of income earnings in Canada for 2011.
Bit of a probe going on into the missing Wright-Duffy e-mails. And the Conservatives are not cooperating with attempts to change their e-mail deleting policy.
Seems fitting that Canada Post is announcing massive cuts in service on the Conservatives watch. I mean, who expects Canada Post to continue delivering mail, really?
Jim Flaherty is getting angry at other Conservatives who have publicly called out Rob Ford. Man. I used to think he was one of the more reasonable ones.
Somehow Montreal has managed to get approval for some safe injection sites.
Is this another dispute over Conservative election expenses? An old one? I don't even know any more.
The "Pot Smoking Mountie" has been arrested for "Assaulting a Police Officer".
A funny story about PM staffers trying to boss around South African media.
Monday, December 9, 2013
Some people are the worst - Week 136 - Dec 2-9
It's kind of terrible that with Nelson Mandela passing away I'm focusing on a terrible human being like Rob Anders. "Sleepy Time" Rob Anders. But this guy needs to be called out. The voters of Calgary West need to be called out for voting for such a useless human being.
An angry Conservative Senator blames Thomas Mulcair for a hundred or so years of Parliamentary tradition. How dare he call out law-breaking Senators when he, himself, enjoys a house at taxpayers expense. Legally.
Speaking of terrible Senators, this one calls out his (elected) NDP MP as "useless and powerless". Why don't these people hop on board the gravy train and vote Conservative?
A nice summary of Duffy-gate and why we have a right to be pissed off.
Things are just getting surreal now. Patrick Brazeau is hired as a Parliament Hill reporter.
Can you believe that "World Class Spill Response" is actually a sales tactic for the Northern Gateway Pipeline? That's like selling unprotected sex with "World Class HIV Treatment".
Gizmodo talks about the Alberta plan to create toxic sludge lakes, rather than actually treat effluent from the tar sands process.
Who can even keep up with this stuff? The "Truth in Sentencing" Act? A $200 victim services fund? No wonder judges are pissed.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer points out the obvious: It's easy to balance a budget when you alleviate the burden of responsibility from yourself (through artificially high EI rates, amongst other things).
People seem to really be rallying behind this backbenchers "Fire the Leader" reform attempt.
This rash of soldier suicides suggests that we really aren't doing enough to support our soldiers who come back from combat.
The Conservatives are still convinced that the Government of Canada is their personal re-election vehicle. This time - partisan remarks posted on the Finance Canada website. Since removed. And even the NP thinks all this ad spending might be getting out of hand.
Canada is (maybe) about to claim the North Pole. But of course they are. We are.
A Tyee story about how our "strongest in the world" banks are actually really messed up. We just hid our bailout a bit better.
It looks like ACTA is coming, whether we like it or not.
This is mostly about the United States, but the CSEC/Brazil kerfuffle shows that similar things are happening here. Basically, state security apparti (FBI, etc.) are operating on behalf of corporations. The amount of effort put into defeating legal, peaceful activist organizations (Greenpeace etc.) is staggering.
I was thinking I had missed something last week when I was putting my list together but I couldn't put my finger on it. Alas! The NHL/Rogers deal! What exactly does this mean to the future of the CBC?
A leaked UN document shows that there are many countries out there that want an end to drug prohibition.
An angry Conservative Senator blames Thomas Mulcair for a hundred or so years of Parliamentary tradition. How dare he call out law-breaking Senators when he, himself, enjoys a house at taxpayers expense. Legally.
Speaking of terrible Senators, this one calls out his (elected) NDP MP as "useless and powerless". Why don't these people hop on board the gravy train and vote Conservative?
A nice summary of Duffy-gate and why we have a right to be pissed off.
Things are just getting surreal now. Patrick Brazeau is hired as a Parliament Hill reporter.
Can you believe that "World Class Spill Response" is actually a sales tactic for the Northern Gateway Pipeline? That's like selling unprotected sex with "World Class HIV Treatment".
Gizmodo talks about the Alberta plan to create toxic sludge lakes, rather than actually treat effluent from the tar sands process.
Who can even keep up with this stuff? The "Truth in Sentencing" Act? A $200 victim services fund? No wonder judges are pissed.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer points out the obvious: It's easy to balance a budget when you alleviate the burden of responsibility from yourself (through artificially high EI rates, amongst other things).
People seem to really be rallying behind this backbenchers "Fire the Leader" reform attempt.
This rash of soldier suicides suggests that we really aren't doing enough to support our soldiers who come back from combat.
The Conservatives are still convinced that the Government of Canada is their personal re-election vehicle. This time - partisan remarks posted on the Finance Canada website. Since removed. And even the NP thinks all this ad spending might be getting out of hand.
Canada is (maybe) about to claim the North Pole. But of course they are. We are.
A Tyee story about how our "strongest in the world" banks are actually really messed up. We just hid our bailout a bit better.
It looks like ACTA is coming, whether we like it or not.
This is mostly about the United States, but the CSEC/Brazil kerfuffle shows that similar things are happening here. Basically, state security apparti (FBI, etc.) are operating on behalf of corporations. The amount of effort put into defeating legal, peaceful activist organizations (Greenpeace etc.) is staggering.
I was thinking I had missed something last week when I was putting my list together but I couldn't put my finger on it. Alas! The NHL/Rogers deal! What exactly does this mean to the future of the CBC?
A leaked UN document shows that there are many countries out there that want an end to drug prohibition.
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